Celebration. . . Love. . . Family. . . .

Celebrated the hubbs birthday this weekend, he got the full pampered treatment.  We had homemade meatball subs, black bean quinoa salad, and beer cheese dip with corn chips, and key lime pie for dessert.  Everything homemade except the key lime pie, it was frozen.  He also got to watch football all day uninterrupted and Miami won, he is a big kid at heart.  It was a great day for all and the food was a BIG hit.
I got to talk with Sprat for a little bit, he was filling me in on that was going on at school.  They have a therapy dog named Cooper that comes to the school periodically that the kids can go by and visit and play with.  Sprat said he had visited with Cooper once before when he was on campus. Sprat is enjoying his time at school and has made some new friends.
Big T is spreading his wings and trying to decide what he wants to do in school, Big T had stellar grades this session and I am looking forward to what he will decide. There are a lot of what if's floating around our house right now and they are in complete opposite directions of each other. I hope his school will give him some opportunities to try out some of these new interests. 
I love watching my kids grow and change, both of their interests have changed over the years. Big T's have changed just in the last few months. Life just keeps getting interesting around our house.
Stay tuned, never a dull moment. .. .

College Drop Off. . .

Sprat is back in MA and set up in his new dorm with new roommate.  We got to meet the roommate and his family during the move in process.  They are very nice folks from Vermont.  Sprat has gotten to meet some really great people since he has been in MA in college.  The roommate is a volleyball  player for the school and is a nuclear medicine major.  I enjoyed talking with him and his family, they were very sweet and I think he and Sprat will get along great. 
The hubbs and I drove to Hagerstown and spent the night and then drove the rest of the way home on Monday morning.  Sprat is taking some difficult classes this semester and will be adjusting to all the new things at this school. 

Sprat and the hubbs on campus 

We celebrated Sprats Birthday early

Birthday dinner request was steak and shrimp.

Mom always tries to accommodate on the birthday dinner. 

Sprats wall beside his bed in the new dorm. 

I am excited for what awaits my boys.  I have been planning a college visit for Big T in a few weeks so stay tuned for that update.  He wants to go to school in Florida.  Could my boys pick schools further apart????

Stay tuned as we work through this college stuff.  

Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Bank. .. .

Yesterday was just like any other day, well not really, the hubbs let me sleep in after a whirl wind of working day and then night.  He is a sweetie, I think I will keep him.  He went off to work and Big T went off to school, Sprat still sleeping and me still in the bed.  I decided I needed to get up and get moving and Sprat needed to get up too, he has a LOT of packing to do before he heads back to school next week. I started laundry and made my breakfast smoothie.  Have I told you about my smoothies?  I cannot remember if I have shared that or not.  I have been making smoothies with a nurti bullet.  I use fresh pineapple, frozen blueberries, frozen cherries, fresh banana, a piece of ginger and coconut water.  This is the best smoothie, I usually have some left over and I drink that around bedtime if Sprat doesn't get to it first.  He likes my smoothies too.
I finally get ready and I am off to the bank and a few other errands for the day.  I am driving the hubbs truck because my car is in the shop.  I was the victim of a hit and run on the highway right before Thanksgiving.  I am on my way now to get things done.   All of a sudden, it came out of nowhere, yep a deer.  I have been down this road so many times and have seen the deer and was able to stop and let them cross.  Today was not that day, this thing came barreling across the road at me and I could not avoid it.  I hate that feeling of hitting something, this is the second one I have hit in my lifetime.  Things like this usually only happen to me when the hubbs is out of town, I guess I should consider myself lucky that he was in town for this.  I was quite shook up after this and I pulled over to call my hubbs, a trooper, and my insurance agent and to check on the truck.  I sat there feeling stupid and tears streaming down my face thinking how dumb I was.  When I get scared or upset I cry, I have no control over it and I was very upset and shaken up after hitting that deer.  Physically I was fine but emotionally I was pretty bad off.  The front end of the truck was pretty bad too.  The trooper was very nice and very helpful and of course my insurance agent is also the best in the world.   While on the phone with my agent he suggested I take the truck to the shop where my car was being repaired and that my car was ready and I could pick it up and leave the truck.  I was thankful for that we were down to one car.  In the process of dropping the truck off and trying to pick up my car the hubbs phone rings and it is Sprat and he had locked himself out of the house.  He had called from our neighbors house and thankful for our neighbors because Sprat did not know his daddy's cell phone number by heart.  Before we could get the car we had to come home and let Sprat in the house and turn around and go back to get my car. 
Now let's round out the day with a very nice dinner with my three favorite men and oh by the way Happy Birthday to me!!  Yep that deer did a number on my Birthday and I won't tell you how old I am but it was a milestone birthday for me.  Ughhhhhh!!!

Plotting and Planning. . .

The hubbs will be turning 50 this year and I would love to throw him a surprise party.  I threw him one when he turned 30 and it was a huge hit.  I really did surprise him, he almost missed his own party because his friend that was supposed to bring him back to the house could not get him to come home.  Ughhh!  Men!
I told him I was having a Christmas Around the World Party and he even helped me clean up for it.  That was my way of getting him out of the house.  I think this year I would like to rent a place so we could invite more folks to come.  There is a particular venue near us that I think would be really great for this type of thing.   I am just not sure how I could get rid of him and then get him back where he needs to be.  I have been thinking about this one for a while now and trying to figure all of this out in my head.  Stay tuned there will be other posts on this one.

Preparation for the Big 16. . .

Cross another crazy week off the charts.  Whewww!  Gave my speech, got a little emotional at the end, no big  shocker there.  Oh, and I was a little long winded, hmmm, go figure. 
Got rearended  on my  way to school by a girl with no license.   Ughh.  No damge  to either car thank goodness.   I hope this was her wake up call. 
Getting ready for my baby to turn 16.  (Big tears here).   He has a few more months of permit driving before he actually will get his license.   When I asked him about a party or get together with his buddies all he said was, "I am not a girl."  I told him that boys turn 16 too and that he could just get together with his friends.  My hubby suggested that he should take Sprat and his friends to Hooters.  Thank goodness he was only joking.   I have been looking at some college football games he could go to and so far he has not been impressed.  We may have to put off the celebration until after his football season.  
Going to be another crazy week so hang on to your hats.

Happy Birthday Thomas!

Thomas is 8!  He told me he has only 8 more years and he gets his drivers license and of course Jack chimed in to add, he only had 5 more years before he would get his.  After I picked myself up off the floor we all laughed about that one.  I am not ready for my kids to drive and I don't think anyone else is either.
  Thomas had a big day yesterday we went to Jacks' basketball game then to early dinner and then home for presents and cake.  He will have a big celebration today at his grandmas' Super Bowl party.  We all get together and eat way to much and of course the boys watch the game and the ladies play cards or dominos and enjoy the fellowship of family.   We will not only be celebrating Toms' birthday but we will also celebrate Marks' Moms as well.  She and Thomas have the same birthday. 

Thomas is all about nerf guns and army men these days.  He and Jack set up the army men and shot them with their nerf guns in the playroom yesterday.   Jack made Thomas a base for his army men.  He took one of my Pampered Chef boxes and painted it in a camouflage pattern and added some trees for cover.  This was Jacks' gift to Thomas.   I guess they are pretty cool kids if you can get passed the fighting and sibling rivalry.