something cute/heartbreaking

i was filing a boatload of paperwork today (some from 2006!) and i found this cute letter that chloe wrote last fall. as most of you know, our dog casey is getting up there in years (he was rescued from the pound so our best guess is 13 yo) so we have been preparing the girls that the end is approaching....

dear casey,

i love you. i will miss you when you are dead. i will be very sad.

love, chloe

Chloe is finally dry at night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

how could i have forgotten to mention this major milestone in the barth household?????????????? chloe's pull-up was becoming more dry than wet after school got out in june. by the time we went to VA (mid-july) it was pretty much dry every night but i didn't want to take a chance there! so as soon as we got home, chloe began wearing panties to bed and she has not had one accident!!!! YIPPEE! 8-)

the funnies

two cute things from amelia:

* instead of saying "i can make her feel better", amelia says: "i can feel her better"

* last month, when we were 10 min from home on the way to DE, we realized that we forgot our pillows so we turned around to go home. a few minutes later, amelia saw a bird flying in
the sky. she said "maybe the bird is going home to get his pillow too!"

here is a priceless youtube video... you may have to watch it a few times to fully appreciate it (at least i did!).... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

that's it for now! to be continued.....

at the bus stop / amelia's school playground

ok -- i just discovered that there is a 5 pic max per post. good to know!

first day of school!!!

back-to-school here is going well so far... chloe is in a first grade class with 2 of her good friends so she is very happy. amelia switched schools from the day care center where she was since 18m to a true pre-school in town for just 3 and 4 year olds.... she loves it! we are calling it the "big girl school" and chloe went there as well so amelia is familiar with the building and playground.

two funny things so far: poor chloe got made fun of for her sippy cup at lunch (does teasing really start this young????!!!! how else do you transport milk so it doesn't spill????? i guess i need to invest in a few more stainless steel thermoses....) and poor amelia marched right up onto chloe's bus on the first day of school thinking it was for her! she cried when i took her off!

visit with tammy

in late august, the girls and i went to visit tammy (one of my oldest and dearest friends) and her boys at their public pool in pound ridge NY (west chester county). it was a little chilly so we didn't last there long! myles will be 4 on 9/21 and is only 5 weeks older than amelia. bennett is 18 months.

lewes, DE

in august we were invited to spend a weekend at the beach house of betty and jay (jeff's cousins) in lewes DE. they have 2 girls -- andrea will be 12 in december and heather is 7. larry, denise, molly and emily came down as well so it was a house full of girls!!! we had a fabulous time swimming, biking, watching the olympics and visiting the boardwalk in rehoboth.

surprise for uncle larry

for larry's 50th birthday, denise organized a surprise chocolate tasting for the family. he was VERY surprised but the new camera malfunctioned at the moment he arrived so we don't have a great pic of his chin hitting the floor! we all had a wonderful time!

our nieces, molly and emily, are approaching babysitting age which is very exciting for us!! molly will be 15 in december and is a freshman in HS. emily is 12 1/2 and in 7th grade. they both play soccer and the piano.

hiking in the sourlands

the sourland "mountains" are visible from our house and the hiking trail entrance is only a 5 minute drive away. i give the girls "collection bags" and they go to town!!!

a few more family reunion pics

the top one is everyone (obviously), the middle one is the barth girls with mcskimin girls and the bottom one is the requisite bathing suit shot!

great grammy at the family reunion

ok -- as you can see i am still getting the hang of this! here are some pics of great-grammy...

family reunion!

in july we spent a week in a large beach house in virginia beach with jackie's mom's side of the family. there were about 25 ppl in one 8 bedroom house! a fabulous time was had by all!!!

on the left is amelia with one of our newest cousins -- identical twin baby girls born in 12/07 to excited parents matt & stacey mcskimin. i think this one is ellie!!!

on the right is chloe feeding piper (i think!) with aunt marilyn and aunt melanie.

when we last left off....

in our last email version of the barth girls gazette, we updated you from 12/07 - 7/08. if you missed that one and would like me to forward it to you, just email me at jackiebarth@comcast.net.

here is a pic of the family from chloe's birthday party:

holy crap!

it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

testing the blog

could it really have been this easy to set up a blog??? this is the first post of the newly formed "barth girls gazette" blog.... if it works, i will post again and attempt to post some photos!