Living Life One Cheerio at a Time

This morning I prayed for patience.....I didn't know that my patience would be tested so that prayer could be realized. I am currently working on #1's birthday cake. A cake that is my nemesis! I hate this cake! I am making the batter from scratch so that the babies could eat it. I made a double batch and accidentally overfilled it. Now it is dripping  all over my oven. AND it won't cook. It has been cooking and cooking and cooking. And making more of a mess and taking more time than I have. And I have a sink full of dishes because we didn't run the full dishwasher last night and I haven't been able to wash the cake making mess....oh and there is a cake making mess when you make cake with a  almost 6 year old! In between smoking my cake the kids have been fighting. Oh and somehow a can of sprite got cut on the side of the can and sprayed  from its location on the open pantry door throughout my whole kitchen. And the cake is done. And the kids are now e...

Outside my window... dark rain clouds....midwest weather has been so fickle this spring/summer I am thinking...of all the things I need to clean but has to wait to the last minute I am thankful...for my children's imaginations In the kitchen...a change of menu plans... pizza snowballs I am wearing...capri sweatpants and a t-shirt...not going anywhere today I am creating...a butterly pinata and a princess birthday cake I am going...no where today! I am reading...nothing this week but piling up the books for the beach I am hoping...next week goes smoothly I am hearing...the kids playing calmly in the basement Around the house...vbs stuff, birthday stuff, and vacation stuff My favorite things...spending time with my family A few plans...finish the lopsided butterfly pinata (pictures to follow) A verse...Jeremiah 29:13 "You will seek meand find me when you seek me  with all of your heart."  Go here  to try this yourself!

*disclosure* {Kristin if you are reading this file it under "Parent of the Year" instead of  "things we know and will hold against them in the future"} I am a great parent-just ask my husband! But sometimes the children have a UNWRITTEN rule conspiracy against me. Making my parenting skills look less than stellar. Recently we enrolled child #1 in a beginner soccer camp. It an hour long indoor-ish class. Didn't know if she'd like it or want to continue so this was a low cost trial camp for her. The great thing is I can see everything going on because there is a 1/2 clear plastic/glass wall between us. That means the babies can watch her too if they were to stay still long enough to do so. PS You can take the girl out of ballet but you can't take the ballerina out of the girl. Kick, twirl, kick jump, kick arabesque. You get the picture. On the first day of class I was there with all 3 kids. Its close to dinner time and the littlest ones are hard pres...

This week is the quiet before the storm....its still pretty busy BUT this weekend is #1's 6th birthday party and next week is VBS.....craziness is in the forecast! Monday: Shrimp and cheesy potatoes (soy and regular) Tuesday: eat out (our neighborhood is  blocking the streets off so we won't be able to get to our house from 8-6 and its soccer so its a good excuse!) Wednesday: Taco bake check it our here Thursday: grilled chicken (Bible study so need to make this one a quickie) Friday:  spaghetti (mama has a meeting this night) Saturday: hamburgers for lunch and pizza for dinner at the big birthday party! go and check out some more menu ideas over here !

Flashback to 1995. I was starting college back and 3 hours away from home. In her wisdom, Debbie the College-age Sunday school teacher, decided to match up the Senior citizens with the college age students. It was called "adopt a grandparent" program. Mark and I  {not married but dating at the time} signed up. John and Marie called us and thus began the friendship. John was in the choir and didn't sit with his wife during church, so they thought it would be great if we could sit with her. It was great to look forward to seeing a familiar face in a large church every week. They wrote us notes and prayed for us. They would invite us over to play Dominoes. They'd invite us out for dinner. They would just talk with us. They came to our graduation. It was 4 years of a great friendship. We haven't kept in touch with John and Marie as much over the last few years. But during that season of life they meant the world to us. They gave us a gift. A gift of presence. Bein...

Wow! was last week crazy or what and the weekend didn't get much better. But this week shouldn't be as bad. haha! Monday: mini meatloaf cups {I am gonna use ground turkey} and corn on the cob Tuesday: grilled chicken salad (I will grill the chicken durning nap time and we can fix it super fast after soccer practice) Wednesday: OYOH {on your own husband~ I am meeting my parents so they can take child #1 for a long weekend spoiling) Thursday: tacos Friday: Turkey breast in the crockpot Don't forget to see what else they have here at org junkie ! happy eating!

So its true she's finished Kindergarten with flying colors! She loved her teacher and she's off to first grade in the fall. She was so excited for her last day. And yes if you look back she's wearing the same outfit! She really wasn't that sad about leaving her teacher, because we have the opportunity to see her several times this summer. She just gets to say "See you in a few weeks!" Hopefully I will handle my big first grader better than I did my kindergartener { The first day saga }! Have a great day! Jen

"sunshine cereal" for breakfast giveaway pile to be picked up going to mimi and papa's to play in the sandbox  except it decided to rain mimi and I had time to make a vacation grocery list...just around the corner! all most asleep on our drive home from Mimi and papa's #1 and I playing a game while the babies were supposed to be napping. PS I won! Look mom this is what I did during nap....dress up! eating 'tend pizza recital rehersal a recent picture {hubs and I are both in it -RARE!} Happy 11th anniversary today! This is my 10 on 10 go check out some more: June's 10 on 10

So daddy wanted to wash the cars. He enlisted the "help" of the youngins! As the official car wash photographer I even got wet. They had a lot of fun! Daddy got wild with the hose and started spraying the kids before he sprayed the car. The hose became the attraction and poor daddy had to do the work by himself! Oh yes, she did....wait for it....... who's child is she??? his alternative method to getting the car wet...a dump and run with a Frisbee helper #1 helper #2 what....I am supposed to get the car wet? helper #3 Finally the cars got washed....after the kids went to bed!

Yes, its true a whole year has gone by. Child #1 has done great and loved her teacher. Its a far cry from the freak out  I had at the beginning of the year. Congrats to my little baby! Her class and another K class. Happy kindergarten graduates Giving Mrs. Clouse a great big hug aftergetting  her certificate

Although I didn't post it last week we did have a menu plan. It was just kinda a crazy week and this one looks no better. Healthy may not be the top priority but speed is..... We've got Kindergarten graduation (gotta make cookies for), soccer camp {this one is a new one for child #1}, dance practice/rehearsal/recital, CBS leadership prayer meeting at my place {coffee and oh no I have to make a snack}, Bible study, VBS planning meeting, somehow I have to clean and do laundry and oh yeah and its our 11th wedding anniversary on Friday....put on the roller skates its gonna be one busy week! Chicken strips/nuggets/fries and fruit Spaghetti/salad Hot dogs Hot shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches Pork chops Have a sunshiny week!