Saturday, September 19, 2009

New things!

What is new around here? Nothing and tons!

Shea has started Pre-Kinder and has to wear uniform each day - so cute. He loves his class and was excited to see all of his friends back after the long summer. He is taking guitar lessons and playing soccer. We have only had 2 weeks of both - so I will fill in more details later. Shea is still obsessed with pirated and wants his room redecorated to reflect this obsession!

Mattie is at a new day-care. She is staying with a good friend of our's who runs an in-home day care. Our little miss is a little hot tempered and has started biting people. We all dodge whenever she opens her mouth but some of the other babies haven't figure this out yet! She now thinks the dog and cat are hilarious. This is a major turn around as I thought she may not be an animal lover. Mattie has started walking and is finally getting some more teeth in. She has quite a little personality on her in is quite funny. We also love that she goes to sleep easliy each night - we learned what NOT to do after the 1st.

I am having a great year at my school. I am teaching 4th grade Math and Science. I never really enjoyed 4th in the past but I am really loving the change this year. I have two great classes. Still struggling with balancing everything but doing a much better job of it so far!

Chris is good. Football season has started so he is camped out all the time checking on his Fantasy Football stats. He is also coaching Shea's soccer team which he is handling quite well even though he isn't sure about it!

The kitchen has been a boil on my butt! This was supposed to be done the week we were in New Jersey. Six weeks later - no kitchen. I have cabinets but nothing is working yet. I got tired of washing dishes in the bath tub so I switched to paper and plastic. I think even the strongest environmentalists would agree with this decision! Things are finally moving forward so hopefully it will get finished soom - knock on wood!

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New Jersey

We had a great trip to New Jersey this year. The plane ride was a little crazy with Mattie- she did NOT want to stay in her seat and let everyone know about it!


Our first day trip was to Ocean City. The weather was cool and rainy but we still had a good time. Shea rode all the rides with his cousin while I just got to sit and watch - BUMMER! The one thing I was allowed to go one - got me SOAKING wet! Because of the rain we weren't able to go down to the beach.


Anther trip we made was to Philadelphia. This was really cool. The weather was absolutely perfect for a walking tour. We ate authentic cheesesteaks and walked around what used to be Benjamin Franklin's house and Post Office. I got to have a little reinactment of "National Treasure" as we walked past Independence Hall - you know - where to find the glasses that will let you read the map...


Another cool thing was the "Pirate Adventure Tour" we took. We got painted up like pirates and boarded the ship. W got to fight off the bad pirates and hunt for the treaure. Some parts scared Shea a little bit but Mattie, Pop-Pop and I had a great time. I think I am going to open up a boat like this around here somewhere. Anyone want to invest?


We had a great time but were happy to come home after our very busy trip!










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Mattie's Birthday

We were very excited to celebrate Mattie's first birthday. I had to go crazy with her little tutu and matching bow. Doesn't she look like a little present? Hopefully some day I will get some proffesional pictures in her outfit. Miss Mattie would not take a nap the day of her party so by the time everyone was arriving was about the time she was ready to go to sleep! I decided on a cupcake theme. Due to the success of Shea's pirate theme cake I went all out and bought the special Giant Cupcake pan. Well, easier said than done. The damn thing was a BEATING to ice. I basically ended up fingerpainting to get icing into all the little crevices that are supoosd to look like the wrapper! They came out cute - just not up to my picky standards!



We had a great time visitng with all of the family and friends. Mattie got tons of wonderful presents including her new pink chair that her brother keeps stealing. She will also be one of the best dressed kiddos around!




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