I am going to use Kristi’s Top 5 format this week!!!

With the weather in the 80’s all week-end, we spent as much time outside as possible.  (Sorry, I didn’t take one single picture this week-end!)

1.  Thursday and Friday Mom and I had a garage sale at her house.  I did really well between the two sales!  We will have lots of spending money while we are on our vacation.

2.  Friday evening I took Brayden and Andrew over to Manda’s to play with Jayla while Manda and I set on here front porch and talked until dark.

3.  Saturday was a busy day I took the boys over to Manda’s to play outside while we gave ourselves pedicures and manicures with Seacret Dead Sea Salt products.  I am in LOVE with them!  I found some of the products on E-Bay today and ordered them for myself.  :o)

4.  After our pampering Manda had to go into work for awhile.  So after she got home, her, Fred and Jayla came over to our house for a cook-out.  We ate and hung out in the back yard until close to 11:00pm.  Both Brayden and Andrew fell asleep after their baths before we could even get them in their PJ’s.  They sleep until after 10:00am Sunday…

5.  Sunday Manda and I went to Rochelle’s house for a purse party.  I bought two of the cutest purses EVER!  Afterward we went to grab a bit to eat at the local Chinese restaurant.

The new week is now here and I have a lot to get done by Thursday.  Friday morning Mom and I are leaving for Cleveland.  Molly is scheduled to have a c-section.  We will met lil’ Audrey Kay!  We will be staying to help Barry and her with Jack during the week-end.  I will have lots of pictures to share of my new little niece (and my sweet nephew) next week!!!  Please keep Molly and the baby in your prayers for an easy delivery and healthy baby.

Not much to update from the week-end.  As I said in my last post Friday was a wash out thanks to the stomach flu. 

Saturday I still didn’t feel all that great and we just stayed at home. 

Sunday we woke up to rain and it continued to rain throughout the day.  We went to church then to Mom and Dad’s for lunch.  Afterwards Mom and I ran to pick a up a few groceries. 

The evening brought some crazy weather as funnel clouds were spotted all around our area.  The tornado sirens went off and we were able to keep up with what was going on by listening to the scanner.  There were funnel clouds as close as 7 miles from us.  But as quickly as the bad weather rolled in, it rolled out and the sun peaked through before it set.  The boys were happy to see it stay day light outside until 8:00.  Spring is just around the corner!   It can’t come soon enough for me. 

Brayden is still tyring to get his strength back from the nasty bug.  Thankfully, there is no school today because of a teacher work day and it will give him one extra day to rest up and feel better.  As for me I will be busy taking care of kids.  I have Tori today.  I also have three of Manda’s kids today because she had to go out of town for a family funeral.  Let me do the math for you…my 3+her 3+Tori=SEVEN!  Can you say Calgon take me away? LOL!

The temp is 0 right now with a windchill of -10, it has been a LONG & COLD, Winter.  I can’t help but dream of warm weather and Summer…

…ahhh, water park anyone?

1.  We had an extra long week-end this week.  No school on Thursday due to snow and COLD!   Friday was a teacher work day for the district, but every  school in the county and the three county’s next to us closed because of the dangerous wind chills.  And of course today there was no school due to MLK Day.

2.  Despite the cold Friday, I had to get out at take Caleb to the eye doctor.  When I had first called to make an appointment I was told that the soonest they could get him in was mid-April.  (Yes, April!!!)  I had to settle for that April appointment because this is the only place that accepted our insurance.  Luckily they called a few days later with a cancellation and they offered it to us.  Little did I know that it was going to be -35 wind chills on Friday when I said yes…lol!!!  Caleb’s needed a stronger prescription so I was glad that I braved the cold to get him there.

3.  After the eye doctor appointment (Mom went along to help with the boys) we grabbed a bite to eat and then went to Meijer, where I saved a TON of money on 10 for $10 items.  I love a good sale!!!

4.  Saturday Caleb had his first Basketball game.  He still has a lot to learn, as he has never played BB before.  But he is doing good job and is really having a good time playing.  Their team won!!  Here is a short video clip of him and his team playing, he is on the white team.

5.  Sunday we finally made it to church for the first time in weeks.  I could make a ton of excuses but I won’t.  We shouldn’t have been skipping for so long.  :o)  After church we ran and picked up a few odds and ends we needed from Wal-Mart and then I started cooking for the PlayOff game.  We had a few people over and we all enjoyed watching the STEELERS win the game and move on to the Superbowl!!!  Party at our house in two weeks!!!!  GO STEELERS!!!!

The boys will head back to school tomorrow.  The weather forecast is looking better for this week.  Just snow flurries and temps in the 20’s.  Might even get to above freezing Thursday, not much above, but it has got to be better then it has been.  :o)

I haven’t been around much since the Holidays.  Not a whole lot going on, but still staying busy.  We have had lots of school delays and cancellations due to this “fun” NW Ohio winter.   I am babysitting today and I have their three and my three.  And you guessed it school was canceled!  Things are going pretty smooth though, considering that I have SIX under TEN.  The weather forecast is calling for BLIZZARD like conditions for tomorrow and Thursday with temperatures in the single digests.   (Is it April yet?)  So I am sure that we will have more delays and closings before the week is over.

Now without further ado…

1. CLEANING!  My kitchen was a total mess since the Holidays.  Baking and cooking all of those Holiday goodies were rough on it.  So I tackled the mess this week-end!

BEFORE

AFTER

2. SNOW!  Friday and Saturday it snowed nonstop.  We ended up with 11 inches.  Much to Josh’s delight, Caleb loves to shovel snow.  And shovel he did, like 5 times…lol!

3. FOOTBALL! We had a small get together Sunday, Denny, Kelli,  Denny III, and Chad came over, to watch the Steelers in the Playoff game.  I made sloppy joes, warm layered Mexican dip, and brownies to eat.  The Steelers won and moved on to the Divisional Championship game that is this week-end!  WOO-HOO!  We are hopeful for a  Superbowl win!!!!

4. HAIRCUT!

Andrew’s before…

…Andrew’s after!

5. MORE SNOW! Yeah, we got more snow!  Here are a few pictures of the boys enjoying playing out in the back yard.  Brayden was disappointed that he couldn’t build a snowman.  It just isn’t good packing snow!

It finally came here to NW Ohio! Spring has shown us its warm sunny head. I think yesterday we even inched into 70 degree temps. Which I heard the weather guy say it has been close to six months since the mercury has risen that high. With all of the nice sunny weather we enjoyed some fun time out in the back yard playing.
Friday the new mattress was delivered and I have been sleeping GREAT ever since! My back pain is just about all gone now! Praise God for a good mattress!
Friday was also the last day of Spring Brake. I wish that I could say we did lots of fun stuff but I have to admit that we just hung out around home. Monday I went to Toledo to Sam’s and stocked up on some stuff. One day I took the boys to McD’s for lunch and then we all worked on picking up the yard from winter. (For some reason everyones trash always ends up in our yard!) I cleaned up the garage and started a pile for Spring Pick-Up. Three out of the five days rained and luckily the boys had a new video game that they were playing. I always hate to see them head back to school, and as always the week flew by. But before we know it, it is going to be summer brake.

Northern Ohio was dumped on again last night with ice and more snow. The ice hit first giving us a rough time trying to vote in the big Ohio Primary. Sometime after I had went to bed the snow started and we ended up with 5 or so inches. Every school in our viewing area was canceled and our trip to Cleveland has had to be postponed. We plan on going Saturday. But with our change of plans I can now go to church tonight, so that is good. The boys are looking forward to it and so am I. And have I mentioned that I am looking forward to Spring? Oh, yeah, I think I have. :o)

The snow started last night and by the time we woke up this morning we had over 7 inches on the ground. School was cancelled to the delight of both Caleb and Brayden. The blowing of snow is supposed to start tonight. I am hoping that the drifting snow doesn’t make to much of a mess of the roads for tomorrow because Molly is going in to the hospital to be induced tonight. YAH!!!!! Mom and I are leaving tomorrow around 11. Please keep Molly and Jack in your prayers. Can’t wait to share some pictures of my new little nephew.

With our mixed bag of weather, our river has spilled over its banks.

This picture was taken just a few yards from our house. We live on the high side of the river, thank goodness! If you click on the picture you can see a shelter house on the other side of the river. It is where we had Andrew’s birthday party the past two years. It is under water!!!

The above picture is of the river bridge. Below is a picture that I took in Sept. of the bridge. Notice how high the water is?

When I took the above picture a few months ago I was standing in between the group of trees that you can see in the picture below.

The river crested today and is now receding.

Lets roll with the fog first. In true NW Ohio fashion, the weather has been CRAZY the past few days. Snow canceled school Friday, Ice delayed school yesterday, and fog canceled school today. Last night I was woken up by thunderstorms and hail pelting the windows. The temperature was 53 upon waking up to thick fog this morning. Now the temperature is dropping quickly, it is 43 right now and by the week-end the highs will only be in the teens. SPRING…WHERE ARE YOU?

So, today is Fat Tuesday. Those of you that know anything about me will be asking, what does that have to do with a baptist girl with roots from the south. Well, Paczkis is what it has to do with me. This fat baptist girl with southern roots *hearts* food! And my weakness is doughnuts. And if you have never heard of a Paczki: it is the ultimate daughnut. Josh picked up a box full of the sweet goodness on his way home from work. And my mom quickly made her way here to enjoy some of the sugary Paczkis with us. To bad it is raining outside now, I really need to work off that OK maybe it was the one I ate and the half of one Andrew left behind Raspberry filled Paczki!

Molly is still doing well. Her BP has not been as high. She had an u/s last week and all was looking great with baby Jack. She is at 35 weeks now and we are still praying that she can hold out a few more weeks. Please keep praying!

And to everyone that has left tags and awards…I haven’t forgotten you, I am just busy with the kids being home due to the weather. :o)