Nose

What Your Nose Says About You

You are objective and logical. You make a good businessperson. You are helpful and giving. You like cooperating, and you're always willing to lend a hand. You are optimistic and trusting. You expect the best from people.

What Does Your Nose Say About You?

Robyn's Cheer Off

Here is a video of the dance portion of Robyn's Cheer Off. As someone that is new the cheerleading scene this was quite an experience. I was completely unprepared. The other parents were wearing team colored wigs and clothes and came with posters, horns and cowbells. Me, I just had my voice and no longer have it :) There were even cars in the parking lot with paint for the cheer off on the windows.

Every event I have attended in this city blows me away. They treat football and cheerleading like they are in the pros. There is a lot of spirit and energy in this city and its really fun to watch. Next year I'll know what to expect and be prepared.

Being Observant

I feel like I'm always running around in chaos. Today I decided to do my grocery shopping in the morning. I put the kids on the bus and started the mad dash to get it done so I could get back to work. I usually zoom around tuning everything out around me which I know isn't good.

Today I decided to be more observant. While I'm checking out I notice an elderly man starting to bag my groceries. It makes me feel terrible that someone that age is doing that for me. I'm young, I'm strong, I can do that! I start to notice that all the baggers are elderly and it makes me really sad. Is this what America has to look forward to? Elderly people continuing to work, not always because they are bored, but because they are losing their pension, investments and social security.

The elderly man finished bagging my groceries and asked me if I wanted the Load N' Go option. I certainly had to say no to that. At least they didn't put him the child care area of the store, that would have been a real punishment :), just kidding of course.

If you have elderly neighbors and relatives please continue to love them and look out for them. As tough as things are for us right now, they may be even tougher for them.

Wind Storm

I often think about things that I miss from places that I've lived in the past. On Sunday night I found something that is great about living in our current city. We received an automated phone call telling us that we had a Code Red for Wind and we were not supposed to leave the house or drive if possible. The school district also has the phone set up this way to let us know if there will be a school closing or early dismissal. I love this! I love how they can contact the entire community instantly.

Our wind storm was really something to watch. This definitely goes down as a first for me. The grill went rolling across our deck, our outdoor toy box was picked up and thrown across the yard and the top of our Rubbermaid mailbox was ripped off. Our neighbor next door just had a fence put in last week and part of that was taken down. I am thrilled that we still have the solar cover on the pool. We lost power for about 3 hours and we were the lucky ones.

There were parts of OH where trees fell on homes and cars. I have to tell you with the wind we saw last night I can't imagine what everyone has been going through down south with the Hurricanes. Please keep them in prayer.

Football/Cheerleading Begins!

Cheerleading and football have begun in our household. We are at cheerleading and football practices 3 nights a week and they each have a game on Saturday. Robyn and Garrett's games have been at the same time at different locations so I haven't seen one of Garrett's games yet but I will the next few Saturdays.

Doug is the coach for Garrett's flag football team and that has been really fun to watch. He has far more patience than I. I think he is just giddy because he truly loves football and its favorite time of year.

Here are some pictures of Robyn. I hope to get some of Garrett this week.

Election Stress

My biggest guilty pleasure is Fox News. I'm a news junky, I just can't get enough. Its the only thing I put on T.V. when I actually get the remote, which isn't very often. Even when I get in the car I turn it to Fox News Radio. I am driving my family crazy. This has been going on for at least a year already.

Anyway, as I was listening to it this morning I was getting so frustrated and spun up about the upcoming election. I won't discuss who I think would do a better job because I know I'll offend half of my blog readers. I feel very strongly about how I will vote and I usually can see both sides of a story but not this time.

I am so frustrated by the politicians and news media stereotyping and categorizing each racial group and statuses like working class, blue collar workers, single mothers, evangelicals, catholic, etc... When you really think about who is keeping this country divided? Who thinks they know how everyone will vote? I know that when I think of America I do not stereotype or categorize people into groups.

I can't believe that we believe everything these politicians say. Please don't just vote by what they say in their speeches, we all know its fluff. Research their backgrounds, experience and take a close look at the decisions they made earlier in their lives. Take a look at what they were doing before the media was following them around.

First Day of School

The kids had a great first day of school! They were ready an hour before we had to go to the bus stop because they were so excited!

I did make a mistake and put the wrong bus on Garrett's bag so he was a little lost after school and did not get off the bus with Robyn. Luckily, the bus I assigned him too had a drop off right down the street and we were reunited without me having a heart attack.

The kids gave me lots of homework and my hand is still sore from filling out all the forms. Is there any particular reason they have you fill out the same information on both sides of an emergency form? That drives me nuts!!

We made it!!

Yesterday was our 10 year anniversary and we made it!!! I have to tell you that marriage gets much easier after the first 7 years! The last couple of years have been so much more fun. I think you get to a point where you know so much about the other that its easier to anticpate what they need.

We had a great anniversary. The kids are staying with Doug's parents and I pick them up tomorrow. We went to a movie that was not kid related, Tropic Thunder, and we went to a nice dinner at the 100th Bomb Squad Rest near the Cleveland airport. It was nice to get dressed up and not be on a schedule. We just did what we felt like doing for a change. We get to do that again today. I think we may stay closer to home today and enjoy being in the pool without the kids.

On Monday we get to go to the school's Open House to meet the teachers. The kids start school on Tuesday. Robyn will be in 3rd grade and Garrett will be in 1st grade. I am so excited but I feel terribly guilty for being so excited. I think it will be better for all of us. It was getting to hard to work from home with the kids being here all day. I'll be able to focus so much more and they'll get to see their friends.

Here's a little about what I learned about my children this summer.

Robyn: She has always seemed a little shy around new people but she was able to go up to girls her age that she didn't know and introduce herself and begin playing with them - huge step. She became very interested in softball and became the most improved player for the season. She is very inventive and never lets herself get bored (example - she created a target out of a large piece of paper and set it up outside so she could practice her water gun shooting). She loves chick flicks and I have a new buddy to watch them with. She is very inside her own head about her feelings so I need to help her get it out. She is a completely messy child when it comes to her room. Aren't all great thinkers chaotic like that?

Garrett: He is the best behaved child ever---if he doesn't get bored. He loves to run and has endurance like I have never seen. His best position for playing football is cornerback, you assign him to a boy and that boy will have no chance to score. He has a great imagination for fighting evil alien forces. He loves to joke around and have fun. He also likes to instigate like Grandpa W. He is a neat freak and can't stand his room being in chaos. The time has come where he is not a momma's boy anymore. He has moved on to being all about dad and sports. All this time of Garrett and I being together and not getting along as well made me realize its because we are more lot alike than we thought.

Zoo

I realized the other day that the kids were starting school in a week and half so we decided to get in some more summer fun.

Doug and I decided to surprise the kids and take them to the zoo. We told them that Doug had to pick up something from a Cleveland train yard and they bought it. They were shocked when we got there. They had only been to the Philadelphia zoo before.

They could not have been any happier and were even more excited that we bought season passes. It was so cheap compared to the price for one day for the four of us. Now we can go every few weeks!

The highlight was definitely petting the stingrays and seeing the sharks and cheetahs.

New Goals

After an emotionally tiring week I've decided to re-evaluate some areas of my life and make changes. I have been getting worn down by the constant demands of my children along with endless activities and work. I have decided to shift some priorities around to keep my sanity and to keep peace at home.

I'm at a point in my life where I just want things as simple and relaxed as possible. I really feel too young to be thinking like this but I can't help it so here are the areas I'm working on.

**I'm going to stop listening to any music other than Christian. For those of you that know me this is a huge step and a bit extreme. I love music but I am getting so sick of the lyrics and want more meaning. This is really having a huge, negative impact on our youth and I don't think most people realize this. I know, I sound like a mom from the fifties talking about rock and roll.

I feel like there is always so much action and chaos in my mind and Christian music really inspires me and clears my head. As I'm going through my tasks with my iPod I feel a magical peace that helps me to tune out negative thoughts and worries.

**I'm going to make some minor changes to my diet. I generally eat healthy but I'm going to cut out more sugar (Cheerios instead of Honey Nut Cheerios) and eat more fruits and vegetables.

I'm also cutting out the carbonated, flavored water that I've been drinking. I have switched to one Crystal Light Mental Energy Flavored Packet a day, in the morning, and will drink regular water and milk the rest the day. This sounds like a minor switch but I'm pickier about what I eat while drinking water.

**I'm going to get back to regular exercise. This summer I've been relying on swimming in the pool but I'm not getting a concentrated workout. I really need the structure of the treadmill to exercise. To me there is nothing better than getting on the treadmill and tuning out the world. I put on the iPod and sing and dance while I'm running or walking (its a sight to see). I come up with my best ideas during this time.

It seems like injuries, sicknesses and activities keep getting in the way of this time but I'm not going to let it happen anymore. I'm going to make it a priority.

Taking care of myself in these minor ways will help me to be more relaxed around my family. I've been working so hard to make sure my kids were having a fun summer that I haven't had time for myself. Do you believe I haven't had a moment alone since June 5th?

The good thing is that football and cheerleading have started. Garrett and Doug (he's one of the football coaches) go on two nights and Robyn goes on three nights. That means two nights a week for 2 hours I'll be completely alone. When school starts at the end of August Doug and I will have Fridays completely alone. I can't wait!!

Since I've typed all this out I expect you to keep me accountable for the goals that I have set up!!

Unexpected Trip

On Friday I found out that my uncle passed away so Sunday we took an unexpected trip out to PA so we could attend the funeral on Monday.

On the way we ran into a delay from a serious accident. We made the most of it and visited with the neighboring cars, took pictures (like a good little blogger) and climbed the hill so the kids could go potty. These delays only happen when you have to go to the bathroom :).

The funeral went well and I really felt like I was able to say goodbye. Along with that, I was able to take some great new perspective away with me. We spent time visiting with extended family that was long overdue.

My sister and her son from NC were also able to make it out for the funeral so we all stayed at my parent's house. The cousins really enjoyed playing together again.

Here are some pictures from the trip.

The PA turnpike

Robyn stretching her legs on the turnpike

My dad's wonderfully organized garage (does anyone wonder where I get it from?)

He even puts his Covettes on shelves.

Quick Update

We have had a busy couple of months with teeball and softball. Both of the kids have now finished their seasons. Robyn won the most improved player for the season and Garrett received his first trophy.

The other picture is what happens to boys when they play too hard at a sleepover.

We have some fun things coming up this weekend so there should be more updates soon.

Facebook!!

I would love to update my blog, really, but I can't pull myself away from Facebook.com!! Its addicting!! Lori, Alex, Michelle, am I right??

Astronaut Stacey to the rescue!!

NASA Glenn Research Center

We had a fun time Saturday when we decided to visit the NASA Glenn Research Center. This was the first time we were there and were thrilled to see all the upcoming events at this location. The kids love anything having to do with space and the solar system. This will be our new hang out and its only 20 minutes away!

We were able to walk around the museum and get an autograph from the astronaut, Lee Morin. He was a mission specialist during the space shuttle Discovery mission STS-110.

Wait until you see our Wordless Wednesday pics!

Goodbye P.J.

We have had a rough couple of days here. P.J. came out here almost 3 weeks ago. The first week he was a the perfect dog and played with the kids and ignored Taffy when she wanted to play, which was always.

After the first week Garrett was playing with P.J. he started growling and ended up biting Garrett and he had a large scratch from under his to the bottom of his nose that was put there by P.J.' s teeth. We figured Garrett might have been rough with him. We gave Garrett a warning and gave P.J. another chance. The next day Garrett was walking around eating turkey (he shouldn't have been doing this) and P.J. tried to steal it from him and bit his finger.

A few days later Taffy started "playing" with P.J. It was tough to tell if he was enjoying it or not. I know that Taffy completely intended to play because that is all she does. P.J. was showing his teeth a lot and starting to bark at Taffy.

On Thursday the kids came and told me that the sink in the bathroom upstairs was clogged. I went up to look and there was toilet paper clogged in the sink and of course it had broken in to a ton of little pieces. Upon further investigation I saw large drops of blood behind the faucet then noticed pale watered-down blood across the counter. When I asked the kids about the blood Garrett told me that he was bitten again by P.J. and didn't want me to find out because he knew I would get rid of the dog. It must have happened inside his nose somewhere because I couldn't find a cut.

Later the same day Taffy and P.J. were "playing" and Taffy ended up with an open cut under her eye from P.J.

We knew we had to get rid of P.J. so I called the store where I got him. I had thought they got him from the county spca but they had actually got him from the city pound and the store didn't have the room to take him back until another one was adopted. They suggested some training techniques and told me I could take him to a forgotton shelter if I couldn't keep him but I would have to lie and say I found him as a stray which we refused to do.

On Friday Doug took P.J. to the spca. He explained the situation and told him what a great dog he would be for someone without young kids. They said that since he bit someone he had to be quarantined at home for 10 days and couldn't take him until the 26th.

After being home for 2 hours Doug receives a call from the pet store and said they never told us to take him to the spca and that they may put him to sleep. Here the owner had a friend at the spca and they all, including the dog warden knew P.J. which I find a little strange. They arranged for P.J. to go back to the pet store last night.

We are all a little sad but did what we had to do. I know Garrett is used to playing a little rough because Taffy is used to it and we had her since she was 7 weeks old and she is now only 2. P.J. was 5 and just wasn't into that. We talked to Garrett about how to handle other dogs. I just couldn't take the chance of something more serious happening.

**Yippee!! I got the paragraphs to have spaces between them!! I actually had to go into the edit html tab and enter html breaks after each paragraph. I shouldn't have to do that though. Anyone else having these blog issues??

The Alphabet

I saw this on Lori and Tina's blogs and thought I would get involved in this one.

A is for age: 32

B is for burger of choice: Ruby Tuesday

C is for the car I drive: 2008 Jeep Patriot

D is for your dog's name: Taffy and PJ

E is for essential item you use every day: computer, handy dandy headband, blender

F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Deadliest Catch, Clean House, Big Brother 10

G is for favorite game: Uno, Dance Dance Revolution (talk about hilarious), the pick on Doug game

H is for home state: PA

I is for instruments you play: played the saxophone

J is for favorite juice: Grape Cranberry

K is for whose bum you'd like to kick: I don't think anyone is on my list right now but I'll take volunteers

L is for last restaurant at which you ate: CiCi's

M is for your favorite Muppet: This question pushed my button! I absolutely hate nothing more than muppets!!!! They are one of my biggest pet peeves. Now I know whose butt I would have kicked if he was alive - Jim Henson

N is for number of piercings: 2 that I use, 4 altogether

O is for overnight hospital stays: when I had surgery on my heart in June 2007

P is for people you were with today: my kids

Q is for what you do with your quiet time: no comprendo??

R is for biggest regret: going to school for something that was practical instead of an interest, not knowing myself enough to make that decision

S is for status: Married since 1998

T is for time you woke up today: 5:22am

U is for what you consider unique about yourself: I'm the quickest noodle racer on both sides of the family!!

V is for vegetable you love: green peppers

W is for worst habit: I pick on Doug, tickle, annoy, hide his things, write on his under garments, etc....

X is for x-rays you've had: teeth, knees, head, heart

Y is for yummy food you ate today: Texas Crispers

Z is for zodiac: Aries (wow, that was tough for me to remember)

Wordless Wednesday Watermelon Eating Contest

Karen (my mommy), Garrett and Jonathon

A New Addition To The Family!!!

Robyn and I had a fun day at the mall scheduled on Saturday. After some shopping and snacking we decided to go browse the pet store. In there they had 3 dogs that were rescued by the County SPCA. I saw one and I just melted. After calling Doug from the store I decided to bring him home. Aren't Robyn and I dangerous when we are out together? Even Taffy isn't allowed to ride in our new vehicle but our new dog P.J. did.

He is a 5 year old male lab mix that is all up-to-date on shots and neutered. He is housebroken and great with kids. That is what they told me at the store........ We brought him home and he has been a perfect angel. I have never seen a dog behave so well. He has to be in the same room with me at all times and he is so quiet and calm. He doesn't jump and we even had visitors today. I was swimming in the pool and he didn't even try to jump in but he did come over to kiss me when I went to the edge. He is very lovable but he does have a freaky eye color.

Taffy is a little unsure about this. She keeps going up to P.J. to start trouble but he just ignores her and she goes away. She is so confused and doesn't understand why a dog won't play all day long.

I had to wait until today to post this so my parents wouldn't see it. They are on their way to my house as I type. I didn't want to hear the whole what was I thinking speech any earlier than I have to.

How do you like his name Alex??? Make sure you tell hubby about it!

Hopping Frogs

Let me tell you how I almost missed Sunday School this week.

I was cramming my work in like I always do Sunday morning when Robyn called from a sleepover. She asked if she could bring home 2 frogs that were just like her African frog in her bowl at home. I said fine since we already had the food and bowl for it.

She gets dropped off 20 minutes later by a neighbor and comes in with not 2 but 6 jumping, not swimming, little frogs. She thought they were the same kind but they were not.

At that point we had 20 minutes until we had to leave for Sunday School. I was trying to wrap up work with a difficult customer that wouldn't let me off the live support and trying to think of where I could put these frogs while were at church.

I finally finished my work and got a container to put them in. As I was trying to poke the air holes I cracked the entire lid. From there I got some Saran wrap and my handy dandy large rubberband that I was happy to get the day before, don't ask.

Anyway it just barely held the little froggys in there but it worked and I did not have any escapees. We even made it to church on time.

Later we had the discussion about setting them free and having a long life vs. keeping them and killing them by not having the right environment and food. This is when we took the pictures.

All in a day of a Mom's life! Isn't it great!!

The funniest part of this whole story is that this was me about 24 years ago. Just ask my parents. I love frogs and collecting things with frogs on them. I mean, I have a frog tattoo and all!!

***Why this blogger won't keep my paragraph returns is beyond me. Please excuse the poor formatting. It worked for the top half. I guess I'll have to stop the blogger editing and add my html in there. Another project for another time......

Softball/Teeball

This was a fun week for us. Robyn won her first softball game ball by batting a thousand and fielding well. Garrett did a great job in teeball and they even took the tee away and started pitching it to him. He does even better that way!!

Comments!!

This is going to sound strange but if you are reading this now could you click the comments on the bottom right of the post to let me know? I'm trying to get an idea of how many people are reading this blog and trying to decide if I should keep updating this or not. I know there have been some family and friends that have read this and have not left comments in the past. You know who you are!!

Flowers, I think.....

We've had a lot of fun lately just seeing what is growing in our yard. This is our first summer here so we didn't know what to expect. Here are some pictures of the flowers and weeds that have popped up in our backyard. I say weeds because for all I know some of these are weeds. I only pulled the ones I didn't like. You are looking at the pretty weeds:)

Summer is here!!!

It's official, the kids are out of school and summer is here. We have been in the pool almost everyday. We have a busy summer planned with softball, teeball, VBS and a trip to PA near the end of the summer. We are also up for lots of pool parties so let us know when you want to come out!!

June!!

We have been real busy lately. Robyn is playing softball and Garrett is playing teeball and going to karate. Here is a picture of Robyn with her team. That is her all the way to the left. I really need to get some pictures of them playing. They are having a great time and its nice to see them doing so well. Who would have thought that Robyn would be an excellent batter and thrower?? Maybe she found her niche. Garrett has only had one practice so far so it will be fun to see how he does. We know he definitely has the speed!

We have also been revisiting the homeschooling option for the fall. I'm really feeling it would be best for all of us now. I just need to find an extra 8 hours in my day!! Please pray for us as we make this decision. I keep talking myself out of it but when I am praying and going to church it strongly enters my mind and I get excited.

Hollywood Studios Day

Here are our pictures from the day we went to Hollywood Studios. Doug was brave enough to volunteer to help with the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. This park was not one of my favorites but we did have fun on the Tower of Terror, The Great Movie Ride, The Backlot Tour, The Star Wars ride and eating at the Sci-Fi Diner.

Late Thursday Thirteen!

Its late but here it is, my list of thirteen restaurants we ate at while we were in Disney World. The picture shows Garrett eating the smores ice cream dessert at the Le Cellier Steakhouse in the Canada pavillion at Epcot. I think this was Robyn's favorite restaurant because steak is her favorite and it was on the kids menu.

1. Disney's Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show (Polynesian Resort)

2. Once Upon a Time Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table (in the Castle at the Magic Kindom)

3. Le Cellier Steakhouse (Epcot, Canada)

4. The Crystal Palace (Magic Kindom)

5. Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant (Hollywood Studios)

6. Donald's Breakfast at the Tuskar House (Animal Kingdom)

7. Pepper Market (Coronado Springs, our resort)

8. Pizzafari (Animal Kingdom)

9. The Garden Grill (Epcot)

10. Market Street Food Court (Caribbean Beach Resort where we stayed 2 years ago)

11. Pinocchio Village Haus (Magic Kingdom)

12. Electric Umbrella (Epcot)

13. Lotus Blossom Cafe (Epcot, China)

Epcot

I figured I would start with Epcot since its our favorite park. Our favorite rides were Mission Space, Test Track, Soarin' and Spaceship Earth. We had some great meals there at the Garden Grill and the Canada Steakhouse (I can't remember how to spell the name). This park was beautiful and they had the flower festival going on while we were there. The last picture shows how tired the kids were on our first open to close walk through the park.

We're Back!!

We came back from our Disney trip on 5/9/08. We had a great time and are sad that its over. Doug is already planning our next vacation. The kids were the perfect age to take there and they were wonderful. They were able to walk through all the parks with us open to close. We went to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. We stayed at Coronado Springs and on the last day my sister checked in to begin her vacation with her family so we were able to go on some rides at Epcot together before we left. There are so many pictures and stories, I'm not sure where to begin. Maybe I'll take a few pictures at a time and talk about them. Right not I need to get my house back in order. I have laundry all over the place.

Tadpoles

I haven't kept up with my blog lately. I just haven't had much to say but I saw something cool today that I just had to share. This is a picture from the top of our pool with the cover on it. I don't know if you can tell or not but these are tadpoles. Across the length of our pool there are two large areas that have water on the cover and both were filled with thousands of tadpoles.

Late Wordless Wednesday :)

Another Year Older

We have had a busy week here in the last week. Garrett turned 6 on April 5th, my niece turned 11, my nephew turned 10 and my brother-in-law had a birthday, all of them on April 8th, and I finished out the week by having a birthday on April 12th. Garrett had a stomach bug on Wednesday and Thursday and Thursday night Robyn decided to cut bangs into her hair. Aarrgghh!!

This chaotic week had me thinking about what we've been through just since my birthday last year. In last year I had high cholesterol, a mini stroke, heart surgery and Doug traveling every other week for training. Then Doug was relocated for work, we started looking for houses in that area and moved in November.

The last few months have been really great. I had surgery to check out my heart and everthing looks great and my cholesterol is down. Things have finally settled down for us a little. The relocation has been great for our family. Doug has a regular schedule and is home each day by 4pm and has off on Friday and Saturday. I work around his schedule and the kid's school schedule and feel so blessed to have this flexibility with my job. The kids are growing up and becoming much easier and more well behaved (except for the cutting bangs incident this week :)). I feel like everything is finally falling into place and this is the happiest I've ever been. And we are going to Disney World soon!!! All in all, turning 32 isn't as bad as I thought it would be :)

Tartar Sauce??

This might be a silly question but what does Tarter Sauce mean? I know what it is but what does it mean? For some reason Garrett giggles whenever he hears this. Whenever Robyn says this to him he gets mad. The kids are saying this over and over again. Am I missing something? Am I now officially uncool? Are my kids saying something bad from a TV show or something and I just don't know it?

Garrett's 6th Birthday!!!

I can't believe my baby is 6 today!!