New Year's Eve...

Marti text me at 7:30am this morning to tell me the roads were bad and not to come to the gym. Yea me. So we both went back to sleep and slept until 9am. It had snowed about a inch and was a wet snow. I took a shower and headed outside. The birds had been squawking all morning about not having any food. I cleaned the front and back sidewalks off and started on the driveway. I figured since I did not go to the gym, I should get a little cardio work in. I got about a 1/4 for the drieway done before we had to leave. We had to pick up Jojo and head to BJ's for some shopping. The roads by then were clear and dry. We did our shopping and headed back home around 2:30pm. Jojo laid down for a rest, not a nap, but a rest. I went out and finished cleaning the driveway. It only took about an hour to finish and was all melted by the time I finished. Kim was coming over for dinner after she got off work. she called at 6:30pm to say she would be another hour and for us to go ahead and eat. We had chicken and salad. After dinner, I went downstairs to begin cleaning and Beth and Jojo watched Tinkerbell. I think I got the better end of the deal. I was able to watch 2 of the 3 bowls games on today, but am waiting for the 4 games on tomorrow. We are not doing anything tonight and will be asleep by the time the new year rolls around. This year had been an up and down year for us. We took a really big hit on our income and had to look really hard at our spending. We were still able to take 4 trips this year. I made it successful one year cancer free and the future looks for many more. We welcomed a new member to our clan, Rylee, but had to see the twins returned to their birth mom. We were able to see Kyle play football and grow into the start of the teen years. Payton increased his vocabulary with Aunt Beth teaching him to say " I only 2' when he gets into trouble. Jojo was very active in school and is really into the princess stuff this year. We were able to spend time with family and friends and enjoyed every moment of it. So as 2009 come to a close we want to say Happy New Year to all our friends and family and look forward to an even better year next in 2010.

Avatar day..

Why is it when you want to sleep late you wake up early? I tried so hard to sleep in late this morning, but could not. I took a shower and began to make breakfast. The other two were up already also. I made scrambled eggs with potatoes and sausage. After breakfast, Kyle took a shower and dressed for his pictures. He was also easier to work with then the 2 year old and 5 year old. We then got ready to go see Avatar in 3D. We got there a little early and boy was it cold inside the theater. The movie started around noon and was done around 3pm. It was good, but being cold all through the movie took a little away from it. Kyle was going to his first hockey game tonight and he forgot to bring his coat over, so we stopped by his house to get it. DJ came home early as she was sick. We were supposed to go to dinner with her, Maggie and Payton, but I called to postpone it. Beth had not been feeling well and Payton was just getting over being sick. I did not want to get it and wanted Beth to get better before we leave for Disney next week. I am still not warm for the movie trip and will be heading for the hot tub soon. We are going to BJ's tomorrow and will be taking Jojo as Kim had to work late. New year's eve is tomorrow and I can't believe another year is gone. What will the new year hold for us?

Cold as Heck...

What a freaking cold day today. It was 23 degrees with the wind it felt like 10 degrees. I had an appointment at 8:30am with Marti. We worked out in the back room which is always cold, but today it was really cold and the door kept flying open. I was glad we were working on cardio. I picked up Kyle around 9am as he is staying with us the next couple of days. Beth went to pick up her mom's mail, Kyle and I went to Game stop. He wanted to go to the mall to look for a video rocker for his room. We saw that Sears carried some online, so we thought maybe they had some in the store. We were not able to find anything, but will keep looking. Kyle spent the rest of the afternoon playing Wii. Beth and I had dinner plans with some of her relatives around 6pm. Kyle was in charge of heating up a pizza for dinner. I called at 6:30pm to make sure he had ate his pizza and was not still playing and forgot to eat. Good thing. He said he was just going up to fix it. Yea right...LOL We had a great time and the food was good. Tomorrow we have to take Kyle's school picture as he forgot to tell his mom when picture day was at school and he did not like the picture they took anyway. Then Kyle and I are going to see Avatar in 3D. Today's pictures are of the twins and their watches they got for Christmas.

Beth is sick...

Beth was up a lot last night with what appears to be a sinus infection. Good for us we had a spare Z pack and she is taking that. Hopefully she can get a jump on what ever it is she has. It was a cold windy day here today. I did some after Christmas shopping but did not really find anything. We did our Christmas with Kim, Lynne, and Jojo around noon today. Jojo was really excited to get another princess dress and a dress up doll. Santa brought Jojo a fake makeup kit for Christmas and she was giving Aunt Beth the spa treatment today. She looked so cute as you can see in today's pictures. I had a hair appointment at 2pm. Beth spent most of the day on the couch and never even turned her computer on today, so I know she is not feeling well. We had the last of the Christmas leftovers for dinner, so I have to go back to cooking again. We are having dinner out tomorrow night with some of Beth's relatives and dinner Wednesday with DJ, Maggie, and the boys, so no cooking til Thursday. We will have Kyle tomorrow and Wednesday as he is out of school all this week. Kim needs us to watch Jojo on Wednesday and Thursday, as she has to work late taking trees down. We are watching the Bears beat the Vikings and are loving it. It could mean the Eagles could move to second place, so a lot will be riding on the game this weekend. Beth had a pretty good lead on Dawn in the fantasy playoffs and should take first place. We will have a fantasy party this weekend to distribute the winnings.

6th Straight Win...

Beth was up late this morning, but was able to make church on time. I slept til 9am and it felt good. I started the last load of laundry as Beth was coming in the door. Her brother Frank and his wife came over around 10am for a quick visit. Before you knew it it was noon and we had to get ready for the game. I made a couple of ham sandwiches and we changed into our winter game clothes. It was not all that cold yet, but we knew with a 4:15pm game the sun would only be out about 20 minutes and it would get cold. the wind did not help either. The first half was great and we were up by 17 points. We left at the end of the 3rd quarter like we always do to beat the traffic and we were only up by 3points. That quickly changed and the game was tied. The Eagles were able to pull a field goal out and won for the sixth time in a row. Beth also had a big lead in her fantasy pool and we are hoping for a first place finish. I am going to the much needed hot tub as my hip is killing me. I might have to go see Dr. Bill tomorrow for an adjustment. Today's picture is of me teaching Payton how to make a smiley face. He did a great job.

Christmas with the Rhotinis

It started raining last night and this morning we went from having 6 inches of snow to 2 inches of rain. All the snow was gone except where the snow plows had piled it. The snow piles were replaced by rain puddles. We had to go to Wal-mart to get my contacts and we looked at the Christmas stuff. We did not really need anything, but it always great to look and see what you can get for 50% off. Then we had to get gas and headed to the Rhotinis. We were watching Rylee while they went to pick up the twins. They were keeping them overnight and having their Christmas. Rylee slept the entire time they were gone. Dawn claims she is awake more, but I guess she loves sleeping on a chest. Dawn and Jo arrived with the boys a little after 2:30pm. They did tubbies and were all nice and clean and ready to open presents. We headed down stairs and they opened their first gift of mini Dyson vacuums. For some reason they love to vacuum and they had a hard time opening any more gifts. But they did get though them all and we had to head home. Beth's brother , Franks was to come over tonight for a visit. He called around 4:30pm to say his leg was bothering him and he would be over tomorrow. Beth called Kim and invited her over for leftovers for dinner, since Lynne and Jojo were gone. She came over around 6pm. We had a great time. Today's pictures are of the boys playing with their vacuums.

Merry Christmas..

I was up at 7am this morning. I had to get the oven heated up and the cinnamon rolls in by 7:30am, so I could get the ham on by 8am. Beth was up by 7:45 just in time for the rolls to come out of the oven. There is nothing better than hot cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We went downstairs a little after 8am and began opening our presents. I got DVDs, gift cards, scrap booking items, and much more. Beth got the Wii Sports Resort, a subscription to People magazine, POGO gems, and much more. Santa must have thought we were very good this year. I came back upstairs to make mandarin orange salad, Beth made several calls to our friends to wish them Merry Christmas. I took a shower and started to get things together to take to DJ and Maggie's house. Beth finished her calls and then took a shower. I called my mom, to thank her for all the nice presents she sent. She can hardly wait to go to Game Stop to get a game for her new DSI machine. I am so happy for her. We headed over to DJ and Maggie's house around 11:15am. I thought we were going to eat at noon, but plans were changed and dinner was not until 1:30pm. So we had the boys open their presents. We gave Kyle money, but put it in a box he had to figure out how to open. It took about a 1/2 hr and watching us do it a couple of times before he got it. Payton loved the dinosaur flashlight and the dinosaur books. We had ham and turkey with all the trimming for dinner. After dinner, Payton was showing Beth the inside of the tent he got from Santa as you can see from today's picture. We came home around 4pm and just relaxed. We had some left overs around 6pm and are now watching football. Dawn and Beth are in the final round of fantasy football. This is the last week and next week we will have a party to distribute the winnings. It is raining now and most of the snow is melting. I just hope it does not freeze and make the road messy. We are going over to Dawn and Jo's house tomorrow to watch Rylee while they go get the twins for an overnight visit. We just want to say Merry Christmas to all our friends and hope Santa was as good to you as he was to us.

Christmas Eve...

Can you believe it is Christmas eve already. Man where did this year go. Today started off great. Even thought we had to get up early as Payton was coming over to spend part of the day with us. I had to meet Marti at 8:30am for our work out. I must admit I like doing the new routine we are doing. I arrived back home around 9:15 and found that Beth and Payton were going up and down the hall on the furniture doll. Boy was it a site as you can see from today's picture. We both had a shower and had to run to CVS. We then headed for pizza which Payton had requested for lunch. As we waited for our pizza, Beth had to show Payton how to hold his fork while pounding one end on the table and saying 'where's the pizza'. Then they had to do the pizza fist pump. Boy was I so glad when the pizza came. He was really hungry and ate 2 big slices of cheese pizza. I can say it was more than I ate. He was so tired I thought he would fall asleep at the table. We only live a 1/4 of a mile from the pizza place but he was almost asleep before we got home. He tried to protest to taking a nap, but fell asleep before we could even leave the room. He woke up around a little before 3pm which was a good thing, seeing he had to be home before 4pm as they had plans tonight. We came home and did very little the rest of the afternoon. We met Beth's brother Frank and his wife Rose for dinner. They are up from North Caroline for a visit over Christmas. We had a great dinner and conversation. Beth is at 9pm Christmas Mass. I decided not to go this and am trying to get a few things done around the house. I hope Santa is good to you and brings you everything you want, not what you deserve.

Cookie Bake..

Beth was up early and went to WAWA to get up breakfast. We had a busy baking day ahead of us. She started on the chocolate chip and Oatmeal raisin cookies. She was making double batches of each so it would be awhile before it was my turn. I instead headed to Target and to the grocery store a few last minute things. Oh my god was the grocery store packed. Who could blame them. I would not want to be there tomorrow with all the other last minute shoppers. I called my mom when I got home and was on the phone with her for a couple of hours. I was helping talk her through unloading some pictures from her camera card to a new folder on her computer. She did really well and was even able to attach them to a file and send me some new photos. Beth was still making cookies, so I decided to work on more candy cane chocolates. I could do my work in the dining room with Beth using most of the kitchen for her cookies. She finally finished the last batch around 3:30pm. It was my turn to make a few more of the cherry tea cookies. It only took me around an hour to complete mine. We had dinner around 6pm and I finished wrapping the last few gifts we had. We are watching Payton tomorrow for a few hours, but have to be up by 7am. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas eve. This year had really gone by fast. Today's picture is of 2 Blue Jays that were feeding on the bird feeder today. I just filled this feeder a couple of days ago and could not fugue were all the food went. After watching the Blue Jays it was no secret that they were throwing all the seed on the ground and eating the berries in the mix. Silly birds.

Today I had the pleasure of taking JoJo to see her first movie in a theater. Jeanette opted to stay home and finish some things up. We arrived at the theater too early, this allows to much time for a 5 yr old to drink soda before the movie starts. First potty run right before the movie started, second run about half way through. I have to admit though that she was better than I expected her to be. We saw the new Disney film, The Princess and the Frog, at the earliest showing 10:35am. There were only about 5 other families, and no one was really disruptive. JoJo doesn't sit still very long, so she alternated between her seat, my lap and standing right in front of me, which is OK because I can still see over her. After the movie we went and ran some errands before I took her home, but she wanted to come to our house to play so we had a little melt down when she didn't get her way. After I came I sorted through my mail and got caught up the show Pawn Stars on the history channel. I really like that show, it makes me laugh. Jeanette made flour less & sugarless cookies for Marti, amazingly there not half bad. They would be good with a little powdered sugar on them. After dinner, which was pork chops and applesauce, I put the chocolate covered pretzel rods in bags while Jeanette was making chocolate candy cane lollipops. We are going to make goody bags for our friends this Christmas, I guess she had too much time on her hands with us not going to Disney this December! I'll probably bag those tomorrow after they harden really well. Today's picture is of JoJo on her birthday in her new Princess dress which she accessorized with hockey sticks.

Rylee visits with Santa

We were up around 7:30am as we had an appointment with Dr. Bill. We drove separate cars, as Beth had an appointment to get the car looked at at 10am. I headed home and started make the chocolate pretzel rods. Dawn called to see if we would be home early afternoon as they had errands to do and would stop by. Beth called a little after noon and was at BJ club getting a ham and a few other things. They, of course, could not find anything wrong with the car. I at least feel better that it was looked at. Dawn, Jo, and Rylee came over around 5pm for a short visit. They had Rylee's picture taken with Santa as you can see from today's picture. She is so cute. I finally was able to fix stuffed peppers tonight. I have only been trying for the last week and a half, but something always came up. They were pretty good and would fix them again. Beth is taking Jojo to the movies tomorrow to see The Princess and the Frog. This will be her first time at a movie theater. We both think she will be fine sitting that long and will be interested in the movie as she has not seen it before. Getting her to watch a DVD at home is sometimes a challenge, as she has seem most Disney movies.

Snow is over...

Beth was up at 8am this morning. With the snow, she did not want to chance the road so she watched Sunday mass on TV. I on the other hand slept until 9am. We had a quick breakfast and then headed outside. It appears that we had a total of 12 inches and about 8 of it was on the driveway and sidewalk waiting to be removed. The sun was shining and the snow was beginning to melt a little. Beth began using the snow blower on the driveway and I did the back sidewalk with the shovel. It was still fluffy, but was staring to melt underneath and made it hard to shovel. So I went back out front to help Beth with the driveway until she could get to the back deck with the blower. We were able to clear everything in a couple of hours. We even had showers and were able to see the first kickoff. The Eagles game was changed to 4:15pm so we watched the Red Zone. The Eagles did beat the 49ers and clinched a playoff birth. We now have to see if they win the division. Today's picture is Beth cleaning the driveway with the snow blower. About now she is wishing we had a smaller driveway.

Let it snow...

We knew the snow was coming it was just a matter of when. I was up around 6am and peeked outside. The snow was just starting to come down. By the time Beth got up around 8am it was really snowing, I joined her around 9. We had breakfast and Beth went outside to start round one of snow removal. There was about a couple of inches at that time. The heavy stuff was due to start around noon and did not disappointed. I on the other hand stayed inside to due laundry and make stew for dinner. I figured I might as well take advantage of the heat from the dryer and the stove to warm the house. It was around 23 degrees outside. Beth had worked on the big snow blower last night, but found there was another leak in the gas line close to the pump. So using the big blower was not an option. the snow as so light the she was able to use the leaf blower the first time, but with 4 more inches that was not going to work the second time. I went out to help and was able to use the shovel to remove the snow from the sidewalk and around the cars with ease. Beth used the little blower to clean off the driveway. We know we will have round 3 tomorrow, but at least we have a jump on it. right now it looks like we have about 8 inches and due to get 4 - 5 more before it over. Guess we will see in the morning. we did see that the Eagles game start time was changed to 4:15pm instead of 1pm due to the weather. Boy am I glad we sold out tickets for this game. Today's picture is of Beth cleaning off the deck with the leaf blower. My hero... Of course there will be 10 more inches to move in the morning.

Storm on the way...

We both slept in late this morning and did nothing til around 10am. We had breakfast and took showers. I left to go run some errands and go to the grocery store. We have a big snow storm coming in tomorrow and wanted to make sure we were good for a few days. Beth left about an hour later to go finish up her Christmas shopping. She was home around 4pm and we decided it was time to look at the snow blower. We tried to switch out the leaking fuel line but the one end was up underneath the motor, so it was not going to be easy. We headed to Lowe's for snow melt and a tube connector hoping to just cut off the bad section and splice the new one on. Lowe's did not have what we needed, so it was off to Pep Boys. The did have the part, so we grabbed it and headed home. Beth was able to slice the two section together and tried to start it. It ran for a way and then quit. We have a couple more things to try before giving up. We have a little blower that we can use if all else fails. We had dinner then Beth started working on cleaning her desk and I am watching a little TV. We found out today that the insurance plan we have is being cancelled on March first. They are offering 2 plans but they are so totally different form each other that it will take us that long to settle on one, I hate insurance companies, but you can't live without it. I'll bet the Big Cats at the zoo will enjoy playing in the snow this weekend!

Happy Birthday JoJo...

Jojo is officially 5 years old today, so Happy Birthday to her. I was up early this morning and at the gym at 8:30am. After my workout with Marti. I had to go get in line and give some blood for testing. I had an appointment yesterday, but forgot all about it, so I was hoping the line was not long today. Since I had to fast I was starving by 9:30am. It was not bad, as there were only 5 people ahead of me. It only took about 30 minutes for them to call my name. I then headed home and we had breakfast. I then took a shower and headed out to finish my Christmas shopping. I was able to find everything I was looking for. We can't get the car in until Monday to get looked out, so we are now driving the jeep. We had to pick up Kyle at 3:30pm and take him to meet his mom at the doctor's office. We then headed to Oaks to meet Dawn and Jo for dinner and a movie. We were trying to see the Christmas Carol in 3-D but the theater that was showing it was not working so we saw it in the regular movie screen. We headed home to settle in and watch Thursday night football. Today's picture is of Rylee, she is staying awake longer after she eats now and is beginning to fill out.

Finally Done..

The guy was here around 9am this morning to finish the room. There was one place on the ceiling that needed to be redone as it was chipping. He was able to finish sanding the wall and the ceiling around 11am. He cleaned up and was gone by noon. Now it is our turn to paint and install the trim work. We left and headed to Reading to do some shopping. We stopped at Smokey Bones and had a late lunch. It was pretty good Bar-B-Q, but not as good as old Kansas City. We hit a few stores and headed home around 4pm. I was able to finish putting away the laundry and Beth played on the computer. We headed over to Kim and Lynne's around 6:45pm. They were having cake and ice cream for Jojo since tomorrow is her 5Th birthday. Boy does time fly. She had a great time and enjoyed all her presents. This is the photo that Kim decided on for Christmas.

Payton Day...

Today was our third day in a row for having kids. We were just getting out of bed when we heard this little knock on the door around 7:20am. We talked with Maggie for a little while then she had to leave for work. I had to get ready to get meet Marti for my 8:30am workout. On my way home I stopped to pickup bread so we could have french toast for breakfast. He wanted powered sugar on his. After breakfast, the guy finally showed up to work on the room again. Payton and I played with mister potato head and colored in the coloring book while Beth grabbed a shower. After both of us had showers, we went downstairs to start taking Payton's Christmas pictures. He was not happy and by then we knew it was time for a nap. He on the other hand wanted no part in nap time. Beth was able to get him to bed and asleep in about 10 minutes. Beth headed over to her mom's house to check on things, water the plants, and pick up the mail. On her way home she stopped to get gas for our shopping trip tomorrow. The guy started the finish sanding on the wall and found the outside corners were not dry and he had to come back tomorrow. My god is this project going to ever end. We told him that we had to leave at noon tomorrow as we both had to finish up our presents to each other. And since they have been her the last 2 weeks we have not had time. Payton was up around 2pm and Beth was home so we had a quick lunch. Again Payton wanted no part in lunch. Since when did ' I don't want to ' become part of his vocabulary? So I scooped him up and put him in his chair for lunch. Little tears were streaming down his cheek for about 2 seconds and them they stopped and he began eating his lunch. We finished lunch and went downstairs to get pictures started. He was all for that except he had to see each one after Beth took them. And getting him to stand straight for more than 2 seconds was not going to happen. We were able to get a few good shots. So Beth will work her magic and turn it into the Christmas picture. DJ came by to pick up Payton a little before 5pm. I was going to make stuffed peppers but found I had no tomato sauce so it will be on tomorrow nights agenda. We had to run back over to DJ and Maggie's as Payton forgot his sock monkey and he sleeps with it at night. We then headed to Staples for a couple of things, then back home. Both of us are tired and are going to bed early. This is one possibility for Payton's picture.

Baby Rylee day..

We were up late last night watching the Eagles beat the Giants and getting that top spot in the NFC East. They still have 3 rough games to win to remain there. This also means if they stay on top that we have to buy playoff tickets and then try to sell them as we will not be home for the game. I had to do a load of laundry and wash the sheet for the pack 'n' play. Rylee was coming over to stay with us as her parents needed to go shopping. She arrived around 11am this morning. The guys arrived around 11:30. We started taking her Christmas pictures and she was a trooper. She did not mind having her clothes changed several times and posing for the camera. Rylee was hungry around 12:30am, so I fed her. I think Beth is still a little uneasy being around such a small baby. She had no problems holding her and having her sleep on her, but feeding and changing are not her top things to do. I had to leave around 2:30pm as I had an appointment with Dr. Feiner. I had a hearing test done and passed with flying colors. There was no pressure or fluid on the ears either. So he could not really find any reason for it ringing. He did say that my meds may cause it and might get better with the lowering of the dose. He wants to re-check it again in 6 months, so there is nothing to worry about. Rylee was still here when I got home, but the guys had finished for the day. The room is looking really nice and tomorrow is their last day. Then our work begins. I fed Rylee again and she now had a stinky diaper. So I began to change her just as her parents came in. I was all done changing and back to feeding when several more toots came. Guess I should have waited, but she hates having stinky pants. We hope that trends last and she is easy to potty train. We visited with the Dawn and Jo for awhile and then they headed home. We were having steaks, so I started the grill so it could get hot. As I came back outside to put the steaks on the grill, I found it was out of gas. I had to put them on the George Foreman grill to cook. Not bad , but not as good as on the grill. It will be another fun filled day tomorrow as we have Payton all day and will be taking his Christmas pictures. Today's picture is one of JoJo that is in the running for her Christmas picture.

JoJo coming...

I slept til 8am and Beth finally got up at 9am this morning. It was nice to not have to hear the alarm go off and sleep as late as you want. We headed to the diner for breakfast. It was a raining cold morning. We then headed to the grocery store. We were home a little after noon and settled in to watch football. Kim dropped Jojo off around 3pm. We were able to get several shots of her for her Christmas photo. She was very wiggly and hard to get her to take more than 8 or so shots. So we will see how they turn out. After that, her and Aunt Beth worked on decorating the rice crispy treat tree house. They turned our great. We had cheese quesadilla and salad for dinner. Beth had a great time playing dragons, house, and kitchen with Jojo this evening. Kim picked up Jojo around 7pm and we are getting ready to watch the Eagles play. The winner will be in first place and we are hoping the Eagles are the one to come out on top. Today's picture is the last one taken of JoJo tonight, hopefully it isn't blurry when taken to an 8x10.

House Clean Day..

We were finally able to sleep til 8am this morning. We had breakfast and Beth left to take the boxes to the pack and ship. I began cleaning the living room and dining room. The guys arrived around 10am to begin working on the room. It is looking really nice. Beth finished her errands and was home about 11:45am. We had lunch and I began cleaning the downstairs and finished wrapping the remaining presents. I was able to get Beth's items wrapped and in her stocking. The Army/Navy game was on at 2:30pm, so I sat and watched it. Beth vacuumed and mopped all the floors upstairs. We have all the kids next week at different times, so it was a good day for cleaning. Beth went to 5:30pm mass, so tomorrow is another sleep in day. The guys will not be here until late Monday morning, so we have tomorrow free to watch football all day. The Eagles will not be playing until Sunday night, so we will be Red Zone watching all afternoon. Today's picture is what the room looked like before they began tapping and mudding today. I think the ceiling was a lot bigger than they first thought, but looks really good after the first coat of mud.

Drywall begins...

The guys were here at 8:05am this morning to begin drywalling the guest room. As usual, Buster was all freaked out so I took him downstairs to work on Christmas cards and Beth began making cookies. I finished the calender and had to go to Micheal's to get a new hole punch. I also went to CVS to pick up Beth prescription, then home. Beth finally finished making her first batch of cookie around noon, so I fixed lunch. Buster and I headed back downstairs and was there until the guys left at 3pm. The room looks so different with drywall instead of paneling. Not sure how many days it will take them to finish the mudding and sanding and the we have to paint and install the trim work. Guess we forgot to ask them to include it in the estimate, but it is no big deal. We can get Beth's brother's miter saw and practice on making 45 degree cuts. It will all work out. We went to dinner with DJ, Maggie, and the boys. It was a lot of fun and we had a good time. We then had to go to Staples as it seems all my pens are running out of ink. I finished packing all the boxes and have to go to the pack and ship place in the morning. We worked a deal with the guys and they will not be coming until 9:30am tomorrow, so we can sleep in. Today's picture is of 2 of the Mickey Mouse characters we have in the flower bed out back. The bed looks so bare in the winter.

Helping Dawn

Today we helped Dawn clear out Rylee's room, since before Rylee it was an exercise room. Actually I helped Dawn while Jeanette took care of Rylee for 6 hours. We removed an elliptical machine and a weight lifting bench. Both of which had to be broken down into pieces. These plus 2 TVs were taken to Cash Converters because there was no room for them at the house anymore. I reassembled the elliptical in the bed of Jeanette's truck, since there was no way Dawn and I would be able to load it up in one piece. It was 36 degrees and the wind was blowing today not the best weather to be tightening nuts, bolts and screws outside. But we finished loading everything up and unloading it at Cash Converters (with help) and then Dawn's jeep wouldn't start. She had loaded the TVs, weights, dumbbells, and most of the weight bench in her jeep because there wasn't enough room in the truck. We called AAA for a tow, we thought the started had gone but it was only a battery problem. AAA jumped the jeep for her and we dropped it off at the dealership on the way home. All the while Jeanette held a very cuddly, sleeping Rylee. The picture says it all.

Cookie Day - Round 2

We were up early this morning as we did not know if the guys were coming to work on the room. When we looked outside and saw the rain, we knew it would be a no show. The rain gauge read 4 inches of rain. But since the gauge only goes up to 4 inches it may have been more. It was still lightly rain most of the morning. I began round 2 of the cookie baking process a little after 9am. Beth had to go to her mom's to pick up the mail and to check on the house. And since we know Beth's mom is a follower of our blog, we want to let her know everything was fine at the house and no water in the house anywhere, except where Beth spilled watering the plants but she cleaned that up. Beth then headed over to Dawn's. I knew she would be there several hours playing and holding the baby. I was able to complete about 12 batches of cookies and finished around 3pm. Beth came home and we began looking at the pictures we wanted to send out with Christmas cards. We settled on one and Beth began printed what we needed. We had to go to the grocery store for more baking supplies and then out to dinner. We finished up with a trip to Lowe's and Micheal's. Once home I began working on trying to finish the calender for my mom for Christmas. Don't worry, she knows it is coming and so looks forward to it. It is an early day tomorrow as I have to meet Marti at 7:30am for our workout. Then more cookie making. Today's picture is of Rylee that Beth created using photoshop.

Cookie day...

I had to get up early this morning as I had to meet Marti at 8am. Once there, she told me she could not leave the front desk for another 1/2 hour. No big deal, I did my cardio while I waited for her. I stopped by the store and then headed home. I was hoping to get a big jump on the cookie making process. I got one cookie and one nut bars done, before I had to leave to go to the doctor. I have been having ringing in my ears for about 4 months and just thought it was a side effect of the Synthroid. The cancer doctor did not think is was and suggested I get it check out. The doctor told me I did not have any hearing loss and could not really find anything wrong. So now I have to go see Dr. Feiner. He is the one that did my cancer surgery. She said that many times there is not a cause for it and not much they can do. So I get to see him on Monday and see if I just live with it or if there is something we can do. Some days I feel like I am falling apart and don't think there is enough super glue to keep it together. Tomorrow I hope to finish up the cookie process and get packages mailed on Friday. Busy, Busy, Busy... I love the way the holly turned out will all the balls on it and is today's picture.

Project Day..

I did not sleep well at all last night. I think I only got about a couple of hours and it was not all together. So my butt was really dragging today. We had to order a new pump for our sleep number bed a week ago and it arrived this weekend. It is hard to use a sleep number bed if you can't read the numbers on the meter. So I decided today was the day to change out the old one. I also wanted to try and keep the pump off the heater, so I had to come up with a way to do that. Beth found a couple of straps in the shed and put them around the machine and stapled the straps to the underside of the frame. It worked out really good and we can now set the bed to the correct firmest for each of us. So of course, I had to clean around the baseboards and that lead to cleaning the whole room. While I was doing the, Beth had to pull the cable box of the living room and take it to ComCast. I was watching it yesterday and it just went out. She said the lines were really long and Monday was not the day to go in. She finally had the new box all hooked up and just had to call to have them activate it. Well she was on the phone with them for 30 minutes and talked to 6 different people. They were having problems with their phone system and she keep getting dropped from each person. Even I was getting frustrated with them. We finally decided that tomorrow might be a better day to call and get it activated. We had dinner and then went to the used book store. Since we have credit there, we decided to pick up a couple of books for Jojo for Christmas. We then went to Bed Bath and Beyond. I needed a candy thermometer for baking tomorrow. I only got one batch of cookies done since I got a late start today. I will try and get some more done tomorrow. Today's picture is of Dawn and Jo with baby Rylee.

Snow and Sunny

We woke up to about 2 inches of snow this morning. We headed to breakfast at the diner and then to WAWA for gas and a paper. The roads were clear and the sun was shining. We tried several times to take our pictures outside, but the sun was too bright with all the snow. We took 4 sacks of book in to the used books and they called to tell us we had $98 in credit. We were so surprised the amount was so high and the books were gone. I had to go by and pick up the 4 canvas bags we used to take the book in and then headed to the grocery store. Tomorrow is the start of cookie making and I needed a few things. I put a roast on for dinner and we began to wrap Christmas presents while watching the football games. The Eagles had a great game and won. Today was last game in Beth's fantasy league before the playoffs. Beth was tied for the lead in her division and wanted to win the division. Dawn came through for her and beat the team tied with Beth. So it was a great day for her. Beth's mom called to tell us they were leaving for Florida first thing in the morning. We wish them a save trip and will miss them. Today's picture is of the ornament tree and all the ornaments that are too heavy or might break on the tree downstairs.

Let it snow, snow, snow

We had to get up early as the guys were supposed to be here at 8am. Well of course we got a call at 7:55am saying they were not coming because it was raining/snowing at their house and the one guy had a plowing contact. So they will not be here until wed, because of another job the first part of the week. Hopefully it will be done by Christmas, but I am not so sure. So both of us were able to go to Dawn and Jo's to watch Rylee while they went to go see the boys. They left around 10am. I held her while Beth went upstairs to take apart the elliptical machine that Dawn wants to get rid of. Around 10:30am, Rylee started fusing so we changed her and fed her. She went right back to sleep. It started to snow around 1pm and then grew heavier. The ground was almost covered when Dawn and Jo arrived home around 2pm. We headed home around 4pm and the snow was falling hard. Beth went to church tonight so we could sleep in late tomorrow. We have Wendy's Christmas party to go to at 7pm and it is not to far away. The weather man says we could get 2 -3 inches but are they every right? Today's picture is what the snow looked like at 4pm today. As you can see it is 20 days til Christmas.

Remodel Begins..

The guys were to be here at 8am this morning, so we were up early and showered. Then they called and said they had to go to Lowe's first, so it would be another hour before they arrived. I had an appointment with the cancer doctor at 9am, so Beth waited at home for them. The doctor said everything is fine and lowered the amount of my meds. I will not need another body scan until 2011. So things are good. The guys were hard at work when I got home. Buster and I went downstairs to help ease Buster's nerves. They finished up for the day around 2pm. As you can see from today's picture, all the paneling is removed and the ceiling spots were all scraped. They will start the installation of the drywall tomorrow at 8am. No sleeping late the next 3 mornings. After they left, we took the books to the used book store to trade them in. They will call us in a day or two tell us how much we had. We then headed to Staples to look at office chairs for Beth. We were able to talk to someone who knew a little more about the chair and he gave us a listing of the stores within 50 miles that had them in stock. Beth was able to locate one in Quakertown and we headed up there. It was about a 45 minute drive, but well worth it. It was the last one they had in stock. We paid for it and headed back home. Beth quickly put it together and is so happy to have a new chair.

Moving Day..

It was the usually Thursday morning. Downstairs for the morning cardio then off to the gym to work with Marti. After we had breakfast, we started moving all the stuff out of the guest room. They are supposed to be here tomorrow to start the remodel work. We had to stack most of it in the guest bathroom and the living room. Beth headed out to go see Dawn and Jo and of course baby Rylee, then over to see her mom and dad. She was able to feed Rylee on her visit and had a great time. She loaded some games onto her mom's computer before they leave for Florida on Monday. After dinner, we headed downstairs to set up the Christmas tree and decorate it with the bear ornaments this year. We are pretty much done with Christmas decorations and can now enjoy it. The picture is of our house at dusk tonight.

Cold and Frosty..

I had to get up early this morning to go give blood at 8:30am. When I looked outside the ground was white. It was not snow, but a very heavy frost the hit last night. The temperature was about 30 degrees. I had to break out the winter coat and had to scrape the windshield before leaving. It only took about 15 minutes in the blood drawing clinic, so I was back home around 9am. I started laundry and had to leave at 9:30am, as I also had a eye exam appointment. Beth had a appointment to get a new sleep mask, so we both left at the same time. It took me an hour, between the wait, the exam, and paying. I did some shopping at Wal-mart and headed home. Beth has to pick up Jojo from school. We played the game Cooties with Jojo and of course she won. We don't let her win, the kid just wins about 95% of all games we play with her. Kim came by to pick her up and we headed to Beth's insurance company and then to Kohl's. Found a lot of Christmas presents and that is a good thing. The weather turned rainy this after and it is still really cold. We might be seeing today's picture on Saturday.

Rylee comes home

Today started out weird for me, I woke up around 4ish and couldn't go back to sleep. So a little after 5 I left the warmth of the bed for the office, I wasn't missed in the least. Jeanette woke up around 7:15 to do her cardio before going to the gym. I hate wasting perfectly good sleeping time on being awake! I try not to make to much noise but everything just sounds louder when the house is really quiet. After Jeanette came home and showered, we went to BJ's to get our pictures taken and get our membership cards. They warned us that the pictures were really poor quality but I look like I have a beard the way the shadows hit my face. Then we went on our initital shopping trip, not much different than Sam's, geared more for the home owner than the business owner. Then we had a quick lunch of soup and salad at Max & Erma's and we head over to see Rylee. She was released from the hospital this morning and came home. She looked sweeter today than yesterday. Everytime a baby holds onto your finger, they make you fall in love with them alittle more. And Rylee has us hook, line and sinker! We went to dinner with my parents and 2 brothers and their wives, it was our Holiday Dinner since Mom & Dad will be leaving for Florida this Friday. It was actually nice getting together with everybody. Today's picture is of Dawn and Rylee. So cute.

Meet Rylee

I was up at 7:15pm to get my cardio in before we left to go see Dr. Bill. We both were in need of adjustments and have to go back next Monday again instead of our usual 2 weeks. We then headed to the Reading Hospital. Today we got to meet Rylee. She is a cutie and even more so in person. There is a concern with her losing weight since she was only 5 lb 11 oz. to start with. I got to feed her at her 12:30 feeding today and she did really well. Beth and Dawn were a site changing her. She did have one big spit up, but hopefully she did better later today. We then went to lunch at Hooter's. After lunch, we took Dawn to do some of her errands. Beth dropped my off at home around 4pm, so I could do a few thing and she took Dawn home. They were heading back to the hospital around 6pm and had to have a car seat test done one hour after Rylee ate dinner. Rylee has to sit in the car seat for an hour. Not sure what that is for and never heard of it, but seems it has to do with her being so small. We are hoping to hear the results tonight. She gets to come home tomorrow around 10am as long as she is above weight. We are all hoping for the best. Today's picture is of me feeding Rylee. It was alot of fun.

Big Suprise...

About 10pm last night we got a call from Dawn telling us that they had a new baby girl. Boy was it a big surprise as she was 2 weeks early and her name is Rylee Rhodes-Santini. She was born at 8:44pm, was 18 1/2 inch long and weighted 5lb. 11 oz. And they said that they would not be able to go with us to the football game on Sunday as they had to go meet their new daughter. What an excuse. So as Beth headed to church , I called to see if we could find anyone at last minute to go to the game. Beth also tried when she got home, but we had no luck. So off to the game we went. The Eagles played a very good game and finally won. We left in the middle of the third quarter. We have so much to do at home to get ready for Christmas. Dawn did send us pictures during the game of Rylee. She is truly a cutie. We order pizza for dinner and afterwards began working on decorating the inside of the house. I think we finish most of the upstairs and made really good progress. We are going to see Rylee tomorrow and take Dawn home from the hospital. Rylee may get to come home late tomorrow or early Tuesday. Welcome to our clan Rylee and we love you.

Outside decorations

We went to bed early last night, so of course I was up at 7am. Beth was able to sleep about an hour more and then got up. We had breakfast and headed to Staples. Beth needs a new office chair and wanted to look at what they had. After sitting in almost all of them, she found the one she wanted and ask the guy to get it for her. And of course, they were out of stock on it. No store in the area had one. Just her luck. He said the Allentown showed 2 in stock. We came home and Beth called the store. They had one so, she had them put it on hold for her. And of course, they called back and said sorry they did not have any. What a pain in the butt that was just trying to find a chair. So we skipped looking for them today and headed outside to finish the outside decorations. It was very windy and that is not good when you are trying to anchor the blow up snowman. We took a break around 2pm and had some lunch. I watched a little football and Beth was on the computer for a couple of hours. We then went back outside to finish the hookup of all the extension cords. Things look good and all come on at dusk. Now we have to work on the inside decorations. This is going to be a busy week, as we think the guy is coming to remodel the guest room on Thursday. We also have to help Dawn get the baby's room ready as it is no where near ready. Tomorrow the Eagles play at home so, so we will head down to the game about 10:30am. We are meeting Dawn and Jo as they are going with us. The Eagles play the Redskins and Jo is a fan of them. Today's picture is of our yard at night, grape vine deer, ice cube snowman and an inflatable 7' snowman. The orange dots are our lights on the hous.

Black Friday Shopping..

We got up at 5:45am this morning, took showers and were out the door by 7am. We headed to Exton to do some Black Friday shopping. We were really not looking for anything, but did have a couple of coupons. We really did not hit any big lines in checking out and did manage to find a few things on our Christmas list for others. We headed home around noon and had lunch. Both us were starving since we skipped breakfast for shopping. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV and resting. The day seems to drag when you get up early. We were both tired of turkey so I fixed round steak in mushroom gravy for dinner. We are watching college football and getting ready for the hot tub and bed. We are hoping to get the rest of the Christmas decoration out in the yard tomorrow and the tubs put back in the attic. We might even get the tree up tomorrow night. (I don't think so ... )

Happy Thanksgiving...

I was up at 7:15am this morning getting the turkey ready for the oven at 8am. Beth went out and got donuts and a paper. She was going to Boscov, as they were giving out gift card for various items. Well after looking at the lines, she made a u turn and came home. She is not one to wait in a long line. I had to make deviled eggs, apple salad, and get the sweet potatoes cooking. Beth wanted to have dinner around noon, so that was my time frame. The turkey took 3 1/2 hours of cooking and I was able to get the stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and rolls in the oven. I had everything on the table and ready to eat at 12:05pm. Good timing on my part I must say. Everything was great and we watched 2 of the 3 football games on TV. Neither one was really much of a contest. Beth's mom and dad stopped by for dessert, but ended up taking theirs home as they were both stuffed from their dinner. Michael's was open today and I had a coupon for 30% off everything, so off I went. Did not really see much, but shopping with a coupon is always good. We are going to bed early as tomorrow is Black Friday shopping. Beth is dragging her feet, but can be bribed into going with a treat of lunch out. Today's picture is of our thanksgiving feast. We are so thankful for our family and friends.

Big Suprise Day..

Today started out kinda slow and uneventful. I started laundry and Beth went to return some items and returned home around lunch time. Dawn came over about 2pm to pick up her screen door and to tell us the her and Jo had been chosen to adopt a baby. We were so thrilled and happy for them. They did not not have much information only that the baby is due Dec. 14 and they don't know the sex. From that point on it was all baby talk and how we have to get the room at their house turned from a catch all room to a baby's room in less than 2 weeks. Jo stopped by around 4pm for a quick chat. They were having dinner with Jo's parents tonight and we talked about how to tell them the news. Buster had a grooming appointment at 6:30 pm and needed it. I know he is a dog, but do you have to smell like one! Beth is baking pies for dinner tomorrow. An apple crumb and a cherry crumb. I have to be up at 7:15am tomorrow to get the turkey on by 8am. We are hoping to eat between noon and 12:30pm and then watch football the rest of the day. Today's picture are of the proud parents to be. We are so happy for you two.

Long Sore Day...

Today started out like most Tuesdays. I did my cardio, then headed to the gym for my workout with Marti. Today seems a little harder than any of the other days, but I was able to get through it. When I got home, I fixed breakfast and we all headed to the garage. We pulled the tubs of Christmas stuff down from the attic. Kyle was a big help since I did not have to climb on my hands and knees to the back and pull each tub out. We then started to work on the decorations for the holly tree. We cut 10 foot strands of chain and attached 6 large ornaments to each one. We then were able to get 6 of them on to the holly tree before Dawn came over. It looks really cool and will finish the other strands tomorrow. Kyle assembled the snowman countdown sign for the yard. Only 31 more days til Christmas. We will finish setting out the rest of the decorations on Friday or Saturday. Dawn came over to help Beth finish putting together her backdoor screen. She wanted to attach plexiglas to each side on the bottom to stop the dog from running through it. The first set of plexiglas panels Beth and Dawn got were too narrow and we could not use it. So Dawn and I went to Lowe's to get 2 more bigger pieces and some binder screws to attach them. As we were leaving Lynne came over to get some stuff out of the attic she stored up there. Dawn and I began working on the screen project. I began drilling the holes in the Plexiglas. What a pain that was. You have to start out small and build up to the size you want in order to not split the plexiglas. I was doing great until the first hole of the size we needed and CRACK. Well that was not good, but we continued on. No more major cracks, but a few spider cracks. So we went to set the plexiglas on the metal screen frame and the holes were not correct. They were to close to the screen and about 4 would have to be re drilled. So we came to a stop to see if we could do something else to save it. Beth and I took Kyle home and then went to Lowe's. Dawn headed home again without a screen. We promised we would have it done by tomorrow. We looked at Lowe's and everything we found was going to cost just as much as buying new sheets of plexiglas, so we got the 3rd set of plexiglas panels. We came home and I practiced on the cracked ones, and Beth did her cardio. I was able to figure out how to drill the hole without cracking the plexigass. So off to the new ones I went and completed them all without any cracks. We attached it to the frame and it really looks nice. However, it is missing 1 binder screw that went home with Dawn, so she will have to finish it. Even though we had to buy a new set, it was great experience on working with plexiglas. So now my back, knees, and feet are very sore and I can't wait to get to the hot tub for a really good soak. We have another busy day tomorrow. This is the holly tree we are decorating, we can only get about half way up and will post a picture of it when we are done.

Rainy Monday...

Thank god for an Eagles win last night. I don't think could have taken 3 loses in the same day. And of course we had to watch it until the end to make sure they won, so we slept in this morning. I got up and went downstairs to do the arc trainer. After breakfast, we went off to do the errands we had to do then to the grocery store. We were home around noon. Beth's brother called and needed to come by to get the hotdog griller we borrowed from him. I was able to get all the books back on the shelves in the office. Does not seem like we got rid of much, but we did. It looked like it was going to rain all day and finally did. I had a hair appointment at 4:30pm for my cut and color. I then headed to pick up Kyle. We were supposed to go to the movies, but he managed to get himself grounded. We headed to the store. Beth wanted a whole turkey for thanksgiving, which is what I thought we had in the freezer, but it was only the breast. So kyle and I went to the store a pickup one up. We are going to move all the Christmas stuff down from the attic tomorrow. Sure am glad I have Kyle to help me with it. I am hoping the rain stopped so I can get in the hot tub tonight. I would love to be sitting on today's picture's beach with the sun shining so bright and warm.

Not a good day for Beth...

Another football Sunday it was. I slept in while Beth went to church. We had breakfast and read the morning paper. Not much in the ads, so no need to rush out for any pre-thanksgiving day bargains. We headed back to the office and decided to go through the books on the bookcase. We had 3 piles, those to get rid of, those to keep, and those for the recycle pile. We did very well in getting rid of more than we kept. We will take then down to the second hand bookstore and see what we can get for them. Something is better than nothing. Jo dropped Dawn off about 12:30pm. Jo had a baby christening to go to and would be back by after it was over. We are now addicted to watching the red zone for all the football games. It is a great channel. DJ and kyle came over around 1pm, while Maggie and Payton showing up about an hour later. Beth had taken the KC Chiefs to lose in the loser pool today. And it seemed like a good bet, except they forgot to tell the chiefs they were to lose. They ended up beating the Steelers and Beth was knocked out of the pool. She was one of 21 people left out of 145. I am proud of her making it that far, but I got in trouble for rooting for the chiefs. I still bleed chiefs red at times. Everyone left around 6pm and we are now watching the Eagles game. And to make things even worse for Beth, she lost in Fantasy Football and the Eagles don't look so good tonight either. Today's picture is of the eagles players that were on the cruise we took earlier this year. We can't wait for the Eagles cruise next year in the Bahamas.

Great Movie...

Kyle came over around 9am this morning. We began working on the floors and finished around 1pm. He did a good job and it saves Beth from having to do them. Today was my day to move my stuff around in the office. I put my desk in front of the window and my printer tower next to Beth's. I was able to get most of the items back up and working. We did have to buy a new printer cable for my color printer, as the other one was too short. We both like the new set up. I am hoping to go through all the books next week and weed them down to a reasonable amount. We still have a lot of odds and ends to go through and finish putting away. Buster is happy the moving part is done in the office and his bed is in the same place. We left to go to the movies around 3:30pm. Since Blindside just came out yesterday, I thought it might be packed today. And sure enough it was. Jo and I were able to get seats in a great row and waited for the other to make their way from the concession stand. The movie was great and I would suggest you go and see it. We will be buying the DVD when it comes out. Dawn, Jo, Beth and myself all went out to dinner after the movie. DJ and Maggie had to get back to pickup Payton from the sitters. We tried to get into Max and Erma's, but they said it would be a 30 minute wait and judging by the people waiting it was going to be longer than that. So we walked across the street to an Italian place. Food was alright, but not sure I would have to eat there again. We stopped by Best buy on the way home to get the cable and are now relaxing. We are down to 48 days until we return to Walt Disney World, so today's picture is a side view of Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom.

Office cleaning...

Beth had a funeral this morning for a family friend. I on the other had took the opportunity to do nothing. I took my time getting a shower and having breakfast. It was great. My legs were a little sore from yesterday's workout, so it felt good doing nothing. Beth can home around noon and had lunch, then began working on the office. Her goal was to move her desk to another side of the room and move the printer tower where her desk was. My job was to stay out of the way and I think I did a good job. I did manage to pull all the weeds in the bird area this afternoon. With the rain last night, they were easy to pull. Beth's area of the office is about 80% done. I will have a chance to do my part tomorrow or Monday. Kyle will be coming over to do the floors and earn money for his black Friday shopping. Then later around 4pm a bunch of us are going to the movies to see Blindside and maybe out to dinner. Today's picture is of the fall trees by the river.

Gym Time..

I was up at 7:15am and downstairs on the arc trainer at 7:30am. I meet Marti at 8:30am for our 1/2 hour work out. My arm were still a little sore, but after out first workout of them they felt better. I went thought all my cookbooks yesterday and got rid of on 2 bags full, so I dropped them off at the recycle dump on my way home. We had breakfast and spent the rest of the afternoon not doing much of anything. Beth had a hair appointment at 3pm and then picked up the dry cleaning on her way home. We are starting on rearranging the office tomorrow, hoping to organize it a little better. Only one of us can be in the office at a time moving things, so Beth is going first. We have a great need for her to get the printers up and working. We are getting ready to watch Thursday night football and it should be a good game tonight. Can you spot the red cardinal in the holly tree in today's picture?

So Sore...

I worked out with Marti yesterday and boy can I feel it today. Both my arms and my legs are really sore. It was a good thing I had today off for everything. I spent most of the the day doing laundry. Beth's mom came over for a visit and then we went to Boscov's for shopping. DJ had given us a coupon last night when we were over there for 15% off. Beth cut the grass again this afternoon. She is really hoping this is the last time this year, but we will see. Not much on TV tonight, so we are both playing on POGO. Back to the gym tomorrow. I hope I can raise my arm by then. Today's picture is of the neighbor's pear tree. I was surprised it still had it leaves and they were so colorful.