These were taken just before trick-or-treating tonight. E's friend D came with us and as a family we trick or treated throuout the neighborhood. S looks like a pearl in a sea of scariness.



It's been quite some time since I last updated this blog. I am having difficulty finding enough time to dedicate to writing and updating. I am hoping that this will be temporary and that soon I will back to posting a couple times weekly as we approach the holidays.

This past week has been amazing here in the city of Philadelphia. As everyone knows, our beloved Phillies won the World Series two nights ago after a 28 year drought. What a sweet time it's been. No flaming here but Big B kept the boys home from school today and drove everyone including his sister and her daughter, down to the biggest celebration that this city has ever seen. The pictures do not do it justice. I only wish that I could have experienced the amazing moments in person as well. DH told me that he has never seen anything like it in his life and I can almost bet that he never will. I want to thank COMCAST for helping to break the curse which has plagued the city of Philadelphia for 28 years. I really believe that by putting that small statue of Billy Pen on top of the COMCAST Tower helped to rid the curse. For right now, Comcast, you are forgiven for the sometimes lousy service which you give us at such a cost. But by next week, when my computer won't sign on, I will be back to being angry with you.

I have actually just lost the rest of my entire post so I'm feeling quite frustrated. I'm glad the pictures are still on here.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to EVERYONE.

J

PUMPKINS, GORDS AND HALLOWEEN FUN

Once again the weekend has flown by too quickly and work-related anxieties are beginning to brew inside myself.

But first the weekend. We started out by going out for pizza to our favorite Italian kid-friendly restaurant, Roman Delight, on Friday evening. We waited patiently for our pizzas and vege strombolis. While waiting, Big B and I enjoyed our $1.00 Micholob Lights and the kids munched on chicken wings. NOthing too terribly exciting.

Then those deliciously, fantastically smelling pizzas appeared. YUUMMMY. But, where's the stromboli? Oh here it comes....couldn't wait to stick my knife and fork into that sea of veges..But wait! The inside was ice cold! YIKES! We have been going to Roman Delight for years now and this is the first time that something hasn't turned out 100% from them. I wouldn't hold it against them, their food is usually wonderful and the service usually quick and efficient. They were very apologetic for their uncooked stromboli so all is forgiven.

Don't know why I told you all that, but I don't feel like deleting it so it is what it is.

Onto Saturday. Big B, Aunt A and her daughter, G, and the rest of us decided to take a trip to Snipes Farm to pick a few pumpkins and maybe several apples. What a gorgeous day it was to plan to spend a few hours outdoors. As soon as we arrived to the farm, S and I decided to go to the bathroom before entering the corn maze. As I was trying desperately to hold S above the port 0 john so nothing would touch her hiney, the pee started and somehow managed to find its way all over her pants. She was soaked. Frustrated, (I didn't tell you about the morning adventure), Aunt A, G, S and I left the farm and hurried to Old Navy to buy the first pair of pants I could find. I came out with two and we were back in 20 minutes. I changed S and we were on our way. We headed into the corn maze, or what was supposed to be a corn maze, and hoped to find our way out before dark. As it turned out, instead of corn stalks towering above our heads, we were surrounded by cat tails? We could see easily over the field but proceeded through for the kids. They had a good time running through the maze and I had secretly wished the stalks were higher to help make the adventure, more of an adventure. We all had fun though, and we were out within a half hour or so. The kids played and then we headed to the tractor to ride to the patch only to find out that the orchard and patch had closed for the night, UGH! The kids were highly disappointed but evnetually chose a few (huge) pumpkins that were sitting in the front of the farm. The blow was softened a bit by us telling them that we would take them all out for burgers.

All and all we had a great time and the excitement of the Fall and all its festivities has entered our household. Before the patch adventure, I had taken the kids out to Halloween Adventure to hunt for costumes. As soon as we entered the store, Miss S decided that she had to go to the bathroom. I informed her that she had just gone just 10 minutes prior and she had to hold it for a few minutes. Nothing struck the boys' fancy there so to Party City we headed. As soon as we entered there, Miss S insisted that her pee pee was coming. I begged the store clerk to let her use the bathroom, but to know avail. So off to Sears we walked. (It's hard to believe that the Christmas trees are up and decorated at Sears.) scary thought.

After the bladder relief, we headed back to the store, bought some scary ghoulie costumes (that the boys insisted on), then headed home. I still have my house only half decorated for Halloween. For all of you who are working full-time, how does one keep the house clean, decorated and kids happy?

Anyway, Enjoy the pictures from yesterday.

J

The Results

Thank you to everyone who supported the http://www.katieeliselambert.org/ first BEEF N BEER fundraiser this past Saturday evening. It turned out to be a good time for everyone, (yes, this woman even danced) SHHH._.
We had many winners from the raffles and silent auction and I hope that if you're reading this, and if you were there, that you won something too. Unforutnately, I do not have pictures to post because my D^$N camera Stinks!
It's an inexpensive point N shoot which I feel like shooting right into the trash can. It cannot take photos indoors NO MATTER WHAT SETTING IT'S ON! I was able to salvage a few, but I need to re- look at them before I decide whether to post or not.
Thank you D, for taking the pics and video and I prayed (inbetween my dancing) sshhh that by some miracle they would turn out. BUt the camera just plain S&*%^! (Did I say that already?)
So what does a girl do? I've already begun hinting around to Big b that I really could use a decent camera and he could use it for his business as well. Every realtor needs a good camera. I even went so far as to tell him that I have a specific one in mind and would just LOve-Love-LOve it for Christmas....(hint hint) I promised him that I would gladly send the link as well and assured him that he would just LOve- Love- Love it as well.

In other life, YEAH PHILLIES! Next stop...World Series!

TICKETS

Tickets are still available for the Katie Elise Lambert Foundation's Beef N Beer being held Saturday, October 11th. Please click on the beer on the right sidebar to learn more.

Hope to see you all there!

J

THANKS FOR SHARING!

I want to thank my DH for so generously sharing the dreaded stomach bug with Little b and me. Little b came down with it on Thursday evening but seemed to get it out of his system by Saturday morning. Yesterday afternoon I began to feel those strange pangs in my stomach and I just knew something wasn't right. By midnight I had the bucket in my hands while sitting, you - know - where and boy, it wasn't a pretty thing. I thought I was dying. By some miracle the vomiting seemed to quiet down by early afternoon today but I've learned not to stray too far from the bathroom. Sorry for the explicit details. Needless to say the baskets have not been completed and the donations still need to be displayed. I was able to finish most of the raffle baskets yesterday morning before the bug made its appearance. A friend of mine who is expecting her referral from China next month, graciously donated a few hours of her time and we got a lot done. However, there is still so much to do. I pray that it all comes together by Saturday evening, tickets get sold, and everyone is healthy.

The pictures are from the playground yesterday before the bug hit. S and E had a nice time and the weather was beautiful.

J

Busy and more busy

I know that it has been awhile since my last post. I apologize but I don't seem to have much time anymore.....I wonder why? This 40 hour work thing has taken up much of my time lately. How is one suppose to manage a household, kids, and working full time? I guesss it's not that bad but it certainly has curtailed my computer usage lately. (lack of updates)

The job is going well, and the commute has not been that bad. I've been trying to get into the office by 7:30 AM so I can be out of there and home by 4:30. So far it's been working nicely. The workload has been steadily increasing at the job and I have been watching my caseload grow. Just when you think you're catching up, a new pile of claims mysteriously arrive on top of your desk. I've been getting a little quicker doing the basic cases but still not as fast as the others. I understand it much better but I guess I will forever be slow. Today, just when my confidence was growing, I had to be trained on medical reviews. It'll take another two weeks for me to understand this but hopefully by then I will win the lottery. (just kidding)

The family is doing well. Big B has come down with a stomach bug and I pray that he doesn't share it with the rest of his beloved family. I came home today to find the windows all closed and the feeling that the germs were having a field day being stuck in the house. One thing that I truly do not like is having the windows closed when there is sickness in the house. His excuse was that it was cold outside.....you think he had a fever?

Besides Big B feeling sick, we have been stressing over the upcoming Beef N Beer. The baskets still need to be completed and the gift cards need to be written out. A couple of people have offered their time this weekend and I am deeply appreciative for that. I hope to have it all completed by Sunday evening but I think that is a long shot.
We seem to have a pretty good variety of gifts to raffle so I do not think that people will be disappointed. So if you haven't purchased your tickets yet, just call!

Sorry for the short post this evening, but hopefully this weekend I will be able to write more and post pictures.

And don't forget!!! Go PHILLIES!!!!

J