Back from the Dead...

I have spent the last hour reading my old posts and feel it is time to revive this dead blog! I love my boys and my man and my God and I want to shout it TO THE WORLD! See you soon!

Making Plans....Why Bother?

Well, days don't always go "as planned," do they? For example...the boys had "planned" to get the bus the first day of school at their new school, Hopewell - but the bus missed our stop. I "planned" to get an early start on the day with a run (while it was still cool and the sun lower in the sky), but it was pushed back because of taking the kids to school (late by the way.) I "planned" on using my iPod while I ran to make it more fun (if fun and run can be used in the same sentence...I am not so sure) but Jason had taken it out of the van that morning to give to me and he forgot - therefore my iPod was in his pant's pocket rather than my armstrap....oh well.

Once I got all these "unplanned" things out of my way, I did run (I use that term loosely, it was more like a jog) and I was able to refocus on things that were really mattered. I was able to focus on all my blessings, like my new house, my new neighborhood, my kid's new school, my family so close, my church, my kids, the ability to work from home, and so and so forth. It made all my "unplanned" occurences in perspective and made me realize how unimportant they really were. I had let these things get the best of me in the heat of the moment - I was frustrated, angry, bitter that things were not going "as planned."

I guess God needed to remind me that my plans aren't HIS! His perspective is what I needed that day and His perspective showed me all the blessings he had showered on me and my family over the past month and beyond.

Oink Oink!

We attended our first of many Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs Baseball game last night! It was a beautiful evening and a great atmosphere. Our tickets were for the clubhouse level, so we were on the same level as the corporate suites - it was very sweet, indeed! Our friend, Laura, won tickets at her job and gave them to us to enjoy. We are so grateful for her thoughtfulness to us! We all munched on hot dogs and french fries (I know, not BFL approved!) and then Jason tracked down some cinnamo-roasted pecans and funnel cake which was AWESOME! The boys enjoyed sundaes in mini iron pigs helmets which we brought home to add to their collection of "goodies" on their dressers. The staff was very nice and the place was very clean! The bathrooms on the clubhouse level were not those you would expect at a ballpark, thats for sure! The field level was very similar to that of Citizen's Bank Park, which makes sense since they are the Triple A Affiliate of the Phillies. The staff did fun games on the field in between innings. It was Eskimo night so all their games had a cold, snow or frozen theme. We saw Ferrous, the mascot, trolling around all night saying hi to the kids. Andrew pointed out that when he was younger he would have been scared of Ferrous, but since he is older, he isn't scared!

We even bumped into my cousin, Andrea and her fiance' Frank. Ironically, their seats were within spitting distance of ours! (No, I didn't measure it...)

Cool Dude!

Well, it has been awhile since I have posted but I thought I would take this opportunity to share a little about what we did today.

Both Ethan and Andrew were in desperate need for a haircut - with Easter quickly approaching. I also wanted to pick up some nice Easter shirts for them. I thought I would try out the new Hair Cuttery and Old Navy at the Promenade Shoppes and check to see if my mom wanted to join us. She very rarely turns down a chance to shop and I knew she wanted to see the boys. My mom agreed and thought my dad might like to see the boys, too, so we planned to meet later in the afternoon.

After a slight confrontation with Ethan after he got home from school, we ventured out to the Promenade. Unfortunately my mood had turned sour because of Ethan's lousy attitude. He did NOT want a haircut and he did not want to shop for a new shirt for Easter. Apparently he did NOT consider this to be "fun." He interpreted a trip to the Promenade as a "chance to walk around and talk to Nana, go to the toy store - like we always do."

Once at the Promenade, my dad and my boys all got haircuts simultaneously (by different stylists.) My dad surprised me by paying for the boys haircuts! That was a nice treat. One of the stylist gave Ethan some "cool" colored hair gel and spiked it(see picture). Andrew didn't want to "taint" his nice hair with the stuff.

We then proceeded to Starbucks and the boys were treated by Nana. They munched on an apple fritter and special drinks.

Much to the boys delight, we then visited the Learning Express toy store. My mom was looking for a specific toy for her other grandson, Jack. The place is so alluring...my mom was already picking out birthday gifts for the boys (7 months away!)

Old Navy was just the place to get the boys Easter shirts. I found 2 polos with a handsome argyle pattern (on SALE!)

It was a very nice afternoon - despite the sour start. Ethan's attitude (and mine) got much better thanks to pleasant company of my parents!

You got "webbed"

So, I walk into my office and I see my tape dispenser on the floor. Hmmm....who was in my office using my tape? I have warned the kids before to leave their hands off my desk - so it couldn't possibly be one of my boys. Right? Wrong. "Andrew! What were you doing with my tape?" Andrew directs me to my right and points to where all the tape went. The tape is holding 2 Rescue Heroes hostage on the side of my bookcase. Huh? I still didn't get it. Andrew explained that Spiderman "webbed" the Rescue Heroes so he needed tape to act as a web and hold them up against the side of the bookcase. My frustration melted away into giggles. Andrew's imagination never ceases to amaze me. His fascination with Spiderman never ceases to amaze me as well. Although Andrew should not have been in my office using my tape, his ingenuity and creativity overrode my annoyance at his ignorance of my request to "stay out." Although I did warn him no more "webbing" with my tape!

I took pictures and have posted them so you can see how the Heroes got "webbed."

Family Day!

Our Memorial Day started out without a bang.

I woke up and worked a couple of hours at computer, ran about 2.75 miles to downtown, around, and back and put on Andrew's training wheels so he can now ride a two-wheeler. As we watched the boys ride bikes (Ethan got a new 20-inch bike to replace the one he handed down to Andrew), Jason and I discussed what we should do for lunch. We wanted to grill something but were tired of burgers and we had picked up some boneless pork chops the night before. Jason scoured a Bobby Flay grilling cookbook and found an appealing recipe, so we made "Porkchops with Soy-Honey Glaze and Grilled Sweet Onions." It was really good, especially if you have a bite of the pork with a bite of the grilled onion. The glaze was awesome as well! After lunch Jason threw out the idea of going to Bushkill Falls (The Niagra of Pennsylvania), about 1 hour north of where we live. It was beautiful weather and except for a little traffic on 209N due to an accident, things went very smoothly. We set up the the 2 screen dvd player that boys got for Christmas from their Nana in the back of the van (first time we have used it). They watched Open Season the entire trip there, they weren't even phased by the traffic jam we encountered which added about 20 minutes to our travel time. They wore headphones so Jason and I could talk and not have to listen to the movie which was really nice. We didn't get there till 4:30 and the shops closed at 6:00 so we moved somewhat hastily through the walk around the falls but we still had a really nice time and the falls were just beautiful. The last time Jason and I visited Bushkill Falls, we were dating, and we were also in the middle of a drought so the falls were less than spectacular. We intend of having a lot more days like this together as a family this summer after the porch project ate up all our weekends last summer.

The day that started without a bang ended after a blast of family fun!

I just pray.....

I just pray this isn't Andrew (in the Spiderman suit) in 20 years!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9nTAY-_Sjc