the harpole house

"I love you, Pekka"

2012-01-30T22:58:00.004-06:00

I surprised Dominick today and picked him up from school right after lunch & took him to a Nashville Predators practice. We have been to one practice (back in October), and he really liked it, so I thought we would go again. He was still awake when I arrived to pick him up, and he got a gigantic smile on his face when he saw me.....mommy doesn't normally show up at the beginning of nap time! As we walked hand-in-hand out to the van, I told him where we were heading.....and he burst into another gigantic smile. We met mommy's hockey-loving-Canadian-friend, Kristin (and her daughters, Selina & Kiera) at Centennial Sportsplex, and then headed into the rink that the Preds practice on. Alth0ugh the Preds website said that practice was at 2pm, it was well underway when we arrived a few minutes before 2. We watched for about 45 minutes, were completely awed by their skating skills.....you are so close to them at practice, it's really a completely different experience than a game. Then practice was over and the players began to clear the ice. I saw a small group of people congregating near the entrance of the locker room, so Dominick and I headed down there to see if we could catch a glimpse of any players. We got much more than a glimpse! I put Dominick on my shoulders so that he could see over all of the people in front of us, and a very nice girl standing next to us held up Dominick's canvas sign that we brought along for autographs (just in case), and asked a few players if they would sign it "for that little boy" (pointing up to Dominick). Before we knew it, he had autographs from Brian McGrattan (#23), Brandon Yip (#18), and Dominick's VERY favorite player, Pekka Rinne (#35). While Pekka was signing Dominick's sign, Dominick belted out, "Pekka, I love you! You're my favorite player and I have your jersey on!". Pekka was so nice to Dominick....he thanked him, asked him what his name was, and then told him what a nice name he has. To say the least, Dominick was thrilled! And then Dominick immediately yelled down from atop my shoulders and declared, "mommy, Pekka is really sweaty". ha!

Our new friend also asked Matt Halischuk "to sign", but when Matt stopped and looked at the sign, he saw that his autograph was already on it, and said as much. Dominick replied with, "I met you at Dollar General! And you already signed it!". Matt smiled at him. On the way out to the van, we saw our new friend again, and she told us that sometimes the players sign autographs on their way out to their cars "back by the green fence". So, of course we headed back to the green fence, and after a quick trip back inside for a potty break, the players started to emerge. Our new friend called out to the players by first name as they exited the building and asked them if they "would sign for this kid" (again pointing to Dominick), and they did! He quickly collected 8 more autographs (Mike Fisher #12, Patric Hornqvist #27, Jordin Tootoo #22, Colin Wilson #33, Frankie Bouillon #51, Jack Hillen #38, Roman Josi #59, Kevin Klein #8). Dominick also informed Kevin Klein that he met him at the zoo, and told each of the players that came over "thank-you" and "good luck". It was all so very sweet, and all of the players were so very kind to him.....I think this little boy fell a little deeper in love with hockey and the Preds today (and so did his mommy).

"Dat beebee's time-out, mommy"

2011-02-20T14:06:00.000-06:00

This morning, Kirsten lined all of her babies up along the wall in the living room. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied, "dat beebee's time-out, mommy". She has NEVER been in timeout in her two years of life, so she must be getting this idea from watching her brother......I am wondering what they all did to get themselves ALL in time-out at the exact same time :)

Robots and Piggies

2011-02-18T23:25:00.017-06:00

On the way home today, Dominick suddenly announced "when I turn 5 on my birthday in December 8th, I want to have a dinosaur party". I cringed. Not because of the unexpected dinosaur-theme, but because, "eeeeek! he is GOING.TO.BE.FIVE on his next birthday". Wow. Then it hit me, he already knows what kind of party he wants. In February. He has, I then realize, caught on to the fact that for the past four birthdays, mommy has selected and planned his party theme without soliciting any input from him. He probably thinks that if he doesn't pipe up now, who knows what kind of party he would get this year? (In my defense, he has LOVED all of the parties I have planned for him). Kirsten then said, "my piggies, mommy". She often calls her toes her "piggies", so I just assumed that since were were driving in the van, she had probably ditched her shoes and socks (like always), and was referring to her "piggies" (ie: toes). "Where's your piggies?", I said. "my wike pink piggies my hap birt day, mommy". Oh, nevermind, she wasn't telling me about her toes, she was telling me that she wanted a piggy birthday party. A pink one. It evidently only took her TWO years to figure out that mommy sort of controls the birthday party festivies around here. Well, looks like that is all about to change. Looks like I'll be searching for some dinosaur and piggy cake ideas, favors, cricut cartridges, etsy goodies, etc, etc. Oh, wait, before we were even home, Dominick declared that, "actually, mommy, I forgot. I actually want a robot party for my birthday". And to think I JUST seen a Robot Cricut Cartridge on clearance somewhere, and although I can't remember where, I do remember thinking (at the time that I saw it), "well, of course they have a ROBOT cartridge on clearance. Who in the world would need (or want) a cartridge full of just robots?". Turns out that someone is me. Now, to just find a piggy one on clearance, too.....

Sick Day

2011-02-11T21:38:00.000-06:00

Kirsten developed a fever yesterday afternoon, and was home with me today. She was sitting on my desk (pretending) to be 'talking' on the phone to daddy while I tried to get a few work things done. All of the sudden, she noticed my earrings....something she's never done before. She promptly hung up the phone, and then moved my hair aside so that she could get a good look at the earring in my left ear. After examining it closely, she then asked, "whut dat, mommy?", to which I replied, "that's my earring, Kirsten. I have another one in my other ear" (as I turned my head to show her the one in my right ear). She got the biggest smile on her face, and then proceeded to grab the sides of my head and turn it from side to side, admiring the bling in my ears. She then decidedly stated/asked, "my wike dat my ear, mommy?". Translation: can I please get my ears pierced and wear pretty diamond earrings like you do, mommy?". I just laughed. Where does she get this stuff? I have a feeling this won't be the last time we have a "discussion" about her wanting to get her ears pierced.

Happy Birthday, Oma!

2011-01-28T22:44:00.002-06:00

At Dominick's suggestion, I am baking a birthday cake to celebrate what would have been Jeff's mom's (and my dear MIL's) 63rd birthday today. Happy Birthday, Oma! We are going to take the kids out to dinner tonight to celebrate your life, and then come home and enjoy some Pineapple Upside Down Cake tonight in your honor :)

"Otay, Jen-fer"

2011-01-25T22:15:00.000-06:00

me: "Kirsten, it's time to go brush your teeth."

Kirsten: "otay, Jen-fer." Followed by giggles.....first hers, then her brother's, then mine and Jeff's. She's a nut. Where does she get this stuff?????

Dall Sheep

2011-01-17T21:42:00.006-06:00

Dominick's class has been studying artic animals for the past couple of weeks. As part of learning about arctic animals, each child in his class drew a name (of an arctic animal) out of hat to do a report on. Dominick's animal is the "Dall Sheep". His teacher gave him a blank 11 x 14 posterboard that we needed to fill with pictures and facts about Dall Sheep, and then Dominick would have to use the posterboard to do a presentation to the rest of his class. I decided to take Dominick to the library to get started on the project. Jeff questioned this idea, and thought that using the internet (at home) was a much better approach. "But, it will be fun, and we'll find everything we need to finish the project. And I can teach him how to use the library for research". Wrong. After chasing Dominick and Kirsten around the libary for an hour, trying to keep them off of the computers, sitting (sort-of) through story-time, reminding them to talk quietly about 371 times, we left with ONE book with ONE measley picture of a Dall Sheep in it......AND then we went home and looked up everything we needed to know on the internet. I printed out a bunch of pictures and a map for him, typed up a fact-list, and cut out some letters on the Cricut. I handed him a glue stick and the pile of stuff we had, and after attempting to glue the first thing onto the poster, he decided he didn't like how sticky the glue stick made his fingers, so he quickly delegated the glueing to me, while he directed where to put everything. We didn't get it completely finished until Sunday, Jan 16, which was the day before his presentation. We had been practicing all of the information with him for a couple of weeks, though. We had him practice giving the presentation (with his posterboard) to us thoughout the entire day. At some point, he suggested that Jeff and I practice doing the presentation, too. So, Jeff and I each took a turn, and even Kirsten. She doesn't want to be left out of anything. She mainly just held the posted and said "Dawwwwwl Sheep" a few times, but it was very cute that she wanted to take a turn, too. On the big day, he did amazing. He was confident and excited, and he nailed it. Jeff and I both went to his classroom to watch him. We were so proud of him! I took the below video....he was so excited to get started that I missed him saying, "hi, my name is Dominick.....". The volume is REALLY quiet on this for some reason (I think because I did it on my regular camera vs. the video camera). So, make sure your volume is turned all the way up on your computer :)

11 in 2011

2011-01-01T14:51:00.001-06:00

11 in 2011 (ie: New Year's Resolutions)
1. FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY lose the last 20 pounds that I gained during my pregnancy with Dominick. It's been over four years, and it's starting to drive me a bit (okay, a lot) crazy. Ok, I guess it really hasn' been over four years, not if you count that fact that I got pregnant and had Kirsten in that time period. But still. It's been too long.
2. Date night once a month (with each other, minus the kiddos). We have so much fun together when we do this. We have an awesome babysitter. We really have no excuse not to make this one happen.
3. Go on a fun, family trip every quarter. Just a long weekend will do. Just something to do together, away from our house, where we get bogged down in laundry, cooking, cleaning, DVR, work, errands, and all sorts of other time-consuming stuff. Possible options for this year: New Mexico to visit Jeff's dad, Chattanooga, an Indoor Waterpark, Center Hill Lake, Dunbar Cave State Park, Jack Daniels Distillery.
4. Blog at least once a week. I have been keeping this blog (ie: my e-scrapbook) for awhile, but am not great at keeping up with it. And that's an understatement. I am especially not great at posting actual posts. I have like 952 drafts created that just need a picture, or period, or exclamation point, or some minor thing added to them and they would be finished.. I know I am going to regret it if I don't, uh, finish all of those drafts, and then actually keep up with it at the same time......so I am going to do better. I have been telling myself this daily for over 2 years now, so we'll see how it goes this time around. Maybe I should grade myself on this list in order to actually make some progress? Or actually share this blog with someone so that I am more motivated to keep up with it?
5. Start making my own laundry soap. It's easy (so I've heard). It's less expensive (or so I've heard). It's better for you and the environment (I've also heard). All this hearsay cannot be wrong.
6. Shop, Cook, and Eat healthier (this is for all four of us). I think that our kids eat fairly well. The older they get, however, the worse they get. They are fairly open to trying new things, and eat a pretty wide variety of fruits and vegetables, but there's definitely room for improvement. I want to squeeze more nutrients into their diets (and ours), and incorporate more 'real' ingredients into my cooking and less processed ones. When Kirsten started on milk, we transitioned to organic (because of all of the hormonal effects I have read about that milk has on girls), eggs, chicken, and some produce, but I know we should increase this.
6a. Use a CSA or grow an organic vegetable garden. See #6 above.
6b. Begin buying organic beef from a local farmer. See #6 above.
6c. Do the 7-day detox from therawdivas.com. This is for Jeff and I, and I have him 80% convinced to do it with me. He may, however, no longer agree to it once he sees that name of the website, though. Yep, see #6 above.
7. Move Kirsten's bedroom upstairs. Dominick has been asking for this for awhile, so we just need to make the time to make it happen.
8. Visit Jeff's sister, brother-in-law, and niece in Alaska. We miss them, it's gorgeous there, and last time, they let us bunk with them for free for the week. Why wouldn't we go?
9. Organize and de-clutter our house. First stop: containerstore.com. Second stop: try to convince Jeff to build me a craft room.
10. Go see Kenny Chesney in concert. We try to do this every year. Or every year that he is on tour, which is every year every since I can remember except last year. LOVE. THAT. GUY.
11. Go on a long weekend trip somewhere…..anywhere (just Jeff and I). We did one in Sept 2009 and Jan 2010 (both for weddings), and we enjoyed them so much. This one and the Kenny Chesney one may be knocked out together….if Ticketmaster and Grandma & Grandpa cooperate with us, that is.....and if someone will get engaged, set a date for this year, and then invite us to their wedding :)

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T21:28:00.002-05:00

We woke up to a yard ful of Easter eggs this morning, so after breakfast and church, we headed outside to gather up some eggs. We then headed to Murfreesboro to spend the day with our good friends, Heath & Jessica Halcom, and their daughter, Grace. We had a great meal, and then walked to the park in their subdivision to enjoy the playground and warm weather. We had the BEST day with them!

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

2010-03-08T23:45:00.002-06:00

We went to Ohio for the weekend to help celebrate my nephew, Tyler's, 3rd birthday! It was at a place called Jumpy's in Troy, Ohio. Afterwards, we all went to lunch at Fazoli's! Dominick had the best time with Tyler! Happy Birthday, Tyler!! We ♥ you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T21:46:00.000-06:00

The majority of our Valentine's Day was filled with laundry, cooking, cleaning, more laundry, more cooking, and more cleaning. In the afternoon, we decided to get take a drive over to Opryland Hotel to get out of the house for a few hours. We hadn't taken the kids there for a quite awhile, and we actually weren't sure if we had ever taken Kirsten there. It turned out to be a brilliant idea. It (amazingly) was not crowded at all, and Dominick LOVED running down all the paths. He loved running ahead of us, but did a great job listening and not running too far ahead. Kirsten babbled in her stroller the entire time we were there, and watched everything and everyone around her. We had a great afternoon at a beautiful hotel. Maybe next time we can even spend the night!!

A conversation recap from this morning.....

2010-02-11T22:38:00.002-06:00

Dominick: (pointing to his Cars dvd case) “Do you know who this one is, mommy?”.

Me: “hmmmmm, I’m not sure, buddy, is it Sherriff?

Dominick: “nooo, mommy” (and laughs)

Me: “is it Red?”

Dominick: “nooooooo, mommy” (and laughs some more).

Me: “Is it Mater?” (I knew it wasn’t Mater, but I couldn’t think of any other names to guess).

Dominick: “noooooooooooo, Mommy. I think we better call Nana Kelley and ask her!”.

I think he’s right. Sadly, his mommy is not a Cars expert yet!! Dominick just saw Cars for the first time during his stay at Grandma & Grandpa Barga's house during our Mexico trip. Dominick got pretty attached to it during his visit, so Grandma & Grandpa Barga let us borrow their copy for our drive home from Ohio to TN. Well, none of us really know very many of the characters names yet from the movie (especially me). While Nana Kelly was here visiting last week, Dominick wanted to watch Cars, and Dominick kept asking over and over again what each car's name was. I was trying to make dinner and feed Kirsten (and didn't know any of their names anyway), so Nana Kelley helped him learn all of the character's names (with a little help from disney.com). Oh, how we miss you Nana Kelley!!

We miss you Nana Kelley!

2010-02-07T18:51:00.000-06:00

Nana Kelley came to visit us from Alaska this week. We (Dominick, Jeff, and I) haven't seen her since May 2008 when we went to Alaska to visit Nana Kelley, Uncle Joey, and Anneke. Kirsten had never met her!

We didn't do a whole lot of crazy stuff while she was here, but we did manage to get her to the Olive Garden and Marshall's, which are her favorite restaurant and retail store, and both don't exist in Alaska. We also visited Opry Mills mall, where she and Dominick rode the merry-go-round together, and Jeff took her downtown one night for some live music. She also watched "Cars" with Dominick, and taught him the names of all of the characters in it (with a little help from disney.com). We enjoyed your visit sooOOO much....we hope to see you again soon, Nana Kelly! We miss you already -

4 days in Paradise (almost).....

2010-02-06T19:08:00.002-06:00

We just spent 4 glorious days lying on a gorgeous beach, floating around in an amazing pool, immensely enjoying a swim-up bar, (and thus drinking waaay more banana mama's than a person should in four days), sleeping in, taking afternoon naps, and missing Dominick and Kirsten like C-R-A-Z-Y! Our good friend, Chad, got married on Saturday, Jan 30, 2010 in Rivera Maya, Mexico. We really had the most fabulous time!! The resort that we stayed at was fantastic! http://www.valentinmaya.com/?vm=r

Congrats to Chad and Kathryn, and thank you for including us in your amazing celebration! Thank you to my parents for watching Dominick and Kirsten for us - we REALLY appreciate it! We are SO lucky to have them to watch the kiddos for us so that we could get away for a few days.

Oh, and although the trip was supposed to be for four days, Jeff's trip was cut short because he ended up needing to be back at work on Monday, Feb 1. In order to do that, he changed his return flight to fly directly back to Nashville on Sunday, Jan 31. I flew back to Dayton (our departing city), the following day, and the kids and I drove back to Nashville on Tuesday, Feb 2. So, Jeff had three days in paradise, and I had four days in paradise, followed by a not-so-fun day of driving....hmmm........

Family Photo Shoot

2009-11-23T19:15:00.001-06:00

In honor of my mom & dad's (ie: Memaw & Pap-paw's) 40th wedding anniversary, we had our family pictures taken in October. We got the proofs back today, and Shannon Watson did an amazing job! Especially considering she had 13 people to work with, and an endless number of combinations of people to take pictures of. Now comes the hard part....deciding which ones are my favorite to hang up in our house, use in our Christmas card, etc, etc. I really love all of them!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Sister!

2009-11-03T19:10:00.000-06:00

One year ago today, we heard Dr. Oldfield utter those 3 glorious words, "It's a girl!". I was so very convinced we were having another boy, I was actually totally shocked (and skeptical) when I first heard these words. For the record, it was really Jeff that said these words to me....he leaned down to my face, and with a tear steaming down one cheek, he said, "it's a girl, mommy". I didn't even realize how much my heart yearned for a baby girl until I heard these words. Thank you, baby sister, for bringing so much joy to our lives over the past year. You are the easiest, sweetest, most perfect, easy-going baby we have ever met. We love you more than you will ever know.

First Tooth!

2009-10-25T21:16:00.001-05:00

Just 9 days shy of her first birthday, and Kirsten’s first tooth is finally showing through her gum!! I’ve been checking her mouth a lot lately because she’s been drooling constantly and yesterday I felt the first one.......it's one of her bottom ones. She doesn't seem to care, though. She's still as happy as she always is!!

Sad News Today.....

2009-10-23T22:19:00.002-05:00

One of Jeff and I's good friends from Green Bay, Dave Mullen, passed away today. Jeff and Dave worked together at Schneider, Dave’s wife, Ann, is also our realtor in Green Bay, and lately, Dave has been helping us out with his handyman services at the duplex we own in Green Bay. He's also helped us out a lot with showing the property and all sorts of miscellaneous other stuff, too. He is an amazing person and friend. We saw Ann & Dave in August when we were in Green Bay for a visit and had lunch with them. While we were there, Dave also went to our duplex with me to check on both of the units to see what kind of shape they were in, and to meet some of our new tenants in person because I didn’t want to go by myself (and we didn’t want to take the kids with us, either). So, the viewing and funeral are both on Wed, Oct 28 in Green Bay, and Jeff is going to go. To make it even more bittersweet, today was Ann & Dave's 30th Wedding Anniversary. So sad for Ann and her family tonight.....

Wedding Bells

2009-09-20T23:50:00.004-05:00

We traveled to Charlotte, NC this past weekend to go to the wedding of our good friends, Patrick & Becky. We arrived in Charlotte early Friday afternoon (Sept 18, 2009). We took a cab to our hotel, which was in downtown Charlotte, checked in, and took a nap! We then walked around a bit, made our way to a little restaurant with outdoor dining, had a late, leisurely, lunch, a couple of beers, and just relaxed! That evening, we went to the rehearsal dinner, and had so much fun catching up with friends that we haven't seen in a very long time (well, I haven't seen in a very long time - Jeff saw Patrick, Luke, and Matt at the bachelor party a few weeks ago). The next day, we didn't have to be anywhere until 4:30pm, so we headed out on foot again (my favorite part of staying in the downtown area of a city - you can walk everywhere!). We had a leisurely breakfast, and then I walked to a salon that I had called the day before, and got my haircut. Afterwards, Jeff and I decided to try to find a place to watch the Ohio State-Toledo game. We wondered if we would be able to find a place in the middle of Charlotte that would have the Ohio State game on? Boy, did we! As we were wandering around, we saw a giant, inflatable Brutus Buckeye outside of a bowling alley - http://strikecitycharlotte.com/. We entered, and were completely shocked at what we saw! The ENTIRE joint was filled with Buckeye fans! As it turns out, it's the location where the Charlotte Ohio State Alumni Association watches all Ohio State football games. I even won a door prize - some OSU chip clips!

After the game, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the big celebration. We walked down the street to The Charlotte City Club http://www.charlottecityclub.com/?vm=r. The wedding ceremony and reception were absolutely beautiful. We are so happy for Patrick & Becky, and we had the absolute BEST time on our trip!! Thank-you Patrick & Becky for including us in your special day, and thank-you to my parents for DRIVING to Nashville AND watching our kids for us! We could not have gone without your help! Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you! It is noteworthy to mention that today is Grandma & Grandpa's 40th wedding anniversary, and they spent it babysitting Dominick and Kirsten, and then making the 6-hour drive home to Ohio. We are celebrating with them next weekend, though....can't wait!!

P.S. Grandma & Grandpa said that Dominick and Kirsten were PERFECT the entire weekend. That is excellent news, because they don't know it yet, but we've been invited to a wedding in MEXICO in January, and we would really, really, REALLY love to go :)

Happy Birthday, Anneke!

2009-05-25T19:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Anneke!

We can't believe our niece, Anneke, is 10 years old today. We also can't believe that it has been an entire year since our trip to Alaska, which was the last time that we saw her (May 2008). Her cousin, Dominick, misses her, and her new cousin, Kirsten, can't wait to meet her.

We love her & miss her lots and hope to see her again soon! We made her a little video to wish her a Happy Birthday!!

Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-25T08:12:00.001-05:00

Today seems like the perfect day to debut a picture of our recently hung American flag. It was a very cherished Christmas gift from my brother, Scott. He is a Seargant Major in the Army National Guard and was deployed to Kuwait with his Unit for most of 2008. He brought home a U.S. flag for us that was flown over Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, on 2 Sept 2008, in honor of "The Harpole Family".

Happy Memorial Day to everyone, but especially to the men & women that are our Veterans and those who have given their life for our country. We are very proud of all of them, especially Uncle Scott, Nana Kelley, and Uncle Joey.

Lazy, Rainy Sunday and Underwear

2009-05-24T22:32:00.001-05:00

Went to church this morning, and went to Dollar General (Jeff's favorite place to shop since he works for them) on the way home to get some diapers, wipes, and a few other things. It was raining when went into church, when we came out of church, when we went into DG, when we came out of DG, and the whole way home, yet Dominick asked about 23 times during this time period if he could "pway outside" when we got home. We told him he couldn't, and when he asked, "why?", we told him "because it's raining". Well, the little guy is completely obsessed with all things outdoors, and is not deterred by a little (or a lot of) rain. As you can see, we did let him "pway outside", and he did not care (at all) that he was completely soaking wet. He was having so much fun, we decided that we did not care if he was soaking wet either (at least for a few minutes)...he's not going to melt, right? Well, he didn't, at least not this time...... While he & daddy finished hitting (whiffle) golf balls in the driveway (yes, both of them), I went in and fed baby sister some cereal and carrots....isn't she cute, even with oatmeal on her chubby little cheeks?

Other than that, we didn't accomplish much today, but it was nice to be a little lazy (even though it actually only rained in the morning). Oh, we did have one exciting event today....we went to Wal-Mart and let Dominick pick out some "big-boy underwear", and we're planning to start potty training tomorrow. Here's Dominick with all of the new undies he picked out.....I'm signing off to throw them in the washer so they are all ready to go in the morning. Wish us luck!

An Ordinary Saturday....

2009-05-23T22:11:00.003-05:00

It was kind of nice to have a Saturday to catch up on things....went to the post office, mailed birthday gift to Claire (my godchild in Ohio), birthday gift to Anneke (our niece in Alaska), baby gift to Brea (just adopted a newborn baby), and some more Cocobonon treats for Julie at http://joyshope.com/ - lots more about that later. We went to the chiropractor. Went to Publix. Did Laundry. Made Lunch. Did More Laundry. Took a nap with Kirsten. Jeff took a nap with Kirsten. Dominick did not take a nap with Kirsten (or by himself for that matter). Jeff & Dominick cut the grass (ok, Dominick used his Fisher Price bubble mower, but since he seriously believes it actually does cut the "wass", and follows Jeff all over the yard behind the real lawn mower, I will give him credit for it). I also made dinner for our friends, Lorrie & Brian, who just had a sweet little baby girl, Avary. We all went to Lorrie & Brian's to drop off it off, and afterwards stopped at JoAnn Fabrics (yes, all 4 of us). We picked up a little item that I have been wanting forever.....

A Cricut!!!!

So, it was an ordinary little Saturday until this scrapbooking baby landed in our shopping cart!! I had convinced Jeff that the next time this little gem went on sale, 'we' should buy it, and it was on sale this week (today was the last day, hence the reason all 4 of us went to JoAnn's to get it because we were already out and about running some errands)....don't have a clue where I am going to find time to use it or what my first little project will be, but I am super-excited, nonetheless!

Way wiff me guys

2009-03-23T21:30:00.004-05:00

Dominick was laying on the couch this morning watching Mickey Mouse, and I brought Kirsten into the living room and was getting ready to feed her. I had started to sit down in one of our recliners when he lifted his little head off the pillow and said, "way wiff me guys". So, of course, we did! If I have to be up at 6am, there's nothing I'd rather be doing than "waying wiff" my two little kiddos on the couch (along with watching Mickey and Minnie)!

Later today, we were outside playing this afternoon (this kid LOVES being outside), and Dominick said, "it's bwight in my eyes, mommy". I found a pair of his sunglasses in the garage and put them on him. He wore them the rest of the afternoon. He looked so cute, I just had to snap some pics of him - sitting in a lawn chair and putting "gas" into his car.....enjoy!

Trick-or-Treating with Me-maw, Pap-paw, and a Vampire

2008-10-31T21:45:00.001-05:00

My parents arrived this evening from Ohio. Since baby is scheduled to arrive on Monday morning, they came to hang out with us this weekend, stay with Dominick while we go to the hospital on Monday, bring him to the hospital to meet his new baby brother or sister, and then take him back to Ohio for the week while I recover in the hospital. So, since today was Halloween, they were here to trick-or-treat with us, too!

There was also Halloween parade at Dollar General today. Everyone got such a kick out of his hair! I sprayed it black, and then drew a widow's peak on his forehead with eyeliner. He looked awesome! I had tried several costumes on his that had a hood or hat with it, but he was having no part of either one of them this year. Last year, his little devil cosume had a hood with it, but he wore it without objection. However, this year was a different story, so the black spray / eyeliner was a much better option. It was also pretty inexpensive. I bought the vampire cape at Gymboree, and it was already on clearance when I found it. I added some black cords, socks, and shoes that he already had, and we were all set. He was definitely the CUTEST vampire ever!! During the parade, the first piece of candy that went into his bag was a sucker. He wanted to open it immediately, and then couldn't have cared less about getting anything else....he was all set with just his sucker.....I guess that leaves more candy for mommy :)

I ♥ Scrapbooking

2008-10-30T20:40:00.000-05:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to scrapbook! LOVE IT! I started out making scrapbooks when I was a cheerleader in High School. We always made scrapbooks for the senior footballs players, senior basketball players, and fellow cheerleaders (that were seniors). Most people just cut the newspaper articles out the paper that was written about the game the night before and glued it into a scrapbook. I did that, too, of course, and then some. I used to steal/borrow my brother Scott's Sports Illustrated magazines and cut out all of the football and basketball related words, phrases, and graphics that I could find. My mom bought numerous packs of construction paper, and I would (only) use all of the orange and black paper out of it (our school colors). I would take white printer paper out of my dad's computer printer. The other thing that I can distinctly remember doing it using aluminum foil to mount the newspaper articles on before then also mounting it on some combination of orange, black, and white paper, which jazzed it up a bit. My bedroom had a hardwood floor in it, and all through high school, it was frequently covered in all of my scrapbooking mess. This was LONG before the days of scrapbooking stores, fancy papers and stickers for any occasion you could think of. Back then, I could have never even imagined a day when you could buy an entire ream of orange cardstock. You had to be creative. It's actually probably a good thing that these things didn't exist then, because I would have struggled with wanting all of this stuff and not having any funds to buy it (well, that still happens....I guess some things never change!). I also created scrapbooks for Sam and Nichole, Jeff's niece and nephew that we took on vacation every year for about 5 years before we got married. So, needless to say, I would love nothing more than to have the time to create beautiful and amazing scrapbooks that would capture our life and the amazing little boy that is in it. I still haven't finished our wedding or honeymoon scrapbook, though, so needless to say, I haven't even made a dent in a scrapbook for Dominick. I have started it, but it has a LONG way to go. I have actually instituted a self-imposed scrapbook supply embargo for myself. I have waaaaay to much paper, stickers, embellishments, transfers, etc, etc. Until I actually start using some of them, I am not buying anymore of it!

This blog is not me saying that I am giving up complete hope that I will never make an actual scrapbook for him (after all, I already have all of the supplies). I look at it as just finally facing the reality that I need to do something until the day comes (maybe when he's in college?) that I will actually sit down and do it. We are on the brink of welcoming our second child into the world, and I envision things getting even crazier around here than they already are. Dominick is about to become a big brother (on Monday!). Tomorrow we are celebrating his SECOND Halloween, and then his second Thanksgiving and Birthday. His first two years have flown by, and I am so very afraid that before I know it, I will blink and the next year (and the 20 or so after that) will have flown by as well. This blog will ensure I have all of the moments captured that we want to remember forever. You think that you will remember the exact dates of all of the milestones, remember the exact way he pronounces/babbles his words, all of the fun things you did together (and exactly when you did it), but sadly, you don't. With the addition of his new baby brother or sister in a few days, I am afraid remembering every little detail is going to become even harder. So, this will ensure that we do. He is such an amazing little boy that I want to remember every single second of him growing up (and I know his new baby brother or sister will be equally amazing, and we want to remember every second of their life, too!!).

I love you, little buddy and baby!! Welcome to your life stories!!