workingmomssurvival

Rain Rain Rain

2008-09-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

Today we were supposed to have a fun day at Cedar Point for Halloweekends. It is a blast. Our company that we work for has a family fun day at Cedar Point every year and we get into the amusement park for free. We love this perk and today we realized just how great it is because it is pouring down rain and we cannot go. We are so disappointed we have so much fun every year and J. T. loves the roller coasters. Nicole and Shawn were meeting us there and I'm sure we would have had a great time. Joe's whole family works at the factory so we make it a family affair. We had a big picnic planned and we were all meeting to eat together. Some things you just do not have any control over and we are trying to make the best of it so we are going to the mall to bum around and ending the day with a trip to Red Lobster which is J.T. and my favorite.(Joe hates seafood) there's just no accounting for taste.Cedar Point picture from Giant Ferris Wheel

Beach at Cedar Point

Lake Erie

J.T. riding Ferris Wheel

Nicole and Shawn eating at a 50's Diner in Cedar Point.

Baby Girl Birthday

2008-09-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

Happy 25 Birthday Nicole!

Twenty five years ago today my little baby girl was born. I think back now and it seems like Joe and I were so young. I was 20 and Joe was 19. But we got by ok and now I just can't believe my little girl is 25 now. Nicole's first birthday
Nicole with cousin Jade

Nicole and J.T.
Nicole and ShawnNicole with her cat Maui.

Nicole is on a trip for her birthday right now she is traveling to New York City, Boston and her final destination is a wonderful spa in Maine.

I will give her a call to wish her a Happy Birthday but this is the first birthday we have not been with her to celebrate. I miss you Nicole. Come home soon and safely.

a wedding

2008-09-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

It is so nice to get together with family

The bride and groom. Joe's nephew . They looked so nice.

Nicole with cousins Stephen and Katie

J. T. with dad and Grandma Joe's brother with two of his three kids.
Bride and Groom cutting the cake

Look at all those cakes. They were all different flavorsJoe's sister and brother dancing

Joe and I

Nicole and Shawn

One pooped boy.

We all had a very nice time at the wedding and it was so nice to see Joe's family. Best wishes to Joey and Sarah the bride and groom.

Visiting Grandma

2008-08-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Indiana was very nice and Grandma was very glad to see her boy J.T. when she would come to Ohio J.T. always made sure we took the time to go visit her. The nursing home that she is in is very nice and clean and is close to all of her family in Indiana. One of her daughters in Indiana comes and takes her out once a day.

Joe keeping his eyes on the road. I think he is so handsome.

There was a lot of farmland

J.T. and Joe with Grandma

Jacob was so happy that we took him on this tripWe had a wonderful time talking to her and asking questions about her life.

Growing up Joe had Grandparents that lived right next door to him and they only made a trip to Indiana twice a year to see those relatives so he does not know them as well.

We found out many things we did not know about her. When she was 7 her mother died and her dad sold their farm and put his two daughters in an orphanage. (That is was men did back then when their wife died. Not like today a man would just take care of his kids. But we are talking about 1914 when this happened and it was a different life for people.) Grandma got moved around from family to family but always kept in contact with her sister and she is still alive and in a nursing home in Indiana as well. Grandma was married at the age of 16 and
had 13 children Joe's mom is one of the older children. Her husband died in the sixties and she never remarried. Joe did not know his Grandma had lived in an orphanage or anything about her life growing up. I'm so glad we went to visit her.

This is a wonderful bird habitat inside the nursing that residents can come and view. It was very nice and well taken care of. Many people come to see how the birds are doing daily. They also have a very nice aquarium.

We are so glad we took the trip and we had a great time. I think J. T. appreciates the trip we made for him, and he made us take the time to visit which sometimes gets put on the back burner when you work all the time and there are things to get done at home.

Thank you J. T.

Summer Wish List

2008-08-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

J.T. with his two Grandmas

Joe with his Grandma

At the beginning of Summer we all sat down after dinner and made out a list of all the things we would like to do this Summer. After each list was completed we read them all and compared them with each other to see if we put the same things on our lists. We numbered the items on our lists by importance. Our J.T. made out his list and #1 on his list was travel to Indiana to see his 101 year old Great Grandma in the Nursing Home. He is willing to give up something a kid would think is fun to see his Great Grandma...... That's my boy. Well how can you refuse a thing like this so this weekend we will be traveling to Indiana to see my hubby's Grandma. She is a wonderful woman and is such a joy to visit with. She is only in the Nursing home because her family did not like her living on her own anymore because of her advanced age but she is sharp as a tack. Her birthday is Tuesday Aug 5. Happy Birthday Grandma.

Visiting Nicole

2008-07-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

We took the weekend off from gardening and jobs around the house to visit Nicole and Shawn in Northeastern Ohio where the live. The company they work for was having a family picnic for their employees and their families at the Cleveland Zoo. We drove about two hours and Nicole and Shawn live about 30 Minutes away from the zoo. They had a picnic buffet for the families and it was wonderful. It was so nice to spend time with Nicole and Shawn.

At the picnic area
The Cleveland Zoo has a Rain Forest the was awesome. I think the Rain Forest was every ones favorite place.

Nicole and Shawn in the Rain Forest

J.T. and Nicole on the train
J. T. Feeding a LarikeetLittle Larikeet

J. T. at a research station replica in the Rain ForestJoe looking out at the Rain Forest. The big tree had a spiral staircase in it.

The trip to the zoo was so much fun and after the zoo we went back to Nicole's apartment and went out to dinner with them. We got home very late that night and on Sunday we went to the movies to watch the Dark Knight

J. T. has loved Batman since he was 2 years old and he still does he has gone a year or two without getting any of his batman gear out and then the commercials for the new Batman movie started on tv and away he went to change into batman once again. I thought he had outgrown all that stuff but I'm kind of glad he hasn't. I had to snap a picture because it might be the last time he wears it .

Have a great day

Roxy

Update on Babies

2008-07-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Bandit is growing so fast at this date he weighed 17 lbs.
He is a sweet loving dog but it is like having a toddler watching everything he puts in his mouth and watching he doesn't chew anything (or everything). We have had a couple puppy casualties but he is learning
The chickens are growing so fast and they do not look at all like chicks anymore
There feathers are all coming in
The two new kittens are so curious
Can a chicken be handsome?
Bat and Pumpkin are little hunters
We had to move the rabbit out of the chicken area now that they are outside because they kept being mean to each other and chasing the others.
Baby animals are so much fun and a lot of work
but we have enjoyed every minute of them.

A week off work?

2008-07-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

I could not wait to get to take a week vacation. In my mind I saw myself lounging around and catching up with all of my Internet friends. June 28 started the vacation and it is also a milestone at our house. It is J.T.'s birthday. My little baby boy is 12 this year and I can't believe how fast he has grown up. We had a party for him on Saturday. I cleaned all day Friday and got all of my food ready on Saturday morning. Hubby took care of all of the outdoor chores and I took care of the inside.

J.T. opening gifts and his friend and Nicole and Shawn watching.

Other party guests
Well the party was a huge success, J.T. had a great time. We enjoyed visiting with all of our family and the rain stopped so we walked all around and showed everyone all of our new babies.

The party is over and now my vacation starts. Or so I thought.... After working many hours of overtime and weekends I was more than ready for a week off. My work asked if a few of us would work on Sunday night doing a special project. I figured it is only one day and I will have the rest of the week. So now I'm down to four days of vacation. Oh well that will still be good, Right? It was a very nice four days since I did not have to go to work, but my hubby had a different idea of what would go on during the vacation. I guess he forgot to read my to do list

Roxy's List

Sit and lounge

catch up on computer reading

watch tv

sleep late

His list looked entirely different. If I would have seen his list ahead of time I might have just worked.

Joe's list

Paint fence

paint garage

weed garden

redo chicken fence

fix everything from sun up to sun down

and try to wear out Roxy

by working her to death

Our fence was white and It looked nice but it seemed like so much white. (white house, white fence. white garage, white barn) At our other house we had a stained fence and thought we might like that color again so we got some paint the color of our old stain and painted and painted and painted. I think it turned out nice and it does separate the house and garage.

The next task was to paint the garage. It is an old farm machine shed with sliding doors across the front. So it looks like a big wall of white. Our new little party room is on the right end now and it only makes the rest look more boring.We spent all day painting it white and then adding windows. We decided on carriage house windows. We still need to put hinges and handles on the doors but I definitely like the new look.Saving money with paint. There really was no way to put real windows in the doors since they slide on top and behind each other so I painted them on. If I want something and can't afford it or can't do it I tend to just paint what I want. We did accomplish our goal of breaking up the wall of white and we like it a lot.

We did take a day off on the fourth of July and took J.T. to the parade and fireworks.

I will have to get back to work to take a break hahahaha

I did take time to enjoy some of my flowers.

I miss all of you and I will be catching up with everyone and what you have going on.

Roxy

Father's Day

2008-06-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Fathers Day JOE

I love you so much and you are such a wonderful father

I admire you and how much you love our family and have made us the center of your life.

You are also a wonderful husband, provider, son and son-in-law. You are always willing to put your plans aside to help your family.

Both of your kids admire you and you have instilled a wonderful work ethic and morals in both of them. Such a hard worker. You do not rely on everyone else and you always get the job done.

Happy Father's Day Sweetie.

I'm still alive

2008-06-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy with chores, gardening, all these new babies, potty training Bandit(he is doing so well) and working overtime ( 7 days a week and 12 hours a day on 3 days a week) I'm exhausted and I keep trying to get caught up on my reading and writing. I will be off the week of Fourth of July and I can't wait. I will visit everyone soon.