Daddy comes home! (Pictures)

What a crazy, but wonderful week it has been. Shawn came home from Kansas late Thursday night. It was so great to see him after being gone for 3 weeks. You never really realize how much you actually need someone until they are gone. I always missed him on a daily basis when he lived here and was just 5 miles away at work, so I knew this "weeks at a time" span would be difficult on us all. Brookie B is a BIG daddy's girl and she is having a really hard time with it. Hopefully it wont last much longer. The house has only been listed for a month but we have had 6 views and some interest but no offers as of yet. We have agreed to give it a couple more months and then we will rent it out and purchase our new home. I can't wait to get settled in it. I already have it all decorated in my mind :) I have all the faith that St. Joseph buried in our backyard will bring good luck to our selling and Shawn and I have been praying like crazy. God has a plan for us; this we know. All in good time...

When Shawn arrived Thursday night the kids were in bed. I had three surprises for him, so of course I had to "give" them to him. The first surprise was our repainted "master suite". We painted the room a couple of years ago; three walls and ceiling in beige and the wall the bed was on in Chocolate brown and our bedding contained shades of oranges, browns, golds and purples, but it was time for a change. I purchased a black/charcoal/silver king sized duvet with a damask design on Overstock.com a month or two ago and decided it was time to try it out! So, I repainted that brown wall in a sea blue color, slapped on the silver bedding and accented with blue, beige and silver pillows and it looks absolutely gorgeous. He LOVES it; I LOVE IT, so it was a yahtzee all the way around. This summer we gave the master bath a complete overhaul so the entire room looks like a million bucks. Kinda like living in our own hotel.

My second gift to Shawn were tickets to Cordova Speedway for this past Saturday night to watch the World Series of Drag Racing in Cordova, IL. Man, was he ever excited! We all were! The kids and I had never been to a drag race before and I knew that he loved them so it was a win/win! Logan said it

was "even a bit cooler than dinosaurs" so you know how great he thought drag racing was!

Our favorite, by far, were the jet engine "funny" cars. Man, those things "flew". And the rumble in the seats was intense! Brooklyn's eyes nearly popped out a few times, but she really enjoyed it too. It was a good thing we stopped and purchased her a pink pair of ear muffs before arriving at the track. She wore them the whole day and never made a fuss. She was just happy to be with her daddy.

We all love anything that has (big) motors/engines and make lots of noise so drag racing is definitely added to the "family to do list" along with truck and tractor pulls, mud boggs, monster trucks, demo derby's and such. (My dad is going to be disappointed when I call him and tell him not to build me a tractor, but a dragster instead!) The more fire, the better!

My third and final gift to Shawn (the big boom of them all) was a "congratulations on your new job; we are so proud of you and thankful for all you do for us" Bulova dress watch. I stumbled upon it at the

jewelry store when I went in to pick up my ring after getting it resized and cleaned. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the perfect watch for his collection. I think he was a little surprised that I picked out one on my own that he loved...I reminded him that I also picked out his last one that I purchased him last Christmas. I have that picky personality of his, all figured out. Now, he knows too. :) He is pretty proud of the new watch. He shows everyone, posted pics on Facebook, so I am really happy that I decided to sped my entire stash of Miche commission on that watch he seems to love so dearly. It was worth it, because he is definitely worth it. Luckily, I have a few years to save up for the next one!

Friday morning we got Logan off to school and Brooklyn and I decided to surprise Daddy with breakfast in bed. On the menu: loaded breakfast burritos with a side of cantaloupe and grapes, accompanied by his favorite OJ and milk. They were delicious! Then, Brookie, Daddy and I, snuggled in bed and watched TV until 10:30. It was great. Afterward, we went out and did a little yard work before going into town and running a few errands, going out to dinner and returning home for a peaceful evening and an early bedtime for all. Races tomorrow!!

Saturday morning, we started our "race day preparations" and off to the track we went! The track wasn't very congested by the time we arrived at 2:00, but by 6:00 it was packed like sardines in a can. There is nothing in the world like deep-fried corn dogs, oreos and funnel cakes!

Sunday, Shawn headed out in the early a.m. for Erie, Pennsylvania for an action workout. He will return and spend this next weekend with us before returning to Kansas to go back to work. We haven't any plans for the upcoming weekend yet, but I am sure we will figure out something. In the meantime, the kids and I are holding the fort down. I am planning to take the kids to the circus on Thursday. Tomorrow we are meeting my girlfriends at Lake Storey for a picnic in the park. Really looking forward to that. I will sure miss these girls when we are gone so I spend as much time with them as I can before we finally do leave. Mom2Mom starts again this Friday! That is certainly something to look forward to :)

In other family news, our beautiful neice, Allison Danielle Murphy, aka "Little Miss Murphy" is 6 months old! My how time flies! Mommy sent Aunt Kelly and Uncle Shawn new pictures!! Isn't she beautiful!?

Oh, we also have a new addition to our household! Shawn bought me a new treadmill. The "Horizon T700"! It is sweet! After we get settled in the new house, we are going to add a Bowflex machine and pool to our "home gym". Until then, I will keep my YMCA membership.

I'm baaaaack!

7 months...yes, I have not had time to write in 7 months. We have had birthdays, wrapped up a school year, enjoyed a summer and have gone through a job change in all that time. Now that things have slowed down a bit, maybe I can get caught up. Actually, that is so not true. Things haven't slown down. They are actually about to get worse with this relocation, but we are sure excited! Through it all I have managed to take a few notes in the past months to sum things up when I finally had a chance to sit down beyond this computer for something other than to feed my Facebook and eBay addictions. :)

So, here we go:

FEBRUARY:

We of course celebrated, LOVE. Other than that, we had a very special birthday. Shawn turned the big 3-3 and got the gift of his dreams...an "upgraded" GPS that does everything but drive your car. And, I made his favorite, Banana Cream Pie, so his birthday was nothing less than heavenly. We also welcomed a new addition to our family. Our sweet rescue dog, Haylee. She is two. She is definitely a Mommy's girl. Only fair I guess. Brookie claimed Daddy! I don't know why, but the dog claimed me. I trip over her constantly as she follows me everywhere.

MARCH:

Another birthday! Logan turned 8 and we celebrated his birthday at T-Rex Cafe in Kansas City. His favorite place. I really like it too. All the animatronic dinosaurs are fascinating. The food is great too, even though it is pretty pricey.

APRIL:

Yep, another birthday...Larynn celebrated her 11th by having a friend stay after a roller skating party. She is pretty easy to please. Next year I am going to take her horseback riding. She will be so thrilled. We hit a milestone in the Ditsch Household this month. Little miss Brookie B is fully potty trained at 2 1/2 years old! She is a very smart girl (well, obviously) so she picks up on things quickly. Thank goodness. NO MORE DIAPERS....EVER...(Sorry mom...Sonya will have to take over the baby making from here on out!)

MAY:

May was very special for us. Shawn and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary. Man, time sure flies when you're having fun. I love that man. Marrying him was the best decision I ever made...finally got one thing right, at least. Yes, we went out and while we were out we decided that we are too old for going out, lol. We stuffed our bellies and were ready for bed. No, we didn't go home. We managed to follow through with the date as planned but next year we will plan something more "hotel" related and just enjoy one another rather than run around the town.

JUNE:

Wrapped up the school year! We now have a 2nd grader and Larynn starts Junior High. Oh. My. Lord. Not long ago, I was in Junior High. I remember my first day. I can't believe my daughter is about to experience hers. Makes me sad and happy, all at the same time. Shawn also interviewed for a new position out of state (farewell to Illinois, we will leave you WITH BELLS ON) and his chances of an offer are excellent. We have our fingers crossed. We LOVE our house and will miss it dearly, but we are pretty confident that we will find one there that we will love just as much. We refuse to "settle."

JULY:

Shawn got the job! We have listed our home for sale and we are out of here! We will miss you, dear friends :(

Another birthday. Yes, yours truly! I turned 32 this year! I am loving the 30's. I always said they would be the best years of my life. So far, it is going pretty good. This month I also became a MICHE bag Commissions Rep...my birthday present was a $499 starter kit. I am having so much fun with it thus far. They sell themselves so there isn't much work involved. I love being able to get out of the house (dressed up!) and meet new friends while catching up with old. It also gives Shawn a chance to play with the kids and get some of their attention. They enjoy reading and building dinosaurs downstairs. He has gotten pretty good at painting finger and toe nails :) Brookie loves it when daddy paints her nails, followed with a princess dance party. Yes, we do a lot of living room dancing! We sure love to laugh.

I was offered a job as a real estate listings proof reader after expressing my concern to an agent about her spelling during our new home search. I accepted. Kelly Ditsch Designs has also taken on another wedding floral job for an event in November. Better get a crackin' on those.

AUGUST:

Shawn started his new job August 1st after a fabulous farewell bash with the Galesburg shop crew. We had a great time. Thank you Jason Greenwood. You have finally redeemed yourself from the nasty beer incident. You will be missed.

School has finally begun...I am enjoying the peace and quiet so far. Of course, that normally only occurs when Brookie B is asleep. There isn't much of either with that little, energetic, motor mouth around. :) She sure does put the "spice" in life.

I know, I know...

No, I haven't forgotten, I have just been super busy with these crazy kids of mine still on Winter Break. School resumes on Tuesday...thank goodness!! I will try to fill in all the details on the holidays, etc. then. CONGRATULATIONS are in order though, to Sonya and Dustin Murphy, who, as of 7:21 this morning, became first time parents to a lovely baby girl, Allison Danielle Murphy, weighing 5 pounds, 10 ounces. Yes, she was quite early...she should have come out last weekend when Uncle Shawn and Aunt Kelly were in Ohio visiting! I will be sure and pass on  my disappointment when she is old enough to understand. Welcome to the world, Little Miss Murphy!!!

9 DAYS!!

Yesterday, I planned to finish wrapping Christmas gifts. I had them all drug upstairs but before getting started, Brooklyn and I ran to the UPS office to drop off some eBay packages that needed to get out. After that, we hit the store to get some diapers (hopefully we will be done buying those soon! Especially since our regular package increased by 5 bucks!). By the time we made it back home, it was nearly time for the kids to get off the bus so we frantically stashed them in my bedroom closet. Yet again, laying around in the way. The kids had AWANA last night, so Shawn and I hit Lowe's to buy a new disposal for the sink as well as a purifier pitcher. Every appliance in our house has something wrong with it, all within the last 6 months. Our $12,000 refrigerator (no, that's not a typo!) won't make ice, our dishwasher latch is busted...I guess it wasn't intended to wash a load daily; the upper oven on the stove will not heat properly because the switchboard is on the fritz. Garbage disposal won't work unless you use a wooden spoon handle and a special method of  'wrist turning' to get it to start. Our microwave works properly! After getting kids off to bed, Shawn and I enjoyed the peace and quiet and decided to exchange our Christmas gifts...a new tradition has been born!

Today's agenda...WRAP KIDS GIFTS.

10 Days 'Til Christmas!!

Oh, yes, I am excited. I really need to devote today to sorting and wrapping the remainder of my presents before leaving next Thursday for dad's. I wanted to meet a girlfriend for coffee this morning, but my eBay items are not boxed yet to ship out so I don't want to waste the trip into town. Last night we had Jason Greenwood, the new shop manager over for dinner. Beef Pot Roast, Fried Potatoes and a Vegetable Medley were on the menu. Jason was kind enough to bring beer, though disgusting as it was. Some nasty micro brew made in Missouri called IPA or something. It tasted like evergreen trees and citrus. It was nasty. We may never invite him again.

We've been having lots of problems keeping Brooklyn in her bed at night, so I decided to throw her in the pack-and-play last night since we had company to avoid the usual struggle routine in front of guests. What a mistake that was. Now she wants to sleep in the playpen rather than her bed. I have never met a child so difficult in my life. It's obviously her father in her coming out.

Friday is my Mom2Mom group and I just realized it is our tables turn to bring food. I think I signed up to bring a bread item...cookies count, right? I hope so, had my fill of baking for the week. I doubt the ladies will mind.

THREE MONTHS??!! (pictures)

Holy Moley, three months without posting. Guess I will summarize and hope that it is short and sweet. I guess I will break it down by the month.

October:

Well, Of course we had fall and Halloween so that was exciting. The kids got to trick or treat two times so they really enjoyed that. Larynn and McKayla were punk rockers, Logan a dinosaur (big surprise, I know), Garrett a Lego and Brooklyn was a pirate princess. Also, we celebrated Brooklyn's 2nd birthday. Well, kind of. Her party wasn't much of a party as 99% of the guests couldn't make it due to the death of my cousin, Dave Schultz. His funeral was the same day as Brooklyn's party. But, Grandpa Dennis and Grandma KK came and we had a great time, just the same. Plus, our house was stricken by a bout with the flu.

November:

We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Wisconsin this year so Larynn could visit her dad. The holiday fell on my fathers birthday this year, so it was nice to spend it with him. Larynn is no longer in tumbling. She was threatened that she would be pulled out if her grades didn't improve for 2C's and 2D's by report card time. She did pull them up to 2B's and 2C's which I was thrilled about, but at P/T Conferences, I discovered that she had forged my signature on 2 tests that were to be taken home and returned with PARENTS signature, so I pulled her out. Now, we just have Logan tumbling, He is really enjoying it. His first competition brought a 4th place finish, the second her received 2nd and the latest one he was awarded 3rd place. Next year will be really busy with THREE tumblers. Well, as long as Larynn has her act together.

December:

We are getting ready for the holidays. Of course, this is our favorite holiday of the year. Everything is so pretty and joyful. I started Christmas shopping the day after Christmas last year, and continued throughout the year, so that made it much easier.

Next week, we will be planning a trip to Wisconsin for Christmas. We were hoping to spend Christmas with Shawn's sister and husband this year, but didn't realize it would be a 10 hour drive from Wisconsin. There is NO WAY Brooklyn would ride (happily) that long, so that got tossed out, unfortunately. She isn't much of a traveler. Two hours seems to be the maximum. Trips to Wisconsin are bad; trips to Kansas are even worse. I couldn't imagine tacking on 4 more hours. No way. We'll see what the rest of this month brings. Hopefully a potty trained two year old, but I won't hold my breath...

...So much for short and sweet...

Brooklyns Birthday Bedding from Grandma
and
BELOW, the kids at Halloween.
McKayla, Brooklyn, Logan, Larynn and Garrett

 

WHAT A WEEK...to say the least (Pictures)

Well, now that we are back in the swing of things with school starting, things just bumped up a notch. This week marked the beginning of CCD class for the kids as well as the tumbling and jazz dance season. On Tuesday, Shawn returned to work after the holiday weekend and I ran into town to fill prescriptions for Larynn and Logan. Logan's filled just fine, but every pharmacy in town was out of Larynn's ADD meds. For the time being, she is sharing Logan's meds. They are a tad lower of a dose and a bit more expensive but luckily we only pay $12 since we met our deductible for the year. Next year will be another story. On Wednesday, I took the kids to CCD class. The cost is $80.00 to attend classes. I was so fed up because last year, I would ask the kids after class what they had done in class, and the answer always seemed to be "play outside on the jungle equipment." Shit, they can do that at home for FREE! I always learned about the bible, and prayers and various things like that when I was in CCD. I expect that for $80.00, my children are doing the same. So, after Wednesday's class, I asked the same question and after receiving the same "played outside" response, I called and took them out of CCD. I stopped at Bethel Baptist Church where I attend (and so very enjoy) my  mom2 mom group where I had heard of their children's AWANA group that meets every Wednesday night and went and signed them up for that. They start next week! On Thursday, I decided to tear our closet all apart and rebuild shelves and repaint the disaster. Shawn took the kids to tumbling practice for me so I could continue my rebuild and get all the painting done. Our bed was heaped with clothes so I am pretty confident he wanted me to stay home and get finished! Larynn has decided to take 2 tumbling classes and a jazz class this year. Last year she had only been in one tumbling class. Logan has joined this year. We started him this summer and has progressed very quickly! He loves tumbling and talking about dinosaurs while doing so. He minds really well, doesn't talk out of turn, sits and waits his turn does his best, so I think it is doing him alot of good. He will be in Jumpin' J's this year with Larynn as well. Jumpin' J's is the competitive tumbling team at Judy's Dance Studio. I figure Logan might as well join since we have to drag him along to all the meets anyway. He might as well bring home a trophy, too! He will do great. Larynn has moved up from being a Beginner to Advanced Beginner competition level. She is doing really well with tumbling too. At the end of the year review show last year, she got to see all the older girls flip up in the air with no hands, and wants to do the same. That is why she has decided to take double tumbling classes.
Friday I went to the church (Bethel Baptist) and helped a few of the ladies bake cookies for the retreat next weekend in the Quad Cities. I will (gladly) be joining them for this fun-filled weekend of conversation, food, fun and games. Most of all, TIME AWAY!! Brookie missed her afternoon nap as we didn't get done at the church until after 1:00. A few times, I turned around to find her wrapped around her ducks, laying on the kitchen floor! I have posted pics of her being scooped up and rocked by one of the other ladies who had volunteered. Mom was up to her elbows in cookie dough so I couldn't come to her rescue! She's so goofy. She did, however, enjoy taste testing the various kinds of goodies! Rice Krispie treats, scotcharoos, brownie bites, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin...just to name a FEW. I was surprised that she scarfed down the taco I gave her for lunch after the cookie buffet. She was ready for a nap after that. I ran into Menard's to get some trim to finish up my closet project and we headed home to lay her down. I was surprised she slept through all my hammering. She woke up shortly after the kids came charging through the door after school. I gave quick instructions on dinner, and listen to Shawn's story about his boss quitting that afternoon. Henry, the shop manager quit GE and accepted a position with BNSF in Alliance, Nebraska. Supposedly, they will be shipping out shortly, so that position will be open.
I then left to attend the Creative Escape at the Bethel Baptist Church. It was my first time attending. It is basically one night a month where a bunch of women sit around, eat, talk, and work on their favorite hobby that they never have time to do at home with the husband and kids around. After attending, and being the only one there with nothing to work on, I need to find a hobby! More than 80% of the women scrapbook. That is just not in the least bit appealing to me. I cannot sit on my ass that long and screw around with that shit. I printed off 67 pictures a couple of weeks ago to put in Brooklyn's baby book one night, and that just about killed me! I was so bored and frustrated out of my mind I wanted to hang myself. Almost. I keep searching for hobbies on the internet, but nothing is really pulling me in. Oh well. I have a month to figure something out. Maybe return to writing again?? We'll see. Today, the kids had Jumpin' J's practice this morning. We signed up for the Kewanee meet, occurring on October 23rd, the day after Brooklyn's 2nd birthday. The kids are really psyched about that. Looks to be another great year! National competition is in West Virginia this year, so we will get to TRAVEL! Score! Well, that is if the kids qualify. Let's hope! I could use a little change of pace. Never been to the East Coast before.