Birthday Party Fun

Birthday Boy Eric and his mommy (my sis-in-law) KayeThomas cake made by Eric's Aunt BeckyAunt Becky and Eric

Unhappiness is...waiting for birthday cake...

Happiness is...devouring the birthday cake with your hands

Family hanging out during the party...Sarah, my brother Matt, my sis-in-law Ashley holding Gavin, and my brother Pete.

Kaylee (the photographer!), Becky, Anna, Emily, and Eric

Sarah and Kaylee

Ashley and Gavin

My dad with Gavin and Marne

My dad and my brother Pete

My nephew Eric celebrated his second birthday this month. He is my brother Matt's son. We went down to their house the day before. We had beautiful weather and I actually drove the three hour drive while Mark sat in the back with the kids. My mom sat in the front with me. We got there around 5. My sister-in-law Kaye had sloppy joes waiting for the kids for dinner. My mom and dad stayed with the four kids while Matt, Kaye, Mark and I went out for dinner. We went to Los Tres Amigos in East Lansing. Terrific food!!! And a pitcher of tasty margaritas!!!! And a shot of tequila...done by Kaye and me...the boys were wimps. Dinner was very good and the company was even better. We laughed and shared stories. It was truly great! It was wonderful get out and eat without the kids. After dinner we stopped by the bar near my brother's house. We had one drink and played a game of keno but the bar was no match for the fun we had at the restaurant.

The next day was Eric's party. Peter and Ashley drove over from Livonia and Kaye's parents and her brothers and their wives and family joined us. Kaye's brothers have seven children between them. My kids loved having all the other kids to play with.

Before we left we stopped over to Eaton Rapids. It is about 15 minutes from my brother's house and is where my father recently moved. He lives in an apartment in a converted mill. It is only two stories but it is huge including a two story, heated parking garage. I loved that it had history and my dad's place is very nice and large for a one bedroom.

The next day Henry had school. Mark was suppose to be home until Tuesday but he got called in with a load that had to be picked up Monday. We had to leave as soon as Hen got out of school. I hate when I get these surprises sprung on me. I seriously found out we had to leave an hour before we left. That started a huge fight between Mark and me. We did not speak the entire two hour drive. Thankfully we are speaking now and he is suppose to be coming home tomorrow which is a week earlier than I expected him!

The Most Beautiful Baby!

My beautiful baby boy Gavin posing for the camera. This picture was taken at my brother's house. The picture was taken by Kaylee Charles, my brother's niece. I am very impressed with the pictures.

This one is my favorite. I would love to have it framed! Gavin is now three months old. He smiles and laughs but has a pretty fierce temper. He still does not sleep through the night :(

This one is the first picture done in black and white.

The rest of these pictures are of Henry and Irene giving me pouty faces because they had been denied something they wanted. Kids are so funny.
This picture should be titled Irene in her usual state of being.

Running with the Olympic Torch

Here are pictures of my childhood friend running with the Olympic torch in Alberta. His name is Christian Grimes and his mother was my mother's best friend while growing up. Chris, as he is known, is a few years older than me.

My mother had a pen pal in England when she was in her teens. They got along well on paper and her friend decided to come across "the pond" to visit. For company (and probably as a type of security since it was the 60's) she brought her friend Kate. My mom and the pen pal didn't really get along in person but my mom and Kate hit it off! Even my grandparents loved her. From then on Kate became a part of their lives. Even her parents, Joyce and Allan, became very good friends of my grandparents. They visited often, Joyce and Allan coming over here to visit several times and I think my grandparents went over there too (gotta check with my mom). Of course we went over to England for a visit when I was young and I still have memories of that...some are actually rather funny. Eventually Kate's husband was transferred with his company to Canada. They lived in Thunder Bay, Ontario for a while. If anyone has ever been there and drove to get there you'll remember and NEVER forget the ride...looong! The funny thing is that my husband has been there. I have always found that amusing because most people don't even know about the place let alone ever visited, but he has been there...well it's funny to me ;)

The last time we visited them they lived in Fredrickton, New Brunswick. We visited several times and from there we would drive to Prince Edward Island. We'd take the car ferry across to the island. Of course now there is a bridge but the car ferry was way more fun!

Well there is a bit of family history for you!

Unfortunately I do not know who took the pictures so I cannot give them proper credit but they are great!

Good Times

Today MOPS had a playdate at the church. We actually made it although 15 minutes late. The kids ran around then played with play doh. The lovely Mrs.Youngberg read them a story then lead them in some songs. I enjoyed talking to the other moms. One mom in particular seemed to have a similar mothering style to mine.

I missed the MOPS meeting last week. I was very disappointed, but Gavin had his doctor's appointment in Traverse City. I had already rescheduled it from the week before when we were all sick. The appointment was at 10am so I managed to have us on the road by 8:15. I was worried about the roads being bad since we've had so much snow. Traverse City is only about an hour and fifteen minutes from here during good weather but add some snow and ice into the mix...

I was almost to the office when Mark called me. He wanted to know what I was doing because he was in Grand Rapids with two days off. So after we were done with the doctor we drove the hour back home which took longer since it had started snowing and the roads were getting bad. Then after a quick stop at home we drove the two hours to Grand Rapids. When we got there Mark called to inform us that he was running behind. It turned out to be 4 hours later that he actually got there. The kids were hungry and Gavin was crying from too much time in the car. We left Grand Rapids around 8:30pm. The weather was not good and the roads were bad. We did stop for a quick dinner and finally got home around midnight.

On Friday Henry and Irene needed to get there second H1N1 shot. I called and got Mark added to the list for a shot too. Henry cried and carried on like a madman over the shot. It took Mark, me and a nurse to hold him down. At least now they are done with those!

After Henry was done with school we drove to Traverse City. We had a gift card to Outback Steakhouse so we had dinner there. The kids were pretty good until we were almost finished. Gavin started getting cranky. Afterward we got mark some new work boots.

Saturday we set up Gavin's room. He has been sleeping in the living room in his Amby bed. I figure that it is time to get him sleeping in his own room. We shall see how that goes! After doing that and having lunch it was time to take Mark back to Grand Rapids. It was a nice surprise having him home but it was pretty much three days spent in the car.

Sunday morning my brother Peter and his wife Ashley came to visit and have a late Christmas with us. They showed up an hour before I expected them and scared me when I turned around and saw them at the door. I was giving Gavin a bath when they arrived and didn't expect to see people at the door. I made lunch for everyone and we opened gifts. The kids were thrilled with their gifts and Henry is planning to take his to show-n-tell this week. Later in the afternoon during naptime my mom stayed with the kids and Peter, Ashley and I went to the casino. We each took a whole ten bucks! We played a few nickle slots, my favorite being the Hexbreaker machine. We checked out the gift shop and had some popcorn. We managed to kill about an hour of time which is pretty good since ten bucks doesn't go far in the casino! On the way home Ashley ordered breadsticks from Big Al's. They have really good breadsticks and she has heard several different people rave about them. We had dessert when we got back to my house. It seemed like all we did was eat! But it was a fantastic day and I loved seeing them. The best part is we'll be seeing them again this weekend because it is my brother Matt's son Eric's birthday. We'll all be meeting up in Lansing on Sunday.

Just got back from taking Henry to his first day back at school. All I have to say is I HATE SNOW!!!!!! It seems like it has been snowing since Christmas. In fact we got a lot of snow on New Years Eve and the city never came out to plow. Since then it has been snowing pretty much continually and they haven't been keeping up. My street is still a mess. Plus I got a parking ticket last week because I was too busy in the bathroom throwing up and then taking care of two puking children to get out and move my car to the other side of the street for the city's damn alternate parking. Yes, $40 spent so I could spend three days in the bathroom!

Gavin is now 11 weeks old. He is full of smiles but has a fierce temper already. He is still not sleeping well. Ugh.

This Sunday my brother, Peter, is coming up to have a late Christmas with us. My lovely sister-in-law Ashley is coming as well. I can't wait to see them, especially Pete. I miss him so much. we have always been really close and since I no longer have a cell phone we don't talk as frequently. We used to text message multiple times a day. I miss that.

Irene hamming it up for the camera. She wants her picture taken every time I pull out the camera.

Pity Party...Table for One...

I am having a massive pity party today. I admit it. And right now everything sucks. IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay...feels better. Here are some pictures of the kids taken while we were still really sick. Even then we managed a smile...even if it was a fake one ;)

Hey 2010...What did you bring me?

SNOW!!!!




It has been snowing here like crazy. I hate snow. HATE IT!!!! Since my husband is on the road I am the only one here to clean up this white sh...stuff. We have a snow blower which helps but as soon as I go outside Gavin starts screaming and I have to come back in. I sooooooo need a man or woman to come spend ten or so minutes a day snow blowing a path for me. Henry's school starts again tomorrow and that is going to make getting the snow moved even harder.
As I said in the earlier post, we've been sick here since Christmas. The house is a huge mess and laundry is taking over. I am trying to catch up but it feels like a losing battle. Having all this snow is really making me feel depressed. I almost hate to talk to my husband on the phone because I just want to cry when I talk to him. I am feeling overwelhmed.
I am trying to keep things in perspective...my problems are small. My friend (since high school) and fellow blogger was on the flight Christmas Day with the terrorist. She was seated 8 rows away and saw everything. Since then she and her husband have done interviews about what they saw. They are speaking out about the things that are being hushed up. Now some people are attacking them and calling them liars (among other not so nice things). These people almost lost their lives! I am glad you are still with us Lori!