Team Cincinnati Concert

Aiden and Nathaniel all dressed up for the concert

Nick Lachey presenting the $250,000 check to CCHMC

Amie (the boys nurse from the RCNIC)

Nick thanking God for everything he has given Cincinnati

Yoga....

So the wonderful Linda has started a Yoga class with us ladies, and is even extending out to whom ever wants to join! My back and neck hurt pretty bad from the stupid incident yesterday, so I thought hmmmm.... maybe yoga might help me stretch out some of the pain. Sure enough! Praise God for having man invent Yoga!

Brush with death

This afternoon I had went out while Kyle and the boys were napping to get some errands done with out kids. I went to Valley Thrift because on Monday's they have % off everything. I was happy to find some good buys and then left to head to Meijers in Fields Ertle to return some stuff we just don't need. I was on 71 North and I was in the slow lane. At that point on 71 there are 4 lanes of traffic. I was going about 50-55 in the 65 MPH zone only because traffic was quite heavy, when out of the corner of my eye I see a white 4 door car come speeding over from the third lane of traffic almost slamming into the side of me. I swerve to the right while he is still coming towards me when my wheels go out of control and my steering wheel turns like wild. All I could hear was the screeching of my tires and I could smell the rubber burning as they spun. I my head all I could think of was thank God I left the boys at home... this is the end of me. My cars front end started going right and the back end of my car spun around and came within 2 inches from the guard wall (the officer measured it), and when I opened my driver door there was only 5 inches of room from the door to the wall. How I missed that wall I am not sure. But I was turned all the way around facing the wrong way in traffic. As soon as I came to a full stop I threw my e-brake on and slammed my car in park and turned my car off. Terrified I searched for my phone. I usually tuck it in my lap in case I need it or someone calls me. But from the car being thrown around the way it did, it had fallen on the floor and went under my seat. Since I couldn't open my car door to get out, I had to climb over to the passenger side seat to reach under my seat to get my phone. I slowly moved back over to my seat and dialed 911. It was almost 25 minutes from the time the incident happened until the patrol officer came to my rescue, but not one person stopped. Not one person. I was hysterical when he got there, and he took a report and then escorted me backwards 1/2 a mile until the the end of the barrier wall so I could back into the grass and turn around. I cried the whole way home. I refuse to drive that way to go to Fields Ertle ever again. God was watching over me then, I know it.

Conversations with Kyle

After eating a pound and a half of steak for himself Kyle makes me laugh almost spitting out my potatoes...
Kyle - "I really like dead cows."
Me - A bit disturbed looks at him and laughs
Kyle - "I mean I really like to chew on them"
Me - "Wow"

Emotional Easter

Service at church was great. Afterwards we went to uncle Fred's house for a late lunch and great catching up. Then on a whim on my way home, even though the boys were screaming at me, I thought hmmm, I am in Norwood, I wonder if my Grandma Betty decided to have Easter at her house instead of in Bethel. Sure enough, I pull in and they are there. To my surprise, so was my biological father David. Here are some pictures of this emotional day. God is good, all of the time. All of the time, God is good.

I can finally have closure, finally!

So I got​​ a mes​​sag​​e on my voi​​ce mai​​l fro​​m my Unc​​le Fre​​d las​​t Wed​​nes​​day​​...​​.

"Ka ​thl​een​, it is you​r Unc​le Fre​d. I nee​d you​ to giv​e me a cal​l as soo​n as you​ get​ thi​s, it is ver​y imp​ort​ant​ tha​t you​ cal​l me hon​ey.​ I mea​n rea​lly​ imp​ort​ant​. I lov​e you​. Don​'t wor​ry it is all​ goo​d new​s hon​ey,​ not​hin​g bad​. Jus​t giv​e me a cal​l as soo​n as you​ get​ thi​s. I lov​e you​. Bye​ bye​.

"

So I cal​led​ him​ bac​k whi​le I was​ sit​tin​g in the​ wai​tin​g are​a at H&R​ Blo​ck wit​h Kyl​e get​tin​g rea​dy to hav​e our​ tax​es don​e. He sai​d "He​y hon​ey.​ I hav​e som​e rea​lly​ goo​d new​s."​ I was​ lik​e "Ok​ay wel​l I am con​fus​ed wha​t is goi​ng on"​ Kno​win​g Fre​d I tho​ugh​t he had​ fou​nd us a van​ at his​ wor​k sin​ce tha​t was​ the​ las​t thi​ng him​ and​ I had​ tal​ked​ abo​ut.​ "We​ll Hon​ey,​ I wen​t and​ tal​ked​ to you​r dad​dy Jim​ tod​ay.​ (Lo​ng pau​se fro​m the​ bot​h of us)​ And​ he is goi​ng to giv​e you​ all​ of you​r mom​mie​s stu​ff.​

"

As man​y of you​ can​ ima​gin​e I bur​st int​o tea​rs.​ For​ tho​se of you​ who​ don​'t kno​w, my mot​her​ pas​sed​ awa​y Feb​rua​ry 6, 200​1 wit​h can​cer​ in 4 dif​fer​nt pla​ces​ in her​ bod​y, and​ she​ had​ suf​fer​ed fro​m a bra​in ane​ury​sm and​ a str​oke​...​ It has​ bee​n 7 lon​g lon​g yea​rs wit​h out​ my mot​her​. All​ of the​ crap I hav​e bee​n thr​oug​h and​ I did​n't​ hav​e her​ the​re to hel​p me.​ Ada​m gro​win​g up,​ me lea​vin​g Leo​nar​d, get​tin​g bac​k ont​o my fee​t, fin​din​g my fai​th onc​e aga​in,​ fin​din​g Kyl​e, and​ hav​ing​ the​ man​y str​ugg​les​ wit​h bei​ng pre​gna​nt wit​h the​ boy​s, and​ the​n the​ aft​erward str​ugg​les​ the​y hav​e had​. You​ nee​d you​r mot​her​ for​ thi​ngs​ lik​e tha​t, and​ I did​ not​ hav​e my mot​her​ for​ any​ of tha​t. I was​ onl​y 18 whe​n she​ pas​sed​. It pai​ns me eve​ryd​ay to not​ be abl​e to pic​k up the​ pho​ne to cal​l her​ whe​n the​ boy​s hav​e a mil​est​one​, or I am jus​t hav​ing​ a bad​ day​.



All ​ I cou​ld do aft​er he tol​d me tha​t was​ cry​. I mea​n the​se are​ my mem​ori​es.​ Pic​tur​es,​ wed​din​g dre​ss,​ nic​ nac​s tha​t wer​e her​s, tha​t are​ my mem​ori​es of gro​win​g up.​ Clo​sur​e. Tha​t is the​ big​ thi​ng.​ Clo​sur​e.



In the​ nex​t few​ wee​ks aft​er we mov​e, and​ my fat​her​ get​s all​ tha​t stu​ff pac​ked​ up and​ sen​t ove​r to me,​ and​ we get​ set​tle​d int​o the​ new​ hou​se.​.. I wil​l be add​ing​ a ton​ of new​ pic​tur​es up.​ Wel​l, not​ new​ but​ new​ to you​ guy​s. Of me whe​n I was​ lit​tle​, pic​tur​es of my anc​est​ors​, pic​tur​es of Ada​m whe​n he was​ tin​y. Wow​, God​ is goo​d. Tha​nk you​ Dad​ for​ giv​ing​ me thi​s clo​sur​e. Tha​nk you​.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

This is the day of my christening at the former St. Elizabeth Church. I was 4 months old. WOW, to think I was 5 months old in these pictures and the boys are 5 months old, and I was huge!! Beside my mother is my great grandmother McLane. She passed a few months after this event. I can not believe how long my mothers hair was! She surly was a beautiful woman. I miss you mommy.

Where am I from?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The Midland
North Central
Boston
The West
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Outfits from Sweden

So the boys can finally fit into the outfits that our lovely John and Monika sent from Sweden. I swear the clothes over there are cuter than the ones we have here. Thank you Moster (Aunt in Swedish I think) Monika and Farbror (uncle in Swedish I believe) John for the cute outfits!!!

So precious

A visit with Robin

So a few of you know that my mother's best friend was Robin Wise. I grew up with her always around. She has a son named Charlie and a daughter named Megan. They both have grown up, well lets say they are old enough to be adults. Neither one of them has a job, Charlie didn't finish High School, and Megan barely did. Well it pains me to see this, but it is not my problem, they won't listen to me. Anyways, the whole point of this post is to talk about Robin. She is an amazing woman! She is a wonderful mother, great wife, and a wonderful friend. Everyone who knows Robin, knows that she walks everywhere that she can. She is an over weight woman, but she doesn't let that stop her. On Sept 15, 2007 Robin was walking to work from her Norwood home like she did every morning. She worked in Rookwood so it was close to her house and it was good exercise for her. Well while crossing a street she was struck by a "red truck" she said. It threw her mangled body to the side of the road where she laid dying. Eventually someone was stopped at the light and her a small cry for help. It was Robin. When the EMS team got there, they worked on her for over an hour, and almost lost her 3 times. Not giving up they brought her back and rushed her to US hospital where she laid in a coma for a week. She had broken both of her hips, and shattered her pelvis. Both legs were broken as well as her arm. All most all of her toes were broken and they had said she would probably not make it. Multiple surgeries were preformed, amounting over 12. Drainage tubes placed all over her body because the fat and skin had separated from the muscle creating a cavity that filled with blood and infection. Her prognosis was not good. She had a trach placed to help her breath. Both lungs collapsed twice, things didn't seem like they were ever going to let up. After fighting and fighting she started to get better. After five months in the hospital, Robin has now been home for 2 weeks and couldn't be happier. She called me early last week and left me a message telling me to call her as soon as I could she was home! I called her on Wednesday afternoon and made plans to go see her on Thursday. She told me she just wanted to come home so she could see the boys. She had seen pictures while she was in the hospital, but that was not enough. During our visit, she said she wished I was her daughter and that the twins were the closest she was ever going to come to having grandchildren. Megan has not really been there for her, and neither has Charlie. I told her I was here for her as much as I can be. I truly love this woman. When my mother was in need when I was little, she took us in. She helped my mother tread water while she tried to raise me as a single parent. She had a lot to do with my up-bringing. So here they are, the pictures from that day. 3 miracles that were told by the doctors that they would not make it. God sent miracles.

I will give you rest

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."—Matthew 11:28-30.

The last 3 nights in a row we have fed the boys their bottles at 11-11:30pm and laid them down in their crib upstairs.... and they have slept until about 9:00am the next morning. We have to sleep with the t.v. on and with the sound machine on the ocean sound. But they lay their heads together and sleep.... all night. Such a sweet thing.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

Lookie Momma I can giggle!!!

Thanks Erin

You Are a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You are a traditional person with very simple tastes. In your opinion, the best things in life are free, easy, and fun. You totally go with the flow. And you enjoy every minute of it! Your best friend: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Ham Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Thank you

thank you...for making my life a living hell...for making things 10 times harder on me than they should have been...for telling me i could never do it...for depending on me to do everything for you..for showing me that the only thing i could depend on you for was to be undependable...for expecting me to drop everything that was important to me so that you could do whatever you wanted...for making me feel selfish for wanting to do something for myself...for making me feel like im doing something wrong by making something of my life...like its my job to clean up your mess...thanks for never realizing that everything you do affects me...like im a robot without emotions programmed to take everything you have to dish out and it never phase me...i was just a child and you wanted so much out of me...i wasnt allowed any mistakes in life...i had to keep us together...i had to keep you from falling apart while i was crumbling myself...here i am an adult partially trapped in the childhood that i never got to live out...did you honestly not see what you were doing to me? or was it that you just didnt care?...could you not take the focus off of yourself for 5 seconds to help me? to let me know that part of me was good enough...good enough for you to love...im sure you did deep down...at least thats what ill tell myself...you just didnt know how to show it...which in return has made it almost impossible for me to show it to other people i care about...oh sorry...did you think my life was perfect up until this point? is that why you worked so hard to make my life just as miserable as yours? dont think im looking for sympathy or a handout...i dont need it anymore...this really was me thanking you...you made me stronger than ever...you pushed me to my knees where i found God...i guess in a way i have you to thank for my faith...you also made me appreciate the wonderful people that God has placed in my life...you showed me what NOT to do...i can learn from your mistakes so i dont have to make so many of my own...so thank you,without you i wouldnt be the person i am today.