HAPPY BIRTHDAY TILLIE!

November 30, 2008

Happy Eighth Birthday to my Darling Tilly McGillicudhy,

Such a sweet little baby and a lovely little girl!

"Gingerbread" Birthday Party #1...

(held on November 22, 2008 to avoid the Holiday weekend)

Tillie is a true original...

always thinking of some unusual way to celebrate!

She decided to have a Gingerbread theme this year...

at least her birthday is near the holidays

& gingerbread "stuff" isn't too hard to find!

Happy girl with a cute and yummy house!

"Best Bud"

Sweeeet......

PEZ Windows, neat!

The gingerbread "girl" is Mary Poppins...Burt is on the roof!

Scooter had a blast with this!

They all had a great time....

and didn't even eat all the left-over candy : )

I have to say it was pretty tasty, too!

Snorkie-isms

My darling Snorkie is quite a chatter-box these days...

in his OWN way, of course!

-------------------------------------

Noticing a stinkie "behind",

Lovey asked him the other night when he was going

to use the potty instead of his diaper...

He turned to his dad and replied:

"Not Tonight!"...

-----------------------------------

Snorkie discovered the joy of Bingo on our vacation...

He regularly informs me in the morning:

"This is a good day for Bingo!"...

-----------------------------------

At around noon everyday he gets upset

if we haven't had "Narnsch"...

---------------------------------

Lately, his favorite expression is "O my, gosh"...

only it comes out as "O me darsh"...

with something of the Irish about it : )

-----------------------------------

Scooter has a book that shows the insides of a

Bengal Tiger in layered pages,

and Snorkie is fascinated by it...

Asking about the "stuff" inside, daddy told him

that they were the tigers organs...

"Oh, Morgans...I see", he says...

He refuses to say it any other way...

-----------------------------------

Usually, if I look sweetly at him and say:

"I Love you so much, Snorkie",

He will look back and say:

"I wuv You too, mommy"...

One night while taking a bath, I inhaled deeply

and he said: "I wuv You too!"...

I wasn't even going to say it, but I loved it anyway!

--------------------------------------

The next morning, Snorkie heard me leave my room,

He called, "you can come in mommy"... ugh.

I went in, snuggled a little and rubbed his little back.

Looking sweetly at him, I said,

"I Love you Soooooo much, snorkie."

Looking deeply into my eyes,

with his cutest morning voice,

he replied: "I love............

TO PICK MY NOSE.

Ok, I almost fell off the bed with that one...

the kid just cracks me up!

------------------------------------

Happy day everyone & God Bless!

Further Developements...

This Photo of Seeker Man, Scooter, Tilly & Snorkie

was taken on Thanksgiving Day 2006.

I love to see the way the little ones

have so much love and enthusiasm for

their big brother.

They have all been very excited about the

prospect of a new baby brother or sister.

Unfortunately,

that won't be as soon as we had hoped.

Our new baby was not meant to join us

here in this life,

we look forward to meeting her someday...

along with our other baby girl that we

lost to miscarriage about six years ago.

I am doing alright physically...

emotionally is a little tough.

But I look up at those smiling faces

in that photograph at the top of the post,

and just CAN'T feel sorry for myself.

God's Plan ALWAYS trumps My Plan,

and He has been SO Gracious to me that I can

only hand myself over to Him to do His Will.

The kids are doing OK, but we are all sad.

We look forward with the hope that

we will go on to have another baby

(or babies?)

if God wishes us do do so.

Pray for Us, Please.

A Dream Come True!

Saturday, October 12, 1996

The day my dreams came true!

Yes, Lovey and I were married on

Columbus Day...

and it has truely been a

Voyage of Discovery!

We met in August of 1995

when I was teaching a summer art program

that his son was attending.

He was the first one there and the last to leave.

It took us about an hour and a half to finally

leave that Friday when the class ended...

He DID ask for my number!!!

I was on cloud nine.

We went out to dinner shortly thereafter...

(The Chinese Place we went to is Still our

favorite restaurant...

we go there every New Years Eve)...

We became nearly inseparable.

I met his family in early November,

He met mine the next week at an early

Thanksgiving celebration...

He proposed on Thanksgiving Weekend...

Got down on one knee and everything!

What a guy!

I knew he was the man for me

because we spent so much time

talking about our Faith...

God has Always been at the Center

of our relationship.

He is sweet, kind, helpful, romantic...

AND a Great Daddy...

It doesn't get any better than that.

Four years after we were married,

Lovey entered the Roman Catholic Church.

He is dedicated and strong...

and he is my

Knight (of Columbus) in Shining Armor!

I smiled so much that day...that when I woke up in the morning

my cheeks and neck were sore!...Can you tell???

Today, I'm a bit heavier...

and his hair is a bit grey-er...

But I love him more today than I did

the day we were married...

and I didn't realize back then

That it was even Possible!

PS. I didn't get this post up yesterday,

because we were walking in the

Philadelphia Columbus Day Parade.

We handed out Hundreds of Rosary Beads

and accompanied a beautiful statue of

The Blessed Virgin Mary.

What a Day!

There's No Place Like Home

We've been home for almost a week

from our first REAL family vacation in five years,

And I'm just getting around to posting about it!

Friday, September 19th we loaded up and

headed south to

Chincoteague Virginia.

Lovey works for an Architechtural Engineering firm

that designed the Education Center on the

Assateague Island National Wildlife Refuge.

He actually did the fire alarm, security and

power distribtion work,

so we

Oooh'd and Ahhh'd

over all the cool stuff

that was mounted on the walls...

that NO ONE else ever notices...

UNLESS there is an Emergency, of course.

The Education Center is designed with

ALL GREEN TECHNOLOGY,

so it is pretty cool.

The displays were awesome, too.

Very Interactive.

I liked the one where they told us how important

Tidal Areas are both for

Providing Shelfish,

and also cleaning impurities out of the water

by being

FILTERED THROUGH THE SHELLFISH!!!

Not sure if the meant people to notice that little problem.

On the Island:

we saw the "Wild Ponies" of Assateague,

drove on the beach, watched the wild surf,

learned about sea creatures on display...

those that were alive and not so much,

hiked out to the "Pony Viewing Area",

saw special boxes built as "squirrel house" for

the endangered squirrels that live on the island,

and took lots of photos of the birds of the island...

none of which I can access right now : (

We also took a ride up to the beach after dinner

and allowed the children to get out and see

How Many STARS you can see on a clear night

with NO light pollution.

Saturday, we noticed that our hotel had a cute pony

in the "back yard".

Snorkie kept showing Daddy the "Wild Pony"

...He just didn't get it!

(we got it on tape though!)

We hiked to the Light House,

drove back to the beach,

let the girls have a pony ride on ponies

that were"veterans" of the yearly

"Pony Swim"

(I'm bad at linking...but look it up, it's worth it).

We packed up and headed FURTHER SOUTH

to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Wonderful friends of ours have a condo down there,

and they let us "borrow" it for a week!

We "hung out", went to the Ripley's Aquarium,

"Mini Golfed" with Giant Dinosaurs,

Played at the beach for two days...

collecting shells and digging big holes,

Watched movies, played "Clue"

and discovered that Snorkie LOVES to

"draw numbers" for BINGO using the "tumbler".

He even likes to match up the numbers

with the board used to

keep track of the numbers already called!

We also attended:

Dolly Parton's

DIXIE STAMPEDE!!!

It was really silly and really fun and we had

food left over for DAYS

We came home again in one straight shot on

Friday the 26th...getting home around 9:30pm.

WHEW!!!!!

Luckily, there is a washer & dryer in the condo,

so I didn't have to come home with

suitcases filled with dirty clothes!

We had a Grand time,

and I am SO glad to be back in my

OWN BED!!!

Good News / Bad News

Well, I have been amazingly busy these last few weeks.

I didn't even get a Vintage Thingie post up last week...

The fact that I lost access to all my photos getting

a new computer had something to do with that...

Oh, Well.

Anyway,

Last Friday we got some GREAT News...

There will be a new member of our family

next spring...May, I think...

I have an OB appointment on the 17th.

My husband is Very Happy

My children are THRILLED.

Scooter informed me that she has been

praying 7 Hail Marys in Latin

Every Morning...for a new baby.

Snorkie wants a boy baby...

The girls want TWINS...

Considering the efficacy of children's prayers,

perhaps I should be prepared!

OK, now for the bad news...

I'm BEAT, drag-out tired by the afternoons.

NOT good news for the Blog.

It's a little like the way that your

"pet babies" suffer somewhat when the

"Real" babies come along.

Poor "Blog-Baby" will be a little

Neglected...

Well, I'm going to TRY to keep posting

at least once a week...hopefully more.

I have so many good tales to tell

Of meeting and marrying,

school and babies,

floods and homelessness...

Oh, My.

Blessings All!

My Favorite Green

Original "Fire King" Jade-Ware Bowls !

I don't know when my mother got these bowls,

or if she originally had the whole set...

(including 2-3 larger and one smaller bowl

that I have seen in antique stores.)

All I know is that these bowls were around

for my entire childhood memory!

I was blessed enough to inherit them,

and I use them all the time.

My best friend found the new "Fire King" Jade-Ware

that Anchor Hocking started making in 2000,

and she graciously bought me

EVERY piece that she could find!

It's hard to see, but my Kitchen walls

are a very close match to this green.

Everything tastes better served out of these bowls.

Cool Dude Cruisin'

Wonderful Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Big Brother

Seeker-Man turned 25 yesterday!

We are so blessed to have him living with us again.

Scooter and Tilly remember having him at home,

but Snorkie never had his big brother

around all the time, until now.

The "little kids" are having a grand time

flying kites, playing "Goodminton",

Playing games, playing with Play-Doh,

and watching old movies

with "the big guy".

They love showing him all their Favorite

Classic Musicals and TV shows

(We've watched the ENTIRE first seasons

of both Little House on the Prairie and

MacGuyver over this Summer.)

I get a big helping hand, because I can

run out of the house

BY MYSELF on occasion!

Woo Hoo!

-------------------------------------

He will be starting back to school full time

this week and will be studying

Web Design...Think I could get him

to help me with this Blog???

---------------------------------------

Lovey and I celebrated our

thirteenth anniversary of the week we met

on the 9th of August...

We met BECAUSE "Seeker-Boy" was

a student at a Summer Art Camp

that I was teaching am & pm classes.

So, I met Seeker Man 13 years ago too!

I got to spend a good deal of time with

That sweet, talented, silly seeker-boy

way back then...What fun to get to

spend time with him again,

so many years later.

God Bless You Seeker-Man!

Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Crystal Arcade

wall mounted coffee grinder

This coffee grinder may not be my

absolute favorite

vintage thingie,

but it is the most USED vintage item in my house!

I use this grinder nearly every day.

I keep 8 o'clock decaf coffee beans in it.

I have it mounted to my kitchen wall

and very few people can resist giving it a "spin"...

especially small children!

It has "Crystal" on the pressed glass bean canister

and "Arcade" on the cast iron grinder section.

If you adjust the tightness of the wingnut

on the grinder handle, you can

control the size of the ground coffee.

There was no container for catching the

ground coffee when I got it,

so I bought this cute little jar at a

local craft store and it fits perfectly!

I know nothing about this wonderful item,

except that it belonged to a friend's Grandfather.

She passed it on to me

when she downsized several years ago.

Her children weren't interested.

I LOVE IT!

This is my first Vintage Thingie post...

I hope you enjoyed the visit!

The Homeschoolers' Anthem?

This was sent to me by a homeschooling friend of mine

I couldn't resist posting it...

Just TRY to read it without singing along!

I Will Survive

(the first year homeschooling)

First I was afraid

I was petrified.

Kept thinking I could never teach

'Cause I'm not certified.

But we spent so many nights

Reteaching homework that was wrong.

I grew strong,

so now I teach my kids at home!

We study math-

and outer space.

I just kept on despite the fear

with a big smile across my face.

I bought a set of Base Ten blocks.

I bought books with answer keys.

My parents think we're nuts,

but they don't even bother me

Come on, let's go walk out the door.

We're on the road now,

'cause we're not home much anymore

My friends would laugh and say

we'd be unsocialized.

I heard one mumble

that I'd give up by July.

Oh no, not I!

I will survive!

As long as I know how to read

I know we'll be alright.

I've got all my life to learn.

I've got energy to burn.

and I'll survive.

I will survive.

It took all the strength I had

not to fall apart.

Decided to attend

a play date at the local park,

and I met oh so many moms

who offered eagerly to help.

They used to cry.

Now they hold their heads up high,

and so do we!

My kids are cool!

They're not those chained up little people

stuck inside at school.

So if you feel like dropping by

and just expect us to be free

you'd better call ahead first

'cause we're probably busy!

I Will Survive

Originally written and produced by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris

Originally performed by Gloria Gaynor

Mercilessly altered, with apologies, by Natalie Criss

Ouch....

Well, we are still having computer problems...

Sadly, the "Old grey Dell,

she ain't what she used to be"...

I can't access the photos that are on the external drive.

Crud.

I have to go searching for stuff to use.

RATS.

OH, well...at least I can read everyone else's blogs!

The old homestead has been pretty busy trying to get

as much done as I can before we start back to school.

I've been purging papers, re-organizing, sewing some

things for the girls and myself, doing a little home improvement,

and trying to get hair, teeth, doctors, etc. taken care of

(especially for me).

(oh, and getting halfway through

David Copperfield...I'm LOVING this book!)

Two weeks ago, I had a regular check-up appointment

at the dentist. Now, I know I need A LOT of work...

I've got teeth like chalk.

Quite a while ago, I broke a tooth...mostly it was the

old filling that broke off...needless to say,

I didn't deal with it in a timely manner.

So there I was looking at an appointment in

September to start the crown that I needed.

YUCK.

Well, I was making dinner last Wed,

and the dentist's office calls to ask if I can take

an appointment at 8:30am Thursday.

I jumped at it!

There I am lying back in the chair, all numbed up,

and we discover,

to my dismay...

that a root canal is necessary. :(

I had to wait till today to get the darn thing worked on.

I am glad to say that not only was the

endodontist one of the nicest people I've ever met,

but he finished the job in ONE VISIT!

YAY!

I also got a chance to be an apologist for homeschoolers...

Whoopee!

Now, I just have to wait for that Blasted September 8th

appointment to get back to working on the crown again.

Oh, and the August 18th appointment for FOUR fillings.

That's supposed to be our first day of school.

I think it will be starting after lunch time...

It'll be pretty difficult to instruct with a mouth full of

Novocain..."Bwath ith the capithal of Penthylvaniath?"

Oh, well.

Blessings to everyone...and don't forget to Comment! ;)

DANGER! Will Robinson!

YIKES!

A Funny thing happened the other day...

My Darling Husband was doing a few things before work

and the computer screen suddenly informed him:

Hard Disk Failure Iminent...

Back up all data!

So being the guy he is, he dropped any recent photos to

our external drive and turned the computer over to Scooter.

She played some games, then I did some "cruising".

Later, I sent a cute little not to DH before a thunderstorm arrived.

I closed with; "Signing off an shutting down before the lightening strikes!"

The darn computer never came back on!

It kept saying that there was no Hard disk in the machine.

Now we are using the "old grey Dell" and trying to

figure out how to get the HP up and running again.

Amazingly, a girl we know from Church, and a

three year old boythat she babysits

(who we also know from our parish),

were Actually Struck by Lightening in that storm.

She was running to the car from the swim club...

trying to time it to be running between strikes,

when a tree right next to them was struck and it

travelled into their bodies (she was carrying the boy).

She was knocked out, and they were both burned where they

came into contact with her silver necklace,

but both are fine and home.

The doctor's said that the necklace may have save them,

because the lightening had an "escape route".

Praise God!

One of the Blessings of a comuterless home...

has been an excess of time for other endeavors...

I finished reading Oliver Twist and started

David Copperfield.

The kids and I cleaned and reorganized

the play space in the basement,

we dusted and vacuumed the entire house

and cleaned the bathrooms...

Oh, and I attacked an ironing pile so large that the girls

have grown out of things that were on the bottom!

(SINCE WEDNESDAY!)

I also had time to crochet hats for Scooter and Tilly

like the one worn by "Kit Kitteridge"...Snorkie wants one too,

but I insist it not be pink.

I promise that I have about five posts

travelling around my head...

with accompanying Photographs...

NOW, I just have to take the time to commit them to the Blog!

It is going to take me some time to check in with everyone.

Hope to hear from you all soon!

Mea Culpa

Well.

Upon further examination...

Thanks to Seeker Man...

It seems that the video that I linked yesterday:

was a joke.

It has NOT been replicated

by "normal" people...

I guess you could still try...

It may have been done using a heated table.

Anyway,

it is good to know that those of you

using cell phones on a daily basis,

are not "Micro-popping" your Brains!

At least, we don't THINK so.

I still think the video was funny.

Photo Credit: Google Images

Cell Phones and Popcorn

I knew there was a reason that I didn't have a cell phone.

This video is very enlightening...

Sorry I couln't seem to load it directly.

Click on the link, though, it is worth it !!!


http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5odhh_pop-corn-telephone-portable-mi

Have a wonderful day, and stay off the Cell Phone!

HA HA HA

Take the Quiz here!

Oh, yeah, sure...

this is pretty fun & funny though.

Go ahead, try it...

I think I would rather have been Eleanor Dashwood!

Sorry this post went up twice today under two different dates

I am SUCH a Blog novice... :(

Happy Independence Day!

Scooter showing her Patriotic Pride

July 4, 2001 !

She actually made the local paper...

Attending a John Phillip Sousa concert with her dad.

Hope everyone has a lovely Holiday.

God Bless America!

A Belated Birthday Post

This is to my Aunt Dorothy ...

more commonly known as "Aunt Dot".

She passed away several years ago

and I miss her very much,

as do my children.

Aunt Dot's Birthday was July 2nd and I was

thinking about her all day yesterday.

She was such a lady...a Perfect Lady, always.

In the eighties, a book was published called:

Real Women Don't Pump Gas...it was funny,

but really, she fit every description of

a "real woman" in that book.

Aunt Dot didn't really like having her picture taken.

Of the few that I have, this is one of my favorites.

It is also one of the last.

Aunt Dot taught me many things: to use a table cloth and cloth napkins just to

make an ordinary lunch special, to send a silly card just for the fun of it,

to write Thank You notes (I mess up on this one all the time).

Aunt Dot always called me Elizabeth, even when my own

Mother called me Liz...

in case you didn't notice, I "go by" Elizabeth !

Aunt Dot and her wonderful husband Uncle Bob were

married for more than 50 years when he passed away leaving

her dreadfully sad. They were loving, constant, affectionate,

playful, kind, and a fabulous example to me of married life and love.

Thank You so much Aunt Dot for being such an Amazing Aunt and Friend.

I'd like to be Whelmed, Please

I've always wondered why we never hear of people being

Whelmed

They are often Over-Whelmed...

and sometimes Under-Whelmed...

but never seem to be "Whelmed".

It seems to me that whelmingness would be the perfect state.

Not too much or too little...Make sense???

Lately our family has been somewhat

Over Whelmed.

Seeker Man has had some

MAJOR

LIFE CHANGING STUFF

going on...

We are thrilled and excited that he has

moved back home...

Of course, he never lived with us in this house...

but that's good because we have the

ROOM for him here...

Our old house was somewhat smaller.

The little munchkins are SO happy to have

their Big Brother with us,

I think Big Brother is having fun being Adored too!

He's getting all sorts of things figured out...

and seeking God seriously for the first time.

Can I hear an AMEN out there, People?!

There are still some tough times, decisions

and Spiritual Warfare to get through...

But I have Faith and Trust in the LORD.

and,Blessedly, we KNOW who WINS!

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle,

be our protection against

the wickedness and snares of the Devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,

and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host,

by the power of God,

cast into Hell, Satan and all the evil spirits

who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

Thanks to anyone out there praying for us, we appreciate it!

My Ballerina Girl

She started DANCING before she was born.

She kicked and twirled and made her presence known.

We would watch her knees, feet and elbows

dance across my abdomen as I lay on the couch in the evenings.

She was born and became known as "Scooter",

almost immediately.

She Began LEAPING on my lap at ONE MONTH...

We had to buy a "jumper" for her by the time

she was six months old...My arms were tired!

She FINALLY agreed to Potty Train

just so she could start

BALLET!!!

At three and a half years old, she began lessons at

Kasia Cultural Arts Academy in Yardley, Pennsylvania.

She LOVED it from the start...

such a graceful little doll.

Here she is in costume as one of the

"Village Children"

for her first performance:

PINOCCHIO

in May of 2003

This was the costume for the "Jazz" section of

the recital...They danced to "Buttercup"

Here's the costume for the May 2004 Performance of:

THUMBELINA

This was actually Mother's Day at the beautiful

graduated assisted living community where

Grammy and Pappy live.... As their gift,

Scooter and Tilly danced for Grammy

while Daddy played the piano.

This is a regular event...

(the girls think that auditorium is theirs)

The Next year she decided to try...

TAP DANCING !!!

She did a patriotic duo with her teacher,

it was wonderful.

She was also the TITLE Character in:

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL
I was SO impressed that she was able to make a

SOLO entrance, in front of the curtain...

Even though I watched her practice this for months,

I got so choked-up watching her.

She had such poise and knew her dances so well.

This was May 2005

She was only SIX years old.

She amazes me

The following year, 2006, she continued at Kasia...

"Miss Catherine" who ran the school was so kind,

Scooter loved her very much.

She got her start at Kasia Cultural Arts...

The Ballet that year was:

The Littlest Angel

My dancer did her part Beautifully

In 2006-2007

Scooter decided to try Gymnastics...

She loved it and they would have pushed her...

I wasn't into "competitive gymnastics".

This was our Mother's Day photo in 2007...

Notice the Ballet Pose...

You can take the child out of dance class,

but you can't make her stop performing!

I just noticed Tilly and Snorkie are doing a cute little pose, too!



She came back to Ballet for 2007-2008.

Kasia was now closed.

Miss Catherine passed away in August of '07.

We signed up with

The American Repertory Ballet's

Princeton Ballet School.

Awesome school...Live pianists in Every class...

very Classical...very formal.

She had a Three Hour Audition to try out for

the ARB's Holiday performances of:

The Nutcracker!

She was cast as one of the children at the party...

She was on stage for 20 minutes of the first act and had

four different dances to learn...plus some acting!

She was in four performances.

I have no photos of her in costume...

This was a free photo of Scooter with the girl who played

"Marie" and the young Man who played the "Nutcracker"

in the First of two performances at the State Theatre

in New Brunswick, NJ on 22 December 2007.

(notice she looks tired...we had to be at the theatre by 9am)

She had another show to do that night, we got home LATE!

My Ballerina Doll finished the year with the school's recital...

a Two and a Half Hour, Three act production of:

Don Quixote

The children in her level at the Princeton school played

little Spanish Princes and Princesses.

She was in the third act...

Snorkie liked it but kept asking, "the END?"

Eventually the end came and the applause was strong.

She had a marvelous time.

This is My Scooter (right)

with her best "bud" and possible twin (SF)...

after the dress rehearsal.

Next year Scooter and Tilly are going to try:

Horse Back Riding!

Ha Ha Ha!

Take the Quiz here!

Oh, yeah, sure...this is pretty fun & funny though.

Go ahead, try it...

I think I would rather have been Eleanor Dashwood!

POOL PARTY!

Okay, I ADMIT IT...I'm LAZY...

at least when it comes to being a "Pool Club Member".

I HATE packing up

all the STUFF that you need-

especially when you have one still in diapers...

lugging it to the pool

sitting in the sweltering heat

paying for over-priced snacks...

even when we already have snacks with us...

Not to mention that my girls didn't like getting their faces wet...

and not all the other "pool patrons" are considerate enough

to watch out for extremely sensitive little girls

So in 2006, we bought THIS:

It is one of those "Simple Set" pools...

Not as simple as they make it seem, but it did a good job

of allowing us to get wet- almost every day of the summer

...and never had to leave home!

(Snorkie loves the ladder...but not so much the water)

We liked the pool and it wasn't too annoying when it came

time to put it away for the winter...

So last summer, we brought it up out of the basement...

Set it back up and started learning a little more about

SWIMMING!

Here are Scooter, Tilly and their cousin...

last year's family picnic at our house was great fun...

they only got out of the pool for the time it took them to

eat and go on the swings for a little while!

Well, as they started swimming better, we realized that the

way those pools are made cuts down on the "useable space".

We considered going right to a permanent above ground pool,

but they are much deeper and Tilly's not ready...

So THIS YEAR we got...

THIS:

Snorkie LOVES his squirter...

He keeps hollering:FIREWORKS!!!

as he shoots water across the pool!

This pool is 15 feet wide with straight sides

It allows for a whole lot more swimming space,

but it is still only 42 inches deep-

so Tilly's head is out of the water

Snorkie still thinks it is too deep...he likes to stand

on the outside of the ladder and squirt water

HIGH IN THE AIR!!!

We also decide to purchase the

Salt Water Chlorinator System, so all we add is salt

and occasionally Baking Soda if the Ph is off...

It is SO comfortable to swim in...

Oh, and the price of the new pool AND the Salt Water System

is still LESS than the price of a

Family Membership to the local pool club!

HAPPY SUMMER TIME EVERONE!!!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Camo-Boy Before

Camo-Boy After

Madness and Ennui

OK, I haven't been around much lately

and the earlier post today was just a way of "staying in touch"...

Plus, I thought it was pretty funny.

The "end of the school year" crunch is on...

Too many Doctor/Dentist check-ups...

WAY too much to do, and NO desire to do any of it.

The kids have been operating on High Energy...

I have not.

I'm tired.

I want a nap.

oh well.

I have also rediscovered an Old Flame...

A former love that I spent much time with...

One that I knew well Before I met my Darling Husband...

The Crossword Puzzle

Actually, Scooter got me going on one,

and then I just Couldn't stop...

Don't you just love the clues they give in crosswords?

It's fun to get back to "thinking" in crossword-ese.

It has taken up some of my Blog-hopping time...

I Am Sorry.

I just don't seem to have the energy to organize my thoughts.

And, I volunteered to be Membership Chairperson

of our Homeschool Co-op......

Can you say "open mouth, insert foot"?

Silly me.

A Very Short Fairy Tale

One day, long, long ago.......

there lived a woman who did not

whine, nag or bitch.

But this was a long time ago.......

and it was just that one day.

The End

Good vs. Bad

Scooter and Tilly were thrilled a couple of weeks ago when they found

a Badminton Birdie in the Summer Toy Mess on our back porch.

They love playing with their Dad when he gets home from work.

He loves it too.

We were at a friend's house for dinner,

when they excitedly informed Daddy of the wonderful news:

"We can play Badminton again!"

Snorkie thought for a few seconds and said...

BADminton....NO....

GOOD-minton!

Gotta love a three year old with a well developed moral code!

Snorkie the Teacher

Snorkie McTavish is a very smart boy.

He walked at 9 months.

Climbed stairs by 11 months (yes it was scary).

He is ALL BOY!

At 18 months, he could follow three step directions.

Loves to dust, sweep, dry dishes, sort sliverware, load the dishwasher...

He just didn't like to talk very much.

At one year, he could open his father's tool box and would stand there and

grunt...

just like Tim Allen (wish we had that on video).

No Words.

As time went on, he learned a few words and a few "signs".

With two big sisters to translate, (and wait on him hand and foot),

he made himself understood.

Then he turned three.

I can't get him to shut his mouth!

He chatters ALL THE TIME!

(I believe God gave me that silent second year

so that I could get school work done with the girls...

He would have driven me crazy last year.)

His vocabulary is growing exponentially.

He repeats everything he hears from me, daddy, sisters, movies....

He tended to drop his initial consonants...still does sometimes...

so juice is 'uice, hood becomes 'ood.

Just a little Cockney English coming out...

Last week, at out last Homeschool Co-op meeting for the year,

Snorkie approached a two year old "friend".

He said, "Hi!"

Friend replied, "I!"

Snorkie gets all instructive and corrects his friend,

"Not 'I', it's Hi!"

What a smartie-pants...

"Friends" Mom & I chuckled all afternoon.

(Snorkie in an 'ood with an 'amera on a nature 'ike with Daddy)

They Made a MOM Out of Me

Just a few photos of my little...and not so little ones...


Okay, these are definitely NOT in chronological order...I'm just not so good at the upload thing, yet. This is my Seeker Man, when he was 18 (ish), Scooter was his side-kick!


Scooter, one day old! February 1999

Scooter (3?) and Ginger (7?) our overgrown "sheltie"....she was so patient and calm with the children... Just NOT with fireworks...or thunderstorms...or smoke alarms....

Scooter and Tilly in the bike trailer...being used as a stroller. Spring of 2001
Tilly (aka Sweet Pea) looking too cute for words... Winter of 2005 ... (age four)

Scooter, aka Sweetie Pie...Just home from the hospital...a little yellow still, but that resolved...she sure loved to to be "bundled". That was the best time (I could still nap when she napped).

Scooter and Tilly helping to "paint" Christmas cookies. ( 2002)

Taking the girls out in the canoe on the Delaware Canal in Yardley, Pa. (Late Spring 2001)


Summer 2001...MacDougall & McGillicudhy in the pool. we figured out how to put warm water into the pool from the kitchen faucet...boy did we have fun in the yard that Summer!





Snorkie McTavish, one week old....such a cutie...He really did "snork" in his sleep! Winter 2005

Well, That was just the right way to spend the day before Mother's Day... It is amazing how quickly they grow and change, such fun to look through all the pictures. I think tomorrow will be "Home Movie Day" at our house! Blessings and Happy Mother's Day to all my Mom friends out there (family, friends and blog-buddies)

Return soon for the Ballet Recital Post...Three hour ballet version of Don Quixote tonight!
I just have to find the pictures....Hmmmm.