Almost ready to go!!

I had great visions of taking the last week and packing in an orderly fashion. Due to it actually getting hot out... we ended up swimming everyday instead. ;) So last night everything was pretty much thrown into suitcases and shoved in the back of the van. If you know me at all... this is soo against my Type A personality. lol But the sun was calling my name... and the sun won!

We have atleast a 15 hour drive ahead of us. We've NEVER driven that far! The new van will definitely help keep the fights to a minimum with the dual dvd's players, etc. But I know damn well it won't eliminate them all! The kids have assigned seats....basically Brooke has to sit by herself. lol She just irritates the hell out of the other 2 so she gets a row all to herself. ;) I have a HUGE basket of snacks and we'll have a cooler as well so they can just eat their way down to Florida. lol This also goes against my Type A personality.. because I cant stand my car dirty! But I'm taking one for the team. Matt and I are the type that just want to get from point A to point B with as little stopping as possible. We figure we'll have to stop 3 times for gas. And are planning on those 3 stops being no loner than 5 minutes each... the kids are going to kill us! haha

We'll be gone 17 days all together. 14 days at Disney and 3 days at a beach resort about an hour from Disney. I'm used to being with my kids all the time.... but not used to sharing a hotel room with 1 bathroom for that long! I much prefer the 4 bathrooms at home. lol Should be interesting to see how this goes.

I have planned this trip down to every little detail... remember Type A. ;) The notecards are ready, dining reservations are made, etc... now we'll see how much we follow them. We're down there for a long time and actually plan to RELAX some this trip... but Matt and I have never relaxed on a vacation. It's on the notecards though so we have to do it right?

Are you sure it's summer?

Usually by this point in June we are all a lovely shade of leather. ;) But not this year! The weather has been.... well complete crap! We've had so much rain my yard now is neon green.

I've always tolerated living in Ohio because a few months out of the year we can actually enjoy the weather. But we've been stuck inside day after day. I have a million projects I need to do but haven't done a single one of them. Instead I've just hung out with the kids, playing with them, watching movies with them... and of course keeping them from killing each other. ;) Hopefully this dreary weather will lift soon....otherwise I'm about to pitch a tent to whoever will take me in Cali. haha

We leave next Friday for Disney. It had better be sunny there!! My plan was to have all the suitcases out by now and packing started. Um yea... that hasn't quite happened yet. =P Instead I have a bunch of crap dumped in a corner of my room that needs to be packed. Being that I pack for all 5 of us I really need to get my ass in gear! It's the rain's fault... it's making me procrasinate!!

I'll be doing a pretrip report before we go. I'm sure it will involve plenty of cuss words as I get frustrated at the fact that I'm running around like a mad woman trying to shove everything in the van. ;) And I plan on doing a much better job in actually finishing the whole trip report... but I'm sure I'll slack on that too. ;)

Finally updating this thing!

Wow.. it's been a long time since I've posted on here. But now that the school year is over things are finally settling down a bit... well as settled down as you can get with 3 kids!

First things first! May 10 Madison Joanna made her appearance into the world. 8 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 inches long! And as expected TONS of red hair!! She loves to sleep... just like her mommy and daddy. ;) And she's a really good baby.... unlike my rotten little monsters. It's nice to sit and hold a baby that isn't screaming their heads off!

We had a visitor last week. My friend Tina came to stay the night with us before heading to Cincy for a wedding. She had never met the kids and they just adored her. We really wish her visit could've been longer! Although she's from sunny LA and would probably be bored to tears after more than a few days here. lol

The girls are both happy to be out of school for the summer! Hannah's break is a short one as marching band starts as soon as we get back from vacation. ALL day practices pretty much every day til school starts! She was voted freshman class president too so she'll have lots on her plate for next year. Not worried one bit though.. I know she can handle it all! Brooke won't start cheer until later in July. But I still don't see much of her. She has met so many kids in the neighbor hood and is constantly out playing! Drew is missing his preschool friends but not missing leaving me... he is still such a mama's boy. =P He claims he's going to live with me forever! He's also going through this phase of saying all those lovely bathroom words... ya know... poopy, butt, wiener, peepee,booby, etc. I got lucky and the girls never went through that phase. Should've known Drew would never pass up the opportunity to call me a weiner butt though. ;)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep.... 1 year older today. And I'm sure there are more wrinkles on my forehead to prove it! I keep digging to find those grey hairs and have yet to find any... so I'm still safe there... for now. =P

Our plans for today were to head to Kings Island. But with Brooke and Drew really sick with bronchitis that's not going to happen. All is not lost though.... the sun goddess is begging for me to come visit her. So I will be setting up my lounger, making a little cocktail and visiting her in just a bit. :)

Matt already gave me my gift... the coach purse I bought. ;)

Happy Easter!

Dying Easter eggs is something we do every year....even though none of us really much care for them. I always have to look up directions for how to boil an egg since I only do it once a year... thank god for google.

Hannah is much too cool to stay home on a Friday night these days so she missed out this year....which of course thrilled Brooke and Drew because they got to do more eggs!


Just getting started.




Brooke...being the artistic kid she is... insisted on coloring on all of her with white crayon beforehand.





Drew actually likes hard boiled eggs and just couldn't wait to bust them open!


And as usual... he gives you a visual of his mouthful of eggs.... ewww he actually eats the yolk! What is wrong with this kid?!


Pretty eggs... we actually did 2 dozen.... which will sit in my fridge for a few more days... at which point I will tire of gagging when I open the door and will throw them all out. Good thing eggs are cheap!

I got mother of the year award this Easter. =P Hannah offered to help me fill the eggs with candy that we were hiding. When she came downstairs I had all the baskets filled and she saw everything in hers. She said, "Ohh I love all that stuff mom!". Damn!

Brooke still believes... or atleast pretends like she does. Not really sure. Her and Drew had an all out fight looking for the eggs...god forbid if they SHARE!

Easter's over now and I have baskets FULL of candy sitting on my counter. I'm trying to ignore the M&M's calling my name.... but man it's hard! =P

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Spring Break

Okay so we didn't make it to Florida this year. I really wanted to go but Matt couldn't get off work. Next year I AM going though... even if I have to take the kdis by myself!! I need sunshine and warm temps!

So we made the best of it and we spent the week doing something different everyday.

Monday we went swimming at the Vandalia Rec Center with our neighbors. Kids had a blast. Of course I wouldn't much preferred swimming OUTSIDE in Florida!

Tuesday we went shopping at the mall. Shopping at the little beach shops would've been better though!

Wednesday we hit the outlets. Just this one day of shopping cost more than our trip would've! lol I picked up a little birthday present for myself... a cute summer Coach purse.

Thursday Matt was able to take a 1/2 day off and we went to the Train museum. Really neat! Then we went to the aquarium in Newport. For some reason that was super packed so we didn't stay but 15 minutes! =P

Friday we went to a movie.

The kids said they had a good week... but we all agreed that we're going to Florida next year!!

3 years

It was 3 years ago today that Grandma passed away. But yet she still brings a smile to my face almost daily. We often think about what she would say at certain things and immediately laugh as we know it would be some wise crack or sarcastic comment. lol

Even though she's gone.... she continues to bring all of us joy. :)