Happy Birthday Toby!

Today is my big brother's 35 birthday! I'm sure they will go out and do some insanely fun activity to celebrate! Happy Birthday Tobe!

Just a couple fun pictures of Toby (and Katie). Yes, that is a Christmas ornament dangling from his nose, he definitely knows how to get in the Christmas spirit.

They also know how to dress for Halloween. Yes, that is my brother in the fishnet stockings!

Laughter Lives Tuesday

This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.

Ok so if you know Little Buddy you know how scrawny the little guy is, built just like his daddy. He has a difficult time keeping his pants above his non-existent behind. The other day he walked by me showing off his rather impressive "plummer's crack". I told him to pull his pants up I could see his butt. He turned around and very matter-of-factly said, "So why are you looking at my butt!"

That's what happens when 3 year old's spend too much time with thier 3 teen/preteen sisters!

On a separate note my step-brother Brad and his fiancee Bridget had their baby boys Sunday.

Brayson Scott

5lb. 13oz

Bransen Earl

5lb. 12 oz

They are in the NICU in K.C., doing well but needed a little extra care. If you are the praying kinda person please send a little prayer their way.

Boys...are just different

Yesterday, while Dude took all the girls to the K-state/Nebraska basketball game, Mom and I took the boys to the Children's Museum. It was a ton of fun but boys are just so different. When the girls were little and I took them there they played in the same area's but boy play is so different from girls. The girls would have been content to have their faces painted, play nicely in the water tables, or play in the dr. area. The boys had to crawl into every vehicle (not Little Buddy as he is afraid of those), get drenched at the water table, build in the block room, and play football and volleyball in the Nebraksa room (shhh don't tell Dude how much fun they had in there!) All the way home we heard the boys pretend play in the backseat. Little Buddy's new favorite game in playing Transformers, they make the noises, pretend to fight and shoot at each other. It is a different world riding in a car with only the boys. I'm sure Dude would have plenty to say about his ride with the girls (3 teenage and 1 preteen). I think I'm glad we had the boys instead!

Not me Monday!

I did not spend all of the morning in my pajamas at the computer today, while Bryan took the kids to school, ran medicine to The Boss at school, made me lunch and took the dog outside 4 times!

I definitely did not buy Christmas cards, order pictures of the kids, address the envelopes and even put stamps on them just to let them sit in the front room. Nope not me!

I most certainly didn't start my headboard project that I know my husband does not like this weekend. I also didn't end up making him do most of the work, I would never do that.

It wasn't me that let Little Buddy eat 2 poptarts for breakfast and a bag of carrots and Cheetos for lunch.

Hopefully this will be a start to "Not me Mondays" on my blog, if I can remember. This will be a great way to get off my chest the horrible things that I would never do, not even if I wanted to. Check out the other participants of "Not me Mondays" on Mckmommas blog- http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

2009 Resolutions

Courtney: Lose weight and become healthy
decorate our home

The Boss: Stay out of trouble

Miss Brainy: read for fun everyday

The Chatterbox: not to lose her nintendo ds again

Badger Boy: do good on his deer drive wii game

Little Buddy: to be potty trained

Bryan: Finish the house -he doesn't know that this is his, I haven't told him yet! :)

Marry me Marry Me....

I am sitting here laughing as I watch Little Buddy pretend to be in a boat. As he rows his boat he sings " Marry me, Marry me, Marry me, life is down the drain!" That is one depressing version of Row Row Row your boat!

All about Me!!

I saw this posted on someone else's blog and thought it was a neat idea. Of course anytime I get to write about me is a good idea, right?

50 Things You Possibly Didn't Know About Me

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now?
What isn’t, is a better question. Let’s see 1 car seat, a couple kids books, too many candy wrappers, apples to apples game, travel cooler, and probably a few items best left uncovered.

2. What's your favorite curse word?
Bryan doesn’t like me to curse, but it would probably be s**t.

3. Name 3 people who made you smile today?
Azariah, Allie, and Sawyer

4. What were you doing at 8 am this morning?
Taking a shower
5. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
I was at the studio with a customer who was picking up their order.
6. What will you be doing 3 hours from now?
Probably laying in bed watching friends
7. Have you ever been to a strip club?
Does seeing the Chippendales count? If so then yes, one of the funnest nights of my life.
8. What is the last thing you said aloud?
“it‘s just a scratch”

9. What is the best ice cream flavor?
I really don’t like ice cream, but my favorite would be homemade vanilla.
10. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Cherry Diet Pepsi
11. What are you wearing right now?
Sweater and Jeans
12. What was the last thing you ate?
A gumdrop cookie

13. Have you bought any new clothing items this week?
no
14. When was the last time you ran?
When I worked at the fire dept., 4 years ago.

15. What's the last sporting event you watched?
K-state Basketball game

16. Who is the last person you emailed?
A cusotmer

17. Ever go camping?
Every weekend in the summer when I was growing up. Real camping, teepee and all.
18. Do you have a tan?
No, I am currently ghost white, as opposed to in the summer when I am off white.

19. Do you drink your soda from a straw?
In restaurants yes, at home no.
20 What did your last IM say?
I only use it on Facebook and it was probably to Chip Ebel, one of the few people who actually know it is a feature.

21. Are you someone's best friend?
I hope so

22. What are you doing tomorrow?
Partying it up like it’s almost 2009

23. Where is your mom right now?
I don’t know, she didn’t answer her phone when I called an hour ago.

24. Look to your left, what do you see?
My new corkboard that I made myself and just hung 2 days ago.
25. What color is your watch?
Silver

26. What do you think of when you think of Australia?
Kangaroos and Steve Erwin
27. Would you consider plastic surgery?
Yes, if I had the money and I wasn’t afraid of what a botched surgery would look like.

28. What is your birthstone?
Emerald
29. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive-thru?
If I don’t want to clean up the mess at home then we eat in, otherwise it’s the drive-thru.

30. How many kids do you want?
At the moment 5

31. Do you have a dog?
Miss Millie, a wirehaired terrior

32. Last person you talked to on the phone?
A customer

33. Have you met anyone famous?
Does Sandy Puc’ count?34. Any plans today?
Sleep
35. How many states have you lived in?
One, Nebraska

36. Ever go to college?
Just college courses

37. Where are you right now?
At my computer

38. Biggest annoyance in your life right now?
Having my kitchen torn up and wisdom tooth pain, I think they are about equal.
39. Last song listened to?
Maybe a new kids on the block song in the car with Azariah
40. Are you allergic to anything?
Nuts, strawberries, and valium
41. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
Brown slip-ons
42. Are you jealous of anyone?
Maybe
43. Is anyone jealous of you?
I don’t think so
44. What time is it?
7:33 p.m.
45. Do any of your friends have children?
Most of them
46. Do you eat healthy?
No but hopefully that will change with my 2009 resolution

47. What do you usually do during the day?
Work on the computer, laundry, play with Sawyer, pick kids up from school, repeat

48. Do you use the word 'hello' daily?
Of course

49. How did you get your scars?
2 c-sections, gallbladder and appendix surgery, smashed finger when I was really little
50. How old will you be turning on your next birthday?
32

Nine years ago

Nine years ago I was finally blessed with a little blue bundle, with chubby cheeks, green eyes, and a head full of black hair.

Today that little blue bundle weighs 62 pounds

he is the 3rd grade.

loves to be outside, hunting, shooting his bow, playing in the snow, riding his bike, or playing with the puppy.

Happy Birthday Badger Boy!

Progress in the kitchen

Here are some not so great drawings of the original and the new floor plans.

Before:

After:
Before: One of the only pictures I have before we started making changes. Although I loved the huge island it was HUGE. It had no flow, blocking the other half of the kitchen and only had a small amount of storage space for its size. It was also covered in carpet, who does that anyways?! The first changes we made were to repaint the cabinet doors, paint the ceiling, and the walls were painted red.
I also faux painted the ugly backsplash, adding the "roadrunner" and fake brick.
It was at this time that we removed the built in oven (that didn't work) and got a new free standing oven. Bryan moved the laundry room door over about 2 feet and installed a new solid wood door. The other doorway (leading out back) will have a matching door.

Bryan has installed the recessed lights and electrical outlets for the new "desk". It is taller than I would like, but we have decided to leave it at that height. Which will allow us to use it as a "workspace" as well as a desk. We still need to buy the upper cabinets and decide on the shelving that I would like for baskets, mail, etc.. Countertops will be a light grey tile. The backsplash will be really cool small granite tiles, with larger tiles around the sink area and "workspace". Stainless steel hardware will be installed on all cabinetry. Since the old drawers were made of plastic, Bryan will be making new wood drawers with the existing fronts.

The floor is almost finished, I still need to grout under the stove and fridge and then seal it. That will be done in the next day or two. Bryan will be hanging the small pieces of drywall and fixing the holes in the wall that were found when we removed the paneling.

Here are a few of the distressed cabinets that I found while searching online. I haven't decided on the extent of the "damage" I will inflict on the cabinets. I plan on beating them up a little, then applying stain to the exposed areas, but I'm not sure if it will be on the edges only or all over.

We will also be leaving the new cabinetry unpainted and they will only be slightly distressed.

The ends of the island, pantry, and workspace will be cover with tongue and groove wainscotting, like the above image. I love the look of the posts on the end of the cabinets, but I didn't ask for them soon enough and will have to do without. I still need to take our existing doors to the cabinet maker so that he can make new pantry doors. The pantry will have two large doors that hinge in the middle opening up to 3 large sliding shelves. We haven't decided on moulding, although I am leaning towards a very simple moulding with either crown moulding around the top of the cabinets or some decorating trim.

New light fixtures and potrack will go above the island. I love the look of these lights, but not the price. We will also be adding beams on the opposite side of the room to balance out the already existing beams. We are still discussing what to do with the hood exhaust. Bryan would like to install a microwave/exhaust system, I would like a simple exhaust that actually vents outside. We also need to buy a new dishwasher, sink, faucet, and fridge, but those will have to wait a few months at least. I would love to install new windows and possibly patio doors, that would lead out to a deck. The deck is not in the near future so I doubt I get my new doors anytime soon. This has been a looooooong project but the end is in sight.

I need your advice

Bryan and I bought a kingsize bed last year and we have yet to buy a headboard. Well I came upon this cool bed online today and had the great idea to make one myself. How hard can it be? I plan on using an old wooden door I saw at the antique store the other day and new posts. Well Bryan hates the idea, says he will cut it in half if I make it. Should I go ahead and make it or should we live without a headboard? Our bed sits in front of a window and a couple days ago when it was really cold my pillow actually froze to the window, yeah we need new windows too. I just think it would be great to have a headboard to keep my pillow on the bed, be able to hang curtains, and have an adult bed, headboard and all. So what do you think?

Rock Stars

Little Buddy chose this Hannah Montana microphone as my Christmas gift from him, but I think he likes it even more. I love that when Bryan takes him shopping he lets him choose what ever gift he wants. Last year I received a baseball, a thomas train, and tape. This year I received the microphone and an Easter car.

Please ignore the ugly wall in the background. I am in the process of redoing the fireplace, mantle, and wall above, where the original owners had glued nasty brick panelling.

The girls jamming out! Miss Brainy still in her pajamas, takes jamming to a figurative level.

My niece has the rockstar look down, with hair in her face no wondered she had a hard time singing the right lyrics!

A few from Christmas morning

Anything with camo makes this kid smile like a fool!

Little Buddy and Badger Boy in their present forts. I really tried not to go overboard on presents this year, but again I failed miserably. If it helps about 4-5 packages contain clothes!

We had really wanted to go to Disney this year instead of buying a bunch of presents that the kids forget about in a month, but money was needed elsewhere so the trip is postponed for another year. I am really hoping that we can make it work for next year, anyone want to join us?

Hey Mom, is this what you had in mind?

My mom told me yesterday that I needed to update the blog, so is this what you had in mind?

Here's to Christmas past... Let's talk about hair, Mom, Toby, and I sporting our wonderful permed 80's hair and Dad with his sad attempt at facial hair, not to mention the full head of hair on top. Gotta love the sweater's and velour sweat shirt! Notice the doll, I had a thing with "adopting" multicultural dolls. I had a "family" of baby dolls that would put the Jolie/Pitt clan to shame.

Merry Christmas

Little Buddy on Christmas Eve waiting for "his kids" to come home so we could unwrap some presents.

" Dude you ruined Christmas!"

During one of Little Buddy's very rare meltdowns he kept telling Bryan over and over again, "Dude you ruined Christmas!". We couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Finally Bryan asked him to show him. Little Buddy took Bryan to see that part of the garland that wraps around the banister on the stairs had broken. Bryan saved the day and fixed the garland with some tape. Sawyer thanked him by telling him" Dude you fixed it bad." Little Buddy has always called Bryan, Bryan instead of Dad, probably because that is what he hears the kids and I say. Well "Bryan" has been replaced with "Dude". Now he calls him Dude all the time, even in the middle of the night when he wakes up. It takes alot to make me wake up from a dead sleep and start laughing, but hearing your 3 year old yelling "Dude, Dude!" sure does the trick!

I'm a horrible blogger.

Sorry it has been so long since I posted any current pictures or updates. Business has really taken off this fall and I have been super busy trying to meet deadlines with my customers and up to my eyeballs in creating Christmas cards. I'm not complaining, but I'm not sure I can keep my sanity at this pace.

The Chatterbox and Badger Boy had their fall program at school. The Chatterbox had a speaking part which she loved, of course. Badger Boy is content to be part of the chorus. Miss Brainy's band program is coming up in a few weeks, hopefully I can get some images on here from both programs.

The Boss had surgery again last week. She soared right through it, she even felt well enough to go the last K-state game on Saturday. She will be going to Omaha for some tests in a couple weeks to see if the results were worth it and if she needs to get on any other meds to help control things. She is not looking forward to these tests, but then again who would.

Little Buddy is loving preschool. He brings home his papers and is so proud to show off what he had done that day. My fridge is completely covered with his artwork, I don't think I remember what color it is. His new favorite television show is SuperWhy on PBS. It is great to finally see him watch something other than Cars.

Images taken by my children

I pulled these images off of my little camera awhile back and thought they were funny.

The Chatterbox and Millie, the new puppy

See they do love each other!

How sweet!
One word...Dorks!!

SBN Gala

The Boss, Miss Brainy, Bryan, and I attended the Spina Bifida Nebraska Gala held last Friday at Harrah's Casino in Council Bluffs. It was nice to get together with everyone again. The kids are so dang cute. I wish I would have gotten pictures of all of the children but that is what I get for taking my big camera the night before I have a wedding. I was so worried that something would happen to it I didn't want to get it out much, next time I will take my point and shoot.

During the gala they asked all the kids to come up front. The M.C. was suppose to "interview" all the SB kids, but unfortunately almost ALL the kids went up including siblings. The poor M.C. couldn't tell which kids had SB so he only "interviewed" the kids in wheelchairs, the others he just asked their names and ages. This really annoyed The Boss, as we run into this problem all the time, everyone sees her and assumes she is perfectly healthy. Yes, we are very grateful and know how lucky we are that she can walk and looks healthy, but when you have been through as many surgeries and illnesses as she has the "recognition" like this would have been nice.
I told you the kiddos are cute! Miss Sara, she is just the sweetest little girl.

We have known Amanda for years. We first met her when she was 4. We were staying at the Rainbow House in Omaha while Azariah was in the NICU, Amanda and her Mom were staying there too while Amanda went through a program at Children's. After talking to them we found out that they were from the same area as us and Amanda's mom has been a great support through the years. Mr. Kaden really stole the show when he decided to get up and sing for everyone. But stage fright got in the way and all he could do was giggle, the cutest little giggle ever.

On a little different note, and my husband will be very upset that I posted this...

To the lady at our table...

Yes, we were upset that you decided to choose a dessert that was meant for everyone at our table. Yes, it was rude to not share with anyone, even though we pitched in money to earn that dessert. Yes, you did hurt my daughter's feelings when she had to sit down empty handed because you decided to be selfish. And No, the overcooked cherry pie was not good and it was not enough to serve the 15 people sitting at our table!

There I said it and yes it felt good! It was very unfortunate that I let this woman's actions ruin a fun night out with my family but darn it, the kids had better manners!

Moooom, she cheated me!

This is what I hear coming from the front room. I had asked Miss Brainy to play candyland with Little Buddy while I worked. A few minutes into the game I hear Little Buddy saying you cheated me, you cheated me. Miss Brainy had gotten ahead of him and he was sure that she was cheating.

Bad Bad Blogger

I apologize for the lack of entries, life has gotten in the way. Our house is as busy as ever, I'm still trying to catch up from the time off with The Boss. She is doing great, we go to the Dr. today for a check-up and to have the catheter removed. She has done quite well after surgery, she had a set back a last week that we had to get some medications for, but other than that things have gone well at home. I have been in the studio trying to get in all the sessions before it gets cold outside so I have been plenty busy. The Chatterbox and Badger Boy had their Parent/Teacher Conferences last night, we have a few hings to work on but overall they are doing pretty good. The Boss and Miss Brainy's conferences are on Thursday so hopefully we hear nothing but good news there.

The Chatterbox and Badger Boy spent the weekend at my Mom and Scott's, where Scott taught them how to shoot with a bow. Badger Boy loved every minute of it and really took to it. Scott said it only took him a few tries before he was doing it on his own without any help. By the time we got there on Sunday he was hitting the bulls eye pretty consistently. Not bad for a lefthander using a right handed bow!