Last Sunday of 2007

I just finished taking my last Sunday afternoon nap of 2007...........awe that was refreshing!

Tomorrow we will be going over to a friends house, lots of our friends will be there, bringing in the new year together....the kids will be running around having fun getting to stay up late too! I've got to figure out what snack I want to bring to help contribute to the food.

Yesterday we had some friends over...they brought their wii (that is so much fun to play...I wouldn't mind getting one for us...it's so much fun, and it gets your butt up off the couch!)
They also brought over this cool 10MPH mini coop that's meant for kids...this is powerful and freaked the kids out...but Bobby and I had fun riding it! ;)

Today we have friends coming over to play some board games/watching movies and stuff. Oh...Santa gave us the Disney (2nd Edition) Scene It game...that's fun...and I love it...it's a trivia game that I'm actually good at! :)

Gotta love the week between Christmas and New Years....it's a great time to hang out with friends!

We've been elfed!

I sent this to a few...but just incase you missed it check us out as elves!

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!!!

The kids were so excited yesterday. One of our traditions is that the kids get to open one gift on Christmas eve (the lovely jammies their sporting in the pictures) and Abby asked all day if it was time to open a gift. The girls showed so much excitement and happiness over the jammies. I was really impressed with their gratitude, it actually overwhelmed me. Catherine was funny, this year she realized that for the last 3 or 4 years she's received PJ's of some type on Christmas Eve....LOL :) They were really cute. They laid out the sugar cookies that we baked on Christmas Eve, and the pictures they colored for Santa and went to bed.

We kept the kids up a little later than normal so they'd sleep in a bit (8am isn't too bad for Christmas Morning!). They woke up with so much excitement. They woke us up, and we pulled ourselves out of bed...and we all came downstairs (I left all the Christmas lights on downstairs so it was all aglow this morning). The kids sorted out the gifts into everybody's pile. Abby knows her name, but if it was for someone else she'd place it in a pile, we'd catch her and she'd say "Oh, I can't read that" or "Oh, I didn't know" it was cute. Catherine of course did a great job...however mentally counting each gift as she placed them in the piles (that girl reminds me so much of how I was growing up)

The girls got lots of games, fun toys and tons of stocking stuffers. They didn't complain, they enjoyed every gift they asked for...they never mentioned the other things that they may have wanted that they didn't get. They were really good, I'm very pleased at how grateful and sweet they are.

Special gifts include:

Abby getting her Baby Emma that she wanted, baby bottles, cute blankie, Barbie Hair-do, Make up (first time) and shiny pink bag, lite-brite, etc...

Catherine getting her easy bake oven (Disney Princess Cool Air Bake), Nintendo DS Catz game, Bratz make-over doll, High School Musical 2 DVD, make up, etc...

Girls Big Gift: Personal DVD player (the girls got 2 DVD's each) & Pink Carrying case, 2 sets of sparkly pink ear phones (band less loop over the ear), princess autocolaunts to decorate the DVD player and case.

Bobby did a great job giving me wonderful gifts. He is so sweet and thoughtful.

Christmas Eve while I was preparing the cinnamon rolls he gave me a gift - it was white slippers - perfect! Today I received Bath & Body works Sensual Amber gift set, Starbucks teacup and saucer, and my favorite chocolates in the world...Ferrero Rocher. Plus a stocking filled with goodies. Oh, and the jewelry....

He got some goodies in his stocking, plus a few gifts that he'd been wanting....he got several gifts before Christmas though...like XBox 360 game Call of Duty 4...and other stuff.

Honestly...the kids posing for a couple pictures...and Bobby taking some of me and the kids was one of my best gifts....if they only knew how much that means to me!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas. I gave a lot of thought to all my friends today, and I hope that everyone had a great day with their family, and that everyone knows how much I love them. I know I didn't call and talk to anyone today (we seem to keep to our immediate family on Christmas day...but know that you were thought of!).

Love you all!

Merry Christmas Eve

Okay, technically it's Christmas...but I haven't gone to bed...so, I'm going with that! :) But anyways.....Santa has arrived!!!!


I've made homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast tomorrow...using the cinnabon recipe in the morning I'll make the frosting for them and reheat them.



Here are a couple fun gifts I did this year....this went to Bobby's cousins that live here in PA....it's a "Warm Wishes" for a Merry Christmas (everything inside is to help you stay warm) Starbucks coffee beans, peppermint mocha frappachino's, hot cocoa's, cozy socks, home made fudge, lap blanket, gloves, etc....)


Home made fudge for teacher gifts... I wrapped them up in clear bags and tied with Holiday Treats ribbon :)

The eve of Christmas Eve

Yesterday was a bit of a family day...we got the kids back from a sleepover. They caught up on some of the Christmas Cartoons while Bobby and I got ready. We went out and ate lunch at Applebee's then went to the Movie theater to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was sooo cute!!! We put the girls in between us and we hoped to catch a nap....no chance - the movie was way to cute! I would almost be willing to buy a couple of their songs.........uh almost! :) Very cute though...fun little updated songs though. At the end, during the credits, they played music, Catherine jumped up and danced...she's so cute.

Then we went over to a friends house until late. The kids all played together...us adults played trivial pursuit. Let me say that I hate playing that game - at least the adult version. I'm much better at the jr versions! :) It was especially hard playing the genus version...I completely stunk! Bobby is much better at the game..that stinker knew almost every answer...it's not fair! :) LOL

Today was a nice lazy day...trying to catch up on sleep and all. I've got to finish wrapping the gifts so that I can relax tomorrow. So I'm off to make me some diet hot cocoa (I'm 131 lbs right now...and very happy about that!...just a few pounds from 120 something!) and pulling out the last of the gifts to be wrapped.

Love and Happiness to you all with much love of the season!

Secret Santa Cami!

This post is all for Cami - may she always have love and joy in her life!

Cami - you are truley one of the best people I've had the pleasure of getting to know in the world...even though we've never meet IRL! You are spunky, funny, filled with love, generous, beutiful inside and out, insightful, observant, intelligent, fun to be around and all around completely awesome!

Thank you for sending me such a sweet gift! I came home one day to a package on my front porch. I wasn't expecting it, the packages I was anticipating had already arrived. The package had my name on it. I opened the shipping box, and inside was a familiar packaging of the fabulous San Fancisco Music Box Company.

I opened it up..hehehe...perhaps I should have waited for Christmas morning....but I'm as bad as a kid! I'll admit it! I'm glad I did open it, it was a gorgeous mini waterglobe ornament with an angel and it has a silver star that hangs from it! :) It works so well on the tree...it's gorgeous...and the girls love pushing the button to hear it play music, especially Abby. I had no idea who this was from and I kept asking all my local friends! :) Turns out it was my dear friend Cami! Which by the way I got her card with her kids picture (they're so gorgeous!!!) So again, Thank you Cami!!!!! You are so sweet!!!

Christmas Stuff

Christmas Shopping
Catherine (Check)
Abby (Check)
Bobby (Check)
Catherine's Stocking (Check)
Abby's Stocking (Check)
Bobby's Stocking (1/2 a Check)

Just a few more items then I'm completely done! :) Yeah!!!!

I'm not hard to buy for....I'll take a gift card to Starbucks! ;P ......Did I just say that?!
Anytips for the hard to buy person...please let me know...besides a gift card...what would be a fun gift to open on Christmas Day????? There's someone I need to buy for (I can't give it away - they may be reading this) and I'm fresh out of ideas!



I've got to pick up a couple items for a few friends up here and them I'm completely done! I love how in just one or two shopping days, I get a lot accomplished! One more run and I'll be done. I enjoy this time of year, and I don't stress over the shopping...it's a thrill to pick out things for others.

I've got lots of gifts wrapped and under the tree already...all in coordinating paper from Target...it looks pretty cool! :)



I've got over 50 Christmas Cards filled out and addressed....most went into the mailbox today (I've got to pick up some more stamps, and some will be hand delivered). I didn't make them this year...I used three designs...I found some really cute ones. I kept thinking of more and more people I wanted to spread some Christmas Cheer to! :)


What do my girls love on a cold winter day? Hot Chocolate!
...and it's even better with a peppermint candy cane! The girls were home today because of the very icy weather....so we had a fun day of watching some great Christmas movies and drinking hot cocoa...then they left me for the afternoon playing at a friends house down the street.

This little guy here is holding a belly full of mini candy canes instead of cookies. :) I wonder how long they'll last....

Enjoy all your Christmas preparations and traditions!

Christmas Movies

Okay, so I'm going to try and update more often....which means you're going to see a lot more random stuff! :)

Christmas Movies
There are many movies going on during the month of December....lots of old classic animations (Rudolph, Grinch, Frosty, Santa Claus, Charlie Brown Christmas, etc...) classic movies (Miracle on 31st St, Winter Wonderland, etc...) and fun newer ones (Santa Baby, Hallmark movies, Polar Express, etc...). Hopefully everyone will get the chance to watch at least one during the season...whatever floats your boat...if it's Lampoons Christmas, The Christmas Story, The Santa Claus....I hope you get the chance to watch one with a hot cup of cocoa! :)

Baby it's cold outside!

I love that song BTW! :) Besides the classics, two of my all time favorite Christmas songs is Baby it's cold outside, and Santa Baby! Sexy little Christmas songs! :)

Well, it's snowing already, Christmas lights are up and shining. All the Christmas decorations are up, boxes put away.....candles from my PartyLite candle party came in.....it's a happy household in PA!

I had our PTO meeting tonight, I've got a book committee meeting here at the house tomorrow night. We have our Holiday Shop at school at the end of the week which I'll be helping with. The girls will do their shopping for each other and for a few friends. So lots of stuff going on.

I had the family out and about on Sunday morning...first we went to Target to look for a star or snowflake to hang outside between the two windows upstairs. Then we were off to take pictures of the girls in front of cool buildings downtown. I didn't take any with my digital camera, all with my Rebel....they were cold and wimped out before I was done, so the roll isn't complete yet. I'll take more pictures of them this weekend then have them developed.

Here's one quick one I took with my crappy digital camera inside...which makes for a horrible shot....

I've wimped out this year and bought Christmas cards. I just don't know where I'd find the time or energy to create them this year. They're cute though so I'm happy with them. There was one more design that I completely fell in love with, but didn't buy them....I may have to go back and pick them up....every time I hear one of my two favorite songs I think of those cards. I may just have to find an excuse to go out shopping tomorrow and get them.....or Wednesday for sure, since I'll be close to that particular store after I drop the kids off at their Awana Clubs.

Oh, I picked up a cute star at Target to go on the top of the tree....the only problem is, that it's really heavy and doesn't want to stay up there! Grmppfhhhhhh..............If anyone knows of any suggestions please fill me in!!!! The cord isn't long enough to plug into the light plugs (pre-lit tree), so we've got to get another extension cord to make it light up.

The girls wanted new stockings so I picked up theirs....but didn't get Bobby and I a new one yet...because otherwise that alone would have been $50! ARggghhhhh why must everything be so expensive?!? After Christmas I'll look for a new tree skirt that's white/silver...that way the next time I decorate the tree in all silver/white/clear it will look a little more polished! :)

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was very nice, I prepared all 5 pies and sweet potatoes the day before. I only had to make the caramel sauce and whipped cream (adding a little sour cream into heavy whipping cream and powder sugar makes a huge difference - very yummy!). We spent the day with Jake & Becky and their family. The girls had a great time playing with Jake and Abby - they said it was the best Thanksgiving ever! :)

Friday I pulled everything out of the storage closet, so that when Bobby got home from work we could set up the tree. Yeah I didn't do the Black Friday shopping. I got the white/pink tree set up in the girls room (so adorable).

By the end of the weekend I had everything decorated and cleaned back up. All that's left is for Bobby to add the lights outside. I've already put up the garland around the front window on the porch...so not much left to do......we just have to wait for the weekend because it's dark by the time he gets home from work...it gets dark so early!

I'll take some pictures this weekend hopefully and upload them. I can't wait to see see how everyone else is decorating this year. Oh big news in our household.....I got to decorate the tree in my choice this year - First time I've had my way in my entire life!!!!!!!!!!!! Wo-hoo! :)
Using our tall skinny pre-lite (clear lights) tree, all I have on is white/silver ornaments - mainly all snowflakes, icicles, silver shiny balls, and starts........it's gorgeous! :) I love it (Thank you Bobby for giving in this year!) Bobby and the girls miss the colored lights, but they can have them back next year! :)

Have a great weekend!!!! Ours is jammed pack hanging out with friends and doing lots of great family stuff.

Thanksgiving Preperations

I've got to run to the store soon and pick up my baking supplies for all the pies that I'll be making, plus my "famous" sweet potatoes with caramel sauce. My recipe was requested my 3 more people this year. I decided to finally make it a pretty recipe card.

I've been wanting to make a mini Thanksgiving album. I want to include my family recipes, pictures, and little blessings that we have every year. One of these days I'll make it!

This year we are celebrating the day with the only family that we have in the state, our dear cousins Jake & Becky and their two kids Jake & Abby. We're looking forward to it, it will be fun, with lots of great food, games, and just visiting with them. The girls enjoy having family here, and they love Jake and Abby so much it's unreal! Around the holidays especially I wish that our girls were closer to their cousins - they have so many.

Enjoy getting ready for the holiday meal - remember to not stress over it and enjoy the whole process. Love to all!

And with Thanksgiving in thought, I did a fun layout using some shabby princess papers to participate in the CALL TO ACT challenge by the Digi Chick. It was fun to create something and share my love for volunteering at the girls' school.

Here's what I said when I uploaded my page...

"When I'm asked what hobbies I enjoy I always reply "Scrapbooking" but my husband is quick to correct me saying "She likes to scrapbook, but she's to busy helping others to scrapbook. Volunteering is her hobby!" I guess he's right. I'm always quick to sign up and help out wherever needed. I'm the PTO President, and I'm on the committee that makes sure every student receives free books throughout the year. I help organize lots of fun activities as well as going into the classroom/library to help out. I volunteer an average of 20 hours a week, more when special events are happening. I have given food & monetary donations throughout the school years. - Way to many to scan and upload! :) Shabby Princess Festival Kit, as well as a few elements from other designers, Tape:Christina Renee

Mid-November

Wow, it's mid-November already! I can't believe how fast this year is going.

We had Parent/Teacher conferences last week....
-Catherine is such a good student through and through. I love going to her conferences because she just gets glowing reviews because she excels academically and she's such a good girl in class that the teachers love having her. Her report card was beautiful! :)
-Abby is doing better. She's making friends, following all the rules and loves school. Academically speaking, she struggles a little. Her teacher said that she just has to find a way to reach Abby because she's a stubborn learner (for example, if she thinks she doesn't know something, she'll say "I don't know that" and shuts off her brain from actually trying to learn it). She's struggling with her alphabet/sounds but on one test about math concepts she completely excelled where the rest of class didn't grasp the content or the way the test was to be filled out (filling in the circles...it was a new concept for the kids). Hopefully, things will click and by next semester she'll be smooth sailing.

Our PTO provides a luncheon and dinner for the teachers during the conferences, so I made some coffee cake and a big thing of potato salad, then I helped set up Thursday morning.

The girls had a LONG weekend (Abby had Wed - Mon off, Cat had Thur- Mon off) The weekend was so busy, we were going and doing things full throttle. We went out to eat, visited with friends, shopped, etc.... Oh, I'm extremely excited that I now wear a size 6 in pants! :) I had to go get new jeans (again) at Old Navy, I found a pair of "skinny" pants on clearance at the Gap - love that! I need new tops though....all my winter clothes are like tents...we got rid of most of them, but I need something to wear! :) I've got to pick up a few at a time though....going from size 14/16 down to 6 in a little over a year costs a lot of money in clothes by the way!

I spent yesterday cleaning up their bedroom - it was a major disaster area. I got interrupted and the job was put on hold, so today I plan to finish it. There is so much laundry to do now, because over half their closet was found on the floor and under their beds . Board games were found all over the place too....this is very unlike me, but I think I'll be throwing them all out and just starting over from scratch (sounds like good Christmas presents to me!).

Ever hear of PartyLite? They make wonderful candles. I went to a party years ago, and fell in love....the candles burn so clean - no soot at all! I went to a party just a few weeks ago, and booked a party off of it. So that's Thursday night.

Friday night I'll be going over to a friends house for a Silpada party. I've heard lots of good things about their jewelry, so I can't wait to see it in person.

Who knows what this weekend will hold, but I'm sure it will be busy, we seem to find ourselves very busy these days.

Coffee!!!!!!!!

I love coffee! I love all things coffee too! Like cool mugs, vintage coffee adds, coffee stores, mocha's, lattes, cappucino's, etc...

I just don't drink it everyday, so that's the reason I have such a low score *sob*, *sniff, sniff*

I am 56% Addicted to Coffee

Photo Sharing

FALL............

Candied Apples....... don't they look so pretty. This is the first time I've ever made them, and actually the first time I've ever taken a bite from one (didn't want the calories from an entire one)

Dressed up for a Halloween Party, I was a sassy witch, Bobby was a warlock, Catherine was a Gothic Vampire turned deamon, and Abby was Tigger (she looked a little out of place with the rest of us, but cute none the less!)

The Halloween party that we went to was lots of fun with a hayride and haunted forest!

Here's Abby, very cute and innocent right? HA! We woke up Sunday morning to the fact that she cut her hair - all over the place, there are short spots, especially around her face (She gave herself a layer of 1/2" - 1"bangs). So I had to give her a hair cut....she now sports bangs! At first I didn't cut the back of her hair off entirely...there were a few short strands in the back....and it drove me nuts so by the end of the day I chopped off the rest to even out the back.

What a stinker! :) Today she had a fall walk and explored nature with the rest of the kindergarten class. Her first little field trip, she had lots of fun!

Catherine had her last game of cheering this last weekend. (Bobby snapped this picture while I was recovering last month - the pom-poms were on a pole directly infront of her) Tomorrow night she'll be in the parade with the rest of her squad. :) She enjoyed practices but not cheering for the actual games. She also loved doing the half time dance routine.

Abby's dance class has finished up, she learned a lot and had a great time. She really enjoyed herself so we'll put her into another class now that we know that she really has a passion for it.

Halloween stuff

See Miss Bones? Isn't she cute? Did you ever think skeletons could be so adorable? Neither did I until I saw one on Holly's blog, I had to get one at Michael's and spruce her up! :) I'd like to link you to her, but she's changed blogs and that particular link no longer exists...sorry!

Anyways...the girls have their costumes. This is the first year that Catherine wants to dress up as something scary. -sigh-

This weekend we have a Halloween party to go to, there will be lots of kids, a hayride and lots of fun. I'm going to attempt to make candy apples to bring along. I've got to get the craft sticks for them, and make them tonight, so that if I fail miserably, I'll still have time to make something else! :)

Yesterday I worked on the games for Abby's school party, I've attached paperclips to lots of little treats, that the kids will "fish" for with a pole/string/magnet. There's the pumpkin bean bag toss, and we'll do a craft. I also have a little song thing that I'd like to teach them. They'll sit and clap their hands on their legs, then clap their hands together saying "Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Round and Fat. Turns into a Jack-o-lantern just like that!" and on the word "that" they'll snap their fingers.....it's cute! :)

Hope everyone is having a hauntingly good time preparing for all the trick or treating fun!

Fun and Frivolous post

Not so frivolous, but really neat....Select a Candidate Quiz it's neat to see if they predict who they think lines up with who you think your leaning towards for the Presidental Running.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Now this is completely Frivolous! :)

What Alcoholic Drink Are You?

You Are Rum

You're the life of the party, and a total flirt You are also pretty picky about what you drink Only the finest labels and best mixed cocktails will do Except if you're dieting - then it's Diet Coke and Bicardi all the way

What's on your Must Watch TV list?

This may seem like a lot...but with a DVR, it's not (plus the bonus of never having to watch comercials anymore).

ABC:

LOST which comes back in February.

Desperate Housewives, always fun

Big Shots - A male version of Desperate Housewives they say

Women's Murder Club aires on Friday

Carpoolers looks funny -

Pushing Daisies I didn't watch last night...I'll have to watch it online

NBC:

Hero's - one of my favorites!!!

Journeyman - I'm enjoying this one so far.

Bionic Woman - I enjoyed it, Bobby thought they could do better

Medium again, waiting for it's return

CBS:

Survivor - I can't help myself

Kid Nation - finally a reality show that we can watch with Catherine and not worry

CSI: NY and Without a trace...when the mood strikes

Of course during the day the tv runs in the background to Regis & Kelly, The View, and

my dirty little secret...Days of our Lives...shhhh!

One more thing.....here's a link for downloading some digital scrapbooking freebies from scrapbooks etc. I love DS freebies...and I'm always on the lookout for them! :)

I don't have lymphoma!

Yeah! :)

I made it back to my ENT today for another post-op check. The pathology results came back, and I don't have lymphoma. There are more results coming that we're waiting on which could take up to 4 weeks. So for now, we don't know what caused them to go crazy.

He had to stick me with another needle to drain it yet again, it's looking better though. I'll go back next Monday for him to check it again.

I'll leave with an Irish Proverb that I enjoy "May your home always be to small to hold all your friends"

It's October!

Saturday Bobby and I were invited to a Bon-Fire party, they had a large fire pit and it was a lot of fun.

I love the fall; the crisp air, the turning leaves, the pumpkins, fall activities, and the clothes! :)

The pumpkinfest and apple harvest festival is coming up in the next two weeks, so there are lots of fun things for the kids to do.

I've got to get my fall decorations out. I normally have them up at the begining of September, but I was so busy planning the PTO picnic, then with my surgery. Hopefully I'll get them out this week! :)

I'm starting to feel a lot better. I can turn my neck more, I can pull my shirt off easier (Bobby's had to help me - think hockey shirting without the punches to the ribs!) :) and the pain is down to 10%. The major thing that bothers me is actually my shoulder, it feels like a cross between rub burn and a sun burn. I'm really getting sick of that! LOL

Catherine had another game to cheer for on Sunday, they did their big routine for the half time show for the first time. I missed it, since I was home (I didn't feel good yesterday) with Abby. I'll take my camera to the next game and get some pictures. I also want to get some pictures of Abby in her dance class this week. Bobby has taken her the last two times, and I forgot my camera the first week.

I have a coffee table again!

It's been years since we've had a coffee table. We gave away our oval cherry coffee table away to Salvation Army years ago when Catherine was learning to walk.

I saw this Broyhill table at a store a few weeks ago and felt like I just had to have it. Yesterday Bobby and I were out for a little bit (I was getting cabin fever and had to get out of the house) and I showed it to him. He liked it, and the price was great, so we had them put a hold tag on it, we went to Salvation Army to get rid of the 7 bags of clothes in the back of the van so that we could fold the back seat down and take it home. I'm so excited! I can't wait to put some fall decorations on the bottom shelf (as to not to obstruct the view of the TV - only request from Bobby) ;)

We went out to lunch, then we ran over the my ENT's office - there's a swollen spot at the base of the scar and it has me concerned. I've taken all my antibiotics that he prescribed, and I haven't had any fever symptoms so it doesn't seem like an infection. He said the skin looked really healthy, but he took a sample to of the fluid under the skin. My pathology reports weren't back (my appt. was supposed to be today - but I went in a day early because of the bump) but he did go ahead and remove the stitches. I'll go back next Monday for another Post-Op appt.

I'm tired, and going to take a nap - I'll catch you up on other happenings later!

Edited to add...

I just added a slide show (located on the side bar to the right) with the album I created for my sister Teresa. I wanted to create something to cheer her up while she's going through chemo. I sent this out before my surgery, but I didn't want to share it here, until I knew that she received it. When I talked to her today, she said she got it (and loved it!) Yeah. I just felt the need to create something beautiful for her - she is so beautiful inside and out and I wanted her to really know how much I love her. It's a 6x6 mini tabbed album from K&Co. When you look at it closed, you see 4 tabs "Love, Family, Friends, Faith" then when you flip it over and look at it from the back you see 4 more tabs "Joy, Simple Pleasures, Shopping & Treats" it's truly a "girlfriend" album full of yummy colors/papers and lots of fun techniques. Almost every page has a tag hidden away in a pocket sleeve. There are spaces for journaling, photos and anything else she'd like to add to the album.

I'm okay

I had my surgery late Wednesday morning. Everything went fine, both lumps have been removed (no damage to the nerves down my arm - I can shrug my left shoulder) and have been sent off to pathology.

I'm just really tired, and sore. It hurts to move my neck around too much, so I've been trying to keep still. Of course my throat hurts from being tubed during the surgery. The anesthesiologist did a great job of adding medicine to the IV before I woke up so I wasn't nauseous this time - which is great. Last time I had surgery I threw up for hours afterwards.

I think one of the worst things about going into surgery is not putting on make up or being allowed to wear contacts. :) I looked pretty pale after the surgery - no color in my lips even.

Warning: Hideous picture to follow!

I have a follow up appointment with my ENT next Tuesday to have the stitches removed. Today I was able to remove the large bandage, apply ointment and get my first glimpse at my scar. It runs along the crease in my neck, which is a good thing, it will hide pretty easily as it ages. :) Yeah!

Can you see how swollen it is...yucky!

I was looking for a larger band-aid and I couldn't find any. Abby said "That's okay Mommy, you can use my Care Bear band-aids!" That girl is so sweet! I told her that it would take two to cover it up, and she says "That's okay, I don't mind sharing them with you!" :) Love that girl!!!

Okay, I have to confess...looks like I didn't throw out all my huge clothes...these jammies are huge (I wore them when I was a huge pregger!). I've got to get some new jammies! At least these were nice and comfy - with the button up top I was able to get it on/off without bothering the sore area.

Bobby's taking Abby to her dance lesson tonight, Jenn has taken Catherine to her Cheer practice...so I'm off to take a nap. Love you all - thanks for all your prayers!

Clean that closet

Sounds like a game show doesn't it?! :) LOL

Bobby and I worked on laundry together this past weekend (it was fun working together with him - he's such a riot!) and he brought up the box of trash bags. We weeded through the closet and threw out everything that was a L, XL or XXL as we are both now a S or a M :D What a great feeling that was. Now we have 6 bags of clothes to send off to charity. It actually kind of breaks my heart a little, because most of it is really, really nice clothes. It's hard to give away practically brand new articles.

Keep it case we chunk back up again? No way! Why give ourselves the excuse to put the pounds back on? It took a lot of work to loose the weight, and it's not coming back on! It shouldn't be easy to get fat again. Trust me, I can't afford to buy another wardrobe anytime soon - there's motivation right there! :) LOL psst.....besides, the styles change so often that there's just no need.

Did I ever tell you that my laundry closet (they're hidden in a closet behind two folding doors) is located upstairs in the hallway between the two bedrooms? The day we settled on the house, we came in and painted the living room, upstairs hallway and this laundry closet (a Martha Stewart type of soft linen blue). Since then, I've added a strand of white lights. It really cheers up the space and makes laundry just a little more cheerful (so does the photos and cheery little tins to hold all the little things that are found hiding in pockets - the green one holds my favorite.....money, the other two hold lots of little gems from the girls)



---Minus 12 hours until surgery to get rid of these two lumps---I wanted to get a good picture of my neck before my scar makes it's appearance.... LOL

Wake me up when September ends...

:) Gotta love Green Day! -The freaks!

While we were out and about this weekend, Catherine sitting in her booster seat in the van and out of no-where says "Wake Me Up When September Ends". We laughed because it was funny, with it being mid-September. I thought it would be a cool blog title and made a mental note.

Now, anybody that knows me well, knows that I stink at knowing who sings what, what the title of a song is and so forth. Needless to say, I am not a huge music video fan but with blogging the title I thought I needed to see the video. I think I'm the last person in the world to know what this song is really about. I had no idea that that's what was going on...I guess I figured it was something else.

---
Catherine just amazes me with how many songs she knows. She has such a wide taste of music (much to Bobby's credit for exposing her to all types - age appropriate of course). Her little digital music player (why aren't they called DMP's since actually most aren't really MP3 players?) has a few songs on there, we need to load it up with more because she's constantly singing to the radio and saying "Oh, I love this song!". She's so cute toting her pink I-Dog and MP3 player in the little pink bag - it has been the best purchase! She's always listening to music, singing and dancing. She's too cute!

---
Abby - what a mess she is! She's been playing in the dress up box today. She pulled out a TIGER costume, dressed up and started quoting the TIGGER Movie (it was on Disney over the weekend so it was fresh in her memory) she had me laughing so hard! Later she was in a cheer leading outfit with mis-matched pom-poms creating her own cheers jumping around.

Before I forget I've got to tell the first Abby/Kindergarten story that her teacher told me during the PTO picnic.
-Her teacher walks up to me saying "Oh, I've got a story for you!".
Instant panic sets in...you know the feeling! I said something like "Uh-oh, I told you I was worried about her!" Thinking "Just what has Abby done now - school had only been a week....!" :)
-She laughs, and says "No, No - nothing bad, something that was just funny" continuing she says that they were cutting something...
I knew where this was going - Abby holds scissors upside down pointing towards her - completely backwards...with many attempts to teach her to hold it the correct way I fail each time because she's so darn stubborn!
-She said that she showed Abby the correct way to hold the scissors and Abby says "I know, but I like to hold them my way!". The teacher patiently explained that it wasn't safe, and that she needed to hold them the correct way, the teacher started to walk away and heard Abby saying to the other kids at the table "Fine, but when I'm home, I'm going to hold them MY way"
The teacher tells me that the "5-year old" switch turned on, and before she knew it, she turned and said "Well, when you're in MY classroom you'll hold them MY way" She laughed saying she couldn't believe she reverted to a 5-year old's level at retorting. :) LOL I'm just glad that I'm not the only one that has ever done that! :)

Oh....this is funny....tonight was a booster night for the cheerleaders. Jenn's hubby took the 3 cheer leading girls out for this tonight, Catherine came home and was telling us all about her evening on how they raised lots of money. She said how one family would give money if they did a cheer for them; one mom said she didn't have any money, but her two kids ran up one with $1, and one with a $5 Catherine said thank you, but she couldn't take the little boy's $5 bill because that was too much for him to give! LOL She also told of how one older lady had a walker and a tube to help her breath and she didn't have any money to give. Catherine said "That's okay, because I think she couldn't afford it because she had to many hardships"
She's so sweet and thoughtful but defiantly not a good fundraiser! :) LOL

Okay I'll stop now...I know I wrote too much tonight....guess I'm just getting nervous. Goodnight!

PTO Stuff

As PTO President, I've already given a presentation to the school during the back-to-school night. Monday night we had our annual PTO - All School Family Picnic. It was a large event to pull off, but with a great team it wasn't too much work on anyone. The rain held off, we had a large turn out with over 350 people. This is when we hold our first PTO meeting too - so I had to speak in front of another large crowd (not my favorite thing). Did you know that more people are afraid of speaking in large groups than dying? True fact! :) - Anyways, that's over!


Last night was the first SPARC (Superintendent/Parent Education Committee) meeting for the school year. This is held at the school district building with the superintendent and other staff members, representatives from all the schools in the district, etc... We worked on creating the agenda for upcoming meetings.

School stuff is keeping me really busy. The girls are in so many things this year - which is keeping them extremely busy too! There's cheer practice for Catherine twice a week (games on Sundays - sometimes Saturdays), AWANA (church program) for both girls once a week, Dance for Abby once a week. Plus the thrown in play dates, homework, etc...

I've got carpool duty tonight, Catherine and her friend has to be at Cheer practice for the re-take of the team photo, then we're off to their first Brownie troop meeting at Girl Scouts of the year, then I've got to drive Abby over to her first dance class. Then I'll make the rounds of picking up all 4 girls and getting everyone home. :) Thank goodness for carpooling - otherwise I think Jenn and I would go insane! :)

I'm off to make sure that Catherine's cheerleader outfit and Girl Scout Sash are all clean and ready for tonight.....and to make dinner!

Abby has glasses now

We took Abby to the optometrist and found out that she has an astigmatism in her right eye. Her left eye is just a little weak, but her right eye is very weak, if we didn't get her glasses this year she would have developed a lazy eye because her brain would have just shut off trying to read from her right eye because it was so weak.

Abby was extremeley stubborn and barely cooperated while trying to pick out her glasses. She kept saying "It's not fair, I don't want glasses". No other kids in her class have them, and she knows this.
Right now her favorite color is blue, and that's all she cared about, was getting blue glasses. A few weeks ago her favorite color was pink....so I hope that she'll be okay with blue glasses for the whole year....because she's stuck with them! :)

They finally came in, we went to pick them up. She was bummed, didn't cooperate for the lady to adjust them to fit her well, but we got them. We walked through the mall, her mood improved (much to our delight).

Abby had some birthday money to spend, so we went down to Build-a-Bear workshop. She picked her bear, chose a heart, did the heart ceremony, the bear got filled with all his fluff, Abby made her wish, inserted her new heart. The bear got stitched up, got a "bath" and make up. Abby choose clothes for her bear (Pajamas, Robe, Slippers, 3 piece outfit with jean skirt and pink/white top, panties, socks and pink cowgirl boots). Abby named her Raspberry Cream, got her birth certificate. We now have a very happy little girl.


Catherine spent her money to pick up a new Marie pillow from Disney's Aristocats. She was a dollar short, so I helped her out....she felt so proud to stand at the cashier and pay for her purchase. She handed over all her ones then counted out her coins for the tax - very grown up! ;)

We had other errands to run last night, and ended up at another shopping plaza. We ate dinner, the girls had cotton candy ice-cream from Maggie Moo's. Then we hit a few shops. At Bath & Body I picked up some foaming soap, and Abby got her Pink Rubber Duckie that she's been wanting ever since she saw it, over a year ago....I finally gave in.

It was a long day yesterday!

Today we have Catherine's game...it looks like the rain will hold off. :) - Have a great weekend!!!!

Surprise Birthday Party

My best friend Jenn planned a really nice surprise birthday party for me on Saturday. I show up at the restaurant to meet her for dinner, and as we're walking to our table we actually enter the private dining room. There were pink and brown balloons, gifts and lots of my friends. What's going on? Oh, it's for me!! :) LOL We enjoyed a great meal, Cosmo's, conversation, laughter and birthday cake. It was a smaller gathering than planned due to the holiday weekend - it was wonderful none-the-less.
Thank you Jenny!!!

It was nice having my own party, I felt very special! :) The last time I had a birthday party was when I was growing up, I'm thinking it was our 13th, which I shared with my twin sister.

First Day of School

Wow, what a long day today has been.


First, I got up with the girls (Bobby was off today, and made breakfast for the girls) and helped them get ready for the day. Catherine wanted a ponytail and curls, so I plugged in the curling iron, moused her hair and we got busy! We got cute 1st day of school outfits, so both the girls looked super cute. Of course I got some really cute picture of the girls... I won't even mention that I'll have to walk to the bus stop 3 times a day for nearly 200 days.



Look at my big 2nd grader!!!! Catherine's bus is about a qtr after 8. I don't think you can see it, but her skirt has brown/pink plaid, and so does her shoes! :)



Abby is afternoon Kindergarten (transportation was all messed up this year - we waited over 30 minutes for her bus after lunch). She was sooo ready for school, she could hardly wait.

She cracks me up! She said to me "You know Mom, now I have to be cool, since I'm in school now." well....I think she looks pretty cool in this picture! :) LOL

This girl was so ready, she practically ran to the damn bus and never looked back. She was ready for her adventure on her first day of school. I was surprised at my emotions to tell you the truth. I thought I was ready and prepared, shoot, Bobby and I have joked around about how we were going to celebrate when both girls were in school (You know, he does have every other Monday off). I'll confess though, I was pretty bummed out...my little girl was leaving me for the first time, I had no control, I couldn't pop in and see how she was doing - this was her thing. I had no control over anything for the next 3 hours. It was torturous - and my darling husband knows me better than I know myself. He called it, he knew that I was tearing up behind my sunglasses. He knew that I needed some space to myself to deal with my emotions. I didn't out and out cry or anything...but indeed I was sad. I've been so proud of Abby, for how much she has grown up over the summer - it's unbelievable how much she has grown up. I'm very proud of her and I just hope for the best for her.

Anyways.....Bobby made spaghetti for dinner, I had carpool duty and took all the girls to cheer practice (I worked on PTO stuff), after practice the girls played on the playground for a few minutes and Catherine managed to fall off the slide, nearly breaking her arm. Frozen Lima Beans to the rescue (the only thing their good for!).

We came home, did the bedtime routine, and I got a phone call. A previous PTO president called to tell me how wonderful all the PTO forms looked this year, all fresh and new - revamped and exciting. I can't even begin to tell you how happy that made me! =) =) =)


So.....what did Bobby and I do while both girls were in school? Don't worry, no need to blush....we played our delux version of Monopoly!!!!! Do you remember one of the very few times he commented on my blog.....Well....in the last week, we've played twice....the first time I thoroughly stomped him...and today, he completely dominated. :( At least he'll play Monopoly with me now......after 11+ years!!! :) It helped to pass the time away.

Abby came home with lots of information (it wasn't like when I had to 'pull teeth' from Cat for info from her first day), it was a fun day. She had a great time at recess, she made new friends, she can't remember their names. She enjoyed the day, and is ready for tomorrow when she can go back again.

My Cheerleader!

Catherine cheered her first game the Saints losts to the Buffalo's (it was a 1-0 game) our football players had some really great plays and tried real hard. Catherine enjoyed it, but it was long about an hour and a half standing out there cheering. She did well...she needs to work harder for some cheers to be in sync better - she'll get there.

Afterwards we went to Cold Stone Creamery, the girls turned in their summer reading vouchers for a free kids creation ice cream. They both chose cotton candy with white chocolate chips mixed in. Bobby choose the "Peanut Butter Cup Perfection", I of course choose the "Coffee Lovers Only" - can you say DELICIOUS?!?! :) It was worth every calorie!

-By the way I'm officially a size 8 now. This morning when I woke up, I was laying in bed on my back and I touched my tummy and realized that my stomach is completely flat when I lay down...in fact, my hip bones and my ribs stick out. I don't recall ever being that "skinny" in my life! :) No more ice-cream.....that was it until I steal one of the mini-chocolate bars out of the kids trick-or-treat baskets later in October! :) LOL

We also took the girls to Barnes and Nobles were Catherine got to choose her free book for reading 8 books and filling out their form. She got Ivy & Bean, and then we bought the second installment to her Tiara Club series that she's reading. She's already on the fourth chapter in her Ivy & Bean book - she's such a good reader.

Abby's playing with modeling clay creating Sponge Bob and Patrick, and other critters requiring her personal stash of hair clips.

I'm off to spend some time with the family...take care...Happy Sunday!

Summer's over

Summer is officially over with school starting on Monday. It has been a long and very busy summer. We've had many trips, lots of fun outings, and thoroughly enjoyed our summer with the girls.

I can't believe that Abby will be starting kindergarten. She's grown up so much over the summer. At the end of June I wasn't sure if she would be ready - my little baby girl, but now, I know she is ready. She's had lots of growing pains in her legs and is now taller. She shares things easier, she is helpful around the house (just don't ask her to pick up Daddy's socks because "eww, they're so gross!"), she's very loving towards her big sister (finally).

We had an open house where she got to visit her classroom, meet with her teacher (again) and ride the school bus to learn all the safety rules. That was on Tuesday, and she has asked everyday since then if today was the day to go to school. She is soooo anxious and excited about going.

Catherine is ready as well. She didn't get the teacher that she was hoping for but took it well. She held back some tears that were trying their best to pop out. I think she'll do well. At back to school night I took home the 2nd grade Anchor word list...which has something like 100 words that 2nd graders are expected to know how to read/spell at the end of the year. The first time she saw them she was able to read all but 3 without stumbling.

Catherine's first game to cheer at tomorrow - she's excited and can't wait. I'm so proud of her, she's learned all the cheers really well and is so cute!

---

Well for my news...the small spot that is coming back were the tumor used to be is okay for now. We won't do anything with it. The two lumps on my neck need to come out to determine if they're lymphoma. My surgery is scheduled for September 19th. Wish me well!

My sister Teresa needs all your prayers you can give her, she's still healing from her surgery. She's started chemo therapy last Wednesday - it will be a long road over the next few months. Thank God her ovarian cancer was only Stage 1-C so she has a really good chance of full cure.