Snow day #3 (and now 4:)

Yesterday the kids were off again (as they are again today). I have to say I think I am in the minority of thinking they should be off of school. Our subdivision is still A MESS. I will be the first to agree on the lack of seeing a snow plow as I saw my first one TODAY!!! No, it was not on my street but I did see one:)

Yesterday a friend called and I met her at the golf coarse right by the school to take the kids sledding..she also had HER kids too:) I wish I could say OMG it was fun but I really am not a snow person. It was a PAIN (literly) to walk in as it was snow, ICE then snow. So you would be trying to walk and 1 foot would drop through the snow, ICE and snow and it would kill your ankles..I know quit my whining and suck it up but this is my blog so I can whine all I want:)

We are suppose to get more snow next week so this should be FUN!!!! Happy Snow Day to ALL of you!!!

Snow Day #2

Well, the kids (and ME) were off again today. We got ice then about 6 more inches of snow on top of that last night. Suzanne AGAIN brought her snowblower over BUT had a little problem..she got stuck at the bottem of my street then ended up with a FLAT TIRE!!! The man at the end of the street helped her get out and till Nicholas and I got down there. Nicholas was the snowblower today and I think he had fun:)
Tim had to come over to fix the tire and has his payment we had a 4-way!!! A Cinti. Chili 4-way...get your mind out of the gutter:)
I made the kids Snow Ice Cream which I have never made before. It turned out pretty good.
Here are a few pictures of the day...

Snow Fort

Tyler and Dalton played outside ALL day..ok they came in for me to make them hot chocolate and corndogs:)
They made a snow igloo and I have to say I am pretty impressed! Both boys fit in it. Tyler had made to make the Korean Flag for school (he is from Korea:) and he added it to the Igloo tonight.
Me being the worry wart mom that I am made him write on the other side of the flag KIDS INSIDE and told both of them if it "happen" to fall in you start YELLING and get a parent to help dig the other kid out. They both said we said we will not go in without the other one outside!!!

Cincinnati Chili

Tonight for dinner I made one of my familes FAVORITE dinners, Cincinnati Chili!!! People in Indiana do not get it and make fun of it ALL the time!! (Brian I am talking about YOU:) They just do not know what good Chili is!!!

*In responce to Karens comment this is a 4-ways as it is Spaghetti, Chili, Cheese AND Onions..Leave off the onions and you have a 3-way. Add Kidney beans and you have a 5-way! Gotta Love Cinti. Chili:)
**Kathy, I buy a packet of Chili Chili Mix and add Hamburger, tomato paste and water..lol

Thanks Suzanne:)

You know you have a GOOD friend when she brings her snowblower over to snowblow your driveway and then goes across the street and does your neighbors:)
Thanks Suzanne..You are WONDERFUL!!!!

Amanda and Baby Hayden

My godaughter Amanda and her husband are about to become PARENTS!!! Amanda is very special to me as I was the FIRST person to hold her as I was her moms labor coach 24 years ago. For Ryans sake I hope Amanda is a "little" nicer then her mom was during labor..lol (Pam you will never live that down...)
Amanda and Ryan are having a BOY and his name will be Hayden! I am so excited for both of you and can not wait to meet Hayden. Pam can not wait to be a grandma. I am going for the GREAT Aunt title:)

Andrew and Nicholas

I "borrowed" this from Suzannes blog as I love this picture! I swear they looked like the first picture just a few weeks ago and now look at them. I am praying that they are the only ones that aged and not their moms:)

Winter Formal

Nicholas had his FIRST "real" dance last night. I got a text from him at midnight that said "I had a great time" and I was thrilled that he
1.Had FUN
and
2.Actually thought of texting his MOM:)

All 3 boys were NERVOUS and the girls looked so PRETTY. I am so happy Nicholas got to go with Andrew (boy in black shirt with purple tie) as they met in preschool and have been BEST FRIENDS since. Andrew moved to England for 4 LONG years and is back and Nicholas could not be HAPPIER. I can not wait to talk to Nicholas today to find out ALL the details:) The boys are at Johns house and the girls all spent the night at another house so I am sure there was a lot of texting going on...lol
I look at these pictures and think "what happen to my little boy", I get a little teary as he is growing up way to fast BUT I am so proud of what a great young man he is turning into. I know my parents are smiling down at him and so proud!!

Happy Birthday to my Mom

Today would have been my Moms 84th Birthday. I know she is having a Margarita in Heaven with my dad. Happy Birthday Mom. We miss you both!!
*I am making my moms favorite lemon pound Bundt cake for her Birthday today.

Back In Black

Tyler and his friend Jacob are trying out for the Talent Show at school. They are playing ACDC Back in Black (video below). He got a guitar for Christmas as he has been taking guitar lessons and then he used money he got for Christmas and bought a electric guitar. He plays ALL the time, and I mean ALL the time!!! The room he is in is the toy room in the basement which we use to call the Lego room but after Christmas he put away all his legos and now it is the guitar room. My sister bought him a guitar clock with neon lights and he has it hung up in there also. The Talent show is in March so they have a while left to learn the rest of the song..both boys have only been taking lessons a few months.
Samantha (Jacobs mom) and I wanted to be there singers and dancers while they played but for some reason neither of them liked that idea...trust me we even showed them some of our "moves" and they still said NO:)

Tyler playing his Guitar

What a day..

Nicholas is lucky enough to be friends with a boy whos mom is works for the Athlitic Dept for I*U so a few Saturdays ago they took a group of boys there for a FUN day. He had a great day with a lot of great memories

2 Crowns and $1000 later!

This morning I spent 3 hours at the Dentist getting 2 crowns on my 2 back teeth. Both had a crack in them...WHY????? I am a hard candy chomper so I know that is why!!!!
We signed up for Flex Spend and we have money each week from my husbands check going in to this account. I had PLANNED to use part of this for OUR $1000 portion. I pulled out the Insurance Debit card and the girl swiped it and said it is Denied..she she tried it again..STILL DENIED. By then you feel like a person with NO money so I called the number on the back of the card. Of COURSE since it through MY husbands work they can not talk to me so she calls him to tell him there is NO money in the account and to talk to HR. Soooo he calls them and they tell him it will not be in till the middle of the month!!!!!! So I paid my $1000 and now will have to fill out the papers to get my money back. Can I say Pain in the A$$!!!

On another note, I will say it did not hurt at all and other then my back hurting from laying so long it was not bad at all:)

Things we "THINK" are funny at Bunco...

PJ Bunco Night

New Years Eve

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to ALL!!!
It is a QUITE one here today as the Mom has a major headache...
I made a DOUBLE batch of 5 FRUIT SLUSH last night and they were WONDEFUL!!!
(but I think the 5th fruit got me:)

FIVE-FRUIT SLUSH

1 (12 ounce) can frozen orange juice
1 (12 ounce) can frozen pink lemonade (or regular lemonade)
1 (48 ounce) can pineapple juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups cranberry juice
1 cup watermelon vodka
7-up, sprite or club soda

1. Mix all ingredients together, except 7-UP (or its variations), and freeze in a large container (plastic works best).
2. To serve: Mix 1 part slush to 1 part 7-UP.

Movie and Skating

(Tyler & 3 girls from his class)

Tyler is in a "team" at school which means that the same class stays together for 4th, 5th and 6th grade and they have the same 3 teachers. Your main teacher changes each year and then you have the other 2 for different subjects. I LOVE IT!!! It has been the best thing for him as he needed to "come out of his shell" at school. All 3 teachers are GREAT but just to let you know how GREAT the one he has this year posted on her website when she was taking her 2 girls to see Marley and Me and Ice Skating and invited the class to met them there. How many teachers would actually do this on THEIR break!!! She also does a camp out in the spring at her house as she has land. Tyler had a ton of fun at both and I thought they movie was GREAT and had to try really hard not to do the loud crying at the end.

HoHoHo

Psst...Guess who came to our house?
Merry Christmas to all and to all GOOD NIGHT as the MaMa is TIRED:)

*The gift Tyler wanted the MOST is hidden behind the boxes and under Maxies new blankets..he got a NEW guitar and is THRILLED!!

48 in a 35

Tonight as we (OK..I) was driving to the pool for Nicholas Swim Taco Party I got pulled over. I honest to gosh thought I was getting pulled over one of my brake lights is not working..I was WRONG!!! He walks up to the car and I rolled down my window and he said " is there a reason you were going 48 in a 35" ....I HONESTLY said "No, I had no idea I was". He then ask "where are you going"..I said " to the pool for a swim party for my son" he said "Are you running late"..I said "No". He took my license and then ask for Hanks..which I can not figure out WHY. I said I was going to ask but when he came back and said I am just going to give you a warning I decided I really was not going to press my luck.
The FUNNY part of this story is TYLER (god love him) said "well NOW I will have something to talk about at school tomorrow"...then he said "he had his finger on his pepper spray the WHOLE time MOM" and "well, I guess you do not have to go to the Clink"...So I am sure everyone at school will know I got pulled over and I did not go to the clink:)

What have I been doing ALL Week?

Snickerdoodles
PeanutButter Tarts
No Bakes Cookies
Buckeyes
Sugar Cookies
Butter Cookie (Santa and Star Cutouts)
Chocolate in Powdered Sugar
Chocolate Chip
Reeses Chip Cookies
SnowBalls with Hershey Kisses in the middle
Peppermint Bark
Butterscotch squares

Cinnamon Candy (my favorite)
Rolo Candy Turtles
and 24 Loaves of Brown Bread (this year I actually made it in the cans instead of the loaf pans)

Tonight I made up cookie bags/plates/containers and am shocked at how FEW we have left. I know I will be making more Brown Bread as I am going to take it to my parents neighbors as this is what my mom did each year. I know I will make more of the PB tarts and Chocolate Chip and I still have some Snickerdoodle Dough in the fridge as when I made it I messed up (I know..gasp) and instead of doubling it I 4 times the crisco so I put 1/2 the dough in the fridge as I was OVER rolling balls....lol

WHY, do I do this....it makes me feel closer to my mom as she did this every year and I know she is smiling down at me for keeping up her tradition!!!

I still have all the ingridents to make Puppy Chow and Chex Mix so this weekend I will be doing that!
Tomorrow is the staff lunch at school that I am in charge of with another mom (hi Sam:) and Friday night I am having 25 (yes I am NUTS) high school boys here for a pasta dinner for swim. Soooo guess what I will be doing on Friday..making Spaghetti and Meatballs, Pasta Salad, Veggie trays and Rice Krispie Treats!!
Have I wrapped a gift yet..that would be a NO!!!
If anyone wants to come wrap my gift I will feed you cookies:)

Athlete of the Week

I copied and pasted this from the newspaper today..Can I just tell you how proud of Nicholas we are..he gets up at 430 to 445 5 days a week for swim practice, then has school all day, then has practice 5 nights after school till 530 and teaches pre team swim lessons 3 nights a week PLUS is a A student (and says Thank You for coming to my meet to us when he got out of the car). I am happy for HIM as he will be thrilled. The picture below is from the 200 IM.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK Each week during the high school sports season, The Republic selects an area athlete of the week for each sport.

Swimming (B) Nick Wang, Columbus North What did he do: Wang won two individual events (200 IM, 100 breast) in a dual meet against Columbus East and was part of two winning relay teams (200 breast, 400 medley) at Saturday’s North Relays.

Proud Mom on her birthday:)

This picture was on the FRONT page of our Sports Section today!! I had a friend call me and ask me if I had seen the picture of Nicholas in the paper....As she WOKE ME UP I said "no" and she said "it is a GREAT Birthday present for you" as it is MY BIRTHDAY today:)
Sooo when Nicholas gets up I say "you are in paper..Mrs Conroy said it is a Great Birthday present"..As any 15 year old would THINK he looks at me and says "today is not my Birthday". I said I know it is MINE!!!

High School Swim

High School swim started last week and we have had 2 meets so far..Nicholas is going well. He is a little nervous but having a lot of FUN:)

Thanksgiving

I had Thanksgiving at our house again this year..My sister and 1 of my 2 neices came and 3 of our friends and their families. It was a beautiful day and at noon was the 1st annual football game ~Frogs (swimmers) against the Giggers (dads and siblings). Hank deeped fried a Turkey and we had a ham and all of stuff that goes with it:)