Happy Birthday Katie!

Can someone tell me where the last 4 years have gone? I mean, wasn't it just yesterday that I was holding a brand new baby in my arms? I have been spending the morning reliving the day of my baby's birth and just looking on in awe in all the things that she is able to do...count to 30, knows all her ABC's and is beginning to read already! She can skip and dance and knows more about ballet than I do! She started taking ballet a month or so ago and is already on her way to being so graceful and wonderful. Her vocabulary is just out of this world and she carries on the best conversations. I just love this kid with all my heart.

Many of you have seen this montage, but I love it so much that I am going to put it here again!

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

The Great Wolf Lodge

OK - Since people have been e-mailing me and calling me I thought I would tell you all that I am fine, just busy trying to get ready for my surgery. Here are some pics from our trip this weekend. One of these days I am going to learn to put the pictures in the right order!


Here are the majestic Niagara Falls. This picture was taken from a big enclosed ferris wheel. It was almost like a gondola ride. Isn't it beautiful?
Here are the girls posing out the window of their cabin. A picture of the whole cabin (and yes, it was inside our room) is on the bottom. Gillian, then Katie and then Gillian's friend! They had a great time!

Katie splashing in the water. They had a 6 story tree house with lots of ways to get wet!

Here is Katie coming down the "baby" slide as she called it! After she got a taste of the bigger slides, this one was too tame for her!

I would have to say this is my favorite picture of Katie! What a ham!

Katie inside the cabin in their room. It really was cool. She was sitting on the bottom bunk! (And yes Kristen, that's the blanket you made her...we never leave home without it!

When you first walk in the lobby they have a talking tree, Mama bear and Mo, the Moose. Katie wasn't too fond of any of them at first. But she really liked the story time they had at night as long as she didn't get too close to them!

Here is the outside of the cabin! You can see the ladder up to the upper bunk. They had a single bed on the other wall. They also had their own TV. Cheryl and I had our own queen bed and TV over the fireplace. It was nice!

The reason you don't see many pics of Gillian is that she was off with her friend all weekend and I never had the camera when she was around! I will scan some pics in that her friend took though! They all had a super time!

Another snow day

I don't even know how much snow we have gotten since this all started. I do know that I started to take pictures of the snow on the deck, kind of as a measuring point and when I started you could still open the gate and now the snow is about about 5" from the top of the deck. No school again today and the kids have all of next week off. I am wanting to go and jump in a snow bank myself! Still depressed, but feeling a little better today for some reason. I have a book on hold at the library and some overdue ones, but I can't get out to pick it up and drop the other ones off. Katie has swim lessons today at 4 and I am hopeful that we might make it! Just so that I can see another adult.

The pain clinic up the mg's of my oxycontin and I am hopeful that it will help. I didn't take my percocet last night or this morning and while there is some pain, it doesn't seem so intense. I am waiting to see if I need to take some after I get some housework done. The little bit I can do.

So, when I upload the pics to my computer, I will come back here and show you all the snow progression in Upstate NY!

Depression

Why am I so depressed? I am not lying when I tell you that I am very depressed and I think it has to do with the fact that all it ever does around here is blow cold wind and SNOW. Now I know that we got off lucky until today, but I am seriously wanting to move to somewhere WARM. I can barely tolerate the cold so I am literally a prisoner in my own home. Yet, we can't afford to move anywhere. I guess I feel like I am stuck. Just stuck here. In the ice and snow. Even as a small child my mother would wrap me all up and shove me out the door. I am not kidding when I tell you that there is ONE picture of me ouside as a child. I would go into the smallest place I could get and hide when she mentioned OUTSIDE any time it was colder than 70 degree's. Last year when we were in Cancun, I was in heaven.

So if that doesn't get any worse, the temp is -10. That isn't anything because the winds are supposed to start gusting right about the time they make the decision to close school. So, another day with the kids. I already know it.

Last thing that I am going to complain about. I went out to get the mail and the plow flew around the corner and I had to jump into a snow bank to avoid getting killed. See we don't have those little tiny plows that most states have, we have big HONKING plows that take out everything in their paths. Mostly mailboxes. Most pepole get a new one every year. They should just add it to our taxes and put up new ones every year!

Clearly I am a bear. I need to hibernate. Someone tell my kids that huh?

The Beginning

Here is Katie again in front of our house. You can barely see the fence in front of the house and you can see that the snow is almost up to the bottom of the windows in front.

Gillian and Kate building a snow fort. Too bad you can't see Katie's face since Gillian smooshed her hat down over her eyes! Yes, that is the roof of my car behind Gillian!

Katie in front of a snow bank! It's taller than her! You can see the houses in our neighborhood behind her and believe it or not there is a road seperating where Katie is and the houses on the other side!

Here are some pictures from the beginning of the storm! Yes, this is the beginning. We will get about 3 feet when all is said and done and this is about a foot and a half. Maybe a little more. I am sure school will be closed tomorrow not becuse of the snow, but because we are supposed to get 50-60 mile an hour winds starting after midnight with temps in the -25 to -30. They are also predicting more lake effect snow after midnight.

And poor Katie. Next week is winter break so she won't get her Valentine's Party for 2 more weeks. Poor kid!

I would cry, but all you can really do in this situation is laugh. I have some before and after pics from our deck that I will try and post in a bit!

NOR-EASTER A COMIN'

I am writing in purple because I am depressed. We are supposed to get between 2-4 FEET of snow over the next 2-3 days. They say that when we wake up tomorrow morning 12-20" will have already fallen and then it will snow all day, into the night and through to Thursday morning. You know what that means don't you? No school to start with. Gillian will be thrilled. Katie will cry. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and she has spent the last 3 nights signing her valentines and taping M&M's on them. So, I am betting her party will have to wait till Monday. She'll cry. I will cry because I will be TRAPPED in the house. TRAPPED. Wednesday is the day that I work and although the agency will be open, clients won't come in, because they are the ONLY people in Syracuse who actually heed the DO NOT DRIVE BECAUSE IT'S TOO DANGEROUS warnings.

See, that is something I don't get. The county posts all these warnings about "No unnessesary driving" but your employer still wants you to come to work. Even though you know your clients won't be there. The Centro bus will be on a snow route (which basically means it doesn't run much) and most of our clients use the bus for transportation. Fortunately for me, I just don't get paid when my clients don't come in so I will be on the phone in the morning collecting all the so and so isn't coming today calls and then weeping more because not only will I be stuck in the house with 2 kids with NO MEANS OF ESCAPE, but I won't be making any money either.
::::SIGH:::::

One thing I am getting a big kick out of is the weather man on 9WSYR (google it and watch the storm team podcast if you think I am kidding) is practically jumping up and down with excitement. Nothing like a good snow storm to get the metorologist jumping around here.

Don't know if I will post tomorrow or just stay in bed with a pillow over my head! Oh right, I can't do that because schools will be closed......ARGH!

So proud of my girl!

Here is the story they ran on Gillian. She is signing tomorrow's performance of Grease! at her high school!

http://www.syracuse.com/poststandard/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1171015470163230.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

Enjoy! I haven't seen the picture that they took of her, but when I get the paper later, I will scan it in (with the story) and then you can all enjoy both together!

Author Challenge

I saw this on another blog and thought it was cool. So I am stealing it.
Authors I have read in 2007

A
B
C
D) Good Harbor - Anita Diamant , More Twisted- Jeffrey Deaver
E ) Motor Mouth - Janet Evanovich
F ) Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
G
H) Nature Girl - Carl Hiaasen
I) The Faith Club - Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver and Pricilla Warner
J ) Stalemate - Iris Johansen
K) Capital Crimes - Jonathan and Faye Kellerman
L
M) Wicked - Gregory Maguire, Half In Love - Maile Meloy, Brainless: The Lies And Lunacy Of Ann Coulter - Joe Maguire
N
O
P) High Profile - Robert B. Parker
Q
R) Born in Death - J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) Innocent In Death - J.D. Robb
S
T) Bad Twin - Gary Troup
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

I thought that I would do this on my reading blog, but I have kind of given up on that one. No one reads it and I got tired of doing all that work for just myself. So, this will just be one post that I will come back and edit as I read books.