I didn't blog much in 2009. I kind of lost interest, it was a tough year for my family. I've taken the time now to  (Oct 2011) to add in some photos.


Feb 2009 ~ I flew into Michigan for a quick weekend visit:

Adalyn, Afton, Heather [me] & Aaron

Rebecca, Amber, Heather

These are hard for me to look at since Teresa was so sick with cancer. But, it's the last picture I have of us 3.

  

Easter 2009: I drove in with the girls so that they could visit with Teresa & family. Teresa insisted that we colored Easter eggs and let them hunt.

My heart broke into a million pieces in May of 2009 when I had to say goodbye to Teresa. She was not only my sister, but my role model, my hero and one of my best friends. I will always love and miss her.
Here are two of my favorite pictures of her when I went to visit her in August 2007 (shortly after being diagnosed with cancer and right after one of her first surgeries). Teresa had the best smile and the greatest laugh, it just made you want to laugh right along with her. She was a fantastic woman, mother, wife, sister and friend. She was one of the best conversationalist I've ever meet. I think she could have made a monk who took a vow of silence talk! I always enjoyed my visits with her during our sisters weekends. They were spent playing board games, shopping, talking and making great memories.

July 2009:  Later that summer, I was so happy when Scott, Afton and Adalyn came to visit us for the first time: We did so much and had such a great time. Even if I did have a little breakdown when it donned on me that I would never get to have another trip with Teresa. 

Hershey Gardens:

Yes, we think this is how Swine Flu was started:

Adalyn got the biggest kick out of watchint the whistling kisses! :)

August: Girls first day of School Catherine 4th Grade, Abby 2nd Grade:

October 2009| ~ Fall Pictures:

Halloween Pictures:

Trick-or-Treat Night: Abby is a snow princess and Catherine is a punk rocker

Yes, an actual post from me!

It's February...I've been busy which is what I always say. But here goes....


November - We drove down to Bobby's parent's house in lower Alabama. We had a great time visiting both of his sisters, his brother and all of their families. It was a little rough for me, I really missed Dad as it would have been his 80th birthday, it our first Thanksgiving without him...so I knew Mom was missing him - it was just rough. It was a 16 hour drive down and 21 hour drive back of course split with a stay overnight at the Marriott to let the girls swim and get a break from the long drive. Coming back was so long with traffic being backed up for miles and bad weather didn't help matters any. Still taking the kids skating every weekend.




December - I went for training to get my 24 credit hours of Life, Health & Accident training so I could take the test and get my Insurance License. (Which as of to date, I haven't had much time to study...so I'm not ready). I had to search for a cute outfit to wear to a White Party. Christmas Eve the girls got to open a present with new pajamas and a webkinz. Christmas Morning we woke up, I baked the cinnamon rolls while we opened our stockings, Bobby and the girls had a silly string fun, we ate the breakfast then opened presents. Abby got her own pair of professional roller skates for Christmas. Catherine has her guitar and received other presents. Still skating every weekend. It was on to Christmas decorations, cookies and parties. Christmas parties a the girls school. The girls had a Pink Christmas tree decked with cute little candy canes, Hello Kitty ornaments, pink snowflakes and glittery balls. A week of Christmas break then straight into New Years celebration. We brought the new year in with friends playing games so that was fun.




January - Catherine turned 9, we had her birthday party at the Roller Skating rink...several kids didn't know how to skate when they first got there and left skating like pros! :) It was a lot of fun. Catherine wanted a chocolate chip cookie cake..so I made that (love my pampered chef stone). Yep, still taking the girls skating every weekend (great exercise and fun family thing to do.) oh, and Catherine got her own pair of skates for her birthday.The girls had try-outs for the talent show in February...so they're practicing their routines. I took a weekend trip to Atlantic City with by BF Jenn (her daughter had a Dance Expo) and we hit the casino's I won some $ :) although I was only willing to risk $20! :) For PTO, I had a big 2 week reading challenge at the school that included 2 family nights, a Dr. Seuss Theme and tons of planning and work. Bobby made Green Eggs & Ham for the event too. :) 2 events during the day as well for a Pep Rally (where every student got a free book) and a guest reader day where I had community members come in and read a story room to a classroom (Every classroom had a reader).

Oh, and we bought a wii...so we've all had fun playing that. Catherine kicks butt though!


February - I'm tallying the points from the reading challenge (each student had an individual goal, then there is a school wide goal) so I'll be ordering prizes once I'm ready. I'm working on getting pictures gathered for the school yearbook...which will be due in March (tons of work there!). I'm doing our taxes, refund is looking good - which is good because we have debt sitting on a credit card that needs to disappear! I'm trying to study every free second I can. We just had the Valentine's party at their school, kids had a great time. Bobby and I went out on a hot date :D We ate my favorite restaurant 2201 in the Boro - it's fine dining and they treat us so nice. It's such a pleasure going there to eat.

Parent Teacher conferences today at school

First off was Abby's 1st grade conference. Abby is struggling with her reading. She gets really frustrated because she wants to learn (at least that's what her teacher says) but it's not connecting well for her. Her writing skills are not that good either, which is connected with reading. Otherwise she's doing good. She follows instructions well, she gets along well with the students and is really good at math.

Next was Catherine's 3rd grade conference. Completely opposite where her teacher said that if all her students were like Catherine then her job would be so easy. Catherine is reading at least a 4th grade reading level. She comprehends what she's reading. She's very creative with her writing, she edits herself well, etc... She's doing good in math, social studies, science, etc... She had all A's & outstanding marks with the exception of 1 B in Social Studies, which Catherine was extremely bummed out about because she wanted all A's.

After that, I meet with the reading specialist for Abby. She says that Abby doesn't have a learning disability but she's not sure what the problem is yet. Abby is getting a lot of attention when it's time to work on reading/writing, she's in the smaller reading groups. They push her really hard and she comes home so tired so I only have about 5 minutes of good reading time with her before she's checked out. When the teacher told me that Abby doesn't cry anymore (frustration levels reach that high apparently) it made me feel so sad for my little girl. I've felt the frustration of her not reading, but I didn't think about how frustrated she is about it too. :(

I'm exhausted after the conferences. :) The PTO prepares lunch and dinner for the staff during the conferences...so last night I made 2-3 dozen of each cookie variety, White Chocolate Macadamia, Toffee Crunch, Ghiradelli Coconut Pecan Cookies with chocolate drizzled over top. We also have our Book Fair running during this time. I helped set up Sunday night and will help with sales Wednesday night and to pack it all up. I'm still working on the fundraiser, collecting the donations for the Race for Education. Otherwise, I think we're pretty good on PTO stuff this month.

Trick or Treat

The girls had a great Halloween. Catherine counted 124 pieces of candy. :) We went with friends as usual and had a great time walking through the neighborhood.

Abby wanted to be a Mommy, so she's sporting a dress, apron, (rain boots, because I wouldn't allow her to use the high heels that she used for her classroom party - it's cold trick or treating in PA, and she didn't want to wear her sneakers. She pushed the baby in the stroller for 2 blocks then we dumped it off at our friend, Jenn's house (her two girls are pictured with my two). She carried the baby for awhile and I carried her trick or treat bag then she'd trade off for the other. So I teased saying that I was a grandmother. I said I should have worn a tiara because it is the one day of the year that I can get away with it! :) Jaime said I could get away with wearing it any day. :)
Catherine wanted to be a crayon after reading Amber Brown is not a crayon. We couldn't find a costume so I made her one. Catherine was cute, she was so proud of me for making it, she told all her teachers that I made it for her. :) While trick or treating she said that she was "Original Pink"...I giggled when I heard that! We were going to write princess pink but the letters I bought didn't allow for that. The hat is even slanted like the crayon tip had been used a little. :) I was so proud of myself too actually for making it, it looked so professional, especially done without a pattern! :)

October!!!! Turn Leaves, Turn!

I love changing out my background desktop all the time...I just finished adding photos to the one for my work computer. This desktop was created by Shabby Princess. Pictures are vintage! :) The blue eyed blonde curly headed cutie was me...there's my adorable twin sister beside me with the brown eyes and straight brown hair! Also pictured is our sister Angelia (almost a year older than us), Rebecca's in 3 of them, and Tammy is one. There's a few of us girls when we were younger. :)

I also downloaded the one from Shabby Miss Jenn which I've got to prepare for my laptop here at home.

I need to get some pumpkins and pics of my kids...none yet for this year! :O