37 years ago today.....

my wonderful husband was born.

Yes, today (September 27th) is Andy's birthday!

So to celebrate, here are 37 things about my hubby:

1. he's fun to be around
   
2. he is like a magnet to kids, they just cling to him (I love that)
3. he is really just a big kid himself (and can make the messes to prove it)
4. he loves his kids more than anything in the world
   
5. he is an AWESOME daddy!
   
6. he loves the outdoors
7. he really LOVES to mountain bike, ( like every single day)
8. he doesn't have any "mountains" in Illinois, yet still loves it
9. he really loves mountain biking in Colorado
10. he has 2 mountain bikes (can you ride two bikes at the same time? I don't think so!)
11. he paid more for his mountain bike than he did his first car (not kidding....we won't go there either!)
    
12. he went out to Colorado for a 3 month break and ended up staying for 3 years
13. he would go back in a second (move that it)
14. he thinks the kiddos need their grandparents (and we need free babysitting) so we will stay in IL for a while
    
15. he loves his family
16. he has a great big heart (which I think is my favorite part of him)
17. he will do anything for anyone
18. he also sees the positive in every situation ( I love this part too, although sometimes I would just like to vent)
19. he is handy around the house, although
    
20. he has this crazy rule about not working on "inside" projects during daylight savings time
21. he likes to work on outside projects when its nice and inside projects when its cold, and
    
22. he will only let me repaint a room once a year (so painting the bathroom twice last year won't ever happen again!)
    
23. he is a computer geek
24. he can just about fix any computer issue (at least the issues I have)
25. he loves music
26. he's always finding new music to share with me (I always say, "Okay, now who is this?")
27. he plays the guitar
28. he doesn't think he very good at it, but the kids and I think he is great!
29. he loves the LORD!
30. he shares this love by helping with the youth at church
31. he is a great teacher, maybe we can get him to play some praise music with the guitar at youth functions! I can see it now...the kids would love it!
    
32. he loves potato chips (oh how I love this man!, we totally could have skipped the wedding cake and served chips and dip...that is the only thing we would change about our wedding!)
    
33. he is my best friend
34. he tolerates my neediness
35. he is very handsome!
    
36. he is healthy and full of life!
    
37. he is a great husband and dad and....

He is 37 today!

Happy Birthday hon'! Thank you for everything you do for us and we LOVE you very much!

Wordless Wednesday! (I heart this tree!)

2005

Today!

The lessons you learn from laundry!

Last Friday was a typical day here at the Sullivan house. Maggie was at school and Max and I where hangin' out, listening and dancing to blog music while we cleaned around the house (he's my favorite cleaning buddy.)

The morning flew by and it was time to pick Maggie up.....some days 11:00 am comes really fast. I threw in a load of laundry and Max and I headed out the door to pick her up.

Got home, made lunch (the girl is starving at 11:15), made a few phone calls and then remembered the laundry. Transferred it from washer to dryer and went on my merry way.

I used to use Dreft for all the clothes when the kids were babies. I think I used it well into the toddler size clothes, but then there was this day when I said, "Gosh this stuff is expensive. My people don't have sensitive skin. I'm going to try to use regular detergent for their clothes too!" And I have been using the regular stuff ever since.
My normal laundry routine is this, parents clothes one day, kids clothes the next day, towels the next, bed linens the next. Every once in a while, more often than not, the routine gets out of whack. Last Friday was an out-of-whack laundry day!

The load that I threw in was a mixture of parent stuff, kids stuff and cleaning rags. I just put it all in together. No big deal....it will all get clean! I was in a hurry...the laundry had to get done....put it all in!

When I opened the dryer to get the stuff out, after a few hundred buzzes by the very annoying machine, I noticed something red and black ALL OVER EVERY SINGLE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING! OH MY GOSH! WHAT IS IT?

I immediately went threw the entire basket looking for a marker, crayon, ANYTHING that could have caused this, then started to panic a little looking at Andy's work slacks, dress shirts and Maggie's brand-new Gymboree school outfits! Ruined, because I was in a hurry!

I asked the kids if they remembered anything in their pockets (I didn't want to make it sound like it was a big deal, and I made sure they knew that they wouldn't get in trouble, but that I just needed to know what the "stuff" was!) I was searching for a confession from someone.

No one confessed!

Surely it had to be crayon! A crayon must have been in a pocket, otherwise I would have noticed it when I transferred from washer to dryer. If it was crayon, then nothing happened during the wash cycle, but with the heat of the dryer it melted and the covered the entire dryer and its contents. Makes sense right?! I think so!

I got on the Crayola website and found out how to remove the stains from fresh and heat set fabrics. I also found out how the clean the dryer! Thanks Crayola for all the help! Good ol' WD-40!

I didn't get all of the stains out, but I did get a LOT of it out!

I also realize that I had been lacking in the part of my of my job description that calls for me not to just do the laundry, but also to check all the pockets before hand! I just don't like that part!

And you thought this story was over.....oh wait, theres more!

As I interrogated the entire household agian, (including Charlie the dog) looking for someone or something to solve the laundry mystery. I began to recall the situation.

Thursday, the very day before the mysterious item was put threw the wash, I vaguely remember picking up a purple crayon in the drive-way. I think I must have put it in the pocket of my jean shorts, while I was multi-tasking. Those very same shorts where also in the load!

Is a purple crayon made up of red and dark-blue-blackish colored wax? I think it must be!

And I think it was in my pocket! I was the one who left the crayon in her pocket! It was me!

This is my official apology to my family! I was wrong! Do you still love me? Do you want to get a maid to do all future laundry duties? I won't be that upset if you do!

Is it jealousy or what???

Today Maggie has her first "real" field trip. They are going to a local apple orchard and she was very excited. I think most of her excitement stems from the fact that she gets to ride on a "real" school bus.

You see, we live close enough to school, that the bus route doesn't come our way, yet it is too far to walk, unless we get up and going in the wee hours of morning...(okay, it's not that far!) So we drive! Thank goodness I don't work outside the home, those moms have to be ready and dressed ( I don't know how they do it all.) It seems like I'm driving and dropping off in my jammies every time!

Anyway, back to my point!

As I dropped off at school this morning, I saw a few of the other moms sticking around. Then I figured out that they were going to help with the field trip.

I WANT to help with the field trips!! Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of the day that I would be able to be a "room-mother." To be there for every class party, every field trip, every function for my child. I also remember thinking that those kids were so lucky to have their mom there for those special events.

I knew when Andy and I got married that it might not be a possibility for me to stay home once we had a few little people. But once we figured out how to make it work, those old day-dreams came back to me. I would be able to fulfill my life long dream. I would be able to be a "room-mother!"

Preschool gave me my first opportunity to try this out. I think I made goodie-bags for every stinkin' holiday there was. Maybe even parent-teacher conferences! (okay, maybe not....but I should have) and I loved every minute! They didn't do too many actual field trips, but I was there to help whenever I could. This is when I realized that my dream may NOT come true. At least with Maggie!

She totally behaves differently when I'm around. She would cling to me like a dryer sheet on my pant leg. She would cry and totally withdraw from her friends and teachers. What have I done? Why does she act this way? Has my dream been crushed?

So today I'm feeling a little jealous. Jealous of the moms who get to go on the field trips, jealous because I want to be there too! Jealous because I wanted to give Maggie that feeling of being so "lucky to have her mom there." I know its wrong to feel this way, but I just can't help it!

I should just be happy for her and I am! I hope she is having an AWESOME time today and I can't wait to hear all about it. Hopefully one of those moms is taking a lot of pictures!

Maybe, just maybe, Max will help me to fulfill my dream. He's my last chance!

Playing with Ike!

Even though we are pretty far away from Texas and all the hurricane evacuations, we still felt the effects of Ike here in central Illinois. It has rained here everyday since last Wednesday. The poor ground can only handle so much and the rain finally got to us.

We tried to enjoy it the best we could!

We wore our Disney ponchos, had boat races, wore our swim suits in the rain and then
drank hot chocolate!

We tried to play nice with Ike. But I guess he just didn't like us!

Sunday afternoon, we were calling to check on A&J and Jodi, to see if their basements were okay. A&J have had water before, so we weren't surprised that they did in fact have water again. We were planning to head their way to help out when I asked Andy if he had checked our crawlspace. Since we live in a tri-level home, we have never had to worry about water. Our lower level isn't that far underground, so we don't even have a sump-pump. Anyway, he checked it out and sure enough we had a huge mess.

Thankfully, we don't store that much stuff in there, and thankfully it wasn't in our family room area. Unfortunately, there was about 4 inches of standing water that we had to get out and now we are trying to dry it out. We are scheduled to have a new furnace/AC unit put in next week and we need to make sure that the space in dry and really to go.

Needless to say, we stayed home to clean up our own mess...sorry A&J
and of course, I got a few pictures.

Crawl-space attire! Gotta love it!

Boy, where did those long legs come from?


Ike, thanks for stopping by, but hope your not coming back anytime soon!



Praying for all the families that Ike has truly affected!

Pumpkin Parade Pictures!

I know, I know...you're totally sick of all the "pumpkin" stuff!

I'm a little sick of the rain during the Pumpkin Festival. However, the rain from Ike did wait till the parade was over to start up again. We were so thankful for that.

We had some friends come over and do the parade with us and then come back to the house for lunch. It was a fun time, despite the weather!

Here are our parade pictures:

Walking hand in hand! So sweet!

Max & Caroline! This little Miss likes all the boys!

My favorite "BIG" girls from behind!

Giant Pumpkin! They don't call us the Pumpkin Capital of the World for nothin'!

Another picture of the sweet couple!

Mrs. Jonas and Mr. Kuhl - sharing their talents!

Maggie the official "parade-candy-getter" helping little Charlotte!

Not really sure about this face, but the shirt sure is cute! Want one??


Yes, this is the end of our annual Pumpkin Festival. Even thought is wasn't the best year weather wise, we still had a lot of fun and look forward to making new memories next year! Memories that don't include the Tilt-A-Whirl....just wanted to make sure and get that in!

Never, ever, ever again....

will I ride on the Tilt A Whirl! EVER!

I was just trying to be "a good mom" and go with my family on a ride. One that we would ALL go on. Andy tried to get us to go on the Ferris Wheel. I totally would have been fine with that, however Miss Maggie wanted no part of that one. We also tried the Tornado, she wasn't game for that one either.

It was about 8:10 last night and yes, we should have already been home. The people (all three of my kids) wanted to ride the bumper cars one more time, so we headed there and that was going to be our last ride. Andy convinced Maggie to go on the Tilt A Whirl first, which was right next to the bumper cars. I didn't want to be a party pooper! I hadn't eaten since about 6:00 (in which I really enjoyed my fresh, hot corn dog) so I thought I would be fine. I was once again wrong....you'd think I would start figuring this stuff out!

Maggie totally did NOT like it! She was crying...and I should have just made them stop the ride, but in my whirling around I couldn't find the "carney" dude. So we rode it out (pun intended)! Max on the other hand LOVED it! He is so Andy!

We finally got off the Tilt A Whirl, I was totally dizzy but okay! The kids still wanted to do the bumper cars, so we did that and I was still fine. Then the kids and I walked to DQ to share a ice cream treat, thinking it might make me feel better, while Andy went to get the car to take us all home. We ate our ice cream and then got in the van to get home.

I still wasn't feeling that great, but I really started to feel bad when we were driving home. I didn't think I would make it. I felt like I had been drinking too much adult beverages. It was weird. I think it was the longest three-minute van drive I've had in a long time.

Andy got the kiddos in jammies, and did the bedtime routine. I was still spinning like crazy. I got my jammies on too and fell into my bed. I laid there with the lamp on, glasses still on and everything. Finally at about 10:00 last night, I had that feeling, you know the one. Its- a- good- thing -I-had- the- glow- of -the- lamp- and -glasses- on feeling. I jumped out of bed and headed for the porcelain goddess!

All I will say is that, I have had my fill of fresh, hot corn dogs and Butterfinger blizzards for a long while and that I will NEVER, EVER ride the Tilt A Whirl again!

A few pictures before things got bad!

Andy & Max on the Tornado!

Andy & our friend's girls! Don't think Andy will be riding this one again any time soon!

Maggie getting off the "big slide"


Andy & Max in the bumper cars!


I really have no idea what Bugs Bunny has to do with the Pumpkin Fest, but its a cute picture!

Festival Fun!

So last night was the actual first night of the annual Pumpkin Festival. Wednesday and Thursday are family nights where you get on to the rides for only one ticket vs. the two tickets per ride the rest of the time. So of course, everybody goes on the family nights...who wouldn't!

Here the difference this year!

The weather is looking really iffy! Meaning we are supposed to have rain and storms for the rest of the week. Yikes! I can't remember the last time the weather wasn't PERFECT!

So for obvious reasons, everybody and their brother (and the brother's entire family) was there last night. The lines for the rides were just crazy long. I think we may have waited in lines longer than we did for rides at Disney World. I'm totally not even kidding.

We still had a great time, but we didn't even get to ride the bumper cars (which is our most favorite ride there!)....the carnies only had 5 cars working, so finally, after we had been standing in line for 20 minutes and didn't move, we decided to head over to the walk-thru fun house. That wasn't a favorite for Max, but he did it!

More pictures you ask!?!?! I don't want to let you down!

Maggie, Autumn, and Max

Can you feel the love?!?

Driving the cars...Maggie's steering wheel didn't work....she wasn't happy about that!

Connor & Maggie
I told them that they could use this picture in their wedding video!


Autumn & Max on the roller coaster!
Maggie wouldn't ride because she said that last year "it about made me puke"
Okay then...enough said!


Keep for fingers crossed for a change in the forecast, otherwise this favorite fall festival won't be too much fun for this family (or I should say, this mom!)

Like Pumpkins???

Well, you might be totally sick of them after reading my blog for the next few days!

Today is the official start of our towns annual Pumpkin Festival! Hooray! We are so excited! There will be a lot of orange-shirt-wearing goin on for the next few days!

This years theme is "Super Hero Pumpkins" and the kids entered into the pumpkin decorating contest. I totally forgot to get pictures of them before we turned them in, so I'll try to get some shots when we go up there tonight. Maggie entered a pumpkin to look like Underdog and Max made a Superman pumpkin. They did a great job!

Last night was also the kick-off for my little people with the annual Big-Wheel Race. It was totally unorganized and crazy like it is every year, but we had a ton of fun! Our favorite neighborhood friends raced too and of course, I got a few pics. Here are some of my favorites:

Here's Max, the boy can do it all...even with a cast!

Ashlyn

Maggie got 2nd in her race! Way to go babe!

Alex got 1st place in his race! Great job Alex!

Doesn't this look like fun!

It was a beautiful night and a great start to another fun year of Pumpkin Festival activities!

Stayed tuned for more pumpkin pics and posts!

Full of Fun Saturday!

Saturday afternoon, we went with Papa and Jane to a 50 year celebration of "Big Yellow."

There were so many great things to do. There were those jumper-bouncer-blow-up-things, face painting, balloon animals, every kid got a yellow hard hat to put stickers on, free lunch, free ice cream, photos with Caterpillar "stuff". It was just a really fun time. We ran into some friends while we were there and of course, got a few pictures. Here are some of my favorite:

Heading up to SLIDE down!

Max, Maggie & Palmer

My people are looking a little lost in this picture!
I LOVE the fact that at least they are "lost" together! So sweet!

Our Papa!

Lots of signs in the plant about safety....this one reads
DON'T LET SOMEONE GET HURT!
Had to get a picture of that!

"Big Yellow" saftey hats!

Thanks Papa, for a great afternoon!

Fun day continued!

Our full of fun Saturday didn't stop with "Big Yellow."

Later that afternoon, we went to a birthday party for our nephew Quinton. Otherwise know in our house as QP!

QP turned 3 on September 1st and had a birthday party for all his little friends and cousins at a Rainbow Playset Showroom. The kiddos had a blast!

Running, swinging, climbing, sliding, skipping, and of course eating yummy birthday stuff! What more could a kid ask for.

Got a few sweet pictures there too! Wanna see.....sure you do!

Fashion Alert!

Maggie informed me late last week, that she no longer wants to wear skirts/skorts. Of course we have several hanging in the closet, some still with tags on. She said she would only wear them to church, however there was another battle Sunday morning when I asked her to wear the outfit that I had picked out for her. She put on capris instead. I know I have to pick my battles, but these skorts are just so cute.

Today she said that she wanted to look for a short jacket where her "underneath" shirt will hang out. She said "all the girls have them." Does the fashion awareness start this early? I'm so scared!

So, I have several skorts, size 5, if anyone is interested!?!?!

Test of Patience

Yesterday afternoon, Maggie and I both had dentist appointments. My parents were coming over to keep Max while we went.

The afternoon got a little hectic when the power went off as I was fixing lunch. I soon found out that over half of our town was also out including the dentist office. This could cause a few problems in my afternoon schedule. The dentist office soon called me on my cell phone (which they had to use their cell phones to call from....how did we ever manage before that?) to say that they would have to reschedule us at a later time. Okay fine, no big deal.

It wasn't 10 minutes later and the power came back on (it was off for about 1 1/2 hours total) and I got a call back from the dentist office to see if we could still come in, only just about an hour later than our original appointment time. Sure, my parents were here hangin' out....we would be there!

I should have know right then. It wasn't going to go as well as it did on Maggie first trip to the dentist. Remember how well she did.

My girl doesn't go-with-the-flow very well. Sadly, I think she gets that from me. We like to have a plan and stick to it. When the plan changes, it gets us all out of whack.

Anyway, we get to our appointment and she started to cry. She didn't want to go first. "Oh, that's fine honey, Mommy will go first and you can watch, so you can remember exactly what happens at the dentist."

Then her turn came. She started screaming and then kicking. She totally refused to even get on my lap. I was so frustrated. I was angry. I was embarrassed. I wasn't patient.

I always pray for patience. I pray for help staying calm in these type of situations. I pray that I do and say the right things, so I don't screw this kid up even more than I already have. I did not pray at that very moment. And I should have!

I was still upset about the entire situation last night, more about my behavior than hers. She's only 5! I forget that. My reaction to her behavior made me realize that I wasn't acting my age. I'm 30 years her senior and I need to act like it.

In praying about it more last night I've come to this conclusion. I will continue to pray for patience and God will continue to give me difficult situations to try and use what I am learning. Maybe someday, I'll get it.

And he chose.....

BLUE!

Max's first day of Preschool!

Max was so excited about his very first day of Preschool. I hadn't talked to the doctor yet, so I wanted to make sure that he knew that if we needed to go to the doctor this morning, that he would miss school. That would have been really sad! Lucky for him, we don't go till later this afternoon and he was able to go to school after all.

He was ready about 8:30 and wanted to get in the van. We had a half an hour, but the boy was READY. So we got there a little early and made sure to get a few pictures too. Have a great first day at school.





We will go later this afternoon to see the doctor and hopefully get a smaller cast on. What a brave little guy I have. I am so proud of him.

As for me, I have been looking forward to my "two hours of freedom" for quite some time. It's not that I want to get rid of my kids...it's just going to be a nice break to refuel and refresh from the hectic morning routine. I will have 2 hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That really isn't much time to do anything too productive, but I will cherish every moment. Thursday I will be starting a new Beth Moore bible study on Daniel (Very Excited), so in reality, I really only have Tuesday mornings free.

Today I went to the store all by myself, I feel like such a big girl. It's pretty sad when the Wal-mart greeter asks where your kids are? But I picked up a few Christmas stocking stuffers. Yeah me! Does that count for starting the Christmas shopping? I think so.

Will keep you posted on Max and his arm! What color will the cast be????? We'll have to wait and see!