Change of address

Wallpaper sample and new dress. Anthropologie has everything!

I'm moving. And I'm only half kidding. On our mother/daughter college road trip the other day Tessa and I stopped at Anthropologie. And I am pretty sure we could live there. I love that store. I want everything. These items are only a small sampling of what I want.

Do you have anything to declare?

Brian and I (along with friends Kevin and Lori) went to the casino in Windsor this weekend to have some fun and hear an Abba tribute band, Abbamania. No joke. So things went well, won a little money, had fun. But if you know us, some things always hold true. 1) Brian has a little patience problem 2) If something is going to happen to someone it is going to be us

We are waiting in the very long lines at the border crossing. All lanes to cross are marked by pylons. Brian is a little impatient with the lines and decides to cross over into another lane. So we are making our way and I asked Brian if he heard something under the car. I told him I was pretty sure he crossed over a pylon and I could hear it thumping. So we move forward and we aren't sure we can hear it. I told Brian to look but he was not about to get out of the car at the border crossing and look under the car. (On the way over they wanted to know why we were bringing so many clothes with us and why we had hangers with us.) Brian figured the guy at the crossing would notice if there was anything wrong and stop us. They ask us all sorts of goofy questions about whether or not we have anything to declare but never mention the bright orange pylon under the car and neither do we. So we cross the border and as we speed up you can hear the thump thump thump under our car. And we are laughing. By this point we are in a rough area in Detroit (as opposed to the good ones) so we decide to keep going until we are in a better area to stop. This car drives by and they are pointing at us and the car trying to get our attention. We go to the exit ramp and a homeless guy collecting change in a cup is hollering to us that there is something under our car. We're laughing pretty good and hard at this point. So we pull up to this car repair place and the guy working there is telling us there is something under our car. At this point I am so thankful for my camera, because of course I am putting this on my blog. So two guys who work there are outside watching as Brian pulls the pylon out from under the front tire and me taking pictures. Then we left the pylon in the parking lot and headed for home.

X marks the spot

Today I took Tessa on her first college visit. We went to Xavier. We picked it for several reasons, one of them being the size of the school. A small school is one of the things on the "wish list" for colleges. Boy was it small. The average class size is 22 students per class. Wow! But the kids were nice, and it is so clean. And we got a free t-shirt! We may visit Pitt next.

Easter fun

I got an Easter Bunny costume this year, and while it is so hot inside of it, it has provided tons of fun! I can not even tell you about of the smiles and laughs this thing has generated! The adults have been some of the best. We went over and surprised our neighbor Bob in it. He is 85 and was laughing so hard and asked if he could hug the Easter Bunny. Here is a great picture of Brian's parents and grandma with the bunny.

P.S. Thank you to everyone who (reluctantly or otherwise) took a turn in this thing. Scott, Tessa, Brian, Todd, Ken and Linda at work.

March Madness

Brian, Tessa, Caroline and myself did our NCAA brackets. Here is who we picked to win the tournament:

Brian and Katie: Pitt

Tessa: Texas

Caroline: BYU

(I am wishing I had picked Kansas now, but I'm going to be fair and leave it as is.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

My shamrock tights

Happy Birthday Caroline!

Caroline is 4 today! It seems like only yesterday I was carrying around 60 pounds of baby weight, tired, miserable, crabby... Depending on the day you ask Brian he may still think that is the case. I will never forget going to the hospital with a scheduled appointment to be induced. We got there and they told us that there were so many women in labor they had no room for us and to go home and they would call. I let them know that there was no way I was leaving that hospital still pregnant. I had already thrown away my maternity clothes with no plans of wearing them again. Anyway, when we got into our room and they introduced us to our labor and delivery nurse I could not believe it. I had Tessa in 1992 and here I was in 2004 and got the SAME NURSE! She was awesome the first time and was again the 2nd time. (If you deliver at Riverside ask for labor and delivery nurse Susan Saunders.) I was adamant about not having a St. Patrick's Day baby, and there we were on March 16th going on 10 p.m. after being induced in the morning. No baby. During the entire pregnancy (and even before it) we had decided that if we had a girl we would name her Lily. As we got closer to St. Patricks Day though I tried to talk Brian into Fiona or something Irish sounding. But we made it on the 16th. Whew! But then the problem was that she didn't quite look like Lily to me. So poor Brian went home to get some sleep, came back the next morning to find out that I thought she looked like a Caroline. But she did and here we are 4 years later.

*This is the picture I took as soon as Caroline woke up this morning. The reason that the angle is off is because I took it while I was laying down on her floor. Reason? I slept there. Why? Because she wanted a slumber party for her birthday and asked me to sleep in her room in a sleeping bag. She even gave me one of her stuffed animals and a pillow. And after looking at this picture I realized I need to remove the tape from her outlet cover from when I painted in there about 3 years ago. Oops!

This is my life...

As I sit here on the eve of Caroline's 4th birthday I have just sent Tessa off to another one of her friends 16th birthday parties. Caroline gets invited to parties for friends 4-6 years old, Tessa gets invited to Sweet 16 parties. Last night at dinner I reminded Brian that we will send Caroline off to kindergarten the same year Tessa leaves for college. I am anticipating much stress and many tears in the upcoming year. I will be helping Tessa look at colleges as I look at kindergarten programs for Caroline. Caroline has been potty trained for a year, Tessa is getting ready to learn to drive. Holy smokes. I think I need a spa day. Although I am excited to take Tessa to see some schools. I made her go with me to see the new Raven movie called College Road Trip. I am considering doing every embarrasing thing her father did in that movie. We're going to see Xavier and University of Dayton in a few weeks and I threatened to get a "Future Xavier Mom t-shirt. Other schools on the list:
Pitt
Case Western
Kentucky
Indiana
Purdue
Brian has mentioned Wake Forest so we may add that to the list. Could be a fun visit.

Conversation at my house today

Brian: Did you ask me if I like Wham!?
Me: Why would I ask you if you like Wham!? Who doesn't like Wham!?
Brian: No, I said lamb.
Me: I think I asked you if you like lamb once, I was going to make it.
Brian: Ask me if I like lamb.
Me: Do you like lamb?
Brian: Na-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a- (You have to use your imagination here and sound it out)
Cheesy, huh? Brian said he has never had to work so hard for a joke. I really thought he was asking me about Wham!.

Caroline got a puppy for her birthday

Not really. (I love that "hook" though, don't I?) So I opened up the front door to get the newspaper and this cocker spaniel comes running in my house. And fast! I looked outside the door but there was no person. So this dog is running and running in circles, and so is Caroline. She is SCREAMING "A puppy a puppy I got a puppy for my birthday!" Crap. This dog is so fast that I can't even get it long enough to read it's tag, plus I don't know this dog and I don't know if it will bite me or Caroline. I called a neighbor to see if they had noticed anyone walking around looking for a dog. I finally got a hold of this hyper dog and it had a tag from a vet in Maine. There is a lady a few doors down who lives in Maine part of the year. I called another neighbor to see if they knew if it might be her dog. All of this is going on as Caroline and this dog are running around with Caroline screaming "My puppy." Somehow Brian is sleeping through this. I had Caroline go get him and I can hear her running upstairs yelling about the dog, come see the dog I got. Then one neighbor calls me to tell me a lady is walking around with a leash. So I open the door and Caroline is yelling out the door to the lady "Come see my puppy" So the lady gets her dog and Caroline tells the dog that she will see it tomorrow. Sure. At least she didn't freak out that the dog is not for us. Oh yeah, the dog peed in our house.

Speedo guy at the Duke/UNC game

If you haven't already seen this check it out before ESPN gets it off of You Tube. It is VERY funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNEj0BzVHZw&feature=related

A week in review

Tessa's new hair

Caroline's new Russian

stacking doll

1) Caroline got robbed at the grocery store. Kroger has been notified as well as her Uncle Todd who is a detective and is going to look into this for her. The perps face is on our fridge so in case we see him we can ID him. Never fear, Brian's co-worker Becky came up with a new Russian Stacking Doll for Caroline. Thank you Becky. (Note Caroline's Barry Manilow t-shirt in the pic)

2) Tessa got a nice new hair cut. Caroline had a bad hair day.

3) Due to the blizzard of 08 our family celebration for Caroline's birthday along with her cousin Ainsley's birthday had to be cancelled. We had a full sheet cake ready and busted into it for a dry run.

4) Played Bunco with Caroline. She cheats. Watched Care Bears until my ears started to bleed.

5) Had 800 Easter Eggs ready for a hunt at work. Had to cancel it due to weather. Do you know how hard it is to get the bunny to show up on the right day?

6) Daylight savings. In about 6 months I will remember to switch the clock in my car.

7) Scheduled Tessa's first college visit. Seriously, how did this happen? I still have her dress from Kindergarten.

Hide and seek with the Volvo

So, in addition to the Volvo's many problems such as bad seals on windows which allow water to leak into car, broken CD player, broken motor on drivers side seat which means the car is stuck in one position and can't move forward or backward now it is almost buried in this crazy blizzard we are having!

Good looks and wit

I told Brian this morning that it looked like it had not stopped snowing all night long. To which he replied "Snow way." Pretty witty guy, huh?

Saturday morning movie series for kids

This is pretty awesome. The Arena Grand movie theatre has Saturday morning movies for kids and families. Only $2 per person! Kids under 12 get free popcorn.

Saturday Morning Family Film Series
You still have time to enjoy three classic family films – each Saturday morning at the Arena Grand Movie Theatre. For only $2.00 per person enjoy these great films:
· Saturday, March 8th – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate FactoryThis is the original 1971 film starring Gene Wilder. Before the movie, ENJOY the taste of our complimentary Chocolate Fountain. Dip marshmallows, graham crackers and pretzels under flowing milk chocolate.
· Saturday, March 15th – From 1939, the one and only The Wizard of Oz! We’ll have a complimentary face painter to brighten up your child’s face.
· Saturday, March 22nd – Laugh with your kids at Shrek featuring the voice of Eddie Murphy. Bring your cameras because after the movie, Shrek will be in the lobby to greet everyone.
All Family Film Series movies begin on Saturdays at 10:30 AM. Admission to this series of films is only $2.00 per person per film. Kids (12 and under) receive a free small popcorn each week.

http://www.arenagrand.com/

*Thanks to my husband for finding this one for me. (I still don't feel bad for not making his side of the bed though!)

Happy Cereal Day!

Another good Urban Outfitters deal

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?color=62&navAction=jump&cm_mmc=SiteEmails-_-emailAfriend-_-emailAfriend-_-emailAfriend&id=14115109

On sale for $29.00

Crime Stoppers

The other day Caroline was at the grocery store with Brian. When they came home she was sobbing. She told me that she had dropped her "football guy"and some kid came over and picked it up and walked away. She said he stole it from her. She wants it back. I mean there were TEARS! She wanted to go back to the store to look for that kid. She had me "call" Kroger (that is code in our world for calling anyone we need to in order to get something accomplished, works very well for behavioral concerns) and ask them if they had seen that boy and to please call us if they did. Throughout the evening she would check with me to see if they had called. In an effort to make her feel better I asked her if she could draw a picture of him so we could show the store. I think she may have a future as a police sketch artist. The person on the left is Caroline looking sad, the person on the right is the perp. Looks like a hardcore criminal if you ask me. If you see him, do not try to apprehend him. Get a Kroger manager or call us.

P.S. The little thief has what was actually part of a set of OSU russian stacking doll football players from the 2003 season. We got them in Alaska. Chris Gamble is now MIA.

Does your husband ever get on your nerves?

Well, yesterday Brian was on my last nerve. (I think the feeling was mutual so we're even) I did a ton of laundry (This is where Brian would say 2000 pounds?) cleaned the bathroom, made dinner, cleaned the basement, you know, all of the stuff that needs to be done. Anyway I asked Brian to run the vacuum in the basement. He was nice enough to let me know that he had done enough work for one day and he didn't feel like it. Fine, whatever. So when he came to bed last night he was lucky enough to find out that I also felt like I had done enough work for one day. When I was putting the sheets, blankets and pillow cases back on the bed I only put them on my side. My side of the bed looked so nice and was all comfy, and then I just left the other half unmade. Petty behavior but it made me feel better and was good for a laugh!

Saturday morning cartoons

I love this picture of Caroline and Brook watching cartoons together on Caroline's couch.

Finally, I love my hair!

About a month or so ago I had a not so great experience with my hair color. I was in no rush to get the color corrected as I was
1) Not in the mood to spend another few hours in the salon
2) Not in the mood to have my hair damaged from being over-processed
3) Not in the mood to try to explain again what I was hoping for versus what I got
Anyway, on my way to work every day I drive past a new salon called Hair! (The ! is not me being excited, it's really part of the name) I decided the other day to give it a whirl. Went in for a consultation, left feeling good about it and made an appointment for this morning. What I could not get the other salon to understand was that you are supposed to leave feeling excited and wanting to share with other people where you got you hair done. That "salon hair" feeling. Ladies, you know the feeling. Well, today I left Hair! with that feeling. I LOVE MY HAIR!
Thank you Leanna! Thank you!
*If you are looking for a new stylist and are tired of the "big salon" feeling check Hair! out.
http://www.hairgrandview.com/
614-488-tony