Saturday, November 29, 2008

Thanksgiving and Updates

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent most the day hanging out together watching movies and nothing else. Our cable went out on Tuesday so I was really bummed that we missed the Thanksgiving Macy's Day Parade. We got ready and headed over to Adam and Ashlyn's about 3ish. It was nice not to have to cook this year but weird too. We had a really nice time visiting with friends and the kids ran wild. Seriously they went crazy. We headed home around 8pm cause I knew I was getting up early.

Friday came WAY too fast as I was up at 0345. I was outta the house by 4am and in line at Walmart by 430am. I was surprised at how little people were there. I don't even think we had 150. I hit Walmart and Sears and was home by 630am. I don't mess around, I know what I want get it and get out. Everyone was sound asleep when I got home but I couldn't go back to bed. I woke Ben up to show him all the cool stuff I got. Then we decided that this RC ATV I got the boys we should just give to them now. I placed it in their room so the would see it when they woke up. Bryce was the 1st up and went crazy. He carried it to our room then yelled until Noah woke up and came in. By 8am everyone was showered and dressed and we were off. Hit up Sams Club, Walmart and the bank. We spent the rest of the day trying to clean and waiting for the Dish guy. Ben hung up some shelves :) Then about 4pm I realized that I didn't RSVP for a Birthday party today. Did that and we were off to Toys R Us for a gift. By the time 9pm came around I was done. I don't remember Noah or Ben going to bed.

Other then that things have been op's normal around here. Ben spent most the week at work, day and night. The boys missed him terribly. Noah had no school so I had to entertain all 3 kids. Got over my cold (YIPEE) The cable went out so we didn't get to watch any of our shows this week. There was rain and lots of wind but no snow. Erik and Shae got into Boston yesterday!!!!! And I feel like I'm missing something.......hummmm what could it be? I just know there was something else going on this weekend.........


OUR GAME IS TOMORROW!!! I don't think anyone could understand how freaking excited we are. The girls (Melisa and Amanda) will be here around 930am and we will be off to get Erik and Shae about 10am. I can't believe it's actually here! The boys are excited for their babysitters and excited that we are bringing back Erik and Shae. Last night Noah said they should just move to Hampton. I agree buddy, I agree. So stay tuned for lots of crazy pictures to come. I do have Thanksgiving pictures but I think my camera is still in the Tahoe. Which I'm sure means it will be frozen solid. Add another thing to the list :)

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Sunday

Ben got home around 8am this morning with donuts and coffee. How can you not just love this guy? The boys were thrilled of course and it really got us going for the day. We headed downstairs to finally get some of our Halloween decor put away. We figured with Erik and Shae coming we might want to get that done, that and it's almost time for Christmas decor. After we got dressed and loaded up for Sam's Club. I was the big hit today at Sam's. There was alot of Patriots fans out and with me in my Steelers beanie, scarf and jacket we got alot of looks. I know this is a great area for all those "leaf peepers" out there. But they don't get to share the true joy of going outside in the freezing cold to rake your never ending leaves into brown paper bags. Thank goodness that I mowed most the leaves up last week otherwise we would still be out there. The boys had a great time with it and we got some cute pictures. So we can't complain too much. Poor Bryce was shivering and begging for a fire after an hour.

So I'm going to brag about my husband for a little bit. Can I just tell everyone how AWESOME it is being married to a man that can do and fix anything? IT ROCKS! It's just great to be able to say, "Hunny the Tahoe needs new breaks" "Hunny the engine in the truck needs rebuild" "Hunny the boys broke their RC car" "Hunny I want a living room fan installed" "Hunny please build me a coat rack" "Hunny the washing machine is broke" Okay I know I tease Ben A LOT about all his "projects" but I am so grateful that he is so talented and loves me so much. What brings this on you may ask? We have been worried about the snow this winter and the cost of getting a snow blower. But Ben was able to get a free snow blower from a guy that runs a repair shop by his work. The only problem was it didn't work. The guy had an idea what was wrong with it but couldn't fix it. Well tonight Ben got it working. And the best part is we didn't even have to buy any parts for it, Ben had everything he needed right here. So we have this really nice looking snow blower ready to go for the bargain price of FREE!

But now my boys are sleeping and I'm off to spend some quality time with that awesome hubby of mine :). I will leave you all with a few pictures from today.










Saturday, November 22, 2008

SHHHH

I will let you in on a little secret. But you can't tell Bryce. Today is night 2 without a pacifier and day 1 without it at nap time. I'm not sure he realizes that it's gone yet? He did get up early this AM asking for it but other then that nothing. I know quiting cold turkey is the best way to go but I have to admit when I walk by his room, I want to just put it in his mouth. Is that weird? It makes me feel like my baby is growing up.

Ben is on 1st boat tonight so I have spent the last 2 hours surfing and talking to everyone on the computer. Noah went to bed at 7 and Bryce went down about 8ish. But I am wearing my new warm jammies and drinking a glass of wine out of my new pampered chef wine glasses. THANKS BABE!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Around the corner

The Steelers pulled off another win last night. YIPEE! However I was out sometime in the 3rd quarter. I have no idea if Ben stayed up to watch it. All my Steelers fans out there are telling me it was a good game.

However want to know what's more exciting then the Steelers winning last night? The next time the Steelers play we will be there to watching them LIVE!!! We are so excited, I can't believe it's almost here. Ben got some more Steelers wear in the mail yesterday and is waiting on a hat to finish it off. It's going to be great! I just hope that all 4 of us are ready to FREEZE our little butts off.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

It's getting cold

Yes that does say 22 degrees, your not seeing things. The temp is dropping fast around here and I'm not sure we are totally ready for this. Neither of us have ever lived in the snow or in a place that it gets below 30 for months at a time. The list of things I'm learning is growing.
* Getting up earlier to warm up the car is a must.
* No matter how long you let it warm up, with leather seats its still cold.
* The sticks everyone's putting up are not to measure snow its so the snow plows don't ruin your grass.
* You will spend a small fortune heating your home, deal with it.
* You must wear house socks and slippers when you have hardwood floors.
* When everyone said "Its not that bad" they lied!
* Kids seem to walk much slower when its in the 20's.
* I have never really known what cold weather is until now.
* That spare diaper bag in the truck with extra wipes doesn't really work anymore, the wipes are frozen.
* The ground is slippery 1st thing in the AM.
* Don't leave the dogs water out over night anymore, it does freeze solid and the dog will whimper if he tries to lick it.
So these are just a few things I am learning as the weather drops. I'm positive my list will grow and grow as that white stuff starts falling from the sky. And yes this morning after dropping Ben at work I gave in and turned the heat on downstairs. And to think last month I thought I was ready for this cold weather :)

Monday, November 17, 2008

Weekend Fun

Friday we all waited patiently for Dad to get home. It was a Chuck E Cheese night with a few friends. By the time we got there is was after 5pm and it was packed. Ben and I were a little taken back cause we go this Chuck E Cheese often and there is hardly any people there. After we got in and started playing we realised it wasn't that bad. The kids all had a blast so mission accomplished.

Saturday Ben and the boys got to spend the day together doing boy stuff. Well and some grocery shopping. I had a meeting in Boston and my friend and I decided to head out a few hours early to walk around Boston. What a great idea it was cause we had a GREAT time. We got to ISC about 12pm and spend 2 whole hours walking around Boston. I wish we had more time but I will go back. We walked the Freedom Trail and toured a few of the churches. It was amazing, these church's were the most amazing thing. The history behind them was just beautiful. After walking we heading to our meeting which turned out to be a blast. I got to meet a lot of new ladies and see an old friend from Oregon who is living in Beverly. By the time I got home the boys were bathed and in jammies having quite time. It was a little sad cause Bryce could have careless that I had even left and it took him a second (which seemed like hours to me) to even get excited that I was home. But I'm glad they had a good time together.

Sunday we did some shopping and cleaning. And of course football. Not a very exciting day but we loved the quite of it. And I got to use my new Pampered Chef wine glasses. They are really cool.

Here are a few pictures from my Boston trip.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Growing up

Bryce is growing up so fast. I'm so happy that he is just a fun loving little boy but I have to admit I loved it when all he wanted was Mom. Those days are fading fast. He is talking so much now and putting sentence's together really good. Noah even understands what he is saying now. It's awesome watching them talk to each other and laugh together. More and more I'm being told "I do it Mommy" It's so cute but breaks my heart cause he doesn't need Mom anymore. And Ben is in heaven cause he is all about Dad. Seriously he doesn't want me to put him to bed he wants Dad. All day long he asks for Dad now. "Mommy, Daddy at worrrrk, Daddy on boat, Bryce go on boat with Daddy." And when Ben walks threw that door you would think he had been gone for 3 years. If he needs something he will bypass me and go straight to Ben. It was cute and a nice break at 1st but I want my baby back.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

It's a Family thing






Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veteran's Day

First we would like to say a huge "THANK YOU" to all the men and woman who have served and are serving our country. And to the families for supporting them each and everyday. We are grateful for each and every one of you!!!

Ben had the day off today so we loaded the boys up and headed to Newburyport for a Veteran's Day Parade. It was a small parade but very nice. They marched a few blocks to City Hall where the Mayor and some other officials gave some very nice speeches to honor our Armed Forces. The Newburyport marching band was there and did a great job with the Star-Spangled Banner and a few other songs. We even got to say the pledge lead by a local boyscout. It was very nice. The kids did awesome and looked so cute in their CG beanies and sweatshirts waving their little American Flags.

After Noah and I walked to Starbucks for a nice warm drink while Bryce and Dad drove back to the station. We hung out there for a little while longer then headed out to lunch in town. It was a great day! We hope everyone got to Thank a veteran today and remember everything they have done for us.




Monday, November 10, 2008

Washing their truck

Saturday the boys were playing outside with Dad, Bill and Tyler. I looked outside to see that the 3 boys were washing Noah's truck. Bryce wasn't a huge fan of the new car wash style. What do you think?



Sunday, November 9, 2008

Let me start by saying "AHHHHHHHHHH, Did you see that Steeler game!" Why is it that sometimes its sooooo stressful being a football fan?
Now onto weekend updates: Friday the boys and I had a play date with a friend in Newburyport. We were having a great time until Noah started having "wheezing" troubles. With this happening more frequently now that its getting colder I decided it was time to get some medicine for the breathing machine we have at home. By the time we left the doctor Noah got 1 shot, 2 different inhalers and meds for the machine at home. Good times.
Saturday I had my Pampered Chef party. It turned out to be a great party and my neighbor stayed for a little while after just chatting. Ben had taken the boys to the hobby store in Manchester and they had a blast as well. And the best part was the "date" I had with my husband. The boys were sitting watching a movie so Ben made a little appetizer for us to enjoy. It lasted for about 5 minutes before both boys were sitting with us but it was super fun.
Sunday we ended up heading out to Bobby and Karen's. Bobby has been working on his RC track outside and asked Ben to come with his truck to play. Karen, Melisa and I enjoyed watching the trucks drive and laughing at how they spend more time fixing them. The boys had a blast, of course. I think Noah is in love with Melisa, he was very concerned as to where she was at the whole time. He can't wait for her to come babysit, he has everything "planned out." The boys and I got to pet the horses and I thought that was REALLY cool. Bryce was too afraid to touch them but Noah loved it. We had a great afternoon out there. And most important nobody was hurt this go around.
Here are some pictures from Bobby and Karen's today.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Me and My 10K



So I got the crazy idea to get back into running with a friend at work. I found this race a couple months ago. It's the Jack London Trail Run 10K(6.2miles). It sounded like fun so we both agreed to start training and get ready. We brought the idea up to the crew at the station and had a bunch of takers. Quickly our group of 17 deminished into 10. We headed out on November 1st to the race.
I thought to myself "What are you getting into?" but somehow talked my way through it. I ran the entire race in a time of 1:05:10. 10:30 minute miles. Not a blazing speed by any means but I made the entire route without walking. Here are a few pictures that were taken by the crew that put the race together. I downloaded them from the site. You can also check it out if you want.

Jack London Trail Race: http://www.jacklondontrailrace.org/

By the way. The last picture of me was like .2 miles from the end. So of course I felt about dead....



Thursday, November 6, 2008

Playing with trucks

If there is one thing I have learned from having all boys in the house, is that you can never have enough RC anything. If it's got a remote control and that remote makes a car, truck, plane, train, helicopter, boat or anything else move it's cool. Now for those who don't know probably think I'm talking about Noah and Bryce. But lets not forget my always young at heart hubby :) Ever since he was a little boy he would love racing RC trucks with his Dad and brother. He always talks about his memories of those days whether they are good or traumatizing. I still think his Dad is "banned" from driving Noah's lunchbox.

I never understood the joy of this hobby until we had boys of our own. I used to roll my eyes when Ben would say "Hey want to come outside and watch me drive my truck," or "Babe, I want this new truck isn't it cool?" Now I find myself rushing out the door to watch them play. Watching Noah's little face light up with joy when Dad's truck would start up, the 1st flip he saw, or even the 1st time Dad put that controller in his hand to drive. And now I get to see it all over again with Bryce. Last night was even better, Noah stood next to Bryce teaching him how to drive his lunchbox. I stood watching Noah show Bryce how to go forward, backwards, turn left and right and how to stop. Then reminded him to be careful as he handed the remote to Bryce. Bryce had a blast and still leaned over to Noah a few times for help. Then Noah got up and chased the truck while Bryce drove it. The battery started to die and Noah got down flipped his truck over and started moving wires and little parts around making sure nothing was breaking. Then got up and said it's just the battery and him and Bryce walked back into the garage. Of course I had the camera and was snapping a few shots.




Monday, November 3, 2008

Halloween Weekend

So Halloween was a lot different this year, but we still had a really good time. Not many people in the neighborhood joined in on the fun but that's okay. All the kids still had a good time walking around outside at night getting candy. And the weird thing is my kids got more candy then they ever did in Newport. People were handing out hand fulls and encouraging seconds. After TOTing we heading over to the neighbors for a bit.

Saturday Ben was up and outta the house by 6:30am. He had his 10k. I'm so very proud of him!! He ran it in an hour!! GO BEN!! He really had a great time and can't wait for the next one. He is looking into one closer to home at the end of the month. He won a raffle for a runner's ID bracelet and he was thrilled. Did I mention how proud I am of him? Ben also got his Steelers jersey in from my Dad on Saturday. I'm totally jealous cause he has the white away Jersey. It looks great, THANKS DAD! Saturday night I had a Creative Memories party to attend. Yes I got outta the house with no kids. I ended up leaving early cause I wasn't feeling very good. Thanks Shae for the short talk :)

Sunday we just hung out. With a whole extra hour in the day we got alot done. The kids got up at 6:30am which was fine cause I was up too. Weird, I know. We cleaned the basement and got most the Halloween decor put away. Then it was off to get some grocery's and home for football. Other then freezing my ass off every time I stepped outside it was great.

So that was our fun filled Halloween weekend. Here are a few pictures of the boys on Friday.



AHH Monday

Why are Monday's cursed? Or is it just mine? Is it time to climb back into bed and close my eyes? The morning started off great. Woke up to my wonderful husband kissing my check, then headed downstairs to have coffee with him before he took off. Doesn't that just sound great? Yeah it was.

After Ben leaves I get ready to jump in the shower. The boys woke up before I could get in so I got them settled in my bed with Spongebob and jumped in. Half way threw my shower the water became FREEZING cold. It was horrible. Jumped out started getting ready. Accidentally spilt my coffee all over the bathroom sink. Start getting the boys dressed and they were little angels and got dressed right away. Seriously no sarcasim they were. Come downstairs to greet Emma. Poor girl doesn't want Mommy to leave. She broke my heart. Got her calmed down and started breakfast. While I was calming Emma down Bryce got into Daddy's RC stuff. (SHHH he doesn't know yet) Got it picked up then breakfast on the table. Not one child ate their breakfast so I just cleaned it up. Took me about 30mins to get every child ready to go out in this freezing weather but we did it. Everyone loads up and off to get Noah to school. Emma falls down 3 times walking in and on the way out Bryce stepped in Dog poop. GROSS!! Didn't realize it till after i got him in his seat. By that time it had gotten all over his pants, my sweatshirt and his carseat. I wanted to vomit. We have made it home and got everyone/thing cleaned up.

Did I mention it's only 9:21am? I really hope that the rest of the day goes a little more smoothly. The kids and I still have to make it to the bank.

Tonight is Monday Night Football...GO STEELERS!! And tomorrow is Election Day. What a great week we have to look forward to. I hope that everyone had a better Monday morning then I did. I will post later about Weekend Activities.