Our day! The kids and I got up and J had already left for work. We ate breakfast and headed out on our errands. First we went to the bank to pay our first payment on a loan. Then we went to the R's house but they weren't there so we just dropped off the stuff, they leave tomorrow for 6 weeks. Then to school to see grandma and drop some stuff off for the preschool program. J has the rest in his truck. Then the last stop to the cable company. I had to show that we just bought the house because the people who lived here before us had an outstanding balance with the cable company. Then I had to ask them to put cable hook ups in the house. They didn't understand why there wasn't any if the people had cable before. The only thing I can think of is that the people who rehabbed the place took them out. They weren't the brightest people in the world...they claimed they didn't know they had to have a permit to work on the house, yeah right! Anyway the lady was nice and gave me the second hook up free. She was going to do the first but the computer wouldn't let her because it said the house was cable ready. Well it was but not anymore. Then we came home and had lunch then Monkey took a nap and GG and I looked through her school supply list and talked about her going to school. It should be interesting to see how she does. Then when Monkey woke up we had freeze pops and got in the pool. Then J called from work to tell me he was going to be a long time and he has been...still not home at 8 and he was suppose to get off at 3. We were going to have steak on the grill but instead we had pizza, the kids were fine with that because they got to help make it. Oh and we went over to the neighbors house across the street today, I needed some info, and Monkey peeped on her pergo floor. Then we came home and a couple hours later he did it again. I don't know what the deal was because this is the first time since we lived here he has had an accident. Oh well he was having an off day, kids can have them too ya know. We also spent some time at Jack's house at the request of the children and they got ding dongs and balloons while there. Can you see why they always want to go over there? GG fell asleep on the couch about an hour ago and now is in bed so I need to work on getting little rug rat in bed.

Ok this is so cool to my world. Last night Monkey slept 8 straight hours!!! It has been a few nights that he has started to sleep longer periods of time and I can tell that my body is getting more rest at night. It makes me so happy. Well today we got up and got ready at no special speed which was nice. I received a phone call from my work telling me that I was suppose to work today and I told my boss that she told me not to come in. I was subbing for someone else and she didn't think she was going to need me, well someone called in sick, of course. I didn't go in. So the kids and I went grocery shopping at Aldi and then at Jewel. I wish we could get everything at Aldi because it is super cheap but they just don't carry everything and somethings aren't good to get there like their bread. We got home and ate lunch then we all took naps. After our nap my dad came over and we went to buy a tv for our house it was his house warming present. We got a 27 inch panasonic flat screen one. We both like it so that is a plus. Then we went out to eat with my dad at Baja Fresh a mexican restaurant, it was pretty good, first time I had eaten there. Then we came home and put the tv away and got the kids to bed. Tomorrow my plan is to go to the cable company and get our cable hooked up sometime soon. Then the rest of the day we will probably spend in the pool!!! Oh yeah I officially excepted the job as a Teacher's Assistant in the preschool department. That should be fun :)

We were late to church this morning. I don't even know why because I got up before the alarm went off. Oh well. After church the kids and I went to J's parents house for a huge lunch. It was awesome. Sue makes the best food. Then we came home and both the kids fell asleep in the car and stayed sleeping when I brought them in the house so I laid down too. I got an hour at least of sleep. Then my dad and cousin Cory came over to bring me an organ. I just found out that my cousin is going to be staying with my dad for awhile. That should be interesting! After they left the kids and I got in the pool and played for about an hour in it. I really like the pool it is so big :) Then we hung out with our next door neighbor. The ice cream truck came down our street like it does everyday and Jack bought the kids and I a treat from it. We have already adopted him and his wife as our grandparents! They are so nice and generous...they gave J a power washer. Anyway J didn't get home until about 20 minutes ago. Which is good but not so good. The money is nice but I would of liked to see him more. And that was our day...

I have exciting news! At least for J and I it is. Monkey slept from 8:45pm to 4am last night. That means I got at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. That was super exciting for me. Since we have moved in here the sleep issue with Monkey has been quite difficult. He prefers to sleep in our bed but since we don't have the twin up next to our bed we really don't have much room for him. I don't want him falling out of the bed either. Needless to say last night was AWESOME. Then this morning Monkey woke up at about 6am saying that he had to go pee pee. J was up getting ready for work so he put him on the potty and realized that he had runny poop in his diaper. Poor baby couldn't help it. He sat on the potty and went some more. Then the kids and I went to work. At first it was dead at work then all of a sudden tons of people showed up and it became crazy. Of course, that would happen on the day we are short a staff person. We had a mother come in for the first time to "check it out" and she seemed unhappy. So I asked her if she had any questions, that was a big mistake...she bombarded me with about a million questions about the place. I answered the best I could but some of the questions I had no idea about. I was just glad that she came after Monkey flashed everyone! Then we went to my dad's for some lunch. After lunch we went to Target to take back a present that was a duplicate. I got Monkey the toy that he really really likes. When we got home our neighbors were having a garage sale so I walked over and talked to them. They ended up donating tons of the toys, books and videos that didn't sell to the new preschool. I was very excited about it and I can't wait to tell my new boss on Monday when I tell her that I am taking the job! Then we set up the pool and let the water fill it up while we ate dinner. Then you guessed it we got in!!! Wow was it COLD...brrr. So that didn't last long. Tomorrow will be better once it gets warmer. Our pool is awesome I must say, it is 10 ft by 7 ft. A great birthday present for Monkey!!! Now we are winding down and getting ready for bed. I so hope that we have another night like last ;)

This morning the kids and I headed to work. But instead of taking GG with me to work I dropped her off at Emily's house for a play date. She had so much fun. The rest of the day she talked about having Emily over to our house. I told her that us mom's would work that out!!! She is so happy to be able to have play dates again. Then when we got home we really didn't do much but talk about our landscaping and what we wanted to do with it. But that is stuff for my other journal :) The kids road their bikes outside and we had freeze pops. J got some OT and for dinner we grilled out on our new grill. It is super nice. When people ask what gift we got from our realtor they don't believe us. Amber is just the sweetest, nicest person and I am glad she was our realtor...because she is now our friend. Oh yeah Jen called to find out if I was going to take the job but J and I are still in the process of talking about it. However, it is leaning more towards me taking the job. It will be a set amount of hours a week and closer to our house. I think we would be fine just on J's income but it is nice to be able to have the extra for the unexpected stuff, ya know what I mean? Plus I think the preschool program would be good for the kids. GG would be in the other room and Monkey would be with me. It is only a few hours in the morning. Ok that is all I can think of to write about.

 
Ok here is a cute story for you: This morning GG wakes up before I left for work and asks me, "Can you drop me off at Mickey Mouse World?" Apparently she had been dreaming about going to Disney World! She was telling me all about the fun things to do at Mickey Mouse World as she called it. One day maybe we can take the kids there??? GG stayed home with J today and did a lot of fun things. They got gas in the truck, went to Wal-mart and got GG gloves for helping weed the flowers, paid some bills, and made banana bread! Monkey went to work with me and that is always fun ;) When we got home we ate lunch and then went to Toys R Us. I really like that store. We ended up not buying anything even though I wanted to buy tons of stuff. I really want to start my Christmas shopping...it is already July and I have nothing. I usually am close to being done by now. Then we went to Target and J let me buy some presents for the kids. It was summer clothes that are on sale. Great deals!!! Then we came home and opened up some more of Monkey's birthday presents. We opened the Little People things he got. The kids played so nice with all of their LP stuff. I really like those toys. I want to get them the airport and the one that has the ramp (I can't remember what it was called). It is so bad because I have so many ideas of what to get them for presents but just not enough money. I am going to try and talk J into getting them a joint present of a swing set but I don't know if he will go for that. They already have a pool in the backyard. I first should find out if I would have enough money to get them one. Anyways, then we ate dinner and now it is time for baths and bed. Right now J is in the living room with the kids flipping them. They are laughing that wonderful belly laugh that sounds so good. I really love the sound of laughter!    

I was going to update last night I was just too tired. I ended up going to bed at 9pm! That is super early for me. I am glad that I went though because Monkey woke me up twice before it was even midnight. Anyways, yesterday the kids and I went to work then got home in time to eat lunch with Daddy on his break. Then when J got off he took the kids outside to play while I paid bills and balanced the check book. That is always so much fun. Then we bathed the kids before bed. Instead of putting them to bed right away we played hide and seek. It was so much fun. The kids would hind in the same spot each time, which was their tent in the playroom. Then J and I would hide and they would try and find us. We would yell "we're hiding" to help them find us. I tried to hide in places that I could see them looking for us and I would end up laughing so hard that they found me. J, I would have to say had the best hiding spot of all. He waited til the kids found me and then ran into the playroom and hid in their tent. After about an hour of playing that we stopped. By that time it was dark outside so we gave the kids each a flashlight and had flashlight wars on the ceiling. It was so much fun. This is going to sound redundant but now that we live in our own place we can do whatever we want, when we want, and be as loud as we want. It is GREAT! I kind of forgot what that was like after living with my parents for almost 10 months. On to today...

Today is J's Birthday!!! Happy Birthday wonderful husband of mine :) I love you so much. In my best Monkey voice!!! This morning the kids and I hung around the house for awhile and we called the Fish radio station to request songs and GG got to talk to the man on the phone. It was too cute. She was singing him the songs she wanted to hear instead of telling him the name! Then we went to the grocery store to buy daddy a cake and a special dinner. While we were in line the guy in front of us flipped out. He told the cashier that he didn't want his groceries. It was pretty funny. Then we came home and the R kids came over Grace, 5, Jake, 3 1/2 and Noah 2. They brought McDonald happy meals for the kids for lunch. So we had a picnic lunch! Then the rest of the afternoon the kids played. I pulled GG and Monkey out separately to help make daddy's cake. I even got Monkey to take a nap during all the busy-ness. Then J got home from work and all five of the kids jumped out from behind the chair and screamed "happy birthday!" Now we are heading out the door for dinner. J decided he wanted to go out to eat! I don't have to cook so I am there :)  

What a great and busy day we had yesterday. We celebrated Monkey's birthday with a party. Most of the people that came over hadn't seen our new house yet so I spent most of the day cleaning and cooking for the party. Then everyone came over and I played host. Monkey had a great time. He loved all of his presents :) I still can't believe that my baby is 2 already. Where in the world did the time go? GG did pretty well during Monkey's party too. She helped by giving him the presents to open. She loves her little brother and he loves her too. Friday night GG stayed at my in-laws and Monkey was so sad that she was gone. I took him out for a special dinner just the two of us and when we got in the car he said, "Oh no where is GG's carseat?" I told him grandma had it because she was with her for the night. They gave eachother a big hug on Saturday when she came home. I must admit I really missed her a lot and it wasn't even a whole 24 hours. She had fun at grandma's and Aunt Liz gave her a makeover with makeup and did her hair too. Such a little princess! Today we went to church and then hung out at grandma and grandpa's for lunch and relaxation. Next month they don't have Sunday School class so the kids will probably go to the nursery together. So I have thought about my other journal that I really haven't written in for a long time and I have decided that it will mainly be about our new house and things we do to improve it or that brake and need fix. Stuff like that! I LOVE being a homeowner!!!! Well time for dinner.....   

Yeah we finally have internet! I am so excited to be back online :) We love our new home. It feels like we have lived here forever. The next door neighbors are the best. They are a retired couple and just are the sweetest people. They have lived in this neighborhood for over 40 years and know everyone. So they have introduced us to so many people on the block. Jack the husband told me that they have block parties on this street. I think that is so cool and I can't wait to be apart of it. The kids are adjusting great to living without grandparents, aunt and uncles. It is just so nice to have our own place again. Not that it was horrible living with my parents but it is SOOOOOOO nice to be alone sometimes. Yesterday was Monkey's 2nd birthday. We are having his party tomorrow and so I am in the mist of getting things ready for that. Everyone is coming over here so we get to show off the house and have our first party in our own back yard!!! That just sounds so cool. Can you tell I am excited about the house? I just can't believe we have only lived here a week and we are completely unpacked and have pictures hanged and everything. J is such a work-a-holic that he won't stop til we were done. Oh I had an interview at the school that Sue works at in the preschool. J and I still need to talk it over and see if that is really what we want for our family. Well I should get back to doing things. I will start updating more again now that we are connected! 

I don't really remember much of anything since I found out that my grandpa passed away yesterday evening. All I know is that it totally stinks. It was only 12 days that my grandma had been gone and now my grandpa is gone too. I just keep thinking about all the fun things we did with "grandpa candy" as we called him. He always had candy and was always willing to share with his grandchildren. I remember grandma getting so mad at him for giving us candy before dinner but if we asked we got it. We were a little spoiled by grandpa. Last night all the memories hit me like a ton of bricks. He was only 69 that is so young. But he is now with his wife so he is happy again. The worst part of it all was he was healthy and still farming everyday. Well that is really all I want to say for now.

Well we still don't have phone or internet so I am at my dad's house. I worked today and came here for lunch and for Monkey to take a nap so that J can get good sleep at home. He has been running himself ragged. We are almost done moving in!!! Now we are getting things ready for Monkey's 2nd Birthday :) I can't believe my baby is turning 2. So much has happened the last few days I don't even know where to begin so I am not going to write about any of it. I will say that we are all loving our new home!!! The key is OURS :)

We are here at my dad's house getting a few more things and cleaning up the basement. It stinks because his A/C went out. He over uses it and so it doesn't last as long as normal people! We totally love our new house. Yesterday we had a truck to move our stuff and friends from church and J's parents came to help. We have almost everything unpacked but we still have a long way to go until it is completely done! Today we got up super early because we don't have window treatments and the sun shines in so the kids get up. The whole morning we spent unpacking boxes. Then the afternoon we bought things we need for the house. We went to 3 stores and we still have to get 2 more things for sure we just got tired of shopping for things we need. So we will get them another day. I feel like a walking zombie...moving is tiresome.

It has been awhile since I last updated...we have been crazy busy. I really don't have a lot of time right now. But I really want to update. Monday we had the visitation for my grandma, Tuesday was the funeral and I was one of the pall bearers, Wednesday I worked and spent time with the family, Thursday we had our final walk through on the house, and today we closed on it. Then we moved all of our kitchen stuff in the house and unpacked it. Another great thing that happened today was that I got my wedding ring back! It looks good. Tomorrow we are going to be moving everything else to the house and unpacking it. We don't have internet there or even a phone number yet but that we will be getting soon. We are just both excited to be owning our first home. Our realtor gave us a house warming gift. It was a grill! Very nice. Ok I need to go now.

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!! I am sitting here listening to fireworks going off. Both the kids are in bed asleep. I feel bad that they didn't get to watch them this year. But they needed to go to sleep, they were tired. This morning we went to church and J was super tired. He worked the midnight shift and only had 1 hour of sleep before church. The kids went to sunday school class together and when I went to get them Monkey said, "Mommy! Mommy! I missed you." It was so sweet. Then I took GG to children's church and Monkey went in the nursery. He went right in and didn't even cry. This morning I prepped him for it. I told him that he was going to sunday school with GG and then she was going to children's church and he was going to the nursery to play. He does better when he knows what to expect. After church we came home. J went to sleep and I tried to keep the kids as quiet as I could, he is a light sleeper. GG was super cute today too. We told her about my grandma her grant grandma dying. Today we looked at pictures and I pointed out her great grandma. I told her happy stories about her grandma and how she has many people in her family like us! Of course, she had many questions for me which I answered the best I could to a 3 1/2 year old. GG wrote a letter to great grandma, I just wish it wasn't on my phone list for work. The letter was sweet too. Then she said she wanted to paint a picture for great grandma. I think it will be good for her to give it to grandma as her goodbye. I think I might have Monkey color a picture too? We'll see. Well I am getting tired and we have a long next couple of days. You won't hear from me until Tuesday.

We are still here at J's parents house. This morning after we got up and moving we went to Shore Galleries for J to buy a holster for his secondary weapon. While we were there one of the workers gave the kids each a little flashlight that shines a green light. They loved it. The best part was they gave them to the kids and we didn't have to pay for them. Then we took the kids to the pool that J grew up going too. There was only 5 other people in the pool when we were there. We went when it was only parent and tot time. No kids over the age of 5 allowed in the pool. As we were leaving it started to down pour...good thing we had our swim suites on! Then we came back here and ate lunch then J and Monkey took a nap and GG and I talked, played and ate ice cream :) J's parents came home around 4:30 so the rest of the night we have spent hanging out with them. Oh I think I figured out what is wrong with GG...I think she may be allergic to something on grandma. I am thinking the laundry detergent?!?! Sue said she didn't have any lotion or perfume on. She was fine all day and then they get home and she starts braking out...hmmm makes me wonder. J starts midnights tonight. Kind of bad timing if you ask me. We move into a new house and he is going to be gone at night. I don't think I like that too much. That is it for me.

This may be long...
Yesterday morning I got up and went to take a shower to be interrupted by Monkey at the door saying he had to go pee pee. He woke up, got out of bed, came up stairs, and knocked on the door. So I jump out and take off his diaper and put him on the potty. His diaper was wet...but it wouldn't of been if J would of woke up to help him. Good thing he had a diaper on! Then I took both kids to work with me because they were awake and wanting to go. J came to get Monkey and took him swimming. GG got to go with the big kids to the gym to play. She loved that. Then when we got home we ate and the kids both took naps. We made GG lay down because we knew we were going to have a big night. After they woke up we went to the storage to do somethings and then to the mall. We had to go to the mall because my wedding ring broke. I was at work and I looked down and the diamond was gone. I was so upset. My boss ended up finding the diamond on the floor. Get this the diamond did not fall out of the setting, the whole setting came off of the ring. When we showed the jewelry store where we bought it they had no idea what code to put in the computer to tell the person what to fix. Apparently this doesn't happen often! I couldn't believe it. I am just so happy that we found my diamond. A co-worker lost her diamond two days before and she never did find it. After the mall we took the kids for dinner at McDonalds, even though J and I wanted Subway. Then to the police department to drop off the car and then to the festival. We got the kids wristbands and they got to ride as many rides as they wanted too. They had fun. GG went on the dragon roller coaster 3 times. She had her hands in the air for most of the rides too. She is fearless with those rides. She went on the pumpkin patch ride with me and she wanted me to spin it faster!!! The last ride of the night was the ferris wheel. That was cool because the Gin Blossoms where playing on the stage and we could see all the people and the band from the ferris wheel. J and I calculated how much we would of spent with out the wristbands and it would of been more then 60 dollars for all the rides they went on. That is crazy...a dollar a ticket! We didn't get home until 10pm last night. So the kids didn't go to bed until late without baths.

Since the kids didn't get baths they both stayed home with J so they could be bathed. Before I went to work I got a phone call from my uncle telling me that my grandma passed away this morning. She was almost 70. Then I had to be the one to call my dad and tell him that his mom had passed. That was not something I really wanted to do. Then there were some issues with my siblings at the home front so J and I packed up some stuff and headed over to his parents house. When we got here we decided to go to this store called Meijer...it is huge. We walked around looking at stuff and got something to eat for dinner. While we were there GG started scratching herself like crazy. She broke out on her stomach, leg, and arms with hives. We got some cream to put on her and it helped. On the way home she started braking out again. I put more stuff on her and when we got back here she took a aveeno bath. That helped for a little while and then she broke out again. It is crazy because she brakes out in different spots. It was on her face at one point, feet, her hands, everywhere! My poor girl. You could just tell it itched her like crazy too. Monkey is sleeping now and GG is eating ice cream. I also found out the visitation and funeral plans, so that is what we will be doing Monday and Tuesday. Well I hope anyone who is reading this post was able to get to the end. Until next time...

Well I was going to say that Monkey only had to change his clothes once because he spilled on himself, which is true. But he also had an accident after his nap...he was half awake and half asleep. This morning GG went with me to work. This afternoon GG and I finished that puzzle together while Monkey slept. After dinner the kids rode their bikes. J has the next 3 days off and I am really excited about them. Tomorrow we are possibly taking the kids to the Fest. Last year they got wristbands that let them ride on all the rides free. I hope they will get to do that this year too! Then Friday we are taking the kids to a baseball game (the Flyers) then spending the night at J's parents house. Saturday we are then taking them swimming at the pool near J's parents. It is free and has water slides! So we should have so much fun!!! Well that is it for me.

Another day of dry pants! I am so excited about that. It is 10 minutes to 9 and both kids are asleep. Yay! So this morning we got up and went to wal-mart. We dropped off some film and bought something that we really didn't need but are useful. Like I got an organizing set of drawers that I put all of my scrapbooking stuff in it. I am glad about that, it will make scrapbooking so much easier and faster. Then J left for work after lunch. GG took some quiet time (we ended up doing her puzzle after I did my scrapbook stuff) and Monkey took a nap. Then we went outside to blow bubbles. I thought for sure they were going to want to ride bikes but bubbles was what they wanted. After being out there for about 20 minutes I was getting hot so we came in and put on our swim suites. The kids ran through the water. Then I got a good idea...I got the biggest tub I have and filled it up with water like a pool. They loved it. They played in it for about an hour. For Monkey's birthday Becky is suppose to be getting him a pool. That will be great! They got out and we had dinner. Then the kids got bathed and GG went right to sleep at 7:45! Then Monkey was in bed asleep by 8:30. I really want to let the kids play outside at night and catch lightning bugs but they are usually tired by then. Well I am going to go work some more on GG's puzzle. It is a circle puzzle the picture is of a bunch of chocolate ice cream scoops. So the pieces are all the same color...I have been putting it together by shape.

Today was a complete success! Monkey had no accidents. YAY! This morning we got up, ate breakfast, I showered then we went to the park to play. Came home and made a picnic lunch that we ate outside on the deck. Then Monkey got his fingers slammed in the door by GG. Poor little guy cried for over an hour. J and I were concerned that they might of been broken because he screamed when we asked him to bend them. I took him outside to blow bubbles trying to get his mind off his hand...worked somewhat. I finally got him completely calmed down and put him to sleep. When he woke up he was fine. He even bent his fingers without realizing it...they were still swollen but at least they didn't hurt him anymore. While Monkey was asleep GG and I played candyland, the ABC Dr. Suess game and she played with playdough while J and I talked about some things, mainly our new house. When Monkey woke up J and I took the kids outside to fly kites. Oh yeah J didn't go to work because he wasn't feeling good this morning and didn't sleep well last night. We weren't having much success with the kites, not enough wind. J took the kites home and I took the kids to the park to play. Then we came home to make dinner. After dinner our insurance guy came over for us to sign some papers. We got homeowners insurance (that sounds so cool) and we got quotes on life insurance. We have some now with J's work but I think this route will be cheaper in the long run. J shaved his head and took the kids with him to the shower. They got bathed and GG went to sleep. Then I got Monkey to sleep and GG woke up in pain. She said her mouth was hurting her. J thinks she burnt it at dinner but I don't think that is possible. I gave her something for the pain then she started complaining about her ear hurting. I don't know what her deal is. She finally just went back to bed. It is 10:30 and I need to go spend some alone time with J...

Here is the run down of our potty training day. This morning Monkey had diarrhea...yeah it got on the floor. This is before we left for the family reunion. I packed about 6 pants for the day just to be safe. We drove for 2 hours and stopped for a potty break. He went. He went potty 3 times while we were at the park from 11:30 to 3:30. We were about 2 minutes away from home and Monkey had to go potty. He told me he had to poop. It was diarrhea again and he didn't make it. He tried to keep it in though. And he actually got most of it in the potty too. So two accidents today that are sometimes accidents adults have...DIARRHEA!!!! He didn't even use any of the extra pants I brought him. The kids had so much fun at the reunion playing at the park and meeting family members. I got to talk to my cousin Rachel who I haven't seen in awhile and she is moving to near us from North Carolina so that is exciting. We already have plans to get together! Growing up we had many sleep overs, she is a year younger than me. We didn't get home until 6:45 so we ate and I gave the kids baths, read books, and they went to bed. Now I am doing things on the computer while I try and wait up for J. I really wish he could of went with us today. Tons of people asked about him. Oh this was cool too. My dad's cousin Dawn said when she saw me she thought I was my mom. She told me that she did a double take and at first she said to herself "what is Kathy doing here?" Then she realized it was me! Dawn and my mom were in the same class in highschool. Actually a lot of this side of my family call me Kathy without even noticing sometimes. My mom hasn't been apart of that family for over 20 years now! Well that is it for me.