The Pulley Principle

Family Portraits

2010-12-30T21:04:00.001-05:00

We were excited to have Brandon take our family photo again this year. The last time he took our photo was in May 2009.

I think this may be the best picture of Darren and me ever taken.

I was quite pleased in the end, with the way our colors came together. Everyone was agreeable and just put on what I told them to wear.

They did a pretty good job of holding it together and not fighting, too much.

Don't we look like a happy family?

Fresh Bread

2010-12-26T22:40:00.001-05:00

When Noah was an only child, I used to make this bread twice a week. I bet it's been 10-12 years since I last made this recipe. It is still really good and it was inhaled in a matter of minutes. Maybe, I should make it more often.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

with teenagers and tweenies is not near as early as it used to be. Bea let us sleep in until 7am and we had to wake up Annabel.

My first view of the morning. Patiently waiting for me to join them.

What could it be?

Gift from Bea.

Another gift from Bea.

Poor Bea got stepped on and needed a little lovin'.

Happy Children.

So far, so good.

The girl has never been interested in dolls, but she loves dogs.

Modeling her new collar.

It was a fabulous day. We stayed in our pajamas all day long, had a nice dinner and watched Iron Man 2 on our hi def TV. What more could we ask for?

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-12-13T22:37:00.003-05:00

Yummy cupcakes were delivered to my house. One of these was quite spicy!

Bea found this great bag that was just what I was looking for!

Beautiful flowers to brighten my day.
I have great friends.

I don't enjoy birthdays anymore, but I do enjoy a happy moment with my kids. We celebrated at Cheesecake Factory and the kids were very nice and appreciative. I wish all our moments could be as harmonious as this looks. Ha Ha.

House of Mercy fundraiser

2010-12-10T23:26:00.002-05:00

We joined our friends Amy and Ryan and Ella for a fundraiser dinner for the House of Mercy.

I was slightly overdressed, but it was fun getting dressed up.

Ella was an angel and she loved getting dressed up, as well.

I used my Groupon

2010-11-10T10:43:00.000-05:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

to make this book for $10. It's my favorite way to scrapbook!

We took this trip in August 2009, so it's been a while, but the memories are still fresh in our minds.

A day for Recitals and Scholarships

2010-06-12T23:59:00.001-04:00

Noah had a piano recital today. He has had 2 a year for the last 9 years. He is not nervous, he is not excited, only annoyed to be doing another one. Lucky him, lucky us.

Bea was nominated by her harp teacher for a merit scholarship at Eastman. We were so very proud of her. She is a hard worker and enjoys playing her harp (and piano).

She was a little nervous about walking across the stage. I made her promise to stop and quickly look at me so I could get a picture of her. It was quick!

The Jazz Festival is taking place now and we enjoyed a few minutes of a high school jazz band afterwards-no one famous at this venue. Noah loves to annoy Bea. Bea loves to be annoyed by Noah. Right?

Make Way for Ducklings

2010-06-12T14:54:00.002-04:00

We came across this busy mama as we were leaving our neighborhood.

The curb was too high for the ducklings to jump.

Can you imagine 10 babies at once?

Hello Friday, Hello Weekend

2010-06-11T20:01:00.000-04:00

Good Morning, Sunshine Girl.

So happy to go to school.

She matches the bus.

Look who has agreed to go running with Darren--Noah and Bea. Amazing.

This is a major development.

And, they are off. Good Luck.

Have I mentioned, I love June?

Team Photos

2010-06-10T20:47:00.000-04:00

This is Bea's team. They are 3rd and 4th graders. There seems to be quite a height difference between the two grades. We'll see if she seems tall next year when she is playing as a 4th grader.

Celebrating with Ben and Jerry's after the game. I love summer nights!

Cameron, Bea, Carly, Emily and Annabel

Silly Bandz

2010-06-09T19:46:00.001-04:00

have arrived in the Northeast, and we have fallen victim to the craze!

What an idea some lucky schlub had.

Bea plays Lacrosse

2010-06-05T19:39:00.001-04:00

and she loves it!!

Celebrating afterwards with Carly.

Pool Visitors

2010-06-02T14:56:00.000-04:00

Today we had a couple of new visitors to our pool.

Winnie was the first to notice them from her spot at the back door.

I was able to run and get my camera and keep Winnie in the house so I could get a few pictures.

They just ignored me and kept right on swimming.

Winnie's barking finally got their attention and off they flew.

Memorial Day Festivities

2010-05-31T21:03:00.003-04:00

I love the patriotic holidays and it is a great way to start off the summer.
We started our day with a flag raising ceremony at the church.

It is exciting to have so many scouts active in our troop.

We then headed downtown to watch the Memorial Day Parade.

We are so happy to have good friends with little ones. They entertain our girls and always make things a little spicy!

Who doesn't love a man in uniform?

Cotton Candy mess.

Who doesn't love a man in a skirt blowing into a sheep's bladder?

These ladies never gave up their high school dreams. You go girls!

The local asian community was well represented. Who knew?

Sharks and Minnows

2010-05-29T22:12:00.000-04:00

Minnows

Shark

Arrggggghhh

Survivors

The Pool is Open

2010-05-26T22:40:00.005-04:00

Thanks for the pics, Jo.

Not a Very Happy Day

2010-05-25T22:30:00.002-04:00

Annabel would say that this was her worst birthday ever. She is now 12, and she was mad at me and I was mad at her. So, not such a good day.

She is not happy with her gifts.

Boy, it sucks to be a 12 yr old girl.

Darren has about decided he needs to celebrate his birthday on another day. Sharing is not all it's cracked up to be.

Maybe, next year will be better.

Gold Fish and Cotton Candy

2010-05-22T11:01:00.001-04:00

For the Lilac Festival this year, Annabel had a mission. She wanted gold fish. I did not.

I have no idea how much money (her own) she spent, but we went home with 3 gold fish in bags.

Bea wanted cotton candy and a snow cone. That I didn't mind.

Annabel and Emma disappeared for a while. I am not ready for two, pretty 12 yr olds to wander the Lilac Festival alone. Too many crazies out there.

What happened to just enjoying the flowers?

Public Market flower shopping

2010-05-21T10:46:00.008-04:00

Darren has decided that the Public Market is the cheapest place to get annuals in bulk, so it's that time of year again.

Oh, this looks good.

So many decisions.

We have plans for some of these.

A few of these will do.

Now, a great afterschool activity for the kids.

Faith in God Talent show

2010-05-19T08:53:00.016-04:00

Bea has become an accompanist. She and four of her violinist friends performed I am a Child of God for her Faith in God Talent show.

Practice makes perfect. Bea had never accompanied before and it is a new skill, but she worked really hard at it.

She also performed a harp piece.

Annabel and Katherine sang Don't Stop Believing.

Happy Birthday Noah

2010-05-17T10:06:00.003-04:00

Noah turned 14 today. He has only asked for two things--a cell phone and a bag of jelly beans.
I asked him to shave for the first time. He got a complete shave kit for Christmas, so it was about time.

Today he shaved and shaved off a huge chunk of his upper lip. That is what the tissue is all about.

We had told him there was a delay with the phone and maybe he would get it tonight, if not later this week.

We are all up early, this morning, and hear an unfamiliar ring. Noah thinks it is just our regular phone, which sounds nothing like what we were hearing.

Hello, Noah. His new phone number is his birthday. Cool, huh?

He's a happy boy, and fyi, he did get jelly beans.

Ugh

2010-05-16T10:04:00.000-04:00

We're going to need some chemicals and a few weeks.

Nuevo York

2010-05-16T09:56:00.007-04:00

Noah went on a 3 day field trip with his 8th grade Spanish class to NYC. The following are the best pics of the 16 that he took over THREE days. Maybe, he really isn't my child.

His friend Cyrus.

Not sure what caught his eye here.

This I understand--he's a huge Beatles fan.

Not sure if this is of his friends or the guy cleaning the statue.

I hope he spoke lots of Spanish. I am assuming he had a good time. He never says much more than fine or OK.

Bea's Dive Meet

2010-05-15T22:02:00.009-04:00

Bea was busy today. She had a dive meet at RIT.

Coach Greg and Abigail.

She placed for 1 meter,

and medalled for 3 Meter.

If you take a dog to school...

2010-05-14T09:58:00.001-04:00

Annabel did a power point presentation in her science class on vertebrates. She did dogs and was allowed to have Winnie be part of her presentation.

Winnie was a very good dog. She was well-behaved and loved the attention.

And, Annabel was well-behaved and loved the attention.

Lacrosse Festival

2010-05-08T08:23:00.002-04:00

Bea's lacrosse team participated in a lacrosse festival this weekend. It was a cold and blustery day.

Each girl was introduced to the cheering crowd.

It is even more fun, because she plays with so many of her friends.

This was the day that Bea decided that lacrosse was her sport.

She made the last score of the day and that was it for her. She's a lacrosse player!

It started sleeting and I didn't get her scoring, but it will live forever in her memory.

Grackles Never Learn

2010-05-07T08:18:00.003-04:00

For the last few years we have had a problem with Grackles nesting in the vent from our kitchen. My dad was here one summer and spent some time putting a screen over the vent. Despite all our efforts, the Grackles keep returning to the same location.

If the nest was not actually in our house and we didn't hear the constant chirping and scratching of the chicks, it wouldn't be such an issue.

So, once again we go after the nest. Pests become an issue and there is a smell as well.

The mother bird does a few dive bomb maneuvers.

She has a bug in in her mouth. It is quite sad.

There were 4 chicks in the nest. We put them in the tree next to the house. I really hope next year they find another home.

A New Grill

2010-05-05T13:59:00.006-04:00

We have needed a new grill for the last couple of years and I found one at Aldi's for $149, so I grabbed it. Darren has been busy and couldn't get to it, so I figured Noah could put the grill together.

Just a little bit of ego padding and he agreed to do it.

I was so proud of him. He did a great job putting it together without blowing himself up with the propane and the grill is a great little cooker.

Canandaigua

2010-05-02T12:58:00.000-04:00

We spent a few hours at the top of the lake in Canandaigua enjoying a picnic lunch on a lovely Saturday in May.

Annabel has become a reader and loves all things pertaining to Elizabeth I.

Annabel and her friend Serena.

A wedding was taking place in the park. We enjoyed the open air nuptials.

Lacrosse Begins

2010-05-01T22:49:00.000-04:00

Spring Lacrosse has begun and Bea is playing with her two best friends, again.

This is her first game. It was in Canandaigua, so it made for a nice day trip.

Bea is number 20.

She a good little defender. She sticks to her man/girl.

The dandelions were crazy.

Good Game Bea!

They won.

Spring Gardening

2010-04-30T20:43:00.001-04:00

Darren and April are exploring The Garden Factory.

I think this may be his favorite activitiy of the whole year.

The color has to be just right.

How about some greenery?

Are we still here? This wasn't what he had expected.

Janie is just happy to be out.

Oranjestad

2010-04-25T07:44:00.001-04:00

Oranjestad is full of tropical color and Dutch whimsy.

Just a warning to watch for crazy drivers.

Pretty in Pink

We should have eaten here.

Palm Trees are not native to Aruba, but plastic will do.

This home was for sale. I like the entry.

Beautifully restored home from the 1920s...

This was the biggest church in town.

Time for shopping.

Lots of flowering trees.

Legos, anyone?

See what I mean by Dutch Whimsy? I think I've coined a new architectural term.

This tour bus offers everything but air conditioning.

Sidewalk Gardens

Everything was in English.

We found this as we detoured through a neighborhood.

Aruba's Welcome Squad

2010-04-24T14:25:00.000-04:00

So, instead of Paris for spring break we ended up in Aruba. It was not what we had planned, but it was definitely better than sitting home all week feeling sorry for ourselves. We spent Thursday night at home, re-packed our bags and rented a car and drove through Friday night to Philadelphia ( all flights out of Rochester were booked through Monday) and took a 8 AM flight to Aruba.

Upon our arrival at the resort, this was one of the first things we saw.

These iguanas were everywhere--running around the pools and under the tables at the poolside grill. It's a little freaky to be eating your lunch and have a 3 ft iguana run under your feet.

This guy was hanging out near a light house.

We saw lots of skinny dogs. They were slow and seemed to have little interest in people.

We saw this one climb the tree and enjoy the view over our heads.

I had read that there were wild donkeys on the island, so when saw these guys hanging out at an abandoned lot, we had to stop and get some pics.

Feeding iguanas at the resort's iguana sanctuary (which is just a few rocks along a path).

This guy came barreling over the wall when he smelled the lettuce and then back where he came from when he was done.

These blue lizards were spectacular. A female (on left) is brown with blue spots and the males are a bright turquoise blue.

The color is almost too blue to believe.

This little one stopped by for dinner.

Lots of friendly critters to be found on the island.

Anticipating the trip that didn't happen

2010-04-16T11:04:00.007-04:00

Thursday, April 15
12:51pm
Waiting for our flight to Paris, not a care in the world.

Happy Thoughts
"I'm going to climb the Eiffel Tower!"

"We will explore the halls of Versailles."

"We will cruise down the Seine."

1:11pm ( 4 minutes before flight)
"What did you just say?"
"What volcano? Where?"

2:39pm
"Joanna, can you come and pick us up?"
"Plans have changed."

Roxy's Visit

2010-04-03T08:16:00.004-04:00

Our favorite little Jack-a-poo came to visit us for a few days. We love to have her come. Bea dotes on her and Winnie gets lots of walking. For some reason, having two dogs in the house makes me feel twice the guilt for not walking them,

so we walk-sometimes multiple times a day.

We even find other dogs and kids to join our pack.

Banana Cookies

2010-03-28T08:07:00.000-04:00

Noah doesn't eat many things, but he likes to bake and these are one of our favorite treats.

Find the recipe here-

http://friendsfamilyandfood.blogspot.com/

Sometimes he gets distracted.

There is no broccoli in the recipe; we compost.

Science Fair

2010-03-18T13:11:00.003-04:00

Noah and a classmate submitted a project for the middle school science fair. Mediocre project that he wasn't all that interested in. He had to be coerced to show up for the fair.

Annabel wasn't a participant, but she is eager to go to any social event at the school.

It kills Noah that he and Annabel are in the same school; she loves it. He'll have 2 years in the High School without her, come September.

Book Club recommendation

2010-03-12T13:04:00.001-05:00

I loved this book.

This is from Amazon.com:
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Lauded for his sensitive memoir (My Own Country) about his time as a doctor in eastern Tennessee at the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, Verghese turns his formidable talents to fiction, mining his own life and experiences in a magnificent, sweeping novel that moves from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York City over decades and generations. Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a devout young nun, leaves the south Indian state of Kerala in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the arduous sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor bound for Ethiopia, Thomas Stone, who becomes a key player in her destiny when they meet up again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, Sister Praise dies birthing twin boys: Shiva and Marion, the latter narrating his own and his brothers long, dramatic, biblical story set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Ethiopia, the life of the hospital compound in which they grow up and the love story of their adopted parents, both doctors at Missing. The boys become doctors as well and Vergheses weaving of the practice of medicine into the narrative is fascinating even as the story bobs and weaves with the power and coincidences of the best 19th-century novel. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Signs of the Season

2010-03-12T12:39:00.000-05:00

The Witch Hazel is in bloom...

and the bulbs Bea and I planted are coming up.
Yippee!

First Bike Ride of Spring

2010-03-09T12:32:00.003-05:00

Bea came home from school with one thought on her mind. She was craving a bike ride.

Noah agreed to join her and they pulled out the bikes and pumped up the tires.

Have fun.

Noticed how much has melted in 6 days? It's almost gone.

The Thaw Has Begun

2010-03-04T12:20:00.000-05:00

The weather is warm and the sun is out. Bea and I decide to walk to Darren's office to walk him home.

The Spring melt is beginning.

The snow is beginning to creep back from the sidewalks.

Soon it will all be green again.
Headed home.

Snow Day

2010-02-28T22:45:00.002-05:00

Friday was snow day for the kids. Noah was invited to a friend's house for hot-tubbing, and I took the girls and a few friends sledding. The plan was to go ice skating again, but the rink was snowed in--go figure.

It was a very snowy day. The snow was wet and heavy. I ended up in the car after a while, because it was so wet!
That didn't bother these girls, though.
They were drenched by the time I told them to load up.

We went to Star Bucks for a little liquid refreshment and warming up.

We had lots of snow this week and this is the pile from the neighbor's driveway that gets pushed up into our yard. These two spent several days building a snow fort.
Just a little idea of how deep the snow is. It is up to the mail box.

Pops Concert

2010-02-28T12:10:00.001-05:00

Darren's choir performed with the Pops and the kids loved the concert-Annabel, especially. It was a night of movie themes and once again, Annabel has realized her love of Titanic...

Winter Break

2010-02-22T20:40:00.004-05:00

We had a staycation this year for Winter Break. Darren worked all week and we stayed home, but I tried to keep the kids busy.

I took the kids skiing at Bristol Mountain for the day. We went with friends and they said it was their best day skiing, ever! Noah used Darren's skis and boots and enjoyed having better equipment.

Annabel's hot pink ski pants were easy to spot from the lodge. One of my neighbors was there and she and I spent the afternoon visiting and watching the kids come down the mountain.

Bea skied earlier in the week, as well, with her friend Cameron. That was a hard day, but by Wednesday (when we went), she was much better and stayed on her feet more than her behind.

Christian and Drew were great skiing companions for Noah and Annabel. Noah is the tall one in the picture. I'm really glad my kids wear helmets. The day before we were there a dad was snowboarding and hit a tree. He didn't survive.

The girls did a card swap with our friends from church. We do this most of the the school breaks.

We went to Manhattan Square Park for ice-skating. The girls didn't want to leave by the time our session ended. They had finally gotten a feel for the skates. It has been several years since they had lessons.

Noah enjoyed Xbox with friends, and some down time without the girls, but that was spent out of my sight.
Overall, it was a pretty painless winter break and everyone had a good week and felt like it had really been a vacation.

Burn

2010-02-16T11:45:00.001-05:00

Bea burnt her arm on a space heater and it left a perfect grill pattern on her bicept.

Valentine's Cakes

2010-02-14T11:39:00.001-05:00

The Young Women baked cakes as a fund raiser for camp. We ended up with more than expected. Annabel purchased one for Darren and me and I ordered 3. We shared with our favorite missionaries and had a week of tasty cake for dessert every night.

Church Ball

2010-02-13T11:31:00.001-05:00

Noah loves playing church ball.

Most of the units in our Stake don't have enough boys to make a team, so this year the boys are randomly placed into teams.

This has been the best season because of the assorted teams. There is very little fighting and the boys are getting to know each other much better. It is a shame it is not like this everywhere.

Noah is 13 and 6'tall now.
Church gyms have crappy lighting.

What a mess!

2010-02-12T11:18:00.002-05:00

No names are used to protect the innocent (or guilty).
I'm pretty sure she is worse than I ever was.

On rare occasions, she will feel the impulse to pick up.

Every month or so, I feel the need to pick up.

And my friends have pitched in before as well.

Is there any wonder her teachers complain that she is disorganized?
Good thing we love her so much.

Jump Rope for Heart

2010-02-12T11:09:00.001-05:00

Every year Bea's elementary school participates in the Jump Rope for Heart to raise money for the heart association. For the last 11 years, French Road Elementary School has been the top money maker in the country.
The kids are divided into teams and take turns jumping for 1.5 hrs.
This is Bea and her group.

Lots of jumping kids burning lots of calories and building strong hearts.

Dentist

2010-02-04T21:37:00.001-05:00

We spend a lot of time at the dentist office, thanks to Darren's fine dental genes, and his good insurance.
This was always a happy place for the kids, until Annabel had 6 teeth pulled.

She now hates the dentist, but her lot in life will include more time in the chair.

Noah gets to visit every 6 weeks to get his braces rewired and new elastics. He doesn't hold a grudge for his 4 pulled teeth.
That boy will have great teeth in a few more years.

Pinewood Derby

2010-02-04T07:59:00.020-05:00

Our girls Faith in God group had a Pinewood Derby activity this week. We came home from our trip and had to quickly get the cars ready for Tuesday night.

Bea designed her car all by herself with no help from anyone. Annabel did as well, but I have no pictures of her work.

Annabel's is the red ferrari and Bea's is the green caterpillar --in the 2 and 3 positions.

The girls were eating this up.

Annabel's car won hottest design.
BTW, doesn't this leader look like Taylor Swift?

Bea's car won most creative design.
Let's hope this is a one time event. Lot's of fun, but lot's of work and stress.

Puerto Vallarta

2010-01-31T21:11:00.001-05:00

We spent a fabulous week in sunny Puerto Vallarta with good friends. This is a smorgasbord of pics from the trip. (I had a little difficulty uploading the pics with blogger's new program.)

Getting the directions for parasailing (also an offer to go to a club with "fina mexicanas".

Suzy and Mary enjoying the beach.

Good Friends on the Malecon.

This was one of our best trips ever.

Swim Meet Part Deux

2010-01-22T20:55:00.000-05:00

Swim team is going swimmingly for Noah. His medley relay team is unbeatable and he is kicking butt in the fly 50M. He loves the freestyle relay and is getting faster and faster with each meet.

I had great lighting at this pool.

I'm always tickled by how tall Noah is compared to the other boys his age. I like'em tall.

Here he has lapped this kid.

We are having lots of fun cheering him on.

Free Canvas

2010-01-19T20:48:00.000-05:00

I found this link for a free canvas and took them up on the offer. I need to get these up on the wall now.

It is swim season again

2010-01-15T21:47:00.006-05:00

Noah had his first meet this year and placed first in the 50m fly, 2nd in the medley relay and 3rd in the freestyle relay. Lots of pics for his fans.

More photoshop

2010-01-15T11:39:00.003-05:00

Still from Jessica Sprague. This was a bonus lesson, changing a photo into b & w and inserting it into a page. This may be child's play to many of you, but I am a complete novice at photoshop.

I'm learning

2010-01-15T10:04:00.002-05:00

to use my new Photoshop. I am taking an online course with Jessica Sprague This is my first completed project.

Game Night

2010-01-13T09:58:00.002-05:00

We spend a lot of time at the Holmes'. They used to spend a lot of time at our house playing games, but then they started procreating and we moved the party to their house. Our kids are now old enough to stay home alone, so we leave them every chance we can.

These days we watch mostly watch movies, but last night April decided to change things up a bit. We played a game!
Darren got busy making guacamole.
This disappeared quickly.
Then we played this game.

I won.

Daily Routines

2010-01-08T18:42:00.003-05:00

Noah walks in the door from swim practice and goes right to the computer to check on his Farmville on Facebook. I think he might need an intervention.

Cruise photo book

2010-01-07T09:06:00.000-05:00

My Christmas present to myself was this book.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Fed Ex stopped by today

2010-01-05T21:17:00.002-05:00

and left this nifty little box on my door.
Last year I tried to order a Project 365 scrapbook, but it sold out before I could get it, so this year when I read that Becky Higgins had one in production, I jumped at the chance to get it.
I've been eagerly awaiting its arrival and had my first set of pictures developed and ready to go when it came today.
If you are ever at my house, ask to see it and I'll show you what I'm busy doing this year to record our comings and goings.

365 Days

2010-01-02T13:22:00.000-05:00

I've started a new blog. It's my project 365-a photo a day for 365 days. I'd love to have you follow along.

Ringing in the New Year

2010-01-01T11:14:00.002-05:00

We rang in the New Year at the Holmes' playing rock band and eating way too much yummy food.

As my friend, Kirsti said, "There's no place like Holmes' for the holidays."
The Holmes are very generous with their toys and we jump at every opportunity to play a little music, especially the Beatles.
Noah is a huge Beatles fan and has finally completed his Beatles collection.
Too many late nights this week. Darren awoke to count down the final 10 seconds of 2009.
Bring it on 2010.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T11:25:00.001-05:00

from our house to yours.

Bea's Harp Recital

2009-12-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

Christmas lights

2009-12-17T09:32:00.002-05:00

I took these last night at midnight.
This side of the house the lights are red. Older lights.
New led lights.
This side is blue.

I love the look of Christmas lights in newly fallen snow.

A Starbucks moment

2009-12-16T18:05:00.003-05:00

Annabel stayed after school today and walked across the street to Starbucks to study and be cool while she waited for me to pick her up when Noah finished swim practice. This is the sight I saw when I went in to get her. I took this picture with my iPhone. She really was working on her homework and drinking hot chocolate. She was so cute, it nearly killed me. She told me all about her afternoon being a sophisticate at Starbucks. She is only 11, but in her mind she is 17.

A new flute for Annabel

2009-12-16T15:35:00.003-05:00

Annabel has been begging for a new flute for quite some time now... Years actually.
Well, we finally decided that maybe she was ready for something better than a 30 yr old rental that Music Lovers gave us 5 years ago.
So we bit the bullet and ordered 4 flutes from NYC for her to try out. Coincidentally, on Thursday, her flute broke--beyond what I typically can repair.
On Friday, 4 beautiful,new and shiny flutes arrived on our doorstep.
She played them all and found one that she thought had the warmest sound and called to her musical soul. She choose the Sedona Apache. It is the one in the purple lined case. She is so excited to have made this big step up in the quality of her instrument.
She had a recital on Saturday and played better than I have ever heard her. It brought a tear to my eye.
She also got to play in church on Sunday.
She was part of a flute prelude for the Christmas program.

A Kodak moment

2009-12-14T20:23:00.001-05:00

On Friday, one of Darren's partners, Laura, asked if they could use our tree for a photo shoot. I, of course, thought that was an absurd idea--my tree is lovely,but my carpet is horribly stained and waiting to be ripped out, my walls are blank, ugly and in desperate need of a paint job. She must be kidding, but she insisted that this was just what they wanted. She was a little nicer and said they were looking for tall ceilings and a neutral background.
Come to find out, her husband, Joel, was actually looking for a location for work. He works for Kodak.com and they were shooting for the Christmas day picture that will appear there.
My little camera corner and then there is the professional gear.
The tree looks pretty. The kids computer table is pushed out of sight. This is Laura and her 2 girls.
The professionals at work.
Their real family.
The fireplace should be in the pic. I think.
My blank walls and neutral carpet.
Noah took these while I was out.
See the disgusting carpet stains?
I was mortified and a little excited at the same time.
Check out kodak.com on Christmas day, you might see a little of my tree and maybe a little bit of the fireplace. Our friends will definitely be in the picture.
FYI, all I got out of this was a cool blog post. I'm not complaining. How many people get to see a behind the scenes photo shoot like this?

A little snow

2009-12-10T21:15:00.000-05:00

We had a little snow today. Not too much when we woke up, but by afternoon it looked like this. I had a friend get stuck in this between here and Buffalo. She had to spend the night in a hotel 30 minutes from home.
As bad as it looks, we had very little accumulation. Just a teaser of things to come.

6th grade band concert

2009-12-02T22:34:00.001-05:00

Annabel had her first 6th grade concert tonight. She has really enjoyed being in band and we are happy she is playing her flute more often.
I think one the things she enjoyed most was getting dressed up for the concert.
She had a great seat to see and be seen, which is very important to a 6th grade girl.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T18:58:00.006-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving here. My youngest brother and sister and her boyfriend came to visit us. This was our first time to have family here for a holiday --ever. John lives in NYC now and Megan and Evan came up from Charlottesville, VA. John is 14 yrs younger than I, and Megan is almost 20 yrs younger.
The rest of the family (mostly) spent Thanksgiving together in Texas at Sally's.
Megan and Evan drove to NYC to pick up John and then drove here. What should have been a 6 hour drive from Charlottesville to NYC took them 12 hours and then they still had to drive here-another 5+hours. They got in at 5AM Thursday morning. Talk about holiday traffic!
For several people in our family, Thanksgiving is all about the pie. We had 7 pies for 8 people.
2 pumpkin
2 cherry/raspberry
3 apple
We didn't manage to eat all of that, but the turkey is all gone.
Pie making

John brought with him the game, Khet. It is a laser chess game that was quite the hit of the party.
I felt like my mother who was always mixing up the boys' names. "Tom, Sam, John, whoever."
I kept mixing up John and Noah's names and Megan and Annabel's. It nearly drove me crazy.
Thanksgiving dinner

On Friday we headed out to see some of the local sites. Noah stayed home to play Xbox. He's 13, and not really interested in spending much time with the rest of us these days.
Pictures from Charlotte Pier on Lake Ontario.
These guys got to experience crazy Rochester weather. It started sleeting sideways on us as we headed back to shore, and the waves were spraying over the pier. Fun, cold and crazy.

John and Annabel spent most of their time pickin' at each other.

Megan and Evan
3 siblings
John and the Kodak smoke stacks.
We played Ticket to Ride and Bea and I won both games! Woohoo!
More Khet. Noah loved this game.
Everyone usually thinks Noah looks like Darren, but I have always said he looks like John. What do you think?
Who does Noah look like?
We loved having family here to celebrate the holiday with and also getting to know Evan better.
And, Darren got the Christmas lights up.

Look what I made

2009-11-22T13:38:00.002-05:00

Stacy Julian had a project on her blog that I did yesterday. This is my version.

It was so easy and quick.

Annabel's solo flute recital

2009-11-15T20:28:00.001-05:00

She worked hard and we are proud of her.

Flute recital

click on the photo to hear her play

Halloween

2009-10-31T23:08:00.001-04:00

Halloween is a favorite holiday of the Pulley kids; the mom, not so much. But, I decided to make it easy on myself this year. I let Annabel buy the costume she wanted and the other two came up with their own costumes.
Darren always takes charge of the pumpkin decorating.

It's great that they are old enough to do most of it themselves.

The girls went to the ward trunk or treating. Noah stayed home to do homework (his choice). I made Darren come as well. I told him if he stayed home, I would be very mad for a long time. I spent the night complaining about being out in the wet, cold night. Is there an equivalent to Scrooge for Halloween? That would be me.

Bea and her best friends. I crocheted Bea's beret from a pattern from 1936. A little big, but she liked it.
We compromised on the costume. She had to add the t-shirt and she couldn't wear the fishnet stockings that came with it.
Noah went as Steve Irwin-his own idea and creation. He went out with friends this year and we didn't see him all night. Bea also left us for friends this year.

I got my tonsils out the night before, so I pretty much took it easy and have no pics of the kids trick or treating, but they had a good time and brought home a haul of candy.

Bea and leaves

2009-10-29T22:00:00.000-04:00

I love fall and I love fall pictures. Bea was my photo assistant with the Talbots, so I had to get some pics of her as well.

She is so pleased that her hair is long enough to put into ponies.I wish I could just bottle up these colors and smells and bring them out whenever I wanted.

Willing Victims

2009-10-29T21:22:00.000-04:00

I am always looking for someone to let me take their picture and the Talbots finally relented.
We have had a beautiful fall and I had a very photogenic family to work with. I think it all came together very nicely.

Seleta, I hope you didn't find it too painful and were happy with the results.

leaves and acorns

2009-10-24T12:17:00.002-04:00

Bea is always willing to be my traveling companion, my photo buddy, my tag-a-long.
We went with Darren to Genesee Valley park-he to check out a 5k path and Bea and I to check out the colors.
Bea found acorns and couldn't hold all the ones she wanted to bring home.
She was collecting leaves for her friend Emily who has a leaf collection.

Lacrosse

2009-10-12T12:07:00.001-04:00

Bea decided to try out Lacrosse with her friends this fall.
I swiped these two pics from Joanna.

She was a little ambivalent when she started, but by the time the 6 wks were over she loved it and wants to play again in the spring.

Gro Moore Farm

2009-10-11T11:51:00.004-04:00

Every fall we go to Gro Moore farms for pumpkins and to visit the goats. This is always the highlight for the girls, Noah, not so much.

Tree planting season

2009-10-08T23:37:00.002-04:00

Fall means it is tree planting time in the Pulley yard.
We found a nice tulip tree (aka yellow poplar) that we put in the front yard. It should grow to 100ft.
Close up of its leaves.
Darren is replacing a dogwood that died this year with another. Good luck to this one.

Camp Cutler

2009-10-04T11:28:00.003-04:00

Noah had his Order of the Arrow ordeal this weekend and the colors are beginning to change in the hills. No pics of Noah, but a few of the changing colors.

Trip to the View

2009-10-02T10:36:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Joanna called to tell me she had tickets to see the View in NYC. I love The View and tape it everyday, so I was, of course, thrilled. We had requested these tickets 2 years ago for a previous visit to the city, and they had finally come through. We coerced Suzy into joining us and Mary flew in all the way from UT for our 36 hour visit to NYC and the View.
I saw Central Park for the first time.

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We stayed right in Times Square.

Waiting in line for the show.

Harry Connick, Jr was the main guest on the show. We received his newest cd and album.
Mary was asked to do the commercial break with Sherry Shepard.

I was so excited when we came across the Naked Cowboy in Times Square.
Mary bumped into Sherry one last time in the subway.
We had an absolute blast of a time and it was so great to see Mary. I love that she is willing to fly east and join us on these crazy girl trips.

Sr. Pics

2009-09-30T11:34:00.002-04:00

My friend, Heather, asked me to take Alex's Sr. pictures, so we got together on a rainy morning, but I think it all came together for us.
I known Alex since he was 4 yrs old, so it was fun to spend some time with him now as a young adult.I think this is my favorite.
Loved this brick wall. It looked great with his red shirt.
Thanks Alex, have a great Senior year!

Run for Mercy 5 K run

2009-09-27T10:39:00.000-04:00

Darren organized and lead our stake's Run for Mercy 5K. It was a fundraiser for the House of Mercy which is a local shelter for the homeless. Sister Grace is the nun who runs the center without any government assistance.
We had about 150 people register to run the race.
And they are off.
This was Noah's first time to run anything.
Bea ran in the kids' fun run. It was not as long, but her asthma gave her fits anyway.
Noah finished in just over 31 minutes. He was quite pleased with himself. Darren is trying to convince Noah to run with him now. Hasn't happened yet, but still working on him.
We also offerred a free pancake breakfast to the participants.
Darren had his receptionist and a patient volunteer to help with the record keeping.
Over all it was a great success and made over $3000 for the House of Mercy.

Volleyball Season

2009-09-25T20:01:00.000-04:00

has begun, and Noah is loving life!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-09-22T19:54:00.000-04:00

Rush, NY in the rain.

Waiting for the bus

2009-09-22T19:49:00.000-04:00

Apple Pie

2009-09-17T08:28:00.001-04:00

Darren and Noah made 5 of these over the last weekend...and we ate every last bite of them ourselves, well Joanna had one piece, but the rest was inhaled by the 5 of us over a few short days. I just now realized that means that we each ate an entire apple pie. We'll just check that off as our fruit and fiber choice.

Look what arrived at our house today

2009-09-15T11:34:00.003-04:00

Any guesses as to what it might be?
How about now?
It is Bea's new harp.
She is so excited to see it. I told her it would be here when she gets home from school. She's had her first lesson and is eager to get going on it.
Do you think I will be able to learn along with her? I think it will be more difficult for me.

Dancing through the decades

2009-09-13T10:28:00.000-04:00

We recently had a stake activity that was dancing through the decades. It began at 5pm with music from the 50s and proceeded through each decade at the changing of the hour. It was the best stake activity I have ever been to. The girls had a blast as did everyone there from ages 1-101.
Annabel had her first dance with a boy. She even talked to him while they were dancing.
Annabel and her friend, Olivia, started the bunny-hop.

Bea and Cameron know how to shake their groove thing!

Wildflowers

2009-09-10T16:44:00.000-04:00

The wildflowers are just beautiful right now and there is a large field of them across the street from my neighborhood.

School has begun.

2009-09-08T08:55:00.003-04:00

“Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your child will be going back to school the next day. It would have been called Independence Day, but that name was already taken.” Bill Dobbs

I loved this quote I found yesterday. It says it perfectly.
We've had a few high drama days with the anticipation of school starting and starting at new schools, but all of that should now be over.
Can't believe he's an 8th grader now. Very casual about school starting. No big deal for him.
Happy he remember his lock combination so he could ride his bike to school.
Ever so slightly stressed out. Much better when she saw a friend as I dropped her off at school.
Does she look like a middle schooler?
Bea's quote of the day, "Can you believe some kids aren't excited about school starting?"

Hasta la vista, baby.

Charlottesville, VA

2009-08-28T10:50:00.001-04:00

We stopped in Charlottesville on our way to Myrtle Beach. My youngest sister, Megan, is working on a doctorate at UVA and all my life--really--I have wanted to visit Monticello. I remember begging my dad to take us there, but that never happened. So, after many years of wishing to see this American landmark, I have finally seen it.
No pictures were allowed in the home, but here is a view from the website.

Noon day sun was hot.
Did I mention it was HOT? Noah was ready to end the day and it has only just begun.
I haven't seen Megan in about 5 years. She is so pretty and I got a little verklempt because she looks so much like my grandmother, especially in the eyes. She looks a lot like Aunt Charlotte. It was my first time to see her as an adult and to talk to her as grownup.
Happy, happy me.
FIGS!!! We found a fig tree with ripe fruit on the side of the house. OMG. It made me so happy. We had a fig tree growing up in Texas and I love figs. I can buy figs here for $.50 a piece at Wegmans, for 3 days out of the year.
We just about picked the tree clean. Everybody, including Noah thought they were delicious.
They loved the figs! So good, I can taste them still.
Here is a replica of Jefferson's bed in the children's museum.
The first copy machine.
Noah and Thomas
Annabel found a locust and didn't know what it was. I told her how we would find these on the farm and play army with them when we were kids. It started a scavenger hunt for these. She found them all over the trees.
Noah discovered this toy at the museum and decided it was his souvenir of the day.
We had a great time in Charlottesville and I look forward to returning. We only had a day and didn't get to see everything we wanted. Megan and Evan are planning on coming for Thanksgiving and we can't wait to see them again.

Ellison Park

2009-08-20T18:28:00.004-04:00

This is a dog named Winnie. Winnie is a labradoodle that refuses to swim in our pool.
This is a lovely little creek/pool at Ellison Park.
This is Roxy, she's a Jackapoo. She loves to swim in our pool, and thinks this creek is awesome.
OMGosh, I think she may drown. Annabel has tried to teach her to swim, but with little success. Winnie's tail end tends to sink.
I couldn't go in after her, because I am keeping an eye on this little guy. He is having a blast throwing pebbles for Roxy to catch.
They are having a party.
Throw some more, throw some more, more, more, more.
Roxy can even catch several at a time.
Okay, she didn't drown.
But man, is she out there.
Run, Winnie, run.
Maybe, we'll try again another day, but only if Roxy comes along.

Utah Trip

2009-08-06T20:30:00.000-04:00

Darren's mother passed away the end of July and we made a very quick trip to Utah. We spent a lot of time visiting cousins and trying to make a little vacation out of our 4 days there.
I really wanted to take the kids to Cascade Springs, between Provo and American Fork Canyons. It was lovely, but extremely hot. Even Noah was rather taken aback by the heat.

I was hopeful to get some good pictures while we were there, but it was just too dang hot, and at 5pm the sun was still rather harsh.

I was so happy to see my beautiful friends Mary (here) and Heidi. While the kids and Darren spent the day at Lagoon Amusement park, I spent the day being amused by my dear friends. Thank you for spending the day with me!
Kent and Noah got to catch up on old times and Clara joined the cousins in all the fun.

The girls couldn't get enough of their cousin Kimball.

You would never guess these cousins only see each other every few years, but it does help that we just saw them in November. Jared (bottom right ) looks more like Darren as a kid than his own do. They could be twins.
Oldest daughters of the three brothers.
We headed back to Mary's to swim and finish off a difficult day having fun and making good memories.
Next time, we'll meet under better circumstances.

Scout Camp

2009-08-01T11:40:00.001-04:00

Noah spent a week at scout camp and came home with 4 merit badges. Yippee!
ready to head out
rowing for Christian's mile swim
Noah did the polar bear swim every morning doing the mile qualifier.
He didn't starve.
a great troop of boys
Thanks to Kelly Bitters for all the pictures.

Room Makeover

2009-07-24T19:28:00.000-04:00

I told Annabel to clean her room before she left for camp, if not I would do it while she was gone and I would throw away anything I wanted. She did not clean her room.
I did not get enough before pictures to show just how bad it really was. Every drawer was open and empty and there was no place to stand in her room without stepping on something.
Oh, the horror.
Wednesday night, three of my good friends volunteered to come over and help me clean her room. It took four, adult women three hours to clean this room. We removed 4 bags of garbage and one load of dirty clothes out of her room, as well as two broken pieces of furniture.
Now it is beautiful.
I have found myself going into her room this week just to sit on the bed and enjoy the cleanness of it all.
We went through all her clothes, cleaned out the closet, and tossed and tossed and tossed.

Now, even Winnie can find someplace to sit and enjoy the room.
I could not have done this without the help, support and guidance of my good friends Joanna, Alissa and Sarah. You are cleaning goddesses! Please come live with me and be my fairy godmothers.

Sidney Opera House

2009-07-23T21:58:00.001-04:00

Noah named this display. I think he was right on track.

Looks like she's having a good time.

2009-07-21T15:32:00.003-04:00

The camp posts pictures everyday to their site. It is nice to see her smiling face.