Saturday, March 31, 2007

Great contest

Here's a link to a contest for a free Dyson Vacuum.
Just go sign up- it's worth a shot. Terri don't sign up though or the rest of us don't stand a chance!

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Radio/TV Correspondents Dinner

This is really funny!

Let the party begin!

We had our last Wednesday night at church for the season last night. It is a relief to be done but I agree with Mari- the last 3 weeks weren't nearly as bad (because the horrible sisters didn't come) so it's not quite as much of a celebration as it would have been earlier in the year. Then I would have been hanging streamers, inviting 50 of my closest friends and perhaps even indulging in an alcoholic beverage (and I don't drink so you get the idea!)
Last night it was more of coming home, getting the girls in bed and I plopped in my chair and let out a sigh and said to Mark- Yes, it's done!
Next week will be so nice to not have to fly around on Wednesday and just have a normal night at home.
Today is the kids last day before spring break. I'm looking forward to sleeping in a little bit tomorrow morning. I'm also praying the kids get along next week- I'll have to have a chore list made up and waiting in case the "I'm bored" virus comes and inhabits my kids bodies!

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Spring has officially sprung!

And with that comes...... Allergies!
All of a sudden yesterday it hit with a vengeance! I got a call yesterday that my daycare boy had the flu and since he slept in my bed the day before I stripped all my bedding and washed them. Now I know you're not supposed to hang your clothes outside to dry if you have allergies but this was first thing in the morning and I was ok yet so I decided to hang my sheets out because I love that fresh smell.
BIG MISTAKE!!!!
As the day went on my allergies hit big time and by night it had been a long day.
When I went to bed it got worse. I was even having a hard time getting a normal breath. Then it hit me- the sheets and I'm breathing right into them because I sleep on my tummy.
Oh it was a very long night.
Today the sheets will be washed again and put in the dryer- thank you very much!
I called in my allergy meds- hopefully that helps!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Halle's haircut

Halle got her haircut last week. Her hair was getting really long and it kept being really snarly in the morning. I asked for layers which I got but she also trimmed the side a bit more than I thought was going to happen. I really do like it though and so does Halle. It's very easy to do- just straight iron it and you're ready to go.
These pictures really don't do it justice but it's the best that I have.



Monday, March 26, 2007

Another Halle-ism

On Saturday Halle was reminiscing about Nick's Gecko Lizard named "Kroll" that died about 1 year ago. Here's how the conversation went:
Halle- Mom do you remember Kroll?
Me- Yes I do
Halle- He died and is in heaven now isn't he?
Me- Yes honey
Halle- I bet he's having a hard time there
Me- What? What do you mean?
Halle in a voice that's saying "duh mom"- He's quite short mom- he's probably having a hard time not getting stepped on.

At that point I burst out laughing and knew that was a perfect blogging moment!

Friday, March 23, 2007

The job of a brother

Being a brother according to Halle means the following:


-The brother has to be available at all times- especially when he gets home from school and she hasn't had school that day- to play with her
-Sometimes the brother has to let the sister have her way
-Sometimes it's nice if the brother helps the sister pick up her room since it's a big job sometimes
-Most importantly the brother has to love the sister





I love watching the 2 of them together. They actually do love each other!! Who knew that was possible!

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Signs of spring

This is what happened here at our house on Saturday. After 14 years of use and a few parts being replaced it was time to replace the trampoline that Grandpa and Grandma got for us all those years ago!
The girls were besides themselves with anticipation. Nick was staying at a friends house so he had to wait to enjoy it until later.
It's so good to see the kids outside again after what seemed like the winter that would never end! Can't wait to enjoy the beautiful weather we're supposed to have this weekend.



Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Father Daughter Bowling

On Saturday the girls had the schools yearly father daughter bowling day. They had a lot of fun. Mark said it was funny because Arianna was very concerned with her bowling form and Halle would just throw the ball down the row and crouch down and watch it until it got there.
They ended up bowling next to Mike Knoper and Emily and Lisa who are friends of ours and the girls so that was nice not to be next to a stranger.
I'm glad the school does this outing- it's a good time for everyone!
The score sheet has Arianna first then Halle then Mark.






Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The Circus




It's now 1:00 and I just realized I forgot to post this morning!
Mark and Halle went to the circus last Wednesday on a school field trip. Luckily for Mark there were a few fathers on this outing- the other 2 times he went it was him and other moms!
They had a really good time. Halle fell asleep half way through- shocking I know- the cannon woke her up at the end.
When she got home I asked her how it was and she threw her hands up in the air and said " It was BRILLIANT mom!" I guess the first half was very exciting since she fell asleep soon there after!
I love the sign by the horse on the first picture- I'd like to get one of those for my house!

Monday, March 19, 2007

Scrapbooking Night

Well our scrapbooking night is over and now that it's Monday, I think I'm recovered.
I was still awake at 2 a.m. Saturday morning. I woke up when the kids woke up at 8- but I stayed in bed and dozed. At 8:30- this came into my bedroom for me!!







That was very sweet. Our scrapbooking night was interesting. There was a mistake on the assignment of tables- it's a long story- I'll just say when the other person got there she caused a BIG stir and we ended up moving twice to accommodate her.
I think I came to the conclusion that I prefer to scrapbook at church- I get more done and I don't spend as much $ when I can't just run into the store and grab stuff.
It was fun though and it got me going again and I really needed to get going before summer comes and along with summer comes lots and lots of pictures!
Here's a sampling of what I got done. The heat in the room caused my brain to shut down so I'm not thrilled with these pages, but at least they are done!!



Friday, March 16, 2007

Yeah- It's Friday!!!

I'm so excited for tonight. Terri, Mari, Laura, Heather and I are going scrapbooking till midnight tonight. I hope I get something accomplished besides laughter. The other women there don't know what's ahead of them with all of us together.
Last night I was getting concerned though. Right after supper I got a headache and even though I took Tylenol it didn't go away. By 9:30 I was pretty miserable and my stomach was even getting upset. I was worried I was getting the flu because we were exposed to it by a girl in our Wednesday night class. I'm thinking please, please not today!!!! I feel better this morning and I'm so relieved!!
I'll post some pictures next week.
Have a great weekend!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

The old and the new

During my blogging break I was very busy. I made over my bedroom and my kitchen!
Here's the old bedroom:



Here's the new bedroom:




My kitchen renovation wasn't as smooth. Here's what it started like:



I started off painting it a sage green- I have that color in my living room and I thought it would be a nice transition since it's kind of open from the kitchen to the living room. Here's what happened! It looked awful- the green wasn't the right green and I hated it next to the cupboards!



I ended up painting it 2 tone. I did a blue on the back wall and tan on the 2 side walls. I really like it. We got a new light over the table and over the sink. It looks much more updated and I'm really happy with it.
I'm now done for awhile renovating- I've done enough painting to last me for awhile now!!


Wednesday, March 14, 2007

A proud mama moment

We listen to a lot of country music and apparently Halle is really learning a lot of the words to these songs. The other day I hear Halle muttering something and all of a sudden I realized what she said. It's always a proud moment when you hear your 5 year old say - "I'm going to sit right here and have another beer in Mexico"
Oh did my heart soar!!!!!
I did tell her that we needed to fix the words to that song because beer isn't a good thing so now the words are- I'm going to sit right here and have another rootbeer in Mexico.
I'm just hoping it doesn't get repeated the old way in front of... oh maybe Grandpa for instance!!

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Halle the artist


I thought it only fair to exhibit Halle's artistic ability as well so here is her latest rendition of our family.






It's good to know that Nick is apparently not as short as I thought since he's the same height as me.
I can't believe the changes in her drawing since she started school. Now our necks don't go through our head and they're in the middle of our heads which is a vast improvement from our heads hanging off our necks.
It's also very good that now we are clothed. Just so you know we are always clothed around here- you have to consider the source of the drawing. She would be the naked jaybird flying around our house and that is improving as well- much to my relief!
Also- this must be a picture of us at church during praise band- look at us with our hands all in the air and everything! Must have been a good song!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Youth Retreat

Mark had the youth retreat this weekend. He said it went really well and they had a lot of fun. He was pretty sore and tired when he got home. One of the games was called "Flesh Wound"- sounds like a great game for a youth retreat for church doesn't it??!? Anyways- I think he's going to have a big ol' bruise tomorrow!
They went sliding and he got some great shots:
This would be a professional sledder-

Oh actually I was wrong- it's just Andy doing a face plant!

This would be Steve- a good youth leader willing to take the pain-

This would be Julie- apparantly wimping out and "supervising" the activity! Hee Hee

Now I realize there are not pictures of Mark sledding either but you have to take into account his age- he's getting up there and is quite fragile so he decided to take on the job of photographer!
Looks like they had a great time!

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Arianna the artist

Well I thought I posted this yesterday, but apparently it didn't go through.
Arianna drew this last week and I'm so impressed. I don't know if I'm just being a proud mom but isn't this good for as young as she is??
This is her Eagle drawing:




Wednesday, March 07, 2007

I'm back!!!!

Well I'm back after a week off and while I was gone this is what I was dealing with:

Snow and more snow!
Click on the pictures to enlarge them because trust me they don't do justice to what it was really like!
This is the back yard and Mark trying to dig his way to Mack's kennel



This is our drive way and you can see in the next picture how much snow was in the driveway! It was over the top of the snow blower. I heard we had 12 inches of snow and with the blizzard type winds the drifts got up to 3 feet.





I am counting the days till spring. I am really ready for Monday- they say the temps are going to be about 50! I can't wait!
I do have some more things to blog about so hopefully the break did my brain some good and I can resume my faithful blogging!