Name That Boat

I guess we need to come up with a name for our new boat. We didn't name our last boat but we have no choice this time.

So far we have come up with
Eight Moons
Many Moons
Chasing Dreams ( not a favorite of the boys)
The Nuthouse
Crazy Eight
We Moon
West Side (inside joke)
"The Vincenza" (named after my grandmother Vincenza Messineo
The Jessel Vessel (named after Ken's Grandmother Jessel)

Next up is you.....any ideas?

Busy week!!

We bought a new boat today!!! We have a boat on Lake Geneva now but we will soon be moving to a Marina on Lake Michigan. Our new boat will allow us to spend the night on the boat if we chose. Here is a link to the boat we bought.

Look who came home for a night!!! Kenny!!!! Kenny was asked to star in a production that his friend was making for school. Kenny stopped home for a night on his way to his friends house. Kenny will be home in a few weeks for a night. We are going to see Billy Joel and Elton John together. Kenny will leave the morning after the concert for Washington DC. Kenny is performing in a Shakespeare production in DC. Very exciting for him!!! While Kenny was home he let me take a few head shots of him. He is such a handsome guy!!! : )









I took Addison to the park for a photo shoot. Here are just a few of the pictures that I took. I have more to process.





My parents have been her since July 2nd. We have really enjoyed having them with us : ) we were sorry to see them go home. My girls just adore Grandma Georgia and Grandpa Kid!!!

Livi is doing so well on her new meds. She is such a different child. Livi's speech has just exploited!!!! Her Speech Therapist can't believe it!!! We see light at the end of the tunnel.

The girls are going to camp two days a week and loving it!!!! Both of them are doing really well. It's been great for Addison to attend camp because she is so shy. I love seeing her make new friends and gain more confidence in herself : )

We are really enjoying our new pool. Both girls are like little fish. Addison still wears her floaties but she now does cannonballs in to the pool. I remember not too long ago Miss A wouldn't leave the step of the pool. You should see her now!!!! It's wonderful!!!

Summer is flying by way too fast!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!!! We had such a nice day. My parents are here from SC. Chris and his girlfriend Kristen came over along with Justin and Ashley. Tyler went down to ISU to spend the weekend with Kenny. Chris made the BEST ribs ever!!! The guy can cook!!!! We had such a good day. I really love having my family around : )
How was your 4th???

We Could Really Use Your Help!

The help I am asking for will not cost you more then a few minutes of your time. My good friend Shelby runs a wonderful charity called "The Elison Project". The Elison Project has helped bring several children home to their forever families by providing grants to the families. The Elison Project needs to raise funds so that the charity can continue it's good work.

Below is a post from The Elison Project Blog. All they need are recipes. Please please will you help. This can be a great fundraiser!!!! They are also asking your children to submit a drawing for the front cover. Please follow the link below to submit your recipes. I know you are all fantastic cooks and now is the time to share those recipes!!!
This charity is very near and dear to my heart.

Our First Cookbook!

I am so excited to announce that after months and months of brainstorming with some brilliant gals and one talented guy(Katy, Andrea, Colleen, Angie, Garry), The Elison Project has launched it's first cookbook project.

We need all of your yummy recipes, pictures and stories as well as all of your very talented children to help us design the cover.

Click on the link to find out more http://www.theelisonproject.info/

Summer has arrived

Summer has arrived and we are having the time of our lives!!! We have been swimming and relaxing in between Livi's OT and PT. I love the lazy days of summer : )

Today is my husband's birthday.....Happy Birthday Ken!!! Hope you had a wonderful day. We will celebrate on Sunday with the kids.

My sweet little puppy Lucy was fixed today and she is not a happy camper this evening. My poor little baby : ( I hate that she had surgery. Lucy is such a sweet dog and afraid of other dogs. When it was time to put Lucy in the recovery room the vet put Lucy in with the cats LOL They said our Lucy was like a delicate flower : ) so sweet!!!!

I will be blogging less this summer. I am really enjoying time with my girls and trying to spend less time on the computer. I thought about going private with my blog after a few nasty comments were left but have decided not to. I have met so many wonderful people and who knows there may be some one else out there that I have yet to meet.

Last weekend Addison and Mommy flew to SC to spend a long weekend with my parents. My Aunt Jeanine (my mom's sister) flew in from CA to spend the weekend with us. My dad had no idea I was bringing Addison and what a surprise he got at the airport. The expression on his face and the tears in his eyes when he saw I brought Addison with me....what a priceless moment : ) We had a wonderful time together.

We have no big summer plans other then relaxing and staying far away from construction. What are your summer plans?

Below are a few pictures of Miss A

My new addiction

Well I'm a bit slow but I finally got a flip! I love it!!!!! Not that it takes the best movies but it's simple to use and great for short uploads.

Here are my little fish.....Miss Addison is finally OFF THE STEP!!!!!!!

Textures!!!

I've become addicted to textures!!!!! I love them!!!!! My garden is in full bloom and I've had more fun photographing still life....easier then kids (they don't talk back or cry).

Hope you are all enjoying the start of summer???

My Big Kindergarten Graduate

Livi is so proud to be a Kindergarten graduate!!! Livi is doing great and I mean GREAT!!!!! Her speech (retrieval) has exploded in the last 2 weeks. We have had very few meltdowns. She is asking more age appropriate questions and we are having much more conversations with Livi leading the way!!!!! I am beyond excited for Livi!!!!!
One thing I can't get through her little head is that she has several months off before the start of 1st grade. She keeps asking me.....do I start 1st grade tomorrow???????? LOL

You Scared Me Half To Death!

Here are the rules...If Mama is not in the water you wear floaties in the pool. That's it, those are the rules!!!!

Livi swims pretty darn good. I realized it today when she passed by her floaties and jumped in the pool (beautiful belly flop) and swam to the side...coming up for air. Declaring that she no longer needs me to be in the water, she can do it all by herself.

Why would I be so over protective? After all I used to throw the boys in the pool and yell swim or drown!!! They became very strong swimmers.

So I told Livi she could go floatie free. As I was watching the girls play Nemo and shark (a game they made up) I noticed Livi was swimming in to the jet. The jet is pretty powerful and Livi was swimming but not moving due to the jet blowing. I got nervous that she was going to run out of air so what did I do.....I jumped in to save her....shoes and all (yes I had a bathingsuit on but I also had a dress on over it). I pulled her up quickly and sat her on the step. Yelling "Livi, you scared me half to death".

As Livi was laughing she said "Mommy, you are not supposed to wear your shoes in the pool".

If I could bottle it up!

I wish I could of bottled up today. We had such a fun and relaxing day with the girls. The day started out chilly and cloudy. I did all my errands early in hopes that the day would clear up.

By about 1:00 the clouds had gone and the temperature was a perfect 75 degrees. The girls couldn't wait to jump in the pool. The girls swam most of the day but did get out of the water for lunch, cupcakes and dinner. After dinner Mommy served ice cream cones. The girls played on their swing set for a bit before asking if they could swim some more. Livi had Hannah Montana music blasting over the speakers while Addison showed us some of her dance moves. Finally at 7:30 PM we talked the girls in to getting out of the pool.

What a perfect day. I could of sat and watched the girls play forever.............

Livi has one more week left of school. Livi has come a long way this year. Livi's speech has really improved. We recently had Livi re-tested for speech and the ST said exactly what I thought. Livi is a bright little girl who has issues in retrieving. Often when Livi is asked a question she will answer "I don't know". It's not that she doesn't know it's that she can't get the words out. I call this conversational speech but it's really referred to as retrieving. I have noticed Livi's speech getting much better in the last month. She has been asking a lot more age appropriate questions. The other day she asked me where the water goes when it goes down the bath tub drain. I am also seeing less melt downs. : )

The next step for Livi may be a stimulant. Livi is still having trouble with focusing in school . Livi takes straterra but she may need to move to a stimulant. I want to try and get this all settled this summer while she is home with me. Livi will continue with therapy over the summer. Livi will go to OT twice a week and Speech twice a week. I also ordered Handwriting with out tears so that I can work with Livi this summer on her writing.

Addison is gearing up for preschool next year. As you know she is a preschool drop out but ready to return next year. Addison talks about preschool all the time. I think she is trying to convince herself she will be ok : ) I know who her preschool teacher will be next year and she is the best!!! Her son is good friends with my son Tyler and I have known Miss Jane for a long time. Addison is a smart little cookie. She writes well, can spell many words and knows all her sounds : ) She will do just fine if I can peel her off my leg.

Speaking of Addison......below are a few pictures from my shoot with her the other day : ) she is a good little model and puts up with a lot from me.

My canon rebel xti is still for sale if anyone is interested!!