Oh what this family could do with some front teeth...........


Not to be outdone by Ally, Jay lost his first front tooth on Saturday and so we figured the other would go before Christmas. This picture is Jay bending his tooth completely sideways. Sorry, maybe I should have warned you about the gross-factor....

Out it came.

Now Al won't feel so bad cuz we can make fun of both of them for talking funny.

*Poor Jay would have been really upset if this whole tooth-losing process would have drug out any further. He didn't even get teeth until he was almost 1, so I knew he probably wouldn't lose them early. It doesn't help when your little sister loses her's first, though!!

The way Highland Elementary works it's concerts is to split it up. This year's winter concert was 1st,3rd and 5th grades. Max's grade will perform the spring concert. That's why he is missing from these photos.......also why our elementary needs a new building!! Maybe we can fit everyone in one building for the concerts! (and a yay to the levy for passing)


Jay maybe was less than enthusiastic about it all, but had fun anyway.

Rock on!!!!

This is Ally's winter concert. As I've mentioned before, Al usually deals with stage-fright. Last year, she did not want to participate. That's fine. However, this year, she was excited and mostly, I think, it was about the new "pretty dress" she'd get to wear. Whatever works, right?






This is Ally and her best friend, Grace. They are in the same class this year and so far so good.....


but I think you can tell just by these pictures, that there's huge potential for trouble when these two are together.




It just doesn't get much cuter, though!! :)

This guy at the museum was the actor who played the delivery guy.......who delivered the "major award".....the one and only.......leg lamp!! He had a lot of pretty cool stories.

Here, I'm calling Schwartz's mom to tell her what profanity her son taught mine!! :)

Doggon- it!! We left our deranged bunny suits at home!!

Coming to a Christmas card soon...........................................................................

Quick! What's one of the best Christmas movies of all time????


"A Christmas Story" of course!!
Ever since we moved to Ohio, we said we were going to go to the renovated " A Christmas Story" house in Cleveland. Well, that day was today.

Jay is a lot like Randy in so many ways...especially his picky eating. However, he liked the under-the-sink cupboard a lot.

There's really a fake turkey in the oven.

It was crazy there!! There were so many people!! We had no idea there was such a draw. The house was picked by the filmmakers because of it's location near a T intersection, the smokestacks in the background and the double lot next door. The guy who bought this place in 2005, put over a quarter of a million dollars into it to get it as close to the real Parker house as he could. Most of the interior filming was done in Toronto, however.

CHRISTMAS COOKIES!!


One of the activity/prayers/questions in the advent house was to pick a day to bake and decorate cookies. Well, Saturday was the day. * The advent house has little doors where small treats and a message are hidden. The kids open one each day. The messages can be anything from What is your favorite Christmas tradition or movie? TO Say a prayer for the troops overseas tonight.

Ally got a horse cookie cutter, and I tried to make a couple brown colored frostings.......Do you know how hard it is to make two different colors of brown from red, yellow, blue and green??????

We had the pleasure of having Jeff here for the fun. I'm sure his idea of fun was more of the "cleaning up" kind. :)

What IS it with my family and poo?!


The kids (and adults) had a good time. How can you NOT have fun decorating cookies? (Aside from the gingerbread house fiasco of '04, that is. The kids were amused by the gingerbread hitting the wall. Hee Hee )

Just when you think your kids are only out for the presents at Christmas time....

Every year, the elementary school has vendors come in to sell their little gifts and trinkets to the school kids. It's an opportunity for the kids to shop for their families, teachers and friends. And, because I am all for opening gifts early, I let the kids open their stuff to and from each other today - like I had a choice. These guys were so excited to give each other their gifts. Yes, give, not receive. Max got Al a pretty necklace and Jay a homemade marshmallow shooter. Jay got Al a "make-your-own candy necklace pack and Max a $2 radio with headphones. (It actually works!!) Al got Jay a bungie Brutus Buckeye and Max a OSU pen holder. Do you know what Jay spent most of his money on?


This is for baby Vivi :)

I'm proud of my kiddos for loving to give. It makes it ok that they say Christmas is their favorite holiday because they get presents.

I knew when Al lost one of her two front teeth in October that this would be a possibility.

In about 2-3 weeks, this child will get really sick of hearing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.....my two front teeth.."

I don't know why I can't get these pictures to zoom in and save, but it's just not happening for me. So, put on your glasses and/or squint, and you might be able to see these....


Confirmation it's a girl. Lack of boy parts...

The tech put little markers on the eye sockets, making her look like a kick-ass Halloween decoration. Jay thought it was cool.....skeleton sister.

Hi everyone!!!

Ally got to feel her kick last night, and thought it was pretty cool. In case you haven't heard already, the fetus within now has a name - Vivian Margaret. (Mostly Vivi as a nickname already)

I know you all are eagerly awaiting an update on how Cody is doing :) Well, Cody is great. He's a sweet, loving horse. Minnie on the other hand...... ARGH! If she were protecting George in a very maternal effort to keep this new male from harming him...I get that. However, it's not that. She is just pissed off he's here, period. When Cody comes near her or her food or her area or the barn, etc. she pins her ears back and attacks. The bucking has apparently subsided to biting. Eric noticed last night that Cody has many new scars from her.

Kicked him hard here.

Numerous bite marks.

So, this is what we've resorted to, among other things. She's wearing a muzzle to keep her from biting Cody. At night, Eric pins her in the barn in her own stall so Cody has a chance to seek shelter. If forced to choose between my kids/horses, I would say leave Cody and George and Minnie can find a new home. Would I do that? No. She's just used to being alpha female and will have to suffer some consequences. I am now ready to whip her ass anytime she acts up. Bright side? They smell so good. They are beautiful and they are like doggies, wanting affection and love (George and Cody, anyway) So worth it.

My sister and SIL have journals on livejournal.com. I used to have entries, but downsized when I created this blog (although it may seem like I have a lot of time on my hands...really, not so much). They get little questionnaires and fun stuff that they post. So, even though this isn't exactly the right domain, I'd like to participate too!! I got this from my SIL, Crissy:

WHAT WERE YOU DOING 10 YEARS AGO?
1. Working at Park Nicollet Clinic in Minnesota
2. Had my panties in a bunch cuz I was pregnant with Max and was stressed about everything (good reference tool is that with this pregnancy I stress about very little- 10 years later)
3. Right about this time was when I got lost in the Mall of America (walked around for 2 hours, trying to remember where I parked)
4. I was contemplating getting rid of my Ford Escort :(
5. What did I do before kids?!?!

WHAT'S ON YOUR TO DO LIST FOR TODAY?
1. Get photos organized and uploaded so I can make a kick-ass gift for the Wrights
2. Go to work (yes, I'm working at Target to make a little extra cash for Christmas)
3. Micro-manage Eric and the parent duties he has for today
4. Laundry - then again that's always on the to do list!
5. Pick out a board game for the fam. to play tonight!

WHAT ARE 5 OF YOUR FAVORITE SNACKS?
1. Fruit and vegetables (Never met a fruit or veggie I didn't like)
2. Hummus and pita chips
3. Cheese :)
4. Cereal - plain Cheerios, Frosted Mini Wheats, granola-ey cereals....
5. Cheez-its
*A couple of these were Crissy's favorites, too - no wonder we get along so well!!!! It's all about food, baby!

5 THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE (in no particular order)
1. Give money to the local humane societies
2. Buy stuff for my family and friends; Plane tickets for my long lost friends who I don't get to see, buy my brother and SIL babies, season tickets to Notre Dame football(Kim), 5 year's supply of gasoline (Ann:)...........
3. Build an eco-friendly house that had a very tiny, tiny little footprint (Again, Crissy and I agree on this one)
4. Ally would get a pony
5. Paul would have all the money he needed to get back to Brazil!!!
* Looking at my list, I think it would have to be more of a billionaire!!

5 PLACES YOU HAVE LIVED
1. Iowa
2. Minnesota
3. Georgia
4. Wisconsin
5. Ohio

5 JOBS YOU'VE HAD
1. Dairy Queen employee
2. LPN for nursing home, homecare, hospital and clinic (not all at the same time....)
3. Waitress @ Holiday Inn
4. Detassler (one of the worst jobs you'll ever have the privilege of experiencing..mostly for those midwest teens)
5. Target cashier (yay...............sigh)

You leave them alone for a couple hours...................


AND YOU GET A NEW HORSE!!

Meet Cody, the newest addition to the family. He's an 11 year old quarter horse. He's beautiful, don't you think?

See, Eric and the kids went to one of the mounted shoots (I've mentioned it before). Now, I don't know how the whole thing went down, for sure, but I know Eric mentioned the last thing we needed right now was another horse. Not right before Christmas. Not when we/I am already concerned about hauling my fat, 8-9month pregnant ass out to the barn to feed. Not when we already have poorly behaved (Minnie) horses we haven't trained, yet. However, a deal was made and when I came home, I got to meet sweet Cody.

Eric said Minnie put up a good show. (one of my first questions was how Mama did when introduced to him) She's overprotective, and that's the nice way of putting it. She kicked around and chased him. George just stood there between the two dancing, cuz he didn't know what the hell he was doing. All in all, they are getting along pretty well. He loves apples, so I'm sure he will fit right in.

ATTENTION : Fall is missing. Repeat. Fall is missing. Gone. Where oh where could fall be? I don't know, but it sure as hell is not in central Ohio!!!!!

I am NOT a fan of winter. I don't even like the 6 months of winter we get normally, sooooo having it start in OCTOBER is unacceptable!!!!! We went from 80 degree weather, pretty much straight to what we have now, which is NOT fall.

We got snow the other day. We had wind chills this morning of 23 degrees. Right now it is 40 degrees, but will be down in the mid 30's by the time football practice starts. ( That's without the wind chill factored in.) "Sorry Max, you're on your own. Mommy will watch you from the van, ok?"

* On an only slightly different note, Max is playing in the championship game this coming weekend. The team they are playing is the only team that beat them this season. Last game between these two was torture. In the end, I waited by the gate for my own son, but secretly imagined myself choking the opposing players as they walked/strutted off the field. Oh crap, did I just type that out loud??? Seriously, boys lacking in any type of sportsman-like conduct. Wish Max luck!!!

**On a much different note, our halloween party was this past weekend. We did not have our own camera there, so I will have to wrangle up some photos from anyone sober enough to hold a camera steady...could be a challenge, but I think I'll find someone.....

Today I picked Mom up from the airport. We did a little shopping, then headed home. I asked Mom if she wanted to stop by the barn first, to see the horses. As we head down the road, I see Eric walking along the side of the road. He had what I thought were the dogs' leashes in his hand. I figured, "Damn, the dogs ran away, again." I then noticed that they weren't leashes but lead ropes. Shit! So, Mom drives the kids to the house (about 125 yards away). Our two neighbors, Eric and me - all trying to wrangle two horses. Quite a sight. They've only gotten out one other time, and our neighbor was able to walk right up to them. However, this time, the neighbors three dogs, one horse and two cows might have put a small wrench into those plans. After awhile, Eric got close enough to throw a couple apples to them. "Apples? Oooh!! Yum!" They are suckers for apples. We finally got them back to the barn. Now, I really wish I could have been there to see the whole thing go down. Eric said he opened a gate on the far side of the barn to get a big ladder through. Minnie saw this and came around the corner at full speed. Eric didn't have time to close the gate, but considered throwing the ladder at her. Nope, not a good idea, so out she went. George made a loop around the pasture and said, "Oh, HELL no". He jumped the fence to get out with Mama! Well, they're home and George only has a small scratch on his leg from his leap. I tell you, it's never a dull moment around here!!!!

So, this is Eric's first time out. He said the shooting part wasn't so hard, (shocker, seeing as how he is a Marine) but the horse part he struggled with.


Apparently, getting Uno to go was a challenge. He later learned, he had the brakes on - pulling back on the reigns.

My cowboy.

I think he really enjoyed himself out there. This is a really fun weekend activity. Our own horses, could get trained to shoot -especially George. I think this is a possibility before next season, which starts in the spring.
Just had to get another picture of Al, in. This was Al on Rocky, pre-shake.

Ummm.....wow. This is my 6 year old!! This past weekend was crazy. We had football games spread all over central Ohio and Eric was participating in a clinic shoot. I posted awhile back about our friends who do the cowboy mounted shooting. We go and watch them quite a bit, but have never done it ourselves. This was Eric's chance. After Jay's game, Ally, Jay and I drove to Wooster, to watch Daddy. We got to see him (you'll see that later), but I had to leave to get to Max's baseball tryouts. I left Ally there - is there really anyplace she'd rather be????? Eric calls later to say that Ally was "warming up" Rocky and he shook, which shook her. (Horses will shake their whole body to rid themselves of flies, etc.) It just freaked her out for some reason. She didn't want to get back on. Well, she had been talking about wanting to do the course, but was chickening out. She finally built up the courage and got 'er done.


She is on Uno, Mark and Dawn's most recent horse purchase. He's a very good horse.

The announcer talked to Ally the whole time she was waiting to go. He finally asked her if she wanted him to stop talking to her over the PA system. He got a "yes" nod. He got the hint.

This is all Al! She reigned Uno all by herself. Mark just went in front, so she knew which way through the course to go!
I know exactly what was being said, here. "Way to go, cowgirl!!!"

Ally gets stage fright pretty easily. We first got a taste of it when she refused to go onstage for her dance recital. Then, again, when it came time for game day during t-ball. (practices were a breeze). I am so flippin proud of her! She overcame her fear and did it! On the way home, Eric turned on the OSU game on the radio. Ally was still walking on clouds....and told Eric that if he was so proud of her, he needed to shut the game off. (ha ha ha!!) Apparently, she wasn't done talking about her experience!!

That's my girl!!!!!!!

Here he goes!! That kid ready to tackle him looks so big!! It's hard not to gasp at each and every hit.

I 'm not sure if Max knows Eric is taking his picture or not. It would not surprise me if Max is "practicing" his moves. Cocky? Perhaps, but I prefer.....confident, motivated and goal-oriented. He's already thinking of which college would be best to get drafted out of.....you gotta admire a kid with dreams!!
How can he even see the ball with that helmet on?! That's what I want to know......

Football Mom....................pads in/ pads out/pads in/pads out........stinky gear, stinky van, stinky boys..........sitting in the extreme heat/ sitting in the extreme cold...........bleacher butt...........concession stand food.......... 2 1/2 hours of anxiety and nail-chewing..........seeing your kid say "Hi Mom" on ESPN..............worth it. Yeah, yeah, I may have big dreams, too, but it could happen.

I warned you there would be more football pictures! This is Jay congratulating one of his best buds. Would it be wrong to run out on the field to pinch his cheeks???? So cute.
It's amazing to watch Jay play. He's always up against kids much bigger than him. This kid can tackle!! I guess wrestling/fighting with Max all these years has been great practice.