March 30, 2005 6:59 PM

Good news, according to the doctor at Centra Care there is nothing wrong with me!  She did comment on the size of my mouth sores, almost like she was impressed with them. Whatever!  I'm attempting to eat oatmeal for dinner, should be nice and soft and gooey for my mouth.

While convalescing by the pool today I realized how dirty the deck was, so I convinced Tommy to grab the skimmer/scrubber and work on the sides of the pool. Next thing I hear is a splash and Tommy yelling, yup he fell into the pool, fully dressed in jeans and tennis shoes. Why isn't this  surprising?

Olivia started tennis lessons today and will continue them every Wed. afternoon. She is excited and seems to have potential, maybe I will retire on her Wimbledon/tennis star pin up calendar winnings.

Simon's track team had a parent meeting today ( of course he failed to tell me about this and I showed up looking like I was dying, which I am) and I was able to see first hand why he thinks his track coach is crazy, she is kooky!

Picture of the day

While Olivia contemplates trying out for Pippy Longstocking, Simon checks out the good eats.

3/25/05

March 29, 2005 6:08 PM

Answer to yesterday's question, I woke up with a temp of 100.3. I've felt yucky all day and haven't been able to eat anything with texture due to the massive canker sores in my mouth.

-16 1/2

Picture of the day

Simon is so not impressed with my new beach towel, good thing I LOVE IT!

3/25/05

March 28, 2005 6:56 PM

Let's play doctor, if I have a sore neck, trouble swallowing, canker sores in my mouth and my ear is fuzzy what am I going to wake up with tomorrow???

Tiki may end up an Amber Alert, while picking Simon up from track today she got up onto my couch in my bedroom and proceeded to eat my brand new book club book. The silver lining in the story is that at least it wasn't a library book and she did stop eating after she got through the cover and dedications and reviews.

Picture of the day

If my math is correct, Tom is now 39, EEK!

3/25/05

March 27, 2005 10:40 PM

Had an awesome Easter today and hope you did also. Today marked an important Florida day, the first day of "real humidity". You forget how much it takes out of you, last year the first day was on Olivia's Communion which was at the end of April, so this one caught is all off guard. We fought our way through it and had a great time at the lake. The food was awesome and it was fun seeing all the cousins and extended family.

I forgot how bad my hair looks when it's humid, time to get it cut even shorter!!!

I was able to feed baby Kamryn a bottle and burp her and all the kids took turns holding her, but Tom was the real baby hog today. He's gotta get his fix somewhere!

Picture of the day

The kids hanging out after the Easter egg hunt. The two cute red heads are Tom's cousin's Brian's kids. Brenna is 4 and Sean is 9. Can you believe that he is in the same grade as Olivia?? Either I grown 'em short or they grow 'em tall!

3/27/05

March 26, 2005 11:28 AM

We had a great day at the lake yesterday celebrating mine and Tom's birthday's and brought home  awesome loot. Last night we left Simon and Liv there and today we are gathering everything we will need for Easter morning. In addition I also need to remember to bring all the ingredients for the fruit trifle I'm making for dessert tomorrow, wish me luck in remembering everything.

The people behind us have been pruning some trees in their yard, does it really need to take THREE DAYS AT 8 AM to accomplish this???? The sad thing is you can't even tell what's been trimmed, I'm not going to hire these slow-charge-by-the-hour-guys!!

Neeley sent me more pictures of Carmen yesterday and Nicholas is visiting this week from California, so he is the lucky one you see holding my sweet Carmen.

You know how when you go on vacation and really enjoy yourself and maybe sneak a few items that aren't on your diet??? We'll I grabbed the reins and got right back on that horse, and today weighed in 2 pounds less! Down 15 , minus the 20 from last year so my grand total is -35.

Picture of the day

Carmen playing with her Uncle Nicholas

(I think Nick looks so much like Tommy, but then he also looks like me, but not in the same way, strange)

3/24/05

March 25, 2005 9:59 AM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM!

We love you

Picture of the day

Birthday Boy

4/16/01

March 24, 2005 2:31 PM

Tomorrow is Tom's birthday and we are planning on heading to the lake for dinner and relaxing. Tom will probably take his PSP and play it the whole time! The kids are still enjoying Spring Break and have been taking advantage of the no-school-for-a-week deal that comes with every move to Florida.

My day is finished and I'm officially going back to bed!

Picture of the day

Simon and Olivia hanging out with Tony the Tiger

3/21/05

March 22, 2005 9:59 PM

Picture of the day

Me and my gorgeous kids, can you believe how tall Tommy is???

3/19/05

Carmen enjoying her first "real" bath. What are they feeding this baby? She is getting  huge!

March 17, 2005 8:08 PM

We are getting ready to head to Tampa this weekend, the boys are doing the baseball thing and Liv and I are headed to the beach! I can't wait to get some color on this white body!! This is the same beach that Marie, Syd and I visited over Fall break and I truly believe that it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

A few health updates: Scotty is doing great and the surgery was a success. They got the brain tumor and he was being released this week from the hospital, miracle. My Uncle Glen has once again fallen on hard times, and is currently fighting for his life.  Prayers are appreciated and I'll keep you posted.

Picture of the day

Classic self portrait of myself and Olivia

 Spring Break 2004

March 16, 2005 11:32 AM

Picture of the day

Carmen looking like her daddy

Maddy with Hayley holding Katie, is it just me or does Katie look just like Rich's own Mini-Me????

March 15, 2005 8:37 PM

Michele took me to Cheesecake Factory for lunch today and I had my first taste of real sugar in over 6 weeks..............ahhhhh heaven!
 

Picture of the day

My two guard dogs, oh yea, we are really being protected

3/11/05

March 14, 2005 10:51 AM

Picture of the day

Uncle Joey holding Kamryn

3/12/05

March 13, 2005 10:20 AM

Last night Olivia and I had the most incredible experience of our lives, we helped Nikki give birth to Kamryn Noelle. We heard Nikki was in labor and Joanne asked me to bring a blanket to the hospital so that during the night Joanne wouldn't freeze and during that conversation she invited Olivia and I to watch the birth. We zipped over to the hospital around 5:30 hung out for an hour and then Joey, Olivia and I went to eat and bring back food for Joanne. We left the restaurant at 7:30 and got back to the hospital as they were checking Nikki. (when we left she was dilated to a 5) The midwife announced that she was ready to go. They asked for leg-holders and somehow I was volunteered. Before I knew it I was standing next to Nikki with another girlfriend on the other side and we were holding her legs while she pushed. Joanna was putting on gloves in anticipation of helping deliver her granddaughter. Olivia and Joey were the official picture takers and were busy with their jobs. Nikki pushed about 7-8 times and the head popped out, and Kamryn slowly came out it became apparent that the cord was wrapped tightly around her neck, the midwife yelled to Nikki to quit pushing, which she did. As the baby slipped out more they found out the cord was also wrapped around her chest, very tightly. A panic set in and while all of us looked elsewhere they quickly cut the umbilical cord while the baby was still half inside. She slide all the way out and started crying and we were all very relieved. She was very purple but that soon went away as she received a bit of oxygen. We had a great time last night and loved watching her get her first bath and helping give her the first bottle. Olivia took her new journal and documented her special evening.

Picture of the day

Giving her the first bottle

Olivia was the fourth person to hold cousin Kamryn

March 13, 2005 10:08 AM

 Kamryn Noelle Underwood

3-12-05 8:16 pm

7 pounds 10 ounce

20 1/2 inches

Picture of the day

Just born

First bath

March 11, 2005 5:34 PM

 Katherine Elyse Reagan

3-10-05 1:11 pm

8 pounds 1 ounce

19 inches

Picture of the day

Isn't she beautiful?

Three sisters

Hayley, Maddie and Katie

March 10, 2005 4:10 PM

Simon joined the track team at his middle school and will be running everyday after school until 5:15. I'm picking him up and then running him to the Lake Mary Marriott where he will be helping welcome guests to a reception. In order to participate in these service hours Simon needed to find his entire Class A uniform, for those of you who truly know Simon, you know what an ordeal this was. It took him hours to find two mismatched socks, but in his defense once they are "scrunched" down nobody will notice that they aren't the same length...........................whatever, boys! He could not locate his neckerchief slide and so this meant that I needed to go out and buy one. I ended up buying three of them, two I will keep hidden in my room. I also picked him up a pair of long scout pants for when he's on campouts and it's cold or the mosquito's are extra ferocious. I also broke down and bought some new socks, ones that match.

Tom is doing well in San Francisco, and it sounds like he is doing a great job networking.  I may have to agree with Chandler that he is indeed a social butterfly. (my mother will tell you that every parent teacher conference she went to concerning me the teacher's would say, "Tina has a lot of potential, but she is too much of a social butterfly") I don't picture Tom in the same social category as myself, I'm quite the pro, but he is getting there and I'm very proud of him.

Soldier is having a hard time adjusting to his new home, and  will be visiting with us for the next few days. The kids and I are thrilled to have him here!

I found two digital cameras that had been laying around the house and took them in, the pictures from today are from one camera. A few years ago while on a camping trip with Pop and Tommy, Simon had a small accident, where his face met the gravel. I'm not sure if these pictures were taken the day of the event or a few weeks after. In my memory he looked a lot worse than these pictures show, so they may have been taken later.

Picture of the day

Luckily he can still model

Scene of the crime

March 9, 2005 8:34 AM

The kids have finished two days of FCAT'S and have two more days to go. Tommy has been working on a commercial for his Journalism class and spent a large part of yesterday filming it with neighborhood friends. Today they will edit and hopefully put it all together. Simon had a great baseball game last night that ended after being tied for quite awhile, they lost 7-6. Olivia had her old coach( Louis)  back at cheer yesterday and he praised Olivia in front of all the girls telling them that she has the best heel stretch on the team. He also really worked with her stunting group and tried to resolve the problems they've  having. She loves Louis and has really missed his coaching technique.

They postponed Scotty's surgery until today, the tumor is rapidly increasing in size and since Sunday has already grown another centimeter. They will do the surgery today and we are all hoping and praying for the best. Cathie and Grandpa saw him yesterday and said his spirits are high and his family has really pulled tight to support him.

Picture of the day

Simon visiting the USS Yorktown, ignore Diego's finger in the bottom right

2/21/05

March 8, 2005 9:40 AM

Olivia came home yesterday announcing that the FCAT was "EASY", hopefully she will feel the same way the rest of the week. The kids hate the tests but are loving the idea of no homework.

I visited Tiki at the vet yesterday and she is looking good, she is all stitched up and will be picked up this afternoon. Lola is really enjoying Tiki being gone and has hung out with the kids a lot.

American Idol was great last night and I can only think of one (Travis) who really needs to go, Wednesday night's elimination should be interesting. I'm hoping the girls step it up tonight and get rid of some of the baggage, then the top 12 will ROCK!!

It's going to rain here today, it's almost 70 degrees this morning but very ugly outside.

Uncle Glen is doing well, the last report we heard his cancer markers were showing a 40% decrease, it sounds like this treatment is doing the job!

Picture of the day

Hanging out with Uncle Glen in Georgia

2/20/05

March 7, 2005 11:10 AM

Yesterday was full of church activities and baseball. Simon hit an awesome line drive and was called out a first by a hair, bummer. Tommy had another Confirmation meeting and then both boys had CCD last night.

FCAT's started today and for those of you outside Florida, these are standard tests. Kids start taking them in 3rd grade and must pass the 3rd grade one, 8th grade and 11th grade in order to graduate high school and be promoted on to a higher grades. This adds a ton of stress on the kids and all went to bed early and all had an awesome hot breakfast this morning.

I joined Curves this morning and went with Michele and her mom. I belonged in Utah and liked it for awhile, so this time we only did a three month membership.

Talked to Cathie last night and found out some sad news, Neeley and Nicholas's step brother Scotty ( 27 with baby # 4 on the way) has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. He has having surgery today and will be needing everyone's prayers.

Picture of the day

Why do my eyes scrunch up when I smile??

Tommy and I visiting Stone Mountain, GA.

2/20/05

March 5, 2005 11:03 PM

Today Olivia went to Universal Studio's with some neighbors and Tom went to a spring training game so the boys and I hit the mall. We picked Tommy up an awesome Ralph Lauren polo shirt that had been marked down 25% and then another 40%, can you say $15 bucks???? I bought Simon one of those cool white rope bracelets that shrink to your wrist and your forced to wear them for years, he is in heaven. I fell in love with these bracelets the summer I stayed in Nantucket and now it's fun to see one of my kids enjoying them.

Tonight Tom Angus, Tom, I and the boys went to Steak and Ale for dinner. We all enjoyed the food except for Tom Sr., he wasn't that impressed.

Tom is getting ready for his business trip tomorrow and has been playing with his new toy, a portable DVD player. Once his trip is done it will take it's permanent home in my sewing room, I can't seem to quilt and not watch a movie.

Karen Jensen from Utah called this morning and we caught up, and she reminded me of how much I miss my good friends!!! Thanks for calling, you made my week!

Picture of the day

Tori Jensen helps Liv celebrate birthday # 5

7/2/01

March 4, 2005 8:53 AM

Tonight is a first for Tommy he is going to the Social Distortion concert at the House of Blues with Tom Angus. He has been looking forward to going to his first concert for quite a while and I can't think of a cooler, more responsible person for him to go with.

I screwed up my picture link, but, if you click on the Corvette you get a bonus picture of Tom Angus and Tommy. I guess I'm brilliant, what am I saying I screwed up??................................I meant to do this!

Picture of the day

Are they taking the Vette to the concert tonight?

March 3, 2005 6:05 PM

Today I went to The Florida Mall with Michele and her mother and we all enjoyed spending some $$. Michele went to this cool make-up store and they taught her how to do her make -up "their way". It was really fun to watch and maybe one of these day's I'll treat myself. I ended up buying myself an outfit at Old Navy and Tommy a pair of jeans at American Eagle Outfitters, they had been marked down to $19 and when I got to the register they ended up only being $15, awesome! I spent quite a bit of time in Nordstrom's and bought Tom some much needed work clothes, and now he can compete with any model on the runway.

Picture of the day

Isn't she beautiful?

Day 3 of life

3/2/05

March 2, 2005 8:49 AM

Simon had a game last night, they lost and it was freezing, but other than that it was good.

Tiki is getting fixed next week and already I'm wondering how I'm going to keep this puppy quiet and still afterwards. She is constantly going, and her favorite thing to do is to drag sticks, bark and rocks into the pool area and chew on them all day long. The back patio always looks ripped apart and dirty, the price we pay for a new cute puppy.

-12

Picture of the day

This is one of my favorite quilts, I call it the "Butterfly" I made this for Nicholas and Katie

7/12/03

March 1, 2005 3:40 PM

Olivia went home with a friend today after school, Ashleigh is on her cheer team and they will be taking Liv to cheer. Simon's baseball season officially opens tonight and he is really excited for his first game. Tommy was accosted by the president of the baseball league on Sunday at church, she wanted to know why he wasn't playing this year, he didn't have an answer.

Picture of the day

Daddy and daughter

2/28/05

Grandpa holding his second great-granddaughter, Olivia was the first I think I have a picture of Olivia and Grandpa that looks just like this, only it was taken "before" digital camera's existed. (at least in our home.)

February 28, 2005 6:37 PM

I dragged  my quilting stuff out today and started working on a few odd projects. Greg is moving out this weekend and I'm looking forward to having my sewing room/Tom's office back. He will be living close by in a neighborhood about two miles away.

I'm looking forward to American Idol this week and (after last Wednesday's train wreck of a show) I can't wait till the next elimination round. I don't think I've ever seen a more brutal hour of television in my life. As the 4 singers were being booted from the stage they all had different looks on their face, ranging  from rage to disbelief to one looking like she was going to vomit. Good television.

Picture of the day

Carmen and Joy day two

2/28/05

Grandma and baby, isn't grandma a fashion plate???

February 27, 2005 9:54 PM

Carmen Estelle Miller has arrived.

She came into this world weighing 7 pounds 10 ounces and is 20 inches long. Mommy, daddy and baby are doing great,

Picture of the day

Carmen Miller

2/27/05

February 26, 2005 9:13 PM

Olivia had her cheer competition and once again her team took first place! It was an exciting and exhausting day and Tom and I were both so proud of Olivia. I always leave those competitions with nasty headaches, you sit for 10 hours with pounding rap music blaring over the sound system. If I didn't really love my child it wouldn't be worth it!

Picture of

Olivia the cheerleader

1/29/05

February 25, 2005 9:42 PM

Today has been an extremely long and tiring day. It all started when I was lucky enough to spend 2 1/2 hours at the car place while they tried to find me a rental car while they worked on my van. I literally felt the life being sucked out of my body.
 

Liv has a cheer competition at the TD Waterhouse in downtown Orlando and we are thrilled that it's a local event. Her elite stunt has been added back into the routine and I know she will do awesome tomorrow.

Simon has opening day tomorrow with his baseball team and is excited to wear his Pirates uniform for the first time.

-10 1/2

Picture of

Isn't she beautiful?

4/13/00

February 24, 2005 10:02 AM

I've debated whether or not to post this but here goes, I'm officially on the South Beach Diet.  While I tell you this I want to remind you that I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR DIET STORIES!!! I know how to lose weight, you eat less and exercise more! I don't want advice on HOW YOU LOST WEIGHT, I only want you to think of me every time you eat a piece of chocolate, I want you to really savor it and send your chocolaty thoughts my direction. I've been doing this for 24 days and have lost 9 pounds (plus the 20 from last year, that I kept off) and 3 1/2 inches. I'm almost down a full pant size. My girlfriend Michele is my awesome diet buddy and has kept me going through this. Swimsuit season comes to Florida early, and I want to be ready!

Picture of

Jim and Amy Young, with Dave Lang in the middle.

12/9/00

February 23, 2005 2:52 PM

Picture of

Simon and kids after his piano recital.

5/1/00

February 22, 2005 10:00 AM

We had a great time in Atlanta visiting my Uncle Glen. He was in excellent sprits and a real trooper. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything and will  forever cherish this weekend of memories.

Picture of

Where did my little puppy go?

1/9/05

February 18, 2005 9:20 PM

Dropped Simon off at his scout campout tonight, and on the way bought him a disposable camera. We are all hoping he comes back with some awesome pictures that we can share here.

Olivia did awesome at cheer tonight and even filled in for a missing girl on the scorpion stunt. She had fun and looked great. Her girlfriend Ashleigh is a year older than her and has recently outgrown her Bratz dolls. Luckily, she gave them all to her and this child couldn't be any happier. She has her Bratz case all packed and ready for the road trip.

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Simon and his Utah troop leave for summer camp. Can you spot Simon?

9/7/02

February 17, 2005 2:57 PM

I spent another day at the high school today and while I wasn't as freaked out as the first day, I was  amazed at how intimidated I felt being there.

Simon is getting ready to go on a scout campout this weekend to Yorktown, South Carolina where he will be sleeping on an air craft controller ship. He is really looking forward to going and I know he'll have an amazing time.

Picture of

4 Carbone men hit Disney

4/29/02

February 15, 2005 8:45 AM

Can't believe I didn't post yesterday, instead I spent two educational hours at the high school. I was there to sell tickets to the Mr. Lake Mary pageant and was able to watch the students interact during the lunch periods. What I saw horrified me, the outfits that the kids were wearing were horrible, tight pants, high skirts, belly shirts and in some boys cases, shorts that were so long they were dragging on the ground. I can't believe that parents are shelling out the money for some of these clothes. I was amazed at the number of girls wearing heels so high they should have been attached to a stripper pole, it was depressing.

Tom took me out for a nice Valentines dinner and then later in the evening I was given my best Valentines Day gift ever............................Simon hit a triple at baseball last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He totally rocks, he was so excited he couldn't stand it and we were all so proud of him. Uncle Greg has been working really hard with Simon, using a wiffle bat and ball and Simon has really increased his bat speed. Way to go!

Today is Brian *aka* Buddy Naylor's 14th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

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Brian and Simon enjoying the beach

7/18/04

February 13, 2005 1:40 PM

Today Tom Angus and his new girlfriend are coming for dinner and we are all excited to meet her. Tonight Tom and I are going to a work party and I'm looking forward to meeting some new people.

Olivia just finished her Valentine cards for her friends and is getting really excited for tomorrow. I took Simon to Target so that he could pick out a Valentine or two. Love is in the air,

My girlfriend wrote me an email the other day about how she isn't thrilled with Prince Charles marrying Camilla. My thinking is this, if he had the guts (thirty years ago) he would have married her in the first place and probably would have had a happy life. I think you need to do what your gut tells you and stick with it. Be passionate and grab life! Don't forget to show love to the ones you care for most!

Picture of

The kids I love the most.

(Outside the Alamo)

10/6/03

February 10, 2005 8:08 PM

My sister-in-law Joy had her first contraction today and is thinking that she might not make it to her due date, which is  a week from Saturday. Can't wait to have another niece, I love being an Aunt.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEY!

I somehow deleted yesterday's post and am not smart enough to figure out how to get it back.

Picture of

Don't try this at home kids!

2/8/04

February 6, 2005 8:55 PM

The lamest Super Bowl half time show just ended. Don't get me wrong I love Paul McCartney, but when you are watching an all American sport like football and it's the Super Bowl you come to expect some good old fashioned American performers. While last years debacle obviously made Fox nervous, they could have come up with someone else to perform. What about Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, or even KISS. Fox was trying to court the older generation and try and make nice after last year. They could have even thrown us Hoobastank or Green Day and that would have been "clean". Hell, I'd even taken Kenny Chesney, as long as you don't have scantily clad ladies gyrating on the stage, you'll be safe.

Today we went to the Mt. Dora arts festival (with Tom's parents) and had a great time.

Picture of

Here is a great

football team.

Can you spot Tommy?

( date not available)

February 5, 2005 2:48 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORI

The worst part about Lori's birthday, is that in just 5 short weeks, I'll be as old as her!

Picture of

Nick Maybee, Simon, Lori Reagan and myself

9/14/03

February 4, 2005 8:43 AM

Last night I watched the Happy Day's reunion special and I was reminded once again why I quit watching the show. The older Joanie got and the more she "got into" Chachi the less I was interested. Give me the true Happy Day's classics and I'd be happy, where Fonzie still wore the cloth jacket and not he leather one, where Potsie, RalphMalph and Richie were totally obsessed with girls and trying to make out with them. Once they got older and Richie started growing a moustache it just lost it's magic charm on me. I did enjoy watching all the cast mates gather and talk about old times. As I was watching the old clips one thought kept popping up in my mind. that the producers (had then know how successful the show was going to be), would have hired a more attractive actress to play Joanie!

I talked to my dad last night and he told me about his retirement party at the New Yorker and how awesome it was. He said it was quite emotional for both me and my mom, they are looking forward to starting a new chapter in their lives.

Today is Scott's birthday and I'll save him the embarrassment of mentioning his age, but I think if you know how old I am and add 9 years you'll probably be able to figure it out! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT!!!!

Picture of

Me, my birth-mother Cathie, her husband Scott and Olivia

5/2/04

February 3, 2005 8:24 AM

I went to the high school this morning and picked up the first order form for our fundraiser this year. I was so excited to know that at least one person would be buying a brick.

Tonight Tom is taking a bus to Jacksonville for the Madden Bowl and I know he is looking forward to going. One downside was the "no jeans, no tennis shoe" rule, and if you know Tom you know this is what he loves to wear. He looked so nice today leaving the house in khaki's and a long sleeved golf shirt, maybe one day he will have a job that allows him to wear "real" civilian clothes and not the usual programmers uniform.

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Grandpa with the kids and Uncle Greg

May 04

February 2, 2005 2:25 PM

I met with Tommy's high school counselor yesterday (about preparing for college) and was pleased to find that we are right on track. He needs to start working on his community service hours for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship plus he needs community hours for Confirmation which happens this spring. I am hoping that at least some of these hours can overlap and he will be able to save some time.

Olivia took her cheer trophy to show and tell yesterday and the kids thought it was awesome. She had a great workout last night and her tumbling keeps getting better.

Simon went to David Amar's birthday party last night at Joe's Crab Shack, he had a great time. Tonight he has his first baseball practice with his new team the Pirates.

Has anyone taken my advice and started watching Veronica Mars? Tom thinks they are trying too hard to be high tech, but I think it's just plain fun.

Today I had an appointment at the OBGYN, joy.

Picture of

Ally, Lauren and Olivia

at Sea World

1/29/05

January 30, 2005 5:17 PM

Olivia and her team had a fantastic outing yesterday at Sea World, and they hit every stunt and nailed every tumbling pass. In the end every Lake Mary All-star team took home a first place trophy and Olivia was lucky enough to be able to bring her team's trophy home for the weekend. The day was really long starting at 8:30 AM and us not getting home till 8:30 PM but it was worth it. As the day wore on my girlfriends and I got a bit slap happy and really enjoyed cheering on the "father-daughter swing dance" competition. I was amazed at the father's dancing ability and the fact that they weren't embarrassed to get up there and shake their booties! In the end one of the LMA daddy-daughter duo's took home the top prize.

Tonight the boys are at CCD where it's high school night. Tommy has high hopes for good food.

Picture of the day

Check out the "cheer face" on our girl

1/29/05

Olivia and Ashleigh holding the first place trophy

1/29/05

Olivia mid air

1/29/05

January 28, 2005 8:55 AM

Life flies by at an amazing speed and maybe I need to try and slow down a bit to enjoy it more (even though Tom thinks that I move at an incredibly slow pace now). Yesterday some one asked me to talk about Tom for 2 minutes and give my personal view and opinion of him, (in front of him). I gathered my thoughts for only a second and then took off, I hope I did him justice. In my opinion Tom is probably the hardest worker I've ever met, he is single minded in a task and works until it's finished. He is a true friend in every sense of the word and is an incredible father and provider. He is an wonderful son, brother, son-in-law and brother-in-law, always giving and trying to please family. ( I am amazed to find tears running down my face while I write this) I have been incredibly lucky to have spent the past 18 years with this man and can only hope the next 18 bring adventure, travel excitement, laughter, three college graduation ceremonies and tons of grandkids! Thank you for letting me have the opportunity to be a stay at home mom and the ability to sign my kids up for "everything under the sun". You are an incredible man and my best friend, you make me laugh and everyday I know you love me. xoxoxoxo

Picture of the day

Tom and I

12/29/04

January 27, 2005 8:01 AM

The weather has once again turned nice and the temperature is near 75, I had the doors open yesterday and three days ago we had the heat on and a freeze, Florida weather.....go figure.

Olivia's friend Ashleigh gave her a big bag of hand-me-downs this week and Olivia has enjoyed wearing a new and different outfit everyday this week. I fear what her clothing budget is going to look like for the next 10 years, ouch!

I'm in charge of designing the tickets for the upcoming Mr. Lake Mary pageant ( scholarship pageant) and I find out the theme today. Once I have the theme I can start looking through clip art. I need to have 300 tickets done by Monday for the boys to start selling, go PTSA.

Picture of the day

Ahhhhhh, to be tan again.

Joey, Olivia and I at the Smithsonian

7/23/04

January 24, 2005 3:55 PM

Yesterday we drove to Cocoa to check out Joey and Mark's latest remodeling job and it's coming along great. They followed us back home and we had an awesome dinner of bbq pork sandwiches. We all sat around and watched football and our TiVo'd American Idol shows. I still can't figure out where they get some of the people that appear on  that show, and I think some of the very worst singers really believe in their hearts that they are the next "American Idol!"

Today I worked at the elementary school for 4 hours doing Super Scientist. We discussed waves, potential and kinetic energy, what a day!

Picture of the day

Lola has a face that only a mother could love!

10/4/03

January 22, 2005 6:40 PM

Last night I went to dinner with my Bunko group and we had a lot of fun, but the restaurant was too loud and that took away some of the fun.

Today I dipped into my Lady and Son's cookbook and decided to make some new recipes for dinner. You should look for the cookbook set at Costco, I wish I had the price is so much cheaper and you get two books instead of the one that I bought. Tonight I'm making the Lady's Cheesy Mac and Blueberry Cobbler, I'm also trying the Hoecakes that they are famous for, we'll see how those turn out. Tom Angus is joining us for dinner and hopefully he will like the new recipes. My one concern tonight is that I'm not going to be able to keep up with Marie's menu, that sounded awesome!

Tiki is turning into a really cool dog. She and Soldier like to wrestle and bite each other on the neck, and you never quite know if they are playing or fighting. Tiki is good at bothering Soldier and when he's tired of it he nips her a little harder and she usually gets the idea.

Picture of the day

The Brian Brueggemann Family. (I didn't realize they were wearing matching outfits until I edited the picture) awesome!  Note:  Sean is as old as Olivia and about 2 feet taller!

12/24/04

January 20, 2005 6:30 PM

Olivia is still down with her bad back, and last night we iced it and today I got out the back massager and she has been enjoying that. I've been down with a cold for a few days also so her mandatory resting has been good for me.

Last night was the much anticipated coffee night at church for the high school crowd. Tommy and one other kid showed up, he said it was the most uncomfortable hour he has ever spent, but I know God was watching and like Santa is making a list of all the good little boys in the world Way to stick it out Tommy!!!

Picture of the day

Simon and Yvette Stark

12/13/04

January 19, 2005 8:25 AM

I took Olivia to the Dr's yesterday after she kept complaining about her back. They looked at it and sent her for x-ray's, and luckily the x-ray's checked out clean but she has been diagnosed with a sprained back. She is still taking it easy and enjoyed wearing street clothes to cheer last night. All the coaches thought she looked so cute wearing non-cheer clothing and her private coach Andrew commented on how much he liked her little faux leather jacket. She sat out last night and will continue to sit out Friday but should be back and ready by Tuesday, hopefully she hasn't lost faith in her bases ability to catch her when she comes down next time. Her next competition is at Sea World,.

Simon had a wonderful time at Camp Thunder over the weekend. They hiked up a mountain with their backpacks on and camped overnight on the mountain, then in the morning hiked back down and climbed up a man made rock wall, of course Simon was one of only 5 boys to reach the top!! He got a bit of food poisoning at McDonalds on the trip and may hesitate before going back! He camp home dirty, tired and hungry, his food highlight of the trip was canned Dinty Moore stew, ahhhhh the life of a scout.

Tiki is doing awesome she is a good girl and the kids are still in love with her.

Tommy has really taken to golfing and found an area at the community college that has a putting green that can be used for free. He has walked over there a few times with just a club and a bag of balls, good cheep fun. He did mention that on his walk home last night (while carrying his plastic grocery bag full of balls) he ran into some kids he knew from school, right then his nice cheap plastic bag decided to rip open and golf balls went everywhere, poor kid!

We are currently have a cold spell and it's freezing here but the good side of it is everyone gets use out of their jeans and sweaters!

Picture of the day

The boys hanging with Grandpa at NASA

11/28/04

January 17, 2005 9:42 AM

We got there on Friday around 5 and me and my roommates checked in and then decided to find out how far to the convention center, (the concierge at our hotel said it was a five minute walk), HE MEANT FIVE MINUTES TO THE MONORAIL TRAIN STOP!  We ended up walking the whole way and had to cross in front of two intersections of traffic coming off the huge Jacksonville bridge, what an adventure. We finally got the convention center hoping to buy tickets for the next day's events, only to find out the ticket office closed fifteen minutes before, was this an omen for the weekend? We took the monorail back to the hotel ( this ended up feeling more like Space Mountain at Disney than a stupid monorail tram but whose asking) and found our daughters. They were having fun in their rooms and Olivia is totally in love with the two 17 year old girls she roomed with, Brooke and Eileen. We said goodnight to the little ones and headed out to eat at a BBQ place (horrible server) and then went to the bar in the lobby of the hotel. We were sharing the hotel with 8 million other cheer groups and a parachute convention. When I think of a convention I always think that the people attending will have a physical trait in common, like when Tom goes to E3 they all look like geeky computer programmers. At this convention the parachuters all looked different, from old men with beards to younger college aged guys to middle aged normal men to women trying to look and act like men.  Interesting night, I finally experienced my first Long Island Ice Tea, awesome drink.

The next morning we got up at 5:30 am and headed to our girls rooms at 6 to help them get up and get their hair and makeup done so they would be ready by 7 to eat breakfast and head out the door. (Remember, we had a rough night the night before and the mirror in our bathroom was  unforgiving.) After the girls headed out we got ready and got to the convention center where we sat for 3 HOURS waiting for our girls to go on. The set up for this competition was horrible, it had only a few seats on the platforms so we ended up all day trying to get better seats and fighting to see over the heads of the people in front of us. Finally it was our girls turn and we were able to go to the "reserved seating" down front. (All I will say about their routine is that Liv hit her elite stunts and her show and go) We had a very rough performance and at the end all you could see were crying girls walking off stage looking dejected. ( we ended up in 5th place.....out of 5 teams) We had a team meeting and they were sent to go workout for the next few hours. We watched the rest of our teams compete and they too had a really rough time, and it ended up making for a very long and depressing day.

Saturday night we went to an awesome Italian restaurant while the girls ate at the American Cafe and had fun. We were supposed to go out Saturday night and party hearty but after the long and very depressing/stressful day we ended up having a nightcap in our rooms and bunking down at the boring time of 11 PM.

Sunday morning we were up and ready to go again at 6, got the girls ready and hailed a cab to the convention center. We fought for our seats and watched the other groups perform. Our little ones came on and the music started and from the beginning Olivia looked off, while doing her elite stunt one of her bases lost her footing and her group came down, they had a few other problems but compared to the day before they looked great. Olivia was crying after the performance and told me that during warm-ups she was stunting and had been dropped flat on her back ( meaning not caught at all) and was in a ton of pain, she had a hard time throwing her round-off back-hand-springs during the routine. She didn't tell her coach how badly she was hurting and we have since had a long talk about the importance of admitting when you are hurt. She has been  on Motrin since I found out and is taking it very easy today. She told me this morning that "Mom, I'm sure your back has never hurt this badly before". When the whole day was said and done we ended up in 4th place and the girls were so proud of not coming in last. The  mom's were high-fiving each other yelling, "we'll take 4th place"!!!! The girls were tough little troopers and all learned a lot about themselves this weekend, cheerleading is a team sport and when they don't work as a team, you'll fail. We are looking forward to a fresh start at  Sea World in two weeks.

When we finally got home Tom and Tommy were waiting for us, they were both so sweet and excited to see us. We took Tommy to church and Tom took his two favorite girls out to Vivona's for some yummy food. I gave Liv a hot jetted tub and sent her to bed. I watched a bit of the Golden Globes but passed out by 10. Today we are waiting for Mr. Simon to return from his scout campout.

Check out what the Tom's did while we were gone.

Picture of the day

Olivia and Suzanne at a past competition

12/11/04

January 13, 2005 7:58 AM

Olivia and I have been getting ready for our big Jacksonville weekend and I think she is almost packed. Before the girls are allowed to board the bus each girls suitcase needs to be checked to make sure each piece of uniform is there, and I know this is going to take a long time. I'm carpooling up with three other mom's, Dana, Tracy and Dana. We are going to have a blast and I'm getting excited to go.

Simon is set for his cold weather scout camp this weekend and the low's are supposed to be in the 20's. Simon is really hoping to see snow on his trip. Last night was middle school night at church (officially titled chocolate night) they played Bingo and made smores and had hot chocolate. Wish they would have done stuff like that when I was 12. Next week is high school night (coffee night) and Tommy is already counting down the days.

Tiki is doing great and is a fun addition to the family.

Tommy went golfing yesterday for the first time in his life and he loved it. He and Greg hooked up with an older gentleman and apparently Tommy crushed the old man, way to go sport! Greg was really proud of Tommy and is looking forward to going again.

Pictures of the day

Isis hanging at the beach

November 2004

January 11, 2005 10:50 AM

This morning I got an email from my dear friend Matt who is serving in the Air Force in Korea. I met Matt when I first met Cathie and my brother's Neely and Nicholas, and so I've always counted Matt as the third brother I never knew. He is an awesome guy and checks the website often so I thought I'd throw a picture of him up here! Matt is a true American hero and has served our country all over the world including Kuwait on numerous occasions. We are proud of you Matt, and come home safely!!

Pictures of the day

Nicholas and Katie's ceremony, included in the picture are Neeley and his wife Joy and our taller "brother" Matt

7/12/03

January 10, 2005 9:24 AM

Pictures of the day

Miss Tiki Carbone

1/09/05

January 9, 2005 8:11 PM

Today I took Liv to the Disney marathon and she did awesome and earned her 4 tickets,  and speaking of marathon's my mother Cathie, brother Nicholas and my sister-in-law Katie walked a 12.. . 5 marathon today in Tucson, I'm so proud of them. They called me during the marathon and told me that I had been nominated (amongst themselves) to walk with them in the next one which is  this fall........we'll see!

Pictures of the day

Miss Tiki Carbone

1/09/05

January 8, 2005 6:27 PM

Tomorrow is  Olivia's big cheer day at Disney and we are preparing to get up at 4:30 AM to get there. I'm driving two other mom's and their daughters down and we are meeting a group of other mother's and going to breakfast somewhere on the Disney property. I'm going to attempt to get to bed early tonight in preparation for my big morning.

Tom took Tommy to the Magic game tonight, not quite sure who they are playing, but I'm guessing they will have fun. Simon had a sleep over at Diego's last night and I just went and picked him up this evening. Diego and Simon are a lot a like, really good kids!

Pictures of the day

Santa and Mrs. Clause, along with the Lake Mary police force, visit our subdivision the week before Christmas

12/18/04

January 6, 2005 8:22 PM

Tomorrow night my sister-in-law and brother are having their baby shower, I wish I could be there but Tucson is along way away!! I sent off my gift and am excited to hear if they like it.

I went to the YMCA today and tried to do my usual 8 miles on the bike but after 5 1/2 the legs just gave out. Tomorrow I'm going walking with my friend Michele, we found an awesome walking trail and have already walked it once this week.

I have a new addiction the  Busta Move video game, greatest game ever but very addicting!

Pictures of the day

The saying on the pillow is, " I didn't ask to be a princess...but if the crown fits!

Nana and Pop gave her this and it's now on her bed

12/25/04

January 5, 2005 8:32 AM

Olivia is participating in a cheer event on Sunday, she needs to be at the Wide World of Sports on the Disney property at 6 AM and will "cheer on" marathon runners all day. In return Disney is awarding her with 4 all day passes to be used another day, (and a box lunch) and yes, there is a little coercion involved but she will enjoy going back to Disney for free.

As you can see by the pictures today, it was a "quiltifull" Christmas!

Pictures of the day

Olivia with her quilt Nana made her!

12/25/04

Greg with the quilt I made him

12/25/04

January 3, 2005 10:02 PM

I just made Tom laugh, while cleaning our bedroom today (and rearranging furniture) I placed two floor lamps in the bathtub ( so I could vacuum the floors) I forgot about the lamps......Tom just found them, when he went to take a bath. My life is a mess!

Pictures of the day

Olivia with our new bedroom set

12/27/04

With the bedding

12/27/04

January 2, 2005 9:25 PM

Today we dropped off all the kids who spent the night with our kids and then headed for the outlet malls. We left Tommy here to work on an English project with his friend Neel. We ended up going to the Florida Mall, and what a sight that was. As you can tell by this link you can see why they have a Florida Mall Hotel close by!

Tonight we had a real family sit down dinner, just the five of us. I think it was our first one of the entire Christmas break. Tomorrow the kids go back to school, and then my holiday begins!

BAM!

My Christmas gift from Tom

Pictures of the day

View from our hotel room, Savannah River

12/30/04

This building faces the river and the red doors belong to  the best candy store in the world. This building originally stored cotton during the 1700's, before it was sold and then shipped off down the river.

12/30/04

January 1, 2005 4:16 PM

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We rang in the new year in style last night and are now just getting up and moving around. I'm not going to tell you how late it is, but if you know us here at the Carbone household you can probably guess the time. Now back to our trip.

We ate lunch at a good seafood restaurant that featured a fantastic looking bakery. Simon ordered the lunch special which included salad,  lobster bisque and dessert. This restaurant is famous for it's praline encrusted cheesecake, Simon ordered Key Lime pie, embarrassing us all.

After we shopped on the rivers edge in Savannah, we decided to walk to some of the more interesting historic spots (in our minds). First we stopped by the cemetery where you could almost make out the birth dates and death dates on the tombstones. There were stones dating back to the  1700's, it was incredible to walk around and see. The cemetery was a peaceful place but, creepy in it's own rite. The grass was dead because of winter and the leaves were off the tree's, the only thing you could see in the tree's were the Spanish moss hanging down blowing in the breeze......major creep factor. After the cemetery we continued walking until we reached the historic Catholic Church. It has recently gone through a remodeling and it was truly spectacular to see. It reminded me of St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC, but this is nestled in-between residential homes and not a large city. Inside the church they had laid out an extensive nativity scene and it was breathtaking. After walking through the church and checking out the beautiful "stations of the cross" we exited the church. They were asking for $1.00 donation to go towards the building fund, Tommy (in a non-teenage mode) was so moved he donated the rest of his babysitting money, what a good kid.

This is where the day starts to get really good, we walked to the Lady and Sons restaurant and got into line at 4:20 as instructed by the girl the day before. We couldn't believe our eyes, there were already over 60 people waiting in line to be placed on the wait list, this place better be good. We waited for over 30 minutes and me being me made quick friends with the people in front of us, finding out that they live near us and her sister lives in a neighboring subdivision, small world!! Once they took our names we realized that we had a 2 HUGE problems, ONE: that we weren't hungry yet from our large late lunch and TWO: they were going to seat us immediately. After we took the elevator to the third floor of this small restaurant we were seated and noticed the southern buffet, it became apparent that this was what everyone ordered. While waiting to take your order they bring around yummy cheese biscuits and something called a hoe cake, both awesome. We made mistake #1 here, we all stuffed ourselves on bread. Mistake #2 was partaking in the salad bar portion of the buffet. By the time we left two hours later I was unable to move and had to go to the bathroom to unbutton my jeans. Thinking that this would help I also lowered the zipper, big mistake, it would then only go up two inches. Is it possible to gain 10 pounds in one sitting????? The food here was awesome and next time we will come hungry and ignore them while they try to sway us with bread and focus on the fried chicken, mashed potatoes and collard greens. The manager Jamie stopped by our table and talked to us for awhile, he mentioned that the owner was thinking about franchising and was looking at  Orlando as one spot to open a restaurant.

Look for more tomorrow!

For additional vacation information and pictures: http://www.carbonefamily.com/tomsblog/

Pictures of the day

Hilton Head Island,

South Carolina

12/30/04

Posing by the restaurant we ate lunch at, note Simon's lunch order is on the wall

12/29/04

Only Tom could get me to pose like this

12/29/04

December 31, 2004 12:06 PM

We pulled in after a 3 1/2 car ride, (not bad) and dumped our belongings at the Marriott. We headed into town and not knowing anything about Savannah we decided to walk around. We had heard about a restaurant called Lady and Son's and decided to go there. We walked to the front doors and were immediately rerouted to the host sign down the street, I was a little confused as to the number of people standing outside but Tom went to figure it out. Come to find out that we weren't going to be seated that night, there were people who had been waiting since 4:30 who still didn't have a seat at 7 pm. We talked to the girl inside who recommended that if you wanted to eat there you needed to show up the next day by 4:30, to get a place in line. We ended up at Tony Roma's (where their onion loaf has shrunk over the years).

Wednesday morning we were all up and ready by (8:45 AM yes you read that correctly) and had our tickets ready for the tour trolley to take us around the city. We took the 90 minute tour and were amazed at the cities history, ghosts and memorials to past generals and other important people. We then mapped out our day and headed to the shops by the river to spend some serious $$ on trinkets and pralines.

I started this post 12 hours ago and am just now sitting down to finish it and it's 1:51 AM January 1, 2005. Happy New Year. I think I'll finish it tomorrow! (we've been doing karaoke for hours!!!)

Pictures of the day

A little relaxing on

 Christmas Eve 2004

December 27, 2004 9:13 PM

Yesterday we got up early and all the Carbone's pilled into two cars and headed for south Florida where we hooked up with Tom's Godmother, Aunt Betty. We hung out at her house and looked at picture albums and heard wonderful stories about the family, it was great! We spent the night last night down south and this morning drove to Fort Lauderdale and took a water taxi ride all around the multiple million dollar homes and yacht's. We did a little shopping and then ate lunch at Cheesecake Factory. We hopped back in the cars and made the three hour trek home. 

Tonight I've been feverishly cleaning my bedroom getting ready for mine and Tom's Christmas present to arrive, a new bedroom set! Envision this in dark cherry and you'll get the idea! We are so excited to get a bedroom set, we have never had a new one before and have been using hand-me-downs for 16 years!

My dad sent the boys an awesome Christmas gift this year, he works with Josh Savage's mom ( Tampa Bay Buccaneer football player). For their gift he sent Josh two Bucs shirts and Josh took them to his team and had over 20 players autograph the front of the shirts along with their #'s. They also sent a roster  so the boys could figure out who had signed their shirts. BEST GIFT EVER! We are going to send Josh some pictures of the boys with their shirts and a big thank you card. I'm going to get the shirts framed for their walls.

We were truly blessed this season with the joy of spending time with our family and hope you were too! Happy Holiday's!

Note the bonus picture!

Pictures of the day

A Carbone Christmas

 2004

Kids at Aunt Betty's

Pompano Beach

12/26/04

December 24, 2004 8:36 AM

Remember the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas

Picture of the day

Olivia

Christmas 2002

December 24, 2004 8:36 AM

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Picture of the day

Christmas with the Richardson grandparents

2000

December 22, 2004 10:11 PM

Tomorrow will be spend with the family and I bet we spend half the day trying to decide what to do. Hopefully tonight in our dreams we'll come up with something fun!

Picture of the day

Christmas Day 2003

December 21, 2004 2:30 PM

Tcarbone: very good use of "grins and giggles" there
CMCarbone: meaning?
Tcarbone: nothing i thought it was well used
CMCarbone: where, i'm not following
Tcarbone: you just said it
CMCarbone: oh haha
CMCarbone: got it
Tcarbone: ;-)

Didn't realize Tom could hear our conversation, but was glad I was able to bring a smile to his face!

Picture of the day

Keep your emails to yourselves, Olivia's drink is a prop!

Christmas 2003

December 20, 2004 5:20 PM

Today Suzanne (Tommy's friend) took Olivia to the mall and they had a blast. They went shopping all day and then they went to "Christmas with the Kranks", liv said it was a good movie and an even better day! Thanks Suzanne.

Picture of the day

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care......

Christmas 2003

December 19, 2004 11:01 PM

Tomorrow the Christmas baking begins and I'm looking forward to it. I haven't baked in quite awhile and the high is supposed to be 50 tomorrow, so that sounds like the perfect day for me. Wednesday our cousins from South Carolina arrive and the boys are looking forward to spending the week with their cousins, and I know Olivia is looking forward to hanging with her older cousin Lindsay.

I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, just a few small things to pick up. I think I'll attempt a few neighbor gifts this year, the difference between here and Utah at Christmas time is huge. Neighbor gifts don't exist down here, but I think I will deliver some to a few of our favorite people.

Picture of the day

Olivia, Simon and Tommy

12/25/99

December 18, 2004 10:08 AM

1. Taken Simon to a scout fundraiser

2. Finished mailing off Christmas gifts to Tom's friends

3. Gone to the grocery store

Remember, this is a Saturday morning.  Sit back and ponder this Christmas miracle!

Picture of the day

Olivia, Lola and Tommy

12/25/99

December 17, 2004 7:54 PM

Today was the kids last day of school and both Olivia and Simon had class parties. I helped at the elementary school and for my help the teachers sent home a beautiful potted poinsettia and mum arrangement.

Tonight Tom and I are going out with our friend JD and his girlfriend, they are visiting from DC, should be fun!

Can't believe  this is the last weekend before Christmas, I have so much still to do. I went shopping to Sam's today and bought some stuff for the upcoming holiday week, and I'm really getting excited for the whole Carbone family to be together!

Picture of the day

The last Utah Carbone Christmas picture

12/25/02

December 16, 2004 5:32 PM

Today I took my friend Vera shopping, she likes to get out and walk around. The malls weren't too crowded, and I'm guessing people are waiting for the weekend.

Here is a link to view Olivia's team picture  she is on the bottom row, far left. I know the picture is small but I thought it would be fun for everyone to see.

This week I'm trying to post pictures of Christmas's past. Enjoy!

Picture of the day

This is one of my favorite Christmas pictures....ever!

 Mr. David Lang escorting a party crasher from the Kodiak 2000 Christmas party.

December 15, 2004 9:46 PM

Tonight I went to my PTSA Christmas party, it was nice and my gift exchange gift I received was a pretty glass candle bowl with tea lights. My friend Michele and I ran around town this morning trying to finish up gift buying, tomorrow I'm taking my friend Vera to do the same. Whew!

Picture of the day

Tommy (11) Olivia (4)

Simon (8)

12/12/00

December 14, 2004 10:24 PM

Yesterday a friend of mine, Yvette Stark, from Utah called (she is a Delta flight attendant and had a layover here in Orlando) she wanted to hook up for a few hours. I drove down to Orlando and picked her up, brought her back here and we all hung out for a few hours and had a blast. We originally met her when she was Simon's den leader at St. Olaf's, she then turned into an awesome friend. We surprised Simon and he had a hard time placing her for about 20 seconds, then he was all smiles and hugs.

The past two days Tom and I have spent time touring furniture stores trying to find the "perfect" bedroom set for us, I think we may have found it.

Picture of the day

Simon and Yvette Stark

1/19/02

December 13, 2004 8:38 AM

Simon came out of his room this morning looking like a fashion model, he pulled an "outfit" together that consisted of cords and a Ralph Lauren sweater, isn't he the man?

Today I will spend my time standing in line at the post office mailing off Christmas gifts,  I swear our post office is the s-l-o-w-e-s-t moving one I've ever been in.

Picture of the day

Ashley, Lauren and Olivia

12/11/04

December 12, 2004 11:00 PM

Yesterday was Olivia's second cheer competition and her (personal) team came in first! She looked awesome and had a great time. In comparison to the last competition where there were  20 squads competing this time there were 100. It took all day long, but Tom, Liv and I had a blast.

We did a little bed shifting today, and Simon is now no longer the owner of a bunk bed, he inherited Tommy's full size bed. HE LOVES IT! Greg built Tommy's bed for him and moved the old one to Simon's room and rebuilt it, nice job! I didn't realize that the bed frame Joey gave  us was a high profile bed, I then added to the height issue by buying a high profile mattress set, this equals.....highest bed ever! I asked Tommy how he liked his bed and his response was " I'm trying to attempt to climb on". Smart ass!

Picture of the day

Olivia and her teammate Casey, holding their first place trophy

12/11/04

December 10, 2004 8:499 AM

You may ask why we are getting a mattress, Joey and Mark gave us this gorgeous cherry queen size bed frame, so we decided to upgrade Tommy's room and give it to him. I am currently in negotiations with him on which type of bedding he wants, he is in the "I DON'T CARE, AS LONG AS IT'S NOT OLD LADY TYPE OF STUFF", and I'm the I want cute/teen/cheap mode, guess what, it doesn't exist.

My other stress is that Olivia has another cheer competition tomorrow, and this time her hair needs to be "scrunched". What the hell does that mean you ask? Well, I was told to buy a diffuser for my blow dryer, which I did, I was then told to buy product, which I did, I was told to wash her hair, put product in it and blow her hair dry upside down while making "scrunching" moves with my hands. Guess what???? Her stick straight hair remained stick straight.

Day two of the hair scrunching process, we braided her hair at night and then put the braids into curlers, it looked cute the next day for all of five seconds until she opened the front door and let the humidity into the house. Last night (day 3 of the process) we put even more product in her hair, (it now feels like straw) put more braids in her hair and left the ends straight. I took them out this morning added gel and got a semi-scrunched look, all the while Liv is yelling at me to add "product" to her hair. How an 8 year old knows that term is beyond me. I console myself with the fact that her hair only needs to stay "scrunched" until she performs tomorrow, which is like 9:45 am, after that it can go as flat as it wants to. If anyone has any tips for me about my scrunching nightmare, let me know ASAP.

Picture of the day

This is called a "scorpion" Liv can do this standing on four girls hands five feet in the air.

12/4/04

December 9, 2004 10:19 AM

Simon and I went to the mall last night and had a great time, he is a blast to go shopping with. His new favorite store is Yankee Candle. I started some gift wrapping last night  and that turned into a 3 hour deal, Christmas better get here quickly, I'm exhausted.

Tom has confirmed that under our tree I will NOT be finding season 1 and 2 of Gilmore Girls on DVD, bummer.

Picture of the day

Evan, John, Tommy, Scooby and Suzanne celebrate Tommy's birthday

11/26/04

December 8, 2004 8:16 AM

 HE HATES GILMORE GIRLS!!!

He says that the lead character Lorelai has the most irritating voice, and that they all talk too quickly.

 Guess I'll need to choose between Tom and Gilmore Girl reruns.......I'll sure miss my husband.

Picture of the day

This picture may look like utter chaos, but everyone is doing what they are suppose to do. And no, the girl in the middle isn't freaking out, she is pulling a "cheer face"

12/4/04

December 6, 2004 8:12 PM

Tonight Tommy and two friends walked over to the community college located behind our subdivision, and are earning extra credit watching their Biology teacher playing her clarinet in the band concert. It's fun seeing him do things with new and different friends, he has such a wide range of them down here. I think that is what high school is all about, meeting so many new kinds of people.

Picture of the day

Bad picture quality, but can you spot Liv doing a "show and go"?

12/4/04

December5, 2004 10:26 PM

Today we decorated our tree and it looks fabulous.... all 9 feet of it. Tom and I went to the mall and dropped some Christmas $$ and crossed a few names off our gift buying list, awesome!

The boys are both participating in the Nativity play at our church and Simon is a wise man and Tommy an angel. Tommy has been  getting really involved at church and this Friday he's going to a comedy club with the youth group.

Picture of the day

ME and Liv

12/4/04

December 3, 2004 9:54 PM

Tom took the boys to the mall tonight for a little Christmas shopping.

Picture of the day

Sometimes just looking at shells is enough

2/7/04

December 2, 2004 8:44 PM

Picture of the day

Me and my dad

6/12/04

December 1, 2004 9:121 PM

My parents leave early tomorrow morning, we are all going to miss them so much. This week flew by and we are already looking forward to them coming back

Yesterday my dad spent the day doing chores around the house. He built Simon a new screen window (his was blown off in the first hurricane) he painted the boys basketball standard pole, he fixed a hole on the roof and he got some large branches down off the roof. What an awesome stud my dad is! Sure gonna miss him.

Tonight Tom and Tom Angus are hanging out by the pool playing some ridiculous computer game.

Picture of the day

Tommy and Aunt Nicole

11/26/04

November 30, 2004 9:01 AM

The Richardson clan went to Disney yesterday and had a wonderful time, Isis loved every minute of it.

I spend the night working on Christmas crafts and now that I'm old and my body is rebelling it's making it quite difficult. I either pulled something major in both arms or I've started to develop arthritis. I've been taking all kinds of drugs trying to lessen the pain, but so far it's been useless. The other night it was so bad in my left elbow that I slept with ice on it........I hate getting older. (now once again try to visualize me wrestling with the Christmas tree, this time with absolutely no arm strength.......yes you can laugh again)

Picture of the day

The boys and Grandpa visiting NASA

11/28/04

November 28, 2004 9:45 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEELEY!

Today I took my mom, sister, Isis and Olivia to Blue Springs State Park to see the Manatee, after much searching we finally spotted four of them including a baby. We then drove to Winter Park and did a little Christmas Shopping. Tonight I broke into my knitting needles and my mom and I have been going crazy making fun Christmas gifts!

Tom and the boys had an awesome time at the space center today.

Picture of the day

Happy birthday to my brother Neeley

7/12/03

November 27, 2004 10:32 PM

Today we split up into groups, the girls went to Mt. Dora and the men went golfing. Simon went with the Schnier family to the Orlando Science Center and Tommy worked on mastering Halo 2.

Tonight my dad took us out for BBQ and it was awesome.

Tomorrow I think we are breaking up into groups again, the boys are all headed to Kennedy Space Center, and the girls are in a holding pattern until we see what the weather is like. My mom is desperate to go to the beach and I'm willing to do anything, we will wake up and make a decision.

Picture of the day

Tommy and Isis celebrate his birthday.

11/26/04

November 26, 2004 10:38 PM

We now have a 15 year old in the house! Tommy had a great birthday and received many nice gifts. A few of his favorite are a new pair of slip on Vans from Nana and a zip jacket from Pac Sun that I got him. Tom got him Halo 2 which is occupying Tommy and Simon currently.

We had a nice party for Tommy  and had yummy fajitas plus other goodies, the family was all here along with cousin Joanne. Towards the end of the party some of Tommy's friends came over and ended up hanging out all night in the playroom. They played a little Halo 2 and watched Back to the Future 2....what a waste of a movie!

Tomorrow Tom and Greg and my dad are meeting up with cousin Johnny and going golfing, the girls are going to Mt Dora and the cool knitting store, should be another quality day!

It's officially fall here, it was chilly today sitting by the pool. We all had sweaters on and long pants....brrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Tommy found out that he is taller than all the female relatives in the family, can you say growth spurt!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMMY

Picture of the day

What a grown up looking boy!

11/26/04

November 25, 2004 10:47 PM

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving, we headed up to the lake around 10 this morning. We met up with the Carbone's, Joey and Mark and cousin Johnny. The food was awesome as was the company. After dinner Joey, Mark and I all passed out in the living room, Tommy and Nana slept in the bedroom and Tom, Joe, Liv, Simon, Greg and Johnny hung out at the dock and did a little fishing.

Tonight my parents, sister and niece came into town, Isis is a riot and is talking in full sentences. She has been chasing the dogs around the house all night, we are all so happy to have them here.

I'm so thankful this time of year for my family and extended family,  I'm also thankful for new and old friends who have all made this move and transition possible.

Tomorrow I will be the parent of a 15 year old!!

Picture of the day

One last look at our 14 year old

11/26/03

November 25, 2004 8:25 AM

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Picture of the day

Johnny, Olivia and Nana celebrate Thanksgiving 2003

11/27/03

November 23, 2004 9:39 PM

Three days and counting until Tommy's birthday.

Two days and counting till my parents get here.

Picture of the day

Tommy celebrating birthday # 10

11/26/99

November 22, 2004 7:16 PM

Tom is still sick, he has maintained a fever of 99.5 all day. I've tried keeping him drugged as much as possible so that hopefully he will be feeling better soon.

I read a review for the upcoming Alias season and it seems that they are going back to the type of show season one was all about, thank God. I  saw a commercial for it tonight and January can't come soon enough.

I'm in the middle of reading a good book, Loose Lips. Very funny, good book to take to the gym and sit on the exercise bike.

Picture of the day

We have since had the spike removed from Tommy's head

7/25/04

November 21, 2004 5:49 PM

Last night when I was talking to Jon Dean at the front door, I thought I felt something fly by my ear, and I joked that it was a bat and then it was forgotten. At 12:30 last night Greg knocked on my door and announced that there was a bird in his room. I went in there and sure enough there was a small bird flying around the room. It quickly turned into chaos with Greg and I trying to trap the bird, at one point he was on top of the desk with his dress shirt trying to lay it on top of the bird. I was momentarily freaked out by the bird but quickly regrouped. Finally Greg got bored with the task and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth....whatever!!! I was able to get the bird out of his bedroom and then after much dancing and chasing around got it to fly onto the chandelier over the front door. Finally Greg came back to help and using the elongated duster was able to scare the bird into flying out the back pool doors. Whew! I've been finding bird poop all day, down the walls, on the couch and I'm sure other places as well. It was amazing to watch two adults quickly turn into idiots trying to catch a bird, our new nick names are dumb and dumber..... I'm dumb and Greg is DUMBER!

Tom has gotten the flu and is down and out, poor guy.

Simon had a great time camping with the scouts and yesterday he canoed 10 miles, he came home with quite a collection of mosquito bites, but what else is new?

Picture of the day

I think this kid knows he is good looking

7/8/04

November 20, 2004 11:33 PM

Olivia had a grueling workout at the cheer gym today that lasted 4 hours and they announced that on the 3rd of December (the night before her first competition) that practice will last 4 hours, yuck.

What was the deal with the Pistons game last night? Simon hasn't seen or heard of it because he is at scout camp, I'm wondering it he will disown them once he gets back. It's a shame when things like that happen, and an embarrassment for everyone.

I went to my first Florida craft show today with a girlfriend, we had a great time but nothing jumped out at me.

Picture of the day

Olivia and Jon Dean celebrate her 4th birthday

7/2/00

November 18, 2004 7:34 PM

Today I spent 4 hours working at the high school, it's Education Week and we fed 240 staff and administration fajita lunches. I talked to 4 of Tommy's teachers and he has charmed every one of them, they all mentioned what a fun personality he has and how he has really buckled down since the first of the year. They are all impressed with his determination to bring his grades up and all mentioned how much he participates in class and how that adds to the over all classroom experience. Music to my ears!!!!

A few months ago I mentioned how much I loved Maroon 5's CD and that it was a much purchase. I have a new one Keane, the CD is fabulous and an added bonus it's on major sale this week at Target for under $7! Please check them out and let me know how much you love them.

Olivia has to dress up as a literary character tomorrow and she is having a hard time with this concept. She thinks that Lizzie McGuire is one as well as Mary Kate or Ashley, I love projects like this!

Tom and Tommy are making plans this weekend to have a boys weekend out, should be fun.

Picture of the day

Giant wiener......anyone?

11/14/04

November 16, 2004 9:20 PM

Olivia and I had a meeting with her cheer coach to figure out what's going wrong at the gym, Liv has been struggling the past few weeks with flying and I think after tonight's conference she is feeling much more confident. They have a 4 hour mandatory practice on Saturday to finish working out the kinks, and their first competition is the weekend of December 4th in Daytona.

Simon is headed to another scout campout this weekend and is already devastated about missing the UTE/BYU game, not to mention the Gator/Nole game, big college football weekend!

Tommy gets his cast off on Monday, he is eagerly counting down the days!

Time to watch Gilmore Girls.

Picture of the day

Greg, Tommy and Simon waiting for the Lions game to begin, note Tommy's cast

11/14/04

November 14, 2004 10:10 PM

I came to a conclusion today, Olivia may not look like me at all but she is definitely my daughter. She went to a Thanksgiving craft party and I got a phone call telling me she needed to be picked up early. She was in the middle of a major allergic reaction, unfortunately they have cats. By the time I got there her eyes were swollen and she had hives all over her forehead and lower back. She came home and took a long bath trying to recover, and for the rest of the day she looked like she had lost a nasty fight. Tonight she is feeling better and encourages everyone to buy stock in Benadryl.

Picture of the day

Mr. Detroit

11/14/04

November 13, 2004 11:05 PM

Today Tom and Olivia went to see The Polar Express, Tom almost backed out today on the "creep" factor that he was detecting in the movie trailers, but they went and enjoyed the movie. I went to see Bridget Jones and loved it, Simon went to a birthday party where they made their own fondue dinner and Tommy babysat tonight for some neighbor boys.

Tomorrow is the big football game and I can currently hear Simon moving about his room, restless and unable to sleep. At least he can sleep in the car on the way to the game tomorrow!

Picture of the day

Tommy and Tyson Moll

9/15/01

November 11, 2004 10:10 PM

Simon stayed home today with a sore throat and a low fever, he really wants to get back to school tomorrow. He spent the day reading and napping, feel better Simon.

I made some soup for dinner that was my Oma's recipe. I haven't had it in over 20 years but it tasted the same and Greg was excited to have a reminder of childhood. Yummy!

Picture of the day

Olivia sitting pretty at

homecoming Viewmont style

8/29/03

November 10, 2004 9:33 PM

I am on the road to recovery, I took only two naps today and was able to eat a regular dinner tonight, my throat is still funky and I'm still achy in my neck, but definitely an improvement.

Tom's team lost tonight but he went 4-4 and made an impressive out at home, way to go DAD!

Simon is still counting down the days till Sunday and his Detroit Lions.

Two words.....Bridget Jones...this weekend!

Picture of the day

Simon the hitting machine

5/9/03

November 8, 2004 8:28 PM

Do you ever have one of those moments where you realize you are a genius? I had one last night, Tom and I were watching a great underrated show Cold Case . At the end of the show they always show the murdered person finding peace at long last, while they were doing this they played an awesome song by a female singer. I replayed the ending scene 10 times knowing that the voice sounded familiar. I was finally able to pull Edie Brikell out of my behind and I was CORRECT! I am the queen of all things! Tom then downloaded the song "Circle" for me off of  iTunes, totally awesome.

Tom and Greg are at Simon's baseball game tonight, it's chilly outside, mid 60's wooooo, too cold for me in my sickly state, so I'm hanging out here at the house where it's nice and warm.

Sorry for the hyperlink clusters, but I love doing them.

Picture of the day

A bumble bee named Alyssa was hanging out at our home on Halloween

10/31/04

November 7, 2004 9:15 PM

Tom and Olivia had a Daddy/Daughter date and went to lunch and to see The Incredibles, and from what they said it was incredible! Tom then came home and washed his car and gave it some tending loving detail time.

Simon is now on official count down mode for his Lions v Jaguars game next Sunday. He has a week to stretch out his Lions hat that is now too small for him, but knowing Simon he will accomplish this task.

Heard from Joey and Mark today they are in San Francisco and are having a great time, Joey has turned Tommy on to the Haight Ashbury scene. I just checked out that website and it's spooky! Almost like you are on drugs, oh wait.. I am on flu medicine, maybe it's just me.

Picture of the day

Paul Stanley, Diego and Eric heading out for a night of trick or treating

10/31/04

November 6, 2004 7:52 PM

1. Drugs that really do help with the flu...not just say it on the package

2. A service to come into my home when I'm sick and take care of me, clean my house, do the laundry, drive the kids around, fix dinners and lunches...etc. Oh wait, no one would be stupid enough to sign up for that job!

3. Come up with a way that insures MOM'S NEVER GET SICK!!!!!!

On the bright side I've lost almost all the hurricane weight I packed on during our three hurricanes....guess that's a good side effect?? But was it really worth it?

Picture of the day

A family picture taken seconds after the family found out that Mom has the flu!

November 2, 2004 10:36 PM

Simon turned in his popcorn sales tonight at scouts and sold over $760! Way to go SIMON!

Nothing else to report, no broken bones or broken down cars or anything else bad to report.....YEA!

Picture of the day

Olivia trying to look relaxed while being forced to dance in front of strangers at the mall

10/30/04

November 1, 2004 10:08 PM

Tommy got a blue cast put on his arm today and the first person to sign it wrote "fell better Tom" instead of "feel", silly girl!

Simon had a blast working at Camp La No Che this weekend as a staff member, he taught archery and worked the haunted house.

I've gotten myself into a voting dilemma: I signed up to vote absentee but haven't received my ballot yet in the mail. I think I may be screwed when it comes to voting this year. But I'm going to do my civic duty tomorrow and go and try to vote, I've heard the lines are 3-4 hours long and people harass you outside the voting offices, should be a fun day. I'll let you know if my vote will be counted in Florida!

REMEMBER TO VOTE!!!!

Picture of the day

Olivia and her friend Grace

10/30/04

October 31, 2004 9:26 PM

This morning Tom and Tommy got up early and went fishing, they took the canoe out and had a great time. Simon made it home from scout camp, with quite a few mosquito bites and a bruise on his back from falling off a log.

Tonight the Andriano Family came over for Halloween festivities and we all had a blast. Alyssa was so cute as a bumble bee! Simon went out with Eric and Diego and ran the neighborhood repeatedly going to the houses that gave out full size candy bars. Olivia went with Maddy and her mom and had a blast. Tommy ran with a large crowd that eventually showed  up at the house and ate sloppy joes with us, nice kids!

Long day but a really fun one! Desperate Housewives is calling!!!

Picture of the day

Halloween 2004

Paul Stanley, Ninja Warrior and Cheerleader

October 29, 2004 12:18 AM

Picture of the day

Tommy and I celebrate birthday

# 14. I can't believe how much he's grown this year!

11/16/03

October 27, 2004 3:09 PM

Today I went to the high school and worked a PTSA  (homecoming week) activity. It's amazing how old I felt among the high schoolers, but at the same time I couldn't believe how much older they looked than I did at the same age! Tonight is the powder puff game and the girls were wearing their homemade football jersey's and the boys were dressed like cheerleaders, oh to be young again!

I'm suppose to make 36 pumpkin shaped cookies for Liv's school class on Friday, I have no desire to do it and will put it off as long as possible.

Picture of the day

Olivia before her Christmas Dance Recital...she looks so young!

12/20/00

October 25, 2004 9:54 PM

Simon had a fantastic scout trip and his troop won 9 awards. He always enjoys going away to campouts and comes back with great stories. Simon is in the process of growing his hair out, he has had the same hair style since first grade. It's hard growing out a buzz and not looking like a monkey, he is at that point right now. We now refer to him as our "rally monkey".

Olivia came home today from school with a to do list: How to make my cheer routine better! She has been practicing cheer facials all day in the mirror, they are hard to describe and I tried to find a picture of one on the internet but  wasn't able to. Once she has perfected the cheer facial we will post the picture and you can all see what the fuss is about!

Picture of the day

Not the greatest quality picture but it shows Olivia "flying"...I wonder why the judges told Liv to "try and look like your having fun"

10/24/04

October 24, 2004 8:30 PM

Today was a big day in the life of Olivia Rose Carbone.  After working for over 4 years on gymnastics and cheer, she finally had a chance to show off her stuff in a real live performance for people.  It was an exhibition, to help the team get ready for the Cheer Competition season, which officially kicks off December 4th in Daytona Beach.  Needless to say, Olivia did fantastically well, and made us all very proud.  Tommy and Dad were able to swing by and watch the first performance, but then went to help Uncle Joey clean up his house and property, which he is in preparing to sell.  Mom stayed for both performances, and the word is that the second one showed some major improvements over the one only hours earlier.  Way to go Olivia, you go girl!

Last night, we all went over to Gator's Dockside, a local restaurant here in Lake Mary, where they have tons of TVs for sporting events.  We watched the Utes DESTROY UNLV, as well as the first few innings of Game 1 of the World Series.  It was a lot of fun, especially since Uncle Joey, Uncle Mark, and Tom Angus got to join us.  Joey played pool shark on poor Tommy, and Tom Angus demonstrated how to tie the sniper in that one sniper arcade game.  I definitely look forward to doing that again - maybe even next Saturday night, depending on when the Utes play.  It was awesome to see how cold and rainy it was in Utah during the game.  This 82 degree high, 62 degree low weather for the next 5 months is ok with us, but it's always nice to see others suffer in the cold when we can - even others we love.

Picture of the day

Olivia and her cheer pal Lauren pose outside of today's competition

10/24/04

October 23, 2004 10:12 PM

We went to Tommy's baseball game today and then we were off to two of his football games.  Tommy introduced his flag football team to a few plays leftover from his Viewmont Vikings days, the plays looked good and so did he. Tommy was wiped out after his games and so were we.

Tom and Tommy went to Cocoa to pick up some furniture that Mark and Joey were giving us, we are looking forward to finding places for it in our home. I sat at Discount Tires getting a nail removed from Tom's car....YUCK!

Olivia is ready for the competition tomorrow, she has butterflies and I'm guessing she won't sleep well tonight. I bought myself a teal colored shirt so that I can sit and cheer in the stands with the other crazy cheer mom's.

Picture of the day

Olivia wearing her sweatshirt the Reagan's got her!

10/12/04

October 22, 2004 12:56 PM

Today Simon is enjoying the perks of living in Florida, he is at Animal Kingdom for a science fieldtrip, and tonight he leaves for a two night scout competition. Simon is loving Florida and all it has to offer.

Olivia has her final practice tonight before her Sunday competition, if Tuesday's night practice was any kind of gage we are in HUGE trouble. I need to alter her skirt, she doesn't have my body type and therefore has no hips...thank God! She is pumped up for workout tonight and they tacked on an extra hour so she better be ready to ROCK!

Tommy and I are currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird for pre-AP English, I've been reading it with him so that I will be able to help him with the end project. I love the story and realized I hadn't read it in 20 years. His computer teacher told him yesterday that if he keeps up the hard work that she will recommend him for AP Computer his sophomore year, way to go TOM!

Picture of the day

Tommy hanging with Tigger....the famous fondler!

10/12/04

October 20, 2004 10:17 PM

Tonight Simon had a great baseball game, he went 1-1 and smacked it to the short stop, ran it out at first, the first baseman made an error and Simon was able to make it to second. WOW! He has been floating on air.

The weather has officially turned back to hot and humid, and I was hoping that fall was really here, maybe next week.

Tommy took the PSAT for the first time today, he will find out his results in December and then will know what he needs to focus on.

Picture of the day

Simon looking to hook up with Cinderella

10/12/04

October 19, 2004 12:18 PM

Sorry for the website shutdown....we've had technical problems!

On Thursday we took everyone to the Carbone Lake house, fun was had by all! Sydney loved swimming in the lake and Hayley and Maddy enjoyed the kayak rides. The weather was a little cooler and so was the water but we all still had a blast. Nancy and Joe made a nice lunch for everyone and the day was very relaxing. Thursday night we all came back to our home and made Lori's famous Chicken Enchilada's, all the ladies had fun cooking while the guys ran to multiple liquor stores to find our drink mixes. Tom Angus and cousin Joanne joined us for dinner bringing our eating total to 15 for the night!

Friday morning the guys got up early and went to Islands of Adventure, and according to them they had a blast. Lori and I took the girls to the mall to visit our new favorite store Libby Lu's. After I took them to Winter Springs and we shopped along Park Avenue. We missed Marie and Syd on Friday but they were busy packing to head back North. Friday night we met up with the guys and went to Bill's Elbow, yummy as always.

Saturday we got everyone to the airport by noon...said goodbye and gave out  hugs! Tom and I decided to extend our vacation through the weekend and took the kids to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studio's, the boys convinced me to ride Dueling Dragons......scariest roller coaster of all time! We found a new restaurant that night in downtown Orlando called Smoky Bones, very good.

Sunday we all slept in and then headed to New Smyrna, we wanted to check it out and see if it really does exist after the hurricanes. Much to our disappointment the beach is almost completely washed away. We followed a local and saw how she crawled under a "police line..do not cross." We crawled under there and were amazed to find ourselves on an almost private beach. The water comes within 15 feet of the dunes and all the walkways have been washed away. We were able to trap a few crabs and were amazed by the number of seashells washed ashore. I wonder if our favorite beach will ever be back to normal. It was an awesome trip and we are hoping to sneak on to the beach again.

Sunday night Joey took us all to Buca di Beppo for Nancy's birthday celebration where we feasted on yummy Italian cuisine. Nancy opened her gifts and we all enjoyed the evening. HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!!! 

Whew I'm exhausted, I'll post more pictures this week of our vacation plus add more details about the fantastic week we had!

Picture of the day

Look how cute these kids are, my favorite is Maddy and her lounge chair!

10/16/04

October 14, 2004  1:39 AM

Picture of the day

This is how we've all felt all week long

10/10/04

October 14, 2004  1:31 AM

On Monday we all went to Disney World and had a great time, the kids loved it. After it quit raining it turned into the perfect day, no lines and nice and cool.

On Tuesday Marie and Sydney and I drove to Siesta Key and visited with the Simerman's and swam in the beautiful Gulf. It was a long drive but Syd was great and the ocean was perfect.

Today we went with the Reagan's to Cocoa Beach for the day and then went to Cocoa Village with Uncle Joey and Uncle Mark for dinner. After we went to watch Tom play softball and followed that with a stop at Friendly's for ice cream.

Picture of the day

Tommy, Sydney, Maddy, Olivia, Hayley and Simon

10/10/04

October 11, 2004  12:51 AM

Tonight we met the Reagan's at Animal Kingdom Lodge for an African buffet dinner and it was awesome!

Tomorrow we are all going to Magic Kingdom...........we are wiped....out....exhausted!

Picture of the day

Sydney Lang

10/10/04

October 10, 2004  12:59 AM

The Reagan's came in last night and we had a lot of fun catching up with them late last night, today they went to Epcot.

Tommy had a flag football game and a baseball game and did well at both. Tonight the Lang's came into town and had dinner here before going to their hotel. Tom Angus came for dinner and took Tommy for a ride in his new Corvette. Tommy had his first babysitting job tonight sitting two neighbor boys, he did a great job and made some good money.

Tomorrow we are going to the beach and at night we are going to eat at Disney's Boardwalk.

Picture of the day

Simon passing a fellow team mate at the County Wide Meet

10/9/04

October 8, 2004  9:18 PM

Picture of the day

Olivia and Hayley

6/01/00

October 6, 2004  9:05 PM

Today Simon ran in his last regular season cross country meet and ran the mile and a half in 13:05. He has been running two miles a day before school gearing up for the county meet this Saturday.

Today Greg got on the roof and cleaned up the broken branches from the hurricanes and cleaned out the rain gutters, he did a great job. We are getting the house ready for our company and everyone has been pitching in which has been nice, and tomorrow I think Tom Sr. will put in a few hours also!

Tom said that his fishing trip was awesome, look for a picture tomorrow.

Picture of the day

Kids with the Reagan Family

1125/00

October 4, 2004  8:58 PM

Decorated the house today in preparation for Fall and Halloween, trying to trick myself into thinking it's cold and crisp and Autumn outside.

Watched Desperate Housewives last night, my girlfriend Michele and I agree that every "housewife" is on the verge of some sort of breakdown. I enjoyed the show and look forward to the next episode.

Picture of the day

Sinead Dean after her first Jell-O eating contest

7/29/01

October 3, 2004  6:20 PM

Today was so full:  8 am, get Simon's friend up so he could go to Synagogue, make waffles for rest of sleeping boys. Get Tom out the door. 9:30 pick up Olivia from birthday party and drop her off at Sunday School. 11am, take Simon's friends home and pick up Olivia from church. 1:15 take Tommy to baseball then take Olivia to her second birthday party. 4 pm leave Tommy's baseball game and pick up Olivia, (notice while driving Tom's car that the temp outside is hovering near 100!)  go back to baseball and watch a game that doesn't end until 5:45!!!! Whew! I need a diet Dr. Pepper.

Tommy played great and pitched two innings allowing his team to come from behind and win 17-14, way to go Tommy!

I don't remember thinking parenthood was going to be this exhausting!

Picture of the day

Olivia celebrating birthday # 4 with her favorite donut!

7/2/00

October 2, 2004  11:09 PM

Simon had a scout training meeting that went from 9-4 today and he feels like he will be able to lead his troop in a positive way. Olivia had a birthday/slumber party today and she called earlier as they were on their way to Shark Tales, and she has another birthday party tomorrow afternoon. Simon  is currently having his birthday party, one of his friends got him Van Halen's greatest hits. It's strange that Simon has turned into our hard rock baby, he also loves KISS.

Tom is leaving tomorrow morning for South Carolina with his dad, they are going fishing for a few days. He is taking my new car so that they can pull the boat...so I get the Audi, look out!

I'm exhausted and sunburned....goodnight.

Picture of the day

Tommy taking a swing

10/02/04

September 30, 2004  4:56 PM

I finished an awesome book in carpool line today, Bergdorf Blondes. Tom's cousin Marie recommended it and I loved it. Fun beach read, if we still had beaches here in Florida. I think our favorite beach New Smyrna has been wiped of the planet, guess we are going to have to take our fall-breakers to a different beach...boo hoo.

Simon had a good race yesterday and only missed his time by 30 seconds, next time dog! Simon also had a baseball game last night where he got on base by "taking one for the team" he also had two line drives directed at him while playing second and successfully threw the runner out at first. Now we focus on the hitting and he'll be unstoppable.

This week Tom celebrates his 1 year anniversary with Tiburon, where does the time go??

Picture of the day

Counting down the days until our Fall Break visitors get here

9/14/03

September 28, 2004  9:40 PM

Olivia has a cheer competition in Jacksonville, Florida in January and I'm going to be tagging along. I've got hotel reservations and already have 2 other ladies rooming with me. We leave on a Friday afternoon and don't get home till Sunday night, should be an awesome girls weekend.

It was my girlfriend Edie's birthday yesterday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL!!!

Simon had a pretty good first outing with the A's last night, at least the weather was perfect! Starting to remember why we moved to Florida.

Picture of the day

Simon and Uncle Chris

9/19/04

September 26, 2004  11:51 PM

We didn't have too much damage to the house during this hurricane, but we haven't been able to really check it all out in the daylight. I'm sure we will spend all morning raking the lawn and bagging branches and cutting down additional broken branches, luckily for us school has been cancelled and the kids will get to help out.

Picture of the day

The house across the street during Hurricane Jeanne

9/26/04

September 25, 2004  8:18 PM

Happy 12th Birthday Simon!  Even distant Cousin Jeanne came to visit for the big day!

Simon opened his presents today, and I present a picture, with a corresponding game.  Who can name the presents in the picture?  I'll let you know who names the most correct presents.  Be more specific for the most points.

I've got the generator ready to go - once the power goes out, I'll just unplug one plug, change it to plug into an extension cord, and turn on the generator.  We'll have a fridge, TV, DVD player, the internet - even surround sound and an XBOX!  We also get 1 light and 2 fans, so we feel very fortunate.  As of 8pm ET, the winds have kind of started here, and it's raining - but we're supposed to get the real fun overnight.  Wish us luck!

Picture of the day

Birthday Boy

9/25/04

September 24, 2004  10:44 AM

We are ready for Hurricane Jeanne and this time it was easier shopping knowing that we will still have power due to our generator. I was able to buy regular food, at least stuff that we can cook on the grill outside or in the crock pot.

Simon had to postpone his birthday party that was to happen tomorrow night, he will do it next weekend instead. Tomorrow at noon they will make the call on school for Monday. Everything extracurricular is cancelled starting at 3 PM tomorrow, luckily Tommy's lock in at the church is still going on tonight. Olivia is at a sleepover tonight, so it's just Simon. He and dad are currently glued to the X-Box playing games. I'm going to go and catch up on my Tivo programs.

Check out Jeanne's path!

Picture of the day

Simon and Mom

9/24/00

September 23, 2004  8:31 AM

Tonight our church is having a teen lock-in and Tommy is so excited to go. Parents drop off the kids at 10 pm and pick them back up at 7 am, wonder why my church never did anything cool like this when I was a kid????

My girlfriend Michele and I are meeting for lunch  today and we are each bringing a new friend from our neighborhoods, I'm bringing Jacque, Maddy's mom.

Olivia has a birthday party tonight where they are going ice skating, not quite sure I'm going to be able to find a pair of gloves in this non-Utah home.

Tomorrow Simon, Tommy and Tom all have baseball practices and Tommy has his first flag football game at noon, it's a sports day/mom's in the car for the whole day... for the whole family!

Picture of the day

Simon and Uncle Dave

9/29/02

September 22, 2004  10:23 PM

Chris and Joey and I headed to the Mall at Millennia today and Tom and Tom Angus met us for lunch. That mall is absolutely beautiful and is a constant reminder that money really does make the world go round.

Simon ran in his second cross country meet today and once again looked good, we didn't find out his race time and are hoping that he gets that information tomorrow. Tonight I went to the PTSA meeting and presented the fundraiser idea to the general public, seemed to go over good.

Tom and I are about to sit down and watch CSI NY, can't wait!

Picture of the day

Simon and Uncle Rich, Aunt Lori and Maddy

9/29/01

September 20, 2004   9:59 PM

Tonight Tommy had his first baseball practice (Braves) and he looked good. He is playing on a team where he is one of the older kids, which is awesome because he will have more experience than the other boys and will be able to (hopefully) play better than most.

Today it rained on and off all day, I'm not quite sure if this is left over Ivan or the new Jeanne. Tonight it was  cool at baseball and  earlier today I felt the first stirrings of Fall.

I LOVE MY NEW CAR!!!!!!!! I need to be heard on the subject of the color, it's not dark burgundy...it's sparkly cranberry!

Made it to the Y today, yea for me!

Yesterday Olivia had a 4 hour mandatory cheer practice, they worked on stunting and the dance part of the routine. Olivia's head coach talked to me about her yesterday and pointed out that she has been made lead flyer in their routine. When they form part of their routine they form a V she is the front center of the V. Louis says that he rewards hard work and Olivia deserves to have this position......this also means that if she screws up he can take it away! She looks awesome and is very serious during workouts, she is really starting to shine. The team  received their workout uniforms and now they all match during practice, yesterday they even wore their hair alike...half up half down, they looked sharp!

Picture of the day

Simon and Uncle Greg

9/29/01

September 19, 2004   11:20 PM

So after a long day of car shopping yesterday, Tina finally settled on a Honda Odyssey minivan.  It has a DVD player in it, so she likes that pretty well.  It's also a different color (Dark Burgundy) than any car we've ever had, so that's neat.  I'll get a picture sometime for everyone to see it.

We went up to the lake today to visit Uncle Chris and celebrate Simon's birthday.  He's turning 12 next Saturday, and we were lucky enough to have Uncle Chris in town near his birthday, so it was time for a party.  It was kind of a windy day, but that didn't deter the festivities a bit, although it did make the kayaks a little more difficult to control.

I'm experimenting with a video for you tonight.  If you're on dialup, don't click on it, since it's over 7MB.  I haven't figured out how to nicely and freely convert .mov files to .wmv files yet, although I'm still looking.  My favorite part of the movie is how Simon has Tommy pointing the camera at him, and since it's just a small still camera, he keeps waiting for Tommy to take the picture, hopefully before the singing ends.  Here's the link...

Picture of the day

Nana, Aunt Joanne, and Uncle Chris

9/19/04

September 17, 2004   11:30 PM

Tom and I went to the movies tonight and ended up seeing two. The first one we went to was my choice, Wimbledon. Of course I loved it and of course Tom was ready to slit his throat after five minuets. Tonight was the first time that I really wish I had seen a movie with my "girls night out" group from Utah......I miss ya girls!!!! After my movie we went to a movie of Tom's choice, it was Mr.3000. It was a good movie but we sat next to a crazy black man, every time Angela Bassett came on the screen he started making strange noises. It was almost as funny as the night that Tom and I and Dave and Marie went to see a movie that happened to have a gay theme and found ourselves the only "straight" couples in the audience. Tom and I spent more time listening to this guys comments and laughing than watching the movie, both were great shows and we give them two thumbs up!

Tomorrow Simon has another baseball practice, he looked good last night and seems to be middle of the road on his team.

Picture of the day

Cousin Alyssa

8/15/04

September 16, 2004   8:02 PM

The in-laws and Chris came for dinner and we all had a good time. Tom was unable to eat with us due to a misadventure at Sweet Tomatoes last night, we are hoping he will be ready to eat in the next 24 hours. Feel better Tom!!!

Simon is at his first baseball practice tonight, under the lights. Tom went with him and we are praying for a more positive outcome that last season. We haven't heard from Tommy's coach yet, but I think he is anxious to start playing.

We are going to the lake on Sunday and are thinking of maybe heading up there on Saturday also. We want to spent a lot of time with Uncle Chris this next week.

Picture of the day

Tommy

10/28/00

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September 15, 2004   8:36 PM

The kids are out of school tomorrow for Rosh Hashanah, living in Florida is great! Uncle Chris gets into town tomorrow and is coming for dinner. We are going to be able to hear about his meet and greet with Britney Spears...which he had last night!

I went looking for new cars today and checked out the Envoy and Trail Blazer, I went looking for the BMW SUV but the used one was out on a test drive. Unfortunately I had to go to the Porsche dealership and their SUV's are sweet!

Picture of the day

Simon at Sea World

12/03

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September 13, 2004   9:05 PM

Simon had cross country today and said that his time is getting better every time. His baseball coach called tonight and his first practice of the season is on Thursday.

Olivia went to her girlfriends house after school today and saw their 1 day old kittens and the baby raccoon (Charley) they rescued after Hurricane Charley. The raccoon was eating out of a baby bottle and was running around the house, very cute........ but that mother is nuts.

I picked up my new glasses today, I'm hoping that they help with the headaches that I've been having. I'm suppose to wear them when I drive, watch TV and use the computer.

I watched Medical Investigation last week and it's my new favorite show...so far. I like the guy who plays the lead, he starred in Boomtown last year and I enjoyed that show, but of course they cancelled it.

Picture of the day

Princess Isis

01/04

At the Carbone lake house

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September 12, 2004   9:47 PM

We did a lot of yard work this weekend and took out one big tree by our front door. Joey and I thinned out the palm bushes on our pool deck and bleached the deck and now the pool area looks awesome!

Yesterday we took the crew down to the outlet mall in Orlando and everyone picked up something. Today Joey and I went and saw Vanity Fair it was a good movie but definitely a chick flick.

Hurricane Ivan is going to miss us and we are so happy. Of course we now own a generator and are ready for a hurricane..... but maybe next time!

Had an awesome time at Bunko on Friday night and heard tons of  funny stories concerning husbands and they way they acted while trying to protect their homes during the storms.

Picture of the day

Isis

September 2004

Birthday Girl!

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September 09, 2004   9:04 PM

We bought a generator today, it's the Honda EU2000 series and we are hoping that now that we own one we won't ever have the chance to use it!!!

We had a whopper of a rainstorm this afternoon that turned our parking strip into a raging river. I'm not quite sure where all of the water that Ivan is going to dump on us is going to go.

Simon's bus driver pulled a no show today and he had to walk back home from the bus stop and I took him to school, what a perfect way to start the day.

Picture of the day

Me,

when I was sane and normal

1974

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September 08, 2004   9:20 PM

I'm starting to fill up my Tivo season pass list with all of the new shows starting this season. Tomorrow night I'll check out Joey and later on this week Medical Investigation and report back to you. I'm in the middle of a very interesting book about a woman whose husband recently died and how she is coping with it, I'll keep you posted.

The kids go back to school tomorrow.................need I say more???

Is this  for real?

Picture of the day

Olivia and her new "best" friend Maddy

9/4/04

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September 07, 2004   9:17 PM

I got a speeding ticket a few months back and instead of the points going on my record I opted to take an online 4 hour course and test, of course I waited until the last possible moment and am now trying to get it done by Saturday. I sat in front of the computer for 3 hours today and tonight late I will finish the last hour and take the test, wish me luck!

Tom's parents are living with us until they get power, they had a tornado touch down close to their home and feel that it could be quite awhile until they get power back. Tonight cousin Joanne and Bob came for dinner and a visit. Tom Angus now has power and is back at his own place, we enjoyed having him here this weekend.

Picture of the day

The broken branch that was "caught" by the other tree

9/5/04

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September 06, 2004   11:38 PM

We will sit and watch and see what Hurricane Ivan does this weekend. Thanks for all your calls and prayers, after finding out that Tom's aunt lost her entire roof in Melbourne we realized how truly blessed we were!

Picture of the day

Greg getting ready for the hurricane

9/3/04

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September 04, 2004   3:33 PM

Picture of the day

Waiting for the storm

, 2004   10:44 PM

Right now they have changed the storm's path and we are feeling a little more confident in our chances of riding out the storm.

Picture of the day

This was the first picture taken of our home last year while house hunting, let's call it "before Frances"

9/04

September 01, 2004   8:40 PM

Simon's cross country meet was canceled today due to violent thunderstorms but luckily last night he was able to try out for Fall baseball. He was voted patrol leader in his troop at scouts and is very proud about his new position. Tommy tried out tonight for high school rec. baseball and looked good. Olivia's cheer has been cancelled on Friday due to the storm.

Please keep us and everyone else in Florida in your prayers. We'll keep posting as long as we can, and promise to take and post more  pictures after the storm.

Picture of the day

Olivia showing us her cheer pose called the "scorpion", she will be doing this 10 feet in the air while balanced on 4 girls out stretched arms.

8/7/04

August 30, 2004   9:00 AM

Yesterday we had another wicked thunder/lightning storm and Olivia is starting to really get nervous when they happen. Simon's school wouldn't dismiss the kids until after the storm had passed and held them inside for an additional 20 minutes after the final bell had rung.

Picture of the day

Lola

3/29/00

August 29, 2004   9:16 PM

This morning the kids and I went to Mass and we all enjoyed ourselves, afterwards Olivia went to her first Sunday School of the season. Simon worked the Scout fundraiser again all day and earned a total of $50 for the weekend, good job Simon. Tommy and Simon had Sunday School this evening and Tommy was able to experience his first high school night full of games and food.

Tom and I took Olivia and Tommy to the mall today to do some shopping, Tommy has hit another growth spurt and his jeans are too short for him. Olivia left the mall in disbelief that she wasn't able to convince her father to spend gobs of money on her!

Tonight Joey and Mark came over and helped trim some trees and Mark and Tom replaced some shingles that were torn off  in the hurricane.

Good day!

Picture of the day

Me

Sept. 1974

August 28, 2004   8:26 PM

Tonight Tommy and his friends went to their first high school club activity, they went to Astronomy club to check out the sky. I dropped them off at the high school and there was quite a large group of kids, looks like he'll have fun tonight.

I put up another hurricane picture because Dave begged to see more destruction. The yard of this house lost so many huge trees, it was amazing to see up close. I think the house was empty because it looked like this for almost a week and had a huge tree sitting in front of their front door.

Picture of the day

This is the house that owned the trees that landed on the 4 cars..ouch

8/14/04

August 26, 2004   9:30 PM

Tonight I went to Tommy's open house at the high school. We followed our child's schedule around the school and went to each period for 9 minutes and met with the teacher. I was impressed by his teachers and by the classes that he is taking. It's amazing how different high school is compared to when I left 18 years ago. The classes seem more complicated and with all the computer technologies it seems so much more advanced.

This may be the last hurricane picture I post, unless you beg for more. The house across the street from us didn't tie down their trampoline and it ended up in the lake, a neighbor swam out and retrieved it.

Picture of the day

Can anyone spot the trampoline? This is the pond across the street from our house

8/14/04

August 25, 2004   10:20 PM

I just finished an awesome book "To have and to hold" by Jane Green. I've read everything she has written and I love all her books.

After a few mix ups Simon finally went to his first cross country meeting and has his first workout tomorrow. He has been running  around our subdivision each day getting into shape (and has also been swimming).  He's been averaging two miles daily, that's twice around the block. They told the kids that they would be running three miles at practice tomorrow, should be a piece of cake for him. He got some new running shoes tonight and is pumped up for their first meet next week.

Tommy has his first Astronomy club meeting tomorrow after school and he has been looking forward to it.

Tonight I went to my first official PTSA meeting at the high school, we are in the process of trying to come up with a good fundraiser for the year. I will be meeting with the principal soon to formulate a plan.

Picture of the day

This was a giant tree that came down and blocked the road in our subdivision

8/14/04

August 24, 2004   10:35 PM

 Watching the Olympics shows me how many useless sports there are, if I had know I could win a gold medal for table tennis I would have actually listened to my father trying to teach me the rules! Who knew that you could train for the gold AND hang out in the Richardson's unfinished basement on a Saturday afternoon all in the same day.

Picture of the day

Two houses up from us, note how he boarded up his windows... and he was the only one with house damage...hmmmmm

8/14/04

August 23, 2004   10:35 PM

We've been watching the Olympics very closely here at our home and it's been a fun experience for the whole family. USA ROCKS!

Picture of the day

Swimming anyone? Our pool after the hurricane

8/14/04

August 22, 2004   10:15 PM

Tonight the boys went to their first religious ed classes for the new year. Tommy will be experiencing some new/fun activities now that he is included in the "high school night" at the church, and Simon will be able to go to middle school nights as well. They were asking for parents to volunteer to help drive and chaperone activities, but before you can do this you have to be fingerprinted and get an FBI background check, hopefully all my skeletons are locked deep in the closet! I think I'll go through the screening process, it would be fun to get to know more people at our church.

The kids head back to school tomorrow.......YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Picture of the day

House around the corner from us....after the hurricane

8/14/04

August 21, 2004   9:15 PM

This morning before the rain hit, the boys and I attacked the front yard. The city came around yesterday and picked up all of the hurricane damage that has been sitting on our parking strip for a week. We also did a little tree trimming with help from Joey and Mark.....thanks guys! We had to clean up all of the debris that the street cleaners missed, we ended up filling up 6 additional lawn bags of dead leaves and tree limbs. Our yard is starting to look better and our neighborhood is almost back to normal.

Last night Tom and I went to the Madden 05 wrap party, it was held at a club in downtown Orlando. We hung out with Jason and Jennifer French for most of the night, they are both really nice and it was fun getting to know them better.

I can't wait for school to restart on Monday and the kids feel the same way. I think they miss seeing their friends and also the routine that school brings.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! I LOVE AND MISS YOU!!

Picture of the day

Happy Birthday Grandma!

12/25/00

August 18, 2004    1:32 AM

On Friday night around 9 pm hurricane Charley hit Lake Mary with winds up to 105 miles per hour. We lost power at this point and it wouldn't be turned back on until Tuesday. The storm really packed an awesome punch, and the house and windows were shaking while the wind howled. We snuck a look out the front door a few times and once when the door was open we heard a crack and saw one of our tree's hit the ground. After the hurricane passed us we took our flashlights outside and inspected the damage, it was still pouring at this point but we wanted a look. We were able to determine that our house was in one piece and still had a roof. We proceeded to light the candles and the kids and Greg played Monopoly for hours.

Saturday morning the sound of helicopters woke Tom and I up at 7 am, I knew this meant it was bad outside if the news choppers were already overhead. We got dressed and went outside to see what daylight had brought. We were blown away by the damage in our subdivision, huge tree's were ripped from the ground and were laying across the road. We saw that we had lost one tree and had other tree damage in the backyard, plus our pool screen had panels ripped where branches had come through.  Our pool was dark brown/green with chunks of branches floating in it. Tom and I toured the neighborhood meeting and talking to neighbors that we had never talked to before. I was in my element doing the meet and greet and those of you who know Tom well, know that he was in his own personal hell during this time. We saw some tree's that had fallen onto homes and some that crushed cars and we realized that we had been very lucky with our minor damage. We started cleaning and for 5 hours gathered branches, raked the grass and dragged bag after bag to the curb. Tom treated us to bacon and eggs cooked on our back grill for breakfast.

It's so late and I'm ready to hit the sack, this is our first night back in our home since Friday so I'm going to call it quits. Tom will be posting a page with all the pictures soon and tomorrow I will continue the saga of Hurricane Charley.

The kids are out of school until next Monday...this is better than a snow day!!

Picture of the day

Our home after the hurricane...and no that's not a bush in the front yard, it's a giant oak tree!

8/13/04

August 12, 2004    9:11 PM

You can track the hurricane along with us! Wish us luck!

Picture of the day

Football in Utah starts this week

Simon

9/25/02

August 11, 2004    10:40 PM

Tonight Greg and I are watching Tom school the nation in Madden 05. He is having a blast and so are we watching him.

Read a good book,  it's the sequel to The Bridges of Madison County,  called A Thousand Country Roads. I read it too quickly because I was so curious to see what happened, I may need to re-read it and enjoy it this time.

Getting ready for our first hurricane, I'll keep you posted.

Picture of the day

Boys at the lake

3/21/04

August 10, 2004    10:11 PM

Tonight Tom played full time parent, he had to get Simon and Tommy to the Court of Honor by 6:30 and then rush across town to pick up Liv from the cheer gym, race back to scouts and see Simon receive his merit badges......whew! Now he knows how I feel daily. Simon earned his rowing, safety, sculpture and sports merit badge and was also awarded the 1 mile swim badge. Simon you rock!

Today Olivia had another orthodontist appointment  where they made molds of her mouth. Somehow they screwed them up and she goes back Thursday to have the same thing done again. In two weeks she gets her retainer in, she is actually really looking forward to it...silly girl!

Picture of the day

Simon at his court of honor

8/10/04

August 9, 2004    8:11 PM

Today while I was at Costco purchasing an X-Box (the current one we have has been locking up and therefore is not appropriate for "testing" Madden 05) a woman made a comment that I should be careful caring around an X-Box, what with the X-Box killings happening so close to us here. Strange woman...strange comment. I swear between the Mark Hacking case in Utah and this one here in Florida it makes me wonder if there are any normal people left!

It dumped massive amounts of rain today, but now it's cooler outside and the humidity levels are down.

The Reagan's booked their flights and are headed to Florida and we are all excited! 61 days and counting!

Tom and I watched Growing Up Gotti last night, interesting show. She has had so much plastic surgery it's amazing that she doesn't look like Michael Jackson.

Picture of the day

Olivia getting her cast off

7/11/01

August 8, 2004    7:22 PM

Yesterday we had a pretty quiet day, did a little car shopping (convertible Audi) and hung out. Joey came over last night and Tom helped him with some computer stuff, I watched Love Actually. I really enjoyed this movie, I think it had  too much gratuitous nudity, but all in all it was a cute story.

Today our neighbor came over and showed Tom and I how to flush out our air conditioning system, we were thrilled with the help. Later on we went to my friend Vera's birthday party, she had some incredible food and the whole family had a great time.

Simon had a great time on his scout campout, he loved tubing down the river and wants to do it again soon.

Tommy went with some friends this weekend to see Napoleon Dynamite, he thought the movie (shot in Idaho) was awesome.

Picture of the day

Olivia and Dad in D.C.

August 6, 2004    9:45 AM

I forgot to post last night, sorry.

Yesterday Olivia had a make up tumbling class at the gym and she was really nervous about it. She had been told that they were all older girls, and so in her mind that meant better. She had an upset tummy the entire car ride over and I had to almost force her out of the car. Once she got inside and stretched with the girls she quickly realized that most of these girls couldn't even do a cartwheel. Her confidence zoomed straight up and pretty soon she was showing off and doing backhand springs and tucks. The coach was demonstrating to Olivia how to do a proper tuck, when mid air his shorts fell off! Olivia thought this was the funniest thing she had even seen. After workout she stayed and watched the dance team workout, Tommy's friend Suzanne recently tried out for the team and made it...YEA! Olivia and another girl were mimicking the older girls and trying to do their dance routine, it was very amusing. Olivia thought that no one was watching her attempt to dance when her private stunting coach Andrew noticed what she was doing and yelled "work it baby" in front of the entire gym. This send Olivia over the edge with laughter! She came home from cheer so pumped up and hyper last night. I remarked to Tom that never once in 4 years did she come home from gymnastics this excited or happy about anything. Definitely the right choice to change sports.

I rode 8.46 miles at the gym today....enough said!

I found an article about Tom's game Madden 2005,  on the local news website. It hits the shelves Aug 12.

Picture of the day

My favorite beach picture.....ever

August 4, 2004    9:15 PM

Today I went to lunch with Edie and it was great catching up with her. Olivia had Hannah over, after playing "teenager" in her room they had a blast in the pool. Simon is preparing for a scout campout this weekend to Gainesville. His troop is going on a river tubing trip, sounds like fun to me. Tom has been coming home at normal times this week and the kids look forward to him checking their daily homework.

I was a little homesick tonight, not quite sure why. I hate when that happens.

Picture of the day

Us in front of Washington Monument

7/25/04

August 3, 2004     9:44 PM

Tommy had another great day at school and luckily today he took his home lunch and was able to eat. Simon sat with his friend David and was thrilled about it. Olivia met a new friend in class named Clare and is having Hannah come home after school tomorrow. I'm going out to lunch tomorrow with my girlfriend for the first time since school let out, and I am excited to catch up with Edie.

This picture of Olivia really tells how she felt about our vacation. I have to hand it to Tom, in his posting he made it seem like we had a seamless and perfect vacation, that the kids were angels and everything was great. In fact it was like every other vacation you take with kids, you come home exhausted and feeling like they didn't appreciate all the effort that went into the vacation.

I loved D.C. and can't wait to go back up with Tom sometime. I enjoyed the war memorials and was amazed at how emotional I felt at the Vietnam War memorial and seeing the familiar name. I've met Jim's parents numerous times and when they first found out about me being Cathie's daughter their biggest hope was that their deceased son had fathered me, (unfortunately for everyone this wasn't the case) it was a very emotional conversation.  I enjoyed paying my respects to our American hero, and I know my family did too.

It's good to be back, I've missed posting!

Picture of the day

Olivia, having a great time at the Air and Space Museum

7/23/04

August 2, 2004     9:37 PM

As some of you may know, one of my proudest days as both a webmaster and amateur photographer is the kids first day of school, where I love doing my "Through the years" perspectives.  Hopefully, you'll appreciate today's pictures as much as I enjoyed creating them (except the part where I had to drag my butt out of bed at 6 this morning to take Tommy's). 

August 1, 2004     7:54 PM

Picture of the day

Simon tries on a Leather bomber jacket in the Smithsonian

7/23/04