Our 3 Road Pups

Here we go again!

2011-01-03T12:34:00.001-05:00

OK, so this is almost 2 years to the day of when I first began to blog. Unfortunately it has been over a year since my last post. Nothing like starting a new year off with good intentions. I am going to just go ahead and attempt to keep something regular going, but I am not promising anything. :)

There are so many different things on the Kemerer calendar at any given time that it seems like the months just fly right by. I know, I know that is one of the oldest cliches in the book, but honestly, it is one of the most true. Between the traveling we love doing and the activities all the kids have going on, its a wonder that we even know where we are supposed to be and when.

Ryan is still a sports boy wonder. He also has taken on Violin this school year and is involved with boy scouts. He played football in the fall and his team won their division and then lost in the first round of the playoffs, it was heartbreaking. Even scarier for me is the thought that he will be moving up a level next year and playing with 10-11 year olds. Although he WILL be 10, I still have a hard time picturing my baby playing QB with those big 11 yr olds coming after him. He decided to try wrestling this winter and that has been interesting. It is a sport where he alone is responsible for the outcome of the matches and he alone is what makes a successful season. I am not sure if it will be his nitche but he seems to be enjoying it, and enjoying practicing on his sisters.

Bridget started school this year~ Such a bitter sweet day for me. She goes to all day kindergarten at the same school Ryan is at. They do ride the bus together but god forbid they would be forced to sit together. She is absolutely thriving there, she is by far the most social child I have. She loves talking, and talking and talking. ( dont know where she would get that from! ) She also did cheer leading this fall and did great at that. I think she will stick with it next year , she was very encouraged by the fact that her team took 1st place at Cheer Fest ( which is the only competition they have all year) The girls were too cute, and it was such a proud moment for Mom to see her daughter having that kind of success on her first try at something! She now is on the SWIM TEAM! I am so excited for her ( can you tell??) to be trying something that I had so many good childhood memories doing. She is on the YMCA team swimming with the 6 and unders. She has had one meet so far and she didnt come in last and she made it the whole length of the pool without stopping. Cant ask for more than that. It is quite demanding schedule, M, W, and TH for an hour of practice. And, do you know that girl had never once complained about the workouts? She rocks.

Monica is still home with me all day, every day. I really , really enjoy being able to be home with her. Although, there is much more to be done around a home of 5 then there was when I was home with just lil Ryan. We spend the days, doing chores, shopping, playing and ocasionally going to the gym ( but not so much recently) I am really trying to not think about her going to preschool next year...these milestones are just coming one right after another these days and not slowly enough for my liking. I really cherish her as my "baby" and even on the days she challenges my sanity the most, all can be forgiven just by looking at her gorgeous face.

Ok so that was that for the kids. As for myself and the Hubs, we are just as busy. Football season overtook our lives, and that is putting it mildly. Not only did lil Ryan play and Bridget cheer, but Big Ryan coached the Varsity boys this year and I made myself useful on the board. From being at the field 4 nights a week for months on end to running the fundraising effort for the organization as well as the Banquet at the end of the year, I was spent!! It breaks my heart to see the number of parents who put their children in sports and then their commitment ends there. It takes a lot to run successful organizations and the same 10 parents cant to it all, but somehow manage to. I found this also holds true at the Elementary School! I am on the PTO board at our kids school and guess what!? Out of a school of 520 kids, there are maybe 10 parents that come to meetings and are willing to regularly volunteer their time to help the kids. It is SAD, I am not sure where the priorities if society have shifted to but if it is away from our own children then we are really in for it. ( OK soapbox put away)

All in all we had a wonderful year. Two beach vacations, one to NC one to FL. A new member added to the family ( my brother and SIL had a baby girl, Charlie Ameila Sheehy. And countless blessing everyday from just being able to live the life we do. Here's to hoping that I can keep up with the blog in 2011 and that anyone that reads this is able to appreciate that randomness and inconsistency that comes with it :)

Happy New Year!

Sick House

2009-10-13T07:57:00.000-04:00

Well, it looks like the Flu may have hit the K house. Little Ryan has had quite the couch for a few days and then finally yesterday he just hit a wall. He was looking sluggish all day but, of course he wanted to go to football. I am sure I should not have let him go, but he was so excited and begging to go. He went and when he came home he was done for. He was freezing, even during the warm bath, he put his fleece PJs on and crawled into bed. I did not give him any Motrin bc I wanted him to try and fight off what ever he was fighting with...He did sleep all night and woke up only briefly this am to pee and ramble about something...he often gets delirious with fevers. Needless to say, I AM actually keeping him home from school today. I am hoping he stays in bed ALL day. I need to also try and keep the girls away from him, maybe just downstairs all day. So far they are OK. B had a couch but is seems to be gone, I heard M cough a bit through the night but nothing remarkable. UGH. I hate sick kids, it breaks my heart to see them feel miserable.

The house is also feeling a bit sick, we have a cracked garage door, which should be fixed today, we have a noisy, pinchy dryer and an oven that is locked and will not heat up. Why do they always have to happen in 3s?? Looks like today will be a nice slow day, hopefully at least one thing ( house or child) starts feeling better. I think I may actually try and grill this afternoon since I cant bake and its looking like the last 60* sunny day for quite a while. :)

Friday, Friday, Friday

2009-09-18T08:07:00.000-04:00

So, today is Friday. For most people, this would mean a wonderful last day to a work week. But really, to a SAHM I say it means the beginning of the craziness! Lets see, during the week, I have to get the kids up get them dressed send a few to school, send hubby to work and am left to deal with household chores, errands, etc. Now, on the weekends, no one has to get up at any certain time, there is always a houseful of children and a husband that is just about as demanding :P There are a million activities from b-day parties, sports, social gatherings, jobs that need done around the house and did I mention a houseful of kids? So, I must say that while to most hard working students and members of the out of the house workforce, Fridays are wonderful! But for a SAHM, I am not AS thrilled. Maybe Sunday nights can be our Friday nights!

Where has the time gone?

2009-09-17T08:39:00.000-04:00

So, after much slacking on my part and a new found motivation to write, I am making my best effort to start blogging again. If you can beleive it, it has been 6 mos since I last wrote. That means we have been in the new house for 6 mos and that is just crazy! Things here in C-burg are going along quite nicely. The kids are settled in the new neighborhood ( only across the street from the old) and I am settled in all the new space we have. I am not going to try and fill you all in on what has happened in the last 6 mos, I will just start from here and we will call it even :)
Ryan P started 3rd grade! What the heck is that about? I never cease to be amazed at the speed at which children grow up. On that note, Bridget is now in preschool 3 days a week from 9-12. I cried and cried her first day. I guess I just thought she would be my sidekick for a lot longer than this. All I know is watch out Monica, when B is in full day Kinder next year I will be all up in M's business :)
Football season is in full swing here. Lil R is playing JV this year and Big R is the defensive coordinator, even though I can sense he longs to be the head coach...maybe next year. I take the girls to practice almost every nite. I know that I don't HAVE to but I think it gives them a nice trip to the park and I like to socialize, if you can believe that, lol. This week we are off to Fairfield for a game on a Saturday nite. Should be fun, and this way we have all day Sunday to ourselves. Steeler football baby!!
I have been keeping busy myself with PTO duties and going to the gym on M-W-F after I drop B off at school. I have a mini goal of running a 5k next spring. I am off to a good start but I need to stop the snacking and desserts if I am going to make that goal :)

So, here's to keeping up with blogging, I am going to do my best. Now that school is in session, I may be able to sneak in some free minutes for it. ( right after Days of Our Lives ) Stay tuned!!

More Pictures

2009-03-23T09:22:00.003-04:00

The Guest Room

The halfbath downstairs

The family room/ Big Ryans Den

Monicas bed in the girls room

Bridgets 4th Bday cake , made by Nana ad Bridget

I am not too sure how to post the pics in the layout that I would like but....Here are some more!!

The New House

2009-03-23T09:10:00.002-04:00

Lil Ryan

Dining Room
Kitchen and upstairs livng room.

Well I realize that I haven't updated this since we moved so here you go! We moved into out new residence on Feb 25-28th. Luckily my Mom and Aunt came out to watch the kids and help me clean up the old place! It was SOO much work and I really never want to do it again. The good part of it all was we got to get rid of a lot of stuff! It is amazing how much junk we have acquired. Even in the 2 short years we were in the townhouse. So far we are all loving the new place. The girls are still sharing a room but they have a playroom for all their toys downstairs. Lil Ryan has the bigger of he kids rooms, he also has a desk and fish tank in his room. He will most likely get a lot of use out of his own room so he can get away from his sisters! We also have a family room downstairs and a guest room for anyone who wants to pop in! The yard is great, and flat. The neighborhood is wonderful. I cant wait for some warm weather so we can have a party and meet some neighbors. Well, here are the pictures and I hope you all can come visit. Its an open invitation :)

2009-03-05T09:06:00.000-05:00

Hitting the Road

2009-02-13T08:13:00.003-05:00

Bridet loves to help me clean, mostly she likes wiping things.

I adore this morning pic of Monica, she is so pretty!

Bridget on her bike

We are leaving this afternoon for a long weekend trip to Greensburg to visit family and friends. We haven't been back since Christmas, and with the upcoming move, I am not sure when we will fit the next trip in. We don't really have much planned while we are there, just hanging out. Hopefully we are able to stop and see as many people as we can. We are staying at Nana's house as usual, and hopefully not bothering Joey ( the cat ) too much.

Here are a few pics from this week, it was over 60* and beautiful on Wednesday. Bridget now rides a big girl bike ( with training wheels) and thinks she is the bomb. lol. Ryan took the kids around the neighborhood quite a few times and she was totally wiped out. She actually fell asleep on the couch after her bath, which never happens. Monica and I didn't get to go this time, I am still looking for a baby seat for her to put on my bike.

With Valentine's Day fast approaching I wanted to share how cute lil Ryan was with making his. They do an exchange at school and we bought the small cards with laffy taffy to hand out for that. He did also make a "special" handmade card for a certain girl in his grade as well.It is actually the same girl he gave a "special" Valentine to last year. It was the cutest thing ever. I hope she appreciates it, hee hee. Hard to believe that he feels the need to do that in 2nd grade, but I did always peg him for an emotional sort.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Happy Valentine's and Presidents Day!

Bridgey gets a haircut!

2009-01-30T18:07:00.003-05:00

My girls :)

She is the cutest!

Posing after the cut

Monica talking to Nana

Before the cut, eating the Kill the Cardinals cake we made.

Can you believe this is her first "real" haircut and she will be 4 in March! She had been fighting me every time I had to comb it out and it was getting to be a little to "fly-away". So, I made an appointment for us to go together and it came out great! She looks so much older to me now. I also got about 4 inches off and a few layer as well. I needed it badly!! Here are some photos of the day!

Movin on Up!

2009-01-17T22:59:00.003-05:00

The week is already over? Wow. We had so much happen in the past few days it is hard to wrap my brain around it all. Ryan and I have been looking for a house in Chambersburg for quite some time now. Well, really I have been looking and Ryan has been putting up with me. LOL. I am proud to announce that my hard work has finally paid off. We literally stumbled across a house in the neighborhood across the street from us that has the makings of being perfect for our family! After a lot of budgeting, thinking, dreaming and negotiating, we were informed on Friday that our offer was accepted! We are soon to be the proud owners of a beautiful 2976 sq foot bi-level HOME! I know what you are thinking, 'how in the heck are you going to clean that think Alison?'. Well, I just will! :) We still have to go through inspection, closing and all that fun mumbo jumbo. I am just SO excited about this huge step that I had to share. The kids are thrilled. Bridget wants to know if there will be any snacks in the new house and wants us to make sure t bring the hot chocolate. Ryan is probably going to be patiently waiting for us to let him get a dog. And hopefully Monica just goes with the flow like she does with most everything else.

As soon as we have keys in hand I will post the pictures. I have been mentally placing everything we own in the new place and starting to think about what it will be like to be so spread out and to finally have a yard for the kids to run in! I cant express how wonderful it feels to know we are going to have such a beautiful place to call home. We rock.

Well I guess she told me.

2009-01-13T20:26:00.003-05:00

So, here is the conversation that just took place between my 3 year old Bridget and myself.

B: Look what I just made Mom!

( I look down on the ground to see had made a shape with two tent poles that bend in the middle.)

ME: Oh, very nice! You made a square. Or, is it a diamond??

B: No Mom! It is a PARALLELOGRAM!!

me: Ummmmm. OK. I guess it is.

LMAO! What the heck is up with that? I asked her how she knew that and she said that is what she learned on her Diego game for her Leapster. Wow. Another amazing gift from Santa.

Pittsburgh Steeler Time!!!

2009-01-11T20:50:00.004-05:00

GOOO Steelers! We had an amazing evening at the Finkle home tonight. Craig is a co-worker of Ryans. He has an amazing wife Jill and two beautiful daughters ( Peyton and Adyson) all of whom were more than hospitable with our "clan" of Kemerers. The game turned out great for us and the kids all got along great and managed to keep things fairly low key ( minus the Avril concert during commercial breaks, LOL) I am hoping to see more of them! We were also joined by Ben Frantz and his beauty of a fiance Shanna. Both of whom are the kindest souls one could ever meet. Rounding out the party was Mike Lewis who is expecting twin girls in March and I am sure was cursing himself all the way home after seeing what chaos mega girl power can produce! It was a really fun night. The kids are now out for the night and I am hoping to get some relaxing in with the Hubby before he has to leave for work!

Bridget on the Scooter

2009-01-11T15:06:00.001-05:00

This is Bridget on her new scooter from Santa. Dosent Santa always seem to bring outside toys in the dead of winter??? What is up with that Big Man??

The Begining of the Blog Era

2009-01-11T13:40:00.003-05:00

This is the beginning of an exciting time for our family. We have made the decision not to put in for a transfer back the western part of the state. So far, Chambersburg has been very good to us. Ryan can quickly advance in seniority at work if he stays and the kids seem to have found a groove here as well. With that being said, we now need to find some sort of more permanent residence. We have been renting our townhouse for the past two years and would love to find a home. That in itself is a huge undertaking. Thankfully the rates are low and it is a buyers market so we will hopefully fall into just the right place anytime now. Onto today...

It is a lazy Sunday here. Not too much to report. The Steelers will be playing at 430 so everyone is dressed in gameday gear. Big R worked til 10 am so he will be sleeping until just before gametime. We may venture out to te home of a co-worker of Big Ryan's to watch the game, but the guys made the plans so not really sure if they will hold up. :) I am really excited for them to be in the playoffs I am thinking we may actually make it to the Super Bowl this year as well. **Keeping fingers crossed**
Monica is napping and lil Ryan is at the boys house down the street, his favorite place to be in Sunday afternoons. B is curled up on the couch relaxing and having some down time. I am about to go find some socks for my frigid toes. Hopefully we will see 32* this week but Im not holding my breath.
Tomorrow is basketball night, R and r get to do their thing there. I may not even go, with as annoying as it is to have to either keep Monica busy in her stroller or run after her the whole time.
Bridget will be signing up for soccer for the first time this spring. She is so so exicted to finally get to do a sport like Ryan does. I have this really strong feeling she is going to be pretty amazing at it too.
I am going to make a serious attempt to keep the blog update at the very least, weekly. I may do it every other day, I may do it once a month! Either way, stay tuned and thanks for checking it out.