Basketball Champ...

Noah has been playing basketball now since the beginning of January. It is prety cute and even more chaotic than ever. It is for 4-7 year olds, about 30 kids to 2 coaches. The coaches are great but i think they forget the kids are little and most of them have NEVER played before. He has actually making them do wall squats the other day....it was really funny to watch.

MLK bowling...

a few weeks ago, Barrett, Aimee, Noah, and I went bowling (I am having trouble uploading those pictures) but over MLK weekend Allen, Noah, and I went again. And just in case you were wondering...I smoked Allen. Twice.

Here's Noah showing off his one handed tricks....and right after this picture the bowling ball tumbled to the ground..hehe.


I am pretty sure MLK would have wanted us to spend his holiday by bowling so that is just what we did..hehe.

Winter Jam 2010

A few weeks ago Allen took his youth group to Winter Jam 2010. It was AWESOME. I was glad i decided to go along! There were amazing bands that played throughout the night and the highlight was Third Day...one of my favorite bands! We had to stand outside for a few hours in the cold and rain to get tickets but it was well worth it. Over 3,000 people were turned away because it was so popular. It was worth the cold and rain...

Take that...

does this say "I am tough" or what??

Puppet Show

Noah's preschool put on a little puppet show the other day...it was very cute. Noah's class held up their puppets and sang "All You Need is Love"...

Tea Time

One of my new favorite activities has become the monthly gatherings with some amazing ladies...and their babies.

A few weeks ago we caravan ed over to Beth's house while the kids were in school for some coffee, yummy treats, and some good girl time.
Beth gave us some etiquette classes and i think we all learned a lot.

I love that the "babies" get to come and play. Here's my buddy Alice with her rock star mama.
Patrick and Hall and their trucks...
the beauties Kristi and Bonnie...
Beth taught us how to drink properly...
...drinking from our ears is a must!
could Alice get any cuter...check out that belly...
Thanks Beth!! You are a great host and you make such yummy treats!!




We have been good about keeping up our coffee tradition and this week Kristi hosted. It happened to her birthday week so we were able to celebrate with her.


what a fun group!!!!!!!

Life Goes On...

I don't know about you, but when I am sick, i have NO energy. All I want to do is crawl in bed watching reruns of old tv shows while falling in and out of sleep. Of course, moms can't do that. Life still goes on. So, when I am sick, I still do most of the same things while trying to sneak in a nap or two. It appears though that Noah, however, gets MORE energy when he is sick. WHAT THE HECK???? He has always been this way. I know, most of you are thinking "how could Noah have any more energy than he already has?" Trust me, I am thinking it too.

2 nights ago Noah woke up with a bloody nose in the middle of the night. I was startled out of my sleep by his screams of fear because blood was covering his face, arms, and the bed. Then that whole next day at school, home, and again at bedtime, he had more bloody noses. Finally, yesterday we seemed to be done with them. I ran into Noah's teacher yesterday on the way to get him from Lunch Bunch and she said he seemed to be doing great...no bloody noses all day and seemed to be feeling good.

When I picked Noah up, as soon as he saw me, tears started streaming down his face and he told me he was going to throw up. We RAN into the bathroom and sure enough, he threw up. A LOT. This kid takes after me in that way....when we throw up, we throw it ALL up. Noah fell asleep on the way home and slept again for 2 hours. He woke from his nap with a fever. I was having de ja vue of last Friday. He ate very little last night and went to bed pretty quickly. Around 2:45am I heard Noah calling for me. I went in his room to feel his head. He was BURNING UP! His temperature said 103.4 but it hadn't finished because Noah wouldn't keep it in his mouth after that. Of course, we gave him medicine to keep it down but by 4am the fever wasn't getting any lower. Allen got up and googled ways to get his fever down and we tried them all. Luckily they worked. Noah however decided it was a good time to catch up on his singing, bouncing, pretend fighting, and continuous asking to play video games. We kept telling him he HAD to lay down and sleep. By 5:30am we were all asleep in our king size bed (something that is only allowed when Noah is super sick).

I guess today is a pajama day. Noah still has a fever but that isn't stopping him from running all over. Maybe i will spend the day trying to bottle some of his energy so i can sell it and make millions.

Guns...

Things in our house that usually end up as pretend guns:
by Noah Austin...

• napkins (rolled and twisted)
• Bologna
• remote controls
• drum sticks
• pretzel sticks
• a crucifix (sorry Jesus!)
• legos
• straws
• empty paper towel rolls
• the kid broom
• socks
• flowers
• spoons
• any and all of the play tools
• hangers
• hair brushes
• the blow dryer
• the stick that was supposed to be left at the back door but somehow found its way inside
• and of course....all the play guns we have.
  

Calm Before the Storm

The phrase "The Calm Before the Storm" was a very popular phrase in my house when i was growing up. I didn't fully understand what my parents were always talking about when they used it about Barrett and I but today I understand fully. Allen, Noah, my dear friend Elizabeth, and I all went to the pro life march downtown today. On the way home, Noah fell asleep in the car (that almost NEVER happens anymore). I thought for sure he would wake up after we dropped off Elizabeth at her home and we pulled into ours. Nope. Noah didn't budge. So I carried that HUGE, HEAVY boy into the house and layed him on the couch thinking he would wake at any moment. Nope. Kept right on snoring. Allen went upstairs and took a nap so I was downstairs, in a quiet house, not really sure what to do. Not that there was much i could do since Noah was asleep on the couch and Allen was asleep in our bedroom. I figured it would be a good time to start on the book Aunt Lisa got me the day before. I read 6 chapters and then realized that it was still strangely quiet in my house for it being a Friday afternoon. That, my friends, is what you call "the Calm Before The Storm".

After a 2 hour nap, Noah woke up. The "storm" immediately hit at that moment. Noah told me his head hurt. Then he said his ears and throat hurt. I could tell by looking at him that he didn't feel well. I could see it in his eyes. He felt really warm so I took his temperature and sure enough he had a fever. 101.6. Poor guy. Just like that. I mean he was FINE just hours before.

Why is it that kids (or maybe just mine) seem to get sick on a Friday afternoon when the doctors offices are all closed for the weekend? I thought for sure he had strep or an ear infection because Noah NEVER complains of ear or throat pain...even when he has strep and ear infections. I figured since he was complaining of both, plus the fever, that it was real. I loaded him in the car almost immediately and headed to Children's Healthcare. It is only a 20 minute drive and about 5 minutes from our house Noah told me he felt sick to his stomach. I pulled over as fast as i could but he told me he was fine. we kept driving. 10 Minutes later, poor Noah starts throwing up EVERYWHERE. All over himself, all over my car, just all over. I was almost to the office but not close enough. It just kept coming. and coming. and coming. I kept telling him we were almost there, just hold on, you are doing great. I cut in front of the long line of traffic waiting to turn left. I just went right on up to the front. Then, I didn't even wait for the light to turn green, i started honking my horn as i went through the intersection. Highly illegal. But what was i supposed to do? My child was covered in his own throw up literally from head to toe. I can't even describe the smell. We pulled in to the parking lot and i was overwhelmed. Allen stayed home to start dinner so i was all alone. I got Noah out of the car, pulled the throw up covered car seat out of the car and just sat it on the ground. I wasn't too afraid that anyone was going to steal it, i mean it WAS covered in throw up. I called Allen and told him he had to come clean out my car and bring Noah some more clothes since i had no idea how long we would be in there. I stripped Noah down to his undies to learn that even his undies had throw up on them. My boy is talented. Luckily, Children's gave us 2 gowns that Noah was able to put on. One around the front and one around the back. Now mind you, 30 minutes before this, I was sitting on my couch, reading my book while everyone else was sleeping. Now, I am standing in the freezing cold, stripping my child of his throw up covered clothes in my throw up covered car.

Children's was AWESOME!! They were so great in helping me get Noah all fixed up, the throw up clothes taken care of, and got us in right away to see a doc. I think everyone else in the waiting room was glad too since they could smell us. To my surprise, Noah does not have strep or ear infections. The doctor was surprised too actually. She said Noah's throat looked swollen and was sure it was strep. Guess not. Just a virus. They even let Noah wear the ever so stylin' gowns home that he loved. Personally I think Noah liked it because he didn't have on any underwear under the gowns. Silly boys.

So after we left you would have thought i was a total liar when i told you Noah is sick. He has been bouncing off the walls ever since. Maybe, just maybe, tonight when Noah falls asleep, i will be able to read some more of my book.

Balloon fun

Allen, Noah and I went out to eat for mexican the other night and there was a "balloon guy" there. He made Noah a Tiger, per his request, and after a few days it shrunk...A LOT. Noah thought it was so funny and he asked me to take a picture of it...
Then...he asked me to take a picture of him holding it. He made me take 3 pictures until he made the right face.....what a funny kid!! This is the picture he picked!
Note: please notice that Noah does own pants.

WHO ARE YOU???????????

(taken from my dear friend, Elizabeth's page...thanks E!)



Today is (National? International? Blogosphere-ical?) Delurking Day. I’ve never participated in a one of these, but I am curious: Who are you people?

So, whether you're a regular commenter, a dear friend, or a new reader who just lurks about (I promise not to be creeped out by that image), I'd be delighted if you'd take a moment to leave a comment and introduce yourself.

Answer one, two, or all of these:

· Where are you from?

· Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What's your favorite part of each day?

· What book or person changed your life?

· If you’re a fellow blogger: what's your URL? What do you write about?

· Food is good. What's your favorite thing to eat? OR: coffee drink of choice?

· What TV show on DVD should I start watching next?

I can’t wait to hear from you, wonderful people.

Rabbits New Rug

When Allen and I were engaged, one of the fun things we looked forward to was registering for gifts. We both agreed on 2 things.....1st, we were not going to register for the most expensive things just because they were gifts. I had just come off of a HUGE wave of friends getting married and couldn't understand why some of my friends didn't have ANYTHING on their registry for under $30.00. I mean no offense for those of you who did register for everything expensive but there was (and still is) no reason why we would need a $20.00 mixing bowl when a $6.00 one does the same thing.
The 2nd thing we agreed on was neither of us wanted Fine Crystal! We didn't want any of it!! No pretty china goblets, bowls, decanters, vases, etc! My Grandma "E" told me a long time ago that I will inherit her China since I am the oldest grandchild so we didn't need to register for more. I want hers anyway because it is hers!! I love that I will be able to pass that along to MY grandchildren and say it was MY grandmothers! That is special and that is why I want it! But other than that, we didn't want people to buy us pretty crystal things that will sit in a cupboard because it is too expensive to use. We did however, register at REI for tents, camping stoves, sleeping bags, etc. We wanted things that we would use regularly and that was more "us". Ironically, few people actually bought us things off of our registry and instead bought us things on their own. Can you guess what we got more of than anything?? Freaking Fine Crystal!!! I am not kidding. We got goblets, decanters, figurines, you name it. I mean I don't want to sound ungrateful because i am thankful people even gave us anything, but i mean... really??

So...These 12 crystal wine goblets, BEAUTIFUL wine goblets, have been sitting in my cupboard for almost 6 years and have NEVER been used! I am always afraid I am going to break one. Between Noah and I, we aren't the most graceful 2 in the world.

Well, about 2 months ago I was putting Noah to bed as usual and was reading our nighttime story. That night he chose a book that was mine when I was his age. It is called Rabbits New Rug. It is about this Rabbit who buys a new rug. He invites all his friends over to see the rug. His friends are all excited to be invited to Rabbits house and as each one enters the house, they all give Rabbit a homemade gift (all some sort of food). Rabbit won't let any of his friends stand on the rug or eat the homemade goodies for fear of the Rug getting dirty. Rabbits friends all get annoyed with this and since they aren't having any fun standing up against the wall, they all leave. Days go by and Rabbit gets lonely and decides to invite them all back over. At first the friends are all hesitant but go anyway. This time, Rabbit has a huge party with food and streamers and games. The rug gets filled with crumbs and streamers and footprints but Rabbit doesn't care because he is thankful for his friends.

While i was reading to Noah, I couldn't help but think of my 12 pretty wine goblets sitting in the "unused" cabinet in our small house. So that night I moved those 12 crystal goblets front and center in the "I open this a million times a day" cabinet. I now only drink my wine from those glasses. I also pass those glasses out first when we have company over and use the "everyday wine glasses" as overflow. The things is , is that I don't care if they get broken, I am just glad they are being used!! So thanks Mr Rabbit for reminding me that life is about enjoying the PEOPLE in our lives...not the stuff!!

Fringe Marathon

Over a year ago I heard there was a new tv show, "Fringe", about to premier by the same producer as my favorite show EVER...LOST! With the exception of "Cloverfield", I can't think of anything he has done that I haven't liked...if not loved! And even "Cloverfield" was a good story but the camera was way too bouncy and made me motion sick every time i tried to watch it. So Fringe premiered and like most shows, it took me about the 4th episode to get "hooked". I know, I know, it is a weird show. It is even sci-fi and usually I don't like sci-fi stuff. If it has to do with aliens or zombies you can usually count on me not liking it. BUT...this show, although aliens and zombies are sometimes present, is AWESOME!! I LOVE the charaters in the show...love them!!! I thought Joshua Jackson would be my favorite since he was my first movie crush way back in the Mighty Ducks day but to be honest I really love all the characters! (No offense Josh, I still love you!!).

Way back when it started, Allen watched the first episode with me but then gave up. As the show progressed and I became a very faithful watcher, I kept telling Allen he would really like this show. I even asked him to watch it with me. He kept giving me very lame excuses like "I watched one and just didn't get into it", " I would rather watch poker", "blah blah blah". But every week i would tell him he would like it. A few times he would come home late from a meeting or something when I was in the middle of an episode and sit down and start asking me questions: "Who is that guy", "What is that?", "What is Massive Dynamics?"...ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I mean that could not be more annoying. I would tell him to either watch the show or don't but asking me questions in the middle of an episode in the middle of a season is NOT allowed.

Little by little I started realizing that some of my friends whom I see every week watch the show too. So every week at our Wednesday "Lost" night we would talk about it. Allen would give his same lame exuses when asked if he watches it and I would roll my eyes in frustration knowing he would enjoy it if he gave it MORE of a chance.

For Christmas, Barrett and Aimee gave Allen and I a gift and said "Meghan, this gift is to you and Allen but really it is more for you". It was Fringe season 1!! Yay!! (barrett and aimee are also faithful Fringe watchers!) Since I wanted to watch season one again, Allen really had no excuse but to watch it with me. So...it all began...

Allen and I have been watching season one every night now for a week. Allen is hooked! In the beginning when I would ask him what he thought when we finished an episode I would still get a "well, it's good but whatever" kind of response even though I could see he was enjoying it. The past few nights though, it is Allen that suggests staying up past our bedtime to watch "Just one more episode". I kid you not when I tell you that even as I write this, Allen just came into the room I am in, and the conversation went like this:

Allen: "hey, can i tell you something and you promise you won't make fun of me?"

Meghan: "no, but tell me anyway"

Allen: "I am really excited for another episode of Fringe tonight"

Meghan: (giving a look that could kill) "Come look at what I am writing"


I think it is safe to say I know my husband better than he thinks. I am glad to know that once Allen catches up to where I am in season 2, i will have a buddy to watch with. Maybe, just maybe, we will even start having "Fringe" parties...hmmmm.

Resolutions...

Have i ever made it to February with one of my New Year resolutions?? No, I have not. Of course i usually make dumb resolutions. Well, this year I am making a few...but I'm making REAL ones and smart ones. Some of my resolutions for this year include (but are not limited to and may change throughout the year depending on my mood)...

• running a 5K in under 34 minutes.
  
• organizing different parts of my house and our storage unit
  
• making more homemade meals
  
• buy less things i do not need (including clothes, purses, shoes, junk food, etc)
  
• volunteer my time with the homeless
• do more random acts of kindness
  
• spend more time with my girl friends without the kids around and with more wine around
  
• Continue to Love Allen and Noah the best I can!
  

Happy New Year

Well, we made it to the year 2010 and to my surprise we are all not wearing matching silver space suits and driving flying cars around. huh...who would have thunk it?

Even more of a surprise is that it has been a whole decade since the "Y2K" fiasco. Has it really been 10 years?? It seems like just yesterday that I was home from college for Christmas break and visiting for New Years Eve were all of my friends from USC. We wanted to go downtown to see the Peach drop but started our fun early in the day so driving downtown was not an option. We instead, hung out in my basement for the rest of the night. It was a fun night! We wondered if the lights would go out all over the world and guess what...they didn't. Gosh, was that really 10 years ago??

This years New Years Eve was just as much fun...if not more! In a different way, of course. Allen, Noah, and I hung around the house all day and then went to Mass at 5:30. We then went to our friends Josh and Allison's house for the night. They had invited us weeks ago and asked us to stay the night so we took them up on their offer. The adults played a fun game of charades (and i must add the girls KICKED BUTT!!!!) and the babies and kids stayed up as long as they could before passing out or just getting over tired. Luckily Noah had a comfy bed waiting upstairs for him. Anyway, at one point during the night we were all talking about past New Years Eve experiences and I looked around in thanksgiving for all God has given me this past year as well as the past 31 years of my life! I am especially grateful for the awesome people in my life. So far 2010 has started out to be a great year filled with many blessings. I hope the next 10 years are as much fun as the last have been! Happy New Year!

(pictures to come soon when Allison send me them)