BSU Homecoming Weekend

The plan for Saturday was to go to Joni's baby shower. A baby girl will be here sometime around November 6! That was the plan until Mike was scheduled for an extra shift.

Saturday morning the Homecoming Parade started Saturday morning at 8:30. EARLY! Claudia, Cort, Logan and I met Beth and the kids for the parade. It was actually a lot of fun. The kids got a lot of candy, a LOT, and Beth and I giggled for an hour straight.

After the parade I picked up McD’s for the girls at the South Branch. The kids and I spent about an hour with them, eating and catching up. Claudia and Cort took turns talking to the customers at the drive up, which they loved! It was a FUN morning!

The game started at noon Saturday afternoon. The kids and I picked up Mike after his three hour cat nap. This was the first BSU football game for Claudia and I. That was a great first game, BSU 41 – Kent State 20! BSU is now 5 – o, go Cards! I really loved watching the game along with the cheerleaders, band and the dance team. Since this game Claudia has not stopped doing cartwheels, round offs, and handstands.

After the game we took Mike back home to get a couple more hours of sleep before his next shift. The kids and I packed up and went to moms for the night. Carmel has an Art festival once a year downtown. http://www.carmelartsfestival.org/. We walked from moms to the festival, ate dinner and walked around. Mom lives in a great neighborhood, so much to do and see!

Sunday morning we went to church where mom has been going for the last few weeks. I know now why mom really likes it at Northview! The pastor had a GREAT message Sunday, “Life on Loan” what it means to live an externally focused life. The kids program was great, so many friendly people, and the worship music was amazing. Mom started a new Bible Study that meets on Monday nights. I am excited, she loves it already! God works in amazing ways! http://www.nvcl.org/Home.aspx

The sale...

Friday and Saturday morning mom and I had a "drive way" sale. Our garage is too messy for a garage sale. Oh my, getting ready for a rummage sale is a LOT of work! I am sure that it would have been easier if I would have started getting ready prior to that week... I sold a ton of Claudia’s clothes, some of Corts and a few of mine. If I was prepared I am sure that I would have a clean room now. My new goal is to start packing up the rest of our stuff to take to the Mission. Baby steps... Mom made out well selling her clothes from "the old days".

Thursday night mom spent the night. She had about three hours of sleep and I had two prior to the big event. It was fun spending time together, marking our goods, eating popcorn, watching Oprah and laughing. I put up 11 signs around my neighborhood at 5:30 Friday morning. We were so tired on Friday evening. The kids both went to the Country Fair at school with a friend. Claudia spent the night with Katie and Cort with Logan. I was so thankful; I went to sleep before 7:30 Friday night. The kids had a plan to have a lemonade stand on Saturday. Since all of the biz was on Friday we decided to pack up early on Saturday and skip the lemonade stand.

Happy Birthday Jess! We had a yummy lunch at Puerto Vallarta. The servers serenaded Jess with the Happy Birthday song and a touch of whip cream. It was fun, funny! The only thing that would have made me laugh a little more is if Jess would have worn the birthday sombrero!! She gave me the EYE when I told the waiters that it was her birthday... She had the car keys so I knew that asking for the hat made for a long walk home for me. :)

After we stuffed ourselves we went to the mall to have our eyebrows threaded. The lady did a number on me this time, my eyebrows are still swollen, I think. Jess got a new "birthday" shirt at Old Navy that looks fab on her! Cort finally got some new school clothes! Claudia also picked out a couple of new tops so everybody was happy. We went to Target on our way home; Cort had $10 dollars that was burning a hole in his pocket.

We had a fun time eating, talking and shopping. Happy Birthday to you Tootie!

Our trip the Pryor's!

I think that the shoes were her favorite... Why wouldn't they be?

Saturday morning picture.

We arrived at the Pryor's house at about midnight on Friday. Natalie and Matt greeted us with a big hug; Emma was sleeping (boo). We sat up and talked for about an hour, it was nice. I hate that we live so far apart! Saturday morning we gave Emma her long overdue birthday gift. She LOVED her new Dora dress up clothes! Oh sooooo cute! We spent a couple of hours with them before leaving for Holiday World. Of course, Claudia and Emma were the bestest buddies in just a short time. I love how Claudia truly loves little kids!

After Holiday World and showers we went to Natalie's parent's, John and Elaine, for dinner. They made DELICIOUS steaks and my very favorite, Natalie's cheesy potatoes! The kids played and we enjoyed chatting.

Sunday we ate breakfast, yummy pancakes by Natalie! We played for a while and left around 11. We stopped at the Edinburg Outlet Mall to get Cort a couple of new outfits for school. I hope that I make plenty of money at our garage sale this weekend so I can go back! On our way home we went to mom's. Mike helped install her new shower head and sink faucets, mom and I hung a few pictures and Claudia cleaned the glass.

Nat, Matt and Emma will be in town again in November, I can’t wait! Emma is so sweet; I wanted to eat her up. I loved watching Natalie with Emma; she is such a great mommy.

I love and miss them all!

Holiday World!

Holiday World "Number 1 in Family Fun"


Mike, Claudia and Cort rode THE LEGEND...
I slept on the bench while they did roller coasters.
Dramatic drops—including the world's first spiral drop
TRACK LENGTH: 4,042 feet
RIDE HEIGHT: 116 feet
2 minutes ride time @ maximum speed of 65 mph


The Raven...
120-foot tunnel
85-foot and 61-foot drops
TRACK LENGTH: 2,800 feet
RIDE HEIGHT: 110 feet
90 seconds @ 50+ miles per hour


THE VOYAGE ROLLER COASTER!
The world's top "air-time" wooden coaster
Track length: 6,442 feet (1.2 miles)
Maximum speed: 67.4 mph
173 feet tall, with drops of 154, 107 and 100 feet
2 min., 45 sec. ride time
Three 90-degree extreme banked turns
Among the world's top three longest and fastest wooden coasters

Splashin' Safari

The plan was to ride the roller coasters and then go to Splashin' Safari. The Voyage was the first ride that we went to and it was down for service. It was about 90 degrees already and the water park was not very busy at all. We decided to save the park rides until after the water park. The water park was sooooooo much fun! We went on every ride and slide that they had except for one and we didn't realize that until we were leaving. We only had to wait for a half an hour at the most for one slide, very nice! We put on plenty of FREE sunscreen and had several FREE soft drinks while we were at the water park. By the time we made it to the rides, I was pooped. Cort sat with me while Mike and Claudia rode the first two rollercoaster’s. He decided that wasn't any fun so he joined them for the last few rides. I took a little power nap on a bench in the shade. On our way out we shared a funnel cake with strawberries on top, YUMMY!

A couple of funnies!

Here are a couple of things that have made me laugh lately... Last Friday night we were in the Penske truck on our way to moms’ new place. (Which is GREAT!) Mike had Radio Now playing; there was a mix of the Jonas Brothers and Rob Base. I loved it; I was in junior high when this group was a big hit, listened to the song repeatedly. Claudia is in fourth grade and loves The Jonas Brothers! When I was at work on Saturday the Jonas Brothers came on the radio. I started laughing and told the girls about the remix that I heard the night before. Sam who is twenty asked who Rob Base was?!! Oh my, I am only 33 and I felt old!

Beth and I were on the phone today, being silly of course. We were talking about how people get her name confused for names that sound similar. One name that she said was BEV. Just thinking of calling Beth, BEV makes me laugh so hard! Beth is definitely not a Bev!

(So the bad thing is that now that Beth told me about Bev, what do I want to call her.... BEV!)

Today is Saturday, not a normal Saturday. I worked from 8:30-5 so my Saturday was really on Thursday. Mike was home with the kids today, they enjoyed being lazy. I was home for about an hour and Claudia left for Chloe’s house. I am hoping that Mike will make dinner soon, it's almost 7:00 and I am starving! I am hoping to eat dinner and watch a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother (after Cort goes to bed). This is my new favorite sitcom! Mike recorded the first two seasons for us to watch together. It is not the most appropriate show, but it is SOOOO FUNNY!

Mike and Cort had a lot of fun together last night at the BSU game! Ball State won against Navy 35-23. At halftime they went to get Cort a burger, when they came back their seats were taken. Cort decided that he was ready to come home. According to the Star Press, the official attendance at the game was 22,517, the fourth-largest crowd in Ball State history, and 17 more than the stadium's official capacity of 22,500. Eight buses of Navy students arrived just before the game, receiving a standing ovation from the Ball State crowd. The Cardinals made their national home game debut on ESPN so they watched the rest on TV.

BSU Football Game

Tonight I dropped Mike and Cort off at the BSU stadium for the BSU vs. Navy football game. This is Corts first college football game, he was so excited! Tonight was red night; Cort wore his red warm up pants, and a red and gray T. Mike wore his red BSU T and his Navy hat. It is perfect football game weather this evening.

Claudia and I are hanging out on the couch watching the Disney channel. I have my favorite outfit on, jammie pants and my pink BSU T. Claudia is also doing handstands and of course, I am watching.

Are these my kids?

Cort: "X-treme Skateboarding! X-treme Motorcross! X-treme BMX!"

Claudia: "That's nothing, watch this... Click"

Cort: "HEY!"

Claudia: "X-treme Sistering!"

Cort: "GRRRRRRRR!"

Picture Link

SOOOOOOOO CUTE!

This morning I checked my email while I was eating my cereal. I was so excited to see this email from Natalie! She sent a link to the pictures that she took in August. I can NOT wait to go visit in a couple of weeks!!

Hint to all, I LOVE to get pictures!!