Wordless Wednesday

BOO!

If you wanna make a difference, you gotta be a little different

This is of the kids singing in church Sunday night. Enjoy!

There's a poll...right over there to your right

Hey ya'll, I added a poll to my blog! What fun! Take a second to answer the question. There will be a new one every Wednesday(hopefully) :)

Chocolate pretzels,caramel apples and calories...oh, my!

I woke up this morning to one of the reasons why I have always wanted to live in the south...frost on the windshield. Enough frost that we had to use an ice scrapper to get it off. Two weeks ago it was 90, today it was 3o with frost. (sigh)


I have such limited creative thoughts, and for some reason, they have been almost nonexistent lately. I will just sit here and stare at the screen for what seems like forever. In the end, I log off and go do something else. The something else yesterday was making chocolate covered pretzels with the boys. I really don't know why we did that though, because the kids don't really like them and I certainly don't NEED them. They were pretty cute and it was totally worth the extra 10 laps that I'm going to have to run tonight!

Ben was in charge of the sprinkling

Ethan did the dipping...and the dripping!
The finished product

"What are you doing, Ben?" "Nothing", he says.

So, because that went so well, I thought it would be fun to make caramel apples today. I know, seriously, what was I thinking? Let's just say I'm gonna have to run a few more than 10 extra laps tonight!

Before

Cassidy wanted to try the chopper.
Sarah and Ben were the unwrappers. Yes, they washed their hands.
The calm before the storm.
Everyone took a turn dipping apples

YUM!! Notice that the M&M's all slid down to the bottom of the apples. :)
A family that licks the bowl together...will probably get sick together!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Does anyone else remember these?

I remember making potholders when I was in elementarty school. We would make them all year long so that we could sell them in the garage sale that our mom had every summer. I think we would sell them for a nickel... which, looking back, was a stinkin' good deal!

Anyway, Sarah got a potholder kit for her birthday in September and she decided to get it out today. She did a good job with it, but got tired of it around the 10th band that she was weaving through. She said, "Mom, you can finish it if you want to."

I was all over that. After all, who doesn't enjoy a little walk down memory lane? I quickly figured out why I would sometimes get frustrated when I got down to the last couple of bands. All of the others would start popping off of the little "teeth". I also know now why I always had my mom take it off of the loom. I had a hard enough time doing this one, I can't imagine trying to do that part as a 7 year old!

My mom always used the potholders that I and my sisters made for her. Actually, she still does. I now have my first official homemade potholder made by my daughter...with a little help from me. :)

Gardener For Hire....

...not really. But Ben just had to get involved in the whole "getting ready for winter" outdoors routine Wednesday. I seriously do not have a green thumb, so the only plants that I have are the ones that require absolutely no attention until fall. And that only requires a pair of shears, or in Ben's case, a really dull pair of child's school scissors. Now, I'm sure that there is an art to cutting plants back for the winter, but basically, I just cut them all the way down the the dirt. I'm sure that there are little old ladies that drive by and cringe at the sight of me cutting away at my greenery!

Ben loves to pull weeds
I'm diggin' the yellow gloves!
I'm on my kids all the time about going out in their white socks, yet whose stocking-clad feet are in this picture? Those would be mine!
We had a good time working together.

Wordless Wednesday

Calendar Boy

This week is Parent-Teacher Conferences/Fall Break. Today the kids got out of school at 10:15. I thought it would be nice to take the kids to McDonald's for lunch so, you know, I didn't upset their healthy lunch routine that they have at school!

Oh.my.goodness.

I promise you that just about every child from 6th grade and up was at McDonald's today for lunch! I have never seen so many unaccompanied minors in my life...ever! It was craziness. My mind was racing with all sorts of questions like, What are these kids going to do all day? And, where on earth are the parental units? And, could these kids seriously talk ANY louder?

You should have seen all of the "regulars" a.k.a. "older" people. You could just tell that they were saying, "These kids are invading our space."

It was nuts!!

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. The kids had piano lessons and Ben got his picture taken for a calendar. This is the second year that he has done this. The calendar helps with Child Abuse Prevention. The theme is "What I Want to Be" and Ben dressed up like an Air Force pilot. We know a man who was a pilot in the Air Force and is now a pilot for Southwest. He let us use his helmet, flight suit and hat, and we also used my dad's Air Force throw. The pictures turned out so good! I'll have to post one when I get them.

Here is the picture from last years calendar.

By the way, if you think about it, say a little prayer for me, because I have gotten used to my quiet afternoons, and this week will NOT be quiet!!

We Are Living Lesson Books

The scripture for my quiet time today was I Corinthians 4:16-17 and 10:31- 11:1. The lesson dealt with what kind of example are we for our kids. Kids will learn far more from watching us than they will from listening to us. The longer that I am a mom, the more I am noticing this. Sometimes it can make you happy.... and sometimes it can be very humbling. I am going to strive to be aware of the example that I am setting for my kids. I know I can't be perfect, but I can improve...alot!

Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. I Cor. 4:16-17 NAS

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. I Cor. 10:31- 11:1 NAS

The question that was asked was this; Can you confidently proclaim with Paul "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ?

Happy Birthday to Eric!

Today is Eric's birthday. We celebrated with two sick kids and an angel food cake. I feel really bad that the kids are sick on his birthday because we were going to take him out for lunch after church and, well, instead he cooked lunch while I was at church.

The kids got him a new Purdue hat and I got him a new pair of jeans and a new sweatshirt from Aeropostale. I'm trying to treny him up a little! :)

He's losing a little weight too, I was so excited to buy him a size smaller in the jeans! I'm so proud of him.

He and I are saving our pennies for the cruise that we are taking in February. That will be birthdays, anniversary, Valentines and Christmas all in one.

In honor of my hubby, on his birthday, I am going to list 21 things that I love about him, in no particular order!

1. He cooks... most of the time!

2. He is a hard worker

3. He takes his family to church

4. He studies his Bible

5. He can fix most things

6. He can fix anything when it comes to computers!

7. He is always lending a hand

8. He is generous

9. He is an AWESOME daddy!

10. He is an AWESOME hubby!

11. He will wash the dishes

12. He will do laundry, and do it right :)

13. He will clean the bathroom to help me out.

14. He usually cleans up the "sick" messes. (if I tried, we would have two messes!)

15. He watches Gilmore Girls with me (shh... don't tell him I told you that)

16. He is really good in math, which is a good thing because I am not!

17. He doesn't mind my blogging habit

18. He would do anything for me

19. When I was pregnant with all three kids, he would pamper me.

20. He does this when I'm sick too.

21. He loves me

Saturday.... the rest of the story

This is the final entry from Saturday. It's Thursday now, so last Saturday is starting to get kinda fuzzy! This is mostly going to be pictures.

Jillian's birthday party was at the carousel that we have at a local park. I guess it's one of only two Dentzel Carousels in the nation, or maybe the world?? Ben and Jillian have been buddies since they were babies at my mom's daycare.

This is Jessica and Emme. Emme also goes to my mom's daycare. She's cute as can be, but the shirt my mom got her for her birthday tells the story of Emme well. It says "My Halo is Out of Order!"
Sarah
Ben and mommy
Saturday evening, our church had it's annual Harvest Party. An older couple in our church throws this every year. We had lots of fun. The highlight was ...... a hayride!
Awwww...fallish tree
I had to get this documented, Sarah and Ben were actually getting along!
The Falls
Since when do you take your GPS on a hayride?

If I Type, I Can't Snack

Well, I'm sitting here waiting for my guest to arrive. I am having a jewelry party tonight. I don't really think that too many people are going to show up though. I decided to write while I wait to keep me from getting into the snacks! :)

And the Halloween candy is up where I can't get to it without a chair (for a reason), it a good thing.

I would so be eatin' a Snickers right now!

I have managed to lose about 28 lbs this year and I don't intend to find it again! I am within 10 lbs of my pre-baby weight and I'm going to get there...... dagnabit!

Anyhoo, I just remembered that I need to go get the Wheat Thins out. Hmmmm...Wheat Thins or Snickers????

Saturday, Part 2

As if we didn't have enough to do on Saturday, our library books were due. We had exactly one hour between lunch and the birthday party, so we took that time to go to the library. You will see that we take our library time VERY seriously...

Now that all three kids are reading well, we check out tons of books. It doesn't take too long for them to get through them. Thankfully, all the kids have really taken to books. Believe it or not, we always seem to find them all when they are due back.
I totally fooled him into this one!
and Ben had to have a turn. He is such a lovebug!
As I mentioned earlier, we take this time very seriously......

I really don't know where they get it.........