Prairie Dawn's World

Austin and the UMDM Rockets!

2012-01-22T12:00:00.000-05:00

Austin is still playing hockey and doing quite well with it I should add. He is coming right along and has improved dramatically since we started back up in October. Next weekend he'll play in his first special hockey tournament. There are five teams coming in for it and we're looking forward to seeing him play in some real games. I'm sure he'll be a nervous wreck. Joe will tell you that the team is really starting to look like a team. They'll be doing line matching for sure which is good because the spectrum of our team is so huge. We have some really good players that can skate well and shoot well and some that are still really struggling just to stand up out there. That is Austin's biggest struggle is he needs help getting back up when he falls down or gets bumped over. I'm sure a coach will be there to assist him. Joe believes he is getting really close to being able to get up on his own.

Bless Joe's heart because when we haven't had to be somewhere else because of Tommy's hockey he has taken Austin down. I so appreciate not having to leave the house at 7:00 so he can be on the ice at 9:00. I have to give Joe kudos; Austin too. He sent me this video today and I was so impressed, Tommy even gave it an "oh my gosh" when he saw it. So proud! We're excited for next weekend. We'll be down in Frasier and Livonia - rinks we're already familiar with thanks to Tommy. Who's the travel hockey player now?

A Pet Peeve Revisited

2012-01-19T18:42:00.003-05:00

I wrote about the National Anthem back in July you can read it HERE if you've forgotten what I had to say back then. Well once again I'm back touting my love of our National Anthem and just how crazy it makes me when people disrespect our anthem. I find that the best spectators are at the Saginaw Spirit games. If you have a good singer (and they often have a regular performer) then the crowd will sing along proudly with both the Canadian and American National Anthems. No one tries to get to their seats, they simply stop where they are at and show respect to the countries not to mention the folks performing. The Red Wings games are also very nicely done for now, until the whole lets scream the word RED when "rocket's red glare" craze finds it's way here. See the Washington Capitals if you want more on that. Or Dallas for their screaming of "whose broad stripes and bright STARS!"

I won't dwell on and on about people driving me crazy during our anthem because it simply will not do any good. But what does make me feel better is this clip from Slap Shot. What a classic hockey movie; be warned that they drop the F-bomb in this clip. And I loathe the very overused and pretty much desensitized F word but I thought it was pretty funny during this part of the movie. And for the record my kids will not be watching this movie anytime soon; they can stick with The Mighty Ducks series.

And the Oscar goes to...

2012-01-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

Thomas Andrew - Oh my dear boy whose life is full of drama. Joe and I always joke after basketball games that we're glad we can't see his face on the ice during hockey games because I'm sure he plays with as much if not more emotion in hockey than he does in basketball. He'll scowl during botched shots, roll his eyes, stare in disbelief with his arms wide apart, I think sometimes he even growls. It's embarrassing. On the flip side Tommy will also say to us he's glad he can't hear us in hockey because we're "embarrassing." ;) *snickers* He has turned to me on the basketball court and actually conversed with me during a game "MOM, I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!" I know I'm not supposed to but it's hard not to coach from the stands. I'm working on it.

Yesterday Tommy had two games and he found himself in foul trouble early on in both games. They had won the first game pretty solidly but the 2nd game they were behind pretty much from the start but kept it close. At one point before halftime he was boxed in tight and is pivoting trying to protect the ball and he couldn't get rid of it and his opponent was all over him and finally Tommy stiff arms him getting called for his 3rd. Off the court in tears he goes and he was still sulking on the bench all through halftime when we finally pulled him over to talk him through it. He played with less emotion in the 2nd half but did finally foul out with about 2 minutes to go in the game. The team only lost by 4 and I'm proud to say Tommy did not cry when he fouled out.

All this to say, he's almost 11 years old, I know the real stormy days are coming. But these little blips of emotional craziness while I laugh at them a bit, they also scare me. So the drama.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T16:49:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year again. The Top 11 Events of 2011! I'd have to rank 2011 a 9 out of 10 stars. Nothing outrageous happened but it was a great year with more ups than downs that is for sure. I guess it was a pretty typical year. We continue to be blessed with a nice home with wonderful neighbors, good jobs, good friends, our health (minus some Aus issues), and a great life.

11. Ashley's extracurriculars - She's still doing great in Honeybees but also started taking jazz and ballet. She's in the big girl room at school now and is definitely not a baby anymore.

10 - Austin made his altar serving debut. I was so proud of him and Tommy was so great helping him out not to mention our wonderful priest Fr. Tipton making him feel comfortable. I still get nervous when he's up there.

9. Cedar Point & Michigan's Adventure - We bought season passes this year and spent many days in Sandusky, OH and Muskegon, MI riding such thrills as the Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster and that corny tilt-a-whirl. We also soaked up some sun in the water parks there. I can't wait to go back!

8. Reese Rocket Baseball - Tommy & Austin both played Little League and did well. Tommy played for the 10U travel team and were 1st place champs in 3 of the 4 tournaments they entered. Tommy had some struggles at the plate initially but finished the season well. Austin did great not ever needing the tee. Next year will be interesting when they start counting outs, keeping score, and he faces live pitching from the players.

7. Tommy started playing the trumpet. He's following in his parent's footsteps. :) Jury is still out on how it's going. Some days he loves it other days he wishes he could quit. After spending $700 on a trumpet I'm hoping he sticks it out for a few years. Spoiled beast, Joe's hand me down cornet just wasn't cutting it.

6. Austin's hockey - After a slow start he is doing pretty good with his little team in Ann Arbor. These kids (and some young adults) all have some sort of difficulty be it CP like Austin, or Down's Syndrome, many are on the autism spectrum it's just a mixed bag. I can't thank the good people that have given Austin and those other kids this wonderful opportunity to play the sport we love so much.

5. Jeff & Shannon got engaged - And I'm so excited I get to be a bridesmaid! The big day is April 28th I can't wait and I wish them many, many years of wedded bliss.

4. Dad's 60th birthday party - He knew that our little family was going to the Tiger game with him to celebrate but he didn't know that 25 more of his friends and family would also be joining him. I think he was very surprised and it wasn't too over the top for the shy guy.

3. Joe's job switch- He made the jump to Dow Chemical in August and seems to be happy he made the move.

2. Tommy's hockey - Yup, it still ranks pretty high up there but only because this year the Bay County Blizzard won the MAHA State Title. That's right a State Title, granted it took some luck as they started out 1-1-1 in pool play but somehow they came out on top. Tommy's hockey also took us to Chicago for a AAA tourney which was fun.

1. Austin's 1st Communion and Confirmation ~ My little boy is growing up. We had a fabulous event with Bishop Cistone celebrating his Confirmation and Tommy got to altar serve. Then the following week we had Fr. Bill give Austin his 1st Holy Communion. We had a nice party at the house with over 60 people visiting.

Honorable Mention

Katie & Adam's wedding
St. Elizabeth Golf Outing - Team JoDa & KeMi took home the toilet paper. We so suck at golf.
Theresa K's 40th birthday party - So awesome, especially when we toilet papered their house with the above TP winnings.
Grandpa Moon died :(
Austin started SE basketball & Tommy played another Bball season
K of C Bingo
$100 Dinner Dance
My hockey! I still love it.
Very happy holidays.
No Disney vacation - Unbelievable!
We said goodbye to Fr. Bill & hello to Fr. Prentice
Numerous parties (I need a vacation after this Christmas vacation)

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-22T18:26:00.000-05:00

I know you all love our junk holiday pics. This year was extra stressful getting a good picture. We started Sunday night trying to get a decent photo. Between Joe and myself we must have taken 100 pics and they were all wrong, wrong, wrong. Austin is the worst when it comes to a forced smile. He's just so stinking goofy and the other two weren't looking much better. Joe already deleted all those photos so I don't have the exciting crummy photos to show you darn it!

Monday, I was so ticked at Austin that I told him I wanted a nice picture with a nice smile like the one that is currently on our living room wall and he wasn't playing until I got it. Well my first picture I took is the official Papesh card. He knows how to perform when I mean business.

But speaking of official cards, they'll be late. Monday, I quickly ordered from Sam's hoping to pick them up that night even. Well due to printer problems I didn't get them until today but got a decent discount. Guess I'm writing out cards tonight, impressive as I didn't get them out at all last year. Kudos to me!! And again, MERRY CHRISTMAS to YOU!

Ok - A post

2011-12-02T18:20:00.000-05:00

It's been almost three months. I guess my love affair with the great blog has fizzled. I really feel like I blinked and December was here. My absolutely favorite time of the year. I love the lights, the trees, the snow, the different songs and such at mass. I just LOVE the holidays.
Tommy - He has played in four tournaments since my last post including one in Chicago. The miles are really piling up on the van. Two of them were AAA invitational tourney's and the team played well though they didn't bring home any hardware. He'll start basketball next week and continue with the hockey. I'm especially proud to say that he made the Bishop's Honor Roll which means he got a perfect 4.0. He was the only student to achieve that in the 1st marking period so to say we are proud is an understatement.

Austin - He's had a momentous few months. He started altar serving at church in a limited capacity. It's great to see him go up there but I think everyone is always just a little bit nervous for him. I know that first mass I think the whole congregation held their collective breaths hoping he would do okay. He also got to play on his school coed basketball team. He has one more game tomorrow. He runs up and down that court and tries really hard. It's a learning league and I'm thankful he's gotten the chance to play. This Mama who sometimes thinks winning is everything (though I know that it's not) has learned a lot. He's actually touched the ball maybe 3 times and only made one significant play, the ball squirted out and rolled to him, he picked it up and being you can't full court press in the league he actually got to throw the ball to his guard off the turnover. He got so much applause. It was sweet.

Austin has been having some med issues though with his bladder and bowels. We're on meds and trying to get him fixed up but it might take a while. It's been rough at times but thankfully we haven't had any public accidents that we haven't been able to discreetly take care of. Our new Priest Fr. Tipton surprised the heck out of me today. Last night I was telling him a bit about Austin's current struggles and today after communion during mass he had called me up and asked me if we could do an "Anointing of the Sick" for Austin. After mass he called Austin up, Tommy and I also joined him and I don't think the kids in the school have ever been that quiet for so long as Father did his prayers and anointing. It was very special, I was of course tearing up and Tommy was having a bit of trouble too. As much as he drives us crazy, it hard to watch him go through so much continually. And I know overall he is one of the lucky ones. Anyhoo, it was very special today but selfish me when I was up there with was praying that maybe this would do the trick and together with the medicine and the doctors, and the power of prayer maybe he will be fixed up once and for all.

And shame on me and this blog fail. He had his 8th birthday in October. My how time certainly flies.

School's been another struggle for Austin. He's a big 3rd grader now, though the youngest in his class. I'm really regretting not holding him back in kindergarten now. His comprehension is just so bad. Joe and I work with him every night and no doubt he would quite possibly be failing in just about everything if we didn't. We study and study and study and he just doesn't remember. I don't think he's in danger of not passing 3rd grade but I just wish he was doing better. I guess I need to be thankful that he likes school and does his homework without too many complaints and hopefully he'll get better.

Oh and a quickie on hockey. He's started up again and isn't doing great but isn't doing terrible either. He hasn't cried as much as last year but he's still not making much progress. Some of these kids are just flying now. Of course many of these kids have different issues and not CP. One Mom said once that if we put all the kids diagnosis' and struggles in a hat and passed it around we'd probably all still choose to deal with what we have been dealt. Good point.

Ashley - Ashley is still doing well in school. She also is doing great at Honeybees. We started her in dance classes on Tuesday's and it seems like she never gets a nap on Tuesday's and will sleep all the way there then flip out when it's time to go. Some days she does better than the other days but usually it's a lot of crying and clinging "I don't wanna go dance class." But she'll go with her teachers and always seems happy when she gets done. We aren't allowed to stay and watch but the ladies always say she does awesome and she will then show off her moves at home throughout the week. Jazz and ballet are her classes. I can't for the recital, she'll look beautiful but I doubt she'll perform. Maybe she'll surprise me. She's definitely a lot of fun that is for sure.

So there is the recap of life in our home for the past three months; it's a tribute to all three of the Papesh kids but mostly Austin. ;)

School Survival

2011-09-11T17:37:00.001-04:00

After the best summer ever we all have headed back to school. Everyone is doing great! We all worked hard last week and are being extra lazy this weekend. Every kid moved on this year as we are in odd years, Tommy in 5th grade, Austin in 3rd and Ashley has moved on to the big kid room in the daycare. Tommy likes his teacher and Austin is happy to have his teacher he had in kindergarten again (Tommy was a bit sad to have to move on but he's cool and will do great). Tommy has also told me he is enjoying Science (with me) so kudos to me. Austin will crack me up telling me very seriously about DEAR time how they have to stop whatever they are doing and read. Ashley lets everyone know that she is not a baby anymore, she's a big girl. And that was ever apparent as I spotted her in the room using SCISSORS!!! And properly I should add. My oh my!

1st day of school!

2nd day of school; it pained me to erase my snoopy and woodstock.

Conversation T-shirts ~ Love em or Hate em?

2011-09-03T09:39:00.001-04:00

As far as the braggy ones go I hate them. No really, I LOATHE them! I'm happy I teach in a Catholic school and only have to see a few of them on our beloved jean days. And apparently there was enough bru-ha-ha about this shirt that JCP has pulled it from it's stores. I personally don't like the shirt but I'm kind of in the camp of "if I don't like it I don't buy it." I can think of A LOT WORSE that people wear.

Some shirts I despise more than others and they're mainly aimed to kids Tommy's generation. The sporty braggy shirts that might say "I'm so good even your Mom cheers for me," or "my better is better than your better."

I just don't like them!

Granted some are funny, back in the day I desperately wanted to find an "I'm with Stupid" t-shirt with the arrow pointing towards the person you're with. I never did get one and I think I don't want one anymore. So don't go getting any ideas!

My Grandma got me a sweatshirt when I was in high school that said "not only am I perfect but I'm a red head too." I thought it was pretty dorky but wore it to school one day and I think one person (a blonde) called me a beast and said "darn, I can't wear that." Thanks Grandma :)

Braggy bibs??? Ashley has two bibs she still uses. The one says "My Mom is Hotter than Your Mom!" and I laugh but I cringe because chances are, I'm not hotter than the new Mom who's only 24. I hate that bib. Her bib that says, "I'm the Princess we'll do things my way" absolutely adorable and truthful. Her shirt that says "brothers 4 sale" with the writing all preschool, eh sad to say I find it cheesy and tacky. Why did I buy it??

I think that I know what my issue is with these conversation pieces.

Are you trying to brag?? "It's not bragging if you can back it up." I take a little issue with Austin wearing a basketball shirt that says "I'm big time" when he obviously can't play basketball, heck I'd take issue with Tommy wearing that because we're not "big time ballers."

Are you being vulgar trying to be funny?? I found a hilarious t-shirt online but it's too inappropriate to post on this PG blog. I might like your shirt if you're at the bar, I'll hate it and YOU if you wear it to Cedar Point which is filled with children. The FCUK craze; DROVE ME BONKERS so glad that seems to have fizzled!

Are you just trying to demonstrate who you are?? I have a few Math t-shirts that officially push my geekness into the stratosphere. Do you <3 fishing? Is Your Boss A Jewish Carpenter? I'm not opposed to these again if they're not bragging but gosh darn are they cheesy!

I did find this shirt today when doing research for my post and those of you who know me personally will find it absolutely hilarious.You can click on it to go to the site and buy it for me. haha

I guess I have to chalk up another victory to free speech. I'm glad you can buy whatever nutty shirt you want and can usually wear it wherever you like. I do worry though when kids are wearing these shirts though that might not be so nice, untrue, or too mature for their youthful selves. But I think it's again something that should be left up to the parents. I can just see it now, warning labels on clothing. Must be 18 or accompanied by an adult to buy this shirt. My goodness what would I have done in 7th grade if I hadn't been able to buy my "Don't like my attitude? Dial 1-800-EAT-SHIT" key chain at Spencers. Yeah, I thought I was cool. Happy Holiday Weekend Everyone!

Papesh Summer School

2011-08-25T21:46:00.000-04:00

IT'S TORTURE!!!!

Those are the words I often hear from Austin when it's time to sit down and do the work I give him. I just don't get it. Some days he'll whip right through it, other days it's a lot of crying, whining, and maybe even an all out freak out. It's like the kid has a crazy switch that math seems to trigger. I don't know. But after daily lessons he is pretty proficient in addition and getting there with subtraction, he also can read larger numbers now, but writing them is still difficult. A bit scary as it took all summer to get here. His reading is better which is HUGE and for that I am thankful but I didn't even try working on the writing (not penmanship, but actual writing down ideas, stories, etc which he really struggles with.) I just didn't have the emotional strength to get through his writing block, my apologies to his 3rd grade teacher, and to Austin, I probably should have tried harder.

Tommy did well with his work but would also show some frustration at times on more difficult topics. He learned so much this summer, from fractions, to geometry, order of operations, I think we hit the basics in every math topic. Time to get that kid in some algebra!

On the weekends even Joe would get in on the action. He of course loved math/science so anytime Tommy was doing something that he could easily jump and help with he would and he would also help me with Austin too (sometimes even a few battles). It was cool watching Joe go back and channel his former mathleticism.

This year I will have Tommy in my classroom for Science. I am very excited. I've also decided that I will not be helping him at home with any of the homework, studying, or project work. No my friends that will be left to his Dad, who I know is up to the task. I just don't want Tommy having too much of an edge because his Mom is teaching the class. It'll be a big prep for when I have him for more classes in the coming years. YIKES!

Only a few more days "of torture" and then the kids and I will be back in school and their new teachers can continue the excruciating task of educating my kids. Cheers to a new school year which is only about 10 days away.

Flash Mobs - Good, Bad, Ugly

2011-08-16T21:23:00.001-04:00

Well, I have to say I'm a sucker for the dancing/singing flash mobs and I've seen a ton of them on the net and love them. Of course that is no shocker since I'm a fan of the hokey. Last winter I had my students do a flash mob dance at lunch and it was a big surprise to the younger students and they had a lot of fun with it! I have yet to be anywhere when a flash mob is taking place and I'm afraid with the negative publicity now in Philadelphia with the flash mob violence and the flash rob of 7-11 the other night flash mobs will be fizzling and I probably never will.

I got to participate in one before the lizard fair concert last weekend with Amy and her daughter Emily through Emily's dance studio. It was very cool and I'm glad I did it. For those of you who didn't see it on Facebook here it is. Funny while we were waiting in line we talked to the girls behind us as they had brought pizza and when the gal who started the dancing got to going the girls were like "OMG, what is that girl doing??" and then we got to join in. I wonder what they were thinking then?? Probably something like "I wondered why those old dinosaurs were here for a teen concert."
 
And yes I screwed up and you can see it!! I thankfully hid in the back behind the young, beautiful, and much more talented dancers so you only see me a little bit. But I was there! And today at therapy one of the nurses in the kids adjoining pedi's office saw me and asked "how we liked lizard fair?" she had seen me dance while waiting in line to get. You've gotta be kidding me! I'm a star! ;)

And speaking of the Lizard Fair it was the boys first concert experience and they had an awesome time. We went with a couple other Blizzard Families and saw a ton of people we knew there. Performing that I can remember were Runner Runner, Jay Sean, Flo Rida, and Big Time Rush. So this week we've been all about Big Time Rush it seems. I was sure sore and tired from all the jumping around I did. Lots of fun!

P.S. - I of course love the flash mob fail commercial for AT & T! WE ARE!!!!

Another Wedding Anniversary

2011-08-09T21:25:00.000-04:00

Today Joe and I celebrate 14 years of wedded bliss. But I'm really looking forward to next year's big 15th bash. I will almost certainly be in sunny Florida. We decided earlier this summer to forgo a trip this year, and we haven't missed Florida since 2001, but have promised each other a bigger and better trip next year. I can't believe I'm already looking forward to it. Nothing like wishing my life away.

Every year on August 9th we look at going somewhere to eat that's "non-chain" but we just haven't found a place that we can agree on so back to the Outback Steakhouse for us. It was scrum-diddly-umptious! A quick trip to Lowe's for a grill cover, then to Kohl's to pay my charge card (I went in with blinders and did good not buying anything else), a drive through Drapers New Car lot so we can dream and then back to Reese to get the kids. Not a saucy anniversary, but a nice night with my hubby nonetheless.

And the biggest thrill of the night for us...Laughing about how MY MOM FORGOT! She left a message on our machine tonight just wondering how things are going, I called her back and we talked about a Cedar Point Trip for her birthday on Thursday and not a word of JoDa Anniversary XIV. HAHAHA! I'm just waiting for her to realize it and call back. LOL Eh, no biggie deal.

And I did make it through dinner without crying which is somewhat rare. Of course I only had one glass of wine versus the whole bottle this year. I usually end up reminiscing about how different life was 14 years ago and it always turns towards Austie and his struggles. Not tonight though, however, when we got back to Dad's house for some reason he had his 2003 diary laying out on the table and I went ahead and read about his birth. One thing that I often forget when thinking back to those days is sure I had a baby that was very sick and we weren't sure he was going to make it, but I also had a 2 year old who was being shuffled all over the place and that had to be hard on him too. I saw a lot of writings like "picked up Tommie from so and so" (usually Sherri or Joe's Mother, and he wrote Tommy's name like that back then), "dropped off Tommie to so and so," "Tommie spent the night and had to go potty three times and fell out of bed"...Lol.

I just am so thankful that we have such a great family & friend support system. Austin wouldn't be doing as well as he is if we didn't have help carting him to therapies, doctors appointments, watching the other kids for us, or just giving us a break so we can enjoy each others company and talk about how far he's come, and how far we've come in 14 married years and 19 years together. I love Joe with all my heart, and Tommy, Austin, and Ashley too. I could only dream on August 9, 1997 how rich my life would be and maybe, just maybe, the best is yet to come.

Earth's Oddities

2011-08-03T13:40:00.000-04:00

So a critter is ruining my outdoor adventures.

Yesterday we got home from our running and I went to go water my hanging baskets. I start walking down our little walk in front of the porch and see a dead something laying on the edge of the walk and the landscaping. I figured it was a baby bird that had been dropped by a Mama bird. Upon closer inspection I find it is the head of a skunk. And with no trail of blood or sign of the rest of the carcass it left me thinking what the?? It was thankfully not smelling but I was seriously perplexed and nervous and stayed inside the whole darn day.

Joe got home late and took care of it, in the rain no less; thanks hubby. But it's still on my mind. How on earth did it get there?

Some theories:

An animal dropped it off, but why was there no trail of blood?

A student or maybe a not student is pulling a prank on us? This would be pure evil, I hope it's not this. How sinister.

A bird of prey accidentally dropped it while flying by. This seems the most logical.

I'm just afraid that there are more skunks maybe living under our porch or something. Not cool. But I have to get brave or I'll never have any outdoor fun at all. It's been a rough week in the yard for the Papesh's. My thumb got skinned up doing yard work, Tommy got stung by a bee and got a bunch of briars in his feet, I had a large splinter find it's way into my foot about a centimeter deep that took Joe forever to dig out, and now we have animal heads making their way to our yard. Again, what the ?

Woah Summer

2011-08-01T22:42:00.000-04:00

Please slow down.

It's August - which is like Sunday if you compare summer vacation to a weekend. But at least it's early Sunday morning when you're just waking up and you have the whole day ahead of you.

It's been a very different summer for the family. But it's been a good summer I guess I can say 2/3 of the way in.

There was no hockey camp to cart Tommy to this year which he won't complain about. Since he was 4 years old he's been allergic to hockey camp.

We said goodbye to Fr. Bill our priest of 12 years and welcomed Fr. Tipton.

We are not going to Florida this summer and really aren't taking any extended vacation at all. This will be only the third time since we've been married we have not gone. 1998, 2001, and now.

We've soaked up some fun and sun with a few trips to Cedar Point and Michigan's Adventure. You know your kids are spoiled when they don't want to go to the fair. Talk about desensitizing.

Our yard has never looked better and I've got more ideas brewing in my head for future years. Just need financing. ;)

Joe just accepted a new job at Dow Chemical so get ready for more change. I hope he likes it and does well.

We've biked a bit, walked a bit, and watched a lot of baseball! The Tiger's are in 1st place and I keep waiting for the mid-season collapse to happen. And I can't believe I'll admit this but I am rooting hard for Boston and New York to beat up on Cleveland and Chicago this week!

So hello August, time to really allow myself the okay to think about back to school, which really doesn't happen until after Labor Day. 10 years ago I had a 6 month old and was looking at student teaching and I remember the first day of school was August 20th! At least I have five solid weeks left! I'm sure the kids are thankful too!

Ashley's First Haircut

2011-07-28T22:37:00.000-04:00

So I really didn't want to get her haircut. I know with the boys Tommy was just over 2 years old and Austin was about 18 months old. With boys you go in with babies and come out with little boys. I wasn't ready for Ashley to look so different. Well Joe was feeling like neglectful parents by not having her haircut yet; and honestly if you don't put it up everyday she does look like a little ragamuffin. I went ahead and scheduled an appointment with my beautician and we just did a little trim and left the bangs long. I really didn't want to deal with bangs. So it honestly doesn't look much different and Joe can feel better about having it done.

Both the boys did okay with their 1st haircuts; Austin was pretty good, Tommy was a bit more nervous but they both got through it on the first try. Ashley though was absolutely geeked to be getting her hair done; I don't know why I even worried at all. What can I say the girl loves beauty and loves people fussing over her. I told her we'd get a new nail polish after if she was good. And she was just great throughout the whole thing! My baby girl is growing up way too quickly. And I'm pretty sure that everyday I'll be asked to blow dry and curl her hair just like at the salon.

The last baseball post - loving it!

2011-07-28T17:24:00.000-04:00

It's always hard to win a tournament when you lose your first game. We were killed by Elba Friday night but won our final three games. Then will help from Lake Orion and Cass City we ended up winning 1st place again. Poor Cass City; they just can't get by us when it matters. We just barely nudged them 6-5 and are 2-2 with them on the season. Very even; I'll only feel sorry for them a little bit. This tournament was pure round robin style which I do not like. I believe there should always be a championship game. It's very hard for every team to win every game. But once again the Reese Rockets came out smelling like a rose.

We played our two games on Sunday and didn't even stick around to see how it would end because we were all but mathematically eliminated. Elba had the most colossal collapse late in a tournament since Boston came down from 3-0 to take four straight against the Yankees on their way to winning their first World Series since the curse. (Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit here) Anyways, it was Elba's to lose and they did. We had to meet up at the park Monday night for the boys to get their final trophies.

Tommy played fairly well; not as great as in North Branch but better than the other two tournaments. He hadn't struck out since the Beaver tournament so we are happy he finally conquered those demons. We did have a scary moment on Saturday when he took a pitch to the face. He was thankfully okay. Dumb thing was the pitch before his teammate was given the steal sign so he was fake bunting and when he pulled back on a ball high he jumped out the box and the ump signaled strike saying "stay in the box, I'll always call a strike if you jump out of the box." Well the next pitch he stayed in the box and BOOM. I was probably more shook up then Tommy and Joe had a few words for the umpire and craziest thing of all was the Cass City coach gave the ump some grief saying it was all his fault Tommy got hit and you should never tell a kid to not get out of the box. The ump did ask Joe the next inning how Tommy was doing and I'm sure he felt bad. I guess it was the coach's kid who was pitching and I'm sure that kid felt terrible. Tommy's coach called that night to see how he was doing which was nice too. Thankfully the next couple games the little pitchers weren't throwing too hard and Tommy did fine getting some decent hits. Overall a good way to end a great summer season!

Way to go Reese 10U Rockets!!!

Port-A-Pottys

2011-07-25T08:01:00.000-04:00

Bleh, can't believe I'm making a post about this. I hate port-a-johns but sometimes you're just desperate and need to use them. We've seen a lot of them recently at Tommy's ball tournaments. Thankfully there was only 1 tournament where that was our only option. However, often the regular bathrooms were a long walk away so the porties were it.

Friday night, our potty was fresh and new. I swear Ashley's was the first pee deposited there and it wasn't too bad of an experience. But by yesterday you couldn't even walk by the one at our field without gagging. On a hot and humid weekend the flies are buzzing around and you can almost feel the gasses in their trying to attack you. And another thing you will find is that shit in a portie is always diarrhea. Oh the agony.

Ashley went fine on Friday when the potty was fairly empty. Saturday afternoon, it was filled with all kinds of nastiness and had a huge mountain of toilet paper forming topped with piss and shit. She refused to go. I tell you with the TP mountain I don't think you had to worry about back splash but it was enough to freak her out and she wouldn't go and guess who later pissed her pants? Ugh! I almost can't blame her.

I guess I just need bring a portie of our own. (I did do this a couple weeks ago when there was NO real bathroom and the porties were especially nasty, I think those got emptied maybe once a year. However, mid-tournament the shit truck came by and emptied it, who would like that job?) Men are so lucky that they can just whip it out and go on the ground behind a tree. And just in case you're wondering the portie was for Ashley not me. ;) I just hold it for hours and hours and hours. I'm so glad I wasn't born over 100 years ago when pit toilets were a way of life. And did you know that porties are the number one place that lost cell phones go un-rescued? No shocker there.

Loving Baseball!

2011-07-18T11:36:00.000-04:00

The title should say it all! Tommy's team went 4-1 this weekend winning the North Branch Tournament. Tommy had his best weekend hitting wise and did well defensively too. He's finally hitting on all cylinders. He had some great hits this weekend and a ton of RBI's. And best of all he didn't strike out once!!!! It's been a huge battle for him. Now if only poor Brandon Inge could bust out of his slump.

This weekend wasn't only great for Tommy but all the Reese kids were hitting. It was great to see these kids get some confidence at the plate. Of course the pitchers weren't flame throwers like we had last weekend in Beaver. Plus, that tourney was major league style; you could run on a passed ball third strike, could steal home, and could lead off before the ball was pitched. I personally don't like that at this level. I think hitters should have to put the ball in play (or be walked home with bases loaded) to be able to score. It just put a lot of pressure on the catchers and pitchers. This tournament was more of a recreation style, you could steal but not lead off, and you couldn't steal home. Our team is really in the middle trying to find our right place. We are too good for rec but not quite ready for elite travel status. However with this weekend I saw some good things and maybe the team could make that leap soon. Too bad the travel season is ending after this week.

Of course this all was possible because before the tournament Tommy went to the barbershop and got all his beautiful locks chopped off. All that beautiful hair; GONE! But I'm the only one sad about it. Eh, he'll probably be more comfortable now anyways.

Next weekend we are in Mayville and that my friends will be the end of baseball. But it's been a long journey; he's been going to weekly open gyms since January. No rest for the wicked. Go Rockets!

Going Nuts for Free Stuff

2011-07-12T21:22:00.000-04:00

People have tried to explain it to me but I just don't get it. Why do people go nuts for free things? Yesterday was 7-11's birthday and they were giving away free 7.11 oz slurpees. Do you know how dinky that is? You'll have that drank before you're in your car to go back home. I heard one gal on Facebook say that she and her kid went numerous times yesterday for free slurpees! Seriously, a giant slurpee might cost you a little over a buck? Why do people go so nuts for free?

We went one year to the 7-11 event and they didn't even give you a lid! Plus, I spent a boatload in snacks while there. 7-11 knows what they're doing. Just gotta reel the people in.

How about the crazy people that stood in line at Buffalo Wild Wings for hours in the cold during their grand opening hoping to get 6 free wings a week for a year? You're saving $6 a week but how much are you spending on the drinks and other food when you go?

I'm all about getting a good deal but all this borderlines on ridiculous! I am very happy for those people who seriously can't afford to drop a buck or two on occasional slurpees. I'm sure the indulgence was a welcome treat. And kids, you go ahead and bike up there 5 times if you want on July 11th, but adults I ask don't you know any better? Go ahead and get your one freebie, but anything after that and you just look like a cheap glutton. And think about the other 999 people that might be wanting a free slurpee at the 7-11 too.

Me personally I usually steer way clear of any place claiming free, free food, free concert series, free movies, you get my drift. Free just too often seems to bring out the freak in people and try to avoid that if at all possible. I'm sure there are many events/items that are awesome that are indeed free but it sure seems like there is often some sort of opportunity cost involved that makes me leery of the whole free scene.

Am I crazy here? Am I really missing out on some primo deals? Am I a lone soldier in thinking free is not always fabulous?

I guess I'll like baseball this weekend.

2011-07-10T22:37:00.000-04:00

We had a great weekend up in Beaver for another ball tourney. It was extra nice because one of Tommy's hockey buds Kyle got to play with us because we were short players. We enjoyed the time with our "winter friends" and we'll spend another weekend together in North Branch next weekend as we battle again on the sandlot.

Tommy did better this weekend finally ending his No-for streak with some good clutch hits and RBI's. I'm so thankful he is out of that slump and hopefully for good! They ended up losing today in the semi's in the last inning after working hard to tie it up in the 5th. We were down from the first inning on but were never out. We only lost 4-3 which is a low score at this level of ball. The pitching and defense are just getting so much better. We finished 2-2 on the weekend. Not bad.

So I love that Tommy got out of his hitting funk; but he had a rough time on field. If we can just get him to fire on all cylinders then I'll really be loving baseball. And by that time it will be over and then we can get to the real fun...HOCKEY!!

A New National Anthem? Thanks but No Thanks

2011-07-07T21:56:00.000-04:00

So since reading this article in Parade Magazine on Sunday the thought of a new national anthem keeps coming back to my mind. I remember in high school in band being asked to practice the national anthem for probably the thousandth time in my life and piping up to my band teacher about being sick and tired of playing this song again and again and couldn't we play something else like God Bless America before the football games. Well it's still embarrassing to me today that she pretty near ripped me a new one in front of my classmates about when she hears the song she feels pride and yada, yada, yada keep my crazy unpatriotic opinion to myself, shut up and play. I also probably feel bad that Joe even later said something to me probably along the lines of "why do you have to start stupid shit like that?" I don't know; I was just being belligerent I suppose.

I don't think I meant any malice towards our country's anthem but I also don't think I understood just how meaningful the song was until I reached the ripe maturity of adulthood. I will tell you now that one of my biggest pet peeves is people being disrespectful during it's play. Kids at sporting events are the worst but adults are sometimes no better. Just stand there and shut up for one minute people! Drives me insane.

Anyways, I guess I was only 20 years ahead of the masses when I questioned my band director about this. However, as much as I love God Bless America and America the Beautiful, The Star Spangled Banner is what I want to hear even if million dollar celebrities or school choirs continue to butcher it. Since I don't have to play it everyday in band class I've grown to love it and love the way it makes me feel when an assembly sings along.

What do you think? Is it time to retire Francis Scott Keyes version? BTW, I teach a student who is related to said author. And who doesn't swell with pride when they finally get to "o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave" when we do get an excellent singer to deliver it?

My Love/Hate Relationship with Baseball

2011-07-02T21:06:00.000-04:00

Oh America's favorite past time. Everyone knows of my love for the Tiger's however there is another team that I love even more. The 2011 10&Under Reese Rockets. Big Tommy has been playing for this coach on this team for the past two seasons and we really like it. We love going to games and the families are all wonderful people too. We of course simply love the game and now that the kids are older it's getting more exciting with stealing bases (or attempting), spectacular plays in the field, and some really monstrous hits!

Last weekend they won the Reese Tournament which was unexpected but sweet. We won our first game of pool play but then lost the next two figuring we'd be out. It was powerhouse Clio who'd gone 3-0, and the other three teams all with one win a piece. We lucked out as we won the tie-breaker by giving up the least amount of runs. Yay for excellent defense! It was like we'd channeled the Bay County Blizzard as we won the Championship game after nearly not even making it to advance. I guess you have to take the good breaks along with the bad. It's just been working out.

Now why I hate baseball. It's such an individual sport! All eyes are on the batter or pitcher. Who ends up being the hero? Who ends up being the goat? Tommy is slumping at the plate in the worst way and I try not to let it get to me but if it's bugging me so bad, I can only imagine how bad it's making Tommy feel. He's always been known more for his defense as the catcher (he can also play the field) but he can hit and I hate to see him struggle so badly! In the regular season he was able to snap out of some funks by bunting. He hasn't been able to try that yet. Sunday after the game was over he said to make sure I blog about how he didn't have a hit all weekend. Seriously kid? He did get on base a few times with walks and getting hit by a pitch once. But it's just not like a beautiful base hit.

The low point for us in the weekend was the Saturday night game. We were winning 2-0 for most of the game (against pesky Clio of course) but gave up 3 runs in the top of the last inning. We are now down 3-2, have two outs, two on and Tommy is up to bat. Oh he could be the hero! At this point I'm just praying for contact, even if he gets out at least let it be because a fielder had to make a play. However it ended dismally, he didn't even swing and watched three straight strikes go by. I kept hearing the final words of "Casey at the Bat" in my head. Oh agony. No heroics from Tommy and that my friends was his 3rd strikeout of the game. It was just not his night. But winning the whole thing the next day definitely softened the blows of his dismal batting. The next day was thankfully better as he did put the ball in play he just couldn't get that elusive hit.

Being an individual game but not quite an individual game, you thankfully can't blame an entire loss on one player. We also see the other poor kids booting ground balls, misjudging fly balls, and of course striking out. It's just hard when it's your kid out there; you hope and pray that his teammates aren't thinking oh here's an easy out. If I can find a silver lining in this whole business is that I am being humbled a bit (him too). Out on the ice I have total confidence in Tommy and feel like the team is in good hands when he is out there. Sure he makes bone head moves sometimes but he also plays some fantastic defense and always helps his team more than hurts it. I'm a proud Mama in the rink and want him out there during sudden death overtime. In baseball I'd rather have someone else with their neck out on the line bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the 9th.

Thankfully we have three more weekends of tournament ball. Hopefully Tommy will get out of his slump and by August I will love baseball more than hate it. I'll keep you posted. And when it's all said and done, it really is just a game. A game that every kid should LOVE and play for the love and not the glory.

No soliciting please

2011-06-24T20:24:00.000-04:00

I love this picture. I took it about a year ago. This was the parting gift the St. Elizabeth class of 2010 gave me. I never thought I would have a beautiful statue of Our Lady to adorn my home. They are quite pricey. I was absolutely thrilled when they unveiled her to me.

A little joke with Joe was that maybe she would keep the religious proselytizers away. Well she hasn't. We got a few visits last summer and this morning some poor JW lady got me in my pajamas and also saw Ashley & Austin in their undies. She didn't stay long, just wanted to invite us to their big event at the Dow Event center and gave us some literature. These people are always so sweet and I would never dream of being rude to them, heck I've even prayed with them. I'll always listen to their spiel and usually say thank you but no thank you I'm very solid in my Catholic Faith. But I wish them well and they're usually on their way, no pressure.

I do however find the commission salespeople particularly annoying. Poor Joe had to deal with the book dude who finally tracked us down last Saturday morning. The neighbors had warned us he lingered for about an hour when he talked with them earlier in the week. Joe must have told the guy a nice "no and I'm about to have breakfast" three times before finally getting rude and pretty much slamming the door in his face. And seriously couldn't the dude smell our bacon cooking?

I guess the Lord does a good job of sending the religious people to me and the sales people to Joe. Maybe I should find a Jesus statue that has him holding a "no solicitors" sign. Eh, that might be a bit tacky. You can however buy this cute guy on Amazon.

Me personally, I hate soliciting and just am not good at saying no or at being told no. I could never be a salesperson or a Jehovah's Witness for that matter. But to those who are a hearty good luck to you; it takes all types to make the world go round.

And P.S. - I'll still buy your Boy Scout popcorn, Girl Scout cookies, pizza kits, etc. So don't be afraid to send your kid my way even after the above rant. ;)

Aust-incredible

2011-06-22T22:44:00.000-04:00

The kid's amazing. Yearly the high school basketball team and coaches host a youth basketball camp and the boys decided to go. They loved it!! I was of course worried about Austin but he did wonderful. It was a week long for an hour and a half. They had lower hoops that Austin could do well on and had separated the kids into skill level. I noticed the first day that Austin was in a group with all girls but he didn't care one bit. I'm thankful there that he's pretty happy go lucky in that regard. He seems to get along well with everyone.

They ended up giving out trophies to a few of the kids and I'll be darned Austin got one for being Camp Hustler. Maybe being in that group with all the girls?? haha I was pretty proud that he was picked; I know some of it is sympathy but I'll take it.

When Austin was finishing up Tommy's group would be arriving so we'd watch a bit and he always had a smile on his face. I had Tommy video once and it's too long to post but it's awesome to hear Tommy & his gang cheering for him and one kid clearly said "Austin is so cool." Kids are pretty awesome. They don't scare from disabilities so much and I'm thankful. Austin has a great gang of kids in his class that I know will look out for him forever, as long as Austin stays a nice kid I suppose anyway.

Back in school we had a pep assembly and everyone had to go around the gym with a bean bag on their head in a relay race. Austin's team was last and Austin was the last kid to still go and all the kids started cheering him on, "AUSTIN, AUSTIN, AUSTIN" as he's going around the gym all by himself. You should see the nervous smile he puts on for that. Pretty near the same thing happened during another assembly when they played musical chairs only the older students were the chairs and the younger kids had to sit on their knees. Once again it was Austin near the end and the chants were going again, "AUSTIN, AUSTIN, AUSTIN" and I'll be darn this time Austin won. I think a little bit of help may have happened as I know the "chair" yanked Austin onto his knee at the end. All that to say, I know people say kids these days are all jerks but I clearly know some kids who are not.

Here is a video from Austin's first day of camp. They're playing dribble tag and you can see he does pretty well. I didn't notice until watching it that the girl who gets Austin out should have been out earlier as she clearly lost her dribble but she just picked up and kept going instead of going out. Little Cheater Girl! There I go picking on little 2nd graders; bad me!

I know Austin will never win any basketball games all by himself but I'm thankful he gets to play ball with his friends and have fun doing so. During the scrimmage he was kind of like a monkey in the middle. He'd run down to the end of the court and the ball would already be coming back the other way, so he'd run that way, and you get my drift right? I never saw him touch the ball during the scrimmage. However, he never seemed to tire and seems to be running very well. I guess that Camp Hustler trophy was legit.

Can't sleep again!!

2011-06-19T04:04:00.000-04:00

Dang it this is not cool! Especially as it's Father's Day and I definitely have to be the one that's up early with the Monster. Hopefully she'll at least sleep past 7:30.

We had the Reese Knights of Columbus 25th Anniversary Mass and Dinner Party tonight. Wow it was a nice time. Those old dudes sure know how to throw a party. It was pretty near a full far but I just hit the wine and hit it hard. The room was a spinning tonight and now I can't sleep. Allergies aren't helping; maybe I need to take a nip of Ashley's Claritan? But that and motrin plus nothing to eat since the party might send me over the edge and I'd end up praying to the porcelain god. Something I'm proud to say has never happened to me. And yeah, I'm a jerk about that. Last fall one of the hockey Mom's overdid it and she was still ralphing the next afternoon and I was in the bathroom with her and another Mom and she was feeling so embarassed and the other Mom says "oh honey, don't feel bad we've all been there done that" and I replied "actually I haven't." And I wonder where Tommy sometimes gets his lack of tact.

Anyhoo, I'd never hear the end of it if it was a K of C event that I finally brought me to my knees. After all, most of the guests there are probably drawing social security. Thankfully Joe got me out of there pretty early. 9:30 lol. And I'm seriously going to be fine but darn it why can't I fall back asleep.

Another badness about being up is I'm such a chicken. Every little noise freaks me out. And of course I have lights on and figure there's somebody out the window spying on me. Oh such a nerd. If Joe ever keels over or ends up leaving me I'm buying a big dog or heck maybe I'll just move in with my Mom or Dad. They'll protect me. :) For right now, I'm certain there is someone prowling around in the basement and there's definitely a monster in the freezer. It's probably just the ice maker but why make ice at 3:53 in the morning?

And for now, I guess I'll try to head back to bed or maybe it's time to eat something. Grandma made meatball subs tonight for the kids and there's sure to be leftovers. Maybe I should add heartburn and indigestion to my night? eh maybe not. I never understood why drunk people always want to go to Taco Bell to sober up. Seems like you'd really be making a bomb in your stomach then.

And P.S.
Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's and Grandpa's out there! I'm Blessed to have such a great Dad and to be married to such a wonderful husband who is also a very good Dad! We are off in the morning to Ann Arbor for Austin's hockey banquet with his team. It'll be nice to see everyone again.

A Boy and His Phone

2011-06-16T03:29:00.000-04:00

Look at me, another post in one week. Seems kind of early in the summer vacation season to have my middle of the night can't sleep post. It's Ashley's fault. She woke up at 2:15 to go potty and has been off and on up since then too. I think she finally just settled down but I'm not tired. It's hot out too. Weren't we supposed to get storms?

We finally caved and bought Tommy a cell phone recently. And of course it had to be a an IPhone. Mind you it's an Iphone 3 but there is still part of me thinking why on earth spend $25 a month on such a luxury? Well I'll tell you why. My husbands a nerd and that's just what we do. ;) We finally got one because he started riding his bike to school. He's also been staying home alone more often and it's just nice to be able to check in with a text message. I know all of us survived without one back in the day but now that we don't need to why would we try and ignore technology? Same with helmets. I'm still a nut about the kids, "you don't wear it, you don't ride." And thankfully they don't balk, and I don't believe they are given any crap about it at school either. As for the Iphone, Tommy was quickly trumped when a girl in his class was given an Iphone 4 soon after he got his. I can't believe my "gotta keep up with Jones' in geek speak husband" did not go right out and upgrade him.

I guess this is the age because a few hockey friends have got phones now too. They are all about texting him but Tommy doesn't seem to be too into that. Oh to be always connected. I think when I was his age I was always on the phone. And blasted those days of long distance charges. My dad would get so mad when we'd get the phone bill. At least with Tommy we shouldn't get any crazy extra charges, until the day he goes bugs in the app store.

Wow 2 months off the blog

2011-06-13T11:29:00.000-04:00

I didn't think it was that long but geesh! What can I say it was a busy spring but thank the Lord I've made it to summer vacation! Ah bliss. I did have thoughts of just letting the blog die a slow death, but being I'm on vaca maybe I can breathe a bit of life into it and see if I really want to keep it going. It is going on about 4 years old now.

So to catch up on life here is what we were up to in Happy's & Crappy's format.

Happy - School is out!!

Crappy - Tommy got 3 stitches in his head after horsing around at school. Man that sucker bled, and bled, and bled. On the outside I was amazingly calm, on the inside I was freaking out thinking please don't die, please don't die like this. I know, a bit melodramatic.

Happy - Austin made his 1st Holy Communion. It was a very special day for our very special boy. I still get nervous with him going up there but so far there have been no disasters. I'll probably be nervous forever.

Happy - Dad's 60th surprise birthday party to the Detroit Tiger game. He thought only 7 of us were going but we surprised him with 26 guests. He loved it! The 15 passenger van was a real hoot.

Happy - Adam & Katy's wedding; such a great night!

Happy - Both boys are doing well in baseball and are finishing up their seasons. Ashley continues to do well at Honeybees.

Crappy -We all battled some crappy illness that lingered for over a week, hit our throats, eyes, just crappy, crap, crap. I think we are finally all mended.

Happy - Joe & I went with Tommy and his class to Mackinaw for 3 days. Bless the Muylle's for keeping our younger two for us. Fun times. For Mike & Jill - remember the deuce. I probably should've have made that a crappy bahaha.

Crappy - I haven't taken time to plant flowers yet.

Happy - Tommy got Citizenship award for the year in his class, and a 3.94 GPA. He was also the 2nd highest AR point getter in the whole school with over 500 points.

Happy - Austin did okay in school. We had him tested for Special Ed. just to see how he was measuring up and he is borderline/low average. No SPED for Austin; we'll just keep working with him. The psychologist said he's a great kid and could tell he has a lot of support. We start the Papesh Summer School program today for all the kids. :)

Crappy - Haven't been to the cemetery very recently.

Happy - I celebrated my 33rd birthday and don't feel older than 30 most days. ;)

Happy - My hockey team won the championship and I ended my almost year long scoring drought with at least one, maybe two goals in that game.

Happy - Austin finished his hockey season. Such a little pro. We have his banquet on Sunday.

Crappy - Austin continues to have dental issues. We're already being prepped at the prospect of braces but a bigger fear is him losing his bottom two middle permanent teeth. He gums are rescinding bad due to bacteria and we gotta do better about brushing numerous times a day and chewing sugar free gum. I'm praying he can keep those teeth. Pretty significant crappy I know.

Happy - Coed Softball has started up again. We are 1-1.

Happy - We have Cedar Point/Michigan Adventure Platinum passes! Yeah! Anyone wanna go?

Happy - I graduated another group of fine 8th graders. I was given a beautiful yellow rosebush with an awesome hand painted pot from them. I love all my students.

Crappy - My house is always a disorganized mess. Am really hoping to remedy this soon.

Happy - The boys started basketball camp at the public school today. Austin already had his session and LOVED it! I am always nervous about him with his bad wing but he did fine! Tommy is at his session right now.

Crappy - My beloved former teacher and now coworker Mrs. Bremer is retiring. I'm so happy she waited until Austin made it to 3rd grade. She is such a special lady and just did so much for both boys but especially Austin.

I think that is it! Ashley is two and is quite the pistol. She's decided she doesn't want to nap or go to bed lately so we've had some bedtime battles. I'm loving her longer hair and am hoping to not cut it for a long time but even with a pony you can see it can look a bit moppish. And Austin is just being Austin. :)

So life is good. As you can see the happy's are outweighing the crappy's which is always a great sign. It was fun to write this; I'll be back and hopefully sooner than 2 months.

Austin's Confirmation

2011-04-14T21:28:00.000-04:00

Tuesday night was Austin's confirmation. I really don't like the idea of the children being confirmed so young. I personally was confirmed in 10th grade and I think 6th-8th grade would be a more ideal age. Rumor has it this Bishop may just make that change. Who knows?

Next big event is 1st Communion on May 1st!!! Big year for Big Austin! He looked so pure and holy on Tuesday night, but don't worry he was back to his wicked and wile ways today. He told his Occupational Therapist while she was working with him at school that I didn't work there, that I worked in Fairgrove. And you know what she almost believed him. Such a scheister.

Hail to My Little Victor!

2011-03-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

My what a difference a month makes. You remember weeks ago how frustrated I was about Austin's progress or lack thereof. Well soon after that rough post he really turned a corner. Up until today we hadn't had any tears or need for breaks during hockey the past couple weeks. Today he skated as best he ever has however, I think a late night at Grandpa's made for a very tired and emotionally tested Austin. He'd fall and cry, he complained often that his feet hurt, it was just a rough go. But check out the video and be amazed at how well he is skating! And you can also see him score a goal today. Crazy good day!

 <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jhlOK_Y-fng" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

After the practice a few of the players went over to the U of M field house where Dance Marathon was taking place. This is where Coach Jackie received the grant to start the hockey program. It was a very neat experience and nothing like I imagined. These kids are out there for 30 straight hours, have no idea what time it is, and dancing in a carnival atmosphere all to raise money for kids with physical disabilities. They would also pay tribute to some kids they had helped and had testimonies and such. One teenager was playing the drums along to Eminem's Lose Yourself. The gist of his story was he was hit by a babysitter in the chest at 4 months old and his heart had stopped for 28 minutes. He had severe cerebral palsy and talked very slowly but was able to beat that drum and cymbal with his rigid arms. It was so incredibly sad yet inspiring and it brings tears to my eyes thinking about it again.

And look who we got to meet?? Ashley freaked right out. She was terrified so we didn't try to track down anymore characters though we really would have liked a picture with the U of M Storm Trooper and a Sand Monster.

I'm glad we got to see what the Dance Marathon was all about. Throughout this whole project we have not had to pay for anything. Never an ice bill and if we hadn't had all hand me down equipment they would have given us all new equipment except skates which kids can rent and bags and they've slowly salvaged enough bags as hand me downs from others. The number of volunteers on the ice each week is also impressive with Austin often having one on one help with these awesome young adults and a few not so young adults.

Every week since mid-January, Austin and either Joe, myself, or our whole family has made the 90 minute trek to and from Ann Arbor. On the way down we always see this billboard. And I always go back to those dreaded days in 2003 when we almost lost him. U of M saved him though he's had a horribly tough go at times. Over 7 years later U of M is still there helping Austin along with many other heroes to be the best that he can be. I know all you State fans are probably rolling your eyes at this but "Hail to my Little Conquering Hero you've come so far my crazy boy!"

Squirt A MAHA Champions!

2011-03-20T20:48:00.001-04:00

There are hockey games, and then there are hockey games. Any given day, any given team can win no matter how good on paper the other team is. It's who's left standing in the end that matters. And today ended an unbelievable journey for the underdog Blizzard! Here is the recap.

Early January we hear that we are in a District with the Saginaw Badgers and the Blue Water Stars. We beat Saginaw in the round robin but lose to Blue Water (who had eliminated us in Silver Sticks and ouch did that hurt). District Semi's we once again beat Saginaw setting up the rematch with Blue Water for the District Championship which we do win. Blue Water then goes on to the Second Chance game and gets into the State Tournament this weekend also. Those darn Stars just won't go away quietly!

Soon we get the division alignments and see we are in a tough division with Troy who manhandled us 8-0 during our last visit, Ann Arbor, and Macomb who we've played pretty evenly. We have Ann Arbor Friday night, Macomb Saturday morning, and Troy Saturday in round robin play. I figured we had to win against Ann Arbor Friday night to even think about moving on and we lost. I then went home because Austin had Sacrament Class and Ashley went to Honeybee's with Julie. Saturday morning the Blizzard tied Macomb and it seemed like we were toast and I decided to not even drive down last night to watch us get killed by the team who had a good chance going in of winning the whole thing. Well we ended up winning 5-0 in a phenomenal game (Joe's words) getting us a 2nd seed draw in today's semi's. Another upset in the other division was a KV loss to Blue Water. Here we were having to play those pesky Stars again but it was better than playing KV who clobbered us two weeks ago in the LCAHL semi's. I wasn't there and I think I'm glad as it went into 7 overtimes!! That's right 7. They played over two full games this morning. Ann Arbor took KV into 6 overtimes but KV prevailed. What a crazy weekend of Squirt hockey! So many teams saying we were so, so close.

Game time was here and I was honestly thinking a loss was looming but was thrilled knowing we'd be State runner ups! The game started a little late but had a little more hoopla. They called out the starting line-up and also had a gal sing the National Anthem. See this tourney is special! And kudos to Joe he was saying all last week we were going to win. I'm so glad he was right.

The game soon began and we come out and scored but KV quickly answered, we were tied 1-1 after one period of play. The second period KV scored first but we end up answering. Tied 2-2 after two. Oh Lord, please don't let this game go to OT. In the 3rd we scored with a little less than 9 minutes to go and held on to win. What a euphoric feeling for sure!

It was kind of poetic justice today as way back in that first tourney in the fall KV stung us hard in the tournament final. This was also the team if you remember we were tied with 12 seconds to go and Tommy had a breakaway and missed the net that initial weekend. He cried that day and the next day we took 2nd place when they crushed us 6-2. There would be no crying for Tommy today, no heroics from him either, but just solid hustle and good play all weekend. I only saw two of the five games but he looked good from what I did see, though he definitely looked out of gas towards the end today.

All year it's been talk of KV & Troy and the rest of us teams were just there for beating on. We had some good games through the year and pulled off a few upsets and some lower ranked teams beat us too. But today in the State Tournament when it really mattered it was the 2001 Bay County Blizzard who rose to the top!

Starting Line Up

Face Off

Tommy after receiving his medal

MAHA State Champs!

This post brought to you by the number 10!

2011-03-16T20:39:00.000-04:00

This post is over a month overdue! Hopefully I will get Ashley's birthday post out still this month. Tommy turned 10 on February 4th. As you can see by the jerseys he likes the number 10. He has lucked out the last few years being able to get 10 for hockey, baseball, and basketball. And now I'll be darn, he is 10 years old. Where oh where does the time go?

Embracing the Pale

2011-03-05T20:54:00.000-05:00

Red Hair and Freckles.

Dad says I came home from school crying in 1st grade because kids said my hair was fake, that I "painted it." The story is kind of funny. But all growing up I just didn't understand why I couldn't be normal. In my small school my family was the only set of gingers. Years later I embrace my red hair (though it is enhanced chemically with both high and low lights), but I am still not fond of the fair skin and freckles.

There has been talk in the news this week about the government putting a ban on teenage tanning at salons. I never tanned as a teenager, and if I was at home (I'm at a hotel) I'd maybe post a prom pic of pale me and my tanned cousin. (she looks way better) I did however tan three different times in my 20's and I have to say dang I looked good. But was it worth the premature aging of skin and worse possibly skin cancer? I would have loved the tan ban as a high schooler as it would have been more of an equalizer for me with my peers. Now I say I hope my kids aren't as shallow as I was and are confident in their fair skin. Trying to fit in, I often tried the sunless tanners but usually ended up a streaky orange. Why did I ever care what others thought of me? On to today's issue, I don't think it's the government's place to be banning this for teens, I do however believe that they should need parental consent to tan. And in this household, it would be a big fat NO for teenage tanning. I just wish teens didn't feel the need to tan to feel beautiful during prom season.

That all being said, I still prefer a tanned body, however, after reading this article from the UK I've decided to ditch the bronzer and blush and just go au natural. I'm ready to embrace my inner Nicole Kidman and Marcia Cross. Now the question is, will I look svelte and chic like the mentioned celebrities? Or sick and pasty? Again, why do I even care? I have a wonderful husband who loves me no matter what I look like, and I wear my clothes well. It's just the upcoming summer season that has me loathing my red hair and freckles.

The Potty Whisperer

2011-03-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, it's me. So two weeks ago today I embarked on the 3 day potty train plan. Don't count that first day and I can count her accidents on one hand. That's right FIVE! Two that next day on Wednesday, two the following Sunday, 1 a week later on Thursday and that my friends has been it. The girl is doing phenomenal! She even reached a huge achievement finally landing a deuce at school. That has been the only major trial in this whole process. She doesn't like to poop on the potty. However, she also will not go in her underwear. So we often do this up down dance forever until she finally goes. Today was not so bad though it was like 5 minutes of up/down. Maybe we are on our way. The more often she goes, the more comfortable she will get. I'm hopeful anyways, I had the same darn issues with both boys and deserve an easier go. ;)

I am so proud of my little girl and heck I'm proud of me too. :) And the rest of the family and caregivers. They've been wonderful through all this. Miss Jill even made her an adorable potty book. It's so darn cute.

Sometimes however when we've gone to pee for the fourth time in an hour I do think diapers were certainly easier and more convenient. However, the closer she gets to her two year old birthday the more attitude she seems to give and the more intense of a tantrum she throws. I guess I'd rather have the fight now, rather than later and now it hasn't been much of a fight. As for saving money? I think I bought months worth of cost of diapers in new underwear, at least that in new potty seats, the laundry for a while was much more often.

And did I also mention that she has been staying dry at night and for naps too? I'm in freaking shock over here. I don't remember the last time she peed the bed though I know it was in the last week, but not since the weekend for sure. Amazing!

So I said I'd be singing this lady's praises if it worked I must give credit out there. 3 Day Potty Training There is the link for anyone who is interested. I guess Ashley was just ready. I still know there could be accidents here or there but for now I'm calling her potty trained. We take her out and about and have no problem. We do have to bring her little purple potty seat with us but I guess I'll deal with that. Somehow I'm thinking diapers may just be a bit more sanitary than putting our potty ring on all these toilet seats. But I'm not going back there, I think the diaper stage in my life is finally over. Happy/Sad. ;)

Chuck E Cheese - Not Just A Rat Establishment

2011-02-26T22:06:00.000-05:00

So apparently the Saginaw Chuck E Cheese will have a hired police officer on sight on Thursday - Sunday. For us personally this is about 7 years too late. But first of all, how ridiculous that a children's establishment would have to have police presence at all.

You can read the local article here. The article is rather lame, it's the outrageous comments that make you laugh right out loud.

Joe and I vowed never to go to Chuck E Cheese ever again on a weekend or even late on a weeknight after getting to witness one of these "family spars" back in January 2004. I had infant Austin in a booth and Joe had almost 3 year old Tommy playing out in the game room when all hell breaks loose and people come running to the back of the restaurant claiming someone has a gun. It was scary but nothing ever became of the incident and who knows if there was even a gun there but it was still enough for Joe and I to say "never again." I remember dragging a heartbroken Tommy out of the place as our fun family night was abruptly put to an end.

Joe worked there in high school/college and said that every year there was one birthday party that always ended up with police called due to Baby Mama Drama. Once a year. Now it's a once a week thing. Totally disturbing.

Now about those LOL comments. I probably shouldn't be laughing. The decent person in me knows that there are bad apples in every bunch that ruin everything for the good majority. The human nature in me thinks something much more dastardly that I know is wrong so I won't voice it.

I will just sum this up by saying if Chuck E Cheese's new police presence every weekend does not curb the violence I'd honestly rather just have them close it down. I'm just waiting to read in the news about a homicide of some innocent bystander at CEC of all places. Simply incredulous.

Potty Training the Monster

2011-02-17T19:37:00.000-05:00

Overall it's going well. I'm doing Lora Jenson's 3 day training deal and I know I have a bunch of doubters out there but day three is here and we've just about conquered.

Ashley threw away all her diapers on Tuesday morning and there's been no looking back. She mastered peeing on the potty yesterday and has been dry all day today. She did however resist going poop on the potty and since she hadn't gone since Monday I knew today she had to go. It's been a day of up/down, up/down, probably about 30 times an hour at times but she'd say "potty" we'd run get on, panic, get off and then repeat over and over. Finally, we just camped out in the big bathroom upstairs and she did go on the potty and has been such a pleasant little girl ever since. I definitely think we are on the way.

Tomorrow we will try our first trek out and about. Austin has therapy at 11:00 so she'll either go with us there or she'll go to daycare for a few hours. We'll see. Then Honeybees & Church on Saturday. Lots of nice short outings in the coming days. I'm sure she'll have a few accidents and maybe a setback or two but I'm cautiously optimistic at just how well this has gone three days in.

Fingers crossed!!

Austin's Hockey

2011-02-13T20:25:00.000-05:00

Well after much anticipation (remember we first heard about this in September) Austin finally started hockey in Ann Arbor. Today was week five, and honestly to say it's going well would be an overstatement. It's been a very rough and shaky start with many tears (mostly Austin's) and very minimal progress. Honestly after watching video from the first week and comparing to today I'd say he's actually regressed. I guess one positive is that he continues to go out there and he does not seem any worse for wear emotionally after it's over. God Bless his lovely coaches and the doctor who coordinated this because for many of the kids it's been wonderful and I'm still hopeful that Austin will find success with this.

I guess my biggest heart ache is I'd figured a special needs hockey team would put Austin on a level playing field and it's just not happening. He is the youngest one out there and there are some kids that are 5-6 years older than him. Many of the other kids are doing super and I'm so happy for them but Austin just can't skate. He is scared of falling and can barely move out there. I will say one positive is he can pass about as good as anyone. That is thanks to all those mini-stick games in our living room. He's got great accuracy. I just need to get him skating. Joe took him to Bay County Friday night for open skate and said he did well. Maybe he just doesn't perform well for me. Our next step is to try and get him out on the ice more locally and hopefully get him moving.

His PT does think it's helping his right foot strength which is another positive. He's seeing movement and flexibility in the foot now so that is another good thing. It's just hard when it looks like everyone else improving exponentially and Austin is still stuck at square one. We'll stick it out for the duration though which right now I don't know what the duration is so we'll just have to wait and see. Will keep you posted on the progress or lack thereof but hopefully soon we'll have a breakthrough.

Where I've been...

2011-02-03T11:49:00.000-05:00

I know I've neglected the blog but I am on the last book. I'll be better in February, I promise. January sucked anyways, January's always do.

The Top 10 Events of 2010!

2011-01-01T10:48:00.000-05:00

Again a rather tame year but one of the best yet! Here is my 2010 Review

10. Ashley's Honeybee's - Hard to believe we already have her in organized classes. She loves it and I love going with her when we don't have hockey. Thankfully she always gets to go as her Godmother Julie or Miss Jill & Tiffany will get her there if we are busy. She is really getting mobile and verbal these days. Love her to death!

9. The Blizzard Bus Trip to Notre Dame - I think it was the coldest weekend of the year but we thoroughly enjoyed this trip to the beautiful campus of Notre Dame. My Dad came with us to visit with an old army buddy so that made it even more pleasant. The Basilica is just beautiful and mass was very wonderful. It was The Baptism of the Lord weekend, so the church was still decked out for Christmas. It was a very conservative mass; neat experience. The Grotto is so beautiful too.

8. Kid's Sports - Tommy's hockey team won 4 tournaments and was runner up in 2 tourneys. His baseball team didn't fare as well this year but we enjoyed playing in a couple of travel tournaments. His coed basketball team did awesome only losing one game which I think they could beat that team if had a chance to rematch. His class is going to be awesome. Austin's coach pitch - Another super year for Austin. He loved it!

7. Washington DC Trip with my students- I'll just say everyone survived and I think most people had a good time. ;) I sure did!

6. Our Northern Adventure - We dusted off the camping gear for the first time in years and roughed it in the Brethauer backyard up in Interlochen. The kids loved swimming in Lake Michigan and seeing the Blue Angels at the Cherry Festival was a very unique experience. Would love to go again!

5. Chicks with Sticks - I'm still loving my ladies hockey. We've taken 2nd place in my two seasons we had in 2010 but it's always a great time. I scored a few goals in the winter season but none this fall. Hopefully I can remedy that soon. I'm a very clean player having yet to receive my first penalty. My big accomplishment in 2010 is I can change on the fly even jumping over the boards. boo-ya! I'm hoping in 2011 to be able to lift the puck on my backhand.

4. Tommy's double overtime goal in February - Tommy had rarely scored ever, in fact he only scored 3 goals all season last year all in February. However the big game taking us to the finals at The Joe Louis Arena is one we won't ever forget. 3 on 3 in double over time and Tommy bags the game winner. I think I cried (which is dumb). The 2001 Bay County Blizzard then went on to win the finals at The Joe in March 7-6.

3. Austin's 1st Reconciliation - Hard to believe he is of age for sacraments. This year will be such an important one for him.

2. Our family room in the basement - Joe and his step-dad Jim put in a lot of hours of hard work converting a room in our old and yucky looking basement into a fabulous family room. Joe and I often remark that we built the house wrong with our huge bedrooms and small living areas. Well we remedied that this fall. We've also become "that family" putting a 58" TV down there to boot. Joe and I have his and her recliners and I've already napped down there numerous times. I think we've become my Grandpa and Grandpa. It's wonderful and I'm so glad we finally took the plunge and did it. I put hours of sweat equity into it doing the paint job but Joe did most of the grunt work.

1. My brother came home - and he is doing awesome!! We are so blessed that Jeff has been home for almost a year now and is thriving. He has a wonderful girlfriend and along with her daughter I think they would be a welcome addition to the O's family. He was given a chance with a job at hotel doing housekeeping and is one of their most reliable workers and is doing great. He and my younger brother Scott just moved into an apartment here in town together and I can only see good things in the future for both of them. He's proof positive that people can and do change. And honestly how many of us have done things in our lives we aren't proud of? Way to go Jeff! Keep up the good work!

Honorable Mention

$100 Dinner Dance - We didn't win anything but looked great in our Roaring 20's Garb.
A couple of rocking 40th birthday parties - Bryant in February, Jill in June
Disney trips - one in the spring; we spent a great day at Animal Kingdom with the Dreyer family. In the summer my Mom brought her young family. We love Disney but don't plan on going in 2011.
JoDa - 13th Anniversary - yummy Gengi
Coed Softball - always a good time, the Mud Bowl was especially comical.
Reese Varsity Volleyball - Made it to the state semi-finals first time ever. 3 of my former students were on the team!
Todd & Julie's wedding - Absolutely stunning couple.
Ashley's 1st Birthday - Too bad she had a cold and wasn't feeling the best. She was rather grouchy.
Tommy's 2nd place spelling bee finish for the K of C and 4th place finish in the Lutheran/Catholic battle. Darts to homonyms. peace/piece & ceramics.
Christmas Play - Tommy had a pretty decent part as California boy Aaron. Loved his orange spray tan. :) And the boy can sing.
Austin's improvements - He's reading well now and his extra therapy is definitely strengthening him.
Cedar Point & Michigan's Adventure - Always a blast!!
Skiing
Bojo pool parties
Halloween - Boo, Sully, & Mike were a real hit!

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch but that is a pretty big list! Bring on Prime 2011! Happy New Year!

Another Austin Accomplishment

2010-12-28T18:41:00.000-05:00

He was only successful that one time but needless to say we were both thrilled!

Well why don't you cry about it?

2010-12-23T13:24:00.000-05:00

Life does happen sometimes you know.

I often get perturbed when I have a crazy bad day and someone will throw at me, "could be worse." Of course it could be freaking worse! I know those are good words to live by and yes life "could be worse" but darn it sometimes I may have a blue day and it's not the end of the world. Life isn't always sunshine and roses (even at Christmas time). However, again if I get down in the dumpsy I'd appreciate people just acknowledging it and letting me move on instead of the whole "appreciate what you do have."

This week the stupid couch wouldn't go down the basement. I have beautiful new furniture upstairs that I'm thrilled with. Downstairs I was planning on sending down our ratty 10 year old plaid set down and I bought two feasible lazy boy chairs that aren't the trendiest of items but match said plaid set nicely. We now have 2 ugly yet extremely comfortable chairs and I hath been given permission to buy new furniture; a real wife would be thrilled right? We ended up at a clearance center for another loveseat as we know they'll fit. So we have a power reclining loveseat waiting to be picked up. We'll see how lovely it looks. I keep telling myself it's just a basement. The whole couch deal really flipped my lid. I just didn't want to spend another $800 for a piece of furniture that I didn't want or really need in the first place. But that's life.

2nd piece of crap deal - Tommy has the flu fierce. He's been puking all morning. So now on Christmas Eve's Eve we have to worry about everyone getting sick. Could be worse right?

Joe and I were supposed to go out today and finish our shopping. He took the day off, I signed the kids up for childcare. It was going to be great. The whole day together. Once Tommy puked a second time I just saw the life sucked out of Joe. He was so depressed. Somehow Joe and I will get back in sync either both depressed together or so happy together and hopefully by some miracle no one will be sick the next few days. It's not looking too good though is it?

I guess maybe all I can do is cry...but I won't because it's not worth crying over because truly it "could be worse."

Christmas Fail Card 2010

2010-12-14T10:31:00.000-05:00

This is probably a record getting this on here a whole 11 days before Christmas. Now if I can only get the real cards done and sent out before the big day! We are getting pretty excited over here for Christmas. Ashley loves everything Santa until the real guy comes around. She flipped out when he tried to talk to her when we to the annual Breakfast with Santa. But she loves pointing out Santa pictures or figurines. She's been so much fun this season, but it's Austin who is really excited. Of course he is the one I've had trouble getting a nice picture of. Silly kid. I hope that everyone is enjoying the fun of the season. With 2 snow days I've been able to catch up a bit on real life.

Good Bye Movember

2010-12-02T17:00:00.002-05:00

While I do appreciate the reasoning behind "Movember" I am so happy that December is here and my husband has begun shaving again. It was a "hair-raising" experience to say the least. I do not like facial hair at all. I don't appreciate the prickly smoochies and I just don't think Joe looks good with facial hair. Other men, specifically big baldies can pull off the look just fine. Maybe when Joe is completely bald the facial hair will look better.

So Joe and his cronies at work decided to try and help change the face of men's health by growing some hair. I'm not sure that they made a big financial difference in the cause but maybe they did help with awareness of men's health.

And who knows, maybe I should give up my razor next year too. With my furry genes I'd have a thick redwood forest growing on my legs in about a week. So in honor of all those men who didn't shave in November here is my top 5 list of favorite famous people with facial hair.

1. Yosemite Sam
2. Colonel Sanders
3. Hulk Hogan
4. The Super Mario Bros.
5. Ned Flanders

And who here thinks Conan should shave already???

And finally adding some pics of the "Mo." I put them in B&W because my Iphone for some reason made him look really jaundiced and bleh. I'm so happy to have my handsome hubby back to normal. He looks a little too much like Paul Blart the mall cop in the stache pic.

And one more thing - Now that Joe knows I'm posting this he says I have to put a link to his Team page if anyone wants to help with the cause. ;)

Well I finally did it.

2010-11-26T15:03:00.000-05:00

After two long dramatic years of wondering should I, shouldn't I; I finally cracked and joined Facebook. It became apparent that just about everyone is on there and I really was missing out on a lot. And all of you who are on there do know how many conversations you have with other people that start with "did you hear such and such on Facebook?" I was tired of being out of the loop.

I had really convinced myself that I didn't want to be on as Joe warned me it would be a huge time suck and my computer would be at risk, yada, yada, yada, but it really hasn't been that bad. I'm not a posting fool but I am enjoying going and looking at everyone's pictures and hearing what they're up to.

I didn't know whether or not to allow students to be friends and I just followed suit with Amy and I am allowing it. I am waiting for them to ask me though. Frankly, I know how teenagers are and I figure the ones that want to be friends with me obviously will not be too rowdy or have crazy stuff on there. My thoughts, if they can show it in front of me they probably can show their parents too. So no worries there.

What I do find crazy is all the quizzes and games and I am staying away from those per Joe's advice. Because I really don't need another addiction and from what I hear Farmville is the shiite.

Anybody wanna be my Facebook friend?

Austin's New Skill

2010-11-22T16:02:00.000-05:00

Obviously the 8 weeks of extra physical therapy have helped. He can now jump and get both feet off the ground. Before he would drag that right leg. So kudos Austin.

It looks like his hockey will be starting in January. It'll be Sunday mornings and we are so excited. Everyone has been so supportive of it and I'm sure he'll have a lot of fans there watching him, even though it'll be quite a drive. Can't wait to share all the action with you all!

The Golden Boy

2010-11-12T19:56:00.002-05:00

Yeah, you know I have to be talking about Tommy. What can I say the kid is on a roll. This post will probably be just a bunch of shameless bragging but the dude is having a phenomenal fall. Here are a few of his recent accomplishments.

His hockey team won a tournament in Flint last month.

He got 2nd place in the local KofC spelling bee and qualified to go on to the next level in January.

He was inducted into the National Elementary Honor Society at school.

He got a 4.0 for the first marking period placing him on the Bishop's Honor Roll.

He got the highest AR total in his class; reading for 102 points. He's cruising through the Harry Potter Series.

He was elected Vice-President on the Student Council. He got to emcee the Halloween Assembly did an awesome job.

We had the awards at school today and another Mom asked me how he is able to play sports with all the reading he does and getting the good grades. Tommy is just one of those kids where everything comes naturally to him. The only thing he does not do well is art. Luckily for him we live in a computer age and he does all of his school projects on the computer. He doesn't need a steady hand for that. He also can live with less than normal sleep, he stays up way too late reading but still manages to not suffer in the morning for it. He gets that from his Daddy.

Every so often he'll jovially start in with the chorus of "oh lord it's hard to be humble." It's bad because he's good and he knows it. Hopefully he'll be able to keep it in check though and also not get too stressed out about being perfect. I don't expect him to be perfect as no one is. His opening hockey weekend he had a breakaway with less than 12 seconds to go in a tie game and he missed the net. Oh the chance to be a hero. He cried about letting his team down. But it was probably good for his head that he missed. Because even the golden boys need to be taken to task once in a while.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T20:40:00.001-04:00

What a great night. It was crisp and cool but we've had much worse over the years so we'll take it. My neighbor Rob always goes all out and loves scaring all the neighborhood kids. Tommy especially gets a kick out of him. He always tries to scare him instead but Rob always turns the tables on him. Poor Ashley though was definitely not enjoying their fun. She was very scared especially when Rob came flying through our house after Tommy. Everyone but Ashley thought it was hilarious. She's a big chicken like me.

Overall though she had a wonderful time trick or treating. We did a Monster's Inc. theme this year and the kids got so many compliments on their costumes. They were SO cute and there were so many people out tonight! Tommy was a great sport being something so childish. He said all the little kids wanted to snuggle with him at school on Friday. There is nothing cuter than Ashley hugging on him and calling him kitty.

Austin won funniest costume in his division at school on Friday so that was cool. I remember 7 years ago we went down to U of M to be with Austin after taking Tommy around our circle quick. He was doing so well after being weaned off the ECMO and they were starting to wean him off his vent. I think I'll always think of his first Halloween when we head out TOT. For how rough his life started he's doing remarkably well. I am a bit miffed at a neighbor a little ways down the road. They had another couple over with them handing out candy and they had a very high step. He had some trouble getting up and down this step and I had to help him. We'd also find issues when people would say pick one. He has to set his bucket down and then grab the candy and he just moves so much slower. I was walking away and I hear the neighbor say "I'm not sure what but there's something wrong with him." It didn't even faze me when I heard it but now hours later it's bugging me. I wish I would have turned around and said, "No there's something wrong with YOU!" But cool heads prevailed and hopefully they didn't mean anything malicious by it. It's probably no big deal. I'll sleep on it and feel better tomorrow. Can't let it ruin a great night. So without further ado, a few of our holiday pics. Bring on Thanksgiving!

We all enjoyed carving our pumpkins.

Mike Wazzowski, Sully, and Boo were a big hit in town. Huge thanks to my mother-in-law for making Ashley's costume and also my costume I wore to school on Friday.

Zombie Rob - We could hear kids screaming the whole night.

My Jack Skellington Pumpkin - Joe said it got many comments too. :)

Austin's party

2010-10-30T15:27:00.001-04:00

Was completely insane! No not really but it had some crazy elements.

We came home Wednesday afternoon to find we were out of power. In the almost 10 years we've lived here we've had maybe one significant power outage due to weather. Just one! So we quickly divert our party to Fairgrove at Joe's folks. Make all the calls and such and about 45 minutes before the party suppose to start the power comes back on. So quickly we call everyone again and it's back here. Well lo and behold about 5 minutes later the power goes back off. Boo. So we decided not to call everyone back yet again, got every candle out that I owned, and with the help of a camping lantern we had a nice and dark gathering. The big joke was that everyone looked much better with the lack of light. My brother Scott brought over a friend and she said we had such a nice house and I thanked her and said if she could see she'd notice the very stained carpets and marked up walls, the couch is fraying and there are probably fingerprints on the windows. ;)

Overall it was a very good time. The house smelled like a fruity pebble factory as I had about 10 different scents going. Not very good for my poor smell sensitive father in law. But he toughed it out.

You can't tell from the pictures but it was quite dark in the house. Austin told me all he wanted for his birthday was a stuffed animal and a rosary. Oh be still my heart. :) He got his rosary from Grandma and a bunch of new stuffies as well as some games. Maybe it really was the best birthday ever.

P.S. - He broke his glasses for the first time last weekend. They are fixed now and we'll pick them up Monday. I guess I should be thankful he'd had them a full year before breaking them.

Trick or Treaters Welcome

2010-10-28T19:48:00.001-04:00

But only if you're 12 and under. This morning on The Today Show they featured a town that has banned trick or treaters that are over the age of 12.

I guess I don't like the policy even though I kind of understand it. I personally stopped tricked or treating after 8th grade so I went out when I was 13. That didn't stop me from dressing up for Halloween and still enjoying the holiday but yeah I was too old to do the door to door "trick or treat smell my feet give me something good to eat" yada, yada, yada. My Halloween enjoyment went the way of the crazy parties that I still like to partake of this day.

So trick or treating teens/young adults?? Whatcha think? In our neighborhood we get hundreds of kids trick or treating and we do get the 6 foot tall goblins here too and I'm fine with it. My only issue I have is when you get the massive mob of 15 high schoolers show up on your porch and maybe 2 of them are dressed up and they're acting like a bunch of morons. My thoughts, if you are over the age of 12 and you want to go around and get cheap tootsie rolls and dum dums there are a few etiquette rules that must be followed.

1. You must be in some sort of costume or attempt at altering your appearance. Don't just show up in your jeans and aeropostale hoodie. If you do show up like this don't get all cranky when I start trying to guess who you're trying to be? Una-bomber? Transvestite? Rotten teenager? Just put a stinking sheet over your head or put some face paint on. Just do something!

2. Say Trick or Treat! You want candy? You say the magic words. It's just like when you're going to communion, you say Amen. I think someone once told me they were giving out communion and a person responded by saying thank you. Maybe it was at a wedding or funeral and the person's church attendance was rare. I guess I'll laugh instead of cry over that one. Hopefully that person will come to church again one day. Anyways, I digress; it's "Trick or Treat" and say it with some zest. Chances are I'll give you a Reese's & a Snickers with a smile if you're nice and friendly. Just stand there with a scowl and you get a crappy individually wrapped nasty tasting cough drop.

3. Say Thank You! It burns me when older kids come and don't say thank you. I don't care if you don't like the candy, or adults scare you, you say thank you regardless.

So older kids wanting to trick or treat. I'm not against you. I'll happily welcome you. But you must not act like a bunch of hooligans and hopefully someday when you finally give up trick or treating, I hope if you're able, you'll be generous enough to be handing out Reese's, Nerds, and Snicker bars to young ghosts and goblins and leave the crappy bit-o-honey's on the store shelf where they belong.

Happy Halloween!

Happy 7th Birthday Austin!

2010-10-26T21:21:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to my big boy! He told me today that this was his best birthday ever. And you know what we did? Not much. We started off in Ann Arbor to get new orthotics which equals getting new shoes so that is always great! We ate breakfast at Bob Evans than it was back to school for him. I got him a small balloon bouquet attached to a stuffed animal that was waiting for him on his desk when he got back from lunch. I was always a little jealous when friends would get balloons and flowers delivered to them on their birthdays because I had a summer birthday and would never get the chance. So here I go again living precariously through my children. I'm sure his poor teacher was annoyed with the balloons. They make for kid craziness! Austin also had therapy today and then we went out for his birthday dinner. He wanted to go to Long John Silver's. Ok, so it was a cheap dinner. Tommy had hockey practice so that was it for the night. Tomorrow we'll have cake and ice cream. He has been looking forward to this day since August and we've heard the countdown since the 1st of the month. I'm glad he's had such a good day, but he is definitely easy to please.

Austin in his 1st Birthday Hat

Austin in his 7th Birthday Hat

Happy Birthday Buddy!!

We Love You!

This year's pic

2010-10-17T20:15:00.000-04:00

Since I made fun of Austin so much over last year's hilarious school pic I thought it only fair that I post this year's pic which is absolutely adorable.

Austin's news

2010-10-04T21:25:00.000-04:00

Austin went to Ann Arbor today for his yearly physical medicine check up. He's tightening up a bit more they believe because he's growing so Dr. Green has referred him for some extra therapy. He'll be going back to the same place he went when he was an infant. Once he got walking they were kind of at a crossroads with him because there really wasn't much more to work on with him and he was only 2 so it was hard to communicate. So hopefully a few years later and being a much better talker and listener we'll see some improvement.

She also insisted he get an extra-curricular activity going so I wasn't crazy in my other post about him needing to do something. She said swimming is more of a life skill and to get him some private lessons and then into group lessons once he's more comfortable in the water. So I figured that's what we'd do. She then on a side note said it's too bad we live so far away because they are starting a hockey team for children with disabilities down there and Austin and I both perked up. It's still in the planning stages but if it's a go and Austin gets accepted we'll find a way to make it happen. He loves to play hockey and our living room is the site of at least one mini-stick game per day. It will supposedly only be one day a week, and heck what's another child in travel hockey? Austin's ice is fully paid for by a grant. Thank you Dance Marathon! Now we just have to wait and see but hopefully we'll hear something soon. We would love to have another hockey player out on the ice.

Austin also was fitted for new AFO's. He actually loves this as it means new shoes in a few weeks. That's my boy! We go back on his birthday ~ the 26th. And he has said every day for about a month now how his birthday is coming. Maybe we'll be getting him his own #10 hockey jersey with A. Papesh on the back. Now that would be sweet!

Ego Stroking Sunday's

2010-09-26T21:39:00.003-04:00

Year after year, a small group of us cling to the final days of summer hoping to catch a few more fly balls and feel the wind in our hair as we dash around the bases after a big hit. And apparently there are many others that feel like we do as there are about 75 teams in this hokey coed softball league. Most of the teams are out for there for the love of the game and the beer after wards. Fun and fellowship with dear friends is what make the games enjoyable.

I am currently the team catcher so I get to see and hear it all from the opposing team as they trek up to bat. Seeing the riff raff that is composed of the other teams now that's what makes the games freaking hilarious. So here's to all you all stars (and some not so great players) out there playing in the busch league!

Dear Big Beer Bellied Dude - Yep, you can hit! Good for you! You don't have to trot up to the plate all bad butt in your pin striped pants, spitting, rubbing out the batters box, and stepping out to get one last practice swing before sending your blast over to the next county. And as you cross home plate you don't need to say it was a lucky hit and how "that rarely happens." Imagine how excited you must have been to hit not one but two homers in a game! And then, don't be grumbling about our pitcher throwing them inside later. Oh how merciful of you to worry about hurting one of our players as you blast it right back at them because of an inside pitch. You hit, we'll field (or one of your peons will go shag your home run ball), it's a game, shut up already fathead.

Dear Annoying Jersey People - I don't care that you're "BIG MIKE'S SEXY B!TCH!" Why must you have that printed on your jersey? There are children that attend those games and honestly being anyone's Biatch is demeaning to women everywhere. I guess it's better than Big Mike's Sexy Ho but I digress. Class ladies! Although I think my blog may have taking a class dive with that last line but I'm trying to prove a point here. Also, every team it seems (except ours) has to have the player with the number 69. Seriously, it just isn't that funny anymore. Same with the occasional 007; it's lame people. Just pick a normal number and play.

Dear A Division Teams That Play In Lower Divisions - I'm sure you love beating up on us in our H Division. I'm sure it makes you feel all big and powerful. And I'm sure you really didn't know you would be that good. Come on! How much fun is it to batter a team by 20 runs? Especially when you score half of them in the first inning?

Dear Potty Talkers - I love when you use the F word because you sound like an uneducated hick but I don't like my kids to hear it. In fact a few years ago a man was arrested for swearing up on the Rifle River in front of women and children. So say fudgesicles instead. Who cares if you strike out, or pop out to the pitcher. You shouldn't say **** in public you ******* Fat***. ahahah

Dear Umpires - It's flipping slow pitch softball. Call stinking strikes. Walking should be disallowed in this league. We had a girl ump today for the first time ever and she did call some strikes and no one walked. It was GREAT! Again this is a hitters game.

Dear Batters - Swing the stinking bat and quit looking to walk. See above.

Dear Hoser - I love hearing your lunatic rantings. Keep them coming. :)

Dear Recreation Director - I honestly think you do a terrible job and I wish there was a comparable league elsewhere so we weren't stuck playing in yours. I also don't think YOU should be allowed to play on a team for tournaments. You seem like a nice enough guy, but how many trophies are on display in your sponsor bar when you align the divisions? Seriously, it's just some cheap trophy.

Yeah I'm a whiner butt. But I loved writing this post. We'll be back next Sunday for more action! Put me in coach! I'm ready to play ~ Clap, ClapClapClap, Today!! I LOVE COED SOFTBALL!!

A Long September

2010-09-17T18:10:00.002-04:00

My does the time fly these days. All is well. I figure I'm overdue for an update so here we go.

We started the month with a trip to the point! Tommy is a rider and Austin too. However Austin is just 2 inches too short for the big coasters. Tommy was super brave riding all the biggies except for the ones that go upside down. We'll work our way up to them.

The kids are all doing well back to school. Austin & Tommy are both even years (2nd & 4th) and have the same teacher so had no trouble getting back into the classroom routine. And I'm doing well too. I have another great class.

I currently have a college class about reading and I was dreading it. However I'm surprisingly enjoying it very much and have learned so much in just a few short weeks. You're truly never too old to learn.

I've started ladies hockey again. I'm playing in the pink out at the Saginaw Spirit game next month supporting the fight against breast cancer. It was good to get back into hockey after a long summer off.

It's fund raising season of course. Tommy is selling Little Ceasar's for hockey & Hungry Howie's for his school Mackinaw trip. Our family is up to our ears in pizza.

Ashley started Honeybee's and did very well. She was nervous at first and tends to be a velcro kid but about half way through she started having some fun. And this crazy sap Mom nearly teared up when they played the "hello" song. Just remembering when my boys were babies. *sniff sniff*

Tommy's hockey team has started back into action. After last year's dream season we are hoping they can continue to do well. We are in Toledo for our first tourney this weekend. They already won their first game this afternoon 6-0. They play again tonight at 8:00. We'll see how it goes. We are thrilled to be back in the hockey action.

And the fall A!BM coed softball team is off to a good start winning our first game last week. It's so much fun with friends and it gives us our last taste of outdoor fun before the snow starts flying. And you know that'll be here before we can say Boo.

So that is our busy life. I hopefully will see you all before October.

And in case anyone is wondering, I haven't lost or gained anymore weight in forever. I guess I'm good though the Wii Fit says I need to lose 3 more pounds to hit my ideal BMI. We'll try to shed those last few over the next month.

Austin the hermit

2010-08-30T09:41:00.002-04:00

Tommy will be starting up with hockey for 3-4 days a week once school starts. I'm planning on getting Ashley into Honeybee's with gym jesters soon. Which leaves us with what to do with Austin?

Austin does not want to do anything. He's very shy when it comes to trying new things and it was a stretch to get him to play baseball this year. But he loved it once he was out there. I've suggested swim lessons, soccer, tae kwon do, bowling, I mention it he quickly declines and just says "I don't want to do anything." I really want him to do something more solo like tae kwon do but then I don't even know if they'd take him. And there are other things not physical at all like a choir, maybe eventually he'll go into something like that. But I can't get him to even want to do anything. He's quite a Nervous Nelly and I'm afraid if I don't do something soon I'll be holding his hand when he heads into high school. Granted it's still 7 years away but I don't think I was much different as a 2nd grader vs. a 9th grader when it came to confidence and all.

Maybe this is silly beans but I'm really concerned about getting Austin out and doing something. Any suggestions on an activity I haven't thought of? Any thoughts on persuading him to get out and do something?

A country wedding

2010-08-08T18:26:00.006-04:00

My beautiful cousin Kelsey was married on Friday out in beautiful Pennsylvania. I hadn't seen her or her family in so long so I was really glad that my Mom & I made the trek out there.

Kelsey is a 3 year cancer survivor. You can read about her survivor party she had HERE. You can also see some pics of her on the U of M "bald and beautiful" page HERE She was so brave through her treatment and was an amazing face of strength for other cancer kids. You couldn't help but think back to those dark days and just be so thankful for the moment we were in right then. Later that evening the Daddy-Daughter dance started with Skin by Rascal Flatts and I don't think anyone there had a dry eye. Such a sappy song but perfect for Kelsey and her Dad. Her and my Uncle Bruce danced to that song at her Prom when she was being treated and had the whole floor to themselves. Such a neat story. While her and Bruce danced to Skin and everyone was probably bawling it abruptly cut in to Brown Eyed Girl and that was much more spirited and I was thankful because I was having trouble keeping myself composed. I hate crying in public. I just did my best not to look at anyone else.

Overall - It was the most wonderful of days. To see her on her wedding day looking so radiant and absolutely beaming over her handsome groom was sublime. She is now moving on to Boston where her husband Tom is entering the Seminary to become a pastor. I know she will make a great wife and be a wonderful mother someday.

13 years ago tomorrow Joe and I were married and Kelsey was our flower girl. The time it certainly does fly. Here are a couple of pictures of us on our respective wedding days. As you can see, she has gotten more beautiful and I have gotten homelier...eck. And followed by more pictures of the happy couple's special day.

Kelsey & Dawn - August 9, 1997 - sorry for the pic of a pic poor quality.

Kelsey & Dawn - August 6, 2010 ~ I look horrible and am chalking it up to my Mom not being able to take a good pic even though Kelsey looks good. ;)

Kelsey & my Aunt Michele

The family dog Digger was invited - love his bow tie.

M r. & M r s. T h o m a s E d w a r d s

It's Still July for one more day anyway.

2010-07-30T21:19:00.003-04:00

I'll be darned I had two different people today mention that summer vacation was almost over. For heaven's sake school doesn't start until Sept. 7th!!

I ran into one Mom in the hardware this morning who lamented that summer was going by way too quickly and then a few buddies of Tommy came over tonight and the one kid was like "Mrs. P, school starts in only a month!" I just want to say AHHHH!!!! This has been an awesome summer and I've had a lot of fun already but I still have a whole month to go! Glass half full here people!

Granted this week I did spend some time in my (hopefully gonna be) new Reading Series getting acquainted but I'm not even thinking about going back yet. I'm loving my dog days of summer. But that's us humans always lamenting about the next pivotal yearly moment coming upon us quicker than we want it too; school is almost here, Halloween is right around the corner, Thanksgiving is coming quickly, Christmas will be here before we know it and then oh my, another year gone.

I wonder if time really does fly. Because I do believeth that July hath flyeth by.

Collassal Catastrophe...almost

2010-07-29T20:56:00.006-04:00

Oh wow have I had some disastrous days. The nice neighbors Jolly John and Janet whom I abundantly adore leave us in charge of their gigantic garden and yonder yard every sunny summer while they go on their various vacations. Is that some lame alliteration? Ok, I'll quit.

We get to eat all the veggies we can stomach and enjoy their beautiful yard. One of these years I'm going bold and hosting a garden party at their house. Just kidding. haha. The place is fabulous, all kinds of exotic and not so exotic plants and a fabulous pond with fish and flowing waters and oh just a breathtaking scene compared to our backyard with grass and one tree and token shrubs and small flower bed.

I've been stressing for a few days because I believe I hath killed their Gerber Daisy. I've been trying to resurrect it, I've googled about their care, I've asked others for advice but it's dead. And I'm taking it personally.

But the big disaster occurred today. The pond loses water and I have to fill it often. Last night I went over, fed the fish, took care of the plants and decided to put the hose in and start filling the pond. I told myself I'd come back after I watered my few plants. Well somehow in the course of the action I forgot about the pond. This morning I was up early to paint the boys room and thus took Ashley to daycare. I was backing out of our driveway and thought "why is the neighbors gate open?" Then suddenly the light bulb went on and I gasped and threw the van in park and ran to the yard expecting it to be a mini Lake Michigan and the fish to be floating out by the back fence belly up. My heart just sank and I muttered some expletives. But I'll be darned the yard was not flooded it has thankfully been terribly dry up here. The hose was still going and the pump and skimmer had stopped running obviously I'd flooded the breaker but it didn't look too bad. However, I couldn't find the fish and I didn't know just how jacked the pump was and oh fudge I figured my neighbors would kill me.

I called Joe and he was in the middle of crap at work and I just heard the life force sucked out of him when I told him. He just kind of said "I got nothing for ya" I think he was kind of in shock, he did later apologize for that; good hubby. I then decided to take Ashley to daycare after all and lamented to Jill about my plight. And she got me more worked up about Japanese Goldfish costing like $50 a piece and I'm thinking now OMG I'm going to be paying $500 in replacement fish plus a pump, and other electrical bizz. The Gerber Daisy was suddenly seeming like not much of a big deal. But I was thankful for Jill for the support unlike Fr. Bill who joked that the neighborhood varmints probably ate the fish when they did float down the yard. Aye yi yi.

I head home writing my story on the rotten neighbors website in my head and thinking if John and Janet don't kill me Joe certainly will. Thankfully I discover 3 fish in the pond alive. Yes! They have a ton of lily pads so the other 5 fish were hiding and eventually today I did see them all alive and well. I got up the nerve and called John in Chicago fearing the worst. And you know what? He laughed at me. :) He then said anything and everything in that backyard is replaceable and not to worry about it. They also were coming home today. I was trying my best to get the pump working again but it just wasn't happening. Me + electricity = stupid. Joe got home this afternoon and had it going again in no time. The neighbors then got home and we all had a good laugh about it. I guess John has forgotten about the hose a few times himself.

They brought the kids gifts and said they really should have brought something for me with all the stress I'd been through. Bless my neighbors dear hearts for not being mad at me. I guess in the grand scheme of life there are bigger fish to fry. Hiss Boo.

Riding High!

2010-07-25T09:10:00.002-04:00

Austin's Trail-a-bike finally came in and it was worth the wait. I think it will be great therapy for him with balance, stretching, and strengthening. And best of all he loved it! Tommy I think was the most happy for him which was really nice because sometimes they just don't get along the best. I'm thankful that we got that nice seat back that gave him more support because there's no way he could have stayed on a regular seat. However I think he will be able to eventually. In fact the improvement from him in just 2 days has been nothing short of remarkable. He was so wobbly and couldn't barely get his feet on the pedals to yesterday he was sitting much more stable and was even able to get his pedals around occasionally. He'll only get better.

Here is a short video of his first ride around the driveway.

Are you fat or what?

2010-07-22T08:11:00.004-04:00

Yo Ding Dong Man, Ding Dong, Ding Dong Yo. Ok, for two points where did I steal that famous or not so famous line?

Remember the Diet Schmiet post last year where I vowed to sabotage Joe's diet? Well I was successful with that. ;) However he started up a new plan in December with Spark People and he's had some success with it.

I've never had a problem with weight. I've always had normal BMI and weight but there are definitely problem areas in my body that need some toning et al. But I could pretty much eat what I want and my daily diet consisted of a lot of pop and other junk like cookies.

I found out I was pregnant for Ashley soon after my 30th birthday and since having her I haven't been able to get to under 130. In fact I found myself hovering around 135. Talking with ladies it seems the weight just kind of creeps up there as the years go by and is very hard to lose. My Mom is a testament to this. (sorry mom) Most people I would talk to would give me the "oh don't be ridiculous you're not fat!!" when I'd talk about losing weight. And I know I'm not fat but I don't want to be when I'm 50. One of my biggest supporters has been my Mom and has told me in a nice way I need to nip my weight gain in the bud now. She was like me but has slowly put on weight over the past 20 years. I don't want that to happen to me and neither does she. A couple years ago in Kohl's she was trying on tops and said something about her "bat wings" and Austin quickly chimed in "fat wings." LOL Thankfully she can laugh at that too. Pesky Austin. So with this near 135 experience I've decided to stop trying to defeat Joe and have instead joined him on the Spark. It's on my Iphone and I'm basically counting calories. I wanted to lose 9 pounds in 9 weeks. Well 10 days in and I've already lost 8 pounds. And what I thought would be my greatest difficulty (pop) has not been an issue. I've been under 130 for 3 days now. I'm doing great and I'm hoping I can keep it up. I'm still eating fast food occasionally but I'm drinking more water. I think giving up the liquid calories has been my way of success. Now if I can just tone these flabby areas. But I don't know if I'll ever have solid abs again. Pregnancy just did me in in that regard.

Another supporter has been Joe. And hopefully together we can help each other live a healthier life. I love my husband fat or thin. But I know that a thin hubby gives us greater odds of a long life together. So I guess I am for sure done sabotaging and maybe if we can keep up with our weight loss we'll go in for couple's liposuction eventually.

Oh and just to keep up with all the other popular and not so popular blogs Spark People did not pay me to mention their services and probably shouldn't as I'm not the most popular blog in the blogosphere but I try. ;)

Extremism

2010-07-19T17:41:00.002-04:00

It seems as I age things get crazier and crazier in every way.

Last week I went to Cedar Point with the Muylle's and Amy and had a blast. You can read about that here on Jill's page. The Muylle's were planning a family trip and I all but begged Jill to let me come along and had such a good time. I can't believe the way Cedar Point has changed. I still remember 1989 when the Magnum XL 200 came out and it was such a HUGE DEAL. It was the first coaster to reach over 200 feet and wow was it awesome; still is in my opinion. Then in 2000, the Millennium Force was the first "giga-coaster" reaching over 300 feet, a few years later the Top Thrill Dragster smashed that record hitting 400 ft and going 120 mph in seconds!! What a thrill indeed!! Which begs the question; just how long until the 500 ft record is smashed? My insides are hurting just thinking about it.

Music - yep, it's getting worse and worse. I blame Chuck Berry and My Ding-A-Ling lol. Or maybe it was the Elvis Pelvis works. All I know is that music has been getting more and more out there and nothing really stuns me anymore. Shock rockers/rappers have always been out there and will do what they can to sell albums. But it's too bad that it does have to get more and more extreme. But I don't go all apes when Lady Gaga does some new stupid gimmick, not like I did back in the day when Ozzy Osbourne used to eat the heads off of live bats. Same with movies and tv. No doubt many movies that are PG-13 today would be rated R back in my day.

How about even new extremes in food and beverages? Remember when beer was just beer? Everyone I knew growing up just drank Miller or Budweiser. Now you have Bud Light Lime, Red Wheat, etc. So many varieties. Taco bell - Mild, medium, or hot sauce. Now you've got FIRE!! And I'm married to one of those hit my taste buds harder people. Go out for wings and lets order the 911 wings! Why? I don't get any enjoyment from burning my eyebrows from the inside. It's almost like people are showing off when they eat like that. Joe goes through a bottle of Frank's Red Hot like no other. Ick. It ruins a good taco. Flaming hot cheetos turn your fingers red instead of the classic orange.

Maybe because the only spices I really was exposed to growing up were salt and pepper. But I've definitely evolved and have come to appreciate a tasty meal. But again I can still appreciate salt and pepper how many of you need to have your baked potatoes loaded with bacon and cheese when simple sour creme and chives would do?

And don't even talk to me about portion extremes! Joe's picture used to be on the wall at Captain Hooks in Frankenmuth because he ate a whale burger in under an hour. Oh yeah, he's that good. A burger that's as big as a spare tire and he dumpster-ed it in about 55 minutes. Everything is SUPER SIZED these days!

The proverbial envelope keeps getting pushed further and further to the breaking point.
But extremism isn't totally bad. I'm sure I'll be on that 800 ft coaster eventually after it's cleared for the over 30 crowd. I just might need to be wheeled out of the park afterward after my insides get rearranged.

Home

2010-07-13T17:13:00.003-04:00

I'm not a mover...

I moved out of my Dad's house which he has lived in since 1976 to Joe's trailer when we married in 1997.

We then moved to our current home in 2000. I have no intentions of moving...ever. It is my home. We have wonderful neighbors. The house isn't a huge castle but it's nice and perfect for our family. We live two minutes from Dad. I live two minutes from work. I've brought 3 children home for the first time here. Every Christmas they've had has been in this home, every birthday, every first day of school, etc. I love this home. It's full of love and we've made many great memories in our almost 10 years here.

My Grandparents old home is up for sale, they moved out in 2002. Yesterday I just stared at the real estate site photo of it. It's only selling for 26,900. It's small and basically they retired there after raising their 4 children on the family farm down the road. It was perfect though and just like my house here I have so many emotions and so many wonderful memories when I think of that house. Staring at that photo I could picture myself looking out the back window at the 8 red blinking TV antennas miles and miles away when I'd spend the night. I can hear the washing machine running in my head on Saturday mornings. I can hear the coffee perking and yeah I smell it too. I remembered riding my bike into that driveway so excited after finally arriving after the 7 mile trek. Years later I'd drive there and Grandpa would always head outside and tinker around with my old clunker car. Joe and I would go and play cards (Euchre) and it was always girls against guys. Grandpa & Joe would usually lose as Grandpa always thought his hand was better than it was. Then we'd wheel out and every time my Grammy would trek out from the dining room to the living room to wave good-bye to us from the big picture window. I'd usually cry a bit after leaving knowing that those special visits wouldn't last forever.

Seeing my Grandparents house I stared at that house for a very long time yesterday. That house was such a solace to me. My childhood wasn't horrible but it was definitely not your nuclear family "Beaver Cleaver" experience. I really can't imagine a tv show that emulates my life growing up but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. My Grammy was always the same. I'd usually find her sitting at the kitchen table smoking her cigarettes. She was ALWAYS happy to see me and I can still hear her say "Hi Dawn" in the same way. I miss her terribly.

Yesterday I had a fleeting moment of craziness thinking "I should buy that house." The cost would be like a car payment. But then cooler heads prevail and I think otherwise. My brother asked me if I wanted to go by and look in the windows and such and I almost said yes but turned him down. For $27K the previous owners must have just trashed the place. And besides it just wouldn't truly be the same on the inside. It's already odd driving by and not seeing Grandma's little lawn statues and bird feeders and such that she so enjoyed. It's just a house though, someone else will live there and hopefully make great memories there.

I'm not a mover...maybe someday if all three of my children move out to NY or something I'd decide to follow them. I guess it's not really the house, it's what makes the house a home. And I know that's a lame cliche but it's quasi-true.

Oh Home Sweet Home!

Fun with Friends!

2010-07-05T17:04:00.004-04:00

You know you're good friends with people when you can spend more than a few hours with them right? This weekend the Muylle's invited us and the Bojo's up to Interlochen, MI to stay with Jill's parents and have some good old outdoor fun.

I don't even know how we started talking about going but Jill turned 40 last week and somehow weeks ago we got talking about it needing to be the best birthday ever. We had a nice lunch on her actual birthday Wednesday, Thursday there was a surprise party for her (and I tell you that was almost a fail because someone wasn't very cooperative about going to Amy's) i.e. not feeling well, marinating steaks for dinner, wanting to go to Walmart, needing prescriptions. But lo and behold she showed up only 15 minutes late and we all had a great time.
Now, for years I've always grumbled about being a nature hater. I vowed I'd never go camping again and her family couldn't really house us all comfortably and there was a chance some of Jill's sisters might want to come up too. We couldn't just take their place. So quasi-camping was the solution. We had my In-Laws offer up their trailer and vehicle to tow it, and also Mike & Julie offered up their trailer. I was happy I wouldn't be sleeping on the ground in a volatile tent. With the busy week and through an epiphany of sorts Joe and I decided that tenting it would actually not be too bad and was probably our best option. After all, we were only going to be gone two nights and it would have warranted us driving separately so we just bit the bullet and camped. And you know it was great!!! We used to camp a lot before we had kids and even took Tommy camping once when he was about Ashley's age. I am definitely up for revisiting our camping life. I was telling Joe and the friends, it wasn't really camping that ruined my camping enjoyment, it was a few camp outs that were ruined by the company that went with us. My brothers would shudder if they heard me say "we're gonna have a lotta, lotta fun, but it's gonna be a lotta, lotta work." I could have a whole post on camping horror stories but as I've said many a time I try to keep this a PG-rated blog.

This weekend was perfect! Except that Ashley no matter what time we put her to bed will wake up at the butt crack of dawn. She's like a dang rooster only louder and absolutely screamed before 6 am each day. Bless Joe for getting up with her both days. Today in her darkened room she made it to 7 am. Ahh, bliss.

Anyways, we had an action packed weekend visiting the Cherry Fest both days. We got to see the Blue Angel's and it was my first air show ever. IT WAS AMAZING!! The planes were so loud, and they'd be flying right at each other and then quickly diverge. They do all kinds of flips and tricks, they fly so close together in perfect formation. It was so neat watching these planes, and I've heard people talk about air shows and you truly do not understand what all the hubbub is about until you experience one for yourself. Put it on your to-do list if you've never experienced this. Austin and Mike watching the show, check out Austin's cherry tattoo.

The boys got to drive the little motorized tractors/4 wheeler. Austin did especially well after a shaky start having to push with his right foot and with turning. He & Tommy loved it, and Ashley even wanted in on the action climbing on the four wheeler. I asked, she won't be able to get that moving will she and Jill's like oh no I don't think so and quickly almost gets runned over. LOL. I guess Ashley could get er going after all.

We went to a couple of different Lake Michigan beaches to swim. The water had such awesome waves. Tommy & I loved that, and Austin, Joe, and Ashley enjoyed the calmer waters closer to shore. Water is crazy powerful and I'd never experienced wave action like that.

The food was great, Duane & Nancy fed us an amazing breakfast both days and we also had all your typical 4th of July & camping fare throughout the weekend. Pizzas on the campfire are just awesome, they rank higher than smores in my book. Everyone took such good care of us and I can't say enough good things about Jill's folks. They were so welcoming and just excellent with the kids. The boys especially as Ashley is a cling on unless you are Ms. Jill, poor Jill couldn't even get a solo shower on Saturday. LOL. Their poor dog is a beautiful golden retriever, and sadly my kids are all afraid of dogs. By the end of the weekend the kids were fairly comfortable around her except Ashley when Mildred would get really close to her.

So it was a productive weekend in that my kids are now more tolerable of dogs, more appreciative of nature, and Tommy kept joking that we'd be back in two weeks. The kids and Joe & I really had a wonderful time and won't soon forget all the fun with such GREAT FRIENDS!

My sparklie

2010-06-28T19:59:00.006-04:00

And don't love make it shine? I think Tracy Byrd probably sang it best around the time Joe and I were engaged or newly married. I loved my beautiful solitaire that Joe picked out all by himself. We then picked out matching bands.

I remember an I Love Lucy episode where Ricky tries to teach Lucy a lesson about being careless and takes her ring after she'd left it on the windowsill and hides it on her. Well you know through the course of the comedy all heck breaks loose and the ring ends up being lost for real. I remember Ricky saying "I'll buy you a new ring with great big diamonds all the way around it" and Lucy cries "I want my old ring with tiny diamonds half way around it." Lucy did find it in the end when she bit into a hamburger, lol. All was well.

Joe and I had wedding ring talks last weekend. He ended up joking with me to never lose mine because he'd have to spend a lot more money today then he did back in 1996. Haha! Well I'll be darned but I had a scare thinking I'd lost it at hockey. I swore I put it in my shorts front pocket and it wasn't there. I scoured the locker room floor, a teammate went through my smelly bag shaking every item, it was horrible. I was almost in tears thinking how am I going to tell Joe I've lost my wedding ring. One lady told me to take off all my clothes and shake them and I'll be darn I found my ring. It was in my back pocket!!! Oh man that was close. As far as replaceable possessions this is my most prized. And unlike many ladies who I know "trade up" their rings as the years go by, I see me wearing this one for the duration. And that's not a dig on them. There is nothing wrong with trading up, or resetting a diamond, it's just not in my plans.

I also don't believe in any way that a marriage is doomed if a ring is lost. Joe would have been frustrated with me if I hadn't found it but it wouldn't have been a marriage killer. He would have chalked it up to another one of those "imperfect moments" that Fr. Jim warned us about at our wedding. And like Ricky Ricardo, I'm sure he'd have offered to buy me the biggest and most beautiful diamond he could find (maybe even remortgage the house or something). But thankfully I'm still wearing mine and only had to get nearly naked in front of a small audience to find it. I think finding it in a hamburger would have been less embarrassing.

Hockey with Tommy

2010-06-21T22:07:00.003-04:00

Well Tommy finally got his wish or maybe it was my wish but tonight I got to bring him to my ladies hockey night. With the summer they just have drop in without teams so the crowd is light. I had asked two weeks ago if the ladies mind if I brought him. And the gals agree the more the merrier as long as he doesn't act like a butthead and coast to coast, score and hog the puck the whole time. And the best way to prevent that is to simply put him on my team during scrimmage. That way he's not showing off to beat me. Plus, I'd warned him pretty intensely before going that he better not act like an animal out there. And he did a good job of listening for once. He didn't piss anyone off I don't think. He just skates so fast and smooth and passed the puck beautifully and unlike us oldies he never tired. He could chase pucks forever. Oh to be 9! I guess it was still good for him because he was very sweaty afterward. The ladies were pretty tough on him knocking him on his keister a few times. What we lack for speed we make up in size and brute strength I guess. And when I bugged him about not showing off he said, "geez Mom I only scored five times!" Which honestly wasn't that bad because we didn't have any goalies. Any old asthmatic goalies reading this that want to un-retire now is the time.

At the end I said I'd race him down and back the full ice. I figured he'd kill me but he actually didn't beat me that bad. Apparently I am pretty fast straight up, it's the turning, and skating with the puck that I am crappy at, not to mention stopping can be dangerous at times too. He said he was tired and that's why he didn't beat me that bad. Whatever, I don't know. I'm just happy I got to spend an hour with my boy doing something together we both enjoy but typically don't get to do. And it sure beat staining the deck which we did together earlier in the day.

Safety vs. Aesthetics

2010-06-17T21:59:00.006-04:00

Last night Joe and I went hog-wild buying brand new bikes for us, ordering a trail-a-bike for Austin, and a getting a new bike seat for Ashley. And dang if we aren't going to look the shi-ite biking through town. That is until you see us with our mushroom head helmets.

Joe and I had bought cheapy mountain bikes on layaway back before we got married in 1997. It was so thrilling to actually get my first brand new bike since I was 8 years old. I remember that birthday. I also remember in 7th grade I finally convinced my Dad I needed a new bike that fit me. And a bike for me was critical. I had to bike to band practice, ball practice, friends houses, I was not simply taxied around. I loved my bike. My Grandparents were over and came to Dad's financial rescue. Grandma had a practically brand new bike she'd maybe rode 3 times that I could have. I had my hopes up but I kind of knew what I would be getting. It looked something like this.

My friends used to tease me mercilessly about it. Them in their hip hot pink 12-speeds and what not and me in my cream, blue, and brown 3 speed monster. Oh well, that bike took me all over the place!!! And though it was super fugly, I loved it. And I only cared a little bit what others thought of it.

Which leads me to this question? Why am I so stinking worried about what I look like with a helmet on? We make our kids wear helmets. Most kids by the time they are Tommy's age around here no longer wear them. I guess if I want my kids to be ok with them I have to lead by example. So Joe bought us both helmets. I hate it. Ashley looks cute like a little Toadstool from Mario Brothers. I just look like that weird rat from Pinky and the Brain. But seriously who am I really trying to impress anyways? I guess I just feel sheepish as I barely crack 10 mph and don't do any rough terrain. Do I really need a helmet? I made it my little 4 miles and saw many people I knew and even stopped to visit with one person. I didn't get teased about my helmet. In fact it wasn't even mentioned. I suppose like anything it will just take some getting used to. Moral of the story, if I could survive my teen years riding the fugly monster I should definitely not care about a piece of safety head gear as a 32 year old.

But here is a great PSA that makes me feel so much better about my mushroom head. Enjoy!

I blinked

2010-06-13T21:42:00.002-04:00

And school was over. One more working day for me and it's summer vacation. To say I'm behind on blog reading and I guess posting would be an understatement.

Here is life in short stanzas since my last post back in April! Yeesh!

Tommy had 3 hockey tournaments - he won 2, and lost 1. Pretty darn good. He is now done with hockey until camp in July.

Ashley is running all over the place and is getting in her molars. Ouchy! She loves being outside and riding her little bike. She also loves going for long bike rides on the back of my bike.

Austin lost his first top shelf tooth.

Austin had another very successful coach pitch baseball season. He had fun and even seemed to be more aware of the game when in the field. He almost made a few plays even catching one throw when he played first base. Too bad he wasn't standing on the base. haha.

Tommy also had a successful ball season. His team won more games than they lost but were out early in the playoffs. He got to do a lot of pitching and did pretty well. His hitting was average and he had fun and being the oldest in his bracket; this was his year to shine. Next year he'll be the young one again. Boo! He is playing travel ball this summer so at least our ball days aren't completely done.

I graduated another wonderful class of 8th graders. They gave me a beautiful statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It's taller than Ashley. What a wonderful gift.

I had another successful trip to Washington DC with my students. It was my longest stint away from Ashley but I was so darn busy I had nary a moment to miss the family. Go, go, go! We had a blast.

Ashley had her first overnight sleepover. She & Austin stayed with the Muylle's while Joe and I went to a wedding and then down to Detroit for Tommy's hockey tourney. We all survived. :)

The Gold Diggers got 2nd place in the hockey league. It was fun. We're now doing a shinny type league in the summer.

My brother Andrew graduated from High School.

We started Co-ed softball. We are sporting a new look with a new sponsor. A!BM It's our school cleaning company. So far we are 1-1. Win or lose, I love spending my Sunday afternoons with my family and my friends playing ball. But winning is definitely much more fun. Last week we lost and got to play in the mud. That was kind of fun too.

I had my 32nd birthday. I'm no longer prime. In fact I have 5 years to wait until I'm prime again. Doh!

And a gabillion other probably trivial things that just clog up life. But eh, life is good. I'm hoping that I don't blink and summer is over. Though that tends to happen. Stay Tuned.

Interesting hockey tonight.

2010-04-26T21:46:00.003-04:00

And I'll be darn none of the craziness had anything to do with our championship game which we lost 3-2 and I sucked eggs. Oh well. It was fun anyways. We'll be back at it next Monday night and I wonder what team I'll get shuffled to next.

Anyhoo, on with the countdown of interesting events.

3. There was a beautiful doe running down the busy lane just outside of the arena. It's near a busy metropolis so I thought it odd. I dreamed about a car deer accident this weekend and always see deer on my way home from Bay City but usually a little bit closer to home.

2. I went out on the ice from the locker room and quickly fell face first and sprawled out like an dead fish. My Dad and brothers were there and I looked up and got lots of cheers. I then stood up and immediately fell again. I guess I had left one skate guard on. Jackass. That got quite a few laughs.

1. I was using the bathroom and some crazy ass dude comes in from the other locker room and uses the urinal. He's whizzing away, and coughing, and clearing his throat and I'm thinking for #$#@! sake how do I end up in situations like this? I just hung tight in the stall until he was done but a sadistic part of me wanted to make a scene and walk out on him and then scream"Oh dear God!" in shock but I really didn't want to see Captain Winky. What's with men? Can't they knock? Us ladies always knock, then open the door without looking, yell "is anybody in here" and then go about our business. And you know what else?? He didn't wash his hands. Although my flushing probably scared the piss out of him LOL so he got out of there as quick as he could one he realized he wasn't alone. So that was interesting. It was kids playing so it must have been a Dad or coach. At least I haven't walked in on any dudes in the shower. But it might make for good blog fodder.

The Bell of Shame

2010-04-25T21:03:00.004-04:00

Everyone has seen Akeelah and the Bee right? It's a great movie about an inner city youth who goes on to win the Scripps Spelling Bee. When a speller gets a wrong answer there is no empathetic "ooh so sorry you missed" it's a shrill "ding" and the speller takes the long walk of shame to the chairs to watch the rest of the bee internally beating themselves up over their errant spelling.

Tommy's latest endeavor...you guessed it the spelling bee. It was the Catholic's vs. the Lutherans as two local schools came to our gym showcasing local 3rd and 4th graders in the annual parochial spelling bee.

We studied a bit, probably not as much as we should but I was confident that young Thomas would fare well though he probably wouldn't win. He did do well, for a long time there were about 8 students who were all looking great, after a while it was down to four and Tommy was still in. It was looking like a possibility that he could go all the way. They threw homonyms at him left and right, words like weigh, pare, etc. and he cleverly asked for a sentence and would quickly spell the word correctly. During our "trainings" Joe had urged him to ask for a sentence for every stinking word, even if it was obvious what the word was with no double meanings. He scoffed at that deal and said "only for homonyms, I don't want to be annoying." And that my friends was his undoing. On and on the final four are going when the spell master gives him the word "piece" and he immediately starts spelling "p-e-a-c-e" and just like that "DING" and the crowd moans. It was all over. He gasped, then threw his hands in the air, looked up to the heavens and took his walk of shame. He had gotten overconfident and didn't ask for a stinking sentence. And we had practiced that one too.

Oh well it's all good and well. And it was nice that our little neighbor girl won it all. She is a sweet little thing and wouldn't you know it, she asked for a sentence for every single word she was given. Nice strategy which may have saved Tommy, I wonder if he'll follow her suit next year and ask for a sentence at every word. Her brother won the 4th grade bee as well. Smart little cookies. And honestly, little Amber knew every single word on that list; Tommy not so much.

The final chapter in this excellent story is just knowing who the bell ringer was. Any guesses? Oh yeah, it was me. And I tell you what I felt very bad ringing that bell for all those poor kids. I think it's a little harsh but I guess it's the way things are done in the big bees so why not give them a taste of that agony as 8 and 9 year olds.

Poor Tommy, he will never forget that piece/peace was his undoing in the 3rd grade spelling bee. Just like I will never forget in 2nd grade it was down to me and one other dude and they went to 3rd grade words and I got out on freeze leaving off the last "e." And just like Joe and "cotten/cotton" in his 4th grade bee. Thankfully he didn't take it too hard and was happy that Amber & Aaron won. However in the few hours afterward he had no peace over his inaccurate piece of spelling work.

Ashley's Oddities

2010-03-28T20:26:00.002-04:00

So we have a one year old living in the house. And it sure is wild fun. She's still not walking but will take a few steps and then crawl. It won't be long now and she'll be running all over the place. She also talking all kind of jibberish. I love it when she looks all seriously and talks. I have a feeling she's going to have a lot to say once she finally figures this talking thing out.

Some peculiar things I've realized and in no particular order are as follows.

She is apparently allergic to eggs. She had scrambled eggs yesterday and promptly broke out in a rash. That was exciting.

She has bad breath in the morning. I don't think they make mouthwash for children her age.

She doesn't like cow's milk. The weaning has gone fairly well except for the not so minor fact that she had pretty much refused to drink anything once we started putting milk in her sippy cups. She would down water and juice before but once we tried milk she went on sippy strike. Thankfully I guess she got thirsty enough and today is finally taking a few sips of milk here and there and will wrinkle her nose. Hopefully she isn't allergic to that either.

She has small feet. We went shopping for sandals today and she fits a 3-6 month sandal or a 3 infant. She wears 12 - 18 month clothes.

She gives open mouth kisses. You can say give me a kiss and she will open her mouth and try and eat your lips. It is sweet albeit a bit sticky sometimes.

She's afraid of dogs. Especially big giant dogs but also of the little loud yippers.

She hates taking a bath but will tolerate a shower just fine.

She is a little sneak. She is rarely quiet and when she is quiet you know she's up to no good! Austin will often leave the darn gate open to the stairs and usually when she's quiet I'll find her upstairs tooling around. Thankfully she's made it every time and hasn't tried to come down. I don't know how successful she'd be. Yikes! You can also usually find her quietly making a toilet paper mess in the bathroom when that door gets left open. I need to put a little cowbell around her neck I think.

Joe and I just love our little monster. She and the boys sure make life interesting. And she for sure makes life go by so quickly.

And don't you just love that she has an IPod in her hand?

Tales of a jailbird

2010-03-24T21:22:00.004-04:00

Well in follow up to the Stress These Days post it's hard to believe but my brother has already been out of prison for a month. And for the most part things are going well. He almost has a job and hopefully will be able to get his own place soon. Bless my Dad he has let him stay with him even though he was extremely leery. If Jeff botches this one I think it will be his last chance.

Tommy and Austin badgered us with questions for days before his arrival. Tommy was scared to basically "meet" his Uncle Jeff. I was scared to see him too. It had been over 5 years. We ended up meeting at Dad's and he's slimmer and his hair is thinning but it was still Jeff. We had a nice misty hug then all went to dinner. It was a wonderful reunion with my Dad, Scott, and my kids. On the drive home I commented that after our evening it was like he had never been gone. We laughed so hard that night. It was amazing how easy it was to reconnect. We dropped him off and the first words out of Tommy's mouth were "I LOVE UNCLE JEFF!!!" He is quite the character even if he does have the devil's curly red hair.

I've loved the prison stories and yes many of them are sad but most are funny. You can find any person with a record online and so he's shown us some of his bunkies and my those are some scary looking dudes. I hope he never forgets the prison craziness and remembers how weird it was eating with real utensils once he got out, you only get sporks in prison.

He, Scott, Joe & I have had some I guess you can call them "healthy" talks since he's been out. Besides our free therapy sessions he is also talking to a "real" therapist once a week who is helping keep his head on straight. He knows what he needs to do, it's now just having the will power to do the right thing. He's struggled with that before we'll see if this time he's truly grown up. I love him and have enjoyed having him home. It's been a great month and I hope we have many, many more great visits. He's already had so much life lived in this past month; Ashley's birthday, Tommy's hockey, etc. I hope this simple life is enough for him. And I just keep telling the doubters I'm enjoying my time with him now and hope it lasts and his history does not repeat itself.

The fiery four-eyed freaks...aka Scott, Dawn, Jeff O!

Reunion night - I promise we're not as scary as we look.

Bay County Blizzard 2001 Mite AA Champs!

2010-03-16T20:18:00.003-04:00

The boys won the LCAHL playoffs! What a game! They won 7-6 and it was so close all the way to the end. They just couldn't pull away from the Port Huron Flags. But our boys were the ones on top when the final buzzer sounded.

About 20 of our family and friends drove down to join us in Detroit. It was very neat watching Tommy play on the Red Wings ice. It was a great end to a great season. I was already in bed but I guess Tommy got up that night and Joe was still up and he was crying because the season was over. Of course we have spring hockey and he actually is gone to practice tonight. But the team will be a little different (we're adding players as they make the bump up to the Squirt level). So he had to shed a few tears.

Ashley's Birthday Party

2010-03-16T19:05:00.002-04:00

I got a ton of flack for buying Ashley her custom made cupcake onesie and matching tutu but oh did she look cute. The poor girl had a pretty rough cold last week and was rather clingy most of the time at her party. Little grouch. I didn't get any pictures of her sitting pretty because every time I'd put her down she'd scream. Oh well. It was still a great celebration and I found out she prefers chocolate over white cake. What child doesn't though? We had a very nice gathering with just a few family and friends. She was totally spoiled though. She practically has a whole spring/summer wardrobe. Enjoy the pictures.

Happy 1st Birthday Ashley

2010-03-13T14:08:00.002-05:00

Oh baby what a year! You are Loved so much!

The Great Divide

2010-03-07T20:04:00.004-05:00

Tommy & Joe have always been U of M fans. Me, I'm actually not that into it. In fact you never know I could have a Michigan T-shirt on under that Spartan sweatshirt. My Mom lived in East Lansing for a couple years when I was growing up so I have to say my early on loyalties were to MSU but then Austin was down at U of M hospital when he was a baby and I kind of grew a soft spot in my heart for U of M.

I really just need to be like Austin and like whoever is winning. That means I'm a Wolverine fan during football season, and a Spartan fan during basketball and hockey season.

One thing is certain, isn't Ashley adorable in her little cheerleader outfit?

P.S. - In case you're wondering MSU won the game today clinching a share of the big ten title. Hopefully they can make it far in the tournament again this year.

2010 $100 Dinner Dance

2010-02-27T19:56:00.003-05:00

Year after the year the committee works so hard to put on a fabulous event to benefit our school and this year of course did not disappoint. The theme was A Step Back in Time and many of us went all out. Joe and I went way back all the way to the roaring twenties. We couldn't stay as long this year because Tommy had his games in Detroit starting at 9:00 the next morning but we still had a good time.

We didn't win any of the money or prizes but it's okay to just be donators some years too. We were the 102nd out of 115 balls drawn for the $3000 so we at least had that excitement. Every ball drawn gets you closer and closer and you get thinking maybe this will be your year! But alas there can only be one winner and it wasn't us. Boo Flipping Hoo.

Enjoy the pictures. You can see there were quite a few decades represented. I wish I could have gotten pictures of every cute couple there. It was especially funny seeing Sharon C. with her hair in a banana clip and her jean jacket that went down to her knees, and you can't forget the french rolled jeans. I think I was one of the last to start unrolling the jeans back in my day...the 90's! I wasn't quite ready to give up the fad. I wonder when it will be back! Yeah!!

The Joe's A Go!!

2010-02-21T20:47:00.004-05:00

Joe Louis Arena that is!! We were so down a year ago when we lost by one goal in the semi's. This year the boys wouldn't be denied!

Tommy's 2001 Bay County Blizzard won their quarterfinal and semifinal games today in the most exciting fashion. The first game they won 3-2 in a nail biter. Tommy scored the 2nd goal to tie it up. It was great and was the first goal I got to see. He actually had only scored his first goal a few weeks ago and I had missed it because my class was having a pancake breakfast.

The 2nd game we were winning 3-1 with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game and the other team came back and tied it sending us into overtime! So deflating. Our guys ended up winning in double OT. It was 3 on 3 play and Tommy scored the winning goal after a teammate did most of the hard work bringing the puck down the ice!!!!! To say Joe and I were excited is the understatement of the year. The team went crazy as did us rabid fans.

Now we have to wait until March 14th for the finals. We have another tournament as well in early March. I think we will just savor the last few weeks of this very special season.

Following the big tourney win in December, 2K10 is shaping up to be an excellent hockey year for the big guy. In January the families took a tour bus down to South Bend, Indiana and got to play on Notre Dame's ice. The following weekend they were in another college town, East Lansing and got to play on MSU's ice. They won the governor's cup tournament that weekend, with the final game also being won in sudden death overtime. This team is just clicking and playing so well right now. We'll see how long we can ride out this winning streak.

Capital City Showdown Champs on the Spartan ice!

Touchdown Jesus at ND

The team at Notre Dame

The super fans at Notre Dame!

Hockey - "Invented by men, perfected by women"

2010-02-16T16:26:00.007-05:00

Hockey belongs to the Cartoon Network, where a person can be pancaked by an ACME anvil, then expanded – accordion-style – back to full stature, without any lasting side effect.
- Steve Rushin

I hope when I'm in my mid to late 50's I can join a novice women's hockey team and make all the young girls look like jackasses. :) No, just kidding because then it'll be ladies in their 80's still making me look bad.

The latest drama in the hockey saga ~ Many new ladies have come out to play in our league looking for a good thrashing or public humiliation on Monday nights. There are some woman from another venue who have been playing for years (with men) and wanted in our league. And you know, some people balked but I say let them play. They can only make us crappy players better. So here they are; a goalie and 4 or 5 others. I ended up on the new team with a few women who've never played, a few I've played with the last couple years and 3 - 50'something phenoms! We've dubbed ourselves the "gold diggers" in our totally awesome ~~Vegas gold~~ baby poo colored jerseys, though I wonder if "the golden girls" might not be a better moniker. For heaven's sakes they wear granny panties!!! Not that I'm purposefully checking out the undies of my teammates but you just happen to notice these things in a locker room.

I knew what I was doing though when I made sure I ended up on a line with the best female center I've ever seen and a totally rockin defensemen. They skated and passed so beautifully and probably could have played fine just the two of them alone but they were awesome in getting the puck to us lackeys. Joe said he totally noticed a turning point in the game when our center said to herself (you know since Joe can read minds) "I like this nice little red head and I'm going to set her up for a goal!" Because over, and over, and over, and over, and over again continuously she'd be skating beautifully and pass it to me and I'd totally blow it. I had a few shots but never even hit the goalie! Can't shoot!! Just like my son! LOL. They always went wide, or I'd whiff, or just simply mess it up. Joe said after the game by about the fifth botched play he was going to send Tommy down to our bench and tell that lady if she continued to pass to his Mom he would kick her butt. Haha, actually Joe said I didn't play too bad, Tommy though thought I played terrible. I find the whole thing hilarious.

It was a hard fought game and I think both sides were satisfied skating to a 1-1 tie. I think these ladies are going to be great for our league. It was so much easier skating with these ladies who are old enough to be my Mom. They gave me some sort of energy because I wanted to keep up with them and not let them down. They also didn't make me feel bad about my lack of skill, just said good try and we'll get em next shift. They are such nice ladies who just happen to be awesome hockey players. And I do hope that I'm still living high on life like these ladies are when I'm their age, because they are showing no signs of slowing down.

Next week we'll try again and maybe I'll be able to put the puck in the net. But I think it will be a while before I start line changing by jumping over the boards. Yup the seasoned ladies even have that skill perfected. I will have to go to an open skate session just for that kind of practice so I can really look cool. Until then I'll simply use the door. Can't you just see me jumping over the boards?? Landing flat on my kiester; now that would be puck'n funny.

Stress these days

2010-02-12T08:26:00.003-05:00

Thankfully I handle stress very well or maybe it's just that I haven't had to endure a horribly stressful situation in a long time. Today begins my mid-winter break ~ off for five days yeah, and I've woke up with a headache and a stiff neck. I had some wild dreams.

So my stressful situation ~ my brother is getting out of prison in a couple weeks if it all works out. He has been in since Dec. 2004 but had been in and out since Jan. 2002. And it's all about money. Classic identify theft he rang up over $30,000 in credit card debt under my Dad's name. He lived the life of Reilly for a couple years before it finally caught up with him. His teen years were great. This is a guy who wants to have it all but doesn't want to work for it. After he got out of prison in July 2004 we had high hopes for him. He was generously given a job working at a restaurant and seemed to be grateful for the opportunity. But only a few months in he got back into the drugs, lost his job, started stealing from Dad & also my brother again. By December he had been on the lam for a couple months and had no money at all and held up a little boutique store. He basically walked in and said give me your money, thankfully didn't draw a weapon though he had a knife on him and a big customer detained him peacefully until police arrived. I think he was ready to give up.

5 years later he's had some counseling and I've seen the reports saying he's all "cured" of his intense emotional problems all stemming from his rough childhood. It's so much easier to blame someone else then to look inside yourself right? A classic narcissist with obsessive compulsive tendencies, he's called a lot lately wanting me to do this or that for him. Call this person, relay this message, get me some clothes together, yada, yada. I hear the panic in his voice when things aren't quite looking like they should, I hear the confidence in his voice saying he's changed and this time things will be different, I hear the awkwardness in his voice when he hangs up saying love you guys. I know my brother and it really confirms my worst fears of "he really hasn't changed at all."

The big standing joke after every holiday or birthday the past year has been well will Jeff be here with us next year or will he be back in prison? I'm putting my money on prison. His only hope is surrounding himself with good people, and his good people are Dad, my brother, and my family. He will very quickly wear himself out with us and soon he'll be wanting to run with his loser friends that still accept him (hopefully they have finally started to grow up themselves). Let's face it, no one in their right mind wants to associate with a felon and they shouldn't want to. But then again I feel like people should be given 2nd chances...I don't know, I'm so torn.

I shouldn't talk all terrible about him. He does have a caring heart. He was very helpful to me when Tommy was born. I got him a job at the lodge and he was maybe starting to make a life for himself when the credit card fraud finally caught up to him. He's very good looking, a charmer, and has a great sense of humor. He could have done very well for himself. And he still could! If he can play his cards right and do what he needs to do.

I'm excited to see him in a few weeks but I'm also scared to death that he'll just put the family and himself through more agony. It's just easier with him locked up. I don't worry about him getting in trouble. And the way he makes it sound the place where he was, was more like camp than prison. It'll be interesting that's for sure and I'm trying not to let it consume me but Jeff has been my primary worry lately. That and hoping that Tommy can win these last few hockey games so he can play at the Joe Louis Arena on March 14th! Priorities right? ;)

Anyways, it's very embarrassing when people come up to you asking "was that your brother I read about in the paper?" Oh yeah, and they really do genuinely care right? If he is going to get into trouble again can he at least please drive to Ohio so it doesn't wind up in my local paper? Or does the news not work that way? Oh help me!

Happy 9th Birthday Tommy!!

2010-02-04T20:10:00.007-05:00

A big shout out to my big boy! The years just keep coming quicker and quicker! I love ya kid!

And since I didn't post a birthday greeting to Joe a couple weeks ago I will go ahead and share some pictures of Joe & Tommy who are both already a year older here in the early 2010.

And Happy 18th Birthday to my little brother Andrew and Happy 5th Birthday to Super Sammy out East!

Another Decade Gone

2010-01-16T10:50:00.004-05:00

Well I don't even know what you would even call that last one. Following the 90's, what is it the 2K's? Who knows. Anyhow, I enjoy the yearly recaps so much I thought I would talk up the last 10 years a bit and how things have changed for Joe & I.

Time magazine had their decade review with a crying baby on it. Stating it had been one of the worst decades ever. I guess in the world view the last decade would seem pretty bad. Globally, we had tsunamis, terrorist attacks, recessions, hurricanes, wars, you get the picture. Not much good to say. Life for the Papesh's was not so bad. And just like Charles Dickens said in a Tale of Two Cities, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It's painful to see all the hard times and sufferings of others when things are just going so well for us.

Life is indeed different as time tends to do to things. Dec. 31, 1999 Joe & I spent New Years Eve at my Dad's house with my brothers and their girlfriends. I figured my brothers would marry those girls and I'd have 2 great SIL's and all kinds of nieces and nephews by now. But as tends to happen the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. My brothers still aren't married but I guess Joe & I still are so that should count for something.

It's funny how I blog about so many trivial items in the moment but they aren't even worth mentioning in the grand scheme of life.

The gist of the past 10 years is this. We now have a nice house. Joe and I both have different jobs. I have a college degree. We have our three beautiful children. We lost Autumn Rose. We lost 3 Grandmas and 1 Grandpa. And a gabillion other little things that happened the last ten years that shape us, but is too trivial to mention in some nutty blog. The people who've come and gone, the travels, oh so much life we've lived.

Time changes everything. Things that seem so important right now probably will be distant memories in 10 years. What will be significant in 10 years? Will I still remember that in 2008 the Detroit Lions were 0-16? Seriously who cares?

Dec. 31, 2009 - Joe and the kids along with my Dad went to church and then to dinner. We were all home and asleep before midnight (except iron man Tommy). That my dears is not very exciting for a New Years Eve, but pretty significant in my book. In 10 years Tommy & Austin will be 18 and 16 and will probably not be spending NYE with me. However, I hope that Joe will be and maybe Ashley too if she isn't too cool at age 10 to be hanging with us. Dad can come too (I'm sure he'll still be buying hehe.) Lord only knows what kinds of significant and insignificant events I'll be able to look back on when New Years 2020 hits but I look forward to the journey.

Super Fine 2009 Top 9!

2009-12-29T22:42:00.002-05:00

So here it is, my annual report of the year 2009. It seemed to have less quantity than years past, maybe it had more quality. Not much unique to write about but it was still one for the record books.

#9 - My haircut. At least I waited until after Ashley was born. Did anyone see Rosemary's Baby? Remember when Mia Farrow shed her long locks? **shudders** And now I look over 30 but good.

#8 - Our Northern LP Michigan summer adventure to Mackinac Island & Avalanche Bay - Ashley's numerous poonami's had us rethinking our diaper choice after this trip. A great trip though and something different for the Papesh family to do besides sporting events or WDW.

#7 - Baby Showers - I was surprised, not one, not twice, but thrice! How blessed are we? People were so excited for this newest addition to our family. I think we got more with this baby than we did when having Tommy. Of course the people in our lives have changed as have we. How much better off are we in our 30's than we were in our 20's?

#6 - My Mac Conversion - La la la love it! It's just so easy to do seemingly hard things with IMovie. My 8th grade graduation special was the best ever.

#5 - The IPhone! - La la la love it! I've had the same phone number since August 1998 and had never lost a phone or even needed one replaced but I get my beloved IPhone only to have it stolen 3 weeks later. CRAPOLA! Thankfully it was covered by insurance but I think if I lose this one, I'm done. This is the year of the smart phone.

#4 - Tommy's Sports - One hockey tournament victory with another great year with the Bay County Blizzard. I just love this hockey family. He also had a great baseball season playing Little League and on two tournament teams. He didn't do so great in the higher age division so he'll just play with his age group from now on. It was a good life lesson for him to ride the pine pony and it didn't seem to really bother him at all. Finally, the basketball debut. It was an exciting two weeks of games. He doesn't have height on his side but he definitely has the drive and a competitive edge. It was fun to watch something new.

#3 - Austin's baseball. I don't think I've ever been a more proud Mom. Watching him work through his physical struggles never ceases to amaze me (and sometimes sadly frustrates me). He can now put on his coat which has been a therapy goal for well over a year but sometimes it takes so long it's just easier to do things myself. His t-ball experience was so wonderful. He loved it. Being he was 5 and we've played in the yard for a long time he actually did awesome compared to some kids who'd never swung a bat before. He can keep that eye on the ball. I remember the opening day ceremonies and they called his name and he come running out as fast as he could in his crazy gallop, he fell hard but got up before a coach could run out to help him. Everyone was worried but he got up and continued on. He got the most amazing applause that day. And then the first big hit! I can't tell you how nervous I was to see him in that batters box. But he hit the ball and again had the most exciting applause from both sets of fans. He always did so well, he never had to use the tee. I'm tearing up reliving it. He has one more year of t-ball and than sadly it may be the end of his ball career. Everyone else will improve astronomically, he will still struggle. Outs will count, the kids will hit harder, and throw harder. I guess we'll wait and see.

#2 - Sacraments - Ashley's Baptism at the school mass was such a memorable day in my St. Elizabeth life. Sharing her special day with all the students and staff who are such a big part of my daily life as well as my closest friends and family made it a day worth remembering. Tommy's 1st Communion & Confirmation was also high on life list of great days. The kid loves his faith and was so excited for this day. He read the 2nd reading very well and just looked proud as a peacock on that day. We had a nice party at our house squeezing in almost 70 people on a horrible weather day.

#1 - Ashley's Birth! Was there any doubt? Any birth of any child should be a top-ranking life event, forget just a year. And it seemed like we waited forever for our beautiful baby to arrive and how thrilled were we to be blessed with a perfectly healthy and beautiful baby girl. It has been such a fun and exciting 9+ months of having her here. I think she has made our family complete.

Honorable Mention goes to

Coed Softball
Chicks with Sticks
Disney Vacation
JoDa's 12th anniversary
Tommy started altar serving
Halloween fun
SE golf outing
The Indiana Adventure
The grill fire
The basement flooding
The Christmas play - Red Angel Tommy & Green Angel Austin
New March Mommy online friends

Season's Greetings

2009-12-21T22:46:00.004-05:00

And I thought photographing two kids was hard, three is nearly impossible. So without further ado, the Papesh family junk Christmas photos.

And as always, the snail mail cards will be sent out as close to Christmas as possible.

Big Bear Champs

2009-12-13T09:13:00.006-05:00

Tommy's team just won his tournament. I was thinking he wouldn't get a tournament win in 2009 but in his last skating weekend he come through. I haven't seen him win one since that first house tourney back in January 2008. I missed the May 2008 win because I was with my class in DC and obviously I missed this one due to illness. The team won 2-1. This was Tommy's first tournament win with the Bay County Blizzard.

Want to hear some irony? The team they beat was the same team that knocked them out last March on that last game to get to play at the Joe Louis Arena for states. You might remember Tommy had been very ill that whole week and we debated letting him play last year. Thankfully that's where the irony stopped and we were victorious. Joe already sent me some pictures from his phone, they're not the clearest but here you go anyways. Way to go Blizzard!!!

December Disruption

2009-12-12T15:02:00.004-05:00

Well the stomach flu hit our house and gave us 4 young ones a good thrashing. It hit Ashley around 3 am Wednesday morning and Joe was certain it was the jumbalaya rice that Amy had given her at lunch the day before. She was immediately vindicated when myself and the boys became dreadfully ill on Thursday. Joe in his old age has luckily been spared.

One positive of this is that it's an excellent way to lose weight. 9 months to put on, 9 to come off they say. Ashley is going to be 9 months old tomorrow and according to my impressive 3 day weight loss of 5 pounds I have seen the "2" on the scale for the first time in forever. Alleluia!

So Tommy & Joe went down to Trenton for a hockey tourney last night. Tommy didn't play in the game yesterday because he was too weak but he is playing as I type this. Me and the little ones stayed home, Austin seemed to recover the fastest but then was hit with another round of nausea last night in my bed of course. ;) Lucky me.

Another positive is that it's given me lots of rest time. I've caught up on my People Magazines from November and am cruising through Eclipse. Good times.

And shall I say that I haven't gotten nary any Christmas shopping done? At least I have 6 days off of work before Christmas. Yay for Friday Christmas. No need to panic yet. It might be a good idea to get a list going though don't you think?

No more sickies!

I'm still here...

2009-12-06T22:01:00.005-05:00

I've just been crazy busy as I'm sure everyone is this time of year.

My house is suffering but for the most part we're all holding up pretty well.

I am enjoying December. It truly is my favorite time of the year though as Joe would say I love all the seasons when they are just beginning. I guess it's a good thing I live here in Michigan. But December is more than the beginning of winter to us obviously. I love the excitement the kids have, I love working on the school Christmas program, the senior holiday luncheon, the parties, the decorations, church services, seeing the family(s) (yup all of them) ;) and of course all the FOOD!! Plus, Tommy still has hockey games which I think is my favorite thing to do on the weekends. Minus the long drives. Could life get any better?

So yeah, the house is a disaster but honestly I don't really care (too much). About the only thing getting me quasi-down these days is Ashley and her sleep etiquette. But like the seasons, I know her sleep craziness will not last forever.

Consumer safety is going to bankrupt us!

2009-11-25T16:55:00.003-05:00

Our Maclaren strollers were recalled a few weeks ago. Thankfully, we just needed parts and that crisis was averted and no digits were amputated.

Our grill that blew up in July...well we waited until mid-October to throw it out and replace. Only to have it recalled for guess what? You got it, starting on fire!! Stupid dumb luck!

And now, drop side cribs!!!! Granted we don't have a StorkCraft but nevertheless we have a drop side. So do we run the risk of the side collapsing and the unthinkable happening; or go out and buy a new crib that she'll probably be scaling within a year anyways? We're going to turn the crib around and hoping that ends that worry since she only stands up on the one side begging for us to come rescue her.

We've had so many toys recalled which were too cheap to deal with bothering a recall so they just get pitched.

I swear consumer groups do this on purpose. Get things to fail so you have to buy new ones. We had to get all new car seats when Austin was born because 3-point harnesses were no longer safe for carriers, and the shield type seats for toddlers are a no-no too. It looks like Ashley is going to be able to use Austin's old one's though, that is until the next best thing comes out of course. Arg!

Dang it!! Is it asking too much to actually buy something and have it last maybe more than a couple years without running the risk of it injuring me or possibly killing me?!?! Gimme a financial break!

Me Thinks...

2009-11-21T16:02:00.003-05:00

When he finally learns how to really shoot, he'll be a really good basketball player. It was a fun season. 6 games and the team was 2-4 but they lost two games by only 2 points. Next year those games will be wins. Tommy had a hot night on Wednesday when the team won 21-7 and he scored 12 points. It was fun. Today he was back to his evil tricks and had lots of chances but the ball just wouldn't fall. The school bought a new video camera so I taped the game. I just did a small movie of the big guy making some wild misses and finally hitting one in the end. Enjoy. And don't throw darts at me when you hear someone say "can't shoot" after yet another miss. tee hee. Back to hockey tomorrow. Yay!

And you should just double click and watch it on the youtube page because it's chopped off on my page. DOH. Will try and fix it later, gotta get to church now. Tommy gets to altar serve again. Another big Saturday.

Yet another new adventure.

2009-11-14T19:51:00.004-05:00

Tommy made his altar serving debut tonight. He's been looking forward to this for a long time and the day was finally here.

We got him there nice and early and get him in his robe and I can tell by his demeanor that he's getting a major case of the nerves. I'm trying to keep things light when he gives me that look and says teary eyed, "I don't feel good." Best remedy for this when Tommy gets nerves is get him outside into some air before he pukes. And as if God was watching we head outside and up strolls my Dad and brother. Grandpa is Tommy's idol, a sports junkie, and supreme goofball. Tommy had a hockey game and two basketball games earlier in the day. Grandpa was quickly able to divert Tommy from the upcoming task to sports. After telling of the days games soon he was calm again and at least not feeling like he was going to puke. We get him back inside and Fr. Bill was just as wonderful and supportive as Dad was and kept Tommy calm. And I was quasi-thankful for the nerves because then I was nervous and didn't end up tearing up like I thought I would as I usually do when he hits another big life moment.

First big battle is holding the book for Fr. Bill and Joe and I could both see him wobbling up there and I could just see him going timber or worse puking. Thankfully he survived and the rest of the mass he didn't seem too bad.

Ashley went bugs right before communion so we were waiting for him out in the gathering space when he got done. He comes in and in typical arrogant Tommy fashion exclaims, "is there an easy button in here because... THAT WAS EASY!" Dork. He said he had a very good time and can't wait to serve again. We made it! Thank God!

A new sporting adventure

2009-11-11T20:31:00.005-05:00

Well Tommy has now reached the age of school sponsored athletics. He had his first basketball game ever tonight. And boy was it, fun, wild, and chaotic.

Their poor coach is a teacher over at the middle school and had parent-teacher conferences tonight. Well game time arrives and they have no coach there. Yikes! Me being the closest thing to authority tried my best to help coach. I asked who usually plays where and they all stared at me with that deer in the headlights look and I was then thinking this is going to be great!! They didn't know what a guard, forward, or center was and busy-body Tommy was trying to tell me something about numbers. Later I find out they play positions 1-5 not the actual names, very smart actually for learning.

Moving on, we do our "hands-in Eagle cheer" I tell them, get the ball, dribble, put it in the basket, don't let the other team score, and they're off. Our poor center got hurt during the tip off when the ball bounced off his nose, everyone then stared at him and didn't get the ball. More deer in headlight looks from the players. Would this game ever start? It did, and before I know it we're down 6-0. What part of "don't let the other team score" aren't they getting? Oh yeah, maybe it was the fact that the other team had a player that was taller than probably 1/2 of my students who are 7/8 graders. Yeah, test that player for roids. I was able to put in a set of subs which was a small miracle because when I told them to go kneel by the scorers table they looked at me like I was speaking Yiddish or something. It was a little crazy but at least we had a game going sans head coach.

She got there with a little left in the 1st quarter and our team did MUCH better after that. We only lost 12-6 and we could have won if our shots would have fallen. Tommy played very well defensively and got quite a few chances offensively. He'd be dribbling down the court for what would look like an easy lay-up chance and he would shoot the ball up at the glass so hard that it would often fly way back past the free throw line. Note to self - Tommy needs to work on his shooting in the off season. So many times we'd get excited watching him shoot, and BOOM another huge miss. The kid has no finesse and was a real backboard abuser. Maybe Saturday he won't shoot the ball so hard since he'll have tired himself out at his earlier hockey game.

The funniest part of my coaching experience was when Tommy was going back on defense he comes running over yelling, "I'm tired, I'm tired, I'm tired." I guess he was hoping he could just change on the fly like in hockey. Hilarious! I just told him stay out there he gave me a panicked look and kept moving. He survived.

So the family has been all abuzz about Tommy's big debut. It's a short season, we'll see if Tommy can knock one down on Saturday. Tonight he couldn't buy a bucket but I'm all proud just the same. I'm loving this new adventure already.

Halloween After the Fact

2009-11-08T09:01:00.004-05:00

Hey, I got this post out there sooner than last years ok? It was another fun year, though we were so busy I never got the Halloween decor out and we never carved pumpkins. We'll try to do better next year.

Tinkerbell, Michael, and Luigi

Thing 1 & Freddy Krueger - You all know I hate horror and everytime I'd look at him I'd get dizzy.

My cutie Luigi at school.

Thing 3 and Tinkerbell

Thing 3, Thing 2, Thing 1 ~ With apologies to Dr. Seuss for adding a 3rd Thing.

Crazy Austin

2009-11-03T21:31:00.004-05:00

The picture of a picture really doesn't do it justice. Everyone in real life that I show his picture to just busts up laughing. The poor photographer told me she took three and that was the best one. It was a real struggle to get a good picture. I kind of wish she had picked the worst one. It might have gotten even more laughs.

You can't ignore that squeaky wheel, and poor Tommy took a beautiful picture but you don't see me up here flaunting his. Nope, gotta make fun of my nutty professor.

Prayer today

2009-11-01T14:08:00.006-05:00

Thanks, Please, Oops, & Wow! Fr. Bill mentioned these four words he'd read somewhere which are your modern way of thinking about the traditional adoration, thanksgiving, repentance, and supplication that us Catholics learned about growing up.

Today, All Saints Day is a special Holy Day along with All Souls Day tomorrow. Each year on this weekend in church we will light a candle in memory of those people in our parish who have died in the past year. Tommy was playing hockey out of town last year so I didn't get to go to good ole St. Elizabeth's but I did go to St. Francis Parish in Ann Arbor and I thought it was so neat how their remembrance ritual was they sang the Litany of the Saints but put the deceased persons name in. It was beautiful and would be nearly impossible in our parish as we only lost about a dozen people that parish had lost about 50, it was a huge church. But I digress...

I will always tear up during this particular mass as I'm sure many others do too. This year was a no candle for me year and I'm so thankful. Every year I will think, "please Lord don't ever make me witness the lighting of a candle for one or more of my dear children," I also think "someday Lord I will be lighting a candle for my dear Dad." "Who gets the first candle, Joe or myself?" Sounds agonizing doesn't it?

What an amazing gift life is, the human capacity for love is nothing short of amazing. It can almost take my breath away when I stop for a moment and just think about the love I feel for my family, most notably my husband and children. Each day is a gift in this journey we call life and thankfully we don't have to journey alone. Not every day is easy in fact some are devastatingly difficult. Today at mass was generally easy for me, the church member who had two candles of remembrance lit today for her husband and her Dad I'm sure had a much sadder experience. Cherish the days you have together.

In closing, I'll just say:
Please Lord, don't let there be a candle for a loved one next year.
Thank you Lord, for not having a candle for a loved one this year.
Oops Lord, I still falter daily; I'm sorry.
Wow Lord, what an amazing family I have been blessed with.
Thanks again.

Happy 6th Birthday Aus Boss!

2009-10-26T20:36:00.007-04:00

My baby boy is 6 already!!! Where oh where did the time go? He's seriously half-way to 12 and half-way to being a student in my room. Oh yikes! Wonder how well (or not well) that will go. ;)

We decided early on that our kids prime birthday's would be 1, 5, 10, and 16 where we would have an all out bash. Well somehow now we've missed the five year party twice and had the big party at 6 for both boys. It's worked out. I wonder if Ashley will follow the pattern. And for the record we just barely had this party. Every weekend we are busy with hockey and Austin couldn't decide what he wanted to do when last Sunday he saw a Chuck E Cheese commercial and wanted to do that. So we decided to go for the gusto and had a party there tonight hoping that people wouldn't mind coming on a Monday. It was a wonderful time with him and his classmates. Austin was certainly awestruck. The family was there also. Austin really shined tonight. He just had such an excitement radiating out about him. Chuck E Cheese really does a great job making the party kid feel super special. Not to mention they really do have some great pizza.

Austin does his best to tire out the grandparents (and Joe and I too) with his numerous questions, goofy insults, and all out crazy behavior. I imagine it has to be hard for him at times being the middle child. He's definitely in Tommy's shadow often and of course Ashley is a big draw of people too. Tonight is was nice to have him be the golden boy. My Dad commented a few times how nice it was for Austin and the kids and Dad hates to go anywhere.

We're home now and he finished his homework, watched his new Thomas video, and loved up to his new stuffies. He loves animals. He's running out of bed space...again! What a great day for my big 6 year old!

This is why some older folks in my family still call Austin "Baby Blue Eyes." Too bad they aren't blue anymore.

Austin using righty during casting 3 years ago.

The Birthday Star

What's a guy gotta do to get some sleep around here?!?!

2009-10-25T09:00:00.002-04:00

That is a quote from Tommy at 4:00 in the morning howling at the bottom of the stairs. Between Austin and Ashley's biz the sleep scene has hit an all time low.

I'm starting to look forward to my overnight conference Thursday night just for one peaceful night's sleep. My roomies better not snore or I will be cracking heads. ;)

That is all...carry on. :)

Shameless Bragging

2009-10-19T21:59:00.003-04:00

I know it's not polite but I just gotta say this ladies hockey thing is going so well right now! The Saginaw Spirit had their annual "Pink Out" game on Saturday where the guys wear pink and part of the ticket sales benefit breast cancer research. They also honor survivors and remember those that have died of this deadly disease. Before the Spirit played, they had us gals and our teams play. It was a blast! I had 2o personal fans there as well as many of Tommy's hockey families were there as they are big Spirit supporters. Our teams skated to a 2-2 tie and I scored a goal!!! It was my first goal since having Ashley and only my 2nd goal ever. And I would be lying if I didn't say I felt awesome hearing them announce over the PA system, "goal scored by #22 Dawn Papesh unassisted." I told you I was shameless. It wasn't even that sweet of a goal as it bounced off another player's skate but it was a goal and I was stoked!! And the boys were so excited.

Here I am going in! Great camera work I must say. ;)

Tonight I headed out to Bay City thinking I was having a practice and we ended up having a game. 5 of our girls didn't show up so we only had two full lines. 60 minutes of hockey! Tiresome! But holy cow, I scored another goal tonight, then another, and another. I am now the proud owner of a hat trick! It was sweet. The girls kept getting the puck to me and somehow it found the back of the net. We held on to win 6-5! Yee Haw! I'm loving it!

And that my friends will be enough of my brazen boldness.

Tis the season to be scary.

2009-10-15T16:55:00.002-04:00

Her shirt says so cute it's scary.

Who loves Halloween? I personally love fall and do enjoy the holiday for the kids. Dressing up and going out trick or treating is something every child should look forward to yearly. I don't like the uber scary and gross you out nastiness but for the most part Halloween with it's ghosts and goblins is all in good fun.

Talk at the lunch club this week has been all about the Tortured Souls Warehouse, Woods of Terror, Village of the Living Dead, Spook Train, St. Lucifer's Haunted Asylum, etc. These are just a sampling of the local haunts that you can visit in our area. Most of them lay out the preemptive "may not be suitable for children under 12." And this chicken here will not set foot within 50 feet of one. I don't like being scared! I don't like watching scary movies, heck I shield my eyes during scary commercials. I don't do horror!

Jill and her family went to a haunted house last weekend and had a blast. Well Amy's 9 year old Emily wants to visit a haunted house. So all week it's been the talk about heading to the Woods of Terror tomorrow night. Well guess who's not going? ME!! And woe is me to be left behind. But I think I'll save my sanity. Heck, a commercial I saw on Fox News as a scare tactic for Aids in Germany freaked me out for about a week after I saw it last month. I think I'm making the right decision as I think back to watching Nightmare on Elm Street in the 5th grade and not sleeping in my own room for almost 2 years. I also did a Haunted House as a teen and I still get chilled thinking about, however the story is kind of funny too. ;) So for me and needing to get my yearly Halloween thrills, I will just anxiously await the showing of the Simpson's Treehouse of Horror whatever number it's on now.

This blog sucks.

2009-10-06T20:10:00.005-04:00

Seriously, I've started 4 posts now over the past week and just think "boring" so I delete.

My themes were.

Ashley's sleep battles ~ Every Mommy blog has this and I've already been around that blogging block. Who wants to hear every single detail.

The Detroit Tigers ~ It's just a game. 3 years ago I cried when they blew the division victory to the Twins on the last day of the season. At least then they had the wild card berth and were in the playoffs. Today I apathetically watch the Tiger's tied 4-4 in the 9th. I don't think I'll cry but I think the Tiger's won't hold on. The Red Wings broke my heart in June, I guess I expect it today during the division playoff.

Blogging causes narcissism ~ This was actually coming along pretty good but it was a middle of the night post and I was feeling uber-negative. No reason to throw darts at others. ;)

Well what do you know, the Tiger's are threatening in the 9th. 1st & 3rd and no out. I'm not hitting post until they a. score or b. fail to score and are out of the inning.

Well you may as well listen to some more rantings. How about about a blog posting called stupid millionaire men? Yup, I'm talking about David Letterman, Miguel Cabrera, and Jon Gosselin. Jackasses!

Good lord, this is the longest game I've ever witnessed. I'm so thankful that it started at 5:07 and not the traditional 8 pm it normally would be in Minnesota. One out, no run yet.

DOH, double play. I really don't want to watch Minnesota celebrate a walk-off victory. Maybe I should go watch Hell's Kitchen. This blog isn't the only entity that sucks, I believe the Detroit Tiger's might fit that bill also.

What's Cooking?

2009-09-27T09:58:00.003-04:00

But I'm allergic to pepper!

Time for some Ashley soup!

An old pic of Austin. Sorry Tommy we didn't have that big pot when you were a baby.

All is well

2009-09-24T20:18:00.004-04:00

I'm feeling like the blog has been neglected so I'm forcing myself to post. All is well, absolutely great actually. I just haven't felt like posting and haven't had any good fodder I guess. How about a family update?

Tommy - Got accustomed to 3rd grade very easily. Of course he has no trouble with school in any subjects so I need never worry about him academically. He's loving hockey and is excited to get into some games. Next Sunday is his first one. He also got trained to be an altar server at mass and he is very anxious for that. His weekend debut is November 14th. So long away. Maybe he'll be chosen for a school mass.

Austin - I worry more about him but he's done very well. Bless his teacher's heart she's just wonderful with him. The funniest thing with Austin she's trying to get him to use more than 2 crayons on a coloring page. He came home on the 2nd day of school with a beautifully colored picture of a man on a farm with only green and orange. Green face, orange hair, orange barn, at least the tree was green (including the trunk). I guess he gets so focused on coloring in the lines he forgets to change colors. Or maybe he is just ahem...lazy. ;) He's very conscientious about his work and is adamant about getting his homework done right away but the coloring, not so much. He's started having his therapies again and except for always having his hands in his mouth (nervous twitch I guess) he's doing ok physically. His OT has mentioned trying gum to compensate. Acceptable habit for not so acceptable habit. Hopefully it'll work.

Ashley is doing well. She had a rough week last week sick with something viral. She had 3 days of fever and just wasn't her happy self. I'm so glad to have my happy girl back. She had her 6 month check up and is 26" long and weighs 16lb8oz which is exactly double her birth weight. We got her pictures taken today. I can't wait to see how they turn out. She is now crawling everywhere and will stand up to our step in the living room. She is just growing up so fast.

Joe's good, he spent last week in Maine so that sucked being single Mommy last week.

I'm good, so happy that my TV shows are back on. I'm such a tater. My fall hockey season started up and I'm loving it. Fall softball is also happening. Fun times. My class is great, love them all and the days just fly by. And my beloved Detroit Tigers are still in 1st place hanging by a thread. Oh I hope they can hold on! Only about a week left of the regular season. My Dad is in Cleveland watching them live tonight. Lucky him!

So all is well here, hope all is well for you too.

Ashley is 6 month's old

2009-09-13T20:59:00.005-04:00

And my did that time fly by! She just seems to be growing up so fast and we are still thrilled at just having her around.

Lately she has been hitting milestones like crazy. I am loving watching her grow and figure out how to do new things. She has been at daycare for 2 weeks and is doing great. Jill found her first tooth and last week she started sitting up on her own there. Little stinker, always showing off for others. You can watch her mastering her new skill by going to the Little Bloomers blog, which is her daycare. And can I just reiterate how LUCKY I am that she is in the same building as me. 6 months ago, childcare was a big concern of mine but not anymore! And she is so spoiled!

She got her 2nd tooth yesterday but at least Joe discovered that! With her now getting teeth I have the worry of getting bit but thankfully that hasn't happened yet. A nipple amputation does not sound appealing. Both the boys were weaned before they had any teeth, 6 & 8 months respectively. I'm still hoping to make it a year with Ashley but if biting occurs or other circumstances come up I might change my mind. So far nursing and working is going okay.

Around our house she can get anywhere she wants to and very quickly at that. Our sunken living room does keep her contained but I know it won't be long and she'll be conquering that. She's got a love for paper and any cables she can get to. Why do babies get bored with toys so quickly but love to tear a magazine to shreds forever?

I had all intentions of posting some pictures or video tonight but the Princess went to bed early. So here's a sleepy one.

She ate some real sweet potatoes this afternoon and loved them. She's becoming a little food pig and seems to enjoy veggies more than fruit. I imagine soon it'll be on to finger food. She had her first popsicle at Disney and liked it, but was more enchanted with the wrapper. Silly girl.

Another big feat is she is now taking a bath up in the big tub. She was making too much of a splashy mess in her little tub in the sink. She loves her bath.

She truly is the most pleasant baby. She's starting to find her voice and so we've been banished to the cry room at church. She doesn't cry, but she blabs so loud. It'll probably be another 3 years now before we make it a whole mass without the cry room. Joe and I will have the weekly fight over starting in the cry room or out with everyone. ;) Oh fun.

About the only thing I can complain about with her is that my previously fabulous sleeper has decided to not sleep through the night anymore for the last couple months. I'm hoping once the teething is over that it will happen again. For now, I just try to enjoy my night times with her and try to get to bed at a decent hour. We're living and living well I should add.

And how about this outfit pic? The pretty purple sleeper I picked out to bring her home from the hospital in is totally dwarfed by the sleeper she wears now. She still has room to grow in the green one but it won't be long and she'll be dwarfing that outfit. *sniff sniff* 6 month check up is Friday, along with pictures before that. My baby is just so sweet. Gotta capture all these moments.

Disney

2009-09-07T20:55:00.002-04:00

Our 2009 Disney trip won't be one we will soon forget. My Mom and Justin were able to come with us. Justin did great on his first trip flying and Mom did well too after not having flown for 20 or so years. Myself, I'd call a fair weather flyer. I don't necessarily enjoy it, but it's definitely the way to go when you're a long way from home. The ride home was a bit rough but we made it. Ashley was wonderful on both flights only getting ticked once we landed home after midnight and she woke up a crank. She was a really good girl at Disney and just kind of went with the flow, she loved swimming, and is always happy in her stroller. She did get wound up on the bus a couple times and didn't sleep too well in her Pack-N-Play. She ended up in bed with Tommy and I most of the trip but was overall a very good baby. Good thing to because we like to go!

Ashley was a hit. She got all kinds of looks and is quite a conversation piece. She's taken to sticking her tongue out at people while smiling. It cracks me up! She is growing up so fast! She got her first tooth last week and is getting very close to being able to get up and sit on her own. She also did great at her first week of daycare. Such a happy girl. It was so great being at our favorite vacation spot with our sweet little girl! I know Joe loved having a whole week off of work to be with the family. I personally am lucky I get so much time off.

Here are some vacation pics. We had over 200 taken so I tried to whittle it down a bit. Great time!