Gods plan

I was going to post about what a horrible drive I had to and from TN. The visit was great but the drive not so great. However after seeing something on my trip back I realized that no matter what issues I had with the drive that it didnt matter now. On Friday I passed by the site of a fatel crash that killed 11 people that morning. It was hours later that I drove past it and it was getting dark so I couldnt see much but you could definitely tell where it had taken place. Little did I know that on the way back in the daylight just how much you could see. Today driving back I drove by the accident site again but today there were members of the Mennonites at the crash site with flowers. Some were crying some were kneeling. It was the day after the burial so I assumed they stopped there before heading home. There were pieces of the vehicle still there only it was on the other side so driving down before on the other side of the road I didnt see it. It didnt hit me till about a mile up the road and then I couldnt stop crying, I couldnt catch my breath, I couldnt figure out why this hit me so hard. I started thinking of my friend Jennifer and her daughter who had died a few years earlier in a crash and realized that I was thinking of her wreck. I didnt see her wreck, I wasnt there but I could imagine that her family stopped at the site of the crash and cried on the side of the road just like the members of the Mennonites were doing. My mom said to me on the phone while driving back that some things are made visible to us for a reason. It made me thankful that we had made it back home safely and all of the other issues with the drive to and from didnt matter anymore.

Preston has been going around the house for the past few days saying "who let the dogs out, who who who who" and "thats what Im talking about". Where does he hear this stuff? If this is what he gets from PreK I can only imagine what he will pick up from kindergarten. Now Im just scared.

Disney-Woohoo

We finally got our vacation at Disney booked this weekend. Whew having to figure out times with so many schedules is not easy. In between work schedules, tball, football and Trinity we now have a week in July that is available. So many things to chose from as far as Disney packages, its a bit overwhelming. The kids know we are going but I dont think they fully get what will take this place this summer. It will be our first entire family vacation. Last year we went to Cedar Point and stayed up in Sandusky for a week but Lowel stayed back and had to work. I think that this will be a perfect vacation that will wear us out so much that we will need 2 weeks to recover and Trinity will get to fly for the first time and she sounds really excited about it. Im now counting down the days till we leave.

Trinity had a sleepover Friday night and today Preston had a playdate. Lowel and I did a lot of yardwork today as well so to say that Im tired is an understatement. Luckily it was nice so all of the kids including our sleepover, Prestons playdate and other neighbor kids that came to play at our house were all outside so that we could get a lot of yardwork completed. Im so glad it was nice weather the kids had a blast and Im glad that they spent almost all day outside, I think kids dont play outside enough. Time to start cleaning house a bit and get the kids settled in for the evening. Its family movie night at home so bring on the popcorn.

Sun YEAH

Because one day it can be 58 and the next 35 degrees Preston and I are spending as much time outside that we can. Yesterday we spent 2 hours at the playground and today we have been jumping on the trampoline and later we will go to playground. I have come to the following conclusions about the trampoline and the playground:

• I always have to pee after jumping 3 short minutes on the trampoline
• Preston always has to pee after 5 minutes of playing at the park where there are no bathrooms so we water the tree frequently.
• I can run 6 miles and work out for 2 hours but jumping on the trampoline more than 20 minutes kicks my butt.
• Boys will always come up with games to play while on a playground, yesterday it was Star Wars.
• Its a dog eat dog world when there is currently only 1 bench at the playground and our rule is that we were here first and we can totally save seats till the other friend shows up.
• When you do a seated jump on the trampoline it will jiggle everything on the outside and inside of your body and it doesnt feel good.

After having several days of cold, rainy weather today I was glad to see the sun out once again. Today has been pretty busy but fun for us. I met a great friend at the gym this morning for our first day of training with a GI Joe. He is the same person that instructs our Boot camp classes at the gym so we decided to give him a try as a personal trainer . So far so good my arms and legs are still attached to my body but that could all change. After that we ran home to eat and let the dog out then off again to meet another friend at the park so the boys could play. Now we are back home and Preston has swim lessons here in a bit then afterwards Im off to a meeting for American Cancer Society. Good day, Good day!

Shiny new love....

Meet my new appliance love.... isnt it a beauty.

This massive upgrade to my kitchen came from my inlaws who wanted all new appliances so they generously handed this down to me. It didnt take much to talk them in to it. I just had to promise them another grandchild...but dont tell my husband. Im sure they gave it to me cause Im the best daughter in law they have however Im also the only one they have. I did produce their first grandson but Im sticking with the story of best daughter in law. I have stared at this new fridge all day instead of doing laundry, dishes, some 4 year old boy keeps yelling something in the background about being hungry but Im just to busy staring at my new love. I wonder if I promise my inlaws twins what I could talk them into giving me next, hehe. Oh just the thought of twins makes my legs cross and uterus hurt oh wait I can actually see myself crossing my legs in the reflection of the stainless steel beauty. Gotta get some work done, must move away from fridge but the shininess attracts me like a moth to a flame. Must walk away now....

Preston is feeling better this morning and its a good thing cause its going to be a busy day. He returns to school today after missing Friday from his fever. After I drop him off at school Im going to visit a neighbor that is in the assisted living facility, off to bootcamp at the gym, pick up Preston, home to change clothes and let the dog out then we are heading to Nationwide to have lunch with hubby and to see Jack Hanna who is bringing some of his Columbus Zoo animals to Nationwide today. Should be a good day for us. Tomorrow we have a playdate so Preston got well just in time for all the fun.

Preston still has a fever, it got higher on Friday and Saturday night with 103.9. No other symptoms just high fever this weekend. He has been in bed with us since he wakes up at night after his tylenol has worn off so as you can imagine I havent slept in 3 days and to make matters worse I had a migraine this weekend. Migraine started going away on Saturday night so Trinity and I took advantage of the fact and make apple fritters. Today Im feeling a little better and so is Preston, he has a low grade fever now. Trinity and I made aprons today. I hope we both start feeling better tonight. The sun has shown for 2 days so thats always nice, in fact Preston woke up the other day and said "look mom, God didnt lose the sun, its right there".

sick tot

Got home from swim lessons last night and Preston was acting as if he didnt feel well. Put him to bed and he was shaking and shivering and with fever. Ohhh is there anything worse than a sick kid. So helpless and cant really explain what hurts. He spent the rest of the night curled up to me with goosebumps and a fever. I kept him home from school today so he could get some rest. Right now he is laying on the couch which I put bed sheets over for his comfort and also just in case he gets sick. He is playing with toys on the couch which is a good sign. Im praying its just a fever and nothing else but I know that there has been so much sickness going around lately at all the schools. Gotta get back to tending to the sick. Later.

Really? Samoas? 10 boxes?

Hubby was bragging last night that he had a box of samoas (girl scout cookies) at his desk. He knows that those are my favorite. I asked him to bring me home a couple of cookies -I was thinking 3-4 cookies, and his answer was no. What how can you tell me no. Its cookies, my favorite cookies for goodness sakes. You cant not share samoas with your wife, Im pretty sure that was written in our vows somewhere. Its the 13th commandment. After giving him a hard time about sharing his samoas with me and him not wanting to share his box he had a co-worker surprise me by delivering 10 boxes of samoas to our house today. Are you kidding me,really do you know what kind of damage I can do to a box of samoas much less 10 boxes. Im already busting my butt at the gym to stay in shape. The gesture is more than sweet however my ass is saying no to the 8 boxes.....I gotta keep alteast 2 of the boxes. Im PMS'ing so a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do and I gotta keep atleast 2 of the boxes.

Busy times

March is a busy month, in fact I had to go purchase a large dry erase calendar because I ran out of room on a normal size calendar. With dentist and doctor appointments this month for Preston, me working sometimes 2-3 days a week , swim lessons twice a week, kindergarten test and a packet of paperwork due for school, charter meeting, parks and recreation meeting, playdates, open house at Preston school, and leaving for TN for spring break during the last week of March, it has become a busy month for all of us. The good news is that each day brings us that much closer to Spring!

weekend bathroom tiling project

How I spent my weekend. We had some leftover tile from our kitchen and our master vanity had laminate on it so I decided to tile over it and update it a bit. I didn't think to take pics of the old vanity till after we had already removed sinks and started taking down backsplash so to be consistent and because we are lazy and haven't put the sinks back in yet I took after pictures without the sinks as well. I wore gloves while grouting this time-much better. (you can click on pics to make larger)

P.S-overlook the brush on the vanity that is filled with strawberry blond hair. I know ,I know gross.

Random loves

Random things that I love:

• Being able to run 5 miles right now nonstop and running atleast 10 miles throughout the week and only having to take a small handful of asprin to do so...just kidding not a handful but definitely some.
• Skinny vanilla misto's from starbucks for $2.00
• That Preston is crazy in love with Starwars right now and the fact that my hubby has been for years so they are finally on the same page.
• Preston saying "mommy I love you" out of the blue
• That when I asked Preston who his bestfriend was he said "daddy".
• When Preston and I both pick out a special cheap treat from the store (candy or something) that as soon as I open mine Preston says "your going to share that with me arent you" but when I ask him if he is going to share his with me he says "but this was my special treat that I picked out".
• New cricut cartridge
• That Preston has so many friends at school the gym and the neighborhood, sometimes his schedule is busier than mine.
• I love looking at the roses that my husband bought me this past weekend. They brighten the room up.
• Loving that I see grass finally from the snow melting.
• My gym girls-Love them!!!
• That anytime we are in the car for a long time Preston asks "are we driving to Mammy's".
• Love that Preston asks me why everyone in TN calls him George
• Love that anytime my mother in law gets a new item that I get the handmedown. SWEET!
• That Trinity told me last weekend she couldnt wait to get here and bake and do crafts with me.
• That Preston has a toy in hand 24 hours, no joke he sleeps with one in hand.

Are we at this point already?

Today I had to sign Preston up for kindergarten and pick up a packet of info to fill out and return along with a ton of things they need to make sure we are residence. Im surprised they didnt ask for blood and urine samples, seriously they asked for everything else. I cant believe its time for this moment. He has a kindergarten test in March and then come fall he will be in the "big school". Aww my baby is growing up, aww Im about to cry just thinking about it. The other day he and I were talking about kindergarten and I informed Preston that he would go to school a little more than he currently goes to prek, he turned to me and said well then I guess I will see you before I go to bed. I told him that I would see him way before bed time but he didnt believe me and said I will be there all day like a big kid mom and eat dinner there so I will be home late at night in time to kiss you goodnight. When I told him that I would see him at lunch he just shook his head and said I will be gone all day but it will be ok. Such a big boy! It seems like just the other day we were at this point, in the hospital delivering him.

This weekend we just took an easy, it was the first weekend that new snow did not fall...YEAH! We took the kids to the frosty flicks movies ($3 tickets plus free popcorn, cant beat that) and we watched Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Trinity and I baked banana bread and made bracelets. Last weekend we did crafts all weekend so this weekend she wanted to bake but the only thing I had all the ingredients to was banana bread. It was fun and she loved it. Each weekend we try to either bake or do crafts and Im running out o craft ideas. I can always find something to bake but crafts that are easy for her is something else. I think its time to hit up the clearance fabric at walmart and make some new aprons for us. I have also seen some cute ones made from dollar store kitchen towels. Thats another idea. Other than that we havent done too much this weekend and I have been nursing a sore knee, guess thats what I get for running 10 1/2 miles last week, granted it was stretched across 3 days but still hurts. As we speak I have a heating pad on the back of my knee and boy does it feel good, heat plus injury=ahhh.
I have also decided to tile the master bathroom countertop next weekend. We have let over from our kitchen which would work perfectly in our bathroom so thats on my list as well. I think the only thing I have to purchase is more grout. Lowel will have to undo the sinks and pull them up but other than that I can do the rest. Im looking forward to seeing the end results. I will take before and after pics and show them on a later post.

Running, running, running

My friends from the gym are trying to talk me into running a half marathon, I keep saying no but my head and body keep telling me I could do it. I can run pretty far nonstop but not sure I could do just a bit over 13 miles. On Tuesday I ran 3.1 miles , Wednesday I ran 3.2 miles and today we ran 4.5 miles. Next week we are working up to 5 miles. Who knows maybe I will do it!

Preston had a playdate today so after the gym, errands and then playdate its time to clean the house, get dinner going in a bit, off to take Preston to swimlessons, watch swimlessons, then I have my Canal Winchester Charter meeting tonight at 7:30. Its going to be a long evening. Usually I try to look younger than my age of 36; however tonight being the youngest that will be at the charter meeting Im trying to not look the youngest. Im not sure which one is harder to look younger or older. Both take some time trying on different types of clothes, since not working for an actual company the past 4 years my closet now consist of blue jeans, cute Old Navy t-shirts, workout clothes and lots of sleevless shirts, none of which are appropriate for my meeting . Oh and lets not forget that I usually wear my hair in a ponytail since Im usually working at the gym. I just hope that I can keep up with the meeting and somewhat understand what is taking place. Please dont let me look like a young idiot or an old idiot for that matter. Im cool with the mayor but I gotta tell you some of the older gents who have lived here forever kind of scare me. They are very tunnel vision and dont like change. Boy are they in for a shock when this southern gal walks up in there. Gotta get started on stuff here soon so see ya later.

Another blog entry about snow cause thats all I got

Of all the years to invest in a snow blower this would of been the year. Our news just said that this February alone we have received over 25 inches of snow and its still coming down. I just went out and measured the snow on our backporch and it is 10 inches and thats with us shoveling it off every couple of days. We are under a level 2 snow emergency. If it hits level 3 then only emergency personnel can be on the road and if you are caught on the road you will be ticketed. Im sure they will cancel Prestons swim lessons again tonight, maybe we should of signed him up for bobsledding instead. If you will excuse me Im going to look for a new screen saver that has a picture of the sun on it since I forgot what it looked like.
Here are some pics, the first 2 are of our back deck which sits 3 feet off the ground and the snow is level with it so you can walk right off without even using steps, the next one is eye level of our driveway and our poor poor mailbox which is about to be swallowed up by all the snow. The next picture is the view from our 2nd story bedroom and why we cant see it out of it because of the snow drifts on the roof,

Kissy Day

Its Valentines Day, kissy kissy! I actually feel that this has been the best year of our marriage so far, not sure why, but it feels different. The past 5 years of marriage have been good but this year has been sweet. I have woken up with many sweet notes left from my hubby, we talk on the phone a few times, we email each other throughout the day. Its been a sweet year! A girl could get used to this. I love that we eat dinner all together at the table each night, that Preston showers and lays down for night around 8ish and Lowel and I have alone time together. That we still kiss each other goodnight and that he is the first person I want to talk to in the morning. I gave my heart to this man 7 years ago and so far I dont want it back. Hehe.
HappyValentines Hubby now give me my chocolate and you wont get hurt. Actually he did get me chocolate, my favorite dark chocolate and a new cricut cartridge that I get to pick out. Love him!
Here is a pic of some cookies I made this past week some had raspberry and others had blackberry inside them, delicious.

The loves of my life!