ahhh, man!!!

Ok, so my favorite show right now is...

Dancing with the Stars...(I know, I know, Lame)

BUT I can't help it. Guilty pleasure.

For those who watch it (or who do but won't admit it) please read on.

I am SO upset that Sabrina is gone! Megan & I have loved watching her every week - she made the show fun for us!! I totally thought that it was time for Jane (even though I love her - nothing personal) it was time for her to go. I can't believe the bottom two this week SHOCKER!!! Next week will be very interesting! Just thought I would share. We loved Sabrina.

Port Chester Halloween Day

I love Port Chester!

As a community - we celebrate most holidays together. It gets a little busy - especially with Austin playing in the band, as they have them play at most of the functions!

Again, Austin marched in the annual Port Chester Halloween Parade! The kids had fun watching the band play, and getting candy from the mayor! What a fun night!

Church Halloween Party

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

The kids had SO much fun getting ready for the ward Halloween Party this year. The boys decided to all be Army Men - and Megan wanted to be a witch. They all had a great time choosing their costumes - something that takes A LOT of patience and tongue biting on my part at times. So, when the decision was final - we were all VERY happy. Now, making sure they looked exactly the way they have been invisioning for the past 2 months - was another chore. But it all ended well - thankfully no major problems. Megan did her own make-up and Allen handled the boys - totally worked for me! This year Allen & I didn't dress up - what party poopers - I know. Oh well - can't steal the show every year - HA!!

Cameron's favorite was the pumpkin bowling, Spencer's favorite was the gooey eyeballs (from the spook alley), Meg's favorite was the fashion show, Austin's was the spook alley - because he helped prepare and run it with the rest of the YM & YW, Allen's favorite was the chili, and my favorite was seeing all my friends who I hadn't seen in a while from being gone.

It was a great night and we are so glad we went! We all had a "spook-tacular" time! Thanks to the fabulous Activities Committee (major shout out to Amanda) and Primary Presidency - you did such a great job putting it together!!

School Fall Festival

The kids' school has a "Fall Festival" every year - it is pretty much a fundraiser - but the kids love it and always have a good time. This year was fun because all the kids were able to be involved as students - now that Cameron is officially in school. They had a great time doing crafts, finding a needle in a haystack (for the coveted prize - a webkinz), fishing for spider rings, basketball toss, tire football, nail & face painting, cake walk, and lots of other games and activities. Austin was "too cool" (since he is in Middle School now) to play, so after helping prepare the church for the party that night, he came and helped with the games. Good times!

My Favorite Friday Quote...

Bringing the Peace of the Lord into Our Homes
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"Our families need the peace of God in their lives, and if we can't or won't invite the Lord into our lives, then our families become a reflection of our own turmoil. Women are asked to be nurturers to their families, but we must also be firm; we must be the hard rock footings on which our homes can stand. Our families need us to speak peace to them, just as the Lord speaks peace to us. Our homes need to be places where our families and friends want to be, where all who enter our homes can draw strength and courage to face the challenges of living in an increasingly wicked world. Our children need to hear us 'talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, and preach of Christ' (2 Nephi 25:26) so that they may know to what source they can look for the peace that 'passeth all understanding' (Philippians 4:7)."

Kathleen H. Hughes, "Remembering the Lord's Love," Ensign, Nov. 2006

I SO was not thinking...

Ok, I know that I should have known this...but, I wasn't thinking (obviously)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my diet DrPepper to be nice and cold. Yesterday, I bought a new case of it and thought that I would just put a cup (glass one) in the freezer full of ice - then in a couple hours, I would be able to have a nice ice cold glass of soda. So, I did that. I put the cup of ice in the freezer. Well, I actually forgot about it until today. This morning was my cleaning day, and I thought, what better way to go about my cleaning, than with a nice, big, COLD glass of my favorite friend, DrPepper? I also decided to take the non-refrigerated soda, as not to waste an already cold one. I was SO wrong. I took out the glass and proceed to pour the soda in it when the cup started to spider out and then proceeded to well, explode. Nice idea, WRONG. Obviously, I also must have failed science. So, what is the moral to this story. Stop drinking soda? No way man, just don't pour a room temperature can into a completely frozen glass cup.

Dinner with the Girls

We had dinner before we went to Witches Night - Camille, Tonii, Cara, Jenny, Crista, Becky (me), Sarah, Aunt Nancy, and Mom - all the girls! We had such a great time at dinner - at the Old Spaghetti Factory - yummy and fun! It was so fun to be all together and enjoy good food and have such a good time. Aahhh, the memories!

Witches Night Out

WITCHES NIGHT OUT!!

It was Witches Night Out at Gardener Village in West Jordan (Utah) -we had SO much fun. Even though it started hailing, then snowing, then raining, then hailing again...crazy weather - but the crazy weather couldn't stop us from having a great time! We took a more calm approach to the dressing up - we just stuck with decorated witches hats and matching boas...super cute and I was totally fine with that idea. The shopping was awesome - and the company was perfect! We have such a great time that it is an annual thing for us girls!! The best part is that it is just the girls!!

(top picture: me, Nancy, Mom, Jen, Sarah & Tonii)

(middle picture: Sarah, Me, Aunt Nancy, Camille, Tonii, Jen - Mom taking photo)

Whahoo!! So Fun!!

Yes, that is hail on our clothes and all throughout the picture and we still managed to smile! It was cold, but we didn't care! This is my sister (in-law) Camille - we all had so much fun that night!!

The shopping was so much fun - we got some really fun things. So worth braving the storm!

Totally planning on next year ladies!!

My Funny Hunny....

Ok, so funny story.

Being gone for 8 days, required Allen to do a few typical "Mom" chores - dishes, laundry, cleaning (bathrooms, yuck) and other such daily activities - which I was so lucky to have mostly avoided while I was gone. Even though Allen is really helpful, he isn't used to doing all those things on a regular basis, which leads me to his story (personally, I would have kept the secret to myself, if nobody was around to witness it!!)

Allen went down to do some laundry. He took the clean clothes out of the dryer, put them in a basket, took the clothes from the washer, put them in the dryer, grabbed clothes, put them in the washer, started the washer, went to grab the clean clothes to take them upstairs, and where did they go???? He quickly realized he had grabbed the clean clothes and put them back in the washer!! I had to laugh because after he told me, he said "I felt like a hamster on the hamster wheel - just goin' in circles" hahaha

I know he would NEVER have done that on a normal day, right?!?!?!?

I love you babe!

A Nice Break

Ok, so I know it has been a while - but Megan and I went to Utah for 8 days. A much needed break from Westchester County. I have been telling Allen that I have Westchester County fever because I haven't been anywhere (besides one day in Philadelphia) since April. That is a really long time for me. Especially since we take a nice long family vaca every summer - and my Mom works for JetBlue which allows me to fly with some nice benefits - which I totally take advantage of!! This summer was a no-go for a plethera of reasons - unfortunately. So, I decided to "abandon" my boys (according to Spencer) and have a nice little break from reality. But, we are back and refreshed. Yeah!

She Made It!!

On Tuesday, Megan auditioned for All County Choir. All County is where they take a group of four students from elementary schools around the county and perform at Suny Purchase College in the All County Competition. And, Megan was one of them!! Her and 3 other students will be performing in December!!

We are so proud of you!!

GO MEGAN!!

Highlights of the year - so far...

Since I have just started this new chapter in our life - blogging - and since it is already October, I feel like I should highlight a few moments from this year that definitely deserve (and would have had) a spot on our new blog....

February 2007

Austin turns 12 - and is ordained a deacon - yikes - could I possibly be old enough to have a deacon? Both sets of Grandparents came for this special occassion - as well as one of Austin's most favorite people in the whole world - his Uncle Michael.

March 2007

Megan helps represent her school at the Science Math Olympiad.

It is a county wide competition of Math Science & Technology.

Her team did really well. Good Job Megan!

April 2007

Our family heads to Utah for Sarah & Josh's wedding - it was a great week! We loved seeing Sarah get married (still can't believe it) - and we loved visiting with the family! Sarah looked so beautiful and everyone had a wonderful time being together. We took so many cute cute pictures of everyone, we couldn't possibly post them all - sorry! Cameron turns 5 - already???

May 2007

Megan turns 10 - double digits!! Cameron plays the part of the "dog" in his pre-school play "Are You My Mother" - he was so happy because Grandpa Mark was there! His line was - "I am not your Mother, I am a dog - ruff ruff" - he did such a good job - go Cameron! Austin & Megan march in the Memorial Day Parade.

June 2007

Cameron graduates from Pre-School. He is so excited to become a kindergartener!!! YIKES!! Uncle Tyler, Aunt Jenny & the Brock-ster come visit. We do so many fun things while they are here - the kids favorite was our trip to Phili to the Ben Franklin Museum (a must see for all) where we also saw the King Tut Exhibit - way cool. They also loved the Beach, the Bronx Zoo - ok everything is much more fun with family!!

July 2007

Spencer turns 7 - and looses a couple more teeth!!

August 2007

nothing eventful - really - just spending practically every day at the pool or the beach trying to keep cool - luckily we had lots of friends with us!!

I hope I didn't leave anything important out!! After that last picture, I couldn't post any more pics - so I will have to leave it at that!! Sorry!

The First Day of School

There are certain times in ones life where you have a moment of crazy clarity. This was one of those times. These are pictures of Megan (her last year in Elementary) and Cameron (a new kindergartener) - and yes, I am freaking out - next year we will have 2 kids in Middle School - and this is the first year that all our kids are in school - all day!! The crazy clarity....boy I am getting old. Dang it! I wonder how many times I can turn 25?????

They both look so cute and they are both getting so big - growing up way too fast!!

Megan Performs at Band Night

The entire town (ok, not entire town, but most!) of Port Chester comes to the annual "Band Night" where the bands from the High School, Middle School and all 4 elementaries perform. Also, each of the 6 schools have their "Spirit Teams" perform. This was Meg's favorite year. Megan is the front - white top - yellow flag. Please forgive the amatuer video - I chalk it up to a inadequate camera and an overly proud Mom.... (this is just the second half of their performance)

Another Tooth Gone!

Spencer is the incredible "tooth yanking" kid

He has lost 6 teeth - 4 of which he has pulled on his own!

So cute - and so proud!

Cameron's Surgery

After Cameron's surgery - he did so well - what a superstar!

He is a little sleepy here - but doing great!

The Doc has been really pleased with his recovery - and so are we!

Hopefully he wll be able to get back to school soon - we both need it!

Cameron anxiously awaiting his surgery.

He took his "doggy" and his blanket (the one Grandma Deawn made for him) to help him be brave - and he was! He loved the "Sleepy Juice" and the cool tatoo they gave him.

Columbus Day Parade

Austin & Megan getting ready for the Columbus Day Parade

Austin marching with the Middle School Marching Band (3rd trumpet in)

Cute Megan marching down Westchester Ave