It's gonna happen

Stay tuned to this very site for posts about all things Priser. School is almost out, summer is about to start, and we're going on VACATION!!!! It might be June, July, or August, but I think I'm gonna start this thing up again. Peace out.

I give up

I tried, but my time is not allowing me to share all of the excitement that goes on in my life daily or weekly. Between work and my 'presidency' and Natalie going back to school and Shannnen's weekly trips to Kentucky, my 'free' time is pretty much non-existant. If you want to know anything about me, call me, leave me a message, and I'll call you back--next summer.
Thanks for reading.

I am alive, still

It was a tough week, but knowing that the kids were well taken care of helped me immensely. Today has been spent cleaning and tidying up all of the 'stuff' that was set aside all week because I was too tired to lift a finger when I got home every night. Tomorrow I don't have to be at work until 1, so I'll be back to a 'normal' in-school schedule. No events this week, just Willowcreek Orientation and a board meeting. Friday night we do have a football scrimmage, but I don't really count that as an 'event.'
Life is good, I am just TIRED.
Have a super week, everyone.

I'm alive... but it's all over in THREE days!

Sorry I've been lacking in my blogging skills. Honestly, not much to report. We're getting ready for me to start back to work on Monday morning. EARLY. Like I'm leaving my house at 6am EARLY. I've been trying to spend as much quality time with the kiddos as possible and truthfully, have been quite busy with all things Willowcreek. No need to go into that, but I can't imagine being the President of the Willowcreek Preschool Board by myself. My co-pres is amazingly efficient and we work very well together. We knew coming in that it wasn't going to be pretty... but for goodness sakes--school hasn't even started yet!!! ANYWAY, once we get settled in to the school year, all will be fine.


The big event of the week was our Tuesday night on the town with none other than NEIL DIAMOND. Don't be jealous, people. Actually, it wasn't bad. He has SOOOOO many songs that I didn't think I'd know all the ones he sang. I think I knew more than I didn't... but there were a few times I was like, UH, can't you sing something GREAT that I know???? Oh well. Shannen and I had a great evening out and my dad did a super job with the kids. Who cares if they were still up when we got home? They were clean, fed, and happy. And on summer vacation. No one was any worse for the wear (maybe dad...). Thanks again!

Wednesday was Landry's 18 month doctor appointment. Would you guess that the little guy weighs just UNDER 25 pounds? He is almost 34 inches tall. The weight was under-average and the height was right on. One quick shot and we were done until December.

No big plans for the weekend. I suppose the regular stuff-cleaning up "stuff" and vacuuming and finishing laundry. We might go to the pool, might not. I have a coaches' meeting Sunday night in Greenfield, so THAT should be fun...

That's it from here. It may be a while. It may not. We'll see how next week turns out. Pray for me and for RAIN. Take care.

Quick recap....

I'm sure you can find all of this information on my siblings' blogs, but if you don't read 'em, you won't....

Thursday night started the fun. Susan and the boys made it all the way from Texas. Mom came over and we made food for the rehearsal dinner on Friday. After Susan and Joanie got back from a quick trip to Tipton, we visited and decided it was late enough to go to sleep!

Friday was spent "getting stuff done" and trying to enjoy ourselves at the pool. The boys LOVED it and my kids, having not gone to bed until about 11 the night before and getting up at 7am.... did NOT love it. Naps followed and then we started to get ready for the rehearsal/dinner. The rehearsal was good, I suppose. Natalie said so. Dinner was GREAT. It was warm, but the frozen lemonade and strawberry daquris were super. After another long evening, we headed to our cool house.

Saturday was more running--beer, wine, soda and ice to the reception site as well as some "consulting" on decorations and wedding issues. By the time we got home, it was about time to get ready for the wedding. As you can well imagine, the flower girl did NOT do her duties. She tried, but just couldn't go down that aisle. With some hand holding and her mother and brother tagging along, she walked down without so much as ONE petal taken from the basket.... maybe next time. The wedding went off perfectly after that, and the reception was a super duper par-tay. The food, decor, drink, and guests were top notch.

Sunday was the beginning of the end--we hosted one more bash. This one was for my WONDERFUL and INSPIRING and AWESOME parents who celebrated FORTY (IN A ROW) years of marriage TO EACH OTHER. A fun afternoon of relaxing and catching up and eating and wedding-present-opening was the perfect way to end the weekend. Thanks to all who came and sorry to all who missed any of the activities. It was a MAGICAL weekend!

Today Mom and I took the kids to the Children's Museum. We went to most of the exhibits, ate good pizza, and even got goodies at the end. All (except me) are now "resting" at my house while I am here at work for a while.

Tonight and tomorrow night I am co-presenting a student athletic trainer workshop with a colleague from New Pal HS. Unfortunately, this is the beginning of the end of summer '08. Oh well... we're that much closer to Purdue football!!!

That's the skinny from here. Hope you are all doing well. I know I am. Take care.
(sorry no pix-can't do that from school!)

MMMM good....

Our weekend started out on a good note. The kids were REALLY good on Friday night and we had had a super day--swimming, NAPPING, having Fazoli's with Mimi--Shannen got home from Lexington in time for books and songs and minutes. Natalie decided sleep was so overrated and she did NOT want go to bed. Luckily for her, the WONDERFUL neighbors next door came over and asked if the Princess wanted to have S'mores (even though it was 9:30pm). I decided, what the heck--what does she have to get up for? We went over and once it got to 11pm, decided she needed to really get some sleep and our friends next door needed to get cleaning up.

Yesterday was a quick trip to Flower Factory--Mom got a few more things for the wedding and I started picking up tablecloths and napkins for Purdue tailgating. It is still a few months away, but we've got to start planning!!!! We had dinner out and then a quick trip to Staples for some office supplies for Shannen. The only problem with our evening out--the TORRENTIAL rain/thunderstorm during/after our adventure. Apparently Landry didn't like the rain either--or maybe his dinner was the problem. We had a LATE night/EARLY morning. L-dog decided he was WIDE awake and must have been talking to his sister about the "overrated-ness" of sleep. By 3am I decided I'd rather hear him cry than deal with him in my room anymore. He was finally down by 3:30....

Today was the "catch up" day--finishing laundry, cutting the grass, taking out the trash, blah blah blah. Tomorrow starts "Wedding Week '08." Look for photos next week. Have a good week everyone. We'll see you soon!!!!

Still nothing--which is good!

I'd write, but I don't have much to write about. We are kind of "in limbo" between our end of school year gatherings/meetings/hostessing duties and our next extravaganza--THE WEDDING/ANNIVERSARY weekend!!!

Natalie got a new bookcase. It came already assembled. You would think this would be a good thing, but when you have a minivan with two kids in car seats, it isn't so great. We drove down the road with some rope holding the hatch down and the bookcase in. THe man was SO nice to give me rope, but said I had to do it.... Needless to say, we got it home. I moved it from the car to the house on a hand truck with two flat wheels. Two flat wheels are WAAAAYYYY better than nothing, I decided. I then figured out how to "heave ho" it up the steps to the first landing, flip it over, and "heave-ho" to the upstairs. The best part of the deal--a NEW spaceship/puppet show box/house/slide! I personally LOVE that all of the books (and more!) fit on the shelves and I truly belive we will have a bit of organization now.

Shannen went to Louisville for a few days, got back last night, and proceded to make Landry stay up until Midnight. I don't think he did this on purpose, but L-dog was adamant about NOT going to bed. I finally put him in bed about 11 and went to bed myself. While watching the news from my room, I could STILL hear him. He finally tuckered out around 11:45.... And got up this morning at 8. We just got back from the pool and he went down without so much as a wimper... maybe he'll sleep until 6.

Natalie is at a friend's house right now (due back any minute). She has gymnastics tonight and Shannen is taking her. Seriously, this is how exciting our lives are right now.

GUess that's it. The countdown is on for the visitors and gatherings and celebrations and such. I'm really looking forward to all of it! Take care--see many of you soon!!!

total success

The brownies and cheesecake were well received at the party. We had a nice time at dinner, visited for a bit, and went to Hillcrest Country Club (down the street from the party) and watched some really LOUD and BIG fireworks. The reason for the loudness and bigness--we were about 100 yards from where they set off the 'works. Natalie decided she DID like fireworks, Landry--not so much. He didn't hate them, but was somewhat startled at the beginning and didn't really recover. HOnestly, it was RIGHT down the street from the party and the show was a as good as any I've ever seen. I bet it lasted 20 minutes and they spared NO expense. A good time.

Off to the pool in a bit. We're takin' it EASY this weekend. Have a good one.

Nothing... I mean NOTHING

To report from here. I've been waiting for some EVENT to occur to write about, but honestly, we've had nothing of interest to anyone to write about.

Monday Natalie stayed in her pajamas until 4, when we got swimsuits on to go to the pool for about an hour. Tuesday, we spent four hours at the pool and then came home and took naps! Wednesday, Natalie went to visit a friend from school and played at her pool. I took Landry to our pool and we had a nice time just us--the bonus was visiting with my friend Jan from high school, who happened to be there with a friend of hers who lives in our neighborhood.

Thursday was the rainy day, so we (and most of the children in Indianapolis under the age of 6) went to the Children's Museum. It started out as a great trip--both kids doing what they wanted, us taking our time and going at a slow pace, knowing that EVERYONE else had an agenda and we didn't--and then all hell broke loose. Natalie decided at lunch, in front of 500 people, I'm guessing, to throw a HUMONGOUS fit (she could only have 2 oreos, not 4). Seriously, she made the place go quiet for a second. Needless to say, I wasn't going to put up with that, so we packed up our things and slithered out the door. She obviously knew she was in trouble. She got in the car, didn't make a sound, got home, walked straight to her room, and took a nap. They both slept for a bit and then Landry decided it was his turn to throw a fit. Since he couldn't have juice RIGHT NOW, he took it upon himself to scream and screech for about 20 minutes. Shannen got home JUST in time and took us to buy a new bookshelf for Natalie (you know, because she was so good at the museum...) and then to dinner (to celebrate Shannen's official new title DISTRICT MANAGER). We got home in time to call Nana and Papa in Tennessee and set up our Spring Break trip to Disney. We're staying at the Polynesian Hotel if all goes well.
As soon as the kids were in bed, Shannen bought four tickets for March 29-April 5 to Orlando. The total was just over $1100, so I guess that is good. Who knows if Northwest will even be flying in 9 months--or if we'll be charged $100 each for fuel when we get to the airport, but at least we have seats.

OK. That's it from here. Natalie and I made a wave your flag cheesecake and I made brownies for our cookout at Lou and Deb's house tonight. Too bad it's 63 degrees and raining today. I think it should clear up by dinner time, so I'm not too concerned (heck, nothing concerns me anymore)!

We're out. Happy 4th to you and yours!

What a week!!!

So, as many of you know, my sister (one of the strongest people in the entire world--this was confirmed a few days ago) and her family suffered a tragedy that I just shiver to think about. My greatest fear in the entire world is fire. Their house caught on fire. Apparently lightning hit the roof and BAM--that was that. They are SAFE and have found friendships that they might never have found, but for this incident. The garage is gone as well as a few other important rooms. Most of the rest of the house (theirs for TWO weeks now) was, obviously smoke and water-damaged.
Fortunately for them, they have good insurance and no one was hurt. Unfortunately for them, they will have to find a place to live for maybe six months while their Texas castle is being rebuilt. Man, that just SUCKS.

My sister is an amazing person. She has weathered LOTS of things in her life and just keeps going on. I know her faith and her family are huge sources of strength for her, but man, there's got to be more than that. I truly admire what she has done for her family in the last 10 years (moving and moving and moving), but mostly because she has had to do it by herself. Just putting this out there, but if anyone EVER needs moving or packing advice--call this girl!!! But it is SO much more than the moving and logistics and such. She is one of the friendliest people you will ever know and there is no place she has ever been that she didn't find SOMETHING to be involved in or a group of people to hang out with. I just want everyone to know that even though I am the "big" sister, I definitely look up to that woman every day.

OK, enough about her--now about ME!!! This is a pretty busy weekend for us. Tomorrow I am co-hosting a wedding shower for my sister-in-law to be. It should be really fun (and educational)! Because the guest of honor is from Germany, where wedding showers don't exist, this is all new to her. Her mom is here, too, so that should make it doubly exciting!!! We've got games and food and fun and presents, so I think we're ready to rock and roll.


Sunday we're hosting Shannen's family reunion. All week the weather has been predicting sun and warmish (80s) temperatures. Now we're looking at rain and coolish temps... UGH. I certainly don't mind everyone in the house, but it is so much better to be able to sit and eat and have fun OUTSIDE!!!! We'll see. These weather guys aren't good (winter storm=MAYBE one inch of snow OR twelve inches...), so I guess we'll just see what happens Sunday afternoon.

Sunday night I will be hosting the annual board members retreat for Natalie's preschool, Willowcreek. This is the LEAST of my worries, although I don't think that will be the case come Sunday afternoon. We have lots of planning to do and many "strong" personalities on the board. This makes for fun meetings.... Seriously, if I can make it through a family reunion where I know like 5 other people, this should be cake.

OK. I'm off to clean. At least the house looks good. As far as the LONG grass in the backyard, that's another story. Not my job.
Take care, all. Look for all the details next week!