Preparations have begun!

Well, the day is finally here. Kendall turns 5 tomorrow, and I can't believe it. So preparations are underway for a weekend of celebration. She had her preschool celebration yesterday, for which we made special cookies and fun goody bags. AND, from what I understand, she even got to wear a crown and be the leader all day! What fun to be little again...

So tomorrow is the party for her friends. We are having it at Galaxy Games and Golf, which will be great for the kids since they have a 3 story play gym. Yep, 3-story play gym + 10 kids = BIG TIME FUN. Cupcakes and presents afterward, and then her three cousins come to our house for a sleepover. I have no doubt they will be WILD! Then all of the grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. are coming for lunch, cake and ice cream on Sunday. We should all be partied out by 6:00 pm on Sunday night. I should have some good pictures to post on Monday!

But for now, I must get to picking up the house and getting ready for company. Tonight Barry and I are going to pick up the new bike we are getting Kendall for her birthday and then off to pick up the groceries for the Sunday lunch. I know, it sounds like a rockin' good Friday night! Tee Hee! But we will have fun, as always. Until then....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENDALL! WE LOVE YOU!

AAACHOOO!

So we all have colds.
Not just one of us, but all four of us.
Yep, watery eyes, sore throats, froggy voices, and snotty noses. It's just one big party here at the Kuck house. And to top it all off, Noah is getting another tooth, so of course he is miserable. The poor boy is just coming off getting his first tooth last week, and to be honest I just think he's done with the whole thing. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING will make him happy right now. He didn't even really enjoy his bath tonight, which is ALWAYS the highlight of his evening. Let's hope that he can sleep decently tonight...or maybe I should say what I really want to say....Let's hope we ALL get some decent sleep tonight! So far the kiddos are in dreamland, and I am soon to follow. After I have a cup of tea to soothe my yucky throat....

"You can deprive the body,
but the soul needs chocolate."

I Love Chocolate.

I mean, I LOVE CHOCOLATE!

It is an unconditional love, not unlike the love I feel for Barry and the kids, and ice cream. Sad, but true nonetheless. I have become a chocolate snob, too. Hersheys just doesn't get it anymore (My current favorite is Dove dark Promises). Since that is the case, I am always on the lookout for the best chocolates, and of course the healthiest options as well. I get an email newsletter from Dr. Mercola at www.mercola.com that contains updates about healthy alternatives and warnings about things that are not acutally as healthy as advertised. Anyway, not long ago, he featured an article on this specific brand of chocolate and how healthy dark chocolate can actually be, especially if you can get it as unprocessed as possible. It is loaded with antioxidants...and that was enough to get me to try it. So, I found it at Whole Foods Market. It is called Dagoba Organic Chocolate (for $2.49 a bar), and I tried the chai flavor. Wow! I must say I was impressed! Healthy chocolate that tastes good too...what more can a girl ask for?

Maybe a lower price...but you can't have everything, can you?

SHE DID IT!!!

So, two weeks ago my daughter had a dentist appointment. Just a regular cleaning and check-up, mind you, but there is always the issue of the thumbsucking. You see, Kendall loves her thumb. The love affair began when she was only a week or so old, and has only gotten more intense over the years. She took to sucking her thumb while holding her "two-one" (her beloved yellow chenille blanket) up by her face. The "two-one" eventually became the "three-one" when it fell apart and had to be replaced. I was bound and determined not to see a "four-one", as she is getting ready to turn five and really should be kicking the habit.

So, on to the dentist appointment. Dr. JoJo told Kendall that she really MUST stop sucking her thumb because she doesn't want her big teeth to come in crooked. (Neither do Mama and Daddy!) But then she said the thing that made all the differnce in the world....

"Kendall, when you quit sucking your thumb, you have Mommy bring you in and we have a special suprise for you up in the very top cupboard. Do you know what it is?"
"No......?"
"It's a TROPHY!"

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, was all it took. I am proud to say that she never picked up the "three-one" or sucked her thumb again. The remains of the "two-one" and the "three-one" are going into a pretty little box never to be seen again until her high school graduation. And of course, she now has her trophy that proudly proclaims " I DID IT!" on it.

The Virgin Post

Here it is world! My virgin foray into the blogging community! I have realized that it is virtually impossible to keep up with all of the people that I would like to, and it has even started to become a challenge to remember who I need to keep up with! My "so-called crazy life" is in full swing and I am on a quest to SIMPLIFY. How exactly does one accomplish that? Here is how it started....

My wonderful hubby Barry and I had a dream when we started talking of building a life together. That dream included getting out of the city, buying the perfect piece of property and building the home that we would live in for the rest of our lives. A home that would be the only home our kids knew growing up. A home that would be a safe and comfortable place for our friends and family, our kids and their friends, and our grandkids (0f course!). A place where everyone would want to visit...a place we could feel comfortable raising our kids.

Of course, that was an awfully tall order, especially when we weren't even married yet! So we kept that dream in the back of our minds until the time was right and everything fell into place. We ended up building a home in a development outside of Columbus as our first home. It was a cute little house, and we finished all of the home improvements that needed to be done. Barry and my dad built our deck, Barry finished the basement, and I painted all the rooms. We replaced cabinets and flooring in the kitchen. We became inseparable with the neighbors, Jon & Missy. But probably most importantly, that is the house that we brought our first-born daughter, Kendall, home to. Finally, it was time to get on with the dream. After all, we weren't getting any younger! ;-)

So we started hunting for property...and one day, out of the blue, Barry found and ad in the Sunday paper. We decided to go look at it, and lo and behold, we knew the minute we saw it that we were home. It was 18 acres of slightly rolling land with a treeline along the back a 1.5 acre pond to be put in. The good news was that it was only 15 minutes away from our other house, even though that also meant 15 minutes farther from work and the rest of life as we knew it. We didn't care. After much deliberation, we decided on a log home and got to work.

Now Barry is about the handiest guy to have around, because he can do just about anything... and if he doesn't know how, he'll figure it out. So he decided to be his own general contractor and do as much work as he could himself. The other important fact to know about him is that he likes to get a deal ... therefore saving money. Barry loves to work with money. He loves to find ways to save, ways to make money work for him, and most of all, he loves a deal. THAT, my friends, is a definite KUCK trait. It runs in the family, really and truly. Ask anyone who knows Gary, Bryon or Amy. My father-in-law Gary is the real deal. I don't think he ever pays full price for anything. Always looking to make a deal, and he always has a hook-up. Gotta love that....he's one of a kind! Ah, I digress....

So anyway, we decided on a log home and got rolling on it. We moved in on Memorial Day weekend 2004. We've planted trees and grass, done some landscaping, built a shed, and finished a room in the basement. It is our little piece of calm in a hectic world. Don't get me wrong, we have more than enough work to keep us busy here! We're planning on building the garage, and maybe the deck this spring/summer. There is never a dull moment, that's for sure! But we already have quite a few great memories here, probably the best being the birth of our new son, Noah, this past May. That has definitely been the highlight of our year!

So we're off to making our dream come true... A quieter, simpler, more grounded life. Do I know what I'm doing? Not all of the time. But I have some ideas. And this year starts off with planning my garden. A nice organic garden filled with my most favorite of veggies. Kendall loves to be outside and is really excited about the garden, and Noah will be running around by then as well, so we should have fun. Let me know if you have some ideas about my garden or ways to simplify...I'd love to hear them!