sports, and more sports....

So I started this post two weeks ago, and guess what we have been doing since?? yep, sports, sports and more sports! Dale and Shawn just finished basketball finals! (Congrats to Shawn's team for winning Regional champs!) (Congrats to Dale's team for coming in 2nd) Shawn is in baseball, Alex is in Baseball, David is in the middle of Hockey tryouts and Greg is in baseball and the capitals are in the playoffs!! (Game 7 is tonight, so turn on your TVs and support the Caps!!) (Hockey has officially beaten football as my very favorite sport to watch!!) To bring out the girl in me I hang out with Melissa at sculpting class. (Not to mention that she had a piece of artwork on display at Columbia Mall for a few weeks, I guess it was her first official "Art Show")

So what do we do in our downtime, we are installing playground equipment, getting the garden started, using a bobcat to level the yard, preparing to open the pool, gearing up to restain all the wood decking and fencing, (if you have been here, you know what a task this is!), finishing the tree house, laundry, shopping, laundry, shopping, laundry and SHOPPING!! (*footnote= not t
he fun kind of shopping)



Great Grandma came to stay with us for several days. She and Grandma Kelley went to the school one day to see David's "live wax museum" He was "Wayne Gretzsky".(shocker) the kids had a "button" on their desk that we would "push" and then the "wax figure" would come to life and recite facts about who they were. So many people were there that several kids put signs on their desk that said "out of order" ...they were sick of doing the presentations!

Great Grandma listening to "Wayne Gretzsky's wax figure" recite facts.

At David's hockey banquet he got to meet the NHL's Nashville Predators J.P. Dumont. I was excited for David and would have left earlier, except I thought he might be interested in meeting this NHL player. Before he spoke, I sent David over to meet him and get an autographed picture of him. In the intro highlight clip that was put together, they showed J.P. Dumont in a Predators/Capital's game where he checked one of the caps players. Completely offended by J.P. Dumont checking one of HIS Caps players, David wanted to leave before the guy even started speaking!! Because we were front and center, I made David stay. After his remarks, J.P Dumont took questions...at which point he joked about the Caps goalie being easy to score on...to which David responded, "I want to go, NOW..." ..David started rolling up the autographed picture so he could throw it away...apparently he was highly offended that someone would dare insult his Caps...(just a reminder, David is 7!) We made him be polite and stay, and keep the picture, and show respect to a very talented Hockey Player, even if he dared to joke about the Caps goalie being easy to score on..(unfortunately, I agreed with Mr. Dumont on this, and so did the Caps coach because in the game the next day Jose Theodore was pulled and replaced by backup Simeon Varlamov, but to David, a highly offensive joke regardless)

J.P. Dumont

David getting an atuograph before being offended.

Greg started T-Ball. His coach played him as catcher the first game...he loved it! Having had to sit through many baseball games, Greg is very aware of everything going on in T-Ball already. He is one of the younger kids on the team, but one of the biggest. He is very cute to watch, and I am so glad we do not have to coach this age level! (We did it with Shawn, Alex and Melissa when they started T-ball, we have officially passed the torch to parents who have less kids and are naive enough to volunteer to coach T-ball! it's much funner to watch !)

Opening day for baseball was CRAZY busy, but lots of fun!! Each of the kids had a game (Shawn had 2) and they all had to get team pictures and individual pics. We had a hotdog lunch and funnel cakes...the Oriole's "bird" showed up and Shawn got a few pics...(For some reason he refused to get in them, I guess he is to cool already)

we are in the full swing of baseball season...I am so glad I like to watch sports, with 4 boys I would be in a boatload of trouble if I didn't!

Spring Break!

Having had a very sick Greggy for weeks, we were not sure if we would be able to go anywhere for spring break. The day before vacation started, Greg had been able to digest everything he ate, and had not vomitted for several days, so we decided to take a much needed vacation. (Thank you to everyone who fasted and prayed for him!!) We already had plans to stay the weekend with Dale's family at Goshen Scout camp; 4500 acres of beautiful land in the backwoods of Virginia all to ourselves!! Dale had some great memories of Goshen from going there for scout camp when he was a teenager and it was great for him to be able to share those experiences with me and the kids. The great thing was that we were able to stay in cabins and use a big lodge to gather for family meals. It was the perfect setting for an extended family getaway!

After getting some very delicious cookies in the mail and eating them, (Thank you Kristen!) we headed out for our vacation!

Here are all the Kelley cousins at "Camp Marriott" (Minus Shayne and Maya :( of course!)

Dale picking on his little scout...
Dale at "Camp Marriott"

Dale being picked on by Tom! (for all you moms wondering at what age your sons will stop wrestling..see photo below)

Great Grandma Kelley and the Kelley cousins....

Several of us set out to hike to "Viewing rock"....even though we had a trail map, the signs were off the trees, so here we are trying to figure out which way to go...thanks to scouting, Steve came prepared with his compass, so we at least were pointed in the right direction...

The kids on the hike, (we left Greg with Aunt Alison and Grandma Kelley, he still wasn't 100% and definately not ready for a strenuous hike)

"Look how high we are..."

"I'm king of the mountain!!" (How cute is he?!?!)

Lake Merriweather in Goshen Scout Camp reserve....(How lucky were we to have all this to ourselves for the weekend!?!?!)



Canoeing...Shawn and Alex had their own canoe!! I was so nervous, but they did well..! (they zig zaged all over the lake!)

David and Greg with Aunt Wendy and Uncle Steve

After we left Goshen, we drove to Myrtle Beach South Carolina. We saw lots of things, but because my camera only works sporadically, I only have pictures for some things! One place we went was to the Ripley's aquarium...I loved it, especially the underwater tunnel that allows you to be up close and personal with the marine life!

A shark overhead!

Dale and the kids in front of the fish tank



We spent one day in Charleston. We met up with Dale's parents who happened to be in the area.

We stopped at Boone Hall Plantation....

money well spent...we learned...

Greg, "About Jesus" (WHUUU???!!?)

David, "that slaves were brown and came from France" (Double WHHUUU!!???)

Melissa and Shawn, "That slaves hunt at night for extra food"

Alex, "same thing Shawn and Melissa said"

After correcting some of the History lessons learned at the plantation, we headed into Charelston, we stopped at Patriots Point....

We saw an aircraft carrier...

And a submarine, and planes on the carrier (see above pamphlet)

We went to the "Battery Park" in charleston and strolled around with Dale's parents...then we went to dinner. It was Tuesday and apparently the place we were eating (similar to Chipolte) had "kids eat free on Tuesdays"...whoever made up that marketing scheme didn't know about families like ours! With Shawn still officially 12, we had 5 free meals! Love deals like that!

Then we headed back to Myrtle Beach....

When I was a kid and we lived in Myrtle Beach I remebered playing in a "castle" on the beach that my dad had taken us to. After a little searching I found it. We took the kids to Atalaya Castle in Hunington Beach state Park. It is no longer just open to the public so we couldn't let the kids run wild like I did. But we did enjoy looking around and learning the origins of the "castle" . (A winter home for a wealthy sculpturist and her husband from Conneticut built in the 30's)

The "Castle" has great lighting and lots of people were taking photos...I wish I were a better photographer, great shots were everywhere...!

The kids enjoying the beach....

Dale on the beach near Atalaya Castle

When we arrived home we celebrated a new era in our family...we now have an OFFICIAL teenager!! Happy Birthday Shawn!!

Mystery Solved!

I am anxiously waiting to get my copy of a book about my Great-Grandfather, Perley Edwin Swett. I have heard many stories about him over the years, and he seems like quite an interesting character. A man who chose to live as a hermit, isolated and separated from the world in a Thoreau like self exile, except my grandpa apparently had completely different reasons than Thoreau for his isolation. (I can't wait to read more about that) He was a well known poet in the region. I know he dug his own grave, literally and apparently stashed cash in his phone. (Ironic since he and the phone company had an ongoing dispute.) ... as I was reading summaries and looking at photos online, I noticed something about him....a mystery that I had been wondering about for years...

The question for me has always been ..."Where did I get MY nose!?!?!?!"

My sister doesn't have it! (I have 5 sisters, ...none of them have my nose! Tracey is close, but not quite) (Hi Dana!!)

My mom doesn't quite have it.....(thats me as a baby)

My dad doesn't have it....so where the heck did it come from?!?!?!?!

There it is, on my GREAT GRANDPA!

Thanks Grandpa Swett, now I know!

*Footnote: my brother Matt has the same nose, but I didn't have any good shots of his

On the road to recovery...

In this pile:

6 Blankets
5 pillows
1 feather bed
2 toy bins
various toys
1 puke bucket and
AND
3 CHILDREN! (Look closely)






Greg has been sick and throwing up for several weeks in the night..after many tests, doctor visits, a couple days in the hospital, being told "it could be..." , late nights for mom and dad, missing school, sleeping with us, starving and being in pain, we were more than thrilled to see him sleeping peacefully with his brothers! (Even if it means their bedrooms are a complete disaster area!)

A few hours after I took this photo he woke up with stomach pains again, but he did not vomit!! that is a very good sign that his body is actually digesting again..! Little man weighed 46 pounds before all this and is down to 41...he doesn't have any more weight to lose, so I am very excited that he made it through last night! I am hoping that this is the road to recovery that we have been waiting for!