School, Football and Fall Activities

It not that I did not have anything to blog about, there just has be NO time!!!!
Where to begin???
School is off and running and with that has come ALL the homework and fall activities!
The homework has been a challenged since Allysa is no longer in elementary school! WOW, the homework and intensity!!! She is doing Ok- her interim grades were all A's and B's but she still has some of the same struggles. She tanks on Bigger tests and she is a VERY concrete thinker so if the test is not like the study guide, she struggles with applying what she knows when it is different. The teachers all say just keep working with her, she is good kid and wants to do well and it will all click! She is soooo much like me, I hated abstract stuff and still do!!! I like facts and detail!
Ashlee seems to be doing well, at this time I know of no major issues. She has some of same traits as Allysa but yet different so who knows with her :). Health wise, she seems to be holding her own. Even with school starting we are still doing every other week and knock on wood- none of her usual fall symptoms have materialized.
Both girls are cheering for the D2 Cowboys! The squad has been together for 4 years and they have grown soooooo much! Coach Jill and Brenda should be proud!!!! Allysa also choose to take advantage of the after school volleyball program and both are still doing Piano. Since they are no major musician dreams, they go every other week.

Football!!!
Although I hated to see summer go and fall arrive, mainly because that means winter is coming. I LOVE that it is football season!!! The Bucks are doing well and surprisingly the Steelers are hanging in there even with all the off field drama with Ben!!! I guess it shows there is no I in team and one person does not define the whole team!
Kevin and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in the BURGH!!! We had a wonderful dinner Sat. night and then Steeler game Sunday. Of course, he forgot my gift but it worth waiting for, a new necklace with nice diamond ! It is beautiful!

There has been many other things going on but in effort to keep the blog upbeat will stick with positive. However, my of my dear friends/family members are going through some rough patches so just keep them in your thoughts!
Until Next Time- Go Bucks, Go D2 Cowboys and Go Steelers!!!! Enjoy the slide show to wrap up all that has been going on! The steeler shots are from my new camera and I LOVE my new camera!!!
PS-hope everyone enjoys the blog look!

Oh, Where, Oh Where did SUMMER go???

Oh, where, Oh where did summer go??? It is really hard for me to to believe summer is OVER, we were soooo busy I do not feel like we got to enjoy as much as possible. The weather was BETTER this summer and I think we spent only a little more time at James's swimming and the lack of pictures is proof! Since, HH what have we been doing? Answer- trying to enjoy the rest of summer and getting ready for school!!!! Kevin took all of us to Zoombezi Bay for Cardinal Health Day. The girls seem to really enjoy themselves.
We spent a lot of time shopping to get school supplies and clothes and ALOT of time getting oriented to 6th grade since this is a transition year for Allysa. All in All I think it has gone well, just getting a routine back has been a challenge especially as all the fall activities start! The girls are cheering again so hopefully since it is Football season you will see more posts!
Allysa completed her babysitting class and had her 1st official job watching Cameron. The plan is to start her out slowly and in year or so she should have a good business going. We have lots of friends and neighbors with young kids.
If fall must be here, let FOOTBALL begin!!!

Same Old Story.....

It has been pretty much the same old thing- work, school and on the weekends football, football and more football!!!!
The girls are busy with school, tumbling, cheering and piano. Allysa has taken it another step and is playing clarinet in the 5th grade band. So, there is always something going on here.H
HERE IS THE FOOTBALL UPDATE
Well the NWFL Raiders remain UNDEFEATED !!! We only have a few games before championship weekend!
The Buckeyes- are winning although not always pretty or convincing! The end of season will be what decides how good they really are- Iowa, Penn State and Michigan. It should be interesting
Well then there is the Steelers......I am still not sure what to think of them. Although they are winning we have ALOT of room for improvement. I will be VERY happy when #43 is back( aka Polamolu)!!!!!! Next weekend, Kevin and I head to the Burgh for the Browns/Steeler match up.
As always, I must end that I have some of greatest friends in the world!!!! I am truely blessed! Until next time!!!!!!!!!!!

Work has been a bit stressful, I need to remind myself it is just work and not get sooo bent out of shape about things. I am hoping this week starts off better! I have also been busy planning the family birthday and Allysa's 11th. She is not getting a big party but is going to have a small sleep over! I am hoping on the health side, I am on the mend! Until next time.................

What A Week.......

What a week it has been!!!! I ended up with over a week off - not a fun week off. Since the biopsy I have been battling a few complications and it was decided on that on Wed. the surgeon would take care of. it Now, I have been in recovery and hoping this will be the end of it until my next mammogram and I can start feeling like myself - not soooo freakin tired all the time!!! Thanks to all my friends who helped or offered to help during the week, YOU ALL ARE AWESOME!!!
With that said, it was the usual weekend of football, football and more football!!!! The Buckeyes finally look like they are starting to jell and have had 2 nice wins since the horrible loss to USC. Our NWFL Raiders are awesome and are now 5-0.....
Then there is the Stinky Steelers!!!! They have a knack for looking good for 3 quarters and then deciding they do not want to play anymore especially on defense!!!!! I think the defense lost their identity- Troy!!!! It is not helping the Jeff Reed has forgotten how to kick field goals and our wider receivers ( Santonio, Limas and Hines) seem to have an issue with dropping passes!!!! It is starting to look like it will be looooong NFL season if this keeps up!
Last, the girls are enjoying their new kitty and overall Ginger has adapted well. She has been really good especially since Ash is obsessed with her and has not figured to just let her down and that cats do not like to be handled 24/7!!!
Until next time, hope everyone is has a good week or weeks!!

Fall and Football

Friday started out CRAZY, I had stayed home since I am still not feeling well which ended up being a good thing. Ashlee was going home with a friend after school so she could attend her birthday party. I remembered putting the permission slip in her book bag but forgot to give her the present. If you know Ashlee she would be devastated when she found out that she did not have one with her. So, I ran to school and dropped it off to prevent any drama. Allysa and went to dinner at the Winking Lizard after my doctors appointment to get a physical.
Saturday- the girls and I with some friends watched the Buckeyes and were very happy with this win but it would have been sweeter had we beat USC the week before!!! Since the boys were at a bar watching football. So, the big girls decided to rent a movie and let the kids play. The boys then went to Jame's to watch more- Thanks Beth for getting Kevin and Keith home safely!
Sunday- was a lazy day. I was not having one of my better days! We went to the girls game and the Raiders are now 4-0!!! Way to Go Raiders!!!!! However, the Steelers decided not to show up , we really need Troy back for the defense and I am not sure what was up with Jeff Reed. The evening ended on a downer!!
Now for the kitty, Ginger is doing wonderfully but at times overwhelmed with attention. Ashlee being the worst, she is obsessed!!! I am trying to teach her that the kitty sometimes just wants left alone. This has been our ongoing battle!!! However, we did go into PANIC mode when we could not find her after the Steeler game. Ginger, had been tortured by the girls so I made them come up here for awhile and Sam joined us for a while to. After the game, we could not find her... We LOOKED, LOOKED and LOOKED and NO Ginger. So I thought maybe she slipped out the door when Keith and Sam left and that is when PANIC really set in!!!! After what seemed like FOREVER, Ashlee decided she knew where she was and she was right!!! Ginger, found herself a safe out of the way (no kids) place, behind the steps in the storage room. She slipped in through a small space between some storage box, found her way to the back and curled up and went to sleep!!
This week will be unusual too, since my biopsy site has not really healed as far as the blood clot on Wed. I am going to have surgery to have it drained, she will look for any active infection and make sure the area in question is removed! I am not looking forward to it but tired I feeling sooo crappy most of the time. Hopefully, this will end the madness!!!

The Official End of Sumer and Football, Football and more Football!

After Thurs. I really did not think it was going to be a great week! I saw the new surgeon and even with the biopsy she still is not 100% convinced so now more testing, however those cannot be done until my infection and large blood clot are gone!!!!!!!!!!! This experience has been very trying! That same day we got a large bill for one of Ashlee's infusions and I came home to fight it out with the insurance company- the idiots are denying a March bill because they want medical records but they paid for Feb and are paying for her home treatment. The kicker is the have the medical records because we had to submit for her home treatment but they will not pull those since it is attached to another providers claim- UGH!!! The last thing, my phone began cracking and is not covered by warranty!!!
Needless to say I was not optimistic about going into the Friday and the weekend! However, my 7 am meeting Friday went well. My bosses boss was very pleased which means my boss will be happy too so then my life will be much easier (at least for awhile).
The weekend has been AMAZING, Sat. the girls had a game at 9 am which was rough but next week is worse since it is interfering with the Bucks. Then we headed to the James for the Buckeye game and just plain fun! Yesterday, the gang was all here and I think everyone had fun. We hit a little bump with Sam or jumped of the slide and hurt his leg, it seemed to get better over time so hopefully this am he will be back to normal. When we are altogether, I am reminded how blessed I am to have such a strong group of friends especially since we have no immediate family here!
I had a very busy Saturday, I got a new phone. The lady at Sam's Club was very honest and sold me a new one much cheaper than she had tooo.. We added another line ( which we would be doing in the next 9 mo to a year) and I got the new phone, even with the extra fees monthly it was still cheaper. Of course Allysa thinks she is getting a phone but that is big NOT YET, however there times when she has been somewhere we wanted her to have one! Now, in those rare cases, we can put the sim card for the 3rd line in one our older phones and give her that instead of ours. Then went off to HH Greg for one thing and left with a new camera. I have been pricing two for months and after seeing this one decided to go for it plus I got a really GREAT deal! It was a big decision because I am choose a brand I do not know well so there is learning curve but so far I LOVE the pictures it has taken!!!
Next, on our list we are considering a cat! The girls have been driving me crazy wanting a pet and a dog just would not go with our chaotic life style but maybe a cat!!!! Who knows may be we will have an addition to our home!
Enjoy below!!!

Heartbreaking........

This was not one of our better football weekends!!! It started with the Phins final game in the turkey bowl, it came down to the last seconds, they scored a touchdown but needed 2 points to tie it up. Although, I did not want to freeze my rear end off any longer, it was sad to see them get so close to forcing the game into OT but the pass for two was intercepted. All in All , the boys had an GREAT season.
The saying is the team that holds onto the ball and does not turn it over wins, that is very true when it comes to the Bucks and Steelers both teams had some issues with holding onto the ball and both Lost!!!!
This weekend we only have the Steelers so maybe we can get back on track. Below are a few pictures of the AWESOME PHIN CHEERLEADERS~~~

Ohio's Drinking Age Has Been Lowered!!

People will be flocking to move to Ohio now that the drinking age has been lowered to just over the age of one- NOT!!! I could not resist getting this picture of Sam and this frosted mug. Anything is fair game when he is around, he even had the plastic martini glass but I could not get the picture of that one!!!! He is just into everything and anything within his reach which makes it priceless!!! Another weekend of football and the good news we went 3 for 3!!! The Bucks, Phins and Steelers all WON!!!! Go Team Go!!!!
Hope everyone has a great week, I know I can use one!!!

Not Gone Yet.....

It is hard to believe it is Mid-October in Ohio- It has been in the high 70's/low 80's. It was absolutely beautiful this weekend. Jeff and Leah, I hope your BUCKEYE weekend was WONDERFUL, we are sorry we could not hook up!!! Of course, it was full of football- I am sure that is not a surprise ...
We were 2 out of 2 this weekend- the BUCKS and PHINS WON!!! The Steelers have a bye-week so we are just watching to see how our RIVALS such as the Browns, Bengals and Patriots(the most evil of all) do!!!
As always, I cannot say enough about our friends they are the BEST!!!

Allysa, Emily and Julia- can you imagine what we are in for in a few years!!!

Ella(0.5 Mascolino), Ali, and Ashlee- they are adorable!!
Sam and Allysa- need I say more?

2 out 3

Sorry for the delay but the football weekend was extended since the Steelers did not play until Monday night. It was close and ugly but we beat those nasty Ravens and I lost even more sleep !!! The Bucks won too so we were 2 out 3 which means our Phins did not have a great day. Hey, there is always next week!!! Now, that it is Tuesday another weeks of homework, work and activities is in full swing which will swing right into another football weekend. Here are some pictures from this past weekend.
Thank goodness, it will be Wed. I am so ready for Friday to be here!!!

The Dolphin Cheerleaders and Coaches waiting on the boys to break through the sign!

We start them young here !!!
Just a neat picture of the sky

Friends, Football and a First!!!

It is hard to believe how fast these weekends go, I could sure use another day. I think we need to go to 4 8 hour workdays and have 3 day weekends. I know so do not say it, just let a girl dream!!!
Well, Christa and I kicked off the weekend by hosting a Pampered Chef Party in hopes that we can obtain some of the items on our wish list without hurting the pocket book! The party went well and it looks like will be able to fulfill some of our wishes!
This was a weekend of firsts too.....Allysa got to go to her first OSU game (Thanks to the Hiles)and for those of you who do not know that is a big deal in Buckeye Country!!! Since , I still cannot tolerate sitting on anything without a back for any length of time, Daddy was the lucky one who got to go with her. At first I was nervous about how that would go but I was pleasantly surprised they both enjoyed themselves!! Allysa came home just rattling off everthing she saw and how much fun she had!!! A friend asked what was her favorite thing and she could not even come up with anything specific she loved it all!! Allysa got to take one my older cameras so below you will see some of her pictures.
I stayed home and watched it on TV and then later that evening Christa came over, then Jen and eventually Beth. A couple of them ( will not name names but it was not Jen) were still recovering from Friday(a little too much wine). The guys decided they needed to go have their own version of pampered chef- called Lucky's( local bar if you cannot guess) and Beth was DD (Thanks Beth). It was a very LAZY Saturday evening, we pulled out all the left overs and fed the kids and then they played and we lounged. It was still a nice evening just lounging around with girls!!
The last first was not as much fun- the Steelers first loss of the season and after watching the last half it will not be our last Loss !! You cannot let your quarterback be sacked 7 times just in the first half- the O- Line needs some re-work. Hopefully, we can beat the Ravens next week!
However, the Phins and Buckeyes won so the whole weekend was not lost!!

Here are the pics from the weekend- Enjoy!!

Allysa showing off her first ticket!!

Allysa in the shoe!
One of her pictures of the game!
A few pictures of the Dolphin cheerleaders!
The girls in action!!

Three for Three

Since, I cannot carry much still , Kevin had brought my bag out to load into the car and then sat it down to run back in the house. So, off we went to the "burgh" only for me to realize 3/4 of the way that my bag was not there and was still in the garage where Kevin left it. We decided to turn around because shopping for all those items would have been more expensive.
Oh, I was hoping this was not an omen for how the whole weekend would go because at the same time we were listening to the Buckeye game and things were not looking so hot!!! Plus, as many of you know my luck has not been very good lately!

Amazingly, everything turned around!!! The Bucks got it together and won( not one of their better performances). We went to dinner and then Sunday was game time. It was an absolute perfect day for football and the Steelers did not let me down by beating the crap out of the Texans. I was impressed with how the looked so I am more optimistic about their season since they have one of toughest NFL schedules this year. When we got home we found out the NWFL Dolphins won too so that makes us 3 for 3 this weekend- not too shabby!

WAY TO GO BUCKEYES, STEELERS AND PHINS!!!

Enjoy the slide show from the Steeler game, my camera got some really good shots!!