Growing Up

June has been a month of my little ones growing up. I've been teary a lot and I'll admit having a few meltdowns with all the changes going on in this house!
First Ben. This week will be his last week in preschool/child care. I am very happy that we will finally be done with paying for child care for sure. But, I have to admit it also brings a lot of emotion with it. For one it's the end of my baby days. Ben will be off to kindergarten in the fall. I will no longer have that chance to have my "mommy days" with either one. They'll both be in school full time. Being a working mom (outside the home) has always brought a lot of guilt with it. Working 32 hours a week (4days) was a wonderful thing for our family. It made me so happy. I knew I couldn't stay home fulltime, so when Katie was 18 months and I was able to drop down to 4 days I was thrilled. I am so thankful to Jason for taking on that extra burden, it wasn't always easy and we had to be creative at times to make ends meet. I will always be grateful to Jason for that.
BEN WATCHING THE BUNNY OUTSIDE OUR DOOR ONE RAINY MORNING LAST WEEK.

As for Katie, it seems like she has been growing up very fast this last year. I don't know, lots of different things. She is an amazing reader! She has started to read chapter books and she truly loves to read and asks to read. Now that is one thing I NEVER did as a kid! Last week she had her first research project. It was like a book report. She needed to pick a community helper and research their job. She decided on a librarian. Jason's grandmother and his mother were both librarians and she has always played librarian with our books. She asked to interview the librarian at our town library, Mr. Lou Daniels. He knew her great grandmother and I could tell he was tickled pink to sit and talk with Katie. She did a great job! She was very professional asking questions she had written and then writing down his response. I am saving her notes because I was so impressed with her spelling as she wrote quickly. We then used a box to display pictures and some information we found on the first libraries and librarians around the world on the Internet. She googled librarian!
Here are a few pictures of the project.
MOMMY GETTING THE BOXED TAPED UP

KATIE DOING HER RESEARCH


So then my little Pookers, Laura, graduated from college. She did an extended program and got her degree to be a Physicians Assistant! I know, my little Pookers!! I still remember braiding her hair, playing with Millie, her stinky cabbage patch doll, and having her up to college to visit me! It was so cute yesterday watching Katie follow her all around. She couldn't get much closer to Laura unless she taped herself to her! Laura took a breather when Kelly, my niece, got there and Katie went off to play with her. Oh my Pookers. I couldn't be more proud of her!
LAURA, KATIE & KELLY


LAURA AND THE BOYS (Brody & Ben, Liam had a baseball game)


We are all looking forward to our summer break that starts for me and Ben June 19th, Katie June 23rd and Jason June 30th. On the 28th we head to Marcella and Paul's wedding in Western Mass and then we'll go up to the lake for July 4th. I've been planning some mini-stay-cation things for us to do this summer that will be fun. I plan to take advantage of our town beach a lot more this summer and of course hope for some invites to my friend's pools!

Well, that's it for now I hope everyone has a wonderful start to their summer!

My Garden/ My Husband

Yes and No they are slightly related. How you ask....?
Well, I planted a garden this year all by myself. No my father did not help me!!! He was actually pleasantly shocked to see it! I was afraid he'd go into cardiac arrest, but phew, he didn't.
So, I really wanted to be like Caroline and have a garden and have fresh veggies all summer. I was really impressed by her garden last year and a tad jealous that she could walk out her door and WALA! Squash, zucchini, cukes...
Well, you know I get side tracked easily and heavy labor is really not my thing but I decided to sweat and give it a go a few Saturday's ago. Jason bought us a starter kit, like Caroline, and we started my peppers and some flowers indoors. The other stuff, cukes, carrots and lettuce I needed to wait to do outside. Well, so far only my flowers have sprouted. No peppers. Hmmmm....
Anywho, I decided to plant the "stuff" two weekends ago. Gram and Walter had a HUGE garden. I have been able to keep up with the raspberries and the rhubarb (YUCK). Last year I found asparagus (YUMMY) but it was already passed. This year I caught it and it has been delicious! Caroline pointed out scallions and Ben goes and picks them for my salads. Last night he picked it perfectly and the onion bulb was still attached!
Off track again, so I made a rectangle inside the huge garden. There was no way I was going to start big! Plus Jason was still layed up and couldn't help. I have no clue how to use that roto machine so it was up to me, my rake, my shovel and pitch fork. Yes, pitch fork. I broke up the hard dirt with it.
It's not the best looking garden but I think it will work.
I know my Dad is proud of me because he brought me over 2 tomato plants and planted them in my garden! Yeah! If he wasn't he wouldn't have shared. THANK YOU DADDY!!!
Well, the rhubarb plant is ENORMOUS!!! Oh my, I can't keep up. I keep sending it in with Katie to one of Gram's friends who teaches at Katie's school and my parents have taken some. My Dad said I should have a roadside stand and give the lady down the street some competition. Hmmmm, that's a thought. Just let me know if you want any.
If anyone has any ideas on how to prune raspberry bushes or grape vines, please share. I need to google that.

Ok, ready for the big reveal....

My Garden.


Growing something...


Cukes growing! I made that mound! My Dad was very impressed.

The flower garden my Dad made me last year, that I promise to keep up this year. He made it for me and there is NO POISON IVY!!!!

A really pretty flower that I found smooched in another garden.


Oh yeah, you want to know how Jason and the garden are related. Well, first of all Jason is doing GREAT from his surgery. He is back to about 80% and the doctor gave him the all clear! We are so thankful for all of your prayers and support these last few weeks.
Well, while he's been on bed rest, he's been watching A LOT of the Food Network! Good/Bad. He has a new idea....Canning and preserving food! YIKES!!! So he bought a book. He's going to start off small this year and give it a whirl! I'll let you know how that goes. If we start giving out our preserves for gifts you'll know he was successful!

Have a great week!

Fun Weekend

Ben

Katie

Today after church we went grocery shopping as a family. I know what you're thinking. Why? Well, to be honest when we go after church and Jason is with me, I go a lot faster. We are in and out, because they all drive me crazy!
I do, in a strange way, enjoy stopping at the store on my way home from work. I enjoy taking my time and browsing going up and down the aisles all by myself. I love to look for deals and try to stay within my allotted budget. The best part is when I get up to the check out and get to put all the items on the belt. I bet you think I'm not thinking to hard about it, at this point. Well you are wrong!! Just like when I load my dishwasher this is the only other area of my life where I like to do things in an orderly way. I think, "what do I want to load into the cart first?" "How will I arrange it in my car?" "I don't want my bread to get squished or my salad stuff smooched."
I know you are probably shocked by this and at the same time, hope you never get stuck behind me in line. Have no fear, I'm actually pretty fast now!
So I digressed for a moment there. Sorry. So we all went for our big, beginning of the month shopping extravaganza. I go to Shop Rite and LOVE the DEALS! My mom got me hooked on this store a few years ago and I can't give it up. I occasionally wander and go to Stop & Shop. I will admit, the scanners at S&S were VERY tempting to switch over. No, I'm faithful, unless I need to only pick up a few things on the weekend down near me!

After unloading all the groceries Jason was tired and decided to go lay down. Katie and Ben were outside. As I picked up, Katie came in and asked if we could go to the beach. Hmm. Not my favorite place, at all. Then I remembered my goal and promise to myself, I would take the kids to the beach a lot more this summer. Since Jason was taking a nap, we did a quick pack-up of snacks, drinks, towels and toys and jumped in the van and wham, bam we were there in 10 minutes. Although I don't like the beach, we are only 10 minutes away from our town beach. I need to take advantage. The kids love it. It's the perfect size beach and has a jetty to take a walk. We went at 2:30, so by 3:30 it was getting chilly. We headed home by 4 pm.

Yesterday, I went to WW and I'm happy to report that I am back on track after my 3lb slip with Jason being in the hospital. Then I went to go get my emissions done. It was expired. Well, I was shocked to learn that meant my car registration was expired!!! I had no idea I told the young kid at the hole in the wall emissions place, that the emissions and car registration went together. When did that happen I asked!? He wasn't to interested in my questions. He said I better get to the DMV this week! Well since there is a DMV 5 minutes away and it was only 10 am on Saturday, I decided to get my butt down there now! So I stopped for an Iced Coffee at D&D and headed down there. WoW the information line was long! As I waited I listened to all the stories being told around me. I got really nervous when the lady sitting next to the info line was telling a similar story to me. She had to get a number and wait. Hmmm. I was hoping to get this taken care of at the info counter. Oh, dear. I stopped drinking my coffee because I was getting nervous and didn't want to have to rush to the bathroom. Sorry, I know TMI!!! I was worried.
Well, $95 later, and no number, I was DONE!!! Phew.
Now, learn from my mistake...when you go to DMV to change your address make sure you don't just get a sticker for the back of your license, make sure the lady punches it into the computer. That way, you get your DMV notices!!!! DMV notices don't get forwarded in CT!! How ridicoulous is that!
Then it was off to a karate birthday party for Ben. It was a lot of fun and Ben was tired!
That night we watched Hotel for Dogs. Very cute movie. I would say a good family movie that the parents won't mind watching. I didn't even go on FB while watching!

So that's it in a nutshell. Now it's back to work tomorrow. Oh yeah, Jason goes to the doctor for his check-up tomorrow afternoon. He is feeling really good. Still tired, but little pain all day long! Yay.

Oh My It's Been Awhile!!

Well I Guess I Got A Little Behind!!
Well, let's start with Jason and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary on May 23rd. We were married on a beautiful and sunny day in Bristol, CT. We were married at my family church Immanuel Lutheran Church. We then had a fantastic reception at the Farmington Country Club. We were surrounded by family and friends and ate and danced the night away! Here are a few pictures of the day.



What's New, New....
Jason had to have another surgery. This time he had 1 1/2 feet of his large intestine taken out due to diverticulitis. Basically diverticulitis is referred to as the wonder bread disease, meaning pockets form along the inner wall and can cause holes. We've known for about 3 years that he has it. In the last year he's had several flare-ups and one very bad infection from it. After talking with two different surgeons after his gallbladder issue, they both strongly suggested he have this done. The hope is now he will feel A LOT better and we don't have to worry about more infections! He is home now and has one more week at home before he goes back for his check-up to clear him to go back to work. He needed to be out a total of three weeks. He spent five days in the hospital.
Jason is doing better every day this week (2nd week). He's eating normally, although he doesn't have much of an appetite and able to move around more and more.

Katie and Ben are doing really well with everything. They have been very helpful with Jason. Katie and Ben both love riding their bikes. Oh yeah, Ben learned how to ride his bike without his training wheels. He already popped one tire he rode it so much on our driveway, which is dirt and rocks. Luckily Nana and Poppy were able to bring down one that their friend Peyton outgrew! Phew. He is a maniac on it. He is crazy riding up and down, turning and crashing into my flowers and bushes. He's made many skids, he loves this and when he falls off, he just gets right back up!

Katie is very happy for her brother. She's been having fun painting, riding her bike and doing her archery in the back yard. She's had quite the spring with sleepovers and birthday parties! She has a very busy schedule.

Me, well I'm busy with work and looking forward to summer break. We had a very busy year at school and it went smoothly overall considering it was only my second year and my partners first year. It helped that she and I use to work together in birth to three so we knew each other pretty well. Now that it's spring, I'm trying hard to get the gardens in order. It is not easy. I get overwhelmed by the ones in the front. I'm going to try to stay ahead of it. The back yard gardens are looking good. Katie and I planted a lot of morning glories. We have them all over and heading towards the posts on the back porch. Wish us luck!

So here are a few pictures of some of the things we've been up to. Thanks for checking in and I hope you leave us a note to say hi:)

Easter Day

Katie painting outside.

Katie and Ben getting along! I caught it on film!!!



We watched my parents dog, Koda for a few days. I knew this wasn't going to be good but I kept taking pictures instead of stopping him...
CLICK ON EACH PICTURE SO YOU CAN GET THE FULL EFFECT!


Katie had a play/musical at school. Each second grade put on a short musical skit. It was very cute and well done.




Katie and I went to Aunt Marcella's Bridal Shower.

Memorial Day Parade, Brownie's march.




Today was Jason's first day out since his surgery. He wanted to go see his sweetie pie. It was a long morning but he was glad he went. It was good to get some fresh air.

Ben Rebounds Again...

How can I stay mad at this born comic!
This morning we were on our way to drop off the kids at school before heading to the hospital for Jason's surgery. FYI he got his gallbladder out and is home recuperating.

Anyway, Katie and Jason are talking more about the procedure and she asked if he was allergic to anything. Jason said no. She asked if she was. We said no.

Ben is sitting in the way back of the minivan and yells, "Am I allergic to anything?"
We tell him no so far.

Ben yells up in his matter of fact Ben voice, "Well I wish I was allergic to MILK. Then I wouldn't have to drink it!"

We could not stop laughing.

Oh, Ben.

P.S.
Very Funny comment DAD left regarding the last post. We'll see if you can zip it on Thursday :) !

I Could Scream!!!!

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Katie decided to paint outside while we were working in the gardens/yard. Ben was around doing lots of different things. He was here, there and everywhere.

The phone rang. Ben came out to tell me it was for me. It was Kerri.

I go in the house and take the call. While I'm talking I'm looking into the living room through the kitchen and Ben says, "It was an accident."

I kinda blanked out. I listened to Kerri but didn't chat, because I was zoning out from the comment. As I am listening to Kerri I walk to the living room.

My face turns sour, my heart starts beating really fast and I feel myself getting ready to explode. I say goodbye to Kerri without mentioning what I am looking at. I go back in the kitchen to grab a sponge and paper towels.

Ben says, "Are you mad?"
I say, "Ben I am so mad at you I can't even yell at you."

I turn around and Ben has green paint on his nose, on his shirt and dripping down his leg.

I walk to the living room and stare at my lovely carpet that now has green paint on it.

Ben says, "It was an accident. Are you mad?"
I say, "Yes Ben I am. Why on earth would you think you could get your own paint and do it in the living room?"
Ben says, "I did but it spilled."
I say, "Ben go get me more wet paper towels."

This was the day that Ben's life was spared. I could have gone ballistic. I could have really yelled at him. I could have taken away every toy and every privilege until he was 18.

For those of you who have been around since we moved to this house, you know how much I love my living room carpet.

Well, now it has some green accent to it. It was acrylic paint.

Mom, Dad, please don't say anything.

It was one of those times, that I said to myself as I'm trying to soak up the green paint, "Lynn why did you leave the acrylic paint in the children's paint box?"

That is why I think my inner self control stepped in and God layed his hand on me to stay in control and not yell at Ben.

This is yet another lesson for us as parents. For us younger parents, who are learning from their mistakes...
If you let your kids use acrylic paint for wood craft projects, DON'T put it back in THEIR paint box.
Enough said.

Heard Around the House....

We are driving in the car and he says, "I wish I still had my tonsils."
Mom, "Why? You aren't getting sick anymore buddy."
Ben, "Because I want them back. Katie still has hers. Why does she still have hers?"
Katie, "My tonsils weren't to big. Your tonsils were to big so they had to be taken out."
Ben, "I want mine back!"
Katie, "Well, your not in charge. God has the plan for you and you needed your tonsils out."

The kids LOVE riding their bikes! They want to be outside all day.
Well, I'm outside puttering around and I hear Ben talking to himself and setting his bike up just so. When I asked him what he was doing he told me he was getting ready to race his friends! "They are invisible mom!" He was waiting at the starting line!
He also has an invisible radio on his bike:)

Last night I'm putting the kids to bed. Katie tries every angle to get to stay up later. She's just not tired she tells me!
Then I go to Ben and he tells me, "I'm just fun Mom. I can't sleep I'm all fun."
Huh? He went on to explain that he can't go to bed, he has to have fun all the time and sleeping is not fun!!!!

I love how he thinks!