Santa Overload

Three Santas in three days! On Sunday my mom and I took the kids down to Wal-mart. I really needed laundry detergent and a bunch of other things. While shopping around we heard that Santa was in the garden department! We rushed over and got in line. Henry was so excited he kept trying to get into other people's pictures. For our turn neither child smiled though. Wal-mart takes the picture and an hour later you get a FREE very nice photo with a border around it. No Polaroid. We got pictures with the Easter bunny there too so I was pleased to have Santa pictures too. The only downside of the night was when Henry found the live lobsters in the grocery section. He wanted one sooooo badly! Try explaining to a three year old why we couldn't take care of one ;-)

Tuesday Santa was going to be at storytime at the public library. We went and listened to stories and sang songs. Got another picture with Santa and got a book and coloring/activity book. We also made cute tree ornaments and had cookies and juice. Once again the kids are not really smiling in the photos.

Roo and her cookie

Silly face Henry!

For dinner Grandma took us to Pizza Hut for pizza buffet with Santa! Robin and her daughter Ali joined us and we did have a nice dinner. Her daughter is so quiet and well behaved. My kids were their usual selves. When Santa and Mrs. Claus came they went around to all the tables. Irene gave Santa a death glare. Guess she didn't want to have her dinner interrupted. By the time we went for pictures Henry was mad about something (don't know what) and so he would not smile at all. Roo refused to even look at Santa. She just ignored him. Oh well! Dinner was fun and I got the picture :-)

The pictures are not that great. Sorry!

Yesterday was Roo's 18 month check up at the doctor. My mom was kind enough to go with us and I enjoyed having the grown-up company. Considering all the snow we have gotten the ride was really easy until we got to Interlochen. From there to the doctor's office the roads were not good. Both kids go to the Grand Traverse Children's Clinic. The doctors there are great and so good with the kids. Anyway Roo got a Hep A shot and a flu shot. When we were finished grandma treated us to lunch at the yummy Omelette Shoppe. The kids didn't eat that well but we had a great lunch. When we left Henry wanted to go into the Wild Birds Unlimited store. They had soooo many great things in there. I could have gladly gotten a lot of stuff for me as well as Christmas gifts. Check it out!
Before we left for home we stopped at Borders. I love me some Borders! Everyone went potty there and Henry scored some truck books. There were some books I wanted but a little elf told me that someone might be getting me them as an x-mas gift :-) While waiting in line to pay we got a free sample of gingerbread latte complete with a little gingerbread man cookie.
We got home to discover that the city had FINALLY plowed our road but they had covered up the walkway to the house. The snow was waist deep. I had to crawl through it just to get to the house then spent twenty minutes shoveling back to the car to get the kids. I was so mad! Lots of neighbors but no one willing to help the lady with two toddlers. Enjoy the show, jerks?


When I went up to bed I found Roo sleeping in this pose. What a darling! I took the pictures in the dark so they are kinda fuzzy but I just had to share. She is sleeping on Henry's "Cars" pillow with her mound of babies and with the blanket my mom knitted for her and a blanket my grandma Bernie made for me almost 32 years ago :-)

My Daughter's Darn Good Guardian Angel

My stinker of a daughter has a DARN Good guardian angel. The kids were watching cartoons so I went down to put laundry in. No problem...right? When I came back up I noticed I missed a call on my phone. It was the doctor's office wanting me to call back and confirm Irene's appointment for tomorrow. I called and was immediately on hold. While waiting Roo started crying. When I looked for her I couldn't find her. I finally realized the crying was coming from the second floor! She had climbed up the stairs!!! While trying to come down her pants got caught on the metal floor thingy at the top thus keeping her there until I could rescue her. I had she not gotten stuck she would have certainly fell down the stairs. She cannot get down them by herself. It took a minute for it to sink in for me and then I was thanking the lord! My stinker Irene eating a cookie at Grandma's.

Can You Hear Me Now?!

What a mixed day this has been. During nap time I chatted online with a Sprint customer service person. This is the first time I have ever gotten someone knowledgeable, helpful, and polite. The woman walked me through the steps to get my phone working again. I am once again a happy Blackberry owner. It works! I also made a new friend on Facebook (Hi Beth!). Always makes me feel so happy to make friends. So the day was picking up from the morning. However when we left the house to grocery shop I discovered that my neighbor had snowblowed the sidewalk from his house to mine. He stopped right at the side of my house but sent all the snow onto my shoveled out walkway. So I am out there with two young children up to our knees trying to wade out. And just to top that off he had also sent a dead bird with all that snow. Geez thanks.

The store was busy with people stocking up for the freezing rain and snow we are suppose to be getting. Surprisingly I did not see Stacy's mom Annette there (she totally follows me there ;-). Anyway at the deli the young lady working gave Henry and Roo a dish full of 3 colors of jello. That was so sweet and gave them something to snack on while I shopped. Roo loved it up. Of course when I got home I had to deal with that darn snow so I was out shovelling...again. I hate snow. Totally moving to Virginia.

There was a new Top Gear on tonight so I let Henry stay up longer than I should have but he loves that show. Tonight he decided he wanted a BMW M3. I informed Mr. BMW himself, Uncle Pete, that he could get Henry that for Christmas.

Wedding Pictures from 2002

Wedding pictures from our wedding in 2002. All pictures by Beth Weston.
These next pictures are photoshopped by my brother Matt. Great sense of humor...brat.

Notice he managed to put himself into this picture.

Pictures found in my email folder

Hey! I was going through my email folder and came across some pictures. Lots of baby pictures. Enjoy!

Irene in the hospital
Picture by Kaye Wisniewski

Roo at home Henry with Uncle Pete Henry's first Halloween. Yes he is a Lobster Henry Teaching Uncle Pete to read.
Photos by Stacy Eddy

Blah Blah Blah

Having a seriously blah day today. Henry woke me up at 8. Shockingly Irene was still sleeping! H and I went downstairs where I managed to get both dogs out, coffee made, juice poured, and talk to my mom about the freezing rain coming before Roo woke up. Yippee! That was a good start to the day but it snowed again last night and I think it affects the way I feel. I am so tired and in such a blah mood. Yesterday was a nonstop, get everything done kind of day. But it still looks like I've done nothing in here! That is discouraging.
My hubby is having one of those days too. After spending nine hours at a warehouse in North Carolina they finally told him that his truckload wasn't meant for them. Supposedly it was going to their other company miles away. When he finally got there they kept sending him to different buildings and then had to have a meeting about what they ordered. He still has two other stops to make today and they are holding him up. My poor guy.
We are suppose to get freezing rain tonight and a lot more snow tomorrow. Yuck. I am so sick of snow. As soon as the kids get up from naps we have to grocery shop so we won't need to leave the house for a few days. On Saturday we had so much snow I spent 40 minutes shoveling out my poor car. And then just for the fun of it LuLu took off. Dumb dog was out in the cold for an hour. I don't understand her need to run off in the middle of winter. We found her in January of 2007 in Lowell. Someone had abandoned her. In winter. A**holes. So you'd think she would want to stay inside. Dogs...sheesh.
Time to find some energy and motivation. Here's hoping the day perks up!

It wasn't funny then....

Last night....Arggg...last night was not a good night although looking back now it was kinda funny. Shannon came over just before lunch and with her was a brand new coffee maker! Yippee! She kindly amused my kids and chatted with me. Very nice time. Then I went to get a hair cut with by a new hair stylist. I can't find her card at this moment but I will add the info later. Anyway I love my new cut! Love it! So far so good, right? Shannon, my mom, and me and the kiddies were all going to meet up for dinner. The plan was pizza at the casino. Super yummy pizza. But Shannon was not feeling well :-( So mom, me and kiddos went to Pizza Hut. Thankfully we got there when it was not too busy. The kids were a bit noisy. Pizza Hut had some oldie music playing and Irene was dancing to it. Really funny. We ordered taco pizza which everyone chowed down. So dinner=good. It was after dinner that things went to heck...
The van had a tire that was low on air...okay go put air in it. So I drove to the K-mart gas station and tried to put air in. All I DID do was let more air out. I talked to the car expert from BMW, or as we call him, my brother Pete. He walked me through the steps but still nothing happened. Seeing as he was in Virginia he could not pop over to help but he tried calling a friend in town...and of course he was not available. Meanwhile I am on the phone to the hubby trying to get his opinion. He said to try Wesco. Went there...no air hose. Gone...the sign was there but no hose. By this time it was dark, very cold, and late. Tried Shannon. Still sick and her hubby was out. She did offer to come out and help but she sounded like hell so I said no way. By this time I had reached my breaking point. I was tired, stressed,and cold. I was going home. But hubby said it would damage the tire to leave it like that all night. Ahhhhh! Ended up driving to the BP station only to discover I needed to pay 75 cents to use the air hose! AND in typical Williams Family style I had no cash on me. (Should change the name of this blog to Williams Family Style) Yup. That's my life. Thankfully my mom had some change. Put it in, started the machine, hooked it up, AND...nothing! Still wasn't working! Couldn't get air into that tire! I got in the car just about in tears. I was so mad with this damn tire!
But mom saved the day :-) She grabbed some strange man that came to the gas station just for some antifreeze. She kindly asked him to help (and maybe offered a "favor"?). It took a bit with him kneeling in the snowy cold but he finally got air in the tire. What did he do that I didn't? Who knows...I think it's a guy thing or at least a Nicole can't do this but some guy should thing. Anyway my warm thanks to you, kind tire filler, may you be blessed this holiday!
And of course later in true poopy kid fashion Pete and I poked fun at my mom for turning into a pushy lady just like Grandma. Of course without her help I would still be sitting there :-)

Oh and a p.s. to Shannon...You are a cranky stinky butt...and Pregnant pregnant pregnant!!!!!

Busy Busy

Started off the day with a yummy cup of coffee made right here with my new coffee maker. How lovely! The coffee maker is a gift from my wonderful friend Shannon. Thank you! After my coffee my mom came over and we got the kids dressed and took off for a busy morning. We are suppose to be getting "lake effect" snow today so I wanted to get everything done this morning.
Went to the bank (money money) and to the post office (bye bye money money). Drove to a vet in town to get flea treatment for the dogs and then paid the car insurance. Then I took my good little boy for a hair cut. That was by far the best part since the gentleman cutting his hair kept telling me how well behaved my son is. Other people commented on him too. It's so nice to have him remembered for GOOD behavior. Of course in this case it's all about the sucker he gets at the end. He'd get his hair cut everyday for that sucker ;-)
After the hair cut it was grocery time. Ran into Stacy's mom again...I swear she follows me to the store since I see her there EVERY TIME! It was really busy there today. Payday? Or the snow that we are suppose to get? Finally got out of there and went to gas up the van. Over all not very exciting but anyone with two small children can tell you that it was not easy to do. I feel so proud ;-)

Feeling Sad :-(

Okay...I know this makes no sense and I know that in a few weeks I will be back on a schedule and feeling like a baby for writing this BUT...I really miss my mom. I miss my husband too and my brother but it is just not the same. The kids and I stayed with my mom two months. That's it...not two years...two months and yet her company has kept me going. It was nice to know that someone was going to be home for the dinner I cooked. It was nice to know I could go grocery shopping with someone. Company for watching tv, help with the kids, general companionship. We are in the same town...she was over this morning and yet I feel like an important part of me has been cut off. Crazy? I know. The best part is that woman can drive me sooooo crazy! But still it was so wonderful to have my mommy there. Now I have to once again be the grown up. I am just lonely.
My wonderful brother Pete, living in Charlottesville Virginia, called me as soon as he got out of work tonight. We had a chat while he drove to the gym. I felt so much better after talking to him. We are very close and it was nice to hear about the things going on in his life right now. I would call my hubby who is my rock but if I am stressed and sad when he is on the road it stresses him out. And he already is stressed from not being here...so I hate to add to it.
So that leaves blogging and facebooking. Lucky people! ;-)

Is it time for my nap yet?

Holy cow and all that! Life has been rather hectic this past week. After being on the road for 3 1/2 weeks Mark finally made it back home. Even though we planned on his being out for so long it was hard to be away from him so long. The kids missed him terribly. Henry has referred to him as "my daddy" every time he mentioned him. I drove to Grand Rapids to pick him up on Wednesday. My mom stayed home with the kids. It was weird driving back without the children. It was like being newly married with no concerns. Anyway...we had a gigantic amount of stuff to be done this holiday weekend. And in typically Williams Family style nothing went as planned. Starting with the moving truck rented over the phone through Penske. We have never had good dealings with Penske and yet we keep doing business with them. Why? Cause my opinion is sometimes not listened to. So the truck we wanted was not available and we ended up in Wellston renting a smaller truck from Budget. No big deal but it blew the plan for Wednesday out of the water. Thursday (Thanksgiving) Mark and I worked our butts off moving. Yes...I helped move the large, heavy furniture. Never again. Nope. Not gonna happen. Old homes with narrow staircases and bedroom furniture just don't mix. If I move again I will hire people to come and pack it up for me.
After moving all day my mom, children, husband, and I went to the Brookside Inn for Thanksgiving dinner. The Brookside Inn is a favorite of mine and we went there last year for Thanksgiving. Of course last year my brother Pete was with us and this year he was in Virginia. So sad without him. And the dinner was better last year too. This year it felt rushed like they just wanted to clean up and go home. Disappointing.
Friday was another day moving and getting injured. I have a huge purple bruise on my knee from being attacked by the bed. Mark wonked his shin on the trailer hitch. Saturday was more of the same except my mom was getting moody. She was not happy that we were leaving her place. After two months we have gotten used to each other for company. We ended up having a small fight but she told me to go f*#k myself. Not the nicest thing to hear from your mother especially over a very trivial matter. So I grabbed the kids and took off to find Mark. We had to feed the kids and take the truck back to Wellston so the kids never got a nap.
So it was hard work and very stressful and not really the way we wanted Mark's time off to go. The kids are very excited to have the space to run around and to have all their toys back. That makes me happy but I am having the usual hard time adjusting to a big change and having to do so without my hubby here. The kids and I took him back to Grand Rapids yesterday morning. So I am on my own for finding all the missing items and trying to put things to right. Not easy. But it has to be done by Christmas since we will have company!