This past weekend....

Tanner had his company holiday party Friday night.  It was at the Sheraton downtown.  The banquet room had view of the circle with the Christmas tree that I thought was pretty awesome.  We had a nice night of dinner and fake gambling. 

Meanwhile Caedmon stayed at granny and pop pop's house.  The next day I picked him up and brought him home.  Tanner drove up separately and stayed to help his dad put the hardwood floors in their kitchen.  While daddy was away, Caedmon and I worked on a little Christmas project.  He loves it. 

First Visit with Santa

While December 2, 2014 is my mother's birthday who would have been 64, it is also Caedmon's first time seeing Santa.  It makes me happy to know that it will be a memorable day for sure.  On that morning, I found in my Facebook newsfeed (from the Indy with Kids page) that it was Community Tuesday.  Not sure what that means but it said the Indiana State Museum and some others were half off admission.  So I decided to drop all plans for the day and head there to see Celebration Crossing.  Caedmon got to see Santa in his house (even though he wasn't having it which I suspected due to separation anxiety), ride a train, and play in Santa's playground.  Caedmon loved it!  Here are some pictures.

100th Post!!

This is the 100th published post!  Let's make it a funny and entertaining one.   Enjoy!

Okay well I had some more videos to show but YouTube is so f***ing stupid!  GGRRR!  I really do not understand it sometimes, it baffles me.  The videos were of Caedmon dancing to I'm sexy and I know it by LMFAO and I'm too sexy by Right Said Fred.  Something about copyright issues.  First of all, I have my videos set to unlisted and I am not selling them or making any money.  Second, what about all those videos out there with music in the background and people dancing.  I can think of numerous examples.  There are wedding dances with people using songs like re-enacting the Dirty Dancing song Time of our Lives.  Or the Numa Numa guy.  I can find a few workout videos that are technically supposed to be bought such as from Jillian Michaels.  So really YouTube?  Go f*** yourself.  Rant over.  Hope you at least enjoyed the one video above.  :-)

It's been awhile....

Things got crazy the past couple of months with me getting a part time job, getting Caedmon used to daycare, Caedmon's 2nd Birthday, final camp trip, visiting family and friends, Thanksgiving, quitting that part time job, etc.  Whew! 

I really liked the job but felt it was best that I resign.  I didn't know if I could trust the agency based on some feedback from some previous co-workers that know the agency.  And from some things I dealt with myself such as nobody could make up their mind on who was going to train me.  And the fact that they made it sound like they needed more help and had plenty of hours for me but then they couldn't even guarantee me 12 hours.  12 HOURS??!!  Seriously??!!  That isn't even part time and that is all I asked for to make daycare worth it.  Screw them.  Since I left I felt better about the decision anyway because now Caedmon is in the separation anxiety phase and I dreaded dropping him off at daycare.  Glad I don't have to do that now anyway. 

So I think that about sums up everything for now.  Stay tuned for more details on some of these things. 

Happy Birthday Tanner!

Better late than never.  On Tanner's birthday Caedmon and I surprised him at work with balloons and a homemade card.  We then went out to lunch at Bazbeaux pizza.  I made lasagna and cheesecake for dinner.  Then to continue his birthday festivities, see previous blog post about Kokomo.  He then got to hang out with friend Jon and the boys while Becky and I were out of town for about 24 hours.  Tanner got to hang out with his friends at Lobster Fest and to end his birthday weekend he went to a gun event in Brazil Indiana.  Tanner got to shoot some fully automatic guns and .50cal sniper rifles.  He said he had a blast!

What happens in Kokomo stays in Kokomo

A couple of weekends ago I was blessed with the opportunity to go on a small road trip with my BFF Becky.  First we headed to Kokomo (with our husbands and sons) to the Vietnam Veterans Reunion to see my dad and others.  It is an annual thing they go to and let me tell you it is a sight to see.  I always have a blast.  It is basically a big drunk fest with a bunch of hilarious old men.  You really cannot describe this event, you just have to see it for yourself.  So I knew our friends Becky and Jon would love it and the boys too.  They got to ride on a golf cart and see the military helicopters fly around.  We were even fortunate this year to go up to one of the helicopters and the boys got to get inside of it.  Of course Caedmon wasn't having it but Adrian loved it.  A good time was had but to sum it up the old men will tell you, what happens in Kokomo stays in Kokomo.  :-)

My dad and my uncles

Dad and I

After a couple of hours in Kokomo, Becky and I said bye to our boys and we continued our journey up north to South Bend.  The main reason for the trip was for me to attend a bridal shower for a wedding I am in.  I invited Becky along for the ride so I didn't have to go alone, for a little girl time, and so she could see where I grew up.  We swung by my dads house so she could see the one and only house I grew up in and to pick up a couple of things. Then since my dad was in Kokomo for the weekend we decided to crash at my first sis-in-law Heather's house and have girl time.  We may or may not have had too many margaritas that night and went to bed at 3AM.  At least this time we only watched Sweetest Thing once.  This is becoming Heather and I's new tradition to watch this movie while drinking margaritas.  Last time I hung out with her we watched it 3 times!!!  We weren't really paying attention because we were busy talking and we needed background noise. 

The next morning we managed to get up, get ready, and head to the bridal shower brunch at 11:30AM!  It was a very nice shower with good food.  And I was asked to make the bouquet with the ribbons for the wedding rehearsal.  At first I panicked and didn't know what to do since I was sort of put on the spot.  But after a little assistance and getting it going I got the hang of it and was very proud of myself for it.  I thought it turned it out great and the bride appeared to be excited with it. 

Me and the Kuklas (aka my cousins) and the bouquet

After the shower we headed back to Indy as our boys were attending the Annual Lobster Fest held by our friend Dave.  We agreed to make it back there to visit for a bit and relieve our husbands of kid duty for them to have a good time there.  Dave is from Connecticut and has his pilot's license.  He flies himself to Connecticut and the day before Lobster Fest buys fresh lobster right off the boat very early in the morning.  After Becky and I left we came back to my house and played with boys and hung out for the rest of the weekend.  It was a very busy and eventful weekend to say the least.  :-)

Lobsters on the plane!

Crap! One got loose!

Best Buds!

Stinky!

Here is a video that was just taken tonight that I think is hilarious!  Caedmon and I went to the library today for story time.  I checked out some books and one of them was called Toot!  LOL!  Thought it was funny and had to check it out.  Read it to Caedmon tonight and it was a funny and cute book. If you listen closely after I say, "He keeps laughing at that part," Caedmon says, "Stinky."

TBT #2: The Solomons

This particular TBT post will be about how we became good friends with Becky and Jon Solomon. 

Summer 2009

Fall 2013

Well first of all, Tanner was good friends with Jon's brother through high school so he already knew Jon.  And I think I met Jon briefly for the first time at our wedding.  Tanner and Jon's brother didn't really keep in touch that much.  Then July 4th of 2008 we randomly got together with his brother at a restaurant in downtown Indy.  Jon and Becky were there too.  That was the first time I met Becky.  Then everyone came over to our house afterwards to light some fireworks.  Even Becky and Jon's friends Nate and Jenelle came over who we also hang out with now. 

Some few months later we get home from work one day and see a UPS sticker on the door.  Jon is a UPS supervisor and I think was training a guy on our street this particular day.  On the sticker it said something like, "Hey Cheesenuts!!"  And left his name and phone number.  We didn't call for awhile and when Tanner did, Jon stated that he was worried at first that he left it on the wrong house.  LOL!  I think the next time we got together was for New Years Eve at Nate and Jenelle's house.  Then been hanging out ever since.  And Becky and I almost text each other daily now.

Love these guys (Fall 2012)

Fall 2012

 Summer 2009

Becky is crazy! (Summer 2009)

Winter 2009

Weirdos (Winter 2009)

Summer 2011

She makes me do crazy things! (Summer 2011)

Summer 2011

Summer 2011

Summer 2011

Probably one of the first pics taken of the 2 of us

I will end with another funny story (although probably only to us) regarding this picture above.  We were going to the Nickelback concert and got there too early.  So we needed to kill about 30 minutes.  We drive just a little bit down the road and find this abandoned house with all this overgrown brush, grass, etc.  We park in the drive and get out and chill for a bit.  These stupid sweat bees start buzzing around me and I say, "Stupid sweat bees!  It is probably because of all of these shittin' weeds!"  Becky finds this hilarious for whatever reason and now we will say shittin' weeds from time to time for a laugh. 

Throwback Thursday!

Maybe I will occasionally start doing TBT posts as long as if there is a story to go with it.  We will see how long this lasts.  Heck I still have about 3 unfinished posts to work on. I always get a great idea for a post, start it and then take forever to finish it or don't post it at all. 

Anyway I was just thinking about my mom this morning when I was loading the washer.  She would always give me crap for putting too many clothes in the washer so there wouldn't be enough room for them to agitate around.  So of course I had the washer filled almost to the top with no water added yet in order to get it all done in one load.  I looked at it and thought mom would give me so much crap for this right now.  LOL!  So I went ahead and took some clothes out.  Hopefully she will be proud of me.  Love you mom!

My wedding rehearsal dinner July 2005

By the way we were given that frame at her funeral.  I put this picture in it and has remained in there displayed in my living room ever since.  Okay how about a couple more funny memories with mom that first come to my mind?  One of my personal favorites is when she was sitting at one end of the kitchen table and I was at the other end wrapping a Christmas present for a friend.  I think it was a pair of earrings.  After I got done wrapping it, I said something like, "Dangit!  I cannot believe what I just did!"  Mom says, "What?"  I said, "I just wrapped this box and forgot to put the earrings inside the box."  She starts laughing and calls me a Pollock (have no idea how to spell that word) because Cichos is Polish. 

Before we knew I had an eye disease, I would all the time drop things on the floor near me and wouldn't be able to find them on the floor.  I would always call mom into my room and ask her to help me find it.  She would come into the room and immediately see it.  Then she would always say, "Don't be afraid to look a little if you can't find it."  I think she always thought maybe I was being lazy or something because it would be clearly out in the open.  But now when I look back at all those times I realized I couldn't find things on the floor because of my vision and my blind spots.  Explains everything!

One time mom and I were in the car going to Meijer and I was driving.  Sometimes when I am in the car driving and talking (especially with someone I haven't seen in awhile), I tend to not pay attention to where we are going.  I am too busy watching the road and talking I forget where we are going.  So this particular time I am rambling on to mom and right when were passing Meijer she interrupts and says, "Aren't we going to Meijer?"  I am like, "Crap!" 

One of my favorite not normal pics

I don't know who took this picture but when they were taking it I believe I was purposely posing like this.  And what I love is the look on moms face as she is laughing at me.  This picture makes me smile every time I see it.  And it looks like dad was about to answer the phone or just hung up the phone.  :-)

Lastly, another one of my favorite moments was when we were in the Smokey Mountains.  We were doing this scenic drive through the mountains with our car windows down.  We approached this lookout point and there appeared to be a family spreading ashes onto the mountains.  It was a little windy and the ashes were flying around and the people were even coughing while dumping it.  First dad makes a comment about being here at the wrong time.  Then as were parking the car, he starts singing "Dust in the Wind."  Mom and I start laughing hysterically while trying not to make a scene as this family is spreading some person's ashes onto the mountain.  If memory serves I think we decided not to get out of the car and we left in respect for the other family.  I will never forget that moment and how much we laughed at it.  I am just so grateful we got to go on this trip together the fall before she passed away. 

Love the look on her face in this pic too.  Most likely laughing at me or dad being dorks as usual.  :-)   This was taken in our cabin in Gatlinburg, TN (Fall 2007).

My silly mother wearing Stone's sunglasses