Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Bug Eyes

Having a little photoshop fun!




Happy Halloween 2014

Halloween this year was FA-REEEEEZE-ING. I mean, it freaking SNOWED!

So I gave Andy the privilege of taking the kids out while I sat on my comfy couch with a nice glass of vino! I was enjoying it so much, I gave a little toast to Josie's mom, Jenny! Her poor husband got the duties of chaperoning the kids as well.

 
Emma and Josie


Drew the Wash Buckler

Emma as Madeline Hatter

 

All Saints Day

At St. Pius, the 2nd grade students learn about All Saints Day by picking their favorite saint, writing a report on him or her, then presenting it to their classmates.

Oh, and dressing up as them during All Saints Day Mass.

And being the modest individual that she is, Emma chose St. Emma of Gurk.


Fall Festivities

Fall.

My favorite time of the year.

Scarecrows. Pumpkin Spice. Hayrides. Harvest. Apples. Lattes. Leaves. Hot Chocolate. Football. Sweaters. Plaid. Thankful. Cinnamon. Family. Headless Horseman. Halloween. Bonfire. Corn Maze.

It was a freezing cold visit to the pumpkin patch with these sweet, sweet Kindergartners.

Davis, Sean, and Drew

My loves




Annual trip to the Headless Horseman. Good Lord, Emma is 100% 'tude.

Drewbie vs a caramel apple




Getting their palms read by the "psychic"


Donut game at the Halloween Party with the Girl Scouts

Maura (Superwoman), Ava Marie (Elsa), Ava P (Chaquita Banana lady), Emma (Madeline Hatter), Fiona (dead bride)

pumpkin carving

Such wussies!....they needed gloves to get all the goo out!!!

 

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

My Flippin Ankle

Spraining, straining, ripping, tearing and bending.

Apparently, these are all hobbies of mine when it comes to activities I enjoying doing to my ankle.

For the past two years now, I have made it a habit to do the above activities to my ankles every few months. Well actually, I've been doing it since I was just a wee young lad. In fact, I can remember spraining my ankle when I was having a sleepover with a friend...it was so bad, that I ended up going to the ER.

I never seem to break it. I just sprain it. Over and over and over and over again.

But this last time was different.

I was carrying laundry down the stairs, when I thought I was at the bottom, but I still had two more steps to go. I rolled my ankle, hearing it *pop* as I fell down the stairs. 

The pain was crazy! I immediately broke out in a sweat; instead of passing out, I vomited from the pain. Lord, it hurt. 

Fast forward three days:




Gross, right? And these aren't photoshopped or embelished. This was my reality. 

So I reluctantly drug myself to the orthopedic surgeon, got another MRI, and learned that I had ripped my ligaments again and - get this - had bent my ankle bone. 

Say what?!?

I didn't even know you could bend bones. Who knew? But apparently, I hadn't quite broke it, just bent it, causing severe bruising in three places. 

I guess what's happened, is over the years, with the multiple sprains and strains I've had, I've stretched my tendons and ligaments out so bad, that they have lost their strength. Which is why I keep rolling my ankle so easily. 

I go back to the orthepedic surgeon the first week of December, after wearing my fabulous boot for a month, to determine if stabalization surgery is necessary.

Let's pray that it's not.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Happy EIGHTH Birthday, Emma Lucille

Dear Emma,

You turned 8 this year. Not 18. Not 13. Not 15.

EIGHT YEARS OLD.

In looking back at past birthday letters I've written you, there's a constant theme: you amaze me with your wisdom. Your intuition and ability to just "get it" truly blows me away. Your ability to understand the way things work, and completely and totally know what I mean when I say this - AT EIGHT YEARS OLD - is beyond me.

Simply put, you are amazing

You are difficult.

You are loud.

You are challenging.

You test my limits.

And you push me to them. 

You have a heart of gold that cares so much for your baby brother, your family, and God.

You, my little lady, are my super star.

And you always will be.

Love,
Mom 

A look back at some of my favorite memories this year.




 

Emma's 8th Birthday

So this year I decided to cut it off. 

Inviting every single girl in Emma's class (there's 15, for Pete's sake) to her party, that is.

I mean, it's just too much. Both financially and mentally.

It wasn't an easy decision, either. Being the Girl Scout leader, and being pretty actively involved at school, it was hard to make that final decision. But it was bound to happen at some point, so I just made the choice to end the insanity this year, in 2nd grade.

Emma decided to have her party of the bowling alley. She invited 8 girls + Drewbie. They enjoyed 2 hours of bowling, gaming, and pizza-and-cake eating.

And me? 

I enjoyed it as well. [insert sarcasm here]

The Crew: (back) Fiona, (front) Sophia, Isabelle, Emma, Sydney, Izzy, Cait


Isabelle and Sydney getting their Speed of Light on!

Whack-A-Mole

The cake that Emma picked out. Yes, it's a golf cake. And no, I have no idea why. Wait, yes...I forgot. She wanted the golf cart for her Ever After High dolls.

 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Russell Farms Field Trip

I absolutely love going on field trips with the kids. I treasure these special times with them both, because I know that in just a few short years field trips will be replaced with driver's ed and prom dates.

And I'm not down with that.

Not yet, at least. So when volunteer opportunities come up, I am the first to raise my hand! 

Drew's first official field trip at St. Pius X was to the pumpkin patch at Russell Farms. It was originally postponed due to weather, and unfortunately the rescheduled date wasn't much better. It was cold and rainy, but the kids didn't seem to mind whatsoever. They were just happy to be able to ride on a school bus and do fun things outside of their norm.


This kid. My heart.

I know I'm biased. But he's a cute freaking kid!!!


Team J

Drew played soccer for the first time this fall, on 'Team J.' 

Pretty original huh? Team J.

Not the Green Monsters. Not the Gremlins. Nor the Green Goobers.

Nope.

Just Team J.

But anyway. Drew loved played on Team J. And Drew - knock on wood - is a pretty good, little athlete. He sure loves to hustle. The kid is faaaaast. Complete opposite of his mom and his big sister. The kid loves to run up and down the field. The kid loves to kick it as hard as he can. The kid loves to play the game.

And he loves to do it with a smile on his face.