Last day of school!

The last day of school! Wow. I now have a 4th grader, 2nd grader and middle school child! The boys before school this morning. The dog in the background is my neighbor's dog Molly. She sits out there every morning and then chases the bus when it leaves. Then comes back and lays down in the yard. The day doesn't officially start without Molly.

Below: One last morning drop off at elementary school! Next year I'll be doing this across the street! (and earlier.)

Below:

After picking Megan up from school. The 5th grade did nothing but party in the middle courtyard today. They even had grills to cook hamburgers and hotdogs, karaoke, limbo, music and everything. (and some spray hair color!) Megan is already meloncholy about missing her friends. They were given cards with their pictures on them, like trading cards, and they handed them out to friends with their phone numbers and stuff on them. What a great idea.

Trevor and Matthew getting off the bus. I could hear the bus coming down the street honking all the way. They really have the best bus driver in the world. He brings them popsicles, and goodies on holidays. He started dropping them off right in front of the house this winter and they've been spoiled ever since.

Tuesday! Promotion day!

Lately there have been a lot of signs around our house about how time has gone by. One of the biggies today is that Megan had promotion night tonight. Tomorrow is her last official day of elementary school, then next year is middle school. I won't lie that makes me excited and a little sad all in one. She's growing up to be such a fun girl.... as much as I miss the baby and toddler stuff sometimes, I think I miss it more just because I know it won't come again. While it was fun in it's own right, the years that we are in now with the kids are so much more fun. I love the freedom of having them a little bit older. They're just fun to be around.

Another big milestone this week is that tomorrow will be a year since we've been here. I have spent the last week looking at photos from this time last year trying to gauge where we were on that certain day. Man that was a long trip. And now I have a year behind me here. I'm still glad for the move, as crazy as things have gotten even since moving here I'm still happy and settled. Sometimes I laugh at how much things have changed. If you would have told me this time last year that within the year Mike would be doing some work in Yemen I wouldn't have believed it. I guess I've learned a lesson that really anything is possible!

Another smaller, but still very exciting milestone today was when I was putting away a stack of winter blankets that have been sitting on my dresser. I was moving things around in the hall closet to make room for them and I picked up a box with the boys' breathing machine and all the tubes, albuterol boxes and things in it. That's one change here... the boys asthma has been so much better. For the past 10 years in Arizona that breathing machine was a spring and fall staple. Most of the time it just sat out as plain as you'd leave your kitchenaid mixer on the counter since it got used all the time. Ugh, those late nights where you'd hear coughing and you knew you were in for a long night with that machine. I used to watch Blues Clues, Dora and Thomas while holding a sick boy on my lap while we waited the 15 minutes or so to do a treatment.

Both boys have inhalers now. Which means that they are both old enough too to know when they need some and take care of themselves. It's amazing. Trevor hasn't had issues since moving here, but Matthew still sleeps with his inhaler chamber next to his bed.

Random...

I saw a line that said this, and it just made me laugh. It seems to fit my mood today. Today was one of those 'if it can go wrong it will go wrong' kind of days. So long Sunday..... sayonara. Adios. Buh bye.

On a better note: It's the last three days of school this week! Yay!

You can also tell by the lunch calendar for the next few days. Like they are trying to clean out the fridge because the next few days are crap. Tomorrow is rib sandwich or uncrustable. Yuck.

I told all of the kids just to make sure if they wanted me to pack lunch for tomorrow and Matthew says, "Oh, it sounds like I'll have to sit at the peanut free table tomorrow." Poor guy. He says he does this on days where one of his friends brings a PB&J. I guess it doesn't bother him much, but it just seems so strange to me. At least he's responsible about it. An ambulance ride to the hospital because of anaphylactic shock will do that to you though. LOL.

In fact, I got a call from the school nurse last week that he was in the office because his hand was white and covered with hives. He may have touched something that had peanut residue on it. But he was fine. The nurse kept him for awhile and kept his epi-pen out just in case.

Other good news this week is that my mom is coming out to visit, and Mike should be home by the week. :)

air conditioning & air fresheners

Piper did this last year and I thought it was both smart and funny. She likes to lay over the air conditioning vent to keep herself cool. Sometimes she'll let the air blow on her face, and other times she'll plop her tummy right over it and lay like she is above. The thing that I thought was funny this year is that for about a week before it was really hot enough to turn the a/c on, she'd lay there like she was waiting for the cool air to come. I guess a dog gets hotter before people... that fur and all you know. So finally the a/c has had to come on and she has her favorite spot in the whole house back.

I left the boys for about 5 minutes while I went to the store on the corner to get a bag of ice. I come back in the house and smell the most wonderful smell. Mmmm. What is that??? Somebody has been baking? - Kind of. Trevor was trying to use the microwave timer and instead cooked my new bag of sourdough bread that I brought home from the store today. My bread drawer was full, so I just stuck it in the microwave to store it. He's since had a lesson in how to work the timer on the microwave, but the plastic bag of steamed sourdough made my house smell really good. Now I'm really hungry!

This weekend was loooong and quiet. It was perfect. We just hung around the house, and the kids would play with friends every now and then. This photo was another surprise on my card, but I don't know which of the boys took it. I do think it's funny to see Megan hanging out on the couch playing her DS which she did for most of the weekend, and the pirate ship, castle and pokemon sitting on the side table. Those have to be the best toys that have been played with forever. Actually, the castle belonged to my sister's boys... one of whom is driving now and the other that just graduated from high school... so that castle has been loved for years. I love toys like that.

We also got two of the old style pirate ships from them too. So now we actually have FOUR pirate ships. It's funny watching the boys set them up and shoot each other.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

This is what happens when Trevor has my camera and takes pictures. I find evidence when I put the card in to load my own pictures. I know it was him because there were also pictures of various turtle related items. Busted. But hey, this kind of goes with the theme of the weekend with the flag out front.

Of course, Matthew in his shirt. I wash that thing every single night. I hope that the red stays for a long time! He really does own more than one shirt... but he's still in his Cincinnati Reds phase.

Are we the only ones staying home for the weekend? Today I took the kids to see Race To Witch Mountain. (Which was really good btw, and man I'd love to be able to slam two people's heads at the same time into the hood of a taxi like The Rock. That would be a sweet skill to have.) It was at the $1 theater. Somehow this was one of those kid movies that managed to sneak by us without seeing it while it was in the regular theater. The price was even better!

(shhh.... Lisa, if you click on that link you get a little Dwayne eyeful.)

Anyway.... I'm still in the habit of getting to the theater at least 30 minutes before the movie starts which really wasn't necessary today. When I pulled up there were five cars in the parking lot at 1:00 which the girl who sold tickets said were employee cars. I was the first person to be there today. So my plan of getting there early to have time to stand in the concession line was kind of for nothing. It took all of 5 minutes.

More people came in finally, but I swear everybody was gone for the weekend or at the grocery store. (where it WAS a zoo.)

I rocked dinner tonight. I made a honey/orange juice/ baja spice marinade and grilled chicken. My kids think I'm awesome for it. Plus salad and fruit salad. I love summer fruit and we have it with every single meal. At least I felt like I was out grilling with the rest of the world since I think all of my neighbors were standing on their decks grilling too. We all kind of raised our BBQ tongs at each other to say hey. Kentucky backyard camaraderie.

Other than that I am incredibly boring. Oh, but I just had to tell Megan to stop yelling at her youngest brother. She doesn't have an indoor voice and especially when she's mad. Which makes it to where I can't be the one to tell Matthew to stop whatever he's doing (probably just looked in her direction I'm sure!) because I can't top the octave she has. So finally I yell loud enough to tell her to stop and that her voice was like nails on a chalkboard. Then silence. Then a little voice from upstairs (Matthew) "Um mommy? What's a chalkboard?" Are you kidding? Another phrase that time has managed to screw up. Now they have dry erase boards, not chalk boards. I also realized how archaic I really am when not too long ago I said somebody sounded like a broken record. "What's a record?" Same with me saying, "OH U2 has a new album!"

"What's an album?" Then I told Megan to grab her walkman one time to go for a walk. "What's a walkman?"

Sigh. Why even try anymore? I'm getting old.

Well if this post didn't end up going all over the place. I hope everybody has a happy and safe weekend!

My brain hurts. I haven't scrapped ANYTHING in forever. The other day I was looking through photos looking for something and I realized that I really have a lot of things I can work with. The excuse of not having any photos isn't going to work. I've just been tired, and unfortunately scrapping has had to take a bit of a back seat. Hopefully doing this one will get me motivated again. The journaling isn't wonderful, but I find that I get myself hung up on stupid things. Instead I just need to write stuff down.

The kids' brains are officially checked out of school right now too. We're down to 10 more days until summer vacation. Mostly I think that it is crazy that we will have been here for a year early next month!

Not much going on here. I have been told on three separate occasions today that I am the *best mom in the world.* Ok, one said that I was the best in the UNIVERSE even. You can't get enough of that when you feel like an old workhorse who has been doing this all on her own for over a month now and you know you've had some less than stellar moments. But when they say that over simple things, it makes it all worth it.

We made cookies today. I should rephrase that - I made cookies while the others helped by licking the bowl and eating cookies. The weather has been phenominal today. We had an awesome thunderstorm around 5:00 this morning that woke me up. It felt so good to wake and realize that it was Saturday. For the 60 seconds I probably remained awake I enjoyed the sound of the rain outside.

Then later in the afternoon we had hollywood rain. The kind that looks like somebody turned it on... straight down and hard. Then *poof* in less than 30 minutes the sun and blue sky were out and everybody is outside playing again. The windows have been open and I can smell fresh cut grass from everybody out doing yards today. Which reminds me that I have to do mine tomorrow. It's a perfect spring day and I love every minute of it.

Shhhh.... the frogs are sleeping. - I LOVE my frogs. I'm sure everybody who knows me knows this. LOL. Mike even gets a weekly update on them. I love when they are all sleeping. They hang out in the plant with their little noses sticking out of the water. They say, "HI Mike! We miss you. Come home soon!"

For some reason the kids have a three day weekend. I'm not sure why, according to the lunch calendar on the refrigerator they have next monday off for memorial day, but I have no clue why they do this week. I'm hoping to go for a little hike with them tomorrow. I think all of our rain is gone for awhile.

That's it. We are amazingly boring.

I found the pictures I took the other day. You know how some people call India for technical support? I called Yemen and got the step by step of where my photos were. :)

Today was such a great day. One of those days where the weather is just incredibly awesome you can't believe you actually live here. I thought fall was great.... man, I ADORE spring.

I went to middle school orientation today. Talk about realizing how big the kids are getting. I'm going to have a middle school child in less than a month.

Nothing going on here, but I wanted to post these for the out of state and country family.

Happy Mother's Day!

Well crap. When the kids asked me what I wanted for Mother's day I told them that I wanted three cooperative children that would let me get pictures of them all together without any funny business. No goofy smiles, no bunny ears behind heads... nothing.

And I did. We went to a neighborhood near here, found a cool red bridge and a paved trail through a little forest, and took more at my house while the kids were playing out in the front yard.

But guess what? I got too crazy with my deleting when I was going through to pick out the bad photos. Now, the photos are still on my card in the camera, so I'm not in a panic yet. I can't figure out how to tell the computer that they need to be downloaded again. Seems it knows somehow. If I take new pictures on this same date, they will show up, but not my other ones. Dang.

I guess I should have told my computer that all I wanted for mother's day was some pictures... without any funny business. Now I have to figure this out on my own or wait for my technical help to come home.

Otherwise today was a nice day. It was quiet, but the weather was so nice after a week of rain so we were out during most of it. I grilled some pork chops out on the deck for dinner, and now I plan on going out and seeding and feeding my yard. My new obsession is fighting dandelions and making my lawn look like a carpet of green. I look like the obsessive guys in the Scott's commercials.

So oooh and ahhh at my fabulous mother's day photos. ;) Aren't they wonderful?

Somtimes you have to grab those moments when you can...

This was yesterday when the boys were sitting out on the front steps waiting for the bus. I love the crispy morning boy hair, just after gel and hairspray, but before the day of running around messes it all up.

They really do get along more than not. But right now they are making me laugh. Matthew didn't want to put away the wii even though he was the last one playing with it. His argument was that Trevor was the first to get it out in the morning. I tell him he has to put it away since he was the last to play it. That's just the way it goes.

So he says, "FINE. But Trevor has to put away the chair." (This chair only needs to be rolled back maybe 3 feet against the wall. It's not like they have to heave it upstairs or anything.)

So Trevor is saying, "Fine Mr. Grumpy pants. Would you like some grumpy fries with that? You know, instead of the ones that look like little smilie faces, but yours could be with little grumpy frownie faces...."

But see? While it took me a minute to write that they are best of friends again.

SUPERfan.

Ugh, this is the smile I get when I ask to see his teeth for once. He's such a serious picture taker.

This is THE shirt. I told Mike I had bought it for him and he wanted to see a picture. Matthew told me that he is going to grow up to be a professional Reds Superfan. He has a hat, and wants to wear it and the shirt to a game when Mike comes home. He also wants to put a C on each buttcheek so he says, which will be covered by his Reds underwear and his Reds pants. I'm not sure what made him decide that he loves them so much, but this kid does. He comments on anybody wearing any Reds anything and makes a big deal when we drive by the Great American Ballpark.

This shirt is worn every time it is clean. And lets just say that I pretty much do a load of laundry every day, so it is well loved. Who knew?

** observations from today **

speaking of Cincinnati... today I went to Costco and some other shopping across the river. My sense of smell has always been intense. I think all of my memories have some sort of smell that I remember right along with them. I think my earliest is when I was little... I don't even know how old I was but I remember living in Florida and my dad was putting in a brick sidewalk near our front door. I can still smell it. Anytime since then... when I smell wet cement it takes me right back.

So I was realizing on my way through the city on the interstate the different smells. There are so many factories along the way, and the weird thing is, each mile you pass kind of has it's own smell. Some days you can smell soap from the St. Bernard Soap Co. Some days you smell bacon when John Morrell is cooking. Or another factory where they make TV dinners and you can smell the food. Today was Fruit Loop day. There's a General Mills factory and it hit me. It smelled so good. I swear it was Fruit Loops.

Derby day!

Well one cool thing living here is that a lot seems to revolve around the derby in the way of parties like superbowl parties, carnivals, etc. Another is that the kids learned a little bit about the derby and the history of it in school this week. They are getting ready for a week full of end of year KCTS tests next week, (AIMS in AZ) so today they had some down time to talk about other things like this weekends' Kentucky Derby.

Matthew's class came up with horses that they named and colored racing silks in the colors that they wanted. You'll never guess the name of Matthew's horse. Typical boy. Typical Matthew. His fictitious horse is named "Hoof hearted." Say it like he does as he announces his horse "AND Hoof hearted (sounds like who farted if you say it fast enough) comes around the corner!!" He has been laughing about this allll day. - OK, and I have too. It's pretty funny.

Ball? Ball? Throw my ball????

"If I sit here and stare at you long enough while you are on the computer, will you throw it for me? Hello? If I pick it up in my mouth and throw it on the floor enough times and back up wagging my tail and still stare at you will you pleeeeease throw it for me? Will ya huh huh huh?"

This dog is such a dork. For letting me get a quick picture of her, I DID throw the ball. Just so you know. I also should mention that sometimes when I talk to Mike on skype that he can see her behind me and will taunt her by saying, "Piper get your ball." Which she'll go get, but he can't throw it from Yemen so I still end up playing with her.

Well this week has flown by. A recap... for those who care....lol.

Mike left last weekend. We're back to being solo. One week down.

It hailed on Monday, but today is 80 something degrees. Go figure. I do love the weather here... I like that it is always a surprise.

Megan went on an overnight field trip with the entire 5th grade to General Butler State Park . All of those kids and chaperones stayed in the lodge. It sounds like it was a lot of fun. I'm kind of jealous because one goal I have living here is to visit ALL of the state parks. Megan now has been to two, and I've been to one. Who knew I was so outdoorsy?

Trevor and Matthew have both been super busy being social after school riding bikes with neighborhood kids and going out for ice cream. It's interesting now that Matthew is old enough to have people invite him over to do things that don't include being an official planned playdate. It's a little reminder that my baby is getting bigger.

Matthew and I also planted some new plants in the beds in the front of the house. He's a hard worker and thankfully loves dirt.

and lastly my frogs are still good... and cute as can be. I love those frogs. :)

Clearly I need more to do other than routine house cleaning, school stuff, errands and laundry. Which somehow keeps me on the run from the moment I wake up until I crash at midnight but dang it doesn't look very exciting when you actually type it all out!

Have a great weekend!

random photos from a springy Saturday.

This boy is reading like mad. I don't know why he decided of all places to hop up on the counter to read a book, but he looked pretty cute doing it. All three of my kids love reading the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid books.

Today was a gorgeous spring day. Everybody was outside working in their yards. I was no exception. I was popping dandelions out of my flowerbeds and tree well while the kids were out front roaming the street or playing in the driveway. - I love sidewalk chalk. :)

One of my pretty bushes in my front yard. I have no clue what it is, but they are huge happy flowers. My neighbors have tulips that are seriously the size of my hand. I have to get some bulbs for next spring. Until then, I just look at theirs and plot going across the street with scissors in the middle of the night. (I'm kidding. I wouldn't go steal somebody's tulips for my kitchen table, but yeah I still like to think like a criminal!)

There is a nursery near my house. It is pretty big, and they grow all of the plants right there. This little field makes me smile whenever I pass it. It's not the greatest photo since it was taken from the car.... but I love those little plants!

Hope everybody is having a nice weekend!

Just trying to kill some time while waiting for the bus to drop off my boys.... then the silence will be broken. LOL.

This is Trevor enjoying his new Easter present - Pokemon Platinum for his DS. He's my gamer. I love watching him play Rayman Raving Rabbids. That game is hysterical, and the rabbits are so weird I love them. I'll see him dancing and hear Toxic coming from the other room. The other day he and Mike were doing some thing to "Wake me up before you go go" from Wham. It's so funny. I have to get in on it, but I've loved having the time to do some other things while Mike has been home and spending time with the kids and the games.

Once Mike leaves again I'll secretly be practicing during the day when the kids are at school. ;)

On a side note, Spring has left us for a couple of days. It's 40 degrees out, cloudy and cold. I love days like this, but the tulips in the area seem to be screaming for some sun.

Easter surprise.

Easter Sunday was the first day of the big surprise for the kids that Mike had planned for when he came home. We went overnight (Sunday and Monday) to Great Wolf Lodge in Ohio.

It is the coolest place. It is always 84 degrees in this HUGE indoor waterpark. So I think it may have to become a winter vacation tradition. It would be cool to watch it snow outside while you are going down slides and tubing in a wave pool inside. The hotel is attached, so you never need to go outside between the park and your room. The kids had an absolute blast. Mike and I are waterlogged and totally worn out at this point.

We didn't have time to put together Matthew's new Star Wars lego set before we left, but he brought Darth Vader with him. He held him in his hand the whole car ride up to Mason (not far from our house at all....maybe an hour at the most.) On Sunday night after a full day of playing at the waterpark, this photo is what I found in his bed. Totally zonked.

I didn't get many pictures since I decided I'd be IN on the family stuff this time. Now for my awesomeness in being a mom, getting wet, being in public with a bathing suit and NO makeup, I am going to enjoy all of my Sunday night TV programming with the fireplace on. :) I hope everybody had a very nice Easter weekend!

Happy Easter!

I know, what do you do when you have the perfect place to put a little bunch of flowers....and you just can't resist? Especially when said person's rear end is stuck at eye level in the V of a tree? She'll hate me for this someday I'm sure. Or she can get me back when I'm old and unable to get around on my own and have no grounding power over her anymore.

Boys and sticks. We went to a park the other day where we spent hours playing in a little creek, and watching dandelion boats make their way down little waterfalls. I love simple and mindless fun like that.

Anyway... just popping in to say happy easter. I thought I had another week. Does Easter seem early this year or what? So I had to do a little more "Oh crap, I have to finish up some candy shopping for easter today."

Matthew reminded me that tomorrow is easter. I bought some stuff a couple of months ago, but put off the biggies like the chocolate because I knew if that was in my house I'd eat it! Cuz I'm lame like that. Chocolate is not safe.

My boys are each getting Darth Vadar mugs with candy in them. Then Matthew is getting a Star Wars lego set. I had to laugh at Ali's blog where it says that she's having a star wars easter too. Then Trevor is getting a Pokemon game for his DS, and Megan got a package in the mail earlier this week with a model horse set that she had been saving for that I found on ebay. The Easter Bunny ended up bidding on it for her. Sometimes not having to do all the 'magic' at Easter is easier when there is something specific they are wanting so I jumped on it. Here they are, the newest in her collection.

Happy Easter!

It's all good.

After 20+ hours on an airplane... Yemen to Paris, Paris to Cincinnati.....

All under one roof again. Yay!

Matthew is in there somewhere...he's just little.

See that kid? This is an email I got from his teacher on Friday. I had to share with the out of town fam.

Kerry,
I am so excited I wanted to share with you the great news. We just tested Matthew in reading and he is reading at a third grade third month level. I already shared the news with him because I couldn’t hold it in. We were both delighted and thought you should join in the celebration! I will try to run off the test scores and send them home with him today. Keep up the reading at home-it is definitely paying off. - I am so proud of this kid. :)

Also... guess who is on his way to Paris right now, and then on the way home from there?

Spring break day #1!

The kids have me worn out from today. See above layout. We went to the park for a picnic and did a lot of walking and playing. We were trying to squeeze in a picnic before it starts to rain and snow for the next couple of days. Luckily, two of our big spring break plans are indoors... so I'm not too worried about the weather. Hopefully it will clear up by the end of the week and we'll be outside again soon anyway.

We plan on going to the Cincinnati Aquarium at Newport On The Levee.... a very cool outdoor place with theaters and restaurants on the river. Last time Megan and Mike went over there, they parked on the Kentucky side and walked across the big bridge over the Ohio River. I hope to do that too..... weather permitting. Matthew is crossing his fingers to go to a Reds game, which opens this week too.

Then a big surprise for the kids at the end of the week! Yeeeee!

They won't win any photography awards.... but Matthew and I were out front for a bit and I finally got my camera back out. Looking at these though, I just thought his long skinny bright white legs were really cute.

- and Megan came home from school today with a recorder. Yay. Can you feel my excitement? Thank goodness they have another song this year. Last year in Arizona it was Three Blind Mice. Over..and over...and over....

5 more days until Mike gets home! I'm looking into good day road trips to keep us busy during spring break. Our big surprise for the kids is at the end of spring break, so we need some things to do before then. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for a lot of trips to parks and outdoor things!

Weekend. And COME ON what happended to spring?

Sorry, no picture today. I have to admit to being lazy about taking pictures just because I've either been part of what is going on with playing outdoors or it's been too cold to go out and do anything worthy of taking pictures. March is a weird month. It's COLD today. I like the cold... don't get me wrong, but I have been teased with a few incredibly perfect warm days this past week, and it has been nice to be out soaking it all up and doing outdoor things.

Of course then, there's days like today where I just plain old forget about taking it with me. Three times now I have been over by Turfway Park when the horses have been out. Each time I forget to have my camera with me. Today Megan, Matthew and I stopped at PetsMart to kill time while waiting for Trevor at a birthday party. We went to see the frogs and turtles, and the dogs in the training classes. PetsMart and Target are next to the race track. Every now and then I'll be walking across the parking lot and a dozen horses will run by. It's a cool sound and just makes me think, "Dang, I love Kentucky!"

Today when we got in the car I saw that the race horses were being led out and and going towards the starting gate. We pulled around to the other side of the track where we parked right up at the fence and watched as the horses came around the corner on the last stretch of the race. Literally.... 20 feet from the car. Megan and I loved it. Matthew just played DS, I don't think he knew horses just galloped by him.

But as usual, here is another time where I have been at Turfway without my camera. It would have been pretty cool to get a picture of Megan watching the horses at the fence.

So that has been our day. I'm hoping for some warm weather this week to get out and do some things. It looks like we have rain coming for the next couple of days. BUT then Mike will be home in the first part of April, and we have some pretty cool plans for spring break! YAY!

For the out of state fam...

Dang, this kid is getting big too. I'm not kidding when I say that even with the two year difference in age, when my boys are back to back I can't tell them apart from behind... except one has blond hair and one has brown. They're like little weeds!

We've had a rainy day today, which has been wonderful. After the kids got home it did stop long enough for us to go out and throw a football around. I'm doing my best to not play like a girl. It's hard because both boys have a pretty wicked spin when they throw. At least now I actually keep my eyes open to try to catch it. - And I don't squeal anymore. The things you have to do when daddy is out of town. - I did have to exchange a quick photo opportunity for some football.

I'm also official today. I have a Kentucky license plate on my car. Nothing like waiting until the last possible moment. But now I have a pretty horsie on my car! Much to Megan's and my happiness.

outside

Today is one of those days where everybody is outside. We've had kids coming and going all day, and then went out front and played in our driveway for awhile. Thanks Trevor for letting me get a picture of you during a little break. I swear this guy has grown a couple of inches over the past month.

Here is our tree in front of our house. Just two months ago it was covered with ice. All of the trees around here right now look like this, mostly on a bigger scale because I think we have the smallest one ever. When the huge trees look like this, they are just gorgeous.


Matthew took a spill when he went down the hill on his bike. He had a helmet on, but of course the rule is when you are wearing that helmet some other part of you is going to take the brunt of the fall. His knee didn't fare too well. Poor guy. So he kind of sat on the skateboard after that...

and admired his handywork at bandaging himself up. He's always been like that. He likes to take care of himself but then needs me to smother him with hugs and kisses, and some lap time. At least he still needs me. :)

Last dental day... for 6 more months! Yay!

I haven't scrapped in a couple of weeks. Digital or paper. But yesterday I bought a ream of textured white paper to work on my blog album for a little bit and get caught up from the past couple of months, and then I did this one really quick tonight. (I just found the typo dang it!)

Hopefully with the weekend here I'll get more done. When it's been put away for a little bit and I get a chance to do something I remember how good it feels. I was thinking about how much I love keeping a blog and how it goes hand in hand with scrapping. I usually pull my journaling right from an entry so I don't have scattered papers jotted with notes all over the place anymore. I'm finally embracing technology! LOL!

Trevor and I spent the day together today. He was a riot at the dentist. The laughing gas was making him talk the entire time. But he had that clamp in his mouth that keeps his mouth open so all you heard was him making noises. It was funny and sounded like listening to somebody talk from behind a wall. This went on for like 45 minutes. Every now and then he'd laugh at whatever he was saying. He told me after he got out of the chair something about turtles. I don't think he had any clue he was at the dentist once he was in the chair. I promised him I'd hold his hand the entire time because he was all clammy before we went back. You could just feel his hand so relaxed and his legs trying to roll off the chair. I don't think he would have noticed if I wasn't there.

I had plans on stopping at Fountain Square for lunch since the day was so nice out. There are restaurants and food vendors, and it's just a neat place to be with all the people and sitting by the fountain. It's pretty when the weather is nice. But he was craving pizza - Donatos in particular which is his favorite. - So we'll have to go back downtown another time.

Happy day!

Today was such a beautiful day. I went to Meijer to pick up a couple of things for dinner, and noticed that the garden department was open. It is closed during the winter for obvious reasons...lol. It felt so good to walk around amongst all of the new trees and flowers!

We have lost two small trees in the front of our house since moving in from windstorms. I've been sick about it ever since because I love my trees. So I was excited to see some new ones in pots ready to be sold. When Mike comes home, that is one of our projects, for sure!

I also picked up some tulips for my table. There is nothing that lifts a mood better than a fresh vase of flowers on my table. Infact they always motivate me to clean up the kitchen area really well because I don't want to lose something so pretty in all the caos. So right now when I walk into my kitchen I smile at my flowers. Why don't I buy them more often? Mike is good about bringing me flowers, but I always forget to get some for myself. I have to remember to do this more often.

If the trees around here are any indication, it looks like spring is here. I remember from the news last year that this area had snow on Easter, so we’ll see what this month brings. But for now I am loving that all of the trees have these bright red or green buds all over them, and the grass is starting to turn green again. I think I like spring. I’m not used to enjoying it as a season, since in Arizona, it’s about a week long. But from what I have noticed here it is an event. There is a lot of yard work going on, with lots of planting. My favorite family nursery that I live by is all stocked with new trees and annuals. It's one of my favorite places to pass on my way home.

Another sign is the Kona truck is back. I have to say there has been a little scene around here that has melted my heart. First Megan went up to her room to get her box of money that she has been saving all winter. She wanted to buy her brothers a snow cone. Then one little girl who lives across the street who is in kindergarten and totally fascinated with Megan, was watching as the kids were all standing in line at the truck. Megan went and asked her mom if she could buy her a snowcone. So the two girls ended up skipping down the street together to buy Molly a snowcone.

Megan never got herself a thing. She’s always like that. She’s going to be a great woman someday. She just makes me so proud.

Then as I was taking a break from trying to fix my stupid garbage disposal, I looked out the window and saw my two boys sitting next to each other on the sidewalk watching the world go by as they ate. They were just talking to each other which was so nice. Sometimes I have to wonder how they can argue and not be able to stand each other but then are the best of friends 5 minutes later. It’s awesome. I’m glad they have each other.

This week has been wonderful now that the weather is beautiful. Since the moment the kids got home from school they have been roaming the neighborhood with other kids. I think there is a big game of hide and go seek that spans about a block wide. That’s the nice thing about the openness here, and no fences. Plus the way the houses are situated, you can see pretty much where everybody is. Then all it takes is a yell out the front door from moms’ everywhere when it’s time for dinner. It’s kind of Norman Rockwell-ish, and I love every bit of it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Is it already March? While I did send the kids to school in new green tshirts today, that is about the extent of my holiday planning. I'm comfortable with my Irishness... I mean being named after a county in Ireland should keep me from being pinched all year. I've even been listening to U2. Now that I think about it, if I go by those two things alone it is technically St. Patrick's Day year round. LOL!

But tonight we are having spaghetti, breadsticks and an antipasta salad. One of Matthew's favorites, and a meal that never gets any 'Aw man' reactions from the kids. Irish people eat Italian food once in awhile don't they?

little update

I'm here! It has been forever since I've blogged. A little insomnia, a little busy with life stuff, a little worn down and waiting for Mike to get back from Yemen to make me some salsa.

Matthew was so sweet yesterday. He woke up, threw his arms around me and just said, "Have I ever told you how much I love you??" I said, "No...tell me! I love to hear it!" He told me that I'm the best mom in the whole universe. There is no better way to start the day I tell you. He's a good kid. And the best Matthew in the universe too!

He's also leaning towards the dark side. I asked him yesterday if he wanted to watch Thomas with me. (He still plays with the trains, and we still read a Thomas book a couple times a week) but another force is starting to eek it's way into his life right now. Darth Vader. Yes.... he loves Darth. He came home from school when they had the 100th day of school and brought a poster he had made. It had 100 cut from die cut paper sticking out of the top of a piece of black construction paper. He wrote, "I wish for 100 Lego Darth Vaders. Because I love Darth Vader. He is so cool." Then a little picture that he drew.

He's still sleeping with his Lego storm troopers, (They hurt to sleep on when I don't find them all before I go to bed.) and reminds me every now and then that he hopes he'll get the Lego set that comes with the real Vader and his tie fighter. Every now and then he'll ask about chores in hopes of earning money towards it, or asks when the next gift giving holiday is. Little does he know... there's a secret box in the garage. The Easter Bunny is bringing it to him. Along with a cool helmet shaped Darth Vader mug amongst the cheery spring peeps, chocolate bunnies and candy filled easter eggs. :)

This picture of Matthew was from this weekend. We went to a place called Boone Woods. This park is awesome, and we'll be going back this weekend. It is heaven for kids. There is a big play fort with levels and concrete tubes to crawl through. Soccer fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, a cabin to play in, bridges, big knocked over trees to walk on and the best ever..... running creeks! They had so much fun jumping over the water, leaping from rock to rock and all that dangerous kid stuff. It was perfect. Except that we started to get rained out... but we're looking forward to going back.

Trevor has a field trip tomorrow to the Cincinnati Science Museum. It's rescheduled from a snow day.... he can't wait. Megan has a field trip to the Florence Government Center on Wednesday. Then back to Cincy for a dental appointment on Thursday for the T Man. We're going to have lunch together. It's going to be a busy week. :)

I'm trying to work on some more of the kid's baby albums. These are from Megan when I found out she was a girl! I noticed the date on the photos was March 17th 1998 too! Hard to believe that so many years later.

Time for us to watch The Amazing Race.... which is our big thing to do on Sunday night. The kids and I all watch it together.

- and speaking of reality shows, how did I miss The Apprentice for so many seasons? I started watching the one from this season - Celebrity Apprentice. Just what I needed was another reality tv show to watch! There's no hope for me. ;)

friday night.

Ugggghhhh.... Insomnia sucks. I had it again last night and couldn't fall asleep until after 3:00. I even took a little nap earlier today, but it's hitting me really hard right now. I'm ready for bed, but I have to wait until I pick up Megan from school. She wanted to watch the talent show tonight. I wish I could have just given her the keys to my car. ;)

Which my sleepiness makes me wonder if I like this layout or not. I had so much more in mind for my journaling, but this is pretty much all I could muster tonight. This girl and her reading lately has been amazing. She puts me to shame. She finishes books bigger than mine in two nights. Me? I fall asleep reading a one page article in a magazine. She has the second highest points in the entire 5th grade for AR.... and she just keeps going. We are literally at the library a couple of times a week right now.

Happy weekend. Yawn... I'm out.

No line on the horizon....

Mmmm. Happy day. Why are you not out buying the NEW U2 album?!? Go. Quickly! Seriously....

Ah today brings back memories of going to Tower Records on Mill Avenue - going back to the U section - and picking up my new 12 inch vinyl disc of whatever album was new at the time. War, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree.... etc. I always bought the vinyl version because you always got cool goodies like a gatefold picture or a little poster and then bought the cassette version for my walkman. Man, does this sound like dinosaur days or what?

Then we moved on to the CDs. And I became a mom. And I'd end up buying a new album from Target along with a package of diapers, or hairspray. Sorry Tower Records.... but I still have a spot in my heart for you.

So today I'm going out to get my new CD. My poor kids and neighbors will love me by the end of the day I'm sure. Mike will be happy he's in Yemen.

I have heard Sexy Boots two days in a row at the same time in the morning that I am doing my hair and putting my makeup on. There's something really nice about hearing Bono sing "You don't know how beautiful you are." when you are staring yourself in the mirror. Thanks guys... you still know me! LOL! ;)

Oh and if the day can't get any better.... I read this morning that there will be another album from them later this year. Supposedly a companion album to this one. Yeeeeeeee! OH and remember when I said in a random post awhile ago that I would LOVE an album with U2 and Green Day? A photo on the U2 site shows Edge and Billy Joe together. Could I at least have gotten another song from the two? Gasp!!! Infact.... MADDY GASP!

Peace and love y'all. I'm outta here and will have happy ears.