Another New Blog

My new blog is for my sewing projects. I'm finally trying to get back to sewing for the kids. I have not sewed since the spring. See pictures of 3 of the 4 pairs of sleep pants I made over the weekend.

Joseph at the Park

I had to go back and add some pictures of Joseph at the park because I put more pictures of Bailey and Natalie than of him. Silly boy.

Swinging at the Park

As you can see, some of the kids and I enjoyed the sunny day swinging at the park. Taylor and Rachel were not with us because they were at the movies with another friend.

Natalie at the Park

Natalie spent a lot of time climbing up and sliding down.

Bailey at the Park

Bailey spent some time trying to figure out how to get down the fire pole. She found some different ways to slide down the slide. Plus she was excited to get to the 8th rung on the monkey bars. She hadn't made it past the 2nd rung before today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My Dad came down on Tuesday and went to the elementary school for the annual Grandparent's day festivities on Wednesday. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, fresh baked rolls and cranberry sauce on Thursday. A couple of friends of mine and I went out shopping starting at 6am Friday morning. I got flannel at 99 cents a yard and bought about 25 yards. I have already cut out two pairs of sleep pants for Joseph and Natalie. One pair of Joseph's are done and he is sleeping in them tonight. I need to find another pattern to use for Joseph's next pants as the first two I cut are kind of snug in the back. I also finished another knit hat earlier this evening.

Mallory's Ankle

Mallory's ankle is slowly recovering from it's injury. The Dr she saw today told her that it would be at least 2 more weeks before she could start playing volleyball again. She was told that as long as it still hurt to walk on it, she should continue to take it easy and see the trainer at school. Mallory wasn't able to swim at practice yesterday because they practiced turns and starts, the two things she's not supposed to do yet. Hopefully she will be able to get some swimming in tomorrow.

Great Job at School!

Joseph got a certificate and hug from the Principal at his school for getting straight A's. Mallory and Taylor both made Honor Roll. Rachel almost made Honor Roll so she has something to work for next quarter. Bailey did great too, but does not get actual grades yet.

Commonwealth Cup Gymnastics Meet

Taylor competed in her second meet of the season today. This meet was about 2 hours from here, so she and Joe left here early this morning to be there before noon. She came in 1st on bars with a score of 9.5 (Wow!), 3rd on vault with a score of 9.05 and 7th all-around with a total score of 36.10.

See video of her bars routine and vault routine.

Congratulations Taylor!!!

The Jumping Monkey

Natalie and I went to the Jumping Monkey to meet up with the DS Pee Wee group. Natalie liked the game room more than the inflatables. She also liked the many, many hats in the dress up room. Of the inflatables, she liked the one with the big slide the best.

Joseph and Natalie

I caught Joseph cuddling with Natalie several times this weekend. It was very cute.






Here, Natalie was watching TV on top of Joseph.

Update on Rachel

Last week was a very busy week for Rachel. She tried out and made two teams. First is the HS swim team, second is a 14's travelling volleyball team. She is very excited. She will also be very busy for the next 6 months. Swim season goes through the third week of January, which is around the time that the weekend volleyball tournaments will start. Volleyball continues through the end of May.

Update on Mallory

Mallory will be on crutches for the rest of the week at school, but is supposed to start trying to bear some weight on her ankle at home. Swim team practice started Monday and so she missed the first two days of practice. She saw the school's athletic trainer today and she has to see the trainer after school this rest of this week. She can start swimming tomorrow, but just not do any turns yet or starts off the platform. She has an appt to see the pediatrition early next week.

Happy? Birthday to Mallory

See the crutches behind Mallory? Yup, another birthday ankle injury occurred today. Remember Rachel's broken ankle just after her birthday last year? Well, Mallory's ankle is not broken, thank goodness, just sprained. She had spring volleyball try-outs yesterday and today. About half way through today's session, she stepped on the foot of the player across the net when that girl's foot landed on Mallory's side of the net. She's camping out on the sofa downstairs tonight because it's too much of a pain to get up and down the steps right now. Joe made one of her favorite entrees for dinner tonight, chicken parmesan and I made an Angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. She got a new red cell phone too.

Mitten Model

Natalie tried on this mitten to see how it fit. This pair will be heading out to a gift receipient.

Veterans Day Parade

Today we all got up early and went down to the oceanfront to watch the Veterans Day Parade. Rachel and Bailey's Girl Scouts troops and Joseph's Boy Scout troop were marching in the parade. The rest of us, Mallory, Taylor, Natalie, Joe and I sat on the sidelines and watched. Natalie did great as there were lots of things for her to look at to keep her seated. Taylor made it her job to pick up candy as it was tossed our way by the groups walking by.

Here are some of the things we saw:




There were Veterans, of course.










And firetrucks.

Natalie loved waving the little flag that one of the veterans groups handed out to the crowd.

Rachel's Cadet troop marched in the parade.














Bailey's Brownie troop also marched in the parade.

















Joseph got selected to carry the one of flags for his Pack.

Napping on the Move

Natalie was pooped after the parade.













She woke up while I was taking her picture.

















She ate a goldfish cracker that was on the floor.















Then went back to sleep.

Three Kids in Three Hats

Three crazy kids in Santa hats. Each hat takes about three days. Only three more hats to go.

Karma?

Mallory got rear ended Friday night after the football game. She called to tell me what happened and where she was. She was supposed to be at IHOP with her friends and then coming home. I guess that Karma got her. She was OK for a couple of days, but woke up yesterday with a sore back and neck. Joe is taking her to get checked out this morning.

First Gymnastics Meet

Taylor competed in her first Level 5 meet of the 2006-2007 season. She did well, but has lots of room for improvement. She scored a 8.9 on the beam, a 8.725 on the bars, a 8.7 on the floor and a 8.55 on the vault for a all-around score of 34.875.

Joseph's Winter Haircut

Joseph's cold weather hair cut is short on the sides and a little longer on top.

Not Awake Yet

Joe took pictures of the kids a few days ago just before he woke them up. This one of Joseph was the best.

Getting ready for Christmas

Now that Halloween is over, it's time to start my Christmas projects. I made this hat for Natalie in about 2 hours while watching TV. Just have to make 5 more for the rest of the kids.

Rachel the Beauty Queen

Rachel got this costume for 99 cents.

Taylor in Red

What a cute little devil!

Joseph the Ninja