A New Christmas Tradition!

Yesterday was a bit stressful. We found out that Eric is having to change his work schedule a bit and will be out of town most of time for the next 4 weeks. He will return on weekends though thankfully! This hit me a little hard as I'm still trying to re-settle in our house, get ready for Christmas and all the other stresses of this time of the year. I'm usually always decorated by Thanksgiving weekend however, with us moving, that didn't happen. So now with this news of Eric going away I'm a bit freaking out how everything is going to get done!

Last night I did my best to put all that aside as I had the first night of our annual women's banquet. My good friend Melissa is in charge of coordinating the event. She of course inlisted several of her friends to help her and I was one of them. So off I went to the banquet, which by the way was great and I really had a great time helping behind the scenes!

As I returned home around 11pm, I pulled in the driveway and found that Eric had put the outside decorations up. I thought that was really nice of him to think about that because with him going away I wasn't sure how I was going to do that portion alone. Then I walked in the house only to find the biggest surprise! Eric and the kids decorated the entire house for Christmas minus the tree while I was out! What a great surprise! I think that we will turn this into our new family tradition, I go out some night right after Thanksgiving and come home to a decorated house! :o)

I'm Back!!!!

After a 5 week break, I'm back! I've uploaded several posts and pictures of our lives over the last 5 weeks. Take a peak - they go all the way back to Halloween! :o)

The definition of "hot"!

On the way to school today this was the conversation between Jacob, Allison and my neighbor Autumn. Our ride is only about 5 minutes so this pretty much took us from door to door. To give a little preface, before we got in the car, I heard Jacob and Autumn talking about a song that someone sings so I inquired. They told me they were talking about this kid on the bus that sings "Don't you wish you were hot like me?!". This spurred the following dialogue between the 3 of them of which I had a hard time keeping a straight face....

Autumn: Jacob, do you know what "hot" means?

Jacob: Yeah, do you?

Autumn: Yeah, it means when the sun beats down on you and you get hot!

Allison: No it doesn't! It means that you are awesome!

Jacob: Well, Stephen told me that it means that you are pretty.

Allison: Thank you guys for telling me what hot means. Now I can tell my Grandpop he is hot!

Autumn: Jacob, do you think Allison is hot?

Jacob: I don't know.

Allison: I think Autumn is hot, Jacob is hot, and I am hot!

Autumn: Jacob, do you think I'm hot?

Jacob: I don't know

Allison: I do, I think we are all hot, because hot means pretty!

No telling how long this conversation continued in school!

Home Sweet Home

The day has finally arrived! The house is done and we are moving in! The move went much more smooth than I had imagined! The movers were a great group of guys and they did unpack me! We will sleep one more night at my parents and sleep here tomorrow! Although the time went fast, it seems like a really long time since we have been here! When we moved out 5 weeks ago, it was in the 80s, today it's cold and rainy! There are a few things that still need addressing but things are complete and good for the most part. We had our 2 upstairs bathrooms completely redone and updated through this experience. We also got a new sliding glass door and had our carpets cleaned. There were many other structural issues addressed but those were the visible things.

It's good to be getting back to "normal" - whatever that is!

It's Over - for now

Today was the completion of fall soccer! It's a bit bitter sweet. Although we have had a lot of fun this season, I think we could all use a break - it's getting really cold! :o) Today was a special one as Jacob was able to be one of the captains. He was so proud! Since this was a tournament, the team received trophies - one more to add to the collection! See you all in the spring!

All Before 9:15 am!

As usual on "Black Friday", I headed out well before dawn to wage the store wars! I must say that I was a bit disappointed in the sales this year. I usually have at least 3 or 4 stores to hit with a long list at each one. This year the only place I found things was at Target! I did proceed to Old Navy in hopes of some sort of deal but left empty handed.

My shopping expedition this year was a little shorter as Jacob had a soccer tournament. Eric was working so I was solo for soccer. Allison choose to stay in the warm house and hang out with Grandmom and Abby. So off Jacob and I went. We arrived at the field around 9 am and quickly found the other team members who were warming up. As I was standing talking with another mom, she noticed Jacob took a ball to his stomach and was coming for me. At that moment I must say that I'm probably not going to win the "calm mother of the year award"! As he approached me he was totally blue! Within an instant his eyes rolled back into his head, he went all stiff and went unconscience! Although those moments weren't more than a few seconds, it seemed like an enternity! As I was screaming for help, people started to arrive. Everyone determined it would be best for the EMTs to take a look at him. What I didn't realize until they arrived, was that there was a whole lot of others that come with the EMTs. Within a few minutes there were sirens, a large fire truck, police cars and an ambulance. By that time he was coming around but still a little scared. Once it was determined his stats were normal and o.k., I decided that it wasn't necessary for him to go to the hospital. In fact, Jacob said that he wanted to play in the upcoming games. So as the trucks were rolling away, Eric had just arrived (after being called and told about the situation) - he missed it all! When I looked at my watch - it was 9:20 am - the day had just begun!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since we are still not living in our house, Thanksgiving was a bit different this year! Instead of waking up and having to get ready to go over to my mom's - we were already there! My sister and Abby arrived on Wednesday so we had a full house! The Davis' joined us for an early dinner and then some football on TV. The kids all had fun playing, eating, playing and eating some more!

Yeah! High Speed Internet

FINALLY..... my parents have high speed internet! Ordinarily I wouldn't care so much, but since we are still living with them (I'll post about that later), I care alot!!!!

Keep your eyes posted! I'll be back to posting - I've already got some ready to go - just have to add the photos!

Happy Birthday Abby!

Today was Abby's 1st Birthday! We went up to my sister's to celebrate the big day! Abby loved being the center of attention! She quickly learned the art of opening presents and had no reservations about eating her cupcake!

Singing Their Hearts Out!

The kids are both singing in the kids choir at church. They sang at all 4 services this weekend and did a great job! They didn't seem to mind being up on stage in front of everyone!

Happy Halloween!

Today was filled with many festivities! First Allison had her school parade and party in the morning. Both kindergarten classes as well as the preschool classes paraded around the cafeteria. They all loved waving to the spectators! Since I'm not a room mom for Allison's class, I wasn't able to attend the party.

In the afternoon, Jacob had his school parade and class party. First the parade - we had such a beautiful day!

Then the class party - lots of food and games!

The trick or treating in the evening kicked off with a neighborhood parade! One of the town's fire trucks lead the parade down to the lake and lots of snacks! We trick or treated our way back to our street gathering an obscene amount of candy!

One Busy Sunday!

Somewhere I remember that Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest. That was not the case in the Fueger household today! The day started by attending church, followed by the kids choir practice for the kids choir. We hurried home to get Allison ready for swimming lessons. While Allison and I were at swimming, Eric and Jacob ate lunch and prepared for Jacob's soccer game. As Allison and I returned home, Eric and Jacob were just leaving for soccer. The girls ate lunch and got ready to go watch the game. After a very COLD game, we all came home briefly to get ready for the evening's activities.


For the first time, we participated in our church's Trunked Treats. All the mini-churches (aka small groups) got together for an evening of tailgating. After eating some dinner - in our case pizza and chips - the kids all went around the parking lot trick or treating to all the parked cars! They had a blast hanging out with all their friends and trick or treating. They got enough candy to actually forget about the real Halloween trick or treating - think we can pull that one off - I think not! It was a really cold night but a beautifully clear one! We are really glad that we gave the event a try and will try to make it a yearly tradition!

Cards for Soldiers

The kids are participating in our children's choir at church. They had the opportunity this week to do a service project and we jumped on board. They were asked to make cards for soldiers that are serving overseas. The cards will be paired with a care package and sent to them in time for Christmas! The kids had a great time serving and putting their creativity to work. They did a great job and were very proud of their efforts. Eric and I were very proud of their efforts too!

Pumpkin Painting & Poker!

Today my cousin's baby celebrated her first birthday! Happy Birthday Madelyn! Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and all the festivities that were supposed to be outside were moved inside. The pumpkin painting and face painting took place in the garage. The kids had a great time painting pumpkins and helped to pass the time while the grown ups socialized.

After a while of no interruptions in the adult conversation, I wondered where my kids were and more importantly, what they were doing! I found them with my cousin Tim learning Poker! Thanks Tim!

Halloween Kickoff

Tonight was the kickoff for our families Halloween festivities. There seem to be a great deal more costume related activities this year than I remember from previous years. We will definately get our use out of our costumes this year!


The kids had their annual Halloween Dance/Party at the school tonight. Abby was here to see them off! Allison choose to be a pink unicorn - possibly the easiest costume we've had yet - and Jacob is Anakin Skywalker (for those of you not quite up to speed on Star Wars - that is one of the characters in the newer movies).


The party was a bit crazy filled with pre-schoolers through 5th graders. It was in the cafeteria complete with a DJ and lots of snacks. We were no sooner in the cafeteria when Eric won a door prize - a school t-shirt. I wouldn't characterize us as being a family who wins lots of things, except when it comes to school. There doesn't seem to be a function that goes by that we don't win something! They had a "craft" table set up which consisted of rice krispie treats on a stick that you decorate w/ icing and all sorts of goodies - skittles, m&m's, marshmallows, etc.


The kids had a great time while the parents were quite too excited to be coming home! :o)

A Little Perspective!

Well, the day has finally arrived - moving out
day :o( It's been a rather frustrating and emotional week and it's only Wednesday! Anyway... although I'm really not happy with the circumstances of life right now and what is happening with our house and the huge inconvenience this is I've gained a little perspective this morning. As I sat in the corner of my kitchen in a lawn chair I watched the Today show as it covered the stories of the California wild fires. Nothing I am going through right now can even come close to compare with the devastation and despair that the thousands upon thousands of people in California are experiencing. In a few short weeks we will be back in our house living life just as we did just as we did before this saga began. Many in California have narrowly escaped these fires with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

Thank you Lord for a little perspective!

Apple & Pumpkin Picking

This post is long overdue, but with the the craziness of life the last 2 weeks, it never got posted! So better late than never!

It's become a yearly tradition to go apple and pumpkin picking each fall. Eric's family is usually here when we do this and this year is no exception. Eric's family arrived on October 4th and we wasted no time in getting to the pumpkin patch! The kids were off school the next day so we all piled into the van and off we went! It was a really warm day for October but a pretty day. Abby was also visiting with us so we had quite the crew!

We rode out to the fields in a covered wagon.

Our first stop was the apple orchard to pick our apples - which were absolutely the biggest apples I have ever seen! They will not even come close to fitting in my apple slicer so we will have to cut them the old fashioned way! I'm seeing a few apple themed desserts in the future! :o)
The next stop was the pumpkin patch! The kids were allowed to pick a pumpkin only as big as they could carry!

After our return trip in the wagon, Aunt Laura bought the kids some soft serve icecream - perfect ending for a very warm fall day!

An October Swim!

Yesterday our good friends, The Davis', invited us over for a quick swim in their brand new pool. This was the inaugural dip even for them. So under normal circumstances, the middle of October would be crazy for a swim but we've been having unusually warm weather and it was about 80 degrees yesterday. The kids were completely excited about the prospect of going swimming and the date on the calendar meant very little to them!

Even by kid standards, the pool was freezing! Although the water temp read 70 degrees, they all had very blue lips and lots of goose bumps! The inaugural dip was only a short one. We all voted we will come back when they are able to run the heater in a couple of weeks!

Packing

So the day has arrived for all of our earthly possessions to be packed. In just a couple of days all those boxes will then be hauled off to who knows where for about 1 month while repairs are made to our house.

So, here I sit watching complete strangers pack everything! This is so against my character to just sit here like a sack of potatoes but there is nothing really for me to do. We moved all of our things out yesterday so what is left is left for them to pack up. Besides, I'm so tired that I don't think I could pack anything w/o an emotional breakdown.

As I sit and type this I'm just reminded how completely absurd this whole situation is. Really, who does this? I just keep thinking - this is nuts - really nuts!

So, we will keep you all updated on this process. I'll be at the house all day today and tomorrow and then on Wednesday as they move things out. We are hoping and praying that we will be back regular life in a month!

A Giraffe!?

As I was putting some things away in Allison's room today, I thought that I noticed a cold draft. I called to Eric to come see if he thought there was a draft in her room. Not knowing that Allison was around, she came running toward her room, exclaiming...."What!? There is a giraffe in my room?!" No matter how clearly I kept trying to say "d-r-a-f-t", she kept interpreting "g-i-r-a-f-f-e" - just typing this makes me laugh!

The 1980's

This morning was the first really chilly morning for this fall. We didn't have anywhere to go so the kids stayed in their pj's a little later than normal. Both wanted to put their slippers on since it was cool enough! Jacob came down the stairs with his suggestion as to how people in the 1980's could have made slippers! He said "You know the people in the 1980's could have put pillows on either side of their foot and tied them with a rubber band to keep them on!". He was so proud of his invention for those who lived way back in the 1980's!

In Love!!!!

Today while Allison and I were eating lunch, she made a declaration that I must say took me by surprise! She announced "I'm in love with Ryan!". Ryan? Ryan who? What do you mean you're in love?! Don't you mean he's just cute?! She clarified for me, she was in love with Ryan from school and he isn't just cute, she is in love with him!

We will be keeping a close eye on this one! Let the fun begin! :o)

On The Move!

Things are a little crazy around here. We found out on Monday that we need to move out of our house for a month beginning in a week! It's not that we just need to move out, all of the entire contents of our home must be moved out as well.


We have some structural repairs that need to be done by the builder and consequently, we must move out. The builder is hiring a mover to pack us, move us out, and then move us back in and unpack us.


It's a bit overwhelming to think that the entire contents of our house will be out in just a few days. Under normal circumstances, there is a level of excitement as you are normally moving to a new home! This is just a little outside the scope of normal.


We will be living with my parents during this time. We are supposed to only be out for a month therefore moving back just before Thanksgiving. Time will tell. Despite the assistance of movers and all, there is still a level of preparation work we need to do to so we are in super fast clean out mode.

We will still have email and I think we are having all of our call forwarded to my parents house so contacting us should be pretty normal. We will keep you posted on things!

AWANA Club

Jacob and Allison began attending AWANA's this year. They are having a ton of fun! After the first meeting, the kids had so much fun that they wanted to know if they could go back again sometime! And so they will go back - just about every week! Tonight was "parents night" which gave us a chance to see what happens during club time and participate with the kids during game time. We had fun watching them and playing the games!

Naughty Doggie Strikes Again!

She did it again! Tonight I went into the bathroom to give the kids their showers and there it was - again! Apparently I learn my lessons slow! For whatever reason, one I'm not sure I'll ever figure out, Darby has taken to enjoying a good snack on the kids bath sponges! I get it now - no more bath sponges! The thing that cracks me up is that she manages to get in and out of the shower w/ the curtain pulled and leaves no evidence of her sneaky behavior on the outside of the curtain!

New Photos

Just a quick note to let you all know that I've finally loaded some pictures to my flicker account. I'm still working on labeling everything but so far they cover August and September. Enjoy!

Teddy Bear Clinic

Today Allison had her first kindergarten field trip. The local hospital near us offers a Teddy Bear Clinic to area kindergarten classes. Jacob went when he was in kindergarten and now it was Allison's turn. The purpose of the clinic is to expose children to the Emergency Room if they should ever have to have their own visit and to teach them it's not so scary! The kids brought their own stuffed animals with various sicknesses and ailments.
We left the school on the school bus and went into the hospital in the back of the ER. First into a room for "admissions" and registered the "patients". Allison took her bear, Maddy, who fell off her skateboard and hurt her arm. Maddy received her ID bracelet and directions as to where to go next.

Next we had Maddy's x-ray taken to see if there were any broken bones.

Then to triage where her arm was put in a splint and bandaged. Allison received instructions on how to care for Maddy - lots of rest, hugs and kisses and to leave the splint on for 3 days - it was only a sprain and not a break.

We then went to the discharge desk to get "signed out". It was really cute! :o)
Allison had a blast showing off her bear and having me meet all her new friends at school!

From The Mouth Of Babes!

I've come to expect the unexpected from Allison. She is so far from routine that she is always keeping us on my toes. She has never been super mischievious, but just keeping us on our toes with everyday life from things she says to what she wants to drink at meals - never the same. Jacob on the other hand likes routine and is happy to have the same thing to eat and drink day after day! It probably seems even more unusual to me since Jacob is older and since day one has loved a repetitive routine - since birth, Allison has not! Allison's imagination and conversations with us sometimes just crack me up - last night was no exception!

We were in the midst of our bedtime routine, when Allison decided to announce "Tomorrow, I'm going to Weight Watchers!". What?! So of course we responded that she didn't need to go to Weight Watchers and that was just sometimes what grown ups do. Since January both kids have been hearing the Weight Watchers terminology since both my mom and I have been going weekly. Eric then walks Allison to her room to say good night and she then announces that "I think I'll skip the meeting and just go to weigh in!".

Yikes!!!!!!!

The Last Horray!

No soccer, no committment, beautiful weather, warm temperatures.... what else would our family do on a weekend in September?! What else but eat up every last ounce of summer and head to OC! Fall officially arrived on Sunday so the clock was ticking!

I left right after Jacob got off the bus - the car was all packed and ready to go! The kids, the dog, and I got down there by dinner time and Eric arrived shortly after as he came right from work.

Saturday was spent at the beach. It wasn't a brilliant sunny day but nice just to be there relaxing. The kids did some boogie boarding, sand castle building, and some frisbee games! After the beach, everyone and I do mean everyone, took a short naps. I'm finding that our weekly schedule is a bit crazy at times and the kids are worn out by week end. The nap was definately a necessity for the kiddos! After dinner, the 4 of us and my parents all headed up to the boardwalk for perhaps the last of the rides for 2007! Since the crowds were minimum, we got lots accomplished! All 6 of us even went on the "big" bumper cars. Jacob is tall enough to do them himself so he really enjoys them over the "kid" bumper cars! I'm not sure when the last time we got my parents on a ride! The kids are outgrowing the "kiddie" rides and moving up to the "big" rides. This is fine for Jacob since he has the height going for him, but Allison isn't quite tall enough to fulfill her "thrill" factor! Jacob is the cautious of the two of them. In order for Allison to go on many of the rides that excite her, she must have a grown up! Unfortunately, my stomach doesn't do well on much more than the Merry-Go-Round, so Eric usually goes on! The new trill ride is the Tidal Wave - Allison's new favorite ride! Jacob tolerated it and probably wouldn't pick it but is afraid he'll miss out on something if he sits out.

Sunday was the annual OC Corvette Show on the boardwalk. So since this is the 2nd year my dad has had his antique corvette, he entered it into the parade. All the corvettes, new and old, drove from the OC airport to the boardwalk and up to 6th St. My dad was actually parked around 12th street. It's quite a site - just about the entire boardwalk is double lined with hundreds and hundreds of corvettes! The kids and us went to the beach for some fun in the sun first then later joined my parents on the boardwalk for the show. It was a hot sunny day so the kids patience wore out rather quickly but we stayed long enough to get some water ice and carmel popcorn!
Typically we don't get down to OC much after September but we may manage a day trip or so in October - there are some fun activities on the boardwalk for Halloween this year!

Mother Of The Year Award!

Yesterday I earned the "Mother of the Year Award"! How you ask? Well, for about 1 week, Allison has every so often and very casually mentioned that her right ear hurt. Within 10 minutes of her declaration, her ear doesn't hurt anymore! A couple of days later, the conversation repeats and again, a miraculous healing! Each time she mentions her ear hurts it's typically as soon as she wakes up. Yesterday morning was no different. After a few probing questions to eliminate somethings, I was told that without a doubt it was pain in her right ear but deep down inside the ear. So, that eliminated problems with her newly pierced ears or even swimmer's ear. Enough is enough - we're going to the Dr. Our appointment was late in the afternoon after our already scheduled dentist appointments. During the day a friend mentioned perhaps she was getting a molar and that was causing the pain. Never gave that a thought. While at the dentist I just mentioned her ear pain and asked if she was getting molars there. Nope! Well, next stop the pediatrician!

Within seconds and just a quick glance, there was no doubt she had a pretty severe middle ear infection! Great - what kind of mother am I?! Jokingly, the Dr. said that perhaps next time she complained of something, I should bring her in sooner! :o) Nice salt in the wound!

So now of course every 5 minutes she is making sure that I know her ear hurts! I'm not sure if it really does hurt that bad or if it just hurts so much now because she knows something is wrong!

I can't win... when I rush them into the Dr's office for something that I predict is clearly the problem, there is nothing wrong. Then when I hold out b/c I'm certain there isn't anything wrong, there is!

Soccer Season Kickoff!

Today was the season opener for soccer! Jacob is playing on the travel soccer team this year - a much different experience! They all looked so professional with their uniforms and bags! Too cute!We opened with an away game about 45 minutes away. It was a warm day and quite sunny. The boys did great for their first game - a little tense for the parents though! Despite the 4-2 loss, they played their little hearts out and seemed to be having fun too! I have a feeling it will be a tiring practice on Thursday! :o) Our next game is next Sunday!

Allison enjoyed the game too, although I'm not sure she saw any of the game! She and some of the other sisters watched a video (one great mom thought to bring a portable dvd player - it wasn't me!) and colored while snacking on goldfish!

After the game we hit 5 Guys for dinner and Rita's for dessert. If you haven't tried 5 Guys, they are a must for burgers - one of our favorites!

The Last Swim!

Today was the last opportunity for us to use the swim club for 2007! We got there at opening. For the first 45 minutes, we were the only family there! Very nice - our own private pool! The weather was warm and made for a perfect day at the pool. We had to depart early as we had another swim party to attend for soccer! No better way to spend a hot day in September than in the pool - wherever it happens to be!

Dinner At The Pool

Our swim club decided to stay open for an additional weekend this year. The new schedule was perfect for us as the kids only had 1/2 day so we headed over there after Jacob got off the bus!

A few families, including us decided to order some pizza and stay for dinner. So Eric arrived shortly before the 6 pizzas! So we all gathered under the pavillion for dinner! The kids all sat together and had a great time. For once, the boys out numbered the girls!

We closed the pool down at 7pm! What a great way to wrap up summer!