I took the above picture when we were in Cape May, NJ. for Lizzie's boot camp graduation.
October 2007

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Ruh roh raggy...

I miss puppy breath...

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Arapahoe Basin

Here are a few pics from our Sunday trip to A-Basin...









Early AM Annoyances

So our school system has derived new ways to assure that we all know what is going on at all times. When school is going to be delayed or closed due to weather (or something else if that should be the case), we recieve a phone call and an email, as soon as that decision has been made. It often happens that the first decision is that school will be delayed by an hour, or two, and if it appears the snow won't let up, they will change it to a closing. Well for each decision (some of which are made at 4am), we recieve a phone call. Nothing like the phone ringing 2 or 3 times before the sun rises to hear a recording from the superintendent. It must stink to have his job. It's bad enough to listen to one of those recordings, let alone having to make it at 4am. Eww.

But we have had another snow day. MBJ hasn't been to school in over a week btw. snow days and a long weekend. His teacher called today to tell me that whenever we get back to school, we'll have our Valentine party. At this rate it may be March!!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Special Congrats!!

To our sweet actress, Emma, who earned the role of Anita in her school's upcoming performance of 101 Dalmations....GOOOOOOOOOOO EMMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're Home!!

On Sunday we vowed to take it a bit easier on the slopes, just have fun with it, take more breaks, and enjoy the day. Well... that was difficult. It was snowing and blowing in the morning and driving in the mountains isn't exactly easy in those conditions. We made it to A-basin eventually and got to it. I very quickly learned that A-basin is not an ideal place to ski when you are new to skiing out west. It is steep. Very steep. It's a really cool resort, it's essentially uncommercialized with ungroomed terrain and much of what you ski is right off the face of the mountain, a bit different than old PNS I'll say! The folks I talked to said that mainly only locals come there, you know... for an extra challenge when the likes of the big easy resorts become ho-hum ;)

So we skied, I survived some runs that were over my head, and we did have a good day there. When it was time to leave it was still snowing and blowing and ended up being white out conditions at some points. So driving on the edge of a mountain with no visibility was a bit terrifying. But the worst that happened was we got rear-ended. Again. 3rd time in 6 months. No, I'm not bitter : But hey, we didn't drive off the edge, right? And guess what kind of car hit us? Yes, an Outback wagon.

After trying to get to an area with cell service, waiting for a cop, dealing with traffic, and sitting in the car for about 4 hours, we were able to collapse at the hotel, grateful to have that day behind us. Monday we got back to Ohio mid-day and were so happy to snuggle the kids, who had a great weekend with Aunt Lishy!

We were presented with cards and stories about all of the fun things they did and we are very glad to be home. We are really grateful to Lish for coming and taking care of the kids and pets for us, she went way out of her way for us and we appreciate it so much!! As soon as we get the Sunday pics off of the camera I'll put some more up.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Helloooooooo Colorado!





Marty and I are in Colorado! This is our first ski trip here together. OMG it is gorgeous here. Absolutely lovely. I forgot how much I enjoyed being around big hills like these :) Today we skied at Winter Park. The weather was great and we had a blast. We are sooo tired today. We were so excited to do some serious skiing that we didn't take a break until after about 5 hours. After a bowl of chili we were back at it. Unfortunately I had a ski malfunction quite high up and we needed a screwdriver to fix it. There was no one around so we had to hike down to the next lift, about 1000 feet below. We were exhausted. At one point M ended up with one leg buried in snow up to his waist. We are able to giggle about these things now that we are warm and resting :) Winter Park/Mary Jane are great places to ski, we only scratched the surface but we did ride up to the tippy top and look out over creation. Gorgeous.

A few observations about Denver thus far: Outback wagons are to Dever as Sienna vans are to Cinci, people are in great shape...everyone is fit and looks to be active, this last deduction results from the observation of plentiful roof racks/ski boxes on top of everyone's cars, not everyone has a great new car (even old hondas have roof racks on them), sporting goods stores are everywhere (and they have way more options than "Dick's), people here don't have any odd accents (they sound like me!!)...it seems that people spend way more time with their families exploring the great outdoors than they do back in Cinci, it's nice.
Tomorrow we ski Arapahoe Basin......hooray!!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Birthdays Abound!!!!!!!!!

Today celebrates the birth of two of my favorite mammals...Lizzie and Sunny!! Today Lizzie is 19 and Sunny is 3. I can hardly believe it's been over 3 years since Kuma died and almost 3 since Lish, Liz, and I hopped in the Mazda wagon and drove to the middle of NY to pick up our newest Chesapeake.

And 19...it seems like a million years since Lizzie was 16 and we lost our Gram and our Mom. So much has happened in 3 years. Lizzie is quite the young lady now. All 3 of us have had some hard lessons in life and Lizzie is certainly no exception. She has taken on some amazing challenges in leaving life as she new it behind and embarking on a new, arduous journey. 3 years ago no one would have accused Lizzie of being a go-getter, but she done went and got. She has a lot of grit and is already doing amazing things, working to ensure that she has a healthy, fulfilled life.

I'm proud of you baby sister. Always.

Happy Birthday Girls, we LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Kids say the darndest things

My kids have said a lot of really cute things in their lifetimes. I hate when they grow out of it and start pronouncing it the correct way.

Last week when MBJ was sick and had a fever he said that he could feel his heart "beeping" really fast, he still says beeping, as opposed to beating, and it is one of the sweetest. most endearing things ever. When I was sick he came over to give me lots of hugs and to tell me if he could hear my heart beeping too fast :)

Today in the car Emma was explaining why she didn't want to try out for the role of Cruella DeVille in their upcoming performance of 101 Dalmations... she said it would be bad enough being the villain and that "the kids would keep insulting me in song!" We also noted last week that she still says sumbarine in reference to submarines :)

And a big kudos to our big girl brainiac. She was put into an advanced math class at school. She really is great at math and enjoys the challenge of it. I'm so glad she is in a school that recognizes children who need further challenge along with children who need help catching up. Go Lakota!!

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Awwwwwwwww Man

Well I caught one of the miscellaneous bugs that's been floating about. Fever and awful chest pain. Blaaaaaaaaah. I refused to miss Juno and went to the movie yesterday despite feeling pooey. Great film. The one-liners were endless, I have TONS of new material thanks to the great writing!!

Now, I return to my misery.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Comings and Goings

Well January came and went in a blur...things are busy as always and it's been another full month. Marty spent a week in North Carolina for his new contract and I was lucky to have Lish come and stay with us for a couple of days (thanks for sharing my sister, Aaron!!). We had some good QT and a bit of chaos as we worked on repainting almost our entire first floor. When I get the urge to paint, watch out...if you stop by I will likely stick a brush/roller in your hand :)

Another fun surprise was a visit from Lizzie! She flew up from windy Mobile for a long weekend to pick up her new car. We sold our Scion to her! Since M has been working from home, we really haven't needed 2 cars and aside from saving on the monthly payment, it's good to simplify. So, after a few days of scrabble (Lish dominated pretty strongly), hugs, and fun, Lish drove with Liz back to Mobile and spent a little time with her there before flying back up here, then driving home. What a week for Lishy!!

After the fun both MB and myself had to face the oral surgeon to have wisdom teeth pulled. M's procedure was much more involved than mine and he is finally on the mend. My last wisdom tooth was pulled yesterday and it was a walk in the park compared to his ordeal. The kids both had a virus of some sort this past week and missed some school. They are feeling better now and are off to C-Bus for a visit with Grandma and Grandpa Duck!!

Emma started Karate again...this time at the dojo. She enjoyed the after school program but it wasn't as complete as the classes at the dojo. She is learning the style of Karate-do, which originated in Okinawa. She thinks that is pretty cool since that is where M and I met.

No kids for the weekend...my plan is to eat ice cream and go see Juno. Aside from that I've got nada. Painting is done, I rented a steam cleaner and did all of the carpets in the house this week. I've earned a day of rest.

Welcome February!!