"I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it"

I get to see Pam again!! Woo hoo!! I am beyond excited, and counting down the days again. She and her family (Scott, Joey and Quinn) will be visiting Scott's parents in the Miami area, and they are driving up to Orlando for two days to spend some time with us. The four of them, and the five of us, will meet at Lake Oela on Friday morning, stay overnight and then they will head back down to Scott's family on Saturday. It'll be a short visit, but I'll take any time we have together. I'm so anxious to see Joey and Quinn again, too. Quinn was just a baby when we were in Philadelphia together, and now she's a big 2.5 year old!! She and Erin are going to have a blast together. And of course Joey has grown like a weed, too. He and Erin are almost exactly the same age (Joey was born on my birthday in 2003). Oh, we can't wait to see you, too, Scott!

12 more days...

I can't wait to see you again, Pam!!!!!!!

I think I can, I think I can...

I keep repeating that over and over to myself. After the next three days are over, I am going to do some major celebrating! My three final classes of the semester are today, tomorrow and Wednesday, and it is taking everything that I have to get all of the assignments completed. Anyone that has ever worked full time and gone to school full time, kudos to you. This is tough! Thankfully I have 2.5 weeks off before the summer semester starts, so I will get a bit of a break. I need it. We'll be putting up the new swingset in the back yard, and I'll be doing a lot of nothing except watching the kiddos play.

Three more days and then I can breathe for a little while. Whew.

Such an imagination

One of the perks of working from home is that from time to time I keep Erin home with me, and we get to "play" when I'm not busy doing something. So she stayed home today. She told me that she had "plans". So while I was working in my office, I could hear her talking (I just keep the french doors in the office open, and the sliding glass door to the house open so that I can hear her). I went around through the house where she wouldn't see me, and this is what I found.

After I snapped a couple of pictures I asked her what she was doing. She apparently has a classroom setup, and all of her babies and stuffed animals are her students. She is the teacher (of course!!) and she is having a class, teaching them how to write their names. So she has all of this stuff from her room setup in the corner of the eat in part of the kitchen, behind the kitchen table. It was so cute, and listening to her instruct her "students" was adorable. She was so serious, and kept asking them if they had any questions. She would even pretend that they asked a question, and then respond to them.

MORE Webkinz!

That's right! Another box of Webkinz from Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Larry showed up on our door today. We cannot find these things ANYWHERE here, and yet Grandma and Grandpa continue to find them. Today the kids received Pegasus, Leopard, Monkey, Koala and another White Terrier. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!! The kids are having a blast with these critters (as you know since you play with them online!).

On another note, I have ONE MORE WEEK of classes in this semester, and then I have a three week break before summer classes start. I am SO looking forward to that break, too. I've finished up my 4th year ASL class, and I love it more than I did when I started.

The boys are out of school on May 23rd. They'll fly to Atlanta to spend some time with their family there, and then Sean is planning to take a trip to stay with Grandma and Grandpa in Oregon towards the end of his summer break. Hopefully this year he won't have a cast for summer break!!

WEBKINZ!!!!

The long anticipated box arrived at almost 10pm!

Barely able to stand the wait, they finally dug in

Going through each of the bags inside of the box.

21 Webkinz!!

Erin and her "girlie" Webkinz. Terrier, Yorkie & Poodle

A few happy kids

If you haven't heard of Webkinz yet, something is wrong. They are the newest "hot item" for kids, and the addiction is spreading quickly. They are cute little stuffed animals that come to life in a virtual world online. Around here, you can't find them ANYWHERE. Literally every store that sells them is sold out, and continues to sell out within an hour of getting more in stock. So...Grandma and Grandpa to the rescue!! They sent Sean, Bren and Erin 21 Webkinz!!! Most people around here can't even find ONE, let alone 21. Grandma and Grandpa even have their own, and they play online with Sean and Bren almost every day. Again, thank you Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Larry.

Oh, and by the way, when they realized that they were in such hot demand, they drove over 30 miles away to find a store that carried them in Oregon. You guys are the best! And...they have more on their way to us!!

www.webkinz.com

Easter goodies from Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Larry sent Sean, Bren and Erin Easter baskets filled with goodies! They loved getting the treats in the mail, and it extended their Easter by a few days. Thank you both!!!!

Easter

We spent Easter Sunday in Deltona with the family there. It was a beautiful day, and we all had a great time. The egg hunt was the biggest ever! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day.

Sean and Bren's bunnies. They were 18 inches (before the ears were eaten!)

My sweet nephew, Zaye

Nana, the matriarch of our family

Zaye and Michelle

Sean flying a kite

Sea Camp 2007

Self portrait

One of the sharks that they swam with

A live conch and starfish

The barracks where they slept

Sean got back home this morning at 1:00am from his first trip to Sea Camp in the Florida Keys. He left on Friday at 6:45am.

The trip was sponsored by his school, and there were 45 students and five chaperones. Sean has been looking forward to this trip all year, and he has worked hard in his classes to ensure that he would be able to go. Our deal was that as long as he remained on honor roll, he would go. It cost $550.00 for him to go, and it was worth every penny to see him as excited as he was about it. It was an all-inclusive trip, so it was a great deal. He loves marine animals, so this was the perfect trip for him. They went snorkeling, swimming with sharks, sailing, wading, and lots of other fun activities. I have no doubt that he'll be going again next year.

I've included a couple of pictures that Sean took while he was there. He didn't get nearly as many as I had hoped for, but I know that he was more interested in doing the activities than taking pictures. The site for the camp is http://www.seacamp.org/