When we learned that Canton was the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I told Matthew that I would take him…

just him… not his sister…

he was thrilled… and so was I because I was the cool mom…

What I didn’t know at the time was that this was the Hall of Fame weekend…

and if you’re not familiar with that, they induct the new people in and have a big game and oh… half the world attends…

the campground was full, and I just KNEW that the Hall of Fame was going to be a nightmare…

but I promised…

(note: I did give him the option of staying and playing or going and he picked going…. and we decided to take Brennan with us…)

We picked Sunday to go since Saturday was hot and we wanted to go to the pool and on a hay ride and all….

and it was a good day to go when it started raining in the middle of the night and didn’t let up….

So, after we ate, I packed up Brennan and Matthew and off we went…

to the Pro Football Hall of Fame where none of us knew any of the people who were in there…

First off…all the real parking is blocked and it’s raining and I don’t know where I’m going but they tell me I have to go to the fairgrounds… the Stark County Fair Grounds and I can park there and they will shuttle us over…

So we find that… amidst all the people who are selling everything and the neighbor hood residents offering parking (for $20) in their yards… oh and the people with big “I need tickets” who were on EVERY corner… if I had to say “we’re just here for the museum” one more time…

the boys were enjoying their adventure…

so we found the fairgrounds and it was nothing but a mud puddle….

and we also saw the sign… $5 to park and $3 per person for the shuttle… ok, we just added an extra $14 to this little adventure…

but we did it…

and they dropped us off… and I ask the little rent-a-cop where the museum is and he tells me… and we start walking…

…and we walk…

…and we walk…

… and we walk….

in the rain I might add and we FINALLY get to the museum…

had I known that we were going to walk that far, I would’ve paid the $20 to park in someone’s yard… we would’ve been alot closer…

Anywho… we get our bands and we make our way through the museum and Matthew is THRILLED… he’s elated and I’m reading him things and he’s asking questions and I’m either making up the answers or asking a passerby… (like how am I supposed to know if coaches can be inducted into the Hall of Fame?)

Anytime he saw something Redskins related he would get all excited and bless Brennan’s heart… being from Canada, this isn’t all the rage to him, but he was just as interested and asked questions too…

(and let me point out that they were so good… I’d take them anywhere….)

We finally made it to the end where we got to see the Super Bowl rings (gaudy!!!) and the Stadium Expereince movie…I fell asleep during it, but the boys thought it was cool…

I told them both that they had $5 to spend in the gift shop, but when we got there, the line to pay was at least 30 mintues long and you couldn’t walk in there… so we decided to look at the tents outside…

We found a keychain for all of us for $1 and we got bunched of water bottles for free promoting some new reality show based on the Kansas City Chiefs on HBO..the boys even asked for extra ones so they could take back to their sisters… (unprovoked, I might add… I was impressed!)

And we headed back to the bus stop… and then to the fairgrounds… and then home…

four hours later we were back…

Here are some more pics…

This is Matthew and all the inductees the year he was born….

The hall of fame ring… it’s actually a hologram.. it was SOOOOO cool…..

Matthew and Brennan in front of the Jim Thorpe statue….

but I must say, I did learn alot about football and had some GREAT bonding time with Matthew… which makes it all worth it…

(oh! and I was deemed Mom of the day… )

Until next time…

Heather

PS. I’ve got a few more camping stories up my sleeve…. stick around….

Filed under Manly Man Matthew, Mom Stuff, Pics, Quality Time | Comment (1)

As I said before… Ohio will never be the same again… especially the little town of Bolivar…population just under 1,000…

Let me tell you how it went down…

We noticed in the cooler that we might run out of beverages before the weekend was done…so Yvonne and I decided that we were going to run into town and get some more (because they don’t sell beverages of the adult variety on Sundays)… we decided just to hit a gas station and since I came in a different way from anyone else, I wanted to show Yvonne the cute little town that I drove through when I got off the interstate.

And let me tell you, it was so cute… like something from a movie… small town America… I just wanted to stop and knock on a door and tell them how neat their little street was… don’t worry, I didn’t….

So Yvonne and I were admiring the little houses when we hit the intersection… the sole traffic light in the town… there was a gas station and a Dairy Queen.

As we pulled into the gas station I look over and see a sign that says “Beer, Wine, & Spirits” and there was a car pulling into it… I looked at Yvonne and she looked at me and I yelled “It’s a drive through… we so have to go over there…”

So we headed over there…

We pulled in and the guy asked us what we wanted… we couldn’t remember what Terry said to get so Yvonne, the brilliant business owner that she is, says “It’s in a green bottle, does that help”
I
He tells us (and I don’t remember his name, but he looked like a Dennis) to get out and come look…. now, let me tell you, if you’re not familiar with Drive Thru’s, you’re not supposed to get out… they bring it to you. But we got out and recognized Terry’s beer and got some more and decided to head home. As soon as we pulled out of the drive through we realized that we needed to stop and get Coke and I told Yvonne that the drive through had it…

We decided to swing around and go through again… but before we did… you know we took a picture…

So when we pulled back in “Dennis” just started to chuckle.. I explained that we forgot the coke and how we just thought that the drive through was sooooo cool…. he said that people take pictures all the time and I piped up “We did that when we pulled back around…”

“Dennis” said… “Get out and I’ll take your picture…”

And you know we did….

Driving back, we saw a little sign that said “Business District” so Yvonne asked if we could take a little detour… well, you know me… i’m always up for an adventure and I knew what road that we needed to take to get back to the campground…

we turned onto Canal Street and saw the cutest little cafe…

I stopped in the middle of the street…

We drove just a little further when Yvonne saw the Post Office… I pulled onto a little side street and we got out to take a picture of Yvonne under the sign…

About that time two men were walking up the street and asked “Why are you taking pictures of Bolivar?”

I looked at him like the answer was obvious… “Well, because we’re not from around here and she’s from Canada (as I pointed to Yvonne) and your town is just so cute.”

He looked at me funny but then said… “You see that little bar down there on the corner?”

We looked down the street and nodded…

“Well about 20 years ago the owner of the bar, Marvin, got involved with the mob. He was smuggling cigarettes in from Canada and one day decided he didn’t want to be involved with the mob anymore. They found him dead at 7am one morning… he was executed. They say it happened at 3 in the morning, but it happened right outside the bar… on the sidewalk.”

My eyes lit up… because you know, I’m all about learning about murders and this one happened right here in this little town… how cool!

“Really?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said…”Now you have to come down and take a picture of Rocky’s.”

We started to walk down the street and the other guy walked up to him and said, “what are you telling them?”

“About Marvin and the mob he responded… twenty years ago.”

“Oh it wasn’t that long ago,” Man 2 said… “Because I got out of the service 10 years ago and hung out there with Marvin.”

Whatever… some dude was murdered right here in front of Rocky’s! Who cares when it happened?

As we were walking, Man 1 said that I could lay down right where Marvin lay dead to get my picture taken. I was all over it.

We got there and I asked where Marvin was slain….

Man 1 showed me and I asked “Face down?”

“Oh face up… he rolled over”

So there I laid… right where Marvin was executed sometime in the last 10-20 years… and Yvonne snapped the picture…

I was tickled when I got back up… I laid right where an ex-Mobster was killed… who else can say that?

Man 1 told me… “You can go on our newspaper website and look it up… Times Reporter.. and read all about it.”

We thanked him for his time and all giddy walked back to the car. We couldn’t wait to get back to the campground and tell the others and look up the story of Marvin.

We got back and told them all about the drive through and Marvin.

All night we talked about Marvin…

We talked about Marvin all during Kareoke…

yes! We kareoked…more on that later….

Back at the campsite… we roasted marshmallows to make s’mores… (I make the best marshmallows…)

and we talked about Marvin… again….

We got out the laptop and searched….

we searched everywhere… all the search engines we could find and all the key phrases that we could think of….

we never learned the story about Marvin…

Which leads me to believe that there are two men in Bolivar who got a big kick out of the little girl from Roanoke, VA who willingly laid on the sidewalk outside Rocky’s Tavern and believed the story of Mobster Marvin…

but that’s okay…

It’s a good story for the blog….

And we’ll remember it forever…

Until next time…

Heather

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Ohio will never be the same…

Seriously…

today we resorted to stealing ice… well, when I say we, I mean me and Kevin… and I don’t think we were really stealing it… but we needed ice for the beer adult beverage cooler so… when we saw that they just threw it out on the grass… and alot of it, Kevin and I scooped it up. We can’t figure out why they threw it out…I mean, it’s ice….

it wasn’t melted or anything…

but today we spent alot of the day at the pool, because as I may have mentioned… it’s hot… but after the pool, it’s not so bad…

Patty, Steve, and Matthew left today to go home and we miss them already… and Patty… Terry’s mad because you didn’t say goodbye…

But before Patty left, we asked our neighbor if he would come over and take a group picture.. I’m sure he thinks that we’re nuts because after he took 5,000 pictures and enlisted the help of his wife, we gave him a round of applause. It’s the least we can do… I’m sure we were loud last night…

Right now, while the men are grilling, we’re swapping pictures… because I wanted to share with you…

Patty and Steve

Our dining tent… We combined two tents to make one big one (and it’s currently where I’m blogging)

Dale taking a picture of Terry….

Terry taking a picture of Dale… (yes, we’re THAT grown up!)

Terry’s campsite

The Weld’s site….

Jim, Yvonne and Me….

Dale and Becki

The Mansion… where the Noles are staying….

Our tent…

Now just for the record, the Noles and I are sharing a campsite… it’s also where the dining tents are… the Green’s and the Weld’s are right across the street… we are a siight let me tell you…

And today, Yvonne was the rebel and broke in to the cooler first… and we all followed…

We even got Dale to lighten up….

Yes, Ohio will never be the same…

Gotta jet… dinner’s ready… yum!

Until next time…

Heather

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Must’ve been a rough night…

Until next time….

Heather

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If you’re not a great cook… you panic…

As in you ask yourself over and over and over again WHY you did this…

But the invitation was extended and I followed through….

After all the suggestions (and thank you all for that), I ended up with wheat free lasagna, texas toast, and salad…

and there was dessert…

the house was relatively picked up… and the kids helped… er… sorta…

but as usual, I was at the grocery store at 4 because i needed the salad mix, salt and the toast… so we’re rushing home to get the lasagna in the oven by 5… so that it would be ready by 6 and darned if we didn’t almost do it …

(it doesn’t really matter because the men were late… go figure….)

and there were two phone calls… one to my mother to ask her if i covered the lasagna and one to Dale and Becki to ask how I knew it was done…

yeah, I know… i’m retarded…

but you know what?

it all worked out…

and after we stuffed ourselves, we sat in the living room while Samara played Dance Mania… and then I had to beat her… because i’m like that…

all in all… it was great… and i’m not so nervous about having people over anymore… and i just lost any “i can’t cook” excuse that i ever had… because everthing was darn near perfect…

(except we couldn’t find the salt that we had just bought… but if that’s the worst thing that happens, we’re blessed….)

oh! i forgot to mention Samara’s dessert.. she made cookies and cream pudding, but because Anchorman (the intern) gets headaches from chocolate, she made him a white cake with white icing… and it was beautiful…

she was so proud of it, that we took pictures….

and it WAS a good cake… not that i would know, because you know, I’m wheat free and all…

ok, so i had a bite…

and now it’s over… and i’ve got a podcast to record with Nell for MomsBlogging.com!

Until next time…

Heather

Filed under According to Samara, Dorks R Us, Heather's Quirks, Pics | Comments (7)

All good things must come to an end… but I like to go out with a bang…

Seriously…

Now, here’s the deal… since Shannon closed her links Day 4 and Day 5 aren’t linked up… and it appears that the comments have dropped off for Day 4.. which means that the odds for the gift certificate and the bling will be higher… (or so I’m thinking… I could be wrong… it’s been known to happen you know!)

With all that being said… if you are just now stumbling across my blog… here’s a recap of the week….

Day 1 — Harry Potter (book 7)
Day 2 — Creative Memories lot of scrapbooking stuff
Day 3 — 5.8ghz cordless phone with caller ID
Day 4 — Gift Certificate of your choice (from approved list)

Which brings us to today… Day 5… the end of a great thing…

But don’t worry… we’ll do it again….

So without further ado… (is it ado or adieu?)

Ok, so this isn’t the EXACT ring but it’s darn near close… I tried to take a picture of it but it didn’t come out. The stones featured are Alexandrite and the ACTUAL ring is garnet…

All the details are here (except replace Alexandrite with Garnet)

This says the retail value is $279 but I have to be honest… I only paid $169 for it…

And I’m sure that you’re in shock that I actually paid for it and am giving it away, right? It’s brand new for the most part… actually, everything I’ve given away this week is brand new. It’s stuff that I’ve had around the house that seemed like good things to purchase but in hind sight, yeah… not so much….

But this ring has a particularly funny story…

See, I was with this guy for almost 3 years. He was not romantic at all which was fine by me because I really wasn’t much into those romantic holidays… so when Valentine’s Day rolled around, I didn’t expect much (expectations are premeditated resentments, ya know?)

He went out with his buddy the night before and Valentine’s Day night when he got home from work I got two cards, a dozen roses, and this ring. Needless to say I was shocked.

There was only one problem… it was yellow gold and I only wear silver or white gold. All of my jewelry is silver or white gold. And I didn’t know how to tell him without hurting his feelings.

I came up with, “Wow! Now you’ll have to buy me all new jewelry to match this….”

His face dropped… “it’s yellow gold isn’t it?” he asked. I reluctantly shook my head yes.

“It’s okay! We’ll take it back and exchange it.”

And so we did. But they had to special order it in the white gold. She ordered it and told me to keep this one until it came in.

I loved the ring so much… yes, it’s pretty, but it was so out of character for him and so I decided to wear the ring until the new one came in.

And then one day… I noticed the ring wasn’t on my finger!

I looked everywhere… I cried to him that I had lost it. I still had three weeks before the new one was due in…

They called me three weeks later and told me my pretty white gold ring was in and I still had no yellow gold ring.

I schlumped to the store and explained the situation. The only thing that I could come up with was that the dog ate it (and if you think I was out there sifting through dog poop… you’re wrong! I made Matthew do it….)

So, I purchased the white gold ring. I wanted the ring.

Two weeks later, I found the yellow gold ring. It was too late to return it and to be honest, over the past 1.5 years I’ve just been lazy about it. I’ve debated several times to give it away or sell it and just never got around to it.

So you’re getting the ring that the ex-boyfriend bought me… the ring that I only wore for 2 whole days before losing it.

So thank Tim, would ya?

And I still wear my white gold one… never take it off…

so whoever wins it, you’ll always think of me when you see it and I will always think of you… ’cause I’m high school like that….

Now before I put all the contest rules on here, I need you to do me one more favor….

I’m the featured mom blogger at MomsBlogging.com!

Nell and I go way back…. ok, so two years back and she’s just started MomsBlogging.com. Please take a minute and go over and check it out. It looks tres cool and you can be a featured blogger too! (Did I mention that it’s a great way to get traffic?)

AND… she’s got a podcast that goes with it… of which she’s asked me to guest co-host in the future… and I’m excited about that…

Go, see me and my kiddos… leave her some love over there and check it out… it’s super cool….

Not only that… but next week I’ve got one last giveaway to help promote MomsBlogging.com so make sure you check it out. (That would mean you have to come back… and you’ve seen the kind of prizes that I offer, so I promise not to disappoint!)

Ok, with that said… here are the rules for this last contest….

Leave a comment on this post.
The comments for all of the giveaways will close at midnight on Friady… which means that sometime between midnight Friday and noon Saturday, I’ll be posting and contacting the winners. Things that need to be mailed will more likely than not be mailed on Monday…
Make sure your email address is correct.
You don’t have to have a blog to enter!
If you link back to this post, you will gain an additional entry into the contest for this prize. (Tell me in the comments if you have because sometimes the little incoming link feature doesn’t work!)
I can only ship to the US and Canada. (Sorry… )

There you have it…

I’ve enjoyed your visits… and I do hope to see you back soon!

Until next time…

Heather

Filed under No Way..., Pics, Yo!, blogging | Comments (65)

Ok, so we’re in day 3 of the Dog Days of Summer giveaway…

If you haven’t entered for the Harry Potter book or the scrapbooking stuff, make sure you head over there now… right now…

I’ll wait…

Cool stuff, no?

Ok… good! You’re back!

Now we’re on to day 3…

If you’re like me you LOVE getting new phones…. ok, so maybe you’re not like me… but I? Like new phones.

So, if you’re in the market for a new phone, I’ve got a 5.8GHz (I have no idea what that means…lol) cordless phone up for grabs…

It’s silver has call waiting, caller ID, 64 caller ID memory and 3 line backlit display (if you’re into all the nifty features…

oh… and it’s made by Southwestern Bell.

Scans 40 channels, has a 10 number memory, real time clock, and you can program it in English, French or Spanish… again, if you’re into all that stuff…

So here’s the deal…

So here’s how you enter:

Leave a comment on this post.
The drawing will be held sometime on Friday (and I’m still not sure when, but you’ll know if I’ve posted the winners.)
Make sure your email address is correct.
You don’t have to have a blog to enter!
If you link back to this post, you will gain an additional entry into the contest for this prize. (Tell me in the comments if you have because sometimes the little incoming link feature doesn’t work!)
I can only ship to the US and Canada. (Sorry… )

Again, I’d love for you to fall in love with me and hang on my every word once these contests are over… but…. I know that you might not… but just to show you that I’m a really cool person to be around check out this, this and this…. then make your decision….

Until next time…

Heather

PS. You’re coming back tomorrow, right? Because tomorrow? I’ve got something close to cash… AND on Friday, don’t forget… I’ve got bling (and a story to go with it!)

PPS. The click comments I just installed today and you can’t use that to enter… although it’s really cool. You have to leave an actual comment, with text and an email address or it won’t work…

PPS. I almost forgot!!! I’m nearing my 1,000th comment… special surprise gift to the person that makes that 1000th comment….

****Edited to add links to the other giveaways I’ve got****
Day 1 — Harry Potter (book 7)
Day 2 — Creative Memories lot of scrapbooking stuff
Day 3 — 5.8ghz cordless phone with caller ID
Day 4 — Gift Certificate of your choice (from approved list)
Day 5 — Bling!

Filed under Pics, Yo!, blogging | Comments (190)

Last year I did the best thing I could’ve ever done for my son… signed him up for football….

(This would be after I got over my motherly fear that some other kid would squish him like a bug, of course…)

The first week of the clinic was exciting and nail biting… but he kept going…

every night I made him call my dad to get manly encouragement so that he wouldn’t quit…

and every afternoon he donned his gear and headed back to the field… he loved it…

But we worked hard with him to pump him up and only one night did he come home and say he wanted to quit…

it was the night that he got crushed and had a bruise on his hand like you wouldn’t believe… but I put him on the phone with dad and talked to his coaches and when I picked him up the next night he was excited again.

Football instills confidence in him. It’s a sport like no other. I don’t see him like this during basketball or any other time of the year. His coaches are great. Most of them don’t have kids on the field… they are there because they believe in the program and that says alot. The head coach pushes that you are a gentleman before you’re a football player and they better never, ever catch your mom carrying your equipment.

The football families come together every night and talk and friendships are made and I’m excited too…

Never mind that I have to have dinner ready at 4:30 or that once school starts, homework, dinner, practice, showers, etc are trying…

It doesn’t bother me that Saturday mornings I’ll be running kids all over the place because without fail, Samara will have to cheer at one field while he plays at another (at the same time of course)….

Because it’s football season… and I love it….

From now through mid-October I’m going to be hopping all over the place and loving it…

And here are just a few memories from last year… I can’t wait to add more for this year…

He’s not a ball handler so the fact that I got this one is amazing to me…

His second night of practice and the first time that I didn’t see my baby but a young man….

After a game….

And with football comes cheerleading…

This is Sam before her first day of cheer camp….

and one of my favorite pictures (if Sam would’ve had her eyes open)

I LOVE FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!!!

Until next time…

Heather

PS. Don’t forget my Dogs Days of Summer Giveaway here. And don’t forget to check back tomorrow for a new contest…

Filed under Manly Man Matthew, Pics | Comments (3)

Yesterday started VBS at my church.

I’m a helper… which means that I get to dress the part and be retarded and have fun all while sharing God with a bunch of little ones running around.

But our theme?

Avalanche Ranch.

Ranch… as in cowgirl.

And so I have to dress the part and I’m a city girl living in the south. Sure, I’ve grown roots here and yes, I like country music. But never in my life have I donned a cowgirl hat, large belt buckle and boots to “fit in”….

That was until yesterday….

There I am dancing in front of all the kids to “It’s a Wild Ride”….

because we’re taking a wild ride through God’s Word… get your minds out of the gutter…

and here I am with Jessica…

I was a little apprehensive about it… it’s a little out of my element…

But I have to admit… I’m kinda looking forward to donning my boots and heading back tonight… if for nothing else, I’m getting a work out….

Until next time…

Cowgirl Heather

Filed under Dorks R Us, Faith, Pics | Comments (4)

Yahoo photos is closing… which means that I had to move all my pictures somewhere else… and my place of choice is Flickr. I don’t know why I chose that, I just did…

They transferred all my photos over, and because I’ve not used Yahoo photos in awhile, I forgot some of those pictures were there…

So, I thought I would take you on a trip down memory lane with me…

Meet Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry…. Sondra hung around in the parking lot of the Civic Center with a sign that said someone stole my tickets… and a roadie gave her a pair… at 4, she called me at work and said, let’s go…

So we went… and they were floor seats, general admission… and we were front row…

What makes this better?

During one of the songs, Troy came over and grabbed the camera out of my hand and took a picture of us…

We were a little shocked, needless to say… and he looked at it and said, “That’s not a good one… we’ll take another…”

and he did!

And here are the kiddos on their first day of school in 2004…Sam’s was just starting Kindergarten and Matthew was going into the second grade… their first day at Green Valley….

Halloween 2004… Lizzie McGuire and a FrankenSpongeBob…

This one still cracks me up, even though it’s so dark….

I eluded to this story in a previous post when I came home from Jackson, but the short of it is… on my way to St. Louis, I was supposed to meet up with Becki in Atlanta and I got there with 15 minutes to spare to catch my connection which was 4 concourses away… and I’m running… in heels… and Becki’s telling them that I’m coming (calling me her sister)… but I missed the flight…

When we went to the airport to come home, we saw this sign in the St. Louis airport and DIED laughing… and she took my picture…

So there are a few…

Maybe we’ll do some more another day…it’s late and I’m sleepy…

and I miss my kids… and my friends… and I can’t wait until Friday to be home… and then just one more week until my kids get home…

Until next time…

Heather

Filed under Dorks R Us, Pics, Time wasting..., blogging | Comments (5)