Hershey Park in the Dark

The kids were all bees this year for Halloween. As you can see from the Hershey Park in the Dark pictures, they were adorable. We were able to find a bee costume for everyone. The girls found Mason's costume for me. They even shared the cost and bought it for him. Isn't that sweet and loving? Mason is loved by his big sisters. A few weekends prior to Halloween, I took the girls to Hershey Park. The water park area was closed, but everything else was open. It was a little chilly, but only after the sun set. The water park area was transformed into Treatville where the kids were able to go trick-or-treating. It was a fun filled day.

Here is a message from Bubbles to tell you more about the day:

The lines were super long except the ride I got on with mason. That was very embarrasing but it was for mason so who cares. Also I wanted Mason to get on the Starship but that was even scary for sissy,but not for me. what you did was there was a handle that if you pulled it back you would go higher and if you pushed it forword you would go lower. I kept going back and forth. For trick or treating we got all hersheys products. Sisyy and I found his costume a a consinment shop while driving back to my moms house. Thats when i said " look sissy its a bee costume and it will fit mason". So meemom (my grandmom) said do you want to turn around and we said yes! thats when me and sissy went to ask how much money it was and it was only $5 so sissy and i both paid $2.50. My favorite ride is the comet is is white and its wooden the ride does NOT go upside down or i would not I get on it. Bye!

What loving sisters - when they are not fighting or telling on one another.

RB looks like she is about to barf. I think Bubbles is trying to kick her to get back at all the times RB tortured her. Don't worry, Bubbles couldn't catch up to her.

Mason's first amusement park ride. Wissy rode with him to keep him safe. What a good big sister!

Our busy little bees! I did not take any pictures on Halloween night since they wore the same costumes. I also forgot my camera.

In Search of the Great Pumpkin

A few weekends ago, the kids and I went to a local farmer's market to pick pumpkins. It was a beautiful day. I did not get pictures of Mason while he was painting his pumpkin as I did not take my camera or phone outside with me. I was able to get a picture of him in the bath getting ready to get all the paint scrubbed off of him though. I would have loved to have shown everyone pictures of Mason's pumpkin paintings, but sadly I left the pumpkins out to dry and it rained that evening. Stupid non-toxic washable paint! Whatever happened to the good ole' days!

Star Glazers

Star Glazers is located in Lancaster, PA and offers pottery painting. It's a nice place to go to relax and tap into your creative side. It's certainly not cheap, but nothing in this world is cheap anymore. However, it allowed the girls and I to get out and spend some quality time together. The girl's pottery should be ready in a week and I will post pictures of their finished pieces.

Enjoying our Labor Day

I hope everyone enjoyed their Labor Day weekend. I can't say my weekend was 100% relaxing, but I don't think that really is impossible; for anyone. At least half of my house is clean. I'm hoping to accomplish the other half sometime this week. With my luck when I can get to the other half of my house, the half that was clean will be dirty...HAHAHA! Here are some photo's from the bike ride that Steve and I enjoyed on the Rail Trail/ NCR Trail. The trail name changes depending on if you are in MD or PA. I felt as if my neck was going to snap if I tried any harder to be at the same height level with Steve for the picture.

We ran into some friends on the trail. Are they roosters or hens? Seriously, this isn't a trick question. I don't know.

Overall, it was a nice bike ride. Even though Mason hates his bike seat, we put it to good use. It held our lunch and drinks.

The Wonderful Thing about Tigers

Tiger isn't the only one who loves to bounce!

We Have the Need for Speed

I'm sure this comes as no shock to anyone; we are ALWAYS busy! There are soccer games and practice to attend, doctor appointments, playtime with friends, schoolwork, bottle feedings, YMCA free swim, school events, naptime, laundry, dishes, house chores, church, violin practice, grocery shopping, family fun time, etc, etc, etc.


On Sunday, we drove to Mom Mom Worthington's to drop Mason off for the night and into Monday. He loves staying with Mom Mom and Aunt Jessica (AJ). By the time we picked up Bubbles from her weekend with her Mom's family and drove to the Edgewood area, it was after 7 PM. By the time we came home, it was after 9 PM and time for bed. I knew we weren't going to have time for dinner. I didn't want to waste money we didn't have buying fast food and not eat healthy. So, we brown bagged it for dinner. Even Mason had his very own bag filled with bottles. I labeled each bag with a 2 word description to make it more fun.

In school everyone equated brown bags to being an uncool thing. Gosh, were we ever mistaken! These brown bags are awesome!

Our Musical Genius

Bubbles is playing the violin in school this year. Watching how she cleans the violin, stands in positions, and knows the notes is so amazing because she's only attended 1 class. She must practice everynight, but she loves it. This clip is Madison playing "Twinkle Little Star".

Ride Like the Wind: Part III

Okay, this is it. Here is my final attempt at displaying a video of Bubbles riding Steve's mini motorcycle. This video also shows Jasmine riding Red (Steve's smallest 4 wheeler) since her and Mom Mom spent the day having fun with the family.

Ride Like the Wind: Part I

Tonight was the first time Madison rode Steve's mini motorcycle and she did AWESOME! I'm entitling this entry as Part I because I did a very stupid thing. Every video I captured of Madison, I wasn't really recording until I thought I hit "stop". When in reality, I hit "stop" to film Madison thinking I hit "record" and then "record" when I was finished filming Madison when I thought I hit "stop". Sound confusing? It does to me and I didn't realize my mixup until all the videos were of my dress and feet. So I will post Part II Tuesday night after I film Madison again.

Below is Steve riding the mini motorcycle. It was the only successful video of the evening.

Instead of watching his Papa and Sissy ride the mini motorcycle, Mason is watching the back of his eyelids.

It's Back to School Time

GOOD LUCK BUBBLES AT NORTH HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are going to do wonderful in the 4th grade. You are going to make so many friends and your teacher, Mrs. Monday, will absolutely love you. Daddy and I love you to fruity bits and juicy pieces!

Monster and Tuff Trucks

Hello ladies and germs! It's been a VERY LONG TIME since I've updated our family blog. We are STILL awaiting the birth of Mason who was due on the 17th. In the past several weeks, I've had issues with my blood pressure and increased levels of protein found in my urine. I've been sent to the hospital to have blood drawn, blood pressure checked, and 24 hour monitors of my pee. They even tried to place me on bed rest. Um, no! It lasted 3 days. I have to give major props to those who are placed on bed rest earlier in their pregnancies and are able to commit to it and take it seriously because I could not. At first, I was going to be allowed to go to 42 weeks before any action would be taken to assist in the birth of Mason. Now, if nothing happens by this Tuesday ( 21st) here what could happen:

• If I am dialated by then (so far I am not), I will be sent to the hospital on Wednesday to be administered pitocin.
  
• If I am not dialated by then, I will be administered two dosages (1 on Wednesday and the other on Thursday) of Cervidil. Each dose lasts about 12 hours and each time it will be inserted and removed by my doctor. This product is used to help soften the cervex. I'm not sure if they will check me into the hospital for this or insert the medicine and then send me home. If need be, I will then be administered pitocin.

I'm not quite sure why I have to bother with the Cervidil if both scenarioes are to be resolved with pitocin. Then again, I'm only repeating feedback from my midwife and will know more on the 21st.

Okay, so yesterday Steve, myself, Bubbles, and Blaize (Steve's nephew) went to the Buck Motorsports to see the tuff truck competition and the monster trucks which included The Avenger, War Wizard, Brutus, and the legendary Big Foot. Of course Big Foot has underwent some cosmetic surgery because the truck is not how I remembered it as a kid. I envision us next year there with Mason and of course, ear protection device as it was VERY LOUD! Steve loves the tuff truck competition. There is a men's and women's heat and pretty much these drivers bring in junk cars and race them around a muddy course and whoever receives the best time wins. We saw cars loose their drive shaft and mufflers and also saw a few flip over. It was pretty exciting. What was more hilarious were the number of babies and pregnant women attending this event. I think being pregnant made me feel like a redneck...my baby is overdue and I'm at the Buck watching monster trucks smash cars...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Nothin' can stop me ya'll from havin' a rip roar'n' bang up time! Here are some pictures to prove how cool it was!

The pictures below are some highlights from the Tuff Truck competition. Steve and I are thinking about entering next year as anyone can sign up to drive. Of course this means new expenses and bringing myself to actually pay money for a car (even though it's not that much) that could essentially not work anymore after the race. Whoa!

Weekend in Review

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...

Okay, there was no crying involved except for those who fell like Jasmine. Poor girl! Steve and I had Bubble's 9th birthday party at Roll-R-Way, which is a small skating rink in the York area. This is a wonderful example of the lesson we all had to learn as a child...don't judge a book by its cover. The outside of the roller rink did not do the inside justice. There was a disco ball, funky lights, and up to date music (which as time went on caused me a huge headache, which is a definite sign of old age). The kids skated for four hours and we had 45 minutes in the party room. The only negative is that you think the 45 minutes is enough time to round up sweaty hyper kids, keep them still long enough to actually eat something, push Bubbles along in opening her gifts, and once again make the kids stand still long enough for cake and ice cream. WRONG! We were given free passes which we were supposed to hand out to all the kids who attended, but we totally forgot. Now, we have 15 passes to use between Bubbles and RB. That's okay because even though we tried to keep everything to a minimal, we still spent a small fortune which is why Steve wouldn't allow me to accompany him when he paid the bill. So the free passes will come in handy. Luckily for Steve and I, we didn't spend a lot of money on Bubble's birthday gift. HOW MUCH DID WE SPEND YOU ASK? Well, I'm so glad you did because here's another chance for me to illustrate our creative ways of saving mucho dinero. We bought Bubbles a SpyGear tank which she can use to spy on us and listen in to what we are saying. The original price tag was $100 and Target was overstocked with them during the Christmas season. By early February, it was marked down by 75%. I traded in my gas points and received a $25 Target gift card, so the total was $0. Of course, this tank required 12 batteries, but we already had Target gift cards totaling $10 from a few weeks ago which was part of a promotion with cat litter. So even the batteries were free! Hallelujah! Later that night, both Steve and I felt a little like "Jon & Kate, Plus 8" when we attempted to feed 9 people with hamburger helper and a pound of beef. We did by making sure everyone filled up on Crystal Light Rasphberry Ice and butter/jelly bread.

Rednecks in the big city...

Sunday, we spent the day at Washington, D.C. visiting the Air & Space Museum and the Natural History Museum. It was a little chilly, but the sun was shining brightly. The metro is always a fun experience for me and after so many times of riding it and having to pee so badly, I've gotten smart and made everyone use the rest stop before we arrived at the Greenbelt station. Along with Steve, Bubbles, RB, and myself was Kathy (real name is Kandace, but Jasmine kept calling her Kathy the first few times of being around her that we all adopted that name for her as well) and Lizzie. Kathy is RB's best friend and Lizzie is Bubble's best friend. Everyone was well behaved until the end. I still can't get over how kids act when they are tired. You would think we had 50 lb weights strapped to their butts the entire time. Come on ladies, toughen up! Steve is old and I'm pregnant. I just like to take this time to thank a good samaritan who helped us by giving us a package of tissues. Poor Lizzie's nose started to bleed and while Steve was looking for the bathroom, which is difficult to do in the Natural History Museum, some lady walked by and noticed our dilemma and gave us tissues. An act of kindness is very scarce in this world nowadays, but we were witnesses to the fact that it still exists yesterday. Thank you kleenex carrying lady!

No caption necessary on this one

Bubbles being swallowed by a Great White

Is this really necessary?

Our dangerous journey up the metro escalator onto the streets of D.C. If you tried to look backwards to see how far up you were, you lost your balance because it looked like a straight fall down....ARGH!

Poor Lizzie! I wonder if some of the attendees though she was an exhibit?

Hey, this is the same psycho look RRF had before her daily regimen of prozac.

Rice Krispy Sweets

This event happened a little while ago, but whenever I intended to set aside a day to blog about this activity, something else occurred and I posted that instead. So here are pictures from our rice krispy sweet treat making evening. But later then never!

Stir faster, the marshmallows are cooling!

RB's masterpiece!

Ew, Bubbles threw a smurf into her rice krispy mixture!

Nah, it wasn't a smurf. It was just blue dye!

It was a fun and inexpensive activity. I think I'm getting old because I still rather just buy them in the store. Unforunately, not all the rice krispy sweets were consumed. I'm sure the wild animals enjoyed them as much as we did. Hmmmm!

Weekend in Review

I haven't had the opportunity to post for this weekend until now. This Saturday was Bubble's first day of soccer practice for the YMCA. It's a weekly event and lasts until April 4th. She is with the 6-8 year old league. Even though the record receipt I obtained showed her starting practice at 9AM, she was actually not supposed to start until 10AM. That's okay, she had a chance to watch the first batch of kids practice so she knew what Coach Doug expected of her. She had a blast! One thing that I did not think was fair was Coach Doug paired the experienced soccer players with the beginners so the experienced kids kept hogging the ball. Hey, if Rocky can bring two countries together like the U.S. and Russia while he was fighting the Soviet, then by golly, Bubbles can learn to play soccer.

Wasn't it cool that her laces matched the ball?

The kids practiced dribbling and control of the ball

She had to wear a stinky jersey

After soccer practice, the girls wanted to go to Old Country Buffet. I've never been and I have to say I am still not sure what the excitement was all about. It cost us $30 for food that could have been prepared at home for half that amount. The highlight is when Bubbles tied my hair to a balloon and let it float.

This was a chore weekend for everyone. Bubbles and RB eached earned $10 for completing their list of chores and Steve and I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. Our house is spotless. Right now him and I are in the compulsive stage where if either one of us sees a mess, we immediately sprint to clean it up. I have diagnosed us with post cleaning disorder. Give us another week of messy animals and kids and our disorder will miraculously disappear and we won't be sprinting as much to clean up mess we spot. We may just walk over it counting down to the next chore weekend.

Last, but not least....

Happy 8th Birthday to my niece, Sydney!!!! If she lived in Maryland, by law, she could stay home by herself...CRAZY, huh? Thankfully she resides in Pennsyltucky where by 8, kids probably would already know how to skin a deer.

Family Game Night

Hello everyone,

Its Steve (Schmoopy). I am posting an entry for the first time. Alicia is behind me with a knife forcing me. (To be precise its the knife I still have not received for my birthday.. Jan 14th) Anyway tonight was family fun night at Bubbles school. We were all in the school gym in a big circle playing games. We played Simon says, Hoky poky, & a few other games. One of our favorite events of the evening was when we were given some newspaper and masking tape & were told to make a hat as a family. We ended up with an airplane hat & Bubbles got to walk around the circle with it on. Here is a picture of Bubbles in her hat. ENJOY!!

Rupenzel, let your hair down

I got to have fun and trim Steve's mohawk yesterday. I had more fun with the spray bottle since I took every opportunity available to me to soak him with water. Hey, I had to make sure his hair stayed wet!

This is the longest we've gone not cutting his hair

I wanted to put a lightning bolt on the side. He didn't seem to share my vision.

I never did get an official "after" shot. This was close to after as all I had to do was shave down his mohawk. He shaved his beard too afterwards. Ain't he perty?

A Saturday to Enjoy

No chores this week except for grocery shopping and that's fine with me. Schmoopy and I were able to sleep in until 8AM. RB and Bubbles were already up checking on RRF. That's right, our 4 legged love is home and resting comfortably. I walked out spending more than the estimate and feeling as though I just paid an extra month's of mortgage, but RRF is our family. She is on antibiotics, painkillers, and most importantly a generic form of kitty prozac, which I have nicknamed kitzac. Because she is so bonkers, a regimen of kitzac will help her act like a normal cat should act. Below is a picture of her behaving like a normal feline. We will have to get use to the tail. Right now it's a bandaged stub so I'm not shocked to look at it.


We visited Lake Redman again. Today was beautiful and the lake was so slick, everyone was able to ice skate even without skates. RB's and Bubble's cousin, Hannah and her Mom and Dad joined us on the ice. We all had a really nice time. We even got to watch some guys ice fish and found old ice holes. This allowed us to fully comprehend the thickness of the ice. The girls found big ice balls that they nicknamed diamonds so they spent time breaking them free from the ice with their toe picks and collecting them. Each one took home a diamond of their own.

Ice Ice Baby, Yeah!

So here are the pictures I owe from the 28th entry. After whining to Steve that something was wrong with my memory card and making him think the lake memories were lost forever, Steve discovered I was just looking in the wrong file. Thanks hon! My favorite picture is of our feet on the ice. I would really like to convert it to black and white and frame it so I just may experiment and do that. We are venturing out to the lake again on Saturday so I'll have more pictures of the girls to post.

Tonight, we used our season passes to go tubing at Avalanche Express. While I'd rather live in the country, the good thing about living in a busy town is there are activities pretty much in your backyard. Avalanche Express is one exit down from us on I-83. I would be exact and give mileage, but I have no clue so I won't embarrass myself. The area is a golfing resort and the golfing area is converted into a icy slip 'n side during the winter. We brought hot chocolate to drink and whenever we got too cold we'd warm up by the open fire pit. It was a blast!