Ask For a Little Storm...(and a big vacation photo post)

Well, I finally got my awesome storm last night....on what's considered the last day of severe weather season. The lightning started a good hour before the rain and continued well after the rain slowed. The rain came down in sheets. We lost power for just a second so that wasn't so bad. We also didn't get any hail, which was good. We did, however, get some really nasty wind. Enough wind that it blew my hanging flower baskets down. And those suckers can take some wind. I thought about pulling them down but didn't want to be touching a bunch of metal in a huge lightning storm. Luckily, they don't seem injured, so that's good. I saw Jacob in his room just watching the lightning from his bed. It was cute. I joined him for a while and we 'oohhed' and 'ahhhhed' at it all. He asked me to wake him up if the storm got cooler. LOL!

While we were on vacation, they came and inspected our fence around the pool. He left us a note asking if we could get the fence just a smidge closer to the house and that otherwise, we're good. Sweet. Now I can get on with my life.

We got back from our Oklahoma trip on Sunday evening. We were barely in the garage when the kids' friends were asking if they could play. They were certainly missed while we were gone.

The trip to Tulsa was surprisingly easy. Especially since there are no interstates between here and there. We had to take 169 Hwy all of the way. Fortunately, not only was it four lane for a good chunk, it was also 65mph. Nice. We also only hit about 5 towns before Tulsa so we didn't have to slow down much. There's not much in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma...lots of hay, wheat and little oil pumps. That was the funniest thing. We also passed signs for Independence, KS and I realized we're not that far. I'm so going before the summer's over.

In addition to the water park, aquarium, Build-A-Bear and other stuff we did, we caught up with Mike's great-aunt and two cousins, who live in Tulsa. That was really neat. Of course I took a few hundred pictures (literally)...

Daniel at the Air and Space Museum. They had a hands-on portion that they loved.
Jacob was the only one tall enough to do this. He was like an astronaut.
Hannah in a plane
Waiting for the movie at the planetarium
Okay...so on our honeymoon, we got to pet stingrays. I asked Mike to take a picture of me petting one. When the film came back, it was just my hand and the stingray. For ten years, I've been on Mike about that. Here, Mike tries to fix that wrong. Here's me petting a stingray. Of course, I wasn't paying attention to the stingrays and one of them put my hand in their mouth. It felt strange and squishy (not painful in the slightest) but it scared me enough to scream and pull my hand out abruptly and splash the heck out of Daniel, who was standing right next to me.
The kids and Mike pet the stingrays.
This was cool. They had a tunnel where the bull sharks would swim above your head.
The kids outside of the aquarium.
The Oklahoma Aquarium
At the zoo, they had a rainforest exhibit and there were tons of these little blue poison dart frogs.
There were also monkeys running around. So close we could have touched them.
The kids goof around at the lion drinking fountain.
These tigers were too cute. They had such a good time with this ball.
At the zoo.
We ate dinner at the most bizarre steakhouse. Before the steaks came hummus, pita and tabbouleh. Oh, and cabbage rolls!
Did I mention that dinner also came with a basket of ribs and smoked bologna?
Daniel in the lazy river at the water park
Jacob loved the wave pool. I have to admit that I did too.
My little Hannah was fearless. This slide emptied into a 9ft deep pool. The girl had no problem swimming to the side.
I couldn't believe Jacob went down this 7 story tall slide. Three times. That's him going down.
And at the bottom.
Here's Mike going down.
These slides were 5 stories tall. The kids loved it. Hannah comes down.
And Jacob
And Daniel. The yellow one was faster than the green one. The pink one was for the tubes...Hannah was mad because we wouldn't rent one and she really wanted to go down the pink slide.
Mike's cousin, Kenny, Mike's great-aunt Lorraine and his cousin, Robert with us in the background just after breakfast Sunday morning.
One of my favorite things from the trip. We confused the Garmin so much that it stopped telling what road we should turn on. Instead we got, "Left on road."
The kids wait for the Build-A-Bear to open. They were so excited.
Jacob stuffs his bear.
Hannah dressing hers
The kids with their finished products. Of all the things we did in Tulsa, this is the one thing they can't stop talking about.
Daniel is a happy boy.
This is the coolest sign. You'll have to click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read it. This is the border coming from Oklahoma back into Kansas. It says, "Leaving Cherokee Nation."

Summer Time

The kids have been on break for a week now. It doesn't seem possible. Daniel starts summer school next week (Monday and Wednesdays) and he's not all that happy about it. Of course, he asks me every day when he's going to school so who knows what's going on in his little head.

We got a new pool this year. This one is 2 feet wider and 3 inches deeper than the one we had last year. We got it all set up yesterday but it takes forever for it to fill so they really didn't get to swim. Oh, and the fact that it started thunderstorming didn't help. The new kid (Jacob 2 is what the kids call him) behind us could be a problem this summer. My kids don't like him much because he just wanders over and takes their toys (literally back to his house). He's also very mean to Guillermo, which pisses me off. Anyway, we were still setting the pool up and had about 1 inch of water in it when Jacob 2 (he's 7) comes over. "I want to swim!" he tells us. I told him, "not right now. We're still getting it set up." He disappears for 2 minutes and returns in his swimsuit and a towel. Ummm...no. After 10 minutes of arguing with this kid, he finally went back to his house to play on his slip and slide. He felt the need to narrate everything he was doing...my guess is to make the kids jealous that he was doing something they weren't. Oh well.

Mikayla (a little girl that lives behind us) came knocking on our door this morning and I heard her tell Hannah, "I saw you've got your pool set up. It's HUGE!" I wish they could swim in it...it's only 60 degrees right now. It sucks because we've been in the upper 80's. Hopefully, it'll warm up like they say it will and they can freeze their butts off in the water this afternoon. They're settling for Mikaya's trampoline right now...that'll hold them over.

I've started getting to the gym in the evenings after Mike gets home from TKD. Monday, he was upset because testing is this Saturday and he still hadn't been told he could test for his recommended black belt. He's been working his butt off (at TKD 5 days a week) and was feeling really upset about it all. He'd been texting Stephen (one of the teachers, and good friend, who was going for his third degree this weekend) and Stephen told him that he just had to buckle down and be more than ready for August. I headed to the gym, where I ran into Stephen, who was finishing up his workout. We chatted for about 25 minutes (which was awesome because I didn't even notice that I'd killed 25 minutes on the elliptical) and Stephen told me that he'd been told not to test this week. I guess he was not mentally ready. He's not a happy camper but what are you going to do?

Anyway, I take the kids to TKD last night. Jacob decided to talk to Master Johnson about his own black belt testing. Jacob asked about testing in December and Master Johnson told him that sounded good but if he was ready in October, he should test then. There's another little boy who wants to test in October and his mom and I are considering sharing some private lessons to get them ready. Jacob's so excited.

The kids and I come home and eat dinner. Mike comes home after class and tells me about it. He says that they were getting their pads on for sparring when Master Johnson announces to everyone that they need to take it easy on Mike and another guy because they're testing this weekend. Needless to say, Mike's thrilled and nervous all at the same time. He's been working so hard and I know he'll do great.

Ten Years

Ten years ago today, I married my best friend. Three kids, five houses, four states and many jobs later, we're still here. Amazing! How is it possible that I love Mike more today than I did 10 years ago? Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you!!! Here's to the next 50!

More Snippets

I couldn't believe how well Daniel and Hannah got along with each other on Sunday after Jacob left for camp. I didn't have to raise my voice once all day Sunday. Even now, they're playing so nicely together and have been getting along so well. They really miss their brother, though.

Mike's been calling a couple of times a day to let me know what's been going on at camp. Sunday, he called to tell me that Jacob passed his swim test and was considered a Level 3 swimmer and had full run of the pool. Awesome considering he's never had a single lesson.

Apparently, the tents sleep two. The adults are in their own tents and the kids are in theirs. Jacob is sharing a tent with his friend Alex and Mike is with George, Alex's dad. Monday morning, Mike goes to wake Jacob and Alex up and when he peeks into the tent, he sees Andrew and thinks he has the wrong tent. He then sees Jacob's blanket and realizes that Andrew and another boy have slept in Jacob and Alex's tent. When asked why, they said that they heard a raccoon outside and got scared. Too cute.

Last night, they were making hamburger bundles over the fire for dinner. Each scout got to make their own and could put whatever they wanted to in it. There was hamburger, carrots, onions, seasonings, potatoes, etc. After they made their thing, they'd bring it to Mike to wrap up and put on the fire. When Jacob brought his to Mike, Mike was not expecting to see the meat and a whole pile of onions. Mike says something like, "Jacob that's awesome! You like onions?" Jacob looks at Mike and says, "No. I hate them. I'm just using them for flavor, like Mom does." I've taught him well.

I had to take Daniel and Hannah with me to jiu jitsu last night, which I hate doing but Stephen and Roxanne's boys are usually there too, so they have playmates. In the middle of class, I look over to the waiting area where the kids are and I see Daniel and Jett playing Daniel's DS and I see Hannah calmly brushing Quinn's hair. She must have brushed that boy's hair for 15 minutes. A little later, Roxanne nudges me and points to the kids. Now Hannah's sitting while Quinn's brushing her hair. Too stinking cute.

What a Birthday

Mike called this afternoon to tell me he'd be late to TKD because his weekly basketball game had been moved from tomorrow to today. I told him that was fine...have fun, after all, it is his birthday and who am I to take away a stress relieving game of basketball with the people he works with?

We decided to have the kids do the 6:15 class because Mike had TKD at 7 and I had jiu jitsu at 7:45. That would mean the kids wouldn't be ferried around so much. At 5:50, I was getting the kids into the van to go when my cell rings. It's a number I didn't recognize but, being a Virginia number, it could have been anyone.

Me: Hello?
Caller: Hi, umm, this is Michael and I was playing basketball with Mike.
Me: Okay.
Michael: He was a little dizzy and, umm, we think he's okay but we thought we should call you.
Me: Okaaaay.
Michael: I mean, he's fine and all and the paramedics say that his EKG was good.
Me: Wait...what?
Michael: The ambulance is going to take him to the hospital but you don't need to speed or anything to get here.
Me: Hospital? The ambulance is there?
Michael: Yeah they're taking him to St Luke's. He was just kind of dizzy and you don't need to break any traffic laws or anything. We're all going to follow. Just meet us in Emergency. We haven't even left yet so don't go too fast or anything.
Me: Ummm...okay

I hang up and kind of freak out a little. I called TKD and told them we wouldn't be there. Master Dave told me to keep them informed. I called Dad who wanted to hop into the car and come in. I told him to wait until we knew more. At this point, Peter (Mike's boss' boss) calls to let me know they've arrived. Good timing, I tell him, because I was just pulling into the parking lot. I'm greeted at the ER doors by Josh, Mike's boss, who directs me to the nice lady at admitting. I fill out the paperwork, Josh and Michael take the kids and I head back to see Mike.

He's not hooked up to anything and the fact that he hadn't been seen by a doctor made me feel a little better...because if there had been a ton of people around, something would have been really wrong. Anyway, I sign some stuff for the paramedic and head back out to give the guys an update (which was really nothing).

Peter offered to run to McDonald's to get dinner for the kids and a soda for me (which was so nice of him) and Josh and Michael offered to stay to watch the kids for me. I thanked them all and headed back with the kids so that they could see that he was okay. At this point the doctor comes in and tells us that he probably had Hyperventilation Syndrome and not a heart attack. They ran a few more tests just to be sure.

I went back to the waiting room to give the guys an update and to make some calls. The guys go back to check on Mike while I sit for a minute and Hannah tells me that I need to get up because I was sitting in Josh's seat. Nice. Josh thought it was funny.

When I go back to check on Mike again, the doctor is discharging him. Oh. Well that's good. We walk out into the waiting room and the kids are eating the nuggets Peter brought them. Mike sits for a few minutes and they all talk for a while. When we left, they decided to wheel Mike out to the car in a wheelchair while Josh and everyone else were taking pictures.

It was even nicer than expected to come home and share Mike's birthday cake with him. Of course, all of this didn't do anything for my anxiety when answering the phone.

I Wanted To Post This Yesterday

But I couldn't because Mike would have had an idea of what he got for his birthday.

The kids and I headed to the comic book store to get Mike a gift for his birthday. They were adamant that he got something superhero related, so off we went. I've never much cared for comic book stores. It's like a big super secret club that you are allowed into but are never fully welcome until you prove your vast superhero knowledge (which I do not have).

When I walk into a comic book store (without Mike), one of two things usually happens.
1. I'm completely ignored because I'm a girl and what could I possibly know about comic books
2. I'm followed around the store because I'm a girl and what could I possibly know about comic books

This time, #2 occurred. The guy behind the counter asked me what I was looking for as soon as I opened the door.

Me: a gift for my superhero loving husband's birthday.
Comic Book Guy: Do I know him? (apparently, comic book guys know their regulars really well)
Me: No, I don't think so.
Comic Book Guy: That's going to make it harder, what does he like?
Me: I know his favorite is Nightwing.
Comic Book Guy: I have this Batman sculpture that just came in today.
Me: Batman's not Nightwing
Comic Book Guy: (rolling his eyes) I know but I think he might like this. Especially if he likes Nightwing. (I know he's thinking I'm a complete idiot because Nightwing comes out of Batman so there is a connection, but come on! Nightwing is not Batman!!!)
Me: Ummm...but it's Batman.
Comic Book Guy: Alright, fine. I do have this big Nightwing 13-inch poseable figure.
Kids: YAY!!!!
Me: I guess that's the winner.
Comic Book Guy: Okay. Let's ring you up.
Me: I think the kids want to look around a little.
Comic Book Guy: Oh. Ummm...okay.

I know he wanted me out of that store. I hate going into there. Maybe next time I'll just get him a gift certificate. LOL!

Happy Birthday Mike!!!

Just wanted to wish Mike a big

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

We love you!

Ugh

This was a strange weekend. We set up the new pool (we had to get a new one because I was too lazy to bring the old one in for the winter) on Friday. First thing Saturday morning, the kids wanted to swim. I thought they were nuts because the water was freezing. Granted, it was 85 degrees outside, but dang that water is cold. They didn't seem to care much. At one point, we had as many as 8 kids in the pool.

While the kids were in the pool, we heard F-18's going by. They must have gone by about 8 times. Just circling the house. It was really cool. They were so low that you could almost read the writing on the plane. I guess there was an air show at one of the little local airports. Nothing like two F-18's going over your house to bring out the neighbors. Literally everyone was out on their decks, staring straight up in the air.

At some point in the afternoon, I pulled a message from Mike (he'd gone to the main academy for Saturday training like he usually does) off of the phone. He said that he was at the hospital because he'd taken a kick to the ribs and was having a hard time breathing. They ran a bunch of scans and stuff and nothing's broken but he's bruised up pretty bad. They wrote him some prescriptions and sent him home. I can't even imagine the pain. He did get calls from Master Dave and Grandmaster Lee this afternoon making sure he was okay. Yet another reason I like our TKD school.

While Mike was at the hospital, a hummingbird flew into our garage. It was neat, at first. But then, it became annoying. This was probably the dumbest bird I've ever seen. He couldn't figure out how to get out. He kept flying into the ceiling and walls. He'd hang out on top of the garage door and then fly into the wall. All he had to do was fly down about two feet and then go out the big garage door. How hard is that? He finally figured it out Sunday afternoon. Daniel had walked into the garage with a light up toy and the hummingbird followed that light right out. I didn't realize hummingbirds were that dumb. LOL!

Saturday, I also did 6 loads of laundry. I hate laundry with a passion. I managed to switch out most of the kids' winter clothes for summer ones and their closets are now stuffed with warm weather gear. It doesn't seem like they've grown much so all of the clothes they wore last year are getting another go-round. The only thing I need to get is more shorts for Hannah. She only has one pair. Good thing she has a lot of little sundresses.

Sunday was the kids' last day of Sunday School for the school year. Mike was having a hard time just sitting up, so I took them by myself. After classes were over, everyone met in the time for worship area (that's what Hannah called it since the Rabbi always yells "time for worship!" every Sunday). Each grade level did a skit or song telling everyone where their tzedakah (offering) money went. I honestly can't remember where the first graders sent their money (I think it was some Israeli dog and cat organization) but the third graders actually got in touch with a unit of the Israeli Army and their money went to them. They sent photos and exchanged letters throughout the year. After that, they showed a slide show of the kids throughout the year. It was very cute.

The synagogue also held their used book fair yesterday. Like I needed more books, but at 50 cents a piece, it was hard to resist. I picked up a book called Modern Jewish Cooking that was printed in 1952. A lot of the recipes call for a pressure cooker, which must have been the big gadget at the time. Most of the recipes were familiar but there were some really strange ones. The author goes into detail about the joy of cooking with calves' brains and lungs (you have to buy the whole lungs with the heart. Just remove the esophagus.) It's fun to go through it. All in all, I picked up 16 books for $8. A few books for summer reading and several books for the kids.

This is the last full week of school for the boys. I can't tell you how excited I am about that.

A Blog for a Nice Day

It's really pretty outside today. It's a little chilly, but the sun is shining and there's not a cloud in the sky. I need to start thinking about getting out the lawn mower and giving the yard it's first cut of the season, but I'm putting it off as long as possible. I also don't want to mow while there's still a big puddle in the backyard from yesterday's rain. Once that dries up, maybe I'll think about mowing. Of course, we're supposed to get some big storms tomorrow (thunderstorms, wind, hail, tornadoes), so that'll put it off even longer.

The kids tested for their new belts (high blue for the boys and orange for Hannah...next step for the boys is brown! Then we go to every other testing cycle for them) on Saturday. The three boys had to break boards this time. Mike sailed through his but the boys had some problems. They did successfully break the 1/2 inch board, so that satisfied the requirement. We don't find out the results until next week, but they're all very anxious. I'm sure they did just fine. (Click photos to enlarge)

Mike sets up to break the board.

A photo of Hannah after she sparred.
Mike got to hold the board for Daniel while Daniel's teacher, Master Johnson (in the white shirt and sportcoat), watches on the sidelines.
Jacob sets up for board breaking.

Oriana is seriously pissing me off lately. Hannah and I went to the store for about 1/2 hour this morning and I forgot to put her in the bedroom. Usually it isn't a problem for that short amount of time. However, when we got home, I found cereal bowls scattered around the kitchen and milky cereal all over the floor. I'm getting really tired of her getting into everything she's not supposed to. She's been refusing to eat her normal food lately, in favor of scavenging. She even ate a bunch of Hershey Kisses (including the foil wrappers) from one of the kids' Easter baskets the other day. I expected her to get really sick from it, but she didn't. We just can't leave her out alone at all anymore.

We signed both boys up for Cub Scout Day Camp for a week this summer. They are excited to be going. It's the only place where they can earn their BB Gun and Archery certifications. I don't know if they let Daniel's age do it, but I know they do Jacob's age. I know I loved Girl Scout camp, so this should be fun for them. Later in the summer, Mike and Jacob are going to an overnight Bear Scout camp for 3 days. That should be a lot of fun for them. Our Pack Leader is the head of the camp, so he's been giving me a lot of info about what they'll do. It's also good to know the leadership should something happen.

I set up Hannah's speech screening yesterday. Actually, they don't just test for speech anymore, so she gets the full-on special ed screening. I find it a little annoying, but if that's what it takes to get her in, then I guess that's what I have to do. She goes in to the district office for it on the 25th. I guess it takes about 1 1/2 hours to complete. We shall see what happens.

Cell Phones and Baseball and Bunnies...OH MY!

Mike was able to upgrade his phone last week. It arrived via UPS on Thursday afternoon. In true passive-aggressive form, I decided to make sure Mike got it...in front of everyone at TKD ("Hey Mike, your new phone arrived today...here it is"). Everyone at TKD knows how unhappy I had been with my 99 cent phone (it worked but was very annoying because it was so large). Well, the next day, Mike came home with a brand new cell for me. He had intended to get me the same model as his but they were out. The next one up was out as well. Soooo...I'm now stylin' with my new Motorola i880 camera phone (my previous phone was an i205, so this is quite a step up). Sweet. It's also the first time ever that my phone is better than Mike's. I love it!

Jacob started baseball practice last Saturday. We didn't play at all last year, so I wasn't sure how he'd do, but he was excited so I didn't think twice about just dropping him off and heading home. When I came back 1 1/2 hours later, I was pulled aside by one of the coaches and told that he cried through the whole practice. I then witnessed him throw his glove on the field and stomp off crying and saying that he wanted to quit (for that reason alone, we don't quit. Sorry but no). In the car, I asked him what had happened. Well, he has a new glove that's not broken in at all and, at one point, it fell off his hand. That led to the other kids laughing. Had it happened to Daniel, he (Daniel) would have been the first to laugh. Jacob felt that everyone was laughing at him and the practice went downhill from there. He said that everyone could do everything "perfect" and that he couldn't do anything right. I asked him if he got to bat. He told me, "yes, but I only hit the ball, like, 4 times." I certainly don't think that's not doing anything right. Fortunately, I know, from experience, that Jacob usually has a meltdown at the first practice and is fine after that. That knowledge didn't make me feel any better when I dropped Jacob off at practice last night.

When I pulled up to the field near the end of practice, I saw that they were fielding ground balls near third base. They had to get the ball and throw it to first. The first thing I noticed was that the other boys were far from "perfect" (I already knew that but it was nice to see it confirmed). I smiled when I saw Jacob, through at least three rotations, run right up to that ball and throw it to the coach at first. No tears, no problems. I was pretty proud of my little guy. I did get a little nervous when I heard the coach tell his son, "if you let the ball get past you this time, you're running 4 laps around the field!" This guy is very serious about baseball (he seems okay with the other kids but is nuts with his own), whereas the rest of us see it as a fun way to kill a summer. I hope we don't have problems.

Ruby got to be a first-grader yesterday. Monday, Daniel took a photo of him and Ruby to school to show everyone. His teacher hunted me down after school to tell me that Tuesday was going to be Rabbit Day and could Ruby come spend the afternoon with the kids? So, after Bible Study, Hannah, Ruby and I headed over to the school. Daniel was so proud as he held Ruby and I told his class about rabbits and how to care for them. What was cool was that even though we just got her on Sunday, I was able to talk about rabbits like a pro. The kids were shocked to hear that fruit (and carrots), to a bunny, is like candy to kids. They had lots of good questions and I had a lot of fun doing it. I had printed up a bunch of bunny facts, some specific to Ruby, and left them, and Ruby, with Mrs. H.

I got to the school a little earlier than normal to avoid the crowd while picking up Ruby. Mrs. H had printed up some pictures she took and showed me a flier she made of Ruby to send home with all of the first graders. Hannah and I then headed back to the front of the school to wait for the boys. I can see the first graders heading down the hallway and immediately look for Daniel, forgetting Ruby's sitting on my lap. Before I know it, I'm surrounded by about 30 6 and 7 year olds wanting to say goodbye to Ruby. Daniel's still beaming. After some prodding by Miss K, they all head outside. I see Jacob and some friends heading down the hallway and now I'm surrounded by a bunch of third graders wanted to see Jacob's new bunny. "Awww...is this Ruby?" I hear more than one kid ask Jacob. Jacob beams. They are all shuffled out the door and we begin to make our way out as well.

Had I remembered that I had to walk past the third and first graders outside, I would have chosen another way out of the building.

We are, again, overrun with children. It took us a good 15 minutes just to get out of there. It was fun, though. Granted, Ruby was not happy with me and hid in her igloo for about 45 minutes after coming home, but she seems okay now. She's such a sweet bunny.

Hannah's First TKD Testing...and 700th Post

700 posts...that's just crazy!

Mike wanted me to ask if anyone else lost the left side of my blog because he did and didn't know if it was just him.

Anyway, tonight Hannah had her very first belt testing. She was so excited and couldn't wait to go. When we got there, we had to wait a little bit because they had a Hap Ki Do (I want to learn that!) class going on. Once she got out there, I couldn't believe how well she did. She breezed through her form and did all of the up/downs that the instructor told her to (series of different kicks and punches). When it was time for her to do her one-steps, she had the full attention of Grandmaster Lee. He was really impressed with how many one-steps she knew (5 of 6...most young white belts only know 3) and with how well she did in general. Before she was dismissed, she was asked how old she is and she holds up 4 fingers. Grandmaster Lee looked shocked. Mrs. Lee told her to tell Master Johnson that he did a great job with her. She was beaming from ear to ear. I would be surprised if she didn't get a decided yellow and not a recommended yellow(the recommended is what Daniel got when he first started while Jacob got the decided).

Hannah gets ready to test.

Doing her form.

Doing her various punches and kicks.

Hannah does one-steps.

Punching for another white belt.

More one steps. I love how she's up on her tippy toes to reach above the other kid's head.

Mike does his one steps

Mike spars.

Nine Years

Nine years ago today, I married my best friend. It's been quite a ride that's given us 3 children, several different jobs, and taken us to 3 states (besides Illinois). I love you honey! Happy anniversary!

Barb's Top 7 Reasons I Love Mike (I know there are more but these came off the top of my head)

7. He makes me laugh
6. He takes me out on dates
5. He's an amazing Dad
4. He puts up with my crap
3. He's supportive of whatever I want to do
2. He takes great care of us

But the number one reason I love Mike is because he says things like this:

(I was reading my Bradley Hilltopics Alumni magazine tonight and was feeling down because I read that a friend of mine from high school/college wrote and produced those Macy's commercials...you know the ones with Martha Stewart and Jessica Simpson and I was feeling like I hadn't accomplished much)

Me: Look what Matt's done and what have I done with my life?
Mike: Does he have three kids?
Me: No.
Mike: (Very serious look on his face)I certainly wouldn't have come this far without you.

Mike...I don't tell you often enough how much I appreciate you and everything you do, but just know that I do appreciate and love you very much.

It's Helpful To Have A Title (and not just publish without one!)

I headed to Wal Mart after the kids were in bed last night. I had a short list, but it always seems to take forever because the things I need are always on opposite sides of the store. Ugh. I hate that. Anyway, I got the bunny food and toothpaste from one side and then headed over to the grocery side. I remembered that I was almost out of coffee, so I headed over to get some more. I searched for the Folger's Black Silk coffee that I have been enjoying for the past month and was shocked to see that it was almost $10.00 for a can. WHAT?!? Colombian Supreme was $8.50 for a can. The last time I bought a can (a couple of weeks ago) it was about $5.50 for the can (how many times can I use the word can?). And that was at Price Chopper (just a regular grocery store).I looked at the unit prices and you know what? For the first time, that I've ever seen, it was actually cheaper to buy Starbucks coffee than it was to buy my favorite Folger's. I ended up buying some Dunkin Donuts ground coffee and it's just as good at home as it is in a Dunkin Donuts (they really do have the best coffee). I suppose that I could have bought the regular Folger's (it was $5.50 per can) but right now, I'm a little angry at them. Seriously...$10 per can for Folger's is a bit silly.

I come home and start to put the stuff away. I'm talking with Mike about what's for dinner on Friday night.

Me: We're having wraps for dinner tomorrow.
Mike: What? Scraps? From where?
Me: Scraps?!? Yes. From the garbage. You all have to eat dinner out of the garbage.
Mike: Seriously. What's for dinner? It sounded like you said scraps.
Me: WRaps. You know...chicken wraps.
Mike: (laughing) Oh. Wraps.

Not long after, Mike headed for bed. He pokes his head through the little window on the stairs and tells me to come up for a minute. I ask if something's wrong. He says no, just come up. I start to head up the stairs and see that Hannah made a little bed for herself on the floor in our bedroom doorway. Her body was in our room but her head was in the hallway. After trying to figure out what would make her decide that was a good place to sleep and just smiling about how cute she is, we put her in bed.

I asked her this morning why she was sleeping on the floor in the doorway and she said that she didn't know. My kids are strange. LOL!

Some Days Are Just Better Than Others

I tried. Really I did. I was being all good about Lent beginning. I even made Tuna Casserole for dinner. I got the good tuna that's packed in olive oil (way tasty...Mike said it was "meatier") and was trying to make it really tasty (not that tuna casserole's not tasty, but it's not the meat fest I had been planning LOL!). So, I put it all together, put it in the oven and then made a horrible realization. I used cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom soup. Ugh. Here I was, trying to do good and go meatless and I ended up ruining the whole thing with one can of soup. Mike called to tell me he was on his way home and I told him the story. He didn't get it. He says, "cream of chicken soup in the tuna casserole? Umm okay." I told him that it's what I usually use in the casserole. He says, "really?" LOL! I figured God would see the effort and would be understanding, so I ate the casserole. This got me and Mike into a discussion about funny things that have happened before...the best story was this one...

We decide to take a weekend trip to Indiana. It was a horrible trip and we were tired, exhausted and hungry. In the evening, Mike tried to support me by going out of his way to get me tea since I had given up soda for Lent. He figured that I must be hungry, too, so he gets me a cheeseburger as well. He brings it back and I don't think I've eaten something so quickly. To hear Mike tell the story, I was actually licking the paper it was wrapped in because it was so good. LOL! Just for the record, I wasn't, but it was a very tasty cheeseburger. After eating and sitting back to enjoy the tea, I made the realization that it was Friday. Nice. So, Mike, in his effort to help me stick to Lent, had also helped me break it! We laugh regularly about this story.

After dinner, I told Mike a story about what happened when I took the kids to school. His immediate response was, "you have to blog that!" So, here it is...

I went to take the kids to school yesterday morning. We left a little earlier than normal since it tends to get really busy on the first day back after a break. Anyway, I pull up into the line and I see that there are people going around a couple of cars. Making the realization that the cars are parked and are not in the carpool line, I go around as well. I pull into the lot and wait in line. And wait. And wait. I look at Jacob and say, "boy, this line is not moving today!" Just then, there's a knock on the window. I roll it down and see the crossing guard who informs me I'm sitting behind another row of parked cars. Nice. I felt so stupid. Jacob looks at me and says, "are we going to be late now?" I tell him no and try desperately to get out of there as quickly as possible.

This morning, I was getting the pot roast ready to put into the crock pot. Hannah comes in and asks what I'm doing. I tell her that I'm making a roast for dinner. She says, "I hate pot roast!"
Me: But Hannah, it's a lot like snake. (she calls steak, snake)
Hannah: I love snake! You're making snake?
Me: No, I'm making pot roast, but it's similar to snake.
Hannah: (again) I hate pot roast! I want snake!
Me: How do you know you don't like it until you try it? Do you remember eating pot roast before? (we actually eat it quite often)
Hannah: No! (this was more like NOoooooooooOOO...very sing-song)
Jacob: Hannah, you eat pot roast all of the time! You love it now quit complaining.

I don't know why I thought that was so funny!

Happy Friday

Mike gets home from work last night and one of the first things he says to me is, "no new blog post today?" Nope. Jacob had been sent home sick from school Wednesday and I kept him home yesterday, too. I talked with the school nurse yesterday morning and she told me that Jacob was the 9th kid out of school that day in his class alone. That means that almost half of his class was out. Having Jacob home from school added a bit more stress to the day and that meant no new post. I do have to say that it was really nice to have that 3-4pm hour back for the past two days (since I didn't have to pick anyone up from school) and got a lot done. I actually managed to clean the first floor and got 5 loads of laundry done. Granted, the last load is still sitting in the dryer but I'm not too worried about it since it's just towels. Today, I'm hoping to do the upstairs and then steam clean the living room carpet.

A quick question...does anyone out there have TiVo? Mike and I are considering getting one (since watching Grey's on Thursday nights at 8pm has become entirely too stressful for me...the only case where Eastern time was better). Can anyone walk me through how it works?

Mike promised me a new camera as an anniversary present! Yay! The one I have still works but you have to tape the battery compartment shut and the automatic lens cover takes a full 5 seconds to open...and sometimes doesn't close. It's been a great little camera and it's taken thousands of pictures (yes, thousands), but it's time for a new one. I'm so excited!

Date Night

Even with all of the snow, Mike and I were able to go out. The kids actually said goodbye to us but were quick to go back to show Anna some toys. LOL!

The roads were icky but passable. He took me to a restaurant called 40 Sardines. They had the most unusual salads and entrees. Mike got a pear and cranberry salad with a citrus vinaigrette (ever hear of that before?!?) and I got a grilled artichoke and watercress salad. My chicken also came with fried artichokes, which were really tasty. I don't think I've eaten so many artichokes, ever! LOL! Neither one of us was brave enough to order the wild boar but we talked a lot about it! I love going to places like this...places that we could NEVER take the kids. After dinner, it was still snowing so we decided to head right home.

We come home and the house is actually cleaner than when we left. I love Anna. Not only is she really good with the kids, but she cleans, too!!! :) Love that.

BTW, if I had to guess, I'd say we got about 5 inches of snow last night.