Easy week..

Thankfully this week is an easy week. Kiersten has her normal cross-country practice every day after school till 5:15, except for Thursday she has a meet. Zach only has two baseball games this week, one of them was last night the next it tomorrow night.

I went ahead & left school at 4 today & Zach & I ran to JayC to pick up some groceries so we could eat & were back at school by 5:00. Was home by 5:30 & supper is done & dishes are washed. Now I'm taking it easy & working on some of the laundry.

My open house went well on Saturday & I have a few more people that are going to give me orders tomorrow & then I'll place the order. I'm excited to get the order in because I'm going to order some purses & a few other cute organizing totes.

Myself & the lady I signed under are going to have a booth at Buffalo Trace Park on Saturday for the Buffalo Trace Family POW WOW. Hopefully people will like the purses, totes & bags & I'll be able to sell some or better yet book some shows.

My first real show is next Tuesday - I'm nervous as all get out!

Off & Running

Cross Country season has officialy started. NHMS has a meet at Silver Creek on Tuesday & both the boys & girls teams came in 4th!

The course at Silver Creek (which is Township Park) is a beautiful course, but is full of long rolling hills. It is a pretty rough course because of the hills. Kiersten did a great job she shaved 2 minutes off her time from last year on the same course!

Tonight we go to Crawford County. The course isn't as hilly & it will be much cooler too, which will be helpful to all the runners. They do have 1 monster hill that is in the woods & is gravel. Good Luck to all the runners.

Go Cougars & Lady Cats!!!

Thirty-One

Just a reminder that I'm hosting a Thirty-One open house this Saturday from 10:00 - 1:00. Please stop in & see the Thrity-One Gifts. I'm sure that you'll love them as much as I do.

If you can't stop by you may view the products online at www.mythirtyone.com/33036.
Please keep me in mind for Christmas Presents! If you are all about saving money, like I am then you'll want to host a party. You can earn free & 1/2 price items. Plus if you book a party with me I'll give you a....Thermal Tote the night of your party. There are 9 patterns to choose from!

Also if you host a party in the month of September you can purchase the City Weekender for only $25. This tote is normally sold for $89!! This is a terrific deal!



Also on special for the month of September - if you spend $31 then you can purchase the Demi Purse for $14.50 - which is a 50% savings. There are 5 patterns to choose from.




It is only $6 to get items personalized or monogramed.

Also, I will have donuts, bagels, coffee, juice etc... to enjoy while you are shopping!

I hope you can make it!

Bourbon Trail...

Zach had a baseball tournament in Bardstown & couple of weeks ago & between games Ron & I went driving around Bardstown. It is a beautiful little town - they still have alot of old buildings & houses.

Anyway we found Heaven Hills Distillery - we just drove around, didn't take a tour because I was starving. So we went to a restaurant that has in another old house & it was called Kurtz & has been in the family for a long time. Anyway they had the best food - good home cooking! The blackberry cobbler was awesome too - it was so sweet it tasted like blackberry jam - yummm!

We stopped by Jim Beam Distillery as well. We took the tour at Jim Beam - it is really interesting, but I like history too. It was a Sunday & in that county they can't serve alcohol on Sunday's so we were given Bourbon Chocolate - they were good.

Anyway - while on the tour at Jim Beam the guide told us that there is this thing called the Bourbon Trail & you get a little book & you get a stamp in your book each time to go to a distillery that is on the trail - there are 6 of them. Once you collect all 6 stamps you mail in your completed book & you'll get a T-shirt & a passport sent back to you. I told Ron it will probably be the only passport that I'll ever have because I have a fear of leaving the country & them not letting me back in :).

So Ron & I headed back to Bardstown yesterday & went to Makers Mark. It is BEAUTIFUL down there. It is hard to find, but it is beautiful! I liked it much better than Beam because you could see more of the distillery.

Makers Mark can serve alcohol on Sundays so we got to taste test 2 of their bourbon's. I have to say that other than beer I don't like any alcohol unless it is mixed & then at that a little goes a long way. So anyway..I did as I was told, I smelled with my mouth - yeah still don't understand that one, but I did as I was told. I was then told to take a sip & to swish it in my mouth around my tongue for 3 seconds. Again, I did as I was told & I know that while doing this I had the weirdest look on my face, because it was NASTY! Then to swallow it - it gave me instant goose bumps & made my tummy flop the wrong way.

They did give us their chocolate too & I have to say that there chocolate was better that Jim Beam. Maybe I'll just taste test the chocolate's at each distillery instead of the bourbon, since I don't know how to appreciate the bourbon.

We also went back to Kurtz & again got the blackberry cobbler & again it was wonderful!

So we now have 2 stamps & only need 4 more & I'll have my passport haha

Thirty-One!!

No,no I'm not Thirty-One - I wish I was that age again :).

I love my job at the Middle School, but the money just isn't cutting it, but I love the hours & being off when the kids are off (well most of the time).

I have been looking at different things that I could do that would work with the kids busy schedule so I wouldn't have to miss out on them (which is one reason I work at the school).

Any way I have looked & researched & talked to people that sell different items & I decided on Thirty-One. I L-O-V-E purses, bags, storage totes etc.. so I talked to some people about Thirty-One & went to the website & did my best Sherlock Holmes investigation & I really liked the products and the company. So I took the plunge on Wednesday night...I signed up to sell Thirty-One products.

I had origianly thought about selling jewelry, but I know a lot of people that sell jewelry & they do such a great job & they always have the cutest jewelry! I didn't feel comfortable with selling jewelry because I do good to remember to put earrings on everyday haha!

I haven't selpt much since signing up. I'm a bit nervous about getting up in front of people & hosting parties & I'm also nervous that NO-ONE will have a party for me. I really hope that it works out - not only for the money, but the products are soo cute.

If you get a chance take a look at my website www.mythirtyone.com/33036. There is a catalog online, but I will be having a open house on September 11th from 10:00-1:00. I will have juice, coffee, donuts & bagels for everyone to enjoy! Believe it or not, but Christmas is just around the corner!

Let me know if you'd like to have a party or a open house of your own or if you would like to view a catalog.

Happy Birthday Zach!!

It's so hard to believe that my little "Zach Attack" is 12!

Zach was born in the wee hours of the morning & I'll never forget that while I was delivering him both the Dr. & Zach's dad were talking about fishing & how they thought that one day it would be just as popular as NASCAR haha.

Zach was about a week early but he was a healthy baby. He has always been so curious & loveable. He was my snuggler. He loved & still does love to have his head rubbed or his back scratched.

Zach has always loved his sister & he was such a trooper when he was little. It started off with her flopping him in her baby doll stroller & tootling into the kitchen with him while I was cleaning up. Then as he grew it advanced to him sitting in her "beauty shop" chair to get his hair fixed haha!

Some of the funniest moments:
One year for Christmas he got a shaving kit - he wanted to shave & needed a bath so I went to fill the tub, turned around to get a towel & washcloth & he jumps in while still in his diaper haha.
Then there was a time when he would go to the bathroom & would sit on the pot & hold his nose while he pooped. If you asked him if he stunk he would answer no - it smells like strawberry's.

Unfortunately he has to go to school on his Birthday & he has baseball practice tonight, but knowing Zach he is more than happy to be able to play baseball on his birthday!

Zach is growing into such a young man, but he is still very loveable!

We Love you Zach!! Happy Birthday!

Working Hard

We have talked about it for years now, but we have finally taken the plunge. There was a white wooden fence that went out behind the house & around the pool. Over the years the winds have pretty well destroyed it & it was leaning (mostly to the east). We were hoping that a strong wind would come through & lay it on it's side so it wouldn't be as much work getting it down, but that never happened. So this week Ron decided that is was time to take on the project. We have dismantled the fence & we tried to pull the shrubs out around the pool, but we weren't having much luck. It looked like a jungle back there. Anyway Ron got a hold of someone that lives down the road that has a backhoe & a dump truck & got them to come up & dig out the shrubs, the remaining fence posts & the sattlite dish. Things sure do look different around here. I am so use to having the privacy of the fence. No more taking the dog out while I'm in my nightgown in the morning, sorry I don't want the whole county to see my PJ's. So I have been throwing my clothes on first thing to take the dog out.

Ron said that more than likely the new fence will set in closer to the pool, hoepfully we can get one of the invesible dog fences so the dog can go out by herself.

Oh yeah - Ron also is having them take out the bushes in front of the house yet. I'm not sure what we are going to put in, but I have begged him for it not to be bushes with thorns on them, excuse my language, but they are a bitch to do anything with & I have been thorned about 100 times just messing with them the past couple of days. My arms & legs are all scratched up - it looks as if I tangoed with a barb wire fence.

Back to taking the fence down - Ron started the project Tuesday night - I had left to go to one of Zach's baseball games (Ron says that I'm on the 2,250th baseball game :)) & he started. He got quite a bit of the west side done. The next morning we got up & went out to work before it got too hot. I can tell you that manual labor stinks! We used crowbars & hammers. The hammer he gave me was so heavy, but I didn't complain I just banged away. I wore gloves & my hands are still blistered up. I'm not very coordinated so I got hit by falling boards left & right so I have bruises all over.

So to sum it up, I stink at manual labor & I ahve the battle wounds to prove it haha. Poor Ron just cringes when he sees me coming. At least he's smart enough to stay clear of me so he doesn't get hurt in the process haha.

Things look so differnt around here & it will take a while to get it all fixed, but we are working on it.

Now we just need to get the barn down, the only problem is that Ron can't handle heights anymore & he's afraid that I'd fall off the roof & kill myself (he has a valid point).

I'll have Kiersten take some pictures & post them so you all can see the difference.

Oh yeah - some good news, for those of you who are out of town - it RAINED today. Not all day, but we did have some nice showers. The crops were getting awfully parched.

Running & Baseball

The kids have been doing a good job about running. Their distances are getting further & their speeds a little faster each time. They have been able to run in the mornings while it's still cool. I, however, have had to run in the heat of the day because I have worked this week & Zach had games in the evenings so that meant running around 1:00 each afternoon - man it's hot. I was glad to be off today though it was nice running this morning.

I walked the Barnyard 5K on Saturday & came in 3rd overall & won my age group. I also shaved 2 minutes off my time from the Run for the Berries walk. Kiersten & one of her friends ran the mile.

Now on to baseball...Zach had a double header Friday evening - we got home around 11:30. Zach left for Brandenburg, while Kiersten & I headed to Starlite for the Barnyard Dash. He had 2 games Saturday & 1 on Sunday. Had a game Tuesday & it was over early due to the storm that came up. Wednesday & Thursday we head to South Harrison Park for a 8:00 game, this puts us home around 11:30 both nights *yawn*. No baseball today thank goodness, but tomorrow he plays at 10, if they win he plays at 12, if they win again they play at 2. So tomorrow could be a long hot day.

If you have lost track he has had 8 games in the past 7 days. The night games aren't so bad, but the games during the day when it is so darn hot are rough on the boys. We make sure they drink lots of water, powerade or Gatorade. The heat really takes a toll on the guys, but they continue on & always give 100%.

I'm taking the kids to see Toy Story 3 today, we are excited to go. Toy Story 1 & 2 were Zach's favorite movies when he was a little guy & if we watched them once we watched them 500 times. I hope that 3 is as good as 1 & 2.

To Infinity & Beyond.........

Why do they grow up so fast?

Kiersten leaves tomorrow morning for Cross-Country Camp. She'll be gone for two nights. She has gone before to stay with friends & of course she goes to her dad's house, but this just seems different. I know that she is going to have a ton of fun with her friends & it is a great growing experience for her, but it absolutely kills me to see her take these huge steps into growing up. Yeah I know - I don't have a choice, they don't stay 3 forever do they.

On Wednesday Zach & I are going up & we are going to meet the cross-country crew at Holiday World & we are going to hang out with them & ride the rides & have a great time.

Zach is just as bad as I am, he doesn't want his sister to go either. However I believe the time will go faster for him than it will for me :).


I will enjoy my time with Zach & we will miss Kiersten terribly, but we also know that she'll have a TON of fun with her friends, which makes me happy for her.

I just wish that there was a day that would go by slowly, just one day.

2 piggies & crazy pen lady

First of all, I want to apologize for not having pictures again. I did take pictures to show you how gross my following post was, so I do have proof, but the kids left today to go to their dad's house for a couple of days & Kiersten must have hidden the cord to the camera again. I found cords for headphones, DSI, PSP, IPOD & cords that I don't have a clue as to what gadget they may belong to. Hopefully I'll have time later this week to update this post to include the proof haha.

On to my post...I decided to finally clean my car today. It has been a LOOOONG time since it has been cleaned. Yes, yes I have excuses. I have work, cross-country, tennis, baseball, basketball, grocery, work & everything inbetween. It seems as if I barely have time to keep the house somewhat organized so the poor car has been neglected for some time now.

I took a deep breath & headed out the door with a trash bag & grabbed the shop vac. When you open the passenger door there was a whole stinkin bowl of frosted flakes that were dropped between the passanger seat & the door, do you realize how tiny that spot is! Thankfully they were dry frosted flakes when they were dropped.

I started by throwing away all of the miscelanous pieces of paper, wrappers & two socks that didn't match - only god knows how long they had been shoved under the seats. I had finally made it to my console & started throwing away my trash that I have stuffed there & I realized something about myself. I must have a fear of driving without having a pen in tow. I bet that I had 50 of them in there. I looked & no there weren't even any bank pens in there, I try really hard not to swipe them & to leave them for the next person that drives up to the teller window. So I carried 47 of them back into the house & we have a plentiful supply of pens. I hope that this isn't a sign of what is to come as I get older. I may die with a million pens haha.

As I was cleaning I made yet another discovery & that is that the kids must be terrified to ride with me. They must think that we are going to be in a wreck each time they get into the car. There were 18 brand new band-aids in the back seat. Some were on the floor, some were in the door & some were laying on the back seat. Seriously kids, I'm not that bad of a driver, am I? Also, I do have a large first aid kit in the trunk & now your 18 band-aids are safe & sound in the first aid kit in the trunk - they are right behind you along with the neosporin, advil & a safety glow in the dark light up thingie.

Also, no more gum in the car that requires gum wrappers - we will only have the kind that is in that little cup container thing. I didn't count the gum wrappers, but I bet we had more gum wrappers than we did pens & band-aids put together.

It took me HOURS to clean the car - it was in such bad shape. Ron had came in from the field to reload the fertilizer & to grab a bite to eat. He saw the inside of the car as I was finishing up, he couldn't believe how clean it was. I really don't think that it has been this clean since I first got it. It might be too clean, I'm not sure I want to let the kids back in the car haha.

I did clean the outside of the car too, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the inside. I have ran it through the car wash a few times & as most of you know we have had more than enough rain to wash most of the dirt away.

So my little Civic is clean for a while. It is clean until Kiersten gets in from running the cross-country course & drags grass in on her feet, or until Zach has a baseball game & the tiny little brick dust dusts the floor. Or god forbid the next time the dry frosted flakes are dropped & scattered between the seat & door.

I'm glad that I had the time to get it cleaned this weekend. Come back later in the week for the pictures, I'm sure those of you with kids can relate & those of you with older grown kids or no kids can sit back a laugh at me.

I do tell the kids often that I can't wait until they have their own homes & I come to visit. I'm going to go through their houses & turn EVERY light on, I'm going to bring wet towels with them & throw them on their bathroom floors & I'm going to slam every single door in their house as well. I will also call them randomly & ask them why my favorite shirt isn't clean. Now I have the car to add to the list. I can't wait!! I'll have my gum wrappers, socks, band-aids & everyother little tiny piece of paper with me in my purse & I'm going to stuff each and everyone between & under the seats. Oh yeah & I'll remember to bring my frosted flakes to drop between the seat & door. MUHAHAHA, sweet revenge, if I don't forget. I love my 2 messy piggies though.

HUMPH!!!

I'm sure that most of you have read my sweet daughter, Kiersten's blog & know that her, Zach & her friend Ashton all ran the Run for the Berries 5K in Starlight this morning & they all did a good job. There were some doosies of hills along the way too! I'm proud of all 3 of them for completing the race with good times.

On to the humph part - I guess that Kiersten isn't very impressed that her ol' mom WALKED the same 5K that they ran. Yeah, yeah I know it is much harder to run than it is to walk - I get that, but darn it I'm A LOT older than they are too.

I'm sure that I looked like a huge dork because I was walking as fast as I could the entire race, even up the monster hills - my time was 39.55 - not that far behind those whipper snapper's, right?

One other thing - I do have to brag I won a TROPHY - WOO HOO! No I wasn't the first walker across the line, but I sure did try to be. My trophy is for finishing first for my age group of 39 & under. That is the first age group so there were some younger ones out there that I did beat & umm in all fairness I guess that I should tell you that some of them were pushing strollers too.

There was one lady that was in her late 40's that I tried & tried to catch up with. After the 2 mile mark & had her! I was trucking up those hills & then there was this monster hill & I marched right up that thing just a huffing & puffing & panting all the way. I had her! I was ahead of her, I was going to beat this experienced power walker....NOT. She kicked my ASS! She came in 1.30 ahead of me. I wasn't happy, but thank goodness she was another age group up from me so I still came away with a trophy. I had a ball & I'm going to walk the Barnyard Dash at Hubers in a couple of weeks.

Maybe I'll get up to running eventually & then the kids can be proud of their old mom hahaha - not. I probably embarrass them if the truth be known. Poor kids.

Mothers Day

Unfortunately it is the kids weekend to be with their Dad. What really stinks is that it is this way every single year. He always has them mothers day weekend & I have them on Fathers Day weekend.

I got the kids around 12:30 & the kiddos & they gave me a gift, which I didn't expect they got me a Winnie the pooh watch (yep I like Winnie). I am such a sap that I teared up & then they freaked out because they never see me cry unless I'm at a funeral. Anyway we then headed to Buffalo Wild Wings - yum! It wasn't a bit crowded. I guess it really isn't a place most mothers pick to go for lunch haha. Anyway we had a great lunch.

We were going to go to Target & I saw a Michael's across the road - so we headed over there. I love that place!! I have never been into a Michael's. The only ones that I ever knew of were over on the east end of Louisville. Anyway they had all kinds of neat craft things. If you are a scrapbooker then you'll be in heaven! I asked one of the workers when they opened thinking that it was recent & she said in January haha - goes to show you how often I go into town.

Kiersten then wanted to go to Best Buy to "look" - I told her that is what she would have to do is look! Of course we looked at the cool cameras & the kids had to check out the cell phones - which Zach begged for & nope it didn't work again this time either. We then walked over to the computers. The kids loved the new INotebook - it was cool. So we walked out with more added to our wish lists haha.

We then stopped by JayC to pick up a few grocery's & then they went back to their Dads house.

Oh yeah - I can't leave out that the kids told me Happy Mother's Day, You're the best mom ever, we love you so much mom about 100 times & yes I enjoyed it each & every time!!

Unfortunately Ron didn't join us - he was in the field. I was secretly hoping that it would rain just enough that he'd be able to go & have lunch with us & then he could go to the field, but it didn't work out that way. I did bring him home some left overs from Buffalo Wild Wings though, why should he have to suffer because he has to work when the weather allows :).

Even though we only had a few hours together - thank you Kiersten & Zach for the great Mother's Day!! I love you all soo much!

Sorry, no pics again. I have to get better with the picture thing :)

Happy Birthday Sis

Today, 13 years ago I had Kiersten Marie Hoehn. I am so proud of the person that she is becoming. Kiersten is so loving, caring & compassionate. I can not believe how fast the last 13 years have gone & I can't imagine how fast the next 13 will go. It is so hard for me to believe that Kiersten will be a Freshman in another year. She is only 2 years away from drivers education, 3 years away from getting her drivers license. 5 years away from graduating from High School and going to college. I have been so blessed to be so close to Kiersten & to be able to talk to her. I know that the teenage years will be stressful on both of us, but I pray & hope that the bond we currently have will only grow stronger.

On one hand it breaks my heart to think of Kiersten growing up, because I know that she will need mom less & less each day & I have to let her grow to become her own person. On the other hand my heart is filled with pride & joy to sit back and watch her grow.

Kiersten, I know you will read this & I hope that I haven't embarrassed you too much, but that is what mom's are for. I love you more than you will ever realize & I am so proud of you!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl, I Love You more today than I did the first time I laid eyes on you! You & your brother have blessed my life & have given me the best gift that I could ever have & that is to be your mother. I am so proud of you both!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!