Gaming Party for Spring Break!

First day of Spring BREAK!! Zach invited five friends over to DORK it UP! I bought tons of boy gaming snacks and invited friends over from 1:30-5:30. I believe two of them may even spend the night here. Oh boy. We had two friends over last night as well. I loved breaks from school because my Mom always allowed us to invite hordes of friends over. It was always fun. I am learning boys are way different hanging out together than a gaggle of girls. The lingo they use is quite comical.

Since we are year round school we have a LOT of days off. I'm glad we have Easter in there to help break it up. I love the Reeses Easter Eggs this time of year. They are deadly to the ol' diet plan....

Volleyball Tourney visit in Indy

Last Sunday I drove up to Indianapolis to return Mavis, the Australian Shepherd, to her original owner, my sister-in-law. SIL and Niece were at a Volleyball Tournament in Indianapolis and it made more sense for me to travel up there than to meet her halfway between my house and Kansas. I was excited to see my niece play some games--it was  bittersweet for me as she is a Senior this year and I probably won't ever be able to see her play in College. She is very talented and it was fun to watch her.

I'm going to try and get a scrapbook together for her graduation. We'll see if I can round up enough pictures. I made sure to take plenty this past weekend.

Saying Goodbye to my Gabby Girl

On Friday night, after three weeks of being on seizure medicine and in a Zombie like state, Gabby had a seizure to end all. She lost control of all bodily functions and we couldn't get her out of the seizure by using corn syrup or the meds given to us by the vet. When she finally came to she was not herself---worse than I had ever seen her. 

I stayed up with her all night, well the rest of the night as the seizure was at 2 a.m. I would doze off only to hear her still panting, pacing and falling over. At one point I heard her eating and when I came out of my slumber, she was pawing and chewing on a package of Mini Muffins. She had gotten in to my newly organized pantry, grabbed a package from the lower shelf and was chowing down. I wasn't going to yell or patronize her. She was grinning from ear to ear. She loves her food and I wasn't going to deprive her of a last treat. I knew her time was limited as we had all agreed to see what happened when her meds wore off and now we knew. 

On Saturday morning I called the vet and we took her in. She could walk and was our happy girl. The boys said goodbye at home and we all shed some tears. We lifted Gabby into the van as she can no longer jump. She laid in the back munching on dead french fry morsels. She was a good girl at the vet's office. She is always so well behaved. She made me proud up until the end. 

The staff took us into a 'grieving' room where we could say our good-byes. The vet came in and hugged me! She is so kind. She knew this was an extremely difficult decision for our family as we were putting down a member of our family of almost 13 years. Dr. Speed looked at Gabby and said, "Cookie." I took it from there and said, "FOOD?" Gabby did her happy dance as best as she could and walked into the sunset with the vet with the offer of FOOD. Dr. Speed said she went peacefully and ate cookies up until she took her last breath. 

The best way to die if you ask me.....

As a tribute to my girl, DH made me this video. I would like to share it with you as she was an amazing dog who gave me unconditional love. May she rest in peace.

Jedi Knights play piano!

My two stunning boys looking back at me!

After almost three solid years of playing piano, it was time! Joyful Noise had a piano recital and my two boys were there! Mrs. Lori Estes is their teacher and we really like her. She is patient and kind with my two boys and this keeps their spirits high even when they don't pass their pieces. They have grown tremendously in their skills. It is fun to watch their growth. Now, don't misunderstand me, they loathe playing, but I believe this is all part of life. I hated it and now it is my turn to make my children hate it! Muwhahahaha.





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Cat In the Hat Costume!

Doesn't everybody like taking a selfie? I had too much fun making this costume and wearing it. I even went up to the school and stood in the car rider line greeting every student who came to school last week. March 2 is Dr. Seuss' birthday, so what better way to celebrate than read one of his stories?

I started the day reading The Cat in the Hat and was bored too tears. WOW. 220 words of boredom. Thing 1 & Thing 2 get a lot of hype for the few pages they are on---they cause havoc, but other than that they are kind of boring. I switched to the 56 word book, Green Eggs and Ham. Now that is a fun book to read; I now have it memorized! Ta-Dah. That is what happens when you read it 16 times in two days!

Making the costume proved pretty simple. I found some helpful pins on Pinterest, but when it came down to it--I made it myself. DH helped me with the head piece as I royally screwed that one up for the Grinch. He was patient and kind while helping me modify. I used a shirt from Wal-Mart and covered it with Synthetic fur from Jo-Anns. I had bought a 1.99 Kindergarten/Preschool nap time rabbit at GoodWill a couple of months ago. It came in perfectly for the tummy of the cat. Some red and white felt made the bow and the hat. Obe Wan was super worried I didn't have the correct amount of stripes on the hat--he wrote an informational story on the life of Theodore Seuss Geisel, so he is a walking/talking Encyclopedia for Seuss! I had to make sure I was correct or I was going to walk the plank, or in my case, eat green eggs and ham! :)

Cat in the Hat knows all about that! 

J-Bird's first soccer game!

FIRST SOCCER GAME OF 2016!

Need I say more? He was team captain and got to flip for the game start. He is No. 6. It was 32 degrees, drizzly, wet and muddy. J-Bird played 55/60 minutes as we only had one sub. He played hard. He was completely gassed by the end of the game. It is so fun to watch him play. We have 7 games in the season---one down, six more to go....

Kitchen Pantry Remodel!

Here is my awesome pantry. Wire shelves and all. Things would get lost, fall through and was a disorganized mess. I have been complaining about it for over a year, but this was LOW on the to-do list for the ol' hubby.

Well, he decided a month or so ago he wanted to start cooking. He has always been awesome with the way he spices the meats he barbecues and smokes, so it was no surprise when we discovered he was good in the kitchen too. He went so far as to buy himself a 1974 edition of the Joy of Cooking.

This was wonderful because when he could not find spices and food in the pantry, my to-do list was prioritized differently and the pantry went to numbero UNO! Sweet.

I showed him some Pinterest ideas. He took it farther and designed our pantry in his 3D software program. This is nifty because it allowed him to know exactly how much wood and supplies he would need. It also allowed both of us to see what he was going to create.

I will say removing wire shelves is painful. They use serious mounting brackets and leave nice holes in the wall.

Once everything was removed, he mudded the wall and I was brought in to paint! I do love painting! I didn't even tape anything off as it was an easy paint job.

DH realized we had a lot of wasted space at the bottom of the pantry and a high ceiling. With some fancy measuring (since this is his REL job!) he was able to add another shelf. I didn't want cans in my pantry; I like them on the lazy Susan. I'm so short cans would just get lost!

The shelves only took one day. It was pretty easy since he already knew all the angles and cuts needed. The back of the pantry bowed and this made it difficult. There wasn't a 90 degree angle anywhere to be found. Thank goodness he does measure for a living or this could have been a nightmare. 

IT was perfect! I went to Dollar Tree and bought three more baskets. I labeled them for the new chef in the house. I'm so excited to see everything and, best yet, it will allow me to know when I need to go to the grocery store! 

Before!!

After! So nice and clean!

I'm Mary Todd Lincoln today. Who will I be tomorrow?

Mary Todd Lincoln is back from the dead....

I had SO much fun dressing up like Mary Todd Lincoln. Who would have known hoop skirts and corsets could be so delightful? I know walking up the stairs SUCKED and my hem line was ruined by the rainy day, but may was this a lot of fun.

I walked into one 1st grade classroom and I heard a little girl gasp and proclaim, "She is so beautiful." How could I not enjoy my day?

I read "Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers" by Karen Winnick. The story is nonfiction and tells how 11 year old Grace Bedell wrote to Mr. Lincoln advising him to grow a beard. It was a perfect story for the wife of the 16th President to share!

I did a ton of reading on her life. How fascinating she was. I didn't share all of my new fun facts with the students, but I shared enough for them to have a better understanding. I also encouraged ALL of them to vote Republican! HA! 

ISTEP Testing Cards for well wishes!

So, the teachers requested the parents write notes or send well wishes for the State Testing this week. I would rather poke my eye out than worry about state testing. I will do what we do everyday. They will get a good night's sleep, they will eat breakfast and I will tell them to do their best. This is the same thing everyday. It should be a given, but apparently this is not the normal parenting practice. I knew I wasn't normal, but geez. Well, both my boys are in to rap and watching STU-PID videos with their father on YouTube. One of the latest trends is watching a video about a guy who says "Deez Nuts." Preview this video: 

So, I told J-Bird I was going to make a card with a picture of "DEEZ NUTS!" I was going to draw a penis and testicles and tell him about "DEEZ NUTS!" He was aghast and SO worried I was going to do this! I promised him I was doing it. I was going to put DEEZ Nuts in a card..... 

 

Is this too Funny or what? I was pretty proud of myself!

So, what you do for one, you must do for the other. So, Obe Wan is into this rap song! (I know, crazy  right?) He likes Snoop Dogg's Smokin' Weed Everyday. It is extremely foul and he is only allowed to listen to the edited version which means half the words are missing. He thinks it is Hi-larious to say "Smokin' Weed Everyday." He giggles EVERY time. So, I told him I was going to make him a card with pictures of weed on the front. I was very careful of my word choice. They have been working on poetry even class. I told him I was going to write a poem about WEED. I even promised him I was going to write weed everyday. AND a promise is sacred in our world. He was pooping his pants today. My two Jedi Knights were more worried about my cards than the test. If their teachers wanted them distracted, I get Mother Of the YEAR award for this one!

Super Hero Valentine Party! (A huge success!)

I have two boys. We do not celebrate a holiday with pinks, reds and mushy stuff. (Oh how that will change as they get older. For now, I will enjoy the fact that girls have cooties!)

I decided my 3rd grader's class should have a Valentine's Day Party celebrating their heroes. It was perfect. Weeks ago I sent home a letter asking the parents to send a USED, LARGE t-shirt in a gallon ziploc baggie.

It informed the classroom parents we needed a t-shirt in which I would cut up and return to their child in the form of a cape. This was done with the help of another Mom while enjoying a few adult beverages!

After 21 capes were made, I decided to create a list of 5 Minute To Win It games. These are wonderful games for classroom parties. It allows the kiddos to play games, but still have plenty of time to eat and socialize, which is the best part of any party!

I also asked the parents to help their child create a

Valentine's Box at their home. I only have 60 minutes for a party and this was NOT enough time to do hardly anything much less build/decorate a box. We made Josh's at home.

He stuck with the Superhero theme and this was wonderful because we used this box two years ago. Love this when my world is easy.

We had 4 games. We split them into groups of 5. They had one minute at each station. It moved SUPER fast! At each station there was a winner and whoever had the most Dum-Dums at the end would no longer be a Dum-Dum, but a Super Hero!

The Minute 2 Win It Games were:

Hulk Smash -- 5 Red Solo Cups, 5 ping pong balls. Put tape on the floor, so the students don't cross the line. You need about 3 feet of room and a tiled floor. You smash the ball on the floor and try to get it to land in the cup. Have them keep track of how many times they get in the cup. Whoever makes it the most wins a Dum-Dum.

Spider Man Web Toss -- Painters tape & 5 bean bags. You have the children stand on a line and toss. They have a minute to get the highest score. 

Hawkeye Sharp Shooter -- I took a PVC pipe and hung rolls of toilet paper from it. I made the mistake of being cheap and the PVC pipe was too flimsy. I would recommend spending a few extra bucks! :) The nice people of Home Depot will cut the pipe to your specs, so this was fabulous. I use Charmin Toilet Paper as it is thick and super hard to tear using rubber bands. HA-HA! I tied an empty Coke can to the bottom of the toilet paper. The students were each given three rubber bands. They had to break the toilet paper. First one to do it won! (No one did it, so maybe Dollar Tree Toilet Paper would have been better!)

Poison Ivy Power Breath -- This one was quite hilarious. The kids were each given a clear cup and a bottle of bubbles. They had to blow bubbles into a cup and walk the line--the entire minute. If a bubble burst, their spell was broken and they had to start all over again. This was a little tricky on who the winner was, but there was a Mom monitoring and she used her Super MOM powers to determine the winner. 

After the games, the students with the most Dum-Dums were the Heroes and won Ring Pops to show off their skills. It was a huge success for all involved.

After the games, we enjoyed passing out Valentine's and eating Super Hero Foods. The menu:

*PoP* Corn
Snap, Crackle, *PoP* Rice Krispy Treats
Cat Woman Claws (Bugles)
Thor's Hammers (Pretzel Sticks and marshmallows)
Kryptonite Kool-Aid

Everyone had a good time. Even my kid who sometimes worries I may embarrass him! (I have nooooo idea why.....)