Ohioians!

Because my best friend Alicia is coming from Virginia this next week I thought I would post this ...getting used to Ohio... post. I think all my Ohio friends and family will get a good chuckle out of it as well!


You Know You’re from Ohio When...
You've never met any celebrities.
Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway. I hate that!
"Vacation" means driving through Hocking Hills or going to King's Island. or the State Fair in Columbus!
You've seen all the biggest bands ten years after they were popular.
You measure distance in minutes. Yep
Down south to you means Kentucky. Yep
You know several people who have hit a deer. my brother hit one this year
Your school classes were canceled because of cold. yep
Your school classes were canceled because of heat. I wish!
You've ridden the school bus for an hour each way. 45 minutes and we were like 5 miles from the school
You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day. yep
You think ethanol makes your truck "run a lot better."
You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July. CORN!
Stores don't have bags; they have sacks.
You see people wear bib overalls at funerals. Sadly yes, but that is all they ever wear
You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year. um....yep
You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example:"Where's my coat at?" or "If you go to the mall I wanna go with." Sad to admit as a teacher I've said the first one
All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or grain. melon, bratwurst, corn
You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked. yep, not us anymore though after the break in!
You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows. Grandma makes the whipped jell-o salad with marshmallows
You carry jumper cables in your car. most people do
You know what "cow tipping" or "Possum Kicking" is. Been cow tipping with my teacher! Long story
You only own 3 spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup. Haha! Yep and Season Salt!
You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit. Every year!
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow. yep
You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent.
You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie. not sexy...necessity!
The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page but requires 6 pages for sports. so true!
You think that deer season is a national holiday. Some schools get the day off!
You know which leaves make good toilet paper.
You find -20 degrees F "a little chilly".
You know all 4 seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Construction. Funnier than you know! So our construction is a "season" now?? Oh my!
You know what a real buckeye is, and have a recipe for candy ones. Grandma makes them
You know if another Ohioian is from southern, middle or northern Ohio as soon as they open their mouth.
You can spell words like Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas. yep
You know that Serpent Mound was not made by snakes. yep
You know what pop is.
You don't think of Flordia first when someone says Miami.
You snicker when someone is from Tiffin because you think of the State Hospital. HaHa!
Schools close down for the State Basketball Tournaments. Um...yep
You're proud of your state fair, but would rather go to Cedar Point. Both??
You live less than 30 miles from some college or university.
"Toward the lake" means "north" and "toward the river" means "south."
You root for a college team though you've never taken a class there.
You know the proper way to say Lima (Lyma), Berlin (BUHRlin), Bucyrus (Bew-sy-rus) and Rio Grande (Rhyo Grand). Haha!
It’s Interstate, or Highway - NOT Freeway or Expressway.
You know every exit on I-71 And what is at each exit!

You actually get these jokes and forward them to all your Ohio friends.
Isn't it sad? You just said "yup" and "uh-huh" or aint that the truth" to most of these!!!

Happy Kitchen Dance!!

WE FOUND THE B-A-T!!!! And you know where??? My Bedroom! Ahhhhh! So a week and a half after my first sighting I was getting ready for bed (why is it always me? Do they just like me or know I'm a wimp?) and turning on the box fan we sleep with. Well while turning it on I was fooling around with it adjusting the speed and such and as I was walking away I was like "what on earth? Oh my gosh its the bat!" So I then yell and run (Nathan said more like pranced like a deer) across the bedroom floor to get Nathan up. I am yelling "Nathan! Nathan! The B-A-T is on the F-A-N!!!!!" Yes I spelled it? No clue why but I did? Nathan said at least we know you can spell in a time of crisis (even though I can't on my blog! HeHe!) So he jumps up to get it and I dive onto the bed with Elijah and cover us both head to toe in the blankets. Nathan is trying to figure out a game plan of getting it without spooking it when he realized that since we turn the fan backwards so we can just hear it but not feel it the bat was actually stuck to the sucking in air part of the fan. The bat was stuck and could not move! So, he just grabbed up a Children's Place bag and plucked it off the fan. He said it went wild biting like crazy trying ot get out. He then...cough....cough...disposed of it......cough....cough (for all those animal rights activist!) I love all God's creations as well, but NOT in my house!!! So we are just praying that God will direct his creatures to remain out of our living spaces! LOL! The spiders that we come across as we are cleaning up from our huge remodel really don't seem quite as scary as they did pre-bat!!

The other night Maddelyn went to her cousins' Hannah Montana sleepover. We found out that she went up to my brother's fiance that night and while all the other girls were singing karaoke she wanted to know if she could clean the girls' room??? Yeah weird? So Beth said ok and Maddelyn not only picked up in there but she had it cleaned to perfection so everything was in it's own place. She then walked past my brother's room and said "Boy it's messy in there! Someone should clean it up!" (They had moved all the house furniture and such in there to make room for the sleeping bags) She then said "Do you want me to clean it? Yeah I am a clean freak and that still psycho! I am soooo not brain washing her!

Great news....... we are finally in our kitchen! YEAH! We've been living with a college fridge, freezer, and microwave in our formal dinning room since we moved in in January. Yeah frustrating to say the least! So they are still working on some of the decorative trim (getting new trim cut to match the antique original trim), doing 2 more small sections of counter tops, and Nathan has to paint a few more cabinets for me to be able to have the complete kitchen done. We also are waiting to put our new wood laminate (well actually a recycled rubber product from Lowes that looks like laminate but cheaper and much more durable) down until after the 3rd floor master suite is done since the construction workers get up there through the butler stairs in our kitchen. Even though I don't love cooking it has been exciting cooking in our new kitchen with all our new appliances.

I need to run though. I am "trying" to gain control today of the constant construction dust monster that lives in this house. I WILL eventually win this never ending battle!!!!

Back from Tennessee.

Ok, so I know I have been neglecting my blog posts lately, but that is just a small window into how crazy our life has been over the past few weeks. I did return home on Monday from the twelvefridays weekend celebration (crop/classes) in Tennessee. We had a wonderful time and I even brought home an album of 30 FINISHED layouts that the other oh so talented teachers taught over a 2 days span. I wen tot help out and ended up still getting some work done! Woo-hoo! I did not get too many pictures because I was so busy but I did swipe a few from other ladies blogs and such. I do have more pictures of my own but with me not feeling so hot today, I think thse pictures will have to wait a few days. Thanks Heidi and Heather for the great trip! I also met a sweet, sweet lady Amy who was so kind to drive down with me to Tennessee and then ended up being my roommate down there as well. I don't think I've ever met a sweeter person! LOL! So since she owns a scrapbooking store about an hour away form me....that is double reason to drive down and visit her!

The twelvefridays staff that weekend. Heather, Nicole, Me, and Amy. Virginia had already left for home and Heidi was not feeling very well. Say a prayer for her she is having some major back and hip problems right now.

The albums they were working on this weekend. When they left they had a completed American Crafts album with 30 layouts in it. I think that is amazing for 2 days of class and then a crop on Sunday. They were able to do 24 layouts in 2 days of class and then we had 6 additional layouts that we taught as make and takes on Sunday afternoon.

The group of laddies that attended. What a great group!

Us working girls taking a break over lunch in front of the fireplace. Ahhh! So nice!

Virginia Tilley teaching one of her classes. What a sweet girl and doesn't she look adorable in that apron with her little pregnant belly! Another mommy with lot's of little ones. She has a beat by a little bit though with her oldest at 3 1/2 and #4 on the way.

Ladies working on some of the class layouts.

Amy teaching a layout with the layout up on the big screen.

So here is the bat story (REALLLLLY condensed) that I have been promising to you all. I was sitting working on hair bows late one night while Nathan was with work in Texas when I realized I needed another strand of ribbon form the other room. While walking back through the room something darted past my head and I jumped back not knowing what it was. When I turned back to see what had just passed me it was a BAT and it was flying right back at me! I of course screamed!!!!!! I believe the high pitched scream messed up it's whole radar senses because that thing when mad and was diving at my head! Yeah I did not figure this whole theory out until the next day. Well I run into the living room screaming and hide under my baby grand piano. the thing is still flying over my head and I am still screaming under the piano! I finally get enough sense in my head to grab the cell phone on the arm of the couch and call my parents to help. I am sobbing crying when my mom answers the phone and of course she thinks something is wrong with me orthe kids but passes the phone to my dad. He asks if I need him to come and of course I say yes, sobbing. I then realize there is no way I can sit under the piano screaming with it flying over my head for the next 20 minutes while he gets there. When the bat flies back into the other room I decide to dash into Nathan's office and shut the door while grabbing the baby out of his swing on the way. Nathan asked if the baby had been on the other side of the room would I have grabbed him before running into the office and I said I don't know! LOL! Not mom of the year award material! So I then call Nathan in Texas form the office still crying! He asks me where the girls are and I say in bed. he then asks if the doors are closed and I say no. He said that I need to sneak out and get those doors closed. I (still sobbing) say that there is no way I am leaving and he just needs to pray REAL HARD for his kids because I am not leaving that room! Yep, another no mom of the year award! So long story, but he doesn't ever find the bat and I end up staying the night at my parents until he came home. We did though end up covering my fireplace in our bedroom just in case that is how he got in and to keep his friends away. Yet another joy of old houses!!!

March 5th

Maddelyn taking her first pictures with my camera of Elijah in his new pouch carrier I ordered off the Internet.

March 6th

This was the first day that our kids could play outside. They were so excited just to be able to play on the front porch. The grass was still way to muddy to get in the yard but they were just tickled to be outside. Of course another picture of the outside of our house. I can't wait until it warms up a bit more and we get start planting flowers!

Fevers, Smoke, Scrapbooking, and BATS!!!!

So I am still alive. I am so sorry that it has been forever since I posted. We've had a couple of insane past 2 weeks. Just to give you a hint it is now 1:30 am and I am doing a super quick post from a cabin in Tennessee at a scrapbooking retreat for twelvefridays. Ahhhh. hear that??? No toddlers! I love them to death, but YEAH!!!! Mommy got some kid-free (well almost, nursing baby in toe) time with other adults! You can check out all the fun we are having here! http://www.twelvefridaysweekend.typepad.com/

So the past 2 weeks have been insane with all four kids getting that nasty flu virus. I think that entire week and a half that they had it I might have gotten one night that I slept more than 2 hours in a row! The theme of the week was high fevers, deep coughs, round the clock meds, and middle of the night breathing treatments. Fun! Anyone who knows me knows I don't do very well with little sleep, so almost no sleep makes me not a very pleasant person to deal with.

Of course while Nathan was gone on a trip for work last week all craziness broke loose. We had the super sick kids, major hair bow orders that I had gotten behind on while dealing with the kids, a house filled with smoke as I chared some ribbons in the oven, An oh.... a new little B-A-T friend in my house!!!!! Yeah! Great times!!!! I obviously need to head to bed so I will be a "pleasant twelvefriday's rep" tomorrow instead of a sleep deprived grumpy scrapper! So I will have to wait to tell you my: bat diving at my head - me screaming and hiding under the grand piano - dad with a plastic baseball bat and a butterfly net story until tomorrow. I promise you that as hard as you are going to laugh at me it will have to wait until I get a moment to post later this weekend.

Trouble Maker!!

So I had my 4 sick kiddos with me at my orthodontist appointment today. Yes they were all sick but I had no time slot to reschedule and of course couldn't find a sitter. Anyways, as soon as we get in there and the kids all sit down while I am waiting in the exam chair I hear....

Maddelyn: (very loudly) "My mommy doesn't ever wear that thing in her mouth except for a night." (my retainer)

Me: "Maddelyn! Yes I do. You're not even up when I go to bed so how do you know??"

Orthodontist "Do you not wear it?"

Me: "Yes I wear all the time except for when I am eating???"

Orthodontist "You promise?"

Me "Honest I do! I have no clue what she is talking about???"

That little rat got me in trouble!! And to think, he thought I was fibbing and she was ratting me out. Seriously you can't sneak anything by kids....even when you didn't even really do it!

Hellooooo from the Sick Ward!

So I kinda have slacked the past couple weeks with project 365. You know when you take on a challenge like that it sounds wonderfula nd you think...how much time can one picture a day take??? Well with 4 small children it is amazing how little time in a day you really do have to yourself or to do the things that don't directly tie to someone's survival! So I guess I should look at it as what I have is better than no photos at all!

Well we have major sick kids here right now. I have been up with Caroline for two nights in a row. The poor thing is very sich with a nasty virus. As a matter of fact yesterday we had her at the ER again for another fever induced seizure. The last temp I got before it happened was 104.7!!! She is the kind of child that is fine one minute and then spiked feer the next. The doctors said that her littl ebody jumps temps so fast that it just can't handle it and shts down. She is fine though, it is just quite scary for Mom and Dad. The doctor told us that pretty much from now on whenever she gets the slightest fever we need to start giving her meds around the clock to revent this again since we know she has a tendancy to jump temps like this so fast. The last two days we've had her on tylenol and mortin but her temp was still at about 102.5 yesterday and then 100.5 today. Poor little thing. She is just miserable. The other three woke up warm today and the two girls have bad coughs now as well. Great time for mommy to feel bad and to be going on 2 nights of no sleep! UHH! I think we all just need a big dose of benadril??? That won't work though because I have so much to get ready for next week. Only 8 days until I leave for Tennessee for the twlvefriday's retreat! Yeah!!!! I'm getting really excited about warm weather, cabins, and a weekend of scrapbooking with friends, oh and little Elijah as well.

Here are the pics I promised of Kalahai...

February 22 &23

February 26th

After spening the week in PA we returned home to find not only had our kitchen yet again been delayed in getting the countertops in but we still had no appliances adn the countertops were the wrong size and had to be reordered! Yeah! We also found that some how about 1/2 inch (no kidding) of construction dust had settled on everything on the first floor! I think it might part have to do with this plastic sheeting on the new stairs to the 3rd floor master suite is gone and they have been dry walling up there all week. for any of you how know me know that it's very hard to live with all that dust being OCD.

February 28

I spent the evening catagorizing and taking photos of my bow collection tha tI have here at the hose from my craft shows. I have ahd several ladies email about wholesaling with me and several wanted to know what I had on hand and how fast they could get it. I told Nathan it is a definite answer to prayers...but can we pray for the boom in my business regularly so the orders are more consistant instead of slow and then over whelming?? He said you complain when you don't have any and then you complain when they all come in at once. I said I like the orders....just ask god for nice and steady work! HAHA! This is a photo of some of the team spirit bows I had instock.

March 1st

The kids and Nathan took me out for my 27th birthday to Olive Garden and gave me a wii fit for my present! WOO-HOO! Now if I can just get in a habit of using it on a regular basis. All day Caroline has sang "Happy Birthday Mommy!" Melt your heart! The girls woke me up that morning singing happy birthday and giving me a card that Daddy had them sign the night before and hid in their room. Too bad they told me the night before they had a surpise to give me in the morning.