RIP #21 - We'll Miss You :-(

I thought yesterday was bad, but this morning it went completely downhill when I learned about the passing of Redskins safety Sean Taylor. Shocked, stunned, at a loss for words - that describes exactly how I felt and how I continue to feel hours later. I've cried, I've listened to radio coverage and read every article I can to try and make sense of this...but I just can't. Our home game this weekend is going to be extremely emotional, but at the same time, there's no other place I'd rather be than surrounded by my Redskins "family". Thanks to Karen for finding my mom and I a Taylor jersey this morning on her day off - we sincerely appreciate it and will wear it with pride Sunday.

My thoughts and prayers are with Sean's family and friends...we'll never forget you #21.

#21

SEAN TAYLOR

1983-2007

In our thoughts and prayers

It's been a terribly sad day for Redskins fans today, but not because of the loss on Sunday, but because of the scary news that came out of Miami this morning. #21 Sean Taylor is fighting for his life after being shot and all football fans - whether they cheer for the Skins or not - are in shock right now. He's been on my mind all day and I can't do much beyond pray for him to recover. I hope anyone reading my blog will do the same and say a quick prayer for him and his family.

Wrappin' Up The Weekend

It's hard to believe, but the long weekend is already coming to a close! It's been a really nice weekend and our transformation to a Christmas house has begun. David & I had the most relaxing, fantastic Thanksgiving we've ever had....and it was so nice. We stayed home - he cooked - and my mom, Kerry & Michael came over for dinner. After we successfully stuffed ourselves, we played a dice came called LCR and it was soooo fun! For anyone who enjoys games, you gotta get this one. It involves some light gambling....or heavy if you prefer....but it's fast paced and really fun. You can buy it at Spencers. After that ended, we played Cranium and laughed so hard we cried at times :-) What I can't believe is that I didn't take one picture all day of our Thanksgiving holiday....that's so unlike me!

Friday I experienced my first Black Friday shopping day! It wasn't as bad as I expected. My mom and I went to Central Park in Fredericksburg and the worst store there was Kohls....the line was from the front door to the back of the building. We both agreed there wasn't anything in that store worth an hour long wait! In the end, we both had a successful day of shopping and by 9:30 we were home and exhausted!

Saturday I found my way to the gym (woo hoo!) and then had a movie marathon. First I watched "Evan Almighty" with the kids while David went deer hunting (he wasn't successful). That was a really cute movie! Next was the all time classic "A Christmas Story" which the kids thoroughly enjoyed. And then once they were nestled in their beds, David & I watched "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" which was hilarious!

Today was all about football and Christmas decorating!

Our Christmas Tree

Once again the Redskins completely let me down (boooo) - you'd think by now I'd be getting used to this, but I just can't :-( We managed to get 2 of our 3 Christmas trees up and the one that's not up yet is our Redskins themed tree....after today I'm not sure I have the heart to put that one up! We'll see.

So as I close out this post, the long weekend is almost officially over and Christmas is only 30 days away....are you ready?!!! If not, let me take you back a few weeks and get caught up on my pics....see below!

Flash - aka Brennan - on Halloween

Batgirl (Alyssa) and the Cheetah (McKenna) on Halloween

Daddy's Birthday Party!

Mommy & Brennan at his school's Thanksgiving celebration.

Alyssa, McKenna & Brennan showing their holiday smiles!

Even Snickers is getting in the Cmas spirit!!!

Seven Random Things About Me

I was tagged by Karen to list seven random things about me so here goes...not sure if they're interesting or not...but they are random!

1. I've held many jobs in my life...including a waitress, bank teller, travel agent (I even went to a special school for this!), Mary Kay consultant, secretary (and I'm terrible at that) and now a Meeting Planner...finally I've found my career place in this world!

2. I break bones on things with wheels...I broke my arm on rollerskates in my house when I was 12. I was on my way outside when my wheels got caught in this woven rug at my mom's house. I broke my leg in 9th grade trying to show off my skateboarding skills...I'm no good!

3. I didn't graduate college until I was 27...not because it took me 10 years to complete college, but because I went for a year after highschool, quit b/c I had no clue what I wanted to study, and then decided at 24 that a degree was necessary if I ever wanted to be successful. So I went back, paid for 2/3 of it on my own and graduated right before my 27th bday. It was a proud moment!

4. I was born on King Kameameah's bday...He was the King of Hawaii when I was born, my grandparents were in Hawaii visiting at the time, and wanted my parents to name me Kameameah and call me Kami. THANK GOD my mom had more sense than that!

5. I conceived my twins naturally...which I find is unusual these days with all of the fertility drugs in our world now. Not that I'm against them - I'm so happy they've found a way for people who can't conceive to get pregnant - but multiples are much more common now and conceiving them "natural" is less and less common.

6. My grandmother, mother and I graduated from the same highschool...yes, that's totally true. Not just one of my grandmother's, but both of them graduated from the same highschool as me...we all attended in a different building, but it was always Lackey Highschool!

7. I didn't get my driver's license when I turned 16...even though I could, I opted not to because 4 days before my 16th bday my girlfriend wrecked the car I was in, throwing me through the windshield and scaring the CRAP out of me. I was too scared to drive after that so I waited until 3 1/2 months after I turned 16 to finally take the leap!

Now it's my job to tag someone, so I pick Ruhiyyih!

It's a sad day for Redskin's Fans

BOOOOOOOOOOOOO :-( I am so completely annoyed with the Skins after today's disappointing loss to the Eagles...33-25. We had that game - we out played them almost all day - key word ALMOST! It's the same story, different week - we're winning and then enter the 4th quarter - the quarter that the Redskins forget they have to complete to finish the game. ERRRRR! Once again I sat at the game, horrified at what I saw before my eyes. When will we have a winning team? When? We have a good coach (I think?), we have talent, but for whatever reason, we cannot pull it together at the end when it counts. Next week we face Dallas on their home turf....I can only imagine how that one will end. I'm frustrated, I'm disappointed and I'm just plain sick about today's loss. BOOOOOOOOOO :-(

Other than that, it's been a good weekend. It was definitely great football weather today - there's finding a bright spot in a very dull day!!! ha ha I had a party yesterday with purses, jewelry, baskets and home goods. Thanks to Karen for coming all the way down. I got to visit with Griffin - boy what a cutie! I think he liked me :-) I had a few beers with friends before heading home last night.

Tomorrow Kerry, Jayci and I are going to the movies...with my gang...to see The Bee Movie. I've heard it's good...let's hope. Happy Veterans Day...Happy Monday off!

Just plain disgusted

That's how I'm feeling right now...for a few reasons. First and foremost, my back is KILLING me again today and I know why and I know it's my fault. I haven't been to the gym on a consistent basis since probably September. Between convention hours and my laziness (ok maybe some because I'm busy too!) since we've come back, I just haven't gotten back into the rhythm. Which means that my back hurts and I feel the fattest I've felt in almost 2 years. I've been beating myself up bad tonight - which is fine for one night - but tomorrow I am going to reacquaint myself with my gym and the treadmill in my basement. Any and all encouragement to do that, and watch my diet again, are greatly appreciated :-) Here's a picture of me with Karen & Kristen from my office at Happy Hour the other night...can you see my triple chins?!

Second I'm frustrated tonight because I've had my first run-in with FLEAS :-( EWWWWW! I feel so dirty and I feel like our house is super dirty. Snickers was dropped off at Petco this morning for a random grooming appointment. What started out as random turned into a milk bath, flea and tick bath and me leaving there after dropping $140 AND an appointment at the vet tomorrow morning because he has scratched/chewed his back raw. UGH! I blame us and it makes me mad. A simple dose of Frontline every month and fleas are easily avoided.

I'm in a funk tonight - no doubt about it. I just hope by tomorrow it fades, I find myself downstairs on the treadmill before the vet, find good news at the vet, and then find a good mood at my party tomorrow afternoon...wish me luck with those goals...and more importantly, with the goal to get fit and healthy again.

Have a great weekend everyone!

School update and my funny lil man

I had my first parent/teacher conference with the girls school and things went really well! I am so proud of them - they're both doing awesome in 1st grade - and lil Miss McKenna has been pegged for the Gifted and Talented team once she moves to 2nd grade. What a proud moment for her mommy?! They're both exceling in school - McKenna is a math whiz and Alyssa's strong subject is reading....she's in the 1st grade and is already reading at the level of a 2nd grader who is halfway through 2nd grade :-) I always thought they were smart...now I know they really do have it together!

As for my lil buddy - he has been cracking me up lately with the things he says...so I thought I'd share a few!

Tonight driving home I said to him "Who's my baby?" and he said NOT ME. I said "awww come on, why not buddy?" and his response was "Chase is your baby mommy - I am you're BIG BOY!" Chase is my nephew who lives in FL and I thought it was so cute that he remembered him and reminded me that he's small like a baby...not Brennan!

When I picked him up from school tonight, his first question was "where's the cake? where's the cake?" - this in honor of David's bday which is today. Apparently, Brennan had talked about Daddy's bday ALL Day - so much so - that the teachers made him a card with Happy Bday from the GLS staff!

Brennan is constantly reminding me how smart is he too...if it's for knowing what day comes after the current day (like that tomorrow is Friday) or for being able to sing his ABC's. He's the first one to toot his own horn lately!

And last but not least, at my mom's the other night he was hiding behind my truck when he saw a car driving by. I told him to stay near me because someone might take him (I know, I know!) and I said "what would you do if someone tried to take you? I'd be so sad" and his response....welllllll, maybe you would just kick their BUTTS!

He makes me laugh on a daily basis - he is so funny and so cute (not that I'm biased or anything). God I just love that kid!

Is Christmas Still December 25th?!

If it is, I could be in trouble! I haven't bought the first Cmas present and while to some people this might not seem like a big deal, to me it's huge. I am normally in full spirit by now with lists of who I need to buy for, what they want and how much I plan to spend on them. Then once I buy a gift, I write that down along with how much I spent so I can stay within budget....hey I try at least! It's now November 6 and I don't feel a bit of holiday spirit nor do I have any idea what I plan to buy for anyone...least of all my kids. The realization of how spoiled they are has hit me hard this year as I realize there isn't one thing that I can think of to get them. Oh they can think of things...as I type this the girls are beside me composing their lists...but let me assure you, they are copying words out of a toy book without any regard for the item itself! At 6 almost 7 years old, I'm out of ideas. Either they have it, they're too old for it, or they're too young for it. Talk about a tough age! Brennan isn't any better. If anyone has any great gift ideas, please, send them my way.

I don't like to buy just to buy. But I know that December 25 will come and I will need to be prepared. Here's hoping my job stress lets up some and that the Cmas spirit surprises me .... soon!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Why is it that you wait so long for your vacation to get here and then before you blink it's over?! That's how I feel about this weekend. I've waited for a long time for my mini-vacation to Myrtle Beach (adults only!) to arrive and before I knew it, I was home again. We had a GREAT time.

Played 3 rounds of golf
Indigo Creek Golf Club - this is where we played today - it was really nice

my scores were on par for me especially considering I hadn't played in almost 3 months (!!!) - we ate way, way too much food (yummy stuff though) and just had fun hangin' out with Robert & Wendy. It's always nice to get away without kids - boy how it rejuvenates the mommy & daddy system - but it's also nice to come home to screams of joy and 3 little monkeys waiting with such excitement for us to make it in the door :-) I'll never get enough of those moments!


Maw Maw Linda survived the weekend and we're so incredibly thankful we have her. They had a good time with her - and even got 2 hours at the park with Miss Kerry & Jayci.


Tomorrow is my mom's biopsy - I'll start the morning bright and early with her at the hospital. I'm thinking positive thoughts, but please keep us in your thoughts.

Trick or Treat...Smell My...!

Yes, believe it or not, at 6 1/2 years old my beautiful little girls know the rest of that little "song". Thankfully we got it through their thick heads that we don't say that on Halloween if we're trying to get treats and all was well with the world tonight. Our night started at McD's and then it was off to Kerry's to get dressed, apply makeup, and hit the streets. We went to Kerry & Jayci's for trick or treating - Simpsonville has lots of houses, but they require transportation via cars & trucks - not feet - so we always escape to a friend's neighborhood. Kerry lives in a townhouse neighborhood and boy, what a nice treat that was this year!!! It was quick, easy and no one tired out until we were at the very last house. Brennan hung in there - first time ever - yelling "Today is the best daaaaaaaaayyyyy" - we were cracking up!


All of their buckets were literally overflowing with candy and they had a great time. Batgirl (Alyssa), Cheetah girl (McKenna), Flash (Brennan) and the witch (Jayci) dove right into the candy when we got back to Kerry's and within minutes were bouncing off the walls. Luckily, by the time we got them to bed (which wasn't much past our normal time), everyone settled down and they're now fast asleep!


Hope everyone else had a fun time tonight. We're headed out tomorrow afternoon so I won't be posting again until we return. Have a great "rest of the week" and weekend...and let's hope for a better end result when the Redskins take on the New York Jets on Sunday. GO SKINS!

P.S. - unfortunately I can't share any pics until next week. The cord that attaches my camera to the computer is in my office and I'm headed south this afternoon. Stay tuned...

Charlie & Snoopy anyone?

So did you watch it tonight? If you have kids, did they watch it? We did - it's a tradition in our house to watch this and the Christmas one. My kids don't ever watch Charlie Brown, but they love it! It sets the tone for tomorrow night - trick or treating :-) They came home today with a small bag of treats from daycare. Sugar high will last through the weekend I'm sure - he he! Tomorrow is the girls Halloween parade at school - pics to come - and then we're joining my friend Kerry and her lil witch (aka her daughter Jayci) for trick or treating. The kids are sooo excited.

My treat for the week is a much needed get away to Myrtle Beach. David and I are going with our friends Robert & Wendy to get away, do some golfing and just have some fun adult time. Since I came back from convention it's been very hectic around here - family visiting - and I'm ready to focus on David & I for a few days! We're leaving Thursday when Wendy gets off work and we'll be back Sunday night. Thank you Maw Maw Linda for watching our kids this weekend - they're excited to be with her - and we're excited to be alone!!! haha

Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween with safe treats and fun tricks for all!

I'm baaack...at least for now

Hello everyone - I've decided to try and start this bloggin' thing again. If I don't keep up this time, I think I'm done for good so wish me luck :-) It's been a long time since I last posted so I won't even try to catch up - that would take forever.

Soccer is over - had the end of the season party on Sat. - minus our final game thanks to the rain. We need it, but I never like it. Following the soccer party, we went to my niece's 6th bday party, then the Fall Festival at the girls school....and then finally home...but not for rest! Oh no, we had a house full of family guests. It's ok -we loved it. My dad, stepmom and grandma were here visiting from FL (they left super early this morning) along with 3 of my cousins, their kids and spouses. We had a feast of steamed shrimp, fries, coleslaw and some yummy cream of crab soup....can you say I NEED TO GO TO THE GYM!!!

After a busy Sunday morning of changing closests from summer to fall, I'm relaxing in the recliner enjoying a good fall day of Sunday football in my pj's! Ahhhh that feels good. Until next time...

What a week it's been...

Let's see - Brennan's school violation was due to a confusing and badly written policy. Bottom line is, he can't wear any tops of any kind with pictures or words on them. Lovely! We'll deal with it though - now that we know the real policy :-)

My pink eye is STILL hanging on....I can't believe it. It's been 6 days today and lucky me - it's moving to my right eye. I am treating both eyes, they're looking better and I hope by Tuesday I can wear eye makeup again. As my VP told me yesterday (yes I went to work), I looked like I was on POT. NICE huh?!!

Brennan's poison oak (or ivy) is still hanging on as well, but showing much improvement. The kids had gone through an entire bottle of Benadryl (liquid) himself. Good grief - these infectious "diseases" hang on forever.

First week of school has been good - Brennan is still Brennan when it comes to pre-k. He asked my mom if he could stay at her house last night so he didn't have to go to school today - lil stinker! When I told him that Friday was the day he could buy ice cream after lunch his song and dance changed dramatically :-) Thank goodness for ice cream. The girls are doing great...McKenna is showing slow progress with her reading which is frustrating for me since last year she seemed to be the stronger reader out of the girls. Alyssa is blowing by her and doesn't have much patience when McKenna is trying to sound out words. SO Alyssa has to read away from McKenna so that she doesn't harrass her or make her feel bad for being slower at it .... that's siblings for you I guess :-)

Bad news - our AC broke on Thursday. Good news - it's fixed now and it wasn't stifling hot on Thursday night. BAD, BAD news - it cost us almost $800 to fix it. Our house is 4 years old....that was sad :-(

But today made everything better....David had to go in for an important meeting with his boss and his bosses boss....ended up it was to congratulate him on a job WELL done regarding a project he'd been working on. He got a plague, a signed letter from the CEO of Verizon AND $500 in travelers checks!!!!!! WOO HOO :-0 Way to go honey! I told him to buy himself a new golf club, we'd celebrate this weekend and put the rest in savings to help offset the cost of our AC repairs. I'm so happy for him - he worked so hard on that project and was so stressed out, that it's nice to see he was rewarded....and more importantly, that people noticed his efforts.

It's been a crazy week, but it's Friday - long weekend ahead and the promise of beautiful weather...which means lots of golf for us, dinner out, time at the park with the kids (feeding the ducks) and some down time at home. Enjoy the holiday weekend all!

Back to school

Well today was the first day of school for the girls and Brennan...and all went well...for the most part! The girls looked adorable in their new dresses (pics and a short video to come) and Brennan was cute too in his plaid shorts and polo shirt that said "Old Navy" on it. Apparently, the cute shirt that my cute boy was wearing was in violation of the school's dress code policy, but we aren't sure why yet. The policy states "t-shirts/sweatshirts should not have slogans, words or pictures on them. They will be plain, plaid or stripes, but are not allowed to have words or pictures." Case in point...my son had on a polo shirt - short sleeves, collar and buttons- NOT A T-SHIRT! So tomorrow I'm going to approach the principal with said shirt in hand, along with the un-signed violation notice and the dress code policy for a clear explanation of why his shirt was in violation. Now, don't get me wrong - I can understand policies, dress codes, etc. and I go out of my way to make sure my kids are dressed appropriately, but this is ridiculous! Stay tuned on the shirt issue!!!

The girls had a great day - Mrs. Brace is their 1st grade teacher and tonight we did our recommended reading and boy was I proud....Alyssa read great! David read with McKenna and said she did good, but was struggling with some words she shouldn't be struggling with...ing words. It's ok, we'll work with her and bring her back up to speed. Alyssa recognized words like "leather, bridle, easily" without my help - I was impressed! So the year is off to a somewhat positive start and I hope it continues in the same direction.

Pink eye still sucks - eye is burning, swollen, itchy and red - and work is probably out of the question on Tuesday....I fear retaliation if I show up tomorrow :-) Thank goodness email is accessible no matter where I am...for the most part.

G'night everyone!

From Poison Oak to PINK EYE

Oh yes - it went from poison oak to pink eye ... only this time it's not Brennan who has it, it's ME :-( This is the 2nd time I've ever had pink eye and I hope it's the last. It started last night - draining, a little pink, itchy - and I knew when I woke up this morning it would be full-blown pink eye and boy was I right! Now it's red, draining constantly, was sealed shut this morning and hurts/is swollen....all like last time. But what's even better about this is that I'm supposed to be at jury duty tomorrow morning and I have no idea if this is excusable, should I call or show up, will they let me go to the doc to get some eye drops - who knows?! I know it's extremely contagious and that most people will not want me around, but when it comes to jury duty I have no idea what to expect because this is my first time for jury duty. I certainly don't want pink eye - but I definitely don't want pink eye AND being stuck in a court room all day tomorrow without access to my doctor and/or medicine. So wish me luck tomorrow and hope that they'll excuse me!

Other than that, the past week/weekend was good. Brennan's poison oak (or ivy?) is doing better, but it's still not gone. I had no idea it took this long for it to completely heal. At least his face is clear now - people won't look at him like a freak tomorrow during his first day of PRE-K....which I can't even drop him off b/c of this god awful jury duty ... as you can imagine, I'm not very happy about that OR missing the girls getting on the bus tomorrow morning to go to their first day of FIRST GRADE! Wow where has the time gone? I think the older I get, the faster it goes!

Our weekend involved lots of golf (surprise, surprise huh?!), eating out, shopping for the girls dresses for tomorrow....my first introduction to Limited Too - whoa, that is super expensive, but very adorable! I'm a sucker for cute clothes :-)

Off to watch Big Love and begin the week again. G'night!

My first look at poison oak

Yep that's what Brennan has - at least that's part of what's wrong - poison oak! I had a feeling, but considering I've never had it or seen it up close and personal, I couldn't be sure. On his face, forehead, back, legs, arms and shoulders...it's disgusting! He also has a virus which is causing bumps on his stomach that are different from the poison oak patches. And he's still running an on again/off again fever...AND he has a cold. Poor lil guy :-( He's been such a trooper today. Benadryl liquid, tylenol or motrin for the fever and Benadryl cream for the actual rash. It's been quite a day for him, but he's doing well.

Tonight the girls started soccer practice. For McKenna this is easy - 3rd season for her and she loves it. But for Alyssa, this is her 1st time ever. She's not much on running so we're anxious to see how this will go for her - tonight was great. She seemed to really enjoy it and her, McKenna and Jayci had fun...down to the group hug they shared before parting ways. It was absolutely adorable...one of those moments you wish you could capture on video camera, but that never works out right.

Another thunderstorm tonight - which means no sleep for us - kids will pile in the bed one-by-one throughout the night I'm sure. Just one of those things!

That's all for tonight - just for you Karen & Kristen - a much shorter post :-)!

Oh What a Weekend!

What an exciting weekend we've had around here....I'm not even sure where to begin! Let me back up to Friday and start from there...

My mom and I went to the Keith Urban concert and it was awesome :-) Thanks to my friend Carlo, we were 7 rows from the front of the stage, on the floor, and close enough to touch him. Unfortunately, there were tons of other people wanting to do the same so we weren't able to do much touching. But we got a great concert! I wasn't too thrilled about going - headache, tired - but in the end (or maybe 1/3 of the way through it) I was so happy I went. We had a fantastic time.

Saturday during my morning hugs with Brennan it dawned on me that he didn't have a pull-up on. When I asked about, David informed he had decided to let him wear big bog underwear to bed and he had a very successful night - he made it all night without peeing :-) I am sooooo proud of him, but sad at the same time - this officially marks the end of any "babyhood" with him. He was so proud of himself and since then all nights have been successful. This was pretty ironic since just last week Karen, Krissy and i were talking about him being in pull-ups still and i was certain he'd be in them for quite some time, but boy was I wrong! I'm sure he'll have an accident at some time, but that's ok - I am happy to be rid of pullups :-)

That night we hired a new babysitter and it worked out really well. David, Kerry, Michael and I got in a good round of golf (I actually shot a 120!!!) and the weather was amazing for an August afternoon. Heather did a good job with them and they realled liked her. The only problem was Brennan - he wasn't feeling well and had fallen asleep on the couch before 8 p.m. - this is simply unheard of with him or any of our kids - so we knew he wasn't feeling well. When we came in, he heard Alyssa say "mommmmeeee's home" and barely opened his eyes. I picked him up, sat him on my lap to talk to him (he was on fire - fever) and within a minute he had puked all over my nice, clean WHITE short and blue shirt.....pizza to boot. Heather was of course thankful we had gotten home when we did and I just stunk! I changed, David (bless his heart) got my shorts clean and we headed off to bed....until about 3 a.m. when Brennan woke up again. Gave him more medicine (again he was on fire) and not 5 minutes later all the medicine was back up again - yes, more vomiting. Carpet, ladder to his bed, him...another big mess. So on our floor he went (not trying to be mean to him, but didn't want our bed to be next!!! ha ha) - I made him a pallet on the floor and at 3:30 a.m. he's watching Scooby Doo, burning up and just plain pitiful :-( He did sleep the rest of the night and was doing better this morning....

so that brings us to today (Sunday). I was a little leary, but we ended up going down to Fredericksburg in hopes of getting new shoes for all the kids for school. Alyssa - no worries - her size is easy to find. Brennan & McKenna on the other hand - oh my goodness - talk about FRUSTRATION! I went in Kohls, Penney's, Sears, Foot Locker, Champs, The Shoe Dept. and Toys R Us in hopes of finding shoes for them....I finally, finally found a decent pair of TRUS, but Brennan came home empty-handed. No such luck! I admit - I'm very picky about their shoes - but he's in a size 10 which means he hasn't moved up to the "boys" shoes - he's still in "toddlers" (same for McKenna) and this makes it tough. Unless you like Spiderman or light-up shoes (which I don't - AT ALL!) - then it's hard to find anything. So to the web I will go to solve that problem!

The kids were awesome all day - including Brennan who clearly doesn't feel well. No more stomach stuff - he ate a great lunch and held it down. But he has a cold, on/off fever and some strange rash that will be investigated tomorrow at the pediatrician's office for sure. It started on his legs, next his face, then forehead, arms and stomach...and I have no clue what it is or where it came from. I'll update on that after we see the doc. During lunch at TGIFriday's, an elderly couple complimented us on having such well-behaved children - it felt sooooo good to hear that and I was so incredibly proud of my kids today. They were very well-behaved and did such a good job as we weaved our way through a gazillion stores. We treated them to a toy at TRUS at the end and Pizza Hut for dinner....which was disastrous. Not b/c of them, but b/c the service was slow, the place was a crazy mess and our food was disgusting. David swears he's never going back there and I agree! Other than that, the day was a success and we had a great time together.

Oh, oh - how could i forget the last piece of "big" news....on our way home McKenna told me her tooth was loose. Well this has been going on for a few weeks so I didn't think much of it - until she started talking really funny and drooling ... blood! She pulled and pushed on it until...out it came :-) Her 2nd lost tooth!!! I put my hand back there to get it from her and yes, as you can imagine, she dropped it on the floor...and we have yet to find it :-( SO Daddy to the rescue, he told her we'd write a note to the tooth fairy and ask her to find the tooth to which McKenna replied "yea, cuz she's so sparkly and bright so she can find it better than you?!" Oh the way a child's mind works - so cute! So that's what i did - wrote a note to the tooth fairy and it's under her pillow waiting for it to be replaced by the money. They're growing up so fast - only 6 months left as 6 year olds and if i blink too many times those 6 months will be over. It's so fun to watch them grow and it's fun having little shoppers now...but at the same time, it's sad how fast it goes. No more pullups, another lost tooth....oh what a weekend!

Dancing Monkeys

As promised, here's a video of them (attempting to) dance. It's cute!

Pretty boring week

It's been a pretty boring week so far....get up, drop kids at daycare, go to work, come home, eat, bath, get clothes/lunch ready and bed....wake up and repeat! I did have dinner with Kerry the other night - always a good time - but other than that, it's been a pretty quiet week.

Maw Maw Linda took all 3 kids to the pool yesterday - what a brave woman! Luckily - or so she thought (!!) - Miss Donna's gang would be there as well. Instead of her getting help, she ended up helping Donna and went from 3 to 5 kids (add Jayci & Megan), but in the end she had a really good time...and from what she said, a pretty darn good workout as well :-) On my end, it worked out great - the kids were good and tired and so ready for bed last night. Brennan quickly changed our plan of action this week - he was supposed to be at Maw Maw's again today, but he wanted to go back to Miss Donna's and thankfully for us, she agreed to have him today and tomorrow. The ice cream truck comes tomorrow and he's decided that he wants not 1, but 2 ice creams. We'll see about that :-)

Pretty busy weekend coming up...tomorrow night my mom and I are going to the Keith Urban concert. Saturday we're trying a new sitter so David and I can go be Tiger & Annika...yes, we're golfing again (can you say addicted?!! ha ha) Sunday we've decided will be a day totally for the kids. We will start with shopping - new shoes and an outfit for the 1st day of school - followed by lots of time at FunLand. I'm sure we'll get lots of smile and laughter out of them...while we quickly empty our wallets at this place :-) O'well - it'll be worth it and I'll have pics to share after we're done.

Time for a quick snack and then it's off to bed...G'night!

Update on David's golf

Unfortunately, things didn't go so well for David on the golf course yesterday and he lost his match. So now we just watch the rest of the rounds to see who will be crowned Champion! It'll be fun to watch, but would be more fun if he was in it - o'well there's always next year right?!

Today Brennan went to Miss Donna's for the first time and he had a BLAST! It was "make your own ice cream sundae" day and he just loved that. He informed us tonight that he doesn't wanna go back to Miss Sue's - he wants to go to Miss Donna's everyday. Uh oh - he's going to be on unhappy camper next week when Sue returns from vacation. Only 1 more week with her and then my big boy starts pre-k - boy where has the time gone?!

Unfortunately, McKenna had to miss "sundae day" - she came home with a tummy ache and asked to take a nap - you know she's sick when that happens! But she's feeling better and Daddy made sure she got her own ice cream sundae at home with him - way to go daddy! :-)

Gonna get to posting some pics and videos tomorrow - with the help of Karen - until I get the hang of it. And here comes Brennan - 8:45 p.m. on a "school" night and he's downstairs again...back to parenting!

Tooth Fairies & Birthday Parties!

It's been a pretty exciting weekend since I last posted....where do I begin?!

Last night Megan came over to babysit so we could go golfing. David and I shot 2 under par and we're pretty sure we won the league...2nd time in 3 weeks which is good for us. Up until 2 weeks ago, we hadn't won once :-) O'well - it's all about the fun right?

After golf we went to Mel & Jim's for dinner and whoa what a spread we ended up with! Let's see - tacos, grilled chicken, spinach dip, fries, pizza - yes, I'm serious about all of this (!!!!)....I think that's it! It was sooooo good. Especially since we didn't eat until close to 10 p.m. The kids were having a great time and acting crazy....except Alyssa who was walking around with her hand over her mouth, complaining that her VERY loose tooth was hurting. She kept coming to me like every minute to tell me it was looser, now looser, even looser now mommy! So Aunt Melissa offered to take it out for her - seriously for Alyssa - I think the beer had made Aunt Melissa forget that Alyssa doesn't do blood or pain...kinda like her mommy! Eventually after several attempts, Melissa convinced her to let her see it, she plucked it and out it came....onto the floor! Alyssa did ok, but the closer she got to me, the more upset she got and eventually the crying started. She was ok though - it needed to come out - and once she got over the blood, she was super excited. She knew what it meant - it meant the tooth fairy would visit us! Of course all the other adults kept telling her that the tooth fairy brings at least $20 - HA HA! Thank goodness Alyssa knew better. We quickly left - all of us were tired - and headed home to do the work of the tooth fairy. $2 which she found at the crack of dawn this morning and felt compelled to tell me about at 7 a.m. UGH! She had only just gone to bed at 11 p.m. (ish) and she was up already? It just couldn't be, but it was...unfortunately. And btw, this was the 3rd tooth that she's lost. McKenna is still holding strong at 1, with about 4 ready to come out anytime now.

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Today Brennan and I went to Brendan's bday party at Burke Lake Park - boy what a mouthful that was! What a gorgeous day it was too....best weather we've had recently and perfect weather for an outdoor party. He was cranky as could be - my fault for letting him stay up so late last night - but it was worse than I expected. At one point, I didn't think we'd make the party! We did - we rode the train, the carousel, ate ice cream and played...and before long we were headed home again.....after we stopped for a Wendy's frosty! Some might say I'm a sucker for my lil man....awwww, maybe just a little :-) This afternoon I golfed with Wendy G. and Mel (I was awful) and David took the kids down to the water and to McD's (sound familiar!) for dinner. They were bathed and ready for bed by the time I got home which was nice....we're all tired.

Tomorrow is David's big day at the golf course....1st round of the club championship and he has his 1st match tomorrow morning. I really hope he wins - his shoulder is bothering him - but I really hope he has a good round. If it all works out right, he'll play Jimmy (his brother) in the final round - boy won't that be fun?!!!

All in all it's been a good weekend so far and we still have Sunday on our side. I'll update again tomorrow on David's match.

An Apology and a Glass of Shiver Water

First and foremost, let me send out a huge apology to my husband. What you can't see anymore was part of my blog from last night "criticizing" him for things I had no right to say. So to my hubby - I'm so very sorry I offended you and thanks for all you did around the house today! I did notice.

That covers the apology part of my title - now what about that glass of shiver water? Ever heard of it? I sure hadn't! But Brennan came down a few minutes ago - I think that was about the 10th time he had been down since he was put to bed at 8:30 (it's 9:5o now!) - to tell me that he wanted a "really, really cold water that makes you shiver to drink!!!" What an absolutely adorable way for him to ask for a glass of ice water huh?! :-) Unfortunately, the mom in me had to decline him being that it was literally at least his 6th time down here for one reason or another. You see, he's afraid of the thunder and lightning outside - especially since Alyssa voiced her fears - his went through the roof then. Up I went to calm their fears - you know, where there's thunder, there's lightning (so Alyssa told me) - but I had to reassure them of the following:

A. Thunder and lightning can't get in our house
B. Our lights aren't going to go off
C. Their windows are closed and yes, locked (they don't know me do they? I'm a freak about locked doors and windows!)

When I went back up a few minutes ago I found Alyssa huddled in McKenna's bed (McKenna is sound asleep mind you), with the covers up over her head. Poor baby :-( She feels better being with McKenna which is just so sweet. Brennan on the other hand is tired enough now to want his own bed - he'd rather tough it out alone than share his bed.

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The girls got to make ice cream at daycamp today and let me tell you, McKenna said it was sooooo, sooooo, soooo good. Better than what me and her daddy buy her! And she told me "mommy you HAVE to get Miss Donna to tell you how to make it". They described the process to me and it went something like this...

McKenna "mommy, first we got a bag - everyone got a bag. then they came around and gave us salt"

Alyssa "no, it wasn't salt first. it was rich milk. no, wait, it was sugar"

McKenna "no, it was salt. then it was rich milk, then milk."

Alyssa "no, let me tell it, let me tell...it was sugar, then this brown stuff that you pour over ice cream (Huh??), then rich milk, then milk. Then they gave you a big bag of rocks (again HUH?) to put in your little bag and then you got to go upstairs.....and, and - oh I can't remember the rest. McKenna you tell her...."

And from there, Tom & Jerry caught their attention and I still have no idea exactly how they made the ice cream! But they had fun and I do intend to get the recipe so I can surprise them one day and have them make it here :-)

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So today at work I had my annual review. It went well - went a little long (THREE HOURS!) - but in the end I got a nice raise and some good remarks from my boss. I'm so glad it's past me - even when you know things are good, it's still nervewracking to wait it out and see what your boss has to say ya know?!

We're watching football - Cowboys vs. the Colts - boy this feels so good! I just love my football....even though I hate the end of summer, I sure do love the start of football and the Redskins! I'm gonna catch a few minutes of this and then catch me some shut eye. Good night!

HUNGRY, HUNGRY KIDDOS!

I often wonder if other people's kids eat as much as mine do...especially Brennan. From the minute he opens his eyes until he's asleep, it's always "I'm hungry!" Tonight was no different. David went golfing...yes golfing in this ridiculous heat and humidity...so I was left to figure out dinner for me and the kids. As most of you know, me and the kitchen aren't the best of friends, but I make do when I have to :-) So what does my little buddy decide he wants for dinner...a bologna, cheese and sweet pickles sandwich of course - I mean who wouldn't love that dinner right?! Followed by more sweet pickles (only sweet - not dill for him), jello, jelly crackers, a fudgesicle and I think that rounded out his night...only because it was bedtime by then! I felt like a short order cook for about an hour when we first got home....sandwiches, crackers, hot dogs, pickles, trying to convince someone to eat yogurt or veggies (that didn't work tonight!), spaghetti out of a can that didn't go over well - Brennan was gagging at the smell and picky McKenna wouldn't dare try something new - that's just a crazy idea.

During the few hours that David was sweating his butt off at the course, I managed to get the following done:

dinner, make lunches, change our sheets, vacuum our room, clean our bathroom and the hall bath, get the kids clothes and my clothes ready for tomorrow (yes this meant ironing!), dishwasher run, sink emptied, laundry put away and cycles continuing in the laundry room, gave the kids a bath/shower (Brennan insists on a big person shower these days) and the stairs cleaned off. Needless to say it was a hectic night, but it felt so good to get part of my house cleaned....lord knows there's still plenty to do, but I'll worry about that later :-)

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So this morning after I dropped the girls off at camp, Brennan decided he knew a faster way to get from their camp to his daycare - you know mom's, they don't know much compared to a 4 year old! I actually argued with him for about 5 minutes before deciding I'd just let him have his way this one time and go his route vs. the one I know is quicker. His route required us to backtrack and go past our house again - which ended up being in his favor - because low and behold, he had forgotten to bring a toy with him to Miss Sue's. I tried to convince him that he could survive with Miss Sue's toys, but that wasn't an argument I was bound to win either so I made his morning twice today - taking his route and stopping to get that special batman and spiderman toy that he could share with Austin & Dylan. He was one happy lil camper!

The rest of my day was spent working, hitting Target this morning to get McKenna goggles - which I had to take to her at the pool during lunch - she just couldn't go to pool day without those goggles! She was very excited to see me though and that made me smile so all was good! Now I'm relaxing, the kids are snuggled in their beds (for now at least - I'm sure someone will have to pee or have a bad dream that needs to be shared with me at 2 a.m.) and I'm about to snuggle in myself. Oh one last thought...McKenna's bad dream last night involved space aliens. She proceeded to tell me about this dream at 7:45 this morning followed by at least a million questions...and I still have no idea where this dream came from or why she was dreaming about aliens. I figured it would be sharks since we had watched that last night, but one just never knows now do they!?

A Love and Fear of Sharks

It's been shark week on Animal Planet for like the past 2 or 3 weeks and the kids are obsessed with watching it every night before bed. As I type this, we are again watching a show about Great White Sharks. Last night we actually saw a video on this channel of a real, live shark attack - it was horrifying for me and I could hardly watch. My animal loving children on the other hand found it quite intriguing. And then Brennan informed us that when he was a big person (yes that's how he described it to us!) he was going to get in the water and feed big sharks. I told him he couldn't do it - I wouldn't let him - but he kindly reminded me that when he's a BIG PERSON he can do whatever he wants. He's getting to be a little too smart these days! Alyssa was very upset by his profession of choice last night - she told him that he would get eaten by a big shark and then she'd be very sad because she wouldn't have a brother anymore. Always the dramatic one in our family - besides me of course! McKenna is intrigued by the sharks, but is smart enough to know they're very dangerous.

During the middle of Animal Planet tonight it's turned into the WWE in our house....meaning a wrestling match on my couch :-) Lots of jumping, whining (wonder who that is!?) and flips...all while they scream that they want a piece of bacon. That's dinner tonight - eggs, bacon and toast - yummm - I can't wait! Seriously - I'm hungry :-) Brennan just informed me he's eating the "squishy part" of the bacon which translates to the nasty, disgusting FAT on it. God can he really be my child!! ha ha

Off to tuck the little ones in bed so I can relax and finally have dinner. Quick post tonight, but I promise there will be longer, and more detailed, posts in the near future...including a video of my dancing monkeys from the other night. What entertainers they are :-)

Water, Golf and More Water

Everything today involved water...first water for my coffee which I can't go without in the morning. Then it was the water on the big slide at Melissa's house where our kids played for a few hours. They had such a good time. Up and down the big slide, laughing and carrying on. Mel made pizza for all of them - of course Brennan wasn't hungry until I decided to eat his slice (!!). We hung out while David, Jimmy and the rest of the guys were on the golf course in the ridiculous heat and humidity. But have no fear, we were scheduled to follow once they got home. They were late today - wasn't too happy about that - but once we made it to the course, I was over it. Mel, Wendy G. and I went - unfortunately, the water, in the form of rain, followed us. Along with lots of thunder and a few bolts of lightning! We managed to get in 9 holes before the rain took over and drenched us. It gave me a great laugh though - POURING down rain, us trying to drive the cart back in, rain beating us in the face, us completely soaked from it all....and we knew people around were laughing at us. We were like the only people left on the course :-) O'well - we tried.

Alyssa, McKenna & Brennan suckered daddy into McD's for dinner tonight. That's where they were when I got home and now they're downstairs begging to go through the trash bags of toys we've designated for goodwill! They always want the toy once it's in the goodwill bag don't they? I'll never understand that. You should see the girls outfits - wow - what style! I should take a pic. McKenna especially - she thinks if you put on pink pants that your shirt should be pink. So today she has on a teal blue skirt with a teal blue shirt, but they aren't the same shade. For anyone who knows me, I'm a freak about what they wear! ha ha Needless to say, I was like "you really took them out like that?!"

David doesn't care - no fuss, no muss - when it comes to their clothes. As long as they are dressed it's all good :-) HA - not me! But they're happy in the basement, I'm relaxing in the recliner and David is somewhere around here. It's Monday again -hard to believe. And I'm hungry - let me see what I can find to eat. And maybe I'll take some pics of those adorable outfits they're wearing. Until next time...

Brennan relaxing on the foot of the recliner

Figuring Out This Blog Thing

I tried to start this blog last night and ended up tired and frustrated so I'm trying again today. Thanks to my friend Karen, I have been introduced to the world of blogging. She learned about this from Hannah - a 5-year old angel who went to Heaven on July 19. I have been intrigued and amazed with Hannah's blog (what I like to call it - it's really her mom's blog!) and decided I would like to do the same for me and my family. So, let me get started.

Today was a day of reflection. I spent most of my afternoon sorting through pictures and the girls artwork trying to determine what stuff I would/should keep and what I could let go. Boy do they get a lot of "art work" in nursery, pre-k and kindergarten - I had no idea so much was piling up :-) Ok well maybe I did, but I kept ignoring the ever growing pile. It was fun doing it...I found some cute pieces that made it to the "keep" pile and ended up with a full bag of trash. Yea it makes me sad to throw it out, but in the end I kept what I thought was most important....anything they had written, signed, had their handprints on it...that all made the list of things to keep! And looking back at pictures was tons of fun. I always love reliving the memories that the pics bring back and wondering how time has gone by so quickly. It's been such an entertaining (and at times frustrating!) journey so far and I'm really looking forward to what the future will bring.

Frustrating moment of the day - being approached unexpectedly by a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman who took an hour of my day even though they promised it would only last 10 minutes! And of course David left me to handle this - figures. So you ready for this? $1700 for a vacuum - man that thing better vacuum itself :-) We said no, and when we did, boy did the salesman demeanor change. It was quite an experience and I must say, David swooped in at the end and saved me from the salesman....an hour later! I'm still in shock over the price...and the fact that he felt like he was giving me a deal when he offered it to us for $1500. Whoa - what a deal.

Well my first blog is long enough I'm sure. I'm a talker so I'm sure I'll be a writer too. Until next time...