In the Blink Of An Eye!

WOW! That 3-day weekend flew by! Friday, Randy came home from PA for the weekend. Saturday, my mom, sister, sil, and I had a girls' afternoon. We went to lunch and then went to get pampered by getting either a pedicure or manicure. It was so nice to get together, talk and relax. The girls got to watch some new movies on Randy's laptop this weekend: Bolt, Bedtime Stories, and Space Chimps. We recommend all of them! Sunday, as requested, we took the kids bowling again. It was a blast, and for $2.00 a game you can't beat it! Randy was the winner this week! I was so proud of Lexus for trying to throw the bowling ball like Randy and I. We were really bummed when the Steelers beat the Ravens, hopefully Arizona will crush them in the SuperBowl!




Here are some cards I made after being inspired by the stamps I got from Michael's Crafts...

Inspired!

Friday night was an adventure! For starters, Kimberly got a black eye in Kmart from the clothes rack...of course from doing what I just warned her not to do (running thru the clothes racks.) Then, we ate dinner at the new Wendy's (not realizing it opened 2 days ago) and had to wait in line forever, behind 17 teenagers, to get our food. This is not an easy feat when you have a wiggling 12 month old in your arms, a 4 year old crying from her new boo boo and reminding you every 5 secs. which special toy she would like in her kid's meal, and an 8 year old who is bored to tears. Thankfully, we got thru the line fairly unscathed and were able to eat a peaceful meal. We took some Greater's ice cream to my SIL Tina, who is recovering from surgery. She is doing better than expected! The kids were so excited to get some face time in with their cousins Samantha, Megan, and Addison.

Saturday, we celebrated my nephew Colin's 4th birthday! He looked so cute and handsome in dark jeans and a navy plaid button-down shirt, like a little man! My SIL Dana made the yummiest little treats instead of a traditional cake! She took yellow cake mixed it with icing, rolled it into a ball, dipped it in white and milk chocolate, and let it dry. It was phenomenal, so rich and delicious! They were bite-size, which made them so dangerous, becuase you could just keep popping them in your mouth. Lexus played her 2nd indoor game. On the plus side, no head injuries this week, but unfortunately they lost the game.

I was so inspired when I read my SIL's blog (Dana's Dabbling Studio) and saw the totally creative and adoreable organizer box she made for all her cards. I knew right away I had to have one! I borrowed the Papertrey stamp set "Mixed Messages" from her so I could create the same headings for my divider cards. I am really pleased with how it came out. I took several pics of it, but if you want to make your own - visit Dana's Dabbling Studio for more in depth pics and directions. Scroll down and the heading is Altered Box For Card Storage. I was also really psyched about this project, becausde it gave me another excuse to use my new Cuttlebug my parents got me for Christmas!




The girls and I had a card making party this morning at the dining room table, here are some pics of their fabulous cards!



Here are the cards I created after I made the storage box...



Plus, here are some pics from Kimberly's Grandparents Tea at Wise Owl before Christmas and Randy with the kids.

Straight A's!!!!!!!!

Lexus brought her report home today, and she got all A's!!!!! and one little "B" in Practical Living. We are so proud of her, she has really worked hard to pull up two of her B's she got on her progress report. I told her not to fret over the "B" in Practical Living because it's only taught one quarter by the gym teacher. If it was in one of the five or six main content areas, then I might be concerned...but it wasn't!!! You Rock Lexus!!!

Plus, Lexus was on TV this morning! Moyer was selected as one of Ch. 19's Cool Schools and they filmed part of the morning show at school yesterday. Here is the link to watch the video, you will see Lexus several times in the background to the left of the bluebird at the top of the screen. Just click on the word TV above and it will take you straight to the video!

Let's Bowl!

We spent our last day of Christmas Break...at the bowling alley! The girls were so excited! This was Kimberly's 1st time bowling and Lexus' 1st time in a long while. Randy being the bowling pro was the only one who had his own shoes, bag, and ball. Kimberly wanted to take the bowling shoes home, she said they were so comfortable. We all started out slow, but by the end of the second game three of us made it over 100! This has been one of the best Christmas breaks we've ever had! Randy was able to take vacation and be home almost the full two weeks with us. Tomorrow...it's back to reality! Randy goes out of town, I start my long-term sub in Kindergarten, and the girls head back to school. Guess only Austin gets to continue his break.



This is an elegant card, I just made today!

Takes a Lickin' & Keeps on Tickin'!

Lexus played her 1st indoor soccer game of the 2009 season today, although her team lost...they put up a good fight! She is playing on the "The Rocketts" team. Lexus played really hard! She was hit in the face with the soccer twice within less than 5 seconds and tripped later in the game, but she never stopped playing. She got to take a penalty kick for the tripping call. Good thing, she didn't wear her glasses during the game, or I think we'd be buying a new pair.

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! The Pirate's Life For Me!

We've been busy, busy bees lately! We saw the train display downtown at Duke Energy, visited Murray Bros. to get some yummy treats, and had lunch on Fountain Square! We stayed up till midnight to ring in the new year - 2009! The girls banged pans on the front porch and we all toasted one another.




Thursday, Captain Austin celebrated his 1st birthday! It was a pirate party!!!! Each swashbuckler was given his/her very own treasure chest filled with gold. Captain Austin loved his cake - a replication of The Flying Dutchman. He made out like a bandit and acquired lots of loot and treasure from his guests. Daddy was so proud when Austin recieved his first Lil' Tikes Jr. Quad. It is the cutest thing...Austin can actually get on it by himself, push the peddle and motor around the living room. I will have to take some video of him riding it and share it later. Poor Captain Austin had 2 new teeth on top pushed through during his party, as is evident in his two red, feverish cheeks. He was a tough pirate though and didn't let it ruin his fun!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is enjoying time with family!

We started our Christmas break on Friday afternoon. Since then we have been making cookies, watching our favorite x-mas shows, listening to x-mas music on the radio, wrapping x-mas presents and staying warm and cozy inside our humble little abode. I Spy with my little eye...4 candy canes, a smiling reindeer and a golden star!


We celebrated with the Grothaus family on Christmas Eve. First, we went to Mom and Dad's house to celebrate with the immediate family. We got to see pics of all the beautiful sights from Mom and Dad's cruise to Europe. We had a second celebration with the extended Grothaus clan at my aunt and uncle's house. Our favorite game is "Christmas Lotto" (think bingo w/ x-mas words). We all go crazy trying to win the silliest prizes and it gets even crazier during the trade round! But, it is one family tradition, we wouldn't trade for anything in the world. It just wouldn't be Christams without Christmas Lotto! When we arrived home, we jumped on NORAD to check where Santa was flying in his sleigh. The girls filled his plate with cookies, his cup with milk, put out 9 carrots for the reindeer and left a special little note for Santa. Kimberly told me later, she went to bed right away, because she didn't want Santa to pass our house by.







Christmas morning was so exciting this year...since last year Austin was only 6 days old and this year he could get excited and open his gifts. It is always a happy moment watching your children come down the stairs, eyes full of wonder as they spot the presents Santa left under the tree. Then the paper ripping frenzy began! We attended Christmas mass and spent the rest of the day celebrating with the Ossege family. We stuffed ourselves on a buffet of delicious foods...artichoke dip, ham, heath coffee cake, etc...









Today, is our traditonal "Play Day". The only rules for today is there are no rules! The kids are allowed to stay in their pj's all day and just play with all the goodies they recieved over the last 2 days. We don't even bother to clean up the living room, that comes tomorrow...hopefully with a little gift card shopping afterwards!