William is at a wrestling tournament two hours away in Newport, PA. I tried to find the information online and I think it’s somewhere on this site but I can’t find it. GO WILL!

Nikolas is pushing his SpiderMan car around the living room.

I’m cleaning the house.

I guess this is a typical Saturday. I wish I was in Newport.

We had our first Pennsylvania Ornament Party yesterday and all the kids made ornaments and played in the snow.

At Phifer Ice Dam Dec. 4, 2009.

Brian and I went to the Liberty @ East Stroudsburg quartefinal playoff game last night in East Stroudsburg. We had no idea the Liberty High Marching Band played in the Rose Bowl. And I soon discovered why at half-time. It was simply amazing. They had bagpipers, drummers, majorettes, every instrument a marching band should have, and the performance as far as I could tell was flawless.

I’m reading Truman by David McCullough and was struck by McCullough’s continued references to bits of letters and notes left behind by Truman and his family and friends. It occurred to me that blogs are today’s letters and notes. Below are some notes I would have written down on paper had I the mind to actually bring any paper or pens with me to the beach!

This beautiful home is right on the beach and we passed it every day walking down the boardwalk. The URL caught my eye: oceanporch.com. too bad the owner hasn’t done anything with the Web site. I’d love to see what the home looks like on the inside.

Jacob asked me why there are so few homes in Ocean City. I told him the boardwalk used to be lined with beautiful homes like the one with oceanporch.com as an Internet address but that over time the hotels came and bought up many of the homes. I told him we should appreciate the ones still standing.

We bought Jacob and William shark-tooth necklaces at Sunsations for $2.00. Jacob thinks it’s really cool.

We bought breakfast at the Commander‘s restaurant, Skipjack Grill. It was okay. This was our second year at the Commander and we spent a little more to stay on the first floor. Not having to use the elevator was well worth the extra dough. The Commander is one of those older hotels that’s been remodeled. There were pictures of the original hotel in our room that show an uncrowded boardwalk with actual open space.

Of course we went back to Phillip‘s for seafood. Jacob ate carb legs. William had a corn dog. Nikolas ate whatever anyone else had on his/her plate and then some.

We rented bikes at the 14th St. Bike Rental. Each bike was $6 except mine which was $8, $2 more for the baby seat.

We ate Dunkin Donuts for three days straight.

Trimpers rides were probably the best back in the day. Now, they are just okay. We spent $9 for me and the two boys to visit the Haunted House. I noticed one of the mummies had only thumbs. You’d think Trimper, at $3 a head, could afford to replace the poor guy’s hands!

We needed milk one night for Nikolas’ bottle and coughed up $11 for two half-gallons. Yes ELEVEN DOLLARS! The Boardwalk Convenience Store (BCS for short) doesn’t have a Web site.

Nikolas’ Orange Floaties were purchased at the Commander’s Outrageous Beach Outlet for $2.99 and his big orange bucket with a yellow shovel was $4.99.

So, mom, here are some things I do that I know would definitely drive you crazy if you were alive today:

1. I don’t make the kids’ beds every morning and neither do they.

2. I don’t give them baths every night.

3. I do the laundry when it’s overflowing, not just on Saturdays.

4. We often let the dishes air dry.

5. We always use the clothes dryer, even in the summer.

6. I take long showers.

7. I let Jacob take long showers.

8. I don’t use coupons (okay, I don’t even do the grocery shopping – Brian does it!)

9. We let the kids play on the computer.

10. We let the boys have a television in their room

11. They even have a pet turtle now!

12. I don’t clean the bathrooms every Saturday.

13. We give the dog table scraps.

Mom, we do tell our kids we love them everyday several times a day and we tell them how important their family is. We do visit Grandma and Grandpa regularly so the boys know their grandparents and understand who their family is. We do talk about you although they really don’t understand who you are and why you’re not here. We go to every baseball practice and game. Brian coaches their teams just like you did for me when I was in cheerleading.

I think you’d be proud even if our laundry may overflow on a Saturday night and our beds are a pile of blankets. Your intentions were understood and we do have a happy family.

Thanks Mom.

My five boys

Originally uploaded by Kathy Schwartz

All the boys sitting nice for a picture — amazing!