July

Well, July has been an incredibly busy month also. It just seems like summer has blown by! Silly me, I took five classes this summer! Ugh!!! But, I'm all the closer to graduating. In the midst of all of my schoolwork, we've still been able to squeeze in some fun.

Fourth of July. We had no plans for the fourth, so we thought it would be fun to have a little get-together at our house. It was miserably hot, so the kids spent a considerable amount of time playing games on the Wii. When they weren't busy doing that, they had fun running each other over with the Power Wheels. Everyone brought yummy food, and we went to watch the fireworks when it got dark.

Joseph turns six!!! I can't believe how my baby has grown! He is turning into such a smart, handsome, polite little man. I just love him to pieces. This year he got to have his first party with friends. It was a Star Wars themed party, and the kids had a blast. Brad and I put a ton of work into the party, and it was worth it to see Joseph and his friends so happy. We had little missions for the kids - they got to blow up the Death Star (sidewalk chalk and water balloons), rescue Princess Leia (they had to pop balloons to find out which one she was in), shoot down bad guys (used a toy dart gun and cardboard cutouts), and fight R2-D2 gone bad (pinata and a dowel rod painted to look like a light saber). At the end of the party, all of the kids (Padawans) were rewarded with a certificate of completion, and their own lightsaber (colored bubble wands). All in all, it was a great day, and we were happy to share it with our friends and family.

Vacation. Brad and I took our first vacation EVER without kids! It was wonderful. I was a little nervous at first. But after four days of freedom, we came home feeling refreshed. The state paid for Brad to stay in a $200/night hotel room so that he could attend some teaching conferences. I tagged along and our nieces watched the kiddos for us. We only went to Morgantown, but it's far enough away that we can consider it vacation. And it was by far the nicest hotel I've ever stayed at. Even the continental breakfast was wonderful. We got to enjoy the beautiful scenery at Cooper's Rock, view some beautiful sunsets in the mountains, eat at some of our favorite Morgantown restaurants, and we saw some other sights that can only be seen in Morgantown...

The Mountaineer!!!

Our favorite pizza, from Casa D'Amici.

And, it's not likely you'll see this many other places...

...That's right. Filming "Girls Gone Wild" at a nightclub in Motown. Oh man!

And, last but not least...

Joseph lost his first (and second) tooth! He was so excited for the tooth fairy. He helped me make a special pillow to put his tooth in to leave for her. He woke up the next morning, and she had left him two whole dollars. Whoa, big spender!

Crazy...I've had a post two days in a row. And I have more to come, so it'll probably be three! Until tomorrow...