Dragons Delight!

My sister invited us all to go to a Dayton Dragons game and watch it up on the Club Deck in a SUITE room. WOW...that is the way to go and watch a game! We had 10 seats outside the suite room with ceiling fans overhead....and an entire room with television, bar and 3 stools, a couch and 2 rocker recliners and fridge inside. Sink, towels, snacks. It was a great night and even though the Dragons lost you had a great time visiting too with family and your cousins!

I cannot believe August is just around the corner. It won't be long and school will be back in session and our routines will begin again!

I love you! I am so glad we got to go to the game Thursday night and we had such a great time!

Mommy
XOXOXO

Dear Noah...Pow Wow, the Great Wolf Lodge, 4th of July and birthdays

We went to a Pow Wow on June 19 at Sun Watch Village. It was really hot that day and you got overheated but we managed. It was interesting but not nearly as large as we had expected it to be or what we are used to seeing in Colorado.



We were invited by my sister Becky to go on a trip with her and my other sister and her daughter and my nephew to the Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate her retirement! She is retiring super young. We went...and the Great Wolf Lodge is all it brags itself up to be! You had a great time in the wave pool in their inside water park! You spent all your time there except when sleeping or getting ready to eat or use the bathroom! We found a cool Christmas shop on the way and bought some amazing ornaments!











AND of course a big highlight for you was the ability to ride the elevator since we had a 4th floor room and to check out all their bathrooms and film them!




This past weekend we spent the 4th of July at my parents to celebrate the 4th as well as my birthday along with a belated birthday celebration for my sister Melissa. We had such fun. You got a Wendy's kid's meal and it had jokes and these crazy nose glasses inside. Of course we all had to try them on for size and have our pics taken. You looked so cute....like a little bug!



We have been busy having fun this summer and you have been spending a lot of time reading in your room and playing games. We are squeezing in a little bit of school as well to keep things fresh for this coming fall. I can only hope I am helping you to make some wonderful memories to recall when you get older. I love you so very much Noah!

Mommy
XOXOXOX

Dear Noah......another visit to the Drive-In!

We went to the drive-in last night. WOW the weather was perfect for it. It was in the high 60s.....NO humidity! JUST PERFECT clear beautiful night! Stars in the sky overhead....

We saw Toy Story 3..and it was really good. I love how you really get into the movies now and laugh and giggle at the funny parts. You can sit very well now for the most part for an entire movie. We had a great time. Of course your highlight would have been if I allowed you to go FILM the toilets in the bathroom....but we did not even go to the bathroom at the Drive-In last night.

My birthday is fast approaching along with the 4th of July. We have some summertime activities planned and I guess we better get BUSY doing them....not much summer left! It is going by so quickly!

I love you Noah..so much. Thanks for going to the Drive-In with me and enjoying it as much as I do! We also saw some amazing trailers for upcoming movies...such as Legend of the Guardians and Smurf'd! They look awesome! Especially that first one!

Well..I need to get back to work!

LOVE YOU LOTS!

Mommy

Dear Noah.......summertime.......

What can I say? We have been busy....I am reorganizing the house....getting ready to paint soon. You are spending lots of time on the computer and we have been taking trips. You are wanting to go swimming but so far it has been a super muggy and stormy start to summer!

This past weekend we had a Father's Day celebration along with your aunt's birthday celebration combined....we had a great visit and enjoyed the visit. Today we saw grandma C...also enjoyed that visit.

We are finishing up some American History in school....and I cannot believe July is almost here already!

Not much else to report for now. I love you!

Mommy

Dear Noah.....hair cut time

We decided you were ready for a hair cut. You even decided that you would be willing to go to our local GREAT CLIPS to get a trim...since your hair was soooo long and needed to be professionally brought up to date...as far as length goes. You look good with long or short hair but too short and you look a little sick. SO the professionals can do a better job than I can at cutting your hair just right.

Here is how you look now!




Meanwhile we are finishing up your school year. I just got the results of your Scantron test in the spring. NOT the state testing scores yet...but to see how you were progressing. You are above the advanced for reading and above target for math...so this is all good news. You have shown appropriate progress improving in both math and reading since the fall of last year. This also means I am doing my job as your teacher.

Anyway...you have a conference today with OVHA teachers...last one for this year. Need to make you some lunch first.

I LOVE YOU!

Mommy

Dear Noah...you and I had a great weekend!

You had cousin Audrey come spend the night Saturday. We ended up going to see Shrek and Iron Man 2 at the Drive In. I treated you and Audrey to spending the night in a motel. To be honest if it were your choice...that probably would have been all you wanted to do. You cried about leaving the hotel...cried the next day wanting to go back to the hotel....that was all I heard over and over till last night.

BUT we had a great time. You and Audrey played at a couple of McDonald's play areas...as it seemed that was all you both wanted to eat. YUCKO for me and my taste.

Otherwise....we are moving into your last week of school already! HARD to believe! We have worked really hard to wrap things up for the end of the year but I do have a few things planned for us to continue to work on through the summer to keep things fresh in your mind.

This should be a good week.....love you lots my little young man!

Mommy

Dear Noah.....Busy busy days of May!

Wow I seem to be forgetting to log into Blogger these days and make updates to this diary. I apologize. We have been so busy! The school year is rapidly winding down and I am trying to get all your loose ends tied up so we will only have 1 main subject to play catch up on over the summer along with me continuing to work with you on handwriting skills and typing skills and some other things I have planned. AND continued field trips. I plan to make this next year for you one of the better ones with school and I hope and pray it goes well for you.

We made it to the state mandated testing and the site was the best one we have been to yet. We will definitely choose that again in future years! You think you did pretty well...saying you felt you did an A or B or 85 to 95% on each subject tested on. I won't know the scores until probably right before school is out or shortly thereafter.

We had a cookout for Mother's Day and invited all the moms and grandmas over along with your aunties and cousins and uncles. You really had a great time! You were a big ham and liked to pose for anyone wanting to take your picture! It was that day I realized how much you are growing up!

Later that same night we decided to go to the drive in. Iron Man 2 and How To Train Your Dragon were playing. We both really enjoyed the movies and it was then I realized you understand so much more about even hidden innuendos and meanings in some of the things people say like in the movies. You laughed a LOT during both movies and found many APPROPRIATE things funny that were yes...meant to be funny! It dawned on me then that you are finally GETTING it in many areas of life where you had a struggle before! This was a HUGE moment for me. I also really enjoy being in your company and doing things with you. I love going places with you and enjoy all the things we talk about. I can only hope and pray you never grow tired of me! I know sometimes you lose patience with me already.

I read a story to you by Steven Hawking on time travel that you found fascinating. You still want to build a time machine.

Summer is almost here and we are thinking about putting up a bigger pool this year. It may be silly cause I don't think you used the one we had last year all that much. BUT I am thinking about it. I may save the money though and use it instead for something else.

We BOUGHT the house we have been living in for the last 4 years. The landlord gave us a great deal on a land contract. So we are planning on making a few changes around here over time. You are very excited about Opie being allowed to be in the house now.

Anyway...I need to get off here. Lots to do. It is Sunday and I am sure we will want to do a lot before the day is over.

I LOVE YOU NOAH!

Mommy
XOXOXOX

P.S. The Mother's Day card you gave me that you picked out yourself made me cry it was so nice and then even nicer to read the personalized message you put at the bottom about how you really do love me. That made my year. SMOOCHES!

CHILDREN's TYLENOL, MOTRIN, ZYRTEC and BENADRYL being recalled....

you can go here to check the sections for each...click on the category you want...and read the lists....you will see LOT NUMBERS to the right of each list of each item recalled.

MED RECALL DETAILS

Dear Noah....state mandated tests.....and used book store shopping!

This week is state mandated testing.....for reading, math and science. You have reading and math done...Friday will be science. You feel you have done really well so far. Today on math it did not even take you 1 hour to answer all the questions. I think you came out in like 45 minutes or so...and there were like 46 questions. So you did pretty well I think.

The weather has been super nice. Monday after testing we went to Cracker Barrel to eat. You had breakfast and must have been super hungry as you had almost 2 pancakes, 1 bowl of cheerios and some of my chicken! You have been trying some new things recently....and have discovered you like them! SO slowly you are broadening what you can eat...or are at least more willing to give something new a try!

We have been super busy here. We are in the process now of probably buying the house we have been renting for the past 4 years. We have had an oven/fire and water heater leak and they have all been replaced now. We have had some new piping put in for the water heater. NOW your school computer is not working so they are sending out a new one and we will be returning this one. To say that things have been a little hectic around here is an understatement!

You are growing up. You have been so very helpful lately and I appreciate that. Today we stopped by the secondhand book store on our way home in town. You have been anxiously awaiting a trip back there...why? Because you love to go to the ROMANCE novel section and in private (meaning you want me OUT of that same room)...you like to pull the books out one by one off the shelf to see the covers! Yes...you are liking the women more and more all the time!

You are so funny...and have developed quite a sense of humor and are really understanding more and more innuendos all the time. I am looking forward to finishing this year out in school with you...and finishing organizing the house and having an even better year with you for school next year!

We have some exciting things planned this summer. We have been and will continue to be pretty busy!

I love you my little YOUNG man!

Mommy
XOXOX

Dear Noah...oven on fire and Easter approaching!

Well last Saturday morning we had a fire ...the oven caught on fire while I was trying to make you party mix before you woke up. You had specifically requested I make it before you got up so you could have some for breakfast. TO make a very long story short...the oven malfunctioned and caught fire....I had to actually call the fire department out to put the fire out...and carry the oven outside. Needless to say I got you outside right away...and your party mix was ruined. We are still waiting on our replacement oven...it is supposed to be delivered on Monday. I am so thankful the fire did not get any worse than just the oven and part of the wall behind the oven had a little smoke damage. Otherwise the smoke in the house was thick and smelled really bad..but it also did not leave any damage. We are very fortunate!

You had been working on your tooth that was stuck and jammed that the dentist wanted to do surgery on. You got it OUT the other night..you were so excited about it. I am so thankful! You were more excited to see the next morning what the tooth fairy left you...a Hot Wheels collectors book you had been wanting and a note! We are all happy about these teeth coming out..it will save you a lot trauma going under anesthetic and surgery in the hospital for 3 teeth...2 of which you have since removed on your own. You have always been this way....we just have to give you a little extra time and you end up doing things like this on your own.

Now you are excited about upcoming Easter and seeing your cousin Audrey again. We went to her house on Tuesday evening to follow her over to her school to listen to her play in a recorder concert she was in. I was impressed with how you are growing up and behaved so much better than you would have in the past. You can now sit pretty well for a good 1/2 hour to 1 hour. You did something similar in church on Christmas Eve.

Well..I have lots to do. Grandma C. is letting us borrow a toaster oven and electric skillet or we would not really be able to cook at all!

I LOVE YOU NOAH WESLEY!!!!!!!!!

Mommy
XOXOXOX

p.s...we have discovered you can give excellent POUNDING back massages with your clenched fists. Wow...your hands are just the right size and you can really lay into my back and shoulders. It feels so wonderful..haha

We hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Easter!

some happy thoughts today.......

Sunday I wanted to attend the viewing of my parents' neighbor who had passed away and I had known pretty much my entire life. While this was sad..it did bring me to spend the day with my sister, her daughter, and my mom and dad. It caused me to think back on a lot of old memories of days gone by with my family and all I was thankful for. It made me value time and being alive even more than I have been.

We had a very nice visit. Noah was with me. The weather ended up being much nicer than the forecast had predicted and we got invited to stay for a cookout for supper. We had so much fun....and a very nice visit. The kids and I did some sidewalk chalk......and just being together, remembering memories and creating new ones....besides the fabulous food we ate and the fun doing all the sidewalk chalk art....it all made me incredibly happy.

Noah has lost one of the 3 teeth he needs to...and is working on that one that is really stuck. It is about ready to come out which is great news so he can avoid surgery and being put under anesthetic and having a lot of things done to his mouth that would also be costly and probably not really necessary.

Noah is VERY excited because his cousin Audrey and his aunt Melissa are to come spend the day Sunday with us. Spring break is next week already...state testing is coming up in April...and it wont' be long and school will be out for summer again already! SO hard to believe how fast time is passing by.

We had some incredibly nice days for awhile..but the ice and snow came back last night...not too much but enough to cause the local schools to close. Today will be an easy day of school for us here at home.

I love you Noah! You make me very happy!

Mommy
XOXOXOX

Dear Noah........school on the go......

Yesterday since it was so nice outside and I got my work done on time for a change I decided to load us up in the car, drive to Union City, Indiana and park and work on schoolwork while we waited for trains to come through town. We had some time before your speech therapy appointment and I figured what a better way to sit and do school work, enjoy the outdoors and take you railfanning all at the same time. We got to see 2 trains in less than 30 minutes.....one was really short...the other really long.

Needless to say you were thrilled and of course you are ready to do it all again!

I love you....

Mommy
xoxox




SHORT TRAIN



The REALLY LONG ONE!

Movie clip of those train sets inside luggage....

Dear Noah.........fun at the train show and birthday party....

Sunday morning you and I got up at a decent time...had breakfast from McDonalds and then went to the model train show over at the fairgrounds. This is something we do every year though we missed last year. We had a great time this year and you were specifically looking for a specific train engine to buy and sure enough the last table of trains we looked at...had the train engine you wanted. AND a car to go with it. The man selling them marked them down for us...giving us BOTH for only 25.00. You were thrilled.






I am always on the lookout for something off the norm...unique....new. While there I came across a display of "N" scale train displays where a man from Englewood takes guitar cases and old luggage, guts them out and then puts very elaborate train displays INSIDE the cases! WOW...these were amazing and so unique. They take up a small space, are quick to set up and play with or look at, and are portable! AND use recycled items! I had a long talk with the elderly gentleman about that....and he got out a photo album showing me how he made these sets. A most amazing story. Here are some of his displays. The guitar case one was my favorite...having an old 50s style theme including Jukebox...and the restaurant inside featured dancers inside the restaurant that were actually moving around and dancing to the music. It was just amazing. I asked for his business card...asked if he made any of these for custom orders...but he prefers sticking to this for a hobby. GREAT new innovative idea however, and great money maker and someone doing this would be in business forever!












Here the man I spoke with (noted above) was the PRESIDENT of Dayton N Track, Don Kriegbaum and he has many things he is involved in....here is a link to one of his websites:

Dayton NTRACK

Then we went to pick up grandma C. to take her with us to your other grandma and grandpa's house for a double birthday party..one for your cousin Audrey and one for your aunt Becky. We had a great time there...a very nice visit. I made your aunt a unique gift this year. I had always wanted to make her an 'activity box" as when she was little and then got older she said one of her best gifts was always those activity boxes you would give to kids or rainy day boxes. I figured I could make a unique one for her...and finally decided to do it. I went to Webb's Antique Mall and found an old small overnight antique luggage box...and then decoupaged old photos of Becky and the family and special memories on the outside and inside of the case and then filled it with old kid toys, antiques, and some gifts for her today. I think she liked it...I had fun making it.


THINK this was a forced smile here.....haha








Audrey's Cake





Becky's cookie



Mom slaving away in the kitchen making spaghetti


The TWILIGHT theme for the party






One of the items inside Becky's luggage...this reminded me of the fish you win in those bags at the county fair.





I also made a very special Twilight Diary for Miss Audrey.....where I took a regular lock and key diary and altered it.....adding in pics from the movie Twilight to it..especially Edward Cullen as she loves him.....and I forgot to actually take pics of the actual results. It was pretty cool...nearly every page had photos glued into it...with room left for writing. I also added quotes, trinkets, keys, special items for different holidays and days...leaving room for her to add more. I had fun making it and think I have a couple of others who are interested in getting something similar.



I wish I had a picture of it...or a few...but I forgot to snap some of it for some weird reason. Maybe Audrey and her mom can snap a few. I do have one of her opening it and smiling so big. THAT was what I had hoped for. She loved it and then actually wrote in it before I left that day...locked it and HID it she said. I am happy.....that was the exact reaction I was hoping for.



Anyway....cake and ice cream were good. Becky had a big decorated chocolate chip cookie for her birthday instead of a cake. You just had 2 helpings of strawberry ice cream.

Then we stopped and visited with grandma C. for a bit before coming home. All in all we had a great day. The weather has been super nice too.....sunny and much warmer. We are all getting antsy for spring now.

Today I want to take a drive...it is too nice to stay inside....but you are talking with your dad and aunt Mary on the computer for a bit. SO we will have to go later or another day. I thought we could buzz over to Versailles, OH and catch some trains zipping through town!

I love you lots Noah!

Mommy
XOXOXOX