10 - TEN!

We wanted to have a party for our oldest.  We aren't "party" (haha) people and we usually just invite both sets of grandparents for birthdays.  But he turned 10!  TEN!  We wanted to let him invite some friends and host a movie night, borrowing our neighbor's 10'x17' outdoor movie screen and projector.  We also decided, to invite the families of those friends! We had neighbors, cousins - all totaled over 50!  :)  It was a beautiful night!

Q and my dad!

Q and my mom!

Q and T's mom!

Q and T's dad!

A big and serious game of kickball in the front yard!  So thankful to the other dads (and mom) who helped to keep the game running smoothly!

I *do not* decorate cakes!  I do, however, enjoy eating them!  I ordered this size because it said it would feed 60.  We have 1/3 of it left.  Shucky darn...what will I do with all that? ;-D   Did I mention the serious game of kickball before serving cake?  If not - you'll see evidence of the seriousness on my hubby's shirt sleeve! Eeww!  ;-)  And I'm so embarrassed by those candles!  I had forgotten to pick some up so they are candles that have been used several times!

Do you see our youngest (camo hat) pointing to the piece he wanted?  The hockey puck?  He was not so lucky to get that piece, as we started cutting on the opposite end.  We should hit the hockey puck later this week or maybe today! ;-D

I know! I know!  Two cake slicing pictures in one post has to be a blog faux pas, but I had put this one in to show the enormous screen in our driveway!  Awesome, isn't it?  We have the most amazing neighbors (and amazing friends and amazing families!)  We are so BLESSED!

Speaking of awesome friends - here's one of the best!  And his awesome wife was the lone mom helping in the kickball game - and was more than willing to take pictures for us that evening!  M&B - you rock!  And had I remembered to ask, I know you would have shown up with some totally awesome candles for that cake! ! ! !   These two are a pair!

And now, for random pictures with no captions necessary! :D

 (Below - that is not E on the right, but her cousin!)

The Grandpas!  This will be Quinn (left, T's dad) and Colin (right, my dad) in 55 years!

Yeah, the last one cracks me up, too!

Summer Vacation!

School has been out for almost 3 weeks now and I've been to the beach with some girlfriends, went to a Phillies game in Baltimore and I've been sewing!

The beach was wonderful...thanks to grandparents and my awesome hubby, I had 4 days to only take care of myself.  I was so spoiled!  But I'm happy to be back in my reality and I really did miss my kids and hubby!

We enjoyed a day trip to Baltimore to see the Phillies lose to the Orioles.  Prior to the game, we took the kids to the Baltimore Aquarium and had a really fun time.  The ticket holder behind us (with a season ticket) treated us to a ball stamped with the 20th Anniversary of Camden Yards logo!  Awesome!  I love that my kids have their Phillies apparel on and the boys are wearing hats - one camo, one Cummins (truck engines!)

As for sewing, I've been trying work at getting "Ready to Ship" items into my etsy store. Last week I stayed up a wee bit late (1:30am) to finish a bag that I had planned to take to the beach.  The next morning I awoke and decided I didn't need a new bag, so I figured I'd put it on etsy.  Normally, my bags are listed as "made to order" so this was my first bag that was truly ready to ship.  I first posted the picture on fa.cebook and later in the day I posted it to etsy.  Only 20 minutes after posting to etsy, a friend of a friend purchased it after viewing it on fac.ebook!  I was leaving for the beach the next day and my sweet hubby offered to keep my business afloat by running it to the post office (after depositing a check from a previous order)!  :-D

Here's the bag that sold last week on etsy:

And here's the duffle bag I made (which I used to tote my things to the beach)

The duffle was my biggest project to date - but so much fun to make.  I can't offer them for sale yet, because 2 of the inside seams are not "finished" because I do not own a serger.  

Another item I've been sewing are these cute Teddy Bears!

School is out for the summer!!

This week we finished up our school year and completed our state required 180 days. Most of our curriculum ended last week so we added in some end of year projects, like the "Our Garden" project below.

Happy Summer!

Fish Tales!

I'd say we're off to a successful start to fishing this year!  We finally got an evening to take the kids and this was the biggest one caught!  And Q did it all himself!

My big baby!

Our eldest is having a birthday!  He's 14 - FOURTEEN!

That's 98 in dog years!  He can't go up steps so well anymore...can barely jump up on the couch or chairs.

But at that age, I wouldn't want to be jumping or climbing either!

Above is what he does most of the time!  He's a great dog and he's great with the kids.  We still refer to him as a puppy and his nickname is Puppers!

His sight is going and he doesn't hear so well.  But his sniffer works and he is still the best vacuum around - despite his many missing teeth.  Poor guy.

We won't celebrate with cake or presents and he probably won't even hear us sing.  But he's cute and I haven't been posting very much...so here you go! ;-P

Happy Birthday, Riley!

High Rollers!

C has the soccer goalie gloves on because they were playing hockey - they call themselves: White Timber Wolves! ;-D

Poetry

Had I asked my son to give me a poem today, I'm sure he would not have complied.

But this afternoon, as he was playing, a poem came to him.

I found him in the school room scribbling as quickly as he could.  He told me he was writing a poem, so I left him alone to work.

He came to me when he was finished and read it to me.

Clever!  And since I was at the computer, I typed it up for him (and me) to have!

And the author has granted me permission to post it here!

I once saw a fish go swimming by,

For it had wings, it could fly.

I went along,

Singing a song,

“Swimming fish, Flying fish,

I don’t know which!”

Q - 4th grade

The Things They Say...

Just taking a moment to record some memories...

We were heading out the door when C (age 5) held the door open and told me to go first.  His daddy responded to his kind gesture with, "Chivalry, is not dead."  I told C thank you and as he closed the door he said, "You're welcome.  By the way, who's 'chivarly?'"


* * * * * 

After eating lunch:
E (age 7): I feel cold.
Q (age 9): I feel full.
C (age 5): I feel like I need to burp.

Repetition

Friday Fifteen!

Yes, I'm still here!

So, here's a list to get you all caught up (since I've had so many comments wondering where I am...oh wait, no I haven't - but here it is anyway!)

1 - Gorgeous, 70+ degree temperatures have prompted school to be held outside.  Achievement testing at the beginning of the week prompted "Spring Break!"

2 - My kids are growing up so fast.  Our oldest will be TEN in 3 months and is growing up right before our eyes.  Our daughter's piano ability and reading skills have taken off like a bullet and our youngest has started to read.

3 - The Foo.d Net.work show, "Sweet Genui.s" drives me sweetly insane.  There is only one judge.  How can these contestants be okay with that?  And that judge drives me bonkers!  And yet, here I sit watching it!

4 - Our dog, Riley, will be 14 in May.  He's no longer able to go up the steps by himself and he's not putting much weight on his back right leg anymore.  It makes me sad.  But, at 98, I'd have a hard time doing steps, too!

5 - Will be joining my hubby on a business trip soon!

6 - This weekend is St Patty's Day.  I'm debating making an Irish Stew or serving homemade pizza with spinach.  Knowing no one, except me, likes spinach on their pizza, I'll probably go with the stew!

7 - Wow, can you believe I finally posted this month?

8 - Come on, leave a comment, you know you want to!

9 - We thought our desktop computer crashed this week, but after saying a prayer, it turned back on.  Thank you, Jesus.  I will be spending the majority of tomorrow transferring files to an external hard drive in the event it decides to commit cyber suicide.

10 - An ad for "So Slimming Jeans" should not feature a size 2 (or below) model...just sayin'.

11 - Wow, 11.  Aren't you glad I posted!?!

12 - Books I'm reading: -Marc Gungor's "Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage" (we were fortunate to attend an event and I love his humor!)  - Richard Stearns' "The Hole in the Gospel" (a great read!) and -David Platt's "Radical" (another challenging read, similar to The Hole...")  What are you reading?

13 - I've done laundry every day this week, simply to hang it out on the wash line.  Clothes, sheets, blankets - soon I'll be emptying out drawers just to hang out laundry! ;)

14 - 10 years ago, I was finishing up my final year teaching Physical Education in an inner city elementary school, pregnant with our first child.  Never did I expect to be homeschooling a 4th grader, 1st grader and PreK student 10 years later!

15 - Have a great weekend!  Until next time...April, maybe! ;-D

What's better than chocolate?

Valentine's Day Jammie Pants! :)

Only God

Only God can

turn a MESS into a MESSAGE,

a TEST into a TESTIMONY,

a TRIAL into a TRIUMPH,

a VICTIM into a VICTORY.

The Tooth Fairy visited again!

After a busy fall with E losing 4 teeth in the span of about 2 months, I was hoping the Tooth Fairy could have a nice long vacation before coming back.

But this weekend, we had a need to call on her services.

But it might not be from a mouth you suspect...let's talk teeth!

She's looking about the same, besides, she will have to drink her meals out of a straw if any more teeth come out!

He looks the same, too.  But, he hasn't lost any lately...he's probably due again soon.

And what about this little guy?  Nah, he's only 5, that's too young to lose a tooth.  

Oh wait, what's that gap I see in the bottom row of teeth?  Well, look here.  Bubba lost a tooth!  I guess that is what happens when you are the youngest of three children and, when you get a little extra help from a bump to the mouth!  It happened back in October or November and he tried very hard to listen when we told him not to wiggle it.  But, curiosity won out and he popped it out this weekend.

Please don't let my baby grow up so quickly!