Andy

Andy is doing much better today. He is able to hold down food and walk around. They are thinking about releasing him in the next few days. I haven't heard what the doctors have said about what he had. Thank you for your prayers!

Prayer Request

I have a prayer request for my nephew Andy. He went into the FTMC emergency room last Thursday night with complications from strep and ended up having seizures. They transferred him the Akron's Children Hospital on Saturday and he is still there. The doctors aren't certain what is going on yet. He can't hold down food, he has high blood pressure, blood in his urine, headaches and had another seizure tonight. They decided to sedate him tonight and have a group of doctors come in to do more tests. Please pray for him and his family.

I Attacked My Mom This Time!!

We had a rough start to our trip. Doug threw up all day and was sick the whole way there because of his root canal meds. I went to take Taffy to be boarded and she didn't have a voluntary vaccine that was required for that boarding facility so she had to come with us. At least we found that out before we went to Disney!! Anyway, once we got there we had fun and I was able to "Stacey" attack my mom for the first time!

Weary Wednesday

I've been so busy I haven't had time to blog. On Monday morning Doug woke up in a lot of pain and had to go to the dentist. It turns out that he needed a root canal and had that Tuesday morning. Today he woke up and is very nauseaous and tired.

We had a snow day on Monday so the kids were home. I've been working 12 hours a day the last two days since we are traveling for a short trip to visit my parents. I'm not even packed yet and I'm leaving soon!

My sweet hubby came home with a laptop yesterday after his root canal. We had been talking about getting one since I'm working on the computer so much and ours was slowing down. I got it all set up and using it now!!!

I have to go feed Garrett lunch, get on my weekly ops conference call and pack as long as Doug is feeling better.

This video needs some explaining. For those of you that don't know Doug absolutely loves to talk about weather. When we went to a birthday party today in a church gym they had a blue wall and he just couldn't resist the urge. Do you see what I have to put up with? This is why I "Stacey" attack him so much.

Wordless Wednesday

Robyn, Garrett and cousin Chase

Our Family

I saw this on KC's site and just had to do it. Thanks KC!!!

Hot Tub/Menu Monday

Its official, thanks to pushing from Eric, our hot tub is open. Doug and I tried it out for the first time last night ;) and we tried it out with the kids tonight. It was so dark out I actually couldn't see them through the camera when I took this. Its so nice and relaxing to sit in there and hear ice bouncing off the pool.

Here's a list of what we are eating this week:

• Stuffing and Chicken Casserole
• Pizza Burgers
• French Onion Soup and crackers
• French Bread Pizza
• Eggs and Bacon
• Pork Chops, Corn and Couscous

Ultimate Attack!!

I had the ultimate attack on Doug Friday night. I'll give you some background info first. I received a call that we were still in the running to win a new car but we won a $200 in a shopping spree and we just had to listen to a 45 minute presentation on a cleaning system and give them our opinion. If we let them come over that night it would be $500. I figured I can tolerate 45 minutes for a $500 shopping spree. The person came over at 8pm and did his speech. He was not done until 11pm. The guy was very annoying at the end trying to get us to buy an $1800 vacuum system. Not only did I make Doug listen to a 3 hour cleaning presentation but I actually got him to do the test vacuuming. Doug was thrilled. When we logged on to see where we could spend our $500 we were extremely disappointed and wanted nothing from the site. What a disappointment! I'm such a sucker but at least I can torture Doug with it!

Other than that we had a good weekend. We took the kids to the Home Depot work shop and they made memory boxes. I think they have these workshops every month with different project and completion pins. They gave the kids their own aprons and they got a pin for completing the project and were able to keep their memory boxes. Both kids loved it and they can't wait to go back.

Doug Attacks This Time!!

Doug finally decided to attack but he did not have the camera to embarrass me luckily. We went into the store today while the kids were at school and he decided to follow me with his toes on my heels the entire way through the store. Even after I acknowledged it and laughed he continued until I got mad. Does that mean we are even?

I had a great week! I had a surprise visit from Lori and my in-laws and worked 34 hours. I'll be working the other six over the course of the weekend. I love this job! I really didn't think I would find another job as good as Visalign but this has been surprising me. I'm basically working as help desk support. Tickets from clients come in and I have to help them and file them accordingly. We do most of it through the internet and the team uses MSN messenger to chat and we have conference calls 3 times a week. I also have training calls. The team seems like a group of girlfriends and they are a lot of fun. The sad thing is I would rather talk to them than go out in my new town and meet people. I only left the house for 30 minutes this week. I am way too comfortable in this house!

Wordless Wednesday - Cuddle Bear

May 2006

November 2007

Back In The Game!!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I certainly did. We had a great time hanging out with Doug's family. We even had our first snow of the season out here. On Friday we looked at cars but are still undecided. We also took the kids to see Enchanted. It was a great movie and we all enjoyed it. On Saturday we went to buy Doug's Christmas, Birthday, Valentine's Day, etc.. present. Our older TV started to go so we bought a new LCD or something TV. I don't know much about it, I just know its bigger and expensive.

Today was an exciting day for me! I just started a new job for the first time in 6 years. I was really intimidated at first because I was bombarded with emails, logins and links. I had 4 and a half hours of training and conference calls today. The first week or so will be a lot of training on the phone and computer, then I will be able to have my own schedule and just meet with the team on the conference calls 3 days a week. I will be working 40 hours a week. You never know what to expect when you meet people and companies over the internet. I am very excited that this seems like a great company and I am much more confident in the job now. I think until today I still had it in my mind that they would let me down and it would end up being a scam but I know its not now. There was a lengthy interview process and after seeing all thats involved and all that I have access to I can see why. This should be fun!!

Now, if I can just learn to balance the working/family deal. I have been waiting for my license in the mail that says that because I am now a working mom my house does not have to be clean. Does that usually come in the first week??? I know that my family will have to pitch in and we've talked about it. So far Doug is the only one helping. The kids are going to have a rude awakening.

Tackle It Tuesday

I have a lot things that I want to get done today. I have been playing with Garrett in the mornings until he goes to school and I'm not getting as much done. Yesterday I attempted some Christmas shopping and only bought one gift. Today I'm going to a different place when Garrett gets on the bus so I'm hoping I have more luck. The stores were packed yesterday so I can't imagine what it will be like after Thursday. I want to at least get the kids' gifts done while they are at school.


Other than shopping I want to rearrange our family room. Its just looking too cluttered to me and its driving me nuts. I also need to do laundry and mop the floors. Last night I started putting addresses in the computer so I can print out labels for Christmas cards so I need to finish that today along with tracking down new addresses of people that have moved.


The kids have off tomorrow so I'm hoping to sleep late tomorrow and get some studying done for my personal trainer certification. I'll also have to start baking for Thursday. I only have to bring two things so I'm lucky!!

Christmas Decorations

This weekend we decided to decorate for Christmas. I wanted to put more boxes in the attic and couldn't do that until we took the Christmas tree out so I figured why not just decorate a week early? As you can see I haven't attempted painting the living room yet. That is going to be an overwhelming task because that orange textured paint goes through the upstairs hallway, half the living room, dining room, kitchen and family room. All the rooms kind of flow together so I'm not sure how I'm going to paint yet and what colors to do. My philosophy is to paint and buy furniture to match. Doug wants to buy the furniture then match the paint.

This has really gotten me in the Christmas mood and I'm downloading Christmas music as we speak onto my iPod. When Garrett gets on the bus I'm getting some Christmas shopping done today.

When Doug gets done work today we have an appointment to schedule our Disney World trip with a travel agent. You just can not understand how excited he is!!! This has been his world for the last year. He is reading the Birnbaum's Disney book constantly and everytime Garrett grows he checks the books again to see what rides he can go on.

Sexiest Man Alive??

I heard today that Matt Damon was the sexiest man alive. My first thought was "really"? I thought it would be someone that could make a dirty looking pirate sexy, like Johnny Depp, or someone that can dance smooth, like LeBron James in a commercial last year. After thinking about it, I changed my mind. What could be sexier than a man in the suburbs that loves his wife, helps to raise his children and stays away from the tabloids?

Wordless Wednesday

Menu Monday

Here we go again, I can't believe its another week already. I did my grocery shopping this morning and I'm all set for my menu. I love grocery shopping now that I can drop Garrett off in their supervised play area. I could have used this YEARS ago. Doug is traveling overnight this week so I cheated and have a couple of easy meals for me and the kids.

Homemade Pizza

Sloppy Joes and Corn

Steaks and Veggies

Breaded Boneless Chicken and Rice and Cranberry Sauce

Fish Sticks and Carrots

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole and Green Beans

Beefstew Soup and Grilled Cheese (Goldfish soup for the kids)

Busy Week

Wow, not only did we move in a week ago today but we were lucky enough to have Grandpa Wolfgang come out for a visit earlier this week. He brought out his newer corvette (he also has a 1969) and came to see the new house and spend time with us. As you can see the kids intoduced him to xBox. My dad and Doug have been working on house projects all day while my sister-in-law kidnapped me and took me to the mall. I love that mall and I'm thinking about going back tonight or tomorrow for some glow in the dark miniature golf with the family. The kids have been wanting to use their money to buy some build-a-bear clothes which is also at the mall. The mall is only 10 minutes away!!!!

Wordless Wednesday/Bad Hair Day

Menu Monday

For everyone that was curious, Doug did get the birdhouse down and there was a great hornet's nest inside. Its a shame that it wasn't active, that would have been You Tube ready. I guess it was good for Doug though :)

The kids started school today. We had a tour of the school this morning and it goes in a figure eight around the gym and library so the kids shouldn't get lost. Robyn is at the 3rd, 4th, 5th grade wing and Garrett is on the other end of the building. Robyn looked a little shy when I dropped her off. She is in a program called Excel and its a 2/3rd grade class. There are mostly boys in her class but there was another girl starting there today so she should be happy. Garrett didn't have to start school until 1. I dropped him off in the main lobby where his teacher was picking up the rest of the class off the bus (apparently there are no car riders in the school??) and he just jumped in line and barely said goodbye. I'm letting them both ride the bus home today. The bus stop is right in front of my house which is really nice.

I did have time to get a menu together for the week, its pretty basic though.

• Beef Stew Soup and Corn bread muffins
• Country Chicken with Bread and Mashed Potatoes
• Meatball Sandwiches and Corn
• Spaghetti and Cheddar Garlic Biscuits
• Swedish Meatballs and Green Beans
• Good 'Ol Hamburger Helper Mac & Cheese (Special Child Request)

I Moved!!!! / Stacey Attacks Again!!!!

This video is from the day the movers were packing. I decided I wanted my frog birdhouse to come with us but the ladder was at the new house.

We are all moved in and I'm almost unpacked. Tomorrow the kids will be going to their new school so we will be getting all the school supplies in the right backpacks today. Garrett is very excited (although he only goes a half a day) and Robyn is a little scared because there will be 3rd graders in her class too which she isn't used to. I'll let you know how it goes.

Halloween / Last Post Before Move

Here are pictures from our night of trick or treating. My neice and nephew went along for the trip.

This will be my last blog before we move into the new house. On Wednesday they are packing everything up, Thursday they are are loading the truck and Friday we will be moving in. I will be back online as soon as the powerful Verizon decides to give us DSL (yes there is sarcasim in my tone). We are supposed to have DSL on Monday but they have the 14th listed so who knows. Doug spent a total of 5 hours on the phone trying to get it sooner since I need to be on early next week for my job interview.

Tackle it Tuesday

Here are pictures of the first tackles at the new house. We did Robyn's and Garrett's rooms first so they would feel comfortable in their new home. Robyn has a beautiful quilt that Grandma Bores made that goes well with the room and Garrett has his Philadelphia Eagles bed set that will match well. I did the painting and Doug did the ceiling fans.

Thankful Thursday

These are the beautiful flowers that Lori gave me this morning as my house warming gift. She is such a great friend and so talented, as you can tell from the arrangement. She even took the time to find a container with frogs on it because she knows how much I like them. You'll have to visit her site to see more of her work.

This morning as I was getting ready I realized how close this is to happening. I have been looking forward to a lot of changes but have neglected all the things I'm going to miss. I'm really going to miss being close to my friends and family. I know we'll all keep in touch thanks to Verizon IN and blogs but there is nothing like the ability to just drop by someone's house. Luckily its only an hour, it could have been much worse. Things are picking up at a rapid pace now and I'm getting a little overwhelmed and scared. I'm hoping I have made things easy enough for the movers to get through it all to pack. I hope I haven't forgotten anything......

Bitter Sweet Tuesday

Today was the big day. We went to closing on our new house, turned in all the school paperwork for the kids' new school, had lunch at CiCi's and picked up some hoodies from the High School Athletic Store to help the kids get into the new school spirit.

Later in the day I picked the kids up from school and took them to the M Library for their last trip. It was very emotional for me and I'm sure for the kids. We have been there each week since Garrett was 6 months old. We have become very close with the Library staff and are really going to miss them. I never thought I would have such an attachment to a library. We only saw a couple of staff members so we may have to go back on Saturday morning to catch a couple of the others.

Fabulous Award

Thank you for the award KC!!!!

I want to pass this on to Michelle and Alex.

Menu Monday

Here is the menu for the week. Things are starting to get a little more hectic so I planned some easier, quick meals. Again, no idea which order this will be in. I'm just thrilled to have a list. I have no idea what to do for next week because we will barely be home and the days we will be home we will be packed up. The sad thing is that Monopoly at McDonald's ends on the 29th so I won't even be able to use that time to collect game pieces.

Burgers and Tator Tots (we haven't had these in a least a year)

German Pot Pie

Stuffed Peppers

Leftover Pot Pie

Ranch Chicken Wrap

Sloppy Joes

Hot Dogs and Mac & Cheese

Cleaning the Garage??

Doug and I attempted to clean out the garage and got distracted. We found this hula hoop and just had to give it a try. He promised to let me make a video if he could do it to me too. We are weird and don't think we'll ever grow up.

Thursday Thirteen

Today they are closing on my current house. As of today we will not own a home until October 24th. What a strange feeling! It has made me realize how close this move is now and the things I need to do to prepare. Here is a list of 13 things I need to do before we move.

1. Tackle the garage. I have attempted this many times but just stop and get overwhelmed. I'm baffled. I can't decide what needs to stay, go or be thrown away. Doug will be helping me with this during the week.

2. Fill out the withdrawal paperwork for the kids' current school.

3. Fill out paperwork to enroll kids in new school.

4. Have a long talk with Taffy explaining the move to her and comforting her while she realizes that she will miss her bunny friends.

5. Throw some things away from basement.

6. Clean furniture in basement.

7. Dust furniture so the movers don't get dirty :)

8. Pack up items that movers won't move and take them to new house.

9. Clean new house.

10. Paint Robyn and Garrett's new bedrooms.

11. Starve the african frog and beta fish to death so I don't have to move them in my car. Just kidding, you know I couldn't live with the guilt.

12. Call B water company.

13. Cry because I'm going to miss this house, friends and the city in general.

Wordless Wednesday--Guess Who??

Tuesday Stacism

I haven't been in a tackle mood lately. I have been very focused on my studying for my certification test. I finished my 4th chapter out of 18 today!!! This was my favorite chapter so far (Nutrition) and the 3 hardest are behind me. The 3 hardest for me are Exercise Physiology, Human Anatomy and Biomechanics and Applied Kinesiology. The rest of the chapters look much more interesting.

I have to tell you a funny Stacey story though. In my house we call them Stacisms because I do goofy, weird, forgetful stuff alot. Anyway, I started reading my chapter today and came to the conclusion that I do not get the adequate amount of calories for the amount of exercise I do and that could lead to other problems. Instead of fixing that the healthy way, like I know I should, I started thinking about McDonald's monopoly and I got competitive. I thought I could increase my calories and get more monopoly pieces. The sad thing is that I didn't even want to eat it because my favorite Southwest Salad was just a summer promotion so I had to order a Chicken Select to get monopoly pieces. I even had to up-size it so I could maximize my monopoly pieces. I went home to eat it while studying and opened my book up to the next section: Fat and Heart Disease. How bad is that? To make matters worse I drank the entire Large Diet Coke and I'm bouncing off the walls and peeing constantly. I haven't had caffeine in weeks. I hope I keep you guys as entertained as my family :)

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness

I saw this over on KC's site and it reminded me of my two miscarriages. I was pretty young when they happened and didn't understand it very well at the time so it was difficult. I was 20 the first time and 22 the second time. Luckily I was able to have 2 healthy children after that but after finding out about my heart this year I am extremely blessed to have them! The doctor doesn't know how I had them without complications from my heart.

Menu Plan Monday

Another week and listed to the right >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Another Stacey Attack

This is a funny video but be patient and wait for it, wait for it........

Wordless Wednesday

What a Tuesday!!

What a busy day!! I went to MOPs and ended up winning lunch with Lynda so I didn't get back until 1:30pm. From there I had to boil chicken, make cookies, check email from the mortgage guy, call verizon (again! :(), call time warner (again! :() pick up the kids from school and take them to the Milan Library to read with a therapy dog (they had an appointment). Now I have to rush to make dinner because I invited Doug's parents over to eat with us. Doug is stuck in bumper to bumper traffic so we pushed dinner back a half an hour which helps me to get caught up too. A day in the life of a mom, huh!

Anyway, my goal was to take care of a lot today because I wanted to be available the rest of the week to study. I made a big decision last week. I decided to pursue my personal trainer certification. I have been wanting to do it for a few years now, so after an interview last week and a push from friends and family, I'm doing it. I interviewed with a large rec center and they told me I can start training there as soon as my certification is complete. There are only 2 trainers there and they are 40+ hours a week and there is even more interest from clients there. They also asked me for ideas and were thrilled with the one I gave. They now want me to organize and plan an afterschool program that teaches children how to live a healthy lifestyle so we can avoid the rising trend of childhood obesity. They want me to reach 9 elementary schools and 3 middle schools one at a time. Its huge and I have lots of ideas!!! I'm going to run it from 3:30-5:30 4-5 days a week and have each day consist of a healthy snack, physical activity and lessons (healthy eating, TV/Video Busters, Decision Making and Self Confidence). They told me to run with it and we are going to present it to the school board when I'm done. The rec works closely with them and said they will be thrilled. I was so excited to hear such a positive reaction to my ideas. Now I have to get to work!!

Harvest Tradition / Menu Monday

Here are pictures from our annual trip to the Enderle Farm. Each year we enjoy the hayride, corn maze and the store. On the hayride Robyn guessed the right number of pumpkins hidden in the woods and she won a pie pumpkin from the store.

Our family likes to race through the corn maze and we break up into teams, boys against girls. For the second year in a row Robyn and I won but Doug thinks we cheated. This year he told us which direction to start in because he wasn't happy with his start last year. Our first stamp was near the exit so Robyn and I ended up doing the maze backwards and finishing at the entrance. We ran out the entrance and sprinted to the exit. We sat there for awhile and when Doug and Garrett came out they only had 3 stamps out of the five. I say its fair because we reached all 5 stamps and they even picked our first direction. This was the first year we attempted this in shorts and flip flops. The flip flops made it hard to run but Robyn and I did it anyway. We were dripping with sweat at the end. It certainly didn't feel like fall but had all the beauty of it. I love all the fall colors!!

Today I'm a day early and I'm posting my menu for the week. I don't know which nights I'm having which meals but here it is. I'm trying to get ahead for the week and I'll tell you why on Tuesday!

Spaghetti with Cheese Garlic Biscuits

Pepper Chicken with rice

Swedish Meatballs and green beans

Taco Salad

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole and Cranberry Sauce

Much Needed Faith Lift Friday

Encourage others and yourself! Share a scripture, quote, devotional, lyrics, or anything that has blessed you and strengthened you in your faith. Don't forget to grab the button and to link back to Sheryl's post.

Faith Lift Friday came at the perfect time this week. I have a huge decision to make and I came across this in my reading.

Hebrews
10:35 "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38 But my righteous one will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him."
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

There are just so many examples of faith listed after these verses that I found it very inspiring.

Wordless Wednesday