Fun in the first snow of winter 2009/2010

I thought I'd share some fun in the snow pictures. I like the one where Cassidy is telling on Brenden and pointing to where he hit her at. And the first picture was just too good not to share. I took it on the day we were doing our family picture for the Christmas card.

Christmas with pneumonia, croup and an ear infection

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We certainly did. Even though each kid was sick with something different, they still were able to enjoy Christmas morning. Spencer has pneumonia, Brenden has croup and Cassidy has an ear infection. I had Bren and Cass at the Dr on Christmas Eve to get medicine. Cassidy was really feeling awful for a few days and luckily the meds were making her feel much better by the next morning. And now I have pink eye. I'll upload some pics later this week to share from Christmas morning. Brenden said this was the best Christmas he ever had. (Which given the last 6 months we've had, feels great to hear) The boys are big into WWE wrestling so they both got 4 action figures, 2 shirts each of their favorite wrestler, a hat, a pendant, a book, a DS game and Wii game about wrestling (my brother got them each the DS game), a wrestling ring to fight their action figures in, and to top it all off we got them tickets to go see Monday Night Raw when they come to Columbus on Janauary 25. That was the kicker that got the big reaction. They were screaming and jumping, it was great. Brenden got a new phone since I washed the other one by accident and Spencer got a kid digital camera because he's been wanting one for like 2 years now. (Gee wonder where he gets his love of taking pictures from?) As for Cassidy, she got a life size doll she has named Renna. She is 36" tall and comes up to her chin. She also got 4 different barbies, a small doll house, a horse and carriage for barbies, a stroller and swing and hight chair set for her baby dolls, tinkerbell dress up, tinkerbell dolls (brother sent one for her too) and my little pony toy set. Everything she opened she had something nice to say about it. It was either oh how cute, or how pretty and she hugged a lot of it too. She was also so good and patient. She would sit and watch the boys open theirs and when it was her turn again we'd say go ahead Cassidy and she'd make sure and say my turn now or I can open now. Close to the end of opening everything she was feeling kinda miserable and wanted to sit on my lap to finish up. Christmas really was wonderful, sickness and all. I hope you all enjoyed yours as well.

My sick boy

Thursday after school Spencer just wasn't himself. He had a sore throat so we gave him tylenol and took his temp. It was at 99.0 so not much higher than normal. He's been coughing all week and we figured the sore throat was because of that. I was giving him Robitussin since Tuesday and his throat was only hurting after he'd been coughing a lot he said. I gave him Robitussin before school, checked temp and he said he didn't have a sore throat. So when he came home from school he said he felt awful all day at school and we're not sure why he didn't tell his teacher he needed to go to the nurse. We assured him he can always tell the teacher when he feels bad and she'll let him go to the nurse. I was working and Richard came in at 6;42 and said Spencer's fever was now at 104.6 and that he'd gone up and went to bed soon after getting home from school. So I immediately asked my supervisor if I could leave and we got him in a cool bath. In the tub his fever went down to 102.2 and as soon as he was out and dried off it was going back up and was now at 102.7. He looked like he was about to pass out. I called his Dr and she has late hours on Thursdays so she got him right in. When we got to the Dr for his appt at 7:30 his fever was already back up to 104.2. The nurse left the room and came right back in with Motrin for him to get the fever down. The Dr came in and listened to him and heard wheezing in his chest and crackling in his lungs so she had him to a breathing treatment with a machine for about 10 minutes. She also had blood drawn to test his white blood cell count. He was freaking out and crying because he was so scared with all this stuff happening to him. He's getting a breathing treatment and getting blood taken from his finger all at the same time. I was sitting there with him trying to help him calm down but of course nothing worked until he was off that machine. Well, when the Dr came back in she took him off the machine and listened to his lungs again and the crackling was still there and that with the fact that his white blood cell count was high told her he had pneumonia. He is taking medicine for 10 days and he was given an inhaler to do at least 3 times a day and can be used every 4 hours if needed. She told us what to watch out for as the signs of worsening and needing to go to hospital. So he's doing ok now but when he coughs it freaks us out. The cough is just so bad. I have to take him back in 2-3 weeks to be seen again to make sure it all cleared out of his lungs. I'll probably take him before they head back to school from Christmas break. Well, that's it for now. Have a good week everyone!

It's Santa Time!

We did pictures with Santa on Monday night. No line at all. Santa was waving at the kids when he saw us coming from several stores down. Spencer was waving back in awe. He was so cute. He's never done that before. He talked about Santa the rest of the night. It was so sweeet. As you can see, Cassidy still is not so fond of the big guy. She wouldn't sit on his lap, stand beside him, sit in the big teddy bear on the floor in front of him or sit on the rocking horse. The only comfortable place for her was on Brenden's lap. This is the second time Brenden has held her for pictures with Santa. Last year she sat on Santa's lap but not the year before that when she was 1 1/2. Last year though Santa kept talking to her and asking her lots of questions and made her comfortable with him. He was a good Santa. And Brenden is great for going along with everything, you know holding Cassidy and everything. Wink, Wink! Really though, Cassidy feels safe with her bubby and that's such a wonderful feeling for us to have. Ok, starting work in a few minutes so I've gotta go.

Work and Life

Work is going well. Last week was my first week on the phones not in training and the first days were scary because I felt like I didn't remember a stinking thing I learned in training. But the supervisors are always available (when they want to be it seems) to help you through a call if you are having trouble getting through the screens. It's a lot to remember with refunding, replacing, tracking, changing orders, ordering, etc. But yesterday went well and it was the first day that I felt like I actually know what to do now. And of course by the time I have mastered it the job will end. Being seasonal it is scheduled to last up to Jan 9, could end sooner, hopefully not. Maybe I'll get asked to stay on, keeping fingers crossed. That would be nice. Kinda nice having a real work at home job. I'm off today. I got scheduled for Saturday and had to trade because Brenden has basketball games on Saturdays. Speaking of that, Brenden rocks on the basketball court. One of his teammates called him a "beast" on the court this past Saturday after the game. He is quick on the court and fights for the ball. The coach even commented on how well he is doing. I'll have to try to figure out how to post a video clip of one of his games on my blog. Spencer doesn't have his first game until January.

We put our Christmas tree up on Saturday night and when we got up on Sunday morning Cassidy was disappointed because she thought that Santa was supposed to have come that night since we put up the tree. She wanted to put her ornaments on the side of the tree that is right beside the fireplace so that Santa would see her ornaments right when he got here. It was so precious. She set up a porcelain Santa doll that we have right on the fireplace and she sits and plays with it, very cute. She'll be really adorable at Christmas this year. She is into saying how adoralbe, or pretty or cute things are all the time. She's a super sweet little girl. Even with the last 6 months we've had, I'm still very much looking forward to Christmas. I went out on Black Friday and got some great deals. We started buying things in September little by little so that we didn't have to buy it all at one time. Works out great that way. I'll have to do this every year. I always say I'm going to but I never seem to actually do it. TaTa for now!

And now the pictures of the boys

I am back from getting the boys' pictures done. Brenden is in fifth grade and Spencer is in first grade.

I went shopping this morning. I was standing in line at Kmart at 5:30am. I've never done that before, the whole stand in line waiting for doors to open on black Friday thing. And it's not likely I'll do it again either. Craziness I tell ya! I went to Kmart and WalMart and then I had to come home for the boys' pictures. But it was kind of a neat experience. We had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday and my dad spent the night and left around 9 this morning. The kids loved having him spend the night. He slept in the boys' room and the boys slept in Cassidy's room on the floor. They stay up and giggle and talk too much when Dad tries to sleep in the same room with him and my dad needed to get some sleep. And then we woke up to it snowing this morning. Me earlier than others and I had to stand in it for 1/2 hour, which is a lot less time than a lot of the other people had been standing there. Well, I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and didn't eat too much. I swear I stayed full all day from just the first time we ate and then dinner leftovers pushed my tummy further than it would have liked. Seriously the most stuffed I can remember ever feeling. So now I should probably run like 10 miles today but considering my max so far has been 2, 2 will have to do.

Picture time!

Today was picture day for Cassidy to get her 3 1/2 year pictures taken. She did the top pose all on her own and Katie (photographer) turned the camera quickly and snapped the picture. This is the second or third time that Cassidy has just done a pose on her own that looked awesome. She's a natural at it. And the fact that I take pictures all the time helps too!



I had to post this bottom pose because it shows her entire outfit which I think is just so cute. It's a sweater dress and leggings. I love the sweater dress because when I was a little girl I wore those too.

I get the boys' pictures done on Friday since they are off of school. I didn't pay for the ones done at school because that would have cost us $70. Awful isn't it. The school pictures always cost so much so I usually take them to Sears for the $7.99 package. I'll post their pictures on Friday.

Here's an update

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been quite busy here. We are all healthy now (knock on wood) and the swine flu has left our house. Good Riddance. It was not fun. I spent last Thursday and Friday training for my job while laying in bed with my notes right beside me. Thankfully training was only 4 hours a day. Shows my dedication to the job by training while running a 102 fever and going through a roll of toilet paper for blowing my nose in one 4 hour period. I was miserable but I had no other choice. I couldn't put off training when we need the job right now. It's been 5 1/2 months now since Richard lost his job. No prospects on the horizon either. He's putting his resume out there when there is a place to submit it. But there are just no opportunities in his field right now. I'll be working 3pm-8pm this coming Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. I get Thanksgiving day off, which is great since I'm the one who makes everything at my house.

Brenden had basketball practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night and Spencer had his first meet and greet with his team this morning where he got broken in quickly with a 1 1/2 hour practice. Brenden got to go on the court and help out too by passing with them and playing in a 5 on 5 game with them. The little ones had no idea what they are doing yet. The coach hasn't coached boys ever. He has 4 daughters and his grandson is on the team so it's been a while since he coached and never this little of kids. And it is completely evident because he just jumped right in thinking they already know the basics of the game and it's their first year. But some dad's got in there and helped out. He was telling them not to press the court, congest the area, and talking about offense and defense. These first graders were clueless. I think I will mention to the coach's son in law (who was 1 of the dad's helping out) that he should remind the coach that these kids are first timers and don't understand the terms he's using and he has to show them and explain to them. He was a great coach though and the kids will be awesome he just needs to slow down and find a way to break it down to first graders. Brenden's first game will be next Saturday. I put on my application that I am not available on Saturdays so I will be able to make all the games for both boys.

Training ended on Friday and I'll be "thrown to the wolves" on Monday to take my first calls. I have to take orders and take service calls regarding refunds, replacements, shipping, complaints, and whatever service issue a customer may have. It's been a while, 10 1/2 years to be exact, since I've done a job like this. Wish me luck! Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

What I thought was just illness....

A trip to the Dr for Spencer and Cassidy on Monday confirmed that Cassidy has H1N1 and Spencer is getting over it. Cassidy was given Tamiflu but since Spencer is no longer running the fever and has only the cough he wasn't given Tamiflu because it is only to shorten the duration of the flu. Both are doing well. Spencer's cough is awful and he is taking albuterol cough medicine for it. His lungs were clear at the Dr and she told me what to watch for pneumonia wise. Cassidy had just gotten sick Sunday evening/Monday morning and after already having tylenol she was still running a 102 fever when they checked her at the Dr office. So, now I'm feeling a little crappy but trying to head it off before it gets too bad by taking robitussin already.

On better news, I actually started training for a job yesterday for 1800Flowers.com. This is an at home position taking customer calls and placing orders. And yes, I'm doing the training knowing full well that I will feel like crap later this week but I'm gonna fight through it anyway because I'll do what I have to do for our family right now. Training is only 4 hours a day so I can sleep until training if need be and crash immediately following. Richard said he'd figure out a way to set it up in bed for me if I need to. Right now I'm joining in a group training meeting and learning the screens and listening to the trainer. So it would be do-able laying sick in bed I suppose. Anyway, lets just hope I don't get too sick.

The almost sleepover and conferences

Spencer had a friend spend the night last night - sort of. Zack ended up going home at 10:45 but he came with every intention of sleeping here. Spencer and Zack have talked about it all week at school. They are best friends, they sit beside each other in class, they play together at school every day and here all the time. We had frozen pizza for dinner and milk and cookies later, they played football outside with Brenden and then played all night until 10 when I tucked them in. Then Brenden came downstairs telling me Zack wanted to go home and Brenden had told him to go ahead and get his stuff together and he'd help him. When Zack came downstairs we could tell he was scared because he didn't say a word to us he just shook his head. So I drove him home, which is down the street two blocks. We had him here a few weeks ago until 9pm trying to get them ready for the first sleepover because he kept asking if he could stay over and we knew how it goes from Brenden's first attempts when he was this age. So we'll give it another try in another 6 months-1year.

We had parent-teacher conferences this week at school and Spencer's teacher didn't even know the Spencer and Zack were best friends. They sit together but are very quiet and don't talk when they aren't supposed to. She said sometimes when she sees other kids talking in free time she'll see the boys whispering to each other that's how good they are. She said if she could have a class full of Spencer that would be perfect. When I went in saying he certainly doesn't talk alot like Brenden does he (she was his teacher in first grade too) she said "Spencer talks?" kidding of course. But she said he's just so quiet and polite and follows the rules to a T. He got all S+'s on his grade card. She called him her Super Student. That's so awesome. And since I'm mentioning Spencer's grades I can't leave out Brenden. He is doing excellent as well. His teacher said he is very good in class and he is doing above average work for fifth grade. He had all A's and B's. His gym teacher gave him an A+ with a mention of liking his project she had them do because it included a picture of her son, Dallas Cowboy player Bobby Carpenter. So as Pam told me yesterday, I'm reaping the fruits of my labor in raising good children. I couldn't be prouder of both of them.

Sickness, round 2

Well here come the winter sickies. Brenden is home sick today (yesterday too) with a stomach virus. Everyone else is doing fine. Spencer was home a few weeks ago with strep throat. We are all taking our Flinstones Multivitamins (yep, me and Richard too) and I'm spraying the lysol and making sure the kids are washing their hands. One of Brenden's teachers had H1N1 last week as well as her kids and a third grade teacher and her kids did too. They said it is brutal. Trying to keep it away from us.

Have tissues ready

6-Year-Old Girl with Brain Cancer Hid Love Notes for Her Parents to Find After Her Death

When 6-year-old Elena Desserich was diagnosed with brain cancer, she began hiding hundreds of little love notes around the house for her parents to find after she was gone. Here’s the story:

Just before her sixth birthday, Elena Desserich (right) was diagnosed with brain cancer and given 135 days to live. She lived 255 days, passing away in 2007. After her death, Elena’s parents, Brooke and Keith, found hundreds of notes from Elena hidden around the house — in between CD cases, between bookshelves, in dresser drawers, in backpacks….

"It just felt like a little hug from her, like she was telling us she was looking over us"

Elena left hundreds of notes like these:

See more of Elena’s notes

Elena’s parents, Brooke and Keith Desserich, have now published these notes in a book called Notes Left Behind to fund a non-profit organization The Cure Starts Now dedicated to fighting pediatric brain cancer.

Link to story (book excerpt) over at Today | The Love Notes | Official Website

I just wanted to share this beautiful story with everyone, sad as it may be. Brain cancer is something that has touched us with the loss of Brenden's friend a few years ago and I just want to continue to support any awareness of it that I can.

Quick Update

I'm running 2 miles now. Takes me 30.04 minutes but I get-er-done. I'm working on building mileage, not speed. The slower the pace is for me, the easier it is to put in more mileage. Legs are sore today and with trick or treat tonight, I've decided to not run today since I'll be walking for 1.5 hours tonight. Cassidy hasn't stopped talking about trick or treat all day. She wanted to put on her costume this morning after dropping the boys off at school. I've got the camcorder charged, the camera charged, the candy bags/bucket ready. Brenden is going with his friends tonight. There is a group of boys that we are allowing him to go with and they'll all have their phones on them.

Speaking of Brenden, the other night was a very proud moment. Here's the story: Fred, Richard's former brother in law, collects the tabs off of cans and donates them to somewhere that uses them to raise money for St. Jude Children's hospital. Richard mentioned it to us and asked us to keep them off of pop cans and we'll give them to Fred. Well, Brenden has a little keychain that he has been saving pop tabs on already. As soon as Richard mentioned St. Jude Brenden was up and getting them and giving them to us. These were ones he was keeping himself as a little collection of his own. Wow, the tears welled up in my eyes. He has such a big and giving heart. That's our boy!

Cassidy at the dentist

Cassidy had her first dentist appointment this morning and she was so good. She wouldn't dare speak to anyone there because she is so stinking shy but she listened well and did everything they asked. When the hygienist first started to lay the chair the back Cassidy's eyes got so big and she had a scared look on her face but I stood at her feet and held onto her leg so she knew I was right there and she was fine. The dentist lets the kids wear sunglasses but she didn't want to. And when kids are all done they get a toy from the treasure chest and Cassidy didn't one that either. The dentist wasn't prepared to walk in and see Cassidy in that chair. She said "Oh, no already!" We've been with her since her first year in practice. At that time Brenden was little and Spencer was just a few months old. She's really awesome. And her people there have always been great too. She almost got a crash course in obstetrics in March 2006 because I had a cleaning done for me on March 6 and I was having contractions sitting in her chair. It was freaking her out! I would grab the handles on the chair and she would ask if she was hurting me somehow and I would say nope, contraction and she was like "Oh crap, I'm not that kind of doctor". I called them at the end of the week and told them that Cassidy was born on the 8th. Anway, if you need a great dentist in the Columbus area she is Dr. Donna Noll from Violet Family Dental in Pickerington.

One week later, more miles added

It has been a week since I ran a mile for the first time. Running it, no walking. I continued that last week and today, one week later, I ran 1.25 miles. I've upped my speed just a bit to 4.2 miles per hour now. I ran a mile yesterday at a 4.5 mph speed and wanted to try to go further than 1 mile but my breathing was getting labored and I needed a break. But I ran that stinking mile in 13.41 minutes. That was awesome! I just wanted to increase my speed to see if I could do it and push myself and I did. But in order to build the mileage I need to slow down my pace. Today my mile mark was 14.30. I am not working on speed at this time, just mileage. When I get to 3 miles, the 5K distance, then I will work on the speed to have a better race time. I'm so proud of myself. Running has been really addicting! It's making me want to see how far I can go and that's an awesome feeling. Looking forward to my first 5K next year.

"Man Day"

The boys and Richard have declared today "Man Day". They went to the school to play basketball, then to the park to hike the trails and they just stopped by here for potty breaks and they are going back to the school to hike the trails in the woods behind the school. The boys are having so much fun. The park is called Rising Park and it has what people around here call a mountain but I call it a hill, and the trail leads to the top and looks out over the city of Lancaster. They said it is very pretty. When your family is from southern Ohio and you've seen those hills that aren't called mountains, trust me people, this is no mountain. It's a very nice day out today. It was freezing this morning but now I think it has hit the low 60's so it's been a perfect "Man Day" for them.

Check out Brenden's blog

Brenden has a blog now. You can view it at www.rockintheweb.blogspot.com or find it on my list of blogs I follow. I won't let him do myspace or have e-mail yet so the blog is a way he can still share things with his friends online that I can totally monitor!

I Did It!

I ran a continuous mile today without walking any of it! I ran at 4 miles an hour so it was a nice, easy and steady pace for me. I'm so proud of myself! I was channeling Jillian Michaels from "The Biggest Loser" from about .85 on by yelling at myself (in my head) making myself push hard and dig deep to finish the mile. What an awesome feeling I have right now. I can't wait to go past the mile and tell you all when I've done 2 straight miles. Now don't expect miracles from me, I'm sure it will take some time but now that I've done a straight mile I feel like anything is possible and I know that I can push myself to the next step. Yay me!

Happenings at our house...

I've just got to share what Cassidy just said. She has a little plastic Dora talking backpack that she got a plastic orange stuck in and we asked how in the world she got it in there in the first place she said "I just tried hard and I didn't give up!" Isn't that great! Then she started a song "Keep trying, Keep trying, Don't give up, Never Give up, Don't stop" from a cartoon Yo Gabba Gabba. Priceless I tell ya.

Well, my mom lived here in Lancaster for 1 year and 5 months and is going back to Urbana at the end of the month. She misses her friends over there and well honestly anything else I say about it won't be very nice.

Moving on....My brother was here for a visit this week. I think most everyone got to see him when he visited my grandpa at the nursing home. He stayed here at my house for 3 days. Kent and I (look at that, I called him Kent not brother) went to a goodbye party for mom that the residents held for her at her apartment building (again, holding my tongue!) on Tuesday and we went out to lunch with mom before the party. It's always nice to see him even if it's only once a year. But I talk to him weekly or bi weekly anyway so we are always in touch. We've always been close which is good for being 11 years apart. Ok, that's it for now. Gotta go run.

Awesome Running Shirts

#3 says "If found on ground, please drag across the finish line"

I love these shirts! These are all great contenders for my first race in May. Of course, I don't know if I have a certain shirt I have to wear for a race or not but if not #3 will most likely be the one I wear! I found these at the One More Mile online running store. "Slow is the new fast" describes me now as does the top one "running won't kill you, you'll pass out first". Man have I found that last one out when pushing myself to go a little longer on absolutely no breath left at all! I'll go too long on little breath and I'll start having shooting pains in my neck and that's when I realized I have to slow down and add more distance gradually. That and the fact that when I push myself too hard I have a migraine the rest of the day!

My running journey

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."- Confucius


"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired." - George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian


"I've never regretted going for a run, but I have regretted skipping one."


Now that school has started I'm running in the mornings after I drop the boys off at school. Somedays are easier to get out there than others. Yesterday was an easy day. I was ready to run and when I got out there I quickly found out that while my mind was ready, my body was not. I was only able to do two 1/4 mile running intervals before my calves called it quits. I didn't call it quits though. I did shave 1/2 mile off of the rest of the trip because my calves really hurt and I couldn't run and couldn't walk fast at all but I pushed through the pain, passing streets that I knew would get me home quicker but my mind and heart were in it to the end no matter how much my legs hurt. I came home after a little over 2 miles and immediately put ice on both shins and today they feel fine. Today though, my body is ready and my mind keeps saying "it's cold right now and I'll go out later". I'm still at the internal struggle with my running. That's why I put the quotes at the start of this post. I may have days that I don't go out and run but I will get back out there the next day. I haven't let myself quit and I won't. Just like the last quote says "I've never regretted going for a run, but I have regretted skipping one." I know I'm still at the very beginning of my running journey but I know in my heart that I've commited to running and I will continue. I have received words of encouragement in that last few weeks that really make me feel good about myself and my running. Thanks Tracy, Wendy, Kendra and neighbor across the street. You keep me going.


AFTERNOON UPDATE: So after writing the beginning portion of this post and reading more inspirational quotes I decided that groceries can wait and running can't. So no regrets for me today! I was feeling really bad about waiting to go out, feeling like I was a quitter and I refuse to give up. So today I did something for me. I put me first. And it felt great! I pushed myself harder in this run today and beat my record time by 4 minutes and added more distance in two running intervals. Yay Me!

a big ol' update

School started today here in Lancaster. Brenden is in 5th grade now and Spencer is in 1st grade. Brenden is part of the safety patrol in the morning and afternoon and he's very excited about that. The boys' school only goes up to 5th grade so Brenden is happy to be one of the top dogs, so to speak, this year. Spencer's best friend is in his class so as long as he's got Zach in class with him, that's all he cares about. Spencer doesn't like to have a bazillion friends like Brenden does. He's a lot more reserved than his big brother. If a kid is bossy or mean to others, Spencer wants nothing to do with them...ever. I'm thinking of letting Cassidy go to a pre-school class held on only Tuesday's for her age at Josh and Jenny's church. I think she might like to do it and this morning told me she'd love to so I may just have to try. I'ts only an hour and a half long and Hope is there which is good for Cassidy. (Hope is Cassidy's cousin) But I don't know how she'll be with me leaving which is why I wanted her to go where Hope and Jenny will be so maybe I can leave and she'll be ok with it.

On to other family news. My grandpa (Mom's dad) was moved into a nursing home over the weekend. He'll be 87 in November and has been living in his home with a live-in aide for the last 2 years but the time has come that he needs a different type of care. Earlier this year my dad and his siblings sold the farm that my grandparents (Dad's parents) had lived on for also over 50 years. Kinda sucky to see both of those homes now gone from my family. I loved the farm and sitting in that swing in the tree in the front yard, yep, you would always find me there. And my grandpa's house, where the hill is absolutely off limits, but that didn't stop us from rolling down it anyway. Their homes may be gone, but the memories will be with me forever.

I can't wait til the new season of DWTS!

Wow! The cast of the new season of "Dancing with the Stars" was announced this morning and I am very excited to see this season. My before the show starts favorite contestant is Melissa Joan Hart who I've watched in sitcoms since her days as Clarissa in "Clarissa Explains It All". Others I very much look forward to seeing will be Chuck Lidell (UFC Champion), Debi Mazar (she has the most beautiful cat like eyes), Kelly Osbourne (Yep, Ozzy's daughter!), and Kathy Ireland. Of course we knew eventually Donnie Osmond would be on it and lo and behold this will be his season. They recruited former Dallas Cowboy Michael Irvin as their former football player this year; Aaron Carter, Mya and Macy Gray as the formerly popular pop artists; and a few other people I've never heard of. I think this will be a great season and can't wait til it begins.

Spencer's new haircut

Before
After

School starts on August 24th and Spencer wanted to get his hair cut off. He looks so cute! Not much else going on besides surviving the heat of this past week. Running is still going well. I got up and ran 2.5 miles this morning because evenings have been so hot and I don't like to run so soon after dinner. Morning runs are peaceful and nice and cool outside still but it is hard to get up early to run. I just have to train myself and I'll be fine. That's it for now.

I knew running wouldn't be easy....

"Running is real and relatively simple - but it ain't easy." - Mark Will-Weber


I enjoy running. I'm getting better with each run. I'm walking less of it and can't wait until I can run the entire 3 miles. I knew it wouldn't be easy though. Sometimes I'm having the internal struggle with myself to turn around and go back because I'm too tired but I don't and never have, for which I'm very proud of myself. I read other blogs by runners and I'm inspired by them and feel good in knowing that they all started out the same as me; can't breathe, can't run for too long, injuries, etc. I've learned over the last few months how to properly breathe, which I've begun doing, and to stretch properly and that ice and Advil will no doubt be my best friends some days. And even through all of this which would deter a lot of people from even beginning, I'm pushing through. I feel so good about myself after getting back from a run and one of these days when 'Army man" runs past me, I'll be able to keep up. (Army man is an older guy who lives in our neighborhood who runs daily and always wears his green Army shirt.)

Ahh, bringing back memories from my youth

My boys are both into watching wrestling now. It's all they talk about lately. It's the newest Wii game they bought for themselves with their profit from the stuff they sold in the yard sale. WWE and TNA consumes their Thursday nights from 8-11. Brenden wants a John Cena bedroom and Spencer wants a Sting bedroom. Of course, this will all pass but it is funny to see how much they are into it. It brings back memories from my childhood when I would watch WWF with my dad and me and Jared would act like we were in the WWF. (For those who don't know, Jared was my stepbrother, my dad's wife Janie's son). My favorites were Macho Man Randy Savage and his wife (I think) Elizabeth and of course, Hulk Hogan. It's funny to see some of the same guys still in the wrestling game that were in it back then and this was at least 20 years ago that I stopped watching wrestling.

Something else bringing back memories is Brenden's music choices these days. My cousin JD would be proud to know that Brenden is listening to a lot of Metallica lately. I remember JD being into the metal music. And the latest music is from Pantera. I had that on my mp3 player and he loves it. Now Hollie, Heather and I used to cruise West Union listening to Pantera. Hollie and Heather got me into that group in the first place because the music I listened to in Urbana cruising was rap and the West Union kids were just not into rap at all. It's cool to see him into the same things we were into as kids. Richard listened to metal, punk and alternative music too so Brenden has 2 people to really show him a lot of good music. Now if he'd just start playing his guitar. Speaking of guitar, Spencer is awesome on guitar hero on the Wii. Maybe Brenden should give Spencer his guitar since he's not showing interest in it himself yet it's all he wanted for Christmas.

I think I can, I think I can....

May 15, 2010 is the next Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure in Columbus and I think I'm going to do it. I've heard that it is a good race for beginners because it is not a race for people to see how fast they can go rather a lot of people running and walking for a good cause. It is intimidating to me right now to think about actually doing a race but it is 10 months away so by then I'll be doing really good with my running and I'll definitely be ready. I have a friend who I've ran with a few times who mentioned wanting to do the race too so we can go together. I got into running for fitness not really for racing but I've always wanted to do this particular race because it is for such a great cause. So now I have something to look forward to with my running other than just as my form of exercise, which I'm loving by the way.

Finding my groove with running

I'm still working on being able to run continuosly without having to stop and walk. I'm getting better with each week. But it's all a learning process in the beginning as with anything else. I did finally find my groove yesterday though realizing that running doesn't hurt my shins like jogging does. I hurt my knee a week and a half ago and was having shin splints when I jogged so I took last week off from jogging and was just walking and on Tuesday I got back into the routine and tried jogging again and after my warm up when I'd start jogging my shins would immediately start hurting again. So last night on my jog I decided to try something new and picked my legs up higher and added more speed and ran and it didn't hurt me a bit. So thats my new groove. Being so new to this all I really don't know if jogging and running are considered the same just one is a faster speed, I don't know. But I do know that the faster speed works better for me and I'm going to keep that up. I need to watch how high I'm picking up my legs though because Richard told me I look like I'm about to kick myself in my butt so I need to drop the leg height a bit. My face is really red after running and he said I look like I'm about to have a stroke but I feel fine. I was running a block and then walking a block for about 1 mile. The 2 before that I was jogging and walking. Now I have to get my breathing down while running because 1 block was all I could do running because I was out of breath. But I've stuck with it since May and I really love being outdoors for exercise and I'm already figuring out how to adjust my routine when school starts and when the time changes and I can't run at 8pm anymore. And the dog certainly can't go with me at 8pm when it's dark. He's too old for running now.

Tales from my yard sale

I had a yard sale on Friday on Saturday. I had a great turnout on Friday but not so much yesterday because it was dreary out and started raining at 11:50 which made us close up early. I'll do it again next weekend since there was no traffic coming through here on Saturday really at all. Now I've have a yard sale before and knew that there would be people who will ask me to take less on things but one Indian lady takes the prize for best try ever. We have a TV for sale that is only 2 years old and we were selling it with a VCR together for $100 (this was our tv from our living room until last year when we got the 50" flat plasma). Josh said he sold his for $150 so we figured we'd have no problem selling it. So anyway, this Indian lady saw the price and said "$100 for the TV?" I said "Yes." She then said "Fifteen" and it sounded like she was saying fifteen but it made no sense in conjuction with the fact that the TV is $100. So after a few rounds of us repeating back the word fifteen to her a few times like she was saying some foreign word to me Richard finally got it and said "Do you mean will I sell the TV to you for $15?" and she shook her head yes. Richard answered with a funny look on his face and a big ol' "NO!". She left and we laughed with a lady who happened to be here for all of it and she was trying to help us decipher her turns out to be not so foreign language. That lady bought a few things and said "Don't worry, I'll pay full price". I've never heard of anyone trying to get an $85 discount. I wasn't having a clearance sale, geesh! Another guy came up and wanted to trade sealing our driveway for the foosball table. I said NO but I'll trade you $30 (the price it's marked) for it. One lady came up and mentioned that she babysits and was buying some video games, so always thinking on my toes, I mentioned she should buy the foosball table for the kids she babysits. Hey, doesn't hurt to try! All in all we had a good sale. Still have a lot to sell so I'll be out there on Friday and Saturday of this coming weekend too. And hey, if anyone needs a foosball table let me know!

I'm a jogger....soon to be runner!

I started jogging about 2 weeks before vacation and I love it and since coming home from vacation I've kept it up. I've overdone it a bit by going out everyday so I've had to cut it down to every other day because I hurt my knee quite badly on Friday and limped home. My hip on the same leg as the knee injury is hurting too. Spencer and I went out last week with his best friend Zack and Zack's mom Megan who jogs too. I'm up to 3 miles now in right around 45 minutes. I've heard that running is doing it in under 9 minutes so I'm definitely still a jogger but I'll get there. I'm still in the walk/jog phase but I'm jogging more than walking now so that's really great. Brenden goes with me and Spencer sometimes too. Spencer jogged 2 miles with me the other night and we stopped by the house and picked up Richard and Cassidy for the last mile and also Spencer's bike. I don't want him over doing it and hurting himself. Brenden has played football and basketball and he does great keeping up with me. Though I've found that recently I jog more than him and I have to stop for him instead of me telling him I need a break like in May when we started. That's awesome! Now Brenden is taking his bike or scooter more often. I'm no Gary yet (my cousin's hubby who runs marathons) but maybe I'll get there one day.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July. We're going to Lancaster's fireworks tonight at the fairgrounds and we're hoping it doesn't rain. We watched Red, White, and Boom last night on TV with the kids. I don't know how many of you know this (or remember if you do) but July 3rd, 1996 at Red, White and Boom in front of the Santa Maria on the riverfront in Columbus is where Richard proposed to me right when the first fireworks started. It was so awesome. I scared the kids behind us half to death I think because they didn't know why I was screeching. Then there mom's and dad's told them and everyone was asking to see the ring and congratulating us. It was so neat that all those people witnessed it. I have always loved the way and the place he proposed. Very creative and romantic and I'll always have a cool story to share.

Crazy Weekend

Wow is all I can say about Brenden's birthday party. We had 5 ten year olds spending the night and they were here from 4pm Saturday til noon on Sunday. Looking back I wish I would of hidden Brenden's electric guitar. Geesh, one boy wouldn't put that thing down and I had to ask him to put it down while Brenden was opening presents. And another thing during presents was that all the kids were on their cell phones. Can you believe that! A kid who was mad that he wasn't invited was texting a few of them during the present part and I had to ask the boys to all wait til after that was over to pick up their phones again. So during cake I got a picture of all the boys on their cell phones, including Brenden. They were probably all texting each other. So as for the party itself, the boys played in Banzai Falls (the blow up waterslide that has a pool at the bottom), played football, foosball, Wii, and watched movies at night. Two boys said they went to sleep around 3 and another one said he went to sleep around 4 and Brenden and another boy were the last to go to sleep after 5am. I woke up one boy at 9:15 because he had to get ready for church and then all the boys got up. As for presents, Brenden got $20, $25 gift card to Target, $20 gift card to Target, a DS game, a Cavaliers hat from Spencer and Cassidy, a Lebron James Cavs jersey from us and a scooter from us. His favorites are the cavs gear. He is a big Lebron fan.

Today is Micah's birthday. He's been Brenden's best friend since kindergarten and lives across the street. Brenden spent the night there last night and they are doing things today for Micah's birthday. Friday night both Brenden and Spencer spent the night at Josh and Jenny's (our nephew and his wife) for their daughters' birthday. Haley is turning 9, Hannah is turning 6 and Hope is turning 4 all in July but they are moving in two weeks so they had the party early. And on Sunday night Brenden went to the drive-in with Micah and his mom to watch Transformers and didn't get home til 12:15am. So that boy has had like no sleep in the past several days.

Yesterday (Monday) Spencer had his best friend Zach over and Zach's sister Haley who is also 3 like Cassidy and they all played in Banzai Falls. And Spencer lost another tooth yesterday and I was informed by him this morning that the tooth fairy didn't come and that I need to make sure I emailed her yesterday. Man, I feel bad about that! I was so tired (gee, I wonder why?) and completely forgot about it last night. And one last random bit of info, Spencer went jogging with me yesterday and he kept up the whole time. His leg is hurting him this morning since it was his first time jogging. He went two miles with me and I picked up Richard, Cassidy and the dog for the last mile, of which I walked. I've been either jogging 3 miles each night or 2 miles and picking them up for the last mile on days that Richard wants to go too. Brenden goes with me every night but since he was gone last night Spencer said he'd like to go. I didn't think he'd be able to do it but he did and I'm so proud of him.

Happy 10th Birthday Brenden

Yep, you read it right. Brenden is 10 today. I don't know how it got here so fast but it did. I'm pretty emotional about it today probably because it's a double digit. I wrote a letter to Brenden this morning letting him know how proud of him I am, what a great son he is and how much he means to me. I put in some info for him about him over the last 10 years, just things that mom's remember about their kids. I cried a few times while writing it. I also let him know how happy I am to be not only his mom but a friend to him who he can talk to and share things about his life with. 10 years ago he changed my life by making me a mother and I can't imagine my life without him (or Spence and Cass) in it. He's really a great kid. He's got such a big heart that he wears on his sleeve. He's caring and loving. He's smart and athletic. He's responsible and mature. He's every mother's dream child and he's all mine.

Home from Vacation

We got back around 10pm on Saturday night from our vacation. We had a great time. We went to the beach all but 1 day I think and we swam in the pool at the beach house and we all got in the hot tub. The kids love the hot tub, especially Cassidy. She loves to play in the bubbles because it looks like a bubble bath. We saw dolphins on 2 different days in the ocean and I have a picture to prove it. Brenden loved boogie boarding in the waves, Spencer and Cassidy love jumping in the waves, Richard likes finding sea shells and I enjoy taking pictures of it all. I probably took around 200 pictures. The weather was great all week except for Friday when it stormed on and off all day. But in between storms we were able to go to the beach and get in the pool and hot tub. The temperatures were from 85-95 all week long. As always, Richard never wants to come home. Cassidy said on Friday she wanted to go back to her real home because that place was stupid. I think she was missing her toys and her normal routine. Lucky for her we were leaving the next day. Brenden said he missed the dog and his friends but still wanted to stay longer. Spencer never mentioned missing anyone or anything about home but he did say he was getting bored there. Next year we are going to take them to the aquarium in Manteo (another island on the OBX) and see where Blackbeard's ship is instead of just going to the beach and swimming every day. I think this year they got a little bored of doing that every day. So now starts summer break at home with the boys out of school and my house will be full of kids all the time.

I'll post pictures of vacation later this week. I need to edit, delete some duplicate shots, and load them on the computer still.

Finally, the long awaited Easter pictures

Gorgeous aren't they! The kids did such an excellent job, they are all pros by now though.

2 days til vacation

We're going back to the Outerbanks of North Carolina again this year for vacation. I've been so busy this past month helping out my mom since she had surgery on April 29th that I'm am so ready for some chillin on the beach. I'll be busy tomorrow packing up everything. I have one 100 quart storage container packed already with foods and stuff and I have another one to fill with our towels, shoes, hair dryer, bathroom stuff, etc. and I also have to pack everyone's clothes tomorrow. I do that stuff the day before because I'd just double check all over again so I might as well do it on the day before leaving. We'll pack the van up tomorrow night and heading out at 5am on Saturday morning. My mom was supposed to go with us but decided this week she'd better not go as she's not feeling quite up to it. And my brother won't be able to come this year as I'd hoped either. Too bad for them because I'll be hanging out by the pool or at the beach and enjoying hot dogs, steaks, brats, burgers, corn on the cob, wonderful fresh fruits, and can't forget the salt water taffy all week long with not a care in the world. Now let's just pray it doesn't rain all week!

I have had a hectic past 7 days!

Spencer has strep throat and his throat never hurt him. Go figure. I took him to the Dr because he was having headaches and really bad stomach aches and the Dr tested him for strep and it came back positive. I took Cassidy to the Dr on Sunday to the Dr on call for our pediatrician because she was running a high fever and her throat had been hurting her for a few days and she was tested for strep and it was negative. Again, go figure. The one with the sore throat doesn't have it and the one without it does. I have been so busy with mom since last Wednesday due to her surgery and I was at the hospital with her on Wednesday, Thursday, had to get presents for Spencer on Friday and prepare for his party on Saturday. Mom called me during Spencer's party and needed to go to the ER and I spent from 1:30 to 10:15pm with her there on Saturday and she was admitted and got out on Monday. She's ok, she was just feeling very nauseous and in pain from her surgery and they wanted to make sure there was no obstruction or infection and there wasn't. So on Saturday night Cassidy had a very restless night and was running a fever and saying her throat hurt and I could tell it had worsened so I took her to the Dr on Sunday morning because I didn't want her to suffer all day without medicine and I knew that I had to get mom out of the hospital in Columbus on Monday so I wanted to make sure that I could get Cassidy to the Dr. Then after I picked up the boys from school on Monday I had to go back to Mom's and take her her medicine and help her out a bit and Spencer was just not looking good at all. He started crying because his tummy hurt so bad so we left and when we got home both Spencer and Cassidy fell asleep on the couch and Cassidy threw up. She's still running a fever and having a sore throat so no doubt I'll be back at the Dr with her at some point this week. I took Spencer to the Dr yesterday (Tuesday) and he is home again today because strep is contagious for 24 hours. I had to go to mom's last night to make her some smoothies and pick up some medicine for her and make a quick run to the store. I have to go back tonight too since I can't go during the day with 2 sick kids. So as you can see, I have been going non-stop for a week now. Oh, and to top it all off, my van is in the shop getting fixed because something is up with the brakes and traction control system that they've fixed before (apparently not so well) so I'm driving my mom's car for a few days. I can't wait for everything to get back to normal around here.

Focus on Economy

2 hospitals and a birthday

So today is Spencer's 6th birthday and I wanted to start this post by wishing Spencer a very happy birthday. His party will be tomorrow at Burger King and today I'm taking cupcakes to school for him.

Now, regarding the 2 hospitals. Mom had her lap band surgery on Wednesday and came home yesterday. I spent most of the day from 5am to mid afternoon at Mt Carmel West in Columbus with her on Wednesday and 9:30 to 1:45 on Thursday when I brought her home. She's doing ok but is very nauseaous. As for hospital #2, that's a bit more of a traumatic story. As Cassidy and I were leaving mom's building yesterday, Cassidy tripped and fell as we were getting ready to get on the elevator. She hit her head on the window sill right beside the elevator splitting it wide open. She screamed and screamed and was bleeding profusely all over the place covering both her shirt and mine in blood and she kept putting her hand on her head so her hands were covered too which scared her even more (and me too). I scooped her up and ran down the hallway to mom's to clean her up and that's when I saw it was a very deep gash and I covered it with a band aid that didn't stop the bleeding but at least it kept it covered and I rushed her to the ER. It was 3 pm and I had to pick up the boys quickly from school so I called the school and said have them ready and waiting at the curb. So I pulled up and they jumped in and as soon as they saw her they both started crying. Spencer sits in the back with her and was trying to calm her and was saying it's ok honey. Brenden was helpful at the ER by getting her some M&M's and water and the boys are just so lovey with her. Brenden called all of his friends to tell them about his sister's incident. He was so worried about her. Anyway, sorry for rambling, the dr cleaned Cassidy all up and as soon as he'd blot the blood away it would just well right up again. In lieu of stitches he said for kids her age they like to glue the wound shut, so that's what he did. He pulled the skin together and before he could even get the glue across it started bleeding again (that's how bad it was) so she has a blood line across her head under the glue. The glue will fall off in 7-10 day. I'm hoping for no scar but it is on a place on her head that I can cover with her hair. I'm feeling guilty today and wondering if I could have stopped it but falls happen and I never saw it coming. It's not like she was running or anything, she just tripped. Nevertheless, thinking about it makes me cry. Here's a picture of Cassidy with her massive head wound. It doesn't look massive in the picture, but trust me it was before it got fixed.

The Sick House.....Again

Easter day was nice and then everyone got sick! I had pictures planned for the kids for the Monday after Easter and Cassidy woke up throwing up so I had to cancel. I rescheduled them for Wednesday and then Spencer was sick, reschedule again. Should of known better but I didn't and I schedule them for Friday and Cassidy ends up with pink eye. So I called to cancel for the third time that week and the photographer and I laughed about it and I decided that I will call her this week on a day that everyone is feeling great and hope that she has time for us. I'm now shooting for Friday because it will be warm and a nice day and I just hope it works out. Of course Cassidy is still fighting her cold and today is Wednesday so we'll see. (fingers crossed) Wednesday is library day for me and Cassidy for toddler storytime and crafts and we had to stay home since she's been sniffling and coughing. We missed it last week to take Spencer to the Dr and he was home from school that day sick. And I got a call from the school on Monday afternoon to pick up Brenden sick from school. I was sick with a 24 hour stomach virus on Sunday and Richard wasn't feeling too great on Monday. So now I've been wiping down everything with sanitzing wipes and spraying lysol everywhere. As soon as I get the pictures done I'll post them. The kids really looked cute in their matching Easter outfits. (Have you ever known me to not match them?)

Julie vs. the wasp

I got stung by a wasp twice yesterday just as I was getting ready to go jogging. Spencer was ready to go on his bike and I was getting the stroller out of the van and bringing it up the driveway when I felt the first sting. It felt like hot embers falling on my neck and shoulder. I thought it was a dragonfly or something crawling on me and I told Richard to get it off and it just kept getting worse. By this time I'm dancing like a fool in the driveway and screeching saying get it off it hurts and he found the wasp in my hair. By the time it was all over, which felt like 10 minutes but in actuality was probably like 30 seconds, I had been stung on the back of my neck and on my shoulder. The neighbors were grillling out and a lady across the street was outside so I'm sure they were laughing their butts off at me but hey, it hurt!!! I know not to swat at them but I didn't see it coming and I didn't realize it was a wasp on me or I would have not been flailing my arms around wildly trying to get it off. I've had no allergic reaction to it so I'm ok. So there's your laugh for the day because I know as you sit reading this and visualize the dancing and screeching in the driveway you were totally laughing.

Bespectacled Julie

I got glasses last week. This is the first time in my life I've ever had to wear glasses. I've noticed lately that it was harder to read things from a distance so I went to the eye Dr and was told I am nearsighted. I also noticed that sometimes my left eye would get a bit blurry and I have an astigmatism in my left eye which is why it gets blurrier on me. So here is a picture of me with glasses.

Stay Behind the Black Line

Spencer had his friend Tristan over last weekend and Tristan kindly let us know that we may need to tell him to stand back because sometimes he gets too close to the TV and he broke his dads flat screen when he was playing Wii bowling. So after a few times of reminding him to scoot back, Richard got out his black electrical tape and we put a line down on the floor for the boys to stay behind so we wouldn't have to keep telling them to scoot back. He was a very good kid and always listened when we reminded him to scoot back a bit, I just thought it was so cute that he even told us that he has a tendency to get too close. So below is a picture of the boys playing the Wii....behind the black line.

Cassidy is 3!

Cassidy turned 3 on March 8th. We had her birthday party on that day also. She got a pink motorized Barbie car to ride in outside and she loves it. The boys bought her a backugan (it's a boy toy) so she would have one of her own and stop taking theirs and hiding them. My mom and dad were both here as was our niece Melinda and her husband Jason, who announced that they are expecting their first baby, and Josh (nephew) and Jenny, Haley, Hannah, and Hope were all here too. The theme of the party was My Little Pony. Below are the pictures that I had done of Cassidy today for her third birthday. She's so ornery and sweet and goofy all rolled into one little girl. We're in for it aren't we!

Kids these days

When I was 9 and in the 4th grade I certainly didn't have all the things that Brenden has, so why not add another thing to that list. Brenden got a cell phone this weekend. He was saving his allowance money and we let him get it this past weekend. He is loving it. He is texting his friends and texting me to ask if he could stay longer at his friend Micah's house. It is prepaid for now until we decide if we want to get a family plan which will probably end up being cheaper when you consider the minutes that he'll have to pay for. And mine is prepaid too since I don't really use mine there's no sense in having a plan...until now that is because now it may end up being cheaper. We'll just have to see how fast he goes through his minutes. He set a different ring tone for everyone already and has programmed everyone's phone numbers in, including Richard's work, my mom and my dad. He's been wanting a cell phone for a while and several of his friends have one already so we went ahead and agreed. It's nice for him to have when he is riding his bike around the neighborhood with his friends and he can let me know where he is (instead of taking my phone all the time). And for the record, his phone is better than mine! Mine is 6 years old now. Our original thought was that he could get a cell phone in junior high, then we lowered it to 10 (we were going to get it for his upcoming birthday) but he's been saving well and looking at phones all the time and talking about his friends' phones so we let him get it early. Now we have to figure out something else for his birthday present. Hmm....how about airtime???!!!

And the Oscar goes to....

I'm watching the Oscars right now and Heath Ledger (shown above as the Joker from The Dark Knight and without the makeup) has just won the best supporting actor award. I am crying my eyes out. We saw the movie and it is well deserved and I'm sad that he is no longer alive to enjoy this honor himself. His parents and sister accepted the Oscar and will give it to his 3 year old daughter Matilda. There wasn't a dry eye in the house amongst the actors and actresses in attendance at the Oscars tonight as they all stood and applauded while Heath's family made their way to the stage. What a moment to see.

The Sick House

Cassidy is better now and Richard and Brenden are sick now. Cassidy was sick from Sunday to Thursday. She still isn't eating much but her appetite will come back. But she had a stomach virus and Richard and Brenden are flu-ish. I'm surprised I'm not sick (knock on wood) since I was holding Cassidy all week and I was the one with her constantly. I ended up sleeping on her floor 2 times last week because she would wake up crying hourly because she couldn't get comfy and her tummy hurt so bad or she had to throw up again. And then one night Richard slept on the couch and I put Cassidy in our bed with me so I could actually catch up on some sleep since the floor is not so comfy. He slept on the couch so he wouldn't get sick. That didn't work out so well did it. That was the first time she's ever been that sick. She would hardly even talk to us when she was sick and her fever was 102-104 for two days. One night I had to put her in a cool bath because her fever wasn't going down even after tylenol. She would doze off all the time and one night she was laying in bed watching tv and I went to check on her and she was sound asleep at 7:15 and slept til the next morning. I'm so glad she's feeling better and I could catch up on my laundry and cleaning that I didn't do since I was holding her all day for a few days. I have to admit, that is nice to just sit and hold her a lot like when she was a baby. She likes to still sit on my lap but of course at this age she's up and down a lot. So now I just hope everyone feels better soon because Cassidy's birthday is in 2 weeks. I don't want a sick house for her bithday party because then no one can come over. Pray for good health to come back to my house everyone.

Something new about all three kids

Brenden is the oldest so I'll start with him. Friday night he had a school dance for 4th and 5th grade only. He had a blast. He asked me not to chaperone the dance so I didn't. That was hard to not get to be there and watch him enjoy himself. I have to let go a little bit more with each year older that he gets. This past year we started letting him walk or ride his bike around the neighborhood with friends. And he walks to his friends house that is on the street behind us but has to call when he gets there. It's scary letting them do these thing on their own in this world today. Moving on....his basketball season ended on Saturday with the loss of their second playoff game. He had a good season though. Since they are off of school today he has already been to one friends' house this morning and came home from there and went straight across the street to his best friends' house. We have to limit him to just a few days a week going to friends' houses because he'd be gone all the time....and he's 9! Once that boy gets his license he'll be gone all the time. I don't want to think about that yet.......

On to Spencer. He lost a tooth this morning on the top. That always looks so funny...cute, but funny. He went to Tristan's house on Saturday afternoon and I stayed there with him. He had a great time. And then yesterday (Sunday) he went to his best friend Zack's house. Zack just lives down the street. It's funny with kindergarten play dates because they still don't really like to share too much yet. Spencer said that for the last 1/2 hour there he was just watching Zack play video games and Zack wasn't giving him a turn. They learn as they get older. Brenden used to say the same thing about his best friend Micah. And I'm sure my boys aren't always the best at sharing either. It's just kids being kids.

And now for Cassidy. She is very sick today. I think it might be the stomach flu. She's thrown up three times today, I know, you didn't really need to know all that but you got it anyway. She hasn't been herself at all today or yesterday. I slept on her floor last night because she kept waking up crying because her stomach hurt her so bad and that way I was right there when she needed me. I put my yoga mat on the floor and that really cushioned the floor for me so it wasn't so hard. She's sleeping right now. I'm sitting in my bedroom and she's laying beside me. She's only been awake for a couple of hours and is back to sleep already. Poor baby.

And that wraps it up. Until next time......

Lost power.....agaiin

Well we lost power at 9:48pm last night and power was restored aroung 5am this morning. Our trampoline blew over our fence, splittiing some pickets, and rolled once in the neighbors yards. Richard wasn't home from work yet and I couldn't move the thing so I was just hoping it wouldn't go into the street. Luckily it did not. The frame is bent and a whole bunch of springs popped off. Richard and Josh got it back over the fence and we tied it to a post on the fence and the back porch steps. A trampoline from a few houses down is hanging over the fence of the neighbor behind them. The kids were already in bed and asleep so no one freaked out or even knew the power was out. Usually is the power is out and they are awake they all camp out in our room and we have to tell them to be quiet several times. Richard and I played UNO by candlelight. That was hilarious because we couldn't tell the difference between the green and blue cards and we had to shine a flashlight on the cards a lot or hold it directly under the candlelight. And everytime we put down a green or blue the other one would pick it up to verify the color. We were cracking up. I guess you had to be there..... :)

Spencer told me this morning that he hugged Cassidy last night and she said to him "You make my heart feel special". Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard? I just had to share that with everyone.

Well, I have to get the boys to school. We had a 2 hour delay due to power outages and I have to go to the grocery store. BTW, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Basketball playoffs and grade cards

Brenden's team has their first playoff game today at 1pm. The only bad thing is that on his team are two particular players who hold on to the ball and refuse to pass or play their plays right. These two boys always take it to the basket whether someone is open to pass to or not and they don't follow the plays they are supposed to be doing at all. The other boys on the team get so mad at these two for never giving anyone else a chance with the ball. The only time the other boys get a chance with the ball is if they steal from the other team and take it in themselvers. So Brenden has had a good season with rebounds and assists but as for baskets, he hasn't had the ball to get to make one! But he makes most of his free throws in practice and we give him praise for that. You should see him on the court, he's totally yelling "DJ I'm open" and yet to the basket DJ goes, often not making the basket. Can you tell I'm ticked about that???? Last year Brenden was on a team who played well together and everyone got a chance to shoot.

Grade cards came home this week and Spencer got an S+ in absolutely everything. Brenden got 6 A's and 3B's. They are starting Geometry next week, in 4th grade!!! I don't remember having Geometry til junior high or high school. Cassidy has been playing school at home lately and is putting on a backpack and carrying a little lunch box and saying "bye, I'm going to school". Her teacher's name is Mrs. Post, which is Spencer's teacher. Next week we have the valentines' day parties at school and I think I'll take her this time instead of having mom come over to watch her while I'm at the school. Except she has to wear pants, which she keeps telling me that Mrs. Post said she doesn't have to wear pants to school. When she's playing school she's often in just her nightshirt and undies, her nightshirt being one of Brenden's old shirts that looks like a little dress on her. She loves to wear the boys' shirts for some reason and it's really cute!

Got Power?

Mom doesn't have power but I do so she's staying with us until her power is back on. Right now the estimate is Saturday for the return of power to Lancaster. Today is Thursday. I lost power for like 3 whole minutes and it came back on so we got lucky. My grandpa in Manchester doesn't have power and neither does my dad. So I'm guessing all my other family in West Union and southern Ohio don't have power either. My dad has a generator and he said he put his food from the freezer outside in the snow and ice...CLEVER! And he put his fridge stuff in the garage. Genious idea! Too bad we didn't think of that when we picked up my mom yesterday. The roads are just so icy and impassable. Richard couldn't even go to work yesterday. And then just about an hour ago Brenden slipped on the driveway trying to shovel it and couldn't put pressure on his leg, so I carried all 76 pounds of him in the house. Can you say heavy! But he's ok now so no broken bones. Our school system is already over their snow days limit by 2 days. I don't know if they'll have school tomorrow or not. It's hard to tell right now because the roads are still crap and we are still a Level 2 emergency. It took Richard 2 hours to get to work this morning. That drive on a normal day is 35 minutes. Clearly he took my car and not his camaro, he'd like to keep that for a while and that car is not made for icy roads. Ok, well, everyone stay warm!