• Today, we worked on switching rooms.  Brother’s room had a better layout of window and doors for 3 beds so we did the switcheroo.  Pumpkin had been sleeping with me all this time.  The work is not finished but the furniture is all moved in.  We just need to organize the toys.


    At bedtime, I put Pumpkin in her bed and said my goodnight.  She told me she was afraid.  I reassured her as best as I could.  I pointed out that her sisters were in the room with her and that Jesus was watching her from above (her crucifix hangs above her headboard). 


    In the end she didn’t fall asleep in her room.  I guess she’s not ready.


    That’s okay because I don’t think I’m ready either.

  • The weekend started off fast with dress rehearsals for the ballet recital.  Saturday, Sister performed in the first performance–there are two performances as they school puts on an entire ballet with all the classes performing.  Sunday brought a family birthday party for Pumpkin and then another ballet performance with Honey performing as well (there are two classes for the 4 year olds, Honey’s class performed on Sunday).  After the performance, we loaded the kids up in our already loaded Suburban and took off on our road trip.  We made it to Texarkana in about 6 hours with a few potty breaks (one 5 miles from our destination–aah, the joys of a newly potty trained child).  Our road trip started on the 19th of May; here are some pictures:


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    A little mishap before leaving.

     We drove for hours the next day without a fun stop in there at all.  Our original stop point was going to be in West Virginia, but we stopped in Louisville, KY.  Still, it was a LONG drive.  The third day was long and we stopped in Chambersburg, PA.  Wednesday brings us fun stuff which I’ll cover in my next post (who knows when that will be since it’s taken me forever to get this done).

  • The blog that is.  Check out the new look at Alice’s blog.  It’s absolutely beautiful.


    Let me tell you a quick story about Alice.  I’ve admired her for so long and longed to meet her in person.  The opportunity came up during our road trip as she lives close Ben’s Aunt Vivian.  I was only able to meet up with her I although Ionged to meet two others in Long Island.  Alice and her girls were on the way back from a Latin mass where her older two girls sang (oh, my they have beautiful voices).  She dropped by for a very quick visit at Aunt Vivian’s house.  You gotta love someone whose first words to you are “You’re gorgeous!”.  Alas, our visit was much too short as they had to leave for another engagement.  She is a beautiful person. 


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  • A baby boom that is.  Congratulations to Melissa Wiley, one of my favorite children's authors, on her pregnancy.  Check out the links she has to all the other blogging mommies who are pregnant.

  • I can't believe she's already 5.  Where has the time gone?

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    Happy Birthday, beautiful girl! 

  • Mary Ellen has some news!  Go visit and offer your congratulations and prayers. 

  • is getting married.  He's 36 years old and this is his first marriage.  My sister and I are still in disbelief.  We love his future wife, she keeps him so grounded and makes him happy.  My crotchety brother is actually happy.  The wedding is tomorrow at 1:30.

  •  Congratulations to Genevieve on the birth of her twin girls!  They're awfully cute.

  • I had draft post on the start of my vacation.  It's gone.  This is the first time I've lost a post on Typepad.  Not exactly the one I'd like to lose.  So, I'll have to start over.  I'm never going to get around to telling you about my vacation.  Sheesh!

  • We had four dental checkups for four kids this morning.  They all had zero cavities–this is a special concern as Ben has a ton of them.  Their cleaning could use a little help as the best grade for teeth cleanliness was a B+ by the two youngest.  In the future, though, we have two teeth extractions and sealant for 6 molars on two kids.  They've inherited my jaw, I guess, and their teeth are getting crowded.  Braces are in the future for these kiddoes.  Sorry, guys. 

    The denist complimented me on the job I was doing.  I thought he was talking about the teeth, but he clarified that he meant on how well my children were behaving.  He said he's seen too many not so good ones come through.  I felt so good coming out of there.