my fun job....

If I had the opportunity to have a FUN job, more fun that the one I actually work in, I would love to be
1. personal shopper. The idea is that I would find out what people want to pay, find it at a better price, keep the difference and charge a shopping fee. That would combine 2 great hobbies, shopping and bargaining.
2. work on personal photo albums for people. I always love designing my family photo albums on www.mypublisher.com each year. They are fun to put together and re-arrange.

so if you need any ideas or help with Christmas shopping, just let me know

and what would your FUN JOB be????

and we are back.

I was expecting to work on the blog while we were in IL, but I did not get my pictures uploaded before we left, so that did not happen. Here are just a few miscellaneous shots for your viewing pleasure.

Miles was so EXCITED to "DRIVE" the big truck that my parents brought back from IL with all my grandmother stuff in it.

Miles is looking very dapper in his button up PJ's.

Miles needed to be told to smile and show his teeth for this family picture.

And so he did. I love when he smiles that big.

So busy.....

So much has happened since my last post on Oct 22nd. I am hoping to catch up on my postings over thanksgiving week while we are visiting family. So this is why i have not posted and been so busy.

Oct 29th: new niece born, Lily Grace
Oct 31st: Halloween pictures
Nov 1st: Al Boyll- Justin's grandfather passed away.
Nov. 3rd: finished Christmas gifts for parents.
Nov 4th: election and kids were out of school.
and new kids pictures were taken, and swim lessons began.
Nov 5th: Kevin and Margie made it in for the wedding activities
Nov. 6th-7: helping margie with wedding stuff
Nov. 8th: Wedding
Nov. 9th: Pig Roast at our house. Great party with lots of friends.
Nov. 10th: my parents went to IL to pick up my Grandma to come to OH to live.
Nov. 11th: Veteran's Day, more swim lessons
Nov. 13th: all kids at school/daycare and full-day work. Parent made it back with grandma.
Nov. 14th: Moved grandma into her new apartment
Nov. 15th: 8 hours of home projects, but the house looks great.
Nov. 16th: b-day party for one of Sophia's friends
Nov 17-19: working on getting things moved around a grandma's apt and buying needed items since she moved from a 3 bedroom house into a 1 bedroom apt, needed many organizational items. Also there were many trips to goodwill to give away what she did not need.
Nov. 19th: Beat Michigan pep rally at work, Miles really enjoyed it!
Nov 20th-21: working 10 hours
Nov 21st: Taking the kids to see "when elmo grows up" on stage. Should be fun
Nov. 22nd: OSU vs Michigan game

and we are leaving for IL on Nov. 25 for a few days. So, hopefully i will be able to highlight the best parts of my busy last month. Thanks for your patience.

writing

Sophia has really taken to writing about everything. She is having a great time drawing pictures and then writing the details about the picture. This is something that she does in school daily. Today, she was dressed, had breakfast and it was not time to go yet, so she got out a dry erase board and began to draw. Then she asked me for help to spell something. The picture was of a princess and a witch. The caption, "Please don't take me witch."

I am thinking it is from the Jack and Annie books that she reads at school, or she has a very creative mind.

waiting

two years ago today, we sat, family and friends that are like family in the surgical waiting room of Children's Hospital. We were waiting to hear that your open heart reconstruction surgery went well, that you would be okay and our lives could move forward. Today, we celebrate all that you are and all that you will be. You are a miracle.

Thomas the Train

Miles has recently experienced Thomas the train. He loves looking at the Thomas books and looking for all of Thomas' friends. In one of his books is a train called Cranky. Miles has decided to point at the picture of Cranky and then point at his dad and continue to repeat, "Cranky, Cranky" until his dad acknowledges the fact that he is saying Cranky.

Justin thought that I taught Miles this one. I did not teach him this, however, i would not be surprised if Sophia taught Miles.

the roller coaster of 2006

2 years ago today, oct. 6th, we found out that you had truncus arteriosis. There were many signs that we were able to deny, attempting to believe that you were healthy. As your mom, it broke my heart to think that you were not healthy and whole. Yes, you had all of your fingers and toes, but it was your heart that was broken.

I cried while we were at the cardiologist, knowing deep down that something was wrong. The echo brought more tears while the technician began to label the parts of your heart, this is never a good sign. You were just so peaceful and innocent. your doctors told us the worst news, "your son has a very rare heart defect. Only 1-2% of the population is affected by this heart defect. " and then the best news, "but it is treatable." At that is when the roller coaster began. We were wisked away to Children's Hospital to meet too many people. Even thought it was a Friday, everyone that needed to see us, i.e. doctors, surgeons, chaplins, nurses, social workers, discharge planners were all there. It was all such a whirlwind and we hoped that it was all just a bad dream. But it was not a bad dream, it was real and it was OUR life. I pray that you never remember all that happened to you when you were just 5 days old. All the needle, monitors, tests, etc that you had to deal with. It was hard to protect you and keep you away from pain, but it all needed to be done, so that you would be here with us today. As a happy and healthy young made. The roller coaster has made you a very special boy and has made us as a family and all of our friends, and extended family even stronger. You have helped us to know of friends that we did not know that we had and found a common bond with many. I would not trade this roller coaster life with anyone, but i am glad that the roller coaster portion is slowing down.

Happy Birthday Miles!!

Miles, today you are 2. You are a very smart cookie that has turned our life upside down. You came into this world a little early and decided to make life really interesting for us 5 days after being born. We would not change a thing!! you have brought so much change (in a good way) to our family and so many more. You keep us laughing at your humor ("beat you") and keeps us on our toes with all of your new words and using them correctly. You are our miracle kids!!!
Happy 2nd Birthday--- love
mom, dad and fia

C-R-A-B-B-Y

Miles is working on pronunciation of many new words. He will often repeat himself until you repeat it back to him. He wants to make sure you understand and know EXACTLY what he is thinking.

Last night he looked at me and said very clearly, CRABBY PRINCESS.

I think that he was talking about Sophia, because then he just started laughing.

He has also started to run ahead of you and stop on a dime and say, "Beat You".

His words are just great. My mom's favorite is JAMBALAYA. Miles loves her jambalaya and continues to want more.

He is definately turning into a fearless 2 year old boy. Loves to jump, run, play in dirt, chase bugs, climb, hide, chase sister, and play jokes. This kid will definately keep us busy!!

145 hours of darkness

Yes, we were without power for 145 hours, which is 8700 minutes, which is also 522,000 seconds. This happened on Sunday afternoon. I had taken the kids to a birthday party at the park and the winds were pretty crazy, even then. What had happened was that 2 weather systems collided, Hurricane Ike and a cold front coming down from Canada. This did not turn out well for anyone that lived in columbus, ohio. Most people that I know, lost power for a long time.



What we did:

1. went to be early without any guilt (9:00 p.m. to be exact.)

2. slept in late because it is hard to get ready without power (7:00 a.m. - wow 10 hours a night for 6 nights!)

3. had slumber parties in Sophia's room

4. got a lot of outside work done, including staining our fence.

5. drank a bottle of champainge at 4:00 on a Thursday, because it was going to go bad.



what we missed:

1. just watching even a little tv.

2. some extra noise in the house

3. cold food and drinks in the morning, we lost everything.

4. Sophia missed 3 days of school since the school had no power. Only 2 more calamity days left.



what we now have:

1. a new appreciation for those who have gone thru hurricanes

2. a very clean fridge and freezer (both upstairs and downstairs)

3. empty fridges that need filled

4. knowing that we never want to live in an Amish community

Getting taller

This morning, Sophia woke me up due to the thunder and lightening. I crawled into her bed and we just talked. She was really excited to be awake. We just talked about stuff and she said "When you go to work next, I bet people notice that you have gotten taller."

I was a little confused, so I asked her what she meant. She told me, " Your older now, so you are taller too."

Yesterday was my 31st b-day. We have continued to tell her that she looks taller now that she is older. I guess she thinks it works for everyone.

Please look back.

I had set up all the pictures before leaving on our trip thinking that i could continue to post in the order I published. However, i was wrong. Please take the time to look over the last 15-20 posts. Their are a lot of great pictures to look over. Please enjoy.

My favorite picture.

Friends and After School

This is Sophia and David. They are neighbors and also in the same full-day kindergarten class. It seems that Sophia and David played pretty much all day together. They even were assigned to the same group table. I am glad that Sophia already knew someone going into kindergarten. She also mentioned that one of her friends, Eli, from kindercare is also in her class. I hope that she meets some girls soon.


Sophia could not stop smiling when we picked her up after school.

I think that she was excited, tired, and a little frustrated that we were taking pictures. She had a great day and we walked home. She did not eat too much of her lunch and promptly finished it when we got home. I think that it will take a few weeks to get her to the point of being able to help me make a good lunch and be able to eat everything that she takes. We asked her, "what was the best part of your day at school?" She said, "playing outside 3 times". "what was the worst part of your day??" She answered, "Thinking, and working on words. It is just exhausting." I hope that she loves school and loves learning. It helps that she loves to read and I think that she will be even more excited when she can read words in new books all by herself.

1st Day of Kindergarten

Today was Sophia's 1st day of kindergarten. She woke up in a great mood and very excited to go to Evening Street. I think Miles was as excited as Sophia was to go to school. Since we live close enough to the school, we will be walking to drop off and pick up. At least until the weather changes too much.
Everyone has their umbrella ready since it decided to rain on the 1st day of kindergarten.
These kids love cameras.
Sophia is all excited to walk to school and not get wet. During our walk, when it was not raining much at all, the umbrella kept distracting Sophia. So much that we had her take it down.
Here she is lining up with her new classmates and her teacher, Mrs. Stewart. She meets the kids each morning. If the weather would have been better, she would have met them at the playground. Maybe on Tuesday, we can try that routine.
Off she went. There were no tears from her, but a little from me. Our little girl is 5 and growing up so quickly.

Heart Walk 2008

We had a great time at the American Heart Association Heart Walk even though it was pretty hot outside. Thank you to everyone who donated, we raised more than $8,000 this year, double that of last year. Here are just a few pictures from the walk:

Our family, my dad, me, Sophia, Justin, Miles, and my mom.
The Dawson family: Andrea, Brutus, Rachel, Andy and Yvonne
Miles was not too thrilled about Brutus this year. He freaked out a little and tried to make an escape.
Sophia did not mind Brutus, and we were able to hold Miles in the picture long enough before he started to cry to get a good enough picture.

Final vacation pictures

Here is the last batch of vacation pictures.

Sophia got a little too much sun, you can see in the rosy red cheeks.
Standing by the beautiful flowers.

Last day on vacation.
Getting ready to head home.

Sleeping

Miles was pretty tired on vacation. After getting up early, taking a walk to look for bunnies with grandpa Herb, swimming, breakfast, etc, he needed a nap. Obviously, he did not sleep very restfully.

Golfing on Vacation

While we were on vacation we decided to try miniature golfing. Overall it was a pretty good success. The kids enjoyed it, but Miles always wanted to "hand deliver" the ball to the hole.
Sophia has a pretty good swing.
Miles needs some practice.

I think she enjoys posing for the camera.
Waiting his turn.

Tractors and toys

We went to a fun activity in Hilliard called Touch A Truck. It was a great event with lots of great machines, tractors, and motorcycles. The kids really loved all the Trucks.
Miles riding a police motorcycle.
Miles and Sophia standing under a semi-truck.
The only time the kids should be in a police car!!!
Miles driving a small tractor. He loves to drive.
Sophia standing on back of the tractors. This was a great time. The line was just too long to get into the cab of the tractor. They even let the kids honk the horns. It was a loud, but fun time!

Sophia thru the years

Sophia at 1 y/o at the pumpkin patch.
Sophia at her 2nd birthday enjoying purple icing on her cake.
She had a toddler fracture right before her 2nd birthday and had a pink cast on for 2 weeks. Look at that hair.
Here she is at her 4th b-day at the pool.
Her 5th birthday picture.

My how she has changed over the years.

Cake and presents

The cake was tasty and the girls were having a great time.
Anna loves to pose for the camera.
Sophia decided that a fork was not needed, just pick up the cake and eat it.
Sophia was starting to open all the presents and the girls gathered around.
Miles was asleep for most of the party, but woke up for the cake and ice cream. Here he is checking out all the activities.

Singing Happy Birthday to You

I carried the cake out to the castle, praying, 'please do not let me drop this!'
Sophia and all the girls loved the castle cake.
She was so excited for the chocolate cake.
She hates for people to sing to her and she became very embarrassed.
But she did a great job blowing out the candles.