The Redhead Diaries

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T00:50:00.002-04:00

Let's see if I still remember how to do this...

Truman - Spy vs. Spy, Ryan - Nerd, Nick - 13 and not sure what he wanted to be, Emily - Disco/70's Girl

This year we went trick or treating with Ryan's best friend Truman. They moved into a new house this past summer that is in a pretty big subdivision. This is a change from our normal tradition which has included in the past going to some houses in the country, some in town and maybe a small subdivision. Traditions have been hard since my mom passed away because she was such a huge part of every tradition we have. The kids have pointed out numerous times that we were very lucky to have had such great times with her and that we need to look back on that and be grateful (amazing how much wisdom they have). Anyway, the big subdivision thing paid off. The boys weighed their bags when we got home and they each have a little over 10lbs. of candy! I'm a little mortified but they are loving it.

This dress was actually my grandma's. I found it in a pile of clothes that she had brought to our garage sale to sell a few years ago. I thought it was cool so I set it aside. Emily saw it in a box awhile back and decided she wanted to wear it. We planned on surprising my grandma but sadly she passed away a few weeks ago. I was able to tell her about it and she got a good laugh out of it. I'm going to try and find a picture of her in it and will post it if I do. I did have to shorten it quite a bit :)

I Want To Blog

2011-09-26T20:07:00.001-04:00

I want to blog...I really do...

$10.00 Free For Signing Up With Ruelala

2011-08-19T03:33:00.000-04:00

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Healing

2011-06-05T19:42:00.004-04:00

Life is slowly getting back to normal at our house. Nothing feels "normal" yet but things have been going on since February that have been life altering. Most of it I am not quite ready to share but I hope that someday I will be. The kids seem to be adjusting well to life without Grandma which I have to admit was a little weird to me at first. I didn't want them to be sad but I didn't understand when they seemed to move on with life so quickly. Then at dinnertime I would listen to them pray and ask God to help them not be sad. I realized that because of their child like faith they are ok with things. They know where Grandma is and they have complete confidence that they will see her again. I can't begin to describe how alone I feel at times. I heard someone say awhile back that when you lose your mom it truly feels like your an orphan. I couldn't agree more. I miss calling her just to talk. I miss just doing nothing with her. Even though I had a chance to tell her how much I loved her and how much she meant to me I still want a few more minutes to hold her hand and talk with her. But as my mom told me right before she died it will only be a minute until I see her again.

2011-05-10T02:41:00.001-04:00

July 15, 1945 - April 20, 2011

Please Pray

2011-04-01T12:57:00.003-04:00

My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer yesterday. This has come as a complete shock to all of us. We have been told that treatment would not likely help her. My heart is broken. If you could please pray for her and our family we would appreciate it.

Emily's 8th Birthday

2011-01-21T20:03:00.006-05:00

January 18th was Emily's Birthday. Somehow my baby girl is 8 already. We were planning on celebrating it on Saturday with extended family and her first friend sleepover. Needless to say she was pretty excited. Unfortunately she woke up with a sore throat yesterday. She was so good about resting all day so her party wouldn't be in jeopardy but last night the fever started and today it only got worse. We decided to reschedule in a couple of weeks so she doesn't share with everyone.

She did get to party a little on her actual b-day so hopefully that will tide her over :)

My girl likes her tradition. We got her chocolate chip muffins a couple years ago for breakfast and now every year she plans to have them for breakfast. You won't hear me complaining. I love chocolate chip muffins.

Josh waiting for Emily to get off the bus so he can give her a bouquet of flowers.

This is another tradition that started when she was about 2. I love this one because I love to see my husband treating her like I hope she will expect to be treated later on in life. I think that bond between father and daughter is so special. She ran off the bus so happy to get her flowers and hugs from her Daddy. The bus driver honked about 10 times so I think she thought it was pretty cool too.

As Josh posted on Facebook this is his beautiful girl

You gotta love a man who isn't afraid to arrange flowers with his daughter :)

Opening her presents from Ryan. It's amazing how the little things still make them so happy at this age.

One of the presents we got her is this art set that has an easel built into it. She LOVED it and drew us pictures all night. I loved it because it was on clearance at Michael's for $10 marked down from $50!!!

I didn't tell her what kind of cake I made for her because......

I wanted to surprise her with this cool tye dye cake. I found the recipe on a friends blog. If I knew how to link anything I would send you there but I'm afraid I am still pretty computer illiterate. If anyone wants the recipe feel free to let me know and I will get it to you.

She thought it was very cool but only ate a couple bites. Not a big dessert girl.

Later when I went to tuck her into bed I found her in her room reading her cards from her brothers. She made sure to put them in a safe place and told me how special they made her feel. I am so thankful that they do actually love each other!!!

Why Do You Blog????

2011-01-15T21:04:00.002-05:00

I have been looking at my blog everyday. I think of posts I could write but then I don't. I read everybody else's blogs and enjoy them so much even though I am so bad at commenting (sorry). I found this really cool Meme that was called All About Me In 30 Days and thought that would be a good way to get this blog going again and yet I still haven't done it. I guess I'm just wondering if you all have a specific reason why you blog? I thought I wanted to do it for my kids and family so we would be able to print it out someday and read all about our lives way back when. It seems like most of the blogs out there are filled with followers and advertising and comments. I am not saying this is a bad thing at all. Please, please, please don't think that I feel that way. I just am trying to figure out if that is what I want for this blog and if it is all too much pressure which makes me just shut down? I have made some good friends out there in blogland and I think it is amazing that little old me could write something and have someone on the other side of the country be interested in reading it. I guess I just need to figure out for myself my motive for doing this. Should I start a blog that is all about my family and then another one that is all about sharing recipes, advice and friendship???

What do you think? Please share your opinion with me and tell me why you blog.....

Thanks!!!!

Our Dog Really Does Eat Homework

2010-11-30T21:06:00.002-05:00

Halloween 2010

2010-11-15T17:00:00.003-05:00

I have to admit that I am so happy that Halloween is over for the year. I know I should be enjoying every minute because it won't last much longer but this year Halloween seemed to drag on forever.

I am pretty impressed with the kids ability to put costumes together though. Gone are the days when I would spend hours and LOTS of money in the Disney store picking out costumes.

Emily - 7

Ryan - 10

Nick - 12

There Are Too Many Great Blogs Out There

2010-11-12T00:33:00.003-05:00

I'm going to try and come back and start doing this blog thing again.

Not really for any good reason like trying to document things about our family so my kids can look back and enjoy it.

No it's really more like I just can't stay away from other peoples blogs!!!

Every time I read one of your blog posts or see a cool new blog I want to leave a comment until I remember that the last time I posted anything was way back in March!!!

Honestly how would that look to everyone????

Talk about peer pressure :)

So here I am once again hoping that all of the good and faithful bloggers out there will go easy on me :)

Oh and one more thing....if you have any cool Thanksgiving crafts or favorite Thanksgiving recipes and you want to share them I would love it!!!

Davy Crockett

2010-03-31T18:06:00.001-04:00

Nick is one of those kids who stresses about tests, homework, projects etc. He’s the one who always worries about his grades and then brings home his honor roll report card. It always cracks me up when he says he has a huge project that’s going to take forever and then he sits down and in about an hour cranks out stuff like this….

He must get it from his dad.

Dad’s Helper

2010-03-30T00:03:00.001-04:00

Anytime there is a job to be done Emily is right there ready to help. And what could be more fun for a 7 year old than washing the van with her daddy on one of the first warm days of the year :)

Strawberry Pie

2010-03-25T13:31:00.001-04:00

It’s getting to be that time of year again :) I made two of these yummy pies yesterday because just having one seems like such a shame :)

Some Relief

2010-03-23T18:31:00.001-04:00

Thank you for your prayers!!

I am feeling quite a bit better. My appointment with the spine doctor went well. They confirmed that I do have a bulging disc and some arthritis in my neck. He ruled out surgery which is good because I so was not even thinking I would need that. He suspects that most of my pain is coming from fibromyalgia but wants to send me to a pain clinic. I am in the process of scheduling an appointment.

So this is good and bad news I guess. Good because it is nothing serious but bad because there isn’t really anything they can do for it.

Prayer Request

2010-03-01T21:30:00.001-05:00

I have never done this before so this is a little hard for me…..I am asking for prayer for me.

I have been having pretty severe neck and back pain since Christmas time and nothing is helping it. I spent the majority of the day today in bed. I am at my breaking point and nothing seems to be helping. I will go see the Doctor on Wednesday and I am desperate for any help he may be able to give me.

So I guess what I am asking you to pray for is relief from the pain, some sort of exercise/stretching program that will work and the consistency to stick with it.

Thanks!!

I’ve Got Nothing

2010-02-28T14:13:00.001-05:00

I promise I’m trying to come up with some sort of blog post but seriously…..there’s nothing. So I decided that I would ask for some advice.

I am trying to learn how to cook healthy. I know how to do breakfast and lunch those are the easy ones but when it comes to dinner I’m at a loss. So if any of you have some recipes that don’t include cream of mushroom soup (my specialty) they would be much appreciated :)

I have, have, have to get more healthy. The alternative is weight loss surgery and I so don’t want to go down that road if I don’t have to.

I may even go as far as having some type of weight loss or exercise challenge on here…..maybe :)

Thanks for any and all help you can give me!!!!

Emily’s Candy Shoppe

2010-02-24T17:18:00.001-05:00

The theme for Emily’s B-day party this year was CANDY!!!

I had been planning this for awhile and then found this blog Just Deanna who had done a Six Is Sweet party for her daughter. I totally copied all of her ideas and Emily’s party turned out amazing!!

The candy garland was made out of little paper plates, toilet paper rolls and tissue paper that I strung together with fishing line.

I knew those jars would come in handy eventually :) You don’t even want to know how much all the candy cost for the candy buffet. We had Lifesavers, Skittles, Gum Balls, Runts, Mike & Ike’s and Conversation Hearts. There was a TON leftover so I could have bought about 1/2 as much and been fine.

I found these candy themed notebooks and pencils at Michael’s. Emily saw the silly straws at the grocery store and just had to have them.

These candy earrings were in her stocking from Santa…total coincidence.

For the craft the girls made lollipop magnets and decorated cupcakes. We played musical chairs and there was pretty crazy dancing going on :)

The sign above the candy buffet.

Sledding

2010-02-18T23:29:00.001-05:00

So we haven’t had a ton of snow this year but we have made the most of what we’ve got. This is Ryan and his best friend Truman. Yes they are wearing matching coats (no we didn’t plan it).

Josh still sleds with the kids….I take pictures :) This is what Nick looked like after an hour of sledding.

Josh’s sister and her family live on a lake about an hour from us. We had a blast playing on the ice and sledding in their yard.

Emily and her cousin Brooke.

Happy New Year 2010

2010-02-18T16:09:00.001-05:00

We had a pretty low key New Year’s Eve this year. Josh had to work the next day so we stayed home with the kids and had some munchies.

Love, love, love fresh fruit especially in the middle of winter. I buy it already cut up which is a little more expensive but it tends to get eaten that way. This was gone in minutes!

The kids love to have their “fancy” drinks….sprite, orange juice, a cherry and a strawberry on top :)

Mandatory noisemakers

My new bike we got that day. I’m trying so hard to get in shape and eat better for my health. I have been feeling so crummy for so long. I was doing really good the first two weeks I road over 50 miles and then had a flare up from fibromyalgia and haven’t been on since. Why is it so hard to get back on a schedule once you’ve broken it???? Anyway the kids love it too which is great!

This is a picture of Ryan that I like to call multi-tasking at it’s best. He’s riding the bike, playing his DS, talking to a friend on the phone with a headset and watching TV. Oh to be young again :)

Christmas Day 2009

2010-02-17T15:49:00.001-05:00

I promise I am almost done with Christmas posts!!!

I love these two pictures!!! They were SO excited to get downstairs and open presents :)

Santa brought Ryan and Emily Nintendo DS’s. I’m pretty sure Ryan was convinced he was never going to get one.

Nick got a docking station for his I-pod. He didn’t ask for one but somehow Santa knew he would probably like it. It was a good call too he uses it everyday.

This year was tough because Nick is getting older and doesn’t want “toys” anymore. Well he still wants toys but really expensive ones. He had a hard time even thinking of stuff he wanted. All I know is the gifts are getting smaller and the prices are getting higher.

Our handmade ornament from Emily.

One of Emily’s favorite presents was this big teddy bear. She sleeps with him every night now.

Even Chewie got in on the present opening action. We got him a bed but he ate it a few days later….never a dull moment :)

My parents with the kids.

Merry Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve 2009

2010-02-16T18:27:00.001-05:00

I feel like I’m never going to catch up on blog posts. I guess that will teach me to not blog for months at a time :)

Opening our traditional Christmas Eve gifts of pajamas and books

A whole box of Fancy Nancy books (she LOVES them)

Spreading the “reindeer food”

We don’t have a mantle so every year I try to think of somewhere to hang the stockings. Thanks to another blog I have now found the perfect place :)

Happy Birthday Nick

2010-02-15T19:57:00.001-05:00

On December 23rd Nick turned 12. We celebrated at home with his friend Alan and the grandparents. This is such a hard time of year to have your birthday. I always feel like he gets the short end of the stick because it is so close to Christmas. While we were discussing what to do this year he told me he really doesn’t like to have parties because all the attention is focused on him. I was so relieved!!!

Lego Star Wars Republic Attack Shuttle….a.k.a EXPENSIVE Lego's

Could not wait to get started on building his new ship

Birthday banana cream pie

Happy Birthday Nick!!!! One more year till your a teenager!!!!!

Some Serious Snow….FINALLY

2010-02-09T18:35:00.001-05:00

We are in the midst of a winter storm here in Michigan. So far just about 4 inches but it is supposed to be doubled by tomorrow morning. The kids are loving it and praying for a snow day tomorrow. This is one prayer that I can pretty much guarantee will be answered :)

First Grade Christmas Party

2010-02-09T00:11:00.001-05:00

I have a confession to make that is not something I share with most people….I detest school parties. I have tried for years to figure out why and I just can’t come up with a good reason. I think maybe it’s because I’m a control freak and I don’t like to not be in charge which is not something I’m proud of.

The sad thing is that Nick is in middle school and doesn’t have parties anymore and Ryan may only have one or two more if that. So now I find myself wanting to hit the pause button and enjoy every minute I have left of the elementary school festivities. I guess Emily will be the lucky one because I plan on participating to the fullest from here on out :)

Her Christmas party this year was so fun. Her teacher is so good about planning every little detail. When I saw that they were going to make gingerbread houses I thought she was crazy!!! They ended up being pretty simple and so stinking cute. They used milk cartons and covered them with graham crackers using canned frosting and decorated the outside with different candies, pretzels, marshmallows etc.

I love how she sticks her tongue out when she’s trying to concentrate :)

The sled on the left and the trees on the right were two of my favorites. By the end of the week pretty much all the candy had disappeared.

The look on her face is so cute. This is one of her good friends playing with the present he got from the gift exchange. You can tell she’s way more into his present than the Barbie she got. Poor girl has two older brothers so Barbie’s aren’t one of her favorites.

First Accident

2010-02-08T15:22:00.001-05:00

On December 13th the kids, my mother-in-law and I were heading to Josh’s cousins house for a family gathering. The roads weren’t too bad just a little slushy so I was going about 50 mph. I’m still not sure if I hit black ice or was just pulled by some slush but all of a sudden we were spinning out of control into the path of an oncoming care which we happened to miss.

We spun around probably 2-3 times and I thought for sure we were going to flip. After what seemed like an eternity but was really more like a few seconds we ended up on the side of the road without a scratch. The kids immediately freaked out, unbuckled and were trying to get to me when another car hit the same spot I did, lost control and rear ended us with the front of her car.

It didn’t hit me for a couple of minutes how truly miraculous it was that nobody was hurt. The kids were so freaked out thinking that we were going to get hit again. It amazed me how many cars drove by clearly speeding and didn’t even bother to slow down when they got close to us much less stop to see if we needed any help.

When the sheriff got there he asked me what happened etc. and then disappeared into his car for quite awhile. When he finally came back he asked me if I was going to call a tow truck or if someone could come and change the tire. I told him my husband was on his way and would be there shortly. Then he asked me if I would clear the debris from the road so another driver wouldn’t run over it. Seriously???!!! Needless to say I did not get out onto to the slippery road and pick up the pieces of broken taillight. I’m not sure the kids would have been able to handle that.

Josh came and changed the tire, the van was fixed without too much hassle (that’s a whole other story) and we feel truly blessed that nothing more serious happened.

First Band Concert

2010-02-05T21:49:00.001-05:00

Nick is following in Josh’s footsteps and playing the trumpet in middle school band. Here are some pictures from his Christmas concert….

The kids in the band had to teach one of their parents to play Jingle Bells before the concert and then the parent had to go on stage and perform at the concert. Judging by the sounds coming from some of the instruments these parents haven’t practiced in quite awhile :) It was hilarious!!!

A Girl & Her Daddy

2010-02-04T23:45:00.001-05:00

It blows me away every time I watch Emily and her Daddy. He is so in love with his little girl. He knows how important it is to have a strong a father figure in a girls life and makes sure she knows how beautiful and special she is everyday. She is one lucky girl and I know because he makes me feel the same way!!!!

Helping with Emily’s Apple Festival at school

Baking Christmas cookies

He even lets her do his hair!!!!

Christmas Parades

2010-02-04T13:34:00.001-05:00

We have been going to Silver Bells In The City for the last 12 years. It is always near my birthday and kind of kicks off our holiday season. There is an electrical parade followed by the tree lighting and fireworks at the State Capital. There are always tons of other activities going on but with the warm weather this year the crowd was insane so we decided to skip them which actually turned out to be a good thing because much to my surprise the kids and Josh had planned to surprise me with a birthday cake at the fire station! I couldn’t believe that my kids were able to keep a secret and get me to the station without Josh’s help (he was working). Needless to say I was very surprised and pretty proud of all of them :)

Ryan, Truman and Emily at the parade

Someday I hope to have a camera that would actually be able to get a good picture of something like this!!

A couple of weeks later our local town had their Christmas parade and we just had to go :)

Emily, Nick and Grandma

Ryan and Grandma

This time we almost froze to death but had a great time!! I’m definitely more in the mood for a parade that doesn’t require 3 layers of clothing now.

Dog Show

2010-02-03T11:34:00.001-05:00

On Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend we took the kids to a dog show at MSU. I had heard about it earlier in the week and knew the kids would LOVE it!!! Josh wasn’t too excited but ended up having a great time. For the most part the dog owners were very nice and let the kids pet their dogs and ask tons of questions. Here are some of our favorites….

I can’t remember what breed this. These people were so nice to the kids and invited the kids to come and watch her show which we did later.

We had to get a picture of this Corgi because Chewie is 1/2 Corgi.

No idea what this breed is but we could not stop laughing at the poor thing. Doesn’t it look like he got slammed in a door?

The kids were cracking up at the haircut!

No surprise that our dog lover made a few friends that day.

The kids had a blast watching this.

This was so fun to watch. It is amazing to watch these dogs run through this obstacle course. Some of the little dogs were hilarious to watch!! I only got a couple of pictures before I got in trouble for using a flash. Whoops!!!

We had so much fun!!! We are planning on going every year.

So this is my second post with Windows Live Writer and I have to say that it ROCKS!!!!

Catching Up

2010-02-02T15:38:00.001-05:00

So in the hopes of catching up I am trying Windows Live Writer right now. I have heard from other bloggers that this makes blogging a breeze. I have so many pictures to share that I have gotten overwhelmed and haven’t done anything :( Supposedly this will make the whole picture downloading thing easier. I am so not computer savvy so we will see how it goes!!!!

I’ll start with Thanksgiving….

We spent Thanksgiving at the farm this year with Elaine, Greg, Abby, Will, Lauren and Brooke.

Nick, Josh and Elaine

Josh, Ryan and Elaine

Josh and Lauren

We ate tons of yummy food, had fun playing with our nieces/cousins and obsessed over the black Friday ads (ok maybe I was the only one obsessing).

All the kids stayed the night with Grandma and Papa and the next morning Josh and I went out at 4 a.m. to shop!!! I thought he would be miserable but he was awesome!!! We would go into the store and he would immediately get in line while I went and got everything on our list. We ended up getting almost everything we wanted and then went out for breakfast and came home for a much needed nap.

Monkey Bread

2009-11-10T18:09:00.005-05:00

Here is another yummy recipe...

3 small tubes refrigerated biscuits

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 stick butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Pour sugar and cinnamon into large Ziploc bag. Tear each biscuit into small pieces (I do about 4 per biscuit) and put into bag of cinnamon and sugar and shake. Put biscuits into greased tube pan. Melt 1 stick of butter and mix with vanilla and remaining sugar mixture. Pour over top. Bake @ 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until not doughy.

And then about 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven this is what will happen...

Cuties

2009-11-09T22:25:00.002-05:00

You would not believe the excitement there was when I walked in with these tonight. I am not exaggerating when I say my family could eat this whole thing in one day. The kids love them and I love them even more because they can peel them by themselves and they are good for them :)

Cottage Pie

2009-11-09T20:15:00.002-05:00

I tried a new recipe out tonight thanks to eatathomecooks.com blog. I changed it up a little bit so the kids would eat it and it was a success (except for Emily).

Cottage Pie

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 onion diced
1 jar beef gravy
2 cups mashed potatoes
salt & pepper
butter

Brown the ground beef with onion, drain and mix with jar of gravy. Spread into bottom of greased casserole dish, top with mashed potatoes dot with butter to taste. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned.

This was so quick and easy and tasted very good!! I used the bagged potatoes that you mix with water. Enjoy!!!

Lovin The Weekend

2009-11-08T22:49:00.002-05:00

The weather in Michigan was absolutely beautiful this weekend. I think everyone was in a good mood because it wasn't raining for once :) We made a great breakfast Saturday morning with french toast, sausage and eggs. Nick decided that he wanted to go over to his friends house so we dropped them off and then headed to the store so Ryan could buy a birthday present for his friends party. He was so cute picking the present out. I remember when I was little I would get mad because I had to give the present away (yeah I was one of those kids). He was very into getting just the right thing which happened to be a Lego car racing set.

The party was at a slot car racing place. I had never even heard of this before but it was very cool and the boys LOVED it!!! Earlier in the day Emily was bumming because Nick got to go to a friends house and Ryan got to go to a b-day party but she "wasn't going to get to do anything" yeah hold your tears please. Needless to say she was pretty happy when the boys let her race with them and she even got to stay at the party while Josh and I went to get some supplies for a school project of Ryan's had. She actually ended up winning a couple of times.

After the party Ryan ended up inviting himself over to his friends house to play. Emily painted all afternoon while Josh and I took naps. We went to my parents for dinner and Nick spent the night at his friends. The kids were exhausted when we got home and actually asked to go to bed!!! I'll post some pictures of Ryan's school project later in the week.

Friday Night Fun

2009-11-07T23:46:00.007-05:00

We have been having one of those weekends around here. I know your thinking who could be sick now???? The answer my friends is NOBODY!!!! It's been one of those weekends that just feels great :) The weather is beautiful, we have spent lots of time with friends (kids and adults), everyone is getting along (I'm knocking on wood as I types those words) and it just feels great. You know "that" kind of weekend.

Friday night started with Nick having one of his buddies over to spend the night. We really like this boy who will remain nameless since I'm not his parent. You know some kids come over and they don't really talk to you and they don't really want to be around the siblings at the house yeah I'm sure you all know of some. Since the first day I met this boy he had no problem talking to me he's very respectful and I actually notice him being nice yes you heard me...nice to Ryan and Emily. Nick was ecstatic that he got to have a friend over (I'm still trying to get better at letting them do that) but then I handed him the Star Wars Battlefront Elite Force Squadron DS game (pretty impressed at my remembering the name are'nt ya) that he has been saving his money for when he walked through the door which put him right over the moon!!!

We had told the kids the night before that we were getting together with some friends of ours the next night and we were wondering if they would mind staying home while the adults went out to dinner(they have two middle schoolers also)? They were all for that idea especially if I picked up some Mt. Dew for them to have. Ryan was so excited that they would get to hang out together without the parents and he was pretty much out of his mind when he found out that they got to make dinner by themselves. Before you get nervous about a bunch of unsupervised kids cooking dinner let me tell you I let them make subs, chips & dip, pickles and pop. Somehow this made Ryan even more excited because now they wouldn't have to use any utensils!!!! Oh to be 9 again :)

So Ken and Mary got here we got everyone situated and we headed out for a peaceful dinner with adult conversation. I'm not even sure what that is lately. We had a great time. It was so relaxing and being with friends is always so much fun when your out. There's never an end to the laughing and the talking. I love it!!! One of the other highlights were the sweet potato fries that we had to order a second basket of. I am not a fan of sweet potatoes but these were amazing. I have got to figure out how to make them. I know that sweet potatoes are extremely good for you and I need all of that I can get. We were thinking of maybe baking them with a little olive oil. Has anyone else ever made these???? If you have please share your recipe :)

Ice cream and girl talk...does it get any better????

We came home and the kids hadn't burned the house down and nobody needed to go to the ER so we considered it a success :) (just kidding guys you did a wonderful job) We all made banana splits for dessert. YUM!!!! I don't know if it was all the great food, the warmth of the fire or just the fact that they are getting OLD that made Ken and Josh fall asleep about 5 minutes later :) The kids, Mary and I didn't mind though because we knew it gave us more time to hang out and have fun!!!!

Do you think the word pathetic is appropriate in this picture??? :)

After the guys were tucked in (just kidding) Mary and I played charades with the kids. It was hilarious. Some of the kids got it but when you have 6 kids ranging from 6-14 things can get a little confusing. Some of the older ones were a little embarrassed to act out the silly ones. I thought all of those things just made it funnier :) The cutest example was when I was acting one out and Ryan guessed it except he said "it's an artist painting on his Kansas" we thought he just said it wrong but apparently that's what he really thought it was called. So stinkin cute :)

This is Nick setting up his scene for the clue.
Can you guess???

Oh yeah it's swimming underwater!!!

Ryan and Alyssa
Quick!!! What is it????

Emily kept saying "I don't think I can play this game I don't even know how to read that stuff" I think she was trying to pull one over on us because she did just fine.

We love, love, love these nights. I love that our families are building lasting memories together.

Say Cheese

2009-11-03T17:16:00.003-05:00

What did people do before digital cameras??? I love that I can let the kids take as many pictures as they want and be creative without worrying about wasting film. I still have about 17 rolls of film in a drawer waiting to be developed. I never think to take it to the store but I can't wait to see what the pictures are when I finally do remember to develop it. Emily grabbed the camera today and disappeared for awhile. Here are few of the many many pics she took....

Self portrait

I just love her little chubby fingers. I'm sure she won't have them much longer so I want to have lots of pictures to remember them by. She still has the black and white polka dot nail polish on from Halloween which I'm sure is what she was trying to capture.

Emily and Ryan always make up parties to have for the family sometimes they are dance club parties, sometimes they are game parties, sometimes pretend garage sales no matter what they are always entertaining. This party was a list of papers taped to the wall with questions like what is your favorite color, what is your favorite class in school and then you were supposed to draw a picture on the easel. It cracks me up how much the love it when we draw a picture or write them a note. Emily had the idea to use our finger on the pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns and she drew the bat in the corner. She's pretty creative :)

Nick doing what he loves the most.

That's a little scary!!

Holy glare!!! Elaine (my mother-in-law) took these pictures with the kids before she was deployed to Iraq and gave each of the kids a framed copy. The kids loved them. This is sitting on Ryan's desk and thankfully his grandma was returned safely :)

Another self portrait :)

Chewie

I Scream You Scream

2009-11-01T19:45:00.002-05:00

This is the latest form of entertainment at our house.....

I can't believe I actually spent more on four of these little ice cream cups for dogs than I do on a gallon of ice cream for the family. But when we hear the belly laughs and squeals of excitement it's worth every penny :)

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T01:32:00.002-04:00

We had a great time trick-or-treating and visiting with friends tonight. We weren't sure if we would be able to celebrate Halloween at all because Ryan and Emily have been sick for the past week. They did end up missing their school parties but a trip to McDonald's cheered them up :)
Josh ended up working overtime tonight but was able to trick-or-treat for the first 45 minutes and then Grandma Linda stepped in to help out. The kids did great this year planning their costumes on a very tight budget without complaining. Their manners at each of the houses we visited just made me beam with pride. I could hear them saying thank you and Happy Halloween while they ran to the next house. It was so stinkin cute :) Afterwards we stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's, they checked out their loot (and declared it a record year) and went to visit a friend who was in town for the night. We did end up missing a party at the farm which we were all very bummed about but we knew the kids would overdo it with a hayride and bonfire :( All in all it was a great night though.

This one cracked me up :) She definitely doesn't get her organization from me!!

13 Years

2009-10-18T20:03:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it but tomorrow is our 13th wedding anniversary!!!

We are so blessed!!!!

1st Middle School Conference

2009-10-14T00:22:00.002-04:00

I went to Nick's first middle school conferences tonight. I always get a little nervous before meeting with the kid's teacher's which is ridiculous because we always get tons of great compliments. I think it must have to do with how bad my conferences always were. My poor mom had to sit there and listen to the teacher's say I was too social or not living up to my potential. We laugh about it now but boy did it freak me out at the time. So anyway I walk into the middle school and in the cafeteria were all the 6th grade teachers. Unlike elementary school where you meet with one teacher tonight I was scheduled to meet with 6 different teachers and each one had a 5 minute time limit. Talk about pressure!!! I of course didn't need to worry at all because every single teacher told me how wonderful, kind, thoughtful and responsible Nick is. He's getting mostly A's and a couple of B's which I think is pretty darn good for the first few weeks of middle school. He's such a great kid but it's always nice to hear people reaffirm what you already know :)

Get Your Popcorn

2009-10-13T15:06:00.003-04:00

Ryan and Emily are home from school today because they are sick. I guess they must be bored because this is what they have been doing for the past hour.

Apparently they don't really have boy scout popcorn for sale but I did pick up some spaghetti that I needed for dinner for only five cents :)

Things

2009-10-12T23:23:00.002-04:00

I'm not even going to say it...I know it's been over a month again. I just wanted to try and post really quick what has been going over at the Redhead House so here goes.....

Six birthday parties attended since September 11th

Soccer practices every Thursday night and soccer games every Saturday morning

Two emergency teeth extractions for Ryan

Two root canals for Amy

Attended homecoming football game and parade with winter coats and lots of blankets :)

1 quick trip to local apple cider mill for some donuts and cider YUM!!!!

Lots of overtime hours for Josh at the fire department (close to 80 I think) because of home MSU football games

Emily got her first bible. Our church had a wonderful program complete with food, professional photographers who took individual and family pictures and a performance by all the first graders. It was the cutest thing and she begs to read her bible every night :)

Nick started youth group at church and absolutely LOVES it!!!! (I admit I'm a little jealous that I can't go)

Josh and I joined a seven week young parents community at church that is amazing and a total answer to many prayers. Can't week to see what the Lord has in store for our family!!!!

Many, many various sicknesses but thankfully nothing serious just colds and upset tummies

All in all things are going good here. I think we are getting into a pretty good routine for school. Nick brought home his first progress report and it was mainly A's with a couple of B's. I'm thinkin that's pretty awesome especially for being in his first month of middle school. Emily was student of the week (school wide) and VIP for the week in her class which was pretty exciting!!! Ryan was chosen to be on the student council. We have some pretty awesome kids!!!

Just gearing up for middle school conferences tomorrow night, the last soccer game this weekend, an annual pig roast at my brother-in-laws and trying to come up with cheap creative costumes for the kids that they like. The boys are pretty easy in fact Ryan is already set but Emily is more than a little picky which is ok because she's my baby and I don't have many years left to do this :(

Hope everyone is doing well. I'm still reading and following what is going on in all of your lives. Hope to post some pictures soon!!!!

1st Day of School 2009

2009-09-08T23:47:00.003-04:00

The kids went back to school today. Nick is in 6th grade and going to the middle school, Ryan is in 4th grade and Emily is in 1st grade. This means that for the first time in almost 12 years Josh and I are all alone. I know it will seem like heaven soon but today it was just kinda weird. I did a lot of praying (especially for Nick in that big new school) & a lot of worrying about silly things like what if Emily can't get her button undone, what if they don't get enough to eat for lunch and they get hungry later on??? Before we knew it they were home and our house was buzzing for the rest of the night with who sat with who and what so and so brought for their lunch...you know all the "important" stuff :) Now I'm just sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet and trying to soak it all in. I have awesome kids!!! I hope their teachers know how lucky they are to have them in their class!!! :)

Gun Lake

2009-09-06T22:34:00.006-04:00

Friday we went to Gun Lake for the day with my parents. They brought their boat that may dad has had since before my parents were married which was over 44 years ago. We found a perfect secluded grassy spot at the park with lots of shade trees (very important for a family of redheads) and shallow water to park the boat and let the kids swim in. We enjoyed lots of yummy food and ended up staying for over 8 hours! The weather was gorgeous and the kids swam, went tubing and rode in the boat a ton. Other than having a bunch of very annoying bees swarming us it was the perfect start to a great Labor Day weekend!!!

At Papa Doug & Grandma Linda's getting ready to leave

Papa Doug, Ryan and Emily

This was as much tubing as he could handle...maybe next year :)

Nick getting ready to take off. He ended up being the only one to brave the tube that day

Josh said Ryan and Emily were very worried that Nick was going to fall in.

I guess maybe they do love each other :)

It's not old it's "vintage" :)

Papa let Ryan drive (with a little help from Josh)

As long as it wasn't being pulled behind the boat they were fine

Grandma Linda and Papa Doug cruisin with the grandkids

Feeding the seagulls or the "eagles" as Emily calls them

Go tubing again??? Who me???

I spotted this car while driving through the campground. I love it!!!

The car was with this old Airstream camper. Love love it!!

This vintage mahogany boat was with the car and the camper. These people have great taste!!!

Grandma and Emily ready to go home after a fun filled day!

Daddy can still give her underdogs :)

The end of a perfect day.

Happy Labor Day!!!!

Make a loopdy loop and pull....

2009-09-03T14:22:00.003-04:00

1 Day!!!!!

That's all it took for my big 1st grader to learn how to tie her shoes.

This is new to us because the boys both learned how at pre-school which they were both reminiscing about yesterday. Josh has always told me that I tie my shoes weird so I left it up to him to teach Emily.

Last year the kindergarten teacher specifically requested that they not have shoes with laces unless they were able to tie them on their own. Can you even imagine trying to tie 20 something pairs of shoes??? So we bought her slip on tennis shoes and never thought about it again.

Fast forward a year and there we were picking out tennis shoes again. She picked out this pair and promised that she would be tying her shoes by the time school started. And she did!!!!

The day after Josh showed her how

TAA DAA!!!!

We are still not sure if her dad is a good teacher or if listening to the Spongebob song was what did the trick :)

2009-09-02T23:29:00.005-04:00

Why didn't someone tell me that all my kids needed to be happy and entertained this summer was their dad's step ladder, Nick's leather whip and a tree??????

Here I have been thinking they needed to go to the park, the fair, the beach, friends houses, have friends over, watch movies, go swimming, have bonfires, camp out in the backyard.

Nope!!!! I guess I was wrong.

Turns out this was all they needed all along.

Pickle Juice

2009-09-02T15:24:00.002-04:00

So the kids and I are watching Emeril Green today and he's making healthy kid friendly food. One of the things is a corn, tomato, black bean relish (I'm not sure what kids he's feeding this too but it wouldn't fly in my house). Emily is totally into the show and says "that looks good but I don't like black beans so I wouldn't like it.....but if it had pickle juice in it I would for sure eat it."

WHAAAT?????

Lake Michigan

2009-08-31T23:29:00.002-04:00

My friend Amy's parents rent a cottage on Lake Michigan for 2 weeks every summer and they are kind enough to let our family come and visit :) As usual we brought crummy weather with us but we made the best of it. The kids were thrilled with the waves and were completely exhausted after about an hour in the lake.

Ryan trying to stand up against the waves

I love this picture of Emily and her Daddy

Ryan has always loved having as much sand as possible on his body

Josh and Nadia

Watching the sunset

Beautiful Lake Michigan Sunset

It doesn't get much better than this

Family Picnic

2009-08-31T00:38:00.002-04:00

In early August we all gathered at my in-laws Greg and Elaine's farm for a family picnic. We had many reasons to celebrate. Elaine was promoted to Lt. Colonel in the US Army earlier in the week, my brother in-law Nate joined the Indiana National Guard and was leaving for basic training two days later, my brother in-law Ben had just graduated with his PhD and is moving with his wife and two little girls to Kenya for 2-3 years and we had a new niece Leena (Ben and Niki's daughter) that we hadn't all met yet. This was also the last time that we would all be able to be together for probably at least 2 years.

We had a great time even if the weather didn't cooperate very well. It was great to see all the kids playing together.

Our niece Lauren wearing her cupcake. I love this look of pure joy on her face :)

Ani playing in the bouncy house.

My niece Natalie and I.

Ben, Josh and Jason with their girls.

All of the grandkids. I can't believe how good this picture turned out with 8 kids!!!

Papa Greg and Grandma E with all their grandkids.

Lauren and Grandma looking at the pond.

Brookie looking so sweet :)

Emily and her new cousin Leena!!

This weekend just reminded us of how precious our family really is. We loved and cherished every minute of the time we were able to spend together. We pray that God will keep everyone healthy and safe over the next couple years until we can all be together again!!!!

National Night Out

2009-08-31T00:01:00.004-04:00

So after 3 days in the hospital with diverticulitis Josh was released. He seems to be doing fine now but will have more testing in a few weeks just to be sure.

Josh eating his first real food which was the big test to get released :)

The kids and I went to the 2009 National Night Out which I had never heard of before that night. It is a crime and drug prevention event that happens throughout the country. There was so much to do there and the kids had so much fun. Josh was working so they thought they were pretty cool because a lot of the people working the event knew them. Ryan even got his picture on the front page of the East Lansing newspaper!!!!

Ryan dressed in his SWAT Team gear

Ryan

Emily

Nick

The part that made me the happiest....free dinner :)

Emily with her poodle???? She had to tell all of us what it was :)

The part that made the kids the happiest....free cotton candy!!!!

Emily getting a peace sign painted on her face. I'm not even sure how she knows what that is???

One of Josh's co-workers in the dunk tank. I think Nick took him out a couple of times.

My MSU Spartan fan

A step up from our mini-bike :)

Josh and Mike spraying the fire hose with some pretty excited kids

How cool is it that they get to do this with their dad!!!

Watch out boys our girl is pretty tough :)

Bounce houses never get boring.

What a fun night!!!! Whoever organized all of this did an amazing job. I will definitely be taking the kids back to this next year!!!!

2009-08-28T01:07:00.002-04:00

Much as we hated to go the fair was closing and that meant one thing... get some treats on the way out!!!!

I'm not sure who was helping who at this point we were all exhausted.

Elephant Ear - YUMMO!!!!!

Grandma and her very tired grandkids :)

What do I pick, What do I pick????

As her eyes are glazing over :)

He knew just what he wanted and that ended up being the choice for all the kids.

We had such a fun night. I absolutely cannot wait to take them back next year!!!!

Fair cont'd

2009-08-28T00:55:00.003-04:00

It was at this point we decided to sign the kids up for 4H. Not sure what we are going to do yet but we really like the idea of doing everything as a family and the good wholesome things it has to offer. I'll keep you updated as we get more information.

I heard a lot of "Mom can we please take one home" that night
She loved all of the animals except the pigs she thought they were a little to smelly

Ryan the chick magnet :)

My little piggy :)

She couldn't believe how soft they were.

2009-08-28T00:41:00.002-04:00

This is my favorite ride. It feels like your flying.

They are ready to go

She was out to get 2 people and only 2 people......Nick & Ryan

This one gave me a small heart attack because my BABY girl went on it not 1, not 2 but 3 times sometimes I think she is a little too brave. This was Nick's favorite!!!!

Bring it on!!!!

Tilt-A-Whirl

Fun At The Fair

2009-08-28T00:08:00.002-04:00

If you asked the kids one of the highlights of their summer I'm sure it would be the Ionia Free Fair. I have been going to this fair since I was a little girl so I always have fun taking them. This year Josh had to work so my mom and I took the kids. It started storming as soon as we pulled into the fair grounds. We waited the storm out which wasn't hard to do when your eating corn dogs, french fries and fresh squeezed lemonade with lots of sugar in it :) After about an hour the storm passed the sun came out and we were off!!!!

Ryan doesn't look excited does he????

This was great until Nick realized he was gonna get SQUASHED!!!!!

I had to take a picture because these moments are few and far between.

I think they may actually like each other :)

Emily and Nick - I just love the colors in this picture

They loved this ride!!

Ryan and his Grandma aaawww :)

He loves being with her.

Water, Water & More Water

2009-08-27T23:55:00.002-04:00

My sweet little boy loves the water. We usually can't get him out once he's in.

Ryan in the backyard pool

Nick, Emily & Ryan on the beach at a local lake

More fun in the pool with Grant, Skylar & Ryan

Playing some badmitten in the backyard with friends

John Ball Zoo

2009-08-27T23:35:00.003-04:00

So here it is almost the end of summer and I have posted NOTHING!!!! In an attempt to catch up I am planning on posting our entire summer in the next couple of days. I tried photobucket last night but didn't have any success in transferring pictures to the blog so I guess I will have to do it five pics at a time :)

The day after school got out my friend Amy and I took our six kids to the John Ball Park Zoo in Grand Rapids. It was the first time the kids and I had been to this zoo and was by far my favorite.

Nick, Ryan, Emily, Grant, Shane & Nadia

Amy, Shane, Emily, Grant, Nick & Ryan

Ryan feeding the parakeet

Emily, Grant, Ryan & Nick

Shane was a little freaked out by the whole camel thing but he assures his dad that if they go back they will ride the camel " forgether" he's so funny :)

Some frozen goodness at the end of a hot day YUM!!!!

We had a great time and hope to go back before fall. I think the kids favorite part was petting the stingrays. I however did not go near them.

Where Do I Start?????

2009-08-26T20:35:00.002-04:00

I have so much to post about and so many pictures to share that I am completely overwhelmed. Can someone please teach me how to post more than 5 pictures at once????

2009-07-28T14:49:00.002-04:00

I haven't been posting lately because our computer that is less than 1 year old is fried. I have to mail it in so they can fix it which will probably take a couple of weeks. My mother in law let us borrow her laptop so I won't have withdrawals :)

We had a very interesting weekend. Josh came home from work on Friday morning not feeling well. He spent most of the day in bed with nausea and abdominal pain. I took him into the urgent care at about 9:00 p.m. They drew some blood and gave him a shot for pain. The labs came back and his white count was high so they sent him to the ER thinking it was probably diverticulitis or appendicitis. In the ER they started an iv to give him fluids and stronger pain meds and had him drink some contrast dye stuff for a CT scan. The scan came back showing he did have diverticulitis. The ER doctor let him go home with two different antibiotics and pain meds and only clear liquids for at least 48 hours. We didn't get home till 4:30 a.m.

Saturday we pretty much laid around watching movies. The kids went to the farm to stay the night and help Grandma get ready for her picnic on Sunday. Around 10:00 p.m. Josh was in so much pain and very nauseous that I took him back to the ER. I didn't think we would ever get there. I have never seen him like that and I hope I never do again. The ER admitted him to the hospital so they could control his pain, give him fluids and iv antibiotics. I was able to stay with him which made me feel better. He had a pretty rough night so I was happy that I could be there to help him.

They let him start eating clear liquids on Monday morning and some soft foods by dinner. He was discharged Monday night. He is still feeling pretty bad but hopefully is on his way to a full recovery. He had to meet with a surgeon and will have to have more testing in a few weeks to make sure he doesn't need surgery. It's great to have him home but the kids are stir crazy and I'm just a little stressed out :)

Please keep him in your prayers. We still don't know a whole lot about this so if anyone has any advice it would be very much appreciated!!!

Fourth of July

2009-07-06T18:17:00.002-04:00

We celebrated the 4th of July at home this year with lots of friends, family, great food, bonfires, swimming and fireworks. Even the puppy had a great time :)

Chewie hoping to get some leftovers

Alyssa, Emily and Ryan trying to see who could swing the highest

Me & Natalie

Nick & Chewie

Marina & Emily sporting glow necklaces and sparklers

Nick & Dad hanging out

Emily copying Dad and cracking us up :)

4 Kids & A Puppy

2009-06-30T20:47:00.002-04:00

I don't think it can get much cuter than this :)

Two cousins fresh out of the bath and in their jammies.

Almost makes me want to have another one.

Such a good helper!

Two of her biggest fans!!!

On top of getting a new puppy this weekend (who still doesn't have a name) we also had our niece Natalie stay with us while her parents enjoyed some much deserved time away. She is 9 months old now and so fun :) The kids had a hard time choosing who to play with between her and the puppy.

A New Addition To Our Family

2009-06-28T14:32:00.003-04:00

5th Grade Recognition

2009-06-17T22:07:00.007-04:00

So proud of our 5th grader!!!!

The whole family

Nick getting his "diploma" from Mr. Fizzell

Nick's 5th grade recognition program was wonderful. The kids looked so nice all dressed up. They filed into the gym behind a bagpipe player and then went in pairs up to the front where all the teachers from each grade were there waiting to pin a corsage/boutonniere on them. They sang a few songs and then received their "diplomas". I made it through the whole thing without any tears (which is pretty impressive for me) until Nick's teacher Mr. Fizzell read a poem that he wrote for them. Here it is:

Tonight's the night that we've all come to recognize what you have done. You came to Neff on our first day with eyes open wide but little to say. Through the year you've learned a lot just don't forget what we have taught. Maniac McGee and homophones, bar graphs, fractions and mouse bones. Magnets, division, explorers deeds, voice, pure editing and journals of seeds. Denominators and objects in space, grammar, spelling and the value of place. But the end is here your finally done your time at Neff has been and gone. You were the biggest fish in our small pond but now you'll see what lies beyond. No more math and science too your finally off to middle school. Ms. Harwood and I have enjoyed every minute it's hard to think of Neff without you in it. So congrats, bravo I'll say it loud for all you've accomplished we are so proud.

As soon as he started talking my tears started flowing.

We are so proud of you Nick!!!! It seems like just yesterday we were dropping you off at preschool and trying to get out the door with you screaming and holding onto our legs :) We are constantly impressed by your compassion and kindness to others at school who may not have any friends. Your ability to make them feel liked and accepted always amazes us. Every teachers conference was a joy. You were loved by every one of your teachers in elementary school and we know you will continue to blow them away at middle school.

Good luck buddy!!!!

Field Trips

2009-06-17T21:32:00.003-04:00

Nick and Ryan each had field trips at the end of the school year. Nick's class went to Greenfield Village which I had never been to. It was pretty interesting. We are looking forward to going back in the winter around Christmas.

Ryan's class went to Binder Park Zoo. The highlight of the day for all of the kids was feeding the giraffes.

It always cracks me when all the kids want to do is go to the gift shop on these trips. The fifth graders were no exception. We had all boys in our group and the only thing they wanted to do was ride the train, get ice cream and shop.

Nick and his friends riding in a Model T at Greenfield Village.

Ryan could hardly contain his excitement over feeding the giraffes. The girls in our group thought their black tongues were "disgusting".

Ryan found the MSU Spartan horse :)

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-06-17T21:21:00.003-04:00

Memorial Day weekend was busy at our house. We had Josh's birthday, our niece Lauren's birthday, a bonfire with the Alderman's and camped out in the backyard. It was a great way to start our summer!!!!

Emily helping her cousin Lauren blow out her birthday candles on her butterfly cake

Ryan our "expert" marshmallow roaster at our first bonfire of the summer

We camped out in our backyard for the night. The kids loved it!! Josh and I loved it because there was no packing involved :)

He still loves to snuggle with his mom!!

Josh and I made it through breakfast before going back to the house. The kids played in the camper all weekend.

New Sidewalk With Old Rocks

2009-06-17T20:15:00.002-04:00

A few years ago the basement of my Grandpa's barn started caving in. After getting a few estimates on rebuilding the wall he decided to have the barn torn down instead of fixing it. Josh spent a few long days taking all the stones out of the basement for him and while he was doing this my Grandpa said he thought they would make a pretty sidewalk. Josh brought them home and they have been in our backyard since then. About a month ago he decided to make the sidewalk and ended up doing it in just a couple days. Some of these rocks were over 100 lbs. and I think his wrists are probably still hurting but we really like the result. We still have to decide how we want to landscape around it but for right now I just like looking at it thinking about how much my Grandpa would have enjoyed knowing that the rocks that held up his barn for so many years are now leading to our front door.

Picture Overload

2009-06-17T19:59:00.003-04:00

I have been sucked into the land of Facebook and started scrapbooking again. Needless to say that leaves little time for blogging. I have tons of pictures to post since I haven't posted in a month!!!! We are having a great summer so far. The kids are enjoying staying up late and sleeping in (so am I). Ryan and Emily are going to bible school with friends this week and loving it :)

Since I still haven't figured out how to post more than 5 pictures at once I will everything up.

We had the Barne's over and the kids had fun flying kites and playing video games we wanted to have a bonfire but it was too windy out so we had to resort to the indoor smores maker.

Josh's birthday - May 23rd
Emily wanted to help him blow his candles out

The kids decided we should go miniature golfing for Dad's B-Day. Elaine and Greg went with us and we all had a great time. This is the first year that we could golf and not have to help any kids :)

It's Garage Sale Time

2009-05-20T16:42:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite things to do is go to garage sales. They usually don't start going full swing in Michigan until the middle of May. Even though there haven't been many yet this year I have already gotten some good stuff (probably not very helpful for my decluttering mission). Here's a few of the bargains I have found so far this year.

An old sewing box looks like maybe 70's era. Just for the record I thought this was a cake decorating box. I was pretty bummed when I saw that it wasn't but I think it actually works fine especially for .75 cents.

An actual down to earth recipe book just for my bread machine. I have an obsession with recipe books and I am planning on getting rid of a bunch but this one is a keeper. So far I have tried the white and whole wheat recipes and they have been good. I'm having a hard time with figuring out the baking time since I bake them in the oven I think I almost have it worked out. This was $1.00.

I have been wanting to buy a bench or other outdoor furniture but can never quite bring myself to spend the small fortune that is seems to cost. I found this bench on Saturday. I was on my was home from the grocery store and almost didn't stop at the sale because it was a couple miles out of my way. Must be everyone else thought the same thing because I was the only one there. The lady told me her husband had just assembled this bench the night before because they didn't think anyone would buy it still new in the box. It was marked $25 I offered them $20 and next thing I knew it was in the back of my van. LOVE IT!!!!

I think there is probably 15 or more tomato cages here. We are going to try planting a garden this year. They were .10 cents each. I picked out 7 of them and the lady asked me to take them all for the same price. Much to Josh's dismay I brought them all home. I think we only need a couple but I'm sure we can give the rest away unless any of you have some really cool ideas that use tomato cages.

That's pretty much it for now. But tomorrow is Thursday so you can bet I will be out there at it again. Thanks for your kind comments. It's nice to be back!

Where The Heck Is She??????

2009-05-19T16:55:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone!!! I know I have been gone for a month and I really don't have any explanation for it. At first I was questioning whether or not blogging and sharing pictures etc. is safe for my family. I am not very tech savvy and I get worried about protecting my kids from creepy people online. I saw an episode of Oprah (which I hardly ever watch anymore) about child predators and got a little freaked out. What do you all think about putting our families out there for the world to see? I want to do this so years from now we can look back and enjoy all the memories. The main thing that stuck with me after watching that show was that you need to be educated about everything you and especially your kids do online. I don't know about you but I do not even remotely understand what goes on in "internetland".

I am very interested to hear some opinions on this. And in the meantime have decided that I am going to keep blogging and reading everything I can about Internet safety. I miss all of my "bloggy" friends you have all become an important part of my life!!!!

How To Get A Ring Off

2009-04-21T16:28:00.002-04:00

I know it's only Tuesday but I was so excited to share this that I just couldn't wait.

I have tried getting my wedding ring off a few time over the last week with no success. I've tried hand soap, lotion, vegetable oil, running it under cold water etc. It was very painful and nothing worked. Today I Googled it and found a website that suggested spraying it with Windex (maybe the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding was actually onto something). I put some ice on it and held my arm above my head for about ten minutes then I sprayed it with some Target brand window cleaner. I had to twist the ring a lot and spray it repeatedly. I didn't think it was going to work but after about 30 seconds I could feel it start moving and it finally came off!!! It just leaves me wondering yet again what did people do before they had the Internet.

Head over to We Are THAT Family for more Works For Me Wednesday ideas (you might want to wait till Wednesday though) :)

Slurpees & 4 Square

2009-04-17T20:22:00.002-04:00

It was a beautiful day here today (as Ryan kept saying over and over). I think it was around 70 degrees finally!!! Emily came home and said she had homework and it was to play outside all weekend :) Just wanted to share a yummy sugar filled recipe with you for Kool Aid Slurpee's.

Kool Aid Slurpee's

1 packet of Kool Aid

1 tray of ice cubes

1/2 cup of sugar

water

Put Kool Aid and sugar into blender. Add ice cubes and water. Blend to a slushy texture.

I doubled the recipe and just added water to taste. It made a full blender. Enjoy!!!

The kids taught us how to play 4 Square tonight. I remember playing it differently and Josh said he had never played it. Does anyone remember how to play this????

More Easter Pics

2009-04-17T12:44:00.003-04:00

Emily left a note for the Easter Bunny asking him to please hide their baskets. She also left him some water and carrots on her favorite plate. She did have a pack of Juicy Fruit and 3 pieces of chocolate on there until I told her that he would be way to full for those. I'm thinking she might have been trying to bribe him :)

Nick, Ryan and Emily checking out the goods that the Easter Bunny left.

Emily, Lauren (our niece) Ryan and Nick digging in to the yummy food.

All the kids and Grandma E starting the Easter Egg hunt.

My boys were very helpful with their little cousins. Made me very proud!!!

Lauren and Ryan with all their loot. Notice how Lauren is holding the bag (she loves purses).

Check Out This Amazing Giveaway

2009-04-16T18:15:00.004-04:00

Just found this contest that you must enter!!!!

Our kids have loved playing on the swingset we have. It is about 8 years old and I worry that it's days our numbered. This swingset looks amazing and I read it has a lifetime warranty so that means our grandkids could play on it...oh wait I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself. Anyway go check out the contest here:

http://www.dad-blogs.com/the-blogs/community-news/372.html

And here is a link to Kid's Creation swing sets http://www.kidscreations.com/

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Keep Your Fridge Cold

2009-04-15T12:47:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago Josh and I noticed that our refrigerator wasn't cooling as well as it usually does. Immediately we both thought worst case scenario and were already trying to figure out how we were going to pay for a new one. Then Josh came up with the great idea to pull the refrigerator away from the wall and use the shop vac to get any dust and lint off the back. That was gross enough but when we pull off the bottom of the front this is what we found. I know disgusting!!!! Once we vacuumed that out our fridge worked beautifully. Hopefully none of you have this disgusting problem but if you find your fridge not cooling like it should try this trick before you go out shopping!!!

Check out other great ideas over at Works For Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Dirt Cake Recipe

2009-04-14T16:17:00.002-04:00

I have had a couple of requests for the Dirt Cake recipe. I usually double the recipe except for the oreo's. I have served this is a flower pot with fake flowers, in a plastic sand pail and a plastic dump truck. Usually the kids request that I put gummy worms in it.

DIRT CAKE

1 large pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 small instant vanilla pudding
1 3/4 cup cold milk
1 8 oz. container cool whip (softened)
1 package of oreo cookies

Crush oreo cookies and set aside. Mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar until creamy and set aside. In a separate bowl mix vanilla pudding and milk. Combine both mixtures together. Fold in cool whip. Put a small layer of crushed oreo cookies on bottom then pudding mixture. Put remaining crushed oreo's on top (looks like potting soil). Refrigerate.

Enjoy!!!!

Happy Birthday Ryan

2009-04-13T13:13:00.003-04:00

Ryan's birthday was the day before Easter this year. I can't believe he is 9 already!! He had a great day starting with Easter egg shaped pancakes for breakfast. We went to my parents for their annual egg hunt that afternoon.

Emily is finally tall enough to reach the eggs in the tree.

Never too old for bubbles.

Ryan requested a dirt cake for his birthday. Here he is pondering his wish before he blows out the candles.

After dinner and cake we all went to our church's Easter service. They had two services Saturday night and 2 Sunday morning. The service was amazing!!!!

I think we have finally found a church!!!! We had been trying this one off and on for the past year and decided a couple of months ago that this was probably the one. It is a very large church so that is very new to us but we are hoping to get involved in a small group and maybe some other areas of the church. It feels so good to be going on a regular basis again.

Cabella's & Ice Cream

2009-04-13T13:01:00.003-04:00

The kids were on spring break this past week. They had a busy week and it seems like the time flew by. Nick had a friend stay the night, Ryan went to a friends house for the day, they stayed overnight at both set of grandparent's, went to a birthday party and played LOTS of video games!!! On Tuesday we went to the Cabella's store in Dundee, MI with Grandma E and Papa Greg. The kids had a great time. I don't think I have ever been in a store that big. It's a good thing it's filled with hunting stuff or I might have gotten into trouble :)

After spending a couple of hours at the store we went to an Irish pub in Ann Arbor YUM!!

We just had to finish the night off with ice cream. We found a neat ice cream parlor in Jackson complete with a small video arcade in the back.

Wii Fit

2009-04-02T14:08:00.002-04:00

Ryan's birthday is coming up on the 11th but we just had to give him his present early. Yesterday was their last day of school till the 13th and we thought he would love having this with all of that time off (actually we all might enjoy it). As you can see from the picture he was just a little excited about it. I know the Christmas wrapping paper is pathetic but I did turn it inside out.

The kids all created their fitness profile last night and it said each one was overweight. I have a little bit of a hard time believing that but I am probably a little biased. I think Ryan jogged for at least 40 minutes straight last night. He was out of breath and sweaty and I was thrilled. Whoever came up with the idea of combining physical exercise with video games is a genius.

I created my profile today (which is password protected) and was pretty disappointed :( I know how out of shape and overweight I am it just stinks seeing it posted on the tv. So anyway I have set a goal of losing two pounds in the next two weeks. I know that's not very much but I'm thinking baby steps here people!!! I figure by putting it here I will be accountable even if I just have to tell you that it didn't happen.

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We had parent/teacher conferences this morning and they were awesome. We are so proud of our kids!!!! I wish I could go and sit with these teachers everyday to hear all of the wonderful things they said about the kids. Being a stay-at-home mom gets pretty discouraging and I've been pretty down about it lately so this was definitely a little confirmation that we must be doing something right.

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Emily and I finished planting the rest of the flower seeds that Ryan bought this morning. I'm a little worried that we may have started all this too soon for Michigan. I'm not sure what we are going to do if they need to be planted before the weather warms up?????

What Is Your Schedule Or Routine?????

2009-04-01T07:35:00.003-04:00

I have to let you all in on a dirtly little secret of mine.....I am not good at this housecleaning thing. I have tried every little trick known to man. Setting my timer for 15 minutes, making different cleaning schedules, read different books, tried to make schedules for my kids etc. You name it I've tried it. I thought since I have gotten such great ideas from you bloggers out there that I would see if you have any solutions for this problem.

Be sure to vist We Are That Family for more WFMW tips.

As Green As It Get Around Here

2009-03-31T00:15:00.002-04:00

You may remember that Ryan bought all kinds of flower seed for our entire family for a Valentine Day present. Today Ryan, Emily and I planted quite a few. So far we have the Cosmos and the Zinnias planted. We put them in one of those little indoor greenhouse like things so we will hopefully have plants to put in the ground instead of seeds.

We also want to plant a small garden this year to see if we are any good at it or if we even like to do it. Emily and I planted some beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupe and sweet corn. We've got them in a little indoor greenhouse thingy too.

I'm going to have to go back to Menard's and get more of the things to plant in because we still have so many flowers left from Ryan and I want to make sure and plant them all after he did such a sweet thing.

I made watering schedules for both Ryan and Emily so they won't forget about their plants. I'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress!!!

We are headed back to the podiatrist tomorrow for a check up on Nick's toe. Hopefully we will get a good report.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!!!

SURPRISE!!!!!

2009-03-30T14:59:00.002-04:00

One of my closest friends is pregnant with her third child. Her older two are boys. Sweet, adorable, rough and tumble boys. This time it's a girl!!! As soon as she called with her ultrasound results I started scheming. There was going to be a shower, it was going to be a surprise and there was going to be A LOT of pink. I called another friend of ours told her my idea and we were off!!

I've been dying to tell you all about it but since she reads my blog I had to keep it on the "down low" :) On Saturday we pulled it off and somehow managed to surprise her. The local bakery was where we held the party. They made all the food which was delicious. There was chicken salad and ham sandwiches, fruit salad, muffins, mini-cheesecakes, raspberry cake with butter cream icing and pink lemonade. We had pink balloons, a pink diaper cake, pink satin table runners and pink lillie's for decorations.

We played guess the baby food game and another great one I had never heard of. Jenny my co-conspirator brought her baby scale and we had each woman weigh her purse. The heaviest purse won the prize. I weighed mine just for the heck of it and it was 5 lbs. 14 oz. I was actually surprised it didn't weigh more.

Everything turned out great and Amy got a ton of adorable girlie clothes. Emily and the other little girls at the party had a great time helping.

I can't even begin to tell you the whole story of how we planned to get her to the bakery or how she almost blew the whole surprise about an hour before it was supposed to start. All I can say is it was an absolute riot!! We still managed to keep her in the dark and ended up setting everything up in about 10 minutes. The kids and I ended up having to hide in the bakery bathroom which I am sure they won't let me forget about anytime soon. I'm so glad we were able to pull it off. Amy is a wonderful friend and my life would not be complete without her and her family. I can't wait for this little girl to get here!!!!

Mother Earth

2009-03-26T20:56:00.004-04:00

We just got back from Ryan's Sing For Earth Day concert at school. I thought about not going but he was so excited that we sucked it up and went. I'm all for taking care of the earth and being good stewards but I have to say I've about had it with all of the environmental garbage that is shoved down our throats everywhere we turn.

I'm sure that a lot of my frustration comes from just being sick of the public school system and their liberal agenda. This year in particular has really tried my patience. I will share a couple of things that have irritated me in particular.

One of the fifth grade teachers went to see Michelle Obama speak during the election. She missed a day of school for this and then came back and basically did her own campaign rally for the students passing around Obama buttons etc. She videotaped the speech and was planning on showing it to the class but thankfully never did. This is the same teacher who announced to the class that she was 12 weeks pregnant the week after reproductive health was taught. I might have been a little more happy for her if she was actually married. When Nick told me about it he was ticked. He said "did you know that she's not even married yet...that's just wrong". She has also been talking about the house her and her fiance are buying and how excited they are because they got the one they really really wanted.

I must say having our kids attend public school has really given us an opportunity to discuss right from wrong. I'm thankful that our kids are confident in their beliefs and aren't afraid to voice their opinions (I wonder where they got that from)?????

Toe Surgery

2009-03-25T20:32:00.004-04:00

I have to start this post by saying THANK GOD there are people in this world willing to be podiatrists!!!! We were referred to one for Nick's ingrown toenail that I am sure most of you do not want to be reminded of. I had called prior to the appointment and asked about what they would be doing and they reassured me that the doctor would do the procedure at the hospital under general anesthesia if he completely freaked out. I being the mother-of-the year and all did not inform him of this option beforehand mainly because I know he takes after me in this area and would definitely opt for being knocked out. The doctor was amazing. She worked very hard to put him at ease and explained everything beforehand. She said only one of us could stay in the room with him (it was a little crowded) and somehow I found myself being the one (not sure how that happened). He did amazing!!! He played his DS and only complained a little as they numbed the toe. I watched the numbing part and I think she must have stuck the needle in about ten time while she went through 2 syringes of numbing medicine. She then proceeded to cut about a 1/4 of the nail on each side completely off. I really have no idea what that entailed because I was doing everything in my power to not look at that point. All I can for sure tell you is that toes bleed A LOT!!!! She wrapped it with a ton of gauze and put him in one of those great orthopedic velcro shoes and off we went. $16.00 worth of ice cream at the very overpriced ice cream shop nearby and we were home. Ryan and Emily were very sympathetic. They made him card and waited on him all night. Emily ended up crying herself to sleep because she felt so bad for him and Ryan was very concerned that Nick would never be able to play with him again. I kept him home from school today because I know how uncoordinated fifth graders can be. All I could picture was someone stepping on it or dropping something on it OUCH!!!!! He's doing pretty well today and should be heading back to school tomorrow. Which just leaves me dealing with Ryan who was somehow able to get poison ivy on his face (remember we live in Michigan and it's only March). Leave it to my kids :)

p.s.
I saw four turkeys in the field tonight.

Is Country Life Boring???

2009-03-23T23:28:00.002-04:00

Josh and I go through phases where we wonder if we made the right decision to live out in the country.

We worry that the kids don't have friends close by that they can play with. We worry that we are a little isolated and that is may make us weird (no comments on how weird we are already please).

Our kids however seem to love it. They love that they can scream as loud as they want outside without neighbors complaining. They love that we can have bonfires whenever we want. They love that there are 40 acres for them to explore and show to their friends. But I think most of all they love the wildlife.

Emily has become our resident deer spotter. She can see them before anyone else can and she loves it. On Friday we saw 13 deer walk through our yard and into the field. She was calling out "there's the mama deer", "there's a white tail deer". Nick and Ryan are building a fort back by the woods and having a blast.

On the way home from church Sunday we happened to see these 3 cool birds in the field next to ours. The kids and I immediately rushed home, grabbed the camera and the video camera and rushed back to film them. We are thinking they are some kind of a crane but we are still having trouble finding out for sure. The kids thought they were great and Emily was doing impressions of how they walk and eat for my mom earlier tonight.

I'm sure having neighbors to socialize with and sidewalks for the kids to ride their bikes on would be nice sometimes but I think they are making some pretty great childhood memories of their own right here in the middle of nowhere :)

By the way does anyone have any clue what kind of birds these might be?????

I'm Back (hopefully)

2009-03-22T20:21:00.003-04:00

Wow have I been lazy about blogging or what???? We have been a little busy and everyone has been a little under the weather but the sun has been shining and that is making us all feel better.

The laundry detergent still seems to be working well. We have gone through almost a gallon in about a week so it should last at least a couple of months.

Emily came home with the funniest story on St. Patrick Day and I have to share it. The bus dropped her off and she came running in the door telling me that leprechauns came to their classroom while they were out on the playground and messed everything up. She was going on and on about how they took stuff out of their lockers and threw it on the floor etc. She was so excited about the entire thing it was hilarious!! Later that night when Josh came home she couldn't wait to tell him the story then before bed she hid a leprechaun that she had colored in the dish towel drawer hoping he wouldn't be able to get out and mess our house up (if only I could blame it on leprechauns). The next morning she came running to see if he was still there. I love how excited she was and I love her teacher for being so creative and loving what she does so much. She truly is a huge blessing in our lives.

I found these wonderful apothecary jars on clearance at Meijer's the other night. I know all sorts of people use these for decoration in their houses and I just had to have some. They were marked down to $6.24 from $24.99!!! I bought 4 for me and 1 for my mom. I am probably going to take two of them back I just wanted to see which ones fit best. Stacey at This Little Nest Of Mine gave me some great ideas on what to fill them with (THANKS STACEY). Right now I have one filled with some Easter eggs. I love bargains like that!!!!

I'm hoping we will have another sun filled week here in Michigan. By March we are all ready to be done with winter :)

I'm thinking of letting the kids start their own blog. I thought it would be a great way for them to work on writing, taking pictures and being creative. I worry about kids and the Internet etc. (even though they are always supervised). Do any of you have opinions on this?

Homemade Laundry Soap Part Two (a week late)

2009-03-15T23:50:00.004-04:00

I am so sorry for keeping you all in suspense for a week..........ok who I am I kidding :)

Here is the scoop on the homemade laundry soap a week late (I apologize).

The next day when I removed the lid this is what I found. The whole bucket was a big blob of gel. (kinda like gravy after you refrigerate it I know gross sorry)

I mixed it up a little and then started filling the milk jugs halfway. This process what pretty slow until Josh came and helped. We used a funnel and a knife to push it through the opening. Once he started helping it was done in no time at all.

We filled the jugs the rest of the way with tap water. We have washed a few loads so far and everything looks fine. I don't really see a difference in cleaning ability. We use 1 cup for our top loading machine. Front loaders use only 1/2 cup. Make sure you shake it really well each time you use it. We were able to get almost 8 gallons. I would say that's gonna save us some $$$$$!!!!

The finished product!!!

We Made It (Homemade Laundry Soap)

2009-03-09T20:43:00.002-04:00

We have been saving our milk jugs for a few weeks and we finally had enough to use for the homemade laundry soap.

You may remember me saying awhile back that I had gotten the recipe from the Duggar's book 20 and Counting. I have been trying to find the Fels Naptha soap and haven't had any luck. I looked at Meijer's, Target, Wal-Mart, Family Dollar and a few hardware stores with no luck. It is available at Amazon but I was trying to hold out and not have to pay for shipping. I stopped at a small grocery store that is on campus at the local university on the way home from the doctor last week and was shocked to find this and the Borax!!! I bought 3 bars of the Fels Naptha for $1.19 each and the box of Borax for $4.29. We bought a new 5 gallon bucket at Lowe's for about $6.00 and a lid for $1.50. The last thing I bought was the washing soda for $2.99.

At about 9:00 p.m. last night I decided to make a batch.

I used a micro-plane grater to grate the Fels Naptha soap into a saucepan. This took about 15 minutes.

It took about 10 - 15 minutes to melt all the soap. I think I might use a bigger pan next time because it was very close to boiling over.

Once the soap was melted I added it to the 5 gallon bucket with the Borax and Washing Soda.

I filled the rest of the bucket with hot tap water, stirred it, covered it and let it sit overnight.

I will post the final results and the recipe tomorrow!!!!

Miscellaneous

2009-03-06T16:12:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday marked the end of the basketball season for the boys. They had so much fun playing this year and actually became pretty decent players. It will be nice to sleep in on Saturday mornings again and I definitely don't miss driving to practice every weeknight but I will miss watching them play.

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Saturday night I went out for a girls night with some friends. We went to a beautiful restaurant on a lake that had wonderful food. We probably sat there eating and talking for about two hours. It was heavenly :) After dinner we went to huge Salvation Army thrift store. I think we all bought a few things. I got a bunch of books for the kids. I'm trying to go through our giant collection and get rid of the younger books and add some chapter books. I also got a dress for Emily's dress up box. It's a very fancy white flower girl looking dress with lots of beading. She has already worn it a few times.

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Josh had to work on Sunday so after church I took the kids to the McDonald's play land. That place never ceases to gross me out but they love it. We went to Goodwill after that and hit the jackpot. I got all of these clothes for the kids, a purse for me and a tie for Josh all for $42. I LOVE getting great bargains.

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Before I went to bed Wednesday I checked in on the kids and found Ryan fully clothed in different clothes than he had been wearing earlier in the day. The next morning I asked him if he had gotten dressed before bed and his response was "Yep, I figured I could save some time in the morning if I got dressed before bed". He cracks me up.

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On Thursday Emily and I went with some friends to a place near us that has a bunch of huge inflatables for kids to jump in. They had a blast and completely exhausted themselves :)

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It is almost 70 degrees here today!!!!! I broke out the capri's and flip flops :) I bought some tulip and daffodil bulbs last fall but never planted them. I'm seriously regretting it now. Happy Friday!!! I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Family Fun Night

2009-03-05T09:43:00.002-05:00

Every year our school has a Family Fun Night. This is basically like a school carnival with dinner, silent auction and a DJ. I love this fundraiser almost as much as the kids do. I am not a fan of the typical door to door fundraisers. In fact we never do them (but that will just be our little secret). Anyway Family Fun Night always has a theme this year it was a Hawaiian Luau. They charge $4.00 a kid that gets them a wristband and all the games they want. A bargain in my opinion!! They have a silent auction with all sorts of gift baskets and other items from the community. Each class has a theme basket and the kids are asked to bring in one item that goes along with that theme. This year we had arts & crafts, midnight munchies and car care. It ends up being a pretty decent basket but each family only has to spend a little bit. They sell pizza in the cafeteria and have a DJ later in the evening. The kids love it!!!!

The anticipation is killing him!!!

LIMBO TIME!!!!

I didn't know break dancing was back in style???

Ice Cream afterwards :)

I wanted to thank all of you for your kind comments and prayers. We are still having a hard time but each day is getting easier. The vet called and said the rabies test was negative so that is one less thing that we have to worry about. Please continue to pray for the kids. Thanks!!!!

A Sad Day

2009-03-02T21:34:00.002-05:00

We had our dog Floyd put down today.

Ryan and Emily each had a friend over today. After they had been here for a little while we let Floyd out. I was petting him and telling Emily's friend how nice he is and how he would never bite. As soon as she tried to pet him he lunged at her pinning her against the door and bit her face. Josh and I were both in the room and he immediately grabbed him and put him in his cage. The bite wasn't horrible but it did cut the corner of her eye broke the skin on her cheek and bruised her cheek pretty bad. I can't begin to tell you how shocked we all were. Fortunately she handled it pretty well. I called the vet for advice and also animal control. Then I called her mom who was so understanding. I drove her into her mom's work just for peace of mind. The vet agreed with us that he needed to be put down. We could not keep him and ever feel secure that he wouldn't do it again and we would not want to send him to another family and take the chance that he may do it to someone else or be hurt by other people.

We are all so sad. Nick is especially devastated. Floyd and him were so close. He slept in his bed every night and would always come and snuggle with him wherever he was.

I feel so bad that the kids have to go through this. We are thankful that the little girl wasn't hurt any worse than what she was. We are also so thankful that her family is so kind and understanding.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Chocolate Dipped Oreos

2009-02-26T20:53:00.002-05:00

I found a new blog last week that has the most amazing recipes. This is where I got the recipe for Mother Goose Popcorn and these fabulous Chocolate Dipped Oreos. The web address is www.yourhomebasedmom.com . These were super easy to make. I just melted white chocolate bark in the microwave until it was smooth and then dipped half the oreo and set it on waxed paper. Emily put the finishing touches on with the sprinkles. The chocolate was set about 1/2 hour later. The kids loved them and so did the husband. I figure these would make some pretty cute gifts!

My parents gave Emily this desk of mine that was at their house. She immediately decided to put it in the new fancy reading nook. She was so excited to put her snow globe collection a cupful of pencils and her laptop on it. Hopefully this will help her be more organized with all of her little treasures :)

Fat Cakes

2009-02-25T20:20:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Emily came home from school very upset because she had lost a necklace her teacher gave her that day. I told her maybe she could ask her teacher for another one. While she was unzipping her coat she started crying and told me there weren't any more. She took her coat off, looked down and said "oh my goodness there it is"!! Her first lesson in losing something that was right in front of her :) She told me they all got necklaces because it was Fat Tuesday. I asked her what that meant and she had no idea bus was thrilled that she got a necklace and the idea of it being some sort of special day. I told her that later we would go and buy some Paczkis for Fat Tuesday. That night we went to my parents for dinner. Emily ran in saying "we're getting fat cakes"!!! I'm sure that they will never advertise them with this name but leave it to a 6 year old to figure out what they truly are :)

Mother Goose Popcorn

2009-02-24T14:57:00.002-05:00

I've seen this recipe for Mother Goose Popcorn on a few blogs. Emily and I decided to make a batch this afternoon. I was trying to do a violet color for her kindergarten class because their letter this week is V. She keeps telling me it's pink not violet. Oh well at least it tastes good!!

Mother Goose Popcorn

1 cup sugar
3Tbsp water
6Tbsp butter
2tsp vanilla
food coloring

Put all ingredients into saucepan and bring to a boil. Add food coloring. Pour over 4 quarts of popped corn and stir until coated and goes sugary.

Spread onto cookie sheet to dry.

ENJOY!!

Weekend Recap

2009-02-23T01:03:00.002-05:00

We had a somewhat busy but relaxing weekend. On Friday Emily and I went to my friend Amy's house for lunch and the kids played for the afternoon. She is due to have her third baby in a few weeks and we are so excited!!! I still haven't decided 100% whether or not I want to have a fourth. Josh and I go back talk about it a lot and we both miss having a little baby and know would be fun to have one more person in our family but on the flip side Emily is six and things are so easy now. I love being able to go places without having to pack the whole house, diapers are just a distant memory now and all the sleepless night are something I wouldn't enjoy. I think we are leaning more towards no than yes. But I guess you never know. Sometimes I wish God would just decide for us ya know?? My mom called that afternoon and asked if the kids could come spend the night. It took us about 1/2 a second to figure out the answer to that one.

Saturday morning we went to the boy's basketball games. Jason and Barb came (Josh's brother and his wife) with our adorable 5 month old niece. Greg and Elaine (my mother and father in-law) came also. After the games everyone came to our house for nachos and other treats. We had a great day eating, playing video games and best of all playing with the baby. She's at that cute stage of smiling all the time, rolling and playing with her toes :)

Today was a lazy day (for me at least). I woke up with a pretty nasty headache so I didn't do much of anything. Josh played a few games with the kids and studied for the upcoming Lieutenants test they will be taking at work. He has been studying like crazy so I'm sure he will do awesome. Nick has been playing with his guitar all weekend. He's trying so hard to teach himself. I wish we could afford lessons for him. I called around and the cheapest I found was $80 a month. If he keeps up his interest it is definitely something we will do in the near future. He also got his 3rd quarter progress report on Friday and it had all A's and one B!!!!!! We are so proud of the great work he is doing.

That's about it for our weekend. I've found more recipes that I will hopefully try out this week. I'll post them when I do.

Emily's Birthday Party

2009-02-20T22:44:00.004-05:00

I'm finally getting around to posting about Emily's birthday party. We had the party on January 26th. We rented the gym and indoor playground at a nearby church for her cheerleader/sports star themed party and it was a huge hit. One of our good friends took a ton of wonderful pictures for us and I wanted to share a few.

Cupcakes, Texas Sheet Cake & Presents

The menu included hot dogs, chips, pasta salad, redskin potato salad, veggies, fruit and pink lemonade.

We had a hard time convincing the kids to take a break and eat.

We asked the guests to wear their favorite sports team apparel. Josh broke out his high school football jersey. The tables were decorated with pom-poms for the girls and footballs for the boys, mega-phones and balloons.

The gym was so huge that we only used a small corner of it for the tables. The kids played basketball on the other end.

I was the "team captain" with my mega-phone lining everyone up to go have cake. I have threatened to break that mega-phone out at home :)

This indoor playground is only a few months old. On the left hand side are playhouses that are re-creations of local businesses. Each one is filled with items related to that business.

Emily and her friends dressed in outfits from the Cheeky Monkey Bakery.

More of the playground

Emily and her friends

The excitement of the gifts was huge!!!

Our Beautiful Girl!!!!!

Thanks for all the great pictures Eric!!!!

Pork Chop Romance Recipe

2009-02-19T12:31:00.002-05:00

I wanted to share another recipe I got from I'm An Organizing Junkies Menu Plan Monday. I made this yesterday and it is wonderful!!!

Pork Chop Romance

4 - 6 pork chops (bone-in or boneless)

flour

salt & pepper

1/4 cup oil

1 large onion, slice 1/4 inch thick

2 chicken bouillon cubes

2 cups hot water

8 oz. sour cream

Season pork chops to taste and dredge in flour. Lightly brown in oil and place in crockpot; top with onion slices. Dissolve or soften bouillon in hot water and pour over chops. Cook on low 7-8 hours. After the pork chops have cooked remove and set aside. Stir 2 tbsp. of flour into the sour cream. Stir into cooking juices. Turn crockpot to high for 15-30 minutes or until liquid is slightly thickened. Serve with rice or noodles.

(my sauce didn't thicken up very much but it was still very yummy)

ENJOY!!!

Amish Baked Oatmeal

2009-02-18T16:06:00.002-05:00

I have been trying some recipes that I find from the Menu Plan Monday links on I'm An Organizing Junkie's blog. I have one in the crockpot right now so I will let you know how that one turns out later. The other one I tried is Amish Baked Oatmeal. I'm sure many of you already make this but for those of you who haven't I have one word for you YUM!!!! Here's the recipe:

Amish Baked Oatmeal

1/3 cup butter

2 large eggs

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. nutmeg or cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

2 Tbls. milk

3 cups oatmeal (regular or quick)

Melt butter. Grease 1 1/2 quart baking dish and drop in eggs. Beat well. Add brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon and salt. Mix well (no lumps). Whisk in butter and both measures of milk, then add oats. Stir well and refrigerate overnight. Bake uncovered @ 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until set in the middle. Serve hot with warm milk poured over.

For those of you who do make this I am wondering if you have tried adding fruit or any other extras to it?

You Are Special To Me

2009-02-18T11:51:00.002-05:00

Last night when I went to bed I found two notes one from Emily and one from Ryan. Emily's said I love you Mom and you are the coolest with some cute pictures drawn on it. Ryan's was a little more personal and I don't want him to be embarrassed so I won't share it here but it really touched me.

I went through my stash of greeting card and found one that said something about you fill me up with smiles etc. and decided this would be the perfect one to give to him. I wrote him a note about how special he is to not only me but to our entire family. I told him to keep being himself because I love who he is.

I waited for him to find it this morning and watched him excitedly open it and read it. He smiled proudly at a few spots and when he finished he gave me the biggest hug and said thank you. Nick and Emily wanted so badly to read it but he just quietly put it away.

This kind of goes along with my previous post. It doesn't take much to make an impact on our kids. Dinner together, a note telling them how special they are to you or just talking to them and really listening. I know how good it makes me feel when my friends or loved ones do this for me.

I know this is an area that I really need to improve on and God seems to be showing me ways that I can do this everyday :)

Dinner Rush

2009-02-17T13:26:00.002-05:00

Last night as I watched my entire family scarf down their dinner in about 5 minutes I thought why is it that we Mom's spend so much time obsessing over feeding our family?

Think about how much of our life is spent clipping coupons, looking at the sales in the grocery ad, planning meals, making a grocery list, grocery shopping (usually with cranky kids), paying for all the groceries, loading them into the car, unloading them from the car, putting them away, preparing meals, pleading with your kids to actually eat the meal and cleaning up from the meal. Just to do it all over again the next day. It's enough to make me scream and throw in the towel sometimes.

Then I remember things won't always be this way. The kids are getting older and already I can see things changing. I cringe when I hear things like it's "National Family Meal Night". Are there seriously families that only eat dinner together on special occasions? I guess I just take it for granted that dinner is a family event. We sit together, pray together, talk with each other sometimes we even convince the kids to use manners (although not very often) :)

Even though it seems like they don't notice it now I'm sure my kids will remember that their Mom and Dad were at the dinner table every night and I would bet that it's not something that will be taken for granted when they have families of their own (at least not if I'm still around)!!!

I've Lost It

2009-02-16T21:55:00.002-05:00

So I'm trying to be festive and change my background with each holiday and now I have lost my whole blog list.

I don't want to lose all of you.....please leave me a comment so I can get your blog address and add your blog to my list again.

THANKS!!!!!