G's Haircut!

So, G has been wanting to get her haircut for awhile now, but she really wanted to donate it, but didn't have enough for lock of love. We discovered a great program called Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program. It makes wigs for women with cancer. The best part is the wigs are free for the women. Lock of Love offers their wigs on a sliding scale, so this really helps someone enormously! G was able to donate two ponytales, nine inches each, so it counts as two donations (gotta love the thick hair on my girl). She loves her new 'do and feels great about helping someone.

OK Laurie....I'm Updating!

These are all pictures from our recent trip to Chicago. This is a picture of G with her cousin J and Lake Michigan in the background. H at Buckingham fountain. And dinner at Bubba Gump's. We have eaten at every Bubba Gump's we come across. I don't think it's because of the food, I think it is because we like the trivia they ask you during dinner, OH, and to get a t-shirt from that location to add to the collection. There was also a Lego store near our hotel, so of course we had to go. H had never been in a Lego store (yes, we know he is a porr deprived child!) and he loved every minute of it.

The other big adventure was taking G to American Girl. What a day that was. I have never seen anything like. G had a great time, but I think I may have liked it even more. We had lunch in there and the dessert was a little flower pot and heart shapped cookie, so I had to take a picture! Here is G with her doll Mia having lunch. And the other picture is from when she was trying on clothes showing them off to her audience. She did get the pink heart dress and wore it to see Mary Poppins the next night.

This picture is of me, G, Mom, and Aunt Brenda. We now call her Annio. She wanted a nickname from the kids, so that is what they came up with for her.

I loved this picture. I told H to pretend the bear was right behind him sniffing him to see if he was tasty. In reality we were at the Field Museum. Chicago is a very fun town, but there was no way we could come even close to seeing everything there. I am glad we went on that vacation, because our trip to New York has been cancelled. P was picked up to go to RFO school at Cape D so off he goes, and we are all left behind with no plans! While he is there he is going to see all his friends nad make a trip to visit his Mom. Her surgery went well (she fell and broke her arm really badly) and meet his brother's new girlfriend! Swim team is finally finished. H came in first in his age group for backstroke in the state championships, so he is pretty pumped up for swim to start again. G did really well and took third in her age group, swimming a 25m backstroke in 30.18 seconds, which is very fast! I hope you are all enjoying your summer. We have had perfect weather all summer. Coast Guard Festival is going on right now and we have 250,000 people visiting our fine city to celebrate. I keep saying if they really want to honor our boys they should give them a pay raise. Take care everyone...see you all here next week!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Happy 4th everyone! This morning G and I spent our time making ath of July garland for the front porch. I think it came out great and thought you would all like to see it as well. We painted all the paper, cut it into star shapes and strung it. G loved doing the 'Jackson Pollack' thing with the paper and I think she is now going to want to do this with every holiday. It truely inspired P, because he wanted to decorate the porch with all kinds of stuff. Melissa, you would be so proud of me. I hauled everything up from the basement and decorated the porch for less than one day of enjoyment!

A shout out to Michelle and her gang...Happy Birthday Kiddies! I hope you all have fun at Disneyland.

Bunnies

Here in the great state of Michigan we have all kinds of wildlife around. In our yard so far we have seen our Turkey's and their babies (they are back again this year), a coyote, squirrels (black and gray), possums, deer, crows, a weasel and three bunnies. Tongith I am going to tell you all a story about the bunnies...

Paul, His MoRose, Hayden and I were all sitting around the breakfast room table (next to the big picture window) playing Catch Phrase, when I happened to look out the window and saw our three bunny friends (Grace has named the Todd, Lily, and Snuggles). I commented to everyone "hey, look! there are the bunnies playing ring-around-the-stump"(tree stump in the yard) and made everyone look. Unfortunatly they were not playing ring-around-the-stump, Todd and Lily were playing "let's make more snuggles" I immediatly told the kids to sit down, but it was too late...they got a quick lesson in "oh, how cute...they are playing leap frog". We are not going to be pointing out the antics nature get up to in our yard anymore!

So, Paul's mom is here for a visit. It has been lots of fun. She doesn't like squirrel, so we are best friends! We have been shopping, sightseeing, eating, and going to yard sales. She is here until Monday and than she leaves and the kids and I go to Chicago for a week. Mark (my brother) is taking H to a cubs game and G and I are going to lunch at American Girl with my Mom. Yippee!!! G wants to get the Rachel doll because she is a "New Yorkie" and we are going there this summer.

I hope everyone has a happy 4th and enjoy's whatever fireworks you get to see!

Summer

So it seems everyone is putting up summer pictures, so I will too. My pictures must be like M Bell's because they too loaded in no particular order. G finally lost her front tooth, well she actually had it pulled because it was so loose for so long that it got infected and the dentist pulled it because it was never going to come out on it's own. So she has lost her two bottom and one top and two of the three have been pulled for her. She does not have the lovey dovey relationship with the tooth fairy that everyone else's kids may have. But, she does get way better stuff from the tooth fairy, because, I don't know if you know this or not, the tooth fairy always feels bad when kids have to get teeth pulled, so she leaves them presents and stuff. The next picture is G showing off her new summer tops. She has this top in several different colors. Loves it! I love having a Children's place so close to home. Speaking of children's clothes...thank you for letting me sell you all out. I have $60 in credit right now and more to come, so when school starts I am going to cash it all in for new school clothes for G through MiniBoden, so thank you! The next few pics are of G in her first swim meet. She took second in two of her events and fourth and seventh in the other two events. She is a good swimmer like her bro, but she is better at different strokes than he is. H also competed in this meet and took first and second in his two events. Pretty good for them because it was a big meet and there were at least 15 girls in each of G events, they run them in heats and G pulled out second overall in both event. H only had 6 boys in each of his events, not sure why not too many boys in his age catagory are swimming. They are on the G.H. swim team, but in the fall it turns into a USA swim team. They have a great coach and we are excited about swim! H is really competative and wants to be the next Michael Phelps, so going USA is right up his alley. G just like swimming and being with the other girls on her team, having said that she LOVED coming in second and wants a first next time!

I am finished with school for the summer. I had my last final on Tues. We must be the smartest Coastie wives because I got all A's again, and am hanging with Tara in the 4.0 slot...looking down at the rest of the young and inexperienced kiddies in college thinking "if you would drink less beer, get more sleep, and do what your mother tells you, you could be up here with the honor students", now that I said all of that don't you ladies go checking for spelling mistakes in my blog, you will find them and than make fun of me!

P's mom is coming to visit next week for 10 days YAHOO!!! how nice to have family visit. The day after she leaves we are heading off Chicago to meet up with my brother, mom and aunt for a long weekend. Summer is going to fly by. In August we are driving to N.Y. for 10 days, before I head back to school. Gas prices better stay down or we will be living on Mac n' cheese until we leave.

Summer TV- ARMY WIVES!!!!! I am so glad it's back. It is so good this year too. I am waiting to see whatDenise does. I like the character, but I hate what she did.

The next network food star-P and I got sucked into this one, and we like it. Anyone else watching it?

Waiting for BB-hope you are too Amy! SOON, SOON!

Ice Road truckers, Deadliest Catch both good, although lisa drives me crazy!

We started watching The Tudors on DVD, it is really good. Has anyone seen it?

OK, I hope you all have a good week. I know I said before that I was going to be really good and update my blog from now on, but now I really mean it.

MTTC'S and all that fun stuff!

OK, I am very excited and must share with everyone. I recieved my results a few days ago and I passed my MTTC's. For those of you I haven't talked with recently, the MTTC's are the Michigan Teacher's Test for Certification. The state boards basically and I passed with flying colors! YAHOO!!!! I still have to take the test in my major (language arts) but the Reading/Writing/Math portion is done and I will never have to take them again! School is going great. I have a few weeks left. The kids get out in a few weeks as well. They are ready, I am not ready for them to be out. I don't have a lot to say this week. TV has been very good, but coming to a summer standstill soon. BOO HOO. I think it is pretty pathetic how wrapped up in TV I really am. I love TV and I watch more than I should, but I still read a lot as well. I am thrilled that JT won everything in Survivor, including the extra $100,000. I love that Kris won American Idol. I don't think I could have watched if the shreaking cat won. I love that Shawn Johnson won Dancing. She is a plucky little thing...Good For Her! I haven't watched the finale of AxMen/Deadliest Catch/CSI yet, so don't spoil it if you know. I have still not caught up on Gray's of Desperate...soon, I promise! I want more Disney pics. I need to know what I am missing and depriving my children of. Like I said, not much from me today, but seeing as I am the first to post, maybe I have more to say than all of you! take care my dear friends!

My, Oh My, It Is I, the slacker....

Hello ladies! Yes, it is me, I am back! after my long absence, I have returned to the blog world. I am pleased to announce that i got straight A's in all my classes and i have a perfect GPA. Not bad for an old lady. I am taking two classes this summer, Teaching Literature to Children, and Technology in the Classroom. I have discovered i am not a "techie", I suck at it and I am being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Melissa, would you please stop getting so high tech with your blog....I suck and it is a total reminder to me that I do. I had to create a webpage for my class in technology and when I am all finished I will share the address with you, or.....you can all google me at somepoint and you will see it in progress as I add to it every week and complete the project. I love my lit class, reading kids books and discussing them is my favorite thing to do. we just finished reading "Bud, not Buddy", by Christopher Paul Curtis. I highly recommend it for everyone, but I know all the boys will love it. I had one full week when the kids were in school and I was not. I spent the whole week ignoring the laundry and reading my stack of fun books. I plowed through one a day and loved every minute of it. Paul and I also got in a bunch of golf while the kids were in school. Speaking of golf...the whole family is in a golf scramble over Memorial day weekend. It is through our golf club and it will be Grace's debut! She has been golfing with us for a few weeks now and loves it. This summer it is swim and golf. Both kids are swimming for the Grand Haven swim team this summer. They are going to be in shape by the end of the summer. They have practice everyday and a meet every Thursday, that with the golfing when Dad gets home every afternoon, and these kids are going to be powerhouses. We have two trips planned for the summer. A trip to Chicago in July and a trip to New York in August. We will be very busy beavers. I had a very nice Mother's Day. I slept supper late and had an ice cream sundae for breakfast with my coffee...in the big bed! Now for all the TV viewers in the audience...

Survivor-J.T. better win. I think I have a huge crush on the southern hottie. It sickens Paul, but who cares. He is adorable and nice to look at and to close your eyes and listen...UMMMMM. Coach drives me crazy. Someone needs to scheme him off the island. I am also glad Sierra is gone, she annoyed me as well.

American idol- I have been watching the singing, but not the kick off shows. i want Danny Gokey to win. I haven't liked Adam since he killed the Johnny Cash sone in week two or three. He is so shrill sounding. Plus Gokey is cute. He kind of reminds me of Josh Gracin...my other favorite American Idol cutie pie!

Hells Kitchen- I want the bot to win....of course, now that I am trying to remember his name I can't! Season finally is tomorrow while I am at school, so Paul is taping it for me.

Amazing Race-I loved that Tammy and Victor won. They worked really well together and they kicked butt.

I have not watched Gray's or Desperate in ages. They are both on my watch this summer list, so I can catch up.

Has anyone heard anything about Army Wives?

Is anyone watching the new season of the Bachlorette? I am!

That's it for me. I will post faithfully from now on, no more slacking off.

Happy Easter

A few days late, but here I am. Happy Easter everyone! We are very thankful to be having beautiful weather here for the holiday weekend. This is going to be our first year of having the egg hunt outside. We have tried in years past, but it is always to wet. The kids are hoping the Easter bunny can find them in our new house. I assured them that if Santa found them the Easter Bunny will as well. H is actually at that age where he is questioning the validity of the Bunny and his jolly counterpart. He piped up in the backseat of the car while we were driving with G that he thinks it is the parents that bring things to kids. I told him I realized they were real because I knew my parents would never spend that kind of money on toys and andy for me. He seemed to buy it, but I think we only have this year (a very skeptical on at that) left before the jig is up, and than he will probably tell G. i will never actually confirm it, but he will know! Easter menu

Flank Steak, grilled on the grill outside
Green Bean, sauteed in beef broth and almonds on top
mashed taters
salad
and cake, or chocolate bunny ears if the kids aren't looking!

Next weekend I am taking the MTTC test, so wish me luck! Have a great weekend everyone!

Busy Day, Busy Life

I forgot to post yesterday! I have a few papers due this week and I finally got the gumption to take the Michigan Basic Skills Test that all teachers have to pass to get certified. Before I can be admitted into the Master's Program I have to pass this test. It is a five hour test on Reading/Writing/Math. I have the study guide, and I have to say, if this is basic skills I missed something the first time around in school. Once I pass this test I have to take two more. One on Language Arts and one on Elementary Education. They really want to make sure their teachers know their stuff...I guess. So, in all my studying, I forgot to blog. The kids are about to start spring break. P will be out of town all week, so the kids are going to the YMCA spring break camp. They are not really happy about that, but it will probably be a lot better than staying at home with me all week. We have had the most beautiful spring weather for weeks now, and now they tell me it is going to snow on Mon and Tuesday. Up to six inches. I wish I had more to chat about, but I do need to get back to my papers. More next week....I promise!

Our new family members are a hoot! Pardon the pun! H is holding his bird Balto and G is holding her bird Rocky. We have had them a few weeks and I am now certain that birds are the best pets ever. They are super easy to care for and they get really excited when you come home, however they don't jump on you and ruin your pantyhose. We have gotten them a bunch of bird toys and it turns out that birds love toys. They really love mirrors and bells. The kids love them and are not afraid to take them out and hold them.

Life here is pretty good. No headaches for P. He is doing fine. The kids are doing fine in school. I totally bombed a test this week, but I hope my paper makes up for it. It was the Morphology exam. The teacher postponed it for a week, but that still didn't help. I don't think I was the only one to have a really hard time with it. I have two papers due this week and I am really starting to feel the pressure of school now. I have signed up for two classes this summer. i am taking "Teaching Literature to Children" and "Teaching Reading to Children". Both classes I am very exctied about.

I am the newest assistant Daisy Girl Scout Leader. We are finishing cookie sales. I am getting used to taking a backseat and not being the leader. I kind of like letting someone else be in charge. No responsibility!

Dinner this week:
Burgers and salad
Frito Pie
Pot Roast
squash pasta
soup and salad

Nothing new on the IPOD, however I am loading up my TiVo
Grey's for the last three months (I am going to watch this summer when I am out of school)
Desperate Housewives (see above)
CSI (the original)
AX Men

And, in other news. I have a summer trip already planned (not as exciting as Disney) but still a good time. I am taking the kids on the trainto Chicago to meet up with my mom and nephew J. We are staying downtown and we are going to see all the sights. I have been to Chicago once for a job interview, but didn't see a lot of the city so I am pretty excited. We are going to go to American Girl. The boys will have to suffer through it, but G and I are looking forward to it. Amtrax goes almost from our door to Chicage, so there is no need to take a car. Yahoo!

Melissa-I think Gokey should win, because I like him best. Adam was ok, but when he slaughtered the Johnny Cash song I gave up on him. The girl that made the obnoxious crowing sound was ok, but that did it for me with her as well. I also don't like how she does te weird twisting thing while she sings. Anoop doesn't do it for me either. I liked the guy that sang the Garth Brooks slow song last week.

Amy-Survivor! I am pretty jazzed I am watching it in 10 mins.

Amazing Race for those of you watching is sooo good this time. i kind of like all the teams, so it is hard. I think the dumb blonds need to go. They bug me!

Homeland Security? When, oh When is a new episode coming?

That's it ladies. Have a good week!

New Post! Can you believe it!

Happy Birthday G! Here are pictures from G's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, and my favorite picture of G. This was taken on the cruise when we were in the Bahamas. She is wearing Granos hat and we are off to get our hair braided (which was closed so we didn't get it done). She had a great time at her party. All the little girls from her class came, 11 in all, and they had two hours of fun, while we watched them and didn't do a lick of clean up. I have to say this is the best kind of party. No set up, no clean up! I think my kids are going to have Chuck E. Cheese parties until they are 15!

In other news...I am registered for my classes for the summer. I am pleased because now I get to take the fun classes. I am registered for Teaching Reading to Children and Language Arts for Teaching. Way more fun than Brit Lit. I have three papers due next week and exams coming up again. I forgot that school wasn't just listening to lectures (it would be much nicer if it was) the professors actually expect you to read and write!

The kids are doing great. Paul has not had any more episodes of headaches, so opefully they are in remission for a good long time (forever). The golf course opened up here so Paul and H have been golfing everday this week. G and I are on our own for everything after school, including dinner. We eat together and the boys eat when they get home. Who put a golf club in that kids hand anyway? He has it bad. Everything is about the golf game. I am registering both kids for the swim team this summer and H is worried it will cut into his golf time. I assured him that swim team is during the workday when Paul is working, so he wouldn't be golfing anyway. H is also writing a book. He has developed a character, Bryan Air, that he has going on all kids of adventures. He is working with his teacher to polish it and get it off to Scholastic to see if he can get it published. It is going to be a picture book with the illustrations done by him as well. G has her artwork being displayed in the City art show this week. We are going to the artist reception next week. The art teacher at her school sent in her catapiller picture and she got a little award for it and they are including it in the show. Can you all stand how much I am bragging this week about the kids! Disgusting isn't it? Well, after the weeks we have had with H it is nice to be bragging a bit.

Spring has really started here. We really do get four seasons. Everyone is wearing flip flops and is on the golf courses. I love the weather, but the people need help. Everyone in this state is so dog-gone nice, but they are only surface friendly. I have yet to really make a good friend. How is that possible. I moved to Hammond and met Becca and Monica super fast. I moved to Astoria and met Melissa and became super buds super fast, I lived in Port Anegeles and becamse super friends with Maureen and Katrina super fast, but not the case here. Everyone is nice, but no one wants to open up and be friends with an outsider, or maybe I just smell.

Dinner this week:
Sausage with mix veg
BBQ beef sandwiches with coleslaw
Parm Chicken
Pizza
Chicken salad sandwiches left from the parm chicken
that is as far as I have planned.

I have loaded the new Kelly Clarkson song on my Ipod, but that is the only new song I have added.

That is all for now, I have to leave for school.

What a Week!

Last week was a pretty intense week. On Tuesday Paul called me at school and asked me to come home and take him to the ER. Henhad a really severe/intense headache that he couldn't get rid of. I came home got him to the ER and they did a CT scan and an angiogram. At first they thought it might be a brain anyurism or a tumor. I didn't think a person could ever be that frightened, but I guess you can be. All the tests came back clear and they called it a migraine. We came home, the next day he was wiped out and on Thursday it happened again, but the pain was even worse. On a pain scale on Tues. he said it was a 10, on Thurs. he said it was worse than a 10. Now to really understand all of this you all need to know that Paul has never been to the DR. other than his anual physical with the CG, and he had not been to the hospital except when he had his appendics out when he was 18, so for him to want to go to the ER and for him to rate it off the pain scale we knew it was bad. They did another CT scan and a spinal tap and finally figured out they were "Cluster headaches", otherwise known as Suicide Headaches. They are a neurological disease that affects only .01% of the population. There is no cure for them, but they can be treated with oxygen and meds. Best we can figure is that he may be in remission now for years or he may get another one tomorrow. It really is a wait and see. So our house has been pretty tense. On top of all that he caught some nasty bug during all of that and was sick as a dog all week. Probably from the ER germy areas. The kids were troopers through all of it. I fed them almost 20 dollars worth of vending machine food in two days and prayed nothing was going to really freak them out in seeing Paul so sick. A few things I learned about all of this.

1. Make sure you have these phone numbers in your cell phone

your in-laws

brothers and sisters for both you and hubbie

command

HS

ombudsman

church person

school

2. Keep a copy of hubbies tri-care card in your purse, give him a photocopy of yours and your kids for his wallet.

3. Be nice to the ER ladies.

After a pretty crazy week. Kathy came to visit. I am on Spring break, so we are running around checking out all local fun things and neighboring towns. We went to downtown Hollan, Muskegon and Spring Lake. Today we went Wine Tasting, Cheese Tasting and Chocolate Tasting. We are going to have a feast while watching survivor. Tomorrow we are going to Saugatuk. It is a small town with a lot of little shops and art things. Saturday is G's b-day party. Tonight she is going to a girl scout troop meeting to see if she likes the girls and wants to join. Her bestest friend in the whole world is going as well, so maybe we will be hocking cookies too. (Melissa, you can keep the thin mints, just pass the samoas over this way) I heard from Kathy that the best places to sell cookies when they come in is the college and in front of home depot. Kids love the cookies and men won't say no to the little girls.

Laurie-I hope H isn't going through shunt failure. I also hope he doesn't barf in the car!

I am off the drink wine and eat cheese. Have a good week everyone.

Chinese Fortune Cookies

Have any of you noticed that fortune cookies of late have become more statements than fortunes? Paul and H are famous for getting statements, I usually get a fortune and usually a double in my cookies. We have finally found a great chinese place in town. We like the food and the girl that runs it is very nice. The food is not as good as Golden Star, but I think it is still yummy. I am bringing all of this up because I got a statement in my last cookie, and it was so good I taped it to my computer so I can see it while I am studying.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.

What a great thing to read every morning. School is going very well. I have just finished my mid-terms and I think I did fine. I already got back my Brit-Lit exam and got an A, so I am feeling pretty confident now. The kids are on mid-winter break this week, and they still get a spring break in April. I am on spring break next week, which is nice because I will get to go do fun stuff with my mother when she comes to visit. We will have oodles of fun while the kiddies are in school, and we won't even let them know we left the house! In other news, my car is back in the shop. It is stalling again and the trannie is going (I think). I love the car, but hate the problems I have had with the car. I am driving a tin can on whells until I get it back.

American Idol-I did really like any of the singers last night, except the hippy girl in the white dress. My fav to win it is still Gokey. I think the boy that sang last last night may get the little girl votes and could be a contender.

Survivor- I still love the redneck boy JT, and hope Coach gets his just desserts. He is too cocky for me.

Homeland Security-My FAVORITE new show. Thanks to Amy we are watching it. I never even heard about it until I saw it on her blog as her show to watch when the season started. THANKS AMY...very cool show.

Amazing Race- I like the asian brother and sister and the boy and his mom. I don't know how well any of them will do in the great destructor INDIA. Everyone seems to fall apart there, and I laugh my butt off.

Bachelor (SP?)-I hope he pick Melissa, but I think something big is going to happen, but not with Deanna. I have heard some rumors, and wonder how true they may be.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Read my extra post below to see how H did in the State Championships for Swimming.

Proud Mommy!

I posted about H going to 2008-2009 State Championships for swimming, well the meet was today, and H did a bang-up job! He took 1st (YUP, that is FIRST) for all three of his heats. Even thoogh he came in first for his heat, he still had some tough boys to beat. Overall he came in:

13th out of 33 for 25 meter freestyle

18th out of 44 for 50 meter freestyle

12th out of 44 for 25 backstroke

He will get a ribbon for placing in the top 12 for backstroke, but no ribbons or medals for the other two races. He is very proud of himself for winning his heats. If you all don't know what that means, they have 33 swimmers and only 8 can swim at a time, so they have 5 heats in order to have all 33 swim, so H beat out 7 other swimmers in his heat to get the first ribbon. He is turning into a fine little swimmer, but this summer it looks like he is going to work with the diving team. I hope I will be able to breath when I see him up on the high diving board! Hope you all had a great weekend as well.

Late Again!

I am posting late due to a big exam in my Linguistics class on Thursday. I was all ready for it and had a few extra hours to spend studying for it on Thursday morning, as well as, post my blog entry, until we had a snow day. Around here it has to be a pretty big weather system for them to shut down school, so you should all know we had a nice big storm. I think I did OK with my exam. I did get my paper back for the class and got a nice 94 (A) on it! YAHOO! I turned in a few more papers this week and I have mid-terms next week, so I am a bit stressed, but nothing that a nice glass of red wine can't fix. Friday's are my down days. i am finished with class for the week. I don't have to get up early the next morning, so I usually reserve Friday nights for a glass of wine, people magazine, some yummy snacks (Chinese Cracker and Nut mix from Costco) and chill out. I start studying again on Saturday for the next week, but I get Friday night. I also get the hours on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, that my favorite shows are on. One hour a night to watch. This school thing is really cutting into my night time TV schedule. I promised some pictures, so today I will post a few. The first is the Valentine Mailbox H made for his school project. they had a contest to design a box to put your Valentine's in and H got FIRST place for his! The next is one of the kids with their icicles from the house. Now I know you have all seen pictures of my house, so you all know it is a two story house, so how did I get these bad boys down? I opened the upstairs bathroom window, removed the screen, leaned way out (don't worry Moms I held on to the towel bar so i wouldn't fall out, besides if I did I would just land in snow. Right?) and grabbed them with a towel. The kids had the best time playing with them. I was pretty sicked out that they kept licking them, but hey if they eat hot dogs a little roof tar can't hurt them. In the picture of G, she was just passed on to the next level of gymnastics. She is now a "flipper" level 4 girl and she is very proud of herself. I asked if she wanted to have a gymnastics party for her birthday in a few weeks and she declined saying instead she wanted a Chuckie Cheese party. Good Golly Miss Molly! I thought we had almost outgrown that place! The last picture is one from our dinner earlier this month. There is a place in G.H. that makes a 24" pizza. Yes ladies, you heard right! 24" inches of pure gooey, cheesy, delight! That is two feet of pizza, and we had to get one to try it. VERY GOOD. and, if any of you come for a visit (moms included) we will order one just so you can try it. Now, on to some shout outs....

TARA-you rock! Thank you for my favorite Valentine's Day present. I wish my hubbie had thought of Starbuck's! Also, I love looking at L's pictures. She is getting so big and she is so beautiful. I remember meeting her for the first time at Kathleen Tabors house when she was a few months old. How far she has come!

AMY- JT is my pick. There is just something about those southern guys. I also kind of like the boy that just went to Exhile island. He played that whole thing off really well.

MELISSA- I am watching American Idol, so you don't have to be left out of the TV talks. I am thrilled that Tatianna is gone and hope Gokey goes all the way. (he was the guy that sang Hero the other night)

MICHELLE- Thanks for all the info on boys that you keep passing on. We feel really lucky that H seems to be back to normal(?) for him and it was the meds. I'm counting down for you and Matt here, and hoping oyu all pass by G.H. on your way back east.

LAURIE-I know you have a motor home and I also know gas prices are way down, so if ever there was a time for you to think about a trip to MI now is it! You could all come out for the summer. You and Michelle and hubbies and kids and we could all have a big reunion. Maybe Tara and her family could plan a trip to OH and make it up here as well. Melissa you guys could even plan a trip to see if MI is where you all want to come next.

OK, I am off to watch Friday Night Lights. I love that show and it's not just because Riggins is nice to look at!

P.S. I think Johnny Depp is HOT!!!!!!! Even as a Pirate.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Just think, this time last year we were all celebrating together. I'm not sure which I like more, having you guys or having Paul home. I sure do miss all of you, but there really is no substitute for having him home. If I recall last year we went to that nice place on the water. This year I am hoping for a nice dinner cooked by Paul and cleaned up by Paul. He is taking the kids out tomorrow to get me a present. I am not sure what to get him, but I may have to do what i suggested the young girls in my Lingustics class do for their boyfriends. They were asking me for ideas today and i told them to bake their boyfriends cookies and write "saucy" things on the cookies. Not to cheesy, ot to sentimental, not to personal, but yummy and fun.

So, how did Paul propose to me? He didn't! We were having a phone conversation one night and he suggested if I was sick of my job in San Fran. i should move to WA to live with him. Up until this point we had just been roommates. I told him I wasn't moving to just be roommates, so he said we would see were it went. I told him I wasn't moving up there to just date, what if it didn't work out? So, I finally said, "what would you say if I asked you to marry me", he said "ok" so we joked about it for a while, and the next morning I told him I was calling my Mom to tell her we were getting married and he said "OK". We got married three months later. I should have married him years before, because he was the only guy I ever dated that my mother liked. Here we are working on year 11, and I am so thankful every day that I married him. He is the best thing that ever happened in my life. Him and the kids, of course!

H is doing great! We took him off the meds last Friday and he is like a different kid. He is sleeping really well, not having dreams or sleepwalking. He is being an angel. His teacher noticed the difference right away. It is hard to believe that something like that could cause so many problems. Here we thought we were doing the right thing for him and his health and it turns out we were making his health much worse. The Zytrec is not as effective at treating his allergy/asthema problems, but I don't care,we will never go back to Singular. Right now we are working on his Valentine box for school. They are having a contest in his room for the boxes. He used frosting to "glue" thousands of conversation hearts to the box, so it is completely edible. He has a big "fake bite" taken off the side for kids to put his valentines through. It is pretty cool. I get to help in his classroom tomorrow for the party and i am pretty excited about it.

I don't know if I told all of you that H is going to "State" for swimming next week. He will swim the 100 meter freestyle, 25 meter Freestyle, 25 meter backstroke. We are very happy for him. He has worked hard all year to make it!

So, everyone needs to update after valentine's day so we can hear how the hubbies did. I wish we were all together again, but I can't kiss you guys, so enjoy your valentine's day with your sweeties.

Good Morning Girls!

I am up and ready to go this morning. I have some school work to get ready to turn in today and H forgot his homework in the library so we have to leave early so we can get it and get it done before school. We have had a very nice week. We went sledding on Sat and Sun. the kids loved it. G is much more of a daredevil than H which is very suprising. We also had a superbowl party for just the four of us, but it was fun anyway. Here is a shoot out to Bill for his superior team. We loved watching them. H and I were hoping the Steelers would win, Paul was going for the Cardinals. What a great game. For those of you that don't know Star of the Sea is going through a huge scandle right now. Check it out on the Daily Astorian website. Type in the keyword St. Mary's or Star of the Sea. You can also google it and I am sure you can see it on the big news stations out of Portland. So, in other news. We are taking H to the doctor on Fri. He is showing some signs of anxiety, so we want to see what we can do to help him out. I think the move has been a bigger deal for him than we thought. He has undergone a pretty big personality change in the last 6 months and we are starting to get concerned. He doesn't want to go anywhere without us. He doesn't want to go to a friend's house to play unless one of us is going to stay. He doesn't want to go sledding or ice skating if he thinks a bunch of other kids are going to be there. He is also very concerned about checking that doors and windows are locked. I was looking up anxiety in kids and he has some pretty big signs of it. All I can say is that it really sucks when you know your baby is going through some issues and you don't know what to say or do to help them. I am also very glad we are part of the C.G. so we can get the help we need and now have to worry about the cost. On a happier note. G and Paul are going to the Father/Daughter dance on Weds. I am taking her to get her hair done before and they are going out to dinner with her best friend and her best friends Dad. Paul wants to play it up really big so she has a great time and he makes up for not being home to take her the last few years, but he also wants to set the stage for any boys that try and date his daughter years from now. He wants the date standard set high, so G doesn't settle for some shmuck. H and I are going to go and see Pink Panther 2 while they are at the dance. A nice Mom/Son night, and the best part is I don't have to get super dressed up for it. The YMCA here is doing a parent's night out on Feb 13th, which G wants to go to, but H does not and so we are trying to decide if it is worth making him go so we get a date. We have not been out together at night, on a date since we lived in Astoria. I will keep you posted on the possible date night. School is great. I really love being back in a classroom, learning new things. The younger girls in the classes are starting to share their boyfriend problems with me, but I think, in a more Mom than girlfriend capacity. That's OK though, because at least they trust me enough to share. I like my proffessors. They are all very smart and I get a lot out of the classes they teach. I am not looking forward to Mid-Terms, which are coming up. I remember why everyone parties so much in school. To celebrate when things are going well, and to drown your sorrows when they are not. I haven't reached either point yet! I am so glad to hear Lily is doing OK. Amy do you have anymore info? Melissa, I love all the craft links on your page. Amy....SURVIVOR, next week! Michelle, have you started planning your trip across the country yet? Planning to stop here? Well, I am off to start the day. Have a good Thursday ladies.

Photos!

THIS MONTH.......

picture of our snow covered deck.

LAST MONTH.......

Our cruise ship

The cabana in the Bahamas

I FEEL SICK!

All right ladies, I feel sick! Sick to my stomach, sick in my brain, sick in my head. No, I am not really sick, I just feel that way. You see, the problem is, I am in school. Now I know you have all read about it before, but this is different. Last week and the week before I was just starting, not sure what to expect, and a bit on the "OK, this will be fine" side of things. But, this week is different. I have a paper due tomorrow. Now that would be enough to put some people into a panic, but it gets worse. It is up for peer review. So, that means that one of the young, smart, whippersnappers in my class is going to read my paper, and I think I am going to be called out as the fraud I feel like. They will realize that you really don't get smarter with age, and that your mind really does degenerate as you get older. My last wish is that you all remember I did have some moments of pure lucidity before I started this whole college thing, and that if it doesn't work out for me, you all will not point and laugh. I am now off to finish the paper and blow all of you and my blog off once again, until next week.

Sincerely,
The woman formerly known as smart.

Left Out!

I feel so left out, but at least I can comfort myself with the fact that soon Laurie will be joining me on the pity pot. Amy has Tara and Melissa (sometimes) and Laurie has Michelle, and I have no one! Boo Hoo. I don't have anyone to play crazy cow games with and to drink mock anything with! So, I guess I will have to go and drink a real glass of wine and comfort myself with leftover episodes of unwatched Gray's Anatomy. At least McDreamy is there for me. I don't have friends Amy, but I have snow. Lots and lots of snow. We have about two feet off our deck right now and the weather is 9* with a wind chill of -10 to -25 tonight. The pleasures of living in the mid-west. I actually kind of like it. We get to have a fire all the time. The kids play outside all the time. They don't call snow days at the drop of a hat. Hot Chocolate is not just a treat anymore, it is a staple! Everyone is bundled up all the time, so your figure never shows and everyone wears sweat and sweatshirts all the time, so I fit right in. Lots of kids don't want to get out of bed to go to class so I look really good to my professors just because I show up everyday. Overall the mid-west is a great place to be.

Class is going well. I feel a bit more comfortable speaking up and a bit less intimidated by all the really smart kids at school. However, I was sent an email from the dean of student welcoming me as a older, more mature student, and I feel a bit miffed at that! But, because I just used the word miffed i guess I can understand why I got the older, returning student, email. The one thing I miss because I am in school and studying all the time is the TV shows. I have to limit it to one show a night. So here is my viewing list for now.

Monday-The Bachelor
Tuesday-Homeland Security
Weds.-American Idol
Thurs.-CSI
Fri-Tivo's American Idol second night
Sat.-Tivo'd Gray's
Sun-Desperate Housewives.

When Survivor and Dancing come back on I am hosed! Did you get the date for Survivor Amy? I love the new Homeland Security show. What is everyone else watching? I will be watching the inaguration on Tuesday. I think we are watching it in class. I have an amazing Study of Modern English teacher. She wants us to watch the speech, so I think we may watch it in class. Melissa, you have a front row seat don't you? I know, that you must know someone that can get you right up front! Well, that's it for me. I have to go read the last few chapters of Huck Finn. Have a good Thursday everyone!

The New Year

Well the new year has brought new challenges with it. I FINALLY started school. after years of talking about how much I wanted to become a teacher it is finally happening. I know I just started down this long road, but it should pay off in the Spring of 2011 with a Master's and a teaching job! I don't know if it is me or if the kids today are just getting smarter or I am dumber. I was worried about starting school because I haven't been in class in so long I wondered if I would be able to keep up. On the first day when I watched all the kids texting and not taking notes I thought, "I got this, these kids have got nothin' on me", and than the second day came around and they all started participating in class and I thought, "oh crap, i'm in trouble here". These kids are smart. Young, but smart. I really hope I can keep up. I am taking British Literature, American Literature, and Modern English. I am the oldest person in all of my classes, except for the teachers, but I hope that gives me the life experience to get through this. Tare, how are your classes going? Are you feeling stressed out yet? Am I being a big baby? I am glad I did this though. I have always wanted it and now I am going after my dream. I am glad I have a supportive husband, mom, and kids, or I wouldn't be able to do this. I took H with me to the campus before school started so I could drop off some paperwork, get a parking pass, and a student ID, and H loved it. Our student Union building is the coolest place ever. It has a movie theater, pool tables, foos ball, Subway, a sushi bar, cafe, coffee house, computers, xbox, playstaion terminals, and all kids of other things. H and I played pool and got lunch and he was so impressed he wants to go to school there as well. He just needs to keep seeing college as the land of milk and honey! For my American Lit. class we are reading Huck Finn. Have any of you read it? Any thoughts on it you would like to share? My teacher in that class is a bit weird. He talks about TV and movies a LOT, to the point that yesterday I decided to write down every show or movie he referenced and show Paul when I got home (I can listen to him and write at the same time, so I wasn't completely spacing out). He brought up:
90210
The O.C.
Scooby and Shaggy
The Flinstones
Matchbox
Pride and Predjudice
A keanue Reeves Movie
Saved by the Bell
Scarlet Letter with Demi Moore
MTV Cribs
Cat in the Hat
Christmas Carol
Archie Bunker
Little Mermaid
Song of the South

So, stayed tuned for Friday's list of topics from the teacher!

I took G out last night and we got our Ice Skates. The YMCA has a skating rink here, so I told G I would teach her to skate. H has swim team tonight, so while Paul is watching him, I will be on the frozen pond. We have had a two hour delay with school today due to the snow, so I hope the pond is snow free for easy skating. I know I have yet to load any pictures from the cruise, but it won't be today either. I am off to get ready for class and i still have a few chapters of Huck Finn to read. I hope you all have a good day. Oh, as i am back in school any fancy dinners are now out the window and for the first time in G's life we had Hamburger Helper for dinner last night, and the kids would not eat it! Tonight is grilled cheese and split pea soup.

Birthday!

H had his birthday today! It seems that all of the big important days this year have fallen on a Thursday. We did not have a party for him. We gave him the option of having a party or going and learning how to ski. He chose skiing. H and G went into a kids ski camp yesterday. It lasted four hours, included lunch, hot chocolate break, and the lesson and gave us time to ski together. We had a wonderful time. Paul and I had never been skiing together before. We had four hours of total ski bliss. It was a bit icy in some spots, but for the most part it was a really nice ski area. Who knew MI would be such a nice place to ski. so, H loved ski school, but just wanted to hit the regular slopes with us, so after ski school Paul took him to the easier slope and off they went. H is a really good skier and picked it up FAST! G and I went and sat by the fire after ski school. She had a fun time, but wants a few more lessons. It was really great to have a nice day out like that. Today on H's actual birthday we all got up nursing stiff legs and spent the day at home. We did have Subway for dinner, because that is what H wanted. A Coldstone Creamery Cake and opened presents. H got a nice digital/Video camera and a Deluxe Pogo Stcik from us and MORE legos from all the grandmothers. Paul and I did make it to midnight last night. We watched the ball drop and turned off the light, only to see fireworks from our neighbor go off right outside the bedroom window. It was very pretty and we felt a bit more festive, and than we went to sleep! I am not one for resolutions, so I won't even try to lie and say I made one. I know I would only break it so why bother. I like New Years, don't get me wrong, but I have never really understood why it is such a big deal to everyone. Why do the stores close? Why make a resolution? We are all off work, so let us go spend some money and have fun? If we didn't do it over the last year what makes us think we are going to do it this coming year? I prefer to think of it as a day to get a fun new kitchen calendar, sleep late, and have a long weekend. So I hope all of you get a nice long weekend, some extra sleep, and a chance to do something fun. Happy New Year!