Thursday, January 13, 2011

Day 342 - Wednesday, December 8, 2010


Day 342 - Wednesday, December 8, 2010 – Christmas Around the World...at DA.

Day 341 - Tuesday, December 7, 2010


Day 341 - Tuesday, December 7, 2010 – It's always more fun to play the Wii while wearing your shirt backwards. Everybody knows that. Well, at least Owen knows that.

Day 340 - Monday, December 6, 2010


Day 340 - Monday, December 6, 2010 – Kevin was snowed in and couldn't make it to Indiana today. What better way to spend it than for him to make homemade chicken pot pie?? Delish!

Day 339 - Sunday, December 5, 2010


Day 339 - Sunday, December 5, 2010 – Lowell Duals Wrestling Tournament. This team format is so much fun. There's so much more wrestling to watch in a given day. It's a long day, but a fun day. Grandma Carol and Grandpa Don came to watch, but Grandma couldn't stand to stay for more than a half hour. Mckenna and Carson, Uncle Pat, Aunt Maria, Allison and Rachel along with Dad's cousin Kurt all stopped by at some point. It was fun to have so many fans.

Day 338 - Saturday, December 4, 2010


Day 338 - Saturday, December 4, 2010 – Christmas tradition number 465, Santa Breakfast at DA.

Day 337 - Friday, December 3, 2010


Day 337 - Friday, December 3, 2010 – Jordyn had her first week of driver's training, so Kevin took her out for some practice in the Trailblazer. Oh, Lord!

Day 336 - Thursday, December 2, 2010


Day 336 - Thursday, December 2, 2010 – Is it any wonder that we have too many ornaments on our tree? Every year I put together school photo ornaments like these. Santa puts one in everyone's stocking, and Grandma and Grandpa Hillary buys each child an ornament every year. Then Owen reminded me, "That's what makes the tree pretty."

Day 335 - Wednesday, December 1, 2010


Day 335 - Wednesday, December 1, 2010 – And the first Christmas card of the year award goes to my Aunt Dee...who has Alzheimer's. Irony that makes me smile.

Day 334 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010


Day 334 - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 – Today was the first meeting for the Duals Wrestling Team. This should be fun. Trevor, Austin, Liam, Jack, Hunter....all Freshman Blue buddies.

Day 333 - Monday, November 29, 2010


Day 333 - Monday, November 29, 2010 – Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree! It takes eight hours to build you. With all the lights and garland, too. Without the bulbs, what would we do? Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree! It takes eight hours to build you.

Day 332 - Sunday, November 28, 2010


Day 332 - Sunday, November 28, 2010 – The very first Christmas decoration that Owen insisted we put up this year was Grandma Carol's Christmas village. Let's just hope he doesn't break any more porcelain people on the tile kitchen floor this year. (PS - Happy Birthday Kevin!)

Day 331 - Saturday, November 27, 2010


Day 331 - Saturday, November 27, 2010 – And the Christmas parties begin. Owen is in LOVE with his Mario and Luigi shirt.

Day 330 - Friday, November 26, 2010

Day 330 - Friday, November 26, 2010 – If you've ever played Farkle then you can understand how coming from behind by 3,000 points to surpass the person who has already reached 10,000 points and win the game would create this type of a reaction. Liam was elated!!

Day 329 - Thursday, November 25, 2010


Day 329 - Thursday, November 25, 2010 – Ashton's first Thanksgiving. And his first tryptophan-enduced nap courtesy of Gerber’s first foods, Turkey Dinner. Kev's coma is courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Hillary.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Day 328 - Wednesday, November 24, 2010


Day 328 - Wednesday, November 24, 2010 – The West side wives and I pose by the fireplace after dinner on the biggest bar night of the year. Tricia Schetz, Nikki Wesorick, and Maura Lamoreaux.

Day 327 - Tuesday, November 23, 2010


Day 327 - Tuesday, November 23, 2010 – My new toy. Happy early Birthday and Merry early Christmas to me!! I struggled with whether or not to get this or a digital SLR and ultimately decided that the digital SLR would be too much camera for me, so why spend that much coin on it?

Day 326 - Monday, November 22, 2010


Day 326 - Monday, November 22, 2010 – Now that Owen has joined the wrestling club, this kind of behavior is a daily occurrence.

Day 325 - Sunday, November 21, 2010


Day 325 - Sunday, November 21, 2010 – Jordyn and Kayla hang out in the wilderness -er, lobby -of the GWL.

Day 324 - Saturday, November 20, 2010


Day 324 - Saturday, November 20, 2010 – Catie and Owen were two of the biggest fish at Great Wolf Lodge.

Day 323 - Friday, November 19, 2010


Day 323 - Friday, November 19, 2010 – Kevin and I went out to a very nice (kid free) dinner at Red Ginger in downtown Traverse City with the Parsons and Brian and Tara while Jordyn and Kayla babysat all of the kids back at the hotel. Now THIS is a vacation!

Day 322 - Thursday, November 18, 2010


Day 322 - Thursday, November 18, 2010 – Bailey was phenomenal as Leisl in Ann Arbor's Young People's Theater production of The Sound of Music at Mendelssohn Theater on the campus of the University of Michigan. She'll be famous one day.

Day 321 - Wednesday, November 17, 2010


Day 321 - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 – Visiting Poppa always includes lots of hugs and kisses. If love could heal, dad would be cured by now.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Day 320 - Tuesday, November 16, 2010


Day 320 - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 – Awwwwww yeah, baby, first day of wrestling practice in the new season. Time to unleash the PWM (psycho wrestling mom).

Day 319 - Monday, November 15, 2010


Day 319 - Monday, November 15, 2010 – Grandpa's little allstars.

Day 318 - Sunday, November 14, 2010


Day 318 - Sunday, November 14, 2010 – Is there anything more precious than a sleeping baby? Maybe one that sleeps through the night....consistently.

Day 317 - Saturday, November 13, 2010


Day 317 - Saturday, November 13, 2010 – One superbowl celebration was not enough for our football family. The Raisches hosted another wonderful bonfire tonight to celebrate the undefeated season and the terrific bond the families made with each other this year. And Jordyn got to bring her bf to the party since it was their 7 month "anniversary"!!

Day 316 - Friday, November 12, 2010


Day 316 - Friday, November 12, 2010 – Kevin and I attended the Matt Weber bowling fundraiser in Troy tonight. It reminded us of how much fun bowling can be, and I even broke a hundred each game! I see another bowling league at some point in our future.

Day 315 - Thursday, November 11, 2010


Day 315 - Thursday, November 11, 2010 – We all love it when Daddy is home from Indiana. Especially Ashton.

Day 314 - Wednesday, November 10, 2010


Day 314 - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 – Self portrait in my work attire while in my office. I love it when work attire = husband's comfy cast off college sweatshirt, frayed collar and all.

Day 313 - Tuesday, November 9, 2010


Day 313 - Tuesday, November 9, 2010 – Tonight I hosted a fabulous party with a company called Thirty-One (personalized/embroidered purses, bags, totes, etc.). It's been AGES since I've hosted an in-home sales party. The mix of friends was outstanding and the wine was flowing. Since when is it OK to stay up until 2:30 am on a "school" night?!? I don't know, but it was a blast.

Day 312 - Monday, November 8, 2010


Day 312 - Monday, November 8, 2010 – The kids spent the night at my parents' house where Owen found this storage ottoman. Obviously, it would be more fun to sit IN the ottoman, rather than ON the ottoman while munching on popcorn and watching Horton Hears a Who. Welcome to the wacky ways of Owen Louis.

Day 311 - Sunday, November 7, 2010


Day 311 - Sunday, November 7, 2010 – The day of the superbowl, Susan Boeve, one of the moms, presented each player (25 of them) with this fleece blanket that she embellished with OJW, a paw print, and each player's number. What a gift! As you can see, Liam was ZONKED the day after the superbowl. Yes, he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Day 310 - Saturday, November 6, 2010


Day 310 - Saturday, November 6, 2010 – SUPERBOWL VI Champions! Liam's team (Oxford Junior Wildcats Freshman Blue) went undefeated this year (11-0) and defeated Clarkston Blue quite easily in the superbowl. Of course, the battery to my camera was dead (for the Superbowl?!?) So this picture is courtesy of Domonique Call, whose camera's date setting is off by one day. Not that that is important. What IS important is that Aunt Shawn brought Poppa to the game, despite the frigid temps, and he was able to watch the entire second half of the game. After the victory, the parents and team paraded through down town Oxford taking the trophy from venue to venue (OK, yes, we went bar hopping with the kids). We started at 24th Street Tavern, went across the street to The Tap, went back across the street to the Ox and then ended the night at Coach Wandrie's house for a victory party. It was a total BLAST!

Day 309 - Friday, November 5, 2010


Day 309 - Friday, November 5, 2010 – Thank goodness we've got this extra set of arms around to help lug this squirmy package of perfection around the house.

Day 308 - Thursday, November 4, 2010


Day 308 - Thursday, November 4, 2010 – All of my ducks in a row.

Day 307 - Wednesday, November 3, 2010


Day 307 - Wednesday, November 3, 2010 – Our poor baby has some seriously chapped cheeks so we put Desitin on his face (poor guy). And this sock? Yeah, well, he pretty much never keeps his socks on anymore.

Day 306 - Tuesday, November 2, 2010


Day 306 - Tuesday, November 2, 2010 – A messy office does not a happy Heather make.

Day 305 - Monday, November 1, 2010


Day 305 - Monday, November 1, 2010 – Laundry for six people sure has a way of piling up quickly. At least this stuff is clean.