For posterity's sake..

I need to post first day of school pictures, 2010, to have for Mike and I's documentation..  You know, so when we are both 80 and looking back at the blog archives we can remember how darn cute our kids were..  So here they are!!

Mikey, almost 5, Pre-Kindergarden

 Maria (8) - 3rd grade, and Lilian (6) - 1st grade

Maria acting like a pre-teen, posing for pictures.. 

Lillian acting like a pre-teen, complaining about pictures..

So now my "annual first day of school" duty is done!  Until next year..

Tammy Crocker...

For those of you that know me reeaallly well you know that I am so NOT the homemaker type.  I hate to clean, scrapbooking annoys me, and cooking/baking is a necessary evil.  Saying that, I am Mom, and as all good Moms do, we do things that we thought we would never do for the happiness of our kids.  As is in my case, baking cakes and decorating them per child request.  I always used to take the easy way out and just order a pre-made decorated cake from the local grocery store.  However they have gotten so outrageously expensive that I refuse to spend the money on one now.  Hence my dilemma.  My cheapness has forced me into homemaker-hood.  So I don my apron (yeah, right, like I have one of those!!) and put forth my most valiant effort.  You can read about my first disastrous attempt here.  

Yeah...  It didn't go so well.  I had 6 months to shake off that first failure before my next masterpiece was upon me.  Mikey wanted a monster truck cake for his 5th birthday.  A WHAT??!!  How the heck was I going to do that!!  Ah...  hello, so not crafty here!  But thanks to a collaborate effort with my wonderful hubby (a truck expert, as we all know..) I think we managed to pull it off!  You can check it out here..

We used trucks from Mikey's stash, toothpicks and tape for flags, and crushed chocolate animal crackers for dirt.  VOILA!  I'm pretty darn proud of myself!

At this point I was feeling pretty confident for the next birthday.  Maria decided she wanted a peace sign cake for her 9th.  HA!  EASY!  If I can do a whole monster truck rally then a peace sign would be, well, a piece of cake!  I go ahead and whip it up, design the peace sign on top and proudly show it to Maria.  Where she then says, "Umm, It's pretty Mom, but it doesn't really look like a peace sign."  Huh??!  Apparently I forgot the line that runs up and down the middle..  Woops!  I guess I should have researched it and drawn it out first before cementing it in frosting.  I did my best to fix it and you can check out my sad, sad, result here..

Now Lillian's birthday is only a month from Maria's..  Keep in mind I was still feeling the sting from the peace sign fiasco.  Lillian told me she wanted a blue paw print, with three toes, facing to the left, not to the right or straight..  (Lillian is very particular, as we all know..)  This time I went to the store and picked up one of those disposable nozzle/tip frosting dispenser thingies..  (Oh, come on, don't pretend like you don't know what I mean!)  Using a cereal bowl and shotglass as a template (I knew we would get some use out of that useless collection!), it surprisingly turned out fairly well, almost professional looking (to my eyes, anyway..)!  The nozzle/tip disposable frosting thingie is the way to go!  It is forgiving, easy to use, and pretty to boot!  Ah-ha!  Finally!!  A success!  Check it out here..

Now I have another 6 months before I am forced into betty-crocker-ness again..  We shall see what will happen!  Maybe Mikey will decide he wants a paw print....

Kitchen Remodel..

This past fall Mike and I decided to remodel our kitchen.  It all started when Mike came home from work one night and said that a kitchen place was going out of business and all their granite was 50% off.  Well, with a deal like that, how could we not?  Right...  I was hesitant to spend all the money, but have desperately wanted a new kitchen for years now!!  It didn't take much convincing to decide to go ahead with it..   So it started..  

Our kitchen went from this..

2006

To this after we moved in..  

The wallpaper and light fixtures had to go right away!  However everything else we have been living with since 2006..  I could not wait to say good-bye to the blue laminate countertops and pickled cabinets!!

Mike built a raised bar area..

And our new IKEA apron-front farm sink arrived..  (Shhh..  it was only $299!!  Most apron-front sinks go for thousands of $$!)

The granite was installed..

And hours upon hours, days upon days, weeks upon weeks was spent painting and glazing the old nasty pickled oak cabinets.. (can you tell this was my part of the remodel?)

A tile backsplash was added and..

VOILA!!!  Our new, beautiful kitchen!!  Isn't is so pretty..  

We enjoy it so much.  And we take pride in it..  Other than the granite being installed, Mike and I did all the work ourselves.  Yep!  It pays off being a DIY couple..  Not only does it save you money, but if you  can live through it and still be madly in love with your spouse by the end then you know that as a couple you can do anything!

Grandpa..

Not all events that have happened between my last bout of blogging and this one have been happy times.  We lost the patriarch of the Atkinson family this past December.  Grandpa was the cornerstone of the family and a huge hole has been left with his passing.  Even though it was not unexpected, it still was extremely hard to say goodbye.  So let me share with you what I think of when I remember Grandpa...  A quick wit with a twinkle in his eye, always a twinkle.  Big, rough, working man hands that could never wait to hold one of his grandbabies.  Suspenders and a belt, the man always had suspenders on.  In the earlier days, coveralls covered with sawdust.  The curliest eyebrows peeking over glasses that covered the bluest of eyes.  Carvings.  Platters for his plate at holiday dinners.  Sitting in his chair and enjoying the chaos of his family around him, soaking it all up.  A hard working man with so many talents and hobbies and a big heart.  I love you Grandpa and miss you.  You are not gone, but forever in our hearts and memories everyday.

We always had to have a family photo together when I came up to visit..  This is baby Maria.

Baby Lillian and Maria..

The three grandkids with the great-grandparents..  I am forever grateful that they had the chance to know Grandpa and what an extraordinary man he was.

He loved his grandkids!  This is Gramps with Lillian.

And Mikey, I love how they are both holding their hands the same way..

My conviction in marriage has been cemented by seeing how much Grandma and Grandpa loved each other.  It was so obvious the adoration and affection between the two.  They were married for 60 years when Grandpa passed.  A love that lasts a lifetime.

Good-bye Grandpa..  You are forever in my heart and always in my thoughts.  Love you.

Half-Marathon success!

A few months back (OK, more like 8 months back..) I told you about my half-marathon quest.  You can read about it here.  Well I am here to tell you today that I did it and survived!  I ran 13.1 miles and lived to tell about it.  So stinkin' proud of myself.  If someone had told me a couple years ago that I would officially become a runner I would have slowly backed away from them considering them a raging lunatic.  Not so crazy anymore!  I still don't love to run, however I do love the sense of accomplishment you get when you push yourself to do something you never thought you were capable of.  Yay me!!!!  And Yay to my brother-in-law and neighbor who stuck with me throughout the whole adventure (alright, more like finagled me into doing it with them..  no backing out when you have the fear of lifetime ridicule at stake!)  We rocked that run..  Rain, rocks, mud, puddles and all!  So when do we do the next one?  Maybe never?  I guess we will have to see!

Before the run, early morning, can't believe I am about to do this..

That's me in the blue shirt!  You can't see in this pic but I was silently cursing the person who designed to have the finish line going uphill..  Really??  Almost there!

And done.  We were soaking wet, muddy, and exhausted but felt like a million bucks!  I finished in 2:07:55, pace 9:45/mile, 73/141 in my age group, 356/623 overall.  I can live with that!

Another trip to the lake..

After recovering from Niagara, we took the trek up to Bob's Lake, Canada for a little fun.  Bob's Lake holds many memories for me growing up as a kid.  I landed my first Northern Pike and learned how to ski there. Now I am able to share my memories with my kids while they develop memories of their own.  And, boy do they have fun!  Four days are packed full of:

Fishing 

Swimming

Skiing

Snail-hunting

Minnow-watching

Tubing

Treading water after being dumped from said tubing..

Smores

and boat-riding, paddle and power!

 It is such a good time and my family is so fortunate to have wonderful friends who open up their camp, year after year, no questions asked, to us.  Thank you so much!  This is one vacation that the kids repeatedly ask to go back to.  Bring it on!  Maria has to get up on those skis this year!

Niagara Falls Weekend Whirlwind Trip!

Last June (yes..  June of last summer, I know, lots of catch up!) we took a whirlwind weekend trip up to Niagara Falls with the kiddos.  We had a blast!  There is nothing like seeing Mother Nature at her best.  Beautiful and Awe-inspiring!  Just look at her work!

Of course you can't go to Niagara Falls without a trip on the Maid of the Mist!  Amazing!

We were soaked, but this was one boat ride the kids will always remember!

I don't think we could do too many quick whirlwind trips in a row..  We were exhausted after 2 days!

Here I go again!

Well, Mike has been harping on me to get this blog thing going again..  "It's so much better than Facebook..", he says, "It tells our story!"  Yeah, yeah..  He seems to forget that you need people to actually READ the blog to hear our story.  Not to mention the WORK and TIME that goes into keeping this thing going!  But I have to admit, he is right.  It is our story.  And if for nothing else, it is a great way for Mike and I to document our lives as we get older.  It seems all too often we get caught up in the hectic now and forget to enjoy it.  This is our way of looking back and enjoying all of our moments together later.  The kids seem to be growing up way too fast and with our blog, we can slow it down and celebrate all of the little accomplishments that get forgotten about day by day.  So, there you have it.  For those very few of you that actually read this, sit back and enjoy the next installment of "The Gross Life" with me.  Let's start with a little catch-up since last July!  A lot has happened:  a half-marathon, Girl Scouts leader, MBA, vacations, school, sports, kitchen remodel, basement remodel, birthdays, holidays are to name just a few!  Look forward to hearing more about these things in the near future!