What A Pair

Friday night in Charlotte Mike and I got to spend the evening hanging out. We went to a cigar bar and played some pool. It was a great date - and the anniversary of the exact night we met 12 years ago.

Aaaargh!

Go Pirates!

We Are Family

This week, Logan and I got to meet David's daughter, Jane, and her family - Danny, Jade and William. It was great to finally be able to meet them after all this time. We had lots of fun teasing David. I wish we had been able to spend more time together. Hopefully, we will be able to on their next visit.

Football Season Is Almost Here!!

I am a HUGE college football fan, and this time next week Mike and I and our Dear Onofrys will be in Charlotte, NC watching my East Carolina University Pirates play the Virginia Tech Hokies. While I am a big Hokie fan, I have to root for my alma mater when I can. Go PIRATES! (make sure you stop the blog music so you can hear the video)

Mike The Construction Worker

For the past 2 days, Mike has been helping to build a house. Yes, I said MIKE helped to BUILD a house. Our church offered the opportunity to help with a Habitat for Humanity house, and he signed up. Yesterday, he painted the entire inside of the house, and today he put up vinyl siding. Those of you who know Mike know that this is completely outside of his box. I asked him to take the camera and have someone take his picture so I could have it for the blog and my scrapbook, but he said no way. I was going to just show up and take a couple of shots, but I didn't want to completely embarass him.

Pretty Girls

Can you tell it was a boring afternoon?

My Furry Sister

Say hello to Maggie, my soon-to-be furry sister. Ma and David are picking her up in a couple of weeks from the breeder. She is an English Golden Retriever. I wonder how the new baby will affect their marriage.

I Can't Win

So, in order to keep the girls from being bored this summer I have set up a bunch of stuff for them to do. I mean, they spent a week at the lake with Grandma and Granddad and they spent a week at Disney and 2 weeks at camp and the list goes on and on. Last week, Amanda said she wanted to have a Pajama Day because she wanted a day where we had nothing to do. I said I would work on that. Today, I had to take her to the doctor first thing for an allergy issue, and after that we all went to the mall to get Logan some school clothes. She said I thought we weren't going to do anything today. I felt really bad, so we rushed through the shopping and came home. Two hours later, she tells me she is bored. Ahhh!

They Made It!!

For weeks - no, months - Madeline and Amanda have driven us crazy wanting to ride their bikes up to The Pavilion (the nearby park on the water where our neighborhood parties are held). Well, today we gave them the chance. I cannot believe I forgot my camera because you never saw two happier little girls. Amanda pumped her fists in the air, and Maddie yelled - we made it! It is about 2 1/2 miles there and back which is a long way for a 7 year old. We only had 2 crashes - both Amanda. She was busy taking in the scenery and headed into the woods a couple of times. It seems like yesterday they were getting their Little People tricycles and having a blast riding those in the driveway.

The Messy Gene

Stay away from me. I'm a carrier. There doesn't seem to be any cure or hope for one in the near future. I have the Messy Gene. And I have passed it on to my children. Mike's mom has told me stories of how he was unusually clean as a child - even had a song. I know, I know - how very cute . . . and wierdly anal. So, it has to have come from me. My girls can be home for only 1 hour and, with no help from me, they are able to destroy their bedrooms. And the ability they have to spread their toys, clothing, hair bows, whatever, down the stairs, through the living room, into the kitchen - and even out to the GARAGE is just amazing. We need to harness this power and use it for good. In the meantime, it is driving me CRAZY! Logan was the exact same way. At one point, I packed all of his toys into garbage bags and put them away for a month or so. Unfortunately, it didn't work and to this day he is a huge slob. I am hoping one day they will come up with some kind of vaccine so that my grandchildren are not plagued with the same affliction.

Poison - Us

Or at least it was supposed to be "us". Mike has been waiting for months to go see Poison. He was so excited when he found out they were coming here that he had me buy tickets right away. He loves those Hair Bands. He wasn't even upset when he found out we would have to pay for a babysitter because Logan had to work the same night. But, as normally happens in this house, things don't always go as planned. I woke up last night with some stomach issues, and they haven't gone away. So, did he stay home to take care of me? To help out with his children? Nope. He said - I hope you feel better - and was on his way. And that's fine. I know this is important to him. I just made him promise not to look at any of the well-endowed fans.

Our Little Runaway

Madeline got in trouble this afternoon. She had done something wrong, and I sent her to her room. I went down to the living room, and she came down about five minutes later. She said - Mommy, I want to runaway. I looked over at her, and she had her American Girl doll, her flower picture holder, and Baby and Little Puppy laying on the floor by the door. So, we talked, and I asked her where she was going to go. She told me she wasn't sure, but probably over to her friend's house. So, being the good mom I am, I sent her up to her room to get her clothes. I asked her if she would miss us. She said no because she was going to take a picture of us with her, . . . and she would visit once a day.

How Time Flies

I was going through some old pictures today and found this one. It was taken in August of 2004. Amanda is pretending to water ski behind the kayak - Madeline is the driver of the boat (just like Granddad). I LOVE this picture because I remember that Mike and I were on the dock talking away, and when we looked over at the girls this is what they had done - all on their own. Sometimes I really miss those days. Wait - that was also the summer I had to potty train them. Never mind. I take it all back. Yes, they were cute, but I could never go through that again.

Meet Della

Say hello to Della - Della Cruise. Mike got her for me during our anniversary week so that we could ride bikes together around where we live. And we have - on the weekends. We love this path that goes around the lake and all the way up to the party pavilion in our subdivision. Mike gets up every morning during the spring and summer and rides his bike before he gets ready for work. The plan was that I would now be able to join him that early because Logan would be here with the girls. Well, do you think that has happened yet? Nope. I told Mike I was going to get up with him last week, and the excuses start flying - You don't want to get up that early. You can ride your bike later in the day. You and I can ride at night together. Do you think there's something he is trying to tell me?

No More Stuffed Animals

I took Amanda to the doctor today because she has swimmer's ear - same as she always gets after a summer of swimming. As soon as the doctor walked in, she said - Look at the dark circles under her eyes. Her allergies are bad. What is she allergic to? Is she on any medicine? I told her she is allergic to dust, mold and pollen, but that we try to not give her the medicine because she gets tired and crabby when she is on them and there are so many side effects. She gave us some nose spray and said NO MORE STUFFED ANIMALS. She can play with them in bits, and, if she has to sleep with one, we need to wash it every day or put it in the freezer (kills dust mites). Looks like I am going to have to pull all of her stuffed animals out of her room. I'll put them in Madeline's for now, but they already have so many that I don't know how we could store any more. She is taking it pretty well. I'm sure she will come up with other gift ideas that people can get her. She keeps a running list.

Another One Bites The Dust

Madeline lost a front tooth this morning. She is very excited. Looks like the Tooth Fairy is coming to visit tonight.

Jill Tries To Get On The Floating Raft

I have been shamed into putting this on the blog. I have to admit that if it had happened to anyone else I would have already had it on here. What looks like a quick thing actually took about 5 minutes - thanks to help from Mike and the kids.

Annual Playgroup Lake Trip

Once again, the Riddle, Onofry and Martin families met at Smith Mountain Lake for fun in the sun!

Oh Deer!

Grandma and Granddad's lawn service at the lake:

Logan's Birthday

We celebrated Logan's birthday at the lake with our playgroup friends. You can see we kept the Mickey Mouse theme going. He may be 18, but he is still my little boy. It is funny that he loves Disney so much because his bedding when he was a baby was Mickey Mouse.

All of the kids took part in decorating his cake.

For his gift, we gave him a puzzle to solve. We are taking him to New York City in December.