Pumpkin pickin'

I took the boys to Flint over the weekend. Chris was in his happy place with a Friday night game and a Saturday Purdue game. Rather than stay home bored with the boys, I headed to Flint. As usual, the boys had a blast hanging out on the farm.



While I thought it would be too early, the pumpkins were mostly ready to be picked. What the deer hadn't eaten were starting to rot. Something about the weather this season was not good for pumpkins. So, the boys helped find pumpkins in the field while us grown ups did the "harvesting". That was a good work out I might add. I can't tell you how many times I almost fell on my butt trying to get through the weeds carrying a huge pumpkin!



We were almost all covered in mud by the time we were done. We then got to haul all the pumpkins up to the barn, wash them and stack them. Dad saw fit to let the boys take turns with being hose handlers. So by the time all that was completed I was a muddy, soaked mess! And, you guessed it...the boys loved it!



They got to ride the big tractor, fling poo or spread manure, drive the golf cart, drive the 4 wheeler and get dirty. Basically ever little boys dream come true weekend. Oh, and there was a new barn kitty to play with as well.

Findlay Reunion

I took the boys with me on Saturday for a mini University of Findlay reunion with my Findlay friends. All three of the gals live in Ohio. There is Laura from Columbus, who was my maid of honor, Stephanie from Cleveland and Melissa from Findlay. We all vary in different life styles but we enjoyed getting together and visiting for the afternoon.

Counting my two boys there were 6 kids total and mostly close in age. This was nice because the boys had new friends to play with. Although, once they discovered the Wii they didn't venture too far from the living room. The Wii is definitely on Santa's list this year. It will have to be highly monitored, otherwise they would just play it all the time. Much like how we currently only will allow Play Station to be played on weekends.

Anyway...I digressed.

Saturday was a lot of fun. It was nice to get caught up with everyone. Plus, we made a trip out to the farm. I haven't been out there since I graduated, 13 years ago. They have made some nice improvements and the barns were completely full of horses. And, much nicer horses I must add from when we were there. We were one of the first classes in the English program, so it was in its infancy. I'd give an eye tooth for any of the horses they have there now!

It made me want to start riding again. Not an easy taste for our current life style. It was a fun day and I'm glad we all found time to make it work.

Take a hike, Ike!

My thoughts are with all Texans tonight as they prepare to be hit by Ike tonight and tomorrow. This storm chicken would be well out of there by now, but for those that stayed, be safe and good luck!

Haflinger National Horse Show

Thursday I was able to escape with Connor for the day to head down to the Indy area. My parents have been there for most of the week at their Haflinger National Horse Show. They took three horses with them this year. They were only showing their five year old, Deb, in halter classes and driving their other two geldings. I wasn't able to be there today while they were driving. Darn! I enjoy watching mom and dad drive. She is tough to beat!

I was happy to see them do well while I was there. Their mare won her halter class and then took Senior Grand Champion Mare. She was then up against the Junior Grand Champion Mare and got Reserve Grand Champion. Which, was a joke because she was a way better horse than the one that beat her...and I'm not just saying that because I'm a sore looser. I will always tell mom the honest truth of when a better horse beats them. But that wasn't the case this time. I've sat and judged those classes for years and I know enough to know they got screwed! Nothing you can do about it. I felt bad for my mom because she wanted Grand Champion more than anything! Not to mention that mom can be scary at horse shows so it is always better when she wins!

Here are a couple of pictures from while we were there.

Connor did great!

Big sigh of relief here. We made it through the first day of preschool for Connor. And, I do me WE. I shed most of my tears last night with just Chris and got it out of my system.

Connor was excited and happy to be at school this morning. Tami and I walked Connor and Zoe into their classroom and off they went. I manged to get a kiss from him and Zoe took him by the hand and away they went. I get bonus points for not shedding any tears. I was just really happy to see him be okay with it all. He seemed to really enjoy playing on the playground the most.

We took them out to lunch at Pizza Hutt afterwards to celebrate their first day. Good for Connor! I did manage a picture or too...perhaps Chris can get them on the computer for me later!

Connor and preschool

Just got back from Connor's preschool open house. He did very well and was good with his teachers. We stayed for a while because it takes him so long to warm up to different places. I'm sad to be taking my "baby" to preschool. I had to actually hold back tears a couple of times while I was watching him explore. It just doesn't seem possible.

Monday is his first day of school and I'm sure I will be a babbling idiot then. Looking forward to that...NOT!

Politics

I don't like to talk about politics.

There is a standing agreement between Chris and I that we do not talk about politics, ever. We do not agree on any single aspect of politics. Nothing positive ever, I repeat, ever comes out of my talking about politics with Chris. I guess you can say that with certain aspects of my relationship with my husband, opposites attract. I'm a Democrat, he is not.

I know I shouldn't do it here either...but I have to make a few comments about politics and mainly the newest poster girl of the week. No, I did not watch the Republican Convention last night so that I could listen to Sarah Palin. Shocking I know...especially because I'm a woman and a mom and I'm supposed to bow to her mommyness. I'd rather have the remaining nine toenails I have ripped out one at time than tune in to listen to her or the rest of her party. In all fairness, I didn't watch the other "historical" convention hoopla either.

I wasn't going to be voting for the McCain ticket, so it isn't like putting her on the ticket swayed me or anything. But I want to say this about her... I'm sure she is a great speaker, I'm sure she is an up an coming Republican, I'm sure she could be a terrific Governor given more time....but as a mother..she sucks.

I obviously have none of the basic details of how she mothers her children. I don't know if she reads them a bed time story at night or car pools them around to practice. I don't know if she has sewn many Halloween costumes or suffered through bad pregnancies. I'm sure she can make just as mean of a chocolate chip cookie as the rest of us moms. However, she has no business being on that ticket and subjecting her family to all that it brings with it.

She knowingly, with all the facts prior to making her decision, chose to be on the republican ballot with a 17 year old pregnant daughter at home. Her daughter will need her. She knowingly chose to be on that ticket knowing that she has an infant child at home. Let alone an infant with Down Syndrome. Her infant will need her. She knowingly chose to walk away from all five of her young children so that she could further her career based on the token move of a desperate old man grasping at straws. All of her children need her.

I have on rare occasions been away from my young children for more than a few days at a time and they miss me. Dad does a great job and the boys are just fine upon my return, but they miss me and I miss them. I couldn't imagine being away from them for the kind of commitment a presidential campaign entails.

No mother in her right mind would dare put her young pregnant daughter into the limelight. Especially knowing that the press would be all over it and she would be dragged through the news. I'd sooner give my right arm before bringing national attention to an unwed pregnant daughter and a child with a disease. Using her mommy goodness to win votes is disgusting. Even if the press hardly touched those stories everyone in the country knows her daughter is pregnant. That is just not okay!

I don't like her for a lot of reasons....she is pro NRA, she believes Roe vs Wade should be overturned, she wants to teach creationism in schools, she has no international experience and she is a Republican...but allowing negative attention to be brought on her children based on her own political career should be the definition of bad mom! Even if she were a Democrat and I agreed with every single one of her policies I would still feel the same way. What she is doing is shameful.

Once again, I'm probably all alone in my boat, that's fine. I'm used to being the wacko with weird religion and political beliefs. I won't take the token bait that McCain is hoping moms across the country will bite upon. Don't expect me, a proud woman and proud mom to be singing All Praise Palin. She should be ashamed of what she is putting her daughter and other children through. All I can hope is that for the sake of her children McCain takes a shit and Sara gets to go back home to Alaska to do some hunting, fishing and grandchild raising.

"I Kissed a Girl....

....and I Liked It"

The context of that song may be a bit off, but my six year old son kissed a girl, and he liked it. Yes, there are so many things wrong with that statement, that I don't even know where to begin!

I guess I could be happy that he likes girls. I'm trying to hold onto the positives at this point. I know that is what my husband was thinking, he just hasn't had the nerve to admit that to me yet. The girl he kissed is his six year old best friend and neighbor. She has been best friends with Wes for nearly 3 years and their birthdays are two weeks apart.

Apparently she told her Dad that Wes kissed her. The kiss in question happened Sunday while our families were together for a cook out. We spent the afternoon next door and Chris smoked a pork butt (which was great - I must add). We had a great afternoon and evening. Played lots of ladder toss, drank lots of beer, ate lots of food, played dominoes and apparently Wes did some kissing! Who knew?

He is six! What the hell? After Chris asked him tonight if anything weird happened on Sunday he fessed up.

"Does kissing count as weird?"

Hmmm....let me think about that. Hell yeah... when you are six! I think my eyes just about popped out of my head at the dinner table. My innocent six year old is kissing?

If I hadn't been so appalled and near crying because my six, did I mention he is six, year old son was kissing his best friend I probably would have been laughing. He was obviously super embarrassed because he dropped his dinner fork about 4 times and kept giggling. Eye contact didn't exist much either.

We had a nice long chat and according to him she asked him to kiss her. To which he obviously obliged. It seems that there was a second kiss that he decided to give to her. After talking to Tami it sounds like it was mutual and no one put them up to it. Worse yet...experimentation at six. I also believe that her having an older sister probably had something to do with this. Wes just doesn't know a darn thing,or so I thought, about kissing and relationships. He never watches that stuff on t.v. and I know her and her sister are always talking about boyfriends and all that stuff.

I guess this is the point that I become thankful that I don't have girls.

Obviously we told him the problem with kissing girls at a young age, especially his best friend, and he agreed that the proper age for kissing is 20. I asked that he wait till he was 18, but he thought 20 sounded better. Far be it for me not to agree with 20.

I feel some gray hairs sprouting this evening.

Big day, big day....

...it's back to school today!

Wes is hopefully enjoying his first full day of first grade. Kindergarten for him last year was half day, so he is taking a big step today by going to full day. He will be eating lunch as school, having recess on the "big playground" and riding the bus home.

He was very excited about school today. I'm happy that he likes school and doesn't seem to get stressed about new things like this. I can't wait to hear how the day went for him.

On a mom note...I'm a bit sad about his being gone all day. While the peace is sure nice and Connor is loving it..it's just hard to believe that my little boy is old enough to be at school all day. Where has the time gone? I don't want him to grow up just yet.

It's Official...

...football has begun.

Chris had his first of a series of officials football meetings last night and tonight is his first game to ref. Even though he says, "It's just a scrimmage"...it's the first of the high school football season. I have to get my game back and start the boys and my Friday night rituals!

And something else football season means....school starts for Wes next week. Thank goodness. I didn't think I was going to make it another week with a bored first grader. He is excited to go back to school. Good for him and even better for me. Connor will start pre-school a couple of weeks later.

ADT update

Props to ADT. I must admit that I didn't expect much to happen with ADT. I was wrong. It was nice that they took me seriously and decided it was worth the time to fix things at our house.

A repair tech was here earlier and replaced the basement fire detector. While here he also looked at and changed batteries in another problem area in our house.

Thank you ADT for good customer service and hopefully fixing our fire alarm problem.

Fire ADT?

It happened again at 2:45 last night. It has probably happened, with us at home, 3 other times and always at night. Every time it happens I swear it takes a couple of years off our lives.

You are wondering what IT is, aren't you? Our very loud, very intense, ADT fire alarm went off again at 2:45 in the morning. This happens from time to time and there is no logical reason for it...according to ADT. It is terrifying to wake from a dead sleep to a deafening alarm and a male voice blaring "FIRE, FIRE, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY". And, of course there is no fire - thankfully! Another scary part of this is that our boys do not wake up. I know they are sound sleepers...but it is mind boggling to me they can't hear it. I believe the neighbors could hear it.

Chris and I bolted out of bed. I failed to get the alarm turned off upstairs during my heart attack and Chris ran downstairs to turn it off. We have this routine down now. I grab the phone because ADT will be calling in seconds from when it goes off to decide if they need to stop the firetruck.

Yes, a firetruck is deployed automatically unless ADT tells the fire department it is a false alarm. We have been out of town when this has happened and the firetruck came to our house. We have also been home when this has happened and somehow missed the call from ADT only for me to have to greet the firemen at our front door in the middle of the night. That was embarrassing. It NEVER happens during the day, of course.

You can see that that this is highly frustrating. I've tried to deal with ADT about it and I refuse to pay for a service call to fix their problem. Last I talked with them the basement fire detector (which is always the one with the problem) had been put on stand-by to not do this, but obviously something has changed.

Now here is our dilemma. We keep talking about firing ADT. We hardly ever use the home security part. However, I do feel safe having the fire service (even if it doesn't seem to properly work) because it would definitely protect our house if we ever actually had a fire. Hell, firetrucks have been out to our house twice. The system also has a dinger on the doors whenever a main door is opened. That is my favorite feature. I know if the boys have gone in or out and it really helps to keep an eye on them. No one can get in without me knowing it.

All that being said, the heart attacks in the middle of the night are getting old. We can never get back to sleep because it is just terrifying to wake up like that. I could only think last night after going back to bed what could have happened and I really never got back to sleep. How would we have gotten out, would we have been able to get out the main floor, would we have to use the fire ladder....aghhhhh.

So, we don't know what to do. I'm going to call ADT back again today and "talk" about last night...but I don't think anything will come of it. Anyone out there had this problem?

Girls Weekend Revisited

We had a great weekend. I would recommend this trip to anyone looking for a quick getaway, families included. We loaded up the car and left around 5:00 on Friday and it only took us about 2.5 hours to get to South Haven, Mi. We went to our camp ground, which I will give high points too.

South Haven Family Campground was easy to find and almost brand new. Any concern I had about the facility being clean were quickly gone. Our cabin was just as cute as could be and very clean. It had two beds that could sleep 4 on the "main" level and then a loft that could also sleep children. Plus, it had AC or heat, if you were there in the winter. Directly across from us were the bathroom facilities and they were also very clean and had individual showers with doors that you could lock, a bonus.



We had some very interesting neighbors. Let me just say that they provided lots of entertainment for us while we were sitting out in the evenings. I will say no more! They informed us once (and I think they thought we were lesbians) that we were the quietest neighbors they have ever had. I don't think they thought it was a compliment, even though I took it that way.

We spent Saturday making our way from South Haven, to Saugatuck and then to New Douglas. Each town had lots of fun shops, cool places to eat on the water, beaches, and bonus, wine tasting shops.





We made our way to only one winery on Saturday and that was Fenn Valley. We were there with less than a half hour before their closing. That wasn't a problem, but the ladies behind the counter serving us were grumpy. They hardly even conversed with us. Which, isn't generally the way wine tasting works.

We had a great time in the tasting room for Tabor Hill Winery located in Saugatuck. The gentleman that helped us spent lots of time with us and answered lots of questions. Plus he carded us...that made our day!

While in New Douglas on Saturday we came across a little wine tasting room called Corkscrew. They make their own wine from purchased grape juice. We were the only two people in the shop and the gentlemen there spent lots of time with us explaining how certain wines are made. He was lots of fun!

Sunday we packed up and headed out to roam around the Benton Harbor area. I think we actually ended up in St. Joseph. We lucked out and found a large antique show going on. That was interesting to check out. We went through a few shops and then headed out to find a few more wineries in the area. Along the way we came across the town of Coloma. The Glad Peach Festival was going on, who knew?

We checked out the Glad Peach Fest and then headed to the Karma Vista Winery. Karma Vista had very nice views perched on top of a big hill. We enjoyed tasting there. There was an expensive painting there that I just loved. Had I known at the time that my husband, back home taking care of the boys, had purchased himself a new toy (a Play Station 3) I may have pulled the trigger on that painting. Probably best for our budget that I didn't know!

Our last winery of the trip was Contessa Wine Cellars. Contessa wasn't there. Just two odd girls who weren't very talkative. They did have a cat, but that was about the coolest part of their place.

We had a fun time. I ended up buying a lot of wine, local fruit, and a new purse! It was relaxing and as always, full of laughs with Heather around. We get in so much trouble together. Thank you to Chris for taking care of the boys this weekend, I couldn't have gone without him.

If you are interested in visiting any of these places check out the following:

www.southhavenfamilycg.com

www.karmavista.com

www.taborhill.com

www.miwinetrail.com

Girls Weekend

It's that time of the year again. As summer draws to a close Heather and I take off for our annual Girls Weekend. Last year we had a fantastic time in Traverse City, Michigan. We visited a lot of wineries, did a lot of shopping and ate some great smoked salmon.

As much as I would like to repeat our trip there, we have some time restraints on us this year. We opted for a mere 2.5 hour drive to the South Haven and Saugatuck, Michigan area. The region has a lot wineries, a must, as well as shopping, dinning and new this year, camping. Sorta camping....we decided to try a small cabin at a South Haven campground. It has plenty of beds, electricity and AC!!! It is supposed to be very hot this weekend. The AC better work...or I'll be getting my travel on to somewhere else!

I should have a wrap up next week. I'm really looking forward to shopping, drinking lots of wine and sitting around a campfire with my best girl friend eating 'smores and cheetos.

Japanese Beetles Stink!

For the first time in my life I am experiencing the Japanese Beetle (JB). Apparently I have either been oblivious the past couple of years or the little leaches hadn't found our property. Let there be no doubt that the JB's have landed...and brought all their buddies with them. Damn things.


(See here is a picture of the little leaf eating monster)

They have been munching on my very large Birch Tree probably for a while before I figured out why the leaves were falling off. I caught them fairly early on one of my small new ornamental trees in the back yard. So, last week Chris and I set off to Lowe's to find the much talked about Bug Bag and some pesticide to kill the little shits! I value my expensive trees too much to just let them be a bug salad bar.

I wasn't too convinced that the Bug Bag would help...other than attract more of their little buddies into our yard, boy was I proven wrong. I assembled the thing in the house and then carried it across the backyard to its chosen location. I was being swarmed by the nasty things before I even got the thing in the ground. The two bags in the yard were easily filled in 48 hours. This still may mean that we are just drawing in all the local JB's, but combined with the pesticide on the trees they liked, they are no longer eating my trees.

Apparently, and this is what I found amusing, the JB is a very sexual bug and is drawn into the bug bug and be with its buddies. In all practicality there is a big bug orgy going on in my yard. YUCK!!!

I'm sure you are ready for the yuckiest part. The bags filled quickly and I had to change them. The smell coming out of that thing was worse than a porta potty at 3:00 on a 95 degree tailgating day! Needless to say the double bagged bag is in the garbage can outside our garage. You can even smell it from across the street at the mailboxes. Sorry neighbors. At least tomorrow is garbage day.

So, wherever you live...I hope you don't have Japanese Beatles and if you do...step on one for me! The only good Japanese Beetle is a dead one!

Fun Week

Chris and I had a great week to ourselves. I was able to spend a day at the lake with Heather. After Chris was off we ate out at all our favorite places, went golfing (I just drive the cart), saw Get Smart and Batman, slept in and relaxed in each others company. It was a great vacation. As always, going back to work after time off is never easy!

The boys also seemed to enjoy their week at G & G's house. It was a good learning experience for Connor in preparation for preschool. He hasn't been out much on his own because it always seems like Wes is somewhere with him. Connor went into his own age group at VBS and never complained. It makes me a bit more comfortable with preschool just around the corner.

I have to say that I really liked both movies we were able to see. I used to watch the Get Smart shows and found them funny, so I was stoked to see the new one with funny man Steve! It didn't let me down. Chris and I were the only one in the theater and I had lots of comments. He wasn't familiar with Max Smart, so I had to explain a few sayings. There was one scene that I was laughing so hard I had tears! So, if you are looking for a comedy, I would suggest Get Smart!

The other movie we went to see was Batman. I was a bit hesitant to go see it because I'm not the biggest follower of the series and didn't want to be clueless. However, it was fantastic. I told Chris when we sat down that I just didn't know how there could be a second Joker and that I would only think of Jack as the Joker. Boy was I wrong. This Joker stole the show! I never once thought of a past Joker. It was a great movie and I now understand what all the hype is about!

The boys and I are trying to get back into our summer routine this week. So far I'm catching up on laundry, dishes and cleaning up the house. I was a slacker last week.

I have to post again on two topics....Japanese Beatles and Wes loosing his front teeth. Those to come...after swim lessons and working out.

Vacation or Stay-cation

Life has been busy around here lately. Hence, my lack of updating. Wes had a week of zoo camp and I was back and forth across town two times a day. Throw in swim lessons, baseball twice last week and some other summer functions, and we have been busy.

This week, however, Chris and I are on vacation...or as Chris likes to call it, Stay-cation. For some strange reason, Chris' parents decided they wanted to keep the boys for the entire week to attend VBS at their church. That's Vacation Bible School for those like me that up until this week had no idea what that stood for. I'm feeling guilty and a bit lost without my boys around, but I think I can tough it out! :)

Chris and I are going to enjoy ourselves just hanging out and spending time together, at home. We got the yard work done with morning and the rest of the day to play. I think we are going to go and see a movie this afternoon, followed by dinner with Heather and listening to Mike play!

I may have my doubts about the VBS thing, but I'm sucking it up and enjoying Stay-cation! Rock on! I feel like a guest in my own home!

Connor's Birthday

"Guess what happened? I turned 4!"

Connor had a great day yesterday. He had lots of fun with his friends and family. It was a gorgeous day and we were outside for most of it playing. Tami, Jim and their girls came over for a lunch time cookout. Then later on in the day Chris' parents came over for pizza and cake. Thank you to everyone for his cool gifts. It appears that his top 5 picks would be:

1. Water guns
2. Bubble gun
3. Bubble mower
4. Hotwheel cars
5. Sponge Bob jammies and sheets

Happy Birthday, Connor

Happy 4th Birthday wishes to Connor today! We are having our neighbor friends over for a lunch cookout and a "party". I try not to do kid parties, so I'm attempting to fool him into thinking he is having a real party. He is getting to spend the day with his friends and family, and that seems to be what makes him happy. Plus, he has a cool Sponge Bob cake, Sponge Bob decorations and is ready to party!

Later we are having his grandparents over for pizza...so out of all of that I'm sure I'll get some good pictures.

I just had to say that I can't believe he is turning 4 years old today. It seems like just yesterday that he was a tiny baby. I think he will always be my "baby" even though he has changed so much recently. He will be starting pre-school in less than two months! Another huge milestone!

Have a great day Connor and "Happy Birthday!"

Happy 4th of July Weekend

Happy 4th of July to everyone. Our family enjoyed the weekend immensely. My parents came down on their annual 4th of July weekend over night trip. They spent an extra night with us this year, Friday through Sunday, and the boys loved every minute of it.



Once they get Grandpa in the house the fun never ends. If it wasn't fishing on the pond, swinging on the swing set, playing cars, riding bikes then they were after him to play more...poor Dad! I know he was tired out when he went home. They love being catered to like that. It breaks my heart to watch Wes get sad when they have to leave. I wish they could spend more time with my parents.

On Friday Chris treated us all to pulled pork done on his smoker. It was fantastic. Even my mother, picky patty eater that she is, liked it! I made home made potato salad and chocolate cake. Between all of that I felt like I ate constantly this weekend. Mom brought in a cheese cake to add to my desert frenzy. The worst part is she left more than half of the thing here! So I'm struggling to stay on the healthy eating wagon.

We all sat on our deck and watched the neighborhood firework celebration. You can usually count on several homes shooting fireworks over the pond or within view of the deck. There were fewer families home this year, but we still had a great view of some great fireworks. The boys also got to play with sparklers. We watched just as many, if not more, fireworks Saturday night!




Saturday we celebrated Connor's 4th birthday while my parents were here. His actual birthday is this Sunday, the 13th, but they won't be back again that soon. He had fun opening his gifts and decorating Sponge Bob Square Pants cupcakes. (more desert in the house) My parents got him a new shirt, a book, gardening gloves, a bean bag toss game and the biggest hit of all, a bug box complete with a net. I happened to be with her when she bought that $5 gift and wouldn't you know that out of all that other stuff he went nuts over that. You can pretty much still find him walking around with that net in his hand looking for bugs. I actually saw Chris help him catch a fly in the house yesterday!





I spent the week leading up to the 4th going crazy cleaning the house and doing odd jobs we had been putting off, like staining the deck, painting the trim around the front door and edging the sidewalk..but I'm happy to say that it was all worth it. The house and outside looked great and I think it may have even impressed my mom, although you will never hear her say it! WE had a great weekend and I hope that all of you enjoyed your 4th of July traditions as well.