Catch up

Wow! So it's been FOREVER since I've been on here to blog. It isn't because I don't have anything to blog about or blog worthy moments. It really boils down to the fact that I am an insecure blogger. And the fact that although I have good intentions, sometimes I can't get past the thought of doing something before something else takes up my time or concentration.

We've had quite a busy and very interesting summer. Tony ended up having shoulder surgery which was his first surgery EVER (lucky guy). He had a torn labrum which has been the cause of his horrific back pain for years. He's still in the healing process with it but is doing really well and exceeding the doctor's expectations for his abilities right now. Only a few more weeks of physical therapy and then he's on his own.

Since I've not been working much, I've had a lot of time to spend with the girls enjoying the nice weather when we've had it. We've become great fans of Sanford Beach this year. And I have to say that Sanford Beach is MUCH better than it used to be when I was a kid. The girls play endlessly in the sand and water all day long while I watch or join them. And a lot of time I can sit on my blanket to watch them and soak up some rays for my casper white self.

We've been pretty busy going places it seems this summer as well. We've spent a lot of time down in Portage which is near Kalamazoo where my best friend Amy lived. I say lived because she just moved back to Midland last weekend. She works for the state in the Family and Children Services department and got a lateral transfer into Midland County. It was a crazy 3 weeks for her because she saw the job posting, applied for it and then interviewed for it. Before she could even get home back to her house in Portage, she got called with the job offer! We are so excited to have her and Ethan in Midland now so we can watch him grow and spend more time together. We'll be spending the weekend down in Portage again this weekend packing up more of Amy's house and helping out another friend of ours, Steve King, as he flies in the national balloonfest competition that is being held in Battle Creek.

This past weekend we went to the Kenny Chesney concert at Ford Field and had a FABULOUS time. There was constant music by performers from 4 pm until 11 pm! With the short breaks for stage changes. It was a great way to celebrate Amy's return to Midland and also this new chapter in her life.

This summer has also been full of spending time with friends and also falling in love with a new local band, Steel Wheels. If you haven't heard of them and live in the area, check them out. They are the best country music band that I've heard and are so talented. We're officially addicted to their music and have been following them wherever they perform. Word is that they are going to be the performers at the Northern Bowling Alley for their New Year's Eve celebration. That will be one fabulous time for sure!

Before I go, I think that the conversation that took place between Emily, Maddie and their Auntie Katie is worth sharing. Katie and Garth have been dating for a while and the girls know that they aren't married yet. Well out of the blue, Emily just looks at Katie and says, "You and Uncle Garth need to get married." I think Kaite might have choked a little and asked her why and that's when Maddie blurted out, "So you can have babies!" I'm certain Katie choked then and she quickly sent Garth a text letting him know about this conversation. Garth probably choked himself and then jokingly said that he wasn't claiming Maddie anymore. Which then made Maddie make her "tough face' and ball up her fist and say that she was going to beat Uncle Garth up. Via texting, Uncle Garth challenged her and that's when she told him to "Bring it on!" I'm thinking I won't have anything to worry about with Maddie once she starts school. I think that girl can take care of herself.

Lots going on

I hardly ever blog these days but lo' and behold, I'm bored and feel like typing so here's the perfect opportunity!

We've had a lot of things happening in our world these days. A couple of weeks ago we surprised the girls with a trip to Mackinaw City to a hotel that has a small waterpark that the girls named "The Dumping Pirate" the first year that we went there. They thought we were going up to Brimley to visit Tony's buddy, Brian and were very excited when we pulled into the hotel's parking lot. We spent the entire weekend living in the waterpark and LOVED it!

After we got home from the waterpark, we began a much anticipated project in our house. We started remodeling our kitchen. If anyone has seen our kitchen, you know that the room was long overdue for a make over. Our kitchen is pretty much the original kitchen from when it was built back in the 50's. Just picture cabinets with formica covering that was peeling and falling off. Then picture a crappy floor that was falling apart in chunks near the french doors and florecent lighting along with a nasty ceiling fan. Needless to say, this room is the reason why I don't invite people over to my house. I'm too embarassed.

But.......with the help of my boss, Rich, my brother-in-law, Eric, close-enough-to-be-my-brother-in-law, Garth, my mother-in-law, Kathy, Rich's wife, Deb and my amazing husband, our kitchen is turning into such a beauty! I promise to post before and after pictures of this event when it's done and you'll agree with me. But the new kitchen has natural finish maple cabinets, sage green walls actually nameds Grandma's Linen, ceramic tiled flooring that is three different shades of dirt (I was thinking there) and some beautiful new lighting along with some new appliances. I cannot wait to invite people over to see this when it's finished!

Other than that, this past week was my spring break from school. Wanna know how we spent it besides working on the kitchen? I ended up getting that nasty cold that's been going around, Maddie has been breaking out into this mysterious rash and then Emily has barfed 6 times. Pretty exciting eh? I thought so too. Hopefully next week will be better in the health department. And hopefully I'll get my house back soon!

I think that's got you up to speed for now. I'll come back again soon and try to do my best at posting something cute, funny and interesting like my other friends who blog on here. I need to tap into my creative side. Not so sure that I have one of those sides though.

Ta ta!

Time to get caught up

So things have been a bit nutso lately! Just last week my boss made the decision to switch real estate offices. So he's no longer at RE/MAX but is now at Ayre/Rhinehart REALTORS. We're still in the process of getting settled and organized but so far, it seems like a great move. He'll have some adjusting to do because my office will be in a different building than his so he won't have me at his fingertips to get things done right at that moment. My office space is under construction because the day before Rich made the decision to move, a water main broke and left 4 inches of standing water in the basement area which is where my space is. So right now I'm temporarily set up in the conference room with all of the other stuff that is stored in the basement. For a neat freak like myself, it's not fun but it's doing the job right now. I've heard that the basement should be ready within the next couple of weeks so I'm super excited about that.

This morning when I went to drop Emily off to school I noticed that the staff looked really sad and horrible. I asked Em's teacher if she was ok and she informed me that they just got news that Eastlawn is one of the schools set to close for next year. I can't believe that. That school is amazing and has the most wonderful staff there. I went there as a child and so did my sister. And what I love is that Emily's teachers are ones that had me as a child too. So I know that I can trust them without a shadow of a doubt. Tony and I are very sad and quite upset too right now. We don't want to see this school close.

I'm still plugging along with school but I can say that I will be grateful when this semester is over so that I can have a break. Maddie thinks I live at the Library now because I'm there so much studying. :) This class is really teaching me that I don't have to get an "A" as long as I do my very best.

We're looking forward to two small getaways that we've got planned for this month. This weekend we'll be heading to Lake City with my sister and her family to stay at the Bergs' Cabin. Or as the kids call it, "Gramma Lee Ann's Cabin." It'll be a nice time to relax and have some fun in a low key fashion. Then at the end of this month we're heading up to Mackinaw to stay at a hotel that has a small waterpark in it. The girls call it the "Dumping Pirate" because there is a huge bucket with a Pirate's face on it that dumps lots of water on you while you're playing. I'll try my best to take pictures and to post them.

OH! One really fun thing we did over the weekend was to visit the lizards and snakes alive exhibit at the Center for the Arts. Our neighbor works there and was so thoughtful to give us tickets to see the exhibit on Saturday. It was really neat to see all different kinds of snakes and lizards and to watch the girls have fun playing and exploring. I did take pictures of that event but my battery died so my camera is sitting at home waiting for me to charge it. So if you have kids, nephews/neices who like those kinds of animals, it'd be a fun little something to do out of the ordinary.

It's been a while

I haven't blogged in a while. Not because there isn't anything to blog about. But because there's been a lot to blog about and just trying to pick the time to sit down and type it out. And also figuring out how much you'd like to know. Since I'm not one of those amazing blog writers, I guess it really doesn't matter because I don't have a cult following. Hee hee hee.

Things have been a little nuts lately but I can say that I'm peacefully accepting all the craziness and watching it work itself out. The girls really enjoyed getting back into the school swing of things after the Christmas and New Year's holidays. And this past weekend, they really enjoyed going to "Grandma Lee Ann's" house to go sledding for the first time this year. They're still talking about how much fun they had!

We also got to celebrate my mom's birthday over the weekend as well. That was interesting because it happened to be the day that we got another huge batch of snow. We enjoyed dinner together and then had our own mini-tournament of playing dominos at my aunt's house while we let the kids run wild and play.

Tony's been super busy with work right now which is a huge blessing for the finances but stinky that he's so tired and has to work a lot. But we are thankful because it's the exact opposite for me. Business is so slow for my boss that I'm looking at being laid off at the end of the month if things don't change. I'm confident that everything will work itself out and I'm trusting God to come through for us. He's done it before for us and I know He'll do it again.

The new semester recently started too so I'm getting back into the swing of things there. It's been SO long since I've had a science class and I've got Anatomy & Physiology right now. Thankfully I've got an amazing professor who wants to see her students do well. So I'm getting a crash course in chemistry and hoping that the information sticks! :0)

I think that kind of sums things up in a nutshell. I'll try to post something more interesting later. I really need to get creative like some of the other blog writers I know.

Thought for the day

One of my dearest friends took time to talk with me last night and shared a prayer with me that was given to her. It truly touched me and I think it can apply to anyone and anything that you are or may be going through. I hope that in reading it, it can come to life for you as well. Here it is:

Thank you for the gift of learning to live 24 hours at a time.
No undue looking back, except with fondness.
No fear of the future, but only the expectant wonder of what tomorrow's dawn will bring.
Today we were healthy, well-fed, and warm.
Today we loved, and were loved in return.
Who knows of tomorrow?
It is enough that today you shared the riches of your bounty with us.
It is enough, Lord, that you have been here.
For this blessed, yet triumphantly normal day - and for all the days to follow - I give you thanks, my Lord.
So be it.
Amen.

A new year's eve reflection

Wanna know how we spent celebrating New Year's Eve 2008? The girls and my sister's two boys thought it was an occasion for dressing up. No one gave them the dress code so they went the jammies/ninja/soldier/karate kid route. And Trooper was their mascot.












Maddie kicked 2008 out with a bang and lost her first tooth. At 4 1/2 years old! I was later told that Tony started losing his teeth this young as well. So I'm not worrying about her early need for dentures when she gets older just yet. She let Uncle Eric do a "wiggle check" with a tissue and she had no idea that he popped it out until after he told her that he couldn't find it. I took a picture of her making this face and then turned the camera around for her to see for herself that he tooth was gone. She was jumping up & down and screaming with joy because now she was going to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy and she could go shopping. Well.....we got home really late after toasting in 2009 and at 7:15 am I woke up out a dead sleep and realized that the tooth was still in my purse and that the Tooth Fairy didn't pony up the dollar that she owed Maddie. After slapping Tony awake in a panic for a dollar, we managed to russle up 4 quarters and I quietly dropped it in a cup and set it on the window sil for Maddie to find when she woke up. She was so excited to get the dollar (after we explained that 4 quarters is the same as a dollar bill) and take her first trip to the dollar store to buy her own toy with her Tooth Fairy money. This is something that the girls look forward to. Any time that they get money, they get the joy of feeding their piggy banks in hopes that Tony and I can create children who like to save money instead of spend it (like their mommy & daddy). But when the Tooth Fairy comes, that's fair game. They can either go right away and buy something at the dollar store with mommy & daddy helping by paying the sales tax, or they can save up their money to buy something a little bigger. Maddie ended up choosing a plastic recorder as her first tooth fairy purchase. Feeling generous she told Emily that she could get a toy too and Emily got a recorder as well. I thought it was a good idea since it's a musical instrument that would allow them to be creative. Until we brought them home and opened them up. Eeeeekkk..do you remember playing those in elementary school? I do, but I don't remember them squealing and sounding so bad. Oh well!

Today was also the first day back to school after the long break. Both girls were super excited to go back and see their teachers and their friends. Maddie went into Emily's classroom and school office to show everyone her "lost tooth" and then promptly ran down the hall to show her teacher at her school her "lost tooth." Very precious!