Don't Blink, Life Goes Faster Than You Think.

Happy New Year & may you be blessed with good fortune & health. Good luck to all of you who have made a New Year's Resolutions. May you achieve what you are reaching for. See you in 2009. Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

I've been tagged by Tornado! It is not the 6th file. I'm not exactly sure what picture it would be since I also am disorganized with my pictures. This is one of my favorite pictures of my kids. I've had people as me what studio took the picture. No studio. By me. Just a day at McBride Park. It was taken with a 35 mm camera. He was 4 & she was 2. It doesn't seem that long ago.

Friday night dinners are usually pizza & beer. The beer of course is for the 21 & over crowd. Although maybe a beer or two for the kids might not be a bad thing. Just a joke . At least they would crash early. I always looked forward to Friday's when I was in college. My roomies & I would scrape our pockets for quarters & go to Zelda's for Happy Hour for 50 cents drafts & free pizza. How can a poor college student pass up a great deal ? So ever since college, I just can't have pizza without a beer. Here is my 40 something version of Happy Hour. Although the beer is not a draft, we always are trying a new beer.

The kids can't wait to see Marley & Me. Opens Christmas Day. I would rather be here on Christmas than the in laws.

Oh how I love the Christmas Season. The beautiful Christmas trees, the smell of cookies baking, the fun shows to watch with the kids, the decorating. You get the idea. The anticipation builds & builds. It doesn't end for us at the end of the day. The balloon pops for all of us when we go to my in-laws. I'm talking a loud bang. Grandma likes to shower the kids with bunches of presents from "Santa". Good God, Santa would never bring gifts like these. She buys age inappropriate gifts & clothes that never fit. I wouldn't mind if the clothes were way too big however, she buys clothes that are too small. Two Christmases ago she bought my son a Spiderman toy. At the time he still was into Spiderman but it was a toddler age appropriate toy. He was 7 at the time. This year around Halloween, she asked my daughter to email her a Christmas list. Yeah, alleluia, finally gifts that they want. Then, just last week that balloon popped again. My hubby called & said th

Yes, Christmas is coming. Only 34 days away. I vowed this year that I will not let the season slip away & become total chaos. To help relieve the stress, I created a to do list. Next, I set dates to accomplish my tasks. The chocalate chip cookies are baked. The lady lock dough is rolled & will be cut, wrapped & baked tomorrow. I plan to bake one type of cookie each day of the weekend. Tomorrow my daughter & I will bake peanut butter blossoms. Perhaps Sunday will be biscotti. I have one gift down for each grandmother. I had mugs made with the kids pictures on them. Costco has a great deal. I ordered on line & the mugs arrive 2 days later. I was able to take the day off & do some shopping for the kids. I picked up some clothes & a toy or two for each of them. Next major task is wrapping. I'll have to find a day when the kids are at their friends house. This is the picture on the grandma's mugs. Picture on each of the grandma's mugs.

Just celebrated my 41st birthday 2 weeks ago. My wonderful hubby bought me an iPod Touch. I am loving life. I feel like a teenager again. Remember when you first got a walkman. It was the coolest. That's kinda how I feel now. I've been playing around with it & finally figured out how to add my cd's to it. Life is sweet! :)

Last Saturday I took my daughter to see High School Musical 3. Ever since, my daughter thinks she's Sharpay. Do you see the resemblance ?

The kids are off tomorrow & I am calling off. Can't wait to sleep in.

We had lunch at Church. That is the the Chrurch Brew Works in Lawrenceville. Last Sunday afternoon we spent on a farm. The Spring House in Eighty Four, PA

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Can you guess from the pictures were we have been over the weekend? I will reveal the answers on Friday.

Celebrating 250 years! All I can say is WOW!

It's October. Fall has arrived officially. This is my favorite time of the year. The weather is cooler. I love wearing sweaters & sweats. The trees are absolutely beautiful with there new colors. My birthday is at the end of the month. It's a big deal for the kids. I quit counting last year when I turned 40. Pumpkins & apples are in season. That means hot apple cider & pumpkin cookies. Yum! Hallowwen & candy. Although I could do without some of the candy. I guess I could go on. What are your favorite things about October & Fall ?

Today was an emotional day for a friend & co worker of mine. Today would have been Gavin Thomas' First Birthday. Gavin joined the angels on Dec. 28, 2008. Please remember Amber & her family in your prayers. If you would like to donate to a SIDS cause, please donate to First Candle. Make the donation in the memory of Gavin Robert Thomas. https://www.z2systems.com/np/clients/fc/donation.jsp First Candle is a national nonprofit health organization uniting parents, caregivers and researchers nationwide with government, business and community service groups to advance infant health and survival. This was an email from Amber: October is SIDS awareness month. You may print off and display the attached ribbon in honor of my baby Gavin if you wish. He would havecelebrated his first birthday this week. The ribbon is also attached to the"October" email sent. Please share the ribbon to raiseawareness of SIDS encourage everyone to display it this month, in his memory. Thanks.

I made chocolate cupcakes from scratch over the weekend. They turned out very moist. The homemade icing is not the texture that I wanted but not bad. My daughter gave her input for the next time we make them. She wants to add a cream filling.

Don't get me started. Life has been nothing but chaos! Steel Valley reverses itself, closes school for asbestos Friday, September 19, 2008 By Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette For the second time this week, Steel Valley Superintendent William Kinavey closed Park Elementary School in Munhall after parents expressed outrage that they weren't notified earlier of the asbestos in the roof. The school will remain closed until the asbestos is removed. Starting Monday, Park's 350 students in grades 1-5 will attend half-day school sessions at the district's other elementary school, Barrett in Homestead. Dr. Kinavey said Barrett students will attend a morning session at their school and then be dismissed to accommodate Park students who will attend an afternoon session. Those arrangements will continue until all asbestos is removed from the Park building and tests are taken to make sure there is no asbestos in the air or on any surfaces in the building. The superintenden

Today I woke thinking "What should I make for breakfast today? Do they want sausage & eggs or sausage & pancakes?" I'll make my decision while I drink my needed cup of joe. As I enjoyed my first cup down to the last drop, I heard alot of pots banging in the kitchen. So I got up to investigate who was in my kitchen. It was hubby. He had the eggs out, along with some ham & slices of bread. My first thought was, Ok, I won't have to make breakfast for him. Maybe the kids & I will have cereal. Oh good, less to clean up. As I was half way done with my second cup of coffee, he brought me a plate with his version of ham & eggs. Wow! He hasn't cooked me breakfast in years. Not even on Mother's Day. It must be an adrenaline high that he has been on since Friday. You see, he has his second interview for the branch manager position at his company. He is flying to Chicago on Tuesday for it, so please keep your fingers crossed for us.

My daughter had her first soccer game yesterday for the fall season. And of course, mom was down for the count. (Yes, I was cursed with the "Crud". Thanks to some of kids at school. ) She had 3 goals! Call it Murphy's Law. Hubby said that she was on fire. Dad's nick name for our soccer star is the Pink Pyranha.

Our first day of school was Thursday. He is in fourth grade & she is in second grade. The day went great. No complaints about school at this point. However, the homework hasn't started yet.

Over the weekend I found some pictures that are priceless. It seems like yesterday that my husband & I brought them home from the hospital. Now my son is going to 4th grade & my daughter is going to 2nd grade. Life doesn't stand still for anyone. As my blog goes, Don't blink, life goes faster than you think. Then Now