Saturday, August 17, 2013

And the countdown begins

0 days until Tom's 55th birthday (age he can retire)
2 more days until Liz and AJ come home
3 more days until Jake leaves to work with friends in Connecticut
5 more days until Eileen's 15th birthday
10 more days until Liz and AJ's vow renewal celebration
oh and 13 days until Sean's 6th birthday
I can't even start to think past these 2 wks when we have Meghan's birthday, family week at church, Jake's birthday, Danielle's birthday, back to school shopping, Carrie's birthday and a baby shower to plan.   Not to mention all the every day stuff!  One day at a time.  Follow the timeline and hopefully things will go as planned.  If not, fly with it and make do.

Yesterday was dress/shoe shopping day for me and the younger girls.   I found myself a dress, I think.   We had 20 mins before the mall closed when I went into the dress store to find mine.   I haven't worn a dress in AGES!   I always wear a skirt and shirt which looks fine normally.  Looking at Pat's wedding pictures though made me almost cry.  Everyone was wearing all these "fancy" dresses and here I was in a nice skirt and shirt...felt like I looked like a peasant.   So this time I decided to go with the dress...more summery then evening.

My niece Jess also went along because she needed a dress to stand up with Liz.   Liz's colors are purple and blue, she wanted Jess to wear purple (Danielle and Sean are wearing lavender).  Do you know how hard it is to find PURPLE!?!?!  In the fashion industry the color no longer exists.   We looked in every store in Destiny USA mall for hours on end and found maybe 8 dresses.  I'm not talking about 8 dresses in size X.  I'm talking 7 dresses in ANY size.   One was the wrong color, 2 were too short, one looked like it was worn already, 2 were too promy (tons of sequins and tulle...same dress different lenghts), and 2 we were trying to decide from.   Fortunately both fit Jess!

Today is the day to take a trip to Lowe's or Home Depot.   I need to buy wood to make yard jenga  and pvc pipe to construct a photo booth.   I'm having a ball figuring out the construction of the booth.   If it comes out like I envision I may just try to rent it out to others if I can.   I can add my chocolate fountain into the rental business too. :o)   I'll try to remember to take pictures along the way.

Yes, my husband turns 55 today.   He insists that we don't do anything for him...not even cake.  Yeah right.  His reasoning is that it's too hot to bake.  Luckily for us the humidity has died down quite a bit overnight.   I bought vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.  The girls are going to bake brownies so we can have brownie sundaes.  

Well all the above stuff was written on the11th (July).  It is now after midnight on the 16th.   Things are not going according to plans and I'm a little behind but not freaking out behind yet.    AJ's best friend who is also in the Navy found out he could come home before going to his first ship and will be here for the wedding.   So now Carrie has to find a dress to stand up with Liz too.   We looked today and still no purple dresses to be had.  Liz is about to change Carrie's color to navy blue.   Now I've gone to craigslist and ebay.   We'll be running out bright and early this morning to look again.   Thing is I never had these 2 days of shopping in my schedule.   I need a serious trip to the laundromat.   Thankfully the girls got the living room looking good.   Unfortunately a lot of stuff was stuffed in bedrooms in order to do it.

Today is Eileen's 15th birthday!   I'm feeling guilty since I'm caught up in the wedding stuff and haven't planned anything for her nor did I get her a present.  I also forgot she wanted and I had planned on buying her a longboard until Olivia mentioned it tonight.   Eileen wants to go to the beach.   HOW do I do that with my huge todo list staring at me?   Maybe we should go and I can cram everything into Wed and Thurs.  Actually just Wednesday since I'll have Gabe on Thursday.  Friday is shopping and Saturday is food prep.  

I should be in my bed sleeping since I have to be out the door by 7am!!  You'd think it would be easy, seeing as  I've been up since 6am and it's now past 2:30am.   But here I am, washing machine going and dishes sitting in hot water waiting for me while I take a cereal break and get eaten alive by noseeums who have no idea what window screens are!   I'm asking Tom to do some cutting for a project I had planned to do in the morning.


And this never got published,   I just found it 8/17.   Liz wedding went well. the photobooth was a hit and I'll be using it again after a few modifications.  I'll try to post pictures and say more a different day.





 



Monday, July 01, 2013

Ain't no body got time fo dat!

That line has been running through my head a lot lately.  I've had ONE day this month where I didn't have to leave the house for any length of time.  (drove the kids 2 miles to church in the evening which doesn't count).   We've been getting our Baby Gabey fix in at a good rate.   He comes here at least once a week, sometimes three.   He's such a sweetheart and loves to cuddle!

(using Liz's laptop, I'll try to upload pictures later from mine)

Yep, we have laptops in our house again.   I bought 2 hard drives and have been trying to get both mine and Liz's up to snuff.  We're running on Linux/Ubuntu so I've been having to learn things all over again.  It's been fun getting all geeky and finding work arounds.  It'd be even more fun if I had tons of time to waste on doing it.

Only a few more weeks before Liz and AJ will be coming home!   Having Liz 1000 miles away has been hard, especially this week.   She was hit by a car on the way home the other night (she was on a bike).  Luckily the car wasn't going very fast and the road she was thrown into didn't have any heavy traffic (light had just turned green).   She's doing ok but has had a few days of feeling like she was just hit by a car.  She's not sure how she did it but she crushed her wedding ring during the accident.   I'm sure the driver's insurance will cover fixing/replacing it but until then my mom is letting Liz use one of my grandmother's bands.  I think we have most things pinned down for the vow renewal/wedding celebration on the 21st.  Now to do the work and spend the money to get it done. 

Val is engaged!   Matt proposed and gave her a beautiful ring on Saturday.   Tom knew already because Matt asked him permission and showed him the ring.   Snot never said anything to me!   So now we have another wedding to plan and save up for.  We also have a baby shower to do.  I can't even start to think about it until Liz's ceremony is over.   I'm figuring we'll have it mid to late September, so there's time.   Val's best friend Janna and the girls are doing most of the planning so far.   I've gone on a few more shopping sprees for the little guy!  FUN! FUN! FUN!

For the first time in almost 7yrs Tom and I have our room to ourselves!   Carrie moved out  a few weeks ago.  Danielle and Sean jumped at the chance to move into her room.  They have a twin bed set up with Carrie's loft waiting for a railing to be installed (they both move a lot when sleeping, I don't trust them up there without it).  Today's plan is to get the toys out of the living room and into their room.   Then maybe we can actually move around in this place!  

Friday was our 30th wedding anniversary.    We didn't do anything for it.   Tom's been on call all week with a few late night call ins, so he slept it away.   We are going away in September to "celebrate".  We're sharing a 4bdrm beach house in Surfside, South Carolina.  We get one room, my parents get another, my dad's sister and a family friend are sharing one and my mom's sister along with her daughter and son in law are sharing the 4th one.   Obviously it's not a romantic getaway but I'm looking forward to getting away nonetheless.  I'm also trying to convince Tom to take advantage of some free room offers from a local casino this month.

I've been working at the baseball stadium for our church fundraiser.   Last night was one of our busiest times.   Thursday and Friday look to be just as busy as they'll have fireworks and a carnival running at the same time as the ball games.  (double header on the 4th)  It's nice to be able to help since $$ isn't always there to give. 

I've been trying to take better care of myself in all this busyness.   I was going to the rec center pool every weekday when school was in session.   I haven't had it work out (meaning I'm not getting up early enough!) since vacation started.  Last week I managed to go for a walk Wed, Thurs and Fri.  Where I've been walking has very few flat areas with big hills on both ends that are killers.  I realized on Fri I could walk a different way and it's fairly flat.  I like the challenge of the hills so not sure if I'll wimp out and go with the flat walk.  Although if I don't get my fanny out the door to walk...there is no decision to make and I've totally failed!

My yearly fight with the pool has started.  I haven't totally won yet but I'm getting close.   The problem is that the water level keeps dropping.  I'm pretty sure there is a slow leak somewhere.  I've been looking for it since late last summer and haven't found it yet.   It makes running the skimmer hard although I have managed to rig up the vacuum hose so don't have to give up circulating the water totally.  

OK...Danielle has decided she needs to snuggle with her momma and typing makes that not doable.   So I'm off.  Now that I can pound out a post a lot quicker I hope to be more active here.   Have a great 4th if I don't make it back by then. 








Tuesday, June 04, 2013

I love....

Unused snow days! Last day of school is a week earlier because of them. Last full day is the 14th, then half days on the 17th and 18th. It can't come soon enough



Furry little kittens. Our mama cat has decided that the livingroom is a much better then the shed. We have NO idea how she keeps getting in much less to be able to drag 4 babies in.

Growing baby bumps. Everytime Val walks by I can't help but smile at the little bulge that seems to get bigger every day. She has a sono scheduled today. They're still not sure whether they'll share the gender. I want to shop so I'm hoping she does.

A quirky little guy who keeps me on my toes, and his beautiful big sister.

He refused to pose for pictures this morning...



But I managed to sneak a few.




Danielle was fine with pictures being taken.





First world problems...especially when they make me slow down and look around. Yes, we were going at a snail's pace bit did you realize how beautiful the fields are?



And now the next morning.

The hardest working man in the world. Tom has been taking call almost every weekend so we don't have to go into debt for Liz's wedding.
This week is his scheduled oncall week. He ended up getting called into work at 9 last night and never came home. I just talked to him....he's exhausted and heading home to sleep. Looks like he might be in for more of the same tonight. My poor guy.

Btw...Val and Matt did decide to share their news. Val and I stopped at Walmart on the way home last night and bought lots of things with dinosaurs and cars on them!!!

Ok...I'm already late for the pool. See ya soon!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Day off!!!

A true day off...no school, no one needs a ride to work, and no doctor's appointments. I think tonight is even free which doesn't happen often. I wish I could say that a lot was accomplished already but I can't. For the first time in a looong time I stayed in bed past 7...actually it was after 9! We needed a day like this though. Poor Danielle has had a fever all week and now has ulcers all over the inside of her mouth and tongue. She says they don't hurt and that she feels better. Most everyone else is dealing with a cold.

Yesterday was one of those days when I say to myself.....WHAT was I thinking...having all these kids? Sean, Danielle and I spent most of the day in the car running errands for everyone else. (Even Liz who lives out of state! LOL) We did have some special fun times too. We got the new blueberry pomegranate smoothies from McD's and the kids got an awesome holiday cookie from Wegman's. (It's always about the food) And any day we get to take care of Gabe for the evening is a good day. Add in watching Meg and it becomes a superdy duper day! She is getting so big! She's wearing undies all the time. Even though they still live here we don't see them tons. Allison's sister has been watching Meg during the day and their nights have been busy.



Sean is getting big too! He lost his first tooth on Monday.

And now it's gone from Friday to Tuesday without me knowing! Although the weather wasn't the best it was still nice. Saturday was grocery shopping and errand day. Tom and I went out to dinner with my parents, my sister and brother and their spouses. After we hung out until 1am or so. Sunday was more errands in the morning and then a cookout at church. It was awesome to sit and talk while we watched the kids play games and softball. What started as a....the kids want to visit, is it ok if I bring them over on Monday? conversation on Tuesday turned into a full blown cookout at my parents' house. Pat and Alex had to work so weren't there. And of course Liz and AJ were in another state. I was really missing them yesterday. I think part of the reason was that I didn't have my phone and couldn't text or call them.

I'm sitting here in the pitch dark so I don't see the disaster area around me. I have my work cut out for me. I just wish the water supply wasn't an issue....and my back...ok,my whole body but mostly my back right now....OUCH! I'm hoping I can make it to the pool after the kids get on the bus. I have a feeling that will be a major feat. Why can't school be done now!?!?! I know I say this every year but it's true. These last few weeks of school are a waste of time! Just give me my kids already!

Ok...enough rambling. It's 4am, I've been up for 2hrs and if I don't get back to sleep sometime before 6:30...it's gonna be a looong day. See ya!

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Oh rats!

Seems I lost a post I wrote over two days this week. GRRRR! That's what I get for being impatient and closing an app before it says it's done.

The weather here has been BEAUTIFUL!!! The only problem is that I know it has to end and most likely will this weekend. Which happens to be our church soccer weekend when we want it nice out. I'd love to say I got a lot done around here but you so. Oh I did manage to put dents in things but they've been undone already. One of my goals is to get the pool hooked up so I can start that yearly battle. Wish I could dump the water I'm hauling out of the basement ( washer incident) into the pool to help it get filled faster. I don't think we want to turn the pool into a bubble spa right now though. I've had Gabe here quite a few days this last week. It's so nice to get cuddle time with him.




Grandpa gives the best airplane rides!




On Monday I took Danielle and Sean to play on the playground at church while Eileen and Olivia were at soccer practice.







I finally got my behind over to the pool this morning ( Tuesday)! My arms got a good work out. Allison had Tuesday off. After running some errands we ended up taking Meg over to the church playground to run off some steam.





It's now Thursday and I'm happy to say I made it to the pool again Wednesday! I couldn't today because Carrie had a doctor's appointment first thing today. It's bugging me that I didn't go.... that's a good thing. I am so out of shape! I couldn't do the crawl for their full length of the pool and back! Me, the fish. Someone who's swam for over a mile before. Makes me want to cry. Instead I'll just work on getting some of that old me back! As of now I've decided I still want to go to the rec center pool during the summer. Our pool here isn't long enough to get a decent amount of strokes in before having to turn around. We'll see if it's still my thoughts once summer vacation starts.

I need another day added to this week! I don't haven't enough hours in the day to get everything done. Laundry, so we'll have clothes to wear this weekend. Grocery shopping so we can eat and the kids won't starve while Tom and I are gone to South Carolina... if we go. Picking up and watching baby Gabe. Plus the regular stuff... making dinner and cleaning... oh and maybe sleeping. I won't even be here for Mother's Day. I'm working breakfast at church and then heading to the ball park to work. At least I'll be close to my parents' house and can stop to visit my mom. At least I have a mom to visit. I hate this time of year for Tom and his siblings. My lilacs are almost in full bloom. They remind me so much of my mother-in-law. That and all the garage sale signs. It's not the same going without her.

Don't really want to end on a somber note but I need to take Val to work and I don't want this to sit on my phone any longer. I'll end with a picture of Meg and Gabe. Because you can't help smile looking at them. :o)



Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Trying to put off cleaning

Well that's one reason to sit here and write. It was either that or start playing a video game. For some reason a game just doesn't interest me right now.... believe me, I tried. This house is swallowing me whole! I've puttered here and there but haven't put too much of a dent in any one area.

I SO wish we were leaving for South Carolina now instead of in 3 weeks. As much as I want to see Liz and AJ, I'm really looking forward to spending some alone time with Tom. Figuring AJ has school all day and Liz will most likely have to work some of the days leaves us alone.

Hmmm, I just went back and looked at my last post. Seems a lot of it was lost when I published it... sorry about that. I'm not even sure what else I was rambling about that night. Maybe its a good thing.lol

And now it's the next morning. I ended up doing something around here, though you can't really tell.

It was beautiful out last night. It makes it hard to get homework, dinner and bedtime done. I can't wait for summer vacation... its going to be a loooong 9 weeks. At least our mornings have been v going better. That is as long as everything goes according to Sean's routine. It amazes me how quickly these kids are growing up. Can Danielle really be almost 8 yrs old?



And my baby is on his way to being a 1st grader!



Nevermind the fact that Drew will turn 29 on Friday!!! How can he be that old when that's how old I am!!! LOL



Ok... enough off this. I have to go get Danielle and Sean up for school and be productive. See ya!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Well blow me away!

I can't believe the wind is still howling out there. We lost power this afternoon for a few hours because of it. Hopefully it stays on. I don't want to end up sitting in the dark. Although if it decided to go out when it was time to go to school... letting us use a snow day. Then I'm all for it! I know... I'm worse then the kids.

Why am I up? Because Pat called
me on his way home from work and woke me up after I'd been asleep for over an hour. So I essentially power napped. He was calling to tell me I wasn't going to watch Gabe tomorrow. Waaaaah! I needed to pick him up early and it didn't work out well for Alex, so her mom is taking him for the evening.... no fair! There are going to be a lot of bummed out kids in the morning when they hear the news. They've been waiting all week for him to come back.

Poor Liz, she's been dealing with a migraine and had been pretty quiet today. Hope she's better soon. She did manage too land a job yesterday. She was hired on the spot to work at Hardees. None of my kids really know what that is. I explained it as a hed my quiet time alone but I should be sleeping. I'm watching Meg in the morning, Carrie has a doctor appointment, and I need to get ready for a conference at church that's happening this weekend. Besides its getting harder to swipe accurately on this phone. Hope everyone's weekend is a good one.


Thursday, April 18, 2013

3 Months?

Can it really be that long since I wrote here last? Sheesh! We're still without a computer here so this process can be slow going. Lots has happened here.

Val and Matt announced last month that she's pregnant and due at the end of October. Matt insisted it was twins until the sono proved him wrong.

AJ graduated from bootcamp March 22nd and headed to South Carolina for Nuke school. When he arrived they said he could get married. So on the 28th...Liz, AJ's mom and I headed down there with my van loaded with their stuff. The county clerk's office was closed due to it being Good Friday but they met them outside the office building to sign the license

application. They also met them outside city hall on Saturday to perform their ceremony.


They granted AJ special liberty so he could spend his wedding night with his bride instead of in the barracks. On Sunday we went to see the USS Yorktown. It was fun watching everyone watch/interact with AJ and his brother in their uniforms (he's in the army stationed at Fort Bragg. He surprised AJ and joined us for the weekend).




AJ was the Navy's again Sunday night. Monday was jumping through hoops and red tape day so Liz could be an official military wife. Amazingly everything happened according to the timeline and the kids had their house on Tuesday. We unpacked the van, went grocery shopping, had dinner and then hit the road for home. AJ's mom and I both arrived home wearing sandals... IN A SNOWSTORM! Made me want to turn right back around and move in with Liz!

Last week I started my new baby sitting gig. I get to snuggle and cudle with Mr Gabe on Fridays ( and various other days as needed) while Pat and Alex work.



Luke started a full time job this week. He's working construction with Matt. He's already worked a ton of hours (15 yesterday alone). Poor kid is sore and tired. Bye bye soft and smooth hands... hello man hands.

The kids have about 10 more weeks of school. Sean is doing better about going. Although he can be tempted to start balking as soon as the routine is messed with.


I know I say I'm going to be better about posting and then fall off the face of the earth for long stretches. But now I have to keep this updated for Liz and AJ's sake. So hopefully it truly happens this time.

Now to try and get control of this disaster area. But first a picture of Danielle just for Liz.

Friday, January 25, 2013

What to do?



Since Christmas vacation has ended this little guy had given me problems. He doesn't want to go to school or he's sick every morning. Two mornings I've had to physically put him on the bus stairs after he tried to back down the driveway when the bus arrived. I did manage to bribe him to go every day one week with ice cream money at the end of the week (first time buying ice cream). It's not working now.

So today I'm trying the mean mommy routine. You stay home from school.... you don't get off the couch. It's hard since I'd rather snuggle, color, do puzzles and play legos with him. But I can't keep doing this every morning.... it's exhausting. Right now I'm not too sure how this plan is working out. I know there were a few times today that he wasn't too happy. But was it enough? Because I don't really see me getting much harsher.

His teacher and I talked a bit yesterday. I warned her he may be attending in his pajamas a time or two. Although I really don't see more doing that either... but you never know with this kid. What makes it especially hard is that I could care less if he went! I love having him home. But as I tell him... it's his job to go and my job to make sure he goes.

His teacher mentioned that he seems to be quite tired most days since having the flu at the beginning of December. Hearing that brought flashbacks of Carrie and her cancer diagnosis...I can't even let my mind wander there but a physical exam might not be a terrible thing either.

Well the kids will be home soon and I have to decide when Sean can stop being "sick" and start enjoying the weekend.

Sometimes being the mom sucks!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Brrrrrrrrr!

It's really cold outside and a bit chilly in here. Our furnace is working but our thermostat isn't. That means we have to turn it on and off manually and can run it for only short cycles. Luckily our house is pretty well insulated and it hasn't been too bad in here with minimal effort... until this morning. Let's just say I'll be getting my exercise today and lucky me... my knees hate stairs with a passion lately.

Liz called me last night to let me know that AJ put me on the guest list for his swearing in ceremony and we had to be there by 9:30. Hmmm... getting there would be tight. It takes 45 minutes in good weather and the kids get on the bus at 8:40. I decided to let the little ones stay in their toasty beds instead of getting on the bus. (Luke is here to watch them.) Then I realized I wasn't getting out of the driveway without some major shoveling. Grrrr. Then I got a text from Allison... Meg was upstairs alone... Drew got snowed in at band practice last night. Good thing I didn't get out of the driveway after all.

So poor me stuck in the house with cute fun loving kids. We've already donned hats and gloves to fight snow monsters in the living room and made jewelry out of magnetic balls and rods. I think there was talk of playdough next. I'd love nothing better then to get out my yarn and crochet hooks. Or some felted sweaters and Liz's sewing machine to make some mittens.

Danielle is super excited because Liz is moving back home tonight. It'll be good for Liz to be mauled for a few days. :o) Before getting off here I'll share one of my favorite pictures of Liz and AJ, even if they don't think it's a good one. Both of them have lost weight since this was taken last summer. (AJ lost a significant amount).


Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Doing this the hard way

I've missed writing here. I'm constantly writing posts in my head but without a computer handy its hard to get them published. Both our computers are down. Thankfully after Christmas we became a house of smartphone and ipod users so its not as painful as it would have been last year. Just makes things a little slower going... I'm not the greatest on my phone's "keypad".

Things have also been pretty busy here too. Drew and Allison are still living here. Allison had a full time position at a credit union, Drew is working part time in retail. I'm taking care of Meghan when he's working.

I'm also still driving Val and Liz to work and picking up Carrie from school so I'm on the road a lot.

Pat and Alex had their baby boy on the 11th... Gabriel David...8lbs 14oz. Everyone thinks he looks like Sean.




Liz is saying goodbye AJ today. :o( He's getting sworn in and heading to boot camp for the Navy tomorrow morning. Tonight he stays overnight at a local hotel with all the other recruits from the area. We had a goodbye dinner for him on Sunday. Sean broke everyone's heart when he went last to say goodbye. He wrapped his arms and legs around him and held on tight. I still tear up thinking about it.

Sean's decided that he'd like to be done with school. Almost every morning he says he doesn't feel good or flat out refuses to go to school. I've managed to get him on the bus for the most part. I think he figured out I meant business when I dragged him across the road by his coat and physically put him on the bus stairs. ( Had to do it twice so far) Luckily he didn't see me crying my eyes out as I walked back into the house.

I tend to forget that I can utilize my phone as much as I can, especially when it comes too talking pictures. So I'm hoping I can change that mindset and post more here including adding more pictures. Right now though I need to get off here and finish some things before I have to pick up Carrie.