Happy 12th Birthday Andrew!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first baby is 12 today. Oh my...where does the time go? I can remember my pregnancy and labor with him like it was yesterday, and here he is, almost a teenager. I am happy to say, I am proud of the person he is, and he seems to be becoming. He has a good head on his shoulders and he is so much fun to talk to and be with.
He had a party with his friends last night. I really didn't want to do a party this year, but I'm so glad we did. He just wanted his friends over to play/hang out, and that's exactly what they did. They slept in the tent (which Andrew put up by himself), we cooked burgers on the grill, and besides that, they just played. Baseball, capture the flag, wii, and flashlight tag. Oh, and after dinner they had the brilliant idea to give each other spinny rides on the tire swing. J, pictured above was the first to volunteer stating the loved rides, had an iron stomach....well, let's just say our parties rock as - you guessed it, he threw up! Twice. So after that (and a few other kids were still recovering) we banned the spinny rides).

Boys in front of the tent.

Andrew and J (yes, he stayed and felt better after awhile).

Thanks Uncle Chuck, Aunt Rina and Cousins Kyle, Jason and Alex for the awesome hat, and gift card!

Andrew has been saving for 6 months to get an iTouch. Today was the day! His birthday money finally gave him enough to get the gift he has been waiting for. Thanks to everyone who contributed. I took him to the Apple store to get our questions answered, then he decided to purchase it at Target so he could get the $25 gift card they were giving away with it! Smart kid. He used the gift card to buy and iTunes card and has purchased games today. He is having fun with it while I update the blog.

Andrew didn't want a cake, instead he wanted to go to Coldstone Creamery. Here are his crazy siblings saying "cheese".

And our yearly picture with Pooh. Tim bought this for him when he found out we were pregnant! I'll have to find some infant/toddler pictures of him with Pooh and post them.

Happy Birthday Andrew....you will always be my baby!

Painting Fun

Beautiful Sunday!

Andrew was on is bike/camping trip, Tim was mowing the lawn, the Iron Tour bike race was zooming by all morning, so we decided to drag the picnic table to the shade out front and paint.

She had a blast. Paint in her hair, paint everywhere, but tons of fun!

Here is the front garden. It will look so nice when the orange flowers open (I have no idea what they are called!)

He's back!

Andrew is back from his bike camping trip. I wasn't worried about him until the surprise rain started to fall in the afternoon. I didn't know if he had taken the trash bags I had reminded him to take just in case to cover his sleeping bag (I knew he had a disposable poncho). Then in the evening, it got quite chilly. Did he have a sweatshirt (probably not)? Then we got thunderstorm after thunderstorm. It poured buckets. I was hoping he was able to stay dry in his tent.

Well he was home before 2:00 on Sunday. The traveled from Oaks to Green Lane (20 miles), stopped at Moccia's for lunch, and camped in Green Lane. Then returned on Sunday stopping at Wawa in C'ville for lunch on their way back. He had a GREAT time. It did rain a bit on their ride up, but Andrew and his travel buddy Sean just kept going. They were the faster riders and got to the park over 1 hour ahead of the rest of the troop. Thankfully it hadn't rained at the park yet, so they were able to set up their tents on dry ground (yes, Andrew did cover his sleeping bag) and thankfully Andrew and his tentmate Collin picked a good spot as they were dry through-out the night (not everyone was so lucky).

Andrew didn't stop riding once he hit the park, he wanted to tour the park on his bike, and explore the trails too. He had a hard time finding friends that could keep up with him (as he can't go alone). He enjoyed his freeze dried spagetti and meat sauce dinner and ate all his snacks on the first day. Next time he'll listen to me and pack more!

He enjoyed riding so much and wants to go further next time, 20 miles was nothing for him, even weighed down with gear! He really wants to do more riding and wants to sign up for the Iron Tour that rides by our house every year (yesterday was the day this year). Looks like he has yet another hobby.

Camping Again! (6/13)

Today Andrew is riding with his scout troop approx. 25 miles to their campsite. They are riding on the Perkiomen Trail from Oaks to Green Lane, camping overnight, then riding back tomorrow. This is Andrew this morning waiting for the rest of the riders to arrive. He is all ready, with the exception of this backpack hydration/bladder system. This is his first bike camping trip, and the longest he has biked, though he has ridden a good portion of this trail before with his Grandmom. I can't wait to hear about his trip.

Goodbye Elementary School (6/12)

Andrew's promotion ceremony from elementary school was on Friday. He received an award for band, and one for 6th grade.
He is so ready for middle school! This was a tough year with the new school, not so great teachers, etc. He is ready to start fresh, be more independent and grow up....sniff, sniff.

Bear to Webelo (6/10)

Steven graduated from a Bear Scout to a Webelo I. Andrew's Troop performed the flag ceremony and he held the American Flag.
Tim is the CubMaster and performed most of the ceremony/speeches.

Here is Steven getting his new neckerchef (how many Webelos does it take to put on a neckerchef :-)

Here he is after the ceremony on the bridge he crossed!

Then he had his arrow ceremony (I had to break his arrow over his right shoulder), then we had an ice cream party...yum.

Baseball Season is Over (pictures added)

Third Base
Sliding into home!

At first, ready to steal second (and he did).

Andrew's team made it pretty far in the playoffs, but it's over. I took some really good pictures and hope to post them soon. Andrew had the 3rd highest batting average on his team! For his last game, the coach finally saw the light and had Andrew as the 1st batter, and left him in the whole game!!!

Yard Sale Find!

Yesterday we hit a few yard sales. Kendyl really made out! Pictured is the find of the day, a Franklin Mint Dollhouse. She loves her little Fisher Price dollhouse, so we were looking for something a little bigger and stumbled upon this. It is solid, in excellent shape, though needs a little cosmetic work (moldings, paint touch-ups). We knew it was a Franklin Mint when we purchased it for $25, but when we looked it up on the internet, we found out it was a limited edition, Norman Rockwell Christmas House that sold for $2500 (with all furnishings). Score! We bought this for her to play with, and that's what is will be. She loves to put her little people in it, and her new princesses. Now to find some furniture....
Oh, she also got a new tricycle, helmet, barbies, game, tea set, play figurines, videos...all for about $15!!!

Steven got a Playmobil castle. Andrew got the pannier rack he needs for his bike camping trip next weekend. Great finds for the morning.