A Wonderful Holiday Season!

Christmas has been celebrated over the past month for us. It started over Thanksgiving weekend while we were back in Iowa visiting my family. Since we only make it back maybe twice a year (if we are lucky) we had to make the most of our time there. As the month continued we shared the holiday spirit with many friends and of course with family on this very day!

Dyke Christmas . . .

As stated before we celebrated over Thanksgiving weekend. It helped Aunt Nicki get into gear and get half of her Christmas shopping completed early. I made dinner Saturday evening (turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole, snacks and who knows what else) while dad played wii with the kids and mom cleaned and who knows what else. Afterward the kids opened gifts, drank homemade egg nog (Thanks Dad!) and watched the movie UP.

While we were back I continued the tradition of going to the movie theater as a family. It was just Matt, Billy, Jayden and I but we had fun. Of course we saw New Moon which had only been out for a week at that point. Don't think it was Billy's top choice but it was for us other three. Yes, even Matt. He has read the books so of course he is going to want to see the movie. But his intentions were for seeing the Werewolves :) All in all we were able to relax and enjoy our time back. There was no running around back and forth like it has been since I left for college. Thank Goodness!! We had such a great time seeing everyone and are so happy we got the chance to make it back when we did.

Rosiere Christmas . . .
The kids got here Christmas Eve night. They frosted cookies, made a gingerbread house AND got to open one gift! Okay so the gift wasn't anything exciting, just a pair of pajamas, but that was tradition in my household growing up. So with Hailey in her Hannah Montana pj's and Logan in his Star Wars get up, we settled down and watch the movie Elf! It was great to relax and laugh before turning out the lights. The kids set out cookies they had frosted for Santa and of course a cup of milk to go with it before shutting their eyes for the night.

Surprisingly enough the kids slept in until 8:30ish! I was up well before them thanks to Matt's alarm (6:30 am) that he forgot to turn off. Once I woke up I was done for. No more sleep for Nicki :( Although the kids were excited to open their gifts, they were quite patient as we fed the dogs and they helped pick up their bedding. It was only once they saw the video cameras on their tripods and a camera around my neck, did their patients waiver. First stockings, then Santa gifts, and lastly dad's/our gifts. They cleaned up pretty well. The big gift of the day was a wii from dad, Matt and I. It was kind of a gift for us adults as well, but we'll never admit it to the kids. After gifts were opened we ate breakfast and waited for grandma and grandpa to get to the house.

**pictures to come soon**

Matt and Lonnie's uncle Ernie came over for most of the day too. He enjoyed playing wii bowling with the kids which surprised us all. We had a late lunch consisting of ham, potatoes, green bean casserole, dips and cheese balls, desserts, and homemade EggNog. Hailey was told the nog was a vanilla shake just so she'd try it. After she was nearly done with her second cup did we tell her what it was. She has an aversion to eggs, yet we have tricked her into eating them a few times this past year. Kind of funny how "this is the best _____" turns into "ew" just by saying the word "egg".

Needless to say we had a great Christmas with the Rosiere side of the family. It was nice not having to worry about packing up the car and traveling to someone else's house. The weather was decent. It started off rainy and ended up freezing cold and snowing most of the day. At least we ended up with a white Christmas by mid day! :)

Sullivan Christmas . . .
Tuesday was my last day for the week seeing the Sullivans. Early in the day, Q had asked if we could do a scavenger hunt with the gifts. I couldn't say no to that. We have done them in the past with a sucker as the prize at the end. Q loves listening to the clues and searching for the spot where the next clue lies. For the Christmas Scavenger Hunt, I hid a gift and a new clue at each spot. Q had so much fun. He ran upstairs and down. Each level of the house had at least two gifts/clues. It made it even more exciting for him and honestly wore him out a bit. After he had found all of his and Sloan's gifts, they opened them up before heading down to St. Louis to see CC and DD.

After such a hectic month, it was a nice way to wind done the year with my "second family". They are a huge part of my life and am blessed to be able to share in theirs.

Holiday Fun with Friends . . .
We are fortunate enough to have some really great friends! It isn't often you connect with a couple as a couple, or in our case two couples. We have so much fun hanging out and spending time with them. Getting together always means good food, drinks and crazy games. Their isn't a minute when we aren't laughing or enjoying each others company. For this I would like to thank Earl 'n Stacey and Jeff 'n Kim for the couple great weekends when they had us over. As a group we get along so well. I am thankful for your friendship and the times we get together. Our lives would not be the same without you in them.

I hope next year will be as good as this one if not better! What a great holiday season we had. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Another Month Neglected

Well it look like another month has slipped by me, without a post. If things could be any busier?! Oh wait, they are and will be for the next 2-3 months. Life doesn't slow down and I for some reason can not force myself to make time to keep up with these posts. I had so many ideas for them but nothing ever came of it. Go figure. As an early New Year resolution, I plan to be more consistent with the blogs. No guarantees in January or February, but after that I will stick to it. Most of you know why those two months are not in the resolution. If they were it would be broken on January first!

I do plan to put up a Christmas Blog with pictures and hopefully will get some up from Thanksgiving when we celebrated Christmas with my family. If time would just slow down or if we could just gain a few hours each day...

Day at the Park

It was an unusually warm November day... I think it was in the mid 50s, but felt warmer with the sun shining. After hanging out around the house in the morning playing Star Wars with Q while Sloan took an early nap due to waking up at 6:00, we headed out after lunch to Hobby Lobby to buy some craft supplies (blog to come tomorrow). Then went to Glen Oak Park and played on the wooden play equipment. This was a huge treat for Quinton, who always wanted to play at the wooden playground during the summer, but since Sloan was so young and that particular set is swarming with older kids, I didn't want to risk her getting hurt. Or Q for that matter. So during the summer we always played on the equipment across from the pavilion that was appropriate for younger children.

When I say the wooden playground was "swarming with kids", I can say in the past I have witnessed nearly 70+ kids playing on the equipment at once during the summer. Not to mention all the caregivers scattered about taking up even more space. But since most kids are in school until 3/3:30, it worked out great for Q and Sloan to experience it. I wish every community had a playground like this for children to play on. It is quite the set up. There is an area for all ages, one year all the way up to teens. There are tons of stairs, hidden ladders, balance beams, monkey bars, swings, sand pit, slides, wooden cars with steering wheel, etc. It is the perfect set up for playing Hide 'n Seek or Tag!

Here are a few pictures of this kids playing today. We had a great day. It gave them both the chance to run off some energy, although not enough. The last 45 minutes I was at their house tonight, they were running none stop chasing each other, giving me high fives, giggling, and being utterly out of control. Hopefully they crashed hard for mom and dad tonight. I think everyone could use a good night's rest tonight!

The Holidays are Here

The holidays are officially here in our household. We, or should I say "I", broke out the Christmas tree and other decorations this weekend. I guess growing up with the tradition of putting the tree and Christmas decorations up the day after Thanksgiving, has stuck with me. Since Matt and I will be in Iowa over the weekend, we won't be here to help Hailey and Logan decorate the tree. Of course waiting until the next weekend they are here (Dec. 11-13) would be too late. I mean really what's the point in having the tree up only two weeks?! None!

So with that said, I put up the tree myself. It is only an artificial 6 foot pre-lit tree. White of all colors. Actually, it is quite ugly, but beggars can't be choosers. Mom gave us the tree that she used at school before retiring two years ago. She had a red, white and blue theme, which I should have stuck with. Probably because I have gold garland instead of silver is why I dislike it so. Perhaps a little shopping is in order before Wednesday. Anyway, the tree is up as well as the stockings and other decor. Our house is looking quite festive... as festive as it will ever be, which if compared to others isn't much. I'd love to wrap Hailey and Logan's gifts and place them under the tree, but our dogs, Halo in particular, would have a field day with them. I'd probably have to re-wrap them twice a week before the kids finally had a chance to open them, if I were to place them under the tree now. Honestly, I have had my fill of wrapping gifts for now. Since I won't see anyone on my side of the family over Christmas I have had to get all my shopping and wrapping done for that crew early. The only thing left to make our home's holiday decor complete would be Christmas music. I can't handle it all month like many people like, so a couple weeks prior to the "big day" will have to suffice.

Matt and I plan to head to Iowa, Wednesday after work. It won't put us in Sidney until 12:30 but we'll be able to sleep in. Maybe?! So to all, I wish you a wonderful holiday season from beginning to end! If you are traveling later this week I bid you safe travels and I mustn't forget a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! :)

Farewell for Now

Over the past few year I have gotten to know the Kapustka family quite well, mainly due to play dates that started when Q and E were just 14 & 16 months old! They are both almost 4 1/2 now and moving up to the Chicago area. Although Sullivans are not moving quite yet, the movers came Tuesday to start packing the Kapustkas up. Q, Sloan and I, along with the O'Sulli family, went over after the kids got out of pre-school for one last lunch and play date. All the kids had a blast! As did us adults... got to love adult conversation! :)

The Kapustka family will be missed, but they are starting a new chapter in their lives as well as moving closer to family. I know we will see them again once the Sullivans move north. Until that next playdate at one of the new houses or a new park, I say farewell my friends, good luck and I can't wait till we meet up again in 2010!

What a FIT!

This summer grandma V got the kids hula hoops among many other nice things, to play with outside. Hailey got the hang of the hula hoop quickly, however, Logan was a different story. Watch the clip below as his frustration gets the best of him... let's just say he appears to be better at Ring Toss!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmvFkc2e-z0

Thank you Dad, for having the camera rolling and pointed in the right direction. Although it took a while for Logan to see the humor in this, he can now laugh about it like the rest of us! :)

And the Total is...

As promised, the grand total for the haunted house this year was 3626!!! That is almost three times as many people as we had last year. My guess was off by about 400 or so. We begin tear down on Monday. More hard work, but with a handful of friends, some old and some new, it should be fun or at the very least entertaining :)

One Thing After the Other

Why do things have to be so difficult? I suppose that is my question for the day. It is something I ask myself time and again. Not all things are actually difficult, sometimes people make them out to be. I guess today is one of those days. I cannot bring myself to be the bearer of bad news. I can't be that person that upsets someone else because others within the group/team are caddy, manipulative and disrespectful. Why I find myself in the middle of situations like these again and again, I don't know. Perhaps it is because I like to focus on the positive or give everyone a chance. I don't dwell on first impressions, because I know I give off a really poor first impression all the time. I'm extremely quiet until I get to know people. That come across as snobby and rude most of the time, but that isn't really who I am. I guess I am just going to have to suck it up and make the call.

One more thorn in my side today. I find out we won't be able to go home for Thanksgiving because Matt now has to work Thanksgiving and Black Friday while having the following Mon and Tues off. So much for our work schedules coordinating like his boss originally said it would. Perhaps I can talk my Mom and brother into coming out. These two things at the end of the day turned my day into the pits!

Dungeon of Darkness

As said in the previous post, October was an insane month for me mainly because of the haunted house. We volunteered last year when our friends E & S owned it. However, they sold it to the current owner, another good friend of ours', Dennis. We had a great season! The number of customers who came through went above and beyond the expectations of anyone. As of today I am still not sure what the grand total was, however, I will find out Saturday at the Appreciation Party for all volunteers.

Matt and I not only acted each night while the haunt was open, we also helped build the rooms for 6 weeks starting in August. It is a lot of work, but so worth it. I am proud to say that all proceeds after "out of pocket" expenses are paid (rent, materials, electricity) went to the Boys and Girls Club here in Pekin. Dennis was hoping for a decent chunk of money to give them, but ultimately they got a whole lot more. I believe our busiest night was close to 500 people. Again, nothing like any of us expected!!! Having the money donated makes all that hard work worth it all that much more! Like I said I should hear the numbers this Saturday and I will be sure to post them.

Below is a scrapbook with some pictures of the haunt. If you have younger children you may not want them to view it. There is some gruesome makeup and props on some of the pages. No need for nightmares if we can help it. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Halloween

The month of October has proven to be the busiest month of 2009 for me. Yes, I already know this with two months to go. Between volunteering at Dungeon of Darkness Haunted House (blog and pics to come in a day or so), being sick and all the showings for Sullivan's house over the past two weeks, the month flew by.

Sunday I took a deep breath as we jumped into November. I started the month off by beginning to edit nearly 600 photos (I've only got a fraction done) that have been waiting patiently on my camera for the past three months while my desktop computer was out of commission. Thanks to Matt, he ordered the power supply (I refused to do so myself until after the holidays... I'm so cheap) and installed it. Now my desktop is up and running so I can include pictures again in my blogs. That mean more blogging too :)

Below is a scrapbook from Smilebox with photos of all my favorite kids dressed for Halloween. The pages with the small pictures, just click on each and they will appear in the big photo box. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

October Fun

October has been a busy month for us. Helping with the Dungeon of Darkness Haunted House each weekend, Getting sick for a good week or more, Halloween Party and of course the upcoming Halloween night we have had our hands full. I just wanted to share some pictures of the fun we had this last weekend. Our good friends Earl and Stacey hosted a Costume Party since they no longer own the haunted house. As always they had something fun to do... a hay rack ride through the cemetery. Of course there were some hidden ghouls waiting for us. Also the bon fire out back kept us all warm on such a chilly October night. We had such a great time and got to see many of the now familiar faces. Looks as though we'll be taking Hailey and Logan to the Kids Halloween Party Earl and Stacey will be hosting on Halloween night. I can't wait!

Enjoy the slide show!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Pictures of the haunted house and Halloween night will be posted soon! Thanks for your patients :)

Wild Nights at the Haunt

I must warn you, this post is long. I'm just rambling on and on about the haunted house over the course of the past two weekends describing the happenings, experiences and more :)

I thought our opening weekend at the Dungeon of Darkness went really well and would be hard to top. Turns out we had over 500 people go through that first weekend which is a great number. Although I don't know our exact numbers for this weekend, I do know it was a lot more. We had people lined up all the way out the door both nights! I must say that the front room holds a good 100+ people so I can't even imagine what it looked like up there with everyone. To be honest, many of us thought it would be a slow weekend because of Pekin Highs homecoming parade, celebration, game and dance. Not so much. I am pretty anxious to see what the numbers were for the weekend though.

But what made these WILD nights at the haunt you may ask? Well, for starters Friday evening I arrived in costume with a throbbing headache. I took something for it, but when you are lacking sleep, your body thinks it wants to get a cold, and you have to be in character for five hours screaming, it isn't a good combo. I don't believe I have ever vomited because of a head ache before, but Friday night was the first. I held off for a good two hours, but with about 20 minutes left for the night I had to get a replacement. I hated to do it, but it was either that or let loose in someone's face. As bad as this may sound, we had a bunch of cocky punk kids come through that night and I must say it would have been funny if I had done something like that. A lot of the others actors made that same comment to me after wards. So at least I know it wasn't just Matt and I who were annoyed.

Moving on to Saturday night. Just to warn you I will go off on a couple tangents. Saturday evening had people out the door within the first hour of being opened instead of the usual crowd around 10:00. Needless to say we were so busy, that no one got a break for the whole five hours. It is hard on the actors, but good for the business. When you know the haunt's proceeds are going to the Boys and Girls Club, it makes it worth it. Besides time goes by faster when there is a constant flow. I was feeling better, but decided not to do a bunch of screaming. Matt made me look like he had stitched my lips shut. Fearing that we wouldn't have a good enough scare we asked another woman (was all done up to take my place thinking I wasn't going to be there because of the night before) to lay on the stretcher, hurt and begging for help. The three of us worked well together. I still scared the crap out of people when I jumped out from the shadows, Matt still added fear and humor to the act with his Skinner character's multiple personality and "I'm gonna kill you" among other comments, and Pam did an amazing job reaching out for help as people headed out the exit.

We didn't have too many gawkers or annoying folks come through like on Friday. However, there were a lot of people who brought their little kids that night. I am not talking about kids that are 6 years or older I am talking 2 and 3 year olds. I do not understand why parents subject their small children to a haunted house of this nature. When you have to carry your child while they cry their eyes out and bury their face into your shoulder trying to hide from the scary people, you shouldn't bring them. Not to mention the parents don't get the scare, because most actors refuse to play their part. Personally, I don't jump out of my dark corner. I sit there with a disgusted look on my face, which they can't see because it's dark and I am covered in makeup. It's a pet peeve of mine.

On a more positive note, most of the people who came through the haunt on Saturday were pretty good. Although, there were some who didn't even make it through. One of our friends who plays Micheal Meyers and will not come out of character for anything (had 3 Pekin policemen draw their guns on him first weekend, never once came out of character or say one word), got sucker punched in the throat by some little punk teenage girl. He wasn't even near her. She ran up from the side. Without saying a word he grabbed a "supervisor" and pointed at the girl. You know something is wrong if he came out of character enough to do that. Needless to say, the girl was kicked out and I believe her friends chose to leave too. There were a couple groups of drunk people as well that were escorted out. The clever way of getting them out is by asking them to come with you. "Come here guys. I want to show you something." Well that something is the front of the building. It is not only for our protection but also for the enjoyment of the viewers as a whole. Right around midnight a group of four came in. Two were so intoxicated that they wobbled straight into the bathroom. They were not allowed to go through, however, the more sober ones were. The police were called because no one wanted them driving. Not only for their own safety, but for all of us that were going to be leaving soon.

The things you see and experience while helping at a haunted house are quite interesting. Sometimes scary, other times frustrating, but all in all the experience as a whole is a lot of fun. When you scare someone really good, it makes the whole night for you. Grown men who scream and race out of the room are my favorite. They usually are the ones that act so macho and mouth off. Teenage girls are easy scares. The one scare that is my personal favorite thus far, would be the teenage boy who came in and went straight for the body bag on the stretcher. He didn't see me in the dark corner since he had zeroed in on the stretcher. He no more that got his hands on the body bag when I jumped out and did my thing. He literally flew across the floor about 8+ feet or more and landed on his hands and knees in front of Matt's butcher table. "Holy Sh**!" came out of his mouth as he took about 20 seconds to catch his breath and regain his composure. His parents just looked at him and laughed. Later we found out he had been touching props in every room. It is upsetting because we put so much hard work into building and creating each room. I guess my scare was payback :) That was the first weekend and I must say I can still see the look on his face. It still brings a smile to my face every time I think about it.

No pictures this entry. Going to have to wait until next weekend. Matt and I photographed ourselves and our room, but I still need pics of the others. Steak 'n Shake next Saturday after the haunt is wrapped up in full costumes. Matt and I are going to gross everyone out like last year. Good Times!!!! :) Till then. . .

HURRAY!!!!!!!

I am proud to say that after a long four years being off work, Matt has gotten a job. After having his TTD cut back in May we have been scraping by off of my small income. He was told by his lawyer to get a job and that "the company" would have to pay a differential (basically make up the difference so he'd still be getting nearly $48,000 a year like he was making before) until they come to a settlement. Sounds easy, but many places weren't thrilled that he had been off work for four years nor the fact that he made so much prior. They were scared he'd take a higher payng position later on down the road. Umm... wouldn't any normal person do that? Nonetheless, Matt will still have to wait for that settlement for who knows haw many more years at the rate things have been moving and I am sure it will be like pulling teeth trying to to get them to pay the differential, but at least Matt has finally found something. I think this will help his with his self esteem, depression and overall negative view of the world that has worsened over the six months.

I am so excited for Matt to get out there and feel like he and his knowledge/talents can be utilized and appreciated by someone other than me. He keeps claiming he isn't excited, but you know deep down he is. I can see it in his eyes. He was glowing when I got home with a smile that streched across his face most of the night. The job won't be too demanding, nor does it pay anywhere close to what he was making before his workman's comp case, but it is the perfect job for him to ease back into the work force. So to Matt I say congratulations, good luck and I know you'll do GREAT!!!

Neglected

I am sorry that I have neglected the blog posts for two months!!! Yikes, that's ridiculous. However things have been crazy around here since August. Between family drama, building the haunted house, work and all the other activities we have tried to shove in on the weekends, I have had no down time. Not to mention my desktop is still not up and running. I enjoy posting pictures and my desktop has all my photo editing programs on it. Cropping, enhancing and collaging multiple pictures for my blog is a must in my mind. Crazy I know. So to the readers out there, which are very few, my goal is to post at least once a week during the busy and hectic month of October and hopefully more once things settle down around the holidays... NOT! :)

Pictures of the haunted house and actors will be up next week. We were so crunched for time this weekend, we didn't get any taken. But Matt and I both looked great as did a number of the other actors. We had a great time as usual.

Week with the Kids

So the kids (Hailey and Logan) were here all last week and are here this week too. At the beginning of last week all the kids had to run around with Kim and Matt to a million different doctor appointments. Finally on Wednesday they were able to stay home and play, ride their bikes and do what kids do.

As a reward of sorts, for being such good sports earlier in the week, we took the kids to Dragon Land Thursday night for Family Night. Although it was a bit cooler than we would have liked the kids had fun. This time Hailey and Logan braved the BIG slides. Logan went down on the double inner tube with both Kim and I. Hailey, although hesitant at first, did the same as well on the individual tube and the red slide (rear ends only). Jayden had no problems with the slides. She knows how to swim so it was never an issue. They had a blast. As I am sure you have gathered, Kim and I both got into the water. It was pretty cold after about 15 minutes but somehow I managed to stay in for a good hour.

Jayden and Hailey

Logan and Kim

We also met a wonderful group of people from Magnolia Heights, here in Pekin. We hung out with this lively bunch and talked the last half hour while the girls continued to swim. We got quite a few looks from others, disproving and wondering why we'd converse with a group of mentally handicap or slower individuals. I guess when you are brought up surrounded by individuals like that and your parents work with individuals such similar to our new friends, you don't see them as different. It is such a minor issues that to be quite honest too many people focus on and/or are disgusted by.

Friday, the whole gang met Quinton, Sloan and I at Safety Town. The kids had a blast. Quinton was so excited to see Logan. They were inseparable from the moment they get there. Of course much of their play and talk was about Star Wars, both boys are obsessed. The girls buzzed around on their bikes since they were on two wheels . Little Miss Sloan had a blast walking around and checking out all the kids. At first she pushed her little cart I had brought along for her, but it didn't take long for her to realize she could go a lot faster without it. She'd see one child go by on his bike and start to chase after him, and then see someone else come from the other direction and switch her own course to take off after them instead. She was laughing and enjoying herself the whole day. Safety Town was a great ending to last week!!!

Someone's Still Watching

Remember the Someone Must Be Watching blog? Well I think that "someone" is still looking down on me. Although I no long feel like they are looking for humor, but rather they are testing me. Yes testing me. This has been an awful month (Matt's workman's comp case and lack of money) and last week it all came pouring down in one great big tidal wave of emotional ups and downs, sleepless nights, and even more stress.

Everyone keeps telling us things can only go up from here, but apparently we hadn't hit rock bottom yet. Early Monday morning around 2:00am I get a phone call from my little brother saying I need to get on the computer so I can talk to my sister over messenger because she was without a phone. It was a bad evening for both her and my niece, being involved in domestic violence (Kim) and witnessing it (Jayd). Matt and I had offered to let them come out and start a new life many times before, but last weekend Kim finally took us up on it. They rolled into town super late Monday night. Tuesday and Wednesday were a bit crazy with trying to get them settled into the house and all the different individual emotional roller coasters.

Thursday afternoon Matt decided to go test drive a zooped up scooter that was modified to go 60/65 mph. It doesn't have the vibrations like a motorcycle does so it was easy on his arms. On his way home the back tired blew (57 mph) and he began to fishtail. Somehow he managed to get it off the road before wrecking (38 mph). Luckily he was wearing his helmet. I received a call from Matt's brother not long after I got home from work. Getting a phone call like that was the worst. I have never been so scared in my life. My stomach dropped and my brain went blank for a split second before all the worst case scenarios started flashing in my head. We were at the hospital form about 6:30 to 11:30. After an x-ray, CT scan and MRI they finally determined that Matt had bruised ribs and a broken collar bone. He goes in Monday to the orthopedic surgeon to determine if he needs surgery. For now he is on lots of pain meds, has a butterfly brace, and tries not to move much. He needs help dressing, showering, opening pill bottles, etc. On a positive note, at least he can pee on his own :)

With about 2 hours of sleep each night during the week and maybe an hour Thursday night, I headed to work Friday to find out Q woke up puking. He had a few more puking sessions throughout the day. I hate to see him sick like that knowing there is nothing we can do to stop it. The day before he was so excited to have a lemonade stand Friday during the garage sale his parents were having. I'm sure you could imagine his disappointment. Friday felt like the longest day ever due to all the sleepless nights and stress I had been under for the week.

So whom ever is watching I would like to know if I am passing your test? Are you testing my patience, my strength, love for my family and friends? Are you trying to determine just how much you can throw at me and I can handle? I feel like I am doing well with all things considered. Have I passed your test yet, or do you have more to throw at me? At least I feel like I am some what prepared now, after the week I had, but then again you never know. . .

Camp Out

Last week Quinton and I were talking about the next time I spent the night, what we would do. He can be random at times and apparently he was thinking about me sleeping over from earlier in the year. We finalized our plan to have a "Camp Out" themed evening. This included setting up his fold out Incredibles tent in the living room, lying out his bug sleeping bag (thanks Aunt Jodi) while watching a movie, and of course making s'mores. I figured this is what we would do in September while his parents were on a trip, but a last minute one night trip to Chicago made this all come true this weekend!

Q was so excited, from the time I arrived Sunday morning. He was such a good boy and was on his best behavior all day, not wanting to risk having his special night taken away (he knows I stick to my guns). We went all out that evening. First we roasted hot dogs over the open flame of the gas stove. Yes, we actually did this. Kind of crazy, but lots of fun. You may be wondering what we used for sticks . . . well I found some 16" skewers under the sink that I soaked in water for 30-45 minutes before using them. It was perfect. Q wasn't too close to the fire, but was able to reach and cook not only his own hot dog, but mine as well. Along with our hot dogs we had strawberries, green beans and the ever so easy camp side dish of chips! The only thing missing was the smell of burning wood and the bugs. Pretty sure I actually enjoyed not having to contend with either of those things.


After dinner, we ventured to the park a couple blocks from the house so the kids could get some fresh air (perfect temp) and run off some energy. I hate to report that Sloan ended up getting her first bloody nose. She lost her footing on the mulch and as she tried to regain her footing she tripped over my shoe. She did a face plant right on the sidewalk. It sounded and looked worse than it was. Her nose didn't start to bleed until after she stopped crying (maybe lasted a minute). You could hardly see the red mark on her forehead as I put her to bed and by morning no evidence of a fall was visible. Although I wouldn't be surprised if her nose was still sore. Poor baby.

Once we got home, I put Sloan to bed, so Q and I could start the fun. Q brought his tent up form down stairs while I grabbed his pillow and sleeping bag. We got it all set up in the living room before we made s'mores. Q had even more fun roasting the marshmallows than the hot dogs earlier in the night. Maybe it was a anticipation of the sweet gooey fluff in his mouth. Who knows?! Q made my marshmallows as well as him own (2 each, one for the s'more and the other to eat). We ate at the table to keep the carpet and furniture from getting sticky. For a child who hate to have his hands sticky and stuff all over his face he managed to keep his discomfort under control. I had warned him before hand he was going to get extremely messy and sticky and that it wouldn't do any good to wash up until he was finished eating.


To end the evening we watched the movie Lion King while Q laid in his tent. It was probably not the best move for me to bring considering he gets emotional when bad/sad things happen in movies. He was so tired that when Mufasa died at the beginning of the movie, he could not let it go. Q cried off and on throughout the whole movie. Don't get me wrong he'd laugh at the funny parts, but would ultimately end up crying again. Needless to say, we did not finish the movie. He crashed upstairs in his room almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Quinton and I had a great night. We just might have to do this again next time mom and dad are gone :)

Learning, Growing, Developing and Enjoying

I considered myself extremely blessed to have the opportunity to be part of the Quinton and Sloan's lives. Not to mention the rest of the family! I guess this post is going to be some of my favorite recent developmental achievements and characteristics of Sloan's.

She has quite the personality. First and foremost her sense of humor is just like her big brother's. She finds humor in almost anything, whether it is something she does or something she sees. She is such a happy baby. . . unless the girl is hungry, if that is the case give her food and give it to her quickly or else you will hear it!! No joke. But she is almost always smiling, laughing and having fun. Now back to those vocals. She is starting to pick up on more words and tries to repeat them when you ask her to. Her newest words are brother and up (which sometimes sounds like bup or pup). She communicates quite well when she wants something. Yes, a lot of it is signing or pointing followed by uh-uh, but the communication is there. Besides, if you ask her to repeat you she always give it her best effort to say the word whether it comes out close or not. lol :)

Did I mention she was a HAPPY baby?!

Sloan enjoys playing "I'm Gonna Get You" with Quinton and myself during the day. Q and I love playing it just as much. She has already learned to reverse directions if she sees/hears us coming from the other direction. When caught, Sloan always enjoys the tickles that follow. She has also began trying to climb everything. She gets jealous when Q is on the couch and she is not. Yesterday, while is was just her and I, I showed her how to climb up on my leg as I sat next to the couch and then on up the couch. You could see the excitement in her eyes when she achieved this much desired goal. This became a game as she would slide off the couch almost as soon as she got up, just to do it all over again. Other things Sloan loves to do it put hat, head bands, glasses, masks, etc. on her head. She absolutely loves it. I foresee many dress up moments and a lot of jewelry is her future! Pictured is a series from when she got a hold of Q's construction goggles. She was having a blast . . . can ya tell?!

Since the Tooth #7 blog, she is now up to eleven teeth! I'm glad to see some molars, because now she can actually chew her food. Sloan enjoys trying to feed herself with a spoon as well these days. Although she gets frustrated when she is unable to scoop her food up into the spoon, her coordination while bringing the spoon to her mouth is quite good. A little more practice and she'll have it in no time. Besides all the things mentioned above, the one thing that stands out the most to me is her cognitive development. She understands what we say to her the majority of the time. She'll answer yes or no questions and when asked which book at nap time she wants to read first she'll choose (no it in not always the same hand). Just today while giving Sloan a bath she stood up. I asked her "Sit down please. We don't want to get hurt." She immediately sat down, without any help I might add, and did not try to stand again until all the water had drained out of the tub. For a little one who is constantly trying to stand in the tub, it was a big deal (at least in my mind).

Last but not least, it is breath taking to see how Sloan and Quinton interact. Quinton loves teaching Sloan how to say new words and how to play a game he has made up. He helped her learn to sit down to get into the great room instead of walking off the ledge. The kids have so much love for one another you can see it in their eyes. Sometimes Q will be the one who initiates a hug or kiss (a.k.a lovin's) and other times it is Sloan. It is cute regardless of who initiates the lovin's, but when Sloan does she gets this look in her eye and she just leans in arms spread wide and she lips puckered. It's so sweet! Sloan is the luckiest girl ever to have such a great big brother!!


It is wonderful being part of this important time in the kids' lives. I enjoy watching both kids concentrate on a task, using their problem solving skills at such young ages, or even exploring the world around them. How fascinating?! :)

Photo Shoot

Friday morning we headed out to Delavan about a half hour drive south. At Lake Park there is a cute little bridge surrounded by flowers which we thought would be a perfect setting to take some pictures of the kids. It was overcast which made it ideal for a photo shoot outdoors! The kids were well behaved and did most of what we asked them to. However, Logan really needs to work on his smile (looks like he is in pain too often) and Hailey the tilt of her head (didn't matter how many times we asked her to adjust it this way or that). It started to sprinkle just as we were getting ready to call it quits. I have quickly looked through my photos but not taken any time to edit or play around. Neither has Matt. But I'll post an album once we get them complete. May wait until we get family photos with their dad in the next couple weeks before posting anything. Until then, enjoy the snap shot of Matt working his magic with his camera. . . he's a wonderful photographer and understands so much more than me :)

Dragon Land

It is our weekend, well Lonnie's weekend, to have the kids. Since by chance I had today off I asked if we could get the kids early. We have promised the kids all summer, as well as the last, that we'd take them to Dragon Land; a water park with slides, a sand pit, free use of life jackets and zero entry into the water. Not wanting time to get away from us again this year I decided Thursday evening would be the day. FYI: Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7-8:30 pm is Family Night; $7.50/family. That's a lot better that $5 each during the day especially when us 3 adults didn't get into the water.

The Kids Had a Blast!!

Logan surprised us all by going down the kiddie slide multiple times without any adults there to catch him. Although his second time he got scared and it looked as though he was scaling down a rock wall. ha ha :) He enjoyed floating around in the water with the provided life jackets and even got his face wet on purpose a couple times. Toward the end of the evening, he braved the "Mushroom Waterfall". He managed to get under it a couple different times without freaking out. Needless to say, Logan still has issues with water getting on his face. His bravery and willingness to try new things in the water, made me so proud of him!!!
Hailey surprised me too. For someone who has never had swim lessons she did quite well in the water. Holding her breath underwater, practicing her back float, and venturing into deeper water that went up to her neck (yes it scared me to death, but she promised to stay closer to the blue line for my sanity) were all things I didn't expect from her. She helped to encourage Logan down the slide and go under the Mushroom Waterfall. Toward the end of the night she started getting frustrated that her bottom kept sinking while doing the back float, so she put on a life jacket herself to help her get the feel of the back float.

We all had such a great time, I hope we will have the chance to do it again!!

Surprise!!!

Friday I was lucky enough to surprise Quinton, by bringing Jayden to work with me. And boy was he surprised. A little shy at first, or maybe it was more embarrassment because he needed to get some undies on (he jetted upstairs and got dressed quicker than I have ever seen). Regardless, once he was dressed he was ready to play. They played tag, Boom Blox on the Wii, ran around & played at Detweiller Park, raced on Q's Smart Cycle, and Jayden read him a couple books before nap. They hadn't seen each other since last fall, but they picked up right where they left off. Q thought everything Jayd said was hilarious, and she enjoyed the fact that Q could now play and do things physically similar to herself than a year ago. They showed each other their gymnastic moves, only to find out they did quite a few of the same ones.

First time Jayden and Q met; summer 2007

Let's not forget Sloan in all of this. She was curious at first who this new person was, but by the time we left for the park, she couldn't take her eyes off of Jayd. Every time Jayden would look at her, Sloan would laugh. She was always touching Jayden's arm or leg, trying to figure out everything about her. Jayden enjoyed helping to keep an eye on little Miss Sloan. I believe she would have held her all day, if I had allowed it. All three kids played on the playground equipment together. Jayden would catch Sloan at the bottom of the small slide as I helped her up top.

All in all we had a great day. Q informed Jayd that she could ". . . come play anytime. I would love it!" It is good to know that I'm not the only one who wishes Jayden lived closer. And yes, I forgot my camera on Friday!! :(

"Shane Sandwich"

What is a Shane Sandwich? Well it is quite simple . . .

2 Slices of Bread
Peanut Butter (creamy or crunchy)

Yes my friends, a Shane Sandwich is just an ordinary peanut butter sandwich. Nothing complicated.

Why the post? Well, Matt was telling me what he had for lunch today and he told me "Two Shane Sandwiches". If you knew my college buddy you would understand the humor in this immediately. Basically he eats nothing but PB sandwiches, cereal (sugary ones only no doubt), cookies, cake, etc. No meat, no vegetables and I'm not quite sure about fruit. Odd I realize, but what ever works!! Maybe seeing him last weekend rubbed off on Matt just a wee bit :)

So next time you get the urge for a peanut butter sandwich, maybe, just maybe you will think of this short and very telling story as you munch in your delicious Shane Sandwich!!

Someone Must Be Watching

I figure that someone must be watching me from above and getting a kick out of seeing me gag on a weekly basis. For the second week in a row, Sloan has managed to test my gag reflex and the power within me to hold my lunch. The majority of adults have seen, dealt with, or heard tales of a blowout. If you do not know what this is I'll educate you now.

If you have a baby or care for young children as I do, a blowout is expected from time to time when a child is still in diapers. Last week was kind of a rough one for Sloan in the BM department. Due to teething, not feeling well and the heat she had some major rank diapers going on. Last Thursday was no exception to these disastrous bombs she brought down on everyone within the house. It was another hot and steamy day so Q and I decided to fill up water balloons . . . who could forget Water Balloon Baseball?! I pulled Sloan's high chair into the kitchen while she finished a late lunch so I could keep an eye on her as well as keep her entertained. Q and I heard the grunts . . . we heard the noises from below . . . and then came the SMELL!!! I knew it was going to be horrid, but figured I'd give her another five minutes to finish up. No need to use two diapers. Perhaps that was a mistake. I turned around to get her out and saw that she was covered in what I thought was food. Yes, you read correctly I thought it was food. Poor baby had it come out the back, the front, both leg holes of the diaper. It wrapped around her body, the cute little pink striped shirt was now mandarin orange colored . . . and that "food" on her face was actually pooh!! This my friends was no blowout, it was in fact an EXPLOSION!!! I'll spare you any more details on this particular day, but will tell you it took nearly an hour to get Sloan cleaned up, the tub sanitized, the high chair dismantled (she managed to cover every strap too) & sanitized, and throw the soiled clothes/high chair parts into the washing machine. I will admit while trying to get her clothes removed a few dry heaves sneaked up on me. At the time I was a ball of nerves, but by the time I got home to tell Matt my tale it was starting to become humorous.

That was last week. Now for today . . . Sloan is still not feeling quite herself. Don't get me wrong she's an extremely happy little girl even when she's sick. Exactly like her brother. But her balance has been a little off these past couple days. It was a gorgeous day out, in the low 70's with a nice breeze. We headed to Glen Oak Park for a picnic and some playground fun. There were a lot of kids for Q to play with and the side walk made it easier for Sloan to walk around. We had just started pulling away from the curb on our way home, when Sloan cranked out a huge burp. I looked back just in time to see her burp again with lunch in full pursuit. Within a few short seconds she was covered in vomit. I immediately rolled down the windows trying to keep Quinton and myself from enduring the same fate. I had a small thin blanket that I keep in the bag to lay across picnic tables which was used to get the major chunks off the poor girl. I felt horrible making her sit there covered in vomit until we got home, but I had no choice. It was all over her and her seat. Dry heaving the whole way home and listening to Quinton continually shriek "Oh my gosh, it sticks. Oh, it disgusting. I hope I don't puke (heard that from me so of course he repeated it again and again). I am holding my nose." Just like last week, Q was a pretty big help holding the door open for me as I rushed Sloan inside arms length away all while holding my breath for what seemed like an eternity. Nasty pooh I can handle, however, vomit is a whole other story. I was gagging left and right as I bathed Sloan and rinsed her clothes. I was able to take a quick break while reading her a couple books before lying her down for nap. But returned to the horrid mess as I disassembled her car seat. The car seat was not cooperating and it took me nearly 45 minutes to get is disassembled. I kept my shirt over my face to buffer the bile smell that sent my stomach churning. Eventually, everything was thrown in the wash and I was able to sit down and relax with Q. A little BoomBlox fun on the Wii was well deserved after all that.

Needless to say, my days are usually eventful for one reason or another. Usually it is full of fun things the kids and I do or silly things Quinton says. But every once in a while I'll have a day (or two) where a major catastrophe occurs, only to find humor in the matter later on.

Janelle, you were right, I had to blog about it. I wasn't planning on it, until today's occurrence. After having two days within a week of such nerve racking occurrences, I figured I must share. After all, someone up there is getting a little entertainment from all this. I know I would :)

Mismatch Man

Q cracks me up!! It was a week or so ago and the little man picked out his own outfit. Normally he has a pretty good eye about what looks good together and what does not. However, on this particular day he decided to go all out. Partially it was because he didn't have a match to a random sock he found in Sloan's diaper basket. After running around for half the day with only one sock on, he discovered the Incredible pair hiding behind the toy box. Only one foot needed a sock so only one went on. :) He had fun being Mismatch Man for the day!!

The Garden

After talking about it for the past couple summers, we finally buckled down and planted a garden this year! I think in part it was our buddy Earl coming over with a tiller which made it all happen. Thanks Earl :) We got the kids involved by helping pick grass clumps out of the dirt before planting. Hailey helped with most of the planting, both seeds and plants. Logan was only "here on Earth" for the tomato planets. Otherwise, he was off in his own little world (the world of Star Wars no doubt) playing in the back yard. They also enjoyed digging up worms and showing them off. Did I mention how cute they looked in their grubby clothes.

As of today our garden is actually doing quite well considering we hadn't done much with it after the first couple weeks. The corn and tomatoes a thriving, where as the green beans (2), green peppers (2) and okra (1) only had a couple plant sprout. Matt finally went out a weeded today and man did the garden need it! Now our vegetables don't have to fight for nutrients any more. Not to mention I can post a picture of it looking nice now :) Besides dealing with the weeds our only other problem is keeping our Moo-cow Piggly-wiggly dog Xena out of the garden. It is so frustrating!! I do have to remember she is taking predenisone (sp??) for her allergies which makes her super hungry, but again it is frustrating!!

Happy Father's Day

To the Best Dads Around!

Dad: You have always done a lot for us kids, helping us out financially when we need it, co-sign a loan, supported us through all our school (high school and college) events and extra curricular activities. The things I remember a loved doing the most as a kid, were fishing along the bank, going swimming at the pool with you (usually 6-8 pm), and practice driving "Old Gold" at age twelve in Polk's fields. Thanks for all you have done, do and will do for us kids!!

Grandpa H: Although I don't have many memories of you I do remember being excited every time we came up to visit. During the summer you would give us tractor rides and the winter you'd pull us on a sled behind the snow mobile! You helped raise ten magnificent kids, my mom being the first of those. Thank you for all your hard work and everything you did for your own children as well as your grandchildren during your precious time here with us! I love, miss and think of you often. Grandpa and Kim driving the tractor (guessing 1984)

(sorry no access to a picture at this time)

Grandpa D: Although I never got to know you, and only have pictures of you and I from when I was a baby, I would still like to honor you as a father. If it wasn't for you I would not have my own father, who taught me many things and helped shape me into the adult that I am today. For that I would like to thank you. I love and miss you too!

Harry: You have helped raise a couple of great boys. You worked hard for your family over the years and I know they appreciate all you have done for them. You are a thoughtful person and I am glad I have gotten the chance to know you over the past few years. Thanks for all you do for us kids!!

Happy Father's Day! I Love You All!!!

Corn Nut Fix!

On our way to Walmart last night, it was a repeat of last weekend. All Miss Hailey could talk about were corn nuts! Well I am glad to announce she got her Corn Nut Fix!!! After eating a 6" sub, she downed a whole big bag of Ranch Corn Nuts while watching The Last Mimzi (great movie by the way). Hopefully, it will satisfy her all weekend long. We'll have to wait and see how the next two days go :)

"The Bike Park"

Today ended up being quite eventful or should I say this morning did. The kids and I headed out around 9:00 planning to go to Safety Town so Q could ride his bike and practice road safety. For those who don't know what Safety Town is, it is a park that has stop lights, road signs, mini roads and bridges for children to practice riding their bikes, scooters or roller skates all while learning road and bicycle safety. As we were loading up the car it started to sprinkle. I mentioned Rainbow Play Systems, since we didn't want to get stuck in the rain, and Quinton jumped on the chance to go there instead. Unfortunately it was closed (9:22 am, not sure what time they opened) so we decided to go to Safety Town anyway. I told Q that the sprinkles would feel good since it was already in the 80s and muggy outside and that a little rain wouldn't hurt us. He informed me "We only have to worry about thunder and lightning, because lightning could hurt us. Bad Nicki. Really bad."

We arrived at Safety Town with the sun shining bright. After unloading the bike and stroller from the car and getting Sloan buckled in, Q informed me he had to pee. Port-a-potty here we come . . . So gross!! Somehow I managed to I hold the door open with one foot (the ungodly smell) and lifted Q up at the same time so he wouldn't have to touch anything. He was thoroughly disgusted by the sight and smell of the "bagoo bathroom" at Safety Town. FYI, the definition of Bagoo is "gross, yucky, icky, smelly, disgusting" and any other descriptive word that means you don't care for something. You may have heard this term used in a Jim Carry movie (Bruce Almighty? Liar Liar?I'm not sure which).

After that traumatizing event for both Q and I, we strapped Q's helmet into place and were off. It was nice having the place to ourselves at first because it gave me a chance to explain the road signs, line markings on the ground, and road/bicycle safety rules. But other children came shortly after and Quinton was ready to make friends. Most of them were too busy concentrating on their own bikes/scooters to pay any attention to him, but he tried his hardest to chat with them. After about 15 minutes, it decided to start sprinkling. Q hates getting rained on, but handled it okay. He said "Riding in the rain is fun, right Nicki?" Trying to convince himself that the statement was true more than anything. After a few short minutes the sun popped back out and we went on our merry way.

Obviously, my camera never made it to Safety Town

However, it didn't last for long. After about another 15 minutes it started sprinkling again. By chance Sloan and I had stopped by the exit to get a drink and that's when we heard the low rumble of thunder. I saw that Q had heard it too, because he turned his bike around quickly and jetted toward the exit. Before he even made it to us he was informing the other adults as well as myself "That was thunder guys. THAT WAS THUNDER GUYS!" Trying to keep him calm and prevent the other children from getting scared I said "I think you are right Q. But you know what? I didn't see any lightning so it is probably off in the distance. Regardless, I think we better pack it up." Q agreed that it wasn't a big deal and thought we still needed to go home too.

As we headed toward the car, it started to rain. Q jumped off his bike and straight into the car before I could say anything (hmm... I believe I enjoy not having to ask him a million times to get into the car). I got Sloan buckled in and the stroller & bike loaded just before it down poured. As I waited for Q to buckle himself into his seat (yes folks he is a Big Boy now) lightning started flashing. It took only a minute before the hail started! I felt bad having the kids out in this weather, but I guess knowing other mothers had their children out and about too made me feel a little better. Not to mention it happen so quickly! The rain, hail, lightning and thunder pretty much came and went all within 3 minutes. Seriously it was that fast. We no more than got about 3 blocks up from Safety Town and it had subsided to a sprinkle. Once we got to the house, the sun was shining and most of the clouds had moved on. "What in the world is going on with this weather?" Q exclaimed. What a great question!! :)

The weather continued to act the same way throughout the day. We had a couple severe thunderstorms with 60+ mph winds during the afternoon, but they lasted maybe 15-20 minutes. Rainy days are okay, but it seems as though we've had a bit too many lately. Although we were unable to play outside today we made the most of our day filled with indoor fun. I have to admit, I enjoy playing "Sorry", "Hullabaloo", "Connect Four", and "Candy Land" with Quinton on days like today!!

Tooth #7

Little Miss Sloan has been drooling like crazy for over a week now and has been pretty cranky too. We all knew that meant more teeth were on their way. It took the little miss, ten and a half months to have her first tooth break through which was followed by five more by the week's end. Finally, three months later, another tooth has finally broke through!! During a tickle session this afternoon, Sloan was belly laughing, mouth wide open. I peaked in to discover her first molar on the left side sticking out. Not the one I expected. I figured her fangs (canines) would be next, but I was wrong. They'll come in when they are ready. If this is anything like last time, she'll have a whole mouth full within a week or two!

First toothy smile at age 10 1/2 months

Sloan's getting so big and I love watching her grow. She is now the age Quinton was when I started watching him, two and a half years ago. There are similarities in their development at this age, as well as differences. I can't wait to see the development of her motor, verbal and cognitive skills in the future. Congrats, Miss Sloan, on tooth number seven!!

Corn Nuts and the Movie "Up"

You may be thinking what in the world do corn nuts and the new Disney Pixar movie Up have in common. Well the answer is nothing! However, Hailey tried corn nuts (ranch) for the first time this weekend, and is now obsessed with them. We stopped at Circle K (our 2nd stop after Kroger) instead of Casey's (where the ranch flavored corn nuts came from) on our way out to Elmwood. Hailey refused to get the Original or BBQ flavor since the store didn't have Ranch and settled for a push pop sucker instead. We all thought this would be the end of the corn nut drama, however, we were wrong. The child would not stop talking about them. How good they were, how they crunched, and how she was going to get more next weekend while they are here were all brought up numerous times throughout the drive. Never has a 40 minutes drive seemed so long!

Once we got to grandma's house Hailey got distracted by some new toys that were picked up at a garage sale. To my knowledge, there was no mention of corn nuts all afternoon. On our way home was a whole other story. Maybe it was my car (past couple days Matt keeps telling me it smells like corn nuts) or the fact that we were headed back to Pekin. Either way, the corn nut talk came around full circle. The thing that got us adults was that we would be talking about one thing and out of left field, Hailey says " Oh, I just can't wait until next weekend when I get to have corn nuts." We all laughed and went about discussing other things. Then again Hailey with the corn nuts "Hey, Daddy? You're going to get some more of those Ranch Corn nuts before I come back next week, right?!" Talk about a one tracked mind! This happened probably five different times by the time we got back home.

So where does the movie Up come into play you may be asking. Although the kids have seen it, I have not. But from the movie trailer and what the kids have been quoting, Hailey's little corn nut comments remind me of one particular scene in the movie. The dog is talking to the old guy, introducing himself and all the sudden he looks to the left and says "Squirrel!" waits a few seconds and then turns his attention back to the old guy. Up Trailer scene starts 1.17 min

Comparing Hailey's random quirkiness to this scene in the movie makes it all a little more funny (for us anyway).

Guitar Hero Night

Tonight we cracked out Guitar Hero on the XBox 360. I'm not sure how long it has been since that game system was even used, little lone had that particular game played on it. Perhaps playing Guitar Hero Areosmith in Iowa sparked an interest again. Nonetheless, Matt, Lonnie, Hailey and I gave it a go . . . on EASY of course. Hailey did some practice songs to try and get the hang of timing and all. It was a fun night, playing a game we used to play together every weekend over two years ago! Oh the good old days!! :)

Cooling Off

Last time the kids were here, the days were dreadfully hot. We had them outside in the water as much as possible. Hailey loves the water, where as Logan hates it. Don't get me wrong he enjoys playing in a warm bath, but cold water and a sprinkler that sprays is not an option in his mind.

Of course, Matt and I's oldest "child" Xena, had to join in the fun too. I believe she loves the sprinkler and kiddie pool just as much, if not more than the Hailey. I'm certain it is the lab in her, which is why she loves the water so. I don't even want to think about what she would do or what would happen if we took her to a pond and let her off the leash. We'd probably never get her back!
Due to all of Xena water activities, she now has a yeast infection in her ears caused by a combination of her seasonal allergies and moisture getting trapped in her ears. All her aliments (heart worms, allergies, & ears) and medication (don't even get me started) over the past year a lone, are breaking the bank! Oh, the love of an animal :)

As Hailey and Xena ran around taking turns exhausting themselves in the sprinkler, Logan took a hands off approach and barely got his big toe wet in the kiddie pool.

Uncle Matt threatened to throw him down the slip 'n slide and Hailey hugged him with her soaking wet body, just so he could get a few drops of water on him. He didn't like this in the least. I told him to throw a bowl of water on Hailey, and apparently he took it literally. He threw the whole water filled bowl!! Luckily it missed Hailey's head (by inches). Logan managed to muster up some courage to chase Hailey around the yard. She tried her hardest to get him to run over the slip 'n slide during the chase, but Logan knew better. All I can say is that us adults were quite entertained by what we heard and saw. The kids (including Xena) had a blast and that's all that matters! You may be wondering where Halo was during all this. She was nonexistent, the little chicken, staying up on the deck with Mama!