Fabulous-Fabulous-Fabulous

Despite the inch or so of snow we received here in Wisconsin on Easter morning (I was scratching my head wondering if I'd missed a few months and Santa was supposed to come, rather than the Easter bunny??) our family experienced a fabulous and fun Easter Sunday! The whole weekend was a blast, to be honest.

Due to the amount of snow that we woke up to on Friday morning, Tim decided to work from home rather than fight traffic and spend a good majority of his day in the car. He is fortunate enough to get to do this every once in awhile, and I cannot lie and say that it doesn't help me out immensely! I was able to get a lot of cleaning and organizing done that I thought I was going to have to do into the evening on Friday night.

Saturday morning, I met a couple of my friends in Woodbury and got a pedicure (only to put my socks and shoes back on, but "ooh it felt so good") and went to lunch at my favorite joint, Red Lobster. We spent the day shopping in Woodbury and I didn't get home until nearly 6! It was a much deserved and needed day on all our parts!
Saturday night, we attempted to decorate our Easter eggs, which was a challenge within itself. I was the goof who bought the cheapest egg decorating kit that came with only 3 colors. Let's just say that we have a lot of blue, yellow, (and therefore green!) eggs with a few pale pink ones as the red tablet was a flop. Gage was more interested in sticking his hands in all of the colored water and trying to drink it (um, doesn't vinegar stink??) rather than actually dipping the eggs, so we were glad we had put a lot of newspapers down.

On Sunday, Tim had to help serve communion at both the 7 and 10 AM services at our church, and Gage and I met him at 9 for the youth group breakfast. I did put Gage in a boys' version of an Easter outfit, complete with a little newsboy cap. He looked so darn cute! I will post pictures later today or tomorrow...promise.
Gage made through the entire service, only running around a little bit and being bribed to sit on mommy's lap with jelly beans and crayons. After church, we arrived home to discover that the Easter Bunny had visited while we were at church, (Daddy had to leave for church at 630AM and really wanted to be sure the Easter bunny waited until he was home to see Gage find his basket) and we went looking for Gage's basket and some eggs we found were hidden around the house. Gage was more interested in all the chocolate and had about 4 pieces before all the eggs were discovered!

We then hosted Easter dinner at our house. The guests: Tim's parents Judy, Gary, and sister Jacqueline; Tim's sister Carrie, husband Don, and son Hunter; my mom Barb and her husband Ken, and my dad Tom all came for a wonderful dinner. Gage went without a nap all day, but was a complete joy and soaked up all the attention! This will be his last holiday as the youngest cousin, as baby Brian is on his way any day now (hence the absence of Mike and Arianne at Easter this year), and Carrie and Don are expecting a baby girl, Lily, in August.

After everyone left around 5 pm, I started to clean up while Tim and Gage popped in a movie and fell asleep from 5-7!! I woke them up around 7 and Gage was then in bed by 8 and slept until 7:15 this morning. Poor little bugger....so tired!

Auntie Katie is in town today through Wednesday and we are just going to hang out and enjoy one another's company.

If I haven't said it before...my heart is full and I am truly blessed.

Ya think?

Leah and Jaci both added this to their blogs, and I took a second to figure mine out. Hilarious. Always weird when these things seem to describe you to a "t". The one thing I may add: I know that my "big mouth" may worry some of my friends, as I always wonder if they are afraid I will spill their secrets. I am willing to bet that any one of my friends who has known me for awhile knows that no secret is better kept than with me. I do have a big mouth....but I am very trustworthy!! You Are An Exclamation Point

You are a bundle of... well, something. You're often a bundle of joy, passion, or drama. You're loud, brash, and outgoing. If you think it, you say it. Definitely not the quiet type, you really don't keep a lot to yourself. You're lively and inspiring. People love to be around your energy. (But they do secretly worry that you'll spill their secrets without even realizing it.) You excel in: Public speaking You get along best with: the Dash

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Gage Update

I feel that I haven't really given a good Gage update in awhile, and even though I am in dire need of a shower right now, and the nap-clock is a-tickin' , I will go ahead and do this quickly before I forget.

Gage: At his last weigh-in, Gage was 28 lbs., and about 34 inches tall. He has completely grown out of all of us 18 mos. pants (too short), however the 24 mos. and 2T pants are way too big on him yet. He really has thinned out in the past couple of months. Actually, the jeans I had on him in his 19 mos. pictures in mid February are too short on him now and I packed them away.

Gage is talking a TON. He has just started saying more 2, 3, and 4 word sentences. His new thing is "Hi, Mommy", "Hi, Daddy", (or Jazz, or Nana, or Bumpa, or baby).
As he was eating his dinner yesterday I swore I heard him say, "I want more yummies". He wouldn't repeat it, but when I said, "do you need some more?" he said yes.

He is still sassy as ever. Whenever you ask him to "please stop", or "no", he will do it another 3 times before you finally say, "one more time or you will have to take a time-out". Sometimes he stop, with a smile on his face of course, but he usually will look at us, smile, and do it again. What is he usually doing? Pounding on the wall, floor, or any other piece of furniture that we'd rather not have dented and smashing it with his toy hammer (which is now hidden) or anything else that is hard enough to pound with. I think I am going to look for a toy workbench the next time I am at Target.

Now that it is warm out, he constantly wants to be "outside". His pronounciation of this word is actually, "out-SHide", highly stressing the "SHide" part. "Mama, outshide. Outshide Mama". I am very excited for these nicer days, as it is so much easier to play with him than when it was cold and windy!

Gage loves his books. We have the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" and he refers to this as the "boom boom". Guess how many times a day I get to hear THAT? "Boom Boom, Mama".

He is such a DANCING KING. No matter what the tunes, you'll find him swaying and bumping up and down. Wonder where he gets THAT from. He is in love with the "hot dog" song from Mickey's Clubhouse cartoon. We sing that many times a day and I have to say that I have Minnie's dance move down quite well.

He's become a picky eater. You can always count on him to eat his veggies and fruits like they are ice cream (no complaints), but he is refusing to eat most everything we offer him lately except hot dogs and crackers. Some days, I don't know how he has enough energy to get through the day, but the Dr. is not worried, and he isn't losing any weight, so I'm assuming this is just a stage.

I think that is all I can come up with for now. Of course, every day in the Fox house is an adventure within itself, and we keep our days quite busy. We go to the library every Monday for storytime, Tuesdays are either mom's group meetings and daycare day. I have put him in daycare one day a week so I can spend my time getting caught up on my jewelry stuff. (Super busy--SIX parties already scheduled for April!!) Wednesdays is a free day that I either head out to meet a friend, or run errands. Like today. Going nowhere, fast. Thursdays we have a weekly play group with 4 other moms and toddlers. Even though the kids have fun, the mom's rely on this group--indefinitely. Friday's are another free day. But those free days usually don't stay free for long, b/c I tend to like to get out of here as much as possible.

Have a great rest of the week. Hoping the family and friends appreciated this bit of info on our little man.

Happy Easter!

Making Maple Syrup

My dad (Bumpa Tom) makes maple syrup every spring. He really enjoys it and wants to start making memories with Gage "down in the woods" helping him to make the syrup. Since the weather has been a little warmer these past few weeks, now is the best time to get the trees tapped as the sap runs when its warmer, and then when it freezes again.
On Saturday morning, Tim, Gage, and I headed out in the wood with Bumpa on the tractor and with the four-wheeler and trailer to get the buckets on the trees!

Loading up the trailer with buckets.

The highlight of Gage's day: Riding the tractor with his Bumpa

First, Grandpa Tom would drill a hole in the tree.

Then Tim would tap a metal spout into the hole,

and we'd hang a bucket from it, to collect the sap when it starts to run.Here's Gage being a great sport and having a fun time. And yes, my friends, those are daddy's hunting socks on Gage's arms/hands. They are quite "handy" (no pun intended) to place over the mittens in order to keep the mittens on and the fingers, hands, and arms nice and warm!


The snow is quite deep in places and other than the path that my dad scrapes with the tractor, it can get hard to walk ! It definitely is a great workout, but Gage had a tough time walking around.Again, this was his favorite position. Two seconds after I took this picture, he slid to the left and fell right off the 4-wheeler!

After the buckets start to fill with sap, my dad will take them back to his cabin where he has a sap/syrup stove set up. He then boils all of the sap and makes maple syrup! Hopefully, we can get out there again for the next phase of the process, otherwise I will document that next year!

Just Playin'

I decided to have Gage help me make cookies the other day. Well, that lasted all of about 10 minutes. After an egg got dropped on the floor, and the oatmeal (that he was helping me to stir) was all over the chair and the floor, I decided to fill up the kitchen sink and let him play. He had a blast, for about 10 minutes. 4 towels (bath size), one apron, and two changes of clothes later, he finally went and played by himself in the living room while I baked the cookies. (We still told Daddy that Gage made the cookies for him, though).

Arianne's shower on March 1st

On March 1st, my sister-in-law Carrie, my mother-in-law Judy, and I threw Arianne a baby shower. Arianne is married to Tim's brother Mike, and they are expecting a baby boy, Brian Michael, the first week of April. Unfortunately, Judy came down with the flu the week before the shower, so we moved the party from her house to Carrie's house in a nearby town. Although it wasn't the same without Judy, everyone had a very nice time and Arianne got a lot of nice gifts for baby Brian and seemed to enjoy herself as well.

Here is everyone playing a game that the person in charge of the games made them play. Oh, yeah. I was in charge of the games! Everyone had 30 seconds to draw a picture of a baby on a paper plate....while the plate was on their heads! We got a lot of good laughs out of the game...

Arianne and her mom and Aunt who came with her to the shower

Sister-in-law....Jill, Arianne, and Carrie (Carrie is expecting a baby GIRL in August!)

Arianne with baby Brian's cousins: Rich, Cassidy, and Hunter

Arianne with the cousins of Mike (and Tim and Carrie!)
Anne, Kate, Arianne, Jill, and Kelsey
(Jill just had a baby girl three weeks before the shower! Lots of babies in the family!!!)

Star Wars

Cory will appreciate this

Blog Fatigue/We need a new name/at least it's nice out

Hi. I just go through these spouts where I just don't feel like uploading new pictures, or trying to come up with anything interesting to write about! So with that, lets just say that we've been busy, enjoying life, and each other.

I have been busy with my jewelry business. I have a website up and running now through lia sophia, and will add the link to the side of our blog page. Feel free to take a look.

I want to come up with a new blog title, but am lost for suggestions. I wanted to change it from the Fox Family, to be something a bit more anonymous, but then I am the dork that used both my husbands and my first and last names in the URL. Oops. I changed it a couple of weeks to what you see now, but I'm not really feel that either. Then I was thinking of "The Hot Dog House", as Gage loves to eat hot dogs, that is what we make and pretend to eat when we are playing with playdoh, and every time Gage is playing with his kitchen set, he is making "hot dogs" in the microwave. He says the word over and over. But we'll grow out of that name, too. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I do have some nice pictures from my sister-in-law Arianne's baby shower on March 1st, and some fun ones of Gage lately. I've just been very bad at sitting my buns down to upload and post, and for that I apologize. I will try to catch up very soon.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weather! We are going to help Bumpa Tom tap trees for maple syrup on Saturday. He is really excited to get Gage out there and start this annual tradition with him. Now, if Gage would just enjoy eating it as much as his mom does...

Have a good one!

Redemption

Disclaimer: I like to try and keep this site updated with family events and issues, however the winter is getting to be a long one, and there really just isn't anything too new to report on. Something personal came to my head today and I immediately thought "Hmmm, I need to blog this". So for those of you out there that just care about Gage, or what he is up to, skip the following (unless you are really bored at work) and come back later.

I tend to reminisce whenever I hear songs. For instance, Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr Tinkertrain" and "Mama I'm Comin' Home" take me right back to my first (and yes, Beezatches,) icky and mullet-wearing first boyfriend. We would drive all over big-bad N town in the maroon Oldsmobile Delta 88 blaring Ozzy. I think I had a side pony tail, too.
Whenever I hear anything by Candlebox (and if you remember them, you are at least 30, or damn close) I am holding a beer (sorry, Mom) standing next to a blazing bonfire in the middle of the woods with my friends during my senior year of high school. I can remember my very first cassette tape, Survivor, and the day that I received my very own tape of Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet--My 9th birthday.

But I also have songs that bring back BAD memories. The one that still sticks with me (although I'd love to say that it didn't) is AC/DC's Thunderstruck. For those friends of mine that knew me when my hair was big, and I was sportin' the leggings with white loafers (my FAVORITE outfit by the way) they may remember a group of girls who spent a fair amount of time harrassing me my Junior year of high school. I would walk down the hall, towards my locker, and the three of them would start singing "Thunderstruck" (the "Na na na na na na naaaaaah" part) as I was coming close. They were telling me in their own subtle way, that I was fatter than them, and had "thunderthighs".

So anyway, as I'm getting shaky and teary-eyed just reflecting on those days (kidding. I only think about it when I hear the song) the reason for my delving into my past traumas: I was working out today at the Y, doing my FAVORITE class, "Bodypump" when lo and hold...what song comes blaring on during the shoulder work out?!? Yep. Thunderthighs. I mean Thunderstruck.

And I found myself looking back at my reflection in the mirror, sportin' the spandex capri's (I sure like 'em tight, don't I? First leggings, then SPANDEX?!? Oh. I had really bad underwear lines, too!), the muffin top (or 'cupcake' if you prefer) belly roll that seems to bulge even worse when I'm wearing those spandex pants, and holding a weight bar over my head, working on these shoulder muscles of mine. At first I was like, "Dear God. Why this song?!" But then I really thought about it and said aloud (the music is loud, and I tend to swear a lot in this class so I don't think anybody notices anymore) "YES! THIS song!". Look at me now! I don't CARE if my thighs are thundery, my muffin top is sagging over, my triceps are sagging below the elbow. Here I am, at 30 years of age busting my balls in an exercise class and I am getting flashbacks of how much I hated my body back in 1994. Fourteen years ago, when I let 3 girls control my own thoughts of how I perceived my own body. This body, that would take me all the way through a healthy pregnancy and labor, and allow me to run my first 10k. This body, that can groove like no other I've seen on the dance floor (hee hee). This body. MY body.

I don't know. I guess I am proud of how far I've come when it comes to my mindset and giving a holy crap of what others think. Don't get me wrong, I still look at the women in my exercise class and say to myself "I wish I had her butt", or "Her abs are so tight". And I look at my friends and wish I had their hair, or stomach, or small ankles. (And friends-there are MANY more traits besides the three listed, I just can't list them all!) But it's taken me many years to slowly start to appreciate, and to embrace, what God has given me. And, to realize that when it comes right down to it, it doesn't really matter all that much anyway!

Middle Name Meme

Middle Name Meme

(I am a good sport. Leah tagged me)

(1) You must post the rules on your blog before you answer the questions.(2) You need to list one fact about yourself using each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name use your maiden name instead.(3) When you are finished with your answers, you tag one person for each letter of your name.
DENISE

D- Driven. It seems that every task I have been given, or a task that I give myself (*such as my lia sophia jewelry gig), I can never do at 50%. I always give it more than my all, and work extra hard at it (even though I tell myself I don't necessarily need to). But, even as I remain a stay-at-home-working-very-part-time mother, I am keeping this trait which isn't a bad thing at all.
E- Entertaining. I have never gotten paid, but I get asked at almost every family or friend event to do some sort of impression or "act".
N- Nervous. Although I have gotten better through the years, I tend to be a nervous person...it explains a lot of you know me!
I- Interesting. I think I can come up with interesting bits of information or stories when I want to. Since I rarely shut up, I'm sure at least 50% of what comes out of my mouth is interesting, right?
S- Sensitive. Beyond belief. Ridiculously, My-Horoscope-is-a-Cancer, SENSITIVE. This is the trait that I have had since birth that I would be willing to give up in a heartbeat. I've wasted many tears since my skin isn't quite hard enough..let me tell you!
E- Ooh. Another E. Crap. Um, Estrogen. I'm a girl, right?

I don't think I can tag anyone that reads this, has a blog, hasn't already been tagged, and that will participate?? So, just enjoy.