Coastie Family

Stronger

2012-01-25T12:24:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I made the plunge and joined a gym. Yes me, Lashelle not Ben. Lashelle has NEVER joined a gym before and working out in a room full of strangers watching you was never really something that I was into. Turns out I was completely wrong about the whole gym thing. It has actually (to my surprise) been a wonderful experience. I was a ball full of nerves at 1st, always watching to see if people were watching me, hiding on the corner machine and staying FAR far away from that group class area. I even think I may have promised that you would never find me in "that" room. Here we are almost 2 months later and if you need me I will be in "that" room or on the machine right smack in the middle of it all. I no longer hang out in the daycare as long as possible secretly hoping Chloe will cling onto me to give me a reason to leave. Which she never did by the way, she is killing it in daycare!!! Finally a child of mine that likes daycare!

I love sports and miss being able to head to the field or court after work. But lets be honest I haven't worked in almost 8 years (yeah for stay at home mommies) and I have been living in the "past." Sure I go with Ben every now and then to play volleyball but nothing to write home about. Newport was different we played in a league and had a kick ass sitter so I was able to go all the time. I knew the only way I was going to get this body into shape was drag my ass to the gym and work for it.

Gym is hard work and I really struggled to find the fun in it. You go in kick your own ass on the machine, group class, weights, or if you are really lucky your trainer will work you extra hard that day just for fun. I have a love/hate relationship with him still. But today I think I may have turned the chapter. I actually ENJOYED every lunge, plank, side plank with leg lifts, kettle bells, jump rope, rabbit kicks, squat, and medicine ball and the rest of the stuff I blacked out for ;). I did all these things without the violent shakes and in control of my own body. What a GREAT feeling!!!! So turns out this gym thing is working out and I am getting stronger and on my way to a better me :D

Now if only I could get the diet thing under control I may be on to something. Baby steps, baby steps

Discipline, time outs and following through

2012-01-18T13:02:00.000-05:00

There is something to be said about having your children close in age. The boys are 2 1/2 years apart and while disciplining them may not have always been easy it came natural. I was so used to following through and time outs with Bryce because I was still being challenged daily with Noah. Somedays it seemed like someone was ALWAYS in time out or that every minute and every breath was used to repeat what you just said. I learned the art of 2nd chances, when to let things go and I was pretty awesome at picking my battles. There were nights when nothing would help but Daddy and a good bottle of wine and there were nights when you just needed to cry in defeat. But it was all worth it because I think we raised two pretty awesome little guys!

Then almost 4 years later came Chloe. This little adorable toddler we have gets away with murder around here! No really she does. Partly because her Dad and Brothers think everything she does is adorable and laugh their heads off. Yes even her Dad! But mostly because I am lazy at home and do not do very much discipline or time outs with her and forgot following through on anything I say, she knows I am not going to at this point and THAT'S a problem. I noticed this at the dinner table last week, she rules the table. Sings songs, plays with her food, puts her feet on the back of the chair making a plank with the table and chair as her prop, she yells over the boys talking, bangs her fork on the plate and just gets down when she wants. No joke its out of control. Then I started to noticed she just yells and gets her way, takes things from her brothers (which they totally let her), and is super impatient.

So today we are turning over a new leaf. I/We will take more time to follow through and put her in time outs. We will start to teach her discipline and what is right and wrong. She may only be 2 but I know she understands. We must start this now because this Summer is coming and fast and with an out of control toddler there will be NO fun.

Where is the snow?

2012-01-17T11:04:00.000-05:00

That is the question I get daily in this house. Noah and Bryce are DYING for some snow to play in. Not just a dusting here and there no these boys want some serious snow. You know the snow that's so deep you almost lose a child walking across the lawn kinda snow. This is the 1st year we hired a plow guy and have yet to need his services. While I am super excited for the day I can sit inside with all 3 children with a warm cup of coffee and watch someone else clear my driveway and walkway I can also wait :) Ben and I are loving the no snow factor that we have going on here in NE this winter, us CA kids like to be able to see the grass ;). But my poor, poor kids are being tortured.

Last night we finally got some snow. And by some I mean very little but just enough to put a smile on the boys faces. No need to call in the plow trucks or anything but snow gear was in order this am. Noah loved every minute of walking down to the bus stop in his snow boots kicking the snow. Bryce however got to stay cuddled up in bed as he was up again last night sick. Chloe touched the snow this morning and quickly said "no snow hands freezing mama" love her!

Noah was hoping for it to stick around so he could play in it after school. Unfortunately, it is already melting and I can see the grass again.

What a difference a year makes!

Noah turns 8

2012-01-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

8! Seriously?!? We have been parents for 8 years now and we couldn't imagine having a more amazing little guy. Noah was such a happy baby, toddler and now big kid. He amazes us everyday with everything he does. Not to mention he sets the bar pretty high for the best BIG brother EVER!

We celebrated Noah for the whole weekend and it was a blast! Friday was his Birthday and he was off to school with a smile to celebrate with his class. While he was at school our dear friends Erik, Shae and Liam came up from the Cape. This was very special to Noah as he calls Erik "his 1st buddy" The Watson's have pretty much been there for all of Noah's 1st and a steady part of his life. He loves them dearly and couldn't wait to get home to see them all. We then loaded up with more friends and headed out to Birthday dinner. Saturday was Soccer as usual (with the exception of Bryce as he ended up with a stomach virus and was down for the count, yes that was LOTS of fun) Noahs team had a huge win that day and he scored a few goals himself :) I wasn't there as I was still holding up the puke bucket ;(. After the game he had a sleepover at a buddys house then Sunday was the party. What better way to say Happy Birthday then to take 8 boys to the movies. Our friends helped us chaperone and it was a blast! The kids were amazing and everyone had a great time.

Motivation

2012-01-11T12:24:00.000-05:00

Today was Bryce's 12th trip to the ENT in the past 5 weeks. Okay that number might be inflated a little bit but seriously not that much. Last month he ended up with a double ear infection, pneumonia and strep throat. What can I say the boy knows how to do it right. Due to the mass amounts of drainage coming from his ear we were not able to get a hearing test done until today. All we knew is that from the pressure and drainage he was having troubles with hearing from his one ear.

Of course Chloe didn't sleep well last night and I had to skip the gym to make this appt so we were all a little edgy. All Bryce could think about was getting back in time for Library. All these little things on my mind I completely forgot how much fun hearing tests are with a tired toddler and an edgy Bryce. By the grace of God we made it threw the test and he passed his hearing test.

After we left Mom needed some motivation to get me through the day

this is my motivation. There is nothing better then a Starbucks Double Shot over ice on days like these. Most of you know how much coffee means to me and my life and THIS drink right here IS my lifeline.

Transfer season or the lack thereof.......

2012-01-09T13:13:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again for us. Time to put your picks in, patiently wait (or in my case not so patiently) for Mr. Detailer to tell you what the next 4 years of your life will look like. Pack your boxes, ship your cars, make travel plans and start a new adventure....or is it?

Ben received orders a few months back and it turns out we will NOT be moving this year!!! We are all very excited to stay here in NE and in Hampton. Ben will be moving units but just "up the road" to Station Portsmouth Harbor. While he will have a new job with new adventures the kids and I get to enjoy life in Hampton. This is VERY exciting for us, we love our house, our neighborhood, our schools, our sports and most of all OUR FRIENDS! As most of you military families understand this is VERY hard to LOVE all these things. And yes the day will come and we will have to say goodbye but that day is not now :)

So cheers to another 3 years in Hampton, NH <3

Did I mention how absolutely GORGEOUS the new station is?

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T21:15:00.000-05:00

Happy 2012!!! 2011 was an amazing year and we have little complaints here in the Molnar household but we are all looking forward to an amazing 2012. We kicked off the New Year right with a little adult/kid party at our friends house. No better way to ring in the New Year with some pretty amazing people! The kids (yes all 3) made it till midnight and we all watched the ball drop together <3 The next day we had our annual Marland house brunch. Which was a blast as always. The kids are all getting so big now..tear...but it allows us adults to sit and relax while they play. Of course it helped that it was almost 50 outside on January 1st!!!!

Noah's Birthday is a few weeks away *more tears* followed closely by Chloe and Mom. Lets not forget Valentines Day, my favorite. No better way to start the New Year then with celebrating.

I know I have been HORRIBLE at updating pictures and blogging. I blame it all on Facebook ;) I am not one for New Year resolutions but maybe this year I will try and blog more. Here are some pictures from 2011 <3

Puzzle time

2011-04-21T11:18:00.003-04:00

Play ball

2011-04-21T10:51:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year again, Spring has sprung here in NE (well kind of) its time to put away those indoor Soccer cleats and dust off those ball bags. Yep its Baseball time again. Noah will be moving up to Rookie this year. Which means no more tee, he is thrilled to get rid of the tee, and along with Rookie comes weekly practices. Dad and Tom (our really good friends out here) are teaming up again this year to coach these ever rowdy 7 year old boys! Practice stresses me out right now but I'm sure we will all adjust just fine. Noah will be practicing on Thursdays from 6-7:30. Yes I said 7:30! This is really going to cut into my kids bedtimes and I'm hoping that Dad will be able to make every practice allowing me to at least get 2 in bed on time.

Bryce not only gets to play Tee Ball this year he gets to play in the same league has his brother! He will be one of the youngest on the team at 4 but he is super excited. Tom is his coach this year and this is a big deal for Bryce. Not only has Tom been his "buddy" out here, he has also watched Dad and Tom coach the older boys for the past 2 years. And he gets to be on his friends on his team. I'm so excited to see my little peanut out on the field holding his own with the older kids this year.

So Saturdays will be split between two different ball fields cheering on two different very special boys. Chloe will be in attendance for it all cheering loudly for both her big brothers!

Go Pirates and White Sox!!!!

USB cord nightmare

2011-03-24T15:34:00.002-04:00

I went to upload some adorable photos today of Bryce and Chloe doing puzzles together. However I am now tangled up in USB cord hell. Why do we have so many USB cords and do we really use/have all the gadgets these cords to go?

Heaven on a stick

2011-03-10T09:33:00.005-05:00

Starbucks is now selling these delishish little pieces of heaven on a stick. Have you tried a cake pop yet? I suggest you drop everything and run to your nearest Starbucks and try it. My favorite is the Rocky Road YUMMY! And starting today from 2-5 with any drink purchase you get to try one for FREE. Can you guess where I will be this afternoon?

I must learn to make these little delishish cakes!

Sledding

2011-01-11T14:20:00.003-05:00

Over Christmas break, Ben aka "Dad" was able to take the week of with the boys. We did lots of fun stuff that week, but the group favorite was sledding. Noah got his 1st snowboard for Christmas and Bryce got a snow boogie board. Chloe didn't get any snow toys this year but did get a comfy outfit to keep her warm ;). Bryce has done a 180 from last year and absolutely loved sledding! We couldn't keep up with him...good thing he had a helment because he seemed to always be going down head first! Noah loved his new snowboard and is dying for more snow to go again. I don't think Chloe is looking forward to another sledding day as much as her big brothers ;)

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-06T08:10:00.002-05:00

Wow its 2011 already! Crazy how fast they go by now. I remember when I was a kid time went so slow, you know how it took FOREVER to get out of high school now its just flying by. Lots of fun things planned this year and lots of same ol' same ol'. This will be our last full year here at this Station :(. So that means empty your bucket list year and make the most out of the area because you might not be staying.

So I left off with family pictures. How totally awesome are they? I know, I know. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years has all come and gone and we are now gearing up for Noah's 7th Birthday, Mom's Birthday and Chloe turns the BIG 1 next month!!!! We also have winter trips (cross our fingers and toes) planned, family visits, soccer, junior gym, more soccer and we are already tossing around Baseball talk. Its only January and I feel like I'm living in March already.

Okay kids~

Noah~ Is almost 7!!! I can't believe it, seems like yesterday I was running after him in Newport climbing up everything just to jump off. He is still an amazing kid and still in every way my cuddle bug. He is doing awesome at school and for the most part enjoys going everyday. He is kicking some serious butt in Soccer and is learning to snowboard. Of course he thinks he knows everything and will tell you all the time.

Bryce~ Our little Bryce is still as funny as ever! Still our comedian of the family (next to Dad of course) He is loving preschool and they love him! He has his little friends now and loves his very own play dates. He is still doing Junior Gym and is itching to start Soccer. He might also be starting TBall this Spring. He has had a few issues with his ears and throat. But we are hoping this will all be corrected soon and he will be back to feeling 100%.

Chloe~ Our little Princess is almost 1. She is such a doll and raising little girls is much different then little boys. She is just the sweetest most gentle baby ever. Very cautious with every move she makes and loves loves loves her babies! She is crawling at mach speed and starting to take a few steps here and there. A little slow on the teeth but not lacking on the pain of teething. I would love to say "she is into everything like a curious 1 year old" However she isn't. She is a very easy baby. She loves her brothers more then anything and has to be where they are, and they want her with them at all times. Watching her little face light up when Daddy gets home just melts my heart.

So there you have it. Up to date and ready to roll. Hopefully this year will allow for more time to blog and share our funny little stories with you all.

Family Pictures 2010

2010-10-08T16:01:00.004-04:00

Last weekend we loaded up the troops and headed out for family pictures. Of course I had this master plan of Chloe taking the perfect nap, the boys laying down to have quite time and just laying low before pictures. Well that didn't go over as planned but as you can see from these awesome pictures everything turned out perfect anyway :). Not sure how Jaime pulls it off but everytime she takes our pictures we love them even more then the last ones. If anyone is in need of a totally awesome photographer let me know, trust me she rocks ;)

The rest are on her website. jaimemarlandphotography.com

Apple Picking

2010-09-27T12:39:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago we loaded up (by we I mean the kids and I since Daddy was working) and went Apple Picking with friends. What I thought was going to be a mess of a day turned out to be AWESOME! I love it when that happens. Chloe was sick the night before and I was running on little to no sleep but I knew I had to get the boys out or we would all go crazy, so off we went. I snuggled Chloe for the day and it worked great for her. I was sore and hot most the day but I guess snuggling a sick 20 pound little girl can do that to you. Noah climbed EVERY tree he could and loved every minute of it, Bryce ate every apple he could and loved it, Chloe slept and seemed pretty happy.

After we headed to our friends so the boys could run and play some more. I got to hang with Cheryl and Chloe and just relax. It was a great way to spend a duty day. Everyone was so tired by the time we got home not one child cried for Dad at bedtime. Mission Accomplished ;)

On the move...

2010-09-27T12:35:00.002-04:00

Chloe is starting to take her 1st steps!!! I know totally craziness but its true. She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING moving or not. Doesn't work so well when she tries to pull up on the dog but she is learning :). Just last night she went from my basket to the ottoman and took a few steps around (holding on) to get the toy she wanted. Its all downhill from here. Guess I better get to posting that video of her crawling now that she is walking......

And so it begins

2010-09-24T13:23:00.002-04:00

Bryce is going to be the kid that gives me a reason to blog EVERYDAY, at least while school is in. These poor teachers have no idea what they are in for. I say this because it has taken me 4 years, the first 2 were painful, to figure Bryce out. Part of me is afraid to let someone else handle him in fear that he will change and also in fear that he is MY baby, I'm the only one who can help him, I'm the kisser, hugger, tear catcher, lover of the Tylenol bottle when he screams, the take a deep breath its going to be okay person. He was a very difficult baby and while he has gotten much better he still has his "Bryce moments" and I know better then anyone that they can be draining. All this said he is still my little boy and would not have him any other way, to me he is PERFECT!

I walk in his school today and he is sitting down playing, everything seems fine. Then he stands up and limps over to me holding his knee with this look of "Mom my knee is about to fall off I am in so much pain" Then his teachers sit me down and explain to me that he took a fall today at recess. He fell off the rock the kids all climb and got a cut. Let me tell you this cut is more like a finger nail scratch and to most kids it would have never even phased them. But not our Bryce. He screamed like he had broken his knee, had to be carried into class to clean it up, and would NOT walk for an hour they said.

Being the over sympathetic Mom I am...I burst into laughter. The teachers look at me like I'm some crazy Mom and then start laughing with me. They said they tried everything to calm him down and he just wasn't going for it. They felt much better after talking to me about what took place and I walked out with my still limping 4 year old Bryce ;)

coughcoughsniffle*sniffle

2010-09-23T14:47:00.002-04:00

These past few weeks have been filled with inhalers, runny noses, fevers, doctor office visits, pulling all nighter's, driving all night to find medicine, sleeping in rocking chairs, sneezes *bless you*, lots of dirty snotty laundry, boogers and tears. But I'm (almost) happy to say its almost over. WHEW!

It all started back when Bryce was so kind and shared his new preschool germs with his baby sister. From there it went to Mom and Noah and Dad has been in the clear so far. But poor little Chloester didn't do so hot with her cold. She is still full of boogers and a semi mess but we will take that over what we had before. Mom is doing okay but would be much better if she wasn't sick at all ;)

I am so not ready for Fall/Winter season and all the little germs it brings

Preschool blues

2010-09-15T13:38:00.003-04:00

So my over happy little 4 year who couldn't wait to start school is having a few problems. Any surprise that Bryce is the one giving me a hard time? I think he is just wired to be my "different" child. But it does (like always) break my heart into a million pieces. He doesn't like to play with the kids, he is always alone playing when I pick him up. When asked he says "Mom I just like my alone time" As most of you know that is NOT our Bryce.

Today just broke my heart, he was standing at the gate waiting for me trying not to cry. He wasn't doing a very good job as the tears started to fall. He was broken hearted because he wanted to have lunch at school. I tried my best to explain to him that we "Mom and Dad" needed to talk about it but today wasn't going to work. (as we all know staying longer means more money and that's slim pickings around here) Well the director already has a soft spot for Bryce and asked for me to pack his lunch Friday and we will see how it goes. Which means Daddy might be playing less golf then he would like.

The teachers keep telling me that he plays great with all the kids and he doing really well. While he still needs work on a few things they all say he is well above his learning curve so they have no worries about him. However his Mommy does so I will be volunteering at his school next week.

Mama Mama Mama

2010-09-14T11:26:00.002-04:00

Thats right we have a talker!!!! And her 1st words are Mama!!! Im so over excited to hear my little girl say Mama, both boys said Dada first so this is a big deal around here. All day long its "mama mama mama" The best was when she woke up this morning stood up *yes she is standing now* and called for Mama. Melted my heart

So our little princess can now:
crawl
pull her self to stand on objects
laugh like crazy
pick food up to eat
talk

Where has 7 months gone?

Fall

2010-09-10T12:33:00.002-04:00

Fall means the start of many things around this crazy house of ours. Fall means its time to dust of those jackets and make sure they still fit *sigh*, make sure you remember to BRING them with you every time you leave the house, remember your camera when going for a drive because you always find the prettiest fall tree when its at home, dig out those soccer cleats from the bottom of the closet because soccer is here, daily asthma meds and checking that you have a rescue inhaler with you AT ALL TIMES, flu shots, shorter days and longer nights, Halloween costumes and party planning, trick or treating is near, family photo shoots, leaves all over your lawn and a semi crazy husband feeling the need to pick up every leaf as it falls.

So I say bring it on we are ready for you fall :)

Preschool.......

2010-09-09T19:30:00.004-04:00

Yes the rumors are all true....sad but oh so true. Our little Bryce started Preschool this week. He did awesome and loved every minute of being the "big kid" Dad took the day off of work to be home for his special day, which of course made it even better. The night before we took him out to celebrate his night before his "big day." As soon as we walked threw the door he ran upstairs brushed his teeth, got into his jammies and set his clothes out for the next day. *SO FREAKIN CUTE* He then had to count to 20 for us and sing his ABC's to "practice" for his day. Then off to bed he went (it was only 6:30)

It was so cute watching Dad hold his little big hand into school....that was until Bryce let go and looked up at Dad and said "Daddy I don't need you to hold my hand anymore" Yeah we cried too. He walked right in hung up his backpack and was off. I had to ask for a hug and kiss and we were both taken into the other room for our hugs. There was no hugging in front of the teachers and kids. That little turd ;) However I did get the biggest full sprint to Mom hug when we picked him up so that more then made up for it.

1st Grade

2010-09-07T11:15:00.003-04:00

All the kicking and screaming, worrying and crying didn't change a thing my little love bug started 1st Grade!!!! I was as brave as I could be putting on a smile as he walked up the walkway and into the doors. Then he turned and waved back and I lost it. Yes all the kicking and screaming was from me his Mother ;( He was as proud and happy as can be to start back to school and be the "big" 1st Grader now. 1st Grade is a big deal because you get to be on the 2nd level of the school. I know he is going to learn all sorts of great things this year but growing up is hard on Mom.

6 months

2010-08-25T14:14:00.002-04:00

Our little princess had her 6 month check up today. Of course the day when it is pouring down rain (I mean buckets of rain) I have to drag all 3 kids to the doctor office, and of course since its pouring down rain guess who is at work due to weather? But you can all sleep well knowing we made it and didn't drop anyone off on the corner. ;)

Chloe is growing great and healthy as can be!! She is 19lbs 13oz, 26.5 inches tall and her head is 17 inches round. WHOO HOO!! Doctor says she looks great but needs to up her formula intake....umm hello did you see her weight?

I did learn that I need to take the Molnar children to the doctor more often here. We get in the room and there is a basketball hoop. You know the kind that hangs on the back of the door. Well the boys were super excited (like always) and like always I told them "NO" Well the nurse said to me "oh come on Mom they can play, here you go boys, go wild have fun while Mom and I talk" Are you out of your mind? Did she really think we would be able to talk over my 2 boys playing basketball in a room the size of my closet? That lasted about 5 minutes before I had them both sitting quietly in fear of their lives. The nurse was impressed and said "Wow they are so good I have never seen kids go from "that" to "this" that fast good job Mom" Ugh

Hello are you there?

2010-08-24T13:30:00.002-04:00

WOW its been awhile since we last posted....lets all admit you are not totally surprised are you? So whats new and excited around here, lets see. Chloe is 6 months now (going in for shots tomorrow YIKES) She is moving around pretty good but still not crawling yet. But she has managed to get the backwards scoot around the house down so chasing her brothers and dog is no problem for this little girl. She is still the best baby ever and my little sleeper (YES) Bryce turned 4 and is getting ready to his big preschool debut. I just hope he isn't let down by the whole thing. Bryce has also learned how to ride his bike with no training wheels!!! So lots of bikes rides have been going on around here. Noah is ready to take on the 1st grade!!!! Just typing that makes me want to cry ;( Where did the time go? I sware he was just starting preschool the other day. But Mom will promise to be strong and not cry for everyone's 1st day of school but we all know I will be a basket case. That's why Ben's making sure to take these days off to be home with me. Such a great guy!

We have been in a sports break this Summer but Soccer is getting ready to start up again. Noah is super excited and I think we are all ready to freeze our you know whats off till indoor starts up. Bryce will do indoor Soccer and Jr Gym again this year. And poor little Chloe will just be dragged around from school, sports and everything in between.

We had lots and lots and lots of family up this Summer and my Mom is making a trip up in October to help out with our kids Halloween Party. Yes we are already in Halloween mode around here.

Well that's about all I have time for now. We have to get out and going. Hopefully I will have time to post all about Chloe's 6 month check up for you all tomorrow ;)

Pictures

2010-07-10T14:58:00.003-04:00

Our friend who happens to be our photographer came out for the 4th this year. And lucky us she brought her camera along for the ride. Here are a few shots that she took of the kids.

5 months

2010-07-06T09:28:00.003-04:00

5 months...really? Its hard to believe that Chloe is 5 months already. She is such a happy baby and so far a very easy baby. She loves everything about her brothers and has this special laugh just for them. I'm not sure what life was like without her around. She is rolling over now and eating solid foods. Soon her family will be here to fuss all over her and she is going to love every minute of it!!!!

J-U-L-Y

2010-07-02T08:35:00.002-04:00

WHOO HOO we made it to July!! July has always been one of the top months in this house and we are super excited it's finally here. I feel like I have been waiting all year for this month!! July is always filled with friends, family, parks, beach, BBQ's, parties, chilled wine, screaming kids, birthday's, and the best part QUITE NIGHTS! We have a super fun filled month ahead of us and I hope I can keep you all in the loop with fun pictures and stories to tell. Up 1st is our neighborhood block party which is looking to be the best one yet! Ben went out last night for his 1st firework run and plans on much more before Sunday. The boys are super excited and I need to hit the store today for some fun filled 4th of July cooking supplies :0. But before all that the kiddos and I are hitting the beach before the madness down there starts. Hope everyone is looking forward to a wonderful month as well

Strawberry picking

2010-07-01T16:04:00.004-04:00

Today I took the kiddos to pick some Strawberry's with a friend of mine. Together we had 2 adults and 5 kids it was fun but the "Dad" help was missed at least by me. We got there and Noah was just so excited he was gone, I'm pretty sure I spent the whole time yelling across the field for him to come closer. Bryce stayed close to Mom (which was a shock) but only because he didn't want to pick the strawberries he only wanted to eat them. I would fill his basket and before I knew it... it was half empty. Poor Chloe wasn't really having Mom bending up and down and all over the place to pick strawberries, her face spent most the time in a strawberry bush. We all had fun and some great laughs but Dad will come next year or we will stick to the buying them at the grocery store ;). The best part by far was the cider doughnuts we picked up the beginning YUMMO!!!!!!!

Mother/Son Fishing Trip

2010-06-21T08:53:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago Noah and I went on a Mother/Son Fishing Trip thats put on every year by the PTA. Noah was SUPER excited and I was well......ummm......excited to see his face light up. I had never been on a charter fishing boat, dont remember ever doing any "real" fishing and I get sea sick. So I was a little nervous as to how this was going to turn out. We took 3 charter boats out and a month before was sign up's, along with sign up's came phone calls to sign up for "boat 2". This was really a big deal in these 6 year olds life. All they talked about was boat "2" it was so funny watching these boys talk up boat "2". As promised boat "2" was the "cool" boat to be on. Every boy in Noah's class and most of his soccer team were on boat "2". The kids had such a great time. We had these deck hands that were supposed to be there for help but we really could have left them at the dock. After Noah and I lost our 1st 5 fish I realized it was time to get dirty. Noah was so bummed out that we kept losing our fish. So up went the sleeves and hair and it was pretty much over from there. While I had a blast with my little man I have to say that fishing is gross and smelly. I did not find a new love for fishing and will only be going fishing once a year with the Hampton PTA. And how did Dad feel about his 1st born and wife going on a fishing boat? Well he was excited for us but made sure he knew every little detail. And I guess it didn't hurt that he had duty that day so every little call from a boat could be heard by him. It did make me feel better knowing that Dad was on duty in case something happened ;)

What happened?

2010-06-20T21:43:00.005-04:00

I had all these great plans on posting every week after baseball and to post all these great pictures of Noah, Dad and the team. Well as we all can see that never happened. Turns out when you have 1 son on the team, a husband coaching, 2 other little ones to attend to and somehow I took on the role of "team Mom" you don't have much time to snap a picture let alone remember to take a camera with you. So our season has come to an end and we all had a great time playing baseball this year. Ben did an awesome job as "coach" and Noah really enjoyed playing ball with the guys. Our team was filled with great kids and some fun parents as well. It did get crazy for me sometimes trying to keep 1 eye on Bryce, either snuggling Chloe or keeping 1 hand on the stroller and somehow getting 10 over excited 5 and 6 year olds in line ready to hit, staying off the hill, exchanging helmets or getting our hats and gloves back on to take the field. But we didn't loose a child nor did anyone get hurt so I guess I did a pretty good job. Here are some pictures that I somehow snapped at our last game of the season.

Noahs Concert

2010-06-02T21:33:00.003-04:00

So Noah had his first Concert at school today. It was so cute. Here is a short clip so everyone can see.

Opening Day

2010-05-07T13:07:00.005-04:00

Last weekend was our Opening Day for Noah's baseball. We were all super excited for the event. Both Ben and I were having flashbacks to our baseball and softball days. I was up at 6am to make sure everyone was ready and out of the house on time. We got to the field at 930am and didn't get home till about 1ish. We had a GREAT day at the ballpark. Ben and Noah spent the whole time with the team doing drills and getting to know each other. Bryce found his friend Sydney (Noah's friends older sister) It was great she played catch with him, took him to the playground and just ran around making sure he was having fun and being safe (LOVE HER) Chloe slept most the time but woke up for a little to say HI to everyone. We had lunch with our friends and then headed home.

Soccer comes to an end

2010-04-17T17:44:00.002-04:00

After 8 months...yes folks 8 months of Soccer we have finally come to an end. Saturday's will no longer consist of racing around trying to get out the door to make it on time, no more yelling from upstairs "Noah find your soccer shoes, Noah where are your soccer socks, Noah your uniform is on your bed come get dressed" No more standing inside watching the boys play, talking with friends, pushing our way threw the crowd or worrying about what DS game will keep Bryce happy. Today was our last game and next Saturday is just practice.

But have no fear Baseball is here!!!! Thats right we will only have a few Saturdays to do nothing before its running around yelling "Where are your cleats, is your glove in your ball bag, Ben don't forget your coaching stuff, Ben your going to be late just take Noah and we will meet you there." Monday is Ben's 1st "coaches" meeting where he will be getting our team roster. We will be the Diamondbacks this year, so hoping for Angels but thats okay. Noah is bummed that we are not the Red Soxs but I guess nobody gets to be the Red Soxs so the kids don't fight. But thanks to Grandpa this family (except Noah) will be in head to toe Angels gear. WHOO HOO!!!

So we are sad that Soccer is over but can't wait for Baseball!!! GO DIAMONDBACKS!!!

CoughCoughSniffle*Sniffle

2010-04-09T13:22:00.002-04:00

This past week we have some sick kids around here, not fun :( Im lucky that it hasn't gotten too bad but we definitely have colds running threw this house. Bryce is going 7 days but he seems to be a pro compared to poor little Chloe. Thats right Chloe has her 1st cold, poor girl. Nights are always the hardest for both of them. Bryce is up most the night hacking his lung out and Chloe has this post nasal drip thing going on. Which of course means she is spitting up more as well. Today I decided that enough was enough and hauled both them to the doctors. Not sure why....we left there with the same info I knew going in. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that made me think they could do something for us? I got some meds for the breathing treatment and was told to ride it out. Oh and watch Chloe for fevers, rash, lack of eating, blah blah blah. Hopefully this will pass soon....

Divided......

2010-04-07T17:45:00.002-04:00

It's Baseball season again, WHOO HOO!!! Although we don't get to watch as many Angel games as we would like out here we are still pretty excited for the upcoming season. However we seem to be divided this year with our teams...cough cough..choke choke. Yes it seems that we have a little Red Soxs fan in this house now. So while Dad and Mom say Go Halos our little love bug of a 6 year old says Go Sox.....clearly he was dropped on his head as an infant ;). We were out and about yesterday and I almost got him his 1st Red Sox baseball hat but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Good thing he is lucky enough to have and awesome Aunt and Uncle who just happen to be Red Sox fans so I figure he can butter them up :).

What makes this Baseball season even better? Noah starts Tee Ball this year!!! We are super excited and to make it even better Ben will be his coach. Yep thats right people, Ben will be in charge of a group of wild 6 year old kids eager and ready to play ball. This should be lots and lots of fun. He will be coaching with our friends from Soccer so Noah is even more excited that Zack will be on his team this year. We got the coaches email yesterday for all the important dates and the season layout.

Lets play ball!!!!!!

Busy Busy Bees

2010-03-30T13:33:00.005-04:00

You can tell Spring is just around the corner over here, things are picking up and schedules are being juggled. We are so excited for Spring to finally show up we can hardly stand it. So what have we been up to? Well a little of everything.

Noah is still full swing into Soccer, he only has 5 weeks left till this crazy never ending Soccer schedule is over. We will all not know what to do with our Saturdays since the last 50 million have been spent going to Seacoast United. Okay maybe not that many but seriously we started this crazy Soccer schedule right before I got pregnant. But no worries Baseball will pick right up where Soccer leaves off. Noah is super excited for Baseball to start, its pretty cute.

Bryce is doing his thing too, which in Bryce world means Wii and DS. We are looking at getting him set up in a Jr. Gym here in Hampton then Soccer again. He will start Preschool next year so we are getting him ready for that.

And little Miss Chloe is doing just GREAT!!!! She is starting to smile alot now and laugh at her crazy brothers. WHEW Im just glad she finds them funny :). Our little girl is growing so fast. She is up to 10.6 lbs and is already 22 inches long. Her 6 week ckup went great and she is as healthy as can be. She even got 3 shots and took them like a champ. She is up to sleeping 6 hours straight at night but we are hoping to build that number up in the next few weeks.

Mom and Dad are just running around trying to keep up with these kids that out number us now. Bens still having fun at work (which is great) and his long winter hours should be coming to an end soon. Which makes Mom very very happy. I'm working on getting better still after my csection....ugh.

Here are some pictures from our super busy crazy weekend we just had. These are from the Egg Dig down at the beach. Yes we are at the beach in our snow clothes, it was freezing. But the kids had a blast so thats all that matters ;)

The kiddos

2010-03-16T20:36:00.004-04:00

6 weeks

2010-03-16T10:04:00.002-04:00

Little Chloe is officially 6 weeks old today! And in 6 weeks I have not found the time to pick up my camera to take some updated pictures of our little princess. I really need to get on that. I'm sure tomorrow I will finally dust it off, the kids have the most adorable St. Patricks Day outfits to wear.

Chloe is doing great! She is up to 5 oz every feeding (little piggy) and seems to be adjusting well. Still need to work on getting day and nights straight but its not too bad. She goes about 5 hours the 1st stretch then takes about an hour and a half to fall back asleep (that's what kills me) then can go another 4 to 5 hours on a good night, which is super helpful when I have to get the boys breakfast, dressed and out the door to school. However, last night was not a good night ~YAWN~ Next week she goes back to the doctor for her shots and check up. I'm curious to know how much weight she has packed on ;)

The boys are just great with her and think she is the cutest thing ever! They are both such big helpers for Mom which is soooo nice. And they both love to call her their "Little Princess"

Signs that you have lived in NE too long....

2010-03-12T08:47:00.004-05:00

~ You oldest says "wicked" way too much

~ Your kids get excited for Spring because you don't have to wear a snow jacket, snow boots, gloves and your hat to school and play outside.

~ Your youngest wants you to go to Dunkin instead of Starbucks for a donut

~ You call Dunkin Donuts just "Dunkin" or "DD"

~ You can actually understand people when they talk

~ You no longer get pissed at everyones attitudes out here, instead you laugh at them. (Which by the way makes them mad)

~ You don't have a freaking heart attack when you get your 3rd over 600 dollar bill for heat in 1 winter.

~ Losing power in the winter is just expected and no longer a shock

Just to name a few......

Weekend updates......

2010-03-08T12:52:00.002-05:00

The weather was absolutely gorgeous this weekend here in NH. Dad had duty all weekend but lucky us the weather wasn't big and he was able to be home for most of it. Chloe is either going threw a growth spurt or she is just going to eat like her big brother Noah. She was eating 4oz every 3 hours all weekend long day and night. So by Sunday Mom was more then tired ~YAWN~

Friday~ Dad had to stay the night due to seas. He was missed but the 3 of us managed just fine. Noah was thrilled that he got to stay up late (830) with Mom and help but Chloe to sleep. Bryce on the other hand was in bed well before 7pm, he gets grouchy. Friday night was a little ruff with Chloe so I was praying that Dad was going to be able to make it home in time for Soccer. Yes, we are still going strong with Soccer. Since last fall we have had Soccer every Saturday with maybe a few days off but not much. I was just thankful that it was a 10:30am game and not 8am!

Saturday~ The kids and I were right on track for making it in time, which means it was 9:30am and I was just getting in the shower about to start my mad rush to get everyone out the door when Dad walked threw the door to save the day! LOVE HIM!!! Noah loves loves loves Soccer and is really becoming quite the little player out there. Its great to see how much progress he has made, however I do wonder if he is becoming a little aggressive. But everyone assures that he is not he is just playing the game. After Soccer we loaded up and drove to the beach. It was so beautiful outside. Then it was home to do some yardwork. We spend the afternoon out back cleaning up sticks and playing. After cleaning up the yard it was time to meet our friends at Wings your Way for Willys (its their bird) Birthday. The kids all had a blast hanging with Willy!

Sunday~ Was another beautiful day!! We spent the day again playing outside waiting for Dad to BBQ us some RIBS!!! Yep thats right we BBQ'd!!!

I just hope next weekend is as nice as this weekend was!!!

Mini Van.....

2010-03-05T16:17:00.003-05:00

Ouch yep I said it, Mini Van. Who would have thought? Not me, as far back as I can remember I have always said that I would NEVER drive a Mini Van. Well things have changed since I 1st made that statement. After driving all around today I started to realize how much more convenient a Mini Van would really be, I mean getting the kids in and out would be much easier, getting the stroller in and out would be a snap, and it would probably get better gas mileage. To be totally honest with everyone I will probably never ever get a Mini Van. I mean could anyone really see me driving around in a Mini Van all day? Okay really don't answer that. Plus I don't remember what life was like without a Tahoe, we love our Tahoe's. I can sit 8 in the Tahoe and the seats can all be moved around till I like where everyone is sitting. I guess I just need to move seats around some more now that we have 3 kids. And plus have you ever seen a Mini Van with upgrades? We all know Ben loves to add to our cars but again being honest I love it to! I couldn't see a Mini Van rolling around with exhaust, an intake, limo tint windows, and do they even make grills for a Mini Van? I'm sure Ben would love to lower or raise it but that would be way too weird looking for me.

So I guess I just answered the Mini Van debate in my head. I'm sure Ben will laugh that I was even thinking this way today :)

Winter Storms....

2010-03-04T09:07:00.002-05:00

Another winter is almost over here in NH. And let me just go on the record and say, I'm over winters in NH!!!! I miss the CA sunshine, I miss the days when a day of rain was too much to handle and when I thought 45 degrees was freezing and I needed to stay inside all day long. Boy oh Boy was I spoiled!

I'm happy to report that we did not have as much snow this year or an ice storm so that's nice. Don't get me wrong we still have plenty of snow so if anyone wants some just let me know :). And we had plenty of cold bitter days. This winter we have been blessed with the winds. Coming from the Pac Nor West these winds have been no big deal to us, however to the state of NH they have been the worst thing ever! You would think that a state who has always had cold, snowy winters and I'm sure this wasn't their 1st time with winds would be more equipped to deal with it, ya we thought so too but we are all wrong my friends. So of course we lost power for 2 1/2 days, some people are still without power, so sad. To make this more challenging add a newborn baby and a Mom still recovery from a c-section and it makes for a fun couple of days. Now of course when you lose power in NH it totally SUCKS! Not only is it cold, but our house just so happens to be on a septic system and well water. So along with no heat we have no running water, can not flush toilets (with a family of 4 isn't fun) no lights, no power to anything, good times. Lucky for us our friends let us borrow their generator so it all worked out okay, except the amount of gas you spend to keep it running. So if you can't tell Im soooo over winters in NH. I would much rather take the 100+ winds and non stop rain the Pac Nor West has to offer over this. At least they are set up to handle such things.

And now its trying to deciede if it wants to snow or rain out today. So I'm sure the roads and walkways are a slushy mess. Which will just be perfect getting Bryce and Chloe out to get Noah from school in a few hours.

Chloe Brooke Molnar

2010-03-02T13:52:00.003-05:00

Chloe Brooke was born on Feb 8th, 2010 at 10:55am. She weighed 8lbs 7oz. She is our biggest baby yet! I was shocked at how big she was. Of course we think she is just the sweetest thing ever and her big brothers could not be happier with their new little sister. Lots and lots of family came out to help out and meet the new little one. It was great having all the help and support they gave. We love you all!!!

Totally out of touch.....

2010-03-02T13:47:00.003-05:00

When was someone going to tell me that we still had a family blog? YIKES!! Its been way too long. Lots has happened since flying Santa. Lets see we have had Birthdays, field trips, Christmas, more Birthdays, lots of snow, more snow, some cold weather, soccer, baseball sign ups, play dates, after school activities, late nights, illness, family, more family and did I mention a BABY!!! WHEW!! Take a deep breath we all came out of the last few months with smiles and all body parts attached.

I'm not about to go back to December to catch everyone up so lets just move on with a gap in between and call it good, okay?

Flying Santa

2009-12-21T19:39:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago we took the boys to Ben's station to see Santa. Every year Santa comes to the station via helicopter and brings every child a toy. This has turned into our favorite Holiday tradition out here, we just love it! Here are a few pictures from that day, ENJOY!!!

Basement blues.....

2009-12-04T09:43:00.002-05:00

A year ago I thought it was going to be so cool to have a basement to store all our holiday stuff, give the boys a place to play in the winter, allow Ben to set up a workout area, and just have a better organized system for all our stuff. Well that dream is gone and its now turned into a nightmare! The whole thing is stupid if you ask me, all it seemes to be good for is flooding and collecting all the crap I don't want in the house anymore. Ben still loves it because its keeping everything out of his garage....yet I still can't park my Tahoe in there. Anywho, since our last flooding a few weeks ago I have this fear of stepping foot down there. That was a mess and took a few days of cleaning and bleaching for me to be okay with it all again. Yes I said bleaching the basement floor, grrrr. Christmas is weeks away and I need to get my stuff out but down on 2 8 foot tables is a grim reminder of my laziness. All my Halloween stuff is still laying out not but away. How can I drag out Christmas without even putting Halloween away, I just can't. The loft upstairs is filled with stuff from the babys room to go down as well. Family will be here in 2 weeks and this all needs to get done before. Ben has duty again this weekend so Im not sure how much help he is going to be and we have soccer Saturday as well. Plus my children think they are going to die if we don't get a Christmas Tree soon and Noah seems to be the only child in school that doesn't have his tree up yet, if you ask him. Apparently thats the talk of the Kindergarten right now and I was told yesterday that "We have to get our tree up fast!" Between all my coughs, sneezes, and sniffles all I want to do is nap but Bryce tells me we don't have time to nap anymore.

So maybe if I get that basement under some control today things might just all fall into place. Wish full thinking but its a start. I'm also determined to get the babys dresser in her room today, the boys book shelf back in their room and maybe take some pictures of the baby's room to post. Anyone want to place bets to see what gets done?

Tree Lighting in Newburyport

2009-12-01T11:01:00.004-05:00

Santa arrived in style Sunday to help light the Christmas Tree in downtown Newburyport. What better way to arrive then on a Coast Guard 47' Motor Lifeboat, I can't think of one. The boys were so excited to see Santa on Dad's boat and the big tree. Mom and Dad got lucky that day as well. We arrived to the Station to park and much to our surprise Santa wasn't really ready yet, this could have gone really bad for a little 5 year old we all know but Dad's fast moves got us out of that one. The boys and I hung out locked in Ben's office for a little bit then were off to the pier to wait with about 500 other people. After Santa passed we rushed out to get a good spot to watch the parade, that was until the boys saw Spongebob standing around. Bryce went nuts and had to rush over to give high fives and hugs. With about every other kid in Newburyport wanting the same thing it was crazy. I got out of there alive but Bryce was crushed with huge tears cause he didn't get a hug. Good thing Dad's 6 foot tall and was able to save the day. After Bryce got his hugs we were off again, that was until we happened to pass right by Santa walking the back way to meet the parade. We finally got to the parade and found a good spot but it did take us longer to get there then it did for the parade to pass. The tree lighting took longer then we thought and we were all pretty much done with being crushed into a herd so we took off to Starbucks (right across the street) got some coffees and watched from there. The boys loved it and Ben and I are so looking forward to all the Holiday events we have lined up for them. We walked back to the Station and headed out for dinner before making it home for the Steelers game :)

December 1st

2009-12-01T10:30:00.002-05:00

Can anyone tell me where November went? Its now time to trim the tree, hang the stockings, place the lights and get ready for Santa to come. I guess I should get on putting the Halloween stuff away that has been piled up on 2 tables in the basement. This whole being pregnant with #3 is a lot more difficult then I thought it would be. Just trying to keep up with the "daily" cleaning and the boys has been enough to put me to bed by 9pm. But I'm happy to report that everything is going good with the baby. Had a few extra tests run the last couple of weeks due to some small problems but all checked out okay and I'm hoping for smooth sailing from here. We are down to 10 weeks till the little peanut arrives and still haven't picked a name. HMMMM

Other news, we had a great Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving vacation from school, work and cleaning. It was awesome to spend time at home with all 3 boys without having to do or go anywhere. We still had soccer on Saturday but that was about it. We played, laughed, cooked, did some "light" chores and just enjoyed us all being together. It was AWESOME!! It was hard to get back into things on Monday, Noah was late to school and we were late picking him up. Opps! But I think we might have it all figured out today.

December holds lots of fun Holiday things which I'm sure will mean less blogging updates. But I will try my best to post pictures as we go.

Where's the baby?

2009-11-19T20:05:00.002-05:00

Noah~ "Mom where is our baby?"

Me~ "Right here" (lifting up my shirt to show belly)

Noah~ "Whew I thought she was gone your belly looks small today"

Me~ "Well thanks, I think"

Noah~ "Mom its pretty huge, you know that right"

Me~ "Yes Noah, Thanks"

Noah~ "Anytime Mom"

Have paint brush, will work

2009-11-19T19:57:00.002-05:00

Remember last winter I got really really bored and painted almost the whole freaking house? And I swore to never pick up a paint brush again? Yeah well I lied. But I'm happy to report that when you only have 1 room to paint and only 1 paint color to pick out its much much easier. And I enjoyed it alot more this time as well. All in all a great painting experience and my SIL will be happy that no death trap was made for Noah to walk out on :). Ben wasn't much help with painting the baby's room but that's okay, he has been busy with work and getting ready for the snow to come. They boys did get to help Mom out a very, very little. I thought painting the room almost 8 months pregnant would be much harder of a challenge then it was, I'm glad it wasn't. Of course I have no before pictures and I'm just too lazy to take some after pictures so bottom line folks...no pictures as of now. Ben promised to get the crib and dresser set up this weekend so I might remember to post some then. I do have 1 really cute picture on Ben's phone I might load. Somehow I ended up with a little naked butt painter as my helper tonight.....HMMM

Halloween

2009-11-04T09:33:00.006-05:00

Can you believe its not taking me a month to post Halloween pictures? We had a great Halloween with wonderful friends. We headed out to Newburyport to have dinner with the Marlands and Murray's and do a little bit of Trick or Treating. So maybe I had semi invited ourselves (Thanks Melyssa!!) Melyssa made the best homemade pizza ever!! Once we were done eating we got the kiddos ready to head out. Ash and Melyssa stayed back to hand out candy and I set off with the Dad's in search of lots of candy. Noah was in heaven and really got the hang on things fast, Bryce just couldn't get over how everyone was putting candy in his bag just for him. Huge smiles before and after every door then a race between brothers to the next. Its a miracle Bryce didn't fall down once. Noah is already asking if he gets to do more next year and go alone....that kid is nutz! We started to loose Bryce about 7pm, he couldn't hold his bag anymore because it was too heavy and was asking if we were done "Mom I'm tired can we go now" Poor kid turns into a log about 630pm. After we were done we headed back for candy apples and a little movie time for the kiddos. It was a great Halloween!!

Soccer soccer everywhere!

2009-10-28T09:36:00.005-04:00

Two Mondays ago Bryce started Soccer. He was so excited to be going to Soccer for him and not Noah. We got there and got all set up, he was running around kicking the ball, making friends and taking his water breaks. It was so freaking cute! Then Coach Matt comes out and starts some fun games for the kids and parents. With the kids only being 3 parent participation is required. I know Coach Matt from all of Noah's classes at Seacoast United so I wasn't too worried about having to run around with Bryce. That was until they played a form of freeze tag and Coach Matt went to tag Bryce......the poor kid took off screaming crying with a look of terror in his eyes. By the time he got to me he was shaking he was so scared. So the rest of the practice I ended up having to hold his hand and tell him it was okay. Not really how I thought it would end up but he still said he had fun. I got some cute pictures too, my camera doesn't work that well indoors....not sure why probably operator error. We missed last week due to Bryce having a cold which made his Asthma flare up and since I don't have a rescue inhaler for him yet we stayed home. Plus with all the sick kids from the week before I will admit that I was scared about what could be flying around there.

This coming Saturday is Noah's last game with HYA and is also the start of his Seacoast United league. One game starts at 8am and one at 8:30am, still working on that. We are really excited for Seacoast United to start again. Noah has always played there but this will be the 1st time he is old enough to actually join a team. His old team United from HYA picked up kids from 3 different teams to form another "United" team. We just found out last week that Noah would be playing cause the coach forgot to tell us that he signed Noah up. He said he just loves Noah and needed him to play. Noah is super excited cause his buddy Zack will be on the team with him and I think his other buddy Shawn is coming to play as well. This league runs 6 on 6 with a goalie and is all indoors. Indoors is better for Noah with his Asthma but his coach as gotten used to Noah needed his inhaler half way threw the game. Ben's a little shocked that his 5 year old is already starting "club" sports but is super excited for him to learn more.

Here are a few pictures of Bryce and Noah from last weeks Soccer events.

Halloween Party

2009-10-25T21:23:00.005-04:00

Saturday was our Annual Kids Halloween Party. It was a perfect day for a Halloween Party, lots of wind and rain to set the scene. Everyone started showing up around 2ish and of course we were not really ready yet...opps. I still have no clue what time it ended but we all had a great time. With a bigger turn out then last year everyone had fun. The kids all seemed to have a great time with dancing, crafts, playing, showing off their costumes and of course breaking the pinata. We had more little ones then I thought so next year I need to plan a better craft for them to keep busy :). Here are some pictures of the days events. The only picture I got of Noah swinging at the pinata was a second too late but look at the faces of everyone in the back...1 hit and he bust the head off, it went flying into the wall and busted. Noah loved it!! I some how managed NOT to get a group picture of all the kids......maybe next year.

Trying to keep up....

2009-10-16T09:51:00.002-04:00

Ever feel like you never have enough time to get everything done? Or your going, going, going and no matter what you get done that day your "list" never seems to shorten? Welcome to my world!!

October has been insane over here to say the least. Ben's work schedule has been very busy with little time at home. He spent a week in Washington and has seemed to be spending the rest at the station. He finally had the past 2 days completely off and to us (only 2 this month) YIPEE, it was great to have him home. I felt bad for taking Noah to school since Dad was home but he still went. Noah's Soccer is going great and the team is really coming together. So much that they are forming an indoor team this season at Seacoast United. I love that place but another 8 weeks of Saturday Soccer......we all know it will happen. He has been doing really well in school and his teachers have nothing but great things to say about him. His Halloween party is coming up in a few weeks and of course I will be there to help out and bake some goodies. Dad is going to try and get off for the parade at school as well. Bryce is doing great too. He started Soccer this past Monday and he loved it, for the most part. He cried once when the coach was chasing him (for a game) but other then that he was fine. It's parent participation at this age level so there I am 6 months along running and playing as well. Coach Matt is awesome and knows us already so its nice to have him there to help be Bryce's partner too. He has been sick a few times this month already, poor guy. I spend most the days cleaning, playing, entertaining, running around and trying to keep everything organized for the next day. By 6pm the kitchen is closed, boys are in jammies and close to being in bed. I should get stuff done while they are sleeping but I'm so tired I end up laying on the couch watching TV and falling asleep. Which is kinda nice :)

Our Kids Halloween party is this Saturday. Where did that sneak up on me from? The boys are super excited and so is everyone else. We have lots of spooky food, games and treats lined up for the kiddos. This year will be our best turn out ever and I feel totally unprepared for everyone. We have 15 kids that have RSVP with parents, 5 maybes, and a few I think will show without a call. So it will be busy here!

Baby girl is doing great and will be here before we know it. We had a doctor appt yesterday, heartbeat is 140 and she is growing just fine. I have 1 more 4 week appt left then its onto 2 weeks from there. Next appt will be "hopefully" the last of my tests I need and we will be scheduling the Cesarean date, WOW! We got her bedding in yesterday and I can't wait to set up the room for her. We figure if its set up by Christmas we are in good shape!

Lighthouse with Mom

2009-10-11T08:31:00.005-04:00

While my Mom was here we took her to the Portland Maine Lighthouse. We packed a lunch and make a picnic out of it. I just love that place, its so pretty and quite up there. We all had a great time and it was a wonderful family afternoon. I only wish the trees had a little more color on the drive but all in time :)

Soccer

2009-09-27T10:26:00.008-04:00

We are week 3 of Noah's 1st outdoor Soccer. While outdoor is much different then indoor we are having a good time with it. Its so cute to see Noah with all his buddy's from school and pretty strange to walk around hearing kids yell Noah's name, especially the girls.....

Noah is having a great time but still pretty shy with it all. He was much more outgoing with indoor Soccer but like I said outdoor is a lot different. I think a few kids are confused and think it's Football or some sort of new tackle Soccer, and some just like to cry, A LOT. We used to feel pretty bad for these kids but now Ben and I think it's kinda funny. They stand on the field crying their eyes out not moving while their parents are yelling to keep going. I think they are done.... Noah loves defending the goal more then anything. His coaches are great and have nothing but great things to say about Noah, which is super nice. Poor Bryce has to sit bored out of his mind for an hour but does pretty good with it. I need to remember to pack things for him the night before since all of our games are at 8:30 and I just forget in the mornings.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday's Soccer events. Yesterday was also pictures and I'm a little upset that we spent a small fortune on pictures when I'm super happy with ones we took. The team picture was the highlight of the day, it took a little while and you should be able to tell why :)

Fast Foward

2009-09-25T13:51:00.002-04:00

WOW its been almost a month again since my last post. I guess this is what happens when you have kids in school and sports, a husbands work schedule that is all over the place, running events to keep in line, a social schedule of your own to keep on top of and being pregnant. But I promise to try and get better at this.

My Dad came and went, we had a blast and like I said before we did a ton of stuff. Our BBQ on Saturday turned out great and everyone had a great time. Lots of new faces showed up which was alot of fun as well. I will start to post some pictures from our time together.

My Mom has also come and gone. Her visit went way too fast and was much needed. It was awesome having her here to help out with the boys and give me a much needed break. The boys loved having Grandma do everything for them as much as she loved doing it. We tried to do as much as possible but with Noah starting school and Soccer it got kinda hard. Ben was in Boston for most the week so he wasn't around too much. We were able to get a few things in and can't wait for her next visit with us. Grandma also got educated in Asthma since Noah was having breathing troubles for most the week. She even got to take a trip to the Doctor which ended in both boys getting flu shots. Good times :)

Noah is loving School, which is a huge relief. We have our 1st Parent/Teacher Conference coming up in the next week so we will soon find out how he is doing. He is making lots of new friends but seems to only really talk about the girls. He seems to be learning a lot already which has been fun for us. It does seem like he has grown so much this last month, he is so funny.

Poor Bryce still isn't in School yet. I know, I know. He is ready and talks about it all the time but I'm having a hard time with it. He just seems so little to me still and I'm not sure I'm ready to let him go. So its a totally "me" issue that I need to get over and just send him. The Preschool is ready for him and can't wait for him to show up. He is also going to start indoor Soccer soon and that should be lots of fun.

Ben schedule shows no relief in site. He took a few days off to spend with us which was AWESOME! But he is getting ready to head West soon. I'm super excited for him but also very jealous that he gets to go to Oregon for a whole week. Our friend Mike just happens to be going to the same Conference so they will be together causing trouble with some other friends as well. They should have a great time.

As for Mom, I'm doing pretty good. I'm almost 20 weeks along now and she is really starting to move around in there. And yes I said SHE, I still can't believe it. We found out Monday that we are having a little girl. I'm nervous but super excited at the same time. Ben is just thrilled and can't wait for her to get here. The boys are excited as well, it took Noah a little bit to come around but he is jazzed now. Bryce talks about his sister all the time to everyone. Its pretty darn cute.

Missing

2009-09-04T08:31:00.002-04:00

Where has the month gone? Lots of things going on here to play catch up with. My Dad has been in town for the last 3 weeks and doesn't leave till Monday. We have had such a blast with Grandpa here. The boys were a little concerned with his cast at 1st but that went away real quick. We have done so much these last few weeks my head is still spinning. We have toured NH, MASS, ME, taken a weekend road trip to Vermont, BBQ, found some pretty fun little restaurants around, drove some more, and have shopped lots!! Its been crazy. On top of that Noah started school yesterday and we had lots of meetings leading up to that. Bryce will not start till October some time (due to Mom not wanting to let him go) Ben has spent a week in Boston for training, longs nights at work, a few over nights due to tropical storms and hurricanes, and will be back in Boston in a few weeks for another week. This time he will be staying there due to the long days. Good thing my Mom will be here to help me with adjusting to Noah's 1st full week of school. YEAH FOR MOMS! Noah also has Soccer starting up next week. His 1st practice is on Thursday and we are oh so lucky that we pulled every 8:30am game every Saturday till November. On top of that we are gearing up for Ben's running schedule as well, he has a hand full of races that he is going to do this Fall. I'm going to sit at the finish line with a bag of chips or something :).

As for me and the baby we are doing great! I'm almost 17 weeks along now. I can't believe it! It seems like yesterday that I was scared to tell everyone. But now it's almost time to find out if we are having a boy or girl!!! That's right 3 weeks till my US appt. We are still on the fence if we will find out the sex of the baby but I have a feeling we will give in. The boys have started going to the appts with us and they love it. Bryce can't wait to hold the baby and Noah can't wait to "teach" him all about babies. My belly is starting to grow and the boys love to point out how big its getting. I love it! I'm starting to feel little flutters here and there but no big movements yet. My belly seems to be bigger at night and Bens face lights up to see it grow. I love that too.

So we have been pretty busy but we are all doing great!! Ben has a "project" to attack Saturday, I will post pictures for that later. And Sunday we are planning a pretty big BBQ here at the house. As of last night my tally was up to 20 people. Still not sure how that happened? It should be a great time!!

York Zoo

2009-08-05T12:41:00.004-04:00

About a month ago (I know, I know) my friend and I took the kids to the York Zoo in Maine. I was all excited, I love the Zoo!! Shortly after walking threw the entrance I realized we would never be going back. It was a very very sad place. The animals all looked so sad, their cages were the dirtiest things I have ever seen and half of them didn't even have water. And it was pretty hot out that day. It was also pretty dirty. Although Stacey and I were having issues with the kids touching things and wanting to run away the kids all had a great time. The boys had gone to the Portland Zoo a few times but really don't remember it. On top of the Zoo they had a little Amusement Park as well. The kids again were in heaven! The boys favorite thing was the slide. Both of them couldn't wait to get on it. I was nervous about what I was going to do with Bryce. I didn't know how safe it was for me to go, but I couldn't send him alone for the 1st time and couldn't tell him no either. So the 1st time I went down with him and he loved it!! The 2nd time I let Noah take him up there while I sat at the bottom waiting for him to come down. I think every parent there had some comment about him going alone and I got some dirty looks. But once they saw how much fun he had and how cute he was laughing they were all about sending their kids alone as well. In the end we were glad we went cause the kids had a blast!

Updates!!!!!

2009-08-05T10:51:00.002-04:00

Ben and I are happy to announce that we are expecting baby #3 in February! We are both thrilled and so are the boys. Although Noah has already stated that he doesn't want a girl cause he can't stand to watch Barbies and Fairy's. I'm 12 weeks along and ready to start feeling better. We have been to the doctor a few times, got to see the little peanut once and heard a heartbeat last week. We took the boys with us and it was great to see their little faces.

I wish I could say things have slowed down but they haven't. The boys seem to be all over the place and I'm struggling to keep up some days. I wake up Monday praying for Friday to be here so Ben can be home. I'm not really sick anymore, I'm just super tired. I know they say every pregnancy is different but this is getting outta control. The everyday things seem to be taking its toll. Ben's AWESOME and takes care of what I can't (which seems to be alot) when he gets home and with a smile! I'm praying that this will pass soon and we can be back to normal around here soon.

In other news, I can't believe Summer is almost over. Noah starts school September 3rd and we have decided to start Bryce in Preschool this year too. We both think it will give him something just for him. Soccer starts here in a few weeks and that's always fun. We have done Birthdays, Parks, Zoo's, Pool time, Beach, and lots of playing in between. And yes I have pictures for all of these but I can't seem to find the energy to post anything. Hopefully soon. My Dad had hand surgery and is going to do the 2nd half of his recovery here. So he should be cleared to come up by next week sometime. Al and Debbie will also be here soon to visit and then my Mom will be here in Sept. Lots of stuff coming up. 4 grandparents in a month, the boys will love it!!

Bryce's 3rd Birthday

2009-07-26T11:37:00.004-04:00

I promise to post pictures later with the days events. But I wanted you to see his cake that we made. Shell's pretty pumped. I put it up so those that can't join us still feel apart. it's 11:38 and the party starts at noon. Not showered and shell's get frustrated with me.... :) Heres goes. I gotta run or I will really be in trouble.

Bday

2009-07-13T19:57:00.003-04:00

So there was a silver lining to the trip up north my brother's family had to take. For extremely unfortunate circumstances I was able to see my brother and his family this week. Amanda our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Here is some pictures of my Bday that we were fortunate enough to share together.

First Sparklers

2009-07-05T12:29:00.004-04:00

I found these and thought this would be cool to post.....Me, Noah and Of course Bryce. Kinda Funny.

4th of July

2009-07-05T11:59:00.009-04:00

OK so we had a complete blast this year. We absolutely love the neighborhood we live in, So brief details, it was a block party, we had tons of food, great friends, EVERYBODY had a so much fun. Here are some pictures for you guys to check out.

What to do?

2009-06-30T10:03:00.002-04:00

It's Summertime we are supposed to be outside running and playing, going to the beach and state parks, having to eat our ice cream before it melts, blowing bubbles and having water fights. Doesn't that all sound like soooo much fun? The only problem is that it has been raining for 3 weeks straight!! Sure the sun comes out every now and then but its so muggy and wet its gross. Now I have always tried my hardest to never look back and compare places. You know OR compared to NH. But seriously it's getting hard people!!! I'm about to have my 1st 4th of July in the rain and I am not sure how I feel about that. I thought coming out here was supposed to give us a Summer. I think the hardest part is that Noah starts all day Kindergarten this year. I only have about 9 weeks left with my little man home and we are stuck indoors. It really makes me sad. I want to be running around with him right now. So please Mr. Weather Man give us some good news for next week, PLEASE!!!

Late night for me..........

2009-06-25T20:19:00.003-04:00

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/06/coast_guard_sea_2.html

http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/06/25/Boater-missing-along-Merrimack/1245922845.html

http://www.necn.com/Boston/New-England/2009/06/25/Authorities-launch-criminal/1245960343.html

Pretty crazy times. u/w at 1045ish last night and didn't get back till this am around 0800. Still working it. It's an amazing thing when you have some many agencies together working flawlessly as one.
Probably the most memorable case of my career to date.....

Camping.....finally

2009-06-23T13:52:00.004-04:00

What took so long who knows? To be honest Ben did the last post on Niagara Falls not me. Guess I have not been in a blogging mood.

We had so much fun camping with our friends the Costa's. It was so great to see everyone and the kids just had a blast running around. Our Kabin was smaller then we thought but it worked out PERFECT! The location of it was awesome too, we were right next to the showers which was really nice and the air balloon mat thing was right by us to. Noah just thought it was the coolest thing that he was able to run over alone and jump without having to wait for Mom or Dad. I don't think he knew that we could see them the whole time and were watching them. Come on he's 5 I'm not about to start letting him outta my sight yet. The best part of camping was I got to sit around with Sarah for 3 days talking without our phones. I think both our phones got a well deserved vacation too. Ben and Tim had lots of fun catching up on things too, this was the 1st time we got to see Tim since he got home. All in all it was a great time and we are talking about making it a yearly thing. But next time we will be staying longer :)

Niagra Falls 2009

2009-06-18T19:10:00.006-04:00

OK What a blast we had, We met up with our Friends from Newport. The Costa's. It was so great to see them again and share this trip with them. Here are some pictures from the Falls we will post more pictures of camping at the campground soon.

Scooper Bowl

2009-06-09T22:07:00.003-04:00

There is this really cool event in Boston every year called The Scooper Bowl, its the nation's largest all-you-can-eat ice cream festival!!! Seriously how cool is that? Pretty cool I know. We knew nothing about it till Heidi (Ben's cousin) said she and her husband Tom were coming out for it. Of course we were in!! But today we realized just how much the PacNorWest has become a part of us. The Bowl was not too busy due to rain and cold but we could have cared less. Seriously we thought it was great weather because the winds were not blowing the tables over. The boys loved being there eating ice cream in the rain and running around, come to think of it I'm pretty sure they were the only kids out today. It was great seeing Heidi and Tom again and her little belly!! I even got to feel the baby move :). Due to the great weather and Noah having his graduation tomorrow ~tear~ we couldn't stay long. I only wish our schedule allowed more time to spend with them this week but it doesn't.

Here is our schedule this week~ Noah has school then graduation tomorrow night. Seriously he is graduating Preschool people!! Thursday the boys and I have to pack for camping, shop for camping, shop more for camping, make sure we don't forget anything for camping, clean the house and get the dog taken care of. Ben is golfing Thursday in Boston so he won't be much help. Then we leave early Friday morning for our camping trip!!!! Can you believe its here already. I'm so excited to the Costa's and have the kids play again. Noah can't wait to see his buddy again. Jayden was Noah's 1st friend ever and he just loves him!!!!! And again Sarah I know, if you could figure this thing out you would post a comment or two :)

Well here are some pictures of our short time with family tonight. Enjoy!

Memorial Day 2009

2009-06-05T13:38:00.004-04:00

We had our 1st big BBQ since moving to NH on Memorial Day. This has always been one of our favorite BBQ's to have. Not to much stress involved and what a great way to thank our service men and women who have given their lives for us. We had about 12 adults plus kids running around all afternoon. Ben BBQ'd chicken and ribs and we had a bunch of side dishes as well. Knowing how patriotic we are my friend Stacey even made sure they were in red, white and blue. How sweet is she :). The kids ran around like crazy, between power wheels, bikes, scooters, basketball, bounce houses, and eating everyone was pretty tired by night fall. We ended up over at Bills for a fire outside with some yummy Smores. It was a great day and we were super excited to be able to have such a wonderful turn out.

Noah's Ears

2009-05-28T21:09:00.002-04:00

**Im just going to say don't read or look at the picture if you have a weak stomach.**

That being said, Noah has had a ruff month with his ears. He has always had to have them flushed out due to extremely small Ear canals but this month has been bad. He is on his 2nd infection this month. Poor kid :(. Tuesday he is playing outside with his friends and starts crying cause the wind hitting his ear hurts. I take a look and his ear has dried puss blocking it. It was pretty gross. I took this picture after I had cleared most of it outta the way. I couldn't do anymore due to his pain. So I call the doctor's office and this really nice, sweet, helpful nurse couldn't do anything for us. Actually I was told "Well I'm not sure what else we can do for him, we have flushed his ears out twice this month already." Yeah that went over like a fart in church with me. So I guess you can tell it didn't go so well with them and off to the ER we went. After a 3 hour wait (lets face it ear infections are not high on the list) we finally saw a DR for about ohhhh 2 minutes. Big shock its infected and gave us meds. Didn't clean the ear out to help the medicine get threw or anything. Thanks DR!! So the next day rolls around and I can't get any meds in his ear, I know I was shocked too. Back on the phone with that really helpful Nurse again and this time I was told "Since you were seen in the ER we can get you in today" How AWESOME! But she gave us a Dr that was about has helpful as the ER Doctor so we got no help. I'm sorry she was more concerned with Noah's asthma that has been under control since Winter but didn't want to believe me. Thank you very much! At this point in time I'm ready to fly Noah back to Oregon to see Dr. Rash and just get this taken care of. But we settled for Dad laying Noah on the island in the kitchen and using (sterile) dental picks to scrap out the wax. Good times here in Hampton, Good times!!!

In case you haven't guessed we will be switching Doctors here in NH, once they find Noah's records that they have "misplaced" for the last 3 months. So the last few days have been up and down with Noah. He was able to go back to Soccer today and seemed to do just fine. Tomorrow will be his 1st day back at School this week too.

Grubs

2009-05-27T20:59:00.000-04:00

These little disgusting bugs have eaten up and killed the grass in the front yard. And what they didn't get to the crows took care of for us. Such nice little animals we have, I know. So after a few weeks Ben and I got pretty tired of looking at the tore up dead grass in the front. A guy Ben knows has a lawn business here in Hampton, convenient I know. So he came and dropped off 2 yards of Loom (a fancy name for dirt/ top soil so I think they can charge more) and we got some grass seed. It looks great for a yard of dirt but I'm really hoping by Friday we can see more grass popping up. I'm really excited cause the grass out front was never really full so this should do the trick.

Here are some before and after shots.

And yes I am going for a record of "Most posts in a Day"

Beach Day

2009-05-27T16:33:00.000-04:00

The weather last week was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Thursday I was thinking of taking the boys on a surprise picnic at the beach but not really sure. Then I found out that Amanda and Melisa were heading to the beach and I couldn't pass it up. The boys haven't seen the girls since November and ask about them all the time. I think 1 of the best things about moving out here is getting to know Grandma Debbie's family. They are awesome and we have such a great time with them. Hopefully now that the weather is getting better we can plan more fun things with them. We had so much fun at the beach and the boys can't wait to go back. Bryce was in love with Amanda getting him water for his bucket and of course Noah just ran from everyone but seemed to stay pretty close to Melisa. Here are some pictures of our fun day!!!

Lots and lots of Playing!

2009-05-23T20:15:00.000-04:00

Its been a week since my last post, want to know why? We have been way too busy playing to blog. No seriously part of me feels soooo bad cause I have been doing the bare minimum around the house. But the weather has been awesome! The boys have loved being outside running around too. It's a hard life trust me ;). So in between school and soccer we have done parks, bikes, trucks, swimming, beach, shopping and BBQ's. We can't wait for Summer to be here! Even better news, Bryce is going to love Summer this year. You remember Bryce from last year right? The one who never came off his towel at the beach, screamed if he got sand on his towel. Hated the water and if you got any on him it was over. The kid you never had to worry about losing cause he was always in Mom's arms, you know that one. Well he is long gone!! We set the pool up in the back and he was jumping in and out splashing water everywhere, at the beach not only did he run on the sand he sat down and dug a hole with Noah. Then get this, he even went in the water with us. Yes I know shocking!! Now if only I could get him to wear sandals life would be good ;).

We are 20 days away from our camping trip with the Costa's!! Of course we are all just so excited. And yes Sarah I know you would make a comment right now but you can't get the silly thing to work :). It's going to be so awesome getting all the kids back together again and being able to hang out. I'm really excited to see Niagara Falls too.

Well here are some pictures of the kids playing in the backyard with Emma threw out the week. Enjoy!

Volvo Boat Races

2009-05-14T08:47:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago Ben was searching on the internet for things to do. He came across the Volvo Ocean Sailboat Races. They came into Boston this week and all the boats were on display and they had different events lined up for the week. We thought this would be fun to go down and check out. Yesterday we loaded up after work and took off. We parked at the base and walked over with the kids. It was such a GREAT day for a walk along the waterfront. Noah and Emma had fun walking along the water and Bryce was as happy as a clam having snacks in the stroller. The boats were pretty cool but I was a little disappointed that we could go down on them. After seeing the boats and walking around we all decided it was time to eat. We stopped at American Joe's right along the waterfront. The boys loved that they got ice cream sundae's with their dinner. Bryce was a little upset that he didn't get to finish all his ice cream but seriously the scoops were huge. All in all it was a great trip down to Boston!

Mother's Day Weekend

2009-05-10T21:53:00.000-04:00

We had a great Mother's Day weekend. Friday we got the yard work done and over with before dinner. After dinner we played out back with the boys then went and got a movie. Saturday we had BBQ plans with our friends Adam and Ash. Both Ben and I wanted to get our runs in before going. Ben suggested that we load Bryce up in the wagon, let Noah ride his bike and bring Zeus along too. It was a great idea!! Noah went with Dad while Dad ran and I got pull Bryce in the wagon with the dog. I was a little nervous as to how Zeus would do with the cows and how it was going to go with pulling the wagon. He was great. Bryce had a blast and Noah was in heaven riding his bike. We had a great time at the Murray household too. The kids ran in and out of the bounce house like crazy. The boys even got awesome haircuts thanks to Ashlyn. A little Guitar Hero with thunder and lightning storms ended the night perfect.

Today was a great Mother's Day. Our neighbors down the street had a BBQ for everyone in the neighborhood. We have all been bugging them for some Authentic Indian food. They decided to have a huge Mother's Day BBQ for us all. They rented a huge Train Bounce House that of course was a hit with the kids. I didn't see much of Noah at all and Bryce only showed up every now and then for a potty break and snacks. In between jumping in the Train maze the kids drove their power wheels up and down the roads with Basketball in between. The food was AMAZING!! Ben loved the chicken Curry, there were a few other kinds of Curry, rice, Indian beans (AMAZING), goat liver (didn't try), Indian beer (Ben loved), fruit, pasta salad, and a few other dishes I'm forgetting. I think the funniest part of the day was laughing at how the kids got into and out of the bounce house. Or was it when Ben straddled the top of the train and fell off? Yeah I wish I could have seen it too. I was gone when it took place and nobody got pictures.

All in all a great weekend. We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend as well!!!

H1N1 and Ticks

2009-05-05T11:09:00.000-04:00

Anyone else as nervous as I am about these things? I sware to you I'm freaking out. Poor Ben thinks I'm losing my mind and the boys think Mom is crazy. I was okay with H1N1 at 1st then it starting showing up EVERYWHERE! I know that we have medicine for it and that it's not as bad as everyone thought it was. But seriously the thought of it just makes my stomach turn. I really don't want any form of the flu going threw my house. We did that last year and again at the start of our move with Bryce. Never again!

Then these stupid ticks that everyone is talking about. GROSS!!! I'm afraid to let the dog go anywhere near a tree or the woods in the back, and my boys know better then to even ask to play by the woods or bushes. They are checked head to toe for ticks daily and my friend Stacey (who is on the same freak out page with me) gave me a pretty fun little song to sing to the boys while checking. Noah was convinced last night that his head was being shaved due to ticks. I was begging with Ben to double check the boys for me last night. They say ticks are pretty bad this year and a few people I know have seen them. I'm freaking out over here people!! Ben gave me the are you kidding me look with the eye roll when Noah asked him if it was time to shave his head due to ticks.

The Weekend

2009-04-27T15:24:00.000-04:00

AHHH what a great weekend here in New Hampshire! It was in the 90's most the weekend and we spent most our time outside. Saturday Noah got a new bike and he spent most the day riding around trying out new tricks to master. Since the sun is actually out and shinning Bryce has been waking up about 630ish now. This doesn't make me totally happy but it is nice to start a nice day out early. He was so tired from playing out in the heat Saturday that he went down for his 1st nap in a long time. Finally about 330ish I had to go wake him up. Ben ended up taking a nap too. Those two do not adjust well to the heat. By the end of the day Bryce had a little heat rash starting to form. Noah and I however can spend all day in the heat and not be affected at all. Sunday was a great family day. We took the boys to the park, did a little shopping and it was home to play outside the rest of the day. Ben and I played a friendly game of wiffle ball. He beat me by 1 point, but seriously with all that cheating he should have done better :). A few neighbors ended up coming out and joining in. After we headed to Bills for a BBQ with everyone. Soon after that it was time to wash the dirt of my boys and get them to bed. All in all a great weekend.

Noah is on Spring Break this week. We played outside most the day again and tomorrow we are headed to the Beach with a Stacey and the girls. Noah is sooo excited to play in the water. Its going to be in the high 80's which means the water will still be freezing cold but I'm sure he won't care much. I'm thinking of taking them out to Boston sometime later in the week to play out there too. Maybe a little Chuck E Cheese in between. Who knows???

Hello SUNSHINE!

2009-04-24T09:08:00.000-04:00

1 more day till the weekend and we can't wait!! Ben and I have been pretty happy with the upcoming weekend. 1-He has it off and 2-it's going to be in the high 80's Saturday and Sunday. Can you believe it?!? I'm glad we finished all the yard work last weekend. The backyard is looking so nice and green. I'm thinking a few more weeks till we mow it. Ben got everything out of the garage that has an engine and started it up. I was given some reason about them sitting all winter and flushing out the system. I think he just wanted to hear the sound and rumble. He even took the boys on a mini bike ride. I was okay till Bryce jumped on. The bike is small yes, but I know how fast that thing can go and with no brakes seeing my little baby on Dad's lap freaked me out. I was happier then ever to have him back in my arms again. Yes I know he will be 3 this summer but he is still so much Mom's baby. So I'm thinking outside playing, maybe a beach trip with the dog, water gun fights and Dads BBQ are in the works for this weekend.

Next week is Noah's last week of Winter Soccer. He had such a great time in the Grassroots program at Seacoast United that we are signing him up for the Spring session and maybe a Summer camp too. He is really wanting to play Baseball this Spring but I can't get anyone to email me back about the program. I even asked Ben if he thought Bryce was ready for Soccer. Seacoast offers a 3-4 year old program and I think he would love it. Ben laughed and asked if I was really talking about our Bryce. Yes this kid has some balance issues and gets some sort of injury at least twice a day. But I do think he would love it!! So who knows............

Noah has a doctor appt this AM. He has been complaining of his ear hurting. Poor kid, I was kinda hoping that we out grew this stage. Noah has always had to have his ears flushed and some sort of ear issue. He keeps telling me its fine but this AM when he cried when he pulled his shirt over his head I knew it was time to go. He is sleeping fine, eating fine, and no fevers. He is so used to ear troubles that the pain has to be really bad for him to say something. So I'm sure the doctor will flush an insane amount of wax outta his hear. He will get the normal "Noah you shouldn't let it go this long, if it hurts tell Mom" speech. The doctor will be amazing at how still he sits while your forcing fluids into his ear and digging to get everything out. Can you tell we have done this a few times? He is a little nervous this time cause it will not be Dr. Rash that he is seeing or his nurse. What if they hurt me? He asked this AM. He even asked if Stacey can just come over and do it. But he is at school now, he said he just had to go. So he must not be too worried about it.

Easter

2009-04-22T15:22:00.000-04:00

We had lots of events leading up to Easter. The boys enjoyed all of them but I think their favorite was Breakfast with the Easter Bunny. Noah's school put it on and it was great. My friend Stacey came along with her girls and we had a great time. We also did an egg hunt with Stacey at a local Nursery in town. It was fun and they had lots of eggs, the Easter Bunny even came to visit and tell stories. Then it was onto dying eggs. I was waiting for this day for a long time. Last year was hilarious with Bryce and Ben. Bryce thought every egg was a ball and the bowl of dye was the basketball hoop. I need to load the videos from last year, Bens face was PRICELESS as the egg went flying into the dye and all over him. He was on a mission to have much more control of Bryce this year. It started off rocky, Bryce was in such a hurry and wanted to toss them in. Ben was great and showed him how to slow down and be easy. So dying eggs this year went great and the boys loved every minute of it. Easter Sunday was a quite day. I was planning on getting up for Church but stayed up way too late reading my book, I over slept. I know horrible excuse. We stayed in our jammies most the day talking with family so far away. It was hard hearing how everyone was together. The day was also freezing so we stayed inside for most of it. We had a nice dinner and it was off to bed. Here are some pictures. Of course I totally forgot to take pictures of what the Easter Bunny left and the ever so cute Longaberger Baskets the boys have. I only get to use them, I mean the Easter Bunny only gets to use them once a year and I don't take pictures, FIRED!

Playing catch up

2009-04-20T10:35:00.000-04:00

The weeks have been flying by around here. Every Monday I think to myself that I need to post pictures and share stories with everyone. Then before I know it BAM Friday is here. Its nice that the weeks are going by so fast now cause for awhile they were dragging on. It's safe to say that Winter is finally over! WHOO HOO!!! Ben has been really busy at the station so it took us about 2 weekends to actually get the yards cleaned up and grass seed down. But its done and looks so pretty. We are now talking about digging up some ugly bushes in the front and putting new ones in. The boys are doing great! We actually had our 1st Dentist appt with them. I wasn't really sure how it was going to go. Okay actually I thought Noah would be great and Bryce would scream and have to sit on my lap. I was also sure that the Hygienist was only going to get one look in his mouth before he shut it tight. But much to my surprise it went GREAT! He sat in the chair all by himself and actually let her clean his teeth, yes she used all the tools and everything. Both boys have very clean teeth which made Mom happy. I thought for sure Noah was going to have a cavity. But nope. I have pictures from Easter egg hunts, dying eggs and Easter of course. We have had some play dates in between school and soccer. I have to admit that the laundry and housework have been pushed aside. My friend turned me onto the Twilight books and they are GREAT!! If I am home at all I have my nose stuck in a book.

So hopefully I can get some pictures on here soon for everyone

Troy Bolton and the East High Wild Cats are no longer........

2009-04-16T08:44:00.000-04:00

Noah is obsessed with anything High School Musical. He knows just about every song "Troy" has ever sang and as the most team spirit for the East High Wild Cats! He can be playing any sport and he is always a Wild Cat and yelling "Lets go Wild Cats, What team!" It makes Ben and I smile, its so cute. Well with the new movie "17 again" (I believe that's the name) coming out Noah has put it all together. Troy Bolton is not real, its Zac Effron. Up until now he always thought Troy was a real guy and didn't really understand the whole "acting" part of it. I knew the day would come that his little dream of playing for the East High Wild Cats would fade. He came up to me the other day and said:
N: "Mom Troy isn't real, He is Zac."
M: "Really how do you know this?"
N: "His real name is Zac and he is just making up Troy."
M: "Well that's okay isn't it"
N: "Yeah Mom I guess."

With his little head hung low he walked off. It broke my heart. Noah has a great little imagination and I have always loved every minute of it. It was so sad to see part of his world change. To us it isn't a big deal but to him it was alot. I'm not ready for my little boy to be all grown up.

10 Years

2009-04-07T22:34:00.000-04:00

10 years ago today Ben and I said our vows. I could never have imagined that my life would turn out this way, its amazing! Not only did I marry my best friend but I truly believe he is my sole mate. He is my rock, soft place to fall, and my shoulder to cry on.

Tonight Ben took me out to dinner in Boston. Our limo picked us up at the house and we drove the boys to our friends. The boys just thought the limo was the coolest thing EVER and the chocolate covered strawberries added a nice touch :). After dropping the boys off we headed out. We went to a really nice restaurant in downtown Boston called http://www.topofthehub.net/. The food was amazing and the view were breath taking. But seriously the elevator was a bit scary. Ben gave me the eye roll, you know the one, where your not used to going to fancy places or anywhere without kids and you make that "kid like comment" But no joke this elevator hauled ass!! My ears popped the whole way up and I was just amazed. I wanted to take the stairs down but Ben said NO. We had 5 different waiters for our table and the food was to die for. The night ended perfectly, whats better then two sleeping boys on your shoulder, cuddling up on the drive home. PERFECT!!!

Easter Bunny and weekend

2009-04-06T08:52:00.000-04:00

On Saturday Noah's school did their annual Breakfast with the Easter Bunny. This was our 1st time and I wasn't really sure what to expect. Ben had duty all weekend and was at the station due to weather so I was flying solo. We got there and my friend Stacey met us with her girls for breakfast. It was a pretty good time. When the Easter Bunny came out Noah was all excited and to my surprise so was Bryce. They kept walking up to the stage and waving to him. Bryce was even blowing kisses to him. I was pretty excited since I had just figured he would cry most the time, be the center of attention and I would get NO pictures of the boys. The boys walked up to stage to see the Bunny. Noah and his friends were all excited to have pictures taken together when all the sudden the Easter Bunny moved. There was screaming, crying, running off the stage head 1st and some sliding on the floor below before it was all said and done. And of course it was my son, Bryce. Well Bryce apparently didn't know the Easter Bunny was going to move and when he did it scared the crap out of him. Half the room was silent thinking he had just broke something for sure and the other half that knows Bryce was finding the humor in it. He calmed down pretty quick and told the Easter Bunny "No, No, don't get me, Don't move" and wanted nothing to do with him after that. After that we went to the preschool and did some activities they had going on down there then played on the playground with the kids. We spent about 2 hours there and had a great morning.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quite. Like I said Ben had over night on Friday and got home Saturday about 4ish. Still in need of something for Ben to wear tomorrow we took off to the mall. It was a pretty late night we got home about 845ish. Party animals over here, watch out! Sunday we headed out to Adam and Ash's house for dinner. The boys were hoping to have lobster but no bites.

This brings me to Bryce. This kid has really come out of his shell. He is so full of life and just loves everything he is doing. It's very cute. But another part of Bryce is coming out and Ben and I are not sure if we like it. Noah hit this stage alot earlier, had better balance and some common sense. We are days away from an ER visit and I just hope its for something small. Friday the boys were running around after bathtime. Naked and having a good time until Bryce trips over his own feet lands face 1st onto a small plastic bowl and splits his lip. By the time I realized what had happened he was covered in blood and pretty much spitting it all over. With Ben at the station it was a mad dash to get everyone dressed, try to stop the bleeding and maybe look at packing a bag for the ER. My friend Stacey had called while all this was going on and loaded her girls up with her medical bag and flew over. Its nice to have your own personal medical staff on call! Shortly before she got here the bleeding was under control and Bryce was just happy to see Stacey. Couldn't talk and tell her what happened he had to act it out. When he fell head 1st onto the floor I think both of us jumped to stop him. It all ended with no trip to the ER and he will have a little scar on his bottom lip. Saturday we got home and the boys wanted to drive their trucks. Bryce is just a little daredevil on his now. I'm in the street watching both the boys going around. When Bryce starts up our driveway on to walkway. A slow pace walk while telling him to stop turned into a full sprint to catch the truck before he went over the rock wall by the electrical boxes. I got to him in time and he started laughing "That was fun Mommy I go down fast" I couldn't take it anymore and he had to park his truck and find something else to do. Oh yeah and he was inches away from hitting his head on the granite step at Ben's work Saturday too. So I am now in search of a bubble or some sort of padded suit for him to wear outside with helmet.

Running with Dad

2009-04-02T16:07:00.001-04:00

The weather has gotten nice out to start running outside again. So when Ben gets home he changes out and goes for about a 4-5 mile run. Noah is always bugging to go with Dad. Well today Ben said he would take Noah with him. Noah was just so excited. Still in his Soccer stuff he felt he was ready to go. He did however need a beanie like Dad wears and was searching for his gloves. Dad told Noah it was nice enough outside that he didn't need either one. Ben and I finished talking when Noah came running downstairs all excited for Dad to come see what he did. We walk into our room and Noah had Dad's running stuff laid on the bed for him. "See Dad just like a puzzle" It was so cute! They got ready and off they went. Now Ben really didn't take him 5 miles they ran down to the stop sign and back. Noah had a huge smile on his face as they came running around the corner. He is now off playing with his buddy across the street.

We have Kindergarten Information Night tonight. They encourage younger kids to stay home with a sitter. Well thats not really an option for us so we are all going. Both Ben and I want to be there to see the school. I just hope I don't start crying already. After that its family shopping night. This will be something completely new to all of us. We do most our grocery shopping together just not this late at night. My boys are used to being in their jammies and having some sort of quite time by 645pm and Bryce is in bed by 7pm. After Soccer today I put Bryce down for a very late nap so I'm hoping it helps us out. Wish us luck!!!

Pictures

2009-04-01T07:59:00.001-04:00

Here are a few pictures from our BBQ a few weekends ago. I'm sorry out here its known as a "cook out." We were really pushing the "Spring" thing and froze most the time outside. But the kids thought it was a blast and had a great time.

Pillows

2009-04-01T07:38:00.000-04:00

How do you pick out pillows? Soft, firm, extra firm, medium, plush, ultra plush, feather, hypo allergenic, allergy free, over stuffed, extra long, extra short, down, down alternative, my head is spinning make it stop! I went yesterday to buy Ben and I new pillows. Apparently I suck at picking out pillows and have been fired. We spent most the night cracking up laughing in bed and not sleeping. This stupid freaking pillows I got were just outta control. They said they were prefect for side sleepers and I thought great how could I go wrong? While laying on my back my head was so elevated my chin was almost hitting my chest and Bens was even worse. He spent most the night making fun of these pillows and had me in stitches. Yes, I was pretty tired due to the lack of sleep the night before so anything could have made me laugh last night but he was still pretty funny. Heck even the sound of Dad's dog barking was pretty funny too. Okay pillows focus. Ben ended up throwing the new pillow across the room like some mad man and used my old pillow. Mind you the night before he threw his old pillow out and used a blanket as a pillow. So please help I am in serious need of new pillows. Ben did ask if I could "take them back" after thinking of that it kinda grossed me out. Yes we used pillow cases and only laid on them for a few hours but still. I don't want to buy a pillow that someone may or may not have already used and returned. Doesn't that sound gross to you?

Where have I been?

2009-03-26T07:29:00.000-04:00

WOW it's only been 6 days since my last post but so much has happened. (At least I think) And I was started to have with drawls :). Well lets see........The weather has been AWESOME a little cold but I will take it. The snow in the backyard is completely melted and the front is going to take all spring but its slowly going. Noah is days away from being able to play outside at school again and is so excited. We have been hitting up the parks again and they finally unlocked the park here in Hampton. So much fun!! Last weekend we BBQ'd again. A few families in the neighborhood did a "Kick of Spring BBQ" it was alot of fun but I think we pushed it a little. It just so happened to be the coldest day. Ben had a hard time getting the chicken to smoke cause it was so cold outside. The kids could have cared less. We got the boys another powerwheel and it was the 1st day to drive it. They LOVED it!! Bryce is kinda afraid of it so Noah drives it all the time and is in heaven. Between the 4 kids that are always outside playing they have 6 different powerwheels to choose from. Its just nutz out there!! Soccer has been going great. Noah loves it and really likes being there with Ella. Its funny cause those 2 stay together the WHOLE time. And Bryce is Noah's number 1 little fan. He stands in the players box cheering for Noah in between snacks. Then of course Noah gives him the occasional wave, its super cute. I can't wait for Ben to be able to come. Its only 1 day a week during work hours for Ben, its the last class they had for winter so we took it. Plus its more directed at practicing skills and having fun then competition. So he isn't missing games or anything like that.

Tried the potty training thing with Bryce. He is ready now its just getting Mom to get on board. He is actually more excited about the "treat" after he goes that he holds it and only lets a little out each time. Seriously in about 2 minutes I think he went 5 times. I'm going to have to figure something else out. And believe it or not I can leave the room with him in it and he won't come screaming after me. Yes its true. Even better I can leave him with another adult and run inside to grab something and he is okay. Baby steps baby steps.

And I think the biggest news I have is.......I went to pick up Noah's kindergarten papers on Monday. This is all happening too fast. Open house is April 2nd and he has an assessment and I meet with a counselor on April 14th. Seriously a counselor? I asked how many Kindergarten classes they had here and I was told 7. Yes 7!! I was totally blown away. Lucky for me you can see the playground from the parking lot, Yes I'm going to be that Mom who goes and watches her son play for the 1st couple of weeks. I just want to make sure he is okay. He is excited about starting next year but is not happy that girls will be going to his new school. The thought he would be getting rid of them already.

Okay thats about all I have time for now. I will leave you with some Soccer pictures from last week. I still haven't uploaded my pictures from the weekend. (This only took me a week to get pictures on here.)

Not cool Mom

2009-03-20T13:17:00.000-04:00

So on Wednesday I volunteered to bring snack on Friday for Noah's class. Because I'm cheesy I was actually pretty excited about it. This morning the boys are eating breakfast and I am making snacks. Noah finishes his 4 packs of oatmeal, 2 spoon fulls of yogurt and some fresh cut fruit SERIOUSLY HOW DOES HE DO IT AND WHEN WILL IT STOP?!? Then comes over to help out. He sees that I'm cutting celery and adding peanut butter along with some cut apples. Noah then says "Mom that's not cool, we want a cool fun snack." I asked what that would be and he couldn't think of anything "cool and fun" He then told me that the kids would not like it and it would be my fault. I can't believe at the age of 5 my son told me I wasn't cool! So after school we are heading to the truck and he says, "Mom your snack was really good and I really liked it, some kids didn't eat it but me and my boys did." "Thanks Mom your the best" And gives me a big hug before getting in the truck. How sweet is this boy? He even wanted more celery with peanut butter for lunch too! Bryce on the other hand had more fun rubbing the peanut butter all over his shirt and I even think he got his hair when I wasn't looking. Crazy kid.

We hope everyone is enjoying their 1st day of SPRING!! The boys and I are enjoying the sun even though its cold outside. We ran around out back before lunch and did some arts and crafts before nap time. Bryce spent his AM running around town with Mom with a last minute trip to Dad's station. They had a chili cook off today and I am happy to announce BEN'S CHILI WON!! Okay really it's my recipe but I let him borrow it for the day. Mom came in BIG TIME with over nighting the "special" ingredient from California. We have been looking for it like crazy out here and after some research we now know that it is a "West Coast" thing. THANKS MOM!

This weekend is filled with fun and more BBQ's. Saturday we are having a Kick off Spring neighborhood BBQ. Should be a good time. Ben will be smoking the chicken for the event and is pretty excited. Not sure what Sunday will hold but I'm sure we will think of something.

Okay off to detail the inside of the truck before Ben drives it this weekend! He will be less then pleased with the appearance :)

Anyone know what tomorrow is?

2009-03-19T12:06:00.000-04:00

THE 1ST DAY OF SPRING!!! YAHOO!!!! Its been a long cold, bitter winter and it's almost over. And believe it or not I have a backyard now. Yes the snow has been melting off and the kids and I can run in the backyard without our snow shoes on. Bikes have been dusted off, powerwheels charged up, bubbles are being blown, bbq's ck'd for rust damage, parks are starting to be unlocked, everything is coming back to life here in New England. The tree in my front yard even has little bulbs forming on them. I LOVE IT!! I have never been much of a "gardener" (ask Erik about the last and only time I planted flowers in Newport, it wasn't pretty for me) but I can't wait to plant flowers, see them grow and smell them every morning when I wake up.

Noah is so excited for Spring. He never really knew what Spring was till we moved here. He can't wait for Spring to get here cause Summer is next and that means NO SCHOOL! I am one of those crazy Mom's that loves when Noah is outta school. We have so much fun everyday all day. I can't wait for another Summer with my boys. But it also makes me sad because this will be my last Summer with him before he goes off to "big kid" school and makes all new friends to play with next Summer. ~tears~

And guess what's 2 1/2 weeks away? Anybody? No? Okay OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!
I'm just so excited about this!!!

SUNSHINE!

2009-03-15T21:33:00.000-04:00

Wow!! So you know that really bright yellow thing in the sky? The one that gives off heat and light? Yeah it came out to play this weekend and we LOVED IT!!!! The boys were squinting their eyes most the weekend and poor Bryce kept closing them saying "I can't see you, I can't see you." It was pretty cute. We did pretty much everything we could to enjoy the sun this weekend. We BBQ'd here at the house with some friends. Ben made RIBS!!! YUMMY!!! Rode bikes, powerwheels, 2 different beach trips, park, bubbles, baseball, washed both cars, some shopping and lots and lots of family time outside. It was a great weekend here in NH. BRING ON SPRING!!! Noah was so excited to see the sun out he dusted off his boardshorts to wear to the beach today. It was pretty funny. My kids were the only ones in shorts and sweatshirts.

Other then that not much new going on here. Im still fighting a cold and it sucks. Bens a running maniac and the boys are doing great. They both have matching bumps on their foreheads with bruises too. I need to try and get to the Elementary school sometime this week. But I'm still not talking about it so something tells me it might not happen. Oh yeah, Noah started soccer last week. It was so much fun!!!!! I will post later about that one later, something to keep you coming back for more :)

We wish everyone is AZ a fun filled week with their visitors! Wish we could have joined you guys but maybe next year :)

Tight rope painting

2009-03-10T20:19:00.000-04:00

It didn't take long for Ben to notice that I had started painting the wall today. I was pretty much finished with the 1st coat when he got home. My only problem I was facing was the middle and top of of the wall. Now this wall is about 15 feet tall. It was actually pretty funny watching me lean over the railing to reach as much as I did. And the ladder I was using on the stairs probably wasn't the safest either. So Ben comes up with a genius idea. He goes out into the garage and cuts a 2x6 piece of wood that was 9 feet long. Just long enough to rest across the railing. Then attaches another piece of wood under it so it wouldn't bow down. How smart is this guy. Brings it in and drapes it across like a bridge to paint on. At 1st I was scared for his life but it all worked out great!!! The wall looks good. Just not sure what color I'm going to do with the rest of the upstairs and loft area. Ideas are welcome!!!

March Snow

2009-03-10T15:41:00.000-04:00

So many of my family and friends are feeling the sunshine on their faces, running and playing at parks, flying kites, walking down the pier in HB, enjoying a nice walk in the park, and actually believe it or not putting shorts and tank tops on their kids. Well not us over here. The boys and I went out yesterday after the snow stopped and had another snowball fight, built forts in the snow, made snow angles and went for a nice walk in the snow. We got lucky today and are enjoying seeing the blue sky's and sun out. It's melting most of the snow that fell yesterday so I'm happy.

My friend Stacey and I went shopping for the kids today. Noah and Ella start soccer Thursday so we hit Nike up today. (No Al I left what your thinking in the closet for a later date) After Nike we went to get more paint for the house. I finally choose a blue color for the HUGE wall going up the stairs. Seriously I didn't really know how big that wall was until I started to paint it. Its going to be a good time. Ben has no idea that I have started painting again but I think he will figure it out when he walks threw the door. He is a pretty smart guy. Ben has a Basketball tournament in Boston the next few days and he is pretty excited for that. We are both trying to keep up on our running (Ben does better then me) I'm happy if I get in 4 days a week at this point.

Bryce is getting his last 2 year molar in, FINALLY. And is just a little man or should I say Noah now. Did I tell you guys that it's almost time to sign Noah up for Kindergarten? No probably not cause I'm not talking about that yet. ~TEAR~

Okay I think my arms have recovered from holding the painter thing above my head for so long. Going in for round 2 before I have to start dinner. Here are a few pictures from yesterday.

ENJOY!!

Painting

2009-03-07T08:19:00.000-05:00

As most of you know I have been doing some painting around here. It all started with the bathrooms but has turned into the whole house. This is my 1st time ever painting and I'm enjoying it. I mean I'm not going to be opening my own painting business but I think it's looking pretty good. Ben has helped out when he can but I do most of it while he is at work. I just finished the living room and computer/toy room. I still need Ben to take the TV down so just don't look at that part. And the wires will all be hidden in the walls soon so don't look at those either. LOL. I didn't want to wait on pictures any longer. Next up for painting is the wall going up the stairs and the loft/upstairs area. Then I will be moving on to the kitchen/dinning room.

Visit with friends

2009-03-03T08:17:00.000-05:00

Our friends from Vermont came to visit for a few days this weekend. It was so nice to see Laney again and finally get to meet her husband Mike and their new little baby boy Jacoby. What a sweet little baby, I didn't want him to leave. We start talking about how long it had been since we saw Laney last. We couldn't believe it was way back when we 1st moved to Newport. CRAZY! We were stationed with Laney in Ilwaco, WA and have kept in contact with her ever since. Ben also got a few laughs because I have frames with pictures of us in them still, goes to show you how often I change out my pictures. LOL. Its just the best when you meet up with old friends and it feels like you haven't missed a beat. Thats totally how it was. And it felt like we have known Mike just as long, it was really awesome. And don't even get me started on Jacoby. What a sweet little baby boy. The boys just loved him! I'm really looking forward to our trip out to see them in Vermont.

We drove around Hampton and Newburyport before the snow hit. We even saw a crazy surfer guy in the ocean. Then just hung back at the house the rest of the time talking and playing with the kids. Mike and Ben went out and got "Beach Pizza" for dinner. Of course they loved it! The next day we were supposed to hit the outlets but with the 10+ inches of snow that had fallen over night and the snow that was still falling kinda put a damper on it. I'm just glad they made it home safe and it didn't take 12 hours.

Nor'Easter

2009-03-02T15:47:00.000-05:00

How fun are those? Yeah pretty good time. We went to bed last night with with brown roof tops, black driveways and streets, and even some grass spots but by morning time it was a different story. It was actually really pretty to wake up and see all the fresh, pretty, white snow. I was watching the news at 730 am this morning they were reporting that from 12pm last night to 6am this am Hampton had 8.5 inches of snow. And it was about to start dumping 1-2 1/2 inches of snow an hour till noon. I have already shoveled the back porch a few times today, our friends that were visiting from Vermont had done half the driveway and Bill came and snow blowed the walkway and 2nd half of the driveway for Ben. THANKS GUYS! Ben is currently driving home from work and we will be heading out for some quality family shoveling time. We hope everyone else enjoyed there snow as much as we did!!!!!

Niagara Falls Camping!!!

2009-02-27T10:52:00.000-05:00

We have been talking about going camping this summer near Niagara Falls with some friends of ours. Well we (meaning Sarah) made our reservations TODAY!! I'm super pumped! So this June we will all meet up at a KOA camp ground which is only 7 miles to the falls. This will be our 1st time camping with the boys and it should be a BLAST. Okay lets define "camping" with Shell. We must do this in baby steps. Here is the description of our campsite "This rustic kabin sleeps 6 comfortably. Enjoy the view of the pond while swinging on the front porch. Restrooms/water nearby and electricity inside with a fire ring and BBQ at the kabin." So I'm using the word "camping" very loosely. But remember people baby steps. But I'm super excited to get into this whole camping thing. We are even going to start looking into tents so we can really get into it. It will be so much fun to spend time with our friends, and Tim just got back from Bahrain so we haven't seen him in FOREVER!! What makes this trip even better? Sarah and the kids will be following us back to NH to stay. The kids are all going to have so much fun being together again.

WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

All important UPDATES

2009-02-26T17:30:00.000-05:00

Okay Okay I know I just posted about the septic issue but seriously wouldn't you rather hear about my cute boys instead. Yeah me too! Noah is getting so big. I swear I'm having to buy him bigger pants by the hour. He still loves his school and all his friends there but he can't wait for summer. He knows that school is out and he can stay home all day long. He is doing great in school and ready for kindergarten, but all day in school will be an adjustment for both of us. He only goes 3 days a week a few hours a day and he already tries to get out of it. Its pretty funny. He starts soccer in a few weeks and is super excited for that. He will be doing soccer and the Seacoast United Soccer Club. It seems like a really good place to learn and play. We are super excited. And he just loves his brother more and more each day. I know cheesy "Mom" thing to say. But its true. He has been helping tuck Bryce in at night and is just so protective of him. Now that Bryce is running around and more "on his own" in doing things, Noah is right there with him. He tells us "Mom its my job to keep him safe, and if kids push or hurt him its my job to stop them." Its so freaking cute! Just the other day he told me "Mom this baby is just growing up so fast, he is like a little kid now ready for school." Yes this from my 5 year old.

But I couldn't agree with Noah more. This baby grew up way too fast. Its like a mini Noah running around this house. He has his words all figured out and knows what they mean to. His sentences are coming together and has even gotten into some "story telling" like big bro. He just loves Noah to pieces and goes everywhere with him. While Noah is at school he walks around lost. Noah has to help him do everything and he has even stopped calling him brother. It's Noah Michael now. He is still a mommy's boy more then ever so preschool next year might not take place. Yes, can you believe he can start preschool next year!! Potty training isn't working out so well. As Bryce tells me "Oh yucky Mom, that's disgusting" But we are working on it.

So thats what the boys are up to these days. They are both on the couch having quite time, its almost story time then bedtime. As winter has gone on bedtime seems to get earlier and earlier. But its good they need sleep. Ben is doing night training tonight so we don't expect him till late. I think tomorrow we might head to the Boston Children's Museum before picking Dad up from ISC. Then a little family lunch in Boston might just be in order.

More Joys of living in New England

2009-02-26T08:25:00.000-05:00

I'm telling you this place just gets better and better!!! LOL. It's funny cause as weird as everything is compared to the West Coast, I, we are actually not surprised by anything anymore. Could it be we are becoming New Englander's? Okay lets not push it everyone!!

We are out shopping one day and Ben talks me into buying a weight set for him. Still not sure how that happened but that man can talk me into anything. So we get it home and start taking it piece by piece to the basement. Well our 1st trip down we turn the corner and what do we find? WATER!! 3 different piles of water puddled along the one side of the basement. We start looking for the leak or wood that could be wet. After searching and searching we come up with nothing. We start the dishwasher again and sit and wait for the leak. Seriously, I sat on a chair in the basement (freezing) staring at the pipes waiting for water. We find the leak and all signs point to the pipes leaking. We clean it up and I try a plumber the next day. Got ahold of a real winner who was NO help at all, push it off till that night for Ben to deal with. Ben comes home, spends some time down there and realizes that some seals are coming loose. So he tightens them up, we clean the little bit of water that leaked that day and call it good. Now we are on day 3, head down in the AM no water, good sign right? Start some laundry, do the dishes and start the dishwasher. Run Noah to school, come home and head downstairs to run. CRAP!!!! There was sooo much water down there I was PISSED!!! Get on the phone with another plumber begging him to come out ASAP cause I was done. Super nice plumber guy (he rocked) tells me that he would love to come out but he would just be ripping me off and in good faith he couldn't do it. Proceeds to inform me that because its the drain pipes (which we knew) and we have a septic system it means it's our septic backing up into the pipes. FREAKING FANTASTIC! Get on the phone to the Septic people who kicked ass too, 30 minutes later they were knocking at my door. I will spare you all the lovely details but 2 1/2 trucks later they finished. In the mist of all this, the neighbors sold their house and were having theirs done at the same time. Just so happens that it was the son of the guy who was pumping/cleaning up ours. Then all the sudden I hear another rumble of a truck heading this way. And why wouldn't the propane guy come at the same time. So we had 4 different trucks all running different hoses and lines to the backyard and they all just happened to know each other. It was like a reunion in my backyard! As everyone loaded up they all handed my their little "tickets" of love and a wonderful smell for the afternoon. After getting Noah from school we didn't return for a few hours. Yes the smell was that bad!!

So the big joke that day was that Shell got another month of heat and is able to flush her toilet, do the dishes and clean clothes for her Birthday gift. THANKS HUNNY I knew you loved me!!! HAHA. But seriously, I miss the days when heat didn't need to be delivered to your house (and cost a small fortune) electricity didn't charge you to "deliver" it to your house and you didn't have to worry about a tank under your grass being too full and water not being able to drain out!!!

Coastie Family

Stronger

Discipline, time outs and following through

Where is the snow?

Noah turns 8

Motivation

Transfer season or the lack thereof.......

Happy New Year

Puzzle time

Play ball

USB cord nightmare

Heaven on a stick

Sledding

Happy New Year!!!

Family Pictures 2010

Apple Picking

On the move...

And so it begins

cough*cough*sniffle*sniffle

Preschool blues

Mama Mama Mama

Fall

Preschool.......

1st Grade

6 months

Hello are you there?

Pictures

5 months

J-U-L-Y

Strawberry picking

Mother/Son Fishing Trip

What happened?

Noahs Concert

Opening Day

Soccer comes to an end

Cough*Cough*Sniffle*Sniffle

Divided......

Busy Busy Bees

The kiddos

6 weeks

Signs that you have lived in NE too long....

Weekend updates......

Mini Van.....

Winter Storms....

Chloe Brooke Molnar

Totally out of touch.....

Flying Santa

Basement blues.....

Tree Lighting in Newburyport

December 1st

Where's the baby?

Have paint brush, will work

Halloween

Soccer soccer everywhere!

Halloween Party

Trying to keep up....

Lighthouse with Mom

Soccer

Fast Foward

Missing

York Zoo

Updates!!!!!

Bryce's 3rd Birthday

Bday

First Sparklers

4th of July

What to do?

Late night for me..........

Camping.....finally

Niagra Falls 2009

Scooper Bowl

Memorial Day 2009

Noah's Ears

Grubs

Beach Day

Lots and lots of Playing!

Volvo Boat Races

Mother's Day Weekend

H1N1 and Ticks

The Weekend

coughcoughsniffle*sniffle

CoughCoughSniffle*Sniffle