HOT HOT HOT

Its just too hot to do much of anything but complain about how hot it is.... so that's our excuse for not posting much. When it gets this hot, we get sort of silly and then this happens....

Kelly- I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alex here- I just wanted to say,"Kelly-I love you"!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes you heard me, I went to a Kelly Clarkson concert at Darien lake yesterday. First we went on rides and then we did something I've always wanted to do...SEE KELLY CLARKSON LIVE!!!!!! It was the most fantastic concert I have ever gone too- actually my first concert too! I loved ALL the songs and her new hair cut. At the end when she was singing Breakaway, we got about 10 feet away from her and she waved to us, and I yelled, as you can guess, "I LOVE YOU KELLY!!!" At the very end they threw confetti out of these big blower things and I got pockets full to take home. One more thing- THANK YOU GRANDMA PATTY for the tickets !!!! I love you tooooo!!!!

The Never Ending Birthday

Ethan is still receiving gifts for his birthday. Today a big package from Target arrived. Ethan was SO HAPPY to find more tractors inside...and a gator AND a buck! Thanks Sheller/Fisher family. That was very nice of you. And I am the WORST about sending out thank you notes... every day I think, Oh, I should really get to those thank you's from Ethan's party and then, again, I don't actually get to them. We do appreciate all of his wonderful gifts... thanks everyone!!

So Long Sammy Davis

Sammy Davis is the name Alex gave to one of the tadpoles we harvested from Megan's pond. We were raising him and his "brother" Samuel (I know, very original names) along with nine "Moonies" (another of Alex's names)- which are actually a different variety of tadpole- in a plastic tote on the breezeway.

This is a picture of Sammy Davis last Tuesday. He still has his tail. On Friday we went to the pet store and asked the gentleman there what to feed a young bullfrog (we are guessing he's a bullfrog). He suggested crickets and gave us a free bag full. "There is no way that this tiny frog can eat a cricket almost as big as him," I thought. Well, I was wrong! I watched him gobble one up yesterday afternoon.

This is a picture of Sammy Davis a few days ago. He still had a nub of a tail. We all had fun watching him change and grow.

This is a picture of Sammy Davis on the right with Samuel on the left, taken yesterday. See how Sammy Davis has completely lost his tail? Then this morning we discovered that he had escaped! He had tried to escape once before, and we found him by the door in the breezeway, scooped him up and deposited him back in his home. But this time there was no finding the little guy. So Long Sammy Davis! You were fun while we had you!

Another One Bites the Dust.....

And another one's gone, and another one's gone, and another one bites the dust....

Yep, Hudson lost his second tooth. He's going to be rollin' in the tooth-fairy dough before the summer is out if this pace keeps up. Alex was calling him Gumby this morning.

And another school year bites the dust too..... can you believe that I will now have a 4th grader!!! That sounds so OLD! And a 2nd-grader too. We got Alex all signed up for her flute. It will be delivered to school in September. They are required by Mr. Gerolomi to stick with it through December, but I think that Alex will love playing an instrument. She plays her precorder All. The. Time.

This summer the kids are signed up for only a few "structured" activities. Alex will be doing theater camp in Canandaigua for 2 weeks and both she and Hudson will play soccer and go to Veggie Camp (for one week). We are planning a vacation to the Adirondacks, and a reunion with Justin's family at Letchworth in August. We plan on getting together with our friends Tessa and Bethany for some trade-off playdates (one day here, one day there) and playing a lot at the lake with all the cousins. I really can't believe that summer vacation starts this afternoon!

Finally....

Hudson has finally lost a tooth! It happened this morning. He is 6 years and 8 months old. And can you see all the gear he is wearing? Does it remind you of anyone? We call him Keenan Jr.

Kristin is Evil!

Sarah here- and all I have to say is, Kristin, you are evil, evil, evil..... Those cookies you sent me for my birthday are far too yummy!!! Sure- she loses all this weight and then sends me a dozen ginormous, delicious, different flavored (so I can't just have one and be done with it...No! I need to try all of the varieties) cookies. So, if you need me I'll be wiping crumbs off my chin in the kitchen.....

I'm BAAAAACCCCKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello all! Alex here. Guess what?! I got chosen to play the flute in fourth grade! Only about 6 or 8 people get to play it too! Aren't I lucky! My ballet recital went great too!!!!!!! Hudson loved it so much, he wants to do dance again in the fall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More Dance Photos and Ethan's Party

As promised, here are more pictures from the recital. They don't allow flash photography during the performance, so these are backstage shots. Alex had 3 costumes... Jazz was the hoe-down costume, tap was the Broadway costume (with a cane as well) and ballet was the white cygnet costume. Hudson was a butterfly for ballet (which I unfortunately did not get a picture of- the kids wore all black and had wings and antenna) and he was the frog for tap.

Yesterday to top off our busy weekend we had Ethan's 4th birthday party. It was a John Deere theme, with a tractor ice cream cake and green and yellow accessories (balloons, plates and napkins). He got lots of great toys and a fun time was had by all. The weather could have been better- we were hoping for something like last year's party- an outdoor event.... but it was chilly. The kids played outside and the adults sat around the food in the kitchen and chatted.

Frogman & Swan Princess

The kids had their dance recital this weekend.... it was great. They both did a really wonderful job and were very proud of themselves. I'll post more pictures soon.

Alex Who?

Well, it appears that Alex has lost interest in writing this blog- at least for now. I really don't blame her, she has a lot going on right now- with all the GROWING and stuff. (I cannot keep that child in clothes. I just bought her size 6 ballet shoes.... 2 months ago I bought her size 4!!!) SO, the responsibility of keeping everyone up to date on our exciting bunch falls to me. And since I am tired and don't have much to say I will just post pictures from the parade yesterday... in which Ethan did in fact ride on the float! I think the fact that it was pulled by a John Deere tractor had a lot to do with it!

Did I tell you that Hudson & Justin are out of this world?

More Storytelling....

Mom here again.... Alex talked about going to a board meeting to receive recognition for her storytelling her May 3rd post. You can read more about it here http://accelerateu.org/districts/bloomfieldcsd/Other/index.cfm?&SessionID=2734&ActivityID=8251

Curriculum Fair

Me and Hudson had a Curriculum Fair on May 16 and that was the day I had my precorder concert. (Editor's note: A precorder is a smaller recorder, aka a flute-a-phone.) Here I am with my mask from art class. It had to have at least one horn. (Mine is the purplish one with a light salmon nose and 2 feathers on the horns.) Hudson did some research on ants in the deciduous forest, and he made 2 clay things in art class. One was a monkey. You can kind of see it in the corner of the picture here.

Miss Williams Goes to Washington

Melissa,Hudson and me,Alex are now in front of the Linlcon Memorial.

Now every one who came to D.C. with us is here except Aunt Kristin and my mom (who is taking the picture). (Editors note: Harrison is missing form the picture too.)

Right now I'm close to the Washington Memorial and pool.
the water behind me is not the reflecting pool.

Hudson,Melissa and me are in front of the White House.

Here I'm in front of the

veterans wall with my almost gone coke.

Wednesday Afternoon.... just a usual day

Hi all! Alex here. Today an author came to our school, her name is Cynthia DeFelice. We are reading a book she wrote in school called Under The Same Sky. Another one of my ballet performance is coming up, its called,"To Paint A Dream." If you can't see it I'll send you a video of it. Did you all know my dog can play soccer? She's real good at it but, she's got to learn to play with her arms and legs and not her teeth! Today I'm also going to a board meeting for story telling. Right now its time to eat dinner, yum noodles and sausage!

Today Ethan said....

Yesterday he said he wasn't going to kindergarten....but today he informed his father that he wants to go to college!

Storyteller, Wizards & Batman Pancakes

Hi all. Sarah here. Alex has granted me permission to write on "her" blog. She wanted me to let everyone know that you can read about her storytelling experience at http://accelerateu.org/districts/bloomfieldCSD/bloomfieldElem/index.cfm?&SessionID=2663&ActivityID=8244 (And in case any one you were wondering- the other little dark haired girl is Grif Steppenbeck's daughter Emma. Remember Grif?)

Here are some more recent pictures ....kids playing Wizards


This is Hudson's Batman Pancake.....yummy (Justin IS an artist!)


And finally, Ethan modeling the latest in memorial Day Float headgear (and an orange Cheeto smile)...


Speaking of Ethan, this morning he said in his grumpy voice, "I'm NOT going to coffee. I'm NOT going to kindergarten and I'm NOT riding on the FLOAT!"

Hello!

My family has had a very busy and fun easter break! I spent the night at my aunts house and my grandma and papa just got back from Tortola and my grandmas neck and ears are killing her! My mom has been on the phone alot and my dad is still working. My dad is building a new swing- set for us because we were geting to big for the other one! I hope everone has had a great easter break!