First Day/Last Day

and 178 days in between.

First Day of School
White Hair, Tan Skin

Last Day of School
Tan Hair, White Skin

Yes, summer is rolling along quite splendidly now, but I wanted to post a photo of my sons in all their Star Wars glory.

The last day of school is magical, sad, exciting all at once. The anticipation of the ENTIRE summer break ahead of us coupled with the realization that my children are another year older.

I have not quite figured out why I really don't want them to age. I have heard more times than I can count, how a mom wants to just freeze the stage or age that their kids are at. I have to admit, I might have frozen last summer if I could have. Does anyone ever want to freeze time when their kids are in teenage years?

Congratulations to all the students, teachers, and parents on another completed school year. Happy Summer!

In a matter of 10 weeks we will start it all over again. More than likely, my boys will don the same exact shirts!

With this 42 Dollar Ring, I Thee Wed.

Well, looky here, a few candid pix from May 23, 1997

My husband did not marry me for my money. Or my money saving abilities for that matter.

He first learned I was broke when I asked him for money to buy school books. He might have scratched his head a bit when I bought him an el-cheapo wedding ring from Witmark.

Perhaps he wondered why I had this, that, and the other credit card in my wallet while he had 2 or 3 paychecks sitting on his dresser collecting dust.

We laugh when we think about it. Just how unprepared I was to take on the responsibility of marriage, homekeeping, budgeting. You see, Dan and I decided that I would pay the bills, goto the bank, pretty much make sure we survived, financially speaking. If Dan never took the time to even go to the bank and deposit his paycheck, how would he ever remember to pay bills on time, right? I guess I was the obvious choice for the chief financial officer. And how well did I handle this? By delighting the Rainbow Vacuum salesman that showed up to our newlywed home and buying a Rainbow, of course.

Getting to the point. Our marriage was a leap of faith and trust. In each other, in our future and in God. Dan knew I was not the most frugal money manager in town, but he trusted, (trusts) me with it. I knew that he would work, and work a lot, so I have to try every week to be mindful of his physical and mental exhaustion level and not push him to do much in the home.

Of course we are not perfect, of course we fail, and often.

Of course we are different people than we were in 1997.

Of course he has wanted to duct tape my mouth closed at times, and me want to make him sleep on the sofa.

But God has preserved our love, and for that I am so thankful.
Happy 12th Anniversary Dan!

May our marriage and the Rainbow vacuum last a lifetime!

enjoy a few old pix. one for each year we've been Dan & Chelle


1995 and so in love.

Dan's first coat and tie. 1996

From this day forward 1997

1998 Steve and Dana's wedding

1999 Expecting Chase.

2000, Our firstborn son

2001 Awaiting # 2 (What is going on with my hair?!)


2002 Are we having fun yet?

2003 dreaming of # 3


Joy's Baptism Day 2004 (what is going on with Dan's hair!?)

2005 Everyone smile!


2006 summer daze.


NYC for our 10th anniversary

2007 The quiver is getting full.

2008 Juliet is here!

Christmas 2008

2009 Dan's face says it all.


Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
1 Corinthians 9:15

Growing Up and Moving Out.

I don't care what you say, somehow the baby of the family has a different experience than that of her predecessors.

Juliet Lynne, moved from her rolling hospital cart/crib to her crib in the corner of our bedroom when she was 3 days old. At the time it was prudent to keep her in our room as to not disturb the older kids with her middle of the night crying and feedings. Each and every night we gazed upon her as she slept. We listened to her little baby sounds and toots while we fell asleep.

She was such a good baby, sleeping through the night at 7 weeks; she was cozy in that corner as weeks turned into months. We would often ask ourselves why she was still in our room. Why hadn't we moved her to share the Pepto-Bismol pink bedroom of Joy's?

Perhaps we were lazy?
Maybe we were still afeared of a middle of the night crying episode that would wake up Joy too?
Why was it that every time the move was mentioned Dan answered me with a solid "not yet"

I set a deadline for the big move. Her first birthday.
It came, it passed. She was still snoring in the corner.

And then, suddenly last weekend I decided it was time. I was already in a crabby place so moving her out did not have the emotional undertone that I thought it might.

Her daddy was a different story.

It is no big secret that Dan was a bit uninterested in having a 4th child. When I told him I was pregnant way back then, he gave me more than one scowling face and quickly concocted a story about how I "tricked" him.
Oh. Brother.

Oh, his feelings how they changed the moment he placed her in her crib for the first time.

He was at that point--
Wrapped.
Around.
Her Finger.

The move is complete. And Joy could not be happier.

high hopes for wood, plastic, and just the right amount of lead.

The pinnacle event of the year; the Pinewood Derby Race.

His first handcrafted derby car of which he was very proud.

We gathered up the family, found our seats, and waited for the race to begin. Triple elimination was the rule so we were hopeful that we would see our precious young son win a few, lose a few.

Although I have a younger brother and a father that were involved in many a Pinewood Derby Race back in the day, I never paid any attention. I did not know the speed at which those little wooden cars zoomed by. I did not know that the older kids tend to win. I did not know that it would take 2 hours and church coffee would be served.

Having no experience with this type of event, I never though that our boy's car would be first up, first to lose a raise, and in time. . . first to be thrice eliminated.
Alphabetically and mathematically I can account for the finish of his little orange car, but emotionally I just wanted the young fella to win a race, ya know?

My loving mother hen moment was duplicated by our son Drew who was so saddened that his Big brother didn't win. He was concerned the entire evening about what would happen if Chase did not win the entire event. On a side note, I LOVE that Drew thinks Chase hung the moon, I also wonder how long that feeling will last.

We were proud that Chase had fun, that he did not seem to be devastated at the loss(es). In fact he stayed at the finish line and watched every last car race down the ramp.

A fun night indeed; however, I am taking tips and tricks for increased velocity.

March Madness. and April too.

I share a birthday with my daughter. My son shares a birthday with his sister. 5 out of the 6 of us have birthdays in March and April so it was a busy couple of months celebrating and remembering the year that had gone by extremely too quickly.

The countdown to summer begins!

My Tax Day Babies.

Today marks birthdays for 2 of our kids. 7 years for Drew and 1 year for Juliet !

They have a special bond because of their shared
birthdays and I hope this continues as the years go by.
Happy Birthday to 2 precious gifts from God!

New York, NY

I can barely describe what it is about NYC. All of the romantic, energizing, fantastical things you think are true about New York --are indeed true! On top of that , we have friends that live there. Experiencing NYC with someone who lives and works there is such a gift. My trip was a surprise from Dan, a break from all things mommy.

Looking back it was a musically themed weekend.

We dropped in at Rockwood Music Hall
a new music artist or band takes the stage each hour, every hour.
Standing room only, but no cover charge!

We ripped up the Karaoke mike at Japas
Garth Brooks never sounded so good.

We raised our hands in praise at City Grace

We rocked out on South End Ave.

If that wasn't enough, we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Trammed it over to Roosevelt Island (thought by some as Mayberry-- thought be me as a NYC I could conquer)

On my last morning I strolled by myself along the Hudson river looking out at the Statue of Liberty. I caught my breath, I prayed, I simply sat on a bench. Not in so many years have I had that much time to be completely alone.
For me, it took going to a city where there are 70,595 ppl per sq. mile to find a little solace.

Thank You Wolmas, Thank You Dan! Thank You Mom H.(for taking care of my family while I was away and getting barfed on yet again)

This last pic is of D and I. Do we look like a couple of schoolmarms, or what?
We haven't aged a bit. ?

All that and so much more~because NYC is the city that never sleeps, and neither did I! ~smile~

Forgotton February

It never fails. February is a sick month at our house. Germs make their happy way from person to person in our family leaving us drained, irritated and plain ol' sick.

Now that it is April I am looking back on winter 2009. I realized that in my rush to get to spring I neglected some notable moments I would have probably blogged about had we all not been so ornery and ill.

This year Chase was to create a simple machine for a school project. During February, my Brother-in-law Johnny stayed with us for about 10 days. It was a really great experience, he is adored by the kids and was extremely helpful to me. John helped Chase fashion a simple machine similar to one he made himself as a 3rd grader.

Down on the Farm Part 2

A few days back, I spoke of things like chickens, childhood, and chore boots. 

Recently Dan informed me of his latest and not so greatest idea.   

Chickens. 

He wanted to buy young chicks,  build them a coop, and enjoy the bountiful fresh eggs.

I tend to be the boss around here (there, I said it) and having a family of poultry did not seem like something I needed to spend any energy on.    Dan was unusually excited about this idea,  he spent hours on the internet researching,  reading, envisioning how this situation would go down.   He did present me with many fine arguments and so,   I said OK.    

Honestly,  I think he would have had done it anyway without my go ahead,  but my husband loves me and knows me enough to let me think that I was the say-so in this situation,  thus allowing me to keep my title of "the boss"

With chickens purchased (from just down the street)  we are now the owners of  Big Wally, Cutie, Elizabeth, Lightening, and Double D.   Yes,  they have even named them.

My gradual attitude change came about as  I the saw the delight on the face of my family.  The kids spent an entire dinner discussion talking about the coop and how they probably would not eat the brown eggs.   Like Dan likes to say,  that dinner conversation alone was worth the 10 bucks it cost to buy our feathered little friends.

So here we are, at the beginning of another kind of adventure.   I hope it turns out to be an educational experience for the kids,  and that we don't stink up the hill too much.   

Coming soon to a refrigerator near you. . .   eggs.

sweet Snuggie

Since before Christmas we saw the commercials-- the kids knew immediately that it was made for me.

Sold out in stores and online, I couldn't get my hands on one. My cousin Jen had to fight tooth and nail to win one at a holiday party, I am telling you the Snuggie is a hot commodity.

You've seen the commericals. What's not to like? Warmth from head to toe, mobility, and all for the cool price of $19.95.

Finally, in February the Snuggie found a home in my home. It was well received and has delivered on all of it's AS SEEN ON TV promises.

Joy was so enamored with it that she wished for one for her birthday. Many thanks to my friend, my boss, Jamie for handmaking Joy's pink, personalized, pint sized Snuggie.

Chore Boots.

In keeping with the theme of the previous post, Down on the Farm Part 1, I need to post this little photo of Drew in the his new boots.

You would have thought I came home with a new video game. The boys slid on these rubbery wonders and ran around outside like it was Christmas day.

Maybe these boots will encourage C & D to take up more household chores. Maybe not.

Down on the Farm. Part 1

An uncle of mine used to refer to my sister and I as "the farm girls." I always found that kind of amusing because we never lived on a farm, nor did we possess farm type animals. I grew up in the country, but this did not, in any way mean I was a hardy animal loving girl. To this day I am still a bit unnerved by cats, horses, and owls (listed in order of creepiness).

Later on in my childhood experience, as a 5th grader, my class grew chickens under the incubator. We were all allowed to take one home following their hatching. Not having much experience with animals outside of an outdoor dog, I bravely took my chick home from school. We kept Fred in a box, and I encouraged my brother and sister to pick him up as I didn't really care to hold him at all for fear of being pecked at. That evening Mom and Dad said that chickens surely do not belong in the house so my Father made a "coop" for Fred. I put the word coop in quotation marks because I want you to hear the sarcasm in my voice. For by definition, coop is a cage or pen confining poultry. The coop my Dad fashioned was not as confining as it should have been that night. The next morning all that was left of Fred was a tipped over coop and a few residual feathers. I am actually laughing out loud at the thought of it all. I didn't even want to touch that chick, but I was seemingly devasted with the loss of Fred.

No more farm animals for young Chelle. I did forgive Dad for his inadequate coop.