New summer time tradition??? I hope not!

Well It's July, so apparently that means that a family that we like has to move away! :(

Our dear friends The Laudie's are moving to Kansas this weekend! Boooooo!!! They were only in Columbus for a year, but we really enjoyed getting to know them all better! The Mom, Tara, is the kind of friend we wish we all could be! She's crafty, funny, a great cook, and she has adorable kids! Our kids played together so well and that allowed us to have so much fun making something crafty!

I wish we would've had more time together,

but we are so glad we got to be friends with such an amazing family!

Good Luck In Kansas!!! We'll miss you!

The Kids on their last play date!

Family Reunion

They're creepy and they're kooky,

Mysterious and spooky,

They're all together kooky,

The McCord Family.

You know how sometimes you go to a family function and you leave with stories about drunk uncle Fred, or giggle about the crazy cat lady that brought pictures to show you of her 15 cats that she has at home. Perhaps you roll your eyes about how wild so and so's children are!

Well unless I am one or ALL of the persons mentioned above or .....all the crazy people stayed home this year! What an awesome family reunion! My Mom and her husband played host again this year and we had 47 people come to the reunion! Families from Delaware, NY, PA, & WV. Some came up for the day, some from the weekend. We had RVs parked in the drive way, people sleeping in tents, blow up mattress & fold out couches. I was actually a little sad that I live so close because we had to come home each night! :)

It was so awesome to see everyone and thanks to the Internet, we've been able to keep up with one an other's lives over the past 2 years. So we already knew a lot about what had been happening and we were able to skip the awkward "so what have you been up to?" and dive right into, I saw the pictures from when Dani was Annie in her school play.... tell me more.... I just felt way more connected to everyone!

Thank You so much to everyone who came! This weekend reminded me of our visits to Smethport, PA and having 40 people crammed in Grandma & Grandpa McCords house (with one bathroom no less)!!! Wonderful memories and we definitely made a lot more this weekend! See ya in 2012!!!

Happy Fourth of July

This year I celebrated my independence from my tonsils! Having survived my tonsillectomy, I had hardly left the bed or couch for more than a week and was happy to get out and about, even if it was just down to the parking lot by the public safety building. Leah and Ethan were VERY excited about Red, White, and BOOMS!!! Alex had been in Canada with my Mom, so he missed the festivities. My little cuddle bug Ethan posing with Theo & I. The only decent shot of the fireworks. Who knew it would be so hard! This year I have to say I am very thankful for all the men & women who are away from their families for weeks and months at a time protecting not only America, but helping those in places all around the world that need someone to stand up for them. Sgt Mark Pulse the father of my nieces Hannah & Madison, is over in Afghanistan right now.

They have already sacrificed so much in their young lives and now they are being asked to be strong once again. I pray that the time he is gone goes quickly and that thanks to the Internet they are able to keep in close contact with one another!
One of my favorite patriotic sayings it

Home of the Free, Because of the Brave!

and to quote my friend Greg

"Happy 4th of July..... Suck it England! "

Keeping busy!

Well we've been busy so far this summer! My little project has been kind of fun! It's making us get out there are try new stuff. and so far I'm delighted out how fun all our little excursions have been! If you want to see what we've done so far.... www.columbus4kids@blogspot.com

We've had alot of rain the last few weeks so we've watched our fair share of movies and video games. We've also started to really watch what foods we eat and started a "mini-diet" of sorts. Theo has already lost 8lbs. (why do guys always loose it faster?) I honestly don't know if I've lost weight, but I feel better. I've been using Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook to sneak veggies into the stuff and am actually having fun trying to find stuff that is good for us and actually tastes good too! Who knew counting Calories really was NOT that hard?

Construction on the great wall of Cathie is almost complete. We get dirt tomorrow and we'll be able to plant the flowers and get things straightened up once and for all in the front of the house. The neighbors will be so glad!

Alex left Thursday morning for Canada with my Mom... he's gonna be gone for 2 whole weeks! AHHHHHH!!! Yes I've had one minor freak out about it, but I know he's gonna have a blast! And while he's gone I'm going to finally have my tonsils removed. Nothing like putting it off for 12 years! They told me back in 1998 when I lived in Chicago that I should have them removed. It took one 5 week long cold/sore throat back in March to finally push me over the edge. So while I am NOT looking forward to what is about to happen. Hopefully I'll be much healthier on the flip side. I just pray that the drugs are strong and Theo is at least a "little" sympathetic as my nurse. He definitely has the EMT bedside manner! They warned me I'd be down and out for about 10 days so.... don't be concerned if I'm actually quite until July!

As most of you are aware I am a bit of a worry wart and just in case something happens to me.... promise me that every time you see my kids you'll give them a hug for me and tell them a story about something stupid I did or more likely something stupid I said. and play "In my life " at my funeral! Bette Midler's version is my favorite!!! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0iVE3Sw4E0&playnext_from=TL&videos=7bQOSZlXPRg&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh%2Bdiv-1r-1-HM

Dinning alfresco

A few weeks ago our good friends who also happen to be our neighbors (Julie & Laura) gave us the best hand-me-down I've ever gotten in my entire life. A plastic picnic table.

I know, I know, I'm easy to please. I decided instead of putting it in the garage and dragging it out once in awhile... that I'd set it up on the front porch and leave it there all summer long.

And can I just say.....I LOVE.... love... LOVE having a table on the front porch.

The front of the house is in the shade so we dont have to battle the sun in our shade-less back yard and we have all the pretty flowers on the porch. For those of you who know me well, you know how much I adore having a swing on the front porch and have probably talked to every person I know from a porch swing at some point in my life (even if it was just me on the phone with you). There is just something about sitting and swinging and talking with your friends and family. so you can just imagine how much I enjoy having a table right next to my swing.

The kids were absolutly giddy at the idea of eating outside
But we dont just eat there, we go out there to color, watch a thunderstorm, read...you name it we are gonna try it at the "alfresco table" and the best part is that clean up is LITTERALLY squirting everything down with the hose!

Funny side note, everytime we eat out there I say "I just love dinning alfresco" and EVERY stinking time Alex asks me "what's Alfresco?" so on the 4th night out there, I knew before i said it that he would ask and had joked with Theo about it, so when I said it and he asked ...Theo and I got to giggling so hard that I thought one of us was gonna fall out of our seats! Darn kids! :)
(Next time you see Alex ask him what Alfresco means) hehehe

The Graduate

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the 2010 Hilltop YMCA graduating class of 2010!

A little Annoyed

So today there was FINALLY a break in the weather, it's been raining for a couple of days and we were more than ready to get out and enjoy the sun. After school the kids and I went up to upper Arlington to what Leah calls "The Fancy Park" known to the rest of the world as Fancy burg. It's a nice little park with fun playground equipment and we just discovered it a few weeks ago. So Alex decided that with all the trees and stuff it would be fun to play guns with some of the other little boys there. Leah went off and did her thing while Ethan followed Alex around trying to do what Alex did and "secure the fort".

Everything was going just fine and I'd started to zone out about when all of a sudden I hear a woman yell "OH MY GOD that boy has a gun"... well like everyone in the park I turned to see what she was talking about... she started pointing at Alex and said "who's child is this?"... and I mumbled "uh mine" ... she said "Do you know he has a gun?" .. I said " Yeah, he has a couple of toy guns here" and she said "You HAVE to take them away from him... it MUCH to dangerous... it'll scare all the other kids in the park... its just not safe to have weapons at the park" And I kinda sat there for a minute trying to process what was going on and wondering "is she serious?" AND THEN she stood there glaring at me until I hollered "Alex come here and bring your guns please... you didn't do anything wrong just get the guns from the other kids and come here.... he took the guns from 3 or 4 other kids who wall did the "ahhhhh man ... we were playing with them still"... I told him the guns were making some of the Mom nervous and that we need to find something else to play....

I still was trying to process everything when anther Mom walked up to me and said VERY LOUDLY...."That's a bunch of CRAP!!! I just burst out laughing!

I'm sorry but it ridiculous that our kids can't play make believe because ONE mom in the park is wound up a little TOO tightly and reads and believes all of the crap they write in Parent magazine. ALL of our kids are just moments away from dying because we microwave their mac and cheese, or in the blink of an eye a terrible disaster will strike at leave our son crippled for life or a certain kids eye make up will blind my daughter... it's stupid I'm sorry to say.

WHEN will we let our kids be kids again??? Instead of letting them explore their world and help them to appreciate things, we are teaching them to be scared and cynical. Yes bad things do happen EVERY DAY... and its heartbreaking..... but there are so many more wonderful things that happen that don't get nearly enough press or enough of our attention. We are gonna turn our kids into a bunch of wimpy nervous wrecks...... instead of adventurous happy people.

But the cherry on top of this story is about 5 minutes later The mom who had thrown the hissy fit, had her oldest boy handed her his Light saber and said "Mom I don't wanna play Kill 'em anymore" .... I picked up the guns and said "Here you go boys" and cheer rang out amongst the boys and the other mom left in a huff..... sorry lady... light sabers... guns... potato... potato.