Well, I think winter might finally be breaking -- it has been so cold and snowy lately. Yuck!! It was 50 degrees today - a heatwave of sorts. It was a nice break from the cold. I need the weather to warm up so that we can wash the van and vaccuum out the inside -- I need a break from winter!

The girls are good. KATIE SAID TWO NEW WORDS THIS WEEK - "No" and "Poop" - both in appropriate context. :) Too funny! She is doing so well. We are just thrilled with her progress.

Mary is loving school and is enjoying life as only a 6 year old can. She has two very loose top front teeth -- I have a feeling the tooth fairy will be returning soon......

Per usual, I am short on time - but I finally was able to upload the Father Daughter dance pics. Things here are good, but hectic. Bill and I both have lots of changes going on at our work-places, so it keeps us hopping!!!

Katie is starting to make excellent progress and is beginning to use words, it's so exciting!!

Mary has a 'boyfriend' - I'm not sure we're ready for that -- but more later..enjoy the pics!

I know that I am way past due for a post, but as we have discussed before, I will not apologize for the craziness in my life. We are doing well - just really busy. Mary and Bill had their first father daughter dance last night. I'll try to upload some pics later today. Right now I am rushed for time. It's my mom's birthday and we are meeting them for Chinese - but I am sitting here in pj's with hair color in my hair - waiting for that to be done so I can get dressed and get on the move. It seems as though it is a never-ending cycle as of late -- but all in all we are good.

Mary is doing well in school - she continues to be the toothless wonder -- losing teeth like crazy - but is loving it. She is tying her shoes and reading -- it's awesome to watch her grow up.

Katie continues to be responding well to treatments. She is beginning to use more words and is having meaningful play with toys-- both of those are huge for her.

Bill is liking his new position as harbor master a lot -- he is back doing the things he loves -- parts, moving boats, etc. They are getting ready for the big Boat Show in GR this week - so he is nuts right now. Valentines week is always crazy for us because that is always the week of the boat show.

NASCAR is back -- lovin it!!! I always look forward to the return of NASCAR season. See my link to #8 for more info!!!

Well, I'll try to get those pics up later......

Well the weather is cold here -- and winter is in full swing -- plus I have a house full of "sicko's" too - so it really feels like winter. I was really sick yesterday -- and now both of the girls - especially Mary - are not feeling well. Mary is burning up with a fever and a bad cough - she stayed home from school. I've been trying to disinfect the house so that Bill doesn't get sick. He has so much going on at work.

Not too much else going on. Mary lost another tooth - and Katie is starting to say more words - it's awesome! We're all as busy as ever! More later....

Do you ever feel like you don't have enough time to do all the things you need to do. I have been feeling especially crazy lately when it comes to getting things done. Between work, the house, the girls - it is a neverending cycle. School is back in full swing - Katie is thriving - continuing to say new words, eat new foods and she is truly a joy to me --- Mary is doing well also - the happy kindergartner tying her shoes, learning to ride a bike without training wheels (which is a trick in the ice and snow :) )

Bill, too, is staying busy with the new line of Hobie's and Hobie cats at the marina. Considering it's 12 degrees outside, the marina is suprisingly steady.

Not much else to report. I'm off for a haircut and then I need to take Katie to her speech therapy. It's always exciting to see how she's progressing ----

Okay, well I finally gave in and converted my blog from Beta to Google, so I am back. The holidays were crazy - but I will refrain from apologizing for not being faithful to my blogging family.

We are doing great - especially Katie -- she is starting to talk -- which is a huge answer to prayer -- and so encouraging for us. She has said her name three or four times this week -- which is amazing -- it brings tears to my eyes everytime she says it. I am hopeful that we can do another round of medication the end of this month as it seems to be making a huge difference for her.

Mary lost her first tooth over break and has three more that are loose. She also learned how to tie her own shoes - thanks to "grammo" who spent a whole afternoon patiently teaching her (thanks, mom!).

The Christmas craziness is finally waining at work - so my life is getting back to normal. Bill is back to work after a two week shutdown - which was great as he got to spend a lot of time with the girls.

We have decided to go to Disneyworld this summer - I am so excited!!! We went in 2005 -- but the girls are at a better age now --especially Katie - we are hoping to have a blast.

More later -- lots to do today!

Please allow me to be one of the first to wish each of you a Merry Christmas. I can't believe it is already that time --- December flies by too fast. We have had a wonderful Christmas Eve day - -and I am looking forward to a great Christmas. I am trying to take lots of pics so that I can post the best ones on the blog. I actually didn't have to work today, so that was a huge bonus. It was great to have a day with the family. My parents came over and we ate and played a game - and of course had presents - which is a tradition in my family - to have presents on Christmas Eve - ever since I can remember. :)

Well, I wish each of you a splendid holiday --- I'll post pics as time allows! Happy Holidays!

Apparently it is flu season in our town ! Yikes. Mary woke us up at 4 am to let me know that she needed to "puke". I am so thankful that the Lord gave me a steel stomach to deal with these things. Bill (hubby) was not so blessed and has a really hard time with such things. She laid around all day -- she could barely keep Sprite down. She wants to go to school in the morning -- but we had to draw the line and say "until you can eat, you can't go to school". This is almost humorous because usually we can't stop her from eating == and today you couldn't have shoved food down her throat if your life depended on it. Poor thing -- it made me so sad just to watch her. I think she and I watched "The Polar Express" 3 times before Katie got home from school at noon.

Work tonight wasn't too bad. I can tell it is only 2 weeks until Christmas because people are crazy. We weren't really that busy after 8 pm -- so I got to come home a little early. No complaints here...I'm tired from my 4 am wake-up call. I have cute pics to download from the weekend -- 2 parties and a Christmas program - so as soon as I get those done I will upload them for everyone's viewing pleasure! Have a good day.....

Wow -- the days are flying by. Hard to believe that we are closing in on Christmas fast! Work is nothing but insanity. Today was my 6th day in a row, so I am ready for a break. Tomorrow I am off and I have the infamous scrapbooking/cookie exchange tomorrow night so I am really looking forward to that. I am getting my hair cut in the am and then I need to put some serious time into getting my house caught up. It seems like when I work for a long stretch of days in a row that my house often gets left behind. Oh well, such is life.

Well, my day off has proven to be wonderful from the standpoint that I was able to work on cleaning my house -- which was a huge need. It was so nice to drink coffee and watch "the View" and be able to just get some things done. I need to work on my scrapbooking. My design team layout for next month is sitting on my counter. I'm not real fond of the paper - or the theme - so I'm kind of putting it off. I asked my neighbor (who also crops) what she thought would happen if I didn't do a layout next month. She didn't know what to say. I wondered if I could be permanently banned from ever being on another design team? That would be a huge bummer b/c there are a lot of cool benefits as part of the design team including a 10% discount and one free crop a month -- oh well, I'll be over my attitude in a week or so and then I'll hopefully be able to figure out what pictures I could possibly use on that layout.

Gotta run--- hopefully more tomorrow!

Well, I survived Black Friday in the retail world and have now officially been an employee of Kohls for three years -- that is hard to believe. I am so tired -- it has been quite the weekend. Bill had all of last week off, but with both of the girls being sick and working 42 hours plus the holiday - I am spent.

Mary goes back to school tomorrow - Katie's classroom still has tomorrow off -- she won't remember what school is by the time she goes back on Tuesday -- hee hee!!

Sorry this one is short, but I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday and I have two weekdays off this week, so hopefully I will have a chance to sit down and catch everyone up! Hope your turkey day was terrific!!! Christmas is only 4 weeks away -- Yippee!!!!

I am officially done apologizing for not posting more often. I will just be THANKFUL that I am able to post on occasion :). This is the busiest time of my year -- retail does that to you. I feel as though I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off all day. Not enough time to get things ready for Friday - that is for sure. Bill has the week off of work. He had some vacation to burn, and being that it is a crazy week for me, he thought he'd take the week off, give my mom a break from babysitting - and help me out a ton by being here for the girls.

Mary's teeth are so close to falling out ... I can't wait to see how cute she will be with no bottom teeth (hee hee). Did I mention that both girls are on antibiotics for ear infections? It is almost winter, isn't it? I am kind of ticked because I had to take Mary to the hospital in the middle of the night on Wednesday night into Thursday b/c she was in so much pain from her ear. The Dr. at the ER said it was only an infection in the ear canal and she didn't need antibiotics. The next day I took her to the pediatrician with Katie b/c Katie had been running a fever and had a green nose. The Dr. was like, "Jill, she has an ear infection and she needs meds..." So I guess that was a waste of money at the hospital. That is not the first time that has happened -- but you know you can't take your screaming 5 year old to the Dr's office at 3 am b/c they aren't open. What else can I do????

Well, gotta run -- another busy day tomorrow!!!HAPPY THANKSGIVING if I don't get a chance to post tomorrow!!!

Sorry that I've been a bit delinquent in posting as of late. It's been crazy at work getting ready for the busy holidays coming up -- and I've still got this cold -- 3 weeks and going strong. They put me on an inhaler - she says I have something called a post-viral asthmatic reaction - but I don't have asthma. My lungs are clear but I cough all the time and people look at me as though I have the plague. It's lovely. Mary has it, too -- she has had a cough for 4 weeks -- but she feels good - so there isn't much they can do for her.

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week -- this time of year seems to come too quickly as I get older....

Mary has her first two loose teeth! She is so excited. She keeps asking me to call the tooth fairy and let her know. My response was -- "The tooth fairy and I are very good friends -- I have known her about 36 years (hee hee) and I'm sure that when those teeth come out, she'll be the first to know!" Mary's response was , "Do you know her phone number?" to which I replied -- "Yep - I'm pretty sure I've got that one covered!"

What a week...I've been really sick since last Friday, but in true Mommy fashion I must continue on....I think the whole town has this cough..it's not fun. Thankfully the girls and Bill are pretty healthy....

Halloween was a crazy day..I'll post some pics. The girls had parties at school and then a big party at church in the evening.

Hopefully I'll be healthy and back to my blogging self soon....

Okay, I think I have come out of my depression as a result of the Tigers pitiful World Series performance. They were truly outplayed and deserved to lose. Although it was upsetting for me to see Jeff Weaver, a former Tiger, bask in the glory of kicking their butts. To be honest, I am glad it is finished and I can now move on to bigger and better things -- the Holidays are fast approaching and are much more deserving of my time and energy than the World Series.

What a weekend this is turning out to be. I took the girls Trick or Treating at the local supermarket (Meijers) and that was a blast. They had all kinds of stuff for the kids -- and it is nice for the kids to be able to dress up. Mary is very excited about Halloween. Katie has no clue what Halloween is as far as I can tell. I am one of the room mothers for Mary's class, so I get to be at her party. That will be fun. I have the day off of work for all of the festivities. Our church has a huge party also where they have inflatables and games and dinner -- all free for the community. It is a blast! The girls always have a great time at that - and this year I have two of my girlfriends and their kids coming along, too ...so it will be three times the fun.

I went scrapbooking last night with my friend Alicia -- that was a blast as always. I only got one layout done, but it was a very cute one, thanks to my crop coach (Alicia). She does more coaching than cropping, but that serves as a huge benefit to me --thanks Alicia!

Well, I probably should go...the girls are being too quiet and that is never a good thing :)

How can a world series game get rained out? I mean, seriously? Maybe it's a good thing -- those Cardinals need to be slowed up a bit. I know, the Tigers are really coming up short...but "it ain't over til its' over", right.

Today was crazy. Katie didn't have school at all, and Mary had an extended day, so things were really messed up. I can always tell when Katie's routine is off because it really sends her for a loop.

Does anyone out there watch "The Nine".....we don't seem to talk about TV shows much in blog world, but I am really fascinated by this show. I don't watch (and have never watched) LOST, which I am told is very similar to the NINE --- but it really is an interesting format for a TV show...just wondered if anyone else is intrigued by it...

Well, gotta run..hopefully game 4 will go off without a hitch tomorrow -- but rain is in the forecast....

GO TIGERS!!!

I am watching the World Series and blogging at the same time -- which for me could be a bit challenging. I have had good intentions of blogging more this week, but I have been very busy. We had Katie's IEP at school (Individualized Education Plan- required by law for special ed students) yesterday. It went well. They are keeping Katie's personal aide, and that was my only major concern - so at least until the end of the year we should be okay.

I had today off. That was a good thing. I had worked all weekend and had a lot to do around the house. I feel like I am always coming from behind when I have to work all weekend. There is so much to do with the kids -- Mary's last soccer game of the fall was supposed to be last night, but it was cancelled b/c of snow -- how funny is that. It was only 35 degrees out -- too cold for 5 year olds to be playing soccer if you ask me, so I was thrilled to not have a game.

Okay, the game isn't going so well at this moment, so maybe I should stop blogging -- hee hee -- GO TIGERS!!!

WORLD SERIES BEGINS TONIGHT!! GO TIGERS...

Okay, that is all I will say on that subject...for now. Actually I have really cute pictures of Katie at the Apple Orchard that I want to post. She was such a trooper...and actually picked an apple. It was great! The picture on the right is Katie's aid Amy helping her to pick an apple. Katie wasn't sure at first, but she had a great day.

Well, although the graphic quality of this pic is not the finest, Pudge Rodriguez says it all with his expression ... GO TIGERS!! I am so excited about the Tigers going to the World Series. As I have shared with some of my blogging pals, I have been a Tiger fan since I was 14 years old and I was in love with Lance Parrish, the catcher for the Tigers, who won the world series that year. Ever since, through Thick and Thin -- and there has been a lot of Thin, let me tell you, I have remained a true Tiger fan.

Finally, this year, we have had something to cheer about. I thought it was interesting that my local newspaper stated that it was appropriate that Detroit have a good year in baseball because the state of Michigan as a whole has really needed something to cheer about. Hello, we have to put up with the Detroit Lions -- although they did win today! Seriously, with unemployment and all of that, it is nice to have some nice Michigan news for a change. Go TIGERS~~~