Dec 9 (my days aren't matching up)

I was never really good in math another gene that skipped me in our family. On December 8, our first blizzard of the season hit. At work they were talking worst case scenario if work closed what needed to be done in PA and could they do it. (our manager said .05 percent we would close) Imagine my surprise when I got a phone call at 6:15 saying they were closed until noon. At 10:30 I started out to drop the boys off at their respective places and started heading to work around 11:30 when I got another call that they were staying closed today. First time in the 13 years I have worked there that they have closed for a day. I turned around picked the boys up and we went to Mickey D's for lunch. Then home again for card games and video games. Alright I admit it I had a small nap too with Jamison.

18 Days untl Christmas

Migraine today I have no idea what went on in the house. Jamison came to take a nap with me about 1 and I woke headache free around 3:30. Burger King for supper. MY FAVORITE!

Day 19 until Christmas

Campbell and Jamison decorated the tree today. It is a little bottom heavy on the ornaments but it looks great. Alright except for the fact that half my lights don't work. I put up decorations around the rest of the house.

Day 20 until Christmas

Jamison was sick last night from Midnight to 6 he threw up once an hour. We went threw 3 sets of sheets before we got the bucket concept. At 5 he didn't want to do it anymore he just wanted to get up. He watched Disney until the next bout when he woke me to say he was lonely. Other than not keeping anything down he was fine. He was down for a nap by 11 and slept for 5 hours. I did a little napping, wrapping presents and made a bracelet. Campbell and Brian went to the neighbors for Clone War Friday. They also made a gingerbread house. I put another coat of paint on frosty.

21 Days Until Christmas

We got the tree up just like the calendar said however as you can see from the picture no ornaments. Also no lights at the top of the tree. Helpful Hint: If you buy a prelit tree make sure it states on the box if one light goes out all the others stay lit! We have to buy lights to put on top tomorrow. Then Saturday the boys can decorate the big tree. We fluffed Jamison's tree and it is in his room. I broke his heart because I wouldn't let him sleep with it on. He told me that! Campbell has a good start on the decorations on his tree, he thinks he has over half the ornaments on it.

I downloaded our Christmas card picture to night too. I'm moving right along for me. Note: Tree picture is the first picture I have taken with my Canon Digital and uploaded on the desktop so tell me what you think. Good night!

22 Days until Christmas

Well other day closer to Christmas and what Christmasy things did the Tressler family do? Not a whole lot was accomplished today. I wrote down some Advent activities for us to partake in. The Trolley ride down town I think we will do on Sunday. Putting up the tree tomorrow as Jeff dictated on the calendar. Decorating Gingerbread houses at the neighbors on Friday and decorating the tree on Saturday.

I got the boys' wish list, such as Jamison's is, for Ken and Lorraine. How do you narrow down "I just want everything mommy."? I gave them a few items and said best of luck. I know you guys are thinking harsh but they generally don't go off the list you give them anyway so it is really not.

I put the chocolate in the Advent calendar and then I sat down to watch Top Chef. I must say I soo soo wanted Michael V to go home but when they said that Jen's dish was too salty and Kevin's meat was too tough I knew he was staying. Then I was praying that it was Jen we said good bye to not Kevin. Next week it has to be Kevin coming out on top. Okay I won't cry too hard if Bryan beats him because was Bryan ever in the bottom 3? I don't think so. Oh but if Michael wins I will probably never watch the show again. I dislike him that much. It is almost as much as I disliked Joan Rivers when she won Celebrity Apprentice. That was the "Jumping the Shark" for me with the Apprentice. On to a new reality.

While flipping through channels at 10 waiting for 10:30 to get here so I can watch "Two and a Half Men" I came across a movie called "Race to Space". Have you ever seen it? If not I highly recommend. Hometown girl Annabeth Gish is the Vet for the NASA Chimps in the 1960s. James Woods is the German Engineer that designs the American Space craft and Alex D Linz is his son. Very touching with enough action that it would have kept Campbell interested if I would let him stay up this late on a school night. Speaking of staying up late. It's midnight and I need to go to bed. Good night all.

23 Days Until Christmas

And online I popped to check out the specials for the week. I thought now how can I get back on my blog since I haven't been out here since August. I will do an Advent calendar and make the winter blues eat my dust. Okay not great but a start on coming back into the fold. On 24 days before Christmas I started the Advent calendar, went to Wal-Mart for one of our weekly trips and attempted to buy one Christmas present. I say attempted because the item does not come out in stores for another 2 weeks.

Now I need ideas for some fun family activities that we can do as part of our Advent calendar. If you have some ideas let me know. Does Advent need to be capitalized mom?

What has been happening in our life since August you ask? You will have to wait to read the Christmas letter to see. I took the picture this weekend! Moving at the snail pace I usually move. We'll see if I get them out by New Years!!

On This Day

Seven years ago today it was sunny and hot. Quite a difference from today. Today we have rain and cool temps. Why do I remember the weather from seven years ago? I was in the final day of my pregnancy with Campbell. We went into the hospital around 7 but he had to be stubborn and hang in until 7:19 a.m. on the 20th. That's okay this way he shares a birthday with Nick and Brian will be able to remember it. Love you munchkin!

Back from Vacation

I have been on vacation to Forks, Washington this past week. Not in the literal sense but figuratively speaking. This trip was not planned. A friend of mine loaned me her Twilight books, so Sunday August 9 I sat down on the rainy afternoon and read. The rest of the week I didn’t accomplish more than reading my books. What was going to happen to Bella, Edward and Jacob next? Would Bella survive this chapter as it seems she is a magnet for bad things to happen? As soon as I was done with one I went to the next one. This was way cool because I usually have to wait for the next book in a series. With the exception of Saturday when I helped my parents move, I read the books. The first book came out in 2005 why did it take me so long to read the books? At first I thought they were teen books. Then I was told to read them by a friend that doesn’t usually have the same taste in books as I. I admit when she raved about them I thought I would never like them if she liked them that much. I was wrong. I probably owe Brian for this week since I was a little distracted and he seemed to take care of the boys. I ate with them and gave them their baths but any chance that I had I went to Forks.

Now I’m anxious to see the movie. I know I will be disappointed that they characters don’t look like I imagined them while I was reading the books. But I can get past that as I have in the past. I saw on a website that she might do another book from this series which would be the first book from Edward’s perspective. I look forward to that.

July 14

I was looking through one of the hundreds of catalogs that I receive (I have been calling and removing my name from the mailing lists, but slowly.) and about fell off my chair. The 80s clothing is back. Now my question is WHY? Did the purple buffalo plaid tunic with leggings and a double belt really look good 20 years ago. Hmmmm . . . NO! Now I know that everything comes back into style as the saying goes but the new designers are supposed to change it up a little bit. I don't think they did that because I looked at the cover of the magazine to see if it was one I kept from the 80s' for some reason. If you wore the clothes the first time this is a era you should not revisit.

July 8

We went to Adventureland today. The weather was supposed to be partly cloudy and 85. When we left it was way cloudy and only about 61. On our drive down we had sprinkles of rain so I thought it was a good chance that we had a down pour at some time during the day. We pulled in around 10:30 to a touch of sun. Our first ride was the Ferris Wheel. Cautious Campbell, of course didn't want to go on it. We made him. He liked it but didn't want to go on it again. Then on to the Teacups, which from Disneyland we knew he liked. Next in line was the Der Flinger, the umbrella seats that circle around. Jamison could not wait he was a little jitterbug, not so for Cautious Campbell he wanted to know if he had to go on the ride. We made him. He loved it and wanted to go on it again. This became a theme of the day. After the 3rd time of him saying he didn't want to go on that, I said that he had to go on at least 2 more rides that he didn't want to so he could get a souvenir, he also had to go on a roller coaster with me. The two rides? The log ride and the Raging River. Both were a hit with Campbell not so much with Jamison. Campbell had to go on both of them again. Jamison went on the motorcycles. Anyone from Schleswig will recognize them as the same cars that are at Calf Show Days. This was Jamison's favorite ride I think he was on it a total of 12 times. Since the day didn't ever get into the 80s, I really didn't need to wear a sleeveless shirt but it didn't ever rain. Our longest wait on any ride was 10 minutes. I got soaked on both water rides. The roller coaster that was picked was the Underground (this is so not a roller coaster but after it I couldn't get Campbell to try another one.) Below is Campbell's favorite ride and he was actually never coaxed to go on this. He picked it all by himself. We only made it through about half the park. Jamison woke up the next day asking to go back to that park.

feedjit

yeah! I'm back to being from Cedar Falls IA and not Vodesta GA. Happy Days are here again.

Happy 4th of July

Well here I am again. I have thought about you so many times but then I get to Thursday and think "you don't want to hear about last weekend when this weekend is right around the corner." So I stay silent. This weekend we were up at the cabin and on Saturday it rained and rained. The rain finally stopped around 4 so Brian was able to shoot his fireworks for the crowd. There were a couple other houses on the lake that were competing with them and this made for an even better show. It was just the family and the in-laws this weekend. Let me just say I like friends better so come on up some weekend. We had sun on Sunday (as it should be since it is in the name.) so we hung out at our little beach where Campbell and Jamison swam like crazy. Jamison had a little bit of a problem once as he decided to go out almost to his chin and then the big waves come in. I thought I was going to have to go swimming too. I was able to pull him out with his life jacket though. The scare didn't stop him for long. He was back to waist deep in about 15 minutes.

I actually did not get on the lake at all this weekend, but I did get my two magazines read from cover to cover. On the rainy Saturday I was itching to be crafty but I didn't have anything along. I thought about going into Manchester to check out the stores but with it being the 4th I didn't know how many would be open and didn't want to take the chance that none of them would be.

I also didn't take pictures of anything except for fireworks and they didn't turn out. I have 2 weeks to study up on firework pictures. July 18th are the fireworks at the lake so I have another shot this year. Relaxing weekend doing nothing. Ahhhh!

Memorial Weekend

It turned out to be a fabulous weekend. We actually left for the cabin on Friday. The first time ever! We got to the cabin around 9 after packing, eating and stopping at Wal-Mart. I brought my camera up to get familiar and use my two new filters. Brian and his dad got the good pontoon in around 10. While they were doing that and the boys were in bed I started to make some cards but ran out of adhesive (I so hate that!). Saturday dawned cloudy and cool but by the time all our guests got there it was sunny. We had Brian's parents, his sister Kris and their boys, and the Moore family minus Lizzie come up. After lunch the adventurous ones rode the jet skis while the rest of us rode the pontoon toward the dam. After turning around we stopped at the beach where the kids had a blast getting as wet as possible. Only one of them had a suit on, I really thought it was too cold to get in the water. Jamison learned how to fill his fish water can with the hose after we came back (outfit number 2 of 5). Brian's family left around supper time and while the kids ran amok we sat on the deck and enjoyed some adult conversation and adult drinks. We so need to plan an adult day up there. After the Moore's left (no idea what time) we started another fire to burn more branches of the tree limb that crashed into our dock and took a chunk out of it. Jamison and I had another s'more. Fire and little boys equal outfit number 3. We have been looking for recipes of other things for Campbell to make since he doesn't like marshmallows. We found some but we have to buy some pie irons. Bedtime for me and the boys, Brian headed over to the adult bonfire at the Gaede's.

Sunday was family day we took it easy and piddled around the cabin before lunch. We took a pontoon ride and since the lake was relatively quiet I practiced captaining the pontoon. I was much more successful in this endeavor than when I captained the boat at Branson when I was 11. (This story is one for a night of drinking or when my brothers decide to embarrass me!) Any way since we failed to put sunscreen on the boys and even with sun glasses on I couldn't open my eyes fully we headed back to the cabin. We were going to load the car and head into town to eat around 1. We made a pit stop before eating to look at a 2004 Glastron ski boat for sale. Forty-five minutes and the loss of one kid to dreamland we got to the drive-thru of Hardee's.
When we got home Campbell and Brian headed to his parents so Campbell could plant his garden. Jamison and I followed after he ate and I took my Sunday nap. We had outdoor movie night in the neighborhood at dusk. We saw "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler. It is very good. Every child sat through the whole movie. For once Brian went home with Jamison, Campbell and I hung around until midnight. Campbell on the tramp with his friends and me around the fire with the adults. Our next neighborhood outing is Friday. The bowling bus is coming to pick us up for bowling and pizza. I hope we get bumpers as adults too. I'm not as good at real bowling as I am on Wii.

Monday Brian had to clean an apartment so the boys and I had a pajama day until lunch. We played Wii (I lost boxing to an almost 3 yr old) I lost everything we played to Campbell. When it wasn't my turn I made 28 cards. My card file is stocked for girl cards now I need to make some manly ones. Monday I also worked on the baby quilt I have to complete. I might get it done except for binding this next weekend. I'm only going to one graduation party out of 3 this weekend. Oh one other thing I did Monday was sign up for a photography class. I found one that I can do when I have time and it was under $100. I have my first assignment due, I received a 100% on the quiz questions. I'm anxious to hear what they say about the pictures I send them. You get constructive criticism and access to IM a professional photographer. I will upload pictures from the weekend tomorrow night I need to go to bed now.

Catch up since May 10th.

I know I haven’t been out here for a while and I promised a picture of my birthday/mother’s day present from Brian. Isn’t it beautiful? I went with Campbell to Hartman Reserve on May 19th . It was the first day that it was supposed to get up to 75 degrees so I was excited to not be working. They of course, recommend you wear long pants to protect yourself from Poison Oak and such. It was 83 degrees and since we were in a valley with no wind. It was down right hot walking the woods. Other than that and a few nights out in the neighborhood we haven’t done a lot. Oh I did get a picture of Campbell and his teacher for the year. Finally, she is one of those who runs from the camera. I was annoyingly persistent. (Surprise!)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all my readers. I hope you had as good as day as I did. I'll tell you about it tomorrow but time for me to get to bed tonight.

May 9 - Cabin is open

The cabin is open for the season. If you need a weekend getaway -plan to stop by Lake Delhi and visit us. We spent the weekend cleaning a little, the guys went on the pontoon, we brought the food up and put the jet skis in. Jamison was excited he got to fish, ride the boat and the jet ski. Campbell got to tend fire and fish. Their favorite things to do at the cabin. I caught up on some magazines and did Campbell's blanket so I had an enjoyable day there too. I even caught a fish! I was supposed to be helping Jamison but while I was reeling in to recast a sunfish decided to grab hold. I made Brian take him off and throw him in. Then I thought about grabbing a shot of my first fish. Oh Darn!

May 8

I was busy getting dressed this morning and looked at the time. After 7 and no Jamison yet. This is highly unusual so I peeked into his room. There he sat reading a book on his bed. He of course pushed most of the animals and blankets off the bed first. I went and got my camera so I could take a picture. Before I snapped the picture I decided to listen to the book he was reading. It was Froggy Rides a Bike. He did pretty good with the plot of the story and watching his action when Froggy crashes into the tree was too funny. I snapped the picture, he looks up and says "Mommy is it get up time?" Does this mean he realizes that I am not a morning person like him and that he is waiting for me to say time to get up? I'm not ready for that! Even though I am not a morning person I love our cuddle time in the morning and would hate to miss it.

This week crafts

I have not been as busy this week in the craft area. On Monday my "ME day" I was going to scrap and complete the quilt I have for the couple that had their baby on April 14. Still not done. All I did Monday was make a couple of bookmarks. One for me and one for Campbell's teacher for "Teacher appreciation day". I also made a Thank you card for her but the picture didn't turn out. Then on Saturday while at the cabin while the guys were on the boat fishing I made Campbell a fleece tie blanket. Here are the pictures.

May 3

I was up making breakfast at 7. I did pretty good too until I had to bend down and look in a cupboard to see if I had a thermos. I know I didn't but I looked anyway. I had brunch and then everyone left so I could go back to bed. No pictures of me on my birthday because I take the pictures in our family and my DH doesn't think about what would be good for a scrapbook page. You don't really want to say hey take my picture darn it I look so good hung over and I want to scrap it for the future. (I think not.) I slept until 3 and watched a movie then Jamison and I went to find the rest of the family. They were down at the neighbors. I fed the neighbors with left over food above is a picture of dinner and the cute neighborhood kids. Okay only half the kids the others are still running around. And they haven't even had the cake yet.

May 2

This was the last picture of the night. I still look pretty together. I went out for breakfast after this. I should not have had the Diet Coke with my strawberry pie. I should have had water. I am now 40 until May 4th. Then I go back to being 35!

Here's my first shot of the night. It's a lemon drop. I love them, but I found out that night that they are supposed to be set on fire. Hmm. Maybe one day I will see one like that. I also had Snickers, cherry bomb, red headed slut and a slippery nipple. Lemon drop and snickers were my favorites and I don't like snicker candy bars.

It's here. The day of my party is finally here. How many people will show? Will they have a good time? How late will we stay? What else do I need to do before we go?

Okay it is now 5:20 why is my family all sitting on my couch to watch the Kentucky Derby? They can watch it at the bar. We have to get the food yet and be there before the guests get there. I have to leave. Brian better say that he is going with me or I will be pissy at him too. I need a drink already!

May 1

No work until Tuesday. I have things to get ready for the party. Oh first I am going to go to Twin Oaks and see the scrapbooking stuff. I haven't been there for a while. I have time before I have to pick up the cinnamon rolls. Pick up cinnamon rolls, pick up parents, go eat and go shopping for groceries. Keep the bill under $300 for both parties. Why do we stress before parties we throw? If you forget something besides the alcohol no one will know that it was supposed to be there. I start to worry about the food. What if I am not a good hostess? What if no one who says they are coming will come? Can you picture it: You have all this food, your family is here to party with your friends and then no one comes. Because you really don't have friends you have acquaintances. So here you sit with food for a hundred and 6 people at your party. . . Then you wake up and know that you will have friends there you don't have to worry about it.

April 30

HELP! Dirk called this morning to tell me he tried to cook my pork for BBQ pork sandwiches yesterday and he had them in the smoker from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and they are still not done. He thinks I should switch to plan B. I don't have a plan B. I am 2 days away from my party and don't have a plan B. Hello Hy-Vee can you help me? Yes they can! I now have BBQ pork sandwiches for 100 and buns for 150. There will be no lack of food at this party.

April 22

I fell off the wagon. I have been clean for 2 months but this week I bought and ate chocolate chip cookie dough. It was yummy. I am disgusted with myself. I step on the scale and see it go up not down and instead of doing something about it, I go out and get CCCD. It's out of my system now and if I could find my coupon for $10 meeting fees I would be at Weight Watcher's but I misplaced that little bugger somewhere. I know I will find it the question is will I find it before it expires on 6/6? I'm walking with Natalie tomorrow night and who knows maybe even Friday. Weather should hold off on Saturday in time for me to get out in the morning too. I should sign off now and go work on Wii Fit. I think I will.

April 20

This year I have been rocking on the crafts. Two quilts, 4 scrapbook pages and 4 mini albums completed before May. So of course my DH is ready to move and wants me to pack it all up for the staging of our house. I'm debating. While at Schleswig for Easter we went through a box of my late grandma's pictures. I pulled some for scrapping. Today I got some really cool paper from Basic Grey called Mellow that just seemed to go along with one of the pictures. I tried a new size 11 1/2 by 6 (should have been 12 x 6 but didn't have a brown in that size) I liked it and it worked well with the old 110 picture.

April 19

What a cold day this was. Of course we had a confirmation in the family that's why. It snowed on my confirmation many years ago. My niece E was confirmed. We went to church had a yummy breakfast and then started the long trip back to Cedar Falls. We made the return trip in about 5 1/2 hours like we were supposed to. Unlike the trip down which took FOREVER. Above the boys and I with the beautiful Confirmation girl. Thanks for giving up your room to us for the weekend E!

April 16

Campbell had his vocal concert tonight. No pictures mom didn't check to make sure her equipment worked prior to leaving. We have the whole thing on video though so ask to see it when you come over. You can even ask Campbell to give a short performance. I don't guarantee that you will get anything from him but if you do it will bring a smile to your face.

April 15

I had 2 friends deliver babies on April 14th so today I went to visit. I didn't get to meet the little guy as he was having a visit with the doctor but here is the newest little girl. Miss H was a beauty. Her parents say she sleeps all the time and she didn't have her eyes open very long while I was there. She was so cuddly though. Good job A.J.

April 12

It was cold out today. But my outdoor boy had to ride his motorbicycle at Gragra Peters house. He was on the real one yesterday so he knew how to make the motorcycle noise. Thank goodness the warm weather is here. Wish it would come more than every other day.

April 11

After a long drive to my home town last night. It was a busy day today. We saw the Easter bunny and received 23 eggs from him and his helpers. We checked out the progress on mom and dad's remodeling job. Mom and I helped crack 400 eggs for the Easter Breakfast and Dad and Campbell played a 2 1/2 hour game of Monopoly. Not really sure how Campbell talked dad into that one.

April 8

My last issue of Simple Scrapbooks came today. It makes me sad that this is the end. This is my favorite magazine. I don't even want to finish reading it because I know then that this is the end. They say that they will be moving some of the favorites over to Creating Keepsakes but it won't be the same. Goodbye my friend.

April 6

Campbell is feeling Mr. T and got out all his necklaces. Why he has so many I don't know. He does know who Mr. T is, we have a channel that shows the A-Team every night. I should tell you that you don't see pictures of Campbell very often now because he is camera shy. With Jamison you get out a small device and he thinks it's time to pose for a picture. I hope that doesn't change.

April 4

This is how you can usually find us on any given morning. Jamison sitting on the counter waiting for his toast to pop up so he can have his "butter & lelly". He's getting better at saying it, but now he wants to help you make it. The time varies any where between 5:30 and 7. Most week day mornings it is Brian feeding him because I have distracted him with Motorbicycles on T.V.

April 3

This was bath night and we put bubbles in the bath. Jamison was ecstatic, but to me it means 2 hours in the bathroom not just one. This is not a regular thing and I took video of Jamison screaming because he didn't want the bubbles to leave. Bad Mommy, getting a kick out of something so distressing to my child. He'll hate me for it too when I show it to his children.

April 1

Did anyone get caught on a good joke? Campbell switched lids on the Peanut Butter so Brian started putting creamy on his toast. I thought it was funny. We got the idea off of one of the children's channels only they wanted you to switch the inside bags of cereal which is what Campbell wanted to do but I don't think Jamison would have gotten the joke. Maybe I'm wrong.

Anyway the picture for this day is part of my crafty weekend. I made a mini album and these two pages about our trip to the Delhi cabin in February when we had 50 degree weather. I'm not exactly happy with the Snow Play title, I used some glue that made the letters slide and then when it dried you could see the glue. Should have practiced because I did much better on the Delhi part.

March 27

Today we had a good bye party for one of the girls in our aisle. I wasn't going out for very long but somehow time got away from us and I missed putting the boys to bed. I bet Brian didn't have to fight with them about it. Most of us had a good time. Why Kathleen is that an alcoholic beverage in your hand?

March 26

This is a rare occasion. Both boys ready for school/daycare and there is still time for them to watch T.V. with out mom yelling to get something done. I took a sneak shot on this otherwise the fingers would not be in the mouth. Five minutes before they were fighting over what channel they were going to watch.

March 25

Jamison got a big boy bed today. He loved it. We need to do some rearranging but first we have to get a frame. Brian has three in storage but they aren't the right type of course so we are going to have to purchase one. Not to excited about that. Jamison is busy jumping on his bed now instead of Campbell's

Happy Birthday Lori!

My college roommate turned 40 on St. Patrick's Day. Doesn't she look good! I have been planning to surprise her for lunch since January so besides the Friday before my birthday party this is the only day I have actually asked for off in January. Then her sister decided to have a surprise birthday party for her the Saturday before. So I decide to go down for that. Then my DH decides that I can't go out two nights in a row I need to choose either Friday after work (which has been planned for 3 week) or Lori's party. Since the work group was already giving me a little grief because I have been the one to leave early the last few times I knew I couldn't skip that. And I'm sure that was the one Brian was hoping I would forgo. I had Lori's birthday off so I knew I would still see her. It worked out great. I'm sure that she had no idea about it. I walked into her office and she was expecting her mom and dad. We had a great lunch. I got to hear how Mike is reacting to being an expecting dad. It's just like I knew it would be, he is just as nervous as Brian was the first time. They are both overprotective and worry about all the little things that you really can't do anything about. I was a little disappointed that she didn't have a baby bump yet, but I will see her again with one I know I will.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

What a beautiful day St. Patrick's Day was. Sunny and warm. It was almost 70 here.

Spring Break Monday

I got so much stuff done today it was amazing. First I was only on Facebook for 5 minutes this morning. Then we got much needed shoes for Campbell. Jamison and Campbell both have sandels for the summer now too. Then we got gas and checked out a new park to play at. We went to Hansen School as they built a new park this summer. Campbell was not to excited about it. He says Southdale still has the best park for schools. We attempted McDonald's for lunch. Jamison just did not eat as usual. Then home for naptime. The neighbors were out when we came home so I lost Campbell to the call of Star Wars. During nap I finished a quilt, I painted the board for the Upper Case Living saying below and I went through all my boxes in the garage. When Brian came home I had $55 worth of stuff to go to Goodwill in my trunk so he stayed home while I made my trip. Then Jamison got up and I took him to another park, to the recycling center to empty 2 tubs and to Wal-Mart to get milk and bread. When we came home it was time for supper. Bishop's has reopened at Crossroad's Mall and since this is one of Brian's favorite places to eat we headed over there for supper. When we came home it was homework time for Campbell, he has to write in his journal everyday this week. I put the saying on my board that I painted this afternoon and I started gathering items to give to my friend Lori for the baby. Whew! I'm tired, I think I will go to bed now. I hope tomorrow is just as productive.

Saturday & Sunday

Above is a February shot of Campbell after he lost his fourth tooth. You can actually tell this one is missing so I thought I better post.

So Saturday I didn't really get a lot done. Not that I planned to either. I don't have to be to work again until Thursday so I had time to do my list. I did some quilting and watched movies. Since I went out Friday I couldn't go down to Des Moines for Lori's surprise party. I don't think Brian understood that it was okay to bring the boys since we were to meet in a restaurant. But he wanted to also go to the boat show and he hadn't been out for (gasp!) 5 days. Heavens what should we do? Any way the only major thing I did on Saturday was pull Jamison's clothes out of the closet to go through it as we had a growth spurt. I still haven't gone through it.

Sunday since I quilted on Saturday I worked on scrapbooking. We went out for lunch with Ken and Lorraine. They took Jamison bowling and when they dropped him off for nap time they took Campbell went to the sports show. While it was nap time I went for a walk with Natalie since it was a beautiful spring day. We are both off on Wednesday so we have a play date with the kids. Brian and Campbell went to see about joining a gun club with no success. They will try again another day.

Friday the 13th

Friday night the work gang were going out and we were meeting at 4:42. I was a little late because Campbell was yelling at the xbox game because he was dying. We had to have a talk. I thought being just 5 minutes late I wouldn't be so far behind but no I find out MY BOSS let everyone go home early so I was 2 drinks behind when I got there. We had some shots on the owner and I need to find out what they were because they seriously tasted like cough syrup. But thank you Darren we did appreciate them and the free pizza. Go figure Terri's friend would know friends of Brian's now she is invited to the birthday party and I haven't invited them yet. We headed to the Triangle in Hudson for a few more drinks. Met Big Mike although at 6'5" I don't really think we need the "big" it's pretty much a given. Jeff and Natalie hit the dance floor. Oops they didn't have one. I do need to talk to Nick about his bartender. When half your clientele are sitting in one booth you should not make them come to the bar for drinks you should go out to them. I mean come on, you could go out to smoke stop by the table on your way back.

Okay Friday seemed like a bad thing while I was at work. Luckily, I only worked until noon. I left my mess of out of balance for Ruth to figure out. Sorry Ruth! Then I was off to school to help make green eggs and ham. Our eggs turned out a nice teal green color because the student putting in the food coloring did a quarter bottle of blue food coloring not just a drop or two. Some of the other groups actually made nice lime green eggs. Not in our room though.

The Retreat

We had such a great time at the quilting retreat. I only pulled out scrapbooking once and it was a magazine. The only reason I pulled it out was that I was DONE WITH MY QUILT TOP. Yes, you read correctly. I did it. I started at 9 Saturday morning and finished at 10:25 that night. With a trip to the quilt shop and eating way to much food in between. I saw what Natalie and I are going to be like in 10 years (Micki and Cindy) and a little older than that (Rose and Phylis) everyone that knows us, you might be a little afraid right now. These wonderful ladies kept us in stitches all weekend. We heard about toothless weddings and bible studies that would crack you up. I can't do these stories justice you will just have to take our word for it.

The food was fantastic. We had pork chops for lunch and lasagna for dinner. We weren't the youngest ones there as Kelsey is in her 20's but we were called the young girls. Kelsey and Mary helped me get the flow of my quilt colors going. Mary said Kelsey is a fanatic about it. Kelsey if you read this don't look too closely at the finished product as I think I turned a couple squares around.

Our bed room took a little getting used to. We had to shuffle mattresses around to find comfortable ones. We were at a church camp and stayed in the boys dorm. We were the only two in our room. When you stay up till 1 both nights you can sleep though. I did sleep in a hole the first night, the mattress was deformed. I also had a problem falling a sleep because my mind started thinking about horror films. Saturday night was much better. It might have been the glass of pineapple Rum and orange juice or because I was way tired. I'll have to analyze that for a while. The showers were powerful and hot. If your the first one you have to wait 15 minutes to get hot water but it was worth it.

We played two games of fat quarter shuffle. (Left, Right, Center is another name for it.) The first game I rolled 3 centers in one row. The dice were rigged on that game because it went fast. The Center was like the house in Las Vegas. It was greedy. I was rolling on the second game. I thought my next quilt was going to be purple since at one time I had six fat quarters in front of me. At last, I don't have the Peters luck when it comes to gambling and I came home defeated. Nope, I purchased some fabric for my next quilt while I was there. But since I came back I have started some UFOs that I had in my sewing tub along with the fabric for my quilt top. Jamison might get his crib quilt yet.

Natalie came to the quilting retreat and discovered that she didn't pack her sewing machine. As this isn't the first time that someone forgot that tool the quilt shop had an extra she could use. I won't mention what her mom, Lana, forgot but I will say that if this was her honeymoon her husband would be thanking God for his luck.

Campbell said he would take the quilt when we get it finished. Brian said him and a friend were going to make one too. With Duct tape (what man wouldn't use this?) and old underwear. Thank God that they didn't get to that. Brian was only home for about 10 minutes when I came home as his friend celebrated his birthday on Saturday and Brian couldn't go out so he had to go out Sunday when I came home. Poor boy.

Retreat!

I’m going on a retreat this weekend with Natalie. Nope, not a scrapbooking retreat although I am bringing scrapbooking projects along. This is a quilting retreat. I can hear you all now laughing hysterically and you need to stop. I have made a quilt; I made one for Campbell’s crib. I also have another one started, and then I had to put my sewing machine away for something and never got it out again. (Another reason I need a craft room.) I enjoyed most of the process. I didn’t like the perfection aspect of quilting. I think this is why I like to scrapbook each page is unique and what ever you add is the “you” factor. There is no wrong way. Anyway I am bringing a quilting project along since I will have experts around for over 24 hours I thought I might as well make use of them. I’m going to attempt a “turning 20” quilt. I think I could get it all cut out and the front completed in this weekend. If I get to frustrated I have a gift project that I’m working on. Would love to share but the recipient might actually read my blog.

Update on the weight loss goal

Thought I better give you an update on how the weight loss is going for my goal of having 15 lbs off by my birthday party. It’s not going off it is still finding me and adding up. This month I have gained 2.5 lbs. The little guy on Wii asked me if I knew why? Sure I do, I don’t exercise and I eat way too much. I need to have my mouth wired shut. So now I am down to 2 months and 17 lbs to go. I did get on Wii last night but only for a few minutes. I obviously need a bigger incentive to lose this weight. Any ideas? Give it some thought and let me know.

Happy Birthday

A big Happy Birthday going out to Kimmie! I hope your hearts desire gets to Iowa soon for your birthday present. Hope your day was great. Loved your desk. - See pictures on her blog.

Technology

Sad to say technology is passing me by. I now have a FaceBook page and I had to by the "Facebook for Dummies" book to go along with it. I still don't understand Facebook, I understand that it is a networking tool and I just can't explain where my block is. Maybe in a couple weeks when I've read at least the first part of the book I will understand it and how to use more than just writing on people's walls. I was scared though; people keep telling me you invite friends and then they either accept you or deny you. If they accept you then you can view their page. What if nobody accepts me? I know one person who enjoys pushing the DENY what if they all do that to me? I am happy to say I know have 17 friends. I thought I was doing good but then others have 70. I'm a friend wannabe. Oh the pressure to keep up with the times.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday N! Hope you have a car by the time I talk to you. Hope you had a great day! Love you.

I Love you.

Do you know what the best thing in the world is? When someone in your family, out of the blue says “I love you.” Wow! that just makes my day. Jamison is wonderful about doing this too and he does it when I really need it. This morning I was feeling a little blah and tired (because Jamison has a cold and sounds like a sea lion when he coughs, so If he has a fit in the middle of the night I have to check to make sure he hasn’t swallowed his tongue.) and was sitting in the chair zoning. Jamison comes over climbs on my lap and says “I love you mommy.” Ahhhh, my heart melted.

I was Lazy

I have been lazy, but when am I not? It is always so much easier at night to turn on the t.v. after the boys are in bed or read one of my 12 magazines that I get each month (actually I'm down to 7 every month which is a low for me). I have also been watching some shows that aren't on Discovery channel and they all come on at 9. And I have found out that if I don't shut the computer off at least an hour before bed I don't fall asleep until about 1. When you are not a morning person and your youngest is notorious for waking up at 5:30, One is not a good time to fall asleep. All true but not valid reasons for not keeping you up to date. I can't believe it was February 9th since I was last out here. But here is the sad part. . . It was February 3 that I last took a picture. Tomorrow the boys better have their cheese going strong! What has been happening since February 9th? Not a lot. School and work. On the 19th I took the day off because school was closed for conferences and Campbell and I ran errands. Yes, I took Jamison to day care. we had 10 places to go and it was going to be 5 degrees. I made a judgement call on how fast I could get them done with and without him. It was a wise decision that day.

The shows that I am watching and if any one else watches them let me know. Only one I get to discuss in the aisle now. Leverage TNT I love it. It's a Robin Hood story gone High Tech. Top Chef - Go Carla, thought she was weird to begin with but out of the 3 she is my top choice. Private Practice you have the relationships of Grey's but they are not whiners. I have hurry so I can shut this down at 10.

January 24

We have a new member of our family. I would like to introduce Roar Tiger Tressler. Jamison made him at Teddy Bear Connection. He received gift cards from Santa. He wasn't to sure about making him but Roar has been with Jamison every where since we brought him home. We have lost the basketball that came with Roar but like the 250 other balls we have they are never lost for long.

January 21

We went to the UNI Game. They were behind until we left the McCloud Center. By the time we got to our car they had tied. They ended up winning against Bradley. Jamison was looking for T.C. the whole time.

I'm losing 15 Pounds in 11 Weeks

I am announcing this on my blog so if you see me cheat you can yell at me. But also give me support by not offering sweets to me. I can’t turn you down it would be impolite. I need to lose 15 lbs by my party on May 2nd. I started my process today. Not a diet, they don’t work. I am making smart changes; you know the ones I should have been doing since I started Weight Watchers how many years ago. I do well then I stop going to meetings or get pregnant and it takes me 2 years to get disgusted and start again. Fifteen pounds in 11 weeks is a manageable goal. The weather is getting nicer and there aren’t any food holiday’s during this time. It’s also time to pick up my Healthy living activities. I’m off!!!

On another note check back tomorrow I downloaded pictures this weekend but didn’t have time to post so I plan to do that tonight.

The Progressive Dinner

As you know our neighborhood has been trying to plan a progressive dinner for a while. We were supposed to have it in December and the planning didn't get far off the ground. Well, we had it on Friday January 30 and I think it was very successful. I know I was sad to see it end but was also thinking it is almost midnight I have to get my boys to bed or we won't be able to stand them on Saturday. So I didn't go to the final house for after dinner drinks (the next day by stomach thanked me too.)
Our first house was for drinks. Here we also dropped off the children for their party. Fifteen children between the ages of 14 and 2. The beer selection was outstanding Rex made Black and Tans like a professional bartender. I stuck with a margarita because I know how many of those I can drink without getting a headache. (I did however exceed my limit that night.) After drinks we headed over to the Appetizer house. Here I tasted Brie for the first time (not bad). We also had some chicken Cordon Bleu balls that Brian raves about still, and sushi. I didn't quite get up the courage to try this. At the soup and side house we had Lobster Bisque (Yes mom I tried this) Mashed or twice baked sweet potatoes and French onion soup. They were all very good and the conversations were flowing. At every house the dynamics of the group changed. At the main dish house we had Baked Talapia with a Parmesan crust and green beans. I will admit I asked for a half a piece of fish. I ate three bites of my fish. Luckily I was sitting by Kent at this house. I commented that I don't really eat fish and he said he didn't eat green beans. I told him if he ate my fish I would eat his green beans. So we discreetly made the switch and cleaned our plates. Then Brian comes in. . . "Heidi, you have fish on your plate, I know you didn't eat it what did you do with it put it under the table?" I tried to quietly explain but the secret was out. More people heard. Brian was in talking to the baby's sitters before he came in to blab. J is under a year so his parents had friends come over to watch him instead of sending him over to the crazy house. Brian talking to strangers is a great source of amusement to Tami who said it took him six months before he would say "Hi" to her. Which is probably true.

So now it is on to our house for dessert. I asked the ladies to say something about how the desktop computer just doesn't look right on the center kitchen island. They did but then they spent their time on the computer. Didn't help my cause. We had Brownies with chocolate frosting, Lemon bars and 6 kinds of cheesecake. I made the brownies and lemon bars and purchased a variety pack of cheesecake at Hy-Vee. One person said they were all very good because they tried them all. While at our house the guys took a tour. When they came up from down stairs they announced that we were having the Superbowl at our house. Worked for me! By now it is 11:30 and I am thinking if the boys aren't sleeping then they will be bears tomorrow. I head over to pick them up. Most of the rest were at the after dinner drink house okay we have lost 3 others beside me. At the after dinner house they are starting a bon fire with the 2 left over Christmas trees from our neighborhood. Let me tell you one went up like a torch the other when I saw it on Saturday looked like it had just came out of the house. Even after they poured gasoline on it. Amazing! Brian came home at one and we heard that some die hards were up until 3. Bless them I can't do that anymore and handle the children in the morning.

Happy Birthday Dirk

The Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl. What an exciting 4th quarter. I would have been happy if the Cardinals would have won too. Home state hero and all but my rooting for the Steelers was my birthday present to Dirk. I think my wishes helped pull it out. NOT! Again, Happy Birthday Dirk!!

Big News

I have to share the news I received today. I'm so excited!! Someone is pregnant. No it is not me, I'm done. Jamison is winning the battle of the wills and I can't compete with another one. My college roommate Lori is going to have a baby on August 1st! Great day to have it because my life long friend Brenda already has this birthday. But as I told Lori, August has a not pretty birth stone and she should go early like July 29th, or July 23 for a ruby. So this summer I will have a new honorary niece or nephew. She won't be able to have a drink with me on my birthday but this is so much better I will forgive her. I just had to share my great news! Now I have to put Jamison down for his nap. It's two hours over due but we had to make it to lunch first.

Picture Not Taken (and you'll see why!)

Jamison and I have the same temperament. I sometimes think Brian is a little hard on him because he is not as quite and agreeable as Campbell was. Then we have nights like this. I made some Chicken Fettuccine from scratch. Very easy recipe but dicing raw chicken not going to happen again. Yew! Any way we sit down to dinner and I'm eating my noodles and I then butter a slice of bread. Jamison of course wants some because he is a carb. guy. Brian tells him to eat the one noodle on his fork. "NO" I tell him to eat the noodle on his fork. "NO. I want butter toast." Not until you eat the noodle. Ten minutes later he is still asking for butter toast and that noodle is on his fork. I offer him a choice. Eat the noodle or sit in the bathroom for time out (I'll explain my thinking on the bathroom as a time out place sometime.) He chose the bathroom or that is how I understood him throwing the fork across his plate. So we went into the bathroom. Two minutes later "Do you want to eat your noodles now." No! Want to stay in the bathroom? Yes. I shut the door and hear screaming for the rest of my meal. We then proceed to tell me we have to poo in the potty. . . then we don't (dressed again) then we do. I'm not handling this well. I'm not getting through. Does he know what yes and no means? When he is being stubborn I don't think so. The noodle was in his mouth for a half hour after Brian let him out of the bathroom. It was never swallowed. Jamison went to bed at 7 p.m. This is also punishment for me because we will both be up at 4 if not earlier. I need a SuperNanny intervention! Everyone write in for me, I'm a horrible mom!

January 20

Jamison wanted to work out with me. We went running on the Island of Wii. He has a blast and has the No. 1 score for this run. He works out 58%, the goal is 60%. I place No. 3 at 48%. What can I say I'm lazy.

January 17

A full day of Scrapbooking. We did 3 projects: a calendar, a two page spread and an acrylic album. I hope to get pictures on them all this weekend. I was there from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

January 16

You remember my conversation with Jamison where he wanted to go to Grampa and Gramma Peters all the time. I mean daily! Well on January 16 he finally got to go. The night before he didn't want to go but Grampa buckled him into the car and he said Bye bye mommy. I love that he wants to spend time with them, but he could miss me a little.

January 15

One of the things both my boys want to do all the time is run around in circles. Whether it is around our island in the kitchen or the parameter of the big room in the basement we have to run and it is more fun if mom and dad join in. Campbell is resting for the next round.

January 13

The second Tuesday of the month I get together with a few other people (supposed to be 3 but someone always seems to miss.) to scrap and talk. I get a lot done at these nights. This night I started a 6 x 6 album of pictures from our cabin. Here are Natalie and Diane hard at work.

January 11

Brian's friend Steve was over on this day and he had his Halloween costume along. He talked Brian into trying it on and I don't know how. Jamison and Campbell thought it was hilarious.

Feedjit

I think my feedjit is a little mixed up today. I have some funky places on there but I'm the Valdosta, Georgia one. Don't ask me how I have Mediacom as my internet provider. Maybe when I have 3 hours to be on hold I will call and ask them.

Not Enough Time

Help. I can't work 8 hour days anymore. I just do not have enough time to get all the other things done that I need to do at night. I haven't washed dishes in a week. I still have my Christmas tree up. (I did take down the ornaments on Sunday) Man, was that only yesterday? Any way part of it is my ability to focus on somethings and my inability to focus on others. Does that make any sense? I'll give you the example of yesterday. I was going to download my pictures from my camera that I have been taking (at least one ever other day) I'm getting closer to the 365 project. But then I thought I should ORGANIZE them. Two hours later I have put all the pictures on the laptop into Photoshop and tagged all the 2008 ones by at least one tag. Productive for me but didn't get my blog updated. I signed up for Live Healthy Iowa to give me a push at working out more than once a week. I asked for Wii Fit for Christmas for the same reason. This weekend no planned physical activity. Carrying Jamison around the Dome for an hour does count as some form but not really sure what I should put it under. My arms say lifting weights. The short attention span? It took me 3 hours to take the ornaments off the Christmas tree. I hope I get it taken down tomorrow night. No Bets should be placed though.

Avoidance

I admit I have been avoiding you lately. I don’t know what to say. The children haven’t been witty and it’s been too cold for the kids to go out and play. We aren’t taking any trips. I haven’t had any fights with clothing tags. Nope I just haven’t had anything to say.

Do I look unfit?

You know how you go along in life thinking you are a healthy, fit person and then something comes along to wake you from that dream? Or changes that dream to a nightmare? Well, my nightmare inducer is my great Christmas present, my WiiFit.
Why I thought I had to have one of these is beyond me. Why do I need a machine to tell me I am overweight and mention that I need to exercise daily? I know that! The simplest activity on this thing makes me so sore I can’t walk right for two days! Please tell me what muscle do you use when you hula-hoop? I didn’t think you should use any but apparently you use your side ab muscles for this activity. I ROCK on this by the way. I actually have 3 out of 4 stars on this workout.

Another area that I Rock – Yoga. Can’t believe that because the one yoga class I took bored me and I wanted to pull my hair out because of that music. Luckily, they don’t play music on WiiFit. I can crank my big hair ‘80s music while I torture myself. Any way most of the Yoga poses I am again 3 out of 4 stars. Two I even got 100% of the full 4 stars. But how bad of balance do you have if you can’t do the Warrior pose. I’ll have to see if Campbell can do it. He needs to work on the balance too. But to encourage me to keep going we are getting a team together for LiveHealthyiowa let me know if you want to join our team.