A three day weekend but hardly anything went on. Friday we dropped the kids off and did double cart MAJOR grocery shopping. We are trying out coupons and Erin decided to split us up I did regular shopping and she did coupons that Mom had given us. Well I finished up and grabbed coupons. Turns out reading the coupons and pricing stuff we usually get I kept the usually get because it was still cheaper. Trouble was I didn't realize that it was double coupons at the register. Needless to say we got that done and dropped off the stuff at the house. We then visited the library and then got the kids. All of us were coming down with colds so we were all ready to stay in.

Erin got assigned work that had to be done for work over the weekend. On Saturday she went into work and got her laptop and needed materials. Liam also got a learning tower. This is a tall stable platform that kids can use to get close up to things. Our neighbor Tammy had posted she wanted to sell her old one. Erin took her up on it. Liam used it a couple of times to help his Mommy bake Amish Friendship Bread. Our friend Sue had given her a starter. I tried a piece. It was pretty good.

 

Liam also played with some blue goop that his Mom had read about in one of his magazines. It had flour and corn starch and other ingredients. We also watched two movies. Clerks II which was just plain bad and no way near as good as teh first one and Beerfest which was pretty much a braindead movie but watchable.

Jaxson also has a few teeth coming in. The first one cane in a couple of weeks ago with nary a cry. Now Jaxson is hurting with teeth and a cold so he definitely faired the worst and Mom lost a lot of sleep. So it was a gloomy weekend of colds, teething, and work at home. I managed to get more wood sawed and split so now I am down to just four big pieces left. I will have to scrounge for another source soon.  

There's something positive about being broke.  It forces you to stay home.  That can be a good thing!  We're just getting used to the new budget.  Yes, it's a tight one, but it'll loosen up eventually.  Right now though, post Christmas, things seem to be gettin' a bit skimpy here at the end of the month.  No matter though... it makes for a fun weekend!

 

We actually didn't venture out at all on Saturday.  Liam kept asking, "Where're we goin'?" all day, and I had to keep telling him that we were not goin' anywhere!  He seemed shocked.  So, that in itself tells us that we do too much running around. 

 

So, Saturday, we lounged and played and did a bit of laundry.  Russ cut up some more wood.  We even ordered a pizza for dinner, just so we wouldn't have to don some more appropriate attire.  It felt good.

 

Sunday was another day that kept us close to home.  The boys and I went to a playgroup meeting in the afternoon, but Russ stayed home and kept the fire burning in the fireplace.  Getting out did Liam good though.  He was the one who noticed that it was snowing outside at lunchtime.  It continued to snow all afternoon.  Just the light sugary snow - but it was pretty.  We left for playgroup around 3:00.  There was talk of sledding opportunities, so I put a pair of snowpants on Liam and found a poor excuse for mittens for him (what - no thumb holes???).  The roads were clear when we traveled to "Rosalia's House."  However, when we were getting ready to leave, there was a good couple inches on the ground, and the snow was starting to stick.  So, we had a grand time, pulling the kids around the yard in a toboggan.  They had so much fun.  Jaxson slept soundly inside his little car seat cocoon, but if he'd been a little more mobile he'd been fighting for a spot on the toboggan too. 

 

    

 

Just a little update on the kids... 

Noah is doing well.  He's managing to keep fairly decent grades, and is getting along with his teachers.  He's still taking part in the Tech Program, and is finding the classes a bit more challenging this year.  He is talking of getting a job this summer at Wegman's (a larger grocery store), so we're hoping to encourage that goal for him. 

 

Sadly, one of Noah's friends passed away last week.  It was a shooting accident, and the details are few.  Noah seems to be dealing with the loss as well as can be expected.  Other friends are having a rougher time, but teens do best when they support each other, so they can grieve and recover in their own special ways.  The funeral is Wednesday.  Give him (and the victim's family) a thought if you can.

 

Liam is such a character.  He's full of songs lately, and I am thrilled, but also hoping he'll build his repertoire a bit as I'm getting a little tired of Twinkle Twinkle, Old Macdonald and Jingle Bells.  He STILL is in love with his matchbox cars.  It seems there is little that can replace them.  I swear we could take ALL of his toys away and if he still had a dozen cars, he'd be happy.  He likes to draw too, and is getting good at making circles.  He knows his shapes pretty well, and a few colors.  He can pick out the letter A and the letter O, and will say the ABCs along with someone.  He likes to talk and carry on a conversation, although I think the truth gets skewed a bit with the imagination.  He's looking forward to Valentine's Day because I've promised to make cookies with him, and he's excited about handing out some Disney Cars Valentines we purchased.

 

Jaxson is revealing some of his personality too.  He adores his big brother(s) and will give them a big smile whenever they give him a second of attention.  Now his smile includes a tooth too!!  He can still up really well now, and likes to bounce back and forth.  He loves getting his hands on things, and -of course- puts everything into his mouth for exploration.  He's been eating some babyfood now, and desperately wants to feed himself.  I end up giving him a spoon of his own, just to distract him from the one I am using to feed him with!  He's also a solid fellow - almost 20lbs!  He's six months old, but well into a 9mth size outfit.  It's exciting to watch his personality blossom. 

 

 

 

Rita - the Pug - and Ash - the Greyhound - are both doing well.  They are healthy and happy.  I think Ash would like more walks around the neighborhood though, and I plan to take him on morning strolls before work, as soon as Jaxson starts letting me get a decent night's sleep.  Rita tolerates both kids so well.  They chase her and lay on her, and grab her ears, and she just slinks away.  Sometimes she fights for a spot on my lap just for a break.  I tell Liam over and over to leave her alone, but he just finds her so irresistable.  He knows to leave ol' Ashy alone though because Ashy will give him a low grumbly warning.  We never trust Ash around Liam, so we have to really keep an eye on them.  Just one of the hurdles you have to face as a dog owning parent. 

 

Russ and I are both working hard at our jobs.  We are always striving to improve our processes, and struggleing with the heirarchy to make process achievements.  It's difficult to see a product get delivered, only to have it come back with defects that could have been prevented if people followed your process - or if your process was better in the first place.  We still each have good working environments though, and feel that our efforts are appreciated even if our suggestions aren't always taken. 

 

We've started geocaching again too.  The warm weather of last weekend got the GPS blood flowing again, so we hit the trails.  It's a LOT tougher with TWO kids!

Well the week started off with the great announcement Jo and Brian are getting married in Wyoming in late July.  Phone calls were made to try and make tentative plans for the wedding.

 

On Friday we enjoyed breakfast before heading out on the road. The trip up was great. Leaving at 1 in the morning is a good time to go. We arrived at Mom’s at 4 and the phone was ringing. Mom was at the grocery and thought I meant we were an hour away when what I meant was we were just an hour out from home. Needless to say she was at the grocery for an hour waiting. Nobody got bent out of shape about the miscommunication. Noah then came over after dinner. Kayla, Noah’s girlfriend called not to much later and wanted to come over. We then celebrated Noah’s 17^th birthday as he blew out the candles on the cake Mom got him and opened his cards, Mom and him also opened up some Christmas presents from the Day family which they both enjoyed.

 

My cousin David stopped by also and played with the kids and we made plans to watch the Eagles/ Saints game together Saturday night. Noah and Kayla watched Air Force One on TV and we ran Kayla home after the movie.

 

On Saturday Mom cooked a big breakfast and then we hot the road to get Noah to work cleaning offices. We then took a diversion to Warminster to have lunch with my buddy Frank who I had not seen in years. We ate at Burger King and Mom and Erin tolerated Frank and I while we reminisced about the years we worked together from 1987-1996. We then ran Mom to WalMart and Kmart as she had Gift Certificates for both stores and wanted to get draperies. On the way back to Doylestown we picked up Noah and the kids had fun playing with their big brother. We all made sandwiches for dinner and Noah and I watched the Colts win. David then came over and watched the Eagles with us. He was a lot of fun to watch interacting with Liam and then Jaxson after I got him up to eat. Dave and I had a blast testing each other’s sports trivia while watching the game. The Eagles let the Saints slip away in a really good game.

 

On Sunday I called Perry early and we decided to try and geocache later in the day as it was raining and Noah got called into work. I dropped Noah for work while Erin fed the baby. It was sad to drop him off early but I am all about working so it was without question he needed to go in when given the call. We then bid Mom a big thanks and headed to Sue and Perry’s place. The weather broke a little so we decided to lunch at McDonalds and then hit 5 of Perry’s local caches. We had a lot of fn in the drizzle finding Perry’s hides and needed his help on his teenie weenie yellow micro. Alas it was 3 by the time we found the fifth hide so it was off to Maryland for us. We stopped for dinner in Delaware on Liam’s suggestion for Pizza. I had Shrimp Scampi and Erin had Lasagna.

 

I had Monday off for Martin Luther King Day and Erin decided to take it off and we went geocaching again. The weather was almost 70 out. We went to Myrtle Point Park to find 4 caches. It is a lot harder caching with two little ones but we made do as I slung Liam in a Mai Tai at times and let him hike at other times for exercise. We found three out of four caches but with darkness setting in we decided to head home to dinner. We saw a beautiful sunset leaving the park.

 

When we got home we grilled chicken and Erin got the kids ready for the next week. We are bowling on Wednesday with our old teammates Garland and Will but Erin seems to be coming down with the stomach flu today at work and may be going home early.

 

Next weekend I plan to finish up sawing and splitting the wood and also burying the cable for the exterior lights now that they are working properly.

Short weekend.  Kind of an All Purpose weekend to get a few tasks caught up. 

 

Saturday morning, we went to a friends house to get some oak wood.  They had taken a tree down, and were happy that we were scavenging for our fireplace, so as to get the 5 ft logs out of their front yard. 

 

The van did an outstanding job of housing the logs (with a little help from the jeep too), and we soon had them in our garage.  The little electric chainsaw that Dad got us fullfilled it's roal too, in an outstanding manner!  We didn't get it all cut up, but really made a good dent in it.  I sawed, and Russ did a great deal of splitting with the ax.  Fortunatley the weather was a beautiful 70 out, so Liam and Jaxson were happy to be out in the sunshine too. 

 

I took a break from the wood cutting tasks, to take a look at Russ's attempt to get in the landscaping lights along our front walk.  He'd done a fine job of getting it all set up, but couldn't see to actually get them to work.  He suspected the "vampire" clips that linked the lights along the cable might not be peircing as they should.  Thus, I checked the all, but found myself still in the dark - so to speak.  I then checked the outside plug and found that it needed to be reset.  Once I did that, and assured that the switch inside the house was on, we gained our illumination without any further effort! 

 

Russ wanted some seafood for dinner so we headed to the grocery store for some crabs that were supposed to be on sale.  Unfortunately, they apparently "came in bad."  Therefore, Russ had to get some shrimp.  I got some sushi.  We also got some kumquats just because they looked fun to eat.  You eat the whole thing - peel and all - and spit out the seeds.  They are quite tastey.  They are much like little grapefruits only sweeter. 

 

Since we'd put in an exhausting day, it was easy to get the boys to bed early.  I stayed up to watch Man vrs Wild, one of my new favorite shows, while Russ played his football game on the computer. 

 

On Sunday, I got started early on the laundry.  I wanted to get it all done AND put away.  The laundry room threatens to become a family closet every week, and I refuse to let myself succomb to the prospect.

 

After breakfast, Russ went back to cutting, splitting and stacking.  I started in on a couple of hemming projects with my new serger.  Took me an hour just to thread the thing and that was WITH the "Helpful Instructional Video!"  Got 'er done though, and the machine made short work of 3 pair of jeans and a pair of courderoys! 

 

  

 

While I was sewing the boys played together... yes TOGETHER.  They were sitting on a blanket together, and for the first time, Liam was actually interacting with Jaxson.  He shared his cars, and coerced him as a passenger in the blanket car that he'd imaginined.  He must enjoy Jaxson more now that he's sitting up, and can crack a toothless smile.  It was a relief to see.  However, it doesn't come without strings... Liam doesn't know his own strength, and a couple of times I had to tell him not to squish Jaxson's belly, and not to sit on him!  Glad Jax's a tough kid!

 

 

 

I did a few other minor household tasks, but we called things to a halt for dinner.  I got the kids bathed, but poor Liam slipped in the tub and bloodied his lip.  I felt so bad because we have a "no blood, no band-aid" rule.  So, obviously, as soon as Liam began to recover, he asked for a band-aid.  I couldn't bare to tell him he wouldn't get a band-aid, so we had Daddy put one on his finger just to be safe.  Sometimes, you've just GOT to improvise. 

 

We ended the evening by watching Snakes on a Plane.  Sound scary?  Well, it is supposed to be, but even I - with my healthy fear of snakes - had no trouble watching at all.  I had more trouble suppressing my giggles!  Still, it must not have been that bad beause it did keep me awake long enoggh to see the ending!

 

Next weekend, we plan to travel to PA to see Marcie and Noah.  We plan to celebrate Noah's 17th birthday!!

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

 

Before Kate and Rich headed out the Wednesday after Christmas they all went to the playground and Erin got some great pictures. It sounds like there was some hazardous duty as Liam twisted his ankle a little and Kate hurt her knee. Who says playgrounds aren't dangerous.

Erin also enjoyed putting on her new Jo made quilt on our bed. It is beautiful and really looks good with our bedroom suite.

On Friday we were teased that we might have had a four day weekend coming up when it was announced the following Tuesday was to be a Federal holiday in honor of Gerald Ford as a day of morning. Trouble is it was a "FEDERAL" holiday and we are "CONTRACTORS", To add insult to injury my government boss accidently left a message at the house saying I was off. That was in error of course.

 

On Friday night we watched the DaVinci Code which was pretty good and had us riveted.

 

On Saturday we went to Lowe's and I used Dawn's Gift Certificate she got me for Christmas and got exterior lights. Erin took down Christmas decorations while I installed teh lighting system. It has 6 7 watt lights along the walk and two 10w lights to point at the house that are timed. Only problem is I have not diagnosed why they do not work. I don;t think I have the vampire cables completely hooked up right as there is power and the timer is working. I will work on it again Saturday as Sunday it rained. I ran to Pat's and got us Oysters and Crab and we had a nice meal.

 

On Sunday we were all lazy. We all watched the Wizard of Oz together and all the background stuff and had pizza. In the evening we had some wine and Erin helped me on a presentation I was to give at at work the following Wednesday. Before we knew it it was 10:30 so we watched Dick Clark and talked about the crazy year gone by with the new house, Jaxson's arrival and the new van. We also thought about things to do next year like me recapturing my health by dieting again and Erin and me making sure to stick to budget. Our friend Paul called from Pennsylvania and then we called Sue and Perry our friends from Pennsylvania and made plans to geocache with them the Sunday when we go to see Noah. It's been since June since we cached last.

 

On Monday we were really tired so we were ultra lazy and hardly did a thing. Liam started running a fever so I kept him home Tuesday while I worked half the day finishing up teh last draft of my presentation for work which went well the following day.

 

This coming weekend is a two dayer so Saturday we plan to get some free oak wood from  friends in teh Moms group and I hope to get the exterior lights working. Hopefully I will catch a game or two of the playoffs and I know Erin has been itching to take some time to work with her new sewing machine. The following week we go to Pennsylvania to belatedly celebrate Noah's birthday. Last night we watched World Trade Center. It was was tough to watch at times. It brought back a lot of the painful memories of that horrible day we all shared a few years back.