Wacky Tacky

OK…  Who’s heard of it?  (Probably nobody, since I’m pretty sure it is not a franchise, but a family business.)

Yesterday, I took Malachi to his first birthday party (invited by a friend from summer pre-school)!  There are so many memorable ‘firsts’ in life when you have kids; my son was particularly excited about this one.

The DAY the invitation came in the mail, we were ready to go.  We rolled out the butcher paper and got out the stamps to make wrapping paper.  He picked out a book from his shelf that he wanted to gift his friend with (insisting that we did not need to go shopping for a present ~ he wanted to give him this book).  And we got on the internet to find out what the heck Wacky Tacky was all about.

Did I mention that half of the invitation consisted of fine print, waiving the company of any liability for injury or death of my child as a result of participating in Wacky Tacky activities???

I was slightly concerned.

So, here it is:

A great place to play hide-and-seek.

Very fast slides!

Foam ball shooting range.

When we got there, a staff person would take our pictures, and they took more pics as the kids played.  (This must have been permitted in the fine print.  I can only guess.)  And, oh, did they play!  My son was all sweaty by the time they called us together for pizza and cupcakes.

They had a big party room for us, decorated, with a big, inflated birthday throne for the birthday boy.  After eating, a clown came in and assisted with gift opening; they even had a staffer writing down who gave what for assistance with ‘thank yous’!

Oh, and BEFORE all that, they turned on a flat-screen and showed us a Happy Birthday montage of all the pics they’d taken, set to music.  The kids loved seeing themselves on TV.  I wonder if the parents got to keep that?

Anyway, fun party.  Fun day with my boy.

His 4th Bday is coming up in about 6 weeks.  Any party ideas out there that you could recommend?  Money-saving tips?  Creative alternatives to cake?

7th Grade

I only seems like a few years ago…

I actually had several different teachers for different subjects.

I wore my bangs high and used lots of hairspray.

I pegged my pants.

I used cassette tapes to record my favorite songs when they came on the radio.

I was obsessed with these guys.

I started going to youth group.

~ wearing make-up.

~ shaving my legs.

~ tying up the  phone line.

I played competitive volleyball.

I even gave basketball a shot.

I wanted a Cabriolet.

I decided that I loved science.

And I met the man (ok boy) that I ended up marrying.

Today, our daughter picked up her 7th grade class schedule.  She is SO excited to start school.  I find myself looking at her like, how did you all of the sudden grow up so much?  She’s almost my shoe size, almost my height, and just 12 pounds or so less than where I would (hopefully) be ~ if I weren’t 29 weeks pregnant.

Goodness gracious!

It’s all so scary and exciting at the same time.  Junior High is such a critical age for developing self-esteem, compassion for others, and all-around self-identity ~ the scary part.  There are a lot of opportunities for learning, growing spiritually, and becoming more independent ~ the exciting part.

The first school bell rings on Wednesday.

I will be praying DAILY that my little lady makes true friends, wise choices, and good grades.  I’ll pray that her relationship with God deepens.  And if she comes home saying she’s met her future husband ~ I promise not to call her crazy.

Stats Suck Sunday!

This picture makes me laugh SO HARD.

So, my stats suck because I don’t blog as regularly as I once did…  But it’s also Sunday, so that doesn’t help.  (Actually, to be quite honest, I don’t even know what my stats look like because I don’t look at them.  I’m just going by the number of comments I get!)

Anyway, here we go with the bullets:

*  Pregnancy is at 28 weeks today.  I’m way more comfortable standing up than sitting or lying down.

*  School starts for my 7th grader in a week and a half.  I found her a cool pencil box at Target made of “other people’s plastic.”

*  Christmas shoppin gis about halfway done.  Waiting for Aunt Cindy to give me and Ryan our Secret Santa assignments…

*  Patiently.  Really.  No rush, Aunt Cindy.

*  I’ve been crocheting baby hats like mad.  Plan to bring a bunch to the hospital when we go to deliver, so we can give them away to other people’s babies (no link for that).

*  I’ve had my car for 6 months, now ~ longer than I had my last one!

*  I hate paying for registration.

*  This has been one of the nicest summers I can remember, weatherwise.

*  I’ve been praying for a lot of my bloggie friends lately.  I love it when I know exactly what to pray for.  Too many people keep their problems to themselves.

*  Hey, if you want to pray for me…  This is our first month on a 3-day furloughed budget.  Hope we make it all the way through!

*  My daughter shaves her legs and wears make up now.  Hard for me to believe.

*  My son is gung ho for pre-school and LOVES doing crafts at home.  I’ll have to post a pic soon of his pterydactyl.

*  It’s amazing how busy a family can stay with FREE things to do, if you just look.

*  Tonight, we’re having birthday cake for Ryan’s grandparents – can’t wait!  I love living so close to so many in our family.

Here’s to a new week.  May yours be blessed!

I love being a scientist.

ZOMBIE ANTS!

God’s creativity never ceases to amaze me…

Music to my ears…

Things I’ve been making…

Baby blankie #6? ...of 2009. And #7 is not far behind!

Poisonous ant bait. Thanks Great Granny Grandma!

This is the BEST method I’ve tried.  Unfortunately, I believe we live on a giant ant hill, made up of numerous colonies…  I might have to do this once a week for a while!

Malachi helped me make this beach tote out of plastic grocery bags.

I found the pattern online and HAD to try it.  As much as I try to remember to bring my reusable bags to the store, I inevitably forget about every other trip (or more), ending up with all these bags I hate to throw away.  This is one way to reuse them!  What do you think?

OK. God is making this one! We're at 25 weeks and counting...

What else have I been wanting to make???

SMOOTHIES.  Anybody have a good, healthy recipe?  We are definitely experiencing smoothie weather around here.

What have you made lately?

What a week…

Life is full of highs and lows. We all know this.

So far, this week has been all lows.

I just got word that my paycheck will be cut by 20%.  Thanks, Arnold.  I honestly don’t know how I can manage to support my family anymore. I cannot pay all the bills we currently have. Undoubtedly, I have wasted my time filling out home loan application materials. Anybody know where we can pick up free diapers???

Of course, there are options:

* Ryan can look for more regular work.

* I can open up that Etsy store I’ve been saying I’m going to do for some time.

* I know how to work direct sales, but honestly, who’s buying?!

Other bandaids that come to mind are moving in with Mom and Dad, getting a job in another state, seeing if I can get a hardship deferral on my loans…

But as angry as I want to be about all of this, and as much as I want to throttle the Governor for his stupidity and stubbornness, my own woes are shriveled down to almost nothing after the news I received yesterday afternoon.

I am a vanpooler. I commute over 30 miles each way to work on a 14-passenger van for $20/month. It’s wonderful. I crochet. I read. I nap. If there is engaging conversation going on, I’ll talk the whole way.

Not only do I feel good about vanpooling becauuse it relieves traffic congestion and reduces air pollution, but I have made friends that I see regularly through vanpooling. God has put some really wonderful people in my life this way.

On Tuesday, one of these people passed away.

He fell off a cliff ~ no joke.  Our driver broke the news to us before we climbed off the van yesterday afternoon.  We were in our end-of-the-day time-to-go-home mode, so this unwelcome information seemed to put us all in a state of shock.  I know my own jaw dropped, and I was at a loss for words.  I slid out of my seat and made my way to my car.  No sooner was the key turned and I was in tears.

Scott was just 32.  He leaves behind a wife of 5 years and daughter, Malachi’s age.

A scientist, artist, and unpublished writer of children’s books, Scott seemed to always be working to better himself and learn new things.  He had interesting ideas and a good sense of humor.

I have no clue whether he knew the Lord.

We weren’t close friends.  But it’s hard to swallow what has happened.  And it’s weird to think that this guy, who I’m used to seeing on a daily basis, who has actually driven me into work and back many times as I slept, is gone from this world.

I want to go buy a card for his family, although I have no idea what to say.

And now…

I cannot even BEGIN to complain about a 20% pay cut.

I guess there are some things I like about summer…

More daylight.

More time outdoors.

More time with family.

Happy Independence Day, blog friends!  God bless.

Happy and Sad

Today is the day…

 

Do you know what it’s like to be happy and sad at the same time?

I do.

Stats Suck Saturday/Sunday

Well, actually, my stats probably suck every day, but I wouldn’t know.  I hardly ever check them.  I hardly ever blog, either, as of late! …which is one reason my stats, well, you know.

The bullets:

*    So, everyone’s blogging about Michael Jackson.  I don’t have anything to add to what others have written.  I do think it’s pretty significant, though; my husband and I both found the news hard to swallow.  God bless the Jackson family.

*    Also, God bless Farrah Fawcett’s fam.  Man, she was beautiful.

*    For Fathers Day, we went to the Toyota/Savemart 350 NASCAR race at Infineon Raceway.  We had a really goo d time but came home a little sunburned.  Yeah, I brought expired sunscreen.  Oops!

*    Kyle Busch didn’t win.  I was sad.

*    Kasey Kahne did win.  Ryvre was extatic!

*    We’re in the midst of a home loan application process.  Please cross your fingers or pray ~ whichever you believe in!

*    I am constantly battling an onslaught of ants in this old house.  I’m convinced it’s full of holes.  I can’t see them, but the ants know where they are!

*    I’m 22 weeks into this pregnancy.  Baby girl is active and growing.  She still has no name, but I think we’re getting closer…

*    Summer is in full swing now, with temps in triple digits.  Yuck.

*    Malachi starts a summer session of pre-school in three days!  Oh, he is growing up, and I don’t like it.  I hope he has fun, though.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone.

Anyone?

Do people still come here?

ha ha!