Sandy Bottom Nature Park Hike!

Yesterday, I took Emily and Ryan to Sandy Bottom Nature Park and we had a nice, long, and very hot hike!! hahaha!! It was a lot of fun, though. They love to go hiking around the huge lake and we hadn't gone in a long time. So, Emily actually packed lunches for us and we set off for a fun day. We really enjoyed exploring and had fun, UNTIL the very end of the trail, where the kids started arguing. My goodness, I don't even know what set them off, but I was so aggravated that we didn't even have our picnic. We left and after the kids calmed down, we ran home to get my bathing suit and headed to the pool, to eat our lunch and swim.

Emily and Ryan reading about the rattlesnake warning in the park.

My sweet babies.

Two, of the many turtles, that we saw!

Checking out the backyard habitat! There aren't any pictures of the backyard habitat, because there wasn't much in the habitat to see! LOL!

Miss Adventurous, Em, walking out on a log!

Ryan, is watching his sister from the sidelines! LOL!

My sweet angels!!

My precious babies!!

Tony Hawk Boom Boom Huck Jam!

Tonight we went over to Nana and Poppy's house for an early birthday surprise for Ryan. Two months ago, unbeknown to any of us, Nana and Poppy bought two tickets for this huge event -- one for Ryan and one for Rob. It's for tomorrow night. Emily and I met Rob and Ryan over at their house, once Ryan finished skating. We sat around for a little bit and Nana asked Ryan to go and sit with Poppy. Ryan was a little unsure about it, but went anyway. haha! Poppy gave him the envelope and when Ryan saw what it was -- he was so excited!! He has been wanting to go so badly and every time he asks Rob, he would say, "we'll see!" So, this will be so much fun for them. Kelli and Hunter are going to ride along with them. I'm looking forward to seeing all the pictures. Emily and I will do something special -- just the two of us, while they are at their Tony Hawk Boom Boom Huck Jam!!!

Poppy and Ryan ~~~

Poppy reading to Ryan about all the things that are allowed and not allowed in the arena. Ryan just got back from skating, that's why his hair is a mess! hehehehe!

Poppy and Ryan ~~

Beach Day with my Babies!!

Yesterday afternoon, Emily, Ryan, and I went to the beach. It was just the three of us and it was so much fun spending time with my sweet babies! Ryan found a HUGE hermit crab on one of his explorations. We played in the sand and made a big home for 'Gary Larry' -- the name they gave the hermit crab!! hehehehe! We had to leave earlier than planned because it started thundering. We got home just in time for it to start raining! What a fun day with my precious children!!!

My sweet Ryan and Emily ~~

My babies walking on the beach ~~

Making a home for 'Gary Larry' ~~

Posing in their big 'swimming pools,' that we made for the hermit crab ~~

Family Day!

We another fun day at the pool. It seems like that is our entertainment of choice, these days! Well, with the price of gas, and with Rob's parents having a pool, and living so close to us, it just seems the natural thing to do. We all love the water. Also, after all the yard work that the boys did, a refreshing dip in the pool, was just perfect. Emily still has to keep her head above the water. And, for a child who is the first one, of the season, to get into the pool and is always in the longest out of everybody, she is doing a great job with self-control. I really thought that she would have "accidentally" slipped under by now, but she hasn't. I'm so proud of her. Emily and Ryan got out all the fake food, pots, pans, cups, and plates from the garage and played "restaurant." They cooked Rob and I some yummy food. Then, Rob got out Poppy's remote control boats and they played with them. It was a lot of fun. We had a great family day!

Pool Fun and Cooking Out!

Yesterday, we went to Nana and Poppy's pool, again, because it was so hot! Before we got into the pool, Emily and Ryan fed the fish in the pond. Nana and Poppy went out of town and left food for the kids to feed the fish.

The fish swimming to the top of the pond. They are hungry!

Emily feeding them!

Ryan feeding them!

Look how hungry those fish are!

My sweet babies -- Emily and Ryan!


Since Emily still has swimmers ear, she couldn't go under water. So, my precious girl just floated around all day and stayed in the shallow end. She did go off the diving board once, in a big float, but she almost went under water, so she couldn't do that again. Ryan stayed inside for a little bit playing a video game. Then, he joined us later.

Emily, keeping hydrated, on the float!

Ryan playing video games!

Ryan finally getting in the pool!

Self-portrait of me, before I got in the pool!


After Rob got off work, he came over and went swimming with us. It was a wonderful day. I ran home later and got food so that we could cook-out. The weather was so nice that we decided to stay at Nana and Poppy's, for dinner. They don't mind that we "borrow" their house, while they are gone. They are sweet like that! LOL! After we watched the Avatar movie (a Nickelodeon animation that Rob LOVES -- hehehehe), we went home for the night.

First Day of Summer!

Happy First Day of Summer! First, I will just say that I really miss being able to post pictures to my blog. We still haven't fixed our memory problem on our computer. So, I haven't been able to download any pictures from my camera. I have over 300 pictures and about 6 videos just waiting to be set free!!! LOL! I have so many picture folders on my hard drive and that is what is taking up so much room. Rob thinks that we need to add an external hard drive and send all the pictures there, as we download. It's so frustrating!

I really thought that I was going to be able to blog last night, since both children had friends spend the night. However, they were a little wild and I didn't have the free time that I thought I would. LOL! But, it was fun and they were all really good, so I am not complaining. They didn't fall asleep until way after midnight and were up by 7-ish today. My sweet husband took them all swimming from 10:00 - 12:00, so I was able to have a couple of hours to myself. He had to go to work after he got home. He is always so sweet to spend every second of free time with our family. He won't get off work until midnight tonight.

So, what else did we do for the first day of summer??? Well, I got "blonded-up" again. That was something that Emily made up and it's key for: my roots are really bad!! LOL! A few years ago she would say, "Mommy, it's time to get blonded-up again!" So, that is the term I use when I am getting ready to go to Nana's shop. I so fortunate to have a mother-in-law, who does hair. She owns a shop and does all of our hair, free-of-charge! With the cost of hair foiling, I can guarantee that I would be my natural, dark brunette, if I would have to pay for my cut and color. While I was getting my hair done, Poppy watched Emily and Ryan. Sarah was also there, because Vickie was getting blonded up, too! LOL! So, they all played together, swam, and had fun.

Well, that was pretty much our day. Too bad that I'm not able to share any pictures with you. This is where I would be posting them. :-( That is definitely a "sad" face because I really don't like the way my blog looks without any pictures. Hopefully, we will get our little problem fixed very soon.

Oh, and one more thing: The skate park yesterday was so much fun! The boys (Ryan and his friend, Nick) had so much fun on the ramps. It was clean, safe, and taken care of. The City of Chesapeake did a great job with this park, that's for sure. It also had "Fun Forest," a huge playground with tons of areas for the children to play. It had a fence around the entire play area. What was also very impressive was the fact that there was only one way in and one way out! So, Brandon and Joshy couldn't escape, or any child, for that matter! The skate park was right beside the playground and it was fenced, as well! Ryan can't wait to take Hunter with him, when he is home from Tennessee. Emily feels the same way and can't wait to play on the playground with Caitlynn. We sure do miss them!! At least we are talking to them everyday, though. In fact, Emily is talking to Caitlynn right now. They are talking, during the commercials, while watching Camp Rock (a Disney movie). Well, that's it for now. I really am signing off now! Good night!

The weekend and Mother's Day!

I know that I'm a couple days behind on posting this entry. This weekend was really busy, so I really do need to catch up.

On Friday night, I took Emily, my niece, and their friends to ice skate. They are getting ready to redo the ice, so this was their last opportunity to go for a couple of weeks. They had a blast and we stayed (almost) until midnight. We all came back to the house for a sleepover. Rob and Ryan were already sound asleep. They had an evening filled with X-box and movies. The girls stayed up until 2:00am (YES, 2:00am!!). They just had to come home to play with their American Girl Dolls. Then, they did hair and I had to draw the line, at make-up! LOL!! The girls got up around 7:30am, and were busy playing. The energy they have is amazing to me. My gosh, to be 9-years old again -- LOL! After the girls were picked up on Saturday morning, we had to run some errands. Ryan went skateboarding, while Emily and I went to her friend's birthday party. It was a fun and busy day.

Now, onto Mother's Day --- what a special day!!! We got up and Ryan and Rob gave me their cards (Emily was saving her's for our breakfast, with my family). Rob got me a Target gift card. Ryan made me a sweet card and answered all these questions about me, at school ~~~ so sweet! He also decorated a picture frame and his teacher put a picture of him in it! I loved it. At church, Emily and Caitlynn were a part of the May Procession, to crown Mary. I loved it and it was so special watching them place their rose around Mary. It reminded me of my days, at Catholic school. We would have a HUGE celebration for Mary. We also sang the same songs, at church, as we did when we were in school. After church, we all (me, Rob, Emily, Ryan, Kelli, Caitlynn, Hunter, Scott, and my Mom) went to breakfast. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures from breakfast. Emily gave me her card and present as soon as we sat down. My precious angel gave me this beautiful bracelet, that she bought herself, at the Hallmark store. It has gold, silver, and crystal beads, with the clasp that says, "Mom and Love Forever," that is heart-shaped. While we were at the Hallmark store on Saturday, she bought it while I was paying for her friend's birthday gift. How absolutely precious and so thoughtful! She told me that she was right beside me and she had asked the cashier to please ring it up quickly, because I was standing right there and she didn't want me to see it. Awww, she is the sweetest!!! When we got out to the van, she told me that she had bought some clothes for her Webkinz and didn't want to show me. :-) She also got me a candle, a little porcelain box (with a picture frame on top, for me to keep trinkets in), and she painted me this heart with a poem on it (she did this at school and it is so pretty). I am just so blessed to have these precious children -- Emily and Ryan! I love them so much. They are my world!!!

After visiting with my family at breakfast, we ran to Rob's parents to see his Mom. Unfortunately, they weren't home. But, they came by our house to visit later. I didn't get to see them, though, because I was taking a coveted nap! My dear, loving husband told me to lay down and enjoy some time to myself. I was watching some TV and reading a book -- and fell asleep! Rob was holding down the fort and helping Emily work on her Social Studies project. Have I mentioned what an amazing Daddy he is??? If not, I will now --- he is the best and most amazing Daddy ever!! Speaking of the project, I will post some pictures of it later today.

Here are some "thank-you's": I am so thankful that I have my Mom and that she was the perfect example and role model of how a Mom should be. She always did her best to encourage us to be the best that we could be. She was always there for us and loved us unconditionally. All of our friends always hung out at our house -- everyone LOVED my Mom!! She helped to form me into the woman and mother that I am today. I love her so much!!! I also want to thank Rob's Mom for doing such a great job raising her son, my sweet husband. Thank you Rob, for making me a Mommy!! Lastly, I just want to thank you for a beautiful Mother's Day -- it was great! I love you all!


Caitlynn and Emily, at the May procession, for Mary. I gave Kelli my camera, and she took these. The camera had too much of a delay to capture Emily, so I cropped the image below this picture to get a closer look at her.


Emily ~ this is the one I had to crop. Not the best clarity, but at least I have the memory captured! LOL!


Me, with my precious children!! I love them so much!


Emily and Ryan in my in-law's back yard.

My First Blog!

Well, I decided to "take the plunge" into blogging, since I visit so many other blogger's pages. I also felt that it was a wonderful way to chronicle our lives. I am really big into writing my thoughts down and love any opportunity to record our history!

I'd like to take the time to write a little about myself and my beautiful family. I have been married to Rob, the love of my life, for 11-years. Our anniversary is on September 21, 1996. I am the mother to two of the most gorgeous and brilliant (if I do say so myself) children EVER!!! Emily will be 10-years old on May 30th; and, Ryan will be 8-years old on August 14th. I am so lucky and blessed to be a stay-at-home Mommy. I absolutely love being home with my children and am so thankful that Rob is such a wonderful provider for our family. I love our life that we have created and am blessed beyond belief. I thank God every single day for the joys of my life!

I enjoy a lot of different things. I like to read, scrapbook, bake, travel, and spend time with my family and friends. I love to be with my husband (he still gives me those "butterflies"), be surrounded by my children and all their friends, take pictures, and just love life! I have always wanted a huge family, but my sweet hubby is more than happy with Emily and Ryan -- one of each -- a girl and a boy -- our family is complete. However, I do watch my sister and brother's children. So, it really is like I have 4 or 6 children, Monday through Friday. We also have quite a few other children who come to our house to "hang-out" and play, so we really are surrounded by lots of little ones. I love it! Rob sometimes needs ear plugs! LOL!!

Well, I think I will end this first blog post with a few pictures.






Amy and Rob - our 11th Anniversary - getting ready to go out to eat!

Our sweet Emily!

Our sweet Ryan!

My children with their cousins - the one's I watch! (Joshy, Emily, Ryan, Hunter, Brandon, Caitlynn)