Seriously, where does the time go?

Two days left in the beautiful month of September and I am at the same place I am every year at this time. For some reason, as soon as my birthday passes, I dive in to planning Christmas (I know, I said it…CHRISTMAS!). Does it seem possible that there is only 88 days until Christmas? I am a planner. I write lists; I write menus; I write notes to myself about ideas for gifts…and so on and so on. I am actually ahead of the game this year. I have each and every person on our Christmas lists accounted for, gift picked out, and many of them already purchased. It’s been one of those years that things just jump out at me for Christmas gifts and I just keep tucking them away. Rod would be rolling his eyes at this point. Talking about Christmas to him means only one thing…winter, which he hates with a passion. This winter, however, we will get to see some warm weather (hopefully), when we make our every other year trip to Florida to visit Rod’s family.

Speaking of Rod’s family, Tim and Tiff are here for a week long visit. Rod gets so excited when they come to visit and this time, Gauge was especially excited for them to visit also. Gauge spent the day with my mom on Saturday and when she asked him if he wanted to stay overnight, he answered “No, my Uncle Tim is coming”. I thought it was too cute! It shows me where Tim ranks to Gauge, especially since Gauge usually picks his Meme over everyone. And after Saturday night, it’s no wonder Gauge loves Tim. Gauge and Tim went down to the basement at 9:30 ish to play the Wii and Rod said that it wasn’t until about 12:30 that they emerged from the basement. Three or so hours in the basement playing Wii with your uncle…like I said…no wonder Gauge loves Tim. That means so much to me that Gauge is developing a good relationship with Tim. Even though he (and the rest of Rod’s family) lives so far away, I want him to be close to Rod’s family like he is with mine. Distance should make no difference in the closeness of a family.

Friday, Lindsey and I took the boys to the fair. We tried several times earlier in the week to go, but it just rained and rained, which is typical Tuscarawas County Fair week. Gauge was just bursting with excitement when I walked through the door Friday after work. So we got to the fair and I couldn’t believe the amount of people that were there! All I can say is, the fair is no place for a double stroller. I pushed Reid and Jake around while Lindsey and Gauge rode the rides. They rode several rides and then decided it was time to dive into the fair food. Gauge tried Cheese on a Stick for the first time…and he LOVED it! He could eat cheese all day long. Lindsey and I hit up the fried veggies booth and I have to say that those fried mushrooms were the best I’ve ever had. We took our food over to the Simpson H/C booth and sat with Chad while we ate. By that time, the little boys were getting tired, so I took them home and Gauge stayed with Lindsey and Chad. They didn’t stroll into our house until about 11:30pm. Gauge walked in carrying his new pet goldfish that he won at the fair. I think almost everyone has a memory of winning a goldfish (and seeing in belly up less than a week later) from the fair. The smile on his face was worth a million bucks when he told me that he was naming him Luigi, from Cars because “Guido and Luigi belong together”. And yet another example of kids say the darndest things. The goldfish has become quite an item of excitement in our house. Reid loves the little fish and points at it and says “fish” (another new word). He even stuck his hand right in the bowl and tried to pick him up. Guido put his front paws on the counter, I’m sure in an attempt to find food, and caught a glimpse of the fish and just sat there and stared. He keeps going back to look at the little fish over and over. Maybe Gauge was right…Guido and Luigi do belong together.

Reid has started this obsession with shoes. Not his own shoes, mind you, any shoes that are WAY too big for him. It’s so cute actually. It's funny that he can actually walk around in them without losing his balance too much! He is more coordinated at the age of 19 months than I am at the age of...well, no need to actually disclose that number. He must get coordination from Rod!

Wordless Wednesday (just the past week's scrapbook pages)

I'm soooo glad it’s football season!!

Ok, so that was probably one of the most sarcastic statements I’ve ever made. Although I absolutely love this time of year, it also brings one of my most hated times of the year. FOOTBALL season! Ugh!! Every Sunday brings an all day fest of football, football, and more football. This past Sunday, I came home from a Pampered Chef party at Julie’s house, walked in the back door and could hear the wonderful sounds of a football game. But when I walked into the living room I couldn’t help but laugh. The tv was on and turned to the Browns game, with the mute on. The Sirius radio was on, playing the Steelers game. And there sat Rod on the couch, laptop beside him checking his fantasy football scores, blackberry in hand, getting text message updates of his fantasy football team, and both the tv remote and Sirius remote sitting on his lap. It was too funny! But I think this is a (bad) sign of things to come! So when is the Superbowl?!?




After all the football festivities, Rod went up to the boys’ room and took the crib apart. I can’t really call it Reid’s crib, since he’s never really slept there. He’s pretty much taken over our bed. But it still made me a little sad to see the empty space in their room. Will this be the last time there is a crib standing in our house? Oh the time just goes too quickly. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Gauge was sleeping in that crib, although he did sleep in it until he was three! I have a bit of a hard time letting go. I don’t think that’s news to many of you. Haha. So after the crib was down, Rod put Reid’s mattress in our bedroom to see if we could get Reid out of our bed and to his own mattress. We should have known better. I think somewhere around midnight I felt little fingers on my feet. And that was that. Back in our bed he went. Tim & Tiff are coming to visit at the end of this month. They will be sleeping in the boys’ room while they are here. After their visit, the plan is to move Reid to the bottom bunk of their bunk beds. That should prove to be interesting!

We will NEVER forget...

Eight years ago today, our lives as Americans were forever changed. As I walked up the basement stairs (in our house on Charles Drive) with a load of laundry in my hands, I heard Kris’s voice on the answering machine saying to turn the tv on and see what was going on because a plane had hit one of the twin towers. I rushed to the tv and couldn’t believe what I saw. As I watched the tower billowing smoke, I saw the second plane appear I don’t know that I have ever cried as hard as I did on September 11, 2001. I vow that my children will know the importance of this day. It is a day to remember the people who lost their lives, the families and friends they left behind, and the brave military personnel who defend our great country in your thoughts and prayers. The following link was forwarded to me on Facebook. I watched it and cried my eyes out, but we all NEED to remember those who lost their lives on this day. So I wanted to share this very sad, but very necessary video.


http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2009/09/11/911-phone-calls-released-to-the-public/

These are some pics from our 2002 trip to the World Trade Center

I AM SO PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

Hilton Head

Why is it that when you are working, the time goes sooo slowly, but when you are on vacation, , the time flies. Our trip to Hilton Head was a ton of fun! We spent most of the week lying on the beach (and I have a fabulous tan to prove it). The most eventful part of the trip down was when Reid decided to throw up and since we were in the car and there was no place for him to throw up, I got to catch it in my hands. I soooo deserve the best mommy award for that day. We stopped in Columbia, SC and spent the night (Friday) and got up the next morning and completed our trip.

We met the Murphys in Hilton Head and went to our condo. Of course the first thing we had to do was go to the beach. Jack and Gauge could hardly contain their excitement, so we let them jump in the ocean with their clothes on. Reid was terrified of the water and after it came too close to him, he screamed and wanted held. It was too funny.

Oh the beach is so beautiful there. The sand and the waves are a lot like Myrtle, but the beach is way less congested. There isn’t much right along the beach and there weren’t a lot of people there, so the kids had plenty of room to run. Jack and Gauge were busy, busy, busy making sandcastles, golf courses, digging huge holes, and catching the dead jellyfish & giving them a proper burial. They didn’t once complain about being bored. They both loved the water and made Amber, Darcy, and I quite nervous when they kept inching out deeper and deeper. I think our nervousness only escalated when the three of us girls saw the very large shark fin appear quite close to the shore. I had never seen a shark before, and really didn’t ever want to see another one. However, the next day, Jack was quite close to a much smaller shark that was swimming very near him. And at the end of the week, a man fishing caught a pretty big sized shark not very far from us. Reid was terrified of the water the first day and a half, but after that, he was running toward the water and many times we had to stop him from going too deep. He loved the sand and didn’t complain much at all about being on the beach all day. He didn’t nap all week, except for Friday when he fell asleep in the stroller. Reid found the most excitement in chasing EVERY bird and EVERY dog as far as he could down the beach. He got so upset when he couldn't catch them. It was too cute! Rod, Reid, and I went to Savannah for a day. The city is so historical and beautiful. I love looking at old buildings and old landscapes. It’s just breathtaking! But the best part of Savannah was that we got to eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant. I was completely thrilled about that!! Rod had no idea who Paula Deen is, but my sister LOVES her and she’s made so many of her recipes. So I knew it would be terrific! And it was AMAZING. It was good old fashioned southern cooking…and I could eat that everyday! I only wish I could cook that way! Thank goodness I have my sister to cook that way for me!! Haha! We went out to eat for Amber’s birthday for seafood since that’s her favorite (and mine too!) at the Crazy Crab in Harbortown. Amber got her big lobster for dinner and Jack & Gauge were so fascinated by the lobster claws and crab legs. Too cute! We also went to this really good, and reasonably priced restaurant, Frankie Bones. It was a Frank Sinatra themed restaurant which had really cool photos all over the place. We did a little sightseeing by going to Harbortown and Coligny plaza. Harbortown was so beautiful with all the yachts and enormous houses. It’s a huge culture shock to see how the other half lives! And of course, I sought out and found the only scrapbook store within 60 miles of Hilton Head. All in all, it was a really nice vacation. We have never vacationed with the Murphys before, but I’m so glad we got the opportunity. They’ve become great friends of ours…and just think, it all started with Amber started babysitting Gauge, almost five years ago.