A visit with friends

Well, I'm writing my blog for yesterday since I'm sure I will have plenty to write later for my reflections on the last year. Yesterday I worked for a bit in the morning and then we (Brynn and I) got to go to Kidz Play to meet up with some friends that moved away and are back in town for a visit. Maria and the girls planned to meet up with all their friends to play so they could visit with everyone since they are only in for a couple days. We will hopefully get to see them tomorrow for coffee or lunch before they head home. We were supposed to meet up with them today but Brynn woke up this morning with another touch of pink eye! Thank God we still have the drops from a week and a half ago when she had it. So, we started the drops again and hopefully it will go away quickly! Today, I'm gonna make some cutouts and snowball cookies to take to our church game night tonight. Oh, and we may have some company later...Sam (who I went to school with in Syr) is gonna be in Blo today visiting some inlaw family and may stop over for a visit. That would be nice! My mom and his mom are best friends, so I'm sure she would love to see him! It is a beautiful snowy day out, and I mean that! I love a fresh coat of snow...it's soooo pretty!!! Well, guess that's it for now. Hopefully I will find the time either later today or tomorrow morning to do some reflecting on the past year. So, more later or tomorrow :-)

Once again....waaaay too much to catch up!!!

Well, once again I have been a total slacker! It has been so busy with the holidays I just haven't taken the time to sit down and do this. I decided to bake this year, which I don't normally do, because I absolutely love my sis in laws cutouts and wasn't gonna see her this year to get any. So, that meant if I wanted any, I had to make my own. It was alot of fun but def hard on the back and time consuming! So, needless to say, I did't get much blogging done! We had a nice Christmas. It wasn't too crazy, which was nice. We went to Keith's parent's on Christmas Eve day and then out to dinner with my parents and the A's from church to Outback at night. It was delicious! Christmas day we opened presents with my parents in the morning and they headed off to Hal and Gail's for the day. We stayed home til about 3:30 and then headed over to Keith's parents before going to his cousin's house. That was alot of fun! They (his cousins) bought and totally remodelled his grandma's house. WOW, is it ever beautiful!!! What a difference! You would never know it's the same house. Anyway, nothin too exciting lately. We had quite the wind storm yesterday and were without power for about 9hrs (although we have a generator). Church was cancelled because they were without power as well. So, we had a bunch of people over for a gathering at our house and had a little feast. We were supposed to have a pot luck dinner so they brought their dishes and we had ours for a nice pot luck lunch at home. So, now we are looking forward to a new year. Hopefully it will be a good one! This past year definately had it's joys along with it's share of difficult times. I'll wait to reflect til either New Year's Eve or Day. I'll try to take some time and post pics and reflect :-) And hopefully now I can keep up with this. I will try Mandy :-) Guess that's it for today. More tomorrow....hopefully!

Needing prayers for a friend

Well, I once again got the lecture from Mandy...LOL. Not really a lecture but the comment...it's been ?? days since your last blog. She keeps me accountable :-) I don't have any pics from today and am so far behind again that I can't catch up from the week past. One of the days hilights...Brynn got to wear PJs to school today. Once of the kids in her class's father came in to read them the Polar Express. Then in the afternoon they got to watch the movie. My mom, Brylee and I got some more Christmas shopping done. I wanted to finish today but of course have a few little things to get. I would really like to be done by Fri at the latest! Now it's all the wrapping to do! Ugggg!

Now, on to the reason for my title today. Not to put a damper on everyone's Christmas cheer, but one of my customers/friends needs our prayer along with her mother! My customer Cathy Rondinelli's mother Linda had an brain aneurysm on Sun morning about 3am. She is in a coma right now. Apparently it was to the back lobe of her brain which means it did some damage to her brain stem. They are draining fluid and hoping that when some of the pressure is relieved and the bruising of the brain stem heals that she will come around a bit. They have no idea at this point what her prognosas is. She is responding to lower body pain stimulation but no upper body at this point. I just can't imagine what the family is going through, esp at this time of year. It's obviously never a good time but seems as though it is a bit worse when it's around the holidays. So, please pray for Cathy and her family and her mom Linda. I'm sooo sad for what they are going through! Wish I could take some of the pain and concern away!

Again, sorry to put a damper on things, but sometimes it helps us put our lives into prospective. I know what we deal with is enough for us right now and seems so challenging and hard at times, but it is good, at times, to be able to think...wow, it could be so much worse. I guess it just should make us enjoy every moment we have with our families because you never know when your world could be turned upside down. God has a plan for all of us, we just don't know what it is. (aren't you glad you asked me to blog Mandy! haha I've probably totally brought you down...sorry!) I just really would like to get as many people as I can praying for these people. They are such wonderful people.

Ok, enough sad stuff. On a happier note, tomorrow is Brynn's Christmas party at school and I get to help out. I'm gonna try to remember my camera so I can post pics tomorrow night on my blog and facebook. I'm excited, it should be fun! Hope you are all surviving the craziness of the Christmas season! Guess that's it for now. More tomorrow, hopefully :-)

Another couple days gone by!

Well, there really isn't too much exctiting to report from the last couple days. Just kinda living life. Tonight we went and got our family pics done. They came out really cute...as usual! Brynn has off school tomorrow and Fri. for parent teacher conferences. We go for ours tomorrow night. I can't wait to see how she is doing in kindergarten. The aid from her classroom said she has been great. They giver her more responsibility than the other kids in the room because she is such a good helper! She said they call her the little teacher, which doesn't surprise me!! Well, I'm very tired and about to fall asleep so I think I'm gonna head off to bed. More hopefully tomorrow!

Great Day....Bad Night!

Well, today we went over to Keith's parent's after church to celebrate Jon's 30th birthday. It's technically not until the 15th but we had to celebrate today. So, this is a pic of Jon with his gift/gifts from us. We decided that it would be fun to give Jon 30 different things and of each dif thing give him 30 of it. We do have pics of him opening all 30 items but that would take up way too much space and bore you. Some of the things we did were....30 squares of toilet paper, paper clips, tacks, m&ms, skittles, gummy worms, lots of dif types of candy, nails, pencils, markers, mini packs of tissues, happy birthdays (cut out 30 "happy birthdays" from a roll of party crepe paper) and many other things. They were all numbered so he had to open them in order (just for something fun to do). The last gift to open was 30 $1 bills all rolled individually and rubber banded.


So, it was a fun day celebrating Jon getting old! He really enjoyed his gift which made it well worth the time and effort put in to it. It was fun to do!!


Tonight, on the other hand! I have had better. Little Miss Brynn woke up around 11:15 with mess in her pants. Of course there was lots of drama with that because her bottom hurt. So, you can guess what happened. Brylee woke up!! Well, then she thought it was play time. Then she got mad cause we put saline drops in her nose for her stuffy nose. So, it was fun getting her back to bed! Of course this all went down in a matter of about a half hour but you know how it is when you are dealing with a situation...it seems like an eternity!! I wanted to ring Brynn's neck! If they only knew the extent of the drama they create! They have no idea!! Of course now, 10 mins later, it really doesn't seem that bad, and probably wasn't. It seemed like it at the time though! Oh well, now they are quiet as can be, sleeping away. When you look at them sleeping, they look so sweet and innocent and you almost forget the bad things....almost :-)


I guess that's about it for our exciting day. Now it's time for bed for me too! Gotta get rested up so I can deal with any drama that may come tomorrow. Don't do well on not much sleep. My patience is bad enough with sleep, it's really bad with not much sleep! So, off to bed I go. More tomorrow.

Two Fun Nights

Friday night we had alot of fun. We had a game night at church for the young adults. It was a good time! We got pizza and wings and just hung out for a bit and then played some games. We played Mad Gab, which is one of my favorites, and some people played the Wii on the big screen. Some played Monopoly, the new version. We left before some of the others since we needed to get the girls home to bed. It was really nice to laugh and have fun!

Tonight, well kinda last night (it's after midnight), we went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Keith, my dad and I went. My mom watched the girls. We got 3 tickets from Keith's work to sit in the box for the show. It was absolutely incredible!! Definately hope to go again next year!!

I guess my mom had an interesting night while we were out. Brylee kept scratching her neck so she decided to clip her nails. Well, I guess she cut the end of Brylee's thumb on accident. Of course Brylee was crying. Then Brynn started in. She apparently went and got the bandaids and told my mom to put one on her. My mom said she didn't need one. Brynn then says, "We need to take her to the hospital. She is the youngest member of our family and you cut her!" She is sooo hilarious!! Then apparently my mom finally got Brylee to stay asleep in her pack-n-play and went over to take her meds. Well, Brynn poked her finger on what she called a pin and started screaming. Well, you can guess what happened. Brylee woke up! Poor mom!! What a zoo! Oh well, she was able to laugh about it.

Nothing too exciting

Well, once again, no pics for today. I know I'm slacking a bit in that area but at least I'm doing my blog. Really, there isn't too much exciting to say today. I did a little shopping this morning for Brylee. I had some rewards money and coupons so I was able to get her 6 outfits for around $18! I guess that, in and of itself, is exciting. Then I had to work for a bit, pick Brynn up from school and work for a bit more. My brother Roger and his fam stopped in for a bit on their way home from Maine. I didn't get to see too much of them cause I was working. Brynn got to play with Becca and Nicole a bit so she was excited. Tonight I pretty much crashed out on the couch and just woke up. I figured I better do my blog before heading up to bed so I don't get out of the habit yet again. So, off to bed I go! As I said, nothing too exciting. More tomorrow.

More fun painting

Well, I don't have any pics for today. It was generally a good day. My mom, Brylee and I took Brynn to school and then headed out for some grocery shopping and other errands. We took the groceries home, fed Brylee and headed out again. This afternoon I volunteered in Brynn's class again. More life size elf painting today. It was messy but fun! We came home and Brynn played with Austin and Lindsay for a bit. She wound up getting in trouble and was sent over here to our side. She wasn't very happy about that! I started feeling kinda crappy this afternoon and def got a cold. Keith got home late from work today so we didn't have much time together. Shortly after he got home I headed out to church for prayer meeting and praise team practice. After practice mom and I went tanning. Came home, checked the computer (of course!) and did some dishes. And that is about it for my exciting day. Right now I am the only one awake and am listening to Brylee making all kinds of sounds in her sleep! It is sooo funny! If I ever get a camera with video that has sound on it I can post it on here. Oh well, I am off to bed to try to sleep off a bit of this cold! More tomorrow.

Not much new

Well, today was a good day. I took Brynn to school this morning and shortly after I got home I got a call from her teacher. I was afraid she was sick and I needed to pick her up. Nope, she was asking if I could come in and help in her class because they had a cancellation last minute. So, I headed in to help out. It was fun! Of course I forgot my camera!! We painted life size elves of the kids. I go in again tomorrow to help. Not sure if we are doing the same thing or something different. So, I had to work a bit today which wasn't bad at all. Tonight Brynn and Brylee were snuggled in the rocking chair again. Look at the first pic...Can you tell they are sisters...LOL!! So, Mandy did the elfyourself thing today which is soooo hilarious!! I spent a good part of my evening try to make one for my bro and his fam. Finally got it done. The website wasn't cooperating! Anyway, Keith gave Brynn her bath and up to bed she went (after I was done messing around with the computer!). Then I headed out to go tanning with my mom.

Now, I'm messin around on the computer again and this is what is next to me on the couch?! Two sleepy heads!!!

Well, guess that's about it for today. Not too much exciting. That's ok though! More tomorrow :-)

Perfect Timing!!

Well, today was a pretty good day. Brynn is such a good big sister! She held Brylee for us while Keith was getting ready for work and I was getting Brylee's bottle warmed up. They are so cute together! Brylee just loves her big sister. I love to watch them interact! We headed out to take Brynn to school and Brylee and I went with my mom to have her blood work done. We decided to go to Bob Evan's for breakfast...yummy!!

Later in the day I was made aware that Mandy got her package I sent her. I saw her comment on facebook and then was told to read her blog. You can see what it said. I'm so glad that it was perfect timing and showed up on a day that she really needed a smile. Funny thing is, I paid for priority mail which was supposed to be there by Sat at the latest. I was a little aggrivated that she hadn't gotten it until today. But when I found out how perfect the timing was, I realized it was for the best! I wish the Bills were doing better so the magnets would have been a more exciting gift...lol! Oh well, what else is new! So, speaking of teams not doing so well...Keith and I got to go to the Sabres game tonight. He got box seats from work. It was fun but def not good! We lost 2-0!!! It was 0-0 until the 3rd period! Glad we didn't pay for the tickets!! Of course I forgot my camera for the game. Well, that's about it for today. More tomorrow!

Sweet sister!!

Well, I only have one picture from today and Brynn took it. I was in my shop getting ready for church and she came in and asked if she could take a picture of Brylee. She said...she looks so cute all cuddled up! So, today we went to church. When we came home we just hung out. I chatted with Mandy on the computer a bit. Keith and Brynn played the Wii for a bit. I cooked up a fresh turkey for dinner for us and my parents. We watched my favorite show...Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Right now we are listening to Brylee talking in her bed. If she doesn't fall asleep I'll rock her. I love rocking my babies! So, nothing too exciting today. A nice day, but not a nice weather day. It was rainy all day. Guess that's about it for today. More tomorrow.

Decorating for Christmas

Ok, so last night Brynn came down complaining of a stomach ache. I was afraid she was getting the flu and didn't want her upstairs without us so, I let her fall asleep on the couch. Chloe decided to join her :-)

Keith has always said he doesn't have the right curves for Brylee to feel comfy and fall asleep on him. Well, this morning he discovered he did...just in a dif spot than mine and Nani's. She looks pretty comfy to me :-) Well, today we decided to decorate for Christmas. Brylee was loving the tree and likes the view from her pack-n-play. Later in the evening Brynn made a beach for Brylee. The blue blanket was the clouds, the boppy was the sand and the other blanket was the water (according to Brynn). And the last pic is my lovely tree. I went and got some new decorations for it today. Love finding things cheap (or should I say inexpensive). It came out great!

We did some cleaning up tonight. Got alot done but still lots more to do. The upstairs is quite the task to undertake! So, Brynn decided that since her tummy ache earned her a place on the couch last night, she was gonna try it again! Yeah, didn't work out so good for her tonight. I don't mind giving in every now and then, but 2 nights in a row...you're pushin it!! So, the girls are both sound asleep and Keith and I are both on our computers :-) I need to get to bed soon but wanted to write this before I crash out on the couch. Guess that's it for today. More tomorrow.

Thanksgiving #2 Nov 28

So, today was our Thanksgiving #2. The morning was spent at home getting ready to go over to Grammi and Grampy's house to celebrate with them and Uncle Jon and Aunt Corinne. Brynn decided to try on some of Nani's old glasses!Aint she a beauty! So, we headed out around 12 ish. We took over all the leftovers from yesterday and I made turkey in gravy for hot turkey sandwiches...it was so yummy (if I do say so myself!). We also had the cold turkey there for cold sandwiches and all the leftover sides as well. It was very good. A few hours later we had some desert....delicious!!! Grammi supplied the desert! Then we headed home for the night. These pics are the girls cuddling up on the recliner watching a movie again. Just love it!!!


Don't have any pics from over at the inlaws...Keith just took video and pics with the video camera. Oh well. Well, that's about it for today. We are just hanging out waitin for Brylee's last feeding so we can put the girls to bed. Then we will attempt to watch the movie we rented yesterday and tried to watch last night. I was out cold in about 5 mins or less on the couch! I have a problem staying awake for movies!!! We'll try again! If it doesn't work we will have to try it during the day...maybe I could actually stay awake....maybe :-) Guess that's all for now. I will try really hard to keep up with this...for those of you who have commented on my neglect of blogging (Mandy and Shannon...haha). More tomorrow....hopefully!!!!

Thanksgiving #1 Nov. 27

Well, I obviously have been slacking on the whole blog thing and am waaaaaay to far behind to even think about catching up! So, I'll start with Thanksgiving and hopefully keep up from here on out. I actually have a pic or two to post from a couple days ago of the girls. I was working and my mom called me over to her side to see something really cute. This is what I saw.

They were watching a movie and cuddled up in a blanket. So cute! Love these cute sister moments! Hope they will always be close like this! They do this alot and I love it!

Ok, so Thanksgiving was good! We had a somewhat quiet one. It was just us and my parents this year. Dinner was good and we had a relaxing day at home.

Brynn and Papa spent part of the morning playing games. Then it was time for dinner.





So, the theme of the day seemed to be relaxing, as you can see! Everyone enjoyed just chillin out...including Chloe. The pillow princess :-) So, overall it was a nice day!

An Uneventful Weekend (kind of)

Well, our weekend was really nothing too exciting. Sat morning I was going about getting ready for the day and looked over and above is what I saw on my couch! She is sooo stinkin cute! I worked Sat morning for a bit. My mom watched the girls so Keith could help my dad get ready for winter outside...they got the snowblower ready, got the summer stuff put away and the garage cleaned up. After I was done working it was off to the Dr for Brylee's well visit and next round of shots. (My mom went with me since Keith and my dad were still busy in the garage). She had to get 3 shots and 1 oral vaccine. She did pretty well but she doesn't like to breathe when she is crying from shots. She made the nurse a bit nervous (she did last time too) because she was holding her breath and turning funny colors! I blew in her face and sat her up and calmed her down so she could do the last shot. While we were there, before Brylee got hers, Brynn got her flu shot. She wasn't too thrilled at the idea but she did pretty good. We explained that it was to protect her little sister since she can't get th flu shot yet. I think that helped a little bit. I wasn't sure how Brylee would be after her shots. The nurse said she could be a bit fussy and irritable. Surprisingly she wasn't at all! She did so good! So, last night we went to dinner with my parents. My dad wanted to take us out for our Birthdays, and when dad wants to treat...you don't pass that up! We tease him about being a bit tight with his money but he really is very generous when he feels he should be. We had a good dinner and got to watch part of the Sabres game while eating.

Today, we had church as usual. We enjoy going even though it is a bit tough to get out of the house on time....I'm not sure why! We have this problem that when we wake up early we run late(r than usual). It's like you feel like you have all this time and then all of the sudden you're supposed to be leaving and not ready!! Oh well, we made it. Better late than never. After church we came home to change and headed over to Keith's parent's for the afternoon. It's always nice to see them and Brynn esp likes to visit with Grammi and Grandpa (maybe partly cause she is spoiled rotten!!). We headed home around 6 or 6:30 so we could get home and get the girls a bath before Brynn had to get to bed. They took a bath together which was fun for Brynn. She was so excited. So, I tucked Brynn in and came down and got Brylee to sleep after a bit. We watched one of our favorite TV shows...Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Now we are both on our laptops and soon it will be off to bed for mommy and daddy too!! So, an uneventful yet busy, fun weekend. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Brylee got her new bouncer from Grammi and Grandpa today! We had to put a pillow under her feet cause little shorty couldn't touch the floor! I don't know where she gets the shortness from...lol!! I think she will grow to love the bouncer! It's still a bit of hard work for her so she poops out kinda quick.

Well, I guess that's it for now! I think I'm off to bed...gotta adjust to the time change!! More tomorrow.

Halloween Fun!

Well, obviously today was Halloween! It was a great day!! I went in to Brynn's school and helped out for the Halloween parade. I was soooo proud of Brynn because she was so nervous to walk across the stage for pics and she did it!! All by herself!! For us that is a huge accomplishment!! Brynn was dressed up like a skunk and I was animal control. After the parade I headed home to work for a bit til I had to pick Brynn up from school. She took a snooze so she wasn't tired for trick or treating. Keith got out of work early and we ordered pizza and wings for dinner. After dinner we headed over to Evangel church for some trunk or treating. They had a bounce house, pony rides and a horse drawn carriage. We had lots of fun! Nani kept Brylee home since she was gonna need to eat. After that we went to a neighborhood and trick or treated a bit and then headed off to you yearly tradition....the last day of Paulter's season(our fav icecream shop). Now we are home...Brynn is in bed...I'm ready for bed...and Brylee is ready for her last feeding before bed. Then it's off to bed!! So, it was an overall good day! Lots of fun had by us all! Guess that's it for today. More tomorrow.

My Birthday!

Well, today was my birthday. It was an overall good day. Brynn has been very good lately! And Brylee has been great too. She has been a bit cranky cause she is workin on her teeth but not bad at all!! So, I dropped Brynn off at school and got Timmy's. Had to come home and work for a bit this morning. Then after work my mom and I went and picked up Brynn from school. We headed to the bank and credit union and then off to the mall! I found what I was looking for but put it on hold til I could print a coupon and go back with that. We left the mall just in time...trick or treatin was about to start! It gets a bit crazy there for that! We came home and Nani made Brynn and I dinner while we watched Camp Rock (Brynn's new movie). Keith had to work late tonight which his boss still has to make up to him! I got Brynn her bath and just before bed she said..."hey, we didn't sing to you!" She insisted that I get the left over cake from Keith's bdau and put a candle in it and she sag to me all by herself!! What a little sweetheart!! Sooo thoughtful. Then off to bed for her and a bit later Keith came home. After a bit he realized they hadn't sang to me and I told him about Brynn. But, he and my mom decided to sing to me again anyway. I crashed out on the couch for a bit and now I'm gonna head up to bed. It was a very nice day and I got tons of Happy Birthday's from all my friends on facebook!! So nice to know you're thought of! Well, guess that's it for today! Nice to finally be caught up! More tomorrow!!

Still Catching Up

Ok, so Monday was a sad day! Well, at least the morning was! I had to take Mandy to the airport and officially end our girls weekend! We had alot of fun! I"m sure she was glad to get home to the family but I think she enjoyed the break too. Monday afternoon I got to go to Brynn's school and walk with her for their Red Ribbon Walk. It was for SADD which now stands for students against destructive decisions. It kinda includes drugs and other harmful things. So, that was fun! Then her teacher asked me if I could come in on Tues morning and help out with putting their skeletons together. That was fun!!

I was also asked to come in Fri morning and help out with the Halloween parade. So, I was trying to come up with a costume without spending alot of money. I had a red wig and a black cowboy hat and said I could be a funky cowgirl. So, i dared my mom to wear it to church! She didn't but she did try it on! It was Keith's birthday Wed so we had cake. Brynn doesn't like chocolate cake so I got her a scarecrow cake which was vanilla! Too cute! So, we sang to Keith and had some cake. That was about it for the last few days. Nothing extreemly exciting, but fun non the less. Well, I guess I'm finally caught up! Now I just gotta do today's. So, instead of saying more tomorrow like usual... I will say more later :-)