Happy New Year

We are all ready for New Year's Eve. As has become our tradition, the boys will be dropped off shortly at G & G's house to spend the night. They always stay home on New Year's Eve and we now take full advantage of that. We are meeting up with friends later at a local dive that has great food, great people watching and serve yourself at the bar! Chris thought that was the greatest thing last year when the taps were turned around and you could just go up and pour your own.

I hope that everyone out there has a safe and happy New Year's Eve. While we were blessed in 2006 with healthy boys, healthy families and good times at home, I am ready for 2007! To our dear friends the James/Gubi families we hope that the new year brings healing and peace. While their holidays have been so unlike our own we want them to know how much Paige touched our lives and continues to touch mine daily. It is entirely possible their families will never really understand how much impact Paige had on so many of us.

Happy New Year to all and to all a good night!
(I will eventually be posting pictures from the holidays - I promise)

Bolier Up!

Tonight is Purdue's final football game of the 2006 year. They have their bowl game tonight against Maryland. Bowl games always make me nervous because Purdue doen't play as well after extended time off. So, we have our fingers crossed around here. We had our home "tailgate" party and the boys are getting ready for bed. So, it's nearly game time!

Go Boilers!

I'm here, I'm here...

...I'm just buried under toys, boxes, wrapping paper, laundry and all the other misc. junk piled up around our house. I'm trying to dig my way out and I should be making more headway than I actually am. The organizing bug always hits me this time of the year with all the incoming toys. I can't stand it!

So, be back shortly.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

We got back in town last night and Santa made it to our house! The boys have been having a fun morning plalying with all their new goodies. Especially seeing they were loaded up with more gifts from our Christmas in MI. Good grief.

I have lots to update on, including little Paige's funeral services, but now is not the time. We are enjoying our day at home together and are visiting Chris' aunts home tonight. Then tomorrow we are off to G & G's house for the final Christmas. Thank God!

So, to all of you out there. Enjoy every minute that you have with your family today. And, if you are away from family and one of our proud military personal, Merry Christmas to you! Thank you for all you do!

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Wednesday

Wednesday? Is it really Wednesday. I guess it is, all day, as Chris would say! Anyway, we are getting things organized around here in preparation for traveling and Christmas.

The boys will be spending tomorrow afternoon with G & G while we travel to Paige's visitation. We will come back home that evening and the boys will stay with us. I have my fingers and toes crossed for Friday. We needed to leave for Flint and rather than returning to FW when we were half way to Michigan, we decided to take the boys with us to the funeral tomorrow. G & G also have some plans made that we don't want to ask them to change. Connor will be clueless about what is going on but I'm worried about Wes. I believe they can both sit through the service but I don't want to freak Wes out. I want to be honest with him about what is happening without scaring him. He didn't know Paige, so he won't really "get it" but we will do everything we can to keep him away from the event. Even if it means only one of us stays for the service. As much as I want to be there, I also don't want to scare Wes. Unfortunately, this is the best arraignments we can make given the circumstances.

So with that said, I can not wait to get the next two days behind us. Moving on.

Wes has football tonight and G & G are coming to watch. It should be funny because he will be excited to have more of an audience. I have bowling in the morning, Wes has school and then we are leaving. So, I need to go and get packing started and things together. Don't you just love the holidays?

Catch you here on soon!

Our holidays

We are preparing for several busy days. The getting things packed is the easy part. I am really, truly dreading how agonizing attending Paige's funeral is going to be. I am going to be an emotional wreck and I'm sure it will carry over into the holidays. This is the nightmare every parent dreads and our friends have to live it every day for the rest of their lives. We feel so much pain for them and realize there isn't much we can do to help.

Chris and I are heading back and forth to Elkhart on Thursday and Friday for Paige's funeral services. Hopefully we can work out overnight babysitting with G & G for Thursday night since we must leave very early Friday morning for the 10:00 funeral. We were supposed to be heading to Flint for Christmas on Thursday night, but it looks like we will be driving up there Friday afternoon instead. So far my mom is handling the change in plans okay!

Thankfully I have all my shopping done, gifts wrapped and I'm getting caught up on house stuff. I haven't done any baking, but it just isn't that important to me. I'd rather not be more stressed just to say that I made some cookies, which none of us really need and the grandma's have plenty of!

We will be in Flint Friday, Saturday and most of Sunday. We like to be at our house Christmas Eve so that we can let the boys sleep in their own beds, have Santa visit our house and then open gifts Christmas morning. I like having this set up for them! We have Christmas mostly to ourselves and then a trip in the evening over to visit Chris' Aunt and family. Then the day after Christmas we head over to Chris' parents to spend the day and do Christmas with them. When it is all said and done the boys will have essentially had 5 holidays with all their different family. CRAZY! It makes for tired boys, cranky parents and one greedy gift hungry 5 year old. Connor is fine with it all but Wes just goes overboard. And, to be honest, what 5 year old wouldn't when all those cool Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles and Us (mom and dad) want to give them gifts. Talk about spoiled!

As always, I appreciate how fortunate our family is to be blessed with healthy children, a safe home and a loving family. Oh, and Uncle Stu is headed back to Arizona today, so safe travel wishes for him. It was great having him home and the boys loved every minute of crazy Uncle Stu play time.

Fly High Angel Paige

Our hearts are so saddened this morning to hear of the passing of our little friend Paige. We had hoped that she would be able to stay with her family through Christmas, however that wasn't meant to be. She is no longer in pain and as her mommy said in an update, she can now see, run, jump and play! Thankfully she is no longer suffering, but we can hardly imagine the heartache Eric, Rhonda and her big brother Grant are experiencing today. All of the James/Gubi family will be in our thoughts today. Please think of them or pray for them and little Angel Paige. Fly high little Princess Paige.

Life is good!

Life is good! While we may have some ups and downs with the temperaments of a 5 and 2 year old at our house (including me), life is good! Thank God our boys are healthy! Last night at Wes' football game we got to see Wes actually "play". He was paying attention and did a good job on defense. He even got his first flag off of the other teams ball carrier. We couldn't have been prouder and he was so proud of himself! Good job Wes. Go Packers!

Life is good! Uncle Stu is back in town from Arizona to celebrate Christmas this weekend. I haven't been able to see him yet, but I'm hopeful that he will make a surprise visit during Wes' bowling party tomorrow. I know it would really be a big surprise to Wes!

Life is good! I have my holiday cards sent out and all done. I have made very little progress in the wrapping department, but I expect that to pick up the next few days! Chris has taken the day off tomorrow so he can go to the party and also take Wes to a hockey game tomorrow night. So, hopefully I can get more wrapping done with just one child tomorrow night.

Life is good here and I hope it is well for all of you too! Enjoy your weekend, just in case I don't make it back here before it is upon us!

5

So, what does every 5 year old boy want these days? If you guessed the movie Cars then you are absolutely 100% correct! And, since G & G took him to see the movie is was fitting that they gave him that as part of his birthday present. He was so excited to see the movie. I figured that we would have been watching it all day today, but he seems to be holding it out for a special occasion? I have no idea?

Anyway, here is a funny picture of him figuring out he got the movie and enjoying another game with Connor. Now we are gearing up for his bowling party on Friday with all his buddies. Thank goodness Chris is taking the day off to give me a hand!

Happy Birthday Wes!

Wes is 5 years old today. I can not believe how quickly the past 5 years have flown by. Wes is very excited for school today. He gets a birthday crown amongst other special activities for him at school. He is also excited to have Grandpa Larry and Grandma Jenny over tonight to celebrate. He helped me make cupcakes this morning and is off playing with Connor right now, I think. Now that I think about it things are really, really quiet. Too quiet. I better run and check up on the birthday boy and his little brother.

I'll post pictures after tonight's festivities.

Good birthday!

Thanks to everyone who helped make my birthday special over the weekend. Chris and I had a fun time at the company Christmas party on Friday and then kicked off a great birthday weekend! Thanks to G & G, Chris and I were able to spend the weekend in Indy. We went to watch a great Purdue b-ball game Saturday afternoon and then stayed in Indy for the rest of the weekend. We had a nice dinner, went shopping at Circle Center and saw Casino Royal (it was good). It was good!!!

And, now today is Monday! Mondays are always the let down days and today is no exception. The boys are tired out from G & G's, plus they got up a couple of times last night. Making matters worse today is the fact that I HAD to try and get pictures of them for our holiday card. This task may very well be my least favorite task of the entire year. Connor hates getting his picture taken and if possible hates getting his picture taken with his brother even more. I refuse to try and go somewhere because I know the outcome. At least when I attempt it at home I can get pissed off and storm off to my room. It doesn't require me being nice to a photographer!

So, they didn't let me down! It sucked... but I got a couple of decent pictures! See below!













































And, this is what really is going on!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Stupid germies

Sickness remains at our house. Chris is the only one among us who remains healthy. My sore throat has thankfully hit the road but I'm now stuffy and coughing. Nice. I decided at the last minute to send Wes to school today. He wanted to go although he still is stuffy and rather pale. I was happy to take him because I needed some quiet time. Connor fell asleep on the drive home and I'm taking it easy until 2:30 pick up rolls around.

Not much else going on. I'm trying to find a pair of shoes to wear with a new outfit for the Holiday Party for Chris' work. It is Friday and I of course decided that I needed something new and now I need just the right cream shoes to wear with my new cream pants. Decisions, decisions!

Have a good Tuesday! Tonight is NCIS night and the Unit. Big favorites around our house....at least until Thursday when we get Survivor and Gray!

"Score"

Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Mike scored big at our house yesterday. They came down for the day to celebrate our birthdays and brought with them maybe the boys favorite gift, every. An air hockey table! It was Wes' birthday present, but Connor is loving it as well!





















Unfortunately, they are both sick with pretty bad colds, but still loving the hockey! I just made the decision to keep Wes home from school today. Which makes me feel really guilty for sending him with Chris Saturday and now keeping him home from school today. But, in my defense, he looks awful today, he is no longer running around and acting fine and he has the snots! Bad!

And, to add insult to injury, I also am getting it. I have a killer raw throat that kept me awake most of the night. Plus, Wes was in our room twice, so I'm not much use today!

I can celebrate getting all my holiday shopping done. (Doing and little dance, doing a little dance) It is a new record. Never have I been done so early before. Now I must start wrapping! If Chris were in the room he would add some beat boxing sound affects to that "rapping" comment. You would think sometimes that he is from Flint!

Okay, gotta run. Just wanted to update on the weekend and post some pictures.

Slacker

I'm a blog slacker this week. I have been so caught up with finishing holiday decorating, getting and putting up the tree and finishing shopping that I have neglected to update on here. Shame on me. Not that anything very exciting has transpired this week, but none the less, I'm a slacker.

Wes had 2 football games this week and was pretty tired when he was all done. I believe that they won one of the games. No one keeps score (Chris does) but he had to take Connor home before the second game ended, therefore I'm not sure if they won the second game. Wes now has a cold but doesn't feel that bad to not terrorize his brother.

Speaking of terrors, Con-man has been a regular 2 year old this week. He will just say no to about anything and I discovered, after it was too late, that he flushed a car down the toilet. Wes told me he did it and that he tried to stop him but he just couldn't. And, if you believe that I have a charming home for sale on Park Avenue! The toilet didn't plug, so I can only hope it remains a happy toilet. Chris was NOT happy! But, Daddy had a hard week at work, so he was a bit touchy this week. Hopefully the weekend will make him smile.

And, who wouldn't be smiling after going to get a x-mas tree in wet, cold, windy weather. It was just awful, but last night was the only night this week we could do it. It was a quick tree pick out and it looks nice! We got it decorated this morning before Chris and Wes left for a Purdue b-ball game. I know Chris didn't want to take him because of his snots, but I just couldn't take another two on one day around here!

My parents are coming down tomorrow for the day. We are celebrating my b-day (Dec 9) and Wes' b-day (Dec 12) a little early. It was the only day that would work out and they can't come during the week! So, it's birthday day tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

"Kill the rabbit"

Yes, folks I believe we have a pesky rabbit making me angry. I have been finishing up our outside lights the past couple of days and discovered yesterday evening that a single pine tree was not working. I ALWAYS have issues with lights. I usually blow fuses, break sockets or blow fuses and then break sockets...all of which are bad and scare my husband.

So, when he came home yesterday to find me peering out the window wondering why my pine tree was dark, he immediately reminded me not to break anything. I calmly went to investigate this unlikely blown fuse because the other trees were shinning bright. The extension cord was good so I walked around to the outside of the fence to check where the lights plug into the extension cord. To my shock I discovered the plug in the extension cord cut away from the lights! What?? I could not believe someone cut my lights and fumed all night about who would do such a thing? It was a clean cut and I wondered if possibly one of the many rabbits who poop in our yard could have chewed on it. Chris said no way, he suggested I set up a sting operation to catch future hoodlums.

Today with the assistance of the sunshine I went out to take my cut lights off the tree and replace them with new lights. I discovered that the lights did look like they had been chewed. Thus renewing my faith in the neighborhood children and banishing all rabbits to hell! How dare they eat my lights!

Catching up

It has been catch up time around here the past few days. The weather has been so beautiful and warm for this time of the year, that we got our x-mas lights up and outdoor things put away. I also have been getting most of the x-mas shopping done. I only have a pesky aunt and uncle to shop for and just a couple of little things for Chris and the boys. Thank goodness. I never used to shop this early but the stores have "pushed up" holiday shopping and if you don't start early you can not find what you are looking for. Enough said!

Wes got to go to his friend Sage's birthday party yesterday. He had a good time and got to play outside a bit. They have horses and he had fun hanging out in the barn and feeding the ducks! I have been trying to prepare him for his birthday party next month. He has this unexplained expectation that he is inviting all the kids from his class as well as other friends to a party. Not gonna happen. He is willing to go along with the bowling party but I refuse to invite just a couple of friends from school and not the whole class. That isn't very nice. And, I'm not paying for 18 kids plus his other friends to go bowling. So, it will be a smaller group and he is complaining about it. Oh well!

Today is the last day of our nice 4 day weekend. I'm always sad when those come to an end. I have grocery shopping to do today and some more x-mas shopping if time allows. Purdue played their last game of the season in Hawaii yesterday. We had entertained the thought of making a vacation out of it, but you can see that it didn't happen. Anyway, Chris was up really, really late listening to the game on the radio (Hawaii time), so he is still sleeping!

Have a great Sunday!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! My parents were down here from Michigan today and celebrated the holiday with us. It was great to have them here and a first. I have never, in 31 years fixed a Thanksgiving dinner before, and now I can say that I have. Chris and I did great. I couldn't have done it without his help. He deep fried the turkey in the cooker and also made the dressing. Everything else I handled with easy! Thanks Hun! And thanks mom and dad for coming down! The boys were so excited they were here!

Happy Birthday to Chris as well. He isn't much for birthdays so I have to keep it low key. His parents are stopping by still tonight for cake.

I have so very much to be thankful for and I am. I am also keeping close to my heart all those families out there who are apart or with sick children. I appreciate every day with my healthy boys, meals on the table, a safe place to call home and a wonderful husband who is a great dad! You can't ask for more than that. Sometimes I feel like the luckiest woman alive!

For our brave men and women of the armed forces who are far away from home at this time, Happy Thanksgiving. My family is grateful for all that you sacrifice so that I can be thankful for the peace here at home. Also to your families who miss you and worry about you daily, thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Over!

Thank goodness, the weekend is over. Those aren't words one usually say on a Monday morning, but I am so very glad to have my craft show done with and behind me. I learned a lot. Most importantly, not to attend the craft show at the Y again. There wasn't much traffic and I didn't have nearly the amount of sales I expected. So, I was disappointed. I got good feed back about my stuff and made some good contacts. I also got two great pieces of jewerly from a local artist! Bonus! While I have a lot of gourds left over I also got a call last night from a woman who was given a Santa gourd as a house warming gift. Her and her mother are stopping by Wednesday afternoon to purchase more gourds!


















We had a great time at the wine tasting. I had to struggle on my own (minus Chris) with Heather and Mike until Chris got there about an hour after it started. He knew he was going to be late because of the Purdue game. Which they won! Thank goodness! So, I had to go it alone with all the executives who were there from his company. That was a bit painful for me. I rely on Chris to get me through those situations. And now, thanks to a conversation between me and the Pres wife, she believes she is getting a boat for x-mas. Don't even ask!

We had a relaxing Sunday. The boys spent the night at G & G's house so we got to sleep in, read the paper and then go pick them up. It was a nice day. The boys were rather grumpy when the got home! Oh well. The price you pay for two days of spoiling at G & G's house!

Gotta go. I'm hosting Thanksgiving for my parents this week and I need to get to the store as well as all the other cleaning that needs to take place around here! Have a great Monday and enjoy the craft show pictures!

Drum roll, please!

Tomorrow is the big day. I have just over 100 gourds to take to the show tomorrow. Everything is packed up and ready to go. I'm setting up tonight and then tomorrow the show is from 9:00 - 3:00. The boys are spending the night tonight and tomorrow night with G & G. We have a wine tasting tomorrow night to attend so babysitting for both evenings was necessary.

Chris has his last home Purdue football game tomorrow against IU. It should be an easy victory for us, but there is no such thing as "should" in football! On the note of football. I'm a Michigan fan and I'm anxious about the game tomorrow...but I just heard the news that our beloved Bo Schembechler passed away. He was a great coach and such a neat man. He will be sadly missed and those emotions will have a huge impact on the game tomorrow! My thoughts are with the Schembechler family! I can relate to the pain of having a man his age suddenly gone because of a heart attack. My Grandpa was taken that way and was about the same age.

It has been a busy week of getting last minute things ready for tomorrow, getting over a bladder infection and just hanging in there through all of that! After tomorrow I can start focusing on the holidays and lists for people. I'm being hounded by my family and I told them to just wait. But, they aren't patient people.

Wes did so much better this week at football. They played their first game and it was fun to watch. Wes seemed to do better on defense than offense, so we shall see where that takes us. He doesn't have a game next week but we will be teaching him how to do jumping jacks and running backyards. Skills apparently he doesn't know how to do!

And, last but not least, for the first time this year we won all our games at bowling. Amazing. And, we bowled a really good time that should have spanked us. They were just really off and we played average, so with our handicap, we won!

Have a good weekend everyone. I'll let you know how things went on Sunday!

Congratulations Laura and Nick

We have returned from our trip to Ohio. We left Saturday morning and had enough time to get to Columbus, go to our hotel and change and then make it with plenty of time to the church for Laura and Nick's wedding. I went to college with Laura at Findlay and we graduated together. Plus, she was my maid of honor, so I wouldn't have missed it! It was very nice and Laura looked beautiful. A few pictures to prove it! Wes just looked at the pictures and said "Mommy you are bigger than her!" :) Yup, that's us!






And, more good news, the boys were good for Heather while we were gone. They got spoiled by Aunt Heather! She took them to see "Flushed Away", they ate a ton of popcorn, they got to play and eat at Burger King! Wow, what more can you ask for in life. A great big thank you to Heather for babysitting for us. It isn't much of a free weekend for her and we so much appreciated it!

Now, the countdown starts to the craft show this weekend. I tried to go to Hobby Lobby to buy the hats I need to finish my snowmen. They were closed today. I was so upset (it is on the other side of town) and tried a few other fabric/craft stores and of course no one else has them. So, we have to go back tomorrow. If they weren't the only store in town that had what I needed, they would have been fired. I would think simply the idea behind "Hobby Lobby" would that people who do hobbies tend to do them on the weekend, so maybe they should be OPEN on weekends!! Bastards! I will be adding this to my other Sunday rule that I hate. No alcohol sales in Indiana on Sundays...okay Indiana and Hobby Lobby, get with it! Some of us have shopping to do on Sundays!

Busy weekend ahead

Happy Friday everyone. We are headed out of town to Columbus to a very good friends wedding. We are leaving in the morning and Heather is watching the boys for us so that we didn't have to drag them along.

I cleaned house today and also managed to get 12 gourds painted. My mom ordered me a bunch of neat bags, wrap and boxes for my craft show. They are so cool I don't want to give them away. Thanks mom!!

Okay, gotta give Chris a haircut before bed and then finish getting things packed and ready to leave tomorrow. I hope that you have a great weekend. And, most importantly, thank you to all the veterans out there who have served our country and continue to do so. I am continually amazed at the sacrifices of our men and women in the military. While I may not agree with our current military situation, I still support and thank all those who are serving now and served in the past! God Bless you!

Sharing her story

Chris and I are emotional these days about how much we appreciate the health and blessings of our boys. With our close friends going through the toughest days of their lives, we are reminded of the little joys in life. So, I thought I would share with anyone who is interested a link to a story about Paige and her parents. Please read if you can and keep their family in your thoughts or prayers, which ever path you take in life!

www.whig.com
(top story on Eric and Rhonda James)

The Wes Post Game Show

Last night had to be one of the funniest evenings spent with my family in a long, long time. Wes had his first flag football game through the Y and his team in called the Packers. They are playing at an indoor dome, so we are not outside. I knew going into it that Wes probably wasn't going to take to the field and shine like a seasoned professional. What I expected was mass confusion and I knew he didn't understand much about football, even though we watch it all the time!

I had no idea he would be as bad as he was! And, I say that the nicest way a mother possibly knows how. He was completely clueless. All day long he talked about being the quarterback and scoring touchdowns. We kept trying to explain how it worked and obviously he was NOT listening!

The coaches showed the boys the basics and how to pull the flag off the other player. Then they lined up to do basic things like snap the ball to the quarterback and hand it off to a running back directly behind the quarterback. Well, Wes seemed to think that of course he should have the ball every time. He was pretty good about waiting his turn but asked his poor coach a lot. Everytime the ball was dead and someone "scored" he would pick up the ball and run for a touchdown, then do a victory dance. For a while I kept telling Chris either he was really excited or had to pee...out of the blue the coach looks to the sidelines where we were sitting and says (because he doesn't know which parent he belong to) "I think he needs to pee" pointing at Wes. Yeah, great. So, I go out there and escort him to the bathroom! He returns to take a snap and rather than hand the ball to the running back behind him, he turns around and PUNTS the ball at the poor kid. The kid just looked at him like "Dude, what is wrong with you?" Of course parents laugh. Wes was handed the ball once to run and rather than run down the field he ran across the field with boys chasing him, then he turned around and ran back across the field. This happened many, many times and was again, met with much laughter from the sidelines! We kept yelling, "Run down the field, run down the field!!!"

Oh have mercy would it ever end. This went on for an hour. I wanted to crawl under a chair and worse yet, our neighbors son is playing on our team and I had to sit with her. Chris just stood behind me shaking his head. I kept turning around and saying...you have to fix this. Fix him before he embarrasses himself again. But, he had a great time and I wanted him to enjoy it...but did he have to enjoy it so much that he did victory dances all over the field?

So, Wes rode home in the car with Chris so that Dad could try and explain a few more football things. He had talk radio on in the car and Wes is used to hearing the Purdue post game show on the radio. So, what does he ask Chris? "Daddy, are they talking about my game on the radio?" Sweet! It took Chris a second to respond and explained that they were not talking about Wes' game on the radio.

So, there you have it. The Wes Post Game Show. Sponsored in part today by Mom and Dad and hosted by the Wes family network! Hope you enjoyed our show and we will see you here next week when the Packers take on the Lions. Should be a good game, you don't want to miss it!

"I Quit Because You Suck" Letter Part II

Yeah, it's been a day! But, thankfully my loving husband knows when to talk me down from the edge. He suggested a few alterations (all of it) to my letter. Apparently I sounded a bit to disgruntled. Really? Huh, I thought I just sounded like a bitch!

So, I rewrote, thanks to Chris' help and will drop off a very PC, short and to the point letter in a bit. If anyone at the Y wants to know more I guess they will either have to read between the lines or give me a call. But, I worked long and hard on my letter and the result was the big mess in the tub...so my letter will get posted here, if nowhere else!


To Whom It May Concern;

This letter is to inform you of my decision to no longer work for the Membership Department of the YMCA. During my employment at the YMCA I thoroughly enjoyed the staff and members that I came in contact with while working there. I was always grateful for the flexibility the YMCA allowed me, considering I only worked just one evening per week after cutting back from three evenings a week.

Since the priorities of the YMCA have shifted from providing quality membership services to a cost cutting, lack of concern for staff or members, I no longer feel that my time is best served in the employment of such an organization. Staffing the front desk with only two membership representatives during peak hours will only result in poor member services, unhappy members and unhappy over-worked staff. All of which are not reasons why I chose to work at the YMCA for the past three years.

I would also like to note that as a former Membership Director of a local non-profit organization I feel it is incredibly unprofessional and rude to not discuss scheduling and shift changes with employees prior to making those changes public. During at least two membership meetings and also in multiple memos, numerous staff members have had the misfortune to discover in front of their peers that they have had shifts changed, hours lost or given hours taken hours away from other team members. While this might seem like an inconvenience during a directors hectic day to call a staff member or ask them to step into their office to inform them of a change, I would suggest that it is the proper and ethical way of treating people and managing employees.

In closing I thank you again for the opportunity to serve our members at the YMCA and will miss them and the other staff.


The End! And, I will say no more about the Y! Unless they say something about me!

"I Quit Because You Suck" Letter

So, it's not been the greatest of days. After a one minute conversation with my now former boss telling her I would no longer be working there, apparently she didn't want to talk to me, I sat down to write an "I Quit Because You Suck" letter to be delivered this afternoon to the Y. Have I ever mentioned I enjoy letter writing? Well, I might not be the greatest at it, but I really enjoy getting a good jab in without being all that obvious.

Anyway...I guess I got a little too into the letter writing. The boys were playing in the rooms next to me, or so I thought, and I wasn't too worried about what they were up to. There was lots of laughter and running around. Again, too much, I should have been alarmed.

Because, this is what I found after getting up from my "I Quit Because You Suck" letter.







Notice the amount of effort on my little hoodlums behalf that went into filling our tub with water and throwing everything not nailed down from within our bedroom into the tub. Notice the books that now need to be disposed of (one of which is my good buddies Heather's). Notice the beer can, okay they didn't place that there. :) Notice the amount of toys resting at the bottom of the tub...and notice the work shirt submerged that I needed to return today. How appropriate is that? I guess I'll have to wash it first! Also notice the "Strong Willed Child Book" floating away!Wow, that book was really helpful! There are so many more comments I would like to make about the items in our tub...but I have to go now.

I quit!

So, a few of you are aware that I had a one day a week part time evening job. Doesn't get much easier than that, correct? Had, is the key word in the previous sentence. Due to a new supervisor and the ED leaving the facility, I have no desire to work there anymore. The local Y was a great place to work because I wanted to get out of the house a bit, make some new friends and talk to adults (not children - or more specifically, my children). My job there at the front desk had always been enjoyable...once again, notice had!

Due to eliminating many shifts, the "acting" ED doesn't believe that there should ever be more than two people at the front desk. Plus, the icing on the cake yesterday was when I went in my non-people skilled supervisor informed me that my shift had changed and I now worked different hours. Hours that I can't possibly even work. Her MO has always been to change our shifts and then let us know at team meetings. Apparently we had a team meeting Sunday during which she changed a lot of our hours! I wasn't informed about the meeting until Friday night and we had some family stuff to do Sunday evening (by the way, who wants to go into a meeting on Sunday evening?). She has never called anyone or spoke to them in advance of a meeting to inform them of the changes in their schedule. To some people that has meant they no longer have hours....but she doesn't seem to think informing someone of that in private is a wise choice. As it was, she told me at the front desk last night in front of members. We had a little discussion about it as well, in front of members. I've never been one to not say what I think! I figured that if the Membership Director didn't have enough smarts to suggest we have this discussion in her office, then why the hell should I care!

She isn't aware that prior to our boys I was a Membership Director for the Girl Scouts, so I actually have a stinking clue of how to manage membership and employees, something she is clueless about. So, I will be calling her shortly to inform her that I am no longer an employee and I will drop off my stuff this afternoon. And, wouldn't you know it the phones aren't working!

I enjoyed my 3 years there and I did a great job, something I guess is irrelevant to her now that members are no longer the priority of the Y but making more money is the top priority! I guess I will just have to work for my family on Monday nights!

Christmas Gourds

Our weekend

We had a great weekend at our house. The boys enjoyed spending Friday night at G & G's house. Chris picked them up Saturday morning while I continued to paint. Between Friday and Saturday I got 25 more gourds painted. I took Sunday off!

Chris and I had a fantastic time Friday night. Chris was waiting for me at home after my hair cut and we went out to dinner. We had to wait a bit for a table but we sat at the bar and talked. It was nice and for a change I didn't mind waiting at all. Believe it or not, we ran into one of the guys from his football crew. I teased them that they just can't get enough of each other. You'd think that 3 months of spending each Friday together would have been enough! After dinner we went bowling. The place was packed with some CRAZY people! We probably waited a half hour for a lane and then had to deal with some very rude children and rude parents on the lane next to us. I bowled pretty well, but I must say I am spoiled by our league! No children and no teenagers.

And more good news for Saturday! Purdue won a game! Finally, I was starting to think that wasn't going to happen again this season! Thank you boys!

Chris had his last Sunday football games yesterday, so he is officially done officiating. I'm glad he enjoys spending time doing something that he enjoys but at the same time I love having his back home with us!

Not much else happened this weekend. I finished a book on Sunday. We ate (I tried but it was too hot) chili that Chris made. I watched him sit at the table and sweat his way through his bowl, so it was hot!

I guess that is about it. I've got more painting to accomplish this week. Less than two weeks to go to the big day. I will be taking pictures later on today to make a little album of my stuff, so I will post some of them when I can.

Happy Monday!

I'm so excited..

...and I just can't hide it! Yeah, this is dorky to be excited over, but I get the day mostly to myself tomorrow. The boys have their flu shots tomorrow at 10:15 and then G & G are picking them up to spend the day and night at their house. Jenny recognized that I really need some time boy free to paint and they called to see if they could take them. Hummm, let me think about that?? Okay!! I'm getting more and more behind because I just can't paint with Trouble I and Trouble II running amuck!

So tomorrow will be painting day with a haircut thrown in (already scheduled but convenient) and most likely an evening out with my husband. Who knew?? Wow, Chris and Katy night. Good for us! And, most importantly, thank you G & G. Hopefully I can get a lot of gourds painted to show for it so that I won't feel guilty about going out.

I'm off this evening to pick up some more paint and hit a couple of shops. I had planned to do that with Heather tonight, but I think she might be under the weather. I haven't heard back from her yet. She is MIA.

Wes had a parent teacher conference today at school. Chris met me there (thank you Hun for being a committed parent too) and it was rather amusing. We knew that he didn't have any issues or we would have heard about them by now. He gets along with the other kids well, like to pretend play and is a big talker. No surprises there. We laughed when we saw a quote of his.."My Daddy isn't a fan of IU, he prefers Purdue!" Awesome. And props here also for Connor. After many attempts at trying to get him into the child care at school in the past I wasn't hopeful about him being a willing participant today. However, he walked in there with Wes and started playing and never looked back. It was a good but scary moment for mom. Now even my little baby is growing up! He had so much fun he threw a fit because he had to leave. Go figure! Just when to think you have them figured out, they break the mold!

Casper and Casper

Another trick-or-treating has passed and the boys had a great time. Wes has totally and completely gotten into the greed of getting as much candy as his tired little feet can possibly get. It was cold tonight but not raining! Connor went out for the first time and rode in the wagon and then walked up to the door. He was so sweet about it! I took both of them to a few houses and I could tell we were slowing Wes down, so I brought them back home and Chris and Wes really did it up. He sure had a ton of candy and lots of stuff that I like! Bonus. Happy sugar high!

Here are our pictures. They ended up being Casper the ghost and got lots of compliments. I like being origional...well maybe not the ghost part, but I didn't see any other Caspers out!

I didn't paint at all today, I'm feeling guilty about that, so it is back to the grind tomorrow. I was glad I spent the day playing around with the boys for Halloween.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to everyone! It's raining here this morning but it is supposed to clear off later on today. I sure hope so. It seems the past few years have all been rainy!

We have a fun day planned today. We are going to carve our pumpkins, make cupcakes, do a spider craft and run some errands. As well as all the other day to day stuff like go to school! Unfortunately Wes' school doesn't let costumes go to school, so we don't have to worry about that today.

I will post pictures later on after our ghosts get into the "mood"! Enjoy your day and eats lots of candy!

Miss you, Chief!

It was three years ago today that my Grandpa passed away unexpectedly. I miss him very much and he has been on my mind constantly today. I wish I could visit him but his remains are in MI so it is out of the question. But, he sent a fire truck my way today, so I know he is looking down on us with a smile. He was a firemen all his life and a Chief as well. Miss you Grandpa! I'll drink a beer in your honor tonight!

Friday Night Mudbowl

This one is for the local boys who suffered through the worst ever Friday night sectional games. I felt so bad for Chris and all the kids playing last night. It was in the low 40's and pouring rain for all the games. Chris said that at any given point in the field water was over their shoes. His white pants were completely brown. I will probably never get them clean! I watched the highlights on TV last night and you couldn't even read the numbers of players for all the mud. And, I got to see Chris on the highlights of his game. I listened to it on the radio last night and laughed my butt off as the local announcers were giving their crew a hard time because of the slop. At least my husband wasn't the one who they were saying looked like he had an accident in his pants. However, I do think he was one of the "3 stooges" as they referred to him. Oh well. Great job for sucking it up last night!! It was the first game ever that he complained about doing.

In other news. I took the boys over to G & G's for dinner and to hang out. Larry had more clean gourds for me and I took him another nasty dirty batch to clean. I wouldn't be able to paint if he wasn't helping me. What a great Father-in-Law! The boys had fun just sitting around the fire and staying dry!

Wes has a birthday party today and another tomorrow. So he is all geared up for parties and cake. It will probably be Monday before he comes off the sugar high. I hope to get some more painting done while he is off partying.

And, Go Boilers! Not that it will help, but I can try cheering them on from home. Hopefully Penn St will not bring the "A" game to Purdue today...because if they do there is no hope for us. Most of the gang is tailgating today with the annual turkey boil/Thanksgiving tailgate meal. Chris was up at the crack of dawn making the dressing he always takes. It smells so good in the house and I got none! My thoughts are with our friends who are not at the game today and home taking care of sick little Paige. I'm thinking of you guys and hoping she is feeling better after another surgery on Thursday!

Have a great weekend. Go Boilers!

Paint till you drop!

The painting goes on and on. I got behind for a couple of days! Yesterday and today I made 14 ornaments, so I'm getting caught back up. We didn't have any extra activities other than preschool yesterday, so I had lots of time to paint. Today I had bowling in the morning, so I only got 4 painted this afternoon with the morning gone. But, I'm at least starting to feel like I will have something to put together for my craft show. So much more to go!

I finally got the ghost costumes finished. I ended up making a "Casper-like face" for Connor's teeshirt and the same face for Wes' sheet. Once the hats are on them and it is dark outside I think they will be okay. Not my greatest costume, but they aren't complaining.

It's raining and cold here today. Very dreary but I think we are all starting to get used to it. The boys have even stopped asking if they can go outside and play. Wes has two birthday party invitations for this weekend. The one I know he is going to for sure because Nolan is a bowling buddy, plus I know I can leave him! But the other is at the Y for a classmate and I don't know the parents so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to leave him or what is the drill. There will be swimming involved so I'm sure I will need to stay. Must paint, must paint.

Well, it's nearly dinner time and Chris will be home soon. I'm hanging out again tonight with Heather at our local dive. It is seeming to be part of the weekly routine. And, I'm all for it! Thanks Chris for getting the boys to bed after I leave!

Scary sheets

What 2 year old is afraid of a white sheet? Mine! This is the same child that puts blankets over his head and runs around the house.

Connor is scared of a simple white sheet and any attempt I make to turn it into a ghost costume. Wes thinks it's cool but not Connor. I was even cutting a neck out so that he didn't have to have it over his head. Of course he likes the white stocking cap but not the sheet. I eventually managed to get the neck cut out and while he was screaming put it over his head only for him to turn into Hulk Hogan and tear the sheet off of him like a thin tee-shirt. Now I have two separate sheets and no Halloween costume for Connor. Maybe I can just buy an oversized white tee-shirt and paint ghost eyes on the front for him. But, I'm still pissed that he tore the thing off like a rag. Okay Hulkster, easy on the droids!

As promised..

I'm still here

I'm still here, I'm still here. We had a great weekend and I'm finally ready to sit back down at the computer. However, I did try to post early Saturday morning and something wasn't working correctly. All was lost! Sniff!

One low point of the weekend, many of you may know that Purdue lost. That was my one home game of the season and the Boilers blew it, bigtime! Oh well. I did have fun going and Chris was so well behaved. I was very, very proud of him. Seeing the boys were spending the night at G & G's house we decided to take full advantage of that and also went to a opening night hockey game. The Komets just pounded on Quad City. It was a great game to watch. At least one of our teams won...and on that note, good job Tigers!

I have been painting like crazy. I finally have enough similiar gourds to take some pictures and post those later on today. I've had a bunch of orders lately as well. Those are keeping me on my toes too. Thanks to all my great friends and family, you know who you are! I just hope that they don't feel like they need to buy them from me. But thank you to all of those who have.

Well, on with my day. I have laundry to do, the house needs picked up, the ghost costumes need worked on and of course, I need to paint. Have a great Monday and I'll post again later on, with pictures.

Much of the same..

Life continues much the same as always around here. Another week of school completed. Wes got to take snack to school today and it was also picture day. I promised him earlier in the week he could have Taco Bell today after bowling. So, we brought a nice new clean shirt for pictures today and put it on right before he went in. Good decision too, there was much soft taco spillage.

Gourd painting continues on. I'm trying to average about 4 a day, at least during the week. So far I've stuck to that as well as getting one or two extra done a day. I'm trying to get a lot of ornaments and so far I'm up to 9 of those. Of course I'd like to have miniumn of 30. Lots to do, lots to do. I'll post pictures in a few days when I at least have enough of a series to take pictures of.

I bowled better today. However, we had a bit of a stand off today with the other team. Or, maybe I should say I did! No chick fights, sorry! There is a rule that children are not allowed down on the lanes during bowling. Hence the fact that they have two sweet old ladies (The Grandma's) who take care of our children while we bowl. All three of us on our team rely on this, otherwise we wouldn't be doing it. Children around the lane can get hurt, are a distraction and quite frankly, exactly what I go there to get away from! So, of course there was a woman on the team we played today who routinely brings her children. That pissed me off right from the word go because they weren't even up at the chairs they were down with us sitting in the lanes. NO WAY! I gave it a bit to see if they were going to be getting picked up and that didn't happen. So, I approached our league president and inquired about the rules. And, we were correct. It was bothering all of us and even once I asked the little girl not to stick her hands on the balls because I was afraid she was going to get a finger pinched. I've done it, that sucks! Anyway...league president handles it and the woman is not happy and the children get picked up by dad (amazing). I even heard her say she knew the rules. I guess setting an example and following the rules for her children's sake never crossed her mind. She wasn't happy but settled down eventually. I don't think she knew I squealed, but I sensed she thought we were all evil. Oh well. At least we split the games against them today.

We are going to play indoor putt-putt tomorrow with our buddies Sage and Rachel. Then the boys are off to G & G's house to spend the night and most of Saturday. I'm going to my one Purdue home football game of the year. And of course, it is against evil Wisconsin. Chris has promised to behave himself, but I have vivid memories of a game against evil Wisconsin from nearly 7 years ago where I had to practically drag him away from an evil Wisconsin fan to avoid manly fisticuffs! We were merely engaged then, so hopefully the threat of having to live with me pissed off by poor sportmanship will prevent further embaresment! They are pretty evil, though, I admit. Right up there with Norte Dame fans!

Later...

Not much going on..

There just isn't much going on around here. For the second day in a row it is raining and dreary outside. You would still think it about 5:00 in the morning if you didn't know better. Yuck. This can go away any time and the sun can return.

Wes has school and swim today. Chris got him signed up this weekend for indoor flag football. That should be a hoot. I was undecided between that and Y basketball. The basketball lasts for 4 months and the football only lasts for 2 months. I thought for the first attempt at a sport we should keep it short and sweet. Hopefully he likes it. It will be starting in November.

Connor was not fooled by the darkness this morning and came in to wake me up at 7:00. I figured that with the darkness I would have the luxury of sleeping until at least 7:30. No go!

There just isn't much going on today. I've been trying to get inspired to start painting my holiday stuff for my big craft show in November. It isn't far away but it is hard to paint x-mas stuff when it is still October. I think today will be the day to get going on it.

I shipped Halloween gourds to Uncle Stu and a friend of his in Arizona. He should be getting them today or tomorrow. Hopefully they will like them and they will also arrive in one piece. And, speaking of Halloween, I have a couple of ghost costumes to work on. That's what they wanted to be...so I need to get that under control.

Have a great day and where ever you are I hope you get sun shine!!

Weekend

The boys are tucked in bed and I finally can get caught up from the weekend. Wes and I had a fantastic time in Michigan. He is a completely different boy when his younger brother isn't around. He was just a little gentleman and so well behaved all weekend. Yeah for him. We both had a lot of fun with G & G. It was cold and sunny (no rain/snow) but turnout for the sale was just average. I didn't sell any gourds...other than the one my mom purchased and that doesn't count. Mom and I did a little shopping and dad and I watched some sports. Yeah Tigers!
















I have a couple of pictures of Wes enjoying the weekend with Grandpa. We were out in the gourd patch today and couldn't believe how huge some of the bottle and kettle gourds had become. A few looked like there were starting to rot from the wet weather so my parents picked most of them after we left. Wes went from gourd to gourd informing us that "this is the biggest ever!"
















Connor and Chris had a great time together this weekend as well. Chris was able to do a couple of odd chores around the house (thank you) and Purdue won (thank you). This was a great weekend for each of the boys to enjoy some one on one time. They both have earned it.

On a sad note and a strong dose of reality. After getting home I was devastated to learn some horrible news about a friend of ours little girl. Paige is not yet 2 years old and has been battling a cancerous tumor in her brain. The poor little thing has gone through so much in the past few months with surgeries, chemo, loosing sight in one eye and now only to learn that within just days of removing more tumor it just comes back and is spreading. Why? So senseless! There isn't anything more that medicine can do for her and her loving family is having to spend their last days at home with her. I just want her to be better but it doesn't seem that her body is going to let that happen. We will be thinking about her, her big brother and her parents constantly tonight and the coming days. Cancer is a evil monster that doesn't spare even the most innocent. If there is one cure I hope to see in my lifetime it is for cancer! So tonight Chris and I had a strong reminder of how precious life is and how important it is to savior each day with our children. Hug your babies tonight! I know we couldn't help but hold them tighter all night!

It's Cold!

Snow, yes we have seen snow at our house today. Amazing. A grim reminder that winter is just around the corner. We haven't even enjoyed Fall to its fullest yet. Sorry winter, but you are just going to have to wait your turn.

Per the weather, we had to break out the winter coats for the boys today. I was aware that Wes would need a new coat this year but the 30 degrees crept up on me and I hadn't made the purchase yet. So, he had to wear his old, just a little small, coat. Mind you, he hated this coat last year and it was always a battle to get him to wear it. So, when it was a bit tight today you can only imagine the battles that ensued.

We were in and out of the car a lot today for bowling (I really sucked), lunch at McDonald's (that sucked too), school (good times, I finished a book), playtime outside at school and a trip to the library after school (highlight of the day). So it was very necessary to wear a coat. He fought with me at every stop about not wanting to wear the coat. The highlight had to be him whining about wearing it into the library, him stopping just inside the door to take off the offending coat and throw it to the library floor - with multiple witnesses, mind you. The only thing that would have made it even more fun is if he would have stomped on it. I proceeded to walk away and told him for the last time I wasn't going to take care of his coat. So, brilliant boy wonder picks up one of the book baskets, stuffs his coat in it and proceeds to carry his coat in the basket. I had to give him props for that one! Oh, and Connor decided to poop at the library and unspecting me didn't bring a diaper and wipes along. As we walked across the main part of the library Connor kept telling me in his most non-libray voice.."poo-poo, poo-poo". I appologize to any library goers who smelled us.

Anyway, Wes and I are headed to Michigan tomorrow night for the "swap meet" and some more cold weather. Probably all the Halloween gourds I worked so hard to get ready will be coming home with me. I'm not expecting miracles. Wes is looking forward to more Grandpa time and I hope to go shopping with my mom. If she behaves herself! Enjoy Winter, I mean Fall!

Plumbing, swimming and ironing

Well, it's just misc. stuff tonight. It has been a busy day. Connor managed to plug a toilet in our house by unrolling the toilet paper and then stuffing it into the toilet. I swear he is completely fixated by the toilet. Maybe he is going to be a plumber. Come to think about it he does sport crack a lot..I'm always pulling his pants up. Sorry plumbers! I've unplugged so many toilets in my day that I'm starting to think about joining the profession! Despite plumbing issues I have managed to paint two more gourds so that I can ship them out to Phoenix to my cool Bro and his friend. Hopefully they will be dry enough to send tomorrow.

Wes had swim today and did really well. Drum roll please....After a year a half of swim lessons (uninterrupted, I might add) Wes has finally been moved up a level. While they register for lessons by age level his instructor did acknowledge that he is a higher level than he was! Wow, that was quick...but GOOD JOB WES! He isn't a lap swimmer yet but at least he can sorta swim. I'm not sure how to describe what he does, it is almost like sinking swimming.

I finally got caught up on the ironing. I was avoiding it like the plague and poor Chris won't say anything, but he was nearly out of shirts! He could iron them himself, but he never thinks the shirts actually need ironed...AND THEY REALLY DO!

My Grandma got safely back to Florida after a very delayed flight. Her very nice "friend" Bob had dinner and champagne waiting for her! Awesome! Good for her! Sign me up for that.

That's all for now!

Horse Show, Clifford and Michigan

Well, what do those three items have in common? Our weekend in a nutshell! I picked Wes up from school on Thursday and he was beaming with an extra bag in tow. I quickly discovered that the mysterious bag contained Clifford the Dog, the class mascot. Who knew?? So, it was Wes' turn to take Clifford home for the weekend. Lucky for Clifford we had extra room in the car on our trip to Michigan.




















So, off to Michigan State University on Friday morning to watch a couple of hours of my parents horse show. I say a couple of hours because that was about all I could get out of the boys...watching the classes was a bit boring to them....unless Grandma and Grandpa were in the ring showing and I had a box of popcorn to bribe them with. I think Clifford brought G & G luck because both Mom and Dad won their respective classes while we were there! We also made sure to take pictures of Clifford doing such things as posing with the horses. We put together a nice photo page and essay on what Clifford did with us over the weekend for Wes to take back to school today.

While we were there Clifford was able to ride in the golf cart, help pick gourds and pumpkins, ride a bike with Wes, ride on some lawn tractors and have a near miss with a chipper shredder! Well, not really, I had a little fun posing Clifford in hazardous places while Wes wasn't looking. We kept those pictures at home. Chris wanted to me post a ransom for him and see what the class was willing to pay to get him back. You know..."Five thousand, or the dog gets it!"

Anyway...we had a great weekend. The weather was fantastic and the main reason why I love fall so much. We came back Sunday and put our pumpkins out at home, went for bike rides and played some backyard football. Enjoy our pictures.

Uneventful is good!

It's been rather uneventful around here, which is a good thing. I've been painting away, Wes is back to complaining about my dinner choices and Connor keeps us all on our toes. He ran off with a paintbrush today, but thankfully it didn't have paint on it!

I was very proud of both boys today, especially Connor, for being so good for their haircuts. Wes is an old pro and just walks in and climbs up in the chair. He then proceeds to chat away with John Jr. while John Sr. cuts the Con-man's hair. Con hates it and the past few times I've actually had to sit in the chair with him on my lap. Today he just sat there and didn't say a word. I couldn't believe it! John looked at me like "What did you give him??" Nothing, really, nothing! I was just as amazed as him!

I/We have bowling tomorrow and then Wes has school. I'd like to get together after school tomorrow with our little friend Sage, but the weather has been hit or miss. Hopefully the sun will shine and we can go to the park.

The boys and I are headed to Michigan on Friday morning to visit with Mouse (my Grandma) for her birthday and before she heads back to FL for the winter. We are also going to make a stop at MSU to watch G & G at their horse show. I always like to keep my distance from mom (she scares me), but with the boys there we can sit in the stands and eat popcorn! Safety in numbers! Throw in some pumpkin and gourd picking from the fields, some tri-cycle riding, golf cart racing, horse petting and cookie eating and we will all be exhausted by the time we head home Saturday night.

Till then..enjoy life.

Halloween gourds

Wes went back to school today, thank goodness. I kept him home yesterday because he just didn't seem up to it but by the afternoon I could tell he was going today! Which, finally gave me the chance to start painting again!

I have a small show, if you could call it that, in less than two weeks and I want to have a lot of Halloween stuff for sale. So, laugh if you wish, but here is what I have to show for myself so far. My favorites are the "Frankies"! I like the scarecrows the least...they need some more work.

Great weekend

Well, it is back to the old routine today. But, everyone around our house, exception of Wes, had a great weekend. Wes still isn't feeling well. I returned yesterday expecting to see him looking much better and instead looking as bad, if not worse than Friday! I'm undecided as to if he is up to going to school today. It will be a gametime decision. He just doesn't have any obvious symptoms but I can tell he isn't his charming self.

Chris seemed to enjoy the "boys only" weekend, also with one exception, Purdue lost! I was nervous about leaving the boys during the ND/Purdue football game (the biggest game of the season)...but it seems no one was worse for wear! Wes said he didn't learn any new words. Thank you honey for watching the boys and not teaching them any new curse words while watching Purdue lose!!!

I had a great weekend. Heather and I did lots of shopping at the Circle Center and I really didn't buy much, just a couple of cool shirts! We stayed at the Hyatt, ate a great dinner at Claddagh, did some major people watching over wine and champaign, got to watch firemen driving around while I waved like an idiot at them (I have a fireman weakness), I nearly ran into a bagpipers pipes and then to top it off, went dancing only to feel really old and left! All in all a great weekend was had by all...thanks to my understanding husband and really cool friend!! And, also thanks to Heather's parents for dog sitting!

Thirsty as a cat.

That's right, folks. At lunch today I was told that Wes was "Thirsty as a cat"! I never knew that cats were very thirsty. Our cat, Eddie the Idiot, likes to drink from the toilet so I guess I'd have to be pretty thirsty to do that. Gee, that sounds like something Connor would do.

GNO! (Girls Night Out)

Previously I may have mentioned that it is high school football season around here, and everywhere else for that matter! But at our house that means that Chris is gone all Friday nights and most Thursday nights refereeing games. Due to that, and 4 consecutive Purdue home games, Mamma needed a little time off from the boys. Chris, being the wise husband that he is, suggested my good buddy Heather and I escape to Indy for the weekend.

So, Girls Night Out (GNO) will be headed south to Indy and some much needed R & R! We are stoked for some shopping, sight seeing, dining out and drinking! Good times will be had by all.

In the mean time I'm trying to get the house cleaned up, laundry put away and things basically prepared for the boys! Wes managed to sleep through the night without barking, so a full night sleep really makes me happy! And, he seems to feel better and mostly importantly, I can go without feeling guilty about leaving a sick little boy!

What is the most annoying cough you have ever heard?

Croup? Yes, croup. It sounds like something out of the middle ages or for us horse people, a piece of tack, but it is really the most annoying cough your child can have at 4:00 in the morning.

Nothing gets you out of bed faster than a cry sounding like your child being attacked by a barking seal. Last time I checked we didn't have any seals living at our "crib"! After a sleepless morning of sharing the guest bed with him, a trip to the doctors office and drug store, McDonald's and Wes telling the valet parking guy that he wanted a different car back, we are home.

So much for bowling league for me and pre-school for Wes. However, the look on Wes' face when the valet drove off with our Buick was priceless, far better than the look on his face when he couldn't figure out why he sounded like a seal at 4 am.

Okay, so now I'm off to paint more gourds, play nurse and keep Connor out of the toilet.

Good luck Dad!

My parents are off to their National horse show. Thankfully, both them and the horse show are in Michigan and I'm safe in Indiana. Mom at horse shows is like Rachel Ray on crack! No offense Rachel Ray. Stand back and watch a 5'4 woman take down large men in a single bound. God speed dad and good luck! May the force be with you and may a strong wind slow her down! If not, bring a large stick!

What I Did This Summer

I missed th back-to-school-feeling of having to write the standardized What Did You Do This Summer? paper for English class. Therefore, in honor of my past English teachers, I'll post about what my family did this summer. Our past family summers have usually been summed up with...stay home and take care of the boys. But this summer we branched out a bit. Thanks in part to Connor being 2 and some highly competent grandparents.

My favorite trip of the summer was a much needed 3 day get-away, with just Chris, to Las Vegas. Again, thanks largely to my parents in Flint for braving the boys and allowing us to go. I was a Vegas Virgin, so I was in complete awe while we vacationed. We did everything that everyone else does when they go to Vegas, so I won't go into details...but I loved the dancing fountains and the new Wynn Resort! While we were there Wes and Con-man enjoyed great G & G time complete with fireworks, an "oldies" car show (as Wes called it), swimming, bike riding and helping with the horses.

Wes also had the chance to visit Iowa with summer with Chris' parents to see his cousin graduate. He had a fantastic time complete with backhoe operating, windmill visits and the biggest swing I have ever seen. He also, on a separate occasion, spent nearly a week with G & G in Monroeville. Not to be left out of G & G time, Connor also spent a few days while Chris and I took Wes to Cedar Point. Wes loved the kiddie rides and couldn't get enough popcorn. He especially thought the hotel was the coolest ever. Although they didn't have the "white donuts" that hotels in Iowa have. He suggested Ohio needed to get "white donuts"!


Throw in a few other fun outings like a trip to "The Lake" with our friends Rachel, Matt, Sage and Drew, Summer Safarri Camp at the zoo for Wes, a large 2nd birthday party for Connor and who could forget a trip to ride Thomas the Train...and our summer was a busy one!

There you have it. One very packed summer that went by so quickly. Now Chris is officiating varsity football again and traveling to Purdue home football games, all of which remind me that summer is officially over and fall is here!

I'm A Big Girl Now

Wow, so here I am. I feel like a big girl now. Yes, Katy, welcome to the year 2006.

A brief introduction of my life is that I am happily married to my husband, Chris, of six years and mom to Wesley and Connor. I did have a real job, in my previous life, but now my job is mostly centered around peacekeeping at our house. Kinda like being a member of the UN...the peace doesn't really get kept and I don't get a paycheck!

Wesley is our 4 1/2 year old wonder child who can talk more than a politician, can write his own name, pick his nose and pee in the bathtub....nearly all at the same time! Doesn't everyone want those qualities in a mate someday? Oh, and after doing all that look you square in the eye and say "I love you by heart!" And, we also have the Con-man. Wes' 2 year old brother who is hung up on anything to do with water, chewy snacks and beating up his older brother. When the two boys are not getting into trouble together they also like to terrorize the other male member of the house, Eddie the not-so-wonderful cat. Yes, even the cat is a boy!

So, that is the short version of our household. I also enjoy painting gourds, when I'm not trying to keep peace, reading, pretending to bowl and annoying my friends with stories of my boys.

Welcome! Hope you come back again!