Happy Cinco de Mayo!

In honor of Mexico's independence, we decided to have a yummy Mexican party. We all contributed ingredients for huge stuffed burritos, then we each added a side dish and dessert. There was oh so much yummy food! Brenda brought a soup called pasole (sp?) that I never had before and was very good. The two pregnant ladies! I'm glad that's over for me! Andy is holding Serena. Seems weird that he is holding a girl huh!Of course the kids get the table because they outnumber us!

Connor was being such a skunk that day (probably lack of sleep and choosing to not eat a few meals). He decided he wanted to eat on top of the sandbox by himself.

I made homemade churros for dessert (they are really easy) and key lime pie. That's my garden in the backround. It mostly dirt now but hopefully it will be lush and green this summer!

Action shot. Look closely at Connor and Ewan. Doesn't it look like Connor is going to beat Ewan with the bat?! (I don't think he did!) But you never know with those toddlers! Minivan car lot!

Happy National Scrapbook and Yard Sale Day!

I started out the day Saturday around 8am going to some neighborhood yard sales. Our mower had died about 2 or so weeks ago so that was top on my list of things to find. Next was a weed wacker for Mike for Father's Day. I found great products at a steal, and put a smile on my husband's face. Later that day he was grooming the yard and it didn't even need mowed yet! The rest of the time I was shopping for fun. I found some cute clothes for Serena in summer, a game for the boys so they wouldn't complain, and a few kitchen items for myself. I love getting things I need at the price I can afford! After that I went over to Brenda's house for National Scrapbook Day. We broke out her new Cricket Expressions and was having fun with it. She had a yummy (and healthy) spread too. This was one of the pages I made with the Cricket.

Connor's night

For some time now I have wanted to celebrate Connor's achievement of potty training himself. We want to take him to Crayola Factory, but we can't afford the gas right now. So until we do go, we let Connor choose everything we did on Friday night together. That worked out well because Saturday was Hayden's Day. He went to see the Junie B. Jones play at the Strand with Daddy, then went fishin' with Gram and Pap. They didn't bring him home till 9:30! Out partying late with the croanies! Anyway, Connor chose chicken nuggets, french fries (fy-fys) and "poppy peas" for dinner. Then he wanted to go feed some geese and see some cows. Keep in mind he speaks at about a 20-month old level, so I spent about 20 min. trying to translate what he wanted! We went to a dairy farm on Taxville Rd. We met a very cute family of ducks that liked our stale crackers. Then, since the lighting was perfect, we played with the camera. I was pleased.

I love Serena's facial expressions in these two. And you just gotta' love her hair! She is my happy baby. She is always smiling. Except for when she is tired, and then she has the thumb in!

Mike loves this picture. I am thinking about cutting my hair because most days it doesn't look good anymore. Any votes? I've done a virtual makeover on the web, but I don't want to pay the money to have the pictures to send! Come over to my house and I can show you!

Then Connor wanted to go to the park, so we went over to Loman. That is where Hayden will have park program this summer.

Okay, Hayden ran up to the camera and yelled, "take my picture"! He thought it was pretty funny, so is this picture! You can definetely see his freckles! We topped off the evening with some ice cream (not me, I'm on a diet!) and a video of Connor's choice-Veggie Tales.

Happy Connor night!

Baskin Robbin's $.31 scoop day

I'm such a cheap skate! But at least there was no line! I love taking pictures of kids eating ice cream cones. Except, where's Hayden's ice cream?

Hayden's Pirate Ship

Hayden has been working hard and saving up his money to buy a pirate ship. The Playmobil ones at Toys-R-Us retail for about $90, so we chose e-bay which was a much better choice. We found a lot with the ship, another shark boat, an island, and all kinds of Peter Pan characters. I stayed up the night it closed and won it for him, keeping within his budget. About 5 days later it came in the mail. If you look out the door you can see one of Hayden's friends that lives down the street. She asked Hayden if she could play and he didn't hesitate to say "no, not now." He was too excited to get out his prize. Connor was excited too, so Hayden let him play with the island. Needless to say there have been plenty of fights since then!

Camping at Wizard Ranch

We went camping Friday night with Dave, Josie, Grace and Will at Wizard Ranch. We had a lot of fun and made some great memories. Mike and the boys set up the tent while Dave and Josie made dinner. We enjoyed eating by the fire and having some adult conversation while the kids ran around. Josie brought coconut marshmallows to roast and pinwheels for s'mores, they were SOOO GOOD! They tasted like the Girl Scout Samoa cookies.

It started storming about 10 o'clock, but for a while we thought it would pass us. A few minutes later we were scurrying to get everything into the cabin. Serena, Connor and I slept in the cabin, while Mike and Hayden ruffed it in the tent. Turned out that was the only storm all night. And it stayed fairly warm through the night. The Christensen's slept in their hippie bus. There was a pond near our campsite which the kids just loved. Hayden caught 77 tadpoles. Dave got a hold of a frog to show the kids-he was trying to get Hayden to kiss it. Hayden and Grace play well together but Connor and Will have a love-hate relationship right now. They were our entertainment. They would get in each other's faces and throw stuff at each other, and then they would make each other laugh. I love this picture I love this picture too. It reminds me of an Impressionist oil painting of a woman in a meadow deep in thought. But wait, is she on her cell phone?! The past meets the 21st century! Hayden was playing in the pond and fell in. He wasn't very happy about it. He lost his flip flops in the mud, but after a few minutes they floated to the surface. Look down and to the right of Hayden. This is Will. He will get his first haircut next month when he turns 2. He will look so different! I was bummed I didn't get a good colse-up picture of Grace. But she's a cutie with those blonde curly locks! Saturday we went for a walk and followed a stream. At one point the bridge went over the stream, Dave thought it would be fun to strip Will down to his birthday suit and splash him in the water. He loved it so much hisa sister wanted in on the action. Needless to say I am not providing any pictures of that as I would probably get kicked off my blog (right Amber!).

After we left camp we went for a drive and near Sam Lewis state park. Nearby is a straw bail house that also has a green roof on it. It was beautiful! Dave and Josi want to build a straw bail house and I want a green roof!

Yard Sale

Despite being sick these last 5 days, we managed to get everything together for a yard sale on Sat. The weather was perfect and we weren't sure when we would get a chance to do it again, so we bit the bullet. It felt so good to sell stuff that we don't use, and we even sold some junk! We didn't get rid of everything like I had hoped, but we have more space and more money for other things we need.

Connor had fun! He was playing hide and seek in the cabinet. Unfortunetely we couldn't get rid of the cabinet.

Hayden stayed with me throughout the whole sale and helped me. Even when there was noone around and his friends were playing, he wanted to stay and help. So we gave him $5 for being so responsible. He is going to use that money along with other money he has been saving up for a pirate ship-probably Peter Pan. We have a bid on EBay right now that ends tomorrow night. I hope he gets it. He's been waiting so long! I'll keep you posted on that!