Blog? I have a blog? I had almost forgotten...sheesh, we've been busy! It's been a great summer, and it's officially over! This week was Homer's frist week of football, double sessions, so it's all over... I don't even know where to start, it's been so long!

In June we left Corry for over 2 weeks and really enjoyed a long vacation! We went to Carolina Beach, NC for a week with our beach buddies, the Snyder family. It was so relaxing, even with all the kids (our 3 and their 2)! We mostly were on the beach or in the pool, with the exception of going to the aquarium and a mom's day in Wilmington for some shopping. Joelle and Caden loved the pool more than the beach, but they had a blast playing in the sand and jumping in the waves too. Cole only took one mouth full of sand and learned that it's better in his hands only. Erica and I tried a new trick, using baby powder to take the sand off little hands for a non-sandy snack, and it worked great! Homer and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary while there; went to dinner with everyone, but we did get to go out just the 2 of us when we got home.

We left the beach on a saturday morning and drove 4 hours to my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dan's in Chapin, SC, where we stayed until wednesday morning. They live on Lake Murray in a beautiful home, and Aunt Kathy totally took care of us! It was so nice. The interesting part was that their air conditioning unit for the upstairs went out on saturday morning before we got there, and had to be replaced, which didn't happen until tuesday. With record breaking heat that weekend, we were a little warm at night! But it was fine, and we really enjoyed being cool for our last night there! We went for a boat ride on sunday, did a mary kay facial on monday, went to the zoo on tuesday, then the 12 hr drive home wednesday. At the zoo I got to feed a giraffe, my favorite animal, so I was excited about that!

We got back to mom and dad's and stayed there until Sunday, July 5. We celebrated the 4th at my uncle Bill's, and did not enjoy the 60 degree temps! Mom and I jumped in the pool anyway, to everyone's surprise. We did it for the laughs, but man, it was COLD!

We came home and had to jump right back into craziness. Homer coached an All Star football team this summer, so that took up much of his time in July. The game was on the 24th, and the Erie County team put up a good fight against the City, but lost at the very end. It was fun though, and I got to hang out with my friend Shannon at the game. The kids were at mom and dad's because I left the next morning for Dallas, so Homer and I went out after the game, which is a rare occurance!

My beautiful sister Kristen came home from Texas in July, spent a few days at our house, then at Mahaffey Camp with mom. I got to go to camp for a couple of days too, then left the kids there for my trip to Dallas for my Mary Kay Seminar.

Seminar was, well, definitely the best one yet! I think I say that every year, but this year was especially fun because I had 6 of my unit members go too! So we all "caught the vision" and came home ready to work! On awards night we were entertained by Jasmine Murray from American Idol, and the guy who won "so you think you can dance" last year (can't think of his name right now), and the dancers and singers who are employed by the company are always amazing too. It was a really special 5 days for all of us.

me with my sr. director "mama" Sherri!

I have been super busy since I've been home with parties, and keeping up with all of my hard-working consultants! We're having our best month ever with 6 new consultants already! It's so rewarding to see the reward of consistent effort. Our new car is "on the assembly line," just not sure which one yet...Chevy Malibu, Toyota Camry, or the Pink Caddy! I'm saying Caddy. Just saying.

Last weekend we went camping at Prince Galitzen State Park (aka Glendale) with our friends, the Swartzfagers. We were there thursday-sunday, and it was perfect! No rain, nice and warm (hot even) and relaxing. We love doing things together as families because our girls are close to the same age and so are the boys. Cole is the odd guy right now, but Missy is having a baby in February! Cole will be almost 2 years old though. God has definitely blessed me with Missy's friendship-I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend!

Tonight I went to Joelle's kindergargen orientation. It's hard to believe she's going to school! She is going to the Corry Alliance Christian Academy (at our church) and we are so happy to have this option! There will be 11 kids in her class and I'm so excited to watch her learn and grow this year. I'm probably going to cry the first day, which is next wednesday, 8/26, so pray for me! :) So the dynamic at home is going to really change. Caden will take on the role of the big brother, and he is much more helpful and less mischevious when Joelle isn't here, so this will be a good thing for me! Caden will go to preschool monday and friday mornings, and tuesday and thursday afternoons.

Cole is so sweet right now, I wish he would stop growing and stay right where he is. I LOVE this age. he's so cute walking and running around, starting to say some words, and tries to do everything Joelle and Caden do. He's a really good little guy, entertains himself, and plays with whatever is available.

I think that's about all for now. Hopefully I'll write again before Christmas...

April update

It's hard to believe we're heading into the last week of April already. Only two more months until our vacation, I can't wait...can you tell? The weather here is so up and down this time of year and it gets frustrating!

We had a nice Easter weekend, celebrating resurrection day! On saturday we had an easter egg hunt and dinner with the DeLattre side of the family. Joelle found 17 eggs, won the "grand prize" and a total of $13 and lots of candy. Caden found 12 eggs, and Cole got 2. He was more interested in crawling in the grass than picking up eggs. The kids also had a visit from the Easter Bunny, which was a surprise to all of us!

On Sunday morning, they looked for eggs at my parents' house, went to church, then had dinner with the family, including my grandma (the kids call her GiGi), and Aunt Carissa and Tim. We came back home on monday.

On thursday before Easter, Homer drove with my brother to myrtle beach to help him pack up his furniture that was still in his house there. Homer drove back to PA on friday, so he spend lots of time in the car those 2 days!

My scrapbooking night this past weekend was a blast. There were 8 of us...we ate amazing homemade soup, salad, bread, and cheesecake (I made that); we laughed hysterically, and stayed up past 3am scrapping and talking. I wish we could do it once a month instead of once a year.

Mary Kay career conference was fabulous last month. My unit members left with new goals and excitement and have been doing great! I'm excited to have lots of new consultants to work with! I love what I do.

Joelle and Caden have only 2 weeks left of "cubbies" at church for this year. next year Joelle will move up to Sparks. she will be in kindergarten! We registered her for the Alliance Academy, at our church. There are 8 kids registered for her class so far. We are very happy to have this option for her.

Preschool goes through the end of May. Next week I'm going with their class to see a play. Should be fun!

Please pray for my sister Kristen and her husband Jimmy, he leaves for Iraq (again) this Friday.

That's all i can think of right now! Until I find time to write again...

Spring is in the air!

Finally, the snow is gone and my tulips are peeking through the ground. Winter is SO LONG here! The kids are so happy to be able to go outside some. Tonight we bundled everyone up and went for a walk, even though it was only about 40 degrees! The sun was shining and we needed some fresh air. Homer pushed Caden and Cole in the double stroller and I pushed Joelle in the single. Sometimes she walks or rides her bike, but she wanted to ride tonight. A few days ago, we went for a long walk, up the hill to the (very tiny) airport. Joelle took her bike...pushing it most of the way up, but had a blast riding it back down the hill. I put Cole in the "sleepy wrap" carrier and pushed Caden in the stroller. What a workout!

Cole is crawling everywhere now and standing up, holding on to things. It's so cute. He is so much fun...if I could keep him at this exact age, I would!

A few weeks ago Joelle and I went tubing at the ski resort about 20 minutes away. We went with our friends Missy and Emma and had alot of fun! Joelle loves things like that...roller coasters, etc. Caden, not so much (yet). He couldn't go tubing anyway, kids have to be 5 yrs old and 42 inches tall. Caden is a whole 30 lb at 3 1/2.

Last week Joelle and Caden were sick all week. Most likely they had influenza b; fevers for 6 days, sore throats, runny noses and coughing. Then they got better and Cole got sick. His only lasted about 4 days though, and Homer and I were spared!

Next weekend I'm going to my Mary Kay Career Conference in pittsburgh. Six of my unit members are attending, which is the most I've ever had come, so I'm excited. In april I'm going with some friends to scrapbook overnight at the Peak (same resort we went tubing). We did it last year and had so much fun, and got lots of pages done, so we invited more people and are going again! I am so lucky to be able to have these little "get-aways"...they help me be a better wife and mommy!

We have our vacation plans made for June. We're going to Carolina/Kure Beach in southern North Carolina for a week. We're staying in a condo with our friends Steve, Erica, Kami and Jacob Snyder. Then we're visiting my Aunt Kathy in South Carolina for a few days, and heading back to celebrate the 4th of July with our parents. So we'll be gone for 2 weeks, which will seem like forever to us! It will be fun and we are really looking forward to the beach, and Aunt Kathy's house on the lake!

Homer had an in-grown toenail cut out last week, so he's healing from that. Kind of hard with 3 kids and a dog who like to step on it, drop things on it, and bump it! All are well though. I guess that's about all of the updates for now!

Updates on the family...

This seems like a great way to keep everyone up to date with our family, without writing a bunch of emails...I'm following Brooke and Karla's lead!

We have all been doing great! When I look at Joelle, Caden and Cole, I can't believe they're mine...three kids! When did this happen? Joelle turned 5 on January 4 and lost her first tooth soon after. She came into my room on a monday morning and told her her tooth was loose. I asked her if she bumped it on something! She said no...but it was REALLY loose. The next day, she hopped up onto the couch and it fell right out! She didn't want the tooth fairy coming into our house, so I had to call her and tell her that I would "take care of it" for her. Joelle was a little worried about Santa coming into our house too, but she must have decided that what he was bringing was more worth it than a little money from the tooth fairy. She is in preschool 2 mornings a week (so is Caden), and it's really just review for her. She will do great in kindergarten next year. We are leaning toward sending her to private school at our church. Three little boys in her preschool class have a crush on her! It's already starting... My one friend told me that if her son doesn't want to get dressed in the morning, she tells him that Joelle would love that shirt, and he'll put it right on. So funny how the develop crushes so early!

Caden is my challenge right now. He's so sweet and funny, but so strong-willed, and just into everything. He's 3 1/2 and some days I feel like it will be a miracle if I survive his toddler years! His vocabulary is very advanced; our dr. thought he was 4 at his 3 year check up. He is very social, and loves preschool and "cubbies" at church. He has quite the imagination...always telling stories about something. Most of them start with "My friend Mickey..." Who Mickey is, I'm not sure. Not Mickey Mouse, I asked. But Mickey has done it all, and Caden has the stories to tell about it.

Cole-my baby is growing up! He's crawling everywhere and starting to pull himself up. He's a cuddler and I love it! He's very funny already, when I try to get him to say "mama" he smacks his lips like he's blowing kisses. I can't believe he's 8 1/2 months old already. I have enjoyed these months with him so much, I think you learn to do that after the first (and second) baby-you're not worried about doing something wrong anymore. It's just fun and amazing. I love watching the three of them play together. Cole laughs at Joelle and Caden and they are in love with him.

Homer is starting to plan the spring and summer football schedule already. He's really looking into moving to North Carolina in a year to year and a half. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, excited in a lot of ways, but nervous too. We are praying that we will make the right decisions. The long winter and all the snow gets old! And we feel that my business would thrive even more in a larger city. Not that it's not going well, but I have big goals! So that's what could be new...

We're looking forward to spring, but it probably won't really be here until mid-April. I'll try to update this at least every few weeks!