Thursday, January 31, 2008

He is crazed and I have caved!

All Joe thinks about and dreams about is the MacBook. We are off to get it. Of course whose teacher discount does he need??? His stinking poll isn't even closed yet and at last look it's a tie between "No he's a loser tell him to shut it" and "Get a MacBook Pro because he's the best and who cares about the money" yada yada yada.

So it's after 6 and we are going to Troy. I guess we are all counting on a snow day tomorrow. I no doubt will be going to bed alone for the next year and a half while he plays until the wee hours of the morning.

In return for the MacBook the entire downstairs will be painted this spring. I still say he is making out like a fat rat. My is he spoiled!

I type this with a hint of "vent/rant" quality. Money! Money! Money!

It's a good thing I love him so much!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

What a Weekend!

It's always something when you hit Sunday night and you look back at the weekend and feel like Friday was so long ago. Here are the highlights...

~Friday~
*Pizza at Grandpa's; hadn't done that since before Christmas and it's usually a biweekly thing.

~Saturday~
*The 7:45 game was canceled due to a power outage.

*Tommy helped with a dry run of a hockey skills competition that is next weekend.

*Tommy went to his first slumber party ever and made it the whole night. It was at his coach's house. Many of the parents also stayed until after midnight, it was a fun time. Their poor dog (huge old brown lab) is blind and their son let him out of the bedroom and he ended up falling down the basement stairs because the kids had the door open. Austin was on the 3rd stair from the bottom when he was bowled over. Both Billy & Austin were shaken up but ok.

~Sunday~
*Catholic Schools Week kickoff mass. Tommy read a few petitions. He started reading and Mrs. Bremer was saying something to him and he turns to her and says "WHAT?" mid-sentence in the microphone. The parish loved it! She was telling him to speak louder. He started over and spoke beautifully. After mass the students dressed up as Saints and had a "Hall of Saints" presentation. Tommy was St. Thomas the Apostle.

*We went to the ice arena for open skate. Austin did wonderful. He is standing great and is making baby steps. Tommy took out his coach's wife. Better her than I. ;)

*We watched the Travel Team's game.

*Grocery shopping - way overspent.

*Came home and Joe went and snow blowed the pond. We didn't get out there until 8:20 but it was the most glorious outdoor skating ever. The night couldn't have been more perfect. Tommy schooled both Joe & I. Man he is so crazy to watch that close. Austin had a blast too. We didn't put him in skates so he motored around like crazy in his shoes and shooting pucks. I can't wait to do it again. I wish I had taken the camera.

The coach has an outdoor rink so Tommy went skating today not once, not twice, but thrice. He doesn't seem to get tired of it thankfully. Twice for me today; I think my muscles will be screaming tomorrow.

So here we are on a late Sunday evening, ready to begin a new week. I hope your weekend was as good as ours.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Chicks with sticks!

That's me! Tommy's hockey association is sponsoring a fund raiser game with the hockey Moms. Tonight we had our organizational meeting and I just have to say you get a bunch of woman in a room and it quickly becomes a game of too many chiefs and not enough Indians. There is the saying, "you can never please everyone." That being said I hope the poor lady that is organizing it and the rink manager don't drive themselves mad trying to please everyone.

Tommy's coach's wife and myself are playing and on Monday night the coach invited us to practice with the team. I was saying to Joe "I hope I don't embarrass myself out there" and my beast son pipes up "I hope you don't embarrass ME!" What a jerky turkey. It was so much fun! And I only fell once! I am very proud of that, I got quite a few raspberry's from a few of the Dad's there watching. It was AWESOME! I can't wait to play in a real game. My coworker Jill & I are playing together so it should make for some very interesting fodder at work in the future.

One of the Moms there was one of my OB doctors. She was the doc that did my first u/s with Autumn and told us about the cystic hygroma. It was very awkward for me being in the room with her, I was wondering if she recognized me and all. I just kept thinking, I shouldn't even be able to ice skate right now let alone play hockey.

Oh well, I am living that is for sure. More on the Mom's hockey scene to come! Anyone ever see "Slap Shot" I am hoping to model after the Hansons! J/K

Austin had to go to Ann Arbor today to the physical medicine doc and the orthotics doc. He's doing well. He hadn't been wearing his AFO's since before Christmas because they were rubbing his feet bad. He was doing so great without them and I was hoping maybe he wouldn't need them at all anymore. I don't know what I was thinking but Joe said the doctor say that Austin will probably wear AFO's his whole life. His ankles roll out too much. That was a bit disheartening but what can you do?

We had the wonderful visit this weekend with the rambler boys who are Austin's age. We've been meeting up occasionally since the kids were babies. I know after every visit I would get a little sad because Austin would be so behind physically. The first time they were all sitting, Austin couldn't, then it was walking, etc. He's come a long long ways, but it's weekends like this that make me again realize just how handicapped Austin is. I know it could be worse though so I am thankful for all that he does.

Tommy and I had dentist appointments today and Tommy is still able to brag about being the only one in the family without a cavity. He's pretty near perfect I swear.

Joe took the boys skating on the pond tonight and Austin made some progress! We're still thinking spring hockey possibly. We'll see.

Thank God tomorrow is Friday! I'm so ready for the weekend, though there'll be no sleeping in. 7:45 hockey game Saturday. Fun fun! I'm hoping for a bit of a relaxing weekend as I'm still recovering from the Indiana wild. Bye!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Happy Birthday Hubby!



I hope you have a wonderful 32nd birthday! We Love You!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Sunny Sunday

Angie's boys get up way too early and us adults stayed up way too late. Max, Alex and I have been up for awhile now. Everyone else is still sleeping, even Austin who slept in his own little territory last night. I am a tad jealous. Let's see, since 5:45 am I've already wiped Max's bum, changed a soggy Alex, fed them both, and cleaned up a Max puke. Poor Max is always retching, I've never met a kid with a weaker stomach. This morning's trigger was he stepped on a soggy coco puff. Poor boy.

The visit is going well, it is quite an easy drive here. It's as cold here as in MI though. The boys are having a great time all playing and causing trouble. I think everyone will especially sleep well tonight. Why oh why can't I have that federal holiday off like everyone else tomorrow?

I had never been to Hooter's and now I've been there twice in one week. That's where we went last night first. One thing I didn't realize last week was how greasy those wings are. Ick. Tim says first you drink them then you eat them. Pretty gross. They give you a whole roll of paper towel and I guess so you can wring out your wings before consumption. I'm figuring to stay away from Hooter's for a while. ;)

Add to my pre-8:00 accomplishments. Just cleaned a red kool-aid spill on their nice white berber. I'm figuring Tommy must have left a juice box down here last night and Alex easily found it. Alex is almost 15 months old btw if you didn't know.

We went to a place that had karaoke. That is always a hit. Deb was singing some crazy song I'd never heard before. Kenny Roger's "Lucille." It was quite comical. I am going to have to drive home with toothpicks in my eyes after such a late night. I'm getting too old for this. :)~

Add to the accomplishments, a Max rescue from a small box he got stuck in. This kid is too much! Very cute, but I swear he will sprout horns and will go by the nickname Lou someday. hehe.

Well I guess I will send this book along. If everyone is still sleeping at 8:30 I'm waking there lazy behinds up. Have a great Sunday!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Waz up...

Yah, sure I speak jive. Wasn't that the funniest scene from Airplane where the Beav's Mom was speaking jive to the gentlemen on the airplane? "Cut me some slack jack" was about all I ever made out of that. Where this fits in a blog post? I don't know.

We had a nice night. It of course started with my Tiffany's christening. There must have been at least 10 people there that Joe worked with. And many of them do this every Friday. I laugh thinking about the 5:30 rule that many of them have instituted. They have to leave by 5:30 otherwise they don't leave until closing and are in a very bad way. It was fun and there are plenty of interesting stories to hear.

Then we bowled at the Rocket with Joe's family. They then came here and we pretty much played the Wii. We did a little bit of sports and then Guitar Hero of course was the big hit. I got saucy and tried a few on expert. I know Jess and my students would be impressed. It is crazy hard. If I ever beat that I will admit I have no life!

Tomorrow the boys and I are heading to Indiana to Angie's. I'm excited to see them, and their new house. I saw them in December but I haven't seen Debbie since the summer so I am anxious for that. It will be a short trip but nice I'm sure. It's a little farther drive than Cedar Point so it'll be a piece of cake. Of course I've never driven to Cedar Point in the winter and we have some snow falling tonight. Could be interesting.

Well I guess I will end this boring post. Austin is awake and sounds pretty upset. Bad dream maybe? Joe has him, maybe Aus is mad because he wants to sleep in our bed. Joe is a big meanie! j/k

Have a great weekend! I don't know if I'll update from Fighting Irish country.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

We are the Champions!!!!

And what a game it was. We were down 5-1 in the 3rd period and came back and won in sudden death overtime!!! Tommy played awesome and had assists on the tying and winning goals!!! It was so darn exciting!!! I really thought we were sunk.

I love this tournament fun, but am so glad it's over. It's so darn stressful. You have to feel bad for Cheboygan making it that far and losing it in the end. They had a long drive home I'm sure.

Here is the team after the big win! I'm so proud! He is in the front row right of the goalie.


And here is Tommy with his head coach at Hooter's. This was a first for me. I'd never been to Hooter's. It had good food I guess. I'd go again.

I Love being a hockey Mom! Now we have a Traverse City tournament possibly next month. Fun fun!!

Championship Bound!

What a great game this morning. They won 6-3 but the game was never over until the buzzer. That other team was fast and had so many chances but our goalie was awesome!

Poor Tommy got hurt right at the end of the 1st period smashing into the boards. He got up so slowly and was just a hobbling to the bench. He sat for a long shift and then got back out there. He twisted his ankle but seems a-ok now! Thank goodness!

So wish us luck at 3:20. I'm really hoping to post pictures of a 1st place finish but poor Tommy doesn't realize he comes from a long line of 2nd place finishers! Maybe he will turn our family's luck around. :)

In the Bantam tourney, friends of ours have a daughter that is playing in the 4:20 finals. I'm hoping to have some double celebrating tonight!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Hey Out There!

We're on the air, it's hockey night tonight! Sorry, that was lame but they play that song before every game so it's stuck in my head.

Tommy's team is doing awesome in their tournament and is so far undefeated! Woot! They play in the semi's tomorrow at 7:45, eeks. If they win then they go to the championship game at 3:20. I'm hoping!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

The Kindness of others...

I continue to be amazed at the kindness Joe and I have been shown since the loss of Autumn. When we first found out she was sick I wanted to hide it and was embarrassed that I was carrying an imperfect child. Soon though I was showing and had to "come out" and it was honestly a relief to not have to hide it. I can't imagine how I would have gotten through it without others. It was silly of me. Just when I thought things were calming down in her regard I've had four days in row where we've received something in her memory. People are so good, and just so caring. It's really been a growing experience for me. I think Joe and I are doing amazingly well and I know that it's because of the love that we've been shown. I'm just so grateful for everything!

I still have my downer moments of course but thankfully they are infrequent. I need to edit my Babycenter profile, every Monday I get my new email. Yesterday's stated that I was 21 weeks pregnant and our baby was probably dancing the night away moving about 50 times an hour. That was the most awesome thing about expecting, feeling that little bugger move. I know I shouldn't read them but I just like to hear how things would be if we had a different outcome. I get angry about the whole thing when I think about being almost 1/2 way through it when she died. You are pregnant for what seems like forever; I know in the grand scheme of life it's not long but when it comes to pregnancy I'm the most impatient person there is. And not because pregnancy is hard on me physically because it's not, but I just can't wait for that baby to get here and be a part of my family. And another thing, I'm surrounded by pregnant people & babies and it's driving me insane! ;) Not really, but come on. My best friend delivered in October, another friend & my niece delivered in November, I have another friend due in February, one of Joe's coworkers just had a baby last week. I'm seriously happy for these people, especially two of the couples who waited years and had fertility treatments before finally conceiving. I know I need to consider myself lucky that I have my two boys but darn it I want my May baby!

I quickly ground myself from these crazy feelings when I think of how bad things could be. One poor lady on my CP board lost her son this weekend. He was a little younger than Austin and battled a long time. I can't imagine going through that horror. So for you praying people if you could keep Anna and her family in your prayers I know she would appreciate it.

*** A few tidbits!

I think poor Joe might be sick because he brought me a beer he opened to drink. He is on a diet and while the beer sounded good after a wild night teaching the cub scouts I guess he decided he didn't want it/need it afterall.

I've made it all 5 days to school early. It's great and I'm on a roll! I'm also helping Joe get to work on time in the process! Yay!

Global warming officially hit MI yesterday as the mercury hit 60. I took my students for a walk without coats. They were nuts yesterday!

I beat GH3 medium the other night! Joe says I have no life! Ha, he's just jealous!

And I almost forgot the most important thing of all. My cleaning lady returns from vacation on Thursday! THANK THE LORD!!!!!!!!!! It's been 4 weeks since our house was cleaned and it needs it desperately!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

I've been DARED!

Hear this! I've been dared by Fr. Bill to toilet paper his home. He thinks just because he has a forest for a backyard that it can't be done. I think I could easily put together a fine team of TP'ers that would put any high school job to shame. However, he's the type of guy that thinks along the lines of "don't get mad, get even." I'm thinking woo hoo, I have one small tree in my yard. ;) But honestly it is the whole getting even thing that scares me, that and getting caught. His whole "revenge is a dish best served up cold" comment makes me nervous but oh, I've been dared! Hmm...I may need to ponder this a while longer.

Fr. Bill's annual Christmas party is always a wonderful time. It's a highlight of the year. It's so nice in January because the major hustle and bustle is over and we are able to enjoy the season with friends and without the stress. He puts on a lovely yet casual meal and we all just let our hair down. We laugh so hard every year over the silliest things. Crop dusting in church probably drew the biggest laughs last night. I could hardly breathe we were laughing so hard. Laughter is so good for the soul. We hit a new record and stayed until 10:00 last night, we were all just having such a great time. I truly am blessed to work at such a great place with great people!

In other news, I did make it to Tommy's game today at 7:45 even though he didn't think I would. It was a great game, 3-3 tie. I just love hockey. He is in a tournament next weekend so we will get our fill then.

Joe took Austin ice skating last night. He is doing ok but is so scared of falling. It is so hard for him with that weaker right side. Hopefully he will get some confidence soon. He loves wearing his skates in the house and is walking well in them. He also has a hockey glove that he will wear and has been shooting. I sure hope he can play on a team someday, he loves hockey so much.

I've made it through my first mini-week getting to work earlier. I hope I can keep it up but it was certainly harder the last two days. Endurance! I can do it! I'm also doing better keeping my desk area organized. I am certainly trying so you can't fault me for that.

I hope everyone else is still sticking to their resolutions, have a happy weekend!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Happy January 2nd

My New Year's Resolution this year is I want to get to work on time and hopefully even a bit early. It just gets so hard to leave in the mornings, however my days are much less stressful when I get to school before my students do. Today was easy, tomorrow will be harder I know. Hopefully a month from now I am still at it. It was wonderful to be back to work today. I missed everyone so much and it felt good just to have a productive day at school.

Our New Year's Eve was great except for Joe not feeling too well. We ended up at my Grandpa Moon's (Mom's Dad), we played cards, the kids played video games and rough housed and it was just good to see that side of the family that I don't see much. Both my Mom and Dad were there and it's nice that they can get along so we can celebrate these kind of events all together. They even were euchre partners at one point in the night. I guess this would have been freaky weird a few years ago but it definitely gets easier as the years go by. I certainly appreciate them making the effort to get along, although it did take many years to get to this point. It just makes is easier on everyone involved.

Austin and my youngest cousin Sarah chumming it up at the party.

The guys waiting for the ball to drop!



Again I hope 2008 finds you happy and healthy! I'm sure it will go by as fast as ever.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Welcome 2008

Even years are always better than odd years right? Nah, all my children we born in odd years, I was married in an odd year. I will be 30 this year so that's not cool. Ahhhh!!!!!! Everybody scream with me. ;) Just kidding, I'm looking forward to another great year and as a great coworker of mine says, be thankful for everyday. Bring on 30, and 40 and 75 and 100!! I'm ready for it all.

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's; be it a quiet celebration at home or a wild party in Time's Square, lets hope a month from now we're still holding tight to our resolutions.