red bows

 I'll start this post by saying....brand new cars DO NOT make sense to me.  Because as soon as you drive off the lot....your value decreases like by 30%.  Unless you can totally afford it....that is awesome.    I'm happy you've got lots of cash :) :)  And Donovan's company supplies him with a brand new van/car every 80,0000 miles.  For free.  We do not pay one cent...even though we are free to use it for personal as much as we need to.  It's one of the perks of his job.  + they pay for the gas + insurance + maintenance + car washes.  I'll stop there...you get the point.  

 But the only use that I have had for a vehicle for the past 10 years is the grocery store, Dr. office, taking the kids to school once & a while, and then repeat. For 10 years.  But that little van I've used has seen better days.  There's many things that need to be addressed and honestly we just don't want to put anymore money into it.  And because of this little 9 dot logo:   

We have the option to buy the van that Donovan has been driving for the last 1.5 years.  You see once his vehicle turns 80,000 we send it back to the leasing company or we have the option to buy it.  For a discounted price of wholesale.

So he picked out a new van and it came in yesterday.  We got to pick it up today, and then finished up some Christmas shopping, and I got to drive the new one home.  Yippee!!!!!  I love new car smell....and since the new one will be Donovan's to use for work....I won't get to use it that often.  So when I drove into the drive this is what I saw.....  



Awwwwwwww....All cleaned up and wrapped with a red bow.  His "old" van that is now my new one!!!yippee~!!!!!  Sliding doors that work !!!   I'm doing a dance over here!  Donovan bought some ribbon & uTubed "how to make a bow."  SO sweet that man.

So while all along I knew that we were buying it for me to use...the clean & swept out beautiful interior, clean sparkly tires, and bow on top was a quite a treat.  I think now I will go sit in it and sing Christmas carols. 

Merry Christmas Friends. 

Wanna buy a 2001 Town and Country??????   :)

i love snow

First of all I need to start this off with a big fat

thank you

for all the response to my last post.  You humble me with your kind words, thoughtful letters, text messages,  fb comments, & comments on this blog.  We all experience loss at some point in our lives don't we?  So I think we all can relate on some level...and to have you share some of those with me~and others who just honestly haven't went through loss on that level~but  still take time to let me know how they related to my story....it means a lot to me.  To draw others in to a more personal to Christ, or to inspire a relationship with him & to relate to others on a deeper level is really a cool thing that a blog can do.  I had no idea how healing it can be to write when I started this...but it has been.  And what a bonus to make friends through this venue.

So just to let you know

YOU ROCK!! 

 and I appreciate you. 

For those of you who do not live around here....last night it started to snow.  After it had been raining.  All. day.  And I don't know about you....but I love me some snow.  If it's gonna be cold, and it's gonna be Christmas soon....Let it SNOW.  I will have a change of heart come February......but for now....

 I love to see their excitement.  I love to see everything that turned brown this fall covered with white. 

 And to top it off...there was a 2 hour DELAY!  I LOVE TO SLEEP IN.  Don't you?  So since we had so much time before school.....we just went out and had a looksie~at all the fluff. 

O.k. well there are some negative effects of the snow....there goes this young tree~not sure if it will make it.  The snow was SO heavy.  And the tree hugger lover that my husband is...was very disappointed about this.

What a view on the way to school this morning.  It truly is a winter wonderland.

The only other thing I don't care for is....this long drive that needs to be shoveled.  This little lady helped me and I had intentions of shoveling the entire thing...but then decided about 3 minutes into it to just shovel tire tracks.  Yeah, I'm an overachiever like that. ha ha ha.  (75 feet is a long way to shovel.)

And just one house cleaning thing I'd like to take care of......

To my anonymous comment leaver from the last post~Not sure why you didn't leave your name, but one little quote I'd like to give you. 

"Imitation Is The Best Form Of Flattery"

Charles Caleb Colton



a 23 year old note

This past April just a couple of days before Easter I was felling very lonely for my mom who died when I was 13.  I'm not sure what triggered the emptiness but it was strong and I remember laying in bed talking to Donovan about who she was & what she was like.  We've talked many times about her, because he never met her.  They say that time heals and I think that is very true.  But once in a while I ache to talk to her, to ask her why she waited 8 years between her 1st and 2nd babies.  How was it to have her 2nd & 3rd thirteen  months apart? What was it like to go through nursing school?  How did she like being away from home for the first time while in college in Ft. Wayne?  I also wondered how on earth she coped when she got the news that she had terminal cancer, and had 3 daughters who would grow up without a mom~and leaving her husband.  There are times when I ache so badly to smell her and hear her voice again. 

And then on Easter Sunday after we finished lunch at my Aunt Fran & Uncle Paul's (my mom's youngest brother) my aunt came over and stood right in front of me and said, "I have something for you." While holding an envelope.  She hesitated and showed me the writing on the envelope.  I FROZE.  It was my mom's handwriting.  In a sealed envelope.  She told me that she had had it for a while and didn't want to mail it when she found it weeks earlier.  She came across it in some piles of papers that had been stored away. 

I could feel myself shake with awe & tear up with emotion to have such a gift.

At first I thought it was a note to open at a certain season of my life...some family members thought she would do that for us girls since she knew that she was going to die.  But as I read the words I realized that it must have been written while she was at U of M receiving chemo or some other cancer treatment. 

Her words she had written some 20 + years ago seemed so relevant to my very feelings I had been have of missing her the previous days.  She wrote "I love you! I miss you.  I'm glad your having a good time @ Fran's.  ( I must have been spending the week/weekend at my Aunt & Uncles~which I did a lot while she was in the hospital) You are my sweetheart!!  I have an IV & another black & blue spot.  But they're giving me good pain medication.  I slept good last night.  Help Fran do some work! Aren't you glad you're not @ Jackie's! I heard about your shopping trip to get groceries!!  Love you more than the whole world! Mom"

WOW~Even though it was written so long ago...I like to think that Jesus let me hear from her a little from  Heaven.  I'm not sure if he operates like that...but it was like salve on an open wound.  I love that it said "I miss you." and "I'm glad you're having a good time at Fran's" Which I was...it is always very special to be included in a family Holiday.  We often celebrate birthday's and holiday's with my Aunt Fran & Uncle Paul just as I had done grow up as a little girl.  So being there on Easter is a tradition and it would be cool to think that maybe she could get a glimpse of me and my husband and children.  Maybe, just maybe God let her have a looksie to see us....I like to think she would be glad to see we have a place to be on a special holiday.  

 

 

I'm not sure what she was talking about when she wrote..."aren't you glad you're not @ Jackies?" :) But the part where she wrote "I love you more than the whole world" reminded me that I was dear to her...and given the chance no matter how deep & wide her love for me....I'm sure she would never

 trade Heaven to be on earth.

So if she can see and or read from heaven....I have a little note for her.

Dear Mom, I love you.  I miss you!!  I have so many unanswered questions and things I can't wait to talk to you about one day in Heaven.  I want to thank you for the memories you made for us while we were little.  I have vivid remembrances of how you made birthday's and Christmas' so special.  I trying to duplicate some of those things for my own children, your grandchildren. I tell them about you....I named our 2nd daughter after you, giving her your name for her middle name.  I think you would be proud of her and how she is learning to write and spell "Faye"  I can imagine if you were here you would gobble all 4 of your grandchildren up and kiss them as much as I like to.  I know you would love Donovan and be proud of the husband he is to me.  He is Godly and treats me so well. 
I'm thankful that you made Jesus a part of our everyday life when we were little.  That is the reason I have peace~when I miss you so badly...because I have the promise of Heaven.  I love you mom.  I love you more than the whole world. xoxox!  Heather



winners!

This morning I did a little drawing (well not really) I just picked the 2 only eligible winners.  :)

I had 2 anonymous comments for the pie....sorry peeps....you gotta give me your names to win. 

And 2 that lived to far away to deliver~sorry my long lost ~"you live to far away" friends. 

So the 2 left win.  Congrats Melissa & Janelle! 

Now...there was one little commenter that came in after I did my "Drawing" that really wasn't drawn.  And for that cool little blogger comment leaver...I gave a loaf of sour dough bread~as a consolation prize.  Because technically I didn't have an end time for the little contest.

 So now you know. 

The contest is over.

 But keep your little eyes open another one is coming up soon!!!
   

want some pumpkin pie????

If you would have asked me 20 years ago my favorite way to spend a Friday night....It would not have been to stay home & make pie.  Not even close.  But tonight was rated as one of my favorites in my fav book thus far.  I love me some family time.  And I love my kids.  I love esp. when I can bake and my hubby cleans up after me.  And I love pumpkin pie.  And while we're on the subject of love....I wanna share a couple of recipes with you that I l.o.V.e!! perfect timing if I do say myself ~for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday.

And don't get me wrong I do love a date night too on a Friday night.  But...after working from 10:30 p.m. last night until 8:30 this morning ~ I needed some catch up sleep today and after I got some shut eye...I worked on some pies for a fund raiser for Isabella's school program tomorrow.

And I'm just gonna say...pies have always intimidated me.  For like 15 years.  I've been buying pie crusts for years now from a bakery.  But some time back I tasted my sister-in-laws pie and loved the crust.  It has good texture & flavor and holds together so nicely!!   And VERY easy to make & it turns out great!! Thanks to Arlene for this!

Here's the recipe:
Makes 3 crusts:
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening
Mix together with pastry cutter

1 egg beaten
1 tsp. vinegar
1/3 cup cold water
Mix together in separate bowl and then stir into flour mixture with spoon.  Just until combined.

And for me it is partly making the crust and partly knowing how to make the edges not look stupid.  Well after watching other people for years ~something finally clicked and I got it.  I hope I can encourage you if you don't already make your own crusts.

 After rolling out~I leave 1 - 1 1/2 inches overhang of pie crust. 

 Then you pinch it together to make it stand up straight. 

 Then go back around and with one finger pinch like you're pinching someone just with the tips of your fingers....and with the other hand use just your pointer to push into the pinch.  There's many ways to do the edge...but I found this to look uniform and to be the easiest for me to learn.  

 While I was rolling out the pie crusts....William was spelling his name with bananas.  Random I know. And I love that it kept him busy for like 30 minutes.  O.k. well maybe not that long...but a good 20.  Which is like magic when 6 people are in the kitchen. 

While I was still working on crusts~ Isabella was working on the pumpkin pie filling....loving this stage where she is such a big help in the kitchen.  She doubled the recipe so we have 5.  And William???? ~well he just loves to get into any possible photo op.  Nice banana eating face son.

And would you like to know my Aunt's pumpkin pie filling???  Because it is delish!  And simple enough...

Here it is. 
Fran's Pumpkin Pie
4 eggs beaten
1- (29 oz) pumpkin
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 cans evaporated milk (3 cups)
Bake at 425 for 15 min. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 40-50 minutes. 
The thing I love best about this recipe is the consistency.  And the spices are perfect.  Not to heavy~but a great flavor with just a little hint of sweet.  Yummy! Can not wait until it get's out of the oven!!!!

Suzy & Jack used the left over dough for cinnamon & sugar pie crust "cookies"~one of the things my mom used to let me do. I hardly take the time to let them create.  But I love a laid back night when we can all be doing things we love to do.  Livin' the dream folks. 

And here is the finished product.....

Would you like to try some??  If you are local...I would like to bring you a piece.  How about leaving me a comment telling me your favorite Thanksgiving food & 2 random winners will win a piece of pie.  Drawing ends Sunday. 

Good luck my little blogger friends. 

yakking & before & after

Let me introduce you to our office.  This is the closet in the office.  It is overstuffed, unorganized, under appreciated, & a bad use of space.

This is one view of one side of the room.  I had re purposed a dresser we got at an estate sale 11 years ago.  I first painted it white & put a changing pad on top and it was Isabellla & Jack's changing table before we had a changing table built.  Then  after it's life as a changing table we (and by "we" I mean Donovan) painted it black and it became a craft/gift wrapping area/catch all. But what I was really needing/wanting was a work space/table. 

The other side of the room.  Donovan's desk. 

And here's the after........We (o.k actually Donovan) painted the walls.  Not sure if you can tell that.  The room went from a light blue to a slate grey.  I love the rich tone it now has. 

We sold the old dresser, & found this beauty at Ikea a few weeks ago.  Donovan had drawn up plans to build a desk/storage work table....but when we found this in the scratch/dent section for less than 1/2 of what it would be to have Donovan build it.....It was sold!

Here's another view of the storage underneath the desk.  Love it!

Donovan's  desk got some clean up....and he built a shelf to hang above it.  He also added some indirect lighting I had picked up at a garage sale.  Some Ikea lights still new in box that attach to the underside of the shelf.  Thanks Chelsea! :)

The closet got an overhaul as well.  Cleaned up some on the shelves.  Did some de-crapp-ifying.  And painted the back wall.  The cool design is an idea I saw from another blog, and found a simular looking  stencil at Michael's.  With a 50% off coupon.  Boo-ya!  Also had hubbers build a shelf to have as a cutting table. 

Cutting as in a paper cutter.  See that cool little organizer underneath the shelf?  That holds 12 X 12 paper...a great find at another great garage sale. Thanks Kim!  So I have a place all set up to cut....and the scraps go where you ask?  In that nifty organizer sitting on the shelf.  Again, thanks Kim.  And yes, I keep them.  If I am making a small square gift tag I hate to throw the rest of the paper away.  Don't you?  

So there you have it.  Joy Joy Joy.  I can hardly keep myself from going in there and creating something.  However, it's been impossible this week.  Jack woke us up with throwing up Monday night, not realizing he had thrown up in his sleep Monday night.  He woke up & went to the bathroom to wipe his mouth, "because it tasted funny."  We heard him up, and when Donovan went to check on him saw that his back and neck were covered in vomit.  He never realized he had thrown up.  Poor thing.

 Donovan stripped his top bunk & went out back to the patio to hose off the throw up chunks.  Me?  Let's say I don't do well well with vomit.  I worked on a little nest on our bedroom floor, for Jack to sleep in.  We got all settled about midnight and Jack asks, "mom & dad, Can you keep talking??  I don't want to fall asleep."  What????  Are you kidding???  Welp.  He was worried he would throw up again in his sleep.  :(  About 3 a.m. he started yakking again.....thank Heavens he made IT in the bucket. 

 By morning he tried a little cream O' wheat....and that came up too.  So Tuesday's plans were cancelled.  And home we stayed.  By evening he seemed to do better.  But at the breakfast table this morning he neglected to bring his ice cream bucket to the table...and out came his hot tea.  All. Over. The table.  After it had been down in his tummy.  I might add that this morning started with William coming in saying he had thrown up in the sink.  Thank you dear son, for getting to the sink! 

 My glass 1/2 empty son said, "I bet he didn't really throw up.  He's just faking it to get to stay home like me."  And to be honest, I saw no evidence of yakking in the sink and had my doubts.  But he looked a little green, so on the couch he went.  Plans cancelled.  Called my boss to say I couldn't be on call today.  Which made me sad.  Sad to not get to go in and take care of little babies.  Sad that the boys were sick.  Sad to cancel plans to go into one of my children's classroom today.  Sad to be stuck at home.  Sad & sorry for myself pretty much sums it up.       

So about an hour after Suzy went to school, I had the boys get in the van with their buckets sitting on their laps, to take Isabella to school.  And if I had doubts earlier...there was no doubt in my mind as I started to put the van in reverse.  Here it came.  As we were running late.  I had William borrow Jack's bucket while I went to clean out the 3 separate deposits of puke William had in his bucket.  While sister bear yells, "WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!!"  Sorry little lady.  I can NOT smell that all the way to school. 

And that's been my day.  I've went through 1/2 of a bottle of bleach, working hard to clean cabinets, knobs, light switches, washing sheets, sweeping & moping floors, and an occasional story on the couch......reading to 2 boys that are improving with each passing hour.  We're going on 9 hours with no yakking.  And for that I am thankful. 



shuckers

So I thought I would have more time to blog once my kids were all in school, turns out while the mice are away the cat likes to play.

And work and earn money.

So, I wanted to recap the what happened around here over the last summer.  So if the "cat" does stay home long enough....I may upload my little blog & print a blog book for my coffee table.  Gracious~I don't want to forget all the highlights of the summer of twenty-eleven. 

So for starters....Open up and say ahhhh.   

Jack had to get an expander fall of 2010, because apparently his mouth is NOT big enough.  This is a hereditary thing so lucky us, two down, two to go. 

It was pretty unhandy esp since the way it is attached to the back teeth, would not allow him to put his teeth together.  There was a gap, as you see modeled in the above picture.  :(  I don't think he thought much of it at first.  He was pretty excited to be starting orthodontics.  But as time went on he became self conscious and looking back as last years school picture shows he was very embarrassed of his smile that didn't close.  :(  When I asked why he closed his lips for his school picture he explained he hates how his teeth don't go together.  It was also hard for him to pronounce words correctly & harder to eat. 

But in February of this last year, the expander came out.  Braces went on the bottom and then later this summer braces on the top.  Yeah, for expander's that did the job & come out!!! 

And we also celebrated another thing with Jack....

He turned 9! on June 15th.  We let him invite 2 friends over and they did this:

A 72 foot slip and slide, good ol' dad made for them.  With water and baby soap to make sure it was nice and slippery.  My cousin scored the construction plastic...so it was FREE to us.  It offered several hours of fun for the afternoon.      

What a blast (for them)

Some of us caught the view from the porch and pool.  :)

After the water and fun....we had one of Jack's favorite lunches.  Hot dogs & hamburgers, Doritos, chips and pop.  Yep.   

After lunch we Donovan made a treasure hunt for them.

The last card invited them to come in for snow cones.  And a giant chocolate chip cookie "birthday cake"

I love this boy.  He makes our life so much fun.  He adds a lot of humor to our family.  While he strong will amazes & confuses me I know just where he got it. 

And then we end each birthday with a naked measurement.  No, not really it was just before bed and I realized that we had not marked his height on our door growth chart....he DOES have shorts on....just not that you can see.  Opps.  So he's at 4' 8" already he has grown since June! He gained another 1/2 inch since then!!!  He's growing so fast. 

Quote of the day:  Although caution it's rated PG-13 for language. 

Suzy loves to say "OH SHUCKERS!" when something doesn't go right.

  She adds the "er" to Shucks. 

 She's tricky like that.

She gets that from me.

 

So last night she starts starts rhyming things with "Shuckers"

Which was o.k.

Until she replaced the "sh" with an "f"

That pretty much was a show stopper at supper last night.  We all stopped and stared at her.  Poor thing.  So innocent, so sweet. 

We were all taken back and just stared at her. 

Until Jack pipes up and say, "No no you don't say that...that's a bad word" In a very authoritative voice.

To which she quickly realized it must have been severe that it stopped the world around the supper table last night.  She instantly got big tears in her eyes. 

Talk about Awkward & Awesome.   But mostly just awkward. 

after going to school

 I'm gonna have one more current update for this week....and then I'm gonna start the flashbacks of the summer.   I've missed blogging about all the things we've went through/done this summer~and I'm gonna blog about them in rewind.  Well, not like backwards typing or anything.  Like rewinding ~as in ~going back to June.   

But today...I'm gonna talk about my lovies and their "after going to school" update.  I'm sure your on the edge of your seat.  

 These are the little honey's that get out of school first.  This is their faces as soon as I picked them up, after their first day.  When I asked about their days~William said, "It was good."  Suzy said', "It was awesome!!!!" 

And then later William said he had a little chat in the hall with Mrs. Beachy.  Hmmmm????  What for??? Well she told me her middle name is Lane.  Hmmmm???? Well why were you in the hall talking to her?  Well....I was a little sad, because none of my friends are in my class from last year. 

Later after we got home I got a call from his teacher who said he was 45 minutes sad.  Missing mom, missing friends from last years class.  Maybe missing dad who was away on a business trip.  She said it was just in the morning & then the afternoon was fine.  Since the teacher obviously has more than just William to take care of in her class, she had other helpers ready to help out.  A friend of ours also works at that school was walking through the halls looking for where she could help out on the first day.   (Thank you Jesus for that perfect orchestration & timing of events) After talking to Mrs. Beachy (the friend of ours) she said he was sad -as in almost ready to dry heave sad.  You know that ugly cry where you can't think of anything else except for what is crushing your heart?  So she did some smooth, quick talking about middle names and working at getting his mind off of his anxiety.  So amazing to see how God works when we pray.  Daddy was praying, mom was praying...and here walks in Mrs. Beachy to answer our prayers for William's breaking heart that morning.   She talked him off the cliff....and he did better.  Better enough to get back into class, and enjoy his day.  

Isn't that cool?

 When we got home Daddy called to say he was on his way home.  Little pink pants was giddy and so excited about her first day of Kindergarten.  Telling her daddy all about it.  Singing the songs she learned and making up new songs with only her teachers name as the lyrics in the tune of different miscellaneous songs.  Looking forward to already the 2nd day of school. 

 We then walked down to the bus stop....and waited to get this one off of the bus....

 Who also loved his day.  Except he was hot and it's such a long day.  And the bus seats were hard, it was a long time on the bus etc.    My typical "half glass full" kinda response kinda guy.  {note the heavy sarcasm}

So I talked to him about the "1/2 full" kind of stuff ...didn't you get to sit with your friend Jonathan (who lives in our neighborhood) on the bus?  Well yes, but the bus ride wasn't long enough to get to talk to him. Weren't you in class with your other good friend, Andrew?  Well...yes, but we had to listen to the teacher.

I sense an oxymoron here folks with the whole bus ride thing.  Which makes me crazy and laugh all at the same time.  I'm having the oldest 2 ride the bus, because both of them have like a 20 minute or less ride.  The younger 2 have a 50 minute + ride.  So they will get picked up.  BUT....Jack will be Jack and we'll just pray that we can teach him to use his strong will and bull headed-ness for something really awesome in the future.  But for right he make me re-evaluate every attitude I have.  He makes me so aware of what I say out loud and my attitude in everything.  It's one thing to tell a child what to do and say....it's a completely different thing when you try to model it for them.  Can I get an Amen?  Or a "what what"?  Maybe a high five?  Maybe just a comment....to let me know I'm not the only one.??  :)  Maybe advise on how you deal with it?

 This is 2nd day of school pictures.  What???? You don't take 2nd day pictures???  Crazy moms!!!  

{O.k. humor me....I'm empty nest during the day here folks.}

 2nd day picture for Isabella.  WHO starts school 1 hour after her siblings.  Which seems crazy to have my oldest home for a full hour after her sister and brothers leave.  Which I love. 

 And call me insane, but I snapped 2 pictures quick of 3rd day this morning.  I know...I know....I've got issues. I'm sure NO ONE takes "3rd day of school pictures" And now I feel even more guilty because I didn't get the boys pictures.  But before you think I'm partial to my girls and you may be thinking I don't even love my boys....Please let me explain.  Girls you primp.  I spent extra time on both of their hair at their request this morning.  And boys throw on a t-shirt & shorts and they go....if the shirt is a button down-they think it is a "church shirt"  But my girls...It does something to their self esteem when you comb them....spend time picking out their outfits, earrings, and matching shoes.  And boys like a little of this....but not at the same level the ladies do in this family. 

 

 This girl...I told this morning...."how is it to have your own personal chef, hair stylist, barista, and nurse as a mom?"  She responded, "pretty awesome!!!  With a smile on her pretty freckled face, while I was paining her toe nails and as she was sipping some coffee with  Caramel Macchiato delicious creamer in it.  {please don't judge me for giving my 11 year old coffee....please. I always said I wouldn't NEVER let my kids drink coffee when I saw my niece drinking joe at a young age....and now I find myself eating my words.}

And really when she asked me to do a little braid in her hair this morning...I was thrilled.  I had an hour.  To spend with her.  Just her.  Doing things I usually don't take the time to do.  I did a style I saw yesterday on a high- school -looking student at a store ...which I might of banged my cart into the banana display trying to figure out how she did her hair.  And this would technically be under the "awkward & awesome" section that I don't do anymore.  Thankfully I recovered awkwardly~~but awesomly figured out how she did it.  

It was just two little braids from different spots in the front of the hair line, hair pinned back, and then a pony tail.  I realize this is not rocket science, & I'm probably behind the times on cool hair do's for the tween stage.  But here I am.  Better late then never.  And she loved it.  Sometimes little 11 year old can try not to hurt my feelings and wrinkle her little nose...when I do something new to her hair.....but this morning brought a big smile.  :)  Which makes me smile.

And did I mention I was personal chef this morning??  Making her favorite egg, ham, & cheese english muffin sandwiches.  I had to start a little early on breakfast...but I figure I got 6 hours to catch up on sleep today.  The rest of the kids turned their little noses up a little on the egg sandwich thing....but unless it's baked oatmeal or Lucky Charms I never get a good & excited response for breakfast.  It's called broadening your horizons folks.  I am mom, hear me roar.  It might of helped them to finish their sandwiches [that were sitting on their plates for 15 minutes] which on a school day is like a time bomb ticking, that I announced ~~"anyone who doesn't finish their breakfast will not be getting the 2 Oreo portion of their lunch today.  Did I mention they were double stuff's???   Might have been a bribe~I'm not sure.  

And the personal nurse thing...that I threw into the mix of my everyday duties.  Yeah.  Call me nurse.  I've got my first aide card to prove it.

  Whopps.  Did I leave off the AIDE part after my title of "nurse"?  My bad.  

So that brings you up to speed on our week.  Are you still awake?      

And if your concerned at all...I'm adjusting very well and fine to having the whole day to myself.  Thought I would have a little bit of  a hard time coming home to a quiet house....but now I have time to blog, have coffee with a friend, to have lunch with another friend, organize things at home that needed to be.  Devotions, de-cluttering my desk, throwing away nick-nack-patty-wack crap that accumulates on my sons desk...etc.  But more on that another day.  

Shocking how fast these days fill up.