Whew, I'm finally done

I'm finally done with the cakes, but I only managed to take a picture of one of them. This one just happens to be my favorite though.

I did remember to take potty breaks today, but I forgot to eat! One of these days I'll get it right.

Tomorrow is going to be a full but fun day for us. We have 7 open houses and 2 ball games. I have a feeling I'll make up for not eating today, tomorrow! Then I'll go work it off playing softball... It's a win/win situation if you ask me! :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend and hey, you all have been kind of shy lately. Feel free to make yourself known and leave a comment! ;)

My Day

I was going to do this big ol' Thursday Thirteen post about my busy day, but I think I can do it in one statement:

I went into the bathroom at our church around 6:30pm to change my clothes. While I was in there I thought I would, you know, take care of business. It was then that I realized that the last time I went to the restroom was when I got up this morning at 7:15.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up!

How Did You Get That Smart?

Ethan recently received The Presidential Award For Academic Excellence for maintaining a high grade point average throughout elementary school. We were very proud of him. I'm thinking that the brains came from his dad because they definitely didn't come from me! The word "honor" never really came into play when my grades were the topic... average was more like it.

Anyway, he's a good kid that's quickly growing into a great young man.

Way to go buddy, we love you!

Let's Pray

Please pray for this family today as they are grieving another loss.

Welcome Avery Grace!

Avery Grace was born this morning at 8:08am. She is 7lbs. 15oz. and is 20 1/2 inches long. Her mommy and daddy are our best friends, Scott & Tasha. Big sister, Maggie, couldn't be any prouder. When she left today she whispered "I love you" so softly in her baby sister's ear. It was so precious.

I was so honored that Scott & Tasha wanted me to be there this morning when Avery entered this world. She is a beauty. Tonight, Eric and the kids and I went up to the hospital to visit and take turns holding Avery. I was so lucky to be on diaper duty when she let loose of her first baby poop! :) It was a good'un, too! She made her father so proud.

After Eric and the kids left, I stayed with Tasha while Scott went to get a sandwich. We spent quite a few minutes being educated about nursing, through a power-point presentation. Those things are always more fun to watch with a good friend. We laughed more than a few times! We actually learned a few thing, too. Not that I'll be needing any of this information!

Avery's middle name came from a baby's story that has touched so many people over the last few months. His GRACE is sufficient in anything.

We love you, Avery Grace. I hope you're ready for some serious lovin'!

I Finally Beat Him!

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend. We sure did! I am pleased to announce that after 2 years of trying to beat my Pastor at pretty much any game, I finally did it! I beat him at Rage. I was so proud! :)
We had a great time cooking out and playing games with our Pastor and his family yesterday. The kids were totally worn out after going non-stop for eleven hours. We had beautiful weather, so we took advantage of it! I think spring has finally sprung in Indiana.

What did everyone else do for Memorial Day?

School's Out, School's Out...

Teachers let the monkeys out!!

I have so much to catch up on as far as blogging goes.
I have posted a couple of videos for you to pass the time until I can get caught up.
Enjoy!


These are the songs that Ben's class did this morning at their little graduation. Ben has on the blue shorts and striped shirt. Don't let the shorts fool you, it was only 54 degrees today! I am willing it to be warmer!
Oh, and the guy chuckling is the principal. He got a kick out of the kids.

Thursday Thirteen - No wonder I have back issues!

Alana over at Kiss, Hug and A Squeeze did this on her blog today and it was interesting to read what she threw away out of her purse. So here's my list of things that I found in my purse that I trashed:

1. Not one, but TWO zoo information sheets
2. An empty M&M bag, Tear and Share size. Yes, I shared...a few. :p
3. An empty bottle that used to have hand lotion in it
4. Four crayons - blue, green, orange and red
5. An old bulliten
6. Many gum wrappers
7. A "Be Drug Free" rubber bracelet
8. A receipt from a local Mexican resturant from when I went to lunch with Tasha last week
9. An empty Kleenex holder. The plastic purse size thing
10. A few already used tissues
11. A paper annoucing our Pastor's 5 year anniversary at our church. (note to self: take a mexican dish and plate of cookies for a fellowship after the evening service)
12. A Kohl's receipt
13. A paper from the school about reading.

Okay, just for kicks I'm going to tell you what I have in my purse that I am keeping but not carrying in my purse because I just don't have the room! You can thank me later for monopolizing 2 extra seconds of your time!

1. my camera
2. batteries
3. my brush
4. 2 suckers from the zoo
5. my mp3 player
6. One of Sarah's hair bows
7. my family planner calendar

So, there you go.

When I have a little more time, I am going to post some pictures from the 2nd zoo trip and field day. We've had enough events this week to fill a scrapook. I am going to be so behind, like I'm not already!

Happy Thursday!

We're Goin' To The Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...

I spent my Monday with too many 5th graders at the zoo. Ethan's teacher walked up to me and asked, "Have you lost any of your kids yet?" To which I repied, "No, I still have them all."

And he said, "Oh...well you still have plenty of time." - hahahahaha! Funny man! You can tell it's the last week of school.

I really had a good time because Tasha and Maggie went with me, and we always have a good time. I have the cutest video to show you, but blogger won't cooperate with me and I can't get it to upload. I'm sure it's nothing that I'm doing wrong. (ahem)

Anyway, I will be at a different zoo tomorrow with more than enough first graders. I'll let ya'll know how that goes!

Tonight I took Ben and Sarah to try-outs for The Aristocats. The Junior Civic Theater is going to do that play this year. We were so E-X-C-I-T-E-D because they both got called back. We will go on Wednesday.

Well, you know what? I'm pooped. Good night.

Can I Go Ride My Bike?

We've been hearing this a lot over the last few days.

Finally, after 5 years of trying, a broken elbow and some major fear.... Ethan has learned to ride a bike! He had convinced himself that he just couldn't do it and then broke his elbow trying. After that incident two years ago, he was genuinely afraid to get back on it.

About two weeks ago, we were at our pastor's house playing a game and the kids were outside. Apparently, one of their boys helped him practice on their bike and, well, here are the results.

(Never mind the garage, it's in serious need of a paint job!)

Are You For Real?

Eric took me to lunch yesterday and as we were paying for our meal, we overheard this conversation between the manager and an employee:

Employee: Hey, can someone get turkey on their salad?

Manager: Uh, we don't have turkey.

Employee: Well, isn't that what we put on the Chicken Club pizza?

Manager: Uh no... that ...would be chicken.


After realizing what she had just said, she laughed and blushed and we laughed WITH her!

Poor girl~ she must have been having one of those days. :)

And Finally, My Mother's Day

I had mentioned that we were going to take part in a pinewood derby race at our church last weekend.Well, we didn't win any races with our cars, but Sarah's car won 2nd for design in her age group.



Here are the two coolest cars in the adult division. I told you some of these people take this very seriously!

It a bird, it's a plane....

This was made by our church bus driver. It's our church bus, complete with an aisle down the middle and kids in the seats.

I also had a wonderful Mother's Day. The kids made me all sorts of cards and drawings at school and Sarah filled out this paper that said I was as beautiful as a beautiful butterfly. I was also glad to find out that she wouldn't trade me for even a toy and she said in the good old days I sat on my knees.

Okay.

She also made me a necklace with a clay pendant on it that said I Love You. Ben made this silhouette for me and then they spray painted pasta to make the frame.
This is the purse that the kids got for me. I love it! Eric got me a game called Settlers of Catan. We are addicted to this game!

I have been so blessed with great kids. Being a mom has been fun...and challenging!

But really, who doesn't like a good challenge?

It Was a Wonderful Day, Indeed!

This was a great day! ***UPDATED***

First and foremost, I had a doctor's appointment today to have something checked that seemed a little wonky (that's totally a word, just ask Boomama). As it turns out, I'm fine and that is something to be very thankful for!

After my doctor's appointment, Tasha and I met my sister and her girls for lunch at Moe's. Yummy Mexican food is served there daily! We proceeded to the mall to do some bargain shopping. I found some fall clothes for the two younger kids and a t-shirt that said I put ketchup on my ketchup for Ethan. I also found a t-shirt for me:

I realize that some of you have no clue what this shirt is all about, but I also know that some of you do. It's funny and made me laugh.

We also went to Meijer and took advantage of the bargain of the century!

Yes, we are standing in the middle of the parking lot and my nephew is taking our picture. It's sad that we felt the need to drag an innocent 9 year old into the midst of our insanity! Anyway, do you see all that Country Time? That is 72 canisters of lemonade.... we paid $.58 for 6!

That's $1.16 for a dozen

And $2.32 for 24

And $4.64 for 48

And $6.96 for ALL 72!! I KNOW!!!

That's less than ten cents a canister!!

That's my sister for ya, she is the queen of the bargain shopping...the queen.

All that lemonade is being divided between the three of us, church and my mom's daycare.

OR we could open up a lemonade stand and make a kickin' profit!

Thank you Kraft!

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

UPDATE~~~~ JP's Mom asked how we did this, so here it is~ They were selling the lemonade buy one get two free. My sister bought six and paid $4.58. When she did that, the little coupon machine at the checkout counter spit out a $4 Kraft coupon to use on her next order. She went back and got LOTS more and bought them 6 at a time and got a coupon each time to use on the next order. She paid fifty-eight cents for each set of 6. That was Monday, on Tuesday She went with us and I used the $4 coupon that she had from the day before and every time I bought six I would get a coupon to use on my next set of six. Then Tasha did hers and at the end, she gave my sister the last $4 coupon that she got and so my sister ended up with her $4 coupon back. Does that make sense? If you have a Meijer close to you, check to see if they are doing this. I don't know if all of them do the same specials.

This is basically how my sister feeds a larger family on so little. She waits for the deals and then stocks up. She has the room for it and watches her dates closely. It works well for her, unless she comes home from church on a Sunday night to find her upright freezer door open...

...yep, that could ruin your night real fast!

Happy Mother's Day!

The whole family was at church this morning to celebrate Mother's Day.

Sharon, Mom, Me and Michelle. Michelle and her family drove an hour this morning to be at church with mom and go to the Apple Dumplin' Inn for lunch. Yum! We had a good meal and a good time. My sister and mom are waiting for me right now to go do some shopping, so I better go!

Enjoy ths little song for moms by Go Fish. Be ready to do a little toe tappin'!

Love you!

Friday Feast

I tried to grab the button for Friday Feast and I couldn't get it to work. Could someone help me, please?


This is my first feast, enjoy!



Appetizer

When someone smiles at you, do you smile back? Yes.

Soup

Describe the flooring in your home. Do you have carpet, hardwood, vinyl, a mix?

I have carpet and vinyl. I would like to have hardwood someday. :)

Salad

Write a sentence with only 5 words, but all of the words have to start with the first letter of your first name.

Don't do doughnuts down driveways!

Main Course

Do you know anyone whose life has been touched by adoption?

Yes, we know a family that has adopted two boys from Africa, twins. The boys had a smaller sister that was supposed to come here also, but sadly, she passed away after they got there to bring her home. They only knew her for two days. The boys are doing great though.

Dessert

Name 2 blue things.

blue raspberry slushies and my son's backpack

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

I just spent a crazy amount of time painting a pinewood derby car.

Yes, you read that right.

Our church is having a race on Saturday and I had the great idea of entering the adult race. It may not be the fastest one but it just might be the most colorful! I had to use the colors that the boys picked out for me. I couldn't leave one out.

Some of these people are serious about this whole thing. It's so funny because it's mainly for the kids, but some of the adults spend hours on their cars. Take for instance this one from last year. I think that was my favorite. The guy who made this is a pilot for Southwest.


Here are the kids' cars. I helped Sarah with hers. She wanted a cupcake on it.
This is, or should I say was, Ethan's car. Eric bought something to spray on it to make it glossy and it turned it white. Opps! There's going to be some last minute painting going on tomorrow night!
And here is Ben's car. He did most of the painting all by himself.

I'm going to go now because I can't for the life of me think of anything else to say tonight. I think I need some bloggy rejuvenation. I just can't seem to think of things that are very blog- worthy lately.
I do play my first softball game of the season tomorrow night, that has great potential to create something to blog about!

I could live in the storage space

This life of mine is keeping me so busy that I really haven't had time to write a great post. Being a cake-maker, this is a busy time of year for me. I did find some time yesterday to listen to the Big Boocast . Those three are a hoot! I'm just not that witty. They've been blessed with a gift!

Anyway, I spent my day yesterday with my BFF Tasha. They have just moved into a new home and she is due to "pop" in a couple of weeks, so I thought that I would try to help her get some things sorted and put away. She has not had a phone for a week and it's just about killed me. I finally just got in the car a drove right over there because I was suffering withdraw symptoms.This house is huge and I'm pretty sure that she now has more storage area then I have area in my whole house! It's gotta be close! I've never seen so many closets, it's a very cool house. I am so happy for them. This is Maggie, she was a big help. *ahem* :) Love you Mags!
Actually, she was very good. You know the little ones, they like to help!
Just to prove that the storage it is massive, I got into one of her cabinets.

I am a woman of many talents!
We had a good day. It's always a good day when you get to spend it with great friends.

I'm off to clean the house now. Sweeping and dusting~~ Can you feel the excitement?

Pour the Water and We Shall Dance

I've told you about my green thumb, that is why I asked my mom to come down last night and help me with a little project. I have four plants that were getting too big and I thought that I would separate them and plant them elsewhere.

Smile for the camera, mama!
This would be the elsewhere, which is the front of our humble abode. Today I got the cement trim to put around the new flower bed and Ialso got some marigolds to plant in there. I will have to show you a picture of the finished project... when I get it finished...sometime...soon...I hope!
Sarah and Ben were supposed to be getting us the water that we needed to replant the plants. Aren't they doing a lovely job?

Yes, they were dancing. How could I be mad at them after that?

Bringin' Home the Hardware

This is Melissa and her daughter

I rode on a bus with an angel Saturday. I can say this because about 15 minutes from the place we were going, Ben woke up, sat straight up and then puked all over the seat that he was sharing with Ashley, one of the teens that went on our trip to the tournament with us. You've never seen kids move so fast. They parted like the Red Sea, half in the front and half in the back. The angel was Melissa, who is a nurse at a local nursing home. She said that she had rubber gloves and that she would clean it up for me.

God.Bless.Her.

Because I don't do puke well and if I would have had to clean it up, there would have been a bigger mess! In the end we decided it was a combination of motion sickness, donuts and a box of Sugar Babies. He was perfectly fine from then on.

The kids were very good and their behavior at the church that we went to was exceptional. We were so proud of them. Besides the noise level on the bus, the ride itself was not terrible.

We passed a few farms between Indiana and Illinois. There was one in particular that was very stinky!
And THIS, my friends, is our youth pastor. Lovely, don't you think? No, he really is an awesome guy and the kids love him. We had a lot of fun and he has to be the safest bus driver ever, not to mention the head counting every two minutes at the lunch stop. He is going to love me for putting this on my blog! But when you do things like this for a picture, you have to expect publication!
This was our whole group. We had two teams. Our team names were very clever, Team #1 and Team # 2. See, told you! ;)
Eric and I coached Team #1. This group of young ladies was on our team. They broke the state record in the Over/Under event. They were awesome!
Oh yeah, and .... WE WON!!!! Team #1 got first place on their circle.

And team #2 got second on their circle. They were in first up until the very end. All of the kids worked very hard on this and it showed.
The bus ride home was fun, too. The kids were excited, obviously.

And then... they crashed, HARD! I'm thinking that they all slept very well last night, I know I did! And guess what? I didn't even have to use my duct tape!