It's been way too long.............

Wow!!! It has been way too long since I have written anything on this blog. The last actual post was about my little girl turning 8. Well, hard to believe, but she will be turning 10 in just a little over 30 days from now. This is really hard for me to comprehend that she will be 10 years old. A lot really has happened over the past two years. In December 2011, my beloved Nana (who loved to read my blog) passed away from pancreatic cancer. We all miss her very very very much. It is so hard to believe that this Christmas will be our 2nd one without her. But on a happy note, my sister and brother-in-law had their third daughter in May and she is just as cute as the other two! We have done a lot of camping still in our 1978 Taurus camper...but the kiddos enjoy it so much and even I can "rough" it for a few days in a small camper with 2 kids, 2 adults, and 2 dogs. We are camping again Labor Day weekend in Gettysburg and are looking forward to it!! Today is the LAST Friday of summer vacation for the kiddos. They start school on 8/21. H is over the moon excited, B not so much...but he will like it as soon as we get back into the swing of things. H is starting her 7th year of dancing for TDA and is going to be doing a competition piece this year with another girl and 2 boys at her dance studio. Again, she is really excited about this. I am HOPING to try and do more documenting of our everyday lives...as 2 years have just GONE BY WAY TOO FAST and I need to keep a journal of the happenings in our busy life, so as to not forget all of our adventures.

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Hayley turns 8!!!

Back in September, our little girl turned 8-years old. Where has the time gone?? Seems like only yesterday I was planning her 1st birthday party. If the next 8 years go by as fast as the last 8 have....OH MY!!! I will have a 16-year-old before I know it...and I am not quite ready for that!!

Here are a few pictures from her birthday party we had for her. Unfortunately, the batteries died on my camera and so far these are the only pictures I have from that day!! Enjoy!!

The case of the missing tooth...

Brayden had an exciting day at school today....he LOST his tooth, literally, 2 ways....out of his mouth as well as on the classroom floor. Oh my, he was so excited that he lost his tooth and was he ever reassured once I said that Daddy texted the Tooth Fairy and she will still be making an appearance even though she will not have a tooth to remove from his bedside table (gotta love technology...who would have every thought 20 years ago that we would be texting the Tooth Fairy??). I actually think I am more disappointed than he is for not have an "actual" tooth since I have kept all of Hayley's since they fell out...and wanted to do the same for him. Oh well, maybe next time.....

(picture to be inserted!)

Bella Balloonza

Two weekends ago...poor Bella (our white boxer puppy that we got on June 3rd...but that's another post I should write) was digging in the back yard. Scott saw that she was digging lots of holes out by his shed, so he took some leftover vinyl fencing we had...and put it up around the area she was digging to stop this bad habit. About 30 minutes later, Hayley says to me, "Mom, what is all over Bella's belly?" Me: "Oh, honey, she was out digging so it is probably dirt." Hayley: "No Mom, they are red bumps. " With this, I go to investigate...and low and behold she was covered in hives. Then I look at her face and the whole right side of her face is swollen and red.....this dog is having an allergic reaction to SOMETHING!! More than likely she had dug up a bees nest in the ground...

I immediately gave her Benadryl and had her go in her crate to "rest". About an hour went by, and the swelling on her face just got worse!! I contacted our vet and left a message. I then started looking for the closest Emergency Vet....all the while thinking in my head, "Our first trip to and ED is going to be with our dog!!!"...Our wonderful vet called me back within 10 minutes. I explained to her what I thought had occurred. She advised me to give her another tsp. of Benadryl and call her in an hour with an update. If she wasn't any better, she would meet me at the office and give her an injection of prednisone. I did just that...and about 1 1/2 hours later...the swelling FINALLY subsided and she was back to looking like our cute little puppy again.

Bella all blown up!!

All cute again!!!

And so it begins.....

So, summer vacation has ended and another school year has started. Tuesday, August 30th was Hayley's first day of 2nd grade and Brayden's first day of Kindergarten!! Amazing!! Both of the kiddos picked out their own clothes the night before (neither of them seeing what the other picked out). Well this morning when they got dressed I noticed that they coordinated!! How CUTE!!!



Mom and I were there to send them on their way...and surprisingly, there were no tears....from ANY of us!!!!





Not exactly looking thrilled :0)


The old pro!

Like I said, Brayden has started Kindergarten and this year the school district implemented an ALL DAY program, I myself am very excited about this as it gives me time to "myself" on Thursday afternoons when I am not working...as well as gives my Mom aka Nanny a break as well...heck she is even going to get Tuesdays and Thursdays off since she won't have my other two nieces that day. As she was walking both Hayley and Brayden to the bus stop this morning both kids told her, " Well, Nanny, since you don't have us at all today....you are not going to have ANYTHING to do!!". I am sure she will find plenty to do on her "days off"...maybe take a much needed break and enjoy being by herself (hopefully, for the sake of my Dad's wallet) she doesn't end up shopping the time away...but if that is what she wants to do with her time so be it!!

Ok..back to the first day of school. Once I got home from work, they didn't really have much to say; however, they did both tell me they were going to go back tomorrow!! YIPPEE!! What I got outta Hayley is, that they got new bathrooms (yeah, I forgot to mention that the school was renovated this summer...and is actually still under construction)...funny that this is the most memorable happening that Hayley felt compelled to tell me about her day!

Brayden enjoyed eating lunch at the cafeteria but did tell me that he wasn't very fond of the corn! Ha! Hayley is also excited because this year they have an Agenda notebook that they need to write their homework assignments in as well as important information that Moms and Dads need to review. Gosh, my babies are growing up...It feels like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with Hayley and trying to figure out our boy and girl names. It really does just fly by in a blink of an eye! And you wonder why I cannot update my blog more often! LOL

Hayley's 4th Dance Recital

This weekend was Hayley's Dance Recital. This is her 4th year dancing with The Dance Academy. She took Ballet I, Tap II, and Hula I this year as well as danced in the Daddy/Daughter dance to Little Miss Magic with her Daddy.

Hayley LOVES to dance and really enjoys being onstage. Although it is a hectic week with black rehearsal, dress rehearsal, and the actual recital...it is all worth it to see that smile on her face!


Hayley & I

Scott & Hayley

Hayley ready for Hula

Lil Tapper




Little Bunny

The production this year was Sleeping Beauty. Hayley was one of the little bunnies in the forest.

Now to enjoy the rest of the summer!! Can you guess what Hayley will be for Halloween this year??