Love of my life!!!!!

This one goes out to my wife!

55 MONTHS AGO TODAY...

Sara Ann McDermott made me the luckiest guy in the world!  I married her this day 4 years and 7 months ago!

Sara, I talk about and write about our girls enough, but don't get a chance to recognize and celebrate how meaningful and happy my life is with you in it and all of the things you have blessed me with!

Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we???

MY BEAUTIFUL BRIDE!



LOOK AT THAT HOTTIE PATOTTIE ON THE BEACH!!!!

CABO SAN LUCAS - OUR HONEYMOON!

TRYING TO KEEP PACE AND LOOK AS GOOD AS SARA!

JUST LETTING EVERYONE ELSE KNOW WHO SARA IS IN CABO WITH...

WE WERE DISTRAUGHT THAT WE HAD TO LEAVE....



LOOK AT HOW GOOD SHE LOOKS EVEN WHEN PREGNANT WITH TWINS!

OUR FAMILY IN SUMMER OF 2008

MOTHER'S DAY - 2010

MOTHER'S DAY - 2011 - HOW FAST THEY GROW!

I'M MARRIED TO MY LIFE-LONG PARTNER AND LOVE OF MY LIFE!!!  I WANTED TO CELEBRATE YOU TODAY, SARA, ON OUR 55th MONTH TOGETHER (OFFICIALLY)!!!

YES!!! - ANOTHER RAINY & COLD MAY DAY...

Is this weather legal?  I mean seriously - is it????

I thought March/April/May were months that pointed us to the warm weather......ummmmmmm......

HELLOOOOO - IT IS ALMOST JUNE!!!!

So, I figured I'd take it into my own hands and say good-bye to FALL/WINTER/SPRING with some nice memories of this awfully LONG cold, rainy season!!!!

Take your hoodies off girls - it is almost June - time to get outside and enjoy the sunshine....

Put your sleeping bags away girls, take off your long sleeve shirts, and let's go run through the sprinklers!!!

You too Kinsley - time to take off those wintery jammies and replace it with a tank, shorts, and flip-flops!

Good-bye snow pants, jackets, hats, mittens, and boots!  HELLO SUMMER!!!!

You too Mommy - take off your wintery outdoor gear and help us welcome the summer heat!

You're getting close Kinsley - don't look confused - really - the sun is coming, the heat is coming so let's shed that jacket and hat!

BRING ON THE HEAT - I WANT TO SWEAT AND FEEL MUGGY AND HOT!!!!!!

Bathtub Location is EVERYTHING!

Ady, Riley, and Kinsley are still little enough that they all 3 still fit in the tub together and are still at the stage of LOVING BATHS!

No matter what time of day it is, Sara or I could ask any one of the girls if they wanted to take a bath and they respond with a resounding and emphatic YES!

However, that is when the trouble begins, because it is scamper for the bathroom, while removing clothes as quickly as possible so that they can get a seat next to the "ALL IMPORTANT FLOWING WATER"!  It use to be where Ady and Riley automatically got the best seats in the house (picture below), but now

Kinsley is old enough to understand what she has been missing and wants a piece of the action.  Sooooooo, now Kinsley automatically gets a Row 1, Seat 1, while Ady and Riley have to take turns sitting next to her.

See all of those toys - no need for those - a successful bath contains only a cup each so that they can fill it, pour/dump/splash on one another and then repeat process!

No matter how much water ends up on my clothes and the floor and no matter how much they don't listen to me while there is water going everywhere and no matter how frustrated I get sometimes because they're doing everything but listen, this picture makes it all worthwhile - what a bunch of adorable cutie-pies huh?!?!

My girls need new waterbottles - HELP!!!!

I'm ABSOLUTELY sick of our cabinet of water bottles, sippy cups, etc.  And we have a boatload of them - it is amazing to me how you just continue to hold on to these things and continue to buy more because Dora and Boots, or Elmo, or flowers, or pictures of animals are on them.  My question is - AM I BUYING DESIGNS, OR AM I BUYING A WATER BOTTLE? 

All I want is something that is going to hold whatever type of liquid that I decide to put in there until one of my thirsty daughters decides to take a sip.  Is that really too much to ask?

Now, I'm not a science guy - but with our technology, there has to be a water bottle like that, but we don't have it!

These are the water bottles and/or sippy cups that we have....

• A leaker
• A spitter
• A spiller
• A sloppy sweater
• A squirter
• A ringer

About a year ago, Sara and I broke down - we did - we went out and got a Camelbak at Dick's Sporting Goods - fantastic - it was on clearance/sale (it can't be clearance if a water bottle still costs over $10 right?) for like $14.99.  We spent $32 once you include tax and pretty soon we're going to be paying federal, state, import/export, company, and private investor taxes so that it will end up at like $43.  O.K. - that is for another time!

 

So we have had them for a year - a blue one for Riley and a pink one

for Ady (Ady's exact one is pictured, besides the picture on the water bottle - I'm sure that cost an extra $1 for some other tax).

Now, unless I'm mistaken - this doesn't have a warranty right?  Is there a time limit until it goes bad?  The company's description is this:

The Camelbak Kids’ Water Bottle is the most advanced sippy cup we’ve ever seen, and your upholstery will be thankful for it. This water bottle combines the patented CamelBak Big Bite™ Valve with a stem tube and a shut-off vavle. Easy for kids to use and easy for parents to clean, this bottle eliminates drips and spills—kids just bite and sip and the tasty beverage flows, no tipping involved. The wide mouth bottle makes refills a snap as well. So your kids stay hydrated and happy.

THIS IS IT - THIS IS THE ONE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR AND TALKING ABOUT!!!!

The only problem is, is that this isn't it - these are the ones that I was describing above - they spit, squirt, leave rings, leak, sweat, and spill - UNLESS - there is a certain time limit that they begin to go bad, like I said we have had them for about a year now.

I have been complaining and whining about these water bottles, which we fill with juice for the girls everyday, and everyday I get squirted at, I wipe up rings of juice they leave behind, I find sticky spots all over the place, etc.

ARGGHHHEHAMAKSDMAL;KSDHALKJELKASDFJ;N;LAKJFAJ;ALKFJ!!!!!!!

I'm ready for ideas - anybody got a good water bottle out there that I should invest in? 

2 MONKEYS & 1 LADYBUG...

A BLAST FROM THE PAST -

HALLOWEEN...

                                              ADY      KINSLEY     RILEY

It has been about 4 months - WOW - need to catch up! 

O.K. - so very, very cute costumes right?  Well - Sara has really turned into one heck of a bargain shopper and once again she has come through in absolute SHINING COLORS!  I believe the costumes were about $8 on sale - WOW!!!!  And of course Kinsley got the "hand-me-down" from Ady & Riley last year.

I think Kinsley will continue to get "hand-me-downs" and that is just the way it is!  I am 1-of-5 - stuck right in the middle and I got hand-me-downs throughout - they are just fine!  But don't worry Kinsers, you'll get plenty of new stuff as well!

Trick-or-Treating went well - Kinsley was in the wagon and the girls walked or took turns in the wagon.  And forget about tricks - we were all about the treats!!!!

They made out like bandits because we took them to all of our friends/neighbors homes and they got handfuls of stuff, however the problem was usually one went in the bag/bucket and 1-2 went in their mouths!

Too much fun!!!!

We even took a pit-stop at Grandpa's.....

APUS HISTORY....

Welcome Aboard my......DAH, DAH, DAH........

 APUS HISTORY STUDENTS!!!!!!!

I need to catch up all of my readers......ummm.....Sara (I believe you're my only true fan - so here you go).....I have started our blogging project with my A.P. Students and how history applies to their lives.

All of my other readers.....ummmmm.......well......just to cover my bases just in case there is another person who stumbles upon this blog!

I am a High School Social Studies Teacher @ Ozaukee High School, which is a small-town school school district embedded in South Eastern Wisconsin, in the Greater Milwaukee Area.  I teach A.P.U.S. History as well as several other classes and we have our A.P. Test the first week in May every year......so......I always try to find other projects and ideas to keep them engaged - BLOGS - What a great idea!

Amanda L., Amanda N., Amber, Ben, Connor, Grimmers, Justin, Marissa, Sara, Sarah, and Spencer - WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF BLOGGING!! 

CHANGE OF PLANS - I CREATED A NEW BLOG - DEDICATED SOLEY TO MY HISTORY CLASSES!!!!

http://www.kettyskrazyhistory.blogspot.com/

VISIT EARLY AND OFTEN!!!!!

I know you are just ooozing with excitement - I could tell from most of your first posts! 

I can't believe how much of a "Debbie Downer" you guys/gals are - get out of your shell and adjust a little, mix it up, and find the positives!

OK - give me feedback - what would interest you about this blogging???  This is your chance to make this better and a suggestion CAN'T be to "not do it" or along those lines!!!!

:)

EARRINGS - PART II...

WOW - we have the toughest girls in the world!  Well at least yesterday at 4:30 and 4:45 they were the toughest!

We carried out the plan as we established it.  Riley would go in with Mommy and get her ears pierced while I sat in the van and kept Kinsley and Ady busy with their little DVD players.  I would wait for the call when the coast was clear and bring in Ady and Kinsley so that Ady could get hers done.

Phone rings.....

I answer and ask about Riley and Sara was in shock, laughing saying Riley didn't flinch, didn't whimper, didn't whine - NOTHING!

So we walked in and Riley is sitting on the chair chomping on a sucker, smiling like she is queen of the world.  And sure enough she let us know that she "didn't cry or nothing".

Ady smiles at her and says "Good job Riley" a little sheepishly as I think it started to settle in that she was next.

Ady picked out orange earrings (Riley of course had purple) - each respectively with their favorite color!  While they were prepping Ady, Sara was giving me the details with Riley.  They asked Riley to count to 5 and their plan was that they were going to pierce at 3.  So Riley and the women counted.

1...........2..............3(chuk, chuk).........4................5.....then Sara says smiling and in disbelief, "Riley you're done you can stop counting!"  Without hesitation, Riley says, "Momma, can I have my sucker now?"  I guess the two ladies busted a gut in disbelief and that is how we walked in on Riley - in the chair, chomping on her sucker, happy as can be, gloating that she "didn't cry or nothing".

Ady's turn - I'm telling you - it happened the same way - WOW!  From the story that Sara told me and the reaction from the ladies - it must have been identical!  Ady continued to count, didn't flinch, didn't whine, didn't whimper - NOTHING!  The ladies were laughing again in disbelief and complimenting both girls on how good they were - What a great experience!!!!!

We celebrated by going out for dinner and ice cream - we had a great night!

My predictions were way off - like completely on the other extreme off!  Ady and Riley were FANTASTIC!

NICE WORK GIRLS!  DADDY IS SO PROUD OF HIS TOUGH LITTLE GIRLS!!!!