checking in...

uh oh, so marye sent an email pointing out how long it's been since i've updated... what can i say? we've been really, really busy!!
lots has taken place in the last several weeks. we've been working (as usual) on the house and ed is making great progress. we've set a "due date" for dec 20th as a goal to work like crazy and then take a much-needed break. we think we can do enough to make things "live-able" by then... if we (and by "we" i mean ed) work really hard.
marching band is finally done, as are fall ball and cross country. it was a good season for the guys, but very busy. we did a lot of running around. my stint on the "pit crew" (band parents volunteer a lot) was less than stellar. i probably won't be re-hired as a volunteer because i was never where i should have been at the right time... but it was fun! ed's turn to volunteer was a little harder... it rained at that game. this winter, we're facing the continued season for crew (drew) and noah is trying out for basketball. never a dull moment!
hmmm, our church has realigned and left the national episcopal church. phew!! that was a pretty big deal and we're not out of the mess yet, but i'm really relieved to not be worrying so much about being associated with a church that was so far from our beliefs.
my baby brother got married on nov 1 to alison. we had a great weekend in cinci with almost everyone staying in the same hotel... so it was a long weekend party with family and friends. we loved it!! and now the newlyweds are moved to houston and really far away. :(
after bob's wedding, i was able to dye my hair (red/brown)... i was waiting until after the family pics! anyway, i've never really dyed my hair and certainly never tried anything so different in color, so this was a really fun change. ed loves it and that makes me enjoy it even more!
right now, i'm in denver visiting with my best friend from college (alison). it's been awesome to finally meet her baby daughter (at 8 mos, i'm a little behind) and hang out with her hubby (who i've only spent a little time with before). turns out colorado is as beautiful as people say and i'm so glad to get to be here! yeah!!
okay, that's about it for the update at this point. i'll add pictures when i get home - to my home with walls in the front hall!!! (my honey is AMAZING!)

"little house on the hill"

well, we're experiencing life like on "little house on the prairie" these days as we live without power (and water, which apparently requires electricity to pump up the hill). our power went out sunday evening (just as friends were driving up the hill to watch the steeler game, our street went black - along with most of our town) and we're still without. it was kind of fun the first night as we spent time hanging out in the living room with candles lit and no tv, videos, computers, etc. then, the next morning, we didn't go to work and school was cancelled so everyone slept in and enjoyed some "down time" (except ed who continued working on tiling the shower... no rest for the weary!!). by monday night, it was annoying. now, (wednesday) it's just putting me over the edge. i've already done this!! and i hate camping!!
we're told that we should have power back up and running by 11 pm friday. in the meantime, i have to figure out how to feed my family three meals a day (eating out - even for breakfast - is pretty expensive and packing lunches is difficult without a fridge!!), get showers (thankfully, our friends have graciously invited us to shower at their homes), stretch our clean clothes to last until the weekend and keep things sane... yep, this is going to be a fun week.
once we get the power on, we'll clean out the fridge and toss everything. then i can restock. in the meantime, i need to go and buy bottled water for the dogs. i love the girls, but i never thought i'd be buying bottled water for them! but, with the trickle of water that we get, they get really thirsty. and matches. we're about out of those too. the boys love lighting the matches and thankfully, we have lots of candles... and our house now has a very unique scent (from the mix of candles, not our body odor!!). for those who would worry, we do not let the boys take candles upstairs to their rooms. they get the battery-operated camping lantern!
anyway, that's our life these days. work & school give us a little sanity. and computer access so that i can keep track of emails, our banking, etc.

why does everything need a title anyway?

okay, so i haven't fixed the antenna on the truck, my house is a mess, i haven't updated my blog in ages... but my nails look great after my mani/pedi with my friends last night!!
school has started and taylor is back in cross country, drew is doing band (including marching band) and starting crew and noah & ev should be starting fall baseball soon... if we ever hear from the team!
we're busy, busy, busy and i'm quite overwhelmed. ed has been working diligently on the bathroom and the tub, toilet and sink are all up and running. the shower is ready for tile (plumbing is done, cement floor is set) and once we get walls up all around the room (maybe this weekend??), we'll be moving into the master bathroom. yeah!!!!

biting off more than i can chew

so, some time ago, i figured out how to take apart my dryer, fix a broken belt and put the whole thing back together again. it was incredible. i was so proud of myself! and, naturally bragged about my new-found mechanical ability to ed.

then, while we were en route to MN, we were pulled over so that a police man could inform us that one of our tail lights was out. (for the record, we knew it was and had asked for that repair to be done when our car was in for other repairs... apparently they forgot. and how would we know? it's not like we follow each other around in our cars and check out the lights!) so, not wanting to be pulled over again (quite scary to be pulled over and really have no idea why!), i resolved to fix the light myself. so, i was directed to the nearest car part store, got the right bulbs and my father-in-law and i figured out how to open the back panel and fix the lights. again, quite pleased with myself.


now, i have determined to repair our broken antenna on the truck. a while ago, some punk kid broke the antenna off the car (ed says people saw it happen) and we've just managed to go without all this time. but, when we went to see the dark knight at the drive-in, suddenly, not having an antenna was a major problem. (thankfully, we had a radio with an antenna and all of the other cars around us had their radios playing the movie loudly. clearly, we cannot be drive-in movie fans and not have an antenna. and, frankly, i'm REALLY sick of the cd's that are in the car. so, i'm going to figure out the antenna problem. how hard can it be?? HA!

recent activity

geez, i just run and run and run and never seem to get anywhere! anyway, in the past few days, we've been really blessed to have great (and not-so-great) activities! friday, our friend, aaron, took us on his sailboat for a ride down the ohio river... okay, not always a scenic area, but the sail was lovely and the sunset was fabulous! saturday, ed & i worked in our yard. i HATE yardwork, but was trying to make my hubby happy. i ended up with blisters on my fingers and what looks like poison ivy (don't think it is, but i'm not sure what it would be). however, our yard does look a lot better! saturday night, we had dinner with good friends. sunday - before church - i was up on our roof cleaning the gutters... this time, the thrill of such a dangerous task was more scary than exciting. i think we'll go with ed's plan from now on and hire out! then, after church, we headed out to monroeville to attend a party for sheela, chris & kaya (who are moving to bangladesh... i hope that's not going to be the new "hot spot" to move to... although i think sheela's "lady of leisure" experience might be one i want to have!). still a little strange to think that this is where my friends are moving (i thought friends moving to hawaii was too far!!), but i'm really excited for them! what an incredible opportunity!! after the party, we stopped by at my parents' and took part in the "sunday dinner" with the rest of the family in the east end. (we usually don't drive all the way out there for the weekly gathering.) finally, yesterday, ed & i headed to children's hospital after work to take dinner to my friend, lisa, who is there with her 4 year old (waiting for a heart transplant). despite the location/situation, we had such a fun visit! (helps that he's adorable and has one of the BEST personalities ever!) anyway, it's been a whirlwind few days. tonight, we'll slow down... sorta... actually, i'll be heading to walmart for a "big shop"... yes, that's what you have to do on a regular basis when you have 4 growing boys who eat so much that the cupboards are empty all the time! good times.

our trip to "God's country" (aka MN)

we had an incredible time in minnesota with our family. we spent several days at the lake (ed's parents' home) riding on the jet ski and water-skiing, tubing, fishing, volleyball, etc. noah's highlight was learning how to ride on one ski (he got around the lake!) and evan got up on ski's. drew & ed both had fun water-skiing too and taylor and i both went tubing (my favorite). actually, taylor pretty much lived in the tube for most of the time we were in the water!

in addition to our lake fun (which included fireworks on the 4th - ed took most of the kids (all 4 of our boys) out on the pontoon for the fireworks while i stayed back at the house and visited with family), we also got to be part of heather's graduation party (yeah!), we went to duluth (the boys & my first visit) to see the cousins dance in a competition (and we got to see various other family members... apparently duluth was the place to be!), we bet on horses at canterbury, caught a twins game in the dome, and so much more! we had SUCH a wonderful trip - the whole time! ed always says that each visit is better than the last and i think i agree! on our way home, we detoured a bit and stayed at kathy & mike's home so we got a very short visit with them and the kids. here are some pics...

pics for fun

i know, it's been so long since i've posted anything... sorry! a few pics of ed's new grill (for father's day) - it took all five of them quite some time to put it together, but we're so glad to have it! summer is so much more fun with a working grill! then, noah & i got to go with mel & jim to the pirate game. it was such fun!! we had a fun buffet dinner first and then we sat 3 rows behind home plate AND got free nachos, drinks, etc. it was really fun and noah had a blast. (i think he had to keep pinching himself!!)