Freedom

Ellie and Ben are both off at sleep-away camps this week for the first time. Ellie's at a Girl Scout camp that specializes in horses, and Ben's at a recreation camp. We've gotten two letter from Ellie, none from Ben. From the pictures posted on the camp sites, it looks like they're having a great time.

Order of the Phoenix

We just got back from a pre-screening of the new Harry Potter movie, courtesy of Goldman, Sachs & Co. I love my job! Maddie and Ben liked the movie, and they each got a cool souvenir after the show - a display box that contains four metal clip type bookmarks with the Hogwarts team names and logos on them.

Patriots

A photographer came to Ellie and Sam's daycamp and took this picture - so cute I couldn't resist buying a print.

Miniature Horse Show

We visited a miniature horse show today with some friends. They were so amazing - about the size of a big dog, but perfectly formed little horses.

Phonics

Sammy was eating some Lemon Cookies for breakfast this morning. Or has he calls them - Lemon Cook-Eyes. Ever since he learned to read, he carefully sounds out every word he sees phonetically. Any word that ends in -ie or -ies is pronounced with a long I sound. He's been calling Maddie Mad-Eye for a few months now, and I thought it was just for the sake of annoying her. It turns out he was trying to correct us all on our obviously incorrect pronunciation of her name.

He's already lost most of his baby talk - things like lellow for yellow, so I'll just enjoy this while it lasts.

Travelin' Man

Ben left today to spend 12 days in the lap of luxury at Granny and Papa's house. Further details can be found on their blog, linked at the right. This was his first time to fly along, but in typcial Ben fashion he was completely unphased by it.

Announcement

This is for Jenny and Kelsey - you guys need to update the pictures you have on Mommy and Daddy's Cieva frame. Log on today - do it! Now that I'm all caught up with blogging, etc, I'm going to hound everyone else about it. :)

Edited to add - when you add pictures, you should unlock the same number of pictures from the 10 you have on the frame, so you don't end up bumping someone elses photos off with your upload. Currently, all the pictures are locked, so that we can choose which ones will be replaced. If this makes no sense to you, give me a call and I'll explain it.

Inebriated Arachnids

This is a little off color, so you might not want to watch it with the kids. However, it made Dave laugh hysterically, so I can't resist posting it.

Karate Kid

Sammy and Ben started karate this week. They teach them all sorts of great things, like respecting your parents, and saying "Yes sir!"

Sammy is Six!

Sammy's 6th birthday - we had the cake a little bit late that night so everyone could be home for it. He's got the Littlekins that Granny sent in front of him.

Watch this space!

Updates are coming soon, I promise. By the way, I use the neat trick of backdating my blog entries, so in the future it will appear that I was perfectly punctual in posting my pictures. So when you see my new pictures, be sure to check April and May.

Breakfast of Champions

After I finished taking the grueling Level II CFA exam, I turned my attention back to home and family. I went on a cooking jag and made everyone chocolate waffles for breakfast this Sunday.

Nutjobs

There's a lot of random junk in my dining room. This is what happens when a bunch of bored teenagers start digging through it. I guess these party hats are one less thing I'll have to sort through later, if I ever get around to tidying up this room.

Campers

Dave accompanied Ben on his first Boyscout overnight camp. It was hot and humid all night, and apparently the guy a few tents over was actually able to outsnore Ben! But it was still loads of fun, and the boys can't wait to camp again. Dave has recurring ideas about our family taking a camping trip, but so far, my idea of roughing it would be staying at a Holiday Inn instead of the Embassy Suites.

Maddie and Wes

Maddie met Wes at the introductory camp for high school marching band next year. They're getting ready to take Serena for a little walk here.