Larry the Leprachaun came for a visit

A new tradition started in our household this St. Patty's day.  Larry the Leprachaun came for a visit.  The idea was inspired by Kate's preschool and when she got home from school on St. Patty's Day, all she could talk about was Larry's visit to her school. 

NOTE: In case you don't know who Larry is, he is a sneaky little guy.  He pops up out of the ground when you are not looking.  He steals your Lucky Charms that you left as bait.  He leaves you footprints with tape on them.  He also leaves you some clovers.  And best of all he leaves you some goodies.  He is so sneaky and fast, that you will never see him......I have heard he has been known to leave some green milk or green pancakes or green eggs for the kiddos and some green beer for Mommy and Daddy.  He also has been known to knock over some chairs and make a mess while he visits.  He is different from Santa and the Easter Bunny who have already been to your house when you wake up....as Larry can 'pop' up at any time during the day.....

So I improvised....We placed some Lucky Charms outside as bait.  So "Larry" snuck outside when the kids were watching TV.  The kids made their way outside as it was a BEAUTIFUL March day to find some Mardi Gras beads and V-day candy (hey, it is all I could find on short notice in the house....but it should work year from year!)  They were excited and spent the next hour looking for 'clues' where Larry went to next by looking for 4 leaf clovers.....

The Mardi Gras beads and Vday Candy on the swing in our backyard.

The kids with our neighbor Mady and their bags.  Check out Kate's bag.  She made it at school.

Movies...

        Okay, in my household most of the movies I watch involve some kind of animation. It is a rare pleasure I get to watch an adult movie (not THAT kind, so get your mind out the gutter!). WE have a Netflick account that actually gets a lot of use. I have used it to catch up on TV shows I have missed….I am now hopelessly addicted to “Mad Men” thanks to Netflick. In the past week I have seen two movies that were certainly not Oscar contenders, but really got me to thinking and confronting some uneasy emotions.


        The first movie is “The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood”. I originally saw this movie when it came out, which was BK (before kids). I must say I really enjoyed it back then and even more now. However the first time, I really did not understand why the character played by Ashley Judd had a breakdown and left her family briefly. It was after an incident in which her three young children were throwing up and pooping in the bed as they had the flu. I did not understand, the kids couldn’t help it….Now that I am a Mom….I GET IT!!! Mom’s try so hard to nurture everyone else yet neglect themselves and their needs. This makes me think about something I recently read: “Women are usually calm in the middle of a storm, yet it is the little things that bring us down.” SO TRUE!!! We hold strong in the hard times, yet then the littlest bump in the road will cause us to crash. I am a testament to this!

       The other movie was “We Are Marshall.” I shamefully admit I had NO idea about the tragedy at Marshall until the movie came out a few years ago. Oddly, in 1999 Mark and I had driven through Huntington, WV on our way to go whitewater rafting on the Gauley River and spent the night there. This was when he was working out in NYC and his baggage got ‘lost’ on its way to Indy, so the airline re-routed it the airport there so we could pick it up on our way. I remember driving to the airport and both of us commented unknowingly, “Wow, I would never want to LAND in an airplane here!” It was such a small airport practically on top of hill surrounded by trees. I thought it was a wonderful movie though very emotional to watch. I am not sure why, but it really has gotten me to thinking….maybe I can relate to the sudden and unexpected loss?

      Anyway, the next movie in my Netflick queue is “The Hangover.” I have been on the waiting list for several months….I am hoping it will be a funny movie that doesn’t make me think!!! And I am not going anywhere near “Marley and Me” anytime soon….

Spring...oh please be here!

Signs of Spring are here everywhere.....temps in the 40's....lots of sunlight...saw a couple of sparrrows this morning....just waiting on a tulip to push through the mulch.

And oh, how my weary soul needs you Spring. Yesterday, when I woke up I had a touch of the stomach flu....by the end of the day, I felt revived after spending some time outside with the kids in the sun and the fresh air! Though my stomach is still queasy and I have to watch what I eat, being outside felt wonderful!!!

Oh, what a long three months it has been....no more hibernating!!!! All the blinds are open in this house! I think my plants need the sunshine as much as I do!!!

Almost forgot....

In my mood of 'funkiness' (as I'll call it), the Saints won the Super Bowl (as most of you already know).

Now, I live in Indy and of course I love the Colts. However, I went to Purdue. I was there the same time as Drew Brees. I saw all of his college games that were played at Purdue. While I never met him personally, nor did Mark (though Mark did meet Mike Alstott once at a sorioity dance, that is another story...), we always loved Drew Brees. He was the kind of guy that played his heart out and never got the credit he deserved. We were even at the Purdue-Notre Dame game in Sept 2007 in which Drew and his wife Britanny came back to donate money to the school. Needless to say, we live for anything Gold and Black in this household.

When the Conference Championships were on, we watched the Saints-Vikings game. Luke shared in my enthusism for the "other" black and gold team and made up this cheer: "Go Gold and Black, Go Quaterback!" So I bet you can figure out who I wanted to win.

Yes, I let Luke stay up for the whole game (thankfully it was over by 10PM!). And what a game it was. It was such an awesome game!!! After Luke fell asleep, I stayed up to make sure Drew was named MVP. And I saw this:

Well, I lost it and I mean LOST it.....crying so hard snot bubbles came out of my nose (sorry if this is TMI!). So sad that Mark was not physically here to share this moment with Luke. I know Mark would have been beyond excited for Drew. And to see such a touching moment like that....a pure, picture perfect moment between a father and a son.....and my heart breaks that Luke may not have any moments like that in the future.....and I am not mad at Mark for that, I was just completely sad and broken hearted for Luke....and grateful that he was sound asleep so I did not have to explain the bubbles coming out of my nose.

And while some schools were off on the Monday after the Super Bowl here in Indy, Luke went to school PROUDLY wearing his Purdue Football jersey......

Hopefully I am back...

Sorry for the depature from my blog the past few months....the holidays were brutal this time around....I have been in a funk....winters are hard on me to begin with....though I love to play in the snow....I feel like a bear and all I want to do is sleep and hide. But luckily I am finally feeling like I am getting out of it.....there is a light at the end of the tunnel....Spring is just around the corner!

I certainly have many things and blessings to be grateful for. My schooling is going very well. The class I am working with (a first grade class) I LOVE!! I am learing so much from them and look forward to going there.

I cherish all the time I am now able to spend with the kids. And I am constanly reminded that I am doing a good job with them. Being a parent, let alone a single parent, is hard and challenging. A parent is always thinking and wanting to make sure that they are guiding their children down the right path.

Mark and I always said we wanted to raise thoughtful, caring children. Mark was the type of guy that would give a complete stranger the shirt off his back. Right before he died, I remember him telling me of how he stopped at a serious accident scene on his way to work to try to help even though he ended be late for work. And I see Mark's endless, giving spirit in Luke and Kate all the time. It melts my heart as I know he lives on in them.

For example, the other day, Kate and I were waiting outside for her preschool to open up. Her friend Graicie was crying because her hands were cold. Kate instinctly took off her gloves and gave them to Graicie. Today while at Big Splash Adventure, we were in the arcade. A boy about 4 years old was watching Luke play a game. He said that he wanted to play but did not have any tokens. Luke instinctly reached into his pocket and gave him a token to him...and then got up to let the boy play.

And these past two days with the kiddos at Big Splash Adventure have been absolutely wonderful. Again I am reminded how grateful I am to be able to spend this quality time with the kiddos. We have had such a great time and have laughed so much. Laughter really does wonder for the soul.

Holidays 2009

Well, we made it…or more like I made it....somehow... The kids of course loved the Christmas season. Me on the other hand, realizing it is the second one without Mark….wow….it was very hard. Since it has been a long time since I posted, I am resorting to bullet points to what we have been up to over the past couple of months.

* Thanksgiving: we went up to A’town (Antioch) for several days to spend it with my family. While there we went to TWO Christmas parades. I am telling you, they just do not have parades in Indiana like they do up there!
* Polar Express: Meet up with my SIL Cathy, her husband Mike, and their kids Makenna, Alex, and Sami (L and K’s cousins) in Connersville, IN to go on the Polar Express train ride. It was AWESOME!!! Better then any breakfast with Santa you could go to and just like the book. The kids are already asking if we are doing this again next year!
* Got through my third class for school….~~whew~~. The toughest one by far as it was a class to help was a class to help students with reading disabilities. I thoroughly enjoyed working with my student who taught me more then I think I taught her!
* Had a “Mommy and Kate” afternoon…went to McD’s for lunch and then went to see “The Princess and the Frog”. Got together with my “Purdue” girls for a GNO and to celebrate Christmas. We all dared each other, and some how we are all signed up to run/walk the Indy Mini-Marathon in May!?!?
* Kate had a Christmas program for her school and she actually let me put a bow in her hair!
* Poor Luke had to have some dental work done under GA at the local hospital on an out-patient basis. He was such a trooper and such a brave boy. It took him several days to get back to normal though L
* Made our annual ‘trek’ to Danville for the lights in Ellis Park, though we did not get to go to the Indy Zoo for the Christmas lights like we normally do because it was too cold when we planned to go.
* Made TWO round trips to A’town and back from Dec 23 to Dec 28 so my Mom could spend Christmas with us here in Plainfield. The kids had an absolutely, wonderful Christmas and loved having Nana here Christmas morning. L got his Wii and K got nailpolish- just like they asked for from Santa. While up in A’town to see my family after Christmas, took the kids to Lego Land in Schaumburg, which of course L thought was the coolest place on earth, next to the one in Orlando!
* Got to see my dear friend Amy, who had us over for dinner, and her handsome boys, Dane, Chase and of course Shelby.
* Went to Columbus, OH to see Cathy, Mike and their kids for NYE. The kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins. Luke and Alex loved playing the Wii and talking about Transformers, while Kate relished in playing with her only girl cousins! We also got to see the “Chipmunk” movie at a dinner/restaurant (had all you can eat pancakes)…very cool!
* School started back up for all of us….ROUGH WEEK... it has been tough for all of us to get back into the routine!
* Finally got a decent snow here in Indy. The kids have been outside playing in it everyday though it is very chilly!

Funk...Funky Funk...

I just realized that I have not posted anything in the past month. Jeeze! Mainly because I have been super swamped with the class I just finished for school and I have been in a funk. It is the winter blues for sure, and given all that is going on in my life, it is to be expected.

But my class is now done! Yippie! No more class till Jan 8th!!!

There have been some bright spots over the past month. We went up to A'town for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful visit.

We went on the Polar Express ride in Connersville, IN (just like the movie) and it was the most amazing time! Better then any breakfest with Santa you could ever go to!!!

The kids of course are super excited about Christmas and are counting down the days. Me..ah...Christmas. It is certainly harder the second time around. But thankfully I have taken full advantage of on-line shopping and websites that provide free shipping. So I can say I am done shopping....now onto the wrapping.

Kate has her school Christmas party today, and Christmas program tonight. Luke's last day is tomorrow and though he loves school is ready for the break.

So if my good mood continues, I'll try to post some pics of our recent adventures soon.