Hannah gets the gold!

Big News!!

Hannah started gymnastics tonight!!! She's been talking about "Nastics" ever since the Olympics. She enjoys doing summersaults and so I looked into a gym and she started tonight. She LOVED it!! She's in a parent/child class for now, but she did really well for her first night. There's a lot of kids and so much going on in the gym with the other classes. She had a tough time listening to all the directions, but she did all the activities pretty well. And she just loved jumping on the bouncy floor and mats.

Here she is when we first got there and were waiting for class to begin.

And here we are on our way into class.

Here's Hannah doing rolls forward and backward on the ball....we had to turn her around because at first she was facing the mirror and was having a hard time "walking with her hands" because she was watching herself in the mirror!!

And then she walked on the beam. They have one on the floor that she mastered and then she learned how to mount and walk across a little higher one with some help.

And then she jumped off the spring board

Hopping on one foot gave her quite a bit of trouble. She will need to practice that a lot more!

And then she did some donkey kicks, which she did right away on her own, and then was helped into a handstand.

I think she's really going to enjoy it. On the way there tonight, she said, "mommy, I'm being excited!" And then when it was over, she said, "I want to do it again!" The gym is really busy and I hope she starts paying closer attention to actually take some direction - in time of course - it was the first night!! Anyway, this is what we will now be doing on Monday nights!! I'm on the lookout for a leotard that actually fits her too! The smallest one I could find is a 4T so her butt hung out of it all night - well her panties did anyway!

The Actress

Oh, how I wish we lived in Hollywood! Hannah would so be my meal ticket!!!

Today when I picked her up from daycare, they were waiting outside on the front porch for me. I was standing and talking to Val and Destiny, so Hannah was running around the driveway. She tripped over her feet and fell and skinned her knees. I knew as I watched her slide across the cement that there was going to be theatrics, so I stood there waiting for it to come out. And OUT it did!!!

She stood up, looked at her knees and opened the floodgates. I hugged and consoled her and took a quick look and discovered two skinned knees - the right one with a little blood, the left one with just a few skin cells shaved off. Nothing too tragic for most. Not my Hannah though! Oh, how we thought a trip to the hospital might be in order, gosh, and maybe even surgery! I placed a band-aid on the right knee and helped her limp to her car seat and strapped her in. On the drive home, she kept hold over both knees and every few minutes would let out a whimper and a cry and even forced a few more tears. She was telling me, that her knees "were very ouchy". She even told me how "the tears keep falling out of her eyes". She pleaded for me to put some cream on them and "make them feel better". I had to stop and get gas, so our normal 10 minute ride home turned into about 20 minutes by the time we got home. So this meant almost 30 minutes had lapsed since the injury occurred. Well, she could hardly walk when we got out of the car. I managed to assist her hobbling up the front steps and into the house. That's when she fell helplessly to the floor and continued to hug her knees.



We made our way upstairs to the bathroom to administer the first aid. After a little cream (neosporin), a new band-aid, and a couple more kisses, things seemed to improve a bit.



She still had quite a bit of trouble walking, so I carried her down to the chair and gave her a boo boo bunny.


Ah, finally, she was feeling better. Until a few minutes ago when she got her jammies on. She had to relive the terrible accident as she pulled her jammies up over the injury. It even hurt to change her shirt. Oh, the poor thing!!

Anyone know a good agent? I think I need to sign her up for a movie role!!

So anyway, on to other news. Val has a new preschool curriculum for the kids. They learn all about number and letters and all the Spanish for the stuff they're going over. They learn more than the recognition of the number and letter, but also the meaning - like picking out "4 blocks", not just the number 4. They're also learning the difference between capital and lower case letters and how to write both. So yesterday, they told hananh to go get 4 blocks. She walks over to the blocks and picks them up one at a time and says, "uno, dos, tres, quatro" and brings them back. They didn't ask her to do it in Spanish, but she did. So I had to ask if she could do it in English too?! They looked at me funny and said of course she could! I just had to make sure that I was still going to be able to communicate with her and they weren't teaching her stuff that she was only comprehending in Spanish!!! Anyway, the program is really cool and she's learning so much more and is doing really well with it! They're working on letter D and number 4 and "all about me" which is body parts and facial expressions and emotions.

Here is her ditto today with her D's - pretty good writing for 2-1/2!! She does need to work on coloring though.

And her are her ears!! (this was during the "poor hurt me" saga - hence the snot and sad face)



And one more funny thing about her. Last night, she wanted to see the moon before she went to bed. We looked out each of the windows upstairs, but couldn't find it. I finally told her, "Hannah, I think it's just too cloudy or else the moon is on the other side of the house". She said (in these exact words), "no Mommy, actually, the moon is sleeping". Actually??? I didn't know she knew that word and how to use it!! She's something else!!!

The weekend blog

I guess that's what I should rename this blog. I seem to do the most updating each weekend. I guess that tells a little about when I have time to sit at the computer and actually "keep in touch". I guess also because who wants to hear about my busy week at work each week through the weekdays. I guess most things noteworthy happen on the weekends for us.

So this past week.....I started two new employees on Monday and made an offer to one more. I'm finally getting staffed back up, so that should be good. I didn't cry this week so that's good too!!! And best of all, I'm actually getting some sleep at night too, so things must be doing better! We all had colds this week, so that's crappy, but nothing too severe. The weather was great and it's so nice to have the windows open and a nice cool air blowing through.

I took Hannah to the mall Friday night to buy new tennis shoes. She got a pair of sketchers and I bought a pair too, but I think I have to return mine....they just don't look right with jeans. I may try a different color because they're so comfortable, or I just may return them - we'll see. Tony played cards with guys from work Friday night and look what was on our front door when he got home! I couldn't get a good picture of it through the screen, but it was a HUGE preying mantus!! It was so cool and probably hated me so much for the flash about 10 times!!!

I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned Saturday. The house needed it! I cleaned the kitchen floor, vaccumed and dusted, cleaned bathrooms and did laundry. We had I guess what's called a dinner party that night. Jerry, Shelly, Maci and baby Reece came over and so did our neighbors Aaron, Laura, McKenna & Allison. We grilled shish kabobs and I made pasta salad and had other munchie stuff. The girls had fun together and it was so funny to hear them run and scream! Here they are eating dinner at Hannah's princess table!

That's the only picture I took - I suck!

Tony got up early Sunday to go golfing and Hannah and I had pancakes and then went grocery shopping. We came home and had a quick bite to eat and then headed to my mom's to get Tony and have dinner. Hannah only napped in the car on the ride over and was actually in a great mood all evening! She had fun playing on the neighbor's swingset and after dinner we took her on to the green of the golf course to hit some balls.

She thought that was great fun. She also loves the ducks! There's probably 40 ducks now! I tried counting them when we fed them, but they scurry all around and it's hard to keep track. She thinks they are "her" ducks and when we were walking on to the course, she just so matter-of-factly, said "hi ducks" as she walked past them!

We left to come home around 7 and gave Hannah a bath and I colored my hair. I can't believe how much gray I have now! Crazy!! I have a gift certificate to get my hair done, but I think I'll save that for closer to the holiday before we get pictures taken!

We had a good weekend. This week at work is going to go pretty fast. It's the last week of our fiscal month and year, so pressures ON!!

A Lazy Sunday

So yesterday was a pretty lazy day around our house. We got up and made waffles for breakfast. I can't believe no one is tired of waffles around here. See, Susan, thank goodness you got me a waffle maker a couple years ago. Who knew I'd get this much use out of it???!!

Anyway, I scrubbed through the Sunday ads and coupons and made a grocery list and headed out shopping. Hannah was in a really good mood and was playing at home with Tony. She still loves to sit in the laundry basket even though she doesn't really fit anymore. She still tries like heck though to get comfy inside with her blanket and pillow. Here she is looking like she really fits, but she's all scrunched up inside under the blanket!

She was napping when I got home and I worked on her quilt for a while. I got it all basted together and started quilting.

Hannah loves to stay in her jammies all day on a lazy day at home and requested to stay in them when I asked if she wanted to get dressed. We decided to finger paint for a while, which was pretty fun.

I got dinner ready and that's when the wind started. I'm so amazed how powerful that hurricane still was as it made it's way through here. We only lost power for about 3 minutes right as we were finishing dinner. I can't believe the Direct TV didn't go out! I gave Hannah a bath and then we read books and she got ready for bed. Tony watched the poor Brown's game with some buddies and I quilted a little more.

It was a good, lazy day despite us all dealing with colds coming.

there goes another one

Week that is! What happens to the days and weeks? It's truly amazing how fast the time goes.

So for the wrap-up:
Last Friday, Tony stayed home with Hannah. They built a fort.


They also went to the playground and the library. Hannah has proven to know more about movies than we do! She knew all about the titles of things we hadn't even heard of....like Mariposa. It's a Barbie video about butterfly fairies. They got a couple others as well.

Hannah went to my mom's on Saturday. I did some things around the house and took a nap. Tony left to go to the Journey concert and I went to play in our first poker tournament of the new season. I had real high hopes for my game that night and just hoped to get good cards. Well, I probably never had better cards and was out within 40 minutes. Seriously, my first hand was Ace/King - I won that. My second hand was pocket Aces - I lost terribly! I just kept getting great hands and actually threw several decent hands away. I got Ace/King again and went all in to get called to a guy who also had Ace/King - so we split. I went out on a full house with 4's over Aces to a guy with 4 ACES! Are you kidding? 4 ACES?? I just got my purse and went home. I can't say I remember ever being the first one out, but I played more aggressively than normal, but could hardly be mad because I had the cards to do it....anyway, there's always next time!! So I went home and finished working on Hannah's quilt. I worked on it until 2 in the morning! Since I don't sleep these days, I just kept going and going.

Sunday, Tony and I went to breakfast. I never complain at a restaurant, but we waited at Bob Evans for over 1/2 hour for an omlette and a turkey sandwich. I was getting really aggitated, so I got up to go find out where our food was. A manager was getting it on a tray and brought it over to us. He didn't bat an eye at the fact I was angry and complaining about how long it took. That annoyed me even more that he didn't even apologize! I meant to call or write a letter this week, but I forgot...maybe I'll do it yet this weekend???

We went out to my mom's after that. I hit the second hand stores for some fall clothes for Hannah. I got a ton of stuff for $75!! I swear that is the way to go for her stuff. I get her some new stuff too, but for every day wear stuff, that's the way to stretch a dollar!

Monday - yeah, not to sure what happened then. I guess it was a typical day. I remember not having a bad day, so that was good!

Tuesday - work again and then I went grocery shopping after dinner. I realized that I can get in and out of Marc's much faster on a Tuesday night vs. a Sunday afternoon. While I was out, Tony and Hannah were playing outside. We could quite possibly have a little Tiger on our hands?? What do you think?


She actually hits the ball quite well, but by the time Tony got the camera, she was starting to get bored of doing it. I finished the top of Hannah's quilt. I have to put it together and start quilting. I ran into a snag because it's bigger than any other I've done before and I wasn't quite sure how to do the backing since I have to piece it to make it big enough. Thanks Maggie for some tips. I hope to get to it this weekend. I'm not posting any pictures since this will be a Christmas gift for Hannah - you can all see it on or after Christmas!!

Wednesday, I was summoned for jury duty, but when I called the night before, it was cancelled. I totally needed a break from work and since I had planned not to go in to work, I decided to stay home. I cleaned the carpets and windows. I did a little running around and took a short nap. It was a nice day off and much needed!

Thursday, same old, same old at work. I made pot roast in the crock pot, so we came right home to dinner - and so good!!! It's a super simple recipie. I get a 1-1/2# chuck roast for us, cut up some carrots, potatoes and onion and put all that in the crock pot (meat on the bottom). Then mix 1/2 cup of water with (1) envelope each of dry brown gravy, italian dressing and ranch dressing and pour it over the top. Cook on low all day and that's it - very delicious, tender meat!!
And today, was finally Friday! Work was actually OK. Tony's got a cold and I'm in for a "fun" weekend of football!!! I just hope OSU doesn't blow the weekend for me. By the time the Browns play, the weekend will be essentially over, so they can't hurt too much. Hopefully they both do well and we can all be happy here at our house! It didn't work when I just suggested lowering the expectations so that a potential loss wouldn't hurt that bad. Evidently, that's unheard of!!!

easy going week

So this week has been pretty good. I think I've had a good chance to regroup a little. Obviously, Monday was the holiday, so no work. Hannah's daycare was closed this week, so Tony and I split the week staying home with her. I was home Tuesday and today, Thursday. She was so good for me. I had a couple of conference calls and she was quiet during those. She played nice and allowed me to get some work done. Today, we ran to the bank and to the office and she was real good there too.

I hadn't taken pictures of her for her "birthday" last August 30th. I still do that every month and at work I keep her monthly pictures on a bulletin board so you can see her grow each month since she was born. It's always a real conversation piece when people come into my office and I'm so, so glad I've done it to see her change and grow!

Here's her picture from this month (taken today).

Then I also have to share this. Hannah has been playing with Roman and Cody this week. She's so used to having someone to play with at daycare and since the dogs are all she's got here this week while I'm busy, she works with what she's got. She's been reading them stories and today I was able to catch her with my camera. It's too cute, although this isn't the greatest video.

And today was my birthday. We had dinner at home and then Hannah brought me a gift and some cards. She helped me open everything and pointed out that she signed her name. She can make an "H" by herself now and is working on "a". She is cute when she does the H - she draws one line and says "up", then another line horizontally and says "up" and then does the line in between and says "H". Pretty cool! Anyway, here we are opening cards and my gift (which was an hour massage - can't wait to use it!!)

Then we finished up the cake from the other day at my dad's. It was more for the formality of singing "happy birthday" and letting Hannah blow out the candles!

Thanks Tony and Hannah! You guys are the best!! I Love You!

Labor Free Labor Day (well, almost)

So today, on Labor Day, I didn't work!!! It's a miracle! As long as you don't consider grocery shopping and cooking work, then I did it!

I did go grocery shopping this morning and then when I got home, I sat outside in the sun for a little bit. I figured I'd better soak up as much as I can since summer is almost over and there won't be too many sunny days while I'm home to enjoy. I then worked on Hannah's quilt for a while. I'm just about done with the blocks. Now I have to put it all together. I guess my goal is to get the top finished and put the batting and backing on and begin quilting it by the end of this month - I should be able to do that!

Yesterday, we headed down to my dad & julia's for the day. We stopped at the outlet mall since it was on the way down. I thought there was a Coach outlet there and I wanted to see about maybe getting a new purse for my birthday. There wasn't a Coach store, so I got Hannah a couple outfits from Carter instead. I don't think I got very good deals, although I'm sure I paid less than I would at Kohl's or somewhere that sells Carters. I've become "el cheapo" when it comes to her clothes and I don't generally spend more than $8.00 on tops or bottoms for her. I'll have to hit the second hand stores when I'm out by my mom's next week!

Anyway, we got to my dads around 1 and I put Hannah down for a nap. We hung around for a while and my dad had planted a lilac tree in memory of my Grandma (she loved the color lilac). We spread her ashes around the tree which also had soil that was brought from the farm where my Grandpa's ashes had been spread many years ago. As my dad spread them, he just said, "together again". Julia then spread what remained of our old dog Barney's ashes so that he could be with his favorite person - Grandma - forever!!! It was nice symbolism and a great way to be able to remember her!

Just as a note - my dad and Julia are going to Las Vegas next week. He saved a small amount of her ashes to spread out there!! Now, we realize that this is considered polluting, but I'm sure any courtroom would understand - she needed to have a little bit of her out there! She loved that place!!!

We ate dinner and then celebrated my birthday with some cake and a few gifts. It was really nice! After dinner, we went outside. Dad tried like heck to get Hannah to go for a ride on a tractor with him. Of course she was afraid of the noise of the tractors, so she didn't want to go. We did get her to sit up there when it was turned off. He even tried to let her pick a green one, or a yellow one, or three other green ones, but she didn't want to go...maybe next summer. Sorry Dad!! I knew how badly you wanted to take her for a ride. I don't know why she's so afraid of stuff???

So instead, we resorted to walking through the cornfield. I guess none of us are quite sure why we did that, but surprisingly, Hannah did pretty good. We walked sort of deep into it and it was all much taller than any of us. It was a little relieving when we finally came back out of it again (brought back memories of my childhood being left in the cornfield!!!) Tony is getting his taste of what life is like outside the city too!! He picked some vegetables in the garden today which I think may have been a first for him!

We got home a little after 9 last night and Hannah when straight to bed and I think I went shortly after that. It was a good day.