October and November

Happy Birthday Lukas - just what he wanted, an action replay for his DS. (Whatever that means!)


Isaak's team - the Blasters!

Lukas

Tim, Tyler, Isaak and Lukas going on a wagon ride at Uncle Gards.

Tyler enjoys the wagon ride at the apple festival

Happy Veterans Day!

October was filled with soccer practice and games, a camp out at Tom & Susan's, Uncle Gard's picnic, more soccer practice and games, and did I mention soccer?! We also celebrated Isaak's 10th birthday and Halloween. Lukas dressed up as Spider man and Tyler dressed up as a race car driver. We had over 400 kids at our home on Halloween! We had our annual Halloween dinner with Synstads, Tischners, Smiths, and McGroddy's! November came and we celebrated Lukas's 7th birthday and the end of the fall soccer season. Now we're looking forward to Thanksgiving, a parents only trip to Austin, TX (for business) and Christmas vacation in Florida! Yipee, I can't wait to get to the beach.

In loving memory

This picture was taken last fall at the annual "Uncle Gard's picnic" October 2007. I can just imagine Sally and Gard discussing all their grandchildren together!








Today, September 19, 2008, Tim's mother, Sally Clites, passed away. She fought a long, painful fight with lung/bone/brain cancer. We tried to prepare ourselves for this day, but as one of the boys said tonight, "I never knew it would hurt my heart so bad to hear those words." Isaak has decided that tomorrow, he will score one goal in MeeMa's memory. We have lots to be thankful for and glad for the time we had together. She taught us so much and we will miss her everyday, especially when its time for some homemade chocolate ice cream, it was simply, the best! Her funeral will be on Tuesday in Elliottsburg, PA at 11:00 AM. Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts during the last 2 1/2 years and especially today, it really means a lot.

A long time....

I know, its been a long time since I have posted. I need to get myself either a driver or a laptop to keep up since we are on the road most of the time. Lukas has soccer practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights and Isaak has soccer practice on Wednesday and Friday afternoons. On the weekends, we have games! The boys are all loving school, except for the "stupid" homework! Hope to post some pictures tonight!

I've been tagged - thank you Shelly Howe!

One of my "friends" tagged me for this fun little project. At first I thought I didn't have time for this, but I learned so much about others, I thought it was the least I could do! List 7 facts about yourself and then tag 7 people at the end of the post. Let your 7 tagged friends know by leaving them a comment on their blog!

1. I come from a family of 3 boys and 1 girl, my husband comes from a family of 3 boys and 1 girl. My husband and I have 3 boys and we think that's plenty for this nut house!

2. In 2000, I had half my thyroid removed because of a supposedly cancerous growth. The Doctor told me I would have a permanent smile on my neck for the rest of my life!

3. I love being a full-time Mom, working at Tim's architectural office, and serving as VP of the PTO at the boy's school. It keeps me out of trouble (sometimes!)

4. I love watching soccer, especially when its one of our boys. (I'm what you call a true soccer mom!) However, I love to play softball and walleyball.

5. I love the closeness and spirit of our church meeting, I hate to miss meeting. I wonder where I would be right now if we didn't have such great friends who really care?

6. When I was 16, my lung collapsed after spending a day hunting with Tim. I'll never forget the feeling of that tube being pushed thru my chest. It was supposed to be an overnight stay at the hospital, but because of a mistake, I ended up staying 5 days. (The orderly disconnected my tube when it wasn't the right time.)

7. My mother-in-law has terminal lung/bone/brain cancer. The experience has taught me so much about love, patience, and being ready. "Oh for the peace of a perfect trust."

I'll tag Sue, Holly, Deb, Stephanie, Jami, Mamie, and Jody.

Mocha - Chino

The day came, after 13 years, that our chocolate lab had to be put down. She had been in a steady decline of health the past few weeks and the vet confirmed yesterday that her kidney's had shut down. Tim bought Mocha for me while he was attending college every night, she was only 7 weeks old when we got her. Everyday until she was a year old, she went to work with me at Leggett & Platt. She was my best friend and patient companion, I told her everything, even how mad I was when she got into the trash! It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, my eye's were really green driving home from the vet from all the crying. Today is a new day and I hope to get all the dog hair vacuumed up!

And a few more!

Location - Corolla, NC
Weather - HOT
July 19 - 26, 2008

Robert, Tyler, Isaak and Lukas jumping off their cliff into the waves









Isaak out in the strong waves









Tyler









Stephanie & Lukas watching the sights!













Tyler and I hiding from the sun!








Tim and Toot coming in!








Isaak








Tyler AKA Toot!












Lukas - the toothless one!








Kalyn, Isaak, Tyler, Lukas, and Robert all digging!

pictures from the beach!

We only took 426 pictures during the week, I had just a bit of trouble deciding which ones I should post!!!

Isaak with his board









I love the expression!









Lukas riding a wave in!

















Alexis, Tyler, Ian, Kalyn, Robert Isaak and Lukas all in our hottub!

Isaak, Lukas and singing Tyler!

Protesting....

Here we are on the way home from our week at the beach and no one is happy about this trip North. We're taking a slight detour and having dinner with Mark and Summer Bolt, that will be a bright spot for us! We all had a great time together and dinner last night was totally awesome. We had steak, crab legs, and shrimp and more steak and shrimp and a few more shrimp, another crab leg tossed in. There was other things to eat on the table, but no one seemed to want much of that! Then we had a cake to celebrate Kalyn's 7th birthday.
Friday we spent most of the day on the beach, the waves were very strong and not a lot of fun to play in, but we had fun playing in the sand and sitting under the umbrella visiting. No one complained too bad of a sunburn last night so the sun screen must have worked. The boys took a trip to the 4 x 4 area and saw some wild horses. I bet they're glad I still have my 4 wheel drive vehicle! We're getting close to Summer and Mark's so I better stop. I promise to update later with pictures, between Tim and I, we took about 400 pictures so it might take a bit of my time!

Way behind

Somehow, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday came and went and I guess we did more of the same! Beach time, eat, hot tub, eat, beach, hot tub, eat ..... On Wednesday night, we went to meeting and enjoyed seeing those folks again. Thursday early morning, Ron, Stephanie, Kalyn, Robert, Ian & Alexis arrived. Thursday started out as a rainy day but as Steph and I got ready for another grocery run, the sun came out and everyone except Steph, Tyler and I headed to the beach. It was a great day together and we're excited about the sun shining this morning. We plan to do a surf and turf dinner tonight, Isaak had crab legs the other night for dinner and he thinks we should do a repeat. We plan to be at the beach from breakfast until dinner, riding the waves, digging, building sand castles, catching up on our reading, sunbathing, taking pictures, and having fun together. Until next time......

Day 3 - vacation goes on.........

Ahhh this is the life! Yesterday was an awesome beach day. After a dip in the hot tub, we headed over to the beach and the digging began! Isaak, Lukas & Tyler dug a major hole, with tunnels connecting to other rooms. I was still a little nervous of getting burnt so I stayed under the big umbrella that Tim bought most of the day. Isaak, Lukas and I spent a lot of time riding the waves on the boogie boards and all was going great until Lukas met up with a jelly fish. One probably thought a shark had approached the way he screamed. After lunch at the house, we went back to the beach and worked some more on the digging, riding the waves, and holding down the beach chair. Back to the house for dinner and everyone was kinda lazy and a little red! We've heard that Tuesday is going to be HOT! YIPEE, we're in the right place for that forecast. Tim took a lot of pictures yesterday but I haven't got them on the laptop yet.

Corolla Beach - Day 2

I'm happy to report the red flags are GONE! The big boys and Tim went to meeting (Tyler is still running a fever so I stayed home with him this morning.) After lunch, I'm sure we'll have to check out the big sand castle we built yesterday... More later on that adventure and maybe a picture or two.

Vacation - Day One

So we didn't get to leave Friday night.... It ended up being just fine, we went out to eat Friday night at a local restaurant, Hunters Head. It was awesome, I love the cheese fondue!

We left bright and early Saturday morning, 6:00 AM and got to Corolla, NC at noon. Stopped at our favorite pizza shop for lunch before heading to our house. I think the boys were too excited, no one wanted to eat pizza. Came over to the house and changed into our suits and hit the beach. We noticed red flags flying, no swimming, but everything looked just fine to us. Some big storm heading up the coast was causing rip tides and the life guards so nicely explained to a group of us why they are so dangerous. We stayed on the beach playing in the sand and ankle deep water (which feels like bath water!) until about 4:30. I tried really hard to stay out of the sun, I'm taking medication for Lyme's and it doesn't work well with the sun. I found out that night that my fingers and toes missed the sunscreen and were FRIED. OUCHY! We headed back to the house and I was elected to make the grocery run. Let me tell you, that is not so fun with 500 other people getting what they need for a week. Made it out in one piece and Lukas requested nachos for supper so that's what I made! A dip in the hot tub and everyone was in bed by 9! Of course one member didn't feel so great and was up most of the night. YAWN.

More later....

July in a nut shell......

I can't believe I haven't updated this for over a month! We've been very busy doing "stuff!" School ended on June 17 and we started right in with swim lessons for Lukas! It was cold mornings for the first two weeks, but that didn't keep our little fish out of the water.

The first week of July, my brother, Brian, and his family from Ohio were at my folks. We spent a lot of time down in Fredricksburg and went to DC one day with the bigger kids. That was a great experience, we take so much for granted when we live so close. We took the shuttle bus around to save the "kids!" from walking but it was great for the parents too. Irving & Sandra gave us the royal tour of the big city!

The second week of July, Isaak brought home a high fever bug from Fredricksburg and missed out on a day of his bowling camp. He started feeling better by the middle of the week and enjoyed every bit of bowling. Lukas was in a soccer camp and Tyler and I kept entertained at the pool. On Wednesday, Lukas caught the fever bug and was pretty miserable for the rest of the week. We spent Thursday night in the hospital, he was dehydrated and they couldn't figure out what was wrong, but ruled out mono, strep, meningitis, and pneumonia. They think it was hand/foot/mouth but it only affected his mouth. He started feeling better Sunday night FINALLY!

Sunday, 7/13, Tim and I celebrated 17 years of marriage. Wow, where have those years gone? This week Isaak started an intense soccer camp from 9 AM to 8 PM. He was very sore the first night and wondered how he could ever go back! Tonight is a big game against the coaches and BBQ for the family.

Tyler woke up this morning with the fever bug, we had to cancel our dentist appointments and he's held down the couch most of the day. He thought kool-aid would help him a lot, so he's been drinking that steady. I'm really hoping his is short lived, we're leaving tomorrow for a week at the BEACH.

So now your up-to-date on the Virginia Clites, I hope to post some beach pictures soon!

What I learned today.....

I'm always amazed at what the boys teach me...

1. Poison Ivy is NOT fun, it is so disruptive at school, he had to go to the nurse's office TWICE in one day. He thinks he should just stay home tomorrow.
2. Eating some things are really difficult when your missing two front teeth, just drink Instant Breakfast all day long.
3. The refrigerator is not alive. A certain unnamed Grammie put a very favorite bear-bear on top of the fridge one day when Tyler was being bad. (Imagine that!) Well, Tyler was being Tyler today and I asked him if he wanted bear-bear to sleep with the refrigerator tonight and he said "The fridge doesn't sleep, its not alive." Duh!

Its nice and toasty out there today, we're doing inside chores and really enjoying the A/C!

The Clites Family in the Paper

In case anyone would like to see a picture of "The Virginia Clites" we're in the paper on page 28, bottom right side.

http://www.mbecc.com/archive/pdf/Eccentric_08_04.pdf

Taken at Middleburg Spring Races, April 2008.

Memorial Day 2008

It certainly was a "Memorial Weekend" for us this year. Isaak played in a soccer tournament in Columbia, MD, we went to PA to visit Pappy D and MeMa, and helped Uncle Ron celebrate his some-odd-number birthday. Grammie and Grandad West took Tyler and Lukas to "Grammie Camp" from Friday - Sunday. They met us Sunday afternoon and we went on to PA where we met up with Tim. Tim went to PA on Saturday so he could be with his folks when Hospice came for the first visit. We also got to spend some time with Uncle Dan, Kate and Zolani. Isaak enjoyed planting a garden at Pappy's house with Uncle Dan!



Isaak and his team running back to the center after Isaak scored a goal, ended up being the only goal scored that game. (Mom was just a little bit happy!)


I love this action shot of Isaak. I think he wanted to get another goal in the same way!



Deliah (Uncle Dan's dog) and a wood chuck have a few words with each other. When the playdate was over, the wood chuck returned to his home.


MeMa trying to get some corn on the cob unstuck I think!


Alexis, Robert, Ron and Ian singing happy birthday! Can you believe how OLD he is?


Uncle Dan tries really hard to pull that tooth of Lukas's. They bribed him with all sorts of money and all he wanted was for "Gramma" (the local babysitter) to pull it. We had to visit Gramma when we got home!

Isaak makes the front page

Isaak and his best friend, Ryan, made the front page of our local Middleburg Paper. Its a awesome shot of the boys!!

http://www.mbecc.com/archive/pdf/Eccentric_08_05.pdf

They were putting together a Home Depot project at Arbor Day, hence the orange apron!

Field trip to the strawberry patch

Tyler petting the animals He wanted to be a lamb like his "bear bear!"
Learning all about planting sunflower seeds
Eating a strawberry, but giving the green part to the worms!
"You make a hole this big and put the seeds in!"

Tyler's class went on a field trip to the strawberry patch. The strawberry's weren't ready yet but we had fun checking out the animals, playing on the big slide, and eating some strawberry's that had been picked already! We also got a tour of the greenhouse and planted a few sunflower seeds.

More pictures of the wedding!

The new Mr. & Mrs. Brandon West

Wedding party
Kim, Jen, Julie, Brandon, Barry & Kyle



West gang at the wedding

Off they go, the end of a simply beautiful wedding!

May 10, 2008 Brandon & Julie Tie the Knot!

Lukas, Brandon & Isaak

Barry & Kim

Kyle & Jenn

Jill Gough - flower girl

Richard, Julie & Sue

He catches me....

I was making dinner tonight and Tyler saw me take a piece of summer squash that was cooking from the fry pan (I was testing it to see if it was cooked!) Well, he wanted to taste something too. I offered squash, but he said Yuck! The only other option was the uncooked spaghetti noodle and

he decided that's what he needed! What a surprise he got!

A picture of part of the new kitchen! More to be posted later!

Another gone by too quickly

What an awesome weekend! Saturday morning was Lukas's soccer game (I'm not sure what kind of move he's making here......) We came home and quickly changed our clothes and went to the Spring Horse Races here in our town. We joined the tailgate party of some friends and forgot all about the horses races by! The weather was perfect, sunny and warm. Sunday, after meeting we went out to eat with the Synstad's and Prices and then enjoyed a rainy afternoon to catch up on our naps!