Rite of Passage - Preston

This weekend we witnessed another "grown up" moment from Preston - he walks up the stairs!! That is right, he holds onto the wall and walks up - just like a big boy! I can't even believe it - they are growing up so fast.

Cookbook Anyone?

As many of you may know, I have been on the Our Mother of Sorrows 75 Anniversary Cookbook Committee for several months now. I thought this would be a good way to have some Mommy time and get to know some people in the community. We are fastly approaching crunch time and the deadline to get the final draft to the publisher! It never ceases to amaze me how people in a community - any community - can rally around a cause and pull it off 200%. The books will arrive right before Mothers Day - guess what everyone is getting ????

Yes that is right 200%. We had a goal of 300 recipes in mind for the final draft, today we are looking at close to 600!! I still can't believe it. The recipes range from semi-homade to gourmet (we have several professional chefs in the parish!) Emeril and Rachel Ray have nothing on us!!! I am lucky enough to have 12 recipes in the book, some are my own and some were passed down from my Mom and Nonnie. I mean really, were can you buy a great cookbook with 600 recipes in it for $20.00. If anyone would like to pre-order one, no money needed, just let me know.

I am the youngest member of the committee and I have to say these ladies have taught me a lot! Not just about a good group of women (and Ken) who pulled together to make this happen, but about the church and the history it has in the area. The current church (building) is going to be 75 years old, however the parish is over 100. Several of the ladies were born and raised here, as were their parents....it is truly amazing to hear how the town and parish has grown. Tuesday is the annual Pancake Supper and we are really looking forward to going.

Growing up, I went to St. Clare Catholic School from 1st to 8th grade. We had 20 kids in my class and we grew up like brothers and sisters. Not everyone got along all of the time, but what family does? Today I still keep in touch with Becky - we met in the 3rd grade - and trust me, over the past 27 years we have had some fun - you know what they say about those Catholic School Girls)!! She and I ended up going to the same high school, being in each others weddings, seeing babies born, kids growing up and having to say goodbye to loved ones as well.

This is what I hope my kids will be able to say when they are getting ready to turn 34.

Just one more reason I love my small town! (Don't get me wrong, I am envious of anyone who has a coffee shop that stays open past 5:00 p.m.)

Why I Love Mayberry!!

My brother often jokes with me that I live in Mayberry and actually, Church Hill/Sudlersville is a lot like it.

Where else would you find a sign that looks like this to announce a fall wedding!

And where else would you find Cedar Run Farm. Lew Dodd grew up on the farm and now raises the cattle and hog just like his father did when he was a little boy. All you have to do to get farm raised, hormone and antibiotic free meat is drive up his driveway and meet him at the barn. That is his "store" where you can get a variety of frozen meats at a really great price. All less than 5 minutes from your own driveway. Plus is your order is more than $75.00 he delivers. Can I just tell you - his scrapple is the best around!!

When my neighbors car broke down, the lady from Jeannies Shore Good Produce (the local produce market where you can get a great chicken salad sandwich and milkshake, not to mention some fishing/hunting gear and the best corn around while waiting for your order), took her kids to school for her while she waited for the tow truck!

When I need an oil change, Dave from Rolands Garage on the corner, will come to my house - pick up my van - do the oil change ($25.00) - and return it to my garage within a few hours - so I don't have to worry about taking the kids out. I think they do it because there is always a batch of homemade cookies waiting for them when they bring the van back - ha ha ha!!

When Helena needed stitches because of the previously mentioned post, Mrs. Pauls, the principal, went to the hospital with us. (because Helena asked her to!)

Helena's bus driver Mr. Embert has a grand-daughter (Abby) that played on her soccer team and his daughter (Melissa, Abby's mom) was one of the nurses that took care of the boys when they were in the hospital last August.

Small town America - many, many people still ask us why we moved out to the "country" - these are just a few of the reasons......and let's not forget - at night when you look into the sky, you can see every star in it!!!

Rite of Passage

This past Saturday, Jason, me and the triplets took a ride to OC. Helena was going to the movies with my Mother in Law, so instead of sitting home we decided to take a ride to the beach. When we arrived everyone was very hungry, so we headed to Dough Roller- why do we love their pizza so much??. Pizza is a favorite among the boys, so we knew we would be golden.

We ordered some french fries for them to munch on, when Parker started to get fussy Jason dipped a ff into some ketchup. It was down hill from there....the boys have become official dippers. They loved it and actually did a pretty good job of not getting it everywhere. They were so funny at first, dipping, licking it off of the ff, dipping again, licking it off of the ff, then taking a bite. It was if they found their new best friend......

I guess they will take after Helena, the dipping Queen!!

Love Hurts....Rocky!

My daily routine includes snack for the boys at 3:30 p.m. This way they are in their highchairs occupied while I get dinner prepped and/or started depending on what we are going to have and soon after Helena's bus will arrive. Knowing they are contained I will run out to meet her.

Tuesday at 3:45 the phone rings and it is school. They have her there because there was an accident on the bus and she was hurt, I need to come pick her up!! Luckily Robin was available to sit with the boys and I ran to school.

Bless her heart, she was in the nurses office with 2 butterfly bandages over her left eye! She was very upset of course, but very brave!! My next question - How did this happen??? Apparently, she hugged a little boy in K "goodbye" and told him she loved him....as a result, he pushed her in the back and she fell into the bus window!

By the time we got cleaned up and began to head to the hospital, his dad brought him backup to see me and Helena! His parents could not have handled the situation any better - they were great. The little boy apologized and Helena, on her own, accepted his apology. His dad gave me their information to call after our trip to the ER to let them know how she was doing.

So off we go, with Mrs. Pauls (her principal) in tow! She is the best, she offered to ride with us and sit in the back with Helena. Helena graciously accepted the offer and off we went. Two hours, 3 stitches and 1 black eye later we were dropping Mrs. Pauls back to school and headed home!! Helena was so brave, even during the stitching - don't get me wrong there were tears, but afterwards the cherry Popsicle from the nurse made it all better.

Yesterday I told her she did not have to go to school, but she said she was fine! That is my girl, she is over it and moved on! Later last night, she even went to ballet class and had a great time. Today her eye is still purple and a little swollen, but she is definitely back to her old sassy self!!

I told her that she might not want to hug any more boys for a while!!

This Is How I Found My Husband....

...while he was supposed to be folding clothes last weekend. Although he claims that he had just closed his eyes, there is evidence of some very loud zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... going on!! Notice how the clothes are bunched up to make a nice pillow.

Don't get we wrong, he is very good about doing chores around the house, everyone that personally knows him will say he gets OCD at times.....however, I am accused of taking a 3 hour nap every day of his work week, but here is my evidence of him napping while during chores on the weekend. Ha Ha Ha

Another 15 Minutes of Fame....

Several months ago I got an e-mail about a "talent search" for multiples. The Discovery Channel is doing another installment of the show Multiple Madness! So just for fun, I sent in the picture of the boys on the John Deere and some information about our family.

Saturday night we got the call!!! Parker, Preston and Peyton have been chosen to be part of the program. What does this mean exactly - I am not really sure....more information is yet to come!! The shoot will be done at Howard University at the end of next week, so we need to see which day our time slot is..... We could be given 30 seconds of the show, but you know what - I still think that is pretty cool! I was told that the producers are going to interview the parents as well, so now I need to get rid of these roots and get a haircut--ha ha ha.....

So, I guess we are lucky enough to get another 15 minutes of fame........