Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Time to Blog

Yeah! I actually have a minute to sit and do this for once. It has be a hectic couple of days.
Last Wednesday we went to STOMP! at the PAC. I got tickets from my sister for Christmas (early) and I took Brock, Reece and Reece's friend Jacob. I wanted to take Duner but the work-a-holic, had to work. I was going to take Zeb, but He was sound asleep by the time I got the Grandma's after work, so I let him sleep and called up Jacob's mom.
It was stormin' something fierce that day but it didn't stop ANYone from going I think. It was still pretty crowded. The Boys LOVED it! They were laughing so loud people were looking at us. I can only guess what they were thinking. Reece, my sensative one, must have noticed and started to tell Jacob to not laugh so loud.
It was very neat, and I must give my sister one big THANKS for the tickets. They were a pleasant get away, which is very appreciated at this point!

We have 10 days and counting till we move in to our home. The brick guy was there today getting ready to put the bricks on tomorrow. It sounds like the majority of 'little stuff' will be tied up this week! Yeah! Duner told my Mom that they should be able to claim us on there taxes for the year. (LOL) Duner is giving my dad some stiff competition for her cookies and muffins. Duner is such a sweetness freak! Last week my mom made some kind of cookies that Duner says "They just melt in your mouth". Apparently he is all about the texture.

Well my time is up, I have to go get the boys from school.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

These are the days of our Lives...

We finally got Reece's 2nd retake pictures back yesterday. They have turned out much better, no food, looking awake, and apporiately dressed. Yeahhhhh!!

Right now Brock is sitting next to me doing his homework asking for either me or Reece to spoon in some tuna salad in his mouth since he is to 'busy' doing homework....?????? Needless to say we are not going to.

Wednesday I will be taking all of the boys to STOMP at the Preforming Arts Center in Downtown Appleton. I got the tickets for Christmas from my sister Sara. I am pretty excited to go, since I have never been to the PAC for anything other then a school function for the boys.

At the house on Wooden Shoe today they put in the cabinets, vanities and mantle. I LOVE the fireplace mantle. They also leveled out the ground around the house. I didn't know they could do that with frozen ground. After seeing the colors of the rooms Brock has decided he wants to share a room with Zeb.... We will see how long this lasts... Reece wants us to paint little airplanes around his room. I was going to do a 'Hot Wheels' theme for Zeb, but if Brock wants to share the room we will see.

Zeb LOVES to runaway with the baby Jesus from my mom's nativity set and hides him. I think he was even found in the refridgerator. We put away that set and put out a set I got from my cousin for our wedding. They are hand painted ceramic pieces. It even has the eyes and eye lashes painted on it. It hasn't been set out for 3 years, because I didn't want any of them to get broken or lost especially with the kids. It used to have a barn to house them in but that broke with in a year.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Oh Christmas Tree...

On Sunday we made arrangements with Cory and Shannon to go Christmas tree shopping with them. It was very cold.

While we were waiting for them to get ready Duner and Cory were discussing the future trip that they want to go on in appx 2 years. They are going hunting in Montana somewhere. Shannon and I said ok if you do that we get to go somewhere else, like New York. Sounds like fun to me!!! New York is one trip Duner NEVER cares to go on, nor do I want to go hunting, so That would be nice. We get along really well. We will call it the 'widow's weekend'.

We drove around for one and a half hours looking in Oshkosh for a Christmas Tree. Brrr... We found some Charlie Brown trees at Steins for 30.00 or if we wanted to pay up to 80.00 we could have bought from one off the street vendor. He had some very nice trees but give me a break!!!
Appleton is peppered with all kinds of trees! I don't know if Oshkosh has something against tree vendors but they are not to be found in Oshkosh. So we just went home without a tree....

Zebbie did Such a GREAT job on Sunday going to the potty, but took a step back yesterday. He knows better but he just doesn't want to do it.
As I drove errand after errand yesterday I found a $20 tree vendor with some nice trees in Appleton, so after Duner got out of work Reece came with us and picked out our tree. Reece was so proud. We did have to drive the tree to Oshkosh but that was ok.... I think today I am going to try to get the lights out of storage. I can see them but i can't really reach them. I am going to try use the ladder in storage to reach them.
We shall see.
Today St Nick came to visit the kids, all of the kids got a lego 'x-pod', I Spy books, movies and of course candy. Chocolate of course. Reece got the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Brock got the movie 'The Pacifier' and Zeb got the movie 'Robots'. They also got goofy fake teeth that we told Reece he should lit Grandpa use for teeth.

Happy St Nicks Day!

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Potty Training not so hot...


As you can see from this picture of Zebbie, as he likes to call himself, potty training is not going so well.

I ran across this picture of Zeb while downloading the birthday pictures of Reece. Today is his 8th Birthday. He got tinkertoys from grandma Z and 'fly wheels racing toy' from us. We bought 3 just so they wouldn't fight. But they are boys so yes I know they will fight anyway, but it worked for some time at least~
Auntie sara gave him a metal detector that he loved to find all of the nails in the floor of the house with it. That will come in handy when we get in the new house we will send him out to the yard to search out nails and other 'treasure' that is hidden in the yard/driveway.
His cake was a candy cane cake from Kraftfoods.com . I get this free receipe magazine every 3 months or so from them and this was on the cover. It had chunks of candycanes in it and on it. It also had chunks of chocolate in it with whip creme frosting, yummy.... Reece really liked it. So did I.

We found out we can't get the sbc 'all in one' package at our new home, since they dont have it out there yet, so we will be checking our options. I have to meet will our cell phone company to change my cell to our home phone.

This is what it looks like today. We are looking at the kitchen, dining, living room area is to the front. Our bedroom is off the dining area and the kids bedrooms are behind you in the picture.

We are getting it painted on Monday and Tuesday I have to paint the ceilings in the boys' bedrooms and both bath rooms. I don't want to take them too much off their schedule. Maybe we can bring the boys and have Duner help me out with it. I am not holding my breath.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Nosey Neighbor

I am just a nosey neighbor. We drove down College Ave today and noticed that a beautiful old home with river frontage was for sale. It is just above a dairy plant that Duner used to work at.
This is the Olde time house that I am talking about. The taxes alone are $8200. I just do not see that being worth it.
When we went to visit the Wooden Shoe home they had already finished the plaster and where sitting down eating lunch. The sheet rockers where out in the garage hanging drywall out there. Our project manager asked us to pick up a doggie door today for our kennel. He also told us that they will not quite be able to poor the slab for the dog kennel this year. They will have to do that in the spring with the driveway. The siding is going on this week along with the bricks.
On Monday they are to be painting. The boys room will be clary sage, Zeb's will be Take five ,Our room will be Sedate Gray, bathrooms will be utterly beige and the rest of the house will be Anitque White. (you will have to type in the name on the SW website to see the colors.) They aren't exactly the same as the samples I have, but you might get the idea.


Well I have a bunch of presents to wrap....

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Army Central

This is going to be the Brock and Reece's new bed room in the new house. I just got the ok from Brock and I am sure Reece will like it. He wanted green in the worst way in his Room. My sister was threating him to decorate in pink, with blue ribbons of course... He takes it so literally. I don't know where he gets that from, it must be a middle child syndrome thing.

I still don't know what to do for Zebs room yet. Maybe we will do something with race cars but that I don't want it to cheesy. He just LOVES Hot Wheels and anything to do with them. That makes him easy to buy for Christmas.

Well I must go, hopefully I will be able to write more this weekend or on the holiday.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Long time no write...

Boy has time flown by. We are 'homeless' after today. We have moved to Oshkosh into a duplex with Duner's Brother Cory and Shannon his wife. The boys really don't mind too much. Zeb loves Uncle Cory and Chance, his chocolate Lab. He really likes that he listens to him.
Speaking of puppies, ours almost ran away yesterday. We were all in the house when Brock was feeding them when they got out of the kennel. The ran around the house behind us and Brock thought he lost them forever he started to turn around and walk back to the house crying when they came running after him. Duner got Thunder and then lighting just hung around his brother. That is the good thing about having the 2. One ends up being bait.

Aunt Shannon is pregnant and due in late March. It will be the 9th grandchild in the family. If it is a boy it will be #9. She is having an ultrasound tomorrow and will be finding out if it is a boy or girl.

They worked their butts off yesterday in the cold, rain and wind to fix a porch off the back of the house. The had to since they only had 30 days to fix that, after they bought the house. They also have to fix the circuit breaker from fuses and cut down brush from around the house.

On Saturday Brock had the opportunity to be in the Oshkosh parade, but Boys Scouts where meeting at Pancheros Mexican Grill to make what ever they wanted in the kitchen. Brock was torn, but the Boy Scouts will get to march in the parade in June so he went to Pancheros. Brock and Reece both got to make quesadellias. They made the tortillia from soft dough, it was really cool. They both LOVED the queso dip especially. At the end they were both trying different types of hot sauces, daring each other to try them.

Well I must go, here is a picture of our house from last week. The roof was supposed to go on this weekend but with the winds they didn't do it yet. Hopefully soon. It is hard to look around when you are freezing your butt off. Brrrrr.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Back in the saddle again....

Well it has been a busy day but I just wanted to post a quick note. They are going to start framing the house this week. This is an updated picture.
Duner's surgery went well today, I had to leave him for a few hours at the surgery center and he called 2 hours later asking why I didn't come back for him yet.
This weekend went well for the most part, My sister helped TONS with the packing and moving. I didn't realize she was the packing tornado. She was so quick I missed which box she put my spice rack/salt and pepper holder. I will eventually find it.
Today was picture RETAKE day for Reece. I won't go into what he was supposed to wear but didn't! Oh well, maybe I can keep the others if this time doesn't turn out.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Moving Onward...

Well today is the last day we will have cable and internet access. We will be moving on tomorrow and wont' have cable again til next week. (ok, so it is not that long...)
Tonight we are going to rest up before the big move. I am not happy with the lack of my husband being around since he will be working. I won't go in to that right now. I am still waiting to hear from my brother in law about where they would like us to put our stuff. I am so very glad I am not at work, at least I am off until Wednesday.
Well gotta go!

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Yes I am nuts.


This is another picture of our home. The smaller section in the front is our porch, the medium section off to the left is our garage and the rest is the basement. We are moving out this weekend to Oshkosh for temporary home with our Dressers and beds, Our TV and computer to my parents house, and the rest to storage. Like, washer, dryer, freezer, entertainment center, sectional sofa, kids computer, desk, and dining room table.

Nuts! This week we also put our 2nd Cat to sleep. That was hard because we got that one the day I went into labor with our 7 yr old Reece (almost 8). She was falling down a lot and messing around the house, then recently she has gained probably half of her 8 lbs that she weighed. She really plumped up. But she is in kitty Heaven now. It was really hard when Zeb asked as we left "Where kitty go?". He didn't understand why she didn't come back with us. We got a sympathy card from the vet today for her.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Inspection.... Check.

Wednesday was the day that the buyers inspector came thru our home. It started at 8am and lasted past 11 am. Yes. OVER 3 HOURS!!! No I do not have that big of a house.
The realtor said it was the longest inspection for a house our size by far. He found things wrong with our house that should have been caught by our inspector when we bought the home! We need to put in a grounding rod for our circuit breaker, fix a outlet, and line the chimney. The buyers also wanted us to pay half for a new roof on the garage and fix the bearings in the furnance.
We purchased a home warranty that should cover the bearings. So we agreed to everything except that and they agreed to that. YEAH!!
We are going to view Cory's duplex in Oshkosh tonight and see how much room it has as soon as Duner gets out of work. We bought a chain link dog kennel and the guy we bought it from will deliever it wherever we want when we decide. Zeb was helping me put CD's from our entertainment center into a box today. It was taking a little longer since he would go one at a time, but he kept saying 'thank you' each time I took one from him. It was cute.
Today we went around our neighborhood picking up food for the hungry with boy scouts. The kids sat on the back tailgate while I drove them through the neighborhoods watching for bags of food on front porches. It was sprinkling a little bit, but the kids didn't mind too much. They loved checking out what people would drop in the bags and anouncing it to us in the car. A few times Reece would do it on the front of peoples porches. We stopped that.
Well this is what our house looks like currently. The company we are building with posted this on a website they set up for us about our house. This week they have scheduled on the calendar to pour the basement walls and framing is scheduled for next week. On their calendar the hope to finish the home on December 22, so maybe we will get in by my birthday afterall.....

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Storage Unit..... Check.

So we got a storage place to move our stuff until January. It is nice and big. 13 ft by 28 ft. We should (hopefully) fit our stuff in it. I finally got the house number on the street we are going to live. Duners Brother will be moving in on Friday. We can move stuff into storage as soon as tomorrow. I have so many things on my mind of what to do next I have a neat rash of acne started on my chin. I rarely get acne!! But now a whole family of acne has started out of nowhere.
Luckily I saw a home recently with the actual 'Cactus' color that we are using on our home, on another home in a subdivison near Green Bay. I really like how it looked. I am not worried anymore. It will be great.
In other good news Zeb is now telling me when he has poop in his pull up. He is starting to not like to be wet or dirty. YEAH!! hopefully not to much longer. I am afraid he has a new found likness to peeing out side. He will be in the living room watching "Blues' Clues" when suddenly he runs out in the backyard to pee. George and Erla must Love us. Luckily they also had 3 boys to raise. Everytime we see them they tell us how much they are going to miss us.
We tomorrow is the inspection. Cross your fingers and toes people. We don't need any surprises right now. In the last 2 months we have caught 3 mice in various traps throughout the basement. Sometimes it pays to watch TV. Dirty Jobs taught us the correct way to catch them. Brock has made us all a crazy for the show. Speaking of dirty jobs....

one just walked up to me.

Stinky calls....

Monday, October 17, 2005

It really works!

That is what Reece exclaimed when he saw me throw spaghetti to the ceiling. I had told him the spaghetti was done by throwing it up and if it stuck, it was done. Of course he had to try shortly after. He even ran downstairs to Brock and had him check it out. I learned that from my sister Sara. When I told Reece that he was wondering where she learned that from. I told him I don't really know, but boy was he impressed.

Here will be some of the decisions that we are currently working on.
This will be the color of the Brick. Done. (no question there)
I am torn between these different roofs. I would like the sage green siding to look as dark as possible. I might just call up the siding people and change it to a deep grey called granite. I am so torn.
I am leaning toward Colonial Slate.
But will a lighter shade make the siding look darker or lighter? Like Weathered Wood.
Luckily the flooring and lighting decisions were simple today. We are possibly going with at vinyl look alike for hardwood in the foyer, kitchen, and dining areas. It should be in the budget, but they will get me an estimate by the end of the week.
For the lighting, we are going with white frosted glass and a rusted metal color for the living room, kitchen,foyer and dining areas. They call it acorn.
The rest of the home will be polished nickel.

Flooring will be....





in the Laundry/ Mud room










in the Foyer/Kitchen/Dining Area















Bathrooms






Well lots to do, I am beat.
Good night.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Accepted Offer!!!

We now have an accepted offer!
It was the people that were from Port Washington. They brought their parents through on Saturday and immediately made the offer. We now have 2 weeks to move out, because Duner has surgery on November 1st and won't be able to move after that (for 4-6 weeks). We officially close on November 14th. Even though we have an accepted offer on the house we still carried on with the open house today. We just found out this am that buyers accepted our counter offer.
We will be moving to Oshkosh in a duplex that will be owned soon by Cory and Shannon (Duners brother and sister-in-law). She is pregnant and due in early April. They both love kids and are looking forward to their very own soon. She actually works at the local Boys and Girls Club. She is great with kids. They will be great parents.
They have now started to dig our home. Here is the sewer line.... OHHHHH.... AHHHHHH. Yep I know your impressed. I talked with our project manager on Friday and he said in 2 weeks they should have a frame up, or at the very least going up. They are hoping to be done by December 31, my golden birthday, but we are not holding them up to that. We know it will probably be more like mid January.

We have chosen a pretty greenish/grey for the siding. It is called Cactus. I did not want tan (which is everyother home in that subdivision), yellow, blue, or white. So that doesn't leave too much else. We are going with white windows, soffit and facia. The shutter colors and the roof are still up in the air. We are thinking of a midnight green for the shutters, but I don't want to over do the green theme with a green roof. I didn't realize just how much Duner likes green. I think he has spent a little too much time up in the tree stand.

We I have a moving checklist I need to start working on....
Untill next time...

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

In the poor house...

Today I had to go purchase shirts and badges at the Boy Scout store for the boys.

Just a warning to any parents out there be very ready for sticker shock!!!! 25 dollars alone for the shirt. Each additional badge is 2 dollars on up. Each letter is also. I needed 4 numbers per kid and 2 badges each. Not to mention the 4.50 scarf that they will probably lose, along with the metal thing that is supposed to stay in place all by itself. I want to see how the guy lives that invented the scouts. I really am not totally in it. I like some of the ideas they have for the kids but I HATE selling. One of the parents has used 3 whole sheets of popcorn!!! There are 25 lines per sheet. That is nuts!! Good for them I just could not do that at all.

must go help Brock Study spelling words.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Decisions Decisions

Today we met with the Tycore. That is the company that is building our home. They gave us a binder with about 500 pages to read through at our leisure. ????? Like I have time?
We met with the Cabinet company today and picked out our cabinets and countertop. We are going on a dark countertop called Olive organix (see sample on right) because that is what
Duner wanted. Since we went with a dark countertop we chose dark appliance also. We are getting black and stainless stove and fridge to match the nickel color drawer pulls that we picked out. We will have Maple cabinets with a cedartone finish. In the bathroom I went with a countertop that is the exact same formica top we just put in our Kitchen here. It is lighter and called sand crystall. *on right*
Duner has been wanting to buy a pellet stove since his uncle put one in his home 5-6 years ago. We just bought one. We are putting it in the new home in the basement.
Thankfully we don't pay for it until January when they put it in. That is a picture of what it will look like. It will have a mossy green finish. We just put in a bag, set the stove at 70 degrees and run the fan on the furnace and we don't need to use our gas furnance! A couple of other people have told us that is what they do. When the stove is not pumping out heat it has a mirrored glass front that disappers with heat.
We found out our house number. It will be 388 Wooden Shoe Circle. We will be meeting with the plumber tomorrow and the siding and roofing guys. I don't know what color to go with since most of the homes that already exist in that subdivision are tan. I don't like yellow or blue. White is too boring. I just don't know what to go with. Maybe we will decide when we go in tomorrow. I must say that this whole building/selling house stuff is excellent for my diet. I just don't get much time to eat or feel like eating much when I do get to eat. Yeah!
Dr Al had me doing a "project' for him this weekend. I had to type over 300 address's onto a disk for him. He originally wanted me to print out all of the addresses on envelopes but my printer doesn't like that idea. So I put it on a disk for him to run it to Kinkos. I will say no more on that subject.
Hopefully tomorrow morning I can make it to the Boy Scout Uniform shop.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

When would you like to close?

That is the question the realtor asked me today. I said WHAT???? I figured we would sell it quick but had no idea just how quick it may be! On October 20th Duners brother Cory and Sister-in-Law Shannon are moving in to a Duplex in Oshkosh. They have already told us that we are welcome to move in when it sells. Right now that would be great if it would be soon. Duner has surgery scheduled for November 1st. If we could move out before that Duner would not have any job to commute to for 4-6 weeks and no mortgage to pay for. We would only have the kids in school. Everything happens for a reason, so I am not worrying about it too much right now.
I just heard from the realtor, she said that the buyers are a young couple from Port Washington and they commute for work so the sooner the better for a closing would be great for them. They want their parents to walk thru with them to give their opinion.
Keep your fingers crossed!!!
Today I spent 3 hrs today selling popcorn for Cub Scouts. My face is wind burned from the wind. At first it wasn't so bad but suddenly the windchill kicked in about 5pm. YIKES!!! So, we still have popcorn to sell. If anyone is interested it ranges from 10 to 50 dollars. We have microwave light and regular Butter, Carmel Corn and Kettle corn. Feel Free to BUY, BUY, BUY!!!

Waiting Game

I really am exercising my patients but I would like to know if the first people wrote the offer or even if the people we just had walk through on Saturday liked it. Making sure the place is picked up, beds made, toys put away, stinky garbage gone and dog kennel picked up are getting sickening. We had people go thru Thursday, Saturday and now today at 10am (ish). I wish I knew exactly when they are coming because the like to have one hour. Our neighbors George and Erla have said we can come over and visit while they are here. They are so nice. George keeps making comments about how mean we are for leaving them. We are going to miss them. Zeb is going to miss their grahmn crackers. He knows all he has to do is walk to there back screen and if they see him George will give him a cracker.

Friday, October 07, 2005

Good News....

We just had our first people walk through our home yesterday and the woman fell in love with it, he was quiet but you should have seen him checking out everything on the outside. We were over at our neighbors house with the puppies and we could see what they were doing on the outside. Their realtor said they are getting together on Saturday to write an offer!!!! They would do it tomorrow but the realtor has a wedding... So does our's. It must be someone in the office that is getting married. But Anyway, It might just be SOLD!!!!! Yeahhhhhh! We should know by Monday at the latest.
Here is our listing online!

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

New Choppers


This is Grandpa Z with Zeb Showing off his new teeth. We took my parents out to lunch for my mom's birthday. And grandpa got to use his new teeth fresh from the dentist.

Monday, October 03, 2005

Update

I think we finally got through to Brock. He tried the choking thing yesterday and I heard him gasp for air and I asked him about it he said "he thought it would be funny." I grounded him from the TV and made him sit through church. After church I told grandma and grandpa about him and Grandma in her special way told him she would knock some sense in to him if he tried it again and told him of an aspect I had forgotten about. Seizures. I am very glad she did, I had forgotten about that.I asked him how funny would it be if you were peeing and pooping your pants at school because you had a seizure at school... Also, if you have a seizure disorder you won't be able to drive. (I know you can with medicine and testing) but I wanted to paint a grim picture. After he thought about it for a while he said, "I think I am still ok?" I still told him he needs to earn my trust. Later while talking about something else he said "I am good at sneaking". I said thanks, I will keep that in mind.

On the home front, we,officially, are for sale. We are having some realtors do their tour this Wednesday and some people are interested in viewing our home on Thursday morning. YEAH!
We don't have the sign yet but we are getting it this week.
Our new home will still be built in Hollandtown but on a lot 1/4 down the street from the pond. It will now be on .5 of an acre. But the best part is our back yard neighbor has some boys our boys ages. We are still supposed to be closing December 31st.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Yesterday I had posted some pictures of our new (or soon to be) home. There was a slight change of plans. We are not building on that 2 acre lot due to something that they had neglected to inform us on. Due to poor communication (not on our part). So that is all I am going to say for now on that part. It is changing daily.

I got a Very distrubing phone call from a guidance counsler at school today. Brock was found to be part of a group of kids that found it a 'cool' thing to choke themselves til they almost past out. Brock was said by one kid to be the best at it. Which distrubed me to the point that I left work early to meet with him after school. I am very grateful that Reece had the sense to not try it since you can die from that and Threatened to tell me if Brock did it at home. As I drove home I couldn't help but think that the recent scares that Brock recieved at school were from him passing out from lack of oxygen. He will now have a permenent memory since school pictures are next week.

I sure hope our talk today with Brock, Lori (the counsuler), Duner, Reece and I helped. At one point Reece even started to cry when we talked about what would happen if Brock died. It seems harsh but ,I think, seeing his brother care helped to soften Brock up. I don't know what he is thinking when he said it feels awesome. This is the same kid who will shield his eyes from a scary show on TV and ask Reece, the younger brother, what is going on.

Any Ideas that would help feel free to leave a comment on it.
Thanks.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Crunch Time

We finished the new countertop, it didn't go as bad as I thought it would. I am glad to have the giant box out of my living room. I missed my lack of a kitchen sink.
We also finished a few projects that we never did get around to. Like caulking some things, painting some things. Won't be writing much cause I need to going on cleaning since our home goes "live' on Saturday, next week. Yikes!
We now have an accepted offer in Holland on Wooden Shoe Circle. We are going to most likely be in our new home by February. Which means we will be trying desperately to SELL, SELL, SELL! I told the company that will build our home to take their time. But since we are doing a Turnkey mortgage, I doubt that will happen.
I am so glad we found this land. It is 2 acres with city water and sewer. It also has a pond and the street improvments are included. Which is rare in the valley here. We will live near a doctor I work with. We are going to also have an exposed basement. Which means we will be able to make a bedroom in the basement and it will be stubbed for a full bath too. That way when the kids get old enough they can each have there own room.
We I must go more work is calling.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Crazy

That is all I can say at this time, things are just so crazy around here. We took out my countertop yesterday and will be putting it back today. I just don't have enough time in the day to do everything.
Cub Scouts starts tonight the boys are looking very forward to that. Luckily the whole family is invited.
We will know probably by the end of the week if we are going to build out in Hollandtown or not. There is a very nice 2 acre lot there with a pond. We talked to the builders yesterday on that site. I think it went well, but I think our realtor is pushing us to go with "her' builder more so, since they get a kick back for 'introducing us". Even though we really knew them before, since their son Reece was on a T Ball team with our Reece. Also if we do stick with the 2 acre lot, we most likely have to use a certain builder and not the one that she wants.

Well I must go paint again. My Life.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

The Young and Zebbed.

I have been very busy lately with Zeb, here is a photo of his 'racetrack' he did this weekend with Nestle Quik chocolate milk mix. Addorable. If you look close enough you can even see his foot prints. He also made some fancy artwork with a black permanant marker on a wooden railing. Magnificent. I just LOVE the sound he makes of the truck he pushes across my living room floor, over and over and over and over again. Get my point? I am ready for the next stage. This is getting old. He now cries when his brothers go off to school and he gets to stay here. Next year Pre school. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. I can't even Imagine what to do with my time, without pick up or fixing something he just "Zebbed". He has also discovered passing gas. He says "I tooted!" with such excitement everytime he does it. I don't know where all of this energy comes from!
Now everytime I sit down at the computer he comes over and says "that one!". He has only one game on my computer, but he LOVES it. But he doesn't understand how to exit the game, instead he just pushes the "off" button. I am working on that one.
Reece has lost both of his upper big front teeth. We were sitting in Church on sunday when he started looking for something and I said "what are you looking for?" he smiled at me and I knew. It didn't even bleed. It fell out while he was chewing gum and landed right in his pocket.
Yesterday when I took the puppies into the vet Reece's puppy lighting had recently lost both of his front teeth too, and my mom said he was just like his owner. The puppies are now 36 and 31 lbs. Of course Thunder is the bigger one.
Well, I must go he wants his computer time now.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Back to work

Well I went back to work Thursday and Friday this week after being off all weekend. It went pretty well, aside from a doctor acting up. We are also training some new CSR's to help us out. I love the new girls they will be job sharing but I hate training. I would just rather do it myself, but I can't blame them they are only learning.
I am in search of my glasses. I have not seen them since we left the cabin. I know I put them with some clothes, but that was the last time I saw them. I am sure they will show up. Reece and Brock started school this week. Reece has for 2nd grade the same teacher Brock had for 1 st grade. She said that they promoted her since she actually learned something. Her name is Mrs. Wells. She was VERY nice!! Reece is very happy because his best friend Jacob, and his friend Dylan and Jose are also in his class. I just hope he gets some work done and doesn't goof off all the time.
Brock has Mrs Frick. She seems nice. Brock was hoping for the other teacher Mr. Mattioli, because he said she can be mean. Brock is ok with her through. She seems a little anxious, and more strict than he has had in the past but not mean. He also has a new LD teacher. His new LD teacher is married to a Drug rep from our clinic so I had been looking forward to actually meeting her. She is very nice, I think Brock will like her.
Reece probably didn't set the best example this week when he wore the same camo pants to school for day one and day two. I guess I can't do anything about it. I was at work when he switched what we set out for him to wear. Hmmmm. He defintely gets that from his dad.
Well the laundry is calling....

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

The Ode to my little toe

We stopped by the office today so I could have Dr Schimke take a look at the lovely colors of my toe. In case you missed it in my last post, I was up north when I walked from the bathroom to the dining area and ran my toe into a bar stool. I heard a nice crack, similar to that of a peanut shell cracking but thought, boy if it broke it didn't hurt much. I was limping but I was able to get around well enough. After getting the dishes cleaned and put away I sat down and put my foot up.

As we ate lunch a little later I went to move my foot out of the way and wacked it right in to a kitchen chair that my dad was sitting in. OUCH!!! That did hurt, MUCH more. And when I stood up I felt something in side it shift. It did feel a little better after that but the pulsating started to kick in.

I managed to keep it up and iced and it seemed pretty good. Well, when Dr Schimke took a look at it, she said it was definitely broke. We did xrys just to make sure but they confirmed her diagnosis. When the doctor looked at them she said I not only broke it but I scheared it. It was broken all the way through. That must have been the 'shift' I felt after the second blow to the toe.

Thus my ode to my little toe.
Oh and we ran across this snake in the forest near the cabin this weekend. Check out this website!

Monday, September 05, 2005

Great Weekend!

We just came back from the Cabin. What a great weekend it was. Cory and Shannon came up and some friends of ours Kathy and Tony, with their 3 boys. They had a blast! We took them to slippery rock and a horseshoe tournament. Their oldest boy was the most polite and well behaved boy that I have met in a LONG time. Just a sweet boy. All of the boys got along just great. Not one fight.

The first night we were there Zeb was sitting on my lap and threw his head back and hit my head just above my eye socket. Ouch! Then I was walking in the cabin and cracked my pinkie toe on a chair. Double Ouch. I then went on to jam that same toe into another chair and then I stepped wrong off the deck. All in one day. Other then that it was a good time had by all.

We got a note from Kathy after we got home that said her 3 yr old cried when they left because he wanted to go back. Awwwww. How cute.

When we returned home Poor Zeb got splated with Ketch Up and didn't even cry!! It shot out directly to his face and shirt. He never even panicked. Even later when the Pepsi he was drinking got accidently hit and he ended up with pepsi all over his face and belly he just calmly went over to the Kleenex's and got one to wipe his belly off. No crying at all...Poor Kid. It stinks to be short.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Ok, It is now 5.20 am and I am typing this before I have to work. It has been Crazy around here. This last weekend we watched a boy for someone I work with. His name was Ashton and he was addorable. He was 4. Zeb just loved him. He kept saying to us "Where is your kid?" and " I am a cool kid". I just love a positive additude.
Reece was feeding the dogs and broke the measuring cup we bring the food out with blaming it on the Dogs. When I said 'ok, just throw it away' he said 'your not mad?'
I said 'No'. He said' Then that wasn't exactly the truth. I threw it down to see if it would break'.
Gotta Love em....

Zeb actually used the potty this last weekend for #2! That was the only sucess until Tuesday night when he came running in the house yelling " I peeed! I peeed!"
I said " You did?"
He said "Yeah, Outside!"
I looked and sure enough he peeed just out of our side door in our Driveway, he has a nice spray mark.
No further progress has been reported.

We shipped 3 SUV loads over to my parents home to get in the "SELL' mode. It is amazing the stuff you really don't need or use. I also threw out some too. We really liked a home in Forest Junction that we looked at this weekend and if we buy it our realtor will buy ours for cash after 4 months of ours being on the market. We met with a different realtor just to see what she would recommend us selling this house for and she said 115-120,000. Which is more what we were thinking. We also had another company come through our home to see what they would buy our home for. We had tried to sell it to them over a year ago but they wouldn't offer us enough. I doubt they will, they didn't seem to have very many good things to say. We just wanted to have a nice comparison to work from. We are also going today to look at a home closer to my work in Kaukauna.

I must go. Only 4 minutes to shower time.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Blog more later.

I just wanted to quick post SOMEThING! I know it has been a while, I have been busy getting my house 'ready to sell' but there is so much to tell and do! I will hopefully today.

Monday, August 22, 2005

All of this for only $124,900!

We met with a couple of realtors today who told us various things. One of them said that she suggested that we ask $124,900 for our house. YEEEE HAAAHHH! Our work has paid off! We didn't even finish the basement yet or the kitchen countertop. I must say I absolutely love my kitchen now. I wish I would have done this years ago.
One of the realtors said that we need to sell before the big 'September Rush'. My opinion, it is a bunch of hogwash. September???? I don't believe that one bit. She also told us not to carpet the steps or replace the countertops. Hog wash. I think she was just looking for something to sell. We did meet with a very nice one also today. She suggested the price. Her company also had some great Ideas for marketing and a cash purchase option if it does not sell in 120 days.

We are now going to be very busy house cleaning and emptying. They both told us the more we get out of here the better. I will most likely be shipping some stuff to Goodwill or My mom's basement. We will be putting on the market October 1st.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Your Pie was Zebbed.

I finally got some time to post something! Tonight after I left work, I took apart the railing on the top portion of our front porch trim and went over to my parents house to cut some parts I will need to put it together. When my parents read this they will realize why there pie has some prints in it. It was Zebbed.

Just like my wall in the kitchen with the neat drawing in permenant black marker of what the older boys call an angel flying. He even felt the need to draw on my cabinets. Luckily I knew a trick to get it off of those right away. So that too was my other assignment this evening. I primed the wall that I just painted 3 weeks ago so I can repaint my wall again tomorrow.

Just as I was trying to quickly mop the kitchen floor tonight he was loading up my washing machine and putting biz bleach in the fabric softner part. Brock came and told me about that and after I told him that was naughty he went up stairs and left a nice puddle with the mop I was using, after he tried to help with that. I know he was just trying to help me, but I wish he wouldn't try so hard.

Yes I just love the two year old stage.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Let's get outta Here!

I just put new hardware on the kitchen cabinets and better locks on the front and side doors, to keep Zeb in. Today I am going to organize the freezer room. I bought 4 HUGE totes to hide and organize our stuff in there. We are kind of hoping maybe to be out by Christmas. It is sooner then we had been hoping but we need a more kid friendly neighborhood. On our block alone we get along very well with one neighbor. An older couple that had 3 boys of their own. Three that we don't talk to except "Hi'. And now 2 that we dont even say that to. I am not going to say anything more or I will just get worked up.
These are some of the things we are going to do before we sell...
1. Paint/ touch up some areas
2. Add moldings in the Kitchen
3. Finish off the front of the Tub in the upstairs Bathroom.
4. Carpet the stairs and hallway upstairs.
5. Install new windows in the basement.
6. Install false ceiling in the toy room in the basement.
7. Finish moldings in the Basement.

I did want to install a microwave above the stove in the kitchen but have scrapped that idea since I just want to get out as soon as possible.
Well, Breaks over I must get back to work.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Beware of Cooking Spray

2 year olds and cooking spray is never a good thing. I was in the kitchen tonight with Brock helping him with Broiled Italian Meatballs, when I could hear a spraying sound in the dining room. I yelled 'Zeb?' and it stopped I ran one way and the footprints the other, when I finally got close to him I slipped on the new non stick surface called our floor and missed him.
Needless to say he is enjoying the 4 walls of his room. So I could try to wipe the cooking spray off my dining room chairs and floor.
Ouch.

Friday, August 05, 2005

REAL Punishment

ATTENTION ALL BLOG READERS, WHEN IT COMES TO PUNISHMENT, REECE IS YOUR MAN. Today Reece 'stole shotgun' from Bock. Brock clearly was the winner but while we drove I noticed they had somehow switched places. When I asked about it Brock said "Reece 'stole' the front seat from me." I told Reece he should never be complaining about how he 'NEVER' gets the front seat since I see him in the front seat more often then not.
Just before we got home I noticed a bag of some garbage on the floor by the front seat that my adorable spouse can't seem to remember to remove EVER. I told Reece since he got the front seat then he needs to remove the garbage when exiting the vehicle, to which he responed "Mom, that isn't a real punishment."
I told him the next time I need to punish him I will ask him for the proper punishment before I do it.
In other news, I was suppose to go to a wedding reception this weekend but Duner wanted to spend time up at the cabin, we are heading up there with the kids and puppies for one night. It will be interesting. I don't know how this is going to work, but we are leaving bright and early tomorrow.
Also in more wonderful news, Zeb has either a semi confirmed case of Chicken Pox or Herpes. ??? He has had the 'Chicken Pox Shot' when he was one. But now he has an an interesting arrangement of red blisters under his arm and chest. I had brought him to the clinic I work at and the Dr, who is the one to see for unexplained rashes, was slightly stumped. She said it is extremely rare to get whatever Zeb has and she has only seen one other case of it in seven years. Hmmm. Leave it to Zeb.
I must go and get things ready.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Before and After...



Ok now we refinished our wood floors back in April, but I just now realized how bad they were before. I think we have to have a house party to show off how nice they are now, compared to before. Holy Cow! Ya know, actually the photo of the new floor would be a very cool photo for the background of your computer. ; ] Feel free to use.

Monday, August 01, 2005

Woo Hoo, They can swim!!

Today Duner went for a Boat ride with Reece and Cody. (his nephew) While Brock, Zeb and the puppies went to the Vet. It was their first visit to the vet. They are now 15 and 17 lbs. I bet you can tell who is the 17 pounder if you saw them. They were given pretty much a clean bill of health. They do have some round worms that we were given medicine for. But a lot of puppies get them they said, so it is nothing serious. We have to bring them back in 2 wks for a booster shot for the Lyme's vacinnation that we got them. We also have to come back in 40 days for another ck up and to make sure the worms are gone.

After that we met Duner and the Boys at the pier to join the ride. When we got there he was so mad at the Boat he and the boys were done. They had gotten it running, but it took forever!!! Duner said we'll give it one more try on Saturday, and if it still is acting up, he wants to go back to the place we got it from and either get a new boat or motor. He is also wondering if he has to do it differently when he starts the boat. We will figure it out on Saturday.

Duner decided to take the boat up to the cabin, and let the boys go swimming at slippery Rock. While we were there we coaxed the puppies into the water, Thunder was more willing then Lightning. Thunder's first trip in the water was by the top of slippery rock, it was a little slippery and it has a nice current, so he learned real quick not to keep his nose in the water. That seem to scare him for a little bit, then we went to the bottom of the rock where the water is about calf high for us. He didn't mind that one bit, but Lightning didn't have the courage to just jump on in. After putting Lightning in the water we walked down with them to where it gets a little bit deeper. Thunder took off toward Duner when he called him and soon after Lightning just had to go follow his brother. They were doing very well. They got tired out pretty quick, but they had a very busy day.

Sunday, July 31, 2005

What a bummer...

Today me and the boys went to an open house. We have had our eye on this house out in a town called Sherwood. We had never been in it before, but we didn't think it would be on the market this long. We (the boys and I) really liked it. It was half a mile from High Cliff State park. It was on 1.5 acres with a pond (with fish in it!) It had more sqare footage then we currently have and a bigger basement. The entire time we were there Brock was sounding like a broken record saying "Mom, We HAVE to get this place! , Mom, If we lived here...., Mom, you Have to buy this place! This basement Rocks!!"
Over and Over and Over again. The price was much better than anything I have seen before. It was actually pretty old considering the other homes we had looked at in the area. It was built in 1972. Plus this house was the only one that owned the ENTIRE pond, So some of the other owners were looking at buying some of the pond, which would take down the price even further. The seller was also the owner and said they have ice skated on the pond in the winter. Brock saw that as an opportunity to make some money.
The current owners have already moved out, and have another home over an hour away to pay for so they are hoping for a quick sale. I know if it is meant to be ours it will be available in Spring when we are more ready to move.
I already know what my mom would say about the pond. No need to go there.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Home on the Range, Golf Range that is...

Today Duner took the boys golfing. Bright and early. Duner worked all night then took the kids at 7am to Tee off. It was nice because the closest next golfer didn't start til 8:30am. That way if the kids were really bad they didn't have to hold anyone up. Brock hit one into a pond that bounced over the water and up on the green. (???) I think some devine intervention was helping that one. Either that or it is a big story. But even Duner said it was true. Now the boys want me to take them to a driving range. Me???? I think not.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

The big Day


Yesterday was 'The Big Day' as far as soccer goes. Reece had his last game. Of course if you would ask him, he would probably say they won. They don't really keep score, but the kids do. I don't pay that much attention to say yes or no. After the game the coach held a nice party at a nearby park with pizza and trophy's for each child. Reece just loved it. He really, really wanted me to get a picture of him with his coach. Coach Larry was his name. Very nice man. I think he ranks up there with saints as far as patience goes. He never really raises his voice to yell at the kids. He very well could have with some of the kids last year, but never did. He has been Reece's soccer coach for 3-4 years now. Reece says he wants to play soccer again next year but I am not going to sign him up, we would like to move in the spring, so it doesn't pay until we know where we are going to be.
Tonight the boys were playing with the puppies, they have been very responsible, I must say. They are doing a good job. I almost think Brock is a little better then Reece. Reece likes to grumble more then Brock. But Brock is 10 and Reece is 7, I can see the difference.
Reece came in by me a few minutes ago afraid he might have rabies, 'cause he was bitten by his puppy and they didn't get there shots yet. I explained that he would be foaming at the mouth if he indeed had rabies along with other symptoms. It didn't even break the skin, but it was scary enough to him to go sit in the basement and vegg.
Brock just told me Zeb is locked in the kennel with the puppies.... so I am off...

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Zeb's run in with the LAW...

Well today we had many visitors. I Duners nephew Cody was here since yesterday, 4 neighborhood boys, one girl, and my regular 3. Boys are wild. When you add the puppies in the mix that makes you pretty happy only 3 are yours. Today was INSANE! It was incredibly hot to begin with, so I let the kids all play with water. Some would play in the basement with the PS2 and some would be with the puppies. I had wet kids all over, even puppies too at times. I just figured I would throw in a pizza for supper, make it easy. Well by the time everyone was fed, including Zeb, I thought for the first time today I can sit for a little bit. I made my rounds, check for Zeb, check for kids 1-7, check for puppies. All good. I watched a show for a bit, got up to look for Zeb he was gone.
Well, At least he should be easy to notice. All he had on was a little swimmer, since they were all playing with water. We went around the block, no Zeb.
I summond all the kids and we went searching, I noticed a group of people standing around on a corner like they were looking at a auto accident but I didn't think too much of it. I was walking the opposite side of the block when one of the neighbor kids came up to me and said he is with a cop. I said' Is he ok?' I was thinking so that is what the group was starring at. I went up to him and he said "MOM!" and started off toward me. I walked up to the officer and asked "Is it considered child abuse if I put him on a leash?" He laughed and said, "Not after I leave."
He took my name, Date of birth and Zebs name he said just incase he does this again. For some reason I am afraid he is living up to his name sake. Not very fearful. He came home and had a nice early bedtime tonight. He is now sleeping. I am so open to any ideas. Shock collars? Alarm collars? I have 3 doors to the out side. 1 to the front, 1 to the side and 1 to the back yard with a 6 ft fence. Hmmmmm. I must go do some research...

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Our new Additions...

Well, today we went for a ride to Green Lake. Duner wanted to check out some puppies. He has be wanting a yellow lab for over a year now. The place that we went to was an old school house. (not really that old) it was probably built in the 1950's or 60's. The kids thought it was really neat. Brock especially loved the boiler room. ??
The owner was Joe Scallon. Very nice man asked the us if we wanted soda as soon as we walked in. He was using the school gym/cafeteria as his garage. He told us when he first bought he went through 700 dollars of fuel for heat at 50 degrees in 2 weeks. Needless to say he sectioned off a part only to heat and now has a forced air furnance. His bathroom is where the Principal's office. His kitchen was the school office. It was a work in progress but it was definitely getting there. Anyway, we looked at the 3 pups he had. One was black, one was yellow and one was brown. We even went to go see the dad of the pups at Joe's dads place. I was really hoping that the daddy dog would be small and then it would be easy to say no, but the daddy dog was HUGE! It was a slightly shorter version of our Mastiff that we had. As we drove back to the Joe's house we discussed the pups and Brock wanted the brown and Reece wanted the yellow and neither one would budge. Duner went there originally thinking he wanted a yellow, but when he saw the size of the brown one he was torn. He couldn't decide and I couldn't help him. Then Duner said, 'If the guy would give us a deal maybe we would get 2." ??? What? I thought about it. The owner already kept them in a kennel outside. So they really were already outside dogs. I thought if it is meant to be, it will happen. Who am I to fight it. Duner has wanted this for so long.
When we got there I let Duner do most of the talking. He asked him and the guy said "Sure." He gave us food for the pups, de wormer, info on raising a puppy, coupon for puppy food, treats and boxes for the road. He was going to give them first shots but he said when we take them to the vet at the 4 month ck up they will give them again. Basically in Six weeks they need to see the vet anyway. Both come with guaranteed hips and money back or new pups if we would like. He will be mailing us the paperwork for the AKC registration when it comes in. He has a notebook of names of people who have bought pups from him and 2 families from last year came back this year to buy another one. Both were yellow and brown. He didn't mention it until Duner asked about both. He thought that was funny. One of the families called while we were there to ask the exact date they were born. May 22 is their date of birth.
The boys have decided to name the yellow Lab- Lighting and the brown one Thunder, since on our way home today we drove right in to the storm that his Oshkosh today. Duner wanted Storm instead of Thunder, but Brock really likes the name Thunder. Other options that were tossed out were Chocolate Chip, Chocolate & Vanilla, Rain, Brown dog, Yellow dog, Cloud, Luther, Elvis, Ben and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Hmmmm.....

One week down the crapper...

I will try to put a positive spin on this one but it has been pretty crappie. After the wonderful boating experience, I learned that a co-worker of mine passed away. She was 52, 5 kids and 7 grandkids. Great lady. She had rare cancer. She fought it for 4 years. Which was amazing considering she was supposed to be in stage 4 by year one. (which is very BAD). If it wasn't for her we wouldn't have been able to go to Mexico 3 years ago. She volunteered to watch the kids for Duner and I so we could go. In the end my mom did most of it, but I believe if we couldn't have found anyone my mom wouldn't have done it. Even though she had just finished a round of chemotherapy and was getting better she was willing to watch my 6 month old baby and two older boys. She always had fun things to do with kids. She was a Jehovah Witness, since they don't celebrete Christmas, she would do special things for the Grand kids. She made a very neat treasure hunt a couple of years ago and the kids Loved it! There was a few weekends that she would tell her kids bring over all the Grand kids for the whole WEEKEND! She was our joker at work and will be GReatly missed. Even my kids loved her. I went to work with the kids and their happy meals once and she told them if they didn't eat it she was going to. Everytime we would go after that the kids would ask if she was going to be there. It was cute.

Before Sheila died we had a office meeting scheduled to discuss a whole lot of crap going around at work. A lot of complaining is going on but very little is getting acomplished. Since she died they decided to cancel the meeting and replace it with a Employee Assistance Meeting. I think it was the wrong answer. It was a nice thought but we need this meeting. I am getting sick of being a sounding board for all of the nurses to bash one another or anyone to bash anyone. My jaw hurts from keeping my mouth shut! I really just nod and say ohh that's too bad, when I am sure there is a good reason for what happened people are just jumping all over everyone. I have 3 kids at home that are behaving better. They are taking lessons from Dr Al. Don't get me wrong. He is a very nice guy, but he has the tendency to get mad say what is on his mind then say he is sorry and all is forgiven, but the girls aren't forgiving each other. They seem to be holding a grudge. I miss Loretta. She was a registered nurse that retired last year after over 40 years with Dr Al and his dad. She was very jolly and mellow. She would tell you if she had a problem with you not tell everyone else BUT you! Rarely did anything in spite.

But at least I lost some weight this week. Yeah! The nice 18 mile bike ride probably helped. I think I am going to weigh in today. It will be worth it. Well Sorry to ramble, but I must go.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Our Deep Sea Adventure... er Almost?

Ok not really. We just bought a pontoon boat. We wanted to try it out. Duner (my husband) worked over 80 hours last week at his full time job, *yes he has 2 jobs* he also put in 11 hrs at his partime job. Needless to say he couldn't wait to get out an try out this boat.
So we got up early and drove out to pick up the boat. After making it to the landing we loaded it up with towels, life jackets, food, soda fishing gear, and tackle and put the boat in the water. Yeah! It floats! That's great!
Ok, so everyone is on and my husband says, "Ok, now how do we start this thing?".
WHAT? NOW? Why wait till your in the water to try and figure it out. He never plans ahead for anything! Luckily there was a guy just putting in his boat, who was willing to help out. He tried and tried. No luck. Turns out something is wrong with the boat/motor. We ended up calling on our cell phone to the place we bought it from to see if they had any ideas. There brilliant suggestion was to drive it 40 miles to have them take a look at it.
None the less, we drove it to them so they can store it for 5 days until they can get to fixing it. Apparently a lot of other people are in a rush to fix there boats with summer here and all. ????
Oh well, that now gives us time to go to Wal-mart and purchase an anchor since Duner decided at the gas station we stopped at just before putting the boat in that we needed one. He would rather spend the extra 5 dollars at the 'convience store' if they have any anchors, then to buy one from a discount store a couple days prior.
Billiant man. Just brilliant.

Monday, July 18, 2005


This is our new Pontoon Boat. Reece is on the deck with my sister Sara looking onward.

This is the garage at the cabin. If you look close enough you can see where Zeb has changed the paint color. Posted by Picasa

Our new fire pit. You can't tell but it is actually 4ft by 4ft big. (the pit itself) Posted by Picasa

Here is part of the new walking trail at the cabin. Posted by Picasa

Saturday, July 16, 2005

busy Week

It has been such a busy week. We bought a pontoon boat on Sunday. Played phone tag with the bank on Monday. Went for my long bike ride on Tuesday and primered my kitchen, it was dark blue I am painting it 'Weathered Tin'. (Hopefully today) Wednesday we picked up the boat, Thursday Duner and myDad took Zeb to the Races. He loves those. Friday I got my bike helmet and the paint to do the kitchen.
I have my dreaded 18 mile bike ride today. I am not sure what I was thinking anymore when I signed up. But at least I have my sister in it too to help me finish it. She came up from Madison yesterday and took the boys to Mead pool. I called before I left work and she confessed right away, "I broke your son Reece." Apparently she taught him how to swim underwater for longer distance's and he hit the wall. I think we have all done that in someway or another. He has a cut above his left eye and a black eye. He must have really been moving. He says he didn't think the wall was there 'cause he felt for it but he must have just missed it.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Computer Time

I did it! The kids are actually cleaning when they aren't told to do so! Yesterday they put away the clean dishes in the dishwasher and filled it with dirty ones, made their beds and cleaned the bedroom just be cause they wanted to play for 30 minutes on the computer! I even got them to put away their clothes, clean the toy room and bring up dishes with a little encouragement.
The kids do have a computer of there own but no internet (Thank you Sara)so, that is there motivation. I am glad they are only into games so far and not Instant messaging or chat rooms. That is one part I am dreading. I don't even do that. You hear of all kinds of horror stories about those. I LOVE my e-mail and checking out the internet but that's about it.
Speaking of Computers, I picked one up for my bike so I don't have to hop in the car to find out how far I went on my bike. I do have to get my derailer fixed on my bike hopefully before the ride on Saturday. It is 18 miles and I only have 6 speeds. It sucks when you get going down a nice hill and you can't pedal fast enough to keep your speed up.
Well gotta run!

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Well, It's crunch time

I have less than 10 day until my 18 mile bike ride. I went for a 10 mile ride today. I have to go for a longer one yet sometime this weekend. I will probably ride from my house to my work and back. According to mapquest that is a 15+ mile ride. Not to mention the not so friendly hills.
Sigh.
Anyway, as I write this Brock is out on the front porch trying to talk Zeb into coming in the house. Zeb's not biting. Brock is now offering a piggy back ride. It worked! We'll see how long he stays.
Zeb's newest thing is knock-knock jokes. He never has a punch line, but if you don't answer right away with 'Who's there' he will say 'Knock-knock' louder and louder until you respond. Then he says ' Jake' , 'house', bike', car, or whatever else he sees around. He doesn't quite get the concept that you are supposed to say a little more.
If you saw Reece this week you would think he was the saddest kid on earth. He has such a miserable life. He was so upset many times. He didn't understand why we said "No" to lighting off fireworks after a late movie night at the drive in theater. HMMMM. Go figure.
He also thought just because we went to the cabin we were supposed to leave to go swimming. I don't mind them swimming, but Zeb feels I must walk with him as he wades in the water. Never going up to his waist.
Brock has been the same sneaky kid. Picking on his brother until he comes crying to me and then denying he did ANYTHING wrong. I think Reece really puts up with quite a bit from him. Brock's way of cleaning his room is craming anything possible under the bed, and then hiding everything else.
I saw on TV that those bikers in the Tour De France, have to eat 7000 calories a day!!!! I LOVE that!
Well I must go fold the laundry.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

We spent the last couple days up at the cabin, so I have be unable to blog. It was nice. It is always sad to leave the cabin after you spend 3 hours cleaning it up just to leave it. We finished the fire pit, painted the garage to match the house *YEAH!* , cleaned a bunch of garbage out of the garage and cut a path through the woods for a walking trail.
They have a parade every year that ends at a baseball field just down the road from our cabin. It was so fun this year, again, of course. We had the boys ready with the garden hose and water guns. We would have had water balloons but we couldn't find any! Next year we will be more prepared, for sure. Some people that we let park in our front yard were very prepared with Water ballons and super soakers. One float from a local hardware store had a HUGE water tank with garden hoses hooked up and they soaked the people on our yard! The driver even stopped to make sure they got em good! Zeb just hung out under some chairs that I had covered with at tarp to protect our boys. He was munching on Reece's candy while he helped Brock soak the floats. I should clairify, the parade starts and ends in the baseball field. The first time they go down our street they throw candy and little water. Then they go down to the end of the road and turn around and come back down to soak us up. They also give away free tickets to give away 72 brand new bikes purchased by the local business' in the area. Our kids didn't win this year. Thats ok. They weren't too heart broken. After that they also give away over a hundred dollars in change by tossing it onto the baseball field and letting the kids go after it. The kids love it.
We ended the day with a movie at a drive in theater. We saw Madagascar and The longest Yard. I must say I was disappointed with both. We started the movie at about 9:45 pm and ended at about 1:15. We got back to the cabin at a little after 1:30pm. The kids didn't understand why we said no to lighting off the fireworks at that hour. Hmmmmm.????
We are hoping to find a pontoon boat perferably used, to keep at the cabin. That way the kids can fish or swim.
Well I have to work in the morning.
time for bedtime....

Friday, July 01, 2005

I am so glad this week is over.

It was too crazy, I hate the week before the major holidays. Everyone is asking 'So what are you doing for the Holiday?' and in the end, I wonder, do they really care? I get so sick of talking about it. I feel like I have so much to do. I am going to do a pretty good bike ride tomorrow. I hope. I don't know what my other half might have planned. I think he has to work, which would be the norm. I only have 2 wks before the 'Tour du fest' and I have only rode my bike 8 miles max. I am hoping to go 10-12 miles tomorrow. I was checking out the times for the people who did the High Cliff Tri run on Sunday and A LOT of them did the bike in one hour or so. That means they averaged 20 miles per hour! I don't know how fast I go, but when I did have a computer on my bike (10 years ago), I would average 15 miles per hour. I have some work to do. I must go prepare....

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

One more night at the cabin.

Well, we went up to the cabin on Monday for one night. We were able to paint 2 sides of the garage and place the pavers around the firepit. Of course after much complaining from the kids about how they NEVER get to go to Slippery Rock, we obliged and took the swimming at the rock. This time Duner went down with Zeb. He loved it. We even lost one of his hot wheels cars at the base of it. Unfortunetly that was Reece's FAVORITE one! (even though duner just found it when he was digging out for the pavers.) Minor trama there.

The boys are trying to buy time. Our only pet Mittens has issues. She can't walk decent. It has been gradually getting worse. If she walks to slow her butt falls to the right. If she is scared she can hardly run at all. She just keeps falling down. Last time I brought her in they said she is going blind and has a 'neurological' problem of some sort. More testing is required to find out exactly what it might be. I am not the type of person to pay outragious amounts of money to find out in the end we need to have her put to sleep. Luckily she doesn't ever go outside. I like her but I feel that she doesn't have a quality of life she should. It is bad enough that we keep her indoors, but lately I think she is having a hard time going up and down the stairs. Now she is pooping a lot anywhere but the litter box. They now have the job of picking it up if they want her to stay. Secretly I am hoping that she will die on her own. Reece was very upset about us mentioning that maybe we would put her to sleep. The Humane way. I am not about to withhold anyfood from her or water. She has it bad enough.

Sunday, June 26, 2005


Opps! We forgot that it is SUMMER and we have the central air on! Posted by Hello

Boy I feel like I ran the triathalon!

I woke up this am at the crack of dawn 4am to go out to High Cliff State Park to be a 'body Marker'. Very fun Job. Who wouldnt like the chance to touch some very buff and good looking people. Much better then my CNA work in the hospital. These people accually take care of themselves. I didn't realize just what I was doing to my quad muscles till I started to walk away. UGH! I felt like I was walking in slow motion, my upper half said 'Come on lets go', and my lower half said 'When do we get to sit down'. Wow. I know they needed the workout but I didn't realize just HOW MUCH!

As if that wasn't enough punishment, I then decide I need to go for a bike ride. I have an 18 mile ride coming up in July that I have to get ready for. So I went for a nice ride out to the local airpot. Which as it turns out is 8.2 miles. So I threw Zeb in the baby seat on the back and took off. I was on my return about one mile in when I could feel a head resting on by butt. Yep, Zeb fell asleep. Everytime I would try to go faster his head would drop, pulling me to that side. I can only hope that part of my struggle is due to the fact that Zebs' extra weight is making it worse. It can only help.

Food
It has been a bad week for food. I have been running the kids here and there, we had a party on Monday, I had a meeting on Thursday. It has just been crazy. I wont' be weighing in on Tuesday, since I will be up at the cabin painting. Well, I have to go get Reece from Soccer practice.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

A Busy Week

I know I have been slacking on the blog, I have been busy ok?

Tuesday after the kids went swimming all day Reece had a soccer game. Poor kid. It was a warm day. He was pretty much out of energy when he was done swimming, but he still had to play a soccer game in the warm weather. He was like a champ. He took a nice slap to the chin like a pro. He sat there stunned for 2 seconds then he shook it off. It was a HARD hit. Everyone at the side line I was at moaned when he got it. But luckily there was no long term affects.

Brock and Reece are in heaven. Wednesday night we took them to Mil's Fleet Farm to buy some fishing lures. They loved it. They learned a bunch of stuff from Dad. Brock is more interested in anything other then fishing but he does it because Dad likes fishing I think. Zeb had to get a new fishing pole too, of Course! He got a new Batman pole.

Thursday they went to Grandma and Grandpa's house while we go to work and they got to use there new fishing stuff. When I got there Reece couldn't wait to tell us how Grandpa gave them his fishing gear and 2 poles! The boys are so exited and can't wait to tell their cousins how many fishing lures they have now. They really really liked that! **Great Christmas Ideas!!** Fishing Tackle**

On friday they went fishing again with the grandparents and they got to go to Mead pool again. They are getting more tan and more blonde everyday. I should have taken before and after summer pictures. I wanted to get a 'family picture' but I better wait til fall. The rest of us will look neon compared to the boys.

Today I go to Lunch with my friend Julie. She is pregnant (due in November) and she just found out she is having a boy. I will be bringing the boys with to lunch with her. Yikes, it might be overload for her, but there is no turning back now! She will be a great mom. She is a bit of a perfectionist. Everything is does it perfect. I don't know how she does it all the time. When we were in junior high, I had to wait for 10 minutes while she got her hair just perfect. She is a cutie in that way, but she does ALWAYS have perfect hair.
I must run some errands before I meet with her today.
Later!

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Yippee!!!

Today was a GREAT day! Busy but good. I got the paint from the cabin so I know how much and what color to pick up so we can finish painting the out side of the cabin. I dropped the boys at the pool for 5 hours today they had a blast. Duner went to the Brewer/Cub game in Milwaukee tonight.
But the BEST PART was my weigh in this am. I went back to tuesdays for Fat class. It is just so much easier for me. They have a class that it is ok to bring your kids. Well I just weighed in on Saturday, so I figured since I had to go in on Tuesday that I would only be down maybe .8 again. But NO! I was down 1.8 and I got my 5 lb book mark! Now, everytime I go down 5 more lbs I get a star and put it on my bookmark. It is really a neat way to keep track of what is gone. I like the motivation it gives me.
Well I have to work in the am, so I must go...
Bye!
Tuesday points 29 : ]

Monday, June 20, 2005

Lots today

What a busy day. I moved Zeb back out of the boys room. He is now in his own room. It's such a shame to have a bedroom and not use, except to store things. Then we bought sandals for Brock and sunscreen for the boys and dumped them at Mead Pool, the local dunk tank. They have these coupons that you can buy. You purchase 10 swims in advance and you can get 2 for free. The best part is they keep them on hand at the pool, so you don't loose them. Yeah! After the swim I treated the boys to DQ. They all had dilly bars. Brock likes Chocolate, Reece likes Banana and we got Zeb strawberry. He doesn't have a prefrence yet anyway.

Later, we went to a summer party out at Dr Schimke's place. She has a great place for a large gathering. We had a very good time. The boys loved it. There were about 5 other boys there and 3-4 girls there. Dr Al is so goofy. He was going on about how his daughter is a lesbian. But she isn't really, he later admitted. She just a boyfriend that he doesn't care for. He only has one girl but she is the one who likes to push Daddy's buttons. I remember when she pierced her tongue or eyebrow, just because Dr Al didn't want her to. I am so glad I have boys.

Food I don't even want to count. I know I am over. I LOVE taco salad~ they had some wonderful versions there. I won't be going in to details about that today, my bed is calling my name.
Good night!

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Sorry Readers, but today was pretty dull. Went to the grocery store, did laundry, dishes, bathroom cleaning.... nothing really exciting to write about as far as the kids go. Although Brock woke up zeb from his nap, by accidentally sitting on him and then it was downhill from there today. Other then that dull.
But...
Yes! Happiness! I was still down one pound, even with the crap from earlier in the week! Yeah! It may be one pound only, but I am gonna take what I can get! I went to the grocery store right after the weigh in today and picked up some Egg Beaters (artifical eggs w/cheese and chives) and finely sliced ham and english muffins and made some egg and ham sandwhichs for breakfast. Yum.
I don't know how I am going to do in when I have to go down in points. Yikes, I will be switching to the core program probably. Basically you can eat 'NON PROCESSED' foods, like baked chicken, fruit, veggies, and wheat based pasta and breads. If I want Mc D's on core then I just put that in the total for the 'extra' weekly points. I hear a lot of people say that they are not hungry at all on the 'core' program. I am not going to do it just yet. I am just starting to adjust to the smaller portion sizes.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Today I took the kids for a walk, or should I say, I walked they rode their bikes. Except for Zeb, he rode in the wagon, at least when he wasn't pulling the wagon himself. We walked down to Lutz Park, or should I say Goose Poop Park. There are at least 6 familys of Geese that call that park home. About the only part of the park free of dumplings was the playground. I can see why.
I pushed Zeb on the swing while Brock and Reece ran from one plaything to the next. They have this pole that spins, and it is hard to hold on with. The kids made it look easy!
It was so cute toward the end of the walk he didn't want to ride anymore but he was in no hurry to get home. I had him dressed in bib overalls and he just strolled along behind me with his hands in his pockets. He just looked all around! So adorable. He didn't seem to be the least bit worried that I was a good 10 feet ahead of him. Mr. Independant.

Food today was my usual, peanut butter toast for breakfast. For Lunch, I had Taco Bell. I went I this really cool web site with WW points for all kinds of resturants. I had the 'value menu' spicy chicken taco and the cheesy fiesta potatoes. According to the web site 'dotties weight loss zone' I had 4 point for the taco and 6.5 for the potatoes total 12.5, when you add my drink, I just don't like Diet soda when it comes to taco bell. I then went to a nearby resturant with the kids for Supper. It was called Larry's. I got their soup and salad combo. They have great soups. I ordered chicken dumpling. I also had a great Raspberry Vinegrette dressing. I love vinegar. I never knew how great it can be! I thought you only cleaned coffee pots and colored easter eggs, but I read a book once call the 101 uses for Vinegar. Who knew what Excellent health benefits it also has. Look it up sometime! I am not going to total up my points today I know i am close, but I went for a nice long walk today so I am hoping that will fix any problems.
Well tomorrow, I go to weigh in. Yippeee! Wish me luck!

Thursday, June 16, 2005

As far as the kids go, I have been torturing them by telling them they can not live on my computer. So far the kids have been great at making sure their beds are made and clothes picked up before playing on the computer. I think I will start adding dishwasher duty to their pre-computer time chores. : ]

today was a disappointment for food. I typically like to over estimate on the actual points I use. I ended up over. I had cheese on my sub from subway. That adds 1.5 points, I had extra 2 points for some M&M's that I had for dessert today and I had an apple and peanut butter which I really didn't need for breakfast. I made some poor decisions. I will fix it. A positive additude is the only way to be. Next week I will be able to have 'activity points' which allow you to subtract points from your total. Yeee Haaaa!
Thursday points 30 : {

Wednesday, June 15, 2005


We had a helper today with a cement project that we were working on. Can you guess who? Posted by Hello

Our little angel left his mark for everyone to see... Posted by Hello

Today on the kid front...

Today on the kid front we fixed a lingering crack in the front porch step. As you can see by the pictures Zeb just loves to be around us and help us out. He loves to put his hand on anything you are doing and say "Help?". As if to say 'do you need help mommie?'. How can you turn him down he is so cute! I know I am a little bias. Oh well. I will be walking with something in my arms and after he says 'Help?' he then says 'Run?'. What motivation to jog. Hey I will take the exercise anyway I can!
Today, after clean the wheel barrow and shovel, I managed to hose down the kids with the hose. They love playing that game. Of course I don't aim for Zeb, the sheer force of water would probably slam the kid down.

As for the food front, I think today went well. It is so hard to count points on 'Drug rep days' at work. Every wednesday and every other friday, we have a different drug rep that brings us lunch from various eatery's in the valley. Today was Applebees. There were Oriental chicken wraps, some kind of spicy southwest chicken wrap and a Southwest Chicken salad. Oh yeah, also some of those deep fried onion chunks. Yikes! I LOVE onion rings! I could have taken the entire appetizer and be perfectly happy. I tried I did to be good! I had a 2 in chunk of each wrap and a cup of the salad, with about one tablespoon each dressing. Ok ok, I HAD to have a little of each dressing, they were for different things. One for the Oriental wrap, one for the other wrap and some salsa and ,just a lit bit, of sour cream.
As an optomist I declare today a success with the apple and peanut butter that I had for supper. And only a bit here or there of the Mac-n-chez I made for the family. I know watch out Wolfgang! Wooohooo!
I must go and enjoy my water and my family....

Wednesday total 24 : ]

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

KIDS
We had another great time up at the cabin. This time we brought up Reece's friend Jacob. We had to leave extra early on Sunday since Duner wanted to leave right after he got out of work. We left without Jacob and his parents brought him up later. The boys could hardly wait to go to slippery rock and show Jacob. Jacob's mom had been there when she was growing up but hadn't been there since Jacob was born so she knew what we were talking about. The boys showed no hesitation in jumping in the water to slide down the rock. We had some swim shorts slip down a little bit, due to the current. Other kids came and left during the time the kids spent there. They had no lack of imagination when it came to this area. The next time we go we are bring lunchmeat and other snacks and drinks to make more of a day out of it.
Food
Well I have no more extra points left for the week already. Not a good sign considering it is only Tuesday. Sunday we stopped at Burger King since we left too early to make a breakfast. I had the sourdough combo for 16 points. It wasn't worth it. It would have be 15 if I had gotten the croisantwhich but I didn't realize til now. Later that day we went to the Seymour races and that was supper. I had forgotten about Burger King that morning, so I figured I could do the fries with cheese sauce, burger, popcorn, and a slushy. By the days end I figured I had 44 points spent that day alone. YIKES! Then I went on to figure out my total for Monday, We didn't go anywhere, but we woke late that day (yes even Zeb slept in that day) so we had a late breakfast, After swimming more at the rock, we came back to have a late lunch at 3pm. After we got home I made a quick sand which then had some mag citrate for a medical exam I had today for my kidneys/bladder. I didn't count my points for the mag citrate,but the total for the end of the day was 37. Between those two days I spent every last extra point. I so far today had two peaches. (They were too good to have just one)
I have found the secret to eating less points, from now on my lunch will consist of vegetarian food only. (this will be good for a laugh)
Saturday total 26

Sunday total 44
Monday total 37
Tuesday total 24 Yeah! one day down 3 to go...

Saturday, June 11, 2005

Kids Update
Yesterday the boys went with Aunt Sara to Mead Pool, it is a local pool that has all the newest options as far as fun in the sun. I completely forgot sunscreen for them and they developed a nice lobster like appearence. Opps. Brock could use some color.

We will be heading to a flag day parade today that one of Reece's friends will be in. We will be meeting up with Aunt Sara and go to the parade with her before she heads up back to Verona. The boys just love it when she comes to Appleton.

Tomorrow we will leave bright and early for the Cabin up north. We will have Jacob with us. He is Reece's friend. He is such a nice kid. We don't mind having him around one bit!
We are going to take him to slippery Rock. His mom said she loved it there when she was a kid. Who knew it was such a well known spot. It is not like there is any signs to point it out. to direct you to it. It is just a path way. They boys will probably make a day of it.


FOOD Update

Yeah! 3 lbs down at this weeks Weigh in at Fat Class. In order to better keep track of my points I might start posting them. I am supposed to have 24 in a day, with any option of 35 extra to use for the week total. (I really like that option) so from now on my blog is going to consist of food eaten daily too. If I have more people to hold me accountable, how can I go wrong. Besides I don't need any extra weight for the triathalon next year.

It is a quarter-mile swim, 15 mile bike (I think) and a 3 mile run (or in my case jog). I figure if I can jog the entire 3 miles at least, that in itself will be a HUGE accomplishment! I wasn't even able to jog/run the one mile that they timed everyone each year of school. I ususally did one mile in 15 minutes. That was when I was in 8th grade. I am very close to it, but considering how young I was back then it is sad. I would like to do one mile in 8 to 10 minutes.

So from now on, at least till I can reach my goal (which I haven't set yet) I will boringly discuss the food that I fight daily. It is just way too easy to clean off my kids plates rather then throw the food away. My husband Duner wants to get a lab puppy. Maybe that will help with the plate cleaning issue. At least it won't be thrown out directly. : }