What not to say

The following words/phrases are currently banned from our home.

Duh. (which is amusing to see how many words they can come up with which have the word "duh" in them)

She did it.

She started it.

It's no fair.

Can you buy me (fill in the blank)?

Seven

Seven is...

happy

considerate

caring

loving

zany

boisterous

goofy

overcoming fears

trying new things

laughter

Seven is love.

Happy birthday sweet, Meenie!

Summer vacation 2010

One week into summer vacation and I finally got the girls to sit down and compile a list of things hey want to do this summer.

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I think we also need to work on penmanship and spelling :)

Looks like we will be busy!

Happy Father's Day

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Happy Father's Day to the best father (and husband) ever.

Thanks for always being there for us.

Where The Wild Things Are

At some point last summer, after we attended our first letterboxing gathering, we knew we wanted to host our own. We enlisted the help of a few friends and started planning. By December, we nailed down a location and set the official wheels in motion. We planned, we carved, we asked for other carvers, and we waited. Finally, the first week of June arrived and we set out to plant. The husband, a friend, Moe, her buddy and I set forth to get things planted. After all, what sort of letterboxing event would it be if there were no boxes to find???? These two little guys were great - they didn't complain (much) and we were able to zip through planting the first series. Then we parted ways and dragged Moe onto the second series. All told - she did about 4 miles with us that day without much complaints. Maybe the key to hiking is NOT taking ALL the kids :P

We wrote up the clues and watched the weather. As of the beginning of the week, it was NOT in our favor. But by the end of the week, it looked like it would be a decent day.

Sunday (the 13th) dawned and we packed up the car and headed off. After minimal setting up, we waited. Before long, the first attendees arrived and the fun began. The kids played, making new friends and visiting with old friends. We had over 120 people attend (!) - from as far away as Maine (now that's dedication). We met new people and saw people that we hadn't seen in awhile. We were finally able to put faces to trail names. There was laughter and fun. We ate, we exchanged and some of us hit the trails. The weather held out - it was mostly cloudy and overcast, but it was comfortable. The day sped by and before we knew it, it was time to pack up and go. Overall, the day was a smashing success!

The first question the next day was: when can we do that again?

Next up on the agenda - the Husband is planning a 15 mile hiking session - date to be determined in the near future!

Bye-bye hair

It occurred to me that not only have I been neglecting this here space, but many, many things have happened recently, so I will try to catch up on some of the important highlights.

Unlike in the past, where Moe would routinely chop of her hair, she actually let it grow. And grow. And grow.

And on May 22nd, Moe and Meenie each cut off 12 inches of hair which they donated to Wigs for Kids.

Before

After

I'm so proud of them for their decision and for sticking to it. Because let me tell you, each morning, it was a bear to comb all that hair! Their new shorter do's are much easier to take care of and will much cooler this summer!

My baby...

First day of school

June 4th (yes that long ago), my baby did it, she graduated kindergarten. We had some bumps along the way and going into kindergarten, we knew it was a big possibility that she may have had to repeat it. Mid-year, she was still struggling a bit. Come March, when it was make it or break it time, her name was still in the retention pile. Her teacher , bless her, kept putting her paperwork back to the bottom. And then suddenly, it clicked. She brought it all together and showed that she could do it.

So without further adieu, I introduce to you, the First Grader....

Last Day (bringing us her kindergarten scrapbook)

Her last day was bittersweet. We are so proud of her for all her hard work. But at the same time, we absolutely LOVE the kindergarten teacher. It's so sad to know that we will never have another child in her class again.