Graduate.

Kate made it through kindergarten!!!  Yay!  What a great year she had.  We had a little rocky start adjusting to the early alarm (6:15am!!!) and losing and gaining new teachers and the biggest one...MOVING!!! That's a lot for a little five year old to adjust to.  But once we were settled we both enjoyed spending our mornings together.  Just us.  Rushing, getting dressed, getting homework completed, packing lunches and snacks, etc.

My favorite time was driving her to school.  Hearing her stories about  her teacher, her friends and her lack for love of the bus ride home. 

We get to do it again all too soon.  My little girl is growing so fast.  Sometimes I just want to make time stop and not let her grow.  Just be our little Katerbug.  But her future is bright and full of love from her family and I can't wait to see what her future holds!!!  We love you Kate Olivia!!

38 days.

It has been 38 days since my last post.  And about 38 days since I gave up my Iphone.  Yes, the Iphone I cherished.  The Iphone I took every picture of my kids, my husband, my speciality dinners and pictures for my blog.  So I haven't blogged since.  I've been in mourning.  And my new DROID phone is just not measuring up.  Especially in the camera department.  Yes, I have a digital camera sitting right here in front of me but it's BIG and I'm too lazy busy to figure out all the settings.  When someone sends me a picture in text or if I try to send one it has to download??? and takes forever.  When I try to email myself a picture from my phone it never works.  So I've been in bummed land for the past 38 days.  My best friend even said, "I miss your Iphone more than you do!" Ha!

But something has to give.  I'm going to have to buy a bigger purse and bring our digital everywhere I go.  And learn the settings.  Maybe take a class online. 

Or convince Steve the Iphone is really worth the extra moo-lah!

woods.

Have you ever had one of those nights where you are resting peacefully then you wake up thinking ok, i feel a bug crawling on me.  Well, I had one of those about 3:30am this morning. 

At first I brushed it aside and thought oh, it's a loose hair from this massive thick hair of mine.  So,I tried to go back to sleep.  Then about fifteen minutes later I felt it again.  I pulled the covers off, turned the lights on...nothing.  I decided to take off the covers and sleep with just the sheet.  If it was a bug then it could stay with the covers on the floor.

Sleep eluded me though and at 6:15am I got up to start my day.  I woke up Kate who headed to the bathroom and I immediately followed to change from my pjs.  And, low and behold I saw something strange on my leg in the mirror.  I brushed it off and IT STUCK!!! IT WAS A TICK!  YES, A TICK! 

You would have thought we had a five alarm fire in our house.  I was screaming bloody murder and Steve jumped out of bed thinking something happened to one of the kids.  Drew woke up saying, "What's wrong momma, what's wrong?"

Let me tell ya peeps, if you know me, you know I am not a fan of crickets or grass hoppers.  Well you can add ticks to that list.  Just the thought of a bug sucking the blood out of my body is enough to make me want to bathe in insect repellant.

And that's the thing.  I've been to every state park in WV and hiked tons of trails and never one tick.  Ever.  I go exploring with my kids one night in my backyard and a blood sucking tick finds its way to my leg. 

Sadly, it probably won't be the last.  Bring on the repellant!

I bought a...

MOP!!!!  HA!  Boy, can I ever splurge.

Let's face it...I'm not getting any younger.  And my days of hand and knee floor cleaning are becoming well let's just say I don't want knee replacement anytime soon! Ha!

Boy do I miss the days of bedrest and having Merry Maids clean my house.  Oh wait...did I just say bedrest...NEVERMIND!  Ha!  Bedrest for three months is/was for the birds.  I'll take housecleaning anyday!

So, this morning I bought a mop and cleaned my floors.  It actually worked pretty good.  Not to say I'll never do hand knee cleaning again but for weekly cleaning I'm going the mop route!  Ahhh...the little finds in life. Teehee!

spring weekend.

Happy Birthday to my sister, Linda Lou!  Ha!  That's not even her name but everyone seems to call her that!  Have a fantastic day, sista!  We love you!!!!

What a fun weekend we had! 

Friday, Steve took the kiddos to Tball practice while I enjoyed a fun night out with the neighborhood ladies for girls night out!  As I was talking with one neighborhood friend, we found out we purchased our dogs from the same breeder in a neighboring county.  Ha! Small, small West Virginia.  I had a fun time and good conversation with some sweet ladies.  Happy Birthday to Kim, Amy, and Mary Beth!

Saturday we woke up early to head out to drop Drew off at sister #3s and Kate and I headed to a Pinkalicious birthday party.  There was pink everywhere and the cake/cupcakes were amazing!  Great job, Stephanie!

After the party we picked up Drew and headed over to sister #3s church for our annual visit to the Easter eggstravaganza.  The kiddos had a great time and won some cool prizes!

Fun times!   Thanks Twila!!

Steve went golfing with his buddies on Sunday so we headed down to the Charleston mall to see the Easter bunny. Kate and Drew were so excited to see him and not a bad wait in line (thank goodness).  I can't believe Easter in this Sunday!!!!!

Afterwards the kiddos asked if we could go to the Clay Center.  These kids are getting smart about proximity!  Ha!  It was a seemingly gloomy day so we headed over the Clay Center for some exploring.   Drew was excited to find a lizard on the sidewalk.  Oh the signs of summer!

We ran into some friends and ended up staying THREE hours!  I was one tired momma when I got home but the kids had a blast.

Today I'm headed to Drew's follow-up appointment from his surgery.  It looks like a busy week ahead this week.  I'm ready for Friday to start our fun spring break!!!  Yippee!!!

fear.

I didn't sleep well last night.  I usually read the local news on my phone a couple times during the day and then again before I go to sleep at night.

There has been some freaking weirdo driving around during daylight in a white van in our local area reportedly attempting to pull girls into his van. 
One eleven year old girl ran away and another eighteen year old at a busstop said she froze but luckily another car came and the van driver drove off. 

Abductors are getting braver.

Since the day Kate was born I've always been afraid someone is going to take her. 
Then Drew was born and my fear doubled.

As a mother, IT'S MY BIGGEST FEAR!!!  No seriously...I've lost a TON of sleep over it.

I can deal with sickness and tantrums and anything else that comes my way with my kiddos, but the thought of some lunatic taking my kids away from me scares the living daylights out of me.
Call me crazy...call me helicopter mom, but I don't care. 

I am going to do whatever it takes to protect my kiddos.
I've had friends tell me they are scared of the same thing so I know I'm not alone. 

You just never know.  I hope they catch him.  But I know there are more out there.

Scary, scary stuff.







 

abc...easy as...

lids.

Have I mentioned I love lids.  No, not as in hat lids (HA!) but pretty much anything that has a lid I fall in love.  Quirky, yes. 

It all started with my collection of teapots when I was oh say...15!!!!  I fell in love with every teapot that came my way.

Then I was introduced to fiesta by one of my sisters (can't remember which one-Linda or Twila) and had to have A LOT of covered casseroles with lids.  I love every color of those things and spent a small FORTUNE on EBAY on a retired lilac one.  I could look at it all day.

All the way up there in all its glory!

Wait...let's get a closer look.

Ahhh...pure gorgeousness!!!

The past few years, I have been into transparent things with lids.  Just anything clear with lids.  I know...whacko!  Ha!  I saw on Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa clear canisters and I was in love.  Immediately had to google where I could buy them and Crate and Barrel had them.  Then of course I had to order some.  Love, Love, Love them!  I'm thinking of ordering more in the very near future!

Then there are my old standbys when I need a lid fix...my cake plates and vases! 

This is surprisingly empty today!!!!

I was in Big Lots earlier today and ran across Mason jars!  I'm pretty sure I'll be going back in a few days and stocking up on those!  Fun!!!

Yep, I'm a lid freak.  Don't judge me. Teehee...

spring

Today is National Down Syndrome Day and this blog post from a friend will make your heart sing with happiness.  Definitely alike more than different!! 
*********************************************************************************
The first day of SPRING was GREAT!!!!  Gorgeous 84 degree weather.  Kiddoss on bikes, scooters and skateboards. Little girls walking their dogs!  And yummy grilled food!  More great weather expected today!  Yippee!

monday.

Happy Monday!  I went for a walk this morning with Ginger!  Yay! 
I took along Pandora and what is it about M&M music that makes me want to RUN??  Fast!
It gets me going!  Steve will probably now go out and buy me every M&M CD there is!  LOL!
Just kidding.

I'm lifting my rain dance prayers because Drew is free to PLAY!
He went to T-ball practice Saturday and to a swimming party and did fine. 
And his grumpiness is subsiding.  Thank goodness! 
I thought I was going to go crazy last week.  Hard, hard week for me.  But I made it!

We have T-ball practice today and I'm really hoping the rain holds off.  
It so cute to see all those little kids getting excited and playing!  Fun times!

What are your Monday plans?

mad skills

In honor of March Madness, here are a couple of snip-its of Drew and his mad basketball skills! :-)

Have a great weekend and happy birthday to my only brother, Bobby! :-)

march madness

Have you picked your bracket yet?  You have until til noon today on ESPN.com to choose who you think will win the NCAA College Basketball tournament. 

The funny part is you don't even need to know a thing about basketball!  Ha!  It's all right there for you and if you finish in the top 1% you could win 10 grand!!!!  Hello!!!!! 

Go do your bracket peeps!  It's sooooo fun!

Mountaineers tip off at 7:20pm!  Let's Goooo Mountaineers!

wednesday random.

Wow!  What a beautiful Wednesday today!  I think we are jumping right into summer with no spring!  It's suppose to be a high of  74 degrees today!  Gorgeous March weather!

I've been starting my mornings out with this delicious red fruit!  Yummy!  One of our neighborhood  kiddos was selling them for their band and I jumped on the bandwagon and ordered some!  Fresh strawberries here in WV in March...yes please!

We went out for ice cream with a neighborhood friend yesterday.  Thanks Amy, Ashlynn, and Ayden!  Drew is loving all the ice cream attention!!!

I overheard a young lady at the grocery store commenting how delicious this was and had to try it.

So I fixed this for lunch today for Steve and I and it was SOOO good!

Penne Pasta, red bell pepper, toasted pine nuts with savory garlic! 



It was picture day AGAIN at Kate's school.  I must be getting really old because I only remember getting pictures taken at school once year... "Yeah, back when I was a kid we only got them there school pictures taken once I tell ya!"  LOL!  Oh well, we shall go with it! Ha!

Have a great Wednesday peeps!

new cookbook!!!

Today is the day!  Yippee!!!  The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook comes out today! 

She's been working on it for awhile and has given some hints and peeks but I cannot wait to get my hands on it! Ha!  I'm headed to town tomorrow so hopefully I'll have chance to stop and pick it up!

I LOVED LOVED LOVED her last cookbook and have been really inspired to cook dinner more.  You can find A LOT, if not all, of her recipes on her website! 

So tonight in honor of her new cookbook coming out today I will fix a Pioneer Woman recipe favorite at our house,  The Marlboro Man Sandwich.  Yummy!

spring forward.

We are not morning people. Ha!  Kate had the worst time waking up this morning.  She cried her little heart out.

We went upstairs to bed last night with five books hoping to get her to sleep earlier but it didn't happen.  I guess it'll take a few days to get into this earlier routine.

Steve went back to work today after a rare three days off to be with Drew.

I took Ginger for a walk this morning and got caught in rain!  I was thankful!  I'd been praying for rain (along with a few of my friends) so Drew wouldn't feel so bad for not being able to go outside.

We've been inside playing more board games, his train table, and baking brownies (so much for that 30 minute walk this morning!)

Seven more days to go!  I've got to get a video of Drew talking.  It sounds like he is talking with helium...so cute and sad at the same time.

I'm off to plan dinner...I think I'll break out my cookbooks!  So excited about a special cookbook tomorrow...stay tuned! :-)

day two of recovery.

Whoa!  This recovery thing is just horrible.  Drew is having a terrible time.  His throat is sore, he's grumpy, and he is SOOOO upset he can't go outside and play in this gorgeous 70 degree weather we are having. 

We've been playing board games, watching spongebob, first season of brady bunch, going through the basket of goodies Aunt Janet sent, and playing Wii.  But we are talking about a very active boy here.  I just want to put him on his bike and say ride baby ride. 

But I can't.  And he IS going to miss his second tball practice on Saturday and probably a swimming birthday party, too!  Boo...getting your tonsils removed is for the birds man! Ha! 

We will muddle through...and I'm still praying for rain!

And if you are new to the blog be sure to sign up for email updates or become a follower or leave a comment so I'll you were here!  I'd love to hear from you and where you are from even if you are local! :-)

surgery.

Drew had his surgery yesterday.  We started out the day around 4:45am!  He had to be at the hospital at 7:00am so we had to put Kate on the school bus at 6:30am TO school for the first time.  She was a little hesitant but she was a trooper and knew it was important for us to get Drew to the hospital on time.

Then, Steve, Drew, and I headed to St. Francis Hospital for his tonsilectomy and adenoidectomy.  His doctor, Dr. Goins, really helped us to prepare Drew mentally for his surgery so he knew most of what was going to happen. 

Heading into the hospital (sleepy)

Daddy talking about sports I'm sure! (hehe)

Starting to get a little nervous

I don't want to wear those hospital socks, Momma!

(and he didn't)

Can we just go home now?

Maybe the doctor couldn't make it! 

Let's go home!

Oh he made it!  Heading back to the OR!

It's over...Take me home, take me home!

It hurts!

He pointed to the next to last one! :-(

Taking a rest

Oh, I could kiss those eyelashes all day!

Is this a cast, momma?

I'm going to drink all this apple juice so I can go home!

And all this banana slush, too!

This stuff made me pee a lot!

I did everything they asked so can I go now?

Finally...going home to popsicles and ice cream!

and more sports talk!

Yum! Rainbow sherbert from neighbors Kim and Sophie!

and a Feel Better balloon!  Such sweet neighbors we have!

Aunt Janet and Steve came to visit and brought a basket full of goodies

to help with staying inside for ten days! 

Thanks Aunt Janet!!

Thanks guys!

A visit from granny!  She brought a Wii game! Yay!

He finally fell asleep about 10:30pm.  He woke up at 2:30am and

we gave him more pain medicine. 

He woke up this morning happy.  But saying his throat was still sore.  He was really upset

yesterday when he saw all the kids outside playing.  It's going to be a long ten days with

no outside activity allowed. 

I'm praying for rain!!!