A Storied Tale

Well, it has been a while since I posted and I have a storied tale to tell. One of the things that I wanted for Christmas was a Scrabble game, a nice one. JD bought it for me and gave it to me long before Christmas got here (thereby making Kellie take the one she bought back to the store). It seems that he also played while in College (for those of you that don't know, my mother played Scrabble for years, mostly at work, in the middle of the night, after all other work was done). Anyway, him and I were playing a few weeks back and I drew the low letter, meaning that I got to go first. Well, my seven letters happened to spell out Storied, which was 7 points, 14 for double word, and another 50 for using all seven letters. Score! Or, in the words Lester Burnham from "American Beauty", "I rule!" Now, I will say that the end result is that I won, 269 to 264. I like the close games.

I will say that I am very happy that the last semester was over. I got all A's so I am happy. I have started my next session, officially, today. I thought I was going to get away lucky on the price of the book. One book that was $35. Woo Hoo, I thought. Well, it was too good to be true. I had to buy an additional "reader" (book of readings) which brought the total price to $75. It is kind of like police. You know that they don't have a quota on tickets but....... Well, it appears to me that $75 is about the average price for books for a class, where ever you happen to go to school. I am not going to complain though. It is a class that I am looking forward to taking, Religious Traditions in America, and the professor seems to be pretty good. Not to mention that the book is really good, one that I will want to go back and re-read in its entirety once I am done with school. I assume that the additional reader will be a similar tale, otherwise why would he include it in the class?

Isabelle's Party!!!!!!

What a birthday party! Isabelle had the best time at Chuck e Cheese with her favorite girlfriends. We thank them for coming and making her birthday such a good time!!! She has the sweetest friends. What a couple of days, with Christmas and her birthday, it was like a sea of gifts!!!!

Happy 7th Birthday, Isabelle

Can you believe it my baby is 7 today! She is every bit as adorable as the picture shows!!! Today she is having a birthday party with her closest girlfriends!

Happy Birthday, Isabelle!!!!!

What a wonderful Christmas!!!!

We have had a busy couple of weeks, but fun! Grandma and Grandpa finally made it here after 3 days of traveling! Their dog "Butch" made the trip with them. He is a funny little dog, but he has issues and rules!!!!!!

Our tree started out so nicely decorated and with presents, then Santa came and the opening (destruction) began! But it was all good and the smiles and excitement on their faces made up for it!!!!

We hope you all had just as a wonderful Christmas as we did. However, my sister Missy and her family were not with us since she too works at a hospital and she couldn't get the time off. Next year we won't have to worry as they should be living here! :)

Christmas Activities!!!!

Our weekend has been a busy one! Ryan had his cub scout Christmas party and then Isabelle and her Daisy troop went to see the Nutcracker in Scottsdale. What fun they have had with all the celebrations going on. And with more to come this week!!!!

And a biggie for us, my parents are driving out to stay for about a month to get started on their house. We are very excited for their arrival. Unfortunately, they have hit a winter storm coming across Arkansas and then due to get one again when the hit New Mexico, so any extra prayers for a safe journey would be wonderful!!!!

Enjoy all the fun these next 2 weeks have to offer!!!!

School and iTunes

I am now officially over with school for the semester. I sweated out my environmental technology class but it all turned out okay. For those that know me, I frequently say that I can't pass a science class to save my life. I now believe that I may only have 8 classes left. The light at the end of the tunnel is now visible, so to speak. I am now starting my winter class, Religions of America and have started reading the book (satisfies both a cultural and a history requirement).

Has anyone else had trouble with iTunes? I sure hope that they get their act together.

Night at the North Pole

Hello All! I hope this finds you all getting into the Christmas season. This is a picture of Isabelle and one of her best girlfriends Janie H. at the Las Sendas (school) Night at the North Pole party. Santa and Mrs. Claus came out and took pictures with the kids. Our friend Janie isn't too fond of sitting on their lap but decided it would be okay and she did. What a cute picture the girls took!

Ryan missed the event since he was at a friend's birthday sleepover party.

My parents are due to arrive next week and we are all getting excited!

Cute!

Here's a cute picture of the kids under our tree. Just having fun with the camera! Of course, our Christmas decorations are up (at least part of them!) and we are gearing up for the holiday!

:)

Happy Thanksgiving

Here is to a wonderful Thanksgiving to all our family and friends. I hope this finds you eating more then you can handle and complaining about your belly later. As a child we would go to a movie late Thanksgiving day. Hopefully as our children get bigger we can squeeze that into an already full day.

Christmas preparations have begun. Tree up and a mess everywhere. Oh, the holidays!

Hope you have/had a great holiday!

And thankfully, this should be my parents, sister and her family's last Thanksgiving in Indiana where it is COLD!

Look who's missing a tooth!!!

Look who's missing a tooth! This is the first tooth she lost by "natural" causes! The first one was a trampoline accident. Her poor teacher, Isabelle was the only child to loose a tooth at school yesterday!

Isabelle is so excited about loosing this tooth and the tooth fairy. Isabelle and Ryan wrote a note to ask the tooth fairy to leave a webkinz instead of money. And POOF a webkinz arrive for both the kids this morning. What a deal! Isabelle also got to pick the music for todays post!

Reasons to celebrate!

We don't have much to blog about so far this week. But today is a joyous day in one family member's life and in my friend's life. First, it is my niece Madyson's 5th birthday! Can't believe she is 5 already! It's great to be 5 alive! Happy Birthday, Madyson!!!!!

The other is our family friend, daycare provider, etc..Chris. Her son Zac came home from his mission last night and I am sure she is getting all the hugs she can from him and listening to his stories! Congrats to you family, Chris.

As other things...same old stuff, work, kids activities, etc.

although, Christmas shopping has begun!!!

Have a super day!

Veteran's Day Parade

Tuesday we had off for Veteran's Day. Ryan was in the Mesa Veteran's Day Parade with his Cub Scout Pack 371. So the boys walked in the parade and the last picture is the end result after walking the parade and handing out candy!

Daisy Troop Community service project

This is our ever so cute daisy troop. They are working on their first community service project. Their leaders came up with a wonderful idea of making a pinata and then stuffing it with the candy left over from Halloween and then donating it to Sunshine Acres Home. So the girls, pinata was a giant Christmas bulb. Jeannine (leader) did all the art work and the prep and then the girls put on the green/white/red/yellow tissue paper to make it come to life. We as adults enjoyed the therapy that putting on the rest of the tissue paper ended up being!!! Thanks to our wonderful leaders (Jeannie and Jeannine) for doing all you do for the troop! You are amazing

Halloween!!!

Here are some great pictures of the kids dressed up as Indiana Jones, and Sleeping Beauty! They carved their pumpkins that they each picked out from Mother Nature's farm!

Also are 2 pictures from their classroom parties on Halloween Day.

We had a great Halloween as our neighbors came back from Chicago to visit and it was like old times they all headed out to Trick or Treat ("begging") for candy. They were exhausted after all was said and done. They made a haul of candy!!!

Mother Nature's Farm

We went to Mother Nature's farm for our very first Daisy Outing! The girls had lots of fun!!! They did a hay ride, petted the animals, decorated pumpkins and bounced in the bounce house!

Isabelle has 5 wonderful friends in her troop. She is really enjoying the girls and her leaders!

Don't the look adorable in their Daisy shirts?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not going to complain, but......

Okay, seriously. We had to turn the air conditioning back on this past week. The kids were complaining, of which the best comment was "is the air conditioning broken again?" No, not broken, Mom and Dad just don't want to pay another $261 electric bill. All of this while my friends back East (East of the Mississippi) are freezing and wet. So, I am not going to complain. I may grumble though.

4 more days until I can watch TV again. Not that I get much of a chance to do that anyway. In 4 days, all will be over with, we hope. It is amazing how passionate everyone can be about their candidate and how doom and gloom will ensue if you don't vote for your candidate.

Two comments. We all lived through 8 years of the Bush administration, barely, but we are all still here. That means we can survive at least another 4 of whomever gets into office next. And the other thing that I have realized is that Sarah Palin is one step above white trash. I say one step above since I actually like some things that she did as governor such as attacking corruption. So, yes, she is one step above white trash.

I finished my killer environmental test with an 81%. I have done the math and if he sticks with his formula for how he grades, I pretty much just need to show up for the final and I pass the class. Not fully, as I will have to study and I will study like I did last time, but it feels good.

I did find out that I believe I have only 9 classes left to take after this semester. I say 9 because the Dean's office has to approve all of it but I am thinking that it looks good. For those of you wanting to do something, I would say go back to school. The schools make it pretty easy and depending on what you want to do, a lot of it is done online at your convenience. So, I encourage you to do it.

And for those of you that don't know, Kellie's parents bought a house at the end of the street. It will be nice to have family on this side of town (I never could talk my family into moving out this way but there is still time - we love it out here and I am sure you would too). Kellie's parents just need to sell their house. Since it is all a package deal, Kellie's sister has now finally put her house on the market (she needed to clean and paint and stage prior to putting it on the market) and Missy now has her temporary Respiratory License for Arizona so now they all just need to get out here.

As for me, I don't have to fly at holidays anymore. Since I am not in any rush to fly in the first place, this excites me.

Now, can we all pray to St. Joseph to get the houses sold? More on that in the next post.

Tracy

Fall School Pictures

This is our Ryan! Cannot believe he is turning into such a big guy! Gotta love the hair!!!

He is such a Handsome guy!

This is our Isabelle! Can't believe she is getting so big! And for a fall school photo, not so bad! A big thanks to her teacher (Ms. Alfonso) for helping with her hair!

Isn't she beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dance Recital

Isabelle had her dance recital last night. The girls in her class were from the ages of 5-7 years of age and they were adorable. The girls performed to Hannah Montana "Rockstar". So that is the song that is currently playing on the blog when you log in! Adorable!!! After her performance she got flowers from her brother(what a good shopper he is!)

Done Deal!!!! Woo Hoo!!

My parents officially own a house here in our neighborhood! We are very excited for them (and us)! Now comes the fun part....selling their home in Indiana! Anyone need/want a beautiful home in Southern Indiana???? OH, well...we will keep praying to St. Joseph and hope for someone to fall in love with it and have to have it!

Now my sister and brother -in-law have to put their home up for sale and they too are coming out! :)

School and the cat

I am mentally drained. I just got finished with a 210 question (212 point), 12 chapter test (chapter 1 didn't count and we skipped a chapter at some point). I thought it was a little excessive the more I got into it. It is the kind of test that I don't think it matters how much you study for, it wouldn't have helped. I am just hoping that I did as well as the average of the class. Better than that would be okay, but not expected. Now it is on to the rest of my classes for the week.

I miss reading. Oh, I read all the time now. A couple hundred pages per week. It is all on technology, quality assurance and environmental technology. I want to pick up a book but I know that I won't enjoy it knowing that there is so much to study and read for school. Kellie is now reading all the time (well, just the one series) and Ryan has stayed up late the past several nights reading. I guess that I am a little envious. Oh, we all say, just about another 6 weeks and things will finish up for a few of those classes and then you can start reading. Well, I wish that was the case. I am going to start studying for a Microsoft Certification. Not entirely sure which one. Maybe I will figure that out this weekend.

Okay, here is "the rest of the story about the cat." So, Craig finally had to call the search off at 8 pm on Monday and hit the road. I am not envious in that decision. I know that it had to be heartbreaking leaving him, but he did it. On Thursday, after several people had been by looking for poor Magnum, I got a call from the landlord. His wife was over to see what all they needed to do to the place and she "found the cat." I say that only in the respect that she saw the cat in the window and thought to herself, "Why would Craig put a picture of his cat in the window?" A valid question, by the way, since the place was supposed to be empty. She then called her husband to let him know that she found him, he called me and about 20 minutes later, I was there "to pick him up." Sadly, he was gone again. AD (wife of landlord) was very apologetic and didn't know how to break it to me that the cat was no longer there. She almost left the cat "detritus" at the door to prove that the cat was there. Now I, knowing the landlord and wife for 10 plus years, knows that she was not crazy. That the cat was there and by golly, he had to be in the apartment somewhere. There was not much left in the apartment, by the way. A dresser, a chair, a wall unit, and some bookshelves. Not much else. We looked under everything, inside cabinets, drawers, you name it. Just as we were about to give up, I decided to lift up the washing machine and lo and behold, he was there. AD was kind enough to crawl back there to get him. Bless her since I don't think that I am agile enough to do it and I feared that actually moving the washing machine may have actually harmed him.

Thank you ET for getting on the plane with Magnum, flying to NC and then turning around and flying back. It sounds like from Craig that he finally came out from under the bed after about 48 hours to socialize with "his dad," whom I am sure that he missed.

I dug out my information on Saints but I am too drained to write about it tonight. Sometime before the end of the weekend, I will post about it, and why I am posting it.

Oh, one last thought. Remember when we were young? Well, occasionally I do. The reason that I ask is that there is a saying that goes something like "it isn't a good party until the police show up." Now, I never would have guessed that I, at 43, would go to a party with my children with the possibility that the police would show up. Long story short, my nephew, home from the Navy, was celebrating his wedding. They are a very nice couple. I can't believe he has grown up and she is very sweet. I wish them all the best in their future together (they are so young though). Anyway, about 9:30, the police showed up. Not for all the drinking that was just starting to ensue but for the loud music. We were in the process of leaving at this time but I believe that once they explained that it was for a returned veteran, they just said turn the music down and he went on his merry way. David, my niece's husband, has grown up very well. He is a lot different now than when we first met him, gosh about 7 years now. My, how we all have gotten so old.

Avidly Reading! Obsessed!!!

For any of you who know me, I am a pick 'em up and put 'em down kind of reader! Love James Patterson and most anything he writes. Love murder mysteries, but I am so in LOVE with this Twlight series! I have drug this darn set of books EVERYWHERE! Any chance I get to read even if it is 5 minutes, I am there!!! So, thank you Chris for recommending them!

And by the way, Edward could easily be my boyfriend (sorry, Tracy, love you, too!!)

I suggest you read the Twlight series by Stephenie Meyer, if you haven't done so already!

Kellie

We have a Visitor

Okay, so from last week's post, Craig left Phoenix (did anyone else notice that as soon as Craig left, the temperature dropped to below 100 - coincidence?). What we did not mention is that while he was packing, he lost one of his cats, Magnum. He eventually had to call off the search and travel on down the road about 8 hours late.

Well, the short end of the story is that his landlord "found the cat." I say "found" because he was in the duplex all the time (I think it is a funny story so I will post it later). It seems that Magnum could crawl into the washing machine through a hole in the back. He is currently resting at my house. Poor guy is what I have to say. He currently has the free roam of Isabelle's room but chooses to stay under the bed. He does come out when everyone is asleep. He is also planning on leaving on Wednesday. Erin has volunteered to fly him to North Carolina to be reunited with his dad.

The beagles, by the way, are none too pleased with the entire adventure. Homer frequently goes to the door and scratches. He also figured out how to open the door to the bathroom and found the cat food and the trash. Surprising thing is that they left the litter box (with the hor deurves) alone. Not to mention that they never found the cat. It seems that food is more important than chasing a cat, whom they truly dislike. In addition, the kids are upset with him leaving, although he (Magnum) truly does not want anything to do with them. He is a sweet boy though.

Upcoming posts include the story of how we found the cat and why we Catholics pray to saints (it seems that while we believe that this is completely normal, there is some misconception out there with non-catholics).

I voted

Okay, I have voted. I, like most people that I have spoken to, are tired of the election. I am also sick and tired of our elected officials in Washington (all of them) that do nothing for us and have made a complete mess of things. I think that I voted for no incumbents, to my knowledge. The bill passed this past Friday was a huge debacle. Seriously, giving money to Nascar? How is that going to get us out of this current economic mess that we are in? I would highly encourage you to write your congressman(woman) to let them know how happy you are with their performance. My congressman (Jeff Flake) in the house voted against the bill. I wrote to thank him for that. I heard that congress is down to, quite possibly, single digits in approval ratings right now. Let's vote to let them know how happy we are with their perfomance.

And while I am thinking about it, write your representatives in Washington to let them you know you want a balanced budget. Plain and simple. I would also like to see a line item veto (for whomever gets into office) but in my research, the Supreme Court has ruled (back when Bill Clinton was in office) that the line item veto was unconstitutional. We, as voters, can change that. And I personally believe that we can get enough people in the country to approve that.

Remember, you can't complain if you don't vote.

I would also like to thank the one person that personally apologized to me for voting for President Bush in the last election (RD - and I know you read the blog) and I truly accept your apology. I am waiting for everyone else to do the same.

Tracy

Good Luck Craig and Karen!

We wish Craig and his wonderful girlfriend Karen luck as they start their new chapter in their lives! With joy and sadness do we say goodbye to them as Craig moves across country! Here's to a safe trip! Good Luck, Karen (he, he). No! We will miss "Uncle" Craig! All the best!!!!

Getting There

Wow, lots of things happening in our lives! The kids are busy with activities and their friends any given day of the week. And for the BIG news! My parents bought a house in our neighborhood and will be moving to Arizona permanently her soon! My sister and her family to follow also! So think sell quick with the houses!!!!

Will post more later...got to up load some pictures.....

Dancing (Machine) Girl!!!

Here is our cutest little girl! She wanted to try out a dance class so one night a week we go to tap, jazz, and ballet class!

I think she digs the outfit and shoes the best!

Caffiene

Today is Kellie's 40th birthday, so in the words of my good friend Frosty the Snowman, "Happy Birthday!" Make sure to wish her a happy birthday.

Okay, onto the good stuff. Okay, so diabetes runs in my family and since I now weigh the heaviest that I ever have in my life, I need to do something before I get diagnosed (with me, I am going with it is a matter of when and not if). Anyway, I am not doing anything drastic just yet, just cutting back, trying to eat a little healthier and less (focusing on the less). Anyway, I drink a lot of soda. Today, I had maybe half a can and was real lethargic at work. It will go away. After work, I went to AJ's for some tea. I think that will be my Starbucks. Mmmmm, tea. I now feel revitalized and ready for class tonight (3 1/2 hours on Environmental Management). I know what you are saying, but trust me, it really isn't that bad. I am going to drop my cultural class. I just can't manage 4 classes and working full time. Why can't I just pick the winning numbers and then I can take all the classes I want?

Another beagle to the family

For those that missed it, please check out azbeaglerescue.com. Once the AP picked up the story, a bunch of news channels did stories yesterday. I saw three of them and although I don't watch News Channel 3 very often, they did the best story (I may have to watch them more often). Make sure to watch the full 12 minutes of the story on the link. I am surprised about how few people know about puppy mills.

Oh, back to the headline. No, it is not us getting another beagle, yet. My sister has been volunteering daily over there and is bringing one of the beagles home with her tomorrow. Apparently, she is very skittish and it will take a while for her to come out of her shell (the dog, not my sister). She (again, the dog) would not do well at our house with our active beagles but is great for my sister and her "pack."

Kellie and I are talking about fostering. Two things get in the way. 1) I would like a little older dog (puppies are a lot of work) and Kellie wants a puppy (did I say puppies are a lot of work?) so we can't agree there and 2) once we take the beagle in, I don't think we can part with him/her. It will be interesting to see what happens with my sister and the new beagle (Hera - I think).

Homer Jay found a scorpion the other night. I say night but it was really 1 am. It was on the large side and on the fence. One thing that few people realize is that dogs don't see "things" really until they are moving. So, while I had the flashlight on him, Homer was sniffing everywhere but where he was, until it moved, then he would bark at it. After about 10 minutes, I gave up on the fun and drug Homer in by the collar (at least he came willingly). For those of you that don't know, scorpions are indigineous to this area. I have only found maybe 2 in the house in all the time that we have lived here and for the most part, we leave each other alone and everyone is happy. Except for Homer. Oh, I let the scorpion live. Since it wasn't in the house, I called it no harm, no foul.

Please don't let this discourage any of you from moving out here. It is absolutely beautiful. To prove it, log into http://www.arizonahighways.com/ and check out the photo contest. One of our friends have entered a picture and I will sometime this week, if they allow it. Yes, it is Arizona Scenery, no there is no nudity. I will let y'all know when I post.

And I will keep everyone posted on the beagle front.

"I demand a recount!'

Ryan was not successful in his bid for classroom representative and he demands a recount. I don't think that he got it but that is okay. He plans to try again next year.

I am sincerely hoping that this will be the last time that I hear the word "recount" this election season. Personally, the election process has gone on too long. A lot of people would like to have a box for "neither" on the ballot and to be honest, either candidate has got to be better than who is currently in office so either one would be an improvement.

Goes way too fast!!!

Why is it when Grandparents come to visit that the trip goes so fast! We enjoyed "memaw and Pappy's" visit this past week and before we knew it a week was up and they needed to head back to Indiana. :(

While they were here we went to the Science Museum (kids loved it and us Adults were exhausted after it!), Dippin' Dots and to top it off it was Grandma and Grandpa's 41st Wedding Anniversary! Wow!

Now if we can only get them to come out here for longer periods of time, or heck just move here!