Wordless Wednesday

Happy Anniversary, Kevin!

Our anniversary was actually Saturday, but I'm just writing about it today.  Logan had his first T-Ball game that morning, so the whole fam damily went to watch....even Kaelyn.  :o  Logan did really well.  We all thought he deserved the game ball, but apparently only we thought so.  The ball went to someone else.  

After the game, Nana and Papa took the kidlings while Kevin and I went out.  We had no clue or plans what we were going to do.  It was great!  We ended up going to some shops where you can walk around water and such.  It was a lazy afternoon.  We didn't have anywhere to be, no one to answer to, no particular time to be back.  Ahhhh...days without kids.  Can't beat 'em.  

It was a lovely day.  I can't believe we made it this long.  It was definitely not without its trials.  While we didn't have money for anything extravagant these past couple years, I loved just doing nothing with him.  That must mean I still like him enough to last a bit longer.  ;)  We were supposed to go hiking, but we're going to save that for next year.  I wasn't feeling well enough Saturday.

Happy Anniversary, Kevin!  I love you, miss you, want you, and need you.   

Our first Christmas in this house.  Look how happy Kevin is...NOT!

Ok, I'm done.  I went searching for some old pics.  I look awful!

My Seester's Birthday

So I normally do acrostics for birthdays, and I didn't have a chance to do my sister's a couple weeks ago.  This can't be because this is the sister I get along with best, so she must have one!  

To make this acrostic all the more sweet, I stole some pictures from my baby book.  Now you can see our relationship from then to now.  I actually only have two pictures, but you'll get the idea.  Here is my sister's acrostic.

M- MY BEST FRIEND  It's true.  She's the yin to my yang, the peanut butter to my chocolate (I don't care for jelly), the Diet Pepsi to my warm chocolate chip cookie.  You get the idea.  Sure when we were younger it looked like a boxing match on a regular basis, but we just needed distance for our love to grow.  :p  She's lives in Canada now.  We have Vonage that lets us call there free.  Lovely.
A- Type A Personality  My sister's house is spotless.  You could probably eat off her floors, toilet, wherever.  She is completely organized and I would go as far as to say she feels sick if something is out of place.  I would love to have some of that.  She likes order, cleanliness, and organization.  She runs a tight ship, which probably drives her crazy to my wishy washy-ness.  Although I think she's a bit more laidback than I am on some kid things. 
R- RELENTLESS  This is my sister.  She moved to Canada, popped out three kids, started a business, and runs it all like seamlessly.  If that doesn't epitomize this word, I don't know what does. 
I- INTELLIGENT When I was growing up, I chose to put my energy into other things besides my studies. *shocker*  Maria was the sports girl that made straight A's...classic middle child.  ;)  This goes with her type A-ness. It was slightly annoying that she was so "perfect" growing up.  It's all good now.
A- ARTISTIC  When I was sitting with Kevin and Kaelyn, I asked them what I should put for the second A in her name.  Kaelyn said, "artistic.  She taught me art every day.  I remember those little squishy erasers that you could shape into animals.  Put that in there."  When we were younger, Maria would doodle a Mickey and Minnie picture we had in our room.  She taught me to look at the picture and draw while I was tracing the picture with my eye...not looking at the paper.  Those were the best drawings I ever did.  That was not a talent I was given.  This whole letter makes my heart fuzzy.  I don't think anyone would ever know Maria liked to draw except us...her family.  That's what families are for.  (Maria, are you crying?)

 Look at us!  Always together...and so fashionable.

 Aaawwwww!  She's sharing her popsicle with me...back before I was a germaphobe.  I actually can't stare at this picture too long because that's gross to share a popsicle with someone. (Personal opinion...please do not throw stones)  It's so sweet though that she would be willing to do something so gross for me..even though she doesn't look too happy about it.  

Happy Birthday, Ri!  Sorry it's so late!  And your birthday package is even later!!!!

Dinosaur Land - ROAR!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend and I planned a field trip to Dinosaur Land.  This was quite a ways away from our house, so it required a lot of planning.  We would be out for lunch too.  I wasn't looking forward to it, but I was excited to take the kids somewhere.  It's been a while since we had a field trip.  

The morning of the field trip, Kevin surprised us by planning on coming with us.  A field trip is exciting enough, but daddy coming?  Oh, that's just gravy!

We set out in Kevin's sedan.  I hate taking this car because the kids fight sitting all next to each other.  We decided to take the portable DVD with us, and we hardly heard a peep except for who had to share the screen with whom.  It took about an hour and a half to get there.

My friend was running late, so we went in without her.  It's basically a huge gift shop with a backyard full of paper mache dinosaurs.  It took us about 20 minutes to walk around the whole place, and my friend wasn't there yet.  We hung out and took pictures waiting for her.  Let me take you on a tour.

This place had more than just dinosaurs.

I can't explain Marley's Heil Hitler stance. 

Next up...Killing Corner

Uuummmm.....

 Yeah....

 This sign caught my attention.  I wasn't sure what to make of it.  

 Our friends eventually got there.  We ran around and played with them some, and then it was souvenir time.  We brought some money that the kids got from grandparents for Easter.  After spending more time in the gift shop than with the actual dinosaurs, we had lunch on the sidewalk outside the place.  I think that was really cool for the kids.  Normally we're uppity enough to try for a table, so this was really rogue for us.  (I'm growing!)  

We had a really great time!  It was a good and inexpensive field trip.  



 

Happy Birthday To Me!

It was my birthday yesterday the 16th.  Last year I did the 35 Random Acts of Kindness day, and this year I was determined to do it again.  It didn't go as planned.  

We started out the morning making cookies because three of our random acts were taking dinner to friends who just had babies.  The cookies were dessert and the meals had to all be mixed and thrown in the fridge.

We didn't get out of the house until 10a.  We went to the laundromat and filled the machines again.  The lady working there remembered us from last year.  That was nice.  :)  Next up was Safeway to get some cookies for the firemen.  While I was there I got cake pops from Starbucks for the kids.  They love them!  Then I paid for the lady in line behind me.  We headed to Nana's.  I gave her some daisies.  We took dinner to our friends, her neighbors, who just had a baby.  We grabbed some snacks at Nana's and we were off again.

We went to the dollar store to pick up some things.  We headed to the fire station, but only I went in with the cookies.  One of our deeds was bringing a friend and her family lunch, and I told her we would be there at noon.  The fire station guy asked why they were getting cookies on my birthday.  I literally said we wanted to thank them for everything they do and lit out the door.  :)

We ended up at Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  Yay!  We got some giftcards to hand out at the drive thru.  I let each kid pick which car they wanted to go up to at the drive thru.  Three of them were really grateful and one lady just kept screaming thank you as we walked off.  The car Logan picked out was a different story.

We walked up to her and said, "We're doing good deeds today, and he would like to help pay for your lunch."  I motioned to Logan who was holding a card with God bless you on it and the Chick-Fil-A card on top.  She said, "no, thank you" and started to roll up her window.  What?!  I stopped her window with my hand and said in my closed mouth you'regoingtothinkcarefullyaboutyournextmove mother voice, "No.  We are doing good deeds today.  He is giving you a giftcard to help pay for your lunch today."  She looked nervous and finally rolled the window back down and took the card saying thank you.  I didn't want to smack down in the drive thru, but I totally would have.  Logan looked so upset.

We headed to our friend's house to drop off lunch.  She happens to be on my Thirty-One team, so I gave her some catalogs too because she couldn't make it to the meeting.  She was very grateful.  

Next up was the hospital.  We got coloring books and crayons from the dollar store for kids in the hospital.  We dropped them off at the volunteer office, and that was that.  I think the kids wanted to give them to actual kids, and I did too.  That probably wouldn't be very good considering germs and such.  

At this point the kids were spastic.  We stopped by the Party Store to pick up some balloons and sugar.  It probably wasn't the best idea, but I wanted dessert, and it was my birthday.  We got 12 balloons to hand out at Safeway like we did last time.  

We stopped by the house to pick up the next dinner for a friend.  She just had a baby and loves Startbucks, so she got a coffee too.  We paid for the person behind us again and gave a huge tip.  I, also, picked up some candy and diet pepsi for my friend.  When we got to her house her husband said I was spoiling her too much, and he wasn't going to be able to keep it up.  After that we went home.  I was going to nap Marley, but she just wanted to rest instead.

It was at this point that I felt I should be getting out and doing more things.  I wasn't to 36 yet, but I was so tired.  I guess this is what it's like to be 36.  HAHAHA!  

We rested for about two hours and went to Walmart to get some things.  We decided to hand out balloons while we were there.  First of all, it was the ONLY time I've been to Walmart when it was this dead.  It was ridiculous.  Trying to find a kid in there was like trying to find another check stand open.  *snicker*  We gave a couple away.  On the way out we saw another little boy and Kevin kept saying, "excuse me" to the mom, but she kept walking.  I screamed out, "Fine then!  I don't want to try to be nice anymore!"  Kevin encouraged me to keep it up.  

We went to Damascus Safeway hoping that people there were friendlier, since that's where we went last year to do this.  It went better, but it was dead there too!  Oh, and I got mad because some dad didn't want his kid to have a balloon.  While we were in there, Kaelyn and Rory put cards on cars in the parking lot.  They wrote out about 40 cards between the two of them with warm fuzzy messages.

We went to Nana and Papa's for my birthday dinner.  I was sad that my day didn't go as well as last year.  I have a tendency to just screw the whole deal when it doesn't go the way I want.  Another *shocker*  It was a great birthday regardless!

Marley had not slept well the night before and was not having a good day.  On the way out to Chick-Fil-A she fell asleep in the car.  That NEVER happens.  We all got pictures of it, and Kaelyn and Rory photo-bombed mine.

   

Happy Birthday, Maria!!

Today is my sister's birthday.  I would normally do a whole birthday blog, but I can't tonight.  This week has been thrown into a crazy frenzy.  My friend gave birth on Tuesday.  She was scheduled for next Tuesday.  I'm watching her kids, so it's been a bit crazed.  I'm heading back there tomorrow, so I have to get to bed.  I do promise to have a full birthday blog up and running Monday.  I plan to make it extra special.  Until then, Happy Birthday, Maria!!  Have a wonderful day!!  We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Walking 1, Kaelyn 0

Happy Friday!

Hope of Spring Daybook

Outside my window...
it's cold and dark.  There's a chance of warmer temps coming, but they're not here for good yet.

I am thankful for...
some weight loss.  It always takes a while to kick in, but once I start to see it...well, it's all gravy from there.  (no pun intended)

I am thinking about...
my birthday.  I could barely come up with 35 things to do last year.  I'm sweating 36 things this year.  I won't be able to get started until noon either.  I'm babysitting for my friend while she has a baby...on my birthday!  Yay!

In the Schoolroom...
we're chugging along.  We might be throwing a screw into the works.  Stay tuned...

From the kitchen...
not much.  We're just coming out of Lent where I gave up sweets.  So we'll be getting back to things soon hopefully.  Until then Kevin keeps the good grub coming.

I am creating...
a home.  I'm trying at least.  It's still in progress.  We haven't had time to work on anything.  Hopefully this month will bring some much needed down time.

I am working on...
Thirty-One.  I'm really trying to chase my dream here.  It's slow going.  I'm on God's time.  Sometimes it's so hard to be ok with that.

I am reading...
my Carmel books and prayers.  Sometimes I don't even get that done.  Eventually, I'm hoping to get a nightstand by my bed with all kinds of books to devour.

I am praying for...
family.

I am hearing...
Kaelyn doing recycling.  It's late and she forgot she had to do it tonight.  It's only been her Tuesday night chore for umpteen million years.

Around the house...
see what I'm creating.  I know there's an organized person in me somewhere.  I can feel her fighting with the lazy one.  I hope she wins...the organized one that is.

One of my favorite things...
chocolate covered marshmallow eggs.  I ate two cartons of them yesterday to get them out of the house so I wouldn't eat them anymore.  I ended up making myself sick.  I guess I could have just thrown them away, but I couldn't bring myself to do it!

A few plans for the rest of the week...
gym, meeting, adoring, meeting, babysitting, dance, t-ball, baptism, party...not in that order.

A picture thought...

Adorable!