School is great here in Maryland. I have not met many parents because about 85% of kids ride the bus. There are no sidewalks down here so it is to dangerous for kids to walk. It was actually forbidden, a school rule. We live about 1/3 mile away from school. When i found the house i was so excited that we could ride bikes, skateboard, scooter, or walk to school. I was surprised but happy because we have not been tardy because the bus picks them up @ 7:18 at the end of our driveway. School starts @8. I will not complain :)

Every morning we meet @ 7:00 sharp ready for the day. guess who was just rolling out of bed @7. Me! I have sandwiches made the night before and so it is not hard to put lunches together. They went to bed with wet hair the night before. I didn't focus on their hair this morning because i was still waking up. When they got home we sat and talked and i noticed their wild hair. I thought that i will make sure that their locks look great the next day. Chase pulled something out of his backpack and hid it behind his body and said "hey mom, my teacher gave me a present - guess what it is " i thought that was so sweet of his 3rd grade teacher to do that. He pulled out a little black comb. He was so proud of his gift that his teacher gave to him. It didn't look like he used it because his hair was still wild :) Michael perked up and told us that he got a gift also. So Michael pulled out his little black comb with a big smile on his face. He was just as proud as chase for his gift from his teacher too.
He said "wow - the teachers at Mayo are really generous". i was giggling because i knew it was because the teachers wanted their hair to look nice and not so wild.

I found out a few min later that it was PICTURE DAY!!!!!!!!! I immediately looked at their hair again and their clothes and just smiled big and was giggling. It was so sweet, they were so proud. I can't wait to see their individual photos and their class photos. I love my kids so much.

Chase playing water polo, setting up the counter attack.



Cheering on the cougs in the first round of the NCAAs.



Splitting wood on our property.




Cameron and Tracy enjoy cooking together in the kitchen.



Our home after an early March snow storm that dropped about 8 inches in a single day.



Cameron looking beautiful when we were on the pool deck watching the boys play water polo.



Chase and Cameron enamored with Chase's new nintendo DS (a birthday present)



Happy 9th birthday Chase!



Michael playing water polo, passing to a teammate after making a steal.

Life was a bit busy but I still tried to take pictures - i just never posted them.
I will begin with Cameron's birthday September 9th:


She has fun wearing her canes outfit to torment her school teachers here in Maryland. Our sweet sweet daughter ;0)


She is such a great helper. I caught her doing the dishes without being asked.


Our baby girl is growing up way to fast






The day before Mike took off for his training, Carlos and Patricia came over for a last goodbye . They are awesome friends.





September 11th Mike was sworn in. It gave me the goosebumps.



i love you Mike and am so proud of you :)


Now that Mike was in training and i was home with the kids getting the house ready for the move, I always take time out to play. I took the kids to the beach 3-4 times a week, I banished the tv and computer, we took some trips, had some parties, said goodbye to all of our friends, and then I drove the kids, Sparky, and Paco to maryland in the saturn.

Sanibell Island was so much fun. It was my first time traveling on the west coast with the kids. After loosing sparky for a few weeks (she got out of our fence and was found 8 miles away) i couldn't leave sparky with a babysitter for a few days. So she came with us. I am used to going to the beach with the kids and it is fun but bringing a fast dog to the hotel and the beach added a touch of stress for me :) She was able to swim for her first time. It was sloppy and cute.
I wish i took more photos but i am grateful that i could take what i did. I was scared taking the nice new camera out onto the sand with 3 kids and a dog. We hit about 4 different beaches and they were all beautiful. I had a police man follow me for a few miles as i was searching for a new beach. Someone called my car in, saying that i looked suspicous as i drove out of the parking lot. When the police man came to my window he started to laugh. i was nothing that he was expecting. He peeked into the car seeing Michael, Chase, and Cameron all fighting and a dog ready to leap out of the car. i was excused. I personally think that tinted windows and sweet wheels on my car is what made him suspicous :0)




Wow! I knew that there were going to be shells there but not this many. We dug oiur hands deep into the shell ground and I couldn't dig deep enough to find sand or anything else. It was beautiful and painful to walk on. We sucked it up and just made a few grunting sounds as we walked the shells to get to the water.






Sea Turtles running out to the ocean :0)
Every year we go see the cute little sea turtles run out to sea. it is the cutest thing ever. First there is a slide show on the beach ( around 9 pm) of awareness for about 40 min so we dug our feet and butts into the sand and got comfortable. After that we went to the waters edge and watched the little guys come down into the ocean. The speaker said that they follow the light of the moon to make it to the water. Only a couple of them were confused and needed help directing them towards the sea with a flash light held up high so they could see where to go. I wish i knew how to take good photos at night without the flash because I would damage the baby's sight with the flash, I wasn't that desperate to get a picture.

Mike took the family to a naval academy hockey game. The kids had a blast. It was fun that we knew someone on the team so we could cheer him on. To our suprise we were invited to skate after the game and get signitures of all the midshipmen hockey players who were waiting on the ice with sharpie markers. It was great. The kids and i got our skates on and skated for a while. Chase didn't want to leave until he had everyone sign his team roster booklet. He was easy to find on the rink because he was wearing SHORTS! It was Chase's 2nd time ice skating, Michael and Cameron were 1st timers. They all did great :)

I woke up at 7 am (on schedule for me) this morning and mike was already gone. I couldn't find the kids anywhere. I went downstairs and saw the back door was wide open and it was snowing. I yelled for the kids (as loud as i could @7 in the morning) because i wasn't going out into the snow after being awake for only 5 min. I needed to prepare myself. I finally saw something moving in the distance and it was all three of them. i was so glad to see them together. When they got closer i saw that Cameron was not wearing any shoes and she didn't have a jacket on (she was tough) - Just her PJ's. Michael put his jacket on her and was freezing but did his big brother duty :) They were exploring in the woods for about 40 min before i woke up and called them in. School was canceled and mike told the kids before he left for work. It is amazing that we get a day off school for a few inches of snow. We won't complain :) We went sledding, snowball fights, tiny snowmen, shoveled driveway, and sliding on the frozen creek in the back yard. It was Cameron's first time doing all of that. She loved it. We all loved it :)

It is really nice to live in a little cul-de-sac. We know our neighbors well now. i love it. Cameron loves playing with Wyatt and Ayla. They are the little brother and sister that she hopes to have someday. I love that they are very open just as we are to having kids over any time of the day. i will hear the kids yelling for eachother from their windows. Becca is 11 and she comes over after school to hang out and have fun. I love our neighbors

Bethie and her family came to visit for Christmas from north Carolina. I am so glad that we are just 5 hours away from family. i love them and it was so nice to have them in our home.

It was fun trying to keep 6 kids from running down the stairs to see what Santa brought them before all the parents were ready downstairs.


Hanna thinks that Nana is the best seat in the whole house:)




Sophia loved wearing the bows on her head. She is a ham :)



Cameron had a runny nose so she blew it all the time. When Santa gave her cute band aids in her stocking she had to put it on something. She had no cuts or bruises so she put it on her tender upper lip. Super sexy :)