My First Blog Awards!

Wow, I received my first two blog awards all within the same week! Seriously, I'm not worthy of them. There are so many really cool blogs out there and I frequent some really awesome ones. So I'm very grateful to Dianna and Stimey for these. You're just too sweet.
Dianna passed on this one to me: Spread the Love Award. I could have the crappiest blog on the net and she probably would have given it to me anyway because she loves me!

Stimey passed this one to me: MWAH!! I have no clue how I stumbled across her blog but when I saw she had 3 boys as well and they were fairly close in age, I had to take a look, and I've been hooked ever since. This chic makes me laugh too!


So now I get to pass them on. Since they are fairly similar am I'm fairly limited on time at the moment (a certain 2 year old is destroying everything on my computer desk!), I will pass both awards on. Besides, who wouldn't love two???

Dianna at Learning to Take Time --She's been my best friend since birth and is one of the few constants in my life that keeps me sane!

Stimey at Stimeyland ---she has a way of writing about Motherhood that makes you laugh even when she's writing about poop and vomit. You HAVE to have a sense of humor to survive that!

Abbie at Just As I Am ----I've only recently "met" her but we have many things in common and she never fails to make me laugh my butt off. Another cool chic!

Uncle Joe at blog blog blog-- I can't forget my Uncle Joe!! I think he kind of started his blog as a joke but it has become a hilarious way for the family to keep in touch and have some good laughs. We may not admit it out loud, but we all secretly look forward to our birthdays so we can see what embarrassing pictures he'll post of us.

Amy at Caffinated Cropper---she loves coffee, scrapbooking,has boys and lives in Belleville! What's not to love about THAT? :) She's also one of the amazing women I've "met" through Dianna's A Deck Of Me Challenge. There are so many talented ladies doing this challenge and hopefully some day I'll have time to read ALL of their blogs.

Gotta cut this short. Aiden is under the computer desk now and I fear my power may get pulled. Yikes. AIDENNNNNN!

Great Quotes For The Week

Aiden and I were playing with his Geometric Sorting Board the other day. He was naming all the colors of the shapes so I decided to quiz him on the shapes themselves. I hold up a circle, no problem. I hold up a triangle, right again. He struggled a bit with the rectangle but eventually got it. I hold up the square and he shouts "PENTAGON!". He may have missed the square, but the kids scores extra points for saying 'pentagon'. Besides, he was only off by one side, right??
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Todd usually leaves for work before the kids and I get up. On Wednesday he was still home when we woke up. As he was leaving, I happen to look at his pants and they are a wrinkled mess. One of my bad habits is doing a ton of laundry in one day and then not getting around to folding it all that day. Well, these pants obviously sat wadded up in the laundry basket too long and my dear sweet husband had no clue he was putting on wrinkled pants, or maybe he just didn't care. I said "Uh, Todd I think you need to do something about those pants, you really can't wear those to work". Drew chimes in "Yeah, Dad, it looks like you're wearing tissue paper". He can be so subtle.
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On a more serious note, I found this awesome quote in a Paper Crafts magazine I was reading the other day and it really stuck with me.
"You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety" ---Abraham Maslow
That is something I struggle with every day. I want to try new things and grow more as a person, but I keep hanging back in my safety net. I sort of toe the line between moving forward and stepping back.
This would have been a great quote a couple of weeks ago for my Deck of Me Challenge. We had to find a quote that best described ourself at that moment. I found a couple that worked but this would have been awesome too.
(If you're interested in keeping up with my Deck of Me challenge, click on the link to the right that says A Deck of Me Challenge) I have more cards to add but am still having camera problems. Our docking station no longer charges. We've even bought new batteries. It will still upload pics though. Any ideas anyone?? Guess I'll use regular batteries for now till I get it sorted out.

Catholic Schools Week

This week is Catholic Schools Week. I'm sure you gathered that from the title. But I thought I'd point it out just in case. I loved this week as a kid becuase it meant all kinds of fun activities at school. The same holds true all of these years later. The boys had been looking forward to it for awhile now. This morning was the open house at school for the parents. Todd took a half day off of school to meet up with me and the boys. We had a school mass and then spent time in their classrooms. I always love being involved in some of the fun activities at the boys' school and it always reminds me once again why I am so happy we chose Catholic School for our children. (Disclaimer--I have absolutely nothing against the public schools, there are some very good ones out there. I'm just happy so very happy with the school we are at) I like that my kids can walk down the hall and the older kids know them by name. I like that the other teachers know who they are. I like that K-8 are in the same building and various activities are encouraged between the older kids and younger kids. I love that my kids are getting a religious education. I love that my kids feel safe, secure and happy at their school and have a lot of friends to pal around with. I love that when we are there, everyone knows Aiden's name and whose little brother he is. I love that St Dominic's feels like one big family.
Unfortunately I DON'T like all the turmoil that arose from closing certain churches down and rearranging the schools. I hate change as much as the next guy but at the same time, we have to do what we can to carry on. And let's face it, Catholic schools and churches seem to be dying out everywhere. There isn't the money to support it and not always the people either. So this Catholic Schools Week let's support our schools and let them know they are appreciated!

My Happys For The Day

I have another crappy head cold settling in so instead of grumbling about it, I'm going to write about the things that made me HAPPY yesterday.
Catholic Schools Week is this week so the boys have all kinds of fun activities planned at school. Yesterday they kicked off the week with a prayer service. Noah was asked to read one of the petitions for that. He was so excited--this was his first time to get up at church and read. We practiced and practiced Sunday night. He came home from school on Monday with a huge smile on his face and said it went really well. He said his teacher was sitting nearby with her paper in case he needed help and he said he didn't need her help, he did it all on his own. What I wouldn't have given to have been there! Just to see the proud accomplishment on his little 6 year old face was one major HAPPY for my day.
When I got home last night from working, Todd asked me to come in the basement and look at something really quick. Him and the boys surprised me with a desk and bookshelf that I had seen REALLY CHEAP in the Walmart ad Sunday. I had been thinking of using the rest of my xmas money to get it for my craft table. The bookshelf came free with it. They bought it and put it together for me and then got it all set up in the storage room with all of my scrapbooking stuff. My storage room isn't the most glamorous place, but it's clean and it's Aiden proof. Meaning I can keep all of my stuff spread out on my desk so I can work a bit here and there and no one can mess it up. It's also on the opposite side of the wall from my computer so I can run over and print things out when I need to. I'm so excited. So when Aiden naps today, I'm going to organize all of my stuff in there. Woohoo. I'll have to post a pic when my camera is back up and running. Dead battery.

I Heard The Angels Sing

Halleluiah! Halleluiah!

All of my old kitchen cabinets are gone from our garage. I can now park my van in there and will no longer need to spend freezing cold mornings scraping ice off of my windshield. It's the little things in life that make me happy.

I'm It!

I love a good ole game of tag. Aunt Jer just tagged me with this one.
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How long have you been blogging?
I started in June 2006 on momsblog.com but then made the move here and love this site so much better. It's hard to believe it's been a year and a half.
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What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?
I enjoy reading other blogs and thought it would be a great and easy way to document all of my memories,both good and bad, of my life as a mom with 3 boys. I've already gone back and read older posts and realize I had forgotten some of those little tidbits. No mentors really.
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Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?
For fun!
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What 3 things do you love about being online?
Staying in touch with family and friends.
Having a world of information and entertainment at my finger tips.
Shopping.
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What 3 things do you struggle with online?
Having things you say being miscontrued because they can't hear the tone of your voice.
I have withdrawal when my computer isn't working.
I hate spam!

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I'm not going to tag anyone other than Dianna maybe! But if you want to join in, feel free to!

The Day Ended Better Than It Began.....

My day may have started off on the wrong foot yesterday, but here's how it ended.

Todd and I were busy working in the kitchen and peeked in the living room to find them cuddled on the couch watching TV. It was too sweet for words.
I tried to take a second picture but as I snapped the camera, Noah fell off the couch. I managed to catch him in the act though! :)

"The Best Part of Waking Up....

Is Folgers In Your Cup" You know the commercials. Everybody is happy and ready to start the day, they have their cup of morning coffee and Oh Joy. Well, that did NOT happen at our house this morning. I survived it and I'm here to tell about it. It gets pretty messy, let me tell ya. It all started with 3 kids waking up earlier than normal. That's never a good way for ole mom to start the day. At 6:30am I had Aiden yelling at me because I wouldn't let him have fruit snacks for breakfast. Lock me up for that one. By 6:45 I had Drew ticked at me because I wouldn't let him play Nintendo DS. He knows the rules....he has to be completely ready to leave for school and then if there is time, it's ok. Well apparently he didn't get much time to play the day before and thought he needed to make that up. He ended up throwing a fit and blaming it all on me. I told him to go to his room until he could be nice to be around. Boy, I'm cruel, call the hotline. By 7:00am I hear Noah yell "OH NO" from the kitchen and then hear what sounds like Niagara Falls hitting my kitchen floor. I run in and he had spilled a whole new juice container of BERRY flavored juice on the floor. I lost it. I know it was an accident but by that point, it was safer to stay away. Aiden didn't get it though. I'm trying to clean up the mess and he's standing there crying for juice. HUH?? I'm just a little busy right now bud. I've mopped twice but your feet still stick to the floor when you walk through. Guess what I'm going to do in about 5 minutes?? Scrub the whole kitchen floor by hand. Oh, and if you have any great ideas on how to turn berry colored grout back to it's original gray color, I'd love to hear it. Berry just doesn't go with my new kitchen. Ha, you think I'm done, huh?? Well I get the two older boys off to school, come home and make my soothing comforting cup of coffee (thinking a shot of Bailey's in it would taste really good right about now) I'm calm, happy, Aiden is happy. A short time later I'm getting ready for Aiden and I to go to his Music Matters class. I'm fixing my hair and he's happily playing with his Little Tykes work bench. I guess it got quiet and I didn't notice. He comes walking in my room holding one of his little stacking cups with something in it and he's drinking it. I asked him what it was and he says "Milk". Where did you get the milk, I ask him. (I know I can not possibly like the answer to this question) He says, "Right here" and takes me in his room where there is an almost empty gallon of milk. Before I can say anything else, I look down and see this milky lake on his carpet that just happens to be running down into the heating vent. So I jump into action to clean that up before too much damage is done. The cute little stinker has the nerve to ask me, "Mom, you happy?". What do you think kiddo??

Noah's Got It All Figured Out....

This morning at breakfast I gave the boys their vitamins. I then took one of mine. Aiden asked what it was and I said "It's mommy's vitamin, I have to be healthy too" To which Noah replied "Yeah she needs to be healthy or we won't have any more babies". Excuse me?? He said that me eating a lot of healthy things will make a baby grow in my tummy. I said, "Oh, is that how it works?" Noah said "I don't know, I'm just guessing". Sweet, sweet Noah, you just go on thinking that. And by the way, for the 100th time, there will be no more babies. 3 is our magic number, remember??
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Aiden was reunited with his long lost love last night. We took Barney with us to Drew's basketball game on Sunday and somehow in the confusion of getting all 5 of us bundled up and gathering are stuff, Barney got left behind. When we got home and saw how distraught he was, Drew and I went back and looked for him. No Barney to be found. I left a message on the CYO machine about it and they called last night. He had found it propped up against his office door. Aiden was thrilled to pieces to get his Barney back. When we explained to him on Sunday that Barney was gone, his lower lip came out and he started that little whimpering noise you make when you're trying not to cry. It about tore Todd and I's heart out.
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Speaking of sports, Drew's basketball games are pretty fun. Who knew 3rd and 4th graders could put on a real game. It's fun to watch. Drew scored too which is even more exciting. But his indoor soccer is awesome this session. They got a few new players that rock and the team is really improving. Saturdays' game we were on the edge of our seats, it was close almost the whole time. Drew did awesome that day too. He prefers to play defense, which he is really good at but when he plays forward, he does awesome too. (And I'm not biased at all am I?)

Breakthrough!

Aiden made the "N" sound tonight. I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it. What's the big deal, you ask? It's one sound he's worked on over and over in speech therapy and he couldn't get it, especially at the beginning of words. He said "oah" instead of 'Noah.' He said "mo" for 'no' and 'know'. Tonight he asked to watch Toy Story and I said he had to ask Noah since they were going to watch something together. He walked right in the living room and said "Noah, we watch this?" I thought I heard wrong, so I went to him and had him repeat Noah's name over and over. Sure enough, he said it correctly each time. I can't wait to tell his speech therapist on Monday. Noah was so excited too, it was cute. Way to go Aiden!

To Infinity and Beyond.......

Buzz Lightyear With An Attitude



This kid HATES to get his picture taken, always has. Can you tell he's humoring me??

Seriously..............

If I EVER get some crazy hare brained idea to do ANY remodeling in my house again, PLEASE someone beat me with the stupid stick.

I Know My Colors!

Aiden and I were playing with his pegboard today and I was quizzing him on the colors of all of the pegs. He would call out the color and I'd tell him "Good Job". A few minutes later, he says "What color is this?" I told him it was purple. He then replies "Good job, mommy!" and gives me a thumbs up sign. I'm so proud.

Skate Fever

Tonight was the school skating party. I remember how much fun I had at mine back in grade school. It was one of the big social events of the school year. Who would I skate with on the moonlight skate?? That was always the big talk among us girls. I got to take Drew and Noah to the skating party tonight and I really enjoyed myself. I asked Noah if he wanted me to help him skate and he said no. I was a little excited, thinking I could sit off to the side, catch up on my magazine reading, talk with some moms. But I never did read. I had too much fun watching and chatting. This was only Noah's 3rd time skating and bless his heart, he gave it all he had. By the end of the night, he could actually skate out in the middle without holding on to the handrail. I had to laugh because they played a game called Wipeout. Every time they said 'wipeout' over the loudspeaker, you had to hit the floor as fast as you could. Noah rocked at that game! :) Drew did pretty well on skates, he's had more practice though. His little arms and legs would be flailing all over at times, but the kid never fell. I don't know how he did it. He just kept cruising along. A lot of the kids in their classes were there and it was just so fun watching them have a great time. I have to admit I wanted to get out there and skate. For the longest time, no other parents were skating but some finally broke down and did it as the night progressed. I had planned on bringing my camera to catch some cute shots but in our mad rush to get out the door, I forgot it. Next time!

The Moments That Melt Your Heart

As we were leaving Matt and Beth's house Saturday night, Blake runs to the door and yells out "Noah, come give me a hug!" Noah came back up to the door and hugged Blake and Blake gave him a kiss on the cheek. What more can I say?? It was one of those sweet little moments that you play over and over in your mind. That's what family is all about.

7 (more) Random Things

Here you go Dianna, I'm finally doing it.

7 more random things about me.

1. I'm getting my first (and only) tattoo in a couple of weeks. Todd and I had wanted to do it for awhile so for our 35 bdays we decided to give it a go. Todd's turned out so cool. I already know what I want, just gotta get in there!

2. I have a phobia about committment. I'm scared to committ to anything. The thought of picking out our new kitty is making me nervous and trying to decide on our new countertops for the kitchen is making my stomach churn. I hate decisions.

3. Shhh, don't tell anyone but I have a crush on Grant from Ghost Hunters.

4. I get some sort of sick pleasure from cutting my kids nails and cleaning out their ears. Must be from some primitive animal instinct.

5. In college, my roommates and I discovered that dipping our popcorn in Dr Pepper tasted really good. That was our late night snack. Maybe we were studying too much.....or maybe we were partying too much. Todd thinks it just makes soggy popcorn. But Drew, my soulmate child, likes it too.

6. I'm searching for my inner creativity. I don't put near enough time or effort into it and want too. I'm doing Dianna's "A Deck of Me" Challenge.
"A Deck Of Me"



7. We bought a house today!! No, we're not moving, but I knew that would get you. We really did buy a house......in St Louis. Todd's brother is flipping houses down there and making some darn good profit off of it. He'd like to do more but can only buy so many at a time. So Todd's parents and us each bought one (we had our house reappraised--very happy with the results and have a line of equity set up now). Scott will take care of everything and will split the profit with us. We're very excited and if this turns out well, we will buy another one. The goal is to use some of the money to buy a new minivan and to keep buying houses as long as it works out.

I have a niece!!

Ellie finally made her arrival yesterday. Now I have two beautiful nephews and one beautiful niece. She really is a doll and I can't wait to snuggle and love her all up.
Ellie, I'm so glad you're here. I feel as if you've been a part of our family for awhile. It's amazing how you can fall in love with someone even before you ever meet or see them. We have so many stories to tell you about the family and I'm so glad you are here to join us in making more wonderful memories.
Since our names rhyme, I feel I have to warn you.......I'm sure at some point you will be called Smelly Ellie or Ellie Belly. I've heard them all!
Love you, Aunt Kelly Jelly Belly

I Knew I Had A Problem

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Go to Ultrasound technician school

Pass Me The Medicine

Ugh, yesterday was a long day. I woke up with a fever, intestinal issues (to put it nicely), sinus headache, and stuffy nose. Rotten timing to get sick, but then is there ever a good time for it?? So I wasted most of yesterday away feeling rotten. I'm so thankful Ellie decided not to be born yesterday because I wouldn't have been able to go see her. I'm feeling quite a bit better today but not 100%, so off to work I go. I think I jinxed myself when I said it had been a long time since I had a fever or a bad cold. Todd thinks the kitchen is making me sick.
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Dianna I know you tagged me, too sick yesterday, work today. I'll get to it. Hmmmm, 7 random things about me. I need to come up with some new ones. I've got the list started in my head.

Roughin' It

Keep your eye on the prize. That's what I keep telling myself. My kitchen is completely demolished at this point, I can't do anything in it, at times, we can't even walk through it which means no access to the basement either. My whole house is covered in a fine sheet of dust after two days of tearing down drywall, plywood, insulation, etc. It's dirty, disgusting, unorganized and my kids are driving absolutely crazy. Add to that insane PMS and you have one pissy momma here. But I'm trying to patient because my dear husband is giving us the kitchen of our dreams and if I can just survive a bit longer, I'll have it. I'm always naive enough to think every home improvement project will go faster and smoother than it actually does. At least I'm smart enough to know by now that it ALWAYS costs more than you originally planned. You should have seem me trying to cook dinner yesterday. Throw it all in the crockpot and cook it downstairs. No problem right?? Well trying to find everything was an adventure in itself. I had to scrub potatoes in the bathroom sink, manuever my way through sheets of plastic and haphazard rows of cabinets to find my spices and dishes, hurry and grab carrots and roast out of the fridge as to not let any cold out since the power was out. I get it all together and get it in the basement. Needless to say we've been eating a lot of takeout. Thank goodness for all those gift certificates we got for Christmas. I should be able to cook again starting tomorrow. Yeeha!
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On a happy note......Todd and I are going to the Blue Devil/Raider Basketball game tonight. DAMN, no we're not. One of Todd's co-workers called and said their inlaws had 2 tickets for tonight's game that they were looking to get rid of. Todd's parents offered to watch the boys. Woohoo we were all set. And literally as I wrote this first sentence about tonight's game, she called back and said when she called her inlaws, they had just given them away. Oh well, guess we'll watch it from home like we originally planned. That gives us more time to work on the kitchen right???
The boys and I found some kitties we fell in love with today. But until the kitchen is done, the adoption is on hold. I can't see bringing a poor cat into this mess. It would be too hard of an adjustment. Heck, the boys aren't even dealing with it well. I can't expect a strange cat to adjust to it. But at least we know there are cats out there for us in a couple of weeks. We have kitten fever here!

Happy New Year!

Another year has come and gone. I think 2007 may have been one of the fastest passing years yet. I don't get how that happens but somehow time is passing at warped speed. I look back and wonder if I made the most of that time or did I just let it pass me by?? If you look at my busy calendar, you'd say I made the most of it but most of that revolves around Todd and the boys. I know I didn't do enough for me. I've been fortunate to do a lot of fun things this past year. I'm talking about things to help me physically and mentally. Oh, I've been baby stepping my way through some life changes and am hoping to get to a place that I am happy with. I think 2008 has to be about finding a happy me. I haven't seen her for awhile. It's not that I'm miserable either, I just spend so much of my life focusing on how to make everyone else happy that I honestly don't know what makes me truly happy and content. In fact, I'm a stranger to myself sometimes. How does that happen?? I think it's all too easy to get so involved as a wife and mother that sometimes you forget how to just be yourself. Not only do I want to figure myself out, I want to be happy with that person. I told myself I wasn't making new year's resolutions but I know I am going to keep taking my baby steps to get myself to a better place, and not only just me but my house-that's a big goal too.
Most importantly, I hope and pray for a happy, healthy 2008 for all of my family and friends. Because THAT is what is most important in this world and I am so thankful for the friends and family I have. I know we won't all be around forever so we need to make the most of the time we DO have here together and create some wonderful memories.
HAPPY 2008!