Road Trippin'

Ten years ago I took a very important test that would forever change the rest of my life. Yep, a pregnancy test. I found out I was pregnant and like a lot of women do when they find out they are having a baby, they hop online, join a forum, and bond with other preggo ladies who are going through the same thing I am.

Ten years ago, I gained the most amazing group of friends (family really) who were all due within a month of me - some of them with their first, like me, some of them with their last, some of them with children already and would go on to have more children. Women from the US, women from Canada, and even one super rad chick from Australia! Some women were stay at home moms, some were working moms, some were single, some were married, some were teens, some were ten years older than me. Some of these were straight, some were gay. Some were Christians, other atheists. Some of these amazing ladies cloth diapered while others used disposables. You get my point - we were all incredibly different but brought together by one thing in common - we were all due in March of 2008 (give or take).

In 2009, I was able to meet one of my favorite chick's from our group in person - Gracie. We flew to Las Vegas for my younger brother's wedding and had the chance to meet up for an afternoon with our then 14 month old toddlers. It was such a fun time and because of Gracie, one of my favorite places to eat is The Cheesecake Factory. Unfortunately, nary a TCF to be found here in West Michigan. We still talk on a regular basis and trust each other and love each other.

Then, in 2013, our very first March 08 Meetup was planned. We spent a few days together in Cave City, KY, at Jellystone Campgrounds. It was our biggest turnout and despite so many mishaps on my part, it was such an amazing experience that changed us from "online friends" to just "friends." Our March 08ers were five and I don't know about the other Marchies, but Timmy (and Natalie and Sammy) still talk about that trip.

Timmy and Elliot met in person for the first time. Just today I had to remind Timmy that he didn't have to yell as he Face-Timed with his KY BFF. 

This chick right here, she ROCKS. Christy is seriously one of the best friends anyone could ask for. She goes above and beyond for everyone and NEVER STOPS. And I'm clearly not entertained by having my picture taken. 

Natalie doesn't have a sister, but she has this amazing group of girls call sisters. She cannot wait to see Kaylee, Sadie, and Jo (especially Jo) again. 

During the first trip, I managed to back my sister's van into a tree, Natalie impaled her face on a firepit (stuck her teeth through her lips - she forever has a massage scar to remind us of this trip), Timmy nearly gave himself a concussion by tripping on the tent and nailing his forehead on a stake, and Sam stole everyone's marshmallows and apples. Also, he wouldn't leave Christy's fan alone. He turned two during this trip. This is how long the obsession has lasted, friends. 

In 2014, we met up at a Jellystone in southern Indiana. It was a smaller group, but a very memorable group. Christy's friend Jen and her two adorable little girls joined us and Christy made friends with a raccoon. Wait, did I say friends? I mean mortal enemies. Natalie threw a 45 minute long tantrum because a big spider was being eaten by an even bigger spider and someone then killed both of the spiders. This was just NOT okay. Some jerk kid called Sammy (three) a crybaby and the kids still say he was being bullied (ha!). 

Look at this awesome group of kids! Celebrating the 4th in style!

Jo & Nat - they are sooooo stinkin' cute together! 

Timmy and Elliot making campfire pizzas

In 2015, we changed it up a bit, which was a bad choice. Oh, Lordy, Jesus Junction. We stayed at what was advertised to be an amazing setup complete with a lake for fishing (basically a cesspool) and all sorts of other fun things like hundreds of millipedes in your rooms, fans that you had to assemble yourself (because no AC like advertised), and a tarp versus a slip and slide that was supposed to be available. But, despite the crappy situaish, this was still a great trip because we got to see our people. And hey, my husband came to the meetup for the first time ever! Now he knows my friends aren't imaginary! 

Timmy, now seven, was moody as hell. He spent an entire day moping about while wearing this awesome get up.

And of course, me surrounded by kids. This is my life.

Nat and Joey Bear (that I may have paid $5 for her to snuggle with me)

The crew ready to play at the "slid and slide"

Nat and Addie - Tim and Nat finally realized that they aren't all actually cousins. They had figured up until this point that we were just getting together with family that lives far away. That works. 

Last year we didn't do an official meetup - but I have spent time with my March 08 family many times between then and now. In November 2015, my "wifey" Carol and I met up in Gary, IN, to drive down to Louisville together to stay with Christy for a few days. When my family went down south for spring break a couple years ago, we stayed at Christy's house overnight on the way back to break up the trip. This February, Chris and I went down to celebrate Christy's husband's 40th birthday with them. Over spring break, the kids and I picked up a puppy here in Michigan and drove it down to Indiana where we met up with Carol and Christy to transfer the pup to a friend of Christy's son. 

These ladies aren't just online friends. They are my best friends and we literally spend all year trying to come up with ways to get together. I am so excited to head down to Kentucky and stay at Jellystone again with Carol, Christy, and Jen. I wish so much that more of our March 08 family could join us, and hopefully sometime in the not so far future, it'll happen. 

Jesus Junction...(plus Heady, who is a poo and not coming this year! I need someone to be doopy with me while Carol and Christy look all cute!)

Blog Revival!

I've had numerous blogs in the past, since about 2003. Some of my former blogs were Adventures in Cavaland, Supertramp, Jazzy and the Chicken Coop....

Okay, so most of my blog names have been really off the wall and random, but hey, that's me. Well, a week ago a great online friend of mine, who also happens to be my kids' Internet Godmommy (Hi, Kristine!) decided it was time to start up blogging again! In a world where Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter rule, actually writing out our feelings, whether in long form or short, seems to have gone by the wayside. A lot of times my blog entries were like diary entries - here is what I did today and what I ate and who I talked to but sometimes my entries were actually meaningful and heartfelt. That's what blogging is all about. You can post anything on your blog! Wanna write a timeline of your events from the last week? Do it! Wanna write about that time when you were ten and got so embarrassed because you felt awkward in front of your first real crush? Do it! Facebook isn't about that. Facebook is all about the 'hey guys my toddler just took a crap on the toilet for the first time, look in the comments, there's a pic to prove it!'

I've never photographed my child's poo, just for the record. But Beth did once. Ewww. Pretty sure it was Maddy who smeared (my least fave word ever btw) poo all over her crib and Beth was totally that mom that posted about it. But, in Beth's defense, that was pretty epic and I didn't envy that clean up job at all. I did, however, post about the time I puked on top of puke and had to clean up all the puke while Timmy watched and commented about how I was pooping out my mouth. Pregnancy rules, by the way.

Anyway, Kristine suggested we post an update for all us old-schoolers, so here it is. For those that don't remember me from back in the SPF days, my name is Liza. I'm currently 36 and I live in West Michigan. Back in the SPF days I was single, then dating Chris, then engaged to Chris, and eventually married Chris. Now, I'm ten years married to Chris and we have three fantastically insane children - Timmy is nine, Natalie is seven, and Sammy is six. They are all wildly creative and horrifically gross and funny at the same time. I am a SAHM but plan to find a part time job once the school year starts. I am terrified. I have not had a job outside of this house (not counting the several years I did childcare at LaGrave CRC because that never felt like a job - that felt like going to church and entertaining children for a couple hours each week) since before Timmy was born. I don't have a degree and my former jobs and/or employers are nonexistent in my life. I suppose working as a panhandler could be an option, but I don't like people looking at me while I roast in the sun attempting to make the most feeble attempts of actually being in need. (Sorry, that might've been a bit mean)

Chris works for a pretty awesome place where he is the program coordinator in the refugee resettlement program. He's worked there since he was like four. Of course, Trump is trying to screw us all over in that area. Sigh. Timmy, going into 4th grade, is my athlete. He excels in soccer and cross country and also won the math award for his class in 3rd grade. Natalie is my reader and writer and won both awards for her class in 2nd grade and is heading into 3rd this fall. She's also pretty athletic herself and ran cross country and did great despite being smaller than everyone else in the race. She also loves basketball and soccer. Sammy is my Fan Man. He is six and going into 1st grade this fall and is all about science and math. He is super funny and really clever. We also have a snake, Lennon Fitness. We've had him since February 13, 2015. He's a ball python and super snuggly, I swear.

So...that's the basics. You can read in my blog from the last few years about anything else random and as I get back into this blogging thing, you'll get to know us all a bit better then.

PEACE!

Just Kinda Wanted To Write

Sometimes I get in the mood where I wanna write whether or not anyone reads. I wanna remember what was going on in my life and be able to look back on it. A couple weeks ago my friend Shirley and I went out for coffee after drop off and we laughed and laughed as I reminisced about some of my entries from when my kids were babies/toddlers. Sadly, it was all puke related...why do I write so much about puke? Such is the life of a mom, I guess. Shirley is a writer too. I like that about her and I feel like it's one way we can connect.

So...what's been going on lately...

The kids are getting older. Duh. Timmy is in third grade now, Natalie in second, and Sammy in kindy. All three of my kids are super smart (and I know I'm biased, but they really are!) but sometimes they are way too much to handle. Timmy is incredibly defiant at times while Natalie is highly emotional. Sammy is a mix of the two and can be very clingy which makes drop off difficult sometimes. Today he did great though and didn't even have to say goodbye to me. Breanna and I watched from a distance as he lined up and went in all on his own. I guess from now on the trick is to just ignore the kid.

Lately I've been dealing with a lot of health issues...again. Story of my life, right? The major issue has been my back. The discs in my back have been bulging out in so many words. I've been going to PT for a few weeks and it helps, but not long term. I've been on my feet most of the last few days and I'm definitely paying for it now with pain shooting down both of my legs and the inability to stand up straight. I truly don't think anyone can understand how horrid back pain is until experiencing issues like this, sciatica, and SI Joint pain. I was in the ER 3 times in one week because of this pain. I have a pretty high pain tolerance after experiencing appendicitis, gall bladder attacks, kidney infections, a PE, and three labors and deliveries (thankfully medicated so the pain wasn't TOO bad...) but this pain has had me in tears and wishing I could be put down like a horse with a broken leg. I feel like an old lady some days and hate that people might think I'm being dramatic but like I said, until you've experienced it...

In other news, today was picture day. Sammy has taken after both of his grandfathers and his Uncle Nick with what I call "Chandleritis" - kid smiles so adorably when his picture is NOT being taken, but ask him to smile for a picture and you get a hot mess. Natalie looked so pretty like always though I wish her loose front tooth would've fallen out before her picture. Timmy battled us on wearing a nice shirt but in the end we compromised with him wearing it ONLY for the picture and letting him wear a t-shirt the rest of the day.

Soooo....that's about it for now. I know, super boring, but eh whatevs. Mom life isn't always exciting. Sometimes it's monotony and humdrum boredom.

Storms

It's been awhile, yet again, since I've posted. Today I'm just going to write about some randomness and that randomness is about storms.

I'm not going to be all sorts of metaphorical and talk about "storms in life." I'm talking about real storms - storms with streaking lightning and booming thunder and pelting rain. Storms that can be so full of electricity that the hair on your arms will stand up. Storms that are so windy your gas permeable lenses are almost pulled from your eyes.

Ever since I can remember, I have always loved storms. While most people dread seeing storms in the forecast, I get excited. I have skipped more than one meal because WoodTV8 has interrupted our regularly scheduled programming to bring us a weather alert and I become glued to the TV like it's the Super Bowl.

I remember being as young as three or four years old and my older brother Tony and I would be sitting on our enclosed front porch with the main door open and peering through the screen door, past the bus garage and football field, and into a darkened sky filled with lightning. My mom told us that the thunder was just Smurfs bowling. I told Timmy that once and he blinked his eyes at me like I had lost my ever-loving mind.

As Tony and I got older, we would take the stools from the counter and sit in the studio (basically just a back room in our house, but we dubbed it the studio because when my Dad and Mom were still married, that is where my dad had his music studio) and stare out the big window with the broken window sill (broken because my dad had taken a broom and tried to kill a wily and elusive bat that had made it inside our home and instead of hitting the bat, hit the sill instead) and gaze across "the back 40" (our nickname for the backyard) and watch storms roll in from the west. By the way, I am aware that that sentence is quite long and confusing, possibly a run on sentence. I'm okay with that.

Not everyone is like me, though. My little (but bigger than me) brother was a little more on the anxious side when storms rolled through. The only reason this entire blog post came to mind was because I watch my kids together and they fight so horribly now. They can be so mean to each other and everyone says it's normal and it's sibling rivalry. For me, it just wasn't ever that way. I rarely ever fought with my brothers. They were my best friends. My sister and I never really fought, but she is also much older than I am and was out of the house by the time I was nine. I was super close to my brothers (I'm closest to my sister now that we are adults though!) and we truly never fought. I don't know if it's just because we were spaced out enough in age to not always be in each others' business or if it is because I only saw them a few times a month because of our various custody schedules. Either way, any time my little brother and I would even start to fight, we would be immediately say 'fake fight!' and then we'd hug and go back to being best friends.

Like I said, my little brother wasn't a big fan of storms when we were young. There is one very specific memory I have from when we were about 8 and 11ish and we had a pretty strong storm rolling through during the evening. I think only me and my brothers were home at the time and there was a lot of thunder and lightning going on. We were watching TV and I was sitting in one of the recliners. At one point there was a clap of thunder that shook the house and my little brother squished himself into the recliner next to me. I put my arm around him to keep him safe and we sat like that until the storm passed.

There truly wasn't much more time after that when my little brother surpassed me in height and our roles reversed - he became the one that protected me from boys and jerks and bullies. Even now he stands nearly a foot taller than me and even though we don't see each other that much anymore, he still takes care of me.

As for my big brother, we are still pretty much the same person. We share almost all of the same loves whether it is our love of storms or our interests in conspiracy theories or our taste for music and movies.

I don't really know why I felt compelled to write this, but I'm glad I did. I should do this more often.

Top of the World

This isn't going to be a typical post for my blog. It doesn't have anything to do with my kids, anxiety, funny things that have happened, a birthday post, etc.

This blog post is dedicated to my cousin-sister who is getting married today. Let me tell you, sitting down to write this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I don't know if it's because I'm so beyond happy for her or because I'm super sick and can't make it to the wedding that I'm sitting here a weepy mess as I go through the last 20 years of memories.

I met my cousin Alicia when I was not quite 15. She was...8? I don't even remember exactly. We weren't technically cousins, and even now, we aren't related by blood - but we are by love. Her mom was dating my step-uncle and we met because I would become her babysitter (along with her little brother..dang jacob was a handful! I do remember threatening to hot glue his head to the garage door :/ HA. He's grown up to be a very funny, handsome man who got married recently himself!). I seriously wonder if Aunt Julie regrets ever asking me to babysit knowing the things I would teach her during those years, ha!

So many memories. Ish is pretty lucky that I don't have many old school pics of us from our younger days - our crazy styled 90s hair, big ugly glasses...yikes! But we have been through so much together. Her devastating car accident that left her with a broken back. I remember running home from school to celebrate with her when she got her back brace off. We broke hammocks together, I made her laugh til she puked...TWICE...we danced in the rain (or storms maybe) had some amazing days camping and fishing together, walking home in negative temperatures and saluting cars as they drove by...dancing and singing for hours on end. Slumber parties, late night movie fests...I came home early from homecoming so I could spend my time with her my senior year. She was truly the little sister I never had and always wanted.

Brent, I have yet to meet you in person, but I know you must be some kinda awesome if Alicia chose you to be her husband for always. I know I don't have to say it, but I am just kinda throwing it out there...treat my girl well. Love her always, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, and never question the strange relationship she has with me and our weird love of The Carpenters.

Speaking of...I guess it's time for me to pass this on. Alicia, this can no longer be one of our songs. One of my gifts to you is simply this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANZ1sUwg_Fg

BUT this is still ours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDPMmaHWj1I

There are so many more memories that I didn't mention (like actually singing that song together at the Ionia theater, when you got me hooked up with my first "real" phone haha...I named it Burt...your snuggles with my babies...dancing with you at my wedding...I wish I could be there to dance with you at yours...) and I wish I had pictures for each memory to share but really no one really would understand how awesome we are anyway.

I love you and I am over the moon for you. You make me proud. My kids are questioning why I'm listening to the Carpenters and sobbing while I type. You'd think they'd be used to this by now.

Hey look, I found a couple pics :D

Remember when blogging was cool?

Ten years ago blogs were it. Myspace was a new fangled idea, and Facebook wouldn't be too far behind. Once we had a way to stay connected in an easier set up, blogs (at least mine and the blog friends I had then) became less of a thing and more of an afterthought. But before Myspace and Facebook, we had blogs. I made so many wonderful blogger friends, a few of whom I am still in touch with today. Yesterday, one of those friends (hi Christie!) posted on FB (for shame ;) ) that she had made a new blog entry. I went over to her page and found an entry from ten years ago...one that I had commented on. It was a blog entry about how she had a "feud" with another blogger. I read through the comments and saw comments from all of those old blog friends - some that I still talk to regularly (like Beth, who happens to be one of those special IN REAL LIFE blog friends, ha, and her sister) and those that I had totally forgotten about. I also saw comments from someone who I actually ended up not only meeting in person, but we totally made jello shots and went camping together. It made me feel nostalgic for the time when we'd have to actually make an effort to not only read what was going on with someone, but comment on their post. And then have to actually search for the next blog, or click over on your own sidebar. I remember finding new blogger friends just by clicking "next blog" on the top bar.

Now it seems blogging is only reserved for those very special people, like those awesome moms who are not only funny, but somehow have built a following by writing about controversial things or because they swear a lot and saying f&*k is hilarious! I miss when every Thursday we were all coming up with our list of Thirteen things and linking ourselves to that host blog and visiting all sorts of other blogs to read their lists. I remember sitting and waiting for just ONE COMMENT and feeling so proud when someone would come and say my list was awesome. I remember scrambling around on Thursday nights to find the three items we needed to post for Stuff Portrait Friday (which STILL EXISTS, btw, but on FB - Hi Kristine!) and spending my entire Friday checking out everyone else's pictures that may be as simple as something green or as complex as "what makes you want to punch someone in the gut while jabbing them in the eye with your keys" (which I kinda just came up with. This should so be something we need to post, btw).

This is not my original blog. It's not even my second or third blog. Blogs I've had in the past were titled things like "Supertramp" "Something Beautiful" "Jazzy and the Chicken Coop" (my particular fave). I honestly don't remember the name of my first blog, but it has been gone for a very long time. That one focused on poker and drinking. Who did I play poker with? Ryan? Tom? Chris? Who did I beat? What did each person drink? How late did we stay out? What did SHE wear? I was unmarried(though still with Chris) and obviously had no kids.

My blogs followed my journey with THE HOLE, new jobs, vacations, my engagement, my wedding, married life, a new house, my pets, and my pregnancies (which are mostly on this blog, as least Sam and Nat's are). I also wrote about some very personal things like my relationship with my mom, my health struggles, depression and my break up with Paxil, the death of a good friend and teacher, and all sorts of other things.

So where I am now? I'd like to think I'll keep this up, but if you go back to the new year for the last four years, you'll see a similar post to this. I never keep up. But like I say each time, I'm gonna try. Blogs should be back. Facebook usually consists of posts about what someone had for dinner or how their kid made the honor roll. I miss reading REAL THOUGHT OUT FEELINGS from my friends. I don't give a crap if you write like an intelligible person or if you type like me or write like me, like I barely passed fifth grade. I just like reading about what makes people tick. I like finding common ground with others. I like what makes us different. I learn so much from other people when I find things we don't have in common.

Anyway...It's nearly 2pm...I've got to pick my big kids up from school in a bit, but in the mean time I'm going to listen to music and snuggle with my littlest stink.

By the way, I'm ending this blog entry while listening to "From Now On" by Supertramp. Touche, blog gods, touché.

Saying Goodbye

Death is such a hard concept to understand for anyone, let alone a preschooler, so the fact that my kids have had to say goodbye to not just one but two people they were very close to this year is too much for this momma to take.

Back in the spring, Chris's Grandpa passed away. Great Grandpa Joe was nearly 90 and we loved him dearly. The kids spent a few times each month being able to see him during our regular Sunday dinners with the family. He was always so funny - all the kids were boys and were mostly referred to as "little shavers" "tykes" and things like that. When he passed away the kids hadn't ever had to deal with death before. They were with us every step of the way during the grieving process, visitation, and funeral. They asked a lot of great questions and were now aware that life doesn't go on forever, at least not here on Earth. 

The kids spent the next few months talking about death and dying. The questions they would ask made them seem much older than their two and four year old selves. They weren't innocent anymore; they were now understanding things that a lot of adults have never even had to deal with yet. Natalie, especially, had grown an almost macabre obession with death. In Samuel's Childrens' Bible, she found the story about Jesus dying on the cross and asked us to read this to her every day, sometimes more than once. 

On this particular July afternoon, Natalie got very serious and asked me why Jesus was crying. I explained that he was sad because his friends betrayed him and he had to die on the cross to save us from our sins. She got really upset that her Baby Jesus died so I tried to explain that one day we would get to meet Him when we died. I guess this was the wrong thing to say because my precious two year old burst into tears and started sobbing, "But, I don't wanna die!" 

After awhile their obsessions passed and they were back to being happy preschoolers. Now three, Natalie was able to start going to preschool as well. She already knew the teachers from all of the mornings we'd pick Timmy up from school the year before. She was so excited to go and fell in love with the teachers and made a lot of new friends. She and Timmy are both doing great in school this year. 

Sadly, this afternoon we received the devastating news that their beloved teacher, Mrs. Blanksma, passed away this morning. I was in complete shock and had no idea how to react. At the time I not only had my two kids, but two of their friends were over as well who were also in their preschool classes and knew and loved Mrs. Blanksma. It wasn't my place to tell my friend's kids about their teacher passing, so we had to make a lot of fun this afternoon. We watched a movie, played the Wii, ate a yummy snack, and took a drive out to a covered bridge to play for awhile. 

This evening after I dropped their friends off, we sat down to tell Tim and Nat about their teacher. I explained that this morning Mrs. Blanksma went to Heaven. Timmy said, "You mean she died?" He was getting teary. Chris and I were both tearing up too - it's never easy to lose someone you love - especially someone who plays such an important role in your children's lives. I explained that her heart had gotten sick and stopped working but that she was now in Heaven with Great Grandpa and they were friends and weren't lonely. When I tried to explain to Natalie that Mrs. Blanksma wasn't going to be at preschool anymore, Timmy got upset and said, "But I want her to come back!" This is when I lost it. In fact, I'm almost crying again just typing this up. Natalie, of course being the little comic relief, said, "Can we have her hamster?"

The kids took it in, were quiet for a few minutes and then were on their way. I wish adults could be that resilient. I'm still reeling from the news. Mrs. Blanksma will be missed by everyone who was ever able to know her. She was an amazing woman, teacher, and friend. I will miss being able to send her a quick email just to find out how the kids were doing at school. She always had a lot of great advice for me, especially when struggling with what to do with certain behaviors the kids were displaying. She was always happy to chat about anything from Jimmy's Grill to the Grand Lady Riverboat to what the kids had for snack that day at school. She always made sure her students and their families were taken care of and I will miss seeing her every day and I know the kids will too. I am just so grateful that the other teachers at the school are just as wonderful and caring as Mrs. Blanksma was. I know that they will carry on the traditions and will always take the time to care about their students. 

Now, please, let my kids have a break from having to say goodbye to the people they love. They are three and four and need to be kids - not young adults learning life lessons. 

Puzzles

My Grama C (aka Grma Shorty, Grama Graham Cracker, Grammy) passed away in September 2006. It was a tough time for my family, and the fact that she didn't want a service made it harder for us to get closure. It was something we all had to figure out how to do on our own.

I decided that I would celebrate my Gram's life by buying a special puzzle and putting it together in her honor. It was something we loved to do together. In fact, there were several things that were special in our family. I'm sure they're all pretty generic in peoples' lives, but for the sake of my story, I'm making it feel like it's special for us.

First, besides jigsaw puzzles, there's Penny Press. My mom and I both LOVE to do these books. She orders boxes of these puzzle books and splits them up for us and we sit and do crosswords and all sorts of other word puzzles. My sister and brother both like to do these books too and enjoy soduko puzzles. Is it soduko? Sudoku? I don't remember, but you know what I mean.

Then there's Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Every night you could find my Grama watching these shows. Even now my husband and I record Jeopardy every night and watch every episode. I think I'm getting smarter from watching it. I'm also finding that there are some really dorky people in the world and they chose to tell their stories on this show. Seriously, no one gives a crap if you have twelve cats and one's name is - get this - FLUFFY!

The main thing that is special between my Gram and me was a simple little card game that I invented when I was four. It was called, "If you get a two you win." It was really easy. Basically, the first person to have a two dealt to them won. My grammy would play this with me for hours on end, ever patient with the hyper four year old that I was.

She was something special and on quiet afternoons I find myself thinking about her. I think it's about time I pick out a puzzle and put it together. Now if only I can keep my kids from eating the pieces.