A - M Updates

A is for:
Astronaut - Ella got to go to the Dayton (Air Force?) museum over spring break with her friend Addison and hang out like an astronaut. She had a great day and I was happy about that since we really did nothing over Spring Break this year...I was sick as a dog the whole week.

B is for:
Boston - During the April 15th Boston Marathon this year, terrible bombings occurred that killed 3 people and wounded over 180.  Horrific for Boston, heartbreaking for America, and for runners across the world...just unimaginable.  As a newbie runner for the past 3 years, I have ran 3 Half Marathons and maybe 20-30 other races.  The atmosphere at these races is always so amazing.  The feeling when you achieve a goal and cross the finish line is so rewarding.  I just can't imagine being shocked out of such a high by something so terrifying.  A group of us ran in a Support Boston run on Monday night - 1 week after the craziness.  A group that is usually 40 or so turned into a group of 400+ to support the One Fund Boston.  Wonderful to support and be a part of this.

 

C is for:
Cat - We still have one and her name is still Cleo...and she still likes to lay on her back in the middle of any floor. I think she really misses her playmate, Zoe...

D is for:
Dwight - We happened into some concert tickets (thanks for Donna and Lee) to see Dwight Yoakam at the Bluestone.  The Bluestone is a super cool converted Baptist Church in downtown Columbus.  Great place to see concerts now. He was good but not as good as expected. Too much guitar.  Justin said he was probably tuning up for a concert tour and then I just found out he's playing Bonnaroo...good call JPJ.

E is for:
Emotion - After the Boston bombings, I noticed this on one of my race shirts...nothing brings out the emotions of the people and a country like 9/11 or school shooting situations.  It puts people into action.  You go crazy if you sit still.

 

F is for:

Family - I'm so grateful for such a wonderful family.  We don't spend as much time together now that we all go in 1000 different directions but when we do, we have so much fun and it's wonderful to get together. This was the kids at Easter.

 

G is for:

Green - Ella had strep throat a couple weeks ago.  After she started her medicine, we had to throw her old toothbrush out.  She wanted a new electric one.  So, I bought both E and Silas new electric toothbrushes.  They LOVE them.  They light up and and change colors when they are supposed to brush different parts of their teeth and then it shuts off after 2 minutes.  Worth the money!

 

H is for:

Hair - Si had quite the hair day.  He is digging the spiky look these days and then couple that with a VERY windy soccer game...

I is for:

Itchy Eyes - Poor Ella's eyes are killing her because of her allergies.  I finally made an appointment with the allergy doctor and we get in the first week of May.  I feel bad that I didn't take her in the winter so that they could have tested and given her medicine for NOW!

J is for:

Junk - the ongoing battle in our house continues to be a plethora of junk!  It multiplies at a staggering rate no matter how much we sort, trash and donate...I'm pretty sure our front room will never be more than a "sorting room"!

K is for:

pinK concert - kinda cheating, I know. Saw her in March and she was so amazingly incredible.  I totally have a new-found respect for her music and her as an artist and person.  Loved seeing her and gaining a better understanding of what drives  her.

L is for:

Loyal Customers - Justin continues to work his JCS Construction business.  I will tell you: it is tough.  It stresses me to the max because of the inconsistent income, the problems that pop up on jobs, the stress that it puts on Justin and his body.  But I will also tell you - his people LOVE him.  He is fair, he is respectful of their time and their money.  And when he spends a month or three in their home...the kids absolutely adore him...

 

{Dear Mr. Yonger, Thank you for doing our kicken. And thank you for being so nice. You are fast at doing lost of werk. I give you an A++++++  Your friend,Abigail}

M is for:

Mason - and he will graduate in MAY!!  And wow, this year and the last 4 years when he has been in high school have gone so incredibly fast (remember this?).  Yesterday was his Senior night at track. He has ran track all 4 years in high school.   He has worked hard this year to work out, get strong, eat well and get faster.  

I am so...proud...impressed...grateful...for this kid.  I'm so sad on one hand that this baby boy is no longer my baby. On the other - it is so fulfilling to know that he is growing up and growing into what he wants to do with his life.                                  

(And Ella is to my chin now...really??)

Updates N - Z...coming soon.

My Case for Being a Hoarder

Ella had a 3rd party to go to this weekend, requiring a costume again. She had been a Mummy twice already and we were both tired of getting her in and out of that costume! She had gotten her face painted the day before and wanted to keep that on so we thought she could go as a cat/kitten. I vaguely remembered having a costume with cat ears and a tail in the basement...from when she was a toddler.

I dug through the Halloween costume tote and sure enough, there it was! I pulled the tail off of the costume that would barely fit a 2 year old, pinned it onto her leggings and then put the ears on. She was happy and it was easy (making me happy!).

We also dug the Bat Mobile out of the basement this past weekend. Of course, after 12 years of storage, the battery was dead - so Justin and Si went to Batteries Plus, grabbed a new one and off Si went.

Now I just have to find the mask for Silas to wear!

Mason - 1998

Ohio State Fair

For the first time in a few years (ever?) I took all the kids to the Ohio State Fair - wow wee, what an exhausting day!! Thank goodness, Margie went with me. If she hadn't pumped me full of coffee and sugar from a cream puff, I'd probably still be sitting in the middle of the fairgrounds.

I was thoroughly amazed and impressed by Ella and Si's love of big, fast, scary rides! They both went down the BIG slide by themselves.



I was a wee bit upset with Ella because on the last time down, they both took their own sacks and she left him up at the tippy top all by himself...but as you'll see, he did fine (he's on the right, all by himself).




They also went on the kid roller coasters, spinning things and anything else that went round and round, and/or up and down.

Ella, Tyler, Mason and Silas at the duck tape float. pretty cool!

This is a ride that Silas loved. He was too small for a lot of the rides this year. Next year should be better. I was ill after riding the bus and the helicopter kid rides with him. Apparently my equilibrium isn't what it used to be.


I had totally planned to be out of there by 4:30 to avoid major traffic...but at 5:30...6:00, we were still there, but definitely wearing out our welcome.

By 6:15 I ended up carrying 30+ pounds of sleeping child around for the last 30 minutes.


Of course the best part was all the yummy fair food! We had funnel cakes, elephant ears, Schmidt's cream puffs, fries slathered in vinegar and ketchup, gyros, corndogs, lemon shakes...hmm, I feel like I'm forgetting something...oh, cotton candy!

The kids (okay, all of us) were hot, sticky, gunky messes by the time we got home.

Oh, the fun!

Out with the Old...In With the Older...

As we continue on our purging binge in our house (binge/purge/binge/purge...a very vicious JUNK cycle around here!), this past weekend we tried to tackle the front room. When we put the hardwood down, the toy box got moved to the front room and it has become a big Free For All...

This is what the room looked like mid-purge, but that's what it looked like before too...not good! I'm happy to say that all (or at least 99.9%) of the toys were able to be contained in the toy box after tossing a bag full of total junk.

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Another challenge around here...Silas has decided over the last few weeks that, unless we are going someplace, it's really not important that he get dressed in clothes. It's all Jammies, all the time. He put his pj's on Thursday night at bedtime, and 64 hours later, decided he'd get dressed in "real clothes". Now, he did get a bath in those 64 hours, but refused to put anything back on but his "jammy feeties".

Finally clothed on Sunday....
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Another home decor project. When we got our King sized bed...about 10 years?....we did not buy a headboard and have gone without since. We've talked about making one for years. A couple weeks ago, Justin was working on a house and they had this door - it's 102 years old!
So, they gave it to him (binge)

Next time you see this door, it will be sanded, painted and acting as a headboard for our bed. I can't wait to see it all done!! How "shabby chic" is that? Is that still a decorating term?

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And one more Silas conversation - seriously, 3 is the best age ever for the crazy stuff that kids say and do!
He was talking with Justin here:

Si: Daddy, I'll be big soon

JP: you will?

Si: yeh

JP: why do you want to be big?

Si: (a bit of a repeater...) so so so, I can get the smoke detractor...turn the smoke detractor off when it goes off so it don't freak Zoe out..
detractor=detector
Zoe = FREAKS out now if the alarm or smoke detectors go off, of if it storms out...

Snow Day!

Mason flushed ice down the toilet yesterday after school...apparently that is the voodoo that middle schoolers do when they want a snow day - and it worked. We got overnight snow and we're supposed to get much more today and freezing rain.

February is flying by - things have been very crazy here and this week is Justin's b-day and Valentine's day. Both of which I am unprepared for. Here is Ella's February calendar picture:


Last week seemed like a week from HECK. I knew it was going to be busy, and it was. Monday Ella had her school pictures taken plus it was her snack day/line leader day. Tuesday she had kindergarten registration (seems hard to believe that she will be starting school in August!!). Wednesday was ballet night for little Miss, Thursday my dad had surgery (he's doing great) and Mason had an orthodontic consult (expensive braces are in his future), Friday I had to do an all day workshop for work, Saturday Ella and Mason both had birthday parties to go to and we had to get our taxes done (and it was REALLY painful)...Sunday was errands, cleaning and several conversations with the tax guy.
In the midst of all that, on Tuesday night I came home from kindergarten registration to find my desk looking like the leaning tower of Pisa

When I was putting Ella to bed we heard a loud crash...whoosh...bang. I knew it was my desk. Ella and I went down to take a look and the desk was on it's side and everything, including my laptop, was on the floor in a nice huge avalanche of papers and junk. Where is now sits in a big fat pile on the floor. It's really hard to get organized and focused when you work from home and don't have a desk or place to work...I've been at the kitchen table for a week.

I found a desk cabinet thing at World Market that would have been great but they are all sold out and have discontinued it - of course they have because that is the ONE out of 200 that I've looked at and liked and was willing to pay for. Struck out at Pier One, Staples, Office Max, Target, several furniture stores and then finally at Value City Furniture found one online that is cute, smallish and affordable. The desk part actually swings around and closes up over the drawers which is perfect for our front room. They didn't have any in stock at the store but had 200+ at the warehouse so I am just waiting (impatiently) for it to come in so we can pick it up and pick all my *(&^* up off of the floor.
Mason brought home his interim report this week and somehow has an "F" right now in Shop class. How well do you think Justin took that news? Being the handy-guy that he is, NOT WELL. Justin is in the process of building wall shelves for Ella's room and now he has a helper for the project.
I need to go to my happy place for awhile...

I'm a slacker!

I've not posted in a whole WEEK! It has been a very crazy week - and I will go into much more detail sometime soon, but until then I will leave you with a video of Silas running around like a mad man before bedtime. He's like a wind up toy...I swear it has nothing to do with the 2 suckers he had shoved into his head at the same time. OR the candy necklace he was attacking while it was still around his sister's neck. He gets incredibly upset when we won't give him candy. Justin and I told him the other day: NO MORE JUNK. He sobbed and threw a fit while yelling, "me want junk, me want junk".
So here you go...the best thing out there with the writers' strike going on still!