Of Stoneholm, Sickness, Strawberries, and Sillyness

What a ride these past few weeks have been... (the reason I'm behind in posting)
Two Saturday's ago we got a chance to spend the evening with the McNaughton Clan and Company... it was so much fun getting to see and spend time with everyone. What a beautiful summer's night relaxing with friends who have become like a second family to us. The kids had a great time playing ball and frisbee and my two little athletes even got me out to play for a little bit.

Sunday night Mark began feeling ill, Monday when he came home from work he was all out sick. Our best guess is that he had the flu. The good part was that it meant that we had him home with us for a few days. The bad part didn't stop there however, Tuesday morning Alicia woke up with a pretty yucky case of Pink Eye so it was off to the pediatrician. Wednesday evening it continued... as I should have expected... when Ryan began to get Pink Eye as well. The bright side of things was that by some miracle I've avoided the worst of it all (crossing my fingers). I still have a sore throat and whenever I think about the Pink Eye my eyes begin to itch but nothing seems to be doing anything worse than that and everyone seems to be on the mend at last.

Thursday we had a wonderful treat from Kathy McNaughton. We had originally planned to go together to go pick strawberries but with the kids getting ill decided it wasn't the best idea. She went picking though and brought us a huge delicious bowl full of sweet strawberry goodness... the kids (and I) immediately began digging in and it was exactly the pick-me-up that we all needed to start feeling better.
Saturday everyone was feeling quite a bit better and we had a fun morning getting to watch Zed and Myra McNaughton. It was like having two sets of twins (I'm still not sure how anyone does that full time...) The kids were really good together and we mostly just playing on the swing set in a daring pirate adventure with bad guys, walking the plank, views from the crow's nest, and a fearsome duel with a dragon... who turned out to be actually a good dragon that was guarding our treasure.

That night Nate took the kids for us and Mark and I actually got to go on a date. We went and saw Transformers.... gotta say I loved the time with Mark but I was not impressed with the movie in the least...

Happy 6th Anniversary

I still can’t believe that it’s been 6 years now since Mark and I were joined for eternity. Over the years I have watched in amazement how our similarities and differences compliment each other so perfectly. From the start we have been extremely blessed - even though most of our blessings were the hidden kind that only time uncovers. I once was asked how do you know when you’ve found the right person – the answer in my opinion is quite simple, it is someone who without saying a word makes you want to be a better person and helps show you how. Thank you Mark for being that person for me - now and forever.

At the Doctor's

Ryan's 2 year check up with his pediatrician was this morning at 8:30. Why I made an appointment at 8:30 is beyond me. Both of the kids were in the mood to sleep in this morning - Ryan actually woke up at 6:30 but after some milk and cereal fell back asleep contentedly. All in all, it could have been worse, we only arrived at the doctor's office about 10 or 15 minutes after we were supposed to (pretty sad considering that's about how long it takes to drive there).

So he checked in at about the 10-15th percentile for his height ( 85-90% of kids are taller) not really a big surprise. He came in average at about the 50th percentile for his weight (half the kids his age weigh less, half weigh more). Not really a surprise either - he's a pretty solid little man.

He did really well through it all. His favorite part was getting a new book about fishes and other sea creatures. His least favorite was having to open his mouth for the doctor. Notice that I did NOT say that his least favorite was the blood draw to check his iron and lead levels - that he did just fine on - not even a tear or so much as squirm. He even refused a bandage "no, it silly!" When I told Mark he just laughed and guessed that the poor guy probably is missing some connections that allow for pain sensitivity. It would fit with how often he bangs himself up without really noticing.

Alicia was quite the proud older sister - in her words she was "amazed" at how tough her little brother was. Now she's just waiting her turn to have a check up in about a month. She was actually pretty upset that she wasn't going to get looked at today too. I haven't broken the news to her yet that it's going to probably involve some getting ready for school shots.

The Weekend Part 3: Through Alicia's Eyes

One of Alicia's great excitements of the weekend was keeping busy taking pictures of all the happenings....

The Weekend Part 2: Mark's Big Day

So at last Mark had his big day... the formal graduation from SUNY Empire State College. It was held in Downtown Saratoga and was quite a nice event. I am just thankful that Matt was there or I probably would have wound up loosing one or both of the kids. Needless to say that an hour plus of trying to sit quietly surrounded by strangers and listen to grownups talk was not what a two and five year old think of as a good use of their time. It was actually funny to watch all the other parents and grandparents walking around with their squirmy kids as well.

I got to meet one of my teachers (online classes are so weird) and she took this picture of all of us before it began...
Mark's big moment with the ESC President - too bad we couldn't get closer.
Me and the kids holding up the back wall... I think it was the longest they sat still...
After the ceremony and reception...

The Weekend Part 1: Fun with Family and Friends

What a busy weekend... Friday night we packed up the van and headed for Saratoga again. All in all a good day and a nice drive over. Saturday we had a fun filled day with family and friends.

We began with a walk through the woods around Windan...

Then we went to go visit a long-time friend of Mark's. Thanks to a handful of nieces and nephews there was plenty to keep the kids occupied...

The Power-Wheel's Jeep was a big hit (I still remember dreaming of having one when I was a kid)


Even Ryan got a turn to drive... with a little help from Daddy

If the kids thought that the Jeep was fun it was nothing compared to what they thought of the trampoline...

I still can't believe Mark and Matt were turning flips ... I couldn't even do those when I was a kid much less now!
Anyways... it was a lot of fun and needless to say we were all pretty tired by the time we got back to Windan.

Oh to be five again...

I just have to post some of the conversations that we've had with Alicia recently to be sure I have them for blackmail when she's older.

As we're driving down the road:
A- "People come from animal sounds"
D- "Oh?"
A- "Yep. Like a donkey says 'pea-cock' 'pea-cock'"
To really understand this moment you have to have been there. She said peacock with a perfect donkey bray.

While she was using the bathroom:
A- "Mommy, I just said a prayer to Heavenly Father."
D- (while trying to stop from laughing) "what about hunny?"
A- "I prayed for five children when I get big."
D- "Five is a lot, are you sure?"
A - "Yep, and Heavenly Father will give them to me because that's what He does!"
Somehow I think we've missed a few connections with that one.

Sitting together on the couch:
A- "Mommy when I get big, I'm going to come to your house every day and do all the cleaning and the cooking and everything so you don't have to."
D- "That would be nice."
A- "Yep, when I get big I'll have lots of cleaning energy."
D- wonders silently where all of that energy is now...

Counting Sheep

Yesterday we all had quite an adventure. Five adults took a grand total of eleven children (all five and under) on an outing up to a member of the church here who has a sheep ranch/farm. I have been trying to work out an opportunity to go and let the kids see some of the sheep since last year and the timing couldn't have been better. The night before we came one of her ewe's delivered a beautiful boy lamb. Aside from a mild road-trip adventure where I learned that Tom-Tom (my usually wonderful navigating GPS) is not as smart as she likes to think she is (yes... Tom-Tom is a girl...) we finally found where we were going and the kids and adults had a blast seeing all the animals. There was even an impromptu game of tag between the herd of sheep and the herd of kids.

The baby lamb - possibly to be named Conductor. The kids that wanted to all got turns holding him and petting him. Naturally he had the cutest little "baa" I think I have ever heard.


Here is a picture of Alicia with the new momma and lamb. The poor momma just couldn't understand what all these crazy two-leggers were doing with her baby.

While the rest of the kids were having fun with the momma and baby Ryan gave up and went to go check out some of the rest of the sheep.

The "odd sheep" of the bunch - they also have a few alpacas that they keep but we only got to see this one. The kids thought it was really cool though.