The 1st Adventure of Hammy the Hamster

Dear Hammy-
I just want to start by saying I'm sorry.  Our other class pet, Sunshine, loved to be held and played with.  He loved to run around our house and get "chewed on" by our dog.  Now that I think of it, that may be why Sunshine went to hamster heaven.  Anyway, my mom says I need to apologize for taking you out of your cage at 2:00 in the morning while everyone else was sleeping.  She says you didn't like being chased around the house by our enormous 100 pound lab.  She also says it might make you nervous when I put you in my bed or keep you in my pocket.  So I am sorry.  Are you sure you didn't like it?  Mom seems pretty sure, but I thought it was SUPER funny!  Well, I am so glad mom agreed Annabelle and I could take you home over October break.  We are going to have such fun!!!
Love,
Andrew

Go Irish!!!

Now that is is college football season, we are all happy and BUSY campers on Saturdays.  Here are a few pics of our littlest fans!

Thanks UB for the "game garb"!  Uncle Justin made sure we were all outfitted with OFFICIAL Notre Dame attire.  I will include a pic of my "bedazzled" ND  hat in another post.

Andrew's jersey is in honor of Mike Floyd- he's a wide receiver for the Fighting Irish!   Two years ago, he lit a candle for my dad at the Grotto at Notre Dame.  Kind of a big deal- check it out at 

http://archives.nd.edu/ringel/default.htm

Our little cheerleader, don't you know he has matching plaid hair bows!

Here's to a great season and a lot of fun along the way!  GO BLUE AND GOLD!!!

A Re-post from 9/9/09

I am having a rough time tonight, so I don't feel like posting, but I didn't want to let today go by without posting so here is a post from last year.


The Last Time

Dance and Sports Class

 We are entering week 4 of "Having a Ball" and "Tap, Ballet and Tumbling" and they are LOVING it!  Part of it is because we get to go with our sweet friends T and B, which mommy is loving as well because she gets to chat with their mommy while the boys or the girls are in class.  Boys go to sports first (45 mins of activity is AMAZING) while the girls wow the sweet folks at the senior center with their um "tap dancing".  This consists mostly of jumping and spinning while making noise with their tap shoes- but they do look darn cute while doing it!  The girls go to dance next, 15 mins each of tap, ballet and tumbling while the boys distract all of the employees that work at the senior center with their antics.  Also pretty cute, because they are kinda low key after being exhausted in "Having a Ball".  Here are a few pics- you will notice there are more pictures of dance.  I know- I am sorry!  But Sports is so fast moving, all the pics I took turned put to be a blob that may or may not have been Andrew.  And bear with me because all the pictures are taken through glass and some through glass and mini blinds.

Andrew and Annabelle ready for class 3 hours before it started!

Andrew stretching his "hammies"

Andrew stretching his arms...  And that's where the action begins and the "good pics" end.  Sorry folks!

Annabelle and B posing for their "before they were famous" shot

What a good listener!  Or maybe giving someone the "stink eye"

Seriously, is there a cuter tap dancer anywhere?

Cut to...  the boys playing while the girls are dancing

This time, she is actually listening!

Look really closely- SHE IS RIBBON DANCING!  Seriously hilarious!!

Ballet takes a lot of concentration!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today would have been my dad's 61st birthday. Hard to believe it is our 2nd one without him. It has been a sad (of course), overwhelming (naturally), busy (purposefully) and sad day. Did I mention sad twice? My mom broke her foot recently and so I got to help with the preparations for the big dinner we held in his honor today. I also got to clean after the party- but it was nice to keep my mind off of what we were actually gathered for. We had a big dinner with our family at mom and dad's (I still call it that even though he has made his home somewhere else for almost 2 years). My mom and I put together picture frames with my dad's name in it, and the meaning of his name: "Jerry- a holy man, having great strength". If you knew my dad, you know how amazing the parallel is from his name to his life. Andrew and Annabelle spent the night with Mimi tonight. And the first time I really truly cried tonight was on the way home. I was weepy all day (thank you to all of my girls calling to check on me), but on the way home, I lost it. I think I feel so sad knowing so much time is passing without our sweet Pappy. Pappy, we miss your sweet smiles and big hugs, your corny sense of humor and your bright twinkling eyes. We miss the way you loved us and never let us forget. We are so thankful for the assurance that we will experience all of those things again some day. We love you Pappy, today and everyday and we miss you fiercely. Happy Birthday Daddy!

Summer Fun Part 3

Maybe this post should be called "you know it's time for Andrew to go back to school when..."
Andrew was getting restless before school resumed and to prove it he went right into "Captain Destructor Mode", making messes and generally wreaking havoc all over our house! Here are a few pics of what happened. By the way, the undocumented messes took place on other days and I did not have the energy to snap pics about them. But they do deserve honorable mention:
Epmtying an entire super size bottle of spray sunscreen on Buzz and Woody, who were laying on our mattress while I was washing the sheets.
Spraying an entire can of shaving cream onto the counter and wall of the master bath while I was in the bathroom (talking on the phone, its' the only place I can get privacy) I was told by an "ex-friend" that maybe he was getting into trouble because of the "quality of care I was providing". Andi- you are going to eat those words before you know it friend!
Dumping 5 lbs of sugar from the jar onto the floor while I was doing Annabelle's hair (wow- that was awesome to clean up)
Successfully cracking (and not getting the shells in) 1 dozen eggs into the sink while I was in the shower (a different time than you will see pictured)
The mother of all messes- as pictured

This is our fridge, with a barstool pulled up to it, the black stuff is chocolate syrup (you will see that in other pics as well) and the white stuff is flour (other pics too)

This is the other side of the fridge and part of the breakfast "nook"-notice the empty carton of eggs?

Here is where the eggs went... And that gross looking congieled stuff? An entire container (100) fish oil caplets

More nook

By our stove

Now the mess was sort of contained to the kitchen, but as you can see in this shot, flour footprints all over the house

Don't be fooled by the toys lying around- they are obviously not nearly as fun as the other stuff Andrew chose to play with!!

Here are his little chocolate footprints as he made his way to the garage to inflict more damage

Here are his grubby little paw prints on the doorknob. Thankfully, this is where I caught him.


Next step? Throw him in the shower with a loofa and try to clean up the mess. When he got out of the shower and got himself dressed he cam into the kitchen and said, "Oooh Mommy, look at that big mess, I get you a towel?"

Summer Fun Part 2 (Sort of)

These are my two maniacs at bedtime... There is nothing really "summery" about it except it's light out as I try to get Andrew to bed.

Who is putting who to sleep?



Notice even Tank is in on the action!

"Mommy, I promise I will be sooooo good if you let me watch a movie in bed tonight"

"HA! Just kidding!!! Maybe this is why you don't let me watch movies in my room!!"