HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVAN!!!

In addition to my "old lady" aches and sprains - I have one more reason to feel quite old today! My very first baby is 11!!!

It's been a busy day so far - we've been to laser tag, had a pizza party when we came back, a little tag and guns, then Evan's requested chocolate chip cookie cake! I think I'm holding up pretty well for 4 hours of chaos (and some of them are still going strong as I type). But overall, it's been a pretty good day for Evan.

As for me, I'm taking it all in pretty slow. I wasn't even in labor with him yet this time 11 years ago (well, I kinda was, I just didn't know it at the time). So, until 10:46pm, he's still 10 to me (and even that is too old for my liking)!!!

So how did he go from this cute little baby . . .

To this giant human being???

Evan and his friends in the briefing room at Xsite Laser Tag.

Evan's friends raise a toast to him - it was pretty cute actually. Some said "to the best friend ever" and another said "to the best party ever".

Opening gifts. Bakugan and gift cards, he couldn't have been any happier!!!

The group from L to R: Justin, Evan, Ryan, Max, Joe & Ben

As if they weren't jacked up enough from sugar soda and pizza - it was time to actually eat the frosted giant cookie!

Need A Vacation NOW!!!

Okay, this cold snowy weather is for the birds - literally!

Lately we've had nothing but freezing cold temperatures, little to no sunshine, and most recently - a flock of black birds hanging in and around the yards in our neighborhood. Seriously, it looks like I'm in that old Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds" - a little freaky!

So, here are the places we'll be going in the next 6 months - and it seriously can't come soon enough! I was hoping to copy and paste pictures, but the websites won't let you do that, so you'll have to click on the red links below!

For Spring Break, we'll be heading down to Gatlinburg once again with our best friends, the Cassidy's. Last year we had an amazing time, so this year we're going for a longer period of time (a whole week instead of just 4 days) and we got a bigger cabin. We almost got one with an indoor pool - which would've totally rocked - but we decided to wait until the kids are just a little older. I'm sure they'll have plenty to do with the pool table, air hockey, games, Wii, firepit, etc... and we plan to do a lot more hiking this year. Linda and I are most looking forward to the outlet shopping again - we got some awesome stuff last year! So if you want to see where we're staying this time around - click here The picture below is where we stayed last year! If you've never used Majestic Mountain Vacations - we HIGHLY recommend them! The cabins are amazing, clean and look JUST LIKE the pictures!

In July, we'll be heading back to Hilton Head for our annual family trip. My parents rent a beachhouse (and I mean - RIGHT on the beach) for the whole family. We're staying at this house again! It's perfect for all 11 of us and is so close to the beach. The picture below (and the title picture at the top of my blog) was one we took on the deck of this house the last time we went - so you can see how close we are. It's so nice to lay in the pool (I'm not much of a "lie on the beach in a bunch of sand" type person) and listen to the waves! Again, I gotta put a plug in for our friends at The Vacation Company in HHI- they are always such a help - anything you need, theyll come running!

So here's to warmer weather and vacationing away from the "blahs" of normal, everyday life! I'M READY!!!

The Road of Frustration

This picture of Blake showing me his "muscles" is perfect for this post! It clearly describes how I've been feeling this past week . . . FRUSTRATED!

Don't get me wrong - I'm blessed by a lot of things, but when things aren't going the way you want them to, it's - well, frustrating!

I had been doing really well with my new diet and workout routines: running, spinning, elyptical, weight training. It was halted quite suddenly this past Sunday afternoon after injuring my ankle after a long run (well, long for me anyway, 4 miles). As the days passed, I still couldn't walk very well. The pain got so bad on Thurday that I finally bit the proverbial bullet and went to a foot/ankle doc at Ortho Indy (very cool doc by the way - how could he not be, he's a Buckeye fan!!!).

They found nothing seriously wrong in the xrays - so they put me in an air cast for "the next 1-2 weeks" and sent me for an MRI this morning. I hope to have results early this week, but I have to admit this has bummed me out huge! I mean who wants to have "possible" chipped cartilege and "possible" surgery if that's what it is? Not me, I've had enough "bone" surgeries to last me a lifetime (if you haven't heard about my arm story after trying to catch Blake when he was 1 from falling down our stairs, you probably DON'T want to hear about it . . . long nasty story).

So anyway. Guess I'm just trying to decide what I'm supposed to be learning from this experience. There are so many other bigger things to worry about - or maybe that's the problem, maybe I shouldn't be "worrying" about them at all and just trying to listen to what God is trying to tell me through this. I've been so busy lately, that maybe I'm being slowed down for a reason.

I'm still bummed - I'd like to look good for my trips to Gatlinburg and Hilton Head, and for my 20th High School Reunion coming up this fall, and I've actually re-grown to love working out - but I'm trying to be open to the other "reasons" this has happened, and hopefully I'll learn something from it. Just another valley to go through - maybe by next week, I'll be climbing that road to the mountain top - with a new and fresh perspective!!!

Have a great week & thanks for listening to me get this off my ankle - I mean chest! Hahaha!!!

Happy New Year & Ice Skating

Happy New Year everyone!!! Here's to hoping for a great 2009!!!

We started off the new year with our best friends in Cincinnati - the Cassidy's, and invited our former neighbors - the Sluder's, to join us. It's awesome to keep in touch with all our old buddies! We had a great time as our kids had fun playing together while the girls kicked some boy bootie in Euchre and Cranium.

Today we were invited to the Smith Annual Skating Party down at the Pan Am Plaza in downtown Indy. Their extended family rent out the entire rink for about 400 friends. They serve up cookies and hot chocolate, and we skate until we can't skate any more! It was a ton of fun as it is every year.

The New Year's gang: Kevin & Linda Cassidy; me & Shawn; Jaime and Barb Sluder

Evan didn't want to skate, but he thoroughly enjoyed the hot chocolate with Blake!

Blake couldn't wait to get on the ice - mommy was a little wobbly though!

He caught on quick though!

Grant practiced with the cones, but was a pro in no time. He went around the entire rink by himself while daddy helped Blake.

Grant wants to take skating lessons to play hockey - might have to look into that!