where ya been?

lots going on the past few weeks - sorry for the lack of updates - hopefully I will get back into the swing of regular posts now that school is out, we are adjusting to Steven's new shift and our vacation is over...

The kids and I just got back from a family vacation to Traverse City, Michigan.  My Grammie was born and raised there - and is now buried there - so myself and 12 of my family members went back for some fun family history exploring and to enjoy the beautiful lake, funky downtown shops and endless cherry orchards.   [and they went to their first drive-in movie!!!]

I had a wonderful time on the trip.  Our drive was about 16 hours and the kids did really really well.  There were a few moments when I wanted to pull my hair out, but overall, they were rockstars!!!  [thank you Up!, Despicable Me, Mary Poppins & Cars for saving me]

I am working on a post with some of my photos - I only took 1,032 - hehe!!!

For now, I will just post this photo of my mom and me, sharing a very heartfelt moment at my Grammie's spot... (despite the emotions and grief here, I think this was one of my most favorite photos from the entire week...)

I  miss my Grammie so much but I know she's with me constantly.  And I have her (and God) to thank for blessing me with such an incredible mother who has continuously given so selflessly to her children and her family.  She is a wonderful listener, encourager, friend, grandmother and mother and I am so very thankful for her!!! :)

love you muchermostestmore ma - thank you for an amazing trip!!!

so long twenty-something...

helloooooooo   ... nope... can't say it... won't say it... no way it's even possible...

blah.

30.

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... [that's my temper tantrum!!!] ;)

Well, on a positive note, I got more stuff done on my 30 before 30 list :)

#29 - I shot a gun, which was freaking AWESOME!!!  A huge thank you to my big bro (but not my biggest bro - I have 2 older bros!!!) Andy for letting his little sister tag along with him to the range.  He even bought me my membership for an entire year - word!!!  I shot a .22 revolver and I really enjoyed it.  I'm really hoping he and I can go back again soon :) :) :) 

#27 - I've finally organized the thousands of toys we have in the basement.  I put out a lot for our yard sale on Saturday (and hardly sold any b/c there weren't many people - darn heat!!!) and rest of the toys we have downstairs I will donate.  Oh my goodness, it sure feels good to have those toys organized and on their way out the door!!!  We could have opened a toy shop with the amount of toys we had.

#11 - I wrote a will.  I haven't gotten it notarized yet (nor have I had an attorney review it) but it's written!!!  That's definitely a step in the right direction!!!

#1 - pay off my car... DONE!!!  I wrote the final check this morning, using my birthday money :) :) :)  Sweet Blair is ALLLLLLLL mine - she no longer belongs to M&T Bank... word ;)  too bad she goes to the garage tomorrow and is gonna cost me a fortune... boo.

#2 - do something fun with my blog pertaining to fitness and/or fashion - - I think I've accomplished this through all my half marathon training posts, my monthly 'favorite thing' posts and my pinterest find posts!!! (never did one for April though - oopss!)  Here are some of the 'pins' I've been obsessing over lately :) :) :)

#30 - Have a kick butt birthday party - - when I put this on the list it was kind of a joke between Steven and my oldest son - - they always joked about throwing me a 'Justin Bieber' party when I turned 30.  WELL, boy was I SHOCKED when what I thought was a 'girls lunch' yesterday turned out being a WONDERFUL surprise 30th birthday party!!!  WOW WOW WOW - - it was beautiful and we all had a really nice time.  I am SO grateful to my family and friends - you all are SO incredible!!!  No worries... we took lots of photos... I will post some soon!!!

okay - so let's recap - there are still some things I haven't done - most of them cost money, too much money and will need to be postponed for a little while! (a tattoo, painting, landscaping and redecorating my office).  I'm bummed I didn't go skiing or snow tubing but the winter just sort of went too fast :/  I do have plans to take Gavin ice skating very soon - I wanted to take him on Sunday but they were closed because of Memorial Day.  We can definitely scratch the bikini on my birthday thing.  I have lost weight - I'm 3 lbs shy of what I weighed in 5th grade, which feels pretty darn good to say on my 30th birthday - but still going to pass on the bikini!!!  In regards to chaperoning a field trip, I really didn't put much thought into that when I put it on the list; given the ages of my nieces and nephews, they don't take many field trips. I didn't conquer my fear and ride a horse - I had a couple friends offer for me to come over to their farms and ride - but I never found the courage to get it arranged.  It's a pretty serious fear - I think they are beautiful animals but they scare the begeebers out of me. :(  Baby books... oh my goodness... Gavin's baby book is basically done.  Gabby's baby book is a little emptier than Gavin's but still have a decent amount done.  Gage's book is barely complete at all... poor 3rd child. :(  Gage's will be the first one I work on when I find the time to sit and focus and get photos organized!!!

  
Maybe I will take my friend Jody's advice and give myself a 15 day grace period - like you get with your mortgage.  Check back in 15 days - maybe by then I will have a few more things crossed off!!!  And check back for party photos :) :) :)

400th post - silly words from g-cubed!!!

holy smokes, this is my 400th post... that's insane!!!  I've had this blog for 4 years now (when I found out I was pregnant with Gabby...) and before that I had another blog where I wrote mostly about Gavin. I'm certainly not a great or clever writer but I've loved looking back at different posts and reminiscing about my kids, their milestones, silly moments, cute photos... that's what keeps me writing.

So, in honor of my 400th post - and in honor of Mother's Day (yea, I'm late, so what!!!) I decided to copy off the wonderful Kelly and ask my kids some fun questions about their mommy!!!  

g1: Gavin Arthur (6)
g2: Gabby Louise (3)
g3: Gage David (2)

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
g1: you always say NO when I ask about the green gum in your purse

g2:  you tell me I'm silly

g3: grace.

2. What makes mommy happy? 
g1: food and soda - (thanks Gav - not what I was expecting)
g2: birthday balloons
g3: Caillou

3. What makes mommy sad? 
g1: fighting
g2: not listening
g3: diapers  (hahahaha!!!)

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
g1: making silly faces
g2: dancing fun
g3: sing funny songs

5. What was your mommy like as a child?
g1: cute
g2: a girl
g3: I don't know

6. How old is your mommy? 
g1: oh, I know! 29!
g2: 6 years old
g3: a baby

7. How tall is your mommy?
g1: big
g2: bigger
g3: tall like poppop

8. What is her favorite thing to do? 
g1: go to stores
g2: go for a walk
g3: dance

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
  g1: clean up
g2: chew gum
g3: play

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
g1: being an all star
g2: coloring
g3: eating (nice one Gage, thanks!!!)

11. What is your mommy really good at? 
g1: working
g2: driving
g3: funny faces

12. What is your mommy not very good at? 
g1: cooking
g2: finding us when we play hide & seek
  g3: hockey

13. What does your mommy do for a job? 
g1: help people
g2: work hard, I don't know
g3: give hugs (yes actually, this is true!!!)

14.What is your mommy's favorite food? 
g1: crab, fish & spaghetti
g2: spaghetti & pancakes
g3: chicken nuggets

15.What makes your mommy proud of you?
g1: cleaning up my room and being a best friend
g2: cleaning up the downstairs
g3: hands are not for hitting (you got it Gage!!!)

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? 
g1: Nicki Minaj from American Idol (bahahahahaha!!!)
g2: Doc McStuffins
g3: Yoda

17. What do you and your mommy do together? 
g1: get a hair cut
g2: go shopping and laugh
  g3: do pictures (I guess he means take pictures)

18. How are you and your mommy the same?
g1: same eyes, same nose, same head, same feet
g2: same nose and we are both girls
g3: same eyes and face but you're bigger

19. How are you and your mommy different? 
g1: mommy works and I don't
  g2: you run races
g3: I'm a boy

20. How do you know your mommy loves you? 
g1: you take us to do special things

g2: lots of 'I love yous' :):):)
g3: love you so much, moon & back
 
21. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go?
g1: Target

g2: Target

g3: Grammie's house

 

*more mother's day photos to come...

flowers, weeds & meatballs - oh my!!!

been in a blogging slump... boo.

crazy busy with work... lately there has been lots of pregnant teens to counsel... lots of babies born... lots of tears shed... lots of praises given... lots of hugs... lots of stress. 

oh... and lots and lots of Mother's Day cards written to almost every client that made an adoption plan for their child since I started with Bethany almost 6 years ago... did you know the day before Mother's Day is Birthmother's Day?

one nice thing about my job right now = the flowers outside the office 

 (I don't care if these are 'weeds' - I like them!!!)

crazy busy with life... t-ball, yard work, groceries, laundry, end of the year kindergarten stuff, organizing millions of things... but I'm trying to remember not to be too crazy busy that I miss special moments with these adorable meatballs...

if you really knew me #3 [renamed 'get to know me']

if you really knew me... I'm not so sure I like that title anymore...  

how about - - - 'get to know me'

yep, much better!

: I hate the heat... I'd take snow over 90 degree weather any day of the week...

: I love coffee mugs but I am not a fan coffee... yuck!

: I can be somewhat of a crazy driver... I miss driving my 5 speed eclipse on long, curvy, country back roads... radio up loud, windows down, no speed limit :)

: the folded over chips are my fav - I will look in the bag so I can strategically plan my grab - I gotta get as many folded over chips as possible!!!  {I would never steal folded over chips off my kids' plates... that's just mean!}

: I only pick up pennies that are heads down

: Despicable Me - my secret movie obsession

: I looooove me some bubble wrap ;)  awesome stress reliever

: I collect pressed souvenir pennies

: I know every word to The Little Rascals - 

Dear Darla - I hate your stinkin' guts. You make me vomit. You are scum between my toes.  Love, Alfalfa

 

: I always separate the groceries in the shopping cart - cold/frozen stuff on the right - non-cold on the left and I always request the cold stuff be bagged together

: my parents bought me a guitar for Christmas 2004 - I played for about a month - way too freaking hard - doesn't help I have the words shortest, chubbiest fingers ;)

: I have my heart set on running the Bird-in-Hand half marathon in September (prayers my knee/itband let me) - I'd like to 'win' the coveted Road Apple award!!!

 happy hump day :) :) :)

g-cubed update :)

It's been a little while since I last updated on the kiddos... so here ya go!!!

Gage David: no more pacicifers - WAHOOOOOOO!!!  We've made it a week without them and surprisingly, the transition was pretty smooth :)  the 'paci fairy' came Saturday night and gathered up all his pacis - and gave him a couple bucks so he could buy a new book!!! Gage is just too darn cute but he sure is a Mister Whiney pants and he's getting really really good at saying 'NO' - which I am sure he gets from his brother and sister.  He still loves reading, playing hockey with Gavin, watching Caillou and playing Hungry Hungry Hippos - he really is the 'hippo mater' :)  Oh - how could I forget - the kid is obsessed with the color green.  wants green everything - shoes, clothes, toys, food, paper, crayons, toothpaste... you name it, if it comes in green, he will take it ;)

Gabby Louise: my silly girl had her first dentist appointment and she did AWESOME!!!  I was sooooooo nervous about going - was fearful she wouldn't even open her mouth - but she totally surprised me and did such a great job!!!  She also got a fancy new haircut last weekend!!!  Gabbers hates me combing her hair in the morning - it was pretty long and super curly which always meant knots and tears.  Gabby is becoming quite the helper... and I have found that seems to be helping with her listening and stubbornness.  She is very into makeup and nailpolish but loves playing outside in the dirt and wrestling with her brothers... :) 

typical stubborn Gabby face

Gavin Arthur: Mister I'm obsessed with sports ;)  Gavin started playing tball a couple of weeks ago and is loving it!!!  He wakes up Tues and Thurs mornings with a huge smile on his face because he knows it's tball day :)  Oh, and of course, he is still completely obsessed with ice hockey - more specifically the Flyers.  He knows everyone on the team and their jersey #s... even knows the coach!  Gav still really enjoys going to school  - and he hasn't missed a day yet this year!!!  And... this kid can eat... oh my word I am scared to know what my grocery bill will be in 10 years ;)

 

(way back) wordless wednesday

just a few of my favorite way back photos...  :) 

college graduation - West Virginia University - Go EERS!!!

my sweet baby Gavin Arthur... I LOVE his big brown eyes!!!