The Birthday Boys

We will be on our trip to NC during the week of both boys' birthdays. Nicky realized this last week, and since he'll be staying home instead of going with us, he was disappointed he would miss their birthdays. So, to rectify this, we decided to do a "family" birthday celebration before we left for NC and before Ashton left for camp. We planned to do it on Saturday, but since Nicky had to work on Saturday, we changed it to Sunday. That became a VERY busy day.

After church on Sunday morning, we came home and I had ordered pizza online to be ready for us to pick up after church. (Man, that ordering online stuff is great!!) Before I went to get it, we decided to end the boys' torture and let them open their gifts. Levi opened this one first and just look at how excited he was!!
The funny thing is that he had no idea what it was, but he was really excited!! lol It was an insulated lunch bag, full of matching water bottle, snack container, sandwich box, and ice pack, all individually wrapped. Indy got one, too, with a different pattern. These are for our classes we'll be taking at the zoo this coming fall and spring. Indy wasn't nearly as excited. lol

Indy was excited about this electronic Connect Four game. He played it all day long. It'll be great for our 14 hour trip to NC!!

He was also excited about this XBox game. It's Lego Indiana Jones. He couldn't play it today because Daddy had control of the tv, so he's got it set right next to the XBox so he can play it when he gets up. lol

This was a "bump truck" (monster truck) toy Levi had wanted. It's this rugged ramp race thing where the trucks sit on top and race down. He was VERY excited about this one....even more excited than he was about the lunch bag!! lol

Indy got a Star Wars Lego toy, which I think he was the most excited about. He kept playing with it all day long. Here he is building it again.

And, here's Levi playing with the race ramp in his room. He just got a real kick out of it. And, it's really cool because it can fold up and store 6 bump trucks AND it needs no batteries! When was the last time you bought a toy you could just open and play with that needed no batteries?? Awesome!

After presents and pizza, we took all the kids to the movies to see Ice Age 3. It was really good; much better than I anticipated. I was pleasantly surprised. Everyone enjoyed that. Then we came home and I quickly made tacos so Ashton could eat before we took her to church for camp. After she ate, we sang Happy Birthday to the boys and had cake. Now, mind you, I'm dealing with baking in a toaster oven, so I decided the safest way to make a cake for them was to use the bundt pan. The boys hadn't seen the cake. When I opened it up so we could sing, Levi said, "Hey! A big donut!" We all cracked up because it did look like a big donut!!

Don't they look so sweet next to their big donut cake?

Well, they lost it after that first picture. They were raring to go!

Now, look who's sneaking a finger full of icing!! Not Levi. lol He's looking like such a little angel....yeah! We just didn't get him on film! lol

So we sang Happy Birthday and what do you do after that? They blow out the candles, of course! Unfortunately, I didn't have any candles, so I made them pretend to blow out candles. lol I'm so weird. lol Anyway, here they are being good sports for their odd mama and pretending to blow out candles. lol

After cake, we went to church to take Ashton for camp. When I went to find Levi to get his shoes on to go to church, I found him in the bathtub doing "tricks" with his bump trucks. He was having a ball! I guess the tub is good for more than one thing, huh??

Overall, it was a fun and memorable day. And better yet, they are still going to celebrate their birthdays in NC with the rest of the family!! Lucky ducks!!

Happy Birthday, my big boys!! We love you!!

Youth Camp

Ashton left for youth camp tonight (I'm writing this on Sunday evening). Here she is as we unloaded the car with all her stuff. She couldn't believe I was taking a picture!! lol She should know I would be!

Here she is on the bus, with a friend, ready to head out. They are going to the mountains of NC, only about half an hour from Mamo. So, Mamo will be picking her up next Saturday and then she'll stay at Mamo's house for a week, until me, Savannah, and the boys get there, in two weeks from this weekend. She's going to have a lot of fun. But, if you think of it, please pray for her. That she'll be able to really grow spiritually during this week of camp and especially, that the church bus will make it up to camp without incident. It loves to lose the a/c, but it's been fixed, just this week, so let's hope it continues to work.

Mamo has a lot of plans for the week Ashton is there and they're both very excited. If you add the week of camp, the week at Mamo's, and then the two weeks we're there ourselves, Ashton will be gone from home for a whole month. She's been very excited, but I know she'll be very happy to get home again in a few weeks. We were all sad to see her go, but I know she'll have fun. Boy, if it's hard to say goodbye for two weeks, what's it going to be like when she grows up and actually moves out!! Yikes!!

Have fun, baby. We'll miss you!! :-)

Menu Plan Monday

Well, here's this week's menu...

Sunday- Tacos

Monday- Lasagna

Tuesday- Roast, mashed potatoes & gravy, baked mac & cheese

Wednesday- Chicken Tetrazzini

Thursday- Taco Casserole

Friday- Pesto Chicken & Pasta

Saturday- Sloppy Joes

Pesto Chicken & Pasta

1-16 oz. corkscrew pasta (or bowtie)

3/4 cup prepared pesto

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 cups cubed chicken

1 cup chopped roasted red peppers

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. chopped basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 13x9 pan with Pam. Cook & drain pasta. Combine pesto & chicken broth in large bowl; mix well. Add pasta & coat well. Stir chicken & roasted red pepper into pasta mixture until combined. Spoon mixture into prepared pan; top with parmesan. Bake casserole until thoroughly heated & cheese begins to melt, 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle with basil.

Enjoy!

4th of July Party

Last Saturday, we had our July 4th Party. It's an annual tradition around here and the kids LOVE it! It actually started about 10 years ago when my cousin was living with us. His birthday is on July 4th, so we started this party thing. Then we found out that our neighbor's birthday is on July 4th, too. So, we started a joint party, which just grew from there. The neighbor has a band, so they come and set up and play for us and everyone brings their fireworks and noisemakers. We have one friend who actually built his own mini cannon that makes a really big boom, but shoots out nothing. The kids love it! Unfortunately, that friend was visiting his mom in Virginia over the holiday weekend, so we didn't get to enjoy his big banging!! lol

Anyway, here's some of the kids chowing down. Yummy! We always barbeque some venison and hot dogs (for the kids) and the neighbors cook up some ribs and chicken. Then, all the guests bring their own chairs and side dishes to share. It's a lot of fun.

Kids playing.....
Kids doing fireworks....even big kids!! lol No, seriously, Nicky always does the fireworks with the kids. I think he has as much fun as the kids do! lol

My little warriors....

This is a cake my friend, Linda, and her daughter made for the party. It's red, white, and blue!

Pretty cool, huh?? And look! A rare photo of me! Someone absconded with my camera and snapped this picture.

It was a fun and relaxed party. We met some new people and had a great time. Hope you all had a great 4th too! Happy Birthday, America! :-)

Before and After

Well, I'm finally posting the before and after pictures of my back room. I've only been working on this room for about a month now, and finally finished it sometime last week. Ahhh.....

I'm beginning the tour with the least noticeable change. This is the game shelf. Oh, by the way, some of the original pictures were taken with the camera turned longways, except I forgot that on Blogger, I can't rotate the pictures. Bummer. That means that some of the pictures, you'll have to turn your head to get a good view. Anyway, back to the game shelf. This was the first place I worked, mostly because it was bothering me the most. This was actually on my list for last summer's jobs, but unfortunately, I didn't get to it. So, here I was, again this summer, facing the game shelf. So, I began here and the very first day, I got rid of at least 12 games that were missing enough pieces so we couldn't actually play the game. A couple of them were games that were mostly in tact, but we never, ever played them. Thus, out they went. I filled a construction grade, 30 or larger (I'm not sure) gallon bag with games and out it went into the trash. Here is the before and after. It doesn't look much different, but believe me, it is.

Ok, actually, these two pictures are the after photo first and the before photo second...did I do that on all of them???

Yep, I did. Argh. Anyway, here is the kid book shelf. Unfortunately, the little table is in the way, but compared to the before picture, you can see the difference. I did take a bunch of books off and gave them away, and I even threw some falling-apart ones away. Hey, that's big for me!! lol I also organized the shelf and notice the top of the shelf. BTW, the big blue bins to the left are the kids' school boxes. Each homeschooled kid gets a box to keep all their books, supplies, notebooks, etc. in. It helps keep the overall room organized, even though the bins are big and ugly. Oh well, you can't have it all.

Now, this one has a HUGE difference. Ahhh.... I just love this one! This is the bookshelves I have along the back of the room, under the windows. They have just kept getting stuff piled on top and on the shelves. As a matter of fact, it was getting so loaded that we were starting to cover up the windows!!

After.....

Before.... Isn't that just amazing???
This is the final one. This is a bookshelf I have on the left side of the room and the small shelves along the back windows. I've had it turned sideways, but a friend suggested I turn it forward. Here it is sideways, piled with way too much stuff that's been collected for years. I completely emptied the shelf and cleaned it (as I did the others), then threw out a ton of stuff and gathered enough giveaway books to fill a whole box. I was happy to find many friends who wanted all the books and didn't have to throw one of the good ones away.

Before.....


After...hey, I got this one in the right order!! lol

I am completely amazed at the transformation in my back room! It looks sooo much bigger and is so decluttered it's really exciting! We have room to move around and it's all organized. I love being in there now! I found a new place for my scrapbook stuff (in another, less obtrusive location within the same room) and I will be able to get to it easier, as needed. Even though it was very difficult and frustrating working on it (and actually starting to work on it), I'm so happy it's done and so pleased with the outcome. I knew I would be when I finished, but it was just that darn getting started that was killing me.

I still haven't gotten to some of my other summer projects, like the garden, cleaning the windows, doing some scrapbooking, weeding the front flower beds, but the big one is done and these others are mostly small enough that I can do them in spurts, as I have time. So, overall, I'm very happy. I can't wait for you to come and see it sometime!!

Menu Plan Monday

Ok, as promised, here's my menu for this week.

Sunday: Leftovers

Monday: Quick Manicotti

Tuesday: Swiss Steak

Wednesday: Santa Fe Chicken

Thursday: Stuffed Green Peppers

Friday: Creamy Chicken Alfredo

Saturday: Order Pizza

On Saturday, we're going to do a family outing for both the boys' birthdays, since we'll be on vacation during their birthdays. Nicky wants to celebrate with them, too, so we're going to go to the movies, have a cake and order pizza. They don't know, so it'll be fun!

New Beginnings

Well, I'm back again, and for sure this time. lol So, even though today is Monday, and I should be posting a menu, I think I'll do a family update instead, since I've been gone so long. Maybe tomorrow I can post the menu for this week. But first, let me just say a big THANK YOU to those of you who are still faithfully checking this blog to see if I've updated it. I can't believe you're still hanging around, but I do appreciate it.

I'm going to list updates in no particular order, just as I think of them, so here goes: Savannah won her one year contract with the modeling agency. We have to pick her favorite picture from the photo shoot and have it put on these 5x7 and 8x10 cards for her to use at auditions. Once we return some of the cards and the signed contract to the company, she will get a password for their website/bulletin board where they post upcoming auditions. She can then go on there and pick which auditions she wants to participate in. The company does not take a commission from her until her contract is upgraded to the professional contract. Right now she is in the "development" stage and they want her to go for these small jobs so she can get experience and build her resume. Their aim is that after 9-12 months, she will be able to upgrade to the professional contract where she gets the "big" jobs. I think they liken this "development" time to a weeding out time, where the ones who are serious will really use this time to build their resume and those who aren't serious will sort of dissipate, ya know? I plan to let Savannah go which way she will. If she's serious, she will check the bulletin board and if not, she'll "forget". We'll see what happens.

Today I start school with the boys. Yes, I know it's July, but to tell the truth, I'm already behind by 2 weeks. I really wanted to start back on June 15 or 22, but it just didn't work out. Ugh. I was determined that I wouldn't start school until I had finished the back room, which I finally have! Whoo hoo! Well, mostly anyway. I took some before pictures, and after I finish getting the stuff put away from this weekend and our 4th of July party, I'll take some after pictures. I'll post those later this week. Anyway, back to school. So we're starting today. Indy is starting 2nd grade and Levi is starting kindergarten. This is going to be veeeerrry interesting. lol I do have a neat new curriculum I'm trying and it looks like it's going to be fun, yet "gentle learning", if you know what I mean. Not too high stress. I'll let you know how it works out.

Ashton is working this week at our church's children's camp. She's working 9-5 each day this week, Monday thru Friday. She worked one week in June also, and she was gone so much it was like she wasn't even in town. I really missed her. I will this week, too. Unfortunately (for me...lol) next week she'll be going to youth camp in NC with our youth group, so I'll miss her then, too, and she really won't be here. THEN, the following week, she'll be at my mom's house in NC for a week, all by herself with Mamo. She's going to have a lot of fun, but I will miss her. Somewhere around the 24th or so, the other kids and I will be going up to NC to spend a couple weeks with my mom and see my brother before he goes over to Iraq (or wherever they send him) again. Nicky's going to stay home and work, but he'll have 3 whole weekends to work on some stuff around the house. I think he knows what he wants to work on, but I don't know. It'll be a nice surprise for me when I get home. We'll see what he gets done. Fun, Fun!

Speaking of Ashton, as I was driving her to church this morning, we were talking about her going to school in the fall...well, next month, really. I am so sad thinking about her being gone off to school. I was like this before Savannah went, too, but once school starts and I ggt back into the swing of baseball, field trips, park group, school stuff, etc. I got over it and I was ok. I know it'll be the same with Ashton, but right now when I think of her going to school, I get sad. sniff, sniff! I know I'm really going to miss her.

And again, speaking of school, in case you didn't know, Savannah's going to be homeschooling again. She decided she was sick of all the drama and nonsense and time wasting that goes on in school. So, she's going to be continuing in the vet class/program at her school, while doing all her other classes at home. She's doing some of the classes online and some in books on her own. She's very excited and even made me get her geography assignments set up so she could start today, too. It's funny. She's still working on a class online from this past school year, but soon, she'll finish that one and starting the new ones. We've ordered her books for the other classes, so when we get back from NC, she will start on those, too. Oh, and she's doing great on her driving. She drives me almost everywhere now and she's getting much better. I'm very proud of her.

Well, I guess that's our updates for right now. I'll try to do the menu tomorrow and maybe the pictures of the back room on Wednesday or Thursday. Hope you all have a great week! And, thanks for hanging around!!