Cousins at the gathering...
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Twinkle Twinkle.
Here are some snippets from Grandpa McCullough's funeral service. Grandpa was Scottish, so bagpipes were played. Something about bagpipes seem to make it a little bit better. Aaron's cousin is a Piper, you Clintonvillonites may just hear him once in a while.
Owen practiced a song on his Harmonica for Grandpa McCullough. He passed before he could play it for him so he decided that he was going to play it at the Funeral service. You can't see him, but you can hear him. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place.
Aaron's Uncle Kim placed all of the farming equipment in front of the Barn that Grandpa went in and out of a million times over his lifetime. On the way to the cemetary, Grandpa was taken by the farm one last time. After the Burial, Aaron wanted to take the boys to the farm to look at the equipment.
Cousins at the gathering...
Cousins at the gathering...
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
schtuff with the house
We have our first showing on our house tomorrow! I am somewhat excited, scared, filled with anxiety and tired. We have had our house on the market for about 2 1/2 weeks and I really thought we would have had a few showings under our belt already.
Here is the scoop on the house we put an offer on. Back in June, we put an offer on the house, for the sake of some privacy, we will name the street "Zingo St". At the time it was a short sale (aka "pain in the ass sale"). We waited, and waited, waited and waited for the bank to say yes to our offer. Come to find out, there were 2 loans on the house, from 2 different banks. We were becoming very impatient so we started to look at different options including foreclosures. As we browsed through the county foreclosure list, we saw another house on "Zingo St". We love the neighborhood but Hmmmmmm, we didn't know there was another one available on that Street. Long story short, we have not heard from the bank, it went into foreclosure and we are going to auction to try and get the house that can't seem to leave our hearts. We looked at plenty of homes. We looked at gorgeous new builds. We looked at homes with more than we need. Our hearts keep going back to "Zingo St." It is a home that isn't too much to handle, it fits our families current needs, it isn't excessive. It is perfect.
Here are a few pictures from Zingo Street...the kids bedrooms, the living room, backyard, mudroom and the kitchen. Man, I want this house.
Here is the scoop on the house we put an offer on. Back in June, we put an offer on the house, for the sake of some privacy, we will name the street "Zingo St". At the time it was a short sale (aka "pain in the ass sale"). We waited, and waited, waited and waited for the bank to say yes to our offer. Come to find out, there were 2 loans on the house, from 2 different banks. We were becoming very impatient so we started to look at different options including foreclosures. As we browsed through the county foreclosure list, we saw another house on "Zingo St". We love the neighborhood but Hmmmmmm, we didn't know there was another one available on that Street. Long story short, we have not heard from the bank, it went into foreclosure and we are going to auction to try and get the house that can't seem to leave our hearts. We looked at plenty of homes. We looked at gorgeous new builds. We looked at homes with more than we need. Our hearts keep going back to "Zingo St." It is a home that isn't too much to handle, it fits our families current needs, it isn't excessive. It is perfect.
Here are a few pictures from Zingo Street...the kids bedrooms, the living room, backyard, mudroom and the kitchen. Man, I want this house.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Backtracking to Mother's day
I had a great Mother's day. Aaron let me sleep in, but my internal alarm clock wouldn't let me. I started to smell the yummy French toast and peeked my head out the door. It WAS french toast!! I ran back to bed and pretended to be asleep when I was greeted by an 8 year old boy in his checkered robe acting with a towel on his forearm like a butler. "Please wake up Mom and sit up" he said in a very British voice. Five minutes later, the yummy breakfast came and I enjoyed breakfast in bed with my 3 boys and 2 dogs. I even drank orange juice out of a champagne glass. ;)
Andrew made a special "extra energy" Pokemon card for me and Owen made a cookbook. Elliott managed to give me a monster poopie diaper.
Later in the day we went to the nursery and I picked out a Hydrangea vine. WHOA! This thing is going to be beautiful cascading along the picket fence on the side of our yard. We have a gate that I want to "disable" for the safety of Elliott. No better way to disable it than to put a huge viney hydrangea on it.
In the afternoon, Aaron prepared an awesome meal for us before we headed to his mom's house for ice cream. I had a monster t-bone, wine (my new favorite kind by the way is Luna de Luna), rosemary potatoes and grilled herbed bread. He is a fabulous cook, I wish he would do it more often. Aaron made this Mother's day very special for me and I felt very appreciated.
It was a great Mother's day. I had a good cry in the morning remembering my own mom. I remembered not to put mascara on until my good cry. For me, not having a mom to acknowledge on this special day is pretty hard for me. Yes, I can "acknowledge" her but to actually call her and hear her voice to say "Happy Mother's day, I love you Mom" is something I wish I could have back. I have been able to get through every other holiday perfectly fine without my mom, but Mother's day will always have a sting to it for me.
My mom making peirogie.
Andrew made a special "extra energy" Pokemon card for me and Owen made a cookbook. Elliott managed to give me a monster poopie diaper.
Later in the day we went to the nursery and I picked out a Hydrangea vine. WHOA! This thing is going to be beautiful cascading along the picket fence on the side of our yard. We have a gate that I want to "disable" for the safety of Elliott. No better way to disable it than to put a huge viney hydrangea on it.
In the afternoon, Aaron prepared an awesome meal for us before we headed to his mom's house for ice cream. I had a monster t-bone, wine (my new favorite kind by the way is Luna de Luna), rosemary potatoes and grilled herbed bread. He is a fabulous cook, I wish he would do it more often. Aaron made this Mother's day very special for me and I felt very appreciated.
It was a great Mother's day. I had a good cry in the morning remembering my own mom. I remembered not to put mascara on until my good cry. For me, not having a mom to acknowledge on this special day is pretty hard for me. Yes, I can "acknowledge" her but to actually call her and hear her voice to say "Happy Mother's day, I love you Mom" is something I wish I could have back. I have been able to get through every other holiday perfectly fine without my mom, but Mother's day will always have a sting to it for me.
My mom making peirogie.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Sad week.
Yesterday morning, my dad called with horrible news that my great nephew Bo passed away in his sleep. He was only 1 month old. Prayers go out to my brother Darryl's entire family.
Darryl and Bo...
Jacob and Bo
Monday, April 11, 2011
New schtuff.
With every season comes new things, seems like this Spring has more than usual. First, we have a gazillion things coming up in our new yard. When I say gazillion, I really mean a gazillion. I have started on one garden bed trying to get out all of the leaves to make way for plants to pop up. So far most of our ground cover is popping up everywhere. I am very excited to see what is exactly out there. We did have to cut down the flowering plum tree I wrote about a month ago. It was just too damaged to try and save. It made me very sad.
Yeah, so we have another dog. His name is Bentley. We responded to a Craigslist posting about him. He has been on there for a couple of weeks. He comes to us from a very good home and is very well trained. He is also a snuggle bug. Anyway, I think Bentley will be a great addition to our family and will shape Granola up a little. Granola is showing him the ropes and doesn't let him get away with much. I think he may feel a little sad at times but I also know this type of behavior is normal when introducing a new dog to the family.
Meet Bentley... 
Another new beginning...we have more fish! Our female Platy had babies over the weekend. We watched the entire process and it was just amazing. She had a total of 23 babies. In the video below, the yellow female (that sits in the top left hand part of the "maternity tank"). You may have to rewind a time or two to focus your eye on the fish.
Piggy backing off this fish story is a classic. So, I don't really know how to tell the difference between a male and a female fish. Apparently there is an extra fin somewhere on the bottom of the fish. On Sunday, I went into the room to check on the new fry and noticed the "male" having a fish tail sticking out the bottom. I called the 2 neighbor girls and told their mom that another one of our fish is going to have babies. She sent the girls over and they watched, and watched, and watched. No babies. I called the pet store and told them that I thought the mom was having difficulties and she told me to stroke the bottom of the belly and gently pull on the baby tail that was hanging out. I thought this was gross but I did it anyway. Nothing came out and I totally got grossed out and stopped. 2 hours later I went back and the tail was still hanging out. Well, while googling for some answers I found out that the "tail" hanging out was not a tail but part of the reproductive system. Super.
Yeah, so we have another dog. His name is Bentley. We responded to a Craigslist posting about him. He has been on there for a couple of weeks. He comes to us from a very good home and is very well trained. He is also a snuggle bug. Anyway, I think Bentley will be a great addition to our family and will shape Granola up a little. Granola is showing him the ropes and doesn't let him get away with much. I think he may feel a little sad at times but I also know this type of behavior is normal when introducing a new dog to the family.
Meet Bentley... 
Another new beginning...we have more fish! Our female Platy had babies over the weekend. We watched the entire process and it was just amazing. She had a total of 23 babies. In the video below, the yellow female (that sits in the top left hand part of the "maternity tank"). You may have to rewind a time or two to focus your eye on the fish. Piggy backing off this fish story is a classic. So, I don't really know how to tell the difference between a male and a female fish. Apparently there is an extra fin somewhere on the bottom of the fish. On Sunday, I went into the room to check on the new fry and noticed the "male" having a fish tail sticking out the bottom. I called the 2 neighbor girls and told their mom that another one of our fish is going to have babies. She sent the girls over and they watched, and watched, and watched. No babies. I called the pet store and told them that I thought the mom was having difficulties and she told me to stroke the bottom of the belly and gently pull on the baby tail that was hanging out. I thought this was gross but I did it anyway. Nothing came out and I totally got grossed out and stopped. 2 hours later I went back and the tail was still hanging out. Well, while googling for some answers I found out that the "tail" hanging out was not a tail but part of the reproductive system. Super.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Welcome to America.
Welcome to the good old U.S. of A where we have the freedom to order a pizza called "Godzilla". Surprising enough, it was good.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Pet store visit
We went to our favorite pet store today (Petland on 23 in Lewis Center). I almost walked out with a beautiful Siberian Husky. Really, they just got it in and if they had the paperwork ready I am sure it would have become part of our family. It was so sweet and snuggly. I see why Andrew's favorite breed has always been a Husky. Those eyes!
Oh, why yes. That is a tortoise 12 inches away from Elliotts face! It wonders around the store with 2 balloons taped to it's back. Kind of creepy that it followed us around all over the place. Elliott loved it as you can see.
Oh, why yes. That is a tortoise 12 inches away from Elliotts face! It wonders around the store with 2 balloons taped to it's back. Kind of creepy that it followed us around all over the place. Elliott loved it as you can see.
Monday, April 4, 2011
April showers bring wet ceilings
As the kids were getting their showers last night, I noticed a hand sized water spot on my kitchen ceiling. I went upstairs to stop the showers in both bathrooms. Owen started to freak out when he saw the water spot because he thought the ceiling was going to cave in and we were going to die.
This morning I called a plumber and he stopped over for 7 minutes. I think I am in the wrong business because $80 later (mind you, 7 MINUTES) he confirms that there isn't a leak in the drain pipe (thank God) but my children got too much water outside of the tub. I should have known and came to that conclusion myself but when it comes to water and pipes, I have learned to step back and let the professionals take charge.
My great niece Amelia is here from Michigan this week. She is such a sweetie. It is so crazy for me to see her growing up. I mean, I know my kids are growing up but when you see someone else's child all grown, it's a little weird. Here is a picture of Amelia a few summers ago...
We went to the candy store a couple of days ago. I absolutely love this place (minus the clown collection). It was a little crazy on a Saturday. Here are some pictures from our trip to CLOWN CONE.
The only place you can get a slushie for $.40!!
During the boys spring break we went to my Dad's house. Every night around 8:30, it was Elliott's time to snuggle with papa. Both nights, he fell asleep on Papa's lap. Precious.
Also, Elliott's hair gets a little crazy now and then. So does my dads. They look like twins eh?
This morning I called a plumber and he stopped over for 7 minutes. I think I am in the wrong business because $80 later (mind you, 7 MINUTES) he confirms that there isn't a leak in the drain pipe (thank God) but my children got too much water outside of the tub. I should have known and came to that conclusion myself but when it comes to water and pipes, I have learned to step back and let the professionals take charge.
My great niece Amelia is here from Michigan this week. She is such a sweetie. It is so crazy for me to see her growing up. I mean, I know my kids are growing up but when you see someone else's child all grown, it's a little weird. Here is a picture of Amelia a few summers ago...
We went to the candy store a couple of days ago. I absolutely love this place (minus the clown collection). It was a little crazy on a Saturday. Here are some pictures from our trip to CLOWN CONE.
The only place you can get a slushie for $.40!!
During the boys spring break we went to my Dad's house. Every night around 8:30, it was Elliott's time to snuggle with papa. Both nights, he fell asleep on Papa's lap. Precious.
Also, Elliott's hair gets a little crazy now and then. So does my dads. They look like twins eh?
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Slipping through the cracks
Gosh. There are days that I feel like the biggest loser of a parent ever and today was one of them. Actually, this entire week was a cruddy week in the parenting department for me. I saw myself as the parent I never wanted to be. I sure hope it was just a random week for me and this doesn't become a regular occurrence.
My boys are growing up and I am not sure If I want them to quite yet. I delight in the moments when they can get their own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches without my help. On the flip side, I go to bed many nights with frustration heavy in me. They are trying to figure out who they are and where they belong. This process produces resistance and alot of button pushing. I am not a fan.
I love my children. I love being a mom but why does this have to be so hard?
My boys are growing up and I am not sure If I want them to quite yet. I delight in the moments when they can get their own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches without my help. On the flip side, I go to bed many nights with frustration heavy in me. They are trying to figure out who they are and where they belong. This process produces resistance and alot of button pushing. I am not a fan.
I love my children. I love being a mom but why does this have to be so hard?
Monday, March 28, 2011
special visitors
On Thursday, two of my sisters (and my niece Alicia) came from Michigan to visit me. On Thursday evening, we went to Babushkas Polish restaurant in Clintonville. I love that place. It is just like my mom's Polish cooking. Here are some pictures from the visit with my sissy's.
After our trip to Babushkas, we headed to my favorite thrift store. While waiting in line, Elliott loves to test out all of the silly glasses.
We had fun looking at Scrapbooks of my kiddos. My sister Susan about peed her pants when she came across a scrapbook page of our old guinea pig's funeral. It was so funny to see her expression of Stu in his "casket" the boys made for him. Only I will document such an event, right? Susan, this picture is for you. Download it and save it as your background on your computer...lol
Rest assured, Stu lived a very full and spoiled life.
My "good finds" include an entire Thomas the tank train set for a whopping 3 bucks (not the lead tainted version), a little tykes dollhouse AND furniture (for all of Elliott's girlfriends when they have play dates) for a crazy price of 5 dollars, a KRUPS coffee/machine for 5 bucks (the espresso part was clogged up with a calcium deposit but with a little elbow grease I fixed the problem), and a real black pearl necklace for 2 dollars!!! It is just beautiful. It needs to be restrung, but matches the black pearl earings got for me while he visited Japan a few years back.
And of course, I made plenty of Lattes.
Thanks for the visit ladies!
After our trip to Babushkas, we headed to my favorite thrift store. While waiting in line, Elliott loves to test out all of the silly glasses.
We had fun looking at Scrapbooks of my kiddos. My sister Susan about peed her pants when she came across a scrapbook page of our old guinea pig's funeral. It was so funny to see her expression of Stu in his "casket" the boys made for him. Only I will document such an event, right? Susan, this picture is for you. Download it and save it as your background on your computer...lol
Rest assured, Stu lived a very full and spoiled life.
My "good finds" include an entire Thomas the tank train set for a whopping 3 bucks (not the lead tainted version), a little tykes dollhouse AND furniture (for all of Elliott's girlfriends when they have play dates) for a crazy price of 5 dollars, a KRUPS coffee/machine for 5 bucks (the espresso part was clogged up with a calcium deposit but with a little elbow grease I fixed the problem), and a real black pearl necklace for 2 dollars!!! It is just beautiful. It needs to be restrung, but matches the black pearl earings got for me while he visited Japan a few years back.
And of course, I made plenty of Lattes.
Thanks for the visit ladies!
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