Mid December update

     The kids are doing good.  Penelope , Domenic and I have been playing Candy Land  a lot lately.  It is P's favorite game.  Domenic  is growing up quickly now that Mario is here.  He is funny!  The other day I caught him in the Play Pen.  I have caught him in the baby swing , the bouncing  seat and tonight Eric found him in the baby crib.  The bouncing seat broke.    I can't get mad at him b/c it has been through three kids and it was time for a new one or for us to get rid of it all together.  Mario likes to pull himself into a sitting position , so the bouncing seat  was pretty close to being out anyways.  Mario is now in the exersaucer.  He loves it!  He has  great control of his head and upper body that I was not worried to let him try it out.  He only has a week and half until he is four months old.  FOUR MONTHS OLD!   I thought the Pregnancy went quick.  He is no longer a newborn.  This truly makes me sad.  His new thing is that he will blow raspberries at us when we do it.  Penelope loves playing that game with him.   He is a pleasant baby and I can not get enough of him.

  Eric and I had an evening out and Mario had his first over night at the grandparents house.  we played cards and I took 1st place in our monthly poker tournament.  We had a nice evening and the next day we met my parents and kids at Undo's for dinner.  Afterwards we took the kids to a skating party. It was a fun weekend.

  Penelope was super excited to put the star on the Christmas tree.  

 I do  not think we will get Christmas cards out this year.  Three kids may not be a good excuse, but that is the one I am going to use. I hardly have time to blog.

 It will get easier soon for us to get out of the house more. right now I am too worried about getting the kids in and out of the car to take them many places.   It sometimes feels like we are on a repeat button here.  The kids wake up, we get breakfast for them, play games, feed baby, clean house, do laundry, Eric comes home from work, we eat dinner, clean up after dinner, bath time and then bedtime.  Tomorrow I am going back to the gym for the first time.  I am taking the two oldest to the daycare there so they can play and get worn out.  we may even take drive to see the lights afterwards.

Season Greetings

Mario at three months old. 

Domenic 2 1/2

Penelope 31/2 years old.

Mario had a Doctors appointment yesterday.  He is doing great. He weighed 13lbs  9oz.  He did well with his shots too. He nurses all the time still.  Even while I blog.  The boy likes to eat.

Penelope & Domenic are doing great too!  We took the kids to Kroger to see Santa yesterday.  Dom didn't care too much for it, Penelope was happy with the free candy after the visit. 

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  Eric made his first turkey and we had our first Thanksgiving dinner here at the house.  We sat together at the table, played games afterwards and then went to Eric's sisters in the evening.  

Mario did have to go to Dr's urgent Care on Wednesday.  Something or someone bumped his eye pretty good.  I got three stories and one was "we were playing eye inspector".  Domenic had a bloody lip -  so, I think he may have tripped over the vacuum and bumped Mario.  We will never know.  I was worried his eye may have been scratched, but he is fine.  Thank goodness! These kids keep me busy. 

Penelope Nicoles First hair cut Ever!

Penelope has never had a hair cut!She did great!  She loves her long hair , but it was really becoming a mess.  We struggled everyday  to get it brushed.  She was all for it and loved every moment of the salon experience.

The very first Cut!

  She was sad it was over .  I did  get a bit emotional.  She asked if she could get streaks in her hair like the girl next to her.  ( a teenager)   "Mommy can I get pink Streaks"  

 I love my girl !

End of the fall season

Can you believe our Mario is three months old?  It is crazy how time flies.  yesterday he rolled over for the first time .  he had rolled over a few times before that but i am not sure if it was because he had control or not.  He knew he did it this time.  He is talker!  He coo's and responds to us all the time. 
  Domenic & Penelope keep each other busy.  Sometimes they get tired of playing with each other.  Two days ago we went to a play date and the kids had fun.   Penelope did throw sand and that put her in her first play group corner time.  

 The holidays are here again and the kids from the play group are starting the birthday festivities.  Five birthday parties in the next two months.   It feels like yesterday that I met these moms, but we are going on three years of friendship.  It is so nice!  The kids have been apart  since they are in school now.  It will be nice to get together again.
  
  I seriously need to get to the dentist!  I have a cracked back tooth that is now starting to really bug me.  I am not scared of the dentist... just the bill.  I have waited too long and next week I am going to have to make an appointment.  I think I will go to Dr. High again.  He pulled my wisdom teeth and it was a great experience. No pain what so ever.   He was very gentle.  He had to be b/c my  upper jaw was just  broken six month prior.    

     I took second place in the monthly poker tournament .  That was fun.  It also put me our a yearly Tournament of Champions  (TOC).  Next month the top 18 card players of the year will  play  before the Christmas party and  regular monthly tournament.   I made it last year too, but I   had a wedding to shoot.  I am pretty excited to be in it this year.   

  The kids keep me really busy.  Mario nurses at least ten times a day  and Penelope & Domenic  are always up to something.  I am constantly picking up toys & changing diapers.  ~The life of a stay at home momma~

 
 

Halloween Party

Domenic & Penelope - Violet and Buzz Light Year!

We took the kids to Boo at the Zoo and I could not get Domenic to put on his Buzz Costume. eric was able to get him to wear it for trick or treating.

The party was nice. I had a lot of help this year.

Mario is getting big! He is now nine weeks old. He loves to smile and coo. We love it too.

Luna~ My brothers fouth child. I really need to frame this for him and get him a wallet size print too. It was suppose to be his daughters dog, but he fell in love .

Penelope and Domenic trying to play Abby's drum.

And grandma, Mario & Kaylee before her homecoming. More pictures to come of the homecoming crew.

Jenn & i have been spending time together again. This past Sunday we went shopping & we walked a few miles around Woodsdale.

I have been very busy with photography this month. and next month seems to be filling up too. I love it. I have to admit I have not taken many pictures of my own family.

When I am not edditing pictures, I am nursing a baby, cleaning house, making dinner, putting kids to bed, edditing more pictures.

Happy baby and potty training

Mario at 7 weeks.

Mario is eight weeks today! He is perfect. Last night he slept six hours straight in the night. I woke up in a panic. He was snoozing peacefully.

He coo's up a storm. He can mimic the "O" and the "A" sound already. I will have to go back in my blog to see when Penelope started this. Mario must have great vision and hearing to be able to mock us like this already. He responds to everything that we say to him with a sweet little voice. He is even hitting the rattles on his Bouncy chair. I thought at first this was a reflex, but He does it and stares at the rattle too ~ over and over again until he gets bored. Mario nurses a lot during the day. We are pretty much connected most of the day light hours. I can't complain about it b/c we get sleep.

Other than today, things are going good. Today the kids have hit boiling point and needed to go outside and play . They only lasted ten minutes. The rain and cold weather is not making my life better. Also our projector light is out. No 2:45pm movie. The kids are stuck up stairs with me and we are all bouncing off the walls.
Last night I took Penelope shopping. Her and I needed to spend some alone time together. She was good. She really needs to get out of this house and burn energy. It is so hard for us to leave. Domenic could use fresh air too.

Domenic went pee on the potty yesterday! That is by far the biggest news this week! It is a start!

Disney on Ice is coming to Wheeling at the beginning of the year. I can not wait to take the kids. Hopefully in a year or two we can take the to Disney World. I know Penelope and Domenic will enjoy every bit of it.

I hung out with my sister on Sunday. We had a fun time sitting on her porch. It has been a while since spent time together.

My neighbor and family friend Matti came up to visit the kids last week.

Domenic 2 And Penelope 3 1/2

Mario is 6 1/2 weeks . Tonight we saw smiles and he even responded in coos.... Proof that this is not gas. He is changing everyday . We practice belly time everyday. He is my little side kick.

Penelope and Domenic are doing much better this week. Our fence is finished and I am at ease letting them play in the yard while I tend to Mario.

My mom and I took the kids shopping the other day. It was hard to get to more than one store, but it was not a nightmare. the kids have enough outfits for winter and I was able to buy a new outfit too.

Eric is celebrating his 36th Birthday today. Penelope , Dom and I made him a cake and cupcakes while Mario napped. last night I was able to get out all by myself and shop for Eric. It was wonderful!

last weekend we went to Oglebay fest. Friday night mom came down to watch my kids and Eric and I went . It was our first date since Mario was born. Saturday we took the kids . they enjoyed it and I enjoyed the fact that we were out of the house for a little bit.

Penelope wrote the word "happy ' on her dads birthday card. I told her the letters and she wrote them down. Domenic said the letters as I wrote the letters down -- on his card to this father. It made me feel very proud! ( The break did me good yesterday!) I am always proud of my kids. the break just let me see more to be proud about. Domenic is sitting on the potty. he will not use it, but he does sit on it. We are making progress!

Sept 19th A trip to Grandmas

Over load

Last night was horrible. Penelope was running a very high fever , Domenic cried all night and kept us up until 4am. The baby needs to nurse every two hours and those sessions usually last over an hour. I can't even think straight anymore and the sounds of my kids whining and crying makes me cringe. ( this is my current feelings and I am sure once these kids go to bed or the minute I get a break from this place I will like a normal mom again.) --- This was last week.....



It all stated two weeks ago. Eric went back to work and Domenic got sick. We had to keep Domenic away from the baby. I had to wash my hands every single time Domenic would hand me a saliva soaked Popsicle stick , pacifiers, toys and when I had to wipe his nose from all the crying. Meanwhile - the baby is nursing or trying to nap and Penelope screams as loud as she can b/c she knows that will at least get me to give her some kind of attention. (even if it is not nice mommy kind) Everyone is in tears , including me. This has been happening for over a week. Then last week it was Penelope's turn to be sick and I had to keep her away from the baby. She was needing attention and I could not give it to her b/c I was tending to a newborn. This will not get me mother of the year award. thank god for the swing b/c this allows me to have at least ten minutes to get the kids lunch ready and put a movie on down stairs. Within a half hour at least one child is crying. If it is not the baby- the baby will wake up. If it is the baby the crying , the kids will fight over a toy. I was really about to pull my hair out.



It was so easy when Eric was here helping me. I was also on drugs ( from the c-section) .It was so much better on drugs!
I use to be a smoker and days like these make me want to puff a whole box of Marlboro's. Then I think about how it is no good and how far I have come as a non smoker. So today I asked Eric to pick up a six pack of beer. I have yet to have one, but I know they are there to enjoy.


My creative outlets have been put on hold. I am not even a creative mother at the moment. I am too busy trying to control two toddlers who will not listen. I am scared to leave the house with them b/c they are no longer listening to me. I know they are hating being stuck here and so am I. We did take them to the Apple Festival yesterday. It was rainy and the parade was weak.


Eric put a fence up , but it is not finished. He comes home from work and tries to get stuff done, but I need a break.

Breastfeeding- another subject that made me want to scream. Mario had tongue tie. We got that fixed. he was not latching on right b/c he was use to a bottle and we gave him a pacifier.My nipples are sore and I had a huge amount of milk b/c I was pumping . Every morning and every night my boobs were engorged. It felt like rocks under my skin and it is very painful. The baby only eats three or four ounces and I use to pump 6 -8 oz of milk from each breast. the baby was only getting fore milk and not the good fatty hind milk. So I needed to pump a little which makes more milk. It was driving me nuts!!!! This past week Mario and I worked it out. breastfeeding is going great. No more pumping and no more engorgement. Things are already looking up. Now, if I can get the two older kids to listen to me .

Within a few months all this will seem like small potatoes. I may even laugh about it. I need to get a routine. The kids getting sick made these first two weeks of being a stay at home mom of three kids (under three ) very hard! the baby can't be with out me , and I can't be with out the baby . I will flood an area with breast milk if Mario is not around.


I started this post almost a week ago. It has been rough to get things done around here.

Eric's brother is in town from Germany. We have no seen him or the kids yet. I wanted to wait until the kids are better. Penelope broke out in the rash after the fever .... She should be fine in a day or two. I will post pictures later this evening if I have time.
I got a new camera and I have not even had a chance to play with it much.

loving baby brother

Domenic held Mario .

Penelope loved holding her brother. She had a moment when Mario was falling asleep and she said " Oh dad has to see this!"

Today has been rough compared to yesterday. I may need to get out of the house this evening. I think the two older kids do too.

On my own

Wow, three weeks have gone by quickly! It feels like Mario has always been here with us. He is a great sleeper! He does not spit up or cry for long periods of time. I remember When Penelope was a baby. She would scream at me for at least five minutes. Those five minutes felt like five hours. Domenic just wanted to eat all the time and I could never let him down to sleep. He only wanted to be held. All my babies were good, but Mario might get the the award for being the easiest baby yet. This could back fire at me when he hits the toddler years.

Penelope has been enjoying the colorful leaves falling from the trees. She brings me leaf arrangements hourly.

Domenic has been sleeping all night and putting himself to sleep for over a week now. It is wonderful! He goes to bed around 8:45pm and sleeps until morning.

We are in the process of putting up a fence. Hopefully by next week we will have the post holes dug.

Eric went back to work this week. I did good today . I still can not lift Domenic and Penelope. I have tried a few times and it hurts. I do not think I will be leaving the house much with all the kids, but I can handle the kids on my own.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

I hope my two oldest enjoyed their summer. Eric and I tried to entertain them as much as we could. We went to the pool, parks, parties, festivals, library time, & the Zoo. We took a mini vacation to the mountains and they were able to play on their new swing set.

It has been a great two weeks here. Mario had his tongue tie fixed. He is nursing , but I still pump everyday. When I had to pump last week , my milk supply was great. Now I have so much extra milk. I have to keep up with it or I am in pain. Since my boobs are already stretched to kingdom come, I am not too worried about it, but you better believe that one day I will have my boobs placed back to where they once were. Call me Vain.... I save us money breastfeeding, and Dr. cost giving our children breast-milk.

Mario is a good baby! He eats and sleeps well.

Labor day weekend we took the kids to the park for a picnic. Then we went to a play ground so the older two could burn energy. Eric and I had the kids in bed by 9:30pm and we were able to watch a movie in the theater for the first time since the flood. Sunday we met up with family to listen to the Wheeling Symphony play at Oglebay Park. Domenic fell asleep after Eric took him for a long exhausting walk around the park. You have to wear this boy out! Penelope enjoyed the music and stayed up to see the fireworks. I was worried about Mario the whole time. He barely left my arms. Eric and I both agree that we have been taking him out too much and we are relaxing for a bit. It is hard to stay home with two little ones who want to run.

On Monday we went to my parents house for a steak dinner. Mom got Eric and I a cake to celebrate our four years of marriage. Tomorrow is our anniversary. Amazing that in four years we now have three kids. It is wonderful . Alright, it can be stressful too. I have no clue what I am going to do when Eric goes back to work next week.

Eric is putting up a fence in our yard to keep the kids in the yard. This will help out a bunch. Domenic likes to wonder off.

Penelope is a big helper too. She cleaned up all her toys and put everything back to the correct places. Super awesome! She made me very proud to see her clean up all those toys. Now she helps out all the time.

Domenic is no liking the potty. Monday I asked him to sit on the potty and he slammed the lid down, put his foot on it and said "No potty!" Okay, okay! I guess we are going to have to try a different approach. Girls are way easier to potty train than boys!

Mario will be three weeks old on Friday.

I love this picture of Eric, Penelope & Mario

Domenic Our Super hero

" Hey Domenic, get in the family picture."

His moves were great!

And he likes to use power tools.

Enjoy what is left of the summer

Eric is so helpful! I do not want him to go back to work! I have to pump milk and he will feed Mario the bottle. He even does this in the middle of the night. My husband is wonderful and I am very fortunate to have him.

Penelope started the summer not able to swing. She is now swinging like a champ. Sometimes it scares me b/c she swings too high. But she loves it. She makes up songs and puts on shows for us while she swings.

Mario a week old

His poor feet have been pricked a few too many times. But they are still adorable.

This last picture makes me laugh. Usually it is Penelope who smiles and Domenic not in the mood to smile.



My handsome Big boy. the next few weeks we are workign on potty training. ]We have really slacked in this department with Domenic. Domenic and I have been watchign videos about potty training and reading books. Hopefully by winter he will start to get the hang of it.

It is the end of summer. We are making the most of this weather by playing outside everyday. last night we took the kids to the Grandview Park.

It was nice until mini skirt mom came on a date with her boyfriend and left her kids to run the play ground while she was making out . Very strange stuff happens here in Marshall county. They made out right in front of Poor Domenic. She was leaning on the monkey bars. Every now and then she would turn away from locking lips to scream as loud as she could for her son. When she noticed Mario I almost went into complete panic mode. I was telepathically telling Eric " Don't let that sleazy dirt ball touch our baby" I know, that sounds mean. You did not see what she was wearing! And the moron guy she was with! It was Moundsvilles finest. Alright .... Back to the great day.

Eric dropped me off at Big lots so I could do a little shopping. I needed out of the house. And shopping always makes me feel good. Eric gave me a break & took the kids to dairy queen.

The plus side of keeping busy is that I do not have time to get down. After I had the other two I was allowing myself to get postpartum depression. I think b/c everyone says "you just had a baby, your allowed." Well, You should not be allowed. I am one who gets down and I become a train wreck. It help that I did not gain as much weight as I did with the other two. I am only 15 lbs away from pre-pregnancy and I know it will be easy to get off the weight once I can exercise again. I feel good about it. gaining only 30-35lbs this time made my pregnancy so easy. If I ever get pregnant again, I would do the same thing.

A few post back I made comments about how I did not know My Ob/gyn. Dr. Bala & I never really formed a relationship . Saying that, this last C-section was by far the best one I have ever had. I did not get sick and I was comfortable. Dr. Bala Cut out my two c-section scars and made it one. I am so happy he did that! He is knows what he is doing! I will keep him as my Dr.

Mario one week old

these are of Mario six days old.

these were taken his first day home. Monday. My neice Abby & proud sister Penelope

We left the hospital on Monday . On Thursday we are back to the hospital for Marios first check up. I noticed the other day while taking pictures of Mario that his eyes were yellow. He always seemed a little yellow to Eric & I but the nurses at the hospital said it was normal. Anyhow, I knew it wasn't. I also wonder at the hospital how he could sleep so long . It drove me mad when the nurses would not bring the baby to me. It was four hours, once six hours. I got upset several times. By the way, the nurses seem to think they know more than the Dr.'s. the Dr. would tell me one thing and the nurses would be like-- " no, we do it like this" Frustrating, but Eric and I try do what the Dr.'s say. So, at the Dr. appointment yesterday we told our Dr. about him being yellow. You can hardly notice. It looks like a gold tan. Since I am dark skin , it looks like no big deal to look at us together. We took him down to get a bilirubin test taken. Mind you the Dr's office just handed me a piece of paper that said , "Please avoid taking your child to the mall , restaurants and other public places since their immune systems are not yet developed and can get sick ." So, they send us to the Lobby of the hospital?!?!? I was a nervous wreck. I cringed when people came near my baby. We waited and finally our pager went off. The test results came back an hour later. During that hour we went to the Lactation consultant. She was wonderful. She noticed that Mario is tongue tied. This could be the main reason he is not pulling milk from the breast. He also needed to get a better latch. Milk is not a problem. I have tons. Talking with her was great! After seeing the LC , the Dr.'s office called us back and told us that his levels were somewhat high- 17.. 18 and they admit the baby. They sent us home and told us to express milk , feed the baby as much as possible, and put the baby in sunlight near a window. If the number went down she was happy. We did everything she said. Last night we set our alarm clock to go off every two hours. We woke up our sleepy baby. I tried the breast first and then I pumped. Eric fed Mario the bottle, and we went to sleep for another hour and half. We did this until 11am. They sent us back to the lobby today . This time Eric and I sat in a more secluded area . His test results came back lower -16. the Dr. was happy with that and we are to continue to do this for another week. Next week another Dr. is going to check out his tongue tie and we are getting a weight check .

Penelope & Domenic have been great. We thankful to have my mother come down and help us out while we take Mario to the Dr's. I am so freakin sleepy. It brings out the best in me too. I feel bad to be moody to my kids when all they want is a little attention. The sleep is not the problem. It is the worring that drives me crazy. Is he getting enough to eat? will I wake up to feed him? Should I pump?

Domenic is coming in to our room every three hours too. So if it not the baby , it is him waking us up. Penelope loves her Big girl bed and will sleep all night and sleep in! I am so happy she is a great sleeper. B/c Domenic Napped today , he will not go to sleep tonight. Ten minutes ago he dove off of Erics lap on to the hard wood floors . Now his lips are busted up and heaven forbid him let us check out his teeth. It is 11pm and Eric and I need sleep! Mario and Penelope are down and Domenic has been dosed with tylenol. So hopefully this will put him out for a few hours. Domenic is a good kid. He is shy but once you get him talking, he turns into a different child. He looks much bigger this week than he did last week. It is making me sad.

Alright.. that is what is going on here. I am moody... Sleepy and nothing anybody can say at the moment will change that. If I sleep soon than I am sure I will feel better. At least until tomorrow night.

More hospital pictures

Mario four days old

MARIO EDWARD

Friday at 4:37 pm we found out we were parents to another boy and we named him Mario Edward. It was exciting not knowing the sex of the baby up until the birth. Mario weighed 8lbs 4.5 oz. He latched on the very first try and he is doing a great job nursing.

We just came home today. That was way too long of a stay in the hospital. I am so happy to be home with the whole family!

It has been a long exciting weekend for the whole family. We took a lot of pictures and so many more will be posted. Tonight I am going to enjoy rest of our first night home as a family of five.

New baby and thirty years old

My mind is racing so I will try to stay somewhat focused enough to blog tonight. I have to stop eating at midnight and I can have clear liquids up until 11:30am. I have to be at the hospital at 1:30pm and at 3:30pm I go in for a c-section. Sometime around then , we will meet our third child. I am so excited. I hate c-sections, but I love babies. Especially mine!
Today mom picked up the kids and Eric and I went to get Penelopes twin mattress for her BIG girl bed. She got Princess sheets and we got Domenic a toy story bed set. These are their Big brother and Big sister presents. They also got Playdoh & water color paints.

Eric and I had lunch/dinner at Outback. It will be a few months until we get to go out to eat again. Who knows how long it will be until we get to go out to eat without kids. We did Eric's least favorite thing and went shopping. I really have a wonderful man. It is painful for him to step foot in Gabriel Brothers. He went and I was able to find the Sexiest, non- frumpy looking nursing top ever! . I am so excited to wear it this fall. It is hit or miss in that store. I also found a pair of brown shoes.

Tomorrow I am thirty years old. Tomorrow I become a mother of three. I feel good about it.

My head is cut off. I hate when that happens.... But this is another self portrait and I was using the timer button. My belly at 37 weeks.

On Friday (three days from now) We are meeting our third child. Life is good!

Yesterday my brother Bud and sister n law Anne celebrated their 18th wedding Anniversary. We went to my parents house and enjoyed a nice dinner. Dad grilled steaks and mom made tons of food. My nieces dressed Penelope up in dance outfits and Bud played ball with Domenic. My nephew Mavrick is the pool champ. He beat Dad, Bud & Eric.

Penelope is getting her Big girl twin mattress Thursday. The toddler bed she is using now is the going to be the baby crib for #3. We are pushing it to the last minute , but it will get done.

Eric finished the basement tonight. He rented a carpet stretcher. We finally have our theater back. Now we can concentrate on other home projects and the kids have more room to play.

Tomorrow morning I have to get up super early and go to the hospital for pre-registration. I can not believe that this is it. I am having our baby in three days!

Family Fun

Monday we went to the mall to get my rings checked. I have to do this every six months. The poor mall! It is a ghost town. the kids had fun running around & I got a frozen Starbucks Coffee. So the trip was great in my opinion.

I know, my kids have dirty faces. I could photo shop the food and icky out, but I am not going to. Their faces were clean when we left the house.

The Zoo in August

Last week we went to a friends house where Penelope played on their computer. We have been planning to give her a computer for a while, but that was the push we needed. The kids love having their own computer. Eric put educational games on it. The kids spend a lot of time learning new words, letters, shapes, numbers and music. We are amazed how quickly they have caught on. It has helped Domenic out . He is saying new words everyday.

When we are away from the house, Domenic and Penelope love playing on Eric's IPhone. Eric has applications on it for the kids to use. It is awesome. Domenic knows all his colors. He is learning numbers and the alphabet. Penelope likes to collect stickers on it. It really makes me happy to see the kids play and learn together. Saturday I spent the whole entire day nesting. I organized the house, cleaned , washed everything and dusted . I was pretty worn out around mid night. Sunday we took the kids to the Lebanese festival . The food was good. The weather was hot , so we walked over to the zoo after we ate. The kids love the zoo and the train ride.

I am ready for baby #3!

It has been an emotional week for me. I am nervous, excited & anxious.

I am still staying active too. Last night I went to the Shutter bugs meeting. It stinks b/c Shutter Bugs have a meeting the same night as Garden club. I decided to remain a member of Garden club b/c the President pulled a Sarah Palin on us. She even managed to take a few cronies. I have not been to a meeting in a while, and I felt bad missing it last night. Next month I will miss Shutter Bugs to go to the Garden club. Clubs... the most enjoyable would be Poker Club! Poker club is highlight of my month. I might even go this weekend. My last poker night until December.

My friend from High school is in a Hiking Club. She takes pictures while on her hikes. It is such a great idea. I am going to search this winter to see if there are any in this area. Maybe I will start that in the spring. I think that is why Tappan lake made me so happy while growing up. We would hike a trail at least once a week. The friends out there were wonderful too. I miss those summers!

I will post some more pictures this evening. maybe I will get a belly shot in too.