Kari's 7th Birthday June 2009

We celebrated Kari's 7th birthday while on vacation in TX. Aunt Krista and Uncle Lonnie graciously allowed us to have a pool party at their house. Nana and Aunt Krista prepared all the food (Uncle Lonnie grilled, too!) and Nana bought the fantastic dragonfly cake at T0m Thumb. Aunt Krista even took Kari and Noah to the D0llar Tree to pick out some balloons and gift bag items (the gift bags were buckets!). Kari said that it was the best day of her entire life =)

Here are some pictures.....


The Birthday Girl


Opening Gifts






Tink Backpack


Ecstatic about getting money


Her "7 Year Old" doll from Nana and Papa


Singing "Happy Birthday!"




Blowing out her candles (I love how Noah is helping her!)


The birthday day girl and her birthday hat


Loving her Tink backpack

Step Up to Success Awards Ceremony*

Tonight was Josh's awards ceremony for the Step Up to Success program. It was a really neat ceremony, complete with academic and creative awards.

Josh received the following academic awards: Exemplary CASAS Scores Increase, Outstanding Accuplacure Score, Power Point Guru, Grammar Guru, Customer Service and Most Likely to Succeed Award. He also received the following creative awards: Career Award "Most Likely to Unclog Your Sink" Plumber/HVAC Technician, GLYG (Good Looking, Young Guy) Award, Most Creative Excuses Award, Cool Cat Drama Award and the Clown Award.

We are very proud of his academic awards and none of his creative awards were a surprise. Here are a few photos*

Ceremony Program


George opens the ceremony with some inspirational words "Kai-Zen!"


Ms. Lisa gives out the academic awards


The Most Likely to Succeed recipients


George gives out the creative awards


Josh and his mentors, George Carter and Jules


Josh and his teacher, Ms. Lisa


Josh and his friend, Erik


*I know I still need to do a vacation post, along with Kari's birthday post and Devin's graduation post, but I will do them once I upload the pictures Amy and Krista sent.

Not Me Monday Day Before Vacation Edition

I did not wait until the day before vacation to start doing laundry and packing.

I did not stay up until 3 AM Sunday morning finishing my posters for Rally Day at church.

I did not stop and get chocolate milk and donuts for the kiddos for breakfast on Sunday because I opted for a few more minutes of sleep versus making breakfast for the kiddos.

I did not leave the 14 year old home from church yesterday because he was not ready when we were ready to leave.

I did not let the 4 year old sleep in his clothes the other night because he wanted to and I did not feel like fighting with him.

I did not tell my friend H that I was turned on by Rick's voice as he was the auctioneer at the church yesterday.

I did not promise Rick that I would wear the necklace he bought me at the auction to bed last night. Yes, just the necklace.

What didn't you do??

Check out the original Not Me Monday-er, MckMama and her blog of MSC. Also, head over to Carlton's blog. The 30 Day Challenge is almost over!!

Baking with the Halls

Kari wanted to bake some cupcakes, but we didn't have any mixes so Grammie and Kari decided to make them from scratch. Grammie even found some chefs' hats for them to wear. They even made the icing from scratch.





Filing the cupcakes tins




What the boys were doing while Kari and Grammie baked






Making the icing


Stirring the batter (Noah decided baking was better than the Wii)


Icing the cupcakes


Grammie wants a bite


Budding chef

Not Me Monday 30Something Edition

I did not chastise my son for not shelling his crabs properly. I did not then clean them myself even though I said I was done eating crabs.

I did not fall asleep on the couch last night and forget to call my best friend in TX.

I did not let the kiddos eat cereal for dinner last night.

I did not skip my meds for two days and get short or snappy with my family.

I was not a bit relieved when my 18 year old son's new love interest had to reschedule our lunch date. I am not a bit nervous to have lunch with a girl my son is interested in now.

I was not a bit jealous when my 18 year old told me he went to Atlantic City on Saturday.

I did not encourage my 4 year old son to pick up caterpillars and give them to me, only to toss them in the grass when he wasn't looking.

What didn't you do??

Check out MckMama's blog for another Not Me Monday post from a mom with MSC* and check out Carlton's blog, too. And if you need a challenge in your life, sign up for his 30 Day Challenge!

*Many Small Children

Not Me Monday 29th Edition

I did not go to bed at 9:30 PM on Friday night. That would mean that I do not have a life.

I did not sleep in on Saturday even though I went to bed early on Friday night.

I did not have Costco pizza for lunch three times last week.

I did not let the kiddos eat dinner at 9 Pm twice this weekend.

I did not convince my family to take me to CiCi's for Mother's Day lunch just so I could eat as many cinnamon rolls as I wanted.

I did not make muffins to give to a friend to take to a brunch she was hosting for pregnant homeless ladies and only give her half of them. I did not let my husband and kiddos eat the other half (nor did I eat two of them).

I did not dance the Snoopy dance twice last week when both N's soccer games were cancelled because of the rain.

What didn't you do??

Check out MckMama's blog where the original Not Me Monday began and then head over to my friend, Carlton's blog and check his out, too.

Not Me Monday Stellan's Home Edition

I did not break a part of my tooth off while eating Skittles.

I did not waste two hours the other night watching the movie Baby Mama with Rick.

I did not forget to change the sheets the other night after the 4 year old peed on them and let Rick sleep on that side.

I did not stay up until 2 AM last night, knowing I had to get up at 7 AM for early service this week.

I did not actually cut a title off of a piece of paper and actually tape it on to another piece of paper before I copied it because I could not figure out how to get a header on the newsletter I was creating in Word last night.

I did not laugh out loud when the four year old and his best friend were spinning each other in circles on the soccer field during a game Thursday. I was also not glad that his best friend's mom was videotaping it.

I did not feed the dog the bacon from my dad's plate after dinner on Friday because I thought he was finished when he really had just gone to answer the door.

I did not have a hard time dealing with Stellan being in the hospital even though he is not my child or even related to me. I did not check MckMama's blog or Twitter several times a day for updates.

I was not a little relieved when MckMama was not posting Not Me Monday's during Stellan's hospital stay. I had not been struggling with remembering to post on time or at all before that.

I did not tell my 4 year old son to "keep that thing in your pants" when he was starting to pull his pants down randomly. I was not aware that he was not wearing underwear for most of the afternoon.

What did you not do??

Check out MckMama's blog where it all began and maybe Carlton's. He took a Not Me Monday haitus, like me.

A Visit with the Orioles' Bird April 2009

Wednesday is Family Night at the local CFA. This week along with buy a combo, get a kiddo's meal FREE, the Oriole Bird was there. We arrived 15 minutes early to make sure we got to see him before things got crowded and crazy and he was 15 minutes late! The kiddos were pretty good while having to wait for the Bird and then waiting for Daddy to arrive after work before ordering dinner. But, it was worth it!

Anxiously awaiting the Bird's arrival


Noah and Mike (whom he affectionately calls Matt)


Mike, Kari and Noah - getting a bit bored while waiting for the Oriole Bird


What better way is there to pass the time then by taking close-ups of each other....




The Cow made an entrance wearing his ref gear. Noah had to give him a high five!


Getting the Bird's autograph


Posing for a picture


Rick even got his picture taken with the Bird

Easter Day - Easter 2009

Easter started pretty early for us as we attended the early service at LHC. Here are a few pictures of the morning....

Before the kiddos found the baskets the EB left for them






Apparently, Noah felt the Easter Bunny put the Webkinz in the wrong baskets! Luckily, he had a back-up plan (Hidden Tiger in the Closet)






The kiddos with their new Webkinz


How Harrison likes to spend his Easter morning












After church, the Schindlers and Matthews joined us for Easter dinner. We had a visit from some ducks and the kiddos had an egg hunt, but I do not have any photo footage of it. I am also not sure how I did not get any pictures of me, Cody or Josh?!

We had a really great Resurrection Day with a record attendance at LHC. Great service, awesome friends and fabulous food....who could ask for anything more??