Preschool Graduation

Last Friday was Ashy's preschool graduation. She was quite the performer I have to say. If you asked me to get up and say a part in front of a crowd I would not be doing that. Ashlyn is not shy and goes up there with great confidence. I am so proud of her. Her part was as follows: "did you know please and thank you are magic words?" She said it with a loud voice and great confidence. She did great.

She also performed some songs and dances and I have to say she has much more rhythm than most kids. Two things now that she definitely did not get from me, stage confidence and rhythm. Her Grandma, aunt Michelle, Ethan, and Grumpy came to the graduation and she was feeling pretty important.

Well she learned a lot through this year. She learned to writer her name, she learned about the planets and space, she learned about dinosaurs, and so much more. Most of all she is ready for kindergarten. Way to go Ashy!

Hot Potato Champ!

On the way home from picking up Ashlyn from school today, she pulls out a bottle bubbles. I asked her where she had got them and she said "well, mom I won hot potato today in class and I won this prize for them." She was so proud of herself. Her little buddy that I pick up said ya she is the hot potato champion. I was trying not to laugh when I asked how one became a hot potato champion. "Well its pretty easy mom, you just have to not drop the potato and be the last one to catch it." She wanted to call her dad and tell him right away, so with a proud face and a huge smile she called him told him she won Hot Potato. Come to find out on Daddy and donut day at Ashlyn's school, Mark almost won Hot potato as well. Unfortunately he came in second place. Ash one upped her dad on this one. Like Father like daughter. They are just really talented. If only I had such a gift. I can honestly say I never imagined my daughter being a hot potato champ, but I am one proud mom that she is. Congrats to Ashlyn!!!

I think I am getting Old...........

Well I am 29 years old and in two months I will be 30. Last Saturday Mark, my Dad, and I put in our sprinkling system. After about four hours of work I was slowing down from Jaguar speed to Turtle speed. My dad was slowing down as well but was still showing more strength and energy than I. My dad would ask me to hand him something across the way and about five minutes later I was able to convince my brain to get up and get it for him.

Well eight hours later we had finished. All the pipes were laid and hooked up. All we had left was to bury the pipes which we could not do until we had checked them to see if they would work. Luckily my dad said we could not test them until the next day. I literally could not move. That night I gave the kids a bath and put them to bed and I crashed.

Well 7:00 then next day rolled around and Josh was awake. I am not sure how I rolled my self out of that bed but I did and walking down the stairs was even worse. My legs were so sore from kneeling down and getting up. I didn't even do any cardio and I am this sore. What is wrong with me? I go swimming three days a week, play basketball and softball once a week. I would not have even thought I would be that sore. It only got worse from there. My arms and legs ached all day Sunday and all day Monday. Today, they are sore but I think I will be able to go swimming at least.

So to conclude on my ramblings I have decided I am not just getting old I am old. I feel old and it really scares me. I am not even 30 years old yet. I hope I can continue to be active and do the things I do because if not, I don't want to know what my body will do do from just a walk around the block.

Who let Josh out?

Yesterday was a nice day. It was warm and there was not much wind. I decided I should take Josh out and wow! I don't think I have ever seen someone let out so much energy. He bolted out the door at lightening speed. He ran to his little red car and took off. He is so fast and I am not exaggerating. He was halfway down the sidewalk before I could catch him. He then went to our back yard where he played and rolled in the dirt. He loves dirt. I swear if there were walls outside, he would have been bouncing off of them. When it was time to load up in the car and pick Ashy up for school there was major avoidance. He ran as fast as he could to get away. I finally got him and he screamed like mad. So when we got home I let him out of the car and he went crazy again. Running straight to his car once again and just loving the outdoors. It is fun to have one kid that is clean and neat. One that does not really care for dirt or bugs and one kid who loves anything that is messy, dirty, and open to run wild. Later that night when I had gone to the gym to excersise Mark took the kids for a walk. Josh was crazy then as well. He was standing in the wagon trying to jump out as it was moving. Mark finally gave up and let him out and he had to run up every driveway and run down it as fast as he could. Mark was nervous thinking he would face plant but he made it safely down each time. Ashlyn of course just walked on the side walk an never wonderd off. Mark eventually had to strap him in the seat belt and pull him home. He is crazy and should be locked in a yard with a fence. I love and wish I had his energy.

More Pictures of the Trip

We Love Boston

I wanted to post some pictures from our trip but I seem to have no time at all. We had a great time on our trip. The kids were a lot of work but I am glad that we brought them with us. A family vacation would not be the same without the the kids.

Ashlyn was so good. She loved having all of Grandma, Grandpa, and Amber's attention. Grandma made her popcorn and hot chocolate each night and it made her so happy. She loved going swimming each night with Mom and Grandma. She enjoyed sitting in her stroller and being pushed around like a princess. For those of you know she is not one to want to walk to much. She is kind of lazy that way. Watching her walk down the stairs to the subway was a hoot as well. She has no depth perception and so when she goes down the stairs she is quite timid. She sticks her butt out in the air and leans forward very far. We were glad to have Amber and grandma help her down them as we carried Josh and the strollers down. She was a pro at riding the Subway. She knew that she had to hold on to the metal bars so that she did not fall. As per usual she ate like a horse. She loved the Lasagna the best that we had in Little Italy.

When we were at the Red Sox game she didn't even know there was a game going until the 5th inning when Mark put her on his lap. She was too busy eating a hot dog, peanuts, fries, ice cream, and cracker jacks. Josh on the other hand was busy climbing the bars next to me and taking peanuts from the guy behind us.

Josh was quite the hit at the game. Many fans were fussing over him and telling us how cute he was. At one point in the game like 20 people were turned around talking to him and making a fuss. I just figured that they all just noticed what a cute boy that was sitting behind them and then they all turned back around a a guy behind me told me that Josh was just up on the jumbo tron. All of us totally missed it. I thought they were just thinking he was the cutes little guy they had seen in a while and I was just smiling. I mean I think he is way cute so why would everyone else feel any different. Anyhow too bad we missed it but how cool is that, he made the jumbo tron at a red sox game.

Other things that we did were we drove to Maine and had a Lobster. That was my second of the trip. Boy was it good. We ate pretty good the whole trip. We had all sorts of varieties of food. My favorite had to be the Canoli's from the pastry shop in Little Italy. We went three times to get them because they were so yummy. We went to the beach to see the Atlantic ocean. Josh loved the sand and made quite the mess. He had wet sand all over him. I could go on and on about all the fun things we did. It was a lot of fun. Oh ya and the plane ride home. Much better. Josh was pooped and slept and just drank bottles. He had four bottles in five hours but it kept him quiet. I had to change his diaper twice. Well if I think of more I will post it.

The Plane Ride

Yesterday afternoon we left for Boston. Mark and I were concerned about Josh being really hard on the plane. I thought we were going to be OK because he had not taken a good nap in the morning and he was looking tired when we were boarding the plane. Well we took off and Josh thought he was on a ride at Disneyland. He was squealing with laughter and saying Wee Wee as we took off. It was hilarious. He had everyone around us laughing. I thought well this won't be too bad.

Then an hour had passed as well as one bottle. He did not fall asleep but was very tired. Mark thought well maybe if we eat dinner and then gave him another bottle when it was dark he would fall asleep. We passed him around to Grandma, Grandpa, Amber, Mark, and myself constantly. Another hour had passed (I forgot to mention we were the second row from the back of the plane) The food finally showed up and they were out of everything that sounded decent. Ashlyn was ornery because she was hungry. Josh was ornery because he was tired and hungry. Mark and I were ornery and exhausted. We ended up with a chicken salad and three fruit/cheese and cracker trays. So Mark, Ash, and I were good. Ash was happy with her food. Now it was Time to focus on Josh. Well four hours and 20 minutes went by and Josh did not take a nap. He wiggled and moved the entire time. He screamed a few times and was so tired. Landing was the same as taking off. Josh thought we were back at Disneyland saying wee and laughing with utter Joy.

He did finally fall asleep. He fell asleep as the cab pulled up to the hotel. He then woke up again and went back to bed an hour later this at midnight eastern time. He then woke up again five hours later and joined Mark and I in out double bed that we thought was supposed to be a queen. He pretty much kept us up the rest of the night. Let hope for better days to come the rest of the week.