The Neville Family

Visit with Steve & Karyl (and the kids)

2009-09-10T23:36:00.004-04:00

How embarrassing that I have taken six months to post on here. I should be ashamed, I know. LOL! I'm just too busy all the time. Just got back last night from a week in CA visiting Steve and Karyl and their boys....and of course, baby Abby (see her smiling cuteness below).

Had a fun and mostly relaxing time getting extra sleep and lending a hand to Karyl. I hope I was able to relieve some of her burden for a little while. We had fun grilling out, eating yummy food, swimming, and just chilling. It was the first time I'd ever been to their house in CA so it was fun to see where they live. I wish I'd remembered to take my camera so I could have more pictures to share. Duh!

Thanks for having me!!!

Sunburn in March?

2009-03-08T09:09:00.003-04:00

So, Taryn and I had to work a booth selling Girl Scout cookies for her troop at Wal-Mart yesterday from 9am to 12pm. It was supposed to be a nice day, high of around 78, but I didn't expect to have any problems early in the day and I thought the sun would be blocked by the building behind us. I miscalculated. The sun was shining right in our face. I conveniently had forgotten my sunglasses so I was half blind most of the time. I was sweating like a pig and spent the last hour with an empty cookie box on my head to spare me from the sun and heat.

And to top it off, I got a nasty sunburn on my arms, where the v-neck t-shirt was open, and on my face. I am as pale and white as they come. I should have run inside and bought some sunscreen. Who gets sunburned in March? Ugh!

Lazy day...snow day.

2009-03-03T01:37:00.003-05:00

After posting pictures of the snow, here's pictures of the kids lounging. Ian, as is typical, retreated to his room. But Taryn and Harrison sat down in the game room to watch a movie together...rare peace that was short-lived.

My little angel.....Smile Taryn!

He loves to ham it up for the camera. That is a better smile than the grimace I usually get.

SNOW DAY!!!

2009-03-02T10:06:00.003-05:00

So, already this year we had school canceled twice for snow. Both days made me very mad because there was hardly any snow as you can see from the pictures below. Yes, these pictures are from the last day they actually canceled school here for weather. It was ridiculous. I believe it was February 4th, which was my birthday, as I was very unhappy to have kids home all day when I thought I might get to relax a bit.

Now, these are pictures I took this morning of the snow. I'd say we got a little over three inches maybe. Certainly not the upwards of eight inches they had predicted, but I could see them canceling school for this as they don't plow down here. In any event, the kids are home again and driving me crazy!

The first picture is the house across the street as viewed from my front door.

This is a picture of up the road taken from my front porch.

Taryn's Christmas program

2008-12-14T01:13:00.002-05:00

The first graders at Taryn's school got to participate in a Christmas program on December 2nd. They got to wear their pajamas and sing songs, dancing and clapping, and swaying to the music. The only pictures I could get were while they were all sitting prior to beginning since we sat too far away from the action.

She was having a ball. I can see why she is always saying she wants to be a singer or be a movie star. She loves to be on stage and the center of attention.

Avast ye mateys!

2008-12-14T01:08:00.004-05:00

I took these pictures of Harrison while we were at Taryn's school for her Christmas program. He was hamming it up for the camera. His pirate look was hilarious.

Then there's his finger on the mouth, contemplative look:

And finally, the talk to the hand look:

What a clown!

And her wish came true!

2008-12-14T01:06:00.001-05:00

Taryn's second front tooth on top has fallen out! Now she can truly sing like Alvin! She sounds funny with a little bit of a lisp, but it's endearing. She was so excited.

Beautiful tree

2008-11-13T13:58:00.003-05:00

Every fall this tree looks fantastic. Every year I try to get a picture of it in all its glory. This is the best I've got so far. We pass this tree on the way to Harrison's playgroup four days a week. The people who live there go to our church.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

2008-11-13T13:54:00.001-05:00

For a lighter side of Taryn, she just lost her first upper front tooth. The other one is loose. So, for Christmas (Alvin and everyone else sing along....)....All she wants for Christmas are her two front teeth!

What a snit!

2008-11-13T13:45:00.006-05:00

When Taryn gets in a snit, watch out. She was upset at soccer because we were laughing at something and she thought we were laughing at her. I started snapping pictures because it was so funny. Man, we are dreading the teen years and PMS.

Pre-Halloween

2008-10-26T22:54:00.004-04:00

I made the kids put on their costumes the other day so I could get some pictures. We always seem to get lost in the moment on Halloween and never get any pictures. Taryn picked out a red velvet queen costume. Rob calls it the "Queen of Hearts." How appropriate for her.

Your majesty!

She's so coy!

What a look! This picture makes me dread the teen years.

Harrison wanted to be Tow Mater. LOL! He's been wearing this all over the house.

My cutie pie.

I'm still alive!

2008-10-26T22:47:00.004-04:00

How embarrassing to find I haven't posted in over a month. Where does the time go? Well, soccer season started for both Ian and Taryn and that leaves me running to soccer four times a week (two games and a practice for Ian and a practice/game for Taryn). Monday night, Tuesday night, Thursday night, and Saturday morning, with Wednesday night for Cub Scouts and every other Tuesday night also with Girl Scouts. Add in a PTO meeting and an HOA board meeting here and there and things get busy pretty fast.

Otherwise, we're doing okay. No big illnesses so far, knock on wood, and we've all had our flu shots except me and I get mine this week.

Karyl tagged me to post the sixth picture in the sixth folder in my picture files, so I'm putting that here:

This was two Christmases ago when we had a photographer come take pictures at the house. Obviously no one was paying attention in this one as Ian is about the only one looking at the camera. And you can tell this is an older picture because Harrison is so much smaller and it is before Taryn cut her hair.

Sailing....takes me away.....

2008-09-18T00:25:00.005-04:00

I am finally returned from my four-night Mexican cruise with my sister-in-law, Karyl. We sailed aboard Carnival's Funship Elation (see below) out of San Diego with one port of call in Cabo San Lucas. This was our opportunity to escape from children, laundry, dishes, etc...you get the drift. We had a good time and are already talking about maybe trying to get more people to go with us next year.

Here is a picture of the Lido deck (pool deck) of our ship. We didn't spend much time here, except for when we walked past the pool to get to the restaurant where we normally ate lunch.

The Elation atrium...from not a very high floor. I could have gone up higher to take this picture.

We enjoyed sitting at the back of the ship eating lunch and watching the wake generated by the ship. The water was so blue and beautiful.

These were our dinner companions the first night onboard. We had sat for close to 40 minutes with no water, no waiter, and no one at our table but us. We were beginning to feel invisible. Then suddenly, they seated these four, young Mexican gentleman at our table. They were four from a party of six who had come from Tijuana for a bachelor party (apparently the bride-to-be would not allow them to party in Vegas). We laughed at the irony of them having come from Mexico to go on a Mexican cruise. LOL!

They were very polite and gentlemanly and engaged us in conversation. We were very surprised. The one on the far left is involved with bio-fuels engineering, the one with his hands up works in "meat", the one with the blue striped shirt is an architect, and the far right is also involved with bio-fuels engineering. They told us they were all college roommates and we discussed the differences in the college experiences in the US and Mexico and also talked Packers football! Go Pack!

Unfortunately, we had already requested to switch to the different dinner seating time and this actually worked out for them as the maitre'd was going to move the remaining two from their party (who somehow had ended up in the other dining room) and seat them all together for the remainder of the cruise. We hope they had a good time...we sure did.

This is one of the pictures I took in Cabo San Lucas. This was taken from our ship as we sat anchored outside the port.

One of several "towel creations" we found in our room in the evenings. They were adorable.

This is a picture collage that Karyl created from some of the photos she took. You will note some duplicate scenes, but it was so neat, I added it to my blog, too.

School's in!!!

2008-08-25T01:11:00.002-04:00

School started this past Wednesday, August 20th. Oh Happy Day!!! I had two days where I accomplished a great deal more than I had on any given day over the summer and on Thursday Harrison and I met daddy for lunch at our favorite Thai place and then I took Harrison to Chuck E Cheese, just the two of us. Tomorrow marks the start of the first full week of school and I have a million things I want to get done so I look forward to it.

Harrison will start his Mother's Morning Out on Sept. 2nd and he will attend four mornings a week from 9am to noon (only weekeday he doesn't go is Wed.). I am working on a list of all the things that have been piling up and that I need to get done during those 12 hours in the week. I am excited at the prospect of possibly getting caught up on a lot of things that have been put off for far too long.

Karyl tagged me

2008-08-25T00:57:00.005-04:00

Shame on her! Karyl tagged me and now I'm supposed to post about six of my quirks. I'm a little bit stumped as I sit here, though I'm sure Rob could list many. So, here's my attempt.

1. Toilet paper. While I admit to strangely having a similar compulsion to make sure I have a lot of toilet paper on hand (I buy a bunch every time I go to Sam's Club), I am seriously annoyed when no one changes the toilet paper roll and/or if they put the roll on with the paper coming off the bottom rather than over the top. It has to be done a certain way or I have to fix it.

2. Diet Coke. I do not like Diet Coke from a can. If it is not from a restaurant or movie theatre, or whatever (i.e. a fountain drink), I don't like it. This probably applies to most soda drinks, except cream soda. I will literally drive to McDonald's for a Diet Coke before I will drink one of Rob's cans out of the fridge.

3. To do lists...I make a lot of lists. I keep one on the computer. I often sit down at night and map out a schedule for the next day including the times I expect to be doing certain things. Can anyone say anal retentive? But I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I can delete five or six things off a list for the day. I feel like I actually got something done. My lists always seem to get longest on Sunday as I think about what needs to be done the coming week.

4. A place for everything and everything in its place. I oftentimes will complain vehemently that the kids do not help clean up the house. However, I will also turn around and just do it myself because I want things to be where I put them, in a certain order, or in a certain place...sorted a certain way. If I let the kids do the clean-up, everything just gets thrown together. That drives me insane.

5. Folding laundry. I used to haul all the laundry upstairs and dump it on the futon to be folded. This habit stopped when I realized five loads of laundry would pile up there and I just wouldn't go up and do it. I now fold laundry in the game room while I watch TV, but the piles are always in the same place. I can map out the coffee table and half the couch by telling you exactly what goes in what pile and where it goes. I'm also very particular about what order and how things are loaded back into the baskets for their journey upstairs. LOL!

6. Washing your face. I do not wash my face with soap and water or any other facial product very often. There is a very valid reason for this. There is a strong correlation between washing my face and breaking out with zits. When I don't wash my face, I hardly ever break out. As soon as I wash it once, I break out with zits. Just happened to me recently. I felt particularly sweaty and grungy one day so I took some nice cleanser and washed my face. Two days later I broke out with one zit and now I have like four or five. I hadn't had one in months prior to this. I do take a hot, wet washcloth after a hot shower or bath while my pores are open and rinse my face off, but if I use anything more than water, watch out!

I hope this fulfills my quirk quota. I'm not sure who I can tag since I don't know many other people who blog besides Karyl. In fact, I might know one other person and that's it. So, I'm just blindly tagging anyone who reads this. LOL!

Definitely not my child

2008-08-09T09:23:00.003-04:00

While it is common knowledge that I am about as white and freckled as can be, apparently Taryn has not inherited my skin type as you can see from her fantastic tan she has accumulated this summer swimming in grandma's pool. You can clearly see the shape of her swimsuit delineated on her back. LOL! And while I was careful not to take a picture of her entire behind to put on here, I did get a picture of her leg where the tan line stops.

Even sunscreen hasn't prevented her from getting a very nice tan this summer.

Meow, kitty Taryn!

2008-08-07T02:06:00.003-04:00

We had a block party tonight for National Night Out, put on by our HOA (which meant a lot of work for me!). Taryn got her face painted like a cat and we had to take a picture. Bear in mind, she looked even cuter than this before her black lips wore off and some of it was smudged.

Taryn's BD Party

2008-08-07T01:54:00.005-04:00

Once again, I am late in posting details of Taryn's party, which took place on July 26th at Chuck E Cheese. Oh joy! Taryn had a good number of friends attend and had a really great time. Happy Birthday to Taryn who officially turned six on July 28th! Here's some pictures from her party.

Taryn opening presents.

Taryn and her princess shirt from Molleigh.

Ian and Harrison playing skee ball.

The birthday girl!

Taryn's cake....baked and decorated by Auntie Jen and Auntie Susie.

Uncle Marc & Cousin Kailyn.

Some of Taryn's friends!

Rob's new vehicle

2008-07-19T14:51:00.002-04:00

Rob has got a new vehicle...well, a used, new vehicle. The Jeep was never really a practical vehicle for us to begin with and has become less practical as the years went on, so yesterday he went and got a 2005 Volvo S80 T6, whatever that means. I think the "T" stands for turbo, though why he would need a turbo charged vehicle escapes me. It is nice, though, and not a bad price for the car. Here's some pics of the kids enjoying daddy's new vehicle.

Been a long time...

2008-07-15T23:25:00.002-04:00

It was pointed out to me tonight by my husband that I haven't posted on here in awhile. But it's the summer and there's not been a whole lot to report. The kids have been taking private swimming lessons again with a lady from our ward. She also teaches in the YMCA swim program and is very good. Taryn has improved a lot this year and Ian is doing very well when compared to the boy who wouldn't put his face in the water.

Harrison continues to attend his "playgroup" on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9am to 1pm. They've even taken a field trip to the movies to watch Bee Movie. I hear he behaved better than he does when I take him to the movies...thanks, Harrison.

Taryn is attending an Adventure Camp with the City of Rock Hill Parks Dept. this week. She goes every morning from 9am to 12pm. The last two days they have spent the morning learning about different animals and sea creatures and making a bunch of neat crafts. She's having a blast!

Ian is just bored all the times. His friends can't play when he wants them to or I don't let him play often enough, and he is nowhere near earning enough money for an Xbox, which he wants really, really bad. Thanks, Uncle Dave for getting him hooked on that. LOL!

I find that the calendar once again starts out pretty empty for a week and rapidly fills up. I took a Pilates class yesterday for the first time (had two free sessions I had bid on at the Silent Auction for the kids school in May). Wow, is that hard. I'm sure you eventually get better at it, but I have muscles hurting today that I didn't know I had and I told the instructor I felt a lot like I was trying to pat my head and rub my belly at the same time. There's so many things you have to remember all at once. I am going back next week and I may continue with it, if I continue to feel that it's doing some good. It definitely worked my abdominals...my obliques are killing me today.

I haven't taken enough pictures of the kids lately, but I'll try and remember to get some new shots and post them on here. Later!

Axe murderer!

2008-06-25T16:31:00.005-04:00

Well, not really, but she might as well have been one. The lady at the salon today butchered Taryn's hair. I specifically showed her a picture of Taryn's hair from the beginning of the school year. It was adorable...perfect length. I said, "this is how I want it again." This is what she got:

And this is what it looked like at the beginning of the school year last fall:

A vacation we'd like to forget!

2008-06-13T00:30:00.005-04:00

Since January, we have been planning a week-long trip to Milwaukee to visit everyone. All the Stroble kids were coming home to Milwaukee for a semi-family reunion. Susie had a wedding she was standing up in and we had been planning to go in April, but just delayed it until June so we could all come at once. Steve and Karyl came from California, and Mom and Jen also came from SC. Everyone else arrived before us, either on May 30th or 31st. We left late the evening of June 3rd so the kids wouldn't miss as much school, even though it was the end of the year. As it was, they ended up missing the last two days of school, including Taryn missing her Kindergarten promotion ceremony (poor girl - she said her friend Lily was crying the last day she was there).

Anywho...we left around 10pm on the 3rd and about 2/3 of the way through the flight, Rob brought Taryn back to me from their seats 10 rows ahead and said she needed to use the bathroom. As I was helping her, I just happened to brush my hand across her forehead and discovered she was burning up with a fever, which apparently had just appeared after we boarded the plane. By the time we landed late in Milwaukee (around 11:45pm their time), we had to get our luggage and rental car and make a quick run to the 24-hour Walgreen's to buy ibuprofen before heading to our hotel. It was close to 1am before we got to bed that night. The next morning she began to vomit and her fever was once again very high.

To make a long story short regarding her illness, she ran a high fever (103 and above) for about five days and we had to keep her medicated with ibuprofen and Tylenol on a regular basis to keep it down. She vomited when her fever got too high, and I spent about three hours with her at St. Luke's ER in the wee hours of Thursday morning. She managed to muster enough energy to smile during our family pictures later that morning and we trudged back to our hotel. She did not eat much the entire trip and I am convinced she lost weight.

Moving on....the weather in Wisconsin did not cooperate on our trip either. We had tornado warnings two nights in a row and on Saturday night, we spent the evening at my brother Paul's house because he had a basement and the weather was ominous. Upon attempting to return to our hotel, we found the road to our hotel closed due to flooding. After trying to divert to Mom's hotel on several different roads, all of which were also flooded and/or closed, we managed to find the freeway open and hopped that up to the next exit to their hotel. We got the last open room and paid an additional $100 to stay there. Two hours later, upon getting a call from our original hotel that the road was now accessible from one direction, we packed the sleepy kids back up and went back to the Holiday Inn. We figured we'd rather be flooded in to the hotel where all our stuff was then stuck somewhere with no change of clothes or food.

It rained again the next day and we had to cut dinner at Dad's short because we were worried about getting flooded out again. All told, parts of Milwaukee got over 9 inches of rain in two days and I'm sure all of you have heard on the news about flooding in the Midwest by now.

To cap off our wild and crazy week, I managed to lose the portable DVD player at the Milwaukee Airport upon our departure. The one bright spot? I called the airport when I got back home and a Delta gate agent had found the case and turned it in. US Airways sent it to me FedEx and we got it back today.

We are all supremely exhausted and won't be planning any vacation for a long time after this debacle. Next time, everyone can come South!

Here's a few pictures from our trip:

This picture is for all my SC friends so they can see what green grass really looks like! LOL!

Ian and his cousin Jack.

Taryn and Logan. I think my kids were more excited about getting to play with the dog than anything else.

Cousin Jack, Harrison, Ian and Taryn all playing with dominoes at Grandpa Stroble's house.

Cousin Jack, Harrison and Taryn making a mess with water and rocks in the fountain.

Harrison at the Brewer game on June 4th. I'm not sure how much he enjoyed it, but he did like the fireworks after a Homerun. He behaved really well.

The ominous sky seen from the Walgreen's parking lot on Sunday night as the next wave of storms rolled in.

Taryn at dinner Wednesday night. She didn't get to go to the Brewer game that day, but mustered up the energy to come to dinner. She didn't eat much but got to open early birthday presents.Ian and Taryn and their great-grandma Stroble.

Uncooperative Harrison with great-grandma Stroble and big, fat me. Nothing like seeing a picture of yourself to realize how much weight you need to lose.

Ian is on You Tube!!!

2008-06-01T23:02:00.001-04:00

We finally uploaded his My Pain video from several years ago. Check it out.

Summer is coming

2008-05-25T23:53:00.002-04:00

The kids have only six days of school left for the year (they would have eight except we are taking them out of school two days early to go to Milwaukee). We are leaving for Milwaukee on June 3rd and will be there until the 10th. Many people to see, many things to do. Among them, we are planning a trip to the zoo and have tickets to a Brewer game. As all the kids will be together for the first time in awhile, we'll also be doing the family picture thing.

Ian's soccer team this year had their best season yet with a record of only one loss and one tie, the rest were wins! They played great. Ian improves with each year. Taryn has also finished her soccer season and loves her second trophy. The Kickers league doesn't really keep score or keep track of who wins or loses, but she still has a great time playing. Next fall, I believe she will start in the under 8 league and then things will get tougher!

As for the summer, I am looking forward to no Cub Scouts, no Girl Scouts, no soccer. Ian will have Scout Day Camp in June, and we have signed him up for a Blast Off to Space camp in August with the Mad Science organization. Taryn has been signed up for an Adventure camp with the city Parks Dept. in July. We also have the Movie Magic at the theatre to look forward to. The local movie theatre shows a different kid movie every week (rated G or PG) for free. The only thing you pay for are concessions. So, that will help occupy their time.

Harrison will be going to his Mother's Morning Out program in the summer for the first time. They have never run a summer program before. He will go Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 1pm. This will give me a small break from having all three at home, and on days when one or the other is at camp, will put me down to one kid for a few hours. I will enjoy the break as Ian and Taryn tend to fight obsessively. He will start this program full-time (4 days a week) in the fall.

Taryn will be moving into 1st grade and Ian into 5th grade in August. One more year for Ian and he will be in middle school. Where did the time go?

The nicest thing about the summer will be less driving around. Gas prices here are insane and our gas card bill last month was over $600! We could buy another with that money. But then we'd need to spend more gas! LOL!

Mother's Day (belated post)

2008-05-25T23:16:00.003-04:00

Mother's Day wasn't too different from any other day. Since it's a Sunday, I had my ritual Sunday nap while Rob managed to keep them quiet enough not to wake me.

The best part was having them all sit quietly for a few seconds right after church as I made them lunch.

Taryn was playing on her Game Boy and they were all watching. I don't even know what game it was, but they were quiet briefly, which is all I ask for.

All is Well!

2008-04-26T00:31:00.002-04:00

I seem to be over my bout of the stomach something-or-other. My doctor sent me for another ultrasound of my gallbladder, even though I don't think that's the problem. I have yet to hear back on that.

Soccer is in full swing. I keep meaning to take some pictures of the kids playing to put on here. We are busy, busy here, but I will try and post again soon.

I've been struck down!!!!

2008-04-16T09:18:00.003-04:00

As I sit here awaiting a call from my doctor's office to be seen today, I figured I'd post. I've been struck down with an intestinal bug for the past four days and I am miserable. I have no strength and I'm tired of mostly being cooped up in my house. I'm falling way behind on things I need to get done and there's no apparent cause for my malady. No one else has caught it, which leads me to believe it may not be viral as one would expect. In any event, I have lost five pounds in four days. Can't beat that diet, but I would have preferred to lose them any other way.

On top of that problem, I also was diagnosed with a sinus infection at the urgent care on Sunday. They glossed over my intestinal issues and didn't even address them. At that point, they were relatively new and I figured they would pass within 24 hours as they usually do, so I didn't press the issue. That was not to be the case, unfortunately, as it is now Wednesday and I continue to suffer.

Let's hope I didn't catch something weird!

Like Brother Like Sister

2008-04-11T17:07:00.003-04:00

Taryn doesn't like to be outdone. LOL! Since I've posted some pictures of Harrison sleeping all over the house, she decided to drop dead on the couch this afternoon. To be fair, it's spring break and she's been staying up way too late. She started falling asleep in the car while we were out and when I made her come in the house, she promptly laid down and went back to sleep. A bomb could drop in the house right now and she wouldn't hear it...that's how far gone she is.

Another milestone for Taryn

2008-04-09T23:47:00.002-04:00

Taryn got her ears pierced last Saturday! She'd been talking about it for awhile and frankly I didn't think she'd go through with it, so I'd been putting her off. But we were heading up around the mall area so I asked her if she wanted to go get her ears pierced and she said yes. I gave her about ten chances to back out and she didn't, although she started to get real anxious and crying before they even touched her.

After they did it, however, she cried a little but not as bad as I thought. She didn't even scream when they did it. She picked out her own 3mm pink cubic zirconium earrings. I told her after the six weeks healing time, I will take her shopping for some pretty new earrings.

Sure seems like all he does is sleep

2008-04-09T23:29:00.002-04:00

I caught Harrison asleep in a strange place again today. Cousin Kailyn had been over most of the day playing while Auntie Susie helped me clean up the clutter all over my house. It must have worn him out. I left the room to clean something else up and this is what I found when I came back.

Of course, when I picked him up to put him on my lap and snuggle, he woke up screaming and flailing...should've just left well enough alone. But he looked so uncomfortable.

Belated Easter post!

2008-04-09T23:23:00.004-04:00

Here's a few pictures of the kids from Easter. As you can see, Taryn is the only one who dressed up. The other two could care less.

Taryn's pretty Easter dress!

Harrison, giving you his best GQ look...Zoolander!

Ian, the I'm bored and leave me alone look.

We're back!

2008-04-06T10:10:00.002-04:00

We are back from our trip to Columbia for Ian's writer's conference. Actually, we've been back since yesterday afternoon. We drove down Friday night, leaving around 6:15pm. We drove through a little rain, but all in all the drive was pleasant and relatively quick, only about an hour and 15 minutes. There were storms headed in our direction and I was nervous about having to drive through anything severe so I was glad we got there before anything turned ugly.

We checked into the hotel and then headed back out for a late dinner at Sticky Fingers (Ian's choice). As we were eating, I was getting phone calls from Susie and Mom about how the weather at home was turning ugly. As we were returning to the hotel, Mom called to say they had a tornado warning and that she was in the bathroom with Harrison. Taryn was at Rob's parents and when I called them, they were oblivious of the warning. I said, "get in the basement!" We spent about 20 nervous minutes constantly checking the radar at weather.com on Rob's laptop and then called Mom to tell her the radar showed the worst was past her. The next day there was nothing at all on the news about damage or confirmed tornadoes so I think maybe they just saw rotation and nothing actually touched down.

I finally fell asleep around midnight sharing a bed with bedhog Ian. We got up at 7:30am, took showers, and headed to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel where they were very slow. We then followed the directions to the school where the conference was located and registered Ian. He was assigned to a certain classroom and looked forlorn and lost as we were leaving the room since he didn't know anyone. However, as I walked out the door, I heard him yell, "Dylan!" I stuck my head back in to see a little boy, grinning from ear to ear, running over to sit with Ian. He had someone he knew...whew! We sat through a parent meeting for about a half hour and then head back to the hotel to check out, drove around a mall area for awhile, stopping at Best Buy and McDonald's, and then went back to sit in the parking lot at the school reading for about two hours. Ian got out at 2pm and then we drove home.

Ian said he had a good time and had a few stories to tell. I hope this experience helps encourage him to keep writing. Maybe he'll go back next year.

Spring begins....

2008-04-03T09:20:00.003-04:00

So, the soccer season has begun. Endless practices, games, running around. Only two months until our trip home to Milwaukee and school letting out. No cub scouts, no girl scouts, no soccer, no school...sweet blessed sleep. Can we make it until then?

Report cards came out yesterday. Ian got all A's except his behavior grade (same as last quarter) because he can't seem to stop talking to his friends in class. He got a B for that. Taryn is progressing nicely and her teachers are impressed with her desire to read. She brings home books often to show off her skills. They only get checks and dots for their report card, but she is doing well.

This Saturday is Ian's writers' conference in Columbia. We are driving down tomorrow and spending the night in a hotel to make it a special experience for him. Just him and mom and dad. We'll take him out to dinner, too.

Harrison and Taryn are both on medication for sinus infections and Taryn has apparently caught a virus as she is home sick today with a stomachache and a 102 degree fever. Harrison went to the doctor today for an itchy rash all over his upper body that they claim is his eczema, though it looks nothing like his normal eczema.

And so spring begins...my calendar is full, my cup overfloweth. LOL! If I can make it until summer, it will be a miracle!

Yay, Ian!

2008-03-09T23:46:00.001-04:00

Ian has been invited to the 2008 Young Writers' Conference in Columbia, SC on April 5, 2008. He was nominated by his third grade teacher from last year. Only a select group of students from each district in the state are invited to attend. We are excited for him and hope he can learn more about writing and enjoy meeting some published professional authors/illustrators.

We'll update after the conference to let you know how it goes.

Sleepy Boy

2008-03-03T08:13:00.004-05:00

I was at Office Depot on Saturday for over and hour and a half making copies for the HOA's lawsuit against the developer. When I got home, this is what I found:

Harrison had fallen asleep on the floor of our computer room in a pile of blankets. He had been a grumpy bear all day that day. Little did we know how tired he was.

Absolutely hilarious

2008-02-14T00:54:00.002-05:00

I can't copy and paste this into here, but check out Rob's website at:

www.robneville.net

and read his post "I Haven't Laughed This Hard in Months". Another example of how funny our children are.

Happy Birthday to Me! Blah!

2008-02-05T01:09:00.000-05:00

So, I have turned the big 3-5 today. Whoop dee do! We went to dinner last Friday night at the Melting Pot, which was good, though not as good as I had expected, and very expensive. Yowza! That was my birthday thing as Rob is out of town today. Oh well. I feel old and tired so I am heading to bed.

Yay, Taryn!

2008-01-27T21:45:00.001-05:00

Taryn lost her first tooth today!!!! It was very loose when we were eating dinner at Susie's and she bit into something and started crying hysterically because it hurt and was bleeding. Grandma (mom) pulled it out for her and it came out like butter. It was definitely time. She is growing up now we told her. Almost five and a half years old to the day! Her eye on the left looks horrible because we stopped at a friend's to drop something off on the way home and she played with their dog. So much for Taryn claiming she's not allergic to dogs anymore. Her eye totally ballooned.

What a week (two weeks?)!!!

2008-01-27T21:23:00.000-05:00

So, I am back from our trip and a harrowingly busy week. We returned last Sunday from the Grand Cayman. We had a good time, but Rob and I both agreed that we preferred the island of St. Thomas, which we visited last year for this trip. The Grand Cayman is a very flat island with little character. It's still beautiful and tropical, but St. Thomas was much more picturesque. There's a few pics from our trip above. I don't know why it won't let me put this text above the pictures, but it's really annoying. In any event, the first three pictures are of Rob, Rob and his dad, and then the fish they saw snorkeling right off the beach by our hotel. There was a reef there. The fourth pictures is of the Charlotte office group and their wives. Gary (sales), Brian (sales), Jerry, Rob, and Mike.

The fifth picture is of the back side of our hotel where our room was located. We were on the fourth floor. The next picture was the sunset the first night we were there, as seen from our balcony. The seventh picture being the view from our balcony during daylight hours. And the last picture as one Rob snapped in George Town in the shopping area where Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville was located. The shopping was disappointing if you ask me.

After we got back Sunday, I played catch-up for a few days before undergoing some minor outpatient surgery on Thursday (female stuff I won't go into on here). I am recovering nicely and was back to running around and meeting a friend for lunch on Friday. It helped to get a nice afternoon nap and some Percocet on Thursday afternoon.

Where do I begin?

2008-01-09T00:33:00.000-05:00

It has once again been weeks before I've even been able to find time to post on here. A sad commentary on how busy I am, or perhaps just how little I think of it. I need to remember more often. Aha! A New Year's Resolution!

Things were a bit more sedate here during the holidays, aside from the craziness of Christmas and all the new toys and mess associated with it. There were no Cub Scouts, no school, and a lot of days I didn't have any outside activities on the calendar. Of course, those days are over. Today I not only had a hair appt. in the morning and a B12 injection at the doctor's office, but Ian had Cub Scouts, Taryn had Girl Scouts, and I had an HOA board meeting. I came home twice to pee today and that was about it from 9am to 8pm. Busy, busy day. I am still recuperating.

That is probably partly due to the fact that the doctor says my B12 level is really low. As I google this online I find that this can cause fatigue (HELLO!) and hair loss, both of which I have been suffering from lately. I am now getting these injections and taking a daily oral supplement. Hopefully I will see some improvement soon. Of course, it won't hurt that Rob and I leave on the 16th for the Grand Cayman for this year's Winner's Circle trip for Red Prairie. I am sooooo looking forward to a couple days of relaxation. Mom has generously taken off of work to watch my children and Susie is going to help her out. Shout out to Mom and Susie (and Jen, too, as I'm sure she will be over to help as well).

I hope to blog more often now (note New Year's Resolution above), and will definitely post some pictures after our trip! Ta Ta for now!

It's finally over!!!

2007-12-25T23:18:00.000-05:00

Christmas was crazy as usual. The kids devour their presents as soon as they are allowed to open them. I woke them up at 8am (yes, that's correct, I woke them up) and made them come down to eat something. Of course, no one was hungry. Harrison did eat one powdered donut and drink a little milk, but the other two had basically nothing. Grandma and Grandpa Neville arrived and all they cared about were the presents.

The opening commenced. Overall, I think they were all pleased with their gifts. Ian especially who proclaimed, "this is the best Christmas ever!" Taryn got her Nintendo DS (and a total of six games I believe) and a My Twinn doll that looks like her. Ian got an iPod and the Playstation portable (PSP) he's been wanting for several years. Thanks to his aunts and uncles for iTunes gift cards. And Harrison got the Smart Cycle and the Click Start, neither of which he has mastered and he quickly became interested in lesser gifts. Nonetheless, he spent most of the day drifting from toy to toy, including those that weren't even his.

I was so exhausted I spent most of the day in the recliner, half sleeping or actually sleeping . I've come to the conclusion that giving blood on Friday must have dropped my iron level really low because ever since then I have been absolutely drained. I fell asleep in the recliner Friday and Saturday nights and could easily have gone to bed at 8pm this evening as well, even after napping most of the day. I ate some Cream of Wheat this evening to give me some extra iron and I'll swing by the pharmacy tomorrow for some iron pills.

I won't bore you with the gifts Rob and I received. As adults, they become more practical than fun, though Rob did get some GPS Bluetooth thingie, and I'm not sure what for or what it does. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I will add some pictures on here later when Rob has uploaded them off his camera.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Bah Humbug!

2007-12-21T22:33:00.000-05:00

With Christmas rapidly approaching, you can see from my lack of posting that I have been very busy. The children are now out of school for the year and will start back on Jan. 3rd. This means even more hectic days at home as they are all home together and fighting.

I gave blood today at the blood drive sponsored by Mom through her employer, the Red Cross. I am feeling very sleepy tonight. LOL! This was after all the other running around we did, i.e. getting kids haircuts and taking them to Target to spend some gift cards they got as gifts. It was a madhouse at Target and the entire mile radius around it. Traffic was atrocious, people were driving even more stupid than usual, and I swore I would not go back there until at least a week after Christmas now.

Harrison's been singing, "Rudolph the Nosy, Nosy." At least that's what he thinks the words are. The only part I can understand of that song when he sings it is, "and if you ever saw him." He does get that right. He has been very crabby lately and I don't know why.

Taryn is growing like a weed and is complaining her leg hurts again, which we suspect are growing pains because she has had that type of pain before. I'm beginning to wonder if she's going to end up taller than Ian. And Ian talked daddy into taking him to see National Treasure 2 tonight, the late movie at 9:20pm. Rob does not like staying out that late, so it was definitely a treat for him.

Seeing as how I can't stop yawning, I will leave it at this for now. I hope I can post more and catch up more after the holidays!

Harrison the Klutz

2007-12-08T11:16:00.000-05:00

Harrison is constantly falling down, running, falling, hurting himself, etc. Yesterday, while running to get into the house after we picked the kids up from school, he tripped on Ian's feet near the door to the house in the garage and hit his face on the metal part of the step leading into the house. The result is what you see above. He has a fat lip that was hard and swollen and bruises and red marks from where he hit. Poor little guy.

Busy, busy, busy

2007-12-08T00:12:00.000-05:00

See how busy? I haven't even posted in over two weeks. Life gets out of control. I keep thinking, if I can just get through this week, next week on the calendar doesn't look that bad. And then the calendar fills up. Very aggravating.

So this week, I had a Girl Scout District meeting on Mon. night, an HOA board meeting Tuesday night, a school bake sale on Thurs. and a Girl Scout meeting Thurs. night, and tonight I took Taryn to a production of The Littlest Angel at the Charlotte Children's Theater (for Girl Scouts). Wednesday night was the only night I was home. I haven't wrapped a single Christmas present and I know I have more stuff to do that I'm trying to block out.

I cannot imagine what mothers do who work full-time and have children. Of course, if I worked full-time, I would not schedule so much stuff, but even still. There's always dishes, laundry, etc. My house could use a serious purge/spring cleaning and the time is coming. In addition, the whole house needs painting, a task that is so daunting, I cannot even think about it right now.

Taryn's running a fever tonight and says her throat hurts. I hope it's not another strep throat coming on. She caught this about a month ago from a friend at school (who just had it again). More than likely, we'll spend another Saturday at a doctor's office or urgent care.

Enough venting. I should be off to bed. I'm so exhausted from this week that I could sleep for a month!

Weight loss sucks

2007-11-18T01:07:00.001-05:00

I went on the low carb thing for two weeks solid and did a pretty good job considering I cannot stand vegetables. It was hard to cut out some things I love, but I lost about seven pounds in the two weeks. This was in addition to about four or five I had lost prior to that just counting calories. However, I am now at a standstill. I am neither going up nor going down.

It should not be fair that in order to be "thin" and "healthy" you have to deprive yourself of the smallest joys in life, such as macaroni and cheese, Ben & Jerry's cinnamon bun ice cream, Jen's cookies, and oh yeah let's not forget pumpkin bars. I mean, geez, it's the holidays. Mashed potatoes, green been casserole, crescent rolls. Can't have any of that. I'll be eating dry turkey and dry turkey.

Another Saturday down the drain

2007-11-18T00:57:00.000-05:00

Saturdays are supposed to be for relaxing, napping, taking a break from the normal hustle and bustle of the week, right? Not around here it seems. Taryn had her last soccer game today at the same time Ian had to be out at church for Scouts to go collect food for their food drive, so Rob and I had to split up. I took Ian and he took Taryn. While at the church, I started copying the bulletin. To my utter astonishment (note sarcasm here), the copier at church would not cooperate with me again. This time, however, not only did it eat my paper but it was completely out of toner. I mean, bone dry. I shook that cartridge about 10 times and managed to eke out a few more copies, but that was it....it was empty. So I ended up leaving what was left for the clerk tomorrow who is picking up another toner cartridge. Ugh!

Ran an errand or two and came back home to wait for Ian. I needed to go to the grocery store but wanted to make sure he got dropped off so I waited. Never did get to the store. I had to start cooking macaroni and cheese and cornbread for Ian's soccer banquet that began at 4pm. In between all that, I cleaned all three bathrooms and the kids helped clean up the toys in the left, very begrudgingly I might add. Rob even pitched in (gasp!).

Went to the soccer banquet. Got out around 5:40pm, ran to the shoe store because Ian and Taryn needed new shoes. Dropped the kids off at the movies at 6:05pm to meet Jen, Susie, and Marc, and took Harrison to Target with us for some more quick shopping. Then home to a mess again. There's dishes in the sink, which I should be doing right now, more laundry to do, toys all over the floor, I haven't typed the minutes from our HOA board meeting over a week ago yet, and I've got Girl Scout stuff to get done. ARGH!!!!!

The title of my post is another Saturday down the drain, but it should be that every day goes down the drain. I need a vacation! Calgon take me away!

Jury Duty

2007-11-15T01:19:00.000-05:00

So, I got an envelope in the mail today from the city Municipal Court. At first glance, I thought, "great, somebody is probably suing me for something to do with the HOA." Upon opening it, however, I found something even more disturbing. JURY DUTY! Ack! I have been called for jury duty once before when Taryn was a baby and I was able to get out of it because I was nursing and the daytime care provider. That was also for the county, not the city. I have a feeling I won't get out of this so easily. However, I have a GYN appt. that week and I am not missing it for court...it takes months to get an appt. And I have to pick kids up for school every day so I cannot be there at 2:30pm. Ugh. I do not need this hassle right now.

Straight A student

2007-11-10T01:41:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Ian on getting straight A's on his report card again! This will be his fifth quarter in a row with straight A's, which means he's had straight A's since he started getting letter grades in 3rd grade last year. We're very proud of him! Go Ian!!!

If a bear did laundry....

2007-11-10T01:39:00.000-05:00

I have to tell this story, because it is absolutely hilarious. Rob was driving Taryn home from soccer one day recently when apparently they got on the topic of helping around the house. Taryn was telling Rob that she could help fold laundry because she was really good at it and she was better than I was. She then proceeded to tell him how she was better than he was, better than Ian was, and then out of the clear blue told him, "I can fold laundry better than a bear." When Rob told her that bears don't fold laundry, her response was, "Well, I could fold laundry better than a bear if a bear did laundry." Where does a five-year-old come up with this stuff?

Freakin' Dodo

2007-11-10T01:36:00.000-05:00

Yes, freakin' dodo. That is what Harrison has taken to calling me when he's mad at me now. Can you imagine that? Just picture him yelling that out in church when it's really quiet. Real nice, eh? He also likes to throw whatever he may have in his hand at me in the car when he doesn't like the part of the movie he's watching, or if I haven't responded quickly enough for his demands to fast forward, turn up the volume, or whatever transgression he decides I should be punished for. Red hair, fiery temper. It's a cliche, but in his case it totally fits.

My first blog post

2007-11-10T01:35:00.000-05:00

I'm not even sure where to begin, so I will make it brief. Since I seem to have a short fuse, I'm going to use this blog to help vent and hopefully release some pressure. I'll also be adding anecdotal stories and pictures of my kids, because sometimes they are just hilarious.