Outfitted For The Wedding

Because my brother is getting married NEXT Saturday and we had nothing to wear to the wedding(not because it was last min, but because I suck;-)Ben, the girls and I spend Saturday afternoon shopping. Declan got lucky and was invited to a friends:)

So, off we went. We had a plan to follow, well as much as we follow a plan. First, a dress for me. Walked into the store and out with a dress in less than 20mins! Then cross to the mall for the Monsters! We walked into The Children's Place and hanging on the wall were the perfect black dresses for the girls and Ben found black pants and a sweater for the Boy! I threw in Easter Dresses for the girls and off we went, another store down and we were not there an hour yet!

Because we were so lucky in finding clothes, we had time to eat lunch and do the food shopping at Wegman's. We walked in ordered our pizza, ran through the store and picked up what we needed and were back in time to meet out pie coming out of the oven! It was perfect!

I am very happy we are all set for the wedding and for Easter now. It had been about 6 months since I had been in a Mall and I am hoping it can stay that way for another 6 months at least:)A far cry from my Jersey Youth days, when I was at the mall EVERY weekend;-)

Report Cards

After about a two-week delay, the kids finally got their second quarter report cards. And I have nothing new to report. Killi is working hard to keep-up and she is making great strides, thanks to her teachers and to her for working so hard! Declan is doing well, but is still very LAZY!

It kills me to watch Killi work so hard and struggle and then watch Declan do as little as he can and do great! It is so unfair sometimes! I wish I could just make school alittle easier for her and harder for him:) I guess it doesn't work that way though, so I will be happy that he is bright and completing the work at a high level and I will be so proud of her for working so hard everyday!

Oh and Marg does not get Report Cards yet, that is why she has been left out:)

It is Tuesday...

Tuesday the 16th of February and the kids are still not back to school. So far this month they have attended school for a total of 4 hours for Declan & Killi and 0 for Marg. Having the home would not be bad if the weather were better and we could get outside and do stuff. The weather is not and we spent alot of time inside as the only other option is shopping and boy does that get costly;-)

There seem to be snow showers or at least flurries everyday and melting is slow to happen! For a metro area with an average snow fall of about 15 inches, this winter at 50+ for everyone, has not been easy. Costs are adding up fast for communities. From employee overtime to plow and salt/sand for roads, costs are climbing high! And people's patience is very low!

I will be happy to get the kids off to school tomorrow, even if it is 2 hours late and Maggie will still be home. I will be happy mostly because I think they are incredibly bored and need a schedule back. I hope we miss the snow they are predicting for next week:)

Quick Trip To NJ!

After days and days in the house together, we decided it was time for a road-trip to NJ for the weekend. And I am so happy we went.

My mom was up from FL so that was an added push to go. We headed up Friday around noon which got us there in time for some good Jersey food for dinner! Saturday morning, the monsters went sledding with Billy, Kelly, Ang and Grammy, while I ate Windmill:)

Saturday night we went to a party at the Carrie and Allie's, where we partied with Kelly's family! It was so fun! It is nice when the soon-to-be in-laws are awesome!

Saturday night Bridget,Jim and Max came down too and spent the night! So we spent Sunday playing with them and having Birthday Cake for Uncle Jim!

Before we left on Sunday, I was lucky enough to get yo go with Kelly for her fitting and the dress is soooooo pretty! I want to have it for me:) I also got a Vic's pizza for dinner!

A quick and full trip, but fun! And just what we needed after being stuck inside, together, for DAYS!

Are They Kidding?

It is no secret that I am not the biggest fan of Scouts, boys or girls, but after reading the brochure for Girl Scout Camp for Killi, I HATE SCOUTS!

The programs looked very interesting and the prices not insane. It was not even that far from home. I was reading along with Killi and she seemed interested in attending, so I was really reading through and considering it.

Then BAM!!! I get to the back page where they go through the arrangements of camp and they very BOLDLY and CLEARLY state that your camper will not be allowed to call home, you can only visit during designated times and there are adults in the living quarters.

All that is fine if my kid is 11,12...but not 7!!!! And sleep away camp starts at 5!!!! At 7, you are telling me to TRUST that my kid will be fine alone for a week and too bad if she is not, I will NEVER know!!!WTF!!!

It is safe to say that my monsters will NEVER go any place that tells me that they cannot call or see them, so long as I remain the boss of them!

Add this to the list of reason THAT I HATE SCOUTS!

School, What's That?

Yeah, that is the question that the monsters are asking now! They have been out of school more since Dec.18 then they have been in! Christmas Break, MLK Day, Teacher work days and 3 Blizzards! It is CRAZY!

I wonder how the teachers will EVER get them back on track again! It is going to take a good solid week to remind them of all the rules and routines of school. Because if any of the other parents are like me, we have been trapped inside for so long that I really don't care what they are doing anymore so long as no one gets hurt and they are not up my ass!

In addition to The Monsters being home, Ben has not gone back to work and the Federal Government is closed again tomorrow as there is too much snow for mass-transit to run! So, to recap the week, we have been home together for 5 1/2 days with at least another 5 to go until they all leave to go back to school and work!

I am happy to say that we have had no real problems/fights/issues during all our Family-Time, we are just bored! We are not a family that every takes a "stay-cation", we are the family that runs to OBX or NJ for long weekends and we always spend Ben's vacation time away from home! So, this is alot of home time! I am not sure we have ever spent this much time in this house:)

I guess it is a good sign that Killi really missed us and wanted to come home from her sleep-over even after being invited to stay longer:) Family love is good! It has been boring, but it is good:)

Family Fun?

We have decided to venture out! Not the best idea as it seems everyone else also decided to head out! Nevertheless, we are out and at the movies to see The ToothFairy! I am sure it will be a wonderful and exciting movie:)

Home Bound

The official snow totals for Stafford County are 25.5 inches for the BLIZZARD of 2010! Schools have been closed since Friday and are now closed through at least Tuesday. I am not hopeful about Wednesday as the forecast is calling for a few inches on Tuesday night. Poor Killi thinks it is summer vacation, Maggie is working on week 3 of no school(with no plans to ever return:) and Declan is pretty bored with us.

What to do now? I guess it is time that I start doing some school work with everyone at home. Declan could be reading ALOT more and Killi has lots of math sheets and reading she could work on. And I am sure it would not hurt Maggie any if I did some reading with her. Now if I could only get motivated.

More of the White Stuff!

School is closed again tomorrow. Marg has not been to school in 2 weeks and Declan and Killi has spent 4 hours there this week. The forecast for the next two days is snow, snow and wind, snow 16-24 inches total unless the storm stalls in which case we could get more:)

I guess I have no choice but to embrace this family time and enjoy the snow!

School Days...What Are They?

As it stands right now Maggie has not been to school in a week and a half and Declan and Killi have been out since 1pm on Friday. The snow is falling again and there is about 1/2- 1 inch so far so I am guessing there will be no school tomorrow. I am really starting to feel like I should do some school work at home with the monsters! By the time poor Killi gets back to school it is going to take FOREVER to get her back on track! I am not sure I will be able to get Marg back in the doors at school and poor Declan is bored to tears with us:)

I guess tomorrow will be filled with more baking and a family LIPS competition on XBOX:)

WOW! Another One!

It snowed here on Saturday. A decent snowfall, about 8-10 inches. Tomorrow is Tuesday and school is closed AGAIN for snow that fell on SATURDAY! Good news for the kids though, Wednesday is not looking promising for school as another 2-4 inches are predicted for tomorrow night.

I am not sure if the school system knows or not, but I have vacation plans for late June, so enough with the snow days!

I am not sure I would mind the snow if I could drive in it, but I cannot, so we sit in the house. I am not really sure where we would go if I did drive since the ground is always wet or snow-covered. Maybe a playdate for tomorrow? Maybe McDonald's? Or Carlos for kids day. Probably just more togetherness with the kids at home:)