It's been a nice weekend

Usually we stay pretty busy on the weekend running out and about but we didn't run off too much this weekend. We went out to dinner last night and then this evening we went to see Cassie's best friend participate in a musical at her church. After that we took the kids to get ice cream. It was really pretty outside today. It looks like storms are starting to roll in now. Since we decided to hang out at home most of the weekend I did get some stitching done. I finished something (that I just love!) but can't say anything about it because it's a b-day gift for a friend who is most likely reading this :). Speaking of birthdays, Joshua will be 6 on Wednesday. His party isn't until Saturday so I'm gonna have lunch with him at school on Wednesday and then I've ordered cupcakes to take up there in the afternoon. The kiddos don't have school tomorrow so we're gonna go pal around in the morning and then head over to my parents house for a visit. By the time we've finished up there, it should be about time to get ready for Joshua's ballgame. I can't believe it's almost May! I'm really looking forward to school being out. I've been thinking about my flight to Chicago and am really wishing I didn't watch all of those airplane movies over the past year.....lol. Red Eye...Flightplan....United 93...Snakes on a Plane...I really don't recommend watching that one, btw...lol. I'd rather float to Chicago in a hot air balloon than fly in a plane....ugggghhhhhh. I'm thinking my requesting a window seat wasn't such a brilliant idea either. I may have to try to switch those to aisle seats instead. I already switched one seat. On the flight o Chicago they had me sitting in the very back of the plane. Nuh uh. I need to be close to the front so I can get the heck out if need be...lol. Actually in case you're wondring, my seats are next to the emergency exits...LOL!

Great mail day!

We're having a color exchange in a cross stitch group I'm in and my package came today! It came all the way from Germany from a stitching friend named Dane. As you can see, the color I chose is blue. Isn't this a beautiful bag she made for me?! I love all of the J's that she stitched on the inside! The bag was filled with beads, trims, and a really pretty skein of thread that I plan to put to use very soon :). She also sent along a really pretty (and very large!) cut of fabric. There was also a bag of German chocolate in the package! They're not in the pic because I'm eating them..LOL! German chocolate is sooooooo good! Thanks for such a wonderful gift, Dane! As soon as the package I sent to my partner arrives at her house I'll post a pic of the goodies I sent her.

I spent part of the day out shopping for Joshua's b-day. Have you ever heard of Webkinz? If not here's a link so you'll know what I'm talking about: http://www.webkinz.com

Cassie collects these things and has 4. Joshua just got his first one for Easter. He LOVES puppies so he got a dog. He wants another one and let me just tell you they're not easy to come by! They come from Canada and there's a big shortage of them. There are 3 places in town that carry them and they've been out of them for a while. They all tell me they've been on order for some time and they just don't know when they'll be in. I got this brilliant idea to check on ebay and OMGosh! There's a retired dog and cat that went for over $500 for the set! Good grief! I wouldn't mind owning some of those..LOL! Anyway, I called all of the stores within an hours distance to see if they had any and they were all sold out except for 1. I picked up my mom this morning so she could make the drive (journey!!) with me to get this bulldog. It wasn't bad..just about 30 minutes. (but still, for a present?! I'm such a good mom..LOL!) Anyway, I had never heard of this place before but it was just the cutest little boutique. She had all sorts of neat things. All kinds of jewelry, little victorian things, and heaps of webkinz! I'm not telling anybody I know about that shop...lol. It's a really neat place to get little gift items. I plan to go back often. This place is in a really small town of only 3,000 people. There's only 1 stop light in the whole city...lol. I did get that bulldog for him, YAY!

Planning a trip

My dad and brother have been planning a trip to Chicago in June and guess who decided to go with them?! My brother talked me in to getting a plane ticket last night. I got a really good deal on my ticket. Round trip was only $203. I still had a hard time clicking that submit button though. It takes me a while to make big purchases. I don't just spend large amounts of money like that. Anyway, I'm really glad I'm going! Not only did I get on the same flights they did but I'm sitting right behind them. I would be sitting beside them but I really wanted a window seat and so did my brother. They already have tickets to a Cubs game which I had no desire to go to anyway so I'll be spending one of those days venturing out on my own while they're doing that. My brother's friend and his family are gonna meet him there. Thus far I know we're going to the Sears Tower Skydeck, the Museum of Science & Industry, and the Navy Pier. For whatever reason, my brother wants to go to Mt. Carmel Cemetery to see where Al Capone and the other gangsters are buried. He also wants to eat at Mike Ditka's restaurant and Giordano's. I was going to try to get a ticket for the Oprah show while they're at the ballgame but I just discovered she doesn't tape in June :(. I did however find a shopper's paradise called The Magnificent Mile! LOL! That's a miles worth of shops and stores for me to explore in :). Did you know there's a Hershey's Chicago?! I am so going there right after our plane lands! LOL! I'm not kidding....We're arriving in the morning so I'm gonna take my luggage to our hotel and then I'm heading for the Sears Tower and the Magnificent Mile..LOL!


I finished stitching Blessings Be Thine from Blackbird Designs today! Isn't it beautiful! I'm going to have it framed so I can hang it next Christmas :). I really really love it!!


Joshua's birthday is next Wednesday so I think I'm gonna go shopping for b-day presents tomorrow. His party is on the 5th but I'm sure we'll give him our gifts on his day. He loves to go out and pick his own things out and I thought about doing that but I'd feel bad if I didn't pick things out for him. He usually gets a gift card or 2 anyway so he should be able to go pick something out. He's really been looking forward to his birthday. He's been counting down the days :). I took him to a b-day party yesterday and to my surprise (horror! LOL!) there were nearly 40 kids there. That's just way too much, IMO. Good grief...lol. I think we're inviting about 10 to Joshua's. There were so many kids at that party the poor birthday girl looked dazed. She didn't know who to play with there were so darn many of them..lol. It amazes me how much kids get these days. It's just not good.

Busy day

I think I'm about ready for bed! After I took the kids to school this morning I went to work for a while. I work as needed for a florist in town. They had a lot of funeral work to do as well as a big wedding coming up on Saturday. They've also had a lot of corsage orders for proms this weekend. I'm looking forward to doing the wedding things on Saturday. Joshua's PTA program for school was tonight. He was so cute! I love hearing him sing "I'm proud to be an American". Too cute! I took a lot of pictures but it was so dark the darn things didn't come out well. I did however get this really cute picture of Cassie and her best friend, Renee. She always talks about how they could be twins, they're so much alike. When they say that and I see them together it makes me laugh. For obvious reasons of course...LOL! They're just so cute. They're both really good girls. If we end up moving I think we might have to take Renee with us :). My friends are in Wisconsin on their little weekend. I was really bummed for a few days that I wasn't going but I think I'm pretty well over it now. I have decided to go to a stitching retreat in the fall that The Silver Needle has every year called Camp Wannasew. It's about 45 min. east of Tulsa in Sequoyah State Park. I've wanted to go for a really long time and figure I should do that while we're still relatively close to it. It's only about a 4 hour drive from here and is for 3 days. I'm trying to get a few of my stitching friends to go with me. Mike put in for the days off today so he can take care of the kids. He should get approvel by Monday and has soon as he does I'm gonna start planning. There's another one that Deb from Stitches N Things is having in Oct. but it's clear up in Michigan. I'd need a plane ticket and a whole lot more money for that one. I don't think Joshua is feeling very well tonight. He's been pretty teary eyed since we got back from his program.

Happy Happy Birthday!!

Today's Mike's birthday! Happy happy birthday! He had to work today so we went out to celebrate on Saturday. I did spend most of today in the kitchen making/baking birthday goodies. I made him a 2 layer chocolate cake (you can't have a birthday without a cake!), turtle cupcakes, and lasagna for dinner. He comes home every day for a dinner break so I made an extra pan of lasagna and an extra 15 of the turtle cupcakes to take back to work with him. You shoulda seen the mess I had! I'm usually not messy in the kitchen but good grief...lol. I was going to buy him a cake but he likes home made cakes better than store bought. Not me...I LOVE cakes from the bakery! We had a good time celebrating on Saturday and I think he's had a pretty good day. I have to say that given the size of our families, I'm a bit shocked that the day's almost over and besides my parents only 2 other people have even acknowledged his birthday. Everyone wants to be remembered on their birthday. Even if they don't act like it matters to them, it most likely does and they're just not making a big deal of it.

Picnicing

It's really pretty outside today so we decided to have a picnic at the park. We didn't make sandwiches to take our fry up chicken, instead we picked some food up at McDonald's :). Much easier and quicker. Everyone here is so darn picky (except for me of course..lol) I would've been making something different for everyone to take. It was pretty cold out yesterday so everyone was itching to get out and play today :)

I've got a pretty busy week this week. I'm really disappointed that I'm not going to Wisconsin with my friends this week. Maybe next time. Joshua's PTA program is Thursday night. It's his first one and I know if I didn't go I'd regret it. If only it could've been any other week in the year *sigh*. It was supposed to be this past Thursday but they changed it about a month ago. If they would've kept it at that, I'm nearly positive I'd be going.

Sometimes things just aren't fair.....

Oh boy, do I need to vent! Cassie's in 3rd grade and has the highest grades in her class. Maybe even in the whole third grade. The lowest grade she's ever gotten on her report card since she started school was a 94. Her lowest grade this past 9 weeks was a 96. She does really well in just about everything. She's never gotten a conduct cut. Since she started school she's only gotten 100's in conduct. At the beginning of the school year (back in August) every student had to take a test called the STAR test. This test was to determine what reading level they were at. She ended up with the highest level in her class. It was the first month of 3rd grade and they said she was reading at the level of a 4th grader in the 7 month of school. After they determined what each child's reading level was, they set a goal of AR (Accelerated Reader) points they must meet for the entire year. If they do meet their points they get to go to The Plex for the day (this is a big place that has miniature golf, bumper boats, go carts, a huge arcade, ect...). If they don't meet their goal then they have to stay at school and read for the day. Now since she was at such a high reading level at the beginning of school they set her goal at 75 points while everyone elses goals in the class range from 25-50 points (because they're not at as high a level as she is). To make a really long story a bit shorter, she has more points than anyone in her class but since she hasn't gotten to the 75, they're not gonna let her go. Can you believe that?! So she has the best grades in the class, has never gotten less than an A in anything, has read more this year than anyone else...but since she didn't meet this outrageous (and unreasonable, IMO!) goal, she can't go. Btw, did I mention she got 100 on her TAKS test?! There is something very screwy with this picture. I think I've made it pretty clear that she will not be going to school that day and if for some reason they need us for anything, we'll be going to the movies, to lunch, and shopping instead. If they think I'm gonna make her go to school so she can sit there and read all day and feel like she's being punished for doing so well on that test and in school, they are so sadly mistaken! I'm just flat ticked. It makes no sense to me.

Enough of that, I've not been around for a couple of days because I haven't felt like it. Joshua was home from school on Tuesday with a sore throat and the generous little germ monster has given it to me. Hopefully I'll be completely better by the weekend. Mike & I are going out Saturday evening for his birthday.

Anyone have any frequent flyer miles they don't need? I really want to go to Wisconsin with some friends next week :)

Playing ball and other stuff

I am so tired my eyeballs are about to roll out in to my lap! After I took the kids to school this morning I came back and did some cleaning. After Mike woke up we went to the Y to exercise. I use the same eliptical every time I go but some guy was hogging it up for a reeeeeeeally long time. I decided to use this other piece of equipment that was sort of like the eliptical but not quite until this guy got finished with the one that I wanted to use. The programming on this one was totally different than the one I'm used to. I know I pressed all sorts of wrong buttons because the thing started moving and going really fast and I felt like I was running up a really steep mountain. Not good! I didn't want to look like a complete idiot so I kept trucking along for about 15 minutes all the while hoping the guy on my machine would buzz off. He finally got off so I jumped over before anyone else grabbed it. Someone else can have that other machine....running up mountains is just not my thing! After I got home and managed to peel my sports bra off from all the sweat from the eliptical wanna be from hell, I got cleaned up and headed to the library to get some books for Cassie. When I got home I got a call from a radio station here. Cassie had entered a contest and won a drawing so they wanted me to bring her by after school so they could take a pic of her with her prize. She got a goodie bag filled with all sorts of neat things. They told me she'd be entered in to a grand prize drawing in June. While we were there they showed her how they play the songs on the radion. She thought that was really neat. I'm gonna call a local T.V. station soon to see if I can bring her up there while they do the news so she can watch. I've done that before and it's really neat.

Joshua had another ball game tonight. He's just so darn cute! He loves ball. As a matter of fact that reminds me that I need to head off and order some Rangers tickets :). I better take some tylenol before I got to bed. I have a sneaking suspicion that my legs aren't gonna feel so great tomorrow...lol. I get a lot of exercise...just not mountain climbing type exercise...I bet that's good for your glutes...lol.

Happy Easter!

Nothing too exciting going on here today. It's still cold and gloomy out so we decided to stay in. We did hunt for some eggs earlier though. The Easter bunny brought each of the kids a new movie in their baskets so they've been watching those. Here's a pic of their baskets before they tore in to them.

Decorating eggs in the snow

It seems really strange decorating Easter eggs while it's snowing. It's not snowing much but still. I remember last year it was pretty hot on Easter. The weather is so unpredictable here. The kids just finished decorating Easter eggs. I LOVE the person who came up with the idea for the coloring kit we bought. Instead of filling 6-8 of those little cups with vinegar and coloring tablets, you put on a pair of plastic gloves, hold the egg, drop 3 drops of coloring on to them, and then roll them in your hand until you're happy with how they look. It was really quick and wasn't messy at all. I never did like those kits where you had to dip them in to the color mixture. The kids had a lot more fun rolling the eggs around in their hands. I think they felt like they were making a mess even though they weren't..LOL.

Mike's birthday is on the 16th of this month. I got him tickets to the Mavericks game tonight so he and my brother are on their way to Dallas right now. Since they'll be back really late, Cassie told them to watch out for the Easter bunny on their way back. I hope the Easter bunny wears a coat tonight!

Here's a picture of a piece I stitched and finished a few days ago. It's a design by Lizzie Kate and I finished it in to my first flat fold. I think it turned out great! It took me an entire day to do the finishing but I'm sure my next go at it will be much quicker. I just wish I would've finished it a little sooner so I could display it a little longer :).

What happened to the weather?!

It's freezing here! I just noticed the high tomorrow is only supposed to be 39, and there's a chance of snow! What's up with that?! it was in the 80's last week. We're in Texas for crying out loud! I so do not like cold weather! It looks so gloomy outside. One of Mike's best friends found out yesterday that he has cancer :(. I feel so badly for him. I decided to make some Easter cookies to cheer him up. Aren't they pretty? I also made a bunch for Mike to take to work. The guys there seem to really look forward to him bringing treats that I've made. Apparently their wives don't cook/bake or something. I really enjoy doing it. I love to bake but try not to eat much of what I bake so it's nice to have a place to send the goodies. I did keep a dozen of the cookies here for my little cookie monsters :). It looks like Mike's working overtime again tonight. I think I'm gonna stay up and stitch while I wait for him. There's a piece from Blackbird Designs that I've recently started that I plan to work on. It's a really pretty Christmas piece called Blessings Be Thine. I loved it since I first saw it and hope to have it ready to hang next Christmas. Here's a pic of it so you can see what I'm working on.

Isn't it a wonderful piece? I love holiday pieces and hope to finish several this year. I especially love stitching Christmas ornaments. I stitch one a month so I have plenty to hand out to friends and such when December rolls around.

So, let's give this a try :)

I have several friends who blog and for the longest time I wondered how one could possibly find time to do this. Of course I may think that because it seems like I'm always so busy. At least I have been lately. I get up at 6:30 every morning and by the time I get the kids in bed I feel like melting into a big puddle of nothing. Mike works from 12:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. (11:30 if he works overtime, which is most days!) so I get to take everyone to their extra curricular activities as well as take care of their homework and all of those annoying little science projects. There's something very wrong with Cassie's science teacher! I feel like I'm in school again and I didn't like school much. I was good in school but bored. The woman has lost her mind. She comes up with a new complicated project every week. Half the time they have nothing to do with science. A few weeks ago she sent home a note saying we needed to send enough raisins for her science class. I asked Cassie what they were for and she said they were going to make rocks. Out of raisins? Ok...so we get them. She comes home from school with some gooey thing that looks like a brain. It had all sorts of stuff in it..chocolate chips, dried fruit, I think she said butterscotch, and the outside looked like Rice Krispies that someone had left in a bowl of milk for 4 days. I think it could have very well been the most disgusting thing I've ever seen! And the kicker is, they were supposed to eat them! She took a bite out of it and it started oozing melted marshmallow. I nearly lost my appetite watching her eat it...yucko! LOL! Enough of that, we shall see how this blogging thing goes and if I can keep up with it :). If it goes well and I can find the time you'll get to hear loads about my family. Especially those two precious little mini me's I have lurking about :). I'm sure you'll get to hear about my furbabies and my stitching as well :)

Jennifer