Inside out

Man what a rough winter!  Bring on the Spring!!! It is so energizing to see the sun peek out of the clouds and give us a smile!  This winter was a very rough one for me as I struggled with a major dose of depression.  I had sunk into a pit that I just couldn't seem to crawl myself out of.  I began counseling again and also with the help of my group of girls that I have Bible study with I have been doing some gut wrenching work inside and realizing a lot in my life that needed to be changed.  I am starting to see the fruits of all of that running waist high in mental mud challenging work and can see the impact that is making on my family and relationships within it.  Things are good, really good and I am going to keep heading in the direction that I am going.  I feel great and have some confidence back.  Things are looking up!

Victoria "Lisa Loeb" Craig

Today I finally got the opportunity to take Victoria to the eye doctor.  Poor kid is blind as a bat and I had no clue.  She is very near sighted at 20/100 in both eyes.  I had NO clue!  She got to pick out a super cute pair of frames and when she gets them in a week I will be sure to post pics. 

"Oh snack!"

If you have been around a teenager in the past 5 years I am sure you have heard the phrase "Oh snap!".  My adorable son has a new version of "Oh snack!" so anytime he drops something or messes up I get a "Oh snack".  Mind you this had different versions like "Oh peanut butter" "Oh cheese stick" or my favorite "Oh piece of cake".  You never know what you are going to when he messes up so it is very tempting to follow him around to find out what food he is going to mention.  Quite cute!

Bye bye Kirbie

Today we are having a going away open house for Kirbie at Church.  She has been there for 4 years and will greatly be missed.  She is going to work with her father at his business. She has helped raise my children and given me so many opportunities to get a break such as Christmas Eve this past year when I showed up to volunteer for a room and found that the only kids there were my own children.  I wanted to make something for her as she was always complimenting me on my creativity.   So I found this online and used it as my inspiration...

I grabbed a piece of pressed wood from my sister's basement and went to work.  I first painted the blue background and taped off a cross..

 After creating the forefront of this piece I slowly pealed away the tape to reveal the cross.  TA-DA!

Not too shabby huh?  Now to add the detail around the cross and a quick coat of Mod Podge.  :)

These other pics didn't turn out too well to show the depth of the blue like is shows in the pic one up.  Lighting was a bit darker.

Hope she likes it! 

Today we headed to the Louisville Science center.  I received a gift from James mom and decided to put it towards something that the family can enjoy and purchased a membership.  The kids were immediately excited about the bubble that you can stand in but didn't get a chance to partake as the crowd was crazy.  Lesson #1 of Science Center membership....avoid Saturday at all cost!  We peeked in this really cool room that we found in Kidzone with all kinds of water play.  I peeked in the room saw what seemed to be millions of toddlers splashing covered head to toe in water and quickly diverted the kids attention away to another area.  ;)  Another day. 

I had the pleasant surprise of Mak texting me asking if we was going to church today.  I arranged to pick her up so that she could go.  Her mom and step dad went to the car show and Mak decided to stay home and try to find a ride to church.  I stood back and smiled at her growth.  Not usual interest for a 16 year old.  I was very proud.

The night ended with some of the biggest tantrums that I have ever seen from my twins.  Addison was testing me all day long (very short nap today) and Anthony's ended with me pulling over on the shoulder on the interstate because he has screamed and wiggled himself out of his seat and had his leg caught in the strap.  I whipped the car over to the shoulder to give him an attitude adjustment make sure that he was ok and then headed home to a glass of wine and some snuggling with Victoria who is doing unbelievable might I say.  I don't want to jinx it.  Her 6 week report came back with nothing but good things to say.  Homework time is so much better after the goal of getting her TV back in her room after 6 consecutive "good attitude" homework sessions.  She has been doing her chores without any lip and just all around doing GREAT!  She was relieved to be the one that got to stay up and watch TV with my in the living room as A & A got sent to bed with no light on and no TV.  She is enjoying the rewards.  Winds of change are blowing through the Craig house and I have to say I like the feel of the breeze.  :)

Megamind night

Anthony particularly has been waiting for Megamind to come out since commercials were shown on TV.  Redbox waited to release it until Fri and I have been reminded every day that he wants to see it.  Tonight we got a chance to take in this cute movie while snuggling in our blankets and pajamas.  I was surprised by the movie.  It was better than I thought it would be.  I even did something that I have never done before for the kids and ordered some Chinese delivery.  No we didn't eat with Chap sticks but MAN that was some good Chinese!

Keeping an eye on Addison she has been asleep since 2:30 and now at 7:30 she is still asleep.  This usually means sickness is around the bend.  Shame I am out of gummy vitamins with Immunity support.  :)

Say what?!

Last night Anthony was drying off from being in the bathtub.  He was in a particularly difficult mood when he began screaming at me that he didn't want me to put lotion on his knees. You know the "knees" that are at the top of your arms.  Most people call them shoulders.  :)

Victoria during our shopping trip the same day walked by the Chinese section of Walmart and asked if we could get some Chinese food one day so that we can sit at the table and eat it with "Chap sticks".  Sure kid!  You want some Lip Smackers or Burt's Bees?

ENERGY!!

Today as I began my Fly "shine the sink" day, which I have to admit looks really good, I began to clean off the kitchen counters.  I noticed Anthony fly out of the kitchen but didn't really think much about it.  About 15 minutes later I went to go check on him and found him laid out flat hiding something under his belly. This is his usual routine when he has something he isn't suppose to have.  I lifted his body up to find the lid to the brand new bottle of Flintstone gummie vitamins and the bottle laying next to it almost empty.  I began to panic and called the number on the bottle and spoke with the company to find that he will be fine and that the only thing that may happen is that he will have a stomach ache.  While on the phone Anthony is flexing his muscles at me and being Superman.  After finding out that he would be fine I had to laugh.  My solid muscle little boy just ate a 2 month supply of vitamins and is now wired for sound.  Later when I picked up the girls from school we headed to Walmart to get some stuff for dinner Anthony's energy had peaked and he was running in place when we stopped to put something in the cart.  Mak and I were laughing hysterically as he acted as though he had drank a case of 5 hour energy.  He finally crashed around 8:30 hard after a very entertaining night. 

I'm "Fly"

Had my buddy Crissy tell me about a website called Fly Lady.  I checked it out and I am going to give it a whirl.  It is basically a get your life and house in order site with a daily task to do.  It isn't an overnight fix she says but our houses didn't get this way overnight either did they?  Each day you get an email with your task to tackle for that day.  They take about 15 minutes.  I can find 15 minutes in my day right?  Check her out! 

Falling in love with my man

Absolutely incredible!  Can I just spend a second to tell you how full my cup is?  A weekend of go with the flow and see what happens with nobody else but my husband.  I met up with him at the hotel and a quick change of clothes we were off to Koto Japanese bistro  We ate at the hibachi table and met some new friends.  Super cool couple and we ended up leaving the restaurant with them and headed out for a night cap.  We went to a little hole in the wall bar with some of the best people watching around for a drink and then retired early to our room.  :)  The morning happened without anyone asking me for anything other than a hug and to not rush.  Casual shower with unlimited hot water (I could have stood in their for hours!) and a little Mark Walburg on the TV.  My husband was so incredible and the lack of a schedule was so exhilarating that the both of us almost needed a few hours to catch our breath to truly enjoy it.  We are always so rushed and at every one's mercy for our time that the concept of just relaxing and getting ready without rushing was so blissful.  Cracker Barrel for breakfast and a little thrifting at a local flea market by the hotel began our morning and then we was off to the theatre to see the movie Unknown.  Decent flick but you can wait to rent it on Redbox.  The drive home was super lonely but it was nice to sing as loud as I want without little voices from the back seat demanding me to stop.  When I got home my phone rang, it was James.  "I just wanted to call and tell you that I love you again.  I believe I accomplished my mission this weekend."  I smiled and asked "What was you mission?" 

"To make sure you know how happy I am that you are my wife."  My heart melted.  Oh I love that man!  When he gets a chance to he really knows how to make a girl feel special.  Who would have known that Richmond Ky was the city of romance.

Early morning pep in the step.

Is it pathetic that I bounced out of the bed?  I am so excited for my surprise adventure with my man!  I remember when we were first dating I was able to hop in the car and take off and meet him in St. Louis, or other closer places and it was so much fun!  I love it!  Now to get the kids packed up and ready for their adventures at Mamaw's house and my parents. They are just as excited as I am about my trip.  Victoria has asked me so many questions about my "date" with daddy. She thinks it is just as cute as I do.  Anthony just scaled my left side to yell in my ear "WE GOING TO GRAMMA'S HOUSE!!"  The house is alive this morning!  Victoria just yelled from the kitchen "Mom are you excited about your date?"  It is amazing how much things like this reignite the spark. 

The cat is out of the bag.

I am going to get out of these four walls, this town, this state for a bit.  I am not going far but that is not the point I have a super sweet romantic husband that is thoughtful enough to know when I need to break away from mommyland and be wife for a bit.  I am SO thankful for his thoughtfulness.  He has a load that is not going to take him through home this weekend and I have shed some tears these past few months missing him. We have his other kids every other weekend but when you are only home every other weekend and have to share him with 4 kids demanding his attention too I kind of feel like I am fighting a mob for 24 hours only to wave goodbye again for too many days.  I get him all to myself in Richmond Ky.  I get a road trip all to myself to blast the radio and roll down the windows on these beautiful days we have had.  I am so looking forward to waking up tomorrow.  :)

Winds of change

Community park was pretty empty today during our picnic. After we got out of the car we understood why. My goodness it was windy! Makenzie really appreciated her picnic and Addison did NOT! My goodness Terrible 3s is more like it! That girl is so emotional she makes me look like a palace guard. I have got my work cut out for me on that one.

Everyone having a good time except Addison Marie.  This was her demeanor the WHOLE time we were there.  She was screaming she was cold but refused to put on her jacket or hat.  It was very frustrating. Good thing the Chicken salad was good.  lol

Got any insight on how to get through this stage?

 Mak had a good time and laughed through the whole picnic. Between Addison screams and us trying to hold down everything on the table from the wind it proved to be a very interesting Birthday celebration.

My little helper.  He is a trooper when it comes to doing "man stuff". He is so low key until he gets his feeling hurt then he is shattered.

Earlier in the day Anthony figured out that the cool pants that Grandma found him unzip at the leg to make them into shorts.  He refused to let me zip them back up so I just went with it.  You can see in this pic of him playing how ridiculous adorable he looked.

I see you little man!  What a smile that kid has it just melts my heart!

Surprises ahead

Today I am getting stuff ready for a surprise picnic in the park with the kids to celebrate (late) Makenzie's 16th birthday.  I have my homemade chicken salad in the fridge (her favorite) and am going to make some brownies too.  Can't wait to be outside and enjoy this weather. Hope it doesn't get too windy. 

On another surprise note.  James called yesterday and needed me to look up a desiel shop out in Arizona.  He blew a hose in the truck and a stupid 60 hose ended up costing about 500 in labor due to the location of the hose.  Ugh!  Oh well what can you do?  James told me that he was blaming it on me because he was trying to surprise me.  My ears perked right up.  He told me that he is going to drive as hard as he can to try to make up time but wouldn't tell me anything else about it other than "If I make it home in time you will be going on a trip to 'nowhere' and that is all I am going to tell you so don't ask anymore questions."  I am so curious!  Wonder what it would be.   He did say that he had a load from Ky to somwhere in Ohio.  I wonder if he has a sitter and I am going to go on a run with him in the truck.  I LOVE going with him on the road.  Wish I could do it more.  I will keep ya posted and will be sure to bring my camera along.  Any little surprise is exciting to me.

Wow what weather

Man this weather in the 60s is really helping with blowing out the cobwebs in my brian.  So beautiful!  My neck has been out for the past couple of days so I was laid up on the couch but I had almost every window open in the house.  After school we headed outside for some sidewalk chalk fun.  I really should have taken my camera outside to snap some shots but I was too busy getting in the action.  Can't wait till tomorrow.  I believe I am going to surprise all the kids and pack a picnic to celebrate Mak's birthday late.  She loves my chicken salad so we might just head to the park and enjoy a little fun.

Search and find

Addison my night owl gets bored when everyone else goes to sleep and she is still wide awake.  To entertain herself she insists on taking ALL toys out that she has access to and playing.  In the morning when I am stumbling through the room in search of her I always have to play search and find in the mound of toys to find my daughter.  Can you spot her?

Happy Valentines Day and the "big reveal" :)

I am still not completely finished with the second one but you get the idea of where I am going with it.  I believe it needs some more color and that the lettering is a bit too generic but with some more inspiration I am sure it will come out nice.  Here is #1.

I love the lyrics to the David Crowder song He loves us and so it inspired my art this time around. 

On #2 I wanted a more subdued feel and something that had deeper color than the above piece.  I started off with a thick layer of paint and then took a skewer and scrapped some design into the paint revealing the underneath color.  It looks really cool.  After I completed that I added some detail in a lighter blue on the left side and some more in the corners.  After painting the lettering (try not to notice the obvious spacing mix up of the word ocean) and then headed outside to fling some watered down white on top to give it a little more pop.  I am not settled on this font and yet I can't really paint over it.  Any color options that I should add.  I am open to suggestions.  This will be going on the wall in the living room and those walls will eventually be painted a golden buttery yellow.  Again open for suggestions.

Now to share a pic of our Valentine trip to the zoo.  Fun as always!  Check out that look on Addison's face.  I know as a mother I should say "Oh poor baby" but when you this seems to be Addison's normal expression.  Terrible twos my butt it is 3 you have to watch out for.  What a handful but I love her more than I can say.  Happy Valentines day honey.  We miss you.  Have a safe trip out to Cali.

This pic makes me smile.  Both of the twins fell asleep laying on sissy and she helplessly sat squished inbetween them on the way home.

Happy Birthday Honey!

Today is my sweeties birthday.  I was sad to see him go when he took off out of the door to head to California. :(  Bummer but good miles and the truck is moving just hate that he has to be in it. 

I tried my hand at some homemade cake doughnuts late last night with my new doughnut pan that I got at it is pretty cool but I will need to find a new recipe because I wasn't too impressed with how they tasted.  Kids got a kick out of them though and James appreciated the surprise when he woke up.

James hit the jackpot this year for Valentines day.  He got me a gift certificate for Ben Franklins.  :)  Hate that we won't get to spend Valentines day together this year but we can always spend lots of time on the phone. 

We got a sweet surprise of a Valentine from the Penningtons.  I was going to drive by and sneak a treat to them but they beat me to it. :)

Still at it

I am so excited about my David Crowder installment of wall art.  I am almost finished with #2 of my two piece set.  I am really excited about how they are turning out.  Can't wait to hang them!  While you wait for the "big reveal" as Jill put it listen to this song and get inspired!  Pay no attention to his hair even though I think it is awesome!

Almost forgot..

This morning I am walking around that house like a zombie trying to remember how to make coffee and Victoria comes out of her room "ready for school"  She has on black sweatpants, her red plaid peasant shirt (backwards) and her shiny black knee boots.  We cut her hair recently and short curls look extra good in the morning let me tell ya. Another time I wish I had my camera on hand to capture the moment.  It was quite a sight.

Oh what a night!

I am not talking in a late Sept. '63 kind of way, it was one heck of a night!  Addison started crying and screaming her ear hurt around 9 last night.  I held her gave her Tylenol and nothing seems to help at all.  I finally got her to sleep around 1:30 this morning and she woke up every half hour just screaming.  I grabbed a washrag and put hot water on it to lay her head on.  She tried that for about 2 minutes and then she was over it.  She was then mad that her ear was hurting and that her favorite hippo washcloth was in a sandwich bag and hot. She didn't want anything touching her but wanted someone to help her.  I felt helpless.  At 2:00 when Addison finally fell asleep the first time Victoria started screaming from her room and was in a coughing fit and could barely breathe.  I slid ever so slowly out of my bed and went to rescue Victoria with some cough strips and Tylenol.  I had only left my bed and Addison for about 2 minutes when the screams from my bedroom began again "Mommy I want my ear to stop hurting."  (Insert cries of helpless mother here.)  Anthony needed to be checked for a pulse, he slept through the whole thing, even when Addison insisted she needed HER bed and continued to scream from there as I laid on the floor next to her.  I am in zombie mode and Aunt Flo decided to visit this morning too!  Yippee!  I hope you can hear the sarcasm. 

Thank God James is coming home today.  He has been gone 9 days and I miss him terribly.  He has been busting his butt and losing sleep trying to get home from Washington.  He will be home only tonight Saturday and leaving Sunday (while squeezing in Valentine's day, his birthday, Mak's sweet 16, Brooklyn's weekend to come over and helping his mom continue to fight Insurance companies before he leaves for California) Sounds like a fun filled weekend doesn't it?

Can I just tell you how excited I am about my hunk-o-plywood painting?  Can't wait to show it on here!  Until then check this out. These have been watched a million times at my house and provides tears each and every time.  Hope you enjoy! 

Cough Cough (Snooze) Cough Cough

Poor Victoria is having a rough time with this cough that is lingering she was up most of the night and came in my room to wake me up a couple of times during the night so that I could get her some water.  She looked like she had been run over by a truck when I went into check on her.  I told her the second time (around 3:30 this morning) to just turn her alarm off and go back to sleep and get some rest.  She kind of gave me the "What do you think I have been trying to do Ice skate?" look and then turned to go back to sleep.  She woke up a little after 8 and said she felt like going to school. 

Last night I got a chance to get some crafting done.  I grabbed a piece of plywood that I found behind the dryer and with a little acrylic paint I am transforming it into a nice little piece of art.  Can't wait to share.  I got inspired by listening to the song "He loves us" by David Crowder Band.  One of my all time favs.  Crissy is borrowing my camera for the time being so that she can photograph some of her stuff that she is making and selling on etsy.  Here is a link to her site.  Check her out!  I have purchased 3 pair of earrings and only paid $10!!  Now you can't do that at Walmart and they are handmade and so darn cute!

Sleep it off kid

The kids seem to be doing better today. Not perfectly healthy but much better.  The twins are like me and when they don't feel good they just want to sleep.  I scooped up the kids to take Victoria to the bus stop. Poor thing she coughed all night but insisted that she wanted to go to school today.  Her fever is gone and the doc said that the cough would hang on for quite some time.  Anthony and Addison were not fans of waking up.  I went ahead and gave them their dose of medicine and asked them what they wanted for dinner.  Anthony insisted on pancakes.  I put Anthony's pancake on the plate cut it up with my pizza cutter and the pancake kept its circle shape except for one corner piece that had moved about an inch away from the rest of the pancake.  He threw a fit.  Anthony doesn't like things to be out of place unless it was his idea.  I tried to fix it but he was already ticked and threw his head down on the table to cry.  Problem is that when he threw his head down he was so upset that he misjudged how close the table was and knocked the crap out of his nose in the process.  Addison is at my feet pulling on my shirt asking for her juice and my eye is on Anthony making sure he doesn't have a bleeding nose.  Poor kid!  He ended up eating two bites of his pancake and heading back to bed.  I am the same way when I am sick.  Leave me alone and let me sleep it off.

They are now back to bed and asleep and I have used the time to catch up on some of my DVR and now I am going to get some laundry done while the house is still and quiet.

I need to get some Valentine ideas together for the kids. Any ideas?  Makenzie's sweet 16 is this Friday and James birthday is the Sunday.  I am in a bit of a scramble for ideas. 

Todays workout

Stiff backed I woke up this morning to find a 2 hour delay for school.  I had slept on the twins floor as Anthony was up to 102.1 last night with his fever.  Addison not far behind.  I had made an appointment for Anthony today and ended up taking all three with me as Victoria started to get her fever. 

The doc appointment was interesting.  We got as many things done as we could while there.  Doc checked out the twins and Victoria to see what the problem was and source of the fever and after WWE wrestling match  getting a swab to check for the flu we determined that it was just a viral infection.  Victoria had an appointment for her med check for her ADHD medicine so we squeezed that in as well along with the booster for the flu vaccine.  By the end of it I was a dripping mess as I had wrestled children in the room for over 2 hours.  There is only so many things I could shove in my bag of tricks to entertain them.  They did fairly well considering but it was mostly due to me taking the roll of cruise director and circus clown to entertain them.  They had their 3 year well check not too long ago and the memory of the shots were much to fresh for them.  I had to hold Anthony down to get his booster as he can't take the mist with his history of breathing problems.

After we left I headed over to Walmart to get provisions.  Benadryl was recommended for the cough and of course some Tylenol for the fever.  We headed to McDonalds for some happy meals and then home with our Redbox movies for entertainment.  I got everyone snuggled in on sick island (in the living room rug this time) and popped the first movie in.  We were all tired but the kids were excited at all of us "camping" in the living room and it was a bit of a struggle to get them to lay down.  I got the movie put in and got my blanket just right as I laid down on the couch myself and the movie began.  It was subtitled!  I couldn't hold back the laughter as all three kids looked back at me lost as the characters were speaking Japanese.  The movie was called Jump and it is about a young girl that wants to be a dancer.  I thought Victoria would like it but didn't realize that she wouldnt' be able to read fast enough to keep up with it.  What a day!

Oh I forgot to mention that when I got home the Tylenol that I purchased had leaked all over the bag?  Lovely.

We are all still in the living room and I am watching You Again for the second time. Such a funny movie!  Go rent it you will be sure to laugh.

I am ready to get back crafting

Now that life has calmed down a bit and the dust has settled from life there are things that I need to get back to.  I have unfinished projects laying all around the house.  I was looking back at this post to find that I have some things left undone in the chaos of the past month.  So I will tackle those left over projects.  Still need to get those pillows done and need to get a headboard going.  I am so looking forward to some nice weather so that I can get outside and do some painting!  I have needed to have a can of spray paint in my hand for quite some time now.  Bring on the sunshine!  I hear we have more snow on the way. 

Another project that I am to work on is to define myself without using any examples of relationships in my life as in "Mother to.."  I have been going back to Victoria's counselor and been sorting through some stuff and this is my homework for this week.  Seems I define myself too much by my role in other people's lives.  This is a tough one.  I am so saturated in my role that I am going to have to really dig deep to find things that are "Kelly" and not just "Mommy, wife, chef, taxi driver, waste management"  but this is something I am willing to sink my teeth into and see where it takes me.

Bug free post of encouragement..

While checking Facebook this morning I came across this status and it touched me..

Some days we wake up and realize how much of a mess we used to be and thank God for his grace.  Other days we wake up and realize how much a mess we STILL are and thank God for his grace.

So true.  I have to say that I do both every day.  I look back at where I came from and thank God that I am no longer on that path and then I look at my life now and my struggles within my self and thank Him daily for still loving me.  Even when you feel that God isn't working on you as quickly as we want in this immediate gratification world He is moving in His perfect time and we need to take a moment thank Him for doing work in us at all.  I would have given up on myself long ago if it hadn't been for the hope that I have in Him.  In what ways has grace affected your life?  Think about it and thank Him today for the things that He has saved you from.

Back to "normal"

After a wonderful night with my oldest the tantrums began again.  I would love to say that the tantrums were coming from the twins but I hate to admit that my 7 year old had mastered that art when she came to live with us and refuses to leave that phase behind.  I thought with the extra undivided attention and not having to compete for it that the behavior would calm down a bit but I digress.

During a conference call with James over a physical altercation in the back seat with her brother I notice it.  She has picked up lice from somewhere again.  Quit scratching your head.  Nobody wants to let the world know that their kids the head lice magnet.  Seems Grant Line Elementary is noted for it for some reason.  Last time she had it (about two months ago) I contacted the school to let them know to check the other students in her class and nothing ever came of it.  Very frustrating and I can't lock her in her room until she is 18.

 I am writing to let you know this, we have found the most awesomest thing in the world.  Nobody is immune to lice so I am going to pass this little tidbit along.  LiceMD is the most amazing wonderful product out there.  I have used RID and Nix before when Victoria picked the critters up from school back in Kindergarten and they didn't get rid of the problem like I had hopped.  I kept seeing nits.  This stuff is pesticide free and can be used again immediately if needed unlike the others where you have to wait for 3 days I believe.  Who wants to wait 3 days when they know that those critters are on your kids head?  Not me! I find it strange as this is about 3-4 times now that she has brought them home and nobody else in the family has picked them up. They really like her curls I guess.  I have used LiceMD twice now and she is nit free as soon as she gets out of the bathtub.  I call that success!  Now if they can just produce a product that strips the beds, washes and folds the laundry we will be in business.  Now onto do the next load of laundry.  Ugh!

On a side note I checked Victoria's head thoroughly this morning and not one single nit.  Woohoo! 

Winter Jam

What a fun day.  My sister invited me to go with her and the kids to Winter Jam at Freedom Hall.  I had never been and was very excited at the opportunity to go.  Mom swung by and picked up the twins and I began to get ready. Victoria had no clue what was going on but knew that we were having a date night.  We hopped in the shower and got ready and I ended up telling her that we were about to go to her first concert.  She was so excited!

We started off the night with a little McDonalds.  We even made it an official date and went IN the store.  That is huge for us.  She was a nervous wreck.  Shaking with excitement.  She couldn't even get the lid on the cup.  I told her "Honey you need to calm down and breathe.  If you think you are nervous now on a date with your mom wait till you grow up and are on a date with a boy. "  We enjoyed our dollar chicken sandwich and met up with Punkin, Ariel, Tyler and Kirstie.

The place was packed.  Over 13,000 were there!  We arrived when the band Red was playing.  Flames were shooting off of the stage and Victoria's eyes about popped out of her head.  I wish we could have caught a little more of their set.  I really liked them.  Other bands were David Crowder (who always put on a good show), Kutless, and Newsboys among others.  The newsboys drummer is someone I want to hang out with.  He is from Australia and was so much fun to watch during the whole show but when his drum set raised up on a platform and then tilted to 90 degrees and begun to spin I was up out of my chair with my jaw hanging on the floor.  What a show!

Victoria's favorite was Francesca Battistelli.  She loves her song Free to be me. 

Our night ended with what every concert night should end with Taco Bell!  Victoria couldn't believe that we were eating so late and ordered two tacos and we ate them in the living room watching late night TV. What a date we had!

What the groundhog saw when he immerged from his burrow.

He saw my trash can lids a few houses down.  Our swing in our yard turned upside down.  A screen is missing from Victoria's window.  All three of our trash cans tipped over and bags of garbage blocking my driveway. An upset woman dressed in very loud pajama pants that had not had her coffee yet grunting and mumbling something about crazy bitter cold wind and how early the bus comes.  COME ON SPRING!!!