Definitely playing catch up.

It has been too long since I wrote. What has happened in the past month and a half.

*Arianna turned 1 and we had a party for her. Everyone had a great time.

*Brycen got his training wheels on his Dirt Bike and has been attempting to drive it by himself.

*Playdates have picked up with lots of outdoor activities. We went swimming today and Marburger Dairy tour was a huge hit a few weeks back.

*I got my first paying auction in the Butler area! It is June 20th in Sarver, PA. Go to www.auctionsbycassandra.com for more info.

*Arianna is such a big girl. She picked up using the sippy cup within the week of her birthday and she just got discharged from PT. She is right where she is supposed to be and doesn't qualify for services any more. I am so glad that she is doing well.

*Josh finally went to the doctors last week. The first time in 15 years. He had an infection in his lymph nodes. Not sure how you get that but he is feeling much better now after being on an antibiotic.

*These nice days really make Josh and I miss his mom alot. We just expect her to come walking through the woods or stop by on her way home from work. She loved being outside on warm sunny days.

*I am doing well with my diet disapline. I have been really watching how I eat and have been exercising alot. The scale hasn't moved much but I definitely feel alot better and things are starting to tone up. I just got to keep reminding myself that muscle weighs more than fat so that I don't get too discouraged when I bust my butt and I didn't lose any weight.

*Vacation is coming up so quick. We are going to TN to visit a cousin of mine and stay at his lake house. It should be a nice time.

I believe that is it right now. Nothing too exciting to report. Just have been busy doing outside stuff around the house or loafing. Hope everyone is doing well.

Monday, Monday...

Today we had a playdate at the local mall but Brycen still has a little bit of a cough. I feel that the croup went into full blown allergies. Fun times! Arianna's and his eyes are all yucky when they get up in the morning. Oh yeah allergy season is the greatest time of all! I received three beautiful bulb gardens when my MIL passed and they are in full bloom. Gorgeous but my kids probably don't think they are so gorgeous.

On my agenda for today is to clean, clean, clean and more clean along with some laundry thrown into the mix. We have been company just about every day or every other day so things need to be in tip top shape.

My weekend went well. I had my charity auction for the local Blind Association and it went very well. The items totalled 212 and the auction itself went an hour and a half passed when I thought it would end and ran an hour over schedule. Everything sold and the Blind Association was very pleased with the amount of money we raised. We surpassed their goal! Yay! I received so many compliments and even an applause at the end of the sale. That always makes me feel good.

Oh what a beautiful day yesterday was. We spent most of the day outside and did some yard work. I weeded my flower garden and trimmed some shrubs. Josh moved a tree that was planted too close to the garage. We took a little walk and his aunt and uncle came over to visit with us and the kids. JL stopped over for a little bit and had a couple of beers. It was a very nice and relaxing day!

Today looks so beautiful outside but looks can be deceiving. There is a cold front coming in so it is very windy outside but that sunshine is abundant today. I hope everyone has a great day leading into an even better week.

Leading into the weekend.

Last night was nice. Arianna's appoinment ended up getting canceled due to the therapist not feeling well so we got everyone ready to get out of the house. It was so warm and the sunshine felt so good. We took everyone up to the cemetery. It was hard seeing the spot where she is at. Geibel's have the ground looking very nice. The palms are all woven over the grave site with flowers decorating it. The footspray is at her feet and the lid spray at the top. Very classy looking instead of seeing dirt. We took the kids for a walk around the cemetery. Looking at grave monuments and trying to see how old some of the people were. This is something Josh and I have always done. Even when we go on a weekend trip somewhere and we see an old cemetery we would stop and walk around. Clean off a few graves and just be a peace. During our walk we were coming up on Josh's grandparents graves along with some others in the family when I looked over towards where Elaine is. The sun was coming through the clouds and beams of rays stretched over the whole cemetery. Just beautiful! I started to tear up and looked at Josh. We embraced and knew that this was her turn to go to Heaven.

On our way home from the cemetery Josh's one aunt called and wanted to come over to see the kids. We were almost home so we said "sure". It's been nice having company just stop over, especially to see the kids. Aunt S. came over and played with the kids in the back yard for a little but until it started to get chilly. We retreated back into the house and Aunt S. continued on her walk around the farm.

Today I have to meet up with the Blind Association at Boscovs. I wanted to go over how they have the room set up and to drop off my equipment. My mom is going to watch the kids for me which is nice. I just told her that I have an appointment. Well I do. :o)

It is almost 7 am here and I have some work to get done before I start to get the kids up. I hope that everyone has a good weekend and if you are in the area please stop by the Boscov's auditorium between 10 am and 2 pm on Saturday. Lots of very nice items that were donated for the charity auction.

A not so Happy Hump Day...

I have so much stress and worry for today. On a positive note I had an excellent nights sleep. Anyways, I am trying to be creative on finding a babysitter for my kids this afternoon. Everyone that I usually used, ie. my husband's mom's family, are where they need to be. My mom can't watch them because she is watching my brother's kids. Not a surprise! I have someone to watch them now but Brycen won't get his nap in. I'm still going to keep her lined up for the job but if my two can be napping when I am gone that will be better. I would want Brycen to be rested and not cranky if we get to visit with my MIL this evening.

This is where the worry comes in. Josh and I have a pretrial for our septic system. I have made calls to the attorney's office each day since Friday worrying about this. My main concern is what if we are in the middle of court and we get the phone call that we have to leave and be with his mom. What in the hell do we do?!?! Can we go or will the judge make us stay? Will Josh be able to leave and just have me represent the both of us? AHHHHH!!! I just want to scream so bad! This whole court thing has just came at the worst and I mean the absolute worst possible time! If we don't settle today then it goes to the jury. *sighs*

After court this afternoon I have a meeting with the charity I'm performing their auction for. The auction is April 4th and I am meeting with them to go over the merchandise that has come in and to take photos and write my ad. The head of the charity knows what is going on on my end and said that we can always reschedule that they will work around me. That is very nice but this is my profession and if the jobs needs done it needs done. I'll just have to play it by ear after we are done with the legal stuff.

Fingers crossed, thoughts, and prayers that this day won't be the most horrible day ever. On a side note... the phone just rang and I felt like I just swallowed my heart! Oh! My husband just called to say he got to work ok because he took the motorcycle.

Well I am off to be productive and busy this morning.

Weekend

Saturday we decided to go to my father-in-laws place over in Ohio. The kids and I still weren't feeling 100% but we didn't want to make him wait another week since we were supposed to go the week before. He had some things that he got for us that we had to pick up so that was the main reason for going. Brycen had fun playing with his pappy and was all tuckered out for the ride home.

The visit was alright for me. The boy scout camp doesn't excite me too much. It is actually rather boring. When Josh and I were engaged and even just married I always had homework to do when we went to camp. Josh would help his dad do odd jobs around the camp and I would sit in the office and do my homework. One of my last classes at SRU was a summer class at Pymatuming and it was a shorter drive from Rock Creek, OH than it was from Butler so I lived at the boy scout camp for a month. Josh came on the weekends to visit and we talked on the phone each day. So adding to the fact that it is boring for me, I lived there for a month and know that there is absolutely nothing to do over there. I used to go for walks around the camp but when there is summer camp going on you have to time your walks differently. Plus being one of the few girls on camp (a few were staff) I tried to limit my time by myself around camp. Some of those men who still are highly involved with the boy scouts at an old age just creep me out. Not all of them just a few. Sorry.

On a different note. Brycen's cough is starting to lighten up but Arianna's is getting worse. I'm going to continue to monitor her for one more day and if it seems like it is getting worse then I'll call the doctor tomorrow. I'm on day 5 of my medicine and am feeling alot better.

Yesterday I purchased a website domain and am slowly building my website for my auction service. I'll post it when it is completed. I figured it can't hurt anything to just try it out for a year and see if I get any business off of it. I'm not looking into anything full time. Just something to help pay for my license and to help keep my skills refined.

Today, I'm going to do a once over on the house. It just amazes me how much a house can fall apart even if you aren't here much over the weekend.

W.O.W. Auction this weekend.

I have been invited back to be the auctioneer at the World of Wheels custom car show this weekend at the David L. Lawrence Convention center. I am so excited and honored by the invite! Same as last year we have 8 auctions that are spread throughout the weekend. I'm hoping to beat last years total of $8,500 that goes to the Autism Society of Pittsburgh but I am unsure of that goal. This year we are positioned right behind the motorcycle stunt arena and the auction times follow the motorcycle event so maybe we can grab some of that crowd. Here's hoping and here's to a great weekend of muscle cars, my family, and auctioning for a good cause!!