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.

Addison Lynn Waters

Well the niece that I have been anxiously awaiting finally made her entrance into the world yesterday at 12:02pm. Her name is Addison Lynn Waters, weighing 5lbs 12 ozs and 18 1/2" long. She is just the teeniest tiniest thing I have ever seen. Beautiful in every way. She is certainly an instant hit with her cousins. We went up last night to visit as you see and then went out for dinner with Sean. It was so wonderful to see him beaming and just trying to take it all in. I can't wait to go visit her again soon.

Well I am neglecting cleaning and need to go to a lot of it. So I will talk to you all later.