April 24 Spring has sprung

My garden is alive with the color of my Spring flowers in bloom. This afternoon, John McGarry was kind enough to come over and help me tame the bushes in front, as well as fertilize the gardens. Maybe the bloom of the full garden will be enough to lure a potential buyer into making an offer!

April 23

April 22 Pinewood Derby

This evening was the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. Liam tells me his two favorite things from this year's Derby were: His car coming in first in its heat 3 of 4 times; and being only one place away from the grand finals.

Aril 21 Look Ma, No cavities

Brendan and Liam were in the "no cavities club" this morning at Dr. McDonnell's office. Liam's spacer is doing fine, and word at the dentist's office is that Brendan probably won't need braces. Whoo Hoo!

April 20 Our kitchen is in... sort of!

We went through the house today with high expectations of seeing our cabinets "in." My idea of "in" was "installed." Turns out, they were just "in boxes!" Well, at least we got to see how the rooms look with the overhead lighting in place. It's coming along nicely. Now, if we could just sell our old house...

April 19 Three Layers

Friday night I was so cold in the tent that I thought my feet had turned into blocks of ice. The forecast for last evening was cold and possibly rainy, so I bundled up for sure! Here, I am showing off my three bottom layers: long underwear, sweatpants and more sweatpants! We had a great time camping with the scouts, but now we are ready to go back home.

April 18 Mining for Diamonds

Today, we spent the day at the Herkimer Diamond Mine. We hammered, and clawed, and used chisels... but when it really came down to it, we found the best diamonds right on the ground with our gloved hands! In the evening, we enjoyed pizza at the campground, and even went out for ice cream! Camping was fun, but I'll be happy to be back home and pet the cats.

April 17 Boy Scout camping

We went to Herkimer today on a Boy Scout family campover. Even though it was very windy, the skies were sunny and it was not raining. Here, Jake and Brendan take a minute to rest after having set up their tent. We enjoyed a BBQ chicken dinner tonight with baked potatoes and corn. Tomorrow will be a fun day of mining for "diamonds" at the Herkimer Diamond Mine.

April 16 Maggie knows we're leaving

Maggie always knows when we are packing for a trip. Tonight, she discovered our camping luggage for tomorrow's outing. I think she figures we can't leave her alone with Jerry, if she's asleep in our suitcase! Sorry, Maggie! See you in two days...

April 15

April 14 Diane's CM party

Diane had a great Creative Memories party tonight. Among those in attendance were Pat and Anna, Nance & Teresa. Carol even called from Hawaii! Anna played with the cats and couldn't believe that you can actually make a fluffy sheep page accent out of a simple flower punch. It was a fun party. Afterward, Diane got me caught up to date on this season's American Idol. Gotta love the DVR!

April 13 Maggie May

Maggie kept me company tonight. She is a good companion when I am alone downstairs watching TV. I'm sure if there were an intruder, Maggie would claw his eyes out and keep me safe!

April 12 Happy Easter

This year, the Easter Bunny was joined by his friend, the Easter Platypus. Together, they hid plastic money-filled eggs around our house for the boys to discover. They had a fun time hunting, and were greatly rewarded.

After church, we went to Diane's house for the traditional brunch and enjoyed her beautiful new kitchen.

April 11 Visiting with Uncle Billy & Aunt Maria

Today we met Uncle Billy & Aunt Maria for lunch at the Circus Cafe. Afterward, we took a walk through Congress Park. Although Spit & Spat were still boarded up for the winter and the Carousel hadn't opened for the season yet, we still enjoyed a nice walk through the park.

April 10 Elise and Rebecca come over

April 9 Jackson visits the new house

Jackson (& Tina) took an inside tour of our new house today. Jackson LOVED it! So far, the sheet rock is up, the place is painted (white~ we'll customize later), and some of the linoleum is down. It's coming along nicely & we're getting excited for the end of this journey.

April 8 the library is closed!

We had a house showing tonight, AND Cub Scouts, plus choir rehearsal. Since we were displaced from the house, we decided to go out for pizza. After dinner, we had time to kill before going to choir practice. Brendan was interested in going to the library. Unfortunately, we got there at 7:08. Brendan posed for this picture, showing his displeasure!

April 7 National Junior Honor Society Induction

Brendan was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society this evening (pictured here with his friend Morgan). We are so proud of him. He is a fine Boy Scout, has many academic accomplishments, and also has a strong and straight moral compass. Good job, Brendan. We love you!

April 6 Jerry helps Brendan with his homework

Jerry "helped" Brendan with his homework this evening. And by this, I mean that Jerry kept attacking Brendan's pencil, as Brendan tried to write with it. Eventually, Brendan provided Jerry with his own pencil to bat around, and everyone lived happily ever after!

April 5 Donna's home !

Donna, Kirk & Olivia came home from their FL vacation late last night. The boys and I had been watching Lyle and Lumpy while they were away, so we were officially relieved of our feeding and poopy scooping duties! What better way to celebrate Donna's last official day of vacation than with drinks @ Tina & Bob's house... which is exactly what we did! The drinks shown here are a hard pink lemonade concoction, and were quite yummy.

April 4 Photo shoot with Jerry

Jerry had a nap with me today. When I woke up, I took the opportunity to have a photo shoot with the still-sleepy cat. He posed for several good shots & this is one of my favorites.

April 3 More testing

Jim had his bone marrow biopsy today at Dr. Lamparello's office in Albany. Apparently, the procedure was less painful and less traumatic than expected. I was super annoyed that I wasn't invited to observe the procedure. I definitely missed my calling as a scrub nurse... They got a nice good sample, and now we wait for the results, to determine the proper course of treatment.

April 2 No more training wheels!

Liam has finally mastered the fine art of bike riding at age 8! It only took two assists from daddy for him to realize that he could do it all by himself. Now that he's an "expert," he's got all sorts of family bike rides planned for this summer. Good job, bud ~ we knew you could do it !

April 1 Making up for lost time

I had lunch with Mary and Max today at the Fortunate Cup in Saratoga. It's been a while since we really sat down for a chat, so we had a lot of ground to make up. Since my life is CRAZY right now, I did most of the talking! I told her about selling the house, building, and of course, Jim. It was good to get together with Mare & I vow to do it again soon.

March 31 Forever Wild

The sight from my bedroom window this morning was of fog lifting through the woods behind our house. The sun was just rising when I took this photo. When we move, I will surely miss the forever wild woods and trails, which run not only behind our house, but throughout Luther Forest.

March 30 the Doctor is in

Jim and I drove to Boston today to meet with an Oncologist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The facility was large and filled with people hoping for the best; both patients and doctors. The two doctors and Fellow who met with us were all very friendly and knowledgeable. We left with a wealth of information, a lot of homework, but also a feeling of contentment about the level of care which would be provided to Jim, if he chooses to go there for his treatments.