FOOTBALL TIME, BABY!!!!! ABOUT TIME, TOO!!

My Steelers are in da house again!!!! We're in the first quarter so far...0-0...

I am so happy!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!!!

Girls Night Out!!!!

Maria's good high school friend Faye was in town for the weekend, and I know her, too, so Maria arranged for some girly fun out on the town. Our friend Tracy met up with us, too, driving to my house and I drove up to meet up with Maria and Faye. Of course, I had to drive my new Bug!! =) We went up to Chapel Hill and had dinner up there, then went to a coffeehouse, which was more like a restaurant/bar to have some wine. It was so awesome to have a reason to dress up for something and we had a blast!! I really hope we can do this again soon! thank you to Chris for keeping the kids so I could get out of the house!
Tracy and Maria

me and Faye

the 4 of us after some wine... =)

love my purple dress!

my sassy shoes and sort of sloppy nails..hahahaha...

saying bye to the old, hello to the new....

Car, that is. My van which had faithfully transported me and the kids around for over 13 years, finally needed repairs more expensive than its book value, so we had to go car shopping. I'd decided that since it is not often anymore that all 5 of us are in my car at once, that I didn't need another van, and I wanted something smaller, more fun..something that when you saw it, you thought Theresa, not Theresa the mom. So what else could I get but a Beetle!! I have plans to paint it a happy grape shade of purple, but for now it is white. I generally don't care for white cars, but it is cute on the Beetle. But I really want it purple, so that is the eventual plan. I have to say, I love, LOVE my new car! I love driving a stick again, too! the Steelersmobile has a new look now!
goodbye van...

hellooo, bug!

Dale & Dinah approve of my new back seat! =)

my Steeler car bling..inside

and out! When a front bracket gets attached, then I can add the Terrible Towel!

The next day, I added some friends to the back shelf...it started out as just Statler and Waldorf (for my own peanut gallery) and morphed into a gang on both sides!


My last bit of goofy fun was a car picture, which Maria has already made fun of me over...yes cheesy, but this year I am all about doing things that are different than the same ol, same ol, so why not? =)

Birthday time at home!!!

Since Kristen's birthday was the day after we got home, and mine the day after, we tried to take it easy. I took her and her best friend Sam to the mall, which as you know, is not my favorite activity, so it was a gesture of love, for sure! hahaha...they then had a sleepover later on in the day...



I was happy the next day to have my friend Deanna over after heading to Locopops with Maria and the girls. She's Sam's mom, and her other daughter is buddies with Alice, so it was really fun. I actually had a really relaxing day for once! One of my favorite gifts this year was from Diana..a Sidney Crosby ornament!! He is too fabulous to only see at Christmas, so I hung him up near my kitchen sink with Big Ben. Having my Pittsburgh stuff around me makes me all kinds of happy! =)

Back to Syracuse before heading home....

The kids and I returned to Syracuse, this time to hang at Mom and Ed's. I unexpectedly received a happy surprise of Chris' best friend from college being in town with his wife's family, so I was able to meet up that first night with him...in Wegmans, well because Wegmans is the taj majal of grocery stores and they had a good cafe spot inside. John brought his daughter Emma, who is Alice's age, and it did not take long for she and I to bond...I cannot resist anyone who wants to play with my hair! hahaha....Anyway, Emma is delightful and I had a great visit with John! I hadn't seen him in 13 years, since his wedding weeks after Kristen was born.




The rest of the time at Mom's was mainly chilling out and spending time together. Mom & Ed treated me to a massage at a place they go to, and that was really nice! I considered that my early birthday present. And living near the university allowed me to enjoy the sight of SU colored shopping carts at the grocery store!! Only in Syracuse...



We left Syracuse on the 6th to head partway home, to just outside Lancaster, PA, not too far from Hershey. Mom & Ed caravanned down with us. They'd gotten tickets to see this biblical show based on Genesis and creation. We stayed at this amish inn next to the theatre, where they had livestock. The show was pretty good, although waaaayy too much singing for my taste! The sets were elaborate and they used real animals in parts of it. My kids were remarkably well behaved, considering.

a couple pics of the place where we stayed...


Lemon sucking silliness!


do you think the kids have had enough of this trip? ha ha ha...

me and my mommy =)


We were very happy to get all the way home on the 7th. 2 weeks away from home is a long time!! I did not enjoy the delays getting through DC, but that is a necessary evil of traveling on 95 and since we left from near Lancaster, it did not make sense to backtrack to go down 81.

The North Country...part 4

It felt like our time together up north went by too quickly. Our last fun before heading back down to Syracuse was ice cream at Molly's, on the way to Malone. (for those of you not familiar with Malone, it is indeed the same Malone that Almanzo Wilder grew up in from the Little House books.) some final pics of our time there...

Alice & Kayley playing guitar hero


Ken mowing hay

Can I drive??? please? =) the wheels are as tall as I am, almost!

Doesn't this sunset look like a lollipop off a stick?


Parting was made a tiny bit sweeter after some ice cream....



Alice hamming it up with Stephanie


my awesome friend Lisa and I

North Country, part 3

and more pictures...

Happy Birthday Cassondra!!


us and our friend Chris


me and my friend Johanne


Matthew with our former neighbor across the road

More from the North Country

here are a few more pictures from our time up north....

Kayley, one of the Blues Sisters, hahaha...


Alice the other Blues Sister...


Kayley & Kristen


All of us...(I swear Matthew is NOT picking his nose, hahaha)Lisa, me, Kayley, Kristen & Alice..swimming at the rec park

The North Country!!! (after a stop at Mom's)

Getting back to my NY trip fun.......



That Monday the 27th (July), we stopped by Mom's for a few hours to hang out. I did some laundry (thanks Mom!) and got an oil change so that light would go away that came on in PA during the drive up. Then after lunch, we headed up north to Lisa & Ken's for a few days. They are our best friends from when we lived up there. I love being up north; it is so relaxing and beautiful, and our friends have 80 acres and a farm. It was the perfect place for us to be. All 6 of our collective kids get along really well and it is so fun. I was happy that we got to be there during Cassondra's birthday and we celebrated by all going to see the newest Harry Potter movie. One of the days, we went down into Plattsburgh and saw some of our other friends, which was awesome. As much as I am growing to love NC, part of my heart will always belong up north!

Mom and Ed

it's puzzle time...


some more pictures...including one of the funniest lip balm products I've ever seen...Lisa found some of them at a garage sale (new, of course!)

wind technology meets bovine technology

Kayley and Alice 4 wheeling...

Matthew having fun projecting and staying out of trouble

Kristen and I chillin' in our shades...

gotta love redneck beauty products...

I interrupt my neglectful posting habit to bring you this message...

I know I have to finish catching up posting about my summer trip and the rest of August, but in the meantime...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SUPER AWESOME COUSIN WILL TODAY!!!

Will, I hope you have a wonderful birthday today and hope to see ya again soon somehow!!! Come to Raleigh again soon!

XXOOXXXOO!!