Today we went to Salem, Ma for the Haunted Happenings. We had a lot of fun. We walked the streets of downtown Salem. Went into a few gift shops and had lunch in the mall. We got to hang out with a witch on the street.

Here we are at the Pirate museum. We took some pictures with the wax pirates.











Then the girls took a picture with the real pirates. They even let Heather hold a gun!
















We also went to the Witch Dungeon Museum. While we waited for the museum to open we hung out in some restraints. Inside the museum we watched a reenactment of a witch trial that was really neat to watch.

We also went to the witch history museum. We got lots of pictures of the museums but really to much to put on. We had a lot of fun and of course there was not enough time to check out all the museums. But the positive thing is that we had such a good time and can look forward to going next year to check out more. It was a great family day!!!

Corn Maize

This weekend I was trying to find something fallish to do as a family. We looked things up on the computer and decided to go to a corn maize. Heath and I have never been to one and thought it would be pretty cool. There were two listen in NH (one in Alton and one in Conway) we decided that we would go to the one in Alton. We arrived got our tickets and headed out to the corn field. It was great fun. Julia of course said I am not going in if there are any scarecrows in the field. It took us a little over an hour to go through 2 times. It was a great family adventure.

Poems

Good morning all, I know that I have not posted a blog in a while and I would like to start back up. I would like to let you all know that my Theresa has started writing poetry. Some of you may remember that I have wrote a few poems myself and have had a couple published in a collection of poetry book through poetry.com. The following poem is a poem that Theresa wrote and gave to her English Teacher just to read it was not an assignment.

You Know and You Don't Know
You know you're doing this to me.
But do you know that you're doing this to
yourself too?
So keep in mind what you know
and what you don't know.

This is the comment wrote back by her English teacher:
You say a lot here with very few words! The way you repeat certain words gives them extra emphasis-it definitely makes your poem stronger. Nice work

She also received a Commendation Notice for this poem for sharing a very thought provoking poem.

I am so very proud of Theresa and her poetry writing. She has wrote several poems that were really good. Guess there is another thing that makes her just like me!

Rock Climbing

Well last week was my little Heather's first rock climbing experience. She only made it just over 10 feet up. She would get scared then they would give her some encouragement and she would go up a little more. I think that she was a little more nervous about not being as good as some of the others. Lori, The girl that is above Heather, has been rock climbing for about 4 years now and helped Heather quite a bit. They hit it off really good. She goes again tomorrow and is really nervous, but she still wants to go. This week at the PYW Heather practiced belaying and they think she is ready to do it independently tomorrow and Lori is going to let Heather partner up with her. On another note Lori is going into 11th grade and we are trying to work it out for her to be a "big sister" for Heather in school next year. Mr. Martell, who works for the Middle High School and at the PYW, said that they both are hitting it off great and they would be a great match. I am so proud of Heather for trying rock climbing because it is new to her and challenging (we know how much courage this has taken for Heather to try something new infront of so many people).

Theresa at Teen Institute Leadership camp

Theresa went off to the Teen Institute Leadership camp on Sunday July 19th. The Camp had about 60 kids and 40 staff. Here is a picture of the whole camp group.





















Theresa stayed in a bunk with other girls that she had never met. Good thing she is so easy going and can make friends so easily.






















During the week Theresa went to several large group workshops that included date violence and Don't dis ability. The teens then broke up into their small groups for discussions and share stories. This is Theresa's small group finding a hidden area in one of the cabins where they met for small group. They made a time capsule and put it in the hidden area.























They had many whole group activities such as a dance and skit night. These are some photo's from the skit night. Theresa's group acted out the movie Juno.





















Here are some friends that Theresa made while she was at camp.

Theresa came hope with great stories and experiences to share. She came home with new knowledge about the world and strategies to use and share in the community. I am thankful she was able to take part in this experience.

Summer

Well our summer is moving very fast here in the Cole house. The summer has been filled with softball, field trips with the PYW, camp, and summer school.

The kick off to summer was the Relay for Life (Cancer walk). Julia and Theresa got donations from community members and on June 21st they headed over to Concord for the all night cancer walk. Of course it started raining so the girls came home early. The top photo is the girls whom participated in the walk. Below is Julia wit a couple of her friends. Paula is on the left and she is one of the PYW staff.

Next the girls enjoyed a trip to Hill Top Fun Center for some miniature golf, Lazar tag, and some arcade games.


Above is Heather, Paula, and Julia in their game of miniature golf.


Heather then enjoyed a trip on her own because the other two had a game. She went to York's Animal Kingdom.


Below is Heather with Zach. Zach is the director of the PYW and just a all around great guy. Heather really enjoys hanging out with him.






















Then Heather and Theresa enjoyed a day watching the Fisher Cats in Manchester.





Heather started rock climbing and did great. Theresa has been at camp since Sunday and comes home tomorrow.

Laundry

I have a story to share with you all.

We do not have a washer and dryer in our apartment so we go to the laundry mat across the street. For three days I asked Julia to get her dirty clothes. Well yesterday while she was gone to the Harry Potter movie with the PYW I did laundry. So today I told Julia that she needed to do her laundry, however she was going to need laundry soap. I left her money to get laundry soap and do her laundry. I told her to get the cheapest kind that they have. Well off I went to work and she did laundry. At lunch time she brought me my salad to work and said "my clothes smell so good". When I came home on my lunch break we had this conversation:
Julia-"mom smell these they smell so good"

me-"they do smell good what kind of laundry soap did you get?"

Julia then left the room and came back with the bottle and hans it to me

me- "No wonder it smells so good this is fabric softner-did you use this as you would laundry soap?"

Julia- "yes why whats the difference?"

Summer

I am amazed because it looks like we might have a nice summer day today. I hope everyone enjoys it.

Heather's 10U play offs

I just wanted to come on quickly and let everyone know what happened tonight. All season Heather's team has not won a game. They had their first play off game tonight and won. Heather received the game ball. She got up to bat 3 times and hit doubles each time. They needed 5 runs to win the game when they got up to bat. Bases were loaded and there were two outs and they needed one more run to win. Heather hit a double got 2 players in and won the game. The girls were so happy. Heather was glowing. I am so proud of my baby girl. Now they go on to the next game Wed and of course Julia has a game so we will split our selves again. Another weekend of softball. I will keep you posted.

12U playoffs

Just as Heath and I were thinking that we had a weekend free of softball Heather got called up to the 12U playoffs. They lost 3 girls for the weekend playoffs and called Heather to come and play for them. It is a big thing to be asked to play in the play offs since everyone on the team has to play at least 2 innings in the game. Heather played 2 games yesterday and the team won both games so we headed back for the championship game today. We lost but because it was the first game lost they got a second chance. We lost the second game so they came in second. Heather took a couple of hits from the pitcher when she got up to bat (yes I know it is part of sports but she has one nasty bruise on the leg from one the hits and the other was on the ankle bone). Heather received her first trophy and was invited after the game to the pizza party. She had a great time moving up to the next level and it did a lot for her self esteem.

Theresa had her 8th grade promotion last night. During the promotion each child had to stand on stage and say what they wanted to be when they grow up. Theresa stated that she wants to be a lawyer.
















Theresa did get her certificate so she is going on to the 9th grade. We were a little worried because she did not do so well in English this quarter but they can not take it back.

The other certificate that Theresa has in her hand is a perfect attendance. Yes I was shocked. Theresa was not sick a day this year. There were 3 out of about 40 kids whom had perfect attendance.

Last night was Heather's last season game. She did great-she hit the ball every time she got up to bat and played great at 1st base. In the final inning a team mate told her that if she hit the ball into the out field she had a treat for her. Of course Heather said I cant hit it that far. Well guess what....


she hit it into the out field and got a double and two players in. You should of seen the smile on her face when she got to second base. One of her team mates got the hit on video which was great because Heath missed the game. Now lets hope she can hit like that in the playoffs that start on Monday.

Theresa's News

I thought I would let everyone know about Theresa's news. There is a leadership camp in New Durham and the PYW picks two kids each year to represent PYW at the camp. Theresa has been chosen. The fee will be fully paid by a scholarship and the PYW. The camps cost is just about $800 dollars. Theresa will attend the camp and then bring back what she learned and use it in the community and with in the PYW.

ON that note I do not think that I ever let everyone know that Julia and Theresa were chosen for the PYW CAN program. The program is to promise not to do drugs, drink, or smoke. They have recieved a special card that entitles them to discounts and free items at buisness in the town. For example the movie store if they rent 2 movies they get one free, and a 2 liter bottle of soda with a purchase of pizza. It also allows 4 half price field trips with the PYW and special trips for PWY CAN members only. They have monthy meetings on the pressure of drinking and drugs.

I love my girls!!

Nicole's Prom

Here is Nicole's Prom pictures. She has grown up to be such a beautiful girl!!!!

Another exciting weekend of softball

Saturday began with Heather's game in New Durham. I went to her game while Heath took the other two to their game. Heather played catcher for 2 innings and did great. She got up to bat and hit the ball strong sending it into the out field. She made it to 3rd base before the team got 3 outs. The next time up to bat she got walked. After 2 innings of catching she played 1st base. In her level if one team is ahead by 10 runs the game is over so at the bottom of the 3rd inning New Durham had 15 and we had only 5 so they called the game. The 3 innings took one and 1/2 hours to play. Julia and Theresa played against Raymond which is a very good team. It was a double header and they lost both games. Today Julia and Theresa had another double header in Lebanon. The team did really well winning both games. The first game was 5-4. They held Lebanon with no runs up until the 7th inning then they brought in 4 runs. It was a very exciting game and the last inning kept us on our toes causing my heart to pound. The Umpire got hit 3 times in the face and thank goodness he had a mask on. He however needs a new mask because they caused him pain each time. The second game was really good as well and kept us at the edge of our seats. There were a lot of foul balls and one of those foul balls broke a window on a SUV. I do not think the driver of that car will park anywhere near a field again. The sad thing is the car was not parked to close to the field. We won the second game as well 12-10. Julia got a hit in and made it to 1st base. She stole to 3rd base. On her way in to home she got tagged out because she did not slide into home. She needs to work on the sliding. Julia says that she is afraid to slide because of her hip. I of course told her that we could bring a screw gun with us to games to screw the screw back in if something happens. Julia did not think that was to funny. Theresa assisted in a few outs during both games also.

It was a great softball filled weekend and will begin again next weekend. Heather has a game on Saturday against Chichester at 2 then Julia has a allstar game against Chichester at 6. Then Julia and Theresa have another double header on Sunday in Epsom against Lebanon again.

Dr Visit

Well Julia loves to give me grays. You know that screw in her hip well it had to have a x-ray last night. Julia decided that she would like to kick her sister because she was upset with her. It did not work out so well and her leg came up pretty high and she thought for sure that her screw moved. Of course when ever she has injury to her right leg she has to have a x-ray to make sure that it did not move. Well good news it did not, bad news she strained a muscle so she will have to sit out the game today. On the way to the hospital we had a discussion about Karma. I let Julia know that that was her bad karma coming back at her.

Graduation

June 5, 2009 my Enez Nicole will be graduating from High school. It is hard to believe that 17 years ago I held this precious girl in my arms. Yes I let her go from my arms to have a better life than I could give her and that was accomplished. She has grown up to be very strong and beautiful young lady. I am very sad that I will not be there watching her walk on stage to get her diploma that she has worked so hard for. She will be in my thoughts today as she is every day and I hope that someday I will be able to meet her again and hold her in my arms as I once did many many years ago. After graduation Nicole will be getting a full time job to hold her over until she goes off to boot camp. Yes boot camp, Nicole has joined the US Navy and will be heading to boot camp in December. Nicole is interested in going to boot camp before December and if a job opens up she will head out early. Congrats Nicole I am proud of you.

Theresa did not end up wearing the dress we got but she still looks beautiful. Here are some pictures that she took at the dance. She had a great time.

softball softball and more softball

Today was a day full of softball for our family. Julia and Theresa had a double header in Fremont at 2:00 and Heather had a game in Alton at 2:00 as well.

Heath took Heather to her game which I did not get to watch because I was traveling to Fremont. Heather pitched the whole game this time and I heard did pretty good (I think Heather found her sport). Her team lost again, but Heather tried her best and even hit the ball a few times when up to bat. Heathers game lasted 3 hole hours.

Julia, Theresa, and I took off at 12:00 to get to their game an hour away. The game started late because the field was still in use. The first game they lost 9-2. They did really well working as a team out in the field. The second game went much quicker and they won 4-3. In the second game 6th inning Theresa caught 2 pop fly balls and then caught a line drive right to her. Three outs all by Theresa. Julia did well in the out field as well. Julia has quite a throw on her and can get the ball back to pitcher all the way from the back fence. She did that a couple of times.

Julia made the all stars team and will have her first practice tomorrow for all stars. I must say I am really proud of her-she works really hard. Theresa did not try out for all stars and I wish she had because she is really a great player.

Next weekend will be another fun filled softball weekend. Heather has a game Sat at 2:00 in New Durham and Julia/Theresa has another double header in Raymond at 2:00. Then we are headed to Lebanon on Sunday for another double header for Julia and Theresa. I love softball season.

Our adventurous day

Today we had a very adventurous day. We had lots of activities planned. The Cole family was up and out the door by 8:45 to go hike Mount Major. Even Patti (our dog) came with us. She was such a trooper made it up and down the mountain with out being carried this time. There were lots of other dogs on the trail and she acted as though she was the only one. We worked our way up the mountain with only one injury on the way up. Heather decided that she was going to climb up a small hill off the trail and fell. Oh boy the way that her ankle was against the rock when I got to her I thought for sure it was broken. She got away with only a few scrapes. Heather did not give up though. She kept going strong even with the scrapes and cuts on both her legs and her back. Theresa, Julia, and their friend kept up at a pace ahead of us for most of the walk.






The girls did great climbing up the rocks. When we got to the top we enjoyed the view and had a snack.


We headed back down the mountain after relaxing for a few.
We went back down a different trail what was 2 miles long. We all made it back to the bottom. (I made it- I was so proud of myself that Heath did not have to carry me)



After our very long hike Julia and Theresa had to go straight to practice. They were beat but survived. Then after having dinner we went to Manchester to watch the sky show which was great. We ended our day at 11:30.

up date

Well it has been a few days since I have posted anything so I will post a update about what has been going on in the life with all daughters. I will start with youngest to oldest.

Heather- Tuesday night I got a call from the coach that her game for Wednesday was canceled for some reason and Heather was very upset about it because she really looks forward to softball. Well about 45 minutes later we got a call from the 12U coach to see if Heather was doing anything on Wednesday night. He asked if she could come up and play for the majors at a game. Of course she said yes and was very excited. They had her pitch in the second half of the game. She did very well pitching to older girls. Heather was very proud of herself and we were very proud of her as well. There were 2 other girls from her team that were asked to come play in the game. That is the positive about Heather now I will move on to what happened at the meeting. We went over the evaluation and then changed her coding. She was previously coded with vision for her Special education coding and now it has been changed to primary- leaning disability, 2nd-speech and language, 3rd vision. The team was told that we need to decide what would be best for Heather- be in a classroom with a one on one aide or be in a room by herself with a one on one aide. If she is in the classroom with the other children then she will continue to become over whelmed and not be able to keep up with the others there for not progress as she should. If she is in a classroom by herself then she will progress academically but not socially. I feel it is a lose lose situation for Heather and I feel she should be placed in a different school where all areas can be met. I am trying to get an advocate for Heather and getting ready for a battle because I know it will not come easily.

Theresa is doing OK. We received her progress report yesterday and she currently holds 3 F's. The last report card she had nothing below a C so she has dropped in some grades. We had to have a big talk. She also had a Saturday morning detention this morning for refusing to stay at an after school detention with her computer teacher whom is a male and she would of been by herself. She felt very uncomfortable about it and refused. She got the detention because she got caught throwing things across the room (she can be a little trouble maker sometimes). That girl whom has been harassing her got beat up yesterday and not by Theresa. She called this girl who has some special needs a retard yesterday and the girl pushed her into the lockers, punched her in the face, and twisted her arm. I love that famous saying "what goes around comes around".

Julia is doing fabulous of course. She had all B's and C's on her progress report and great comments for her efforts and conducts. It still amazes me how well she is doing. Oh she did go on a trip to the ocean in a boat with a lab. She of course takes after her mother and got very sick and was throwing up over the side of the boat.

Nicole is graduating June 5th. I sent her an email to let her know that I will not be able to make it to the graduation. I hope she understands. I am deeply heart broken that I will not be able to attend. There is nothing I can do about that except hope that she can forgive me.

Heath is Heath and still great.

I have been having trouble sleeping because I just think and think. My allergies are really bad this year as well and I just want to cut my nose off.

Well all there is an update and hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

disrespect

Yesterday after getting out of work I went up to the PYW to check on the girls. The PYW is in the brick building that you see. Julia and Theresa were sitting in the Gazebo with some other kids that had a dog. I went to talk with Paula, works at the PYW, on the stairs of the PYW. Well the dog that was there was not on a leash and was running around the park. Zack, the director, came out after the kids that had the dog left and asked whom was over there. He asked who was wearing a green shirt because this guy who lives in a building that is on the side of the park called and said that the kids with the dog were being very rude and distrespecful to him when he asked them to put the dog on the leash. Well guess what my 2 daughters were with the group of kids and Julia had made a disrespectful comment to the man. I was so upset and embarrassed that my girls were involved. Of course the other kids left after it happened and Julia and Theresa were the only ones involved left. I made Julia and Theresa go and say sorry to the man. They were so upset with me but I do not want that kind of behavior from my girls. I went with them and as I was walking over Heath showed up and asked what we were doing. I explained to him and he sat and watched. I guess the guy that they were disrespectful to Heath knows and stayed to make sure that he did not begin being rude to us. ( I guess this guy is quite the loser). So the girls said sorry and Zack told them that he was very proud of them for saying sorry.

I do not want my girls to be the kids that are rude to others and I turned this into a life lesson, but boy were they mad at me. They got over it pretty fast though.

poems that touched my heart

A couple more poems that touched me...

To say goodbye
The moment I saw you,
I knew deep in my soul,
That saying goodbye,
would create in my heart a hole,
Your tiny fingers,
ten perfect toes,
it was completely a miracle,
seeing you, my love showed.
You were so perfect, so innocent, so pure.
I couldn't believe I made you,
But giving you up,
was something I wasn't sure I could do.
But seeing them hold you
the sparkles in their tired eyes
Brought ease to my heart
And love to my goodbyes
I knew the choice I was making was right, was good
Giving you to them was something that I should.
I left the hospital,
without you that day.
With a box of tissues,
as I stumbled away.
As the tears fell upon you,
as I whispered goodbye
I told you I love you and always will.
Dear Baby, you are the first love of my life.
The choices I made for us,
I felt were right.
They will love you and hold you,
sing you lullabies at night.
Give you more that I culd now.
I believe this is right.
I will miss you, I will cry,
but everyday I will know,
I gave them the world,
then, to you, I said goodbye.

Amanda Davis; September 17, 2002



The birthday wish continues...
As the mornings rise and I lie awake in bed,
so many words to say to you flow through my head.

As another day that is so cherished but painfully approaches once again,
I long to see your face and to know how you have been.

For each passing year brings me closer to hope,
I pray God blesses you with understanding and strength to cope.

Oh, I feel so much sorrow and dismay,
I pray you are happy and your life is okay.

They told me to do it that it was the right thing to do,
it didn't feel right but I did it for you.

On this 19 birthday of the baby girls face that I saw with a peek,
I once again blow you a kiss and pray it lands softly upon your beautiful cheek.

Vicki Tyra

The Legacy of a Child in an Open Adoption
By Brenda Romanchick

Once there were two expectant mothers.
One carried and cared for you beneath her beating heart
She became your Birthmother.
The other carried the hope of you within her.
She became your Mom.
As the days passed, and you grew bigger and stronger,
Your Birthmother knew that she could not give you all you needed after
your birth.
Meanwhile, your Mom was ready and waiting for you.

One day your Birthmom and your Mom found each other.

They looked into each other’s eyes and saw a friend.
Your Birthmom saw the life your Mom could give you.
Your Mom saw how much your Birthmom loved and cared for you.

They decided that what you needed was both kinds of love in your life.

So now you have two families,
One by birth, the other by adoption.

And you have a home where you can get:
your questions answered,
your boo boos bandaged,
your heartaches soothed,
And much needed hugs.

And a place where you can find:
answers to your questions,
your image in the mirror,
a part of yourself,
And much needed hugs.

Two different kinds of families
Two different kinds of love
Both a part of you.

These are not the best pictures because I took them with my phone. My camera is at work and Julia's camera is at school. This is the dress that Theresa would like to wear to the semi-formal. It is peach. What do you think??