Big snowfall Sunday, Dec. 16

I think we go about 10 inches at least. T plowed our driveway out early Sunday, then did 3 more driveways.
The snow was really coming down at 1am, when I was going to bed. It was really blowing alot. We even got snow on our covered front porch. Doesn't it look nice on my lit fake topiary tree?

Santa E

He did this on his own in the tub last week. He actually said "Who am I, Mommy?"
I added the hat & had to take a pic.
The more I look at it, it looks like a real beard and kind of creeps me out.

Snow Angels

We had our first real snowfall on Saturday. Ethan wanted to put on his boots and go outside immediately. I told him he didn't need his boots, it was just little flurries. I was going to help T with lights outside.
Well, E just spontaneously decides to make snow angels in our driveway. So cute and I'm glad I got it on video.


It got pretty icy out later, too. You can hear the snow/ice falling.
T put up the lights and it was snowing the whole time!
We tried to rake up leaves some on Sunday. Then it suddenly downpoured on us!

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!

None of my fam even knows about my blog, so I doubt I'll get any comments. My mom bookmarked my blog, though...will you leave me a comment?
I feel old for this birthday, too! I went out to lunch with the girls from work. We went to Fridays, and they sang to me. I got free ice cream, but only had a couple of bites. I got my fav Jack Daniel's chicken & shrimp and have leftovers for tomorrow.
We have cake & cards later, as usual, at work.

Starting to walk 3 yrs ago

Just uploaded another video. This one is from the week E started to walk on his own. Our dog makes an appearance, too! I forgot he used to jump up to look outside like that at our old house.

Apples & Cherries

I thought I would upload another video to YouTube. This one is of E as a baby, trying apples & cherries for the first time. T was feeding him while I was at work and thought it was hilarious so had to record him to show me.
It is pretty grainy, don't know how to fix that.

Funny comic

This comic strip reminds me of my dad, to a degree. I think he would have cut it out and put it up on his bulletin board...back in the day.
I wonder if he saw it in today's paper, I'll have to email it to him.

Ethan's first time bowling

We decided to go bowling today. It was Ethan's first time so he got a lane to himself with the bumpers. The bumpers really helped, too! T & I were in the next lane. It was a nice & casual Saturday afternoon. We all had a really fun time. It has been so long since we went bowling though. We each played 2 games and we spent $28! T forgot about a coupon and we could have saved like $9! Oh well, we will remember next time. Ethan really liked it once he got the hang of it all. He asked why there was a fan blowing by the ball return and Trent said it was to dry your hands off. So without fail, E made sure to put his hands there every time before grabbing his ball!

Happy Halloween!

From past Halloweens...

Most of my work is done

So I made the cookies for E's school party and for daycare..and for work.

Witch's hats....

and the super easy punch out orange pumpkins...

Ethan was helpful with unwrapping the kisses and keeping count on how many more I needed to make. It was hard to make the bows on all of them, my orange icing wasn't the right consistency.

I made up these little tags for the baggies for daycare...

I wrapped up Amanda's birthday presents, so we are all set for her party tomorrow. She is getting High School Musical themed stuff....the music cd, the actual movie (I taped it from the tv onto dvd), Gabrielle & Troy dollset from HSM2, then from Target clearance rack-a purple shirt, a cute pink striped sweater, red & black plaid jumper. I also found 5 books from Goodwill that look brand new for her. She loves to read and is really advanced for her age.

Trick or treating is 5-7pm here tomorrow. Kinda sucks that I have to leave early from work, though. I think I will be able to get my stuff done early. I made up our treat bowl so it ready to go. Hopefully dh will pass out candy so I can take E around neighborhood. This is what we are passing out at our house...

Fall Y'all Giveaways

I'm having so much fun checking out all of these giveaways! There are over 400 now! Wow, so much fun! People are so giving! Go check it out!

Tonight I have set the tivo for Charlie Brown's Halloween,

which E is so excited to see again! He saw the commercial for it last night and got so animated about it! He rewatched that show so many times last year. I even recorded it on to a dvd for him. So, yes, he could watch it whenever.

He knows how to find 'his' shows on the tivo list. Somehow now he even knows how to set it to 'green' so they don't get deleted! We had about 10 episodes of Hi-5 and we had to delete some of those for room for our shows! Hi-5 is his current fav show. He is such a singer & dancer.

Found this adorable little vintage postcard on Ebay. Thought I would post this cute Halloween greeting...

Halloween time

I was going to be better at posting and somehow it has been 9 days.

E went to dentist for his first cleaning and did so great! I had T take him since our appts were same time. I could hear him talking from my room, so funny. Somedays he gets so talkative now. I guess I'm happy he is a friendly kid. So relieved he wasn't scared one bit. He did cleaning and flossing and fluoride foam stuff wonderfully! He passed and dr said he has good spacing, which I guess is good at this age. T & I didn't need braces, so hopefully he won't either.

I need to note some funny quotes made by E in the last couple of weeks. Basically, so I won't forget them!

Oct. 17 on morning drive to preschool:

Me: E do you know I do for a living?
E: (silence)
Me: I know you know where I work, but do you know what I do there?
E: (said excitedly) You make movies!!

Me: (laughing) what? No? I make the ads in the newspaper and posters and marquee sign...which to you looks like a movie!!

Oh, I seriously love that he thought that, so funny to me.

Oct. 28 morning:

E: Mama, can I have some of that bread casserole?

Me: what is bread casserole?

E: that stuff you were just eating...the casserole.
Me: oh, a cinnamon roll

Ethan has already worn his costume this year twice!

He will wear it to school on Wed for party and then that night for trick or treating a little.

We went downtown on Sat. around to the stores, which is fun for him and his cousins. We meet at Ga's store and she loves it. She likes to be surprised about his costume still, so there is always the big reveal to her on that day. She totally loved E as a pirate. I think she loved this costume more than other years...and that is saying a lot because he has always been adorable every year!

We went to pumpkin patch last week 10/20 and met cousins there. I love going there. It just makes the fall season alive. The kids loved feeding the animals. The big teepee was fun for them, too. I already had some pumpkins on the porch, but bought a little pie pumpkin and a white cinderella pumpkin. It was a nice day weather wise, too. I put E in shorts and his jackolantern shirt from last year. Well, it was windy there and I felt bad about putting him in the shorts!

Later that night we went to church for the Halloween party and E got to spend more time with his cousins. They had dinner, went trunk or treating in parking lot-Had to say "Jesus loves you", then made a pumpkin craft. They handed out cute little halloween prizes that E loved. T had games that day, so I took him and stayed.

He already has gotten so much candy, I mean T & I had to help him eat it. He knows he can't have all that sugar.

E is getting good at calling me on eating too much sugar now! Even today when I was just eating chips & salsa...for my lunch...he said chips have sugar in them, mama. I think I told him that once.

I need to make 2 sets of cookies by Wed. Well, more like compile, not really make from scratch. I'm going to make these witch hat cookies from a recipe card thing I got at Target. It is just Keebler choc. striped cookies and a hershey kiss with orange icing around for brim. Pretty easy and cute! Also, I bought the new orange pumpkin cutout cookies that you just bake and they're done! I'll make up a plate of those for his school party, some to take to work and make some baggies for Mrs. F daycare kids. We weren't told we have to take anything to school party, just give them $2, maybe they don't want any more sugar than needed there. I know they will be trick or treating through the offices.

My mom is watching E on Wed., kinda bummed Mrs. F won't see his costume. I'll probably leave work early if I can on Wed. so I can get E ready. I hope T is home somewhat early, at least by 6. He said he could, well, now that football is done. So surprised that they lost on Friday. I didn't get to go to any of the games this year. E went to one, lasted until halftime and made grandparents leave early.

This should be a fun week. We have Amanda's birthday party on Wed. at 7pm, so we have to get trick or treating done quick.

Fall Break

I took Thurs & Fri off. It was nice. Yesterday I thought it was Friday, just felt like a Friday.

We went out to lunch. E had school today and I dropped him off and picked him up for the first time.

It has been so windy the last couple of days.

I have most of my Halloween stuff up now. I want to add some more things to the porch and put up lights the week of 31st.

I added a few more things to the display above our entertainment center this year.

2 posts in 1 day!

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

You're a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else's day - and you'll dress up if you think of a really fun costume. Sneaky and devious, people should really watch out for you. You are usually underestimated and forgotten. Your inner child is stubborn and a bit bossy. You truly fear the dark side of humanity. You are a true misanthrope. You're logical, rational, and not easily effected. Not a lot scares you... especially when it comes to the paranormal. You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

Covered Bridge Fest

This past Sat. we went down to Rockville to see Great Grandparents & go to Covered Bridge Festival. My mother has taught me that you have to go the first weekend, before everything is picked over. I emailed my cousin, Ellen, to see if she had any plans and wanted to meet up with us.
Sis drove and we packed up her minivan. Kids did pretty good, despite all the walking.
I haven't been to it since having Ethan, but it looked pretty much the same. I was surprised that sis & Ellen didn't remember where all the food vendors were placed.
I only bought 3 little pumpkins, food and Crullers, of course. That was a big reason why I decided to drive down there!
Somehow I messed up and didn't get a pic of the cruller stand. They are 50 cents a piece now. I remember waiting in line, before they would open up on Sunday mornings, a lot of times in the rain! Oh, I love them so! Amanda only wanted a carmel apple! Ethan got thirsty and wanted a lemonade.

Cool site! Look-A-Like Meter

I saw this on another blog and had to try it out! But results were not that exciting...

Fair time again

So this week has been the fair. I watched the cousins on 7/31 & 8/3. We all went to the fair on the first Friday, Aug.3 then the cousins spent the night. Their parents had a wedding out of town that weekend. I think they had fun. They had snow cones, a corn dog, rode on 3 rides, then played the mouse game and roller bowler. Well, we actually won at roller bowler! Dad won 2 times and I won once. So good, so each kid got a prize!

No luck on mouse game that day. They had never played it before! They asked if was a real mouse! Of course it is!

So far I've been to the fair 8/3, 8/5, 8/7, 8/9, 8/10. We'll probably go Sat or Sun., too! It has been really hot & humid all week, too! I still haven't been in 1 bldg and haven't had a tenderloin. It's all about the food there! I love my fair!

Disneyland

We had an awesome time in California & Disneyland! I know why everyone wants to live in S. Cal. now! It was beautiful, 80s sunny with no humidity and no rain.

Funny quotes from Ethan:

On plane: "I can't hear" I had to explain that I couldn't hear really either and it happens when you are up in the air. I told him that once we land and are on the ground in the airport we will be able to hear.

At the airport: Ethan-"I can hear now! My ears aren't full of air" "Are your ears still full of air, Mommy?" So funny! I don't think my ears were normal until at the hotel.

In hotel next day:

Trent was complaining about something and started to say "It is a pain..." but he didnt finish sentence. E chimes in and says "Pain in the ass?" T walked away so he wouldn't laugh out loud. The crazy thing is E wasn't saying it to be cute, it was like he was just having a conversation with us, he didn't smile or anything. T realizes he needs to watch his language, I hope.

Ethan's favorite ride was:

Dumbo

Then he'll say his 2nd favorite was the TeaCups.

TeaCups at Disneyland from on Vimeo.

On Saturday we drove to the Newport & Laguna Beach. We stopped at Crystal Cove to walk in the ocean. It was sooo pretty there, just amazing!


Crystal Cove-Laguna Beach from on Vimeo.

4th of July

Was fun time with cousins. We went to parade & sat at L's on Main. We then headed home for the cookout. I need to remember the fireworks start at 9:30 not 9pm.

First day of June

Can't believe it is June already! Only 26 days until Disneyland! I still need to order up tickets. I think we are only going for 2 days instead of 3. I'd like to drive to Laguna or at least see the ocean. I think we can see everything at Disney in 2 days, since it is not as big as Disneyworld.

Tonight T has baseball sectionals. I hope they win it! Not sure if E & I will make it there tonight. I want to go get a shower gift tonight. We got another wedding invitation yesterday. So we have 3 weddings in July. 2 are on the same day. We will go to his cousin's wedding then stop by the other one for drinks later. Amazingly enough, both of those receptions are in the same town!

I just made up another fun collage. This one is from Easter.

Work is sooo slow. We have a show in LA now! Frankie Valli at Kodak Theatre. I have made up some ads and poster so far. His show goes on sale tomorrow.

T tore up our deck and uncovered a whole deck underneath! This would explain why those boards were so warped. I didn't think they looked that bad. This 'new' layer doesn't look warped at all though. It needs sanding and staining though. I preferred the boards going vertically, not horiz. like now. I don't like the 'seams'. We'll see when he gets it all done now. He has to tear it all out, they were put in with nails not screws. I doubt it will get down by the end of the month. I need to put pressure on him so it looks nice for our 4th of July party. Hopefully it will look nice and normal by then.

He got all the mulch down under the playset. I'd like to create a cute landscaping corner with chairs on the corner of the backyard by the playset. We just transplanted a begonia from T's parents in that corner. I have the old green adirondack chairs over there now. I might paint them to make them look better. We bought new tan ones from Target for the deck. I'm liking that HGTV.com Rate a Room. They added yards & gardens. I love wasting time on there!

Ethan's Preschool Graduation

This morning was his graduation. My mom and T's parents attended. They had a nice reception afterward in social hall. I got to work at 11:45.

Ready for Summer!

I'm so ready to start enjoying summer and our backyard.

Ethan had his end of the year picnic/party for preschool at the fairgrounds this morning. It was cold and wet. Not many kids showed up and his teachers weren't there. I think only 3 others from his class were there. He wasn't really thrilled with playing on the playground this time. He acted so shy and quiet. Wonder who he gets that from? He somehow hit his head on something and started crying.

He went in the little bounce house thing, but it wasn't the big one we were expecting. I left around 11:15 since it was pretty lame. Trent said they walked home around 11:30.

WE went down to Indy to see Sherry and her fam on Mother's Day. We went to the zoo there. It was fun and perfect weather. They live 1/2 mile from the speedway now. You could hear the cars zooming. They were having time trials. So cool! We drove right past it on our way to the zoo. Ethan had so much fun playing with Lindsey. She is a year older, but Ethan is about an inch taller and 6 lbs. We went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays after the zoo.

We got home at 7:30. E & I went over to see my mom at 8pm. I got her a white orchid. We got a purple orchid for T's mom. We went out to breakfast with T's parents before driving down to Indy.

Sherry said she wants to come up to our house for 4th of July! I love decorating for the 4th. We live close to the parade and fireworks, too.

I did the virtual dna

The descriptions aren't really me though.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

4th of July & Zoo

Pics from 4th of July and zoo, the next day. We went to South Bend Zoo again. I really like it there. Not crowded and not huge or too little. We rode the train there this time.

Been awhile, only Monday

I can't believe I haven't posted anything for a month!
OOps!

Ethan saw his first movie in the theater on Sat. What movie? Cars, of course! It was cute, but kind of long and got boring for him in the middle. He got fidgity around an hr into it and fell asleep at 1 hr 15 min! He had not taken a nap, but sometimes skips them now. I brought grapes and cheetos in my purse for snacks. T got popcorn and we each had a drink, too.
I really like the music in it.

I have decided to get an mp3 player. I'm so excited about it. I think I researched them enough. I didn't want to spend the $ on an ipod. I decided on Creative Zen Micro Photo 4gb for $150, same price for an ipod would only get you 1 gb!

I ordered through Amazon on Sunday night and used their free shipping. I thought, wow, awesome deal, no shipping!! Well, it won't be here until June 21!! I am dying and it is only Monday!
I'm going through my cds now and seeing how many I want to transfer over. I am going on some sites to download more, too! Man, I really hope they ship it earlier than they say.

T got to play in the Ron Kittle Celebrity Golf outing today. It was for Indiana Sports Charities, I think. He played with out ATC and doctors. The celebrity was Dan Lazar, he played for the White Sox in 68-69. My dad at least knew of him. He got some cool freebies. I am amazed at the cost to play in it. $425!! Luckily, he was asked to play by his buddy since his company buys a 5-some for it!

I had to watch the cousins this morning while my sister was a meeting. They were at my house for 2 hrs and it went ok. They played on the new playground in the backyard. Amanda loved the swing, it was just her size so she could hop right on it. Ethan is still too little and needs help up.
I always think I feed them too much when they are over. They all had a capri-sun. Then the boys split a banana and Amanda wanted goldfish. I didn't have time to take any pics, though.

Ethan got another haircut last Tues.

I have Thurs & Fri off! Can't wait! We are going to the beach on Thursday with my mom. We go to Beverly Shores on Lake Michigan. It is supposed to be in 80's by then. I hope it isn't too crowded. T leaves for convention on Thursday. He gets to go to Atlanta. He gets to party it up with those same golfing buddies. I don't think they are golfing down there this time.

On Sunday we are going to see Dorothy the Dinosaur's Dance Party at my theatre. Ethan used to really love the Wiggles. I'm sure he will be shocked by it and sing along to the songs. This is just the characters not the 4 Wiggles. It is basically their theatre tour. Much more affordable and convenient for me, and you still hear the same stuff. Still many tickets available for both shows, too. I think that it is on Father's Day is deterring some people, but no one cared about my opinion.

T opened up the pool 2 weekends ago. But we haven't had really hot weather to get in there yet. I want to get in it before he leaves.

I'm listening to some cds I haven't listened to in ages. Kenny Chesney-greatest hits, he does have some good songs!

Man, I really want my mp3 player now!!!

From Beverly Shores....funny thing he did...love it!


building sandcastles at beach from on Vimeo.