I like that old-time rock and roll....

Cindy (also known as my other half!) and I went to see Bob Seger two nights ago. It was a great show! I am not a huge Seger fan, but the tickets were free and it included a suite before the show.
But Seger puts on a great show, he played some of his new music which definately rocks and he played alot of his greatest hits. He played his old songs mixed in with his new stuff so we didn't spend the first half of the show listening to songs we didn't know. His stage set up was very simple, no huge video screens (which my fav band is notrious for-U2). It was just Bob, his female back-up singers, the Silver Bullet band and a horn section. You definately have to appreciate an artist who appreciates his fans. And did I mention that he sounds great live!
It was a great night. And next time you see a Bob Seger video-look for Cindy and I in the audience (among 16, 998 others)!!

Short and sassy

It's ironic that my daughter has long hair. I do not like long hair for myself, way too much work. But her hair is sacred. I would have it trimed, but not much taken off the length. Until last week..... Everyday is a battle to brush that hair and do something with it. So I said enough is enough! And mornings have been so much easier!!!

Quick trip

Lizzie-visiting the nativity scene at Bronner's!

Tim has been laid off since December 9th, so we decided to take a quick trip up to Frankenmuth. I found a great rate for a room at Zehender's Splash Village which is right next to Bronner's. Splash Village is a smaller version Great Wolf Lodge. It was perfect for Lizzie to get her swinning fix! I would recommend this facility for those with younger children. Being there during the week was great, no crowds at the hotel or Bronners.

Merry Christmas!

Happy holiday from all of us!!

Grandma Liz

My grandma's surgery went very well today. Her surgeon was able to completely remove the tumor from her liver, no lymph nodes appeared involved so it's looking like she will not need chemo after surgery! Praise the lord!!

Is it really the last week in November??

So where did this month go? Time flies when you are having fun!
I did get to have some fun this month, I had a conference in San Diego, Ca at the beginning of the month. It was sunny and 70 every day while I was there. It was nice to have 5 days to myself.
Lizzie thinks everything is different now that she is 4! She can do everything herself now because she's 4 now and according to her that makes her a big girl!
A grandma update: she did see a surgeon and oncologist at U of M, the tumor on her liver is her primary cancer (which is rare). The surgeon believes excision plus localized chemo would be appropriate for her. So surgery is this Friday. I pray that her body is strong enough to handle surgery. Please keep her in your prayers.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday. Tim and I had all of our families at our house. It was quite a crowd, but it was great to see everyone.
Enjoy this beautiful weather!

The birthday party!

We had Lizzie's 4th b-day party on Sunday. Classroom critters (aka Paul McCormack) was there with all his friends. It was great. Mr. McCormack does an exceptional job with the kids! It was a blast! Yes that is a snake hanging out with Liz!!

Guess who's 40??

Saturday is the big day-Tim is the big 4-0! We are inviting friends and family over to watch Michigan beat someone on Saturday (I'm not sure who they are playing yet!!). The game starts at noon. So come on by watch some football and razz Tim about getting old!!
I will have snacks and refreshments.

Nearly 4!

I nearly have a 4 year old. Lizzie will be 4 years old next Wednesday. Last night as she was running around the house screaming and chasing Toby, I wished for a moment that my house was quiet again. Tim and I were married 7 years before we had Liz. I'm glad that we had those years for quiet dinners, golf vacations, sleeping in and more importantly to me-be able to fufill my career dream-becoming a PA.
Then I decided I wanted to be pregnant NOW! I would ask Tim, "when will I get pregnant?" Ok-a bit impatient because my wish came true about 3 months later. Then towards the end of my pregnancy, I would ask Tim "when am I ever going to have this baby." I know I said those words about 4 years ago. I couldn't wait for her to be with us, we have loved most of our 4 years with the lovely Liz. She makes us laugh with the things that her mind dreams up. Recently she was looking at our wedding picture and asked where did Daddy's belly go when we got married! Those who know Tim are getting a good laugh about now!! (Tim will not be happy for that comment, so shhhhhh!)
Yes, we love her and can't believe that we have a little girl now instead of a baby. It brings tears to my eyes.
Time flies when you are having fun!!

Prayer request

Last night my mother called me with "that tone" in her voice. My grandmother (mom's mom) had an ultrasound that showed a large mass on her liver, 99% possiblity that's cancer and most likely a secondary site. My grandmother will have another CT but beyond that she does not want any further treatment. So its very sad for us, especially my mother. So I ask for everyone to keep my grandmother in their prayers and a prayer for my mother to have the strength to get through my grandmother's illness.

More of Toby

I may have to change this blog to "Toby, Toby, Toby!"
But we are having a great time with him!

Let's go BLUE!

Need I say more??!!

Meet Toby!

Last week we got our new bundle of joy-Toby! Toby spent Labor Day weekend with us at Jellystone campground in Fremont, Ind. He was great! We could not have picked a better dog for our family. Toby is fun, social, playful and loving and he loves camping! Liz loves him. The housebreaking is going okay-I have spent alot of time outside over the past week. There's been a few accidents in the house, but he weighs about 1 1/2 pds-so its not a big mess! He's even grown on Tim.
Here are some pictures from the past week. One is Lizzie with her friends-Yogi, Boo-Boo and Toby, Toby and Liz asleep in the camper and Toby showing his little pig whose the boss!!

It's been a while!!

Dear Blogger,
Sorry I have not posted in a while. I had the best intentions when I started this.
Friday we become offical parents of Toby-our 7 week old Yorkie-Poo Maltese. He is darn cute. Liz and I are very excited. Tim is not.. but you know Tim!
Friday we also leave for the weekend to camp at Yogi Bear. So the very first day/night with our new puppy will be in our camper. It ought to be an interesting weekend.
Lizzie finished up swim lessons a few weeks ago. She really improved over the summer. The swim lessons at Bohn pool are exceptional. The instructors are high school/college kids, they did a great job. We will definately be back next year. Our next venture with Liz is dance. I have checked out two local studios. The one I like the best has classes that start too early. These classes are not made for working parents!!
Work is crazy busy!! Even though all these kids have been off all summer, everyone needs their acne and warts taken care of THIS week!!! But work is work, at least I have a job!
Tim continues to sweat his job. His plant is cutting production 20% by the end of the year. He thinks his seniority (11 years) will save him from a major layoff, but he does expect a temp. layoff at some point.
My dear friend's daughter is having surgery this week (tubes and tonsilectomy). Please keep them in your prayers.
Have a wonderful weekend. The weather is suspose to be great after today!
Be blessed!!

Our new baby!

Today on my lunch hour, I went and picked out our new puppy. He will be ready to come with us in 4 weeks. When I showed Lizzie the pictures, she wanted to know why I didn't bring him home now. I explained that he still needs his mommy. And to that she said,"why didn't you bring home the mommy puppy too."

A pet for us!!??

After careful consideration, we have decided to get a DOG! For those who know us, we really aren't pet people. We use to have cats that we had for years, when Lizzie came along the cats decided to use our house for a litterbox, so they are no longer with us. We swore that we would not get anymore animals. But... someone at work has this cute little dog that I fell in love with. And now that same breeder has puppies! What kind of dog would we get? According to Tim, its not really a dog, it's a Yorkie-Poo! Right now he is only 2 weeks old. We'll be getting him sometime early September. Lizzie is pretty excited, she is starting to pick out names. On her short list is Roscoe and Gophert (that's not misspelled, that really what she wants). I will get to see the puppy tomorrow on my lunch hour then I will start thinking about names. Any ideas for a cute little boy??

I've emerged!

I have been on a reading frenzy for the past week or so. In the 10 days, I have read 4 books! In my stack of books that I bought from the library sale, I had a James Patterson series which centered about a female police officer-1st to Die, 2nd Chance and 3rd Degree. There's 2 more in the series that I have to track down. These were great page turners, very suspenseful murder mysteries-a little gory but good. The other book that I read, I have been waiting a year for-12 straight by Janet Evanovich. This is the 12th in the series that centers around Stephanie Plum-a female bounty hunter in New Jersey. These books are laugh out loud funny! My grandmother started me on these books about 4 years ago. I have started several friends on the series. These are the first set of books that I have read that I often have to set the book down because I am laughing with tears in my eyes!! Now time to find something else to read-its been 24 hours since I had a novel in my hands!!

Yogi, Yogi, he's Lizzie's man!!

We ended up canceling our trip to Higgins Lake and instead went to Yogi Bear in Fremont, In. It's much closer to home (less $$ on gas) and it's Lizzie's favorite place. Lizzie's favorite person there is Yogi Bear. He has rock star status on Lizzie's list. When she spots him, she yells YOGI, YOGI!! It is quite comical! Hope everyone had a great 4th. Tim and I have been off all week, I'll be kicking and screaming when I go back to work on Monday. It's been a great week to be off!

Linens, rugs, bedding, furniture-OH MY!!!

I made my first trip to Ikea the other day! WOW! What a great store, but it is set up a little weird, must be a swedish thing. First up go upstairs to the showroom to view all of the merchandise then its downstairs to locate it. Both the upstairs and downstairs is like a maze of rooms. I spent nearly 3 hours weaving through the maze. There is everything you could ever think of for the home. If you need storage ideas, this is the place. And the prices are good too. I bought Lizzie an art easel. She loves it. Ikea does have a play area for kids that are potty trained. The smaller crowd is forced to go through the store with lots in it and little they can touch!! So if you go, try solo and just a friend or two. Bring plenty of patience, its still pretty busy! But it was great, now I'm trying to figure out when I can go again!!

Home sweet home

I can almost remember the day about 5 years ago when Tim and I were looking for a place to live once our place in Ann Arbor sold. My mom said, "Maybe you should look in Tecumseh." And I remember saying, "It's too far out (from Ann Arbor)." But we ended up looking way out here and finding a home that we love. We have been way out here now for almost 5 years and I love it. Tecumseh is such a great town to live in, it has so much to offer-especially since the best friend I could ever have already lived way out here. The walkways that were created last year along Chicago Blvd, the library, the parks (the great splash pad that Lizzie loves!!) and the people make living all the way out here worth it. It also helps that I found a job and daycare very close to home. Tim, Lizzie and I have made such great friends within our neighborhood and church. We are proud and grateful to call Tecumseh our home!

My doll!!

Isn't she lovely??!!
Yes, the lamb is real!

Hi-ho, hi-ho, off to camp we go.....

What an absolutely gorgeous weekend!!! We went camping at Yankee Springs Recreational Area just south of Grand Rapids. This area is absolutely beautiful. Jim and Loretta and Tim’s sister and brother-in-law joined us. The weather was absolutely perfect. Lizzie loves to camp, she cried uncontrollably on Monday when it was time to leave. I think she would be happy if we lived in our camper year round. Initially she was disappointed that we were not at Yogi Bear (Jellystone), but she over it especially since she had Auntie and Nana to entertain her. I think she grew gills and fins (Daddy's little crappy) after spending so much time in Gun Lake and Lake Michigan. We have quite a bit of camping planned for the summer, our next trip is to Yogi Bear Father’s Day weekend, Higgins Lake over the 4th. We are leaving our camper at Yogi Bear for the whole month of September, it will be Lizzie’s dream come true. Sometime in the summer we plan on venturing up North to visit my dad just west of Cadilliac. Someone once told me that “camping ain’t easy,” but it is a great time! Tim and I agree that the camper is one of the best things we ever did for Lizzie because she enjoys it soooo much and it’s a great family experience!

Jobs.......

Well, I love reading everyone's blog, but I often wonder why doesn't everyone post all the time! And now I know, there's just not enough hours in the day!!
Recently I repainted my master bedroom and I remembered how much I dislike painting. And to think there are people who do this for a living!! And that lead me to think about the things I have done for employment..... 1st there was Big Boy-the salad bar and brown polyester!! Good stuff!! Thru high school I had other fast food jobs and eventually ended up at Meijer my first year of college. The job-not so great but that is where I met the love of my life!! Then came my x-ray career highlights included barium enemas, squishing boobs (mammograms!!) and plenty of blood and other bodily fluids. When I was doing mammograms all the time, women would say to me all the time "how can you do this all day?" Which after several years of that I asked myself the same thing and went back to school so now I pop pimples, freeze warts (make small children and some adults cry!!), cut skin tags out of EVERYWHERE and I do mean EVERYWHERE!! But I also make the itching stop and remove skin cancers. And I do love my job!!!
I think we all have a calling and god bless each and everyone who answers that call!!

I finally did it!

I have been reading blogs for the past year and finally decided to start my own!
Actually the reason I did it is so I can post comments on Tammy's site!
Isn't Jay-Jay the cutest thing ever (well next to Liz!!)