At the Beach

Okay so not really the beach... but if you sit back in one of these comfy bright blue chairs, sip on your coffee and pretend its a cocktail, squint your eyes a bit, pretend the deck is the sand, pretend the grass and field behind us is the ocean, pretend the air is warm, well, then you are at the beach.  Ah ;-)

Weekend Fun

The weather was beautiful this past weekend.  We were able to get outside, open the windows in our home and let lots of fresh air in, and pick up the yard in hopes for more spring weather. 

On Friday night I tried to convince Ethan that he was strong enough to pull the empty garbage can up from the street.  He gave it a good try, but after about three steps he gave up.  Rex (yellow lab) must have been shaking around in the background.  He looks really crazy in this picture. 

Carter is teething... something fierce... and chewing and drooling on everything.



Ethan had a great time playing on the playground after church.

Carter played dress up in a hat that Grandma Sandy brought home from Florida.

We celebrated my step-sister-in-laws 30th birthday at a fun place called SPiN on Saturday night.

It's a ping-pong bar!

Took a picture with my mama ;-)

Got a nice picture of my sister and her husband.

Had lots of outside time with the kids.

Ethan spun around the driveway on his Gator with Oscar in tow.

Ethan played catch with Rex while Mariah tumbled around with Mongo.

It was a great weekend!  I am looking to many more upcoming weekends filled with outdoor family fun! Is it too early to say HAPPY SPRING?!  ;-)

Snow Fun

We finally got enough snow for sledding!  Yes, I am actually excited about that.  Normally I am not a fan of the winters and cold weather, but I'll have to admit that playing with the kids in the snow kind of makes me feel like a kid all over again. 

Mariah and Ethan sledding down the hill together.

Coming to a crash landing.

Ethan getting up to do it all over again.

Mariah telling me her butt is so cold there are penguins on it.

Heading up the hill for more.

 

 My brother trying to take me out...

literally...

I had to run out of the way and he laughed the whole time.

Full Moon

Does a full moon really bring craziness?  I am pretty sure there was a full moon on Saturday night.  Even an eclipse and a giant glowing moon if I am correct.  Normally I don't think much about that stuff and instead just jokingly throw the comment around "must be a full moon", but let me tell you I am starting to believe in the creepy effects of a full moon.  Or the crazy coincidences that seem to take place when a full moon is present. 

Saturday night we went to bed.  Carter hasn't been sleeping well lately (total understatement).  So I was up with him around 10pm, 11pm - 12pm... and on and on.  Around 11:30/midnight I realized the nightlight in our room was going from dim to bright, brought back my club dancing strobe light nights.  Anyway, I thought maybe it was burning out so I turned it off.  Then I heard a beeping from our living room ~ which usually means the smoke detector on our 16' tall ceiling has a dead battery ~  Cory asked what he should do about the beeping, because getting the giant extension ladder from the garage and changing the "beepin" battery (insert word) in the middle of the night did not sound like a fun idea.  So, we shut the bedroom doors and figured we'd deal with it in the morning.  Well, in the morning we had a bit more to deal with.  Turns out the battery wasn't dead, the night light wasn't burning out... instead the power was out.  We are guessing it was out for two hours.  The beeping noise was our battery back up sump pump.  The nightlight was working on battery power instead of electricity.  And... our fish tank back flowed and we lost over an inch of salt water through the bottom of our tank and on to our carpet, ceiling tiles in the basement, and basement carpet. 

Next time... we'll get out of bed and check out the "beepin'" situation.

This is what happens when parents are sleep-deprived from a boob-huggin-mommy-lovin' monster.

 

Blizzard 2011

Wednesday, February 1, 2011

Wow! Crazy storm, strong winds, huge drifts, possible flooding for those by lake Michigan! Definitely a storm to remember. Everything is closed... Everything!  It took Cory and Scotty all day to plow our driveway and Scotty's.  Also, Cory managed to get the snowmobile stuck in our yard twice!  The first time Cory and Scotty pulled it out by hand... the second time Scotty used the snow blower to make a path across our front yard to the snowmobile. 

Here is what we saw when we looked out or bedroom door on Wednesday morning. 

When Ethan saw this he said "HOLY MACARONI TRAINS"... lol you said it little man!

This is one of my favorite pictures. 

It was taken from our kitchen door looking towards our bedroom door.

The snow drifts in front of the garage doors.

Look, we almost have an in-ground pool!

Ethan was helping daddy!

Can't even see the stairs leading up to the deck. 

Scotty snow blowing a path across our front yard to get to the buried snowmobile.

Thursday, February 2, 2011

Schools are still closed.  Many people were unable to dig themselves out, places have not been plowed, and the roads are still very messy.  We did venture out in the weather today though... it was the big ultrasound day!!  I also went to the salon to get my hair trimmed, then took the kids to a couple stores to get new snow gear for Mariah's field trip, and to Best Buy to get Mariah a new cell phone.  It was so nice having two snow days off in a row with the kids! 

Friday, February 3, 2011

Back in business!  Schools and businesses are open, streets are pretty much cleared, but plenty of cars are still in the ditches.  The report on the news this morning was that schools are open, but are optional.  If you are unable to send your child they will be excused.  Many people are still plowed in, some roads are single lanes, so much to still clean up. 

I got to work this morning and looked out my window and here is what I saw...

definitely a storm to remember!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

Wow, have I really not updated the blog since my Halloween weekend post?!  Geesh... guess I have some catching up to do!  :-) Lots of things have been happening over the past month.  I will give you a giant update in the blog to follow, but first I want to finish this little post about Thanksgiving.  (okay, post got longer then expected...)

I took an entire week off work for the Thanksgiving Holiday and it was WONDERFUL!  I did tons of Christmas shopping, lots of sleeping in and nap taking with Ethan, a little bit of decorating, and spent some much needed time with family and friends! 

On Saturday night (Nov 20) we had our annual ladies night out.  We took a limo up to a piano bar in Milwaukee ~ 10 of us ladies ~ and had a really nice time.  The limo brought us back home around 2:30am... much past my bed time, but I managed to survive!  It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to our adventure again next year. 

On Monday, November 22, our town was hit with a tornado!  Luckily we had no damage to our home, but the RV place up the street had a couple campers tipped on their sides.  Downtown Union Grove got hit pretty bad though... a ton of down power lines, a couple gas leaks, a couple buildings with torn off roofs, some fences and trees were knocked down, but luckily no one was hurt!  Here is one picture that I took of our back yard during the storm.  Just looks like a typical rain storm. 

On Thursday, November 25, we had our family over to our house for Thanksgiving! Cory put the turkey in the oven bright and early and then went next door to play the annual football game with the guys. They all managed to stay safe this year! No broken ribs, broken fingers, or ankles... way to go guys!

After football, Cory came home and finished cooking the turkey.  He does really well with this so I don't even bothering attempting to help out... ;-)  well... this year I was in charge of basting the turkey while Cory played football, so I guess I did help a little.  My specialty is more in baking the pecan pies, cleaning and decorating the house, and getting the family ready for the occasion.  Here is a peak at our set up.  We managed to fit 17 people around one big Thanksgiving table.  It was really nice! 

And here is Cory getting ready to carve the turkey!

  

 

When the Thanksgiving festivities were over, we decided to put up the tree.  Cory and Scotty were out marking snowmobile trails so Mariah and I lifted the tree up from the basement section by section.  We  rearranged the family room, put together our tree, and fluffed out the branches one by one.  Hopefully we'll get to putting the decorations on it this week.  Ethan is in love with the Christmas tree and insists on having it lit up at all times. 

Speaking of Ethan... here is a picture of our little man with a face full of powdered donut (in daddy's truck - hee hee)!  Yup... mommy gave him the donuts... We took this picture while we were out driving around checking out all the damage from the tornado.

Well, that's all for now!  Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!  Now on to kids birthdays and Christmas! 

Another Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was pretty busy.  On Friday night I had a Pampered Chef party at my mom's house.  Since it was at my mom's I brought Cory and the kids with me.  We had a really nice time, ate some excellent food, and had some great sales! 

Every year our neighbors have a huge Octoberfest Party in their back yard.  They rent bounce houses, hire a DJ, have lots of foods and drinks, a bon fire, and hay rides.  We had a ton of fun at their party on Saturday. 

On Sunday evening we made homemade pizzas.  The kids made their own personal pizzas and Cory and I made a big deluxe pizza with lots of fresh toppings! 

 We also closed the pool this weekend with the help of my brother-in-law.  :-(  Very sad to see the pool closed and am definitely looking forward to next May already. 

I don't do well in this cold weather... and speaking of cold weather... their was frost on the ground this morning... BURRRRRRRRR

 

To be a snow bird...

The air is getting cooler, we haven't gone in our pool in weeks, the days are getting shorter... winter weather is coming. :-(  Time to move to Florida!  I wish...

Birthday, Mother's Day and other fun times

So much has been going on that I haven't had time to sit down and blog! 
We had a beautiful April as far as weather... but as for May... yuck!  We must have jinxed it by opening our pool on May 1st because ever since it's been cold and windy and rainy. 

April 22nd was Bring Your Child to Work Day!  Mariah came to work with me and we had a lot of fun!  We started on the Racine Campus and got to do fun activities like crafting, nail painting, and t-shirt making.  Then we went to lunch at Panera Bread and then out to the Burlington Center where I work.  I showed Mariah what I do during the day.  At first she thought it was fun, but quickly became bored.  I kept her entertained with my electronic dinosaur (typewriter) which I still use quite frequently!  It was a wonderful mother-daughter day and I am looking forward to doing it again next year!

April 29th: Ethan is turning it to our little adventurist!  He loves to run and climb on everything.  Sitting still just isn't in his vocabulary unless he has strawberry milk in hand.  Here is a picture of him cruising around the yard on his ATV.  He is already wanting a bigger one because this one just doesn't go fast enough for him. 

Girls Night Out:  Jeni and I met up for a much needed girls night out.  I think we both planned on just getting together for a little while and having a drink, maybe two, and some dinner... Well, our evening turned in to a four hour night out with quit a few drinks and some amazing nachos!  I think we left the restaurant around 10pm!  Yes, our husbands started calling us around 9pm, but we were having so much fun! :-)   It was so nice to get out and catch up with each other!  Definitely need to do that again soon! 

May 5th: I turned another year older... yes, I am 32 now.  I had a really nice birthday.  Cory, Mariah, Ethan, and I went to dinner at Jose's Blue Sombrero.  It was Cinco De Mayo so the Mexican restaurant was packed!  It took us an hour to get seated, but as always is was well worth the wait.  While we were waiting to be seated we talked (text) to Jeni, and Jeni and Giana decided to come join us!  That was an awesome birthday surprise!  The food was delicious, the atmosphere was very entertaining - live Mariachi Guys, and the birthday songs.... FUN!  They put a huge sombrero on my head and sang for me and then took my picture, printed it out and gave it to me!  Oh and they also brought me flan... which I don't care to try ever again...

May 9th: Mother's Day!  I had a great Mother's Day this year.  I woke up and relaxed pretty much all day!  Cory made french toast for breakfast, we went to church, we came home and hung out around the house, and then went to mom's for dinner.  Harry made an excellent dinner for all of us so even mom got to relax!