Are we having fun yet....

We've had a great couple of days. That is if you count fractured arms, broken trees, lots of poo and everything in between as "great"! It all started with a check-up at the pediatrician for Sophia's well visit. All was going well until I was told Sophia needed to be given an enema because she's a little backed-up. Cause that wasn't enough for me to deal with I mentioned Bella's arm was hurting her after a fall off the monkey bars followed up by a fall off her bike. After a brief examination the Dr. determined that something wasn't right and that I needed to get her over to the ER for x-rays and in the meantime they would call around to see which local orthopedic would be able to see me right away. Have I mentioned how much I love this Pediatrician! Seriously they are the best! Not wanting me to bring all the kids out of the car when I went back to the office to pick up her scripts they were waiting for me in the parking lot. When I got to the ortho they took me in right away. I walked into the office and they said "Dr. George called us we have a room waiting". It was still a long day nonetheless but everyone was extremely accommodating. OK so turns out the kid fractured her left arm. Problem is where the break is they can't cast it. They don't cast anything below the shoulder and above the elbow. So a sling it is. Ugh have you seen what these slings look like - gross! We dazzled it up and she is styling.




So now we have 1 fractured arm. Onto Sophia's problem. Lets just say without saying anything it was an experience and one I'd rather not re-live. Just and FYI - you barely have enough time to move your hand and get the kids butt onto the seat. OK that's all I'm talking about that. I am still having nightmares.

Then we have our tree problems. I swear we have never had so many freakin tree problems. We spent a nice day out on Sunday at the wineries - yes with the kids - they need to drink too :) I'M KIDDING! When we came home on Sunday we were greeted by one of our large pines down and out. Missing our pool by a few feet. Not only that but the pool was filled with leaves and huge branches. I swear a tornado came through! We have to call the tree people because it is too big to cut up ourselves plus the remainder was still standing and that would need to be cut down. The tree people come and take the fallen one away along with taking down 3 others and then trimming back everything still standing- they worked for 9 hours straight! Lets hope this preventative measure we were kinda forced to take will save us the during the next storm and we won't loose anymore trees.




Of course, in between all this we were having painting done in the house. I just had to reupholster our kitchen chairs NOW because they were driving me nuts and we had nothing else going on....lol. Oh and Anthony - that freakin kid is into EVERYTHING! 4 KIDS PRIOR NEVER HAD TO BABY PROOF and here I am bolting cabinet doors shut. Seriously what is the appeal to the cleaning products?!?! I mean I know he's my kid an all so maybe he wants to start early with good habits but I don't recall trying to eat the scrubbing bubbles bottle! Oh and laundry - forget about it - no laundry basket with neatly folded clothes is safe. He destroys it in seconds!


here's the painting and like the only time we just painted and didn't re-furnish a room. Well there was molding and a chair rail put in. I did order a new light fixture and curtains BUT I kept all the furniture :) I did good!



the chairs - Steve said they looked loud?!?!? He's crazy they look fabulous!! Oh and I never did end up with a butterfly Gin - sorry!




introducing no more sweet and innocent - now meet trouble trouble trouble!! Don't be fooled by the cuteness!



With all this, for some crazy reason, I am having insane dreams about being attacked by ladybugs. Yes those sweet little bugs that flutter by. Not the normal red ones either - pink and brown ones - they are EVERYWHERE! Ohhhh Lori there's one you haven't seen yet - what could it be...what could it be?!?! I'm not telling!!!





Oh I almost forgot - we got a new truck. I finally caved. I was adamant NO NEW TRUCK for me! I was happy with my old one and all of it's 96,000 miles. It was a good truck and took good care of me and I her. She was my trusty steed. He made me do it - that husband of mine. He's been researching and researching for months. He knew exactly what would be perfect for us. He says last friday or 2 friday's ago I can't remember now - "let's go look at this truck ya know just so I can get an idea of what you want" Ughhhhhh I stomp my feet and pout "I don't want to go and look at a new truck I don't wanna I don't wanna and you can't make me"! 3 dealerships later and when I say 3 I mean 3 all over the map and the last one we end up at has it. We sit in 30min. of traffic and I'm pissed. We have everyone but Samantha with us - they are cranky and hungry and hot. I reluctantly get out of my baby to go look at this "fancy new one" that Steve is just beyond excited about. We meet with a salesman. A baby - he's like 23 - a punk! I am a BITCH to this kid! Remember I want nothing to do with this - he brings us to it and I could care less. Steve on the other hand is practically drooling it's pathetic. It reminded me of the time when we went to find our wedding hall or when we went to buy our 2nd house and after looking for sometime we finally walked into "the one" and I just lose it - both times! I'm a crying fool and Steve is yelling at me to calm down that I was showing "our hand" and how would he negotiate a good deal now. It was pretty funny. OK back to the truck - so I am just retched to this punk salesman and he's good. He kept his calm and just kept speaking softly to me....lol I was like "Dude I don't give a shit if this thing is gonna make me breakfast I am not interested. Steve on the other hand is still opening and closing the door infatuated with the step bar that lowers automatically when opening the door. I'm just standing there looking at him cause he had clearly LOST HIS MIND! The kids are just giddy and have found their new car. I am losing them all - there was a gadget for all of them. I was all alone - how was I gonna fight them all off and convince them that our baby with 96,000 miles still had a lot of fight left in her. So the smooth operator of a salesman makes me sit in the front seat. Big deal I think it's the same thing I have and mine cleans up just as well. So the punk says let me get the keys so you can turn it on and I'm like whatever. While he's getting the keys - it's like Steve is on crack - he's going a mile a minute about everything it has. I swear I was in the twilight zone. OK the punk is back and hands me the keys - he's smooth I tell ya he knows all the tricks! So I take the keys and put them in the ignition and turn......OK technically at this point I still wasn't sold but I will say it was pretty cool. Steve is sitting next to me and we are just pushing buttons all over.

OK remember in Transformers when the crazy guy takes the others guys cell phone and puts it in that box and then he flips a switch and the cell phone turns into a transformer and becomes alive. Well I touched a button which makes the Dashboard monitor come out and it starts rotating like it was alive. We don't know what we hit and haven't been able to make it happened again but that was freakin awesome! So now at this point I am almost sold but not 100% - I'm like at 60%....ok maybe 75%. Then I sit back an look at all the gadgets and then I look up and there is a sunroof. Now I realize a sunroof is not that big a deal to most but this was HUGE for me. I can't explain it. I was head of heels in love with this piece of metal and I had to have it!

There are very few things that Steve gets completely "giddy" over but negotiating is his like # 1 favorite thing. So we get out of the truck. I pry Steve and the kids away and we proceed into the office. I say to the punk as we are walking in how long he's been doing this he says 1 month. See a punk! So I say to him "Look this is my husbands thing - he lives for this and 20 years from now if your still in the sale business you'll never forget the next 45 min. Sit back and enjoy the ride and remember we don't get screwed at the car dealership we screw you". Without boring you with all the details and actually it wouldn't bore you but it wasn't Steve's finest hour in the end and had he just listened to his wonderful all-knowing wife we would have walked away with up by enough to buy.......a......I'm having a hard time trying to come up with something that would be equivalent to the amount he lost without telling you the amount. Let's just say it was a lot! Now he's the punk but Mama's got a sweet new ride!




It is only fitting that the little guy get a new car seat for the new ride. He was so excited to finally see where we were going! Yes Jen I turned him around a month early at least he's fully strapped in- or is he?!?! Since the blanket is covering him you can't really tell but look how happy he is:



oh and during all this we got a new fish tank - this is the before:



and this was the 6 hours later:



One last cute one I couldn't resist!

Fun Times!

We had our annual BBQ with good friends family yesterday. We usually get together 3-4 times a year and it's always a good time. I realized we hadn't taken a group picture in some time so it was time...



It's so crazy cause when I look at the above picture I still see the 20 somethings I remember growing up and now we all have kids and now they are turning into great friends!



Sophia and her new friend Emma


Steve so proud, as always, of his meat! Seriously could your smile be any bigger - jeesh!



the only thing to get the kids (and some adults) out of the pool was a frog which they all chased down



Lovin the summertime!

Bella's New Trick

Just something we thought we'd try. One bruise and 45 min. later.....

(remember to pause the music)

Yeah Summer is here - finally!!!!

I know summer started last week or the week before but for us here in the Pepe house it starts today. No one had school today and we all slept in....well I slept in - OK not really cause poor Anthony is teething so bad and with that comes real big boy tears. He cries cause it hurts so much and when he squeezes his eyes shut lots of real tears come out. It's so sad. He has 2 coming in at once - I hate these teeth for him.

We made a summer "to do" list over the weekend. Everything the kids want to do along with things Steve and I want to do. We have everything from having a picnic and flying a kite to going to fire island and splish splash water park. I'm not sure how we will fit it all but it'll be fun trying. We've planned more BBQ's this summer than in the past. Seriously I think we have one planned just about every weekend from here thru August. It's nice to finally be done with the back yard and really not need to go anywhere if we don't want to. We all played in the pool last night and while sitting in the backyard I forgot we were actually in our backyard and not some vacation spot. That was cool!

So the kids finished off their school years with a bang. Steven enjoyed 1st grade and is excited for 2nd. Samantha finished off the year with showing great improvement - the teachers were all very pleased as were we. My goal is to get her ahead of the game come Sept. and 4th grade so things come a little easier. Having an October birthday with a class full of spring and summer kids making them a year older than Sam didn't always work to her advantage. Bella is so ready for kindergarten that she could have went last year. She is super excited to take the bus and pack a lunch. Sophia as you all know will be starting nursery school in the fall. She'll learn sign language and how to speak french. Before you know it the kid will be asking for a poodle and a beret. Anthony will get to do something with kids his own age just not sure what yet.

We took the kids to Medieval Times yesterday. We had a really fun time. Samantha, of course, enjoyed eating with her hands. No utensils are given. Steven was so busy watching the show he forgot to eat. Anthony on the other hand ate more than any of us and was given seconds. He loved the show. At one point when the crowd was cheering he got in on the action and was jumping out of my lap waving his hands like a maniac. It was the funniest thing. There was a big "guys guy" security guard near where we were sitting and he was just cracking up with Anthony. He was jumping and clapping right along with him. Not sure what was funnier Anthony or the 300lb of muscle security guard that was enjoying every minute of it.

Samantha starts practices with her travel soccer team next week. It's taken a couple of days to adjust to not making the team she wanted but she's much better. Her former coach called and came by to see her and then called her again last night. He spoke with her for 20 minutes and she made it through the call without crying. It was really good for her to hear the support. I on the other hand am still not used to the idea but am working on it. I don't necessarily agree with how this new coach will run things but I've promised to give him a chance and see how it goes. Dude's got like a week to prove himself before I start a revolt..... :) I know this sounds crazy to most - here I am talking about an 8yr old and soccer. I see how most say "she's 8 and it's only a game". I agree but put yourself in my shoes - or rather in my driver's seat. Over these last 2 years I have dedicated a lot of time to Samantha and this sport. I have sat through more soccer games than I thought I ever would. Endless practices 2-3x per week. I have left my car running in the rain for hours while Sam practiced and the other kids sat an watched a movie and instead of saying "are we there yet" all I hear is "is she done yet so we can eat dinner?". I'm not looking for a pat on the back, believe me, I don't see this as chore it's my job as a parent to help her succeed in whatever she wants to do. I know she is gonna have a great year with this team (I've been convincing myself of it for the last few days).

Oh and thanks to those of you that sent her an email or a card to let her know you were thinking of her - she and I really appreciated it and it made her smile.

Ok so I went off track there for a minute but for the last few days I can see how my brother in law Lou can get consumed by this. I can't believe I am admitting this but last night alone I was on the phone with 1 caller for 90 min. discussing this. After dropping off Samantha for her last day of school on Friday I was held up for another 60 min. speaking about Samantha and soccer with other team parents. So the next time I go to pick on you,Lou, about soccer I will think for minute....ahhh who am I kidding I am still gonna pick on you cause your OBSESSED! I on the other hand am very intrigued. On the scale of 1-10 - I'm like a 3 and your like a 20. Your like on the top of Mt. Soccereverast and I am like on the top of the mountain across from the lake in VT.

Back to summer and our crazy antics. I'll try and post often but if a few days go by and you don't see something from me send help cause I must have fallen off my pool float cause the kids took it from me and won't give it back :)

A good lesson

When we grow up we say we want our kids to have it better than we did. When you think about it what does that mean? Is it the newest toy? Is it a pair of shoes so they don't have to walk barefoot in the snow 5 miles to school? What is it? We all say we want "better for our kids". I know that my kids have it better than I did as a kid when it comes to material things -what kid today doesn't. Here's the thing I am a far better advocate for my kids than my parents were. I push the envelope just enough for my kids so that I don't appear crazy but that I help make things happen for them. For example when Steven was younger and he had those feet problems the Dr. I wanted him to see couldn't due to his schedule but I didn't take no for an answer and he got into the doctor. Any other Dr. probably would have been fine but as far as I was concerned it wasn't good enough. When Sam was placed into a class last year that I didn't think was a good fit I did what I needed to get it changed. Maybe I manipulate situations just a tad to work in the favor of my kids - who wouldn't?!? Just because others don't think to do it doesn't mean I shouldn't.

Over the last 2 days Samantha had soccer tryouts for the travel team. She made a team just not the one we had wanted. When Samantha got the call last night she was devastated. I mean beyond anything Steve or I had anticipated. The crying went on and on and on and Sam was a mess too :) God help us after her first break-up. As difficult as it was for Samantha last night and as much as we ached for her and I would have given anything to fix it in the end I know this was best. She learned a valuable lesson. Unlike me who always got by with a smile and some good street smarts Samantha learned hard work is needed. Not that I didn't work hard but I always found little ways around doing something or always found that "edge".

This will be good for her - it will toughen her up a little and it will make her always want to give 110%. She feels she gave a 110% over these last 2 days so now she knows even when you give it your all and it still doesn't work out that's OK too. It's not the end of the world - she's 8 and it's soccer. No one wants to bring on disappointment in their children's lives but I will be thankful when it happens (hopefully far and few between) so that they stay grounded and remember things aren't always going to be handed to them. Disappointment, I feel, for this generation of kids is hard to come by but needed more than ever.

Samantha I hope you know how very proud of you we are and when you get older you'll understand better why things went this way. Even though you don't see it now and it hurts and it sucks but really it was for the best. Next year at tryouts you'll leave them all in your dust! We love you baby girlfriend!

Happy Fathers Day!

I don't need to take this day to tell you how wonderful you are - I tell you all the time. So instead of me writing about how you are such an amazing father to the best 5 kids ever and husband to your fabulous wife :) I think Tina say's it best:

Just a little brag

Cause if you really know me you know that I don't do it.

Sophia the 3 yr old of just 2 days now had her interview and testing for pre-school. Yes testing. It is a pre-school for the gifted and you have to meet a certain criteria along with a certain IQ in order to get in. Now this is where Steven and Bella went. Steven has since moved on to the Long Island School for the Gifted and we couldn't be more proud of his accomplishments. Luckily for us he doesn't realize how smart he really is so it hasn't all gone to his head yet - if you know what I mean. Bella has done very well but after careful consideration we decided that the public school would be a better fit for Miss Social Butterfly. Not that she wouldn't get that where Steven is but it would just be different.

OK so now it's Sophia's turn. First you can't get tested until you turn 3 and she was 3 on Sunday. When Steven was tested he 4yrs 3mos old. Sophia at 3 yrs 2 days old had scores that reflected an age of a 5 1/2 yr old. Her over all IQ was 8 points higher than that of what Steven's was and his was high. That is just incredible!! I mean Steve and I are completely dumbfounded. Look we knew she had something going on or we wouldn't have bothered but for her scores to come back this far off the charts is crazy! I mean she could be the youngest Nobel peace prize winner for something...lol OK I know that is pushing it ALOT but I'm the mother and it's my right to believe all my kids will be rocket scientists. At the very least maybe she can help me with my grammar.

She has no idea what she did today other than look at pictures and answer some questions. She was most proud of getting to spend the day at school with her big sister and brother. Steven is always welcomed back to the school to hang out when he's not at his school and since he started his summer break already they were excited to have him spend the day. He helped get the kids prepared for their graduation ceremony on Friday. She was excited to get to sit at the table and have snack with all her new friends. She was asked to start now but there is only 2 days left so well hang out till Sept. She said she needs to find the perfect backpack.

Hey I'm the first to admit that Steve has all the book smarts but I do have more street smarts. I'm just lucky my kids are getting his smarty pants genes. On their way to Harvard I'll make sure they know how to change their tire should they get a flat....lol Harvard whatta ya kidding me?!?! If that's the case I'll help them lie on their student aid forms :)