Flying Solo

To coin a phrase that Chris used in his blog today, I'm flying solo. I'm actually in Cape Coral, Florida, right now! Amazing to me that I went from 10 degree weather to 77 degree weather. I won't lie...it's wonderful!

It has been so odd and yet enjoyable to be solo. I miss Chris and the boys, and I do wish that they had been able to make this trip, but this solo thing is an unusual feeling. I woke up last night looking for the doorway to check and see if the lights were out and the boys were still in bed. I've even looked for the boys to see what they were up to a couple of times and it is quiet here....just a strange feeling. I have to keep checking in on my boys and bugging Chris! Kudos to him for dealing with school today and even the delay that mother nature threw at him this morning. Thank you Tami for calling to remind Chris of the delay!

Chris probably thinks I don't trust him or that I don't think he is capable. If I thought that for even a second, I wouldn't be here. He is the greatest dad and is enjoying our boys this weekend. As I type this they are actaully at a hockey game. Good for them!

I'm headed out with my grandma in a bit for drinks. We went shopping today (I didn't buy anything), out to lunch (complete with ice cream!) and then I spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool. It was just perfect weather today. It has been a bit cool in the evening, but still perfect weather. I had the biggest laugh this morning while I was on a walk with Mouse. It was cool down here yesterday and chilly this morning. Nothing that a pair of capris and a sweat shirt for me wouldn't take care of...but the locals were cold. While on our walk we stopped for coffee at Mouse's local coffee place. All her buddies were bundled up in winter coats, with hats and gloves drinking their coffee. It just made me laugh. Reminds me that with everything comes perspective! Cold to them is not cold to me!

Tomorrow we are headed off to some art gallerys and more shopping. I want to find some gifts for the boys and also something for my friend Tami, who helped watch the boys for me on Thursday after I left.

Thank you everyone for helping me out and getting me to fly solo. You are the best...oh, and Chris, what picture frame did Connor throw at Wes? :)

Bummer...

It had to happen sooner or later and last night was the night. Purdue lost! Big bummer! I thought that maybe they had a chance to sneak out of Gloomington with a win, but no such luck. There were a ton of fouls called against them, but at the same time they didn't make many of their own baskets from the free throw line.

To make it worse, Chris is taking it all very hard. He has a standing bet with a buddy at work that if Purdue wins the IU fans have to fly the Purdue flag and vice versa. So, to add salt to the wound I know the offending IU flag is hanging in Chris' office today making him even more grumpy about the whole loss! It doesn't help that Purdue only plays IU once this year, rather than the usual road game and home game. There isn't much chance of us getting even for last night. I know we would have pounded them at Mackey!

Sorry Boilers. At least you have a good, honest coach who isn't a cheater! And your team is only going to get better in the next few years, while IU is on a fast track to disaster!

I'm so excited...

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it.... I'm going to Florida. After much deliberation on my part and time spent researching airfare, I've decided it is important to me to visit my Grandma (who I call Mouse) for a few days. I will be going alone because, as I've said before, going during Spring Break when we can all go will cost us both of our arms and legs!

Mouse was surprised and happy when I called to tell her I was coming. I didn't want to say anything to her in advance because I didn't want to disappoint her, but I'm glad it has all worked out. I know she loves having me there and I sure could use a couple of vacation days. So, I'll be gone next Thursday through Monday.

The worst part is leaving the boys behind. I know how badly they want to go but we just couldn't do it. None of us know how much time we have left on this earth, but I don't want to kick myself a year from now and say that something happened to my Grandma and I didn't take the chance to make that trip to see her. Family is so important to me and she has always been there for me.

Of course this trip wouldn't be possible if Chris wasn't agreeing to take some time off to watch the boys. I also have my good friend Tami who will watch the boys for a day, so thank you guys for making this possible for me!

Will you...

...be my Valentine? Happy Valentine's Day, Chris! He has been a sweetie and called to wish me a Happy Valentine's Day. We do not have plans for tonight but are going out tomorrow instead. I wanted to go to dinner and the Komet's game on Friday...so that will be our Valentine's Day out. Perfect with me!

I'm married to an incredible man! I don't need flowers, or jewelry or silly stuff to know that I'm appreciated and loved. Chris goes out of his way every day to remind me that he loves me and our boys!

Thanks for being my Valentine! I Love you, Most!

Burr...

Burrr, is it ever cold outside. Over the course of just a week we have had thunderstorms, hail, rain, ice and now snow. Talk about extreme! Mother Nature is supposed to send some snow this way. Great, maybe another school delay tomorrow which means Connor would miss swim lessons, again.

I had a fun weekend. We didn't do anything on Sunday, it was just too cold. Saturday was fun for me because I got to go out shopping and have dinner with my good friend, Heather. I needed to find some new fabric to recover our nasty kitchen chairs. I guess it was good that I found something in the exact same colors, but it was nearly the same stripe as what we already had. It was the only thing I could find in the correct colors. Plus, rather than paying the $40 a yard price for the fabric I really liked, I bought the similiar fabric for $6.49 a yard. Kinda a no brainer. Now I have to figure out how to take the chairs apart and put on the new fabric. I also have to refinish the top of the kitchen table. It has table cancer and is shedding it's white paint.

Another great bonus of the weekend, drum roll please...Purdue won! To coin a phrase from my cool husband...Another Bucky Badger Beat Down! That was a fantastic game to watch Purdue win. I'm almost starting to have faith in them. But, whenever that happens something stupid will force them to give up a game and drop in the Big Ten standings. So, I have to assume that they are going to not win their games and be excited when they do win!

I volunteered in Wes' classroom today. That is always fun and I learn so much about him and how he is doing at school. His teacher is always quick to praise how smart he is. He is too smart sometimes, if you ask me! But, even better, by being in his classroom I can gauge where he is compared to the other students. He is doing great. I am also proud of him for being the kindergarten student named Covington Character Kid of the month for Teamwork! Great job Wes!

We will be making some decisions in the next few weeks on what projects around our house will be completed or put off till later in the year. I'm so hopeful that we can find a way to do a little bit of everything. My fingers are crossed.

Till next time...and Go Boilers! Let's see if we can make a Sparty Smackdown happen!

What is that saying?

I'm pretty sure there is a saying that goes something like this.."If you don't have something nice to say, say nothing at all." I know I should stick with it but then this entry would be two sentences. Instead, I'm going to say some not so nice things about members of my family and write a really long entry, just so that I can make myself feel better :)

It has turned into one of "those" weeks for me. My cold is dragging on into its 5th day. And, while I am not feeling like I need to be parked on the couch, I am tired of feeling like I need to wipe my nose every other minute or cough up a lung. Wes seems to have turned the corner and is feeling better, but poor Connor has a nose that will not stop needing wiped!

I passed up a Girl's Night Out with my friend Heather yesterday because I just didn't feel up to it. I hope to see her Saturday evening instead.

That brings me to my crazy family. Not my kids/husband family, but my they-gave-birth-to-me-and-raised-me-so-they-feel-obligated-to-give-advise-and-suggest-what-to-do-with-my-life family. My Mom just spent her annual few days in Florida with my Grandma. Now mind you, my neurotic Mother doesn't like to fly, hates being hot and can only eat fat free boring food, so traveling isn't really her cup of tea. She goes every year to say she visited her mother in Florida during her 6 months of winter hiatus and check up on her. I actually love traveling, enjoy spending time with my Grandmother and look forward to Florida every year.

However, flying our family of 4 to Florida has become an expensive little family vacation. We have lucked out the past few years by being able to travel when we wanted to and also taking advantage of some cheap airfare. We now have a kindergartner, which means we can only travel during spring break and can only fly on weekends during the same week EVERY family in America has spring break. Here is the point. Airfare is outrageous and we can't afford to go. We have a ton of things that need taken care of around our house and since everything costs money, something has to give.

Here is where my Mother comes in. While she says that both her and my Grandmother understand why we can't go, the guilt trip upon me has become intense. We suggested renting a small SUV and driving (we can't put the mileage on our leased Buick Rendezvous) if maybe my Grandmother could help pull a Silpada party together down there. It would help me pay for the rental, gas and motels for the drive down and offset some expenses of our vacation. She doesn't want to do a party. Which puts us right back to not going.

And, drum roll here....I'm the bad guy. I'm putting money and upkeep of our home ahead of importance of spending time with my Grandma. Yeah, I feel like shit about that, but I have a family of my own, bills to pay and a nice home to maintain. I'm an adult now and I have to make decisions that put the financial well being of our family first. Of course the boys want to go, they love going down there, and I want to go to...but we can't afford $1200 in airfare! That is just ridiculous!

Now I'm the bad guy. I have always and will continue to put family first. I am the one who has always made sure my Grandma is okay without nagging her and spying on her...like my Mother does. For years I was the only one in the family who even went down to visit her and my Grandpa (while he was still with us). And, I am the only one in the family who actually wants to go camping with my crazy 79 year old Grandma when she comes back to Michigan in the Spring. I'm the only grandchild, so I do feel like I have a responsibility to her.

I already feel bad about letting my boys down and disappointing my Grandma, so I didn't need the guilt trip from my Manic-Mom! I need to let it go, move on and except the fact that we will not be traveling to Florida. But, I can't let it go...maybe I should just go by myself for a couple of days to visit her. Then I would feel guilty leaving the boys behind. How does that look to a 6 and a 3 year old? Sorry boys, I know you want to go really bad but mommy is just going to go by herself without you...oh, and while I'm gone, you just take care of yourselves while daddy is at work. Yeah, that will work! Not!

I know that no one out there is reading this, and if you are, damn I feel sorry for you...get a life and move on. But, writing it all down has helped me realize that I can't go, my immediate family comes first and the rest of my family is out of line!

Fun weekend

It's Monday, that's for sure. Sadly, the fun weekend is over and the weekly routine is back in place. We did start the week off with a 2 hour delay thanks to ice, sleet and fog. Wes will just have a shorter school day today. Oh, and I have a nasty cold.

Chris and I had a great anniversary weekend. I have always enjoyed staying at the Hyatt when we go to Indy, but thanks to some upgrades, I thought it was even nicer. Chris enjoyed the self check in and we used a $20 voucher for food in their new bar. When Purdue game time came around we were able to find ourseleves an oversized couch, big screen tv and surround sound to watch the Boliers beat IL. Thank you very much guys! That made Chris' day because he really felt there were not going to pull off a road win.

Our dinner at St. Elmo was fantastic, as it always is. They just know how to do a steak and don't hesitate to dish out a full oversized serving of mashed potatos! We also enjoyed the Indianpolis Symphony. I thought that the patrons were rather stuffy and unfriendly, but we enjoyed listening. I must say that we were probably the youngest couple in attendance and we observed some of the most untamed, wildest old man eyebrows ever seen. Wow!

I was coming down with a cold on Saturday, thanks to the two walking, sneezing, snotting boys I live with. Thankfully Saturday was just a sore throat, because Sunday really sucked and I was parked on the couch for most of the day after our return home! By last night I couldn't taste food. I was so glad that held off for 24 hours!

So, there you have our weekend in a nutshell. The boys had fun at G & G's house, we had fun in Indy and everyone is happy. I couldn't stay awake last night to watch the end of the Supper Bowl...thanks to the adult size dose of NyQuil. I really think that stuff is just 100 proof alcohol with some medicine added, just for fun. Wow, I was out last night. Not a big fan of waking up in the morning and wondering why I felt like a medicated zombie. Hopefully tonight I can get by without it!

Enjoy your Monday.

Snow day

Thanks to Mother Nature, we have a snow day at our house. We probably got about 5 or 6 inches of snow in the past 24 hours. All the schools around here were closed for the day. Which, surprises me because that's all it was, a few inches of snow. Oh well. I just finished snow blowing the drive way and side walks, while the boys enjoyed playing in the snow. We just had to make a little snow man. It's been a nice day at home without places to go and things to do!

Now, it can stop snowing! Chris and I are headed down to Indy tomorrow morning to spend the weekend. I'd rather not drive in a snow storm, so it can stop now. If I have to ride to Indy in a snow plow, I will. Nothing is going to keep me from a weekend away with my hubby!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm married to the Grill Master

Our anniversary was yesterday and we decided to have our favorite dinner after the boys went to bed. Our favorite dinner consists of some form of a potato and a peppercorn fillet fresh from the grill. We just recently made this for New Year's Eve without incident. Without incident means that Chris was able to use the grill on our deck, outside, in January weather.


I guess we should have checked the hourly forecast yesterday with accuweather. At the moment the boys were in bed and we were ready to warm the grill up it was storming complete with lightening, pelting rain and 30 to 40 mph wind. Poor Chris actually had to stand out in the pelting rain and hold the umbrella just right so that the grill would stay hot and cook our yummy steaks...for 15 minutes.


Now that folks, is the Grill Master. Way to go Grill Master and I salute you for sacrificing yourself so that our fillets were grilled to perfection and our anniversary meal was not lost. Grill Master also decided that we need to bring our grill into the garage next winter!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today I am sending all my love out to my amazing husband, Chris. We are celebrating our 8 year wedding anniversary today. I have considered myself so incredibly lucky to be married to such a wonderful man. Somehow he finds a way to put up with me! :)

I truly believe fate brought us together over 12 years ago. There is honestly no other explanation as to how we met. (That's a story for a different day!) During our years together I have seen Chris become a loving and protecting husband, a devoted father and an all around great best friend to me. I never thought I could find someone to spend my life with that could make he as happy as he does!

We are celebrating quietly tonight, after the boys have gone to bed, with one of our favorite dinners at home. This weekend we are taking off to Indy to spend Saturday night at the Hyatt. I am so excited to actually have "alone time" with my husband! We have dinner reservations at St. Elmo's and tickets to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra! Thank you to Chris for making all of the arrangements and getting his parents to watch the boys for us. His thoughtfulness is just another example of what makes him a great husband.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie! I look forward to many, many more happy years together!

More Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to my cool bro-in-law, Stu! He lives in Phoenix, so I know the lucky bastard is basking in a nice sunny, warm afternoon while the rest of us freeze our asses off. I'm not bitter about that or anything :)

Anyway, Happy Birthday Stu! I hope you have a great day.

Connor and I are headed to Flint for a birthday visit with my mom and also to do a Silpada party. Normally the whole fam would join us, but I have to be there by mid afternoon on Friday and I didn't want to pull Wes out of school. Thankfully my friend and neighbor is picking Wes up from school and watching him for the afternoon. Thank you Tami!

Have a great weekend everyone. Stay warm and go Boilers. Beat the evil Cheese Badgers on Saturday. Please, pretty please...it will make Chris so happy!

Birthday wishes

Happy Birthday to my good friend Laura!

Those wishes go out to my college buddy from the University of Findlay days. We had a good laugh on the phone this morning complaining about the cold. Back when we were students we had to ride everyday, regardless of how cold it was. And let me tell you, there were mornings when we had to ride when it wasn't even 10 degrees!

We both decided we have definitely lost our "edge" for the cold. We were whining like babies today at how cold it is outside. Evidently the more birthdays you have the more you loose your temperature toughness!

Have a great day Laura!

Thanks for sharing.

I must say that I was surprised and touched to see a "thanks" posted on my site from proud pappa Nate. He keeps getting better and better news about his girls and I am just thrilled for his family. Way to go Tricia and Gwyneth! And, thank you Nate....keep up the great work you are doing as a husband and daddy.

http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/


I will also say, and this comes as a great surprise to me, my views about organ donation have greatly changed. I've never known anyone who has had to go through the difficult process of waiting and recieving an organ donation. I have always been in awe of the generosity of both the organ donor and the donors family. At a time when surviving family members must be going through great pain and loss they give the greatest gift from their loved one.


So now that I have gotten a small glimsp into the world of transplants and organ donation I want to say my views have changed. I've always wanted to give to those in need throughout my life. If it is a coat the boys have outgrown or just something in my closet I never seem to wear, I pass it along. Why wouldn't I want to continue to give to those in need after I die? Considering that I really won't be needing my organs any more, the least I could do is pass them on to someone who needs them more than I do. That would be the greatest gift I could ever give and a legacy I would be proud to pass on to my children.


So, thanks again to Nate for sharing his family with "the world" and also helping to advance a cause that he probably didn't realize he was advancing. And, I would encourage those reading to think twice about sharing the gift of life with others!

A good check up and a site to check.

After a slow start to the day (we had a two hour delay thanks to snowy, windy weather) things picked up. Then they never slowed down! I got some Silpada work done while Wes was at school and then it was off to his doctors appointment.

Wes ended up having a short day of school and was ready to go for his annual check up with Doctor Cohen. Doctor Cohen is the greatest! Wes has always been happy to go to the doctor, unless shots are involved. But, even then he doesn't fuss. I think the whole concept of being the center of attention makes him happy! The nurse gave us instructions on how to "properly pee in a cup". Good stuff! I love it when your 6 year old boy informs you, while you are holding the cup for him to pee into, that I was not doing it correctly. Whatever! At least he didn't over flow the cup, pee on me and most of the bathroom like Connor did when we last attempted a urine sample at the docs.

It was great to hear that Wes is healthy and right on track with his development. Good job buddy. I'm always thrilled to have healthy boys.

Along those lines. I have been following a blog about a young wife (Tricia), her husband (Nate) and their new baby girl, (Gwyneth). Both momma and baby have some tough medical struggles to get through and their story is very inspirational. Tricia has CF and was on a transplant list for a double lung transplant when the couple were surprised with a pregnancy. The couple has a very strong Christian faith and bravely beat the odds with the early delivery of their baby girl. If you are looking for an example of a couple firmly holding strong to their faith (while it may be different from mine and yours) this is the perfect site to visit. Nate is a great husband and a terrific new daddy....he also takes great photos of Gwyneth. Please visit, and if you pray, pray for them....they deserve it! http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

Thanks, and I hope everything checks out good for you too today!

Welcome 2008

Yikes, I've done it again. A gaping hole between entries. I do have the holidays as an excuse for not keeping up. I think the month of December went by at a record pace. Anyway, welcome 2008 and Happy New Year.

Everyone looks back on what transpired when a year ends but I would prefer to look ahead. I just recently signed our 3 year old, Connor, up for pre-school. This will be such a huge step for him come September. He is certainly a "mamma's boy", so cutting the cord will be difficult - for both of us.

Another huge milestone for the new year is that Wes will be completing his first year of official education. He has flourished at Kindergarten and has become such a smart little guy. I feel like he has come so far in just the few months he has been in school. Good job Wes and keep up the great school work in first grade (Oh my Gosh!)!

Well, I would also like to say that I have vacations to look forward to in the new year, but we haven't worked that one out yet. I'd love to go on a cruise again this year, but we feel that would be asking too much of the generous grandparents who lovingly cared for the boys for a week in 2007. So, maybe a family vacation somewhere down south this year. We were thinking maybe the Smokies....as long as we stay free and clear of bears. I have a thing about bears.

We also hope that the new year will give our home a few upgrades. We would like to complete the second half of our landscaping. Which means that we have to fork over a large amount of money to the talented landscaper that did the first half of our yard. I do NOT have a green thumb and the ground in our yard is harder than cement. No kidding.

Our home was new when we moved in back in October of 2000. However, after the shock of two boys, numerous dirty shoes and the stupid cat...our carpets need replaced. Along that line most, if not all, of our walls need painting. Especially the areas the contain pink marker, craters from thrown hot wheels cars and other strange events. So, we have our work cut out for us.

I also hope that 2008 will be a healthier year for all of us. While I have some weight to loose, as does my loving husband, we haven't found our way to the Y as of yet to make it go away. So, hopefully that will transpire!

And, speaking of my loving husband (Chris), I'm looking forward to a few getaways with him. Our eight year anniversary will be coming up next week . He is the most caring father, loving husband and greatest friend I could have hoped to have in my life. So, most of all I am looking forward to spending this new year with him! While I am giving him props I will advertise his new blog at www.ftfun.blogspot.com. Good luck with your blog and keep it up! No slacking...like I'm to talk.

Welcome 2008 and I hope it is a good one for all of us!

How long???

Too long!

Wow, I can not believe how long it has been since I have updated on here. I've come back to the site on several occasions to update and have been so embarrassed by my absence that I haven't posted!

I guess I don't have a lack of information for this update! First and most importantly, our family is great. The boys are healthy and loving life and so are Chris and I. Since I last posted Wes has become a kindergartner. He loves kindergarten and I am so proud of him. He is learning so much and enjoying every day at school. Connor is growing up too. He has become potty trained, finally, and just seems to be getting so smart!

I started my own business. In my last post I had talked about a Silpada jewelry party I attended. Well, I just fell in love with the jewelry and decided it was the perfect time for me to become a rep. I enjoy selling the jewelry (and wearing it!) and I'm always looking for new ladies to host parties for me!

Chris is in the middle of high school football officiating. He has varsity games every Friday and enjoys them very much. Even the boys and I have gotten into our fall routine. We try and always find something to do while daddy has a game! We are headed to Flint this Friday to spend a couple of days. Most importantly....we have to get our pumpkins. I think this is Wes' favorite trip to Flint when he gets to go out to the pumpkin patch and pick out our pumpkins!

Since fall has arrived so has Purdue football. Chris attends all the home games and I usually try to make it to my once or twice a year game. I had the honor of making it to the Norte Dame game over the weekend and it was fantastic. Fantastic because I finally got to witness Purdue beat ND and also great because the entire tailgating crew was there. Chris tailgates with a great group of friends that he met while going to school at Purdue. Over the past couple of years several families have moved across the country and are missed from the group. Thankfully the whole group was able to make it over the weekend and it was a great reunion! So much fun was had by all. I'll post some pictures soon. The best part was being able to see my friend Amy from Seattle and also spending time with Rhonda! Thank you ladies for a great time! I can not remember a day that I have laughed as much as I did on Saturday. Jade and Beth, you guys are too funny!

Well, so much to say, so little time. I'm just happy to have finally gotten back on here. I nearly couldn't remember how to get on! I promise to keep this going again now that our lives have settled back into a routine!

Beautiful day

Today is a beautiful day. The sun is shinning and it is warm. We are all going to get outside and enjoy it after Wes is home from school. I know that tomorrow it is supposed to start raining and then turn cold again, so we have to enjoy all of it we can today.

Wes had a dentist appointment this morning to get his teeth cleaned. He is so good for that and has never even considered making a fuss. He even got his first x-rays today. No problem. As a reward we stopped by the Y and played for a while before coming home to eat lunch. Nice job Wes!

I went to a Silpada Jewelry party last night with a friend. The pieces were so amazing and I could have bought one of everything, but it was so expensive. I ended up buying a pair of earrings for $65. Afterwards I wished that I hadn't spent my hard earned gourd money on that, but at the time I couldn't say no. I've got an idea brewing that I might be able to get a local artist who makes his own gorgeous, affordable jewelery to have a party at my house. I don't believe he has many shows this time of year and I think he would benefit from a party at my house.

Anyway...gotta run and get some stuff done so we can play outside in a bit.

Shall we dance?

Welcome to NCAA tourney time! The greatest part of the tournament this year, Purdue made it in! Thank goodness. I think Chris knew they would make it but I also think he was holding his breath yesterday until he knew for sure! They got a great spot and hopefully they will beat Arizona! Go Boilers.

To top that off, we had great weather here over the weekend. It was sunny and warm. The boys were able to play outside and I was finally able to get the rest of the x-mas lights off the trees. It had been to snowy and icy to risk getting them down. It's nice to have all that done.

We had our time change yesterday and as a result, the boys are still sleeping. They went to bed when they normally would have and are sleeping till when they would have gotten up. Now it is just an hour later. Gradually this week I will change them over but not all at once. They are just now getting up so I need to run!

Have a great Monday!

Florida pictures

Home again, damn!

We made it safely back from Florida on Saturday. Damn! It's cold, snowy and not 80 and sunny here. Usually I adapt to the change better than I am this year. I just want to go back! We all had a great time. Lots of time spent in the pool, at the beach, at the park and eating too much of my grandma's good cooking! Two words, cream puffs! Oh, I love those cream puffs!

The boys were very well behaved as well. They did great on the airplane and were pretty good while there. We had to break them up a couple of times a day, but that is normal. They each had their own tent to sleep in on the screened in patio. Connor's was shaped like a shark with a long tail, dorsal fin and teeth. It was so cute! I wasn't sure he was going to sleep in it the first night because he kept saying it's going to eat me.

I am happy to say that I really, really liked my grandma's new boyfriend. He is a really sweet man and they are very happy together. It makes me happy just to see her happy again and not lonely. Someone once told me that pets and children are good judges of people's character. If that is the case, Bob is in! My boys just loved him. They always wanted to play with him and kept asking, "Where's Bob?" They wouldn't leave him alone.

I'll post some pictures of various places we visited in a later blog. Now I just have to get caught up on things around here. Thankfully I left the house in order, so it was nice to come home to a clean house.

Golf, teachers and fat.

Great quotes from Florida:

Wes was happy to have the window seat on our flight down and I sat between him and Connor. As we were approaching Fort Myers for landing we were checking out the Gulf of Mexico. Wes was showing me the "big pond" as I corrected him and told him it was the Gulf. He proceeded to tell me that no one could hit a golf ball across that course.

While visiting the beach in Cape Coral we were enjoying a walk along the pier. As we were returning I spotted a school of fairly large fish. I pointed this out to the boys and told Wes..."see the school of fish?" He wanted to know which one was the teacher.

While also at the beach there were several older women wearing two piece bathing suits they had no business wearing. My favorite was a woman in her late 50's who seemed to think that she was all that and a bag of chips. Chris even commented as she was walking around with her bikini top undone, I sure hope that doesn't come down! Unfortunatley she walked by us while we were sitting on the pier. Connor took one look at her, points at her and says "What's that?" She fortunately had a small purse in her hand and I told him it was a purse. She stopped to show herself off and said "boys sure start looking at the ladies much younger these days!" I wanted to gag, she was so nasty. Obviously even Connor thought that she was weird. He didn't look at anyone else at the beach as ask, "What's that?" I wanted to tell him that she was a fat old lady dressed inappropriately and "that" was wrinkled fat!

Anyway...those were just a few tidbits I wanted to remember before I forgot. I'll post more of our trip when we return. The boys were so good coming down on our flight and have been good here as well. So far we are having a great vacation.

So busy

We have been so busy around here. I see it has been weeks since I've made a post, shame on me. I've finally nearly over a sinus infection and the boys are healthy again. We had a nice Valentine's Day, Purdue beat IU and Chris and I went to see Delirium by Cir De Sole (or however you spell it).

We are packed and ready to head to Florida tomorrow. Every single one of us can not wait for a week of sun, relaxing and vacation time. Wes can't wait to show Daddy his new moves in the pool and I just want some sun. Till we return. Adios!

Stupid Germs

Yuck. I am now sick with the stupid germs that have been in our house. My throat was sore yesterday but last night and today it is raw. My head is killing me, I can't breathe and my ears hurt. Such fun. Thank you very much Wes! Why is it that when our children get sick we can hardly keep them parked but when I'm sick all I want to do is lay around? Unfortunately, the lay around option doesn't work well for the boys. Wish me luck today!

Yeah Dad!

The best news of the day and the best news for a while is that my Dad had his annual angiogram to check his fixed AVM and the results were very positive. They showed no change, which is exactly what we wanted! That is such great news and I think my mom is finally starting to breathe again. I know I was holding my breath today until I got the news. Yeah for Dad and thanks to the great doctors at Henry Ford Hospital!

In other news...it's cold. Yeah, we know, we know. But I had forgotten what true cold felt like. It's been a while since I remember feeling what 0 degrees felt like. And, thank you very much, I'd rather not feel it again for a while. But, it's still cold and will remain that way for a while. Therefore, the count down to Florida is on. 15 days until we go to Florida!

Wes has a cold, Connor is fighting off the cold and I am coming down with the cold. Wes missed school yesterday but was very much up to going today. I figure that if he can run around the house and terrorize his little brother than he is up to going to school.

That's about it for now. Still no new bowling team mate. Tami and I are liking it just being us and we are trying to see how long we can get away with that! Purdue won their b-ball game last night. We might go to a hockey game tomorrow night...and that's about it!

400 Series

I bolwed a 423 series today, really. I was on fire today! Everyone watching me kept asking what I was doing different...I finally decided I was putting a little more strength into my last two step and the ball was hitting the lane faster. Whatever it was...I'll take a 423 series. Now I get a cool pin!!! Maybe not worth the stiffness in my left knee, but...Yeah me!

Snow Day!

We have a snow day today. It snowed most of yesterday afternoon and then started up again sometime early in the morning. The schools were all closed around here and Wes didn't have school today. Although, if they would have asked me, I would have said go. We only got maybe 4 inches of snow. Where I come from that wouldn't even have been thought about as a snow day.

So, Wes was very bummed because it was supposed to be Daddy Day at school. Chris and Wes were very excited about spending the afternoon together at school. I finally heard that it will be rescheduled in a couple of weeks. Wes was so sad he cried because they couldn't do that today. That's okay, tomorrow night they are headed down to Purdue to a b-ball game. Ohio State no less. I hope Wes doesn't learn any new words!

I like snow days but I sure don't like cleaning snow off the drive. I waited till this afternoon when it had completely stopped snowing and then went at it with the snowblower. That machine is fun but a lot of work. It is in the single digits here and with the wind the temperature feels like -15. So, I layered to beat all complete with the hat with ears, scarf, fleece and coat, snow pants and my old winter barn boots. I was certainly scary looking. And, in hindsight, I over dressed. That was hard work and when I got back inside I was sweating like a horse. Man, nothing beats having wind wiped snow blown in your face will you sweat buckets at the same time. Good times, good times! At least it is done and Chris can get back up the drive tonight when he comes home. I was afraid the little Honda wouldn't make it.

If it wasn't so bitterly cold I would have bundled up the boys and let them play, but it is just brutal out there. I'm sure looking forward to Florida in just a few weeks! That will be my warm sunny thought of the day!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Seven years ago today Chris and I were married. We had a beautiful day that we will never forget. It has been a wonderful 7 years with my husband and it seems like we just got married. Time just seems to go by so fast these days. Where does it go? I just reserved a spot in March to sign Wes up for Kindergarten. That really put the scare into me. It seems we are all getting older, fast.

So, we celebrated this weekend by going out to dinner on Saturday night. We had a late dinner and came home to enjoy a quiet house. It has been so cold here and it was snowing, so I didn't really want to go anywhere else. G & G wanted to have the boys over to spend the night Saturday, so it just worked out good for all of us. We also went and saw Night at the Museum on Sunday. It was so funny. I laughed my butt off during it. Cute movie!

Wes is at school right now, he has swim later and then Chris will be home. So, that's about the rest of our day. It's snowing really hard right now, so I hope I don't have to drive on shitty roads later!

Where has the time gone. I see a week ago I was complaining about rain and today we have snow on the ground, finally. Snow came here over the weekend and should stick around for a while. It makes me feel like it really is winter. I hope we get some more!

Our family spent the weekend in Michigan visiting my parents. It seems that everyone had a good time. I worry that Chris is always bored just sitting around with my family, but he is a great sport about it. Even when I insist on pancakes for brunch so I can have my dad's specialty, bacon!!!! Good stuff. Chris isn't a fan of pancakes!

It looks like we (Tami and I) will be loosing our third bowling team mate. She is having a very difficult separation from her fiancee and is in the process of moving her children and herself. It is just an awful thing for her kids and for her to have to go through. Tami and I are doing everything we can to help her pack, find a place to live and get some money out of this "guy" she was supposed to marry! It makes me so happy to be in a happy marriage, with an honest and loving husband.

The boys are getting into our winter routine. Swim lessons once a week, preschool 4 days a week and playdates thrown in there. They are really excited about our trip to FL at the end of February and so am I.

That's about all I have. I've cleaned up some great messes this week involving jellybeans, Girl Scout cookies, pee in the Gator and so on and so forth. None of which were all part of the same mess. Aaawwwwwwwwww, life is good!

Monday, Monday!

Where does the time go? We had a nice weekend, although it seems it has been raining around here for weeks on end. Where is our snow? I'm ready for snow, not rain. But, I guess rain is better than ice, which many in the Midwest are dealing with today.

Everyone is good around here. Wes doesn't have school today because it is MLK day. Most schools are closed around here to observe the holiday. Of course the two of them are into everything today and bored out of their minds. I dearly miss school when Wes is bored!

We are finally booked on our cruise for this May. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I'm thrilled beyond words to be able to take a real vacation with my husband, alone! It has been a long time since we have had more than just 48 hours together on a trip. I'm nervous about leaving our boys for that long but I know that they will be very well taken care of and spoiled with G & G while we are gone. Spoiled rotten to be sure. Wes will be fine, he won't hardly miss us but Connor will definitely worry me. But, I'm stoked about beautiful open seas, lovely Caribbean ports and all that while I'm with my cute hubby! That is my happy Monday thought!

It should be a quiet week, knock on wood!

Football

Wes has finished up his indoor football season. Their team played for the "championship" and lost. He was cute about it but happy because they got little football helmet "trophies". He had to play 2 games and was really tired. Several times Chris and I had to actually tell him to stand up while play was going on. That is the football stance you see here. Oh, so embarrassing!




I took a couple of pictures, but the light was really not so good inside and they are rather dark. Oh well. At least we have proof!



We have managed to keep busy this first week back to school of 2007. I took the boys over to the Y today to play and swim. Or, at least Wes swims. Connor doesn't really want to have anything to do with the pool. So the two of us just sit and watch Wes play in the shallow end of the pool.

Tonight we are headed to a hockey game and then tomorrow Chris and his dad are headed to a Purdue b-ball game. I'm afraid the old days of loosing tough games is returning. Oh well...what can we do about it! Not much!

Have a good weekend.

What is this?

What is this, I'm asking myself? The house is clean, the laundry is done, there is nothing to paint, Wes is at school, Connor is napping, I'm alone and I have nothing to do. I'm not really sure what this is? I'm also not sure if I like it. Having nothing to do has never been a good thing for me. I like to stay busy. So, I'm here rather than being bored. This just seems so strange.

We have our regular old routine back this week. Yeah! Wes missed school and I missed having Wes in school. We have swim lessons again and other scheduled events. Plus, this is Wes' last week of indoor football. He is sad about that. We are glad that he liked it, but boy does he have a long, long, long way to go on the football field. If they win their game on Wednesday they will play a second playoff game. Dear God! Just don't give the ball to Wes, please coach!

Have a great Monday.

TGIF

Wow, what a week. To top it off it is raining and nasty outside. It compliments the dreary feeling of having all the Christmas stuff put away and the first week back to work for Chris. Wes has been home from school all week and doesn't return until Monday. Both him and I are ready for that return! He misses school and I miss our schedule. Not that we haven't gotten to do some fun stuff while he was off...but it is time for school to return.

After much debate, and I'm not kidding here, we have our airline tickets booked for our family trip to Florida. Kudos to AirTran for offering affordable fares for this family of 4. I was beginning to question if our budget (or what there is of one) was going to allow the trip, but it's ago. I'm already looking forward to our day trip to Sanabal, walks to the park, swimming in the pool and being lazy...and seeing my Grandma!

Well, I need to wrangle up the ponies downstairs. It sounds like whatever game they are playing is getting out of hand. Have a great weekend. Chris and Wes are headed to a Purdue b-ball game Saturday and I get an evening out with Heather. Yeah, girl time.

Holiday Highlights

Today seems to mark the true end of the holiday season for me. I finally have all the decorations put back into their boxes and the tree is ready to "leave the building". It will taken to the park with all the other sad trees thrown out! That always makes me sad!

Moving on! I've also finally managed to look at all my pictures taken over the festivities. I've picked a few jems to share with you all...mostly because the boys are cute...the rest of us just look like idiots!








We are looking forward to some trips in 2007. Carnival and Marriott need to get their acts together and produce some mysterious "codes" necessary to book our cruise. We are waiting for that emaculate conception to occure and then mommy and daddy will be off on a 7 day cruise in May. I have mixed emotions about that. Chris and I will have a fantastic time but I'm so nervous about leaving our boys for that long. Hopefully G & G are up to them!

I am also researching the cheapest way for our 4 family members to get our "travel on" for the annual Fort Myers, Florida trip to see my Grandma. We drove last year and it was painful, but cheap. This year we would have to rent a vehicle due to the excessive miles racking up on the Buick. Therefor, cheap direct flights out of Indy are looking pretty good. By the time we add up the rental and gas the flights have an advantage. Have I ever mentioned I hate driving long distances....I'm hopefully for AirTran!

So, that's about it. I took the boys swimming at the Y today with our little friend Sage. They had lots of fun while Connor looked on. He wanted nothing to do with the swimsuit or pool, but by the time we left he would sit on the edge with me and get a little wet. Silly boy. Guess swim lessons are a distant goal for him.

Gotta go finish dinner! Till next time.

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!