Happy 8th birthday little one!

Mallory has turned eight! She had her birthday party at Skate World and invited seven of her friends to join us. She had only been roller skating once so we were a little surprised that this is what she wanted to do but we went through with it and she had a great time. We went out to the Macaroni Grill last night and this morning Pete made an IHOP breakfast for the birthday girl. I think it filled her up enough for skating.

So here are the party pics starting with a group of the friends...

Connor and Courtney trying out their balance.
The birthday cake.

The party room.

Opening presents.

The birthday group.

One of Mal's friends.

Another group shot during a breather...

Mal on her way out of the rink.It was a fun party and I think the kids all had fun. Everyone got Mallory things that she loves and nobody left with any broken bones. A good day I'd say!!
Happy Birthday Mallory.

Sanity Update

Thought it would be prudent to give a brief update of the happenings around the house, and to let concerned readers know that Julie is okay. Julie hasn't broken anything in nearly a week, so that has allowed me to catch up. :)

The fence is back up and holding, the washing machine is fixed, the garage door is better (and quieter) than ever, the dog is on the mend and back to her ole self and the new disposal is bought but not yet installed. I do enjoy giving Julie a hard time, it's just about worth all of the money we spent fixing things.

It's been a good week, but how can't it be when Jack Bauer is back. We went to a friend's house to watch the Monday evening "24" session. Last night, Connor had his first concert. He's really coming along. We'll upload a segment of his next concert on the 22nd.

A Terrible, Rotten, No good, Bad day and then some!

Sorry, but this is intended as a journal entry. I figured I need to remember some of this so I can laugh later.
January has shown it's going to be an interesting one. It took all day to fix the fence and then they had to come back on Tuesday to finish it. I was going to be busy at home doing some hair cuts so I started on some cleaning before the day got started. I took out my trusty broom and started sweeping. I made a pass under my dryer and got more than I bargained for. I decided I'd better clean under it. Then I spotted water under the washer. I pulled out the washer and tried to wipe up the mess but accidentally popped off the big hose and more water came out. I put the hose back on and pushed the washer back into it's place.That knocked off the dryer vent so I put that back on and put the dryer back in it's place. I guess laundry is off the docket for today. I did the hair with no mishaps (yeah!) and then the day went on. Tuesdays are a busy day for us once the kids get home from school. Courtney has piano from 3-3:30 and then activity days every other Tuesday from 3:30-4:30. Connor has piano from 3:30 -4:00. Everything is close but it's back and forth depending on what I have at home to attend to. I thought after I brought Connor and Mallory home that I would let Hershey come in to be with them. I had given myself the 2 minutes I needed to get to the church but as I turned to walk out the door I barely missed stepping in the Lake o'Hershey that was left down my hallway. See, since being inside for about 3 weeks straight Hershey has begun to think of herself as an inside dog. She figured she'd better let me know how she felt about being put outside and she chose this moment to do so. Thanks alot dog!!!! After picking up Courty I took the girls to get the things they needed for the ballet classes I signed them up for. They started on Thursday. I called Pete and told him I had made money today and I wasn't going to be fixing dinner so please pick up some pizzas. (I was still a bit livid over the whole lake fiasco.) This all took longer than expected and I got home in time to spend 20 minutes with my hubby watching the back of the washing machine trying to figure out where the leaking was coming from. He then left to go to temple with the youth. (Nice to see you today dear.) Connor had basketball practice at 8:00 so I put the girls in bed and was just going to run Connor over to the school. No biggie right? Wrong. I backed out of the garage and the door wouldn't shut. Great one more thing. I ran Connor over to the school and asked one of the parents there to bring him home for me. When they dropped him off they took a look at the motor. It was dead. No more. Gone. Kaput. I needed to vent. I called my good friends and vented. Thanks for listening to me. One told me to go to bed and not touch anything else. I just needed to call it a day. She was right. I went to bed.
Wednesday was fine and then Thursday hit. It started off great. I walked Hershey and then did Pilate's. Then I got sick. Just once but it was enough to remind me how much I hate the throw ups. I had alot that had to get done today so I pressed on with a knot in my stomach all day. Ugh! I made it through but realized I needed to get invitations done for my daughter to take to school the next day. I sat down and started working on them. It took concentration to get it done. I realized it was pretty quiet and I hadn't seen the dog. Pete was at basketball and the kids were playing in other rooms. I went to investigate. Lake Hershey had been brought back to life but at least this time it was by the door. I couldn't really get mad at her. Nobody had been paying attention to her when she needed it. It did not stop me from breaking down and crying about it the whole time I was cleaning it up. When Pete came home he told me I would be spending Friday in bed getting some rest. And that what happened. Thank you sweetheart. I felt much better after having a down day. He's been having fun telling people that I've broken the fence, the washer, the garage door, the disposal and the dog. Ha! Ha! Oh the disposal is broken and the dog has a double ear infection yes but that's not my fault. I'm glad this week is over!!
After all of this is said and done, I'm thankful that I wasn't sick during Christmas like normal and that all of this has happened before all of the birthday celebrations this month. Really. It's been a blessing this has happened when we can handle it.

Ah, the start of a new year

Yes that is our fence laying in our neighbors yard. Very little snow is left. YEAH!!! But the rain that washed away the snow was brought in with a bit of wind and our fence (which had been previously broken) decided it didn't like all that and gave up the ghost.

We have someone coming to fix it today. Hopefully.

The kids are back in school today and I am doing a jig. Last night I was having a bit of a break down because it started snowing. Again. And it was sticking! Don't get me wrong, I love my kids but having them home for three weeks when I was ready to handle two is another story. They did okay for most of it and I did have fun playing games with them during our snow in but I get a bit crazed when I can't get out and do something. The days melted into each other and it was like Groundhog day for me. I used to think I wasn't much of a scheduler but it has come to my realization that I do best with a bit of structure. This doesn't mean I wont drop everything to do something spurr of the moment with a friend or child or hubby, but it does mean I do better when I know what to expect. Realizing things about ones self at the start of the new year sounds a bit like I meant to think such things. I promise I didn't. It's been my experience through this life that I'm hit over the head with the things I need to see when I need to see them.

Here's to the start of a new year.