Cousins- This one is for you LIZ..(Mindy too!)

These are some shots of me with my cousins when we were little.

I had to add this one, because it just made me laugh :)
Happy WW!

High School MeMe

I got this meme from Stayllo and I love me a meme, so I thought I would do it too!

1.Who was your best friend? Heidi, but I had a lot of really good, close friends. I had a good group
2. Did you play any sports? I tried out for softball sophomore year to be with my friends, they made varsity, I made JV- so I quit. I did soccer my junior year for awhile, but had to work so I could buy my first car.
3. What kind of car did you drive? 1984 Dodge Aries
4. It’s Friday night. Where were you? Freshman & Sophomore years at the Football game, Junior and Senior out with my boyfriend
5. Were you a party animal? There were some crazy nights in high school.
6. Were you considered a flirt? yes, I was a bit boy crazy
7. Were you in the band, orchestra or choir? No.
8. Were you a nerd? In High school I was pretty middle ground, I was friends with a lot of different people.
9. Were you ever suspended or expelled? Freshman year I skipped school too much and was late a lot. So I had two back to back in school suspensions. One for absent days and one for tardies :(
10. Can you sing the fight song? Sure Can't
11. Who was your favorite teacher? Mr,. Opelt He was the health teacher, but also most of my friends homeroom teacher, He was soo cool.
12. What was your school mascot? We were the Blue Streaks, but we had like a polar bear - Streaky Bear I think...
13. Did you go to the Prom? Yes
14. If you could go back, would you? NEVER!
15. What do you remember most about graduation? It was sooo hot and I almost fainted. Long ceremony. Couldn't wait for it to end.
16. Where were you on Senior Skip Day? With my friends, just hanging out
17. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes I worked at Best Products in the mall. I was a head cashier, and also did returns and order desk.
18. Where did you go most often for lunch? cafeteria
19. Have you gained weight since then? 5 lbs and that was since I had baby #3
20. What did you do after graduation? Directly after the ceremony or like my whole life? hee, hee. Went to dinner with my Grandparents and brother
21. What year did you graduate? 1993
22. Who was your Senior Prom Date? My HS boyfriend who was 5 yrs older than me. Looking back a 23 yr old at the prom is a little creepy.....
23. Are you going/did you go to your 10 year reunion? I had planned on it, but everyone I know from hs wasn't going and I already know what all my friends are up to still, so no need to spend the evening with people I couldn't wait to get away from, right? Maybe I'll go to like a 25 yr or something, who knows.

Menu Plan Monday and a Movie Review too!

We had some yummy food this weekend. mmm mmm Bill made Fajitas last night and they were perfect! So this is our menu this week. hope you are all enjoying your summer. August starts this week- I cannot believe it!

Monday: Beef and Broccoli
Tuesday: Fried Chicken - MIL cooking, not sure what else she is planning
Wednesday: Ravioli Bake, salad
Thursday: Sausage, Beef rice and carrots - Ethan's fave meal
Friday: Chicken and Potato bake, mixed veggies
Saturday: Burgers on the grill, pasta salad, veggies and dip
Sunday: BBQ Ribs on the grill, corn on the cob

I have posted links to a couple recipes that are new ones. I pulled them from an older Kraft Food and Family book. Have a great week. Be sure to check out Laura's blog too!

Movie Review:
I just had to add this too. I watch movies more than I watch TV. But I have to honestly say, I haven't been affected by a movie, or gotten into one in awhile. This one I couldn't get out of my head after I watched it. Of course losing my mother at a young age, there is a scene where the daughters are asking mommy where daddy is that made me quite emotional... Anyways, Great movie. Kept me interested and wondering how all the pieces fit together. Highly recommend it. Although, I tried to get it at Blockbuster for like 3 weeks now. All 30 copies have been out. I finally got it on Blockbuster Online.

Here is the movie description:
Devastated upon receiving the news that her husband has been killed in a tragic car accident, a woman wakes up to find him still very much alive as she begins to slip into a confusing world where the past and the future become increasingly difficult to distinguish. Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) was an average housewife with a loving family, but when a policeman comes knocking on her door with news that her husband, Jim (Julian McMahon), was involved in a fatal car accident, Linda's world slowly begins to unravel. While her grief is at first overwhelming, Linda assumes that the whole thing was nothing more than a vivid dream when she wakes to find her family still very much intact. With each passing day, however, Linda's reality shifts and her circumstances grow increasingly surreal; one day Jim is dead and the next he is right there by her side. As her investigation leaves her convinced that her husband's death wasn't a dream and that her picture-perfect life may not have been quite as flawless as she thought, Linda embarks on a mind-bending journey to prevent her grim premonition from becoming a reality. Now, in order to save the man she loves, Linda will have to piece together a perplexing mystery that seems to span two separate planes of reality. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Running Time: 96 mins

My nephew Jude

This is me with my fave little nephew Jude. I have a few nieces and nephews (3 nieces, and 3 nephews actually) but Jude is the only one I truly can claim is mine. Sounds mean probably, but he is the only one from my side and I just feel the closest to him. He is really growing up and changing this summer. He is starting kindergarten this fall and is so excited to talk about it :)It's an unfortunate situation, my brother hasn't been in the picture since he was around 2 (He just turned 5) but luckily I am good friends with his mom and my kids call her aunt, so it all works out. I always have my brother in my prayers, he has been estranged from our family for years, and for awhile only let me in. I was able to be at the hospital when Jude was born. That was an awesome moment for me. To just see the look of pride and pure horror on his face and it all melt away when he picked up his son. But somewhere in his mind the thought of a regular family freaks him out, so when things got too homey with his situation, he got out.

Just recently since my dad has gotten a divorce, he has been coming around him again. He shut him out first, so maybe since progress is being made there, he will come around again. All I can do in the meantime is pray for him and be present as much as possible for the little man.
I was hoping to get him so much more this summer, but as our schedule kept getting ever so busy so was his. His momma just became a momma again and now Jude is a big brother to a beautiful baby sister, Gabriella. She is so sweet. My Natalie loves to love on her! We were able to get him this weekend for a bit and that was great, love every bit that we get to spend with him.

Wordless Wednesday - Hanging out on a cool day

For more wordlesss wednesday pictures, check out the ww headquarters, or stop by five minutes for mom! Happy Wednesday :)

Well, Thank you! I'm honored

I was a little surprised to see that KC has considered my blog to be thoughtful and creative and has passed on these awards to me. THANK YOU!

I know I do not have the time to put into my blogs that I would like. There are so many more ways to express yourself that I am just learning. But I don't know what I would do as a mom with young kids without having some kind of creative outlet.

Thanks KC you too were my first RLF that I met in the blogging world and it is so cool that even with our business and we don't see each other but every so often we can still keep up!

Tackle It Tuesday

Well first of all, despite the fact that I didn't sleep too well last night, I was able to sleep in until 8:00 AM! My natural alarm usually goes off around 6:30AM. The kids were up already and didn't even bother me... amazing.

My tackle for today is not just one thing, but a list. I usually do all my mopping, dusting, windows things on Monday and yesterday I had a houseful of visitors so my house is actually in worse shape than it should be. Luckily it is starting out a cloudy day - much easier to keep the kiddos inside and easier for me to get some work done.
So for today I have to:

1. Do about 6 loads of laundry - wash, fold, put away
2. Dust in each of the rooms
3. Help the kids clean their bedrooms
4. Upstairs bathroom need scrubbed - showers, floors, sinks etc.
5. Downstairs bathroom needs scrubbed - showers, floors, sinks, etc.
6. Sweep Kitchen and Foyer and mop
7. Run Vacuum
8. Clean back porch

I usually do a little each day, but the weekend was busy and so was the end of last week, so today is a get it all done day! We'll have to eat dinner out tonight so I don't mess up the house. That would be a great reward for completing my tackle today:)

A Mother's MEME

My friend KC had this meme on her blog and of course I love to share and read all about first pregnancy experiences. A topic I could talk to anyone about. So if you have a story you want to share, please do. You can head over to KC's blog and read hers too. Love this stuff!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? No
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes, Just two weeks married!
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? I freaked out. We weren't planning on having a baby until we were married about a year. I cried forever. My dh was happy though. I didn't want to tell anyone, he wanted to tell the world.
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? NEVER
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 24 When I found out, 25 when I had the baby
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Before the wedding I was having skipped cycles and I scheduled an appt for after the wedding to deal with it. When I came in for my appt I was feeling nausea and achy bbs, so they took a test and it was +! I just stared at them, what???? And then it hit me. I was scared to death! We had just bought our house, hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas, got married on News Years Eve. The dr said all the stress going on in my life did an override on my bcp and Viola! Preggo!
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Bill was at home when I went to my appointment, so after I got myself to stop crying enough to drive home, I told him. He was so awesome about it, he was so excited. Then we told our parents. It was really fun telling everyone else one by one. I loved getting those reactions once the idea settled in.
8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Nope I wanted to be surprised
9. DUE DATE? September 2, 2000
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? None, this is my nostalgic pregnancy. No morning sickness, felt great mostly had just a little basketball.
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Fresh fruit. Watermelon and Cantaloupe
12. WHO IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? I don't know that it was really irritating, but my grandma never had a girl and has pressured me all my life to name a girl Dawn Marie. I wasn't crazy about that name, but when she found out our girl name - Chloe Catherine- she was okay with it since Chloe was her mom's name. But for awhile, she was pretty persistent.
13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? BOY!
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? In the beginning of the pg, I really wanted a girl, then I just felt like it was a boy and I wanted a boy first. Me being the oldest with a younger brother, I would rather have a boy first so he could kind of look after his little sis. So I was happy to have my little man :)
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 50
16. Did YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes 3 of them. one with my side of the family, one with Bills and one at work.
17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew about the family/friend showers, the one at work was a surprise.
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? NONE. Great Pregnancy
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? In the hospital in the next town.
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Confirmed labor about 6.5 hours. I had horrible back pain for about 24 hours prior to my water breaking and I was checked by my dr and he told me I wasn't in labor to go home.
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? My husband, Flying down the highway dodging in and out of cars while my contractions were 2 min apart. Oh it was a sight... One I never will forget.
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?My husband was next to me. My Dad, Stepmom, mother-in-law and best friend were in the room, but behind a curtain.
23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? I couldn't for most of it because my platelets were low. And I had back labor... Horrible!! But once I got my epidural, it was time to push so it really didn't kick in until right before he was born.
25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?? 8 lbs and 10 ounces
26. DID YOUR CHILD HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS? None
27. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? September 1, 2000 One day early.
28 WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Ethan and his middle name is a family name.
29. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? He will be Seven here soon. I cannot believe it!

Thursday Thirteen

I have been thinking about jobs lately as my time I will be at home will be over before I know it. I was offered a job recently and turned it down as I am not ready to leave my baby yet. (My baby is 2) I won't be going back into the workforce until she is in kindergarten, which next year she will start preschool already. AHHHH! Anyways. Right now, this season I am in is all I have ever wanted to be, wanted to do. Sounds a little Old-Fashioned Betty Crockerish, but its what I never had growing up. I even told Bill the first week we were dating, we were 20 and talking about what we wanted to be when we grew up, I said I want to have a career that I love, but first and foremost I want to be a mom and stay home with my kids.

Thirteen Things I Love about my Job - Stay at home Mom

1. I am always able to be somewhere I love

2. My kids don't have to go through being shipped around daily

3. I always know what everyone has eaten during the day and know they are eating right

4. I am able to work in some kind of exercise that involves the kids - Good for mommy- Good for kids

5. I am able to keep my house somewhat in order = some kind of cleaning daily

6. I never have to set an alarm clock

7. I get to take a nap everyday:)

8. During the summer there are so many fun things I can do with the kids. We don't have to squeeze everything into two days.

9. I get to enjoy all the joys of the seasons changing, little silly holidays all the wonderment that is little kids. I get to be here first hand.

10. I am always available when the kids are sick

11. I don't get a regular paycheck, but there is a thrill in finding ways to save money and finding good deals. I am amazed at by putting time into things, how much money you really have!

12. Am around to make sure hubby has everything he needs to go to work. Clean clothes, lunch packed

13. I am able to take care of my family the best way I know how Everyday.

Wordless Wednesday - Friendship

For more wordless wednesday pics, check out the Wordless Wednesday Headquarters or
Five Minutes for MOM!

Menu Plan Monday

Another week upon us already! I cannot believe how the back to school stuff is effecting me already. I know we have another month and 1/2, but this summer is going so fast!

So this is what we are eating at our house this week....

Monday: Chicken Quesadillas, mexican corn, maybe some watermelon too

Tuesday: MIL cooking - I think she is making pork chops and peirogies

Wednesday: Baked Ziti, salad, garlic bread sticks

Thursday: smoked sausage, beef rice, carrots

Friday: Chicken on the grill, grilled veggies maybe baked potatoes.

Saturday: Spaghetti Chili - I made this for a pot luck last week and the kids loved it! They are requesting to have it again.

Sunday: Maybe we'll take some burgers and hot dogs down to the beach and grill? No plans yet.

Have a tasty week! If you want to get more menu ideas, check out Laura's blog!

Friday the 13th!

I just realized that it is Friday the 13th! Eeeeek!

Four Things About Me

My friend Jenn has tagged me for a meme. I know this has went around in emails before, so some of you may know these little facts about me, some may learn something new :) Thanks Jenn!

A-Four Jobs I Have Had in my life
1-Income Tax Preparer
2 Office Admistrator
3-Escrow Agent
4-Human Resources Manager

B-Four movies I would watch over & over
1-Pride and Prejudice
2-Where the heart is
3-While you were sleeping
4-Sweet Home Alabama

C-Four place I've lived
1-Norwalk, Ohio
2-Monroeville, Ohio
3-Bowling Green, Ohio
4-Sandusky, Ohio

D-Four TV shows I ike to watch
1-Notes from the Underbelly
2-Men in Trees
3-Stand up comedians on comedy central
4-Flip that house

E- Four places I've been on vacation
1-Gulf Shores, AL
2-Poconos, PA
3-Oak Ridge, TN
4-Forest City, NC

F- Web sites I visit daily
1- MSN Groups
2- Friends Blogs
3-National City
4-Whatever I feel like looking up that day

G- Four of my favorite foods
1- Italian
2- Mexican
3- cookies
4-sqaush casserole

H- Four places I would rather be right now
1-on vacation just me & Bill
(I only can think of one place right now!)

Well in proper fashion of a tag, I am suppose to tag someone to do this also. I believe most of my bloggy friends have participated, so I'm giving out a general tag - if you read this and want to play along, let me know and I'll visit you to check out your answers.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen kinds of Ice Cream to Enjoy this summer....
1. Chocolate
2. Vanilla
3. Moose Tracks
4. Fried Ice Cream - yummy!
5. Banana Split
6. Cherry Vanilla
7. Butter Pecan
8. Birthday Cake
9. Snickers
10. Mint Chocolate Chip
11. Cake Batter
12. Sugar Cookie Dough
13. Strawberry

I know not a really exciting list, but it is prime ice cream season and we have been gobbling it down by the gallon! Happy Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday - Soakin' up the Sun

For more Wordless Wednesday pics, go to this site or visit 5 Minutes for MOM!

Happy 4th of July!

Tackle it Tuesday

I have been trying so hard to get things organized around here, one by one. Really hard when you already needed one more room in your house and you loose your office/toy room to your mother in law. (she moved in with us about a month and a half ago) So really we need 2 more rooms in our house. So trying to make new ways to store things and be realistic about the things we really need to keep and getting rid of the excess.

The past few years I have been doing photo projects. I made photo collages for family members for Christmas about 2 years ago and last year I made video montages for all my kids and each time it required lots of photos being removed from albums. Unfortunately I wasn't so good at putting them back like I should of, so I had 3 photo boxes overflowing with pics. Plus for some reason I haven't put new pics in albums like I used to be so good at. So I have 4 years of newer pics to put away. I am happy to say this last week I put 10 albums back in order, plus the kids little baby albums. I am caught up through 2004!! I know I am still 3 years behind, but I am so much closer to being done. The photos I have left I just need to pick up some new albums which I plan to do today and I already have them organized in years, I just need to put them into seasons and put them away.

I forgot to take a before shot, but here is what I have completed so far...

Rockin' Girl

Ok! I got the message miss KC! KC thinks that I Rock. Isn't that special? There are days when I feel like this momma still rocks, so Thank you for the button. It made my day

I think that you Rock too!

(Now I have to figure out how to put it in my sidebar.....)

Menu Plan Monday

It has been awhile since I have typed out my meal plan, why I am doing it today? Who knows. Not a particularly exciting week, Food wise anyways. I did make an Ice Cream cake for my MIL's b-day over the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised that it came out right and was yummy! So I will share the recipe. Really Easy and the kids helped me make it.

The next time I try it, I may use peanut butter ice cream sandwiches. I think that would make it even better! Here is the link for the recipe. http://kraftfoods.com/kf/FoodandFamily/Summer_2007/icecreamcake.htm
If you don't subscribe to Kraft Food and Family magazine, I highly recommend. I get soo many recipe's out of it and its FREE!
So that was my plug, here is my menu!


Monday: Mother in Law Cooking, not sure what is for dinner.
Tuesday: Spaghetti, meatballs, salad, and garlic bread
Wednesday: 4th of July! two cookouts to make rounds to. I am making s'mores bars to share.
Thursday: Meatloaf, buttered egg noodles, mixed vegetables
Friday: Frozen pizzas, salad
Saturday: Hot Dogs and pork and beans.veggies and dip probably some applesauce

Sunday: Steaks, baked potatoes, grilled veggies.

I have to say it is a pretty kid friendly week, hopefully we should have no objections to dinner!
Hope everyone is having a great summer! I cannot believe it is going to be the fourth already! Enjoy your holiday!!

For more menu planning, head over to Laura's blog!