Dillon's adoption

D-Day 2012.....

2012-01-15T07:05:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been four years since Dillon came home. We brought home a baby and now have a very active little boy! As crazy as life can be with Dillon we love him and wouldn't trade him for the world!!!

January 2008

January 2012

Dillon's new bookshelf.....

2012-01-12T11:01:00.000-05:00

After Christmas we, ok I, decided to clean out some books. We still had "baby" books. We took all of the books that the girls didn't read anymore from their rooms upstairs and brought them downstairs. Needless to say Dillon isn't allowed upstairs unless the girls "invite" him. Anyway we had lots of books that were perfect for Dillon....just nowhere to put them. So I decided on a bookshelf in Dillon's room, above his bed. Darr was so happy to build a shelf! I painted it and stacked all the books on it. It came out perfect! I am working on adding little cars along the bottom of the shelf keeping with the car theme in his room.

Jaggar's new friends.....

2012-01-07T10:32:00.000-05:00

About a week before Christmas, when all the shopping had been done, Hannah announced she wanted a hermit crab. Typical.

So, even though I was NOT going to buy one, I knew she could get one with some gift cards. December 26 we loaded up and headed to Pet Smart.

She found the one....Hermie. We brought him home, planning on using a small fish tank we had for his new home.

Hermie really went crazy when I took him from his container and put him in the tank.

Jaggar was so excited. He loved his new friend!

Here is Hermie, getting a drink.....or something.

Hannah did so much research about hermit crabs. I did none.

A good friend of mine has some and she said they basically did nothing.

Based on Hermie's actions I wasn't so sure.

Jaggar wasn't either.

Hermie eventually settled down, but did trash his tank. I realized that Hermie probably needed a bigger tank. Chloe realized that she wanted one also. Back to Pet Smart....

Home with a bigger tank, more supplies and Eugene. Eugene never acted like Hermie. Now they both do nothing. Jaggar is really bored with his new friends. He does like to sit on top of the tank though.

Eugene.

Hermie

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T09:52:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas tree.

It pretty much

looks the same as last year.

It actually has a better "shape" due

to the cats being another year older and having less

desire to climb it ALL the time. Just some of the time.

Dillon ready for his Christmas concert at school.

Here is Hannah at the Christmas concert. The 4th-6th grade

chorus also sung. I was not able to get a good picture of Chloe.

Weird. It was almost like she was hiding behind the speakers.

Here are the kids on Christmas Eve. Holly,Travis

and Ida came over to exchange gifts.

Here are the girls opening a gift from Gramie and Grampie. We played a silly joke on them, telling them they were puzzles that could all connect to each other. Needless to say they were surprised to find lap-tops!

Three very happy girls!

Dillon was equally happy!

Christmas eve after church. Bed time.

Santa was here!

Here are the kids Christmas morning.

They are opening gift bags containing a Webkinz "sea animal",

a brochure for the New England Aquarium and some spending money.

They are very excited to be going to Boston in February.

The aftermath.

After they trashed our house they moved on

to my parents house and started all over again!

Needless to say everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

2011-12-25T00:30:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!!

The Girls Christmas Concert 2011......

2011-12-17T06:30:00.000-05:00

The girls had their Christmas concert Wednesday night. The evening started off with the 5th grade band then the 6th band (Chloe plays the trumpet in the 6th band). Then the 4th-6th grade chorus sang. They did a nice job....as always! Next week is Dillon's concert which he's pretty excited about.

Hannah and Ida

(works out good that they are now about the same height).

Bowling....

2011-12-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekends ago we took the kids bowling. Hannah and Dillon loved it. Chloe choseto be our photographer and did a good job. Between the two of us we took lots of pictures. We even got Hannah's strike on video! I have it on here and hopefully you can see it! We will be going bowling more often now that we know they enjoy it.

****UGH!!! I don't know why these videos won't play. I'll see what I can do. Probably not much though :( ****

Thanksgiving in Kindergarten.....

2011-12-15T08:37:00.004-05:00

Back at Thanksgiving (I'm a bit late on this one!) Dillon's kindergarten class celebrated Thanksgiving by making pilgrim and Native American costumes. Then they had a large feast in the hall while wearing their costumes....which by the way were very cute! Dillon was also wearing his costume at Chloe's birthday party.

Lookout Santa......

2011-12-01T08:55:00.001-05:00

What's wrong with this picture?

Chloe's Birthday Party......

2011-11-28T06:57:00.000-05:00

We recently celebrated Chloe's 12th birthday. She had some friends over for a party then we had a family party. You'll notice Chloe had a Native American Pilgrim at her party (it just happened to be the same day Dillon had his Thanksgiving Day celebration at school, pictures to come).

Hannah's Longhouse......

2011-11-27T09:49:00.000-05:00

For a school project Hannah had to make an Iroquois Longhouse. Darr helped make it, mainly using the glue gun. Jaggar also helped. Hannah got an A on her project!!!

2011-11-18T00:32:00.003-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHLOE!!!

12 YEARS OLD :)

Happy Halloween.....

2011-11-17T13:53:00.000-05:00

a bit late!!!!

Anyway, Chloe was a "Chloe" (she didn't want to dress up),

Hannah was a purple glowstick, Dillon was a cop.

Field Hockey......

2011-11-17T13:42:00.000-05:00

Back in October Chloe had a field hockey tournament. Although it was chilly outside the girls did very well. They won all eight games! Another tournament coming up.....this next one is inside though!

Chloe is wearing dark blue pants, a yellow shirt with a turquoise fleece under it. Her shin guards are on the OUTSIDE of her pants. Her friend Kyndra looks/dressed just like her however Kyndra's shin guards are on the INSIDE of her pants.

Chloe's friends Lucy and Charity

Happy 40th Birthday Darr......

2011-11-06T09:39:00.001-05:00

Finished products.....

2011-11-05T22:37:00.000-04:00

Here are the finished products from Creative Sparks. They all came out great!!! And, aren't even broken yet :)

Pumpkin Carving 2011

2011-10-31T09:18:00.000-04:00

Saturday we carved pumpkins. Some of us felt the need to wear embalming gloves (Chloe). Some of us felt the need to go play in the other room because "that pumpkin stuff feels gross on my hands" (Dillon, the embalming gloves were way too big for him). BUT others dug right in and enjoyed every minute of it, even picking out the seeds so we could bake them (Hannah). Anyway they came out just perfect (the seeds did too. That was Darr's contribution).

I'm not really sure what look she was going for. Her pumpkin has the biggest mouth I've ever seen.

Dillon, Chloe and Hannah's finished pumpkins. They are in the house because of the 2 snowstorms we've had already!

Creative Sparks.....

2011-10-21T08:52:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday we went to Creative Sparks which is a shop that sells ceramic items for you to paint. Chloe had been there before to a birthday party. The kids enjoyed it, the girls more. Dillon did a good job though. The girls each picked a two piece ice-cream cone to paint and Dillon picked an airplane. Tomorrow I go and pick up them up. We can't wait to see the finished product!

Another beautiful wedding....

2011-10-14T20:15:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday Darr's sister, Holly got married. I don't have any pictures of the wedding but I do have a few shots of the kids before it.We were "killing time" waiting for Hannah, which seems to happen a lot. Also let me add I did notice Dillon's face was all milk BEFORE we got to church where Dillon so perfectly walked Gramie down the aisle....with a clean face.

Apple Picking.......

2011-10-11T09:23:00.000-04:00

Back about a month ago we went apple picking. We went to a different orchard then we normally go to, just to try something different. This orchard was a bit more low keyed then the other one but was just as good. We rode on a tractor pulled wagon which was different then we had done before. Dillon of course was so excited about the tractor. After apple picking we watched some women practice barrel racing on horses. After that we went into the barn and petted some farm animals. The nice thing about this orchard was we spent less money!

Some apples were a bit sour, but most were perfect!

Even those who are only at the 38% in height could even reach the apples! Good picking Hannah!

Where's Dillon? We say that a lot.

Even Darr made a new friend.....

The bus stop.....

2011-09-15T14:27:00.001-04:00

This year the kids are getting on the bus at the other end of our road. Actually it's a different road, different bus, but best of all, a different time. Last year the girls were on the bus ~7:35am but didn't get home until after 3pm. Needless to say Dillon can't handle that. Well, Dillon could handle it easily but nobody else could! We have a limited amount of "medicated" time with Dillon and I didn't want it wasted on him riding all over town on a bus. So the new bus route gets them home by 2:40pm. They are the second to last ones on and the second ones off in the afternoon. They go right from the end of the road to school. Perfect. And they get to ride the bus with their cousin Ida.
They do miss their old bus driver Bob though! Annie, the "new" bus driver is great as well. We are very lucky with our bus drivers :)

First Day of School 2011.....

2011-09-06T09:14:00.002-04:00

And they're off to school!! Everyone was happy to go back but Dillon was SOOOO excited. I brought him into his classroom and got him situated. When I left he was sitting with 3 little girls.....go Dillon go!
This is actually the second time I've had "everyone" in school. Hannah's first 4 months of kindergarten Dillon was still in Guatemala. Now they are all "here" and in school!!!

Hannah, 9, fourth grade with Mrs. Skelly.

Dillon, 5, kindergarten with Mrs. Bourgeois.

Chloe, 11, sixth grade with Mr. Stalter.

Lake St. Catherine......

2011-08-30T08:20:00.029-04:00

One morning after swimming lessons we headed up to my friend, Heidi's- in-laws camp. What a beautiful location! We brought a picnic lunch and all 13 kids played in the water. Yes, 13 kids total! My friend Theresa, Heidi and I also had a good time.....mainly because all the kids were so good. They caught fish in nets right off the docks and played with tubes in the lake. Hannah and Chloe even caught a fish for Jenna, 3, who loved all the attention from the big girls. By the way the big girls LOVE giving attention to the little ones!

Chase, Emily, Jenna, Gavin and Dillon.....caught something!

Hannah, Jenna, Emily, Sarah, Chloe, Charity,Kayla and Clayton.

Emily, Sarah, Jenna, Hannah, Kayla, Clayton, Mikayah, Quinten and Theresa.

Chloe and Charity

Hebron Camp 2011

2011-08-28T16:01:00.000-04:00

For four weeks this summer the kids all took swimming lessons at Hebron Camp, as they do every year. This was Dillon's first year of lessons. They all did great and enjoyed lessons.

Steph....she's charge and was also Chloe's teacher this year.

Steve, Hannah's teacher.

Meg, Dillon's teacher.

Half Moon State Park....

2011-08-11T13:32:00.000-04:00

Jaron, Kathan, Hannah, Chloe & Sawyer, Fyona, Dillon and Delaney

Our campsite

Dillon getting water for his mud pies, etc.

A large, nasty bee hive. Darr was the only one that got stung. The hive was between our campsite and my parents. Eventually the camp rangers were able to remove it (after several stings).

Hannah at the playground.

Chloe at the playground and Winston
(in the next picture).

Dillon's (buried) feet.

The Beach

We checked out the beach before everyone else got there and

discovered it is actually VERY nice! Super clean.

Bedtime!

                               Hannah LOVES to fish. Darr took her a few times
                                          and Papa took her once as well.
                                 She caught several fish. Dillon's not so sure.....

The "view" from our campsite.

More beach pictures.....
My parents, myself, Darr and Marcy took 6 out of 8 of our children to the beach. Sawyer and Jaron were taking naps so they stayed back at the campsite with Jarod and eventually Darr went to hang out with Jarod. I think my father had as much fun as the kids! The woman on the tube and the boy with her were great sports :) They were the only ones we didn't "scare" away.

                                      Meme and Papa were kind/brave enough to
                                                  have us all over for dinner.

Dillon and Jaron

Jaron, Sawyer and Hannah

Sawyer

Dillon

Jaron

He actually didn't burn anyone or anything!

Hannah and Chloe were able to
burn several sparklers at once.

He's concentrating very hard on
following the rules!......and he did :)

Meme and Fyona. She wasn't
too sure about the sparklers.

Lake St. Catherine....

2011-07-23T11:09:00.000-04:00

July 6th through the 10th we went camping at Lake St. Catherine. It was our first trip of the season. Our first two nights it was just us. Our second two nights our friends Marcy, Jarod and their five children joined us. We had a great time! So much fun we're doing it again next month!! We can't wait!

The next few pictures are all glowsticks.....NOT fire!

The glowstick is in the tree!

The whole "gang".

Chloe, Hannah, Fyona, Kathan,

Sawyer, Jaron, Delaney and Dillon.

July 4, 2011

2011-07-13T11:38:00.000-04:00

We had our usual July 4th plans this year. We have such a good time why change them? We started off at the parade and ended up a Dean & Robin's for the annual party with lots of friends and family. Our night ended with great fireworks.

The Great Escape.....

2011-07-11T17:39:00.001-04:00

On Saturday, July 2nd we went to Six Flags Great Escape Amusement Park.

Through the hospital where Darr works we were able to get cheaper admission tickets and meal vouchers.The only catch was we had to use them that weekend.

I was surprised the park wasn't packed full. It was a holiday weekend.

Chloe and Hannah had each earned a free ticket from a reading program at school so they went for free!

At the park Dillon seemed to be scared of a lot of rides so the girls went on them with

him. They are so good to their little brother.....most of the time.....ok, SOME of the time! Darr went with the girls for the big kid rides.

However he was NOT afraid when he was chosen to be

the deputy for the sheriff in ghost town. He helped catch those bank robbers!

That I video taped but it's too long to post on here. It was pretty funny.

We all had a really good time.

Notice the police in the background....

Happy Birthday Grampie!!!!

2011-07-03T20:17:00.000-04:00

We just celebrated Grampie's (Darr's father) birthday at Meme & Papa's house. It's been a kind of rainy day, but the kids did get to swim a bit. We had a wonderful dinner of salads, hotdogs, hamburgers, fruit and of course cake!

Happy Birthday Grampie!!!!

Dillon's 5th Birthday Party.....

2011-07-03T10:25:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday we celebrated Dillon's 5th Birthday. He received LOTS of great new toys. He even got his lunch pail and backpack for school next year! Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate our sweet boys birthday :)

Tomatoes...

2011-07-01T15:30:00.001-04:00

This year the girls each have a tomato plant. They are doing really well. They like to ride around in the wagon. Just kidding. We put them in the wagon so we could easily move them, depending on the weather.

******Pictures of Dillon's birthday party will be posted soon.....*******

Awards Ceremony 2011.....

2011-06-29T13:50:00.002-04:00

The girls both won awards at school this year. Chloe's was for Achievement in Science and Hannah's was for Diligence in Homework. Yay girls! Great job to all the kids.

Father's Day, Woodford State Park....

2011-06-28T13:37:00.000-04:00

On Father's Day we decided (last minute) that we would ~~torture~~ visit Meme and Papa, who were camping at Woodford State Park.

We quickly loaded up food, towels, dry clothes, warm clothes (it's usually pretty chilly there at the campsites) toys, a canoe and kids and head out.

It's about an hours drive.

When we got there Darr and Hannah went canoeing while Dillon played in the reservoir. Chloe stayed back at the campsite to "help" Meme & Papa set up their site.

Of course I forgot Dillon's bathing suit at the campsite, but he made do with his underwear.

After swimming and canoeing we went back to the campsite for dinner, then more swimming, then smores, THEN we headed home.

A fun Father's Day!

Happy Birthday Dillon!!!!

2011-06-24T07:28:00.002-04:00

The Wedding.....

2011-06-23T19:58:00.002-04:00

OK, so it's mostly pictures of our kids BUT that's why

there was a professional photographer!

No flower girl dress was going to stop Hannah from catching frogs!

He Graduated!!!

2011-06-22T10:27:00.000-04:00

Dillon's preschool days are official behind him now.

He graduated from preschool Friday, June 17, 2011.

Congratulations Dillon AND Becky Potter!!!

Field Days.....

2011-06-20T12:36:00.000-04:00

Last week the girls had field days.

Unfortunately Chloe didn't feel well and wasn't able to go.

So here are pictures of Hannah at field days!

The WATER SLIDE.

Dillon ended up coming back down the stairs. He decided he didn't want to do it even though the gym teacher was going to go down it with him. All of the (other) kids LOVED this. Even many of the teachers went down....with some cheering from the kids of course.

Snack time!

Sarah, Hannah and Mikayah

Thanks to Mr. Parker and Mr. Fifield

for making field days soooo much fun!

Bronx Zoo.....

2011-06-17T21:05:00.000-04:00

In the beginning of June Hannah's class took a trip to the Bronx Zoo.

Even though the Bronx hit record high temperatures (I think) that

day we still had a great time.

Emily, Mikayah, Sarah, Dorothy and Hannah just getting to the zoo.

Dorothy and Hannah

Chloe was sick.....

2011-06-13T13:11:00.003-04:00

Two weeks ago Chloe was sick with what seemed to be a very bad cold. She had a fever, sore throat and headache. There were times when her legs ached really bad too, but I think it was from running (the one day she went to school last week). She had been getting ready for The Girls on the Run run and I think she was a bit dehydrated. We had VERY hot weather then as well. The pediatrician said her symptoms were likely caused by the flu, Lyme disease or a virus. The strep test was negative and the dr. said they don't see much flu this time of the year. So she got her blood tested for Lyme and mono, (which wasn't pretty. No pain but it did make her almost pass out and throw up!....Poor Chloe) and the results were negative for Lyme and mono. SO....thankfully just a virus. Unfortunately though she did have to miss the run :(

Piper was trying to help Chloe feel better :)

Kindergarten screening.....

2011-06-11T11:36:00.021-04:00

Over the Spring Dillon headed off to "big school" for Kindergarten screening. His first time at school was for checking for "readiness". Well he's ready!

Scholastically he did amazing. Socially.....we have some work to do. This was no surprise and we are working on it. He's not even 5 yet, so he is young for Kindergarten. With his diagnosis of ADHD we all feel he will do better going this year, not waiting until next year. We will not hesitate to keep him back though if we feel he needs it. He must be challenged ALL the time so he's not bored....and doing things he shouldn't! His second day at school was to ride the bus (which he already has) and spend some time in Kindergarten. He loved his time at school! Hopefully that continues.

Next will be his preschool graduation in just about a week!!!

Hannah's Family birthday party.....

2011-06-09T12:58:00.042-04:00

On Saturday we celebrated Hannah's 9th birthday

with family and friends.

There are also pictures of Hannah

opening gifts from us Saturday morning.

Here are the cookies, with candies on top that

Hannah helped make for her birthday snack at school.

Spelling Bee.....

2011-06-07T11:30:00.000-04:00

Back in May Chloe was chosen to be in the school spelling bee.

While she didn't win, she did do a great job! Our school is certainly full of great spellers!

Hannah's "kid party"......

2011-06-05T19:31:00.033-04:00

Last Friday we had Hannah's "kid party". She had five friends over to enjoy cake, ice cream, crafts and playtime. We are so lucky, the bus driver said he would drop the kids off first.....smart guy! These were very LOUD girls, as expected. If they were quiet we would wonder what was wrong.
The weekend before Hannah had two friends and Chloe had one friend spend the night. It was supposed to be a camp-out, in the camper, but the storms were just too much. We did this sleepover instead of on the party day. I think it worked out better.....well except for the downpours! We were able to have smores, we just had to make them inside.

Hannah's flip flop cake.

Here they come.

Getting closer!!!

2011 Spring Concert......

2011-06-03T14:54:00.001-04:00

On May 24th the girls had their Spring concert at school. Hannah sang with the 3rd and 4th grade chorus. Then Chloe played the trumpet in the 5th and 6th grade band. We all couldn't believe how great the band sounded! Then Chloe sang with the 5th and 6th grade chorus. What a wonderful job they all did.....including the teachers!

Hannah and her friend Dorothy. This is the advantage of being the same height as your best friend.....you get to stand next to each other at concerts!

Happy Birthday.......

2011-05-29T06:32:00.002-04:00

to our favorite 9 year old!!!

For Dolly.....

2011-05-13T14:23:00.000-04:00

Dillon wanted to bring these to you!

Easter 2011......

2011-05-07T08:29:00.006-04:00

The Easter bunny came!!!!

The kids had the most beautiful baskets thanks to Meme. Actually the Easter bunny brought lots of Meme's baskets to many lucky kids :)

Chloe's basket

Hannah's basket

Dillon's basket

They have that "I just got off an airplane look".

Our Causeway Picnic.....

2011-05-05T07:53:00.002-04:00

On Friday evening, our last night in Florida, we packed up and had a picnic on the causeway between Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island. We had a great time watching dolphins play in the water. The kids played frisbee and collected shells. A great ending to a great vacation!

I don't even know what to say. He's all boy. He's in the stow n go compartment of the van.

Our family......

2011-05-03T18:49:00.001-04:00

enjoying Florida!!!!

Dolly's house.....

2011-05-02T18:47:00.001-04:00

One evening while in Florida we went over to Dolly's (Darr's grandmother) house to have drinks and family pictures taken. Then we headed out to dinner, which was great. Speaking of dinner we went out to lots of dinners that were great!!!

Lakes State Park~Fort Myers, Florida

2011-04-29T11:49:00.000-04:00

During our time in Ft. Myers we went to Lakes State Park. They had wonderful playgrounds, two little water parks a train museum and a nice train ride. There were also several miles of bike trails and paddle boats you could rent.

The museum:

Dillon couldn't read the sign that said you must wear a shirt.

The playground:

The water park:

The train ride:

After the park we enjoyed a great lunch at Perkins Restaurant.

Ocean pictures.....

2011-04-27T21:08:00.000-04:00

Let me just start and finish by saying there are a TON of pictures here!

These were all taken on either Fort Myers Beach or Sanibel Island.

*****Click on any picture to make it larger*****