The Crazy Rose 7

McDonalds McNuggets and Shrek Forever After HouseParty!!

2010-05-14T15:40:00.006-04:00

If you haven't heard of House Party, you are seriously missing out on trying some of the best new products, food and drinks! I Have had a blast hosting around 4 partys now and I think this one may be the best by far!!

I will admit to you that I have done around 4 partys but I've applied for about 20-30 so there are definetly some I didn't get. But when we found out we got this party we were SO excited!! All of the kids love Shrek, and who doesn't love McDonalds so the though of mixing the two for a party was awesome!!

So I knew that the box was supposed to come today because they send you an email with a Fedex tracking # so you can track it. I LOVE getting things in the mail, waiting for them to come is like Chrsitmas to me!! So waiting for the box to come today was so exciting, and boy it didn't disappoint!!!

Our McDonalds and Shrek Forever After House Party Pack Included:

■A $75 Mcdonalds Arch Card to purchase 20pc. McNuggets of Fun Packs
■2 Shrek Collectible Glasses
■2 Sets of Shrek cups (8 pack)
■2 Sets of Shrek plates (8 pack)
■2 Sets of Shrek napkins (8 pack)
■2 Sets of Shrek invitations (8 pack)
■Shrek the Third DVD
■Shrek Movie Poster
■1 McDonalds Stage M CD full of cool, kid-friendly songs about the fun of fruits, veggies and dairy
■1 Shrek Happy Meal box that can be used to display the Happy Meal watches
■15 Coupons for a free McFlurry dessert
■15 McNugget of Fun Coin inserts. Included code to redeem online for prizes such as 25 free Snapfish photos, and a Free Redbox DVD movie rental,
■10 McNuggets of Fun Pack boxes
■15 Coupons for a free Minute Maid Apple Juice box
■15 Shrek Happy Meal Watches (assortment of Shrek characters)
■16 Shrek Happy Meal Toys (assortment of Shrek characters

Seriously? What House Party Package could have been better than this?! I hate to tell you that House Party is no longer accepting applications for this party, but starting today, you can swing by your local McDonalds to pick up your own Shrek Happy Meal.

Bes sure to go to www.houseparty.com so you can apply for all of the other exciting partys coming up!!!

Hello 2010!!

2010-01-02T14:55:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!!

2009 was a HARD one around here. Between dealing with our first full year without my dad, Jeremiah getting layed off in May and still trying hard to find a new job and my Diabetes diagnosis we most definetly need this to be a better year! SO here's hoping for us all!!!

Playing in the Snow....

2009-12-23T17:08:00.007-05:00

I know I haven't posted on here in FOREVER but I'm going to try and keep it up to date. :)

Last week we had our first measurable snow. It was only about 2 inches but the kids had fun playing in it nonetheless.

Remember Us??

2009-08-08T22:36:00.002-04:00

I know it's been FOREVERsince I've updated the blog and I'm sorry about that. I just thought I'd post a little update to let everyone know that everyone is busy and dloing fine. Since I've posted last Jeremiah has had 2 surgeies and school has been out so its been a pretty busy summer. We are about a week and a half from school starting again and everyone is excited. I hope all of your summers are going good!!!

Love having our nightime fire!!

2009-04-22T17:01:00.005-04:00

Since some nights lately have been a little bit warm we have started having our nightime firepit fires again. The kids love these since it feels like their camping and somehow food over a campfire always tastes so good!

Here's Kara sitting by the fire....

And doesn't Lindsay look thilled..lol!!

Disney Store Earth Day Giveaway Correction!!

2009-04-21T08:51:00.004-04:00

Originally it had leaked that the free gift for bringing in 3 empty water bottles on Earth Day, April 22nd, was a reusable tote. Now, its been verified that its a reusable water bottle instead. Its still very cute I'm sure! So, take in 3 empty water bottles and get a reusable Disney water bottle for FREE! I'm sure my kids will be emptying a case of water tonight! lol

2009-04-16T00:44:00.001-04:00

Calling all Mickey Lovers....

2009-04-15T19:35:00.005-04:00

And some of you know who I'm talking too (wink). April 22nd is Earth Day and The Disney Store is giving out cute little tote bags for free if you bring in 3 bottles to be recycled. Sweet!!

2009-04-15T17:42:00.001-04:00

Just testing from my Blackberry to make sure this works. :)

It's been a crazy month....

2009-04-15T17:20:00.002-04:00

I'm so sorry that haven't been keeping up with the blog. Sometimes when you keep up with so many online things, something gets left behind. And with doing Facebook, Twitter and Blogger, unfortunatly the blog is the one that got left behind. BUT, I just signed up to be able to post on my blog from my blackberry so I "should" be able to keep up with it now. Anyway, it has been a big month around here. We've had two birthdays, Austin turned 9 and TODAY is Kaylee's 8th birthday!! It's so hard to believe that they have grown up this much!! Also, for those of you that may not have heard Jeremiah just had major hernia surgery and ended up with a 6" scar and is still recovering and in pain, PLUS he was recently layed off from Comair, not becuse of the surgery but because the company is doing a MAJOR downsizing and is probably on its way out. So, anyway that is what's going on here right now. I promise that I will try and keep the blog somewhat up to date for those of you who live out of town or for those who are local and I just only get a chance to talk to you online. :)

Happy 6th Birthday Jenna!!

2009-03-25T17:46:00.007-04:00

I don't know where the time went or how it happened but somehow my little baby turned 6 today. :( Happy Birthday baby!!

Jenna in her new Hannah Montana Dress....

No more cast and something only I could do.....

2009-03-16T10:25:00.006-04:00

So last week was a good one for Lindsay, she went on Friday to get her cast taken off, which she was MORE then ready to do. And was very happy to have use of her arm back although she wasn't expecting it to be as sore as it always is after having a cast removed. So hopefully, cross your fingers, there won't be anymore casts around here for awhile. Now broken bones is another story......Which leads you to me, I have a broken finger, AGAIN!! The same finger, may I add, that I broke last year!! Oh joy, NOT! Seriously only I could break the same finger twice and in such a stupid way! I won't bore you with the details, lets just say it involves very heavy wooden blinds, falling off the wall and onto my hand....enough said. Only I could break a bone with a mini blind... Here are some pics, and I know the lady thought I was nuts taken pictures of Lindsay getting her cast taken OFF. lol.

Kara's Bowl...

2009-03-11T14:55:00.002-04:00

Kara made a really neat bowl in Art Class that she wanted to show everyone. It is her favorite color and really cute!!

Conservatory and Spring (sort of).....

2009-03-11T12:28:00.007-04:00

So we've had some pretty good weather lately. It's been up into the 70's!!! But as we kknow it's only March and I'm sure this is just a tease because winter isn't usually done with us yet. :P BUT, we took advantage of the weather over the weekend and went to the Cobservatory, it was so nice to see all the beautiful flowers and think about Spring!! They had this "Moroccan" theme going on with beautful colored "jeewels" all over the place, it was so pretty! As usual you will notice Lindsay is not in the pictures, she is a teenage now (as she points out often) and doesn't like to "do" family things anymore.

OUCH!

2009-02-27T21:33:00.004-05:00

My poor mother in law has had to have so many surgeries on her foot lately. About 6 months ago she had a surgery to put 25 screws and 3 plates into her foot to "fuse" her bones together. Big Ouch! And then today she had another surgery to take out all but 3 of the screws. Here is a pic of them. Again, OUCH!!

And as you know Lindsay has a broken elbow. She went in to get her cast on last week. She already knowing what colors she wanted and everything. lol. She wanted a black cast with a red stripe going around it, here's how it turned out....

Neglecting the blog...

2009-02-23T15:39:00.002-05:00

Wow, it's been forever since I've posted on here. I have really been neglecting this lately and I'm sorry. I promise I will try and keep it more up to date in the future. I did come in the 21 century and I have a Facebook now, so anyone who has one feel free to add me as a friend!

So where's my pot of gold??

2009-02-11T16:13:00.004-05:00

We have had a lot of crazy weather here lately. Snow storms with a foot of snow one week and 60 degree temps with severe thunderstorms the next. Its been raining and reeeaally windy here all day and then we look out the front window to see this...pretty, but unfortunalty it's not Spring yet.

Another Broken Arm....

2009-02-05T21:55:00.006-05:00

Yep, Lindsay has broken another arm...we think. We took her to the ER tonight because she FELL OFF THE COUNTER yesterday trying to get a sucker off the top shelf. lol. She's so embarrassed by that story and wants something tougher like she fell on the ice. :P Anyway, her elbow is really black and blue and swollen so we took her to get an ex-ray, they said they thought she could have a fracture in the growth plate in her elbow (does anyone else feel deja vu?) so they gave her a nice big splint/soft cast and told us to take her to the orthopedist next week, so we shall see. Here are some ninja pictures I took when she wasn't looking. Hee hee hee.......

Holy Icicle Batman!!!

2009-02-01T22:59:00.005-05:00

Okay, first I apologize for the corny title, lol. But when I took this picture it was the first thing that popped into my head and I just went with it. :-P Anyway, this is hanging outside my front door! We don't usually use the front door and go in and out the garage door instead but still, this thing is huge!!

Day 4 of no school...

2009-01-29T13:10:00.002-05:00

Thats right, I said day 4! And I'm going to be honest, they are really starting to drive me a little nuts, well thats not really a far drive but you get the idea. I don't expect them to have school tomorrow either and the weathermen are saying we may have another storm next monday. STOP THE INSANITY!! Okay, I'm better now. I had a little moment there. Here's a little pic, it was lunchtime at the zoo.

Playing in the snow....

2009-01-27T17:38:00.006-05:00

Lindsay and Kara were the only one's brave enough to go out and play in the snow. And even they didn't stay for long. And when Jeremiah got home from work, he took part in that time honored tradition of throwing snow balls at your kids. :-P

Snow, snow and more snow.....

2009-01-27T09:06:00.005-05:00

So this morning we woke up to 6 inches of snow on the ground. They had said it was coming but everytime they said snow was coming we got rain. ;-) But they said that this giant snow storm was headed our way and this time they got it right. We have 6 inches now and it is still snowing hard. From what they are saying by the time it stops snowing tomorrow afternoon we could have up to a FOOT of snow. Crazy....

The view from my front door...

Kara's deep foot prints going outside to measure the snow..

Silly Austin....

2009-01-22T16:10:00.003-05:00

I was deleting some of the pictures off of my phone and came across these from last week and thought I would share them. We were at Sams and Austin, for some reason, really liked my moms ear muffs and wanted to wear them even if they were girly looking, and didn't care who was looking. I thought it was hilarious!! As you can see he looks completetly thrilled that I was taking his picture.

Inauguration Day 2008

2009-01-22T08:47:00.003-05:00

The coverage was on tv all day, that was okay with me since I find it interesting to watch. My kids however, were not so thrilled. Seems, they had to watch it on tv at school (good for them). I reminded them that history was being made and it would turn out to be one of those things that when your older and talking to your kids/grandkids you will remember exacly where you were when our first african american president was sworn in.

See, I'm keeping the blog about family but we can allow just a teeny bit of politics since it was a historic day that needed just a little write up ;-)

Really busy and a new laptop.....

2009-01-20T16:27:00.002-05:00

The lack of posts lately has to do with the fact that we have had ALOT going on here. My mom moved in over the weekend and we have been trying to get everyone situated. I also got a new laptop and am really slow at figuring out how to do everything on it. I will figure it out sooner or later. ;-)

Did you know we have 9 Hermit Crabs???

2009-01-16T11:10:00.004-05:00

We dont' have dogs or cats as pets, we have Hermit Crabs. They are easy to take care of and honestly don't really require anything at all, but food and water. Basiclly they just do their own thing. The kids really like looking in their tank and watching them walk around and do nothing or watch all of them pile on top of each other and sleep inside of a hollow log thats in there. We started out with only one that we bought at a pet store, and for awhile he had this whole tank to himself, but we read that hermit crabs like to live in packs so we started looking to buy another one, they are only around 10 bucks. Last september I was reading Craigslist and there was an ad in the free section about a pet store that was closing and the lady was giving away free hermit crabs, so I called and arranged to meet her to look at them, we told the kids we would get a "few", well when we got there we found out they were all the painted shell kind that my kids love so much and there was batman, and spiderman and all kids of different ones and before I knew it we had 9. But we love them and they are our pets. We don't really "play" them but we do get them out (not all at once)and let them crawl on the carpet and the kids LOVE it. Here are a few pics.........

Yes, this is about the cold again.....

2009-01-16T08:51:00.002-05:00

I don't remember it ever being this cold here before. The current temp is....

Current Temp.
-6
Partly cloudy

Nope, you didn't read that wrong, it really does say -6. And that is the actual temperature, you haven't factored in the wind chill yet, and there is a high wind asdvisory for today. So we're looking at it feeling like -30 outside. CRAZY!!!!

It is TOO darn cold!!!

2009-01-15T08:38:00.007-05:00

Okay, so it is a big 7 degrees right now, going up to a whole 10 today! And they say with wind chills it feels like its 10-20 below zero outside!!!! That is just too cold for this chick! And its actually not normal for this area to get this cold. I could understand if we were in, say, Minnesota.
Anyway, this weekend should be fun as my mom's move in date has moved up she will be moving in this weekend. There is good reason for it, and we can't wait until she's here but we are all going to freeze doing it. Send us warm thoughts.

Has everyone heard of Twitter??

2009-01-13T11:09:00.004-05:00

Until today I had no idea what Twitter was, I don't consider my technology challanged but sometimes I'm just not "up" on what's new. So, today I discovered Twitter. It is a site that is sort of like a blog only instead of getting long posts with pics and whatnot you get short little updates. To be honest, that is actually easier for me to do than to get on here and make a big long post. Don't get me wrong, I will do both, but with the way Twitter is set up I can update everyone with what's going on in our lives better from my Blackberry. So, with that being said if you look to the right, you will see updates that I post on Twitter now as well. I'm still going to do regular post with pics of the kids and such but this is just a little something, extra! See, technology can be cool!! And if you want follow on the Twitter site, my page is here

Nothing going on here....

2009-01-12T10:34:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't updated in about a week but there really hasn't been anything going on to tell everyone about. We've just been getting back into our routine of school/work and I've been sick for what feels like weeks now, only now I have laryngitis, which I'm sure Jeremiah and the kids are doing the happy dance over. lol.
Over the next couple of weeks I probably won't get a chance to update all that much either because my mom is going to be moving in around February 15 and we will be packing up my parents house. I'm sure it's going to be really awful for everyone, so please wish us luck and strength to get through it. We are really looking fore ward to having her here, although I'm sure she's going to miss "quiet" time because we don't have any of that here. ;-) I hope everyone is doing well and just know that we love and miss you all. See ya later!!

New Year, New Look....

2009-01-04T16:27:00.002-05:00

As you can tell there have been some changes around here. I thought it was time for a change. I am still on the fence about the new look though so let me know what you think, good or bad, I can take it. ;-)

New "Grown-up" Glasses

2009-01-04T13:43:00.006-05:00

So, Lindsay has had the same glasses for about 3 yrs, and they were kids glasses so they were small, but back then she was small small, fast fore ward 3 yrs and she is a full fledged teenager who is as tall as I am and has a size 9 women's foot! So, not small anymore and those "little kid" glasses needed to go. On Friday we took her to get a new eye exam and to Lenscrafters to pick out some new frames. I think the ones that she picked out look really cute on her and she LOVES them, PLUS she likes that they make her look older. ;-P Here's some pics.....

New Glasses..."Look at how cool and grown up I look in these" :-)

New glasses..."Okay,(sigh)take my picture"!!

Lindsay with her old glasses from last year

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T01:13:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year Everyone!! Here's hoping that 2009 is better than 2008!! We don't really do much on New Years Eve, as I don't really like being out with all of the drunks. ;-) So usually we just stay in, and this year was no exception. We made lots of snack food, played some board games and then watched the New Years shows. All 3 of the little ones crash WAY before midnight so it's only Lindsay and Kara that make it to watch the ball drop (and as you'll see by the pics, one didn't). We had a great time and I hope all of you did too!! ;-)

Happy New Year!!

I'm still WIDE awake!! (which is a shock because she falls asleep at the drop of a hat usually)

Lindsay's not going to make it to midnight!!

They love each other...sometimes

And the Angiogram results are.....

2008-12-30T19:44:00.002-05:00

NO BLOCKAGES!!!! YAY!!! Thanks so much everyone for all your prayers and good thoughts, they really helped! Jeremiah had his Angiogram done this morning and everything looked great with his heart. This is a HUGE relief for everyone. Now we just have to do some other tests to find out why he is having the chest pain but the biggest thing has been ruled out. YAY!! Happy dance.....

Christmas Present Insanity!!

2008-12-24T22:46:00.005-05:00

Well here we are, another Christmas and another year that mom and I seriously over buy. Honestly, as you'll see, my Christmas tree is almost dwarfed by the amount of presents crowding around it and my family room is cut in half. One of these years, as we're wrapping the insane amount of boxes, when we say "they won't get this much next year" we will actually mean it. Although, I doubt it. lol. Here is proof of that....

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T21:01:00.005-05:00

Hi Everyone! I hope your all having a great Christmas Eve. Today has been a pretty busy day here. We have made cookies for Santa and my mom came over since she's spending the night with us for a couple of days and we made Deviled Eggs. YUM!! Then we ate dinner and the kids opened presents that they had bought for each other at school (we need the room under the tree..lol). We made sure that we kept a good eye on on where Santa was with Santa Tracker so that we knew when he was getting close then it was time for bed. Sorry there aren't any pictures yet. I have a really bad cold and am just generally feeling like crud but I promise that I will take and post some of everything that happens tomorrow. Well, as soon as I am sure that everyone is tucked away sleeping in their beds, mom and I have a LOT of wrapping to do.

Have a wonderful Christmas!!!!

Love,
Melissa, Jeremiah, Sharon, Lindsay, Kara, Austin, Kaylee and Jenna

11 yr old Blackmail.....

2008-12-22T18:06:00.002-05:00

Kara told me I needed post a picture of the things she just made on the blog "Or Else"....so here you go. Introducing, Fred and Snow Manny.

Craft Time...

2008-12-22T16:26:00.004-05:00

You know how when kids are too quiet you start to wonder what's going on? Well, that's exacly what just happened. With 5 kids around usually it sounds like WW3 around here, so when they are quiet I get nervous. Well, I walked into the kitchen and apparently it was craft time. How cute. They were all in there making snow flakes. Awww....

Ok, who ordered the snow?!?

2008-12-16T11:53:00.005-05:00

Earlier yesterday they said there was a storm coming, then they said we might get a dusting, now I look out my front windows and see this!! And I just got a call from Jenna's school that she will have all day kindergarten today because they are not letting buses run right now for her to come home. lol. I bet she loved that. ;-)

You can't see it very well but it's snowing really hard in this picture....

Please say a prayer for us....

2008-12-16T08:31:00.002-05:00

I have a small request, please say a prayer for us. Jeremiah has been having chest pains for a little over a year, early in January I actually had to call 911 for him because he thought he was having a heart attack. He had a stress test done at that time and everything turned out okay with it except for his cholesterol, which he has brought down significantly. Fast forward to now and he has been having pretty bad chest pains again the last couple of months, his cardiologist put him on a new medicine for a month to see if that would help and it didn't. I called them on Friday to let them know and they made an appointment for him to be seen yesterday, what they decided was that he needed to have an Angiogram done on Dec.30Th to rule out any blockages in his heart. PLEASE pray for us that everything turns out okay and that they don't find anything. He is acting like its not a big deal but I am seriously about to have a nervous breakdown with everything that has happened lately.

Christmas Shopping

2008-12-15T09:55:00.008-05:00

Jeremiah and I went and did a little Christmas shopping over the weekend. Lindsay and Kara have known about Santa for a couple of years, where the little ones still believe, as they should, so Lindsay stayed home and babysat and we took Kara with us (partially beause she causes the most problems when we're gone) and went to get some of it done. I always forget how CRAZY the mall and the toy stores get during Christmas time. People were insane!! Now I remember why I do most of my shopping online!! We did manage to get a good bit done although there is a little left. But now we only have 10 shopping days left!!! I did take a few pics of Kara, (she refused to look at me because she knew what I was doing), making Build-a-Bears Holly and Hal , for Kaylee and Jenna, check them out, they are moose and have lightup antlers and collars, they are so cute!!

Nothing New....

2008-12-10T22:18:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I feel bad because I really don't have something to post everyday. Our lives our pretty boring in that we have a routine and do the same things everyday, school, work, homework, dinner, bed and then get up and do it all over again. So most of the time I only post when we do something different. I feel bad thinking that people are checking here and thinking "Nothing new, again!", lol, But honestly, no there's nothing new going on. ;-) I hope everyone one of you out there is having a great day though. And if not a great one, then better than the last. We are thinking of you too. ;-)

Scuba Santa

2008-12-07T09:44:00.011-05:00

Yesterday we all went to the Newport Aquarium to see Scuba Santa. Its a really cute thing that Aquarium does where they tell you a story about how on Christmas Eve the reindeer's didn't realize that Santa wasn't in the sleigh and accidentally took off without him. So Santa dove into the ocean and used sea horses to get him where he needed to be. ;-) Sounds kind of silly but it really is very cute. If you live in the area I definitely recommend going. We love Aquariums, so we have a season pass. My kids had tons of fun, even the older ones, since it isn't everyday that you see an underwater Santa, especially one with sharks and rays swimming past him. The last picture I had to get a shot of, it was hilarious to me to see that big shark hanging from the ceiling wearing a Santa hat with a Christmas wreath hanging out of it's mouth ;-)

Christmas Band Concert

2008-12-06T11:44:00.006-05:00

Tuesday night was the girls Christmas band concert. All 3 girls (Lindsay, Kara and Emily)played their instruments really well. In fact Emily had duel roles because she was singing in the choir at the same concert. It was a fun time. ;-)

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-29T14:10:00.006-05:00

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get the Thanksgiving pictures up. We went shopping all day yesterday for Black Friday (got LOTS of deals) and this is the first chance that I've had to sit down at the computer. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. As you all know this one was a hrad one for us as its the first one without my dad. But overall I think we did ok. This is the first year for as long as I can remember that it wasn't at my parents house, but my mom was understandably leery about having it there this year so I had it at my house. And obviously this my my first year doing Thanksgiving EVER, and its the first year we've had a house big enough to hold everyone. lol. But I think we did pretty well. We cooked for 2 days straight and had a TON of food, as you will see by the pictures we made 2 turkys, one from the oven and one deep fried. If you haven't had deep fried to turkey I HIGHLY recommend it because it is awesome!! So we all fed ourselves to the point of popping and before we knew it Thanksgiving 08' was over.:-)

Poor Santa...They Overwhelmed Him!

2008-11-22T19:19:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday we went to one of the kids (and Jeremiah's) favorite places to go, The Pro Bass Store. They just love to see that big fish tank and watch the fish being fed. While we were there they had one part of the store all decked out for Christmas with a "Santa's Village", a picture with Santa and ornament making. Needless to say they had to sit on Santa's lap and get their picture taken. The little one's were the ones really wanting to do this but I make Lindsay and Kara do it as well (insert evil laugh here)and they really enjoyed themselves. I managed to grab a couple of pictures but as usual, mine leave little to be desired. And I was trying to take them after the "professionals" were already done and waiting for me before they could move on to the next person in line. Oh, and I think all of them really overwhelmed this poor Santa. He is probably used to one, maybe two kids at a time and I swear this man literally 3 shades of white when 5 kids bounded up to him at once. It was hilarious! HA!!

Toy Prices and Doll Crazyness...

2008-11-18T14:04:00.003-05:00

Can I just say that the price of toys is insane! My kids have a TON of toys too so I can't wait for "Santa" to bring them more. ;-P And Kara is now into American Girl Dolls, has anyone seen the prices of these dolls? They are $90, thats right, it's not a typo I said $90!! For a doll! Check it out...www.americangirl.com... They are cute but it's crazy.....

Here it is....

2008-11-16T20:01:00.005-05:00

Well, I went ahead and did it. I put my Christmas Tree up. It does look nice from the outside with the lights shining through the window. Here it is....

With the lights off..

With the lights on...

Too early for the Christmas Tree???

2008-11-15T21:06:00.003-05:00

Christmas is usually one of my favorite holidays. I am practically chomping at the bit every year to get my tree up and my house decorated. And I honestly go a little overboard with the decorations every year since I put lights on every square inch of my house and I own half a dozen of the infltatables, including a 12 ft Santa. But this year, I'm just not into it. I really have no feeling for the holidays at all and would just prefer to skip it. But I'm trying to get into it for my kids sake though, and it just seems that everywhere we go this year people have their christmas stuff already put up. We've seen lights on houses and tress in windows. So, I was thinking about putting my tree and decorations up tomorrow to try and get myself into the christmas mood. My question is, do you think it's too early??

New(ish) Car....

2008-11-15T13:43:00.004-05:00

For those who read my earlier post about trying to find a used car, we did actually find one. We got a 1992 Jeep Cherokee. Jeremiah (who it was for) really likes it. I just think it's ok. ;-) We may not have it that long before I convince him to sell it for something better but for now he's happy since he's always wanted a "truck" of his own. And, its paid for, so how can you go wrong. lol.

Mmmmm.....Pizza

2008-11-15T13:14:00.002-05:00

Its probably not a surprise to most that pizza in our house is a food group. If you don't like it, you will most likely starve around here. We eat it at least 3 times a week (probably more). So yesterday for lunch we went to one of our favorites, Deweys Pizza. They are sooooo good. And like the crazy person that I am I snapped a couple of pics, people probably thought I was nuts taking pictures of my lunch. ;

I wonder how many people actually read this??

2008-11-12T12:57:00.004-05:00

I was commenting on something on Jennifer's blog (Chateau Kaufman) about posting everyday and it got me to thinking. I wonder how many people actually read this? I mean, its not a big deal really as I like doing it, but how many of you are out there? One, two?? Just a curious....

My mom was on TV!!

2008-11-11T17:13:00.005-05:00

She was on channel 9 talking about working from home and she was great! YAY MOM!!

Hello, my name is Jenna and I am addicted to coloring.....

2008-11-11T12:42:00.006-05:00

I'm not kidding she really is. She comes home from school, does her homework and then this is what you see for the rest of the night. Is there a 12 step for coloring addiction??

And this is what Lindsay has looked like for almost 2 days in row. She has been home sick from school and has barely moved from this spot. Comfy couch, 60 inch tv, mother to wait on her hand and foot, what more could a sick girl ask for??

We must lead boring lives...

2008-11-10T22:54:00.003-05:00

I have decided that we must lead boring lives right now. We check Jennifer's site pretty much everyday and there is always something new and exciting going on at the Chateau Kaufman, but here....not so much. I try and think of things to post about alot of the time but today , I just couldn't think of anything, so we get this post...about nothing. lol...carry on.

Rant of the moment....

2008-11-07T23:06:00.002-05:00

We are looking for a used car and I have been checking on Craigslist to see what is listed. And I have come to the conclusion that people are insane. How can you start your sentence off with "car runs great" and end it with "oh, by the way, it doesn't have an engine or it needs a new transmission" Um HELLO, these are major things to be wrong with the car and should be at the VERY TOP that it needs them. Not buried in your creative wording. AAAAAHHHHH!!!! Okay, Rant over. :-P

Ouch!

2008-11-07T15:37:00.007-05:00

I live about 5 seconds from Kroger, I mean literally you see it outside my front door. So we walk there all the time to get odds and ends instead of driving, plus we could all use the exercise. ;-) Anyway, the kids were running down the sidewalk and all excited and Austin felt Jenna was running just a little to slow for his liking and decided to give her a little shove to make her run a little faster....only she went face down in the pavement. Blood running down her face and everything. She is ok but ended up with a sad looking little face. Here are some pics of it. Oh and please ignore me pic in the one pic, I only added that one because it shows the scrapes really well. ;-)

President Barack Obama == YAY!!!

2008-11-06T15:02:00.007-05:00

Politics is a tricky subject to discuss with people so I think the subject line says it all. ;-)

4 weeks ago today, our lives changed...

2008-11-03T12:03:00.003-05:00

Its really hard for me to believe that its been 4 weeks since my dad died. Some days it feels like it was yesterday and others it feels like it happened so long ago. But now that it's November I am actually dreading all of those "holidays" that are coming up and anyone who knows me knows that I am a holidays girl, I usually *love* Thanksgiving and decorating for Christmas, don't get me started. I have to use all kinds of willpower to wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving before I start putting my tree up and putting out the dozen inflatables that I own. But, this year I just don't feel ready for them and wish I could stop them from coming. I know that I have to have them because it wouldn't be fair to the kids not too but it just feels like theres not a whole lot to be thankful for right now. Okay, I'm going to stop now. Sorry I used the blog as a form of therapy and got all deep on you. ;-)

Here they are...Halloween 2008

2008-11-03T11:32:00.005-05:00

Okay, I'm a little late but here are some promised pictures from Halloween. But you will notice that there are several kids missing. That is because they have now become wise as to where I put the pictures after I take them. lol. I could only get one of Lindsay (who looks thrilled) and Jenna (who is a camera hog). Everyone else was like "NO WAY". So, I see I will have to take spy pics of them so noone knows. ;-) Anyway, Lindsay costume was a last minute thing, she couldn't figure out what she wanted to be so I was looking for some ideas online and found this one. She is a "Pop Princess" I stuck a bunch of pop cans and bottles all over her and made her a pop crown that said "pop princess", this literally took me 5 minutes and people talked about it all night! Everywhere we went they commented on how cute is was, what a good idea or how inventive. I could not get over that something that was so simple got so many compliments!! Oh and if your keeping track, this is Jenna's 3RD costume, this time she's Hannah Montana. ;-)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2008-10-31T11:00:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a safe and happy halloween. We will be going trick or treating later tonight and I will post pics of the kids in their costumes sometime this weekend. Have a great day!!

Look I'm a Bat!! and Gummy Eyeballs....

2008-10-27T08:38:00.005-04:00

Yesterday we took the kids to the YMCA for their Fall Festival, they all got flyers about it at school and the way it was described in them it looked like it was going to be a big, neat thing. So I had pretty much hyped this thing up to them for days telling them how much fun it was going to be and that at the end there was going to be this thing we had never heard of before called "Trunk-or-Treating" where you go trick or treating from car to car. Yay, right? It was supposed to run from 2-5, so we get there just before 2, all excited, and this thing is SUCH a disappointment! It's like 5 booths set in the parking lost with lame little games that you need to buy tickets for and the trunk-or-treating doesn't even start until 4! There was no way these 5 little games was going to take us 2 hours to do. So needless to say we ended up leaving, disappointed. BUT, there is another one on Tuesday that we go every year that the city of Florence throws at the Government Center and it is always fun with LOTS of candy and games. So I will have more pics then. But for now I have pics of Jenna in one of her Halloween costumes. She picked this one to wear way before we left so I snapped a few pics. We have a large bucket FULL of Halloween costumes and Austin and Kaylee were waffling back and forth on which one they wanted right up until we left so I didn't end up getting any pictures of them but I will on Tuesday, promise. Oh and I thought I threw in a picture of my Halloween decoration that is in the middle of the kids table, they said its freaky to eat with eyes staring at them. lol.!!!

Thank You Terrie....

2008-10-24T22:21:00.004-04:00

I went over to my mom's house today to find that she had recieved a package from Terrie. Who as you know has been in Hawaii for a month. ~lucky duck~ Inside a large envelope were 3 individually wrapped black boxes with cards addressed to my mom, steve and myself. Inside my my box was a beautiful suncatcher made from hand blown glass called "Hawaiian Raindrops", it has a care that says "In the circle of life it takes both rain and sunshine to make rainbows".....beautiful. This touched me deeply because in my card it said that when she saw these she immediately thought of my dad and how when you can hang these in the sunlight and see rainbows reflect off of it and that got me thinking that even though we are having the raindrops now, eventually we will see the rainbows and the good times when we look at it and think of him. Pretty deep for a suncatcher huh. ;-) I'm not sure if she reads this blog but if she does, thank you so much Terrie. You have no idea how much I appreciated it. Here are a few pictures of mine. Again, please forgive my awful photography, apparently Jeremiah hasn't rubbed off on me at all. ;-)

Kara's Band Concert

2008-10-23T09:18:00.006-04:00

Last night was Kara's first band concert. And her first time playing her Trumpet in front of anyone besides us. Needeless to say she was VERY nervous, but did an excellent job! She had always been to Lindsay's band concerts and had seen how much she enjoyed them so she knew when she got to middle school that she wanted to play and instrument and feel that for herself. This is just the first of 3 or 4 that they will have this year so stay tuned as you will see more picstures. Tonight was just Kara's though. The other concerts include both of them so you will see Lindsay with ther flute later on, I think they said the next one is December 2nd. But for now, here are the pictures from Kara. Please excuse the shots of her that were taken in the group, we were pretty high up and I take the pics with my Blackberry so I can just email them to myself to post on here.

Where Did The Time Go???

2008-10-20T11:29:00.011-04:00

My kids are gowing up WAY to fast and it seems like just yesterday they were so little. I was looking at some pictures of them that we have on the computer and thought I would post a few to share with everyone. Enjoy!!

Kaylee...
Lindsay and Kara...

Jenna...

Kaylee...I love this picture....

Austin... "what do you mean they don't go on the outside?!".....

Austin and Kaylee....

Lindsa, Kara and Becky....

Everyone with mom....

Austin and me....

I just realized that I have alot of Austin and Kaylee...I will post some more soon and will include more of other people....lol.

Lindsay and Kara's Halloween Party....

2008-10-17T19:54:00.009-04:00

Tonight was Lindsay and Kara's school Halloween Party. I'm not really into Halloween this year so I just wanted to throw their costumes together from stuff we already had at home. Lindsay wanted to be the "Walking Wounded" and Kara wanted to be a "Goth Princess". All we really had to do was buy some accessories. I thought they didn't turn out half bad!

This is Lindsay getting her fake "wounds" put on...

I thought this turned out so well..It's totally GROSS looking!!

Here she is..the Walking Wounded...

And presenting....Miss Goth Princess....

I'm not ready for winter!!

2008-10-16T10:54:00.004-04:00

Lately we have been pretty lucky as far as weather is concerned. Considering it is the middle of October and we have been pretty consistently in the high 70's low 80's most days. However, you totally feel that change to fall happening. It is just downright cold and nasty looking outside. It makes you want to stay home and do nothing! And you now that before long everything will be cold and snowy and we will be stuck in 6 mths of winter. YUCK! Anyone for moving south??

We're Still Here.....

2008-10-13T13:10:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we're still here and everyone is doing ok. I just haven't really felt up to posting in the last couple of days. I've been having a really hard time adjusting now that everything is getting back to normal with everyone going back to work/school. There's so much stuff around here that I need to do and I just have no motivation right now to even do that. But I'm sure I'll be back to posting in no time. ;-)

Let's Feed the Fish!

2008-10-11T23:03:00.004-04:00

Lindsay Feeding the Koi at the pond yesterday....

Yesterday, in an effort to take out minds off of everything that has happened lately we all hopped in my mom's van and drove about an hour and a half to Georgetown, Ky. They have a very nice Japanese style park there that everyone enjoys. You can walk down little paths and see japanese statues and feed TONS of Koi in a nice pond. We fed the Koi pretzels, they loved it and swarmed all over each other to get to the food. It was actually a really warm, nice sunny day for mid October so it tuned out well and everyone had fun. I wish that I would have thought to take more pictures but my mind has been really scattered and I just didn't think of it. ;-)

Awww...Can we have one mom???

2008-10-09T08:32:00.006-04:00

Everyone had so much fun holding Avery And Elise the other day. They have all forgotten what its like to have a baby around., and truthfully I did too. These little girls are so adorable and were SO well behaved during the service. We had alot of fun seeing them. Unfortunately this was our first time since we just haven't been able to make it out to Jen's house. But it brought the inevitable question that day and the next, "Mom, can we have a new baby brother or sister?" Can anyone guess what the answer was??? I'll bet you won't have to think that hard about it.....it was "NO!" Okay so it wasn't quite that emphatically said, but the truth is, I love babies, would I really have had 5 of them if I didn't?? BUT, I don't think at this point in my life I would want to go back there. They are fun to hold and then give back though. lol. :-)

Ervin F. Castor....June 1,1946-October 3,2008...I love you Dad

2008-10-05T16:45:00.008-04:00

I am sure most of you know but after a long struggle to try and get better my dad died on Friday October 3, 2008. It was somewhat of a surprise because we had just been told that day that all of his tests were coming back normal and that he was getting better except for some drug changes that need to be made to help his confusion. But at around 12:30 that night his heart gave out. It is understandably a very difficult time for us right now and I am trying very hard to be strong and there for my mom. My dads service will be at Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Independence on Tuesday the 7th.

Moving is so not fun and Jeremiah and I have been married 13 yrs!

2008-09-30T18:03:00.005-04:00

To those who think moving is somehow fun I can attest to the fact that no it's not. We have been moving pretty steadily everyday for a week now, but it feels like a month! I am just so tired of it. And I am what you would call an organized, somewhat neat freak and I HATE things just laying around so boxes sitting everywhere are driving me nuts! Yes, this new house is ALOT bigger than our old one. In fact I am not at all used to having a formal dining room and a living room AND a family room PLUS an entire basement downstairs. It's just more room than we have ever had. But right now everything is box covered so hopefully pretty soon we will be able to "see" all these rooms. For now I will just keep unpacking. Sorry for the rant, but aren't blogs for venting too. lol :-)

Also, today is mine and Jeremiah's 13 anniversary. Can you believe it!? Where have the years gone...

Its been forever!

2008-09-27T12:09:00.004-04:00

I know its been forever since I've posted but rest assured we are all alive and well. It has just been a *really* long month with KY hurricanes, no power, moving to a new bigger (see..fits all of us!) house, and everything that has been going on with my dad. I promise that once things get more settled down I will be back to posting. :-) Meanwhile here is a pic of our new house, Kaylee and Jenna in their new beds waiting for their mattresses to come, and Kara and her cousin Katie.

They love school...sometimes..

2008-08-28T11:14:00.003-04:00

Well, we are now in our 2nd week of the new school year and so far everyone is loving it. Sometimes...I have had a few "I don't wanna go" moments with them but as soon as they see their friends at the bus stop they are over it. ;-)

Happy Birthday Kara!

2008-08-28T10:57:00.005-04:00

Today is Kara's birthday. Can you believe she's 11 now! And that Lindsay is 13... Impossible.......

How can she be 13??

2008-08-26T12:36:00.004-04:00

Remember this little girl? She is now a bonafide teenager. Ugh! How did this happen? It seems like just yesterday she was going to pre-K and playing on jungle gyms. Now she's a teenager, in middle school and black has become one of her favorite colors. Where did the time go??

Happy 13th Birthday Lindsay!!

Where's the Quiet Time??

2008-08-20T08:31:00.004-04:00

Well school has started and as some of you may know I was really nervous about having all 5 kids in school but really kind of looking forward to a little bit of peace in the afternoon. But it seems like every time I get someone on or off of a bus, its time to do it again. Lindsay and Kara's bus comes at 7:20, once I get them on the bus I immediately go into getting Austin and Kaylee dressed, fed and ready for their bus to come at 8:15 and then I do get a little bit to relax a little until I need to be getting Jenna dressed, have lunch done and have her at the bus stop at noon. But I swear I know there is technically 3 hrs until Lindsay and Kara then get home but it seems like 5 minutes. Once Jenna leaves I clean up the breakfast and lunch dishes, get some laundry on and sit down to eat some lunch of my own it seems like they are walking in the door! Where is this "quiet time" everyone kept talking about?? Right now, it seems to be hiding from me. ;-)

Oh and about the picture. This is a picture taken on the first day of school before I took everyone for their first day. I know its not a great picture but honestly this about the 15th picture of all 5 of them that I took in a row trying to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time and believe it or not this is the best one. ;-)

18 Days Until School Starts...And Jenna Leaves

2008-08-01T10:48:00.004-04:00

This adorable baby is going to school ;-(

Well today is August 1st (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM) and that means that there is only 18 days left until school starts. In a way that is good news because having all of them home for the last 3 months everyday can sometimes be TOO much. :-) But this year back to school is bittersweet because my baby Jenna is going to Kindergarten. :-( It does not seem possible to me that this little girl is ready for school. She was just born yesterday, right? And when she goes to school that will mean for a half a day, all of my kids will be in school. How is this possible? I have been a stay at home mom for what seems like ever and now all of a sudden, they will all be gone. What am I going to do with myself for that half a day?? I guess it will give me a chance to get laundry done and the house cleaned without tasmanian devils wrecking it behind me. :-) I will try to enjoy this year since it is only going to be half a day. Although just the thought of her being in school is very sad to me and I'm sure on the first day of school I will have to be dragged away from her class room crying by Jeremiah. But it's only half a day.....until next year. ;-)

All Clear...So far..

2008-07-26T09:05:00.002-04:00

We Jeremiah doctors appointment for his knee turned out okay. They said he had deteration of the cartilage around it and the early onset of arthritus. They gave him a brace to wear (which he won't for long) and a suggestion to start taking Glucosamine, whihc they say is supposed to help rebuild the cartilage. He has to go back in 3 weeks to have some more x-rays done and see where we go from there. On the kids front, everything is going ok. Lindsay and Kara are bummed because today is the Jonas Brothers concert and they don't have tickets. Which sold out really quick and all that is left is lawn, and for 3 lawn tickets they wanted $150! Sorry, no. Well, Jeremiah and I are off to some yard sales and maybe later go looking some more for a car. FUN! ;-) Everyone have a great day!!

Knee's and Arms

2008-07-25T11:31:00.000-04:00

Today Jeremiah and I are going to the orthapedist to see what is wrong with his knee. Hopefully it is something that they can work with and doesn't require surgery. I feel so bad for him because he can barely stand without pain. He had an MRI done last week and the doctors office called him less than 24 hrs later to tell him that they found he had "extensive softening of the cartilage around the knee" doesn't sound very good to me but keep your fingers crossed its an easy fix. :-) And for those who don't know Lindsay has a cast on her arm (what is it with June and casts?? It was Kara who had a cast this time last year) from riding her bike, in the dark no less, into a STOP sign!! lol. It is bright orange and she has to have it on for 3 weeks. It comes off next Thursday the 31st. This is the child who has always longed for a cast becasue she thought it would be "cool" let me tell you she doesn't think that anymore!!

The Birth Of Our Blog!

2008-07-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

This is definetly the first time I have ever written a blog so its going to be a learning process, bear with me. ;-) I wanted to start it to help keep family and friends, both close and far away, up to date in what is going on in our crazy little part of the world. I will try to keep it as up to date as I possibly can but as most of you know with the kids things don't always happen right away. :-) So thanks so visiting and enjoy!!