Posted by puddlegirl on 1:33 PM

You know 20 questions the game? If not you can e-mail me I'll explain it to you. Anywho!! We used to play it in the car whenever we were traveling. We always had fun and were pretty good at guessing who the person was at the end of our 20 Questions. Well, right now I am going to tell you about a time Allayna was the champion of 20 Questions.

It was Allayna's turn to come up with any person in the world and we had to guess who it was in 20 yes or no questions. It went a little something like this:

Allayna: "OK guys, I've got someone. Guess who it is."
My family: "Are they a man?"
Allayna: "Yes!"
Family: Are they Famous?"
Allayna: "Yes!"
Family: " Is he a movie star?"
Allayna: "No."
Family: "Is he a singer?"
Allayna: "No."
Family: "Does he play sports?"
Allayna: No
Family: "Is he a politician?"
Allayna: "YES!!!"
Family: "Was he a president?"
Allayna: "No."
Family: "Is he president NOW?" (See you have to be specific.)
Allayna: "No."
Family: "Was he ever Governor?"
Allayna: "No."
Family: "Senator"
Allayna: "No."
Family: "Allayna, you know judges aren't famous. Grandpa and Dad aren't famous!"
Allayna: "I know, keep guessing"
We are at a loss at this point.... Allayna was only 7 or so at the time. So what politicians is she talking about? What famous politician would my 7 year old sister pick to be the answer of her 20 Questions?
After exhausting all of our questions... we give up!
Family: "WHO IS IT ALLAYNA?"
Allayna: "Tony Upton"
Family: *roaring with laughter* "Tony Upton is not famous"
Allayna: "Yes he is, he is a famous politician."


*Chirp chirp*


WHAT!? You still don't know!?
Well, he is trustee of Green Township in Ohio 1 of 3. Our mother is now a Green Township Trustee I wonder if any little girls playing 20 questions think she is famous... ?
Mom, I think you're famous... and I was just wondering.....




Can I have your autograph?


(I promise I won't sell it on Ebay.)

Posted by puddlegirl on 10:30 AM


This is the only movie I can think about these days. Space Jam.... circa 1996. I loved this movie when I was little, like slightly preteen. Preteen girls are supposed to love things like Twilight and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I cannot think of a comparable movie to those movies from 1996, but I just really really need a fill of Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny right about now. Oh wait Tom and Huck? Robert Pattinson is definitely not as cute as J.T.T... Am I right all you 25-30 year old ladies out there? Huh? WHAT!!!??? 25-30 ladies love Robert Pattinson? OK... fine.

And I'm just gonna throw this out there, but I believe basketball was at it's supreme high in the early 90's I mean I can't even name one basketball player from 2010. I'm being serious. Unless Shaq counts and speaking of Shaq I used to have a large, life-size, cardboard cutout of Shaq in my room.

I did...


really....


and I LOVED IT! and also I wanted to play in the WNBA.... and I might have been obsessed with basketball, but then about 3 years later someone told me I ran on my heels and I realized I wasn't as awesome at sports as I had always thought. This is pretty mish mash but it is what I was recollecting as I sat here watching dumb movies that have nothing on Space Jam.

Space Jam for life.

Posted by puddlegirl on 2:32 PM

Meet my baby sister, Allayna.
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She is my goober.
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I wasn't lying she is a goober... next example "Blue Steel"
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Well, Anywho! At one of our recent Sunday Night Family Dinners she revealed one of her memories. She started speaking of a time she was choking... I didn't recall her ever choking... and it was on a piece of candy. This story was very interesting because I had never heard it from her before.
Then she said that our dad picked her up and hung her upside down to get her to stop choking. I laughed and I said this happened to you? She said "Yeah, at our house on Crestknoll!" (our childhood home) I laughed more and said "Really? This happened to you...?" she said "Yeah and dad shook me upside down from my ankles until I puked out the candy."
To which I replied, "and it was a yellow spree and when you puked it looked like a sunny-side up egg?"
"Yeah!"
"Allayna! That was not you! That was me!"
"No I swear it was me!"
"Allayna that happened to me and I wouldn't eat yellow sprees until I was 12 yrs old"
"NO, I DIDN'T EAT YELLOW SPREES!"
"Allayna, are you joking? This is my story that I have told 50 times."
"Really? No! I thought it was me.... I tell people that story all the time."

Oh man, I thought I had a bad memory! At least I don't have to steal other peoples memories and use them for my own! Allayna, I love you but I am diagnosing this as a case of vicarious memories. I'm going to start copyrighting all of my memories so you can't use them!

Ok but she's forgiven because she is cute.
Evidence of that is right here.
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Posted by puddlegirl on 8:45 AM

Honestly, How could you not smile when you look @ this babies sweet face?
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Seriously
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This is pretty sweet too.
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Love these kids
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and look @ my handsome, handsome Husband.
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I love my sweeties... all of them.

Posted by puddlegirl on 8:44 PM
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I forgot to tell you all! My beautiful sister in law Sarah had her sweet baby girl last Saturday!! Her name is Vivienne Michael Novosel and she is beautiful and perfect! That baby will have more love than she could ever know what do do with!
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Vivienne's parents, formerly known as Sarah and Dave, have taken so well to their new roles as parents. I am so proud of both of them! I envy Sarah's patience, it is definitely something I need a bit more of, and seeing Dave keeping track of all the bodily functions on a chart made me smile. The excitement that they have for their new journey is really contagious! I am sooooo in love with our little Vivienne and when I think about all of the amazing and fun times we will all have as a family I tear up. I tear up when I think of my sweet mother in law saying over and over again on the phone within minutes of Vivienne's birth, "Andrea, It's a girl, she is perfect and beautiful, she is beautiful, she is just beautiful!"
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We are all so proud of Vivienne's parents for being calm even though everything did not go as planned and we are proud of Vivienne for making it to 36 and a half weeks and for being the best week old baby we know!
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We are happy for you guys and are truly so overwhelmed with love for all of you!
Welcome to the world Baby Girl!

Posted by puddlegirl on 8:31 AM

Our Christmas tree is up!!!
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I am pretty excited about it!
I haven't put it up in a couple years, so I was surprised by a few ornaments I didn't remember I had. Like this one.... Where did this come from?IMG_1164
It's a creepy Santa.... I'm guessing I bought it from a garage sale. That sounds like something I would do.
Then there are ones I hide at the back of the tree near the wall.
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Then there are ones that were made for me and my family.
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I like these b/c it reminds me of what happened that particular year.... like I got married... or Chris goes to work in his jammies. Really, that one puzzled me for a bit, but Chris did go to work in his jammies, he worked from home for about 3 months in 2006. See I would have never known what year that was if it hadn't scrolled on an ornament. Thank you Aunt Marcia for carrying on a special tradition! You are so sweet!
Then there are some ornaments that don't make any sense at all!
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Like this one... it has an Angel in a turtleneck... and a bunny that looks like it is humping the Angel's leg... Weird. Very weird.....
Let's move on... and try to get that image out of our heads.

I love Christmas time and I love my kids... even when they eat too much candy and drive me crazy. Look at 'em! Ain't they SWEET!?
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Lincoln is not accustomed to the flash.... he makes me smile.
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I hope everyone is as excited about the Holidays as I am! If you haven't put up your trees yet.... DO IT!!!

Posted by puddlegirl on 8:22 AM
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This is a sad day. I am writing about a baby memory, not my baby memory, but my babies memory. Wait.... I mean a memory of my baby. A sign of things changing, a baby becoming a boy.
As some of you may know, Harrison speaks another language. Something between French and Chinese, we're not sure. One of my favorites of Harrison's made up words is "pook". Sounds like book, but means pillow. So when we get ready for bed Harrison would grab his "pook" and obsessively adjust it until it was in the right spot. When Harrison comes into my room in the morning to wake me up, he brings his "pook" in so he can snuggle-bug (one of my made up words).
My husband, Chris, and I would giggle and say "PILL-OHHHHH" and he'd smile back and say "POOOOOK!"
Something changed this morning. Harrison opened my bedroom door and walked in and said "Lay down, I got my pildow."
Now while I am pleased he threw a "d" in just to show me he hasn't grown up completely. I am still a little sad that my little baby is growing up. So in five years when my blog is just a bunch of cached pages on google search, and Harrison and Lincoln are both in Elementary school hopefully I can find this entry and remember my baby sharing his "pook" and blanket with me on chilly mornings.