Our yard ... "before"

This is our yard. When we moved here, everything was green and as optomistic as Indian Summer can make you. Then as winter has now thawed into spring and we're outside for hours each day, it's looking a little less idealistic and a lot more ... needy. We've started a major yard rennovation, so these are the "before"pics. This is a view of the "back" of the house that faces the river and mountains (our house faces away from the road). This is where the girls to a majority of their playing. We have a big layset for them, but it wasn't erected yet.
From the same spot rotated toward the road. Our driveway goes all the way around the house, and these are the two entrances to the driveway you can use. The house is past the Jeep on the right.
From the front of the Jeep facing east - our house on the right of the driveway, the road up a ways on the left. Allie playing with rocks.
House from the road showing side yard that's taken over by trees, leaves, and wild blueberry bushes. Different view of the "back" of the house.

Unless you live on a mountain like we do (or Ing does) you have no earthly idea how much CRAP festers under these leaves. The pic with Allie and the rocks is actually an after pic - Me, Ron, Sarah, Den, and Megan worked for a total of four days just to clear that little 30x50 plot of land. We took out 15 trees, removed prolly 8-10 stumps (by hand!!!). The soil, for rosky, clay-ish, slate-y PA was in great shape, thanks to the aforementioned festering. However, this is a project that will take at least a full year. Just to clear the property.

You all have seen our chainsaw adventures, and I'm SO happy to say that our delightful neighbors recommended a tree guy who not only came when he said he would, but after we talked about it what we wanted done ideally, grabbed his saw out of this truck and felled 5 HUGE trees. Just like that. For $100.00. LMFAO! $10-25 bucks per tree. This is PERFECT! He fells the trees only, we cut the branches off and cut it into kindling. Then we Freecycle the kindling and smaller pieces, and he knows a guy who comes and takes the big trunks. FOR FREE. Man, I love it here!

Sarah's First School Dance

Yet again, I post things out of order. This is Sarah and one of her best friends striking a Charlie's Angels pose. Look at how small Sarah's flips are. They are from the FALL. Oy VEY!
Me and Allie and half of Sarah dancing. Allie was horrified and mesmerized by the whole event. She only "danced" about 5 minutes before I was asked to leave.

On our way, fashionably late as usual. I'm going to take a pic of her in the same spot before each dance. Soon enough it'll be a prom picture!
Sarah and Ron. He was giving her boy and dancing tips, but I could tell part of him wanted to grab his shotgun and watch out for the boys! My girls are in trouble with Ron on patrol.
It was a family dance, and since my husband is a 37 year old living in my grandmom's body, he and his gimp self stayed home. Allie was all dolled up for the dance too.
Sarah and Heather - oh these two have so much fun together! They remind me of me and Ingrid when we were in grade school. Oh, the memories ...
Ummm ... what is this called? FUNNY. That's what I called it. Mel - ya woulda peed your pants.

I just have to gush again about this district, and especially this school. They are so awesome, this dance was just the cutest thing. All the kids had such a great time! And since it was a family event, there was kids of all ages there and parents on the dance floor too! It was really neat to see the community here come together and have a good time.

I would be remiss (and downright ignorant) if I didn't share this anecdote with you. Sarah has been going through a period of great self growth since we've been here. The little girl who was scared is really growing up and becoming ... dare I say ... assertive? Probably! When we got there, I wasn't sure how long Allie was going to make it (awake). Since Sarah was going to sleep over a friends house, I wasn't under the gun to stick it out. We were having a great time, me and my mom friends, Allie and her (can we please leave) group of cranky toddlers, and Sarah and her gang. The electric slide came on, Sarah ran over and grabbed me to teach the kids. No problem. Allie on a hip, I went to town. After the song was over, Sarah says, "Mom, I'm kinda embarrassed that you're still here. I would feel a lot more grown up if you took Allie home so she could go to sleep.. She looks awfully tired". Ummm ... WHAT?!?! HELLO!?!?!? Girl, it took me off and on 2 days to push your 9 pound self out my vajayjay and now you, all 8 years old, are blowing me off? I didn't say it. All I said was, "Yeah, I think Allie is just about done. Have a great time, sweetheart, and call me when you get back." I did get a kiss, great big hug, and 'you're the best, mom', but OUCH. Already.

*sigh*. Can't WAIT until the prom.

The Pleasures of Watching MY kids growing up!

I've had the pleasure of watching my kids grow up, just sitting around seeing them blossom into cute little girls. Sarah and I were introduced when she was about 4 yrs. old, from that point on I knew that someday she would be my daughter. (NOT a stepdaughter) She calls her home here in Jim Thorpe PA, a far cry from the apartment in Ridley. As you can see there is plenty of room to run around. Sarah and Allie love to spend time together outside, always on the slide. How could you not be close to your offspring regardless of the situation. It is something that is so priceless. This is Sarahs' home, her world, and she wishes that someday her Dad would be able to come and visit. But being 2434 miles away from each other certainly wasnt't her CHOICE. One's lost is anothers gain. I'll keep you posted on the ever growing up of my little girls.

....Ron

FOR THE RECORD

Concerning my husband's post about my chainsaw adventure:

1) I do not usually look like a marshmallow and wear my hubby's baggy Carharts. However, I was taking no chances with insects, vermin, and dead branches. Not that I'm svelte by ANY sretch, but those pics are AWFUL.

2) It was my first tree, the first day I ever held a chainsaw. The diameter was a good 55 inches. It was a big tree.

2b) I am still blowing insects and copious amounts of sawdust and dirt out of my nose.

3) Yes, I did get the chainsaw stuck. The little man on the YouTube video I watched to learn how to cut down a tree clearly misrepresented how to notch, and the tree went to the unintended side, which is why it got stuck. I was not expecting it to fall where it did. I was not the first one in my family to get their chainsaw stuck (Mel can vouch) but I won't say anything else about that.

4) I love power tools. And I can't wait to cut down more trees and get a bulldozer here!

Keep looking for more funny pics!

Sarah and Allie

Sarah and Allie in the backyard.

Allie the Electrician

Our latest edition to the IBEW. DADDY is proud of you.

Allie the Electrician

Mom the "AX-WOMAN"

Mom has been VERY antsy about cutting a tree. With safety being a priority, she donned my hard hat and and grabbed a pair of gloves. 20 mins. later...... I had to re-fuel. 40 mins. later..... re-fuel again. Anyway, it took Mom 50 mins., 3 re-fuels, and 2 oils to get this tree down. BUT WAIT.... for those of you who do not know this... there is a new chain saw out that cuts by itself. (take a look) lololol... She was hard at it and NEVER gave up. Great job MOM!!!!!!!!!!

Square Dancing

This was just the cutest program ever. Can I tell you how much I love this school? Everything about it is wonderful! Today was the big performance - kids in grades K-2 got to show their stuff, the dances they've learned in gym class the past three months to their parents and families. The kindergarteners did the Chicken Dance, the 1st graders the Boot Scootin' Boogie, and the 2nd graders did the Jim Thorpe Hoe Down. The gym, which is easily the size of some high schools', was PACKED. It was crazy! It took about 5 minutes to navigate from one end to the other, but here's a pick of Sarah before her group was herded out to make more seating room.Allie started calling for Sarah before we were even in the school, and was super stoked to finally see her, so she ran right over to her and plopped in her lap. Those two must have some kind of ESP going on, they are so close. I imagine they will grow up to be best friends. They are really tight.
The Gaganator, Ronnie, and Allie waiting for the show to begin.
There's Sarah swinging with her partner, Peter. She LOVED her authentic square dancing outfit, compliments of Gaga. GaGa used to wear it when she danced, and Sarah was really happy to have a skirt and slip that went up as she twirled around.
After the show, a teary Gaga and Sarah shared a special mopment. I think Sarah felt like a star, and I know Gaga was over the moon. I got the show on a one-time use video recorder - if it's worth uploading parts of it I surely will. My camera hates that gym, and many of my action shots ended up all blurry. I guess the ones that counted came out well!

The face of innocence ...

... NOT. It's the face of a heart attack in motion. Let me preface this by saying that it was over a 4 mile walk/run, and Allie was going to be in the stroller for an extended period of time. Allie is NOT a stroller kid unless we are going fast (which is why I run) and we've got plenty of music pumping through the stroller's sound system. So - I set her free for a bit before the walk. There were dogs on leashes EVERYWHERE at the walk, and besides "weee's", dogs are Allie's next favorite thing in the whole wide world. So everytime we passed one, she wanted to follow it. Don't you know she sees a cute one and takes off? Ingrid's dad was so on it and followed her around, and I didn't see either of them walk away. Neither did anyone else. Then they disappeared and I ran around like a lunatic for a bit calling for her, then they came walking back. Scared the SHIT out of me. I think I may try those kid leashes. And keep a portable difibulator handy.

Autism spoke volumes ...

Me and Ingrid about 15 minutes before the gun.
Grandma, Grandpa, and Brendan - the man of the day!
The Dark Force (Iconic, but a bit ironic if you ask me) - I'm assuming it was symbolic of Autism itself, not the Walk for awareness. Stilll - I wish I had a light sabre. Allie had a green sword balloon - that was close enough.
Brendan and the Dark Force - he loved it!

From the first few notes of the Dark Force Anthem, Sarah was drawn to the troops like a magnet. She found them through crowds of thousands and HAD to see them (pre walk). Post walk, they were there for a Photo Op. Sarah almost hip checked another kid to get her pic! She got to hold a gun and was in her glory. It makes me want to play Lego Stars Wars. Look at her smile ...

... and the Lehigh Valley chapter raised almost a half million dollars! There were 7,000 people there! It was so freaking outrageously cool even DARTH VADER was there with his entourage (I almost felt like I was back at Enza's wedding ... hee hee hee)!!! The "walk" actually turned into a 5K that I'm really excited to say I ran at least 2.5 miles of, pushing a 65 lb jogging stroller (with the kid and all paraphanalia included) with a stationary front wheel. It kicked my ass, and I loved it! I may look flubby, but girlfriend got GAME and I went on with my bad self. Sarah can vouch - she did great too, and jogged close to a mile with me before she joined the rest of the gang. Being in motion is pretty important to me on a daily basis and it paid off. I can't wait until June 22nd! (Hmmm ... what is June 22nd you ask? Keep checking the blog and I'll let you know! It's my next run adventure, this time with Enza and the crew)

I am so proud of our Team, Bean's Buddies. The walk was just awesome - it was a very emotional experience. It was a very young crowd (parent-wise) and you could see the mix of pain and hope and incredible, unwavering love on each parent's face - incredible. I was honored to be there, and I have to say how much I admire Ingrid and Craig for their strength - I don't know if I could have done it - guess I'll find out next October for SGK! Brendan was out of his skin when he saw our team (about 25 strong), all in our T-shirts with his face in a puzzle piece. He thought it was really cool. So did we.

Miscellaneous Pics

It's been a while since I've updated the blog (obviously), so here are a few random pics to show you from Eastertime at Nonna and Nonno's. The pics with the shopping cart (which doubled as an Easter basket since I forgot Allie's - Aunt Steph rocks!) and dog are at Zia's house where we had her egg hunt. The rest are at Nonna and Nonno's.

Out of about 10 pics, these were the only two that were decent of both Allie and Lorenzo (and there's Nonna too!). They are going to be so much trouble when they grow up!

This last pic was the least offensive of the bunch. Allie had a heck of a time getting onto that semi rusted bulldog in the backyard at Zia's (Uncle Rich is a Marine and loves his bulldogs. They are everywhere and Allie was thrilled she foudn one she could touch!), and subsequently kept trying to get on it from the back ... it was a bit sacreligious, but hilarious. As you can see, she finally made it.