Rent-a-Hubby for hire!!

Everyone needs a handy fix-it man when they own their own home.. I am just fortunate to be married to one!! His skills have ranged from painting, floor-laying, electronic-fixing, landscaping, exterminator, pooper-scooper, car repairman, and most recently, furnace-cleaner.. to name just a few of the many extraordinary talents the man possesses. All that in a big, sweet, handsome package.. What a lucky lady I am!!! But I digress, on to the furnace!

We woke up last Saturday to, once again, discover we had no heat. (this has happened twice before.. both on Saturdays as well.. its Murphy's Law don't you know..) The first time it happened Mike was out of town and I had to call in a repairman.. All the man did was take the guts out, clean them, and put them back in again.. Voila!! It worked!!! Now that we KNOW that's all it occasionally needs, Mike is quite capable of doing that himself and saving us a couple hundred bucks. So, after removing the guts, blowing all the rust out of it (our furnace is OLD.. come on baby.. don't rust out yet.. we just got a new roof and a new furnace isn't in the budget for another few years!!) it ran again like a charm.. Thank you hubby!! Now off to put together a marketing campaign to pimp out my husband.. Cash only, please..

Sooooo Maria...

So Maria had the distinct pleasure to go to Build-a-Bear yesterday with a friend to celebrate her friend's birthday. She had a GREAT time and needless to say, I was not at all surprised by the creation she made. She choose a snow leapard with sparkly fur, dressed in sparkly hot pink, with a busy, colorful shirt, with the Jonas Brothers singing when you press her paw. Sooo Maria!!! Her fashion sense is firmly implanted and has always been a little on the crazy side!! She loves color, patterns, and glitz.. Throw in some cheesy, teeny-bopper, pop music and she is in heaven!! Maria likes to make people happy and her taste in clothes and music reflect that. Bright, vibrant colors with upbeat, happy music. She just shines, inside as well as out!! Now as long as the 70's-80's look stays in fashion she'll be just fine...

First day of school pic.. Just an example of how she likes to dress... She LOVES that skirt, the more colorful, busy, and sparkly the item, the more she loves it!

Her backpack choice for this year... Hmmm.... Do you see a resemblance??

Mike's on a diet...

Doesn't he look THRILLED??!! Mike has decided to hold a "Biggest Loser Competition" at work after stepping on the scale recently. His goal?? 20 lbs in 12 weeks. A very attainable goal indeed! Now just let me go on record as to say that.. This was not my idea!!!! I think my dear sweet hubby is fine the way he is.. However, Mike had other thoughts. After he saw that he is the heaviest he has ever been in his life, he decided it was time to start doing something about it.. His solution? Make it a competition at work, that way he is held accountable every week for his pounds lost. And now he also has coworker support, seeing how I am not much help since I am definitely NOT dieting!! (Actually, quite the opposite, I am trying to PUT ON weight!!) So go for it honey, I know you can do it.. Just start exercising more and it will come off.. Always does when you get on an exercise regime.. Oh, and no more late night snacking!! Just ignore me when I am beside you chowing down on my chocolate caramels...

It's that time of year again!!!

Girl Scout cookie time that is!!! I love this time of year, there just isn't anything that is quite as good as a Girl Scout cookie. Mmmmm... Since it was so nice out yesterday, Mike took the girls (and one of Maria's class/basketball mates) around the neighborhood to hussle some sales. They did very well! And I am so impressed with Lillian.. Mike said she started out at the very first house, pitching her sales speech with no hesitation. That is HUGE for her!! To willingly talk to strangers with no qualms about it. She has just flourished these past couple of years, and I think that her phenomenal teachers are a big part of that improvement. And to think a few short years back I was so concerned with her that I had her evaluated for Selective Mutism! Way to go Lillian! Keep it up!

2nd grade basketball

So this year is the first year Maria has had a chance to try out basketball. I wasn't even going to mention it to her this winter (I just assumed she wouldn't be interested..) but she came to me asking if she could play. Well I am certainly not going to tell her no if she wants to try something new, so her basketball journey began! She has been doing pretty good for someone who has never played before. The coach is wonderful and is really teaching the girls the fundamentals of the game. She seems to be really enjoying herself and it's really good exercise to boot! Her team was undefeated up until this last game, where they lost by one point. They went up against another really good undefeated team and just couldn't quite pull it out, with the final score 15-16. But it's alright! They put forth a valiant effort and still had a good time. Way to go Maria, keep learning and most importantly, keep having fun! We will see if Maria's interest in the game will continue next year! I apologize for the poor pictures.. It is really hard to get a good action shot with this game!! I will try again next week and maybe post a little video clip.. Stay tuned!

Time-out huddle time...

Spring in January!

Today was a beautiful day!! After weeks of frigid cold temps, the mercury finally began to rise to top out at around 50 degrees. The kids were LOVIN' it!! Mikey and Lillian were able to get some playtime in on a snow-free playground while waiting for Maria's basketball game to start (more on that later..). When we got home, we noticed that a neighbor had set out a 6 speed girl's bike for sale. What a fortunate coincidence! Mike and I were planning on buying Maria a larger bike this spring and giving Lillian Maria's old one.. (Lillian has WAY outgrown her current one, she looked like a giant riding this summer!) So for $15 we were able to get a practically new set of wheels for the eldest! You just can't beat that... I do love a good deal! And I really, really love the warmer temps!! So come on Spring, I'm ready for Winter to be over!

Maria with her new big girl bike.. A six speed with hand brakes. She seems to have gotten the hang of it with no problems! Gotta love that expression..

Lillian on her "new" bike.. She was so ecstatic to now call it hers! Training wheels will be coming off this Spring big girl, so get ready!!

What little boy doesn't love a bright red Huffy? I know Mikey does!!

And so it begins....

On this day, January 13th, 2010, at approximately 5:15pm, a (get ready for it...... GASP!!) BOY called for Maria. Oh boy... And even better, MIKE had the pleasure of answering the phone. I have not seen the man so flustered in a very, very long time... And so it begins... At the ripe old age of 7 (oh, excuse me, almost 8, as Maria would say..) May heaven help us...

Ringing in the New Year at the Frozen Tundra...

So the family decided to pack it up and head up to Northern NY to ring in the New Year. When I was growing up, my family would always get together with a dear friend's family to celebrate New Year's Eve. The kids would spend all night playing and watching movies while the adults would spend the evening playing cards. After all these years, that New Year's Eve tradition is still alive and well! Mike, the kids, and I, joined by my parents and brother, spent the evening with our dear friends, the only difference being that I and my fellow "kids of the past" were now the adults playing cards with our parents while our children were the ones playing and watching movies. It is so nice to see and share with our kids some of our memories and traditions from our childhood. We had a great time, ate some good food, drank some good wine, and played some seriously competitive games of "Crap on your neighbor.." Team Geritol (the old fogies), just you wait.. Team Plebian (us) will persevere and conquer!!

We had a couple more days of relaxing and visiting with my parents (thank you again Mom and Dad for everything!) and then we headed back south. When we got home this is what we saw....

It looked like we took a road trip across the extreme northern frozen tundra!! Which, now that I think of it, Watertown NY is really not that far off... I could just hear the rust starting...

The object of my distraction..

Oh cherished books, how I do love thee.. I know I have been rather quiet for the past couple of weeks, but there is a reason. For Christmas Mike got me the book set of the Twilight series. As any normal, sane book enthusiast would, I immediately immersed myself into the paranormal world of vampires and werewolves and didn't come up again until the final page was read. Ahhh.. How I do love a good book... or 2, or 3, or even 4... I just can't love a good book too often or else nothing would get done! They are one of my vices.. One with which I need to be very, very careful with.. I will sit and read all day and all night, ignoring every other chore and obligation until I have finished my current obsession. And as for my latest obsession, it was very good.. Certainly not "Harry Potter" material, (not much can top the bar set by Harry and company at Hogwarts, in my opinion..) but an entertaining read, nonetheless! Now on to my much neglected chores.. Blogging included!