Man of the House

Before Todd left on his 3 day trip, he had a talk with Drew about him being the man of the house since he would be gone. Drew has taken on this responsibility and it has really touched my heart. All 3 boys have been good so far, but Drew has also helped out with grown up responsibilities. This morning was the sweetest. I accidentally fell back asleep after Aiden woke me up around 7. When Aiden woke me at 8:20 (stop calling me bad mommy, I haven't been sleeping well lately), I found out that Drew had made pancakes for his brothers for breakfast. (He has been taking Advanced Classy Cooking as one of his Children's College classes and has been loving it). I got breakfast cleaned up and went to make my coffee.....the coffee pot was completely cleaned out. Now, I don't clean my coffee pot.....until the next day right before I make a new pot. So sue me, my pot is probably dying a slow death, I know. As you can imagine, I was confused by this. Turns out Drew had gone to make me coffee for breakfast and had it all ready but didn't know where I kept my coffee (in the freezer). I was so touched I just hugged and kissed him all up....and he let me. He said he knows that Dad likes to surprise me with coffee on weekend mornings so he wanted to do that too. I just love this child.

The other thing that really touched Todd and I was Thursday night before Todd left. At bedtime, Drew started crying in bed and Noah came to get us. Drew was scared about Todd trying to swim in that big lake with thousands of people with his bad back. He was scared of Todd getting hurt and drowning. I guess he had overheard Todd and I talking earlier. He was considering, if his back could take it, doing just the swim and bike portion of the race. He knew he couldn't handle the run at all yet, still too much pain there. I was very apprehensive myself. Someone died in the lake swim last year when we were there (heart attack I think) and I was worried about Todd's back too....it's a mile swim. Todd was feeling really guilty after that and we were suprised by Drew's emotions. He doesn't show that kind of emotion to us much....he's a macho 10 year old now you know. Todd was planning on doing the practice swim on the lake yesterday to see how it felt (he has a picture on Facebook already of some of the guys after the swim). It went fairly well. The actual race is tomorrow. He said he will let us know of his plans and call us after so we know he is ok. I know how badly he wants to race but he also doesn't want to do anything to worsen his back.

(For the family I hadn't talked to yet, his MRI showed he has degenerative disk disease in the same area he where he had his back surgery in '93. This is basically arthritis I think. He also has a bulging disc in that area that must be pushing on a nerve causing all of the leg pain. He goes to the Pain Management on Thurs. to see about getting an injection)

Me and the boys are missing daddy but we are having our own fun here and the boys are behaving pretty well for me. Aiden keeps telling me that all he wants to do is make me happy. I told him he just needs to be a good boy. I love these 3 kiddos!

5k Turkey run at YMCA on Thanksgiving Day 2008

Happy Birthday Todd

Happy 37th Birthday sweetie! I know this summer has been a rough one for you and I hate to see that you are still in pain. I know you want your body to get back to normal and today you are feeling even older than your age. I'm hoping what me and the boys have planned for today will cheer you up and make your day a fun one. It really stinks that you can't compete in the triathlon this weekend but I'm happy for you that you are still going with the club and will get to cheer them on and have some fun with them. You deserve a little getaway. I will miss you though and I hope I am still sane after having you gone for 3 days. LOVE YOU.

I know this picture is 5 years old but it is still one of my favorite pictures of us....that's why it's framed and on my nightstand. We are also in one of our favorite places.....Colorado!!

Happy Birthday Babe!

Father's Day

We had a crazy busy weekend. Friday night we went out with 3 other couples. One of our friends was in town from Vegas so we all went out to dinner and back to Brad and Erica's house to hang out. Turns out 3 of us couples had no kids until the next day. We definitely took advantage of it. Margaritas, sangria, some Wii (yes, we bowled and rocked out to Guitar Hero) and lots of talk and laughter. We didn't get to bed until 2am. Whew, didn't know I could do that anymore. Saturday was busy setting up for our schools' Junefest and then working at it Saturday night and hanging out there. Sunday was a family reunion for my side of the family and then dinner at the in-laws. To say we were exhausted by sunday night is an understatement! But it was a fun weekend. I didn't get many pictures this weekend but managed to get a few.

Here's Todd with his 3 boys on Father's Day. And me and my Dad and brothers at the reunion.

Noah's T-Ball Pictures

He's such a cute little booger isn't he?? He never fails to bring a smile to my face. We had ordered a 3x5 single of him and then a team picture but the coach always gets a free one so they made this 8x10 up of Noah for Todd. Isn't it cute?? Noah took a look at it and asked "How did I get on there?" My little slugger.

Here's the whole team minus 2 of the players. Everyone on the team except for one kid goes to Noah's school so that just makes it more fun and of course it's fun for us too because we know all of the parents. Noah says one of his favorite things about t-ball is having his Dad for the coach. I know that makes Todd proud. Great job Coach Dad!

Be Still My Heart.... But Do I Really Need One More?

To Cat

Or Not To Cat
That Is The Question

Tri-Jesus Triathlon

Saturday was the annual Tri-Jesus Triathlon. This would have been Todd's 4th year, Drew's 3rd, and Noah's 2nd. Unfortunately Todd wasn't able to finish it this year. For the blog readers that don't know, he hurt his back a couple of weeks ago and is still having troubles. He wasn't going to race and then decided at the last minute to try it. He managed to make it through the swim and bike but by the time it came for him to run, he was in too much pain to do it. I felt so bad for him. I know he's getting frustrated with the pain and it's keeping him from doing the things he loves. He's getting an MRI soon so hopefully we can see what's going on, if anything.

But the good news is, Drew and Noah did an awesome job in the kids race! I was a proud momma and took a ton of pictures. Bear with me.

Drew during the swim portion. He blew his swim time out of the water over last years time. (sorry for the bad pun)

Drew biking up the huge hill on the last leg of the course.

Drew crossing the finish line.....way earlier than I expected. You were a superstar Drew!!

Noah starting out on the swim. This was the first triathlon he has done without a flotation device so I was very proud of him. He got so tired but he never gave up. Great job babe! Look at that grin on his face. He was so excited.
For the second year in a row, I was able to get a picture of Drew and Noah swimming together. Noah was on his way out as Drew was on his way back.

Daddy helping Noah in the transition area. He had just finished swimming and he was getting ready to hop on his bike.
That hill was too big for Noah, he pushed his bike up the last part. It's ok buddy!

Aiden and Trevor sitting on the curb watching for their big brothers. They were so cute together.
Noah running towards the finish line. You're almost there!

Look at that smile of accomplishment. You did it Noah!

My little tri-athletes!
Drew with his finishing medal.

Noah with his finishing medal.

Drew receiving his 1st Place tile for the entire kids race. Yes, you heard right!

Here's the proof. His friend Cooper got Best Overall time for the kids and Drew got first, which is kind of like second if that makes any sense. I was so incredibly proud of him. He did so fantastic!! Next year will be a lot tougher for him because he will move up into the 11-14 year old division so the course will be longer and the competition older. So I was very happy he got the chance to place so high this year!

The Quincy Multisport Club!! I don't know where Drew was wandering around at but he didnt' make the picture. Our club was well represented in the race that day.
A bunch of the club members went out to eat at Cutters that night to celebrate. The kiddos were all sitting at another table. It was a good time!

Flashback Friday--The Nate Edition

For Flashback Friday I decided that since my youngest brother Nate is moving home permanently after graduating from college and his graduation party is this sunday, I would do a little flashback on his life.



We had a little different relationship. I was almost 13 years old when he was born so I was able to have a more active part in taking care of him. I changed his diapers, rocked him to sleep, babysat him, etc. I loved when he would wake up from his nap and stand in his crib calling to be picked up.

This picture was taken the day Nate was born.....September 20, 1985, the day after mom's birthday, what a gift! Can you tell I was a proud big sister? I was head over heels in love with him. (I remember when mom and dad broke the news that they were expecting. I said it had better be a boy, because I wasn't sharing my room. Thanks for listening Nate!)

Nate and his big brother Matt. They were dreaming dreams of hunting their first big buck.

One of my friends had a baby our senior year of high school and we often got to babysit her. Nate was so cute with her.
Nate, always the entertainer.

This is Nate "helping" me move into my college dorm. Yes, I graduated high school the same year my baby brother graduated preschool and my brother Matt graduated 8th grade. My parents didn't believe in having kids close in age, can you tell?? I loved when Nate would visit me at school. One of my favorite memories was when he came trick or treating at my dorm dressed like a leopard. When he left, I asked him for a kiss and he licked my cheek....he said it was a leopard kiss.

March 28, 1999, Drew's birthd day. The day Nate became an uncle for the first time. I always thought it was cool that I was 13 years older than him and he is 13 years older than Drew.

May 2004

Nate's High School Graduation

The 3 Siblings

My brothers can never be serious.

Family picture 2004. There have been 3 more kiddos added since then!

Last but certainly not least, Nate's College Graduation.

May 2009

I enjoyed going through old pictures and I found so many of you Nate, you were always a cute little booger. I've enjoyed watching you grow up and I'm so proud of you being a college graduate. Now it's time to grow up and hit the real world. It's really not all that bad. Love you.

Aiden's First Soccer League

Aiden has officially joined our soccer family. I had posted some pics awhile back from one of Aiden's games. This spring he played tiny tot soccer for the first time. His Uncle Matt (my brother) coached his team along with his cousins' Blake and Ty. We got their soccer pictures back a couple of weeks ago but I've procrastinated getting them scanned in.

I thought this picture turned out so incredibly cute. He was making goofy faces so I wasn't expecting it to turn out great. He's very lucky he's a handsome, affectionate dude. That's the only thing that saves him sometimes!

Here's the team picture. My brother Matt in the back right corner with my nephew Ty on the end right in front of him. Blake is the second from the left in the back row. It was fun although it wasn't until the last game that Aiden actually got into it more and made it through the whole game without getting in trouble. Progress people, progress!! Looking forward to fall when everyone is back to playing soccer.

My happy for the week, and trust me, I know it sounds pathetic that this my happy.....we finally have freakin' ABC on our satellite! AND we didn't have to pay extra for it. We've been without ABC on Dish Network for ages and it's been killing me. Now I can watch ABC whenever I want. Woohoo.

Ok, for my demanding readers (love you mom and Aunt Cindy) tomorrow will be flashback friday and I already have an idea of what I will post.

I'm off to take Noah and Aiden to see UP while Todd and Drew are at Terminator.

Dear Blog

My dear sweet blog, I haven't been very good to you lately. I know I haven't been around much but I've had a lot of personal crap to deal with and let's face it......you can't really keep quiet. I mean, come on, everything I tell you gets shared with everyone that comes by to check you out. I know that no one else wants to hear me moan and groan about my problems. I promise to be a better bloggy friend. In fact, I think I have something to blog about......maybe tomorrow.
Good night Dear Blog.

Kelly

E.A.D. Designs

I fell in love with vinyl. I had been using regular scrapbooking rub ons for some of my projects but was always worried at how fragile they were and if they would come off. Vinyl is the way to go people. I will never go back. I found this great site called E.A.D. Designs from my friend Amy and have fallen in love. It is extremely easy to apply and it says it comes up with just the heat from your hair dryer. Good to know when it comes time to repaint a wall. Here are just a few things I've done with it.

I've made this monogram tile for a wedding in a couple of weeks. I had been making these with regular scrapbooking rubons but was always so worried that they'd rub off. The vinyl is so much better so I will be using this from now on.

I made this candle for a gift last weekend.

I think owls are the cutest things in the world so I had to put this little guy on the wall b/t my dining room and kitchen. Isn't he adorable??

I put one of the flourishes about the door from my kitchen to the living room. It's thought it would be cute with the other black accents in my kitchen.