Father-Daughter Day!

Today was a very special day for Randy and the girls! It was the Pop-Tot Breakfast at Wise Owl this morning. Kimberly was so proud to show her Dad all the wonderful things she loves about her preschool...such as her best friend Chloe and her birthday cupcake on the bulletin board. Plus, they ate a delicious breakfast together.




Randy and Kimberly came home...Randy and Lexus left for the Bob White. They went to shoot targets and Lexus hit the bulleye! They spent time with Grandpa Grothaus, Uncle Eddie, Mitchell, Tristan, and Myles on the shooting range.


Monday, is "Reading Across America Day" and this is the door I created with my Kindergarteners. It is the Cat in the Hat's hat! I just painted their hands and they pressed them on the paper covering the door. It's so cute! I have a day full of fun activities, books, and a movie! We are making a sweet version of Green Eggs and Ham (will post this on Monday), readng lots of Dr. Seuss books, and working with rhyming words and the "-at" word family.

The Disappearing/Reappearing Blue Spot

We had a little accident at the house this morning. Kimberly was trying to open one of her bingo dobbers to color a picture, but the whole cap came off! Blue ink was all over her pj's, all over her skin, and all over my dining room carpet. Luckily, thanks to my quick reaction, we were able to save the pj's and prevent Kimberly from becoming a permanent Smurfette. She was so afraid she was going to be a "blue girl" forever. Unfourtunately, the carpet didn't fair so well. I tried foam carpet cleaner, water, oxyclean carpet cleaner, etc...and while it did remove the majority of the stain, as you can see from the pic it has come back to haunt us. Everytime I would spray the carpet cleaner and soak it up with a rag, it looked like the stain was completely gone. Only when it dried did we notice the blue start to reappear.

We had the pleasure of watching my niece Samantha perform in the middle school production of Seussical Jr. this afternoon. She was a bird girl in a fabulous red costume and also the dance captain of the show. It was amazing! The set, the actors, the singing, the costumes...everything was amazing!

Guiness World Record

Where did the week go? Having another 4-day week really made time fly. Randy was popping in and out to various places for work. Kindergarten was keeping me on my toes with schedule changes. Kimberly was having fun at Wise Owl learning about the violin. Lexus has been studying for a major science test on Monday and Austin has been living the high life (play, eat, nap, repeat). Friday night, we spent a quiet night at home. But, Saturday had more in store for us! A couple weeks ago, we got 2 free tixs at the library for a Cyclones hockey game. Randy was browsing the Internet yesterday and just happened to see an ad for the Cyclones, so we decided to go. After dropping Austin off at Grandma O's to play with 2 of his cousins, we headed to the game. The Cincinnati Cyclones beat the Dayton Bombers 2-1 and boy was it a thrilling game. There were two major fights, lots of penalties and power plays. Kimberly was in heaven...she could scream and no one cared. She was just another crazy fan.
Getting back to the title of this post...we witnessed a record being set for the Guinness Book of World Records...The longest head slide on ice! Twister the Cyclones mascot made three attempts to break the record and his longest slide was 114 feet. The girls thought this was the coolest thing ever! It had been so long since we had been to a hockey game, it was so much fun to go to a game again. For anyone that knows us, Randy & I used to be total hockey groupies...going to every home game and watching any hockey game we could find on TV. Between the two of us we own 6 hockey jerseys, but like anything more important things came into our life (Lexus, Kimberly, & Austin) and we were more than happy to give up hockey to spend every waking moment with them. Nice how things can come around full circle...now we can share our love of hockey with Lexus, Kimberly & Austin! This was Twister's warm up attempt!

This was the real deal! Guinness World Record!

Wii Are Getting Fit!

Randy surprised all of us with the Wii Fit when it came in the mail on Thursday! Even better it was free, b/c he used his Holiday Inn points. Do we have the most wonderful husband/father in the whole world or what!!! We have all had a blast trying the different yoga poses, balance games, strength exercises, and aerobics routines. We have faithfully been working out on it. Boy oh boy...Are we paying for it, but no pain, no gain right! We are using muscles we haven't used in years :)

We have been enjoying our luxurious 4-day weekend, a must needed break for everyone! Saturday, we spent time with friends and family at Second Saturday Soup. What a great idea to help pass the winter months. Soup, snacks, beer, friends, family and euchre...recipe for a fun time! I really enjoyed crushing the competition with my Dad in euchre. Sunday, we finally got to visit IKEA up in West Chester...what an adventure! The girls had a blast in Smaland (playland for the kids while you shop). You have to sign your kids in and they can play for an hour while you shop. You get a pager and if your child needs you at all, they just page you to come get them. It was a very secure operation. Randy, Austin and I did a little fantasy browsing on the second floor. We thought the layout was a little crazy(made it hard to see everything). We loved the clean lines and modern style in their furniture and home furnishings. If only we could win the lottery tomorrow, but then that also requires buying a ticket. I don't believe in wasting my $$$ on lottery tickets, since my odds of winning are about nil. I recommend taking a trip up to IKEA just for the experience, such a neat store!

Which Came 1st? Chicken or the Egg?

Last weekend rocked! I got to catchup and have my girlfriends Abby and Heather from NKU over for dinner on Friday. Craft night was on Saturday, so I got to catchup with my girlfriends Jenny and Tiffany. I believe this was my most productive craft night yet!(as you can see from the pics). Randy went to a turkey banquet with his brother Matt and came home with a new hunting backpack and knife.




Ready for the answer...THE CHICKEN! Why the chicken you ask? Because we had the chicken first and on Monday it laid an egg!!! Randy did alot of research on Chickie Wickie and found if you put a plastic egg in the chicken's cage, it helps stimulate egg production. The kids were so excited! The egg is very small and has a light tan color to it. Chickie Wickie laid another egg yesterday! On average, she will lay an egg every 3 to 4 days.


A woodpcker did this to our tree in the backyard. It is so interesting how it created perfectly straight circles of holes around the tree.

Thursday, we lost power from 8:00 p.m. till 4:30 a.m. It really scared the girls, so we set up a LED lantern in the living room and snuggled under blankets. Lexus and I took turns reading a book outloud to Kimberly and Randy played flashlight tag with the neighbors.

Back In Buisness

Oh my gosh...has it really been 15 days since I last posted on our blog! Things have been so hectic lately! Best to start at the beginning, don't ya think? When we last blogged, we had just come off a great 3-day weekend. Here's what we've been up to: Austin had double ear infections, Kimberly got an ear infection, Dana, Steph, and I got the creative juices flowing during craft night, Snowstorm 2009 hit the tri-state area giving us 2 snow days and an 2-hr delay, sledriding with the Ossege cousins down Grandma & Grandpa Ossege's back hill, Austin's 1st & 2nd sled rides, snow angels in the backyard, annual Ossege girls calendar dinner, watched a rivoting 2nd half of the Superbowl with our neighbors (where were all the good commercials???), Kimberly channeled her inner 80's , Austin cut two new teeth (total of 6 now), and had to get the air-suspension fixed on my truck for the 2nd time in less than 3 years. So, there it is, in a nutshell! Enjoy the pics below of all our fun, promise not to keep you in the dark for another 15 days. As I look at the snow falling outside, I'm hoping for an 1 hr-delay in the morning (not likely, but I can still wish!)