The Smilie Muylle's

Creepy crawlers

2010-09-08T21:07:00.003-04:00

On Monday we went to the Muylle's house for a BBQ. While we were eating Taylor spots a spider on the table cloth just off the side of the table. Keep in mind that Taylor has got a huge fear of spiders. (This is the same kid that puked while cleaning his deer after shooting it, and stopped puking to run from a spider.)
Anyways, after we left the house my Father-in-law calls and says "they caught a huge spider in the kitchen". Now I'm think OK big spider, but then they brought it over to show us.

Well the body of this thing is a full inch. YUCK!!!

But it gets better. We are keeping it as a pet. I got a cotton ball put it in water placed it in a coke cap and Mike went out to find a cricket. He brings in a cricket the same size as the spider and we had the best show ever. The spider must have be real hunger, it drank some water and then attacked that cricket and ate the whole thing. WOW

It was awesome.

Poor Taylor will never have another good nights sleep until the spider dies.

Braces are gone!!!

2010-07-18T11:36:00.005-04:00

After three long years Tiffany finally gets to say good bye to her braces.
We have been thinking all week what she will pick to eat. I think we decided on corn on the cob. However the poor girl is in more pain now and is unable to suck a noodle.

They do things different now, they do your impressions while you still have your braces on. This way the day you get your braces off you have a retainer to wear. This means your mouth hurts like you just got your braces tightened, and your month has to get used to a big chuck of plastic on the top and bottom. Poor girl will have to wait another week of her corn on the cob.

I can't believe I had to get up this early

On our way to the dentist. At 7:50am after a long day a cedar point the day before.

Getting ready and wishing my mom would put the camera way! heheh

They are finally off!

Putting in retainer.

Retainer in for the first time! (ouch!)

They are off and my teeth feel slimmy.

Cedar point

2010-07-18T11:01:00.009-04:00

Woohoo, the long awaited trip to cedar point has arrived and so has the heat.
We were on the road by 6:30am on Thursday the 15th of July, and arrived to Dawn's disappointment 1 minute after the had park opened. However the ride down there was entertaining. I'm sure my children will be talking about Dawns iphone music for years to come. As well as the singing that came from the front of the van that provented everyone from sleeping except Audrey.

Well standing in one of the lines for a water ride, a group of girls changed there minds and were jumping the fence to get out of line. When one of the girls fell face first onto the ground. Her poor face swelled up so fast. As we were trying to find someone to help, she ended up passing out. What a sad situation, a group of 16 year olds at the park with no parents and a freak accident ruins there trip.

As for our group it was a great trip I think all of the kids enjoyed there time at the park. Steve ran out of energy shortly after lunch and was ready to sleep for the first time in 36 hours. However the rest of us were energized after a snack and ready to hit the rides. We left the park at about 9:10 and were on the road by 9:45 after most of us changed our clothes and ate a sandwich.

It was Mikes turn to drive and all seemed to be going well until a group of semis caused me to have a little anxiety. So Dawn and Amy got to see and hear my Hic-a-burps in action. (I'm so glad I did not vomit!) Althought it sounds funny to others it sucks for me.

We arrived home in good spirits and tired.

Here are a few pics of our trip, not many pictures were taken due to the heat the camera was left in the van after lunch. I was replaced by frozen water.

Audrey slept the whole way.
Dawn the walking jukebox

Amy at the controls of the iphone

Taylor enjoying Stroke it! LOL

Steve and Tiffany wondering when they will hear a song from at least the 90's.
Maxair

Roller coarsters

Dawn and Amy thanks for helping to make our vacation a great one.

SURPRISE!

2010-07-06T20:33:00.005-04:00

Here is how my Thursday was planned.

I had to work from 6:30 to 1:30, clean house, do laundry, pack for up north, make a list for the pet sitter, hope to go to doctors, take Taylor to work, eat super and go to sleep early because I have been feeling under the weather. With all of this to do, of course I leave work late, get stuck by a 15 minute train, and in the process of sitting there waiting the doctor calls. They need to see me right away. I call Mike and tell him I will be late getting home.

At the Doctor's office I find out I'm taking medication that is causing my sinuses to swell, making me sick. He gives me a shot, 3 prescriptions, and an over the counter pill.

Now I'm way behind on getting my list finished before I collapse.

I rush home and Mike is mowing the lawn, so I go in and make a list, start laundry, take Tay to work and head to Walmart. It took what seemed a life time at Walmart to get my prescriptions filled. So I thought I would be productive and plan supper. I'm going to grab steak and a marinade, so we can just grill and eat.

When I go to pay for everything I notice that the pills the doctor tells me to by over the counter is $20 for thirty days and I could get it for $4.95 with a prescription because my insurance will cover it. So I call the Doctor and have them call it in and now I have to wait another 45 minutes.

So Tiffany and I run home, put the groceries away and start to marinate the steak and chop food for up-north as well as for dinner. I remember that we had just recently ran out of propane for the grill so now we have to get that before we can eat.

(I know I'm babbling but with reason it was an eventful day.)

By this time we have to go get the prescriptions, fill up the gas for the grill, and oh I forgot I bought the first bottle of pills so I do have to return it before we leave Walmart for the second time. (And the returns line was huge!) I can almost see supper on the table when Tiffany says Lauren wants me to come by and look over what she has packed and if its the right stuff for up-north. I'm thinking "Are you kidding me!". I tell Tiffany to call Amy and make sure I have to do this, cuz I think Amy should know what is ok, but no, Amy tells Tiffany that it would be better if I would just double check.

So we decide to stop on our way home from the store. As I'm getting out of the car I see that Mike stayed put so I say to Mike "Come on in and make sure Lauren has the right underwear packed!" As I walk in the door I hear a lound "SURPRISE!" and low and behold they all got me!

The big 40 birthday did not go unnoticed.

I got several wonderful gifts, had a lot of great company and wonderful food. (while the steak I was marinating sat on the counter getting warm!)
By the way I also had the greatest B-Day cakes! I will have to post pictures later, because I did not have a camera.

Thank you all:
Dennis, Amy, Lauren, & Emily
Joe, Dawn, Tommy, Austine, & Ashley
Paul & Lisa
Paul O
Mike, Steve, Taylor, & Tiffany
Jeremie
Lupe
Susie
Kristine

Boredom comes to an end!

2010-06-25T15:54:00.005-04:00

With Mike being off of work for a week with his illness, everyone has gotten bored staying home. So today I had the day off and decided to try and fill the day with free activities.

Taylor had to work at 3:30 so there is a time restraint. As we are walking out the door, I feel we need to make sure both of our kittens are not in the kitchen with the dogs. Low and behold we can not find one kitten. Everyone looks through the whole house at least three times and the kitten was nowhere to be found. It seemed like forever and I was about to give up thinking that he must have gotten outdoors somehow. The kids are sad and I'm worried to leave with out knowing the cat is OK, as the children will not enjoy the day. As I walk back into the house here sits the kitten looking at me like I'm nuts. What a wasted 20 minutes of my time!!!

So we started the day with a fishing and swimming trip to the Muylle's.

Then for part two of the day we went to Bay City to see the River Roar boats practice. We had never been to the River Roar and did not know anything about it. What an exciting activity. We will definitely be going to the River Roar again in the future.

Now everyone is ready for a nap!!!

You do the Dishes

2010-06-25T15:52:00.005-04:00

Our last outing for the school year was a trip to You Do the Dishes.
Most of the staff attended and here are our master pieces.

Amy's is the bowl, Lisa's is the cup, Susie's is the box, Dawn's is the lg. jar, Kristine's is the monkey cup, Gabbie's is the butter dish, and Mine is the mug with feet.

They all turned out great and I think I can speak for everyone, we had a great time!

2010-06-25T15:46:00.005-04:00

Country Music Fest here we come. (bummer it's on family bowling day!)

We ended up all going to the Fest together. We checked out the car show and the crafts as a family and then Taylor and Mike left Tiffany and I at the Island and went bowling.
Tiffany and I met up with Steve and Jessica to see the concert. It was a great day for an outside concert, however after 5 hours in direct sunlight we had enough of the concert and left before the end.

We walk about half way home and then had Mike come and pick us up.
When I got home, Mike calls me into the bathroom to show me his arm.

What a mess. He caught poison oak over a week ago and it was not going away. Come to find out that he got a secondary infection and it turned into cellulitis. The poison oak was between his fingers and the secondary infection started to travel from his hand and up his arm. All I know is that he felt horrible and he is driving me nuts with his boredom. He has been unable to work since Monday and he is not to exert himself (which means lay on the couch and do nothing!).

All I can say is Lord help me!!!!!!!!!!!!

Strange neighbor

2010-04-24T10:18:00.005-04:00

I do have one of the worst neighbors (TONY). He is confrontational and doesn't understand that his opinion is not fact, he talks to everything (Yes I did mean thing, like grass, trees, fences, flags everything).

He has been fling his USA flag up side down sense 1991. I understand that it is his right to do this as a way of his freedom of speech. But seriously how long is it going to take him to figure out that no one cares about why he is doing it, we just want it flipped over.

While in one of my fits of rage toward this issue, Mike says "You ask the tough questions, TV 5 gets the tough answers." I took that as he was telling me to contact them, so I did. (Apparently he was being funny!)

I emailed TV 5 at 2pm on Thursday the 22nd of April and at 3pm the same day I had a response. I really did not think they would even give my story a first look more less a second. To my surprise Friday the 23rd of April they tell me they will be at my house and the story will be on the 11 O'clock news. All I could think is what is this man going to do now. What have I done.
TV5 came and it went well, they talked with us, a few other neighbors and Tony's mother. Tony was not home, so it was not as bad as I thought it could be. Until one of the other neighbors went and got Tony and brought him home.
All I can say is what an idiot!!!!!!

Let me know what you think?

2010-04-10T15:05:00.006-04:00

Ok Here goes!

Tiffany went shopping with Lauren to the Somerset Mall. When she gets home she is laughing and has a gift for me. Her and Lauren gather the Taylor and Mike and read me my gift. They were laughing and Mike was laughing it was funny. However it got even more funny as the night went on. Here is a photo of the gift she bought me.

So she explains to me that Mrs. Bojo told her to get it for me.

Later I make popcorn and cover it with melted butter so that the popcorn became soggy. Tiffany asked why I put so much butter on the popcorn and I say "because I'm fat! Remember I need Girth Control." The Girls both start laughing and say that's not what it means. I say "It most certainly is what it means!" Then I asked what do you think it means and they say "nothing, whatever!"

So now I have to look it up to make sure I have not lost my mind and sure enough Girth means "The girth of an object is a measurement around it."

I also looked up the company to see what they thought and here is one of the many comments that I found "Girth Control, definitively marketed to women in a weight loss-obsessed world"

Which brings me to my "Let me know what you think?". Does Amy think I'm fat??????

As a side note, while moaning out loud in enjoyment over my bowl of hot buttered popcorn, Lauren proclaims to Tiffany "I think your mom is having an orgasm!!!" HAHAhahAHahah!!! I about choked on the kernels of ecstasy.

Fuddruckers after Tommy's game at the Joe

2010-03-14T22:09:00.002-04:00

After Tommy's game Amy and Tiffany were SOOOOO Hungry, so we went to fuddruckers for the after party. What great food and friends.

Tommy's game at the Joe

2010-03-14T21:47:00.002-04:00

I went to the Joe Louis Ice Arena to see Tommy play hockey. This was one of the most intense games ever. Tommy's team is listed as Bay Co. on the score board.

Way to go Bay County Blizzard White 2001!!!
I had a great time thank you for letting us join you.

GREAT GAME TOMMY!

The CRASHES

2010-01-20T18:53:00.007-05:00

On Thursday, January 7th, I got home from work about 2:30. I decided to take Taylor to work early, because it was snowing and the roads were a little slippery.

As I was driving we saw several bad drivers. So I took that as a teaching moment. I put the truck into 4 wheel drive and told Taylor and Tiffany to watch the cars slip and slide all over the place. As I just start to accelerate from putting the truck into 4 wheel drive. One of the kids say "HE IS GOING TO HIT US!". Sure enough the dumb ass hit us.

Now my anxiety level is high! I'm instantly sick to my stomach and I NEED Mike for help. So I call 911 and I tell the kids to call there Dad. So the call to 911 went really well and fast, but the call to Mike was not so easy.
Tiffany "Dad, we were in a car accident and Mom wants you to Come."
"Cuz she, Yes, I don't no."

Me "Just tell him forget it! I just wanted him to come!"

So several minutes later Mike rounds the corner. I step behind the truck so I can mouth to him "can you believe this." When Tiffany Yells "DADS GOING TO HITS US!" (thank God for the yelling!)

So I step out of the way, and sure enough I get hit again!! Yes by my husband.

He gets out of the car and said something like "How did that happen?"
(I don't think anyone wants to here my answer!)

I'm standing there with one man I don't know, that smashed the front of my truck, and a man I called for help, that smashed the back of my truck and the front of my car. Please tell me who am I upset with, and why does Mike think this is funny?

It took the full weekend before I was able to laugh about this double crash moment. Amy had ask Tiffany what I said when Mike hit me? I know the F word was part of what I said, but I'm not sure what I said. (I think I was in shock, cuz he is still living! haha)

However Tiffany just wants to know "How many times do you think the spouse hits a spouse that has already been hit?"

This is a late post but I could not pass it up!

The Mouse

2010-01-14T19:50:00.004-05:00

Wednesday I came home from work, to have Mike tell me Talyor thinks he has a mouse in his room. We have a rule about not eating in any room other then the kitchen. Taylor thinks this rule does not apply to him. So lets just say there was a lot of trash up stairs and most of it was food products. So we set a trap.

Moments later Tiffany is in her room and says "mom I think there is something in here!". So I go in her room to find a critter has eaten her Christmas candy. I clean up her room and continue on with reading my book.

It took about 2 minutes before Tiffany is freaking out. "Mom It's on my desk, it's brown, It's huge!" I yell for Mike, and go to calm Tiffany down. As I sit on her bed next to her, she see it again.
(This next step will not surprise anyone who knows me!)

I ask her if she has her camera. I run to the kitchen and get a spoonful of peanut butter, a paper plate, and sat it on her desk. Then we wait.......

Well as you can see she had a mouse. It was brown, but not huge. She named it Fred. She fell in love with the little guy. So guess what happened next. Dad set a trap and killed Fred before Tiffany even got into the bathroom, and she is NOT happy with DAD!!

Holiday Housewalk

2009-12-03T20:49:00.002-05:00

On my way to work Wednesday, the radio station was talking about the Holiday Housewalk. Tiffany and I thought it would be a fun thing to go to, however it was $20 per ticket, so I said "not so close to Christmas". She got out of the truck to go to school and the Radio Station said they would take the third caller. Sure enough I was the third caller.

So today after work and school Tiffany went on our Housewalk. We started in Saginaw where there were three houses, then to Freeland for one house, off to Bay City for one house and three condo's. They were all really nice houses. However the House in Freeland (owned by the president of SVSU) was amazing. It was huge! They had four kitchens, one outside, the main kitchen, one in the in-law wing, and one in the basement. They had a garage for the golf cart, as well as a regular garage that I think fit three cars. I could go on and on to was so huge.

They would not let us take picture of I would have tons.

WOW

2009-11-30T13:10:00.003-05:00

It has been a long time away from the blogging world. I must say I miss it.
So I will restart my blogging with an email that I received from my Mom.

This is a true story and this is all in the backyard of her home.

Real men catch and release........

For those who haven't heard the story. The deer must have wandered into the dog pen that doesn't get used much. The door was open, but he must have closed it behind himself and then was captive.

We don't know how long he was in there probably several hours. The pen was bent where he was jumping, trying to get out.

The resident hunter here, ran and got the camera and took the pictures and then released his catch....

What a guy. That's what the deer said as he ran along......

I just think that is so cool.

2009-08-14T18:31:00.002-04:00

Today started with Tiffany and I taking a walk in the garden. While we were outback I noticed a Morning Dove under the little kids Jeep. Tiffany was not having any part of getting close to it. She did not want to get bit or scare it. So she took the camera and I decided to come up from behind the Jeep, to see how close to the bird I could get. To our surprise the bird did not move. I was able to touch it and then go get some seeds and touch it again.
We went to a yard sale and came back to see if it was still their. It was gone, so I figured it had the wind knocked out of it, and needed to regroup. Thus allowing us to get close, otherwise I have know idea why it did not fly away.

We

Playing at work

2009-08-12T21:09:00.006-04:00

Today I took the children to Green Point Nature Center in Saginaw. Oh my, was it fun. The Rangers taught the children to fish and helped the children when they caught a fish.
Anyone that knows me, knows that I would fish any day of the week. (I love it)

I like to also teach others to fish and truly just enjoy watching them learn and have fun.

My little buddy Austin is my work in progress. I have been trying to teach him to cast and wind with NO help. It is hard to see him struggle, but when he gets it, I know he will be so proud of himself. Well here is a proud moment for me. I just come to tears typing, I just love this kid!!!

Check out the pictures at the Little Bloomers blog.

Dinner with Friends

2009-08-09T18:39:00.007-04:00

This a little late, but darn it, it's getting done!

Last Thursday the Papesh's, the Bojo's, and the Muylle's took some time out of their busy schedules to celebrate the birthdays of Dawn, Dennis, and Jill. We try and get together for the birthday of the month at the restaurant of choice of the birthday person. Since there were 3 birthday's relatively close together we combined the dinner date into a single night.

This would be the first of such dates that were children free! I think we all looked forward to an adult night out. The Muylle's waited intently at the Bojo's for the Papesh's to arrive from dropping off their kids at Dawn's mothers. This will be the first time the restaurant of choice will have to be a consensus pick. Jill was not picky about where to eat but did state a few places she did not want satisfy her hunger. I do not recall Dennis suggesting any places, but Amy had chosen a few places we had not attended yet, one being Jake's in Old Town Saginaw. When Joe and Dawn arrived she volunteered her places of choice and one of them also happened to be Jake's. It was agreed upon that this would be our destination.

We piled into the Papesh's van. Amy was given the duty of giving Joe directions to the fine eatery. Well, it took all of 5 houses before Amy screamed "WAIT!!!". Yes, this was the 1st turn we were supposed to take and Amy missed. Joe applied his brakes and casually drove the van in reverse 3 houses or so in order to make the turn. A few blocks later... "WAIT!". Again, Amy missed telling Joe another turn. I learned that Amy is easy to distract. It is kind of like a child who seems to be paying attention, then says "Oh, look, shinny things!" and you lose them. We agreed to not allow Amy to talk so we could get to our destination before Labor Day.

We arrive and all pile out of the minivan... picture being at the circus and clowns piling out of the car. We approach the front door when someone reads a sign in the foyer. It's a dress code. No hats are to be worn. No sports Jerseys. Dennis firmly states that he will not be taking his hat off while dining.

Our hostess greets us, takes us to our table where we eagerly look over the fine dining menu. Within minutes our server comes to the table, explains the soup of the day and casually leans into Dennis and politely asks him to remove his hat. Dennis was not pleased and was putting up a little fight in hopes of not having to remove his skull cover. Amy, fearing Dennis was overstepping his bounds starts flicking his arm over and over believing this may get his attention to just abide by the rules. After numerous flicks, Dennis raies his voice "If you do not stop flicking me I will throw it at her!". Awkward! Dennis succumbs to the evil tyranny of the restaurants rules and places his hat in his lap. Whew....

When it comes to our time to order, Dawn wanted a glass of wine for dinner. The server informs Dawn they only sell bottles (CHA CHING). Joe tells Dawn to get the bottle of red wine and he would share it with her. Our server then asks Dennis what he would like, he asks for the T-Bone, to which she replies " I am sorry sir, we our out of the T-Bone and Whitefish." Oh crap, more fuel being added to the fire. You would think our server would let us know what they are out of before we order. Dennis glances through the menu and makes his second choice. I can just imagine what he is thinking. The rest of us order our meals, which except for Dawn, came with either a sweet potato or a baked potato. More on the potatoes later. The wine glasses come with many spots even after Amy spotted the server repeatedly trying to clean them before bringing them to us.

Before the appetizers that Joe and Dennis ordered had arrived.... Dawn was beginning to show signs of giddyness. ( if thats a word) The wine was working fast. Slowly she was laughing at everything, her voice was getting louder and Joe was thinking "This could be my night!". Numerous times Joe would have to turn to Dawn and with his hand in the air and motioning it to the floor and say "Tone it down, tone it down". She was becoming flush in the face. She was now telling stories about her and Joe that only a hotel in Florida knew about. Joe and I traded many of fist fives as he was headin down the road to a night of passionate wine sex!

Keep in mind, this is a "Fine Dining" establishment. Joe brought to our attention that the server would not refill their wine glasses. Even after numerous hints from Amy and Dawn. We had to ask to have our water glasses refilled. The plates we were finished with slowly piled up. It was not because they were busy, there wasn't any more than 15 people in there.

Our food came, Joe's sweet potato was half the size of his steak (which was not very big), Amy, Jill, and Mike's baked potatoes were so over done, you could not mash them. They were burnt nearly all the way through. Not even burying them in sour cream and butter could save them. The meats we had chosen were pretty good. Dawn had chosen a Surf and Turf dish. It looked pretty, not sure what was all in it. Dawn had taken a picture of it to show friends. Shortly after our server approached Dawn handed her a card and whispered to her, so we could not hear, that if she was going to post the picture of her meal, to please use the name of the Chef, that it was the Chef's signature dish and to say where she had purchased it. Please... it wasn't anything that special and with how we feel about the experience I do no think the Chef would want to see a public comment.

The dessert tray was brought over. Joe asked about the apple pie, wanting to make sure it did not have a dry crust. Amy and Joe had ordered the apple pie ala mode. Amy's was a perfect looking piece, the same size as the sample that was shown. Joe's, well, it was at least half the size. I think his sweet potato was bigger.

I am sorry to say to any of you planning to patronize this establishment, Jake's , that the service was bad, the food was on the most part below average, a dress code is in effect and since our bills combined for almost $250... I rate it 1/2 stars. Only because the meats were good.

Shoot, before I forget, during our meal, at the table next to us Joe pointed out a gentleman who had his shirt unbuttoned half way down his chest, his napkin firmly stuffed in his shirt. Trying to escape out of his shirt over the napkin was a small wookie. There was so much hair escaping over the napkin. I believe we will try and get a picture up of it.

Golf 2009

2009-08-01T16:41:00.002-04:00

Sorry people I lied, no golf update this year. Dawn gave a great update, you must read her blog.

Golf update soon!!

Tiff's last ball game.

2009-07-18T11:59:00.002-04:00

4th of July Muylle Party

2009-07-18T11:45:00.002-04:00

Here is 26 photos out of the 300 taken at the Muylle party!
What a great time and a perfect day! Thank you to all of my friends and family that came to spend the day with us.

Forth of July

2009-07-18T11:13:00.002-04:00

Boy I am behind on the blogging!
Every 4th we go to the downtown Saginaw fireworks. I just like them better then the other near by cities and there is less travel and traffic.
This year Steve, Jessica, Courtnie & Molly joined us. While we were there my sister Donna and children stopped by to join in on our fun and games.

Ladder Ball

2009-07-09T21:38:00.003-04:00

We when to my parents for three days. While we were there we played a game called ladder ball. My parents have had this game for a while and I've always wanted it. But you see it looks so easy to make, I can't see buying it.

So today Mike and I are were alone, Tiffany still at Grandparents, and Taylor at work. Mike and I could not sit all day and do nothing, so we decided to make ladder ball.
We did it with out one argument. (wink, wink)
We stopped at the store to see what it would cost to buy, before we went for supplies just in case it would be cheaper to buy. It was $49.99 on sale at Dunham's. It cost us, are you ready, wait for it, $37.46. However if we were to make another one it would only cost $25.

I actually think mine is sturdier then the one at the store.
I'm so proud!!!!

Fun Filled Day!

2009-07-07T10:57:00.006-04:00

Some picture we took Friday after arriving in Interlochen at my mom's!

Just cute!

2009-06-21T11:10:00.005-04:00

This weekend we had three graduations parties to attend. I of course forgot my camera, so I have no great pictures to showoff. I just don't feel right going the whole weekend with out a cute picture to share.

So here is the only thing I could come up with. Taylor's best friend Mitchell had his party yesterday and they had nut cups sitting on each table. After eating most of the cup, we noticed that we were eating Mitchell.
Isn't that just the cutest thing ever?

Graduation Party

2009-06-14T20:01:00.002-04:00

The Big day has come and gone. Boy what a great day it turned out to be. I was so stressed about everything. In the end it was all just fine.
I figured we would have about 57 guests, in the end we had 87.
Taylor did well greeting all his guests and my whole family was so helpful, with the exception of my sister Janette who did not come. My Brother in-law Brian was a great help also, he helped take down the tents ,did a lot of the heavy lifting and stayed the latest. A Big thank you to my friend Lisa and her family who helped with the food clean up and Lisa did all of the dishes.

I also need to thank all the people that loaned me things so I could have the party.
Julie for the tables, chairs and coolers.
Amy for the tables, chairs, cooler and dish to pass (that was great).
Angie for the chairs
Papesh family for the table, cooler, table covering and salt and pepper.
Jeremie for his chairs and trailer.
My in-laws for the awesome yard and beer.
My mom for so much stuff I can not name.

The day was over so fast I forgot to take pictures so here is all the pictures I have. If anyone got pictures of Lupe up side down please send them to me.

take a look mom

2009-06-08T21:18:00.003-04:00

Ok Mom, here is the card box. It is a hockey puck with the nets, sticks and pucks on top.

How does it look?

Taylor's Big Day!

2009-06-05T19:11:00.002-04:00

We all had a great time, I was sooooo proud of Taylor. Plus I really like to be with my whole family.
I did not do well with the camera this night, I did not get many pictures of Taylor with most of the family. But Mike did take the camera and get a picture of Taylor and myself. (This is special!) I'm not in a lot of picture because I'm always taking them!

THE BIG 4 0

2009-05-29T21:01:00.003-04:00

For Mike's 40th birthday we went to Famous Dave's. The old man got several gag gifts from a pill bottle shot glass to a cane with a horn and rear view mirror. We had a great time, and I think he still loves me.

You know we are a great group when we can all eat off the same plate. (Check out Mike, Emily and Dennis sharing dessert.)

Taking sponsorships for pro fishing career

2009-05-25T17:54:00.002-04:00

I do not want to spoil the next blog on the page, so this blog was my day that happened in the middle of said next post.

To anyone out there who may want to hand out some cash for some sponsorships or paying for fishing tips contact me here!

Jill was out fishing at my dads which she truly enjoys. She started the afternoon by baiting her hook with a night crawler so she could catch a bait fish (a 6"-10" bass) and use it to hopefully land one of big bass that inhabit my dads lake. After catching some 8"-11" Bluegill, she finally caught the bait fish she was looking for. About an 8" bass dangled on the hook. She unhooked it, rehooked it through the back, attached a bobber and strolled out to land the big one and retain the lake record.

Jill tends to have pretty good luck. This was not one of those days. She casted and casted and casted and casted and.... you get the point. Nothing. No bites, no close calls, nothing.

Tiffany was away for the weekend with Jill's sister Jody in Traverse City at their parents. Tiff had called and said she was close to home, so Jill chose to go back home, pick her up and bring her to my parents. I suggested to take her pole and in good faith, keep trying. She handed me the pole and walked away. While getting further away, she turned and quietly said "Just throw the bait back, its almost dead anyways." I exclaimed I would valiantly keep trying to catch that fish that was eluding her all day. ( Although my plan was to throw the pole in, let her get out of the driveway, reel it in and be done, she wouldn't know I did not stick with it =D )

I was beginning to flip the bale when she turned again and said " You forgot how to do it didn't you!" Now, I had not forgotten, but alas was just admiring the fine workmanship of the reel.

I took a fine cast 10 yards or so off shore. The bait settled into the water, the bobber gracefully landed and set up beautifully on the cool water. The fish floundered around, barely, and the thought crossed my mind that this poor fish has taken the ultimate sacrifice, not to become food for a monster fish, but instead fertilizer for some plant in the woods when I heave it when I reel in. Only moments had passed after setting the bail..... everything disappeared! The bobber takes off.... I set the hook and start reeling in slowly. I yell for Jill, in hopes she has not left yet as she would not believe I had caught this myself, on her pole, with her bait that she has miserably failed at.

Take a look at my prize possesion! Over 22" of fine meat (dont get to excited Amy) and 14" around the belly! It is my biggest fish ever.

Sponsorships incoming....

6...... and counting!

2009-05-25T17:21:00.005-04:00

Happy Memorial Day to everyone!!

Jill is taking this beautiful holiday off, so I will attempt to keep the blog up to date... JILL STYLE!!

My beautiful wife awoke this morning in a cheerful mood. Must have been the morning sex. But that's a different blog.... She decided to run to the store around 11ish this morning before we headed to my dads for the holiday and some fine family camaraderie. I was nestled in my computer chair when there came a frantic shriek from downstairs... "MIKE COME QUICK!" Damn, I was slightly alarmed at the tone of her voice as it seemed to have a quiver. I headed downstairs and met her in the kitchen where she directed me to the garage flapping her arms as if she was trying to take flight.

I followed her contrails to the rear of the garage where she landed and started running all her words together... "OHMYGODLIKEIWENTOGRABTHEFISHBAGANDTHEREWASLIKE
AMILLIONFEETSCURRINGALLOVER"

Yes, how you read that is exactly how i had to try and translate it. It took a few times of me asking her to slow down as I told her she was frothing at the mouth and I could not understand what she was saying. Finally, I got it. She heard something move and there was a lot of something.

Being that Jill has a tendency to stretch the truth a tad, I ventured deeper into the corner, moved a few things and noticed some mouse doo-doo. I waited for her to get back from the store for her to get me a mouse trap so I could get this mouse. After placing a touch of peanut butter on the trap, then fighting that damn thing to set before I lost a f$%#@#g finger, I placed the trap on the floor.

I then walked to the truck to help Jill fill the cooler with pop and ice. About 2 mins after setting this trap SNAP! HAH GOT YOU YA LIL SUCKER! I walked over picked it up, showed Jill placed into the trash and set the trap again. (Now, I said Jill stretches the truth, so I thought maybe I would get one more but not likely)

I walked away, got the the front of the truck started talking to the neighbor when SNAP! Damn, got another already. I emptied that one, and reset it. SNAP.... reset it SNAP. Gee whiz, that's 4 in 20 mins!!! I went and got 1 more trap, set it and we went to my dads.

Upon arriving home I eagerly went to the traps. Part of me was thinking there could not possibly be anymore and another part of me thinking Jill was not stretching this a bit and I am looking like a doof. I peered over the old cooler and DAMN 1 in each trap! 6!!! 6 mice in a day! And to keep this in the good faith of being Jill's blog, I have provided pictures of my hunt.

Now, upon writing this, I went to check the traps and we now have 8! Just call me the PIED PIPER!

The Princess

2009-05-21T09:16:00.005-04:00

It is truly a blessing to have this little one in my life.

It does not matter what is going on around us Ashley always has a smile to give.

Here are some recent pictures of our growing girl since Mommy #1 is not giving us an updated photo.

Picnic

2009-05-21T09:08:00.002-04:00

Mike's big secret!

2009-05-13T19:57:00.004-04:00

Mike's brother Jeremie took him out tonight for a surprise birthday gift.
Mike was going nuts, trying to figure out what his brother was going to put him through.
Well here are a couple pictures Jeremie sent Tiffany on her phone.
This I know he will like. My son Steve says the go-karts go 45 miles an hour. He may come home sore but at least he will be happy!!

Mike will be the BIG 40 this month!!

The picture above is Mike still being mad because Jeremie and Scott would not tell him where they were going.

The old man has been home for ten minutes and he already can't get up. I can't wait until morning, he is not going be able to walk.

Dog & Cat!

2009-05-13T06:45:00.001-04:00

Tuesday when we were having dinner the dogs were barking. I hate when the dogs bark, so I went out to see what was going on and found Moose and Jayda playing with a cat.
Jayda just wanted to cat to take her toy. Jayda is pushing a stuffed rat to the cat.

How cute!!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all!!!

2009-05-10T19:51:00.000-04:00

PROM

2009-05-07T19:58:00.002-04:00

So Blessed

2009-04-26T21:07:00.003-04:00

Dennis, Lauryn and Emily joined the Catholic faith this Easter season.

Ashley Papesh was Baptized on Friday.

Tommy had his First Holy Communion and Confirmation today.

I'm so bless to have been a part of these three wonderful events.

Are there any good pictures out there!

2009-04-26T20:24:00.003-04:00

This is a call out for any good pictures of Mike. Every time I take his picture this is what I get.

Ok, this one is not so bad. It most likely would have been a great picture, if I had waited for him to finish chewing.

Dow Diamond Entertainment

2009-04-26T19:56:00.003-04:00

This was our entertainment while waiting for the game to be canceled.

Our trip to the Dow Diamond

2009-04-26T19:39:00.002-04:00

Saturday my sister Jody bought everyone in the family tickets to go and watch the Loons play ball. Well it rained all day and the game was canceled. We still had a great time. We were suppose to sit in one of the piers however they up graded our tickets to a suite. So we had a warm dry place to visit with the family. It is always just a great time when we get altogether.
By all I mean:
Jody, Harry, Audrey, Amanda, George, Addison, Jayden, Donna, Roy, Lil Roy, Megan, Amelia, Mom, Dad, Brian (My brother- in-law, Jan's X-husband), Tim (Friend), Dominik, Destiny, Mike, Taylor, Tiffany, Steven, Jessica, Leah (Friend) and myself. We were only missing Jan, Terry and Elden.

What a great gathering! Thank you Jody!!

Jayda's water play date!

2009-04-18T22:56:00.003-04:00

In the lower right hand side of the slide show you can change the pictures yourself. If you do this and push them fast, it's like a flip book of the dog jumping. How cute.

Dawn Made Dinner!

2009-04-18T22:44:00.002-04:00

Dawn can cook!!! Dawn made us chicken and Steak Fajitas. They were great and not one of us got sick. A BIG thank you for Dinner Dawn.

We had a great night, I think the kids would even agree!

Easter

2009-04-18T22:18:00.002-04:00

MUTE

2009-04-18T21:22:00.002-04:00

Well I really wanted to put this video up, so everyone could see how Tommy sings just like his mother. However the stinking sound was not on, so now you have to lip read. (nice!!)

I give up!!

2009-04-04T19:39:00.004-04:00

This is what Tiffany found when going out the back door!!!
Everyone meet Jayda! This is Steve puppy.

That video is so Steve & Jess can see that there doggy is doing fine. Despite going through my door. She just wants that old dog to play with her, but Camille is not going to play with any puppy!

2009-04-04T18:39:00.003-04:00

This has been a long weekend and I needed a pick me upper!!

My dog ate my money!
I lost my son's house key!
I killed our last fish! (So I thought!)

Let me start with the key. I'm watching my son Steve's dog, so I went and got her (the dog) from his house after work on Friday. While I was there I left something of mine in his house and needed to go back and get it. To my surprise I can't find the key. I left it on the bathroom sink, I know I did. (Does this sound familiar? Well I'm sure my damn dog didn't eat the key.) So after I looked for over an hour and I called my children several times asking if they moved it. Taylor comes home and says I think I took it, sure enough he has that stupid key!! I swear I lose my keys more then anyone, I know, I don't need any help from my kids!!

Now let my tell you my fish story. Tiffany has lost about 10 fish this year, they just keep dieing. So we have one left, a big beautiful shark. Well Friday night before we go to bed Tiff yells "Mom look at my shark!" It is floating upside down, but you could see that it was still alive. (Not for long!) So we call Mike and ask him what we should do. He says "Have a fish sandwich, or flush it!) So Tiffany and I decide that we will flush it, so it does not suffer any longer. You will not believe this, but it will not fit down the toilet!! I flushed twice and that thing was not going down. So now what?? I can't put it in the trash it's breathing!! I put it back in the tank and tell Tiff we will have a funeral in the morning and bury him!! Well I get up this morning and that fish is not dead. It is swimming around like nothing happened. (I do need professional help!) I go to the fish store and tell them what happened and they tell me, "Oh no, Sharks play dead when they are stressed." So sure enough my water is making him stressed. All I have to do is empty half the tank, put fresh water in, and it's good to go!

You all know about the poopy money and I don't think you need to hear more on that!

So needless to say I'm being pushed over the edge. I needed something to either push me over the edge or bring me back on solid ground, so I thought I would cut my hair off. Here are before and after pictures. I'm not sure if this helped or not I still have one more day left until the weekend is over!

Poop update

2009-04-04T18:32:00.002-04:00

I do get depressed easily so the money missing was not a good day. Now that I have my friends suggesting that I handle the poop, I feel like I should not have let it go so easily.

So off I go to play in the poop!

Would anyone like to shake my hand?

CONFETTI

2009-04-03T20:15:00.004-04:00

Well this is what I have been waiting for, for the last three days!

My dog finally took a dump!!

Yes, that is poop again. (I have noticed that I photograph poop a lot. I'll try and stop that soon!)

But any ways, Tuesday night after I got home from a 13 hour work day. I emptied my pants pockets and put the contents on the drier. (2 twenty dollar bills, 1 five dollar bill, several 1's, 1 Subway gift card and 1 petty cash receipt worth $39.67 from Walmart.)
When I woke up in the morning I found the subway card on the floor. I thought for a minute, thinking that maybe I put the money somewhere else. I just knew I had put it all on the drier. As soon as I picked up the card one of my dogs put her head down, like I was going to yell at her. I looked everywhere for the money and I could not find it.
My dog has been known to eat underwear so I knew she ate my money. All I could do is wait.

Today it happened, Camille pooped my money! Thought for sure it would come out whole but all I got was confetti.

What a bummer!!!

Our last day on the prairie (spelling Corrections made)

2009-03-23T09:17:00.003-04:00

As you have all been able to tell, Friday I went up to visit my Mom & Dad. We arrived about 7pm. they had know idea we were coming so it was a nice surprise.
Saturday morning we woke up to find that not only had it snowed but the water pump had broke. (so no water!) My Dad tends to be Mr. Fix it, so by 10:30 we had water and went out for the day.

Sunday morning comes and we know we have to leave at some point. which stinks!
We started out our day with a walk around the yard. We found several signs of spring, animals and just had a nice walk.
Then we thought we would continue our nature theme and take a scenic drive. About ten minutes in Tiffany said look at all of the pop bottles everywhere. So we started to pick them up. We collected over $4 in bottles.

This was defiantly an animal filled weekend. We saw so many different animals dead and alive.

Which brings me to our ride home:(

As we were driving on M 115 there were three little beagles playing in the road. We were going up a hill an saw it coming but there were cars on both sides going 60 mph. Then it happen the van in front of us hit one of the dogs.
I was screaming "don't look", Tiff was Scream "he hit him". I had to stop it was still alive!
The man that hit the dog did come back. We moved the dog out of the road. Then tried to figure out what to do with it, cuz he was still moving. After about 15 minutes the dog got up, still hurt bad as he was hit in the head. (No blood!) He was tiring to walk straight but going to the left. After a few more minute the dog wanted to leave so we guided him a crossed the road, where we could see a house. As we are trying to get the dog not to follow me back to my car out of know where a deer leaps over the two of us! (Holly Crap) So I went back to my car to calm my Tiff and head home, while the other man took the dog to the house (I hope).

The rest of the ride home was silent!! What an awful thing to watch!!

I will let you know that it would have been awful if I had hit that dog, for both myself and my parents. I would have put that dog in my car and went back!! He was so cute!

Quick Fix! This goes with the slide show below!

2009-03-21T19:47:00.003-04:00

We arrive Friday with little areas of snow and wake up with a car covered with snow. What a great start! We were not here long before the deer came out. Saturday we went to a Hunting and Fishing Expo, did some sightseeing and a little shopping. Here is our day in a slide show!!

Interlochen

2009-03-21T19:46:00.002-04:00

Just a Funny

2009-03-21T18:29:00.002-04:00

This was a wierd guy dancing at the corner. We thought he was Funny!

Tiffany will be adding him to her my space!

End of the Year Hockey Party

2009-03-16T13:05:00.002-04:00

It is sad to see this season end. Every year the kids are drafted to a new team. You never know what children will be on the team or what kind of parents you will be spending time with. This is our second year with a great group of children and wonderful parents.
Their last game of the year ended with a loss in the forth over time. Not happy that we lost but what a why to go out!!

At the end of the season the Hockey teams have a party to say there good byes and to rehash the season. This is my last year for this type of party. After the children reach a certain age they grow out of these gatherings. It is hard to believe that my baby is going to be playing midget hockey.

Her coach gave her a bracelet yesterday to close out her youth hockey experience, now she is playing with young men! It is so sad. I love to see my children grow and learn. However with each milestone, I can't help but think this is one more step closer to her being out on her own and not needing me.

As you can see by our pictures we had a great time.

Visiting Ashley and Dawn!

2009-03-16T12:17:00.002-04:00

Crazy Friday!

2009-03-12T23:51:00.002-04:00

This morning I had to work at 6:30. When I made my daily stop at Sunoco for a Coke. My Truck was covered in oil. It was dripping from all four wheel wells.
So I took it to Reese Muffler and walked over to work. I was so scared that they were going to say I burned up the motor.
But when he called an said "Jill, it is oil all over your truck, but it is not yours!" I was so relieved!

Today was our Birthday - Last supper

We went to Red Lobster for Birthday Dinner for Sue. It was also Dawn's last supper before the new baby. We all forgot our Lobster hats from last year so no good pictures. I do have to say, it will be our last group trip to Red Lobster. They changed there menu and there is nothing Amy likes on it now. So until they put her chicken dinner back on we will go else where.

After dinner I had a 7:11 spirit game that I made it to at 7:11!! (they won!) I drop Tiff off and went to Taylor's game.

Taylor had a hockey game at 7:45. (they lost) He had a great game.

Steve had a game at 10:10. (they won) Steve scored, even being sick!

I love hockey but tonight was busy.

Please pray for my friend Dawn. She will be delivering her baby in the morning. I pray she can be conscious for the birth and for a healthy baby.

Loving God, Your love for us is like that of a mother, and You know the hard joy of giving birth. Hold the hand of Your servant Dawn now and keep her safe; put Your own Spirit into her very breathing and into the new baby, for whom we wait with awe and hope. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Taylor back in net!

2009-03-07T22:17:00.002-05:00

Taylor back in his comfort zone. Here is a glove save.
I think they won 6 to 2, I lost track of the score.
But we defiantly won!

Hockey Fun!

2009-03-07T16:00:00.005-05:00

As everyone knows Taylor is a goalie. He has been a goalie since he was a first year squirt (7 years old). Goalies equipment is a lot different then the other players. A Goalie skate is a flat blade with no curve where a regular skate is curved. Taylor has not even put on a pair of those other stakes in the last 8 years. Which brings me to today!

Nick Paron is Taylor and Tiffany's Hockey coach. He is just a great guy with a wonderful family. He has two boys that are goalies but both skate out as well. Their son Jamie is on Tiffany's team and their other son Kelly is on Taylor's Team. Somehow Nick and Kelly talked Taylor into skating out for today's game, so Kelly could be the goalie. So Taylor would wear Kelly's equipment including the skates and try to play hockey. Keep in mind all these years the other children have learned how to hit and how to receive a hit. My son has missed those drills as a goalie does not need to hit and should not be hit!!

Well here is a tid bit of today's game including the big hit!

Yes, my son was the child that got laid out in the middle of the ice. (poor baby!!)

$100 Dinner Dance

2009-03-02T23:03:00.001-05:00

Senior Pictures are here!!!

2009-02-28T12:08:00.002-05:00

Senior Pictures, boy that big day keeps getting closer!!
I'm pleased with how they all look. They took over fifty pictures then they want you to pick a select few. That was tough, but here are the ones we have choose!

2009-02-25T21:20:00.004-05:00

I need to up date a little.
It was Amy's Birthday on Saturday, she turned 30 years old (HA HA). Anyways so we went to birthday dinner at the Olive Garden. Some of us were thinking and it dawned on us that they don't do a birthday hat.

So I thought I would make one, and here she is sporting her B-Day hat.
So Tiff is a little upset with Amy and Joe. She thinks they should have wore their hats the whole time at the restaurant. Then she said for her birthday she would wear her hat the whole time. (we will see about that!)

$100 Dinner Dance

2009-02-24T17:14:00.001-05:00

What a great looking group!!!

Hockey Weekend!

2009-02-02T21:34:00.000-05:00

Friday we had tickets for the Spirit game, which started at 7:11. I got tickets right on the glass on the home side of the ice right next to the goalie. I was not sure if these would be good seats, being that we may have trouble seeing one end of the ice due to the way the glass turns into a wall. However, they were great! It was one of the best games I have ever watched the Spirit play.
As a bonus, there was a fight right in front of us. (I do mean right in front of us.) I was not thinking it was to cool but the family loved the pounding of fists on skulls. The Spirit player (Schwarz) got his butt kicked and left the ice with a bloody nose.

We left the Spirit game at about 9:30, arrived home at 9:45. Just in time to leave for Steve's hockey game that started at 10:10. His team did well, they won 6 to 3.

You would think my night would be over since it is almost 11:30pm but it's not. We have a hockey gathering for Tiffany's team on Saturday so I still needed to pick something up at Meijer for my dish to pass. We got home at 12:30am, what a long day.

Saturday Taylor had a game in Midland at 11:00am. What a great game this was. Taylor's team won 7 to 3. Taylor was not happy with the score even though it was in our favor. The 3 that got in he should have had. (But you cant'always stop them all!)
By the time he was undressed it was 12:30 and we needed to find something to eat so we could be back at the same arena for Tiffany's game at 2:45.
Anyone that knows my family can guess what happened after eating to one of us next! (It was poor Tiffany this time.) Coach Taylor came out of the locker room about 15minutes before the game and said Tiffany needed some magic pills, as her stomach was upset. THANK GOD FOR THOSE PILLS!!
Tiffany's game was just as awesome. Her team won 3 to 2. With :20 seconds to go at the end of the game one of the Midland kids cross checked one of our players, Tiff pushes him, he head slaps her and before you know it my little peanut was throwing punches. Not little punches, she corked this lil snot right in the face. After the young man brought his head back down from looking at the ceiling, he popped her. Then Tiff's arms just start flailing as the ref pulled her off spinning in circles. I was shocked, Mike was proud, and the Midland parents were ticked. (She did not get a penalty! But he DID!)
It's now 4pm, Tiff is getting her congratulatory accolades for her scuffle from the parents and then we are off to our team gathering in Freeland.
We arrive at the party around 4:30. What a fun group of parents. The party lasted until 7:30 for us. I was so tired I just needed to be at my own house. We got home at 8pm, to find a messy house because I have one animal that has a death wish. After cleaning I went right to bed, I don't even remember Mike going to bed I was out the minute I laid down.

Sunday brings more hockey. Taylor had a game in Mt. Pleasant at 11:30am and Tiffany had a game in Flint at 2:00. Hmmmm, How is that going to work?!!!!!!
Mike took Taylor to Mt. Pleasant, where I hear he had a great game. They lost 5 to 2, Taylor was happy with how he played and that is all I care about.
Meanwhile I went to Flint with Tiffany, where they too had a great game. It was the best I have seen the team play all season. We lost however 2 to 1 to Port Huron in a District Game. The Port Huron kids were huge and fast. Our kids stuck right with them the whole game.
Tiffany and I got home @ 4:30 just in time to nap before it was time to watch commercials during the Super Bowl (I'M NOT A FOOTBALL FAN!).

Love the busy weekends! Tiffany and I are not felling well lately, so it was a long long weekend!

Birthday Dinner

2009-01-26T19:40:00.003-05:00

Friday night we went to bd's Mongolian Barbeque in Flint for dinner. It was Joe Papesh's Birthday dinner.

I must say there is never a dull moment with our families. While we were there; a lady had a seizure or something, Austin had some trouble, Amy hit the waitress, and then there is Mike.

Oh I almost forgot the best part, Joe in his birthday hat!

Good times!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Jody!!!

2009-01-06T20:34:00.003-05:00

Love you, Mike, Jill, Steve, Taylor & Tiffany

Red or Blonde

2009-01-06T19:14:00.005-05:00

OK, our little Jayden has red hair.
His Mother, Father and sister also have red hair.

Here are the pictures I took when Addison was born compared to our Jayden.

Addison was 5lbs. 2oz. and 17 1/2 inches long
Jayden was 6lbs. 10oz and 19 inches long

Jillpickles or Smilie-Muylle

2009-01-06T19:04:00.004-05:00

I found this a while ago in my lunch. I think it is a sign.

Is it smilie Muylle or Jillpickles?

I did try to save it but it shriveled up to a raisin like substance.

Bundle of Joy

2009-01-05T17:10:00.004-05:00

After work Tiffany and I went up to see how Jayden was doing.

Tiffany with Jayden
Jayden right before going peepee on his Mom.

Great Aunt Jill and Baby.

We have a BABY!

2009-01-05T06:32:00.004-05:00

OK I'm still having trouble with the internet. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Any ways:
I would like everyone to welcome

Jayden Wayne Walton
Born at 12:47 am
January 5th 2009
Weighing in at 6lbs & 10oz
and 19 inches long

Congratulations to everyone!

Jody (Grandma) one more day and he would have made it to your brithday!
HAPPY 40th Birthday a day early Jody!!!!

Just babbling

2009-01-04T22:20:00.002-05:00

When the baby arrives it should be a boy.
His name will be Jayden Wayne Walton.

At this rate I should get some sleep before work tomorrow.

Just think Dawn will be next.

Update

2009-01-04T22:01:00.001-05:00

10:02
6 centimeters dilated
Just broke water.
Yay

One more update

2009-01-04T20:17:00.002-05:00

I'm sure you are all wondering why I'm posting so much.

Well Amanda (My Niece) is in the hospital.
She is going to have her baby soon.
At this time 8:20pm January 4th, 2009, she is dilated at 5, and 80 percent effaced.
It should not be to long, I hope it is before morning.

Little Roy's hair cut

2009-01-04T19:58:00.004-05:00

Mom, Roy and I just wanted you to know that he did get his hair cut before school.

Sunday January 4th, Roy (8years old Roy) came over for a hair cut. He walked in and said can you see my ears?

I said "I will lower them, and you will be able see them."

When I finished he says "I've got BIG ears!"
Donna says "You have big ears?"
Roy says "Not just BIG there HUGE!!"

Ether way his hair looks great. (Here is proof, Mom)

Here is Roy before hair cut.

During Hair cut.

After hair cut.

Trying to keep Sister Megan out of the picture.

Sad Day!

2009-01-04T19:46:00.003-05:00

Well this is sad for me to share. However I feel I must.
In August, Mike and I were involved in a golf scramble. Both of our teams did amazingly awful.
Both teams also won a case of toilet paper.
Today someone in our house used the last of the toilet paper.
We went five months with out purchasing toilet paper, and now that is over. I need to go purchase toilet paper.
This is a sad sad moment.

I'm just curious if anyone else has used up there toilet tissue?

2009

2009-01-01T18:35:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that it is a new year.

I have had a great break with the family. It is time to start getting back to our routine. We all seem to be missing our friends.

This time of year is always a time when we look back and can't believe what we have done. It has been a great year, and I look forward to having another great year with friends and family.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!

Christmas 2008

2009-01-01T18:29:00.003-05:00

It was another great Christmas!!

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-01-01T18:10:00.004-05:00

Pictures speak a thousand words.

It looks like the Brethauer Thanksgiving was a lot of fun!

Let it Snow!!

2008-11-24T20:16:00.003-05:00

Tiffany built her first snowman tonight. I helped without a coat, so if I'm ill, my fault!

She actually built two. As we waited to pick up the boys from work we built a snowman in front of the Mail Room Service Center. (That was free advertising!) No pics of that one.

Saturday 10:41pm

2008-11-15T22:41:00.005-05:00

Thats really all I needed to say, is the time.

I'm having a girls night at my house. It is going well, I have not laughed this much in a long time.
Emily is playing wii soccer and see make some vary cute nosies. I just had to share. I will have to fill you all in when the weekend is over. (I don't think I will be getting much sleep.)

Busy Saturday

2008-11-10T21:46:00.004-05:00

Saturday was a busy day. I started off early with little sleep. I had to be at Walmart for some good sales. Ya know like paper towels and dog food. The lines were huge so it took me the better part of the morning to get that done.

Then we went to see Tommy's Hockey team in action at 10:00am. The game had just started when we arrived so we had not missed much. Tommy's team lost 5 to 3, but it was a great game.
Austin was fun to sit with. He tells me he is having a baby, it's in his mommy's belly right now. (Just to let you all know, in case you missed that.)

Then to the show. It was Joe and Dawn, Amy and Dennis and Mike and I, off to see Fireproof.
It was a good movie. Not sure any of the men wanted to be there, but when it was all said and done I think all of us learned something about ourselves. We should all try The Love Dare even if we have a strong marriage.

After running late at the show, we needed to pick up the kids. Which were all at my house (Taylor, Chris, Tiffany, Lauren, Emily, Tommy, Austin, Jessica and Steve showed up at some point.). I made it clear to my great group before we went to the show, that the little ones did not need to hear or see bad things.
Well they all bombed at that one. Tommy tells me Steve came over and kicked Taylor's butt in a wrestling match. Emily tells me that Chris says bad words.
They all had fun, but I don't know if any of my friends trust my house as the childcare place.

Well off to dinner.

We all went to Genjis. The Bojo's left second and were the last to arrive. Come to find out with the movie running late we have put Emily late for a dance team practice. So her and Dennis will not be able to stay and eat. POOR EMILY!
Dennis was on Day one of the Love Dare so he did not say anything negative, and just took Emily to practice. What a good guy!
Mike, Tiffany and I had never been to Genjis before so it was a fun experience for use. Our cook played a prank on Tiffany, he sprayed her with fake soy sauce. She jumped so high, it was great to see her laugh.

It was nice to get out with such a great group.
Sorry no pictures I'm slacking.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-10T21:19:00.003-05:00

Is Tiffany in Emily's picture space.
What a good looking group of kids.
Bat dog!!!!!!
Napoleon and Pedro
My little cowgirl and her hourse.
Napoleon and his girl!!
Jessica and Cortnie

First Snow

2008-10-29T19:31:00.004-04:00

I called Mike Monday October 27th to say it was snowing.
He took a couple pictures to show me that it was hail.

I still say it counts as the first snow of the year.

The END!!

2008-10-22T14:19:00.004-04:00

Softball every Sunday is the only time I can look forward to seeing my friends all together with there spouses. We get together other times, but I know every Sunday it's a sure thing.
Now the season has come to an end.

We did not play our best on the field, but we looked good.

I can't wait for the next season!!

Kristine's Wedding

2008-10-21T22:38:00.003-04:00

The day starts with Tiffany being sick. We decide that she should see a doctor and it was early in the day so we were sure there would be time to get to the wedding on time. Oh wait, I forgot to say it is Taylor's last homecoming, and he would be leaving for that at 2:30. So we also needed to pick up his flowers, get him some money and so on.

Can anyone tell that my day is not starting off on the right foot?
Tiffany and I got home at 1:10. On the way home I picked up the flowers and Mike and Taylor went to get his money.
The wedding is in Munger at 2:00, I'm not dressed, no makeup and my hair is not done either. We did some fast running around and yell at each other to make sure we had everything we needed and that Taylor had everything he needed. It's now 1:40 and we were off. As we are pulling out of the driveway Mike and I both realize we have no idea where we are going. We call Amy and she is no help as she does not know either. We give Dawn a jingle and she gave us great directions and we made it to the wedding in time to say hello to everyone and the wedding began.
The wedding was beautiful!
During the wedding Taylor sends us a text message saying "What arm does the corsage go on left or right?"
I lean to Dawn and ask "What arm does the corsage go on left or right?"
She says "I'm not sure."
I lean forward and ask Sue "What arm does the corsage go on left or right?"
After a moment of looking at her own arms she says "Left"
Mike sends a text back to Taylor tell him which arm.
Moments later we all have our arms up blessing the marriage, when Dawn notices a corsage on a ladies arm and says "LEFT!".
A couple minutes later Mike receives another text message from Taylor asking " Does my boutonnière go on my coat or on my shirt?"
Mike responds his coat and all should be well.
During all of this we have bee's buzzing around our heads, cell phones buzzing in our pockets, and a wedding taking place.

I'm going to let the pictures tell the rest of the day. (I'm getting stressed just retelling it!)

EXPO

2008-10-16T13:38:00.003-04:00

It was a hard day at work. Gabbie and I are attending an expo in Caro. I'm mostly emailing Julie, and Gabbie is working hard to attract new students.
We are having a lot of fun. Gabbie talked me into getting my cholesterol checked, which means I had to get a poke. OUCH!

This was a great opportunity for us to get our name out. It is surprising how many people that are so close and don't even know about our school.

I hope everyone else had a fun day at work.

Summer has passed

2008-10-15T21:57:00.003-04:00

We had such a great summer. It went by so fast. My internet has not been working so I have had all kinds of things piling up in my poor little head. I thought I would just add a slide show of summers greatest moments.

I'M BACK!)

I'm still here!!

2008-10-03T12:31:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone. It seem like it has been forever since I have been on the blogs. We are having trouble with the wireless part of our modem, so the computers up stairs are the only ones that are on-line. (I don't go into the man cave!)

Things have been going well. The children have both made it to mid-marking period with good grades. I think this will be the last year I have to worry about that. Tiffany does so well and is upset when she is not doing well. (So with her I'm all set.) As for Taylor, it is a struggle for him to turn in a paper that they do in class, and then he does not care about his grades at all. Just passing is ok with him.

Softball is going good as well, we have a great group of friends playing. We have so much fun, just being together, which makes it fun win or lose.

My three kids are back at another season of hockey.
Taylor's team is doing ok. At this age its more about individuals rather then team, so it makes it hard on the goalies.
Steven's team is scary to watch. Steven has such a nice face and no face mask when he plays. I get so nervous when the sticks, pucks and fists are flying around.
Tiffany's team looks good, it will not be the same as last year, but it will be fun. We have the same wonderful coach this year and Taylor is still helping coach. It is so nice to see two of my children working so hard together. Her first game is not until Saturday so we will see how it goes.

Steven has got a new addition to is family, I'm a grandmother of a cute little black lab. It is a female and her name is Jayda. I try to doggy sit after work everyday, so she is not in a cage all day. My dogs also like to have a little one around. So now, none of my children need to have children!)

I will try to do a better catch up blog with some pictures, when I get brave enough to go up into the man cave.

Hope all is going well.

Good laugh!

2008-09-05T23:08:00.007-04:00

This will only be posted for a short time.
I still can not stop laughing, thank you Lisa

Sorry if you missed a great laugh. If you
didn't get to see it and you are curious, let me
know.
Have a great weekend!

Golf outing, Wives Versus Husbands

2008-08-03T19:45:00.006-04:00

Wives By Jill Muylle
We almost had our New York girls together again.
Lupe hurt her knee so there were only three.

Let me start off by tell everyone I had a golf dream the night before the scramble that I had killed someone with a golf ball that I hit. Not sure who it was as they looked like a person on the Wii game system.
When we got to the Papesh home I tell everyone about my dream. We have a few laughs and move on.

We started off slow, the Papesh family was up and almost ready. Joe was in the front yard weed whacking with his 7 iron and Dawn was inside getting ready for the sitter. We're off and as fast as we left, we are heading back. Dawn forgot something and we had to return, off again.

We arrive at the golf course and try to confuse people with our three person teams, but Julie came to the rescue to help out. We stopped in for donuts and coffee, then went to look for our golf carts. Joe appears and tells us that our golf cart is sponsored by the funeral home.
Now how ironic is that, I dream of killing a person and then we have the funeral home for a sponsor.

Our start was not so bad, we got an eight on a par 5. We did get par twice and boogie once. We saw the men on the course a few times, but from a distance. So we were not able to talk to them about how they were doing. However we were able to see someone swing three time before hitting the ball on his forth swing (We won't mention any names ,Dennis!). So we knew we were not the only ones on the course having trouble. About the third hole in, Dawn moves behind me and says shhhh, as she loosens Amy's golf bag. It took some time but sure enough clunk clunk off it falls. Amy can't hear it so I have to say "Oh what is that? Your bag fell off the cart" It got some laughs, but then it was on! Amy awaits for Dawn to get in her cart, then drives Dawn's cart aways by pushing it with her cart. The bag loosening went back and forth, I'm not sure who's turn it is to prank, but I'm sure it will be a good one!
Then we come to a hole that our friend Lisa is working at. Lisa asked if we wanted a pointer?
She says "Everyone is using their irons on this hole."
When Amy flips her driver over and looks at it confused and says "This is iron!"
Lisa turns and says "Enough said, use that one!"
It was a great moment you had to be there to see the look on Lisa's face!
Now we have finished golfing and it is time for lunch.
As we are walking up Lisa Wright stops Amy and says "Look what I found in the woods!" As she hands Amy a golf ball that has Bojo written on it. We start laughing because Amy did not have a ball like this, so there is only one other Bojo that it could belong to. I would like to add that Amy may have hit some trees but she did not loose any balls in the woods!!

We didn't think we had done so bad, until they announce the winners and losers. When they announced they say the score and then the name of the winner. However for the last place losers in the Womens division they says "For lack of embarrassment, last place goes to Dawn Papesh's team!" I go up to ask how bad we really did, it seems we were 36 over par. I believe we were the best losers ever!! We take home a case of toilet paper.
All in all we had a great time!
Now I'm going to let Mike tell you about the Husbands.

Husbands By Mike Muylle

Dennis and Amy arrive to pick up Jill and I bright and early. We all head to the Papesh's bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Let's back track to Thursday for a minute. Dawn, Amy, Jill, Joe and myself went to Kokomo's to shag a few golf balls to get our swings down. Since I'm discussing the husbands, I will stick only to us. Joe steps up behind the driving box. I glance over and it appears Joe is a decent golfer. Nice bag, nice clubs... looking pretty fly he is. I stand there thinking to myself "Good deal, at least Joe will be able to hold us above water on Saturday". I intently watch Joe to get a god idea of what was to come. After his first couple swings I went from thinking he could hold us above water to we may sink very fast. By the end, after almost hitting Dawn a few times, things weren't looking to bad... but we are hitting in a dome... so it is hard to get a good feel.

Now back to Saturday morning. We pull in, and Joe is in his front yard taking swings at practice balls warming up. We pile out of the Bojo van to watch. WHIFF... WHIFF... WHIFF. Well, lets say, the balls were not hurt. It's early, these are just warm up swings.... I am sure it won't be this rough when we get on the course. As we wait for Dawn to give final instructions to the sitter, Joe grabs his golf bag. He proceeds to grab a shirt, lays it on the bag. He then states out loud that he needs a hat. He turns, selects not one, but 2 hats and puts them into the bag. He tells Dennis and I that he should be good to go as he has his extra shirt and a couple hats in case one gets wet.... What the hell??? This is a golf outing not a damn Formal dinner! I can just imagine that he also has a pair of new undershorts, tightie whities i am sure, and socks in his bag that we did not see. Dennis leans over to me and says "What a woman."

While awaiting the shotgun start most everyone grabs some donuts and coffee. Dennis is having tremendous difficulty keeping the beverage in its cup. Whether he is talking or walking he is spilling it. Joe is throwing jabs in about Dennis' handling of his java. After spilling it in the cart, Dennis gets a refill and puts a lid on it. Joe strolls up, coffee in hand, and proceeds to point down at Dennis and pours his coffee all over. These 2 have not even touched an Alcohol beverage yet and yet can not control the flow of liquids.

As I said earlier, Joe "looked like he could play golf". He strolls up to his bag after strapping it on to the cart and pulls out a brand new glove. He did not have one on Thursday. Now I am starting to get it. Joe is putting fear into the other golfers by "looking" like he knows what he is doing on the links. This wasn't as evident until later in the morning when I notice Joe pulls out a gadget that holds quite a few ball markers and golf tees. To myself I am chuckling... at least he looks good. Then he drops the hammer. I believe I had asked Dennis about how far we were from the green when he says "I do not know, ask Joe to pull out his scope and scope it". You have got to be kidding me, Joe even has a damn range finder too!! Is there anything else he can have to make him look like he is an actual golfer!!!

Shortly after starting, Dennis pulls out his cooler he brought. No, it is not a cooler for beverages, but a cooler for his Stoggies. He picks out a cigar and grabs his butane lighter. This lighter could have powered my grill at home. After a few flicks, there is no flame. Dennis grumbles. I comment that it must be a bummer that his lighter won't work. Dennis assures me there is no need to worry, that he always carries a spare. At the next hole, he pulls out the spare, which is a twin to the first one, and lights up. A few holes later, he feels the need for a second. He digs in the side of the cooler pulls out the spare and "flick, flick, flick" no flame. I start to laugh and tell him that it must be a real bummer to have the spare not work also. Dennis assures me again to not worry, he carries fuel also. Again at the next hole, he pulls out lighter fluid that he carries just for this type of emergency. Now that is what I call a die hard cigar smoker.

I do not want to bore you with hole to hole coverage, but I can sum it up pretty well. Just about every hole went like this. Joe hits the ball on about a 20 degree angle right. Not a slice mind you, he just hits it right. Now, a few swings and misses might have happened before he hit it, but when he did... yup, to the right. Dennis was a bit more unpredictable. Sometimes it would slice right, sometimes it would hook left, sometimes it would not move, sometimes sod would fly.... but the ball would not.

On one of the holes there was a couple ladies selling 50/50 tickets at the tee box. Joe offered to go first. After asking these ladies how rough our wives looked when they came through earlier and chuckling about it, he steps up between the white markers, places his ball on his tee and prepares to drive the ball. Joe winds up and put both ass cheeks into this swing, for what Dennis and I think was to "look the part". He follows through on the ball, barely hitting it. His front foot slides behind him on the upswing and he damn near face plants in the box. Dennis and I bust a gut laughing.

The back nine beer girl was surely thinking these 2 would need to be cut off early as Dennis runs head on full speed into Joe's cart, with her just one fairway over. Dennis throws on the charm and blames the wet grass for not being able to stop and Joe plays the innocent victim in this accident. A few beer stops later, Ashley the beer girl stops as we are chipping on to the green. She says she will stick around until we are done on the hole. Dennis and I start throwing jabs at Joe who was chipping first. As what happened when he felt like showing up for softball, Joe swings and misses!! Again we are laughing as Joe is failing to impress the young lady. He thinks quick and asks her if she would like to hit this for him. HAH, Joe getting someone else to do his job. She obliges. She steps up and makes a comment about having to hit over the "beach", the hip term for sand trap. She swings but tops the ball and it goes about a foot. Joe hops all over it and starts to give her a hard time. Ashley calmly looks at the laughing Joe and states to him "Well, at least I can HIT the ball!". HAHAHA, Dennis and I again as Joe gets put into his place.

There was one hole in which Joe needed to hit out of the rough. Off to his immediate right was the group of women ahead of us awaiting to tee off at the next hole. Joe, knowing every shot he has hit has gone in that direction, grasps his club with 2 hands, puts his head down and says "God, please, just let me hit this ball straight". The big guy upstairs was listening as we all witnessed a small miracle as Joe hit his ONLY straight ball all day!

After the many shots we put on different holes greens, other holes tee boxes and in woods it was done. We donated our share of money to the various games we could do throughout the course. We just kept reminding ourselves it was for the kids. None of us got anything for it but the enjoyment of watching each other play. I thought we did alright. I was pretty sure we did not finish in last place. The guys got done about a half hour before the girls and just in time to get our food and fill our need for food. After lunch they went through the prize winners... and losers. Sigh, we tied for last place and won (?) the tiebreaker... Joe, Dennis and I got to split 60 rolls of toilet paper........

You will see us on the course next year and look out we will all be in good form!

RELAX

2008-07-28T19:11:00.005-04:00

Off to Traverse City to relax. Tiffany and I thought we would get away for a couple of days and go to my parents house.

We arrived about 3:00pm on Friday. We decided to go to the Music Fest in Traverse City. The people in town were a little wild. At one point I thought I was back in New York. There were people in strange clothes, from pig suites to underwear. There was even a bubble blower in the street. After some great music and good food to bed we go.

While in bed at 3ish in the morning the dog starts to bark. Clearly try to tell us about something, we just wanted her to stop barking. she continued to let us know for a while longer that something was no good outside. (to be continued....)

Saturday we got up early so we could go to the Farmers Market and garage sales. Before we left we loaded a cooler and walked out by the garage (that my parents are building).
Then the rest of the story....
Their lays a dead rabbit that a bobcat must have caught at about 3ish in the morning. Poor thing, after a small funeral we hope the poor rabbit is resting in peace.

At the sale we found some great deals. I bought this cute tepee for work, and a floating cooler for enjoyment.

On one of the roads we went down there was the coolest street sign. No one would believe me if I told you about so I took a picture.

Now that we had a floating cooler it had to be tested, so we went tubing. What a trip!

There is always something with the Brethauer's. We took two cars so we would have one car where we got in the river and we would park one car at the end where we would get out of the river. Low and behold there was a snag in that great idea. Dad locked his keys and wallet in the car at the beginning of our trip and his van was the one at the end. At least we were able to get in the van so we would not have to carry the tubs, however we did have to walk back to the start so we could get the keys.

After tubbing it was just a day to chill out, a few yard games, barbecue, ice cream and a nice walk so Tiffany could ride her scooter. I love these kinds of days, fun filled but not exhausting.

Sunday rolled around fast, it seemed like we just arrived and it is time to go home.

We ended up going to Aden a little city out side of Travers City for and Art fair type thing, that was over before we arrived. So we did a little shopping in there little shops. I found the collest flip flop ever (Twice)! The first coolest ever were called Switch Flops and the second pair were call Hotflops. (Check out the links and guest witch pair of sportsflops Tiff ordered.)
Then to finish our small road trip, we stop at some little parks just to see if they were worth retuning to in the future and then to Tiff's favorite restaurant (bd's Mongolian Barbeque).
The Dog liked the Bessy River the Best and looks forward to returning soon.

After such a great weekend of no stress, I returned home to a dryer that will not turn on.
So I started my week with the thing I like to do best, fix something with my husband. When it comes to working together Mike and I are always like oil and water. No matter how much you work it, it just does not come together. However after lot of hatefulness I have a working dryer!

Calgone take me away!

Putting on a good front!

2008-07-23T23:29:00.005-04:00

Life is not treating me so swell lately.
It seems when I’m stressed one thing after the other falls a part.
I won’t bore you with all of the details, but I will share a few.

1. I have been having this pain in my hip for few weeks now. I have been taking a lot of medication to help. It seems all this medication is having some side effects. I come home everyday from work and sleep.

2. Do to all my sleeping, house work is building up and I’m just behind in everything.

3. I decided to ask for help. I like to blog and really want to blog about everything. So I ask Mike to help me with the Forth party write up. (No help!)
(Now I’m really behind.)
I now had to blog about the party, the building, softball, and a family gathering. (Just this is enough to stress me out!)

4. So I ask my sister Donna to help me out with the blog. (She comes through) She planned on coming over after I got out of work. So I decided to remove the pictures from my camera and upload them onto photo bucket, so we could make a slide show. Seems during this process I deleted all of the softball pictures. (More stress) I had some great pictures.

5. I had a Doctors appointment today to see what is going on the my sometimes painful, sometimes sleeping leg and hip. I came home and had a little time before I had to leave and fell asleep, missed my appointment. Now I can’t get in until next Thursday!

So here is one of my big solutions blog is going to get the shaft, with a boring write up. I’m going to stay up late, clean my house and then chill out on the couch.

I’m so upset about the softball pics I could cry.

Softball up date:

Sod farm fell apart Sunday and lost our first Game. Season is over.

We plan to play Fall Ball. I’m looking for a new Fall Sponsor!! Wish me luck with that!

Steven’s softball team has lost every game this season. Sunday they really needed to lose there first game. The whole team had plans, most of the team was going to the Kid Rock concert, one had a baby shower, Steve was still helping out with the last touches on the building project.
They WON the first game by forfeit.
The Kid Rock group decided to leave a little late to play game two. (I think they really planned on losing, after all they had never won) I was needed for this game, and it went well.
WE WON.
Now for game three and a possible Championship.
For this game we would be missing some players. We ask my Hubby, and three girls from Heritage to help. Low and behold we took home the trophy.
What a great time!
Sorry NO pictures:(

As for my family gathering. This was with the Beebe side (My Mother’s side.). My cousin Steven is in town from California. He and his wife own a producing company, which keeps them busy and we don’t get to see the vary often. However after a long day of softball we were late and I’m sure missed all the fun. It was still fun to catch up with the Family.

Talk about stress my Steven didn’t go with us, he was sick for to much sun. So he stayed home and watched my parents dog.
Mom and Dad should have left about 5:00 or so to get to my uncle house on time. However my sister’s truck had a dead battery and was blocking in there van. Needless to say we all got to my Uncle’s house about 7ish.

Storm on the way to family gathering!

Steven and his wife Brianna

Spitting duck!

Left to right:
Dad, Mom Uncle Raymond, & Aunt Shirley

Glad to get through one more busy weekend!

House work here I come!!!!

Saturday through Jill's Camera and Donna's Verse

2008-07-22T21:46:00.001-04:00

On June 6th there came a great wind
that knocked down trees and giant limbs.
Mandy and George stayed out of the way
but sadly, they lost their garage that day.

Jody called in the troops to clear the debris,
got a big dumpster for an even bigger fee.
Terry brought a doozer, we thought things would go fine,
but we wouldn’t be that lucky due to a bad hydraulic line.
So we tackled the job with shovels, hammers, and an ax,
while Jan did extreme yardwork despite our pleas for her to relax.

On Saturday, July 19th the rebuilding began.
Dad showed up that morning with ladders tied on the van.
Mom brought matching aprons so they could build in style.
They had the walls together in a surprisingly short while.

Even Audrey drove some nails into a 4x4,
while Harry, Jeff, and Terry tried to see who could get hammered more!
Steve was a work-horse, he was such a sight to see -
until he leaned on the fiber board and broke it with his knee.

Jody used a lot of muscle, Dad used a saw
Mildred used us all without even lifting a paw.
Donna used a sharpie and Aunt Jill and Elden used a chair
Jan used her mad-skills to keep the kids out of our hair.

Harry and Steve held up a wall until the rest of the crew was ready,
Dad and Terry hammered in temporary boards to keep the whole frame steady.
Jody called in a pizza order and she let everyone have a rest,
Jessica sat around shyly because that’s what she does best.

They got back to work, the tiny trusses are lifted
Which way is up? The neighbors must think we’re gifted!
Harry claimed a level that used to belong to dad.
Dad decided to get even instead of getting mad.

The ladder held up Georgie while he hung roofing sheath,
The house might have fallen down if it wasn’t held up by Steve.
Mom, Dad and Harry cut and rolled out the tar paper
While Roy and Jeff totally destroyed the hammer-stapler.

The clouds rolled in, here comes the wind, time to call it a day.
Jody, Jill, and Donna put the lumber and tools away.
One thing about our family - you never go hungry or thirsty,
so the boys filled up on Busch Lite and everyone else on KFC.
We really all come together when there is a job to be done,
and the togetherness is entertaining, maybe even fun.

Fourth of July Party @ the Muylle's

2008-07-15T21:33:00.009-04:00

Every year for the last 7 years the Muylle side of the Family has a forth of July party.
It is a lot of fun there is fishing, swimming, boating, food, family, friends and fun. While almost friends, Mike and I don't invite any of our friends, however we should it is great.

Here is Mike, George, Amanda and Addison watching the commotion in the water.

I don't get many of these pictures any more!! Steve and Taylor playing a game!

Here is Tiffany and Karly showing off there mad boating skills.

We popped a hole in the trampoline so the group is helping fix it ,so they can get back out in the water.

They all made it out! From Left to Right :

Two boys we don't know, Courtney, Steve, Jessica, Tiffany, Mitchell resting, and last of all Taylor slowly getting on!

After a long day in the water everyone must lay down for cheese ball fight!
Finally the Fireworks begin, what a great show this year, every year it gets bigger and better. I think they lasted almost 40 minutes. (I will one day add video to you tube!)

Softball

2008-07-15T21:05:00.003-04:00

Sunday we had our last softball game before the playoff tournament.
We were short several players, so we had my son Steve and his girl friend Jessica come and help us out.

Come to find out the other team did not have enough players either and had to forfeit the game. Nice easy win for the Sod Farm!

Thought I would post the schedule for next weekend for those that were not at the game.

By the way, does anyone know how I got everything underlined? How do I remove it? (Boy am I having issues!!)

Great weekend!

2008-07-05T00:19:00.004-04:00

OK, for the Chicks with Sticks game, I was named MVP for the white team. As a gift they gave me 4 passes to the Saginaw Fireworks. They were awesome!! We were able to park on the Island, eat dinner and have the best view of the fireworks (for no cost at all). For those of you who do not get to see them here is a little view.

We also got a couple great new toys. One toy being a game that you play by tossing 2" washers into a box. Inside the box is a cup. 3 points if you make it in the cup, 1 if you get it in the box. I will not bore you with all the details, just wanted to give you a quick synopsis. The other toy is a 7" water trampoline to be used at my in-laws. I just thought I would share a few pics of the toys.
One amazing picture was the first one that as taken. Mike was taking a picture of Taylor and I with the new toy on the lake, while Tiffany and Uncle J were playing on land with the other new toy. Somehow he got both toys in one picture. No, that is not a halo over Tay's head, that is one of the washers that were being tossed that was captured!

He seems to think it is a great shot! I seem to think my @$$ is looking large!!

On the Hunt!!!

2008-07-02T21:55:00.003-04:00

I'm on vacation and things did not go as planned, we are unable to go to Traverse City.

So Tiffany and I decided to gather my sister Donna and her three children to go on a GEO cach.
If your unfamiliar with GEO caching, it is like a treasure hunt using your GPS.

Usually you find a box of some sort filled with little trinkets . You take something and then leave something . To our surprise we would not be taking or leaving anything today. Every GEO hunt we went on they were so tiny we could only sign the log and sometimes this was a challenge. Here are some samples of our troubles today.

Now Tiffany has be challenged, we must find all these little stinkers!!!

Welcome, Elden Ray !!!

2008-06-24T08:58:00.003-04:00

What a great night!
Yesterday Tiffany and I headed up to Hurley Medical Center about 6ish!
My sister was having contraction every 2 minutes, and was comfortable. The contractions were progressing but she was not dilating. She had her last dose of medication a 10:00pm, so they were ready to move things a long. She was given some pitocin and they just kept increasing the amount they gave her. About 2am she was starting to get uncomfortable and was given an Epidural. About 3:15 we were all stretching our legs and getting Jan some candy form the vending machine, when we stepped back in the room they said here comes the baby. Tiffany & I stepped out and Mom and Jody stayed in. I told Tiffany she could push for a long time, there maybe a long wait yet. We decided to just to walking passed the room and the door was open a little and we heard Elden start to cry @ 3:25. They let Tiffany into the room, she was able to meet the baby when he was less then 2 minutes old. The baby came so fast that some of the group missed the whole thing, as they had not returned for getting snacks!

We are waiting

and waiting!

OK, here he comes!!!

Does Aunt Jan still want her candy?

He is perfect!!

Double Header

2008-06-22T21:24:00.004-04:00

It's a great day for 2 softball games!

We are the only team in our division who is still undefeated. Time will soon tell if that will still be true at the end of the day.

Our first game started off decently. We traded runs throughout the game. We were not playing our best ball. We seemed to like just throwing the ball around the diamond while being just generous enough to let them score. We had a few bright moments. Amy made a fantastic running catch in Left Center. Paul and Stacie had a guy in a pickle at third. Paul was chasing him back to third when the runner dove for the base and Paul dove after him. It reminded me of when my kids were younger and watched wrestling. Paul landed on top of the guy with a flying elbow almost certainly grinding him into the base path. OUT!!!! the umpire says! Although Paul got up slowly, he knew he made a darn nice play. Too bad it went all for not, as in the top of the 7th we handed them the game. We were up 7-5, 2 on, 2 out. We then played catch with the grass, the fence and the umpire. We fell apart. 4 runs later we are down 9-7. Our first real breakdown of the season. We couldn't put anything together in the bottom of the inning. A loss.

We had an hour between games and pulled up a few coolers to cool off. We were not a team that was too happy with the way we played. After catching everyone up on the New York trip we got ready for game 2.

As we were watching the other team warm up, we notice that ( I will try to be as nice as I can), we might have to do a "cup" check on this other team. We seriously could only visibly pick out 3 men on that team. We started looking for boobies, sports bras and any other noticeable female attributes. Lets just say, the women on this team swung from both sides of the plate.

Now I know you think I may be being harsh, but there was 2 incidents that played out this tune. The first was when their team was coming up to bat. Paul was running the scorebook and the name they gave as the first at bat was Sara. Paul yells " WHOA WHOA, Sara is the first batter!!. The batter turns and says " I AM Sara. The umpire, then trying to cover for Paul says " OK, but is it Sara H. or Sara A." Uhmm, there was only one Sara on the team!The second happened when the umpire asked their catcher who was playing in the outfield ( he was trying to determine the boy, girl, boy, girl positioning). Now after they determined the names, it still did not help the umpire so he politely said that he could not tell who was who. Their catcher replied " Heh, I have trouble telling who is who too!"

We played pretty well. Angie made a great closed eye catch in right field, Nate had another in the park homerun and Dennis laid the biggest belly smacker crossing home plate for and in the park homer. For those that were at our first practice but not at the game, it looked like Paul's flop at home, only past home plate and a 4.4 on the Richter Scale! Not quite as graceful as Superman when he lands, but a helluva lot funnier. Love ya DENNIS! We thought we were going to have to give the Red Cross a call for a blood transfusion as Dennis was leaking quite well. 2 huge scrapes on his knees, 1 nice one on his shin and yet another on his elbow. It was bleeding well enough that the umpire had to ask him to cover it up or he would not be aloud to play. The man came prepared as a bandage went on the knee, his shin sleeve was hiked up over a knee and his white towel turned a dark red as he cleaned up as best as he could.

On another note I was playing catcher as I seem to have that down pat. A batter comes up, hits a slow roller out front. I bust out from behind the plate. I see Mike coming up, I pick up the ball, the runner is running to first, AAARGHHHH too many things going through my head, should I throw it to first, or toss it to Mike and have him throw it, should I , should Mike, should I should Mike....... I Let the ball FLY!!!!! and the damn thing ends up behind me. Now, lets be honest, I threw it for NEGATIVE yards. After realizing, what the heck I just did, I hear Mike L yell from Right Center "WHAT ARE YOU THROWING? A YO-YO!!!!!" Now yes, I am a tad embarrassed, I walk back to the plate so we can get back to pitching, when i notice the umpire is snickering. I turn and say "It was not that funny", When he replies " Oh **snicker** Yes it was".

We played much better in the field and pulled out a 5-0 win. It made it a little easier to swallow after our performance in the first game.

I need to give a huge shout out to Amy B as she had by far her best day out in the field today. She was making plays left and right. Didn't matter if it was a fly ball or a grounder. She was hustling all over, almost getting to a fly ball that went into right field. If she would have been 5'9" instead of 5' she woulda had it! hehe

With a4-1 record, we can not complain too much. Or can we?

New York (day two)

2008-06-19T21:20:00.010-04:00

Tuesday we wanted to be at the Today Show at 7:00am. Lets just say sore feet, four lady's, NOT HAPPENING!
So this is the day we are going to do our travels on the subway. While walking to the Subway we encountered some New York sidewalks.

This is puke for you slow people!!! And the birds are having breakfast.

This is our first ride on the great Subway!

We get our subway passes and head to the Today Show. Some how we ended coming out of the
Subway right at Rockefeller Center,

right where the staff of the Today show come out. It was really awesome. We had a great time there Joe's blog sums it up!!!

From there we went to the Statue of Liberty. This was also really neat. It is big and Green!

This is where we stopped to eat lunch and some man helped Dawn spill her lunch on the floor. We also ran into Amanda, Lauren and her mother.

Our next stop was Ground Zero.
This was an emotionally draining stop for me. I could not stop thinking that I was most likely at one point going to be standing on the very ground someone lost their life. As we entered St. Paul's our trip went from chatting and laughter to immediate silence. This is the church right next to the Towers that was not damaged from the their collapse. It is also where all of the workers went for rest and food during the clean up and where the memorials were made for all of those that were lost.

This is St. Paul's behind the trees. These trees are what saved the church from damage. The construction in front of the church is the area known as Ground Zero. One of the Towers was located right in front of the church yard.
After leaving the Church we went to the tribute visitor center and tour. On this tour there was a former Firefighter that told his story of how his life has been changed forever from the events of September 11th. As his team arrived at the center he had to encounter some very horrifying things before the tower fell and through him over 600 feet.
I was just overwhelmed by the story this man told.

I was so glad we saved this for our last day, I think it would have been hard to enjoy myself after hearing of such a tragic time.

After we left the tour we still needed to shop for souvenirs and go to a Broadway show. So we needed to keep moving.
We shopped in Chinatown at a van, a closet and over a garbage can. (NO it is not a typo.) After I lost 10 pounds from sweating do to anxiety, I'm able to look back and say it was funny. There are so many people selling things illegally right next to the police, I can't even believe it! Shopping took a little longer then we had anticipated so we had to hustle back to our Hotel to change for the show.
Leaving our Hotel a little late we headed to the Subway. As we are waiting for the train to get there Dawn encounters a RAT! It was great. I wanted a picture so bad. I decided to cross the yellow line and try to take a picture, when a Police Officer came and tried to tell me my life should be more important then a rat. I told him I got a picture of the puke so I really need a picture of the rat. His reply was "I have lived my whole life in New York, taking puke and rats for granted. Now please stay on the other side of the line and close your bag, your in New York!" I didn't get the rat picture my batteries died right as I took the picture.

We arrived with 5 minutes before show time. I must say, I think everyone needs to go to a Broadway Show it was AMAZING!!! We stayed after to see the stars leave and got the signatures of all the stars but one.

After the show we did some last minute shopping and got a bite to eat. We were all so tired and started to get a little silly. Amy almost kicked a Waiter and we still don't know why they call Steak cut onion rings "steak cut"! Were they cut with a steak knife???

That is my wonderful trip to New York!!!

Letting everyone in on the bumps in the road!

2008-06-19T19:59:00.005-04:00

Amy's husband Dennis thought is would be easier on us ladies if we were in Detroit the night before our big trip, so we didn't have to get up so early. He said he had a free night at the Red Roof Inn that we could use. Before we left Dennis tells us don't go to the McDonald's by the Red Roof Inn, it has bad service and terrible food.
So Amy, Dawn, Lupe and I drive down to Detroit Sunday night. As we get in to Detroit, Lupe states that she has not had supper and needs to eat. Dawn pulls into McDonald's (By the Red Roof Inn!) and orders Lupe's food and pop as well as pop and fries for herself and Amy. Before we got out of the parking lot we realize NO straws. So I got voted to walk back up to the drive through window to get our straws. So here goes little Jill in Detroit to the window where there is already another car to get our straws. (It was a funny moment you had to be there!)
Now off we go to our Hotel. Amy goes into the Hotel to check us into our room and comes right out. We go into the room got ready for bed we all laid down. It's quite in to the room as we all have almost falling asleep, when the phone rings. Dawn answers the phone to find the front desk telling her something about her coupon had expired. She hands the phone to Amy. Amy hangs up the phone and says Dennis changed the date on the coupon and they noticed that it was expired and she needed to come down and pay for the room right away.

See our trip is off to a good start. I did forget to say Dawn forgot her tooth brush, Deodorant, and Amy and Lupe did not pack there liquids as required by the airlines. So now my anxiety is starting because I think they are going to get us in trouble.
So now we are at the airport and Amy is directing us to the boarding area, Dawn keeps saying we have to get our tickets. Sure enough we get up to the boarding area and the nice Lady says "you need boarding passes". We turn around to go back and find the area where we need to get our boarding passes. Amy types in the information and out pops three tickets. No ticket for Jill! We check to make sure no one has two, then we find my ticket stuck up in the machine. We now return back to the boarding area where we are able to board with no trouble at all.

I bet you are thinking that our trip is smooth sailing from here, huh?

We got into New York and our flight was great.

We found a taxi and head to the Hotel. The Taxi driver was a CRAZY driver!!!! About three blocks from our Hotel Mr. Crazy crashes into another taxi. I wanted out! Before we could get out Mr. Crazy is back in the taxi, and continues to drive us to our hotel.

Now Amy tells Lupe and I to wait outside while she goes and check in to our room. As we wait, and wait, and wait.

Something hit my eye. I thought it could be water from an air conditioner from above, but my eye starts to swell.
Finally Amy comes out and tell us that they DO NOT have our reservations.
This is when I say "well, here is our situation." I remove my hand from my eye when Amy starts to laugh hysterically.

(It's my left eye, it did get worse!)

After about an hour we did get our room, and after some Benadryl my eye did start to go down.
After all of this, we were still able to laugh at everything and have a great time.

I most say we got a great room!!