Funny Flashback Friday

After the past week or so, I needed a laugh so I thought I would do a funny Flashback Friday. I went through and found some old pictures that made me laugh out loud, either because they were so funny or so cute you couldn't help but smile.

This first one is of Noah when he was about 3 1/2 years old. I laugh every time I see this one. I had peeked in to make sure he had fallen asleep at nap time. Not only was he asleep but he fell asleep with two Little People peeking out of his underwear. I'm not sure what kind of game he was playing with them.

This was taken when Drew was 2. His swimming trunks kept drooping so I tugged them down a bit more and had him pose. He thought it was pretty funny.

This is Aiden at 4 months. (Feb 2005) He loved taking his baths in the kitchen sink. Uncle Scott must have liked this picture too because he used it in one of his ads for his Day Spa.

This is Noah when he was about 6 months old. I guess we liked bathing all of the kids in the kitchen sink. It was certainly easier than bending over the bathtub.

For mom's birthday back in August of 2005 I made a scrapbook of favorite recipes for her gift. I included some pictures of Drew and Noah "baking". We put flour on their face and gave them bowls and spoons and I took some action shots to put in the book. For some reason, Noah decided to lean over and lick flour off of Drew's face and I caught it on film.

Living in a house full of males, my boys don't often get the chance to play with "girly" stuff like pink, princess, dresses, jewelry. So they can't help themselves when they are at a friends house that has girly things. Yes, my boys like to cross dress sometimes. I caught Drew in the act, or should I say "Princess Drew".
April 2005 Will someone get that kid out of the sink?? He's growing old in there!

We went to Disney World in June of 2004. We were being silly trying on things in one of the stores and I got such a kick out of Noah wearing the Eeyore ears. He makes the cutest little Eeyore doesn't he?? It looks like my dad is choking on the fluff of black hair on top of Eeyore's head.

I have to finish this off with a really cute video. For those of you that don't know, my nephew Ty was born just 4 days after Aiden. This video was taken the first time we got the two cousins together after their birth. Aiden must have been hungry because he started rooting around and trying to latch onto Tyler. Cousinly love.

Thanks for flashing back with me. My kids never fail to entertain me and I hope they managed to at least bring a smile to your face today too.

Happy Day

I have quite a few reasons to be happy today:

1. Everyone woke up healthy this morning. Let's hope it stays that way!!

2. The sun is shining! We haven't seen the sun much in recent months.

3. Our new kitty is finally coming out of his shell. He let Todd and I pet him for a long time last night, I even snuck in some kisses. To make my night complete, he came in and slept with us, cuddled up by my legs. I was in heaven. This morning he let Drew pet him a couple of times.

4. I got my brand new Creating Keepsakes magazine in the mail today. I'm going to dive into it while Aiden is napping.

Why?

Why do kids feel the need to come in your room in the middle of the night to tell you they are going to throw up instead of just running directly there?? The odds of making the toilet are much higher if you make it a straight shot. Drew came in to inform us last night of the impending doom so I said "Go to the bathroom". Seemed logical to me. Did he make it?? Let's say the hallway carpet got a nice shampooing at 3am. Thank God for owning a carpet shampooer!! We may have some of the cleanest carpets in town this week!!

Won't you all be happy when I have something to blog about besides vomit?? Unfortunately, that has been the story of my life for the past week and a half.

I can't wait to go to sleep tonight.

A Night In The Life............

*this may not be for the weak at heart*

How many people can really remember what they did every hour of the night while they were sleeping?? Not many, but I'm lucky enough to remember every detail of my night last night.

11:00 pm I turn out the light and go to sleep.
11:52 pm Aiden wakes up crying and I can not get him calmed down. I give up and Todd takes a turn, finally getting him to go back to sleep.
12:55 am Todd is shampooing Noah's carpet and changing his sheets since he threw up everywhere. Bless his heart for doing that, he knew I'd had enough of it with Aiden this week.
2:15 am Noah is up with diarrhea. Nice.
2:46 am I am up investigating sounds in Aiden's room. Something keeps knocking against the walls. I'm suspecting the cat got in there and is playing with the toys. I can't see squat in the dark with no glasses on, I figured he ran out while I was searching blindly in the darkness.
3:15 am Noah is up again to go to the bathroom, needs new underwear and pj bottoms.
4:00 am Aiden wakes up crying. I go in and the cat is sleeping at the end of Aiden's bed and lets me pet him. What the hell?? That NEVER happens. I discover Aiden has a dirty diaper and it leaked onto his sheets. Todd comes in to help and the two of us get him all cleaned up and ready to go back to bed. I love that we can share all of these special moments together.
4:10 am Aiden comes back in our room and asks me to tuck him in again. Didn't I just do that 45 seconds ago??
4:15 am Aiden comes back in our room. Todd threatens to take away his Barney and Magenta dolls if he doesn't stay in bed. Todd wants to go sleep in Drew's room as he is the only one getting sleep tonight.
4:45 am We finally drift off to some blissful sleep for TWO whole hours.
6:45 am Aiden comes in and wants us to get up.

So here we are in the morning. Noah says his tummy is fine and wanted breakfast. Let's see how that works out. He has a nasty sounding phlegmy cough that I worry will make him gag and get sick. UGH. Spring, my lovely beautiful spring, where are you?? This germ phobe has had it with winter and sickness. Wishing you all a healthy week!!!

Flashback Friday

I don't know how long this will be as I have a two year old laying here watching a movie and drinking Pedialite, a puker's drink of choice. We're on Day 5 of this. Anyone want to come and cart me off to the looney bin? I think I really will lose my marbles if this goes on much longer.

Anyway, enough about that....it's flashback friday y'all! Since my Aunt Cindy is such a big fan, these first two pictures are for her. The top on is of my cousins Adam and Cody with my baby bro Nate in the middle. How cute are they?? And the one underneath is their baby brother Eric, adorable little guy. I used to babysit them when they were younger and got such a kick out of them. They are still cute but they are in their 20's now which makes me feel old.

My big guy is turning 9 next month which is really hard for me to believe. It will be our last year of the single digits. Yikes. So I was sitting here looking through some of his baby pictures and found some cute ones. I guess he liked the hammock!! He still does I guess, in the summer he'll lay on it and read a book.
Wearing his shades.

Sometimes ya gotta get a little crazy on the changing table.

An oldie but goodie, he just looks so stinkin' cute in that hat!! (even if it IS too big for his head)

I hope everybody has a fun, HEALTHY weekend!!

I'm Losing My Marbles.....

No, really. I'm losing my marbles. We had 3 of them sitting here on the computer desk for a craft we are making with Noah for school. The cat took it upon himself during the night to take them and bat them around the basement. I happened to find him attacking one this morning otherwise I wouldn't have known they were missing. This cat is an enigma to me. He comes up to you and meows but if you so much as make a move towards him, he runs away. He comes out at night, we now know that now. He's unwrapped and eaten part of a Valentine's cookie, unwrapped some leftover breadsticks, played with some silverware left in the sink, and now the marbles. During the day, he pretty much hides out, with the occasional jaunt out and about the house. He sticks his tongue out a lot, I don't know if he's getting sassy or if he just likes to let it all hang out. He's slowly coming around though and coming out with us more and more, I'm just hoping soon he'll let us hold and cuddle him. That's what I want the most.
***Marble Update*** I found the marbles and put them back on the computer desk. I then took the boys to school. I just got home and was making my coffee and I kept hearing a clanking sound in the basement. Turns out Grayson was hitting marbles against the wall. Apparently my cat is smarter than me. Not good.

How Rich Are You?

Wow, this website really puts it into perspectice. Check it out.

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

My Date With Two Good Looking Guys

How did I get lucky enough to go on a date with TWO good looking guys and have my husband at home happy about it?? Last night was Mother/Son Date Night again. Drew, Noah and I went last year and had a blast. It's put on through the Park District and was held at Tony's Old Place again. Since Aiden isn't old enough to go yet, he had some special time at home with daddy but I got to take Drew and Noah. Johnna and Ben met us there too and we had a good time. (Erica and Hayden were supposed to come too but the little guy got sick)

Like last year, I got a corsage and then we got to have our picture taken together. This was the one we had done last night.

The food was wonderful again and they had a lot of great prizes. They always have enough so that all the kids win something. Drew was happy to win a free pass to the movies. Noah was so happy to just win, he had no idea what he won. Johnna and I were cracking up because he won a $10 gift certificate to Elder's. The Quincy people will get why that is a funny thing for a 6 year old to win. My boys have never even been there before but it looks like they will now. Noah and Ben had so much fun dancing, they were cracking us up. I have to post a couple of videos of Noah on the dance floor. Every now and then Ben comes into it too. I've seen them quite a few times and I still laugh my butt off. He's quite the entertainer. Drew unfortunately wouldn't dance, I think he thought he was too old and cool for it but by the end of the night he was out there doing cartwheels, so I guess he came out of his shell! (The videos are a little dark, but you can still see Noah dance!)

Here are a couple of pics from the night.

Me and my big guy.The dancin' fool.

Meet Grayson

The elusive Grayson has come out of hiding. It took him a couple of days to get used to the house and us. Aiden turned into the Tasmanian Devil every time Grayson attempted to come out of hiding. Poor kitty. He finally let me cuddle him and Todd got to also. I think he knows we are here to love him not terrorize him. Now if we could only convince Aiden of that! He is such a doll and so soft. I just loved every minute of cuddling with him earlier. I need to get him to come sleep with me at night. I miss having a warm furball to cuddle up with. Yes, I realize Todd is warm and hairy too, and he'll do, but a cat doesn't take up as much room and doesn't snore.

Grayson is enjoying some cat toys we bought him today.

The Storyteller

Aiden says to me "Mom, I tell you a story" He then leans in really close and whispers in my ear, "I love you". I told him that was the best story I've ever heard!

Flashback Friday!

Since yesterday was Valentine's Day, today I'm flashing back on pictures of my sweetie from when we were dating and first married. You know, I really don't feel like I've aged much but then when I go back and look at these pictures, I realize we look like little kids. It's hard to believe we've been together 15 of our 35 years.

This was taken on Christmas Eve of 1993, our first Christmas together. We were only 21. Ahhh, young love.

This was one of many pictures we took of ourselves. We got really good at just holding the camera out and taking our picture. We actually have a whole album of us with these kinds of pictures. Thank goodness Todd had a long arm and good aim! This was taken in Hannibal on Todd's birthday in 1994. We went down there and hit Mark Twain Cave, Sawyer's Creek, ate out and had a good time. This was always one of my favorite pictures.

This of course was our college graduation in 1995. It happened to fall on Mother's Day so afterwards we went with our families to The Plaza for lunch. Just a 4 months till our wedding day!!

This was our first New Year's Eve after we were married in 1995. We went to a party at Dan and Gail's house with our friends.

This was in early 1996 sometime, I forgot to look up the date. But we were at a brunch in Chicago with all of my family. Shortly after leaving here I got extremely ill, I think it must have been food poisoning because I felt fine before I ate!
I love ya sweetie. We've had many wonderful Valentine's Days together and I look forward to many more. What a journey we've been on so far and I know it will only get better. We have these 3 beautiful boys to raise together. Who would have thought back in these pictures that one day we would be so blessed??

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was pretty nice. Aiden and I went to his music class and they hit the grocery store to buy food for a special supper. In the afternoon I had to go to my gynecologist appointment. Nothing says love on Valentine's Day like a good ole pelvic exam. He also informed me that I'm old enough now that I should think about getting my first mammogram in the next year or two. Huh? What? I'm getting old?
The highlight of our day was getting to pick up our new baby Grayson!! We had picked him out at the animal shelter the day before.....he is a solid gray male cat and he's about 8-9 months old. He is soooo soft and pretty and I just fell in love with him. Yesterday he got fixed, shots, and a checkup so he should be good to go (depending on what we do about the claws!) He was a little groggy for awhile and didn't want to do much when we home but by the end of the night he was jumping around and playing with a cat toy that Todd rigged up. The boys got a kick out of that!! He's still adjusting and a little timid about coming to us but I know once he gets familiar with us and the house that will change and he will be the lovey little guy I snuggled with at the shelter.
The only downer on our day was that our niece Ellie had to go into the hospital for RSV. She's only about 5 weeks and any baby under 3 months has to go in as a precaution. It was probably a good thing because Matt and Beth said she was looking a lot better after being put on the oxygen. I went up and visited for about an hour last night. I just needed to see her with my own eyes, and let me tell you, she's beautiful even hooked up to all those wires! Blake and Ty have been sick with pneumonia so poor Matt and Beth have had a long week or so. It's tough when all that hits at once. You kinda just have to suffer through it and watch for that light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully they're almost out of it!!

The day ended on a high note. When tucking in Drew, I remembered that I hadn't looked at his midterm grades yet. I was so excited....Straight A's!!! At the end of last quarter, he had all A's and 2 B's which is still awesome. I was just so impressed that he had raised those to all A's. Good going Drew....we are so proud of you!

Got a great Flashback Friday planned for today, but got to feed the little guys breakfast first. No school today so I may have trouble sitting down to do it!!

My New Kitchen

This was taken from the dining room.

Taken from the dining room also. See the candle lit on the counter for ambiance?? I did it for you guys. I'm thoughtful like that. ;)

Taken from the living room entry.

We ordered some really cool track lighting to go above the bar/sink area and still have to put the wood trim around the bottoms of the cabinets there along the floor. We also have to put the handles on the cabinets and finish the area on the floor that connects the kitchen to the dining room. Then we are done. And lucky for me, none of those jobs are mine! This all started out with getting new cabinets but I have to say my very favorite part is the bar area. We have talked for years about knocking the wall down between the kitchen and dining room to open things up but it always seemed like a dream. I love it and have a kitchen that makes me happy whenever I'm in it!

I have to add these pictures. I've always wanted coffe pics hanging in my kitchen and I found these cute ones at Kohl's. I love them!

Yes, I see the scratch on the wall. We have some touch ups to do from putting in the cabinets. But aren't those coffee mugs adorable?? :)

Sleep Baby Sleep

Every night before I go to bed, I always go into the boys' rooms to check on them, to make sure they're covered and all tucked in. Just looking at them sleeping peacefully makes my heart melt and I know all is right with the world. I can go to bed happy.

I've always wanted to take pictures of them sleeping so last night I decided to do it. I was giggling to myself as I did it though because I was trying to picture what their faces would look like if they woke up and saw me straddling their bed with a flash going off in their faces.

Hair Obsession

Many of you know about Aiden's obsession with my hair. It's like his security blanket. If he's near me, he has to be holding it. If he's drinking out of his sippy cup, he has to have his cup in one hand and mommy hair in the other. In some ways it's sweet and endearing and I like that I can be a source of comfort for him. But in a lot of ways, it annoys the hell out of me!! Oftentimes, he messes the heck out of it, other times it gets pulled a little too hard. He's like a drug addict if he can't get enough of it and when I tuck him in at naptimes and bedtimes he has to fondle it with both hands and get his "fix". I'm trying to gently break him of it because I'm so over it. But this won't be easy. Today at naptime, we were reading our books and he kept asking for my hair. I'd reply "No thank you" and release his hand from my hair. He was getting a little frustrated but said ok and settled back in my lap to read. He then tried sneaking the hand up one more time and once again I asked him nicely to leave my hair alone. In desperation he says "but mommy, I looove your hair". I told him I understood but it was getting annoying to me and I really didn't want him holding it. He gets the cutest look on his face and says "I want to hold mommy hair ALL the time" The way he said it was too cute for words and I just laughed and laughed. He got a big grin on his face and asked "Mommy, what's funny?" I just hugged him tight. He hugged me back and said "I love you mommy". I was THIS close to giving him my hair back!

Noah's Rap

Grandma Tunie and Grandpa Ken gave the boys their Valentine's early since they were leaving for Florida Saturday morning. One of the things Noah received were those little decorative things that you can put on your Crocs. He put them on his shoes and wore them out yesterday. Todd said when they were driving home in the van Noah sings out "My feet are itchin' and my shoes are bitchin'." Todd explained to him that 'bitchin' was a bad word and Noah said, "It is??" I have no idea where he learned that word since Todd and I rarely use the adjective 'bitchin' to describe things but apparently he heard it somewhere. On a positive note, my kid knows how to rhyme!

THINGS I NEVER GET TIRED OF DOING....

My new bloggy friend Amy posted this list on her blog so I decided to give it a try too.

10 Things I Never Get Tired of Doing.....

1. cuddling with my boys
2. drinking coffee
3. spending time with best girlfriend, Dianna
4. reading my books or magazines (whenever I can find the time)
5. spending time in the Rocky Mountains with my family.
6. having time with Todd in the evenings after the boys go to bed
7. watching my favorite TV shows or movies
8. listening to my favorite music
9. sitting in front of my computer
10. keeping in touch with my family and friends

Flashback Friday

This week we're flashing waaaay back. I actually had to scan in these pictures, they are so old. Yep, we are going back to the 80's folks. Back before I had cute kids and nephews and a niece to drool over, I had a baby brother that I thought was the cutest thing on earth. Being almost 13 when he was born, I was old enough to get to do a lot of fun things with him. In high school, I had pictures of him plastering my locker. Look at that sweet face, can you believe he's 22 now?? (those tube socks rule!)

This is a picture of my other bro. We're only 5 years apart so I don't remember as much of his baby days, just that I was soo excited to have a baby brother. We fought a lot but have great memories too. This picture was from the year when we were both in the spring show together. I thought it was so cool that he got to be in a high school variety show with me when he was still in grade school. He got to play in a drum group with his big cousin Rob. (I think Matt thought he was pretty big stuff too!) Yes, I had big 80's hair......shup. I thought it was cool back then.

This next one is for you Dianna!! We're the 80's Ladies!! (you had to be there!) Remember our New Kids on the Block Days?? You know, they are back together again, didn't you?? I have no idea what the hell they are calling themselves now but I hope they changed their name a bit.
Well I need to stop reminiscing and get ready for the day. Aiden and I are going to the Valentine party at the library. We were supposed to meet Beth with Ty and Ellie there but poor Blake got sick yesterday with a fever and cough. Poor buddy, what a rotten way to spend your birthday. So we'll miss them there. (Get better Blake!) Then we are meeting Grandpa Ken for lunch. While Aiden naps, I have to get packed up and get my food made for my overnight scrapbooking retreat tonight with the girls. I'm so excited! 24 hours of creative fun with the girls. Woohoo. Have a great weekend everyone!

Soccer and Basketball.

Drew's soccer team kicked butt tonight. They are really rocking this session. They won tonights game 12-0 and have now won 3 games in a row. They have been so exciting too, I love it! Drew can really play and has been using some fancy moves lately so you can tell he's getting more comfortable with the ball.

Here's a video from Drew's last basketball game. It was his first season playing and he really learned a lot. He gets so excited when he gets the ball though. He hauls ass down the court and then throws the ball as hard as possible. He needs to tone down just a bit.

In this video, he is in a purple jersey, number 30. He's coming down the court with the ball, shoots and misses but then catches the rebound and shoots again. He comes close to making it but no such luck.

Question

I know it's bad luck for 7 years if you break a mirror, but what happens when you break one of your crystal wine glasses from the set of TWO that you and your DEAREST had your toast with on your WEDDING DAY??!

I was cleaning out our china hutch and one fell out when our wedding album tipped over on it and the glass shattered all over the floor. Todd asked if I was trying to tell him something. I feel awful. I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

My Brown Eyed Boy

I really wanted a cute picture of Aiden on the stairs but it was hard to get him to stop being silly. This was my best shot. Of course I think it's completely adorable, just not the pose I was going for.

Then he realized he could see his reflection of himself across the room in the bathroom mirror and kept making silly faces at himself. Good look kiddo.

I Love A Great Quote!

"Most Folk Are About As Happy As They Make Up Their Minds To Be" ---Abraham Lincoln

Wow, that one really struck me. One thing I've come to realize lately is that the aspects of my life that I am unhappy with has to do more with my attitude towards it rather than any outside source causing it. It is up to ME to make myself happy, not anyone or anything else. Trying to change your attitude about certain things can be damn near impossible when you've spent 35 years of your life thinking and acting certain ways. Here and there I see little snippets of how happy I could be if I really wholeheartedly changed some things about myself. But more often than not, I get so discouraged at how slow and difficult the process actually is.

Yep, I've Still Got It ;)

I can still turn the guys' heads. So what if it happens to be my 2 year old's little blonde head?? This afternoon he cuddled up to me and said "Hey Mommy, you're cute!". It works for me.

Flashback Friday

I've been wanting to do this for awhile but never got around to it. I thought each Friday I'd look back on some older memories that I don't want to forget. I always love to reminisce and look at old pictures. I've just bought a 2gb flash drive to put all of my pictures on so I can delete the 4 years worth of pictures that I currently have on my computer. So this is a good a time as any to do my Friday Flashback. These were all taken in March and April of 2004----back when it was Life With 2 Boys. The last picture is Blake's first Easter. Where did the time go?

Sorry, I thought I was done and then I found more cuteness! I need to stop. This is from June of 2004.

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!