Happy New Years!!!

Happy New Years To All!!!

I hope everyone is having a Happy New Years!! We stayed home this year and it is just the family. The kids didn't have anyone over and the girls didn't go anywhere. I made Chili and my bean dip. Just in saying that, we will all wake up with major stomach aches!! We also played games as seen above. As of right now, everyone is gamed out and now anxiously awaiting 12:00. Eric keeps saying its almost time for the ball to drop and we keep telling him to look at the clock, its not even near midnight. Here in alittle bit we will watch Dick Clark and that will make it seem more like New Years Eve. I remember when Renea and I would go to grandma and grandpas and we would watch Dick Clark and all the popular singers of the year would sing, it was so awesome, we would go out to eat, come home and play some games while watching the count down. Fond memories. Hopefully when the kids get older and have a family, they will make wonderful memories with their families.

Christmas was good and alittle different this year. We stayed home for Christmas Eve, which was a very odd feeling. I cook ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and cake. We had Rays mom and dad over and by evening we were resting (well trying to, the boys were restless), in till the kids went to bed, so we could wrap presents. Not sure if I can ever get used to not going to grandmas house on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day, the kids actually slept in!! My dad came over in the morning for awhile. We went to my moms in the afternoon and had dinner, exchanged gifts, and played games. I was excited, I finally got to give my grandma and grandpa the picture I took of the Sawmill in Roann. Rays dad made a frame for it out of barn siding. I was dying, I so wanted to show them the picture all summer, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

After dinner we broke out Bingo, which is so fun!! Then we played Name That Tune "80's edition" (do I need to say anymore). I love that game!! We had so much fun playing it. We also played Apples 2 Apples. Eric had so much fun playing it, he bought it with his gift card and money he got for Christmas.

Dick Clark is on, so I am going to log out and Rock Out the New Year!! YaHoo!!!

The Family

Chit Chat pt. 2

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is on its way....
Why does it seem that Christmas is always around the corner and you feel like your going to be ahead of schedule and next thing you know its 4 weeks away and nothing is done and your calender is filling up.
Thanksgiving was good, we stayed home and I cooked for the family, my dad, and Brandon. We watched the Ghost Hunter marathon and Pirates 3. Yes, some of us in the family is addicted to Ghost Hunters.
Ray and I went Black Friday shopping and we actually got up at 4a.m. to go to Ft. Wayne, which was the most ridiculous thing we ever did. I usually stay in town and go to Wal-Mart, JC Pennys, Big Lots, and Ace Hardware (for rebates!!). It isn't to bad staying in town and we can sleep in a hour or so longer. This is the first year Ray got up and went with me, and I decided to make him drive to Ft. Wayne. What an Adventure!! By the time we headed home, I felt really defeated. On the way up, we passed Menards and we noticed their parking lot only had about a dozen cars. So we were going to head their on the way back, if we had time and money left. We get up to Circuit City at 5 (when they open), I about died. The line was clear down the mall, into the parking and ended at the back of the parking lot. Dicks had a small line forming also at that time. We passed the front door of CC and they were counting heads, because of fire code. So we gave up on CC real fast. I noticed the mall had a small line waiting for the doors to open, but the parking lot was packed. Not sure if everyone went into Sears and was waiting in there or what?? We went over to Toys R Us, because they had a deal on Zunes, plus we could look for the Boys toys. The line was clear down the mall and zig zag a couple of places. Yeah, that Zune deal wasn't that great to get out of the car and fight Mothers/Shoppers with Attitude crowd. All I wanted to really do was find a Radio Shack, they had the best Zune deal. So, feeling a little defeated, we decide to go back to Menards. Well, in the 20 to 30 mins. that had passed, Menards was quit the place to be now. The parking lot was packed and the line went around to the back. Was there really anything that spectacular I wanted. NO, I just want the Zune deal. So we go past Jefferson Pointe to go home and we see a Radio Shack sign. Yeah!! It's not 6 yet, they open at 6, just maybe we can beat the crowd!! We pull in and only about 10 or 12 people are in line and the doors open in about 30mins. Yes (Napoleon style)!! We get out and freeze or buns off...By the time it opens there is a huge line behind us and I am feeling good about the situation. I figured there would be about 20 to 30 Zunes and we would be able to get at least one. As we are going inside, I tell Ray to go one way and I will take the other way. We decide which way we are going, we get inside, it's a mad house, but manageable. We are close to the sales clerk to ask her where the Zunes are and we hear "I'm sorry we only had 4". What!!??? Did I hear her right? NO WAY, they did not let us stand out there and freeze our buns off for nothing? Why on earth could one of the sales people not tell us, they only had 4, why did they advertise the darn thing then? I wanted so bad to scream......
A guy came in and asked about them, I cut him off and told him "To late they only had 4, yes 4!!" Needless to say we went to Office Depot for some rebate items and of course by after 6, the store really wasn't to busy and we actually made the trip worth it. Next year, I am either staying in Huntington or shopping online.
Now on to other news, Olivia is finally off the doctors restrictions and she can start playing basketball again. She had her tonsils taken out a couple of weeks ago and she couldn't do any physical activities for a couple of weeks after the surgery. It's been kind of rough for her, because she really hasn't been active for awhile and she huffing and a puffing right now during practices. The coach is actually starting her the next game, at least that is what she got at practice today. I figured she would have to earn her position back. We'll have to see on Wednesday whats going on.
Eric, poor Eric, fell down the stairs today. I think he did something to his wrist, but I can't really tell for sure. I was going to take him to the ER, but I wanted to see what it was going to do exactly (like swell or bruise). I gave him an ice pack and propped his hand up. He fell asleep and when I woke him up to see how bad it hurt and looked for signs on whether to go to the ER or not, he said it didn't hurt to bad. After he was up and around to eat and do his homework, it started hurting really bad again. So at this time it was to late to go to the ER, so I gave him a Tylenol and more ice. There is some bruising, I can't really see any significant swelling, and he can move his wrist (but not grip anything), so we will be visiting the doctor in the morning, unless a miracle happens and he wakes up better. lol
Dancing with the Stars tonight was kind of a downer, I wasn't really impressed by any of them. They are all so good and I figured their freestyle would be alot more of a WOW factor, especially Mel B.'s. I like them all, and I was kind of bummed to see that Jenny was the one voted off. I liked her too, I am a big Beverly Hills 90210 fan!! She was one of the weakest, but Marie can be to at times. I don't know, I can't believe this was the finals and nobody really did anything exciting. It's anybody game, because they are all so good and defiantly crowd pleasers. If you go by the judges votes throughout the whole season and who really had improved on the technical side. It will be Mel B. Her and Maxism Paso Doblas ROCK!! Helio is so cute with his smile and personality. He has improved so much. Marie is always dancing for her fans and she has improved tremendously!! I feel like her partner trys to be to careful with her sometimes. He tends to try to play it safe, so she won't get hurt. WoW, she looks good, way to go on trimming down. She didn't look bad before, but now she looks like a Hot MaMa!! lol

Cafemom.com

My friends at work told me about the website cafemom and I went to browse it, decided to signed up and now I'm addicted. It is a great site for moms. You can join all kinds of groups that have the same interests you do. I joined 3 photography groups. Some garage sale groups,an speech disorder group and a sports mom group.
The photo group has tutorials on editing through paint.net. I was so freakin' excited about paint.net!! I am learning how to blur backgrounds and doing b/w with some color. Awesome!
If you haven't found this website, Google it right now. It's Cafemom.com!!
I also got my photos back from Dotphoto.com and they were really good. I got 50 free photos when I signed up, so I caught up on some photos I needed developed.
Olivia is doing real well with her recovery. She should be back at school by Mon. She still doesn't have much of a voice. She is eating some solid foods. Each day is better for her.
Now back to cafemom......

Surgery Went Well...

Olivias tonsil and adnoid surgery went very well yesterday. She was a little nauseated after the surgery and complained of a bad headache, but all in all she did an excellent job. Today, she woke up with a terrible sore throat, but she said she felt alot better than yesterday. She ate a whole can of chicken soup and some jell-o. She is drinking tons of water and Sierra Mist, which is good on the throat.

I am a little shocked, she is up and around more than what I thought she would be. I'm thinking she might be alittle stir crazy already, since she missed about the whole week of school last week from strep throat. I am glad shes a good student and picks up on things easily, or she would be soooo behind in school. She already is, but she will get it made up eventually with no problem. (Hopefully)

We had a blast this Halloween!! We actually carved a pumpkin, it was a vampire pumpkin. Trevor got bored and grossed out by the inside, so he was done with it in about a minute. Eric helped and had a good time. We actually handed out candy this year also, the neighborhood we are in now has tons of kids. The bummer part was most of the people were out the day before Halloween and that is when we went trick-or-treating. Halloween night in our neighborhood was kind of dead. The kids did see some of their friends and I think they had a good time, but next year we will have to hand out the day before and go trick-or-treating on Halloween.

Liz was a Colts fan, Eric was a cop, Trev was a bloody ghoal/vampire, and I was the grim reaper. Ray didn't dress up the first night. I actually dressed up for work in the grim reaper costume and freaked out a number of people. Poor Olivia couldn't go out either days because she was sick with strep. I felt bad, because she was suppose to dress up with a friend and go out. Yes, I still dress up and my two teenage daughter do too. Some people have concerns about it, but I say your only young once. The girls are polite when they go up to the door and they are good role models to the younger kids that go with us. I don't go up to the door, but I have fun dressing up. We went with our friends and their kids. They loved that we were dressed up. I bought them all glow sticks to put around their necks, wrists, or shoes.

Chit Chat

Yesterday was Elizabeth Birthday, she is 15 yrs old. Wow, I can't believe I have a 15 yr. old. It has went so fast, but I can't complain she is a good girl!!

Elizabeth, Olivia, and I went to Wal-Mart to goof around while the boys were at football practice. Olivia tells Liz to pick out roses, that she is going to buy her roses for her birthday. I thought that was so sweet, she bought them with her own money. They are beautiful as you can see in the pictures. I had to take one of Princess laying in front of them. She thinks she owns everything. Anyways, it was a nice gesture on Olivias part. I think Liz was really happy that her sister bought her flowers for her birthday.

Last Saturday the boys had football games and Trevs' was at 8am in the morning. It was so cold. As you can see, everyone was bundled up, even the players. I kind of dinked around, going to get water for the boys. I didn't really want to sit out in the freezing cold. We were babyed for most of the season with mild weather. After we dropped off the water, Eric & I went to the gas station to get hot cocoa & cappuccino to stay warm. We got back about half time. Erics game was a little better, then the sun went behind some clouds and it got cold again. Both teams lost on Saturday, but both teams played their little hearts out and that is all we can ask for.

We found out last week, Olivia has to get her tonsils and adenoids taken out. It is scheduled for the first of November. It works out pretty good, she can still try out for Honor Band and she can try out for Basketball. The Honor Band doesn't start in till the last of Nov. and the first Basketball game is Nov. 14, so she will probably miss the first couple of games, but she will be healed for band. Eric had his out when he was 4 and he bounced back by day 2, but I think he was so young it didn't bother him to much. This is for grandma-- I asked mom and she said she thought I had mine out when I was a kid. I don't remember, but she was almost positive I did.

So the past couple of weeks have been pretty busy with birthdays, band concerts, football games, & teacher conferences. I am pretty sure it probably won't slow anytime soon either. The boys are excited for Halloween and I think the girls are pretty psych about it to. We are actually going to hand out candy on one of the days. I am pretty excited about handing out candy, this neighborhood has more kids and maybe we will actually get trick or treaters this year. The boys will have a blast answering the door dressed up and handing out candy to their friends. Great Times!!

All In A Weekend

Eric's Birthday weekend was last weekend and it was full filled and packed full of adventures!! His b-day was on Friday, he took treats to school for his class. In the evening, he opened his presents from us and we went out to eat at Z-Place. Saturday, both boys had a football game in the a.m.. In the p.m., he had a slumber party. We started out with 7 boys staying the night, by the middle of the party we had about 17 kids here, including our kids. Luckily it was nice out, so most of the party they played outside. We had cake,they broke a pinata, we ordered pizza for supper. Yes, sugar, sugar, & more sugar!! Thank goodness one of our friends stayed and helped. Once night fell, we went out tee peeing about 9p.m. We asked parents if they minded and all of them said "no". I was kind of shocked, because these kids are 8-10 yr. old.

We explained we were hitting only people we knew. One of the houses was one of the boys who was at the party. We are friends with his mom and we knew she wouldn't care. The neighbor let us borrow her van. We took 2 vans & an SUV . By the time we went tee peeing, we had 13 kids ranging from 6-10 yrs old and 6 teenagers with 4 adults. It was hilarious, the first stop we parked at the park, because the Paytons live across the street from the park. We get everyone out of the cars and there are a couple of cars coming down the street. Ray tells the kids to hit the deck, it's the cops and all these kids with rolls of toilet paper fall to the ground. They get across the street in another parking lot and another car comes by, the kids hit the ground in the parking lot. It was so funny, like nobody was going to see 20 people lying on the ground. The bottom picture was taken at the parking lot with the boys lying on the ground. When I first saw that picture in my Kodak gallery, I about lost it, I couldn't stop laughing!!

After we left the Paytons house, we went to buy more toilet paper and headed out to the country to do Lane's house. We all know him and knew he wouldn't be mad. It was nice because he was at work and it was in the country with lots of trees!!The group picture is at Lane's house, we hit him hard. There were cars coming past his house, so the kids would hit the ground out there. Yes, and Ray had the kids put toilet paper around their heads, so they could be tee pee warriors. Nothing like warping kids at an early age!! We were all laughing hard during Lanes house. After all the excitement, the boys didn't go to sleep in till about 1 a.m. Only 8 boys spent the night, which wasn't bad.

I had to take this picture of Trevor because he is trying to watch Eric open presents and the only way he could watch is by standing on the couch. It was crowded otherwise. We had one little girl at the party, her and her brother came over and we invited them to stay for the slumber party. She's Trevor age and they get along. By the end of the night, she decided to go home. Luckily they live right across the street. She was exhausted after all the adventures and it was past her usual bedtime. Her mom said she didn't think she would stay, she was surprised she made it through tee peeing.

Sunday was an adventure in its own. The best part is I had to go to work at 8a.m., so I got to leave before all the boys woke up. Honestly, overall all the kids did good, no major fights or problems erupted. They were all very good and well-behaved for their ages. Sunday night Eric, Trev, and I went on a bike ride. We got 2 streets away from the house and Eric fall onto landscaping brick. Trevor & I was lagging behind, so when I seen Eric fall, I hurried up to help him. He turned around to come toward me and as soon as he did I knew instantly we were going to the Hospital. It didn't really gush blood, it was dripping so I had Trevor take off his shirt to give to Eric to stop the bleeding. I didn't know what to do since we were on bikes. We ended up leaving Erics bike at the house were he fall (the guy was nice enough to let us) because I couldn't get ahold of Ray. We walked down to Grandpas house, so he could drive us to our house. He was such a sport, he didn't really cry. Only when he fall and then when they numb the area. We were at the hospital for 4 hrs. Over an hour was spent in the lobby waiting for a room to open up. I felt so bad for Eric, we kept a paper towel on his cut, but you could tell he was hurting. He just sat and waited. he tried laying on me a while. The doctor decided to X-ray his chin, because it was bruising up and Eric complained it hurt, after they numbed it. The doctor wanted to make sure he didn't fracture his jaw. The x-rays were all clear, thank the lord. So by the time we got home, it was midnight. We stopped and got his bike on the way home, he was worried somebody would steal it. Monday, Trevor and I walked down to grandpas and got the other bikes.

Hopefully this weekend is more calm with no adventures. I'm not sure if I can handle two wild weekends in a row.

Historical Photos

These are the photos I entered in the Historical Photo Contest put on by the Herald Press. The top one I submitted as a 5x7 and the bottom one is in Sepia and I blew that one up to a 8x10.

All the photos are on display at the Pioneer Festival this weekend. Hopefully we will get a chance to go tomorrow to see them.

Eric is having a birthday slumber party tonight and it's 1am and the boys are still up. ugg!!

Finally Finished

I Finally got the pictures from the 13/14 vs. Coaches & refs soccer game finished and developed. They came in the mail yesterday and I took them out to Lynette at the soccer field last night. Most of them turned out good. I had two pictures that, the heads were cut off, because it detected I used a digital, so I ok'd the digital cropping and I probably shouldn't have. The top picture is Ray corner kicking the ball and the bottom is Olivia and one of the Refs running down the ball. It was a fun game, by the end all 20 kids were out on the field playing against 12 coaches and refs. Everyone looks forward to this game, it is so laid back, they joke about calls, the kids have a lot of fun harassing the coaches and refs. It's a nice end to the season!!

I finally finished the novel I was reading ( for it seems like a month.) I was reading Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It was a good book. It started out kind of slow, then got good, went a little long, and the end was really good. I probably will watch the movie. After I watch it, I probably will regret it. The movies are never as good as the books. My dad told me to read the book. So, I broke down and went to the library to get it. I did like it, but it isn't something I would of picked out on my own. There is a series, so I am contemplating on whether I will pick up the next book or not.

I am halfway finished on distributing our soccer team photos I taken during season. I need to write up a little You-did-great note and then mail each one. I am excited about a few of them, they turned out awesome. I am halfway finished on touching up Ray's fight photos, I need to order them.

I submitted 2 of my Sawmill photos in the Historical Photo contest this week. I will post the pictures on my next blog. Hopefully one of them wins, I won't know in till Sunday. They will be displayed at the Pioneer Festival and in the paper (the pictures that win or place will be in the paper). Now we will have to go to the festival!! Fingers Crossed on Winning!!

Ray's Second Fight was Last Saturday.....

Ray's second fight was last Saturday Sept. 8 in Warsaw at the Wagon Wheel. He was the sixth or seventh fighter. He fought in the 170lbs. weight class. He did lose, but the promoter and people who came up to him said their fight was one of the best of the night. It went into the third round, the ref. called it, in the middle of the third round. My guess is, if the judges had to say the final decision, it would be a close call!! Ray definitely won the first round. I thought the ref was going to call it, he was punching the crap out of his guy. The second round, I thought was a draw. They both were wailing on each other. Ray said that round was the round, the guy kicked him in the temple. The third was the other guys round, He dominated that round, Ray pretty much gassed out in that round. I was so nervous, I always miss half the fight, worrying about whats going to happen, and trying to get good pictures for him.

This head to head picture is awesome!! I took it, but didn't know it was going to turn out like this. When I reviewed it, I was excited. I think it says the whole intensity of the fight. I took the same picture of Bob and his opponent. Bob lost his fight also. It was judges decision. Bob is more of a boxer (actually he is a good boxer), so when the guy takes him down, he doesn't have the advantage.

The last picture is Ray taking down his guy and I am pretty sure that is the first take down in the first round. Ray did awesome and he wasn't to disappointed in the outcome. I think he knew, he messed up on a couple of moves and he gassed out at the end. He was excited to learn that their fight was one of the best of the night.

He is now 1-1 on his Ultimate Fighting venture. Several years ago he fought Submission fighting which is a little different. Not sure what his record was for Submission. They are trying to put on a fight here, sometime in October or November. He may have a fight in Texas in November. He's pumped and already training for the Texas one. They are trying to put together a fighting team to go down there.

Garage Sales are coming to an end

Garage Sales are coming to an end with winter coming. My sister and I found a lot of stuff this year. Actually, this has been my best year since the kids have gotten older. I can't count how many times we have hit the jack pot. Recently Ray scored a Carhart Winter Coat in excellent condition for $1.00!! When he grabbed it, it didn't have a tag on it, so we decided we would take it up and ask. I was thinking $5 or $10, I about lost it when she said a $1. At another sale Renea and I went to, they had game boy colors with chargers for $8.00. We snatched those up, you still can't buy them off e-bay for that much. I put mine up for Trevor for Christmas. Eric already has one. Now we're picking up and looking for games for them. I have picked up picture frames & wall pictures anywhere from .50 to $1. American Eagle clothing ranging from $3.00-$1.00. A pair of Ralph Lauren jeans for $3.00, which I sold on e-bay. Books for the kids that were in excellent condition. A pair of Puma shoes for $3.00, a pair of reeboks & Nikes. Rays been on 2nd shift for 2 weeks, so he's been going with us. The first Friday he was on 2nd, he said he wanted to go to sales with us. I told him (joking) I wasn't sure if he could go, who said you were invited in our garage sale club.
I didn't tell him in till he was with us, that it takes us awhile to find the country garage sales because we never know where we are going or where the rural roads are. It's quit amazing, we drive all over, turning around after awhile to try the other way. Deciding its on the other side of town. My sister has a GPS tracker, but she doesn't know how to use it for county roads. So we guess and usually if we don't find the one we are looking for, we find others that weren't listed in the paper. Not sure what we'll do Friday mornings once garage sales are over with.