Violet Purple and Macaroni 'n Cheese

Kyle from next door came to play with Lila after our company left yesterday afternoon. Lila went from playing with her good friend JJ to 10 minutes later begging for Kyle to come over. Even though he's right next door, it seems it's hard for our schedules to match enough to be able to get together. Well, yesterday was her lucky day and Kyle was here for 4 hours. And I don't think for one minute either one of them stopped smiling or laughing.

Here Kyle is literally doubled over with laughter. The kids were blowing up water balloons with air and putting them on the heater vent. They would see whose would go the highest and stay up the longest. Apparently quite amusing.

What a couple of cheese balls. They were also using all sorts of kitchen utensils to smack the balloons around. Wooden spoons, spatulas...Oh, I almost forgot! Violet Purple and Macaroni 'N Cheese-the names of their balloons.

Go Macaroni 'n Cheese-come on you can do it!

Pump it up!

The kids cousins invited them to a Pump It Up! party. They had so much fun.

Evan with the BIG boxing gloves. Apparently, he straight up knocked down Tim. I guess it was the "hit" of the night. Poor Timmy.

Look at him! Like boxing wasn't enough? Now he's ready to belt you via dodge ball style.
Okay, something mellow. That's more Mom's style.

Thank you Cole's for a fun Saturday night.

Primrose prettiness

Color is lacking this time of the year in the garden. Thank goodness for Costco and their flat of Primroses! Watson's normally has a sale, but since their daughter has taken over things have changed a bit.

The gardening season has officially begun. In 2 weeks a truck load of compost will be dropped off and ready for spreading. Ready for some hard core manual labor boys? Mama's gonna need help. ;)

Jumping fun on a sunny day

How can you not love this weather?! All was good until this terrifying beast jumped into the trampoline and Lila screamed and cried like it was

a mountain lion looking for dinner.

Really, we love Tabby, but she/he needs a new home. Interested?

I refuse to take her to the pound-she's so lovey. But Lila won't go out side so... maybe the pound is my sad answer?

The view from my porch

I stepped out to water the primroses last night and this is what I saw.

Scavenger hunt fun

Last year was hard. That is an understatement. Last year was painfully hard; physically, emotionally and financially. It was a humbling year as well. We made it through with God's grace (of course). Our perspective on a lot of things changed and will forever be changed. Okay, enough with the sob story. I'm just setting things up so you understand where I am going with this. Christmas was lean in 2008 for our kids. They didn't mind. They have a wonderful extended family who took a lot of the pressure off for us.

Unfortunately, because of 2008 there will be no traveling vacations for us this year or next probably. So, we wanted to do something special for our family. We found it fitting to do it on Valentine's.

The scavenger hunt begins:

The kids found cards with a note attached to the door telling them the hunt was on.

Evan, having a hard time waking up early on a Saturday.This was so much fun. I had rhyming clues on Post-Its all over the house. They would figure out the clue, go to that area and find their next. I had them upstairs, down, then back up.The final clue led them to the laundry room.You figured it out, you're smart I bet...go to the place we put the clothes that are wet.Evan didn't speak for a while (shocking, I know). He couldn't believe what he found.Now, this might not seem like a big deal to a lot of you out there. But, understand every video game system that is in our house Evan has bought with his own money. He was going to wait until his birthday and get either a 360 or a Wii. This is the one thing that we bought as a family gift and let me tell you what, there are a few people with sore arms around our house.

I'm so happy Tim caught this moment. I cried when I saw this picture. Evan was so genuine and lovingly grateful. Later that night he told us again how thankful he was and this is the best present he has ever got, ever!

To be able to do this after all the heartache is truly a blessing.

Sticking with the theme

Lila took the camera yesterday morning and went to wake up her daddy.Then, time for Valentine's cards and presents. Lila worked very hard on her special card for Daddy.Lila said that Daddy loves his U2 band so she wanted to put it in the card. Click on the picture to make it bigger. It's really cute. Timmy showing off his Unos//Dos//Tres//Catorce shirt.

This is the back-it's from the Vertigo tour. Which Tim went to, but resisted the $35 T-Shirt. Surprise!
Spring is right around the corner...that only means one thing...tulips! Just kidding. Baseball season. Funny Evan was wearing his shirt from last year already. I'll show you my sweet present another day. I have been enjoying my Adele CD that was a surprise, playing in the car on the way to our romantic lunch at East West Cafe. I'll have more love day posts later. What did your honey do for you?

Why did she steal my name?

Lila Grace and I were reading the newspaper tonight and we stumbled across this:

Kate Moss, 35, who's been snapped with a bump on her tum, has told pals she's expecting a baby. Moss has a daughter Lila Grace, 7.

We went to find out when this other Lila Grace was born...sad news, it was before our girl. Looks like she didn't steal our name after all.

Valentine's treats part 3 & 4

Last night Daddy was at work and Evan was hanging out with his newest friend, Spencer. So, Lila and I made the boys special treats to show our love!

We found this really cool Valentine's cookie mix at Pier 1 of all places. It is a pink lemon cookie, kind of has a cake consistency. Lila was excited she had jammies that matched our theme.

I already wrapped them, then I remembered to take a picture. Ghiradelli brownies with a vanilla/almond frosting.
This was Spencer's plate...he also had a cookie with his name on it. (not pictured)

Here's how those turned out. I love the angle of the first ones. It's like they are hanging up.

10 pm cookie casualties. Mama was tired.

Happy Valentine's Day! We have nothin' but love for all you stalkarazzi's out there. Now go give someone a kiss :x

We're going to have a scavenger hunt for the kids goodies, should be fun! We'll let ya know.

Hello my name is Paul nice to meet you-now, buy my CD!

Irish super group U2 have found what they are looking for to promote their new album in the United States -- a five-night gig on the "Late Show with David Letterman."
For the first week of March, U2 will perform every night on the late night chat show, CBS said on Thursday. It's the first time a musical act has been booked for an entire week on the show.
U2 starts the week long gig Monday, March 2, and ends it the following Friday. During the week -- on March 3 -- the band and its label, Interscope Records, will release the album "No Line on the Horizon."

Valentine's Treat part 2

What a treat, a party on a Thursday afternoon. Always have to show our appreciation for Mrs.Kirchner. She is adored.

So, apparently I get there late and the kids are already bouncing off the walls. I see in front of them (before my cookies were passed out) 2 cupcakes, Nerds, Pixi Stix, suckers, Cheetos, Cheese Nips, Capri Suns and a plethora of other dentist smiling goodies.

Lila with friends and her teacher. The little boy to Lila's left, Sammy, kept kissing her!!! I hollered, "NO KISSING LILA!", he kept telling me, "She's sooo cute". Their teacher told me that every time Lila goes to the front of the class Sammy gives 2 thumbs up and yells, "Lila is so cool". Nice to have an admirer...I guess.

Lila and her best school friend Mekhail. Her Valentine bag filled to the rim.

Self portrait. I loved walking into the room and seeing 16 kids that ALL had frosting on their faces. Stinkin' adorable.


Group shot. They were so cute and extremely grateful for everything. What a great bunch of kiddos.

Valentine's Treats part 1

And so it begins...even though I can't wait until Saturday, because that's when we spoil Daddy with lots of love, treats (remember the heart shaped scones last year?) and extra hugs and kisses, here's what is going to Lila's class today. Not very fancy, I know. But, under the circumstances, it's better than nothing!

Hooray for torn scar tissue!

Who would have thought that I would be happy with torn scar tissue?!? That is great news. Painful, yes, but what a relief that's all it is. A couple days off work to rest and mend.

Thank you Timmy, for taking me to my appointment today and for all your patience. I am so relieved. I can't wait for this weekend to get here.

What's next? :(

So, I go back to see my surgeon tomorrow at noon. All of a sudden it felt like Velcro was being pulled apart while on fire inside of me. Very painful and very disheartening. Remember the whole 2009, hooray for a new year? Let's keep a positive attitude, right? Through Him all things are possible.

Please pray.

Cookies for mission trip?

Evan is selling cookie dough as well as stuffed pretzels to help pay for his last year of Junior High church camp and his mission trip. We would be thrilled if you would like to order something. If you would, please make your checks payable to Praise Covenant Church and mail them to us before the end of the month. Thanks!

Here's what is available:

~COOKIES~

*CHOCOLATE CHUNK $14

* SNICKERDOODLE $14

*OATMEAL RAISIN $14

*WHITE CHOC. CHUNK MACADAMIA NUT $15

*M&M $15

*CHOCOLATE MINT CHIP $15

*SUGAR COOKIE $14

*PEANUT BUTTER CUP $15

*PEANUT BUTTER $14

*TRIPLE BERRY BREAKFAST COOKIE MADE W/ WHOLE GRAIN $15

*2.7 lbs of cookie dough makes up to 48 delicious cookies.

~PRETZELS~

*GRILLED CHEESE STUFFED $16

*APPLE PIE STUFFED $16

*Each 32 oz. box contains 10 stuffed frozen pretzels.

Thank you in advance for helping our little boy!

Wait, where are my boots?

Who is opening the Grammy's tonight???

I love my apple peeler corer slicer

What could be more fun than miles and miles of of apple peel? Well, probably alot of things. Still fun though.

Tim's favorite apple is the Granny Smith and I use the coupon from Market Place at Al's and get 11 pounds of apples for around 3 bucks, because if you fill the tote you get an additional $1 off-sweet!

The end product. Sourcream apple pie. I wanted y'all to see that this recipe came from the kitchen of my S-I-L, Gwen. I love it! It's so easy and making a double recipe is a snap!