I've got my Saturdays back!

Yay! It's over! Another tax season behind me. This one was the worst yet. The last three days were torture. In fact I was so stressed out, I broke out in hives. Then the guys teased me. Tim asked me if I had just come out a tanning booth. I was red!

But that's done and over with....WOO HOO!!!

So it's Saturday, and I don't know what to do. I haven't had a Saturday off in what? 11 weeks. I forgot what it's like! Noah is as a meeting for work right now and the boys and I are snuggling in bed. This is the life.

Noah and I watched a REALLY good movie last night. I have to say I haven 't cried like I did last night in eight years. We rented MARLEY AND ME. Awesome movie. We laughed. We cried. We related. We changed the name of the movie to LISA AND NOAH'S LIFE. It sorta followed what we've gone through. We gave it two thumbs up.

So the week with my sister and her mother went very smoothly. We did everything Marjorie had wanted to do and then some. The first night they were here we went to Harry's for dinner and shopping at WalMart. After that they made dinner for us every night. The refrigerator is finally empty! They make soooo much food! And so good!

The main purpose for the visit was for the two of us to go see our favorite childhood band perform (again). Since last October we've seen New Kids on the Block three times. We are going once more in July! The show never gets old. This time around they changed their show up a bit. It's always enjoyable.

So I bought a new camera for the occasion. It records video. AMAZING! Best camera I've ever owned. I recorded The Right Stuff for Gabe and Manny. That's their favorite song by New Kids. We sing it all the time.

Our tickets were in the same section as the last two concerts, only a little higher up. We were in row M...there was one whole row down front that wasn't being used, so we ended up in row G! We were so close. Made friends with the girls next to us, and they moved down with us.

This Wednesday I had off for what we call our New Years Day. I was playing the videos I had recorded for Manny. He got the dance bug...I was laughing so hard. I recorded him dancing to the New Kids video. I named him the 6th New Kid on the Block! Now there is Donnie, Jordan, Jon, Joey, Danny and Manny! Enjoy this video!

Just some funnies...

Hello to you all. I just have a few funnies to share with y'all. Some will have you on the floor laughing, and some will have you thinkin' "wow that kid's got an imagination". At least that's what I say.

So this week has been rough for both Noah and I. We've both been under-the-weather, and we've both suffered through whatever it is that we have/had. On Tuesday I left work an hour early because I was feeling so off. I came home took a hot bath, and froze my booty off. I just could not get warm. I was dizzy and felt really sick to my tummy. My body was achey all over, and I had no appetite.

I went to get the boys at Mrs. Julie Butler's house like normal and walked in with my jammies on. Gabe noticed right away. He looked at me like, "what the?" but didn't say a word. Julie asked how I was doing and I said I'd been better but was dealing with whatever it was I had. She mentioned how casual I was dressed, and I told her I was in my jammies. Manny looked at me and said, "Mama, are your jammies really comfortable?" I said, "Yes sweetheart. My jammies are really nice right now." Julie thought that was funny. Manny has such a large vocabulary for such a young feller.

When we got home that night I was taking off my jacket and was moaning so much Gabriel came over by me and asked, "Mom, does your whole body ache?" I said, "Yes sweetie. My arms and shoulders, my tummy, even my hair." He looked at me concerned like and said, "You need to go to the hopsital." I laughed at that one...the hopsital. I corrected him and he said, "Yeah, that's what I said." Too cute.

Yesterday I picked the boys up at Mrs. Julie Butler's house and she was telling me how well they were during the day and that Gabriel and Megan were upstairs playing. And then she said, "Oh, and Gabe and Megan got married today." Ok, so I knew this was coming, but not at age 5! Yep, I knew Gabriel liked her, but please, child, can you wait 20 years! We both had a good laugh at that. Apparently Megan had on her dance dress and a ring and told Julie that she can Gabe got married. I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that play time!

When we got home, Noah pulled in right behind us. We were shocked he got out of work early, but we were also very excited. We got in the house and ate our dinner and then when the boys were done, we sat and watch The Travel Channel. I said to Gabriel, "Tell Papa what you did today at Mrs. Julie Butler's house." He sorta looked embarrassed and said, "We played marry." Noah said, "You played what?" And again Gabe looked kind of nervous and embarrassed and said, "No we played Wedding." I laughed and told Noah, who was still a little confused that he and Megan got married. He laughed too.

Then tonight when I got home from work, Gabriel came and sat next to me on the couch. We were talking and then all of a sudden he started to hiccup. I scared him a little to see if that would help stop his hiccups, and he laughed at me. He kept hiccuping, and said sweetly, "Jesus has the hiccups." He had his hand over his heart. You see, Jesus lives in our hearts and when Gabriel has the hiccups, so does Jesus.

Every four weeks, Gabriel brings home an extra book bag from school. It's called THE SOMETHING SPECIAL BAG. Each one of the pre-schoolers has to write a little something in a journal to tell what he/she brought for "show and tell". This week Gabriel decided to show and tell about his fun day at Disney on Ice. I was so excited to finally be able to post the picture. I think it's one of the best family pictures have. This is the picture I posted in a e-mail when I said that Manny was a little scared at first, but I had him picking Bruce's nose! Gabe too, was having fun poking him in the eye.

I bought a printer/scanner combo this weekend so I can share some of the pictures I couldn't otherwise share. I really missed not having a scanner. Now I can scan and print and do all sorts of stuff. I'm gonna torture all of you with pictures and stuff. This aughta be fun!

Ok, so back to the funnies...

Tonight we ate at Harry's for dinner. As most of you know Harry's is our favorite place to eat. We eat there at least once a week. If we miss a week, we get Harry withdrawal. It was the first place Noah and I went when we got back from Vegas! Finally a Coke...

Anyway there is always fighting as to who Mama should sit next to. Tonight it was Manny's turn, so I sat across the table from Gabriel, who just recently learned how to wink. What a ham! So I leave you with this video of Gabe winking at me at Harry's. Oh yeah, and Kim, Gabriel loves "ferch fish". We know it as Perch. That's what he ordered tonight. Cleaned his plate...then he ordered a ganoli...or as we know it a canolli.

Something New

Ok, I'm gonna try and switch this up today. I'm going to try something new. I have this little thing with Vickie where I send her a picture of someone who I have a crush on that week. So why not tell everyone my "crush of the week"? It's sorta fun, because it really doesn't have to be a real person or even a person at all.

My first ever post entitled "Crush of the Week" I can thank my wonderful husband Noah for. One night while laying in bed, we had on the Travel Channel, one of our favorite networks to watch. Well, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations happened to be on. I'd never seen the show, and until that night wasn't really interested in watching it. It just so happened that it was a marathon night, so it was one episode right after another. I didn't complain. I figured we were spending "quality" time together. Well, to my surprised after the first episode, I wanted more.

Anthony Bourdain is first and for most a chef. A man after my own heart. I love to cook, and I love to watch "cooking" shows. He is also a writer. He's written several books, the most popular one being Kitchen Confidential. But today he is best known for his show on Travel Channel, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

The show starts out with Bourdain narrating where in the world he is, and the culture of the country he is in. Then he is met by his "guide" and his adventure starts. Let me just say, this guy will eat ANYTHING and he has eaten just about anything. In one of the episodes we watched that night, he was in Namibia. The tribe he was with went hunting for dinner. They came back with a warthog. I didn't think much of it...it's a pig right? As the tribe was preparing the "meal" he said that they had now "ice box" to put any of the meat in. They cook and eat. This takes all day. So they started cutting up the pig and throwing it into the fire. When they pulled the meat out of the fire it had ash and stuff on it. They eat that stuff! But the delicacy of the catch was of all things the rectum. YUK!

Being the "good" guy he is, he ate it. He had to step away from the tribe and with the camera rolling he whispered, "That was the hardest meal I've ever had to eat." He was gagging at one point!

It's very interesting to see where he'll end up and what he'll end up eating. It's not for those with a week stomach! But he's so fun to watch, and he's hilarious too!

So this week, my crush of the week is Anthony Bourdain!

It's a blessed day!

Tonight was Gabriel's Talent Night at St. Paul's. Because Noah had to work tonight, I promised him I would record his performance. So when it was the Pre K/Kindergarten's class to go up in front of us, I got out my phone and started to record his performance. When I hit the stop button, I received a message that said, "NO MEMORY CARD INSERTED" WHAT? I was so depressed and a little angry. I felt bad because Noah wouldn't even get to see it.

On the way home we stopped by Noah's work to say hello. It happened to be his break time, so we sat out in the van and talked. I got out my phone to see if any of the performance recorded. And to my surprise there is was. The entire song! I was so happy! It's a blessed day!

Gabriel is in the front row wearing his blue and red stripped sweater with the foot ball on it. He's the one arms out like he's trying to keep the rest of the crowd from moving closer to the front...my little security guard.

I had Manny pulling on my arm and saying, "I see Gabe!" during the whole performance, so sorry for the back ground noise. I couldn't understand all the words to the song, so after the video are the lyrics to the song.

ENJOY!

Never Polka With a Porcupine

(from the collection "Wild Things")

Never polka with a procupine.

Dancing isn't part of his desing.

You can schottische with a sheep or

swing-dance with the swine.

But never, never, Ouch!

Never, ouch!, ouch! ouch!

Never polka with a porcupine.

Never polka with a porcupine.

Good dance partners aren't that hard to find.

You can salsa with a slug.

Just watch out for the slime.

But never, never, Ouch!

Never, ouch! ouch! ouch!

Never polka with a porcupine.

He's not too fond of dancing,

or other fancy prancing.

He'd rather show off his tree-climing skills.

Be careful how you treat him

the next time that you meet him,

because he's covered head to toe in quills.

Never polka with a porcupine.

That's the point where you must draw the line.

You can cha-cha with a chimp

that swings from vine to vine.

But never, never, Ouch!

Never, ouch!, ouch! ouch!

Never polka with a porcupine. OUCH!

TGIF!

Thank God It's Friday! It's been a very long week. I'm exhausted. I put in almost 20 hours of overtime this week alone! The pay is nice, but the hours are catching up to me. I love my job, but after a while I feel like I'm in the movie Groundhog Day. I relive the same day over and over and over again.


I think it was Thursday I received a call at work from Rachel. She's our pastor's wife, and a good friend of mine. When Mrs. Julie Butler can't watch the boys, Rachel steps in and will watch them for me. Well, she and Pastor had some friends coming up from Port Washington and were going to go see the movie Coming Home, which apparently takes place in New Ulm, MN, where Rachel went to school. ANYWAY...Rachel asked me if I would like to swap services this week. She was watching my boys today and her friends and she were going to the movie in the evening. So she asked me if Paul could come over and stay with us while they were at the movie. Of coarse...how fun. So now the four of us, Gabriel, Emmanuel, Paul, and I are sitting in the living room with nice warm blankets , eating pop corn, drinking juice, and watching Wall-E. So far no fighting has occurred. There's a lot of talking...but I've already seen the movie, so it's ok I guess.


So I got my seven year review today. It went quite well. It's nice to feel appreciated and needed. I can't thank the Lord enough for the wonderful people I work for. They are very understanding and so open about stuff. The last month was rough for me, and we discussed what we could do in the future to help me out. Looks like we'll be getting the "hired" help to come in in January instead of February! Yay for me...less stress. Gene pointed out that I get "a little crabby" during the month of January. Anything to keep him happy, and me sane is good for me. Gene did politely ask that if I wanted to quit and find a different career to please give them ample time to find someone to replace me. Replace me? I'm irreplaceable! But my response to him was, "You're stuck with me, Honey." They both laughed.


Tomorrow I have to go into work at nine in the morning and work until four...a short day for me. After work, Noah and I are going to have a date night. Our second time in fourteen years that we will celebrate Valentines Day. We're looking at going out for dinner and going to a movie. The movie we picked out isn't a romantic one or even what most would consider a "date" movie, but we're both looking forward to it. We are going to see the remake of Friday the 13th!


It's kind of tradition for us that when the 13th lands on a Friday, we would rent slasher movies, order pizza and have a movie night. With Noah being on second shift, we've missed out on that, so we're going to make up for it by going to the theater to see the movie.

Total change in subject, but I must say the freaks were out today! Maybe it's the full moon, or the fact that it is FRIDAY THE 13TH, but we had so many strange calls. We had lots of talkers too. Before noon Tim calculated 47 calls! I answered, or tried to answer, them all. Three times this morning the answering machine picked up because I was either busy with a client or was on the other line. It's very hard for me to get anything else done when I'm on the phone all the time.


I got a call the other day from a gentleman asking me to look up H&R Block's telephone number. He couldn't find it in the phone book. I thought Tim was going to pass out from laughing so hard. I put the guy on hold to help a client at the counter, and when I came back the guy had hung up. I was told if he called back to tell him to dial 411. I don't think of these things until after the fact, but yeah Bozo, call information, not competition.


As I'm writing this all three boys are laying on the floor all in a row covered in blankets and it's quite quiet right now. I'm very impressed. I expected yelling and screaming and running around. Heck this ain't so bad!

Until next time...

Even More Disney...

So today Noah and I took the boys to see 100 Years of Disney on Ice. They LOVED it so much. We saw everyone (Gabe's words). It was really cool how they did the show. It was stories told by Mickey and Minnie and their friends. Then skaters would come out dressed in costumes and tell the story. Most of the stories were excerpts from the movie, so the "actors" just mouthed along with the words. It was so neat. Noah said he'd go again...then you know it was good!

Before the Intermission, they did a thing from It's a Small World. Manny's favorite ride. He went on it four times at Disney World. When the clock started to be unveiled he knew right away what song was going to be played. The look on his face was priceless. It gave me "water eyes".

I recorded some of the performance of It's a Small World and posted it below. Please forgive the quality, we were in the nose bleed section, and I used my phone to record it. Hope you enjoy it as much as Manny did. ENJOY!

What kind of mother...

...am I? Oh my goodness. In the last week my poor little Manny has had it rough. We've been having issues with him sleeping in his own bed. Somewhere he learned about monsters and zombies under his bed. I'm thinkin' that came from his older brother, who loves that kind of stuff. But any way last week Saturday morning he crawled into bed with me in the way early a.m. and fell back to sleep. At 7:30 or so, I woke up to a huge thud. Here Manny had rolled over and fell right out of bed. On the way to the floor he hit the nightstand with his face and within an hour he had a huge black eye. He complained for a little big about it hurting, but then was back to the obnoxious little man he's known to be, running back and forth the length of the house. Good to see that it wasn't serious.

Well last night, sound asleep in bed I was awakened by what I thought was a coughing/screaming sound. I sat straight up into bed trying to figure out where I was or even what time of the day it was. Within seconds I had Gabriel standing in the doorway tell me that Manny was crying. The little guy never got up, but he was laying in his bed crying. I went over by him and rubbed his back, and within a few minutes he settled down. I went to lay back down in my bed when I heard Manny crawl out of his bed and tell Gabriel he had to go potty. So I got up and went to the bathroom with him to turn the lights on so he wouldn't pee all over the seat...boys are known for that. I tucked him back into bed thinking everything was alright.

In the morning Gabriel was telling me that Manny threw up in the night. I said no he didn't because I didn't see anything in his bed when I went in there at 4 a.m. Well, after looking a little closer and after Gabriel pointed out the spots on the sheets, I put my son back to bed in soiled puke sheets. What mother does that? I feel so awful. I can't believe Manny didn't say anything to me about it. Makes me feel horrible.

Ok, so I had my first "bad mother" moment. But why is it always the same child? First his tooth, then his eye, and then sleeping in his own vomit...how awful. My mom said to me yesterday...he's going to be the one with the broken bones. Great some more stuff to look forward to. Yay for me...

So yeah, that's what Manny (and I) have gone through in the last week. Poor little fella. Finally after a haircut and a nice warm bath, he's sleeping soundly in his freshly made bed. What a little angel.

Good night to you all.

Is it February yet?

So even though it is February 1st doesn't mean that my job is any easier. In fact, I was still receiving information for W-2s and 1099s yesterday! What is with the procrastinators? It's frustrating and quite annoying. This last week at work was very stressful. I'll admit it, I was quite the witch! In fact, one day Gene told me to get off my broom. I said I would, but I might hit him with it. He laughed and said, "Then please stay on it."

Friday was Tim's surgery thing, and everything is A.O.K. Thank you, Lord for answering prayers. That was the only good thing that seemed to happen last week. We had word about several passings.

On Monday night Marjorie texted me and told me that she and her whole family were at the bedside of her uncle was wasn't expected to make it through the night. He was quite sick and only gave him 6 weeks to live. I believe that he didn't make it past for weeks. So on Saturday afternoon, Marjorie was at the funeral.

Then there was a shocking death that I'm sure most of you heard on the news. Billy Powell, the keyboardist from Lynyrd Skynyrd died while calling for emergency help. He was having some troubles breathing. When the medical people arrived at the home, he was laying there with the phone in his hand. His funeral was on Saturday as well.

Kim had called me at work to tell me about it and what a show it must have been. I have this "thing" for Kid Rock. Don't ask me why, but I have been in love with him for many years. He's not the most attractive man on the face of the earth, but maybe it's because he's such a "bad boy" that I'm so into.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know who he is or what he does, he's a rock/country singer who was at one point married to Pam Anderson. Not what you would consider to be a very religious or church going individual. He and Billy were quite good friends. Kid Rock's most recent hit was a song titled ALL SUMMER LONG. Billy played the keyboard on the track. It was my summer anthem this year.

Ok, anyway, back to the story. Kim called and asked, "What would you say if I told you I heard Kid Rock sing This Little Gospel Light of Mine"?

I said, " Thing I'd fall out of my chair."

She replied, "Well, you better hold on tight. Not only did I see him sing it, he sounded amazing."

Ok, never in a million years could I imagine Kid Rock singing a religious song and then sounding amazing. I'd love to hear his version of the song.

I saw Billy walking his dogs with his wife, Ellen, the last time I was down in Florida. I can't say I knew them personally, but with the time Kim had with the family, I feel as if I knew them for a long time. They are real people. The fame didn't seem to go to Billy's head. That's what drew me to the man. My heart is with Ellen right now. I pray that the Lord be with her through these rough times.

Before I hung up the phone with Kim on Saturday, I asked how Ellen was doing. She told me that she couldn't get to her at the funeral. And then in the next breath she said, "I'll get my neighborly duty to help in the weeks to come." I said boldly, "I know you will." She knows just what to say in times like this.



Rest In Peace!

(Lyrics from Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd)
If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me? For I must be traveling on now. There's too many places I've got to see. If I stay here with you girl, things just couldn't be the same. Cause I'm as free as a bird now. And this bird you cannot change....

Bad things happen to good people...

There's a saying out there that goes I DON'T DO MONDAYS. Well, that sort of hits home for me, only my saying goes, I DON'T DO JANUARIES (VERY WELL). Januaries for me are very stressful at work. This year is proving to be the worst yet; only it's flowing into the family side of life.

For those of you who don't know, two years ago, if I remember correctly it was in the fall, Tim (my boss) kept going outside on a Friday afternoon. I commented to Gene that I thought Tim wasn't feeling very well. Being a man and very stubborn, he wouldn't say a word to either of us, so we just assumed all was OK. Gene just thought because it was a semi-nice day that Tim just wanted to be outside rather than stuck inside. I just felt something was wrong.

Well come to find out that the following day he had died on us...not once, but twice. The Lord sought fit to bring him back to all of those who love him so dearly. He was diagnosed with what Tim calls an ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION. He has a sort of "short" in his heart. Apparently it forgets to beat. So he has a pace maker.

The day he came back to work, I went up to him and gave him a big hug and then slapped him upside the head for not saying anything about feeling the way he did that Friday before. MEN, I tell you!

This year he had a test done that showed a shadow. So his doctor showed another doctor, and now on Friday Tim has to go and have some exploratory surgery. Of coarse, he's real calm about the whole thing. I'm freaking out. I can't imagine how is wife is dealing with it. My prayers are with Tim and his family. Please keep him in your prayers also.

Then on Friday I walked into the office and said my usual good mornings and said, "So, is Tim at a fire?" (Tim is also a volunteer fire fighter!) Gene said, "Yeah, he just left not too long ago. When he left they said the garage was on fire. Now the news radio is saying it's spread to the house." My first thought was, "Oh those poor people."

I went on about my morning trying to get most of my W-2s and monthly books finished to concentrate more on training my new employee. Tim had an appointment at 11:30 and it was getting close to that time. The phone rang and I got a message in e-mail at the same time. Tim was on the phone, and Vickie had e-mailed me. Tim was stuck at the fire yet, so I had to review the return with his client. While talking with Tim I was reading this e-mail:

hey- if you hear about house fire in Sheboygan on lisa ave..that's ryan's family....they're all ok

This gave me chills. Tim was fighting a fire of someone I knew! And from what Tim said, it didn't sound good. So my brain went to work thinking of how I could help. Hey, they have no food. So I made chicken noodle soup and bought some dinner rolls they can eat...comfort food.

Gabriel and I drove by the house yesterday, and it gave me water eyes. There's not a whole lot left to the house, or the truck that was parked in the driveway. So they lost just about everything. The Lord was watching over them though. Nobody was hurt!

Ryan called me yesterday to thank me for what I was doing. He questions my "love" for him from time to time. He's asked Vickie a few times if I like him or not. I only have a problem with him should he hurt my sister! I think this shows him that I do love him and I do care about him and his family. (But that is not why I did this.) He was almost in tears when he left me a thank you message in my voicemail. That made me feel so amazing. Something as little as a pot of soup can make a family cry! (And I don't even know if the soup tastes good or not!)

We had Movie Day at church today. Every Sunday after service the parents of the Sunday Schoolers meet in church with their children for pre-devotion. Today we had a quick opening, and Mrs. Ristow had a parent go up front and put on a backpack. Then she asked all the kids what kinds of burdens sinners carry around with them. With every burden mentioned, Mrs. Ristow would put a rock into the backpack. This "presentation" was soooo hitting home, it gave me water eyes. The theme of the day, "Lay Down Your Burdens". At the end of putting in all the rocks, the helper was given a present. She opened the box and inside was a cross.

Just the sight of that little cross, opened my eyes to see that yeah, my burdens are heavy, but Jesus is there to help through them all. It's human nature to still feel worried and helpless at times, but I keep it in my head that I'm not alone in all of this...Jesus is there with me.

God bless you all! Have a great week.

Out of the mouth of a five year old...

I have a scary story to tell everyone. I guess it's something I have to deal with being a mother and wanting to be there for everything my children go through...even if it is bad things.


Saturday morning Emmanuel came in my room and said, "Mama, I need a tissue." So I reached over on my nightstand and grabbed a tissue. He took it said thanks and went back to his bed. A few minutes later he was back in my room kind of whining/crying. He said, "Mama, I have gross on my face." I rolled over and could see something on his face. I got up and took him into a better lighted area. At closer look the poor guy was covered in blood. His face, hair, and hands. I flipped. I ran him into the bathroom for even a better look. He looked closer and saw all the blood and began to shake like crazy. I grabbed a washcloth and made in nice and warm to wash his face to see if he'd cut himself, or if I could find a gash or something on his head. After cleaning his face up, I noticed blood dripping from his nose. Thank God it was just a nose bleed. But so much blood! I couldn't believe it. His blanket was covered with it too.


I was in shock. I felt sick to my stomach, and just wanted the whole ordeal to be over. We ran a nice warm back, and put Manny in the water. (The bathtub and his bed are his comfort places when he's sick or hurt.) This gave me the opportunity to catch my breath and try to calm myself down.


After his bath, I put him in clean jammies, and sent him off to bed again. By this time Gabriel was up. I was so tired from lack of sleep the night before, I just wanted to go back to bed. I put in a movie, and the boys watch while I tried to sleep. For two hours it was nice and quiet. The boys just stayed in their room while I napped. They are so sweet.


I have to tell you how Gabriel tells the story of Emmanuel's ordeal...


"...He was getting a lot warmer. And he was getting a lot drier. And the elecfricity (electricity) from the plug made bleed come out of his nose. He was sleeping. Now we have the water to never make his nose bleed again..."


It's very dry in our house, so that explains the drier part of the story, but where the child gets the idea of a plug up his nose I'll never understand. Every time he tells the story, I have to turn my head and chuckle. The expressions this child makes when he's tell it is so cute.


Well, I need to go to bed now. I'd like to be to work by 7:30 tomorrow morning to get stuff caught up. I really hate Januaries at work. It's the worst month for me.


Good night to you all!