My day of babysitting

So this morning I was scheduled to watch Dana and Bryan's kiddos. It was just going to be me and Carissa for most of the day so I picked up my niece, Abby, bright and early and made it to the Meyer's at 7:30 AM... that's stinkin' early. We spent the day doing some pretty entertaining things.

First of all, 3 year olds are HILARIOUS without even trying!

We went to McDonalds in Piqua for lunch and they got to spend some time on the indoor playplace. They LOVED going through the tunnels and down the slides.

She did NOT stick the landing on the above picture.

Neither did she : )

They were lovin' up on Ronald even though he gave them the most LAME Happy Meal toys ever. It was some creepy looking alien man. Of course these three year old girls could see past the scaley skin and overall creepiness and I overheard this conversation on our way home:

"Momma, I want to cross the street" -Carissa, clutching monster man

"Honey, you have to hold my hand and look both ways" -Abby in a goofy "adult" voice, also holding her ugly thing.

It was so funny listening to their play!

This dry winter air made for some lovely hair-do's on these girls.

They ended up being pretty good buddies by the end of their day and their shared love of princesses definitly didn't hurt.

After Caeleb got home from school, we played with Play-Doh and we had so much fun that I decided to have Caeleb and Carissa back for the night : ) At my house, we played magic bubble and they had a blast (and my counters got pretty darn clean)! Caeleb was really good at it! Check out that HUGE bubble he blew through his fingers.

Carissa even cought one of the bubbles although it took everything that she had not to pop it before I could take the picture!

Betcha can't do that!
We were all pretty tired by the end of the night, but UNO, snacks, and some made up games were in store before they left around 11:30. I don't know if they fell asleep in the car or not, but Gibby and I hit the bed pretty darn fast! It confirms the fact that I LOVE having kids around (especially when you can send them home at the end of the night!)

Blog Dread

definition of "Dread"- to be reluctant or frightened to do something because it is unpleasant, upsetting, or annoying.

Blogging is really none of these things, but I have been avoiding it like the plague. I do NOTHING worth blogging about, honestly. I sub, I sit, I read, I walk my dog, I sleep, I stare, I eat, I sleep, I eat, I sleep : )

This past week was spent doing a lot of these things but in a more blog-worthy venue.

Of course you've heard of our time spent in the hospital in Columbus. If not, here's the recap:

THURSDAY: Jace had an awful, terrible, ouchie throat for a few days and in getting it checked out, they found that his white blood cell count was down to next to nothing! He was unable to fight infection on his own so off we went to the OSU Medical Center for them to pump him full of fluids and antibiotics. Carol and I stopped at home, packed up a few things, and made it to Columbus around midnight. We had to wear a mask anytime that we were in the room and that got old pretty quickly. That night was spent attempting to sleep while nurses and doctors popped in every couple of hours. Sleep was difficult, but thank goodness we had a double room to ourselves and I snuck into the extra bed (only to bolt out anytime I heard the door creak open)

FRIDAY: More IV, more sleep attempts, mask breathing, nothing too exciting. Carol and I hung tight and tried our best to keep Jace's spirits up throughout all of the blood draws, sore throat, and his annoyance of having to repeat himself to every person who walked in. He was unable to even swallow water without wincing! They continued to bring him these rediculous trays of food throughout our stay with things that he could not swallow. That was definitly the most frustrating part of our stay. Bring the man some soup!! I began texting people who I knew lived in Columbus around 4 o'clock and BEGGING for a place to shower. Jace's fantastic cousin Kara called me back and offered me not only a shower, but a place to stay where I didn't have to wear a mask/drool catcher all night long! Thanks again Kara! I was so lucky to have you this weekend! I wish I would have taken more pictures of our time together, but I did grab this one of my other favorite weekend roomie, Peanut : ) She helped satisfy my doggie-itis.. (aka I missed Gibby!) Thank goodness my mom was able to take care of her while we were gone!

SATURDAY: More of the same. Kara took me to some of her favorite spots around Columbus on Saturday and it was so great to have some girl time to help me forget how much I missed being home. I felt slightly guilty spending time away from the hospital and actually enjoying myself while Jace was STUCK, but he's a good man and was glad that I got out for awhile. Our room had the most AmAzInG view of the stadium. It was so neat to watch the stands of the "shoe" fill up before the big OSU/Iowa game. GO BUCKS! Way to pull through!

SUNDAY: Kara and I went to church, a coffee shop, and fantastic bookstore on Sunday morning and then buzzed over to the hospital where we were joined by Carol, Dana, and Alex. By this time, he had been moved into a tiny, stinky, single room with very little seating but we managed to squeeze in. Kara went back to her home and husband in Ironton that evening and offered her place to me again, but I felt it was time to tough it out in the hospital again. That evening, after everyone left, Jace and I passed the time with cards and television. We rested on the hope of going home the next day until the doctor came in and let us know that it would most likely be Tuesday. The stress of the weekend hit me at about 1 am when his beeping IV machine woke me from a decent sleep in an awful recliner. I lost it and sobbed/bawled/sniffled in my mask which was begging to be thrown across the room at this point. Poor Jace didn't know what to do. He's sitting in a hospital bed with an IV in his arm and patting my hand with the other and all I can say is "I SNIFF want SNIFF to go SNIFF home!" Pretty rediculous.

MONDAY: We were given the fantastic news that the masks could come off and were even able to go for a nice walk around campus! Jace was so glad to get some fresh air and stretch his legs. We walked to Urban Outfitters (a fun, hippyish store) and picked up a Where's Waldo book collection which kept us busy and hunting for our little striped friend for hours : ) I also left for a bit to see Alex's home away from home. It made me miss college living for about .2 seconds. I got over that pretty quick! haha.

TUESDAY: We woke up around 8 and his fever was gone for the second full day so we were pretty sure we were going to go home soon! The doctor came in around 11 and although he was reluctant to send us home because they still had no idea what Jace had and had no explaination for his crazy white blood cells, he told us that they would start the exit paperwork! We were both so happy to be going home to our home and dog that the wait for the paperwork to be completed was torture! Luckily they finished early and we FINALLY got to head home!

You should have seen Gibby when she saw us. She ran from Jace to me and back about 10 times. She was as happy to see us as we were to be home again. It's good to be loved : ) Oh, AND we came home to cards and a FaNtAsTiC banner hanging on our wall welcoming us home from Beth and the kids! : P

NOW: His temp has been normal and he went back to work on Wednesday night! I can't wait to spend some time with him this weekend and recoup from our crazy week. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers! We have an amazing support system and are THANKFUL for each and everyone of you. Speaking of thankful..... bring on that pumpkin pie!!

Ohh La La, I can See!!

Wow, Lasik is amazing. I totally, 100% recommend it as well as the doctor that I went to. I am so amazed by how well I can see less than 12 hours after my 10 minute surgery!

Let me lay out how my entire Lasik experience played out.

Wednesday, September 23:
I called to set an appointment with Dr. Brian Stahl to see if I was a candidate for Lasik. They told me that they could see me the following week as long as I did not put my contacts in for the week. Eek! My old glasses are ugly!

Wednesday September 30: I made it the entire week without too many points and giggles from others staring at my goofy glasses. I went into Dr. Stahl's office and my initial appointment began with the routine eye exam where they checked my prescription. They took a few pictures of my eyes (inside and out) that looked pretty crazy! They also did a test on my tears where they stuck two little strips of paper to my lower eyelid and everytime I blinked I could see them shake, weird and slightly ouchie after a few minutes. They also put in some drops that dilated my pupils and made my close up vision really blurry. I couldn't dial my cell phone or read anything for a few hours. Dr. Stahl came in to talk to me about my options and said I was an excellent candidate for Lasik. "Your eyes look very healthy!" I puffed up with pride and avoided telling him that prior to my week on glasses, I had been sleeping in the same contacts for months!

I went to schedule my Lasik and the conversation went like this...
lady- "When would you like to schedule your surgery?"
me- "Sometime in October if that's possible."
lady- "Okay, how about October 1st, tomorrow?"
me- "GULP! oooookay" My dilated eyes were bugging out of my head in surprise and instant nerves.

As I was leaving, a receptionist called out "I hope you have sunglasses!" I didn't realize why she said this until I stepped outside and my dilated pupils sucked in the sunlight. YOUCH! I was okay to drive with my glasses on and sunglasses on top of those! Then I went to class at UD and showed off my crazy pupils like a circus freak.
Once I got home, I had to put lots of drops in all evening and I slept terrible (more because I was afraid to miss my alarm and not make it to my appointment than because of nerves)!

Thursday October 1st:
I had to be down at his office by 9:3o. We waited for awhile and then I was brought back to a room where they put different drops and cleansers into and around my eyes. My best friend Danielle works there and I was lucky enough to have her prepping me for the surgery! She told me all about what to expect and talked my nerves away. I actually wasn't nervous much at all until they brought me into the room for the surgery and had me lay down. Danielle was there to hold my hand as we went through the procedure. I won't go through too many of the details because it sounds pretty gross, but all I had was some drops that numbed my eyes and I could see the entire thing going on! It was a crazy experience to see them coming at my eyes with different tools and having my eyelids pulled back so I couldn't blink no matter how much I wanted to. It didn't hurt AT ALL and it only lasted 10-15 minutes! There was a bit of pressure at one point and that's it. After the surgery, I had to wear these crazy goggles for the rest of the day and my eyes stung (like getting shampoo in them) for awhile. I took my MANDATORY nap (don't have to tell me twice!) and woke up with no pain and awesome vision!

Right now it is about 12 hours after my surgery and I can see great! I can't get over the fact that I don't have to squint to see things! If you are considering this at all.... DO IT!! I will give you all the info you need!
Dr. Stahl just called me to check on me : ) How many doctors do you know that will do that??
The picture says: A friend is someone who reaches for your hand, but touches your heart.
I feel so lucky to have had my best friend their to let me squeeze the life out of her fingers! Love you D!

Funny Stuff

I got this email and really can't claim that I wrote these, but I absolutly relate to all of them and I bet you do too! I literally LAUGHED OUT LOUD to quite a few :) The text in red is my thoughts on it. Have fun!

-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong. I'm never wrong, but I see this in Jace's eyes alot : )
-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter? This one just made me laugh.
-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger. I think this every day!! All those times when I fought tooth and nail not to have to go to sleep... now it's my favorite thing!
-There is a great need for sarcasm font. I hate chocolate. See?! I was being sarcastic, but you'd never know it!
-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts. Absolutely
-How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? You don't. You ball it up and throw it in the linen closet. Trick question I guess.
-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in. I don't know how many times I've had my fingers turn purple from the bag handles twisting around them while I try to shut the door with my butt and open the house door with my elbow.
- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger. I'm bored, time for a snack!
- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying. This is the fill in the bubble tests that are graded by a computer. It is very scary! C. C. C. oh no! I better go back and change one! They certainly wouldn't put 3 C's in a row!
- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart". just funny
- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said? I think it depends on who you are talking to.... if it's a 3 year old... NEVER say what! Just say " Uh huh" or "Wow" or "yeah"
- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers! I am usually the one the breaks down and lets them in. Don't use this to your advantage next time we are stuck in some traffic together!
-What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other? hmmmm
- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart. What a great game! Princess was always leaving those darn peels for me to spin out on... I never liked her.
- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood. I think this everytime that I use it!
- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water. Before Mom and Dad put a shower upstairs, their only shower was in the basement and you had to be IN it to reach the knobs. I mastered turning the knob and bursting out the shower in the time it took for the water to travel up the pipes. Not only did I have to dodge the icy blast, but I also always had to have my eyes on the lookout for spiders!
-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever. Besides, if I wash them, they are too tight to wear until I suck in to button them and do a bunch of goofy squats and lunges to put my cheeks back in their place! Not true for sweatpants... those always fit : )
-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired. Amen
-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible. Haha! Get it? 'Cause they're both hard to find!
-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem.... *shiver* This is what I dread about wedding showers!
-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to. Me too!
- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever. For me it means ruined, because I rarely check the tag.
-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? D@mmit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away? Haha!
- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste. So true
-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles... funny
-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is. or I check my wrist only to see it's half past a freckle : )
-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. No, not you...... *cough cough*
-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it. I don't even know what to do with mine.
-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding a front row parking spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey, but I'd bet my a$s everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time... I should have a gold ribbon in this! Jace could attest to that. My alarm is up on the dresser and as soon as it goes off, I bounce up, whack the snooze, lay back down and am back asleep within seconds. This morning I did it for 45 minutes! Whoops!

Can you relate to any of these???

Eating my words....

"Gibby will never sleep in our bed. She has a perfectly good bed next to ours." Chomp, Chomp, Chomp. I must say those aren't the most delicious words I've ever eaten.

It started with me feeling quite alone on the bed when Jace would work nights and plunking her lightly on the foot of the bed. She would stay for about 10 minutes, hop off, and lay on her own bed. It was just right. Then one morning I awoke to find her still on the bed. "Isn't that cute?!" and "Wow! She can jump up on the bed all by herself! Good Girl!" Just take a look at the little diagram I have created about what that night has evolved into.

Lovely.

She literally slept in the V of my legs last night.

(like my Microsoft Paint skills?? I won't say how long this took)

Who could say no to this face?!

Not Me! It's hard to tell but she has the longest eyelashes ever! I never knew dogs had eyelashes. Her's are long and swoop glamorously outward. They are slightly darker than her fur and you can kind of see them here. All she has to do is bat those beauties and I give in to her every whim : ) More table scraps honey? A walk? How about a good lick from the toilet? hehe

That's all I have for today.. I'm a little low on interesting happenings lately!

Eleanor Koenig is here...

and she is a beauty!! Congrats to my dear Leah and her husband, Adam! I seriously love these two and am so happy to get to meet the little bundle soon! I wish I had a picture to share with you, but I don't yet. But, I DO have a picture of her lovely momma and handsome dad, only about 9 months ago ; )

BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Happy Birthday to Carol and Gibson! We will be celebrating Carol's Sunday but gave Gibby a great birthday this morning : )

She hated the hat but was a trooper for a good 5 minutes!!

She wouldn't stop to pose with her "cake" but she did do what any reasonable 1 year old would.... shove her face in it! (Her cake is a nicely shaped blob of canned dog food. She normally eats dry food so it seemed to be as good as cake to her!) It's hard to tell but I'm sure her eyes were lit with excitement! And I'll admit it, I sang : )

And she did NOT drop to the floor and cover her ears because of my singing! She was trying to get that hat off : ) After a few unsuccessful minutes and plenty of laughing and pictures on my end, I helped her. She was scooting her head all over the livingroom carpet and it wouldn't budge. Quite funny.

The day is not yet over and on top of her cake and new Frisbee, she will get a walk later and we may even go visit her friend, Jake (mom and dad's dog). They are best friends until he starts to get a little "nosy" and sniffs her bottom. She gets kinda feisty....atta girl!

She's the coolest 1 year old I know!

Odd boy out

In my best Big Bird singing voice..."One of these kids is not like the others. One of these kids just doesn't belong. Can you tell which kid is not like the others, before I finish this song."

Of course you can't because I can't get the picture any bigger than this without it looking terribly grainy. I will just have to show you my little odd man out. Keep in mind this is a picture from Russia's Bible camp and every single kid seems overjoyed at learning more about God's love and our faith.

No, not that kid with the mohawk...... The one with the permascowl on his face. HAHA! Jack is my daily source of laughter whether he means to be or not.

And my day is only half over!!

My laptop started acting up last month and because it is still under warranty, I was able to send it back to HP for no cost. They sent me a box to send it to them in and off it went to be fixed.

So I just got off the phone about half an hour ago as I argued with a FedEx service rep about where in the world my laptop could be. The tracking number sent me to a page that said it was delivered Saturday to the backdoor and no signature was required. Come on now, why wouldn't they require a signature for a laptop?! I was spazzing out because I was fully picturing my laptop as being stolen. They told me that they would contact the driver and try to get more information on where it could be.
In the mean time I decide to call HP and yell at them for not requiring a signature. After yelling REPRESENTATIVE at the automated lady, I was transferred to a woman who was about as easy to understand as Charlie Brown's teacher. Outsourcing blows. I explained my dilemma and she tried to assure me that a signature WAS required although I was looking right at the tracking page that said it was not. I grumped a bit more and gave her the tracking number that I had. She finally said, "Ma'am, that's the tracking number for the empty box that we sent you a month ago. Your laptop should arrive on Thursday." "Uhhhh.. thanks." CLICK! I quickly FedEx and told them not to worry and to please cancel any plans they had to talk to the driver. Whoops!

I also had to call the vet today because Gibby has an odd rash on her belly that seems to be itching her. Too much people food perhaps ?!
Lady: "Has she been chewing?"
Me: "She has this bone she loves that she chews on a lot."
Lady: "I meant, does she chew at her rash."
Me: feels like an idiot :)

So we set an appointment for tomorrow and she asks me to bring in a urine sample....
Me: "Sure, how the heck do I get that?"
Lady: "Wait until she squats and put a pan or bowl under her."
Me: "That should be interesting."

I was right.... it was.
Not wanting her urine in any of my pans or bowls, I chose a plastic cup.
Picture this: Me holding a plastic cup following Gibby around the yard and waiting for her to squat and pee so I can catch it in said cup. She squats as she looks suspiciously at me placing a cup between her legs, takes a step, and pees on my thumb. *sigh* motherhood.......

Love them!

+ I love lots of other people that I didn't put pictures up of : P

My confession

I admit it. I have a problem. I judge a book by it's cover, literally. What can I say? I like a pretty book!

Isn't that cute?! It's definitly not the best book I've ever read, but it will look good on my bookshelf!

Update

Looks like this Top 10 in the US Lending Company has been sending it's appraisers off to do their bidding and telling them how to up the appraisal. I guess we are going to be better off without the losers. We also get to bring less $$ to the closing which is a good thing. Because they are top 10, they deal with thousands of banks and mortgage companies and that means thousands of people in our situation or worse! We may be losing the $300 we paid for the appraiser, but I have a little heck to raise before giving up on getting that back!

You. Are. Joking.

Oh my my my. Wanna see Shelly turn red and smoke blow out her ears??? I'll tell you how although it's not advised. Tell her that the loan for the new house (which has already taken over a month) has been frozen because the lender chosen by the broker has been SHUT DOWN.

You don't wanna mess with this! haha!

Wow.... I'm still in shock. I knew it was bad as soon as Dad slinked his way into the livingroom with a look on his face like he was bracing himself for an earthquake and cautiously sat down and started with, "I talked to your broker". Meanwhile I am giving him an accusing look and nervously shouting, "Why are you sitting down? Stand up. I don't like where this is going." The broker had decided to go with the lender with the lowest interest rate. This is normally a great thing.....except when they are about to get shut down by the government. We don't know if it was bankruptcy or illegal actions that caused this but I guess we got out before we got stuck with this lousy lender. Luckily we didn't have anything invested besides TIME at this point. Others are probably losing much more than just their closing date because of this lender.

Fighting back the urge to run to the bedroom, slam the door and scream in a pillow while throwing my fists into the matress was very difficult. This has been such a SHADY ordeal and I would tell anyone to just go through a bank because there are way too many different people involved when you go through a broker. Now we have to start ALL OVER which will take about 3 weeks. So it looks like we won't be in the house until early September. LoVeLy

I knew there was a purpose : )

I knew there was a reason that I let the laundry pile up! I do what I can for my girl. I posted this picture despite the horror that my mom and mother-in-law will likely feel. (p.s. This pile does not reside on our living room floor. I moved it there for sorting. No need to divulge where it came from)

TaDa! Our new home!

So, I am getting very anxious to get moving and the lenders are taking for-e-ver! They said that because of the tax rebate being offered to first time home buyers this year, they are all backed up which is pushing our closing date back from last friday until who knows when. It's really annoying but gives us lots of time to get prepared for the move. All I can do is take the occasional stroll past the house or admire the pictures and try to come up with ideas for when it is FINALLY ours.

The landscaping out front is really nice right now. The flowers look really pretty and so do the trees. This picture doesn't do it justice. I wish this was the entire building, but there is another home connected because it used to be sold as a condo. Picture this, flip-flopped and attached to the other side of the garage. We do own the land and the home, we just get a very close neighbor : ) It's called a "zero lot line" which means that we own everything to the right of the center. Hurray for our .2 acres....... well at least we have side walks now!

Here's the kitchen. Not huge, but it is a bit more open than the one we have now. It's really nice and I can't wait to tile the space between the counter and the cupboards (the backsplash?) as well as paint it a nice neutral color. It's a little too white for my liking as is. Oh, and guess what!! We have a garbage disposal AND a dishwasher! YAY! You don't know how wonderful they are until you live without them for a year. It comes with all of the appliances and we will end up with an extra washer and drier if anyone needs a set. We are keeping what we have and selling theirs. They seem to be pretty nice ones. I'll put a picture up when it's time to sell.

This dining area is just to the right of the kitchen. It's hard to describe what I plan to put in this space. I have a laddershelf desk that will look great on one of those walls and hopefully we will be able to afford a dining room table to put in it some day! This will be painted the same neutral color as the kitchen. I haven't told Jace this yet so.... hey hun, we're going to have a bit more painting than originally planned. (I'm batting my eyelashes in case that helps)

Here is the livingroom from the view of the dining area. I really want a nice sectional like this but that's another thing that will have to wait a bit. The windows in this house are so long and skinny that I don't really know what to do with them so I am going to have to rely on help for that! It's hard to tell, but the walls are painted with a rag-roll kind of technique and look really nice.

This is another view of the livingroom with the nice entrance way.

This is the master bedroom. The red doesn't match our stuff at all so that will have to be painted. I have always liked accent walls so we will probably keep the rest white (for now) and find a good color to paint over the red. I am not putting up any pictures of the master bathroom or BIG walk-in closet but they definitly made me smile!

I have not included pictures of the second bedroom because they haven't done much with it and we probably won't either for awhile. I also left out the 2nd full bathroom and laundry area because they are nice, but nothing outstanding....yet ; ) You'll just have to come see us!

Last, but definitily not least, our enclosed porch! We were both so excited to see this. Everytime there is a storm, one of us mentions how we wish that we had a porch to sit and watch it from. Can't you just picture us with a couple of rockers our there?! I can! We are also going to eventually add a little patio outside that door. We even have a decent little back yard for Gibby.

Gosh, looking at this pictures makes me want to move even more although I will miss our little house and all of the hard work that we put into it. Our first year was a good one and having this house was such a blessing. It's time to move on, but we won't be able to do it without a few glances back over our shoulder at what we are leaving behind..... lots of spiders, crickets, mice, and rusty water! (I have to keep reminding myself of that. It makes me feel better!)

Baby Boy!

Welcome Braden Lyn (aka Teeny Tussing and wearer of my onesie creations)! He is so cute and sweet that I was contemplating sticking him in my purse and leaving the hospital. I decided against it because his mom was in so much pain from her C-section that I felt like she needed this little trophy to help her remember that it was all worth it! I brought her some ColdStone cupcakes as a "welcome baby" gift and you should have seen her grimace of pain turn into a look of love and appreciation in seconds : ) She squished down 3 in no time and sighed with joy. I was glad to see that I helped her feel better. Chalk 1 up for me and my love of all things sweet!

WOOOOOOOOOOSH----------------------------------

That's the sound of this month flying by!! Our anniversary, Jace's birthday, and the 4th have all come and gone with zero documentation.....sad. We had a wonderful anniversary. We spent the day at Mom & Dad's also celebrating Dad's birthday and Father's Day. Jace had to work that night so we did not get any time to really sit and contemplate our 1st year together. The next night, we had his side over to our house for a yummy birthday cookie cake and ice cream. We enjoyed watching the kids interact with Gibbs. Caeleb played tug of war and giggled his head off while Carissa cowered in Dana's arms and half laughed/half cried whenever Gibby was near. I am absolutely terrible at taking pictures to capture our life so this is all I have from the night.

Wondering why I would get Jace a cake with Mickey Mouse wearing a Dr. Seuss hat?? It's a guitar......nice huh?

Later that week we celebrated our events by going to Buffalo Wild Wings. On the way, Jace decided it was time to treat himself to his first beer in 2 and a half years. He was grinning like a kid on Christmas when his 23 oz Bud Light arrived on the table.

He stopped with just this one but he admitted that he felt a little tipsy after it. That's a big glass for a 2.5 year absence I guess : )

Our 4th consisted of Jace at Liberty Days and me at home doing laundry, homework, and watching the neighbors' fireworks display on our front steps with a frightened Gibby hiding behind me. We are some wild and crazy kids!!

Update: We are in the process of buying our first home!! It's in the great town of Russia and just right for us! It looks like we'll be moving in mid-August and after everything is in order we will be sure to invite y'all over to celebrate!!

Sweet Summertime

#1 purchase of the summer..... our 3 person swing that folds down flat like a bed with a comfy cushion and removable canopy!! "I can get sooo much reading done this summer while swinging away!", I thought. Turns out, swinging in the breeze while reading makes me nauseous. Neat.

I do love the swing though. I can lay out on it in my suit and get some sun or put on the canopy and relax in the shade. Jace and I even stargazed the other night on it! Gibby will join me and lay at my feet or give me a little shove every once in awhile to get me rocking. I wanted to get a picture of me attempting to read on it but because Jace was inside sleeping, I had to set up my camera on the timer. Here are the results.................

Take 1: Thanks for the view Gibbs

Take 2: Little diva trying to steal the show. Her expression CRACKS ME UP!! "And Pose"

Too sleepy to write

It's 1:30 AM and I am officially way too tired to type coherently. Jace and I had an eventful day of cleaning up our house and doing other exciting things that I am not going to tell you about yet! It's a surprise!! (no, I'm not pregnant... just to clear that up)

Instead of writing fun and exciting things, I am just going to post this lovely picture of me and my monster dog. You know that part in 101 Dalmations where the they are looking out the window and the people look like the dogs they are walking? I always thought that was so funny and cute.... until I realized it can happen in real life! : ) Can you see it????

P.S. Jessie loved the onesies!!

Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers

Baby Overload!! I have another baby shower this Sunday and couldn't think of anything creative to give so I resorted to the registry...BORING! I hate shopping off the registry more than anything! First of all, it's so hard to find anything from the limited info that they give on the printouts. Second of all, I LOVE buying cute little dresses and other fun little outfits in miniature :) The only things that I could decipher the hieroglyphics for were some little rattley toys and plain white onesies. Luckily my creative side came out while trying to decide what I wanted to do...... The 5 pack o' onesies had lots of potential!

My Family Fun magazine had some really cute ideas for designing tshirts this month and I have them to thank for the tie, but the others were all me! Baby's last name will be Tussing a.k.a. Teeny Tussing and his papa played ball in college, hense the basketball. Like the play on words?? BAWLin' hehe. I figured I'd keep two of them white since that's what she registered for!

Kale Michael Hoying

I went to visit him tonight and he's about as perfect as a newborn baby can be! Congrats to my good friends!! They got married the week before Jace and I did and it is crazy to think that we could have a little one right now! I think we'll just live vicariously through them for a bit. : )

Update!!

Kurt and Krista Hoying (college friends-not relatives) welcomed a little boy tonight!

Kale Michael ~ love you already and I haven't even met you!

The food monster strikes again!

As I sit here sipping a glass of wine and reflecting on the day, I want to take a second out to thank God for my bountiful blessings! K, that is going to take more than a second. I'll save that for bed time, but I can send up some thoughts for my friend Krista. She is currently HAVING her baby and I can't wait to meet him/her! Praying for a safe and painfree delivery!


Here are a few snapshots from the day:


Jace made the mistake of looking the other way and turned to find Gibbs seconds away from snatching his beloved Pizza Rolls. Did I warn him??? NOPE! I grabbed the camera.





If you give a dog a pizza role, she'll ask you for a drink............ sounds like a children's book I know : )





So at this point, Jace gave up on trying to drink out of his glass and Gibby took full advantage.... this picture cracks me up everytime! Soo gross! She's a Goldendoodlizard

Later in the day...... I got a pedicure with my girlfriend Julie as a celebration to the end of the school year! Aren't our toes cute?! Mine are orange : )

After the pedicure, we hit Applebee's for some half priced appetizers, Culiver's for some ice cream, and back to our house to watch a movie. "She's Just Not That Into You" was good but we both were sad by the negative messages sent about marriage and respectful relationships. Cute ending though!


Side Note: In the car, on the way back from Sidney, I was digging trying to find something when I pulled out a chalkboard eraser from the bottomless pit that is my purse. Me- "Honestly, You know you're a teacher when you pull a chalk eraser from your purse!" Julie (laughing)- "You know you're a teacher when you keep an eraser in your car!" as she pulls an identical eraser from the compartment in her door! So random! We laughed and laughed. Supposedly they are nice to have when you have foggy windows. I will have to transport mine from my purse to my car : )

I also got a yoga mat... I believe this position is called downward dog. At least someone got some use out of it!

YAY! Clean House!!

An old friend called me up and let me know she had a wedding in Russia and wanted to stop by and see our house. I had a whole day's notice and now the results are fantastic! Not a single dish in the sink, crumb on the floor, or shirt on the floor. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh now I can let people past the laundry room!! School's officially out so I have no exuses to let the house get too messy.

My summer plans are as follows:
Read lots of books
a Mary Kay party or two
getting the empty fish tank out of our dining room and replacing it with a bookshelf
cateloging all my books
get a tan
stay out of a swimming suit (which makes the previous difficult)
Celebrating our 1 year with a trip to D.C.
Hopefully interviewing and landing a full time job for the fall
afternoon naps
sketching
welcoming Krista, Jessie, and Leah's babies
walks with Gibbs
tba

Captures my family perfectly : )

Time for bed..... 7:30 AM mass YaWn!!

Correction.......

Nearly 20 hours later..... we have about a dozen cookies back, on our carpet. Lovely

Sneakydoodle

Last night I decided that I was going to make some of those yummy peanut butter cornflake cookies to bring in to the teachers at school today. I made them and set them to cool on wax paper on the table. Gibby was very nosey and I had to keep telling her to "Back awaaaay from the cookies." She finally came and fell asleep in the living room and I soon drifted off to sleep myself only to wake up 10 minutes later to see Gibson standing ON the table with a cookie in her mouth. I didn't see the real damage she had done until I got up to yell at her. Out of about 2 dozen cookies, 3 were still on the table. She ate nearly 20 cookies!! I was soooo angry that I was shaking and had to go cool off in the bedroom for awhile. I have never been so mad in my life and I was getting even more mad knowing how irrationally mad I was! My stomach was gurgling in the stress of the situation which caused me a short throwing up. Ridiculous! I have yet to see the ill effects of a cup of peanut butter, a cup of corn syrup, a cup of sugar, 1/2 a stick of butter, and cornflakes. She never got sick at all. I went to bed crying and imagining having a dead dog the next morning. Death by over indulgence. She's alive and well and not the least bit remorseful.

DOG FOR SALE : cost- 2 dozen peanutbutter cornflake cookies! :)

Catching Up!!!!

So, once again I went way too long without posting as I was told 10-15 times this weekend. Here are a few updates from the last couple of weeks.

My last week with the kids is this week and I hope to post some pictures from my time with them later. I will miss these boys sooo much. They are a daily source of laughter and hugs..



This weekend was full of wedding/graduations/birthday parties. It was hectic but nothing is better than fun, family, and friends. Here is a picture from the lovely Schafer/Miller wedding. BEAUTIFUL day, wedding, and bridal party! I love these ladies!


Gibby's fur was causing her to do some serious huffing and puffing in this 80 degree heat and was pretty matted in places so we decided to take her to a professional and see what they could do to help her out. Quite shocking results
BEFORE.



AFTER. Who knew she had eyes under that fuzz?!



Keepin' Dad in business :)



She never cares what or who she sits on!



My latest hobby. I went to Joann Fabrics and loaded up on sketching supplies with their art sale and my 40% off coupon! Love it!! Send a picture my way to sketch!


My new diet plan.... can you spot it amongst our family photos and upcoming events? Nothing like a picture from the past to keep you out of the HaagenDazs