Happy Birthday America!!!

We really enjoyed the first part of last night’s fireworks show! Unfortunately, the long pause before the (sporadic) grand finale found us in the exit lane of the parking lot and unable to watch it. Note to self: send a letter to the city – second year that’s happened – enough is enough.

Everyone is enjoying the summer and the reinstatement of family movie and game nights. We’ve watched Yogi Bear and Opposite Day, and we’ve played Uno and Putt Putt. We also saw Secretariat in a very unique way to us…..projected onto the back of the house! It was really cool to see a way-larger-than-life horse galloping across the vinyl siding! We hope to do that more and more as the weather allows. (there’s a couple pictures in the June photo slide show link above that show us getting ready for the BIG movie in the backyard)

Joseph is being promoted at church this coming Sunday and will be attending the elementary class, where he might meet other children that will be in his kindergarten class – which begins in 64 days!!!

I am very excited to be on vacation next week. As always, I’ll have too high of expectations and won’t get anything done! Oh well, that’s what vacations are for, right?

Jaime and Sabrina are learning the piano/keyboard this summer and Sabrina is going to also start learning the guitar. Jaime shocked me one afternoon by playing ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ from memory. These children are all so talented!!!

Niki will be in the Baby Contest at the Prince William County Fair on August 12th, and Joseph, Sabrina and Jaime, as well as myself, plan to enter a couple items in the hopes of bringing home a blue ribbon, or four, this year!

And with the girls forgoing their birthday party for a Halloween Party, I suppose we’ll need to start working to transform the basement to a haunted maze and get our costumes made. I think the girls want to do a family theme this year, but I kinda want to be Mommie Dearest!!! =)

Oh and I have to mention one thing that has made this summer VERY enjoyable! Chore Charts at www.goalforit.com!!! They are fabulous at helping my children help me!!!! Thank you goalforit!!!!