La Noche de Las Brujas

And so I guess we have a headless horseman, a vampire, mad scientist, and batman. Quite a show, eh? Do you see Gavin's free-with-pumpkin cardboard mask? He drew spiders on the areas where it was ripped so it would be less noticeable. Genius!

Lego Land!

We had so much fun seeing you guys, only wish we could've been there a little longer. Here's a few pics of some sweet lego creations from LegoLand.

Takin' it to the streets...the Cincinnati Tea Party

On Sunday, March 15th Cincinnati had one of the largest tea parties in the nation to date. There were over 5,000 gathered who are concerned over the direction the Obama adminstration is taking the country (straight to the hard left) and its complete disregard of the Constitution. Brad and I brought the kids and were comforted to know so many others feel the way we do. I even got a "Socialism doesn't work" bumper sticker for the van. Brad couldn't believe I put it on but I've gotten quite a few thumbs up directed my way. I thought you would enjoy some of the more creative signs. We are going to the next tea party on Tax Day, April 15th. I think we are going to have to put a little more effort into our signs this time! There are tea parties scheduled all over the country on 4/15. Hopefully the politicians will hear the will of The People and actually listen. I'm not too optimistic.

Jack lost 2 teeth! ... with a little help from the dentist

Jack went to the dentist to have his teeth cleaned and to look at the permanent tooth that was coming in behind his bottom baby tooth...that was not loose! (sound familar? Reagan) Jack was very brave when the dentist announced that two teeth needed to be pulled. He said they could do it right now and Jack agreed. They came out pretty easily as the roots were pretty small. Jack put only one tooth under his pillow that night and the tooth fairy did come. He left the other tooth in its container from the dentist on his dresser for over a month. A couple of nights ago he secretly put it on his bed for the tooth fairy. To his disappointment, the tooth fairy did not come. I explained that the tooth fairy probably did not know he wanted to give it to her because it was still in the case from the dentist that has been sitting in for a month on his dresser. Wouldn't you know, the next night he put it in our tooth fairy container and she came!!!

The fun party

I got my face painted as Dracula and I went in a costume cause it is a carnaval. I was dresed up as a SPY! It was awsome. In SPAIN a carnaval is when people dance for 3 days. We went to a park with a pirate ship. But it would be realy fun with you.

Bummer!!!

I was in the shower when you called. I can't believe Will didn't answer the call. He would have talked (or babbled) your ear off! His new obsession is talking on the phone and listening to David Cook CD. Glad you are feeling better. Hopefully we will talk this week and both get a couple of blogs done before your beach vacation. If not, enjoy it. You are very deserving of a vacation...hopefully it comes with refrigerated milk. (and maybe a little chocolate milk for Cohen. I feel guilty everytime I pour a glass for the kids.)

Hello!

Amy,
I was so happy to see that your blog had a facelift. I'd been checking it every day last week since we got back from vacation and there were no new blogs. I was just telling Brad that I was hoping that everything was ok. I'll try to blog a few pictures from our Disney vacation. We had wonderful weather and a great time as a family at Disney. It was however very exhausting.
The blog looks great. Did you do it or did your crafty Mother-in-law do it? Please tell her I said hi and am so sorry that her taxes are going to go up again since her state is so fiscally irresponsible. But I guess the federal gov't is too so our taxes will be going up soon too. The real loosers are our children and grandchildren who will be paying for their reckless spending. It is so sad. It is all about growing the Democratic base by getting as many people dependent on the government.
Give me a call when you get a chance. I'd love to chat again! I hope you are doing well. Oh, I'll make your day. We were at The Grand Affair (church fundraiser at Oasis, good company, food, dancing, etc) and several people in the neighborhood was asking about you guys. One of the husbands came up and asked who we were talking about and he asked if it was the really SKINNY Mom in the white house. I said you would appreciate the nice compliment but not agree. The other man standing there said in agreement that you were indeed thin. Are you smiling? You've still got it. They were asking a lot of questions and I said I would give them your blog if you don't mind. One of them was Kerry O'Donnell.
Need to get Drew some breakfast. He has had a sore throat for 4 days now so I'm thinking I may need to take him to the doctor.
Miss you!! Hugs to kids.
Kim

Global Warming...Really???

It has been a very cold and snowy winter in Cincinnati this year. We received our second big snow of the year...one week after the first! Of course, the meteorologists all got it wrong. We were only to get a dusting to possibly an inch. We got 6 inches just in time for the commute home. School was cancelled again today. The kids had 4 days off last week! I guess we'll be making up days this summer. Notice the snow build up on our door plate inside the house! We don't have a drafty door...

All I want for Valentine's Day is my 4 front teeth!

Hi Ross Family!
I wanted to show you my new smile! I had to have all 4 of my top teeth pulled. It was a little hard to talk at first but I'm used to it now. I haven't put any of my teeth under my pillow yet. What do you think the tooth fairy gives for 4 long rooted teeth? I'll let you know when I find out. It is hard to eat apples. Have you guys lost any more teeth? Jack hasn't lost any yet. He may have to have teeth pulled like me too.
I need to go! Hope all is well.
Reagan

Our future roller coaster "engineer"

Gavin - This is the double racing roller coaster I put together. It is really cool. It has a chain that brings the coaster up the big hill and then they race thru the track. It was pretty hard to put together. I made it with help from my Dad. I wish you were here to play with it with me. There is also one more track design you can make with it.

Thanks for calling me on Saturday. It was fun talking with you on the phone. Call me again sometime when you get a chance.

We are on our second day off school because of a BIG snow/ice storm. I got to meet the new neighbors next door. They came out to play in the snow with us. The big brother was nice. The younger one was a little bossy. I'll give him another chance though.

It would be cool if you could send me a picture of you in your spy gear. Sounds neat.

I need to go take a bath. Mom says we will probably have school tomorrow.

Talk to you later,

Jack

Blog Author?

Hey there....I will read your comment to Jack. He will be happy to know that he is "actively playing" with your kids even though he doesn't know it. I guess I sent you an open invitation to be a blog author on my blog. Is that the same as making you a contributor? If not, where do I go to do that? I'm glad you suggested this as I was thinking there was no way for Gavin to communicate back to Jack with pics, etc. This will be great. I spent all afternoon and early evening trying to get our computer working. Bug with windows installer. Soooo frustrating. I want to blog some pictures but I can't today. Have too much to do with not getting anything done yesterday. Let me know if I need to do something else to get this going. Jack will be very excited. Glad you are feeling better.

Hope you are feeling better...

Our computer has been at the "doctor" since last Wednesday. Setting up a new computer and transferring files is no fun. Still not totally up and running.
I hope you are feeling better by now. It is NO fun being sick and not having anyone to help and I'm not there to reprimand you if you are not getting adequate sleep.
I can't wait until you get the unlimited calls! I'm so excited!!!!! I can't wait to get caught up.
Once we get our printer set up (saying not compatible with our operating system) I want to scan a copy of Jack's New Year's wish he completed at school. It brought a tear to my eye and I think you will enjoy it. Soooo sweet.
Well, I met the new "neighbors" living in your house. I will start by saying they are not the
"Rossis" (as Jack writes it) but seem very nice and friendly. Their seven year old son was not exactly what I was hoping for. I'll fill you in on the phone. I'll just say he is very into Thomas the trains...I mean REALLY into them. Would have been great for Jack a few years ago but not so much now. They seem to be taking good care of the house.
I"ll try to post something soon. Just wanted to see if you were feeling better. Hugs from the Queen City!

I did it!

I figured out how to get a smaller photo but now have to work on centering title. Not as easy to setup as I was hoping. How are the kids liking their new school and neighbors? Are you getting the house set up as you would like? I miss not being able to pick up the phone to chat with you.

Help!!

I imported a picture for header but can't figure out how to resize it. I wish you were here to help me. Could you help me?

Our roller coaster engineer

Hello! Jack got a HUGE smile on his face when I read him your comment. He wanted to tell Gavin that we got a Wii for Christmas. A Mii has been set up for each of your kids when they come to visit this summer! He also received a Knex double dueling roller coaster. Jack wants me to upload the photo for Gavin to see. I'll try to figure that out once we get all our files transferred onto the new computer. Hopefully this week...

Okay, I'll be honest, Jack and I first responded above as a comment. I copied it and pasted as a post. Amazing how much you can figure out when you don't have 3 kids hanging on you asking eight million questions! Did you see that I figured out how to become a follower of your blog? Pretty cool. This blog is created for our family to keep in contact with your family. Nothing more. I may give our blog name to my Mom but that is it. Now I am going to try to add photo of Jack the roller coaster designer...fingers crossed. Wouldn't you know, batteries are dead in camera so I can't download. I'll charge and try again later.

Hi Ross Family! Our Christmas present to you....a Bertke blog...or the first steps towards one. Definitely will be a work in progress. Jack and Reagan are very excited to start communicating with you guys. Hope all is well. Hugs and kisses from the Queen City!!!