Technology and WINTER!

DAY 29 - January 29, 2009



The boys were checking out the webcam tonight. We got our new computer on 1-2-09 and it came with this feature. While I think it's very cool and they thought it was neat to see themselves on the screen we just don't have a use for this right now. With the way technology changes I'm sure we'll be using this form of communication for SO MANY things in the future. Guess we'll be prepared then even if we don't know how to use it now!

DAY 28 - January 28, 2009

Talk about some snow...When I woke up this morning there were 9 inches on the ground. That is when I took the picture with the grill on the back porch. School was cancelled so everyone got to sleep in. I, however, went in to work. While I was there it continued to snow until around noon. We started to get snow at a rate of 1 inch/hour at one point and ended up with a total of 12 1/2 inches! Apparently this is the 6th highest record for us in total snowfall...and we haven't seen this much snow at one time in something like 13 years.

The boys helped Doug shovel off the drive and then played in the snow for a while. They had a blast as they haven't really played in snow like this before. There is RARELY enough to play in...Doug, knowing about the Picture-A-Day thing took the camera outside to get some action shots of them. We were bummed when we realized the camera battery was too low...it "took" pictures but then didn't save them on the disc. That is when I took the camera outside to try and get at least a few to show just how much snow we had received....hence the daylight picture above.

Total Opposites...Work and the Comfort of Bed...

DAY 27 - January 27, 2009

This is my desk at work...this is what it looks like on at any given time. As you can see...it's rather small and once I put the computer and phone on it there isn't much room for anything else. It's so small that I usually stand my keyboard on end in front of the hard drive when I eat.

When I started this job in July I had my own big cubicle with at least 6 times this space. They moved all the contractors in a much smaller area and put them all together in October. Now there are desk spaces for 12 in the same space there once were 4 cubes. Talk about close quarters! Actually, it's livable for the moment since it's just me and my 3 coworkers for now. No one else had been placed at any of the other 8 desks.

DAY 26 - January 26, 2009

I couldn't decide which of these pictures to use. I wanted to capture all the "critters" that sleep in Kaden's bed with him. When he found out I was doing it he wanted to be in the picture with them. He's got at least this many on his bed each night. He doesn't snuggle with all of them at once though...usually it's DogDog at the very least and sometimes 1 or 2 or 3 others that he holds onto under the blankets. He's gotten so that he likes it when they "talk" to him and play with him before bed. I'm not sure how he's done it but he's got me giving voices to 3-4 of them on most nights. Guess I must have had a big "conversation" with a few of them one night and now he things it needs to be like that every night. That's OK...this is one of my favorite times of the day with each of the boys.

It's All About Kaden This Weekend!

DAY 25 - January 25, 2009

This was the day we would be celebrating Kaden's birthday with Doug's side of the family. Kaden chose to go to Outback for the world's best mac and cheese! He and I made a cake for this celebration. One of his cookbooks had a "confetti cake" recipe in it that he wanted. We made the cake as directed but instead of putting the sprinkles on top we took a stab at decorating it ourselves with a movie theme. The picture on the counter is the one Kaden chose for his store-bought cake...Sam's did a fantastic job! For our creation we used it as a guide to add our own movie tickets, popcorn box, and pieces of candy. It didn't look exactly like the picture but we were sure proud of it!

DAY 24 - January 24, 2009

This was Kaden's 8th birthday. About a month prior he and Doug sat down and made a big plan about how he wanted to celebrate his birthday. Turns out he wanted a "Movie Night" for his birthday. He invited several boys and 4 girls. Here they all are...we got them quieted down enough and STILL for a quick photo. On the guest list (in order starting from the bottom) was Katie Parsons, Jacob West, Connor DeLuca, Casey Donovan, Chandler Spurgeon, Kaden of course, Ashley Raisor, Megan Goldman, Cameron DeLuca, Justin Tracy, and Matthew Sims. Kaleb and Nick (cousin) were also there but were finding their own thing to do at this moment.

Kaden had it all figured out...we were to have pizza, some movie candy, and popcorn. His Mamaw had taken care of getting the cake and it turned out SO GOOD! Kaden had picked out a picture that had a box of popcorn, come candy, and movie tickets on it. Sam's was able to put this picture on the cake. We were all very pleased with the way it looked. Kaden had also picked out 3 movies to watch; Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Game Plan, and Back to the Future. They were to watch the first 2 before the girls had to leave at 10pm and then watch the last one as they settled in for bed. Well...they sat still long enough to watch maybe 1/2 of the first movie. The rest of the night was complete 8-year-old chaos. After all the girls had gone by 10pm we settled down with another piece of pizza and the beginning of another movie. None of the kids made it very long and it was midnight before they were all asleep.

Sharing Cookies With Friends

DAY 23 - January 23, 2009

Today we took cookies up to Kaden's 2nd grade class for his 8th Birthday. We had actually let this ritual slip our minds and felt like terrible parents! We straightened out the situation though but had to make arrangements with Mrs. Shirrell. She had suggested we come in between 12:00 and 1:30pm. This did not work for us at all because I was at work and really wanted to be able to be there. We had suggested to her that we come at the end of the day. What became a problem because the kids in Kaden's class were all spread out at the end of the day in various classrooms.

When Kaden got to school that morning Mrs. Shirrell gave him the choice of either a short celebration at the very end of the day or a longer one the following Monday...Kaden chose the short celebration. We went up to his class with the frosted cookies he likes. The kids sang Happy Birthday to him while he passed them out. Everyone is in their coats because they were lining up ready to dismiss for the day. Unfortunately they had to take them home to enjoy. The point though was to celebrate Kaden's birthday and we were able to do that.

I Found the Time!

DAY 22 - January 22, 2009


I finished this book today. I rarely find time (or make time) for reading for enjoyment. I heard about this book which is a story about a group of women that find themselves, find great friendships, and find support through their weekly crops. I found the book enjoyable and an easy read. I usually read it on my lunch hour at work and found that I didn't want to put it down at the end of my 30 minutes! I can't really describe the book other than saying it was a very "chick flick"-type of book. It had lots of drama, a little suspense, some parallels to my own hectic life, and some real emotion of a couple women really finding out who they are deep inside and coming to terms with what they learned.

Waiting List...

DAY 21 - January 21, 2009

The hold section at the Southport branch of the Indianapolis - Marion County Public Library. We have been visiting the library pretty often lately. Doug has been checking out landscaping books, I have been checking out scrapbooking and recipe books, and the boys have been checking out whatever interests them...for Kaleb that means cook books and movies and for Kaden that is movies and anything else he likes at the moment.

On this particular day I was picking up a book called "Revenge of the Shadow King" by Derek Benz and J. S. Lewis. This is the 1st in an almost 4-book series...I say "almost" because book #4 is in the editing process right now and apparently there are still 2 books to follow after that. The series is the Grey Griffins and is about 4 friends living in a small Minnesota town. They enjoy playing a science fiction card game but things start getting really strange when the creatures from the cards seem to have come to life and are in the lead character's back yard.

Jon Lewis, who I went to high school with, is one of the authors. I found out about this book after signing up for Facebook and getting in touch with old friends from Johnston High School. After finding out that he wrote this book and that it is geared to 8-12 year olds we checked it out from the library. The boys have enjoyed the story so far and think it's neat that I went to school with the author.

Making History...

DAY 20 - January 20, 2009



Inauguration Day 2009. Well, Barak Obama became our nation's 44th President. It is indeed a historic day as he is our first African American president. I am skeptical of his party's ability to lead us out of our current economical "slump" (it's really quite more than a slump!), bring our troops home quickly and safely, and run our government in the best way possible. That being said however, I do recognize the historic importance of this day. The boys were able to watch the ceremony at school which I am thankful for. I was not able to watch it but wish I could have. Not thinking, I did not DVR the day's events either so my experience was limited to the coverage given by local and national news broadcasts.

Brotherly Love...At Least For Now.

DAY 19 - January 19, 2009

This evening the boys had finished getting their school bags ready for school tomorrow...they were off today for MLK Jr. day so the bags hadn't been touched all weekend. They played the Wii together very nicely and even were able to share the recliner. Kaden needed to sit here because it was close to the electrical outlet...he needed to plug in the heating pad and roll it up to place under his neck. He had a sore neck from the wrestling tournament the day before and thought this might help it feel better. Kaleb, not wanting to give up the recliner, was willing to share. They look so cozy and comfortable under that blanket don't they?

A Quick Snapshot of our Life...

DAY 18 - January 18, 2009

Today was our first wrestling tournament with the boys on the Southport Wildcards All-Star Team. We're so proud of them and how seriously they've taken this sport during their first season. They both made the traveling team and today we went to Greenwood High School for their 1st tournament. This was their first time to be all decked out in singlets, head gear, and mouth guards. I'm sure that felt much different than their t-shirt and shorts worn earlier in the season.

Kaden wrestled two matches losing both. While he was upset we kept telling him what a fantastic job he did. He hung in there during the entire match and never gave up. He did not get a medal or ribbon but that doesn't matter to us. The important thing was that he did his best.

Kaleb got a bye on his first match. He moved on to win the second match. He was to wrestle another kid from our team (Christian Malone) but, for some reason, that little guy and his dad left before the match started. Something must have come up since his dad had been helping out coach the Wildcards. Kaleb ended up winning his weight class and got a gold medal.


DAY 17 - January 17, 2009

Oh....Long's Bakery. We LOVE this store! They make the donuts just right and have so many kinds to keep everyone happy. Doug loves the chocolate covered cake and yeast donuts, Kaleb likes the ones with sprinkles or any one of the filled ones, Kaden really likes the cinnamon fried, apple cinnamon fried, or cinnamon twist donuts. I'm not a huge donut eater so I'm pretty happy with a simple twist or cinnamon twist. Kaleb took this picture and prompted the clerk to ask if he was working on a school project. I told her that we were working on taking a picture every day of the year and this is what we chose for today's pic. She kinda looked at me funny...oh well...we just moved on with our evening.


DAY 16 - January 16, 2009

Oh boy! I think this was the coldest day we've had in something like 10 years. While this particular temperature doesn't compare to the actual coldest reading recorded at the airport (-10 degrees below zero!) it does record our choice for the picture of the day...all I can say is COLD!! We drove by this little mechanic's building on Madison on this night and stopped to take this.


DAY 15 - January 15, 2009

Doug started taking some classes this semester to work toward getting his Associates Degree and then his Bachelor's Degree. I'm so proud of him for pushing through with this getting classes done as he can. He's enrolled in 2 on-line classes this semester. The computer class started on the 13th and he'll start a social work class in March.

Catching up...January 6 - 14, 2009

DAY 14 - January 14, 2009

Doug set me up a Facebook page when we got our new computer on January 2nd. I didn't really think I needed one but now I love it! I've been able to get in touch with so many friends from high school and I'm having a great time catching up with them. It's fun to see where life has taken my good friends as well as those that I wasn't friends with. Now it seems that whatever group we were in back then doesn't even matter now. Amazing how time changes people...I guess we all grow up huh?

On this day I'd had my page for almost 2 weeks and hadn't posted any pictures other than my one profile picture that Doug had put on it. I finally took a few minutes to put some pictures of our family up for all to see...well, at least for all my Facebook friends to see.


DAY 13 - January 13, 2009

Kaleb's recorder! He was SO EXCITED to get this from school today. He'd talked about it for at least a week. He is in 4th grade and will be playing this for the next few months in music class. The entire grade gets these so they can begin to learn to read music. They are to practice each day a minimum of 15 minutes. At the end of 4th grade the kids get to choose whether or not they join the band or the orchestra in 5th grade. If so, then they have to decide which instrument they would like to play. Kaleb wants to join one of those groups but has yet to decide which one and which instrument. Only time will tell.


DAY 12 - January 12, 2009


A typical Monday morning. Both boys have been doing good eating something other than Pop Tarts or Toaster Strudels for breakfast. These days they've gotten into having a hard boiled egg, a pancake or waffle, and maybe some fruit.


DAY 11 - January 11, 2009


Oh, Karate Kid! What a great movie. I remember that this was the 1st movie I ever went to without parents. My mom had dropped Stacey Baker and I off at the theater and her mom picked us up. We thought we were so grown up! Well...enough about me! We rented this movie a few months back and I promised the kids they'd like it. What do you know? I was right! They loved it! When Kaden had some extra money left from a Christmas gift that had to be returned, he chose this one along with Short Circuit (another 80's classic!). They were on sale for 2 for $9...can't beat that! We put the movie in that night and relaxed together. Doug and I got a kick out of the songs in that movie...not to mention the clothes and hairstyles.


DAY 10 - January 10, 2009


We went to the Prior's house for some pizza, a football playoff game (not our Colts though..they'd lost to San Diego the previous weekend. A week later Coach Tony Dungy had retired), and some catching up. They have 2 boys and all 4 boys played together very well and had a blast. Colin, the oldest, drug out the chess board and challenged Doug to a game. Doug hadn't played in years and was up for it. It quickly became a game between Jim and Doug as Colin lost interest. I think Doug really enjoyed that. Lord knows I don't know how to play chess!


DAY 9 - January 9, 2009

Man, was it cold this day! The sky was pretty clear and I happened to catch a glimpse of the sunset during our evening routine. I stopped for a moment, grabbed the camera, ran out to the front porch and snapped the picture. I had to "aim high" because the stop sign at the corner would have dominated the entire picture if I hadn't. January 6, 2009


DAY 8 - January 8, 2009

I LOVE my Tink coffee mug. This particular day the coffee tasted especially good. I'm not sure why because I think I make it the same every time. Just had to get a quick shot of it. A little bit of coffee with my cream and sweetener (that's how I like it) is my morning routine these days.


DAY 7 - January 7, 2009


A usual stop around this time. Doug had surgery on his elbow in December for an on-duty injury and is still on meds for pain and swelling. I made a quick stop while waiting for the boys to be done with their Wrestling practice.

DAY 6 - January 6, 2009

Well, we started our family resolution to eat better this year yesterday and quickly realized we needed some things from the grocery. We took a trip to Meijer to pick up some fruits and vegetables that everyone wanted. Here are the check-out lanes on this night...Kaleb took the picture this time around.

Catching up...January 2 - 5, 2009

DAY 5 - January 5, 2009

Kaden has had a tooth that wiggled a little bit for quite some time. Well, this day he decided that he wanted it to come out so he worked at it for a while. We felt it and it didn't seem like it was ready so we told him he'd have to wait. About 10 minutes later he came to me with the tooth hanging by a thread and wanted to pull it. He gave it one yank and here is the result!


DAY 4 - January 4, 2009

Grandma and John have to head back to Iowa after their 4-day stay. It was sure nice to have them out for Christmas actually during the holidays this year. Last year we celebrated Christmas in June! Although we didn't go out and do too much during their stay it was definitely relaxing and enjoyable to be at home cooking, playing the Wii, reading, and playing with the boys.


DAY 3 - January 3, 2009


Both boys got a cookbook from Grandma and John for Christmas. They've really been interested in cooking lately and even check out cookbooks from the library! This is the meal they prepared while we were going on a little date night. They both liked it a lot but boy, was our kitchen a mess when dinner was over!

DAY 2 - January 2, 2009

The boys went for haircuts to start out the new year. Kaleb will be going down to the Statehouse to be a page in February and wanted to go ahead and get his cut now. He was a little unsure of how short it was even though he's had this cut many times before. He's had his hair very short many times in the past and it's just great on him every time.

Kaden wanted to let his grow out a little but so it was just trimmed and styled. You probably can't tell from the picture but he's got blue gel in it. That's always a special treat he gets to do after going to Fantastic Sam's.

January 1

DAY 1 - January 1, 2009


This year I'm working on a project that will involve the whole family and, at the same time, document our daily life. I plan on working with them to take a picture a day of whatever inspires us. While I love to scrapbook, I often find it hard to dedicate time to that hobby. I thought that by taking a moment each day to take a picture and write a few comments about it we could preserve not only the big events of our lives but also the everyday things that keep us going.

I thought it only fitting to begin 2009 with a picture our our kitchen clock at the stroke of midnight. We had a party at our house...not one of those "adult only" parties where the kids are at home with the sitter on New Year's Eve but one that suits our lifestyle. You see, we are always together...where you see me, you usually see my husband. And, where you see the 2 of us, there are usually 2 wonderful little boys to follow. That is how we wanted to bring in the New Year...all together with our friends and their kids. After all, isn't that what is important? Being with the ones you love?

So, as I learn to blog at the same time I must also learn about managing the blogging website. I am mildly computer illiterate so I will have to learn as I go. I've already noticed that, while my post is dated as January 1st, it didn't start writing it until January 14th. I will have to catch up I guess so that my posts match the post date!