memory foam

My daughter wanted memory foam for Christmas. Put it on her list to Santa.
That and UGGS, no way am I buying UGGS for an 11 yr. old. She got the memory foam.
She has slept on my sis-in-laws bed and couldnt stop talking a bout the dang memory foam.
So I ordered her one from overstock.com (love that website)
it is the BOMB!!!
I am going to order one for all our beds in the house.
She has the oldest mattress in the house, needs to be replaced, but not so much anymore, it is heaven. I have slept on it twice, once just a little nap.
I highly recommend them to all, and to all a goodnight!!

Today is Christmas Eve. Our beloved cat Zeke who was 15 years old had to be put to sleep today. Timing sucks, but he was failing.

We are sad, it isnt fun to be sad on Christmas Eve.

Everyone knew Zeke as the big fat cat, who was so sweet.

Rest little Zeke, you were loved, you will be missed.

The Christmas tree

An annual tradition that I look forward to. We usually put it up before we drive to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving. This year, we waited until after.
We got the tree out, the kids wanted a shot at putting it together themselves. This tree is old, it used to be my parents. The color coded rings are faded. They started at the top, only got about 6 branches on it. Then we had to intervene.
Whitney unwrapped each of the ornaments from the boxes, setting them all out on the table.
She loves doing this, "remember mom when I made this one?" "who is this one from?"
I love the ones they made, they still make a few, they are my most precious ones.
I also still have ones that were my grandparents. I remember them on their trees. I makes me feel like they are still a part of Christmas, even though they are gone.
Lucas doesn't care so much for this process anymore, he gets bored with it quickly. He ended up laying on the floor watching.
Our tree is so full, i think we may need to get a second tree.
My favorite thing on the tree is the star at the top. It was my grandparents. I look at it and it instantly reminds me of them. They always had a beautiful tree. This isn't really a true star, more of a spire. Whit thought it was plastic, it is just really thin glass. I freak out when we get to it in the box, nobody is allowed to touch it, I would be so sad if it broke. John is very careful when he puts it on the tree. He indulges me!!! They all do, when I get a little sappy looking at all the ornaments on our tree.
It just reminds me how thankful I am for my life and my family.
Merry Christmas!!

My new snowman

For those of you that don't know, I collect snowman. Don't know why, but it started about 10 years ago. I have all different kinds, all over the house.
However, I got this little guy this year. It was an early present from my mother. He is about 3 inches tall (here he is sitting on a kleenex box). He plugs into my computer and is the only Christmas decoration I have on my desk. He turns different colors while plugged in. He is sooo cute, and my new favorite so far.
Just wanted to share.
Thanks Mom. and Trish, keep your hands off this guy!!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving with family and friends from all over. Our friends the Irvins joined us this year. My cousin Julie and her son Nick and of course Trish and Gabs.

the turkey was great, as well as all the trimmings. The football game was sad, those Lions, just cant get a break. We had lots of fun the whole day long.

We couldnt take a walk after we ate though, it was raining all day long, kind of a bummer. Had to just lay around and feel stuffed. That night, Whitney spent the night with Trish to go shopping on Black Friday and Lucas and John headed to the woods. Julie and I hit the gym Friday morning to work on the turkey dinner.

Christmas here we come.

Lucas and sports

Lucas is now totally into sports. His dad is thrilled. He doesn't just play them every chance he gets, he watches them and talks about them.
I remember a day when on Sunday afternoons and a football game was on that John wanted to watch, I had to: A. Hope if fell during naptime or B. entertain the kids
This has all changed.
Lucas is in there watching it with John, talking about each play, cheering on a team after figuring out which team he should be rooting for. (Any naps now involved John, not Lucas)
He wakes up and watches sports center to see highlights because his mean old mom sent him to bed before the game was over last night.
So, now things have shifted and it is sweet to see that John and Lucas have this to bond over.
Whitney and I are now watching a lot more football as well, so we can get in on this action.
We will always root for the Colts, being from Indiana
We will always root for the Bears, John has been a fan since about birth
We may one day learn to like the Lions, although so far in 6 years, that isn't happenin!!

I am Thankful

So cliche right before Thanksgiving isnt it???
But I do feel so Thankful. For my husband who goes to work everyday to provide for this family in an amazing way.
For my families health, for my parents and brother. Who even though they live far away, I love and miss so much.
For my freedoms to religious and political.
For my friends. I have amazing friends, near and far, old and new. They bring so much to my life.
So today I say thanks to God for providing all of this in my life.

I am grateful today for my freedom.
Today I have the freedom to go cast a vote. I do not like politics, politicians the whole deal. But I will not shurk my repsonsiblity or freedom to vote. There are people around the world without this freedom, so I will cast mine today.
I live in a very Democratic state at the moment, that was a little challenging when we first moved here.
Now, I dont really care how you vote, just get out there and do it.

The skunk part II

So John gets home, we round up another comforter to put on top of the cage, just in case.
He picks up the cage and puts it in the back of the pick up. Grabs a shotgun and jumps in the truck with Whitney.
They are home 20 minutes later, with an empty cage.
John somehow managed to open the cage, release the skunk and not get sprayed. Whitney said the skunk took off running, ran around in a big circle and came back toward the truck!!!
They jumped in the truck and took off, NO SKUNK, YOU ARE NOT COMING BACK WITH US!!
the end of the skunk.

Sorry this is the only picture, nobody was brave enough to lift the blanket and get close for a photo.

The skunk

So, a few weeks ago Ruby sticks her face down a hole by a tree in the backyard and gets sprayed by a skunk. This is at 6:45 in the morning, she comes back inside like nothing happened. I bend over to wipe off her face thinking it is wet from the grass, nope, not dew, skunk!!!
I am gaging, so off Ruby goes to the garage until I can pull it together.
I Run upstairs while the kids are yelling, "Mom, what is the matter??? are you sick??? what is that smell??? Oh my gosh did a skunk get in the house???!!!!"
I run some water in the bathtub as John carries Ruby upstairs. Let me be more descriptive, John doesn't pay much attention to Ruby so the fact that he was carrying her was probably totally freakin her out. He has on blue rubber gloves and is holding her as far from his body as possible. He deposits her in the bathroom and I rinse and scrub and rinse some more.
If you didn't know water makes skunk smell even worse!
We dry her off and try to get ready for school. I will deal with the rest later.
So after dropping the kids off at school, I try to get the skunk smell out of the house, the towels, the carpet and every other area it has infiltrated. It is a nice day so I am able to open the windows, but guess what... skunk smell outside too!!!
My neighbors cat had been sprayed a week earlier, so I head to her house to get the special de-skunk lotion they sell at the pet store.
Ruby gets several baths in that throughout the course of the day.
The smell is on everything. I go to the gym and I can still smell it.
When will this end!!!!
I call a trapping service. For $250-$300 they will come take care of my skunk.
Ummmmmm, no thanks, we got plans for that money. John got a trap from his brother and we set it up in the back yard. We can do this right, my man is a hunter, he can take care of this.
We try several food options, peanut butter and honey on white bread....who wouldn't like that?
dog food, all we caught with the dog food was an opossum who we relocated.
Finally, we put some leftover rib bones out there, what the heck let's give it a whirl.
The next morning the trap is shut.
Now we put a furniture pad over the cage so when we do approach it, we hopefully wont get sprayed. Unfortunately, it also means we cant see what is in the cage. Standing almost on the other side of the yard, we peer in and see some black and white!!! We got him, we got the little stinky sucker. He has pulled some of the furniture pad in the cage with him, but he is nice and cozy tucked in there.
Well great, since you are comfy, you can just sit in there and think about what you have done. The havoc you have brought on my dog, on my family.
And, well, John is out of town, so we cant do much with it anyway at this point.
Stay tuned for the next chapter of the stinky skunk.

This is Ruby

This is Ruby, she is a really sweet dog. We got her a little over a year ago for the kids. They were DYING to have a dog.

She is very affectionate and loyal, although, sometimes, not so smart.

John has never loved Ruby to much, not really his kind of dog.

But this morning, I heard John talking to Ruby, just the two of them.

We are trying to catch a skunk in the back yard and he was telling her all about it.

How She was going to help him trap that smelly sucker.

She was getting very fired up, I think just because John as actually paying some attention to her.

It was really sweet, but don't tell anyone, he will deny ever doing it.

Football

Some new favorite pics of mine from football.

It was a cold day in Michigan yesterday, not just the weather but my baby got beat at his game. Has only happened twice this year, we dont deal well with loss around here.

But look at my little man, he is happy and having a great time anyway. That is why he is my joy. He is always smiling!!!

love you handsome!!!!

Lucas

I feel like I dont post much about Lucas. He is so lowkey, no drama. Just cruising along, happy, smart and my handsome little man.

He is now a huge Michigan fan. The Michigan vs. State game was on last Saturday. Not being from Michigan I have no vested interest in this game, except now Lucas cares, so I will root for whoever he wants to win.

Makes it more fun watching the game

He was playing in the yard with a bunch of friends all morning pretending they were Michigan players creaming State players

Unfortunately, when the real game happened, State won. He was crushed

for 10 minutes, then he was back outside playing again.

I love 9 yr. old boys!!!

The world of tweens.
So Whitney needed some shoes for softball practice. The Pride practice inside during the colder months, so some real athletic shoes.
So off we go. I think we tried on every pair of shoes in the store, nothing was making her happy. "Grown up shoes arent cute", she says.
Finally, we found a pair. SIZE 7!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow, she is killing me with this growing thing.
The price tag wasnt so fantastic either.
OUCH!

SURPRISE~~

Surprise Trish!!! We got you!!!!!!. We celebrated her 50th bday with a huge surprise party.
It was not easy getting her there. She wasn't playing along, but after many phone calls and help from Papaw, she showed up on time and surprised.

Here is a picture of the siblings that were there. They stopped messing around long enough to get this photo taken. Ok, technically Jeannette (far right) is not a sibling, but she has been with Steve longer then some siblings have been around, so we consider her a sibling.!!!

Thanks to Mimi and Papaw for opening up there house to the 40 crazy people that were there Saturday night. We had a blast.

crazy sightings over Canton

This was the sky outside our windows on Saturday morning about 9:30am. So freaky.

20 minutes earlier it was warm and sunny. These clouds brought some lovely rain with them.

Looks like a crazy movie or something

kinda sad

I was returning something to my favorite store, as I was walking in, I saw a sign.
STORE CLOSING
what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How can this be., it is my go to, when I need a new....... something, they always have it.
They have my favorite jeans, I have 4 pairs from there. I know my size will always fit.

I mean we have the usual stores, the TARGET, KOHLS, JcPenney stuff, but then I dont really want to look like everybody else.
So they said the chain isnt closing, just the one here in Canton.
WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????
the closest other stores are 30 min away, I guess I will be ordering online
Now I only have until Friday to use my in store credit
what a bummer :(

13 Years

13 years, that is how long I have been married to the most wonderful man.
We had a wonderful anniversary, not doing much, drop off at a bday party, lunch at subway...alone
stopped by the local Pandora store for some new charms Luv him
then my sweet friend said "Subway does not cut it for your anniversary. Drop your kids off, they are staying for dinner. You and John go out!"
Umm...ok, you dont have to tell me twice. I wonderful bottle of wine, great food and the anniversary was lovely. Can't wait for next year.
1-4-3 John

EHEW, so gross

So, I am all about recycling.
Living here in Michigan, if you buy bottles or cans of drinks, you pay a deposit, to get it back, you have to return them to a bottle room at the grocery.
The smell of this room is stale beer, trash, and well, just gross.
So after 15 people at hour house this weekend, we had a huge recycle bag. I had put it off long enough. I loaded up today. I could barely get the bag out of the trash can.
We were out of rubber gloves at home.....maybe there will be one at the store?
I got thru 100 bottles, I could do no more, there was so much trash and food in the bag, i couldn't take it.
Apparently, not everyone had seen the big sign my daughter had made on the the trash can that said RECYCLE. It was to disgusting. Ahhhh, no rubber gloves at the store.
So, for the 20 bottles that didn't get recycled... well to bad. I will go without a diet coke one afternoon, I am not reaching any further in that bag.
But I am going to go buy some rubber gloves for next time.

first day of school

My tradtitional first day of school picture in front of the house. With my little tiny camera , it is so hard to tell Whits eyes are closed with her glasses on.

You can tell in this photo, she is all about the fashion these days. Sorry I cut off the shoes, they are super cute though.

Lucas who does not really care for school, and numerous times has said "Why do we have school?" and that he doesn't want to go to school, came home yesterday and said , on his own, "he had a great day at school". I can't remember ever hearing those words come out of his mouth.
The angels were singing I tell ya.

What to do when the kids go back to school

go back to bed after you drop them off
finally tackle refinishing my daughters dresser
wipe out the inside of all the cabinets
workout
read a book
finish my bible study homework
have lunch with a friend or two

NOT listen to the Disney channel all day on the tv

sing Sugarland songs at the top of my lungs, even if I don't know the words
read my favorite blog
switch out summer clothes for the Fall clothes
hmmm..... where to start???!!!

More from Labor Day Weekend

We had lots of family come visit us this weekend.

Lonnie was hilarious as usual this weekend. Playing cornhole, racing Whit and lucas on the bounce house, or sitting by the campfire.

We got a bounce house for the kids...and some big kids. This is Addison jumping with Aunt Marcy.

This is my niece lindsey, LUV her!!!

Who knows what Whit is doing here, being her goofy little self.

I love these two pics from Labor Day weekend. Lucas is hard to catch with a real smile and Whitney doesnt have her glasses which makes her look so different.

open house
flag football practice
15 family members visiting for the weekend
my husband out of town all week
calgon, take me away!!!

Dropping off the girl child at camp!!

So today Whitney went off to her first sleep away camp. I had told her so many stories about me going to camp growing up and how much fun I had. All the fun stuff you get to do, great friends, laughs. I found some old pictures of me at Gnaw Bone camp in Nashville, Indiana. Of course she laughed at them and how silly I looked, what wonderful memories.

She is bunking with a friend, and knew another girl who was going. We had the list, checked everything off, and then double checked again.

Whtiney had read thru the packet they sent us and noticed quite a lengthy list of what they couldnt take. No snacks, candy, gumm or ANY KIND OF ELECTRONICS, no laying around there, you were off on an adventure. With her initials on all the tags in her clothes, and extras of most everything thrown in by me, we drove off.

An hour down the road it starts pouring, even a little lightning. YUK! Not so interested in leaving my daughter in that mess. Luckily it stopped after about 10 minutes and the sun was shining again.
We get the girls checked in, find their tent number and head up the dirt road carrying a sleeping bag, pillow and every kind of bug repellant known to man. Ok, yes I wrote tent, not a cabin, a tent on a platform. The only ventilation was opening the flaps, no screen windows, nothing, the bugs were in or the air wasn't. Those were the two choices.

As the first girls to check into their tent, they get to pick the beds with the "best mattresses" and mosquito net...not kidding. We get their sleeping bags rolled out, sheets on. Then we proceed to clip on the bug repellents we brought, strap on the wristbands and spray down their beds with bug spray.
The camp does not encourage parents to stick around, so with a quick hug good bye, they were running off to meet friends and enjoy their time.

I cant wait to go pick her up on Tuesday and hear all the details. I hope she has a wonderful time. Yes, the camp is only two nights, that is a good start isnt it??

We have hit the wall.

Yes, it has happened. I didn't think it would happen so quickly, we were cruising along at an ok clip and then wham!!! we hit it. I want the kids back in school.

I love not having a schedule, until I am ready to go out for the day and they are still asleep at 10:00AM.
I love not having to cook breakfast, excpet then they are ready for lunch at 11:00 and I just ate breakfast.

I love having my house picked up, now not clean, that is a different story, just stuff picked up and put where it goes. That hasnt happened all summer. I have learned to live with this one a little bit and let go. Life got a little easier when I did that.

The fighting and bickering and constantly telling them to find something to do is old now.

I want to read that class list and talk about who is in the class and who isnt. I want to go by school supplies and put them in the backpack.
Then I want my two beautiful children to put the backpack on and head out the door to school!!!

Luckily, there is a little light in my tunnel...my parents are taking my children for 6 days. They are going to New York which will be a great trip for all. To be honest, I really dont care where they are going, I am just looking forward to a little break. I will miss them after a day I know, which is the crazy dynamic of this entire mother hood thing. I want to feel that, and I want to be missed. We are never apart for to long to have that happen.
My ranting is complete, thanks for tuning in.

My little girl turns 11

My baby is growing up. She hasn't been a baby for awhile, most days she acts like she is 15. But today, is a beautiful day, the day she was born. It was a long day, don't need to share the details, but she made it, we both did.

She is the life of the party. She cues in to little details and can always make you laugh with them. Like the lines or characters from a movie, that she will randomly say. She loves to imitate people dancing which always brings a smile to your face. Or she will just make up her own funny moves, just to get you to smile.

Her eyes are the most beautiful blue you have ever seen. They are bright and almost electrifying with intensity. I have never seen another person with eyes that color. She has recently figured out that wearing certain color makes her eyes really pop, yikes.

She has an uncanny knack of picking out clothes for her dad and I. He always get her approval on ties before going to work. Before our cruise I was trying on dresses for our formal night. Her eyes couldn't have rolled back in her head any further when I came down the stairs. But in her defense, some of this stuff was old, and I have since gotten rid of it.
She is competitive in everything she does, from learning all her multiplication tables first in her classroom, to being the first home from Dairy Queen on our walks. To pretty much anything with her brother.

Her drama queen comes out from time to time and she sheds some tears, luckily she gets over it quickly. This is the girliest thing about her.
She does not hold grudges and makes friends easily, she is strong and independent and everything I could ask for in my 11 year old girl.

So today, on her birthday, she wanted to go buy her hamster. She has been saving up money to get all the things she will need to bring this little furry creature into our home. He is pretty cute and he is in a cage, so I am ok with this. The smile on her face when she got him home was priceless and I am so glad I saw it.

My wish for her on this special day is everything she could ever want or need. I know all her dreams come true, she will make that happen.
Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter. I love you forever. Mom

Sailing the Baltic Sea

Sunset in St. Petersburg, Russia at 11:42 p.m. Loved it

John and I were offered the trip of a lifetime and we took it. His boss called and asked if we wanted to go on a cruise to the Baltic Sea...in 7 days. Umm, YEAH!!!! babysitters lined up, schedule in place, passports at the ready and we were off. Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Talliin, Copenhagen. We were on board the most beautiful ship ever, first class all the way. We were pampered and treated like royalty.

Here we are standing at the Nieve River in St. Petersburg. The Cathedral of St. Isaac in the background.

The trip was a once in a lifetime, and we are so fortunate to be able to go. The places we visited were unbeileveable. The history is just so beyond our imagination, seeing things built and REBUILT in the 1400's. These places might not have been on our bucket list, but we are sooo glad we got to see them all. The food was amazing, the people we met were so fun and there were no computers, tvs or cell phones for a week. It was bliss.
I have nearly 150 pics, to many to post, but would love to share with you all sometime.

God Bless, have a great day!!
John and Laura

Spring in Michigan

Whitney's 10U travel team " The Pride"
They have had an amazing season. Whitney has learned so much playing on this team. It has been a huge time commitment, and she has not complained once about it. She has turned out to be a very strong 3rd baseman since she can throw like a man. She has had a grand slam and a home run also this year. Watching her has been a true joy for John and I.




The last day of school!!!!!!!!!!!

This year Lucas played spring flag football. He was on a team with all his buddies. He loved it, and enjoyed playing running back and quarterback. The kids has an arm for sure. Just not sure which sport he will spend it on.

His baseball team was his first year of kid pitch, can you say BALL, BALL, BALL!!! A little slow, but he liked his coach. He has such natural ability out on the field and enjoys going to practices as well as the games.

We wrapped up another school year. Whitney finished 4th, and Lucas finished 2nd grade. They had amazing teachers, and a wonderful year. There was alot of drama with all the girls in Whitney's class, so we were glad to see that come to an end. Apparently, that drama translated to the mothers of the school as well. A ton of drama on the PTO and I have made the decision to not serve again next year. I am done with the high school drama, don't need any more of that.

We are starting our summer out right up here with beautiful weather. We are looking forward to a fun filled summer, we hope you can be a part of it.

old house/ new house

Our last house was an act of love, patience, dreams, threats of lawsuits and tears. We helped design it, with loving touches from a friend. We watched it being built from the ground up. It took forever, and cost more then we expected, but we loved every inch of it. It was huge and a great place to throw parties, which we often did.
We moved in 3 days before Christmas. Lucas was just a baby, he took his first steps in the living room, was potty trained on a very durable hard wood floor, had his first haircut on the counter in the laundry room. We had lots of extra space for lots of overnight visitors.
Whitney and her playgroup friends playing in the basement. They were only 3 and they were all sitting in their underwear with suckers in their mouthes (it was cute, not creepy). it was the best house for playgroup, the basement was huge and we couldn't hear the kids.
We had a family of foxes that lived in the backyard. Whitney and John took cat food and sat out there for an hour and got to feed them by hand. So many fabulous memories, in such a short period of time.
We got a call in Sept. for an offer we could not pass up. We moved to Canton 3 days after Christmas. It was cold up here, and we didn't know a soul. Nobody comes out much in January in Michigan, it was a long few months for me.
But now, we have lived in this house longer then we ever lived in Brownsburg. The house is sooo different, but filled with so many wonderful memories. They just took a little longer to get started.
Our family now comes up to visit all the time and stays for much longer then they ever did in Brownsburg.
Moving was the hardest thing we have ever had to do, and the best thing for the four of us. Those cold winter nights when we didn't know anyone else, we had to rely on one another for everything. It brought us closer together then any vacation ever could.
Being away from our family is hard, some days harder then others special events at school, or when I have to be at three places at once and John is out of town. I wish I had a grandparent for a back up. But, we have grown to appreciate our family more then we ever did before and love them beyond belief. We have also built some strong friendships up here and I now have my back up. I am just not related to any of them.
We are traveling to Indy this weekend. One of my nieces is graduating from high school. There will be family get togethers all weekend and we cannot wait to see everyone. We haven't been back since Christmastime, this visit is long overdue. Although we will miss watching the Indy 500 on TV, a perk of living in Mi, we will have the joy of visiting with family and laughing until your sides hurt.
WE are blessed.