Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Happy Birthday Noah!

Today Noah turns 10 years old! He's hit the double digits! Tonight we will order out for pizza, have cake and soda, and open presents. He is very excited, since he knows what a few of his gifts will be. I have some surprises in there, though, that I know he will like. I'll be taking pictures, so hopefully I'll be able to post them by the end of the week!

Monday, August 21, 2006

The Cat's Out of the Bag

Well, I got it from a reliable source that my news has spread to at least one person who I knew would not be happy about it. I had a feeling she knew, because she's been suspiciously quiet the last few weeks. Well, I knew she would be angry, which is why I didn't tell her; and I'm fine with her silence because I know she has nothing nice to say.

How disappointing is it when people choose to make such judgements about other people's lives? This is my life, and I am doing what I want. Can it be so hard to fathom that I actually don't want to make the exact same choices as someone else? Do I not at least deserve the right to live my own life? Do I call people up and say "Oh God, how can you do this to yourself? I don't know how you can live that way! I can't believe what you are doing!" No, I don't. Because I don't expect other people to live like me. I live the way that makes me happy, but I know enough to realize that it wouldn't neccessarily make someone else happy. Hello, make your choice and be happy with your choice. Why don't I have that same right? How do my choices affect others so strongly that they can get that angry? It's MY life!

Ok, so rant over, now I can move my ticker up to the top, and post updates! Because I know there are waaaay more of you out there who are happy for me and share my excitement and support me. So here is my first update: 2 weeks ago I got to have an u/s and got a nice view of the baby:

11w 5d:
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My next appointment is Sept 6, which should be a boring one. I may get another u/s at 20 weeks, and if so, hopefully I will get to see if it's my long awaited girl! or just another boy LOL

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

And Finally, the Pictures!

Ok, so starting with May (Yikes, it's taken me a long time to get to pictures!):

We took a trip back to State College to spend the weekend with friends of ours. These are the same friends who moved to New Zealand 2 years ago. Doesn't it figure that just after we move away, they move back home? Oh well. We had a great visit.

They had these sit-down scooters that the boys loved. They got very good at riding them down the driveway. Micah was best at both speed and steering.
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Samuel takes a turn:
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Noah kept wiping out, I think he may have been too big for them. Troyer tried a few times too, but scraped his knuckles trying to steer.

Levi loved their dog, who looks a lot like his Voof.
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There was a hammock in the back yard, which all the kids loved. It was crazy watching them try to see how many of them could get on it at once, LOL
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After they all fell off, we took a picutre of the whole group on the ground, where it was safer, LOL Notice Debbie and I are not in the picture ;-)
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Then at the end of May, it was Caleb's birthday. He turned 6! He loved the whole Ninja Turtle theme this year.
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Noah and Samuel saved the icing for last, then mixed it into green ooze. It was gross!
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Caleb's card had a punch out mask, which, by the way, matches his Raphael sandals. It was pretty cool, though it was only card stock so it didn't last long.
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At the very end of May I drove the kids down to my sister's house and she took us all to the National Zoo in DC. It was pretty warm, though after the last 2 months I have to say I'm glad we went when we did! The zoo is on a hill, so by the end of the day the walking is tough, but the kids did great. We parked in the lot at the bottom of the hill, so at least the second half back to the van was down hill.

Of course, the favorite parts of the zoo for the kids was not any of the animals, no. It was:

the water spritzers to cool you off as you walk
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And the giant foam pizza playground
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Can't find Levi? Look closer at the olive.
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In June I took a trip down to my Dad's, and the kids started the rounds of camp.

After they all got home from camp, they had some friends come to visit from our old church in State College. They stayed for a week, and were here to help Samuel celebrate his 8th birthday!

Samuel had a homemade cake this year, because he really really wanted to have an orange flavored cake. Chris was happy about that, as it is his favorite kind too, and he hates bakery cakes. Samuel was thrilled with his cake "toy," which really was a toy, LOL
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I think you can tell that getting this shot was NOT easy, and yes, this is the best out of the 10 I took! LOL

Since the heat was upon us, they spent every day in the pool.
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After our visitors left, the boys started swimming lessons. They did great this year. Samuel was nervous again, and this was Caleb's first year of lessons. I was very proud of them for how well they did.

Finally July was over, and I could rest! Still stinking hot, at least in August I've been able to hide out in the house in the air conditioning!

Aimee came out with Danny and Katie for a long weekend, and the kids had a great time. We all wished their visit could have lasted longer. I had my camera ready, but somehow never got any pictures. I think Aimee has a few, so if she gets them developed and sends me copies, I can scan them in. Watch for them maybe around Halloween, LOL.

Last weekend we went to the picnic. The boys spent a lot of time in the pool, but so did I, so I don't have pictures of them swimming. After eating, Chris took them off to explore the property. It is a beautiful farm.

Going for an explore:
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The pond:
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Looking for frogs:
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Looking for more frogs:
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This is the walk up the driveway from the pond to the house. You can see from these pictures why Chris wants so badly to have a property like this for the boys.
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The boys were excited to be able to pet the horses and feed them grass. The horses were very friendly.
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And FINALLY, Levi celebrated his 2nd birthday! His birthday was really spread out over 3 days, since Troyer got home late from Baltimore on Sunday, and Levi had a drs appt on Monday. He didn't open the last of his presents until yesterday.

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Levi eats with a fork! And actually gets the food IN his mouth!
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Ok, that's it for now! Phew!

Monday, August 14, 2006

Happy Birthday Levi!

Ok, it was yesterday, but Troyer went on a Pathfinder trip to Baltimore, so we waited until today to celebrate. He's 2, trust me, he didn't notice, LOL. I have pictures but you'll have to wait for me to use the boys' computer to get the pictures off my memory card. Levi blew out his own candle and was very excited about it. His favorite present was a Thomas engine that plays music when you push it along the floor.

Troyer had a lot of fun in Baltimore; the group went to Port Discovery, the Science Center, and the Aquarium. It was a full day, but the weather was perfect, and he got to spend all that time away from his annoying brothers!

On Saturday we went off to a picnic that one of Chris' coworkers hosts every summer. She lives an hour and a half away from us, so it was quite a long drive to get there. She lives on a farm with 14 acres, with a great pool, and ponds and barns and all kinds of places for the kids to roam and explore. They spent most of the time in the pool, and had a great time. Chris would love to live some place just like that; I don't think I would like to live so far out in the middle of nowhere. Then again, that's the only way we could afford to have 14 acres!

I hope to have a bunch of pictures up soon.