Day 5: A song to match your mood

Bruno Mars- The Lazy Song

I have a cold that has been keeping me down, so yeah, I don't feel like doing anything today.

Day 4: Your parents

Stephanie Kean- Mom is the second youngest child and oldest daughter in her family. She is short and has curly hair. While she was growing up, her hair was stick straight, and didn't change until she became pregnant, at which point it got curlier with each kid. Went to Rick's(BYUI) then Byu and became an elementary school teacher. She taught for 7 years, moving around to different areas including, but not limited to Alaska and Texas. Served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints in Japan. After being single for long enough, her S-i-L decided that she knew the perfect guy for her out here in PA, so Mom moved out here and live with them for awhile. The perfect guy wasn't the right one, but she did end up meeting Dad at a Single Adult activity. They dated for three month, engaged for three months and got married in the Idaho Falls Temple. She was 31, he was 32. They had 5 kids, Vanessa, Me, Roger, Alan, and lastly Natalie, who only lived a couple of hours. She always said she loved her Ernie, but hated his name. Dad passed away at 55 to a massive heart attack, leaving Mom a widow, with three kids still at home. Vanessa had gotten married earlier that year. Mom is notoriously forgetful, doesn't check her voicemail, and is computer illiterate. She plays the organ and piano. She is generous to all, but hates ingratitude. Her little 2004 Toyota has over 150k miles on it because she loves to travel, and will help anyone with a ride. My Aunt also lives with her and between the two of them, I have nicknamed them the Two Biddy Aunts of Butler Ward. They adore quilting and often have 5 different projects going. She works as a substitute aid for the kids with special needs in the area. She loves audio books. She is quite the scriptorian. Love the Old Testament and whatever book she is currently reading at that time. She truly loves the gospel, teaching, and being helpful. She can't say no to just about anyone. Loves and cherishes her grandchildren. Isn't much of a cook, but she does try, she ends up substituting just the wrong ingredient when she finds out she doesn't have the right now. Enjoys a good comedy, but despises crass or crude humor. She is my mom and I love her.

Ernie Kean- He is oldest out of two kids. His family are not member of our church, he was a convert in his 20's. Grew up Lutheran. Very involved with the Boy Scout Program with his Lutheran church and his passion for it continued until he died. This man should have died many times when he was younger. I can't remember just how old he was, but he had a burst appendix that they didn't get to the doctor for two days, and he was septic. He was technically drafted for Vietnam, but signed up three days before his draft date. The class before him and after him were sent to Vietnam, he ended up in Germany at a supply unit. Made it to I believe it was Staff Sergeant in the shortest amount of time possible. He didn't like the army, but he was good at it. If there was a problem person, they were sent to Dad to deal with. If he couldn't handle him, no one could. While in Germany, he joined up with the Boy Scout Program there. That is when he was introduced to the Church which he later joined. He did not serve a mission. He dated a lady name Carol for 6 years. After he came home, he became less active in the church, but due to the diligence of Roger Ladle, he became active again. My brother Roger was named after that man.
He attended a two year business school in Pittsburgh, I forget the name of which one. He ended up working as a traffic disbatcher for Marmon Keystone. He worked hard to support and provide for his family. I remember living in a tiny 2 bedroom duplex until I was nine for his dedication to finding us a house. They wanted somewhere with a yard and room for us all. It took awhile, but we ended up moving two days before Christmas in 1994. It was an interesting Christmas that year. Workaholic does not describe just how dedicated he could be about anything. The man could not just relax. If he did take a day off from work, which was rare, he would spend the day cataloguing the books and movies. He loved Alfred Hitchcock and James Bond movies. He liked movies in general. He took special pride in making sure we were treated to going to the movie theater and going out for ice cream. As we got older and busier, he made sure he took one of us out to eat for Breakfast every weekend, so he could have one on one time with us. Planning vacations down to the miles was something he was meticulous about. Always tried to make sure there was some history and at least one amusement park in our big vacations every year. Dad loved amusement parks, especially roller coasters. It started getting to him, physically, towards the end, but he still rode them the trip out to Gettysburg and Hershey Park just weeks before he died. He was a meat and potato eater his whole life and loved meatloaf. If something bothered him, he usually didn't mention it, much to the chargrin of my Mother; example, one of the common meals at our house was Rice with Gravy. It took my Dad 6 YEARS to tell Mom that he didn't really like rice that much. Gave him indigestion. Dad's dedication to detail helped a lot when he passed away. He made sure that Mom would be taken care of. I do believe he knew he would die young, I don't think he knew just how young he would be, though. He was Bishop for our Ward for 7 years, from the time I was 8 until I was 15. He was very much a simple, quiet, dedicated, honest man for which he was loved. I am proud that he was my Dad.

Day 3: Your first love

Michael Mcmillan. He and I were in a special hearing impair preschool class together. He had sandy brown hair that was bowl cut and shared toys with me. We were really good friends through kindergarten. At that point we were separated, since he did a repeat year of kindergarten when I moved on to first grade. We still saw each other occasionally through the hearing impairment group, but not as much. After first grade, I transferred to the school in my area, after showing signs that I didn't need the help as much from the group.

I didn't see him again until high school at which point I wasn't sure if he remembered me anymore. We ended up in a class together my senior year, and I lost a lot of respect for him when I realized that he was one that got embarrassed by his hearing aids, and so he wouldn't wear them, and I know the differences of someone not wear compared to when they do. My opinions for that sort of thing are very low. When you are blind you wear glasses, or learn braille, if you can't walk, you use a wheelchair or crutches. Use what you can to help yourself, life is hard enough, don't be dumb and make it even harder, especially if your concern is for peer pressure.

Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name

Umm... I thought it sounded nice? I wasn't trying to be creative when I did it.

Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts

I am Margaret Fike.


15 Facts about Me





1. I am the second oldest in 4 kids.


2. I read incredibly fast, and not only when I am interested in the book.


3. I can lip read. I am not the best, but I can hold my own for just about any situation.


4. I am a garage sale junkie. I have supplied 90% of the clothing, books, toys, and baby supplies in this house from garage sales. I will map out destinations with times to make sure I hit the best ones. I know from previous years which houses are repeaters and should be avoided at all times.


5. Ethan and I got engaged on our second date. Five months later, we were married in the Washington D.C. Temple.


6. I worked on a dude ranch in Colorado when I was 19. I know how to lasso, am quite proficient with a gun, and own and know how to use a whip.


7. I have swam in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The Pacific was far better.


8. Will encourage any teenager out of high school to spend a summer working at any job of the Coolworks.com site. They do crusielines, camps, hotels, etc. That is how I got the job in Colorado. I also had an offer for a job in Alaska for a hotel, but chose Whistling Acres instead.


9. Loves, loves, loves amusement parks. More specifically roller coasters. There has only been one I didn't like, the Mean Streak at Cedar Point. Fav. The Millenium Force and Dragster at Cedar Point. Cedar Point is the roller coaster city of the world.


10. I don't own a hair dryer and never have.


11. I have a small time job at the cheap theater in town. It is my sanity from my kids job, and I have worked there longer than I have been married.


12. I want to become a phlebotomist. Once this baby(not yet born) is a little older, I intend on taking the class for it. I just want to be able to jump into the job immediately after I finish the class, so it probably won't happen until he is in Kindergarten.


13. I collect books. All kinds of books. Except horror, my imagination is good enough without help from them. There are 3 books shelves in the front room filled to the brim, one huge one in the dining room, one in the living room, one in my room as well as wall shelves, and one in Lyssa's room. All are full and there are still more books. I need more shelves.


14. I am extremely proud of the the work that has been done on this house. Not many people could have done what Ethan and I have done to this place. It went from having no plumbing, electrical, needing a new heating system, and massive cosmetic work to what we have now. It will be at least another 5 years before we are finished with everything we have thought out, but it will be beautiful when it is done.


15. I love Chocolate covered Strawberries like no other.

Attempts

In an effort to get back on my blogging bandwagon, I am stealing the 30 day blog challenge idea from my cousin Dedra and others.
Here's how it goes...I'm going to post everyday for 30 days and below are the topics I'll post about.

Day 0: The 30 Day Challenge Explanation and Description
Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts
Day 2: Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3: Your first love
Day 4: Your parents
Day 5: A song to match your mood
Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7: Favorite movies
Day 8: A place you’ve traveled to
Day 9: A favorite picture of your best friend
Day 10: Something you’re afraid of
Day 11: Favorite tv shows
Day 12: Something you don’t leave the house without
Day 13: Goals
Day 14: A picture of you last year – how have you changed?
Day 15: Bible verse
Day 16: Dream house
Day 17: Something you’re looking forward to
Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Nicknames
Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?
Day 22: What’s in your purse?
Day 23: Favorite Books
Day 24: Something you’ve learned
Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26: Your Dream Wedding
Day 27: Original Photo of the city you live in
Day 28: Something that stresses you out
Day 29: 3 Wishes
Day 30: a picture of yourself this day and 5 good things that happened since you started the challenge

Dec.

Alan's home!

Alan got home on Dec. 15th after having served an honorable, 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the Pocatello, Idaho mission. We are very proud of him and his accomplishment. He has definitely grown up, while still maintaining his "uniqueness". It was mainly just family at the airport, along with Alycia Fike, due to an unexpected change in arrival times. The kids and Vanessa made signs and they were adorable. Surprisingly all of the kids seem to just love him on the spot, especially Phebe. It was surprising given their ages, I only expected Victor and maybe Naomi to actually have a memory of him, the others were too young. Alan had only seen Phebe once, the day she was born, at the hospital on the way to the airport. He is still the zombie obsessed, gamer, Swedish fish loving, pyromaniac we all love.

Christmas was a busy time with all the family. Christmas Eve was celebrated at the in-laws, after a wonderful dinner, and a funny attempt to have the kids act out the Christmas story. Joseph(Mark) pushed one of the shepherds out of the stable, Lyssa had a meltdown and wanted nothing to do with it, Seth wandered around, and Ari stood on the stool as the angel arms spread with a wonderful look at me thing going on. Kira was the only normal one. After the opening of stockings and some excellent gifts( a new scentsy burner, gift cards for Home depot, baby cakes maker,ammo,etc), Ethan and Anthony surprised us with fireworks in the backyard.

Sara and gang are still living with us, so we did Christmas morning with them. I made up a sausage egg casserole the night before so all we had to do was pop it in the oven. Ethan surprised me immensely this year with getting us all fishing poles and camping gear. He went all out with a new tent, dishes, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, etc. We had been talking about doing a fishing trip up to Erie for Father's Day and doing the Palmyra pageant in July and doing camping for all of it. But we have no camping gear whatsoever. I am really psyched to use it this summer. He also promised a getaway weekend just for the two of us. I not sure when that will happen with the baby due in May. We are hoping for a dry weekend in April and will probably just go to Moraine. Ethan had gotten his present back on Black Friday, with a gun store having a sale. The kids got miscellaneous toys and such from us. Overall, I thought Christmas went off without a hitch and am very pleased with the results.

We got ready for church and went. That was a bit of a disaster for the kids. It was only 1 hour Sacrament, but Lyssa started it off by scratching a scab on her face which wouldn't stop bleeding, so Ethan took her out, and Mark wouldn't and I mean wouldn't stop talking. Had I had duct tape, it would have been used.

After saying goodbyes to people we headed over to my Mom's house and proceeded with my family's Christmas. First we made up Chinese food, Nessa did Shrimp fried rice, I did Sweet and Sour Chicken, and I don't know who did the egg drop soup, but it was delicious and I hope this becomes a tradition for us. Mom and Aunt Shiela had been sewing up a storm for all the grand kids. All the boys got new sleeping bags, which have hippos on them, I will post pictures later, something that she had made for us kids when we were younger. I don't remember what happened to mine, I probably wore it out. Victor's was a dark blue with a red hippo, Caleb's was Green with a light blue? hippo, and Mark's was red with black and blue hippo with insect prints. They were adorable and a hit with the boys. The girls got quillows, a blanket that folds into a pillow. Lyssa hasn't quite figured out how to fold the blanket back up, but she still loves hers. Ethan got a framed picture of The Signs of the Times of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It is his favorite picture of Christ and we have been on the hunt for one for our home. It is the same picture as the mural in the Washington D.C. Temple after you have walked through the Annex. I received another storage bin and a promise for a maternity clothes shopping trip from Mom. Nessa and Ethan gave us a cast iron frying pan, something I had been wanting.

Christmas still was going, after we left Mom's as we headed back to the Fike's for dinner with Gma and Gpa Fike. We hadn't gone to their house the previous night so they brought gifts down with them. Lyssa got a new doll, the boys got Steeler apparel, which they have worn today for the game, and I received a more cooking gear, stuff that I could use for camping. We had a great time visiting everyone and celebrating, but by this time the kids had had it, and were being extremely cranky, so we went home and went to bed.

Other news for this week was an ultrasound of the baby. I love getting ultrasounds, it just cool being able to see the baby. It is a boy this time! I was very surprised by that announcement. This pregnancy mimicked Lyssa's not Mark's, and I had always thought I would end up with one boy, two girls. Do not think that I am disappointed, I am actually very excited. I don't think I could handle two girls being as girly as Lyssa is. However, the main reason I chose to find out the sex of the baby was because it was a boy, I need to go shopping for the boy stuff. I had given most of the younger stuff away to Aubby for Seth, and gave most of the older stuff away just last August, while cleaning out the attic. I also purposely got some very specific pictures so Ethan could guess the result when I got home. Every one's reaction has been funny to watch when they realize it is a boy. The only person who really guessed it was a boy, was Alan. He did an "I told you so" dance in response. Baby boy is doing well and everything looks pretty good. Now we just need to come up with a name. We had a girl's name picked out, Emily, but agreeing upon Mark's name last time was pulling teeth for us. Who knows what will happen this time. I really don't like going through baby name books because they have way too many names to go through. Baby Boy is due May 19.