Out There

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, there aren't any real excuses except there hasn't been much to write about. Let me see if I can even remember what the week has been like...

Monday: blur

Tuesday: Dinner and a powerwalk and gossip session with Katie, too fun!

Wednesday: Shopping trip to Target with Mom and of course I spent $80 as always, where the heck does that money go???

Today: Booking the hotel after dinner tonight with Tom for DC in June.

Tomorrow: Going shopping to the outlets with Mom! Shopping Therapy here we come. I have been saving my b-day money since Feb and it is about burning a hole in my purse. I'm ready to spend!

Saturday: Lexy's b-day party at the zoo, Seth's first trip to the zoo!

Sunday: Mother's Day festivities which will include church, brunch, and an afternoon with the family in Lowville

Oh, we gave Seth pudding for the first time last night and you would have thought we gave him a million dollars, he was in heaven until it was gone and he screamed/cried actual tears.

A bouquet from my Gramp, it made the house smell so great!

Wanted...

MY CREATIVE OUTLET FOR TODAY!

NEED I SAY MORE?

Will Walk & Eat For a Good Cause

We had quite a busy weekend between our garage sale, date night, The Sun Walk and The Cystic Fibrosis dinner! Let's backtrack a bit..

Friday Night:

Ro cooked the most DELICIOUS london broil on the grill, it was truly a masterpiece!

SaturDAY:

Our garage sale was a huge success, I guess the old saying "One mans trash is another mans treasure" held true because we unloaded a ton of stuff. We got rid of our old recliner, old computer and endless knick knacks totalling $375 in vacation money! Look out DC and Lake George!

Saturday Night AKA Date Night:

We went to our favorite restaurant that had just opened for the season and we PIGGED out! We ate very little throughout the day so we were ready to eat our hearts out. I usually get the same entree, but I thought I'd be different and boy was I glad that I tried something new. I tried something called Chicken in the Harbor, it was lightly breaded and thin chicken breasts cooked with bacon, scallions, muchrooms and spinach in a light creamy sauce. It was to die for and I can't wait to go back and get it again! Ro had the fried seafood platter and the breading was light and so good! We had soup, salad, our meals AND we brought hom dessert. I'd say it was a successful date night!

Sunday:

We got up and grocery shopped early because we knew the afternoon would be jammed packed. We headed to the Melanoma Walk about 12:30pm. It was a huge success and Seth was loving all the people. From there we headed to the Pepsi sponsored spaghetti dinner for Cystic Fibrosis, which was also a huge success and I even won a free NYS Inspection which I need, I haven't driven my car in a few days because I let it go and now I need one. Perfect timing for that win!

Ro worked so hard for that dinner and we were so glad that our family came out to support him. Gram and Gramp came down, Mom andTom and his parents all made the dinner and helped to keep Seth busy!

Lists

I am always feeling like I have a million lists in my head. Grocery lists, housework lists, errands lists, birthdays, anniversaries, work planning lists and on and on and on... So today I thought I'd run through my thankful list.

Caution: Remember that I have Mommy Brain so if I forget you it isn't intentional, but if you opened up my head and looked in you would see why I have Mommy Brain, it is just a big bunch of chaos in there!

* The sun and the warm weather finally
* Seth's bright red cheeks and nugget teeth
* Seth's obession with the word PLEASE, it is very polite, but alright already!
* Seth's new words: duck/truck (not the other one thank goodness!), dog, kitty and on and on
* Roland's ability to "know" when I need a break
* walking with Seth in the stroller/wagon with Rocky (I can multi-task with the best fo them!)
* Upcoming BBQ's and cooking on the grill
* Date night (SATURDAY!!!)
* Supporting friends in a walk for skin cancer
* Having a cold in May, BUT being overall healthy is such a blessing
* My 80 year old grandparents who will drive to Watertown just for a spaghetti dinner Pepsi is sponsoring
* Walks with my Mom and Seth while she rambles never taking a breath
* Trips to Cornell
* The start to letterboxing (if you've never done it, try it: www.letterboxing.org)
* Bonnie who remembers everything I say I need for Seth (ie: summer jammies) and tries to help us out!
* Upcoming Mother's Day brunch
* Our annual shopping day next week at this time
* Keeping in touch by blogging/fotolog/emails/myspace
* text messaging (my new obsession!)
* fountain sodas and Panera Bread yesterday for lunch!
* Trying to spray tan in June!
* Our upcoming trip to DC
* Our upcoming trip to Lake George
* Seeing Toby Keith once again
* Dinner group with the Voss' and Short's
* Girls dinner group
* Having Katie for dinner next Tuesday and going powerwalking
* Seth with his buddha hanging out
* lending baby supplies to friends and family, it feels good to be able to help someone
* my "feel good" shows

I know there are MANY more thankful thoughts, but I'm starving so I'm going to head to lunch, teach two more classes and then head out for the day. My hubby is marinating a big juicy london broil for dinner and my mouth is watering thinking about it! Can't wait!

One year ago...

Just one year ago today I went back to work for the 1st time since Mr. Seth was born. It is so crazy to think that Seth has been going to the sitters for one year and that he is in fact 15 months old now. They say times flies and at the time when things are crazy and hectic and new you think that the clock will never move. Now you look back and wonder where did the time go?

Seth sent Pat flowers today to say Thank You to her for taking such wonderful care of him for the past year and teaching him so many things. We are truly fortunate to have such a wonderful sitter in our lives.

In other news... we are BOTTLE FREE in the Charlton Houshold!!! No more bottles for Seth. Instead of a bottle at bedtime we have a cup of milk and a little snack. The adjustment is going pretty well. No major fits!

Also, Daddy starts golf tonight so we will start Seth and Mommy Tuesday's! Tonight we have no major plans. Just dinner and playing outside if the rain holds off!

A Day to Remember...

Saturday was such a wonderful day it is hard to really capture all that we did and all that we experienced. All I have to say is that for only going to Cornell for one semester my brother certainly knows his way around this massive campus along with many interesting tidbits. I'll explain the day visually with as many pics as they will let me upload! Some sort of paint festival was going on... Seth was amazed by the "paint people" and basically everything Most of the dorms look like old castles, it is so interesting!
The massive library
Walkway going up the main quad

The clock tower and beautiful cherry blossoms

Some of the gifties I brought home for all of us

I took many many more pics, but you will have to check our fotolog this week to see them. (www.fotolog.com/seth12306) Anyhow, we had an amazing day. We walked for over 2 hours. Seth was amazing! He slept on the way down, rode in the stroller for hours on end, ate out at 2 restaurants, and explored whenever we let him out. My mom and I are already planning our next trip to visit and making it an over nighter so that we can explore even more. Thank you Justin for a wonderful fun filled day and evening, we can't wait to come back and visit soon! Good luck on your finals and we will see you in good old h20-town in 3 weeks! We are looking forward to having you home for the summer.

This week is a much calmer week. We have no plans during the week and everyone is healthy. The weekend is another story, but I will fill you in on that at a later time!

Pony Craziness

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos Seth is obsessed with saying "pea" AKA please for EVERYTHING!Anyhow, this is a close up of Seth's ponytail madness/pasta eating frenzy! Have a great weekend everyone, we are headed to Ithaca to visit Uncle J at Cornell. GO Big Red!

Official Birthday

Today is my Mom's official birthday so we would like to wish her a GREAT big HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We are basically celebrating all week. We started on Monday with her big dinner and presents. Tonight we will visit her at school and Saturday we will take a trip to Cornell to visit Justin and go out to dinner to further celebrate. That is what birthdays are all about right?

I'd like to ask all my bloggy friends and friends that spy into our life daily via the blog to say some prayers. First, Seth is still fighting to get those molars through and we are fighting to stay sane in the process. Second, Ro has caught Seth's bronchitis and is down for the count. Third, Tom is still feeling under the weather and fourth we have another special person in our life going through a little "process" let's call it and could use our prayers! So please stop what you are doing and wish some goodness on our family this week. Thank you so much!

Grammy's Birthday Fun

My mom's birthday is on Wednesday night, but she has a science fair at her school on that night so we celebrated last night. We ate, drank, ate some more, opened presents, and ate some more. It was a fun filled night!

Before opening the special gift

After opening the special gift

The special gift AKA my crafty talents at work!

The night flew by and here I am again at work! The rest of the week is pretty busy and fun as well. Tonight is girls night out and Tina is hosting dinner. So not only do I get to go out with the girls, BUT I don't have to cook either! I'm very excited about kicking back with a glass of wine and some chit chat tonight! Tomorrow night we will check out Grammy's science fair and give her a proper birthday hug and kiss. Thursday we have no plans and then Friday is another girls night. I know 2 in one week, but this came up spur of the moment. Saturday we will head to Cornell and visit Uncle J. We are very excited about this trip. PLEASE, MOTHER NATURE LET THE WEATHER BE DECENT!

Also before I forget, please say a little prayer for my step-dad Tom today, he has to get an ultrasound because he may have to have his gallbladder (sp?) removed. We hope it all goes well and that you are back to normal soon! Seth is ready to play anyday!

A Week Makes a World of Difference

As I get older and notice more I think how strange it is living here. This time last week we had a severe snow storm, so much that we couldn't drive to Oswego for the day. Now today it is beautiful out and 70 degrees. Anyhow, one week ago Ro went on his first official poker run with the 4 wheeler and he had the best day.

One week later...

Stopping for a little picnic lunch

Driving for the 1st time!
Taking in all the scenery

Roland and I had the best Sunday afternoon. We took the trail from Philly to Theresea to Redwood and we had a blast! The day was beautiful and the temps perfect. We couldn't have asked for more fun together, it was our Sunday afternoon date! Thank you Mom for watching Seth for the afternoon, it was great!

Like New People

Spring has finally sprung here in Watertown, NY and we could not be any happier! We feel like brand new people, ready to take on the outdoors! We have been in the stroller, the wagon, the slide, the swing, and used chalk on the driveway. We are out of the weather depression finally!!
To backtrack a bit... On Thursday we took a trip up to Lowville for the afternoon and evening and we had just the best day! We walked downtown and browsed through their many gift shops. They have a new shop called "Crop, Paper, Scissors" It was a new scrapbooking shop and it had the best supplies I've seen in a while. I purchased a few goodies and then we headed back to the house. Seth loved scoping out new territory and he followed his Great Grandpa around the yard.

Ro met up with us later in the afternoon and Gram made one of my favorite meals... italian pot roast with fresh green beans and her homemade antipasta salad followed by strawberry cheesecake! We went home stuffed as always.

We ran out of time this trip to get up close to these massive pieces of equipment, but I was able to stop on the side of the road to take a pic of the Lewis County Wind Mill Farm. I'm not sure about details, but I think there are over a 100 windmills up on Tug Hill creating wind power. From a distance they cover the skyline, but up close they remind me of the toy transformers from back in the 80's.

Speaking of the 80's... I have been invited to an 80's night this Friday and I need my bloggy friends to give me some ideas as to clothing choices! Help a girl out please!!

Insane Morning

This morning will go down in the record books for crazyness! I decided to call in to the docs about Seth having a fever, running nose, and loose cough. They said to bring him right in since we lived so close so I threw on some clothes and hat and we ran out the door. I didn't have time to let Rocky out so I thought I'll just throw him in the crate while we are gone, he'll be fine. WRONG! I got home and opened the crate door to find he had peed himself and it was all over the crate along with him. Totally grossed out I let him out the back door and panicked. I called Ro and we devised a plan. I ended up giving him a bath in the tub and then tried to towel dry him and use the hair dryer too! It was utter craziness, but we all survived and we hope to never have to go through it again. I have to say I am a firm believer that you learn something new everyday. Today I learned to always let the dog out to at least pee before leaving the house in the morning!

We are now headed up to Lowville for an afternoon with the Great-Grandparents, a much needed eyebrow wax, followed by dinner that I don't have to cook! Loving it!

Also, the weather is turning around, the sun is out and it is warming up! HORRAY for something positive! We are getting out as much as we can today. Love to all!

Weather Depression

OK, this it totally out of hand. We have snow once again and it is cold. One year ago this very week we were in short sleeve shirts walking on the Calcium Walking Trail and now we have to bundle in our winter warmies to leave the house. AHHH! We need to be given a weather break. We have suffered long enough in this flippin' depressing weather, come on!

Now that I have ranted I'm good! Sorry for the lack of posts. Ro was off until today and we have been out and about trying to stay busy and keep Seth occupied. We went to the best surprise party on Saturday night for our friend RJ, so fun! It was a cowboy theme and they went all out. The food, decorations, attire, you name it was all cowboy themed. We ate to our hearts content and then danced it all off.

Party Favors

Decked out in cowboy hats

The girls
The birthday boy during "Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy"
Andy got quite into the cowboy theme

Not much else to report, we have just been trying to stay busy and entertained since we can't really get outside like would like. I went scrapbooking to Sherri's yesterday and that was fun. They have all the really great tools so I could be very creative! Today we have a playdate with Morgan and tomorrow we head to Lowville for the afternoon and dinner. Before we know it my Mom and Tom will be home from Florida and Ro's parents will be leaving and I'll be back to work.

Tagged

I've been tagged by Amanda so here goes...

What are five things that make you automatically happy?
1. Spending time with Ro and Seth
2. Going to Ichiban's for dinner (love Japanese steakhouses!)
3. Dr. Pepper fountain soda
4. Good music in the car
5. Sunshine and warmth!

What are five things that give you physical pleasure?
1. Taking Walks outdoors
2. Getting a massage
3. Good music to sing alone in the car to
4. Good wine with good friends or family
5. Quiet

What are five things that make you immediately angry?
1. Snow in April
2. Reruns of my favorite shows
3. Seth not listening to NO time after time
4. Getting to something really late
5. People who don't use their blinker

What are five things that make you automatically sad?
1. The war
2. Thinking of loved ones who have passed
3. Children who live in abusive homes
4. Unhappy relationships
5. Stress

I guess I will now tag Nina and Ginger (you can post on your Myspace page Ging!)

Eat Your Hearts Out

I have a brand new recipe to share with you and I PROMISE you will fall in love and want to eat the whole loaf! So here goes...

Ham and Pepperoni Roll

1 frozen puff pastry thawed
deli ham sliced thin
pepperoni
mozzarella cheese
egg white

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Unroll puff pastry and thin out with a rolling pin on a cookie sheet.
3. Layer with ham, then pepperoni, and finally cheese.
4. Roll it up like a jelly roll.
5. Brush with egg white and sprinkle a little garlic salt on top.
6. Bake for 18 minutes or until it is golden brown on top.

7. Cut into slices and serve!

YOU WILL LOVE IT!

Fed Like Kings!

I finally uploaded all the Easter pics so now I can visually share our wonderful day as well as explain what we did! Let me first start out by saying that this Easter was worlds apart from last Easter. True Seth was a whole year older, but man what a year has done for our boy! Last year Seth was sick on Easter and Ro and I were nervous wrecks. It was our first time away from home with him and he was fussy and we were just balls of nerves. This year we set him down in Auntie Sheryl's house and he was off. He played from 12:30-5:30 with stops to eat, but just played and had a blast. What a relief and a GREAT day!

When we got there we fed Seth lunch and started on our whirlwind of amazing appetizers! We were truly fed like kings. I made this new pepperoni/ham/cheese bread (so delicious, recipe to come!) and they pulled out shrimp wrapped in bacon as well as clams with butter. It was a feast and this was just snacks! The rest of the afternoon we played and layed low. Seth took a little ride on Uncle Eric's four wheeler, but it was a little cold so that didn't last too long.

Aunt Sheryl and Uncle Eric held onto their tradition and even got Seth is first camping chair and golf set for Easter. A tradition they started back with Lexy many years ago! Seth had a blast with them both.

After many many hours of play we moved onto dinner and oh what a dinner it was... We had filet's wrapped in bacon, grilled asparagus, green bean casserole, and german potato salad. Plus for dessert we had homemade apple pie and homemade carrot cake. As you can see we ate our way through the day like all great holidays are supposed to be!

Roland, Seth and I would like to say an extra special THANK YOU to you guys for such a wonderful day! We had a blast and we promise to visit before another year goes by again. We are going to head your way come boating season to take Seth on Sacondaga Lake! We can't wait!

Today we hope that the painters will have started working on our house. They said possibly today, but definately tomorrow so we will just have to wait and see when we get home! It feels so good to have a painting project that I am NOT doing. Paint is a nasty word after all the painting we have done in our house in the past 5 years!!!

Fun Fun Fun Until We Collapsed!

This past weekend was the BEST! It all started with having Friday off to spend with Seth. We headed to Lowville to visit the Great-Grandparents. That was a great afternoon! Then, later that evening we had some close friends over for pizza. Seth was in LOVE with their 5 month old daughter Addyson. He was just smitten and so sweet to her!

How could you not love this face?

Trying to smooch on her!

Such a little flirt!

Needless to say Friday night was very very fun! Saturday felt more like a rat race. We got up and went to get groceries since we would be gone on Sunday and would need them. Then I went to a baby shower for my friend Amanda followed by dinner at Grammy and Grampy P's. The day was a blur pretty much!

Easter Sunday was even busier. We got up and went to church at 8:30. Seth was very well behaved! I was more nervous because if you don't know my son or haven't seen him in a while, he can be rather LOUD! He was great all throughout mass, a few "ut-ohs!" here and there. Plus he was a major flirt with the people sitting behind us. After church we ran to Panera for a quick breakfast and then left for Sheryl and Eric's by 10am! You will have to tune in tomorrow for all the pics from Easter day though because I haven't uploaded them yet. So, check tomorrow for updates!!!!

Kid Rock Lovers... For Your Entertainment!

If you'd like to see a cute clip of Seth scroll down to the next video, BUT if you would like to hear the vocals of our friend Jess then you are in the right spot. This video was taken about a month ago after the Irish Fest and as you can see Jess had a few too many green beers, BUT we still love her. Well, LOVE to embarass her!



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LOVE YA JESS KEEP ROCKIN'! SEE YOU TOMORROW!

For Your Entertainment!

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I have finally started to remember to pick up the camera when Seth is being funny so I hope that you enjoyed this. OH, PS we also looked at another house tonight and it was straight out of the 70s. I felt like I stepped into the Brady Bunch house. It was crazy!

Caught!!!!!!!!!

Here is my funny Seth story of the year...

For the past few nights we have been looking at houses. On Tuesday night we looked at a house that had heat monitors all over the house and they would beep on and off. We made a joke that the family had a hidden camera recording us like those HGTV shows. Last night we looked at another house and Seth ran right for the cordless phone which he loves to play with. I grabbed it quick and put it back on the hook. Five minutes later he went right for it once again and this time he must have pushed the record button on the answering machine BECAUSE it recorded some of our comments regarding the house. OUCH!

Later last night my step-dad Tom called and asked if Seth had touched the phone at that house and I responded "YES", WHY? He said that the listing agent had called to see if we had liked the house or not and asked if we had a small child because the family had heard us talking on their answering machine. I wanted to crawl in a hole, I felt so bad! I promised that I woud hold Seth the whole time tonight when we look at another house. So this story will go down in the baby book at a Seth mishap! We should start our own hidden camera show!

This reminds me that I miss exercise class and feeling the burn the day after. I'm ready for the real spring to come, we have SNOW on the ground this flippin' morning! Tomorrow is a day off and Seth and I are headed to Lowville (AKA Cowville) for a visit! Here we come Gram and Gramp, rest up!

Losing my Mind

Sometimes I literally think I am losing my mind. I used to be able to remember everything. I remembered birthday's, anniversaries, meetings, errands to run, etc, but now I have the HARDEST time. I have to stop myself before I leave the house or my classroom and think, "Is there sometime I need to do?" It is horrible and I'm only 29! I know that I have ten times the amount of things to think about before I even leave the house in the morning, but come on, I HATE forgetting special days. Also, (love you Mom, BUT...) I don't want to be that person who has notes ALL OVER THE HOUSE to remember things. I need help! Anyhow, my friend Sue who lives in Jersey sent me a cute email titled, "The YA YA Sisters" and I"ll try and post one clip from it daily until they are gone. It is too funny and I wonder if I am turning into them at such a young age!

In other news, we took a look at a house last night. It had many many great qualities and amenaties that are looking for, BUT it also had many drawbacks. So it is a NO GO! We are looking are two more houses in the next few days as well. My wish would be to take all these great qualities from these houses and build my dreamhouse. Oh well it is still fun to look and get ideas.

Other then that it is a cool, dreary and rainy week, but we are keeping busy! One more day of work and then a long and busy Easter weekend! Happy Hump Day to all and keep SMILING!

Happy 59th Wedding Anniversary!

Today celebrates a VERY special day! 59 years ago my grandparents were married on what I am told was a very snowy April day! It warms my heart to think that two people whom I love so much have shared their life and have loved each other for so long. Through children, grandchilden, great grandchildren, ups and downs. What a life they have had and still have! My grandmother is 79, now how many 79 year olds out there email, ride their bikes, sing in the community chorus, etc. still??? Next year I think this is so neat, my Gram will be 80, I will be 30, my Mom will be 55, AND my grandparents will celebrate their 60th Anniversary! What a year it will be, we will have to party our way through 2008!

Last night was a whirlwind. The house we had planned to look at already had an accepted offer so we scratched that idea. Ro never got home from work until 6:45, so Seth and I ate dinner and then ran to the mall to return a shirt. When we got home we grabbed Rocky and took a walk around the block before dark. Before we knew it it was time for jammies and bed. I slept like a log because I was still recooperating from the weekend. Now today is cool and gloomy outside. Where is the spring sun??? Come out come out wherever you are?

Tonight we have no major plans and if the weather stays this way we won't get out to walk either! I'm getting a little annoyed with the TV channels lately too. It is only April and most of my favorite shows have been running reruns for over a month now. Come on, where are the new episodes of my favorite shows? One Tree Hill, Grey's Anatomy, Gilmore Girls, Desperate Houswives...

I'm NOT 21 Anymore

We had a much less busy weekend, but that didn't stop us from partying like we were 21 for the 3rd weekend in a row! AHHH! Friday night was our friend Lee's 40th birthday and he had a HUGE party with a band and 150 of his closest friends. Ro was wonderful and he was the "responsible" one for the evening and I had a few cocktails. We had a really good time, socialized and danced our way through the night. Saturday morning I realized that I can't party like I did when I was 21 because I can't lay around all day and recoop. Thank god we don't have any more parties for a while. This was the 3rd weekend in a row and I think my body has finally told me that it needs a break!

Saturday was a beautiful day, the sun was out and it was fairly warm so we took advantage of every moment and got outside!

Ro built a gate so that Seth can have free reign on the deck and not fall down the stairs. Then later Saturday night I took Seth to Knickerbocker for the first time and let him play on the playground. He loved the slide, but loved the people watching more! Ro also cooked me dinner for a change on Saturday night and it was heaven, I loved it! I truly enjoy cooking but I get so tired of trying to think of what to cook and trying to find the time to cook what I decide to cook! Such a vicious cycle.

We also purchased Seth his second pair of sneakers this weekend. My little guy has not so little feet. He is 14 months old and wears a size 7 shoe. It is my hope that they last him through the summer, but I'm not holding my breath!

We don't have the most exciting week planned, but that is alright too! Tonight we are going to look at a house in our area that is for sale. We don't need to move or even have to, but it is always fun to LOOK! This is also a 4 day week at school and Seth and I are going to visit my grandparents on Friday afternoon since we won't be there on Easter. We are headed to Sheryl and Eric's for Easter Sunday festivities. Pray for decent weather!