Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

For a vacation, the past two weeks have been packed with things to do! In just a couple of days, Ryan and I go back to school and we'll be back into a routine of some sort.

The Saturday night before Christmas, we were expecting a TON of snow, so before the first flake fell...we got the call the Church was canceled. It was a good thing because at about 10pm, it started to snow and when it was all over in the morning, we had almost 22 inches! It was a nice day off for all of us.

Christmas Eve meant only a half a day of work for Ric. (Of course, he's forced to take vacation time for the other half! Grrr...) and he had promised to help the kids make a snowman that day. His idea of a snowman is filling up buckets and stacking them up. The kids LOVED it though!
He's pretty cool with his shades, don't you think? We changed his hat to a Santa hat the next day after Santa stopped by our house. Unfortunately, the day after that, he was melted and gone. :)


Megan was so pooped after the snowman that she completely crashed on the floor afterwards. That night, we joined some good friends for dinner. The kids were all off the wall with their friends while the four parents, just sat back and watched.


Our Christmas tree and stockings this year were all made with paper (of which I have PLENTY!) because we packed our decorations and everything into a storage unit to make room for the garage remodel. Of course we thought we were going to be a lot further with that little project. So rather than dig into the back of the storage, we made everything. Do you like our poster board stockings? :) You can see the tree on my business website.



Somehow that night, Santa made it to our house. We had a nice Christmas morning with Orange Rolls and tons of wrapping paper. One thing that I wanted to do was to go see a movie - so we chose The Chipmunks, Squeakuel. It was cute, and the kids liked it. That night was Chinese Food at one of our favorite restaurants and then home again. It was a REALLY busy day, and I don't think we'll pack that much into one day again...especially since we were going out the next night to see Nemo on Ice! (Tickets courtesy of Santa - I'll put up a separate post about that one.)

So that was it...I leave you with a crazy Christmas greeting...

More Garage Progress

It's finally starting to look like a ROOM! We've got most of the insulation up and the walls built.

Last night we pulled out the washer and dryer to see what fun things we could find! We knew that the plaster at the bottom was falling apart and that there was some mold behind it, so it wasn't too much of a surprise to see this.

We've decided to take part of the plaster down and just replace it with sheetrock to clean it up a bit. I'm hoping that we won't find anything that requires MORE work! :) We have one more wall to build in this area that will be behind the washer and dryer to enclose the water and oil pipes - then comes the ceiling!

We had hoped to get so much more done this week - but Ryan and Megan had other plans. It's very frustrating, but that's the way it is.

Fall Leaves in Our Back Yard

Before time slips completely away...I've got to catch up here! We've been WAY too busy, and it's time to slow down a little bit. Between my Stampin' Up! events, FOUR New England Tech Classes, Church, the Post Office, the garage and the KIDS, we're just plain exhausted!

Anyway....

We've had to rake our back yard about three times this year. Not only because of OUR trees, but our neighbor behind us has a HUGE oak tree that seems to only drop it's leaves in OUR yard!

There's no way we can bag it all up without spending a fortune on the leaf bags, so we just dump them all into the trailer and haul it off to the Warwick city compost pile. This picture was taken on one of those leaf raking days - and one of the 3 or 4 trips we had to take to the dump! :)

Look at those two blondies!

Oh...and here's the official "leaf jumping of 2009" video:

Garage Progress!

In spite of Ric's five stitches and the random "orbs", we've been making progress on the garage. We have everything framed except for the floating wall we have to build behind the washer and dryer. (I'll explain why further down.)

We have a full wall separating the front from the back half of the garage - AND we've put sheetrock up on one side of that wall for some privacy if we have the garage door opened while we're working. We've also framed in the oil tank with a door for access as well. Above the oil tank will be built in storage shelves/cabinets.

Our biggest issue was what to do with the wall that is on the side of the house. The previous owners had problems with their pipes freezing because they were all under the concrete slab that the house sits on. So, they moved them. You can see them going up and across the blue wall in the picture and then they go into the house through the attic. (They still freeze every once in a while, but at least we can get to them!)

There's no way that we were going to try to move them again. So we finally decided to make a "floating wall" in front of them. We're only screwing it into the adjacent studs so that if we ever have to get to the pipes, we just have to get through the sheetrock. This will make it look a lot cleaner and hide the pipes! :)

So the last wall we have to build will go behind the washer and dryer, with panel access for the water hookups, etc. That will be a job for when both kids are out of the house for a LONG period of time so we can move the washer and dryer, take the current metal cabinet off the wall, and build the new one. In addition to that, we need to have the oil line moved from around the perimeter of the garage floor to up and over the new wall we've built.

It's going a lot slower than we'd like. But since we're not financing this or using any credit cards, we are limited to what we have available in our budget. It means a lot more to us that we're figuring out, paying for, and doing all the work ourselves. (Thanks to parents and grandparents who taught both of us *something* about being handy!)

Whew! That's the update! Much more to come! (Oh...and yes, we did get the rest of the light cans up - with gloves on!)

Our Garage: Cursed or Haunted? You decide...

First, we had an oil leak, so the tank had to be replaced.

Then, Ric was up on a ladder working on the ceiling when the sheetrock came off, slid down his back and landed perfectly so as to snap off the filter on the brand new oil tank. The result was an after hours emergency call to our oil company. We were lucky that they were able to clean it up AND it didn't require a "Haz-Mat" crew to come to the house!

And again, the other night, Ric and I were putting up recessed light cans. Ric was pulling out an old staple to move a wire and the hammer slipped. As it slipped, Ric's hand went right into the metal edge of the can and ended up cutting himself right below his thumb. Of course this was after hours too. We debated if he needed to go to the ER, but luckily, he was able to go to the Stat Care right before they closed and ended up with 5 stitches and a tetanus shot. (Whew!)

In addition to that - I've been taking pictures of our progress and I've noticed something interesting... strange "orbs" are showing up in different places in the pictures. But only when I take pictures in the garage (and not every picture has them either.) Are we haunted? Who knows. Maybe we need to call TAPS! :) It's actually kind of fun to think that we might be haunted, but it's probably dust or a reflection on the camera lens. Who knows....but take a look at these pictures. You decide...
You would think with the things that are happening, that we'd give up. Nope...we're still plugging along. You'll see the progress in another post.

Kitchen Progress

I don't know why it's taken so long to get these pictures up. I guess I was hoping that it would all be done before I unveiled the results. But here you go - the progress...

(the messy - or not so messy - cabinets are blurred to protect the innocent)

We used to have a soffet (sp?) between the cabinets over the sink where there was a small recessed light. I tore that down and we rewired (ok, Ric rewired) so that we could hang a pendant light. We still need to put up new trim around the window and the ceiling, but for the most part, the top is done.

Now to finish the bottom cabinets! It's a long process when the kids are around - and should be interesting to see what they take out of the cabinets when I take the doors off! You can really see the difference in the last picture between the upper and lower cabinets. The kitchen is SO much brighter now!

Our plan is to remove the stove top and wall oven to replace them with a range/microwave combo. That will give me actual counter space where the stove top has been! (Maybe we'll splurge for a new counter too! Who knows...we can always dream!)

The First Wall Goes Up!

Today...we got rid of the kids (dropped them off at the baby sitters) and got to work. It's so amazing how much you can get done without them around! :)

We stopped at the Builders Surplus warehouse in West Warwick. WOW - that place is a gold mine! Anyone in RI need directions? They have a BUNCH of things (doors, windows, molding, tile, flooring, and more) at VERY reasonable prices! We'll definitely be back when we're ready for doors and stuff!)

When we got home, I pulled the rest of the sheetrock down - actually, there's more to pull down by the washer and dryer, but that's another day.

Then we laid out the 2x4's - and even framed for the access door to the oil tank. (Pretty darn good if I do say so myself! We just followed directions in a book I picked up from www.paperbackswap.com - published in 1977!)

After the kids got home, we put the wall up and *almost* into place. The floor isn't level it doesn't completely fit under the beam. Luckily, Ric watches This Old House and knows what to do! YAY! So we'll be making a ton of noise wedging the frame in tomorrow!

Let the Demolition Begin!

Since we've moved into our house, we've planned to make half of the garage an office/studio for my business. With the replacement of our oil tank, we thought it was a good a time as any! (Plus, the kids are getting bigger and need a little more space!)

The garage is not the prettiest place (is anyone's pretty?) Most of it had a blue paint over some sheetrock that wasn't put up very well. There's no insulation in the walls, so it's really hot in the summer and cold in the winter.

It's been REALLY easy to pull down the walls - messy too! Ryan LOVED this part and did his best to help.

It's going to be a slow process since we don't have a chunk of cash to put down all at once (anyone care to donate? heh) so slowly, we'll do a little here and there. At least we don't have to live inside of the garage as we're working on it!

More pictures in the next post - and Mom, I PROMISE, I'll have pictures of the kitchen up too! Just a few more cabinets to do and we'll be done with that project! (I need to stop reading This Old House Magazine!)

Before and After

So yesterday, Ric comes into the house and says casually, "Next time you go into the garage will you see if you smell oil?"

Ummm.....OK. So I went, sniffed, and YEP! I smelled oil too. We grabbed a flashlight and took a look to find a nice little oil leak coming from the 275 Gallon Oil Tank we have in the garage. For those of you who aren't in New England, most homes here heat their water with an oil fired furnace. Oil is delivered every few months or so. An oil leak is NOT a good thing.

I immediately called our oil company and they had someone stop by to take a peek. (It was a holiday, and the guy was VERY considerate not to do anything unless absolutely necessary because we'd be paying a fortune for it!)

We got a call this morning with all the details, and the next thing you know, we're moving things around in the garage to make way for a brand new shiny oil tank! Once the guys arrived, they pumped out the old tank, installed the new, and pumped the oil back into it - all in about 3 hours.

This little event has unofficially started our garage remodeling project that we've been talking about since we moved in. One reason is that we asked that they didn't install the little pole thingy's to protect the tank from being hit by a car. We don't use the garage to park, we're actually planning to create an office/studio for me. So that saved some money - whew! BUT, we did have to show somehow that we were putting a wall up so that when the install is inspected, they won't require the little poles. (We're just enclosing it inside of a small room anyway.) So Ric took Ryan over to Lowes, picked up about 16 2x4's and we're making plans to frame in a wall. Yippeeeee!

OK, enough excitement for today... :) Don't you love our shiny new tank?

Taking a Day Off!

Don't get me wrong, we like going to Church. But there are times when it's just NICE to take a break! Every year on Labor Day, Ric's Aunt invites us to visit on Prudence Island. We've been several times - and it's always a nice time.

To get to Prudence, we take a ferry from Bristol. We told Ryan that we would be getting on the ferry and all morning, he kept asking "But how do we get to the Angel?" It took us a while before we figured out that he wanted to know how we would get to the "fairy" (Ferry) - I guess fairies and angels are the same to him. :)

The last time we were in Prudence, Megan was just 2 1/2 months old. She was able to run around and play this time.







Enjoy the pictures - it was a nice (a little windy) day with the family!

PS - Ryan had a BLAST with his older cousins. They've really grown since we were last at Prudence...check out the difference!

Oh....and the best part of the day? Two completely exhausted kids at bedtime! :)

Not So Cheap Entertainment

It's kind of hard to see, but this was the view out our kitchen window a few weeks ago. See the "Monster" digging in our back yard? :)

When there's nothing to do on a Monday, might as well watch the guys hook us up to the sewer line, right? So that's what we did....allllllll dayyyyyy.

The kids LOVED it - the digger machines, the deep hole, and the pipes. (Who needs toys? Just get a couple of 6" PVC pipes and let them play!)






I have to say that I'm REALLY impressed with the precision this guy had while using the digger and what he could do with it! I guess that's why he's the one doing it!

All in all, it was a great day - and $1500 later we're now officially "flushing" to the Warwick Sewer System.

(If only the grass would grow back - not weeds! It looks like we gave the lawn a "bad haircut!")

It's all fun... until Darth Vader and Sponge Bob show up

This weekend we took the kids with some friends (GiGi, Dylan, and Tyler) to a "Touch a Truck" event. The weather was warm and muggy, but because we were by the water, we had a nice breeze.

The kids had a BLAST! Since we took tons of pictures, I've just put them into a slide show for you.

Oh...and now we know that Ryan is terrified of Darth Vader, Batman, and Sponge Bob Square Pants - in person. There were some characters there that you could take your picture with. Of course we thought that it would be fun since Ryan and Megan both know who these "people" are. Nope. Ryan completely freaked. Megan just kept waving to them.

Good thing that all went down towards the end of the show because Ryan insisted that we completely avoid the area after that. *sigh* At least we all had a good time up until that point!

Megan actually got into it after she figured out that the trucks are meant to be climbed on, in, and around. She was pretty fearless - as usual!

Enjoy!

PS - Hopefully my picture uploading issue has been resolved, I'm SO BEHIND in my posts!

What Did You Do Today Dear?

Ric spent Friday with the Young Men canoeing and then camping overnight. I'm sure he'll have stories to tell...but just in case he asks, here's what we did while he was gone!

Well....we all woke up at 8:30 am (Bonus!)

We decided that we needed pony tails - ALL of us.

We watched Mary Poppins and made funny faces for the camera.

After seeing the carousel in the movie, we decided to check out a real one at the Warwick Mall.

Ryan loved it.

Megan just said "I want to go home" the whole time."

We spotted some celebrities.

We got lucky and there was a magic/balloon show right after our ride.

We scored some balloons.

We came home and dug up all the potatoes in the garden.

Somewhere in all the potato excitement, ChiChi decided it would be fun to catch a mouse and bring it into the garage. Normally not a problem, when she's done playing, we get rid of it. This time, she LOST it! She cornered it, and boy did is SQUEAK! But it got away somehow.

We still have no idea if it's alive or dead, left the garage, etc. Time will tell...

We played in the pool.




And showed off our muscles.

We ate homemade french fries from the potatoes, watched Spongebob, and CRASHED!

That's what we did today.

Happy 4th!

OK...a little late, but here we are! Like our craftiness? :) It's not the best picture, but at least you can see that we "tried" to be patriotic! :) Mom and Dad made the flags and the kids made the fireworks! It was fun to fingerpaint together!

We celebrated by visiting Ric's cousin Stephanie and her family. It's always so nice to visit and catch up. Since, they have a large yard at the end of a culdesac (sp?), so we didn't have to worry about the kids running into any trouble, we actually got to relax a little!

I wish I had gotten pictures...but Megan ate her first piece watermelon. And her 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th. Yep - she loved it!

It was also the first nice day in about 3 weeks, so we did our best to enjoy it!

Wacky Weather

We've had some incredible thunder storms pass through here the last 3 days. It's sunny for a while, then the storm comes through, then it goes back to sunny again. Ryan and Megan took advantage of the sunny parts as much as possible.

What a life, huh?

I took this video around 5:30pm - during one of the storms. When you watch it, a few things to notice...the sun is actually shining through the downpour. And, when you see the front yard, notice that the rain is coming down so hard that it's completely coming out of the front of the gutters, not the downspout. Our gutters are clean - it's just too much water!

Enjoy!

Making the Perfect Father's Day Gift

Step 1: Take about 65 pictures of your kids, holding wood letters.

Step 2: While taking these pictures, say "Please sit still and hold this - it's for Daddy!" about 73 times.

Step 3: Make sure kids don't get bit by strange fly thingy that landed on the white letter and won't get off.

Step 4: Finally give up, and hope that the three precious pictures I need will be somewhere on the camera.

Here are the 60+ pictures I took, just to get the right ones:



And here is the final result - changed to black and white in the perfect frame. Dad loved it!

(If you can't tell, the middle picture has both kids holding the letter "A")

Taking After Dad

I just ran into the kitchen a few minutes ago, and noticed THIS in the living room.

Ric asleep on the couch (he's even sleeping through the golf!) and Ryan passed out on the floor. This kid can just go to sleep anywhere!

But that's not the funniest part, look at what Ryan has in his hand! He fell asleep mid-crunch as he was munching on nachos!

Too funny!

Eeeeeeek!!!

Good thing I'm not totally squeamish! We all came in from mowing the lawn and playing outside when I was pulling ice-cream sandwiches out of the freezer for the kids when Ryan said, "Mommy, there's a mouse!"

Sure enough, ChiChi had been outside and brought in her latest catch. I had to herd the kids away as I grabbed a paper towel to pick him up. He was definitely dead, but still warm... (TMI?)

By the way, see the pink smudge below his head? That's frosting left over from Megan's B-day. STILL haven't cleaned it up! :)

Happy Hoo Hoo Megan!

We just returned from Megan's 2-year visit with the pediatrician. She weighs 26 pounds and is 34 inches tall! Just right!

Here you go - highlights of Megan's party!

The Birthday Girl! Happy Hoo Hoo Megan! (That's what she says when we say "Happy Birthday" to anyone!)

So I have to brag a little about the cupcakes I made. Don't they look fabulous? I just used a boxed cake and the buttercream icing recipe from the Wilton website. I added some pink coloring and then piped it on to the cupcakes. (Instructions are on the website too for how to make the swirl.) Yes, there was just as much frosting as cake, but don't they look pretty? After everything was frosted, I used spray food color to "highlight" the edges.

Even the roses that Daddy brought home for Megan (and mom) matched! (No, we didn't plan that one.) Lastly, the invitation I sent out matches too. I'm all done being "matchy matchy" for a while! Whew!

Ryan was more interested in the presents. He had been asking ALL DAY if it was time to open them.

Once she saw the coloring book and crayons - none of the other gifts mattered!

Funny thing about the party hat. As soon as we said it was time for the cake, she ran to get it and put it on. She's all about the accessories!

Blowing out ALL those candles!


Trying out her new "wheels."

Our Sick House - 24-Hours Later

I am completely amazed at the little girl running around our house right now.

After I came back from teaching a class yesterday afternoon, Megan seemed to be doing worse, so I called the pediatrician, loaded the kids in the car, and off we went. (Meg just wasn't herself, laying around and not even wimpering.)

The result? Megan had a full blown ear infection in her left ear - and the doctor heard some different sounds in her lungs, meaning that she was at the beginnings of pneumonia. Yippeee! NOT! So she sent us to the pharmacy with a prescription for some serious antibiotics. All of this developed over the weekend, because her ears were fine when she was checked on Friday.

This is the first time in her almost two years that she's had an ear infection - Ryan hasn't had one yet, thankfully!

FINALLY, she woke up this morning without a fever and looked a little more lively. By about noon, she was bringing me her shoes, which definitely meant she was feeling better. (She's all about the shoes these days!)

By dinner, she was her usual self, almost. Whew! Thank goodness we live in a time where we have these antibiotics that can help with situations like these! I can't even imagine what we would have done otherwise.

So enjoy these tub pictures, taken tonight. She had a blast playing around, and of course is the cutest ever!

Ryan yesterday wasn't feeling all that great yesterday either. He was pretty subdued. He even came home on his own from the neighbors, which isn't normal. Once inside the house he started puking - again...yipppeee! SO GLAD I don't have SIX kids! :) He's better today, but still with a little fever and cough so we took him to get checked just in case too. I'm sure the gals at the peditrician's front desk are tired of seeing us! We're NEVER there unless it's an annual visit - until now!

PS - Ric is fine, so far, and Me? I'm loaded up with drugs too - I have an upper respiratory infection. When it rains it pours!

PPS - Sorry, these pictures are completely out of order. I couldn't get them to cooperate with me!

Our 'Rock Star' - 'High Fever' Weekend!

We had a crazy weekend . We were hoping to make the best of it since it was Ric's last few days off, but no such luck with two kids!

Ric was able to take Ryan to get his hair cut, flipped up in the front, and some fun color added to the "flip." A girl from Church works at SnipIts now, we they went specifically to see her.

When they got back, Ryan immediately got on to his tricycle and rode around like a "rock star" - how do I know?

All he kept saying was..."I'm a WOCK STAR" as he was riding around in circles in front of our house. Hysterical!

Megan - on the other hand was not so lucky. On Thursday, she ended up with a really high fever (103ish.) She's really lethargic and clingy. We called the doctor and made an appointment for the morning, and were told to just try alternating Motrin and Tylenol to control it.

This started a roller coaster of ups and downs. Down to normal, then back up to 101 or 102. Megan's doctor said that she was seeing a lot of her symptoms and it was basically the flu. We just had to make sure that she was drinking fluids.

We all ended up staying home from most of Church on Sunday - just in case. (Though I did play the organ for Sacrament meeting and then left right after.) I even bowed out of a FAB Girls night out on Saturday since I didn't want to take the chance of spreading any flu germs around.

Doesn't she look miserable in these pictures? Poor thing! Since the Motrin was bringing the fever down a little, but it would spike back up, we decided to let the fever do its job and kill off whatever virus was there.

One idea I found was to take her socks, soak them in white vinegar, and put them on her to hopefully draw the toxins out. I don't know if that's what did it, but finally today her temperature is back to normal! (Though her feet smelled like pickles! heh)

Today she's just coughing and sneezing all the gunk out - so hopefully soon, she'll be back to normal! :)

So much fun - hope your weekend was better than ours!

Family Time at the Beach

It started like this...

...and pretty much went down hill from there. Ryan was a royal "PITA" all day - you figure it out. :)

We didn't plan anything with Ric's family. Mainly because we're tired of being the only ones who make the plans. So we stayed home, napped in the afternoon, cooked our own ham and funeral potatoes, and that was it.

The Easter Bunny did visit - but it wasn't a big whoop-de-doo. We tried to enjoy Church, but the aforementioned 3 year old...

Anyway, I've told myself over and over that my expectations for a nearly "perfect" holiday just isn't going to happen. Maybe next time I'll lower my expectations and will be pleasantly surprised. Maybe not!

The above picture? The ONLY one I got.

A Trip to the Children's Mesuem

A few weeks ago, we all went to the Providence Children's Museum. The kids had a blast running around and checking things out. So many of the pictures turned out great, so I've put them into a slideshow. But here are a few of my favorites.

Is It March Yet?

I don't even know WHERE to start to summarize this crazy month! Not that anyone is REALLY that interested, but here are the happenings of February 2009...hopefully soon to be forgotten!

Feb 3rd - (Happy B-day Gramma!) It's about 10:30 pm and all of a sudden Ryan is crying in his bed. It's a different cry, so Ric and I jump up to see what's wrong. Yipppeeeee! Puke-age! At first we thought it was something he ate, but then....

Feb 5th - At about 11:00 pm, Megan is coughing and crying. Her turn! Yet another night this week that Mom and Dad got hardly any sleep. How do you explain to a 20 month old that she just has to get it out of her system?

Feb 6th - I get a call from my sister that ANOTHER sister is in the hospital with major back pain and no one knows what the problem is. She eventually gets moved to ICU over night so she can be watched, then sent home a few days later. She has an appointment the next week with doctors to figure out if she needs to have her gall bladder out. (There's a theme here...watch for it!)

Feb 7th - at about 8:00 pm, I'm sitting in the living room with Megan. Ric had gone out with Ryan to get my "birthday present." He returns with Shelly, my best friend. (Previously blogged about here.) Just about that same time, I feel that tickle in my throat and I start coughing. Uh oh...I'm getting sick while my best friend is visiting for my birthday! NOOOOoooooooo!

Feb 7th - 11th - Shelly hangs out with us, it was FABULOUS, but...I was sick the whole time!


Feb 10th - Happy 40th Birthday to ME! :)


Feb 9th - 12th - I continued to teach my classes with no voice, a nasty cough, and probably infected the PC's at New England Tech in addition to my students! Since I didn't slow down, this little resperatory virus won't go away! Ric is sick too, and ends up staying home sick. Luckily, the kids were over their little stomach bug and seemed to be doing OK.


Feb 14th - Valentine's Day. It was uneventful, though we did make sugar cookies with the kids. They were good and didn't last long.


Feb 15th - I'm STILL not feeling well with this respiratory thing, so I arranged with someone else in the Ward to play the Organ and fill in for Primary. Thank goodness there's actually someone else who plays the piano now!


Feb 15th - Around 6:00 pm, I start to feel naseous and pain in my right side. I can't be having a gall bladder attack, can I? No, I'll lay down and I should feel better in a few minutes. Maybe if I go to the bathroom, everything will be fine.


About 7:00 pm, I'm feeling worse, so I call GiGi to see if she might be able to come over to sit with the kids while I go to the hospital. She's out of town, but on her way back to RI, and will call when she gets here.


8:30 pm - I'm actually feeling better! Maybe it's all over and I can just go to bed. I do have surgery scheduled for March to get this taken care of, maybe I can wait until then.


10:30 pm - Nope...pain again.


11:15 pm - Called GiGi again, she's coming over to sleep on the couch.


Midnight - We arrive at the Kent County Hospital Emergency room. Why is Ric taking his "sweet" time with everyting? (Of course he wasn't it just seemed like it when I was in pain!)


Midnight - 4:00 am - Waiting....in the waiting room and then an exam room. They took blood, but nothing else. FINALLY at 4:00 am, I was seen by a doctor AND given some morphine! It was excrutiating! Unfortunately, they pushed the morphine into my IV so quickly that less than 30 seconds later, I puked! (Poor Ric, for better or for worse, right?)


4:00 am - 5:00 am - we determine that I should be transferred to Miriam hospital because that's where my surgeon is located. Looking back, I should have just gone there in the first place. I probably would have been given some relief sooner even though it was a longer ride. (Can't wait to see that ambulance bill!)


5:30 am - 10:00 am - In the Miriam ER, they scan my belly, to see the lovely stones that are causing my pain, do and EKG, take more blood, I'm drugged up and pretty happy, and I'm really tired. It looks like I'm going to be admitted. I send Ric home to relieve GiGi and get some sleep. (I try to sleep too, but that really doesn't happen.) I also give Ric specific instructions to contact someone from the group of ladies I have a workshop with that night to cancel the workshop.


10:00 am - I'm finally in my room...with a roommate. :( Oh well...keep me drugged and I'll be happy.


Feb 16th - President's day - The nurses are fabulous and keep me drugged. I can't eat though, because I may be having surgery soon. Wait, it's a holiday, things are moving REALLY slow around the hospital. I need an MRI to see if any of those lovely stones escaped into somewhere else in my body that could cause even more problems. No MRI's today - I have to wait until tomorrow....WHAT? Because it's a holiday? That didn't make sense...and I never really got an answer as to why I had to wait 24 hours for the MRI.


I'm labeled as "NPO" - Nothing Per Oral. Meaning, I can't eat anything. I'm just hooked up to an IV to keep me hydrated and drugged up.


7:00 pm - Ric and Harry (friend and neighbor) stop by to give me a blessing. I'm sure I looked pretty scary, but I was grateful for the Priesthood and the comfort that a blessing gave me.


Feb 17th - still haven't eaten anything. Even the shrimp that the family of my roommate brought in smells good - and I don't like shrimp! FINALLY, at 12:15 pm - I have the MRI. Nothing escaped, so I'm scheduled for surgery after 5:00 pm.


While this is going on...my mom and Gordon are flying across the country. Not because I was in the hospital, but because they had planned to come out for a vacation a couple of months ago. It was just a coincidence that it happened on the same day.


Sometime that day, I also talked to Ryan who was so cute when he said, "Mommy, I want you to come home, we NEED you here!" *sigh*


5:00 pm - Surgery. After wheeling me in to the surgery wing, they make sure that my papers and stuff are all in order. the Anesthesiologist gives me something that starts to make me REALLY loopy. Then they discover that I don't have the results of a pregnancy test in my chart. (This may be TMI, but it's funny, so keep reading...) SO I say..."my last period was 2 weeks prior, and my husband has been "fixed" so there's no way I could be pregnant." Then one of the operating room gals said, "Unless you had sex in your hospital rooom last night!" Oh yeah...you KNOW that's just what I did! With my elderly roommate in the next bed and nurses checking on me all the time, I just slipped that in! RIGHT! We all laughed at that one. They finally found the test with the papers from Kent Hospital and we were on our way.


6:30 pm or so - All done! I'm in the recovery room. I'm moved back to my room and told that I'll probably go home the next day.


10:30 pm - I BEG my nurse, Anthony, for something to drink/eat. He comes up with some Chicken Broth and Ginger Ale - better than nothing!

12:15 am- I can't sleep (not that anyone sleeps in the hospital) so I call home to make sure that my parents got in OK.

Feb 18th - Finally...morning, and I'm REALLY looking forward to some breakfast! (Even though it would be liquids only.) The cart comes around, and nothing for me. By this time, I'm REALLY tired and frustrated, and want to go home. I cry and have a little pity party, then ask a nurse to track it down for me.

10:30 am - I'm seen by my doctor and told that I can go home...YIPPEEEEE! Ric picks me up, and we stop at Burger King on the way home. I'm slowly eating french fries (Yes, I know, not the best thing right after surgery, but I was desperate!) and feeling pretty good about going home.

Feb 18th - 24th - My parents are here and have a great time visiting. My mom seemed to like the idea that she could take care of us a little more than she would have. Ryan was a complete pain. We think that he had just had enough of the crazy changes this month, but didn't know how to express it. Megan was as cute as could be! I knew that my Mom and Gordon would just fall in love with her!

We didn't do a whole lot while they were here. I had hoped that we could visit the Boston Temple, but my surgery put that on hold. So we stayed around the house. My mom showed me how to can ground beef and chicken with my new Pressure Canner and Gordon and Ric worked a little on the trailer we have, making sure the lights worked.


Feb 20th - Remember my sister from before? It's her turn to have HER gall bladder taken out. Strange, it seems to run in the family. Watch out everyone else!

------------------------
So now there are just a few days left this month. I'm back at school, still feeling like a pin cushion, and you should see the lovely bruises I have!

I'm crossing my fingers that nothing else happens.

Day 4 of family virus sweepstakes that we've won

It's actually more like day 4, but this is day 2 in-a-row for me to be home out of work. We'll be dousing the house with Lysol and Clorox wipes later in the day to at least kill off anything that might still be lingering around and hopefully we'll be out of self-isolation by Saturday or Sunday the latest. Of course, with the kids who can and will get into anything that isn't clean it's really hard and you find yourself exhausted, and moving in circles to revisit where you'd thought that you've cleaned and picked-up.

Marni is still teaching her classes which is why I am home in addition to the fact that I also feel like crap as well. I'm lucky to be able to stay home to care for all of them and use my sick leave to get paid. I've made plans to be out tomorrow as well, but have to report on Saturday unless I need a visit to the walk-in clinic for some respiratory relief and a note.

Today's Providence Journal has a small article about the two strains of viruses that are spread throughout RI and the schools, one is intestinal (no thanks) and the other is respiratory which is what we all seem to have.

Go Stee-wers!

We're really not huge Steeler fans, but because Ric's dad lived in Pittsburgh, that's who we're rooting for.

When Ric went to clean out his dad's apartment after he died, he picked up this hat for Ryan. He's been wearing it most of the afternoon in honor of the "Stee-wers."

Hope you enjoy the game! (No matter who wins!)

PS - the washing machine is partially fixed...looks like it might have been a coincidence that something happened and Ric was the recipient of my wrath. :) Good thing he's forgiving!

Sesame Street...Live!

Ric's sister gave us some vouchers for Sesame Street Live this past weekend. We were a little worried that Megan's head would explode when she saw Elmo, but luckily, she survived! :)

(Isn't Meg cute in her hot pink marshmallow coat?)

We had a great time! The show was just long enough for the kids (and adults) and the music was really cute!

I can't imagine how hot it must have been to dance in those costumes!

Megan was really friendly with the people in front of us, so they offered to old her at the front row rail for better look - she loved it!

All Ryan has been asking for since are more tickets so we can go again...maybe we'll be just as lucky next year!

Christmas Recap - Finally!

Oh...and here's the proof that all that snow was gone Christmas morning! What a bummer that was!

Enjoy this slide show - there are some cute pictures of the kids. (By the way, the jumpy thingy? I blew MOST of it up with my own hot air! If you know anything about me, you know I can barely blow up balloons without gagging - I must love these kids to suffer through blowing up their toy! Not happening again...we're getting a new air pump!)

Christmas Ornaments...and other Traditions

When I was about 12 or 13, I had a Young Women's leader who told us about a tradition that she and her husband started together when they got married. It's one that I never forgot and all these years later Ric and I have done since we've been together.

Each year, we talk about something significant that happened in our lives together and choose an ornament to represent that event. Would you believe that we now have 9 different ornaments? (Even though we met in 1999, we didn't start doing this until we put up our first tree together in 2000.)

So now, for the record, here are all the ornaments and their stories, for your Christmas Eve reading enjoyment. (Hopefully Blogger will display all the pictures with their comments, if not, I think you'll be able to figure it out!)



2000
It all began this year. Ric and I moved in together and put up our first Christmas Tree. So here's the ornament to match!




2001
We took a trip to Seattle and stayed with my Dad for a week or so. We found this ornament while doing some sight-seeing after taking a ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. It was a fun trip, so this was our official annual ornament. (By the way, on that ferry ride, we actually ran into a roommate of mine from college - small world!)



2002
For obvious reasons, we chose a "romantic" ornament this year because we were married in October! Rhonda, my good friend and roommate from college, gave Ric and I this ornament and it became our official 2002 ornament.



2003
We didn't do anything REALLY huge this year. It was our first full year being married and figuring out the whole "husband and wife" thing. My "bestest friend evah" Shelly sent this ornament as a gift and it was a perfect representation of our first married year together.



2004
We bought a house in 2004 and started to make it into our home. We've really loved it here since. Our neighborhood and neighbors are all fantastic, and you can't beat the fact that we're only a 10 minute walk to the beach! (A bonus we didn't even know about until after we moved in!)



2005
Ryan was born on December 1st this year. It was a no-brainer to get a baby's first Christmas ornament. We actually received this one from my sister, Andrea as a gift and decided that it was the official ornament this year.



2006
On March 31st, 2006, Ric and I were sealed together with Ryan as an Eternal Family in the Mount Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, Utah. This was the most important event of the year, and our lives together so far. We found this gorgeous ornament to represent that event, and I've loved to hang it in a special place every year since.



2007
This year was an easy one - Megan was born in June. I remember that it was hard to find a Baby's First Christmas ornament that I really liked, so this one was what I chose because we could put Meg's picture inside of it. There she is! Our little "Meg-oo"


2008
You aren't seeing things, this year, our ornament is Ryan's "Retired" RedSox Binky. It's the year of the "B" - and if you've been keeping up with us this year, you'll know that many posts were dedicated to that "B"! Not only does it represent a HUGE milestone in the kids life (and ours) when they gave them up, BUT, it also represents the fact that Ryan went to his first PawSox game with Daddy.

Hmmm...if 2008 was the year of the "B", then maybe 2009 will be the year of the potty chair! I don't think that the Elmo potty seat will fit on the tree though! Maybe we should hope for a more "appropriate" event in our lives, what do you think? hehe


So there you have it - Our Christmas Ornament Tradition. This year, we're also adding something new...Chinese food for Christmas Dinner! :) Can't wait! (No more cooking all day, waiting for others to cook, we're just ordering in and enjoying dinner with chopsticks!)

What are your Christmas (or Hanukkah, or Festivus, or whatever!) Traditions? Are you planning to start any of your own this year?

Wrapping up the night shift for Christmas 2009 - Oops 2008!

It's been an interesting 3 weeks while on the night shift for work. This has probably been the easiest job I've had to cover in all my years of working with the Transportation and Networks office during the Christmas Priority Mail operation. Up until December 1st, I had been told that I wasn't going to be needed this year and had resigned myself to working my normal hours and position at the Cranston RI 02910 office. That was until I checked m work email and found out that I had been drafted by my friends at the Transportation and Networks office in the main plant in Providence.

Instead of working in one central facility (Mansfield MA) which was about 1 hour away from home, I was assigned to cover 3 separate and smaller facilities that replaced the larger one due to smaller expected mail volumes and cost saving steps taken this season. I've spent most of my time between the North Kingstown and Warwick hubs along with coordinating with the Taunton MA hub. The job has been the same as far as paperwork, observations, emergencies but the overall responsibilities and demands of the position (stress / total hours worked) are much easier to deal with this season. The majority of the mail and hours occurred between 12 noon and 9pm, I was home almost every night by 9pm; which made Marni and the kids happy that I wasn't out until some awful hour of the night in Mansfield MA driving home half-asleep.

I report back to my normal job in Cranston on Friday the 26th from 9-5 like before. Vacation coming up in February when the in-laws come for a visit.

Ric

Thanksgiving and Santa Arrives by Helicopter!

You don't need a play by play of our Turkey Day dinner - but here's a few pictures. Everything was delicious (if I do say so myself) and we had a really nice time with our little family.

By the way, no mashed potatoes - they were the last thing to make and once we realized how much food we had, we decided to skip them.

Megan loved the turkey and couldn't get enough green beans. Ryan - well, he's continuing his hunger strike and pretty much ate cereal.

I don't know if I'll do an all "from scratch" Thanksgiving again. It was a lot of work - but worth it!

-------------------

Today we went to see Santa! He arrived at the Roger Williams Zoo in a helicopter! It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be, so we were able to see most of what was happening. The red helicopter circled around a few times and then landed in the parking lot. Santa hopped out as everyone cheered! I did get some video of the helicopter circling, but for some reason, as I was trying to hold Ryan up, keep Megan happy, AND videotape - I didn't get any video of the helicopter landing or Santa getting out! Bummmer!

It did remind me of one of my favorite Christmas memories though. My Dad played Santa one year - AND he flew the helicopter too! As long as I could remember, my Dad was a helicopter pilot for Rocky Mountain Helicopters in Provo, Utah. We went to the RMH Christmas Party every year - and Santa always arrived in style in one of the helicopters. The best part? The helicopter rides afterwards!

Anyway...one year, my Dad was asked to fly into the State Training School in American Fork, Utah, DRESSED as Santa Claus. I think I was about 9 or 10 years old then. My Mom drove us kids up there to watch him land the helicopter and then greet the kids at the school, most of whom were mentally retarded or disabled in some way. I remember getting all choked up when I saw how excited these kids were to see him. (Can you believe that I remember that?) They all ran to him and couldn't wait to sit on his lap. That definitely has to be my favorite Christmas memory - it had nothing to do with any gift I got, but just seeing the joy that people can bring to others.

So...unfortunately, all you can see here is the helicopter circling. I blew it somehow on Santa's grand entrance - so maybe my Dad will be the only one who appreciates it, here you go! :) (Here's hoping that Santa will make a grand entrance via helicopter another time so I can redeem myself on the video!)

What's Going On?

Tons, and then again, not so much. Just some random tidbits from our crazy lives.

*I'm almost 40. As a result, things are starting to fall apart, as in things in my body. I just found out today that I have "multiple small movable gall stones" and that I need to have my gallbladder out. I also had my teeth cleaned today. The metal fillings I've had in my mouth for so long aren't working anymore - meaning there's some decay under 4 of them! That means I have to have them replaced, etc. *sigh* I'm not looking forward to THAT! Also, I have a heel spur in my right foot - it's been causing some significant pain. Thank goodness for Dr. Scholl's and Cortisone shots!

*Child-proofing has been kicked up a notch. Ryan can now move any chair he wants to climb up to get anything he wants. The other day he decided to make toast by himself. He put the toast in the toaster oven, turned it on (WAY on!) and left it. I didn't realize he did it until I'm smelling toast in the other room. Yesterday, he found one of those single dose Benadryl thingys. He found a way to open it and downed the pink stuff. Unfortunately, it didn't knock him out! (DARN!) So... we're double checking to make sure that nothing else can be accidentally "found."

*Megan has also turned in to a climber/dare-devil. She's fearless and will climb up on anything. The other day, Ric found her standing on top of the cover for the piano keys. Oh boy!

*We took the kids to Target today to have their pictures taken. Not for Christmas, but because Ryan is almost 3-years old. Ryan was so handsome in a white shirt, black pants, and red tie. Megan was just gorgeous in a pink dress. Can't wait to get them back to show you!

*I've lost my voice. Since about Saturday night, I've sounded like I'm croaking. Good thing it wasn't last week when I still had classes! We're off for Thanksgiving Week, so I can recover by not talking (yeah right!)

*In just ONE day, I won two blog contests! Woo Hoo! The first one is all of the Madagascar Toys from McDonalds all in one set - can you say stocking stuffers? :) (Thanks McMommy!) And the second one is a book called America at Home, which will feature a picture of the kids on the dust cover! (Thanks Emily!) Too cool! I don't win these things, so it was fun to see them both in one day!

*Thanksgiving is just the 4 of us this year. We had invited Ric's sister and Brother-in-Law, but they decided to make reservations at a restaurant somewhere else instead. We are planning to get together with Ric's cousin Scott and his family, and Aunt Jan & Arlene. But that's not until later in the day.

*Thanksgiving this year is completely from scratch. Since I'm not cooking for a ton of people, it should be fun to do. The turkey is "brining" as we speak. I've made cornbread and I will be making French bread for the homemade stuffing. (Which really won't be stuffed inside since it's just a turkey breast.) I'm making the rolls, the potatoes will be boiled and mashed. And we'll have a Mascarpone Hazlenut Crunch Chocolate Cake and homemade pumpkin pie for dessert. No...I won't be mashing the pumpkin...that's from a can! (Anyone out there wish you had made reservations at The Levett's? hehe)

*The closer we get to Ryan's birthday on Monday, the more I'm convinced that he's not going to make it.

*On the other hand, Megan is just getting sweeter and sweeter every day. She's got the funnest personality, and is quite the tiny dancer! Whenever music id playing (most of the time here,) she's bopping around - even in her car seat - so cute!

I guess that's it for now! :) Enjoy the random pictures!

PS - the kids on the couch with Ryan and Megan are Dave & Maria Chace's kids, Ethan and Sydney. This past weekend was the first time we were able to get together with them (from PA) since we've all had our kids. Dave is Ric's best friend (was his best man at our wedding too.) Also...Ethan is just a few weeks older than Ryan - HE made it to 3, maybe there's hope!

Pink Pigs!

Just another "only in Florida" site.

Veteran's Day at Dad's grave marker

Ryan and I took a trip down to Exeter RI at the Vet's Cemetery to find Dad's Grave maker this morning. It was quite windy and cold out while we were there.  Ryan doesn't quite "get it" that this is Pappy's new home, but at least he knew that we were visiting Pappy on this special day.  Next time we'll bring a photo and a flag to insert.

Ric

Vacation over, back to work

For those of you that didn't know, I've been off from work on a scheduled vacation for a little over two weeks. I will say that I really didn't miss going to work at all and I find that it's more relaxing to have two weeks off in a row for vacation. Today is my last day and I'm looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow for a few reasons.

The first is that although I know it's been very helpful to Marni to have me around for her to get caught up and even get ahead in some instances, it's been exhausting for me to be "Daddy" every day. It's one job and responsibility that Marni does far better than I do and she's better at the day-to-day routine with the kids than I am...I admit it (publicly) that she is the better candidate when it comes to parenting. It would have been nice to get some work done around the house, yard and garage completed and ready for the bitter cold weather, but that doesn't happen with two kids following you around at all times and places. Besides, it was more important that Marnell get caught up on teaching and her business than me playing in the garage with stuff.

The other reason is that while I was off from work, we got new POS terminals installed at my office and I'm anxsious to see how much faster they are.  I hear that they're wonderful and cut out a lot of wasted time waiting for things to connect and print when waiting on customers.

I will say that the highlite of the vacation was the trip to FL although it too was stressful and exhausting in its own aspects. I love being down in FL and would like to go back sometime next year to visit whatever family we have living there.  Now that we know that kids and hotels don't mix well, we'll try to stay with family when it allows, or bring a "nanny" with us to keep the kids busy and less destructive.

One fanstastic thing about FL and traveling was that we borrowed a Garmin GPS unit to help us get around.  What a fantastic thing to have especially when in a place that you don't know the routes very well. Just type in your destination and it speaks to you from every step along the way. Looking for lunch? Just tell the GPS where you want eat (by name or area or type of food) and it points the way. Santa has been warned in advance for our Christmas gift. :-)

Ric

We're Home!

WOW - what a trip! We still have a TON of great pictures to post, so we'll get them up in the next few days. (Not to mention the video of Ryan dancing!)

We do want to say THANK YOU to Ric's cousin Kim and her husband Frank for letting us stay with them Sunday night! It was such a huge help - especially for the kids! (Hotel rooms don't offer much in the way of "things to do!")

We really enjoyed spending time with you all!

Visiting Siesta Key Beach

The sand was like flour - so white! The water was crystal clear! We didn't spend a lot of time there, but it was fun to see the Gulf water and enjoy the fresh air!

Enjoy!

Wedding Festivities!

FINALLY! We're able to post some pictures from the wedding! Unfortuntately, only a few of the bride and groom were decent. (Camera wasn't cooperating...)

Rather than trying to narrate all the pictures, I'll just mention that DJ (Dean, Jr.) is Ric's cousin. His gorgeous bride is Stacey. We had a wonderful time! (Video of Ryan dancing will be posted when we get home.) We did have to leave a little early because it was a LONG day for the kids, but it was such a great time!

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Kollet!

The Lowdown on Halloweeen

This trip just gets better and better.

First, we spent most of the day with Ric's sister Sue and her kids, TJ, Emily, and Jon. (Thom was at work.) They had a BALL playing together. Even though the kids were older, they loved playing with Ryan and Megan. We were lucky enough to get Meg to nap for a few hours, though Ryan was another story.

Now for the Halloween Trick-or-Treat details...are you ready for this?

The Thompson's live in a nice little development with lots of kids. Around 7:00 pm all the little trick-or-treaters started coming out of their houses, people parked their lawn chairs, and the festivities began. So far, Ryan was getting the idea that we were walking around the neighborhood, and Megan just followed along, though we carried her most of the time.

We were across the street and down the block about 4 houses from Sue's, knocking on the door with a bunch of other kids. As the door opened, two pit bulls rushed out around the little girl who answered it. Obviously she thought nothing of it since they were her dogs, but my first thought was "why aren't these dogs tied up?" Megan was walking up the sidewalk and one ran up to her and startled her, but then moved on. It was friendly enough and even licked Ric's hands and seemed to be happy. Until...it spotted a tiny little Pappillon on a leash at the end of the driveway.

*Of course this is my opinion, but no one who is out on Halloween night should have their dogs with them, there's just too many chances for things to go wrong.*

In a SPLIT SECOND, that little dog was in the mouth of the pit bull that just ran past us. He was shaking it around like a rag doll. The owner was screaming, and the little girl who was with her was completely hysterical. Ric was close enough that he managed (somehow) to grab the collar of the dog so it wouldn't run off with the little one. (He got scraped up in the process.) Sue went to try to calm the little girl (who was Hanna Montana, by the way, so cute!) And the owner was trying to get her dog away from the pit bull.

FINALLY, the big dogs owner came out and managed to grab his dogs, get them in the house, and close the door. He immediately turned off the lights, while neighbors called the police. From what we were hearing from other neighbors, there have been other attacks but nothing with witnesses. Well...there were TONS of witnesses this time! Unfortunately, most of them little kids who are now completely tramatized!

Anyway, we don't know the status of the little dog. When we finally left for our hotel, they were still waiting for the cops and animal patrol to show up, but the dog was wrapped in a towel and being watched by many neighbors. Poor little Hanna Montana wouldn't come back outside the rest of the night.

I have to say, both Ric and I feel SO blessed. That little puppy could have been Megan. Not 5 seconds earlier, the dog was sniffing her!

Welcome to Florida! *sigh*

We're off to Sarastota this morning and to the wedding this afternoon. Hopefully the festivities will be MUCH more tame! :)

ps - the good news about Ryan not having a nap yesterday was that he fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel and didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning! Woo Hoo!

What we've learned so far on our Florida Vacation

Lucky for us, the hotel has Internet access - so I can give you a quick update!

Here's what we've learned so far, traveling with two kids under THREE!

First, Megan does not like change, whatsoever. She was a nightmare on the plane. She screamed for at least 45 minutes straight. Thankfully, most people felt sorry for US instead of themselves! I have to say in her defense that the flight was right during nap time and since she was in a different environment, she just wouldn't sleep...until the last half hour of the flight, that is!

In addition to that, Megan just wouldn't stop crying and screaming in the hotel room. The result was that we ALL went to bed at 8:30. Meg was with me and Ryan was with Dad. Ryan and Ric whispered to each other for a while and I sang to Megan to TRY to get her to calm down. I don't think that the hotel is very full - and thankfully, it didn't sound like we had neighbors either. Every time she woke up last night, she screamed. *sigh*

Second, even if you go through the effort of reserving your rental car AND checking in online (with the email message to prove it) you still haven't done everything you need to get your car. Combine that with a debit card that was declined (after the LONGEST 2 1/2 hour flight EVER) and that makes Mommy quite upset, emotional, and pretty much miserable.

Third, we are SO GLAD that we don't live in a "battleground" state! Every other ad is for McCain or Obama on TV. It's annoying, depressing, and pretty much makes you want to turn it off. (But we didn't because when you are getting ready to go in the morning, there's nothing else in a hotel room to keep the kids entertained!)

Last, we've decided that until the kids are older, if you want to see them - you have to come see us! :)

Here's hoping for a better day! We're planning to spend the day with Sue, Thom, and their kids. Only Sue has seen Megan, and the rest saw Ryan when he was only 6 months old. It should be fun! Stay tuned!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane!

We're packed and ready to go! FINALLY! We're all VERY excited to travel to Florida and spend some time with family we haven't seen in a long time - AND - especially to enjoy DJ and Stacey's wedding!

By the way, since we won't have access to the Internet that we know of, I've set it up so that I can update my "Twitter" with my cell phone! So...if you want to see the latest "adventures" that's where you'll find it - on the right side of the blog. (Unless of course, we are able to steal some time on family or hotel PC's!) So if you follow us in a blog reader, you'll have to click through to see what's happening!

Oh...and just to make things a *little* more exciting right before we leave, Ric just had to "plunge" the toilet because Megan (we think) threw something down and flushed! What that something was, we'll never know. Hope it wasn't important! heh

Saturday Family Night 'Round the PC

Ric happened to run across a Sesame Street, 39th season preview clip on YouTube. First of all...
Sesame Street began the year I was born, so I'm particularly attached to it. But even more now since the kids watch it!

There are so many hysterical spoofs on mainstream TV shows, that any adult would LOVE watching it!

For example...

Dr. Feel (Dr. Phil)
Pre School Musical (High School Musical)
Law & Order - Special Letters Unit (Law & Order SVU - complete with Richard Belzer Muppet)
CSI - Rhyme Scene Investigation (CSI - the David Caruso Muppet is dead on!)
Meal or No Meal - (Deal or No Deal)

There are so many more - of course I can't remember them. But here's the one we watched over and over tonight, enjoy!

Some Random Pictures

Here's a collection of various pictures we've taken, but just haven't posted yet. Enjoy!

(The first few were taken at a Ward Activity at Scarborough Beach.)

Love those curls Megan!

This is pretty much what Ryan did the whole time - he ran around with all the other kids! If you look closely, you can see his tongue hanging out while he's running! (OK, maybe you can't see it, but it is!)

Be careful Mikey, she might not go to the Prom with you if you don't give the juice to her!

What a great expression! So cute!

Another cutie!

Ryan and Nathan (Mikey's big brother) at a PawSox Game.

Ryan's first official souvenir - it's hanging up in his room now!

YouTube - Ryan's latest obsession

Something I never thought I'd say: "Look Ryan, check out the cool grasshopper!"

Baby Butt Crack! Don't you just want to squish her cheeks?

LOVE this picture. Two cute kids sitting on dad's lap. Ryan is so cute with his little sis!

Mmmmmm... cookie!

My little princess! I can't get enough of that smile!

I find it amazing that my kids get cuter and cuter every day. And, equally amazing, I love these kids more and more each day. How does that happen?

Home Sweet (HUMID!) Home!

We're back - and it's SOOOO good to be home. After the not so enjoyable flights yesterday, it was really nice to sleep in our own beds!

We had such a WONDERFUL time in Utah with our family. We really didn't want to come back! (Part of that may have been that we weren't looking forward to the flight back.)

Unfortunately, when we got to the SLC Airport, we found out that our flight to Baltimore was delayed an hour because of the weather on the East Coast :( That meant that an even more tired 2-year old was going to get restless, which he did.

In fact, both of them were pretty tired and unruly once we got on to the plane. Combine that with the fact that it was a FULL flight (Megan didn't have an extra seat and had to sit on our lap for 5 hours) meant that it was time for Benadryl! Wooo Hooo!

They slept most of the way, but Ryan kept waking up crying and talking in his sleep. We survived it though and we did make it to our Providence flight. All in all, we were home by about 11:30 pm - exhausted!

Before we left we stopped at my sister Kaylynn's house one more time to see them. Ryan LOVED the fact that Tyler played baseball with him. And both Railee and Tyler had to hold their littlest cousin again.

Ryan has pretty good form for a little guy! But the funniest part is that he wouldn't take his "B" out of his mouth for anything! Hmmm... I don't think that Manny started his career that way!

(By the way...as I type this, Ryan is sitting on the potty. Maybe seeing his cousins do it was a little bit of inspiration! We'll see! NO, he's not a potty stalker, I'm sure that Brandon wasn't all that discreet. hehe)

I also snapped a picture of the beautiful dog that's staying with them temporarily, her name is Kaya and she's a Malamute Mix. She's a total sweetheart, and loved licking Ryan's face! Hmmm... maybe that means I need to clean it more often! :)

We had a great time - and can't wait to see you all again! WE LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH!

(We especially miss the DRY air! It's like walking around in Orange Juice here!)

Gas-Powered Horses

We pulled out Grandpa's 4-wheeler and took it for a spin around the yard. (Yes, even I rode it for a while, but luckily, no pictures were taken!)

It was hard to keep Ryan off of it - he loved riding around and around.

Even Grandma had some fun with it!

Mom and Megan just watched! :)

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

Ryan had the chance to get up close and personal with some horses yesterday! This is a better picture of the Clydesdale from the other day.



Andrew getting Eleanor ready to ride.


Walking her down to the round corral.



Ryan's cousin Emily is quite the horsewoman! She can make the horse do just about anything she wants her to do. Ryan jumped on top for a ride with her.






Ryan and Dad.

Informal Family Portraits

My Family...oldest to youngest. (There will be a quiz later, so pay attention!)

The Levett Family: Ric, Marni, Ryan (2 1/2), & Megan (1)

Wendy & Sheri with "Elfie"

The Urban Family: Matt, Andrea, Miranda (16), Cameron (13), Jared (11), Emily (9), Brandon (5), Alison (3)

Amy & Kids: Amy, Kaden (14), Kylie (12), Sydney (10), Quinn (8)

The Mitchell Family: Kaylynn, Railee (11), Tyler (9)

The Wadley Family: Mark & Jordan (9)



Mom, Gordon & Adult Kids.



All 16 Cousins! (OK...by this time Megan was asleep, but we all know what she looks like AND that she would not have sat still for this picture!

Happy Independence Day!

For the first time in about 8 years, my ENTIRE family (ALL 25 of us) was together this afternoon! There's so many of us that it's hard to pin everyone down! Rather than bore you with picture after picture... here's a slide show. Enjoy!

Sooo...what have we been up to?

A little bit of everything! :) Besides the eye doctor incident, we've been pretty busy, but not busy enough to relax! The temperature has been either 99 or 101 degrees outside. Because it's so dry out here, it's not horrible to be outside! (In the shade, that is!)

Wednesday morning we spent some time with a dry-pack canner. Canning everything from Oats, to rice, to popcorn and dried apples! The kids had to help too. Here's Ryan with his cousin Allison - who is 6 months older than he is. (And if you can believe it - more blond than he is!)

We have a lot of friends who live in RI temporarily for medical residencies, and then move back to wherever when they are done. Rustin and TeNeale and their 3 kids now live back here, so we visited for a little while. Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures, but we had a great time visiting.

Our little musician, Megan, decided that she LOVED Guitar Hero and hopes we'll get it for OUR family too! (Yeah right!) She didn't stop bouncing the whole time the kids were playing with it!

(Thanks for having us over! We really enjoyed catching up and seeing your new little one!)

After visiting our friends, we stopped by the Jordan River Temple since Ryan hasn't been to one up close. (Not worth the hour drive to just look at the outside in Boston!)

This temple is located in South Jordan, Utah.

Of course, he just wanted to play in the fountain!

Ryan has enjoyed going out in the morning to pick peas with Grandpa Gordon or whatever is ready to be harvested.

Last night we set up a tent for today's festivities (BBQ with the WHOLE FAMILY! Just wait until we post pictures of THAT!)

Ryan did his best to help with every bungee cord he could find.

And then he had a ball running in and out (and in and out...)

Here's a view from the inside.

The neighbor behind us is pretty much a real cowboy...he's got half a dozen horses and other livestock. (More pictures to come once the kids have some fun with them.)

But last night he brought Patches, his 20-year old, Clydesdale over to hook her up to a trailer. The kids will ride on it today.

Yes...if you can believe it, there will be more to come. :)

Daddy's Girl

A couple of cute pictures of Miss Megan with her Daddy. Yep - she's a Daddy's Girl! :)

Spending the day in Fairview - Part 4

Thanks Dad and Gayle! We had a great time - we're so happy that you were able to move your schedule around so that we could see you for a little while!




LOVE YOU!

(Don't you just love this picture of Ryan with his grandpa?)

Spending the day in Fairview - Part 3

Of course, a trip to Fairview wouldn't be complete without a ride in my Dad's 1942 GPW! He's restored it - down to the very last detail!


Ryan had to try on all the hats and helmets.


And sit in the driver's seat.

We didn't go above 30 miles an hour the whole drive, no seatbelts, no car seats, and it was tond of fun!

The temperature was 95 degrees - but it sure doesn't feel like it! When you come from humidity, dry heat like this is actually pleasant!

Spending the day in Fairview - Part 2

What does a person actually DO in Fairview, Utah? Well...this little town is pretty much in the middle of the state, which also means the middle of nowhere! (Notice the little red star?)


(And that's the way my Dad likes it!)


The last time we visited, Ric said he wouldn't come back unless they had livestock or a golf course!


Here's the livestock! (Sheep and even an Elk Ranch.)


There is a golf course, though he didn't play...and of course HUGE dandilion type weeds!

Still...more to come!

Spending the day in Fairview - Part 1

We took the LONG (OK, it's ONLY an hour...) drive from Santaquin to Fairview this morning to visit with Grampa Harry and Gramma Gayle. (My dad and step-mom.) They met us in Mt. Pleasant at the airport to show us his new toy.

Isn't it cute? It's a Rascal 40 - it has a 72" wing span.

So he took it up for a morning flight...can you see it?

Megan actually let Gramma Gayle hold her while I took pictures! (For a little bit anyway!)

Here it is - coming up the runway after landing.


And your pilot today is...Captain Snoopy! Fun stuff! :)

We're Here!

We made it! AND...the flights were uneventful! Both Ryan and Megan were pretty much perfect! Neither had any tantrums, got sick, etc. (Yipppeee!)


It was a little bit of a challenge getting through security with 2 bulky car seats, 2 kids, 2 carry on bags (3 if you count Ryan's backpack), taking off our shoes, etc. By the time we were through, we were running a little late to our gate!

The boarding process was almost done and they stopped the line when they saw us coming! "Hold on - Family coming through!" The flight attendants helped us on with everything, found us 4 seats in 2 rows, and we were off!



When Ryan walked into the plane, of course he had no idea where to go - so he takes a left and walks right in to the cockpit! The pilot just says - "Hey mom, do you have a camera?" Of course! :)


More to come...

And we're OFF!

Well...we're off! If you are curious as to how our flight is going to go - we're hoping for the best. :) Hopefully it won't turn out like THIS little classic! We'll post when we're in Utah with all the details!

Leavin' On a Jet Plane!

In just about a week and a half - we're ALL flying to Utah to visit my family! Woo Hoo! I'm excited about being there - but not necessarily the flying part of it. (See previous post about #1 boy)

So...I'm asking (begging) all of you who have traveled lately...how do you to it?

I didn't used to be so out if it - in fact, in a previous life I traveled about 85% of the time for work. I even kept a list of all the airports I had been in! (Hmmm... I wonder if I still have that list somewhere.)

The last time we traveled, was when Ryan was only 4 months old. He was portable and controllable. Now, not so much. Also, the new restrictions for bringing liquids on board. Are they still in effect? What about juice/milk/desitin/baby tylenol/benadryl? Do we have to purchase them once we get through security (at inflated prices?)

We do have to bring BOTH carseats - should we bring a stroller to just carry all our STUFF? eeeeek!

I'll take ALL and ANY advice for this one! PLEEEEEEZE! (Before I panic! hehe)

By the way, I did pick up some toys and activities for both kids that they haven't seen yet (and won't see until we get on the plane) so they'll be fresh and new. Other than that, I'm clueless!

Good enough for the soldiers, good enough for dinner (I guess?)

Last night for a change and since it had to be done sooner or later, Marni and I decided that we should try a few of the MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat)that she received in the mail as part of her 72 hour / preparedness kit. She needed to try them out anyway before she can demonstrate them and/or recommend them personally so we got to sample a few of them along with the kids and were pleasantly surprised that they tasted good. The self-heating pouch was especially neat to try out and did a good job of warming the meat tortellini that was one of our meals. All-in-all it was a neat experience and a very different "dinner time" at our house.

Ric

Happy Father's Day!

Yep - it's that time of year where dad's everywhere attach themselves to the couch to watch the last round of the US Open. I hope your day was FABULOUS Ric! :)

(Though it was difficult - I SOOO wanted to take a nap too and try to get rid of this sore throat - I even let you take your nap when Megan decided to wake up this afternoon. But it's Father's Day...the sacrifice HAD to be made!)

By the way....Ryan's gift to Daddy for Father's Day was the new Red Sox flag. At this point though, I'm wondering who the gift was REALLY for! hehe :)

Megan's Birthday Party!

Since it is Father's Day and the kids are napping, Ric has taken up residence on the couch for the rest of the day. This gives me the chance to put a few pictures up of Megan's 1st Birthday Party!

You'll see that we had a lot of friends and family there, as well as some neighbors - so glad you all came! The company was fabulous, and we couldn't have asked for better weather! (OK, I could have done without the slight bit of humidity! )

I love the first picture... there's Megan in the middle of the presents, holding on to a can of soda. Now we all know, she doesn't care about the toys - just give her a soda can! :)

Who's that gal in the "Foster Grant's?" LOVE the shades Megan! hehe

Of course we had party hats for all the kids (and some of the adults.) Megan posed perfectly! The Chocolate cake was FABULOUS! (Thanks GiGi!)

While everyone else was running around, Megan just sat with her cake and ate and ate - loving every bite! We even found cake in her belly button later that night!

Her cake had Strawberry Shortcake on it - and she had a hat to match!

Then there was Ryan - he was everywhere! I honestly don't know HOW much sugar he ate, but it was a TON! He just had a ball playing with all the kids, eating whatever he could find that was sweet, and helping Megan open her presents.

Happy Birthday Miss Megan - WE LOVE YOU!

PS - Special thanks to Scott Gooch, who stepped up and took pictures for us with our camera - we probably would have forgotten with all the craziness going on and missed something important!

Who ROCKS?!?!

Mommy ROCKS - that's who! :)


We started this little project last Saturday - the day it started to get REALLY warm around here. It wasn't something we planned to do so quickly, but as Ric started digging the holes for the posts, it went so much faster than we thought, and since the kids were napping, why not?

(Yeah, work around the house is what we do when the kids are sleeping - how boring are we? hehe)

We knew that eventually, a fence would have to be put up so that our 2 1/2 year old escape artist would be safe. So we picked up the fence posts and pickets from Lowe's. As Ric was digging the holes, our neighbor behind us asked if we wanted some "QuickCrete" that was left over from a project they did.

We hadn't picked up any concrete yet, so we took it off their hands. It was just enough for the 5 posts we had to place! Woo Hoo! That saved us some $$ and gave them more room in their shed! (It made up for the fact that we were sweating with post holes and they were putting up a huge inflatable pool!)

Unfortunately, all we did on Saturday until last night was the posts and the easy part of the pickets because it was so HOT outside. Last night, we built the gate. It turned out pretty darn good if you ask me! (Actually, Ric did most of the building, I wrangled the kids and made sure Ryan didn't play with the table saw.)

Now to the REAL reason for this post...Mommy rocks because she JUST INSTALLED THE GATE ALL BY HERSELF! WOOOT!

Thanks to my dad (and mom too!) who taught me how to use power tools correctly (and a hammer for that matter) I put this little puppy up in an hour while the kids were asleep! I only had to make one phone call to Ric because the drill bits weren't in their normal place.

Check out the crafts- "woman"-ship! hehe This gate even closes and latches on its own. I'm quite pleased with it if you can't tell! I did have to do a little finagling because the hinge was too large, but the extra picket on the end matches where the latch was installed.

Last thing to do is cut the posts down to size, and when we find a nice cap, we'll cover the tops of the posts. (Oh yeah...one more gate for the other side - but that's a piece of cake since we've already put this one together!)

Here's hoping that a fenced yard adds to the value of our home when the appraiser comes tomorrow! Keep up those good thoughts and prayers - we'll keep you posted!

Dad's cremains are layed to rest

This past Saturday (June 7th) was a day I had been dreading and looking forward to for a while. At 10am there was a brief and solemn ceremony held at the RI Veterans Cemetery in Exeter RI (about 20 minutes south of where we live). The ceremony was arranged and lead by funeral director Ray Butterfield along with the RI National Guard Honor Guard and Pastor Barry Arruda.

The entire ceremony last only 15 minutes, but was very formal and emotional with the Guard firing a volley of 9 shots (21 if killed in action), the playing of "Taps" by 2 buglers (one present and the other in the distance simulating an echo) and finally, presentation of the ceremonial burial flag and 3 shell casings from the firing volley to me the oldest child. Dad was proud of his brief military service in the USAF from 1963-1967 and it gave him the career and training he would later use to go on to working for US Airways for 30 years. It probably gave him some time and responsibility to grow up and become a family man (since I was born in 1964) too.

Many of our friends and family attended the ceremony including some of my Mom's friends as well as Dad's closest friends from PA., Sonny and Mary. Marni and I were so happy they would attend and grateful they made the trip out here for Dad and for us. After the ceremony in the chapel, we drove over to the actual grave-site where I dedicated the grave with prayer. The weather was very warm and sunny and quite a shock from the previous day of 55 degrees and periods of rain; now we're at 90 and H-H-H!

After the burial service, we gathered at a restaurant (Chelo's in Warwick RI) for lunch and conversation with our family and friends that attended and a chance to catch-up. To all of you who attended, we are so grateful that you spent your time with us, for us and for Dad. It really means a lot to us that you were there and traveled to be with us and Dad. We are also thankful and touched by the time and service of Ray, Pastor Arruda and the Honor Guard for their professional and distinguished participation for Dad.

Ric

Think Good Thoughts!

OK everyone... we need your good vibes, thoughts, energy, prayers, etc.

Three years ago, Ric and I refinanced our home to consolidate debt. The loan we ended up with was one of those evil ARM's - and it's scheduled to start adjusting in November. We've been looking around for alternatives, with not a lot of luck. The main problem is that the value of our home has gone down compared to the amount we need to borrow for refinancing.

If you can believe it, CCO Mortgage (Citizens Bank), our current lender wouldn't refinance because "now" they're following the rules and won't lend if the value of the home is a certain percentage of the loan. So, I asked the person on the phone if they would rather have us default on the loan and go into foreclosure in November, and his answer was YES! Can you believe it? (I'm actually sorry to say that I worked for Citizens - this is just another example of horrible treatment to their customers. Boy do I have stories I could tell you!)

Anyway...there is HOPE! Lending Tree is coming through for us! Yipppeeee!

I applied online yesterday, we have initial approvals today for everything to be refinanced (FHA) and so on. The only thing that will help get our payment and interest rate lower is the appraisal. So... here's where we need your good energy flowing our way. We'll have an appraisal in the next week. Three years ago, our house (aka - our shoebox - you know how little it is if you've been here!) was appraised at $245K. We need at the very least to be appraised at $220K for everything to go through. Higher would be even nicer because then we have the options to "buy down" our interest rate and lower the payment even more.

We definitely believe in the power of prayer, and know that everything will work out for us in the end. There's just a *tiny* bit of anxiety with this whole process, though. We've worked really hard the past couple of years to get ourselves completely out of credit card debt - having this refinance go through so that we have a fixed interest rate will be the final step to being completely debt free. :) (Thanks Dave Ramsey!)

Thanks so much in advance! We'll keep you posted!

Our Weekend

We couldn't have asked for a more GORGEOUS weekend and even though we didn't have any big plans, we made the best of it!





A couple of walks to the neighborhood beach... Ryan is definitely turning into a "beach bum" - he's always asking to go to the beach to find treasures; things like sticks, shells, jelly fish, etc.






Personally, I like finding the sea glass, and I found some really pretty pieces this weekend! Megan didn't leave the stroller, but enjoyed "singing" to the seagulls.


(We also tried our hand at flying a kite, it was definitely windy enough! But we found out quickly that it needs a tail!)























We also worked on THIS little project. Nothing that a little Rustoleum won't cure! But more on that whole story later. :)

The Farewell Cookout

So, I'm the kind of person who LOVES to entertain. Ric, on the other hand is not. BUT, I force him into it once in a while, and he usually comes around...especially if there's grilling involved.

This past weekend, we invited three families over for dinner. These families have been in our Ward for about 2 years, and are all going their separate ways in the next month or so.

Rhode Island has fabulous schools and programs, that people from all over come to work on their master's degrees or do their residency, but when they're done, they're gone!




So anyway...we invited the Montoya's, the Warner's, and the Craven's over for dinner. Doug Warner and Steve Montoya are both finishing their residencies in Pediatric Dentistry. (VERY handy when we want to check to see if Ryan's overbite is anything we should be worried about!)
Nathan Craven graduates in just a few days with his Master's Degree in Ceramics from RISD (Rhode Island School of Design.) More about that below.

It was so great to have everyone over...8 adults and 9 kids under the age of 8. FUN! In fact it was fun... until... the kids were playing with the dog who lives behind us, giving her treats, and one of them got bit! Eeeek! I felt so bad! (So did the dog's owner!) Molly just wanted the treats and was a little too aggressive. So a visit to the Emergency Room and 3 stitches later, Alyssa was OK. (See more info about that ordeal on Diane's Blog!)

After eating tons of burgers and dogs, S'More's and just enjoying the company of great friends, we all decided to call it a night. (I even got to use my Tupperware Service Center that I bought about 15 years ago from my "Celestial Sis" when we were roomies and she was a Tupperware Lady! In fact, I think that THIS was the first time I actually filled in the bottom with ice to keep things cold! WOW... memories... *sigh* By the way, mine isn't as fancy as this one, but Tupperware STILL sells it!)


Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures like I had wanted to. BUT, Emily took some of the three littlest kids - all born within 3 months of each other. Check it out - the commentary is hilarious!

I wanted to give each of them a gift - so I made frames with "family portraits" and their names on them. You can see all the details on my business website if you want to see the full pictures. They turned out pretty cute - but if any of these families add more kids, they'll HAVE to let me know so I can update it for them! (Thank goodness we all have blogs to keep in touch!)

One last thing... Master's students at RISD have to create a thesis project to graduate. Because it is a design school, there's a show that pretty much shows off these projects. Nathan Craven's project had to be the most AMAZING thing I've seen, there really were no words to describe it! He wants to combine his ceramic talent with architecture and I've included one picture of what he created here, but you can see more here as well. These are clay extrusions (sp?) that are about 5" high that have been glazed, fired, and are standing up next to each other. If you can picture it (actually, you can see more pictures here) these were all close enough together that you could walk on it. SO hard to describe, but incredibly AMAZING! Definitely the best thing at the show (if you don't count the MANY free spirited students with their interesting clothing choices!)

We'll miss ALL of you when you go your separate ways! PLEASE don't forget us here in L'il Rhody! :)

Sunday Shades

Look at these two! All decked out, strapped in, and shades on - ready to head to Church!


No, that isn't a growth on Megan's head, it's a cute bow that her Auntie Andrea sent to her - she's stylin' now!





Look closely....Ryan tends to put his sunglasses on upside down! hehe

-----------------------

So I made some great peanut butter bars covered with melted Dove Chocolate last night. They were too hot to eat last night so Ryan woke up asking for them this morning. (By the way, it's not a fancy recipe, just two packages of Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Cookies pressed into a pan and then covered with the chocolate. Did you know that Dove Chocolate now has an AT HOME division? It's a home party thing, and the chocolate is to die for! If you live in RI and are interested, I can hook you up with my chocolate pusher, I mean "Chocolatier!" hehe)

Now that you have the background...here's what was overheard at breakfast this morning...

Ryan: (in his whiny, begging voice) I want a brownie, I want a brownie, I want a brownie.

Dad: No brownies until after Church, it's not time for brownies.

Ryan: I want a brownie, I want a brownie, I want a brownie. (and on and on and on)

Mom: (to Dad) He's just not giving up this morning!

Dad: (to Mom under his breath) Yeah...we'll all be having brownies soon enough!

(Stay strong Dad...stay strong!)

Sleep-over!

Yes, we know that Ryan is WAY to young to have sleep overs - but this one can't be helped! :)

Ryan's little friend, Michael, is staying with us tonight while his mom and dad are at the hospital. HOPEFULLY bringing Michael's new little sister Vanessa into the world! (Sooner than later for Debbie's sake!)

It's been a crazy week for her, and us too! Michael's dad, Harry, is in the Navy and is a communications officer on a submarine. Up until Monday night, he was STILL on that sub! Debbie had gone in to the hospital Saturday night with contractions, etc., but the hospital sent her home. They don't have any family around except for the Ward, so we were all ready to step up and help, but were SO happy to hear that they FINALLY let Harry come home in time! (Whew! I dodged being there with her at the hospital! I'm sure that I would have been able to help, but Harry is much better at being the birthing coach since this is his 4th time and I've been on the other side! hehe)

So now, Michael is staying with us tonight. I'm sure when it's all over, we'll be GRATEFUL that we don't have twins! hehe Michael is really attached to his mom, especially since his dad can be away from home for months at a time. So he's having a rough time. (As long as we don't open the front door, he won't remember that she's gone!) Here's hoping our family prayer does the trick, and we all get some sleep tonight! :) Wish us luck!

(By the way, the picture I took of the two of them is overexposed because I had to use the flash. It was the first time I tried using the red-eye correction in my software. I'm thinking that even though the boys look a little "pasty", it turned out OK!)

Let the Record Show...

....that Dad and Mom are NOT above drugging our children!

We had the strangest night last night! All I can say is THANK GOODNESS for Benadryl! Ryan was awake, crying for Ric or myself from about 1:30 am until 4:00 am - for no particular reason either!

Both of us went in and calmed him down a few times. Ric gave him something to drink. I made sure he was tucked in with his favorite Red Sox blanket. Ric even brought him to bed with us for a little while. Nothing helped.

So....because he was getting to be out of control (getting to be? HA!) Ric put him into the crib, which to him is now a punishment since he's graduated to his big boy bed. Of course, that meant a full-blown tantrum. With ALL of us awake at this point, we were desperate.

Desperate times call for BENADRYL!

Woo Hoo! After taking Excedrine for my OWN headache, I gave Ryan a teaspoon of "special pink medicine." Tucked him in again, made sure he had more than one "B", and crossed my fingers since this was the first time we'd given it to him.

TA DA! We had to WAKE him up this morning - and only because I was worried that his nap schedule would be completely OFF! (Believe me...if that wasn't an issue, I would have let him sleep!)

Ric and I are completely exhausted, but we'll survive! (Time to t look into the Twilight Turtle that my friend Rachael uses for her munchkin!)

Fam-lee Pay-er

So Family Prayer at our house has become quite interesting. First of all, Ryan is hit or miss as far as cooperating. Usually, we do get him to fold his arms...with Ric or I folding ours around him! Keeping him quiet during the prayer is another story!

Usually, Megan starts to babble, so Ryan babbles back, then Meg, then Ryan and on it goes. Megan of course thinks its funny that Ryan is playing with her, so she'll laugh and start her "Night at the Roxy" imitation.

You know...the two guys bouncing their heads to "What is Love?" by Haddaway? She does that lately when she's playing. It's actually hysterical to do it with her...but NOT during Family Prayer!

It could be worse, I guess!

More tales from the flu

Here's another update on me and now on the kids too regarding the flu. I've been following the doctors orders for as much rest as I can get and it seems to be helping. My energy levels are back up, but not close to normal yet. I've been going to bed as early as we normally can and napping during the day when the kids are down too and it seems to be making a difference in getting me back to some sort of normalcy. By my return to work on Wednesday, I should be ready but will take it slow and easy to start off.

Yesterday was the first time in a week that I've been out of the house and went for a ride with Ryan to get the mail. The fresh air was nice for a change and Ryan enjoyed getting out too with Daddy. But now it seems that it might be his turn with some illness as he came down with a abrupt fever last night after dinner. I started giving him the children's Tylenol right away and taking his temperature several times to get the most accurate reading (in his ear) and the average was 101 for the night. He did well and went to bed on time and didn't wake up until about 5am when Mom took him to the couch in the living room and then fell back asleep. We'll be watching him and Megan over the next few days to see what happens and if they end-up sharing whatever it is that Ryan has (for the moment).

Ric

Tales of the flu

This flu just won't quit and loosen it's grip on me! I'm still laid-up with it since early Saturday morning and I've gone to see my doctor to get some relief or at least keep it from getting worse.
She's got me out of work until next Wednesday when I can return and also gave me a prescription for my cough/congestion called Benzonatate . It seems to be helping for now, but has a side effect of making me (even more) drowsy than I am; especially since I have such little energy to anything.

For now and thru the next 5 days, the doctor's orders are rest, rest and more rest. Tell that to Ryan, Megan and Mommy who are doing their best to put up with me and this flu. We can only continue to hope and pray that none of them get it since they were the ones that got flu shots this season. I won't pass it up next season, I can promise you that! :-(

Ric

Breakin' in the Christmas Sled!

If you can believe it, we haven't had the chance to use the sled that the kids got for Christmas until this past weekend!

Unfortunately Ric has the flu (and he's still fighting it today!) so we just stayed out long enough to get some pictures.

HOW CUTE ARE THESE TWO?


Mom pulling the kids around. The funniest part was the Ryan didn't want Megan to be laying on him...so the whole time we're making sure that he doesn't push her off the sled into the snow!










Ummm...Megan? Are you enjoying this?















The snow that we had on Friday ended up turning to rain. So...the top of the snow is all crunchy, but it made for a slippery ride in spots!



(Not that we have a huge hill in our yard or anything, but there is a slight slope!)












You know...this just can't be good! hehe













Ryan just wants to help! But I don't think that the idea of shoveling is to take the snow OFF the sidewalk - not put it back on! :)

Valentine's Festivities!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We did our best to be festive at the Levett Home... since *someone* decided that he had to get up at 6:00 am AND stay up, we had a lot of time to kill!

After breakfast, while Megan was taking one of her famous cat naps, Ryan and I make heart cupcakes. Once they cooled (which took an eternity in 2-year old time!) we frosted them. Ryan's job was the red sprinkles. Can you tell? After every sprinkle job, I had to dump the cupcake and reload the shaker so there was enough for the next one! (He's took his "sprinkling" job VERY seriously!)

Somehow, I managed to get everyone into the car, WITH the cupcakes and cards that Ryan stamped. (SO CUTE, right? Even the backs of my stamps got "inked" - oh well...that just shows they were loved!) We took a ride to Daddy's work and dropped off some of our valentines for the post office people.

We also stopped and dropped cards with cupcakes to a few of Ryan's girlfriends who happen to live near the post office.



Not to be outdone, Megan is sporting the ribbon from the Chocolate Covered Strawberries box that Dad gave Mom. (Mom loves these MORE than flowers!)

It was a pretty good day overall...thought there was a time (more than once) that I thought I would lose my marbles if I smelled one more poopy diaper! *sigh*

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Family Portrait

...courtesy of the Doodle Pro!

We've been wanting to get a family portrait done, but we have to save our pennies for it! Of course that's because we want Gene (our wedding photographer) to do it! As far as we're concerned, he's the best - and he's not cheap!

So until then...here you go! hehe

"Bapples" for the horses

What do you do when you have apples that have been in the fridge WAY too long?

Feed them to the horses!

Luckily, it was a quick walk to the horse farm on the next street. It has just started to sprinkle as we were walking. (Now it's sleeting, and we had sunshine earlier in the day!)

Dad was the lucky one to feed the apples to the three horses (dressed in their winter coats) that dared come to the fence. His coat is now in the dryer because one of them "spooged" all over it! (Yuck!)

Megan just took it all in.

It was a quick trip as the wind started to pick up, so we hurried home where it was warm!

PS - speaking of cold - as I post this our neighbors and all their grown up kids across the street are walking down the street to the beach. Most likely for a "dip" in the water. It's a strange custom out here, but people actually enjoy jumping into the frigid water on New Years Day! (You couldn't pay me to do that!)

PPS - as predicted, Ric is on the couch with his Twilight Zone Marathon! (He is nice enough to offer to change the channel when I come in the room though!)

It's a Good Life (?)

Ric's favorite day of the year is in just 3 days! Every year on New Years Eve & Day, the SciFi Channel plays its Twilight Zone marathon. Even though he's seen each episode at least 100 times, he STILL takes the time to see them again! (I've never been all that interested in them, they can be a little too much for me.)

Anyway...I don't know if any of you remember the episode called "It's a Good Life" where the 6-year old little boy pretty much controls the people in the town because he can "wish them away into the corn field" if they cross him.

That's how we've been feeling around here lately! Not that Ryan is anything like this kid, but we're finding ourselves acting differently just to avoid the tantrums! We know what sets him off, and there are times that we'll completely change our plans to avoid a situation like that.

*sigh*

I'm getting tired of it!

One of these days we'll figure out how to speak his language and THEN we'll be able to continue with our regular, NORMAL, lives! Right?!?

PS - if you want to see the episode, it's been uploaded to YouTube in parts. Use the link above, OR, you can watch SciFi at 3:00 Eastern Time.

Christmas Dreams...

...or nightmares! :)

I had the idea in my head that because it was Christmas Day, we'd have a lovely day opening gifts, spending time with our little family, going to see other family members, maybe seeing the Chipmunks movie, etc.

Nope.

Ryan decided to wake up at 5:30 am - screaming to get out of bed. We were able to get him back to sleep, and we all slept in until 8:30. It was nice to get a "little" bit of extra sleep, but it didn't help as the day went on.

Ryan did figure out that there were more presents under the tree, and that Santa Guy had brought them. We had a pleasant time opening the gifts too! But poor Megan had a constantly runny nose and cough, Ryan did too, but not as much. I've been fighting something for the past few days, which seemed to get worse overnight as well.

So Megan was miserable and grumpy. (As was I.) In fact, she was so miserable that she cried herself to sleep in my arms - all while we continued to open our presents.

Anyway...time went on and Ryan became "schitzo-boy" - one minute he was playing with some new toys and the next he was throwing a tantrum. I don't know how many "time-out's" he had, but we stopped counting after a while!

Unfortunately, because of his behavior and the fact that Megan and I didn't feel well, we decided that it would be best to stay home and skip Christmas dinner at Ric's Aunt's house. :( (Thought she is making up a to-go plate for us! Thanks Jan!)

So here we are, wondering if Ryan is trying to cut his 2-year molars, or if he's possessed. Megan and Mom are grumpy, and Dad is just trying to hold it all together!


At least they looked cute in their matching PJ's and we got a few pictures!

PS - we were also able to say hello to some of my family in Utah via web cam. It was almost like being there...almost! :)

Merry Christmas!!

Guided Tours Available...

Wooooo Hoooooo! I got my Christmas present EARLY! Of course I was hoping that this would be done months ago, but I'm not complaining!

Personally, I think it turned out just FABULOUS! I can't stop looking at the walls and admiring our work.

There's a little more fine detail stuff to do, like putty in the nail holes and a few paint touch ups, but there's no more wood pieces laying round the dining room anymore and the sheet rock isn't taking up space in the garage! Once we pick up the stripping stuff, we'll also strip and paint the window to match. (I'm not in a hurry to do that - it's going to be a messy job!) AND, eventually we'll replace the door to the garage.

I'm already planning in my head what we'll do to the kitchen so it's all tied together, but I think we'll wait until the Spring to start working on that - at least I can't see it when I'm feeding Megan!

So...if you'd like to stop by to see the results - feel free! As the title says, "guided tours available" - FREE of charge!

Hooray for SNOW! :)

Snow - it has its good points and bad points. Right now, it's ALL GOOD! :)

Here's a little-known Rhode Island quirk - people PANIC when it snows! It all goes back to the Blizzard of '78, where people were stuck all over the state and it took days to get home. I'm sure that Ric can tell you stories, but I'll stop there because I just haven't bought into the "hype" - for anyone who lived through that blizzard, no flaming!!! I'll just delete your comments! hehe :)

Growing up in Utah meant that nothing was closed when it snowed, we all walked to school in it (YES, we REALLY did! That's what boots are for!) and life kept on going no matter what the weather. I can honestly remember maybe 2 or 3 snow days at the MOST in all my school years!

Rhode Island is a little different. If there's even a hint of something, people start to scramble for their milk and bread at the stores, pulling their kids out of school, closing things early, etc.

So we were expecting snow today - around 1:00 pm. On the radio at 9:00 am, they were already announcing "Operation Snowball" cancellations. Schools were letting kids out anywhere between noon and 1:30, which meant that parents had to leave work to get them. In addition to that, businesses were closing up shop so that everyone could get home.

Usually not a problem, BUT, the snow started EARLY! (Around 11:00 am) Now everyone starts to panic and leaves to get their kids, go home, etc. The problem with that was that because the entire state is on the roads, the plows can't get through, and there's literally grid lock EVERYWHERE!

It's all the news anchors talked about! The plows couldn't plow, the snow was coming down at about an inch an hour, and people were stuck for hours getting to where they were trying to go! In fact, one of the news reporters mentioned that it took him 5 hours to go from North Attleboro to Providence -- all of 10 miles!

Ric was supposed to leave for work around 3:00 pm - it took him a half hour to go what normally takes 3 minutes, and since he saw that everything was backed up, he turned around and it took another 1/2 hour to get home! He was planning to try again in a couple of hours, but after watching the news, realized that he'd just be spending the entire night on the road.

Soooo....why does this make me happy? Because he's HOME! Yipppeee! That means I have help with the kids tonight, we had dinner together, and we'll all go to sleep at a decent hour!

For tonight - I LOVE SNOW! :) (Tomorrow might be another story altogether...)

O Christmas Tree

Well...we finally put it up this weekend.

Last year we bought a fake tree, knowing that Ryan would be into it. It came pre-lit, but we added our own lights to it as well. I think that we were smart in that we added lights to each section, and all we have to do is plug them together once we have the tree assembled! (And HOPE that none of the bulbs burnt out during the year!)

(Take a look at Ryan's hair - does this kid need a haircut or what?!?)


Of course, when Dad is on the floor, he's fair game for a wrestling match! Notice how Ryan is helping him put the tree up! hehe











One section lit, the next section added. Luckily no bulbs were burnt out!












YAY! All the lights work!

(No, that's not a fun camera trick - Ryan smudged the lens so part of the picture is blurry If you like that effect, I'm happy to loan him to you! I'm sure he'd love smudging your lenses too!)







Now...where should we hang that "bumble?"

Ryan and I made paper chains and I made some paper ornaments. (You can see the details of those on this page.) Most everything has been hung on the top half of the tree, just in case! So far, only one ornament has bit the dust!

Here's hoping that it lasts until Christmas! :)

Ryan's 2nd Birthday Party

I can't believe how far behind I am putting these pictures up! We decided to invite only family to Ryan's birthday party because we don't get together often enough! We had pizza, cake, presents and just a lot of catching up! Here are the pictures, in no particular order. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We decided to stay home today. It's been a FABULOUS day! No running around, waiting for dinner to cook, cranky kids, etc.



It's almost 3:00 in the afternoon and the turkey is in the oven, the cider is warming up and we're planning a nice little dinner at our normal dinner time.




Lately, it's just best if we stick to normal nap times, otherwise...well, it's just not pretty!







So while the kids were napping (At the same time - it's rare, but it does happen!) Ric and I finished cutting the trim for our kitchen...we're getting closer to a finished dining room at least!



Once Ryan and Megan woke up, and because it's such a nice day outside, we set up the tripod, got the remote and tried to take an informal family picture. Let's just say that 3 of us cooperated. :)

If you look closely, you can see the remote in my hand, I kept snapping pictures, hoping that at least ONE would be nice enough to share!




As you can see, it was a challenge to get Ryan to look at the camera, much less smile! He was more interested in seeing us through the viewfinder on the other side!




We did get a couple of nice ones though!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Bob the Builder & Little Miss Spider

Could this picture be any more yellow? :)

Anyway...this is the ONLY picture we could get of Ryan as Bob the Builder. You can't even see his tool belt! He wouldn't keep his hat on (who could blame him, it didn't fit!)

At least his "B" matched the hat!









And Little Miss Spider - cute as can be in her little purple, sparkly tu-tu and purple spider shirt. (Blowing bubbles was something she added on her own to the costume.)


These pictures were taken at the Scarecrow Festival at Church. Right after dinner and games, we went out to the parking lot and had a "trunk or treat." It didn't take long for Ryan to figure out that if he holds up his bag, and tries to say trick or treat that someone will give him something! Woo Hoo!

Halloween Pumpkins!

Finally getting caught up from the past few weeks! Here you go!

Carving our pumpkins for the BIG NIGHT!











Ryan wasn't old enough last year to understand what pumpkins were all about. But now, he never misses a chance to tell us when he sees one!

Eeeeeewwww....Pumpkin guts!








No...I'm not cutting with his finger right there! It's one of those "posed" shots. :)












Here they are that night!

(At the time I was taking this picture, Ryan was having a fit about keeping his costume on. Soooo....no good Trick-Or-Treat pictures this year! Bummer!)

Look what I did!

What do you think of my new roman shade? I found the fabric at JoAnn's at 50% off, so I was able to get enough for both windows, and I sewed it up yesterday!

I love it! Pretty simple to do too!

Now...if we could just finish all the trim! (What you see up is just temporary, tacked up to make sure we cut it right!

Punkin' Pickin' (Warning...lots of pictures!)

We were lucky and picked a gorgeous day to pick our pumpkins! It was all Ryan talked about all day!

These are just some of the pictures we took - they really don't need any explanation. :)

Family Day at the DMV

If you are ever planning to change the plates on a car, renew your driver's license, or register a new car in Rhode Island, make sure you pack a lunch!

Since we bought the new (used) van, we needed to transfer the plates from the Neon. It's the law in RI that you do it within 14 days, BUT I can't tell you how many people I know who don't bother because its such a hassle!

Originally, the Neon was in my name, but the sale of the van was in Ric's name, so BOTH of us had to be there (or risk being told we had to come back again.) So, we really did pack a lunch, we brought the camera, hoped that the kids would sleep through part of it and camped out at the DMV!

Just how to you keep a 2 year old entertained? You take pictures of his "gol-pish" crackers!






(After number 626 was displayed for what seemed like an ETERNITY, I started taking pictures. Finally, our number - 631 - popped up and we were on our way! Luckily, we had everything we needed and didn't have to go back!)

A LONG night

Right now, it's 6:10 am.

Unfortunately, I haven't slept more than an hour.

Around 10:30 last night, Ryan started crying in his room. I was finishing up some work on the computer when Ric called to me. Ryan had just thrown up everything he had eaten all over his crib. (It was definitely not a pretty sight!) He was covered head to toe, shaking, and pretty scared - this is the first time he's been really sick like this.

We both got him cleaned up and calmed down and he went back to a clean bed at about 11:30 only to be woken up for a repeat performance at about 1:00 am. At this point, we're running through everything he ate, trying to figure out what might have made him sick!

We clean him up again, put a 3rd pair of PJ's on him, and I'm holding him while Ric changes the sheets again. We gave Ryan a sip of water, which just comes back up again (and then some) a few minutes later!

New jammies, a new location (our bed, protected with towels), and we all try to get some sleep.

Nope.

A half hour later, same thing.

Somehow, we get Ryan back to sleep. Not me though! Now I'm listening for every little sound he makes! I'm worried that he'll be sick again! (Of course Megan needed to be fed around 3:00 am)

At about 4:30, he sits up and asks for juice. We give him some, hoping that it's a good sign. So far so good, he's been asleep ever since. Megan woke up again to eat, and now I'm going to get in the shower because I have 2 classes to teach today!

*sigh* Here's hoping that Ryan is feeling better for Mr. Mom today! (Megan also has her 4 month checkup...it's all good, right?)

And we have COLOR!

Unfortunately, this picture is REALLY dark! It must have been the light that threw it off. My walls don't look that dark in real life. The next one gives you a better idea!










Just a quick picture of the wiring that's going on. We've moved the switch for the dining room and garage to the same place and we're also adding a receptacle to make it easier to vacuum and iron!

Why didn't they think of that when the house was built 50+ years ago? :)

Now for the next step...wainscoting! :)

Why did my living room look like this?

Well...we had to put the stuff somewhere, because we were getting ready to paint! Yippeeee!













We hung plastic to make sure the dust didn't get all over the place. At least we TRIED to contain it!











The holes were cut for the electrical stuff. :)













And...my nice new floor looked like this! EEEEEK! (Poor Sponge Bob - he ended up in the garbage...)

Progress!

YAY! We're getting closer and closer to a new floor AND a new dining room!

We spent Tuesday (Ric's day off) scraping up the old tile and putting down new (self-stick) tile. It's not the real thing, but good for us until we remodel.




Look what else we found! Pretty wallpaper - circa 1953! I actually like the color combination. I'll probably use those colors it to make a card! (You never know where I'm going to get an idea!)




Here's the closeup.













Ryan had to help out too...insisting that he use the "big boy tools" just like Dad.











Yes, Son, why don't you pick up that old Asbestos tile! :)

See how they grow!

This picture was taken when Ryan was 2 months old. (He's the one crying on the left.) His little girlfriend on the right is Maddie - who was born just 12 days before Ryan.

You would think that Maddie's mom and I planned our next babies together when you look at this next picture!


Same chair, same kids PLUS TWO! Megan is just 5 weeks older than Ellie - Maddie's younger sister. It almost looks like the two older kids are saying "My Baby!," while trying to keep them away from each other!

One more picture in their cute matching dresses!

It will be fun to see how they all grow up together! :)

Labor Day at Prudence Island

There's a little known gem in the middle of Narragansett Bay called Prudence Island. Most people, when they talk about islands in RI or Mass think of Block Island, Nantucket, or Martha's Vineyard.



Prudence Island is further North inside of the bay. (See Map.) We are lucky in that Ric's Aunt owns a house on the island, and we usually spend Labor Day taking the ferry (1/2 hour from Bristol) and spending the day there.



This was Ryan's first ferry ride - all he wanted to do was look over the edge and run around. It was a little nerve racking! But we kept a close eye on him!






The weather couldn't have been more beautiful - and the view was even better! (That's Mt. Hope Bridge in the background. It connects Bristol to Portsmouth and Newport.)





Of course Megan decided to catch up on her beauty sleep during the ride over. Doesn't she look cute in her little pink sweatshirt? (Thanks Steph!)






So what does one do on Prudence Island? AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE! :) Ryan wanted to try kayaking, so Dad and "Uncle" Scott (Ric's cousin) took the kayaks out with Scott's boys. They went part way around the island and came back just in time for lunch. Yep - They were all soaked in the end! Good thing we planned ahead and brought clothes just in case!

(Can you see Ryan in the front of the kayak?) Look for a separate post for kayak video!











While the boys were playing on the water, "Auntie" Christine (Scott's wife) and I chatted, and relaxed. We did work on lunch too - but it was more fun to just sit!








Just a couple more pictures....















Doesn't the weather look fabulous? It was... :)











Megan and Dad - wearing matching outfits! hehe



















I love this face!













On the ferry going back to the "mainland", Ryan just wanted to sit next to his cousins, Jake and Zack. In fact, when we were loading up the cars, he threw a tantrum because he wanted to go with the big boys instead of go home with us! It didn't last long - he fell asleep just as we hit the highway. *whew* BIG day for us!

Thanks Arlene, Jan, Scott, & Christine for inviting us - he had a blast!

Sunday: A Timeline...

(All times are approximate...)

7:00 am - Wake up and get out of bed. Tiptoe around so we don't wake the kids yet!

7:14 am - Mom takes a shower and then starts to get ready, hoping that Megan doesn't wake up so she can at least finish her makeup. (Hair can dry a little on its own while Megs is eating.)

7:35 am - Megan wakes up - HUNGRY! Mom sits down to feed her.

7:45 am - Dad gets into the shower

8:00 am - Mom irons two blouses - one for Church and one for the Wedding we had to attend later in the day. (I know, I know...Saturday is a special day...)

8:15 am - Ryan wakes up with his usual "daddy daddy daddy." Dad is still shaving, so mom gets him up and changes his diaper. (Meg, fortunately, has finished eating, for now...)

8:25 am - Ryan is strapped down into his high chair and given "something" for breakfast. When that "something" ends up on the floor, we try "something else" until "something" is eaten. Meg dozes a little on the couch.

8:35 am - Mom dries her hair and starts to get dressed (knowing that she may have to get undressed if Megan decides that she didn't have enough to eat!) Dad has been getting ready and helping with Ryan's breakfast too.

8:50 am - Mom struggles with her "Spanx" - more on WHY she was wearing them later!

9:00 am - Dad brushes his teeth and mom is still struggling...

9:05 am - Dad gives Ryan the quickest bath in history, then dresses him for Church.

9:15 am - Mom dresses Megan, who was just so cute in her little dress! Luckily, Meg hasn't decided to eat again, so Mom finished getting dressed.

9:20 am - Dad starts to load up the car with the diaper bag, toy bag, Church bag, etc.

9:21 am - Ryan starts to cry because Dad went outside without him. Ryan gets over it when Dad comes back in.

9:35 am - Somehow, we're all loaded up and in the car on the way to Church. (Mom is sucking down a Mountain Dew - the only way she's going to get through the next 3 hours! hehe)

9:45 am - The Levett's arrive at Church. Ryan insists on climbing the stairs by himself, and he's getting pretty good!

9:50 am - Mom starts the prelude music while Dad "wrangles" Ryan into the bench. Megan is just dozing in her car seat.

10:00 am - Church starts. Ryan is somewhat quiet, Megan is sleeping, so far so good...

10:10 am - During the Sacrament, Megan starts to fuss. Luckily Mom had already played the hymn, but we wait to see what happens.

10:13 am - Mom leaves the organ while the water is being passed, scoops up Megan, and spares everyone the screaming by sneaking out the door. (She couldn't have waited until AFTER the Sacrament was all over, right?!)

(At this point, Mom isn't sure what's going on with Ryan because she spends the next 40 minutes in the Mother's room feeding Megan! For all we know, Ryan is tearing the place up!)

10:55 am - Megan is finished, and seems to be happy so we leave the Mom's room and head towards the Chapel.

10:56 am - Megan starts to scream. Mom starts to pace the hallway and eventually runs into Dad, with Ryan at the water fountain.

11:04 am - Mom hands Megs to Dad and goes back into the Chapel just in time for the closing hymn - whew! Tag team at its finest! Dad goes into the Mother's room with Ryan (who is now screaming) and Megan to muffle the sound a little bit.

So we make it through Sacrament Meeting, then it's on to Primary, Nursery, Young Men's etc. We made it through all of that, Ryan even stayed through all of Nursery again! Yippeee! Right after Church (1:05 pm) we met with the Bishop to change our recommends over to the new bar code system, then ran home. Of course, Ryan fell asleep in the car on the way.

Once home, we had an hour to let Ryan sleep, get him something more to eat, drop him off at the neighbors, give the babysitter all the info she needed for Megan, and get back into the car!

No rest for us on THIS Sunday!

My good friend's daughter was getting married, and we were attending the wedding (the reason for the Spanx, more about that in another post.) So...at about 3:00 we're out the door again. Ryan had hardly slept and was not to happy to be dropped off! Oh well....

The wedding was gorgeous - held at the Dunes Club in Narragansett, RI. Right on the water. This is the kind of place where you would expect to see "Lovey and Thurston Howell, III" come around the corner! Anyway, we ended up getting home about 9:20pm or so - and that was only because we left the reception early!

Fully expecting Megan to be screaming her lungs out - we were surprised to find her sleeping. What a nice surprise it was too! She was definitely hungry when she woke up since she had refused the bottle the whole time we were gone. (One of these days she'll just get hungry enough and take it! Right???)

Ryan hadn't slept at all, but did collapse about 15 minutes before we picked him up.

So....after reading all this, anyone want to trade? :)

PS - it didn't end there though! We spent Labor Day on Prudence Island! (Why do all these events happen in the same weekend?) So we had to pack stuff up since we were planning to catch the 10:00 am ferry. We'll put pictures and stuff up about our Labor Day trip next!

Surprise!!!!!

Those of you in Utah will recognize this couple! Earlier this week I got an email from Linda saying that she and her husband, Dan, were spending a few days on an island in Maine at a Bed & Breakfast. They fly back home tomorrow from Boston, but were able to take a quick trip down here to Rhode Island for a visit!

It was such a GREAT time! I've known Linda since I was 4 years old. We've been friends all through elementary, jr. high, and high school, and college (even though she went to BYU and I chose to go to Utah State!) It's friends like this that you don't have to do a lot of catching up with!

Ric and Ryan were walked with them to show them our little beach and give them a little Rhode Island History. I finished feeding Megan and made dinner. We had such a nice time eating and chatting...the food was good (if I do say so myself) and the company was even better! (We even treated them to some Gregg's Chocolate Layer Cake! Yummy!

The most ironic thing about this little "reunion" is that OUR 20th Orem High School reunion is this same weekend! (Has it REALLY been 20 years! eeeek!) We prefer our reunions to be a little more intimate I guess!

Thanks for visiting you two! Stop by ANY time! :)

P.S. Mom, Linda wanted me to tell you that Megan is cuter in person! I told her that you'd be jealous!

Trade Ya!

What's the quickest way to turn away Jehovah Witnesses from your door?? :)

Offer to trade a Book of Mormon for their Watch Tower! They back away pretty quickly! For this very reason we keep a copy right by the door! hehe

(After rushing to turn off the breast pump, put my clothes on, and get the door - THAT'S who's behind the door? At least I had a little fun with them!)

Not sure if Ryan will miss this....

Look closely...see all the hair stuff?

Railee had a good time putting it into his hair. I'm surprised that he sat still that long!

:)

Sunday in Newport

It's been a GREAT few days having Kaylynn, Railee, and Tyler visit! We know that Ryan will definitely miss having his cousins around.

Yesterday, we went to Church in the morning. Ric blessed Megan during Sacrament Meeting. In addition to Kaylynn and the kids, Ric's sister and a few friends joined us this time as well.

Somehow we all made it through all three hours, though Ryan ended up falling asleep as usual on the way home.



While Ryan slept, Ric took all three down to the beach by our house to find shells. They saw blue crabs, horseshoe crabs, and all sorts of creatures too. We have a bag of shells that have to be cleaned out and shipped to Utah now!





After Ryan woke up, we took advantage of the last full day here and did some sight seeing. We stopped for an early dinner where Kaylynn was able to have some Broiled Lobster (you can't leave New England without having SOME seafood, right?) and then we took a drive to Newport.

It was too late to see the insides of the mansions, but we did see the outside of some of them.




Of course, we had to make our pit stops so I could feed Megan, so we went to a park at the tip of Newport - Brenton Point - where all the kite fliers go.

After a lot of driving, over 4 different bridges, through two states, and lots of road we made it home! (AND...we didn't manage to beat each other up being in the car that long! hehe)

A GORGEOUS Rhode Island Day!

MUCH better than yesterday! It's hard to believe that we were in the 50's yesterday when you have bright blue skies, a nice breeze, and it's 80 degrees outside today!

Our first stop today was the Point Judith Light House - since there are no lighthouses in Utah, we thought it might be a good idea to see one! This one is our favorite, probably because Ric brought me here on our first date! (*sigh*)







There was a light breeze and an unlimited view!











The next spot on the agenda was to pick up Dough Boys and Clam Cakes at Iggy's and then on to the beach!

We chose Roger Williams Beach because the waves are much more calm than the other beaches and it's a fun family beach.



Of course the kids took turns burying themselves in the sand and jumping over waves.



Ryan just followed along too. He liked being in the water, but not when the waves hit him. I guess it's hard to keep your balance when you're so little!






Then there was Meg. This was her first visit to the beach. She slept through most of it. Ate a little with mom in the beach chair. (I LOVE breastfeeding at the beach - know why? I have just ONE layer to move to get the milk to her, rather than the nursing bra, shirt, etc. when I wear normal clothes! PLUS, if my cleavage shows, it's not a big deal because everyone else's is too! Woo Hoo!)



Megan did work a little on her "tan" for her big day tomorrow. hehe (She's being blessed at church...)