Happy 8th Birthday Rosalyn!

We love you Sosa! Love, Uncle James, Aunt Karen, Hayden, Reid and Ella!

Do You Know What Today Is?!

Yep, yep it's the first day of spring. Know what that means? FREE RITA'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For those of you who may not be lucky enough to live near a Rita's, here is what Rita's Italian Ice is all about.


1. This is not your cheesy crunchy-ice-with-syrup in a paper cone Italian Ice. Rita's ice is smooth, fruit filled (provided you choose a fruit flavor, the chocolate is sheer yummy too!), freshly made in the store, yummy-yummy goodness!


2. It is like pregnant woman crack! I speak from personal experience. We lived at Rita's during Ella's pregnancy. Sadly, our local Rita's isn't open during the winter. Ella was born mid May. Thankfully no one was injured during those winter months. However, I did stalk our local Rita's until their opening day.


3. Due to Rita's closing during the winter months, locals stock up! By the Quarts (I believe Gallon's too if you choose)! I'm telling ya, the stuff is DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Now, on to

FREE ICE DAY!!!!!!!!!

Each year on the first day of spring. Rita's hands out FREE ICE. Not just a wee paper cup, a FULL size ice! So, on a windy, 40 degree day (it's almost always 40 degrees on the first day of spring, we've had days in the 60's already, but NOT on free ice day!) you get in a line like this

With, initially, unhappy children that look like this

and FREEZE while waiting and being entertained by "The Ice Guy"

all to receive the sheer yummy-yummy goodness of Rita's Italian Ice!!!! So, 2 cotton candy and 1 chocolate ice later my kids looked like this





Look! Smiles! Frozen smiles, but SMILES none the less! :)

Now, notice all the kids in line in the first picture. It's Friday. The kids had off school. Now, I'm not saying the school was closed for free ice day, but ya know.... what other reason could it possibly be?!

It truly is THAT good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, if you don't live near a Rita's go here for more info. www.ritasice.com don't forget to beg them to come to your area! I'm telling ya, you won't be disappointed!

Pull Up A Chair, It's Been Awhile

Wow! It's been way too long! My days have become a blur. Each day seems to be the same. Wake-up, get ready, get kids up, get kids ready, get in bus, drive bus, come home (or run errands), laundry, lunch, drop Ella off a preschool, cleaning, bills etc, pick Ella up from preschool, back into the bus, drive bus again, return home, make dinner, help with homework (and extras if any:Scouts, Soccer etc.), baths and bed. Then we wake up and do it all over again. Huh! Therefore, not too much new has happened. So here are a few brief updates:


Our 1987 Ford Ranger failed inspection. I know! Who was expecting that?! As if the HUGE rust whole in the door wasn't a sign of impending doom! :) So, for a wee bit we were left with only the van for transportation. Then we, with a LOT of help, were able to obtain this:

It's a very NICE 2006 Ford Freestyle.

Thanks to my hubby and his strategic self-placement at one of my bus stops, I have these pics of my other vehicle.

By no means is this a flattering picture, but a picture none the less. He was also able to snap one of Ella and Reid peeking out the window.

It is a bit hard to make out the faces. Ella is down near the edge of the window and Reid is in the same seat, slightly in front of her. Bus driving, and riding, has been going well for the 4 of us. The kids seem to have adapted to the early schedule. The daylight savings time, time change threw a bit of a wrench in our mornings; however, each morning seems to get a bit lighter then the one before. The warmer temps have been helpful too. I sincerely hope the teens and twenties are completely behind us. The past week or so has been 30's at night and 40's-50's during the day. Spring is definitely on it's way...HOORAY!

Well, in an effort to tie up some loose ends. I shall re-mention my last post. I had a few requests for a picture of my Nasal Herpes affliction. So, here goes:

Yum! Huh? Now I must admit, this photo was taken 2 days after the initial outbreak and AFTER 3 doses of Valtrex. This doesn't even come close to the full grossness of it all! Thank God for meds! Oh! Here is a front shot just to get the full effect of BOTH sores. YUM!

Oh! That's just beautiful! Hahahahahahahahaha! Ick! Just thinking about it makes me ill! Thankfully it only visits ONCE a year!

Well, until next time (hopefully sooner then the last), take care! :)