Summer in the Fingerlakes....

Wow, I can't believe I have not posted anything here since January!! No promises this time on my next post but here's an update of what's going on here....

I am enjoying doing contract work for Tompkins County Health Department. Keeps me busy a few days a week, although the kids would rather have me home. It's my way of staying sane having 3 kids home for the summer! Debating on pursuing my DPT starting in January. Will have to see how I handle work, 3 kids in school full time, and all their extra-curricular activities before I make any crazy commitments.

Jack is continuing on his project at Ithaca College thru next summer. Fingers crossed that he will get another project close by because I AM NOT MOVING AGAIN. Thanks, had enough of that. He had back surgery in May for a herniated disc and is thankfully pain free and doing well, although the surgeon cautioned him against going back to running "unless he planned on having surgery again." I'm sure you can guess his decision on that one.

Jacqueline "graduated" from 4th grade in June and is headed to Middle School this fall. She is so excited...mom, not so much. My 1st born can not be going to Middle School...right?? She was just learning to walk last week?? She looks so grown up these days. She is still cheerleading and is toying with the idea of swim team in Middle School.

Allison is headed in to 3rd grade this year and is so happy that she has a bunch of her friends in her class...finally! She is still dancing and did another solo last season. For such a shy kid, she just loves to be on stage and dance. She is also learning to bake and cook and just this morning made pancakes for us all on her own (with mom supervising). She amazes me all the time and in so many ways reminds me of me at her age.

And, Harrison, my little man, is heading off to kindergarten this fall. Yes, I cry every time I think about it. He wasn't even born when we moved here and now here he is heading off to school! He is very excited to be riding the same bus as Allison and going to her school. He is going to try out soccer in the fall as well. He is quite the Lego master and has become quite a good swimmer this summer. And of course he still loves to help his dad with projects around the house.

We did major renovations in our house this year as well. New hardwood floors on the first floor, added a mudroom, and tiled the downstairs bathroom. The biggest project by far was the kitchen....and I love it! Granite counter tops and granite sink just make all the difference in the world. And I must add Jack did this all himself (as if any of you that know him would have doubted that) but the kicker is he did it with a herniated disc...he had his surgery before the kitchen was even done!! Yours truly had to install the sink plumbing with direction from Jack...yes, we're still married after that too!! We are loving the new look in our house. Still have to finish the mudroom floor (tile) and all the trim that we ripped out but it is awesome!!

Jack turned 40 August 1st and to celebrate we headed to Block Island, RI with our good friends, Peter and Emily, to celebrate for a week of beach and great seafood. We brought a babysitter and went out every night! Ate and drank a lot and had so many laughs. It was great and Jack got a chance to relax a bit. He actually didn't even pick up his phone all week - a major accomplishment for Mr. Workaholic!

I am heading to MA with the kids for a visit next week - our last roadtrip for this summer. The craziness will all start too soon! Hoping the weather will hold out so that we can go to the beach again. Of all the things I miss about living in MA, the beach has to be the one I miss the most. The lakes are nice here but just not the same!!

Until next time....
Sam

Delinquent Once Again.....

So I know I promised the last time I updated that I wouldn't go MONTHS without posting...well....it's been months....9 months to be exact. So much for keeping my word. A lot has gone on in that time. Probably too much to write about so the condensed version goes something like this....

*Jack is now working for The Pike Company out of Rochester, NY but is currently located at Ithaca College building the new Athletic and Recreation Center.
*Jacqueline is 9 and in the fourth grade, Allison in now 7 and in the second grade, and my "baby", Harrison, is 4 (almost 5 really) and is now in his second year of preschool!
*Our chickens (have I even mentioned we got them??) are now almost a year old and are giving us lots of eggs.
*I am now working part time as a contract therapist for the Tompkins County Health Department and really enjoying it.
*We just added a 3rd dog to our "farm"....a 4 month old Havanese. Yes, a small dog this time!
*My parents just bought a house in Lansing about 6 miles from us.
*We had a wonderful vacation at Disney in December and my mother in law came with us this time!
*And the most shocking for me....in another week we will have lived in NY for FIVE YEARS!!!! I just can't believe that one....

The Easter Bunny arrives...

I was awakened at 4:00 a.m. by two very excited little girls screaming at the top of their lungs "the Easter Bunny came and we saw him!" After pretending to be excited myself...come on how excited would you be after being startled awake at 4 a.m?...I ushered them back to bed and told them they needed to go back to sleep until 6. I know mean mom. Amazingly they didn't put up too much of a fight or wake up Harrison. I was able to doze off briefly myself before Harrison came in to the room at 5:45 not with the same level of excitement as the girls, however. Just to go to the bathroom and climb in to bed with me and wipe his runny nose all over my jammies. Pleasant wake up call #2 of the day. The girls have extra sensitive ears and they have heard him come in to the room and are not far behind him. The dogs by now are also on the bed demanding my undivided attention. Ok, so WHY doesn't anyone bug Jack?? We have a king size bed and everyone is on my side of the bed - 3 kids, 2 dogs, and me. Jack's still in his little cocoon over there on his side. So, I send the kids and dogs "over" to his side to wake him up - he needs to go down and "clean up" after the Easter Bunny before the kids can go downstairs and claim their goods. (That bunny's one messy guy, you know.) After lots of jumping, tickling and giggling (and mom getting kicked a few times) downstairs he goes with the dogs to assess the damage. Moments later we get the all clear and the kids are running down the stairs sounding like a heard of Buffalo. They spy some eggs along the way to their baskets then after ripping apart their Easter Baskets they go find all the eggs the Bunny has hidden and they do a really good job! Harrison was very in to it this year. By far his favorite was the Lego City people he got in his basket. He didn't care about the candy when he saw those. The girls got some nail polish and did their nails while I made breakfast. We had a relaxing morning hanging out and eating chocolate (how can you not have a nice morning when there's chocolate to be eaten?) Then the we got dressed and were off to Grandma and Grandpa's house for brunch which I was quite nervous about: 3 kids loaded with sugar + 1 crowded dining room = HUGE DISASTER. Who wouldn't be apprehensive? Fortunately Jack came to the rescue with a rather unorthodox solution but I was up for anything as panic was starting to set in - let them bring their DS's to brunch. With a little voice telling me this was probably not polite or appproved by Miss Manners, I said "OK" and went with the plan. And it worked!! The minute they started to get restless and look like they were going to explode, I handed out the DS's with sound turned off and I had 3 little angels at the table. Ahhhh....no children running around, no fighting with each other, no yelling....I could feel my anxiety level dropping and I actually got to eat my lunch! All in all we had a very nice Easter. Guess I'll be sending a thank you note to Nintendo....

And for those of you who thought I was off my rocker....

See....told you so....

Something's wrong with this picture....

Well, Mother Nature did NOT take my letter to heart and it is at the moment snowing in upstate New York. The grass is still visible but my deck is not and it's a frigid 27 degrees outside. Jack drove 40 mph on the thruway amidst snow plows and blizzard-like conditions for a "leisurely" 2+ hour commute to Rochester. Harrison has a turtleneck and a sweatshirt on for preschool and when I bundled the kids up to go to school I was seriously questioned by Jacqueline as to why her hat and gloves were on her backpack. Again. She asked me this with a look on her face that read "mommy has lost it for real this time." No MOMMY hasn't lost it, Mother Nature has. The local weatherman was kind enough to tell us this morning that the weather is more like January 7th than April 7th. Really? Thanks for rubbing it in! I keep reminding myself that this IS April and it's only a matter of time before the weather improves...... Right?

An Open Letter to Mother Nature.....

I have about had it with the weather here this winter, so in desperation I have decided to write to the "big cheese" of weather. With April vacation coming next week I am starting to get a bit panicky about having to entertain the kids inside all week without completely going insane. Here goes....

Dear Mother Nature,
A damp, frigid "hello" from Upstate New York where winter never ends. Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful here, but, this year in particular, I'm starting to believe winter is NEVER GOING TO END. Yes, we've had a day or two of nicer weather - sunny and 60 - but it's all a tease. 60 and sunny one day, 20 and snowing 12 hours later. It's no wonder everyone's sick. The germs can't figure out what the heck to do! The kids and their classmates just seem to be passing the same viruses back and forth....kind of like germ volleyball or viral tag. The dogs have even had colds and a stomach "bug". So, Mother Nature, I'm all for a good joke, but enough already. How about some sun and 50 or 60 degrees that lasts a week or so and just keeps getting better. Next week would be a great time to start since it's school vacation. I am hearing of more snow in our forecast for tonight, but I don't think it'd be too late to change that now would it? I don't think I'm being greedy asking for this as it IS April.
Hoping you will listen to my plea,
A desperate mom

Well, let's hope that does the trick! If not, the kids and I will be cooped up inside getting on each other's nerves next week. There's only so many times I can play various board games, do Easy Bake Oven, and destroy the kitchen table with arts and crafts. Here's to warmer weather!!

It's that time of year again!!!

At long last, a new post. I admit I have been really bad about updating my blog. I update my Facebook page regularly, so for those of you who haven't joined Facebook yet...sign up and you can see updates daily!! Anyway, Jacqueline started cheerleading competitions again and just completed her second of the season on Saturday. They were amazing this weekend...mini, youth and senior teams took 1st, and the juniors were 2nd. It was a long day in Albany but a fun and successful day.

Allison is continuing to dance and is on the dance team this year. She will start competing in May. She's even doing a solo this year!! She takes after mom...much better at dance than the tumbling stuff! She had no interest in cheering this year and I really think it was because of the tumbling!! She's doing really well and working hard!

Harrison is LOVING preschool. He is so different than his sisters. He really gets involved in everything at school. He loves when I get to come in an be the parent helper, too. We can't believe he will be 4 in just a few months!! He's growing up way too fast!!

We had a really rough fall/early winter here. Jack's business deal went down the crapper and he found himself looking for a new job in a bad economy. Luckily, he found one and is really enjoying his job again. The only downfall is a 1 1/2 - 2 hour commute each way. He has been working at home a few days a week which helps. His company is hoping to get a project here at Ithaca College which would be about a 10 minute commute - much better. He'll find out at the end of February! I am also looking to go back to work part time now...thank you economy...and am currently awaiting my NYS PT license. Not a lot of jobs out there, but hoping to find something!

My parents moved to Horseheads, NY in November - about 45 minutes away from us. It's been great having them close by and we got to spend the holidays with them - first time in 4 years!!

That's about it in a nutshell. Please do join Facebook for more regular updates!! Hope you are all well and surviving in this lovely economy!!