Funny kids stories

Ok.. So I have two hilarious.. Did they just say that.. Stories from the weekend.
The first one we were at sheetz getting gas and I was in the car with the kids and D ran in to pay. Well he was taking forever so I said out loud to the kids.. What do you think hes doing in there? and Riley (as cute as he is) said to me.. "oh hes talking to woman"..
I was like .. what? he was so insistent and it was hilarious. He cracks me up

The other one was from Hailey. I got her some new jeans and Olivia had made the comment that she wont wear jeans unless they are boot cut.. So later on in the evening Hailey brought her jeans out to me and told me she wouldn't wear them. I wanted to, of course, know why.. and she said "Because they arent boob cut" I had to ask her twice what she said but that was it.. It was hilarious. I tried not to laugh at her because I know she is sensitive about her speech and just didn't realize that wasn't what Olivia was saying.. But it was funny none the less..

SO that's it for my kids stories for today.. Everyone have a safe and happy holiday!

Christmas Time!

Well it is officially christmas time in the Pratt Household! There is decorations and cookie baking and all that good stuff.. christmas music and three page long christmas lists. We took the kids to see Santa on Saturday. The girls immediately ran to him, sat on the lap and told them all about what they wanted to Christmas. And what did Riley do, you ask... well he hid behind the stroller.. I asked him why he didn't want to go sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Chritmas and he replied.. "becuase I was bad".. well then at least he realizes it. Though I will say that hasn't changed his behavior at all, he has still been unbelievably rotten.
So only about a week and a half until christmas. and you resident procrasinator is still not even close to being done with shopping. In fact I have only bought a few things and the girls presents for school.. I know I know! What am I waiting for. And on top of that.. my office is officially moving between christmas and new years so things have been crazy with packing, organizing etc there.. NO time to do anything.. when I get home I just want to go to sleep..
And watch Nip/Tuck which is getting so good. The two hour season finale is on next Tuesday night and they are unmasking the Carver.. can't wait!
Football has also been picking up.. the pre season officially starts in February so we have been practicing and haveing meetings and classes and fundraisers galore..
I love the holidays but I almost can't wait until they are over and I can just breathe. The only bad things about that is right after christmas I have three birthdays.. Hailey (jan 9) Olivia (jan 29) and Riley (feb 20) Fantastic!

Everyone have a safe and happy Holiday!

Snow Snow Snow

Wow.. the weather man was actually right this time. We actually did get snow this time and a whole lot of it! I would say that we got about 7 inches or so. It was amazing waking up. Not so amazing shoveling out though. I hate shoveling.
Our 1/2 mile long driveway wasn't plowed yet but I took a chance and tried to get down the driveway. We didn't hit any problems until the steep part when we started to slide. It was like being on a ride LOL.. the kids were screaming and I think that even I was a little freaked out and I never get that way driving in the snow. But the good news is that we made it, in one piece. I am sure that getting home will be interesting.

In other news there was a shooting near my house. Now we moved away from the city because we felt that we wanted to get away from people and shootings etc. Perry County is a fairly calm place as far as violence goes, and I feel very safe in my house. But the other night that was pretty much shattered. Click here to read the whole story. Basically an armed gunman broke into a house about two houses away from me, kicked in the door.. demanded money and then shot the two people inside. They still have no captured who did it. I have been extra cautious lately.. locking my car, locking my doors etc. I have never had to be scared before and I dont like having to be now, but whats a girl to do.. so I just act like nothing is wrong and have told the kids, who were petrified, that they have already caught the guy. So hopefully they will.

Only about three weeks till christmas, and I am not even close to ready. No tree, no decorations and very little shopping started. I am such a scrooge this year! Bah Humbug.

Wow

Aren't the Holidays so busy. I have barely had time to do anything more or less actually take the time to update this. Things are going well around the house. Snow on the ground, getting the Christmas tree this weekend. Got to finish the shopping (yes, I know I always wait until the last minute...)..
So when I have more I will update..

FOOTBALL!

Ok, for those of you who know me you know that I am a fairly huge football fan! D is a huge football fan etc...
Also, for those of you who know me you know that I always enjoyed contact team sports.. I was never much the cheerleader type.. I was always a little bit more agressive then that. So this past Saturday I tried out for the Harrisburg Angels. What is that you ask? Well, the Harrisburg Angels are the Harrisburg area minor league or semi pro womans football team! I am also very excited to announce that I mande the team and will probably be playing a defensive lineman, though that could change. How cool is that! The tryout and practive on Sat killed me and I am so sore today I can barely walk, but its a good pain.. Its a finally getting off my butt and getting back in shape pain.. So I will make sure to post more about this and our schedule when the time comes!

The weekend was pretty quiet though I did take Olivia on Friday night to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.. It is a must see for anyone who loves Harry Potter. The movie is really long 2 hours and 50 minutes but well worth every minute. Livi and I went to the late show starting at 8 and she actually stayed awake up until the very last 10 min. So now I am torturing her by not telling her who actually dies at the end. Sorry no spoilers here! Go see it for yourself!
The theater was packed, we actually ended up sharing a seat! But we both could see good so it all worked out. It was probably the best Harry Potter movie so far. This is why I love having children! I can take Olivia to see movies like this that I also want to see without looking like to big of an idiot.. lol.
Hailey spent Friday night with her Pappy, they went to the annual Block Shoot out at the East Salem Fire Company (yes, we truly are hicks!) She actullay goes every year with him because it seems that my little red headed princess is quite the lucky one when it comes to the paddle wheel. In fact, this year again she proved herself by coming home with a ham and a turkey!
Riley went to D's mom's (nene) and hung out with her and Pop pop and the dogs. He enjoyed himself and was completely asleep by the time I got there to pick him up.

Sunday was pie baking day at the Pratt house. I actually made the pies from stratch.. from a pumpkin! If you can believe that. my mother and father in law actually cooked the pumpkins and cut them up on Saturday while I was at football tryouts. But on Sunday I took the pumpkin and cooked four pies.. and they are mighty mighty good if I do say so myself.
WInter is coming to Central PA.. I actually heard that it is supposed to snow tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday.. only about 1-2 inches but still.. Living where I live it will be interesting to see just how well my van will do in the snow.. lol..
I am sure I will be snowed in more then once this winter.

Everything else is good. Olivia got her report card and as we suspected she is doing excellent in school. She always has. Hailey also got her report card. She isnt doing as well. According to her teacher she doesnt know how to count to ten or how to say her ABC's. Now I know this is completely not true since I listen to her tell them to me all the time. I think that the teacher puts her on the spot and with her speech she gets uncomfortable when she has to talk in front of people. So I think she proabably just didnt do it. Needless to say D and I are taking this very seriously and have since gotten her into the doctor to get additional speech help and Sylvan leadning center to potentially try to help her with the things that the preschool is obviously not teaching her. I am just worried that when she hits kindergarden next year that the teacher will have trouble understanding her and they will pop her into a special education class, which is not what she needs at all. She is shy because of her speech and she knows that the kids have trouble understanding her. So I feel really bad. I suppose as a parent all I can do is try to teach her what she needs to know. It breaks your heart though when you kids are having social problems and she is only 4! Not to mention she is a red head and the middle child! She has been practically doomed from the beginning.. lol
Well I doubt there will be an update before Thanksgiving! SO everyone have a safe and happy holiday!

Bears Vs. 49ers

Here are a few pics of the Bears Vs. 48ers game that D went to this past weekend in Chicago.. The Bears of course won... I knew they would.. thats why I got tickets to that game.. lol
Go COLTS!

Wow I can barely believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. It seems like summer was just yesterday. Everyone is doing well and extremely busy. Riley is as crazy as ever. Although I have found that he has been taking his punishments really well when he does something wrong. Unlike the girls who usually kick and scream and slam doors. The other night Riley got in trouble for hitting one of the girls and was in his room .. So his five minutes was up and the timer went off.. Literally he was not out of his room for 30 seconds when he went into the bathroom and flushed the plug for the sink down the toilet.. He seems to be wanting to flush everything down the toilet these days! I try not to laugh at him, but some of the stuff he does is hilarious..
He cracks me up sometimes.

Hailey is doing well in school and so is Olivia. All they do is fight anymore so I am so not looking forward to them actually becoming teenagers and fighting more.
Last Saturday I took them to see Chicken Little! It was hilarious. I love kid movies.. The girls laughed so hard, Hailey even stayed awake for the whole thing. Boy, only a mother would be satisfied spending a Saturday night with her girls seeing Chicken Little!
There are a couple movies out on DVD that they want to see this week.. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.. Madagascar.. but since Riley poured juice into the Playstation 2 that we were using to play our dvd's since he shoved cheese into the original DVD player we no longer have any equipment to watch dvd's on.. SO those movies will have to wait until 1) Riley can stop destroying things and 2) until we get a new DVD player.
Olivia reminded me the other day that Christmas was right around the corner. They have been pulling out the Toys r us catalogs and Sears etc.. circling and re circling what they want Santa to bring them.. Boy.. you gotta love Christmas!


This is a funny picture because if you look really close you can see our dog in the middle of the yard.. but he looks so much like a deer its hilarious..
I wont mention the fact that after this picture was taken I spent an hour running around the yard trying to get him to come in..!

More Halloween Pics

Much needed update

ok.. so now on to the much needed update. I realize that I havent updated this blog in about a zillion years, or at least it seems that way. So here you go....
Things have been crazy since I started my new job, crazy in a good way. Doing more, making more money and liking it a whole lot more. I am still in real estate and selling and doing marketing, but have added about a million more things to my job description for now. Which I like. There are days where I dont even realize its lunch time until 3 o clock or so.. lol.. I like it that way!
Halloween went well in the Pratt house.. we had a little devil, a fairy and a clown.. they were adorable!

WOW

ok so where do I start.. its been forever.. literally.
Well lets just let it rip..
I put in my two weeks notice at my job, but not before I received an offer on another job that I had been inquiring about.. it was a good offer, trust me..
SO I put in my notice.. it did not go well at all, needless to say I think that my boss might have sprouted horns when I told her.. and her face well it was actually quite commical.. I didn't really want it to happen that way, I suppose deep down I thought that they would be happy that I was moving on into a fantastic opportunity for me.. guess I was wrong.
So basically Monday I put in my notice.. monday they told me to leave.. fantastic!
So I called my new employer who is the coolest ever and they wanted me to start right away. So tuesday I went to York to train and meet the other people. I am still in real estate.. working for Coldwell Banker Commercial Bennett WIlliams.. very cool company..
So thats it in a nutshell.. things have been crazy.. they are only going to get more crazy.. I am just now starting to get the office set up and organized.. (it is so not at all) and hopefully will have more time next week to tell some good kid stories.. I have a ton..

So, this is the bunny. He looks a little psycho (I haven't figured out to work the red eye on my new camera yet) but as you can also see he is absolutely adorable. Olivia (who is holding him here) loves him to death. His name is Cadbury (we didn't name him)...
He is very friendly and cuddly. D, hasn't exactly warmed up to him yet.. but we'll see..
I have been trying to keep the dogs away from him since Bandit always looks like he wants to eat him. Tiller on the other hand jumps and runs everytime Cadbury moves (which is hilarious).
This picture is Bandit watching him from the kitchen, like he wants to eat him.. LOL
Hailey looks cute, as usual. So she started dance class on Wednesday night. She loves it! Its a beginner class that is a combination of tap, ballet and jazz. The teacher said she did really well for it being her first introduction to dance. Its nice to see her getting involved for once. She has always been the baby (even though she is technically the middle child)..
They are all growing up so fast..

Last night was Hailey's preschool open house. She was dressed and ready to go as soon as I got home from work. D decided to stay home with Riley since he usually takes her to school and picks her up.. and has been to her classroom to talk about fire safety.. he already knows what she has been up to in school. So Olivia, Hailey, my mom (nanny) and I headed to her open house. It was a nice little event where we got to see some papers she has done over the last month as well as her classroom. On her seat in her classroom was a book that they had done that was all about themselves. Hailey drew a picture of herself, her sister, her family and what she wanted to be when she grows up which was the funniest thing of them all. She wants to be a lifeguard! Who would have ever thought that, it was adorable.. The pictures were cute and Hailey was very happy to get to show off her stuff to me and her sister.
Tuesday they are going to a pumpkin farm on a field trip.. D is going as a chaperone.. that ought to be interesting.
Nothing much else has been going on around the Pratt house. We spent a lazy lazy weekend laying around watching movies and football. In fact Saturday I didn't even get dressed all day! Just stayed in my night clothes.. I love days like that.
Can you belive it is October already, halloween is just around the corner. I have to get pumpkins, halloween costumes etc this weekend. Also Hailey is starting dance tomorrow night and the Strawberry Ball is next Saturday. Lots to do!

It has been one of those weeks. Boy am I glad that it is Friday, and maybe even more so this week. It all started on Monday when while running late for work, again, I ran over Olivia's bike in the driveway. She was completely hysterical about the whole thing. I tried to explain to her that I was sorry, but that was exactly why I always tell her to pick it up and put it where it belongs. But she wanted none of that. Later that night I looked at it, and it is definitely broken, unridable. I feel really bad, but she was told about fifteen times to pick it up. So now I suppose we know what Santa is bringing her.
The rest of the week work was stressful and busy. There are a few changes happening around my office, along with the fact that a close friend is leaving, and it stinks. Basically the changes leave me in limbo as far as where I am going etc. I suppose only time will tell.
Tuesday morning I got up and my van quit running on me about 1/4 mile from my house, luckily my neighbor was coming by or Olivia and I would have had to walk the whole way up our driveway. To the average person that seems like nothing at all.. But considering that our driveway is about 1/2 mile all uphill.. I was not prepared to walk it in the rain and in suits and heels none the less.
Riley has been a little blister all week. He refuses to listen to anyone or anything making every evening stressful and diffucult.
On another note I did get the kids a bunny. His name is Cadbury.. He is all white with one brown spot and brown ears. The girls love him. He is cute and soft and cuddly. D, of course, was completely annoyed by the prospect of adding another pet to the already growing population of two dogs and a fish, but oh well! The girls have been doing a great job taking care of him. I will post pics as soon as I can.
Everything else is ok, other then the rain. It has been raining and cold all day today. I know we need the rain but its miserable. Its one of those days when you just want to lay on the couch in your nightclothes and watch old movies on USA or TNT all day. definitely not the kind of day that you want to be out and about working in...
Hopefully the weekend will bring something fun (an no rain)....
I also have to give a shout out to some of the blogs that I read on a daily basis.
Trent at Pink is the New Blog where I get all my celebrity gossip (what can I say I am a sucker for drama)
Monica at Pieces of Us just because she seems really cool and I think that our daugters were seperated at birth.. LOL
and finally Amanda at Rhapsody in Blog just because she is awesome and rocks and I am going to miss her as an office mate. Plus her blog is very cool...

Homecoming

So this past weekend was fairly uneventful, well as uneventful as it could be around our house. Saturday was my old alma matters homecoming. Which is a huge deal and a ton of alumni try to make it back every year. I went to Milton Hershey School which was origianlly started by Milton Hershey as a school for orphaned boys. Obviously it evolved since I am neither an orphan or a boy. The school is a boarding school that offers a good experience and good education. So seeing your 'brothers and sisters' again is a huge deal. I, being the slacker that I am, have not been back in about 6 years. This year I made an executive decision that I was going one way or another. D was, of course, working so I had to take the kids alone. I was not looking forward to that. It actually went relaitvely well, other then Riley. It was nice to see a few old friends and just catch up. The girls were on their best behavior, for the most part.. but Riley, well he was being Riley, of course. He was running around and throwing rocks and just being bad. As usual. We ended up leaving after about two hours which was actaually ok beacuse I was tired of talking to people and they were just tired. It was a beautiful day though which made it nice too.
Saturday night I was supposed to attend the alumni banquet and then head out with some old friends for some much needed 'adult' time. Well on the way home Riley woke up in the car crying, then threw up all over the place. He threw up and ran a fever all night Saturday night. I couldn't even put him down to do anything, more or less leave him to go to the dinner. So I was stuck, again. But whats a mom to do. He was up most of Sat night sick and seemed to be feeling better on Sunday, though last night he was running fever again. Hopefully (cross your fingers) whatever he has isn't contagious.
I watched a ton of good movies over the weekend. Man on Fire, the new version of Psycho, Honey.. I am such a tv addict. With the NFL ticket we get all the movie channels, so I have been watching every movie I can find on.. With winter coming its going to get better because then I won't feel so bad about not getting any outside work done.. LOL

Dumbest Dog on Earth

Don't get me wrong I love both of my pooches like crazy. But seriously Tiller (our Great Dane) has got to be the dumbest dog on the planet. So recently he has decided for whatever reason that the kitchen tile is way to slippery for him to walk across.. (he always has had issues with sliding on tile) so now he just stands at the entrance way to the kitchen and crys until someone helps him across. Normally it would be a good thing that the dog wouldn't want to come in the kitchen, but unfortunately he has to go through the kitchen to get to the front door, since he has already decided for whatever reason that he isn't going to enter or exit through the basement door. I have yet to figure that one out.
So in order to get him out the front door someone must go to him and physically help him acorss the floor usually by holding him under his belly while he walks. I must add that this dog weighs 200 lbs. Its absolutely horrible! usually Livi does it, but lately he hasnt even been happy with her doing it, only me. I seriously think that he is a bigger baby then our baby. LOL

TV is here

I feel like I haven't had time to post in about a million years.. There are a lot of reasons for that. Obviously Hailey's chicken pox, school, work etc. it all takes up alot of time and allows me very little for anything else. Hailey is doing well and her chicken pox are almost gone. We have been lucky (knock on wood) that no one else around her has gotten them. Hopefully it stays that way. Olivia is doing well in school and all is great at the Pratt household. The people that we bought our house off of keep stalling about getting the garage cleaned out (according to the sale contract they had until the 16th of September) but low and behold, its still not cleaned out. So, I am a nice person but at this point I figure its time to start charging them rent. I am tired of my garage stuff sitting outside under our porch. And with winter right around the corner its time to get it all taken care of, now. So, no more mister nice guy.
Riley is getting so big, I was sitting on the couch the other day actually having a conversation with him. It amazing that he is going to be three soon. Now, if I could just get him to listen we would all be in good shape.. LOL
So, the real reason why I haven't had time to post is none other then the new TV season! I know I am completely a couch potato... but I like it that way. So the new season of just about everthing that is good has started. Here's my tv line up..

Monday night: well its a cross between Monday night football (depending on whos playing) and Prison Break, which is a fantastic show. I am completely digging Wentworth Miller who is just awesome, and Dominic Purcell , who I have loved since Blade Trinity.

Tuesday night: NCIS, which is absolutely one of my most favorite shows ever! It only gets better with every episode. I like all the characters and their story lines alot, though my favorite has got to be Micheal Weatherly who plays Tony DiNozzo. He is obviously known best for his role in Dark Angel, which was one of my other favorite shows.
After NCIS I watch My name is Earl, which is probably one of the funniest shows on tv right now. Jason Lee is amazing. I have laughed out loud numerous times during both new episodes. I am usually not a 1/2 comedy kind of tv watcher but this one is good.. Immediately following it there is The Office with Steve Carrell, which is also hilarious. Since I work in an office some of the jokes are more hilarious then others. I think that you definitely have to work in an office to see the humor in the show though.
So after that at 10:00 I watch Nip/Tuck which could quite possibly be the greatest show on TV right now. It is awesome. If you love drama.. this is definitely the show for you.

Wednesday night: Lost, Lost is on Wednesday nights and its awesome. Beyond that I don't think that I watch anything else on Wednesday. Lost is an amazing show and probably one of the hottest shows on TV right now. I think that everyone must watch it.. Wednesday is kind of my slow TV night and allows me to get other things done.. LOL

Thursday night: The OC! Great drama.. reminds me of Beverly Hills 90210 which was the greatest show ever.. Ok, so maybe not the greatest but it was definitely a cult classic back in the day.
Thats about it, and now that I am done telling everyone how much of a dork I am.. its off to watch more TV. LOL.. hey for a almost 30 mother of three I get very little excitement in my life. Watching drama on TV allows me to see other drama without actually having to deal with it in my own life.. Good stuff.

OH Boy!

So last night I was checking out Haileys rash and it seemed to be getting worse, so I called the dr this morning and took her back in. The Dr. took one look at her and announced "she has chicken pox" I think that for a brief setting my heart actually stopped beating.. ok so I know that chicken pox are not a huge deal and are not the end of the world, but I am thinking chicken pox like I had, or like adults my age had when they were little. Where you got big spots and itched and had to stay in bed. You ran fever and got scars and etc. etc.
It seems that these days with children getting the chicken pox vacine that all they get it the rash and the itch with no other side effects. So I actually started breathing again. I still had to call her preschool, call the babysitter and every other child that she had been in contact with in the last two weeks. When I talked to her preschool teacher she informed me that they had sent two other kids home this week with the same thing. Great! She didn't really blame me, but I could tell she wanted too. :)
For now all we can do is give her oatmeal baths and all those other great remedies for the itching and wait for it to clear up! OH, and hope the Livi and Riley don't get it..
Last night was also the open house at Livis new school. I am happy to inform that the teacher says she is doing well in school and seems to be ahead of the class. We didn't get to talk to the nurse so we still haven't gotten to the bottom of her going there every day. But at least we know its not a class or social issue.
Well, the weekend is going to be boring just laying around and house work, as usual.

Whats been going on!

I have not had much of a chance at all in about forever to post anything. It just seems like work, home, personal time everything is so much busier. Almost to the point of being crazy busy.
This past weekend was uneventful for us. Saturday D was sick all day so he spent the whole day in bed while the kids and I just hung out and played. I also mowed for some of the day which was going quite well until I ran into a rasberry busy and scratched the heck out of my entire thigh on my left leg. Needless to say that was the cue for me to park the mower and move on to better and less painful things. I also have to add that I have a broken pinky toe thanks to Hailey. For some reason this little petite 30 pound red head stomped on my toe just right, and now it is black and blue, swollen and very painful.. most certainly broken. If its not one of the kids, its me.
On sunday I spent the day at the hospital with my grandfather who isn't doing very well at all. The kids stayed home and drove D nuts all day as he was attempting to watch FOOTBALL! yes, its football season.. I am very excited about that. I will mention that the Colts look horrible this year. D and I also got tickets to see the Bears and the 49ers in Chicago on November 13.. so I am very excited not only for the time away for him and I.. but also the game!
On Sunday Riley did a very funny thing.. I think that we are definitely going to have problems with him.. lol.. he got in trouble for playing around on the couch and sitting on my sandwich. So, he ran back the hall to his room, and slammed his door! He slammed his door! hes TWO! I laughed so hard I almost fell off the couch. I couldn't believe it. I thought that they had to at least wait until they were four or so for that. LOL
Other then that things are just busy. School is going well for both girls, and Hailey finally got moved to the morning class so she has other kids in her class now. She likes it alot. Livi is very much enjoying school though she is already having problems with math.. just like her mom.


This is just a random picture of Riley I took as I was attempting to clean off the porch and he was dumping the watering can out.. He's so bad..

No time

I have had very little time to post anything lately.. anything at all, between work and home things have been crazy at the Pratt household. I did want to mention that all my family that lives in Mississippi is well an accounted for, although they lost everything they had. We are very thankful that they are all healthy and well. If you get a chance make a donation to the Red Cross or volunteer, it is definitely worth your time. D will be leaving shortly, through the DCFD to go down south. I am not looking forward to him being away, but am happy that he is finding a way to help.

This past weekend was crazy busy, and went super fast. Sunday D and I went to the Washington Redskins Chicago Bears game in DC. It was so much fun! I don't think that I have ever had that much fun at a live sporting event before. I was also surprised and very impressed with the redskins fans who only gave D some good natured ribbing (hes a bears fan) and nothing near as drastic as he thought it would be. Also he was very excited that there were a ton of other bears fans at the game also. Below are some pics from the game.
Ok I know we were definitely beyond the nose bleed section.. but it was awesome anyway!

Busy Busy Busy

The last few weeks have been crazy, I have barely had time to think, eat and shower (lol) more of less get on the computer and update my blog. So for those of you that actually read this crap, I apologize at the lack of updates. Its funny how busy life can get sometimes.

Last weekend was Labor day and it was, of course, packed to the hilt with family and activities. D was working the majority of the weekend so the kids and I just hung out and did the picnic thing. Monday we went to the Juniata County fair which is always fun. The kids enjoyed seeing the animals and playing games. I just like the fair for the food, what can I say I am a sucker for a good funnel cake.

Tuesday I went to work for half the day and then drove to Pittsburgh for business. I was super excited at the prospect of being back in Pittsburgh after 10 years away. (I went to college in Slippery Rock which is about 45 miles north of Pittsburgh). I spent the whole night in a hotel, without the kids and dogs.. I can't even remember the last time I got to do that. I also got to see the city, PNC Park, Heinz Field etc. In fact our meeting on Wed was at PNC Park in the tour theater room. Which was very cool. They had this display that showed about the excavation of the site for the park, and about the archaeologists and what they found.. it even had glass displays with artifacts in it. I was very impressed. the meeting went very well. NAI Global is a very neat global real estate company to be involved with. I learned alot, did a bit of nteworking.. had a good lunch and headed home around 5:30. I liked being on business, btu hated being away from the kids and family.. By the time I got back I was ready to be back and ready to see the kids.. I really missed them. they may drive me completely crazy most of the time, but I wouldn't give them up for the world.
This weekend will be fun. D is working again today, but actually has tomorrow off and if will be the first time that I have seen him since last saturday. so I am kind of excited to see him, I missed him. Sunday we are going to the Redskins Bears game in DC! I am very excited.

Football season is well underway and last nights game rocked! I love football.. Go Colts!

Traveling

I am actually blogging this from Pittsburgh. I actually am traveling for work, and I hate it.. Ok, actually I like the traveling, and I like staying in hotels and I like going to conferences and meeting other agents and clients. But I hate being away from the kids. Its kills me.. I know, its only one night, but its rough none the less.

The weekend was slow and long... just the way I like it. D worked most of the weekend so it was just the kids and I hanging out, watching tv etc. Monday we went to the Juniata County fair, saw the animals, rode some rides, played some games.. the kids enjoyed it. I always enjoy it becuase it reminds me of my childhood and going there with my grandparents. Good memories. Tomorrow is the conference.. big day.. so good night all!

Perry County Fair

I wanted to mention that over the weekend we attended the Perry County Fair, rain and all. The kids, of course, enjoyed it.. The food was so good and we took some time to talk to some old friends, which is always nice. We watched the tractor parade (hey thats what they do in the country) and Riley enjoyed that.
This weekend is the big Juniata County Fair and Labor Day Races at the Port Royal Speedway which is in the fairgrounds. This is a huge tradition for me and my family since I was raised in Port Royal. I am very excited to go and see everything and everyone. The kids are of course excited to ride rides and spend money LOL...

School..

Well, the girls finally started school yesterday. Olivia was so excited I only had to call her once and she practically jumped out of bed. She has been good so far with getting ready for school with no fits or objections though I assume that will wear off sooner then later. She loved school and said she made a ton of new friends. She seemed excited though I am concerned that she is really far ahead of the cirriculum. This weeks test is tying their shoes. she has been tying her shoes for two years, so hopefully she won't get bored.
Hailey also started preschool yesterday. She said she enjoyed the learning but was bored because she is the only kid in her class. I suppose I should be happy that she is getting one or one attention, but not so happy because the whole point of sending her was so that she could interact with kids other than her sister and brother. So we will see.
Riley, of course, stayed home and terroized D all day. Which I am sure was fun for both of them. Tonight, Alexander and a nice hot bath.

Motherhood

I was laying in bed last night watching TV and Riley was laying with me (the girls have been really getting into their new routines and have been in bed fairly early). We, of course, were watching Noggin.. I think the Fresh Prince or Bel Air was on.. I was trying not to pay attention, but waiting, like any good mother would, until he was asleep so I could change it to what I really wanted to watch, Taking Lives.. So I looked over and he was sleeping, eyes closed and everything.. So I changed it.
Well at the one part the guy jumps out.. and I jumped, he jumped then sat up and looked at me.. "Boy mom" he said.. "that was scary, change it" It was the funniest little thing coming from him. He never ceases to make me laugh, thats for sure.
Everything has been pretty calm around the pratt household.. no major melt downs, no blow ups, no emergency room trips.. that makes me happy. But I also know that everytime there is a lull in drama something major happens, so we will see. Perry County Fair this weekend..

Ready for school

Last night started our new 'getting ready to go back to school' ritual. At 8:00 I made the kids come inside, bathed them, gave them a snack and told them to sit quietly and watch TV until 9:30 when they would all have to go to bed. The request was met with some resistance but not near as much as I imagined it would. While I was attempting to get them all herded into bed Riley was in his room playing.. and was pulling on his blinds (after me telling him to not pull on the blinds a hundred times).. and it feel on his head. So he got a cut and was bleeding.. So that was something that hindered the whole bed process, but after a few kisses from mom I got them all herded to bed and quiet. Livi threw a little temper tantrum but after being in bed for 10 min.. was sound asleep. I then enjoyed the next hour I got of very quiet me time. It was nice.
So now I am completely getting them all to bed at 930 every night. I am actually looking forward to having the time after they go to sleep. It was great!

Riley's girlfriend

Saturday night/Sunday we had a picnic/party at our new house. It went well.. there was lots of friends, food and beer.. all the right ingredients. So Sunday our neighbor came over and brought her 18 month old daughter. Riley immediately took a liking to her. He kept following her around and make sure she had her sippy cup... helping her in and out of the wagon. It was the cutest thing ever. My kids are growing up so fast... LOL

Complete Melt Down..

Sunday brought out the Pratt annual "girls day out" (ok so my brother went along too) school shopping event. This year I was on the lookout for great deals. Hey! even clothes for a 6 year old can be expensive. So we hit all the major discount stores. Marshalls, Gabriel Brothers. I was impressed I found some really good stuff for her. So then we hit the mall. I couldn't find shoes that she liked anywhere. The fact that she has HUGE feet (she is 6 and wears a size 1) doesn't make it any easier. So I hit Payless thinking maybe I could just find her a nice pair of white shoes or something. She found these awful ones that she liked and I refused to buy them. Well, needless to say she freaked out.. She screamed and kicked and stomped her feet (I might have to remind you that she is 6) I left the store.. she didn't follow me. So I went in after her.. she was running from me in the aisles screaming 'leave me alone leave me alone'.. I suppose if I was any other mother I would have been mordified and embarrassed, but not me I was just pissed.. and rightfully so. So I eventually drug her to out into the mall and was heading toward the van, all the while she was screaming and kicking.. it was echoing and everyone in the mall was looking at me. I even considered at this point (since she was at the point where I couldn't even talk to her) taking her to the cop's office in the mall and letting them put a good scare into her. She eventually calmed down and was fine the rest of the day. I don't understand the problem. I am not a bad mother but she makes me feel like one. She makes me feel like I cant control her.. D is no help, he just thinks she needs grounded. Unfortunately I think that it runs deeper then that.. I think that she doesn't know how to control her emotions when she gets upset or mad. We will see.. I have some tricks up my sleeve I am going to try.. but if that doesn't work she is going to a doctor..

This week

This week has been incredible crazy... with both D and I getting back to work, getting our new schedules down (it take 25 minutes longer for me to get to work from our new house). The kids have been going to and really enjoying their new sitters. Hailey is officially enrolled in preschool and Olivia starts school on the 29th.. so things are actually in order. Tomorrow night we are having a picnic/party.. or as D likes to say (since we are now officially rednecks) a Beer-B-Que. LOL.. Also his birthday was yesterday so I ordered a cake and everything for tomorrow night as well. I think that the party will go well.. we expect a huge turnout. There are a ton of guys coming up from D firehouse in DC, so that will be fun.

For D's birthday I bought him two tickets to the Chicago Bears Washington Redskins game in Washinton on September 11. D is a huge HUGE Bears fan! So this ought to be a ton of fun.. and although I am merely a Colts fan (go colts!) I have never been to an NFL football game.. so I am excited as well.

I also got a new cell phone yesterday and finally switched from Cingular to Nextel. I was impressed with not only the pricing of the nextel plans and phones, but the service that I received at the store on 32nd Street in Camp Hill. They were friendly, amswered my questions, weren't pushy.. it was a nice change of pace from your usual cell store salesman experience. I am also super happy with my cell phone (which is really cute and easy to use)

I think that is all for today.. we have this black snake that has been hanging around the house.. I attempted to run it over on Thursday but all that did was piss it off. Then it slithered away. I hate to kill snakes but if this one rears its ugly head again I am going to have too.
I love our little hidden paradise.. but I could handle it more with less spiders. Big spiders too.. grass spiders is what they are called.



This is pretty much what they look like except the ones that I have killed in our house now are larger.. I will also add that they do bite and do have venom although not enough to cause any damage, maybe just an itchy rash. Great.. so we have huge black snakes and biting spiders.. Which is all fine and dandy if they would just stay out of my house!




Riley has also since discovered the ice maker on the refrigerator.. So I am constantly cleaning up ice off the floor.. As long as her doesn't show the dog.. we should be in good shape.

Hope the rain stops so the party will be good!

Much Anticipated HOUSE PICTURES!

Ok.. I am only going to post a few teasers.. if you want to see them all check out my Flickr photos.. and you can see them all there!

Random Kid Pics

Everyone is always having a good time except Olivia who is 6 going on sixteen.. She is always having an issue with something.. LOL

Pics from the Schaefferstown Firemans Carnival

Below are pics from the Billy Currington Concert.. they would be better, except that after about two snaps the digital camera decided to take a crapper on me.. so heres what I got.

He's hard to see in both.. but the concert was good regardless..

Back to the Daily Grind

Well, the week is coming to a close and its back to work I go. Vacation has been really nice. I suppose that most people wouldn't call it vacation, but it was, alot of sleeping in (as much as Jr. will let me) and a lot of getting stuff done, which desperately needed to be done. So, I head back to work tomorrow feeling fantastic. Not like I have a million things to do at home. I always tell D that I can handle being behind at home and caught up at work, or behind at work and caught up at home.. but being behind both places is to much to handle. And although I would love to be caught up both places... that never ever happens. So I know that this week will be crazy at work.. home is completely done. I mean every last box unpacked and put away.. ALL the laundry done (yeah!).. pictures on the wall, the whole nine yards.. We are officially completely settled in our new house. Which makes me very happy.
Being that we are so settled we did take some time on Friday and headed to Little Buffalo State Park which is a very cool place about 4 miles from our house. We didn't hike or anything because of the heat, but we did check out there very very cool pool. It has a baby pool with water fountains and things. It also has a fountain park for kids to run and play in with water fountains and little cool things that squirt water. The kids had a blast.. But after a couple hours they were pooped and ready to head home to nap.. (that made me very very happy).
Then on Saturday night we headed down to the Schaefferstown Firemans Carnival. I wasn't very sure at all where Schaefferstown was exactly though I knew that it was a very small town in the middle of nowhere. The only reason we decided to go, since it isn't even an actual carnival is that D won (yes, won he's so so lucky with stuff like that! It irritates me! LOL) tickets to go see Billy Currington. For those of you who listen to country music you probably know who he is.. for those of you that don't .. he is the very hot guy who sings the very cool Party for Two song with Shania Twain. And if you are still completely clueless as to who he is.. check out the website, you won't be disappointed. So anyway we went to the carnival to see him. It was an intimate little show where most people just throw down blankets on the grass, we took the kids and they had a great time. They could listen and dance, yet run around without disturbing anyone. The show was good, he played all the songs we knew and liked so we weren't disappointed at all. (pictures will follow, hopefully they came out)
The best part of the night was that I won something.. finally.. I was just saying to D earlier in the afternoon that the last thing I can remember winning was a Boys II Men tape when I was 13 from a local radio station. ok, so my prize wasn't that great.. just a fruit basket! But I was very very excited none the less.
So hopefully that will catch this blog up, since I have been trying to take a break from blogging all week. I will also try to get pictures of the inside of the house posted for those of you who want to see them.
Hi Ho Hi Ho its back to work I go...

Moving Vacation

Just an update.. we are practically all moved.. the house is getting organized and I love it even more now then I did before.. Pictures will follow shortly..

House

So last night we went to the house and actaully got to see the inside again for the first time in about 6 weeks. It was way way nicer then I even remembered. So we are slowly trying to get things done and hopefully ready to move on Saturday. Hailey has been sick yesterday and today so we have been trying to baby her more then getting things done. (I am a sucker for a sick kid).. but otherwise things have been running fairly smoothly.. lets just hope it stays that way!

Music

So most people who know me know that I am kind of picky about the kind of music I listen too. I like original artists who sing soulful, meaningful music. So I was very happy when I came across a local artist, Jereme Stewart. I contacted him through his myspace profile and ask him to send me a CD. Which he did.. and I was very excited about.. This guy is amazing, his music is everything that I look for in an artist. He also turned me on, through his website to another great musician, Jack Zerby, who is soulful with a touch of swing. I enjoyed listening to his music on his website very much. Jereme Stewart is a local guy and is playing a couple local shows coming up.. I am very much hoping to attend one.

Down to the wire

Well things have been crazy at work, crazy at home, crazy with the kids.. We are at that point in the packing stage where everything is a nightmare, some stuff is packed and you can't find anything.. It makes for an interesting morning to say the least. We are all getting more and more excited as the days get closer so hopefully the next time I post it will be from the new house!

Packing and packing and packing

It seems that this moving thing has turned me into this little ball of self organization. We have been making almost daily for over a week now and have been making great progress, although now our house is this maze of boxes. I have been amazed at how organized I have been keeping and packing everything. Usually moving is a big mess.. but I think that for once I might possibly be on top of the game.

Here's a picture of D that I couldnt resist posting. He is trying to pretend like he doesnt know I am taking his picture.. LOL

Thompsontown 250th Anniversary

Yesterday we also visited Thompsontown which is where my parents and some of my other family live. They were celebrating their 250th anniversary with all kinds of cool activited, a parade and a reanactment of the civil war. It was nice. Here are some pictures of the kids at the parade.

More House Pics

I won't post the rest. If you want to see them all you can go to my Flickr Page and I uploaded them all on there. The coolest thing happened when I was walking around the yard. I walked around the side of the house to get a picture of the front when I heard this rustling in the tall grass (that definitely needs to be cut).. and up poped a doe. She looked at me, snorted a few times then ran down into the woods. I was very impressed, we didn't even move in yet and already we have seen deer. This place is amazing. Only four more days till we start the move!

House Pictures

Ok, so I finally made it up to the new house to take a few pictures. They are a little *blah* looking since it was starting to rain, and the grass is high since it hasn't been cut in about a month, but you'll get the general idea.

Please Please Keep your dogs on a leash

This is seriously my biggest pet peeve ever. I have dogs, I would love to let them run free. But I don't.. because there are other people with other dogs around. or kids.. or anything else that might possibly distract a dog. So yesterday we were down at City Island with the dogs. We took them down to the river so that Bandit could swim around a bit. There was a guy there with his dog off a leash. So of course the dog came running over to Bandit. (I will mention here that the guy didn't even try to call his dog back) Bandit was not agressive with him, although I did notice that he immediatley placed himself between the other dog and the kids, which I was ultimately proud of. I mean you have dogs for compansionship but you would like to know that ultimately if something happened they would protect you or your kids. Right?
Ok, so anyway.. Bandit was trying to smell the other dog, and was on the leash, so I was not letting him really have any room to get closer to the dog, in fact I was slowly bringing him closer to me. Well to make a long story short the other dog backed into the stroller, and it scared him. Which caused him to yelp and run back to him owner. The owner of the other dog immediately began asking his dog if he was ok. I was genuinely pissed at this point. Why can't people just realize that they make dog leash laws for their safety and our safety as well as for the safety of the dogs.... I really hate irresponsible pet owners..

Kids say the darnest things

Last night Olivia and I were laying in bed, relaxing and trying to stay cool. I was on the computer trying to get some last minute work done for today. She looked at me as serious as could be and said, Mom, whats a nipple.

To tell you the truth the question threw me completely off. Not that I think that a nipple is an awful horrible thing, or a bad word. It is just a strange word coming from the mouth of your 6 year old.

So I asked her, what do you think it is?

Well, she said as serious as could be, isn't it the thing that is on your chin, like Riley has... ?
It took me a minute to completely understand what she thought it was.. and then I spent the next few seconds biting my lip trying not to laugh.

No honey, I answered her, that's a dimple. Boy, kids are hilarious the way they comprehend things sometimes..

So, tonight we are walking on City Island ( a very nice island with activties, parks, the river etc. It is also home to Commerce Park home of the Harrisburg Senators. ) On the island there is a cow (Last year Harrisburg went through this whole thing where an artist created different cows to be displayed around the city, then they auctioned them off for charity. They called it the Cow Parade) So Olivia and Hailey see the cow and immediately run over to where it is. They are looking closely at it when they notice that it has udders. Olivia immediately exclaims "Hey Look gutters!" Her dad and I laughed so hard.. She is hilarious. Even people nearby who heard were laughing. My kids never cease to amaze me.

Riley is either starting his terrible twos or they are getting more terrible. He has been rotten the last few days. I mean you can look right at him tell him not to do it, he just smiles at you and does it anyway. Last night we were all sitting down trying to watch Seabiscut (which by the way was a fantastic movie! I didn't think I would like it at all, which is why I put off seeing it for so long. But I was proven wrong and very impressed) So anyway we are trying to watch the movie. Riley was playing with the firetruck that made noise. He refused to put it away or go somewhere else to play with it so that we could hear the TV. Finally we had to just take it from him. He wasn't happy until we gave it back to him (minus the batteries!) I should know what to expect from him since I have been through this stage with the other two.. but he is just acting out more then they did. Somtimes I have no idea what to do with him!

Moving UGH!!

So last night I herded all the kids to the basement with an array of boxes, packing tape etc. I told them to go through everything that was theirs and get rid of any toys, broken or not, that they didn't want any longer. They all ran to the toy corner of the basement and quickly and quietly (if you can believe that one) started going through things. Eventually Riley came over dragging a garbage bag bigger then he was. He said that he was ready to move. Its funny how kids can look at such a small section of their lives..

Everything is hopefully coming together this week. We are getting more and more anxious as the days pass. Only two weeks now.

Well the weekend went great.. Which was good, because after the week I had.. I truly needed it.
Saturday morning consisted of grocery shopping, which I always hate to do, but someone needs too. Although even this time wasn't to bad, in and out. We spent the majority of the morning listening to Hailey talk about how excited she was about going to the races the night before. She had a fantastic time and even got to meet a ton of race car drivers, including the one and only Tony Stewart who was there watching the number 20 outlaw car that he owns. She was very happy about that, and spent the majority of the weekend talking about it.
Saturday afternoon we all cleaned and attempted to get some things ready for the big move in two weeks, although what actually happened was we all laid down and took a big family nap.. It was way to long since the last time I had one of those LOL.
Saturday night D went to the races again and I went out with the 'girls' for a friends birthday. We went to the Harrisburg Hardware Bar and saw the Screaming Daisies. They are two girls and three guys who play dance cover songs. They were really good. The girls and I had a fantastic time dancing and hanging out.. it is nice to do that once and a while.

Sunday D and I took a trip up to the new house and just walked around for awhile. I cannot wait to get moved and settled.. Everything is absolutely perfect there. Sunday night we went to a picnic at the his mothers, it was her birthday. So all in all it was a busy, yet low key weekend for everyone. I got caught up on my sleep.. spend family time and all is well.

Girls Night Out

I would like to start by giving a shoutout to Monica over at the blog Pieces of Us for inspiring me to spend a little bit of 'girl' time with my girls. Ok, so tonight it was only one of them, but D was spending some Daddy time with Hailey at the World of Outlaw race. He is a little bit of a racing junkie, which is ok since we live so close to so many speedways. I was going to go with him but knew that the little Monkey (Riley) would not possibly sit still for an entire race. So, I took Monkey to my mother in laws and Olivia and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I knew that I wanted to see it, but had heard so many mixed reviews about it from friends I wasn't really sure if I would like it or not.. I especially wasn't sure if Livi would like it. But it was excellent, definitely a five star movie in my book. There was some definite adult humor, but nothing so terribly ranchy that the kids picked up on it.. and there was also some great kid humor. Olivia spent most of the time laughing at the Ompa Loompas.. They were hilarious. She was a little weirded out by Willy Wonka, who was portrayed as very strange. Johnny Depp was amazing. Maybe even more so then Gene Wilder in the first movie from 1971 which although a classic is still one of my faves.
The good news is Livi and had a great time. It was nice girl bonding time. I am going to have to start making regular time for girls nights out.. With Hailey too.

In other good news, the final offer was signed sealed and accepted today on our house. We are so super excited to get everything in order and move. Although the anticipated move date is only two weeks away, it can't come to quickly. I am excited to just be able to have room to run and garden and let the kids play. I will definitely take pics soon as post them so that everyone can see. Although I hate moving with a passion, I have found that moving so frequently has kept me completely organized with everything.. So it hasn't been all bad. The kids are also looking forward to going to back to their original babysitter, Marie, who was almost like a surrogate grandma to them. So everything is coming together slowly.. and cross your fingers that the weekend goes better then the week did.

Monday all week

For those of you who may have possibly read how my Monday went this week.. well today was just as rotten. In fact it seems like it has most certainly been Monday everyday this week. Only one worse then the next. So this morning I get up, hussle the kids to get dressed get everything together, ready and in the van.. then the van won't start. Fantastic. Well, it was only 7:15 and the kids were going to my mother in laws.. so I thought that if I called her, and got a ride from her then I could be to work on time and she could just take the kid with her. Well she didn't get here until 8:15, traffic was horrible. So I was about 25 minutes late for work which just seemed to throw off my already crazy and busy day.
At 5:00 I left work with the intention on getting the kids, making a pit stop at the grocery store and heading home Early! Yeah right! traffic was horible.. It was storming really bad and there was water over the road way every way I tried to get there.. I took about 10 different detours.. it stunk. To make matters worse, it was hot, rainy and yucky.
I picked up the kids and was getting out some money to pay my mother in law for somethings, when I dropped a 20 dollar bill. No sooner had I dropped the money, when their dog Winston came out of no where and ate it.. Yes, you heard me right.. he ate it.. chewed it up and swallowed it.. So I suppose the old saying, the dog ate my homework can actually be true in some cases.
On the way home we stopped at Walmart which actually went well, considering the kids were completely wound up.. I was supposed at how well behaved they actually were.
So I bought them a movie. Actually its a rather old movie, but I would have to say was one of my faves when I was younger. Its Little Monsters , although a kids movie, and not an oscar winner by any means, it was nice to see it again. Back in the day of big hair and jelly shoes I was a crazy Fred Savage fan (cmon who didn't watch The Wonder Years) It was just nice to see it.. and it really is a good movie. .Plus I thought that since Hailey seems to be going through this 'I am scared of monsters' stage that it might help. Although there are bad monsters in the movie, it portrays most monsters as friends.. Hopefully it helped.. the spray bottle of monsters away spray hasn't nessacarily been doing the trick lately.

Also happening this week to make it completely miserable. My grandmother fell and broke her hip. I am happy to report though that she had surgery today and is in her room doing well. So that is a huge relief.
Plus, we made a few final adjustments to the counter offer to our counter offer for the new house and submitted to them our FINAL offer. We told them we need an acceptance or non acceptance by 5 pm on Friday. So keep your fingers crossed.. It seems that everyone has been having a rough week this week.... Well tomorrow is Friday, and hopefully it can only get better from here!

Movies

Has there been any kids movies that your kids love so much that they watch them over and over and over (shall I go on) again... ok, so my kids watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang you know the really old Disney movie with Dick Van Dyke..
I have gotten to the point of madness with that movie. They watch it every single day, sometimes twice a day. I have gotten to the point where I know the movie word for word.. and can sing the songs from memory.. In fact I hear the songs in my sleep..
Kids are hilarious

Don't you just hate Mondays

So yesterday was destined for disaster right from the moment I woke up. Our babysitter was unable to babysit yesterday so I was originally supposed to take them to my mother in laws. I decided though that instead of running 30 minutes out of the way that I would just wait for D to get home around 9 am and go to work. So I got to sleep in a little (ok so it was still 7 am when I got up but to me, that is sleeping in!) and got showered and ready for work. At 9:00 I called D and he still hadn't left the firehouse! I was fuming. I know it wasn't him fault but it completely through me off. So I hustled everyone to get dressed, fed them and then ran them to my mother in laws..
Work was even more hectic then the morning. I had meeting after meeting.. worked until 630 and still had about three hours worth of work to do when I left! It was horrible and crazy. I also got what I thought was going to be the sales contract for our new house via fax! But to my dismay it wasn't the sale contract, it was a counter offer to our counter offer! Boy was I pissed... I countered the counter and faxed it back immediatley giving them 48 hours to respond. I know that we love this house but this is not worth it.. I almost feel like they are attempting to screw us, but since I work in real estate I am definitely not about to let that happen. So we called the sellers and left a message last night, we haven't heard anything so they better be not calling because they are discussing how they could get sued for telling us verbally that the offer was accepted, cashing out deposit check, and then attempting to counter our offer.. seriously WTF!

So then when I finally did get home I opened the front door, and immediately wanted to turn around close it, get back in the car and go back to work. The house was total chaos.. Riley was screaming and sitting on the counter bleeding all over the counter and floor. D was trying to help him.. Hailey was crying and had a huge scratch down her cheek. I figured they were related incidents, but later (when everything settled) came to find out that they were completely seperated. Riley was sitting on the dog when the dog got up it threw him off and he smacked his nose off the floor and got a bloody nose. Hailey was scratch earlier by Riley, after she took something from him. Supper wasn't ready, the house was a mess and both the dogs were carrying on. I realize that you couldn't possibly picture this craziness, but then again I don't think you want too!
So when I finally fell into bed a little before 11:00 I think my eyes might have shut before my head even hit the pillow!

Other Random Camping Pics

The kids had such a great time camping.. In fact Riley spent the majority of the time completely dirty, marshmallow covered and searching for bugs.

Camping Fun

So Friday started off completely hectic because we were offered the chance to go to a friends cabin for the weekend. So we had to pack, board the dogs and get to the grocery store in about an hour.. It made for an interesting afternoon. We finally left around 5 pm but everyone was excited at the prospect of just getting away for the weekend. We headed to Ricketts Glen state park with high hopes, the only problem was that we had no idea where we were going, only the general direction. So although it took us about three hours to make the 90 minute trip, we did finally make it. The cabins were amazing. And boy, don't the kids look like they were having a fabulous time! LOL..
The weekend was good and uneventful, the way a weekend away should be. It rained most of the weekend, but we did get some good hotdogs cooking time over the fire.. Made smores on Friday night and even got to swim in the lake for a little bit on Saturday afternoon. Saturday evening D had to leave to go to work on Sunday so my mom, brother and his dorky friend Ethan came up.. We took the kids fishing at the lake, which they enjoyed, until they realized that they would rather splash and play in the water then actually fish in it. The kids got nice and dirty and loved every minute of it.

Saturday night we stayed up most of the night playing poker, the kids just layed and watched DVD's.. We did at one point attempt to start a camp fire but everything was so wet that all we did was dry out the wood and smoke up the place. The cabins were amazing and modern, we even had our own bathroom, and a microwave. I don't know that I have ever camped quite like that before.
So below are just some random pics of our camping experience.

Everyone had a good time and it was great to finally get away for a little bit. Though we were glad to get back and the dogs were very happy to see us.. The kennel guy said that Tiller moped around the entire time he was there.. Poor Puppy!

So when we came home on Sunday my mom, brother, Ethan, Livi, Riley and hailey as well as me all drove home with all our camping stuff, in one mini-van.. This is pretty much how is looked.

I don't even think you can see the kids in there!