Christmas at Nanna's

My mom decided to have Christmas this year on Saturday, December 27 at 1:00 PM, so if we wanted to do anything later on we could. She even nice enough to decide to keep the boys over night, which was exciting for me. Once the party is over I don't have to worry about feeding them dinner, giving them a bath, putting them bed even thought they insist that they're not tried, because they want to keep playing with their new toys. Instead, I get to enjoy my evening...I get to go home and relax, watch an R-rated movie if I want, have a beer or glass of wine (oh hack, why not both), and stay up as late as I want without having to worry about getting up in a couple of hours to start the next day all over again at 6:00 AM in the morning, because I get to sleep in. That's something that has not happened since the Jon was born.

So I'm suppose to be at my mom's by 1:00 PM and I haven't even left KayC's house, which by the way we are stay at until Sunday night. At 1:15 PM, my sister calls, but I miss the call because I'm getting the car packed and the coats & hats on the boys, which they do not even need on, because it's 62 degrees out. Yeah, I know, WARM! By 1:30 PM, I have got the boys in the car and backing out of the drive way when I noticed I had a missed call. So I call Laura and tell her to cool her jets, it's not the easiest thing to wrangle two boys ages 3 & 1, especially when they haven't had naps.

We finally made it to my mom's house which is only 15 minutes away in the next town over. While I'm getting everything into the house, my mom asked, "Where are the boys?" Are you kidding me...where does she think they are if they're not in the house already. Like I would have left them at KayC's to miss out on the fun of unwrapping Christmas presents or give up my night of freedom...she joking right? They were out on the car still because they haven't had naps and they fell asleep on the way over.

The boys had fun unwrapping their gifts, but I can't say the same for their cousin Hailey. She was getting more and more upset with every gift she opened because they weren't "The Little Pet Shop: DOGS" and she had told Santa that, that is what she wanted. How every disappointing at 3 years old. But after all the toys were unwrapped and surgically removed from the all the packaging, that you need a doctorates degree for the kids started playing with there new toys and soon forgot what they didn't get.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Build-A-Bear

My mother-in-law, KayC, has a tradition that when her grandchild turns three or about three, she takes them to Build-A-Bear. Well this year Alex turned three and my niece, Ayla, will be turning three in about 4 months. KayC wanted to take them together and pick out their bear, but I didn't want Ayla to influence Alex about his decision.

We are talking about a two hours nightmare!

Alex didn't get it at first. He didn't want the unstuffed animal, he wanted the display one, so I took him to the front of the line to show him what was going on.

Then he needed to pick out his bear or animal....at first he has a glittery teal fru-fru bear, which I convinced to put back, with a cute pengin. After about 5 minutes he put that back and grabbed a husky dog, which was also cute, but I still like the pengin. Then about 5 mintues later he but that back and grabbed the clearence turkey from Thanksgiving...OMG! That turkey was butt ugly. Finally, we convinced him to put that back and he picked out an elephant, which is cute and boyish.

Everyone keeps asking me if I put a voice box in it, but I decided to skip that, just I can wash him without having to worry about ruining it.

On to the heart and stuffing him, he really liked warming up the heart and giving it a kiss.

Now time to pick out an outfit...OMG again. I know that this is where the bear starts to get expensive, so I tried to tell him to keep it simple. First problem is they didn't have a whole lot to choose from to make a boy, and half of the boy selection was ugly, so that left us with about 3 outfits. Well he finally picked out an outfit and it was the ugliest one. I showed him a karate robe with all the belts, with was cute and thought he might like it, since he is really into Kung Fu Panda, but not a big hit. So we decided to just keep the outfit that Alex had picked out, since it is his choose and all. Then we get closer the the checkout and he see the PJs, and he changed his mind again, but at least the pjs he picked out were cute.

Almost done and now we have to name him. Well you have to go thought several screen prompts, and then save & print. Well once we got there Alex was started to get impatience and started touching all the buttons on the key board and before I realize what he is doing, he has exited us out the whole thing and we had to start all over. After going through the prompts again we are all done.

Alfie the Elephant has now been born!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Merry Christmas

We did not have Christmas at our house, we decided to go the Andy's parents' house for Christmas. We came over Christmas Eve and Alex set out cookies for Santa....which later on that night when no one was around the dogs knocked them down and ate them...bummer!

I thought that maybe since the boys went to sleep so late on Christmas Eve that they might sleep in on Christmas morning. WRONG! Our dog, Buddha, heard Andy's dad, Bert, get up and wanted to go down stairs at 5:00 AM, so naturally Buddha started to whine and wimper, which is so pathetic after about an hour. So at about 6:00 AM we let him out the room to go downstairs. But when we did this the other two dogs, Apollo and Baci, started to bark out of pure excitement, which once they start barking good lucky trying to get them to shut up. So about fifteen minutes later the boys were awake and fortunately I was able to get them to go back to sleep for about another hour.

Now that the boys are up, we took them down stairs and Alex couldn't believe how many presents that Santa left him. With him being three years old he thought that all the presents came from Santa, he didn't make the connection that Mom and Dad got him gift anf so did Grandma and Grandpa. Jon on the other hand just doesn't understand it yet, since he is only one.

We let them get theie stockings down from the fireplace first, then ate breakfast and relaxed for a little bit, and then opened up presents. They had fun and that's what matters the most.

Now comes the hard part....taking all the toys out of the boxes and packaging.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It's Starting To Look A Lot Like Christmas.....

I almost was starting to feel like a hypocrite because couldn't find the hooks for the ornaments and thought that I might have to go out and buy some, but I thought really quick and decided that have left over ribbon from the boys' birthday party, I'll just use that.

Well....that wasn't going too great...the little, ity-bity, teeny-tiny, loops on the back of the ornaments was proving harder to thread the ribbon through, than I originally pictured....I thought I was going to have to get out my sewing needle and thread...which I didn't want to do, so after the first one I did, I stopped and I went looking for those hooks that I know that I have.

After going through every box that we have with Christmas ornaments, I finally came across the last one, which, wouldn't you know it, there's the hooks. So I began hanging the ornaments, when I realized that I needed to still hang 7 more, but there were no more hooks. I thought, "This is ridiculous...I'm not going to buy a package of hooks, that probably only cost $0.97, for seven ornaments!" I thought about it for a couple of minutes and came to the conclusion that I'll just take them all down and cut the hooks in half, which worked.

The tree is finally all done....

Getting Ready for Christmas

Well we have the Christmas tree set up now...Alex helped me last night.

Ok...ok...ok...we just bought a red 4 foot, pre-lit tree from Wal-Mart, which all you had to do was put the base together. I know what you're thinking...."What are you doing with a red tree?"...well that's a good question.

Earlier this year I bought a bunch of ordaments at a garage sale, which are all Star Wars. So, I promised Andy on Father's Day that we would have a Star Wars themed Christmas tree this year.







We got all the ordaments out of the boxes and then realized that they all need hooks, so I now need to dig out the rest of the decorations, just so I have to buy more. (I don't see a point in buying hooks if I know that I already have some.)

Realizing how much more interesting I could be

The items in dark blue are ones I’ve done...some not so great.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (if the cruise to Catalina counts)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (not on purpose though)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

I now realize that I could be doing a lot more with my life!

Im Over My Head - The Big Day

The boys had a great time at their birthday party! Since, it wasn't until 4 p.m. I spent the whole cleaning the rest of the house, that I was suppose to do Friday night. And because of my procrastination i wasn't able the meet with Mary and her kids at the mall, since they were in town for the day.

(If you can look past the people and into the dining room you can see the decorations that I hung up and the two giant dinosaur balloons

The boys took a nap starting at about 1 p.m. (I wanted them to be well rested for the party). While they were napping I went to go pick up the balloons, cake, and some snack food, which because it was snowing out, it took me about 1 1/2 hours. I bought some dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets made by Tyson, but I never got to cook them, because I forgot and there were only two other kids who showed up. So I just put out some fruit for the guess and got them drinks as needed.

Then once everyone was at the party we put the candles on the cake and pigged out on it. Alex and Jon both got their own cake. I thought that was only fair, since I was combining their party together. Thanks to Wal-Mart for decorating them plus a free cupcake, since Jon was turning one, but the dinosaurs on the cake I bought at Toy's R US.


Alex only ate the frosting off the cake, but Jon fully enjoyed his cupcake. Once I got him all cleaned up, we moved all the presents to the living room for the boys to open. I put Andy in charge of taking pictures. The boys got a lot of presents, now I feel like we don't have to open presents on Christmas Day, but I'm not a mean mom like that.

After all present were unwrappped, the kids played for awhile, and one by one the guess started to leave.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Sesame Street Live

On Friday Alex didn't go to the babysitter, instead Andy and me took him to go see Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Green Thumb.


Alex had so much fun, but towards the end he was getting tired of sitting still, he wanted to get up and dance and play.

Since the show wasn't until 10:30 a.m. Andy was hungry when we got there, so he got some food from the concession stand, which I'm sure cost a lot of money. Speaking of a lot of money, we wanted to let Alex get a souvenir, but that was all over priced as well.

Program = $8.oo
Small 6 inch soccer ball = $12.00
8 inch doll = $15.00
6 pack of figures = $25.00

See what I mean. Exxxpensive! I told Andy that he don't need anything, because he has so much Sesame Street stuff at home, especially ELMO.

In Over My Head - Progress Day 3, 4, & 5

Once again not doing so well...

I still need to clean both bathrooms, and pick up the toy room.

I did get the decorations up and their presents wrapped, which are semi-earth friendly. What I do is reuse a shoe box and put pretty wrapping paper on the outside of it, I do this with the bottom and lid, so all you have to do is lift off the lid. To keep the shoe box from being open too early, I tie ribbon around it, which is also use to help attach the name tag. So as long as the paper isn't ripped by the over excited birthday boy, you can reuse the box for next time. (NOTE: Use nice and strudy wrapping paper, because the cheap stuff 1)rips too easily and 2) it has a tendency to fade or get the yellow tinge to the paper. Also make sure to use good tape that will hold on good.) This year will be the second year that i'll be using my wrapped shoebox. This is a lot better than throwing the ripped wrapping paper away, but when the box looks like it's had better days, then you can place it in the recycling bin.

In Over My Head - Progress Day 1 & 2

Ok, on Monday night I didn't get the kitchen cleaned, but I did get a load of dishes in the washer, which is step one to a clean kitchen.

So, last night I scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom. Another load of dishes, clean stove top, clean counters, and sweep floor. I also got the dining room table cleared off for the most part. There is only a couple things left on it, and one item is suppose to be there to begin with and that's the wire rack used to hold fruit, if I had any. Right now it's holding camera & cell phone accessories, bills, and receipts.

Tonight I will tackle the bathrooms and Thursday night I'll get to the living room and toy room. Honestly, the toy room is probably the easiest to do, because it's just putting them away and collecting the stuff in buckets. I just don't do that, because 1) Alex knows how to put the toys away (Jon's too small yet) and 2) why put toys away when they're just going to be back out the next day and the day after that and so on. I just don't see the point sometimes. But then again, it might be easier if we had the right tools for putting the toys away, such as some kind of storage system. What we have right now is not big enough anymore. And the sad thing about this, is that on Saturday the boys will be getting even more toys. Which I have told everyone that they don't need any more toys, but like they're going to listen to me. I don't even listen to me. I said I was going to buy them a toy box and instead bought them toys. Go Figure!

Alex Learning to Count on Fingers

I was counting on my finger to see old Jon was back in August and here's Alex sitting next to me counting too....

1: No pushing...
2: No pushing...
3: No running...
4: No pushing...
5: No running...

In Over My Head

There are five days left until Saturday, December 6, 2008. You ask what is so special about that day??? Absolutely nothing, but I decided over a month ago to have the boys birthday party on that day...one week after Jon turned the BIG 1 and one week before Alex turns 3.

My problem??? My house is a disaster! I have been neglecting it for about a week now. Usually I do the dishes on Saturdays, but if I don't they can sometimes sit there until Monday or Tuesday night, which isn't a pretty picture. Just see for yourself.

This was taken about 20 minutes ago, just so that it would be up to date, but please keep in mind that I did make dinner on the stove.

Yes, I know that my kitchen is small. The dishes aren't the hard part...it's finding a home for everything on the counter where the microwave is. Much of it is paper, either from daycare, the mail, or my little grocery notes, which I always lose. ( I wonder way?) Well kitchen won't be so hard...just stick the dishes in the dishwasher, pay the bills, and the rest of the paper can go in the recycling box.

Onto the dinner room, which is where everyone will be for the food.

OMG!

I don't even know where to start here. The coats, hats, mittens, scarfs...they can all go in the coat closet. When I don't know where to put something it goes onto the kitchen table, until I can find a spot, but that never happens. I'll set it ont he counter top in the kitchen and deal with it last, but when I get to it, I out it back onto the table and say to myself, "Well, at least it's on the corner of the table and taking up a lot of space anymore." And then we start all over. We can't even have a family meal together, because there is no where for Andy to sit down. I bet you I could put everything on that table into a box and throw it away and I'd never know what I did or didn't get rid of.

The Living Room

Pillows go on the couches, but they only stay there for about 10 minutes, and then they are back on the floor for a crash pad. Toys just need to go in the toy room and the clothes in the laundry basket just need put away. But the desk does need some cleaning up. Everthing is piling up it and never getting to where it really needs to go.

And then the...

Toy Room

For those of you who don't know... The toy room was formly the master bedroom. We decided to give it up for the front bedroom on the other side of the house, this way the living room wouldn't have toys laying all over the floor. (Yeah....it's working great!).

I want this room picked up, so that the kids coming over for the birthday party can have a room to play in while eveything is being setup in the dining room.

I think that I have it figured out. I can tackle one room a night after work, which would also have to include to bathrooms and their bedroom. Since the living room isn't that bad, I can do that and the toy room in the same night.

So now it's time to get busy!

Black Friday

I survived Black Friday!

I got up at 4:15 a.m. to start getting around. Since Andy didn't have to be to work until 10 a.m. I left the boys at home with him and promised him that I'd only go to one store and then come home.

I called KayC to make sure she got up in time. We got to Wal-Mart at about 4: 50 a.m. and they had already started the sale, which wasn't suppose to start until 5 a.m.

Well, I kept that promise, because we ended up waiting in line at Wal-Mart for 45 minutes. Turns out we got into the wrong line, we got the slooow cashier who was typing everything in, instead of just letting it scan the barcode. The poor guy behind me, all he wanted has a DVD player and USB flash stick.

From Wal-Mart, I went home and KayC went to Toys R Us. When she was done there she came and picked up me and boys, which wasn't until about 8:30 a.m.

Then we were on our way. I was going through the ads in the vehicle, when I noticed that one of toys that I just bought was $10 cheaper at Meijers, so I bought the top again and returned the one back to Wal-Mart the next day. And I thought Wal-Mart was always the lowest price, well were where they on that toy?

Then at Target KayC found the toy that she bought at Toys R Us for $15 cheaper. What really makes her mad is that she stood inline that whole time just for the one item, she didn't buy anything else there.

Now to Burlington Coat Factory. Where Alex picked up a really nice Pug Puppy Purse. I was and on phone with Andy at the time and he said, "No!" I wouldn't that Alex get that, that's just wrong.

By now the boys are getting hungry. It's almost 11:30 a.m. and they haven't thrown a fit yet. We got to Burger King where Alex eats only a couple of fries and drinks all of his chococlate milk. Jon eats all of his chicken tenders and some of my fries. Yes, was the responsible mom, who tore the tender into tiny bite size pieces, so that Jon could easily eat it. Don't know why though, Jon never ate those pieces, he wanted the whole tender intacted and he ate it that way. What was I thinking trying to play it safe? Jon didn't choke once on the tender like I thought that he would, but I was ready for him, just incase.

Next, to Kohl's. We get what we need real quick and were done! KayC couldn't go one anymore, she got a cramp in her right foot/toe and the boys were starting to fall asleep. So we head back to my house.

As soon as we get there Alex asks if he can spend the night with Grandma, which we can never say, "NO" to, so I let him. Alex also convinces KayC to take the dog, Buddha. I get his bag packed and then get my stuff and Jon out of the truck and it was time for some peace and quiet for me. I laid Jon down in bed to finish his nap and about three hours he wakes. It was nice to have some quiet time after such a long day.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know we did.

My contribution towards baking was the Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Pie, that Andy had to go to three different Wal-Marts just to find me a 15 ounce can of pumpkin. Check out the recipe!
I made two pies, one for Grandma Fike's and the other for KayC's.

We first had to go to Grandma Fike's (Diane's mom) house. Diane told me that we'd be having dinner at noon. WRONG! I thought that I would be able to have a dinner there, but they weren't even ready to eat until about 1 p.m. By now Andy had already left to start for his mom's house beacuse she was going to have dinner at 1:30 p.m. Yes, Andy and me drove separate vehicles, because he needs to be at work by 5 p.m. Well I stayed until we had prayed, then I had to get the boys around to head for Andy's mom's house too.

Alex and Jon were a little annoying on the car ride. Who can blame them, it's about 1 p.m. and neither one of them has had lunch yet.

When we get to KayC's (Andy's mom), my mom was already there. We invited my mom and sister over, since they really didn't have any plans. KayC is always making way too much food, so I thought if we has a couple extra mouths we wouldn't have all this left over like the past years.

Afterwards. My mom, Laura, and me were in the computer/toy room playing with Alex and Jon.

Andy was sitting down and doing what he does best, World of Warcraft. Well he fell asleep and I knew he needed to be at work by 5 p.m. I checked the clock to make sure it wasn't getting too late. The next thing Andy knows is that I'm yelling at him in a panicky voice telling him that it's 5:30 p.m. He jumps out of the chair and starts yelling at me why I didn't wake him open earlier. The whole time I'm laughing my butt off and he can't figure out why until he looks at the clock and it says 3:30 p.m. Then a string of choice words come flying out of his month, but I don't care it was funny.

After Andy left for work, mom and Laura thought that they better get going too, before it starts getting late. And beside they know that KayC and me needed to go to Nana and Grandpa's.

We got to their house about 6 p.m. and everything was going great until Jon tripped over Alex and fell. Jon bust his face just under his left eye on the glass end table on the sofa. It imediantly started to puff up and turn black and blue. And what very, cranky, not-quite-one-year is going to let me hold an ice pack to his face for the swelling, but I tried and Jon refused. After he calmed down, he was playing again like nothing ever happen. Go figure!

Shortly afterwards, we headed back to KayC's house. I still had to pack the boys up and go home myself and get some sleep, so that I could get up the next morning and go Christmas shopping. Yes, I am one of those people who gets up early for Black Friday.

Trick-Or-Treat

Alex and Jon went Trick-Or-Treating this year as pirates. Alex was the captain and Jon the matey. It only seemed right since Alex also was trying to boss Jon around. They got to go three times this year and thank goodness, because now I feel like we got our moneys worth out of the costumes.

First...

The local zoo on Thursday, October 30, 2008. They got to go from station to station with in the zoo to get candy, which we had to pay for. So I'm really sure if that counts if you have to pay for it. But they also had pumpkin displays along the way, such as, Alvin and Pumpkin and Gourd Diego Gourd.




Second...

On Halloween day, our first stop was the local mall, where you go store to store and collect candy. We've done this for several years now, but we always go an hour after it starts and there is never any candy left. So this year we got there right when it started, and their pails where filled by the time we were done. Then we headed home and waited for Grandma and Grandpa DiTommaso to arrive, so we could go through the neighborhood. We got half away around the housing addition when Alex started to get tired of walking, so I ended up carrying him from house to house. And we didn't even go down all the little side streets, house the house that you could get to from the main street.

TRICK-OR-TREAT PLEASE!


Jon eating some of his Teddy Grahams from the mall, waiting from Grandma and Grandpa to show up. He thinks he's going to be able to eat that Kit-Kat, but little does he know that I'm getting ready to take it away.

Third...

At Grandma and Grandpa DiTommaso's. Where they live, Trick-Or-Treat was on Saturday, November 1, 2008. So, we waited for Aunt Laura and Cousin Hailey to get there and go with them. We just went down the one street that has the most houses on it. When I was old enough to go Trick-Or-Treating, that was the street to go down, you got the most candy in the shortest amount of time. It was a little disappointing, there were only about a fourth of the homes even handing out candy, when we went just about every home was handing out candy. I guess that's what we call a "Sign of Times!"

Pumpkin Patch

The weekend before Halloween, Andy and me took our boys to Hilger's Farmer Market just a couple miles away from where we live. Hilgers transformed there place into a kid friendly attraction, which even had a haunted house that we didn't do. We invited him mom and my mom, since they were in town. I couldn't believe that Alex and Jon were both free, but all the adults had to pay. All we did was follow Alex from one attraction to another, while Jon sat in the stroller and took a nap for most of the time. It was cold out, but that didn't stop Alex one bit.


First stop... Alex jumping in one of those big bouncers (I don't remeber what it's really called). I was a little worried about him having to take his shoes off, because of the cold weather, but he was always moving that kept him warm.


Then, it was onto the pony ride. I had to walk along side of him too make sure that he wouldn't try to get off. It didn't really matter, because I was going to walk along side anyways, but I now he does have a habit of getting rides once they already start. He was having so much fun that he didn't want to get off, but I explained to him that there were other little boys and girls who would like to have a chance to ride the pony too. That seemed to work and we were off the nect item on his agenda....



...the cow ride. Now this time I was afraid he was going to try to get out midway through the ride, but he didn't. He fully enjoyed the trip around the park. But, I had Andy walk a couple paces behind just in case. Once the take ride was over, it was onto the trolley ride.

Yes, I do believe Andy followed the trolley around too! It's not like he was running along side, but the cows were pulled by a lawn mower and the trolley was pulled by a tractor not going very fast.


Andy and Alex inside of a teepee made out of corn stalks. I have admit, though, you can't tell that they are inside of a teepee, but it's still a good picture of them having fun.

Well the inside of the teepee wasn't that interesting to Alex, because the next thing I knew he was on his way to the Hay Maze. At the end of the maze there is a pryamid made out of hays bales. Alex climbed all the way to the top all by himself with Andy only a couple of steps behind him just incase he lost his since of balance and fell backwards.


After playing in the hay, Alex finally noticed a train. Alex loves trains! Out of all the stuff that we did that day, I bet we spent to most time here. He really liked being able the ring the bell. It took us forever to convince him that it was time to go back inside to warm up a little bit. We had probably been outside in the cold for about two hours. My mom had already went on ahead of us with Jon. So, we know have he on his way to start warming up and what does he see....

...a huge inflatted slide. He just had to go down the slide not once, but a couple of times. After about three or fours times, we told him that he had to warm up. As I put on him shoes and grabbed his hand, I could believe how warm they were for not having on any gloves. His hands felt like he had them by a fire the whole time. And here I thought that he might be cold, when the whole time it was just the adults that were cold.

Once all of us were indoors. We got some food and drinks to replenish...Elephant Ear, Kettle Corn, and Hot Cocoa (which all cost a pretty penny). We even let Alex get a balloon animal. for those of you who can't tell what it is, it's a dinosaur on a leash, which lasted about an hour before it popped.


Now that out tummies are all full, Alex wanted to go pick out his pumpkin. This took a lot longer than I thought, but he got a couple of nice ones for carving.


Which he had no interest in carving, so I had to do it al by myself. If you can see my pinkie there's a bandaide on it from where I cut it, and it's still healing a month later. But it was worth it.

A skull and cross bones....


...and spider with web. Altogether, it took me a little more than two hours to do both of the carvings. But they looked good for Trick-OR-TREAT.

Catching Up

So, besides the very first posting, lets get started. I want to kind of show case some of the things that have happened before today. No, I'm going to going to start from, for example, two years ago, but how about from July 2008.



Here is a picture that was taken at ARO / Ingersall-Rand, Bryan, OH of "Dave's Girls" in front of a stone bench that was dedicated to David R Wofford. (R to L: Kristy Helmkamp (stepdaughter), Diane (wife), Laura w/ Hailey (daughter with granddaughter), Angel Shibler (stepdauhter), & Me, Claire DiTommaso (daughter). For those of you who don't know, Dad or Dave worked at ARO / Ingersall-Rand since before I was born. He started out in California and then transferred in Ohio. About 5 years ago he was diagnosed with a very rare blood cancer and in April 2008 he passed.



Cat, my bestfriend, on her wedding day. No, I wasn't her maid of honor, because of the distance we live from each other. But, I may as well of been. I did a lot of the maid of honor duties on her special day. I even gave the speech at the wedding reception. When everyone was getting into position for the wedding, I was confused for the maid of honor.

But it doesn't matter how for apart we live from each other, it still seems like our lives run paraelle. We were both pregant with our first together, McKenzie was born in October 2005 and Alessandro in December 2005. We were even pregant with our second together, Giovanni November 2007 and Timothy March 2008.

Time to start blogging

I thought it was about time I started my own blog. Now I just hope that I can keep it updated for everyone. Calling people is just getting so time consuming. And with raising two boys that are 23 and a half months apart, they really keep me on my toes. Especially with the oldest, Alex, always wanting to talk to whoever is on the other end of the phone, with can annoying at times. So I'm going to give this blogging a try. This will also be an easy way for my friends and family to see what's new with the family, especially, since the boys are growing up so fast!