Merry Christmas!!!!!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family who follow our happenings.....Santa was here and the boys had a great morning. We are now getting ready to head back down to pop-pop's house for lunch and than over to A.Carol's house for a visit. Here are some photos of this morning. Hope everyone had a great Xmas morning.

Let it snow...let it snow...let it snow....

Here we sit on Saturday night....(it is snowing, snowing, snowing).....at Steve's new bar in his newly finished basement, watching his new tv's, listening to Xmas music...the kids are outside playing in the snow and all the Bodnar's are sleeping over! Life is good! To think that last year at this time we were on the beach! Crazy...Cheers to all my friends in the southern hemisphere!

O' Christmas Tree......

Well, today I worked at the Xmas tree farm from 8am-430pm. Needless to say I am exhausted! It is a long, busy, cold day. But, it is fun. Most people are in a great mood, because they are in the festive spirit shopping for a Xmas tree. It started snowing today, which turned everything, colder, wet, slushy and a bit miserable (and it is still snowing!) Makes it hard to work when your fingers are cold and wet and pruny. I came home with wet pants, wet hair (even though I had a hat on), wet gloves.....made myself a bourbon and gingerale and took a hot spa bath! I am now on my 2nd bourbon and gingerale and I am much warmer and no longer wet and I'm feeling good! I still have some homework to do, but, I guess I am in the mentality of "it will get done when it gets done." Anyways, Happy Holidays to all, Happy shopping, Happy Decorating, Happy Xmas tree shopping..........cheers!

A great weekend!

This weekend, was so-so on Saturday, weather wise, but Sunday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous fall day! We pretty much spent the day outside, hanging up loads of laundry, raking up the thousands of leaves that have fallen on our lawn and Justin came down to play with the boys. They spent the majority of their time playing football. Fun was had by all. I than had Lori and Jessica join us and I made a grilled chicken dinner w/salad and broccoli and everyone went home with full bellies. Oh and today is my niece Jessican's birthday! 11years old today. Which meant 11years ago we were in Australia for Derek and Leannes wedding!

Happy birthday Jessica!!!!!!

Penn State Weekend!!!!

We were all Happy Valley bound this past weekend as we took the campers and the kids and extended family up to Penn State to cheer on the Lions against Ohio State. (unfortunately they lost), but we still had a great time. It was cold, cold, cold on Thurs. night and Friday night, but by Saturday afternoon, the skiies turned blue and white and the sun came out and it was a gorgeous fall afternoon!!! I have some photos and more to follow...We Are..Penn State!!!!! (and for those who have never been to a Penn State football weekend, there are hundreds of campers who drive hours to get to Happy Valley and the purpose of the flags you see is to help people find you. We have chosen a bright green Moosehead beer flag. It worked! We could see it from up near the stadium and nearby campers were telling people to look for the green flag with a Moosehead on it!)

Come on Phillies!!!!

Ok, so we lost last night, and at present time, we are again losing. Come on Phllies! Mike, Chris, Steve and Tyler are down at the game cheering them on. I guess this is why we play a 7 game series!

Here we go Phillies, here we go!!!!

Happy Halloween and GO PHILLIES!!!! Here we sit, on a rainy Saturday night, the kids have gone trick or treating and their bags are full of candy. (Of course the parents walked behind the kids with beverages in their hands) Jen and Chris's house is full of Phillies fans and 1-Yankees fan and at current time, we are winning!!!! 3-0!! Wooooooo-hooooooo go Phillies!!! Tomorrow morning, Mike, Chris, Steve and Tyler are heading down to Philly, to go the game 4 of the world series. They are also contending with the Eagles game so, they are leaving very early to get a parking spot. They will than go downtown to waste some time waiting for the game. I'm certain a good time will be had by all! And for my southern hemisphere friends, we "fall" back in time tonight, so we will now be 16hours apart.

Nicholas is 8 years old!!!!

Yup, 8 years ago today!!! I can't believe my youngest is 8years old. Crazy how fast time flies by. We were supposed to have a party last night with homemade cake and all, but this week was a bit crazy with illness and days out of school. L.Michael was diagnosed with bronchitis and the flu...and was out of school all week, plus the Friday before....and than a few days later, Nicholas complaining of a sore throat went to the doctor as well, but all tests came back negative. But I felt like we needed to postpone all festivities until our house was no longer infected. With that said, Steve and family and Chris and Jenn still came up because Michael no longer had a fever and they said they were ok with it. I was a bit upset cuz I didn't have his cake done, so we will still be doing a birthday cake celebration with the rest of the family when we are all better.

Nicholas does have a surprise coming his way tonight...(he has no idea of this yet), but Mike and I got ahold of 2 Philadelphia Flyers ice hockey tickets. And Dad is taking him to Philadelphia tonight for his birthday. They are fantastic seats and we are certain he will be excited as this is his first professional ice hockey game!

Will take some photos of Nick on his birthday today and will post as soon as I can.

Snow!!!!

Well, they were really big wet flakes, and we had no accumulation, but it snowed already! This past Thursday, October 15, we had snow! It was crazy...North of us about 1hr or so they got a few inches and for those of you who know Penn State, they got about 6 inches of snow! This is/was very early for snow for us, so is this a sign for a really bad winter? I guess only time will tell.

Michael and football

Yesterday Michael had a football game, and they unfortunately lost again. But Michael played well and it was a gorgeous day outside. A bit cool, but great for football. So here are some photos of Michael with his team and in action! (He is number 22.)

Long time..no write..

Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since I've updated my blog. I guess not too much to say. Boys are doing well with school. I'm doing well with school. Nicholas is doing great with soccer. This past Saturday, he scored about 5 or 6 goals. And Michael did well at his game on Saturday. Unfortunately, they have yet to win a game, but he is learning all the time. Fall has come around big time lately. The leaves are changing into beautiful red, yellows and oranges. We have days of warm weather and very cool nights. This is my favorite time of the year.

Oh, I guess I do have a bit of news. I got a job!! Yup! A real 9-5 job..well, 830-330pm job. I am going to be a reading aide for grades 3,4,5 at Kernsville Elem. in Parkland School District. I actually am due to begin next Tuesday and will be doing some training and than working with the students by the end of the week. Yeah for me! A paycheck again!

So, that is about it. I guess I'm leading a fairly boring life right now. The good news is we are all well, and life is good. Can't ask for more than that.

Oh, and to my dearest friend Leanne...I truly wish I could have surprised you for your birthday and shared in your night, but the thought was there. It looks like you all had a great time! I know you are feeling and looking fabulous! Here is to the next 40years!!!!! Happy Birthday! Love you to pieces!

1st day of school

It seems like yesterday I was writing that it was the last day of school, and now here we are, on the first day of school. It is a beautiful day and things went well this morning. Michael was abit nervous, but he did well and there were no tears and no vomitting. Nicholas of course was fine. Here are some photos of the boys who are officially now in 6th grade and 2nd grade, and of Jolene across the street who is also 6th grade. Here's to a great year!

Unofficial end of summer! :(

Well, this coming weekend is the boys last weekend of "summer". Even though fall will not begin until Sept. sometime, Michael and Nichlolas start school on Monday. And even though we are ready to go back to school, we also are not ready. The boys are bored but yet they say they don't want to go back. We have bought new sneakers and socks and here's hoping they will be able to wear shorts the first few weeks of school. (dependent upon the weather). The boys are also into their fall sports. Michael is doing well with football and is improving each day. He is pretty much starting offensively and defensively, don't ask me any positions, don't understand the game, yet. And Nicholas has started soccer this week. He wanted me to tell everyone how he kicked the ball so hard the other night and unfortunately hit the goalie right in the face and made him cry. (he was proud of how hard he kicked it). Anyways, he will no doubt do very well this fall with soccer. I have also started my fall semester of school. I have American Literature II and Educational field experience. My Amer.Lit. class is online and the other is 1x a week at the school. As long as I finish these 2 with no issues, I will have my Assoc. degree in December! Yeah! So that is all for now. Will update next week with the boys first day of school.

I got an A- for my final Biology grade!!!!!!!

So, I just checked my grades and my professor posted my final exam grades and I couldn't believe it, but I got 142 out of 150 points possible on my final exam which made my final overall grade jump to an A-!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. Now it is finally over.......

BIOS 105 Final!!!!

Well, today is the day. I finally have my Biology final. Going into it, I have a C+, so I have passed and am happy. I have been going over all the chapters we have done, as it is a comprehensive final. So 18 chapters! Ugh. Feeling extremely proud of myself though, as anyone who has been around me this summer knows that I have lived and breathed BIOS 105 and at times have stuggled to learn some of the chapters. Especially that DNA. Will let you all know what my final grade was, but I'm not stressed and will just do my best today. :)

More Vacation

Sorry I didn't update again, but I forgot that as we drove north, I would have limited internet availability. So, with that said, I will continue our vacation stories. After the stories of the bears and snakes, we drove north into New York state and into Cooperstown, home of the Baseball hall of Fame. I would have to say that the adults enjoyed the museum more than the kids did. Not that they didn't like it or seeing everything, there was alot to read and to look at and I think it was just a bit much for the kids. At least my kids. My nephew Patrick would just love, love, love it there. From Cooperstown, we again drove North. Up through New York, through the Adirondack mountains and crossed over into Vermont. And into the rain. Finding a hotel on the internet here proved a bit harder than down south. Did find a Days Inn in Barre, VT (would not recommend it). Although the kids had a blast in the pool and hot tub. They had it all to themselves! The next morning, we left by 830am and I started the drive to Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. We got sidetracked a bit with the directions, but we eventually made it to the tallest mountain peak in the east! And what a drive. From the bottom of the mountain it was gorgeous. By the time we made it to the top, I could barely see! I drove up the mountain and Mike drove down the mountain. It was a bit nerve racking at times w/the narrow roads and the fog and the NO guardrails. But it was unbelieveable how high up we were. They say 8 out of 10 days look like it does when we were there, see photo right below.

From Mt. Washington, we made the drive south through the state of New Hampshire and made it to John and Jenns at about 5pm. Again, what a gorgeous drive coming down the Kancamangus Highway! The boys were finally free of the car and able to run around at Aunt Jen and Uncle Johns house. It was good to be "home" again. Friday was a day spent of helping John inside the house and than Jen and I ran into town so I could do some homework and we could pick up some things that we needed. Plus it rained! Saturday was a very early rise 445am for me and by 6am we were on the road north again to Cannon so John and Jen could run/bike/swim in a triathalon. They did fabulous and it was great to be able to cheer them on.

Here is Jen in the bike to swim transition.

This is the lake that they had to swim across to gt to the mountain they had to climb! From 2 different views, at eye level and than from the top of the mountain.

They made it!!!!
This is how we got up the mountain! What a view.


After the triathalon, we headed to the Woodstock Inn for some beverages and than headed home again. Jen made her famous nachos and also chicken enchilada casserole. We sat on their deck eating and drinking and having a great time. Before we knew it, it was again time for bed. Sunday morning brought around work for John and awesome breakfast sandwiches from Aunt Jen. We got packed up and were on the road by 10am for our 7hour drive home, which turned into 8hours due to heavy rain, traffic and a detour we took ourselves on. But we made it home safe and sound and are adjusting back into life and knowing what day of the week it is.

PS. And of course the boys had to get on to "Uncle John's" pond to go fishing. What trip would be complete w/o getting on his pond?

The Bodnar Family is on vacation!!!!

Yes, I know it has been a LONG time since I have updated my blog, and for that I am sorry. But, I think I will make up for that with our stories so far of our vacation. It was to begin on Monday morning at about 6am, however, L.Michael broke his tooth off again. (he broke it off this past May, and it fell off again on Sunday) So we had to begin a bit delayed with a visit to the dentist's office first. All was fixed and he is now smiling again. From the dentist we headed north to Pine Creek for a day of hiking (about 5miles, yes, it was hard). The view was worth it when we finally made it to the top! We were all looking out at the view when Mike decided he would go down and take a photo of myself and the boys from down below. So he hopped down, we smiled pretty and than we decided to jump down and as we did so, Nick said "Oh my God! There is a snake!!!" So we all ran away, and than I slowly stepped back to only lay my eyes on a true blue, for real, not dead, freaking timber rattlesnake!!!!!! You know, like venomous! We all just missed stepping on this thing. I was so freaked out I just wanted off the mountain. We did make it down with no further issues.We stayed at a little motel on top of the mountain and on the way down the mountain the next morning, we saw a black bear! Yup, a true to life black bear. It looked at us and we at it and than it ran up the hill and was gone.

The boys were fishing just a little while later and at our second fishing spot of the day, Nick saw a 2nd snake. It was all curled up on a bush sunning it self.

The boys finished their fishing and we got in the car and again headed north to Cooperstown NY to the Baseball Hall of Fame. We have not yet made it to the hall of fame, but the boys did get to go swimming for a littl bit in the 10mile long lake that is right behind our motel. So, as you can read, our vacation is going very well so far and everyone is enjoying themselves. Tomorrow (Wed.) we are doing the HOF and than will again head north. Will keep everyone in touch with the Bodnar family, I promise!

Evelyn and Locks of Love

Just wanted to say how very proud I am of my niece, Evelyn, who just recently cut her hair off to donate to "Locks of Love". The good people at Locks of Love take donated hair and make wigs out of it and give them to kids who have lost their hair from the treatments from cancer. Eveyln had almost 12 inches cut off her long, brown locks, and now she is looking very stylish with a wedge cut in the back. Bravo to you Evelyn. You are a good little girl!

Graduation Day

Congratulations to Tyler who graduated yesterday and is now done with high school and moving on to Penn State University in just about 2weeks time! We are very proud of Tyler as he ended up ranking 22 out of 462 students! After graduation yesterday, we all headed up to Steve and Coletta's house for a bbq of ribs and burgers and baked potatoes and salad...it was all very good and in between the thunderstorms and rain, the kids played outside and we had a few drinks and lots of laughs. Tyler is on his way to OCMD this morning with some friends for senior week at the shore! Have fun and stay safe. (Will post some photos when I get them from Coletta)

It's official....the school year is over

Yup, today was the last day of school for this year and as of lunch time, we now have a 6th grader and 2nd grader!!! Yikes! Where has the time gone. It seems like yesterday I was putting Michael on the bus for the first time and now he is going into his last year in elementary school. And Nick, he is just moving right along. Good reports re: their report cards. Michael got straight A's again! And Nick had straight G's again! (which is equivalent to A's) So we are very proud of both boys! And we are also very proud of Tyler who will be graduating tomorrow at 11am! I will update with photos of that big event when I can. Good job boys!

Nicholas and Baseball

I realized looking at my blog, that I didn't have photos or updates about Nicholas. So prior to Friday nights game, I got Nick out front in his uniform ready to play ball. And play he did! His team won 3-1 and he had a great hit and a great catch at shortstop! (I didn't even realize that he had caught the ball, and I don't know if Nick realized it at first) But he did and it was a great play! I will try and get some better photos of Nick in action. The Bodnar household is very busy in the coming 1 1/2 weeks. We have someone playing, practicing or coaching every night until June 12! Crazy! And in the middle of all that Tyler turns 18yrs. old, he graduates from HS, I start Biology, I need to cook wings this Wednesday and we need to sleep and eat in there too. Oh, and I guess school is still in session. So I will update when I get a chance and try to keep everyone up to date with the Bodnar family.