Monday, July 21, 2008

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!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

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??

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

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)




Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

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!

Monday, June 23, 2008

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......

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

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!!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

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:)






Saturday, June 07, 2008

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!!






Tuesday, June 03, 2008

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.

Monday, May 19, 2008

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.

Friday, May 16, 2008

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)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

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.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

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.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

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.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

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 :)

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

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?

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Garrett's 6th Birthday!!!

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