Our baby loses her first tooth!

Kiddo #4's first tooth is gone! My baby isn't such a baby anymore. Most people tell me that she's young to lose her first tooth, but all of my children have lost their first tooth at exactly the same time-- one month before they turn 5! :-)

The tooth was wiggly for awhile. Since Blue (the dog) in her book "Blue and the Tooth Fairy" wiggled her loose tooth everyday, Kiddo #4 followed suit. She wiggled it in the morning. She wiggled it in the car. She wiggled it at night. It got to the point where the poor thing was literally hanging on only by a thread. I told kiddo #4 to give it a good tug. She was scared and said it may hurt.

Then, a lightbulb went off.

I went to the fridge, got out an apple, proceeded to cut it for her and asked her to take a bite. One bite is all it took. And the rest, is tooth fairy history. October 7th was recorded as the monumental day in her baby book.

I'm not sure if the picture is clear enough, but it is the bottom center tooth on her right. It always amazes me how the first tooth to come in is the first tooth to come out.


The adult tooth is visible already and is actually loosening the tooth next door. So, the wiggling several times daily begins yet again.... No apples yet. :-)

Tomato Time!

Well, it was that time of year. Time for the 10+ bushels of tomatoes from a farm in New Jersey. Time for the countless hours cutting, cooking, straining and jarring. (it usually goes about 10 hours from start to cleanup) But, a year's worth of homemade gravy (that's "sauce" for the Italian-impaired) is so, so worth it!

2 basil leaves are added to each jar for seasoning. The kids were proud that we had more than enough basil from our own garden to put in each and every jar.
We even picked enough plum tomatoes to yield 2 jars of our own! We are lucky enough that we still have peppers, eggplant and tomatoes still growing. It is supposed to get a bit cooler in the upcoming weeks. But, all of the fresh (and pesticide-free!) vegetables were wonderful all summer long!

I did not have an official job during the whole tomato process other than trying to keep the kids occupied and away from the hot surfaces. My husband and mom cut the tomatoes
while dad cooked them.
















Mom and dad strained twice









before putting back on the stove one last time to get hot enough for jarring.
















Mom and dad also sealed. I think there were blisters to prove it!

Happy Birthday Kiddo #2!!!

On August 25, our kiddo #2 turned 9. Happy, Happy Birthday! Our little genius had a very rough entry into life with shoulder dystocia and a long, hard labor. The poor pumpkin looked like he endured several rounds with a professional boxer. He tipped the scales at 10 pounds, 12 1/4 ounces! :-)

He is a sweet, sensitive,very independent kid, who loves to "teach" the basics to his younger siblings. He sometimes has more patience with them than I do! :-) Kiddo #2 has always had a voracious appetite for anything mathematical or related to the computer and has always loved to read, having taught himself around 2 years of age.

Kiddo #2 got to celebrate three times! Of course, he got to celebrate with us on his actual day,(you can see his little sister, big brother and Nan in the background),









he had a party at a local arcade retailer with all of his friends









and then he had a family party complete with his Nan's homemade cooking.
It was a very celebratory week.









And, to top it all off, he got his wish from Mommy and Daddy- tickets to an Eagles game, which happened to be 3 days after his birthday. He decided to take his daddy and Uncle Bill with him and they had a super time.


Happy Birthday sweet pea! We love you!

Better Late than Never- Ocean City vacation pics!

We spent a wonderful week from August 16-23 in Ocean City, New Jersey. For the first time in all of the years that I can remember, we had a perfect weather week! We could not have asked for better. I still remember the week that we had rain for 6 out of the 7 days! :-)

The kids had a blast playing on the beach, swimming in the pool
and going on all of the amusement rides on 2 different piers. Of course, squeezing in ice cream for dessert almost every night on the boardwalk wasn't a problem! For Mommy, it was funnel cake! (my once a year shore-time vice!)

We flew kites, played miniature golf and Kiddo #1 went with his dad to the air show in Atlantic City to see the Thunderbirds, which thrilled him! There are always visits to the arcade to play games and win small trinkets, which thank goodness, this year included something a bit more practical- soft rubber balls, which the kids still find entertaining

So, it was a fun-filled, activity-packed week which we really enjoyed. Much thanks to Nan and Pop-Pop (my parents) who rented the condo. We are very grateful.

Wow!

I have to thank Melanie for having this picture up on her blog (slightly crunchy Catholic) already. I felt compelled to put it up on here, as well. (Thanks, Mel!)

Here is who I hope will be the next VP of the United States with her baby in her sling! Wow! A mother of 5, one with special needs who she refused to abort. Another wow!

Also, this is a *regular* person! Not a career politician, a regular, middle class "hockey mom" who thought she could make a difference and started off running for a position in the PTA. Someone to whom I can definitely relate. Her husband works two jobs (again, I can relate). The other VP candidate has proudly declared that he has never had a boss in his life. Can you imagine? Openly declaring that you have no idea what life is like for the rest of us, not jumping into politics from the minute you graduate from college.

So, now I feel the ticket has the both of best worlds. The candidate himself is incredibly experienced, not only from the decades (not days like his opponent) of service in the Senate, but from his meritorious military service. Being a soldier's wife, it is imperative to me to have my husband's commander in chief have military service. How can anyone command or make those types of decisions if they haven't been there? We have seen how most of the Congress (who has no idea what it's like to wear a uniform or be in a war) make horrid decisions and funding bafoos from Vietnam up to and including the current day conflicts.

We can only pray. But, again I say "Wow!"

Olympic Opening Ceremonies and our very own Circus!

Before the incredible pageantry of the Opening Ceremony (wasn't it incredible?), Kiddos 1, 2,3 and 4 put on their very own Circus, that rivaled the Beijing spectacle! LOL :-) They rehearsed all day, had their very own roles (Kiddo #1 was ringmaster in a bright red coat,


















Kiddo #2 was a clown/magician,
with his magic merlin hat,















Kiddo #3 was an elephant tamer and had his pachyderms all balance on a ball

















and Kiddo #4 was a juggler and actually did it once!) :-)















What a show and in our very own basement, not thousands of miles away!

Busy days of summer

Boy, it's August already! This summer is flying by. This past week was a well-deserved one of relaxing and hanging out at home and in the pool. You see, the week before was a crazy, hectic week that we enjoyed, but were glad when it was over. :-)

Kiddos 1 and 2 had a science camp from 9-12 that they really enjoyed. They made sidewalk chalk, crystals, took fingerprints and lots of other fun things. Kiddos 3 and 4 had a little science camp of their own from 9-9:45 that was about different kinds of animals. So, it was back and forth to the park for Mommy 2 times a day. (lovely with these gas prices)

If that wasn't enough, dinner had to be made, consumed and cleaned up by 6:05PM since in the evenings that same week was Vacation Bible School! I volunteered to work it and was a group leader, so I had to be there before it started at 6:30PM. It was a lot of fun and the kids' show at the end of the week was wonderful.

But, that was 6:30-8:30 each night and the kids had to be up in the morning by 7:30 to get to their science camps on time. Oh, and did I mention that we had playdates in the afternoons and had 10 kids in the house at one point? :-)

Thus, the well deserved rest-week this past week! :-)

This coming week sees kiddos 1 and 2 at another science camp and our preparations for our week at the beach that starts next Saturday. I have already started laying things out on the dining room table. Everyone in the family has a "job" in vacation-preparations, and Mommy's is getting all of the clothes and linens out to be packed. Of course, they all need to be washed first, so that is another hurdle.