sending out a long distance hug

to all of you. All my friends, all of my family. To those of you, who could use a good hug, and those of you who are OK on your hug ration. Everyday, Alex goes to kindergarten, and while he is there, Kimberly and Ethan miss him... one of the things they do, will be walk around the living room, going Hug, hug, hug... so they go and hug tight, and then fall over. The fall into a heap of body parts and a fit of giggles. They will do this all morning. It cracks me up right along with them. I am glad that all three are close, and that they love one another. I hope it carries through the rest of their lives. yes, I know i will have sibling rivalry, but for the most part, it isn't that bad.
so to all of you, reading my blog, enjoy this random (((((hug))))).

The Simple Things.

I must admit, I have been rather lax in my blogging. Things have been kinda nutty, with both my folks sick, and Dana out of town, and classes...well, I am happy to report, that both mom and dad are on the mend, Dana made it home safe and sound, and my classes, well, they're still there.
We ran all over God's acre today, searching for yard sales/flea markets (No, I did not buy any fleas...)anyhoo- I digress. Getting home tonight, kids wound tighter than an 8 day top, dinner in hand, at 7:00, we had dinner. (OY!!)
Ethan decided on the way into the house, that he would bring in the pumpkins that are on my stoop. He spent the rest of the evening, carrying around those pumpkins. He loves them. (Thanks Denise!!) They have gone from floor, to table, to couch, to entertainment center, to other couch...(apparently, the pumpkins are traveling all over God's acre- (aka: my living room)as well, as the small tot toting them.) Just watching him, with the grin on his face, and the laughter in his voice, was cool. He is enjoying a gourd. A small Orange symbol of Halloween. I love the way he will squeal PUNKINS at the top of his little voice. Like I said- it's the simple things.

I have been hunting

for a dresser, for Kimberly's room, that I can alter. (I altered three pieces that were my dads, and had seen better days, and they came out cool). So this morning, Dana told me he wanted to go yard saling. (A pastime, that I loathe), but that is another story in and of its self. So anyhow, while driving down the road, we happen to pass one, that had a dresser sitting on the front yard. We stop, and I ask the lady how much. She tells me 5.00. SOLD! (oh, eating crow here) but I am none the less, excited for my find. It is structurally sound, and the one drawer needs the dove tails put back into place, but it works. So, it is sitting on my deck, ad we speak, freshly sanded, and ready for paint. Just not sure how I want to paint it yet. (OOOOOOHHHHHH< the possibilities)... I will, when I am finished, post before and after pick. Perhaps I will have to rethink the whole yard sale thing....

A pig by any other name...

wouldn't smell the same...
We took the kids to Halloweekends, at Dorney Park. They had alot of fun, and played games, and ate food, and... Toward the end of the evening, Ethan was getting so very tired, and was being good, but he would have done better if he had, had his pig. So as were searching for bumper cars, We ran across the lady who will guess your weight (a true lady doesn't divulge that...)or your birthday (again, something to go to the grave) or I forget the third thing. If she lost the question, then you got a prize. In the bins of prizes, were a bunch of pigs. So she offered to guess Ethan's weight. (she wasn't correct) and Ethan won a piggy. Now, I am thinking, it is late, he has his binky, all he needs is his pig, and he'll simmer down, right? Wrong. I gave him his new pig, and he promptly threw it on the ground, under the stroller. (little snit). I picked it up, and put it behind him, since the pig is stretched out, it is more like a piggy pillow. We start to leave, and he really starts to fuss. so, in a moment of desperation, I hand him the pig he won. He gave me this look that said WTF mom?, but, with no choice, he settled for the pig that had just joined the growing population of pigs in Ethan's room. (Dana just brought him one back from his business trip).
Last night, when I went to check on him, he had his head on his new piggy pillow, and the littlest pig squished under him, and one pig under each arm. (how CAN that be comfortable??) It was just the cutest thing ever. I wanted to squeeze him, right then and there, but that would have involved waking a sleeping baby; which is (as many of you know) the first cardinal rule in motherhood- you NEVER under any circumstance, wake a sleeping baby, reguardless of how adorable he looks hugging his piggies while he sleeps.

Eatin' good in the neighboorhood...

Ok, so I will admit, rather cheesy title... BUT, I met a bunch of my great friends for lunch the other day. We had a lovely time. It is great to get together with people who GENUINELY care about one another, and they are there for you, no matter what. They will hold your hand while you cry, celebrate your accomplishments, and tell it like it is. They do not say one thing to you, then something else to everyone else. True friends. Ones you can have cocktails with, ones that will go for pie at 10 pm, and listen when you have a bad day and not judge. so, here's to you, my Friends. **Clink** with your beers, your bay breezes, and your cokes. You all mean a lot to me. :)

the whole crew

So, Kimberly got all "dudded" up for ballet. While having her stand in front of the t.v., Alex asked if he could be int he pic too. Of coarse I agreed, and then, my most unwilling participant, when it comes to standing still for photos, just stood by them, good as can be. So I now have another nice pic, of all of them standing together. Does the heart good- no?
amazing to me, right at the moment, is how much they have grown, and how fast it has gone. We went and played on the playground tonight, and watching Alex sprint around, and climb and laugh and enjoy it, it was only yesterday, when we were holding him, and swinging. This past week, Dana has been away, and will be away for another week and a half. We all miss him tremendously, but we have been doing ok, and can't wait for him to come home. I love you baby, hurry home!

The littlest Badadina...

As Kimberly would say. She is now enrolled in dance, and going to be a ballerina. She loves the leotard. She loves the shoes and tights. She would sleep in them, if I let her. This morning, I got her dressed and ready to go.
here she is:
then, I told her, she has to take of her slippers, and put on different shoes. I told her if she wore her slippers outside, they would get ruined. After a few tears, she relented to choosing her shoes to wear, instead of her slippers. This is what she came up with:

What can I say, the girl has a mind of her own...

Go carts!!!!

Dana was leaving on Monday for two and a half weeks of training, so we decided that we would do something fun with the kids before he left. There is this go-cart/mini golf place in Montgomeryville that he has gone to before with Alex, and they both had a ball. this time, he took Kimberly on a ride too. She was all teeth the whole time. She giggled and squealed, and loved it.proof here:

He raced another little boy, and the two of them were speeding and bumping into each other. I don't know who here had more fun in all of this, Dana, to the little kids...
then, it was time to swap kids. I took Kimberly and brought Alex up tot he line to meet Dana. Ethan stayed with me.
Alex loved it to. He liked beating the other cars, and bumping into people.
And then, there was Ethan. To little to ride on the go carts, even with an adult. He at one point, was playing with the wood chips by me and the picnic table. He watched all the go carts going by. He yelled to them. He pointed to them. I can tell you, he wanted to be on them.
here he is, watching Dana and Alex zooming around the track. No doubt thinking about when it is his turn to ride too...

Indecision Rocks!!

Dana's band, plays out, at least twice a month. There are a few bars, where they are regulars, and it is always fun to go see. This past weekend, they played Lansdale Bike Nite, on Main St. in Lansdale. There was an estimated 40,000 people there, with 10,000 bikes. Big bikes, little bikes, scooters, and I think we even saw a moped or two.Bicycles were choppered out.
They played before a decent crowd. They got a few more gigs booked. Good times.
they totally ROCKED.!

Firsts...

today, was the first day of kindergarten. The first day of the start of his school career. The first packing of the back pack. The first time driving him to school, and having a particular way to drop off, and pick up. He loved it. He made a purple hand print for me, with a cute poem, perfect for his scrapbook. He will graduate in the year 2020. Yikes. That seems so far off. He asked me this morning, if school was going to take long. Yes love, I think it will... I think he meant will it take long today, so we decided that it wouldn't be long, and I would pick him up from school, and we would have lunch, and after Kimberly and Ethan went to bed, we would go through his back. Which, by the way, contained scads of papers that have to be looked at and read and signed. Now I need to get a calender, to keep track of all of the school things. Man, are there alot!! Parent night next Tuesday, then a fair on Friday, then... Plus, market day, book club, etc., etc., etc.,
Welcome to having school aged children. next year, it will be two going through all of this. Kimberly I think is going to start dance...

proof that....

cats will sleep anywhere...
our kitty Puff, is usually pretty particular where he sleeps. Usually on Dana's side of the bed, up against his pillow.
Lately, however, he has taken to sleeping in my flower boxes on the deck. Besides, the flower boxes are in the sun all day, until about 7 ish. So that is the perfect spot to take a snooze.

Happiness is...

riding the school bus for the very first time, EVER. Well, ok, we live close enough to the school, so we are considered "walkers". Alex had orientation for kindergarten last week. He loved it. He loved the room. He loved his new teacher. He loved it all. The highlight of the orientation, was the bus ride. Although we are walkers, he still needs "school bus ettiquite", for when they go on field trips and such. He was all teeth, for the rest of the day, after that. It made going to school, or the idea of going to school even better.