Addicted

I'm addicted, it's official. I've been making hairbows again. I've spent too much money buying the materials, but I did get 5 packages of alligator clips for 50 cents a package which is an awesome deal. I do happen to think though that they look REALLY cute in my girls' hair.
For my friend Cindy I didn't make them all pink this time, I guess you could say I've branched out a little bit.
I think these flowers are ADORABLE! The picture really doesn't do them justice.


This pile of korker ribbon has yet to make it into a bow, but it's just a matter of time before it does. I've been "baking" ribbon so that it goes from straight to korker. I think I've gone a little overboard. But that's okay, truthfully it's cheaper than some of the other hobbies I have!

Tag x's 5

Here we go, just for Chrystal.

5 things I was doing 5 years ago (2004)
1. We had just become foster parents
2. Stuart was getting ready to student teach
3. As of September 1, we had KatieJo & Samuel
4. Working at YellowBook USA
5. Starting to figure out what was wrong with me....no not in my head, with my body.

5 things on my list of things to do today
1. Clean my house, Stuart's sister Natasha and her family are coming to visit today...we're excited!
2. De-clutter some more...WE HAVE TOO MUCH STUFF!
3. Take KatieJo to a birthday party I didn't know about until 2 hours ago.
4. Cook something yummy for dinner
5. Wait for Stuart to get home.

5 things I would I do if I had a million dollars
1. Pay off Stuart's student loans
2. Home Improvement projects
3. Buy Stuart a car a little earlier than planned
4. Invest
5. Take a fun vacation with my family

5 places I've lived
1. Broomfield Colorado
2. Pueblo, Colorado
3. Northglenn, CO
4. Cedar Rapids, IA
5. Republic, WA

5 Jobs I have had
1. Nanny
2. Kohl's
3. Target
4. YellowBook USA
5. Household manager...aka Mom

5 things I want to be doing in 5 years
1. Send my baby off to Kindergarten
2. Start finishing school
3. Working on home improvement projects
4. Be driving a Honda Pilot
5. Working on MY projects more (as in right now I work on KIDS projects)

5 people I tag
1. Cassa Dee (Since she just got a blog!)
2. Aimee
3. Hannah
4. Lynsey Humphries
5. Rachel

Missing?

Okay, so nothing is missing anymore, but I really did loose Samuel earlier this week.
School gets out at 2:55 and my kids ride the bus home. Not because we live so far from the school that I can't drive to the school to pick them up but because they want to ride the bus and since they are the first stop and it takes about 7 minutes to get to our stop. So on Monday I left my friend Cindy's house at 2:50 and ran home real quick and got to the bus stop at 2:57. If you noticed, that is 2 minutes after school gets out. 2 minutes is not enough time to make a 5-7 minute drive (depending on the speed the bus is driving). KatieJo however was already starting to walk home with 2 fourth graders and was about to turn the corner from the park onto our street (which then winds it's way up to our house). I asked her and the other girls where Samuel was. KatieJo kinda freaked out and said "He was with me when I got on the bus but he didn't get off". The other girls collaborated her story and so she jumped in the car really quickly and I scanned the park to see if he was there and called his name. Of course, no response. So, I chased after the bus which wasn't in sight. I caught up to the bus about 10 minutes later and ran up to the bus and Samuel wasn't on the bus. (Thank you to Cindy's son Isaac who saw him get off the bus.)
So I sped, and I do mean SPED back to the park. I don't speed, so this was a big deal for me (especially the 60 mph in a 15 mph Hospital zone). I got back to the park, threw the car into park and ran around screaming Samuel's name. It was at this point I got hysterical because I couldn't find him.
I of course didn't have the cell phone as Stuart was out of town and had it with him, but I did have the house phone in the van since I had just made a quick call outside our house to Stuart. So, my plan was to drive home and call Cindy and have her call the cops as I continued looking for him. As I drove up the street and got 4 houses from ours I found Samuel walking home. I pulled him into the drivers seat and both of us had a good cry.
As it turns out he had seen me at the park but couldn't catch up and made it 4-5 blocks the opposite direction of our house trying to catch me and then he turned around and started running home.
Granted he should have stayed with KatieJo, but I am MAD that the school lets the buses leave before school gets out! I have called 2 times before to complain about it and the bus barn lady told me that the buses have to make it to the Middle School and High School. Wouldn't it make more sense to have 12-18 year-olds wait at the school for the bus rather than drop elementary students off BEFORE the scheduled time for the bus to drop the kids off? I've also talked to the superintendent who blew me off as well.
I've shot a very nicely worded letter off to the Principal and Superintendent. I know it's nicely worded letter because it has taken me until today to calm down enough to write a nicely worded letter.
We now have a contigency plan, and a list of who the kids are supposed to call. We also had a BIG talk about strangers. I'm sad that I had to tell them about what people could do to them, but we live less than a mile from I-80 and you just never know. I'm also sad to say that I hope I scared them. It scares me to think that I could have lost my little boy, and I am VERY grateful I found him, but anything could have happened.
I'm sorry this post is a little depressing, I just needed to write about it.
Thanks for reading!

Crazy Sunday?

Well, spring break is almost officially over. It will end for KatieJo & Samuel with the realization that they have to get up when I go in to wake them tomorrow morning. It ended for me yesterday at noon when Stuart left for his technology conference in Rapid City, SD. He's having a great time, I on the other hand feel stressed. Although, I have to say that since we've been home from church I feel A LOT better! Before church I made the WISE decision to give the boys quick hair cuts before their shower....kind of a dumb mistake really. But, they look better.

We managed to make it to church...and on time! On top of that KatieJo's hair was curled and I had makeup on...WOW! So, my friend Cassa and her husband sat at one end of the pew and I sat on the other in hopes of keeping Phillip contained. Which, worked well until both Cassa and Sean were in the foyer and Phillip saw his window and escaped. I handed Maija off to someone I don't know and got Phillip. Over all it wasn't bad until I realized my co-teacher who had called me at 9 last night didn't show up (again). I had a sub for me because even if I managed to stay I wasn't sure Phillip would go to nursery without freaking out, and I had Maija as well. So, I ended up teaching and my sub sat with me. I dropped Phillip off in the Nursery kicking and screaming and told them he had no choice but to stay since Stuart wasn't with me this morning. I walked by about an hour later and he was still not sounding very happy. Thankfully someone else held Maija while I taught and then instead of going to sharing time I asked the Secretary to get someone to sit with my class so I could go get Maija and see if Phillip needed anything.

I love Stuart, but I think I need to attend some sort of conference for 3 days while he stays home! Thankfully this afternoon has been wonderful. Everyone is in a good mood and the house has stayed relatively clean (if you consider dominos and collect 4 all over the floor clean).
Things will also get back to normal tomorrow because of school. I normally don't like to see my kids go back to school, but I'm a tad excited to get back into our routine!

Only 7 weeks left of school and then the craziness of summer begins...I can't wait. No really, I'm serious I can't wait! We get to see all kinds of great friends from Washington to Iowa. Yipee!

Wedding Cake

Here it is, the assembled version. I made a lot of rose buds for the cake, but didn't end up using a lot of them. I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

Accomplishments

We have accomplished a lot in the month of April, and it's not even over yet!

Our first most important accomplishment is that we are all FINALLY healthy! Phillip's issues from last week are gone and although he will be on antibiotics a little longer he is doing awesome (and he can sit down again which is wonderful)!

The next accomplishment is that I finally caught Maija smiling on camera! The orange light that lights up right before the flash goes off usually throws her off, but I did it!! (Aren't her eyes georgeous?!?)
We've also started feeding Maija rice cereal. As you can see below, she wasn't thrilled on Sunday when we tried it. However, after trying the last 5 days she FREAKED out today because I wasn't getting the food to her mouth fast enough. She still isn't thrilled with rice cereal, so I think I'll try something else tomorrow. We figured she was ready since she has been trying to eat anything we are eating/drinking.

Our next accomplishment belongs to KatieJo. She has finally decided that she should be able to ride a "two wheeler" as she calls it, especially since she is getting a bike for her birthday (as soon as we make it to Wal-Mart or Target.) So, she has been riding a bike that is WAY too small for her, but she has finally done it!


And, the final accomplishment is mine. I have made my first wedding cake. I will post pictures tomorrow after I assemble the cake for the reception. I'm quite excited that I did it, and if I do say so myself...it looks good. The pictures below are of 2 of the layers without the rosebuds on it.
We've had a great spring break! I feel like we've actually accomplished a lot. We've decluttered a little bit and moved things around, and Stuart fixed the problem with the caulk around the bathtub and stripped the paint off of the window sill in the shower (it was peeling really bad). Thanks to the swimming pool we have been able to shower!

So here's to our accomplishments! CHEERS!

Inspiration-Wordful Wednesdays

My mother (Kathie) with 3 of my children

When I was little I used to think that my mom knew everything. To this day I still think she knows a WHOLE lot. However there was a point in my life when I didn't think she knew anything at all. Which on my part was just being ignorant.

For as long as I could remember my mom was always going to school and working full-time. At the time I took her for granted. She was just there to provide for us...right? Now that I have children of my own (and I don't work full-time outside of the house and I don't go to school full-time), I finally realize how much she really had on her plate. My mother has two bachelors degrees, and a Master plus 80 hours. She is one smart woman who is constantly bettering herself. (Although she says she won't be getting a doctorate degree.) It took me having children of my own to realize how much my own mother gave up to continue on with her career and her schooling. I can't imagine leaving my children everyday and be gone for hours upon hours and then having to do her practicum (she is a school psychologist). She was just plain amazing.

She inspires me to be a better person. It is because of her that I love to read. It is because of her that I love to do crafts and that I can sew (even though when she wanted to teach me I had no desire to learn). It is because of her that I am the person that I am...although I would say my dad did play a HUGE part in that as well. And it is her that plays the grandmother role to a perfect T. My children, even the ones who won't go to anyone but me will choose to spend time with her over me.

I'm thankful to be able to call her my mother and I'm grateful to call her my friend.