Karen's Korner

Where is Karen????

2009-10-25T00:12:00.003-04:00

I wish I had some really great story about why I seem to have fallen off the bloggy earth.... however, it is a very simple answer....... FACEBOOK!!! I am completely hooked. I have reconnected with friends that I havent spoken to in many many moons. I have seen pictures of their children and spouses, laughed hysterically at old stories and even talked to a few of them on the phone. Very very cool. Along with reconnecting I have built a "cyber Farm"! I have cows, chickens, pigs and sheep. I "plant and harvest" corn, cotton, soy beans, and pumpkins right from my recliner!! My addiction to Jungle Jewels may actually be cause for concern. It has become a sickness. I need intervention!!
Along with my sudden FaceBook frenzy, I have made the decision to do something for myself. We joined the local YMCA and I have taken a very aggressive stance on losing this 20 lbs that have snuck onto my rear in the last 18 months. I am working out and it feels SO GOOD. I am sleeping better and just feel better everyday. If you are like me and keep saying "I need to get in shape, I will start tomorrow", STOP IT!! Do it today! You are worth it! ( I sound like a hair color commercial!).
Since it's been so stinkin long, here's a quick update to get you up to speed......
Malarie is nuts. She is crazy and beautiful and wonderful and out of her mind half the time! She is in cheerleading and gymnastics and takes dance classes at the Y. SHe has attitude of a 15 year old hormonal teen girl but she is only 6. She is growing up way too fast and it makes me sad....
Jimmy has officially become a teenager. He has the attitude and sometimes makes my head spin around in circles on my shoulders. But he is also very handsome and smart (even tho he wont do his homework) and thanks to football, he has quite a little 6-pack in the works! Very scary!!
Jim has been in and out of town as usual. He recently spent 2 weeks working in Angola, Africa and is scheduled to go back for 30 more days next Saturday. The communication while he is there is terrible, so that is tough on us all. But the money cant be beat, so we will get through it....
We all enjoyed a wonderful summer at camp (well, wonderful except for the crappy weather). We all have made some very good friends at camp and look forward to seeing some of them over the winter. My best friend, Jodi, spent most of the weekends in August and September at camp with her twin girls, Kate and Clair. She is such a blessing to me and I was thrilled to have so much time with her all summer long!
So there you have it. I will try to keep popping in here to say hi!!!! If you are on FaceBook, friend me!! I will introduce you to my chickens!!!

Oh The Things You Can Think...!!!

2009-06-10T22:33:00.002-04:00

Each year, the 6th grade class at LongBranch Elementary puts on a musical. This year it was baseon on the story "Horton Hears a Who". Jimmy was so excited to land a pretty big part in the play as Mr. Mayor, the Mayor of Who. He has been practicing and practicing all of his lines and songs for months. Last nite was opening nite and it was spectacular!! I am so proud of Jimmy and all of his classmates!! I am also so impressed with the school for putting on such a huge production! Each and every student in the 6th grade is required to participate in some way. They either have a part, sing in the chorus or do stagehand duties. I think it is such a great thing because it gives the kids a chance to participate in a production that they otherwise might have passed up for fear that it would not be seen as "Cool". I didnt really see 1 child who didnt appear to be enjoying themselves! I have attached a slide show with some pictures. Unfortunately, they are a bit dark, but there's not much I could do about that!!! (Jimmy is the one in the bright yellow hat and striped socks!!!)
WAY TO GO LBE!! YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

My American Idol!!!!!!

2009-05-20T22:10:00.003-04:00

YA HOO!!!! I havent been this excited since Carrie Underwood won 400 years ago!!!! You GO Kris!!!!!

Some rules for April Fools.....

2009-04-07T20:29:00.002-04:00

My daughter is a strange little child. She often comes up with the strangest things from absolutely nowhere. When she woke up at 4am crying her little eyeballs out after a nightmare last Tuesday,I expected there to be some weird story about the monsters having a teaparty in her closet or something... This is what I got....

MOMMY: What happened Peanut? Did you have a bad dream?

Malarie: Yes, Mommy (crying hysterically)!

Mommy: Do you want to talk about it?

Malarie: I was so scared! (Still hysterical). We ate all the ice cream, and they will never make anymore! It is so scary!

Mommy: You ate all the ice cream? Well we will go get more tomorrow.

Malarie: But we CAN'T!! The newspaper said that when we eat it all up, they won't never make anymore!

So, at this point I am thoroughly confused and very VERY amused. Where on earth does she come up with this stuff??

She did finally go back to sleep, but the next nite while we got ready for bed, she started crying AGAIN! Same "ice cream shortage" tragedy. And this went on all week!!

On Thursday nite, my friend Barb came over to watch ER. (Her daughter is in Malaries class). During a commercial break I said "I have got to tell you about this dream that Mal had. It's had her upset all week". And Barb says, "Let me guess, the Ice cream thing, right?" Holy cow!?!? Her daughter has had a similar problem this week but she told her mom where this bazaar idea came from .....

Apparently, the Kindergarten teacher thought it would be fun to play a little April Fools joke on the kids. So she brought in a newspaper and showed the kids an article (they cant quite read it of course). She then wove a tale about how the ice cream makers have decided that they are not ever going to make any more ice cream. So once the ice cream in your freezer is gone, theres no more for you!!

Needless to say, Miss Kindergarten kinda forgot to throw in the part about it being an April Fools trick. I wrote a note last Friday (I probably wasnt the only one...)asking her if she could kindly explain this to the kids and she did. Mal came home and told me how funny her teacher is and what a great joke it was..... If only that little joke hadnt cost me so much sleep....

So, note to teachers everywhere......
If you tell yer students theres not gonna be anymore icecream, make sure you throw the "April Fools" part in too!!!!!!!!

New York City pics

2009-03-29T16:22:00.000-04:00

Our bite of the Big Apple.....

2009-03-26T23:01:00.004-04:00

I am almost 34 years old, have lived alot of my life in Upstate New York, yet I made my first appearance in the Big Apple last weekend. Jim has been working on Long Island for awhile and we thought it would be fun for the kids and I to go spend the weekend there with him.

Our plan was to leave first thing Friday morning, so I had the car packed and ready to go on Thursday evening. When we woke up Friday, Jimmy felt terrible! He was running quite a fever and looked miserable. I mentioned staying home, but both kids made it clear that it wasnt an option, so off we went.

The drive took about 5 1/2 hours. We drove down 81 into PA then cut across toward the city. I was VERY nervous about crossing the Washington Bridge into Manhattan but the rest was a breeze. The actual crossing wasnt so bad. LOTS of TRAFFIC. I couldnt believe how close together these people travel!!! Jimmy curled up in the back with a blanket and pillows and slept for the first few hours. When we got into New Jersey, he came up front to help me navigate. We had a nice time just talking a joking around. We dont spend enough time just by ourselves. He is growing up so fast...

We made it to the hotel at about 2:30. I was STARVING so we went to grab a bite to eat then went back to the hotel and cut the kids loose in the pool. The pool was like bathwater and they swam forever. Jimmy seemed like he was feeling better, but I soon learned that that wasnt true at all.

By Saturday morning, he was REALLY REALLY sick. We had planned to visit the city on Saturday and just be lazy on Sunday, but we had to switch that around. He was in NO condition to go anywhere. So, Malarie kept busy with some things she brought and swam for over 2 hours straight. I swam with her, so I got to spend some quality time with her too. Priceless...

SUnday was a better day. Jimmy woke up feeling much better. He still had a nasty chest cough and felt a little tired, but he wanted to see the city, so we went. Our hotel offered a shuttle to the train station so we went with that. Malarie dubbed the shuttle van the "Donkey Bus" because there was a picture of a donkey in the ad on the bus. Really cute, she's hilarious.

We went from the Donkey bus to the train. The train ride was 1 hour and 20 minutes. The conductor came thru and talked to the kids. He made them a little souvenier out of train tickets. He made it clear that he was NOT the guy from Polar Express!!!

We arrived at Penn Station around noon and were met by one of my oldest friends, Kathy. We were best buds in high school. She lives in that area now and offered to show us around. We hit Times Square first. I was just mesmorized by the huge buildings and people everywhere. Very cool! After Times Square, we hopped on the subway (an experience in itself) and went to visit Ground Zero. This was something I was looking forward to. I felt like I needed to put a scale to the size of the disaster on 9/11. I really wanted to take some time and absorb the enormity of the event. I was greatly disappointed. (Please dont see that as morbid. I wasnt there to gawk, I just needed to see it and feel it). I had been told that there was a Memorial wall set up and an observation platform where you could overlook the site. Unfortunately, the entire area is tarped off and the observation bridge had a completely obstructed view. I guess they need to try to control the access to the area, but I really feel like that site means so much to this country and that if someone travels there to see it, they should see it... Anyways....

We wandered around the area for a while then headed (by foot) to Battery Park. Mal reallllllly wanted to see the "Statue of Liverdy" and it is visible from the park. She thought that was cool.

Next stop was Chinatown/Little Italy. Now THERE"S an experience for ya..... yikes!!! By this time we had been walking for hours and hadnt eaten yet so the kids (and adults) were pretty tired. We finally made it to a little italian place to eat and sit down for a while. That improved our moods ALOT!! After we ate, we told the kids that they could pick out one thing at one of the shops to take home. Mal immediately informed us that she waned the "green hat with the black stripes". HUH??? So I started playing 20 questions and pointing out every hat in every shop up and down the street. Finally I asked her where she saw it and her answer was "the Statue of Liverdy". This confused the heck out of me because there werent any vendors down there. She finally said "The Statue of Liverdy WEARS it Mommy!!!". OH, the CROWN!!!!!!!! DUH!!! Jim immediately rememberd seeing one in Chinatown and after going to MANY stalls, we found it and it cost us all of $2!!!

Jimmy picked out a Statue/Famous building souveiner and we were outta there!!!

Ourlast stop was at the Empire State Building. Jimmy wanted pictures so we went there. I would have loved to take them up to the top but it would have cost us almost $60, yes $60!! to go to the opservation deck. No thank you, we will look from here.

We make it back to Penn Station at about 6:00. Our train was at 6:16 so we didnt have to wait long. Now I dont know how many of you have caught a train at Penn Station, but that too is an experience.... They have a list of all the trains and you have to stand there and just wait for them to post which track your train is at. As soon as the track number pops up everybody runs for the right door. It's like a big cattle drive!! F.U.N.N.Y!!!! And a bit unsettling when you are with 2 kids!!

We had bets going about who would fall asleep first once the train started moving but believe it or not, we all stayed awake for the whole ride back. That was amazing!!!!

Monday morning we had to head home. Just to try something different (and to avoid the city at all costs on a Monday morning) we took the ferry from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport, CT then drove home from there. It's was kinda cool cuz you just drive our car right onto the ferry then get out and go to the upper deck where theres a snack bar, TVs and booths by the window to sit at. Mal colored and Jimmy played his GameBoy. I read a book. Thats the way to travel!!!
The drive home was pretty bad. I was pooped from the previous day, so driving was tough. We go home at about 6pm.

I am so thrilled that my kids got to see all that they did. I am going to put some photos into a slide show and post them.... just not tonite! Stay tuned!!!

Start Spreadin the Flu.....I mean News....

2009-03-21T15:27:00.009-04:00

Jim has been working on Long Island for Panel Built, which is the company he worked for while we lived in Georgia. The kids were out of school this Friday and Monday, so we headed down to see him. We were all very excited to go into NYC to see "the sites". Our plan was to get up early this morning and take the train from our hotel in Long Island to Manhattan. We wanted to visit Ground Zero, The Empire State building, Times Square, and the Statue of Liberty (or "Liverty" as Mal calls it). But so far, these pics show the only sites we have seen..... Jimmy woke up this morning with a 102.5 fever. He is coughing up all sorts of nasty stuff. He is one sick boy. Luckily, the hotel has a great heated pool, so that's kept Malarie happy. We are gonna try again for NYC tomorrow. We have to head home Monday morning.......

Kinda reminds me of our Christmas disaster..... Ya know, my parents come to visit and everyone gets the stomach flu..... Just my luck

On my honor, I will try.......

2009-03-11T21:34:00.005-04:00

Tonite was the Court of Honors ceremony for Jimmy's Boy Scout Troop. His troop is quite large, with about 25 boys. Jimmy received several badges.... Orienteering, Rock Climbing, First Aid and his Joining badge. Not bad for his first ceremony, huh???

I have kinda missed the whole Boy Scout thing so far. Jim is an Eagle Scout so this is definately his "thing". But I really enjoyed the whole thing. One of the boys received his Eagle Scout rank tonite, which is very cool. I had no idea how much these boys put into this.

I also found amazing how far along some of them are, and they appear to be very young. Guess they started early!!!

Way to go Jimmy!! We are really proud of you!!!!

(in both of the photos, Jimmy is on the far right... )

Haircut.. Check. Eyebrow... not yet.....

2009-02-28T23:35:00.006-05:00

This child is just so darn pretty.......If only we could do some
thing with that
eye
brow.........

Guess what we did......

2009-02-26T21:44:00.004-05:00

Malarie has been begging for me to take her to cut her hair. She hates washing it, hates brushing it, hates having it "done". So I gave in and took her..... This is the before..... This is the during... Nina, the lady who does my hair, did the honors. She is fabulous! Mal was not doing very well with the whole "look down and be really still" part. So, I put my head down and Mal put her head on top of mine. It worked, but looked pretty silly... Oh well.....

And these are the after shots. By the time the cut was done, Mal had had about enough, so Nina didnt get to blow it out or curl it or anything. I will play with it tomorrow. BUT , Malarie LOVES her new hairdo!!

Here she is......

I needed a little stress relief today.....

2009-02-12T09:37:00.001-05:00

I've been tagged.......

2009-02-11T20:29:00.002-05:00

So, my friend Robin tagged me so here's how it goes.
1. Go to the 4th picture folder on your computer.
2.Post the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 more bloggers.

As you may expect, Mal is the star of the show......
In this particular shot she is doing the "Mommy Look".

Now the hard part.... I am supposed to tag 4 people. BUT, I think I'm gonna skip that part. This is a REALLY easy one, so if anyone stops by and wants to be "tagged", then by all means.... YOU'RE IT!!!!

A gift for Mom.....

2009-01-31T22:13:00.005-05:00

Jimmy recently started ski club at school. Every Thursday afterschool, the club goes to one of the local (about 45 minutes away) ski slopes and they get home at 9:00pm or so. Because they are gone at dinner time, we give him $$ to get something to eat at the club house. This past week he went to ski club and when he came home he was so excited because he "brought me a surprise". Let me give you the full dialogue......

Jimmy -"Hi, Mom. I got you something!"

Mom (Me) - "Oh really, what is it??"

Jimmy -"it's a surprise, but you are gonna really like it"

Mom (Me) "Well, what is it? Where did you get it? "

Jimmy - "it's a surprise and I got it at the snack bar just for you cuz I know you will love it."

Mom (Me) - "is it food"

Jimmy -"Yup, its a brownie and I got it just for you (he now begins to hand me the plastic wrapped brownie, but just before it gets to my hand he says)
" I bought it just for you...... But there could possibly be a few bites missing...."

i love kids..... : )

I

2009-01-19T20:17:00.005-05:00

...A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.....

Do you have "that friend"? You know the one... The one you can call at all hours of the nite, that knows all your secrets, who knows your family and still comes around anyways??

I have always been envious of people who still have their best friend from 3rd grade (that was for you, R & M) or the best friend who they double dated with at the prom. I think it is so cool that they know your history, all of it....

My dad is lucky enough to have a few of "those" friends. One of his very best is my "Uncle Troy". That pic up top is the two crazy nuts just doin' what they do. They have been friends since forever ago. They were in the NAVY together, stood up at each other's weddings, they got drunk and were in fights and all that stuff. And Troy is my Godfather. When you put these 2 in the same room you will laugh.... ALOT! The stories that come out of their mouths are priceless.

Dad was sifting through a bunch of pics and came across these, so I thought I'd share...... That's me in the middle in the pic below (about 10 years and 20 pounds ago.....)

The hills are alive..........

2008-12-29T22:37:00.004-05:00

I sat here in my big old recliner last nite and watched every last minute of my all time favorite movie.... The Sound of Music!!!!! It has been a long time since I watched it and I so enjoyed it! What I found shocking is that both of my kids, yes, my 12 year old boy too, sat thru the whole thing with me.

Well... Kinda.... We lost Malarie in the last hour or so.

I thought it was so cool that Jimmy sat here with me and even liked it What an absolutely fantabulous movie!! You really should go right out and rent it.!! (I wonder if they have it on DVD.....)

4 Crazy Adults, 3 Furry Dogs, 2 Hyper Kids and a Stomach Flu in Upstate NY....

2008-12-28T00:31:00.009-05:00

It has been a CRAZY 7 days. We have been so excited for the visit from my Mom and StepDad, Larry, for weeks! We hadnt seen them since June, so we were so excited to see them both. They left Georgia on Saturday morning and make it to Carlisle, PA before stopping for the nite. Sunday morning they awoke to to a nasty ice storm and it didnt get much better all the way here

*Note* These 2 are NOT northerners. They lived in Florida until about 10 years ago, then moved to Georgia. So, snow and ice is not the norm for them....

They did make it to our house on Sunday, not too traumatized.... They brought their dog, Chrissy with them, so that caused some excitement! Baylee, out Golden, has a bit of a bad habit. He really , really enjoyed... ummmm.... well.... the art of butt sniffing. Chrissy was not a willing participant.......

We had a nice dinner on Sunday nite and enjoyed each others company. Monday, we got slammed with another foot of snow. The kids had a snow day so everyone was trapped in the house all day, except for me, cuz I was working. By Monday nite, Mom was stir crazy so we braved the storm and went shopping!! Tuesday, things started going down hill... Mom got sick, REALLLLLLY SICK. She was such a trooper, trying so hard to keep going, but she felt terrible.

Wednesday nite we had our big Xmas party. We had about 25 people crammed in here and had a really good time.

Christmas morning hit like a freight train. Both Larry and Jim woke up with the stomach flu. So, now Mom was feeling a bit better, but the men were down for the count. They both spent the entire day in bed (or on the pot). They both missed out on a fabulous prime rib dinner. Poor guys..... The rest of the family enjoyed the day though and the kids had a ball, so I guess thats what counts.

Friday was the first day that everybody felt OK. Mom and I went to the movies to see Marley & Me. I wont say much in case you havent seen it yet, but bring your tissues... THE WHOLE BOX!!!!!

Today ended our visit. They got up at the crack of dawn to hit the road. Malarie (and I) both took their leaving pretty hard. My poor Peanut cried her little eyes out, but finally went back to sleep. She did much better when we got up for the day though. i think the fact that we had to wake her up from a sound sleep to say good bye made it much worse. She would have been furious if we didnt though, so I think it was a lose/lose situation.

Anyway, today was "put the house back together" day. The clutter was making me NUTS!

We are having company again tomorrow. Our neighbors up at camp are coming for dinner. They are wonderful people and Malarie just loves her "Ms. Ida." It will be nice to see them.

I posted some pics. They are kinda random and unorganized at this point, but I've been a little busy!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Special Delivery from the North Pole....

2008-12-04T23:06:00.006-05:00

Our family had a special delivery from Santa today! On our doorstep, we found a package addressed to Jimmy and Malarie, straight from the North Pole!! Inside we found our new friend "Speedy Red Elf"(we got to name him ourselves!!) Speedy came with a book that told us the story of the Elf on the SHelf. Apparently, Santy sends his special scout elves to boys and girls all over the world to help him know who is naughty and who is nice. Every nite, while we are fast asleep the elf uses his magic to go back to the North Pole to report in to Santy. And every morning when we get up the Elf is back, in a new "hiding place" and we have to find him!!! On Xmas Eve, when Santy comes, the Elf will go back to the North Pole and stay there until just after Thanksgiving next year! Is this FUN or what!!!!
I am so excited about this new tradition! Only one little issue that we are dealing with.... When I first read the book to Mal, she cried when I read the part about Speedy Elf going back to the North Pole after Xmas. ( I mean she REALLLY cried!!) Then she sat with her Daddy and read it again before bed and dont ya know, she got all worked up again!!! She is not a fan of the part about him going away...... We are gonna have to work on that one....
You can check out the website here.

A new addition to the family....

2008-12-03T21:49:00.003-05:00

Please allow me to introduce the newest member of our family. My sister gave birth to Miss Megan Lynn at 12:16pm today!! Both Mom and baby are doing great! She is pictured here with her proud big sister, Madison!!

Welcome to the world Megan!!

AUNT

The Multi Poster....

2008-11-29T15:39:00.016-05:00

I have several things to share today, probably because I havent posted in 2 weeks. So I'm just gonna post it all!

Thanksgiving was a complete success (with a few speedbumps). I cooked dinner here for 8. Everything came out great, which NEVER happens! I think I just might be getting good at this!!! After dinner, we celebrated my father in laws birthday. I made a Black Forest cake, which was also fabulous, if I do say so myself.... Then we gathered around the table for a good game of chicken feet!!! It really was a great day....

Today was Christmas Tree Assembly Day in the Santy house. Jimmy spent the nite at a friends house and apparently stayed up till 4 am. So, he wasnt too interested. In fact, he went to bed.... Jim was fixing the sink (which conviently blew a pipe on Thanksgiving Day while I was mashing potatos, Dad was making gravy and Jim was carving the Turkey. Oh, good times!! Did I mention that the power also went out??) So, Mal and I did the tree trimming honors all by ourselves and that was just fine. I little girl power goes a LONG way!!
So, the tree is up, the manger is set, and santa is hanging in the window! Next up is the outside lites, but that is DEFINATELY up to the boys!

My Dad bought a new car this week. Pretty Huh???. He has been "threatening" to go buy a car for a LONG time, but he finally did it! Some might say that this was a strange choice for a 60ish year old guy, but I say it's perfect!! And watching him drive this thing was almost as exciting as watching the kids at Christmas! He LOVES it!!! What a cool car! Way to go Dad!! (Now go buy me one!)

We have had alot of our out of town family and friends ask if we have had any snow yet...... The answer is.. YES!! See, here's some for ya!!!

So, I think that does it. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Now bring on the candy canes!!

CAUTION...Prepare to wet your britches....

2008-11-15T23:36:00.002-05:00

This link to youtube was sent to me by my mother today. Can you imagine this at your next family reunion?????

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=pt9lErsLafw

9 Years ago today...............

2008-11-13T14:35:00.010-05:00

We really had the BEST wedding! It was so much fun. We were married in the same church that my parents were married in years ago and by the brother of the priest who married them. (did you follow that???) Our wedding party was wonderful. We each had 6 friends standing up for us. 2 of Jims attendants were girls. They wore tux tops and black skirts. They looked great! It was a catholic ceremony (though not a full mass), and it seemed to go on forever. It really was beautiful though. Our reception was an all out P.A.R.T.Y!!!! We had it at big hotel so our guests and of course ourselves, could stay the nite there and not drive. (an excellent move, by the way). It was a dream wedding and I loved every minute.

Life since then has brought some ups and downs. But together, we have made it thru.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, JIM!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Chicken Riggies!!!

2008-11-09T18:05:00.001-05:00

Not much exciting going on around here, so I thought I'd just share a recipe that I tried for the first time this weekend. IT WAS YUMMY!!!!! (Thanks Ida!!)

Chicken Riggies

1 teaspoon Garlic
4 tablespoons Butter
1.5 lbs boneless ck breast (cut in bite sized pieces)
Chopped onion (I used 1 whole onion)
Green and Red Peppers (1 of each)
1 cup Marinara Sauce
2 cups (1 can) Chicken broth
¼ teaspoon salt/pepper
½ pint heavy cream
Hot Cherry Peppers (I only used 3, come in a jar)
Black Olives cut in quarters (I don’t like them, didn’t use any)
¾ cup white wine
1 8oz. Romano cheese
1 ½ tablespoon cornstarch
1 ½ tablespoon water
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 lb rigatoni

In large fry pan melt butter and add chicken. Cook till browned. Add onions & peppers, cook till soft. Add Hot peppers, mushrooms and olives, cook 4-5 minutes.
Add Marinara sauce, chicken broth, heavy cream, salt/pepper, garlic and wine. Bring to a boil, lower heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Dissolve cornstarch in water, wtir into chicken mixture until sauce thickens a little. Add ¾ of Romano cheese. Add cooked Rigatoni. Top with romano cheese. YUMMY

(*I make this pretty mild so Malarie and I can eat it too. If you like spicy, go heavy on the hot peppers!!!!)

A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes.....

2008-10-25T20:07:00.007-04:00

Today
we
celebrated
Malarie's
5th
birthday
with an
enchanted
princess
party! The
princesses
all arrived and were swept into the Royal Boutique
where they were pampered with beautiful hairdos,
polished nails and pretty makeup. Then they all dressed in princess dresses!
We frosted cookies, played some games and had a princess parade with glowing magic wands! It was my favorite part of the day. Our friend Steph made Malarie's cake and it was so pretty!!

The Girls all had a wonderful time and were exausted by the end of the day. (and I am ready to drop !!!)
It was by far my favorite birthday party yet!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS MALARIE!!!

This one's for you , Ruthie.....

2008-10-17T17:57:00.007-04:00

Tomorrow marks 2 years since the passing of my grandmother. It amazes me how it can seem like such a long time has passed, yet it still feels like only yesterday. I was blessed to have an incredible relationship with my grandparents. But tonite I want to honor her........

For as long as I can remember, she was one of my biggest cheerleaders. When I was little she was so interested in what I was doing and wanted to know all about my friends. As I got older, she wanted to know about the boys, but never pushed too hard.

I always felt how proud she was of me. First she was proud of me as a dancer and as a student, then as a young woman and a mother. She never passed up an opportunity to tell me that I was a wonderful mother. I honestly think she believed that I did no wrong....
She was a fantastic cook. And she LOVED to feed EVERYBODY!! I have such precious memories of standing on a chair at the counter making cookies.

Because I moved to Florida with my Mom at age 8, I didnt see her very often. I did spend 2 weeks at Christmas and 2 months in the summer with Gram and Gramp and my Dad at the lake . I looked so forward to those times because it was all about me and what kid doesnt love that!!

My Grandmother was an amazing example. She was so very strong yet so very kind. She cherished her family every day of her life, even on the hard days. She could sit and listen to my Dad and I joke and laugh for hours. She thought we were just hysterical. BUT she once threw a biscuit across the dinner table at my Dad for teasing me. She never left the house without her lipstick and was always dressed just right. She made us close the curtains when we had a family game of poker!! She made me believe that Ms. Manners actually did sit on my shoulder. Somehow she always caught Gramp and I when we snuck into the kitchen for a big bowl of ice cream long after she was "asleep". She loved to brush my hair. I dont think she ever, EVER missed an episode of The Young & the Restless (she called it "her story). Her favorite color was turquoise (which is apparent in the photos...) She always sang "I Love You a Bushel and a Peck" with me, even when I was all grown up. She loved to dance around and often kidded that she could do the CanCan. She wore those wedge heeled nurse type shoes all the time, even in the house. She let my Dad bring his cat to their house when I was visiting one summer and never gave her back..... She skipped thru the mall with me on more that one occasion. She slipped me $20 on a regular basis without telling Gramp (what she didnt know is that he did the same thing!!). She loved to drink Manhattans. Her favorite music was hawaiian. She loved my children more that life itself. To see her holding my daughter took my breath away.

I have more memories than I know what to do with and most times they pass thru my head and then I just go about my day. But tonite and all day tomorrow, she will be on my mind.

I love you Gram, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck

You bet your pretty neck I do..................

An oldie but a goodie.......

2008-10-16T22:27:00.009-04:00

This is Heid's of Liverpool. It's a little
hotdog joint in the heart of
Liverpool and it's been here F.O.R.E.V.E.R!! In fact my grandfather worked here a very long time ago. I mean REALLY long time ago. My grandparents lived on Pearl Street when my father was young. It was just down the street from Heid's.

Last weekend, we took the kids for a nice "family day" outside. Afterall, living in Upstate Ny, we only have a few of these days left till the snow starts flying. We hit the park where they rollerbladed, rode their bikes and hit the fantastic playground. Afterwards we headed across the street to Heid's for dinner

Sitting under that awning outside, munching on a hotdog made it so easy to go back in time. The radio was playing oldies and I could almost see my Grandmother sitting on the hood of an old Chevy flirting with my Grandpa. There is so much history at this place. The menu board is still one of those old ones with the slots that you snapped the letters into! Sharing the same parking lot is Sweet Treats. It's an ice cream parlor now, but long ago it was a little bowling alley. I believe my Dad said when he was a kid he bowled here and it had 8 lanes!!
If you are interested in reading a little history about our very own Liverpool, NY Click here

Down on the farm....

2008-10-11T21:48:00.007-04:00

We had the great pleasure of attending the wedding of one of my co-workers this weekend. They chose to be married on the bride's family farm just outside of Lake George, NY. The day, the weekend for that matter, could not have been more beautiful!! Bright blue skies without a cloud to be seen and the leaves are just so vibrant!! The temps were close to 70.

It definately was not your average wedding. It was very small and they threw in all sorts of things you werent expecting. The bridal party wore formal on top and blue jeans on the bottom! And the party entered to Keith Urban's song "Blue Jeans". They exchanged their vows in front of a gorgeous backdrop of red, yellow, and orange trees. Beautiful!!

The surprises dept on coming. Their first dance started out with Broken Road, but soon turned into the most entertaining first dance I've ever seen!! There was a little Michael Jackson, some "Baby Got Back" and many other assorted goodies. Laura, the bride, and her father had a traditional first dance, but we cant say the same for the groom and him mother! They entered to the electric guitar opening of "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns N Roses! They were both in full costume with bandanas and blow up guitars!. Absolutely fantastic! The food was great, the company was great and we had a wonderful time!!

It was also a nice weekend for us because the kids stayed home with my mother in law so we were childless for 2 whole days! That doesnt happen often! We left after work on Thursday and got to our hotel at about 11:00pm. Friday morning we got up and had breakfast and waited for another of our co-worker to meet up with us. The wedding was at 12:00pm. Friday nite we just hung out at our hotel then got up this morning and wandered around the outlet mall for a few hours.

We made it home at about 5pm this afternoon. The kids were happy to see us and so was the mom in law!!!

Thank you, Laura and Fred, for including us in your special day. Jim and I both agree that is was one of the most beautiful weddings we've seen and were so happy to be a part of it.

CONGRATS !!!!!!!!!

Oh how they sparkle.....

2008-10-03T22:34:00.016-04:00

I am not by any means a jewerly girl. Never before have I been one to go ga ga over a sparkly necklace and I've never said "He went to Jarods"!! This may be because I have spent the past 12 years working in scurbs in a dental office. You just dont wear dangle earrings with scrubs, ya know!! I have my wedding ring, my mom's ring and the necklace my grandfather made me and that's it. I wear them always. But, now that I am at the administrative end of the dental office and am wearing "business attire", I think it may be time to expand my horizons....... About a month ago, I came across a Lia Sophia rep. She was actually set up in the office up at our camp. We set up a date for a home show and last nite was the big nite.

We had about 8 girls were here. We played some games , got to model the jewerly and laughed a TON! I really enjoyed myself and hope everyone else did too!!!

Thank You, Queen Bee!!!

2008-09-26T22:28:00.002-04:00

Let me be the first to welcome you to the NEW Karen's Korner!!! For as long as I've been here, I've had a very basic, generic template. But thanks to my bloggy friend, Queen Bee, I have this new, very stylish look!!! Very cool!! Now everybody buzz on over and visit her hive!!!! Thanks a bunch!!

Farewell, my friend....

2008-09-22T21:27:00.003-04:00

This is Mike. Mike was a gift to me from my husband, before he was my husband... Jim always jokes that it is the one thing that he has bought me in the last 13 years, that I actually like! Even though I am a grown woman, I still sleep with a teddybear. At least I did till tonite..... This is what is left of my friend Mike.... Molly Lou (our little rat terrier) has always taken a liking to my bear friend. She sometimes dragged him around the house, tossed him around a bit. She did not, however, remove his eyeballs or take the stufing out of his head. Tonite, Mike met Baylee. Baylee R.E.A.L.L.Y liked Mike.... ALOT.

So, rest in peace Mr Mike. It's been a great ride.... Rest in peace...........

This one's for you, Ma!!!

2008-09-18T22:08:00.003-04:00

I think hummingbirds are so fun to watch. When we were in GA, it wasnt at all out of the ordinary to see them flitting (is that a word...) around on Moms deck. They are so tiny and FAST!!
Anyways, I was catching a little flack from Mom because I havent updated my blog lately. So she suggested that I share this pic with you. It's a WHITE Hummingbird. I didnt know there was such a thing, but here is a pic that she took on her deck the other day. Sure wish I could have seen this in person. Cool, huh??
There ya go, Mom. I promise to post pics of Jimmy playing his saxaphone (yes ladies and gents, my 12 year old now "plays" the sax) this weekend...
Love ya!!! (Now, get yourself a google account so you can comment here about what a spectacular daughter I am! Go ahead, do it already!!!)

How time flies.......

2008-09-04T21:01:00.017-04:00

Can someone tell me how we got here....

Cuz I'm pretty sure that it was just yesterday, I was changing their diapers!!

Happy Very First Day of School Peanut!! And Happy first day of

6th Grade to you, Jimmy. I am so proud to be your Mom......

.........Your baby blues, so full of wonder
Your curly cues, your contagious smile
And as I watch, you start to grow up
All I can do is hold you tight

Knowing clouds will rage
And storms will race in but you will be safe in my arms
Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around
But you will be safe in my arms

Story books full of fairy tales

Of kings and queens and the bluest skies

My heart is torn just in knowing

you'll someday see the truth from lies

When the clouds will rage

And storms will race in but you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down, waves will crash all around

But you will be safe in my arms

Castles they might crumble
Dreams may not come true
But you are never all alone
Because I will always, always love you ......

......... "In my Arms", Plumb ...............

This pic needs a caption.. Any ideas???

2008-08-25T20:15:00.001-04:00

Pick Me! Pick Me! Oh, you already did....

2008-08-14T22:45:00.005-04:00

Okay dokey! I have been blog tagged. Heres how it goes...
First you post the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you. That would be Melissa
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks you possess.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

So, you want 6 unspectacular quirks about me, huh! I dont know which ones to pick... Just ask my husband, there are so many....
1. when we go out to eat, I have to "clear" the table when we are done. I scrape all the leftovers onto one plate or bowl then stack the plates neatly. All the silverware goes into a cup or on the plate. This drives my hubby batty.
2. I hate, HATE repetitive noises. Ticking clocks are the enemy. They do not live in my house. Same with dripping water, and that insane BOOM BOOM BOOM bass music! Ugggggggggg!
3. I cannot sleep without a fan on in the room. It doesnt matter if it's 90 degrees or -10 below. The fan must be on . I actually travel with a box fan. The people at hotels think I'm crazy when I walk thru the lobby with it, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
4. I love all furry creatures. It's a sickness really. If I see a stray cat or dog and have to walk away from it, it haunts me. I think about it for days and days. It is not a a good thing.
5. I have a horrible fear that one of my children will get locked in a hot car in the summertime. This is ridiculous at this point because they are both beyond old enough to get out of a car if necessary. However, I still have a reocccurring nightmare that Jimmy is in his seatbelt, I have just buckled Malarie into her seat and am walking around to the drivers side when men in a white van pull up and mommynap me. They take me to a cemetary where I escape by running thru the cemetary and end up at my Moms house. (Mom, by the way, lives NOWHERE near a cemetary) I run inside to tell her we have to go save the kids but she is on the phone so I steal her keys and drive to the grocery store where my children are both still in the car looking like tomatos and screaming their heads off. Lovely, yes??
6. I always creep forward at traffic lights. This also drives my hubby nuts. I have this stupid belief that the light will turn green faster if I sneak up on it... Go figure.

So now I have a problem.... I have to tag 6 more bloggers. Trouble is that I dont know if I know 6 bloggers that havent already been tagged... So, if I tag you and you dont have a clue who I am.. My name is Karen and I obviously need more friends, so are you available???? (by the way, those who are tagged, I read your blogs on a very regular basis, so I know you, you just might not know me.....)

Stretch Marks

7 Clown Circus

simply Anonymom

DeeDee's Diary

I give up, so here's a few more tags who are already tagged but have some great tag posts, so check them out too....

Melissa

Robin

JACKPOT!!!

2008-08-08T15:31:00.004-04:00

I am a lover of yard sales. I could go from one to another all day long. I assume that this came directly from growing up in a home with my mother. Mom is unreal, she can spot a bargin from miles away. When we were kids we used to say that she had antennas that came out of her head when we entered the mall. If you listened real carefully, you could almost hear the beep beep beep of the alarms going off in her head when a sale was near...

Anyway, this morning on the way to the sitters, I passed a sign for a neighborhood sale. So I dropped Mal off and decided to just take a "quick" run down the street..... The first several were not so great. I was ready to quit and head to work when I hit the JACKPOT!!

Quite frankly, I am too cheap to pay full price for Old Navy, Gap etc, especially for the kids who will wear them for 3 months and then grow out of them. So if I come across a pair of Gap jeans or an Old Navy dress at a yard sale or the thrift store, I feel pretty good.

I walked up to the table that she had set out and they were all beautifully organized by size. All so neatly folded and layed out all pretty. I could see that it was all good stuff but there were no prices on anything.... I saw a hanging rack with some dresses and went to check them out. They were very nice, all name brand AND they were all marked $1.00!! As if that wasnt enough, they were also all in the right size for Mal. I picked up about 12 dresses and went back to the tables. The garage sale lady (who was my very favorite person of the day today) then told me that all the clothes on the table were 5 for $2 or I could fill a grocery bag for $5, if I wanted that much. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Could I fill a bag? That sounded like a challange to me. I filled 2! The beautifully arranged table was no more. I looked at every single thing she had, and took most of it. I also got a brand new lunch box and a new game, plus 2 pair of pretty little girl shoes.

So, heres a pic of all my treasures. Is it abnormal to be this excited about getting a good deal? (And NO the cat wasnt included....)

On a serious note.........

2008-08-04T20:35:00.006-04:00

Blogging is a platform for many things. I usually keep it pretty light, but tonite, I'm getting serious.

We have adopted a great dog, Baylee. We got him from a breeder on Saturday evening and we are over the moon about adding him to our family. Before Baylee, there was another puppy that we brought home. His name was Plato. I found him online, thru Petfinder.com. According to the website, he was 6mo old, housebroken and up to date on all shots. Jim went to "meet" Plato while the kids and I were in GA and found him to be a beautiful dog. I contacted the lady that runs the rescue, submitted an application and was approved, because in her words "she got a great referance from our vet in Georgia" (same vet that ALL of our furry children have seen for the past 10 years). So we set up a home visit for Thursday evening @ 5:30pm. At 5:20, Jimmy was sitting outside waiting to meet his new dog. 5:30 came and went, as did 6:30. I tried to call her several times and email too. She didnt show and Jimmy was SO disappointed. She called at 10:15pm and said she got mixed up, she was sorry. We set up a second home visit for the following day, between 2:30 and 3:00. At about 3:30, she showed up with the pup. He was definately beautiful. Very, gentle and very low key. She hung out here for a while and eventually we signed a contract and paid her for the dog.
That evening, we took him for a walk around the block then just hung out around the house. Plato seemed to be having some trouble. He kept peeing all over the house. So, we started taking him out every 30 minutes, still he kept peeing so we crated him. We also noticed that Plato was always panting and was drinking an excessive amount of water (probably why he was peeing so much...) and had really loose poop (the lady told us he had diarreha the day before "probably from the heat outside". she sent him some meds). He stayed in the crate overnite and the next morning I got up to let him out. He came out very slowly and seemed to have problems going down the front steps. We were planning on heading up to camp first thing in the AM, but something was clearly not right with the dog, so I called the local vet and we took him to the first available appointment at 9:30am. The Dr was concerned with the combo of the dogs symptoms... Loose poo, frequent urination, excessive thirst and swollen joint. The Dr couldnt rule out that the leg was traumatic, but he felt it was more likely an autoimmune disease. He wanted to run a bunch of tests that would have cost us upwards of $500. We were also informed that the dog had never had his rabies shot. (The ad CLEARLY states the "this dog is up to date on all routine shots") Rabies is as routine as it gets in my opinion...... At this point, I called the Rescue woman. I informed her of the Dr's findings and she stated first that the Dr was jumping the gun, then said "then I'm taking the dog back. I will refund your money". AND THAT IS A DIRECT QUOTE. She offered, I didnt ask her to take him back, though that is what we felt was fair. She told me where to meet her and when. At this point, the kids were so upset. how do you explain this to a 5 year old?? Not to mention Jimmy. We took the dog to the meeting place and again waited for her, she told me she'd be there at 12:00 and showed up at 12:45.... She was rude and hateful. She handed me our money and I gave her all the dogs paperwork. Then we gave her the dog and drove away.

As could be expected, both kids were devastated. We came home and I got back online looking again. At about 5:00, I came across a listing for a 1 year old Golden that needed a home. I talked it over with Jim and at 5:30 called the breeder that had the dog. She said we could come over whenever we wanted, so we loaded up and drove the 40 minutes to get there. Jimmy took to him imediately so we took him home. (Just for the record, this one actually IS housebroken and DOES have all his shots....).

Fastforward to today..... This morning, I got a call from "the rescue lady". In short, she informed me that we are "devious and we are liars." She has decided that we injured her dog and then sent him back to her because we didnt want to have him treated. Can someone please explain to me why I had that dog at the vet at 9:30 on a Saturday morning if we didnt care to take care of him??? We only chose to return him to her after we discovered that he needed massive amounts of testing to find out what health problems he had.
We were given the impression that we were taking a healthy puppy into our home. One who had all of his vaccinations and was safe to have around our other animals and our children. If we want to call someone devious, how about the lady that told us he was healthy, housebroken etc..... How are we to know that she didnt know he was sick and let us take him knowing that we would get him help????
Tonite, Jim called her to discuss the accusations that she has thrown out there. Jim never once raised his voice. He used his manners and even called her Ma'am. She , in return,has threatened to hold us to our contract. She claims that she is getting a lawyer, blah blah blah.... Then, like any mature woman would, she hung up on him.

I say, fine, show me where we did something wrong!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love my animals, they are my furry children. They sleep in our beds, under the covers. They go where we go... ALWAYS! I am "that person" that stops in the middle of the road to rescue a turtle before it gets hit. I cried the day Molly got a squirrel and I had to bury it in the backyard. We did nothing to hurt that dog. We would do nothing to hurt ANY dog. And if an animal was injured in our presense, we would take care of it.

We are good people. We are honest people and we are nice people. So, if she chooses to drag us thru the mud over this bologna, that's fine, we will come up clean.

We have done NOTHING WRONG..........

*Note... Our "friendly" rescue lady has apparently been frequenting this blog, so please feel free to say "Hi" to her ladies.....

Some more pics of Baylee....

2008-08-03T22:17:00.005-04:00

We took Baylee, Molly Lou and the kids out to the lake to visit with my Dad for a little while this afternoon. They all had a great time.

Baylee is fitting in very nicely with our family. He slept in Jimmy's room last nite. We had to separate the 2 dogs for nitetime because Baylee is not "fixed" yet and has some ideas about what he might like to do with Little Molly Lou..... he is getting snipped VERY soon.....

Because I didnt have enough to do....

2008-08-02T20:14:00.003-04:00

Meet Baylee Santy. 1 year old pure bred Golden Retriever.

Your kidding me, right??

2008-07-31T15:19:00.011-04:00

So, I'm in the grocery store just wandering around filling my cart (no kids by the way... I shop really slow when I am kidless....). Anyway, I got a new chip dip recipe from one of neices last week and wanted to make it (I'll put the recipe at the end... YUMMY!!) So I needed some tortilla chips and headed to the chip aisle... Here's where it gets strange... All over the place are these little laminated signs (yup, laminated!) they said....

Attention All Customers:

Due to the potato chip shortage the availability of chips is limited.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Seriously??? Potato chip shortage??? Huh??? I could see wanting to apologize if there was a deodorant shortage or maybe a milk shortage but POTATO CHIPS!?!?!? This is becoming a strange strange world............

Jalapeno Ranch Dip

*I envelope Hidden Valley Ranch dry mix (the one you add Mayo and milk to)

*1 Cup Mayo

*1 Cup Milk

*Cilantro (I use quite a bit, cant be more specific, sorry)

* Japaleno slices ( I use about 12 -14 slices)

Place all ingredients in blender and let it rip!

(Use the Japs and Cilantro to your taste)

Eat on tortilla chips

Coon Terrorists - Part 2

2008-07-29T22:53:00.004-04:00

We've received new information on the Coon Terrorist Clan. Several of the nasty varmants remain in custody at the local "jail". Law enforcement believes that there are more on the loose. If you see any suspicious Racoon behavior do not approach the critter. They are armed and dangerous (well, they do have very sharp teeth and those beady eyes!) Call 1-800-GET-COON immediately (not really...) We will keep you posted as the story develops.....

(So Melissa, whats the real story with the coons? Did ya get any??)

Breaking News!! THIS JUST IN!!!!

2008-07-28T23:18:00.007-04:00

Terrorist Racoons have surrendered after a 12 hour standoff in Palatka, FL. Last nite, a band of blood thirsty coons brought tragedy to the Botley's chicken coop! But after drastic measures were taken by the egg loving chicken farmers, the Coons came out with their paws up. The beasts will be arrained tomorrow and are expected to stand trial in the coming months. Stay tuned for more on this breaking story.

(and if you have no idea what I'm

talking about, please visit http://www.melissabotley.blogspot.com/ )

UPDATE!!

Mamma Mia!!!

2008-07-28T20:54:00.004-04:00

I got the pleasure of spending the entire afternoon all alone with my Mom. That does not happen often! We went to see the movie "Mamma Mia". For those of you who dont know, Mamma Mia is a musical set to the music of ABBA. Now some of you may be ABBA fans from way back, but not me... I know a few of the classics, like Dancing Queen and Winner Takes it All, but that was about it. BUT I really enjoyed the whole thing. It, as most musicals tend to be, was very corny, cheesy, silly, but I thought it was great and so did mom. It was very funny and made you want to jump up and sing along. I would recommend seeing it (but leave the husbands at home!!). There was one song that really caught me. It was "Slipping through my fingers". and the scene was the mother helping her daughter get ready on her wedding day. Now, maybe it was because I was sitting right next to my mother, or maybe it is because I am a mother to a little girl myself, but that song really hit me. I added it to my playlist if anyone wants to listen....

After the movie we went to a few consignment shops and did a little shopping. Shopping with Mom is always great. We go back to NY tomorrow, so it was nice to get her all to myself for a few hours. Gonna miss you Mom....................

$10 well spent......

2008-07-25T21:30:00.005-04:00

I went shopping at The Dollar General the other day (for laundry soap) and saw this slip n slide on the shelf. I thought to my self, "Self, that thing could be alot of fun for the cousins to play on this week." So I put it in my cart (with $27 worth of other meaningless stuff) and brought it home to Moms. It was a hit!!!! The 3 youngest kids (ages 2, 4 and 6) LOVED IT!!!! It was $10 ( about $9.25 was for the licensing cuz it's Diego, and then there's about $.75 worth of plastic). We plugged it into the hose and let them loose! They had a ball!! It was kinda funny to watch because the three of us (me and my sisters) had one when we were kids. Ours was bright yellow and about 10 feet longer than this one but it was the same idea anyways. It was fun to watch our kids doing the same thing we did 25 years ago..... (suddenly feeling old.....). Here's some pics. The little boy is Jake (Pam's son, he's 2), the girl in the red, white and blue is Malarie (she's mine, she's 4) and the oldest girl is Madison (Nikki's daughter, she's 6). Jimmy (my son, age 11) was entirely too cool to "slip" on a Diego slide" so he's inside watching The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.......

The 3 Sis-kateers

2008-07-22T19:19:00.006-04:00

Nikki, Pam and Me (Karen) in that order.

Another crazy day!!

2008-07-21T23:00:00.009-04:00

This is the kids on the way home

Malarie, Madison and Jakes legs

Here's some pictures from our adventures today. We all piled into Mom's SUV and headed for Cleveland, GA to see the Babyland General Hospital (where Cabbage Patch Kids are born). It is set up like a real hospital. There's a nurses station, a nursery and all sort of other cool stuff. While we were there we got to see a CPK be born. THey paged the "doctor" to the cabbage patch then gather everyone around. The Dr told us all about the history of the CPKs. They "Mother Cabbage" gave birth to a brand new baby !! Malarie thought that was very cool, it was really very cute. Mal and Madison both got to pick out new babies to take home. Malarie chose twins named Paulina and Abbie. Madison picked a newborn and named her Laura. I feel like we rushed through it to fast today and would like to take Mal back and take our time sometime soon. We hit Applebees for lunch then went to Monkey Joes. That place is such fun! It's a huge room filled with inflatable slides and bounce houses! The kids ran wild for almost 3 hours. They had a blast. By 5:00,we were ready to head home. Our 3 youngest were sound asleep in no time. Tomorrow we are laying low. We've gone nonstop for days now and it's time for a break!!! Here's a few pics.....

Family Reunion 2008

2008-07-20T22:43:00.006-04:00

We are all gathered here at Mom and Larry's in the North Georgia Mountains. Me and my kids, my sister Pam, her hubby, their 2 year old, JAKE and Pams 2 step daughters, TARA AND KRISTI. Then there's my other sister, Nikki with her daughter, Madison (and Nikki is pregnant, due in December.) Also joining us are my Aunt Kay and Uncle Bobby with their granddaughter, and my cousin Rob and his wife LIsa. F-U-L-L HOUSE!! THere are bodies everywhere and it's great! Tonite we cooked out, just burgers and hotdogs. The kids are running wild all over the place!! Tomorrow, we are heading to Cleveland, GA to see the Cabbage Patch Kids Hospital and also hit Monkey Joes. Monkey Joes is a big warehouse full of inflatable slides, bounce houses, etc.... The kids can literally bounce off the walls for a few hours! I will be sure to post some pics tomorrow nite (if I live thru the day that is.....)

*note* the pic above is Autumn,(my cousins daughter) Mal and Jimmy(my rugrats), and Nikki's daughter, Madison

A real "Feel Good" law...

2008-07-18T11:31:00.005-04:00

We are in Georgia visiting my Mom and Larry for the next 12 days (more on that later). What I want to tell you is what happened when we stopped at a gas station on the way home from the airport. Now I understand the ID under 30 thing. But down here, it seems that they ID EVERYBODY. Let me set this up for you.... My sister (who is 20 weeks pregant), her 6 year old daughter, my 2 kids, me, Mom and Larry all went into the gas station to go potty and get some snacks. The kids were pretty wild, running around, all excited. We each got a bag of chips and a drink or something and Mom picked up a 12 pack of beer. She set the beer on the counter (amongst the chips and Bug Juice) and was then asked for ID. Now maybe you are saying "well thats the law, they have to ID", but do you not find it just a bit amusing that a 50 something woman, surrounded by her grown daughters and grandchildren gets ID'd for a 12 pack of beer. I found it quite hysterical...... Probably made Mom feel pretty good too.... : )

A funny story....

2008-07-12T23:45:00.002-04:00

Today, for some reason, I am very sore. Could it be because I painted nonstop for 3 days?? Yes, I think that might be it... Anyway, I was looking for an icepack to slap on my neck and was reminded of a story from back in my "crazy days". This is very random but I got a real chuckle out of the memory so I thought I'd share....
My long time, very best friend, Jodi and I were both working at The Ground Round. We often worked the same shift and rode together. This was one of those nites. We got out of work and headed to her apartment out in the boone docks. It was a big house with a few apartments, she lived upstairs. When we got there, the people that lived downstairs were having a bonfire so we went out to say hi. *Note* We had not had ANYTHING to drink that evening (very important). I decided that I had to go potty so I headed upstairs to take care of business. When I got to the top of the staircase Jodi's dog was running around crazy (she is a pomeranian, nutty dog). Somehow, she got under my feet and down the stairs I went. Something in my knee went SNAP on the way down. So now I am at the bottom of the stairs, in the apartment by myself and the music in the back yard is LOUD! I couldnt walk on it so I hollered out the door to some people to go get Jodi. She came running but so did most of the party (they were definately drinking.. ALOT). By now my knee was swelling up like a watermelon. "Lucky for me" one of the quite intoxicated party-goers was an EMT in training. So, before I knew it, I was in my best friends living room with a bag of frozen peas on my leg. "Mr. EMT then decided that I needed a splint so I didnt bend my knee. From somewhere somebody came up with a cardboard box. In the blink of an eye, the cardboard was made into a splint that was then duct taped to my leg... along with the bag of quickly defrosting peas. So, to recap.... I am now in a Ground Round uniform with a cardboard box and frozen veggies taped to my leg. And in case you missed it, I still havent gone potty!!!! The girl party goers made it their mission to get me to pee before Jodi took me to the ER. I will let your mind run with that one.......
Now that my business is done we somehow manage to get my duct taped butt down the stairs. (Not so hard with 25 people there to "help"). Our initial plan was to take my K-car but since the passenger door was broken we couldnt get me in there, cardboard box and all. So we took Jodi's hatchback instead, BRILLIANT IDEA!! Off to the ER we go.... Now we are within eyesight of the hospital and the blue lights go on behind us. Yup, pulled over. Can you imagine the delight of this cop and she came to the window? I was in the backseat with my cardboard leg stuck up thru the 2 front seats..... She asked for Jodi's lisense and registration, and here's where it gets really interesting..... the cop came back and tells Jodi to step out of the car. While they are outside, the cop tells her that she has a WARRANT OUT FOR HER ARREST!!!!! She somehow talked the cop into following us over to the hospital so I could get some help and she agreed. Jodi did not tell me what was going on, she just took me inside and said the cop needed more info. So I sat in the waiting room, frozen peas and all, all by myself, thinking all the while that she was getting a speeding ticket. Turns out that the cop actually arrests her, but allows her to come inside to say goodbye to me, IN HANDCUFFS!!!! She called my dad, told him to come get me and was hauled of to the local station!! Turned out it was all a mix up, but what an exciting evening!!!!!
*Note* The nice people in the ER gave me a real ice pack and a knee brace to wear. Wasnt that nice of them?? And it turned out that it was just a bad sprain, no permanent damage...... : )

The joys of home ownership....

2008-07-10T22:42:00.006-04:00

SO, we all now know that our family has moved into our new home. Since the minute I got the keys in my hands I have been planning and planning everything. I've been looking at magazines, sorting thru billions of paint samples, just getting ready!!! So now, it's time. I went last nite and bought a 2 gallon can of primer and the paint for the kids playroom. Got all the rollers, brushes etc.... and now I have a newsflash for you.....

I HATE PAINTING I love the finished product, but

getting there is a killer! i swear you use more muscles pushing a

roller around the wall than you do in a Buns of Steel workout

video!!!

That being said, who wants to come over and paint my house? Anyone? Anyone? Is this thing on????

Home at last......

2008-07-07T20:12:00.003-04:00

After 6 months of complete chaos, the Santy's have finally made it "home". We closed on the house on Friday the 27th. The closing was scheduled for noon, but of course, we were delayed until 4:00 that afternoon. We had already gone and picked up the cats and the dog so we were stuck in the car with 2 cats, 1 dog and 2 kids. I ended up taking the cats (in their crate) to the backroom at my office. (the office was closed, of course....) The dog hung out in the car with us till the closing FINALLY went thru. We moved in as soon as the keys were in my hand. My mom and Larry were in town to help and that was HUGE! By Saturday evening, everything we owned was in the house. (Actually it was ALL OVER THE HOUSE!!!). I am taking it one box at a time. On Thursday we joined the 21st century and got our phone and internet up and running. And today, our DirectTV was put in. Looks like we almost have a real home again!!!
This past weekend, we took a well deserved break. We all headed up to camp Friday morning and had a great weekend.
Thanks to everyone who have kept us in their thoughts and prayers over the past several months. It's been a really long road, but it's great to FINALLY be HOME!!!
BTW.... The pics are coming, just havent found the camera yet.......

A Light at the End of the Tunnel.......

2008-06-24T21:32:00.003-04:00

I sometimes refer to the past several months as simply comical. Our lives, since we moved back to New York, have been a series of strange, unlikely events. It is like someone decided to play a "funny" joke on us, for 6 months.

We put in offers on a total of 5, yes 5!!, houses before we finally had an offer accepted. Once it was accepted the process to get to closing has been nothing short of a MESS! I've also managed to hit something with my beautiful Durango TWICE!! Who does THAT!? Yesterday, I borrowed my fathers car for the day and would you believe that the ignition cylinder broke? I would definately not recommend lending me your vehicle any time soon.

So now we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Closing on the house is set for Thursday. We have ordered our new living room furniture and tonite bought ourselves a new king sized bed. And the best part, my mom and Larry will be here tomorrow for a few days to visit and help us move in. I cant wait to see them and Malarie is over the moon about seeing them. I'm not sure any of us will sleep tonite!

Maybe the tide is about to change. My hope is that we will move into the house this weekend and get settled into our normal lives again (whatever the means). And afterall, what else could POSSIBLY go wrong?? ( I cant believe I just said that out loud!!!)

Our new home away from the home we dont quite have yet.....

2008-05-19T21:06:00.005-04:00

What a great time we had this past weekend!! We spent our first couple of days at camp!! The place we are at is about 40 minutes away and I can already tell you that it is going to be a great summer. When we got there Friday afternoon, we got set up.... put the awning out, got the tables and chairs out, etc... Then we headed over to the club house. They actually have a bar/clubhouse on site and what a GREAT TIME!! We walked in and were greeted by several "seasonal couples". They have a spot set up in the back where the kids can play. Legos, puzzles, air hockey, books.... how great is that!?!? So, we were able to sit and get to know everyone and Mal made friends right away. Saturday was a pretty lousy day weather-wise, so we headed up to WalMart to pick up the things we didnt have. I knew that would happen. Saturday evening was a "Welcome Campers" potluck dinner so we went to that. Again, what a fun time. This time there were even more people. We laughed and laughed until almost midnight! Some of these couples have been coming to this same campground for the summer for years and years. Then there were new couples , like us, just starting out at Hejamada Campground. I am so looking forward to our weekends this summer. I know my kids will make so many friends and so will we!! I just hope we can get some of our friends to come up and spend a weekend with us to get in on the fun!!
Next weekend is Memorial Day. There will be all sorts of festivities on Saturday including a Fishing Derby, clowns, Horseshoe tournament and a DJ at the clubhouse Saturday nite!!! Cant wait!! Look out summer, Here we come!!!!!!!

Inspector Gadget...??

2008-05-13T20:56:00.003-04:00

So the saga continues... We had the inspection on the house today. Both Jim and I were there as well as both of our fathers. They hadn't seen the place yet so it was fun to show them around. We also took some measurements so we can start looking for furniture as well as price some of the improvements that we want to do pretty quickly. The Inspector came fully equipped with all sorts of gadgets and stuff. Everything turned out fairly well. There are some little things that need to be done. Nothing too major. The closing is still set for around June 15th..... Keep your fingers crossed for us......

Tomwood Drive, Liverpool, NY....

2008-05-08T20:29:00.005-04:00

Remember that address... Cuz it's OURS!! All the papers have been signed and now its just the usual stuff... inspection, loan stuff. We should close on or around the 15th of June.
It was a LONG road getting to this point. We actually put in 4 other offers before this one came thru. Guess this one was "meant to be" It need a few things, like the kitchen is in desperate need of an update. Luckily, the appliances are all brand new so it's just a matter of counters and cabinets. Just so happens that we recently renovated a kitchen (JL Davenport Drive) so this one should be a breeze. Another thing is the carpet on the main level and bedroom level. It's really a shame, because the carpet is brand new. However, it is the ugliest thing I've ever seen! Teal and Navy Blue, YUCK!!! That will definately be one thing we do pretty quickly. It's got a great yard for the kids and is in a pretty big neighborhood. And did I mention that its within walking distance of my office. Thats huge considering the cost of gas!

Rocks in my shoes...

2008-05-01T22:05:00.005-04:00

It's been a pretty rough month.... The good news is that the house in Georgia FINALLY sold. THe bad news is that we got way less for it then we had planned.....
Once that was over, we thought it was all downhill.... Not so much........
We've been doing our homework as far as finding a house for months now. The first offer we put in was on a house really close to where we lived 10 years ago. That offer was turned down immediately. We gave a low offer because there was ALOT of work to be done. The next offer went in on a great house very close to my Dad's. We offered the full asking price.....but so did 2 other people. The sellers took someone else.... Now we are on contract #3. They counter offered and we are waiting on the response...
It has been very frustrating to say the least.
I also managed to rip the front bumper off of the Durango last week. Was backing out of a parking spot at work. Thought I had the post cleared....nope...... Jim was able to put it back on with just a few scratches ....
So I heard a new song on the radio today. It's called "Rocks in your shoes", by Emily West. Basically, it says that when life gets you down and things dont go your way , when you hit stones in the road... You can get mad and get down or you can learn to Walk with Rocks in your Shoes.....
So I am choosing to do just that.... I'm walking with rock in my shoes.... What a great way to look at life.......... I posted the song in the right column. Pause my play list first!!!

UPDATE!!!!

I am officially disgusted. We didnt get the house AGAIN!! We are going out to look again on Sunday. At this rate, we will be living in our camper before long!!!!

Another day at the zoo......

2008-04-12T22:47:00.004-04:00

It's been a busy couple of days for the three of us. (Jim is in GA).... Yesterday we hit the movies because it was a lousy day outside. We saw Nim's Island. Cute movie.... Today we were out the door at about 10am. First we hit the zoo and stayed there for about 2 hours (small zoo...). Then we went to the Carosel Mall for some lunch and a ride on the Carosel! While we were there, we also got some icecream from Cold Stone Creamery. YUMMY!!! The kids thought it was really neat to pick out what stuff they wanted in their ice cream. Jimmy had cake batter ice cream with Reese's P-Nut butter cups and M&M's. Mal had vanilla with Gummy Bears.... Dont think I'll be trying that combo anytime soon..... Tonite we are all pooped. Both kids were sound asleep by 9:oo. I would be too except there's a race on, so you can guess what I'm doing tonite....

Tomorrow we are going to my cousin, Denise's for dinner. Her kids will be there so Jimmy and Mal will have fun. Then on Monday, Jimmy has to head back to GA. Just 6 more weeks until we get him up here for good. It will be nice to have us all together again.......

On another note, the weather has been really nice (except for the rain). The temps have been in the 60's so it seems like spring has sprung... That idea will be crushed when we wake up to snow tomorrow.... Gotta love Central NY in the springtime!!!!

An even 4 again....

2008-04-05T21:59:00.002-04:00

Glad to report that the Santy family is back to 4 again!! Jimmy, who has been in Georgia finishing the school year, flew in to spend Spring Break with us in Syracuse! We had to drive to Rochester to pick him up. Unfortunately, they would only let 1 of us go to the gate to greet him, so I went because I was the one that Mom listed as the person to pick him up. Jim and Mal had to wait at baggage claim.... And while we are on the subject, DELTA is sure doing it's best to make sure that the Santy's never fly with them again!! But that's another story altogether!!
Anyways, waiting for him to deplane was the longest couple of minutes!!! Of course, he is the last to get off the plane because he flies unaccompanied. So, I stood at the doorway to the little tunnel thing and paced and jumped around like I was on speed. Then when he showed his face I cried like a baby!! 3 months is a very long time for a Mommy to be away from one of her little people!! Needless to say we were very happy to see each other. Then we headed for baggage claim. We were about half way down the escalator when Mal spotted Jimmy. She let out a great big "BUBBY!!!" (thats what she calls him), then she took off running toward him and he took off for her. It was PRICELESS!!! You could hear everyone around going "Awwww, how sweet". (if only those same people could have been in our living room tonite to hear them fight....)
We went out for dinner and now we are all pooped!!!
On another note, we went by to scout out a campground on our way to Rochester today. It is about 40 minutes west of here and we loved it!! The campgroung is called Hejamada Campground in Montezuma, NY http://hejamadacampground.com./ . We went ahead and put down a deposit and plan to set our camper up there for the season. The seasonal spots are fantastic with tons of room. We are really excited about it!!
Also a quick update on the sale of the house in GA. It appears that the contract we have is going to stick. We should close on April 25th. Soon after that, we hope to purchase our new home. None too soon for me!!! We have been going to open houses every Sunday and more recently, have been previewing houses with an agent. We are READY!!!!!

HOPPY EASTER EVERYBODY!!!!

2008-03-23T11:53:00.002-04:00

Finally, Finally, FINALLY!!!!

2008-03-21T15:04:00.002-04:00

Great news! We finally got an offer on our Georgia house yesterday. We have not responded yet because, believe it or not, our agent is expecting ANOTHER offer to come in today!!! Nothin for 8 months and now possibly 2 in 2 days. Whatever! Lets sell that house and get us a new one!!!!

Hippity Hoppity, here comes Peter Cottontail.......

2008-03-14T18:18:00.006-04:00

We had a nice "family day" today! Started outat McDonalds for lunch and some playtime. Then we drove around and saw some houses for sale. After that, we headed to Friendly's for ice cream sundaes, YUMMY. Next up was a visit to the mall. When we got there, we went straight to see the Easter Bunny. Finally, we hit the carosel in the mall. It's a big one with alot of history behind it. All in all, it was a really nice day. Just one thing missing..... We miss you Jimmy!!!!!!!

It's "Goat Time" again!!

2008-03-09T17:24:00.004-04:00

Some of you may know that my parents are known to have animals... all sorts of animals..... They decided a couple years ago to try goats. So, this time of year, having goats means having MORE GOATS!!! Mom has several little girls who are pregnant. A few days ago, the first to go into labor had triplets. Sadly, none of the babies made it. Annie, the Mama, had a very tough pregnancy and the babies just

werent strong enough.... Very Sad..... On a happy note, the second to go into labor, Dora, gave birth to two very healthy little ones early this morning!! One boy and one girl. They are the cutest little things. Within hours, they are up jumping around and playing. Last year, Mom and I just held the babies forever. They love to cuddle. The picture at the top is Dora, with both babies. She is licking the little boy. The one to the left is here baby girl. Sticking her tongue out at us already!!!!!!

Kristi's China Adventure

2008-03-08T19:08:00.006-05:00

My niece, Kristi, is in college. She has gotten involved in a program where she has gone to China, with a group of other "teacher to be's, to teach children how to speak english. They are staying in a very undeveloped area. She has started a blog to record her thoughts and experiences during her time there. Some of her stories are just hysterical and I thought everyone might like t0 check it out.

Here's the link...... http://kmsalinas.blogspot.com

Boogity, Boogity,Boogity!! Let's Go Racin, BOYS!!!!!!

2008-02-17T14:13:00.008-05:00

GO ,JR, GO!!!

It's Sunday, Feb 17th and time for the DAYTONA 500!!! I am at my Dad's this afternoon and we are "gearing up" (pardon my pun..) for an exciting afternoon of racin. We've got our bucket of KFC, a big HD TV and the surround sound is fired up. One hour and 20 minutes till the green flag flies! I'm gonna wet my britches!!! YAAAA HOOOOOOO!!!!!

7:47pm...... after a very up and down day, Jr finishes 9th in the Daytona 500. Ryan Newman takes the win (who'd have guessed THAT one???) We'll get'em next week at California Speedway!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-09T11:06:00.001-05:00

I read another post this morning that got me thinking about how blessed I am to have the parents I was given. I see so many people who have no regular contact with their parents and it makes me very sad for them. I can honestly say that my parents, along with my husband, are my very best friends. There is rarely a day that goes by when I dont speak to both of them, at least once, on the phone. They are my biggest fans, no matter what I do. I can count on them for advise, a pep talk and always a really good laugh. They are most definately, like I read in that other post, my safety net.
I have some really great memories from time with both of them. Something I will remember 50 years from now is the Xmas Eves I have spent with mom since my kids were born. She always has a great party for everyone and anyone who wants to come. She makes WAY too much food and everybody has a great time. Once the party is over and everyone was gone, our husbands and my kids would all go to bed. We would get cleaned up and then just sit up in the living room with nothing on but the Xmas tree and talk. I loved that couple of hours with her. Memories with Dad are always about laughing. We laugh all the time and about such silly things. If I'm having a bad day, I will call him and without fail, I hang up laughing. I cant imagine what life will be like without either of them.
In the past 2 years, my husband and I have lost 4 grandparents between us. My grandparents passed within 6 months of each other. As much as I struggled with their passing, seeing my father struggle with the realization of their absence really hit home for me. Like me, he had an incredible relationship with both of his parents. They were his best friends and a daily part of his life. It made me see that someday, it will be me dealing with the loss of my parents. So, I plan to spend the next 10,20,30 years making memories and laughing laughing laughing with both of them. I hope that 20 years from now, my kids feel as lucky to have Jim and I, as I feel about my Mom and Dad.
What are your favorite memories of your parents??????

My childhood home.... kinda.....

2008-02-05T20:31:00.000-05:00

225 NE 3rd Court... That was my address for most of my childhood in Boca Raton, FL. When I lived there, the house was one story and just fine. There was a wooden fence on one side of the house where my step dad stored his boat. Some of that fence was damaged in Hurricane Andrew. There is an awning over the front living room window and one big tree in the middle if the front yard..... The back yard was a zoo, literally! We had an aviary (cockatiels and parakeets), rabbits, a turtle pond.. Now, it looks a little different... Hey, the tree in the front is still there!!!!!!!

Why my middle name is NOT "Grace"....

2008-02-04T19:02:00.001-05:00

I started a new job recently and have been representing myself quite well if I do say so myself. I show up on time, well dressed and am really pretty good at what I do, so things have been going very well. I have tried to keep my "crazy self" under control, at least for the time being... So, as far as I can tell, everyone sees me as a mature "business woman".......
Well, I went and fixed that real good on Friday. This is rather difficult to explain, so try to stay with me. The office I work in has recently done some renovations. What used to be a garage, has been turned into a very nice break room. While doing the break room, the contractor had to put a 2 x 12 beam under the floor for support. Just so happens that the stairs to the basement are right under that same area. SO, there is now a LARGE board over the staircase. In order to get downstairs, you have to walk down halfway then duck to AVOID SMACKING YOUR FACE ON THE BOARD. We were doing some major cleaning out of the office on Friday and there were several boxes that needed to go downstairs. I was just the girl for the job! So, down I went..... I did just fine going down, however, not so well coming back up. As someone once said (DeeDee), I tend to "BOUNCE". I dont move slowly, ever. As I "bounded" up the stairs I looked back to see where I could put the next box. Then I looked where I was going, but it was too late. I hit that board with full force straight in the face. I managed to slice a nice piece of flesh wide open right under my nose. Also got a nice rip inside my mouth. It was UGLY!! So now I'm walking around looking like someone has beat me.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why my middle name is certainly NOT Grace.

Build a Bear Workshop!!

2008-01-20T16:48:00.000-05:00

Today, we had our FIRST experience with Build a Bear Workshop. Danny came up with a gift certificate, so Steph and I headed to the mall to give it a try. Malarie loved being able to pick her own "new baby". She got to step on the pedal to fill her bear with stuffing then give him an "air bath" to make him extra fluffy! Then she started "shopping" for an outfit for her baby. She went back and forth and back and forth, but finally decided on a pink princess shirt and a pink skirt. She also got him pink sparkly sneakers and a princess crown and magic wand!! She got to give her a name, Aurora, and print out a birth certificate. After is was all over, she was quite pleased with her finished product.
We also did a bit of clothes shopping while we were at the mall. JC Penny's is having a SUPER sale. She got 4 new pair of jeans (and they actually fit her), a new jogging suit and 5 new sweaters. She is having a fashion show in the house this afternoon.
So, what did you do with your Sunday?????

A new Start....

2008-01-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

I started my new job today!! I got up this morning early (6am) and headed out to work at 7:00. I have to be there at 7:30. It had snowed a little over nite, but nothing majoy. It was still snowing when I left and the roads were a little slick. About a mile from home, I came up on an accident. At that point, I reached down and put it in 4WD. No Problem!!!
The girls I work with are all very nice (and very YOUNG!) I went from being the youngest at my last office, to the oldest at this one. Long story short... the office needs ALOT of work. Lucky for them I can do it. It's mostly organizational stuff. I think it's going to work out very well and I am very relieved! The day has wiped me out, so I'm going to bed!!!

Favorite Childhood memories....!!!!!

2008-01-12T09:42:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, an old friend of mine celebrated her birthday. It got me thinking about my birthday's as a child. My mom always had the BEST birthday parties for me. I could invite anyone I wanted. It was always a mix of boys and girls. She would fill up millions of water balloons and turn us loose on the whole neighborhood! We would cut thru a whole block of our neighbors yards and run WILD!! She also had a game that we always played. She would buy and wrap a bunch of small gifts. Sometimes she would disguise them, like put a couple dollars in a HUGE box with some rocks. Anyways, the game involved cards and stealing presents from each other. It was so FUN! I remember one birthday, we were all sitting at the table. They were all singing Happy Birthday and for some reason I took a drink of my KoolAid (it was red). Well, someone made me laugh and I shot KoolAid out of my nose all over the cake!! I cant remember if anyone ate any.... When it got dark, we would always pile up in the living room for a horror movie. I dont know about anyone else, but I never saw any of the movie cuz I buried my head. The boys made fun of us. After that the boys had to leave. The girls spent the nite. We did the bra in the freezer and all that. What fun! I hope my kids enjoy their birthdays like I did!!
Robin and Melissa were at alot of those parties. Anything I forgot???

Guess where we are!?!?!

2008-01-11T18:52:00.000-05:00

We made it!! Finally pulled into our home for the next few months at about 8:00pm. It has been a LOOOOOOONG day. We were greeted by George, Steph and Danny's black lab. Molly and George did the doggie butt sniffing dance for a while and now they are fine. Fanny Cat met George in the hallway (I had them in our room with the door closed, but she escaped...). She was not too thrilled to meet him, but they were OK, too. Ninja Kitty is the one I'm worried about. She comes by her name honestly, so she wont hesitate to get in a little confrontation, even if the dog outweighs her by 60 lbs. Oh well, she'll adjust. We got most of the stuff out of the trailer and somewhat put away. Our room was nice and big until we moved in another dresser and a 50' plasma TV. Yup, it's in our room.... Quite comical, really.....
At this point, I am stretched out in our bed with 2 cats and a dog. They are all pooped, even though they slept for 12 hours in the car today. I think they are just happy to be out of the car and in their mom's lap. Malarie is sound asleep in her new bedroom. She was exausted!! Jim is taking a much needed shower!
I am going to get some sleep. I feel like I got run over by a UHaul truck!!!

We'll be HOME by this evening!!

2008-01-11T09:59:00.000-05:00

We are back on the road again this morning. We only got as far as Marion, VA last nite. The weather was just too nasty and it was getting very late. We stopped at midnight. According to Mapquest, Syracuse is 630 miles from Marion. So, that's what stands between us and HOME!

Yesterday was by far one of the most trying days in my life thus far. We got up at 7:30am and picked up the UHaul trailer. Our best friends, Cliff and Rehnee, were at the house at 8:30, ready to help. And help they did! They are both amazing, such wonderful friends....

We had everything that was going with us this time ready to pack. We weren't too sure that it was all going to fit... BUT, Jim and Cliff got it all in and had 1/2 of the trailer left!!! So, we got to bring along our deep chest freezer, our 50' Plasma, and a bunch of other stuff that I had planned on leaving until the house sells. Rehnee and I tackled the clean up tasks. By about 3:45, we had everything ready and were about ready to leave. So, I went in to give the cats their "drugs". Fanny Cat was first. She didnt appreciate me shoving a pill down her throat, but she got over it. Ninja Kitty was next, but we couldnt find her anywhere!! After 45 minutes of the 4 of us wandering the neighborhood, Cliff came back with her in his arms. She wasnt thrilled about the drugs either.... By this time, Fanny was completely loopy. I mean, walking into walls and everything. Quite entertaining, in a sick sort of way.....

We loaded the animals into the car and headed to Mom's. Here comes the hard part.... As you probably know, Jimmy is staying at Moms until school lets out in May. So, on top of leaving my mother, who happens to be my very best friend, we also had to leave our little boy. We all boo hoo'd but got thru it. Mal, surprisingly enough, did better than any of us. Now, we get to the next chapter... Unpacking our stuff, starting a new job, getting settled. It's going to be a very exciting 2008!!!

From the backseat of our Durango...

2008-01-10T22:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, thats right. I am writing this from the backseat of our Durango. (Jim has a satellite internet card, so I can be online while we are driving, very cool!!). Let me set this up for you..... Jim is driving. It's raining, very windy and we are pulling a 12 foot UHaul trailer. Malarie is asleep in her carseat and the Bratz Kids movie is still playing on her DVD player. Molly (my "dog child") is also sleeping in her doggie bed next to Mal. Both cats (who started out in a dog crate) are sprawled out all over the place. We folded down all the seats except Mal's and of course the two front seats. The vet gave me some sedatives for the kitties, so they "drunk". Why are they out of the crate, you ask?? Well, they were both going bananas, so I climbed back here to talk to them for a few minutes and before you know it, they were in my lap. What can I say, I love all my furry children very much!!!
We had a bit of a scare when we started out. A light came on on the dash. Jim thought it had to do with the coolant, so he added to the antifreeze. Nothing changed. Then, we were stopped for a minute and he remembered a commercial he had seen. The one where a woman calls OnStar and says a lite on her dash is on. The operator tells her to pull over and tighten the gas cap. Poof!! Problem solved!!! Guess what! That was our problem too!! Crazy technology these days!!!
I'll tap more tomorrow!!!!!

Almost there....

2008-01-07T21:08:00.000-05:00

We are now just days away from making our big move! The kids and I flew back to GA on Thurs (we were scheduled to fly on Wed but DELTA had other ideas....). Since then, I have done NOTHING but PACK! Mom has been here every day helping and Rehnee has been a great help too. We've just about got everything boxed up, now its a matter of getting the house in order. BIG JOB!!! Jim flys in on Wed morning. We have a UHaul trailer reserved and will pick it up when he gets here. If all goes well, we will have the trailer packed by Thurs afternoon and we'll hit the road. The trip should be VERY interesting. As I've said before, Jimmy has decided to stay here with Mom and Larry until school lets out in May. However, the rest of us will be packed into the Durango. By the rest of us, I mean... Jim, Me, Malarie, Molly (the dog), and Ninja and Fanny (the cats). If the thought of 2 adults, 1 child, 1 dog and 2 cats in a SUV doesnt make you chuckle, I dont know what will!!
We'll keep you posted!!!!

Does it ever stop??

2007-12-31T14:23:00.001-05:00

I have been sitting here today listening to my children fight - ALL DAY LONG!!! And it got me wondering.. Does it ever stop? I dont mean that sarcastically. I am very serious. When do they realize that they are in it together. When will they see that instead of fighting each other, they should take advantage of the fact that there are 2 of them. They always have a playmate. That is a pretty good advantage. I have tried to explain this to them, especially Jimmy, forever. No dice. I know this is normal sibling behavior, but today, I guess I'm just frustrated.... Any grand ideas?

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!!

2007-12-25T22:42:00.000-05:00

Slip Slidin Away.....

2007-12-22T18:16:00.001-05:00

Well, we all bundled up today and took our first real sledding adventure. We headed up to a park where I used to sled when I was little, Centerville Park in North Syracuse. It's right around the corner from where my Grandparents once lived. In the past few days, I managed to come up with snow pants, boots, gloves, etc.... So, we put on all the stuff (Jim let me use his CarHart overalls) and headed out. The kids had a BLAST (and so did Mom and Daddy!!) Jimmy made a new friend, Griffin, and they played together the whole time. Malarie had fun on the sled but found that she liked slidding down the hill on her butt even better. Jimmy also took his first spin on a snow board. I was a bit nervous..... He really did pretty well and loved it!!! He has decided that he wants to be a pro snow boarder (OH MY GOODNESS!!!)

A Successful Day......

2007-12-20T20:37:00.000-05:00

Today, I started my interviewing process. It did not start out so well though.... My first interview was with Loretto, which is a very large nursing home facility here in Central NY. The main facility is in downtown Syracuse. I somehow wrote down the address incorrectly and ended up in the worst part of the city possible. To top it off, when I tried to turn around I got stuck and couldnt get out..... Needless to say, I was a bit FREAKED OUT!! I called my husband who then called Danny (our best friend) and he came over immediately. He was only 10 minutes away.... YIKES! I finally made it to the interview and the office manager was a girl that my father used to work with and that I used to hang out with 10 years ago. Small world!!!
My next one was with a general dentist named Dr Chris Pateras. His office is beautiful and he was very nice. He office has all the newest equipment. He offered me a position running his front office, and I TOOK IT!! The pay is fantastic, benefits 401K are available, paid vacation after 1 year. The whole package is there. He has given me the flexibility to go back to GA for a few weeks to wrap things up and I plan to start with him sometime in Mid January! I feel so fortunate to have had such a great opportunity fall in my lap so quickly.
The next several months will be very crazy for us. Please keep us in your prayers and I will keep you posted!!
I also finished my Christmas shopping today. I went to the mall, Wal-Mart, AC Moore, Olive Garden for lunch with Jim and Toys R Us all in one day!!!! That doesnt happen in North Georgia!!!
Merry Christmas!!!!!!

We Made It!!!

2007-12-19T21:43:00.000-05:00

Today we flew home to Syracuse. ( I guess it is home now, considering that we are moving here in the next month....) Last nite, we drove down to Atlanta and stayed overnite in a hotel right by the airport. Mom and Larry flew home from Texas (they were visiting my sister , Pam) and they stayed in the same hotel, too. We actually ended up with adjoining rooms.. So the kids got to see them before we hit the skies. Our flight was nice, uneventful. Mal slept most of the way and Jimmy spent most of the time checking out the crazy stuff in that inflight magazine. Both my dad and Jim's dad drove out to Rochester to pick us up. We had 8, yes 8, large suitcases and were afraid they wouldnt all fit in one car. No, we dont usually travel with that much luggage, but we brought as much as we could since we are moving. It was snowing a little bit on the way back to Syracuse. We are supposed to get about 2 inches over night, which is NOTHING for these folks up here!!!
Tomorrow, I start with my interviews. I will post again tomorrow to let everyone know how that went !!!

Glad that's over!!!!

2007-12-12T23:38:00.000-05:00

As you can see by the picture, my dining room is finally back together!

This picture was taken from exactly the same spot as the one in my previous blog. Quite a difference, huh??

Tomorrow my plan is to try to get this place back in shape. The whole house kinda went crazy with all the action, so it will take a bit of work to get it back to normal (whatever that means...)

We are all flying up to Syracuse next Wednesday. The kids and I will come back here on January 2, but Jim will be staying there. If I am able to secure a job during my 2 weeks there, I will come back here and pack up the rest of the house. Then I will load up the Durango and head north for good. I started sending out resumes a few weeks ago and am starting to get some response. I now have 4 interviews set up. One of them is with an office that I feel would be a really great fit for me. Please keep me in your prayers. I can use all the help I can get...

Another bit of interesting news ..... Jimmy has decided that he wants to stay here with Mom and Larry and finish out his school year. I gave him the option a while ago and he wanted to come to Syracuse with us, but he has really great teachers this year and wants to finish 5th grade with them. I think another deciding factor is that the school up north have a different schedule than down here. They start school after Labor Day and finish in late June. Jimmy fugured out that he will have a very short summer if he goes up before the end of the school year..... Smart boy...... It will probably be a good thing overall. It gives us until September to sell this house and buy a new one so we will know which school district to register him with. It'll all work out... I just keep telling myself that......

BUSY BUSY BUSY!!!

2007-12-09T09:41:00.000-05:00

As you might have guessed from the title, we have been REALLLLY BUSY!!! I have been planning a huge moving sale for weeks and this weekend was it. I advertised in the local paper and put signs up all over. I decided that since it has been pretty cold, I would have the bulk of the stuff set up inside the house. So, I had 3 6' tables set up in the living room a few in our master bedroom and several in the dining room. We still also had 5 tables set up out on our deck. There was STUFF EVERYWHERE!!! We ended up selling our couch, dining room set, 2 hutches, OUR CAR, the comforter off our bed (that wasnt for sale, but some lady offered me $20, so why not?), our plates, the lawn mower, half of Jim's tools, and so much other junk, I cant even name it.... So now we are sitting on the floor eating off paper plates till we move...

As if this wasnt enough to do, we decided that it was time to fix the dining room floor. Half of our house is almost 100 years old and the other half was added on by my husband and Larry (my step dad) in 2003. The dining room was part of the old house. The floors were very uneven and soft in some places and many people who have seen our house have mentioned that the floors are bad out there. SO, wouldnt it be FUN to tear up the whole dining room while we are having the sale?? I'm not complaining, it was my idea... So we moved all the tables for the sale from the dining room to the living room and deck and proceeded to remove the entire floor. Right down to the joists!!! The pic above was taken after the old floor was gone and the new joists started going in. Did I mention that Jim has to leave this afternoon for Savannah for the whole week?? We are hoping to have enough done before he leaves so we can at least get to the kids bedrooms and the kitchen.... Wish me luck, this could get interesting!!

PARTY TIME!!!!!

2007-12-02T20:07:00.000-05:00

Last nite, we hosted a party here at our house for some of our friends. Kind of a "So long Jim" party since he is leaving for New York next week. We had a pretty good turn out, not too many but enough people to make it a party. I think the count was about 20 people.. Thats pretty impressive if you've seen our house.... There were ALOT of kids and they actually played outside for most of the night. We have a big lite down by our trampoline and swing set. It was in the 50's so the weather was definately cooperative. They played shadow tag (whatever that means) for a LONG Time! Then they moved on to the Wii. They all did really well with sharing, just a few little squabbles. Has to be expected with an age range of 3 years to 12 years old. As far as the adults, most were also well behaved.... Notice I said MOST! The "men" played cards for most of the nite and the ladies, Cranium. Very FUN!! Lots of food and beverage of course!! We will certainly miss the friends we have made while we have been here. They are such a "interesting" group, and so much fun.
Today was another shopping day for me. I took off with my Mom at about 1:00 this afternoon. We stayed close to home, but had a very productive shopping trip. Mom wanted to take me shopping to get some clothes for myself for Christmas. As I have said many times, my current wardrobe isnt quite cutting it anymore.... We found lots of great stuff. I know have 3 new pair of pants that ACTUALLY FIT!!!! Yippee!! Also, several new sweaters and tops. I have a great mom and we had a really nice afternoon!!! I'm sure gonna miss her too......

Christmas Shopping!!!

2007-11-30T22:52:00.000-05:00

I finally did it! I went Christmas shopping today with my friend Rehnee. Up until today, I've done all my shopping online.
We left at 9:00 this morning and headed to Dawsonville. First we hit the Outlet Mall. I could spend DAYS there!!! I found a few things for the kids, mostly stocking stuffers. After the outlets, we hit Ruby Tuesday's for lunch. That is quite a treat for us because we dont have "real" restaurants here in Blairsville. Next was a trip to Target then Goody's. I pretty much finished up the kids, so now it's on to everyone else. I also treated myself to a few new pairs of jeans. My ever-expanding rear end is making it quite difficult to fit into my current wardrobe..... Could have something to do with that Strawberry CreamPuff that Rehnee and I split after lunch.......
We didnt get home until about 8:00 tonite. Aside from being a very productive shopping trip, it was a well needed (and well deserved) break for me.
Tomorrow nite is Jim's "going away Party" I have no idea how many people to expect. Could be 8 for 48.... Wish me luck!!!!

Chef Karen's Kitchen

2007-11-21T23:05:00.000-05:00

We had such a nice morning today. For some reason, I got in a "food preparation" mood. Jimmy, Mal and I got up early this morning and hit the kitchen. This is NOT a normal occurance in my home.... We made a pie (not a real pie, just one of those Jello ones). It is REALLY YUMMY though... Turtle Pumpkin Pie!! The kids did most of the work and they LOVED it. My kitchen did not fare so well however...... We also made scalloped potatos in the crock pot. I did the chopping, but they did the rest. Was nice to get their full attention for a while. That doesnt happen nearly often enough........
Tomorrow is Turkey Day and we are going to spend it with our friends Cliff and Rehnee at their home. I feel kinda bad that Mom and Larry wont be around, they are going away for the weekend. I dont know if I've ever had a Thanksgiving without either of my parents : ( But we are sure to have a great time with our friends. They have family in from out of town and I hear they are a hoot! What are YOUR plans for Thanksgiving Day??

Feels great to laugh!!

2007-11-20T20:03:00.000-05:00

I just ran across this hysterical clip and wanted to share. It's an audio clip of a guy who is going to meet up with someone. He calls them to let them know that he is running late. He is leaving a voice mail when he witnesses an accident. Apparently a guy runs a red lite and hits a car full of elderly ladies... Boy is her SORRY!!! Anyways, hope you get a kick outta it, I sure did!!! Copy and paste the link below and hit the play button. Make sure your speakers are on!!!
http://www.chumfm.com/MorningShow/bits/march24.swf

Ho'in out the junk......

2007-11-18T21:46:00.000-05:00

I think everyone knows by now that we are planning a move back to Upstate NY in the very near future.... Jim is actually leaving next month and the kids and I will follow sometime after that. We (I) have been working REALLY hard to get thru all our stuff and start packing up what we dont need. There is just SO much STUFF!!! I managed to get thru all the closets, kitchen cabinets, bathroom storage etc... so that all looks good. One thing I was stressing about was the shed. We have a BIG shed/workshop. Jim has SO many tools and such and it was quite "unorganized" so the thought of going thru all that was stressing me out. Finally today, he went out there and organized it all. Sorted out what he wants to take and what we can sell or give away. I swear he had 87 screw drivers.... Now it's all in order.. One more thing to check off the list
I am finding that everyday, I find more stuff to get rid of. It's a great feeling to open a closet and not get clocked in the head with falling debris. I definately think our new home will be much more in order than this place ever was. You just feel better in an uncluttered home, ya know???
So now we are just down to figuring out how we are going to do this whole move thing. We have been unable to sell our house here in Blairsville so we wont have the ability to buy a new house right away. To start, we will be staying with Jim's oldest and bestest friend Danny, and his wife, Steph. They are pretty incredible to open their home to all of us (2 adults, 2 kids, 2 cats and a dog... YIKES!!) I will be going back to work full time, which I'm actually excited about. I LOVE my kids, but I am not a stay home kinda gal. I plan to look around and see about jobs when the kids and I go up for Xmas. If I can find something, we just might be outta here sometime in January..... I never thought we'd be doing a long distance move again. When we moved here in 2000, I thought we were done.... Wrong again. It's just not a good fit for us here. Central NY is definately HOME and we are all really excited to be going back!!!
Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!!!!!!

Our Disney Vacation October 11-21, 2007

2007-11-10T10:09:00.001-05:00

We went to Disney with our best friends from Georgia and our best friends from New York in October. Our family left on a Wednesday and went as far as Lake City, FL. We stayed there for 3 nites. Then on Saturday morning we packed up and went to Palatka, FL to visit with an old friend of mine from Elementary School. We spent the nite in our camper in their driveway! It was great to see her and our husband's and kids had alot of fun too! Then we went on to Fort Wilderness @ Disney World on Sunday afternoon. There, we met up with Danny & Steph and Cliff, Rehnee, Jessica and Little Cliff. We spent the whole week going to ALL the Disney Parks. We NEVER stopped moving. Exausting, but SO MUCH FUN!!!

FIESTA!!!!

2007-11-09T18:38:00.000-05:00

It's Mexican nite at our house tonite. Jimmy's favorite meal is tacos, but Malarie wont touch them. She likes the meat, cheese, etc.... but doesnt like the shells, soft ones or crunchy. (Strange, because she likes almost everything.) So, a while back I decided to try making what we call "Mexican Shells" and they both LOVE it and so do I. Now we've eaten and they are fighting like 2 crazys... Calgon... take me away!!!

Jim is going to be gone all weekend so I'm trying to come up with a house project that I can do by myself with 2 kids on my ankles.... The house is as clean as it's ever been (the glory of having a house on the market...) so cleaning is not an option. Even the closets and under the bed are in order. Last week I packed up ALL the stuff that we dont actually use on a daily basis. So my cabinets, closets etc.. are half empty (wont ever see THAT again in MY house!!). Maybe I'll do the garage...... Or maybe , just maybe, I'll sit around and watch TLC all weekend!!!!!

Time to vent....

2007-11-08T20:03:00.000-05:00

I must say that I am furious, scared, baffled...... We bought Malarie Aquadots for her birthday this year (just last month, btw..). She was thrilled and has "Aquadotted" her way thru the last month. Well wasnt I surprised to see the little dots show up on my TV screen on the news today! Yup, you got it, RECALLED because they are made with the same chemical found in the date rape drug!!?? Are you kidding me! First they hit Dora and Elmo, now Aquadots!! I have to say that it all seems a bit fishy to me..... Are we really at the point that "they" are going to attack us thru our children? Maybe I'm overreacting, maybe it's all just coincidence. Or maybe I will simply have to take up whittling so I can make my kids all their toys myself!!!!! I feel better...... Thanks for listening!!!! What's your take on this whole thing???

Away we go......

2007-11-04T19:29:00.000-05:00

So, 3 weeks ago, I really didnt know what "blogging" was. I knew it was something you do on the computer, but thats about it.... Until, that is, I went to visit with an old friend from Elementary School. She is a "blogger" and seemed really excited about it so..... what the heck. I'll try anything once!!! Now, if I can only figure out how to get this to work...
Wish me luck and check back often to see what I've come up with!!!