Happy Birthday Emily Ryann!!

Twelve years old! GASP!!  What can I say about Em?  First, she was definitely my biggest baby at 9lbs 15oz!  She was my only late arriver (10 days) had the longest hospital stay at 7 days.  She has consistently ranked in the 100th percentile every year since birth for height and weight, and is now taller than me. She is the only one who has had injuries (minor) requiring staples and stitches so far.  She is as sweet as they come, just ask anyone.  She is a hard-worker in school and very helpful with her sister and brother at home. Happy 12th Birthday to my sweet girl!

 

Resolutions

I have never been big on New Year's Resolutions.  This year, 2010, for some reason, maybe the start of a new decade, I keep coming up with more and more "resolutions" or personal goals.
1. Take better care of "me"
2. Procrastinate less
3. Be more punctual
4. Find my old friend "organized, responsible adult"
5. Eat out less
6. Go real food shopping at least twice a month, not just trips to Costco
7. Get a better handle on my finances
8. Remember to bring the reusable shopping bags into the store
9. Stay more up to date on current events
10. Read at least 5 books this year for pleasure
That's a good start.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve - had to work again.  Scott and the kids partied it up at home with friends!

On New Years Day we got together with the Sager's and Geis' for a belated Christmas Brunch.  We got to see Kitty Cat Bob and Priscilla, who we don't see very often, because they live in PA.

After brunch, ironically, we left to go to PA!  We headed up to the Poconos for the weekend for fun in the snow.  Scott and the kids had their first snowboard lessons and I watched :).  We were going to all go tubing the following day, but the bitter cold discouraged us and we headed home.

We did stop at the Crayola Factory on the way home, luckily it was open, and we had a great time!

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

I did have off from work on Christmas Eve.  We had an early dinner with the Guthrie Family and then off to church to see Lauren.  She was the head angel in the Children's Mass at our church.  She practiced for weeks.  She did a really great job, I was so proud of her.  After, we went home, baked some cookies, and tracked Santa on Norad.com.

I don't think I was in my bed for more than 5 minutes, before Lauren was poking me, asking if she could go and inspect the contents of her stocking.  I'm not quite sure if she ever went back to sleep in her bed, I did sleep however, for a few hours anyway.  Then I remember Dylan's voice waking me "Hey, Emmy! Come get your BIKE out of the living room!" LOL

I didn't take many pictures Christmas morning.  I was pre-occupied with the fact that I had to go to work at 3PM.  For some reason, I thought I would be OK with it, and I wasn't.  So, Scott and the kids went off to his Sister's for Christmas Dinner, and I went to work. One of the non-perks of nursing.

Dylan turns "7"

OMG, how time flies! 7 years gone by in a flash!  He is not a baby anymore, but will always be the baby in the family.

December 2009

It's not easy getting a picture of the three of them together!

Tried to get Sadie in the picture - she is focused on Scott, her favorite, and the treat in his hand!

A Day in NYC

One of my favorite things to do is visit NYC around the holidays.  This year, I had it all planned out for my weekend off from work in early December.  About 20 minutes into the car ride, Scott and I realized it just wasn't going to work out that day.  The kids were fighting in the back seat, nothing was going right, so we turned around and went home.  I was so disappointed, I went right to bed :(.

We decided to make another attempt about two weeks later, this time during the week, and the day could not have gone any smoother.  The weather was perfect and the kids were all good.  We walked through the park, saw the tree, went to "Top of the Rock", and had a great lunch.  I had no complaints :).

 

 

 

Kid's Activities

Emily "bridged" to the next level of  Girl Scouts -- Cadettes.  We are very proud :).

Lauren started violin lessons in school.  We'll have to wait and see how she does, she tends to lose interest quickly.  Her latest is "Acting classes" and "Pottery classes".

Dylan and Lauren both played Soccer this fall.  They both loved it.  Are they natural athletes? Umm, no.  They do enjoy it though :).

Weddings

Fall 2009 was definitely Wedding season!  Scott and I attended three weddings.  Joyce (my cousin) & James, Greg (Scott's cousin) & Christine, and Keith (my cousin) & Meghan.  When I find the pictures, I will post them here.

September - Back to School

I have pictures from the first day of school, just have to find them :).  The start of the new school year went very smoothly for everyone.

Emily began 6th grade in the Middle School.  Lauren began 4th grade and Dylan started 1st grade.  I was a little worried about Dylan, but he has made a major turn around since pre-school :).  Lauren had first day jitters so bad, something new for her.  She did fine though.  Then, on the 2nd day of school, her teacher announced she was retiring.  It took about two months for a new permanent teacher to start, but I think she was worth the wait.

Virginia

During the last week of summer, we decided to take a mini vacation and go camping.  I had never been camping before, the kids hadn't either.  We decided to go to a campground in Virginia called Cherrystone for a long weekend.  I think it was the best long weekend ever.  The campground was awesome, very family oriented, with lots to do.  The best part was that everyone was able to relax and enjoy the time together as a family.  We can't wait to go back this summer and stay a little longer.

By the way, we stayed in a cabin, not tents.  The cabin had a mini fridge and electric.  I know it sounds like cheating, but for us first timers, it was perfect!

Summer 2009

Our summer started off with a bang.  Lauren took a fall while playing outside and ended up fracturing her wrist.  She had a beautiful pink cast (not waterproof) for almost 4 weeks.  It really didn't slow us down much though, we still went to the beach, swam in the pool, but boardwalk and theme park rides were off limits.  Not the end of the world, although she may have disagreed with me ;).

Dylan lost his first and second tooth this past summer...we are still waiting for the third, fourth, etc.

Emily got braces put on, which she was so excited for.  She carefully plans what color rubber bands go on at each visit according to the month, holiday, or occasion coming up.

Let me explain...

September through December 2009 were very busy months and seemed to fly by, so I am going to try and catch up now at the beginning of this new year.