081228 - 2 Winger Christmases

081228 - Up, L&D to church where Dylan was the only acolyte. When L&D got home the rest of us loaded up, did a couple of errand on the way up to the Farm.
Made good time up to the Farm, where Mark, B & their girls met us. The kids enjoyed swinging on the rope, Dusty the cats... Somehow Gma&paW had arranged lunch and everything was very nice, even Weezer stoped by. I got Lilly caged up and the fam loaded. We said goodbye to the Halstead clan as they headed home and we headed to the Winger Christmas party in Shelby.
Arrived @ John & Mary Terry's just in time to eat again! But it was more good food I couldn't resist... Ugh! There was nice conversations and a nixer game that was pretty fun, and a cell phone call from Santa. The kids each got a bag of stuff and played together & with the train non-stop. A very nice party I have always remebered & enjoyed. The crowd started to thin and we packed up back off to the Farm.
We regrouped w/ Gma&paW and had another present exstavaganza! Everyone got something they wanted and the next several hours were spent putting things together. We even had more to eat (BURTSING). The boys settled down, and we got them to bed: for a minute... Grant decided he didn't want the parties to be over and came back out to watch a video on Mansfield w/ us. He did finally fall asleep and GpaW & I had a short time to have a good talk. Off to bed, tossed & turned till about 5...

081228 - Our Christmas



081227 - Eskimo Summer

081227 - D,J&I took Lilly on a big walk to the playground, then the creek, back to the playground and home. L was able to brush Lilly while she was asleep. We packed up the troops and headed to Dayton to see the Halstead clan.
The ride to Dayton was easy and when we got there the temperature was about 70. Because the day was so nice all the kids (9) were able to take off their shoes and run crazy. We had some good food canversations and family time. The kids had the 'best time ever' playing together. The ride home was quiet. Stayed up to finish off season 1 of Heroes.
081226 - Up and to the kitchen table for the first half of day building Jack's 1000 pc Lego Space ship thingys. D&G kept themselves busy. Then I played Wii Nerf w/ Howdy while G took a nap & J played w/ his legos. We all packed up for a quick trip to the pharmacy, grocery, & Wendy's. Home for nuggets, baths & bed. L stayed up a bit watching her favorite midget show & I retreated to the basement to watch more Heroes till late.

081225 - Too Fast

081225 - Yes I know this pic is blury... But it is real. 9 years ago was my first Christmas as a parent. Now Dylan is getting big, and I'm not certain the 'magic' of Christmas will be there for him next year. This year the holiday was perfect: everyone up early, the looks on their faces opening things the love, getting along with each other, seeing our families we love, being together.
After a movie I got my 3 boys in bed and headed down the stairs in tears.
They had a great day, but are growing so fast. I want them to be my little buddies forever... All the hugs, smiles & 'I love you's as I tucked them in started my emotions. Dylan, who I tuck in last every night, felt my trembling as the emotions began to surface and asked if I was ok. How do you explain to a young boy how much you see in him & his brothers, the great kids they are now, the potential, them growing and how u just want them to be happy the rest of their lives, like they are on Christmas day... I know I can't stop it. I just want it to go slower so they can get more out of being little and worry free, and so I can get more out of it too.
I don't want it to be a blur.

081225 - Merry Christmas

081225 - Everyone up @ 7! Pure delight, everyone had a great morning and got things they love!

081224 - Santa

081224 - Up & worked all morning. Then the fam headed to Rich & Nicole's for lunch. Santa stopped by and entertained us. Grant didn't want to sit on his lap, but sure enjoyed passing out the gifts!

081223 - Cookies

081223 - Dr for wrist, AGAIN! Home & the boys r decorating cookies for Santa. Pretty messy event.
081221 - L & big boys to church, G & I ran errands and got lunch. played video games with J. D to bday party. hung out after dinner, up late watching TV.
081220 - J made bfast for everyone, boys played Wii, G&I rested. L home for lunch & got groceries.
081219 - Dylan's sing along @ school. Lori out with her girl friends tonight. The boys & I dropped the toys @ the donation center, had dinner @ Cici's, got movies & games @ Blockbuster, picked up a percription, and went shopping for Mommy & Lilly's xmas presents. Home up late watching movies.
081218 - Dylan had a Cub Scouts, Pack meeting tonight.

081214 - Lilly

081214 - Up about 5, my throat & ear killing me! I over medicated myself and went back to bed. Everyone up by 7, D&I to McDs to get bfast for the fam. L got her call this morning that her sterp test was positive! So L ran & got her perscription... G has had a snotty nose for days. This means D is the only person not ill... When L got home the boys and I had her & G stay in the car and we headed out for a quick adventure... We arrived at our destination minutes later, for L's main xmas present, Lilly. Lilly is the newest addition to our family. She is a 12 week old Goldendoodle that isn't suppose to shed. We got home and Lilly made us all feel a bit better as she ran and played in the backyard. The boys can't get enough of her, and of course proud mamma has already given Lilly a bath and blow dry...

081213 - Up with more head tenderness then other parts... Throat so sore could not eat and barely could swallow water. Jack not feeling well in the morning so L took him to the Dr. where he tested positive for strep... L dropped the boys off for naps and then ran out to get J's prescription and herself checked out... Everyone home and we had some dinner, watched some TV and all early to bed.

081212 - Woke up and pretty sore for yesterdays activities. Surprisingly that is not all... I have super high fever, sore throat and throbbing ear ache. L called the Dr w/ my symptoms and they called in an antibiotic for me. I had only minutes of consciousnesses the entire day: my Friday vanished...

081211 - Well the procedure went well, no pain during at least... L took me to get a couple perscription and a bunch of movies for recovery. Home and to the basement, settling in for the night.

081211 - Late night visitor

081211 - Up & on calls, worked all day. Had 3 beers & a valume and headed out. Teresa over to watch J&G, L&I dropped D off at the Grossels so he could go to scouts, & L&@ headed to the Dr. for my vasectomy... In the waiting room now, will report more later.... Ugh!
081210 - Up, full day @ work. Dinner @ Burger King w/ the fam, then dropped D off for karate, dropped L off @ Mejer, took J home to get his karate gear then dropped him off @ karate, G&I then to Meijer to pick up L & her grocies, L,G&I back to karate to pick up D&J. Finally home and got groceries unloaded, a snack of chocolate chips; that G spilled all over the living room floor, where D,J&I ate them all up making him furious! Got the boys to bed and L&I watched the Travel Channel, some food show featuring Columbus resturants?which made us hungry. So I ran out and got us some wings. L headed off to bed & I stayed up for a late night call. While on the 3am call I heard some noises upstairs... My investigation & pic show the culprit. I caught G in playroom, he had shut all the doors upstairs and was playing w/ GI Joes...
081209 - Up and J&I out to a home inspextion on Retton Rd. Jack is quite the litte inspector...

081209 - Lego time

081209 - Up and got a good start to the week. J went to school & the to a buddy's house. Everyone home for dinner. G&I dropped D off @ karate and then finished up our xmas shopping. When we got home we found L&J in the basement. They made this amazing Lego city! We all played w/ Logos for a bit, then off to bed. The bible bangers are heading over for a movie tonight.
081208 - Up dylan to church w/ Gma&paB. L&I stayed w/ J&G that wern't feeling well. Everyone home for lunch. GpaB had a concert and the boys didn't eat a bit of nice lunch GmaB made... (but they sure ate dinner!) J&G slept the whole way home so it was a nice quiet ride. When we got home D&J played outside in the snow, while I shoveled the drive, lights strung and fixed the headlight. After a well eaten dinner, L gave the boys haircuts and I did baths. We finished off the night watching Willy Wonka. Got the boys & L to bed & I watched the X-Files movie.

081206 - Polar Express

081206 - L got us all up & out the door EARLY! Eveb Blockbuster was still closed, rediculous... L drove us to Newcomerstown, through the light snow. We got there and everyone played, the trees are up, the little towns & trains are running and we r trying to prevent Grant from turning into godzilla and destroying it all. We had a nice lunch where all the boys actually ate and J had several dozen pickles...
GpaB came home and then the building began. All the boys chiped in and they had a ginerbread house, covered with icing and candy, in no time. D was drinking the left over icing and G was hording the m&ms. Then all the boys got in there PJs, posed on the steps for 1.624 seconds for a picture, and then off to the Polar Express.
L&I stayed @ the house, relaxed and talked by the fire. We got the call that the gang was on there way home & I ran out and got chinese. Every one back around the table for dinner, then more playing w/ Monty Python & the Search for the Holy Grail playing in the packground.

081205 - Lunch


081205 - Up and the cable guy came out and fixed the tv box, rushed through my morning tasks, had a very important lunch date I could not miss. Grabbed my sack of food, ran out the back door in the freezing cold to meet my partner Howdy for lunch at this school. I met him in the lunch room and we ate there with his friends and some other parents. We then got to go to his classroom where we were allowed to stay for indoor recess. We got to play some math/money games and it was pretty fun. By far the highlight of my week!

Walked home through the flurries and finished my day. Took the family to a crappy expensive Mexican restaurant, then home to pack, wrestle and watch some tv. Heading to the polar express in Newcomerstown tomorrow morning.


081204 - Business day... Worked all day, changed and ran out the door to go to a ColumbusREIA meeting with Jeff. It was pretty interesting and we learned some things tonight. L took all 3 boys to D's cub scouts. All home, talked and watched tv, w L.


081203 - U, usual work stuff, now getting involved in an HR case... Took a break for lunch and ran to the bank w/ Jeff, we are trying to get a lump of cash so we can just write a check for these houses instead of financing them... Back to the desk, finally getting above water. ran out for a fast dinner, loaded the boys in the car, L off to do a bulletin board at church, D to karate, J, G&I to the movie store and 2 banks, then back to karate for J. G was a MESS... ugh this is exhausting. How does L do it when I am on the road???


081202 - Up into the office still pulling out from under the pile of being away from my desk for a month... G has a fever this morning. Worked through lunch and then ran to a property portfolio manager meeting with Jeff; we bought another house... Home found some food, spent some time with the fam, then worked till 5am.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

081201 - Grind

081201 - Drug myself out of bed then drugged myself up. Grabbed a coffee and stumbled into the office. Trying to get caught up on the 'gone for a month' pile of both work & personal. Amazingly enough not everyone got the memo not to add to that pile today...
Lost internet and phone abot 2pm until only minutes ago...
Running D&J to karate and gas, L&G w/ a fever getting groceries. How can gas now only be 1.57/gal? Is that to offset my 401k losses?