Spring Break!

It has finally arrived! The kids are so excited. I am glad they get a much needed break from school work! I'm a little sad that we aren't going to Fla. this year. We have gone for the last 3 yrs. We like to stay for 2 weeks and with Jordan and Janae being in 9th grade I was afraid to take them out an extra week so we plan on going right after school is out and then we can stay and not worry about anything. They only have 7 more weeks of school left. I can't believe how fast this year has gone! Blows my mind that Jordan and Janae only have 3 more years left!
Jeff is taking them camping on Fri. if it isn't poring down rain. They are excited about that. They have decided that no tents are allowed they all have to make there own shelter. My shelter will be my own cozy bed! I tell them that I camped out my entire youth and I'm over it!ha! (I would break down and go if it was far away but not just out in the country in Frankfort--that's too close to home).
I'm hoping we will have some good weather so the kids can play outside. It is rainy and muddy today.
I plan on gettting a little spring cleaning of the basement and yard done this week! The kids think that will just be torture but it will be so nice to get a head start on some of that stuff. I am soooo embarrassed at how bad it looks! Please don't anyone take a drive down my driveway to the back yard! Janae made a huge pillow for our dog Pepper and it only lasted about 1 week until she had it ripped open and the white stuffing has been gracing the whole back yard ever since. Not to mention the trash, junk etc.!
Well, sorry for the boring post, I'll report back in later hopefully with some more exciting things! Until then---Happy Spring everyone!

Easter Sunday!

Here's our most colorful Easter outfits ever! We all kind of clashed!

Janae soo willing to get her picture taken!
The clock wasn't a very good background!

please excuse the weird faces--the sun was in their eyes!

Easter Baskets

They all love getting Easter Baskets. When I was a kid I ranked Easter right up there with Christmas. I'm sure it was because my Grandma made it very special for my Mom who in turn made it very special for us. Therefore, I feel it my duty to make it special for my kids. Jordan looks very unimmpressed but he liked what he got don't let him fool you!

Coloring Easter Eggs

Well, I'm pretty much down to one kid coloring eggs I guess. Jalen didn't really want to do it and only did a few. Jaida finished them up! Hard to believe they are all too grown up for this!

The many faces of Alyssa

This is Alyssa--my sister Jody's little angel!

Karris turns 9

Anna and Jaida at Karris' party

Kendrick

Karris with her cake. Her cousin Alayna.

Birthday

Now that it is over I can share that I had a birthday March 6th. I think I turned 29 give or take a few years!!! I will say that I have 2 good long years before I start on that slippery downhill slope!hehe Anyway, Jeff got me a camera as you all know but the kids wanted to get me something so he took them to Walmart and they got me a nice case for my new camera. They were pretty pleased with themselves. They always pick out one of those music cards too! I have to not say anything about the fact that they are $4.99!!!!!!!!!!!and he lets Jalen and Jaida get one for me!hehe
Jaida wasn't pleased that I didn't have a birthday cake so she and Janae made one for me. Janae put chocolate chips on it in a heart shape. It was very cute and thoughtful of them!

Wedding

Jeff and I got to go to Nathan and Liz Dahler's wedding. We left on Fri. afternoon and got a motel downtown Cincinnati. It was a beautiful wedding and the singing was great! So, I'm feeling old that little Nathan Dahler is now married!!! We hope you guys have a great marriage and a wonderful life together! You make a great couple!
(p.s. Steve and Kim and Beth and Kevin paid me to put their pictures on my blog!!!)

The whole family at Nathan Dahler's wedding.

Easter cometh!

Whew! What a week! I of course waited until Monday to try and find Easter outfits for everyone. So, all week I've been running here and there and everywhere trying to find stuff! I have 6 people to shop for and 3 of those are girls. So, it was very tiring! Question---why is every stinkin little girls dress sleeveless these days?????? I ended up with stuff from every color of the rainbow but I guess that will have to be ok.
It is 7:45 P.M. and I have easter baskets done, food cooked for tomorrow, laundry done and put away, clothes ironed, and house straightened! YEA!!!!
So, I'm going to just relax for a while!
Hope everyone has a great Easter!

Cleaning fiasco

Seeing the picture of the entry way on Martha's blog jogged my memory! It reminded me of a beautiful house I used(notice past tense)to clean. It was very expensive and had glass, marble tile, gold, black colors etc. The lady told us that the rug in the entry way cost $10,000(Just to give you an idea what kind of class these people were in!) Anyway, one day Rachel and I were cleaning and I was coming down the white plush carpeted steps, much to my dismay the toilet bowl cleaner flipped out of the cleaning bucket. I hadn't gotten the lid on tight so it flew off and I stood speechless as the blue cleaner tumbled down the whole flight of steps spraying cleaner and landed on the marble tile floor!!!! The lady was home of course and she didn't try in anyway to make me fell ok about it! She immediately called her carpet guy who came right away and got the blue out of the carpet. The bad part was when she called me that night and said the cleaner had gotten on the marble floor and had ruined the finish!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was dying! Once again she didn't try to make me feel ok about it! So, then she tells me that she got an estimate on fixing the floor and it would be $5,000. I about fainted! This was several years ago and even though that is alot of money now---it was alot more then! Well, I thought that seemed a little excessive so as I was cleaning the office I just happened to be looking around for the estimate. It was in plain view on the desk. Kind of funny----she was going to get all of her floors redone, her counters in her bathrooms, and her kitchen floor and I guess I was responsible for it! So, Jeff made a call to her husband who said he didn't know anything about all that and not to worry about it at all! So, long story short---she was not very friendly from then on so I waited for a couple of months and quit!!!!!

Terrific Tuesday!

Is it really Tuesday already??? I feel like the days are flying by! Right now I'm kind of glad because I am so ready for spring. I haven't been doing anything too significant. Just the normal laundry, cleaning, paying bills, cooking, picking up kids, etc. I'm ready for a change in pace----like a vacation or something:) I have been in the cleaning out mood so I have gotten a little bit done around here. I would love to know what I'm doing wrong??? Why do I have to clean stuff out ALLL of the time???? Does everyone else find that to be a problem? Where does the junk come from? It is a mystery to me!
I was reading in my magazine Bible yesterday and read Corinthians 13----this translation really put things in perspective for me. It says: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always remains strong. Love never ends. Hmmm I think I have some things to work on!(I'm just being honest!)

New Webkinz

Jalen has been wanting a new Webkinz. I asked him what kind he wanted and his reply---a Butweiler dog-----to which Jaida replied------the beginning of that name isn't very appropriate!!!!!!!!!!! I about fell out of the seat from laughter. Jalen saw me and said mom is that the right word? So I had to tell him it was rottweiler(have no clue how to spell it!). I have laughed about that all week!

No McDonalds before bed!

I learned the other night that it isn't good for the kids to have McDonalds before bed! Jalen and Jaida had McDonalds after church last Wed. The next morning Jaida came to my bedroom at 6:45 A.M. and said----mom jalen just came in my room and hit me with a pistol! We about cracked up. When I woke Jalen up for school he told me that he thought he had sat up in his bed until 4 A.M. just thinking! That food did a number on those kids that night!

Family Room

I picked the wrong time of the day to take these pictures. I just had a picture of the kids from the fall blown up to poster size at Walmart for 15.00. If I had known I was getting a new camera I probably would have taken a new picture. I had seen the little black mirrors at Walmart and they were on clearance but still more than I wanted to pay. Then they were all gone and I was sad. The other day when I was in there there were 4 packs and they were $5 ea.!!! Kind of a pain to hang(ask Jeff).
I also finally got the rest of my curtain panels. I found these brown velvet panels before Christmas and bought one to try. I liked it but didn't want to spend the money right then----bad decision. When I was ready to get them they too were on clearance and I had to keep looking at different Walmarts-----I held out and finally got 4 panels. It just took me a month or so!ha! I think it's all finally coming together. I just need some new chairs in there and I'll be allllll done!

Yipppeeeeee!!!!

We finally did it!!! We have a snow day today!!!!!!
The kids are soooo excited!

Before...

I'll post a pictue later of the new look in the family room.

Mirror finds new home

Nothing Much

Nothing much going on here except for a little ice storm that blew in today!GRRRRR!!! I want spring! Once again it's Tuesday night and I'm supposed to work in Indianapolis tomorrow. Tuesday seems like the day of choice for the bad weather. I really wouldn't mind it if we were all snowed in tomorrow. I have actually accomplished some things this week. Aren't you all impressed? I started by cleaning out Jeff's office! I'm not totally done but it is sooo much better. I've just been in a cleaning decorating mood so I'm trying to take advantage of it because those moods have been few and far between lately. I'm trying to finish up a little project so I can take a picture of it a post it. I also moved the big mirror I got for the family room into the living room and I like it much better in there. It is going to be busy the rest of the week, I work tomorrow, I work at school Thurs., and Fri. Jaida's class is going to the IMAX in Indianapolis.

Still Having Fun...