Three Day Weekend!!!

What a great weekend it's been. The kids have been outside all day long, playing with the kids in the area. Mike and the kids had a very superhero weekend...watching the X-Men movies and whatnot in the evenings after dinner. I've been into the marathons...Band of Brothers and Star Wars. Hannah fell asleep in the middle of one of the movies last night and slept until almost 11 this morning. I think she may have been a little tired.

We fired up the grill for the first time of the season yesterday. Hot dogs and hamburgers. Yum. Right now, there's corn and chicken grilling and I'm killing time until the asparagus goes on. I love this time of year!

I also got into my gardens, big time, this weekend. The front yard looks awesome. Added a few more perennials and a lot of annuals. It took me forever to get through the mountain of weeds around my roses. I have to admit that it's the first time in almost two years that I've really been over on that side of the house. Mostly because that's where the bunny graveyard is. I finally cowboyed up and got all of the thistles and crap out of there and I could just hear the roses sigh with relief. Now, I just need to get into the backyard and clean that baby up.

Saturday night was Girls Night Out. My friend, Lynne, is moving to Alabama on Wednesday and she wanted one last hurrah. It was tons of fun. Unfortunately, I've only been to the Plaza one other time so I was very confused trying to find it. I can't believe I was only 15 minutes late. We had such a good time that we all decided to make it a monthly thing.

I guess that's about it from here for now...Return of the Jedi's on and I've got to check on the chicken.

Whew!

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Things are finally starting to wind down at the school and it's strange that the kids will all be home for the summer a week from today.

Hannah had her last Daisy Girl Scout meeting for the year last week. Melissa, her troop leader, announced that the Girl Scouts have made the Daisy program a two-year deal so Hannah will be a Daisy for another year. She'll start Brownies in 2nd grade.

This is the cake that Melissa made. When she told us how she did it, I was amazed. She spent a lot of time on it. (the bee alone is made from three different cake pan parts - the wings are bunny ears!) It was very yummy.

The girls get ready for the flag ceremony.
Saying the Girl Scout Promise.
Daisys is all about learning the Girl Scout Law. They break down the parts and earn petals when they master each one (that's what the petals on their smocks are for. They get a petal for each one mastered.) They also used this board to help them along. Hannah puts up one of the petals.
Melissa gives Hannah her awards for the year.
Hannah shows off her awards (with a goofy face)
Here are the awards she received. She was the top cookie seller for her troop!
Last night was the graduation/cookout for the boys Cub Scout Pack. This is always a good time. The boys officially get their new ranks (which means Daniel's now a Bear Scout!). It was tons of fun.

Jacob was freaking out because ashes from the campfire kept falling into his drink.
Mike gives his den their awards.
Jacob and his best friend, Andrew.
Mike gives Daniel his new Bear neckerchief
Mike and Daniel.
The Webelos didn't get anything but they were brought up for recognition.

Getting ready to roast marshmallows.
More roasting.
Like mother, like son. Jacob loves his on fire.

Ugh

We had a tornado watch for most of the day yesterday but nothing came of it. So, imagine my shock and horror when I turn on NBC (I was TiVoing Grey's for after the kids went to bed) and Gary Lezak's on with a tornado warning. Panicked, I turn to ABC and their weather guy's on. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Gary only interrupted programing from 8-8:30 but freaking ABC did for the whole 8 o'clock hour! For a storm that was barely in our viewing area (200 miles way up to our north past St. Joe). Not only that, but they were also covered by the St Joe NBC station. Why did we have to miss Grey's??? It'd be like WHOI cancelling programing to cover a storm in Sterling. I did get to finally watch it this morning...on my little bitty computer screen at ABC.com since our station isn't even re-running it until Saturday! Ugh!!!

A couple of hours after dropping the kids off at school, I got a call from the school nurse asking me to come get Jacob because his stomach hurts. I will admit that I didn't believe him since he's famous for crying wolf with stomach pain. I did feel bad when, an hour after bringing him home, his breakfast was all over my bathroom floor.

That really sucks because tonight is my very last MOPS and POPS (an evening for the husbands to come, we have a catered dinner, childcare, games and a speaker...tons of fun!). Mike, very generously, offered to stay home with Jacob so that I could still go. Daniel and Hannah want to go too so the three of us will be heading up there while Mike and Jacob hang out at home.

I just hope no one else gets this stomach thing.

Stressssssss!!!

As much as I'm looking forward to the end of the school year, I hate these last weeks before the end. It's like the school waits to have everything in a two week period of time. Today, I have a parent volunteer luncheon to go to. That's not bad because it's just sitting and eating lunch (with Daniel's teacher...Ack!!). Next week will be insane...actually, mostly next Tuesday and Friday. Tuesday is my last MOPS ever. :( So, that's in the morning and then I run to the school to help with the 4th grade Colonial Day. I'm actually happy it's in the afternoon because I thought I wouldn't be able to help. There was no way I was missing my last ever MOPS meeting. Wednesday, Jacob has his last strings concert and his last Hebrew School for the year. Friday is Field Day and what was I thinking when I volunteered for that!?! Luckily, we don't have to do the OWLS site training (we volunteered to take care of the garden for a week again this summer) since we did it last year. The following week, we have Hannah's class picnic at Deanna Rose that I have to attend. Ugh!!!

In the middle of all of this is tae kwon do and gymnastics. I know I'm forgetting something, I just don't know what. I just have to get through these next few weeks and then we can relax for the summer. We're not doing Day Camp this year (yay!) but the boys are doing overnight camp. I just can't wait to get to summer!!!!

Homemade and Stuff

We're getting spot audited for our insurance so I had to go up to Mike's office so he could photocopy my driver's license. After stopping there, I decided to hit Whole Foods to pick up a couple of things.

I'd been reading Better Homes and Gardens yesterday and they had recipes for body scrubs and hair masks that I wanted to try. I picked up some sweet almond oil and some avocado for the hair mask and then looked around. I also ended up getting a bunch of local honey, some Earl Grey tea and some soy milk. I thought I'd try making my own London Fog drink (from Starbucks).

The hair mask turned out really well (1/2 avocado, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup sweet almond oil. Mash and leave on hair for at least 30 minutes.) It was a little strange to have these huge chunks of avocado in my hair (and randomly falling out onto the floor)...next time, I'll put it in the blender to get a smoother consistency. My hair is nice and soft and it's actually got a ton of curl in it. I'll definitely be doing this one again.

I love the London Fog drink from Starbucks...with a few modifications. I use soy milk and no water. They always look at me like I'm nuts but it's just tastier that way. Anyway, I made my own this afternoon and it tastes exactly the same!!! So, for the price of one of Starbucks London Fogs, I can make 4 at home! LOVE IT!!!

I can't wait to try the honey bubble bath I made! LOL!!!

Crazy Weekend

Mike's nephew, Bryan, and his fiance, Marlaina, got married on Saturday. Hannah was so excited because she got to be the flower girl. Quick funny story:

Thursday night, Hannah had asked me a question.
Hannah: Is there going to be a reindeer at the wedding?
Me: Ummm...I don't think so. I think it's too warm for reindeer.
Hannah: No. A REEEEEIIIIIINNNNNdeer. Will one be there?
Me: Sweetie, maybe at a winter wedding but reindeer don't come to spring weddings.
Hannah: MOM! Seriously! You know...a reindeer. They walk down the aisle with a pillow!
Me (finally getting it): OH! A ring bearer? I don't know if there will be a ring bearer at the wedding.
Hannah: Geez. That's all I wanted to know!

We left for Atlanta on Friday morning. We were nervous because the rehearsal was to start at 5 and we weren't landing until after 2pm. We then had to get the car and drive to Commerce, GA which is where we were staying and where the wedding was taking place. We made it to the hotel at 4:45, we checked in and headed straight to the church.

Amazingly, we were the second people there...Mike's parents were the only ones that beat us. That was fine because the kids got to run around a little and Mike and I were able to change.

Here are some pictures from Friday night. Click the photos to make them bigger.

Mike and his brother, Marc

The bride and groom, Marlaina and Bryan
Hannah and James, the "reindeer."
Hannah waits patiently with the bridesmaids.
The kids loved this huge chess set outside the chapel.

So, we head back to the hotel and are told to be back at the church at 11:30am. Seriously, we could have shown up at 1:30 and we would have been fine but that's okay. The wedding was beautiful and we got some great pictures. It was the first time we got the whole family in for a picture. Here are some photos from the wedding.

Jacob, Daniel and Hannah before the wedding.
Hannah and Marlaina
I can't believe how nice this one turned out. I'm going to put it in a sepia tone and get it blown up. Hannah was looking out the window to see Marlaina getting her picture taken outside.
Hannah and James walk down the aisle. James was so fascinated by what Hannah was doing.
The start of the wedding.
What a big group!
David and Hannah
Daniel and Maurice
The five of us after the wedding.

It was a fun weekend but it's so good to be home.