Busy as always

Jace says, "I don't want to go to bed!!!"




It's been a couple of days since I have updated. Just a brief look at the weekend. Saturday John and I spent the day with friends Christina and Jarrod. Actually, John, Jarrod, and Kylan went to the car show while Christina, Jace, and I went shopping. Jace was very fussy (sorry Christina), I think he may be cutting more teeth. Sunday was spent going to church and playing the card game Phase 10, which I had never heard of, with my parents, and sis and her fiance. Then today, was back to work after a very short (well it seemed short anyway) Spring Break. School was good today, though the boys were not very happy to go back. When we got home the boys and I just played with bubbles to relax. However, I was proud for getting 5 loads of laundry done and Jace's closet and room cleaned out of outgrown toys and clothes. Gosh, why didn't I do all that on Spring Break?????

Fantastic Friday

Jace looks a little worried, what do you think?



Rub a dub dub two boys in the tub






John looks like he has a big, green, gumball head
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Today was such a great day! We had a pretty relaxing morning. I got a few cute shots of the boys in the tub. I know my kids and friends probably get annoyed that I always have my camera handy, but one day I think they will be glad that I have so many pictures to look at. It is always fun to go back and look at old pictures. Hey, at least they can never say, "Why don't we have any pictures of _____????" because I try not to miss anything. Anyway, my mom, the boys, and I and went to see my grandma Sanders today. The holidays are hard for her without grandpa and she says ever since Easter she has not felt like being around a lot of people. I feel so bad for her, I can't imagine losing John, but she has been with my grandpa since she was 14, so I can't imagine how hard it is for her. On a more positive note, she was glad for the visit. This afternoon John came home with me a new set of wheels. He is going to drive my tahoe now. I guess you can say we love tahoes, since now we will have two sitting in the driveway. Tonight we met friends Tiffany and Jeff to go eat chinese and go bowling. I am terrible at bowling, but do get a little better as the night goes on. I was in last place the first game, but finally on the last game was in first place. John was first in the first game and last in the last game, until he got two strikes in a row and ended up beating my first place. Confused? We had a great time and hope to go out again soon!

1st scrapbook page

Man was this tough!!! Kristen, I hope you didn't get as frustrated as me while doing the whole digital scrapbooking page. I have to admit, I didn't realize how much I had forgetten since I took a class on photoshop in college. I am also having tons of problems downloading any digital kits for some reason. Actually, I'm sure it's the fact that I won't pay anymore for faster internet service. Anywho, just wanted to show the first page that I did. Again, remember that I had very little digital supplies to work with. In fact the kit that I did work from, I only was able to download half of it. But, Christina you are so right, this can get addictive!!!

new outfits

Today mom and I worked on two new outfits for Jace. I say we, but mostly it was her since I can't sew, but I did help with what I could. I thought they turned out cute and these aren't nearly as girly (just for you Christina, ha ha!). Anyway, we still have fabric for one more outfit and a camo taggie, but we didn't get to them today, but keep an eye out, hopefully they will be finished soon!!!

flushed away

Check out Jace's hair while shopping today!










Playing with tractors today when we got home. Poppie would be proud!

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Mom and I went shopping today, along with the boys. Jace was SUPER cranky and tugging at his ear, yet again. By this afternoon he was running a low temp, and also is not sleeping AT ALL!!! Needless to say, I didn't get a nap with him today. After a long day, we came home to a very disgusting, dried up hermit crab, out of his shell. It was not very appealing, to say the least. So, I had a very upset child, until he realized that one of the surviving crabs (batman) had come out of his shell and gone into a bigger blue shell that was extra in the cage. He thought that was the coolest thing ever and had to tell his daddy about it over the phone. John had to work late, and I wasn't about to touch the nasty thing, so Kylan decided that we could wait until he got home to flush it down the toilet. They haven't really been that bad, but when these last two go home to meet their maker, then that is the end for us! No more pets for us!!!

too fast already

Spring Break is already going by WAY to fast. I didn't do much of anything today, kinda feeling lazy. I did however complete 5 girls bow holders to take to a local store tomorrow to see about selling them, the price, etc. I'm a little nervous, hope the owner likes them. All I have left to do is to iron the ribbons on them. Other than that and a small amount of laundry, the kids and I just took it easy today. Yesterday I went shopping with my friend Tiffany and tomorrow I am going with my mom. I hope we have some luck with some good shopping finds!!!

Easter

The Easter bunny did seem to find his way to our house this morning. The boys were excited to find their baskets full of goodies. We went to church this morning and Kylan had an egg hunt there. After church we went to my mom and dad's house for the boys to get their treats and to see the "lamb cake" that mom makes every year. We then went to John's mom and dad's house to eat dinner and get even more treats there. How many Easter bunnies are there running around here???? We came home and checked out the resurrection cookies that we made last night.


Annie's "Resurrection Cookies" Page
~Also known as Easter Story Cookies~

This is a great recipe to teach your Children the REAL story of Easter. That the Lord Jesus Christ
our Savior is not dead but has Risen. We serve a Risen Savior......

This activity can be done as a "family" or for Sunday School. Of course the Sunday School option might
be to hand it out to the class with a note to the parents. Grandparents might considering
doing this with their grandchildren this year too!!!

So Grab your Apron and Let's Get Started!!!!!!!

You will need:
1 cup whole pecans
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch salt
1 cup sugar
a zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
scotch tape
Bible

Instructions:
These are to be made the evening before Easter. Preheat oven to 300F.
*** (this is very important --- don't wait until you are half done with the recipe).
Place pecans in zipper baggy and let children beat them with the wooden spoon
to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested. He
was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read: John 19:1-3

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar
to drink. Read: John 19:28-30

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life
to give us life. Read: John 10:10&11

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest
into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers,
and the bitterness of our own sin. Read: Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the
sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to
know and belong to Him. Read: Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.
Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins
have been cleansed by Jesus. Read: Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper covered cookie sheet.
Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read: Matthew 27:57-60

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.

Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.
Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read: Matthew 27:65-66

GO TO BED!

Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight.
Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read: John 16:20&22

On Resurrection Sunday (Easter) morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked
surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed
to find the tomb open and empty. Read: Matthew 28:1-9

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Egg-citing day for the kids

We had quite an eventful Saturday. First of all the boys rocked out to Guitar Hero this morning, and even got me me to try it once or twice. It's lots of fun, but man do I need practice. This afternoon, John and I took the boys to an egg hunt at my friend Stacy's house. Three of us mommies (Tiffany, Stacy, and myself) got together and split supplies up to have an egg hunt for our kids so that they could have a chance to play and spend time together. Stacy was so great with the kids and even had Easter placemats for them to create while the husbands hid the eggs for us. We even teased the kids a little and pretended to hide the eggs and sent them out looking with not an egg in sight. They were really good sports about it and even waited semi-patiently for the eggs to "really" be hidden. They had a great time and it was nice getting to enjoy the company. Tonight we decided to go see the movie Horten Hears a Who, because Kylan had been good at school this last week. It was pretty cute, I did however miss the last 3-4 minutes because Jace starting getting a little fussy, but hey he is 10 months old so that was expected. He really did great for the most part. I thought I would update while we are waiting for the eggs to boil fot Kylan to dye his Easter eggs. Yes, at 9:30 at night we are still up preparing for Easter Sunday. Plus we still have to make the Ressurection cookies that we have started doing every Easter. I will post more about them tomorrow. For now, we are waiting for the "Easter Bunny" to arrive and fill the boys baskets!!!!

10 months old today!

My youngest sweet angel, Jace is 10 months old today. Gosh, how time flies...Today was nice, we dismissed school at 1:30, which officially began my Spring Break. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it is great to have a break with my boys. I had bunko, (we spell ours with a K) tonight. We had a lot of fun. My very creative friend Stacy is going to spice up our bunko box of dice. She does so many awesome things. I will post some pictures of it after next bunco to show you what fun she will make it.

mommy cards

One of my greatest friends ever, Christina, made me some fabulous "mommy" cards. To see other awesome designs of hers you can visit her distinctly pink blog spot from the link on my page. She always does all of my invitations for me, and anything else I might need. She is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! In fact, that reminds me, I need to be emailing her pictures for Jace's 1st birthday invitations!!!

watching the weather

It didn't rain today as expected, but I am still listening to the weather outside for now. Is was a perfect night for taking a little nap, listening to the rain. Jace got one of his few baths a week tonight, poor thing with all that dry skin. I know that he felt better after his bath. He was full and tired so after his bath he was ready for bed. I layed on the couch with him and took me a much needed nap. In fact I got up basically just in time to go to bed, which is fine with me. I hope that I can take a few naps this next week during Spring Break, and maybe get some cleaning done. We have tomorrow and not even a full day Thursday until Spring Break, so I am getting excited!!!

Monday, Monday

Mommies to be: Mary Beth, Lori, and Kayla



Once again Monday reared its ugly head this morning bright and early at 6:00. You would think that I would be used to this time change by now, but for some reason I am still dragging by the end of the day. Today was a nice day, a little windy, but for the most part pretty. We are all counting down the days until Spring Break. The kids especially. After school today we had a baby shower for three mommies to be at school. It always brings on the baby fever when we have one. The buns in the oven got lots of nice things and tons of diapers. After the shower, the boys and I went out to play for a little while before my club meeting tonight. I drug out Kylan's old overalls and put Jace in them for a few pictures. The first picture above is Kylan in the overalls in a tractor tire. Kylan wouldn't put on any for me to take some of both the boys. He doesn't like to ham it up for me like he used to. I was able to get a few decent shots of Jace and thought I would share them.