The Costumes

Halloween is this weekend. I suppose I should probably decide what my children will be dressing up as. I always start thinking about a few months before hand, and seem to wait until the last minute to whip up a costume.

Next week is Tim's annual training which translates into a three-day party with fancy dinners each night, including a few hours of training while the wives get pampered at the spa. Each night is different, and one is a costume party and the theme is movies. Our flight chose "The Wizard of Oz." Tim is supposed to be the Tin Man and still hasn't found any of his items to concoct a suit. And yes, if you know Tim, you know that he has great intentions of being completely silver, including silver mascara, face paint and an actual tin costume, but that he will end up with a less-than-recognizable ensemble including a gray sweatshirt and the possibility of old painted tennis shoes. Maybe some gray face paint if we are lucky. I, on the other hand, being the smarty that I am, chose to be the wicked witch. It is not only fitting to my mood as of late, but also the easiest costume to get your hands on. Especially three days after Halloween. Am I a genius or what?!

I think Zachary may be a Jack-o-lantern if they still have the costumes at Meijer. There is one that I have been eying for a few weeks and if they have it, it's probably 90% off by now, and it would be easy and warm to let him just wear sweats underneath. I think Elaina may be a flower. A friend of ours let us borrow the costume and it seems that it would also be warm. We'll see. I will post pictures after the holiday! I know that seems like empty promises since I have been blogging for months and only posted a few pictures, but I really will this time.

Have a safe Halloween. I mean it! Be careful. Love to all.

The Trash Day

Happy Tuesday. It's Tuesday, right? I can't seem to keep track. Especially since Tim works crazy hours on all different days. Well yes, it must be Tuesday. I know this because I heard the garbage man whiz by this morning without stopping to get my trash. Maybe this is because it failed to make it to the road. Have I mentioned that is one of the TWO chores I ask Tim to do? No Tim, the herbie-curbie does not have a mind of it's own. It will not wheel itself to the end of the drive-way, but I know it's a lot for you to do. Let me feel your muscle. :::sigh:::

Today I have been making some headway in the house. I call it pre-winter cleaning. That would be the spring cleaning that does not get done until the fall. I guess I have a good excuse since I was pregnant in the spring and nesting in my garden. What is my excuse for the other years? I do have to say, however, my garden is beautiful and I can't wait to see it next year. Especially since I put in about $500 worth of new perennials. Nesting will do that to you. If you need a nice clean house or a revamped garden, just get knocked up in or around October. Works like a charm.

Kids are doing well today. Zachary is running around playing with his new "Homas Game" which is otherwise known to us as a Thomas the Train puzzle that his dad bought for him. He can't get enough. He loves Homas. He needs to see Homas. He needs more Homas. More Homas, Mommy. More Homas.

The Ode to Tana

Recently a friend of mine told me how much she loved reading my blog. That made me feel great because I figured I was pretty much wasting my time writing down the silliness of my life for others to read. I was pretty sure no one read it. So, this one is for you, Tana! Enjoy.




This weekend was a good one. It was great to have some time without the kids. I love them to death, but sometimes they need a break as much as I do.

It started on Friday night when we were invited on a "hot date" out with my brother and sister-in-law. (Any time we go somewhere, we call it a hot date. When we go to the store with Zachary, he asks if it's a hot date. We, of course, say yes.) Jonathan (Timothy's brother)is the GM for the Holiday Inn Burdick's in Kalamazoo, and he invited us to come stay in the hotel and have dinner. It was great! We were like little secret shoppers watching all of his little worker bee's! And I have to admit, we did catch some of them in the act of not doing their jobs.

After martini's and dinner, we headed back to the room. You see, the original plan was that the four of us would share a room with two doubles or queens. Instead, they ended up only having a king available, which we figured we would deal with by bringing our own air mattress, right? Well, Timothy goes to blow up the mattress and I am sitting on the bed talking to Katie. He gets done, and I thought to myself, "That didn't take very long." I look over and, you guessed it, I see there on the floor...a twin size air mattress. I believe my response was, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" "Don't worry," he says, "You can just sleep on top." Needless to say, we ended up with three in the bed and the little one said Timothy could sleep on the miniature air mattress. Either way, tons of fun.

Saturday night was a great time too. I wish I had the pictures to share, but I am waiting for a friend to upload them. The best part was when we had had a few drinks and decided to hit the dance floor. Well, I am not sure if you have ever watched Seinfeld, but I like to use the "Elaine dance" as my signature move. Yeah, it's pretty sweet alright. So I am doing it in this big group of people, and I go to do the kick, and my shoe goes FLYING off of my foot. Luckily (sorry Kel!) it hit Kelly and not a stranger! LMAO I could not stop laughing! The alcohol helped fend off most of the embarrassment and I put my shoe back on, only to continue with my dance of sweetness.

The Cookie Book

I know, I know, I said that I would blog every day. Most of the time the hours in the day just go by so quickly that I don't even think about it. I am left wondering where the day went and what I am going to make for dinner, followed by two baths and different bedtime routines. As of late, we have been at a loss due to the fact that the "Cookie Book" (as Zachary calls it) was left at Mimi's. This would be "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." It used to be one of my favorites, really, but now that I can recite the entire thing by heart, my tune has changed. He must have the cookie book every night or he will not survive. I suppose having it memorized came in handy on the first few nights as I told him to use his imagination and rattled off the book in it's entirety.

Zachary has been talking my ear off lately.

Zachary: There's a big airplane.
Me: Oh, yeah? How big?
Zachary: Heavy. It's coming too?
Me: Yeah, it's coming too.
Zachary: It's a big one. It's a heavy one. It's going to the airport.
Me: I imagine it probably is.
Zachary: I have it? I have that big airplane?
Me: No, it's too big.
Zachary: It's too big? I can't have it. It goes to the airport.

He cracks me up.

I am loving my new van and I am sure Tim will be glad when he can get his little truck. I must admit that he gets the "leftover" car every time. It will be nice for him to finally pick something of his own.

This weekend should be fun. Tonight Mee-Mah (Sabrina) is coming over and hanging out until tomorrow when we go down to Kalamazoo for the weekend. She is going to teach me some new sweet moves for when we go boot stompin'(as Kelly says) on Saturday for Lance's and my birthday. It should be a great time. Luckily I scored a hair appointment tomorrow. I am getting some interesting looks having the front of my hair colored fuschia. It was for a good cause, but I am ready to be "normal Liz" again. Well, I suppose "normal" is relative.

The ...

Oh, how I wish I could blog right now, but I am just so...ZZzzzzz...

The Wednesday

Well, where should I start? Saturday sounds about right. I went to Meijer to pick up a few things and as I was parking my van (that I had owned for exactly three days) and I hit a parked car as I was parking. Lovely. I suppose this is the result of being in a rush. A lesson hard learned. I tried to do the right thing and leave my insurance information and went on my merry way.

Monday I got a call from Farm Bureau stating that the man had mad a claim. I said fine, please inform me of the details before the claim is processed. I got a call this morning, and that was the start of my less than fabulous day today. Have I mentioned it's only 11:30?

She asked if it was okay to process the claim, and I told her I wanted to know what they were claiming. In actuality, I hit their rear bumper, scraping it. She informed me that they are claiming the front bumper and headlight. One word. Nice. After lots of phone calls, I am now waiting for her to get a hold of the man making the claim and call me back. My main concern is that someone stole my insurance info off the vehicle. Another lesson hard learned. Should have just left my phone number. Hindsight is 20/20 I suppose and I wasn't exactly sure what to do since I don't frequently hit parked cars.

Last night I woke up in the night feeling very ill. Headache and vomiting...I love flu season and the fact that I opted out of my flu shot. This morning I have been feeling pretty crappy and Zachary has been hell on wheels. Every word that has left his mouth has been whining and crying...I need Elmo, I need to draw, I need a pen, I need, I need, I need, I need...

And the cherry on top...I was so frustrated and sweating half from not feeling well and half from being sick of listening to him. I go in the bathroom to put up my hair, get my clip, turn around and crash right into the door. Need I say more?

The New Van

Well, we have decided to trade in one vehicle for another. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will be driving a mini-van for the next 10 years, so I figured that I might as well buy one that I love. I am so excited to go and pick it up today.

I started looking last week. I decided I wanted a Toyota Sienna after my mother visited a friend in Cali who drove one. She said, "Sis, this is your next car." I found a couple that I liked, and on Saturday we all went as a family to test drive a few.

We told Zachary that we were getting a new car, and when we left the first dealership in the same car that we came in, he was disappointed to say the least. He was none too happy about saddling up the yellow tracker - the chick car, as Tim calls it - again, and heading out without a new car.

We have a 2003 Chevy Tracker that I was guilted into buying in the Spring of '08. I shouldn't have felt pressured the buy it, but I did. We never have LOVED it, but it was good enough to get us through last winter since it had 4-wheel drive. The problem is that although it sits higher off the ground than a car, it's smaller inside. It was great when it was just Zachary and I buzzing around doing errands, but after Elaina came into the picture, we knew we needed something bigger. That is when I bought my mom's van, and stuck Tim in the chick-mobile. He was less than pleased.

We are now in the process of car-shuffling. We are trading in the Tracker for a new van, and selling the other van to buy Tim a truck. That was my main selling point in talking Tim into buying another car. Everyone wins!

I should receive my vehicle buyers check today, and I will be off to sign the final paperwork for our 2008 Toyota Sienna. Pictures to come!