Summer is finally here

We have finally had 3 days in a row where we saw sun and really warm temps. I am loving every minute of it.

My last post makes me chuckle although at the time I think I wanted to knock someone out.

We have only 3 days left until our well deserved trip to Disney. I am getting excited but still have WAY to much to do before I leave. Get Jake to our friends Kim and Wayne's. We have a house sitter coming for the cat's so making sure everything is in order. However, the biggest and most daunting task is packing for everyone. That is so tough. No Internet for 9 days I will update facebook through Twitter but other than that no communication unless you have my cell # than you can text me.

We had my Mom & Dad's 20th wedding anniversary that was such an awesome day. I miss my sister, niece and nephew I really enjoyed them all this visit. We had the most incredible weather and just such an enjoyable day. A big thank you to Rachael who got some amazing photos she just needs to clean a few of them up and I will post them.


Jakers to us and Jake to everyone else will be officially 9mo's on Friday. He has made a definite new home. As much as we all love him, he has made it known that he is Brady's pal. They play together all day. Don't think you will ever touch Brady if Jake is around because he yells at us all the time for touching his pal. If I ever had a doubt whether it was a good idea to have adopted him all I have to do is look at Brady and Jake together.

Okay well I will update more later. I updated more than enough info for one evening.

The person who invented puberty please step forward

So as you see from my title I have another child beginning puberty. God needs to give me strength to get through this a second time in just over a year. I want to know who in heavens name decided to invent such a horrible, torturous thing called puberty. I would like to put them in front of a firing squad. I know I know you must all be laughing especially my mother. However, this is really not such a funny matter he is fine one second, stomping feet another, sobbing another, screaming at the top of lungs at me as the grand finale.

I swear one of us is not going to make it I am just not sure if it will be him or me yet. Stay tuned for updates into this hellish thing someone decided to call puberty.

We are still in full swing of baseball Austin's team has only 1 win and the rest are sad losses, Colby's team has 1 tie and the rest are very sad losses. So it has been a heartbreaking season for them both. This adds so well to my dilemna of paragraph #1.

Saturday is going to be my mom & dad's 20th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it has been so many years already. AMAZING!!! Time flies

Should have been born blond

I must have too much on my plate as usual because I had such a blond moment this weekend. Colby's baseball coach must think we are on drugs. Colby was not feeling well on Friday night and woke up on Saturday still pretty sick. So as I got Austin ready for his baseball game. I made Colby call his coach and tell him he was sick and wouldn't be at his game that was at 11:30am. Well I just looked at the schedule and Colby's game wasn't yesterday it was today. Oh my heavens I am losing it.

Well over all it was a nice weekend not really too much going on. My sister and the kids fly in next weekend and as usual we will have 2 weeks of straight chaos.

Can not believe that tomorrow is June 1st and the kids only have 3 weeks left of school. I can not WAIT!!! This school year has been heck and I am soooo looking forward to a break. This mom is on overload and we all need to chill and have some good times. Our Florida trip is 5 weeks and 2 days away. I can't believe how fast it is approaching it is going to be here and gone before we even realize it.

Okay that is it for now.

This has certainly been an interesting month.

Their are times that occur in my life that I wish I could relive over and over, just so I never forget them. Others I wish would go silently away so I didn't have to ever remember for the rest of my life. This month has had many of both.

SOME OF THE BEST MOMENTS OF MAY 09'

1. My little guy turned 3. We had amazing weather family and friends that came to celebrate this amazing day. He had a Disney Cars cake that his mommy made for him w/love.
2. Rachael graduated w/honors from Hesser w/a degree in Graphic Design.
3. Having some amazing times w/our new puppy dog Jake.
4. Watching my boys playing baseball.
5. Watching Colby excel at school this year. With grades as well as meeting some new amazing friends.
6. Tiffany's graduation from Dental school.
   

SOME OF THE WORST MOMENTS OF MAY 09'

1. Having had Jen lose her brother. I feel so sad for her and her family. The pain I just wish I could make go away.
2. The stress of money has been insane.
3. Having child #2 beginning to hit puberty. It is truly a test of endurance on my part and trying to maintain being a good mom. Both with which I am constantly in battle with.
4. The loss of my brothers beloved dog Sebastian.
   

Brady in many ways manages to keep a smile on my face in the face of uncertainty. Tonight trying not to be cranky decided to cook a really good dinner for the family. I made picante chicken w/red bell peppers, honey roasted red potatoes and steamed veggies.

Brady took one look at his plate and said he was not eating. My response was okay but if you don't eat you won't get the swedish fish he desperately wanted for dessert. So he got up from the table and went into his room comes out with his rolling back pack and states that he is packing his bag and running away. He packs his jacket, blankie and we say what else are you taking he tries to grab the swedish fish bag off the counter. I just burst into laughter. We said where are you going to sleep he says I don't know. The dog is biting at his bag the whole time as he is heading for the door, trying to drag it back. I am just quietly thinking this child is a whole other entity all to his own. My other two never dreamed of the things Brady already has at 3. We say to Brady we will miss you horribly if you leave. He eventually agrees not to leave and we make a compromise on dinner. He ate half his plate and managed to get the fish that caused the uproar in the first place.

Well as this month quickly is coming to a close I am anxious to see what June will hold for us. I am praying for incredible weather and lots of fun times outside, enjoying it all with my family. With a lot more smiles and a lot less crying and screaming. Only time will tell.

Never forget to say I love you.

This month has so far been insane. We made it through Brian's wedding and I am so thankful it is over and we can put it behind us.

The boys baseball is in full swing. Sadly Austin is 0-1 and Colby's team is 0-2. However, on the bright side Colby had an amazing hit Saturday and I am thrilled to have seen it.

This is the overview of my upcoming week.

• Monday I have to pick up Austin at 5pm from school, Colby has a game at 6pm.

• Tuesday Colby has to be picked up from School

• Wednesday Colby has to be picked up from School, Austin has practice, Colby has a game.

• Thursday Austin has to be driven to school, Colby has to be picked up after school and Colby has a game.

• Friday get everything ready for Saturday and Sunday. Tiffany graduates from dental school.

• Saturday Austin & Colby have games, baseball pictures, Colby has a birthday party at his friend Michaels house and Bradys party here. Jake gets picked up and going to Gina's.
  

• Sunday Rachael's graduation and party. Pick up Jake from Gina's.

I seriously wrote this down so I don't forget anybody or anything this week. My brain is a jumble.



This is also a sad week indeed my poor friend Jen just lost her brother and I am very saddened by this horrible news. I also found out my brother has to put his beloved dog Sebastian down today. It is a week of many highs and the reality that it can all be gone in an instant. Enjoy every moment you have because you never know if it can be your last, never go to bed mad, don't ever say something you can't take back and NEVER forget to say I love you.

I am going to end with this and it makes me stop to realize that no matter how busy I am I never want to forget to say I LOVE YOU!!.

We got a taste of summer.

Well the kids are on spring break and I am loving them home. I am also thrilled that the weather has been amazing so far for them. We have totally received a glimpse of summer this week. The temps have been in the 90's for the past couple of days and I am loving it. We have totally been enjoying being outside after being trapped inside all winter. Although the winds have now kicked up and I think we are in for a doozy of a rain storm here in a little bit.

We have been so busy with the boys baseball and trying to see friends that I have been literally straight out. We also watched Rachael's kids last Friday to Saturday that was a lot of fun. They are such great kids that I enjoy having them so much. On Sunday we were blessed to go once again to the Shrine Circus compliments of my Uncle and Dad. The kids look forward to this every year and if it wasn't for such great friends this year we almost weren't able to attend. We had to have someone watch Jake and Jen graciously offered to watch him for us. He was a challenge and I hope she knows how appreciated it really was. She Rocks!!!!

Onto my green thumb moment. I have always wanted to plant tulips. Scott and Rachael's dad had some of the most amazing I have seen at their house in Manchester years back. I have never forgotten how beautiful they were and when I spotted bulbs at Christmas Tree Shop last fall I scooped up a bunch all colors and different kinds. Jeff and I got busy planting them in November and I am so thrilled that they came up and have started to bloom today. They are stunning and I am so proud. Here are a few that bloomed today.
Okay well off to eat dinner. Talk to you all later.

Counting the new grays

Well this week has been a challenge from the start. Believe it or not it is not the preteen it is the other two. Brady is having issues. He has been potty trained since the end of last July. Which is almost a full year. Suddenly he is having accidents which are more on purpose than accidents. So trying to decipher what is going on with him and causing him to have these accidents. So my new tactic bribery, so far so good he didn't have any accidents yesterday. So we will continue w/the gum bribery and see if continues to work. Then he accidentally gets hit by a swing rips his little nose open and to top it off his kiddie pool which is about 2' deep filled w/water from all the rain yesterday. My little imp thinks it will be a great idea to jump into it w/shoes and all clothing on!!!!

Seriously is it a FULL MOON!!!

Oh I am not even sure if I want to go into details about my middle child. POOR CHOICES!!!! VERY POOR CHOICES!!! That is what I have to say about him. Not one day this week has gone well for that child.

I am seriously sitting here banging my head against the wall and counting the gray hairs as they are appearing before my eyes. As if I didn't have enough as it was.

Did I mention how lack of health insurance sucks too. I have acid reflux so bad now that their is not one single day that I go without it. I went to the store today to get OTC medication to hopefully help because the TUMS don't cut it anymore.

OR

That lack of money is also really a stressful, way to time consuming problem. This economy is really being a damper on my life and making me a wee bit cranky!!!

Okay well enough B*itching for one day. Hope everyone else is fairing better.

Spring has sprung

The kids have begun baseball w/full force. My tulips are beginning to grow like crazy. The temperatures are beginning to steadily rise. The ground is pretty much dried up now so the kids can play w/out the mud.

Jake got nutered a week ago Wednesday. He is doing great and we qualified for the plan B and it only cost $25. That was an awesome surprise. I also love the vet so I think that will be our vet from now on as well and it is on the same street the kids peditrician is on. Which is only 2 miles from my house another total yeah!!!

Ugh sometimes I hate having to give my kids reality checks. However, in these times being wasteful is not an option. The older kids are old enough now to get it. I don't mean to make them sad but it infuriates me when they don't think and waste stuff that could have lasted us a week. Now mom is sooooo mad but even more soooo sad, that I scolded my kid for doing nothing more than being a kid because of economic situations. This totally sucks!!!!

Lots of new stuff

The boys had baseball evaluations on March 7th. We found out that Colby may be quite a little star as he got picked for majors. Life as we know it has officially ended. Begining on 18th he will have practice 3 nights a week and then the first week in May he will have a game on average every other day. This is going to become the juggling act because of Brady. Jeff is the coach for Austin's AA team so we have a lot of overlaps and there is no way that Brady will just sit for 2 hrs and nor can I expect him too. So I may try and see if our friends Kim & Wayne will help out and keep an eye on him for Austin's practices since his are only an hr long and their son Tyler is also on Austin's team so that may work for us. We will just have to see.

Last Friday Brady woke up and he looked like had repeatedly slapped him across the face. His cheeks were burning hot. Over the next 24hrs he got a rash down his arms from his shoulders to his fingers and a rash down his leg to his feet. It turns out he has fifths disease and I am almost certain I had it the week before. I thought Austin had it as well but I am thinking that he just had either a 24hr bug or a touch of it that caused a fever and no rash. The rash they say will come and go for the next 2 - 6 weeks. FUN FUN FUN!!!

It seems the stress is setting in. Which it seems to this time every year. Jeff & I have been silently steaming at each other for weeks. He thinks I am ungreatful and mean. I think he is under my skin, unappreciative, and takes me for granted. So we are both very much to blame and it finally came to a head Tuesday night. I think it was quite productive he watched the kids so I could do all my running around yesterday. He cleaned the bathroom and genuinely tried to help out for the first time in months. I tried to acknowledge his help and be kind. So hopefully this will last. It was a much less stressful and actually an enjoyable day.

Jeff left this morning for his annual hockey tournament in Canada. He won't return until Monday. So it will be interesting to see how this goes. I am going to manage to be straight out. Pick up my kids at school, Rachel overnight, dying eggs tonight.
Tomorrow: work, go grocery shopping, do all my baking and cooking for Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday: Get Rachel and Logan at 4 pm, get Megan by 4:30pm, go to Stephs for Jeff's 40th
Sunday: Get Rachel, Logan and Megan home and get everyone ready to go mom's for Easter and then I had to get a sitter for the puppy dog because he has seperation anxiety and goes balistic when we leave.

Okay well I am not sure if I forgot anything or not but need to go do school w/the kids so I got to go.

Big Doin's

Well now that I am back from being sick for a total of 3 days. I pretty much thought I was dying. I couldn't even move off the couch from Wednesday afternoon until late Saturday morning. Every muscle in my back is so tweaked that I still can't move quite right and other than the fever blisters covering my lips I am back to normal. I managed to lose 7 lbs being sick but know that being well it is probably already back on.




On to my my really exciting news. On Sunday morning I get up and check in on facebook and see that my cousins girlfriend is looking to find a new home for a 5 month old boxer. She was going to foster him until she could find him a new home. He was her Uncles dog and he couldn't care for him so we told her we may be interested. She offered to bring him over so that we could have a overnight w/him and see if we would want him permanently. So Mr. Jake walked in the door and we immediately said he found his new home. I caved, I think he is so handsome and very well mannered. He is a 5 month old boxer w/out the cropped tail. He could give one hoot about the cats although they really aren't so keen on him.

So I am in the market for a new vet. Anybody know any great ones that they recommend. I am willing to hear any raving stories anybody wants to tell.

Oh My

I had no idea that it had been 10 days since I blogged. I must live a boring life. Haaaa Haaaa Haaaa!!!

Let's see last Thursday I got to see Jen's new digs. It was very cool. I love the color she picked for paint and can't wait to see it all put together. Plus got to hang w/my girlies. Paid the price for it the next day going to bed at 2:30 and up at 7:15 but it was worth it.

Friday night I hired Megan to sit Rachel, Logan & Brady and went to an Avon party w/Steph at Melissa's house. It was so much fun that I lost track of time and almost didn't make it back in time for Scott picking up the girls. Oppsie

Sunday I get a call at 10 am that they are having my Uncles 60th b-day party at 6 pm. I offer to make the cake and Chicken gnocci soup. So I race the Hannaford and start cooking by 11am. I proceeded to cook for the next 5 hrs. I lost count of the amount of dishes I washed after about the 10th sinkful. We all jumped in the car and drove the 45mins to my cousins house. We stayed for about 2 hrs and got back in the car and drove another 45 mins home. I got all the kids ready for bed, got all their paperwork signed for school and sent them to bed. I then did dishes, 3 loads of laundry, cleaned up Brady's toys, swept the floors, broke a glass. It turned out to be another 2:30am bedtime for me w/a 7:15am wake up call.

Today it seems we are all dragging some serious butt. I have never had Brady ask for a nap, he didn't even want lunch just wanted to go to bed and then I put him to bed at 8:30pm tonight and I never heard a peep, it is unheard of. I had to bring Colby to his orthodontist appt. today. They had to do a work up and submit it to the insurance company to see if they will pay for him to have braces. They then inform me it could take up to 4 months before the insurance company will make a decison. ARE YOU JOKING!!!! I hate dealing w/the state.

Okay well that would be my life in the past couple of days.

Thinking

This morning while taking my morning shower. I started to think, I question why I am so overweight. Then little things started creeping back into my memory, such as over the last 8 weeks or so I have made the following.

1. chocolate chocolate chip cookies
2. carrot cake w/cream cheese frosting
   
3. chocolate cake w/peanut butter frosting
4. cinnamon sugar pretzels
5. apple buttermilk custard pie
6. fried apple pies
   

Now the problem lies with the only item I did not eat was #5. The cakes were for my dad and Colby's birthdays. I also had my birthday in their as well so add another two cakes that I didn't make onto the list. Thank goodness I will not be celebrating any more birthdays until May. That is a lot of homemade junk!!!!

Okay I decided to have you all share in my horror, no more thinking for me today.

Busy Busy Busy

Well Colby is now officially 12. He had 3 friends come over for a sleep over on Friday. They truly had a blast. They had pizza. Watched a movie while munching on popcorn. Had chocolate cake w/peanut butter frosting and cookie dough ice cream. They were all really well behaved except for still yelling at them to go to sleep at midnight but that goes with having a sleepover. I also got to meet their awesome parents. James family has kids the same age as mine and have only moved into town a little over a year ago. So we were thrilled to meet each other and I will definately be calling them to try and get together soon.

On Saturday Austin had his playoff game for basketball and they won. It was such a nail biter. They won by 1 basket 24-22. So now they have another playoff game this Saturday and if they win they will have the championship game also on Saturday. Then the basketball season will be officially over.

Spring is truly around the corner and we will be getting ready for baseball season to start. I can't wait for the nicer weather which we keep getting glimpses of here and there. I am itching now that we just had daylight savings.

Just a quick post

Yesterday was the day from he double hockey sticks. It just was going to go wrong no matter what I did. I got through it and my parents came over for cake and ice cream for my dads birthday. It was a nice but a very quick visit, as my parents had tickets for the Verizon ctr to go see Larry the Cableguy.

Well Brady made me burst out laughing once more. I sit them all down for lunch. This is the conversation that ensued.

Setting the scene: Brady rips his bib off and with a drama filled voice were every syllable is enunciated proceeds:

Brady: Mom, I is full
Me: you are?
Brady: Yes I just can't eat because I had such a rough night!!!

Okay you did!!! Last time I checked you are two and are fed, clothed and play all day. I wonder what he interprets to be "such a rough night" could it be that I dared put him to bed. LOL!!!

Well Colby is having his weekend birthday sleepover. James will be coming home on the bus w/Colby and Conner and Michael will be dropped off. They are eating pizza watching a movie w/popcorn. Having a chocolate cake w/peanut butter icing, Caramael ice cream & cookie dough ice cream. Playing some video games and then I am going to attempt to get them to go to sleep. What do think the odds are this will happen at a reasonable hour? I am guessing slim to none.

Tomorrow: Austin baseball tryouts at 8 am, basketball playoffs at 12:30pm, Colby has his party till 1pm and then baseball tryouts at 2pm. So needless to say CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY day tomorrow will be.

Slipping

I was really doing so well blogging and I am beginning to slip, time to get back on the ball.

Well Saturday our new entertainment center arrived, I was so excited. So while I got to go out for an amazing girls night w/Tracy, Jeff got to stay home watch the kids and build the new entertainment center.


Tracy and I started out at Fratello's got a yummy raspberry margarita and then had chicken capri for dinner. Totally Yum!! We talked, talked, talked and talked some more about everything and about nothing. We then headed over to T-Bones in Bedford for more cocktails. I had a Tropical Trio oh my gosh how deelish (although Tracy did not think so, she is not a fruity alcohol drinker). We chatted more and our evening ended at my house. I can't speak for Trac but I had such a good time. Adult conversation with such an amazing friend is always a good time



I got home and the entertainment center was built and waiting for me. It looks so great. We switched everything over and now I am spending time w/decorating. We also got the matching bookcase. I am so ecstatic 2 yrs of planning this living room and a year getting it all together. I can say other than some decorative pieces it is finally completed!!!


The boys ended up w/another vacation day due to the snow yesterday. We got about another foot of the white stuff. As much as I love them home I am thinking they are going to be in school until July at this rate.

The older boys are at school, the twins are sick today so they are at home w/mom recuperating, Jeff went out & Benjamin has not arrived yet so it has been a very quiet morning just me and my little guy. Really not so sure what to do w/ourselves it is such an odd occurrence.

Okay well it is lunch time for Brady and he is not so patient so off I go.

Total Slacker

I can't even believe I have not blogged this entire week. Probably because their just wasn't much to report.

Colby is still at my parents house he will be finally coming home today. I talked to him on Wednesday and asked if we should start forwarding his mail over their, as I was wondering if he ever had any intention of coming home. LOL!!! I think he is relishing in the peace and quiet, something he rarely if ever gets in this house. So I am really glad he enjoyed his vacation. Next week it is back to the grind.

Where has time gone in 3 days it will be March already. Holy cow this year is racing full steam ahead. We are really just around the corner to spring already. I imagine we will start to see temperatures slowly starting to creep up as March turns the corner. As much as spring is not my favorite season, I am itching to go start my outside spring cleaning going. Their will be millions of sticks, leaves and other winter depris that need to get cleaned up and then we can start enjoying hanging out outside.

Okay I am rambling just wanted to do a quick check in.

My birthday weekend is officially over.

Well this has been an awesome weekend. I went shopping and to dinner w/Jeff and the boys on Saturday. Then they surprised me with a cake & ice cream. I was totally surprised I didn't expect it. So it made it all that much more special.

On Sunday Colby was not feeling well so Jeff stayed home with him. Austin, Brady & I went to mom's I got to see Addison. She is so teeny tiny. At 6 weeks old she still only weighs 6lbs. I got lots of bonding time and can't wait till I get to see her again. My mom made me a great dinner and an amazing cake a 3 layer chocolate cake w/chocolate frosting. Then Holly came home w/us for a sleep over. The kids had a blast with her.

I then drove Colby to my mom's for the week as he was feeling much better today and then went and drove Holly home. I hung out with my favorite cousin for the evening we didn't do much but it is always a fun time.

So I will be going to get my license renewed tomorrow and Jeff is going to take Austin to go see Hotel Dogs tomorrow for some dad & son bonding time. Well it is now 1:30 am so I am off for now. Talk to you all later.

Birthday Weekend

Well it is almost 4pm which officially kicks off the start to my birthday weekend. I really don't have any magnificent plans but who knows one of the people in my life that love me just may surprise me.

I am going to my parents on Sunday for a little get together. However, I really want to go so I can go see Addison. I only got to see her once when she was born at the hospital. She is already 5 weeks old and I miss her horribly. I want to see how much she has grown and be a part of her life. I finally got a niece that I am close to in distance and really want her to know us and get excited when she hears we are going to come see her. I had planned on going to see her at Sean & Tiff's but my mom intercepted and now it is at her house. I am slightly bummed not that I don't want to see my mom but now I have to share Addison and I did not want to do that. I am sure Kelly & Laurie will be their and it will be the first time they get to meet Addison so I won't be able to be selfish and monopolize all the available time. I do intend to some of it though. (Sorry for the little vent their I didn't intend for that happen, it kind of just slipped out through my fingers).

I am however, soooo looking forward to a night out w/Tracy next weekend. I am like a little kid at Christmas I am sooo excited I can't stand it. It has been way way way to long since just the two of us hung out. So we are going for dinner and drinks and plain old girl time.

Today also kicks off February vacation for the kids. Colby is going to my mom's for the week. Austin & Colby need a break from each other, gosh can those two argue about nothing. So Colby found out when vacation was and called my mom and told her he needed to get away from his brother and could he spend vacation week with her. My mom & I just laughed. She agreed and so he will be heading their on Sunday.

I also have to renew my license next week too. Ugh!!! I hate going to the registry for any reason and am not thrilled about having to go. If solely only for how time consuming it is and also for the astronomical cost of it also. However, the alternative of having no license certainly doesn't appeal to me and doesn't fit so well into my schedule either. So I guess I will have to reluctantly give in and go get it done.

Okay so I guess that is it for now. See ya!!!

Bedford, NH

I moved to the Town of Bedford, Dec 1, 2001. At that time I had a 3 & 4 yr old. I moved here #1 my sister was moving so it became an opportunity I couldn't turn down & secondly because I vowed that my boys would not attend Manchester schools. We would have sold every worldly possession to have kept them out of the public schools in Manchester.

Since we have moved here the boys have gone through kindergarten through 5th & 6th grade here. I couldn't possibly be so happy with another town. We are large enough so we are not in the boonies but still with a lot of small town charm. I have met so many phenomenal people since living here. Especially since I volunteered at the school and because the boys are so involved in sports and activities through the school. I have seen the towns people rally around and help when a town member needs help. When Lisa Readman was paralyzed from the waist down after a tree fell on her. The town rallied together and helped them sell their current home and find a single floor home in Bedford and then helped modify it so it was wheel chair accessible. The town also then held tons of fundraisers to help with all her medical bills. Another parent in town was on the ball field with his son when he suffered a aneurysm the town rallied to help Julie w/the kids and also raised a ton of money to help w/gas and expenses as her husband was in Dartmouth.

As most of you know the past 4 months have been anything but easy. We were one of the millions of families that have been suffering from layoffs. When I was mentioning to friends on Sunday that my boys would not be able to play baseball this season due to the sheer cost, another mom jumped in and told me to write to the board and explain your situation. So I ate every ounce of pride and wrote to the board and explained our situation and they have graciously informed me that my children would not be turned away and they would do whatever they needed to do on their end to assure that my children also got the opportunity to play this baseball season. Words can not describe how quickly I became humbled. I really didn't think that they would do anything for us and may even turn us away. Instead they reached out and fulfilled the hopes and dreams of two boys, that all they wanted to do was play spring baseball. I am so thankful and appreciative of this town and the opportunity they have given the boys. It will never be forgotten and I hope they understand how thankful this family is and we can not say it enough.

What a great day

Austin had his basketball skills competition today. He did great although he didn't win any of the events. He worked so hard and came out a winner in my book. They had a blast and were rewarded with ice cream sundae's supplied by Blakes ice cream.




As soon as the skills competition was over we hauled butt into the car to race over to Kim & Wayne's. I had to be their before 1:30pm and it was 1:15pm. Phew!!! we made it. We needed to be their on time because it was a surprise 40th birthday party for Wayne. He would be home at 1:30pm. He was so surprised and it was an awesome time. Wayne & Kim are such great people and we had a blast celebrating w/them.

We got home and I chatted on the phone with Steph for about 45 mins. Then Rachael called and I chatted on the phone with her for over an hour. Who can end the night better than talking with her 2 best friends on the phone. I also accomplished a few loads of laundry and added all the photos to my new photo frame. I then even got Jeff to hang it for me. YEAH!!!


So this is this the wrap up to my great day!!!

My eldest is growing up.

Valentine's Day to me is a day like any other. I never do anything special or get anything special either. Jeff may get me a card if we can afford it but ehhh really it doesn't usually thrill me. However, when Colby got home from school today and Jeff came running in saying "close your eyes, close your eyes. I was thinking it was something silly so I was waving me hands around. Jeff kind of got annoyed and was like no you will wreck it just put your hand out. So I took the gift and opened my eyes to find this beautiful red carnation. He put it in the water bottle at school so it wouldn't die on its way home to me. I really got all teary eyed and even now I can't help but get all weepy. I asked him where he got the money to get the flower and his response is what kills me. I used my own money mom and I kept it a secret nobody knew I was going to buy the flower except me. In the moment I may have officially been the proudest mom in all the world. That he took his own money and spent it on a gift for me, oh wow it blows my mind. My little boy will be turning twelve in 3 weeks and today I realized how grown up he is becoming. I really get on his case about grades, attitude, & especially how he speaks to his brothers and I, but in moments like these I realize what a great, selfless and amazing young man he is becoming.

On a lighter note just so I can stop crying we are finally surprising the boys. We went and got paint today and are secretly painting their room. They are crashing upstairs tonight and are not allowed in until it is finished. We are cleaning it from top to bottom and reorgaizing the entire room. The room is huge so we are going to almost divide it in half. This way they can each have a little more privacy as they get older and aren't so on top of each other all the time. We are doing Austin's half blue for NY Yankees and Colby's red for Red Sox. I will take photos once it is completed. I hope the kids love it and I can't wait for them to see it.

Well okay it is 2 am and I am beat. So talk to you all later.

Sleep over

Brady is having a sleep over this evening. He has his friends Rachel and Logan sleeping over. He asked me earlier if it was a special treat. So I made them all homemade chicken nuggets, some broccoli cheddar pasta and veggies for dinner. They all got chocolate pudding for dessert. So now they are all stuffed to the gills and are happily sleeping.

I am feeling a lot better tonight. Thank the heavens. Now tomorrow I will need to clean the house. It is amazing what happens when mom is out of commission for a couple of days, nothing gets done & I mean nothing. The sink is full of dishes, the laundry is out of control, the trash is practically overflowing, the counters & tables have not been wiped down. How is it that I am the only one that notices these things. I think the rest of the family walks around w/blinders on. UGH!!

To think that when I was in my twenties I lived so much worse and thought nothing of it. Rachael remember the black socks that could walk away by themselves. EWWWWWWW!!!!!! or how about having your mom come to visit and we had to sit on the floor in the kitchen because their was no other available space. It didn't even occur to us to be embarrassed. Your mom was such a good sport, she didn't even complain. Oh the best were the dishes that would sit their until we didn't have any clean ones (which could be weeks, we were rarely home). Then I would have to brave the nastiness and actually dare to wash them. OH MY GOSH the thought is making me gag.

Today dishes in my sink over night almost puts me over the edge. It drives me nuts. The trash typically is emptied every day if not every other. Laundry is done usually at least a load a day if not several loads a day.

Okay well I was going to wait till tomorrow but my mind is not going to shut down until I go get some of it done tonight. So chat with you all later.

Just a quick check in.

Brady is so stinkin' funny:

Brady: Momma
Me: yes Brady
Brady: I just did a burp in my undies.

I was hysterical that I couldn't even move. Just one of many of Brady's bradyisums. I really need to start documenting them because they catch me so off guard that they make me just laugh.

The beginning of each year for whatever reason leaves in its wake many deaths. I am finding this especially to be true in the past 2 yrs. This year sadly is no different we lost Bobby Taylor and then I got a call this afternoon that an extremely close family friends mom passed away at 4pm. So it looks like I will be attending another wake, it will be the second one in less than a week. I also think that Rach may have lost her Gram today as well so it seems if the services will be on different days that I potentially could be attending two wakes this week. I can not wait for spring this winter has officially been one of the most challanging and sad winters of my life. I know that it can always be worse but their is an awful lot of harships and sadness all around this winter, that I am so anxious for it to be over.


Okay well I am really really under the weather so I am going to keep this amazingly short. I have a head cold from hell and it is kicking my a** so I will update more tomorrow.

The Real food fight

Have you just had one of those days. It seems like yesterday was just one of those days. I got a call from Rach and she invited me over. I brought the tequilla and chocolate chocolate chip cookies. She offered the dinner and the mango rum. Well what started out as Rach and Brady having a amusing banter back and forth of stealing each others dinner suddenly took a different turn. All of a sudden Brady & Rach are tossing pasta (plain of course, no sauce) at one another. Well I think we all resorted back to our childhoods and I informed my boys that this was a once in a life time opportunity and enjoy it before I regained my sanity. It turned into a full blown each man for himself food fight. Their was pasta flying EVERYWHERE and from every direction. You see their were 6 kids and 2 adults. I have to say I know that it was technically wrong and as an adult I should have acted like it but sometimes man you have to let loose and have fun. I had more fun in those 15mins then I have had in a can't tell you how long. The kids were laughing, I was hysterically laughing and it eliminated every possible bit of stress that you can imagine. WHAT A FRICKIN' BLAST!!!! Thank goodness she has a dog that was right behind us cleaning up every bit of the pasta.

Rachael kept my kids overnight because Jeff and I had to go to the memorial mass for Bobby Taylor this morning in Laconia. Now I just LOVE the invention of GPS except when it is wrong and today was one of those days it gave us directions 20 mins out our way and THEY WERE WRONG!!! So we wave down a cop and ask for directions and realize we are really not close to were we are supposed to be and the service starts in 5 mins. Yup you guessed it we were officially late. Oh well we got there saw most of the memorial service and then went down stairs for the meal. It was really beautiful and they did a wonderful job!!!

We then hopped back in the car and rushed back to pick up the boys from Rachael's to get Austin to his Basketball game which I did. We get to the school and I find out I messed up and his game wasn't at 3pm but it was at 1pm. Oh well he was only 2 hrs late. BAAAHAAAAA!!! Oh what the heck I have only spent 3 hrs in the car today.

So we are finally home, I made the kids homemade chicken nuggets & baby carrots w/ranch dip for dinner and we have plopped ourselves in front of the TV to eat. Something I rarely let the kids do so they are loving it. I have no intentions of doing a thing for the rest of the night aside from picking up the remote and pushing the buttons to change the channel of course. LOL!! So I will talk to you all later.

My eye hurts

My eye has been bothering me for the last couple of days. It was just amazingly sore so I am not sure what I thought it was but figured I bumped it or something. However, I woke up this morning to find that it was very swollen and so sore it hurts to blink. I am now under the assumption it is probably conjunctivitis or pink eye. Luckily we had drops left over from Jeff for a problem that he had a ways back. So I do a search for Gentamicin sulfate and find out it is a antibiotic to clear up conjunctivitis. So I am going to do this 3x's a day and hopefully this will clear up in the next couple of days.

I have working out regularly for the last few days. I know that it is working because my muscles have been feeling like they are on fire for the past couple of days. I am not a fan of working out in front of anyone. So I have been trying to work out when Jeff runs out to do errands or is out of the house. This has not been an easy task. He thinks I look fine and loves me the way I am, so it doesn't mean to make me feel badly but jokes about me working out and it makes me all that more self conscious. I am really working hard to stick to my goal of at least 20lbs. I hope to lose this much by May when I have a wedding to attend and will be in a lot of photos. So now that I have the goal I have been really working hard to stick to accomplishing it. It feels good to be a little sore and knowing that it is because I have been working hard.

The kids have a dentist appt. this afternoon. Then I have to color my hair tonight for the memorial service tomorrow. Hopefully will get Austin to his basketball game tomorrow too. So as always busy busy busy.

Okay I need to go clean for a little bit talk to you all later.

I am turning into June Cleaver

I think I am turning into Miss Suzy homemaker. I am not sure what is up. I spent over an hour cleaning up and dusting every nook and cranny of my desk today. Went and washed down all my bedroom walls and dusted all of the pictures and decorations on it. Can I tell you that was an adventure. NASTY.....

I then cooked dinner, cleaned up from that and proceeded to bake 6 dozen chocolate chocolate chip cookies for Colby. He needed them for some whatever at school tomorrow. Now mind you he walks in the door at 4pm and informs me he needs the cookies for school tomorrow. UGH!!! He tells me they asked for volunteers and Colby volunteered my services without asking me first of course. A whole entire other sink full of dishes to wash. Ssshhh if you really want to know a secret I really didn't mind, it was kind of fun. I won't be telling my son this of course.

Now if I could get my family to stop being such clutter freaks I may possibly be the happiest person on earth. However, until this happens it seems that I will be on their butts. I think the kitchen will be the venture for tomorrow. My counter top clutter is OUT OF CONTROL!!! and mind you when I say mine I actually mean the other numerous members of this family.

Okay well my little guy just asked me to go snuggle with him and this mom just can't turn down such a sweet request such as this so I will talk to you all tomorrow.

It is groundhog day

Today would be the awaited day for all kids to see if their will be six more weeks of winter. The anticipation will he see his shadow or won't he......well the little rodent should wear a blind fold so he can't see his shadow. The little rodent didn't disappoint and gave the little hooligans what they wanted 6 more weeks of winter.

This is one mommy that can not wait for spring. This might possibly be the longest winter of my whole life.



Today has been a good day. I know they have been rare lately. Nothing good bad or indifferent happened today but I am in good spirits. I got the kids report cards today. Ehhh not a shining moment but improvement had been made in certain areas so I will give them a reprieve. I have very high expectations for this quarter. Why is it you just don't see the importance of school until you are an adult and then you wish you had put the hard work in and done better. I wish I could get them to see that now. Not that they don't do well but that is only because I ride them about it constantly. I wish they would do it because it will really make or break what kind of college you can get accepted too. Not to mention it surely helps for those little things called scholorships. Someday they will realize I am not talking like the teacher on Charlie Brown and real words that are in their best interest are leaving my lips.

This is going to be a busy week Austin has basketball practice tonight, Colby has to be driven to school tomorrow, Thursday Austin has chorus and basketball, Saturday we have to drop kids off at Rachaels and go to a memorial service up in Laconia, hopefuelly be back in time to bring Austin to his basketball game. Crazy week!!!

This afternoon has been better...

Well as not to disappoint this morning was a day in hell so I cleaned and scrubbed the house this morning. This is how I got out all my frustrations it seemed to work at least for a while.

So I managed to get my butt in gear and I did take the kids sledding at the Bedford sledding hill. I got some great photos of them. We then came back and we started yummy dinner and some snacks for the super bowl. We managed to watch maybe half and then I started the clean up from dinner. I just couldn't get into the game. Jeff & Nate also gave up watching the game and played WII. They would flip back and forth just to check the score and watch the last minute or so of the game. So not much else going need to go finish up on laundry so talk to you all later.

Blah!!

Austin had another basketball game today and it was another win. I am so proud of his team. GO TEAM!!!

Aaarrrggg okay another irritation I got an e-mail today stating today was the last day to register the boys for little league for the 2009 season. HELLO people it is still January!!! Besides that I go and look at the price it is a whooping $95 a kid. Okay their is just no way that I can possibly pull this money off the money tree this week, it has been sucked dry. So sadly I may have to inform the kids they can not play this spring. I am so sad.......

We managed to scrape together the money to pay January's rent and ran over and payed that today. So this did make me feel some what better.

I have been suffering from headaches, heartburn and lack of sleep for most of this week. I am a mess. Not to mention I am officially just in a funk. I am just blah all the way around. So needless to say I am really trying to work on shaking this but it may be around for a while longer.

Well I have managed to already blog for 19 days out of this crazy month. I only blogged 34 times in all of 2008. So I have already blogged more than half of what I blogged, for all of 2008. This was one of my goals for 2009 to blog more and comment more on my friends blogs, so far I have successfully followed through with this goal. Yeah me!!! Yes I watch too much Disney channel w/the boys.

Tomorrow should finally be a bit warmer so I am planning on taking the kids sledding if I can get off my big fat ass and actually get them their. It is another thing on my to do list for 2009 that I really want to accomplish. Plus the kids deserve a little bit of fun. So this is my plan and then come back here and watch the superbowl w/Jeff & Nate.

So I guess that is it for now talk to you all later.

Month of Change

Well any of my regular blog readers which by the way I am finding their are more lurkers, who read my blog but don't comment then I realized. Which I am thankful for as I really thought the only one who ever read my blog was Rachael. LOL!!! Oh yeah back to what I was saying, as this seems to be the year of change for better or worse. I decided that I would change and update my blogs layout so it has been updated and looks all new and pretty.

I have a couple of people by the way that I wanted to include in this post that have become important in my life and I am not sure they are even aware. I have been acquaintances w/Jen Pettingill since college, I met Jen in 1990 through an old friend. She also got to be great friends w/Rachael through the same old friend. Now I have seen Jen pretty consistently over the last 10 years or so. We have always been friendly enough but somehow something began to change in the last year or so. I now regularly read her blog and try and keep updated on any new news going on in her life. I really look forward to knowing that she is coming up to visit and she has 2 of the sweetest little girls. She made the most heart felt and caring comment on my blog the other day and I wanted her to know how much it meant, to know someone is going through what we are at the moment. We have felt very isolated in this and have kept most of it quiet, I talked to few people about it all of which were my core friends of course but having someone understand and reach out made a huge difference in this week. It made me and my family not seem so low. So thank you Jen it might have been a little gesture on your part but was huge to us.

Someone else that for what ever reason has taken a silent seat is my friend Lesley. She is another friend I met through Rachael. Lesley has a rare and much appreciated humor. Even when things seem to be at their bleakest she can tell it in such a hysterical way, that you can't help but smile. I have some great memories of Lesley of a few past New Years parties that involved yoga and funny words on walls that still crack me up. Although she doesn't see it, she also may be one of the most creative people I know. From her quilts, to altering of items, her homemade hot cocoa. She is simply an amazing all around person that I have ever had the privilege of calling my friend. I am really hoping that this year will be the year of finding the time to spend more time w/her and her gorgeous daughter Kelsey.

It is funny, I know I have been overly sappy in a lot of my blogs this year. However, I am really going back and appreciating the small things. Really my over-all sense of any type of security in my life is slowly crumbling around me, So I have really tried to concentrate on what I do have that I truly call secure. That is certainly not a job, the house I live in, or even my car or anything material. Suddenly what has become important more than anything else that I am fiercely hanging onto w/every ounce of strength I have are #1 my family & #2 are my friends. I have always known deep down that these two things were important but for whatever reason this year, I am trying to let everyone know that they are important in my life and not just assuming they already know. See I can raise my family in any house, I can drive any car as long as I have my family and friends by my side.

Okay I think I need to stop writing my blogs at 1:30am I am way to emotional and sappy but I do love you all so oh well.

Trying to smile through the storm called my life

I am really trying to put on a happy face and let loose with the kids. Kids really are a great distraction. Snow days really can be a lot of work when you think of all the shoveling and snow blowing that is soon to follow. However, watching the kids jump for joy at having a snow day still makes me smile at the memories of my childhood those feelings of joy for those snow days are still very vivid. Then daddy gave the boys an offer they couldn't refuse. He offered to go outside and help them build the ultimate of all snow forts. So using the picnic table as a base they built an awesome snow fort. They were out their for about 2 hrs. They are prouder than proud.























Here are the photos from Colby's first time skiing at Pat's Peak I am positive we finally found a sport that we will continue for him. So as you can see they taught him to ski w/no poles which I thought was odd. He took a few spills which Jeff almost missed on getting on camera as he was laughing to hard. I am so thrilled that we finally found a sport that he thoroughly loves. I will get him into a ski program next winter so that he can ski often.





When things get a little stressful I love to give the kids an extra treat or two. Gets all of our minds on the yummy item we are baking. So I decided to make a pan of pecan, chocolate chip brownies from scratch. No box mixes allowed through this door. Brady was a wonderful helper and whisked all the batter up and got to lick the whisk at the end as a reward. P.S. I know I am fat but I really am not this fat. Austin took a terribly angled picture that makes me look like Attila the Hun but I am sucking up my vainness and including it anyways.

Well it seems if I had a lot of photos to include today. Jeff goes for the dreaded meeting w/health and human services tomorrow. I am praying that it will be all good. Other than that it looks to be a fairly quiet weekend although I would really prefer it to be summer. So I could have an excuse to have a summer drinking party. I could really use one after this week. I am happy to see it drawing to a close. Things can only go up from here so that is how I am thinking right now.

Alright updated most of the pictures tonight a few more still to come but those can wait for another day.

When it rains it pours

Well I suppose let it all come down at once. Oh by the way screw the I am thinking positive about everything lately. I officially give it up for lent. Phew!!!! I am also thinking I may take up alcoholism for my birthday. It may not make reality better but it sure in hell will make it seem better in my head. Evidently I am being punished for something I did that was really bad, I just wish I knew what it was.

Okay so on to the story you are all waiting to hear. Donna comes to pick up Christopher today and informs me that next week is my last week. As they need to put him in a special preschool and because I live in Bedford the bus will not pick him up or drop him off here. Okay I understand this completely I am all for getting him into a preschool that will help him out. My beef lies with the fact that evidently Chris has been looking for another daycare in Manchester for Christopher since he first started coming here!!!!!!!!!! Nobody bothered to tell me this in the last month. So now I get blind sided and if things were not bad enough now I am out another $400 dollars a week. OH MY GOSH!!! I Knew that I was losing money but until this very second hadn't actually done the math as to how much money I would be losing a month. Okay so this is almost half my rent payment. If you have read my previous post, you would see that that really is an option either.

Jeff ate every ounce of pride today and went down to health and human services to able for food stamps and any other possible free service we qualify for today. It was probably our most degrading moment when we finally realized we had no other options. We have an appt. for fuel assistance Feb 13th but not sure how we are supposed to get through the next 2 weeks until that meeting.

Okay well I can't even think about this anymore. So I will hopefully be better and keep you all updated more tomorrow.

In a bit of a panic

Jeff being out of work really wasn't to bad in October, November & most of December as he was working for his buddy Jim. However, now he hasn't worked at all since the end of December. We had to make some tough decisions on Friday as to pay rent or buy food. We decided we really needed to feed the kids so we went grocery shopping. Now the furnace just shut off and we went to check the oil. Yeah that is a major problem as it shut down because it was warning us we are so low on oil. So now we are going to buy a minimal amount of oil to try and get us through for a few days anyways. Now I don't think we are going to be able to pay rent this week either and February's rent will be due in only 2 weeks. Not to mention I am waiting for the disconnect notices for the electric, cable and phone here probably within the next week. I feel like I am on a sinking ship and I am not sure how much time we have till it is completely submerged. I am praying we get the W2 from unemployment so that we can file taxes and survive for a little while longer till Jeff can find employment.

Okay I am going to go have some more coffee and try and trick myself into thinking it is alcohol. I would drink the real stuff if I didn't have to get up at 7 am.

This has been a see saw kind of week.

My meaning is it had a lot of ups and downs.

First I got the most gut wrenching phone call from Rachael saying her mammogram did not come out well and they were calling her back in for more pictures. I was so nervous as to the outcome. Thankfully it all turned out fine and it was normal. Phew!!!

Second my mom calls to tell me their friend Bobby Taylor finally succumbed to Leukemia on Tuesday evening. He left this world the same day he entered it, as he past away on his 66th birthday. We are all so saddened he was one of the most jubilant and wonderful men that ever I was blessed to have known.

Third Jeff had a wonderful job interview on Friday. It is not guaranteed because it is all determinate if they fire another employee. I know it is horrible to want to have someone else fired but we are getting pretty dire financially and it is our time to finally get out of this. Jeff has now been unemployed for the past 3 months.

Fourth the kids have had a stomach bug on and off all week. One day they are vomiting w/diarrhea the next they seem to be better. Then the following day they are sick again. I had kids home sick from school 3 out of the 5 days. Although I have been dealing with this darn bug for the past 8 days. Please please let it be over with.

Fifth Colby went skiing for the first time ever this past Saturday. I have photos which I will post tomorrow. Then I got to go over Rachael's house for a few YUMMY drinks. One of which we did not get to ingest because it had a very sad demise. LOL!!! Then she offered to keep Austin for the night. What a ROCKIN' day

I also got to finally see one of Dylan's basketball games. Although they did not win, he is a great player. He got two baskets and I loved to be their to cheer him on. Which all in itself was quite the quandary as they were playing Bedford oops. Oh well still sat in the Auburn section and cheered them on.

As I said my emotions have been all over the map this week. Hence why I called it the see saw kind of week.

Okay so bedtime for the boys so going to wrap this up and talk to you all tomorrow.

P.S. Thanks Rach!!! I DID IT.....DID YOU NOTICE!!!

A day in history

Well I watched bits and pieces of the inauguration today of our 44th president. I just could not watch it in its entirety. I just can't help but be very tentative as to what the next 4 yrs will entail. It has nothing to do about race or ethnicity it simply has to do with who are president is as a person. I also think that Michelle Obama is obnoxious. She puts on a nicey nicey face but she is anything but. *Sigh* I only hope this turns out better than I my sinking heart feels it will.



Hubby really needs to find employment. Things are definitely getting tight financially and unemployment just doesn't pay enough. Not to mention I love having him home BUT he throws off the kids & I's daily schedule. So he is actively looking and hopefully something will open up soon. Really crossing my fingers.


Well fighting a headache so I am going to cut this short and will write more tomorrow when I can think a little clearer.

Talk to you all tomorrow.

New Leaf

I had considered complaining about some superficial things in my life. Then I began to think a little more and realized I have very little to complain about. One of the things that I am determined to do this year of 2009 is see what I have instead of nit picking the silly little things that are not as perfect as I would like in my life.

So here we go........ We live in beautiful New England. With that comes moist springs w/the most gorgeous tulips & daffodils that make there appearance officially ending winter.

We have hot summers w/cooler nights one of my favorite seasons. I love the beach, the sun setting later and the kids being out of school. I love all the get togethers and the fun that comes with the summer months.

We have gorgeous autumns w/the changing of the leaves in every breath taking colors imaginable. I love to be able to wear jeans and a sweatshirt and be comfy and not to hot or cold. I love to rake up the leaves and watch the kids jump in them and the fun of watching it through my kids eyes.

We have amazing winters w/the freshly fallen snows. I love Christmas and the magic the holiday holds. The memories past that bring smiles to my face and warm feelings in my heart. I love to see the look of childhood innocence on the kids faces. I love to curl up on the couch and watch the snow gently fall. I have to say I love the family snowblowing and shoveling days also. We come together and get the work done and then end usually w/a snowball fight and then hot cocoa when we come back in. I love ice skating, sledding, & snow forts.

We truly live in the best part of the country and I wouldn't want to ever change it. Sometimes it is forgotten when the spring is muddy, the summer is too hot, the autumn brings lots of raking, the winter brings frigid temps. However, if you sit back and look at the bigger picture it can just be amazing. Mother nature is so natural and stunningly beautiful. She has the ability to give us so many activities that don't cost a thing. She is not looking for money, she is looking to make the world beautiful and share it with every one of us. Just take a moment and look at it through your kids eyes and you will be opened to a whole new world.

Tracy Day

Tracy came up today. We did our Christmas with the kids. All the kids got everything they wanted and more. As Always Auntie goes overboard. She also started this amazing tradition of buying them a new ornament every year. So each of them have a new ornament each and every year of there lives that is dated and personalized with their names. Here is a photo of the newest ones.

Then after Christmas was over we headed over to Austin's basketball game they won another 25-19. As always a nail biter. Austin is playing so much better this year. I think he finally is gaining confidence in his abilities and is going with it. Tracy headed home after this. We had a wonderful visit but I wish it hadn't been so short. We really need to make more time for each other.

After dinner we treated the kids to a visit to Friendly's for ice cream. They enjoyed this very rare treat. I thought Brady might actually lick the bowl. All in all I very nice day.

Long Day

Well I get up at 7 am waiting for Christopher my daycare child. At 7:30am the phone rings Chris is not going to work so he is keeping him home today. Okay so I cat nap on the couch until the twins arrive. I am told when Logan is dropped off that he was sick last night. Threw up all over the place. GREAT!!! I usually know when one gets it we are sure to have it make it's way through all the kids. Day went without a hitch other than due to the frigid temps the kids are stuck indoors and they are bouncing off the walls to get outside.

So Jeff calls me around 5 ish and asks if we should go out for dinner. Okay feel kind of crappy because I received my monthly enemy, but I agree. We head over to Chili's, all is going well. Jeff & I order a margarita in these funky glasses. We order good food, waitress is awesome. So all is going well. Food is delivered well this is were our night went down hill very quickly. Brady takes one bite of his food and suddenly I am watching everything come back up and he had ordered a blue freezy drink. I leap up and grab him and run for the bathroom. Jeff grabs every napkin off the table and cleans everything up. Thank goodness he has running pants on so they were easy to clean and I had to just take his fleece off and let him wear his turtle neck. I go back to the table were I tell the older boys to hurry and finish there dinner which they do in record time. I get a brain freeze drinking my margarita because I am damned if I am wasting a $7.50 margarita. I take my food to go and pick up my coat. You guessed it he nailed my whole coat too. So now I am stuck walking quite a distance in 2 degree weather w/no coat and now car is not warmed up. I think I got hypothermia on the 10 min car ride home. So in the process of washing all the clothing and going to bed. The night is finally over and I could not be happier.

Truly a New England Winter

We are definitely in the coldest part of winter for the next 4 weeks at least. When Colby went out to the bus stop this morning it was 6 degrees. YIKES!!! He reminded me of an eskimo with his hoodie hat on that covers his neck, nose and head. All you could see were his eyes. I remember all to clearly those days as a kid. Waiting for the bus and sobbing by the time I got to school because my hands hurt so badly. We didn't have the insulated gloves they have these days we had those cotton mittens that you would layer and pray they didn't get wet because they would absorb every ounce of moisture. I am pretty certain our coats were not as warm either. I also didn't have the benefit of catching the bus across the street. I had to walk up our 500' driveway and down to the end of the street. We were the last house on the entire street so it wasn't close that is for sure. We also didn't have the benefit of getting an automated phone call if school was cancelled or delayed like they do now. So some of those mornings I would walk down to the bus and wait for an hour and a half before I realized the bus wasn't coming. Covered with those snowballs that would collect on us from our cotton mittens and hats.

Well before this winter is over I plan on taking the kids sledding. Maybe this Sunday if tempertures are not to frigid. My goal is to treck up the hill and go on at least one run w/the kids. I was a lazy lump last year and although I took them I stayed at the bottom and video taped the kids instead of participating. Something I intend to change this year. Not only do I need the exercise but I need to participate with the kids so they don't only think daddy is the fun one. I will bring some hot cocoa and let the kids be true kids for a few hours. Rachael do you possibly want to join us if the weather is not too bad???

I have been an exercising nut and truly enjoying it since last Friday I have only missed two days of exercising. I do a program called Cardioke and it is a blast. I am hoping that I will see some results soon. I am so motivated this year to not slack and keep going to try and make a healthier me.

Okay well it is school time for kids so need to go teach some little minds.