BINGO!!!!

My best friend Michele and I decided to go and do something really wild and crazy.. Bingo! You scoff now but let me tell you, it is serious business! I just dare you to sit in a Fire Hall filled with 150 old women prattling incessently with each other.. And then use the one bathroom in the building at the end of the night.. Oh yeah, that is living life right on the edge.. Crazy verging on insane but I did it and I survived! Here we were right before we went in, all excited with the prospect of winning big on our minds!!

All kidding aside, we really did have a great time! We sat at a table with 6 other women, 4 of them being old friends from a retirement community. There is nothing funnier and more heartwarming than hearing the comfortable rapport and razzing of a bunch of old ladies. They were great. I just hope Michele and I can be just as cool at that age.

And our table was a lucky one! 4 of the 8 won some moola, unfortunately just not Michele or I.. But I won a door prize and raffle! Yep, that's right, I am now the proud owner of a very awesome picnic bag, complete with built in cooler, plates, cups, cutting board, utensils, wine bottle holder stocked with a bottle of wine and blanket. Very cool indeed, and I am sure that at some point we will get some use out of it.

Even Michele was able to take something home, a magnetic notepad. It's not the $100 haul that some women scored but at least it was something! And knowing this afternoon was all for a good cause (the local Humane Society, to be exact) made it all the more enjoyable and worthwhile. Thank you Michele, for going with me. I had an amazing time, even if we didn't win big.. So when's the next time we're going?? We need to WIN!!!

Mr. Ed, Spies, Randomness..

So I took Mikey to the dentist a few days ago for a check-up and to get his overbite looked at.. The kid has the biggest overbite I have ever seen.. We are talking Mr. Ed sized.. There is at least an inch overhang between his top and bottom teeth. Poor kid, when he sleeps or is just relaxing he looks like the picture above, teeth over his bottom lip.. It is just where they naturally want to fall when he is not thinking about it! I think it also inhibits his speech.. L's and R's are very difficult for him to pronounce. Anyway, clearly, to me, it is not getting better. But of course the dentist insists that he still has a couple of years growing to do and that his jaw may grow forward some and close up the gap.. I'm thinking if I haven't seen any improvement so far (quite the opposite, actually) then it ain't gonna happen!! But I will play it by their rules and wait until he is 6 before I insist on an Ortho consult. That gives us 2 more years to start saving the pennies for what I am sure is going to be a costly fix!!

And because it has been a while since you have seen Lillian's beautiful face, here she is! This was taken after I caught her watching her new favorite movie, Spy Kids. She was mimicking the kids movements with their spy glasses exactly with her own "Spy glasses".. When they pushed theirs down, she pushed hers down, when they took them off, she took hers off, when they put them back on, she did the same.. It was so cute! My little actress..

And, of course, what use is a picture of Lillian if her favorite critter isn't in it with her?? Absolutely none, according to her.. So here she is with Hoops, doesn't he look thrilled!

Happy Birthday Maria!!! You are 8 today!!!

While I sit here watching the 2010 Olympic figure skating competition, I am reminded of another similar night that happened exactly 8 years ago.. in a small town hospital delivery room in Ozark, Alabama. I was watching the 2002 Olympic figure skating competition, waiting for Maria to decide to finally come into this world. And what a night that was!! My first baby girl was born and my life was forever changed, for the better. You are my little ray of sunshine, my sweet, sweet little girl who has the most tender heart and gentle soul. I love you Maria, I am so very proud of the little young lady you are growing up to be!

Now on to the pictures! Maria had a few of her very best friends come over to help her celebrate and one even stayed over for Maria's very first sleepover. What a special day for a special girl! She got her very first Webkins from a couple of her friends.. Who knew that was what 8 year olds were into now.. I certainly didn't!

And she was almost as thrilled with the books Mike and I got her. I LOVE her love of reading!

Happy Birthday Maria!!! I hope you had a great day, and remember, we will always love you!!

Snow-mageddon!!

Oh and how the kids loved it!!! Just look at that smile! I know this post is a little late but I wanted to post pictures of the crazy (for PA, anyway..) snow we got a couple of weeks ago! Two big storms, within days of each other, dumping approximately 15 inches each.. CRAZY! This a pic of the first pass..

And what good is having all that snow if you don't partake in a good ole fashioned snowball fight?? Hmmm?? Exactly. Mike and I thought it was our parental duty to introduce the kids to the art of snowfort making and snowball warfare. Which went over... Okay... Mikey whined the entire time we were building our fortresses.. (too boring for him, he wanted to get right to the throwing snow at his sisters part..) The girls had a blast building their castles, however the first rogue snowball that hit Lillian put her out of the game.. (crying and whining because she got hit..) Well, hate to break it to ya girlie, but that is part of the game!!! It was boys vs. girls and it was a very gruesome war.. Ending only when the elder Mike tackled me like a linebacker and threw me to the ground.. destroying the girls fort in the process.. Bully. Here we are in the process of making our fort, and Mike thinking he is funny by shaking snow on Maria..

Let the snow fly!!

This was a serious competition.. Just look at Mikey's focused look.. Never taking his eyes off his target.. His father taught him well.

And the inevitable demise of the girls' team.. This is me flattened after Mike ran over me.. Our poor fort..

After snowfall #2..

Granny would be so proud.. Her little Snapper did us proud!! Worked like a champ eating that snow and spitting it back out.. I know she was smiling down at us from up in Heaven..

And last.. Fezzik.. He LOVES the snow.. This was in our driveway after the 2nd pass.. Up to his belly.. At least another 15 inches! He should have been a Husky..

And Here She Is!!!

Isn't she sooo pretty.. Our brand spankin' new 95% efficient Tappan furnace with humidifier. Can I just say how nice it is to have heat again... And she was installed right before the first of the two big snowfalls we had (more on snow-mageddon later..) She works beautifully!! Our house is so much more comfortable now, more even-temperatured, no more hot and cold rooms, not as dry.. And just as pretty is her sister, our brand-spankin' new 16 SERE air conditioning unit.. which we will get to enjoy this summer.. I am positive she will run just as great.. I am looking forward to it!

As promised..

Maria played her last basketball game yesterday. Her team finished up with a winning record of 5 and 2. They did great! And the 2 games they lost were squeakers.. only defeated by a couple of points each. Way to go!!! Maria had a phenomenal time and learned a lot about the game. You can't ask for much more than that! And as promised, here is a little video medley of Maria hitting a couple of freethrows and also a few missed opportunities.. Hey, you can't sink them all! Enjoy!

Bless gas fireplaces and wonderful husbands..

The object of my attention pictured above has been the kids and I's main heat source this past week. Yep, I jinxed us. In the previous blog I went on and on gushing about how Mike had fixed our furnace and it was running great. Well, to give him credit, Mike DID fix it, it just broke again. This time for good. The decrepit, antique piece of junk finally kicked the bucket. And since it is such an old piece of crap (22 years old, to be exact) they don't make parts for it anymore. Not a one. After futilely looking for a few days for the one teeny piece we need, to no avail, we finally had to come to terms with the fact that we need to replace it.. Crap. This was NOT in the budget. We just put a new roof on for crying out loud!!! Sorry. Had to get that out. Oh the joys of being a homeowner..

And wouldn't you just know it, the dang thing decided to break during the one week Mike was gone on a work trip. Yep! He left Sunday afternoon and the hunk of junk died Sunday night. Gotta love it. Luckily we had the gas fireplace, which did a phenomenal job of keeping the house pretty warm! And thanks to the generosity of some great neighbors, we had a few space heaters upstairs for when we were sleeping. So the kids and I made out alright for the week while we waited for the new furnace to get installed. (not so much, I think, for our future gas and electric bills, however..) Poor Mike.. I know he was probably having fits being away and unable to do anything during all of this. So much so that he sent us flowers with the the message "Hang in there Babe, I'll be home soon." Have I mentioned how much I love that man??

My little bouquet with my favorite, daisies. Notice the fire in the background..

and the kids flowers, pink roses for the girls and a red carnation for Mikey.. The girls, of course, loved them. When I gave Mikey his I got an "AAaaawwWWW.. NooOO.. I want a boy toy!!"