Rockstar Family

It was a good Christmas here for us. I got that wonderful new digital camera (thanks mom and dad!) and have enjoyed taking tons of pictures. Not to mention a couple of movies. Larkin's gotten over the "froggy" dance, though. Sorry, Amanda. I guess you'll just have to see her headbanging.

Since Jay and I decided that my two February Bon Jovi concerts were going to be my Christmas present this year, he decided he needed something comparable. So, he got an XBOX 360, plus the Guitar Hero III game. He tried to get me to let him open it before Christmas, but I wouldn't let him. Hey, he could have to wait another two months for it like I have to! If Jason hadn't set up the 360 downstairs, I'd never see him. He loves playing Guitar Hero. For those that don't know, you have a play guitar with 5 buttons that correspond to notes coming towards you and you have to play along. So much easier to watch than play. I have tried my hand at it. Definitely need more practice. Maybe if they'd add some Bon Jovi songs I'd get better at it quicker. Maybe I should write to Activision and suggest it......

The two older girls have gotten into it. Caelyn actually did a pretty decent job this morning on "Hit me with your Best Shot." Piper didn't do so well, but I know if Daddy ever gives up the guitar to them, I'm sure they'll make a career out of it. I think Larkin's getting into the act. She loves to headbang (literally) on the sofa and she loves to dance around. And she's got the attitude, too. See?



I think the hair and the sneer just emphasize the rocker in her. Hannah Montanna, watch your back, cause this little one's gonna knock you offa your throne!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Y'all!! I was just trying out my new Christmas present today and thought I would share the results:




Isn't she pretty? So, if you didn't figure it out, I got a new digital camera. Nice, small, has a zoom and is capable of taking more than 4 pictures at one time. Better than Superman! Can' wait to use it when I see Bon Jovi in Chicago in February. Maybe I'll actually get some decent pictures.

So, this was just a little note to wish you a wonderful Christmastime. I hope everyone had fun today and got and gave everything they wanted. Unfortunately, there was no brand new car with a big red bow and my name on it in the driveway this morning, but now I have something to hope for for my birthday. :) Merry Christmas and God bless you everyone!

That's it! I'm moving!!

And I guess the rest of the family can follow....

Hey, guess what?? We're getting more snow!! Yay! We finally got rid of all the snow from last week and now it's snowing again. Actually, it's been snowing for about 6 hours now. We're supposed to get 8 to 12 inches of snow. At least they were prepared this time and the snowplows went through the subdivision right before the snow started and put salt on the roads. So they're pretty clear right now. And not only are we getting snow, it's supposed to turn into rain and sleet this afternoon and then turn back into snow after midnight tonight. That's when the fun starts as apparently tomorrow will be blizzard like conditions. Man, I need a winter home (somewhere south of the Manson-Nixon line.) I was making fun of Julie because they get two snowflakes down there in SC and they close the state, but that's what it seems like they're doing here. Everything has been canceled. Of course people here seem to have trouble driving in anything other than 100% sunshine. If you're not comfortable driving in snow, by all means, pull in front of me and do 20 mph. I'll push you around that corner..... :)

Well, we bought firewood last night (let me tell you that shopping the night before a blizzard is predicted is not the best idea!), stocked up on eggs and milk and got the fixins for s'mores, so we're all set here. Enjoy your sunshine all you snowbirds, I guess we'll be here enjoying the crackling fire and melting chocolate.

It's 80 degrees here! (I wish)

Oh how I've missed winter. Snow storms, freezing temperatures and two hour delays for school. I'm pretty sure the last time I was excited about those things was when I was 10. So, Tuesday night we got our first taste of winter. Between two and four inches fell. They knew it was coming and yet the roads still were not cleared in time for me to shove the kids out the door for school. They had a delay on Wednesday. Then another two inches fell Thursday night and they had another delay yesterday. Wussies. I remember walking uphill both ways to school in a foot of snow...... Sorry, turned into my parents again. For those who have moved to warmer climes and miss the white stuff, here's a picture to chill you...



On another topic, Piper's school held a Holiday Dress Up day yesterday. For $1.00, the kids could dress up in holiday costumes. The money brought in would go to helping a needy Noblesville family for the holiday. Piper decided she wanted to be Santa Claus. Then she wanted to be an angel. Grandma and I finally got her to be an elf. We used a big green sweatshirt and Grandma sewed fake fur onto it. We found the socks at Target (in case anyone wants some) and the booties and hat at Walmart. I had to make the little snowflake thing on the hat because it had a rude saying on it that I thought we should cover up. There was one winner per class and Piper wasn't it. I think it was rigged! But I'm sure that's just motherly pride coming through.




So, now we're on to cleaning the house, getting ready for the influx of relatives staying with us for Christmas. With three brothers, two sisters-in-law and three nephews coming, it'll be a full and noisy Christmas for sure. And I can't wait!

Not what I was going for....

So, back right after Larkin was born, I decided I wanted a new hair color. The color we went with was a nice Hershey bar brown. It looked good for a while, then the ends lightened up a lot. After a year of that, and with 6 inches of roots growing out, I decided I was sick of brown and wanted blond again. So I went to the store and picked out a ultra blonde hair dye. I am always coloring my mom's hair, so I thought it was her time to return the favor. Everything seemed okay, until I went upstairs and washed it out. First, there were a couple of spots she missed around the front that made it look like I had dirt on my hairline. But the biggest problem for me was that the top 6 inches was really blond, the next 6 inches was a browner color and the bottom 3 inches was really blond. I had vertical stripes!! Um, that's not going to work for me, especially since we have family pictures coming up at Thanksgiving in Tennessee. Therefore, I headed down to the cheap salon at Walmart to see if there was anything they could do to fix it. She thought so and we decided on a warm color that was supposed to be golden. I say supposed to be because it ended up coming out reddish! And the roots were "hot" since we had just done the blond last night and didn't take the color as much as the rest of it. I'm thinking of shaving my head at this point. I already cut off 3 inches this morning, why not more?? At least it looks better than what I went in with. Maybe I'll post a picture of it later... or maybe I'll just take to wearing hats everywhere. Sorry, Mom! Navy blue turtlenecks and Colts hats for the family pics! :)

It's Comin' up to Holiday Time

Wyatt having some lunch today. Just wanted y'all to see how much he's grown. And how short his hair is. We went to the pool yesterday and after we got out, all I did was rub his head twice and it was dry! Which was a good thing, since yesterday it was 40 degrees and very windy. I'm not sure when this picture of Larkin was taken. I would have to guess mid-October since the box behind her didn't come to the house til then. Today she is sick. I have a feeling it's because she stayed in the Child Watch section of the YMCA yesterday while I exercised and she always gets sick in a daycare environment. Got home from the Y and she climbed onto the trampoline, turned around and threw up all over it. Yesterday, I figured she just drank too much pool water (or inhaled it, she seemed to stick her face in the water by accident a lot.) But she's not any better today... she actually cuddled! So I know she's not feeling well.



Man, this blog is hard to keep up with. Not really, there's just not much going on here. I was yelling at the kids the other day and I realized something. I have officially turned into my parents. How did that happen?? One day, I'm rolling my eyes at their "advice" and the next I'm hearing phrases from my childhood spew out of my mouth toward my children! I don't even remember what I said, but at the time, I stopped and thought, "Wow, never thought I'd hear myself say that!" And thank you, Dad, for all the times you have corrected my English, so I cannot even go onto a message board without wanting to make a post about what the difference between "your" and "you're" is. My poor children will end up in the same predicament because I am instilling that great love of correct grammar!



Well, the week before Halloween, the kids had Fall Break. Apparently they think the kids need a four day weekend at least once a month, so they came up with this. This year we took advantage of it and made a trip down to South Carolina to visit Jason's sister and her family. My nephew Jack turned 5 on the 27th and this was the first year we got to celebrate his birthday with him. We were going to leave Wednesday night and drive to Jason's parents' house outside Knoxville, and then drive to SC on Friday, then to TN and back home Sunday. Jason ended up working late on Wed, so we didn't leave for TN until Thursday morning. Got to Maryville early afternoon and the kids played outside enjoying the beautiful weather. We got up early Friday and headed towards Rock Hill. Got to NC and it started to rain. At least we made it out of the mountains before it started. Had a great time in SC seeing all the family! Julie's kids - Emma, Jackson and Brian- are getting so big. It's too bad no one's figured out how to stop time yet. We stayed at a hotel not too far from Dave and Julie's house. It had an indoor pool, but unfortunately when they built it, I think they forgot the heater. I've gone on Polar swims that were warmer than that pool. Okay, by now, half of you are wondering if I've ever done a Polar swim and the other half can't read because they're laughing so hard at the thought of me doing one! Sunday morning came way too quickly and we were headed back home. We decided to forgo the stop-off in Maryville for a breather and just head home. We cut off from Jim and Terry somewhere around Dollywood and headed home. We left Rock Hill, SC around 8 am and got into our driveway around 7:30 pm. All in all, not such bad timing, at least with our kids! Of course, the first half of the trip, we were Caelyn and Piperless, as they rode with Grandma and Grandpa. Next time I mention such a trip, remind me to wait... at least until the youngest one is old enough to vote!



The Wednesday after we got home was Halloween. And it was a beautiful day. Kind of windy with a storm brewing, but into the seventies. Hey, the kids didn't have to dress up as puffy winter coats this year! I didn't get pics (bad Mommy!) but let me assure you that the kids were adorable. Caelyn and Piper went as the same thing -- Pirate Maidens. Someone needs to inform costume makers that 7 and 10 year olds do not (and should not) have the bodies to fill these costumes out. Thank goodness both girls felt modest enough to wear clothes underneath their costumes. But they still looked cute anyway. And they went trick or treating with one of their friend's moms, so we got rid of them for almost 3 hours! Piper had to come back and empty her pumpkin once and still filled it up again. Anyone want a Snickers? Or 20 of them? That seemed to be the candy bar of choice this year. Jason and I took the two little ones out. Wyatt was Superman again. As soon as I put the costume on him, he said, "Punkin!" Guess he does remember last year. Rummaging around in the basement, I found the Eyeore costume that Wyatt wore at one. Just perfect for Larkin. And she looked sooo cute! Wouldn't leave the hood on, though. We walked all around the neighborhood and Wyatt only got carried twice, both times when Daddy thought we should go a little quicker since the clouds were getting darker. Larkin had no idea what was going on except she was out of the house meeting everyone in the neighborhood. She brought back a nice haul, too! Too bad the kid's too young to eat it. Daddy and Grandpa Rob have enjoyed the candy, though.

I was going to talk about Thanksgiving and Christmas (as evidenced by the post title) but I since I've written a novella already, I think I'll wait til some other time. Hey, it gives me another reason to post. Hope everyone out there is good. Drop me a line sometime..........

It's Fall in Indiana

When I was younger (cause I'm so old now), I used to think I would live in Illinois forever. It had everything for me. It had family, friends, open spaces and big cities. Now it seems like a lifetime ago that we were there. Except for that brief foray behind the Cheddar curtain, moving to new states is fun! We have been here in Indiana for six and a half years. Yes, it's really been that long. And right now, it's the perfect place for us. When we moved to Noblesville, it was this nice town that had a couple of good stores, the requisite fast food joints and little else (to our eyes.) Now it's growing in leaps and bounds. They just opened a new road that connects two major highways. That may not seem like much to y'all, but with that open road, they're now building a HUGE new mall. Most of the things won't be open for another year, but we now have a JCPenney, we're getting a new movie theater and a ton of other stores that are fun to browse but I probably won't buy anything from. I'm hoping for more casual dining restaurants and some night life. Not that our night life consists of anything more than putting the kids to bed and watching network television, but you never know... having options means we might actually leave the house and stay up past 10!

Fall officially came to Indiana on September 23rd. Someone forgot to tell mother nature that. It has been a typical fall here: record-setting sweltering heat on Monday and winter coats, hats and mittens on the kids yesterday. We're in the 50s again today, but we're supposed to get temps in the 70s on Monday. Can't we split the difference and have some 60s? And whoever thinks that Chicago is called the Windy City cause of the wind has never seen the wind down here. And I do mean seen, not just felt. When the trees in the front yard are horizontal and it's considered a light breeze, that's just not right! I did read in the paper today that they are predicting a warmer than usual winter this year. Yay! After last February, I think we deserve a winter where I don't have 6 feet of snow to shovel off the driveway. Of course, this year we have a snow blower, so maybe it won't be so bad.

Well, I'm off to make some hot tea, cause the thermostat may say 68 degrees, but it sure doesn't feel like it. Haven't set up the house for the winter yet, so the wrong vents are open. Not that it would matter in this house as we're having problems with the efficiency of this house, but that's a whole other can of worms. Have a great day and I hope y'all get to go out and see the beauty of the changing leaves.

Fun Run

This morning, Piper participated in a Fun Run. She's been staying after school two times a week and "training" for it. This morning, kids K through 6th ran the cross country course at one of the elementary schools. They split them up by age, so Piper ran against other second graders and third graders. The photo above is from the beginning of the race, while they were lined up at the starting line. They had to make two trips around the course for one mile. And she did great. She didn't come in the top ten, but she was booking! Of course, I wonder about the name: "Fun Run." To me, that's an oxymoron.

Here's Piper after the race, all hot, sweaty and holding the ribbon she got for participating. We'll see if she does it again next year.

Caelyn's locks of love

Caelyn has been growing her hair for years now. It is three quarters of the way down her back and beautifully blond. {sigh} I remember when I had hair like that. But I digress. At her new school, they have a club based on the Locks of Love charity. Locks of Love is where you donate at least 8 inches of your hair and they weave it into wigs for those who have lost their hair due to chemo and such. All she has to do is keep growing her hair and agree to have it cut and donated over Spring Break. I can't wait, just because I'm tired of all the hair brushing and combing that's done by me. But it does look beautiful. I've added a picture of her just to give you an idea of how long her hair already is. Plus she loves to pose and I haven't emailed any recent pics of her to anyone lately. Unfortunately, the camera can only take 4 pictures at a time and I didn't get a really good picture of how long her hair really is, but I'm pretty sure you can see it.

First blog

My sister-in-law Julie insists that I need a blog. She says it will help family and friends scattered around to keep up to date on our family. Isn't that what the phone is for? Email? Snail mail? Wait, is snail mail even around anymore? It must be because my credit card bills keep showing up here...

As soon as I figure it out, I'll post photos and perhaps even videos. Photos cannot do justice to the Larkin froggy dance. Trust me!