Sorry

It's been a long time since my last post so I'll try and get everyone caught up on what's been going on!!

We went to Fort Knox for family weekend the beginning of October. We had a nice visit with Matthew and took in some of the local sites. We visited the Patton Museum, Colonel Sanders Grave, Church Hill Downs, Schmidts Coca-Cola Memorabilia Museum, went on the Belle of Louisville for a two hour cruise down the Ohio River and saw the cabin where Abe Lincoln was born. The weather was unseasonably warm and we had a great time!

Stephen came home complaining of a stomach ache on Nov. 14th and by Thursday he couldn't stand up straight. Marc took him to the ER and they said his appendix had ruptured. He had it removed at 4am on Friday morning and spent his 22nd birthday in the hospital. He came home on the 20th and is doing well. Today is the first day he's went to school since it happened.

We left on the 21st and went back to Fort Knox to see Matthew graduate! It was the best graduation I've ever been too! After that we were all able to go and have lunch at the Golden Corral and then we dropped Matthew off at the Louisville airport at 3:30pm and headed back home. We arrived at home about 9:30pm. Matthew is now stationed at Fort Hood which is in Killeen, TX.

Needless to say on Thanksgiving we didn't do anything as we were all pooped. My girls ended up spending the day and evening with their Dad so it was just Marc, Seth and I. I did make a nice turkey dinner on Friday. Olivia spent the night with Emily and Abbi and had a great time.

Marc, Katie, Olivia, Seth and I will be heading to Raymondville, TX on Dec. 21st to spend Christmas with my parents. We are all so excited! Matthew is going to try and take leave and head down there as well and then he'd ride home with us and hang out for a little while before heading back to Fort Hood.

Suzanne tried out for the girls basketball team this year but was unsuccessful in her endeavor. We are just happy that she tried and hopefully she'll try again next year. Katie tried out for the Poms squad but she was unsuccessful as well. Again, hopefully she'll try again next year. Katie continues to play the oboe and just recently had one of her art projects chosen to be included in an art show! Olivia is going to a cheer leading clinic this Saturday. For $20 she gets poms, a t-shirt and is taught a routine that they will perform later that morning. She's very excited about it. Seth continues to love school and has made a lot of friends. His best friend Dillon lives right down the street and they've already had a couple of play dates. They'd have one daily if only us Moms would let them...LOL!

Well I think that covers it! Hopefully it won't be so long before I post again.

Forgive me blogspot for I have sinned, it has been over a month since my last blog. Here's what's going on..... My baby Seth turned 6 today...he was up dressed with his backpack on and his bag of treats ready to go to school at 7:50am. He was not happy when he found out we couldn't even consider going to school until 8:30 or after. He had a great day at school and he has a classmate who shares his birthday. She also happens to only live 3 doors down from us. Who knew!! He was very happy with all his gifts which included new spiderman pajamas, Thomas the Train Leapster game, deck of cards, sleeping bag and Aquadots. The verdict is still out on the Aquadots, not sure if it was a waste of money yet or not. I'll know by the end of the week.

We leave Friday at 1pm for what will most likely be our last trip to Fulton this year. Marc's 25 year high school reunion is this weekend. Friday (Marc's birthday) we will be attending the homecoming game as Marc has been invited to play the National Anthem with the band and also participate in their half-time program. Then Saturday night is the reunion at the Red Dog Steakhouse. Hopefully some of Marc's old high school buddies will be there and we'll have a nice night out.

Just finished watching Dancing with the Stars. I watched last night's show online this afternoon and we just watched the men. Floyd Mayweather got all 6 of my votes. I thought he was good!

Well I'll try and post next week and let you know how the reunion went!

Back to School, YEAH!!

First 1/2 day of school is this morning. Katie left about 7:40am for her first day of Jr. High and she could barely contain her excitement....wish it was like that on every school day. Olivia wanted to be at school right at 8:30am so she could spend time with her best friend Emily, who is not in her class this year. They've been working on the playground for the last week, installing new equipment, putting in more dirt and wood chips. And, of course with all the rain we had last week it's not done yet so it was off to the gym for everyone this morning. Seth and I head off to Kindergarten orientation at 11:15 this morning and then he will officially start on Thursday. He's very excited but a little concerned about homework. Suzanne starts her sophomore year tomorrow and Stephen will head back to Harper on the 27th. Whew!! Our summer was great and we did lots of fun stuff but even the kids were ready to head back to school. It'll be nice to have everyone back on a schedule.

Olivia will turn 8 on Monday the 27th and my parents are coming into town to help her celebrate. She has no idea that they are coming and when she sees Grandma waiting for her after school I'm sure she'll be thrilled. She thinks they are coming sometime in September and was a little disappointed they wouldn't be here on her actual birthday.

Marc went to Michigan this past weekend for the Nascar races. Saturdays race went without a hitch. However Sundays race was a washout and was postponed until Monday. Marc decided to go ahead and come home as it looked like it would rain all day Monday as well, which it did so the race was postponed until today at 10am ET. Needless to say Marc arrived home Sunday night a little after 9pm and headed back to Michigan last night about 8:30pm. He called from the racetrack this morning and said it was foggy but no rain so hopefully the race will happen today. His favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not be driving the #8 car next year so all his merchandise was 1/2 off. Needless to say all of us got souvenirs of some kind.

Got a letter from Matthew yesterday. He's been gone since August 2nd but just started boot camp on the 13th. He says it's extremely hard but he's toughing it out. He's really homesick and requested letters everyday if possible. I wrote him one last night and another one today. I'm hoping to send one every couple of days and then with other relatives and friends writing hopefully he'll get mail almost daily.

Well I'm going to sit and enjoy the quiet for a few hours as I know I'll spend most of the afternoon filling out school paperwork. Have a good week everyone!!

Baby It's Hot Outside and Inside!!

Well here comes the hot weather and we have no A/C. Today we are getting our 4th and final bid on a new furnace and A/C so hopefully we can make a decision and get it taken care of in the next week or so!

Matthew leaves tomorrow afternoon and then on Thursday he will be headed out to Fort Knox to start his Army Basic Training. He's actually looking forward to it! His Dad and I are a little less than enthused as of course we fear that at some point he'll end up in Iraq. I do, however, applaud Matthew as this is something he really wants to do and for that we are proud!

Katie started a Sneak Peek into 6th grade class at the Jr. High yesterday. She was very excited but nervous too! Hopefully becoming acquainted with the school before hand will ease some of her anxiety on the first day of school! Speaking of which 20 days and counting, LOL!

Olivia is going to have Ms. Resnick for 3rd Grade. Katie had her for 3rd and 4th grade. Olivia of course wasn't to happy as everyone says shes mean. My hope is that since Katie and Olivia have such different personalities that she might actually enjoy having her for a teacher. And, since they no longer loop she should only have her for one year.

Seth has been switched to morning Kindergarten. Usually everyone who lives in our subdivision and is a walker gets assigned to afternoon. However this year there were only 7 kids who fit that bill and there are another 17 kids that were scheduled for morning. So.....they decided to combine them all together in the morning and there will be no afternoon kindergarten at all. This will be good as now I can drop Olivia and Seth both off in the morning and then head off to do any errands I need to do.

Well since it's quiet here I better get some things done. Keep Cool!!

Catch Up Time

Let's see....Olivia and I spent a long weekend at my brothers house. We had a great time. Olivia got to play with my nieces and Mom, Heather and I scrapbooked. Attached is a picture of Haley who turned 2 on June 27th and Chloe who will turn 5 on August 22nd. When Olivia and I returned home my kitchen was green and I LOVE IT!!! On the 30th of June we threw Matthew a Graduation/Going Away Party. The weather was beautiful and everyone had a good time and ate lots of good food! Suzanne and Matthew went home with Grandpa and Grandma and this weekend we are headed to Fulton to pick them up.

4th of July was spent picking up my birthday present, which is a new bike. Unfortunately it's been so hot lately that I haven't ridden it much but since cooler weather is on the way I plan on taking a ride every evening. Both Katie and Olivia were in the Wheeling parade and Marc, Seth and I had a great spot to watch the entire parade. Thank goodness the weather was nice for it! Then at 9:30 we found a great spot to watch the fireworks and we were the only ones there. We are going to keep that secret spot to ourselves!

UH OH!! I have clothes on the line and it looks like it's going to rain!! Gotta go.

Keep Cool everyone!!

Coming Soon...

Well almost all of the yucky wallpaper that was originally covering my kitchen is down. Marc just has one little section to go. As usual no project in this house ends up being easy. The wallpaper was put on top of drywall so it was a little tricky getting it down. My new kitchen is going to be a bright green with red accents, Apples. I've already bought some accessories to for decorating purposes and I just ordered the cutest curtains last night. I'm very hopeful that everything will be done by June 26th. That is when Marc's parents arrive to help us put new doors on every room and closet upstairs.

68 days and counting until the kids go back to school. 70 for Seth as Kindergarten starts later. It's not been bad it's just that there always seem to be two that are fighting or irritating one another. Olivia is going to have a playdate with her best friend Emily today so that will cut down on some of the fighting, since she seems to be the instigator most times. Then it will be off to scrapbooking later for a little bit of ME time!

I certainly hope everyone is enjoying this lovely weather we've been having. As we all know it could change in a heartbeat! HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!

Tagged

While wandering through Dianne's blog she mentioned that she had been "Tagged" to answer some questions...and that if you read her blog and her answers...you were tagged too. So...consider me tagged! The same holds for you...if you read this...you're tagged!

10 FAVORITES

Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Food: Mashed Potatoes
Favorite Month: October
Favorite Song: Doesn't stay the same...but "Defying Gravity" from the play "Wicked"
Favorite Movie: Gone with the Wind
Favorite Sport: Ice Skating
Favorite Season: Fall
Favorite Day of the week: Friday
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Ben & Jerry's Caramel Sutra
Favorite Time of Day: Late at night when everyone is sleeping, quiet,all mine.

9 CURRENTS
Current Mood: Earlier, disgusted....right now calm for the moment
Current Taste: Bugles
Current Clothes: jammies
Current Desktop: starfish in the ocean
Current Toenail Color: The one I was born with.
Current Time: 12:57am
Current Surroundings: my desk
Current Thoughts: I should probably be sleeping?

8 FIRSTS
First Best Friend: Brenda Finch
First Kiss: Kenny Dianda...eighth grade, my backyard.
First Screen Name: pjb1963
First Pet: Poodle/Terrier Mix (Rosie)
First Piercing: Ears
First Crush: my neighbor Kenny Dianda, also my first kiss.
First CD: (Record) Donny Osmond "Puppy Love"
(I think there should be a #8 here....but the person who Tagged Dianne didn't have it)

7 LASTS
Last Cigarette: Don't smoke.
Last Drink: Diet Coke.
Last Car Ride: Home from Marnies.
Last Kiss: Marc, before I left for Marnies!
Last Movie Seen: Man on Fire
Last Phone Call: Marc
Last CD Played: Sugarland in the car.

6 HAVE YOU EVERS
Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Guy/Girl Friends: no
Have You Ever Broken the Law: speeding
Have You Ever Been Arrested: no
Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: no
Have You Ever Been on TV: Yes, on a TNN dance show. I think I still have the videotape somewhere, YIKES!!
Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: yes

5 THINGS
Thing You're Wearing: nightgown
Thing You've Done Today: Went to Marnies, for therapy and scrapbooking.
Thing You Can Hear Right Now: my son, snoring.
Thing You Can't Live Without: Marc and my children
Thing You Do When You're Bored: I have no time to be bored, but I'd say reading

4 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TODAY
My room
My desk
My scrap area
Marnie's house

3 PEOPLE YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO
Marc
My Mom
Marnie

2 CHOICES
1. Black or White: Black
2. Hot or Cold: cold

1 THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
Take my husband on a trip out west, he's never been farther than Kansas.

so I guess I get to tag people now?!??! yeah.....if you read this, then consider yourself tagged! I assume that I read your blog but in case I miss it, let me know if you try this!

9 Days and 1/2 Hour

That's how many days before my girls are out of school for the summer. They are very excited of course, however, Seth can't wait for school to start so he can go to kindergarten. He keeps asking how many days and I haven't counted that up yet. Although I'm sure after they are all home for a week or two I'll start counting the days until they go back. I'm hoping this summer won't be too bad as we seem to have lots of things going on to keep everyone busy!

Seth graduated from preschool last Wednesday! The ceremony was just so stinkin' cute. They had caps on and the marched in to "Pomp and Circumstance". Then they sang several cute songs and then each one was called up to receive their diploma. We've got it all on tape and hopefully my pictures will turn out! I didn't cry, but I did get a little teary eyed.

Next week Katie has a Promotional Awards Ceremony for moving on to 6th grade. She's such a scammer as she brought me the Best Buy ad yesterday that showed the top 5 gifts for grads. Of course it listed an Ipod, laptop computer etc. I told her to dream on...it's just 5th grade. My Mom wants me to buy her a small bunch of balloons and thanks to my friends input I'm going to get her a single rose! I'm not sure I want to take it to the ceremony so I'll probably have them waiting for her when we get home.

Well I better get busy with laundry.....Happy Monday everyone!

I must be doing something Right!

I've spent the last two days working on my scrap area in the basement. It's not done yet but it's getting there! I managed to make my 10 cards for the swap I'm in and I also got caught up with putting the kids birthday cards and school papers in their scrapbooks.

Last night I had to run to Walmart to get some organization things for my scrap area. I decided to pick Kate up from Girl Scouts and head over there. She just happened to have her $25 of birthday money that she got from Grandpa & Grandma Swanson. Well when we got there I told the areas that I would be in so she could find me when she was done looking around. I told her I wanted her to spend her money on clothes or things she needed and absolutely no candy, food or pop. Well after I had gotten everything I needed she still hadn't found me so I went looking for her. My first stop was the jewelry area and there she was at the counter. I was immediately told to go away....so I did. Then when we were standing in the checkout line she was looking at the Mother's Day cards and told me she was going to get one for Grandma and was it OK. Of course I said it was. Well anyway we get home and she hands me the card and a jewelry box. She bought me a beautiful Mom pendant and the card made me cry! I'm so proud of her that she spent her own money to buy me a special gift. Needless to say Olivia felt bad so when she went with her Dad today they went to a garage sale and she got me a bracelet that says HOPE and a stuffed duck which is now on my scrap desk. Seth brought me home a potted petunia plant from pre-school on Friday. It was a clay pot that they sponge painted and then decorated with ribbon around the top....and they got to put in the dirt and everything. So needless to say I'm a very lucky Mom to get all these presents a week early!!

Busy Weekend

Well we spent the weekend in Kalamazoo. My brother-in-law Mike graduated from graduate school with a Masters in Science and Information. He had an open house yesterday to celebrate. There was, of course, way too much food so everyone was sent home with leftovers. Our van was packed to capacity on the way there as we took 8 bags of bottles and cans that were Michigan refunds. We ended up with $43.10 worth which we were amazed at!! We assured the kids that we'd have more room in the van coming home but guess what?? Not so...we brought home cake, rolls, cereal, salad, an entire angel food cake, mints, plastic silverware, cups, paper plates and napkins....the paper products and mints will be used for Matthew's graduation/going away party. At least the weather was nice and it was great for travelling. Everyone slept all the way home, except for Marc of course.

Tomorrow night I'm scrapping which I'm excited about. I've been on a roll lately and I don't want to loose my momentum. This weekend Marc and I are going to start working on a scrapping area for me in the basement....I'm so excited!! I'll post pictures when we are done.

Enjoy the rest of this great day!

Great Day

Got a beautiful Anniversary card from Marc today. It just kills me that he spent $4.99 on it he needs to ask one of my scrapping friends to make one and pay them instead. He liked the card I made him last night at stamp camp. So far our anniversary has been great. We slept in until 10 and then I made us cinnamon rolls. He has spent the day working in the basement and I spent all day making my April Christmas cards. I've attached a picture. I LOVE THEM!! I'm so glad I bought that stamp set...I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. So many possibilities. I just ordered our pizza from Giordano's and we are going to sit down and watch the movie "Click" with Adam Sandler.

Oops I posted this at Schocker's by mistake!

Happy Friday the 13th

I haven't posted in almost a month...where does the time go! These last several weeks have been so busy with dentist and doctor appointements, school meetings, etc. Tonight is Stamp Camp which I'm so looking forward too! My girls are leaving with their Dad at 5:30 tonight and will be with him until church on Sunday morning. Marc and I celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary tomorrow night and are still thinking about what we want to do!! We seriously may just order our favorite pizza from Giordano's and watch a movie. The older ones will all be in the basement and I'm sure Seth will be there too so we might actually get to watch a movie in the actual time allotted with no interruptions. I'm also hoping that I can get some scrapping or cardmaking done as well.

Jonathon arrived back home today. He is done with the Air Force so he's been applying for jobs and is considering going to Harper. He enjoyed his time in the Air Force but he's happy to be home.

The above picture is of the three youngest on Easter morning! Have a great weekend everyone!

Wow, my DH just came home and brought me a dozen roses...I've attached a picture. They are beautiful!! I'm so lucky.

You've got to be kidding!!!

I just got an e-mail from my ex-husband asking me if we'd be interested in a 4 year old German Shepard/Huskie mix dog named Beulah that weighs 80 lbs. He's gotta be kidding me...it's all I can do to keep up with the kids and all their schedules. The woman who is trying to find a new home for Beulah is even willing to throw in a month's worth of dog food to whoever takes her. Even that is not incentive enough for me. Now, if Beulah can clean the house, do the laundry, cook an occasional meal and get the kids to keep their rooms clean 85% of the time I might consider it. I'd also consider taking Beulah in exchange for one of the teenagers!! I'm not sure that would be a fair trade though. If you know anyone who might be interested in giving Beulah a good home, let me know and I can pass the information along!

Busy but Productive Day

Well my girls left with their Dad about 10:30 and will be gone for the next 24 hours, (imagine Big sigh here). Marc, Seth and I decided to run and get some errands done and then ended up at the new TGI Friday's in Wheeling for lunch. I had the Cedar Seared Salmon Pasta and it was yummy! Upon arriving at home I threw a load of laundry in the wash, ironed some Brownie Try It badges on Olivia's sash and then finished a layout I had started at Marnie's on Wednesday. I wasn't sure where I was going with it but today it just seemed to come together quickly. I just love it....thanks to Dianne for the cow paper piecing! Inside the heart is says Cute lil'. Also on the photo corners the top right says Seth and the bottome left says 2002. Need to finish up my laundry. Remember to Spring Ahead!!

March already, where does the time go!! Seems like just yesterday we were getting ready for Christmas...speaking of which I need to come up with a design for this month's Christmas cards. I really LOVE that Marnie made this a challenge. It's going to be great to have all the cards done and ready to go instead of rushing to get them done so they can be sent out on time!

Last night was a blast! Marnie and Dianne are phenomonal....I showed up for scrapbooking last night and they ended up challenging me to do a layout in 30 minutes. I hadn't come prepared so luckily Aunt Marnie supplied me with a few pictures of my kids. I'm really pleased with the way both layouts turned out and it was fun to have absolutely to just pick and choose and put together a layout that quickly. I hope we continue to do that every now and then!!

Well my challenge for today is to try and get people to be hall monitors and nursery caregivers at church this Sunday...so far no one I've called has gotten back to me so I guess I better make more calls and hope that by the end of the day I've been successful. I have an all day seminar tomorrow and I don't want it to be Saturday night and still no success.

TGIF everyone!

Productive Morning

In between doing laundry and running the dishwasher I managed to make 10 Christmas cards so I'm good for the month of February. I also did a layout of Katie from last summer. I know you can't read the journaling so here it is.....

4th Grade Comes Crashing to a Halt
What a way to end 4th Grade. It was a little after 3pm on the last full day of school and I was waiting outside the school along with all the other Moms. Then Mrs. Cherry came walking up to us to tell me that you had taken a nasty fall off the monkey bars. I followed her to the nurses office where you were sitting with an ice pack on your forehead. Mrs. Resnick was sitting next to you holding your hand. You were really shaken up and scared as you couldn’t remember what happened or how you got to the nurses office. We came home and dropped off Olivia and then we headed for the Emergency Room. The Dr. checked you out and said you had a concussion and made us hang around for an hour to be sure you were all right. I had to wake you up in the middle of the night too…but all was well. You just had a nasty looking forehead for a few weeks and as far as I know it hasn’t stopped you from continuing to play on the monkey bars either!

Happy Groundhogs Day!

Well if you believe in the groundhog we will have an early spring! My kids are very excited and we are all hopeful that it will turn out to be true. I've never really kept track of what the ground hog's record of correctness is so I guess time will tell! All I know is that I am ready for these frigid temperatures to go away!!

Every wear you go today all you see is everyone dressed in the Chicago Bears wardrobe. The girls were supposed to wear something to show their support and luckily Matthew had two Bears t-shirts so they each have one on. I had to use a small binder clip to keep Olivia's from falling off her shoulder. Poor Seth had nothing to wear so he's wearing Bears colors of orange and blue. I stopped at Dominick's really quick this morning and everyone there had Bears paraphernalia on as well. Even U/L said that if you had no clients visiting you were free to wear your Bears shirts. Marc has one but opted not to wear it.

I think we are finally going to go and get a new TV tonight. Sure hope they have the one that's on sale through tomorrow in stock. I have a feeling we are pressing our luck but we will see. It'll will certainly be nice to control the volume from a remote versus having to get up and actually walk to the TV to do it, LOL!! However did we cope back in the olden days!

Super Bowl Sunday here will be reminiscent of New Year's. We are going to make a bunch of appetizers (Swedish meatballs, Velveeta w/sausage and Rotelle, cheese & crackers, etc.). Marc claims we are going to put a cooler of beer in between our two recliners so we won't have to go far to get another one....again how lazy is that! I doubt that I will actually sit in front of the TV during the game. I'll probably be at my computer desk working crossword puzzles and listening to it in the background.

Stay warm everyone and GO BEARS!

Happy Monday, Ooops I mean Tuesday

My kids were off yesterday so I'll be confused all week. Well anyone out there Bears fans...if so GO BEARS!! Of course I have not really followed them since late 84-86. I think I just started watching them for lack of better things to do...that was back before I had cable so my choices on a Sunday afternoon were limited and I'm pretty sure I spent of those Sunday afternoons cross-stitching with the game on in the background. My how things have changed. Now I'm on the computer playing games, doing crosswords or surfing with the game on in the background...even with cable and much more choices. Although Marc is constantly changing channels during commercial breaks and half-time so it's hard to figure out what's going on.

Poor Seth, Olivia and he were playing the yesterday and she wanted to play dress up. Lucky for her he's a good sport. I've got a great picture of him in the outfit the Bushmoles gave Olivia for Christmas...it consists of a leotard, tights, ballet slippers, headband and a poof that Aunt Marnie made. I also have a picture of him all decked out in a pretty Easter dress, tights and black patent leather shoes. He was smiling away in both outfits and Olivia was ready to go for three when he said..."I don't want to play anymore". Those will be fun pictures to scrap! Hopefully it won't take years to get it done, LOL!

Katie went to a Wolves hockey game with her girl scout troop on Saturday. She had a blast and lucky for me her troop leader took pictures and shared them with all of us so I can scrap that moment as well. She had so much fun that she wants Marc or I to take her again sometime. She was apalled, however, at the prices of the snacks/drinks. I had given her $10 spending money as I knew they'd the prices would be high and she actually brought $5 home. Guess that's a sign of her growing up!

Ugh, guess I better get some housework done and figure out what's for dinner!

Challenge accepted and Complete

Last year I had a great idea...I said I was going to try and make 5 to 10 Christmas cards every month so that when it was time I'd be ready! Well it was a great idea but one of many I failed to act on. Well Marnie challenged all of us to make 10 Christmas cards this month and I am happy to say that I took her challenge and have attached a picture (hopefully) of what they look like. Hopefully she will continue to issue this challenge every month as I'm not usually one to back down from a challenge. Since I was so gung ho and ending up cutting out more squares than I needed I'll probably do the same card again next month as they were so easy. Then by March I'll hopefully have another design in mind and make something new!

Happy New Year!, a little late

Well, I was a terrible blogger in 2006 but resolve to try and do better in 2007. I hope that everyone had a Wonderful Holiday and a Terrific New Year!!

This year was the first, since Marc and I have been together, that we did not travel over the holidays. As most of you know my parents winter in Texas and this year Marc's parents left for Florida in October and decided not to return for Christmas. Basically because they will be returning the end of February for their oldest granddaughters wedding. Anyhow, we had a nice quiet relaxing Christmas at home. Olivia, Seth and I all fought colds during those two holiday weeks so perhaps it was a good thing we didn't go anywhere. It also allowed us to celebrate Christmas with Dave, Marnie, Emily and Abbi as usually we don't get to celebrate with them until New Year's or after.

New Year's Eve was spent at home with our traditional appetizers all night long feast with sparkling juice and champagne at midnight. The kid's always have a great time as they get to drink their juice out of champagne flutes and that makes them feel so grown up!

Well, no more 12 passenger van for us. We traded it in for a new 2007 Chevy Uplander that only seats 7. Since Jonathon is gone and Matthew will be heading to Ft. Knox in August we decided it was time to downgrade. It's rare that all of us travel together anymore and we will save so much in gas money not to mention much better gas mileage. I'm still adjusting to parking it as it doesn't take up the whole parking space like the other one did, LOL!

Happy Friday, everyone.....hopefully it won't be another 3 months before I blog again!