Lawrence Family Happenings

Family Adventure Day

2009-06-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

We decided to have family adventure days as much as we can . It is just a fun family day where we have a destination in mind,but no set plans. We can stop anywhere along the way, and it is just a fun way to spend time together.

Here is our adventure day from last weekend...

We had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack at Station Square. Maxwell likes this restaurant and calls it the Krusty Krab. ( Just like on Sponge Bob.)

Maxwell loved the fountain at Station Square...

Went to my favorite bath products store. Love it ...love it !...

It was Maxwell's first time to ride the incline...

Maxwell rode the train through Station Square...

Maxwell got a tattoo. He sure loves tattoos. I am a little bit worried...

We finished the day off for the at Southside Works . We went to the movies to see "UP." It was so good !

I can't wait to see what we will do next weekend !

Maxwell's New Pool

2009-06-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

Maxwell got a new little blow -up pool for the yard. He had lots of fun playing in it already.
I thought it was much too cold to be in the water,but he did not seem to mind .

Yard Sale finds from 5/16/09

2009-05-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

It was a great yard sale day. Here is what I found...

Maxwell got a little dog. He named it Martha after the cartoon.- .25 cents

Five blow -up Dinos... Maxwell is going to hang from the ceiling in his room-. $1.25

SpongeBob Movie-$2.00

Stuffed Clown fish that Maxwell wants to hang in his room-.25 cents.

Sign for my downstairs door- $3.00

A snowman for our collection and an elf.-.75 cents

MORE Halloween decorations-$3.75

Thanksgiving decoration-$2.00

I hang these in my windows at Christmas, and I needed more. I found these two for .50 cents .

New skirt with tags, a pair of Guess jeans ,and Capri- all three for $1.50.

Four more games. -$6.25.

We were so excited to find Jumanji as we just watched the movie and Maxwell loved it.

Basket-.25 cents

Three ties for Maxwell- $1.00. He has to wear them to school next year.

Like new Steve Madden shoes- $5.00

Crafts and stickers for Maxwell-$1.25

Christmas Trivia game. I actually bought last week,but forgot to add. -.25 cents

Total-$29.25

Garage Sale finds from May 9th

2009-05-10T16:19:00.001-07:00

I am keeping track of all the things I buy at garage/yard sales this season.

Here are my finds this week...

New cat bowl for snowflake- $1.25.

Pens sweatshirt for Maxwell-$1.00

Slate plaque for my porch- $3.00

Badminton/volleyball set-$3.00

Three board games-$1.50 ( We have played them a lot already.)

Spoon rest-.25 cents. ( I never have enough spoon rests when I have a party.)

Cat decoration for Halloween-$1.00 ( I know...like we need more Halloween decorations ! )

Books for Maxwell-.50 cents

Fish place mats for the patio table- $2.00

Robot game for Maxwell-$1.00

Total for week- $14.50.

Can't wait until next Saturday !

Mother's Day Adventure 2009

2009-05-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

My mother's day started with waking up and getting some great gifts from my boys. I got Brighton jewelry that I wanted.

We went to breakfast at Manor Grill which his my favorite place for breakfast.

We then headed to Laurel Caverns for a tour of the cave.

Here are some pictures...

Me and Maxwell down in the cave.

Cave bat

We stopped to look at the view on our way...

We almost lost our son over the cliff! ( not really )

We stopped at the Woodland Zoo. Here are some of the highlights....

Maxwell loves fish. He even got a new fish hat.

The bear was doing tricks for us.

We sure got a lot of exercise today walking around the zoo.

Maxwell found a cat at the zoo.

I am surprised he did not try to take him home.

We finished our day with dinner at a pizza hut on the way home. What a great day. We are going to try to have more family adventures all summer.

Waiting for the Leprechauns

2009-03-16T05:22:00.001-07:00

We worked as a family yesterday to make a leprechaun trap. Last year the Leprechauns just left us some gold coins as they ran through the house. This year Maxwell is hoping to catch one. I will keep you posted on what happens...

Heart Shaped Pizza

2009-02-16T10:51:00.001-08:00

I had told Maxwell that daddy had made me a heart shaped pizza when we were dating.

Maxwell got excited and wanted daddy to help him make his own heart shaped pizza a few days before Valentine's day.

Here are some pictures of the making of the heart shaped pizza...

Maxwell wanted to make a face on the pizza. We used pretzel mix to do that.

More Pets...

2009-02-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

We decided to let Maxwell get one Guinea Pig.

Then we read that they should have a friend and you should never just have ONE Guinea Pig. So, now we have TWO Guinea pigs.

Their names are Brownie and Cupcake. Cupcake is very fat. We are hoping she is not pregnant . All she wants to do is eat.

Hermit Crabs

2009-02-16T10:35:00.001-08:00

Maxwell now has 5 hermit crabs.

He gets them out of their cage and builds houses for them and plays with them for hours at at time.

We still have one that we got at the beach last summer. The other ones are from the local pet shop. We had one die last week. I hope the others last for a awhile

Valentine's Day

2009-01-28T13:31:00.001-08:00

Maxwell and I decorated our "seasons" tree for valentine's day.

I love valentine's day it is my favorite holiday !!

Here are some pictures...

Season Tree

2009-01-19T16:46:00.001-08:00

I was looking through a decorating magazine and got the idea to keep a Christmas tree up all year and decorate it for each season.

We had a fall tree with leaves on it.

We had a Thanksgiving tree with little turkeys on it.

Here is a picture of our tree now with snowman on it...

Brett does not like this idea at all,but I told him it beats storing the Christmas tree. I will post a picture of each of the decorated tress, and you can let me know what you think.

Shoes

2009-01-19T16:41:00.000-08:00

Look at these great new Croc like shoes I found at Wal-mart for $7.00.

They are pink and black. My favorite colors !

Happy New Year!

2009-01-17T11:18:00.003-08:00

Boy, it has been so long since I have posted! It has been so cold out I have just wanted to stay inside and hibernate.

We had a very nice holiday.

New Year's eve was very uneventful. This was the first year Maxwell made it until Midnight. We had a camp out in the living room with pizza, ice cream and many hours of the Twilight Zone reruns .

2009 has brought many good things so far...

I started Weight Watchers and have lost over 13 pounds so far in 2009.

We are taking Maple and Sittler to dog training classes and they were not the worst dogs in the class last week, once a very active German Shepherd joined the class.

Maxwell started taking karate classes.
Maxwell is hoping to start his drawing classes again. His very favorite thing again.

Brett is finally getting his staffing issues at his hotel straightened out.
Maxwell is finally sleeping in his own room !
We are all happy and healthy !!!

Funny Pre-Christmas Shopping Story

2008-12-22T16:33:00.000-08:00

I had to run into Wal-mart after work to get my exchange gift for the office Christmas party tomorrow.

I think that Wal-mart may just be hell on earth. There is not one thing I like about it. I only go there because it is basically right across from the street from my house, and it's my only option, unless I want to drive 12 miles to gp to Target.

Wal-mart was just NOT the place to be, three days before Christmas! The checkout lines were a mile long.

I finally found a reasonably short line at one of the self check-outs.

The lady in front of me was having a terrible time trying to get her wrapping paper to scan.

The Wal-mart worker was just standing up in her front guard booth just watching this poor lady, without offering any help.

Finally, the lady picks up the wrapping paper roll and starts to hit the self checkout machine with it. It was so funny.

The Wal-mart clerk comes running over and says "It's not going to make it work by hitting it." The lady replies... "Maybe not, but it sure made me feel better!"

I loved her answer.

Awww..... The joys of Christmas shopping at the friendliest place on earth... Wal-mart!

Maxwell is a King

2008-12-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

Maxwell was a king in the Christmas play at his school.
He did very well and remembered all his lines.

Friends

2008-12-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get sad because we don't have a large family to spend time with over the holidays. But, then I realize how lucky we are to have such great friends that are like family to us.

Maxwell may not have cousins, but he is lucky to have Alyssa, Molly and Mason as family friends. Those precious childhood memories are being created with them, just like I did with their mommies.

Maxwell and Alyssa

We are lucky to have such great neighbors like Shirley an Ken! (Picture of Shirley and I)

Wendy.... my BFF for 30 years!

Mom and Big Bill

Thanks to all of our great friends for being part of lives and spending time with us over the holidays.

Charades

2008-12-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

Here are some classic picture of us playing charades at our Christmas get-together this year...

I'm king of the world !

I can dance... yes I can !

I'm a monkey...

Fun night out

2008-12-21T09:15:00.000-08:00

Our Friend Big Bill Came to Pittsburgh for a Visit.
Wendy and I have been friends with him since Jr. high.

Brett, Wendy and I (Kevin could not come) met him and his friend, Schon, for a fun night out on the town.
We started the night with dinner at Hyde Park on the Northshore.
It was so fun to have a night out with Brett and my friends.
I felt like we were back in high school. Well, I guess if we were in high school, we would not have been eating at a place like that... but you get the picture.
I think Brett was pretty proud of me that I made it through the night without laughing so hard that liquid squirted out my nose, like it usually does when I am with Wendy and Bill because I laugh so hard. That would be not good to do in a fancy restaurant.
We had a yummy dinner with lots of fun conversation.
After dinner we walked over to Jerome Bettis's Bar to end the night with a cocktail.
It was just so fun because it was the first time we have all been out together in so long.
We are going to have to make this an annual tradition.

Just the 3 of us

2008-12-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

I love to take pictures like this.
I don't really know why, but I think it is just fun.
This night was especially fun because Wendy, Brett, and I were getting ready to go out to meet Big Bill for dinner.
Since we so rarely get to go out for an adult night only I was extra excited .
See the next post to hear more about our fun night out...

Snowman and other outdoor stuff

2008-12-13T07:46:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of a snowman Maxwell made before school yesterday because they had a delay. He was very excited to make his first snowman of the year.
He also took pictures of various other decorations we have in our yard. Yes, we are the neighbors from hell with 4, or is it 5, big blow up decorations in our yard. At least we are fun and not boring, right?

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

We went to Seven Springs for a yummy Thanksgiving dinner.
We have so much to be thankful for, and we are so blessed!
All Maxwell wanted to do was decorate for Christmas, so as soon as we got home that afternoon, that is what we did.
I can't believe that it is almost December and Christmas will be here before we know it.
Where does the time go ???

Meet the Author

2008-12-02T09:18:00.000-08:00

Maxwell got to meet one of his favorite author's, Mark Teague, and have some of his books signed.
We went with his kindergarten teacher, Miss Schumm and his classmate, Amanda.
He was a lot of fun. Brett and I enjoyed it as much as Maxwell did.
Brett LOVES to read "How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight..." to Maxwell, whenever he can.
Of course anything to do with books, I love. I should have been a librarian.
Here is some more information about Mark Teague...

"Mark Teague has delighted young readers with more than 20 picture books, and he has written many of them himself, including the popular Pigsty, Baby Tamer, and One Halloween Night. He is also the illustrator of Cynthia Rylant's beloved Poppleton series for beginning readers and the best-selling books by Jane Yolen, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight and How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon.

Mark Teague's life changed when he moved from San Diego to New York City and he planted the seed for his first picture book, The Trouble with the Johnsons. Each of Teague's books start as "notebooks full of sketches and scribbles, strange little drawings and phrases that suddenly come together," Teague explains. And although he had no formal writing training, his endless imagination and understanding nature gives him a permanent place in the hearts of everyone.

Mark and his wife live in Coxsackie, New York, with their young daughter Lily, who has a great time watching her dad paint the pictures in his books."

Gold Wins Silver

2008-11-17T08:54:00.000-08:00

Maxwell’s Dek hockey team had their playoff game yesterday and won the silver medal.
The score was not even close at 10-4.
The blue team was had some really good little players on it.
Maxwell said he liked playing, but you would never believe it when you saw him out here during a game. He would practically jump up and down when the buzzer would ring for him to go on the bench.
He says he wants to play this season, but I think we are going to wait and maybe he can play again in the spring if he continues to say he wants too.
He started to take karate lessons last week and really seem to like that. I was very impressed with the first class. They taught him safety and how to fall correctly. I thought this was great. I don’t want Maxwell to be afraid of everything like some kids, and learn the safe way to do things
Brett is also going to start to take him for ice skating lessons again. He might want to play Ice hockey. Brett keeps hoping!
At least we are exposing him to different activities, and he is learning what likes and does not like.
I will keep you updated on his activities.

2008 Presidential Election

2008-11-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

Maxwell's teacher encouraged us to take Maxwell with us when we went to vote. I was excited to do that (Brett can't vote because he's not an American citizen.)

I remember going with my grandpa to vote when I was growing up. Back then, of course, you went in to a booth with a curtain and wrote down your vote on paper with a pencil. A lot of things have changed.

I hope that Maxwell remembers going with me to vote today and the fact that the first African-American man was elected president.

I have learned a lot during the election.

The most important lesson for me was I realize now that there is never a friendly conversation when you are talking about politics. I vow to only talk about politics with my best friends and my family.

Who knows what the next four political years will hold. I may not be happy with the choice that was made for our next president, but I am willing to have an open mind. I hope that God will give our new president the strength that he needs to run our country to the best of his ability, and keep it safe.

God bless America!

Halloween Party

2008-11-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween party seemed to be quite a fun event for all ages. It was fun to have old and new friends at the party all dressed up in fun costumes.

The rain ended right before the party so the kids were able to play outside in the haunted house and make mountain pies at the bonfire.

I did not do a very good job of taking pictures, so I have included a few of the ones I have. People have been very good about emailing me some of the pictures they took at the party.

Maxwell said it was the best day of his life, which made the weeks of preparation worth it.

He already started talking about next years party. I guess I should start planning now!

Award Winning Art

2008-11-10T07:28:00.000-08:00

Maxwell won two ribbons in the art show at his school over the weekend !

Girl's Night Out

2008-10-20T10:44:00.001-07:00

I got to go to another spa party! Wendy and her sisters came to town for a spa party on Saturday and invited me to go too.
Megan (Wendy's niece... Julie's daughter) was also there with her friend Heather. Megan was celebrating her 23rd birthday . We used to babysit for her when she was only a few months old. Boy, do I feel old. Now she is a beautiful grown up girl.

We had a great time at the spa then we checked into Brett's hotel and had the hotel van take us to the Southside for dinner and a fun girl's night out.
We had a wonderful dinner at Fatheads (they have the best Turkey Reuben's EVER!)
Then we went to a few fun bars and tried to find people there that were older than us. We didn't have too much luck.

The van picked us "old" ladies UP and took us back to the hotel around midnight.
Just when it was starting to get busy. How do people stay up so late??
The young girls stayed out MUCH later and had a fun night.
Oh to be 23 again... NO WAY!!!

It was a fun night and I can't wait to do it again next year, but I think next time we are taking the guys with us. We missed them.

It was a great night, and so nice to be with friends that I have known for almost 30 years!

I posted another picute of Wendy and myself.
Wonder how many pictures of us I have ???

Hallowboo at Idlewild

2008-10-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at Hallowboo at Idlewild on Sunday. Maxwell was so excited that he got to go with a bunch of his friends.

We went with the Valentinos and our neighbors, the Franzens. The 6 boys had a blast going trick or treating in Story Book Forest, riding rides and running at lightning speeds through hay bale maze.

Maxwell wore his pirate costume that he wore last year. This year I had to let dow the hem in the pants that I had taped up last year.

The weather was beautiful. A little too hot for me, as I was hoping for a cool, crisp, fall day. Maxwell was so tired he fell asleep on the way home and slept until the next morning.

We felt so lucky that he had such a good day and that he was able to spend it with his friends having such a good time.

I hope he will remember all of these wonderful moments when he is older.

Not much to blog about...

2008-10-07T12:22:00.001-07:00

I have not posted an entry for a while. I don't even have any new pictures to post!Things have been pretty uneventful at the Lawrence house. We are all happy and Healthy!

Maxwell continues to love Kindergarten. He had his first tests last week and did very well on all of them. He loves to do his school work. He started taking a drawing class and he loves it. I will try to scan and post some of the pictures he draws at his class.

We spent last weekend with Wendy and Alyssa. Maxwell was in heaven spending two days with his best friend. I still have high hopes they will get married some day so Wendy and I will actually be related... not that it matters, as she is as close to a sister as I am ever going to have anyway.

I started walking in the morning with my neighbor. We walk at 6:15 AM. Yes, I know you can't believe that "me," that hates exercise, is getting up at 6:15 to walk. But, so far,so good. It makes it easier when I know someone is waiting for me to go.
I am not losing any weight though, especially now that pumpkin spice "Frapps" are back at Starbucks (I do order the "light' version though.)

I went to the doctor on Monday to finally try to figure out why I keep getting my severe migraine headaches. I go on Monday for a MRI, but the doctor thinks the main problem is my over use of Excedrin to treat my headaches. He has put me on a daily medication to prevent the migraines. I hope it helps. I can not take not take medication if I do get a migraine for 2 months, so it had BETTER help! I will keep you updated.

We continue to get ready for the big Halloween party.

We hope to see you all there.

Pictures of the Haunted Lawrence House

2008-09-24T06:24:00.001-07:00

Gung's Birthday

2008-09-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Gung's 57th birthday was on September 6th.
We celebrated all weekend.
We had cake and opened presents at our house on Saturday then we went to Bahama Breeze for an early dinner.
Saturday night they had fireworks in Delmont. We went to the fair just to watch them. They were the best ever.
Sunday mom and I went to the musical Wicked. It was so good.
I hope my mom had a wonderful birthday this year and has many more!

Another Lawrence plays hockey...

2008-09-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I think most of you guessed that it's not me playing hockey, so it is probably Maxwell. He started dek hockey last Tuesday and had his first game on Saturday which was a tie game, 6-6.
He seemed to like it after Brett got his helmet and knee pads adjusted. He told us in the car on the way home that he had a bug in his nose during practice, and he was not sure what to do. It made us all laugh.
I really hope that Maxwell likes dek hockey and continues to play and advance to ice hockey. I know nothing would make his Canadian daddy happier.
My mom and I can be seen in the stands each Saturday yelling "Go Wid!" and hoping when he has a shot at the ball that he shoots it the right way.

Backyard Camp Out

2008-09-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

We had a camp out in our back yard on Saturday night.

The Valentino boys and their mom came over and the moms camped out in the back yard with the boys. Brett helped with the fire. This is the closet thing to camping we are going to get!

We had a campfire, made smores, and told funny stories before we went to sleep. It was a really fun night and a great way to end the summer.

Here are some pictures of the camp out...

First Day of Kindergarten

2008-08-27T09:12:00.000-07:00

I'm finding it so hard to believe that my little boy has started kindergarten, but the evidence in these pictures is undeniable. There is Maxwell with his brand new backpack waiting to go in the school. There he is sitting at his new desk.
I am sad, yet I know that this is the start of an incredible journey and that he will love it every minute of it. ( I hope ! ) But, it is still hard for me to accept how big he is now and that I can't protect him every minute of the day from all the bad things that are out there in world. Where did the time go ?

Beach

2008-08-18T11:12:00.001-07:00

We had a great time on our vacation at the beach.

Here are some of my favorite pictures...

Break from the beach to have lunch.

Maxwell and Alyssa on the beach

Favorite beach picture of all time !

View from the big wheel

Beach babes

Hermit Crabs

Deep sea fishing

Maxwell on our morning beach walk.

Pictures from the Daughtry Concert

2008-08-03T05:02:00.000-07:00

We are leaving for the beach ,so I just wanted to quickly post some pictures from the Daughtry concert last night. It was a great show. We had so much fun.

He played some new songs that are coming out on his new album. I can't wait .

Haircut

2008-07-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. I got my hair cut.

Amanda has been begging me for months to cut my hair in a cute trendy style. Last night I finally decided to do it, and I love it. She cut over 4 inches off !

Now, I just have to pick out a new fun color.

Snatch or Stalk

2008-07-17T07:22:00.000-07:00

I love to shop. But when I shop, I hate to pay retail price. I am always on a hunt for the best sales.
Since I love name brand fashions and accessories, it is hard to find the things that I want NOW, on sale. So… when I see something I truly want, I need to decide if I should snatch or stalk.
If it is too expensive and I can wait, I stalk. I have been stalking a Lacoste bag at Macy’s for a few months now. I am just waiting for the day I walk in Macy’s and I see the sign that says “SALE” over the display. I’ll snatch it right then and there.
If I see something that is on sale sand I love it… I just snatch. Like the great pair of Jelly shoes I found at Macy’s the other day (yes, I love Macy’s.)
This system works for me and I rarely have buyer’s remorse.
Here are a few pictures of Maxwell shopping with me at Macy’s. He is becoming quite a helpful little shopper. He will help me look for my size and give me his honest opinion if something looks good.

The Elf

2008-07-17T07:18:00.001-07:00

You may be wondering why I have a picture of an elf on the blog.
Well, when I was growing up, my grandma would decorate the whole house with these little elves every Christmas. They were everywhere you looked.
When I saw this little elf at a yard sale last weekend for a quarter, I got so excited! So many childhood memories came flooding back.
I loved seeing these little elves over Christmas, and she would let me play with them before they were put away for another year.
My grandma died when I was 7, but I have so many wonderful memories of her.
I still have the dressing table that she used every day to put her make-up on.
I love the perfume she wore, Youth Dew in the blue bottle, which is my favorite perfume today. I still use the same night cream that she used (from Mary Kay.)
I always remember her saying “never go to bed with your make-up on.” It does not matter how tired I am; I still follow her advice.
She loved shoes, jewelry, purses and clothes as much has I do. There are times that my mom will say to me, “Look at that shirt you have on, it is something my mom would have worn.”
I also have to remember when I look at picture of her all dressed and looking so pretty, that she was a size 14. So, when I get disgusted that I wear a size 14, I need to remember her and how beautiful and curvy she was. That being curvy and full figured runs in the family.
Even though she has been in heaven for a long time, I still miss her.
I am so thankful that she was in my life, even if it was for such a short time. I am glad that I am so much like her in many, many ways.

Here is a picture of her green dressing table I use everyday.

Daughtry Video on msn

2008-07-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

Great Daughtry video on msn. I wanted to share.
Less then a month until see him LIVE!!!
Click on link below...

http://entimg.msn.com/i/ExperienceData/p1-10/us/x.htm?sh=mmic&ep=daughtrypost

Happy Birthday Wendy

2008-07-10T05:28:00.001-07:00

Today is Wendy's birthday.

I thought I would post a picture of us back about 20 years ago.

I think we still look the same...except for the hair...LOL !

Happy Birthday my friend.

Thinks for all the great years of friendship. I love ya !

Recent Picture of Sittler

2008-07-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent picture of Sittler. He is now almost 9 months old. He is a good puppy.

He and Maple are the best of buddies.

We were so happy that Toby was able to be adopted by an older couple, and he is going to be the only pet.

He will be so much better in that environment.

Maxwell and Alyssa

2008-06-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

We let Maxwell continue his birthday week by letting his best friend Alyssa spend the night (Wendy and Kevin's little girl.)

They had so much fun playing outside in the sprinkler, then going to Rick's and playing games and eating pizza.

Friday, Gung and I took them to Idlewild. We had a blast riding all the rides and playing all kinds of games. Maxwell even won a BIG fish in the BIG crane machine. Did I mention it was BIG?

When we left the house, the weather said "NO RAIN", but later in the afternoon it started to thunder and lightning. They closed the water park !

We waited it out and it reopend. The kids had a blast playing on the big pirate ship.

But, once again, the storm came and it rained really hard.

We dried off and continued to ride rides and have fun after the rain pasted.

All of a sudden the intercom comes on in the park to tell us that the park is closing because a major storm is coming through. Well, that was fine because we were almost ready to go... but we had the jeep and the top was off!

I, of course, never really learned how to put the top on because that's what Brett is for!

So Gung and I are out in the storm trying to get the top on. We did okay, but water was still coming in and the kids were getting wet. There were no back windows or rear window!

We had to go to Somerset to take Alyssa home. The kids fell asleep just a minute or two after we left the park. They were so tired!

It rained the whole way, but we made it home safely. We can laugh about it now, but at the time it was not so fun.

Maxwell had a great time and was so happy his best buddy Alyssa was able to spend part of his birthday week with him. As soon as we dropped her off he wanted to know when she could come again.

Maxwell's Birthday Party

2008-06-22T15:43:00.001-07:00

Maxwell celebrated his 5th birthday by having a big party at Chuck E. Cheese's. All his friends from school were there and some of his other special friends such as Alyssa, Leeann, Colin, and David.

The party was a blast. Chuck E. Cheese came out and lead the group in singing happy birthday.

Maxwell got so many great gifts. It was the best party ever!

That evening he got to pick where he wanted to go and eat. He picked Red Robin.

The staff came out and sang happy birthday to him and gave him an ice cream sundae. Then we let him go to Toys 'R Us to use the gift card that Gung got him for his birthday.

He picked out a "super-fun" Batman castle.

We went home and ended his birthday by watching a new movie he got as a gift.

Mommy and Maxwell were both so exhausted, they ended up falling alsleep before the movie was over. Daddy just shook his head.

What a great day it was!

Happy Birthday Maxwell!

Brett's Birthday

2008-06-22T15:39:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Brett’s 45th birthday on June 3rd, with a small family party.
We had wings and birthday cake from Bruster's.
Maxwell, of course, had to help him open all his presents and cards.

It was a fun night !!

Grandpa

2008-05-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

Memorial day, 5/26 was the second anniversary of my grandpa's death.

We went to the cemetery and put flowers on the family graves.

It was a sad day.

They say that time eases the loss of a loved one, but there is not a day that goes by that I do not think of him and miss him so much.

What I would do for one more day with him, one more hug. I have so much to tell him.

Everyone asks me if it was hard growing up with out my dad around. But I never felt like I did not have a dad because I always had my grandpa or my "pal" as I so fondly referred to him.

Almost all of my childhood memories are of him spending time with me.

He was the one to buy me my first Nancy Drew books that lead to my love of mystery books to this day.

He would come to all my school events, and I was always so proud because he was dressed so nice and would talk to the teachers. Everyone always liked him.

He is responsible for my love of shopping and eating at fine restaurants.

He taught me to always be honest and work hard for what I wanted in life.

But the best lesson he taught me is never to "settle." Always strive for more.

That is why I applied for the promotion that changed my life at the age of 27. That led to Marriott training even when I cried and cried because I did not want to be away alone in a strange city for 6 weeks.

But, in that strange city I met Brett, who had very nice shined shoes... my grandpa always said you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes!

He was the person that was like my grandpa in so many ways, and the person I waited my whole life to be with. I was so glad that I waited for him and never "settled" for less.

He taught me so much about life that I hope I am passing down to Maxwell.

So, even though my grandpa is gone, I hope he is in heaven looking down on us and can see how important he was in making me the person I am today.

Grandpa, we miss you.

Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T10:34:00.001-07:00

Friday night the girls (Marsha and Wendy) and their kids, minus Blake, came down for our annual garage sale.
We had so much fun hanging out together.

The garage sale was a huge success !!

Wendy, my mom, and I got rid of so much stuff (of course, I took all the money I made and went shopping for more "stuff "!)

Brett, being the greatest dad and husband, entertained the kids for us so we could all hang out. He set up our new 8 person tent in the back yard and he and the kids were going to sleep out.

They had a marshmallow fight and set off fireworks.

He even prepared for the campout by printing a scary story off the internet to read to the kids. Well, it was so scary that Maxwell had to come inside and sleep with me!

Daughtry Coming Close

2008-05-16T06:17:00.001-07:00

I am so excited !
I just checked the Daughtry website, and he is coming to the Clearfiled County Fair. ( Yes, I am surprised about that too. ) on August 2nd.
I got us tickets right away.
That is the night before we leave for the beach. BUT, I DON'T CARE !!
I am so excited !!! ( If you could not already tell.)
Here is his website if you want to check it out...
http://www.daughtryofficial.com/

Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-13T12:32:00.001-07:00

I had such a great Mother's day this year!

Brett and Maxwell got me the sweatshirt I wanted so bad with the name of my favorite rocker on it... Daughtry (see picture.) It is now my favorite article of clothing.

They also got me a mother's day scratch off ticket. I won $100.00!!!

I shared my winnings with everyone that day and we went to the Lamplighter for breakfast and then we went to my favorite place... Ross Park Mall!!

My mom went with us too.

It was a wonderful day with my family. I am so lucky !

Maxwell the Fisherman

2008-05-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Maxwell has a new love... fishing!

We went fishing three times last week and Maxwell started watching fishing shows on TV.

We caught 6 fish last week. Maxwell names them and tries to keep them alive in a bucket.

It is so much fun to spend family time together in such a relaxing atmosphere. Keystone Lake is so nice. I even want to go camping there some weekend!

Here he is with his favorite fishing partner... Gung!

(Yes, that is really me with a fishing pole in my hand!)

Maxwell and Daddy

New Sittler Picture

2008-05-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

Sittler is getting to be quite a large puppy. Here is a new picture of him. He is going to be 8 months old soon.

New Jeep

2008-04-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

We got a new red 2008 Jeep Wrangler.

Brett and I decided it was the perfect vehicle for us. I wanted a convertible and Brett needed 4 wheel drive to get to work some days in the winter.

I still have the Yukon. We are saving that for when Maxwell can drive ...LOL

Here it is.....

(I tried to get the whole family in the picture and it was impossible. )

Maxwell the Builder

2008-04-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here is Maxwell making an ant house at the Lowes class on Saturday...

Lunch with Friends

2008-04-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Wendy, Marsha and I went out for lunch at TGI Friday’s to celebrate Marsha’s birthday.

It was so nice and relaxing to be with my two best friends.

I felt like I just saw them yesterday even though it was last month. We are always able to just pick up where we left off last time.I am so happy and blessed to have them as my friends for all these years.
I hope we are able to celebrate many more birthdays together.

Great Day at the Park

2008-04-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great day hiking at Keystone State Park.
We went with the Valentino family. The four boys had such a great time.
They all completed the mile-long hike!
We felt bad that we did not take the dogs, so after lunch we decided to go home and get Maple and Sittler and bring them back for a walk on the trail. Maple even got to go swimming.
Keystone is such a great place to go. We want to try and go as much as we can. Maxwell can’t wait to go fishing there. He got all his fishing gear out when we got home.
Who would have thought… I might become an outdoor girl after all!

Date Night

2008-04-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

Sarah’s version…
We had a wonderful date night in Cleveland this past week.
We got to go away for a whole night. (No dogs and no kids for 24 hours)
We went to the House of Blues in Cleveland where Brett saw his favorite band, Tower of Power.
It was a great concert. It was so fun being out with Brett even if I don’t really like the music (he will be going to the next Daughtry concert, and I made him listen to Poison on the drive home.)
The House of Blues is a really fun place. We had dinner there too.
We stayed the full service Marriott (at a discount of course) and it was really nice, and for me to say a hotel was nice, it must be really nice!! I did not even inspect the room.
In the morning before we left we ordered room service for breakfast. It was SO fun. Of course if it involves food, I get excited about it.

Brett’s version… Tower of Power! WooHoo!

Great View

2008-04-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

We took a family hike on Sunday morning.

The boys got me to come along even though they know I am not an outdoor girl (I am just trying to do anything I can to get exercise before bathing suit season!)

It was actually a lot of fun. We took Maple and she really enjoyed it too. I took this picture from the top of the big hill behind our house.

Another Boy's day!

2008-03-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

Another boys day today. I am the luckiest dad in the world.

We spent the whole day outside! In the past, Maxwell always wanted to stay inside and play games, or do crafts, or watch SpongeBob Squarepants or Fairly Odd Parents.

Well, today he surprised me by wanting to stay outside the whole time.

The day started by taking all of our stuff for the garage sale from the basement to the garage. Maxwell pretty much ran around the yard playing with the dogs and playing with bubbles the whole time. We cleaned out the "big red truck" and Maxwell helped by using the dust buster quite adeptly!

We went to Wal-mart to get a present for Joseph P. for the party next Thursday, then we snuck over to McDonalds to let Maxwell play in "the tubes". We got a happy meal so my buddy could get the toy, then spent 1/2 hour timing how fast he could go from the table, up to the top, down the slide and back to the table. He set new records each time. People gave us strange glances because we were sitting outside and it was pretty cold. He didn't care, so how could I?

We came home and played outside with the dogs some more and then we got adventurous! my buddy had a rake ("so I can rake the grass, silly! Want to help me?") Who could refuse an offer like that. Who cares if the grass doesn't need raking! We ended up going pretty far into the fields behind our house looking for Maple's tennis balls, and decided to go even further to the retention pond and the streams behind. Yes, we still had the rake. We kept going and going and going. we threw stuff into the pond to see if it would float. Pieces of wood do float, rocks do not. After a while, I showed my buddy that we could see the GetGo on Hwy 22 from where we were. He looked at me and smiled his devilish smile and said "Let's go there, Daddy!".

Now we were REALLY hiking! Mud, mountains, rivers, mud, big rocks, deer tracks, mud, animal poop (my buddy thinks it was poop from the cats we see wandering, and I had to agree) and of course we can't forget the "pricklies.".

We ended up in the back parking lot of the Holiday Inn and Mommy called to see what we wanted to do for dinner. She suggested the Lamplighter. That sounded like a winner as were only only about 200 yards away! My decision to agree had nothing to do with the fact that I was probably going to have to have my buddy sit on my shoulders for the trip back to the house! Mommy met us there. We had a great dinner with mud caked shoes and jackets. We still had the rake!

Times like these keep me young. My buddy is the best hiking partner I could ever hope for!

Video of Maxwell at Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

Maxwell's Easter Fun

2008-03-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time getting ready for Easter this week.

Maxwell dyed eggs twice. The first time with his friends Colin, Michael, and David. Then another time with me and Gung.

Today we braved the cold and went to an egg hunt at the park.

Maxwell is very excited and can't wait to see if the Easter bunny is going to come to our house tonight.

I will keep you posted.

You Know You're A Grown-up When...

2008-03-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

...picking a big fight with your guy at midnight isn't nearly as gratifying as it once was. You want your sleep !

...dropping $50 on your favorite body cream is a reasonable expenditure because you're clear on the meaning of " occasional splurge."

...just thinking about the most beloved candy of your childhood ( Shock Tarts, anyone? ) makes your teeth hurt.

...as much as it breaks your heart (and it does), you stand back, and allow your children to: struggle in sports; sob when they don't get invited to the slumber party; and receive a lousy grade when they don't turn in their social studies assignments on time.

...you realize-with, it must be said, a touch of horror-that routines are , in fact comforting.

...you start exercising and watching your weight not only to fit into size 10 jeans but also because it feels good to take care of yourself.

...even though you don't "do " hospital visits, his-and her-bridal showers, or funerals, you go anyway because it means a lot to someone else that you are there.

I found this article in the March 2008 issue of Redbook magazine. I thought it was so funny, and so true.
Please share some more ...

St. Patrick's Day Visit

2008-03-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

When we woke up on Monday morning the leprechauns had paid us a visit. They left gold coins all over the house, and a card for Maxwell that said “better luck catching me next year!”

Maxwell l said they were even at his school. While the kids were in the gym, they messed up some things in the classroom.

Next year we are going to get up extra early to see if we can catch them! As you can see from this picture, Maxwell was not happy about missing the leprechauns. He liked the gold coins though which were chocolate.

Birthday weekend fit for a princess

2008-03-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

I had the best weekend birthday celebration ever!
Friday night we went with friends (Myon and John, Kelli and Mark) to a scrumptious dinner at Hyde Park. The food was fabulous and the company was wonderful. It was our first date night since January (no, we don’t get out much!) While we were eating, Brett pointed out that Mike Tomlin was sitting at a table right behind us. We ended the evening with special desserts. Me and Myon for our March birthday and Kelli because she is PREGNANT!

Saturday I woke up at 5AM because I was so excited about the day ahead.
Brett, being the best husband in the world, arranged to treat me and all my closest friends to a birthday party at Details spa.

My two BFF’s Marsha and Wendy met me at my house and we headed to the spa for a day of pampering.

I could not believe how nice the spa was decorated. We had the whole “party” room to ourselves. Everyone had pink robes to put on of course!
There was yummy food, pink streamers and Brett got me a Hello Kitty birthday cake! The other girls all arrived (there were eight of us in all) and we had the best day of girl bonding. I am so blessed to have such greet friends. I want to make this an annual tradition.

Saturday night Marsha and Wendy hung out at my house. We tried on clothes in my bedroom and had some more girl-bonding. It felt like it could have been a Saturday night 15 years ago when we were getting ready to go out on the town (okay, maybe a little longer than that.)
Wendy and started looking through pictures later in the evening, of course I ended up laughing so hard I spit out my drink.

Thank you Brett and all my friends for sharing in my birthday weekend.

Tomorrow is my actual birthday and I am looking forward to spending the day with my family. After that I can no longer use the excuse “it’s my birthday”, until next year that is.

New Sittler Picture...

2008-03-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Look at that face...

Why...

2008-03-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

Why is it not against the law for them to make it mandatory for us to "spring" ahead and change the clocks ??
That is all we need is to lose an hour sleep that we will never make up.

I am perfectly fine with not changing my clocks and being an hour late for everything .
Everyone will just get used to it "Sarah is coming, she is just late because she did not turn the clocks ahead."
I am fine with that. I think everyone will understand. My friends all know how much I love to sleep.
Anyone remember what is was like to take a nap?

Boys Day!

2008-03-09T17:36:00.001-07:00

It was a "boys day" today and Sarah is making me do a post about it online!

My buddy and I started out the day by playing a little hide-and-seek, then we got into a little mishief with a dog or two. So far, just another day in the Lawrence household.

We decided to go out for a bit, so we had to start off at Dunkin Donuts so that I could get my coffee. Maxwell surprised me by telling me that he did not want any of the little Munchkins that they offer to the kids for free. I seriously wondered who had taken my son and replaced him with this other child, while I was sleeping.

Anyway, the imposter and I continued our journey and headed towards Toys 'R Us, but on the way Maxwell saw the sign for Chuck E. Cheese's. He just matter-of-factly from the backseat "Hey, look. It's Chuck E. Cheese's!" I glanced back and asked him if he wanted to go. He had no idea what to say. Seriously, he didn't know if it was a trick question or not. I wish I had a picture of the look on his face!

My goodness, what a great time we had. By the end of our time there, he found himslf with 20 bigger-than-life ants, and a "really cool" clip-on, crayon holding, sketch pad! He behaved SO well, that I KNEW it wasn't really my son.

I decided to push my luck and head over to Toys 'R Us, where he continued his exemplary behaviour. We had promised a while ago to look for some "Alien maker" or something. When we saw that it was sold out, he didn't whine, cry or complain. I KNOW this is not my son, but it REALLY looks like him. I saw a Backyardigans play-doh set that I liked for myself and bought it. I figured that someone might play it with me one day.

Since this alien being was with me, we decided to go to Elmer's fish store. What a busy place! We had been there for about 15 minutes, looked at all of the goldfish, saw the 2 we wanted (and named them.) I then realized that it would be a good idea to take number for service. We were helped quite well by a young man that got the exact goldfish that my buddy wanted. He was thrilled.

Finally on our way home for...

PLAY-DOH time!!!

I think I enjoyed playing with play-doh more than he did. Well, since that is not possible, I can say that I enjoyed it ALMOST as much as he did. He was wonderful with the dogs (mostly) and only drank 5 gallons of chocolate milk.

I LOVED boys day. I hope he did too.

Bon Jovi then and now...

2008-03-06T17:07:00.001-08:00

Last night Erica and I went to the Daughtry/Bovi Jovi concert.
It was so fun!
I have not been to a Bon Jovi conert since I was 16.

I noticed some differences from then and now...

Erica drove her mini-van with the car seats in it
I only drank one beer instead of the many, many I drank at the first show
I was actually legally allowed to drink
My mom knew where I was
We left before the encore to avoid traffic
I was old enough to be the mother of the girl sitting beside me
T-shirts are now 40 dollars
Jon's hair is much shorter
I was actually annoyed that our seats were far away
You now hold up your cell phone during slow songs instead of a lighter
Wendy was not there with me
I had to get up and go to work the next day instead of sleeping until noon
I was not thinking of a boy I liked when they played you give love a bad name (I just thought of how much Brett would hate this concert.)
I did not have big hair

Oh, to be 16 again...

NO WAY!

Our Dogs

2008-03-03T16:29:00.001-08:00

I tried to take a picture of all three of our dogs together.

I think nailing jello to the wall would be easier.

Health Scare

2008-03-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

We had a scare on Wednesday night.
We were getting ready to take Sittler to puppy training classes at Petsmart when Brett said he had chest pains.
I overreacted like I usually do (but in this case it was a good thing ) and said "we are going to the ER NOW." He wanted to go to Med Express clinic instead.
We got to Med Express and they were concerned so they sent us to the ER. His blood pressure was sky high!
It ended up Brett had to spend the night in the hospital. The good news is that all tests came back negative for a heart attack or heart diesease. The doctor said his heart looked fine.
He has high blood pressure and they don't know why, but at least he is on blood pressure medicine.

Maxwell had a Busy Weekend

2008-02-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

We took Maxwell to a class at Lowe's this weekend. He made a squirrel feeder.

He did a really good job (he is pictured working on his project.)

They have great classes there and it is free!

While he was spending the day at Gung's house, he made us a cake for our anniversary.

He did it all on his own.

It was the best cake we ever had!

Life is Good !

Our Anniversary

2008-02-23T17:27:00.000-08:00

Today Brett and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.

Guess what we did... NOTHING!

That is right, we spent the day doing nothing just like we did pre-Maxwell (he was very happy spending the day with Grandma!)
Brett and I watched the shows we had recorded for weeks, ordered pizza, took a nap, and watched a movie the whole way through (Mission Impossible 3... very good.)
It was just a wonderful way to spend our anniversary.
I thank God everyday for such a wonderful husband. I am very blessed.

Sarah's Favorite Holiday

2008-02-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

Valentine's day is my favorite holiday...

... because everything is pink (my favorite color), and there are lots of hearts and flowers.

There are special traditions for Valentine's day at the Lawrence house.
A special dinner that usually consists of some sort of pasta dish, my favorite (you can see how much Maxwell's face enjoyed it in the photo above!)
Of course, we can't forget the valentine gift bag exchange!

This year Maxwell helped me make oatmeal raisin cookies for Daddy which are Brett's favorite.

Brett got a golf gift certificate in his v-day bag. He is very excited about the approach of spring and being able to golf every Saturday morning again.
Brett got me tickets to see my favorite band, Daughtry, which just so happens to be touring with Bon Jovi, who I also like a lot.
I was upset with him for being late for dinner, but when he showed up with a beautiful arrangement of flowers I was over it... mostly.

My mom was here for dinner and she got me some great gifts too (books and angel stuff.)

I also was able to arrange my work schedule so I could help with the Valentine's day party at Maxwell's preschool. It was a fun party for the kids and I got some fun party game ideas.

I am using this blog to help with my scrapbook journaling. I can just print it when I come to that page (thanks for that tip, Myon.) So that is why there may be more details then anyone cares about.

I am sad that Valentine's day is over for another year.

But, looking forward to the next holiday... MY BIRTHDAY!

Weekend Trip...

2008-02-18T07:46:00.001-08:00

We went to Somerset to visit our friends Kevin and Wendy this weekend.

It was so nice to get away for the night. My mom watched Sittler and Toby, and we took Maple with us.
It was nice to be free of puppy duty for the night. Thanks, Mom!

Wendy and Kevin have two great kids Blake (12 ) and Alyssa (7). Maxwell loves Alyssa and counts down the hours until he sees her. Wendy and I have been friends since 2nd grade.

She is going to kill me, but I have attached a picture of us in high school (take note of the 80's hair), and a picture of us at Christmas 2007.
I wish she lived closer, but then the times we get to spend together with our families may be more special because it does not happen every day.

We feel so blessed to have such great friends!

Sittler has been with us for Two weeks...

2008-02-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Sittler the bulldog has been with us for two weeks now.

He is such a good puppy!

I forgot how much work it is to have a new puppy, but Brett has been helping with him so much. That is is so nice of him considering he did not want another dog in the first place.

Maple and Toby are still getting used to him. It was a rough few days while they were all getting acquinted.