school's out for summer!

Jayden is officially out of school for the summer and has been since last Thursday afternoon. On June 20, we had Olympic Day at school, where Jayden participated in the javelin throw. He did fantastic and had a great time! Afterward, we ate lunch with him and then played on the playground. After we came home, Jayden was feeling under the weather (with a nasty cough), so I ran to the pharmacy and bought some cough medicine and he laid down for awhile.

As of yesterday, Jayden still had a cough, so I took him to the doctor-he is in great health with the exception of the cough. He will be better in a few days, though.

We went to The Wild Center last Friday. That place was great! We (Jayden and I) were able to pet a snake, watch otters play, smell assorted (and mostly bad) smells of the adirondacks, learn different facts about glaciers, watch turtles and fish, see and feel what it was like to walk in a bog, among other different things. It was SO fun!

Saturday, we were going to go to Enchanted Forest, but the weather was horrible, so instead, we went to see Cars 2 and then went out for lunch. That was such a cute movie! I loved that it was more action'y than the original.

Speaking of Enchanted Forest, I am headed there this upcoming weekend, just me and my girlfriends. I am excited! I haven't had a girls day out in so long, and not with this group of girls. Jamie, Ashley and Jamie's friend Irina and I are going for the day. It'll be so nice!

Tomorrow is Adrian's 28th birthday. I am hoping to take him out to eat for it! If only he'll pick somewhere to go!

Then, 2 more weeks until Jayden's 8th and his birthday party at WILD CHILD!

Up to my eyeballs in cuteness!

I didn't know that it was possible to be so excited about working but when I woke up this morning, excited is the only word I can think of to describe what I was. Today, I have little miss Paislee and little miss Clara here with me for the day. Paislee is about to turn 2, her birthday is June 4 and Clara will turn 1 on June 10. They are great big bundles of energy and major cuteness. Words cannot even describe how darn cute they are.

So far today, we've had wars over toys, and over Clara "petting" Paislee's head, and by "petting" I mean doing that cute little pet/grab/pull thing that babies do once their fists get clenched in anything soft and furry (or hairy, in this case!)...but all in all, the girls are doing great playing with one another. Paislee is an awesome helper and it's great to have them both here together with me!

Last week, my car officially died. Of course, upon this discovery is when we realized that my car title managed to vanish off of the face of the earth. So I spent yesterday ordering a new one from the DMV. $20 well spent considering I can't do anything with my car until I have the title in hand. I can't junk it or sell it or do whatever I decide to do with it until that document is in hand. The title should be here in 5-7 business days then I can figure it out from there. The good news is, is that I will now be driving a 2003 Mini Cooper. I just have to get the hang of the clutch down. I'm mostly worried about rolling back at stops on inclines in this bad boy. I take it in to the shop on Friday to get the back brakes repaired. I ordered the parts and they should be here tomorrow, so my friend Mike (who works at the mechanic I take my cars to) will just charge for the labor. Once the rear brakes are repaired, it should be smooth sailing. I am pretty excited about the Mini! Jayden is, too! Adrian bought a new car in February, so he is all set for awhile on a vehicle. We should really be set until we move to Colorado.

We spent Memorial Day weekend relaxing...and of course, being so very thankful for the men and women in the service that put their lives on the line and died for our country. We went to the Memorial Day parade in town. Jayden was supposed to march in it with cub scouts, but the night before, he changed his mind about it. The morning of the parade, he changed his mind back, but by the time he changed his mind, it was too late. He was upset, but Adrian and I had to talk to him about the importance of decision making. Ohhh, the tough life of being 7! We went swimming afterwards at Aunt Sue and Uncle Scott's...then we went again yesterday. I swear, Jayden sleeps SO well after nights of swimming! I had to wake him up yesterday morning and this morning. It was so nice. He usually wakes up around 5 or 5:30am and is up for the day, but the past two days, he slept until 7 or 7:30...whenever I woke him up. It's been nice to see him having so much fun, being less bored, and more active...not stuck in front of his video games or BEGGING to play video games when we make him turn them off. Are all little boys addicted to those things? We only allow 30 minutes a day IF even that. It's not like we allow the TV/video games to entertain him all the time. He gets maybe a little extra time on the weekends, IF we aren't busy.

So we have some exciting and busy things coming up-Friday, the Mini goes into the shop. Saturday, I have to take my bridesmaid dress to be altered since I am so short and I've lost about 30lbs since March or April or whenever it was that we went to order them and get fitted for them. Next week, I have daycare kids all week. The 11th, we have a birthday party at Wild Child (which is where Jayden's birthday party will be on his birthday!). June 17, my sister's birthday-hopefully we will be out there to see her for it or somewhere around there. The 24 is Jayden's last day of school and a 1/2 day. The 27 is my dad's birthday. The 30 is Adrian's birthday! He won't tell me what he wants or what he wants to do, but I would love to do something nice for him, especially since I have that day off.

Oh! And also, dad is taking Jayden on a little vacation out to Enchanted Forest at the end of June.

Somewhere in between all of that, I need to figure out what to do with my car.

THEN, in July, the 4 is obviously Independence Day! We will see fireworks and whatnot. The 13 is Jayden's 8th birthday and birthday party at Wild Child, the 14 is Jessica's 21st birthday-she is having a celebration at Saranac Thursday, but I doubt we will go-we don't have a sitter for Jayden that night since the rest of the family will be there, and it's only 21 and over. So we will probably sit that one out--Dusty's band is playing there though. THEN, from July 20 until about or around July 30, we will be staying at my Aunt Sue and Uncle Scott's while they go on a cruise so that we can take care of their dogs. They have a beautiful pool, hot tub, game room down in the basement, etc...It'll be nice! Jayden is excited to "eat all of the sweets in their freezer" (or so he said last night!) That gave Aunt Sue a nice laugh!

On July 24, my best friend Jenni gets married to a great man named Steve. I am her bridesmaid (well, one of them!) So naturally, the 23, I have the rehearsal dinner. Then a full day on the 24 of getting my hair done and getting ready for the days festivities. The wedding is around 3pm, but my day will start around 7am. The reception is at 5pm and goes until 9pm. I cannot wait to dance with Adrian for those few hours. I love him so much.

Adrian started summer classes yesterday, so we will have to arrange a lot of fun events this summer around his classes. He goes everyday for math and english from 8:30am-1:30pm.

August...well, August is a boring month for everybody, I think! We don't have much planned for August...save money for our move to Colorado once August hits! That's it! It's crunch time after that!

"Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly." -Robert F. Kennedy

A lot has been going on in our family as of lately.

First and foremost, I need to talk about something that has been weighing heavy on my heart, then I will post the happy things as a "pick-me-up!"

On Tuesday, the date was May 17. Anybody who knows me knows what that date is to me...May 17 was my son Liam's 4 year "angelversary." Liam passed away in 2007 when he was 5 weeks old, the official ruling on his passing was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. I thought the depth of his passing had hit me hard in the past but man! It has been hurting bad lately. I think that maybe in the past, I was preoccupied with raising a still (somewhat) small child. Jayden was 3 (almost 4) when Liam grew his angel wings. I had a lot going on with making sure Jayden was OK. Now, Jayden is 7 (almost 8), he is so much more independent, he has his friends, he has his things to keep him busy. Of course, he still needs me, but lets face it...he isn't a little kid anymore. He's a big kid! The ways he needs me are different. So I've had more time to really deal with the raw emotions and raw grief that I think I may have bottled deep down inside. It's emerging now and it isn't always easy. Liam turned 4 on April 9 and we did our annual balloon release for him. It was beautiful-the weather was fantastic! My sister and niece came down, my grandparents, parents, brother, and my cousin Malorie came for it. Adrian Jayden and I had some special moments out there together, writing our letters to Liam on our balloons. It was beautiful...but when it was all over, I came inside and had my own little melt down. Adrian was fantastic through it all. He always is. He knows when I need a soft word, he knows when I need silence, he knows when I need to be held and he knows when I need to be left alone. He also knows when I need to be told to snap out of it and go about my day (which isn't often, but sometimes, I do! Not over Liam though, he would never deny me the right to grieve!) He is a breath of fresh air in this process. In the past, I was not allowed to feel what I was feeling--I was told how I should feel by everybody around me. If I was sad, I was making everybody else sad, which put pressure on me to pretend I felt OK. I couldn't win with anybody.

Anyways...Happy 4th Angelversary to my Liam Scott. I love you and I miss you with all I have in me...your big brother does, too! We think of you all the time!

Jayden is doing so wonderful in school! He has perfect grades, and he will be going into third grade in the fall. We just booked his birthday party for his actual birthday--and when I say we just booked it, I mean we literally JUST booked it...today! He is so excited for it! He has his best buddy, Nicolas, who he has been best friends with since kindergarten. He's also buddies with Trevor, Patrick and Gabby, too. Gabby's mom and I were friends in highschool and pregnant together. Time sure does fly. Jayden amazes me everyday with things he does. It's amazing to me when I look at him and think back to when he was just an itty-bitty 4lb 12oz baby boy. He's now 60lbs and a wild BIG kid!

Adrian, Jayden and I are moving next year to Colorado. We are SO excited! We are hoping to move to the Fort Collins area, but we are also looking at Windsor, Loveland, and Colorado Springs. Adrian wants to go to school out there (as do I), and the job market out there is "boomin'," (as Adrian would say!) We are all looking forward to the change of scenery. We have been looking at houses out there (as much as we can do on-line), but we plan on taking a trip out there soon to get a look.

Adrian received his grades from the local college today--he did FANTASTIC! Four A's and one B! I am so proud of him! He is so smart and he does remarkably well at everything that he sets his mind to. We are celebrating tonight with some homemade chicken wing pizza (made by yours truly) and chicken wing dip (with the remainder of some of the ingredients)...Hello Heartburn! Here we come!

Jayden is going with my dad tonight to eat and then to spend the night with him-it's their weekend ritual on weekend evenings that my dad doesn't have a gig. It normally falls on a Saturday night, but tomorrow night, my dad has two band jobs, so tonight, they have their guys night. Jayden is beyond thrilled since they're going out for chicken wings and other "manly food."

Apparently, the world is supposed to end tomorrow--I don't buy into it, so I am going to sign off by saying "until next time."