What a day!

No pic today but I just wanted to say WHEW!! Our Young Women (I mean me) are having a yard sale. It is tomorrow morning and it has been so much work. Hopefully it will go well.

I have also been busy with Brenden and his school. We have embarked on a new adventure! I will have to write a novel about it next time.

He finally lost it!!!

Well, Chay finally lost it - his first tooth!!!! He was so happy! Just about all his friends have mouthfuls of holes. He waited so patiently too.

It is so great to see my kids getting older. I love celebrating their many great moments with them. Being a mom is really about enjoying all the great times and getting through the bad without getting scathed. Let's hope there are more good than bad.

Kylee had a great time taking these photos! What a great big sis!

APRIL FOOL'S!!!

So, today was April Fool's day. Taylor and I had a great time playing a huge joke on our kids. We pretended to send a letter to us (the parents) from the school district. Taylor scanned a letterhead and I wrote this:



Over the past several years our school board has noticed a significant decrease in overall student performance. We feel that our current school schedule is inadequate and is not meeting the current needs of our students. So, in order to fully comply with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, we will be moving our schools to a year-round program. School will not end on June 13 as previously released on the calendar but will continue until July 11 followed by a 3 week break. School will then resume on August 5 preceded by a teacher workday on Monday August 4. Our schools will adjust classes to follow a quarterly schedule.

As always, we are working hard to ensure your child's complete education. Thank you for your continued support of our schools and teachers. We will be releasing more complete information in the following weeks followed by a public board meeting on Monday May 5, 2008 at 7 pm.

Our kids were so mad that they weren't able to have a full summer. The best part of it all is that we were able to get our neighbors in on the joke. Their girls were REALLY mad about it. All the kids started texting their friends to let them know about the stupid decision the schools were making. We finally told them and gave them cookies to ease the humiliation. All the adults had a HUGE laugh! HEEHEEHEEHEE!!! I think we parents are in for some payback next year!

I have just been hanging around. Last week was spring break. Taylor had to go to Chicago on business and I took the kids to Maryland. We played with our good friends, the Frizzell's. We stopped at King's Dominion on the way home. What a gorgeous day we had. We rounded off spring break with a trip to the science museum. It is fun to have fun with my kids. I like it so much better than making kids do homework or handing out consequences. So, who can I hire to take care of the dirty work?????

Almost Spring!

Well, it's almost spring. Tomorrow!!! I love spring! My yard literally explodes with color. First, the daffodils come out. Soon followed by all my pretty flowering trees. Can I hire someone to clean my house so I can spend all my time outside playing?

I made these cookies tonight for our Young Women's activity:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beths-Spicy-Oatmeal-Raisin-Cookies/Detail.aspx

I love hanging out with the girls. Although, I pay the price. My house is usually a mess when I get home. Oh well. I will just go outside tomorrow and ignore it:)

Ho hum

Well, I don't think I want to bore everyone with my boring life this past week and a half. The best part was that my mom came to see me (and my kids-mostly the kids, I think). We had a good time. Gma Dries took Brenden and Dylan out on their birthday dates. Very cute! Dylan chose chocolate everything and Brenden got legos. We took a little walk to the lake on yesterday with all the kids while Taylor took a nap. She was only here for the weekend and is on her way back to see Lorna in Northern VA. My assignment for next time is to think of a project to do. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Today, I would like to spend all day scrapbooking but I have to keep my house clean and my kids in line. Life must go on and so must the vacuum!!!

Brenden is 9!!

I think it is so neat to see my kids get older and wiser. Today is Brenden's birthday. I can't believe it has been a year since he got baptized. He has done a ton of stuff. I am trying to remember what those things are. He lost a ton of teeth. He grew about 6 inches, I'm sure. He can now put together a box of legos in 3 seconds flat. (I haven't watched him, but it seems this way.) I love him so much.

Off the couch and cookin'!

This post is for you Marianne! -

I like cooking. In fact, I would love to cook a ton and then have a magic fairy that comes behind me and cleans up the HUGE mess I have just made. And then, like a commercial, everything is not just clean but actually sparkling. Alas, it isn't so. So, I will continue to stack my dishes and hope my hubby comes to help before I go crazy.

When my husband I and I first met, Taylor did most of the cooking. He loved to try new things and I didn't. Well, like all good things should, he rubbed off on me. I love trying new recipes now! One of those recipes that is now one of our staples is this one:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1185388

I made this tonight and....victory! I have defeated my friend Marianne in something! My friend Marianne is a great cook and baker. Everything she lays her hand on in the kitchen turns to edible gold. Tonight, her daughter said that my roast chicken was better than her moms. So, Marianne, you may be in Hawaii, but I get have your lovely daughter's company AND her compliments. Now, if I could just get your recipe for cinnamon rolls...............