A weekend to remember

Saturday Jasmine came over bright and early to babysit for the weekend. Mom and dad were beyond excited to have a weekend away in Boston. All of the Quinni Girls (that is Quinnipiac University for those of you who have no idea) were ready to have a blast together at the Boston Wine Expo. Tickets were purchased months ago. The hotel rooms booked months in advance. Lisa, Kelly, Janet, Amy, and even Danielle from NJ made the treck to Boston for the event. Of course us guys the husbands knew what we were in store for with the Quinni stories we have heard over and over again.

The Wine Expo started at 1pm. Thankfully it ended at 5pm. Warning labels should be placed on the glasses that you should SPIT THE WINE OUT after you taste it. At each booth they would take your glass and pour a tiny bit of wine in it. Some booths were more generous than others. But hey, these were just little sips of wine at each booth. It couldn't be that much wine could it? What dad didn't realize was that there were over 440 booths. 440 booths divided by 1 oz at each booth, figuring a regular glass of wine is 6 ounces, equals 73 glasses of wine. Luckily dad didn't hit all 440 booths. But he probably hit about 60 booths. Whites. Reds. Ports. Cordials. Champagnes. Fruit wines. They had it all. At the end, they all tasted the same. Thus going back to the SPIT THE WINE OUT after you taste it idea.

Mom had a great time at dinner with everyone at our favorite restaurant Rabias. After dinner the group meandered over to The Grand Canal for some rip roaring dancing fun.

The next morning we all had breakfast together. Lots of bacon and lots of greasy sausage.

Venting

Last year for us was a little rough for mom with medical issues. To add insult to injury we way over paid our medical bills for last year. In fact they are still billing us even though we hit our maximum out of pocket. So tonight dad calls the insurance company. After an hour on the phone they figure out its the hospitals fault. So dad calls the hospital. After an hour on the phone they figure out its the insurance companies fault. Dad calls the insurance company and then tells them "no, the hospital says it's your fault." Again they look at the records and then say its the hospitals fault. So dad will be taking a day off of work and traveling to the hospital with every single ounce of bill, statement, copy of checks, that he can find. He is going to bring a chain and a padlock and lock himself to the billing persons desk and tell her he is not going to leave until they figure it out. He is very certian he is going to get arrested for disorderly conduct and make the national news. Stay tuned. We will let you know when its all going to go down. When its over he is going to travel to the insurance company and pull the same stunt. Nothing will be accomplished but he will still have fun causing a ruckus. It makes him feel better.

On a lighter note dad installed a gate at the top of the stairs today. The goal is to prevent Charlotte from falling down the stairs. Its not pretty but it is secure. He had to build some mounts for it. We will leave it at that. Hopefully mom will not take pictures of dads lovely handy work. He will deny he had anything to do with it.

Charlotte has been very gassy lately. I share this because it is hysterical to hear her. She farts and laughs which makes us laugh harder. Of course she hears us laugh which makes her laugh harder causing her to fart more. Its a vicious cycle.

Chase Sanders Ritcey

Welcome to the family Chase Sanders Ritcey. Chase arrived home in Long Island today to meet his brother Liam for the first time. Charlotte loves the pictures of Chase. We are sure she is going to love giving her little cousin lots of kisses. Hopefully Liam will protect him from getting stuck playing dress up with Charlotte.

Pictures Galore

My new bean bag chair! I love it!
Abigail you cant fit up here with me.
Ok, maybe we can share.
I love you too.
Plenty of room to share :)
The sledding hill at the school.
This is exhausting.
Ready. Set. GO!
More, more, more!
Up this hill again Dad.
Trick or treat!
We asked for the treat, not the trick.
Im ready to go now.
I love getting dressed up for dinner.
Can we go now?
All these toys, but I love the free box the best.
In and out all day long.
Ok, I'm in. Now ship me somewhere warm and fun!
I love playing with frost on the windows!
Learning to read early.
Hey it says here there is a winter carnival. Can we go?
Milk face and a headband.
Ok, I don't like the headband.

Small Town Life

There are some big advantages to living in the center of a small town. Everything is walking distance and because we are in the town center everything is here instead of somewhere else. It's our town's annual Winter Carnival this weekend. Dad even decided to enter the Chili Cookoff Contest! For hours he slaved away making the perfect chili. Using small cubes of tender steak. Using three different types of chili powder. Making an amazing puree of green and poblano chilis. Adding special touches like Mexican Cocoa Powder and fresh zest of lime. He had the contest in the bag.

The contest started at 8:30am. The results were just posted. Unfortunately small towns have a tendency to know nothing about culinary greatness. The hours dad spent (literally hours) cubing the steak into the perfect even sized morsals was wasted. The winner? A strewn together concoction of chewy beef and over cooked pork, all in different sizes. The flavor? Like a regular plain old chili powder. Dad is dissapointed to say the least. Of 9 entries he won no prize. No second place. No third place. Something must have been rigged. They just did not appreciate his gourmet masterpiece.Charlie's Champion Chili was nota champion. Next year he is going to enter again, reheating a can of hormel chili. I bet he will win.

The good news is that it snowed last night. Dad was up at 6 am with anticipation of firing up his anniversary gift, Suzie the Snowthrower. She started easily and handled like a dream. Clearing the driveway in minutes instead of hours. The neighbors all peering out their windows jealous with envy of Suzie. Or they could have been pissed that he woke them up so early. Regardless she did a great job a seemed happy to be out in the snow.

We also pulled Charlotte in her sled over to the Winter Carnival. We were a little early for the bonfire with hot chocolate and smores. And Charlotte is still a little small to enter the sledding contest. And dad didnt feel like playing snow golf or flag football in the snow. Those contests were probably rigged as well. So we just pulled her around in the snow. We found a small hill...took her to the top and WHEEEEEE down she went. Of course she wanted more. Dad began the first in what will be a lifetime of pulling her up the hill in her sled. A lot of work that is for sure. This time she flew down the hill even faster. Up again. Dad sweating and trying to catch his breath. One more run and that was it.

We are going to skip the Lip Sync contest tonight. Although Mom does a mean Shakira. Instead we are going to have dinner with Paul and Jena.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!

Tiffany and Ian had a baby boy at 2pm today..Yeah for them! Tiff called us from the hospital at 8:30 this morning to let us know they were going to have a baby today. She said it took maybe 6 pushes and he was out. He weighs 7lbs 6ounces and is 20 inches long. He has dark eyes and some dark hair. We have no pictures but will post them on Sunday when Tiff and the baby get home. We will also be let you know when they have name. Congratulations Tiffany, Ian and Liam. We can't wait to meet him.Especially Charlotte!

Maybe I wasn't clear

I was hoping that some people would understand my last post about "believing". I don't think many people got it as we are still getting emails about the picture with the ghost. Some people are asking if its real. Others are sending it to ghost hunters. Today Dr. Peter Venkman and Dr. Spengler called us. Sad because I don't think Harold Ramis ever got another job after Ghostbusters was filmed.

Yes Turner Broadcasting contacted me a month ago to help with a guerilla marketing campaign for Space Ghost on Adult Swim © 2006 Cartoon Network . Part of that guerilla marketing campaign was to post a picture with Shelby and a Ghost. Although the ghost looks nothing like Space Ghost. Did I make the picture myself?? All I will say is can we please talk about hairstyles from the 70's?? I really want to talk about hairstyles.

Believing

For some people believing in things is very difficult. They have to have tangible "proof" that something exists before they will believe. Even when they have proof they still can't believe that something exists. It happens daily. It happens to a lot of people. Do you believe?

The power of the intangible can be impressive to say the least. The belief in Santa Claus make us all smile at the holidays. We do our best to perpetuate that belief in our children for as long as we can.

The belief in God drops believers to their knees. It leads fanatics to extremes. It provides solace for millions who need something more in their lives. It causes wars. It creates peace. It effects every one of us in one way or another.

One of the things you learn as a parent is to believe. You believe in your love for your spouse. Believe in the unconditional love that your children have for you. Believe in your family as the single most important thing in your life. Love is intangible. We don't need pictures. We don't need proof because we know it exisits. You can't see it or taste it or touch it. But we all know Love is there and hopefully all around us. The belief in love makes us work hard to provide for our families. It makes us ache when a family memeber is sick. It makes us cry when a family member passes on. It breaks our heart when it goes away and makes us do anything we can to keep it from leaving us.

Many people have asked about the picture in the prior post. "Is it real? Did that really happen?". We have all lost people in our lives. Most of us have felt the presence of those people, especially the ones who loved us very much, around us after they have died. The people we love and who loved us never really go away. They are in our thoughts. In our actions and words. Incorporated into our lives in one way or another. They are all around us, in our personalities, in our childrens smiles. Watching us from a distance while we do our best to make them proud. We hope they are watching us when we are at our best and are looking the other way when we are doing something wrong.

Hopefully the picture reminded you to not forget about those people who are no longer in your lives. To remember that they are there even though you dont see them. You don't need a picture to remind you to believe in them.

or do you?

Freaked out

Yes we are a little freaked out by the picture of Shelby in the hallway below. We uploaded the pictures last night and never even took second look at them as did most people. Dad isn't sure if its the reflection of the light or flash or dust or something but it is a little odd.

Hotel Mt. Washington

Yes the hotel was as scary as we thought. While it is a throwback to a by gone era, we are happy to keep it left to an era without us. Of course we read all about room 425 and how haunted the hotel was. We both joked around about what we would say if they gave us room 425 upon check in. Luckily we didn't get room 425. Instead we got room 421. First thing dad says to mom, "do ghosts go through walls?"

We did see the people who checked into room 425. Poor folks. They had no idea what they were in for. We quickly threw our stuff in the room and it was down to the bar we went for lunch and to relax. Luckily after a few cocktails it was less scary. We had a great time out in the cold on a country sleigh ride. Afterwards dad got a massage and mom took a quick nap before dinner.

We had a great time and really enjoyed having a night away. Dinner was wonderful and breakfast was great. The service at the hotel was impeccable. Of course it was tough to be without Charlotte for a night. We kept worrying if Charlotte was going to keep Kelly and Dave awake all night long. Mom tossed and turned. As did dad. Worrying about ghosts and having the TV black out in the middle of the night were a little spooky. Of course the one chance we get to get a great nights sleep and we were not able to take advantage of it.


Despite the night away we were happy to get back and see our daughter. Kelly and Dave did an amazing job. She was in one piece when we went to pick her up, just like we left her. Thanks guys.

Sunday we had Jena and Pauls babyshower at our house. Every had a very good time, although we dont have any pictures unfortunately. We can't wait for them to join the parent club! Only a few more months!

Polish Girl

Tonight Charlotte ate for dinner:
a. Blueberries. Thats all she ever eats.
b. Buffalo wings with dad. His favorite.
c. 2lbs of Polska Kielbasa
d. Baby food.

The answer is c. Of course none of this ever happens when mom is home to verify the true quantity, however it seemed like 2 pounds, if not more, of Kielbasa. Thank you Bullock for passing your love of Kielbasa to your great grand daughter. We should have known this was going to happen after she enjoyed Shelby's meatloaf almost as much as you did. Let's hope she never has to try muskrat. She would probably love that as well. I'm drawing the line at hunting. That she is not allowed to do. Sorry.

Mom and dad are abandoning Charlotte on Saturday for a night away at the Hotel Mt. Washington. Of course the realization is setting in that we are not going to have her for a night which is really getting to mom. Not that we are worried about her being cared for by Kelly, Dave, Mason, & Brodie....she will be fine. We worry about them. We just hope she doesn't wake up in the middle of the night fussy like she did to us last night. We hope she doesn't decide 4 am is a good time to wake up instead of 6 am. We even went so far as to set up her pack and play in her room tonight (and put her in it to sleep) just to get her used to it so it won't be such a big deal on Saturday night. Yes we are neurotic, but what parents aren't?

We are expecting little sleep on Saturday night. On top of being worried about Charlotte driving Kelly and Dave crazy, we have to contend with being in a haunted hotel. Yes, the hotel Mt. Washington IS where the Shining was filmed...which makes it spooky in itself. However it is also known to be haunted by ghosts. We didn't really believe that, but started reading the reviews on TripAdvisor and are now even more freaked out! Wish us luck. Dad is going to bring his Proton Gun.

Climbing

Much like a Koala climbs a eucalyptus tree, slow and calculating, Charlotte climbs the couch and chair. Fist pulling herself up on the ottoman....the sliding slowly across to the chair. Calm, cool, and collected. However, just as a Koala eats the Eucalyptus leaves and gets plastered, Charlotte stands on the chair and gets punch drunk. Wobbling, laughing, her balance barely holding her in the chair. She will stay there for and hour playing, looking over the edge, standing, giggling, smiling. She cracks herself up and screeches and screams with excitement of sitting in the chair on her own. She is a spaz and we are not sure where she gets that from.

Morning Chatter

Charlotte crying in the background as mom and dad lay comfortably asleep in their bed.

Dad: "You going to get her or am I?"
Mom: "Let her cry." Mom reaches over and turns down the monitor.

Crying now seeping into the room through the walls and door.

Dad: "You going to ger her or am I?" (hoping mom will get up and get her}
Mom: "Lets flip for it."
Dad: "I got her yesterday and friday."
Mom: "You are going to watch the game tonight and not want to wake up early tomorrow"
Dad: "Are you sure you don't want to get up?"
Mom: silence

Sorry Charlotte. When you are older and have children you will understand that getting up at 6am on a Sunday is not fun.

Being a father

A fathers duty is to protect and care for his family. To Cherish his wife and make her understand she is the most beautiful woman in the world. To hold her close at night in strong arms when it's dark and cold. To constantly tell her how wonderful her cooking is. More importantly to tell her daily what an amazing mother she has become.

A fathers duty is to set an example for his children. To be a man of his word. To show that ethics is not something to study but to practice. To work until the job is done and provide as much as he can for his children. To be there in times of need and in times of joy. To leave a legacy of compassion, responsibility, and hard work.

It's not easy being a father. It takes work and constant practice, knowing that everything you do and say becomes magnified by your children. I hope one day Charlotte wants to hear from me how proud I am of her. Just like I hear from my father. I hope she talks to me every day just as Shelby does with her father. I have some pretty big shoes to fill.

Bedhead

This is an actual picture of Charlottes hair in the morning. No gel. No hairspray. No mousse (do they still make mousse?) Just pure bedhead.






We did lose power on Monday night. Mom and dad were in bed watching tv when the room suddenly turned black. Dad smiled. Finally he would get his chance to fire up the generator! The plan was to throw some warm clothes on and sleep through the night. In the morning he would get the fireplace going and then play with the generator. He was so excited.

Around 2am mom and dad woke to the lights and television suddenly flashing on. Dad was upset. The power was back. He still fired up the generator Tuesday night just to make sure it was ready to go. It worked. He was happy.

Below photos from WMUR.

Weekend of Nothing

Our weekend was spent doing a lot of nothing and loving every moment. Charlotte was feeling much better and seems to be fine. Her molars are coming in so her gums and mouth hurts....causing excessive drooling. At times she looks like a St. Bernard, long lines of saliva pouring out of the corners of her mouth. Dad thinks it is cute.

Applying Baby Oral Gel to her gums has become some what challenging. Her front teeth are very sharp and her mouth suddenly has super human strength, clamping down on your finger with what feels like 100lbs of pressure. Usually dad tortures her until she starts crying and wailing. When that mouth is wide open screaming, in goes the finger covered in Oral Gel, swabbing the numbing lotion all over her swollen gums. She hates it but it works wonders.

Sunday Charlotte got to play over at Paul and Jena's house while dad enjoyed watching football with the guys. We played zone coverage. Mom covering the kitchen. Dad covering the living room. It was nice because we both only had to watch her half of the time. She would run into one room....play.....then run back to the other room. We highly recommend zone coverage over man-to-baby coverage.



Today we got an ice storm but still managed to have power. Dad was secretly hoping the power would go out so he could fire up the generator for the first time. It didn't happen. All of the streets leading into town had no power....but the town center itself (where we live) has all of its lights. Figures he buys a generator because the power kept going out and the power is now suddenly super reliable.