Goodbye Ticks, Goodbye Bears

Goodbye New Jersey......for a few weeks!

The girls and I are headed to Texas!!! We will be down there for a few weeks before Pete can meet up with us. What will a married father of three do all by himself? I am sure he will keep busy by playing golf working a lot. And of course he has the Wii yard work to keep him busy. I found this shirt on-line today. I think I'll buy it so none of the girls at the club house work will get any ideas while I am away.

Do you think he'll wear it?

I'll be in touch with y'all in a few weeks! Happy Summer!!!

Has Anyone Seen My Coffee?

Katie is already enjoying one of the finer things in life.....a strong cup of Star Buck's House Blend.

Don't you love email?

I opened up my email this morning and in my inbox I had a forwarded message from my husband. The message was sent to him by a neighbor who received the email from another nearby neighbor.

 

SUBJECT: BEAR SIGHTING

THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN FROM THEIR FRONT DOOR!!

OH MY GOOOODNESSS!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!!? THAT IS A HUMUNGOUS BEAR!!!!

That is enough to scare me into NEVER letting my children play in the backyard unattended!! And I don't care how nice the weather is outside. I will keep running on the treadmill!

I Thought This Day Would Never Get Here...

Kindergarten is FINALLY OVER!!! Oh My Goodness! This year has lasted forever! But with all the snow days, I guess that is just how it is up here.

My baby girl is growing up and moving on to FIRST GRADE! It is so hard to believe! She is just growing up too fast!

I am so proud of her. She has done so well this past year.

  

Alli on the first day of school and on the last day of school. She has changed so much, hasn't she?

In the last few weeks, Alli wrapped up her Kindergarten Gymnastics Class, had Pete and I to her classroom for the reading of her book, and had a fun Field Day at school.

One Month and THREE TICKS LATER

Did I mention that I live in the tick capitol of NJ? Tick Capitol = Lyme Disease Capitol! Well, I do!! And it FREAKS ME OUT!

Tick number one was on the back of Katie's leg, right behind her knee. Tick number two was found on Pete's calf. And tick number three was on Alli's lower back. And it is not like they are rolling around in the grass! They were just outside playing!
I am not a totally "Green" person, but I try to do my part by using natural cleaners. I use Shaklee and love it. I also just use vinegar and baking soda a lot because Shaklee is good, but not as cheap as vinegar and baking soda! I recycle, buy organic fruits and veggies and meats (when they are not outrageously priced), and I do not spray pesticides all over my house or yard and I don't want to put insect repellant with DEET on my girls every day! BUT what is a concerned mom suppose to do?
I have friends who are from here and who are also a little "Green". They tell me that they just make it a habit to check their kids every night in the Spring and Summer. And so, luckily, I have been doing that! But I don't care if the tick has been on them for just an hour! (They say you lessen your chance of getting the disease if the tick is removed within 48 hours.) I don't want any Lyme Disease carrying tick on my kids or my husband or myself....or my dog!
So, do I spray pesticides on my yard to try to keep those darn things away? I guess I could look for a natural spray. But, my yard is HUGE...it would probably be a ton of money.

I like NJ. I like NJ. I like NJ. I like NJ. I like NJ. I like NJ..........if I keep saying it over and over, it might set in.

Happy Father's Day!

To d'man of the house!



My lucky guy had a nice Father's Day of relaxing and hanging out with his four girls....plus one more since MoMo is still here!



He got to do two things that he enjoys- go to the movies (for round two of Kung Fu Panda. Alli threw up on him the first time he took her. The girl has a problem with eating too much sugar at one time. Remember New Year's Eve?) And then he watched golf all day.........I am sure he would have preferred to play, but at least he was with his girls.

Thanks for being the AWESOME MAN AND DADDY that you are! The girls and I are lucky to have you!

Meet Kermit

This would be the little guy that has taken up home in our pond. He likes to keep us up at night with his croaking. Now that we have a new frog pet I am wondering why we tell our children that a frog says "ribbit". The sounds that this little guy makes sound nothing like "ribbit".

 

And guess who tried to catch him AND succeeded?

A Heat Wave

INSTANT ALERT-

PM KINDER IS CANCELLED DUE TO EXCESSIVE HEAT


WHAT?!?! Yes, that is right! Can you believe it? It was 95 degrees here in New Jersey so they cancelled school. AND they made the next day a half day! Which is VERY FRUSTRATING when your child is already in half day kinder. Alli's school does not have AC so I guess that is the procedure when it gets "too hot" up here. You would think with the amount people pay in taxes up here, they could afford to put AC in the schools.
It is pretty funny for us Texans that they are making such a fuss over the 95 degree weather. Every where we go people are telling us to try and keep cool. We went out to eat last night and the waiter said it was so hot in the restaurant because the AC could not keep up with the heat! Pete and I think it is great! I am just happy that it is not cold anymore!

A Future Hairdresser

Katie is so stinkin' cute......... if I may say so myself! She sat there for about 15 minutes fixing MoMo's hair. She sang and hummed the whole time.
My mom is the best! She is so good to my girls! She spends her days doing whatever the girls want her to do......and doing the laundry and a little cleaning. I try to stop her and remind her that I don't have her come up here to be the maid! But she doesn't listen. We love having her here! I am so glad that even though we live 1000's of miles apart, we still get to spend so much time with her.

Gone Fishin'

Our nephew, Donaven, is here for a two week visit. We are super excited he is here.

Pete took him and Alli down the road to do a little fishing. Alli loves to fish! She has a lot fun and loves to touch the fish.....yuck!

Look at those curls!

Katie has the curliest hair of all the girls. It is so cute! I love it! She also has less hair than the other two when they were her age. I was able to do pic-tails in both Alli and Tori's hair by the age 2. Only one and a half months until Katie is two!! I really love this age. She is so fun......a lot of work, but she is certainly worth it!

notice the shoes!

My Cousin- The Not So Starving Artist

My cousin Vince, who is known around here as Uncle Goombah, came to visit for a couple of days this past week. He came up from Texas for an art show in DC and just hopped on a bus up to NJ. Vince knew when he was like 3 years old that he wanted to be an artist. I think it is so cool that he is living that dream and selling his art all the way out in DC. Doing artwork is Alli's favorite thing. She LOVES to draw. She was so excited when she found out that he was coming to visit. He sat down with Alli for hours and colored and drew pictures with her. He was here on his 26th birthday so we celebrated with pizza and cheese cake.