Woodsy Ivy

Happy Super Bowl Sunday

2012-02-05T15:35:00.000-05:00

Well, it's every man's favorite day....Super Bowl Sunday! I can't even tell you who's in the Super Bowl this year, which is pretty pathetic since it's being held in my state, just about 2 1/2 hours from my house. I do know that Madonna is performing at halftime. :-) I'm strictly watching for the commercials and the halftime show. It's a perfect day for a game here in Indiana! It's about 40 degrees and sunny!

Not much is new around here.

Nathan's been putting together a 1000 piece puzzle with the help of me, Jeff, and Dad's friend Mary.

We haven't gotten very far. A thousand pieces is A LOT!

I nursed Whitey and Toad back from a case of fish Ich (or Ick). It's a disease fish can get and it's very common (and treatable). I'm happy to report that they're both happy and healthy now.

We had a casualty this week, though. Poor Yoshi came down with fish ich and a few days later, I came in to find him floating upside down but still breathing and he had blood in one of his eyes. I called Jeff at work in a panic and asked him what the most humane way to put a fish out of it's misery was. He informed me that the answer would be to take Yoshi outside and smack him hard with the back of a shovel. My first thought was HECK NO! But the more I watched Yoshi suffering, the more I decided that I needed to put my big girl panties on, suck it up and take care of business.

I put Yoshi in a bowl of water, took him outside, dumped him in the yard and swung that shovel harder than I even thought possible. Yoshi was about the width of a piece of paper when I got done. I told Jeff that if a neighbor had spotted me, they would've thought I was crazy....me...standing in the yard in my pajamas......beating the ground with a shovel while repeating "I'm sorry Yoshi, I'm sorry Yoshi." Ugh. Not one of my finer moments. Thankfully Nathan's other two fish appear to be doing really well. Either that, or they're just acting like they are cuz they know what happened to Yoshi and they're afraid they're next! HAHA!

Today has been a relaxed day. We woke up, went to church, came home and made some chicken tortilla soup and now we're watching TV and waiting for the big game tonight.

Hope you have a great evening!

Epic Birthday Present FAIL

2012-01-29T21:30:00.000-05:00

Well, things with Nathan's birthday present didn't quite go as planned. Here's what I had envisioned: Nathan gazing into his fish tank with a smile on his face and laying in bed watching his fish as he fell asleep each night.

Here's what really happened: We put the filter together and didn't realize a very crucial part was missing. We woke up the day after Nathan's birthday and one of his two fish was missing from the tank. Anyone wanta guess where it went? Um, ya, it got sucked up the filter pipe. But we didn't realize that until the 2nd fish started to get sucked up the pipe, too. I. Nearly. Died! I yanked the cord to the filter out of the wall as fast as I could and luckily that fish plopped back out and was ok. So, Nathan got to wake up to that little horror the next morning. NOT COOL! He was upset and struggled to hold back tears. Fish tank = maybe not the best gift idea.

That was last weekend. The past week has been a fishy fiasco. We eneded up getting a little bit bigger tank than he originally had and got a few more fish. One more died yesterday. He looked a little unwell when we first got him. But now I'm worried he made the others sick, because today one of the other fish is not acting right. Sigh... Frustrating.

On a different note, I wish you could all see how fish-obsessed I've become over the last week. It's a little ridiculous. I really do love having fish and I catch myself going into Nathan's room just to stare at them. I think I might like to get a big tank for the main part of our house...sometime down the road, but right now, I've got my hands full with Nathan's tank.

Does anyone have any fishy advice? I'd love to hear it! :-)

Nate Turns Eight

2012-01-22T17:20:00.000-05:00

It's been a ca-ray-zee weekend around here! We celebrated Nathan's 8th birthday with a little party for him and four of his buddies. When you get five 2nd graders under the same roof, it's gonna be nuts! Two of his friends spent the night and the other two had to leave at 10pm.

At one point, all five boys (and Kennedy) were ghost hunting in our basement with flashlights. It was hilarious because they were getting themselves all worked up on purpose. So funny! At one point, Jeff snuck outside and went around to the door that leads into the basement. While he was doing that, I went with the boys downstairs to check out "these noises they were hearing." Jeff came in through the door and did his best ghost impression. I wish I had a picture of the looks on those boys' faces! PRICELESS! I thought they'd scream or run, but instead, they all just froze with their mouths gaping open. Oh Lordy, it was so funny!

We had a SpongeBob cake :-)

The boys starting singing Happy Birthday to Nathan, and they sang a version I'd never heard before. It went something like: Happy Birthday to you, mashed potatoes and stew, bread and butter, in the gutter, Happy Birthday to you!

The sight of all those ornery boys singing that song cracked me up!

Blowing out the candles

We let Nathan open his big gift today (Sunday) because I knew it would take some assembly and we wouldn't want to do it Monday night after school.

He got an aquarium for his room!!!

In a couple days, we'll go together and pick out some fish for it. He's so excited!

Finally, I had to share a picture of what Brinks does when Chuck the cat is trying to eat. She lays down right by the bowl and stares at the cat while he eats. Goofy dog!

Tomorrow is going to be a fun day! I'm taking Nathan to school in the morning with cupcakes for his class. Then, in the afternoon, Jeff and I are going with Kennedy to her school for their Pirate Party. Kennedy is dressing up as a mermaid. :-) Should be cute!

Brinks Turned Two

2012-01-18T13:50:00.000-05:00

Hi! Here I am, coming to you on a Wednesday again! :-) Same as last week, I'm blogging while Kennedy's at school, and I'm listening to 80's music. HA! Currently playing: Take My Breath Away by Berlin. Hee-hee! This song reminds me of the movie Top Gun. Have you watched that movie lately? It's so much cheesier than I remember it being before. Tom Cruise actually flexes while he's checking the time on his watch. It's hilarious!

So, here's what we've been up to this week.

We discovered that Chuck likes to hang out in the Barbie house.

Kennedy thought this was hilarious!

However, the Barbie dog didn't like it very much, as you can see. :-D

Chuck wasn't sure what to think!

Nathan got his first note from a girl. He doesn't know I took a picture of it. Someday when he reads this blog he's not going to be very happy with me.

And Brinksy had a birthday on Monday! Turns out, Brinks and Martin Luther King Jr. share a birthday.

She's 2! Man, this has been a long and destructive two years!

Kennedy wanted to know if we were going to celebrate Brinks' birthday, so I told her yes. We made some cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to her. The kids loved it! And Brinks loves cupcakes, which was no surprise!

I was reading back over my blog and looking at all the posts about Brinks and how little she used to be and how many things she chewed up. She's come a reeeeeeeally long way! She doesn't really chew up much anymore (knock on wood), except for the occasional small plastic toy. Squinkies are her favorite. She has turned into a pretty good girl. There's not much I can't get her to do if I bribe her with a french fry or cookie. HAHA!! Don't get me wrong, she has her moments, but she's SO much better than she used to be. She's also quite the good watch dog, which is nice since we live in the boondocks.

This Friday night, Nathan is having a few friends over to spend the night and celebrate his 8th birthday, which is this coming Monday. We're keeping it low-key, but it should be a good time. I can't believe how fast the years go!

Well, time to get my butt out of this chair and get something done! :-)

Have a great rest of the week!

Happy Wednesday

2012-01-11T14:10:00.001-05:00

I'm chillin' with my feet kicked up listening to 80's music while Kennedy's at preschool. It's a hard life. HA!

Don't get too jealous, though, cuz it won't last long. I have to have her picked up in an hour and Jeff has school tonight, which means I'm the only parent on duty all evening.

Thought I'd share a couple pics from the last week. Kennedy informed me the other day that she wanted to wash dishes. We have a dishwasher, so I'm not actually in need of someone to clean them, but she wanted to give it a try. So we did, and she looked awfully cute.

Here she is before school the other day.

And here's my handsome 7-almost-8 year old. He has a cold right now that's kicking his butt. I let him go into school a little late today.

Hmmmm. How do I caption this photo? Here is my hot mess of a daughter wearing clown glasses.

I started decorating for Valentine's Day. Here's my little Valentine tree that sits in my foyer.

We have had some amazing weather! Seriously, I have been in heaven. I hate snow. The temps have been up around 50 the last few days. It's unheard of for January in Indiana. Unfortunately, they are calling for 5-8 inches tomorrow evening, so I guess I'd better enjoy this while it lasts.

Later gators!

Happy New Year

2012-01-03T12:09:00.000-05:00

The last two weeks have been awesome! Lots and lots of relaxation and family time. We all recharged our batteries. It was just what we needed! Today, it's back to school for the kids and back to work for me. Can't believe that Christmas and New Year's is over!

Backing up a little bit, here are some pics of the kids from Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We spent Christmas Eve baking cookies and decorating them and watching movies. Jeff and I stayed up late on Christmas Eve watching an NCIS marathon. HA! It was so much fun, though, and I just know that it's one of those days that I'll remember years from now and smile when I think back on it.

Watching The Swiss Family Robinson

Santa came!!!

One of my favorite things about Christmas this year was the weather. It was in the 40's and the sun shined so brightly all day. I was in heaven!!!

The day after Christmas, I took down every Christmas decoration, with lots of help from the kids! :-) I doctored up my wreath for my front door so that it's more wintery instead of Christmas.

On New Year's Eve, we went out to eat with the kids and then to see the movie Tintin in 3D. It was a cute movie! Then we came home and my dad and Mary came over and watched the kids so Jeff and I could go out for a little bit. Originally we were going to meet up with my brother and his girlfriend, but he bailed on us. (Cough, LOSER!) So, instead, we headed over to a local country-hole-in-the-wall bar called The Post and had a great time. I saw a bunch of people from high school. Even the lead singer of the band was a guy I graduated with.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year's! I'm not making any resolutions this year. I have some projects around the house I want to tackle, but nothing major. Maybe my resolution will be that I'm not going to put any extra pressure on myself. Ha!!!

Less stress is good! :-)

Merry Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T14:04:00.001-05:00

We've made it to Christmas Eve! The presents are all bought and wrapped. The kids are fit to be tied, and Jeff and I need a stiff drink. HA!! Today, we'll be making cookies for jolly ol' St. Nick, watching some Christmas movies and (hopefully) relaxing. :-)

Here are some scenes from our home this Christmas, from the outside looking in.

This is my first year planting paper whites. Have any of you planted them before? Did you think they stunk? I was searching all over my living room for what I thought was pee. Then I realized it was the flowers I was smelling. So, I moved them to the kitchen. Now, I keep thinking I'm smelling spoiled milk, but I'm pretty sure it's just the flowers again. HA!!!

It's such a shame, too, cuz they're so pretty to look at, and it's so refreshing to see something green and growing when it's so blah outside. I wonder if amaryllis flowers stink too. I might try those next year.

Jeff's been off work the last couple days and I've been off for the last week. It's been so nice to get to sleep in and enjoy a slower pace. I can't believe that Christmas is here already. This entire year has flown by!

Thought I'd share a funny story. I told Jeff and he looked at me like he couldn't believe I was insane enough to say it out loud. So, why not put it on the blog? HAHA!! Last week, I was driving to work one day. The sun was shining, I was in a good mood, and it just felt like a good day. Then a song came on. You know how ever so often you'll hear a song that you haven't heard in years and you love it and it just makes your day? So, there I was, a smile on my lips, the sun shining on my face, and a great song blaring. For a couple minutes, all was right in the world. Then, it hit me what song had just given me this "moment." It was Out of Touch by Hall & Oates! I totally cracked up at myself and how much of an old, crusty dork I am! LOL!!!!

Anywho, on that lovely note, I think I'll get off here and do something somewhat productive. :-)

Hope you all have the Merriest Christmas ever!!!

Kennedys Christmas Program

2011-12-14T21:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight was Kennedy's Christmas program at her preschool. Jeff had school tonight, so his mom went with me. I was so thankful I didn't have to go by myself. It was two hours of pure chaos. HA! We crammed into the packed church and squeezed onto the pews like sardines. There were SO many people!

Kennedy's class was adorable and sang Jingle Bells. (Kennedy is in the bright green dress.)

After the singing portion, we split into three large groups and took turns at three craft stations. The kids loved it. At this station, they were coating icecream cones with green frosting and then decorating them with various candies to make them look like Christmas trees.

This is Kennedy with her friend from her class, Hannah.

I wanted to share this picture as well. A couple weeks ago, Nathan had his first sleepover. His friend Garrett spent the night and they had a blast. What a sweet boy Garrett is! We definitely want to have him back over!

Best friends

This past weekend, we went to see my niece, Whitney, in her school's play All My Sons. She had the lead and did an amazing job! She plays a 60-some year old woman, thus the reason for the gray hair and drawn-on forehead wrinkles. Ha! Kennedy was mesmerized.

It's been such a busy week. I'm so excited because I took the next two weeks off work so I can enjoy the holidays with the kids while they're out of school. Two weeks of sleeping in equals pure heaven! AHHHHHH! Can't even tell you how happy I am about it!

My mission is now to get crackin on my Christmas shopping. The only shopping I've done so far is for the kids' teachers, bus drivers and Secret Santa gifts. Now that I'm done with work, I've got to kick it into high gear and get er done! I've never been this behind on my shopping before and it's making me nervous!

Are you done with your Christmas shopping? Please tell me you're not so I feel better about myself. :-)

Its Friday

2011-12-09T13:07:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I've been a little MIA lately. Life's been busy, as usual. :-)

We ran into Santa in a store the other day. Kennedy hid behind me and wouldn't even look at him. Nathan, on the other hand, was ON. A. MISSION to get his Christmas list spoken to the main man, Mr. Claus. He bravely walked up to him and, when asked, very seriously began listing off all the main things he wanted. It was so sweet to watch that I literally stood back trying to hold back tears. The expression on Nathan's face just got me.

Here's a couple of kid pics I took with my phone this week:

I've been trying to do some organizing around the house. So far, I've gotten all of our closets cleaned out and cleaned on top of my kitchen cabinets.

I was organizing some of my mom's old pictures and came across this newspaper article that she had saved from years ago.

I thought it was neat because this truly is how my mom lived her life, and even while she was dying, she never complained. The legacy she has left us is one of a loving mother who was so brave and so tough. I think she would be pleased.

Now, onto something a little more lighthearted. Let's talk about my cat, Chuck. He's driving me insane. Seriously. I'm to the point where if he came up missing, I don't think I'd care. Doesn't that sound mean? I know that sounds terrible. Let me tell you what he's doing. He begs for cat food CONSTANTLY. If I walk into the kitchen, which I do all the time, he follows me, meowing obnoxiously for food. So, I feed him. Then, when the cat is done eating, along comes Brinks and finishes off what little might be left in the bowl. Then, Chuck starts whining, begging for food again. If I feed him again, he'll start eating again, even though he's not hungry. Sometimes, he'll get so full that he'll actually puke the food back up right into the bowl because he can't even hold it all. So disgusting! We won't even talk about the giant pile of cat poop I found in my laundry room when I got home from work yesterday. Apparently, after eating 20 pounds of cat food while I was at work, he had to go to the bathroom and there was no one here to let him out. Oh yay.

One more annoying thing he does....If the kids leave the pantry room door open, which they often do, then I will, without fail, hear Chuck in the pantry trying to scratch through his cat food bag to get at the food. GRRRRR!

And if I throw his furry butt outside because I can't take anymore of his incessant nagging, he'll claw at the weather stripping on the back door because he wants back in. The weather stripping is now shredded.

I know this eating disorder he has is probably caused by anxiety because he just doesn't like his bowl empty. Unfortunately, there isn't anywhere that I can put his bowl that the dog can't reach. Chucky-boy is putting on the pounds. He's starting to look like Santa Claus in the above picture. Hee-hee!!

I don't know why I seem to have so much trouble with my animals. I see other people with their perfect acting pets and wonder why I get all the 4-legged rejects. Actually, Brinks has calmed down a lot and only occasionally messes up. Like yesterday, when I walked in my closet to get dressed and narrowly missed the dinner-plate-sized pile of dog puke. I guess she couldn't really help that she was sick. Except that I know she puked because she got into the cat's food and it sometimes upsets her stomach. Sighhhhhhhhhhh.

Ok, enough venting about my pets. We have a fun weekend planned. Saturday we're going to see my niece, Whitney, in her school play. Can't wait and the kids are so excited!

Did I mention that I haven't bought the first Christmas gift yet? Eeks. It's so unlike me to be so behind.

Have a good weekend!!!

Our Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T13:48:00.000-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! Lots of our family came over and we had tons of yummy food! Good times!

Before everyone got there, I made my kids and hubby take pics with me. :-)

Youngest child:

Middle child:

Oldest child:

This little one is such a daddy's girl!

She told him to pick her up and then she did this. Jeff and I just laughed. She's so dramatic. It's apparently a move she saw in a movie. LOL!

This guy endured a honey-do list that was a mile long to help me get ready for having everyone over and he didn't even complain. Thanks honey!

We baked one turkey and deep-fried another.

The food...

Thanks to my bro for being the photographer of the night. He took pics of the food and said he was getting me some blog material. HA!

Here he is with Shannon. She helped me cook and kept me laughing! This girl is hysterical!

My younger brother, my older sis, and me. And a turkey carcass. :-)

My sister and her new husband...

My niece, Lisa, and her boyfriend Johnny.

Bill and Shannon...

My dad and Mary...

My nephew Andy...

My niece, Whitney, and her mini-me Kennedy. Kennedy constantly reminds me of Whitney.

My nephew, Josh, and his girlfriend Danae. This girl has the most gorgeous hair I've ever seen. I wish we could trade hair. This picture doesn't do it justice. It's long and shiny and gorgeous!

We had a great time last night. Today, I slept in. No Black Friday shopping for me! I'm not a wait-in-line-and-brave-massive-crowds kinda girl. I'm more of a veg-at-home-and-stuff-my-face-with-leftovers kinda girl. ;-)

No matter what kinda of girl (or guy) you are, I hope you're having a lovely Black Friday!

Thanksgiving Eve and Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2011-11-23T22:48:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy day, full of preparation for Thanksgiving tomorrow. We're hosting dinner tomorrow evening for my side of the family and I'm really looking forward to scarfing down some turkey!

I've gotten the house decorated for Christmas already. I usually put my tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving. I thought I'd show you some pics!

Here's my foyer. I got this nativity set after Christmas last year majorly on sale and I really love it.

Backing up a little bit, here. This is Nathan and his friend Garrett before their talent show the other night. Cuties!

And here they are up on stage doing their little comedy routine.

Ethan and Nathan afterward...

Ok, where was I? Oh ya, here's my tree...

I thought about doing a real tree this year, but my dad scared me out of it by telling me how much of a fire hazard they are. HA!

Our mantel...

I still don't have living room curtains. I haven't had any spare time. :-(

I made this wreath for my front door. Thought I'd better snap a quick pic before Brinks rips it down and devours it. Please Brinks, don't eat my wreath.

Now I'm off to finish my Thanksgiving prep.

The smaller of my two turkeys. I'm baking the big one and Jeff is going to deep fry this smaller one.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!

Crazy Week

2011-11-20T00:25:00.000-05:00

This week didn't turn out quite like I'd planned. Thursday morning, on our anniversary, I found out that my sweet Aunt Arlene had passed away. In the last two years, three sisters have died of lung cancer: my mom, my Aunt Minnie and now Aunt Arlene. She had been fighting this for awhile now. Sometimes death is a blessing. Her suffering is over and it gives me so much happiness to think of her being reunited with her sisters, parents, and her twin brother that died when they were 9 months old. I bet they are having the BEST time!

My Aunt Arlene was so good to me when I was little. She was always buying my brother and I little things or taking us out for lunch or icecream. She had such a big heart and she was so much fun to be around. We will all miss her so very much.

It's just another reminder that our time here on this Earth is so short. I spend so much time worrying about silly little things, and I don't know why, because things always seem to work out. Sometimes it's hard to live in the now...we're constantly thinking about the next thing that we have to do, and it causes us to not enjoy the moment that we're in. I want to try harder to enjoy the special little moments that happen everyday.

So, Friday was the big talent show at Nathan's school. He and his friend Garrett told jokes. They're quite the little 7-year old comedians. Cute! They did a great job and I was surprised by how much Nathan liked being on stage. So unexpected! They ended up winning 2nd place in the "Variety" portion of the Talent Show. The boys each got a medal and the looks on their faces were absolutely priceless! Such a fun night!

I will upload some pics soon. My laptop completely died this week which means I'm having to use Ethan's until I get a new one. (That would be my reason for the lack of photos here lately.)

Today, we had my Aunt's funeral. It was like a family reunion, and it was so good to see all the family!
Afterward, Ethan and I went shopping and had some mother-son time, which was nice. I made a run to Hobby Lobby to get some things for my Christmas tree. Then, tonight, I dug all of my Christmas stuff out of the basement. I try to have my house decorated for Christmas the weekend before Thanksgiving, so I have a lot of work to do! I'll share pics when I get done!

We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house again this year, so it's sure to be a busy week! I'm so ready for a big yummy dinner, though! I love me some turkey and I bought almost 30 pounds worth today! :-)

Be back later with some Christmas-y pics!

A Decade

2011-11-17T05:00:00.001-05:00

Today, Jeff and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary!!!

I can't believe it's been 10 years since we said "I do."

After all this time, I know, with all of my heart, that my ending up with Jeff was no accident. God knew what my life would have in store...the ups and downs, and he gave me the perfect person to walk down those winding paths with. We've laughed, we've cried, we've wanted to pull our hair out, but I still love him with all my heart. He is my other half and I wouldn't be me without him right by my side.

Happy 10th Anniversary Darling! XOXO!!!

"And they two shall be one flesh: so then they are no more two, but one flesh."

~Mark 10:8

Wednesday

2011-11-02T21:16:00.000-04:00

It's almost 9pm and I'm just now sitting down. Ahhhhh! Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are the butt-kickers around here because they're the days I have to work.

Jeff's having four of his friends from China over for dinner tomorrow night, while they are in town, so I had to hit the store tonight after Kennedy's ballet class. It always makes me a little nervous preparing a meal for people from another country. What they like to eat is just different than what we like. Wish me luck! Insert nervous smiley face!

I wanted to thank everyone that gave me suggestions on my living room curtain issue. I need to hurry and get some ordered so I can get them up by Thanksgiving. The more I look at that wall, the more I agree that the super long panels hung all the way to the ceiling would be best. However, I really like the idea about building a cornice box to hide the curtain rod. That's definitely something I may look into doing! I wish I had a little magic elf that would show up and do it for me. :-)

We had a great time trick-or-treating the other night! It was such a pretty night! We went over to our old neighborhood. There were so many people out and it was such a festive atmosphere. Love that! Kennedy got tired 1/2 way through and Jeff ended up carrying her for about a mile and a half. HA! Nathan, on the other hand, was ON. A. MISSION! He was running from house to house and would've gotten to tons more houses if he hadn't had to wait on us. He doesn't do anything half way. He is definitely a gitter-done kinda guy. Makes me smile.

We saw so many of Ethan's old friends from the neighborhood while we were out walking around. I can't believe how grown up they've all gotten! We saw one boy and all I could think of is....I remember when that kid peed his pants when he spent the night at our house. (Poor thing!) And now he's not little anymore. He's a TEENAGER! Those boys were over all the time. They feel like family. Time goes by so fast!

Sometimes, in this busy life we lead, it's easy to forget that these ARE the good ol' days. These are the times we will look back on when we're old. These are the times we'll wish we could go back to. Sweet, sweet memories.

Tomorrow's going to be another busy day. I've gotta get some sleep tonight. The past two nights, I've stayed up late doing a workout video. HA! Um, ya, this morning, I woke up and felt like my entire chest was one, gigantic bruise. I'm just a tad out of shape! HAHA!! Every time I sat down or got up, my legs ached. Dang Jillian Michaels. Isn't she obnoxious? I just wanta kick her. But my legs hurt too bad. Hee-hee!!!

Goodnight peeps!

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T19:37:00.001-04:00

Happy Halloween 2011!!!!!!!

- Posted by Jill using BlogPress from my iPhone

Kennedys Costume Party

2011-10-26T20:49:00.000-04:00

Kennedy had her Fall Party at school today!

They were to wear their Halloween costumes so that the teachers could parade them around the neighborhood in them.

This year, Kennedy is a Masquerade Princess, but if you ask her what she is, she'll say she's Selena Gomez. LOL! You see, one of Kennedy's favorite movies is Another Cinderella Story with Selena. At one point in the movie, Selena goes to a masquerade ball. Soooo, Kennedy spotted this dress and it reminded her of the movie. I always think it's so funny to see what the kids choose for their costumes each year.

And here is Selena in the movie.

She looked so cute at school in her costume!

Heading out for the parade...

Witches, ghosts, Repunzels, fairies and many more...

This evening, I got to go watch Kennedy in her ballet class. It was "Parent Observation Night," so they let the parents in for the last 10 minutes of class. I was so proud of her! I thought she did so well. The other little girls had been going longer than her and yet she held her own and did a great job. (And looked adorable doing it, of course.) I'm living vicariously and loving every second of it! :-)

Hannahs Confirmation and Can You Believe How Close Christmas Is

2011-10-25T22:24:00.000-04:00

Sunday, we made our way over to Ohio to see Jeff's niece, Hannah, get confirmed at church.

Afterward, we went to Jeff's sister's home for a little par-tay.

And we posed for some pics. :-)

I am bummed that Ethan had already changed out of his dress clothes when we took these.

He was looking all spiffy. Key word: WAS. What we see in these pics is his "farm-boy chic" look.

Jeff's sister Jennifer with her daughter Hannah.

All of the grandkids on Jeff's side, except for Madisson who couldn't make it.

They're a little nuts. :-)

Hello! I told Jennifer's girls I wanted to take their picture and I got this. Seriously. All three girls posed like supa-stars. I'm impressed! Why can't I get my kids to do that?

Jennifer, Hannah, and Jeff's mom

So, can anyone believe there's only 8 weeks left until Christmas?!!! My goodness, I don't even know where to begin with my Christmas shopping this year. I feel like I'm totally out of ideas, and the kids haven't really mentioned anything that they want yet.

Jeff and I are thinking about maybe getting a real Christmas tree this year. I'm just worried that it won't last long enough. I like to put my tree up just before Thanksgiving. That might be pushing it. ??? We haven't had a real tree since the first year we were married. I have vague memories of pine needles everywhere and of how annoying it was to try to water the dang thing. My oldest son still remembers what a pain it was and insists that I'm nuts if I try it again. What do you think? Real or fake?

I told Jeff that this was my inspiration pic for our tree this year! LOL! I think I could physically see his blood pressure rising. HA!!

BAM! :-)

Our Friday

2011-10-21T22:34:00.000-04:00

We spent our day running errands, shopping for Halloween costumes and visiting Great Grandma Dorothy.

Busy, productive and fun! :-)

Assistance Needed in the Drapery Dept on Aisle Three Please

2011-10-19T21:26:00.000-04:00

Warning: If you are a guy, you might want to skip this blog post. :-)

Guess what Kennedy did the other day? She hung on my curtains and pulled the whole darn thing down, busting a bracket and the curtain rod in half in the process. Nice, eh? She knows how to gitter done.

The next day, I came home from work and my dad had rigged the broken rod back up on the wall. I'm not sure why. But it makes me laugh everytime I look at the jallopy-ness of it.

To be honest, I wanted to get new curtains for the living room. I'm not digging the red anymore. Mostly because, when you walk into the living room, the curtains scream "LOOK AT US!...WE'RE RED CURTAINS!...DON'T NOTICE THE GORGEOUS VIEW OUTSIDE THAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE FRAMING!"

Yes, my curtains yell. They're obnoxious. I think I need something more neutral.

I'm not crazy about the paint color in here. It's dark and cave-like, but I'm not up for repainting cathedral ceilings right now, so I'm going to live with it for awhile longer.

Here's my dilemma. The curtain rod is currently hung higher than the windows with 96" drapes hung from it. When I buy new curtains, should I stick with this length or should I hang the rod all the way to the ceiling and get the 108" drapes? Thoughts? Cussings? Discussings?

Here's the curtains I have in mind. They're Pottery Barn Silk Grommet drapes.

In this color to match the walls...

With this rod:

Or should I go with linen instead of silk?

See, I'm at a loss and I've looked at this wall for so long, trying to figure out what to do, that now I have brain damage.

Thoughts?

My Fally Front Porch

2011-10-16T05:00:00.001-04:00

I decided that my front porch needed a little somthin somthin, so I searched the basement and barn for things I already had and this is what I came up with. (Thought I'd better take pics before Brinks trashes it all. Please Brinks, don't eat my fall display.)

:-)

Lights make everything more festive, don't you think?

Next spring, those bushes in front of my columns have to go! They're dying and are ugly and no matter how hard I try to trim them, I can't make them look right. (I haven't trimmed them in forever because I kind of gave up on them.) I'm thinking a large rounded boxwood would look much better. Like this:

Love how cozy it looks at night.

Have a lovely Sunday!

We Have A Duck Fetcher

2011-10-15T13:09:00.000-04:00

Apparently Brinks is good for something. :-)

What We R Up To

2011-10-13T19:27:00.000-04:00

We're watching The Princess and the Frog while Jeff and Nathan

are at try-outs for the school talent show.

Nate and his friend Garrett are going to tell jokes. :-)

Yay for girl time!

Tiny Dancer

2011-10-12T21:08:00.000-04:00

Day 1 of Ballet went great! I was so proud of my brave girl.

She walked right into her class with a (nervous) smile on her face.

(She didn't change into her little ballet shoes until we got there.)

Here was my try at a bun. The hair thingie was crocheted by her Great Grandma Dorothy.

When I picked her up, she was bummed that her class was so short...only 45 minutes. Luckily she gets to go back tomorrow. :-) It was a good day!

My Kinda Fall

2011-10-11T21:27:00.000-04:00

I am seriously LOVIN' this fall weather! I mean, we've got the leaves changing colors and the mums in bloom, and it's 80! It's so completely beautious out!

Sunday, Jeff's mom came over and she had Jeff's grandma with her. It was Dorothy's first outing since the surgery she had on her leg. She's living in a nursing home right now while she does rehab on her leg. It felt so good to see her out and about! I told her I wanted to take her picture with Kennedy and she insisted that Kennedy get up on her lap and sit on her good leg for the picture. Made me (and Kennedy) a little nervous, but we were able to teeter Kennedy up there long enough for a picture.

Jeff has been busy getting the boat ready for duck hunting-season which starts next weekend. He had Nathan filling some of his duck decoys full of sand to make them sink down in the water a little more. Nathan loves having jobs to do! He takes it very seriously. HA!

My fall-y looking front yard :-)

Sunday, I was walking around in the yard when suddenly I heard a strange noise. It sounded like a blow torch. I know..odd, right? I walked around to the side of the house and saw this in the sky...

So, of course I yelled like a wild banshee for the kids to come look and scared the crap out of Jeff, in the process, because he thought something was wrong with me. hee-hee! Oops!

Kennedy's still into princess dresses, as you can see.

Tomorrow is an exciting day for Kennedy. It's her very first ballet lesson! Jeff and I were talking the other day and he said "You know that there's no way this lesson is going to live up to her expectations." I'm pretty sure that she's expecting something along the lines of what she's seen in her Barbie movies: arms flowing through the air, legs kicking, and leaping, with Swan Lake music in the background. HA! I just hope she has fun. :-)

Ballerina Girl

2011-10-07T20:37:00.000-04:00

For the longest time, Kennedy has begged to take ballet lessons. Today, we went and signed her up, and she loved every second of it! (And so did I.) She loved buying her little leotard, tights, and ballet shoes. She loved the tour of the dance studio. She squealed with delight several times. It was precious!

As soon as we got home, guess what she wanted to do?

Try everything on, of course!

Would you believe we just got three inches cut off her hair last night? It's still very long.

I will totally be living vicariously through her a lil bit. I can't wait to watch her recitals and see her excited smiles. YAY!

Now, I need to go practice putting her hair in a bun, since it's the required hairstyle for all her classes. My little girl in a leotard and a bun...LOVE! :-)

October First

2011-10-01T22:10:00.000-04:00

Tonight, Jeff's hanging out with friends, Ethan is sleeping over at a friend's house, and I just got the kids in bed. Even Brinks is gone. She went with Jeff to his friend's house. The silence is nice. Sigh..... It was a long day. Nathan, Kennedy, and I made the trip over to the cemetary to visit my mom's grave today because tonight is the two year anniversary of her death. :-(

I honestly can't believe it's been TWO years since I've seen my mom. Time makes things easier to bear, but I still miss my mom every. single. day. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her at some point. I'm still confused (is that the right word?) by the reality of life and death. It's odd that one moment someone is here and then...POOF!....they're gone. This person that I loved and that was here my whole life is suddenly missing. Death is just weird.

Earlier today, we started putting away outdoor furniture, flower pots, and etc. for the winter. It was down-right frigid this morning! I think it was around 50. I realized something today. I don't like fall at all. Not one bit. Ya, all the trees changing colors are pretty. Ya, I like cute fall decor. But, that's about it. Once the temps dip below 70, I don't like it anymore. Give me blooming flowers, a crystal blue swimming pool, a pair of shorts and a suntan and I'm a happy camper! What can I say? I'm a summer girl.

Don't get me wrong, though, I'm trying hard to make the most of this season. I'm burning my fall-scented candles and I've decorated the house a little bit. Here's my wall in my kitchen:

It's very fally and pheasanty. The bird prints are antiques that were my mom's. The wreath is from Pier 1 and then I added in some real pheasant feathers brought to me by my hubby, Daniel Boone.

A couple days ago, I made these pumpkin woopie-pie thingies that were so flippin good! I got the recipe from my bloggie bff Kristin. They're "eat um til you wanta barf" good! Hers were all perfectly circular and iced to perfection. Mine were slapped together at warp speed as to reach my mouth in the least amount of time possible. :-)

Well, Jeff just came home and informed me that Brinks ate a little bit of rat poison while at his friend's house tonight. He doesn't think she ate enough to hurt her. :-/ I think I better go Google how much rat poison it takes to kill a dog. I'm sure she only ate enough to make her throw up all over the place. Fun.

Wednesday Ramblings

2011-09-28T22:13:00.002-04:00

Things have been so busy around here that I've had trouble finding the time to blog. I can't believe it's Wednesday already! And I really can't believe it's almost October!

I'm already thinking about my Halloween costume! I haven't dressed up in years, but when I used to go to work everyday, I always took pride in coming up with an over-the-top costume. One year I was the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz and one year, when I was pregnant with Nathan, I came as a pregnant nun. Hee-hee! So, since Halloween falls on one of my work days this year, I'm trying to come up with something cool. Anyone have any suggestions?

Kennedy and I watched the video ad for Taylor Swift's new perfume tonight. Kennedy is a huge Taylor Swift fan and, needless to say, she LOVED the video. You can watch it here: http://youtu.be/GJKOWF6bP5U Can I just say that I want to live in that ad? It's really beautiful.

Is anyone else watching X-Factor? It's kinda painful. I can't stomach the one judge Nicole Scherzinger. I think she's awfully stuck-up acting for someone who is only mildly famous. She needs to get over herself a lil bit. I think she's mean. I'm liking Paula, Simon and L.A. Reid. Wish it was just those three.

This past weekend, Jeff and I and a couple friends went out to eat at a restaurant / bar / hotel near here called The Barbee Hotel and years ago, it was supposedly frequented by the gangster John Dillinger. To this day, it is supposedly haunted. We sat down to dinner around 9pm and noticed some people with t-shirts that read "Fort Wayne Ghost Hunters." LOL! It made for some humorous dinner conversation. After dinner, we might've gone upstairs where the hotel rooms are and scratched our fingernails on the walls while howling like ghosts. And when I say "we" did, I actually mean "I" did. HAHAHA!!! OOOOOOooooooooo!!! Fun times!

Yesterday was picture day at Kennedy's school. I thought she looked pretty darn cute!

I love the look on her sweet little face here~

Kennedy absolutely LOVES school! She wants to go even on her days off. It's cute! I hope she enjoys it this much next year when she starts kindergarten.

Now you're up to date on what's been going on here. :-) Hope you all have a nice rest of the week!

One Last Whoo Rah

2011-09-17T17:51:00.000-04:00

We closed our pool today. :-(

I know, we're a little late. Most people close them on Labor Day. It was a crisp 64 degrees out this morning when Nathan (and Brinks) decided to take one last frigid-hypothermia-inducing swim.

I don't know how he stood it. It was FrEeZiNg!!!!!

My bro, Bill, stopped over later in the day and helped Jeff pull the steps out.

And, yes, Jeff had to get in the water in order to get them out. Brrrrrr!

Also...today is a day we call "Happy Heart Day" in our family. Four years ago today, my dad received his heart transplant. It was such an amazing day! It was one of the few days in my life that I can honestly say I felt God's presence. Definitely a day that none of us will ever forget.

It's also a day that I think about Dad's heart donor's family and how, while we are celebrating another year of Dad's life, they are celebrating another anniversary of their son's death. In order for our family to receive that blessing, they had to endure an incredible loss. Dad received the heart of a 27 year old man named Carl.

I still can't believe it's been 4 years since that day. Man, time flies!

Happy Heart Day, Dad!

Random Thursday Thoughts By Jill

2011-09-15T18:38:00.000-04:00

What a gorgeous day it was today! It was the first day in almost two weeks that I didn't have anything I had to do. No plans at all and it felt SO good!

Kennedy and I hung out, since she didn't have preschool today, and we went birthday shopping for my sister and mailed off her gift. Happy Birthday tomorrow Lynnette!

When we got home, we spent some time outside. Did I ever show you my window boxes this year?

This year, I thought I'd try shade plants in my window boxes to see how they'd do. About a month ago, when it was really, really hot out, the plants turned black and started to shrivel up and die. So, I cut all the greenery back until it was just little stems sticking out of the dirt. Something weird happened. The plants all came back even better than they were the first time around. Strange.

I had to give up wreaths on my front door due to Brinks and her destructive ways. I've started using the wooden-thingies instead and she leaves them alone. Here's the one I got for this fall...

Here the little trouble maker is. It always looks like she's smiling when I take her picture.

So, I don't think I ever showed you our finished deck. That's because it's not completely finished. :-) It's really close, though. I decided that I'm not going to stain it until next spring. It's a big deck and staining it is going to be a big job. Here's a little sneak peek at it...

Eventually, the floor will be stained a walnut color.

Here's my girl...

And here she is posing...

And here is my favorite 7 year old getting off the bus...

And here is my favorite 16 year old getting off the bus...

The trees are just starting to change colors a little bit.

Is anyone else baffled by the whole Missoni thing at Target? I honestly don't get what all the hype is about. It's not the real Missoni stuff, peoples. It's a special line for Target. Don't get me wrong, it's cute stuff...I just don't know. :-/ Speaking of cute clothes,though...I was in Kohl's today and was checking out Jennifer Lopez's line of stuff. She's got some really cute things. I think my favorites were her bedding (which I might have to get), some of her clothes, and her jewelry. Cute, cute!

Do any of you tweet?...As in Twitter? If you do, look my up under Woodsy Jill.

I guess that's all for tonight. Tomorrow's Friday~WOOT! WOOT! I have the day off tomorrow too! YAY!

Sweet Sixteen

2011-09-11T17:02:00.000-04:00

Last night was Ethan's 16th birthday party! It turned out really great! We had food and drinks set out on the deck and a bonfire out in the yard. I covered the deck railings in white lights and tied balloons everywhere. My husband's bff Eric loaned us an AMAZING sound system to play music on. It was awesome! I think you could probably hear the music five miles away.

Like the bad blogger that I am, I didn't take hardly any pics. Too busy!

Here was his cake--

Gotta share a funny story. At one point, Jeff looked down at the fire and said "Uh oh. I think someone's getting in a fight down there!" He kept looking and then said, "Wait a minute. That's just girls dancing." LOL!!! It was really dark and it wasn't until someone threw a log on the fire that he could see what was really going on. HA!

My brother came over to help us keep an eye on all the crazy teens. Thanks for listening to 4 hours of blaring loud rap music with us, Bill! Then I teased him that his snazzy Harley Davidson shirt looked like a bowling shirt. LOL! What would he do if he didn't have me to give him a hard time?

I don't know what the deal was, but no one ate hardly anything. Apparently if you're 16, it's not cool to eat at parties. I ordered 22 pizzas and we had a TON left over. We also had a couple kinds of chips, cake, and a ton of candy and it was hardly touched. Still don't get it.

The real drama came after the party was over. Ethan had six friends spend the night. You get 7 teenage boys together, and there's gonna be trouble! They talked me into taking them TP'ing. UGH! Big mistake. At the first house we went to, the dad busted them before they even got started, but they got away. At the 2nd house we went to, the dad busted them 1/2 way through and chased them down the road, tackled one of the boys and grabbed the boy's throat and told him to tell him who all had just TP'ed his house. (I did not know about the tackling and choking until we had left.)

I had dropped the boys off and driven around the block. I got a call on my cell from the boy telling me he'd been caught and I needed to go pick him up and talk to the parents. I. Wanted. To. Die!!! Long story short, they had to clean it up and that guy is a nut job. We went home after that. I won't be TP'ing anymore.

Parties are a lot of work, but at least this one was a success! Everyone had fun, no one got in a fight, ended up in the pool or got hurt.

Mission Accomplished!

Ethan just came in and said "That was so fun. I wanta have parties more often!" I just gave him a blank stare. :-)

The Rainbow

2011-09-07T22:17:00.000-04:00

The kids and I drove into town tonight. On our way home, while pulling down our road, we saw the most amazing rainbow. These pics honestly don't do it justice. It was so big and the colors were so bright. It looked like it stretched right over our house.

Some people call them "God winks." You know, those little things that happen that make you feel that God is up there saying "Hello down there! I'm still here. Just popping by to say hi." I love moments like that!

Loved the looks on the kids' faces as they stared up at it. Why didn't I take a picture of that?

“May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you, every step along the way. May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.” ~Irish Blessing

First Day of Preschool

2011-09-06T20:34:00.000-04:00

Kennedy survived her first day at her new preschool and she LOVED it! Her teachers were great and she met lots of new friends. I think her favorite part about school this year is that the teachers sing a lot of songs to teach them about things which is right up Kennedy's alley, because she loves to sing.

Here she was before school today...

I couldn't believe the temps here today. When I woke up this morning, it was 47 degrees out! I had a shorts outfit picked out for Kennedy's first day, but we ended up having to pull out the pants and a jacket.

Some little kids were shy and scared today and when their mommies wanted to take their picture, they covered their face with their hands. Um, ya, not my girl. I got the camera out and she full-on posed. HA!

Here she is having her snack. Juice and chocolate pudding cups. She loved it. The two little girls she is sitting with at the table are twins and they are the younger sisters of Nathan's little crush, Cora, from kindergarten. I try to be really nice to their mother just in case she's my son's mother-in-law someday. ;-) Kidding.

It was a great day and Kennedy can't wait to go back. Tomorrow will be my first day of working while Kennedy's at school, and Jeff has school tomorrow night. Grandma Joyce will be picking her up and hanging out with her until I get off, so Kennedy is double excited.

Tomorrow is Wednesday already! YAY!!!

Happy Labor Day

2011-09-05T16:19:00.000-04:00

To celebrate Labor Day this year, I am doing very little laboring. :-)

We didn't do anything exciting this weekend...just hung out at home. We celebrated Ethan's 16th birthday on Sunday by grilling steaks on the grill and having cupcakes. His big birthday party with all his friends is next weekend, so I'm in full-on party planning mode.

We had a scare with my dad this week. Around 4am on Friday morning, my phone rang. Not a normal time for Dad to call and chit-chat, so I knew something was very wrong. My dad's been fighting an extremely bad headache for almost three weeks now. Late Thursday night, the headache got so bad that he started to get sick. We went to the ER and they ran some tests. After an extra large dose of Morphine and an extra large dose of Demerol, he finally had some relief. So far, no one can seem to figure out why he has the headache and it will not go away. They want him to see a neurologist, and I'm really hoping he can find out something this week so he can get some relief.

Here is Dad with his new wood stove he just had installed. This was taken a day or so before his ER visit. Somebody's going to be toasty this winter!

Honestly, things have been so busy here lately, that I'm just completely ready for a break. Between the kids starting school, having to change Kennedy's preschool at the last minute because the other one closed, Jeff going back to school, me going back to work and Dad being sick, there hasn't been a spare second and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon.

I have started decorating the house for fall just a little bit here and there. Have I mentioned that I'm not ready for fall? I can't believe it's time to close the pool. Makes me sad. :-(

I'll be back tomorrow to share pics of Kennedy's first day of preschool!

Visiting Granny and Pool Filter Horror Stories

2011-08-25T14:28:00.000-04:00

Jeff's grandma came through her surgery just fine! I guess you don't make it to 91 by being a wimp, huh? From the time that Kennedy was a baby, she and her Great Grandma Dorothy have always been close. They have a connection and it's really cute to watch. Most little kids are a little afraid of old people. But not Kennedy. She hugs Grandma Dorothy and kisses her 91 year old cheeks and thinks nothing of it and Dorothy just eats it up. It's precious!

Dorothy's face absolutely lit up when she saw that Kennedy had come to visit. Kennedy never left Dorothy's bedside. They talked and giggled the whole time we were there.

Not many people are fortunate enough to have a relationship with a great grandparent and I'm so thankful that my children do.

I took Nathan to the dentist the other day to see what he had to say about his chipped tooth. The dentist wants to wait and not do anything right now because that tooth wasn't all the way grown in yet and he said if he fixed it now, he wouldn't know how tall to make the tooth.

Nathan said something so funny while we were there. The hygenist put the paper bib on Nathan and Nathan, who was VERY nervous for some reason, said "What's this for? You guys serving ribs?" He was totally just joking around, but it struck me so funny!

I have one last little story to share. Yesterday, I went outside to clean out the little basket on the pool filter that bugs and leaves collect in. I reached my hand down in to get it and something caught my eye. Something grey. I didn't think too much of it until I pulled out the basket and saw a DEAD MOUSE in it! I screamed and flung the basket across the yard! LOL! So disgusting! Why do things like that always happen to me?

When I told my husband about it, he said "Ya, I've heard about people finding snakes in theirs before." Really? Reeeeally? And no one ever warned me about that? Cuz let me just say that if I ever stuck my hand down in there to grab that little basket and saw a snake, I would probably have a heart attack and die.

Also, to anyone that comes over to my house and notices a red powdery substance all over my flower beds, that would be massive amounts of cayenne pepper that I am using to keep Brink's annoying butt out. What a pain! I was so fed up the other day after seeing four giant holes dug in my mulch and my clematis vine dug up, roots and all. I dumped an extra large size container of cayenne pepper all over the place. It's working so far. We've gone two days with no digging! It was either cayenne pepper or I have Brink's front legs removed. The pepper seemed much more humane. ;-) Kidding of course.

Noses Bikes Acorns and Get Well Wishes For Granny

2011-08-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

We had a nice weekend. Jeffrey and I finally got to go on a date Saturday which was nice. Jeff's parents took the kids to a parade over in Wren, Ohio, where his sister lives. We went out for lunch and then went to see the movie Captain America. (Only because it was the only thing playing at the time we got there.) Wow. The cheesy-ness was overwhelming at times. Throughout the movie, I kept thinking that Nathan, who is 7, would LOVE it. Anyone over 13...not so much.

Ok, this is totally random, but I'm gonna put this out there anyway. I have a theory about what attracts someone to someone else as a mate. I have a theory that people choose someone that has a similar nose shape to their own. I know you're thinking I'm insane right now, but I've been paying attention to this for several months now and most couples I see that get along really well have similarly shaped noses. Not always the same size, but the same overall shape. Jeff and I have big pointy noses and they are both extremely crooked and they're even crooked in the same direction. Coincidence? I think not! HA!!! And, just in case you're wondering, if I read your blog I've probably checked out you and your husband's noses. LOL!!! So, having said all this, I would just like to say right now that I don't think Kim Kardashian and her new hubby are gonna make it. hee-hee!!!

Actually, from this angle it looks ok. ;-)

In other news, guess who FINALLY learned to peddle a bike at the age of 5? Better late than never!

Her little bike is almost too little for her. She's had it since last Christmas, and she's done a lot of growing since then.

She's reeeeeally proud of herself! So cute!

Chuck is getting ready to get a new kitty girlfriend. We're taking my dad's girlfriend's cat for a couple weeks to see if she works out here at our house. Wonder what Brinks is gonna think about this. (I cringe.)

I sent Nathan on a mission to pick me off a bunch of acorns with the intention of using them as a decoration around a candle. I didn't realize that he was going to risk his life to do so. A step-stool inside a Little Tikes car. So. Not. Safe!

We got some bad news this morning. Jeff's grandma that is 91 years old fell and broke her knee and her femur. They need to do surgery to fix it but they're worried because of her age. I hate that this has happened to her. She's one of those people that is 91, but doesn't seem 91. If you would, please keep her in your prayers. She's in a lot of pain today and they said they can't give her enough morphine to get her out of pain because, at her age, it could kill her. Breaks my heart. Here's one of my favorite pics of her...

I hear she's an excellent shot! :-) Get Well Soon Dorothy!

School Daze

2011-08-17T17:44:00.000-04:00

And, yes, they actually appeared to be in a daze due to getting up early. :-)

Nervous smiles.

Ethan had a great day at school despite being really sleepy.

Nathan's teacher seems really nice and he said he had a great day! He had a little mishap at recess today, though. He jumped off of the jungle gym and, when he landed, his knee hit his mouth. He came home with a chipped front tooth and his tongue was gushing blood. For some reason, he didn't tell his teacher about it, so his tongue continued bleeding for about 3 hours after it happened until he got home and we held a wet paper towel on it. I made an appointment with the dentist for tomorrow to fix his tooth. I'm bummed because it's an adult tooth (in the front on the bottom) that got chipped. Oh well. Can't sweat the small stuff. :-)

Kennedy doesn't start school for a couple more weeks, so we're enjoying some mommy-daughter time. She's chompin at the bit to go to school so she can wear her new Sketchers that are pink and silver glitter and light up. hee-hee! They're so Kennedy!

In addition to all the kids starting school, I've got Ethan's upcoming Sweet 16 party on the brain. He turns the big 1-6 on September 4th! Poor Jeff has such a full plate right now with work and school and now he has a deadline in which the deck needs to be finished for this party. Eeks!

Jills Wednesday Brain Dump

2011-08-10T22:01:00.000-04:00

I've had so much on my mind here lately. Lots of random things. So, I thought I'd dump my brain here on my blog.

There's a feeling in the air that feels like fall. The very, very beginning of fall. August makes me think about my mom and how much I miss her. Two years ago, my mom lived with us most of the month of August while she was fighting cancer.

Sometimes I think about the kind of person I used to be when Mom was here. The other day, my oldest son set up our old computer in his room. It dawned on me that maybe there would be some emails saved on that computer from my mom, and I was right. There were several. Reading her words to me and seeing my replies to her and the carefree way that I was gave me such a nostalgic feeling. It made me miss the old me. It made me wish that I could go back to those days. Back then I was bullet-proof, clueless, and my thoughts centered around things like decorating my house, dressing my kids in cute little outfits, and planning lunches with my mom at our favorite tea room. I had it made. Reading those emails also gave me a sense of hope. Hope that I could, once again, be that happy. That girl that I was didn't know anything about heartache.

Now, I know what it feels like to have my heart smashed into bits. I have a deep understanding of how short this life here on Earth is and what really matters and what doesn't. I read blogs about people decorating their houses so beautifully and, for a few minutes, my mind swoons at the pretty pictures and I am transported back into that girl I once was, that cared deeply about those sorts of things. Then, it hits me. Yes, I could make my house look like a picture in a magazine. *But what for?* What does it matter? One day, I will die and I will leave all my things behind. Yes, I am a changed girl. But sometimes I wish I wasn't. Sometimes I wish I was the same clueless girl that I was. Is that bad?

Yesterday, I was on my way to work early in the morning. As I turned a corner, I saw three dogs in the road. I recognized two of them. Their owners let them run loose all the time, so I'm used to having to slow down for them. There was a third dog with them yesterday and he was an adorable little thing. He looked like a Yorkie, maybe. He was dirty, but he (or she) was so cute! I was out in the country, so I pulled my car over and opened my door to look back at him. I called him, but he just stared at me. Then, I thought to myself~~You don't have time for this....You have to get to work...He'll probably run from you anyway. So, I got in my car and went to work. Guess what I saw on my home from work that day. The little dog was dead in the road. He'd been hit by a car. I feel bad about it. That is how unpredictable and fragile life is. Just a little reminder of what's already been weighing so heavily on my mind. One moment we're here and the next moment, we may not be.

So, I'm trying now to find my own purpose in life. I know better than to base my happiness around material things, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing for me to enjoy decorating my house. I think we have to seek out the joy in life whenever we can. I'll never be exactly how I used to be, because my eyes have been opened to too much. I just want to be the best I can be in spite of all that.

Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while so that we can

see life with a clearer view again. ~Alex Tan

Fetch With Brinksy and Why Shopping With Teens Is Bad For Your Self Esteem

2011-07-31T21:59:00.000-04:00

Today, Nathan played catch with Brinksy in the pool and it was pretty cute!

Chuck wasn't amused. Dogs don't amuse him, they disgust him. :-)

We can't keep Brinks out of the pool and gave up on trying to. She looooooves the water!

I can't believe we're down to just two weeks until the kids start back to school. We did a bunch of school shopping this weekend and only have a few things left to get. I know I've said it before, but I'm so not ready for the kids to go off to school! And I'm not ready for fall. And I'm not ready for winter. HA!

Speaking of school shopping...

I took Ethan to the mall Saturday, and it was a huge blow to my self-esteem. Somehow, I've morphed into my mother (as she was when I was a teenager). It's so bizarre! Stand next to a 15 year old boy, in his little teeny-bopper clothing stores, looking at posters hanging up of skinny little models and you're gonna feel like an old, out of style, out of touch, fat cow. My son uses slang words I don't get and says things like "Geez, Mom, that just like crosses the line." I have learned that everything I say or do "crosses the line." We shopped for about an hour and then ran into one of his best friends in the food court. Then I got ditched so he could shop with his friend. I never saw him again that day. He went home with his friend and spent the night at their house. So, what I thought was going to be a fun, mother-son day lasted an hour. When did I get old and crusty? I always told myself that I'd be a cool mom. I wouldn't be an out of touch, dorky mom. Guess what...I don't think it's possible to be cool in the eyes of a teenager. I just wish that being around young people didn't make me feel so darn geriatric!

Wednesday Blabs

2011-07-27T18:18:00.001-04:00

We've been up to all sorts of things since I checked in here last. :-)

I've been helping my mother-in-law redo her living room. We've picked out a new couch, paint colors, a new rug, and moved lots of stuff around. I spent the last week painting at her house. It's hard to help someone decorate when their style is really different than your own, but I think it's turning out great so far. (Fingers crossed.)

Also, this week, I went back to work. They called me last week and said they were really busy and wanted to know if I could come back. I'm working three days a week and I'm really liking it. Mostly because I'm working in the mornings, so when I get off work, I still have most of the day left.

In addition to all that, Jeff recently started taking college classes. That adds a whole new element of stress. His homework is taking up a lot of his time, and he didn't have much to spare as it was. Yesterday, I got the bright idea that I was going to mow the yard so he didn't have to. We have a big zero-turn mower. Let's just say that now my yard looks like a blind guy tried to mow it. What's wrong with a steering wheel, peoples? HA! It's definitely gonna take some practice!

I snapped some pics of Kennedy blowing bubbles. Brinks was chasing the bubbles and it was so cute!

We had to take Nathan to the doctor last week. He has impetigo. I'm not exactly sure how he got it, but I think it must've been when we went to the park. That was really the only time he was around other children.

He's looking much better than this now.

This weekend, Ethan and I are going school shopping. I can't believe it's that time already! Depressing! I have loved having thie kids home this summer and I'm going to be sad when they go back! Ethan has grown and he now has no jeans or shorts (except for elastic waist gym shorts) that fit him. I'm going to need the part-time job just to clothe the kid! Hee-hee!!!

Our Weekend

2011-07-17T18:40:00.000-04:00

We had a really great weekend, but man was it HOT!!! Saturday evening, we went to the fair in town. We ate dinner and let the kids ride a few rides. I LOVE greasy fair food! :-)

Nathan played darts at the fair and won this stuffed $100 dollar bill. It was the perfect prize for Nate, my little lover of money. He's loves making money and saving his money and he constantly talks about what kind of business he's going to open up someday. He's so funny!

Today after church, we went to pick the kids up from their little Sunday School classroom and Nathan told us they had told the class to draw a picture of something they love the most. Jeff and I just about lost it when we realized he had drawn a picture of a $100 dollar bill! He said the teacher came over and asked why he had drawn that and, very matter-of-fact, he said, "Cuz I love money." OH MY!!!

I didn't get any pics of Ethan, but he had a busy weekend too. He had a friend over Thursday night, then spent the night at a friend's house Friday night, and Saturday night they went to a party. By the time he got home last night, around 11:30, he was exhausted, but he'd had a great time!

We had a really productive weekend, despite the heat. It was up around 100 today and we were out in it all day. I got all my flower beds weeded and did some swimming, but now I'm feeling a little drained. I think the kids will sleep good tonight and so will I!

Miss Kennedy

2011-07-14T13:52:00.000-04:00

This morning, Kennedy put on a dress that Grandma Joyce had gotten her and we went outside so I could snap a few pics before we headed into town to meet Jeff for lunch.

I think she's just the prettiest little thing, and she has such a sweet personality too.

She keeps us smiling. She's always singing or saying something cute. Always happy.

She's one part girlie-girl-princess and one part tomboy.

Kennedy & Her Best Friend, Brinks. :-)

These two absolutely love each other!

She is growing up WAY too fast!

We met up with Kennedy's little friend Alex from preschool and his mom at the park last weekend. Today, I got an email from Alex's mom telling me about a conversation she had with Alex after they left the park. Alex said, "Kennedy wants me to marry her." Alex's mom said she was trying not to laugh and said, "Well Alex, she's a really nice little girl. She's got a nice family and she's really pretty and smart. What are you going to do?" Alex said "Oh, I don't know, maybe I will." She said she thought she would die trying not to laugh! They're only 5! LOL!

She is so loved.

The End. :-)

Hangin Out At Grammas

2011-07-13T19:17:00.000-04:00

This afternoon, the littles and I went over to Jeff's parent's house to hang out for awhile. While we were there, we took some pics in their pretty yard. The kids were in rare form today. Nathan was grumpy and Kennedy was ornery. Not a good combo, but we made the best of things.

Ornery & Grumpy :-)

Let's ignore the boy with the wire basket on his head for a moment. Is that not the fattest weiner dog you've ever seen in your life? Gilligan needs to go on a diet STAT! :-D

Nathan & His Cousin Albert~

Notice the faces my kids are making:

Nathan and Kennedy with their cousins Albert, Lauren and Jack.

It finally cooled off a little today, and the 80 degrees we had was very welcome after all the smoldering 95 degree days! Our pool water feels like bath water! :-)

I'm off to throw my dirty little kiddos in the tub!

Manic Monday

2011-07-11T18:57:00.000-04:00

Today was pretty much pure stress!

It was stormy this morning and I thought I was in for a cozy, relaxing day. WRONG! Soon after lunch, I heard Kennedy screaming and crying in my bedroom. She'd been in there watching a movie. I ran to see what was wrong and found her laying on her back on the floor. She apparently had been walking around on my bed, fell off, did a flip in the process, and landed on her back. She cried and cried, which is unlike her, and said her back hurt really bad.

One office visit and x-ray later, everything is fine. She's just very sore.

Funny story ~ Right before Kennedy's x-ray, she asked me and the x-ray technician if she needed to pose for her x-ray. LOL!!! I laughed and said no. Then she asked me if she needed to at least smile. I laughed again and said no. The x-ray tech said "You don't have to smile, but I'd like it if you did!" Too funny!!!

She cracks me up!

It's been really warm here and the kids and I have spent lots of time in the pool. Kennedy is getting a little braver in the pool and she's now graduated from the life jacket to water wings.

Guess who else I can't keep out of the pool? This girl:

Sometimes she comes to the door wanting in, and she's all wet. Because, apparently, she is going for swims all by herself.

This guy just graduated from the book portion of drivers ed today. He doesn't want his picture taken, so this is all I have for my blog. :-)

Jeff, Nathan, and Brinks camped out this past Saturday night in our backyard. I don't think they slept very good cuz they were all back in the house VERY early the next morning.

I'm debating on whether to go to the doc myself. Two weeks ago, I was up on a ladder trying to knock down a wasp's nest. A wasp flew out of it, right into my face, so I tried to jump off the ladder, but Brinks was laying at the bottom of it. I tried to miss her and landed funny on my ankle. It was extremely painful the first day or two that I did it. Since then, I've been walking on it, but half-way through the day it just throbs. I think I'm going to wait until Friday and if it's not better, I'll go.

That's about all we've been up to! The fair is in town this week, so we'll probably head over there this weekend. Momma needs a greasey corndog and an elephant ear!

Gone Fishin

2011-07-07T15:22:00.000-04:00

I had a really nice birthday yesterday! I got an awesome package in the mail from my sis full of all sorts of goodies, went out to lunch with Jeff and the kiddos and then Dad stopped over in the evening and we had cake and icecream.

Each of the kids got me a card and they were all really cute! Kennedy's cracked me up cuz it said "Hey Granddaughter!" on the front. (She can't read.) But she chose it because it had Hannah Montana on it and I thought that was sweet. Lol!!! Each of their cards is unique to them and that makes them so special (and funny). Jeffrey got me a new GPS for my car (since Brinks ate my old one). I SOOOO needed one. I love the feeling of knowing I won't get lost!

Ugh, this is not a good pic of me. I'd been swimming, had zero makeup on, and look chubby, but since I don't have many pics of my dad, I thought I'd stick it on here anyway.

It was a good day!

Monday, Jeff took the kids over to his friend's house to go fishing and I thought I'd share some cute pics he took with his phone.

Well, I'm off to cook dinner!

:-)

Deep Thoughts From The Birthday Girl

2011-07-06T14:55:00.000-04:00

Today I turn 35 years old! Thirty-five sounds old. I don't feel 35. :-)

I thought I'd share some thoughts and things that I've learned in my 35 years, so here goes!

1. Life is short and there are no guarantees as to how long we'll be here. Most of us live life as if we have many more years to be here and that isn't always the case.

2. Stuff doesn't matter. God matters and people matter.

3. Pray often. My mom used to say that she thought God liked it when you pray out loud. Sometimes I take drives in my car by myself just so I can pray out loud.

4. Money doesn't buy happiness, but being broke doesn't make you very happy either. Somewhere in the middle is probably best.

5. My children will never ever realize the extent to how much I love them.

6. Some of my very favorite things are: Lightening & thunder, fireworks, summertime, the beach, banana splits with butterscotch instead of pinapple, old houses, roses, and the color red.

7. The world would be a much better place if everyone would just be nice.

8. I still believe in chivalry. Men should open doors for women.

9. I have come to the realization that I am an 80 year old woman trapped in a 35 year old's body. I'm slighty old-fashioned, very modest, and I can hardly deal with the trashy way some people act. Recently, someone told me I'm "an old soul." I'm ok with it.

10. I'm trying to worry less. It doesn't do any good anyway. Things seem to always work out. Scarlett O'Hara said, "Fiddle dee dee! I won't worry about that today. I'll worry about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day!" I think I'll start saying that.

Well, I'm off for now. Nathan is begging me to come watch him swim. :-) Have a very lovely day!!!

XOXO,
The Birthday Queen

I Love Summer

2011-07-04T16:28:00.000-04:00

I've been an absent blogger lately! Nathan's baseball has kept us ridiculously busy! We were at the ballpark 10 days straight between games and practices. We are all very burnt out on baseball, but it's over now, and we're excited to enjoy the rest of the summer! So, here's what we've been up to!

Baseball and lots of it!

Jeff and I had a date night and this was the drink he ordered at dinner. It was a margarita with an upside-down Corona in it. Nuts.

Kennedy learned how to start the 4-wheeler, so she thinks she's hot stuff...and she is! ;-)

She starts it up for her daddy everytime they go for a ride.

Jeff found a salamander in our yard. I'd never seen one before. Kinda slimy looking. :-/

Nathan spent some of his money on fireworks. What is it with guys and fireworks? They're all pyromaniacs at heart. hee-hee!

Grandma Joyce brought Kennedy over the coolest Dora house complete with all the accessories that she found at a garage sale. Kennedy was so excited she screamed! Ha!!

Kennedy has become quite the little accessory queen. Everyday, she gets dressed and then puts on all sorts of necklaces, bracelets, and now hats! I'm sure people think it's me decking her all out all the time, but it's actually all her!

Yesterday, we had Jeff's family over for a July 4th pool party! We cooked out (twice), lounged around the pool, and finished off the night with some fireworks set off by my hubby.

Grandma Joyce, Emma, and Kennedy~

Pretty Hannah~

All of the cousins!~

Ethan~

There are 4 July birthdays in Jeff's fam so Jarin brought a cake for us! Mike, Jarin, Madisson, & Moi. (Please excuse the pool hair!)

I'm finally getting a little tan. I told Jeff today that my goal by the end of summer is to look like the old woman from There's Something About Mary! HAHAHA!!!

The kids had sparklers thanks to Grandpa J.T. who ran out at the last minute and picked some up for us~

Notice: my little trampoline has no cover around the springs anymore thanks to Brinks. Grrrrr! Speaking of Brinks...Jeff got the bright idea to call Brinks into the pool while everyone was swimming yesterday, and she jumped right in! She swam all over the place, making her rounds and making sure everyone saw her. Something tells me we're going to have a hard time keeping her out now! I wasn't very happy about it, but he has assured me that he won't call her in anymore. There are two things that I don't want in my pool~pee and dog hair!

The deck's still not finished yet. We need to put the handrails up and a few other things. Just haven't had the time yet!

I did get a little sitting area set up on my back porch finally. There are ceiling fans back there so it makes it a really nice hangy-outy space in the summer! I still have some things to do back here, but it's definitely better than it was!

I would love to get something like this to hang on that back wall over the loveseat:

Happy 4th of July!!!

Sunshine Splashes and Shania

2011-06-21T19:05:00.000-04:00

What a gorgeous Tuesday we had today! It was sunny and 93, so the kids and I hung out by the pool all day, and now I have a majorly ouchy sunburn to show for it cuz I'm too stupid to put on sunscreen. :-) Actually, I didn't think I'd be out there that long because it was supposed to rain. But it never did.

Kennedy gets the craziest get-ups on. You will always find her with some sort of dress on, a necklace or two and bracelets. Oh, and a headband used as a crown.

It just doesn't get any cheesier than this!

I downloaded the new song by Shania, Today Is Your Day, cuz I'm a huge Shania fan, and Kennedy has been prancing around singing it all day in a very dramatic voice. She is so funny! Has anyone seen the Shania show on the Oprah Network? I'm so glad she dropped the whole "I don't want the public to know anything about my private life" thing. It's so fun getting a peek into her life. And I'm so glad she divorced that troll she was married to, cuz her new man is SO much better!

Tonight, Jeff and Nathan were jumping in the pool and trying to see how big of a splash they could make.

Jeff's facial expressions CRACK me up! LOL!

Nathan was getting pushed all over the place by the waves. :-)

Love this one!

After that, all my kiddos were tuckered out.

It was supposed to storm today, but I'm so glad it didn't! We've had so much rain here lately, and we're so sick of it! I think the storms might be coming, though, cuz I'm hearing thunder. Booooo!

I'm getting ready to run into town to get some cat food. Chuck is currently stalking me and acting ticked off, as if I'm withholding cat food just to be mean. :-D

Have a lovely night!

Happy Pappys Day

2011-06-19T12:38:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day to the 3 most awesome dads on the planet!!

The best husband and father of my 3 little rascals, my partner in crime, my one and only true love :-) ...

The best dad. The guy who taught me how to swim and ride a bike. The guy who sprinted into my room after I'd had a bad dream. The first guy I ever loved.

The best father-in-law. Always supportive, always willing to help out whenever we need him.

Hope you all have a fabulous day celebrating the special dads in your life!

Happy Father's Day!!!

For My Baby Daddy

2011-06-16T13:33:00.000-04:00

I'd like to dedicate this blog post to my baby daddy, Jeff. :-)

Since Father's Day is this Sunday, I thought we'd take a blast to the past.

Look how tiny Kennedy was!

Nathan during his cheesey-I-look-like-I'm-in-pain-smile-phase~

Crashed out~

Nathan on the "mow-mower"

Checking out power tools~

Oh, how I would love to hop back into some of these pics and relive that time!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Sorry, honey, I couldn't resist! This pic is hilarious! LOL!!!

We love you so much!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Summer Is Here

2011-06-06T11:16:00.000-04:00

Can I just say that I am loving life right now? :-)

The last week has been great! The weather has been gorgeous, the pool water is perfect and I've spent lots of time sitting outside, watching the kiddos swim.

Nathan is becoming quite the fish! He spends every second in the water.

Nathan has picked up the whole swimming thing faster than I've ever seen before. He has an over-achiever kind of personality, so it doesn't surprise me too much. He can already doggy-paddle across the pool and swim under water to Jeff half way across the pool. He's really doing well.

The view out the back of our house right now is just beautiful. The trees are all leafed out and it really is so pretty back there.

Last Tuesday was my last day at work (YAY!) Honestly...sitting outside in the warm sun, with my giggley little ones, and my beautiful view has me feeling like the luckiest girl in the world right now.

The boys' last day of school is this Thursday. FOUR more days!!!

What else is new around here? Well, work on the deck came to a hault this weekend because Jeff had a 3 day long stomach bug. (Poor Jeff!) Ethan spent some time at his friend's house on the lake. (Lucky Ethan!) And Brinks has been getting into her usual mischief. (I wanta hire a doggy hit-man!) Her new thing is barking at non-living objects out in the yard that she is mistaking for people/animals. It's so annoying! Oh, and see that floatie that Nathan is on in the first pic? Ya, she popped it right after I took those pics. Inflatable pool toys are not going to work for us this year. :-) Oh, and the sound went out on my iphone. ??? Which means it doesn't ring when I'm getting a call. I really hate to replace it right now because I've heard that the iphone 5's are coming out this September. What's a girl to do?

Well, I'm off to catch up on some laundry. I keep waiting for a maid to show up and do it for me, but so far no luck. ;-)

Last Day of Preschool

2011-05-25T20:24:00.000-04:00

As of today, Kennedy is finished with preschool for the year!

It was a fun year for her. Her teachers were Mrs. Weaver & Mrs. Helms. She had field trips to the pumpkin patch, the fire station, a bee farm, the library, and a dentist and she made many new friends. Allie, Nevaeh, and Alex were her best friends.

I took a couple pics of her before we left today.

Next year, she'll be going to a preschool that's in a little country church that's about 2 minutes from our house. (This year, her school was 30 minutes away.) I'm going to LOVE having her so close to home next year! It's going to make my life and hers soooo much easier!

Today, I made a big decision concerning work. I talked to my boss and let her know that I have decided to take the summer off. My boss is so awesome and she was very understanding about it. I don't know if I'll go back next fall or not. It will depend on if they need me. I just know that I don't want to be away from the fam when it's warm and gorgeous out this summer. I want to be able to spend time with the kids and enjoy our new pool and not have to constantly drop what we're doing to go into work. Kids grow up so fast! I want to enjoy them and enjoy this time. So, I will be finishing out next week and then I'll be done. :-) Yay!!!

Makes me look forward to summertime even more!

Sunday

2011-05-23T09:46:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day!

We went out to breakfast and then headed over to buy all the boards for the floor of our deck. When we got home, Jeff spent the day working on the deck while Nathan swam.

Nathan has a big ol shiner right now. Saturday night, we were at Jeff's parent's house. He was riding some little bike and the handlebars flew up and wacked him in the eye. I didn't see it happen, but Jeff's sister did. She came ushering Nathan over to me with blood pouring down his face. He cried for quite awhile, but he's fine now, despite looking like he's been in a fight. :-)

After Jeff was done with the deck, he worked on teaching Nate to swim. Yes, I know, we're several years behind on teaching the poor boy to swim. Bad Jeff and Jill. Kennedy hasn't learned yet, either, so it's going to be our mission to teach them both to swim this summer.

Within a half hour, Jeff had Nathan doggie-paddling across the pool. I kinda knew Nate would be a quick learner.

The pic below is gross, but I thought I'd share anyway. HA! It's a frog eating a worm. See it?

I also have a little fairy flittering around my yard.

And if I try to take her picture in her new Tinkerbell dress, I get this pose:

Rather cheesey, eh? :-)

Last night, it stormed and the sky looked so beautiful before it rained.

It's amazing how much beauty is right before us, and usually we overlook it.

The storms we got weren't bad at all. I can't believe how many people in other states are losing everything to tornados and flooding this spring. It's just awful.

Well, it's time to go get my little fairy ready for school. This is her last week!

Whitneys Prom

2011-05-22T00:47:00.000-04:00

I had such a great time today, living vicariously through my niece, Whitney! Today was her prom, so Kennedy and I swung over to my sister's house to see her before she left and take some pics. I'm not sure who was more excited, me or Kennedy. :-)

Whitney looked absolutely gorgeous in her bright, coral colored dress!

The courtyard of my sister's house was the perfect backdrop.

Whitney and her two brothers, Evan and Chris.

Apparently, posing runs in the family. :-)

These two had us cracking up!

You will not see the pic of me and Whitney together on here. Why? I learned a lesson today: Do not sit next to the young, skinny chick in the hot dress unless you want to severly damage your own self esteem. Hee-hee!

Kennedy was quite taken by the idea of "prom." It's her kind of thing! It's so exciting to think that, one day, I'll be snapping pics of Kennedy all dressed up for her own prom.

Today was just a little reminder of how special moments like these are. These are the kinds of days that memories are made of. I hope Whitney remembers today as fun and exciting. I hope she danced her legs off and had the best time!

Things I will remember: My sister flying around trying to make sure everything was just so. I will remember how beautiful Whitney looked and how sweet and carefree she was and the twinkle in Kennedy's 5 year old eyes as she looked up to her.

Thursday Blabs

2011-05-19T15:11:00.000-04:00

Here's what my deck is looking like as of today. (Those boards laying sideways are just temporarily there so the dog can get to the back door.) There's a lot more work to be done, if only the weather would cooperate. Everytime Jeff has time to work on it, it's raining. Honestly, I'm overwhelmed just thinking about how much more there is to do.

So, I'm not gonna think about that anymore. Next subject! ;-)

I've still been working a couple nights a week. What was supposed to be a 3 week long job ended up being a 4 1/2 month long job. It was great and it got me out of the house during the winter when it's so boring around here. Last week, my boss told me that I could work through the month of May and then I could be off for the summer. I was thrilled about it, cuz who wants to work in the summer? Not me! Then, a couple days later, she told me they might need me for a couple weeks in June. Um...not so excited about that.

I'm torn about the whole job thing. On one hand, I like getting out of the house and I like having my foot in the door in case I want to go back full time someday. But, for the amount of hours I'm currently working, I'm not making that much by the time I pay for gas to get there and back. So, I don't really know what to do.

Kennedy just walked up to me with twinkie filling all over her nose and told me she's a lifeguard. That girl is funny!

Let's see, how many times can I change directions in one blog post? :-)

I've been itching to paint something. When I tell Jeff this, he gets a look of panic on his face. I must've painted each room in our old house about 6 times. Anyhoo, the dark brown walls in my house are really bugging me. It feels like a cave in here. If I had it to do over, I'd paint them a very light shade. Now, I'm stuck because I have cathedral ceilings in my living room and a 2 story foyer. How's a girl that's afraid of heights gonna pull that off? She's probably not going to, without the help of painters. Sigh.... Maybe I should just paint my laundry room or a bathroom. ???

I think I'm in a rut with my house. I feel like I want change, but I don't know what to change or where to begin.

Well, I'm off to cook dinner! I have to work tonight. Booooooooooo!

All About Ethan

2011-05-16T22:14:00.000-04:00

Ethan Daniel

I thought I'd dedicate this blog post to my oldest son, Ethan. I talked him into letting me take some pics of him outside this evening. He hates posey pics, so I pretty much drove him nuts telling him to sit here and there.

At the end of this summer, he will turn sweet 16.

Ethan is at the end of his Freshman year of high school. This summer will bring driver's ed. EEEEKS!

Ethan is my easy-going child. He is hysterically funny and has such a big heart.

Honestly, Ethan has been the easiest child. He never gets in trouble, and he's one of those people that gets along great with everyone. He's the kind of boy that would make any parent proud.

It's hard to believe that my 9 lb, 2 oz baby is a big teenager! How did time go by so fast? I remember when he was a baby, people used to stop me in the grocery store and comment on my baby's beautiful eyes. They were big and the brightest blue you've ever seen. He was such a beautiful baby.

I don't yet know what he will do in his life or what ups and downs his life will hold, but I hope that he always knows that his momma loves him more than anything.

Fun and Productive Week

2011-05-14T20:52:00.000-04:00

What a great week this has been! Jeff and I were both on vacation. We ended up with gorgeous weather every single day instead of the rain that the we were supposed to get. It was around 90 degrees a few of the days, but that didn't stop my hubby and his dad from working away on our deck. The skin on their backs is now a deep shade of burgundy and my husband has been itching his like crazy which probably means he's going to peel, but they sure did make a lot of progress!

The deck didn't get done, but the hardest part is done and they're almost ready to start putting the top floor boards on. It's a very BIG deck, so we pretty much knew it wouldn't get completely finished in one week. Just seeing what they have done makes me excited! It's going to be the most amazing, fun, hangy-outy space! We are going to have a ball out there this summer!

Today, Jeff took a break so that we could do a favor for one of his friends from China. His friend's daughter went to Michigan State the past two years and had her stuff in storage up in Ann Arbor, MI. His friend couldn't make it back to the States until July and asked us if there was any way we could pick up her things and store them at our house until he comes.

We decided to make a little road trip of it, and we ended up having so much FUN!!! Jeff's parents kept the kids for us. We went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, we drove, we talked, we didn't get interuppted by children, we ate lunch at the Olive Garden, we joked around and we drove some more. It really was just the BEST day!

I think the best part of this past week is that my hard-working hubby finally got to recharge his batteries. He was in a rut, having gone too long without any time off. The time off work combined with the beautiful sunshine did him good!

Gorgeous Day

2011-05-10T23:35:00.000-04:00

Today, I caught Brinks with a joint.

Sorry, I couldn't resist! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Jeff and his dad have been working on our deck for the past two days. We've been so fortunate that the weather man was wrong and we've had no rain! Actually, it's been absolutely BEAUTIFUL here! We're talking sunny and 83! That kind of weather puts everyone in a good mood!

Here's our progress so far:

Doesn't look like much, but it will soon!

Jeff's on vacation all week, which makes him VERY happy!

The kids all made the most of our warm temps. Ethan and Nathan both jumped in the pool when they got home from school. (They didn't stay in long cuz it was freEeEeEezing.) Kennedy played in the hose with Brinks. And she posed for me, of course!

This was Nathan's pose~

Everything looked so beautiful and green today! Oh, how I LOVE summer! I'm so ready for it!

Tomorrow, they're calling for more rain, but we're hoping they'll be wrong again!

A Lovely Mothers Day

2011-05-08T22:24:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day, Peeps! I had such a wonderful day today! Jeff and the kids put in a lot of effort to make sure this momma had a great day! I felt so loved.

I woke up to cards, flowers, pictures they had drawn for me and some new adirondack chairs for my front porch (exactly the ones I had asked for.)

Jeffrey even put my chairs together with a big ol smile on his face.

Aren't they cute?

Then, we went out for lunch to a new pizza place in town and it was really yummy! After that, we went and bought most of the wood and supplies to start building our new deck.

I thought I'd share some pics from Friday and Saturday, too. Friday was Family Day at Nathan's school. They sang some songs, read some poems and did some activities.

The little girl in pink in the center of this next pic is Grace. She was in Nathan's kindergarten class, too. Nathan has always been really smitten with Grace and vice versa. I hope he marries her...cuz she's beautiful and funny and I love her mom. :-)

They decorated pieces of fabric that the teacher is going to make a quilt with.

Saturday morning was Nathan's first baseball game. Jeff is helping coach. Nathan did SO well! He hit a homerun! At the end of the game, Nathan's head coach gave him the ball from the game, which was signed with the date and the name of the league on it. Needless to say, Nathan was thrilled!

Saturday night, Nathan went to a birthday party for his friend Riley. It was his first slumber party with friends. The party was at a hotel and they had a magician and swam in the hotel's pool.

Here is Nathan with his best friends, Garrett & Riley.

Today, I did a little sprucing up outside. I got something new to hang on my front door instead of a wreath. This is made out of metal and will hopefully be a little more Brinks-proof!

I planted some flowers.

Hung our flag back up...

Filled our window boxes...

I've had the hardest time keeping flowers alive in my window boxes. This year, I'm trying some flowers that are meant for full shade. They don't look like much right now, but they'll bloom with big hot pink flowers on them.

Then, I got some geraniums, which are nice because the deer don't eat them.

I got this cute metal flower, too.

These are in my landscaping and I think they look so beautiful all bloomed out. They're almost a neon blue color.

I'm not very happy with this girl today.

I got my flowers all planted in my pots and then went in the house for probably 20 minutes. When I came out, Brinks had dug up 3 of my pots of flowers. I could've killed her! I was really hoping that she was going to be over all the digging this year. Guess not! Grrrr! I got the cayenne pepper back out and gave each of my plants a thorough shake. (It did the trick last year.)

Do you see the little woodpecker on my bird feeder?

I sat in my new adirondack chair and watched the happy little birds eating at the feeder...doves, cardinals, red-winged blackbirds and this little woodpecker. It was so peaceful.

While today has been so wonderful, my mind still keeps going to my own mom, who is no longer here. I miss her so much, especially on Mother's Day.

That though the radiance which was once so bright be now forever taken from my sight.
Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower.
We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind. ~ William Wordsworth

This peom is recited at the end of my very favorite movie, Splendor In The Grass with Natalie Wood. It tickled Mom that I loved such an old movie, so she bought the movie for me.

The memories I have of my mom are so precious to me.

That little baby is Kennedy, believe it or not. Mom had Kennedy laughing so hard that day! It's one of my favorite pictures and it makes me smile everytime I see it.

Today, I was standing at Lowes, watching Jeff load some lumber onto the truck and it suddenly dawned on me that I was standing with my fingers up against my mouth just like my mom used to. It made me smile. I told Jeff the other day that all the time now, when I talk, I hear my mom's voice come out of my mouth. It's really weird.

I suppose my mom is still here. She lives on in me and she will live on in my children. So, today, I will grieve not, and instead find strength in the precious memories she left behind.

Happy Mother's Day, Friends!

Thursday

2011-05-05T23:18:00.000-04:00

Do you know what today is? :-)

It's Cinco De Mayo! HA!!!

Nothing too exciting going on around here. Just lots of work. Jeff and I are both tired and in need of some down time, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. We're both taking off work next week to build the deck on the back of our house IF it doesn't rain, and right now they're saying it's supposed to every day next week. We'll see how it goes.

We've been working out in the yard, getting flower pots out, and prepping the area where the deck will go. I even went to the nursery and bought all my flowers the other day! Yay for Spring!!!

The kids cleared out an area behind some tall bushes and made a fort yesterday. I loved the excited look in their eyes as they trimmed away branches and dragged their lawn chairs back there. There really is nothing better than reliving your own childhood through your children.

They love it back in there! They fill that Easter basket full of snacks and then sit back in their little cave and eat.

This section of our yard is our big "work in progress." Soon, the area you see here will be deck, grass and landscaping. You can't really tell in this photo, but underneath that pile of pea-gravel is a patio. Ugh...there's so much work left to do!

Jeff has shoveled...and shoveled...and shoveled...aaaaaand shoveled!

Tomorrow's another busy day. I'm heading over to Nathan's elementary school at 7:15 tomorrow for "Muffins With Moms." Then, it's back to the school in the afternoon for "Family Day" in Nathan's classroom!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Check Out My Bloggy Makeover

2011-05-04T21:19:00.000-04:00

I'm SOOOOOOOOO excited about my new bloggy look! A big THANK-YOU to Kassie at Designs by Kassie!!! She was the sweetest girl and so much fun to work with. I'm thrilled with how it turned out! It's so perfectly "woodsy!" :-)

I got tipped off about Kassie from one of my bloggy bff's, Kristin. Her blog is a must-read and it's always so darn cute! That prompted me to scope out her blog designer and I'm so glad I did!

Thank you SO VERY MUCH, Kassie! If I could, I would pop one of those cute little diamond crowns right on your head! :-D

Weekend Projects and A Royal Wedding

2011-05-01T21:00:00.001-04:00

Another super busy weekend bites the dust! We worked on projects around the house all weekend and Jeff & I are SO exhausted! Jeff's been shoveling dirt where the deck is going to go and we started putting in our underground dog fence. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to install wire around the perimeter of a (roughly) 5 acre section of land? Let me just say that it sucks. Unfortunately, it must be done because Brinks seems to think that she belongs to us and to our next door neighbor. Everytime they walk outside, she runs next door to greet them. They've been really understanding about our annoying dog, but we don't want to push it.

Today, was a beautiful 75 degree day! Jeff and I were working outside and Ethan came out and offered to get in the pool and retrieve two caps off the top of the pool that had come off and fallen in. I didn't think he'd really jump in, but he did! That water is SOoOoO cold and, at the time, it was only 70 degrees out!

Brrrrrrr!!!

The kids played REALLY hard this weekend and they've fallen asleep almost instantly at bedtime each night.

I absolutely LOVED watching the Royal Wedding with Kennedy this week! We both got up early and curled up under a blanket to watch. I thought it was so completely beautiful and joyous! I can't get enough of all the news coverage and photos. I think I'm just starved for something happy to focus on. Lately, the news has been so full of depressing, heartbreaking stories and images. This was a welcome change. I loved the fanciness of it all. I loved all the funky hats that the wedding guests wore...the gorgeous bride in her beautiful gown with her CROWN...the smiling Prince...the horse-drawn carriage...the scores of people cheering. I loved every last bit of it!

Lately, a certain Bible verse has been on my mind. It's Philippians 4:8 and it says:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

What a wonderful verse! I'm trying really hard to apply this verse to my life. We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with negativity. It's everywhere and it brings me down. I'm not saying that I'm going to live in a bubble or anything, but I'm going to start praying about the things that worry me and then I'm going to move on. Because once I have handed something over to God, is it really necessary to keep thinking about it and stewing over it? No. The world still has so much goodness in it and that is what I want to focus on. :-)

Kennedys Birthday and Easter Week

2011-04-24T20:45:00.001-04:00

This week has been another busy one! Tuesday, Kennedy turned the big 5 years old! It's hard to believe it's been five years since I've held a newborn in my arms. Time is going by so very fast.

We brought cupcakes in to her preschool class. Then, that afternoon, I had a doctor's appointment. Jeff's parents watched the kids while I went, so I brought Kennedy's cake over to their house and we had a little party after I got back.

After we got back home, she opened the rest of her gifts.

Kennedy is BIG into Repunzel right now. So, on her birthday we had Rapunzel cake, she got a Repunzel dress from her Grandman, she got Repunzel dolls and the tower and the Repunzel movie Tangled. Repunzel, Repunzel, Repunzel! :-D

She was EXTREMELY excited to get a packge in the mail on her birthday from Aunt Nette! What's more fun than getting mail?...Getting mail that has a gift inside!

One of Kennedy's favorite gifts came from Grandpa Bill. It's a book that allows you to record yourself reading each page, so he recorded himself telling her the story. She LOVES it!

More than once, Kennedy said that it was her "best birthday EVER!" It thrills me to pieces to see her so happy!

We had a little drama Thursday night when Kennedy got knocked over by Brinks and hurt her wrist. We thought she might've broken it. Friday morning, I took her to the doc for an x-ray. She was totally fine. No break. Needless to say, I was VERY relieved.

Getting her first x-ray ever...

Saturday, we went over to Jeff's parent's house for Easter. Grandma and Grandpa got each of their grandkids a new bathing suit in their Easter basket, which I thought was a great idea!

Kennedy's is adorable and has a tutu attached! Lots of posing and ballet dancing ensued. :-)

Here is Jeff's sister Jarin with Jeff's grandma. She recently turned 91!

This Easter, we decided to have a low-key day. The past three years, I've gone all out, buying outfits for the kids for church, only to have one of us get sick, forcing us to stay home. This year, we stayed home, relaxed, watched movies, worked out in the yard and colored eggs. It was wonderful! We watched Mary Poppins, Nanny McPhee and The Sound of Music.

I had never seen Nanny McPhee before and I LOVED it! Years ago, I remember my mom pleading with me to watch the movie. She had seen it and loved it as well. At the time, I just didn't care to see it and it drove her nuts that I wouldn't watch it. HA!

I totally wanta be Nanny McPhee...snaggle tooth and all! She was my kind of character...tough, able to put naughty little kids in their place, and a little bit creepy. Loved her!

Here were the kids' Easter baskets!

It was a gorgeous day today! Kennedy took her lunch out on the deck and ate...just her and Brinks.

Coloring eggs...

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Friday

2011-04-15T13:39:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!

We've made it to the end of another week. It was a busy week for us.

First, I thought I'd share this pic of what flew over our house the other day. They're army helicopters. I felt like I was in a movie for a sec there. :-)

Our pool is up!

Next up is the task of building a deck that connects the pool to the back porch deck and lots of landscaping!

I think it's going to be quite the fun, hangy-outy-space!

We had a beautiful 70 degree day two nights ago.

Ethan and his ornery little sis that adores him.

Not safe, but potential hilarious photo opp. :-)

Wish I had a pic of him swaying back and forth trying to keep his balance.

If this picture had sound, you would hear me laughing hysterically in the background. Nathan wasn't really going to hit him. At least I don't think so.

Wild brothers!

If you look up the word "trouble" in the dictionary, you will see this:

She puked this morning and then got into the kitchen trash. She got last night's corn out and managed to get it all over the kitchen floor. She also got ketchup on the living room carpet, tore up a pair of earphones and ate the ends off of two of the shoelaces in Jeff's shoes. What a way to start the morning!

Deck builder:

This little girl holds her own in the ornery department! She's got a birthday coming up next week!

I don't know about you, but my mind is already starting to think about what flowers I want to plant outside this year. I can't wait to get my hands in some dirt!

Have a great weekend!

Spring Break Twenty Eleven

2011-04-10T20:49:00.002-04:00

We had a relaxing, uneventful Spring Break this year and I have to say~It felt so nice! We enjoyed ditching our regular routine and this momma LOVED not hearing that alarm go off at 6am! It makes me excited for summer vacation!

This week, Nathan lost TWO teeth! I pulled both of them! :-D This was Nathan's idea to get tooth #1 out, but he quickly chickened out. Thank goodness, cuz doesn't that SO not look fun?

One little tug and it was out!

His other front tooth was loose as well. He worked on that one a few more days and finally it appeared to be hanging by a thread too. I coaxed him and coaxed him into letting me pull it like I had the other one. BAD IDEA! Let's just say it wasn't as ready as I thought. I took a piece of paper towel, gripped the tooth and pulled like you would if you were quickly ripping off a bandaid. AND. NOTHING. HAPPENED! Nathan let out a scream, jerked back and out came the tooth. But it bled. And he cried. And I felt like the worst mom on the planet. Ugh!

But now he has a cute little toothless grin that I love!

Other things we did this Spring Break...

We made Lincoln Log houses.

Yes, Kennedy is STILL wearing that Halloween dress! Everytime I turn around she has it on. Inside with necklaces used as headbands, outside under her coat. I think I'm going to get her a bunch of sundresses for summer in the hopes that they will satisfy her current princess complex.

We had a lot of dreary, rainy weather, but that didn't stop Kennedy from going outside with her umbrella.

We took lots of naps!

Chuck napped too. :-)

Nathan had his first baseball practice of the season.

Ethan fought a bad cold, slept a lot and played way more XBox than any 15 year old boy should be allowed to. He also had a friend over one night and went to see the new movie, Limitless.

I had my appointment with the specialist about my thyroid, and it went really well. He squelched my thyroid cancer worries which was a huge relief! He did some bloodwork and started me on some new medicine. I really liked the doctor I saw. He was super-eccentric, but I felt like he was intelligent and cared. I go back in two weeks and I'll know more after that visit.

Today was 85 degrees and sunny!!! Our first summer-like day! We spent almost the whole day outside working in the yard. It felt so nice! We cleared out all the dead leaves from around the plants in our landscaping, raked the mulch back in the flowerbeds that Brinks had kicked everywhere, cleaned out some gutters, and transplanted some plants.

We have SO much to do out in the yard this summer! It's a little overwhelming to think about it all.

I've decided that I'm going to have to start making our yard a little more dog-proof. We're going to take the mulch out of the landscaping on the sides and back of the house and replace it with stone. We'll just keep the mulch in the front. I think the dog won't want to walk on rock so it may keep her from running through there. (Hopefully!)

I'm loving how everything is starting to turn green around here! Spring has definitely sprung!

The kids got the hose out and made mud today. Then they rolled in it. Cuz that's a good ol time when you're 7 and 4. HA! I couldn't resist letting them, since tomorrow it'll be back down to 64 degrees. Booooooo!!!

Kennedy's newest obsession is making her daddy dance with her. She loves it when he "dips" her and when he does, she gets this goofy serious look on her face that cracks us up!

Her other favorite thing is her Repunzel nightgown. Actually, she's into anything and everything Repunzel right now.

And that was our Spring Break in a nutshell!

Eight more weeks until summer vacation!!!

Hangin Out On a Thursday

2011-03-31T15:53:00.000-04:00

The pool guys have made some serious progress in our backyard. They have the spot leveled out. Next, they'll put sand on top of the dirt and level it and then start setting the pool up. So far it's lookin good!

I'm on a mission to take more pics of the boys. I have lots of Kennedy because she's home with me most of the day, but the boys are always gone at school.

Here's my sweet little Nathan.

When he's deep in thought, he sticks his tongue up over his lip, so the poor boy seems to always have a chapped ring around his lips.

He's getting ready to lose his two top front teeth. I can't wait to see his little toothless grin!

And here we have Ethan. He's currently addicted to his XBox. When I took this pic, he said, "Mom, don't put a pic of me with headphones on your blog!" So, what am I doing? Tee-hee-hee! Hey, I gotta take what I can get!

I have to share what Brinksy did today. The pool guys were in the backyard, which means I have to take her outside on a leash to do her bizness or else she'll go back there and run off with their stuff. Anyhoo, this morning, she was walking around wining like she had to go out, but I was trying to ignore her long enough to put some laundry away. All the sudden, I saw her go in the dining room and get her leash and then she brought it to me! How smart is that?!!! Needless to say, I immediately took the poor girl out!

I was hungry for something sweet today, so I decided to bake a cake from scratch using my new cookbook.

Sprinkle-licious!

I got this cookbook used off of Amazon for $1.80 plus a couple bucks for shipping.

I was ready for some new recipes and I love the recipes in Southern Living Magazine so I thought this one would probably be good. It reminds me of the Betty Crocker cookbook in that it has a lot of cooking/entertaining/etiquette tips in it...like how to fold napkins and a run-down of what all the different kinds and cuts of meat & etc. are.

My two other "go to" cookbooks are below.

I have yet to try a recipe in this Paula Deen cookbook that isn't great! The Betty Crocker Cookbook is like "Cooking for Dummies." I pretty much learned how to cook with my Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Spring Break for my kids is next week. We don't have anything major planned. We are (hopefully) going to spend lots of time chillin around the house. I'm on Day 3 of ZERO caffeine. None, peoples! Not a drop in 3 days! Unfortunately, I have had a mild headache for three days straight, too. I'm beginning to wonder just how long a caffeine addiction can last. One of these days I'm going to wake up without a headache! :-)

Happy Birthday Bill

2011-03-30T10:21:00.001-04:00

Today I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my little bro, Bill!!!

He turns the big 3-3 today!

We went out to celebrate this past Saturday night.

Bill,

Hope this year brings lots of happiness, fun times and good health!!!

Cheers!

While I'm on here today I thought I'd share a pic of my hot mess of a daughter.

Necklace worn as headband, shoes on wrong feet, obnoxious expression. She definitely keeps me laughing! I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of her Halloween costume from last year. She's in that thing all. the. time.

Here she is the other night at her preschool carnival with her very first best friend, Allie. Aren't they so cute?

The guys just arrived to start prepping our yard to put the pool up! I'm so excited! And I found out today that Brinksy is actually a pretty good watch dog. She was NOT happy when she looked out and saw 4 guys in the backyard. The hair stood up on her back and she barked the gruffest barks! It's nice to know that I won't get snuck up on. :-) We've been a little on edge since hearing that a house down the road from us had a car stolen out of their driveway last week. Creepy!

Hope you all have a great rest of the week!!!

Grease Lightning

2011-03-27T19:41:00.001-04:00

Today, we went to see my beautiful niece, Whitney, in her high school musical, Grease! Whitney played Jan and she did such an amazing job! She has so much natural talent. She OWNED that stage and made me so very proud! She danced, she sang, she floored all of us! Jeff and I both agreed that she will end up with a lead role in a future play.

My kids had never been to a play before and I could tell that Kennedy couldn't quite wrap her mind around what she was seeing....something like a movie...but happening live, right before her eyes. She loved it! (When we got home, she put on one of her princess dresses and said she was pretending she was Whitney. So cute!)

Here is Nathan running up to give Whit a hug after the play.

Kennedy was overcome by a sudden moment of shyness and wouldn't let me take her photo.

Ethan & Whitney~Cousins

Whitney & my dad (her grandpa)

Great job, Whitney! You were so awesome!!!

Mommas Girl

2011-03-25T15:50:00.001-04:00

Have I mentioned that I love this girl?

She loves to get her picture taken. She loves jewelry, princess dresses, and Barbies. She also has a fondness for singing along to Taylor Swift.

She uses words like "fierce," "totally hot," and "lame." She is hilarious.

She is my favorite girl in the entire world.

I love her!

Goodbye Coke I Love You Always and Forever

2011-03-24T12:27:00.002-04:00

This post is brought to you by one groggy girl who wishes she could've had 2 more cans of Coke this morning than what she actually had.

Yesterday I went to the doc to get my ultrasound and bloodwork results. Here's what I found out : Not much. My ultrasound showed that there were "abnormalities" throughout my whole thyroid. My doc said he believes I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. However, I'm having some strange symptoms and so he's not exactly sure what's going on. He's referring me on to an endocrinologist and he had me stop taking my thyroid medication because, while on the medication, I felt worse and my thyroid levels in my bloodwork came back worse instead of better.

Here's the odd part. My doc told me I don't have nodules on my thyroid. Then, his nurse called me back yesterday with my appointment time for the specialist and told me I have one nodule. What the heck? I don't know what to think.

So, I really don't know any more than I did before. But I'm thankful that I'm off that medicine because I truly felt like I was slowly poisoning myself while taking it.

The other thing my doc told me is that I need to get off of caffeine completely. I drink a lot of Cokes per day and he thinks all the caffeine is the reason for me feeling really jacked up and then really tired. (Have I ever talked about how much I love Coke? If Coke was a guy, I'd probably cheat on my husband with him and then marry him. LOL!!~~Just kidding.) I drink somewhere around 5 Cokes a day. Sometimes more. Rarely less. It's going to be hard to quit. Hi, my name is Jill, and I'm a Coke addict. HAHA!!!

Today is Day 1 of cutting down on Coke. I'm going to attempt to wean myself off. This is gonna suck. I see the specialist in 2 weeks. I have 2 weeks to completely break things off with my little red-canned friend.

The main question on my mind right now is what I'm going to drink instead of my beloved. Any ideas? I think I need some tiger blood. Oh Charlie Sheen, I'm not sure if you're completely insane or just a really good actor who's duping us all. Or both.

Does Anyone Know The Number for Nine One One

2011-03-19T15:49:00.001-04:00

Today was nuts! The guy who owns the field next door to us called and said they were going to do a "controlled burn" on a small section of the field beside our house. No biggie, right?

Jeff was outside with Nathan and Kennedy. I was inside tidying up the house. Ever so often, I'd glance out the window and watch the grass in the field burn. The following sums up my thoughts at the time:

*Hmmm. That fire looks like it's getting awfully close to our property line.

*Whoa...there's a bunch of firetrucks out there. Maybe they just have those on standby when they do a "controlled burn?"

*Wonder where Jeff and the kids are.

At this point I went out in the backyard to look around. No one was near our property line and the fire was coming toward me fast. When it engulfed the fence and crossed onto our property, I knew that things were going bad--FAST!

I went from calmly calling out for Jeff to shrieking his name. No answer. (I didn't realize but he had been on the other side of the field trying to contain the fire for 1/2 hour already, and yes my kids were with him.)

Full on panic-mode ensued. The flames were tall and were headed right for my house. When they were about 15 feet away, I sprinted into the house and screamed for Ethan to help me chuck boxes of old photos into the back of my car. (That is how scared I was that my house was gonna burn!)

I ran outside and saw a fireman rushing toward us. I started filling buckets with water and dumping it on the flames to keep them from coming further. Finally, a truck drove over and sprayed water all over the fire and put it out. Whew!!~~Close call!

When the fire was out, I grabbed my camera and headed outside. They meant to burn a spot the size of an acre and instead burned about 15 acres. Oopsie! Now, the whole field is black.

Look how close it came to our electrical box.

I think it's funny how everytime anything happens, someone in my family will say "This is blog material!" LOL!

In this next pic, you can see the side of my house. Now, look at the blackened ground on the right side. See how close it came? Scary!!!

And that was our excitement for today! HA!

Thyroid Shmyroid

2011-03-18T21:03:00.000-04:00

My nerves are shot. Today has been a doozie.

The day started off good. Nathan and Jeff went to "Donuts With Dads" at Nathan's school. I snapped a couple pics before they left.

Kennedy wanted her pic taken with her daddy.

This past Wednesday, I was at my "female doctor" for my annual exam and my doctor asked me if anything had changed with my health since I'd been there last. I mentioned my recent thyroid issues. She came over and felt my neck and said she thought my neck felt swollen and she thought my voice sounded a little raspy. She recommended that I get an ultrasound of my thyroid and more-less said that if my family doctor didn't want to order it, then she would, but that she really thought I should have it done.

My family doctor ordered one and I went in for it today. It didn't take long for me to realize that the ultrasound tech was finding growths, or nodules as they call them, on my thyroid. She would then take a screen shot, measure the lump and then move onto the next one. I think I counted 4 that she found, but I'm not positive.

When she was done, I looked over at her and said "I saw those." She smiled and said "Um, I'm not allowed to say anything or I could lose my job." I said, "I know, I just have a question. The scale on the side of the screen that measures the nodules...is that in millimeters?" She said, "No, it's centimeters." Crap. The last two nodules were 2 cm in diameter. I didn't see how big the other ones were.

I barely got to my car before I busted into tears. I was scared. After a mini-meltdown I settled down and went into ninja mode. HA! I've dealt with enough tough times that I have my own little system of dealing. I know it might sound silly to some, but when fear starts to overtake me, I psyche myself up like a soldier going to war against whatever it is that's going wrong. Jilly-girl and Jesus, fighting the forces of evil. :-)

After getting home, I did some research on the internet and figured out that things might not be so bad afterall. I read that 50% of people have nodules on their thyroid and usually never know it. I also read that if you have several nodules, like I do, it's likely that they're not cancerous. Most people with thyroid cancer only have one big nodule. They will probably do a biopsy to determine if mine are cancerous or not and if they aren't, they will probably just leave them alone and check them every 6 months to a year and make sure they don't grow. We'll see. I go back to the doc next week. Please say a little prayer for me that this all turns out to be no big deal.

I wanta take a sec to stress to each of you that it is so important to get some bloodwork done every couple years. I knew that my energy level had taken a nose-dive over the last year or two, but I just figured it was due to my sadness over my mom dying or because I wasn't in my 20's anymore.

I honestly think I've had this thyroid issue for maybe 4-5 years. My mom used to give me a hard time because she said I clear my throat all the time. She used to say "Jill, it's NOT normal for someone to clear their throat as much as you do!" I never thought much about it. I went to the doctor about it and was told I had allergies and to take Claritin. Mom was never satisfied with that diagnosis. I think her mommy-gut-instincts told her differently, and she was right. The sad thing is, if I hadn't asked my doc to do some bloodwork just to check everything, I would've never known that my thyroid isn't working the way it should be. I would've just gone on feeling sluggish all the time.

We have a laid-back weekend planned and I couldn't be happier! The official first day of spring is this Sunday and our temps the last couple days have been up around 70! Warm weather makes me happy! :-D

Actually, everyone around here has been in a noticably better mood. We've been driving with the windows down and starting a little bit of yard work outside. (Brinks, aka "The Master of Destruction" has done a number on my landscaping. It's gonna take some work!)

weekend recap

2011-03-14T11:47:00.001-04:00

Well, here we are at the start of another week. Mondays aren't so bad, now that they happen to be one of my days off work. :-)

This morning, I caught a pic of Kennedy sharing her Cheetos with Brinks. Brinks takes them from her so gently. It's cute! Brinks loves carbs. Seriously, if you offer her a chicken nugget or a french fry, she will take the fry. Reminds me of the black lab we had growing up. She was the same way. Mom used to joke about Star's love of fries. HA!

We had a fun weekend!

Friday, we celebrated THIS guy's birthday!!!

My dad turned 68 years old on Friday! Jeff, Kennedy and I took Dad and Mary out to lunch at Bob Evans.

I feel very, very blessed that God chose my dad for me. I truly had the best childhood...the happiest times. I am so fortunate to have a father that was loving, supportive, and very involved in my life. He's always been there for me. I wish that every child could have a dad like mine. I love you dad! Happy 68th!!!

Saturday, my bro and his girlfriend Katie stopped over to warm up while they were out riding. It was like 44 degrees out that day. Brrrrrr! By the way, Bill just got back from a trip to Florida on his bike. Which would've been fine except that he had to drive for many hours in freezing temps until he got to warmer weather. He's a die-hard biker. :-D

Everytime I take a pic of Bill he says with a groan "Is this gonna end up on your blog?" Hee-hee!

Saturday night, Jeff and I met up with Bill and Katie and went to watch some karaoke. I tried and tried to get Bill to sing (cuz he has an awesome voice) but he wouldn't budge. It was a fun night out and we all enjoyed people-watching.

Some pics of moi. I totally deleted the ones of me head-banging. LOL!

I'm putting this one on here, against my better judgement. LOL!!!

(Lawwwwdy!) We had a great time!

Sunday, we had the pool guy over to make arrangements to put the pool up this spring. I'm so excited! I'll never have to bathe my children again! KIDDING! I need to start thinking about plans for the deck that Jeffrey's going to build to go around it. It will be connected in with the existing deck on the back of our house. We've done very little with our backyard since moving here, so mostly I just can't wait to look out the back door and see something other than blah-ness. Plus, we're going to love having a hangy-outy place outside!

Hope your Monday gets off to a nice start! I'm off to do laundry. (Groan.) :-)