End of the Year Awards

Pumpkin received some awards at the end of the school year. He was on the Principal's Honor Roll for the entire year. He received a certificate and a key chain. He received an award for the highest gpa in science. We were very proud. Pumpkin loves to watch TV. He doesn't even care what is on. He just loves to watch it. The Big Guy kept threatening to take his TV privileges away if his report card did not reflect his potential. We haven't seen the official report card, but the awards speak for themselves. Needless to say, he has gotten his fair share of TV watching in. Well deserved!

In Peanut's class, the teacher gives the kids a manila folder with a variety of awards in it. She doesn't like to read them all out for fear of hurting a child's feelings. Peanut performed as well as Pumpkin. Peanut's teacher did something special. She put all the names in a hat. Each child chose a name having to come up with an award for that child. This little video shows Peanut giving his award to a girl. He likes her smile. What's that mean? Fortunately, he is a bit too young to be interested in girls! Another child gave Peanut his award. That child was absent on the day of the award ceremony. So, his teacher gave him the honor. What more is there to life than being the best wall ball player?

Summer Shave for Buddy

Before -

After -

We like the sloppy look. The groomer tried something different with his snout this time. We'll patiently wait for it to grow back in! We don't know if he is just plum worn out from being at the groomers or if he is sad with his new hairdo. He is just sleeping around the house - sort of depressed:(

We are sure he will be cooler. He needs all the help he can get as we brace for a week near 90!

Summer Shave

Pumpkin started a tradition a few summers ago. He gets his head shaved right after school is out. We maintained the annual tradition this past weekend.

Here is before-

The stylists at the salon kept trying to convince him to keep his hair. He would hear none of it!

Here is the after-

With all the swimming Pumpkin does, it is a good thing his hair is short:)

We aren't talking about the glasses. His "good" pair broke, but were still under warranty. We are waiting for the replacement frames to come in. It is funny how you get used to one pair.

Hello Summer!

It is finally here!

I wonder how long it will take the boys to be bored

I wonder how much TV and Xbox they will play

I wonder how we can slow the clock down

I know the days will fly by...


The Big Guy got Pumpkin good with the silly string:)


Peanut was a bit flustered by the whole silly string thing.

Secrets Between US

Picture copied from Amazon.com

I have not read a book in quite some time. The other night, I picked up this book, Secrets Between Us, by Barbara Delinsky. I finished it this morning. It is a quick read that kept my attention. I like to predict what happens. I did not guess correctly with all the characters. This would be a great book club book. The discussion could be light-hearted or as deep as you want to make it.

The book makes you think about secrets. Most of all, it focuses on relationships.

I went to the library today and came home with a stack of books. What was I thinking? I guess I am getting ready for some summer reading. The boys are done with school in two days. What better way to enforce their summer reading, then to read myself?!

Itch to Sew

The last few days the thought to sew has entered my mind more than once. Today, I stopped at Hancock's and looked through all their pattern books for THE top to strike my fancy. I did not see anything. I beat myself up thinking I am not creative enough to see past all the options in the books. They are in the process of renovating the store. It was very distracting. I left empty handed.

I remembered seeing a shirt on a blog. I just tried to search for the blog and could not find the inspiring picture. I remembered the pattern. I googled it and entered a credit card number. It will be here in days! It is this Built by Wendy pattern. The pattern does not do the top justice. I am thinking a plain top in some cool linen material. I have not sewed from a pattern in years. I am not sure why I have this itch to do this. We'll see how it turns out and I will post some pictures if I get that far!!

I have decided this blogging is bad for the wallet. I was surfing blogs today. It led to me ordering a subscription for Seeing the Everyday. I am anxious to get my first copy. I give a review to let you know what I think!

What a Day:)

We are trying to do our part and take advantage of the "cooler" weather. We are using our windows. Lately, it has been cool enough and there has been a nice breeze. I love to feel the air blow through the house. I savor these days as it will soon heat up making A/C a necessity. Last night, we fell asleep with the bedroom windows open. At 3 am, I woke up to the sound of pouring rain. I did not even bother checking the direction of the rainfall. I just stumbled to the windows and shut them. That was the start of my day. I felt like I tossed and turned until the alarm went off.

As I forced myself out of bed, I remembered that today was treat day at work for the Big Guy. I had made a grocery list yesterday, but never made it to the grocery! My first thought was to run to the store before the rest of the house woke up. I did not have enough time. I went to the kitchen searching through the frig and the pantry for an idea. It jumped right out at me! I decided to make Baby Butterball Biscuits from the Memphis Junior League Heart and Soul cookbook. (It is a wonderful cookbook if you are looking for a new one.) I was able to mix up the biscuits in between making lunches, driving Pumpkin to the bus stop, and walking the dog in the pouring down rain. The biscuits, strawberry rhubarb preserves and apple butter were ready to go just about the time the Big Guy was ready to walk out the door. As he was walking out the door, I noticed Pumpkin forgot his lunch. The Big Guy said that he did not want to get wet taking his son's lunch to school. Did I mention that school is right down the street from work? It did not even phase me. I said that I would take the lunch in after I took Peanut to school. Forgetting lunch is not a habitual thing. I know my son is very picky and I wanted to make sure he had food in him for his afternoon swim practice.

My day continued at a pretty uneventful pace. I postponed my voice lesson as all the end of the year activities are affecting my mastering of Italian. I got to the grocery in my work out clothes thinking I might make it out on my bike. I should know better. I saw two people I have not seen in years. Doesn't it always work that way? By the time I got the groceries unloaded, it was about time for the boys to come home. One wasn't in the door two seconds without spilling a drink all over the kitchen floor. I am grateful he is old enough to clean it up as I was running out the door to get the other one to the orthodontist. I felt guilty that I lost my cool - for a minute - during all that. I apologized to him when we got home.

I started on dinner, tacos. They are favorite enjoyed by the entire family. I was browning the meat and cutting up the lettuce when my wonderful husband walked through the door with these.

I don't get these kind of surprises very often. I have to improve my initial response. I looked at him and asked what the flowers were for. Inside, I was very happy.

Then, he handed me a stack of cards. They were all written out to me. I could not believe it. His team wrote me thank you notes for the biscuits. I loved it!

I am not sure what story he told about my morning. I think he coated it on thick making it look worse than it was. I don't think he wants folks to know he has a soft side! I was touched by the gratitude and impressed that someone had a stash of thank you cards in their desk!

The day is ending on a wonderful note.

Now, if I could just get a foot massage from the Big Guy. It would be perfect!!!

400 and climbing!

Look at the sidebar to right. I can't believe it. I have passed the 400 mile mark on my new bike. Today, the ride seemed like 1000 miles. It was very hard to get on those two wheels and go for a spin. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and I could not let it pass me by. It is going to be very hot soon enough! I always feel better when I have finished the ride. Here was the view from my handlebars.

We had a wonderful weekend. Buddy went with us on this trip. He is such a good dog. There were times that we forgot he was even in the car.

Happy Mother's Day, a few days early

My needlepoint house says it all~I used photo booth again and the picture is blurry, but you get the idea.
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!

Stopped by the Train

This morning we woke up to steady, heavy rain. It wasn't that windy - just lots of rain. By ten o'clock, it stopped and was clearing up. The sun poked its head out a few times. I putz-ed around the house a bit more and then made myself get my biking stuff on. I did!

I change up my routes when I go out. Who likes to see the same thing? The route I chose today was mostly uphill for the first half. It did not seem to matter. I felt like I was flying - that was until the train came along. My route took me across the tracks. The train was long. It gave me a short rest and the opportunity to drink some water. In the far right side of the picture you can see a car stopped and waiting too. There were a few cars stopped behind me.

I did not appreciate the railroad until we moved to this part of the country. We have one of the major railroad bridges over the Mississippi River. The trains continue to run east and west all the time. In my previous life as a product manager, I spent time tracking railcars of product. Occassionally, I glance up to see if any of the railcars going by contain polymer. I haven't seen any yet!

Great Find!

I have started something on Wednesdays...

There is a Marshall's in the vicinity of where I take my voice lessons. I have started stopping in as a treat AFTER my lessons. I love the idea of not knowing what you might find. With the price of gasoline, I may be shopping there more often! There was a huge Marshall's in PA. They had great accessories for the home. This store pales in comparison. Sometimes I find a few things and sometimes I don't find anything at all. Lots of times, I will buy something and return it the next week. I am the queen of thinking about a purchase at home, trying it on, or trying it out in its new location. I don't hesitate to put it back in the bag and run it back to the store.

Anyway, today I went in to look for something for my mother and my mother-in-law. I was not successful on that front. But, I found the best t-shirt for me! I have a thing for ice cream. My day normally includes some sort of ice cream. I think it is a genetic thing from my side of the family. My boys look forward to their ice cream snack when they come home from school. The calcium is good for you. Right? I was looking through the active wear and this one just jumped into my cart!

This made my day. I can't wait to wear it. I guess I need to try it on and see if it fits first!

As I was shopping, I realized I bought a vase months ago for my mother-in-law. I need to come up with something for my mom. What do you give a woman who has everything and wants nothing? The best gift is going to visit her. But, I want a little something else too.

I am getting pretty lazy here. I held the t-shirt up and took a photo using photo booth. It took me a few minutes to flip the picture. I kept trying it in Preview and it wouldn't save in photo booth. I learned you have to flip it directly in photo booth - loving this Mac!!

PRE Teacher Happy

I love to cook! I saw the idea to use a dish towel for an apron and I ran with it. This is what I came up with for my son to take in as a thank you for his PRE teachers. I think they will be perfect for the summer months. I hope the teachers like to cook. If not, they can use the aprons to jazz up their outfits. I think I have a thing for aprons. I have some ideas for more. I hope to have time to crank a few out for my sisters in honor of Mother's Day next weekend.

PRE Finale

Our PRE teaching career is coming to a close. We have decided to retire after just two years of teaching. Last year we taught second grade and this year we taught seventh grade. The older kids were funny. The boys sat on one side of the room and the girls sat on the other. The Big Guy and I had to study the curriculum. This cradle Catholic doesn't remember it all from her Catechism classes! It took time. No matter how organized I tried to be it seemed like we were always working on something Saturday night in preparation for Sunday morning. All in all, I hope the kids got something out of it:)

Each week of class, I took a picture of the kids. Some of the pics were individual and some were group shots. There was a theme for the lesson and the kids wrote about it on a 3 X 5 card. The pics and cards became their journals. They are finally finished. We had one camera malfunction and only forgot a few kids in the process. I put them all together yesterday and added a card to the front. It is just a small snapshot of their spiritual journal this year.

Tomorrow is it! We are doing a May Crowning celebration ending with donuts and juice. The class officially has one more week. Next weekend we are making a quick trip to Cincinnati to spend Mother's Day with my mom! So, we are done this weekend.


I had fun making the cards on the front. The paper "playing" can be addictive. I think that is why I have purposely stayed away from any scrapbooking!

Paris in the Spring Swap

I participated in my first ever swap this spring. What a wonderful theme, Paris in the Spring!

I received my swap package in the mail yesterday. What a treat! This is such a great idea to meet someone via the swap making this world that much of a smaller place.

Wait until you see all the goodies that were in the box~

The tissue paper encasing all the goodies greeted me with Bonjour!

Look at all the goodies inside. The photo album was made in France and will be perfect for our summer pictures. The chocolate bar with blueberries and the cookies will definitely be divided up by all of us:) The napkins are hysterical with the wisemen taking a shortcut through Paris. I opened them this morning and can't wait to hear what the boys have to say about them at dinner time. I plan to make a few aprons. The swatch of fabric with prince charming frogs will go great with some others I have.
A special gift was a decorated cigar box. I love it! The picture on the side looks very similar to our four-legged dude, Buddy.
I think I am going to put our computer connection accessories in the box. For now, I've put it in the dining room to show it off.



Inside the box was a bar of soap that was made in France too! It is green tea and smells wonderful. I noticed the side of the soap said stimulant! How lucky am I? I get some French romance in the house too!

I am so grateful for all my swap treats. Thank you Bonnie!

Choral Festival

Pumpkin's Honor Chorus went to festival today. Here he is before he left for school.

They sing two songs and are judged by three judges. They have worked after school on these songs since January. During April, they practiced three times a week after school. They sound great. I was very impressed with the quality of the music. You can give the video a listen. Keep in mind I used my little camera trying to capture the audio for the Big Guy.

I got to see them perform. When they loaded on the bus, they found out the good news. They were awarded a Superior rating. Awesome and well deserved! It will be interesting to hear what feedback Pumpkin has from the judges.