Surprise!!! - Happy 50th Anniversary!!

Yesterday was Fred & Alice's Surprise 50th Anniversary Party! Thanks to The Wonderful planning between Brian and I, and his brother Bill and his wonderful wife Linda, we pulled it off perfectly!! They were truely surprised, and seemed to have a great time with all their friends and family!

Speaking of family - here I am with my two beautiful girls!

The Family that was created!! Fred and Alice with 3 of their boys... Bill, Brian and Fred

The Happy Couple

OK - so now it comes time for "The bride cuts the cake"... watch the progression in the pictures below....

All cleaned up and wearing the shirts Billy and Linda had made for them with their wedding picture on them.

Billy created a slide show with pics from their entire life together and it was great fun to watch.

Thanks to everyone for a great day and all you did to make the day special!!

Glad I had my camera on me!

While out yard saling - we drove past a seedy strip club in down town Middletown.
This was on a car parked in front of it at 8:30am Saturday morning........

Dentist - Round II

So Last Wednesday was Dentist Round II - Kaelyn had to have a tooth pulled and some little cavaties filled - Maddie went for her cleaning!

Grandma went for moral support (for me, not the kids.. Thanks Grandma!!)

X-Ray Time

Kaelyn's poor swollen face after the "extraction"

her war wound

After the dentist Maddie had a Dr. appointment to try to find the reason for her recent bout of headaches.... he sent us for a Lyme test. Uh OH.... Blood work!!
Our friend Candy is a Phlebotomist and so she drew the blood for us (so nice to know the lady holding the needle loves you!). I had a lyme test done at the same time, as I have been having similiar symptoms for a while now (Brian thinks I am a hypochondriac, so we'll see...).

For her first time having blood drawn, Maddie was a trooper!

Here we are with our viles....

And of course, Mommy & Maddie's War Wounds

United States Navy - USS Norris

For all of you who didn't know - My father in Law, Fred, was a Navy Man!! He just recently had his annual Navy reunion and I took these pics from his camera to share with everyone. Here is the link to the ship's site for more information if anyone is interested. http://ussnorris.homestead.com/

These are the shirts he brought back for Kaelyn & Maddie

50 Years!!!

On September 12 (maddie's birthday) My wonderful In-Laws celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary! What an amazing couple!

For their anniversary, they traveled to Niagra Falls where they had their honeymoon! After 50 years they still jumped at the chance to pose on "kissing rock"!

YARD SALE DEAL OF THE YEAR

Soooooo......... My wonderful Husband/Yard Sale Partner in Crime, Brian and I went out Treasure Hunting last Saturday. It was Maddie's birthday and we set off in search for the perfect gift (nothing like last minute, right?). I flat out refuse to go buy something retail, just for the sake of having a present to give.... I just knew the perfect gift would find us that morning! We went to a church sale in which different families brought their own stuff to sell, kind of like a flea market. One lady had a box with "MAKE AN OFFER" written on it... In the box was a HP laptop. I asked the lady if it worked and she didn't know - just said it was her granddaughters and she said get whatever you can for it. My mom had told me to keep an eye out for a broken laptop for display purposes, so I figured for the right price...... When I asked how much, the lady said "how does $2 sound". I said "SOUNDS PERFECT". Brought it home and it fired right up! Windows XP and the internet are already installed!!! Sorry Mom, your broken display laptop just became Maddie's Perfect Birthday Gift!!! FYI - Also Scored a 14K white Gold Cross Pendant for $1 at the same sale!!

Let's go Pine Bush, Let's Go!

Today was Pine Bush VS. Warwick - Oh the conflict, as a former Wildcat, who do I root for??? Of course Pine Bush won out - they have some cute cheerleaders!!

All decked out in our PB Attire!

The girl's cousin Lane came out to help cheer on Pine Bush - is he a cutie or what??!!

First the Mighty Mights Played and Won!!

Then it was division One's Turn, they didn't have as good an outcome, but the cheerleaders kicked butt!!!

Maddie's One Request

Maddie's One Birthday request was BREAKFAST IN BED. So Sunday morning before cheerleading, Brian and I got up and made the princess breakfast. Complete with Tiara and Bell (so she could ring it and get my attention if she needed something), nice touch Grandma, thanks for the help!

This is how her tray was presented to her.... her requested meal was scrambled eggs, bacon, toast with butter and hot cocoa.

She is RED-E!!!!

The princess dons her crown.

Of course the big sister gets treated like royalty too.... same meal, not as fancy on the presentation. mmmm bacon!

Wouldn't we all love this? Maddie said this will be an every year birthday tradition!!

Maddie's Birthday..... A LONG day!

Maddie's 7th Birthday started off with a trip to the Oh So Loved - Chuck E. Cheese

After Chuck E. Cheese we went home to relax a bit and so the girls could see their new room - they Loved it!!!

Next stop.... BY & Jenna joined us for Maddie's birthday at her favorite place - Cheeseburger in Paradise... she had her celebratory Pina Colada and was in her glory!

For anyone wondering if 7 was going to be the year that Maddie could eat ribs without totally wearing them - um, the answer is NO. Maybe 8!

After Paradise, it was back home for Cake and Candles!

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY MADDIE!!

Preparing For Maddie's Birthday....... Shoot Me!!

So.... For Maddie's birthday this year, she decided she wanted breakfast in bed. A normal request for any 7 year old, right? Well, in order to prepare for breakfast in bed, we had to do a major overhaul in their room. Two little girls with way too much stuff make for a very messy room. We brought in the new trundle bed and made a bookshelf into a head board to case the 1000 books they just got yard saling at Amy's last weekend. We hung up their street signs and Dry Erase boards and did a major cleaning. Below are some pics, enjoy them now, cause how long it will stay like this is a mystery.

THIS WAS THE NOTE BRIAN LEFT ON THE DRY ERASE BOARD FOR THEM!

HA HA HA HA HA - Gotta Love That!

1st Day of School

First Day of school went off without a hitch! Both Kids liked their teachers and are going back tomorrow! Maddie's even going to BUY lunch tomorrow - boy my little girl is growing up.....

Is it possible I am the mother of 4th and 2nd graders?? How did that happen?????

Kaelyn at the Dentist

Kaelyn's first official trip to the dentist went well.... with great apprehension her pathetically whimpy mother finally got her there and she was AWESOME!

Flouride anyone??


Maddie went for moral support, and to check it out - her appointment is next week!

All Smiles!

Our Last Hoorah Before School Starts!

Our Last Hoorah Weekend Getway turned out to be a great time! Brian and I and ALL the kids packed up the ol' suburban and headed North!

1st Stop - Saratoga Raceway - Didn't win any money (lost some in fact), but the kids tent was fun!


Giddy Up!!


Next day we headed to Adirondack Animal Land. We went Last year with Kaelyn & Maddie and had such a great time, we wanted to go back!! This year was a LOT Soggier (it rained the whole time, but we made the best of it!) Turned out to be a real fun day!


Kaelyn was in the potty - we didn't lose her!

Seeking refuge from the rain inside a teepee.

Brian!! - You Two Timer!!

After the zoo, we headed to the cabin - and down to Lake Gerry for a swim. Guess who opted NOT to go in the water..........that's right, the smart one with the camera.

4 of the 5 brave souls... Jenna was still on shore.. - They're Goin In

Can you say "FREEEEEZING"

Bubble Blowing in your bathing suit is so much more fun!!


After a charcoal grilled hamburger and hotdog dinner, Smokey the Bear decided to start a fire so we could do some good old fashioned marshmallow roasting!

Can you Say "SMORES" Yum-O!

That was the general re-cap of the weekend. Hoping for better weather next year, but looking forward to the trip again!!