T gets glasses!

At school they did a vision screening that T failed, so we took her to the eye doctor to get checked. Sure enough, she really needed glasses. She has a -1.5 prescription in both eyes. Yesterday we went to pick up the glasses. Here are the photos to commemorate. Unfortunately I should have taken a side photo because these don't show the cute sides that are purple with diamonds and flowers on them. They actually match the shirt she is coincidentally wearing perfectly! The front is fuschia although it doesn't look that way in the picture.

She was SO funny when she put them on for the first time. She kept saying "wow, wow wow, oh my, I can see that, wow, look at the detail of those little things, its not just color, its actually individual rocks on the driveway, wow, wow, wow, thank you so much!" She was blown away, which I guess just shows u that she REALLY did NEED glasses! I got my first pair in 3rd grade as well. Hopefully though she has not inherited my eyes because mine kept getting worse every year till I finally had Lasik surgery in 2004 when they were at a -8.0 level. I hope she doesn't have to go through that. At least right now at her level, she can still see if she doesn't have them on-unlike me, who couldn't even see my alarm clock on the nightstand without them.

She is very excited about them and thinks they are adorable, which they are.

my big girl :(

For T's 9th birthday this month she very specifically asked for a cropped jean jacket. She went into explicit detail describing what type of jacket she wanted. This is the first time she has asked for an article of clothing with so many specifications. (When her sister got a vest, she asked for one, but she's never asked for something before that she didn't see her sister get first). So I knew she really wanted this and it must mean a lot to her, so I looked and looked and finally found exactly what she wanted (at a consignment shop no less!) and gave it to her for her birthday. She was very happy and has worn it EVERY day since then. She loves it.

I, however, look at her in this hip cute jacket and all I can think of is how grown up my little girl looks. Its actually heart-wrenching. My sweet little girl, is beginning to look like a hip little tween---eeeeek! Here is a photo of what I'm dealing with, I bet u can understand. I'm happy for her, but at the same time it makes me sad because she doesn't look so little to me anymore :( I guess she's really growing up. eeek!

The first picture is her putting it on as soon as she opened it. The second one is with her cheese pie (our family's traditional birthday 'cake' for 3 generations now). (Do notice she is holding a Barbie though (still my little girl!) the doll was actually mine when I was a kid and I gave it to her for her birthday this year as well-she was so excited. The third picture really shows that 'big girl' look that I was talking about, aawwww.

I remember when...

I remember...
Rubik's Cubes and parachute pants,
break dancing (when it was new) and moonwalking,
gas at 76cents a gallon,
and Little Debbie's at a quarter.

I remember when a quarter could
buy me a candy bar OR
a play on a video game.
It was one or the other, take your pick.

Then candy went up to 30 cents and it ruined the whole mathematical equation.

I remember stealing quarters out of my older brother's change jar,
to go to town and do the above.

I remember Pac Man, Frogger, and Donkey Kong.

I remember when Aerosmith made a comeback (unheard of!)
with a duet with Run DMC on a remake of "Walk this way".

I remember watching videos on regular tv on Saturday night
way before MTV became a reality.

I remember watching the first seasons of the first reality show on MTV.
I remember ALWAYS getting all the videos right on "Remote Control"
Man, I should have been on that show! I remember the barkalounger
Yes, I think I watched too much MTV.

I remember bursting into uncontrollable tears when I saw Michael Jackson run past me backstage to the stage at one of his concerts, and immediately knowing what those screaming/crying girls must have felt like watching The Beatles years before.

I remember thinking the southern Rebel flag was "cool", until I learned what it stood for.

I remember the pain of my first leg cramps at track practice.
I remember the love of my dog.

I remember watching The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day off, and The Lost Boys, and loving all those movies.

I remember watching Footloose at the theater 6 nights in a row, and only not going the 7th night because I had a band concert to play in.

I remember losing a band challenge to Lori Litchfield so terribly that I think everyone in the room felt sorry for me because I just could NOT get the rhythm or beat to save my life!

I remember cheering at the Detroit Silverdome with those big, beautiful, sparkly, silver pom poms.

I remember sleepovers at my cheerleading coach's house.

I remember crashing my friend's car on the highway after waving to a military caravan.

I remember playing "tractor-trailer" and "Dr. Spock" with my brother. Both games we made up.

I remember being severely afraid on my first day of kindergarten, till a nice girl named Larissa befriended me and tried to make me feel comfortable so my mom could leave.

I remember thinking I had to marry someone from college, and NOT my high school sweetheart.

I remember realizing this was a mistake, and that I was definately, forever-in-love with my high school sweetheart, who is, in fact, now my husband.

I remember being pregnant for the first time and wondering if I could ever be capable of loving a child.

Now I can't even fathom not loving my kids for a second! How foolish was I to ever doubt?!

I remember their first smiles, and giggles.
The first time they slept through the night.
The first steps, the first toddling runs.
The first tricyles, the first training wheels, the first ride on a big girls bike.

I remember running across the lawn (actually running OUT of my shoes) when my oldest daughter flipped her four-wheeler.

I remember the cuts and scrapes. The slivers in toes, and the tangles in hair.
I remember the coughs and cries. The whimpers and snuggles.
I remember the smell of their hair as I cuddled them.
I remember the feel of T's hand, as she'd absent-mindedly hold my ear while nursing.
I remember the joy of their hugs. I cherish each one.

I remember when fax machines were new.
When only yuppies had cell phones.
I remember brick phones.
I remember my first car. Eagle Talon, all-wheel drive, Double overhead Cam Turbo.
Loved that car.

I remember moving to Las Vegas and crying myself to sleep every night because I was so lonely for my hometown and old friends.

I remember seeing it snow in Vegas.

I remember seeing it hail (a lot) in Oklahoma.

I remember being snowed in at our house in Michigan.

I remember the pain, like it was yesterday, of learning my beloved dog was going to die, and there was nothing at all that could be done to save her. I was willing to drive her to the University and spend whatever it cost to save her... but we learned that was not going to be an option. I remember her dying in my arms, only moments after she stole a tissue out of the trash to eat, thus making me laugh through my tears. I remember her first night in our house when she was a puppy. All she wanted was to be next to us, and she barked and jumped over baby gates until she succeeded. I remember her jumping into the pool for the first time-a running leap (of faith on her part) and she jumped into the water just to be next to us. I remember her chasing a basketball in the back yard, and diving to the bottom of the pool to retrieve her toys, and chasing after us every time we dove into the pool. I remember her hiding under the bed every day just moments b4 it was time for me to leave for work, so that I couldn't put her in the dog run, and therefore I couldn't leave her. (That was her plan anyway, but of course every morning I'd have to crawl under the bed and drag her out).

I remember when...

Ice skating poem

Ice skating with the girls,

today there are no Olympic twirls.

Its their first time on the ice,

luckily its smooth and nice.



We are here at Copper Mountain,

enjoying skating on the fountain.

Keystone's zamboni fell through the ice,

so skating there was cancelled. NICE!



I'm amazed at how well the girls both did,

they certainly surprised me, my little kids!

We've had so much fun on this vacation,

I'm always ready for more recreation!

my ski-cam video

This video I took while skiing. Yes, WHILE skiing- I told you I was good-ha ha. Anyway, Dan, Marlenes, and Chris are waiting for me, so you see three figures that I ski up to. That's them. Also I tried to video my skiis but that probably just made u dizzy. You can hear the skiis slicing into the snow though, its kinda cool. Hope u enjoy it.

misc funny photos

Here are my two cuties being sweet on each other... kissy kissy!

Our dog , Lucy, puts up with a lot from my girls. Here they have decided to dress her in one of W's old baby outfits. God Bless that dog! She's perfect for our family!

I'm not sure exactly sure what was going on here except that the girls were playing and when that happens they inevitably put on dress up clothes or crazy outfits, and this is the "wedding" outfit W came up with. Love the tissue paper veil!

My two silly gooses had stuffy noses last month so I bought some of those kid-sized nose strips for them to wear. They loved them and wore them the first night (the novelty!), but never again!

Tucking my sweetie in for bed with her nose strip on :)

skiing ... I love it!

Here are some pictures of us skiing in CO. I believe most of these were taken at Keystone on 3/9/10 because 3/8 when we were skiing at Copper is was snowing so I didn't take as many photos. When it snows u can't see the mountains in the distance, which are so pretty, so I like to take more when u can see the scenery too. This first shot shows u just part of a run, but even at that you can see how long it is. Look at the tiny people way down the hill to the left of Dan. I love skiing like this. It takes you so long to get down a run that half the time you have to stop and take a break midway down. Nothing like the anthills we grew up skiing on in Michigan that took you all of 5 seconds to get down and then had to wait in line for 15 minutes to get back up-ugh! We definately hit the slopes at a good time this year too (one week prior to spring break) so there were very few people there and no lines to wait in. It was great. In fact on one of these runs that Dan and I took on Wed. Not a single person came down the run while we were on it (and we were on it a long time; because there were tons of moguls , it was super steep , and it was a really hard black diamond run).

Here we are on the chair lift. The mountains in the background are actually Breckenridge. On clear days you can see back and forth from Keystone to Breckenridge. Pretty neat.

At the top of a hill before we head down.

This is that run I was talking about that no one was on while we were on it. Look how steep that is! You can't see it well, but its also covered in moguls that have about a foot of powder on them. It was crazy!

Me and my sweetie and my dream vacation!

Colorado pictures

This is a snowy picture of me and Marlenes in the middle of the Copper Mtn village. Isn't it cute with the cobblestone walkways? Adorable. Lots of shops and little lunch places. We didn't partake of any of those though, we spent the whole day skiing (aahhhhh). Heaven for me. Not so much for Marlenes who took a break midway through and went and drank hot cocoa to wait for us. Dan and Chris stuck it out though and we continued skiing for the rest of the day. I love to ski!

This is part of the snow fort/castle they were building at Keystone. Pretty neat little venture. They host a Kidtopia festival soon so I think they were building it for that. Its all geared towards kids I guess. Sounds pretty cool. I've never been here for it though. The picture below is a giant adirnak chair that we just had to take advantage of (great photo opportunity!) It was at Copper.

This picture is taken from the Subway parking lot across the stream from the famous Argo Gold Mine. We usually stop here every time we drive through and I always try to snap a photo. Obviously the elevation is much lower than the ski areas (no snow!). This is about 20-30 minutes west of Denver off I-70. When T was younger we've taken her on the gold mine tour here and actually panned for gold, but we didn't do it this time.

This final picture is actually inside of a truck stop on our way home in Limon, CO. This bear was huge so I just had to take a picture! We had such a fun time. I love family vacations! Hope u enjoyed some of our photos :)

Colorado-tubing

Here are some photos from our vacation. As u can tell, I can only upload 5 photos on each post, so I make numerous posts all about the same thing-the trip. Anyway, some of u will see these on Facebook albums or on Snapfish, but for those of u who don't, you get a chance to see pictures of the family here. Hope u enjoy them-I love the smiles on these girls! This first one is of a tiny (and I mean TINY) snowman that T made in the front yard one day. Isn't it cute?

Here are some pictures from our tubing adventure at Keystone. Like I said in an earlier post, this was a very mild hill. But that meant we had to walk back up it instead of riding an escalator, so it made it more tiring too.

Wheeee! That's me! And here is my little trooper W, trying to make it all the way back up the hill dragging her tube behind her! She didn't make it of course, but at least she tried! Most of the time the adults had to drag the tubes up the hill WITH the little ones inside! talk about a workout!

Happy birthday to my sweetie!

Today my sweetie 'T' turns 9 years old. Wow... I can't believe it was 10 years ago that I was pregnant for the first time and wondering what would become of this bulge in my belly. All those wonderful feelings of feeling her moving in my tummy for the first time. The bliss of not knowing what was to come (ha ha) so, being ignorant, enjoying every moment. I remember how HARD she used to kick her heel into my side. She was incredibly strong and mobile!
Wow, that precious baby the first time I held her in my arms. I fell in love at first sight. She was perfect. I immediately loved her SO MUCH. Before she was born, I have to admit I was scared. I didn't know if I could really love her enough. But the moment I saw her, there was no doubt. She stole my heart completely and hasn't given it back since. Fortunately my heart grew bigger so there was room when her sister came along :) I still can't believe she is 9 years old and in 3rd grade. WHERE does the time go!? I want to freeze frame it or at least slow it down. Can we have 48hrs in a day instead of 24? please? I love my kids so much and I love just watching them and smiling about their actions. Its hard to describe each instance or put it into words, I just get a kick out of the little personalities that I see developing in each of them. Its so cute.

I have to say also... I am thankful. I am thankful that my little girl is still such a little girl. Sure she has fun with nail polish and wishes her mom would let her wear eye shadow (which I don't), but she still truly enjoys playing with dolls, barbies, stuffed animals, playing school or dress up or waitress/restaurant or make-believe. She is constantly re-making and re-decorating her little dollhouse which not only houses dolls but all sorts of mini pets as well. I love it. I love that she is still a little girl. Once they go to school they get so many outside influences, and influences from their friends who may have older siblings that its sad to see them grow up too quick. So once again, I am glad I have a little girl who is still little :) I hope it lasts quite a while as I am not yet ready for her to become a truly big girl just yet. Happy birthday T, I love you!

Denver Children's Museum

My two little bunnies playing at the Denver Children's Museum. This isn't a "museum" in the normal sense of the word (walking around and looking at stuff). Its more of a hands-on play area with learning activities. Its really cool. Every time we are in Colorado I try to take the girls there. T has been going there since she was about 2 or 3 years old! I love this place, plus its located right next to the Denver Aquarium which is also an amazing place to visit. (Although pretty costly, I once spent over $50 for lunch there for 2 kiddos and 2 adults! But I will admit, the dining room was spectacular).

Here is W sawing some wood in the workshop area. They use all kinds of recyled materials and 'trash' (milk bottles/cereal boxes/etc) for the workshop area, so its pretty cool to make something out of 'nothing'.

T was putting on a puppet show for W in this picture. I'd say she was doing a pretty good job because W lookes enthralled by the characters :)

This is the outdoor playground. Isn't this a cute rock they sculpted into a fish? T's being swallowed by it because I couldn't pass up that photo opportunity :)

And here is my sweetie chilling out on a 'tree' inside the museum. We had a wonderful time there. They also painted, and dressed up and danced, they played with trains, they climbed in a real fire truck, and of course they played 'house' (their favorite) in the treehouse inspired playhouse/store/garden area.

Motherhood- not enlightening

So, I rent this movie with Uma Thurman called "Motherhood". I think its going to be a cute comedy about the daily trials of motherhood. WRONG. It is the most boring, depressing, and downright un-motherly type of movie to watch! Don't waste your time. The woman is stressed, unhappy, un-fufilled, and down-right grumpy. Not to mention smoking and swearing in front of kiddos-what a great example she is setting! Certainly NOT a cute comedy about motherhood.

Ice skating in Copper Mtn Colorado

We had the rink all to ourselves for most of the time while we were there. It was so enjoyable. Here is a picture of our whole family all in skates. Below is W skating all by herself!

T and I practicing our 'Olympic' twirls! ha ha

...and a little lovey-dovey leg flying action with my sweetie!

skating video

Here is a little video of Dan and the girls skating at Copper Mountain in Colorado last week. We took a ski vacation last week and we brought along my mom to watch the girls for us while we were skiing. We stayed in a cabin in Keystone. We had a lot of fun and a wonderful time skiing, skating, and tubing. Our friends Chris and Marlenes, and their daughter Sophia, also joined us at the cabin for a few days. I've got lots of pictures to post, but it seems like each day that passes without me posting, I'm forgetting more of the fun little details ;)

To give u a recap, we left last Saturday and drove to Denver. We stayed in a hotel there and then took the girls to play at the Denver Children's Museum Sunday morning. We then headed across I-70 to Dillon/Silverthorne where we met up with Chris and Marlenes and bought our groceries for the cabin. We then drove 10 minutes to Keystone, checked into our cabin, and picked up our ski equipment. It was a lovely 2 bedroom cabin with a loft. Fireplace, lots of windows, vaulted ceiling, and beautiful rustic wood decor. I unfortunately didn't take too many pictures, but once my mom sends me hers I might be able to post some from there. Oh, we did have a little episode you might say while we were inspecting the kitchen cabinets and unpacking our groceries.... I found a plastic baggie with marajuana and a glass smoking pipe in it! Yikes! We called the police and they came and took it, then we had to have a teaching lesson with T to show her what it was and explain that if any kids ever show her this stuff and invite her to partake she should say no and leave. Lovely, eh?

Our little W was starting to pick up a cold or allergies or something so these next two nights we got absolutely NO sleep! Not to mention, the first night in the cabin I think I had a bit of altitude sickness and felt nauseous myself so I spent half the night on the bathroom floor preparing to throw up (fortunately I never did). The next day (Monday) I was going skiing no matter what! Fortunately as soon as I got outside in the fresh air I felt better, and then once we got on the mountain I felt fine. We skied at Copper Mtn which is about 20min away. It was snowing and beautiful. Had lots of fun.

Tuesday we skied at Keystone in the morning. Then in the afternoon we gathered up all the kiddos and took everyone sledding on a family hill at Keystone. Sophia especially enjoyed this "more more more". It was fun, but not so fun walking up the hill. They have a groomed sledding hill on the mountain that has an escalator to bring u and your tube back up the mountain (we went on this last time we were here),but since Sophia and Whitney were too small still to go on that one we went to this little family one instead. Still lots of fun though. When we finished , we rode the gondola to the top of the mountain and had lunch ($107!!!!). Not exactly a bargain, but at least we can say we ate at the top of the mountain once . Chalk it up to experience ;) My mom loved being up here and seeing the view. They were also building a kids fort/castle out of snow and ice up here so we played a bit on it. Unfortunately, after the tubing, combined with W's cold, she was tuckered out, so she fell asleep on the bench at the restaurant and missed out on the snow fort. Chris and Marlenes and Sophia headed home after this, so the girls moved back into the second bedroom and we got much better sleep :) we also indulged in some Nyquil for W (ha ha-she REALLY needed it-I wish I had had it the first 2 nights!)

Anyway, Wed, Dan and I went back to Copper to ski and had a great time. Finally went down some black diamond hills (my favorite) and also hit some moguls (Dan's knees hate these). We had a great time. That night Dan and I went to Dillon for dinner at an authentic mexican restaurant where I had really good (although I'm not so sure how authentically mexican it was) Coconut shrimp. Then we went to the outlet mall for just a few minutes to check out the gear at the Columbia store (Marlenes had told us they had some good deals). I got new snow pants for W (only $13!) and a ski jacket for her to grow into, and Dan bought another ski jacket himself. No luck anywhere else and since my hubby was with me he wasn't too interested in traipsing to every store in the area. He did survive the few we went to though so I was proud of him. It was snowing huge fluffy snowflakes at this point so it was really pretty.

Thursday we decided not to go skiing (bummer) and instead took the kids and my mom over to Copper Mtn to go skating. We intended to go skating here at Keystone, but when I called for information on it they informed me that it was closed for the rest of the season, as the zamboni had fallen through the ice! yikes-no skating there anymore. So we went to Copper instead, it was a smaller rink, but most of the time it was just our family on the ice and it was truly lovely. I was so surprised and impressed with our girls. I truly did not think they would be able to skate at all, and after a bit of hand holding, and going at it with a guide thing, they both took off on their own and did a great job! They had a ball and now want to go skating all the time! I believe we have a skating rink in our town so I am going to check it out and see if we can go there sometime soon.

Friday morning we had to check out of the cabin and begin our drive back home. We had originally planned on stopping in the Denver area to do something fun with the kids (Dinasaur Footprints/Buffalo Bill's grave/Butterfly Pavilion), but Whitney was tired, and I was not beginning to feel well either, so we just drove on past and ended up staying the night in Salina KS. Stayed at a really nice hotel and of course the kids swam in the pool again, then headed home the next day. Fortunately, we made it home, because on our drive home, for no reason the instrument panel on the Excursion went dead (no speedometer/tactometer/gas/miles/nothing!) Fortunately we had a GPS that told us our speed and distance so we could sort of judge our gas miles by that. Looking on the internet on Dan's phone he found a chat site that said it was fuse #45. Sure enough, when we pulled that one out, it was blown (all the other ones we had checked b4 were fine). So we replaced it and all seemed well. Till a couple hours later when it happened again. Then another 100 miles later the car suddenly started to lose power (yikes! turn off all the tv's (remember we have 3 going), unplug the GPS, turn off the radio, etc). Pulled into a truck stop and sure enough, when we turned off the motor it didn't turn back on. UGH! Fortunatley, there was a service station right there so we had a guy give us a jump start. It appeared that our alternator was going bad and the drain off all those tv's etc on an old alternator was causing it. We did make it home ok. and once we got home Dan did some more investigating. Turned out there was a wire in the ignition area that was rubbed raw and it appears to have been the cause that kept blowing the fuse. He didn't replace the alternator yet, because after fixing the wire that seems to have fixed the problem. Fun fun fun, at least we made it home all safe and sound :)

So that is the recap of our fun skiing vacation. Yes, I now have a cold, but it was well worth it. :)

An Ode to Skiing

An Ode to Skiing


Beautiful day, sun on my face,
Its only a hill, not a race.
Love the exhilaration of that fresh air,
The view up here; nothing can compare.

Oh! How I love the feel of the hill
it gives me such a huge thrill!
I'd do this every day if I could.
Maybe, oh maybe, I sure would!

Nothing like it anywhere,
its certainly amazing up here.
I feel so awesome in this scene.
You know exactly what I mean?

Watching skiers go on by
some, it might be their first try.
Others, clearly have been here before,
their bodies conditioned for the chore.

The air is brisk.
The trail is certainly a risk.
So I... go, go, go,
on that beautiful, white snow.

Black diamonds come my way.
All I can do is hope and pray.
Turn my skiis from left to right.
Keep the bottom of the hill in sight.

Sweat dripping down my chest.
Its so steep, I stop and rest.
Catch my breath and gear back up.
No, this isn't a World Cup.

But its all I've got,
so I take a shot,
back down the hill I go.
Trying to not go too slow.

My thighs are burning,
but I keep turning.
It slows me down,
because I don't want to fall like a clown.

Skiing for me isn't just fun.
Its like a workout without the 'run'.
Legs ache, muscles twitch,
but there is nothing I would switch.

Exhausted at the end of the day.
All I can do is crash on the couch and lay,
reminiscing about the day's fun.
Tomorrow I'll take another Black Diamond Run!

My husband REALLY is the GREATEST!

Now I know you married ladies out there will see that title and think, "no, my husband is the greatest". But its true. He really does put up with a lot from me, yet he always keeps giving. Allow me to show you how...

First, I'm not a really good cook. I can bake a million awesome desserts, but my culinary skills are a bit limited. They are limited not just because I'm not willing to cook new things, its because Dan and I have different tastes. So what I want to make he doesn't want to eat, and what he wants to eat, I don't want to make(or eat). Hence, the reason restaurants are such a strong staple in our weekly meal plan (we can each get what we want and both be happy). Then when I try to cook things healthier, it pretty much means bland and dull and of course that's not very appetizing.

Second, we have very different organizational styles. He is super organized and neat and tidy. I on the other hand won't remember to do something if I don't have it on a list, and that list (and usually the paraphenalia that needs to go with it) has to be visible (ie on the counter) so I can SEE it and thus REMEMBER to do it. Drives him a bit mad with all my clutter.

Third, I'm a bit high-maintenance. Not in the sense that I go and get my hair done every week (more like every 5-6 months[because I'm so darn cheap!]), or I am completely "put together" ie the tan,hair,makeup, nails, clothes (because I'm not). But I'm more high maintenance along the lines of, well, lets just say it. I like nice things. And I won't apologize for it. Yes, I eat at expensive restaurants, but you know what? the food is awesome and so is the service! I love attentive waiters! Yes, I love to go on vacation, and if my hubby would give me the "go-ahead" they'd be alot more expensive than they are. Yes, I like jewelry, especially diamonds. So yea, I guess I'm a bit high maintenance but I only do what I can afford. If I can't pay for it, I won't buy it, so I don't see the harm in doing things you like, even if they may not be the norm for everyone. He teases me that my life is so "hard", but I know he's teasing, because we both know where we started. Now that we are more established in our life, I think its ok to do things you want to do. And the truth is, he does it too. You have NO IDEA how expensive racing and car-building can be. Just because it doesn't look "fancy" like a diamond or a vacation, its costly! So he can only tease me so much because the truth is, he does the same, just in a different way.

Fourth, he loves to work on his cars and race them. This does not float my boat. I prefer to go on vacation (which of course includes shopping and restaurants). Now, don't get me wrong, he likes vacations too, but he is much more willing to go golfing, hunting, or racing on his vacation instead of chilling on a beach or skiing down a mountain, like I would.

So this brings us to my unselfish husband. Its HIS birthday coming up next week, but where are we going the day after his birthday? On a weeklong ski trip that totally thrills his wife. Its true (and we both admit it), this vacation is totally and 100% for me. Yes, T will get lessons, and yes, we'll stop at the children's museum in Denver for the girls to play, and we'll probably stop at another kid-oriented tourist place on the way home, but this vacation is 100% a "go", because I want to go skiing and love skiing. In fact, while planning it he even said "I don't even like to ski" "WHAT!!??? how can you not like to ski?! and what do u mean u don't like skiing? we go every couple years! you mean you've just been going because you know I love it and it gives me a chance to see my best friend in CO?!" Wow, he really IS selfless isn't he?

Now I could point out that one year on my birthday we didn't head to the diamond store to shop for me. Nooo, we went to Lowe's and bought him a new tool chest. (I haven't let him forget that either by the way). So I guess you could say we are getting even. On my birthday he gets a tool chest, while on his birthday I get a ski trip. ;) (well, maybe its not quite even, which I guess just again points out how sweet my hubby is to take his wife and kiddos on a trip that is solely something I want to do and not much of anything he wants to--don't get me wrong, he'll have fun for sure[if his knees aren't killing him from all those black diamonds I drag us down], but I still think its wonderful, and it certainly hasn't gone unnoticed by me on how sweet the gesture is and how much I appreciate him and all he does for me even though I'm not the greatest wife in the world since I can't fill his belly with 'man-meals'. So, this post is a public "thank you" to my sweet husband, for always loving me (even when I don't cook well), and spoiling me rotten. (I think its good to be spoiled by your hubby, don't you?) Thank you sweetie! I love you!

I met Danny Cahill!

I wrote a post on my fitness blog, if you want to check it out go here.

Bowling... I Rock!

Our family went bowling the other day (see previous post). We had a really fun time (except T pouted bc she couldn't bowl as well as Dan and I (Duh! we've had a BIT more practice!) But anyway, on this particular day Dan was doing "ok" but not his normal "slam it, bam it, strike it out" self. I, however, was having a pretty good day (usually my hand and arm get too tired after 1.5 games, so I go DOWNHill from there. Not much stamina on my part). But today was a different story, I was ROCKING IT! In fact, I'm writing this post JUST to toot my own horn :) On one of the games (where I'd like to add, Dan only got 145 points that included 3 strikes and 3 spares)... I got one spare and SEVEN, yes SEVEN (!) strikes for a score of 180! Ooomm ba Ooomm ba, momma's rocking the Booooling alley! ha ha (that was my little victory dance there). Anyway, Dan says we need a re-match. To that I say, "Bring it On!" ;)

funny things kids say

Dan is going to take work off Monday because T doesn't have school. He told the girls he wanted to do something fun together as a family so they needed to think of something. They started with "weelll, we could go out to breakfast...then we could go out to lunch...then we could go out to dinner", then W pipes up, "and we need to go out for ice cream in between!"

I said this sounds really good to me! (they certainly are MY kids aren't they?!)



Dan says that's all fine and dandy, but what ELSE can we do? So the girls start thinking and they want to go to the zoo (but its too cold), so T says "weeellll, we could take a risk on mom and go to the mall, but we'd have to restrain mom and let her only buy 5 things!" ha ha ha Dan's like no way! 5 things will take 10 hours, we can only let her buy ONE thing!

I'm laughing that my kids know me so well that if we get to the mall I'm going to drag them from store to store (and not the fun stores like Build -A- Bear that they want to go to) LOL

Well, I think after a little research and phone calls we will wind up at the bowling alley and at the dollar theater for the Princess and Frog showing (as well as dinner and ice cream ha ha). ;)

Dan on the Hood:before and after

Here is Dan getting ready for his first ever Hood Ride (he usually drives). ...and here is Dan AFTER the ride ha ha ha

The picture says it all, doesn't it? ;)

Doug on the Hood

This video shows Dan's brother, Doug, riding the Hood. His family was visiting for a few days and we were lucky enough to have lots of snow and therefore give them all a ride on the infamous Hood. Its so much fun, if you are ever in our neck of the woods when snow is around (or better yet, ice) you need to try it.

The girls on the Hood

Here is a cute short video of T and W with their cousin, P, on "The Hood". They had such a fun time riding it. Obviously, when the kiddos are on it, its a much gentler ride :) Very cute though.

Bon Jovi!

So I'm on the treadmill watching a DVR of the Grammy's when a commercial comes on for Bon Jovi in concert in my town! Evidently if I'm excited about this, it must mean I am between the ages of 36-45, because anyone who would get excited about this would only be doing so because of the "history of Bon Jovi", not necessarily from any great albums they've put out recently. Right? Right. So I hop on the computer and check out the website, the highest tickets are amazingly only $130. I'm thinking "THIS IS AWESOME! I'll get tickets for Dan for his birthday and this will be a GREAT gift and surprise!" (They actually do have some gold club vip stuff that I look into, for the unbelievably bargain price of $1500! (each no less, and only sold in groups of two) Don't think I'll be buying those!) Well, as I begin to navigate the site I figure I better make sure Dan would actually be interested in going, because truth is, I was the one who LOVED Bon Jovi BEFORE we started dating, BUT WHEN we began dating their songs were popular and were sort of our anthem songs (fond memories of belting them out at the top of our lungs while driving together in the car!) As a result anytime any of their songs from their "Slippery when Wet" album are played (especially "Livin' on a Prayer") my heart travels back to those early days when we were dating and my heart gets that flutter in it when you are first nervously in love (ahhh, the romance). So I call and ask him if he would like that for his birthday, he says yes that sounds good, so I start booking the tickets... only to be let down that the only thing available is in the nosebleed section (which I have sat in before and vowed to never sit in again, because at this arena those seats are SO steep you actually feel like if you leaned too far forward you would fall ALL the way down to the main floor-too scary and honestly I don't think they are safe). So consequently... no Bon Jovi tickets for us. My only hope is that a radio station does a give-away and I win them. Wouldn't that be cool, so if any of you locally hear of a station doing a promotion for the concert please let me know so I can tune in. (the concert is April 13th). I would REALLY LOVE to go! It would be so fun to be there with my husband jamming out to the old tunes that we fell in love to :)

But as I said earlier, I actually loved Bon Jovi even before Dan did. I dug up some old photos to prove it. Now don't laugh (how can I even say that? I, myself, am laughing, so go ahead, laugh your head off. I was definately 'fearless' in the outfits I put together in high school. In fact maybe someday I should do a post of that, you would get a kick out of it.) Anyway, when I first fell in love with Bon Jovi (ok let's be honest, I was a teenager at the time, so I was also in love with JON Bon Jovi ha ha), I went and got my hair cut in what I called my "Jon Bon Jovi haircut". Pretty crazy that a GIRL is getting her hair cut like a GUY, and its LONG! ha ha Of course his STILL looked better than mine, but I did gel it all up and try to get it to stand up on top like his. Gosh, how ridiculous was I!!!??? LOL So here is the proof of that fixation I had... my Bon Jovi hair-do...

Not to mention I was adding an "edgy" black tuxedo shirt to the ensemble. I think I was going to some dance or something. I'm telling ya, I had a style all my own! LOL

Well, the next pictures are of my friend Kim and I (and my boyfriend at the time[BLAAAAHHH]) when we went downstate to see Bon Jovi in concert. I didn't think they would come up north (smaller towns) so when I heard they were coming to Detroit I begged my mom to take us there. She did and we stayed at my aunt and uncle's house and went to the concert. You can see from Kim's t-shirt that Cinderella was the opening band. My shirt is the Slippery when Wet logo, and Tim's shirt on the back says "we came, we saw, we kicked, your a**". Oh, we were such hard rockers! LOL LOL LOL LOL Yes, us , sweet, small-town, middle-class kids standing in this well-manicured lawn were so hard core LOL LOL LOL ,NOT EVEN! But its funny now looking at it.

The funny thing is, Bon Jovi actually DID wind up coming up north for a concert, so I got to see them again. And by that time Dan and I were dating, so it was even BETTER ;)

So there you have it, my fond memories and addiction to Bon Jovi, I STILL love those songs! In fact maybe I should pull out a CD and put it in my car to get some retro-music going soon :)

what is a Hood?

What is a "Hood" you might ask? Well... a Hood is just that... the hood of a car. I know it sounds very trailer-trashish and probably is. But I'll tell you one thing... its a whole lotta fun!

It all started several years ago when we got a LOT of snow (we typically get one snow fall a year and its gone by the next day).Well this one was a doozy! So of course by the time we got to the store, the 20 sleds they had in stock were already sold. Not a sled to be found in the whole town. So leave it to my husband to come up with a great idea... the Hood. He is always building and rebuilding cars, so he had an extra (old) car hood in the shop. He went out there, hooked it up with a tow strap to the 4-wheeler (we sold those, so now we pull it with the Ranger-works just as well), tied a rope across the front of it for a handle, and laid a packing blanket down on it for cushioning. And Waalaaahhhh! the Hood was born! We had so much fun on that thing, its unbelievable!
It works even better when we've had some ice fall on top of the snow so that it is more slippery, then you REALLY pick up speed on the corners and FLYING super fast. So fast that usually you wind up falling off of it and rolling for 20 feet, laughing all the way! It is so fun. I wish you could be here to try it. Here are a few photos to show what it look likes, and some videos to follow too. And they're off... Aunt Brenna with T, W, and J take off on a Hood ride.

Here is T and W(and I believe P is on the far right, but u can't see her). Below is a picture of Uncle Doug getting ready to ride with little J and W, aren't they cute?

Our faithful driver, with his little sidekicks.

snow angels

Isn't this an adorable video of the girls and their cousin making snow angels?

Ice

Here are some pictures of the ice on the trees in our yard. Until I moved here I never realized ice storms could do this-its so beautiful!

Look closely at the photo above. Notice how the ice is sticking out to the left of the branch and then all the isicles turn and drop straight down? The wind mush have been blowing hard during the ice storm, then when it let up, the ice started dripping straight down instead of at that leftward angle. Isn't that amazing?

This photo shows how thick it was on this little branch... thicker than my finger!

The stream froze over on our neighbors yard. The girls thought that was really cool to walk on water/ice.

My little poser! I like these branches because the ice is covered with fluffy snow which is so pretty too :)

As I write this, all these beautiful images are no longer here. They all melted away. The weatherman is calling for more snow possibly this week though so we'll see what happens.

basketball game

Here is a video of T playing in one of her basketball games. She is #13 in blue (the one on the right as this video starts). Today she had another game and did really well. She actually made 4 baskets, dribbled well, remembered NOT to double-dribble, got open from the girl guarding her, made a rebound, passed, and blocked. She is much more aware now of where the ball is at all times and is doing pretty good. Today they played their first game where they actually incorporated a 'play', and they formed picks, so it was beginning to look like real basketball. Very cute. Dan is doing such a great job as the assistant coach too. He is so good with kids and always shows them lots of support and direction (I'm so proud of both of them). Here goes, enjoy (this was filmed about 2 games ago).

Finally, the promised pictures

Follow this link to see the photos the girls and I had taken last month.http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3328694007/a=45072221_45072221/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

our cheerleader

Isn't this cute, little W doing a cheer for her sister at the basketball game. ;)

cousins come to visit

The girls' cousins came to visit this week. Here are a few pictures to enjoy. This first one is of their cousin, P, with T & W on what we lovingly refer to as "The Hood". It literally is a car hood turned upside down with a piece of carpet on it. We tow it behind the Ranger and have lots of fun treating it as a sled. I'll post more about this later. But don't they look cute, all ready for their ride?!

Here is W loving on her cousins J and P.

Here is T at one of her basketball games.

Isn't this a neat picture. It was for a school outing to visit a special museum, and the beautiful fountain out front was all frozen. Very pretty.