The Wild Rice Family

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T07:34:00.000-05:00

So, as holidays go when you have kids, I think this one has been one of the best. Both boys were able to write letters to Santa, sit with Santa at the mall and at Walmart, as seen in these pictures, and love everything about the season this year. We baked cookies together, decorated the WHOLE tree and went to the post office together to mail our Christmas cards. It was a very fun holiday.

Both boys got everything they asked for and more. Teagan asked for a Mater hot wheels and for his very own lap top. While he did get the hot wheels, I think a great compromise on the 'laptop' was reached. He got a Leap Frog Lap Top. He loves it and brings it with him everywhere. He says, "I need to bring my computer!"

Ethan had to have an expensive Christmas this year. It is the year of the electronics. He asked Santa for a Nintendo DS and games for it. It is exactly what he got. We were able to get him a Nintendo 3DS and a 3DS game while everyone else got him DS games. He loves it and plays it everyday. He says, "I have to grab my DS mom!"

Ralph and I also got wonderful gifts, but you will just have to come see them in person! It was a very blingy year!

Needless to say, I've been busy putting things away and getting ready for the new year while the boys play with their toys. It's been nice to clean the house without interruption. We've all been busy preparing for the new year and cleaning out the old to get ready for the new. Donation of old toys, clean house top to bottom and updating addresses and phone numbers. Make sure I have yours if you've changed it! Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and have a prosperous and wonderful new year!

Portraits Galore!

2011-11-23T22:51:00.000-05:00

Well, time sure has flown and the boys have grown! Many things have happened since my last update. I wish I could update more but honestly, I just forget to. I've been really busy and just plain tired.

We finally got our family portraits done for the year and even made Christmas cards while we are at it. The boys were very well behaved and we got some awesome pictures!

This is one of my favorites. Don't daddy and the boys look sharp?! I loved this background because we never get a good picture of our tree, so going to JCPennys and getting this one was great!

We even went back to the mall a few days later to let the boys talk to Santa! They love to tell him what they want, but if you ask for a picture, sure enough, Teagan clams up! He just hates smiling on demand!

Then finally is the best picture of all. One that hadn't happened since our engagement. A picture of just Ralph and I. I really do love this picture!

School Pictures!

2011-11-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

Well, we are finally getting the school pictures in one by one. Ethan will have his class picture taken at the end of the year. They say because usually right after Christmas, they have another group of kids that either move in or out of the district and those starting Kindergarten late. Retakes are also done at that time for those that need it. Ethan's pictures came out fab! He is so happy to be in Kindergarten and can't wait to get to school on most days. I always know when he is not feeling well because he's indifferent to school on those days. I hope to keep up his love of school. He's learning so much there and coupled with my homeschooling, he's doing better than much of his classmates. We are so proud!!

Now Teagan has not gotten his class pictures yet and these are just scans of the proofs. They are a little grainy and not so good, but at least we know what his pictures will look like! This pose with him sitting in a chair is my favorite for so many reasons. It is cute, but his smile is so forced and his hands placed in his lap make him look like he has to pee! :>

This is a great picture because of his natural smile! I love it! Teagan really enjoys school as well. He actually made a friend in his class and then the girl switched from mornings to afternoons. It was so sad. Teagan really liked her and when she wasn't in class he said, "Momma. Saraya no in school. Where is she?" I had a hard time explaining where she was because at the time, even I didn't know! When I asked his teacher if she was ok, she told me what happened and then I was better able to explain that she's still in class, just a different time. Teagan is still very upset but was happy to know that he could probably see her on occasion since her sister will be attending school starting Monday in the class next door. He was happy!

Fall fun!

2011-10-16T08:47:00.000-04:00

Fall has set in. Chilly days and cold nights. Here are the boys enjoying the last warm rays of the sun. We have started raking leaves and decorating for Halloween. The boys love playing in the leaf piles.

The boys also love helping me get all the leaves together. If it ever stops raining I'm going to get the mower out to get them all up. We put the leaves in our garden so that as they decompose, they feed the ground and our future plants.

On days when it is just to cold to play outside, we visit my parents. My kids are bent on killing them. Here is my father giving Teagan a horsey ride. He went at it for about 20 minutes straight. Teagan was very happy and pappo was very tired!

Apple Festival at Monroe's Orchard!

2011-10-12T12:59:00.000-04:00

The Apple Festival at Monroe's Orchard was a such a huge success last year that this year they had it on 2 Saturdays!!

We went both days because on the first Saturday, it had rained so much the days before hand that the ground was too soft to support the wagon for rides. On this 1st day the boys enjoyed pony rides! Teagan is finally able to enjoy a pony ride by himself. He's growing so fast and is such a big boy now!

Ethan has always loved the pony rides, but he still isn't a horse lover like his mommy. Here, he was able to get onto the taller of all the ponies and sit up higher. He had a blast!

We also enjoyed watching the how they make apple cider and enjoyed free sample of cider and free whole apples! My favorite part was buying a jug of freshly made cider and getting their fresh apple fritters! We purchased A LOT of apples so that I could make all our favorite apple dishes. I have already made a batch of apple butter and apple sauce. Next is apple butter BBQ sauce and apple pies. I am going to try to fit in some apple cobbler, baked apples and slice some up for our freezer so later on we can still enjoy the goodness of apples.

On the 2nd Saturday, October 8th, we enjoyed our long awaited hay/wagon ride. It was shorter than last year but the boys enjoyed it anyways. Here is a picture of Teagan and I at the end of the wagon. He's such a big boy that after getting used to the rocking of the wagon, he wanted to sit by himself for a spell. Both days were very beautiful. Light cool breeze and tons of sun! It was great!

"I Love You" Rituals

2011-10-11T22:11:00.001-04:00

Back when I was taking undergrad classes at KSU, I took a class called, "Parent-Child Relationships." It was awesome. One thing I took from that class and integrated into my own life was a section called, "I Love You" rituals. It was developed by Becky A. Bailey, Ph.D. and can be found at her website, www.beckybailey.com.

Here are 3 of the rituals I received from class and have used on my own children. They love the interaction and I love the new rhymes.

A Wonderful Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
A wonderful woman lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she knew exactly what to do!
She held them, she rocked the, and tucked them in bed.
"I love you. I love you," is what she said!

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star!
What a wonderful child you are!
With bright eyes and nice round cheeks,
Talented person from head to feet.
Twinkle, Twinkle, little star,
What a wonderful child you are!

This last one has some instruction. Holding your child's hand, say the rhyme while you touch and massage the designated finger and make the appropriate noises. At the last line, give your child a kiss and tuck him/her into bed!

This Little Finger Goes Night-Night
This little finger on the end, goes cluck, cluck like a baby hen.
The next little finger on the hand goes (make noise) like a big brass band!
This tall finger goes tick tock, just like mommy's alarm clock!
This little finger points to you and says, "I love you, yes I do."
The last little thumb goes night-night.
And says, "Kiss me so I will sleep tight!"

Last of Summer!

2011-10-02T08:30:00.000-04:00

The last of summer have come and gone and now we are enjoying the fresh, cool air of October. Here are a few pictures of the boys enjoying the last warm days of summer in September.

Teagan has begun to be more independent and has shown it by trying to swing all by himself. He loves to sit on the "big boy swing" and tells me to "push slow momma." He has really begun to enjoy more of the swing set than just the sandbox.

Ethan, as adventurous as ever, has started teaching Teagan bad things. His latest is how to climb up the slide. I tell him all the time that he will fall, and despite all the falls he continues to do it anyways. Here is one of those falls, even if he was able to catch himself this time! :>

The boys really enjoy playing and jumping on the trampoline. Here, they actually asked me to join them and we jumped together. Here they are taking a break so I decided to snap a picture while they were getting along.

T really enjoys playing with his big brother. It leads to fights sometimes, but they protect each other when it counts.

Ethan started soccer back in August and we are almost done with the season. Teagan enjoys watching soccer and playing with Ethan in the backyard. I think that he will also be playing when he is old enough! But as the last warm days have disappeared, we have started our indoor activities. My we have been busy, so give us a call or email if you want to know more on our adventures!

Ethan's 1st Fundraiser!

2011-09-13T07:54:00.000-04:00

My dear friends. Please help me out. My son has come home with a fundraiser packet. It is his first. I only ask that you take a look at the catalog online and see if there is anything interesting. If you do find something and want to get it, could you please message me for his info so that he could get credit for a sale. He would really like to get a Nintendo DS as a prize. Please visit www.frankenmuthfundraising.com.

School Code #5355

Grade = Kindergarten or K

Teacher = Gintert

Mr. Stripey!

2011-09-10T21:07:00.000-04:00

This summer, along with all my regular tomato plants, I decided to try a breed called, Mr. Stripey! It is supposed to be red all over with yellow vertical stripes to look as if they were ripped into. That is not how mine turned out. 1st, I'm just really glad they grew. I had problems with growing them in the past. Now that they have grown, I'm wondering why they look more tye dye than stripes?

Well, all fears went away went I cut into them!

How yummy they are. Their weight is all flesh. Very little in the way of seeds. They are less acidic and more sweeter than other RED tomatoes. Wonderful on sandwiches.

Well, our garden may not have done as well as past seasons, but I will definitely grow these again! Each one was bigger than my fist. YUMMY!!

1st Day of School!

2011-09-08T21:10:00.000-04:00

Well, the start of the new school year has begun with a bang! The boys are both in school now. Ethan has started Kindergarten and Teagan has started Pre-school. Both of them enjoy their schools, teachers and classes very much.

Ethan's week actually began when classes started for the rest of they school system on August 30th. That night we had the ice-cream social which helped him by meeting his 2 teachers, seeing the classrooms and the other kids in his class. We got to see the cafeteria/gym when we had ice-cream and the playground afterward. Wednesday morning, yes the next day, I took him back for his literacy testing. Thursday was Teagan's orientation to preschool, but Friday was Ethan's orientation. That started off with us catching the bus at the bus stop. We met the morning bus driver and he got to sit in his assigned seat. We rode all the way to school and met the teachers in the gym. After introductions, Ethan went with his teacher to the classroom so the principal could talk to us and answer any questions we may have. My.... How it was hard not to cry then. I then got to go find him and meet with the teacher and she answered all the rest of our questions. We then had to catch the bus home. That was our day. After a long weekend, Tuesday came back around and I endured Ethan's first day of kindergarten.

Here is my little man on his bus. It is so large that he can barely see out the window. I could barely hold it all in then. I kept tearing up.

My little man is waving bye-bye. Hubby stayed to make sure he had a good start. I put on a brave smile, waved and rushed home with Teagan because I had to take him to school. I cried like a baby once I got home.

Both of their first days, went better than mine, but the second day did go much better. I'm ok now and both are excited about the upcoming year.

Life, death and learning to help ALL in need!

2011-08-30T21:45:00.001-04:00

Last week Ralph and I had to opportunity to show the boys how we help ALL creatures in need, not just humans. It started last Wednesday while my best friend was saying her goodbyes and I was walking her and her babies to her van. She spotted a baby squirrel by our tree.

After discussing the situation with hubby, we left the 1st baby squirrel alone hoping mommy would come down and get it. As you can see in this 1st picture, she never came. That night it stormed bad and I rushed out in the morning and there it was. I put it in a box with a warm towel and after an hour of calling around, I finally found a local vet that had the number to a wildlife specialist, who told me what to do until I could the squirrel to her.

After a 35 minute car ride with the boys in tow, we registered the squirrel and I got to explain to the boys that we are leaving the baby in the squirrel hospital. I then had to explain how that was different than the local vet we took the kitties to. We discovered that the first one was a girl at approximately 6 weeks old. She was dehydrated, but in otherwise good health. After the 35 minute car ride home, I stopped at McDonald's and got lunch for myself since I had yet to eat that day, and some apples for the boys (they had lunch on the way out) for being so good on the long car ride. I asked if they wanted to play outside while mommy had lunch and true to form they did. I sat at our picnic table and prepared to eat, while the boys played in the sandbox and swing set. Then Ethan asked to play on the trampoline, so I said ok, but he asked for a broom to clean the leaves out. I said "Sure. It's on the back porch. Go ahead and get it." I just bit into my yummy sandwich when I heard, "Hello Squirrel! Mommy! It's a jumpy squirrel!" I turned around to find another baby squirrel sitting on the bottom step our our back porch. It was doing better than the last, but still not well.

After calling the wildlife specialist again and telling her I'd be out in the morning with another one, she gave me the recipe for a formula to feed this one until I could get it too her. In this second picture, is my gloved hand feeding the 2nd baby squirrel. I am pretty sure it was a boy. It looked nothing like the 1st one, and if you have to ask, then I think you need to go back to elementary health class.

We were quite lucky to find him and be able to help him, and due to computer issues that I needed to take care of right away, my wonderful husband took this one to the wildlife specialist for me, so I could take care of my computer stuff. So all afternoon I kept an eye out for more baby squirrels because I learned they birth in litters of 2 - 3, but I found nothing. By Saturday morning I was hoping all was well and after another brief inspection still nothing. So Saturday we went about out day. Ralph took Ethan to soccer practice and I took T with me on errands. Came home and saw... Nothing. Took Ralph's car in for an oil change and drove out to Borders to check out the sale. Had lunch at Olive Garden, picked up Ralph's car, came home.... Nothing. Kiddos took a brief nap and then went out to play. I was sitting at our picnic table sorting through our current harvest when I hear from T, "MOMMY! It's jumpy squirrel!" I turned around and saw a baby squirrel, not moving and not in a normal position. I screamed, "T don't touch it and started to run for him when I fell. He then promptly jumped on my back, yep my knees hurt from the fall and he jumps on me, thinking I'm playing. At least he didn't touch the damn dead squirrel. Yeah, haven't seen any since, but man, how I wish it would have came down the tree sooner so I could have helped it.

A Day at Cleveland Zoo!

2011-08-19T21:12:00.000-04:00

We went to the Cleveland Zoo last Saturday and met my best friend and her 3 daughters there to enjoy the day together. This year the elephants are new and the dinosaurs have left. So instead of dinos everywhere, there are now elephants everywhere and they are wonderful! Here at the entrance, we were lucky enough to get a picture of most the kiddos still happy and fresh for the day! Left to right, you have Teagan, Faith, Aryia, and Ethan. Lacey stayed in her stroller. What a great picture!

On our way to the rainforest, we passed this lovely statue of a baboon. I got the boys are Aryia to pose with it. They were already restless having just taken a picture 5 minutes ago with the elephant. It's only 9:50am. 10 minutes until the zoo opens. Despite the restlessness, we did make it through the rainforest, even if it meant going through some places at lightning speed. I may enjoy the zoo again at my speed once the kids are grown. I miss taking really nice pictures of the animals!

The rainforest finally opened, so how could we resist a picture of the kids in front of the waterfall? Well, as you can see, we couldn't. We were able to get all the kids again even if 1 is pouting....

We did make it out of the rainforest and into the main zoo area. We viewed "Monkey Island" and everything all the way up to Polar Bears and Sea Lions. After coming on down through reindeer and wolves, we broke for lunch at 1pm. After what seemed like the longest and busiest lunch EVER, we went straight to primates and felines. AND THEN WE SAW THIS!!! Yep. A monkey cleaning another monkey's butt!

We also got a chance to see the chimpanzee's and although I turned the flash off, you can still see Lacey in the glass. I just love this picture though. She was turned around in her stroller yelling at me and her mom when I took the picture and it looks as if the mommy chimp was holding her! AWESOME!!!!

And of course it must have been mating season at the zoo. These 2 bats were really going at it. Luckily, I didn't have to explain it to the boys. I just said they were wrestling and of course they were happy with that!

We did finally make it to what I wanted to see! THE ELEPHANTS!!! I even got an awesome pic of the boys watching the elephants.

We finished off the zoo with some ice cream and a trip to the souvenir shop. Of course the boys each picked a toy unrelated to the zoo, but I made up for it.

It was a great day and I'm glad we made it with my BFF and her kids.

Rescued kitties and other summer adventures...

2011-08-16T09:39:00.000-04:00

Well, summer has been flying by and I've been forgetting to post all about it! So here's what we've done so far! June went by so quickly. We finally did put in our garden and now it has been growing like crazy. 8 tomato plants. 4 kinds, 2 of each. 2 Romas, 2 Red Cherry, 2 Mr. Stripey's and 2 Big Mommas. 4 Jalapenos, 4 Habaneros, 1 of each green, red, yellow and orange pepper plants. 2 Zucchini plants, and 4 Cucumber plants. 3 Cantalopes, Red onions, yellow onions and shallots with our course our mandatory basil plant! Yes, lots of green but the weather has been so bad that we've barely broke even. Our Cherry and Romas are doing great, while the others are taking forever. We got 4 good zuchinis before the plants called it quits, but the cucumbers are going strong!

We've been to the Akron Zoo too. This was Teagan's first time out of the stroller and walking around with us. He really enjoyed getting a close up view of the animals. The both really enjoyed the penguins and of course the mandatory train ride!

We've had the pleasure of teaching our sons how to care for animals as well. This summer we had the duty of rescuing 3 kittens that were abandoned by their mother under my mother's back porch. After days of searching for the the mysterious meowings, my mom and sister found 3 kittens. After talking to me about them, I said gather them up and bring them over. After going back outside to get them, only 1 could be found. We had the one in the box for 4 days before the other 2 were found. This one, the boys had named Gnocchi, was washed with flea and tick shampoo 3 times before he was bug free, and I spent an hour picking the bugs off and out of his fur. He was fed and taught to use the litter box. He thrived and after 2 weeks, went to a great home in New Jersey. The little girl that got him as a birthday gift, called him Carl.

Like I said there were 2 more that arrived 3 days after "Gnocchi/Carl" (on the right) and one was orange and on the left in this picture and the 3rd was black and didn't survive. She came to use to late and passed away on a Monday morning. The boys and I were very sad that all our effort still couldn't help her. The vet suspects it was something she ate before we got to her. Yet, the orange kitty on the left did survive and we found her a good home as well. 1 week after coming to us, she found a good home with a little girl here in Ravenna. It made the boys sad to see the kitties leave, but made us all very happy that we were able to save 2 and find them good homes instead of going to a kill shelter.

Of course we've been crazy busy this summer. Teagan had summer school from June 21 to July 21, then you had July 4th, and family visiting from out of town. Our 2nd oldest nephew got married while the 3rd oldest nephew and our niece got engaged. We've been busy but I hope to post more in the near future!

Summertime!

2011-06-22T16:20:00.000-04:00

Summer has begun with a bang and we have been having friends over, swimming, and all around just enjoying the nice weather. The 1st picture is of Ethan and my sister in the back of the pool and me and my BFF's 2 (of 3) daughters in the front of the pool at my parent's house. I was a long, tiring, but fun day! The kids enjoyed swimming and then after traveling back to my house, eating dinner and playing out back in our yard.

Teagan has learned early on in our trials of potty training that pull-ups are not just for your butt! He has discovered what an awesome hat they make too!

My how summer is just zooming by....

Brothers....

2011-06-18T22:32:00.002-04:00

This is what a 6 year looks like when he's really mad and crying...

And after he's eaten an Oreo cookie...

With his little brother sitting next to him!

MELT!

2011-06-04T21:45:00.000-04:00

Hubby and I got a chance to go out for our anniversary back in April sans kiddos. We decided to try MELT restaurant in Cleveland Hts, OH. It was FABULOUS!!!!

This 1st picture is what Ralph had to eat. It is called, "The Dude Abides." It is made of homade meatballs, fried mozzarella cheese sticks, rich marinara, provolone & romano cheese. The fries are homemade with a wonderful blend of spices instead of just salt. The homemade slaw is to die for. JUST WONDERFUL!

This 2nd picture is what I had. Chorizo & Potato. I added a side of avocado and a fried egg but it is spicy mexican sausage, potato hash, sharp cheddar between 2 thick slices of toast. WORTH EVERY PENNY!

This last picture is of the dessert. A little pricey for what we got and although very good and flavorful, I would not recommend dessert at this sandwich shop. We had A fried twinkie. Notice I said, "A" and not twinkies. It was 1 twinkie, cut into 3 pieces and deep fried to perfection. I would have perferred a whole twinkie.

Overall, I loved the place so much and can't wait to go back, but I dislike the wait. They don't do call ahead and it's an one hour wait if you're not there when the doors 1st open. They are on Facebook, so check them out!

MELTBARANDGRILLED.COM

A Day Out With Thomas!

2011-06-02T13:15:00.000-04:00

Well, on May 27th, 2011, we took the boys to Peninsula, Ohio and spent "A Day out with Thomas!" It was one of the most expense things we have ever took the boys out to do, but well worth it in the end. Back in April I bought the tickets online. $16 a pop for 2 years and older plus $4.50 per ticket processing, shipping and handling. Yeah......

So, we picked up Teagan from school that Friday and told the boys we were going to a new restaurant for lunch. We headed to the Winking Lizard in Peninsula and had a fabulous lunch... with all the other little kids that had gone to see Thomas earlier or were going to see Thomas like us.

When we were seated, the hostess asked if we were going to see Thomas and (luckily the boys didn't hear her!) I wispered "YES! But it's a secret!" So she laughed and gave them crayons so they could color. After lunch Ethan asked if we were going home. I said, "Later. How 'bout we go a new way home and look for some railroad tracks?" Ethan promptly got happy and said, "OK MOM!" So we went driving through the valley and sure enough at the end of the road, in big bold, colorful signs, was "A DAY OUT WITH THOMAS!!!" How I wish I had a camera in my hands at that moment. Our van got so loud with the boys screaming! Teagan screaming, "I see Thomas!" and "LOOKY!!!!! TRAINS!!!!" Ethan screaming, "I WANT TO RIDE THOMAS!!!!!" Goodness, the mayhem! I had never seen them so happy!

We went to tent after tent with different activities. Model trains everywhere and one display was set up exactly like Sodor with all the trains moving everywhere.

Of course the gift store was SO EXPENSIVE that you could have gotten anything for 50% cheaper just by going to Toys-R-Us. So, happy for me, I was able to walk right on through with not one problem from the boys.

All in all, it was a very fun and happy day. The boys and I had experienced our 1st train ride and it was with Thomas. It was a 25 minute ride and we loved it. Our only splurge being this wonderful picture of the boys with Thomas.

Teagan in the ER!

2011-05-29T21:09:00.000-04:00

Well, we all decided to have Memorial Day lunch at my parents house. We were all enjoying a great BBQ which included BBQ ribs, German Potato salad, fresh veggies, watermelon, etc..... The boys, as usual, finished first and asked to be excused. We said they could go play while the adults finished eating.

Needless to say, the boys started rough housing and Teagan got pushed by Ethan. Teagan fell and hit his head on the grandfather clock and began crying... Well, wouldn't you?

I ran to get him as soon as it happened, cradling his head in my hand. I carried him to the couch and set him on my lap so I could look him over, and that's when I noticed the blood just gushing over my hand. Ralph and I searched and searched for where it was coming from and found a 2 inch gash on the back of his head. Being cautious.... and not knowing how to transport him without bleeding out, we called 911 and got an ambulance to my parents house to look him over. They said he would need stitches and to make sure he didn't have any head or spine injuries, they packed him down. Here, I have 2 pictures. The top one of him in the ambulance and the bottom one of him in the ER waiting for the doctor. Don't worry. He's not passed out, it was after lunch and he's full so it's nap time. They said it was ok, so we let him nap. That was nice, 'cause it took awhile for the doc to see him. I had gotten the bleeding mostly stopped by the time the ambulance came, but they still packed the back of his head with gauze.

After 3 hours in the ER, 2 X-Rays and a CT scan, we were released with 3 staples in the back of his head. He's OK and I have to call the pediatrician to have the staples removed, but now I can break down and let it all out.

Time is flying by....

2011-04-26T10:38:00.000-04:00

I have been so busy making sure Ethan and Teagan's schooling is settled for next fall, that time has flown by and I haven't updated the blog!

We have all been doing really well. Ethan has celebrated his 6th birthday and is a Star Wars fanatic. He just had to have a Star Wars ice-cream cake!

Instead of party hats, we had clone wars masks to go with the theme and it seems that all the kids loved it. We had a packed house even though we only invited a few people over. It was a true kiddo party with pizza and ice-cream cake.

Here's the whole gang. We only invited 3 families and with ours, we had 8 kids total! Left to Right: Ethan (the birthday boy), Faith is holding baby Lacey, Ariya is holding her baby doll, Teagan just had to be in the middle with his monkey, Beckett, Aaron, and then Jonah (Beckett's younger brother).

The boys have been having fun with Ethan's new gifts and the normal fighting too. The fighting gives me a headache but at the same time it gives me the opportunity to teach how to solve problems without biting and hitting. Ethan has been doing exceptionally well in this area, having only bit Teagan 2 times and hitting has died down. He has learned to tell T to "Leave me alone please" or "MOM!!!! Teagan is hitting me!" Teagan has redefined terrible two's. He is in constant time-out state, but not for the same problem (Except hitting Ethan!).

Both are ready for the next step in their education. Ethan is registered for Kindergarten and after much debate and research, we have him starting Kindergarten with a special ed class and then transitioning into a normal Kindergarten class. I'm sure it will work out fine. He takes a field trip to visit the kindergarten school in early May and seems very excited. I'm not ready....

Teagan has done very well also. With the early intervention we have gotten, he has started testing within his age range with speech. He will not qualify for services come fall. He can finish out his time at Happy Day and the summer school I have him enrolled in, but come fall, we hope to get him into pre-school as a community kid. There are still some developmental concerns that his current teacher and I have and we don't want him falling through the cracks, especially since he has a surgery this summer. I am very afraid of regression! Luckily, a wonderful person at the pre-school understands our concerns and is doing all she can to help us and even helped us develop a plan to achieve our goals. Testing for a community kid is this Friday. I am nervous since I will not know the results until some time in May....

Jewelery by Tina

2011-04-10T23:14:00.000-04:00

I bought some of the most beautiful jewelery from a friend of mine on Facebook. After a few posting of her creations, Tina caught my eye with a pair of red romantic earrings. They were SO what I was looking for I just had to ask if I could buy them. They are wonderful! Very sturdy hand crafted earrings that lived through my sons looking and touching and everything else little kiddos do!

As a surprise and wonderful added bonus, she enclosed a beautiful bracelet that I wear almost everyday. It matches everything and I LOVE IT!!!! I don't know if she has an etsy account yet, or sells on EBay, but I highly recommend her stuff!!!! LOVE YOU TINA!!!!

The Scariest Earthquake Is Yet to Come - Newsweek

2011-03-19T21:16:00.000-04:00

2012

The Scariest Earthquake Is Yet to Come - Newsweek

Recipe: Baked Corned Beef with Sweet-Mustard Crust : Family Spice

2011-03-17T15:29:00.000-04:00

Recipe: Baked Corned Beef with Sweet-Mustard Crust : Family Spice
This corned beef recipe is awesome. I try to make it every year and pair it with some horseradish sauce on the side with baked veggies (cabbage too). It turns out really juicy and just a hit of tangy and wonderful sweetness! YUMMY!!!

They just grow up too fast!

2011-03-15T20:12:00.002-04:00

Ethan really enjoys his Zumba class. He's just advancing so quickly I can't keep up. Even more so now that we figured out his biggest problem was ADD. Since he has started meds in November, we did have to up them in February, he's been doing loads better!

Ethan has been able to learn to zip his coat by himself, occasional help needed, he washes himself in the tub, and has even started to try to reach out and make friends.

Now, Ralph and I have even started preparing him for Kindergarten. Yep. It's really happening. And while he's so ready academically, I've been super worried about social issues and doing things for himself. He's going to be in a class of about 23 other kids. TONS to worry about. Who will make sure he eats his lunch and help him open it, set it out and clean up. Who will help him when he needs help, get him off the bus, on the bus, NOT lose him, etc...

Well, during parent-teacher conferences, we decided it would be better for him to start out with part of his day in a special ed class. It's ratio is 8 students to 3 teachers. So his day will be, get on bus at Tappan, go to school, get off bus, locker and then to his big class. He will then be pulled out later to go to the small class for some individual speech, social work and academics, then be brought back to his big class to finish up the day. I feel a little better knowing that as the year goes on he will be spending less time with the special ed class and more time with his normal class.

Then we go to Kindergarten orientation. Oh boy! That was mostly not crying about how he's growing up so fast and all my worries rolled up in trying to listen to what the principle has to say about their day. OH MY! We got our registration packets and was told about all the social events before school even starts to get them used to the school, teacher and even classmates. All in all it was very informational and we both learned a lot. I learned that while Ethan is SOOOOOOOOO ready for Kindergarten, I am far from ready!

Accident Day!

2011-02-16T19:04:00.002-05:00

Well, of course after our most fun filled "Tent Day" there was "Teagan get sick" day followed by "Accident Day!" Oh Joy!

Tuesday was "Tent Day." Wednesday, Teagan and Ethan were well and fun and full of energy. We put them to bed as usual with only runny noses as the only indication of a cold. By 10 pm that evening Teagan woke up with a cough I had never heard before. I actually rushed off the phone and up to his room to find him hacking and coughing and then he threw up all this phlem. He had a fever of 102, stuffy nose, coughing something fierce and everything. Thursday morning (also known as Accident Day) we called the pediatrician. We got him an afternoon appointment.
So we show up for our 3:20pm appointment and don't even get into a room until 3:45. Didn't see the doc until 4pm. Needless to say, I am glad I always pack snacks and that my boys drink water! We found out he might have Croup. We were given a checklist of things to watch for and if he displayed those symptoms, then call back in the morning and he would get a steroid shot. They were confused by a disappearing fever.

So, it's now about 5pm when I get out of the office, which is in Hudson. I turn left off rt 91 and onto Fishcreek Road and get stopped at the Stow Road intersection with like, 30 cars in front of me. I call my sis to let her know I'm on the way home when I hear squealing. I look around and find nothing when all of the sudden, BAM! Teagan and I were rear-ended while at a dead stop. The 1/2 a car distance between me and the one in front of me is gone. The phone I was holding is now on the floor. Teagan is WAILING! All I can think of is "Is Teagan alright?" Then out of nowhere this guy is asking if we are ok. I said, "I don't know. I think I am." I call the 911 accidentally hanging up on my sis WHO HEARD THE WHOLE THING! OMG! After calling 911 I then call hubby and try to hold it all together so he can understand me. I have him call my sister and tell them everything. Needless to say, Teagan and I are OK. We got checked out by EMT's and Teagan even got a teddy bear out of it. Apparently little old ladies in Stow donate homemade bears to ambulance crews so they would have something to give kiddos who are involved in accidents and need to be checked out. That made my evening and Teagan's too. He loves that bear!

Now, that guy who hit me, hit me at about 35 mph and he was driving a full sized GMC truck. Barely any damage to his truck. As you can see, we no longer had a bumper. We got the bad news on Monday. Our van was totaled.

But the good news would not end there. OH NO! Not end there.... The Saturday following the accident, my iron breaks. No biggie. What's a new iron $20? ok. I can handle that. OH NO! There's more. The next day, Sunday, is when our dryer decides to break. Yep. DRYER! Not only do we have to find a new vehicle, we have to find money for a dryer!!!

Well, thanks to wonderful thinking on my part, we were able to up the offer another $300 and got $4900 and some change. We put $4400 down on a used Town & Country (silver) and we are using the $500 left for a new dryer. And I already got a new iron. Works great!

Tent Day!!

2011-02-02T10:00:00.005-05:00

With the worst ice storm of the season, school was canceled. What do you do when school is canceled? HAVE FUN! It's tent day! I got out the inflatable beds and put the tents together. Next we plan on a fake fire and toasting marshmellows!

The boys love playing in the tents and pretending they are camping. I get a chance to clean and we are all happy!

Snowboarding!

2011-01-30T21:57:00.006-05:00

Well, for my birthday hubby took me snowboarding for the 1st time! It was great. Over the summer we slowly bought all our stuff. Buying at low prices was cheaper than renting every time. In 2 more visits, the stuff will have paid for itself just with rental costs alone. Here I am with my snowboard, goggles, and helmet. Yes! A helmet. A well used helmet that day!

After our 1 hour lesson, we took a break for lunch. We took off our gear in the locker area after checking our boards in the gear room, and found that we had sweated so much, it looked like we got out of the shower. Yes, snowboarding is hard work! In these end of the day pics, you can see some of my hair plastered to my neck and throat!

I was able to get some pictures of Ralph too. The one where he is sitting is where we were waiting our turn to try heel side and toe side down part of the bunny hill. No, not resting. Just waiting our turn. I was on my way back up the hill from my turn down! The picture with Ralph standing on his board is him taking a final run down the practice hill. Yes, the practice hill. The bunny hill killed him. I went down it twice and the only thing that stopped me was that I broke a binding. I think I would have tried a 3rd time, because I was finally getting the hang of it all.

Ralph only went down the bunny hill once and it took him 30 minutes to do so.... after helping some teens with their gear at the top. It was also a lot of muscle work. I think it was 'cause we are noobs, but even with stretching before hand and afterwards I was sore at the end of the day. With stretching before bed, I still didn't want to move the next day and that was not even counting the tons of bruises all over my body. My right knee is the worst with swollen, black and blue bruises that still hurt.

All in all, we had a great time. Although I can't speak for Ralph, I CAN'T WAIT to do it all again! I want to build a snow ramp in our back yard and practice!

Zumba for kids!

2011-01-15T19:56:00.002-05:00

The Ravenna School District has started something new, at least for pre-schoolers. Zumba for kids! From now until spring break the kiddos will dance and dance and dance. Here is a picture of Ethan and his class with their Zumba instructor. In an effort to get kids more physical, especially in the early years, it was a challenge, but Zumba was a great way for them. Ethan came home loving it. His first class was this past Thursday and the teacher said it was non-stop for 30 minutes!

Now, as an adult, I gave Zumba a go. It wasn't for me, but I do see the appeal. I need constant instruction and that is NOT Zumba. Zumba is very unstructured. So this really fits the kids great. WAY TO GO! for Ravenna schools and the kiddos who love this!

I can see why! I love this teacher!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T23:13:00.002-05:00

Well, it's another beginning to a new year, which means we've survived the last year pretty intact! No, there is no picture this time as I'm using my NEW COMPUTER!!!!!!!! YAY! Finally got a new replacement to my old Mac. It's new and I don't really have many personal things on it yet. Just updated firefox and other software updates and then after this post, I'm calling it a night!

So, 2010 is gone. Along with it the ups and down of the year. We didn't lose any family members this year, which I'm thankful for, but we did lose some friends. Our real estate agent and dear friend past away in May, yet we just learned about it Christmas week. We have all been busy and it was always hard to find a schedule to talk and that is why we just learned about it. His wife was nice enough to send us a card and the news.... Just another example of how we should live each day as fully as we can!

Ups in the year would include Ralph still having a job, Teagan and Ethan being very healthy and I keeping it all together! We've been lucky to have such great friends in our lives and thanks to Facebook, we've been able to reconnect with old friends whom we have lost contact with. BUT no more! We are connected!

New Years resolutions? I normally don't do them, but I have made only one this year, and that is to get back on my workout schedule of 5 days a week. Since my toe incident, I have only been working out on average, 3 - 4days, including Pilates. That just doesn't work for me. The weight loss had stopped ad I've just kinda hovered. Which is great if I was working on maintaining, but unfortunately, I still have about 50 more LBS to lose. I've kept up what I can but my cardio is hardest. Can run if you have a foot in bandages!! Anyways, need to get back to my 5 days a week in the gym and my at home Pilates. I've been slacking there too! I've watched the calories, but unfortunately they have been a little high during the holidays.

Well, Santa was very good to all of us, and we basically got what we wanted. I had a nice surprise from Santa too, which is always nice. AND of course, we finally saved up enough for my new computer! YAY!!!!! OK! Off to bed for me.

Gerald Miron obituary

2010-12-18T20:11:00.000-05:00

Gerald Miron obituary

Our real estate agent became a good friend and now he is gone. He helped my parents and knew them well also. He will be greatly missed.

SNOW!

2010-12-13T21:34:00.004-05:00

Well the first big snow fall of the season happened on December 5th. THE BOYS LOVED IT!!! It started with flurries a few days before hand and everyday since it has been, "MOM! Can I play in the snow?" or "MOM! Let's go sledding!" Well, when the big one started for the first time, that's what we did!

In this first picture, the boys are riding in their new tabogon. Of course I was pulling them since there are no hills around here, but maybe over the weekend, we will take them to KSU for the 'big' hill.

In this next picture, we have the boys desperately trying to play on their swing set. It was so funny. They slide faster on the slide now that it's cold. Teagan went so fast that he landed on his back. He just looked at me with a look on is face that said, "WTF?" I laughed so hard. Ethan tries to swing and of course, that is not going well. BUT, at least he tries!

In the 3rd picture Teagan tried so hard to walk to the fence to see the squirrel that was on a tree. He just couldn't do it. With the snow to his hips, he kept falling. Poor little thing.

Santa on Saturday

2010-12-06T22:52:00.003-05:00

Well, we went to Wal*Mart on Saturday and the boys got to see Santa! Ethan was so excited. I think he told Santa his whole wish list. He was so excited that he forgot his candy cane and the helper elf had to ask in a loud voice to get his attention! NOW THAT IS EXCITMENT!

Teagan handled it better than last year. He was almost to tears last year, but this year he was jumping out of the cart ready to sit on his lap! This is actually the 2nd picture they took because in the 1st (which is my favorite) he was looking at daddy. Oh well! They both had a blast and that is what counts.

Family Portraits

2010-12-02T22:05:00.006-05:00

Well, we finally did it! We got my father so sit for some professional photos. They came out great! The boys especially loved posing for the camera and hubby complained about the time... of course. Well, it was a bit early. We had to be there at 8AM. 1st thing in the morning so the kids are at their freshest and not so cranky. So take a look at some of the ones we had done. More can be seen at my facebook page.

Our family. Ethan and Teagan loved it and had a blast. Thank you to our photographer!

The whole group photo is one of my favorites. The whole session only took 30 minutes. They work quick at JCPenny's!

Ethan's Pre-School Picture 2010

2010-11-22T13:38:00.004-05:00

Ethan came home from school today with his school pictures just as I had hoped. I love them! I think it turned out really well this year. He's such a poser! Blue looks so good on him, but I don't know why they ask me for a specific background when they just use what they want anyways.

This is his class. It's not very big, which I'm VERY thankful for. Just about 8 including Ethan. As you can see there are only 2 girls in his class. That is usually how it is. One year, I think it was last year, he only had 1 girl in his class for a few weeks. I'm glad for my friends who have girls, that way he can interact with both girls and boys. I'm sure kindergarten is very mixed and he needs to learn now how to play with girls! Ya'll know what I mean!

Teagan's School Pictures!

2010-11-21T23:31:00.004-05:00

Well, Teagan's school pictures came in about a week or two ago and this is what they look like! Now, keep in mind I have been very worried about them since we have to pay up front and I was told they took 4 shots before giving up. H cried in the first 3.

His class is very small (YAY!) and consists of 7 kids including Teagan. There is a teacher, Mrs. Debi Wilson, a teacher's assistant, Mrs. Cherrie, and then a student helper, Miss Cole. I love how all three really get on Teagan's level and work with him. His speech therapist is not pictured, but we like her too. She is very knowledgeable and very good with Teagan.
I put this picture up on our wall in the dining room, and hubby goes, "He's staring at me while I eat." I had to laugh. I didn't think of it like that, but sure enough, if you really look, I guess he could be any emotion you think up. To Ralph, he must have looked the disciplinarian. LOL! now I just can' wait to see Ethan's pictures. I hope they come in this week!

My Things!

2010-11-02T22:56:00.002-04:00

For Halloween this year, Ethan said he wanted to be Thing 1. So... We went with it. Ethan was Thing 1 and Teagan was Thing 2. Daddy was The Cat In The Hat. It was a great cast! Oh! And Ethan is screaming "CHEESE!" in the picture. Unfortunately, this is one of the better ones where everyone is looking at the camera!

It was pretty slow here and we actually had candy left by the end of the night. That is a first for the 5 1/2 years we've lived here. I bought more than last year thinking we would be giving more out. I was surprised by the very few children we did get coming to the house. Also surprising was there were very little teenagers out and about. I can only think of 2 that really stood out, only because they tried to give me trouble, but overall it was a great and peaceful night!

Teagan's 2!

2010-10-27T10:17:00.005-04:00

Teagan is officially 2 years old now! ACK! My baby's growing up! He has got to be the biggest Thomas fan around and so we rightfully had his 2nd birthday party theme, Thomas the Tank Engine. I made a 3D Thomas cake for him, which had him screaming "THOMAS!" all night long. I'm so glad he liked it! It was a funfetti cake with buttercream icing. Yummy!

We had his party at Hattie Larlham in Mantua Ohio. It is 7000 sq feet of toys and fun. ALL the kids especially loved the bouncy castle and our boys were actually knocked out for the ride home.

We'd like to thank everyone who came and we hope you all had a great time. For those of you who could not make it, you missed a lot of fun and food. The kids were fun and funny!

Teagan had his 2 year well check on Monday and he is 29 1/2 LBS and 35 inches tall. He's in the 70th percentile for his age group and doing just fine!

He attends Happy Day school twice a week for speech therapy and the social interaction. He loves it! They start swimming in November and I hope he enjoys that too! His speech is light years beyond Ethan at this age and he is finally starting to put 2 words together. His favorite being, "more juice" and "Hi Mommy." Gotta love it!

Crazy Garden Creations!

2010-10-08T22:15:00.003-04:00

So I have been spending the better part of this week breaking down the gardens and getting everything ready for winter. Well, out of all the harvesting I've been doing, this pepper found it necessary to grow in my garden. Like it's giving me the finger or something.

I thought it quite funny and had to show hubby who promptly said I needed to post it on facebook. I said the blog too! So here is our funny garden creation. Just in time for eating!

Ethan's 1st Bee Sting!

2010-09-21T14:13:00.002-04:00

While Ethan was at soccer practice 2 weeks ago, he got his first bee sting. We now know that he is NOT allergic to bees. Unfortunately, I was not there, but when he promptly got home we washed the area and applied some Benadryl cream. He also asked for a band-aid. His choices were Hello Kitty, Spider Man, Handy Manny, Scooby Doo, Toy Story and the regular kind. I'm sure you've discovered his choice by now! LOL!

He survived and didn't cry long. It was nice knowing he didn't swell any either. We also took him to Aurora Farms to feed the ducks. He was happy and never even remembered he was stung!

My New Deathtrap!

2010-09-16T22:10:00.006-04:00

My foot is healing... slowly, but healing. I'm about 95% back to normal. I still have trouble with walking, especially speed walking, but once I get it all loosened up, I can jog. Working out has been a challenge, especially with Pilates. I never realized how much weight my feet really take on until I tried to do certain moves.

I do a one foot plank, where my right foot is on top my left. It's actually harder to do so I don't mind. Really gives me a good work out. Other things, I still have to take slow, such as deep knee bends and anything that puts pressure on the toe area.

Well, Hamilton Beach responded to my emails and after answering a million legal questions, they offered me a new blender. Yeah, I took it. It saves me time and some money. I don't have to do research and go shopping with 2 impatient boys. So they send me this blender <--- see picture at left, and it has "Wave Crusher" action and a whole other stuff that I'm like, "REALLY?!" At least it has an easy pour spout! This thing is huge!! It holds 5 Cups easy with still at least another cup of open space. I'm scared to death to try it. The glass is so thick. If this explodes I may loose a foot, even if I wear steel toed shoes while making a smoothie!

Ethan & Soccer

2010-09-13T19:11:00.005-04:00

Ethan's #1 fan just happens to be Teagan! Teagan loves to watch Ethan play soccer. The way things are looking, not only will Teagan play soccer when he's of age, I'm pretty sure Teagan plays better than Ethan does right now! Sad, huh? Ethan has his listening issues and has trouble keeping his hands to himself, but he loves to kick the ball and he loves his coach and teammates!

Here is Ethan practicing with coach before the big game. I think this was his 2nd game. He did ok, but like I said he has to learn to keep his hands to himself or he won't play in the spring. It's becoming a BIG problem.

As the game progresses, he often lags behind but really does try to kick the ball when he gets there. Like ALL the kids, he has to stop and look at the ball before kicking. This makes for a very interesting game! You always know those who are more experienced because they come out of nowhere and kick the ball away towards the correct goal! It's fun to watch the others figure out what just happened!

Ethan loves the game though. He often asks, "Can I play soccer today?" I always have to remind him practice is on Saturday and games are on Sunday. It's making learning the calender easier! He finally knows his days of the week in correct order! YAY! We are onto months now! Anyways, team pictures were this past Sunday so I expect to get them within 2 to 3 weeks. There are only 4 games left so we shall see how it goes. He did really well this past game and only hung on the coach. It's looking positive, but like I said, we shall see! GO ETHAN!

The Horror Continues!!!!

2010-09-09T16:44:00.004-04:00

The City of Ravenna has finally done it now. They are tearing up my lawn. It was finally time to hook everyone up to the new water main and that meant finding our line and digging it up. Our neighbors are not fairing much better, but their drive way exits another side street. Mine is blocked by diggers and other machines that I'm not quite sure what they do!

They have dug a hole the size of Texas in my front lawn and while I always wanted new grass, I really wasn't expecting half my lawn to be a big hole. WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Because some male fool had to plan all pipes be like 10 feet underground. You KNOW a female didn't plan this. I'm pretty sure she would have done a better job! OH! And half my lawn is gone because the ALL MALE crew miscalculated and dug a few feet off and couldn't find out water line! ARGHHHHHH!!!!

The last days of summer!

2010-09-06T20:14:00.003-04:00

There they are. The boys. Enjoying the last few days of a warm summer! Swinging on the swing set and in the shade of the maple tree. Ethan absolutely loves to swing! He's having a hard time learning to do it for himself, but he tries very hard and actually had it going by himself for awhile!

Teagan is not as big a fan as swinging, but enjoys it when he does. He prefers to climb the climbing wall and jet down the slide. Yes, at 23 months he slides, jumps, climbs and everything else all by himself. He's a mover and a groover that one. He also has given up naps. About once or twice a week, he may take a short 30 minute nap, but overally, I think it's gone for good. It's ok. I've learned to deal with it and the boys still have quite time in their rooms. I get a lot of work done upstairs and we're all good! Our main bath has never been cleaner and the master bedroom is actually organized and clear of toys.

With the last rays of summer, I've also started our fall composting and getting the garden ready for fall. The cukes and trellis are gone. The peppers and eggplant are finishing up and I have NO IDEA what the tomatoes have in store. I thought they were done, but a new crop of tomatoes have sprung. I hope they ripen before it gets too cold. As usual, the garlic has finally started growing and now that it's colder has taken off. I can't wait to try them next summer when they are ready!

Fall cleaning has begun also. I've washed and cleaned all the curtains, repotted the house plants for winter and have cleaned the cupboards. The next step is wiping down the walls, clean the windows in and out, and give our floors a THOROUGH cleaning! I plan on doing that on Thursday when everyone is out of the house!!

1st Day of School!

2010-09-03T08:03:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was Ethan's 1st day of school! I always take a picture on the 1st day of school. I can't believe how much he's grown, just over summer alone. He's such a big boy now. He has a full grown back pack and it's filled with all of his supplies for the teacher. He's fully potty trained and hasn't had an accident in a very long time. He's learning about tying his shoes, telling time and counting money. All have been kind of tough for him. Patience is always very tough for him.

He can tie the 1st knot, so to speak, in tying his shoes, but to make the bunny ears for the bows.... OMG that is so difficult for him.

He can tell time on a digital clock and know the hands on a regular clock, but to tell the time takes patience and he just won't do it.

Money has been interesting. He knows the coins and for the most point know the amount. Yet, to put it all together has been difficult. He knows he needs money to get things, but earning it has been difficult. To help him learn responsibility and to help give him incentive to do his chores, we've made a 'learn as you go' system. Every task we want him to do earns him his money. Most things are five cents. So, if he washes his hair all by himself, he gets five cents. His first pay day has come and pass and he earned $2.50. The new week has started and went and he's earned so far a grand total of .....drum roll please.....$0.25. Yep. That's it. It has not gone well this week. OH WELL! Just takes time. He'll learn soon enough.

The Firetruck!

2010-08-27T20:46:00.004-04:00

How to make a firetruck for under $5.00. I will tell you how I did it. 1st, you have to obtain a HUGE box. I got this one from my parents. When their TV died, the went out and got a new one and I asked them to keep the box. They did. It was from a 55in flat screen. It fit in my van only because we broke it down and folded it up. It's HUGE!!!!

You will also need about 3 cans of red spray paint, duct tape, a box knife, black spray paint, a large nut and bolt, aluminum foil and at least 1 white poster board. Do not forget the imagination combined with a whole lotta elbow grease!
1st, I cut the box to specifications. I needed a drivers seat and room for the other kid. Using what I cut out, I fashioned a roof, lights, and wheels. Everything was reused or recycled! After putting the light together with duct tape and cutting out wheels, it is now time to paint. The black paint I already had and proceeded to paint the wheels. While they dried, I painted everything else red. This took more cans of red paint than I thought. I used 3 cans of red spray paint. It's not even, but it still looks nice. Enough for the boys anyways!

I also fashioned a bell from the scraps and wrapped that in foil. Hubby was nice enough to fashion ladders from the white poster board which is added to the truck via duct tape. The steering wheel is attached using a large bolt, about 5-6 inches long and 2 nuts. It works well for it's purpose.
The hats were an extra benefit. I found those at Micheals for an easy $1.00 each. Foam hats last and are very light. The boys love playing fireman. Ethan loves to be "Fireman Sam!"

This only took me a few hours to do and the longest part was waiting for the paint to dry. Both boys love playing with it and it's been a week so far since I finished and it's still in one piece!

Blender Explosion!

2010-08-25T10:39:00.006-04:00

So on Monday afternoon my blender decided it hated me and exploded. In the process it tried to take out some toes! Please excuse my awful pedi as that was going to be the evening I was going to repolish! No, my feet are not pale. It's this cloudy weather keeping my nice tan from glowing. So, the first picture is of this most fashionable surgical boot they gave to me keep my toes from curling when I walk. It's been a life saver.

Here is a picture of my fresh, clean dressing on my toes. I have to change this twice a day and apply new ointment every time. It's a pain to do and takes me awhile since I hate looking at the stitches, but it must be done! Luckily, we kept a lot of the supplies from all my hospital visits and when Teagan was in the hospital and I've had to buy only more Neosporin so far.

OK. The gross, ugly foot with stitches is out. Here you go. Don't look! It's horrible. Basically when the blender exploded one of the chunks purposely missed the counter and attacked my foot, slicing my 2nd toe. The EMTs and the ER doctor both said, 3/4 inch deep and almost 1 inch long. 6 stitches total.

For those that don't know the story yet, here it is. I really hate repeating myself so hopefully this will help with that.

Monday afternoon, after the boys got up from their rest time, they asked for fruit smoothies to go with their afternoon snack. I said, "Sure." They both had been really good all day and deserved a little treat. So I turned on the TV and had them sit at the table with their snack while I whipped up the smoothies.

I put the usual in the blender and made a banana smoothie for the boys. I turned off and unplugged the blender. Took the top off and put it in the sink. I got out 2 plastic glasses and picked up the glass pitcher to pour. I heard a perfect 'DING' and then I was wearing the smoothies. I still had the handle in my hand, the blades still locked on the bottom glass portion fell on the counter as did a 3rd section of glass. I looked down to assess the mess and then saw the last, 4th chunk of glass had fell on my foot and blood was now gushing out of my foot mingling with the smoothie. I thought, "Well.... That ain't good." Grabbed my hand towel, called my sis to get her but over here, called hubby to come home, and then called 911. The EMTs were at the house in less than 3 minutes and they pressure wrapped my foot and waited with me until my sis could come for the boys. They left when she pulled in and after loading the boys into the van, she dropped me off at the ER.

They cleaned my foot up, took X-rays to make sure I had no glass in my foot. After seeing that my foot was free of glass, they cleaned out the wound and assessed the damage. I did NOT, luckily, cut any arteries or tendons. No long term damage and I should be back to normal in 2 weeks. I did however nick a vein and that is why I was GUSHING blood. The doctor sewed me up and it took 6 stitches.

I'm so glad I stay up-to-date on my 1st aid certifications and should do that on my CPR certifications too. Being a lifeguard really helped keep me calm for the boys and my sanity. I'm so glad I did the opposite of my usual that day. Usually we read with snacks and this time I let them watch TV. Usually Ethan helps with the mixing of drinks and getting snacks. This time I gated them out of the kitchen. Can't beat womanly intuition.

Fall Soccer 2010

2010-08-23T09:21:00.003-04:00

So Ethan has finally started the Fall 2010 soccer season. Luckily we did NOT have to buy new cleats! YAY! At the beginning of August we got the call that practice would start the 2nd weekend in August and he has just completed his 1st game this past Sunday.

Ethan is on the gray team and they call themselved "The Sharks." Appropriate. The coach picked the name instead of letting the kids pick. Quick and simple, but not very fun. I loved hearing what the kids came up with. Some of the rules have changed also. I don't know who thought it up, but it's awful and if it doesn't improve by the next game, then I will be filing a formal complaint with the rec center.

For a team of 8 kids, they play 3 on 3 now. WHAT?! you are exclaiming. Yep, I did the same thing. The math doesn't work. How do all those kids get equal play time with 3 on 3? Well, in this past game, they didn't and it seemed that only the 'good' players got to play. They don't do throw in's anymore either. It doesn't make sense. If you're not going to teach simple techniques now, why bother teaching them the name of the positions? Why bother teaching them strategy? Defense? Just let them loose on the ball and say, 'get it in the goal.' Why bother with the rest?

Visiting Grandma!

2010-08-20T09:51:00.003-04:00

So about 2 weeks ago, or so, I had hubby take the kids to visit his mom while I super cleaned house! Here's what I was told.

They ate pizza, ice cream and donuts. They ran around outside, which is always a good thing, and had a good time of it too.

Both boys came home tired!

Teagan especially had fun chasing grandma around. I'm sure she had a nap that day!

Did I forget to mention construction?

2010-08-16T17:35:00.004-04:00

So the City of Ravenna so pleasantly started to replace the main water pipe on our street. It has given us untold havoc and many a headache these pass 2 weeks. I canNOT even begin to tell you what it is like to be without water all day, during a very hot summer day, with 2 little boys who constantly need cleaning! Needless to say, it also has it's high points.

The 1st picture is of Ethan enjoying the 1st day of construction. His "Mighty Machines" are up close and personal and both boys enjoyed it so much I even got cleaning done that day! 4 hours straight, looking out the window! "MOM! MOM! Look at the dump truck!!!" "Mom! Mom! Look at the digger!"

Yes, look at those machines. So loud and heavy I must fix our pictures hanging on the wall every night. Blocking our street and driveway so that I have to be a strategist and a dare devil to baha out the drive and down the street to go anywhere! Luckily Ralph works from home 3 days a week and only deals with this the other 2!

It is also very lucky that we can ride bikes to the gym. I also discovered how much I LOVE my mountain bike! It probably needs new shocks and tires now, but well worth the purchase 6 years ago!!

Streetsboro Family Fest

2010-08-15T18:07:00.006-04:00

At the beginning of August, I can't believe that was only 2 weeks ago, we went to the Streetsboro Family Fest! It was a time for A LOT of 1sts and some old favorites.
One 1st is Ethan's ride on "The Boat Ride." Yes, I know it has many names, so that is why I call it, "The Boat Ride." He loved it. He tucked his head into daddy's side for a minute, but when daddy said it wouldn't go any higher, he was fine and enjoyed the ride. Worried me the whole time!!!

An old favorite would be the train. Teagan doesn't ride the rides by himself yet, so he couldn't go on this either. It was such a shame, but he would have cried the whole time. Ethan loved it of course. There was no stopping him. "I HAVE to ride the train mommy! When can I ride the train?"

Our next 1st was the "Strawberry Swirl." Yes, also known as the tea cup ride (and they had the tea cups too) he absolutely loved this if I kept the spinning to a minimum. I would go fast and he would say, "Slow down mommy," and have a very sick look on his face. As soon as he was better, "Speed up mommy." It was funny to watch! In between this and the next ride, we hit skee ball. Ethan loves skee ball. He can't throw worth anything, but he loves it just the same!

Our next old favorite is the carousel. You can't escape the carousel once it's been seen by Ethan. It's even a must ride when we hit the local mall! ALWAYS RIDE THE CAROUSEL!

Even Teagan had fun though. We bought him a "smores on a stick." Yes, it was messier than it looks in this picture. This picture was taken after I already went through half of my wet wipes and he'd already eaten 1 of 3 marshmellows! I'm sure he loved it. Can't you tell?

Our Garden Trellils!

2010-08-14T20:36:00.004-04:00

So I've been asked by multiple people about our garden trellis! 1st: It's wonderful. Our garden is only 16 x 8 feet and so I have to be careful that what we plant is what we eat most off. Tomatoes, peppers, cukes, zukes, and eggplant. As you can see our cukes are doing wonderfully, while my 1st attempt at peas was a MAJOR FAILURE! 1/2 of my peas sprouted while 100% of them died!!!! I'm still trying to figure out why, but I suspect it is because we live on an old brick yard and the acidity from the decompsing bricks is killing them.... I'll have to do more research on that.

So for now, we have a LARGE amount of cukes that make our trellis a little lop sided! So hubby used about 9 2x1's, 3 hinges and a whole lotta nails and screws! I bought plastic netting (about 10$ for a 60 yard roll) and with a little elbow grease we have a garden trellis. The whole thing cost about $25 I think.

I tried to take pictures from all angles so that anyone interested in copying the design could do so easily. Hubby used hinges, so that at the end of the season, I just had to remove the netting and side stabilizing bars and fold the whole thing up for winter. We'll see how easy that is this fall!

Anyways, these pictures were taken about mid July, so all our cukes have mostly grown over this trellis. It did help keep the mold from taking over my cukes. Usually by now, I wouldn't have any plants left, and with the trellis, they are thriving and I have more cukes than I can handle! Other than the peas, the rest of our garden is wonderful. Not as good as last year, but we are producing enough to cover the cost of the plants, trellis and then some. We have had the opportunity to eat the PINK tomatoes I bought and they are WONDERFUL!! They don't ripen so pink as in the cataloges, but they are not RED! :> Great for sandwiches and salads. I'm not so sure for salsa and sauce. Well, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

The Clothesline!

2010-08-09T09:50:00.003-04:00

By popular demand and by the suggestion of a friend, here is our clothesline and how my wonderful hubby built it. It saves tons of money and is great for the environment. We have a gas dryer, so this saves money on electric and natural gas. Materials you'll need included: 3 4x4x8's, 1 2x4x8, 8 eye loop bolts (with washers and nuts), 2 lag head bolts (no washers or nuts), nylon rope (Clothes line rope) at about 50 to 100 feet and 2 bags cement. Oh! Don't forget the elbow grease and if you can, a post digger.

We began by figuring out where we wanted it and how far apart the posts should be. It turned out to be about 12 feet apart towards one side of our backyard.
We dug 2 feet deep and placed the first 2 4x4x8's in the ground with cement. While that set and cured, hubby cut the 2nd 4x4x8 in half. This is the top of the T. We even spaced out the eye loop bolts and set them in. He also measured out where the bottom of the T would be on the top part and drilled a small hole through the middle. After the cement set for 24 hours we placed the top part of the T on the bottom and used a lag bolt down the middle for extra support. NOW we have a T, but hubby also cut the 2x4's to finish off the extra support so it kinda looks like a Y also. Keeps the line from tipping to one side or the other. When all is done, you can loop your line through and tie it off. Now you should have a decent clothes line to last for years. We even put waterproofer on ours so we are sure it will last!

Explaining death....

2010-07-31T22:46:00.002-04:00

This was a tough topic a few days ago. Ethan's favorite fish in the whole wide world passed away. It's name was Elmo and he's the blue betta with bright red fins. You should be able to see him in the front, top of the tank.

How do you explain death to a 5 year old, let alone one who has a hard time with abstract concepts? Well, 1st I thought it better that he hear it from me, than waiting for him to ask where's Elmo. I think this because I don't want him to think that we didn't care for Elmo or that Elmo didn't matter. So While playing outside, I ask him to sit with me for a little bit. I had something to tell him. He came off his swing and sat in my lap. I told him, "Elmo's not in the tank anymore." Ethan promptly responds with, "I know mommy. I'm going to call him on my cell phone." The jumps off and climbs his new play area and calls Elmo on his phone. It takes everything I have not to break down in tears. I'm probably over reacting, but I don't know what to expect and passed experience has not been kind to me. I decided to go to the store with the boys and let him pick out lunch and an evening snack for after dinner. After popping his favorite pizza in the oven and promising that fudgicicles are on the agenda for the evening snack, I try again.

Me: Ethan. Let's look for Elmo. Can you find him?
E: No. Where is he? We have to find Elmo!!
Me: Honey. Do you remember that I said that Elmo wasn't in the tank anymore?
E: Yes mommy. Where is Elmo?
Me: Elmo got very sick and he's gone. He died this morning. He's not coming back to the tank.
E: Elmo's sick? He's at the animal hospital!
Me: No baby. He's not coming back. He died.
E: Let's look at the pizza.

I really didn't know what to think. He was sad and even told daddy that Elmo's gone, but I'm still not quite sure he grasps this concept. Every time we pass a vet's office, he says, "Elmo's at the animal hospital." Sometimes I just nod and sigh, while other times I try to remind him that Elmo's not coming back and he died. I definitely took it worse than he did!

Cleveland Zoo!

2010-07-27T15:47:00.004-04:00

You can't go a summer without visiting the Cleveland Zoo. It's so large that to do it properly takes a good 5 hours. Ethan's way would probably take 2 hours. I see the monkeys, OK let's go. I see the lion, ok let's go... And so on. That's including the stop for lunch. Longer if you take in any of the shows. We'll have to do that someday. The elephants come Spring 2011, so we will definitely be going back next year! The boys, especially Ethan, loves the 'big zoo.'

Here is Ethan and Teagan with one of the many artsy dinos! Those things are all over the place. Great picture opportunities. It took 3 tries to get this picture. Needless to say, we didn't pose with any others.

Since I took Ethan on the camel ride last time, I suggested that daddy go with him this time. Ralph thought it quite uncomfortable, but Ethan, like always, loved it. It was very hot that day, but luckily not so humid. We had a very good time.

The boys especially loved the "Dinosaurs" exhibit and at the end you can pose with a dino. That day was an especially long wait as EVERYBODY and their momma just had to have a picture.

By the end of the trip, Teagan fell asleep for a 2nd nap and Ethan was quiet for most the ride home, even when stopping at McDonalds for some nice cold beverages. They did go to bed early that day!

The Optometrist

2010-07-26T09:27:00.002-04:00

On July 1st, Teagan had his 1st optomitrist appointment. It went well. He is developing well and as far as she can tell, he has no issues. He doesn't run into walls or doors as if he can't see so all is good! He was so good and held so still that she was also able to see his retinas and they look very healthy! He loved the chair most!

Ethan on the other hand will need glasses next year. He held still and even did well with the eye drops that dialate your eyes, but he had a hard time reading the little letters and pictures. Since he's still in pre-school and everything is up close, she doesn't want to give a RX for glasses when he may just destroy them. Plus, since we were having trouble determining if it was impatience or whatever the issue, it was hard to get an accurate script. He kept talking about other things and saying, "I'm done mommy." So glasses for Kindergarten!

Akron Zoo

2010-07-22T22:48:00.004-04:00

We've also visited the Akron Zoo this summer. I don't know what it is about penquins, but the boys love them! They spent a good 15 minutes following them swimming. Teagan especially loved watching them!

Both boys had to be dragged away from them to see the other animals!

Teagan loved the climbing wall in the jelly fish aquarium. He tried so hard to get higher, but in this picture, this was as high as he got. Of course Ethan made it to the top several times, but hey, he's been climbing all his life! ;>

We tried to take a leisurely stroll through the zoo and gardens, but neither was having that. It took everything I had just to get T to settle for this pic. The one of Ethan didn't turn out...but we won't talk about that.

Garrettsville Summerfest!

2010-07-21T22:06:00.004-04:00

Towards the end of June, we like to go to Garrettsville's Summerfest. Pappo, Lola, and Auntie usually join us and we ride the rides, enjoy face painting and just have fun tasting all the vending foods! This year, Ethan got his very 1st face painting done. He chose a horsey and although I thought it to be very good, the artist only charged a dollar because she was unhappy with the way it turned out!

The boys also enjoyed a train ride with their daddy. Ralph took them both seperately while tended all our stuff and the stroller. I'm pretty sure Teagan thought this was Thomas. It was a very cute train and a fairly decent ride, but you'd have to ask daddy for details!

Ethan's such a poser! It was a hot, sunny day so the boys both wore hats and sunglasses. I think this was Teagan's 1st outing where he got to walk around too! Lots of good food and excercise that day!

Cartoon Characters!

2010-07-21T08:14:00.004-04:00

In mid June, our local Toys-R-Us had a grand opening to celebrate their combination with Babies-R-Us. It was a huge event with lots of free items, activities and cartoon characters. Ethan absolutely loved posing and meeting them all, while T did not and clung to me like his life depended on it. Here is Ethan enjoying Geoffrey's company. The 1st of many. Iron Man, Yellow Care Bear, Martha, Diego, and some yellow creature I couldn't tell you the name of... Wubbzy or something like that. They came home with a few new toys and hopefully a lot of good memories.

Down Time!

2010-07-19T23:33:00.005-04:00

Summer time also means down time. Time to relax and enjoy our family. When we can, we all try to visit Lola, Pappo & Auntie. Teagan loves their hammock and plays cars and trains on it most the day.

Ethan on the other hand, prefers to swim. Here he is getting his swim on in icy cold water! It was chilly that morning but nothing stops this boy!

Family Day at Pegasus Farms

2010-07-18T23:00:00.005-04:00

We started off summer on the last Saturday in May by going to Pegasus Farms for Family Day. it was great. Both boys loved it. Inflatables everywhere and tons of things to learn about the horses. Both loved riding the training horse, but only Ethan got to ride the real one.

Teagan especially loved the horses. He didn't want to get off the training horse! We all walked everywhere and both boys were totally tuckered out by the end of the day!

Ethan also loved looking at all the tractors and big military vehicles that were on display as part of the day. He got to go in some of the military vehicles and see what was inside. He got to see uniforms and meet some veterans from all branches of the military. I hope this is something he never forgets.

Losing the weight

2010-07-17T22:06:00.002-04:00

Well, but popular demand I have finally sat down and I'm going to write how I've lost the weight. So here's the VERY long story!

1st, you have to have motivation. 'Looking good' is not good enough. Trust me. I know. "I want to look good." "I want to fit in these cute clothes..." Blah, blah, blah. It DOESN'T work. I've said them. I've tried the 'diets.' DON'T WORK! What got me going, you ask. HEALTH. My father's side of the family is riddled with health issues. From high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancers and diabetes. My father was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes this past year. It's not bad enough to warrant pills or injections. He has to lose weight and watch his carb intake. He's doing great. He has lost weight and follows a dietician's orders and his very healthy. I was diagnosed as 'pre-diabetic.' I was told that if I didn't lose weight, coupled with my PCOS, I was going to be diabetic later in life. I thought, "NO WAY! NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!" I know what diabetics go through. I'm not doing it. That was my motivation. You would have thought, "Hey, why not being there for your kids when your older. If your healthy that would help." Nope. I love my children, husband, life, etc... MOTIVATION = Diabetes. So you want to lose weight. What is the motivation that will not only kick you in the butt, but keep you going when times are rough? FIND IT.

2. EXERCISE! I can't say this enough. EXERCISE! Yes, I run around all day chasing the boys. Good cardio. You think lifting 2 heavy boys is weights. Yes, but not enough and not enough of the right muscle groups. Starting Feb. 26, 2010, Ralph & I signed up with a local gym. Fitness Anytime, which is right down the street, is a wonderful little gym that provides almost everything that we could ask for. Everything offered is free to members. Non-members pay a really small fee for classes. I do 30 minute Pilates with a wonderful instructor in a very supportive class, once a week. I also take advantage of their personal trainers, also free to members. I hit the gym 4 - 5 times a week for at LEAST 1 hour. I do the Pilates class to work the core. It's very good. I highly recommend it. I've lost fat and gained lean muscle. I fit in clothes I haven't worn since my 2nd year in college. It's great. Find a place with a personal trainer if you can. Mine is wonderful! She listens to my goals and she encourages me to get there. She gives great advice on how to achieve what I want through good nutrition and a great program. I have gained muscles I never knew I had. My arms are buff! My legs rock! NOW IF I COULD JUST LOSE THE BABY BELLY. It's coming but she keeps reminding me that it can take up to a year before I see results. She's right. 5 months later and I'm just now feeling my muscles in that area. Lots of work, but she helps. I have a routine for my legs, abs, back & biceps, chest & triceps and a cardio routine. EXERCISE!

AND 3. FOOD (a 2 parter!)

YES. FOOD. Part 1 is portion control. Watching the calories. Let me tell you. The stress of watching carbs, fat, etc..... It all goes away if you just watch your calories. LET ME EXPLAIN! Carbs = calories. Fat = calories. BAD/JUNK FOOD = Calories. Good food = less calories and more nutrients. IF YOU EAT HEALTHY, YOU CAN EAT MORE & BE FULL. If you eat bad, then you will be hungry. If you're 30ish, your calorie intake should be about 1800 - 2000 calories per day. I aim for 1500 - 1800 per day. Now that it's summer and I do A WHOLE LOT MORE, I have to aim for 1800- 2000 just so my stomach doesn't rumble.

But what do I eat, you may ask. What changes have I made? Well, part 2 is eating healthier. Here's what I did in the 'food' area. 1st, I kept a journal for a week. Write down everything that passes your lips. Gum = 5 calories. water = 0. EVERYTHING! At the end of the week, look at what you ate and when. I'm a late night snacker. I definitely had to change what I snacked on because I know, I'm going to snack. I can't change that. BE HONEST with yourself. If you want to loose weight, you have to be honest about your habits. Now I never ate 'bad' so to speak, but I could be healthier. So all my white bread consumption is now WHOLE GRAIN! I try to cut as much carbs as I can to an extent. Instead of a sandwhich, I switch to wraps when I can. Less carbs and sometimes less calories. Homemade pizza is wheat flour instead of white. People who ate whole grains lost twice as much weight as those who didn't.

NOT eating out is NOT an option. It's going to happen. Whether it's been a long day and you don't feel like cooking or powers out or whatever the reason, eating out is going to happen. But how can I be healthy? Easy. Do research now, so you don't have to guess or fall into bad food. I went online and downloaded all the fast food joints and restaurants nutrition info. I have them in a folder and I have a few healthy dishes picked out at each place. For example, at McDonalds, I get the Southwest Chicken Salad with grilled chicken and bottle of water. It's good enough without the dressing (which saves calories) and it's only 320 calories and fills me up to dinner! There are some places I now avoid though, because NOT ONE HEALTHY THING is made at these places. EVEN THEIR SALADS ARE HIGH IN CALORIES & SALT! I avoid Taco Bell, Burger King & 5 Guys. I can feel the calories pile on just by thinking about it!

Let me tell you the things that would appaul you if actually read labels like I do. 1 lg blizzard from DQ is about 900+ calories. That is 1/2 of your daily intake. Yes, I do have blizzards, but after working all day and a stint at the gym, then I might treat myself to a blizzard. 1 donut from Dunkin' Donuts (simple glazed with chocolate) is about 250 calories. This list is very long.

Here's some good news. 1 cup shredded lettuce, 1/2 cup julliene carrots, 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, a few cukes you have yourself a 50 calorie salad. Add 1/2 cup shredded cheddar, add 100 calories. 1 boiled egg add 70. Now you have a very nutrious meal for only 220 calories. You have to add 2 TBS of dressing, but only you know the calorie count on that.

Now, if you have any questions, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to answer them.
Let me end with a typical menu for me during the week.

1 Multi-vitamin every day & 1 folic acid supplement

Breakfast: 1 egg white scrambled, 1 slice cheese, 1 tortilla, & 1/2 an Avocado. Yep. Wrap 'em. 320 Calories. (Variation: Exchange avocado for fresh spinach and you're down to 250 calories)

Lunch: Salad with raspberry vinegarette about 100 calories, 1 serving cottage cheese with fruit topping, 150.

Afternoon snack : A fruit & 1 glass milk

Dinner : BBQ Chicken Breast ( about 7 oz, no skin), Corn on the cob, & fruit. (Calories depend on BBQ sauce, and fruit, and butter for corn.)

About 1400 for the day and a little room for a snack in the evening!

Need to update more often!

2010-06-11T23:02:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been crazy busy here, but what else is new? Ethan started and finished his spring soccer and loved it. He listened to the coach better and didn't run off the field nearly as much as he did the 1st time. He didn't hit or bite anyone, but he still loves to hug some of the girls. Go figure. Already into girls. He's doing well in school, but still behind. He will be attending summer school to help with his social issues and to continue to follow up with his speech. They are worried about some regression and with this being his last time in pre-school, they (and us) would really like him ready for kindergarten in 2011 - 2012 school year. Kindergarten already. My where has the time gone?

Teagan is doing well also, but he too, has a speech delay. He's still light years ahead of where Ethan was at this time, but still behind most of his peers. He's 20 months and only really says "daddy" without prompting. Everything else he says is due to prompting. Physically he's a weed. He's our garbage disposal. He EATS EVERYTHING! He's tall and skinny though, so I hope the food is for that growth spurt that never stops! Fully in 24 month clothes and flirts with 2t. Definitely 2T by fall!

Ralph and I keep busy with them, but we're doing well also. Can't complain. Normal mommy/daddy things right now. Now that it's summer we got the garden in and can't wait to harvest. Sugar snap peas, cucumber, 3 black eggplants and 1 white eggplant, 1 pink tomato, at least 1 yellow tomato, and 8 red tomatoes of various breeds. Tomato sauce, salsa, and other yummies!

Help Me Grow Diaper Drive

2010-05-24T14:55:00.003-04:00

Well, it has begun! I finally got all the tax receipts I need to give people and corporate donors so they can donate to their hearts content and write it off! That should make getting donations much, much easier. Now the hardest part. Solicitating. I hate asking for things, but anything to help all those babies! Please read on for a general overview of the flier I've made and PLEASE consider making a donation yourself. No amount is too small! What I didn't include below is that I am willing to pick up your donations. Feel free to contact me via, response to this post, or if you know my info, me personally, and I will arrange a pick up date and time! PLEASE contact your friends, family and co-workers and ask for a donation too! This is for all those families and babies!!
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Help Me Grow Diaper Drive
June 1 - 26th 2010

Did you know that 90% of children in poverty have to stay in 1 diaper all day?

Did you know that there is no federally funded program to help provide diapers to those in poverty or with a medical necessity (those who cannot be potty trained) like severe Cerebral Palsy?

WIC does NOT cover diapers. WIC only covers food and other nutritional items, such as formula, to women and children from birth to 5yrs.

Medicare & Medicaid have only just begun to cover adult diapers. They DO NOT cover diapers for babies & children. Even if the child needs them for the rest of their life, it is NOT covered.

Please help these children by donating a pack of NEW, UNUSED diapers to this drive. (Size 2 & up preferred) All diapers and proceeds will go to Portage County Help Me Grow who will distribute these gifts to families in need.

Drop Off Locations :

Fitness Anytime (By Main Desk)
320 East Main Street, Suite 2B
Ravenna, OH 44266
(330)297 - 7218
Hours 10AM - 6PM

Help Me Grow
705 Oakwood Street
Ravenna, OH 44266
(330) 298-4545
Hours 10AM - 4PM

LOCATION : To Be Announced
JUNE 26th
10am - 2pm

The Family

2010-05-20T11:01:00.004-04:00

Well, it's been a busy month and still going! On the 14th I was able to pick up our annual family portraits and they turned out great. Of course I hate my hair, but what woman really likes all her pictures?

The boys loved posing and we had no problems getting really great pictures. I can't wait to send them out to our extended family and friends. I've just been so crazy busy that they are just sitting in our room right now, needing separating and cut. Now the hard part of choosing what will go into X-Mas cards in the winter..

Today is a good day....

2010-05-06T11:00:00.002-04:00

Today is a good day. A day for learning, especially. Today I had to explain to my oldest son why his favorite student teacher (in the whole wide world) would not be at school anymore. It was hard as he got upset and said, "No mommy. Ms. Gustwiller will be at school." And to keep telling him only for today was hard. We put together a boquet of flowers and made a card with butterflies on it and he was very happy to give it to her. I am unsure if he really understands, but we will see.

On other fronts, the boys are doing well. Ethan's speech is progressing quite rapidly and speech wise is almost caught up with kids his own age. Now to work on the social aspects of speech. He's very behind socially, due to delayed speech so it is a good thing we decided to hold him back for one more year of preschool.

Teagan is doing well also. We are concerned about an abnormally shaped bump on the back of his head and his delayed speech. Speech wise he's light years better than Ethan was at this age, but he is behind his age group by a few months. It's enough that he qualifies for special services and we begin with monthly visits until October. When he turns 2, he will be able to attend Happy Day School and get more therapy and social interaction with other kids his age. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult as we've been through this with Ethan!

All in all, Ralph and I are good. We both are fixing up the house or garden in our spare time. We both joined a local gym that is FABULOUS and are working hard at eating right and getting fit. I've lost 20lbs in 10 weeks and am feeling great. I'm finally in clothes that I haven't been able to wear since getting preg with Ethan! Well, time to wrap this up and I hope all is well with everyone!

Have a great day!!

Going to the park!

2010-04-18T08:46:00.003-04:00

When the weather's nice, we love taking the boys to Ravenna's new public park. It's fantastic, with artificial grass and wooden play sets that look like cities, cars, castles, etc. It's huge.

Teagan is in the 'infant' section. They have 3 sand boxes and a lot of climbing for little guys. He absoluetly loved the jeep and rainbow bridge the most. It was hard to coax him to try something new, like the bells they just put in. They have a set of bells and a hammer to make music outside. Sounds wonderful, like louder wind chimes. Can't wait till the next great day.

There are two sides to every story...

2010-04-15T08:25:00.001-04:00

There are two sides to every story...

For all you Twilight junkies out there, this is about Bree Tanner in the 3rd book. If you're a fan, you know whom I'm speaking about!

Happy Babies!

2010-04-14T14:41:00.003-04:00

Both boys are happy and doing well. As you can tell by Teagan's expression in this picture!

Well, I know it's been a while since my last update and there's been a lot of news. Ethan had his 1st homework assignment ever.

As you can see in this 2nd picture, Ethan is doing his homework! YAY! He was to cut a shamrock out of green paper. He did a very good job all by himself! He only asked for help one time and it was when the paper twists and gets all funky in the blades.

Let's see. Ethan also turned 5 on April 2nd! He's growing to be such a big boy. At his 5 year well check yesterday he was 44.5 LBS and 43 inches tall. He's in the 50% of all boys his age. Developing great!

Teagan is doing well also. His 18 Month well check is at the end of the month so more news then. I also discovered that Tea does NOT like bike rides. He will cry and scream almost the whole way. It is quite difficult to enjoy this sport with him. Anyways, more new later as both boys need me now!

Leap Frog Customer Service vs. Me & broken didj

2010-04-12T18:22:00.003-04:00

So my oldest son, Ethan, turned 5 on April 2nd. We had his party April 3rd. It was great and he was so happy when he finally opened his last gift, from us, and it was a didj. It's a hand held gaming system modeled after psp and Nintendo DS for those who don't know what it is. But instead of the hefty cost and mindless games, I was able to find this $70 system for $30 off EBay and the games are learning games. Puzzles, quizzes, math, spelling, grammer, etc... It was brand new and still in an unopened box. With the money I saved, we got him 2 cartridges for the system so he could have some variety.

Fast forward to 3 days ago. Less than a week and the system has decided to quit working right. It won't/can't read the cartridges. Now, I'm not a computer geek like hubby, but I'm not illiterate either. I know how a computer works, how to work it, and such. I could not understand why it didn't work. We made sure the batteries were new, connections cleaned, cartridges cleaned and everything else in good working order. Nothing worked. Nada. I broke down today and called customer service.

1st, I was put on hold for 20 minutes just to wait for a representative to talk to.
2nd. I finally got to talk to a guy (foreign & barely understandable) and explained what was going on and the time frame. Talked me through everything I already did (I know he has a script to follow) and then finally said, "You HAVE to hook it up to the computer and update the software. After that, take the cartridge and insert it and remove it 10 times." I rolled my eyes and said, "OK." Then he said he'd give me a reference number so if I had to call back, they would already have my info ready. I said, "OK." Took down the reference number then told him I had a question. He said, "Oh, ok. What is it?" I said, very politely mind you, "I don't have a Mac and I don't run windows on my computer. How do I hook the didj up to update the software?"

((NOW! Here is where my headache begins!))

Rep: Well it says on the box, you need a mac or windows to update. What do you use?
Me: Ubuntu. It's linux based. I hate windows.
Rep: I don't think we support that. Let me check. Can you hold?
Me: Sure.
(about a minute later)
Rep: Ma'am? We don't support that. You need Mac or Windows.
Me: I kinda knew that, but since I don't have either what should I do?
Rep: You could go to a friend or relatives. Maybe the library.
Me: Our library don't allow downloads and my nearest friend or relative is a 30 minute drive.
Rep: Oh. Well, you need Mac or Windows.
Me: OK. Well, why does it NEED to hook up to the internet to work?
Rep: It needs to update software.
Me: Why? It was working before. Then it quit.
Rep: You need to go to a friends or relatives that have a mac or windows to update.

By now it's been about 10 minutes and we go round and round in circles because he can't tell me why it stopped working, when it was working fine, and WHY I HAVE to hook up to the internet.

Then I asked to speak to his supervisor. He wasn't going to transfer me, and kept saying that she would tell me the same thing he just said. I said, "If you don't transfer me, I will put you on my "hate people" list and will have to contact my lawyer. Will you transfer me now or do I call my lawyer?" He asked me to hold and 30 seconds later I was talking with the manager. OH! Wait! It gets better!!

I have now been on the phone for a good 30-40 minutes from the time I dialed to the time I got to the manager, who, of course, put me through the same paces as the male representitive. Here, I inform her that I have also read the box throughly and no where does it state that I NEED the internet to make it work. After that, she informs me that it clearly states on the box what the computer requirements are. I inform her that those are great, but I don't WANT to connect to the internet. I wanted to know why I HAD to connect to the internet. (Somewhere in this dibocle I got her name and ID number)

Manager: It states clearly on the box, "Latest game system that can connect to the internet."
Me: "CAN" meaning, if you want you can. I want to know why I "HAVE" to as in MANDATORY!
Manager: The box clearly states that windows or mac are required to connect to the didj.
Me: I understand the computer requirements. Those are there so IF you WANT to connect up, you know what you need to do so. I want to know why I HAVE to connect to make this didj work. Why is it MANDATORY? (yes, I emphasized each bolded word)
Manager: Leap frog has upheld it's responsibility and stated requirements up front.
Me: NO YOU HAVEN'T. No where on the box does it state that you HAVE to have it hooked up to the internet to work. No where on the box does it state it is MANDATORY to download anything to make the system work.
Manager: Ummm... It states clearly you need mac or windows.

Anyways, just picture another 5 minutes of this tail-chasing circle...

Me: Why did you go back to requirements? I'm asking a different question. I want to know why it is mandatory to hook up to the internet? If I had known it was mandatory, I would not have gotten this for my son.
Manager: Leap frog is not responsible for you not reading the box...

I really wouldn't know how she finished because I hung up on her.

After posting how much I hate Leap Frog on FB, I asked hubby to download the programs needed to update this didj and made the 30 minute trek to my parents house. They have a windows computer and I did everything I had to do on their computer then made a 30 minute trek back home. All the while with 2 very tired and cranky boys.

Needless to say, I am not in a good mood. Leap frog's customer service is the WORST I have ever come across. They couldn't even do an exchange for me because I haven't downloaded the software and I didn't buy it from them. I WILL NEVER BUY LEAP FROG AGAIN! I am also going to go through my children's toys tonight and any leap frog toy will be gone by morning.

I want to contact a lawyer and sue. Not for money or time lost doing this, but because they are decietful and manipulative. False adverstising.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!!

2010-03-18T15:57:00.003-04:00

So I'm a day late... Sue me. We always enjoy St. Patrick's day. All wear green and we eat corned beef with cabbage for dinner. Yesterday was Help Me Grow's Mommy Spa Day and they treated all the mom's to 2 spa activities. I had a mani and pedi and loved it! I also got a chance to wear fuzzy ears and when I got home, of course, they were no longer mine.

All is well here. Expect more updates soon!

New Hair Cut!

2010-03-11T11:27:00.003-05:00

Guess who got their hair cut for the 1st time?! Yep. Our littlest one finally got his hair cut. I just up and took him to Famous Hair round the corner from our house before I could back down. Walked in and gave them his name and stated it's his first.

It was great because they filled out a certificate for him and taped some hair to it for us. They also put some in a bag so I could put it in his baby book. He's growing so fast! Where has the time gone?!!!

This picture is my favorite. It's like he just realized what happened and thinks, "WTF?!"

Super Jump!

2010-03-05T09:27:00.003-05:00

We went to Chapel Hill Mall the last weekend to do some shopping and Ethan just had to try out the super jumpy thing. You get strapped to bungee cords and jump on a trampoline. He barely made the weight requirement.

He loved watching everyone jump but when he finally got strapped in and they tightened the cords, you can see the uncertainty in his face. We only paid for 3 minutes and glad we did because he kept saying he was done after the 1st minute. We tried our best to encourage him and help him jump by jumping on the sidelines, but as soon as the 3 minutes were up, he was really done. He hasn't asked to get back on, but we'll see. Here's our little adventurer!

Teagan the Destroyer!

2010-02-26T15:13:00.002-05:00

This is my little destroyer. He had killed magnets, playing cards (see picture #1), puzzle pieces, books and even tried to kill the computer! He's even happy about it.

We, on the other hand, are not so pleased. I caught him dancing on the computer table a few times and tries to scale the stairs from the banister. He's tried to climb our brick wall like a mountaineer too. I've had 1 too many head aches caused by this one alone!

Snack Time!

2010-02-17T13:54:00.005-05:00

Afternoon snack time is the best part of the day. Both are energized from nap and want to eat anything I put in front of them. Gotta love nap-hair!

Teagan seems to be doing a tribute of Al from Home Improvement here. He's so silly!

Trouble

2010-02-12T12:55:00.004-05:00

My lovely, wonderful boys.... Most of the time they are both really good. Complete with manners and enthusiasm. But...
When they are bad, they are really, really bad. We put Ethan in the corner when he got to the count of 3 one time, and so Teagan thought he should join him... Isn't that sweet?!

The Day After Tomorrow...

2010-02-11T09:42:00.005-05:00

Sometimes, when the snow never ends... I feel like it is the end of the world... Then a beautiful sunny day appears.... We go sledding!

Here is Teagan enjoying the snow.
Ethan's second run got him really tired. There are no lifts here to bring you back to the top of the hill so hiking it up is a great work out.

We took turns going down the hill with Ethan. Teagan didn't like it last time, so we played with him in the snow while Ethan learned to slide down the hill on his belly and butt. We had fun on Daffodil hill!

The Artist

2010-02-11T09:36:00.005-05:00

Well, Ethan got a hold of my camera the other day while I was tending to Teagan. Here is some of the pictures he took that cracked me up. I call him, "The Artist." He's actually not that bad a shot. Only 1 picture had his thumb or finger in it. I really couldn't tell.
I love this close up shot of his face. You really see the blue in his eyes. Although, I think he was going for his nose!

I love the foot view. His too big socks are a must on a non-school day while watching 1, 2, 3 Penguins.

Another close up of a laughing Ethan. It justs makes you laugh!

Fun with Play-Doh

2010-02-08T13:22:00.003-05:00

Before the big snow, hubby and Ethan played with play-doh before bed. They made super hero masks and this is one that Ethan made. WOW! He's really green! Isn't play-doh fun!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2010-02-01T23:08:00.009-05:00

Well, today was my birthday! YAY! It kinda sucked.... Boo! Buy yesterday was a blast. My gift from hubby and myself was a day on the slopes. It was originally going to be snowboarding, but due to the cost, it turned into snow tubing! It was so much fun that next year is definitely snow tubing!

So my 1st time at Brandywine and I'm estatic. The first picture is me going up their lift. It was kinda like a flat escalator.

The 2nd picture is my taking my 1st tube ride. Wow! How fun! I went down the short straight away first, but then progressed to the big hills.

The 3rd picture is the big hills, with big bumps! You go really, really fast on those!
Here is a picture of hubby being funny. He thinks he's the great explorer who found the big hills!

And we topped off the day with a DQ ice cream cake with the kids. It was great and I can't wait to do it again... snowboarding!

15 Months already!

2010-01-28T10:37:00.002-05:00

Well, guess who's 15 months old? Yep! Teagan is now 15 months old. Where has the time gone? He's had his 15 month well check and he's 25 LBS and 12.36 oz. He's also 32.48 inches tall and his head is 19.1 inches around. Basically, he's in the 75th percentile for everything!

He's also growing like a weed! He is my fearless explorer. He will climb, jump, traverse anything to get what he wants in order to satisfy his curiosity. He's also flirting with 24 month size clothes. His growth spurts are huge when they come. He's also super strong. He loves to swim, so maybe he'll be the swimmer in the family! We'll see!

Daddy & The Boys

2010-01-20T19:42:00.002-05:00

I need some estrogen up in here. Look at them. Just lounging around. Someone pretending to be asleep so they wouldn't have to look and smile at the camera. Wish I could do that.

Snow Play!

2010-01-19T07:23:00.003-05:00

Well, last week or so, we finally got the snow I wanted for Christmas day. We took the kids to KSU on Daffodil hill and went sledding for the first time. Ethan had a blast. Slide down and climb back up and at the bottom was always a, "Do it again mom."

Teagan on the otherhand was NOT so enthusiastic. He was very content to be held or sit in the snow. I sat on the sled and had him in my lap facing me and he hated it. SCREAMED the whole way. I was kinda cold out.

Overall, we all had a blast. We were only there 30 minutes or so, but it was a very fun and active time. We went to Guacamoles in Kent afterward for a very warm and great tasting dinner. It was our 1st time there and we loved it. Very clean, very tasty and very friendly. They seem to be family owned. I would rate it at decently priced and 4 out of 5 stars. WORTH IT!

Ethan Singing!

2009-12-29T12:25:00.004-05:00

This is our little man singing away and loving it. The first should be "Row, Row, Row your Boat."
It should go something like this:

Row, Row, Row yours boat.
Row, Row, Row yours boat.
Gently down the lane.
Money, money, money, money.
Let the spider dream.

The 2nd is "Skiddamarink, A Dink A Dink." I think this one is pretty clear to hear.

The 3rd is "Mango Tree." I'm not sure what the real song is, but he came home from school singing it. It goes something like this:

I climb the mango tree.
All the Mangoes fall on me.
Mango pudding, Mango Pie.
Did you ever tell a lie?
Maybe yes, maybe no, maybe yes, I DON'T KNOW!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-25T06:38:00.002-05:00

Well, here is a picture of Teagan enjoying a remote with his new best friend, MONKEY. It was one of his gifts from someone who gave him money. He picked MONKEY out himself.

.
Here is a picture of Ethan enjoying the remains of our red velvet cake batter off of the spatula and bowl it was mixed in. Yes, it does look like he's a blood sucker, but no, just red velvet cake. It was made into cup cakes for a school party.

Christmas eve was nice. We had the mother-in-law and younger brother-in-law over for Christmas Eve dinner. Turkey, stuffing, fresh cranberry sauce, cheesy potatoes and the works! We were full of food.

We also had a nice time watching the kids open their gifts. They sure add up when you buy one at a time throughout the year. Santa was especially nice. 4 DVD's, 1 CD, a ton of books, 2 board games, clothes, and probably some misc. stuff I've forgotten to mention.... All for the kids!

Santa?

2009-12-22T21:20:00.006-05:00

OK. I know my scanner, scans a little dark, but bare with me. Now... here we have 2 Santa's. The first one is what I consider a 'bad' Santa. Let's take a look why.

First, Ethan wanted nothing to do with him. A child's instinct is always true. Hmmm, makes you wonder why a child who couldn't wait to see Santa, all the sudden did not want anything to do with him. Second, his beard doesn't cover anything but his mouth and you can see the string. WTF? Third, he couldn't be bothered with a white wig. His really dark hair was apparently good enough.

With the 2nd Santa, this is what I call a 'good' Santa. Wig and no real hair showing, check. Cool looking beard and hairy lip, check. Ethan couldn't wait to see him and sit with him, double check. His suit was better too! Couldn't tell it was padded! And just for good measure that this is a cool Santa, I even have Teagan's picture up too!

Santa Claus

2009-11-29T23:06:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again... Christmas. Teagan had his first encounter with Santa at Chapel Hill Mall. We sprung for those (WAY TO EXPENSIVE) mall pictures with Santa. This is what we got. It was pretty nice. Both kids were NOT crying. I was happy. Teagan didn't really know what was going on and Ethan kept saying he wanted an Etch-a-sketch. Lovely.

Overall, the season is in full swing here. The day after Thanksgiving, we went out and got a tree. It is now up and decorated in our living room. It's way to big, but hey, it's only once a year. It never looks so big when we're picking it out. Of course all the decorations are on the top part of the tree as we teach Teagan they are not toys. All of the ornaments that are breakable are at the very top of the tree and the non-breakables are in the middle. A fairy (our angel) is at the top of the tree this year and looks great. I'll have to take a picture!

How Awful.....

2009-11-27T07:36:00.002-05:00

Here is our oldest one's school pictures. We've had them only about 2 weeks so they are still so brand new to me. I hate our scanner as everything scans dark, but a new one doesn't look to be in our immediate forcast, so this will have to do. I love the pose. Hubby asked, "What is he? A GAP model?" I didn't even realize I put on that sweatshirt on him. I was just looking to put a nice, but comfortable outfit on him. I guess I could of put on a nice long sleeve collar shirt and sweater vest, but I didn't want to hear hubby nag on me for being all preppy! So, Ethan's a GAP model. He looks really good to me!

On other news, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I cooked our wonderful dinner on Thursday. It WAS really good. Unfortunately, since I had oral surgery on Tuesday, I really couldn't eat what I wanted. It's still hard to chew things, but I'm not starving. Our picky one (Ethan) insisted he didn't want turkey. "NO TURKEY MOMMY!!!" and our youngest ate everything. Go figure!

At Lola & Pappo's we had their wonderful dinner and made sure Ethan had NO TURKEY! They bought the game "Operation." Ethan loved it, but wanted to play a new game after awhile. We found our old game, "Shark Attack." Since it was so old, Pappo had to fix it... a few times... Anyways, we thought we had it fixed and put the whole game together and prepped for play when all of the sudden, it didn't work. I turned to Ethan and said, "Let's go watch daddy play Mario Cart. Pappo needs to fix the shark some more." Ethan, promptly without missing a beat, says, "How awful." I couldn't stop laughing. It was the cutest thing ever. The best part was the sad look and slow turn to go watch daddy because the shark was broken. ~*HOW AWFUL*~

Our Trick - or - Treaters!

2009-11-17T21:36:00.003-05:00

I know it's almost Thanksgiving, but in an effort to catch up on my posts, we can't skip Halloween! Ethan was our doctor and Teagan was a panda.

I was able to make Ethan's scrubs and we acquired a REAL surgeons cap from Akron Children's hospital while we were there for T's surgery and kept it. With a white turtle neck and his doctor kit, he was ready for action.

A very nice family from K/R freecycle gave us the cute panda costume! I love looking at the pictures of T's behind. There is a cute black tail that wiggles back and forth when he walked. Of course they got distracted when I took the first picture, so daddy stepped in to give me a little hand. After about 3 takes, I gave up on this 4th one. At least they are all looking at the camera at the same time here.
Teagan fell asleep in the stroller after the first 30 minutes, but Ethan lasted and really made out this year. I had to hide the candy at first, but not from Ethan. I had to hide it from daddy! :>

Guess who's 1!

2009-11-13T15:48:00.005-05:00

It's been so crazy busy here that I kept forgetting to update. Our youngest turned 1! I can't believe how fast he's growing. Our non-stop eater. We had his party at Hattie Larlham's play center and everything was fab. The kids had someplace wonderful to play and the adults could talk in peace. We had tons of food and drinks and the cake was delicious!

It was a Baby Einstein theme. I was a little disappointed in Hattie though. They claimed there would be someone there to help decorate and clean up and there wasn't. They also said that they would provide balloons and they did. 3. Only 3. There were 5 kids. And they didn't even match. They also said that they would call and ask how everything went and they haven't yet. I will be calling next week.

Overall it was a great 1st birthday. Tons of friends came and all of the family. I hope it will be one T comes to charish.

OH NO!

2009-10-18T20:52:00.001-04:00

Guess who got caught trying to "fix" his toy. Nothing was wrong with it. He just loves taking everything apart and putting it all back together again. I don't mind, except, little brother might eat the small pieces. Our little genius at work.

Pappo!

2009-10-06T09:23:00.001-04:00

Here's our bambino playing with Pappo! He had so much fun that day. Pappo loved the neck warmer! I can't believe he's almost 1!

End of the Soccer Season!

2009-10-04T13:51:00.003-04:00

Can you find my little man. He happens to be the only one with his eyes closed. Did you also notice that daddy was one of the assistant coaches this time? Doesn't he look spiffy in his uniform?

So there is only one more game in the season. I can't believe it's over. Our little man made it and we survived. I think we may do this again next year. He loved it and always requested to go to 'soccer ball school.' He's learning to be a team player and interacting with the other kids more. He's not off playing by himself which is great. The Dolphins did really great. I really don't know their win-lose record, but that's not what it's all about. We really enjoyed watching the game and the kids. It really CAN be fun without the score!

Growing up...

2009-09-30T09:29:00.000-04:00

Here is our youngest, saying hello to everyone who passes by. He loves watching for his big brother to get off the bus in the afternoon and he loves to watch the birds and squirrels. He's a very personable child.

He's also going to be one year old soon and we've been busy planning his party and getting invitations written. They should go out soon! He's just growing up so fast!

Kent State University

2009-09-29T22:05:00.003-04:00

A while back we took the kids to Kent State University to walk off energy and to see the sites. Ethan had a blast. Here are some pictures we took by Merril Hall.
We had to take some pics by all the books since Ethan loves to read as much as mommy!

Ethan just had to pose next to his little brother too. Both decided to watch daddy look at a brain while mommy tried to take the picture. Go figure!

Ethan is on top of everything. He's very smart, that one. Just so much brains for my little guy!

Ethan's 20inch Spiderman Bike

2009-09-08T14:16:00.003-04:00

Well, Saturday we worked on bike riding with Ethan. Unfortunately, the bike we got him for his 4th birthday is now way small! He's gone through such a growth spurt this year that he out grew his 12 inch Thomas bike and is now on a 20 in bike (shown here)! It's a little big for him, so hopefully it will be perfect next spring! We got it from freecycle and it only needed a new innertube, peddles, and training wheels. We saved a ton of cash. This bike would have been $80 brand new, but thanks to a very generous giver, some elbow grease and a total of $15.00 we fixed it up brand new! Ethan loves it and rode all the way to the playground and back!

Family on Friday!

2009-09-06T22:15:00.005-04:00

On Friday, Ralph took the day off so we could visit with his older brother and his wife. Teagan finally got to meet Uncle Charlie and Aunt Dani. Both kids had a blast.

Teagan loved Uncle Charlie and Aunt Dani. He hardly cried actually. Usually he would wail, but I think as long as I reassured him I was around he was great. It was unusually warm that afternoon so the kids got one more chance to wear their CUTE summer clothes!

Ethan loved playing with Uncle Charlie. Always, "I want to fly, please." Uncle Charlie would lift him high in the air and Ethan would fly like a plane. Poor Uncle Charlie. I'm pretty sure he had a great workout that afternoon!

1st Day of School

2009-09-03T11:02:00.002-04:00

Here is my little man all ready for school. He's got his back pack on and he's diligently waiting for the bus. He was completely excited this morning, but crying his head off yesterday. He didn't want to go, but they he realized he could ride the bus! THE BUS! That makes all the difference!

And here he is on Monday getting his hair cut for this special event! This is the first time he had sat at "The Salon" to get his hair cut. He was NOT HAPPY! I had to promise a popsicle and a lollipop! We'll see how the day went when he gets home....

1st Soccer Game

2009-08-26T21:07:00.004-04:00

Sunday, August 23rd, was Ethan's 1st soccer game. Here's my little man in his uniform (T-Shirt) with mouth guard, shin guards and cleats. I predicted a disaster and we got something close to it.

I don't think he kicked the ball once, but that's ok. What got me upset was he insisted on hugging and pushing his teammates. They really don't appreciate it. He pushed this one little girl and she looked at him and screamed, "THAT'S NOT NICE!" I don't blame her. It wasn't. Yet, even though we've talked to him about it and given him time outs, what are we to do during the game?

But he is the blue Dolphin #3. Right in the middle, looking like he's going to push somebody on the maroon team. My little man in action!

Cleveland Zoo (aka The Big Zoo)

2009-08-25T21:49:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, we took the kids to the Cleveland Zoo. Also known as "THE BIG ZOO!" It took us roughly 6 hours to get through. We arrived a little before 11am and didn't head off in the van until 5 that evening. We accomplished a lot off of Ethan's summer 'to-do' list and riding a camel was one of them. After studiously research where this could be done, by the grace of all that's holy, there was an article about the Cleveland Zoo and how they were doing camel rides this year! For $4.00 each, I got to take Ethan on his beloved camel! Another thing on his 'must-do list'... Ride a dinosaur! Boy does he love dinos. Now we got pictures to prove he did it!

We spent an extra $1.00 each to see their "Dinosaurs!" exhibit. It was worth it. Dinos that move, spit water, roar and more. All with a picture moment at the end.

All in all, it was a great day and even Teagan had a blast. We had a picnic lunch and a snack later that day. My feet still hurt, but worth it! We had some great pictures, learned a lot and had so great family time together!

West Branch State Park (aka The Beach)

2009-08-19T22:18:00.004-04:00

Since Sunday was so hot, we decided to go to West Branch State Park for the afternoon. It was our 1st time their and the boys 1st time at a beach. They LOVED IT!!!

Ethan just couldn't wait to jump into the water! It was hard to get him to hold still for the picture. It went like this. "Let's put on some sunscreen." "Jump in water!" "Hold on! I have to get Teagan dressed." 5 minutes later... "Jump in water!" "Hold on I have to put sunscreen on Teagan." 2 minutes later... "Jump in WATER!" "We have to wait for daddy!" 30 seconds later... "Daddy's in water. Let's GO!"

Well, daddy wasn't in the water and the poor boy had a time out just so I could get a hat on Teagan and sunscreen on myself. Anyways, it was a great afternoon!

The water was cool and refreshing. Not very crowded and Ethan was nice and worn out by the time we got home. It was only a 10 minute drive, but he was almost asleep! Teagan loved it too, but preferred to stay by the shore where he could stand and play himself.

The Red Park

2009-08-18T21:12:00.002-04:00

Stow built this awesome community park right off of Fishcreek Road and Ethan calls it the "Red" park. Well, it is red and white. Anyways, he has a blast at this park. Everytime we take one of our vehicles to be serviced, (oil change, brakes need fixed, etc...) we stop at this park for awhile to pass the time. It really is a challenge for him, but he never passes on a challenge!

In other news, Teagan loves to feed himself and prides himself on a job well done. He loves solids and almost always yells at me when I try purees. He loves yogurt and tollerates apple sauce, but anything else is a challenge! It must be diced food or else!