Catch up time!!! (This is for Sue)

So it's been brought to my attention that I have been a very bad blogger lately. So here is a long catch up on what has gone on with us over the last few months.

As most people know, we got a "new" used car on December 31st. We had been looking at minivans for a while and had decided against it until we paid some of our other bills off. In November we started having problems with the anti-theft system in my car, this was about a week before the warranty was out. The dealership was unable to fix it because it was an inactive problem, so the diagnostic would not work, but promised me that when it went out, no matter when, they would fix it under warranty since the problem had been logged before the warranty was out. I was pretty happy with the dealership on this, even though they told me that when it finally went out, the car would probably not start, so it would have to be towed to the dealership. I kept imagining myself stuck somewhere with both kids and no car, but this I was willing to put up with because of the words "under warranty". Then at the beginning of December, Jeff and I noticed that the car would only blow warm air when it was moving. Stop at a stoplight and it was blowing cold air...great, now it is not under warranty. Jeff called the dealership in Anna and they said it would take about 30 minutes to fix, just call when we could bring it down. So I took it upon myself to call Koenig and see if they could fix my problem. When I called and told them what the issue was the man immediately said, "so you have an impala", why yes, yes I do! So he told me to bring it in on Saturday. When I asked if it was a recall he said that it was just a bulletin, meaning GM was aware of the problem and letting the mechanics know how to fix it. He then said, "well its still under warranty isn't it?" Nope, just out of warranty. So he told me not to worry about it and bring it in on Saturday, they would fix it free. This is where I say WOW!!! I didn't even buy the car there and they still fixed it for free! So a couple of days after they fixed the car, we found out a bearing was going out in the front end...seriously???? The car is only 3 years old!!! So Jeff and I made the decision to start looking. On Brayden's 2 year birthday we traveled to the Ford lot to look (we have been very pleased with our F150 and my Ranger before that), we found a Taurus X there and liked it a lot, but could not afford a brand new one. So our salesman told us he would look at the auctions on Monday to see if he could find one that fit our specifications. He did, down to the color. So that is why I am now driving a new vehicle, we even lowered our payment! The only thing I miss is my sunroof, oh well! Ready for more???

Leila and Taylor (our friend's daughter) started ballet/tap class in February. She really seems to be enjoying it and I love to watch the girls dance. I try not to be "that" mom, you know, the annoying one who is constantly telling her child how to do it better? I do however think I am a little of the "other" mom who thinks her daughter is wonderful and perfect and (awful, I admit) one of the best ones out there. I guess that's part of being a mom. :)

Leila Jean stayed the night with the Petereins for the first time a couple of weekends ago. She was begging them to go and we kept trying to postpone until they had their kids, but she begged "Aunt Steph" and "Uncle Scott" and they said yes! Scott and Leila played XBox together, they all watched Annie together, and when it came to bedtime, Leila claimed she was scared of her room so she kicked Scott out of his bed and slept with Steph! They took her to church the next morning and I met them there. She didn't want to go back home with me!

Leila celebrated her 5th Birthday last Monday. We had a McDonalds party for her and her classmates and friends on Saturday before Easter. Thank God thats over! I can't believe she is already 5! Where does the time go? She is an amazing little girl. We are so blessed! She has picked up a bad habit of inventing illnesses, though. She tries to get out of school by saying her ears hurt, or her stomach hurts and we know she's lying. I honestly don't know what to do about it. I've tried the "Little boy who cried wolf" story, it hasn't worked yet.

We spent Easter this year at home. We usually travel to Jeff's parents' house, but Jeff decided this year that we would stay home and cook our meal here. Originally I was supposed to sing in the choir at church, but that kind of fell apart, and my mom gets the short end of the stick when it comes to family holidays. Usually we go to Dean and Nancy's for lunch and then barely make it home for dinner, then we are usually too full to eat much. My mom really enjoys cooking the meals, but there really isn't any reason. The last few years she has spent holidays with the Gordons (friends so close they're family) and then I usually meet her there later and take her home in the evening. So this year Jeff invited his family to our house, but because of Grandpa's walker they decided that the stairs into our house would be too much and still had Easter there. We missed spending time with Jeff's family, but it was really nice to go to 10:30 mass with Leila and then be leisurely all day until we cooked. I felt bad for Dean, though, we told him we would start bringing Grandpa and Grandma up to their house on holidays now that our car is big enough, and then we didn't go. So Dean drove all the way here, picked them up, drove back and then had to drive them home again at the end of the day. That's 3 hours of driving altogether! Too bad we don't have a house with less stairs!

Tomorrow Dean, Jeff, and I are going to pull the carpet up in our living/dining room. We know we have hardwood underneath, we're just hoping its in good shape! Next week my Aunt Margaret (AKA Aunt NeNe) is coming for a visit. We are all so excited to see her! So that catches everyone up! Sorry for my neglect!