Popcorn's 4th Cage

Popcorn is one of the sweetest, most resilient hamster's we have ever had. We are on our 4th cage because the poor thing has been knocked off the shelf 3 times. Twice by the cats, and once again last night by Ethan. I heard somthing in the school room around 11 last night and went to investigate. Well Ethan was on a chair, the cage was on the floor, and the hamster was under the table under Boots' paw!! Let's just say the schoolroom is under lock and key now!

Only 25 feet of Snow

We just heard from our friends the Adam's who moved to Portland Maine a couple of years ago. They had 25 feet of snow this winter, damn that global warming. What does 25 feet of snow look like?...hmmm

Tonya, a floridian fell in love with Maine as soon as they moved. She loves the winters, summers and all. After being there last summer I can't blame her. It is probably in the 60's now at night and mid 70's during the day!!

Well we miss them, Save a spot in the driveway for our camper ;-)

Baby Blues

One of my favorite times to watch the kids are when they are sleeping (yeah I know they are all angels when they are asleep.) But really I love a sleeping baby most of all. Ethan has been in our bed for the last week and I have really enjoyed the mornings, waking up to a sleepy blanket warmed child. I couldn't resist snapping some pics before he woke up and started his businees of the day. Here he is sleep warmed and smelling of baby bath and warm blankets. All the stretching, his toes and belly... Ahh I could just eat him up~~~not his boogers, though


I guess I am a little sentimental because I know how quickly this time passes, and he may be my last baby. All the pictures of my friends newest blessing has made me question am I done? Could I go through it one more time. Would it be fair to put my family through that? Why, did Eve have to eat that fruit??? But really I know getting pregnant would require a great sacrifice on the part of my family for 6 or so months, so I guess I need to be content with taking pictures of this little one snuggled in my bed with his blue blankey.


And hope that I get lots of grandchildren to cuddle, or that the stork drops a baby on my doorstep.

The longest week EVER!

This has felt like the longest week for me. It may be because it is the last week of preschool. Or that I have been a little anxious for a friend who was having a baby this week. Or just that I am ready to be done with being on anyone's schedule but my own.. (ie.. I want to sleep in, stay up late and not drive carpool for a while)

While I am looking forward to the end of the school year I am also a little sad that we may not be as close with some of our friends. I have gotten used to talking with Caryn, Julie, Tiffany and Amy pretty regularly (as in daily). I wonder once school is out will that natural flow be just as natural? Will we pop in and out and have each other's kids? Will Liv ever see Sara again??? Ok so maybe I am a little paranoid.....but it is just that we have all gotten so close this year and it has been really fun! If you haven't realized it I don't like change.

Liv had preschool graduation tonight and it was really sweet. I guess I am ok with the year ending because I know we will be back in a year or so with Ethan. Ms Shawnie is one of the best teachers I have ever encountered. She truly loves the kids she is entrusted with. I know that sounds cliche but I am a pretty good people reader, and after attending 3 years with Maddy & Liv I can honestly say she loves the kids and her job.





I am quilting again, well I should say Amy, Caryn and I are quilting. I love to design the quilt, and colors and then let smart people figure out seam allowances and all that technical stuff. I love that I can call Amy and say, come over!! NOW, and she does!!! Pick those paint colors Amy I will be your workhorse if you will be my quilty, math person. Sadly fractions are not my thing!
Anyway I am making my grandmother a "Legacy" quilt for her birthday (which is June 10th) You know me I work best under pressure ;)

My house has been mostly clean since Deb's baby shower. I have been slowly picking areas to further declutter . I am almost done with my bedroom which is my catch all, and then I go upstairs to my junk room. I am going to try and make better chore packs or cards for the girls that let them know what needs to be done on which day. Liv is learning the laundry quite well, and Maddy is still queen of the kitchen.

Ethan has been sick since last Saturday, and is just now been fever free today. So far noone else has caught it, but I will share a super gross thing that happened at preschool graduation, and may explain if I wind up sick! Ethan usually says he has a boo boo on his finger and wants me to kiss it, it is like a game we play. Well at graduation I was not paying attention and he held out his finger while I was trying to listen to the program. I bent down like always and kissed it. Yuck to my surprise and horror it was a crusty booger!! gaggggg, and I couldnt even leave!!!
So if I am sick it is because I was eating Ethan's boogers!!

Well I think this is all for now, I have to go get some zicam...

It's HOT!!

So let's Slip -n- Slide

Ok, yes I am brave enough to post that picture! Let's just say the next morning I realized I wasn't 20 anymore ;0

Liv lost her first tooth!!

To those who have protected our freedom, and provided the security for us at home, Thank You.
Thank you for the families of these brave soldiers, and the sacrifices they have made.

Freedom

My girls just left with their grandparents for 5 days!! Yikes! They are going to the lakehouse in Alabama, and they are so excited.. Ethan is staying Friday night through Sunday with my girlfriend Rhonda. So Mike and I are going to convention, ALONE for 2 whole days.........And no there will NOT be a new homeschool addition in 9 months from now.. I shouldn't say that too loud, God can have quite different plans and sense of humor, than my own ;)

Needless to say please pray for my children while they are away from the nest, and pray for me that I will not worry too much about leaving Ethan. The girls were excited to go, but he may not be too keen on Mike and I leaving him. Although he is with Momma Rhonda!!

Weeks in review

Ok, I have been sadly lacking in the blogging arena. I mentally blog all day long. I have had great titles like, "To train up a tomato" the best of both worlds, child training and tomato staking ! I guess you would have had to read both of those books to get the title.




So what have we been doing??

Sewing Club


We went camping a couple of weekends ago at Fernadina Beach. On the road again!


They had their Shrimp festival (ie. a craft fair with a pirate theme)












and a civil war reenactment at Fort Clinch. So, we pulled into the KOA friday evening and to our surprise it look liked Bike week at Daytona. A veterans biker club was having their reunion, live band, outside bar, AC/DC and ALL!! Quiet hour was moved til midnight for the weekend. All in all it was ok, nothing too offensive happened, we just looked REALLY out of place. The kids were disapointed that I didn't let them swim in the pool, however I saw all the biker fun happening in the pool the night before~~eewww~~~




Well we did the pirate festival, and then off to Fort Clinch for some good ol' yankee history. The Union army was in residence. The girls met nurses, cooks, soldiers and got to shoot off the cannon.

I soon realized we were within minutes of Cumberland Island, GA. The Island is renowned for it's wild horses. Well Maddy was excited, and so I said , yes I will take you all. So Liv Maddy, and I took the 45 minute ferry to the VERY primitive island. You must walk miles to get anywhere, carry in all your supplies (bottles of water, chairs, clothes, first aid kit....) Well loaded up like a pack mule, the park ranger said we had two docks to choose from to disembark. The first was the hour long park ranger led ruins tour, the second was Sea camp which led to the ocean (like a 2 mile walk) . Well you KNOW I am a homeschooler because I drug my children for some more learning! We were the only ones in the group under 50. I must say my kids must be used to it because they didn't even think to complain ,well that came later... We did see lots of cool horses (some a little too close for comfort). At the end of the tour the kids then wanted to go to the beach (at the other dock) like 4 miles away. Then the whining and moaning and complaining began. "It's hot....how much further...mom will you carry all the bags...remember the pack mule reference) We needed one of those horses! We made it and Liv (the complainer) survived.

On Mothers Day the girls made me breakfast and I caught Liv and Ethan tag teaming the laundry.













The end of a long mother's day!! They look beat, hmmm????
Fishing in the Pool, Ethan?
Now that is HOTTTT, we are in the pool almost every day... Friends feel free to drop in for a swim..

Our latest Baby Quilt

A collaborative baby quilt for a close friend. I think the quilt looks like the baby should be named Caroline or Chloe....or Tonya

Webkinz Economics 101

Maddy is completely and totally addicted to playing with her webkinz online. We are a little bit behind the craze since I only just recently allowed her to play online. She has put 6 of her webkinz online, and has bought like 10 rooms to add to her home. She is homeschooling, gardening, and decorating her babies. Today I walked by and she said that her webkinz were on a diet. I said, oh okay. A few minutes later I look at the screen and she is redecorating her house, a new couch and stuff. Well she is complaining that the house is too big, and she doesn't have enough money for all the furniture she wants. At that moment I notice that her poor baby is low on food. I think like 30%, I said Oh, she's starving feed her! 2 of her babies were sick, and she said I don't have enough money to go shopping. Well she had enough for the new couch! So she had to sell all her furniture and then we went grocery shopping.

She kept complaining how expensive it was to have 6 webkinz to feed. Yeah like you and your brother and sis are cheap? Remember this in real life! So to save on groceries she went to check the garden, well there was no harvest just weeds to pull, which she did. She does virtual chores but HELLO what about the weeds in our REAL garden?? Well Maddy is getting a dose of reality in webkinz world... I told her go get a job and earn those webkinz dollars. Until then I guess grandma (as in me) will have to make sure she not putting the kids on a starvation diet, so she can buy a new Ethan Allen bedroom set!

Being A Mom

Liv came home with a sweet Mother's Day poem from preschool.



Favorites

By Olivia Freeman



My Favorite thing about my mom is: just hugging her



My mom's favorite color is: Pink



My Mom's favortite thing to do is: wash clothes



My Mom is so funny when she: tickles me and makes me laugh

If Steph can rerun posts here is an oldy, but goody

The backdrop to this is when Ethan learned how to climb out of the crib and would NOT stay in bed and I think we were on week 2 of the struggle!!


Yes well naptime came about 12:45 when we came home from preschool. Ethan's eyes were rolling back into his head in the car, but I perversely made Olivia keep him awake until I got him into his bed. Well at home he seemed to pick up a second wind and did not eagerly snuggle down in his bed. He climbed out of bed 15 times, with eight of those meeting a rap with the wooden spoon. Well he won the naptime battle. I tried to get him to lay down with me in my bed but he was not having it. So, I gave up put Maddy in charge and decided I would at least get a nap. WRONG! As I was laying there I heard

Maddy: Olivia wash your hands and brush your teeth before you touch him that has peanut butter in it.

(Ethan has a p-nut allergy_Ok, I have to get up and investigate because there should be no peanut items in my home. Well a package of Nutty Buddy cookies snuck in somehow? So, I try and lay back down while thinking would Maddy recognize anaphylactic shock or would her eyes be glued to the TV ignoring her brothers gasps just 2 feet away . So I get back up and make sure the TV is off and Maddy is aware of what shock looks like and find the epi pen and set it out just in case. I lay back down, the phone rings, it's a girlfriend and Maddy is letting her know that her mommy is sleeping (right), should I feel guilt? I don't usually take naps, I should be watching the kids, doing my 500th load of laundry this week, or weeding the flower beds. Nope, I am going to nap and try not to feel guilty. Then I doze off for a few minutes to be awakened by little hands shaking me and staring into my face :

Olivia: Mom are you sleeping?
Me: mumbling sleepily, I was, what do you want?
Olivia: Can I swim?
Me: Should I say, No, stupid have I ever let you swim while I am asleep?
Me :No Olivia Where is your sis?
Olivia: I don't know (and she leaves)

Well 2 phone calls , 3 Ethan tantrums and Maddy complaining about watching baby shows later I have not had a nap. I am worse off than when I laid down and my house is TRASHED. My dear husband walks in and says, "Why are you taking a nap?" I think he wished he had never asked if you know what I mean. Well after our talk about how MY day went he just asked what take out we would be ordering for dinner....I think Stavros sounds good.

Chicken Parmesean

I just made the best dinner ever. I made The Barefoot Contessa's Chicken Parmesan. It turned out so easy and a favorite at our house, now.

Recipe
3 eggs
All purpose flour
Italian bread crumbs
salt & Pepper
water
Chicken breast pounded to 1/2 inch thin
favorite oil for frying in the pan. I used grapeseed oil.

Pound out chicken, dip in the flour, salt and pepper, then dredge through the beaten eggs and a tablespoon of water. Then dip in the breadcrumbs. Then into the hot oil 1/2 inch thick in pan. Cook til done and crispy brown on the outside.

I added Prego sauce, spaghetti noodles, and garlic bread... Yummy

Happy May Day

I finished my mom's birthday quilt

What a sweet smile!
Spring has arrived

Ethan and Liv were playing baby on the stairs. Yes that is a paci in Liv's mouth

We also have a maiden of mowing in training. Her poor daddy had to walk beside the mower.

I had to remind him that once she is trained in mowing, then it pays off!!!



The latest food prices and rice shortage made me go a little crazy! I stocked up just a tad, so never fear our house will have bread and rice!

He thinks I am going to remember to put these bags in my car and then try and stuff all my groceries in them????


Liv helped make the garlic bread..(prior to me getting out the camera she had the tray on the floor buttring the bread)

Icecream for breakfast, YUMMY

Mom, you ROCK!
The camper has been calling to us from the back yard! So we are heading out of town for the weekend. See you all on Monday!

Happy Birthday Mom, and Grandma Ann, they both turned 45 today!!