I hope that all our family and friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a nice Thanksgiving spent at David's parents house. We enjoyed a nice turkey dinner and the kids enjoyed spending time at Grandma & Grandpa's. Unfortunately, Great-Grandma was not feeling well and we hope she gets to feeling better soon.
We are spending Sunday with my parents, grandparents and siblings and are looking forward to spending the day all together over turkey and all the fixings. I got the news today that "Tom the Turkey" has met the butchers block and is ready to go for Sunday dinner. I told my mom that it makes thinking about that turkey dinner a little different knowing that the turkey had once lived there on the farm. Poor Tom!

I dropped Peyton off at school on Tuesday and learned that he is starting to show a side of himself that the teachers have not seen yet. He is still behaving, but he got caught tackling another classmate on the playground. The story has it that he was actually defending one of his friends, but the teacher let him know that instead of taking matters into his own hands that he should let the teacher handle it. She said a little of his ornery side that I've been describing has come out a bit - hopefully, he will keep it under control at school and not show himself too much.
Peyton woke me up early this morning and we watched cartoons quietly on the couch together. It was about an hour later when the others started slowing making their way down and how things turned - I asked Peyton "What happened to that sweet little boy that was spending time with me earlier?" He just looked at me with this little smile and said 'He's gone!" At least he was honest.
We are excited that Peyton has started speech therapy through the school district. It is a long drawn out process to get it started and it took several months - but we've completed all the necessary steps to get him going. It is nice because they work with him throughout the week and between the therapy sessions and being in the preschool environment, we feel like he will make great progress quickly.

I went for my stress/echo test on Tuesday morning and that treadmill kicked my butt! Wow, what a workout in such a short amount of time. I should be hearing some results in the next few days, but I am sure everything was fine. I've just been having these weird pains for quite a while and my doctor thought we should at least get everything checked out. It's tough getting older!

We have some big news! Aubrey is officially potty trained and wearing her big girl panties all the time. I am so proud of her. She has pretty much been potty trained for a while now, but still wanted to wear a diaper. She is quite proud of her big girl panties and is even staying dry throughout the night. One left in diapers - I am so happy and will be even happier when I can stop this expense altogether.

I took David's truck in today to get the brakes checked out and $400 later we left with a new set of brakes and roters. I told the Midas guys that they were being quite greedy this year, as they took my vacation fund for back brakes and now felt the need to take my Christmas fund for front brakes. It seems like expenses like this always comes at the most inopportune time - but I guess there probably isn't a "good" time for these types of expenses. The good thing is - we know the truck with now stop as long as David applies the brakes in a timely matter. :)

Until next time...

Dawn

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

There is so much to be thankful for on this day and as I reflect on the people in my life so many come to mind. I am very blessed with a large extended family of whom are all very important in my life. I have a wonderful network of friends and even though we are not always able to get together or see each other - it's good to know they are always there.
I am very thankful for my five beautiful children - Zachary, Hunter, Peyton, Aubrey and Tanner
and my husband David who puts up with me on a daily basis.

I am looking forward to enjoying a good Turkey dinner and spending some quality family time together both today and over the weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Dawn

Hunter has had a few issues at school lately with crying again. We wasn't quite sure what was going on, but I ended up taking him back to Urgent Care last week and he had another ear infection. That seemed to help him after he got on the antibiotic, but he's still been having bouts of crying this week - he misses his daddy. He enjoys school, but has me wondering what is going on.

Peyton had a little issue at school today, but he was the victim. It seems like another little boy was having some issues today and not quite sure what happened, but the other little boy pulled out a handful of hair out of the back of Peyton's head. According to the teacher, it was unprovoked. His hair is pretty short too, so not sure how he was able to pull out a little section. The other little boy got sent home and when he returns has to apologize to Peyton.
Peyton insisted on a haircut tonight, so we trimmed it up - I think he feels much better now.
This did give me the opportunity to share with Peyton on how it feels to be on this end of things. He did listen so we'll see how that goes.

David and I picked up a treadmill the other day at his Grandma's house and I have been walking on it each morning and night - I'm hoping that it will help out in my quest to lose weight. So far, I've kept to my schedule, but it's only been a few days.

I had a doctor's appointment last week for myself and checked out good. I do have to get a stress/echo test done next week - but I'm sure everything is just fine. I don't need a stress test to tell me what is going on - I'm the mom of five children and four of them are age 6 and under. Problem solved!

I have to vent a little bit - I dislike this time of year so much. The early darkness only creates utter chaos around our house as the kids are unable to go outside in the evenings. They seem to try our patience just a little bit more than normal and they do their fair share of fighting, but it just seems intensified. I am looking forward to the weekend with some daylight hours and hopefully decent weather so they can GO OUTSIDE!!! :)

They all ended up crying after bathtime tonight as they made such a mess with the water. The evening pretty much is ending the way it's been all night. Thank goodness bedtime has happened and I am looking forward to doing this again tomorrow evening!


Take Care...

Dawn

A Busy Long Weekend

I apologize in advance if this is long - it was a very busy weekend.

Our weekend started early on Friday, I took off work around 1:00 and headed home and packed up a suitcase for the kids trip to Grandma's house. While I was getting everything ready to go, David went and picked up the kids early from school and as soon as they got back, everyone got loaded up and we headed to my parents. We dropped them off, visited for a couple minutes and headed back to the city to celebrate our anniversary. We checked in to the Embassy Suites on the Plaza, changed clothes and then headed down to the Melting Pot for dinner. This sounds simple enough, but I don't know if I've mentioned before - my husband is not the best driver in the world. Of course, he would deny this, but I was losing my patience by the minute and it wasn't making for a very pleasant start to our night. I thought for sure in a parking garage we were going to end up in some sort of accident. Once we finally did get parked and was on our way, I quickly informed him it was going to take me a few minutes for my nerves to calm. I'm sure he was none to excited about my complaining, but seriously, if you were in the car - you would totally understand!
I had printed off the menu for the Melting Pot so that we were prepared when we got there and would know what we wanted to order. This went very smoothly and they brought us the first course of the cheese fondue. If you know David very well, you would know he is a very picky eater, so I wasn't sure how the night would totally go - but he did pretty good. They brought some veggies (carrots, celery, cauliflower and broccoli), granny smith apples chopped and bread for the cheese dip. David looked at the veggies and said, well - I guess you can have all of that except for a few carrots and then debated on how the apples/cheese would go. He liked it somewhat, but luckily they brought the bread to go along. The next course was salad and it was very good. Then comes the meat - this was exactly as the menu had said with the exception that they included salmon. You would have thought that they were serving him liver and onions - I told him not to worry, I would eat the salmon. I'm not sure what our waiter thought! After the waiter left, we joked because I told him - you are giving me great material for my blog! As the night went on, he would say - are you going to blog about that! The waiter kept stressing to us how hot the pot was and burners were - when we were done with the third course - meat and veggies - and we were waiting for them to take away the pot, I said to David, oh - there is a potato in there we must have missed - so, he grabs the handle of the pot to look - OUCH! It was so hot - we laughed and he said, are you going to put that on the blog - here it is, I wouldn't want to disappoint him! Our fourth and final course, was the best of all - the chocolate fondue. We both had a great time at dinner and as worried as I was that he wouldn't care for it - he enjoyed it and even said he'd go there again.
Saturday morning we slept in for a bit, but then got up early to have breakfast at the hotel. The Embassy Suites has the BEST breakfast - they had a cook there making omelets and biscuits and gravy. We headed home at checkout time and enjoyed the quiet at home. We were going to go out and enjoy the day, but decided to stay home and just revel in the quiet. We caught up on tv shows we had DVR'd and was able to get through an entire show without stopping! It was nice for a change, but of course, we did miss the kids.
We headed out around five on Saturday evening and drove down to the Music Hall and got early parking for the Lion King and then walked down to the KCP&L district. We hadn't been down there since it had opened all up and wanted to check it out. We walked around the KC Live section where they have the concerts and such and enjoyed a drink outside sitting next to a fire and hung out there until it was time to head back up to the Music Hall. The Lion King was as good as I remember from when I saw it in NY on Broadway. The theatrics and costumes are absolutely amazing and I wish I could have taken the kids to see it. I think they would have enjoyed it - especially Zach & Hunter.
I got up early on Sunday morning and headed down to my parents so I could attend Mass with the kids. Zach and Hunter had ended up going Saturday night with their cousins, so they stayed at Grandmas's house with Aubrey and Tanner, while Peyton and I attended Mass with Grandma & Grandpa. It was very uneventful with one than with all five. We spent most of the day at their house, but came home early evening to spend some time with David before he headed off to work. As soon as we pulled into the driveway, Zach mentioned to me - whose black purse is that in the car? I called my mom to let her know it had been left in my car and pretty much turned right around and drove halfway back down and met my dad to drop off the purse! Hunter joined me on the drive back down and he talked my ear off the entire drive. I enjoyed his company though.

The kids had a great time at Grandma & Grandpa's, playing with their cousins all weekend. Uncle Brian took Tyler, Nikki, Zach, Hunter & Peyton to see the new Matagascar on Friday evening and Hunter told me - Mom, I saw a movie in a real theatre. We obviously don't get to the movie theatre very often.
I wondered how Tanner would do, as he hasn't stayed away from home for a year and at that time he was pretty little, but he did great. He and Grandma have bonded quite well a while back and so he wasn't too bothered with me leaving him. He did seem quite happy to see me though, and when I was getting things ready to leave to come home - he made sure that I didn't leave his sight.
All & all it was a very nice weekend and I'm glad that we were able to spend a little time alone. I think we needed a little break from the kids and I'm sure they needed a break from us too!

I hope that everyone has a great week!

Take Care -
Dawn

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 10 year Anniversary wishes to my husband!

Apology Accepted

Just a quick note before I head off to work - Peyton came to me first thing this morning and looked up at me all sad and said "I'm sorry, Mom". I guess a good night's sleep did him well and he has been very cooperative in getting ready for school this morning. He has been hugging all over me and telling me how he loves me. Last night he had decided he was ready to pack his bags and move in with his teacher - today he has decided he'd rather stay home.

Here's wishing everyone a Happy Thursday - looks like ours is getting off to a good start!

Dawn

Hunter's school had a Veteran's Day ceremony yesterday and a flag presentation. Hunter was selected to carry a flag as a part of this ceremony. I don't know who the two ladies are in this picture, but standing next to Hunter is his Principal & Sam. This little guy Sam just happens to live across the street from us. What a couple cute kindergartners!
I received a call from the school counselor this morning requesting my e-mail address so that she could forward me the picture. I also learned in this conversation that Hunter was crying again yesterday - flashback to the first week of school. They were able to get him calmed down and the rest of the day was as normal. When David arrived to pick Hunter up from school today, he learned that Hunter had another rough patch today at school. We don't know where this is coming from suddenly, but I think maybe he's not feeling the best. He has seemed a little feverish this evening, so maybe he's just not feeling well. We'll see how this goes.

I often talk about my Peyton and his "personality" and today is no different. It started at 6:15 this morning when he woke up. He was not in a bad mood or anything, but just down right uncooperative. I always have a couple of shirts and I let both Hunter & Peyton pick out what they want to wear - so this morning I had a red stripe shirt, a blue stripe shirt and a solid blue shirt. I asked him to select his shirt - he got first choice today and after he ignored me and I informed him that Hunter would get first pick if he didn't select, the red stripe shirt was chosen. He got it on seemingly easy - that was just the first step. I was trying to get him to put on his jeans and no success. He was not having any part of it, so I told him that was fine and that I would just take him to school in his red stripe shirt and underwear. This actually got quite a reaction out of him - he giggled and just thought this was so funny. Well, after many more struggles we were able to get to school. As I walked into his classroom, I told his teacher - He's all yours! Have fun!

Part Two:
I often hear from Peyton's teacher that they have never seen the side of him that I describe. I got a call from David today after he picked up Peyton from school. He asked his teacher how Peyton's day was after I had described to him the morning we had. Well, come to find out - he was nothing as I described. He even helped another child in his class learn about self-control - what? Peyton giving someone a lesson in self-control - he has none! Oh yea, at home!
I am learning that I have a Jeykl/Hyde child - he is very well behaved at school and once he gets home it's a whole different story. I don't understand it and it frustrates me beyond belief! I decided to just sit down and have a heart to heart with him tonight, as well as you can, have a heart to heart with a 4yr old. One one hand, I am very happy that he is able to do so well at school and on the other hand, I am about to pull my hair out at home. I told him that I knew he had it in him to cooperate, practice self-control and to get along with others. He has proven this! I told David we must be doing something right as parents - since he is behaved at school, but I almost feel as if he doesn't like his father & I since he can't seem to listen, behave, etc.

Of course, this is not ALL the time. Peyton is one of the most loving kids there is. I have just been so frustrated with him today and needed to vent! I just wish I knew how to get through to him during these frustrating moments. We are actually looking into a Love & Logic class and maybe can learn some tips on dealing with this. Okay - I hope I don't sound like a bad mom.

Have I mentioned how excited I am to spend some time with my husband ALONE this weekend? I love my children more than life itself, but I think it is very healthy for all of us to have a little time away from each other once in a while. I am sure it does as much good for them as it does for us.

Until next time...(if I don't lose my mind) :)

Dawn

As I walked through the door this evening from work, I was greeted by the whole gang. Aubrey was the loudest asking if we could make cookies. I asked her if she would let me get in the door first and maybe get my shoes off. She wasn't quite that patient, but we were able to get dinner done and we made a small batch of cookies. Hunter, Peyton, Aubrey and Tanner were all involved in the process. Since it was Aubrey's idea - she was the main helper, but they all took a turn stirring the ingredients and they all got to scoop out their own little ball of cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. Tanner was even right in the middle of it - nothing is too big of a job for him.

The kids have all been acting up tonight and it seems as if when daddy is gone to work, they show their not so good sides. I guess they know that I am severely outnumbered and take total advantage of the situation. I remember when I was little and my dad worked swing shifts and how my mom disliked the afternoon shift, as it was the shift where we would give her the most trouble. Now I totally understand - maybe I'm getting a dose back of how we were to my mom when dad was at work. What goes around comes around.

I thought I would share a few pictures of my little girl, Aubrey Dawn.

Aubrey is the only girl in midst of all the boys running around our house. We have had our discussions, as discussions can go with a three year old, on how we're going to have to stick together and she agrees totally! She is so into all the girly things - having her hair fixed, dolls, dressing up etc, but she can be just as tough - if not tougher than her brothers. It is amazing the difference between boys and girls - and I'm so glad we are blessed with both.

Why does bedtime have to be so difficult? I get so tired of getting the kids to bed only to have them show back up over and over and have to continue sending them back to bed. On that note - time to escort a couple kids back to their bed.

Until next time...

Dawn

Our weekend was pretty uneventful. I had volunteered to work at the Fox 4 Love Fund "Lunch with an Old Bag" Purse auction on Saturday morning with my co-workers. I arrived at the Overland Park Convention Center by 9:00 a.m. and helped in getting set up for registration. Once this was over, we were able to walk around and look at all the purses that were up for bid. I think there was over 400 purses for auction. Even though we volunteered for this, we were able to bid on purses if we wanted - even though it went to a good cause, they were going for more than what I am willing to spend on a purse. After the event was over, I helped with the check out and this is where the fun begins. Imagine a huge room full of hundreds of women all bidding on these items and trying to outdo each other. Most of them were pretty nice, but some were down right hateful - especially if they were convinced they had won an item and someone swooped in at the last minute and outbid them. It was quite humorous though when some of them would come up to pay and they would give us their bid number and they got the surprise of winning much more than they had anticipated. One lady was surprised with $900 worth of purses! She went through her shock and then just whipped out a credit card. Another lady said, well, I better just write a check for this so my husband doesn't see how much I actually spent.
I was thinking - my husband would kill me! Literally - lucky for him, I don't go much over 20 for a new purse. There were several people who spent over 500 and some over 1000 on items - the only way I can look at it is, it goes to a good cause.

Aubrey and I helped Grandma Bass today clean at Grandma Elliott's house. Aubrey was such a good girl and was such a good helper. The boys stayed home with David and enjoyed an afternoon of football.

The weekends just go by so fast and sitting here on Sunday night - thinking of how I was going to have an uneventful weekend - I can only hope next weekend is a little less busy - but, it won't be. I am looking forward to next weekend though - Friday is David and I's 10 year wedding anniversary. We are going to spend the night Friday at the Embassy Suites on the Plaza. I love the perks of his job with the Hampton Inn, as he qualifies for much lower rates at the Hilton hotels - makes staying overnight once in a while quite affordable. We are both looking forward to spending some quiet time alone and celebrating this milestone in our life.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Dawn

It has been a busy week and I haven't kept up much with my blog - but thought I would sum it all up. The real reason I haven't kept up with my blog - if the truth be known - my wonderful friend Lori has introduced me to Facebook! It is so addicting and a great way to reconnect with friends. I have reconnected with a couple of friends from high school that I haven't talked to in years - a new addiction - I guess it could be worse! Like say, Diet Coke - oh yea, about that...seems like old habits are sometimes hard to break!

Tuesday was the long awaited election and I am very happy that all the ads are over. I get so tired of these, as I think most people do. I was addicted to the television all evening watching and waiting for the outcome and was sadly disappointed - not surprised though. As someone with very Pro-Life beliefs and with a future president who wants his first action to be to sign in the Freedom of Choice act - I am disappointed. All I can say is, God Bless America!

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful. David and I went out to the hospital last night to visit with his Grandma. We took Hunter and Peyton with us and they behaved quite well. They got a little ansy towards the end of the visit, so we knew it was time to head home. Zach, Aubrey and Tanner stayed home and had some quiet time while we were gone.
Hunter insisted on going with us as he somehow got the idea that it would be the last time he would ever see her again. We quickly let him know that yes, she was sick, but no, it wouldn't be the last time he ever saw her. I'm not sure where he got that idea.


Peyton had a little accident at school today. I got a call from the school nurse that he had been involved in a fall and had come in to get checked out. One of the teachers was walking through his class room carrying some items and saw him sitting on the floor, so she attempted to walk around him. He saw her coming - so he went to move, but moved right in her path. She ended up tripping and falling and I guess stepped on his shoulder from the accident report. The nurse told me on the phone that the teacher was so upset and was crying because she was scared that she hurt him. They reported that Peyton didn't cry, but that his shoulder was a little bruised. It doesn't look as bad as they had it sounding on the phone. Luckily, no one was hurt and Peyton didn't seem too bothered by it.

I hope everyone has a great weekend - we don't have much planned and I am looking forward to an uneventful weekend. It's nice to have those once in a while!

Take care!
Dawn

Random Thoughts

I received a phone call last night from a friend of mine with tragic news of the death of her boyfriend/fiance. He was involved in a single car crash that claimed his life instantly. I don't know all the details, but they believe he swerved to miss a deer and hit a light post, was ejected and died at the scene.

I was so heart-broken for her as they have been working on their relationship and unfortunately, they did speak on Friday, but the conversation was not nice between them. I have always been told not to go to bed mad, which I do on occasions, and not to leave a loved one on bad terms - this is a prime example of why. This seems much easier said than done though, as during the heat of the moment it isn't always easy to end the conversation on good terms until a little time has passed and you can cool off and call back. Unfortunately for them, this will never happen.

My prayers are with Jennifer and the family of Brandon - he lost his mother just weeks ago to breast cancer and his father must be devastated to the lost of his only son and his wife just weeks apart. Brandon leaves behind his father and a daughter who he had custody of - I pray that they will find the comfort needed to go on.


This was just the beginning of this type of news - as I arrived to work this morning my manager pulled our team together to let us know of the information above, but also to inform us that our previous director lost her father Saturday morning due to a car wreck. My prayers are with Amy and her family as they grieve the loss of her father - a family that was very close.

I have been very blessed in my life with my wonderful family and friends. I am very fortunate that I have such a great network of people in my life. I hope that I don't take for granted what I have and those who have been a part of my life. I love you all!

I took off a couple hours this afternoon to take Peyton to a pulmonary doctor. I wanted for Peyton to get his tonsils removed and therefore, we had to go through a sleep study earlier this year. They determined that Peyton did have a mild sleep apnea and that helped my cause of getting his tonsils removed. We got that done this summer and he seems to be doing much better with his snoring. Our doctor still wanted us to follow up with the pulmonary doctor.I learned today that there are two types of apnea - central and obstructive.

• Central sleep apnea (CSA) occurs when the brain does not send the signal to the muscles to take a breath, and there is no muscular effort to take a breath.
• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when the brain sends the signal to the muscles and the muscles make an effort to take a breath, but they are unsuccessful because the airway becomes obstructed and prevents the flow of air.

I was under the impression that Peyton had obstructive apnea, but she said the reports came back as central. She did agree that since the tonsils and adnoids were removed and he doesn't appear to be having any more problems with the sleep apnea and snoring, that we don't have to do anything futher.

I have been trying to figure out our benefits information for next year. Luckily, we have been blessed with healthy children. We have had our share of appointments with Peyton, but I think we've about got him all sorted out - at least for now. He got his tonsils and adnoids removed, his tubes are still in and functioning and he doesn't have to go back for a CT Scan or to see his plastic surgeon until he is six - that gives us a year off from that. Now, as long as we can keep them all healthy, we will be in luck!

This is taking a whole different turn, but can I just say Thank God for crockpots! I put a roast on this morning before I left for work and I came home to the wonderful aroma of dinner already done! It was especially nice since I worked a little later and I went to workout after work. I love coming home from a long day and not having to worry about dinner! Looks like the crockpot and I are becoming quite the good friends.

Life is short - life is precious. Hold your loved one close - you never know when they will be taken from us.

Until next time...

Dawn

Fun Times

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween! I took off of work a little early on Friday to attend Hunter & Peyton's Halloween parties. Hunter's party was not planned very well and I wasn't too impressed with the room mother - but kudos to her for signing up. I took my camera so I could get some pictures of Hunter - even though they really didn't do anything at this party - but, was told to make sure when I took pictures that the only one in the photos were Hunter. Which was fine with me, as I was there to take pictures of him - I guess some parents didn't sign releases to have their children's pictures taken during these events and so they are not allowed to have their pictures taken.

Here is a photo of Hunter showing off his pumpkin face that he made during the party.

After Hunter's party was over, I headed down to Peyton's party - those Early Childhood teachers and children know how to have a party! Hunter came down to the party, and I think he enjoyed it more than his own class party. I asked Peyton's teacher if there were any restrictions on taking pictures and she said no - go for it. So, I took lots of pictures for her to put up in their classroom of the event. It was fun times.

Venom, aka Hunter and Blue Power Ranger, aka Peyton

As soon as we got home from the parties, we got the other two little ones ready and we headed down to my parents to go Trick or Treating. I was going to dress Tanner in a plush Tiger costume and he looked so cute, but he wanted nothing to do with the costumes. So, he ended up going in black sweatpants and a pumpkin shirt - he was quite the cutie, even though he wasn't in an official costume.

My mom, Brian and I took my four little ones and Nikki trick or treating, while Zach, Jon, Tyler and Jessika went out on their own. I was excited for Zach because he is always with the little ones and he was able to spend some time with his cousins/uncle who are more his age and he had a great time. They just walked around town - they didn't go trick or treating as they are getting a little old for this, but they walked around - of course, behaving.

Here are all the kids before we headed out - Tyler was some Star Wars character, Zach with the mask on, Hunter - peeking right above the ghost, Jon in his football uniform, Pumpkin Tanner, Nikki as Hannah Montana, Blue Ranger Peyton, Bat Girl Jessika and Aubrey the Kitty.

Our first stop of the evening was to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house and then we headed out from there.

Great Grandma Harris giving Tanner his first treat on Halloween night.

This was technically Tanner's first Halloween, as last year he was a baby and he didn't go, but this year, he was right there in the middle of the action. He made sure that he carried his own pumpkin and when I would try to help him, he would get mad at me. He walked right up to the doors and held up his pumpkin, but didn't quite understand that when they put in the candy that he was done there. He kept looking at them holding up his pumpkin and from his expression, he seemed to think he was to get more. I was surprised at how fast he caught on to it, but it only took one house and he was a pro trick or treater! Hunter, Peyton and Aubrey had a good time too and really enjoyed themselves.

The older kids, along with Matt & Brian headed outside for a fun game of hide & go seek in the dark after trick or treating. They had so much fun and we all hung out and visited for quite awhile.

Tanner is usually pretty standoffish when we first arrive, but this time he was a whole different little boy. He was a total Grandma's boy from the time we got there until we left Saturday evening. When it was time for bed on Friday night though, he was ready to go home. I was surprised he acted this way, since I was there - but he kept telling me bye-bye and pointing to the car. He must be a homebody when it comes to staying the night.

The kids spent Saturday playing and trying to eat all the candy they got Friday night. Matt & Megan came back over and spent the afternoon with all of us. We enjoyed the nice weather and good company with each other. The kids and I had a foggy drive home, but got home safely around ten.

Today was such a beautiful day and to allow David to sleep after working all night, the kids and I headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Bass house this afternoon. We went to see Great-Grandma and her new place. We stayed for a little bit, but I was anxious to get home and see David since we hadn't seen him since Friday afternoon. The kids are looking forward to spending the night with Grandma & Grandpa Bass in a couple weeks when David and I celebrate our 10 year anniversary.

I had to go get a new battery for my car as it kept dying on me. I am now a pro-jumper, but was getting tired of having to jump my car everytime I stopped somewhere. My battery has been replaced, the oil changed and I am now set to go.

Here's to a great week!

Dawn