Monday, May 4, 2009

So Long, Farewell, Auf Weiderschen, Goodbye...

I guess it has been somewhat obvious but I am going to state it anyway. I am saying goodbye to my blog.

There is no big monumental reason, I just can't think of anything interesting enough to blog about. We are busy with a whole lot of things but they are just everyday things. Run one kid here, take another one there, attend a Booster meeting, go to a baseball game, etc. . Certainly not anything that people would want to read about. The boys don't have doctor check-ups anymore, or cute little things that they say and do. They are just your average everyday teen / pre-teen that do average things and don't necessarily enjoy their mom writing about it on the world wide web.

I will post little things here and there on my facebook page if you are interested. If anything truly big and exciting happens I will let you all know somehow. Thank you to the people that have read over the years and left comments.

Later Gators...

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Happy Birthday, Phil

Just a quick note to wish Phil a happy 33rd birthday! He was able to get 60 degree weather which is very rare for February 10th! I love you, Phil and hope that you have an awesome day!

On a side note I have added a link to Tim Ryan's new blog! He is writing all about the adventures they are having renovating their new home. It is funny to read so give it a little look see!

We've been very busy around here and today is no exception so I will leave all other updates to another post!!

Later Gators...

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Monthly Update

It's funny that I feel busy yet I don't feel like I am busy with things that are interesting enough to blog about. So, I have come to realize that this is just a once a month blog! I have also become addicted to Facebook and more daily updates can be found there.

Here is our December...

In the beginning of the month Jimmy turned 11. Yes, my baby is 11 years old. He is also 1/2 way through 5th grade and therefore almost done with his elementary years. He had his 5th grade concert on the actual night of his birthday so Grandma, Nana, Peggy, Doug, Kate, Will, and Ellie came out to see his show and go out to dinner with us. That made his day very special.

I finished up school a week before the boys and truly enjoyed some quiet time. This past semester was rough and my brain needed a serious time out! The boys were supposed to be done with school on the 19th but mother nature intervened and gave them a surprise snow day, so they were done on the 18th instead. I was the only one sad about that and it was because that meant that Jimmy wasn't going to have his last Christmas party! It also meant that I had a lot of cup cakes, a cheese and sausage tray and a fruit tray that was going to waste! However, no worries we took care of all of that!!

We had a nice break off together. We didn't do anything special, just spent time together. Christmas was wonderful as always. Christmas Eve we had the Gorski family over. We had to extend out dining room table into the living room to seat 18 people but it worked out well. All of the cousins had fun playing the Wii and running around together making many happy memories. On Christmas Day we had the Hagerty family over. We also such a nice day together visiting and enjoying more Christmas ham. Poor Danny received many duplicate gifts but he was a very good sport about it! The three boys were playing more Wii and watching Christmas movies together! All in all our celebrations were successful and we all have more happy holiday memories.

Three days after Christmas Joe hit the big 13! You read it right, he is officially a teen! That one hit me SUPER hard!! I mean sometimes I don't feel much older than 13 so how can my son be that age?! It also means that he has just a year and a half until he gets into high school. The night before his birthday he had all of his friends over to help him celebrate. For his actual day we went up to Mary and Ben's house and Grandma met us there. After watching some football we took him out to Chilli's. He had a great day!

We had a really quiet New Year's Eve this year. Mary, Ben, Dan, and my mom came over to our house to celebrate with Phil, Jim, and me. Joe was with his friends at another party. (part of being 13, I guess) We played Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader and none of us were! We screamed Happy New Year, set off some fireworks and banged on pots and pans. Then the boys put in a movie and us girls sat chatting until after 3!

So, here we are at the start of another year. I wish good health and happiness to all of you and may you be better at keeping your resolutions than I am!! Happy 2009, everyone!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Embarrassed to be from Illinois!

I am so embarrassed of our state's government. The arrest of Gov. Blagojevich today has made our state look like a joke to the rest of the country and the world. In the press conference one of the men basically said that we were the most corrupt state in the nation. Just from the things revealed at the conference this morning, I think that he is worse than Nixon!

All that I can say is that I hope he sees serious jail time for his crimes. I hope that they put a cot right next to Gov. Ryan and they can sit in a 10 X 10 cell with each other! That will never happen but it sure would be fitting!

ARRRRRR!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Thanksgiving...

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! My mom, Mary, Ben, and Danny all came over to our house for the first time! Since Mary lives in Madison now and has to work at 4 the next morning any other place was just too far to go and they would have been sitting at home alone on Thanksgiving. We couldn't let that happen so we decided to have it with just our little family at our house. We were a little bit nervous and not sure how it would go because this is the first time that we are not one of 70 some people at the Ryan Family Thanksgiving. It actually turned out to be quite a success.

My mom and Mary came between 12 and 1. Phil already had his turkey going in the roaster so he and Ben headed right for the TV and started watching football, and the three of us started to prepare all of the food. The kids all helped too. Danny helped to measure things and stir things, Jimmy actually made the pumpkin pie all by himself, and we used Joey's teenaged muscles to mash our potatoes!! It was so fun to all be in there together preparing every part of the meal. At around 3 the turkey was done and we all sat around the dining room table passing the bowls of food that we had just made. Everything was so good. The turkey was very moist thanks to Phil's "secret" recipe. And all of our side dishes were delish! When we were done we were so stuffed that Jimmy went upstairs and put on his jammie pants because they were strechy!!

During desert, as a joke, Mary pushed Ben's cupcake at him as he was going for a bite and got a little frosting on the tip of his nose and his beard. Ha, Ha, right. Well that turned into a food fight right there in my kitchen. I tried to stay unnoticed, you know laughing at everyone else but not actually getting any on me, but before I knew it I got hit from behind with a paper plate full of whip cream! While I was peeling the plate off of my face I could hear big foot steps running away from me and I knew it was Phil! Before I knew it Mary got Phil back for me which looked even funnier because he wears glasses. The whole thing only lasted about a minute and a half but it was so much fun that it may become an annual part of our Thankgiving feast!! Mary took pictures of all of us so when she sends them I will share them.

Overall, it was one of our best Holidays. I am so glad that we made these memoires with the kids and with each other. We all look forward to many, many more!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Congratulations Troyer Family

Congratulations to my cousin Kate and her husband Joe. They just had a baby girl yesterday. So far the baby doesn't have a name that we know of! We are so happy for them and for Izzy who now has a baby sister. Having a baby sister myself I know what a special bond sisterhood is and I am glad that Izzy and her new baby sister will have that! We wish the new family tons of happiness!

Just as a side note this new baby is Nana's 27th great grandchild and is the 106th member of the Ryan family!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Things are looking up!

We have been so blessed!! I know that sounds corny but you would not believe the way that our luck has changed. Phil was able to fix our washing machine with just a little $7.00 part; just as we were removing the toilet to bring it to the garage the cap fell out; and Phil was able to get a temporary fix on his car! If that is not the power of prayer I don't know what is!

On Friday Jimmy and I went to see High School Musical 3! Both of us are huge fans of the series and have had this on the calendar since we found out the premier date. We watched the first two during the week before so that we would have it fresh in our minds. (It was also just a really good excuse to watch them on a busy weeknight when we usually don't watch a lot of movies) I picked him up after school and we went right to see the matinee! Our review..... it was the BEST ONE YET!!! We talked about it and sang the songs all of the way home. We are going to get the soundtrack the next time that we are at the store! We were a little sad at the end because according to all of the actors this will be the last one! I sure hope that they change their minds. I really enjoy the movies because I have loved musicals my entire life and I am so glad to share this love with Jimmy. I know the critics don't like it because the story lines are simple but maybe that is why I love it even more. Times are hard enough right now, I don't mind 2 simple hours of singing and dancing. So, if you saw the first two and liked them at all, you will enjoy this move. If you saw the first two and loved them they way that we did, you will LOVE this movie! Besides even if you only go for your kids, watching Zac Efron for 2 hours will make it worth it to you...what a cutie he is!!

Mary, Ben, and Danny came down today and we went to Edward's Apple Orchard. Sadly, the apple picking was closed for some reason but everything else was still open so we still had fun. Danny got to ride a pony, Jimmy and Danny played at the playground, we ate apple donuts and had hot apple cider. Phil and Ben also decided to try something new to all of us...Apple Pie with Cheese on top. The sight of it made my stomach turn but both of them enjoyed it. Whle we were there a news crew was filming a segment on the orchard. Jimmy noticed their cameras and placed himself right in the background pretending to be really into the pumpkins. Well it worked because there he was on the 10:00 news behind the woman who was being interviewed. What a ham!!

After the orchard we came back to our house and had a big spaghetti and meatball dinner. Then we played some Wii fit and all got a good laugh watching each other. They headed home just a little while ago. I am so glad that we get together as often as we do because we all have such a good time when we are together.

Tomorrow we are going to rest, rest, rest! I love a lazy Sunday. I hope all of you are well!

Later Gators!