Here I sit...three years after my last post to this blog...it occurred to me last night that I had not written for awhile, and when I went to check the blog, realized that "awhile" was in fact 3 years. Oi. Time certainly gets away from you when you have a large family. I did however, find reading the posts I HAD created both entertaining and heart-warming. My own little diary of events in my children's lives for me to reminisce about. So, with that, my faith in writing has been restored. I can't say that I'm the best blogger. I can't say that "I promise" to keep up with this this time. All of that would be silly and nonsensical. I know that the reality is that I am a wife, a mom of five children, a full time employee, a home owner, a budding business owner, a fitness enthusiast, and many other things. And those things often get in the way of taking time for myself to write down my thoughts. What I DO know, is that I'd like to try to keep up with this. If for no other reason than to be able to look back again, 3 years from now, and have a laugh at my current life and its hectic chaos.

So, yes...I suck!

I realized tonight that it's been a month since I made any updates. My how time flies!! As I sit here typing this with one hand, the other occupied by Jacob and his bottle, I understand that this blog comes as a failing second to me...as it should be I guess. My life is filled with loveliness--5 kids, a wonderful husband, an awesome house I never thought I'd have--really, should I be so concerned with a blog that others read at their leisure? Not particularly. In any case, let me attempt give the updates of the last month's happenings, for those that don't get my facebook updates!

I turned 35! This in and of itself seems odd to me. 35 always seemed so OLD, and now I'm there. Officially mid 30's. And you know what? It's not OLD, and it's not bad. This I can deal with! To celebrate this milestone, I did not go on some lavish vacation. I did not throw a big party. I did not buy myself something extravagant. No, none of those would do for me. I, my friends, ran a marathon. And so did Sean. We finished said marathon (which was my ONLY goal I might add) with times that I feel were good enough. Well, mine was good enough. Sean's time was awesome--at least I think so. He ran in 4 hours 45 min. I ran in 5 hr 45 min. Or at least somewhere in that neighborhood. The official times are listed on the marathon website for anyone interested in minute details. (www.wineglassmarathon.com) We have decided to continue this tradition next year. I don't know that we'll run the same one, but we will definitely run another. We've also got Taylor on the running bandwagon. She's decided now that she wants to run a half marathon. We will be doing that in April, for anyone interested. It's local--right in Newark, DE. Childcare will be needed (*wink *wink, nudge nudge).

After the marathon, we muscled thru the rest of the month and made it to Halloween. I'd love to say I have an awesome pic to post to show everyone the 5 coolest kids ever. However, my oh so lovely camera decided it was not a good night for flash. I think we got a decent one on Sean's phone, but we have not yet been able to get that on our computer. So, until such a time...we are without our yearly Halloween pic. I will say that the kids looked awesome! Taylor was a geisha girl (Mulan when she was getting married at the beginning of the movie); Alexis was Little Red Riding Hood, and I actually SEWED her cape, without a pattern. I was quite proud, as was she with the results. Connor was a cowboy, with a gun and a badge; Keira as a fairy princess; and Jacob was a turtle. They all looked so darn cute! It's a far cry from the original "Superhero Theme" we were going for, but all in all, it was a good night despite the drizzle and we ended up of course with far too much candy for my liking. The kids however, we quite happy with their loot.

Now we are moving into November, and looking forward to the beginning of the holiday season. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and we are psyched to be having dinner at our house this year! Christmas will be fast on its heels, and then BAM! We will be starting 2010.

For now though...as I mentioned at the beginning of this post...my life is filled with loveliness, and I'm going to sit back and enjoy it.

This is the age of technology!

I'm sitting at home tonight after all of the kids are in bed except for Taylor. Taylor has gotten to the age where I can actually have a conversation with her and not get bored or feel like I have to repeat myself 15 million times. It's kind of nice, to have a semi-adult conversation with my teenager...kind of because this also means that I'm losing my little girl. But that's another story. Tonight's story is that of the age of technology...and so it begins.

My story starts with a fresh new teenager asking her mother to teach her to type. My older girls have always been astonished at the speed of my typing. Seems second nature to me, since I do it every single day. But to them, it is an amazing feat. So I mention to Taylor that I can try to teach her. Everything I learned, I learned in my Senior year of high school...17 years ago! Yes, that's right...17 years. Suddenly I feel ancient. So, I tell her that I've had quite a few years to practice. I explained to her that I learned to type on an actual typewriter. She says "you mean one of those big, clunky things?!?!" Yes Taylor, one of those big, clunky things. And I had to use white out to fix my mistakes. And there was no backspace, and no way to save your work. You finish what you start-period! She looks at me in amazement--"You mean, you didn't have a computer??" At this question, I tell her that the first computer I had was when she was about 1 year old. She seems puzzled by this, so I go on to tell her that we had internet then, but not like there is now. No google, no wikipedia. Just your basic email, and it was dial up. Which meant that you chose, either phone OR internet. Not both at the same time. This seemed unfathomable to Taylor. "Wait, you mean you can't be like talking on the phone and sending email at the same time, and looking something up on google?? You mean like you had to open the internet, and then go do something else waiting for it to load?" Yes Taylor, it really was THAT slow. "Really? I didn't realize that computers were that YOUNG."

Feeling old yet??? I know I am!!

Happy Days are here again...

Taylor and Alexis are back in school.
Connor starts pre-school next week.
Keira turns 2 in 9 days!
Jacob is so big, we had to get rid of his sling chair for fear that he'd plummet to the floor from leaning so far forward.
Sean loves his new job.
Rachel WANTS a new job.

So goes our life. That's the 30second update. If I weren't so busy, I'd write more...but seeing how I am...this'll have to do for now!

Awesome week!

My girls come home this week!!! I'm so excited I can hardly wait. We have all missed the teenage chattering in the house. It somehow seems to quiet (yes, even with the incredible noise of toddlers). Connor and Keira have been under the impression all summer that they were at school. And just last week finally asked where the heck they were. I told Connor that Taylor and Alexis were in Georgia, and he told me that he wanted to go to Georgia's house too.

So they come home on Wednesday, and we'll get things back to normal I'd say by the end of September.

Watch out for rocks!!

Anyone who has children or a significant other knows that whenever you leave you have to say goodbye in your own unique way. Maybe you tell each other you love them. Maybe you say see you later rather than goodbye. At my house, the going phrase as we walk out the door is "Watch out for rocks!". Where did this come from?? My eldest son, of course.

For whatever reason, my son has coined this phrase and tells everyone this as they walk out the door. To my older girls as they leave for school for the day. To me as I am walking out the door for work. To my husband as he leaves for Kung Fu. Everyone gets a kiss and a hug and as you are on your way out the door...here comes the preschooler telling you "Watch out for rocks!". It is such a common occurence in fact, that my youngest daughter (who turns 2 next month) has picked up the phrase. Of course, that has prompted him to change his a bit now...now we have to watch out for rocks from volcanoes!

In any case, it's this simple phrase that lets us know that we are loved and will be missed in our absences.

Watch out for rocks everyone!!!

My baby...

I'm not doing so good at this whole, keep up with the posts thing...

Time just gets in the way, doesn't it?? Anyway,

I thought everyone should know that my now 5 month old little boy, rolled over yesterday. The first of many monumental milestones in his still so new existence. He was quite proud of his accomplishment, and followed the roll with lots of kicking and flailing hands, and trying like heck to get back from whence he came. He rolled from his belly to his back..we'll see how long it takes him to figure out how to go the other way! I have no doubt that in a few short months, he'll be right in the thick of it with the rest of the crew. But for now, I'll reminisce with the thoughts of them all with THEIR first rolls...