Fall in NEPA

We went to Robas Family farm on a very nice day - the temp ended up being 70 that Saturday (2nd in Oct 08). The next day we painted our downstairs and Nana and Poppy took the girls BACK to Robas.

Enjoy the pics!

Emily's 1st Day of preschool 9/2/08

Emily started preschool - 2 days a week at the YMCA. She was so excited and to my utter surprise, she didnt even cry for us. She was super excited and went about going to school like a pro. She loves to go and now tells me how boring our house is.

They have started swimming lessons too. I can tell she dresses herself because her pants have been inside out and backwards. But hey, shes DOING IT!

The best part was that because Canio had recently gotten back from Chicago, he had the day off so he was able to go with us.

Emily has her first field trip in 2 weeks. They are going to an apple orchard. She is so sweet.

Thursday after class, out of the blue, told me what she wants to be when she grows up: (in her words)... a mail person, or maybe a babysitter - yeah, I really want to watch babies, or a painter, teacher or a belly checker (upon further questioning - belly checker is a doctor).

Emilyisms

Ok here are a few Emily-isms and/or cute stories that Emily came off with yesterday and today... First, our neighbor had a guest who was standing outside smoking. So when Emily went over to say hi to our neighbor, she walked up to the smoker and said. Ewe, that stinks.... then.... uh, you're not really gonna stick that ting in your mouff (mouth) are you? She was obviously embarrassed as was I. I quickly got Emily away before she could say anything else (although as soon as we were out of earshot I explained to Emily smoking is very yucky and will hurt you but next time be a little more gentle when talking to grown ups) She tilted her head and said, well, I was right...right? I promptly offered her a piece of gum! Today Emily was getting ready for her practice day of school (I got to stay as she investigated the toys and kids). She was wearing a little hoody because it was chilly. Emily has tried to zip zippers for at least 6 mo. So she said, Mommy can you zip this? I said yeah, hang on... a min later I hear... I did it! I zipped it..... I ROCK. It was so out of character it made me laugh and then she laughed, but she had been totally serious. Emily came up to me tonight and said... Um, Mommy if I told you the truth.... would you still be mad? I asked her "about what?" She replied... Oh nuffin, Im uh... just nervous... I mean curious. =) And Abbys new words are: Brush, play dough, rice, "dont cry, I pooped, Emme (for Emily), Sissy, catmeow (one word), miss, need, I fall, stick, betsy (Emily has named her trike Betsy and Abby now thinks they are ALL called betsy), draw, pray, and Mommy play.

A picture is worth a million words-lets catch up

MORE PHOTOS WILL FOLLOW--- AND WHEN I LOADED THESE... THEY LOADED FROM THE BOTTOM UP. SO YOU ARE WARNED (THEY MAY SEEM OUT OF ORDER). Abby discovers her belly. (she found that binky behind the couch....I've taken the binky away during the day...) A rare moment caught on tape where Abby is NOT torturing the cats! Just our beauty listening to Daddy one day at lunch.... And our devilish Abby....driving a boat at Knoebels. Emily, Abby, and their cousin Grace really enjoyed Knoebels. It was great to watch them play together and enjoy it.

Emily feeds the gorilla a leaf.... look at abby's face....

Hmmm... Abby tries to match the Gorilla's serious looks. Emily stops by a pond to cast a few wishes... Emily poses for a picture - she is learning to skate... and yes, can you tell she is SUPER happy I asked her to stop for a minute for a picture. (Didnt help she was looking into the sun)... I couldnt get an action shot because that would have just been a picture of Emily laid out on the ground (shes not very good yet at staying vertical without my help)... It didnt take her long to give up and just play hopscotch instead. Look at that BEAUTIFUL hopscotch board. woo hooo. I wonder who drew that?!?!

Abby practices posing as a model.... (oh and by the way...she loves to have "babies"...dolls, stuffed animals, etc).... On the 4th we had some friends from church over... Emily loves Andrew (their oldest son. They also have Ethan, and a new baby Alex)...Can you see how excited she is? Abby decided to play golf...any hey... to improve her odds--- why not use a wiffle sized ball! =) Another trip to the zoo in Philly... Canio and Emily explore a peacock. CHeck out the archives.... there was a peacock about 2 yr ago that ate a cracker right from Emily's hand. Emily holding a gorilla's butt??? Hmmm

Crazy morning

Those of you who know me, know that I am not really a morning person. So, I try to prepare for morning the night before (well, wait-- since canio's been ou of town I do this)... So I am prepared with a movie in the dvd player, choc. milk made up, frozen homemade pancakes--- Im good... right? WRONG! Emily and Abby objected to my choice of movies.... And then a few days better, while getting ready to go to church, I popped in a Veggie Tales movie --- Abby was, hmmm, shall we say engrossed? Yesderday afternoon, after we went to church and I attended a visiting teaching conference (or 3/4 of one because one of the YW came and got me to tell me that Emily had decided to go home and had tried to get out of the nursery... I quickly went to nursery to see two pre-YW girls shoving Emily back into class.... Obvisously this wasnt going to work..... so when I walked in... I was greated by not one but TWO screaming kids. Abby screamed because I had left her and Emily because she had just been pushed. But Sunday was tough anyways....Emily hadnt slept well. The first part of sacrament my girls sat quietly looking at books. I wante dto take a picture because this just does NOT normally happen. I was SO thankful. Then ... Abby pooped! I knew once I took them out to chg Abby I would have lost the battle....and I did. The only saving grace is that Emily knew Andrew would get to play with her at the end of church and in Emily's own words..."she "loves Andrew with all my heart" Emily was also a little upset that Andrew no longer thinks the world of Emily...as he is now 5 and loves boy things. But what a sweet spirit (hey at least she has good taste)... He is always kind to her and tries to include her.

Later, after a nap...Abby wanted to go outside. She LOVES it outside and will cry to go out. I caught her at the door a split second before EMILY decided to help her escape. When I went out to corale them back inside- Abby (with her sisters help) got her bike inside. She was so darn proud of herself, I had to snap a picture first! THEN I yelled!

Finally, one of Emily's new favorite things to do is to grab the camera and start snapping pictures. This one she took of herself not long before bed on Sunday. Pretty funny! She looks AWFUL - You'd swear she just lost a fight or something.

Anyways... look forward to updates on my zucchini bread recipe, how Canio's Chicago trip ends (round 1), how watching the twins Gracie and Katelyn go, and Emily's first day of school.... oh... and lots more pictures since I just got them all loaded to the computer!

We made it through a week!

We have made it through a week without daddy! On Tuesday we went to the movies and Abby was GREAT! She sat through almost the entire movie on my lap. Since going she keeps saying "moo-ee" Her language has EXPLODED and she repeats a lot. She likes to color (on walls) and paint! She loves her babies, her baby stroller, and shoes! She is a shoe Hog! Emily has been talking about school. She is so excited. We had an adventure on Wednesday by going to K-Mart to pick out a backpack. She went with princesses of COURSE! We had hotdogs (ewe) from their little snack bar. We also stopped off at the Butler Street Playground (my personal favorite right now because it is fenced in and because Abby runs like a lighting bolt - it is very helpful). You don't realize just how much you rely on your spouse for just support, if nothing else, until they are away. Canio will be away again in Sept, Oct, and Jan. Canio will be doing the Dunmore High School football games again. You can listen to it at www.audiosportsonline.com I believe its under Football, then District II Football. Well, I will add pictures (right now we have over 300 photos on our camera so it will take FOREVER to load them all!).

Canio got a job!

Just to let you all know, Canio got a job! A really good job with Abbott Labs, a pharmaceutical company (they make Lexapro, Tricore, Vicatin, and now Crestor). Dont worry if youve never heard of them... neither did I before he got the job. He will be a pharma. sales rep in the Hazelton Area (we will not be relocating). He makes about 20K more than he used to -and thats before bonuses which are significant if he gets them. He also gets a car allowance, gas card, and other incidentals. We are SOOOO proud of him and SOOO happy. I am now just working 2 days a week, and because of new ownership of the insurance agent that I work for - I am now making 5.oo more an hour. The past few months were rough, because as anyone who knows us, knows, we have been through a lot in this past year or so. I spent 2 wks feeling down and wondering when things would get better. Then I got down on my knees, talked to my bishop who wisely said we arent as close to the Lord when things are good...... and I realized this was an opportunity to go my faith and my testimony. And what wonderful and marvelous things happened. I prayed about my faith, my religion, my family and my trials. I am Mormon for those of you who do not know... and I found some great lessons to help me. I felt fortified and I was grateful for the test. Then, I also realized this happened for me to be more sympathetic to others and my path crossed a couple going through similiar problems. I instantly gained their trust by accurately describing the fears and problems they were facing. I was able to share my testimony with 2 people from work....and I am happy that my Heavenly Father trusted me enough to be an instrument to go through these things so I could show people tha twith faith, all is possible. Especially Canio who sometimes doubts the Lord's loving attention. And on a MUCH LIGHTER NOTE---- Emily is starting preschool at the YMCA. She toured it today and LOVED IT> Abby started nursery at church sunday and HATED IT! She cried the ENTIRE time. Thank God (and I mean it literally) for Sister Dahill who is a miracle worker with nerves of STEEL! My girls are growing up! How sad. I gave them both extra cuddles today. (Canio is away in Chicago for training for 2 wks, will come home for 2 wks, be gone for 2 1/2 wks and go away for a week in Oct and Nov). Not only did I miss Canio but I was able to watch them from a distance and I realized my cuddle time is quickly disappearing. sigh. I try to burn the images into my memory so I will never forget them. Those two little girls are my entire world. My heart just bounces when I think of them, or when I picture a smile. You all are really missing out!

Our Memorial Day Trip to the Philly Zoo

We went to the Philly Zoo for Memorial Day 2008. It was Emilys 4 or 5th trip but Abby's first trip. We went with Canio's mom (nana> As many of you know Canio lost his job on April 24th. I began working full time to make up the money difference. Memorial Day was very special because it was the only day that we had as a family the entire month of May that I didnt work somewhere (other than Mothers Day).

Emily got her face painted. She chose hearts for "love" (even though I tried to talk her into the butterfly design)

Just Emily being beautiful, even near an ugly vulture! hehehe

Abby spent a lot of time in the stroller, only because she likes to run away if she gets out. If you take a real close look at her legs you will see a TON of bruises. She is a boy trapped in a beautiful little body....and yes, her hair is still red (strawberry blonde).

I love this look - she was in the childrens zoo petting a goat. She gave a funny look. She has soo many expressions. She is getting tall and talking up a storm. Yet she still cuddles with me and nuzzles her head on my shoulders. These are the best things in life. I love my two girls with all my might. I am blessed with two very different but very good girls. Abby loves to fold her arms to pray, but refuses to sit still for anything --- and she loves "babies"....she carries them around. (Naked of course).

After a long day, Abby zonked and slept the entire trip home. Thank goodness she sleeps better than Emily or else she would have been up all night!

And finally... in other big news..... EMILY IS POTTY TRAINED! YEAHHHHHHHH

Chars Car Accident 3/5/08

As you may/may not know, I was in a car accident on Wed night coming home from church. I was on a back sort of curvy mountain road (for those in the area -8th street near Carverton Rd). Recent rain had run off water coming out of the mountain and it froze like black ice. There was an accident where mine was but the man moved the car. I saw this accident and slowed down only to go around a curve and hit the ice myself and slammed into a rock retaining wall. There was absolutely nothing I could do. The police and EMS responding also slid. Although I was headed for a flood-stage creek, I somehow managed to curve back the other way and only hit the side of my car...as you will see instead of head on. I hit at about 30mph. I am ok but real sore. The kids were NOT in the car with me. Thank goodness. And Thank GOD for Toyotas! IF I had been in our small Honda, the outcome could have been much worse.

There was another accident in that area and before i was taken in the ambulance, the police closed the road. Penn Dot really dropped the ball...with that much run off and knowing temps were going to dip into the 20s they should have salted. I was going slow but there was no traction whatsoever. About 10 -15 min after my accident, PennDot salted giving those coming down before the road closed a little traction. Other church members made it home ok.

Our family just cant catch a break....in several areas. If you pray, pray for us and pray for me to be accepting of God's Will. There was about 4000 damage so far. Well off- dont feel like writing much.

Pictures of Abby

Hello everyone! Im having a bad hair day... Yeah Im cutre and I know it... look at those dimples! Who stole the comics section? hahah... It was me... Here Abby, this is how it works.... Abby is turning one everyone! She started walking the week after Valentines day and is now a pro. Today she added a new word.... out (she wanted out of her high chair). Caution...these pictures are just TOOO CUTE

Family Update

Why HI there everyone! Here's our updates! We rang in the New Years with me working and then coming home and we watched some rented movies and cheered on the ball drop. New Years Eve is kinda important to Canio and my history - you see, the first day we spent together (literally all day except 2 hrs when he went into his new job) was on New Years Eve 1999. We putz around his apartment, went to lunch at Wendy's (not my fave place but turned out to be one of his), then we went and rented a movie (the Godfather) and I distinctly remember thinking ewe yuck a really old movie... (esp. cuz I wanted to go do something for the dawning of the millinieum)...then we went to dinner at an italian place called Raggazzi's in hickory nc. We went back to his apt and we watched the Godfather (at opposite ends of his couch) and then watched the ball drop. And here we are 8 years later! The first tues of Jan it was 65 here and we hit the outdoors hard! We were at the park for 2 1/5 hrs, then we came home and drew on the sidewalk, took a walk with a neighbor and her son, and then came home and Emily tried to ride her trike with a different neighbor boy. Next came my birthday. I turned 31. I worked from 9-2:30 at Childrens Place and then from 5-7 at the ins. agency. My MIL came down with a cute purse and a card (and a some money which went to buy gas)... and Canio gave me a gift cert. to get my hair done, even though I told him I didnt really need anything. Emily sent me an email card with the help of daddy. I baked my first - from scratch- dark chocolate cake...and it was YUMMILIOUS. Emily started swim lessons again at the Y. WOW what a difference 6 mo. has made. We took a break (for financial reasons) and she did GREAT. She can go it alone now. Nana took her and had as much fun as Emily (because I had to work). I really miss doing that with her and I hate that I had to work. Then I got called and told to come in later so I ended up seeing her swim. That night some friends of ours watched the girls and we went to Longhorn for dinner (the first time we had been alone on a "date" since Canio's bday in July). We had a nice expensive dinner that will be reimbursed because I was a "secret shopper" for them. Sunday found me sick and asleep - and 4 gals from church came by with a cake and sang me happy belated birthday. A very nice gesture. Abby had a busy month so far. At the beginning of the month she started saying 'ssssss" for sissy (or Emily). On Sunday 1/20 she stood up for the first time for about 5 -10 sec alone. She repeated this a few times. Earlier in the week we got sick again after watching a friends kids. Its been a long week for little Abby. The first week of Jan she got another tooth and is working on 2 more. She has 5 total now. She eats ANYTHING...including cat food if you dont watch her. And she loves the water in the toilet. errrr. She is beautiful inside and out. I couldnt imagine life without her. Yes, it might be less stressful but I would miss her smile and her giggle that radiates through you and makes you smile too. Emily is STILL working on going #2 on the potty. She goes #1 great! She can now read the words: STOP, GO (and spell those two) and DORA (go figure) and MAP (again.. big surprise). We are working on writing letters now. We cant get past A... she makes "H"s and she likes to make "M"s too. Canio is still working alot and watches the kids alot because of my working. He is predicting the Giants will win the Superbowl in a close game. His dad is a big fan. Guess we will see... I HOPE they win... Not a big fan personally of NE. And we did a chili cookoff tonight at church. What FUN! After we ate we all played board games while the kids were watched. And the winner of the cookoff.... ME~! YIPPY. Ok gotta hand over the computer to Canio--- Pictures will follow as the girls are getting SOOOO BIG. xoxox.