Days 86-90

Tuesday, March 24th - Madison and I made a "healthy" snack for a Brownie Scout project.  Madison was so proud that she found a recipe at school that we just had to make it.  I didn't have the nerve to tell her that her Chango Bar recipe wasn't that nutritious.  It required chocolate chips, butter, margarine and loads of sugar.  They did taste pretty good and all the boys in the household had no problem finishing up the pan.  

Wednesday, March 25th - Tyler spent much of his spring break riding bikes around with his friend Jalen, so I thought it was appropriate for that to be Wednesday's picture.  
Thursday, March 26th - Here's Cindy, Sherri and Krista at Anthropologie in Omaha.  It was a day with co-workers and friends shopping, eating and just having fun!  Cindy did end up with the darling skirt, which she had misgivings about purchasing it.  It was very cute on her, so we talked her into getting it.
Friday, March 27th - A fun day at the Omaha zoo with the family.  It was bitterly cold, so we did all the indoor exhibits, which did take a few hours.  We saw the Desert Dome, Rainforest, Aquarium, Gorilla Complex and the new Butterfly Papillion.  
Saturday, March 28th - Yes, another Scrapfest at SCC.  Oh, happy day!  It's always a good day when it's a scrapbooking day.  I didn't get as much done as usual, but I did enjoy the day talking, eating and cropping!  

Top Banana & Spring Break List

First of all, I wanted to show you that I have a wonderful husband.  I asked him to take a plastic banana and attach it to an old trophy we had lying around the house and he did...probably a little reluctantly.  My "Handy Andy"!  Now I am able to have a "Top Banana Award" for my classroom.  I decided that I would place this motivating and fabulous award on the table that looks the neatest...with pencils and crayons put away and chairs pushed in.  I have been trying to instill in my students that they really need to become more responsible for their belongings and leave the room a little neater.  I know Merl, our custodian, will appreciate the effort.

I had a "Top Banana" award when I was in 1st grade and remember it well.  The award went to the classroom that was the quietest in the lunchroom.  I recall walking into the lunch room daily and looking to see if the poster of a banana was sitting above my table from our day's before performance.  Oh, to be top banana.  What a great memory!  Of course, we never had a cool plastic banana trophy like this one!

Second of all, I wanted to share with you that I ALMOST completed everything on my Spring Break list.  

 1.  Paint the walls  (As you saw, I modified this...painting the walls was overrated, so I chose Mixed Media instead).  

*2.  Vacuum out van  (Done, but now needs to be done again. Ugh!)  

*3.  Barnes & Noble with Sherri  (Yes, we went with many much younger and very gothic Twilight fans) 

 4.  Project 365 kit up to date (Kind of, I did get a lot of it done, but there's still lots of journaling left)  

*5.  Dog groomed (Yup!  Ranger looks like a schnauzer again instead of a sheep dog)

*6.  SCC Scrapfest (You betcha!  I had a great time!)

 7.  Report card done (I stress out about these until the last minute, so until that deadline is up, I can't ever consider it done.)

*8.  Bathrooms cleaned  (I scrubbed three bathrooms from top to bottom and for what?!  They need cleaning again!)

*9.  Shrine Circus (The kids had fun and I enjoyed seeing them take it all in.)

*10.  An outing with my co-workers (We were going to Raette's lake house, but plans changed, so we went shopping in Omaha and hung out at Cindy's.  I had a great time and didn't get home until 3:00 am.  Isn't that nice to enjoy hanging out with co-workers?  A wonderful thing!)

*11.  Baking with Madison (I helped Madison make a Mexican dessert for a Brownie patch and we did it!)

*12.  Sleep in until 7:30 (I slept in this morning until 8:00, so that one was met too!)

That sums up my Spring Break...I had a glorious week and wish that I could get a repeat! I guess all good things must come to an end! 

More Painting Pictures

Here are the other two mixed media pictures I created.  I did put a hat on Grant's head and now I think I like it this way better.  Oh, well!  They are pretty darn funny looking!  It's now time for me to tackle cleaning bathroom #3.  

Painting with Mixed Media (Amy style)

As you may recall, I said that painting was on my list of things to do over Spring Break.  However, painting my living room walls means that I have to move furniture, tape off the trim and lay out the big plastic sheet to catch all the paint I spill.  That just didn't sound like any fun, so I scratched that idea and tried painting of a different kind.  

I was inspired to try my hand at working with mixed media.  I won't tell you the artist off of Etsy who inspired me because you'll go there and realize how wonderful hers looks.  She uses a lot of bird heads on her people, while I wanted to use my kids' actual faces.  It didn't turn out too bad.  Tyler's is a little too wrinkly, but I did use a large amount of tissue paper on his.  I did learn a few things what to use and what not to use.  I think Madison's is my favorite because I gave her a crown and wings.  I'll post both Madison's and Grant's later.  I still have a few finishing up touches to do on them.    

Andy's comment...."They are kind of cool, but you sure know how to waste a lot of time."  I kind of feel the same about him and television. 

Days 81-85

Thursday, March 19th - Madison had her first Spirit soccer game of the season. Go Wildcats! They did lose 6 or 7 to nothing, but who's counting? I liked this picture of Tyler challenging Madison to make a goal on him after the game.
Friday, March 20th - It's Shrine Circus time again! We go every year and I think the show is the same every year. I do enjoy watching Grant's expression during the performance. He loved the elephants. The clowns he did not...as you can see by this photo.
Saturday, March 21st - It was Twilight night at Barnes and Noble and Sherri Macfee and I went to compete against all the fifteen year olds in Lincoln. Here we are doing multiple choice Twilight trivia. The looks on our faces are hilarious! Of course, Sherri scored a perfect score and I was tied for last place. The gal who was running the trivia, is my former librarian at Lakeview, Beth McCracken. It was fun seeing her there!
Sunday, March 22nd - Madison took out a homemade kite she created last year at Girl Scouts and took it for a test run. It worked beautifully! How impressive...to get a kite made by an 8 year old to fly!
Monday, March 23rd - We went to a "Diva Girl" purse party at Lisa Ford's house. I had Madison pick up a few for a fun pic! I did find a cute polka-dotted one that was calling my name.

Naughty, Naughty Doggie

A recent photo of two members of my household that are both cute and naughty.  I have a true and hilarious story about naughty #2...the dog named Ranger.  

Andy and I have recently had a discussion about getting Ranger's barking problem under control.  It's especially troublesome when people approach our front door or when we are outside and he is not.  It's just excessive, loud and high pitched that really grates on one's nerves.  I am sure our neighbors agree.  They are just too nice to say anything.  

Tonight I was out on our front lawn with Grant, when you could hear Ranger's continuous, annoying bark while he was still inside.  So, I said, "Let's go take Ranger with us to *Naughty Dogs R Us and get one of those Citronella bark collars.  I'm an willing to try anything to get this under control."  I thought we probably should take Ranger along, so we could get the right sized collar, which I knew would be a challenge.  

When we entered *Naughty Dogs R Us, I instructed Madison to hold Ranger tight on his leash as to not give him any freedom to jump up on people or any other dogs that would be in the store.  Ranger loves other dogs, but generally, they don't like him due to his aggressive nature.  Maybe he has ADHD for dogs?   That would be my guess.  I do know, my dog does not play well with others.  

Anyway, Madison had Ranger and I had Grant by the hand and we just rounded the corner where they sell collars and Ranger quickly found a display of raw hide bones in a huge cardboard box and he lifts his leg and wizzes on the display to "mark his territory".  Madison quickly points it out to me and I gasp and say...give that dog to me and (Madison) quickly clean it up before anyone notices.  *Naughty Dogs R Us does provide paper towels and bags to clean up dog messes.  However, he's wizzed on cardboard, so that's a little difficult to fix.  I said, "Madison, let's quickly find an employee who can direct us to the barking collars."  I wanted to get in and out before anything else goes awry.  Shopping with Ranger is about the same as shopping with Grant during a temper tantrum...best to get out of the store quickly! 

I found a nice man who directed me to this locked cabinet a couple isles over to the bark collars.  They are around $100, so that's why they are under lock and key.  By now, I have Ranger very close to me, so as to not get into anymore mischief.  I was even proud of myself when I told him to sit and he listened to my command.  The employee was showing me the three kinds of collars when...you won't believe this....Ranger lifts his leg AGAIN and pees right in front of the employee on a display of plastic covered dog bed covers.  Now, I couldn't ignore this incident and apologized profusely.  I even asked if I needed to purchase the product.  Heaven knows, I would have made me pay for it.  The very nice gentleman, kindly said, "Oh, don't worry about it.  It happens all the time."  Then he adds...."In fact, we just passed a center display where another dog did the same thing."  I just didn't have the heart to tell him that was my dog too!  

Let's just say... I couldn't get out of there fast enough with my bark collar purchase and Ranger will NEVER be allowed to go back again.  

*Name changed to protect myself from incriminating evidence of dog urine. 

My Favorite Foodies (right at this moment)

I thought I'd add a few of my favorite things to eat, while I am enjoying my spring break.  I should be cleaning the bathrooms, but blogging is so much more fun! 

Beer Bread - This is my favorite product from Tastefully Simple, in fact it's their number #1 seller too.  If you haven't tried it, you are missing out.  It not only tastes fabulous, but it smells the house up with that "I've been baking all day scent".  It takes only one beverage (beer, apple juice, pop) mix it and bake it.  How simple is that?  If you'd like the name of my consultant, email me.  
Hot Tea - I've just started drinking tea when I stopped drinking pop, this was a nice change. I went to a "Let's Do Tea" party at my friend Tammy's house and discovered all there is to know about tea.  I love this Carmel Rooibos tea!  I, of course, like to mix it up with Vanilla-Carmel Coffee-mate, whipped topping out of a can and carmel topping that goes on ice cream.  Delicious!  So, my zero calorie tea, becomes a zillion calories before I am done.  Go figure! Also, if you don't know of a Let's Do Tea dealer, ask me too.  
Tomato Herb Soup - I've never liked tomato soup until now...this soup is upscale!  It's made by V8 and I believe it's a fairly new product of theirs.  I also tried their other flavors, but this one is the best.  Better yet, it sells for only $2.48.  

Milk Chocolate Macadamia Cookies - This is my favorite kind of cookie that you can find on the store shelves.  Girl Scout cookies are better, but those aren't located in supermarkets. So, I can easily say that I could eat the entire bag in one sitting.  Yum!  
Natural Peanut Butter - I just recently discovered this kind of peanut butter.  It's located at HyVee in their organic foods area and at Wal-Mart it's with all the other kinds of peanut butter.  This PB doesn't have the shelf life like regular peanut butter and does need refrigeration, but it's sooo creamy, spreadable and tasty.  It's a little pricer than "regular" ones, but I am almost certain that there's no Salmonella in this expensive kind.  LOL

Days 76-80

It's Spring Break and I can now get caught up on all my pictures...YEAH!

Saturday, March 14th - Grant's baptism was tonight at the 5pm evening service at St. Mark's. Our intention was to get him baptized when he was an infant, but I am such a procrastinator, that I didn't quite get it done.  I thought since both sets of grandparents were coming for Tyler's confirmation, that this weekend was perfect. Grant did nice job behaving himself during the service, too!
Sunday, March 15th - Today was Tyler's confirmation day along with about sixty other junior high students.  Tyler put a lot of time and hard work into this with classes, fellowship and volunteer projects.  I was very proud of him!  Way to go, Tyler!  Tyler now receives an allowance, so he can pay his tithe to the church.  
Monday, March 16th - Madison had soccer practice out at Air Park, so Grant went along and had fun playing in the dirt.  It was a beautiful day for outdoor play! 
Tuesday, March 17th - It's Parent-Teacher conferences for 2nd grade.  Madison went with me to the conference and she had a great report.  She's a hard worker, kind to others and a terrific writer.  I couldn't ask for more.  Madison is pictured with her teacher Mrs. Jochum and student teacher Ms. Lewis.  
Wednesday, March 18th - Oh, happy day!  I FINALLY received my long awaited KOTM - Project 365.  I am now trying to decide how I'll go about doing it...digital or mixed?!  I'll sure have fun playing around with it!  

Spring Break To-Do List

I love, love, love making lists.  If you can't tell...many of my blogs are lists.  I thought I'd do a top 12 things to do over Spring Break, which is nine glorious days!  I'll see how many of these things I can accomplish over break.  Some are really fun, some are definitely not!

1.  Paint the north wall in the living room and maybe the west wall too.  (I definitely don't like to do this.)

2.  Vacuum out the van and wash it.  (Why?  It will only be dirty again next week.)

3.  Go to Barnes and Noble with Sherri for a Twilight kick-off with all the 15 year olds in Lincoln tomorrow night.  (Fun times!)  This may go on my 40 x 40 list.

4.  Put my 365 kit together and get it caught up to date.

5.  Get the dog groomed!  He looks raggedy!

6.  Scrapbook at SCC for 15 hours!  Yeah!  This won't be hard to do.

7.  Do report cards...unfortunately not done, but that's why I get a break to do it, right?

8.  Scrub all three bathrooms from top to bottom.  (I think this is one notch better than painting.)

9.  Go with the family to the Shrine Circus...tonight.

10.  Go to Raette's cabin for the day with the Kindergarten Team!  Can't wait!

11.  Make a healthy snack with Madison for a Brownie patch.   Report how that turns out on Tuesday.

12.  Sleep in at least one day until 7:30!  This will be an impossible task with Grant, but I'll try.

Okay...that's all my plans.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Happy Spring!!!

Days 71-75

The next five days I highlighted one family member for each day.  

Monday, March 9th - Grant got a hold of a sucker, unfortunately.  I realized it's just easier to watch him enjoy it at the table instead of taking it away.  He was good for ten licks and he had enough.  When he was finished he handed it to me saying "all done".  
Tuesday, March 10th - Here's Tyler "vegging" on the couch and texting one of his friends.  He doesn't text as much as I thought he would, so the $5 a month charge works for us!  

Wednesday, March 11th -  We went to eat at McDonald's tonight instead of me cooking and made a stop at my room.  I am doing some quick scoring on a few assessments and asked Tyler to take a picture of me at my "desk".  I prefer not having a real desk and use this kidney shaped table instead.  I feel that a teacher desk would just become a dumping ground of endless paperwork.  This space I HAVE to clean it off since the kids work around the table with me daily.

Thursday, March 12th - Andy got back from Kansas tonight just in time to go to Tyler's Confirmation practice at St. Mark's.  Pastor Don asked if Andy would go to Cici's Pizza and pick up 30 pizzas and 12 orders of cinnamon rolls to feed the all the kids and their families.   Wow! What a haul! 
Friday, March 13th - This is what Madison looks like every morning before school...wet hair and all.  

Ode to My Flower

I've created a poem in loving memory of the flower that once graced the entrance of my home.  Sniff, sniff!  Okay...I am not a poet, but I'll try my best!  Here it goes....

ODE TO MY FLOWER

I had a door flower that was so very neat,

In fact, it could be seen from my busy street.

This flower never needed any kind of water,

That's the reason why I bought 'er.

I loved you and adored you for two whole seasons,

That's why I couldn't wait to hang you up again for that reason.

Now that you're gone, my door looks oh, so plain,

Hey thief...you really have something to explain.

I hope you enjoy MY pretty white daisy,

I wish you'd know that stealing is just plain crazy!

If only I could make that darn flower now wilt,

I'd have some satisfaction and leave you riddled with guilt! 

I know with time, this too shall pass,

As for now, dear thief, you can kiss my.......(flower!)

Okay, I am now feeling much better!  Of course, I am still ticked off, but my Dad made a good point.  I only noticed that today it was gone, but it could have been missing for up to a week or more.  So, if I didn't notice sooner, how really attached was I?  I guess I feel a little more violated and vulnerable than the loss of the flower.  Right?!  

Days 66-70

Two things I wanted to mention...I am still soda free after 14 days.  I can't believe it myself!  This is a tough one.  And I DID get a Project 365 kit from Creating Keepsakes!  I now need to decide if I still want to go digital and use half of my items OR go totally by the kit and hand write my journaling.  I'll have to see once I get the kit later this week. 

Wednesday, March 4th - It was a nice day, so I asked if I could get a picture of Sebastian and Grant on Christi's front steps.  They are two little terrors, both born on the same day at the same hospital.  Don't they just look like trouble?  In fact, they escaped from Christi's backyard last week by climbing over a chain link fence.  
Thursday, March 5th - My personal day!  Yay!  I enjoyed the day and did manage to go donate some blood for the good of the cause.  I didn't pass out, which I was worried about. 
Friday, March 6th - Grant is home sick, of course, so am I (the home part only).  Here he is lounging on my bed with my new pretty pillows from Pier 1 Imports.  Aren't they lovely?  
Saturday, March 7th - Grandpa Oogie snagged some free Husker baseball tickets for us while he was at the Husker game yesterday.  We had two seats for both Saturday and Sunday. Madison got the really cold day with Dad at the game.  (The lady who took this photo scrapbooks.)
Sunday, March 8th - This day was Tyler's turn to go to the game with Dad.  (This person didn't take as good of a picture as the previous one.  Probably not a scrapbooker!) 

Money, Heaven & Two Grade School Girls

I know that my neighbor and friend Tracey has blogged about the conversations between our two daughters, Jessi and Madison before, but I must share this one from yesterday.  This story is being told while they are sitting in the back seat of my minivan on the way home from school. It goes something like this...(I hope I can quote it just right.)

Jessi:  Madison, have you ever been to California?  My great-Grandfather use to live there.

Madison:  No, I haven't.  We don't have as much money as you guys do.

(Amy talking...This is how the money topic got started.)

Jessi:  Well, my pastor at church was saying that Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have lots and lots of money.  He also said that they can't even take $100 with them when they go to heaven.  

Madison:  Yeah, I know that.  The only thing you can take with you are the clothes you have on when you die.  (Madison is being serious!)

Jessi:  No, you can't even take your clothes, Madison.

Madison:  What?  You mean I have to go to heaven naked? 

(I am about to drive on a sidewalk now due to uncontrollable laughter.)

Jessi:  No, my Mom said that you get to wear white robes.  She's pretty sure about that!  (Jessi was very serious and sounded very knowledgeable on the topic, which was darn cute!)

Madison:  Oh, good! (Madison looked pretty relieved.)

Favorite Quotes

I've been researching clever, moving, motivational and witty quotes off the internet for my 365 project.  I'm including a quote for each week, so I'll need 52, of course.  I am hoping that YOU can help me by contributing your favorite quote from a person who may be famous or not so much.  The one in the above photo is from Martha Washington.  It says, "The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions not our circumstances." I think that one reflects well with the economy.   Here are a few others that I like too....

The Kindergarten Teacher in me loves this one... "Today You are You, that is Truer than True.  There is no one alive who is Youer than You."  ---Dr. Seuss

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing."  ---Phyllis Diller  

(This one explains my household.)

Or 

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  ---Maya Angelou

I can't wait to hear yours!  Please post under comments.

Mission 40 x 40 Revisited

Lately, I haven't said much about my 40 new things by the time I reach 40 since Project 365 took front stage.  I do want you to know that I am slowly making progress and have completed 1/4 of it.  I'll admit that most of these "haven't done before things" were never on my list to begin with.  However, with a recession going on, that many of us are feeling, I have modified some of my choices.  I am still crossing my fingers for all of those traveling opportunities to exotic destinations.  Oh, I can still dream!!!

Here's what has happened so far....

#1  Blog - I created www.thebroekerbunch.blogspot.com on November 15th once I saw it was FREE and my friend/neighbor Tracey looked like she was having a blast with hers.  So I give Tracey all the credit for this one. 

#2  Movie & Just Me - I realized I've never sat through a movie by myself, so I thought this is pretty simple and inexpensive to do.   I went to Twilight on November 28th knowing that Andy wouldn't want to see it.  I am planning on purchasing the DVD when it releases on March 21st. Yeah, can't wait!

#3  Baptist Church - St. Mark's Church makes a yearly trip to Salem Baptist Church in Omaha.  This year we went on December 7th.   I loved attending since it's nothing like what I would see or hear in my own church service.  This was another one that was FREE, except for the eating out. 

#4  Text Messaging - I received my first text message from Krista Wells, my co-worker, on December 10th.  I then text messaged her back.  Wow!  This was a huge moment in my life, I am now up with technology.  LOL  This wasn't too bad either....thirty cents total?!  Oh, please don't text me, I have to pay per text.  Just email me instead...that works!

#5  Join a Gym - Andy and I became members of Anytime Fitness on December 23rd.  I've never joined a gym before, which is why it makes the list.  Honestly, we have not been doing real well in this department.  I'd like to say it's Andy's trips out to Kansas that are to blame, but he was home last night and we didn't go.  We are going to have to work on this activity.  This one is a little pricey...$50 a month.  

#6  Facebook - After being invited by four friends to join, I finally decided to see what's up with all the Facebook hype.  So, I'll credit my friend Amy for getting me on.  I can say that's one place you can waste away hours, but it is cheap fun!

#7  Tea Party - I went to a "Let's Do Tea" party on Feb.23rd...much like a Tastefully Simple party, but with sampling teas, of course.  I am not much of a tea drinker, but I learned how to "steep" and tried all kinds of teas...black, green and rooibos.  I really knew nothing about tea...except for Lipton instant and that's "iffy".  Now that I've given up soda, I can become a tea connoisseur.  

#8  Ash Wednesday (Feb. 25) - I hate to admit this, but yes, I've never been to an Ash Wednesday service before.  I actually thought only Catholics had ashes placed on their foreheads.  It was a wonderful, traditional service.  My only problem was no daycare for Grant during this night time service and he was a little stinker! 

#9  Digital Scrapbooking - On March 1st, I finally gave in to making my Project 365 book doing it digitally through Adobe Photoshop.  I am not a pro at this by any means, but I've learned something I didn't know before.

#10  Donating Blood -  (March 5th) I can't believe I did it.  This was a very hard thing for me to do (I don't like the sight of blood), but I knew I needed to give it a try.  It wasn't so bad either.  I didn't get sick or feel lousy afterwards and I helped at least three people.  That's what those commercials on TV say.  I have a feeling they may like me too, with my O- blood type (universal donor), so I am already signed up to go back in early May.  

There you have it.  I am open to ideas (please, place under comments) of thirty more activities that I need to try.  I think Friday Night Bingo might be next on my list!

 

Days 61-65

I had some difficulties loading these pictures, so that's why there was a time delay! 

Friday, Feb. 27th - Not much excitement at the Broeker's.  We went to Target tonight after school because all the kids needed new socks.  Grant was thrilled with his selection!
Saturday, Feb. 28th - Madison delivered cookies around the neighborhood and our neighbor, Scott Holz, decided he would "ham it up" for the camera for this transaction!  
Sunday, March 1st - Tyler is practicing his pitching at Blue Chips with Coach Smutny.  
Monday, March 2nd - GNO at 9th Street Grill - present:  Lisa Ford, Carrie Bode, Jodi Vanek, Jen Pinyan, Anne Holz, Tracey Black, Allison Bruggeman and me.  Good food, good conversation and great fun! 
Tuesday, March 3rd - I learned on Sunday how to do Project 365 digitally.  This would be one more thing I can add to things I've never done before.  This picture shows off the new 4 x 6 sleeves that I found today at Ben Franklin Too (Thanks, Lisa, for the gift card).  I am still hoping to get the 365 kit because I'd love to embellish my scrapbook with the overlays and stickers!  I don't think I can go total digital...not as much fun! 

My Day...just for me!

Today I did something I've never done before...taken a school day off just for myself.  I've taken a day off for doctors' appointments, sickness and funerals, but never a day for me.  It was wonderful!  

This is what I did....(in case you are curious?!)

1.  I went to work to get my plans all ready for the Guest Teacher and she wasn't who I thought I was getting, but she did a wonderful job!  That was a surprise! 

2.  I went to McDonald's for a juice and sandwich.  Friendly people...they told me to have a nice day.  I was almost compelled to tell them it was my day off, but realized they really don't care.

3.  I drove to the southside of Lincoln and went shopping.  I bought new toss pillows for my bed from Pier 1.  I also went to Barnes and Noble and went nuts.  I bought a book on scrapbooking (go figure) and a Bible that you can read in a year.  It's broken down for one to read in that kind of time frame.  If I get that done that will go on my 40 x 40 project.  I also went and purchased Tyler's confirmation gifts, which I can't disclose because he may read this.

4.  I visited a scrapbooking store that should have taken 10 minutes, but then took 50.

5.  I drove back to the northside of Lincoln to go out to eat at Quizno's with my friend and neighbor Tracey Black.  That was great fun!  Thanks, Tracey!  

6.  Tracey and I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and found a hot pot, so I can make this delicious carmel tea for my co-workers next week. (It was going to be tomorrow, but you will see why at the end of this blog). 

7.  I made a couple phone calls....to get the dog groomed and to still try to get the Project 365 KOTM....I just won't give up!  No luck, yet!

8.  I went and donated blood at the Community Blood Bank today.  I have never done that before and it wasn't so bad.  I was done in 7 minutes and 52 seconds.  Wow!  They let me put my feet up, gave me drinks and cookies, a cool t-shirt and one of those new recycling bags.  This was ALMOST as good as getting a pedicure, but cheaper.  It was FREE.  Now, really, how many things in life are free!  Good point, huh?

9.  I vacuumed and washed the van today.  Looks fabulous until the next snow storm! 

10.  I enjoyed the 77 degree weather and with no kids!  That's until they came home from school! Bummer!  

11.  THEN I went to pick up Grant at Christi's house to find he has a 102 degree temperature!  UGH!  

12.  I realized I jinxed myself by taking a day off to now have to take another day off for a sick child.  Darn it!  

Boy & His Dog

This is what I see when I walk into Tyler's bedroom late at night.  Tyler asleep and Ranger, our Schnauzer, snuggling in bed together.  I know people sleep with their pets, but Ranger acts like he's human with his head on the pillow.  I don't know how Tyler can stand it...the smell and the lack of space.  I think the smell would be my first concern.  I am not a dog person, but this dog is sweet.  I HAVE to love an animal who puts up with Grant's abuse.  However, yuck!  I will not let this pet (no matter what doggie face he give me) sleep with me even when the two older ones are at sleepovers.  This dog does want to sleep in my bed if both Tyler and Maddy are gone, but I won't allow it.  I am terrible, huh?!  You know this dog will pick the couch for a bed over sleeping with Grant.  Smart dog!  

I have a question for all of you...Tyler will be going through Confirmation at our church in a couple weeks.  I want to give him a special gift for all of his work he's put into church, community and fellowship functions and activities.  Do you have any suggestions for a gift for a twelve year old boy?  Maybe you're thinking dog bed?  That one crossed my mind! :)

Thoughtful Child

This past weekend Andy and I had an ongoing conversation about taking the two older children on a trip to Disney World.  This trip has been talked about prior to the birth of Grant, but with his arrival the trip never materialized.  We've even talked about waiting until Grant is old enough to go, but realize Tyler would be in his mid-teens and probably wouldn't want to at that point.  So, with every LPS break, I mope around about the fact that we still haven't gone and am already feeling the blues about another break without Disney.  

I am now "determined" (my word for 2009) to take the four of us to Disney over fall break when I turn 39.  Andy, the reasonable one in the family, said, "The economy is bad, we don't have any money, etc."  This was overheard by the darling daughter who placed this homemade envelope under my pillow last night....It says, "To help with the Disney Place here is $8.00 in this bag."  That note and 8 -0ne dollar bills just about brought tears to my eyes.  Oh, sweet child of mine!  Madison, I now say that you "sealed the deal" on this Disney vacation!