HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY KYLE!!!

Today is my baby's 8th birthday. It's so hard to believe that it's been eight years since I was in the hospital with him. I guess I should just be thankful to have such vivid memories of the experience.

Here he is in the hospital eight years ago, with my swollen hand. I remember saying it looked like he was going to have red hair and one of the nurses disagreed with me.

Kyle is a very genuine, caring, kind boy, not to mention extremely smart. He makes me proud everyday! He's also a comedian, but at the same time is becoming more responsible. I'm so thankful for him and who he is. I can't imagine life without him.

Happy birthday, Kyle! Mom-mom loves you!

It's been a good month...

So far. Things are changing. I usually can't stand change, but this is different.

First of all, three out of four Miners are celebrating birthdays this month. I'm first. My birthday is the 16th and I will be turning 36. (Aaaaah!!!!!) Kyle is next. On the 21st, my baby will be eight years old. Then on the 28th, Jason will be the big 3-9. That's just not right. I met him when he was only 19!

Tomorrow is a big day for Jason. It's his first day at his new job!!! After almost 15 LONG years at his old job, he resigned. I'm pretty sure he would've killed someone if he had stayed there much longer. The company has been going downhill the last few years and Jason was miserable there. I worry a lot, but I'm not worried about this change. I'm happy for my husband and excited for him to get settled into his new job! I wish him the best.

I can't believe the holidays are upon us. I'm almost done shopping. There are two VERY excited children in our house. They can't wait for Santa to come. (Yes, even my almost 11-year old still believes!) Kyle's favorite saying is that holidays are about family. He came up with that himself and he's right!

If I don't get back to my blog before Christmas, I wish everyone Happy Holidays!

Kyle's turkey project

Kyle had to disguise a turkey for school. The object was to chose a disguise to prevent the turkey from being eaten this Thanksgiving (nice thought for 2nd graders!). Kyle decided to turn his turkey into a different bird, a penguin. Penguins are one of Kyle's favorite animals. It was supposed to be a family project so I helped by making the scarf, ear muffs and mittens. Please notice the natural colored feathers to help make it look like there really was a turkey under the disguise! I think it turned out pretty cute and was a creative idea.

There also had to be a little description included from the turkey describing what he's disguised as. Kyle wrote that his is going to the North Pole to take care of his egg, as male emperor penguins do.

Three cats and a collie

My Hen curled up on his bed

Emma in one of favorite spots in our room

Yoda curled up on our bed, showing one of her bald spots


Cole hanging out on the couch

Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween! It's the end of the day. Trick-or-treating is over and the wizards are tired. Justin and Kyle were in their costumes most of the day. They wore them to bowling for the costume contest. Kyle won first place in his division. He received a $20 gift card to Toys R Us. Justin didn't place. Two boys dressed as Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus won.

I have to send out a HUGE thank you to my talented mom for making these awesome costumes! It didn't take her long, but she bought all the material and made them with her own two hands. She made the shirts, pants, belts, cloaks and hats for both of them! Needless to say, the boys got a lot of compliments today while wearing their costumes.

Pumpkin carving

Kyle asked me a couple days ago if we could carve a pumpkin. I love pumpkins and always buy a few every year. However, I don't like to carve them since I like leaving them outside until Thanksgiving. But I told him we could if he helped. He was really excited and said this was going to be the best Halloween ever!

Kyle chose the face he wanted for our jack-o-lantern and the carving began. I didn't get a whole lot of help. Kyle was supposed to scoop out the pumpkin's guts, but gagged at the first handful, so I did the rest.

I'm not a very good pumpkin carver, but Kyle was happy with the end result. Currently, our jack-o-lantern is on the porch with ants on and in it. Yuck.

HE DID IT!!!

He is Tony. Tony is my brother the marathon runner. Tony qualified for the Boston Marathon this morning!!! He ran a marathon in Cleveland, OH this morning and finished in 3 hours 8 minutes. This is 17 minutes less than his last time! WOW!

I believe Tony's first marathon was Chicago 2004. (I'm sure he'll correct me if I'm wrong.) His time back then was about 4 and a half hours. He has run many marathons since then in many different states, including two ultra-marathons which are 50K. It became his goal to qualify for the ultimate, the Boston Marathon. When running is your sport, you need patience which Tony has. He has the patience that I lack! He used that patience and endurance and reached his goal.

I'm so excited for him and SO very proud of my little brother. Way to go Tone!!!

(The above photo is from marathon in Batavia, IL that Tony ran in September. It's just a proof that he e-mailed to me, but our parents are in the background watching him cross the finish line.)