Operation house completion week #1

Just as an update, I have two items checked off of my "operation house completion" list. I had the front door restained and I totally cleaned out the den of any toys and have organized the basement so we finally have a PLAYROOM!!!! The kids love all of the space that they have in the basement and can make a mess and I don't care if it's cleaned up because, quite frankly, I don't have to look at it! The den is going to be converted into a home office because I have a feeling once school begins, I will be spending a lot of nights getting caught up on office work since the sports and extra curricular activities begin mid-August. I'm pretty happy that I'm slowly getting things done....

Walking with the Dinosaurs

I surprised my big boy yesterday morning. Instead of getting ready to go to summer camp, he got up, got dressed, all 3 kids ate breakfast and Dylan asked "hey where are we going? Why am i missing camp today???". I dropped the girls off and started driving to Middletown to meet the train. Dylan watched tv (I know spoiled), all the way down Route 17. He didn't even realize that we were at the train stop til I parked the car. He started screaching "We are going on a train!!!!". He enjoys riding the NJ Transit train to Manhattan. It's a real treat for him.

When I told him we were taking the train to Madison Square Garden to see the Walking with the Dinosaurs show he was all smiles.

The show was amazing (minus the narrator)--it was quite real up to the part where one carnivore ate a just hatched baby dinosaur, the raptors munching on a dead dinosaur and a tricyeratops pooping on stage---Of course the T-Rex mama that came out at the end was Dylan's favorite.

We didn't leave Madison Square Garden--thankfully because Penn Station is downstairs, and Dylan tried to negotiate an entire day in NYC but we had to return home so I could do some errands.

I LOVE having a little boy to do these things with!

Bumblebee the Catapillar

Marlene called me Monday and said that she found a monarch caterpillar that was plump and ready to turn into a chrysalis! This was perfect timing because Dylan and I just had a conversation about caterpillars and how they turn into butterflies. Brynn thinks butterflies are beautiful and I have to say they were both thrilled when I came home with the caterpillar Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning at 8 a.m, the caterpillar, affectionately known as "bumblebee" started hanging on a leaf and 10 minutes later had started to form it's chrysalis!!!

I was very happy the kids were able to witness this, because I don't think they really believed that caterpillars "sleep" in a chrysalis for 7-10 days then they break out of the chrysalis and are a beautiful Monarch butterfly! We check on "Bumblebee" every day to see what the status is of his rebirth---by next Friday we should have a butterfly ready to be released!

Decorating...

Amongst everything we have going on this summer, I would REALLY love to finally get our house finished. Little things like the molding and trim have been irking me these days. I have made an official list of things I would like to have accomplished in our house before the new year arrives...wish me luck

Christmas in July!

We decided last minute that we would go camping this past weekend. Thursday night after work we took the kids (and the camper of course) to Yogi Bear Campgrounds in Woodridge. It's a nice place. Kids had a fab time and their favorite of course was seeing Boo Boo during breakfast and Santa arriving Saturday night to celebrate Christmas in July.

Saturday morning Brynn and Dylan painted ceramics and Em "made" a tie dye shirt. There were a lot of activities that this campgrounds features that we missed out on. We are going back in a couple of weeks for "Enchanted" week---lots of fun!

Summer camp session 2

Dylan, to my surprise, came off the summer camp bus on Friday with FACEPAINT!!! Now anyone that knows my son well, knows this is a MAJOR milestone for him. This summer he has grown up so much. The facepaint is a major hurdle he finally overcame (due to sensory issues), he is now riding a bike without training wheels and Friday when I took the kids swimming at the campgrounds, he said "mommy watch me swim under water". I was floored when he swam to me under water! Where did my baby boy go????

This little girl should be sleeping...

Oh Emme! My silent sweet baby girl. When everyone was in bed sleeping I hear her little feet down the hall. She went into her brother's room, grabbed his little stool, put it down in my bedroom by my dresser and watched tv. She cracks me up because I kept saying "little girl, you should be sleeping". She never even took her eyes off of the tv and just smiled. She picked up the stool, brought it back to Dylan's room and went to bed. Oh Em!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is my husband's 31st birthday. The kids get very excited when birthdays come around. Brynnie made an executive decision and decided that we would skip the cake this year and just make daddy a pan of brownies because "She doesn't particularly care for cake". We have a special dinner planned, the birthday presents are wrapped and we are going to Dylan's summer camp tonight to watch their annual fireworks display.

We love you to pieces Stephen!!!!

New do...

Oh what a Sunday we had...I thought I could catch up on some work at the office Sunday afternoon. No sooner did I sit down at my desk, Dylan and Brynnie went upstairs to watch tv. Dylan comes running down the stairs announcing that "BRYNNIE CUT HER HAIR!"-- The guilt was written all over his face (but he didn't know that I saw it).

I walked upstairs to Brynnie hiding under the conference room table giggling holding her cut hair in her hand. THANK GOODNESS he didn't cut her hair any shorter than he did--I was an extremely angry mommy and both kids got put in timeout so I could cool off.

Apparently the story I got, was Brynn wanted a hair cut--and has actually be begging me for a haircut for weeks but I can't cut her beautiful locks. Dylan thought I would be okay to cut her hair since his little sister requested him to do it. I was able to find a hair salon that could attempt to fix her hair...it's a lot shorter than it was and unfortunately when I took her home and washed and blow dryed her hair it definitely needs to be cut again...oh boy

Nationals!

The day finally arrived....nationals! The boys were SUPER, SUPER, SUPER excited to go to nationals this year which was close to home (well sort of) in Cherry Hill, NJ. The highlight of the boys day was when they saw the Grand Master, the grandson of the man who designed this form of karate, up close. They were speechless (and that doesn't happen often) that they actually were going to meet the Grand Master, nevertheless, the Grand Master was going to watch them do their karate forms! I was impressed at how important they know the Grand Master is to their art!

The Nationals was a wonderful experience for both boys. They were able to compete with children from all over the United States (people travelled from as far as Hawaii and California) and it was a day they will not forget! Dylan did wonderfully and I was very proud that he did his form correctly, scored high and was incredibly close to winning the sparring competition.

At the end of the tournament, they received metals and Dylan was all smiles when he got the "spirit award".

Nationals next year is in San Diego, California--way to far for this mommy to travel so I'm happy we were able to join other members of our do jang and participate in this wonderful day.

Six Flags Great Adventure

The Moo Duk Kwan National Karate Tournament was this past weekend in Cherry Hill, NJ--I took Friday off from work to travel down to the competition. I decided to take Brynn with us on this trip because I wanted to surprise both kids and stop at Six Flags for a couple of hours. I knew my Emme Grace would be way to little to enjoy the park and it wouldn't be fair to have her sit in a stroller and watch. Ryan of course came with us and he won Emily a stuffed elephant so she had a little something as a gift.

When I was a teenager, I was very fortunate to have a season pass to Six Flags and we went on weekly trips there all summer long. I LOVED it! I haven't been back to the park for at least 12 years and boy was it fun!

I was told that it rained pretty hard at 10:30 am there which scared away a lot of people. When we arrived at noon, the park was empty! We walked on every ride, didn't wait for anything and it was a goregous, hot, sticky, summer day. The kids were exhausted by the time we left at 6:00 and headed to watch the black belt competition at the hotel. I really enjoyed spending the day with the kids and getting to actually ride the rides which I haven't done in a very long time.

July 4th

We hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July weekend! We had a long, fun filled weekend and enjoyed every minute of the fabulous fireworks! Hunter Lake's firework displays get better every year!