Rooms With a View

TACKY CONTEST, GARAGE SALE & BUBBLES

Last Friday we had Abigail, Anna-Kate, Al, and Anna Grace spend the night. The girls decided to have a Tacky contest. They dressed up as tacky as they could then they had to tell us a story about themselves. The judges were Christi, Anna-Kate and me. Here is the result...

Vinny, Anna Grace & Abigail. Vinny won the contest.

The next morning I was up wayyyy to early to make sure Patrick got up in time to go take the SAT. As I was reading the paper I saw that there was a Yard Sale in our neighborhood. So, I walked over to see what they had. I did not find anything but I knew the kids would enjoy going. So, after they woke up I gave them each a dollar and off they went. They came home with your basic junk, vases, glass bananas etc. One of the girls did buy some bubbles. They had a great time with the bubbles and I thought it would be fun to take some photos...

Abigail, Anna Grace & Vinny.

While Anna-Kate, Al and Mitchell shot hoops in the background, Abigail blows some bubbles.

Vinny.

Anna Grace and Vinny.

Abigail.

Anna Grace, Vinny & Abigail.

Stop by tomorrow to see how I put the kids to work.

CELEBRATION!

Mitchell had a great birthday! Here are some photos...

A very sleepy Mitchell enjoying his birthday muffin.

After school it was time for presents.

Patrick gave him a New Moon poster.

Patrick also gave him a Bring Me the Horizon shirt.

 

Vinny gave him two Drumming magazines.

She also gave him a cool shirt. After presents we went to The Olive Garden for dinner.

Notice my hair? Yes, it is straight. Well, not totally straight since it rained all day. Patrick and Vinny spent 2 hours Tuesday night with the straight iron.

oops.

 

After this photo, the giggles started and did not stop.

We got sillier...

and sillier...

and sillier.

Blurry! It is hard to focus when you have the giggles.

Vinny.

Mitchell being sung to.

Vinny and the singing waitresses.

When we arrived home we found our present to Mitchell sitting on the front porch.

A double Bass Drum pedal.

Mitchell and Daddy trying to put it together without instructions.

Making a wish!

That is all for Mitchell's big day! Have a great weekend.

ARE YOU NUTS?

Sunday was a beautiful day here in South Carolina. The high was around 75, the skies were blue and there was not a cloud in the sky. Now, the temperature of our pool was only around 70. Did this stop my crazy kids from going for a swim? It did stop Patrick; Vinny and Mitchell decided to give it a go...

Mitchell testing the waters.

 

Vinny testing the waters.

 

Usually Mitchell likes to jump right in. On this day he decided to take a more gradual approach.

 

Vinny walked in. The water has yet to hit her tummy and yet she is starting to realize just how cold the water is.

In he goes.

 

Mitchell is trying not to let the water touch his tummy.

 

Vinny is now in a little deeper.

 

BRRRRRR

 

Double brrrrrr.

 

Does this look like fun to you?

 

Is it worth getting the bugs out?

Vinny was the first one out. Mitchell followed a few seconds later. The whole swimming party lasted 8 minutes. I do believe that we are finished swimming for this year.

Have a great day!

GOODBYE SUMMER VACATION PART 2!

More photos from our LAST DAY OF SUMMER VACATION!

 

Anna Kate, Vinny, & Abigail!

 

Anna Kate & Abigail!

 

Nice dive Vinny!

 

Abigail. I am so proud of both Abigail and Anna Kate. Earlier in the summer I taught them both how to dive off the diving board and now they are pros!

 

Anna Kate!

 

Mitchell being crazy!

 

Abigail!

 

Vinny!

The next 7 photos were taken by Mitchell.

 

Vinny!

 

Anna Kate!

 

Anna Kate!

 

The girls with their "Martha Washington" hair.

 

Abigail!

 

Vinny & Abigail!

 

One of my new favorite photos of Vinny.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Monday.

GOODBYE SUMMER VACATION!

For the past three summers we have celebrated the last day of summer vacation with a little swimming and lots of fun. This year we added some friends to the party and had even more fun. Here are some photos from our day!

 

Every summer I try to get a couple of shots like this. It is harder than it looks.

 

Love this one of Mitchell.

 

Finally, one with all three kids looking at me.

 

Meet Molly! We met Molly at the Great Wolf Lodge in NC last week. She lives in Greenville, about 30 minutes away, and is the same age as Patrick. Is she not adorable?

 

 

 

Christi, Anna Kate, & Vinny.

 

Anna Kate, Vinny, & Abigail.

 

That is Al Jr. hiding behind his cell phone.

 

Who is that behind those Foster Grants?

 

Mitchell! He actually looks good in my sunglasses.

 

Mitchell took this photo of Charlie. Not sure why he is making this funny face.

Well, that is it for now. I am still battling this bug. Thanks for stopping by!

NOT A SINGLE TEAR!

Yes, that is correct; I did not shed one tear today as I dropped the kids off at school. This is the first time in 12 years that I have not cried. Here are some photos of the first day of school...

 

Vinny with 6 fingers for 6th grade. Yes, her pants are neon pink.

 

Is she not the cutest 6th grade girl you have ever seen?

 

Mitchell with 7 fingers for 7th grade.

 

I do believe he is the cutest 7th grade boy in the whole wide world.

 

Patrick with 12 fingers for 12th grade. If you look hard, you will see Charlie's head behind Patrick. We had to borrow two of Charlie's fingers.

 

Do I need to say it? Yes, the most handsome high school senior alive.

 

This is one of my new favorite photos of Patrick. I took it on accident.

 

My three beautiful kids.

 

Patrick took these photos on the way to school. The beautiful girl with her head turned away is Abigail. We are driving Abigail and Anna Kate to school in the am and pm.

 

Now you can see Anna Kate.

 

The middle school kids are dropped off.

 

 

Mitchell is already yawning and he has not even gotten into school yet.

They all had a great day! Their lockers opened by the second try and no one had any homework. That will change tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

LOCKERS & LAYING OUT

On Friday, we registered Mitchell and Vinny for school. For those of you who know me, you will be happy to hear that I only cried a little bit. We registered Vinny first. She was so happy to learn that she has 5 of her cronies ( best friends) in her Home Room/Pre-Algebra class. In fact, the only class that she does not have a best friend in is Orchestra. Mitchell was not so lucky. He does know people in his classes, they just aren't his best buds.

After getting Vinny set, before we went to the 7th grade hall, we decided to let Vinny try opening her locker. It is a good thing we did since it was much harder for her than we thought it would be. Thank goodness Mitchell was there. Not only did he help Vinny; he also helped many of her friends. Here are some photos...

 

First try while Mitchell keeping a close watch on her.

 

Mitchell demonstrating how it is done.

 

Attempt number 10.

 

Success!

After registration, my friend Christi and her kids came over to swim. The boys stayed inside since Mitchell was not feeling his best and the girls swam. I only took a couple of photos since Christi and I spent most of the time in the pool.

 

 

Vinny, Abigail, & Anna Kate taking a rest from swimming.

Tomorrow I will drop my second born ( Mitchell) off for 7th grade. I will also drop my baby girl (Vinny) off for her first day of Middle School. Then, I will drop my first born (Patrick) off for his first day of his Senior Year! Yes, I shall shed a few tears, okay, a lot of tears. I will also have photos from the big day.

Thanks for stopping by!

BACK TO SCHOOL HAIRCUTS

We had our annual back to school hair cuts this week. I thought it would be fun to show you what the kids looked like two years ago. First, here are a few from our big day at the salon...

 

Waiting for their turn.

 

Vinny getting started.

 

Patrick.

 

Mitchell nervously getting started.

Now here they are two years ago...

 

 

 

Now, the kids have had quite a few hair cuts since these photos were taken but I wanted to show you the change that has taken place in those two years. Now, here is what they look like now...

 

 

She likes it! We have had her bangs cut even shorter since this photo was taken. I will show a photo later of her new bangs.

 

I know he looks shocked. He actually likes it very much. He has not has his hair this short since 7th grade.

 

Mitchell was not as happy as Vinny and Patrick were. He never is happy with his haircut. It has since grown on him.

So, we are now ready for school! We are going to take a quick trip to Great Wolfe Lodge in Concord, NC for a few days next week. I hope you are having a great weekend.

HOW TO GET A RELUNCTANT DAD INTO THE POOL.

On Friday night while Christi and her kids were over we were all having a great time in the pool. There were only two people not in the water; Al Jr. due to a bad back and Charlie. I put Al to work as the photographer of the evening so he had a job. Charlie, on the other hand, was not doing much of anything...

 

Eventually he made his way to the side of the pool...

 

My kids were not going to have their dad sitting on the side of the pool during a party. So, operation 'Get Dad Into the Pool' commenced...

 

First, the youngest who is the most innocent sneaks up to her dad.

 

Then, the oldest and biggest does a front flip landing as close as possible to the sitting dad making sure to make a big splash.

Meanwhile, the middle son has snuck out of the pool and is quietly approaching the sitting duck, I mean dad.

 

Part one is complete, dad is in the pool. 

 

Next, make sure that the dad is nice and wet. This way he has not excuse not to get all the way in.

 

Continue to splash the dad until he is nice and soaked.

 

Operation Get Dad Into the Pool is a success. Thank you Al for taking these amazing photos!

Thanks for stopping by!

FILO (FIRST IN, FIRST OUT)

School has been out for almost two weeks and I finally took a few photos of the kids. The photo on the left is the from the first day of school and the left is from the last day of school. Well, actually they are from yesterday. Don't forget, you can click on the photo to make it larger. Enjoy...

 

 

Patrick before and after. 

 

 

Mitchell before and after.

 

 

Vinny before and after.

And here are my Hummingbird photos of the day...

 

 

I hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by.