A Belated Birthday Day with NO Kids!

The darn pictures did not come out in the right order!
Pharoah's Chocolates.....Yummy!

What else do you do with Onion straws?

The dieter's delight plate.

I can't take her anywhere......

I tried to get Lura to at least trim the mustache before we went out.....

Lura at Cedar Point. Okay, Lura pointing at Cedar Point.

Going down the alley that I thought would be a great shortcut. It was......it looks much more bright in the picture.

Lura's cupcake.

The City Bakery

Lura and I had our bi-yearly day out. This time it was to celebrate her birthday - which was in February. We believe in spreading the celebrating.

Our day started with a stop at City Bakery in the Waterfront district of Sandusky. I had a yummy Almond filled croissant and Lura had a pumpkin cupcake with buttercream frosting. There were a selection of trashy magazines on the table and cool paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. This was put on our list of places we will go back to! After breakfast we drove around the block 3 or 4 times. I can't parallel park and spots were non-existant due to Ehove's graduation, so we parked a spot ahead of where we originally were and wandered into different stores. Used book, antique, and thrift. We made a few purchases and had many giggles.

By this time we were ready for lunch so we went to Damon's on the waterfont. Unfortunately they are a Pepsi (gasp!) only restaurant, so we had water. The classier of the two of us had lemon in her water. :) We decided to split an appetizer as we had yet to go to our favorite stop of the day - Pharoah's chocolate. So we got the dieter's delight, as you can see by the pictures.

I decided to take Lura the scenic route to Pharoah's. I don't think my thoughtfulness was very appreciated. Pharoah's has not only the most delicious chocolates, but a wonderful gift shop that suits all tastes. We love to wander around and look at all the fun things they sell. We purchased some assorted chocolates, I think the chocolate covered potato chips and the swiss thingy were my favorites. I got Sean some goodies and the kid's some gummy bears as well.

After one more stop we headed home via another fabulous scenic route. I almost got into a tangle with a rude driver when we stopped for diet cokes, but we got home safe and sound.

We decided we hadn't spent nearly enough time together, so when all the kids got home and Lura picked up her boys we ordered pizza and played for a few more hours.

It was such a fun and relaxing day. I think Lura enjoyed herself even if she did get a bruise across her chest. Being a mother I tend to throw my arm out while driving if I have to stop suddenly...I know you ALL do that too!

I am tasting Hot Dogs.

So stupid me forgets that Hot Dogs don't agree with me. What did I have for lunch AND dinner? Hot Dogs. Guess I am going to be reliving those meal choices all night.
Aren't you glad you loaded this page just to read that?

I had Lura's boys today from 8:15 until 3:15. They made it out of here still walking, talking and breathing and I think they still love Auntie Amanda. It was quite a day. We went to Victoria's to play in the morning- I got to cuddle and love on baby Gretchen- who is absolutely gorgeous and perfect! Plus I got to spend time with my 6 of my favorite little men AND I got to visit with Victoria in person and not on the phone!

Then we had lunch, I refuse to discuss lunch, and then my 3 young gentlemen friends and I went to the Triplets Kindergarten program. It was so cute! I got emotional seeing my babies up there singing their hearts out. They are growing so fast!

I had the brilliant idea to drive through the cemetary on the way home. Bad idea to take 5 -5 year olds and a 3 year old to the cemetary. I don't know when I am going to recover from that journey.

Tim came shortly after to pick up the 3 - although I offered him 6. He got mooned by Caitlin and peeled out of the driveway.

What a relaxing day!
I will post pictures later. Tomorrow is Lura's Birthday day out so I will make sure my camera is charged for that adventure!

I just wanted to take a minute to let you guys know how much I appreciate you all. I am so blessed with the friends I have. Thank you- each one of you- for being who you are. You are all pretty darn terrific!!!

This makes me smile

Caitlin and Old Grandpa, although the triplets call him Hazel. They refer to him as that because he would jokingly call them Hazel for the longest time when they began talking. Why, I don't know - but it has stuck in reverse, so now they yell Hazel whenever they see him. It is funny to hear them out in public say "Hi Old Grandma, Hi Hazel" and see the confused look they get from strangers. My grandparents are the greatest and I am so glad that my kids are getting time with them.

Over My Head

Why is it when I think I get something, it is apparantly way over my head? I can be sure I get it, then everyone else disagrees with me. Case in point, on FB my friend Cecil wrote a note about eco-liberals. While I didn't agree with all he said, I felt similar to a lot of what he wrote. He was very angry when he wrote it and that definately came through, but it was a good article. So far I am the only one who thought so. Now I am second guessing myself and wondering if I sounded like an idiot in my comment. Argh! I dislike that strongly about myself. It is just like when I put the Obama book I was reading as my status. My uber liberal cousins haven't spoken to me since. I wonder if I am offensive and/or uneducated sounding. I wish I didn't always have to wonder. I should feel confident enough in myself and my opinions.
I would never dislike anyone or drop them as a friend because of their views. My sister loves Obama, I still love my sister. I even like the girl! I don't dislike people because they are gay, a different race, etc. I see what's on the inside and I like a person for that. Not for what they look like.

A few of the things I am thankful for in no particular order...

for unwavering friends that make me feel so loved and accepted.
for having a roof over my head.
for my sense of humor.
for my husband who loves me and plays Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan with me without a second thought as to why.
for healthy, active kids that bring joy into my life.
for the ability to read.
that Jesus died on the cross for my sins.
for a working washer and dryer.
for love.
for my blog friends....every single one of you!
for my parents.
for my sister.
for my health.
for the freedoms we have.
for the fact that the neighbors have not called the police on me for my loud yelling when the kids frustrate me!!!!
for family.
for laughter which gets me through each day.
for the ability to cry.

Remembering Travels...and making memories with my family.

I grew up in a family that loved to travel. Every few summers we would load up in the van and drive to Spokane, Washington stopping at all sorts of attractions, popular and lesser known, along the way. One of the things I liked was getting to see the progress done on Crazy Horse Monument each time. We camped at different campgrounds, spent days exploring Yellowstone, watched fireworks on the 4th of July at Mt. Rushmore. I've seen the Great Corn Palace, Dinosaur bones being dug in Utah, hiked up Devil's Tower, and narrowly missed falling off a horse into an abandoned swimming hole. I've walked numerous times the wooden walkways through the "smelly pots", Hiked in the Badlands, gotten trapped in an old wooden outhouse with my sister. I could spend all day listing the experiences from those trips alone.
We went to stay for a week in Washington D.C. with my Aunt Betty who spent her years after my Uncle Tilly died doing volunteer work for different organizations. She had "connections" so on a tour of the capitol we got to ride in the special senator's trams that run under the buildings, that trip Amy and I had to memorize all of the presidents in order, we were there when the cherry blossoms were in bloom. It was wonderful. We made side trips to Gettysburg, Williamsburg, and got to see my great, great ( Great?) uncle's grave in Arlington Cemetary.
My dad was the first person to use the new ATM at his bank when I was in 5th grade and he won a trip to California. We spent the freebie days in San Francisco doing the touristy things - Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, etc. and then went on to Sacramento to stay with my dad's sister and her husband. We camped on Mt. Shasta, saw the Giant Redwoods, and ate frog legs.
Every summer from elementary school on through Junior High we drove countless hours to Canada to stay at a cottage on the Ottawa River. We had a private beach that saw tremendous sand castles built, a rowboat to use and we brought along 2 canoes. My great aunt Ruth went with us each time to stay with her friend Nina Linn at her cabin down the beach. We fished every night, paddled to an island we named Blueberry Island - to pick blueberries for homemade pie, and swam as much as we could. At the end of the week our favorite thing was going to the dump. It was one where you pulled up to the edge of a drop off and threw your bags over the side. We thought it was so cool.
The summer before I started High School we took a month long trip to Europe. We spent a few weeks touring different countries and then stayed for a week with our cousins who had transferred to England for 3 years for business. My dad unintentionally recreated the scene from Nat. Lampoon's European Vacation where Chevy Chase got stuck in a round-a-bout; during our drive into Scotland. It was that trip into Scotland where we HAD to go to the famous St. Andrews golf course and my dad played and bought a putter there that then was left on the train. It became legend in our family and the story was told at my dad's funeral. We went to Abbergaveny to see where my dad's family came from. The town was nothing but a few falling down old castles and a giant stone cess pool that we all stood in (it was not used anymore) and got a group picture taken. We rode gondolas in Italy, hiked in Austria, rode a terribly scary lift to the top of Mt. Titlis in Switzerland. We saw museums, toured castles, went to the Anne Frank house, rode trains through the Scottish Countryside. We saw an orchestra perform in Belgium, walked the streets until we were blistered in Paris, saw my mom almost get run over by a taxi in England. Ate french fries with Mayonnaise in Amsterdam (they were sold on every street corner), made friends from Pakistan that we wrote to for years on a boat across the English Channel, and so much more. It was a month of memories.
In Girl Scouts I did a bus trip with my some of my best friends (Kellie and Victoria!) to Savannah, Georgia and also went to NYC. We camped in the great outdoors (in a cabin of course), went to horseback riding camp and lots of weekend adventures. The trip to Georgia was where Kellie and I really got to know each other and formed a friendship that has endured 22 years so far! I spent a week with my youth group (Kellie was there too!) in Chicago working with Habitat for Humanity, backpacked countless miles of the Alleghany Mountains over a week and ended with a white water rafting trip. I did a hellish week of bicycling through Hilly Ohio (but would not take it back for anything!) Thanks to being a band geek I got a fun trip to Toronto with friends like Kellie and Lura.
I was supposed to spend a summer traveling in Europe with my Aunt Pat, but she was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer and died before we got there. So I flew to Washington and then to CA to see my Grandmother one more time and to spend time with my Aunt Colleen. Not the best trip I have ever taken but one I am glad I did!
My parents went on more adventures after we graduated. A bike tour through Denmark, Hawaii, New England, an Alaskan Cruise, The Bahamas, New Orleans, Hilton Head, Pasedena, CA to go to the Rose Bowl... Heck, their Honeymoon was a 6 week camping trip across Canada!

I regret that my children have not gotten to experience the fun of a family vacation yet. It has made me want to work even harder to get done with my schooling so that we can start planning some adventures. I have had amazing experiences and I want to give my kids that to. We were not anywhere near wealthy growing up - I had a math teacher father who knew how to budget!
I want to show my kids Crazy Horse, hike in the mountains, play in snow in July. I want them to know the joy of camping under the stars, seeing bison just feet from the car window, watching the awesome power of Niagra Falls. I have been bit by the traveling bug again and so has Sean.

I loved growing up in the family that I did. I had parents that saw opportunities for adventures and took them. I learned so much about America and it's history - and not just from the educational tapes that we had to listen to! My parents were/are amazing and I can honestly say that I want to be more like them.

'Member when Monday

A Monday version of Flashback Friday.

I be procrastinating....

I am supposed to be doing homework, but how much can one take at a time of researching why abbreviations are a bad thing in the medical field. Any one want to weigh in with an opinion? Anyone want to write my paper? Anyone?

I guess I'll do it, but I am not going to be pleasant. Okay, I will be, but I won't like it!

I am posting a few pics of the kiddos. They are crazy. Must get it from their Auntie Lura. I know that Sean and I are complete normalites. (That is Amandanese for people from the land of normal.)

Sean is sick today and going to the dr. at 3:00. He is miserable. :( I have been listening closely for sounds of snorting or squealing. I haven't heard any so I doubt it is swine flu. Oops, make that H1N1 or whatever they are calling it nowadays.

The trio had their first t-ball practice on Tuesday. It was interesting. Jonathan did really well. The coach worked with him and he was catching balls pretty well. Luke and Caitlin worked with the assistant - assistant coach (Kellie, she looked like she could have been a coach - or maybe a participant- in our olympics the night before your wedding) Anyways, Luke and Caitlin stood there and threw balls AT each other for 20 minutes while the lady said nothing useful. They are covered in bruises. Luke lasted about 45 minutes before he threw down his mitt and started screaming at the top of his lungs. We have practice weekly and games start in June. Oh joy. Practicing throwing balls at each other weekly. Poor Luke has a problem with keeping his pants up, so everytime he bent to retrieve the ball when it bounced off of him, he mooned all the parents. Caitlin danced around kicking up dirt, flapping her arms around, and laughing at nothing and no one in particular. I hope that they don't do this at every game...

After the fun at the field we went to Gabe's open house/art show. It was nice to see his artwork and to hear the teacher say good things about him. He was proud to show me the 100% paper on the bulletin board but kept standing in front of his desk so I couldn't see how messy it was. Wowee. He is about as organized as his mother!

I suppose I should get back to work. I also need to check facebook to see if there have been anymore pirate sightings.... Arrrrrrrr Matey.

Have a super city day!!!

Moo!!!!!

Well, apparantly I am in desperate need of a diet. I knew that already, but when your 5 year old brings home a fill in the blank Mother's Day card and completes the sentence "My mom likes to...." with EAT - the issue is obvious. So after today Harris change of lifestyle fest 2009 session 32 begins. I will not be keeping you updated much as it would just be telling you that "I broke my diet, starting again tomorrow" every day! I have no willpower!

Can you believe it?

Sean showed up at the hospital today to see his mom and was told that they made a mistake in the surgical report. His mom had all 5 toes and part of the bone removed after all. The report was wrong and the nurses had the wrong info. I can't believe that a mistake like that would be made. I guess it strikes me as bad more so because I just finished reading about surgical reports and accuracy yesterday afternoon. She is okay with it, disappointed, but knows it is her fault they had to come off. I hope that she learns this time!!!! Thanks for the prayers friends!

Praise the Lord for answered prayers!

Everything went well. They only had to remove her pinkie toe. I think there was some divine intervention there!

Please keep my mother in law in your prayers. She is having surgery today to remove the toes and part of the foot on her right foot. The infection has spread into the bone. The surgery was scheduled for around noon and I haven't heard anything yet, so hopefully things are going well.
It is so hard to feel sorry for her when she didn't take care of herself and didn't keep doctors appointments. Last year when we she was so bad and in the hospital for months she swore to everyone that she was going to change and do what she needed to. Obviously that wasn't true. So we are all a little angry, worried, frustrated, sad... It's going to be an even longer recovery period this time and I worry about my father in law as well. This is taking a toll on him and I don't know the last time he saw a doctor. You'd think he'd learn as well. Aargh! It is so stupid!!!

I learn something new everyday!

Well, this has been a week of new discoveries. If you are offended easily you might want to skip my first discovery. Of course if you are offended easily I don't know why you are reading my blog to begin with!

Last night I was studying, I am in Medical Terminology right now, and I discovered the craziest thing! Women have gonads too! I always thought that only guys did. Wow! Sean wasn't as thrilled with my found fact as I was. I have tried to use the word in everyday conversation with him and he pretty much ignores me. Just this morning I told him that when he went over the train tracks it hurt my gonads. I am excited by my new knowledge.

I took my Med. Term. mid term yesterday and got a 97%. I was very pleased with myself.

This morning I signed onto AOL to get my mail and the newsfeed popped up. The first thing I saw was that a MASH cast member finally admits he is gay. You can imagine how bad my stomach hurt! I just kept thinking - "Don't be Alan, Don't be Alan...." It wasn't, but I was surprised. It is David Ogden Stiers! Charles Emerson Winchester III for all you MASH heads.

If any of you noticed my FB status the past few days it was about a book I am reading about Obama and the media. Putting my opinion, as veiled as it may have been, on FB like that was like when I put I like corn on here. I was really uncomfortable with it, but glad I did. I probably offended my cousins as they are big liberals and Obama fans. They haven't commented to me. This book is excellent and if any of you are interested in this type of stuff I recommend it. Obama supporters should read it as well.

Hope that all of you have a great day!

Happy Monday all you people!

So I have been reading all sorts of blogs that I find links to or just happen upon and at first thought I was doing something wrong. The other blogs are not like mine at all. They are very "professional" sounding. That not the word I want, but the only one I can think of right now. But then I thought that I do my blogging like a journal. It is for me and a few friends to read and enjoy. I am not writing for others to read and learn things from. Hey, if you learn something from reading what I write it is a bonus, and frankly I'd be surprised! I am just writing so I have something to look back on and can remember things.
That was my in depth thought for the day.
So not much has been going on around here. Lura and I went garage saleling with 3 hot guys on Friday. I found the new Janet Evanovich book for 25 cents. Hardback too! I was stoked. I read it over the weekend and of course loved it. If any of you are interested in a fun series the Stephanie Plum ones are hilarious. I read them over and over. 15 is coming out this year. I can't wait! We had fun and I managed to find some cute clothes for Caitlin. I can't believe how fast my kids go through clothes! They are growing rapidly. We only got lost once, and it is because the navigator has a poor memory, but we eventually found our way. We rewarded ourselves with ice cream afterwards. It was a relaxing time and I was glad to spend the day with Lura - even though she almost killed us with her driving!! :)
Friday night was horrendous. We are really struggling with behavior issues at the blue house. I am not going into detail, but I will say that if you have small kids, don't let them get their hands on the plastic sleeve the newspaper comes in.... they will decide to turn it into an indoor waterballon and then play slip and slide in the kitchen.
Saturday Sean let me have some Amanda time in the morning so I could relax and forget about the night before, so I went to some garage sales on a book hunt. I was at one and was across the table from a woman who I thought looked familiar. When I left I recognized the van next to mine and went back to say "Hi" to my mom. We laughed over how pathetic we were that we didn't recognize each other! She was in a flannel shirt and jeans and I have never seen my mom dressed that way, so that was my excuse. I don't know what hers was!
The kids behavior was rotten that day, so we cancelled the plans to go to the Fun Fair that night. Kellie and Tanis stopped by so the kids could have naked time together. That sounded really bad, it is just that whenever Tanis and the trio get together they decide that they are quads and strip. It never fails! I hope that they will eventually outgrow it! Also they can't come over without Tanis losing his shoes. In his defense, usually one of my kids hides them. We can't go to their house without one of my kids (or neices) breaking something. Sean and I took the kids on a picnic to the reservoir that evening and played on the swings and playset and took a walk. It was a fun time, until they had a waterfight at the pottyhouse.
Sunday we overslept and missed church, so we took a family trip to Meijer to go grocery shopping. I got sick in the store,and we left with only half our list bought. I got sick because I was a dolt and didn't eat anything with my meds. The iron pills make me sick if I don't have food with them and I sort of forgot to eat. Ugh. We played outside the rest of the day and I did some cleaning.
That is it. I told you it wasn't that exciting! I hope that you all have a great day and enjoy the sunshine if you have it! I will post pictures later today, hopefully....