The Adventures of the Petersen's

Fashionista Riley

2011-08-17T21:30:00.002-04:00

Riley has become quite a fashionista don't you think?

Meet Jimmy Johnson...

2011-08-09T08:56:00.005-04:00

Yep this is Jimmy Johnson, not who you are thinking of?

Thursday of Brickyard 400 weekend is the JD Byrider 100 at IRP. This year instead of a hospitality tent we got the privilege of sitting in the suite :) We got to hang out with Laurie and Gregg and of course Austin Jack!! At some point in the evening Riley wanted to know which car was Jimmy Johnson, and literally threw a fit (we have a lot of those lately). Tony got tired of hearing it and told her Uncle Gregg was Jimmy Johnson and well it stuck :) He was Jimmy Johnson the rest of the weekend. I just want to say how in the world did she become a Jimmy Johnson fan!?! So disappointed in her ;)

Friday we had everyone over to our house for dinner and just hung out and watched the truck race from right down the street. Riley and Tony both LOVE their cousin AJ! It makes me sad the both of Ron's sisters live so far away and me being an old child the kids don't have any uncles, aunts, or cousins around here to play with. I guess it is a good thing they have 2 sets of Awesome grandparents!
The next day Ron and I both went to "work" I was helping out at the track with a friend cooking while Ron was doing a cookout for one of his customers. How did we both end up cooking for other people when we should of been at the track as fans??

Tony got to go to the track and watch qualifying with Papa, Grandma, Laurie, and Gregg.

Such a fun weekend! I wish we lived closer but I guess that just means we need to start planning our trip to New Jersey to visit them!

Race for Riley

2011-08-05T20:38:00.008-04:00

Last week was the Race for Riley karting event at New Castle. Ron raced the TAG kart and Tony raced in the Junior class and both did ok. Ron hasn't run the TAG kart since the Endurance race last year so the motor was a little tired and I don't think they had the set up right, he finished 8th. Tony still trying to get into the grove of being back and finished 6th! The thing I like about the Riley race is they have a race with John Andretti. It is so fun to see the people that have never drove a kart get out there and realize just how hard it is. Ron's sister Laurie and husband Greg came down from New Jersey and got to race in an elimination race. It was so fun to watch them :)

Water Fun!

2011-08-04T21:25:00.005-04:00

Such a show off, sorry it is not the right way, stupid computer is giving trouble.

It has been one HOT summer! We have spent lots of time playing in the water lately because it is too hot to do much of anything else. Riley LOVES to play in the water and she will do it with her bathing suit on, just underwear, or naked she is NOT shy :) Since Tony has been home we haven't made it out in the water but that might just change tomorrow! Things have finally settled down around here so I am sure there will be lots more water fun! If anyone knows where the cool air is please send it to Indiana, I am over this heat!

SKUSA Race in Quincy

2011-07-26T10:43:00.002-04:00

The weekend after we got back from OBX we headed to Quincy, IL well we were actually in Missouri but just barely, for a SKUSA race. We headed up after work on Friday with Steve and Terri in the motor home. Let me tell you after spending FOREVER in the car the weekend before I wasn't looking to forward to the drive but traveling in a motor home is so much easier than in a car :) See this is what Riley did on the 5 hour drive there, rough huh?

Saturday was practice and qualify with the races on Sunday. It turned out pretty good because things were over early on Sunday and we were able to get home at a decent time.

Ron did pretty good, it was a rough track which beat him to a pulp but he finished 2nd! The bridge in the background goes over the Mississippi River, told you we were just barely in Missouri!

Sleeping beauty played hard on Saturday!

Riley and Daddy waiting for the awards ceremony!

I only added this picture for Riley. When Terri was going through the pictures Riley did her "fake" scream and said Monster! Look at the last kart in this picture, she LOVES this helmet and thinks it is so funny. This driver was at New Castle over the weekend and Riley saw the helmet and was so excited the Monster was there. Such a strange child with a extraordinary memory :)

Tony didn't get to join us for this trip he was in California with him Mom. Ron and I were talking on the way to Quincy and we couldn't believe that Tony had been from on coast to the other in three days and Riley had been in 9 states in just over a week. Lots of traveling and I wouldn't have it any other way!

OBX Part 3

2011-07-18T17:28:00.011-04:00

Forewarning now since updating the formatting has gone screwy and I am tired of messing with it :)

Wednesday we decided to load up the car and head south and see what we could find. This of course was after some time in the pool! Our only destination was the Cape Hatteras lighthouse!

Ron, Tony, and I climbed the lighthouse. Riley wasn't big enough so Mom and Dad stayed down with her. She was so disappointed :( But she wouldn't of made the 12 story climb and it only had railings on one side so it was probably a good thing she didn't go. It was also the hottest day so far and let me tell you it was HOT in that lighthouse. Needless to say we all made it to the top and survived!

Tony at the bottom of the lighthouse looking up to see what we have gotten ourselves into!

Mom and Riley exploring, I love this picture!

My two boys at the top, love the view behind them!

After the exploring the lighthouse we went farther south and went to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. It was neat but nothing I recommend. It was free and inside where it was cool so I couldn't complain too much!

After the museum we stopped by the grocery store on the way back to the house and picked up a few things for dinner and stayed in and went swimming and walking on the beach. Again another perfect night!

Thursday we got up and headed to the north end of the banks to Corolla. We stopped and got some souvenirs and then stopped at a little shopping area with go karts and ice cream! Tony drove the go karts, you would think the kid gets enough of them since he races them but he doesn't! Needless to say these were a lot slower than what he is use to and he had NO fun :) My Mom, Riley, and I wandered around looking at some local shops then got some ice cream. After wasting some time we went on a wild horse tour with Corolla Outback Adventure and they were great. We learned a lot about the area and our tour guide was a crazy driver which made it AWESOME!

Riley, Dad, and I sat in the truck, Riley had to be in a car seat while Mom, Ron, and Tony sat back here. Needless to say I have no idea how one of them didn't fly out with our tour guide driving like a madwoman! But in her defense I can only imagine how hard it is to drive in unpacked sand.

We saw lots of horses, Tony kept count but I think he needs to go back to school he counted 20 something and I think it was closer to 15. The thing that I noticed was how much smaller the horses were. They don't look small in the pictures but they did seem smaller than what I consider a "normal" horse. But there are probably more normal than what we see everyday.

The thing I thought was crazy about this tour was the "roads". This is a view of an actual highway with speed limits and cops patrolling it. It is SAND not a paved road! Craziness I tell you! When looking for a house we looked in the 4x4 area and REALLY wanted one out there but we didn't have the right vehicles to get us there. Which I understand now!

Yep the horses eating in someones front yard!

Poor Tony, Riley out numbers him in pictures on this trip :(

Love this view!

After our adventure we stopped at ate and headed back to the house. It was a two hour drive to Corolla and needless to say we were exhausted after a long day!

Friday we got up early and headed to breakfast then took the fairy to Ocracoke Island. It was a beautiful area, after exploring we found a beach access and went and played on the beach for awhile. At our house the waves were HUGE and broke right on the beach. Riley hated them. We couldn't get her to go anywhere near the water. At Ocracoke you could tell they had brought some sand in because the waves broke farther out and were small. After throwing a fit she finally got in the water and had fun! We search for seashells, which she still talks about, and played in the shallow area. I think Tony could of played in the sand all week and never complained once. He LOVED the sand. we made a tunnel one day and at Ocracoke he made a huge hole that the water would go into. He played for hours in the sand.

Saturday morning we decided to take the long way home and go over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. This was the whole reason we ended up in the Outer Banks and I wasn't going to be this close and not go there. It was worth it! I think I was the only one really impressed :)

We ended up driving the entire way home that night and with our little detour we got home around 2:00 am.

Does this look comfortable to you? Really Chase you have your own seat in the back, crazy dog!

Overall it was a great trip, would I go back? I really don't know that I can answer that question right now. I don't think I would go back to the Outer Banks with kids. If I went back I would stay in Nags Head or Kitty Hawk where you are closer to things. Overall it was a great vacation and I am glad we went! Riley got to experience the beach for the first time but more importantly we all got to spend some great time together and share in a lot of firsts for all of us.

OBX Part 2

2011-07-13T15:34:00.011-04:00

Monday started out as another slow day, we went swimming for a little bit ate some lunch and decided to head to Nags Head for a little shopping and eating. Riley was doing better as long as she had medicine in her system but it was taking less to keep the fever down. We loaded up and headed to the outlet mall, as an outlet mall lover I was a little disappointed that it was merely a strip mall. But I wasn't going to complain because they had a Coach store! After hitting all the stores we decided it was time to find a Nags Head favorite restaurant. Dad asked around and lots of locals suggested Sugar Creek Restaurant. It was beautiful and had some great food. It is located on the sound side and pretty much surrounded by water. Tony and Riley loved watch the fish jump out of the water. After dinner we walked out on their boardwalk and watched the little crab and fish swim around. We ended the day with a walk on the beach, what a perfect way to end the day.

Tuesday we went back to Nags Head an went out on the Jennette's Pier. It is a new rebuilt pier that is gorgeous! It was damaged back in 2003 with Hurricane Isabel and it had only been open for a week or two. Riley loved running up and down it and Tony loved watching the people fish. Yep that sounds like my two kids :) She is finally feeling better by now, you can see it in the pictures.

Brotherly and Sisterly love :)

Went spent forever trying to figure out what this thing was. I really felt like we were in the middle of theTom Cruise War of Worlds movie. This thing started on the beach and worked it's way slowly out into the ocean, then it slowly started back to shore. I am thinking it was measuring where sand needed to be place but that is just a wild guess :)

After the pier we went and grab dinner at Miller's Waterfront Restaurant. Good thing for a IPhone and Trip Advisor. I was able to look up a good place close to the pier and it turned out really well. Another wonderful view!

After dinner we went on a dolphin sunset cruise. I was SO excited about this. We were going to go Monday because it was family day and the prices where cheaper but when I called they were booked. So she gave us Monday's price on Tuesday which I thought was outstanding. I cannot recommend this tour enough, we went with the Outer Banks Dolphin Cruise on the Kokomo. Great people and if we didn't see dolphins that trip we got to come back for free! We were gone at least 2 hours. I didn't have my hopes up because as we were headed out into the sound the Captain had said they hadn't had much lucky that day. Boy was he wrong! After a short boat ride we were surrounded by dolphins! It was amazing :)

The Kokomo

If you look closely on this one you can see the Mommy and the Baby fins. Lots of Mommy and Baby's and lots of jumping around dolphins which the captain informed us they were trying to make a baby, explain that one to a 2 and 11 year old :)

I don't know if you can tell that there are box buildings in the water, those are duck hunting posts. They are everywhere in the sound! It was very interesting to hear how they came about and how popular they are. Just like our house people rent them out for a week

One of my favorite picture from the day. If you notice the horizon is kind of smokey it was because they had a out of control wildfire not to far from here. Every morning you could smell it, but Saturday went we left it was like driving through fog it was so bad. They had air quality alerts out but luckily our week there wasn't bad until the day we left.

Osprey nest! You can kind of see his head.

The Bodie Island Lighthouse. The Outer Banks has tons of lighthouse which as so beautiful!

OBX Summer Vacation Part 1

2011-07-12T20:05:00.007-04:00

Ok, it will probably take me several posts to get through our OBX 2011 vacation but hey, I am proud I am starting my 5 post in just over a week!

Let's start with how I came up with OBX in the first place! Ron and I took the kids on a walk to the park down the street from us and decided to walk on the trails. The trails lead to a creek that you can walk down to and skip rocks. Part of the area is sand and Riley LOVED to dig in it and find "sea shells". That got me talking to Ron about how I would love to go back to the beach and Riley is at a perfect age for it. So my Internet searching began. I was thinking Virgina Beach but after some digging around it was a little out of our price range plus most places didn't take dogs. So, what is any normal person do? Hey Mom and Dad want to go with us? :) Of COURSE IT IS!! We tried to get Steve and Terri to come, but their works schedules are crazy and it didn't work out. I started looking a little more south of Virgina Beach and found the Outer Banks! Tons of houses to rent and reasonable priced and a lot of the houses accepted dogs. It was perfect! Then I had to do a little research to figure out what exactly is the Outer Banks? It is a strip of land on the coast of North Carolina that is surrounded by water!

Our house was between Rodanthe and Salvo in a little town called Waves, and when I say little I mean if you blink you will miss it!

Once we decided on the Outer Banks it was time to start searching for a house! I think my Mom and I looked for several weeks before we narrowed it down to two houses. We had two requirements a pool and a ocean view. We really wanted ocean front but we decided 6 weeks before we left so that really limited our choices. I have to say our choice was perfect! We ended up staying at Albacore and it had a pool and was ocean front, PERFECT!

The back of our house

The Pool!!

See I told you the Easter Bunny brought the kids things for vacation! Look at all those pool toys!

The view from the 3rd story of our house! Yes the mound blocked some of our view but it also blocked the wind! The outer banks is a very windy place!

We left the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. I helped out at the track that day so a friend from church watched Riley. I knew as soon as I picked her up that something was wrong, she was napping. I just figured it was because she had gotten up early and with everything else going on she was over excited. We got on the road by 3:00 and we drove til after midnight. Riley was a little cranky but I just shrugged it off to being in the car for so long. The next morning I knew something was wrong, my sweet little baby was a grouchy and had a fever. We stopped and got some Tylenol but my monster has figured out how to make herself sick and needless to say nothing stayed down. It was a LONG 6 hour drive that day and I didn't think we would ever get there. Finally we did and got all checked in. Word of advice if you ever stay in a 3 story house with the living room and kitchen on the 3rd floor make sure it has an elevator! And no, I am not joking several houses in OBX has elevators.

Once we got checked in we started dinner, we were all exhausted and just wanted OUT of the car. When choosing OBX I should of Mapquested it first, 16 hour drive was NOT fun. I had put medicine in Riley's cup so she was still feeling a little better but you could see it in her eyes, she was SICK. By 10:00 that night she had a fever of 104. Panic mode quickly set in and we called her doctor. He said it was probably Roseolla, which she has had before and to go get a Tylenol suppository since she wouldn't keep down medicine. It took us 45 minutes to get to the closest pharmacy open, so an hour and a half to get medicine and back, really!?! Talk about beyond frustration! Sunday we had already had the day planned out, pool, Indy 500, eat, beach, NASCAR race, pool, eat, well you get the picture much of NOTHING! Riley was feeling better as long as the medicine was working and even ended up in the pool! She is such a diva :)

And no I am not ignoring Anthony, I think he said 5 words to us the whole way there. He managed to beat a brand new DS game and watch a few movies as well. Once we got there I think he lived in the pool the first two days. Anytime I wanted to get pictures he was already in the pool or the hot tub! He was worried about Riley but we were able to distract him some. He did play ping pong and Foosball and spent the night watching the NBA game with Papa.

One of Tony's favorite things to do was to feed the birds off the balcony. The dogs went crazy and Riley was in awe. Riley tried to feed them everything from bread to gummy worms :) There would be hundreds come around once Tony started feeding them it was pretty cool!

That was pretty much the first two days we were there a illness, a great Indy 500 race, lots of yummy food, not much else :)

Easter 2011

2011-07-10T21:09:00.005-04:00

Of course I forgot my camera :( This is from my phone so the picture is pretty rough.

So a little late but hey, Easter was a special occasion for us so I thought it deserved it's own post!As I mentioned earlier about us going to church, Ron got saved back in December and on Easter Sunday he was baptized. It was a perfect day to be baptized in my opinion, the day Jesus rose from the dead so our sins can be forgiven. Such an amazing day and an day that I don't know I will every truly comprehend what it means until I am with God. What made it an even better day was Ron got baptized with two other people from our small group so it was great to seem them going through this journey as well. I don't have words to describe how much our lives have changed since Ron has found Jesus and I have recommitted myself to him. It is an amazing radical blessing.

We colored eggs the night before Easter, I had forgotten all about them until Tony threw a fit about them :) (That I do remember!) Riley had a blast coloring Easter eggs and wanted to color them every night for about a month, which is normal anytime we do that pertains to a holiday. Easter was a little different this year we wanted to focus more on the real reason we celebrate other than the Easter Bunny, don't get me wrong they still cleaned house with stuff! We loaded them up on stuff from the Christian book store, stuff for our upcoming vacation, and what else but CANDY! But, it is really cool to see the changes in Tony and his understanding of what Jesus has done for him. A very blessed Easter, one I know I will never forget and hope Tony doesn't either!

Riley

2011-07-07T09:02:00.005-04:00

A lot like Tony I don't know where to start with Miss Diva. I guess the big news in her life is she is officially a big girl now. Back in December we moved her out of her crib and into Tony's old twin size bed with NO issues at all. Every once in a while she gets out of bed but usually only when she is overly tired. She is also potty trained! We started back in October and was pretty successful but then we all got sick and it went down hill from there. I got tired of buying pull ups and fighting with her over them or underwear. So I didn't give her a choice and we went to big girl underwear and haven't looked back since. She is fond of going potty outside or other inappropriate places (Daddy's shoes) but I as crazy as she is, it really doesn't surprise me all that much :)

Riley loves her friends. We started going to a play group with our church and she LOVES it. A lot of the same kids are in her room at church so she is really learning how to associate names with kids and personalities. At the park she calls everyone kid, which is quite interesting to hear her yell "kid" as she is chasing someone. She has lots of "best friends" but her real best friend is her Tony. She LOVES him so much. He has been gone for a month now and she talks about him everyday. Of course we talk to him on the phone a lot and he is the one person she will really talk to on the phone, usually she is just being silly. Before he left she would always get so excited when she would see the school bus drive by. If I wasn't careful she would go running out the front door to meet him, thank goodness for locks! They play great together and she loves playing with all of Tony's friends too. It is so fun to see how they respond to her, most of them love her too. She is going to have plenty of big brothers around when she is older! Tony is already very protective of her. Sometime I have to get him to back off because he smothers her and won't let her do things because he is afraid she will get hurt.

Riley personality is really starting to develop. She is so much like me that it is scary. She is stubborn beyond belief, strong willed, impatient, can con you out of anything, and knows how to throw a fit, yep she got all my bad traits :) But, she can also adapt to any situation, she is a comedian (she gets that from Tony), she has such a huge heart, very polite, loves life, and loves to learn, and loves to help. I honestly can't ask for anything else from her, well except those time she is on the floor kicking as screaming!

Riley can be such a tomboy and a girly girl at the same time. I honestly don't know how she can be both extremes sometimes. She HATES any kind of bug especially spiders, those get the loudest screams and cries. Yet she can come across a frog and want to keep it. She loves to dress up and she loves to play in the dirt. I have a feeling as she gets older we are going to have our hands full! She is the light of my life and can't imagine her any other way!

Three posts in three days, aren't you proud?

Tony

2011-07-06T09:26:00.006-04:00

I don't even know where to start with this boy! How about yesterday was his half birthday and he is officially 11 1/2 :) You know those are the important things in life! Tony has hit a mature stage and it as effected him in every area of life. He started karate back in January and has really enjoyed it. He has already moved up to a yellow belt and when he gets back from summer vacation with his Mom he is going to start right back up again and they are going to work on getting him caught up and into the next belt.

Racing is going awesomely (is that even a word) As Steve says, the light has gone on in this boy head when it comes to karting. He is running towards the front consistently and each race he gets better and better. Steve is looking to have him run some national level races this year and I am very curious to see how he does. Before he left for summer he had a second place finish and was 4th in points. I am hoping he can jump right back into it when he gets back. He has a pretty busy racing schedule so it shouldn't take much time!

Tony has officially "graduated" from elementary school and is moving up to middle school. Is that possible? He is so excited, every time I talk to him on the phone he mentions middle school at least once. I got the registration paperwork in the mail the other day and it made it seem so real. I guess I have been living in denial, I just can't believe it. Middle school is such a awkward stage in life but it really is the stepping stone from boy to "man" and that just doesn't seem possible.

Other than those big milestones Tony is just a regular boy trying to get through life. He LOVES Riley and is an awesome big brother. I can't ask for a better big brother for her. He loves to play basketball, have friends over, being outside, video games, "hunting", swimming, and spending time with his family. He has a HUGE heart and a BIG attitude :) He hates it when you don't believe what he is saying and he gets his feelings hurt so easily. He will do anything to make you smile and from stories I have heard he is the class clown at school. I just shake my head at some of the stories I hear, but none of them surprise me. He takes his time processing situations and at times won't talk about them until he has them figured out. Sometime it is like pulling teeth to get him to talk about things but once he does he won't stop. He is a horrible at telling lies, I can always see right through him and he HATES that :) I think he is getting into girls, but he is good at hiding it, but again I see right through that. He talks ALL the time and is so smart. He can drive me crazy and make me laugh at the same time. He is such a great kid and I am bless that I get to be apart of his crazy life!

See, I told you I would be back soon! Up next Riley, and yes it too will be soon :)

We are back!

2011-07-05T09:49:00.005-04:00

The Petersen's are BACK!!!! I know I have said that before, right? I have actually missed blogging, it gives me a good time to reflect on that happenings in our life and really enjoy what we are going through. I am not going to try and play catch up too much, just do a blog post on both kids to one on Ron and I and a couple of the special things that have gone on. So here we go this one is gonna be a long one!

Ron:

Some of this you might already know but here we go anyways :) Back in September Ron started a new job with Carquest as a Commercial Sales Manager. He LOVES it, which is so reassuring because he struggled with being a Service Advisor. Not struggled as in was bad at his job, just struggled with the environment and being away from home so much. He was working some crazy hours there for awhile. Needless to say thing are a little more "normal" now. He still has some weeks he works some long days but for the most part he is home before 6 and in time to spend some time with the kids.

The 2011 racing season is going decent. Ron got a new kart at the beginning of the year and it was...well I can't really say what it was, other than junk. Ok, maybe not junk but it wasn't an ideal Shifter kart. He has struggled all season with the set up and can't seem to make it work. So, what do you do when you have a brand new kart that sucks? You buy a used one :) Ron has acquired his teammate Colton's old kart and after Sunday's race Ron is a much happier man. I have to say when your race car driver has a crappy kart, that makes for grouchy driver not only at the track but at home too! The next couple of months are FULL with racing so I know they will get things figured out.

Ron and I began going to church back in October and in December he got saved! So very proud of him. On Easter Sunday there was another big event but I think I might throw that into the Easter post I will write. Gotta keep you coming back, right? :) We joined a small group with our church and LOVED it and learned so much. With racing and vacations we miss church a lot and I have to say I would have NEVER of thought that we would be disappointed when we couldn't go to church. This topic deserves a whole post on it's own so I will come back to this at another time. Enough about Ron....

Chrissy:

As you all know I left my job at the Speedway back in September. Ron and I actually both started new jobs on the same day. The only difference is mine didn't work out. It look me a LONG time to get over how things went down with this job. I know everything happens for a reason but at the time I couldn't figure out that reason. I really did love my job at the Speedway. It just took so much time away from my family and I was to a point I had no where else to move up and go. Also with all the outsourcing rumors going around I didn't feel secure there. For me it was time to move on and that is what I did. As most of you know I always said I couldn't be a stay at home mom. I just didn't think I had it in me. Let me tell you I was WRONG! I was so blessed to be able to stay home with Riley for 9 months we had a blast! I would of thought not working I would have more time to blog but boy I was wrong. I was busier not working that when I was working. Needless to say, it was time for me to go back to work but I didn't know what I wanted to do. I took an online class through a college in Chicago to get me ready for the PHR exam. But, I wasn't really sure that was the route I wanted to go. I was just so lost. I wanted to do something that actually made a difference in people's lives but how in the world do you find that? Well one day I was just casually looking around for jobs more for my unemployment that anything and had given up on finding anything that fit what I was looking for. Until I came across the perfect job posting, part time, helping low income family get qualified for the energy bills. It was PERFECT! I am now working 5 hours a day, 4 days a week at the Community Action of Greater Indianapolis Boone County office. I am going on my 3rd week and have to say it is a perfect fit for me. Things are really slow right now which gives me some time to learn everything and my boss is so laid back that I really don't know how to take her sometimes. Definitely not something I am use to! I can't even explain how perfect this job is and how well it fits into our lives at this moment. Definitely a God made plan!

I have been miss Suzie Homemaker lately as well. I decided it was an awesome idea to start painting the kitchen and playroom the Friday before I started my new job. Needless to say not so smart... It took me a week to get it all done and that was working on it every minute possible. I will have to take some pictures of my "Masterpiece" and add them to the blog. I have also been doing some Riley project and have found I really love to sew and make things. I have always be a crafty person but lately it has been on the extreme side :)

Other than that I don't have much else going on it seems. I just try and keep the household moving through life and together in one piece. Which can be interesting in our zoo of a household! As my Mom says when I talk to her on the phone, there is never a boring moment in our house. Really enjoying life right now and seeing how having God in our lives has made a world of difference in not only Ron but myself as well. Seeing the kids change too is AMAZING! I promise to be back VERY soon for an update on Tony!!

I have to give a shout out to Terri for always remembering her camera. All the photos are from her. My camera was broken for a few months but, in order to use a camera you need to have it with you. So my new goal is to remember my camera, we will see how well I do.....

How many Petersen's does it take.....

2011-02-14T14:30:00.003-05:00

To clean the driveway? Two to do the work and one to supervise. Notice in all the pictures Ron is watching Tony and Riley do all the work :) Thanks to Tony, we finally have our driveway back, see ya later ice, please don't come back anytime soon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T14:16:00.003-05:00

Riley making Superbowl Pretzels!

Anthony making Valentine's Day fondue!

In the Petersen household we don't do a lot of celebrating for Valentine's day. The kids get a book and we spend time together making cheese and chocolate fondue. Tony started karate about a month ago and we go Monday and Wednesday nights. It is hard for us to get dinner ate, homework done, and everyone out the door on time so we celebrated on Sunday. This gave us more time to enjoy everything. I fixed all the food and Tony fixed the cheese fondue all by himself! Talk about one proud Momma :) It was so yummy! Can't wait for next year so we can do it again!

We have several food traditions which also include making homemade pretzels on Sunday Bowl Sunday. I have two great helpers that are always willing to get their hands dirty and help me cook. I love it! Riley has learned how to use the microwave. Anytime it is on she comes running in and says, whatcha cooking? It cracks me up every time! Cooking helps Tony practice his fractions, and Riley with her numbers. Anything can be made into a learning tool, plus it is just fun to build great memories! Hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Riley the super singer :)

2011-02-08T20:58:00.002-05:00

Anthony's 11th Birthday

2011-02-03T23:14:00.003-05:00

Can you believe Anthony is 11!?! I would say Anthony had the best birthday ever. It started off with the Melting Pot for dinner on his actual birthday with the both set of Grandparents. It was some place that Anthony had been to before and LOVED and we had always wanted to go. I don't know that I will go back again, it was good yet expensive but I think my fondue that we make on Valentine's Day was better. Anyways Tony got some really cool things like new games for his PSP, Colt's sheets, 11 $10.00 bills, and who could forget tickets to see the Colts that weekend in the playoff!!! Oh and it was in a suite! I was going to ground him so he couldn't go and I could go ;)

The Friday after his birthday he had a few friends over and we all went ice skating. It was so crazy trying to get the boys calm, feed, and out the door that I left without my camera. I was so mad when I realize it. Most of the boys did pretty well ice skating but it was fun to watch them all knock each other down when one fell down they all fell down. After freezing to death we came home and they had a sleep over. Let me tell you 4 boys sleeping in Tony's room was quite interesting! I have no clue what time they fell asleep but I know it was after 3:00 am.

They all left around 11:00 the next morning and Tony was on his way to his Papa's house to get ready for the game. Even though the Colts lost :( Tony had a blast! Overall I have to say a pretty darn good birthday :) I hope he doesn't expect birthday like this every year!

Christmas Day!

2011-02-02T12:09:00.004-05:00

Chase enjoying his Christmas presents!

Christmas day wasn't it's usual chaotic day. We celebrated Christmas the weekend before with Ron's parents so it was just us and then to my Mom and Dad's for a little bit. Tony always adds an extra element of excitement so maybe that was it :) I of course couldn't sleep, yes I am still like a little kid only I am not excited about my gifts but, excited to see the joy on my kids faces! Once Riley got up it was so fun to see her awe. She was so excited but also a little overwhelmed!
We took our time opening presents so she could enjoy each one. Again we cut way back this year so we could take our time instead of feeling like we needed to rush through it all to get everything open before the end of the day ;) We went to my parents house late morning and opened more presents and ate so yummy food and just hung out. It was a great day and I am so blessed with a great family. Riley still asks about Santa, we made cookies the other day and she said they were for Santa. I think she just wants more presents :)

Christmas Eve

2011-02-02T11:52:00.004-05:00

Riley's big present that Santa got at goodwill and cleaned up for super cheap!!

We have a lot of Christmas traditions that we have built over the 5 years of living together and it is so fun to see Riley getting to share in these traditions. Tony is just about out of the Santa phase, I am pretty sure he doesn't believe but he won't tell us that. I think he thinks he won't get presents! Riley LOVES Christmas time, she sings the songs, she thinks Santa is the coolest thing ever and well she loves the presents :) Since Tony wasn't with us this year :( we decided to go out to eat Christmas Eve. The only place open was Applebee's, which was fine with us. As we were getting ready to order our food, Santa came up to Riley and gave her a candy cane. She was in AWE. I so wish I had my camera. Her eyes got huge and she kept saying, it's Santa over and over in her quiet voice. By far a awesome memory, who would of thought! We also go and see Christmas lights Christmas eve, a lot of time that is just to get out of the house and make time go by a little faster! Once we got home we had to make our Christmas breakfast and of course put Santa's cookies and the reindeer food. After that is was time to go to bed and get ready to celebrate Jesus birthday!

Christmas #1

2011-02-02T11:48:00.003-05:00

Anthony had to go to Minnesota for Christmas this year so we had to be a little creative and do his Christmas early. Thank goodness Santa was willing to come a few days early! He of course had to bring a few presents for Riley, we knew she wouldn't understand why bubba got all the presents. We usually go way overboard for Christmas but this year we were more focused on the real reason for Christmas and trying to teach our kids about Jesus and what he has given us! Tony overall had a great Christmas, between both grandparents and us the kid got more than he could ever want!

Circus!

2011-02-02T11:41:00.003-05:00

Back in December we all went to the Ringling Bros Circus, thanks Mom and Dad! This was Riley's first circus and I knew she would like it but I was a little worried she wouldn't make it through the entire thing. Boy I was wrong, I don't recall her moving it at all and she still talks about going to the circus :) Every once in a while she will yell, LET'S GO TO THE CIRCUS, which makes me smile. Anthony loves the circus too, my parents took him several years ago and they couldn't believe how much he enjoyed it. He still does and it is so fun to see them both sharing in these great experiences and building such great memories!

Christmas pictures!

2011-02-02T11:37:00.003-05:00

And the winner is this one!

Here are some out takes for our Christmas cards! It is so hard to do these right, trying to get both kids to smile and look at the camera at the same time seemed challenging but it was fun and they turned out pretty good, I think :)

KRA Banquet

2011-02-02T11:33:00.004-05:00

Last year was an ok year for Ron racing, he finished 3rd in points which was pretty good considering he was up against newer equipment and more money. We had a good time at the KRA banquet, lots of laughs. For some reason my camera was acting up so we don't have many pictures from that day. Anthony did pretty good in points as well being that he misses so many races during the season to go to Minnesota. I am crossing my fingers that this years schedule will have him here for most of the races but we will see!

Anthony's School Program

2011-02-02T11:28:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I am going to try and play some catch up today!

Back in November, Anthony had his last school music program at Delaware Trail. It was a great performance but so bitter sweet knowing that he is growing up on us and moving on to middle school next year. Anthony is also apart of the Delaware Trail Choir so I am hoping he will have at least one more school program before the end of the school year!

I really do promise to do better

2011-01-17T22:10:00.002-05:00

So one of my "New Year resolutions" was to start back up blogging again. I love to look back at previous post and remember crazy things we have done or just see how much Tony and Riley have changed. (BTW I don't really do New Year resolutions, I just think of things I need to do better from the previous year) I am hoping to spend a day this week playing catch up and doing a ton of mass posts with pictures! But just to give you an idea of what is going on in the Petersen's household lately here you go:

I am still looking for a job, haven't looked hard but I am really starting to pick up the search. I have LOVED my time home with Riley which I honestly never saw myself as a stay at home Mom but if we could afford it I would do it in a heartbeat. I love seeing how much she learns and changes daily. We do all sorts of fun stuff like play dates, trips to the library, and of course our favorite thing is SHOPPING! How can we go shopping when we don't have money? Well, we just take Grandma along :)

Ron is loving his job at CARQUEST. He is gearing up for the 2011 race season which includes driving himself crazy with trying to afford a new kart, goes back to the no money thing :) I know it will pass and it will move on but I hate seeing him get so down about it. I keep him pretty busy on the weekends doing my honey to-do list or running around doing errands, I don't get as much time with him in the summer to get these things done so I have to take advantage of the winter :) We have actually had a few date nights recently!

Tony is getting by in 5th grade. He has had some ups and downs but it is looking like he will pal move on to middle school next year :) His school has a new principal and things have been a little rough to get use to for him. He started karate last week and it is a lot harder than he imagined :) I don't think it would be so technical! But he is pretty good and his best friend Ian is a black belt and gives him pointers. Tony is also ready to get racing season started, he told me tonight he hates winter, the only good part is Christmas, his birthday, and of course SNOW. Crazy kid. He is counting down til the first race.

Riley, I really don't know where to start with her. She is growing up so much! She is amazes me each day. Like tonight when I was putting her in bed you should of heard all the excuses she came up with! Everything from needing to give her brother a hug, to daddy kisses, to watching McQueen (CARS movie). She makes me laugh everyday and is always keeping us on our toes. One night she got really quiet and I went looking for her and she had shut herself in our bathroom with the light off. There are no windows in our bathroom so it was pitch black in there, thankfully she wasn't in there long and when I opened the door she came running out. She idolizes her big brother and does everything he does. I love watching that relationship and how close they are even with the age gap. Now don't get me wrong there are times when she drive him crazy :)

I love watching these two kids grow and I love seeing Ron and I grow as better parents. We know we make mistakes but really who doesn't? I don't think we are going to scar them for life and well even if we do I guess we can say we tried :) and fork over the money for a good psychologist. I have to say we got really lucky when it comes to kids we are blessed to have to GREAT kids.

So a short update and like I said hopefully I can get some uninterrupted Riley time one day this week and do a mass update!

JD Byrider Christmas Party

2010-12-12T22:35:00.005-05:00

I love the look on Riley's face she is so happy. Tony on the other hand not so much, he was mad Dad beat him.
Cheese :)

I can only imagine what life would be like with two of them! My heads hurts....

Tea Party!

Football cards what more could a 10 year old boy want!

Princess CD player, YES!

I love this look, she wasn't so sure at first!

Don't worry Bubba I will hold your hand :)

Grandma and Riley talking about what to say to Santa

This little boy came up and huged Riley out of no where, I think we are going to be in trouble...

Yes I know I haven't updated in forever but instead of trying to play catch up I will catch up later. Who knew not working keeps me more busy that working outside the house! Anyways yesterday was the JD Byrider Christmas party at the Children's Museum and there are too many cute pictures not to share :) We had prepped Riley for a few days on seeing Santa and she is fully aware that he brings presents. She was very excited to see him unlike last year when she cried the both times she saw him :) She was a little leery at first but she warmed up to him pretty quick. She told him she wanted a Go-Go Puppy and who knows what else she said, she was whispering to him :) Tony told Santa he wanted a Corvette, awe to me a kid again! He has even figured out how Santa can get it here! We all had a blast playing at the Children's Museum, we were all exhausted by the time we left. As the Christmas season rolls around I promise to catch up on the blog and keep updating better. As the weather gets colder I have lots of excuses to stay home and not get out in the snow!

Halloween!

2010-11-23T18:29:00.002-05:00

We splurged this year and went trick or treating twice! Hey I figure we better get our money out of the pink cat and werewolf costumes!! We headed out to Avon on Saturday and went around a neighborhood and got a ton of candy and had a blast just the four of us! Riley at first couldn't figure out why strangers were giving her candy but she got the hang of it real quick. Matter of fact she even said trick or treat going through the Starbucks drive thru the next day if only if worked that way! Sunday we got up headed to church and had a great Sunday brunch with my parents for my Mom's birthday. Afterwards we took short naps and got ready for Halloween! We had several people over and looked like a herd when we were trick or treating but we had a blast! Tony was great with Riley both days and Riley had a blast. She still carries around her pumpkin saying trick or treat :) She also asks for he

Pumpkin Patch!

2010-11-14T20:49:00.004-05:00

The Sunday before Halloween we loaded up and headed down to Connersville to ride the Pumpkinliner train to the pumpkin patch. We were all really excited about this but I think I underestimated the time it took to get to Connersville. Plus Anthony was flying home that morning from Minnesota and I thought he arrived at 10:10 when really he left at 10:10. Don't ask me how I did that one because I still can't figure it out! So Ron and I headed to church first then hung out at Mom and Dad's until Tony landed after 1:00... Yep just a little mistake.

Once we got to Connersville, we just missed the 2:30 pm and the next train wasn't until 4:30 so we found a cool park to go to. It had a lake and trails and all sorts of neat things to do. There was rain in the area so we didn't get out to do too much. Once it was time to ride the train we were all really excited. It ended up being a lot shorter of a ride than we all thought, but we didn't let that get us down we were still excited about our hayride to the pumpkin patch and finding the perfect pumpkins. Needless to say, I was a little surprised when we stopped at a campground to get off the train. Again, didn't get too down, just thought it was a coincident. Well, lets just say it went downhill from there. We rode THROUGH the "trailer" park (this was not really a campground like I thought this was more of people who lived out of their campers) to the pumpkin patch and it was a TINY area with pumpkins thrown everywhere. Now this was perfect for someone Riley's age but Tony was a little confused. The kids were suppose to be the only ones with pumpkins but we were on the last pumpkin train for the weekend so they were trying to shove them into our arms as we left. On a plus note this will be one of those time we can look back and laugh about the time we went to the pumpkin patch in the trailer park. It also made us all realize how good we really have things. There was people living in tents in this trailer park. I just can't imagine living life that way.

I will not recommend the Whitewater Valley Pumpkinliner to anyone with kids over the age of 3. It was fun but we will be headed back to our normal pumpkin patch next year unless I find some other crazy place to go :)

Robo Pong 200

2010-11-09T18:53:00.003-05:00

Second weekend of October brought Ron and I's favorite race of the year, the Robo Pong 200. Saturday was practice and qualifying for the race on Sunday and the day didn't start out to well with a engine issue that caused Ron and Colton to miss out on most of practice. I wasn't too hopeful for qualifying but when I heard 13th I was ecstatic, I think we all were! In my rush to leave for the track Sunday morning I forgot the camera, so I took the photos above from David Lee, the track photographer. The race started out pretty good until lap 14 when the kid behind him went into the corner a like it was the last lap and took out the radiator. After being in the pits for what seemed forever they got the damage fixed and went back out. By this time they were back to 37th and several laps down. It was a long hard race but Ron and Colton worked their way back up to 17th by the end of the race. That of course is with some good pit stop from crew chief Steve and Shannon :) Overall they were disappointed but glad they were able to finish the race. Can't wait for next year!

Now this is sleeping!

2010-11-08T22:26:00.001-05:00

Sometimes Riley misses naps during the day and this is usually what happens when she gets home. Playing with Grandma and Grandpa sure can be rough!

KRA race 13 and 14 plus a little dirt track action!

2010-11-08T22:12:00.003-05:00

The last weekend in September was a busy one with a double header KRA race and a last minute trip to Eldora to the 4-Crown nationals. Ron and Tony raced both Saturday and Sunday at New Castle, Ron finished 2nd and 3rd and Tony finished 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th both days. Ron, Riley, my parents, and I headed up to Eldora for the 4-crown races Saturday after Ron raced on Saturday. It was a COLD night but we had fun. I hadn't been to Eldora in a couple of years and I remember why the racing was HORRIBLE. The track wasn't very good I am sure some of that would be the drought we are in but overall majorly disappointed in what use to be my favorite dirt track ever. Oh well we got to at least smell some racing and we can now say Riley has been to Eldora :)

We're Back!!

2010-11-01T16:58:00.002-04:00

So it has been over a month since I updated the blog lots as happened in our family over the past several weeks! Lots of ups and downs but we are all surviving just fine! My creativity has been slacking lately, I guess Riley wipes all of that out of me! I have actually been throwing around the idea of starting a new blog along with this one and I think that is where all my creativity has been :) Hey it sounds good right!?! I have lots to catch up on, birthday's, last races of the season, Robo Pong 200, Halloween, KRA banquet, school programs, and I am sure there is lots more! Just wanted to make you all aware we are back so expect LOTS of updates over the next couple of days!!

KRA Race 12

2010-09-19T20:02:00.002-04:00

Last weekend Ron and Tony had the 12th race of the year. Ron finished 5th and Tony finished 7th and 10th. Riley and I didn't go out to New Castle, too much going on and honestly just needed some time to catch up and spent some good time with my parents! They have a double header next weekend, Sept 25th and 26th! If you are around you should come out and support the boys!

Riley's birthday party!

2010-09-19T16:10:00.005-04:00

We had a very small birthday party for Riley on Labor Day. It was just us and the Grandparents over for some yummy food and a small celebration! This were just a little too crazy between going Moto GP, Dallas for a week, to kart racing, and who knows what else to plan a birthday party. Riley had a blast with the people she loves the most and that was all the matters. We ate some dinner, cake, and opened presents. Steve and Terri got Riley a cat that rolls around and laughs hysterically. Riley was scared of it first and everyone was laughing at her. Once she realized it wasn't scary she realized she had an audience she continues to be "scared" of it. I am telling you we have a future star on our hands! Riley went around singing happy birthday for two weeks after her party!

Piano lessons?

2010-09-19T16:04:00.003-04:00

Tony has taught himself a song on Grandma Terri's piano and Riley loves to play with him! These two crack me up :) Riley has loved the piano for as long as I can remember. And yes those are curlers in her hair, see below post! Maybe we need to invest in lessons....or not because who knows when I would fit that into our already crazy schedule!

Curlers...

2010-09-19T16:02:00.003-04:00

Steve and Terri kept the kids a couple of weekends ago so Ron and I could go to the U.S. Nationals. When we went back to their house to pick them up Riley had curlers in her hair! I LOVE this picture. She is so stubborn anymore and won't smile or even look at the camera. I love how big her smile is :)

Quick Catch-up Post

2010-09-14T19:30:00.003-04:00

So there is lots going on in the Petersen Household lately so this is going to cover a few of them! Ron and I both are starting new jobs in a week window. I started with LifeScience Logistics in Brownsburg yesterday and Ron starts at CarQuest on Thursday. We are both beyond excited for the opportunities that have been put in front of us!

Tony also started a new before/after school program and LOVES it. He was getting bullied at his old place and after lots of research we found this new place and it is such a better fit for him. He started flag football Saturday and is getting better and better. Riley and I stayed home since it was raining so I will have to make sure we get some good pictures the next practice.

Riley well Riley is just Riley, learning lots and always on the go! As you can see from the pictures above :) Never give your 2 year old a "puppy" cup from Starbucks with chocolate syrup and carmel. If you can't tell she is COVERED in goop as Ron called it. We were out running errands and Ron had to drop me off at a store and take her home for a quick bath. Good thing we were right down the road from home!

Chase is a pig.....What more can I say!?! Well other than he ate an ENTIRE bag of Oreo cookies. My Mom had just opened the package and left it on the counter and so Fat dog got a hold of them and ate the all.

That is about all on the Petersen household for now. I do have a few other posts to update so hopefully I can get those done soon. That is if life can slow down a little bit!

Kart Racing Update

2010-09-07T19:57:00.004-04:00

It seems like it has been forever since the last racing update. They have raced the past two weekends. On 8/29 Tony had two 9th place finishes and Ron finished 4th. On 9/3 Tony finished 12th and 14th and Ron finished 3rd. Still trying to get some set-up things worked out other than that it has been a learning season on what works and what doesn't. Ron says they are getting fast and better but so it the competition! Only 4 races left plus Ron will race in the endurance race, which is my favorite race of the year!

Red Bull Indianapolis GP

2010-09-06T14:51:00.004-04:00

Last weekend was my last event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was kind of a bittersweet day, but honestly I know it is time to move one and can't wait for my next move. The Moto GP race is quickly becoming my favorite race and glad they signed for one more year so I can go back next year as a race fan! I am going to miss all the people I work with but won't miss the crazy hours and the stressful times. The Moto GP is a great event, less hours and almost a sigh of relief when it was over because that means we lived through another event season! 7 seasons or 20 races later I have put in my time and the speedway and ready to move on. I will dedicate another post just towards my new job, might have an update on Ron as well! Told you lots going on in the Petersen house!

2 YEARS OLD!!

2010-09-05T20:36:00.004-04:00

August 29th Riley turned two years old! I can't believe it has been two years, it has been a fast two years that is for sure! Ron and Tony raced on her birthday and I worked all day. So it was a late party at our house. I don't think you could even call it a party. By the time everyone got cleaned up from the long day we opened some presents and didn't even get to the cupcakes. We stayed small this year with just a few gifts. The play kitchen was a hit and Tony got her some "piggy" polish that she LOVES! We have having the grandparents over tomorrow for a small get together and will hopefully get to the cake then!

Lots going on in the Petersen household so expect lots of updates coming soon!

WWE in the Petersen household!

2010-08-23T18:54:00.004-04:00

Our house is always a circus! I don't know who is crazier the kids or the dog..... Needless to say lately our house has been like going to a WWE Smackdown wrestling match. Riley has turned into quite the wrestler, I think my Dad has taught her that skill. Tony and her have a blast playing every night. Sometime I think it might be a little too rough, but that would be my lovely daughter that would be rough. She is going to start leaving marks on Tony that we might have to explain!! At least I have proof now :) Then there is Chase, I don't really know how to explain our crazy dog other than he has to be in the middle of EVERYTHING. Check out the video below, need I say more....

Short clip but check out Chase, REALLY dog?

5th Grade!!!

2010-08-23T18:46:00.003-04:00

Tony started the 5th grade last week! I can't believe we are a year away from middle school, EEKS!! So far so good, he really likes his teacher! He had her last year for math so at least she is already aware of Tony and his "talking" issues :) They have gotten better this year but I think the poor kid is always going to talk! I did remind him this was the last year he would have to be quiet in the hallway, since you switch classes in middle school and high school, he was relieved about that! Crossing our fingers for a great last year at Delaware Trail! It has been a great elementary school for Tony. We have had are ups and downs but hoping we end it right!

Start! Heart Walk

2010-08-19T10:40:00.004-04:00

We are walking for the American Heart Association again this year. Instead of doing individual donations we are registered as a team for Tony Petersen Racing! If you would like to donate and help us hit our goal please head on over to Tony's website and you can get to the donation page through the link at the top. The walk is September 18th so you have a few weeks to get your donations in! Take a look around his website, it is constantly changing and don't forget to leave Tony a comment, he loves to know he has fans out there!

Check it out at:
http://www.tonypetersenracing.com/

The Next American Idol.....

2010-08-16T15:51:00.002-04:00

Mini Vacation Day #3

2010-08-15T18:12:00.005-04:00

I think we wore them out.....

The last day of our mini vacation was kind of laid back. We got up slowly and packed everything up and then headed back to downtown Chicago. We really didn't have much plans this day because it was HOT. We knew we didn't want to go to the zoo so we headed back to Grant Park and checked out Buckingham Fountain. It was pretty cool, but I have heard they have a really cool light show at night. That is on out list to check out when we go back! After the Buckingham fountain Tony really wanted to go back Navy Pier and look for a pocket knife, he has been obsessed lately, who knows!?! Once we got done shopping we decided to have lunch at Harry Caray's and I have to say another must stop if you visit. Ron and I both had the best hamburger ever! Tony had a club sandwich from the adult menu and ate the entire thing! After lunch it was time to head back to the car and back to Indiana. All in all it was a fairly cheap trip and I am so glad we got out of town for a few days! It gave us some good time with Tony before school started and getting back into our normal routine. A much needed break from real world :)

Mini Vacation Day #2

2010-08-13T17:44:00.008-04:00

By far one of my favorite pictures ever, the looks on their faces is priceless!

We were going to start day two off by getting up and having brunch at the Chicago Zoo. But, we woke up kind of late and it was raining when we woke up so we started out morning out kind of slow. We ate breakfast I had brought from home and just laid around for a little bit, we watch Pretty Woman which makes me laugh when I think about it. Once the rain ended we headed back to the subway and back to the Navy Pier. We rode the water taxi to the Shedd Aquarium from the Pier, Riley LOVED the boat ride but wanted to go swimming. The Shedd Aquarium was having a promotion with Bank of America if you had an account with them you got in free, we only ended up having to pay for Tony so that was a plus! It was a pretty neat place, we all really enjoyed it. After the aquarium we walked through Grant Park, as much as we could there was a huge concert going on, and then we walked to Millennium Park. The kids played in the water and we weren't prepared for that, they were soaked and poor Tony didn't have any dry clothes, but he still says it was worth it . After what seemed like forever we headed over to the "bean" at Millennium park. This was a must see on my list at Chicago and it did not disappoint! Tony couldn't understand why I wanted to go see it until we got there and he realized how cool it was! By this point we were all exhausted and rode back to where we were staying and walked to a pizza joint, another must on our list was REAL Chicago style pizza and Giordano's was OUTSTANDING! Comes highly recommended by all of us the next time you visit Chicago!

Mini Vacation Day 1

2010-08-11T19:42:00.005-04:00

Saturday morning we took off to Rockford Illinois to pick up Tony! We couldn't wait, it was a very long summer without him. We decided last minute, like Monday afternoon, that we needed a little vacation. Most everyone knows we are following the Dave Ramsey plan and aren't suppose to be taking and vacations but we have done really good lately and honestly we NEEDED it. So I used priceline to get a hotel and we ended up at the Hyatt at O'hare airport for $45.00 a night! We didn't tell Tony we were going, which was hilarious. Once we parked at the hotel Ron and I acted like we were lost and were "arguing" (which never really happens so he was MAJORLY confused) then we both said, fine lets just go on vacation. The poor kid didn't know what to think :) But once we realized what was going on he was super excited. We got all checked in and walked to the "L" train stop right down the road from our hotel and took it downtown. We wanted to go to Navy Pier that night because they have fireworks every Saturday night in the summer time. We took the free trolley to the Pier from the subway stop. Riley didn't know what to think about riding in the trolley without a car seat! We ate dinner at the pier and we rode the Ferris wheel and Tony rode the swings, this was a splurge but it was worth it! After walking around for a bit it was firework time and they were awesome! Poor Riley was so tired she feel asleep before the fireworks and slept through the whole show. She woke up as we were getting on the subway to head back to the hotel. We had a lot of fun but we were tired, it was 1:00 am before we got back to the hotel and 2:00 am before we all got to bed. Talk about some wired kids and some tired parents!

Chef Riley

2010-08-03T08:17:00.002-04:00

Riley loves to help! The other day we were over at my parents house fixing Springfield style Cashew Chicken, which was wonderful! Riley just had to help. I was mixing something and she pulled over the step stool and had to have her own cup of water and flour. She just stirred away. I can't wait until she is older and we can cook together! I am slowing learning how to cook better and it is so much fun when Riley helps :)

Brickyard 400

2010-08-02T08:18:00.005-04:00

So I am a week late, but it seems to get harder and harder to update the blog at times! The Brickyard 400 has come and gone and is one of my favorite events but a very hard weekend! With everything going on that weekend it is to keep up with. This event is was by far the hardest event I have ever worked, just lots of issues to take care of and it kept me busy the full 16 hours I was at work each day! Ron and his family came out on Saturday, luckily I had sometime to spend with them! I took Ron's Grandma into the garages and I have to say it was great to see how excited she was! Everyone was super nice to her and she isn't afraid of anything! Tony flew back to Minnesota on Sunday so Ron got to come out with a friend (a man-date as I liked to call it :) Jamie McMurry won the race, I was super excited, not as excited as Kasey winning, Joplin, Missouri's own winning the race was pretty darn cool! Overall it was a great weekend glad I got to spend sometime with Ron and the family! Very hectic weekend but when isn't it a little hectic!

JD Byrider

2010-07-27T18:58:00.005-04:00

Thursday night we all (and I mean all both our parents and Ron's grandma from out of state) went out to the JD Byrider 100. Petersen Racing had the karts out on display and Tony was signing autographs again this year. He was even signing body parts, still don't know how I feel about this one....

Tony got to go out on the track and be apart of opening ceremonies again this year. He was standing out on the track watching the driver get introduced. About half way through he went over to where they were would come off the stage and give them a fist punch. It was HILARIOUS, most drivers were really cool with him including Ryan Newman. Once everyone was introduced Tony got to say "let's go racing" with the green hair (American Heart Association) girls. Tony LOVES to be apart of it and I questioned if we made the right decision to bring him home this week but by far it was the best decision we could of made! It was so good to have him home even for just the week and he gets so much exposure this week it is great for JD Byrider and his racing "career".

Race for Riley

2010-07-22T10:28:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was the Race for Riley Children's hospital out at New Castle. Ron and Tony raced in it again this year! Ron said he had a lot of fun out there racing. He finished 6th but had a good battle on his hands for most of the race. He said he wished it was another 10 laps because he was having so much fun. Tony spun out, racing to hard on cold tires! He finished 11th but he was glad to be back at the track! Up next, the JD Byrider 100 tonight and it is Brickyard 400 weekend! This is such a crazy week for our family, I will be glad when it is over :)

Who needs dress up!?!

2010-07-08T21:32:00.003-04:00

When you have a soda box around............

4th of July!!

2010-07-08T21:03:00.005-04:00

After getting back from new castle we had some yummy dinner and headed out to Arbuckle Acres park in Brownsburg for some GREAT fireworks!! My parents and some good friends came with us and we all had a good time. Ron and I were a little tired but Riley was going full blast!! We had some pineapple whip, boy I LOVE pineapple whip!! The mosquito's ate me and only me alive but it was worth it. 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, I just wish Tony was here to celebrate it with us.

KRA Race 8 & 9

2010-07-06T21:15:00.004-04:00

Trying to stay cool!

Ron raced a double header this weekend, on top of working Saturday! Talk about a crazy weekend. Ron headed straight for the track Saturday after work to make it in time to race. Of course his luck was it was a new track configuration that he had never raced on. No practice and no qualifying. He started in the back and worked his was up to 2nd! Riley and I stayed home Saturday but went up Sunday. It was a SUPER HOT weekend, I didn't think it was a great idea to have her out in the heat two days in a row. Ron raced the shifter and the TAG kart on Sunday. He spun out in the Tag race and finished 3rd in the shifter race. Not too bad of a racing weekend! Riley ignores me when Grandma Terri is at the race track, those two have a blast together! Needless to say between all the grandparents the kid doesn't have a chance, they keep telling me that is what they are there for but I am not buying it! :) Next Race is the Race for Riley Hospital, July 21st!!

Do you remember the dump truck....

2010-07-03T20:55:00.001-04:00

The dump truck is still around :) Riley found it the other day in Tony's closet while we were cleaning out some of Tony's stuff. Needless to say she rides it everywhere around the house and tries to take it apart. Maybe she isn't the next race car driver, maybe the first female crew chief!?!

Second place by a......

2010-06-30T09:21:00.002-04:00

This was the finish to KRA race #7 this past weekend.

Ron came in second, which normally he would be a little bummed about. I think they got the set-up all figured out and he was beyond excited to be back running up front!! Ron and Steve spent most of the day Saturday working on the kart and it sure did pay off! Ron has a double header this weekend so if you are looking for something to do this holiday weekend head on out to New Castle :) I am looking for a win this weekend!!

Piggy Tails

2010-06-27T17:41:00.002-04:00

Can someone tell me how my baby became a big girl?

Told you she was a monkey....

2010-06-26T15:51:00.002-04:00

Climbing trees already!

Water Fun!

2010-06-26T15:45:00.002-04:00

Riley loves outside and she loves the water! So we got her a pool that she can play, for the most part she loves it but she won't sit down in it. We played in it last night and she loves to splash and be splashed then scream as loud as she can :) Oh what fun!! Notice not one picture is she looking at the camera, she refuses because Mommy wants her too.....

Yep stubborn just like her Mommy :)

Hopefully many more blog posts to come, I finally charged the batteries in the camera so I can start taking pictures again!

Cheap Entertainment

2010-06-17T18:14:00.002-04:00

Title says it all, Tony and Riley are cheap entertainment for Ron and I :) Always creative!

Pictures from KRA race 5

2010-06-16T18:48:00.002-04:00

So for some reason I thought I had much better picture than these, but there they are anyways :)

Where are you!?!

2010-06-16T11:50:00.002-04:00

Yep we are all still alive, I keep meaning to update the blog from the race two weekends ago, I got some really good pictures. I just can't seem to find the time. The past 4 nights we have had some nasty storms so that keeps me off the computer. I have also started reading the Percy Jackson series, thanks Tony, and I seem to read any free time I have! We are all surviving. Kind of quiet and boring at out house right now. Tony has been gone to his Mom's for about a week and a half now and Riley is NOT liking that he is gone. We are counting down the days til he gets home. It cannot come soon enough!

Riley is learning so many new things I can't keep up. We have started potty training, kind of, so we will see how that goes. She shows interested in learning but we are all still learning how to help her :) We have made paci's nighttime only and are hoping to get rid of them by her second birthday. I just don't want her to pick up the thumb sucking habit, I had that forever, I can't get rid of her thumb :) She is such a girly girl yet such a tom boy at the same time. She keeps us laughing all the time!

Ron likes his new job, he started at Pep Boys about 2 months ago. I LOVE the hours but don't love the pay. But he took this job knowing it would be hard on us for a little bit but he is so much happier and he gets to be apart of things he missed out on before because he was at work. One the racing end, this year seems to be a year of testing out new set-ups and trying to find more speed. He races the next three weekends so if you are in the area head out to New Castle Motorsports Park and check it out. We have a blast!!

As for me I have recovered from the 500 and trying to get back on a normal schedule and get back into a routine but it is hard without Tony. At times the kid can drive me up the wall and push every button he knows how to :) but life is just not the same with him gone. My Mom and I have been garage saleing up a storm lately and have gotten some really great things. I love to garage sale, since I have a shopping problem I guess I can justify it when I am only spend quarters and dollars on stuff!!

Pictures to come I promise, I would say you won't believe how big Riley is getting but we all know she is not big! We went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for nursemaid's elbow (her elbow was out of socket, ouch!) and she weigh 20.8 pounds. Not to bad for 21 months, right!?! Oh well she is happy and that is all the matter to me!!

Working hard for his money...

2010-06-08T13:59:00.003-04:00

Anthony is officially a 5th Grader!!!!!!!!!! How did that happen? It seems just like yesterday we were taking pictures of the first day of school. I took him to work with me on Friday, since I was the only one there and I just had a few things to finish up. He worked hard while he was there, he did some major filing!! Once we left work we had some errands to run then home to mow the yard. Tony is just a little bit too small to mow the yard but we are trying to teach him how to do it. Needless the say the boy was a machine and mowed over half the backyard and almost all the front yard!! Tony gets a weekly allowance and we have added mowing to his list of chores. So yes he was working hard for his money :)

2010 Indianapols 500!!

2010-06-01T08:17:00.002-04:00

One of my many groups!

Right above my office!!

Well our family survived another Indianapolis 500. Ron and Tony got to come out and watch the race in what has turned out to be the hottest 500 in HISTORY!! What a crazy and long day! Ron and I are toasted and then there is little Tony who is just as tan as can be. Riley stayed with Papa Steve because she has been sick the past week and he offered and Ron accepted :) I have a few pictures from that but I have to get them from Ron. Tony got into a water fight with some much older girls, Ron and I will be having a talk about his soon! My cousin came up for the race and it was good to see some family. But honestly I live at work and didn't get to spend much time with him or Ron and the kids. I ate some lunch with my Mom and Dad, who ended up laving early because of the heat and I wish I could of went with them! Glad life will go back to normal somewhat soon and I can catch up on some much needed SLEEP! But also a little sad it is over, you work so hard and so long for something then the next thing you know it is here and gone. Until then next event, which is only 52 days away!

Riley and her dancing skills

2010-05-25T09:14:00.003-04:00

While Ron and Tony were racing Terri kept Riley all weekend from the sounds of things. I wonder if she has recovered yet? Riley is a ball of energy and never slows down!! A big thank you for keeping her. My parents kept her last weekend and every day during the week so I think they were in need so a break and some rest! Riley has been working on her dancing skills every night and I think she is getting better, I might be a little bias!

KRA Race #4

2010-05-25T09:03:00.003-04:00

Ron and Tony raced this past weekend and it was HOT! They did pretty well, I was at work but from what I have heard Ron had engine issues and finished 3rd and Tony had some pretty good battles for positions and finished 15th and 11th. Not a bad day, they went up Saturday and practiced and spent the night and let me tell you I missed them!! Not that I would of saw them much between being at work for 16 hours both days and trying to sleep. But still I missed them tons. I don't know who turned on the heat outside but I kind of wish it would cool off, it seems we went from cold to hot in a matter of days. I love the warm days not hot days! Only 5 more days until the 500!!

Opening Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway/SKUSA Races!

2010-05-15T11:50:00.008-04:00

Opening day has come and gone at the track! We are officially open for business! We are just days away from Pole Weekend and besides the crazy early hours I have to be here I can't wait!!! This is what I work all year for and LOVE this time of year job wise. I HATE this time of year family wise because I don't ever see them. This year has been a little different with the outsourcing rumors going on towards the beginning of the year. It is kind of hard not to be a little bitter about how the whole thing was handled. But, now that there are cars on the track and fans on the ground it does remind me why I do work here. The rain needs to stay away though, I miss the sunshine! Things have changed quite a bit around here so it is taking some adjusting to get use to. But I am very grateful for the people I work with, they are my family this month and we have fun. I say this all the time but if it wasn't for the people I work with I don't think I would still be here. We truly care for each other in this department. I guess it is because we have been though so much together but more importantly we know how to have FUN!!!

I miss out on a lot at home and this weekend I missed out on some HUGE wins at new castle. Ron and Tony raced in the SKUSA central states race over the weekend. Tony raced both Saturday and Sunday and finished second on Saturday and WON on Sunday!!!! Ron only raced Sunday since he had to work Saturday and WON!!! They are both happy as can be, they are even talking about heading to some other SKUSA races in Missouri and Wisconsin. I am pretty excited about that since I missed this one, I would love to see them race on a higher level. Very proud of both of them and can't wait to get life back to normal, whatever normal is......

*Thanks to David Lee photography for the photos from May 2nd KRA race!

300 Posts and My little Princess!

2010-05-14T15:43:00.004-04:00

Holy cow I can't believe this will be my 300th post! Wow I sure do have a lot to share :)

This time I wanted to share my little princess and how girly and grown up she is! She LOVES to wear my shoes and always have to have a hat on. She likes to carry a purse whenever she can find one! She is getting so big now and can say pretty much anything she wants to say! She might just be one of the politest people I have meet :) She is always saying thank you and if you sneeze she will say bless you. It is too cute. She is always wanting to know if you are OK when you cough but, don't try to bring her in from outside because that is when the politeness turns ugly. Like laying on the ground screaming and kicking her feet ugly. It is so hard not to laugh because it is a a typical toddler meltdown and it is a classic one too. She doesn't do it too often but I have a feeling we are in HUGE trouble soon. I still can't believe two is just around the corner and I look at my baby and I have to ask myself, how did she get so big? I want my baby back!

Happy Mother's Day!!

2010-05-11T12:26:00.005-04:00

This was my first year not working at the track on Mother's Day! Leading up to Mother's day I was so excited to spend it with my family. We had some friends over Friday evening, I spent Saturday morning garage saling with my Mom, took a afternoon nap Saturday and was so excited for Sunday! Well, Riley started the day off wrong by waking up at 6:30 :( What the heck!?! She has been sleeping through the night (knock on wood) for the most part and usually doesn't get up until 9-10. Not on Mother's day, I guess she was so excited to celebrate with me :) Ron fixed me a cup of coffee and got me two GREAT cards, which were a surprise. We decided no gifts this year. After hanging out we went to brunch with my Mom and Dad. We went to O'Charley's and it was wonderful! After brunch my day started to go down hill. I think the realization of working for the next 24 days in a row hit me. No day off until June 4th! I usually stress over May just because they are long days with no days off. I thought taking a nap Sunday would help but honestly I think it made things worse. Poor Tony was doing everything in his power not to drive me crazy but he was. I fixed an awesome dinner though, again not how I had pictured my Mother's day but ultimately that isn't what matters! We were going to watch Avatar but ended up watching it last night, GREAT movie BTW!

What does matter is I got to spend time with my AWESOME Mom and my WONDERFUL husband and kids. Looking back now I couldn't of asked for a better day (other than an attitude adjustment on my end). My Mom is my best friend and I can only hope when Tony and Riley grow up I will have just a strong relationship with them as I do with my Mom! Unfortunately Ron's Mom was visiting her Mom in Ohio and we weren't able to see her on Mother's day. But, we thought about her lots and also know how much she does for us as well! Hope everyone else out there had a blessed Mother's day!

Dancing on the Bricks!

2010-05-10T18:47:00.002-04:00

Riley getting down to the Gin Blossoms at the track. How cool is this video, she is dancing on the yard of bricks! Hopefully one day she will think this is as cool as the rest of us do :)

Balloon Festival

2010-05-10T18:22:00.006-04:00

Saturday evening we all bundled up and headed out to the track for the balloon festival. It has been gorgeous leading up to the event but a cold front came through and not only was it super cold the wind was blowing like crazy! We had fun anyways :) Tony and Riley had a blast playing on the Plaza and dancing to the Gin Blossoms. I wanted to get a picture of Tony kissing the bricks and Riley got down there with him and kissed the bricks too! Unfortunately because of all the wind they didn't get to do the "balloon" glow, but instead they did a "candlestick" glow. They all shot the flames in the air like a normal balloon glow just didn't have the balloons attached. It was pretty cool!! The heat from the flames warmed us up a bit too! Since they were only doing the candlestick glow they were letting people get in the baskets and pull the flame blower. Tony thought it was one of the coolest things ever! After the candlestick glow they shot off some awesome fireworks! I was a little worried about Riley but she was in awe. I love doing things like this with the kids, just something different they get to experience that Ron and I can give them. Tony told us, he sure was a lucky kid and can't believe all the cool things he gets to do. Talk about a GREAT feeling :)

First KRA race of the season

2010-05-05T20:08:00.004-04:00

Ron and Tony finally had a KRA race Sunday, the first two races got rained out and the first race was rescheduled for the day we were meeting Tony's Mom half way for Spring Break. So they missed that race. It rained A LOT Saturday and it was suppose to rain Sunday. Thankfully it really only rained heavily in the morning and by race time it was a light rain. Tony's first race it was just wet enough he needed to run on rain tires. He looked AWESOME!!! He went from 15th to 3RD in 12 laps! He was passing people left and right, I think we all agreed he has never looked better. He raced two more races and finished 9th and FIRST!!!!!!!!! Something has clicked with Tony this year, he finally gets it. Ron finished 3rd in his race, he had some handling issues so they are hoping to get out to New Castle soon to practice and get some set-up figured out. I have to say though a pretty good start to the season!

Our new dog Riley...

2010-05-04T18:35:00.002-04:00

Elmo LIVE!

2010-04-25T18:11:00.005-04:00

Saturday we had a girls night out and my Mom and I took Riley to see Sesame Street Live, Elmo's Green thumb. It was awesome! Riley was in awe most of the time. She clapped along with all the songs and when songs were over she would clap :) She loved when Elmo and Cookie came out on stage and just watched with the most amazed look ever. It was a blast and so glad we are able to do things like this with her. I think my Mom and I enjoyed watching Riley more than the show. At intermission they brought out these huge Elmo balloons and well needless to say Miss One Track Mind would not let us leave without one! She is one persistent little thing!! While we were at Elmo the boys were working on the karts. They were going to go out and practice for today's race but it was called off due to rain so they just got everything ready for next weekend. Other than that we had a pretty laid back weekend, it rained a lot of our plans out so we stayed at home and hung out together and watched some racing!

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T10:33:00.002-04:00

Earth day was designed to inspire awareness and appreciate for the Earth's environment. We try to be a "green" family. We do pretty darn good too! We recycle, use fluorescent bulbs, turn off water while brushing our teeth, turn of lights and other appliances when not in use, use recyclable bags at the store, use refillable coffee mugs, we reuse anything we can, we buy used clothes, books, and really anything else we can find used. We donate our stuff or have garage sales instead of throwing it away. I don't want Tony or Riley to have to pay for the things we are doing now to the Earth so I am doing as much as possible to make sure they have energy, clean water, and clean air when they are older! So I ask you the question, what are you doing for Earth Day?

First Race of the Year!!

2010-04-19T18:31:00.005-04:00

We loaded up Saturday morning super early and headed out to New Castle for an impromptu race. Ron and Tony rarely race anything but KRA but since they missed the first race of the season due to a rescheduling conflict they decided to go out and race this weekend to get some good practice. Tony raced on the oval track, which was something new to him, and did GREAT! He was the only one in his class, so first WIN of the season :) but more importantly he looked really good out on the track. He raced with a few senior drivers, no not as in old man senior as in more experienced (Ron's age) drivers, and did pretty darn good! Ron raced on the road course with a group called Great Lakes Series and did great too! Ron finished 3rd, a pretty good start to the season if you ask me. They race the next two weekends so expect lots of racing updates to come. Don't forget to check out Tony's website (link on the sidebar of the blog) for news as well, make sure to sign his guest book too :) He loves that!!

Glow in the dark pacifier

2010-04-14T16:33:00.004-04:00

Riley got some glow sticks for Easter from my parents. Riley LOVES them. She made several of them glow one night and instead of letting them go to waste we put them in her pacifier (yes she still uses a pacifier don't judge!). She thought it was great! I love these pictures because you can see how tired she is in her eyes. This is my calm baby, most of the time she is on the move going as fast as her little legs will carry her! Just like big brother :)

The Starbucks Snob!

2010-04-13T21:19:00.003-04:00

Everyone that know Ron and I knows that we LOVE Starbucks. We even have Tony liking it, of course he can only get non-caffeine related products :) Well guess what has happened now!?! Riley loves her Starbucks. We were in Target the other day doing some shopping and treated ourselves to some frappuccinos and they made her one just her size and well she LOVES just like Mommy, Daddy, and Bubba! Oh my what have we done?

Football!!

2010-04-13T21:06:00.004-04:00

Tony is a natural at football! The coach and ref said so :) Anthony LOVES football and it actually pretty good at it. He is FAST and that is what makes him so good. Tony scored the first touchdown of the game! He played all positions and was good at all of them, he sometimes forget it is flag football and tries to do things like stiff arm other players or jump on the ball instead of pulling off the flag :) But we won't fault him for his efforts! Of course he is just playing in the YMCA flag football league but he has fun and that is all that matters. We might move him up in fall but are still talking that over. For now he can enjoy a little flag football and get all that extra energy out! Riley loves to yell "Go Bubba Go!!" Of course she wants to get right in the middle of it and well she can be a handful at times!

Coach Stevens

2010-04-09T18:38:00.003-04:00

So many of you probably don't know who Coach Stevens is, but some of you might after Monday's NCAA Championship game. He is the head Coach of the Butler Bulldog team. He was a guest speaker at Anthony's school this morning for an All-Pro Dad's meeting. It was really cool that Ron got to take Anthony to this. Not only did he get to meet Coach Stevens he learned some life lessons. If there is an All-Pro Dad organization in your area high recommend it!!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-06T19:00:00.003-04:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday! We sure did, we spent Saturday in the car for 10 hours picking up Tony so it was wonderful to have him home! Riley woke up first Sunday morning, which is VERY rare. We brought her to our bed trying to keep her in there until Tony got up, that worked for a little bit. She got out of our bed and went to the living room to look from Tony and started to find the eggs. She came back into our room and yelled "Daddy Look". She learned very quickly there was candy in the eggs and didn't care if it had wrappers or not :) After a little bit Tony finally got up and they hunted for eggs and found their baskets. It was a great start to a wonderful day!!

No Easter Egg hunt this year :( I had planned on taking Riley Saturday morning before we left to get Tony but it was pouring down rain and got cancelled until 4:00 pm that day. So that didn't work out, I was so disappointed but then again I remember what this holiday is really about and Easter Egg hunts just don't seem that important.

FINAL FOUR!!!!!!!

2010-04-02T19:20:00.001-04:00

We will be on the road tomorrow picking up Anthony from his Mom, he was visiting during Spring Break, but all I have to say is GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUTLER, Are you a Bull DAWG???? HECK YA!!!

Look for my Mom and Dad on TV, since they are ticket season holders they got some tickets to the game :) I am so jealous but you better believe our car will be VERY loud on the way back to Indy!

Pirates-the Musical

2010-03-29T18:48:00.003-04:00

Tony had his fifth grade musical last week. It was a pirate musical and it was one of the best musicals he has had yet! It was great to see him get into in. He had a headache that evening so it was questionable if he was even going to make it but the Tylenol kicked in and he was fine by the time it was over. He did a great job and I love watching him preform. He gets so into it. He is working on the next musical, Alice in Wonderland. He is trying out for a part so we have been practicing tons!

Pacers game

2010-03-27T10:41:00.003-04:00

Last weekend we had some super cheap tickets to the Pacers game. I always worry about Riley and how she will do at things like this especially since this was right in the middle of nap time. But, my little trooper did pretty well and she seemed to really enjoy it. Like her Daddy her favorite part was watching the cheerleaders dance :) Tony had a good time too, even though he likes the Lakers better. The Pacers actually won so that helped things out a bit!!!

Riley's 1st haircut

2010-03-18T20:14:00.004-04:00

My little girl had to have her first hair cut a couple of days ago. It all started as a trimming of her bangs but I got the brilliant idea to trim the back of her hair too, it desperately needed it. Well......

The scissors got away from me and it ended up being a little more than a trim. I thought Ron was going to pass out when I made that accidental cut. His eyes got HUGE!!! In the end I managed to turn it into a really cute haircut. She has a little bob and looks like such a big girl now :)

Somebody please slow down time, it is getting away from me!!!!!!

Strep throat = No Fun!!

2010-03-17T16:29:00.006-04:00

Poor Tony got up yesterday morning not feeling good. Ron sent him to school thinking if he got worse the school nurse would call. No phone call ALL day. When we got home I took his temperature and it was 102.8! The highest I can remember it in a long time. So we got up this morning and headed to the doctor to find out he has strep :( He has been eating lots of ice cream, Popsicles, and magic egg soup makes everything better! Grandma Terri started the magic egg soup several years ago, he is still convinced the golden egg in the Mrs. Grass soup is magic. Don't tell him different please, it really works for him :)

101 dalmatians the musical!

2010-03-16T18:48:00.006-04:00

Tony's favorite part :)

Sunday afternoon we loaded up my parents van and headed to Clowes hall on the Butler campus for 101 Dalmatians the musical. This was our first experience at a musical other than Tony's, and we all LOVED it. It was not at all what I expected but I enjoyed it a lot. I don't know that Ron was a huge fan, he did ask for his man card back as we walked to the car :) Riley loved when the real dogs came out on stage!! She also liked Cruella De Vil, I think her bright costumes helped! Thank you Mom and Dad for taking us to see the musical! I know their favorite part was to watch Riley's face light up with excitement. Tony liked it but I think it was a tad too young for him. Now if they had a Pokemon, racing, or football musical he would be all about it!

Football!!

2010-03-15T20:39:00.004-04:00

Not a lot of pictures, we stayed in the car because it was FREEZING out Saturday morning. That is why Tony is playing in his jacket! Come one warmer weather!!

Tony started spring flag football on Saturday. He enjoyed it so much in the fall we decided to do it again in Spring. It is also a great way to get all the winter energy out! I have to say Tony knows WAY more about football than I do (don't tell him that his head is big enough :) and he amazes me by how good he is with the ball. I guess we need to start feeding him protein shakes and doing some power lifting so he will get bigger :)

The count down is on, 15 more days until the boys first race!!! We are all very excited to get back to the track. I am just going to say it because my Dad loves it,

Let's go Racing Boys!!

Slide!

2010-03-07T16:08:00.005-05:00

Spring Fling!

2010-03-07T16:00:00.003-05:00

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Tony's school. They had their annual Spring Fling fundraiser for the PTA and we had a blast. They had all sorts of games and a bunch of inflatables that Tony loves to play on. The cool thing is with Tony going to before and after school care at the YMCA he has been able to play on these every morning and afternoon all week. The YMCA opened it up to us on Thursday for free. Tony some how talked me into taking Riley down the slide, I knew this was a mistake. Of course she LOVED it and they went down it at least 10 more times. Once it was time to go, our little angel threw the biggest fit I have ever seen! She cried all the way home. Needless to say once we walked into the Spring Fling the first thing she said was "SLIDE!!!" It cost money this time to go down it but a year and a half year old doesn't understand that :) We were able to distract her most of the time with other games but she managed to sweet talk daddy, yes this is already happening, into going down the slide. This time he got to see her fit (I really think he thinks I makes up some of her temper tantrums). This time though it didn't last long and we were able to move on to other things. It was a great time and I can't believe we only have one more year of going to it with Tony before he is in middle school!! :shivers at the thought:

Out with the old in with the new!

2010-03-07T15:44:00.004-05:00

With the snow almost gone and the sun out this weekend it was finally time to get outside and get somethings done. It was a big week in our house, we got new windows!! I guess that means we are old because Ron and I both couldn't wait to get home and see them. When we bought this house we knew we needed to put new windows in eventually. We after this COLD winter we started saving for them we knew they had to be replaced soon than later. They were put in Thursday and couldn't of come at a better time with this gorgeous weekend. We also put up Tony's new basketball goal he got for his birthday. Our neighbor Zack came over and it was put to good use! We also put together Riley's slide that Santa brought her for Christmas. We put it in the living room because she didn't want to come inside. I don't think she has been off the thing except to sleep and eat :0) It was a wonderful weekend and I think we all got some much needed vitamin D and I LOVED seeing the sun and just being able to be outside with the kids. I am so ready for warmer weather!

Can you believe a year and a half?!?

2010-03-05T10:42:00.004-05:00

Riley loving on her doll, she loves to give kisses to everyone but us!
Riley being like Mommy and reading under a blanket, I love this picture so much. It just shows how much they pick up even when you don't know it.

Riley loves to hide in my Mom's kitchen cabinets.

She could spend all day in those cabinets!

Helping herself to her the applesauce

Mommy and Riley, I love the look on her face, such a happy baby

Cheese!!

Laying on Chase, she loves to be close to him! Of course the more her growls at her the happier she is, crazy girl!

Can you believe our little girl is already a year and a half! I can't believe we are half way to TWO!! She is a growing, well kind of, girl. We had our 18 month check-up today with her doctor and she is doing good. Still on the small side, a whole 19 pounds which puts her in the bottom three percentile for her age. She is 30 inches tall, 10-25 percentile but her head it 16 inches around which puts her in the 90% percentile! So I guess that explains why she is so smart!! She is done with shots now until five and now we only have to go for yearly check ups!!

She loves to read to herself and she can say a number of words now, too many to list. Her favorites are: all done, I pretty, I love you, Chase come here, bath time, o dokey, I broke it, pizza (which is any kind of food), and Bubba. Anytime she picks up a phone she calls Bubba! She loves Chase and tortures him on a regular basis :) She can count to three!! She loves to color on herself and on paper. Thank goodness we haven't learned how to color on the walls yet, but I am sure that is to come. She has the best personality and is hilarious. She reminds me a lot of her brother when it come to that. She LOVES to talk, scream, or anything that has to do with her voice. She only has separation anxiety with my Mom. I can leave and she doesn't care but when my Mom and I leave her with my Dad that is another story! She loves to be pushed around in anything and loves to play "cho cho" with Grandma, my Mom pulls her around on a blanket. She is just now starting to get lovey, she gives kisses and hugs when you ask but is kind of stingy with them! Elmo, Blue, and Dora are her favorite friends, besides Bubba of course! She is into EVERYTHING! My house usually looks like a tornado went through it, it is crazy how fast she can get into things. I just can't believe she is getting so big. I want to freeze time and make it slow down some, can someone work on that?

Dump Truck Fun??

2010-03-01T19:14:00.002-05:00

Riley found this in Tony's closet, I will let the video do the talking for me....

Princess Riley

2010-02-25T19:20:00.003-05:00

Well this is what happens when the boys play with Riley.....

"Hey Mom, come here"

I go see what is going on and I find my two boys dressing up my little girl. This is all going on while I was trying to update the blog a couple of days ago.

"What is going on?"

"I pretty" Riley just smiles and you can tell she thinks she is hot stuff.

Oh my.....