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!

Hunter Lake Campgrounds...

We are official campers! Thursday night Stephen brought the camper up to Hunter Lake so we could take our kids on our first camping trip with our new summer home. I LOVE IT. I love everything about camping. The kids have so much freedom, the fresh outdoors, fishin, swimming in the lake, playing in the sand, the kids riding bikes, eating ice cream, walking, walking, walking (there's soooo much walking to do), the giggling, campfires, smores, barbecuing, and new friends that are made at every campgrounds that we go to. I actually have several trips already planned this summer

We had a VERY momentous milestone this past weekend too---Dylan woke up and decided that he didn't need his training wheels on his bike anymore. The very nice man at the campsite across from us took the training wheels off of Dylan's bike and away he went! It was within 1 minute he was riding without assistance! I was floored! He's such a big boy now and is extremely proud of himself.

Next trip is this weekend with destination unknown...camper is ready to go we just have to figure out where to head...got to love 4th of July!