The Trittschuh Times

Mary's Night Off Broadway

2010-06-01T23:24:00.008-04:00

Mary recently got all dressed up for her Night Off Broadway school musical (which was VERY entertaining - kudos to the music department at Arcanum!) and we of course took advantage of the opportunity to snap a few photos. She looked really cute. But more importantly, she felt cute...and it showed. She carried herself with a confidence that impressed us all and it was WONDERFUL to witness her in action. We really jazzed things up by going with this snappy "up do." Even the cutest boy in the 3rd grade told Mary she looked pretty that night (which immediately turned her into a big pile of goobiness) but what girl doesn't want to get noticed for all the right reasons now and then. Go Mary!

PLAY BALL!!

2010-05-17T21:47:00.006-04:00

Beth & John are both playing ball this year...well at least they are when the games aren't rained out. Beth's team is currently 3-0; and they even run-ruled the last team 17-1 in 3.5 innings (yowza). Poor John had to wait an extra two weeks to get his first game in. He was an unfortunate subject of our recent soggy weather pattern. Both kids have several games to make up due to rain.

But, alas, he had his big moment this Saturday when he had his very first baseball game. EVER. I was a bit surprised to see that they don't use the "tee" for t-ball anymore. The coaches pitch to them right away and will only bring out the tee if they are struggling. Well, John had 3 at-bats and 3 hits! Heaven forbid they ever want to bring that tee out for him. He told us that he will have none of that crap! Here's a video short of our little stud in action.

What Mary's been up to...

2010-04-30T00:18:00.006-04:00

Mary started aquatic therapy a couple months ago and loves her "swim class." The Rehabilitation Center for Neurological Development in Piqua has the Mac Daddy of all adaptive swimming pools. It's a huge pool, heated to 90 degrees, fully equipped with a ramp (rather than steps) to get in the water...they even have a wheelchair that they can roll clients right in if needed.

Once Mary's in the water, she does activities to build strength and endurance. In the picture below, she's actually walking on an underwater treadmill. I didn't even know such devices existed!

Below, she's walking (unassisted) with styrofoam free weights to her "pleasant on the eyes" instructor, Jason. Perk for Mary! In just a few short sessions (1/2 hr, once a week), Jason already has Mary able to float on her back (no small feat to get the muscles of her body to relax enough to do this) and she's working on swimming. Real swimming. Mary comes home excited about her class, but exhausted from working so hard. It's a very cool thing and I thank Grandma & Grandpa Trittschuh for finding this place and even taking her to her classes every week. This is big stuff!

News in Photos

2010-04-06T22:57:00.009-04:00

Houston, we have a cheerleader!

And she's just a little psyched. And then we had Easter. It was lovely and Beth even made her first communion (which we have NO pictures of thanks to my forgetfulness. Boo!). What a special day. There's lots of changes going on with the family. I should have plenty to blog about over the next few months. :-) Until then.......

Nope, we're not dead

2010-03-11T22:14:00.008-05:00

...just wasn't much to talk about.

Snow, boredom, work, sickness, more snow, level 3's, winter blahs, YUCK! Pair that with a jacked up computer that would freeze up any time I tried to upload a picture and wah la - no updates.

FINALLY we have something newsworthy! Beth had her annual spring band concert tonight, and it's the first one as an Arcanum Trojan.

Of course, I had to take her picture.

Boy she sure has changed since last year's band concert. Beyond looking more grown up, I was impressed by the increased difficulty of the music played. Tonight's show was very enjoyable. Bravo Beth! Bravo!!

New Years Pictures

2010-01-06T22:25:00.008-05:00

For the first time in several years, Matt did not have a gig booked for New Years Eve so we decided a night home with kids sounded good. We made up several munchies and spent the entire night goofing off in our jammies. We snapped a couple of pictures in between riveting games of Yahtzee. Here ya go.

Our Scary Monster

The dining room table fort.

They had so much fun in their fort that this was not a forced picture! No joke!

This was just a cute picture we snapped of Gavin on New Years Day. Gavin came to play at our house because Mommy (Corinne) decided to ring in her wild 'n crazy NYE celebration by spraining her ankle and needed to go to the ER for x-rays. She really knows how to party!

A Post Christmas Prose

2009-12-26T14:01:00.007-05:00

Twas the day after Christmas,
The holiday went well.
Presents all over,
Now my house looks like hell.
I shall get OFF the computer
And don cleaning gear.
In hopes that my carpet,
Soon shall appear.

The children are playing
with toys that are new
There's another beep from the cell phone
of our oldest Trittschuh.

We've eaten all things
That are fattening and good.
I've not had the will power
That a girl really should.

My jeans, they will not button.
My blouses do not fit.
So sweats is the answer,
Until I get rid of this shit.

These holidays are great.
And oh so much fun,
But after it's over,
You see the damage it's done!

But would I trade all these woes
For a perfect house or waistline?
The answer is no,
For these memories are divine.

In January I'll work out,
Eat less, or at least try it,
Now I say Happy New Year to all,
And to all a good diet!

Preschool Christmas Programs are Precious!

2009-12-17T22:18:00.019-05:00

I had the pleasure of attending the Salem Christian Preschool Christmas program yesterday morning to watch John perform. Holding true to my "emotional mush" status, I could feel tears burning my eyes even before the program started. Once the show was underway, I had to swallow hard to overcome the lump in my throat watching my baby deliver the only child-spoken part in a strikingly sweet version of the the very first Christmas. John portrayed a very convincing Inn Keeper.

Once the skit was over and the songs began, I indeed ended up with tears running down my cheeks. But not from crying. I was laughing hysterically at my little man with his smokin' moves! He's a superstar.

Here's a taste of John's mad dance skills...

And now a sweet one.

SOLD!

2009-11-15T01:54:00.006-05:00

We finally sealed the deal and sold our house on Tuesday of this week; after more than two weeks of negotiations, inspections, the appraisal, and subsequent re-negotiations. I'm happy and excited at the possibility of getting into a more functional house very soon. In fact, when I'm helping Mary up the stairs to go to bed, take a bath, or to play in her room, one of us chimes in with a "not much longer" or "man I won't miss these."

But to tell you the truth, our house has been a good house. We've renovated almost every room inside (some twice!) and have learned a lot along the way. I just hope the next family enjoys it as much as we have.

Now we only have to find our new house, pack up and move by the first week of December. Anyone have boxes?

Chicks 'N Peeps

2009-11-09T21:31:00.007-05:00

At least once a year, the ladies in Matt's family all get together for some shopping, drinking and belly laughs. We lovingly refer to ourselves as the Whittington Chicks (a term that I believe was brought about by a drunken karaoke rendition of "Earl Had to Die" by the Dixie Chicks.) Ladies, correct me if I'm wrong on this one!

This weekend, we were able to get our ever-growing group together (minus Amanda and Lisa) :-( and knocked out another great get-together. We laughed at the rapid expansion this year of the next generation of Whittington Chicks, or Peeps, as we decided that they too need a name until they earn their "Chick" right of passage some day. (We've had 4 baby girls born in the last 12 mos. with one more due in a few weeks!) It's good to know that our beer drinkin, loud talkin', overspendin' tradition will be secure with the next generation. Woooo hooo!!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T20:10:00.008-04:00

It's the year of recycled costumes!

I think Beth looked pretty bas ass...

The End of the Wee Bolt Era

2009-10-27T21:32:00.003-04:00

You know, when they were little you could say, "Get together for a pic" and they'd all huddle together with big cheesy grins. Now as sixth graders, this is what you get with that same request.

What goofballs! I'm glad it's over but I will miss them. (Most of them anyway...)

;-)

Gotcha!

2009-10-07T22:44:00.003-04:00

I was taking pictures a few weeks ago and trying to get a rise out of Beth since she was refusing to give me a cute smile. I may have mentioned that she might like a certain new "someone" that goes to her school and caught this reaction. Ah ha....gotcha!

John Turns 5!

2009-09-20T22:19:00.008-04:00

We had a fun day today. All of our food and activities were decided by the birthday boy. We started our morning with blueberry pancakes and sausage, immediately followed by PRESENTS. A live demonstration of proper form when weilding a sword was given... ...followed by a live duel right in the kitchen. The party then moved to a local bowling alley... (stupid rain ruined our plans for the park) ...where both Dad and Miss Mary each bowled a STRIKE! After working up an appetite over the course of the afternoon, our boy decided that he wanted to eat his birthday supper at McDonald's (Lord, help me...McDonald's?!) and then we'd come home to eat cake and ice cream while enjoying his favorite Nickelodean TV programs til bedtime.

I may poke fun at all of this, but I have to tell you, it really was a fun family day. I can't believe my little guy is 5. He's developed into a fun little person with real likes, dislikes, interests and opinions. I love him like crazy and can't wait to see how the next 5 years go. Happy birthday baby boy!

The Last Wee Bolt Cheer Photo

2009-09-12T00:37:00.003-04:00

Sixth grade....whew, she's almost done. I mean, "YAY, go Bolts!"

The Climb

2009-08-30T12:20:00.002-04:00

Every time I would hear "The Clmb" on the radio, I would get choked up as it reminded me of Mary. I took that inspiration and created Mary's Journey.

Fun at the Fair

2009-08-23T22:34:00.003-04:00

We had a great day at the Great Darke County Fair. We endured the weather (brr!) and spent the day riding rides and playing games all the while scarfing enough fair food to choke a horse. By the time we left, we were tired, dirty and all had bellyaches....BUT IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!

No More Baby

2009-08-20T22:06:00.005-04:00

I kissed my baby goodbye this morning and sent him off to school for the first time with Daddy. (Well, it was Pre-K, but it still counts!) John was pretty excited...until he got to school. Then he put on his bravest face and tried to choke back the tears. He held it together until it was time to say goodbye...the tears just rolled as he hugged Matt tight and said "I love you Daddy." John wasn't the only one fighting the urge to cry at that point.

I'm happy to report that he had a good day. He made new friends, he colored a picture of shapes and told me that he needed more apple juice in his lunch next time. I guess that means he survived. He's ready to tackle it again tomorrow.

First Day of School

2009-08-19T21:33:00.006-04:00

With backpacks packed, and finally being able to wear their brand new shoes, the girls excitedly returned to school this morning. The rain outside prohibited me from being able to walk behind them snapping pictures like a complete goober as they were walking into the school, so I had to settle for the standard pose in our kitchen.

Here's Mary, off to tackle the third grade.

And Beth, ready to rule the school as a sixth grader.

Stay tuned...tomorrow John starts pre-K!

Beth's Birthdays in Pictures

2009-07-28T22:43:00.007-04:00

Let's take a stroll through memory lane...

One

Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten

And as of yesterday, my baby is eleven. Just like that.

I'm almost afraid to blink. She grows up too fast.

Third Phase of Mobility

2009-07-19T22:17:00.004-04:00

First phase; crawling

Second phase; walking

And now, John has a bike!

VACATION!!

2009-07-15T22:05:00.011-04:00

We had yet another great vacation at the lake. Seriously, who wouldn't be able to relax when this is your view every day? We fished... We swam... We took boat rides... We played with our very good friends Sam & Dani from Minnesota... We went to the zoo...(Except for poor John who had a nasty tummy bug and had to stay back at the cabin with Grandma & Grandpa. Sad!) The kids even took turns cheating to beat Grandma at aggravation. (Oh yes, I have much to be proud of)

Thanks again to Grandma & Grandpa Trittschuh for being wonderful hosts and spending an exhausting week helping us wrangle the kids, enduring countless hours of kid TV programming, and having to sit in the garage for hours every single morning in the chilly air waiting for us all to wake up. (Grandpa is a VERY early riser....we, however, are not.) We love you....AND WE LOVE VACATION!

My MVP

2009-06-20T22:10:00.005-04:00

Back in May, Beth was awarded as on of the MVPs from her elementary school. She was thereby treated to a Dragons game a few weeks ago, given some Dayton Dragons merchandise, and invited to "Field Day" at Dragons Stadium today.

Field Day was a blast! Beth got her picture taken with two very cute ball players... ...hit wiffle balls pitched by a Dragons infielder ...got a poster autographed by the team, ...raced the bases against another MVP from her school She also got jump on inflatables, get her face painted, and scarf popcorn while roaming the field. What fun!

Celebrating June

2009-06-14T22:21:00.007-04:00

We had a party today celebrating all of the June birthdays and Father's day for the Trittschuh clan. Our birthday crew starting at the top and proceeding clockwise - Jim, Joe, (Beth's only lighting candles, her birthday is next month) Mary & Diana. Happy birthday to all! And just for giggles, here's a shot of this same birthday group taken in 2005, only 4 years ago! Look at the difference in the kids! Uncle Jim & Aunt Di, aren't you glad we didn't make you cram into a pint size picnic table for this year's birthday photo?!

Mr. Goodwrench

2009-06-10T22:10:00.005-04:00

John and his cul-de-sac crew were out driving their little vehicles this weekend when Matt spotted this cute sight. With one under the hood and one on the ground, they got this SUV back on the road in no time. Good thing, or John would have had to give her a tow home with his tractor!

P.S. Am I the only one that is bothered by the little girl wearing one flip flop and one black sock while playing outside?

Mary's Birthday Celebration - Round 1

2009-06-07T22:11:00.003-04:00

Mary's going to be 9 on June 15th, yes Jackie...nine! Can you believe it? Anyway, Saturday she got to start celebrating with a "date" with Grandma and Grandpa Baker. They took her to lunch and then went on a shopping spree. My little greedy monkey came home with a sugar high and two new video games. She's got a week to recoup before her next birthday celebration.

Really, I do like her way of thinking. Who wouldn't like to celebrate their "birth month" rather than just one day? Good girl Mary.

Gavin's First Oreo

2009-05-29T23:07:00.002-04:00

Let's Celebrate!

2009-05-27T21:29:00.006-04:00

Saturday night Matt and I went to his 20-year class reunion and partied old-school style. Since we both graduated from the same small school, in the same small town, it's great to go back there every 10 years or so just to catch up. The guys spent hours laughing hysterically at some of the stupid stuff they pulled (normally under the influence) and the wives spent most of their time dancing, talking about our kids, or making fun of the bra-less 18 year old girls dancing like stripper wanna-be's at their first Alumni dance. Good times!

Sunday we had the pleasure of watching our nephew, Ben, graduate from that same high school.

Of course Ben was pretty excited when it was all over, but his awesome cheesy smile was a direct result of his Mom (and my sister-in-law, Kim) giving him a great big goose at the perfect moment. :-)

CONGRATULATIONS BEN! GOOD LUCK AT MIAMI U!!

Little Sure Shot

2009-05-21T23:32:00.008-04:00

This week was the infamous Second Grade Famous Folks Museum. The kids all have to pick a person, read their biography, write a report, then dress like the character and give a presentation covering the big items.

Mary chose Annie Oakley, which I loved being from Darke County. (Annie Oakley is is our big claim to fame in Darke Co. as that's where she was born and raised for those of you that didn't know). Their Museum is probably one of the highlights of the year. The kids are all put in stations a few feet apart from each other and have to hold a pose like they are a wax figure. Then you walk up and push a "button" on their hand and they come to life and tell you who they are, when they were born, why they were famous, several important facts of their life, and for those that have passed, when they died. I just love seeing the little ones perform like that.

Mary did an AWESOME job! She nailed every line, almost every time (she had to recite it probably 60+ times over the course of the two day performance) and had a crowd of people around her every time I looked up. I was very proud of my Little Sure Shot!

More photos below.

Famous Folks

Just hangin'

2009-05-18T22:01:00.009-04:00

John and Beth were outside tonight so I took advantage with a photo opp. John, as usual, was playing with his best friend, and neighbor boy, Troy.

And Beth was hanging with "we're just friends" Eric from down the street. To be honest, there were a couple boys out in the cul-de-sac tossing a football and Beth was participating from the sidelines. Not only can young Eric rock the skater-boy look, but he's a wide receiver for the Wee Bolts AND performs at the Schuster Center in various musical productions. NICE!

But...they're just friends. ;-)

March for Babies

2009-05-04T22:51:00.010-04:00

Many of you were kind enough to donate to my recent March of Dimes campaign - thank you! For those interested, this was the team I put together this year.

Working for a construction company, it's only fitting that we wear the "safety green" t-shirts when we are out in the community. That, and it helps my new walkers find us amid the hundreds of people out there on walk-day. Shook's presence was certainly known!

I am so proud of my co-workers for joining the cause, my company for allowing me to put this together, and my friends and family for the ongoing support I get year after year. I turned in a team envelope with over $8K in it last Saturday! See...together, we ARE making a difference!

Momentous Day at the Trittschuh's

2009-04-30T00:01:00.012-04:00

Beth got braces!

I feel that she is quite possibly the cutest metal mouth on the planet.

And finally, FINALLY we got our washer and dryer!

We ending up choosing a top loading system instead of the front-loaders. This new Cabrio pair is high efficiency, super capacity (it's actually bigger inside than the front loaders), and we didn't have to buy pedestals. Never have I been so excited to fold laundry. And FYI, we did several weeks worth of laundry for a family of 5 in 5 hours tonight! How awesome is that?!

Easter at the Trittschuh's

2009-04-27T23:23:00.003-04:00

I'm way behind on blogging. Sorry.

Here are some good pictures from our Easter egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa Trittschuh's. The big kids did a bang up job hiding the eggs for the younger grandkids this year. It took us almost an hour to find them all!

We even managed to get all the grandkids together for a picture.

For more Easter pictures, clink the link below.

Easter 09

Crunch

2009-04-17T11:12:00.005-04:00

JUST A QUICK POST TO UPDATE MY FRIENDS & FAMILY -

Wednesday night I got a call at work from Matt telling me that he and Mary had been involved in a car accident and that I needed to come right away. Immediately I asked him if he and Mary were okay and all I got was a very quick, "I think so. Gotta go, the cops are here." Ugh....talk about wanting to cry. I grabbed my purse and flew to Englewood.

Short version of the story is this. Matt had just picked up Mary and was heading to get John. He was sitting at a tricky intersection (hard to see) attempting to cross traffic to go north on Main St.; pulled out in front of someone and was hit broadside. He's got a bump on the head from hitting the window and Mary has a very small "rug burn" on her neck from the seatbelt. The guy that hit them was taken to the hospital to be checked out because his knees hurt. The crash looked pretty horrible, but the injuries were very minor. We are very thankful.

You know, you just can't hug someone tight enough after a scare like that.

Yellow and blue make green!

2009-04-11T22:44:00.009-04:00

And blue, green, purple, red, yellow & orange make kind of a putrid brownish color - but we only had one egg like that. The rest turned out beautifully!

The kids even got creative and tried to do stripes and double dipping - which eventually lead to the color revelation above. John cracked me up prior to our egg coloring. I was getting him some milk this morning for his breakfast when he caught a whiff of the hard boiled eggs I had prepared the night before.

"Ugh...gross! What's that smell?"

"That's probably the eggs John. They're ready for us to color after lunch. See?" I said lifting the lid of the egg carton.

"Ewww, they smell like a butt!"

Oh Baby!

2009-04-07T10:09:00.007-04:00

IN THE MIDST OF DESPAIR CAN COME GREAT THINGS!

*picture shown is a sample only

The cleaning company hauled my old washer and dryer away last night and I could hardly contain my excitement. I've been salivating over those super capacity, frontloading, washer and dryer sets since they hit the market, but it was just never in the cards for us to get them. Well, our basement flooding really sucked, but there is a silver lining to all of this...MOMMA'S GETTING A NEW WASHER/DRYER COMBO!

I've already spent the morning researching my next big purchase!

Friday - A Good Day Gone Bad

2009-04-05T21:32:00.005-04:00

Friday was supposed to be a day of fun. I took off work to take the kids to Columbus to see Kate's house and then spend the afternoon shopping at Polaris. We even convinced Grandma Joan, Aunt Kim & Aunt Di to come with us so we could all spend the day together. Grandma even captured a picture of us girls with Flat Stanley before we took off.

After a wonderful day, we packed up our purchases and headed home. Five minutes into the return trip, Matt calls me in a panic because there was raw sewage backing up in our basement! YUUUUCK!

I get home to find community floaters under our basement fridge and toilet paper mingling with our clothes on the floor of my laundry room. I wanted to puke and/or cry. We spent the rest of the weekend on the phone with insurance companies, professional cleaners, plumbers, etc. We were told that EVERYTHING that is not metal or a hard plastic that has come in contact with the sewage has to be disposed of. As the weekend progressed, we watched people in biohazard suits rip out the walls and carpet of the basement and even go through our dirty laundry, taking it all away in bags.

On top of it all, we learned that the city is only responsible for fixing the problem and is not liable for any damages incurred to homes! Thank goodness we have additional insurance that will hopefully cover most of this mess.

For more photos, click the link below.

Basement Disaster

Pics from the Past

2009-03-25T22:47:00.011-04:00

Grandma Ronda sent me a whole bunch of old pictures that she scanned today. I had so much fun going through them. THANKS MOM!

I thought it was interesting to compare Mom's picture (taken 1982) to one of my own (taken 2004)...

My Little Lady

2009-03-17T21:31:00.004-04:00

Beth got all dressed up last night for the 5th grade band concert so of course I had to get out my camera. She just looked so pretty...and so grown up. It was a delightful evening.

Who knew that Hot Cross Buns could be so riveting?

Video Game Smackdown

2009-03-14T12:21:00.005-04:00

When the Wii gets brutally honest...

I was pretty excited to finally get a Wii Fit. I had heard good things from other adults - it would be good for the kids, the games are fun and can really get your heartrate up, blah blah blah. What they all failed to mention is that the body assessments are brutally honest. I know that I'm a big girl, I was expecting it to tell me that I was overweight. But what I WASN'T expecting is for it to tell me that I'm OBESE and change my little Mii (character created on the Wii) to go from this

To this...

SON OF A...!!

After recovering from the initial shock of it all, I set my 3 month weight loss goal to the max of 20 lbs - which will only take me to the Overweight category. Ugh. It's a great morale booster to know that your goal is to just be a "fat chick" by the beginning of bathing suit season.

Stupid game.

Little Sister Turns 30!

2009-03-03T11:10:00.009-05:00

So my little sister, Corinne, turns 30 today. To help her see the true significance of the day’s event, I’ve created a “10 Things to Expect Now That Your 30” list.

No longer will people/family refer to you as “kid” or say things like “she’s an up-and-comer” or “when she finds her path.” You’ve now reached the threshold of adulthood and that crap is saved for the twenty-something crowd. You’re an old married lady now. It is what it is…and now you’re old just like me.
On the upside to this, you now no longer have to worry about being hit on by guys who are not even legal to buy beer. You will now be revered as the old lady at the parties of your old hangout buddies. But take heart, with age comes wisdom.
You will now (or will soon learn) the significance of underwires in bras.
401K – these four little characters now have serious significance as every day brings you closer to reaching that fun little nursing home era.
Hangovers – now take a good 2 days to recover from. Gone are the days of 2 Advil and a Gatorade to make you feel new again.
No longer will the contents of your purse look like it’s packed for a night on the town (smokes, cash, keyes, make-up). Now, you’ll be more prone to carry tissues, binkies, extra wipes, coupons, and Pepcid for those rare occasions that you can go out and eat hotwings.
You are now only 10 years away from your first mammogram. Excited yet?
You are now old enough to appreciate that the toys we played with as little girls are considered retro and are back in style. Wish I still had my original Care Bear – that sucker would be worth some money.
After today, you are closer to 40 than you are 20. Isn’t that a peach!
And finally, I felt that my 20’s were spent trying to figure out who I was to become and my 30’s have been much more enjoyable just being happy with who I am. I hope that you too will find that same peace that comes with knowing that you’re a good, stong beautiful woman. Hopefully your 30’s will be a good decade for you.

I’m so glad that we’ve been able to stay close because it certainly wasn’t all roses growing up. We fought terribly through our teen years and I even used to play the most horrible, mean games with her when we were little. I would tickle her to get her laughing, and then tell her to whistle or I’d punch her as hard as I could. Have you ever tried to whistle when laughing? It’s impossible. WHAM! I’d haul off and deliver the biggest Charlie horse in the leg and scream again, “WHISTLE!” It would go on and on with her screaming, laughing and almost crying…still trying to whistle. Ah…good times. Who would have thought that we’d grow up to be such good friends? Well happy birthday little sister. I love you.

NOW WHISTLE!!

Family Date to Buckhorn's Tavern. Mmm, mmm, mmmm...

2009-02-21T22:29:00.009-05:00

Mom & Joe treated us to a family night out after learning that we've never been to Buckhorn's for their famous ribs. Heck, my kids had never had BBQ'd ribs from anywhere! Saying the kids liked the experience would be an understatement. The girls attacked those ribs like a pack of wolves and John ate from the moment his butt hit the seat to the moment we walked out the door. He even talked Grandma & Grandpa into appetizers AND dessert. Now that my kids are ruined, armed with the knowledge that places like this exist, I'm scared that we may be screwed. They've got a taste for good food and ordering from the adult menu. No longer will they think Bob Evans is fine dining out on the town. Yeah...thanks Grandma & Grandpa!

Lunch w/ the Vander Woude's

2009-02-21T21:04:00.005-05:00

JACKIE'S HOME! Well, for the weekend anyways.

Rather than trying to drive themselves crazy with figuring out how to visit everyone over the course of a couple days, Mike & Jackie decided to park their buns at BW3's for a few hours on Friday and allowed everyone to come to them. What a brilliant idea!

So Mike, Jackie, Brody and new baby Mya hosted their own social hour(s) and were bombarded with hugs, gifts and adoring friends.

As you can see, I was quick to get my hands on Mya. (Who, by the way, performed beautifully during her luncheon. Wide eyed and quiet the entire time...completely tolerating being passed around like a church offering tray.)

We had TWO pretty babies to enjoy. Jackie's friend Angela, (shown right) was there with her three week old princess Lydia Rose.

This lead to a comical inquiry from Mike to Jackie (honey, which one is ours?") when one of his friends arrived and wanted to see Mya. I will give him a little credit here though...he was sitting across the table and both girls were in pink. But still, I found a lot of humor in that one.

My turn with Lydia.

Deflated

2009-02-19T10:41:00.005-05:00

Recently, while putting in a late night at work getting ready for my big meeting, one of my friends sent me a YouTube link with the tag line “strength of women.” I was very much in need of a mental break so I clicked the link and watched it. It was a very touching little video showing a woman reading a story she wrote about the power of girlfriends…and pigeons (For those that have seen it, you know what this is. For those that have not, I don’t have the time to explain it.) After the video was over, YouTube offered other related videos from that same author, so I watched them too. I spent more than 15 minutes watching various shorts of this same woman, but now reading excerpts from her newly releases memoir of her life in general and her battle with breast cancer. I laughed and bawled all within minutes so I was sold. I pulled up Amazon’s website and ordered the book right there on the spot. I love to read and haven’t sat down with a good book in a long time…I was REALLY excited.

So fast forward a couple of weeks. Normal life has resumed and I get all jazzed about being able to start my book. It looks like it’s a short read, which is good because my days of being able to take an entire Saturday and read a book cover-to-cover is long gone. I picked it up, READY TO DEVOUR IT, and started on my way.

Well, I finished it last night and I’m left feeling a bit empty. Was it a good book? You bet. Was it great? Well…there were a few lines that in there that could be classified as those “ta da” moments in life that you know you’ll remember that line (or point) forever, I laughed out loud several times, I fell in love with the Green Man, but the ending apparently wasn’t what I was looking for. It’s like when I watched Forrest Gump and it ended with him standing at the crossroads? (Seriously, what kind of ending is that?! Arrrgh!) Last night, I was left with that same feeling. What a pisser!

Since several of my blog readers have recently read that same book, I’m asking you…what did you think? Is it me? Did I have this book built up so much from my excitement from the videos that there was no way it could possibly live up to my expectations? Seriously, it was still a good book. I’m glad I read it. But I’m feeling a bit deflated this morning. Thoughts? Comments?

Look who's celebrating a birthday today...

2009-02-17T21:56:00.017-05:00

It's Paris!

While beautiful (if you're into that plastic barbie-doll look)...she makes me want to gag the minute she opens her mouth. So who else do we have?

Dame Edna?

Okay, good for a laugh (not to mention the AWESOME glasses) but seriously....

I'd much rather celebrate the birthday of my most favorite mother-in-law Joan

and my VERY good friend, Jackie, whom I miss terribly...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADIES!! I love you both!

**Editors Note: Happy birthday as well to Paris and the dude that plays Dame Edna. Please don't sue me for using your pics without paying royalties.

Rock On Little Man

2009-02-01T21:31:00.010-05:00

John has a new favorite song. In fact, he knows how to work the laptop enough to make it start playing. I was able to capture him rockin' it out on the bar. Yes, ON the bar. He is his father's child...

Is there a career in music in his future? Hmmm...maybe!

Enjoy the concert.

Beth's Bling!

2009-01-25T22:44:00.003-05:00

Check out those EARRINGS!

Beth has wanted to get her ears pierced for years, but Matt felt that she needed to wait until she was 12. Well, they struck a deal this summer that if she made honor roll for two consecutive quarters during THIS school year, she could get it done. Well, 5 months, 6 A's & 7 B's later, Beth got her big reward. Woo hoo!

The Best Kind of Cake

2009-01-21T21:50:00.004-05:00

Aunt Corinne told John that she'd help him make me a birthday cake for today. His pick...chocolate cake, with chocolate icing and about a pound of M&M minis on it. Whoa baby! Death by chocolate may no longer be a myth.

John was very proud of his masterpiece and could barely wait for me to get home to see it. It was so colorful and pretty that I almost hated to cut it. Almost..... It was yummy! :-)

Finally!

2009-01-14T21:31:00.005-05:00

SNOW!!

It was late when we got home tonight, but we had to take advantage of some play time since the temps are going to be subzero for the next few days. We've never gone out to play in the snow when it's dark before...it rocks!

The only perk to having an inclined driveway. Sledding!

John demonstrating his superior snowflake catching skills.

Just Words

2009-01-13T12:00:00.005-05:00

I found out today that a very good friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer right before Christmas. While I realize that this is in NO WAY a death sentence, I can't help but to be devastated for her. She's very young, the picture of health and had no history of breast cancer in her family. She's a wife, mother of two girls - ages 10 & 8, an all around wonderful person, my assistant cheer coach and my friend. My heart breaks for her.

What do you say when a friend delivers news like that? I'm sorry? I'm here for you? What can I do to help? While we all mean well, they are just words. Really, I want to cry and tell her that it's okay to be REALLY pissed at a lousy situation. The surgery is going to SUCK, chemo can make you sick, and the radiation may burn, but in the end, this all may help her lead a very long, happy, healthy life.

So, I ended up responding those very words above of sympathy and an offer to help in any way I can. But I just couldn't leave it at that. I ran over to the store and bought her the goofiest, non-sensical card that I could find in the hopes that it will do nothing else but make her smile...and possibly wonder if I'm on drugs.

Enemy #1

2009-01-02T00:40:00.003-05:00

Same story, different year...

I avoid that damn thing from Thanksgiving until after New Year's, then WHAMMO! I get sucker punched by that little white devil in my bathroom.

I knew it was going to be bad this year when I decided to wear my super-stretchy black dress pants for New Year's Eve and I still had a "muffin top" goin' on. Dammit! Well, now the holidays are over and I've successfully scarfed most of the junk out of my house so I guess I will AGAIN start on the road to fitness. I'm sure it'll take me a week or more to detox the sugar from my body, and even more time to break my nasty snacking 24/7 psychological pull, so that should be loads of fun.

Tell me, why does it take 10 months to lose 20 pounds when you can pack it right back on in less that 2 months? Is this for real?! Is it normal? Am I an over-achieving cookie gobbler? Ugh...I guess I'll go pull my fat clothes out of the extra closet. Maybe Corinne will let me borrow some of her maternity clothes now that she's done with them.

Heat Wave!

2008-12-28T23:31:00.013-05:00

Officially, it was 66 degrees in Englewood yesterday! Very nice! That's a record-breaker for the end of December, so obviously we had to get everyone outside to blow the stink off.

We took a walk, John rode his trike, we took the outside Christmas decorations down, and we even managed to enlist the help of our kids to clean up the NEVER ENDING seed thingies that our nasty locust tree keeps dropping.

Just look at those things...they look like little snakes all over our yard! GROSS!

We raked up EIGHT trash bags full and the girls were convinced that we were breaking some child labor laws.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-27T21:57:00.004-05:00

We went to Grandma & Grandpa Baker's on Christmas Eve, enjoyed Christmas morning at home, and then headed up to Ansonia to spend Christmas Day with the Trittschuh's. It's was a blur of activity. The kids were in overload with the fantastic gifts and I was about sick from scarfing too much food. Apparently I was too caught up in the activity to remember to get my camera out regularly - I have just a few random pictures from each gathering. However, I did manage to capture a few money shots of Beth opening the "home run" gifts from her grandparents, so that's a plus.

Christmas 08

Hello little face...

2008-12-20T23:18:00.008-05:00

Gavin Cain Deaton, finally arrived today at 3:55PM after a week of contractions, but only 10 minutes of pushing! (Apparently my sister is what you could call a power-pusher...geesh!) Gavin weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz. and was 22 inches long. He's got a head full of light brown hair and even sounds like a boy with a deep little cry. He's just beautiful and had us all bawling from the start.

Happy birthday Gavin! It's nice to finally meet you.

For more "Gavin related" pictures, click here.

Gavin Cain Deaton

2008 Christmas Card Photo

2008-12-19T20:56:00.002-05:00

I was amazed that I could get all three kids in front of the tree without fighting - even more so that I could snap a shot of them all smiling. They almost look like they like each other. Shhh, don't tell anyone...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2008-12-13T00:25:00.009-05:00

What an exhausting, but wonderful time of the year! The outside lights are up; the tree is decorated with ornaments that bring a smile or a memory with the hanging of each one; the Christmas movies have been brought up from the basement (I seriously could watch Polar Express over and over and never get tired of it); and the excitement of the kids is contagious.

Last weekend we celebrated a yearly ritual here at the Trittschuh house. Cookie night! My sister & niece, my friend and her kids, and me and my brood all get together, eat pizza and make cookies. This year, Grandma and Grandpa Baker even stopped by to help out for a bit.

By the end of the night every single child and adult in the house was covered in flour and/or dried icing - and I'm still finding sprinkles in the oddest areas of my house. But it is really something that I've come to look forward too. I think the kids do too.

Sugar cookies...made with flour, sugar, love, and maybe even a little bit of slobber. That's the absolute best!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-07T13:37:00.005-05:00

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. You get all of the great food and family togetherness, without the pressure of presents. It sort of makes me sad that it is the one holiday with very little recognition. If you go to a store, you'll see the back to school stuff replaced by Halloween decorations; then Halloween gets replaced by Christmas. I know that Thanksgiving doesn't have much to commercialize, but it just doesn't seem right to just skip it.

Anyhoo, we had a lovely day. We went to Grandma & Grandpa Trittschuh's for a nice lunch with the entire family. What a spread they had there! Just when we had digested enough to finally be able to breathe, we packed up and headed to my Mom's house for a feast with the other side. I don't want to even think about the calories consumed that day, but really, I am just very thankful that we have family close by to be able to do that with. There are many people out there that spend Thanksgiving alone and I was lucky enough to spend time with almost every single person in my family in one day. That certainly is special. So, now is the time where I will reflect and will make a list for what I am thankful for:

First and foremost, my children. They are the light of my life.

My husband. Even after 13 years of marriage he is still my best friend.

My family. My loud, wonderful, loving, and even at times disfunctional family. I love you.

My friends. You laugh with me, listen to me bitch, and understand when I sometimes don't say anything at all. You are wonderful.

On top of all of this, I have a home, a job, a vehicle that gets me where I need to go (most of the time), we have food in the cupboard, and we have our health...everything else seems immaterial, now doesn't it? Even so, I still can't help but to be thankful for Diet Coke, flannel sheets, Zumba, high heeled boots, my TiVo, chocolate, and beer. For those are the litle perks that make everyday life so very wonderful. Happy Holidays all!

What a week!

2008-11-27T00:27:00.013-05:00

I know that I've really dropped the ball in blogging this week, but I've been CRAZY busy.

We have had a good week though. Saturday, we went to Grandma Trittschuh's to make homemade noodles, so that was a lot of fun. We kneaded and cranked and were covered in flour - it was perfect. Well, except for the nasty habit Aunt Di has passed along to my girls on a noodle day many years ago...who eats raw noodle dough?! Ick, that's gross!! That's raw egg my kids now love to eat! I tell you what, if my kids come down with intestinal worms they can go stay with Aunt Di and let her love on them while she's cleaning up their puke! (Sorry for the lovely visual there gang.)

Aunt Kim used to tease the girls by telling them that kneading the dough is how you get big boobs. I'm guessing we worked hard enough for at least a cup size that day Aunt Kim! We ended up with A BUNCH of noodles.

Oh Mary....

2008-11-19T21:26:00.004-05:00

Here's a little recreation from our house Tuesday night...

Setting: My eight year old, Mary, is working on homework, sitting at the bar in our kitchen. She has a packet of papers that is due on Friday that she works on a little every day. She's been working for a bit at this point...

Mary, growing weary of doing homework, throws herself back in her chair and says, "Mom, can I be done?"

"Let me see...good job, but can you do just one more page?"

She picks herself back up to the bar, gives a deep sigh and says under her breath....."damn."

She didn't say it to get a rise out of me. She was just disappointed and that's what came out of her mouth. As much as I hate to admit it, my daughter is a casual swearer. Lovely. Even worse; I'm not that upset over it. There are worse things right?! Heck, Matt thinks it's hilarious. I told him that if I EVER get a phone call from the school telling me that they have Mary in the office that HE is going to be the one to go talk to the principal - not me. In the meantime, I guess I'll try to keep my little pottymouth away from the other kids.....

Happy birthday Matt!

2008-11-11T22:51:00.007-05:00

The kids and I want to give a big shout out to one of the coolest dads ever...and who just happens to be celebrating his birthday tomorrow. :-) Happy birthday honey! We sure do love you.

I was searching our computer files for some good pictures of him to post tonight when I ran across an old band photo from either the late 80's or early 90's. It was too funny not to share.

I'm so glad that as he's aged, that his fashion sense has matured as well.

Yep folks...that is Matt wearing the gold spandex shorts and cowboy boots! YOWZA!

Happy birthday ya big stud-muffin!

Jeff's Bucket List

2008-11-09T20:01:00.004-05:00

Last night, Matt and I went to a benefit fish fry for a "friend of a friend of a friend."

Jeff was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer six months ago. After this summer's surgery, doctors informed him that they are no longer able to fight the disease, but would now focus on prolonging his life. Jeff just celebrated his 40th birthday last month and has been given 6 months to a year, but in all honesty, no one really knows when he'll be called home.

Jeff made a promise to his wife back when they got married almost 5 years ago that they would go to Europe some day. Well that some day is now so Jeff's friends put together a benefit to raise the money to help Jeff fulfill his "bucket list." It was truly inspiring to see all of the people there last night - it was packed! There was food, beer, gambling, silect auctions, and the like. I overheard one of the "bucket heads" (Jeff's friends that were working the event last night all sported bright purple Bucket-head shirts) tell another that they had hit the $10,000 mark at 10:30PM. That's fantastic! The event ran til midnight so I'm hoping that Jeff and his wife will be able to take that trip right now and not have to worry about money.

My heart breaks when I think about his situation. But last night was such a wonderful celebration of a life that until recently, I had no idea even existed. It's amazing what a handful of people can do.

Bon voyage Jeff....I hope you have the trip of a lifetime!

Rockin' at Stocks w/ the Dogs...

2008-11-03T22:00:00.008-05:00

Friday night was the first annual Halloween Bash at Stocks in Versailles (of course featuring entertainment by the RocketDogs), so Matt and I got all dressed up and headed north. What a freakin' blast that was!!

My little brother (and official RocketDog Roadie) Rich, came along for a night of fun. He helped the guys set up, tear down, and took pictures all night long. I think he just does it to say he's "with the band"...free drinks, chics dig it, etc. But in all honesty, he did a great job catching the all of the hysterical costumes throughout the night.

Anyway, Rich brought over his camera so I downloaded all of his pictures. Click the link below to view his handywork.

Halloween Bash

Trick-or-Treat!

2008-10-31T11:12:00.005-04:00

Here's my brood...the hippie, the baby, and the bat.

Beth, being such a big girl, went off to trick-or-treat with her friends this year. :-( But I took Mary and John out. Of course I was quite proud that my perfect children remembered their manners. At every house there was a "trick-or-treat" and a "thank you!" before we'd hit the next home. Although I have to be careful with John...that kid will take politeness to the point of beligerance. At one house, he did his normal "thank you" at the end. The guy was fairly oblivious and ignored his cute little comment, so of course John said it again...this time a little louder. When it still went unrecognized, he yelled "THANK YOU!" I finally chimed in and said, "Okay, John let's go" when he yelled back to me in a honked off reply "But that guy didn't say you're welcome!!" I tried not to laugh, but the other parents around me just lost it...

Pumpkin Night

2008-10-31T10:26:00.013-04:00

We held our annual family pumpkin carving night earlier this week. We got a good laugh out of the differences between each child's reaction to scooping out "the guts."

Mary, my normal gagger on all things gross, dug in there to scoop the guts out with her bare hands! She hooped and hollered about it feeling cold & squishy, but she had so much fun.

Beth, obviously disgusted with her sister's lack of self control, decided to be a lady and use a spoon to scrape her pumpkin out. She was not about to put her hands in there...gross!

John, well we have no pictures of him scraping out the guts because the minute he saw (and smelled) the inside of his pumpkin he ran off screaming. Dad had to pitch in to do his dirty work.

We kept coaxing John to come back out and join us. I lit my pumpkin spice Yankee candle to help him with the yucky smell and we kept our jokes at bay. We just about lost him for good when he came back out just as Matt was dumping the slimy innards of John's pumpkin onto the table - of course he wretched and gagged. So I went running to him with my own slimy hands, keep in mind he's trying to stifle a puke, to take him into the kitchen while the yucky stuff on the table was disposed of.

Once the gross stuff was removed, John was happy to come back out and join the family for the drawing and subsequent carving of the jack-o-lantern faces.

It all ended well and the kids were proud of their finished products. :-)

Halloween - round 1

2008-10-26T22:33:00.005-04:00

This weekend started the with the first of our Halloween plans...well, at least Beth & Matt's Halloween plans. Beth went to the 2nd annual Fiedler Bash on Friday night dressed to the nines in her fluorescent hippie attire.

The party rocked with a DJ, smoke machine, tables of munchies, scary decorations everywhere, and co-ed's (50 kids in attendance clearly divided with an imaginary line - girls danced on the chairs on one side, the much older boys, very cool 7th graders, all hung out at the food tables probably discussing football and who can fart on cue.)

My hippie was there to spread the word of peace and love... Matt and the rest of his band played a Halloween party at the VFW in Greenville Saturday night. All of the guys were good sports and decided to go in costume. Matt went purchased a latex head cover to be able to go as one of the Coneheads. Yeah, we all got a good chuckle out of the fact that he PURCHASED something to give him the appearance of a bald guy with a big head. What a stretch that one is!

The RocketDogs were good sports though. Here's my rockin' guys - the nun, the nerd, the pirate and the conehead.

A Day at the Farm

2008-10-20T22:41:00.011-04:00

This year's outting to Brumbaugh's had me sweating at first...Beth was in the typical pre-teen mood and John was tired and whiney. I thought our "family day" was doomed for sure. But there's just something about cool air, sunshine and the smell of apples and cinnamon coming from the bakery to make a person, or even an entire family, forget their troubles and be "in the moment." Ah, we are never disappointed with a day at the farm.

We played in the dirt, the straw, & the corn; mastered every playset; pet the goats; walked the enchanted trail; snacked on apples we picked fresh from the tree (although I'm not so sure we were supposed to do that one!) conquered monster mountain....repeatedly; rode the zip line and topped off the day with scarfing fresh apple fritters from the bakery. Ah, life is good!

We even captured Beth on the zip line.

To check out more pictures, click the link below.

Brumbaugh's Oct08

Mary takes on Shockers...

2008-10-12T10:55:00.004-04:00

My kids have never been too keen on sour candies. In fact, I think Beth's the only one that has even eaten them before.

Mary gets to pick a treat out of the prize box when she gets 100% on her spelling tests. Normally there's a jolly rancher or piece of taffy in her bag, but this time she brought home a little bag of Shockers. They are horribly sour for the first several seconds and then they get sweeter as you continue to suck on them. Mary had me in tears from laughing so hard when she popped the first one in her mouth. I couldn't find my camera so I started snapping pictures with my phone...

Was it mean of me to laugh at her suffering? Maybe. But she chose to eat every single one of those suckers because she was not about to admit defeat. By the time she was done, my stomach hurt from laughing so hard.

It's Spirit Week!

2008-10-04T20:54:00.025-04:00

Ah, with the cool air of October comes homecoming...and the week of fun that leads up to the big game. This year's theme was "Neon Lights. Northmont Goes Neon." Can you tell from the picture above? It was taken after the homecoming parade Thursday night. Seriously though, these pictures almost do not even do those shirts justice. You should have seen our wagon coming down the street with the cheer squad, coaching staff and even a few of the parents sporting these things! We posed for more pictures than the homecoming court...

Here's a quick breakdown of how spirit week went.

They started with hat/stuffed animal day...

And then came "Crazy" Day...with mismatched, inside out clothes, and wildly spraypainted hair.

And there was neon day...

And finally, they celebrated with sporting attire to show their Green & White "Bolt Pride."

We had a lot of fun dressing according to the daily themes. The girls are going to be so bored when they have to resume the normal routine next week...

Happy Birthday!!

2008-09-21T22:21:00.052-04:00

I counted down a lot of days for "Atember twenty" to get here, but finally it was my birthday! WOO HOO!

I'm very excited to be 4 years old. I just wish that I could go to school, but Mom says that I have to wait until next year. I'll just keep practicing doing homework with Beth and Mary and reading with Mom & Dad so I'm ready when the time comes. I'm pretty certain that I'm destined to be the cutest kid in the class. I just need to keep my skills sharp so I'm one of the smartest too. :-)

I had a really good day on my birthday yesterday. I picked pancakes, sausage & grapes for my birthday breakfast; Mom and Dad let me open my presents right after we were done eating (sweet!); and then I got to control the TV programming all morning. So, not only did I get to watch what I wanted, but it also drove my sisters crazy so DOUBLE BONUS! The only bummer was Mom was driving ME crazy wanting to take my picture all of the time. I had to hide behind the couch to make her stop!

Later, I got to play outside with my friends instead of taking a nap which was very cool. At suppertime, Grandma Ronda, Grandpa Joe, Aunt Corinne, Uncle Sebastian and Gabby all came over to eat pizza and have cake and ice cream...and of course, there were presents!

Today I went to Grandma & Grandpa Trittschuh's for another birthday party - but this one was for me and my cousins Ben & Pete. We had to sing to Pete over the phone because he was at home, but Ben and I were there and had to get our picture taken with the cake that had our ages on it. Ugh...pictures again!

Other than everyone taking pictures, I had a really good time today. I got cake & ice cream, opened presents, picked tomatoes in Grandpa's garden, played with my cousins, we all took turns riding Grandpa's tractor, and we even found a toad!!

Since I'm bigger now, I thought I'd give everyone my current stats...

Name: John Richard Trittschuh

Birthdate: September 20, 2004

Age: I’m 4 years old.

Height: Tall enough to wash my hands at the sink all by myself without the box. I’m big.

Weight: 38 pounds

Interests: Monster trucks, cars, playing outside, riding my bike, playing with Troy, playing playstation with my Dad, playing baseball, and driving my tractor

Favorite foods: chicken nuggets (with Ranch), Mom’s spaghetti, carrots and dip, peanut butter and jelly sandwich; apples, lots of stuff…

Dislikes: Cheese on my sandwiches (YUCK!); except I think the cheeseburgers in my Happy Meal are pretty yummy.

Favorite toy: my humongous collection of cars and monster trucks! See, here are just a few of them...

Favorite movie: Cars, of course!

Favorite TV show(s): Spongebob Squarepants and Meteor & his Monster Truck Friends

Things that annoy me: my sisters bossing me around, losing at games (others call it throwing a fit, I call it being competitive), Mom & Dad telling me no

Things I’ve come to realize:

Farts are funny. Ranch and ketchup are good on EVERYTHING. It's not a good idea to catch a race car with your face - your tooth can fall out! Girls have long hairs and boys have short hairs….except my Dad, he’s a circle-head.

Awww crap!

2008-09-14T22:55:00.005-04:00

We had some serious wind blow through the area today. Check it out!

You know, if the tree was going to fall on my truck, it would have been great if it would have just totalled the dang thing out! No....it just scratched it up, broke the bug guard, and cracked my windshield! That's just enough to be an inconvenience.

Go Bolts Go!

2008-09-10T22:14:00.004-04:00

It's football season! Check out this year's picture of the cutest darn cheerleader in the Northmont school system...

And here's the rest of the team... My little divas in training are 5th graders this year. I can hardly believe it! (I've coached the majority of the girls for 4 years now.) It's been fun and so far, they are all still great kids. Although each year brings new trials that's for sure.

Lordy, you would not believe how seriously the folks in this area take Pee Wee sports! It blows my mind some times...crazy!

Miracles & Magic

2008-09-07T21:40:00.042-04:00

Last night we went to see Miracles & Magic at Centerville High School. What a blast we had! (Thanks for the tickets Tina!) The kids were so much fun to watch - big eyes, clapping & screaming, looking over and yelling at me "Mom, how'd he do that?!" Heck, Mary laughed until she almost peed herself! Poor John did a pretty good job at sitting through it all. He liked most of it, but the comedy was lost on him. He was more interested in checking out their bathrooms.

The 4 illusionists (yeah, I learned that term last night...they are no longer called magicians) were all national acts, so it wasn't a card trick and slide of the hand type of magic show. We're talking serious stuff...family friendly comedy; juggling knives while balancing on a 12" board several feet in the air; disappearing acts; that trick where someone climbs in the box, metal plates inserted, boxes moved to opposite sides of the stage...GOOD STUFF!

Here are a couple of cute photos taken before the show started...

One of the best aspects of the show was that it is aimed at raising funds and awareness for an organization called Adventures for Wish Kids - which supplies year-round fun, family orientied activities for children with a life threatening illness and their families. At the end of the show, of course there was a video about the organization and its cause. It was quite touching, but the headliner went on to say that each person is unique, and beautiful...like a snowflake. And to think back and remember the magic you felt the first time you seen snow when suddenly.....it started snowing in the auditorium! Not pieces of paper floating down, and no, it wasn't styrofoam. It was snow! It was cold, wet and beautiful. Seriously, I was moved to tears. By the time I dug for my camera, I was able to catch the tail end of it. See below.

And of course after the show, the kids wanted to get their picture taken with the main magician, Jon Petz. We had such a good time....

I'm up for the challenge!

2008-09-06T12:20:00.003-04:00

Hi gang! I'm going to take a stab at this blogging thing. What a great way to share new or funny things that happen with the kiddos. Knowing my family, there will be plenty to share so stay tuned!