Monday, May 25, 2009

Busy, busy!

So much has happened in the past week, that I missed last weekend blogging alltogether. We headed to Ft Pierce last Sat and Sun to see Carol and crew (no show) Tanny, Jack, Tracy and her main squeeze, Paul. It was a fun, lazy weekend playing games (I'm hooked on Bananagrams!) and swimmin' in the pool. Our resident Girl Scout (Jack) made s'mores on the fire using that famous girl scout ingenuity! Shelby is definitely her mother's daughter. She happily played games with Tanny whenever she could.
Aidan worked the hardest of all, as you can see above. He was gracious enough to sit there for Papa to pull him around the pool. Had the sun not been so bright, I think he would have slept there all afternoon:)

Friday, May 22, 2009

Demolition Derby

It's been raining for the 7th day in a row, and all are getting stir crazy! My hunny grilled between raindrops (he's getting to be a real die hard griller) and we had some yummy steaks!
After dinner was cleared from the table, we were looking for something to do OTHER than watch tv, and Garry suggested a demolition derby using K'nex. I wasn't quite convinced that it would be fun, but I was wrong, we had a great time! After an hour of serious building, we all drove them into each other for a vehicle destroyin' derby!Garry deep in thoughtShelby's wind machine
Bert's bike (are you surprised?)Mine (I won the demo derby!)Bryce's unique contraption

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Welcome to the party, Gage!


This morning, at 3:10 am, Gage Christian came into the world and joined the party:) He was 7.3 oz, and 20.5 in. long. Being the favorite auntie, I got to be there to welcome him and and give him first kisses (ok, I did let Sara and Kevin give him one or two kisses before I took him for my own!)

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Happy birthday to me

My birthday has come and gone. It was fun, though. I was served breakfast in bed by my eldest son, who also made breakfast, and Shelby lunch in bed (I did have to fix it before hopping back in bed) and my hunny made his first cake! Garry and I played Monopoly, and he was nice enough to let me win, although judging from the tear in his eye as he handed over his last dollar, I don't think he wanted to let me win:) Thanks to everyone who text, emailed, facebooked, sent a card, and called me on my day.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mom's day!

My in-laws invited us out for dinner at Olive Garden today (no cleanup-hurray!). So here we are, our tummies full and smiles on our faces. Aren't they all beautiful?!?
Of course, Aidan's nap landed smack dab in the middle of lunch. Thankfully, between the drive down and the hour long wait, he got a good enough nap to be very happy all thru lunch.

Love those lips:)Shelby, Gma Frances and Bryce
me and the little people

Surprise, surprise!

So, I'm picking up around the house and getting dinner ready since we were expecting Sara and Kevin for dinner and movie when the phone rings, and I find out that my big brother and fam is in town and thought they'd come by to see us. It's well known that they do NOT like my town and avoid it at all costs...and the only time they do drive this way is when they must, for birthdays. So, I was very surprised to find not only were they on their way to see us, but had also been in town ALL week going to Disney (K-hope those feet recover soon!). Ok, maybe it was obligation that brought him here, but I don't care...thanks Jim:)
Anyway, Sara and Kevin showed up and we had a loverly (Teriyoki, yummy!) dinner. The 4 of us plus Garry went out afterwards to see Wolverine which I have been waiting impatiently to see. I was also treated to Cold Stone Creamery and gift (happy birthday to me). What a fun day-thanks everybody!
PS to all you moms (and almost moms) out there-Happy Mum's Day!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Dr visit

Ok, so my 5 year old has high cholesterol. Who'd thunk, eh? According to the Doc, it's hereditary, which makes sense because my hunny has it also. So, we've modified the diet some around here. We've been eating a lot healthier the last year or so, so no one (except hunny) even notices. We've moved down to 1% milk (not too bad since we were already at 2%), cut out most of the cheeses, and probably the biggest of all is eggs. I cook alot of meals with eggs -they're my back up when I don't want to cook anything else, so we've switched to egg beaters. The kids didn't seem to notice the change in their egg & cheese rollups the other night.
In other news I'm was able to zip up jeans I haven't worn in almost 2 years! I guess the walking is paying off. I've still got a ways to go before they fit loosely, but I'm still excited! I really do like getting up earlier than all the little people to walk; it usually makes the day go much smoother:)

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Dragonfly

This has no other purpose other than I thought it was cool. We had a dragonfly come in last night. This morning I found it here:Perfect, huh? (Still alive, he went out the door when I opened it)

Gimme 5!

(Aidan saw we were taking pictures and he sneaked his way in!)

Of course my kids good and bad habits all come back to me. And of course my bad habits usually outweigh the good! So, I'm always looking for ways to improve around here without a lot of setup. Personally I am a good starter, lousy finisher. Every morning I have great intentions on getting everybody up and dressed, teeth brushed, etc, but with everybody going in a different direction, sometimes it's noon before everyone is dressed. Browsing thru Family Fun magazine, I found this cute idea that we are using and have been successful for almost a month! We cut out each of their hand prints and listed something to be done on each finger; i.e make bed, get dressed, and each day we take them down from my ribbon board (it's so pretty!) and complete the chores. I really love it because I get sidetracked easily and when I see a kid running around half dressed (usually Bryce) we go back to the bright yellow hands and I can get both him and me on track again.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Busy Weekend

Aside from the houseful of kids, it has been a very busy weekend. The kids and I (+1) went to check out kids day at Home Depot, Michaels & Fam Fest (Altamonte Springs). The kids enjoyed each project and outing very much, and I got 5 (Bryce chose to keep one of the gifts for himself!) Mother's day gifts. At Fam fest, all had an exciting time spinning the wheel at each booth for prizes. I splurged and bought lunch out, and by mid afternoon we (I) were tired and needed a nap. Shelby especially enjoyed meeting Geoffrey Giraffe (Toys 'r Us) and giving him a great big hug. Notice Aidan(in stroller) had enough of us and decided to push himself around:)

Saturday, May 2, 2009

You Scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream!

As everyone knows, my house is known for being full of kids, besides mine. Now, I am aware that is NOT my charming good looks or my sparkling personality that keeps them coming back time and again. It's the very large T.V., Wii and the fact that I feed all that comes to my door! So, this past weekend our neighborhood had a yard sale, and one of the neighborhood boys bought me an ice cream maker. Of course, we had to make ice cream! Unfortunately, our pantry supply was getting low. So, good 'ole Allrecipes came thru once again. We made a banana/walnut ice cream. Came out pretty good too, a little more like an icey since the recipe we used didn't have any eggs. Still, all enjoyed, and I'm sure it's the first of many to come:)

Friday, May 1, 2009

Doodlebugs

Bryce has a love/hate relationship with "doodlebugs". I'm really not quite sure what kind of bugs they are-they are similar to love bugs, but these seem to have more red on the top of them. Anyway, he freaks out every time he sees one outside and runs back in. We go thru the same discussion every time reassuring him that they don't bite. So, when he received a bug magnifier in his kids meal yesterday, he quickly (had one of us) scoop them up so he could investigate. Although I'm sure the bug did not appreciate it, Bryce had a great time checking those "doodlebugs" out.

Warehouse shopping

So, what's the big deal with this anyway? Is there a benefit to shopping in large quantities? Of course, other than the American obsession with bigger is better. I decided to find out myself. Bj's is offering a 60 day free pass (thanks, mom). So, I printed it and headed out. BTW, if one does decide they want it, they were running a special on 14 mo instead of 12 mo, plus $10 gc for $45 yr. Anyway, the way I figure it, if I went once a month for 12 months, I would have to save 3.75 JUST to break even. So, my first trip I bought 4 loaves of bread, 2 gallons of milk, 4 pack of lasagna noodles, large container of salsa, butter, and something else (I forget!) for a total of $58.00. Since I only had $200 for 1 1/2 wks of groceries, it seemed like a little for a lot. I purchased these items since I knew they were cheaper than if I bought at the grocery store. As a rule, we don't buy too much junk/snack food. So I didn't even go thru many of the aisles after glancing down. I didn't buy any meat (forgot about cheeses) as Publix had the meats I wanted (chicken breast and pork) for less than Bj's. Since my receipt was messed up when printed, I couldn't do a price comparison other than what I vaugley remember in prices. However, the savigns were not much. Not to mention, since I couldn't get all my shopping done there, it really made the day long as I still had to get the remainder of my list. So, at the end of the day, I didn't go back for the paid membership. I guess I still don't get it. I will give it another shot since my trial membership is not up until June....anyone got any pointers?