Penn State.......ROOOAAR!

Penn State kicked some O'crap State arse this weekend!! (Go Joe Pa, Go Joe Pa, Go Joe Pa!) In the meantime, I think our cats got alittle bit into the action, lol. Here's some candid shots I thought I'd pass along for fun.
The Nittany Lion (yes that's his name but we call him Nitters!). Hey when you're a PSU fan nothing is beyond being named Nittany!! C is lucky we didn't name him Nittany.Cole (the black cat) and Sundae girl going at it. For some unknown reason these two decided they wanted to spar. Don't get me wrong, our cats have their moments but never anything like this so I just had to grab the camera and get in on the action!
Why is it that I'm always doing laundry? (other than living with a teenage boy who was active in sports!) Cole has gotten into a habit now of jumping into the nice warm basket of freshly washed/dried clothes. This basked I just pulled from the dryer and was so full of clothes he was trying to wedge himself into the corner as much as possible....argh!!

Celebrating 1st!

We got the pleasure to help our little cousin Madi Kay celebrate her 1st birthday this weekend! (her actual birthday is on Tuesday). She's the cutest little thing and looks soooo much like her mommy Kari, Aunt Nik (mommy's sister) and has her daddy's beautiful blue eyes, I'm thinking that Wil and Kar better start stock piling up the ammunition now!


Here's a picture of Papa (the eldest in our family) with his little great-granddaughter birthday girl Madi Kay (one of the youngest in our family)


Madi's gotten the squish the cake part all down! Her great-grandmother grammie Millie baked Madi her own 1st birthday cake so she could destroy one all by herself!














Here's Madi doing her impression of Pooh's "think, think, think". Frosting in the hair mom, makes the hair softer!

Soccer season has come to a close :(

It's official soccer season has come to an end, boo! I can't begin to say how immensely I enjoyed being a soccer mom and traveling all over this year to all the games, even sitting through the sun, rain, and yes I'm going to say the 30 degree weather at the end was a bit much but hey I just kept adding those layers of clothes!

I can't wait for next year (and I know you all are sitting on pins and needles waiting for the next round of pics...hehe!). It's like each one of those boys becomes your own and even though Thursday was our last game, I already miss everyone of them!

(all 6 of the Senior boys Varsity soccer players at Senior night receiving their jackets!)


Senior night came and went and as posted before, C was excited for senior night for the chance to start because the announce the JV starters names BUT there was a hitch this year! The JV game never got played during Senior night. The girls soccer team needed that time slot to make up a game that had previously gotten cancelled. We were all bummed. I know C was quite disappointed, but we all know there's next year!


I can say though, that on our last game of the season C got to start (pictured here)! I was excited for him and loved to see that all his hard work had paid off. He got to play for almost all of this game.


We are so proud of you C by the dedication, hard work, sportsmanship and all around great team player you displayed during the year!! We couldn't of asked for a better teenagerhino soccer player! We love you!!

~ Mom and Dad

Fall Ball (with pics)

Well the infamous Fall Ball has come and gone and we still DO NOT know who the mysterious two girls where/are that like C. Oh well, their loss because look at how deviously handsome he cleans up to be (do wish I could of gotten him in for a haircut before hand but hey......)

C had a good time as much reporting as I got out of him and by the sounds of things nothing "major" happened. There's talks in the works of a winter formal, yes formal, which means he would be wearing a tux!! I haven't seen him in a tux since our wedding day over 7 years ago. This one will definitely bring on the tears!! Guess I need to be stocking up on the Ben & Jerry's as we speak!


~Danine

Busy, busy little bees!

The last two weeks have been even more busy than usual (yes that's humanly possible), but oh so much fun at the same time.

First off, Ben and I got to head down to Pittsburgh due to Ben doctors appointment early on a Monday morning. We decided just to head down on Sunday night and spend the night but, being as brilliant as we are (not really but hey it's wishful thinking at this age!) we decided to try and hook up with some old friends Ken and Jess, that we haven't seen in 7 years!  Ben and Ken were housemates at PSU and Jess was friends with them all (actually Ken and Jess grew up together in Pittsburgh area).  It was so wonderful to see Ken and Jess, and it was like old times again!  We got to see their house, Eddie (their huge cat), we all went to the Pittsburgh Zoo, out to dinner at Chili's (which neither Ben or I have been there since PSU days!) and then the kicker....Jess took us all to a haunted house, that she has helped in the creation and knows the owners, and volunteers some of her time (it's a long complicated story, I don't have the time to go into it but just know that Jess is an amazing person!).  Scarehouse is ranked the 5th best haunted house in America and I can tell you, I personally HATE haunted house but can't wait to go back to Scarehouse!!  I do highly recommended buying advance tickets or even paying for the R.I.P. treatment (what we were lucky enough to be treated to!) once you get there!  We got the honor of meeting the owners and some of the actors too and I can only say they are all AMAZING, kind, gracious and simply wonderful!!

We also got our family pictures taken FINALLY (another thing that hasn't been done in 8 years!) by a local photographer, Katie Mihalak (I'm not going to mention we went to high school together Katie or how old we are!).  She was gracious enough to put up with my boys and I don't think we detered her from photography.  If you know anyone looking for some pictures to be taken, give Katie a call, couldn't recommended anyone with more of a vision, God given talent, delightfulness, and over all great human being (let alone her prices are great!).

Plus being parents of the mighty teenage rhino, we've been running him around to miscellaneous events like the Fall Ball (more on that to come w/pictures!) and other sporting events.  I did realize a new appreciation for my parents durning the Fall Ball though.  The dance didn't end until 11 p.m. and as I was struggling to keep awake (any other night it wouldn't of been a problem you know) to make that 5 minute drive to the school to pick up the kiddo, light dawns upon me *ping*.  My father used to have to keep his patootie up till all hours of night (and that was the only way I could go too because that was always the deal breaker "if your dad will pick you up"), drive 15 - 20 minutes over to the school (my high school with in a whole different town) to come and get my arse from whatever I asked my parents to let me do that night (ie: football game, dances, etc...).  Needless to say, I just said a big thank you to my dad yesterday for all those miles and long nights he logged (I'm still not admitting the gray hair on his head or lack of hair is my fault though...I'm standing strong on that one..hehe!). 

Lesson learned:  you really are old because the music your teenager plays is too loud and you ask him to turn it down or your so old YOU have to blare it so YOU can hear it!

Soccer Pictures

Just sharing some soccer picture of C from the last couple of games. Showing you all his improved skills, yo! (ok, I'm not kool enough for that lingo but I tried!) Hope you enjoy!


back pedaling to go after the opponent!


taking the ball down the field

not sure if he's trapping, juggling, or passing here

helping defend the goal (this was the game we traveled near Pittsburgh for!)

keeping the ball in play, trying to send it off

A VERY important lesson learned tonight

Tonight, we as parents just moments ago taught C one of his most important life lessons..............how to toilet paper someone's house correctly!

Yeppers, we took C tonight to t.p. his grandparents (my in-laws) house. My father-in-laws 50th birthday is tomorrow (Happy Birthday Dad!!) and we had to make it as special as possible, and of course let the neighborhood know. Well actually he asked for it, when my in-laws did the same thing to our house months ago for the hubby's birthday so.......yea, karma sucks!

Needless to say, it was great to see C, running around tping the shrubs, running it through the door handle to the front door, and throwing the rolls up into the tree. I was quite impressed with his skills! Of course, when the first car came into sight he was ready to run for cover, but we had to explain to him that this t.p. mission was different, no duck and cover. We did ended up getting busted though by the neighbors when they arrived home (luckily they've lived next door to my in-laws forever so they understood!).

What a memorable night!! How many kids can say their parents took them on their first toilet papering experience? Gotta love it!

~Danine

It's all in the heart (even if there's a whole in it!)

9th grade seems, so far, to be going wonderfully for C.  He's enjoying all his classes, and for the most part he's taking all honors courses.

He finally made a break through on finding the key on helping him relax on his math tests......chewing gum!  Yes, something as simple as chewing gum has made such a difference in his outlook on math tests and his grade!!  If you all didn't know, since 5th grade, we've struggled with C freezing up on math tests (no other classes did he do this with, just math, and math is his best subject and has been in honors math!).  

Other good news...C got to start in two JV games!  We are soooo proud of him!!  I can't express how far he has come.  He knows he still has a way to go and to still keep working at earning a starting spot for each and every game.  Right now a goal of his is to start for the last home game of the season because the JV starters get their names announced (they announce the starters for the Varsity team every game but not the JV team).

Who would of ever thought 14 years ago when he was diagnosised with his VSD, that C would be at this place in his life.  It shows that even with a heart that was made imperfect, you can accomplish anything you strive for.  As this is what I've tried telling C from day one, while he endured the testing (which will last the rest of his life), the annual doctor's appointments, the extra precautions to sickness, etc..., I explained to him that someday, somehow, all this that he's going through he will be able to help someone else.  Whether it's to explain to someone what it's like to get an EKG.  We know we've been blessed to this point in our lives and don't take it for granted.  Now, C is blessing us with what a wonderful man he is growing into.  Because no longer do I have my little boy, but I have a young teenage son on the brink of his adulthood and OH BOY, I can't wait for these next 3 years!

~Danine

Not forgotten....just waterlogged!

I haven't forgotten my promise to keep up on the posting. Just the usual excuse. Monday, we traveled near Pittsburgh for a soccer game (it ended up being a 1 1/2 trip for us) so Tuesday we were suppose to get our family pictures done (muchly anticipated since it's been 8 years!!) but the weather didn't cooperate.

Last night was soccer (and rain, rain, rain!) again. I promise Sunday I will give you some interesting news and some more pictures! So on that account........I'm off to try and learn how to snorkle I'm thinking of inventing a new sport. Snorkling Soccer.

~Danine