Lauren's birthday...Part 1 & 2

The first present... (the catch: It was for the both of them from Grandma Jan & Grandpa Michael. A Dora the Explorer Memory Game. )
Birthday girl on the way to school. Don't tell anyone but she still snuggles with Cat Baby while in the car. It doesn't count if she doesn't look at me though.

Lauren School Party. (aka Part 1)

She's in front of the class while they sing Happy Birthday to her.

Then we enjoy homemade cupcakes from the Paula Dean "My First Cookbook." They seem to be a hit. Even Tyler gets to participate in the party festivities.

When Daddy gets home from work we celebrate the Family Party. (aka Part 2)

Here's the loot:

Here's the birthday girl before diving into the loot:

***we interrupt this program with an out of place picture of Lauren playing on the computer. But Tyler actually has a good smile so I had to include it***

and now back to the family party:

Tyler takes a break to Be CooL.

and now back to shredding paper and loving some gifts...

gifts not pictured:

Princess "over-the-shoe" skates

lots of Much Needed outfits for summer

twisty colored pencils

lots of cash...the girl scored in the money department

Ready to blow out the candles...(there are really 5 candles, due to the angle one just can't be seen.) We got Tyler his own cake so Matt and I wouldn't be tempted.

Today (Friday) Tyler got another birthday card. He made up stories with it for about a full 15 minutes. Thank you, Aunt Mili and Uncle Monkey!!

This afternoon we had Lea come over to play for a few hours.

We played Bubbles...

computer....

and some playing house.

Both kids had a blast playing with Lea. Lea's Mom and I plan to get the kids together next week too. Later...

Five Years Ago

Five Years Ago...
I was not a Mom. I was a Wonderful Wife...a horribly-uncomfortable-8-months-pregnant yet Wonderful Wife (right Matt?!!!) At about this time (adjusted for the West Coast) I was celebrating my Baby Shower thrown by my super awesome co-workers at Holt International Children's Services in Eugene, Oregon. That baby shower got my baby so excited to come out and see her loot that she demanded to be born the next day...(a whole 4 weeks early!)

And I can't believe that tomorrow will be 5 years from that day. My baby turning 5 is almost as hard to comprehend as the day I turned 30. Life is sure an adventure...a wonderful, blessed adventure. I'm thankful for every second of it.

I'm thankful for today. (this is a lame lead-in to a change of subject...)

While Lauren was at school, I did a little work on my Consignment Sale labeling. I have all the clothes laid out by size and now I'm going through and marking the price on all of them. It makes for a very messy living room but hopefully this will make me finish the task more quickly.

I was pleasantly interrupted often by Tyler who was watching "Imagination Movers." He informed me whenever it was time to dance. Here are a couple shots of his slick moves.

Heck, it was so cute that I even took a short video. Keep in mind that as I'm filming this I'm also dancing...That should explain any "sea-sickness" you may feel while watching.




After school, Lauren was invited to play with our neighbor Lea instead of taking a nap. I asked her if she would rather 1. take a nap or 2. go play with Lea. She told me she was going to choose the "fun answer." Can y'all guess?

From 2:30 to 4:30 she was having a blast at Lea's house. While Lauren was at Lea's house and Tyler was napping I made some cupcakes to bring to Lauren's school to celebrate her birthday tomorrow. I also prepped the Ham and Potato Soup for dinner. Since Lea's Dad is out of town tonight I invited Lea and her Mom (Miss Maria) over for dinner and for some more playtime. Dinner (Chunky Ham and Potato Soup) was thoroughly enjoyed by us adults and briefly (2 bites each...maybe) enjoyed by the kids. But they sure did enjoy playing together.

After dinner they played on the back deck.

When it was time for Lea and Miss Maria to leave everyone gave everyone hugs. Only one hug was caught on camera. (all together now...."Ahhh How Sweeeet.")

Have a Sweet Evening Y'all.

where did the week go?!

Well my Mom has mentioned TWICE that it has been while since I blogged. Since she actually sent two e-mails I figured she must be serious. And you don't want to mess with her when she's serious. ...Unless, of course, you are my 23-yr-old-baby-brother Brian and in his case he could get away with murder. But that's another story....

I'm not sure why I haven't posted in awhile. Honestly, I'm not really sure what I've been doing and if it's been anything blog worthy. Let's take a minute or 20 to run down the days and catch up.

last Tuesday:
I made Lighter Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Homemade Sandwich Rolls, Slow Cooker Pinto Beans with Bacon for dinner.
I was impressed with my sandwich rolls. So of course I documented their birth.

out of the bread machine and rolled into ballsafter rising for 1 hour; ready for the oven
fresh out of the oven
don't they look like the kind you pay big bucks for at the grocery store?

Here's the completed meal.

The pulled pork sandwich was awesome but the beans were just so-so. (So so-so that the left-overs are still in my fridge, soon to be in my trash.)


Wednesday:

I hosted the Mom's Club weekly playgroup. This is Tyler's playgroup since Lauren is at school when we meet. Three boys and three girls make up the group. I really enjoy hanging out with their mom's and all the kids (especially the boys) enjoy hanging out together. That night Lauren made the Roasted Vegetable Pasta from one of her cookbooks. Having her cook some meals is a genius idea. For example, this meal had eggplant, garlic, onions, zucchini and tomatoes and She Ate It ALL! Even her Daddy picked out the eggplant but not her.

After dinner I left the kids with Matt and I went to my new Bible study. We are working through the book "Know That You Know" which was written by our pastor Ken and some other smart church folk.

Thursday:

On my way to take Lauren to school I snapped a photo of Frosty Lime on what turned out to be the last day of his existence since the temps significantly warmed up.

till we meet again, Frosty.

After dropping Lauren off at school Tyler and I went to volunteer at church. Well he just played and had snacks while I did the volunteering. If you're interested, I help to prepare the material they teach to the pre-schoolers during the weekend services. I also get to enjoy some fun and informative conversation with my fellow church friends.

Before we took off for Community Group I made up Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-dried Tomatoes & corn. I actually made up enough to feed 2 families so I called Dana and offered her the second serving. They were happy to have it and it actually worked out in our favor since they invited us to a Cook Out the next day. (that's the southern way to say BBQ.)

Friday: We had our Cook Out and hung with the Hancocks for the evening. Mr. Mike joined us for dinner and then he left Tera to spend the night with Lauren.

Saturday:

The weather was UnBelievably Gorrrrrgeous so we spent A LOT of time out doors this weekend.

purple sand

Of course, Matt had some projects.

regrouting our shower (this is still in progress so we have been showering in Tyler's bathroom.)
Aerating the yard
(it's about time that boy got off his rump and did something....Just Kidding! That was Totally Sarcastic if you are lobotomized and couldn't tell.)

It was so beautiful and warm on Saturday that the Ice Cream Man took advantage. Mr. Buddy bought Lauren a Sponge Bob ice-cream cone since neither her Mommy nor Daddy had any cash on hand. About 20 minutes after this picture Dana and I chased the dude down (in her jeep, of course) to get a second serving. =)

Saturday night we had the whole gang over for dinner again. I made the Irish Beef Hand Pies which were on the menu but to make sure I had enough food I found this recipe for Creamed Chicken & Biscuits in my "to be made" folder. The Hand Pies were nothing special but the Chicken and Biscuits were given rave reviews.

After dinner we popped some popcorn, listened to music (XM Radio channel 9 "90s Pop Hits") and enjoyed each other's company.

Sunday: I spent all day trying to adjust to the time change. There just wasn't enough time to get everything (read: anything) done. Matt was nice enough to do my weekly grocery shopping while he got the oil changed in the Denali since I was completely unmotivated.

Today, Monday: Lauren had school and Tyler and I played at home. His latest favorite show is "Imagination Movers." They do a lot of dancing on the show and at the start of every song he shouts to me that it's time to dance. And then, boy oh boy, Do We Dance. He's got some moves for a little guy.

This afternoon Miss Maria took Lauren and Lea to their dance class. This is the second time that she's taken the girls by herself. I owe her big time. It was very nice though not to have to wake up Tyler from his nap and take a grumpy almost 3 year old to Lauren's dance class. To reward her for her kindness I invited her and Lea over for dinner tomorrow. Matt is making an overnight trip to Fernandina Beach, FL for work and Maria's husband is working out of town too. So instead of eating alone we might as well get the girls (and Tyler) together and enjoy a meal.

Now I am about to plop myself in front of the TV and start pricing clothes for the upcoming consignment sale. Enjoy your evening y'all.

and March comes in like a LION

Despite the fact that temps were in the 70s on Saturday, March insisted on making a noticeable entry and dropped some 4 inches of snow on our house.

watching the snow as it just starts to fallour house from the street
This wasn't just an ordinary snow flurry. This was pretty intense with Thunder Snow. I'd never witnessed thunder snow. Lightening, Thunder AND Snow. Sooo exciting.

view from the back door

Tyler briefly went outside but a snowflake immediately landed in his eye and he decided he was done. And he hasn't gone out again. "It's too cold for me and snow will get in my eye."

(he was out for maybe 5 minutes, however, it took about 15 minutes of tears and struggle to get him to wear his boots instead of red racecar crocs.)

On the other hand Lauren LOVED the snow (and is still Loving it.)

making a snowman
Lauren, Frosty & Me

Lauren and Frosty Lime

(his eyes are sliced limes we had left-over in the fridge)

the perfect way to warm-up after a tromp in the snow

this is probably our second fire ever

Tyler (like his Mommy) definitely prefers heat over cold.

(note to self: buy Tyler longer pants)

and today we are back at it again because school was obviously Cancelled. Yippee.

Matt's Weekend Project Revealed

Matt took advantage of Saturday's 70 degree weather to install an actual vent for our stove. The geniuses who designed the kitchen didn't provide a true vent. So anytime I would cook something "stinky" the vent above the stove would suck it up and blow it right back into the kitchen. After I fried my own fish sticks one day Matt vowed to make a vent for me.

He had to saws-all a whole through a cupboard and then another whole out the side of the house.

"Thing" is helping him

Part of the vent installed

now just need to direct it outside

The finished project.

Great Job Matt!!

(I won't mention how frustrated he was at times...)

I'm ready to start deep-frying and take the next step in my "southern-i-zation."

As they say in the South, "If You Can't Fry It, Spraypaint It Gold."