Spring Break

It is now Saturday and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep that I lost this past week. We were going non-stop and it is finally catching up with me.
We spent the week looking at houses and took time out to make sure Kei was able to do something more "kid friendly" during his break.
Monday night we went to a Piston's game with some of our friends. Detroit was playing Phoenix and although it wasn't the smartest thing to do, in the second highest crime rated city, we cheered for the Suns. Too bad they lost in overtime, but at least we got our monies worth.
This little sweet pea is Brinley. Who said red heads aren't cute? Well, this one is anyway!

One of our friends that came to the game was Ryan. He will be the chief resident in ENT next year, so he will be bossing Ky around! It was his first pro basketball game.

Here we are acting silly. Ryan is telling Kei to, "pop his collar"! Next pic is the whole crew.

Here is Dan and Maren Higbee. They let us stay with them, AGAIN, while we house hunted. They have the most adorable family and now they have a baby boy to show off as well. I love the two pics below. More for the "other" people that are in the picture. Their faces are just too funny. The best part is that the guy sitting below us was a complete grouch and was getting all miffed at us for cheering for the other team. You wouldn't know it by the big cheese he was giving for the camera. You would think Ky was taking a pic of him! Too funny.

We also went to the Kalahari indoor water park. It is the largest indoor water park in the U.S. I must admit that I thought it was too cold. I was hoping the water and air inside would have been warmer than it was. That is probably hard to accomplish when it's snowing outside. Burrrr.

We did have a ton of fun nonetheless.

House hunting was not near as fun as I thought it would be. Why did I think this was going to be fun? I'm so glad that we have an amazing realtor who took great care of us. He was referred to us by Ky's resident director, so we knew we couldn't go wrong. We did find one house that we have made an offer on but we will just have to wait and see. I sure hope we don't have to go back up and look again but if we do, I'm just glad I'm not so far away that it becomes too painful.

Tues. night the ENT resident director, took Ky and I to dinner, with his wife. We went to a really nice restaurant and Dr. Robbins and his wife Ellen were so wonderful to us. We feel so blessed and grateful to be where we are. They gave us big hugs when we left as well as numbers to contact them when we move to town and need any help. They are amazing and so are the friends we already have there. It definitely makes the move that much easier even though we are leaving good friends behind.

I'll post some pics of the new home once we finalize on one-wish us luck, we need it!

Easter Continuation

This will be quick. The car is loaded and the boys are anxiously waiting for me. We are headed off for Spring Break to house hunt, go to a Piston's game and then a day at Kalahari! I just wanted to post a few Easter pics.

Here is Kei's Easter basket, which was easy to find. All he had to do was follow the bunnies trail!
This is his reaction to his basket and all the stuff that was in it. He was pretty spoiled but that's what happens when you are the only child.

Ky had this grand idea to get Kei some Flarp. It was a hit and we couldn't stop laughing. If you don't have some of this, you should get some!

Kei found all the eggs hidden by the Easter Bunny. He said it was too easy so when we did our other egg hunt (golden egg w/money) Kylan hid the eggs extra hard. Sorry no time to post pics now =(

This was the handsome devil himself this morning before church. He hates the picture because he says he looks like he has lazy eye. It will have to do. He got his first adult tie and Ky helped him to tie it. I'm partial to the zip tie and think that all ties, even grown men ties should be the zip kind.

We hope you all had a wonderful day and are getting sick off candy! We will check your blogs for Easter pics so get them up!!! There will be no posts until next Friday so I'll spare you the frustration of checking back and seeing the same ol' post over and over.

Happy Easter

We decorated eggs Friday night as the Easter Bunny comes to our house on Saturday morning. I believe that started when I was younger and my mom could not get all nine of us, yes that's right, NINE kids, ready for early morning church, when we were busy checking out our Easter stuff the bunny brought. It was always easier to do the Easter Bunny and all the egg hunts on Saturday and have Sunday be more about Christ. I guess we just feel the same way so we request that the Bunny come on Sat. morning too! Kei is starting to get a little old for dying eggs but you can't have Easter without dying eggs. He was a good sport and we had a fun time writing all over the eggs. We made it with only one spill too. I have tons of pics from this morning that I will post tomorrow before we leave for Spring Break. It's late and I need to go to bed.

Why is Easter so early?

I just couldn't figure out why Easter was so early this year and then guess what? My wonderful sister in-law Kristi sent me this email. I was so happy to finally be in the "know", pretty crazy!

Easter this year is: Sunday March 23, 2008
As you may know, Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here's the facts:
1. The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2. The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

American Idol

I am a reality T.V. junky and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Ky was giving my a bad time about blogging about the contestants on A.I. but hey, he is the one who had a dream that he was one of the contestants! He'll probably kill me for writing that but oh well, he shouldn't have messed with me in the first place =)
I just wanted to share my opinion on the finalist and who I think is going to win. Are any of you as obsessed with this as I am? This I am ashamed of...last week when David Archuleta forgot the words to his song, oh I felt so bad for him, I immediately tried to vote for him once the show was over. It's the first time I've ever tried to do something like that and it made me feel like I was a teeny bopper. I got a busy signal and never called back. I was just so worried that he wasn't going to make it and he is my FAV! What has gotten into me???
You should probably have some sort of singing talent to give an opinion but I have an ear for music. I may sing horrendously but at least I'm aware of it. Some people, obvious by the thousands of people who audition, aren't even aware that they can't sing. So I guess that's how I justify giving my professional opinion!

Chikezie : Plain cheesy (just like this rhyme)

He will be on for a few more weeks and then he's gone.

Kei loves this guy. So for Kei's sake I hope he can

hang on.

David Archuleta: The Next American Idol

I just love this kid and he is amazing. I love the story

of when he was younger and his vocal cords were

damaged. A blessing in disguise. Genius. Brilliant.

Ramiele Malubay: She can't win, her name is too hard

to say.

I loved her hair in the beginning, what is up with it now?

She will go any week now.

Brooke White: A goody tooshoes (however you spell it)

She is beautiful and has an amazing voice.

Hilarious on tonight performance. She was cracking

me up. She will make it to the end. When she bites her

lips together, it bugs me, I don't know why. Anyone

else notice this?

Syesha Mercado: A little fire ball

I love, love, love her big hair. She is so cute.
I'm not sure if she will last much longer but

I like her. Tonight she straightened her hair,

she should go back to curly.

Michael Johns: Old School

He has such a unique voice. Maybe it's the accent.
I hope he makes it a few more weeks but he hasn't
had a strong performance so we will see. I like him
o.k.

Kristy Lee Cook: I'd rather run on a treadmill than watch
and listen to her sing.

Please, please, please make her go home. She is a stick in
the mud. She is such a disappointment. I think she has

the look but is a zero when it comes to personality, especially

when she sings. ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ, oops dozed off just writing

about her.

Jason Castro: Poop for Hair

Sorry, I'm just not a fan of the locks. I always

imagine bugs and stuff crawling around in there.
Eeww. Ky said he would go far and I just wasn't
sure. Looks like Kylan may actually be right, for once!!
He's corky and does this weird bulging thing w/his eyes.
Maybe he will grow on me-either way he sings well.

David Cook: Rock Star

This guy is very entertaining. I always like his songs. He has

a cool voice and I hope he makes it to the final 3. I'm sure he
will. Have you seen his wife? She wasn't at all what I expected.

Carly Smithson: Tattoo Twin

Does anyone know the story behind the huge female

face that covers her whole right arm? I think it's her twin.

It sorta looks like her. I think she is very attractive but

the tattoos always distract me. This girl has a voice. BOOM.

I hope she makes it to the end and I believe she will.



Amanda Overmyer: Screamin' Demon

I can't wait until she goes. Do not like her voice at all.
I'm not sure who should be first, her or crusty Kristy.
She puts on a performance, maybe that is why people
vote for her, but her voice is so awful.

I'm sure many of you have differing opinions and you will let me hear all about it! Let me know who your favorite is and who you think is going to win. It can be a little contest. I'm all about the competition so bring it on. If you want to be a winner, like me, you will pick David Archuleta.

Wooster Tourney

Ke had one of his last bball tourney's in Wooster. They made it all the way to the championship game to only fall short, again. Total bummer. At this age the devastation of losing only lasts as long as the awards ceremony, after that, they are all off running around, and moving on as if nothing matters. I wish I could be more like that.Don't sweat the small stuff!

VITALE-ISM!

"It's awesome, baby!", and I couldn't agree more. This may be the one and only thing to get me out of my winter slump. It's March Madness!!!

It has been non-stop basketball, all weekend. First, it was watching Kei in his Wooster Tournament. If we weren't watching him we were glued to the T.V. watching the championship weekend unfold. I must say that over-all I was satisfied with the outcomes.

Fortunately there is one team we can all agree on... UNC, lead by the one and only, Psycho-T!

It's nice to have one team you can all cheer for because in this competitive family it can cause some major drama when cheering for opposing teams.

I absolutely love the hype, the team rituals, the extreme fans, the commercials, even the idiotic referees, and everything that symbolizes college basketball.

Ky will print out 3 tourney brackets and each of us will fill them out. We have a little family competition to see who can predict the most winners. I typically pick a few Cinderella teams while the boys play it safe. They think they are more smart about what they pick, I think it's just being boring. They may be on to something as I always come in last place and the two of them battle it out. But not this year, I'm going for the big VICTORY!

For example, in the past I would have picked a team like Boise State (so sad they beat Utah State (Ky's alma mater) but stayed up past midnight watching their triple overtime victory over New Mexico, it really is a miracle that they pulled it off after choking at the end of regulation and then the first two overtimes.) to be a first round winner. Go Idaho! But this year I'm not going to advance them on my bracket, although I am going to be cheering them on and would be happy as can be, if they win. Kylan and Keion won't advance them either so I won't be out any points. I'm going to watch ESPN today and see if I can get some insights on who to pick. I know they main teams but I'm going to brush up on all the others and I'm going to knock the socks off the two boys this year!

My whole family gets into the tournament. My mom takes the 1-8 seeds and puts them in a bowl and then the 9-16 seeds into another. Everyone-kids, grand kids, grandma's and one of my Aunts, gets 2 different teams, one from each bowl. Those are your teams for the tournament. It's nice because you get one good team and one bad team and for the most part everyone is equal. Who ever has the championship team wins a prize, usually money, but the person who also has their two teams lose out first (I was the big fat winner of this last year) also wins a prize. I really enjoy doing this. I find myself cheering on teams I would otherwise care less about. It makes it more interesting.

What I really want to do is go to some of the games. On my "someday" list, is the Final Four and NCAA championship game, I don't care how much it costs!!

Pesky Mother In-Law

Do any of you have one of those pesky mother in-laws? How do you get rid of them without getting rid of your husband? Well I'm glad that I don't have to worry about that. Although she is very interested in what we are doing, she is not pesky and I told her I was going to tease her on my blog. She called yesterday wondering if everything was ok because I haven't posted in several days. Geesh, can a girl get a break every once in awhile? Just kidding, my life has been pretty boring but busy at the same time. I haven't had a lot of spare time to blog.

It has been one of those weeks that has gone by so fast but I really haven't accomplished anything.
We did go to a Cavs game on Monday night. I would have posted about it but we went last minute and I didn't take my camera, so I was waiting for Ky to load the pics from my phone onto the computer. Who knows when that's going to happen so I'll just go ahead and tell you all about it.
Warren (Ky's friend) called us Monday and asked if we wanted to go to the Cavs game because he had extra tickets (they were intended for his family but his little boy got sick and couldn't go-hope Collin is feeling better!). It was 3 free tickets-who could pass that up?
Kei was desperately trying to get on the mega tron the whole game. He made a poster that read: How's the weather down there? Fitting sign considering we were in the upper section. Towards the end of the game, he got the attention of the camera guy and got himself planted on the big screen! It was fun. He thoroughly enjoyed watching himself while we cheered him on! Keion also caught a mini-basketball they were throwing out to the most spirited fans. I guess it pays to act like a spaz sometimes, at least it did for Keion.

Kei is still playing basketball and has started soccer as well. He is sick of school (spring break cannot come soon enough). He hates music (they are learning songs on the recorder, do you all remember hot cross buns?). Math is complete torture, for him and Ky both. I can't believe the work Keion has to do in his math class. He's in advanced math but I swear that the work he does now, I did in Junior High. No joke. Ky suffers because he is the one that always has to help Kei with his math because I don't know how to do any of it. I can add, that's about it. Keion has also come up with some interesting topics of conversation at the dinner table the last couple days.
We were eating dinner and talking about getting passports for Kei and I. For whatever reason Ky was talking about marking your ethnicity and that Kei was African American. Kei said, "What, I'm ALL American. I wasn't born in Africa." Oh goodness, where have I gone wrong with this child. He does have a point. We don't say we are German American of Irish American because that is where our ancestors came from, so why do we say African American? Does anyone know?
He was also watching PBS and it mentioned the KKK. Oh my, this was going to be a pleasant conversation (can you sense my sarcasm?). Kei asked what that ment and we had a little talk about white supremacists and how wrong it was of them to do the things they did. These are topics that haven't been discussed in the elementary social studies classes. Are they ever mentioned in any school history classes? I can't remember.

We have been busy looking at houses online so that when we go to Michigan during Spring Break we can hopefully find a home we are interested in. It's an exciting time but stressful too. I'll be glad when it is all finalized and we can move into our very first home!

Ky has only 3 weeks left of rotations. He has "senioritis" big time. It is all he can do to get through these last two rotations. The funny thing is that he will be happy to sleep in for about a week and then he will be so bored he won't know what to do with himself. Oh, but I will have plenty of packing for him to do and I'm sure I can find things to keep him busy =) He still plays basketball and I'm going to force him to run with me, that should take up some of his time.

I'm busy doing this and that. Sounds real legit doesn't it! I really can't say what takes up all my time but it sure goes by quickly. I still volunteer at the school clinic, chauffeur Kei around, go running (slowly at this point!),read, watch- American Idol, NCAA basketball, Lost and the news. I've been shopping a lot lately but haven't purchased anything (I've got to change that!). Really I'm home doing an abundance of domestic duties!

I don't know why I feel like every post should have some pictures but I was trying to find a particular set of pics of Kei from when he was on the mega tron, TWICE, at a San Fransisco Fourty-Niners football game, to go with my absent photos for the cavs game, I didn't find them but look what I did find..
"Mom, did you love me? If so, why did you cut my hair like this?", or maybe I cut it myself.
Am I that old that there wasn't even color film yet? Oh that outfit, I really am German American!
Now this classy hair-doo. I must have been in a rush that morning and my mom forgot to comb out those ringlets. Nice blue bobber (that's what I call the hair tie) to match my professional outfit. I believe it was homemade to boot!

The classic "butt cut". Spread right down the middle and feathered on both sides. It looks like I missed curling a couple pieces, or a lot, and did I perfect it three days before pictures and then try to not sleep on it too much and just tease it up the day of. Nothing like some 3 day old bedhead. Oh ya, this shirt-homemade!

I think this is my 9th grade picture. You would think I would start wearing makeup by now. Heaven knows I needed it. Gotta love those skyscraper bangs and what is up with the crinkly pile of hair to one side? No wonder my head was slightly tilted to the side, it took a lot to hold all of that unequal weight. Again, did I not learn from my previous mistakes that I need to curl or crunch all of my hair and not just part of it. The back looks completely straight while the side looks like a frizzy mess. Perms should be outlawed (especially home perms like this one) unless you are an old lady, and I mean reallllly old.

Running Schedules

It is time to start training again. I've been hibernating most of the winter and have a couple extra layers to show for it. I was feeling motivated to start my running schedule again and guess what? It's March and we have more snow than we've ever had since we've lived here.

UGH. Where is Spring? Three days ago we had 66 degree weather and now this...

I can run in some extreme weather but snow up to my knees, I don't think so. I could always go run on the treadmill but I would have more fun ripping out my eyeballs. I can't stand to run on the treadmill, it is complete torture. I guess I'll go feed my face some more, read my book and save my motivation for another day when I can hit the pavement. I do have a couple running schedules for anyone interested in training for a half-marathon.

I used this one for the Akron half and my sister in-law just sent me this running schedule for the Ogden half on May 17th. It is nice to have a routine to keep you in check and feel accountable to something. You should be running up to 15 miles a week before you start these schedules. Anyone can do it. I'm trying to talk Ky into running with me. He has a month off before he graduates and I think that will give me enough time to convince him he likes running outside. He prefers the treadmill, what is wrong with him?

What Kids Are Doing Now

I've known this for awhile but just haven't shared. My friend Hayley sent me an email that made me think I should share some of the things kids are doing these days (besides the ones we all know). This may not be new info for some of you, but for others, you may have not known that this is going on.
Kids, as early as middle school, are engaging in these activities and kids in elementary school are hearing about it. I don't doubt that even some of the older kids in the elementary schools are trying these things too. When I first heard about it, I thought no way, then I called my little sister in Idaho (she is a junior in high school) and she was flabbergasted that I even knew about these things. She verified that it does go on and some of the counselors at school have talked with the students about it (she told me she has personaly never done these things, thought I should clarify). Holy crap. Eeeww.
I'm not going to describe these things on the blog. Virgin eyes (including Kei's) read this blog and it would be very inappropriate to share here. What you need to do is go to Urban Dictionary
and type in shocker and rainbow party. The first definitions that you see, that is what kids are doing. Ky told me that one of the nurses he works with was checking her daughters texts on her cell phone and one of the girls was talking about a classmate getting a shocker. Gross.
It's legit.
The other thing kids are doing is taking a prescription pill from home, getting together and throwing them all in a big bowl and then playing games and the loser has to take a pill. Stupid. They validate it by saying they aren't illegal drugs so there is nothing wrong with it. What is wrong with these kids? The ones that I have heard of doing this are those that say they are good Christian kids and would never do drugs, or at least not illegal ones.
There is a lot of junk out there that kids can get themselves messed up in. I want to know all I can so I know what questions to ask Kei and get info from him. I never want to be the naive parent that thinks my kid would never do or be involved in anything like this, the only way to make sure he doesn't, is to stay informed and keep communicating .

World Without End by Ken Follett

Reading all 1014 pages of this book was well worth it. It's a sequel to The Pillars of The Earth, but the books can be read in any order. The novel, World Without End, takes place in fourteenth-century England and takes you on a journey into the lives of four children (a thief, a bully, a boy genius and a girl who wants to be a doctor) who witness an unexplained killing.

I'll admit that there were several times during my reading that I became very frustrated that the story wasn't turning out how I wanted it to. In the end, the author did a phenomenal job in making it all work out how it should! I really enjoyed this book and if you have the time (some of you don't have hours to sit down and read, I'm feeling guilty as I type this knowing I sound completely selfish and lazy, but hey, reading is good for you, right?) or can buy the book and take as much time as you want reading it, I strongly suggest it. You won't be disappointed, assuming you know by the brief description that this is your kind of book or you've read other works by the author! Come on, would I ever lead you astray? Ok, you might not want to answer that.

I'm now reading The Virgin's Lover, I'm looking for any suggestions after that, please feel free to share. Karrie Jo, do you like Three Cups of Tea?

White Flower Cake Shoppe

There is a little taste of heaven in Beechwood, Ohio. It's called The White Flower Cake Shoppe. I am amazed how people can turn something they are passionate about, into their profession. The two women who started this cake decorating business are genius. The work they do is amazing. I just couldn't help but post a couple of the cakes they have made. You can check out the shoppe site here.

Can you believe that all these photos are edible cake? Oh so dreamy! I just love the vibrant colors they use and the creativity of the designs. I'm not a huge fan of birthday cakes, I'd rather have pie and ice cream, but if I ever got one of these beauties, I would be plum happy =) !

Where The Madness In March Begins

This past weekend we went to the Ohio State Boys Team Basketball Tourney. We had a great time and were able to visit our friends while we were there. We rolled into town Friday night and headed to Easton to let the boys hang out and relax before the big games began. There are just a couple of pics of Kei and some buddies playing one of the sweet arcade games. I just love Easton! Saturday afternoon the games began. We smashed the first two teams we played, they were not much competition at all, in the end that may have hurt us.
Kei did have a funny accident in his second game. I so wish I had it on film. Maybe one of the other parents were recording, I'll have to look into that. Anyway, he was running back on defense and his shoe came off (just right before this a kid on the opposing team had his shoe come off too) the ball was still in play so Kei tried to quickly shove his foot in his shoe. He didn't get it all the way on. You know when your kids are being lazy and they throw their shoes on and just step on the back of the heel and squish it down instead of getting them all the way on, well that is what he was doing. As his shoe was still off, he stole the ball and headed to the other end for a lay-up. Ky and I were thinking that he was going to pass to his teammate who had BOTH shoes on to make sure they would score. BUT NO, Kei took the shot himself, one shoe and all, and made it! We were all laughing so hard. It was funny and he got substituted out right after and was able to get his shoe back on.

We had 3 games to win on Sunday to take home the championship but we lost our first game by 3 points and we were out. It was such a heart-breaker. It came down to the last seconds and I felt horrible for the boys because they didn't have their best game. It stinks to lose but even more so when you know you could have done better. It didn't help that a kid on the opposing team banked in a 3 pointer. Argh-I hate when people make bank shot and they fall in on accident, unless it's someone I'm going for!!!

Kei had fun and over all they played well. I guess we actually have 3 more tourney's left. Soccer starts soon and we are excited for that but it's sad to think this is Kei's last time in all the sports here and playing with these boys =( we have had such a great time and we will miss these all of these guys and their families.