I've Been Tagged...

I've been tagged by Courtney at The Kocher's and Jenny at The Campbell's Blog.


So, here are the rules...
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post (or however many you want)
4. If you are tagged, just do it, and pass the tag along!!

I was tagged several days ago by Courtney and have honestly been putting it off. I'm having a hard time coming up with 6 random things about myself that I care to share. Here it goes...

1. I have a hard time saying "No" to anyone. I get myself caught up in all sorts of odd jobs because I simply cannot say no to save my life. I am way too nice at times. My Mom always used to tell me I needed to get a "backbone" and stand up for myself.

2. When I was 20ish...I can't remember my exact age, I got an illegal consumption when my friend was pulled over for having a tail light out on our way home from the Midway. I blew a .08 (if only I were 21) I had to go to a victim impact panel where they brought in people whose family members were killed by drunk drivers and people who were actually hit and paralyzed by drunk drivers. I will NEVER drive drunk...it's not worth it!

3. I am a procrastinator! (Mostly just with things that I don't want to do) I do the things that I want to in a timely fashion, the other things can wait. I work better (faster) under pressure.

4. I am not a neat freak...I sometimes wish I were. I'm not! There are much more important things to me than having a spotless house.

5. I love to play volleyball although it's been forever since I have. This is turning into a trip down memory lane. Do you want to hear something funny? I was a cheerleader from 5th-8th grade. It's a scary thought. Larry tells me that East Junior High had the ugliest cheerleaders. It's funny, he married one of them. I realize that statement really makes him sound like a jerk. He isn't...most of the time.

6. I confessed to my Mom and Dad last year that I, instead of my friend Kim who was nice enough to take the blame for me, had broken one of their rolling kitchen chairs back in high school (I graduated 13 years ago). Every time the chair was moved it was followed by "that damn Kim" for years, and years, and years! I felt really bad, but couldn't muster up the "backbone" I needed to bolt it out. I made the mistake of telling my sisters and from then on out the "damn Kim" chair was purposely brought up at every family function.

That was kind of fun after I got going. I have NEVER done that. You know the emails that you get where you're supposed to answer the questions and pass it on...I delete them. You should try it though if you haven't.

I'm going to tag some people that I don't believe have been tagged yet.

Megan, Lori, Kelly, Angie, Jodi, and Stephanie

A Trip to the Orchard!

Gavin and Maddox's classes took a trip to the Apple Orchard last week. In the Orchard's defense, Gavin's playgroup a couple years ago took a trip there and they really learned a lot and we had a great tour. This time not so much...the highlight was picking out 2 apples from a bag. I think it's all in the leader.

Gavin's class loading the bus
Maddox and his buddy

The apple police standing over the box making sure only 2 apples were taken per child. Just kidding!

Avery "Schnodder" as Maddox would say it.

Snack time at the park

Gavin and Rylin

One of my monkeys

Brotherly Love

On Saturday as Larry and I were working around the house the boys played great. We really didn't hear a peep out of them at all. No arguing, whining, nothing, we just had two boys who were playing great together. Then, all of a sudden, that changed. The two of them were calling each other babies, and fighting over toys, etc. So, Larry, being the great Dad that he is, decided to put them in time out together. Typically we keep them as far apart as possible. Not this morning, he had them sit and hug each other instead. It was humorous to say the least.

Gavin had to hug Maddox first. Maddox wasn't minding it at all. He likes his lovin'. Gavin's starting to show signs of being a little too "cool" for hugs and kisses. However, he's always got some for his Mom (at this point).

Getting situated...looks like they're having some fun with this!

It probably didn't teach them a thing...it made for some good memories though!

Mission Accomplished!

It all started 4 years ago when I was expecting Maddox and Mom and I went to look for material to make a quilt. Mom makes a baby quilt for all of her grandchildren. My children, of course, are extra special and got a pieced together quilt instead of the pre-printed ones (usually Precious Moments) I am completely kidding about that. The other kids probably didn't have the nerve to mention piecing a quilt together. All I know is that I found a pattern that I liked and we went from there. So, we ran across this "Oh So Soft" material and I absolutely fell in love with it. It is just that, Oh So Soft! Mom made a super cute quilt for Maddox and we, including everyone at our household loves it. I take that back, she even made two because we didn't know if I was having a boy or girl. So, she made one in pink/white and one in blue/white. Wow, I really must be a pain in the ass or spoiled and I'm pretty sure it's the second one!

So, when I found out that Kelly was having a baby girl I knew I had to make her one. Kelly has a "thing" for softness. She loves anything soft...and I think she does a "soft" test on most items around her house to make sure it's of a certain softness before purchasing it. (In a lot of cases, maybe not all) The problem: I don't sew, I don't quilt, so I call my Mom!

I look and look and look for material for this quilt. It's REALLY hard to find around here! I drove to St. Louis (our quick trip to the zoo day) where they had a fairly large selection, but I couldn't find anything to go with it. Most of the Oh so soft material that I had seen was in solid colors and in order to meet the softness code I wanted a couple flannels to match (like Maddox's) I had absolutely no luck. Luckily,I found a website that had a huge selection. I ordered the material and was anxious to get it started in order to have it done by the shower. There was really no reason to have it done by then, I just thought it would be nice to give it to her there. The baby doesn't get here for another couple months. Really, no reason to have it done. I think Mom knew that I had this small part of me that wanted to have it done.

Kelly's shower was on Saturday, Oct. 18th. Mom started it on Friday, Oct. 10th, 8 days before the shower. She was anxious to start it. She loves to do it. She started without me...I had hoped to really do most of it. In reality, this baby girl wouldn't have had a blanket until she was 5 or 10 at that rate. I think that Mom spent most of her days working on this quilt. I went to her house 4 or 5 times that week. I spent long hours there and she spent double what I did, maybe even triple the time. One day I made arrangements for my friend, Lori to pick Gavin up after school so that we didn't have to stop. Maddox and I ended up getting home around 9:30 or 10:00 that night. The quilt was done by Friday, Oct. 17. One week! Crazy! I think it turned out really cute and it is by far the softest blanket I have ever felt. Even softer than Maddox's because they now make really cute printed Oh So Soft material.

Mom's fancy set-up in the basement. She was having trouble with her sewing machine upstairs. Luckily she had Grandma Ritz's in the basement.
When I arrived to start the quilt...she had already pieced together all of the triangular shapes in the middle. Sneaky!

This is me helping! (Otherwise known as "Watching") This is extremely typical of Mom teaching me to do things, remember the chicken!I did cut the material for the outer edges! It was a hard job, but somebody had to do it. Really, it was a little difficult. This material isn't easy to work with.

Gavin watching Grandma!

Gavin and Maddox watching...we were hoping they could keep a secret.

Me quilting! Proof that I did help. Actually I did quilt half of it. It is super thick material, so it's not good starter material.

Showing off my thimble

The front of the quilt. It's pink and brown. It is larger than most baby quilts too. Mom had made Maddox's that way and it was a little big for when he was tiny, but he loves it now and uses it on a daily basis around here. If I ever want a blanket to cover up with, I grab it too!

The back is pink with the striped binding.

Whew, that was by far my longest post ever! I had to show off this quilt though. I'm pretty proud of it...and Mom you should be too (Thanks Cindy for all of your help too...she quilted one night with us and helped me pick out fabric) Thanks!

Pumpkin Painting!

On Friday the boys had a pumpkin decorating contest to participate in. There were a lot of students who decided to participate. Gavin and Maddox had fun painting their pumpkins and I was never so glad to be done. They, even Gavin, have no concept of keeping their fingers out of the paint. I understand that they're kids, but WOW! I have never seen such a mess in my life. I laid out newspapers on the dining room table so I wouldn't have to clean it. There was paint all over the table. It was fun though and we'll do it again next year. As Gavin says "It's our tradition!"

The beginning of "Frankenstein"
Gavin had a part in painting Maddox's caterpillar too. He painted the bottoms while Maddox was napping. The rest was up to Maddox.

We did add some stitches later...we forgot about them. Notice Frankenstein's teeth....that's where they had trouble staying out of the paint. I think we fixed them 3 times...the black was taking a while to dry, so I finally decided that Frankenstein was going to have a couple black teeth. Gavin didn't care at all, so neither did I.

All in all it was a fun project.

Happy Birthday Cindy!

Everyone at the Dorn household wants to send my sister Cindy lots of birthday wishes on her special day!

Maddox: I love Cindy because I like to play with the big ball in her basement...that's it!
Gavin: I love Cindy because she lets me borrow old toys from her house that I want to take home like that corn picker and huge wagon.

Christmas '04
Cindy and Gavin after she painted his room for him. He liked it...can you tell! Maddox gets to enjoy it now!

Canning tomato juice On the ride home from Elaine's. I can't remember why we went? I just know we stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home because Gavin has his rocket balloons in his hand.

Maddox's birthday party

Gavin....super excited about tee-peeing Cindy and Ervan! (last year)

Cindy teaching Maddox to "save" his money!

Gavin planting a petunia Cindy bought for him to plant at our house.

Cindy gave the boys a cute pot and some hen and chicks for their house

Water balloon fight!

I knew this photo would come in handy someday! Right longneck!

We hope you have a Happy Birthday! To one of the bestest aunts and sisters we have! She definitely has a love for our boys...well, kids in general. She loves to just talk to them...she has a certain way about her that causes kids to open up and share ALL sorts of info. Anyway, they love her, we love her and are glad to have her!

Love you!

Kelly's Been Showered!

Last Saturday we threw my sister-in law,Kelly, a shower at their house. She was lucky enough to receive lots of nice gifts from friends and family. I'd say they're all set for a while now.

Aunt Kay made a surprise visit!

Now all we need is a new baby girl!

Gavin aka Jesus

Last Wednesday it was the Kindergarten class's turn to lead the mass. All of the kids did a great job! It was their first time getting up in front of the whole school and speaking. Gavin was Jesus and the other two of his friends were the Pharisees. It was hard to hear them. His teacher left the portable microphone in the classroom.


It went something like this:


Pharisee 1: Jesus, we know you are honest and say the truth. You teach what God wants.
Pharisee 2: Does God's law say it is right to pay taxes to Caesar?

Jesus: Show me the coin to pay for the taxes.

Jesus: If you have this coin, you must pay the taxes. Whose face is on the coin?


Pharisees: Caesar's

Jesus: Give to Caesar what is Caesar's. Give to God what is God's.

If you look beyond his obsession with the sleeve of his gown (I'm glad Riley did too!) he did a great job...as I said before they all did!

Here Father Jerry was asking them about when Jesus' birthday was. Gavin acted like he didn't know. I was surprised. After Mom made a birthday cake for Jesus a couple years ago at Christmas...and we discussed it last Christmas. I guess he thought the birthday cake was just for him to stick his face in. Gavin's fan club
Gavin's class

They had donuts and juice after mass today for donating LOTS of pennies for Guatemala. Maddox didn't have school today, but everyone was invited that attended mass. He hopped right in and sat with Patton and his big buddies.

Maddox and my nephew, Blake high-fiving