Christmas Eve Has Arrived

After a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner we joined Teresa, Jen and Isaiah for a gift exchange. The kids had a wonderful time and afterwards the kids (including Isaiah) came over to check Santa's status and what time he would be in our area so they could be in bed on time. Both of the kids fell asleep quickly and couldn't wait for the arrival of Santa. Merry Christmas to all of you!

To start off, I was able to spend a fun day with Jimmy yesterday and we had lots of fun. Taylor went to work with Eric and that left me and my baby, we walked to the park (I say walked, but Jimmy rode his bike) and we made chocolate chip cookies for Santa. This part of the day Jim loved because he got to put all the ingredients in and even got to use the mixer. At the park we played tag and he taught me the correct way to play basketball, he said he had to practice and let me know I was doing it all wrong. We stayed busy all day and I even had time to get my daily chores finished.

Today, Taylor and Jimmy went over to play with Emily and Jon, so Eric and I had some time to do a little shopping. He took me to Crispers for lunch (which is one of my favorite places to eat) and then we walked around the mall. We picked the kids up from Susan's and now we are getting ready to pop in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to get us in teh Christmas spirit. Taylor has never watched this movie and we figured it would be one she will enjoy. Movie and hot wings, what a great way to spend the evening.

We are also looking for a new home and will hopefully find one by February. We have found a few that we are going to look at next week and they are all in brand new subdivisions. We will keep everyone posted with what we have found, but we are still unsure if we will be staying in Lakeland or move to Winter Haven, I guess it all has to do with the right house.

Counting Down...

The kids are getting so excited for Christmas that they can't even stand it. We have only a small area of living room that we can actually walk through because of all the presents. I get the same question everyday from both of them, "Can I open a present?" and then I reply with, "Yes, on Christmas." Packages started arriving yesterday with more presents making them even more excited and of course Jimmy does not have the concept of time and doesn't realize he only has a few more days. He informed me last night that reindeer and a sleigh is stupid and Santa needs a car like his Jeep. I always thought kids loved the flying reindeer concept, but I guess he does not. Each of them check their gifts daily to make sure they are all where they belong and none have disappeared.

I want to thank everyone for sending presents and cards and we will be thinking of each and every one of you on Christmas Day. We will be heading to Orange City Christmas morning where we will have dinner with Bob, Carol, Kim, Vicky and the rest of the Johnson family, thank you for inviting us. The kids love Uncle Bob and Aunt Carol's but what they don't realize is they will not be able to swim. They are predicting a wet Christmas here and I hear in KC they are suppose to be getting flurries, so a White Christmas may be in store. I will most likely post the day after Christmas since the day of is so hectic, but if I can find the time I will.

I started this Blog the day after Christmas last year and it was one of the best things I could have done, it keeps the family up to date on our life in Florida. Thank you Alisha and Greg for starting yours and giving me the fantastic idea. I love The Jack sites as well, I get to watch Izabel grow through all the pictures and see what is up in the everyday life of the family. Thanks for inviting us into your home on a daily basis, I just wish you lived there while I did, we could have had a lot of fun.

I wish everyone the best Christmas and a very happy New Year. I will take a lot of pictures and videos on Christmas and post as many as I can on the site. I love and miss you all!

Maucelli Christmas Photos

Nick ans Sydney
Angie, Ann, Maw Maw, Mindy, Mom
Nick nad Nani
Angie, Ann, Nani, Mindy and Mom
Nick and Maw Maw
Nick and Rachel

Sunday was Poppa and Nani's family Christmas. It has turned out easier to do Christmas the week before so it's not so hectic and it has seemed to work. I decided to make an appearance to the party via Florida, so I called and had them put the phone on speaker and we had our phone on speaker, the kids loved it. It is hard during the holidays but I almost felt like I was there and that was nice. I am hoping more pictures were taken because I didn't get any of Sean, Kyle or Matt, if there were more please send them my way for a post. I am glad to see Rachel back at home safe with her family and good luck with the baby.

Bob and Carol invited us to Christmas dinner so I guess we may make an appearance this year. It's a long drive to Orange City but it's probably better to drive on Christmas. I was planning on staying home for the kids but Taylor really wants to go, she loves going to Uncle Bob's and Aunt Carol's no matter what day it is. I told her I would get back with her but I think we will probably go so we can have some kind of family get together for the holidays. We are having a Christmas Eve party with our neighbor's so the kids can exchange presents and that will be fun for them. Happy Holidays to all and we love and miss you all.

Update on Everyone

We are all back to normal and Eric was feeling better the morning after his episode. We have tried to rest as much as possible over the weekend but I did have to finish the rest of my Christmas shopping and I am now totally done. Teresa went shopping with me Saturday and we had a lot of fun. Eric and I had a bad effect from our sickness and I have to say it was the worse thing I have ever experenced, loss of taste. I have never had that happen before and it was horrible. It was not where you could barely taste but actually no taste whatsoever, I would not wish that on anyone. We are now all better though and Eric finally made it back to work after his 3 days off. Thank you for all the emails and I hope everyone is back to normal after the bug going around in KC.

Scary Night

We are all still sick but Eric has proven to be the worse. I do feel a little guilty because I was mad at him for not getting out of bed for the last two days when I had to stay up and tend to the kids. Tonight I realized he is very sick and if he is not better by morning I was informed to take him to the hospital. He had finally came out of the bedroom and sat in the chair for only a few minutes before heading to the bathroom. When he started heading back there, I headed outside for a quick smoke, the next thing I knew Taylor told me Daddy fell and I ran inside to find him laying half in the bathroom and half in the hall. He has been running a fever and I figured he broke it because when I went to him his shirt was soaked with sweat. I got the shirt off of him and had him crawl to bed and that is when I noticed his eyes looked sunken in and purple all around them. I took his temperature and even after that drenching sweat it was still very high. I put the kids to bed and then headed to Walgreens where I talked to the pharmacist and he told me the signs of dehydration and when I explained what had just happened he said it didn't sound like the flu that has been going around and that I should give him Tylenol and Gatorade and if he still can't break it I should take him to the ER. It has been 3 1/2 hours since I gave him everything and he is still running this fever. I am planning on staying up so I can watch him and make sure everything is okay. Right now I am a little worried and hope everything turns out okay when he actually wakes up. I will keep everyone posted tomorrow on how it turned out, all I can say is I am so sick of this damn sickness that is going around and can't wait for it to be gone so I can get some rest.

Taylor started feeling much better yesterday where I felt even worse. Eric offered to take the kids to work with him but I opted for them to stay home and they did very good. I rested all day and Tay helped me with Jimmy, she is a great help and tries to be such a little mommy.

Eric was able to pick up the car from the service department yesterday, it turns out it was a spark plug that was causing the problem and now the car is running great again.

I woke up this morning feeling so much better but Eric was feeling like "a truck hit him" as he put it. I actually called in for him so he could stay in bed and hopefully he can sleep it off today. I still have a slight sore throat and I'm still a little congested but I definitely feel so much better. I am planning on doing school with Taylor so our whole Christmas vacation is gone but we will lose some of it so we can get caught up.

Just to let everyone know packages have been shipped through UPS so they should be there within a few day, please let us know when they arrive so we don't worry they got lost.

Merry Christmas

I was finally able to add the kids picture with Santa. Jimmy asked for Bob and Thomas stuff and Tay asked for a Nintendo GameCube with Harvest Moon game. I guess we'll have to see if they get what they asked for.

Too Much Going Wrong

It has been a rough couple days around here starting with Saturday afternoon. Taylor became very sick running a 103 temp and spent most of the afternoon and evening sleeping. Yesterday started the throwing up and not being able to eat or drink and became another day of sleeping. I ran to the grocery store and was very happy driving my new car, no problems, just a nice smooth ride. I got home a put the groceries away and then Eric decided to head over to the dealership so he could get his sub box out of the car we traded. He called me about 10 minutes after he left saying that the check engine light was flashing on and off and the car was shaking really bad. He had me buy a carfax on the vehicle which came back clean, so I called him back and told him that if the dealership wouldn't fix it to just get our old car back and tell them to shove this one. They agreed to fix it and set us up with a new car until it is done.

By the time Eric got home I was feeling horrible, I have caught whatever it is that Taylor has and it sucked. I started feeling really tired, then my throat became very scratchy like it was almost raw and then the coughing started. Taylor is doing no better today and has only gotten out of bed to run to the bathroom. I am planning on taking her to the doctor if she can't keep anything down today. It is very pitiful watching your children so sick and their is nothing you can do to comfort them.

Cuddle Time

Daddy and Jimmy cuddled on the couch this morning watching Uncle Buck. Jimmy has really warmed up to Eric this past week and I can see Eric has loved the attention from his "favorite boy".

My Early Christmas Present

Eric got me my early Christmas present last night. The car is great and I had fun driving around this morning. This is an upgrade of my '96 Explorer and it makes that car look small. I ran to the store and couldn't believe how much room I had left over. It also has a third row, so it is a mini-van in an SUV. We did get the bigger engine, which is not good if gas goes up but the power is great. I have always been a Chevy girl but I do like the Ford trucks the best. Thank you Honey, I love it!

A Bump in the Road

We went to get our new Expedition today and came upon some bad news, someone during the night vandalized 4 cars in the lot and ours was one of them. They told us when we arrived that the windows had bust broken out and we figured they could fix that, but as they walked us into the garage where the car was kept, not only did they break every window on the car but they used a baseball bat and they doors were dented to hell and back. The salesman told us that it would be covered by insurance and they would repair everything but we smiled and told them we would rather have a car without any problems. He told us that their Lincoln Mercury lot had the same car with all the same features and he would bring it to the lot for us to check out or else we could find another car anywhere and they would get it from that dealership. I was so bummed, I had been waiting all day for that car. I guess everything happens for a reason, so tomorrow we will be heading back to see what can be done.

A New Vehicle in Our Horizon

I finally found the car that I want and we both loved it after giving it a test spin. We actually showed up at the dealership late and filled out the paperwork but told them we would be back today because the kids were hungry. What kind of vehicle is it, a Ford Expedition, and it was so big but a very good ride. Jimmy loved it because it has the 3rd row seat. So, we will find out today how much they are willing to deal on this car and figure out if it will be our next vehicle. It would be great for travelling to KC with all the room, so check back to see if it becomes ours.

Weekend in Review

At the start of the weekend Eric was feeling pretty crappy with a sore throat but by Saturday afternoon he was feeling a lot better. We took the kids to Lakeland Mall and ate lunch in the food court before taking the kids to see Santa. Taylor and Jimmy were both excited but Jimmy was beside himself, he ran up to Santa and gave him a huge hug and said "Santa, I have missed you!" We looked in a couple of the store before stopping in JC Penney to do some clothes shopping for Taylor. She found many outfits and walked out of the mall very happy. We were so pooped after shopping that we all came home and had a nap.

I decided to do the rest of my Christmas shopping shopping Sunday and I took Taylor along with me. We decided to try out the new mall in Lakeland which is an outside mall and looks just like your Zona Rosa. I was able to finish most of my Christmas shopping, all I need to buy for are Nick and Stephi, other than that I am done and now Eric finally has presents under the tree. I took Taylor to Stone Cold Creamery for ice cream and we sat outside one of the stores and ate our ice cream and talked, it was a good bonding time for us.

I decided to make an Italian dinner last night which turned out fabulous, Steak Pizaola, Siclian Potatoes and sauteed garlic mushrooms. Taylor has been wanting peppermint bark, so in between dinner I made some bark and she was very happy. Now my Tay Tay is not feeling well and she will be spending the day resting so we can get her all better before the Christmas parade on Thursday. Lakeland has a great parade every December that starts off with a fireworks display and then a big parade, we are all very excited for it.

I wanted to post the picture of the kids sitting on Santa but my scanner is not wanting to do it's job so I will work on it today and see if I can't get it working. Have a wonderful Monday!

A Little Bit of Everything

We are now back to school and have been working hard all this week. The week seems so boring when we are off that long and I am not looking forward to the three weeks off before Christmas. Well, I am finally almost done with Christmas shopping and I am so proud of myself for actually staying under what we decided on our Christmas budget. I have never used a budget and felt that it would be hard but I was able to get almost everything on the kids' lists with money left over. I say almost because Taylor had some pretty big ticket items on hers: cell phone, iPOD, laptop computer, if it is expensive, she had it on there. Jimmy is pretty basic and really just wants Cars and Bob the Builder.

If you need ideas for the kids Taylor wants Tinkerbell things to decorate her room and Jimmy needs Disney Pixar Cars accessories for his room. I have asked the kids to have Eric take them to Wal-Mart and each to buy a undecorated house for a Christmas Village and paint it so I can add it to mine. I would rather have something that I can look back on from them and that is the best present I could think of. Taylor has given them away in the past to grandparents but I am ready for my own special house.

Jimmy received a gift from our neighbor Greg today (Greg is Teresa's brother, Cody's dad,) he brought Jimmy his own TV for his bedroom and I hooked cable up to it and he was so happy. Thank you, Greg, we appreciate the gift very much.

I have missed Mom a lot since she left, it just didn't seem she was here that long. She helped Taylor decorate her room and she moved Jimmy's room around, giving him much more room to play and he loves it. She was a great help and I loved having her, we all did.

The kids have started their Advent calendars today and we are starting on the countdown to Christmas. Each got a piece of chocolate first thing this morning, which is a treat in itself, since chocolate is a no-no in the morning. Each of the kids each got a chore list as well and they will start getting allowance each week. Taylor will get a total of $10 a week but $5 will go towards saving and Jimmy will get $5 a week but $2.50 will go towards savings. Eric and I felt this will be good for both of them and of course Taylor's list has a lot more than Jimmy's. Jimmy will have to start clearing his own dishes from the table while Taylor has picked up some bathroom chores. I let everyone know last night that kitchen duty is for everyone, Jimmy taking care of his plates and glasses, Taylor taking care of the dining room and Eric and I are on kitchen clean up. I don't mind doing the house but I think I deserve a little help from everyone else who lives here too.

Taylor's grade for November will be posted this weekend some time so please check those out. Taylor will be having several tests and quizzes next week and will spend a lot of the weekend studying. Eric has picked up reading with her in the evening. I assign her a chapter each night out of her Path to Adventure book and I give him the teacher's copy and she has hers and they will sit and read and then he asks her the oral discussion questions out of the book. It is actually pretty comical watching them read together, he makes it a lot of fun and she can't wait until their reading time together. We are going to the zoo on the 18th of this month for a field trip in science, she is still working on vertebrates and invertebrates and that has to be the best place to go to find them. I will have her write a report when we return to see what she learned from the trip.

More Pics

A Day at Disney

We had a wonderful day at Walt Disney World and Disney MGM. Here are the pictures from our day.

Here are a few new pictures of Jimmy that have been taken for the last few days. Check out his new Disney Pixar Cars rug that Nani bought for him and he loves it. She also bought several of the cars from the movie and that is all he has been playing with. He is such a gorgeous little guy, even when he is goofying around in pictures.

Happy 9th Birthday Taylor

Taylor celebrated her 9Th birthday yesterday and what a day she had starting at 6 a.m. ready to open her presents. After all the presents were opened, Eric and I went to the kitchen and made her egg casserole, which turned out great. We got Taylor a Baskins Robbins ice cream cake and clown ice cream cones (she has a Barbie candle against her wish but I couldn't find my candles and so she settled for that one.) Eric and I took the kids to Lake Bonny Park for an hour or so while mom stuck around the house and had some quiet time to herself. Taylor wanted meatball grinders for dinner and that is exactly what she got, all in all, she had a pretty good birthday. Today we are headed to Disney World where we will be park hopping today but Jimmy is running 104 temperature so Mom is staying with him, but we couldn't disappoint Taylor. I will take as many pictures as I can and have them posted tonight. Mom is leaving tomorrow morning and we hate to see her go, especially Jimmy who has wanted nothing to do with any of us but wants his Nani all the time. He wants to go back with her so bad and she is planning on coming back soon to pick the kids up and take them back with her for a week or so. check back to check out Taylor's Disney pictures.

Taylor's Birthday Gifts:

Daddy, Mommy and Jimmy: Tinkerbell chair, Outfit designer kit, Disney World

Nani, Grandpa Ky-Ky: Tinkerbell wall clock, Tinkerbell clothes hamper, jammies, outfit, Tinkerbell throw pillow, Tinkerbell lamp, 2 Tinkerbell posters

Poppa and Nani Celli: 3-piece Disney Princess baby doll set (playpen, stroller and High chair)

Maw-Maw: porcelain doll

Aunt Nini: CD walkman

Teresa and Isaiah: make your own bracelet set

Thanks to all who got her something, she loved all of it and had a great birthday.

Taylor's Big Surprise

Taylor's big birthday surprise arrived yesterday afternoon! We took Taylor to the airport and she was expecting to pick up a friend of Eric's when actually we were picking up my mom. Mom decided last week to fly here the day after Thanksgiving and surprise Taylor, and boy did it. Taylor and Jimmy were sitting at a table in the airport when my mom walked up behind them, I had the camcorder in my hand to catch her reaction, when I saw Mom I lifted it and she must have seen me and turned around and then looked back at me and the next thing I knew she had whipped her head back around and jumped off the seat and ran to my mom. Tay and Jim were both so excited. Jimmy actually thought Nani flew out here to pick him up and take him back to Kansas City.

Mom took the kids to Wal-Mart this morning and bought things to decorate their rooms. She took them to dinner at Red Lobster tonight and then to the movies to see Flushed Away. Jimmy is actally sick today and I plan on keeping him home all day tomorrow and hopefully he will be all better on Monday so we can go to Disney World. He was running a temp and has a bad cough, but he loves him Nani being here.

It was a hard secret to keep but the kids were surprised and I am very happy to have my mom here with me. She is driving all over the place and having fun with her grandkids. Thanks for coming and making the kids so happy and me too. I love having you with me and my family and I know this is one of the best birthday presents Taylor could get. We love you Mom/Nani!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, the turkey is in the oven and the giblets and neck are simmering on the stove (so my cats can enjoy a good dinner too), and the rest will be prepared when Taylor wakes up. Jimmy tried to wake up with me but since it was so early I sent him back to bed, I want him to have a happy day, not a grumpy one. Hopefully everyone will have a great day and the food will be fabulous! Love you all and miss you, have a great Turkey Day!

Getting Back on My Feet

I am finally getting over my kidney infection and now I am able to move around. I started having bad pains Sunday night and today is really the first day that I have been able to move about. I prepared the pumpkin pie and cranberries this morning, which makes two less things that will need to be done tomorrow. Jimmy and Taylor helped with the pie and it turned out very nice. I have been in pain the last few days, so it is nice not having it constantly. I still have the throbbing that comes along with this but it is nothing too bad and I am grateful, I was afraid that I would be down for the count Thanksgiving. Jimmy wants to help tomorrow as well so I will let him join in on the cooking as well. He loves the kitchen and "making" (which is our stirring.)

Taylor knows now where we are taking her for her birthday, Disney World yet again. We figured it's a fun thing for both of the kids and they will really enjoy themselves. We are actually going on Monday instead of Sunday so we will beat the weekend crowds that we had to fight last year. Being a holiday weekend as well makes it worse and kids go back to school Monday so hopefully it won't be too bad. She still has one big surprise she has to wait for and that will be the best ever. She doesn't even know she has one coming but it will blow her away!

I wish everyone a great Thanksgiving and we all send our love. It is hard to be away from family for the holidays but we do think of each and everyone of you. Hopefully next year we can come to town for Thanksgiving and Chip's birthday. I will be posting pictures soon so keep checking back.

Shopping is On!

I finally did my Christmas shopping last night and got most of it done in one trip. Eric watched the kids as I made my way to Wal-Mart last night when hardly anyone was there, no mad rush except outside where there were tents and long lines of people waiting for the new Nintendo. I feel better now that I finally got my shopping started and was able to find almost everything on Tay's list. Jimmy is another story, I was able to pick up a few of his things but I will have to order the rest from the Internet, they barely had anything that he wanted. I have a good idea what I am getting Eric for Christmas but I will have to wait closer to the day.

My daughter's birthday is in a week and she will now have the best birthday. Our plans are now under wraps but Eric and I have figured the best thing for her birthday and she will love it. I will post pictures the night of her big day for all to see. She will have one of the best birthdays ever, I can guarantee it!

We did buy our turkey yesterday at Sam's and got a great deal on it and I picked up a 3 lb. bag of cranberries. We all love cranberries so 3 lbs. is perfect. The kids and I are going to the store today to pick up the rest of the things we need for our dinner. Eric is spending the day at the Bucc's game with his friend Sid and I hope he is having a great day. He was pretty excited this morning to go and let around 10:00 so he could beat some of the traffic. I tried to get him to wear his Chief's sweatshirt but that was a no-go of course.

I have also decided to redo Jimmy's bedroom in Disney Pixar's Cars. I figured it would look great with his race car bed and it is one of Jimmy's favorite Disney movies ever. He loves Tow Mater (ME TOO!) and watches the movie everyday, sometimes twice and laughs all through it. I can't wait to get started on his room, it will be a lot of fun.

The countdown is on for Thanksgiving and Tay and I have been planning our dinner. We have invited our wonderful neighbor's who plan to join us for our "lunch" before heading to their family dinner. Our menu is ready to go and we plan to go shopping Friday for all of our needs. So far our dinner menu is:

-Turkey
-Dressing
-Cranberries
-Dumplings
-Mashed Potatoes
-Corn
-Green Bean Casserole
-Fruit Salad
-Pumpkin Pie

I may have forgotten something but that is pretty good I think. I will wake up bright and early to put the turkey on and then wake Taylor up so we can start cooking. I cannot wait to cook with my daughter, we had so much fun last year. Here, I thought I would have a horrible holiday since it was the first I was away from my family, but it was great making memories and traditions with my own family at home.

Taylor's birthday is the Sunday after Thanksgiving and she is so excited. She has scratched all of the plans she thought she wanted for her birthday and has decided to go to one of the Tampa malls so she can visit Build-A-Bear, get her ears pierced again (like she needs more holes in her head hehehe) and lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Eric promised her an outfit from Limited Too and a Coach purse she found with Tinkerbell. Taylor is a very good little girl and deserves a great birthday where she is the "Princess of the Day". She has asked me to make her Bistecca Pizzaiola for her birthday dinner and she wants my breakfast casserole for breakfast and I plan to do all of them for her. She will have 3 good meals on her special day. I can't believe my baby is going to be nine, it's sad to know she is growing up.

Our Weekend

I have to say it has been a long weekend and it all started Friday evening when Teresa and Jen invited me over to chat. This is nothing new, we spend each evening visiting but for some reason the night flew by and when I decided to run downstairs to grab a new pack of cigs and noticed it was 4:30 a.m. Teresa put on my coffee and we sat outside and watched the sun rise. Jen had headed to bed around 1 a.m. and when she woke up to get ready for work and saw us in the same place she left us, she was shocked. I finally got into my own bed at 7 a.m. and Eric asked if I was just coming to bed and when I said yes he didn't believe me. After I told him we just got to talking he laughed. He kept the kids quiet and let me sleep most of Saturday. We went to lunch and did some shopping for me to come home and go back to bed. When I finally woke up we put in a movie and watched Polar Express with the kids. Eric took us to Cracker Barrel for breakfast Sunday and then we spent the rest of the day cleaning and resting. The kids got their rooms picked up, they weren't too bad but did need a good pick-up.

I did talk to Rachel yesterday and everything is going great with her. She is very excited for the new baby and can't wait to start buying things for her bundle of joy. She is a little unsure about actually giving birth and said she is hoping for a C-Section, but I told her she will be fine.

Eric and I have also decided it is time to expand our family too with a third and final child. I am only giving myself until 30, that gives me a year and if it doesn't happen I will be done. I would love to have another baby but I know that I am also happy with what I have so I won't be too disappointed if it doesn't happen. We spent part of the afternoon discussing this issue and decided that now is the best time and for once we are on the same page. So, if all goes well, we will have a Tony or Kiara sometime next year.

We started this morning off with a great breakfast and started school. This is our last week until after Thanksgiving and Taylor is so happy for this week to be over. Jimmy is also doing great in school and is starting to really recognize letters and numbers along with letter sounds. His ability to write letters is great, he mocks me and does them perfect the first time. I have two very bright kids and I am happy that I get to spend everyday with them. I have the best job in the world.

I decided to put my Christmas Village up yesterday since I had bought a few new pieces for it. By this morning the cats have been playing in the "snow" and my village people were knocked over, so I guess it will be a long season with them getting into things. Here is the picture of the village before the cats got a hold of it.

Taylor and Cody

This is Taylor's new friend Cody. These two were playing on the computer, which is their favorite thing to do. I really enjoy having him around, he is very respectful and an all around great kid. He lives about 10 minutes away but he is always welcome to come around anytime. I am sure you will hear more about him, he seems to be around a lot these days.

We have a day off of school today but spent the rest of the week working our butts off. I ran into a little problem that I am not sure how it happened but we ended up about two weeks a head in Spelling and History, so we are taking a little break from these two subjects so we can catch up quicker. We will be all caught up by next Friday, our last day before Thanksgiving Break. Thanksgiving Break will give Taylor and Jimmy 11 days (that's including weekends) off school. I don't ever remember getting that much time off, but we go with Polk County School District and that's what they have.

I have a couple birthdays coming up and of course Christmas, so I have got to start shopping. I don't even know where to start and do not even have the desire. I have never felt like this before, usually at this I time my Christmas is almost done and I think I only have a few presents, which I bought right after last Christmas. Alisha, Renee and Susan, please send me lists for the kids so I know what they would like. I will be shopping for kids only this year and for my siblings and parents. Eric and I are buying a yearly pass to Cypress Gardens so we can take the kids. Teresa will be getting one for her and Isaiah, so now we can take the kids once a week. Cypress also has a water park that is included in the park admission and the passes are so cheap, $70 a piece and that included weekend concerts, both parks and parking...World's of Fun isn't even that cheap and they don't include Ocean's of Fun.

I am hosting a movie day for the kids in the neighborhood since there is no school today. I must be crazy because the younger kids want to play while the older ones get mad because they want to watch. We will be viewing Cars today with lots of popcorn and nachos. It works out pretty good, each parent sends a certain goodie (drinks, popcorn, chips) so one person isn't paying for all. Teresa will probably come along as well so I won't be in a looney bin after the movie is over.

A Little 9 Week Research

Baby Dooley is now 9 weeks old. She/He can now move all limbs (shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and ankles), the touch pads of fingers are developing, eyelids are fused until 27 weeks, and earlobes are now developed. Since we haven't seen Rachel in awhile I thought I'd do some research and find out a little about the baby.

I do have my predictions, I think she will have a boy on June 12, 2006. I actually had a feeling she was going to have a little girl but I looked at the Chinese chart and it was correct for both of my children and felt I better go with that. It says it's 99% accurate (I'm not saying I believe that) so what does it hurt to have a few wives' tales thrown into the mixed.

Rachel, if you get to read this, I thought I would post a picture of a 9 week old fetus through a 3-D sonogram, so you could see what your little one looks like.

We have had a busy weekend starting with Sunday when Eric took me on a great date. We decided at the last minute to drive to Tampa and have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. After the best dinner we decided to head over to The Hard Rock Casino to help me with my gambling withdraws (yes, I admit it, after being in KC for so long with Nani I became a slot machine junkie) and it helped and I started winning right when we walked in. We only stayed about an hour when I cashed out and headed home to our children. Taylor and Jimmy had so much fun staying with Teresa and I guess Taylor kept everyone really entertained.

I also want to let everyone know that Taylor's grades are in on her homeschool page if anyone wants to check them out.

Taylor has found her a boyfriend named Cody and he has been here two days in a row after school. Cody is 10-years-old and he is a very good boy. The two of them play Pogo Bowl on Pogo.com and it's funny listening to them talk about the TV shows they watch on MTV. I guess one good thing about this is that I haven't heard one word about Chad in a few days.

Jimmy the Pop Star

Attack on the Inside

Here is Underground's first video and thought I would share it with all. This is titled "Attack on the Inside" and one of my favorite songs.

Halloween/Birthdays and More

Halloween went great this year and the kids had a blast and tons of candy. We decided to walk the neighborhood with Teresa and Isaiah. After the "Trick or Treating" we all met up at Bev's for sweet tea and CSI. Jimmy actually went to sleep on his own he was so pooped and Taylor settled down with some TV in bed. If you haven't seen Izabel's costume, you need to head over to her site, she is such a cutie.

I know I am a day late but Happy Birthday Maw-Maw. Yesterday she celebrated her birthday and we were able to get a hold of her to sing and wish her the best. Tomorrow I get to celebrate my own birthday but Eric and I are celebrating Saturday night when Teresa gets back from her fishing trip. She called me the other night and volunteered to watch the kids so Eric and I could have a night out. I couldn't believe it, we have only gone out twice (excluding when I came to visit while in Missouri) since we have lived here. Mom watched the kids for us when she was in town and so did Nani and Poppa. We have decided to try out the new steakhouse Louie Mac's so hopefully it will have a good prime rib.

I also want to announce that we are expecting a new baby in our family! Rachel Nikole just let us know that she is 2 months pregnant and we all wish her nothing but the best. She is living in Atlanta with her boyfriend and everything is going good. I will give updates as they come in through that famous grapevine. I love and miss you Rach and congradulations on your baby.