Is it over?

By the looks of this blog, you'd think that October was the most boring month! So not true! We have been so busy that I just haven't had time! Finally, Monday looked like it was going to be a true "day off." One that I really didn't HAVE to do anything. Well, then that changed to a trip to the zoo! I'd been promising the kids and I heard that it was supposed to be sunny and nice, so we just decided to go. So much for enjoying the day off! Oh, well, at least we enjoyed the day! We took Grandma with us. Grandma and I were pretty shocked at the end of the day when we were trudging up the long hill to the car and the boys are still running back and forth, in circles, for no reason. Energy is so wasted on the young.

Scrapbooking

Pictures just got posted of our Maranatha retreat. This is Mallory and Jaymi's daughter, Kendall. We really had the greatest time! But anyway, that's on another post! Just thought I'd pin the photo here!

Thought I'd post a shot of my Cubbies, too. These are the leaders I had this week: Raven (so totally amazing!!!), Kristi (quite gifted and picking up all the tricks!), Dad (the REAL expert!), and my newest addition, Mallory! She's filling in while Elizabeth is at play practice. She only gets to help when she passes two sections of her own, so that has certainly spread enthusiasm in working on her AWANA verses!!

My poor dad...

I got a call from my dad this morning. Mom had already gone to work and she forgot to shut down the computer before she left and storms are on the way. No problem; I'll walk you through it. Press the start button. Nope, no good. Okay, try using the mouse to press the start button. Oh, that whirlygig thing?... So lesson one begins with the mouse, the cursor and the mouse buttons. It has to be on the desk to work, no, don't point with it, move it around on the desk... on the mouse pad. See how the arrow moves? Oh, wow. Mom learned so much while I was there and is now moving right along without me. Dad? No way. Would it have killed you to watch a couple things? He wants his own email account for his super secret deacon messages, but what good is it if Mom has to print it out? Would it be so tough to learn how to retrieve your own email??

Anyhoo... since it's been so long, I should probably tell any readers I have left what we've been up to. It really hasn't been much but life in general, but with AWANA back on Wednesday nights, life in general gets a little hairy. My cake business has also picked up since we got in the house, which is good, but it forces school to be a bit more flexible yet! Fortunately, I have a reporting teacher who is very encouraging about school working in and around life. She's really fun. She has a son just like my Matthew, so she knows how challenging it can be. She came to our crop at the church on Saturday, too. Good grief!! Now I know why she understands Matthew's attention span!! I thought she'd focus more when her granddaughter went to sleep... nope! Of course, our church van blew up so the youth group descended upon us, which gave her something else to do. I lost Mallory to them, too. Oh, well. Jaymi and I were moving right along. We just returned from Maranatha Bible Camp and a weekend of cropping, so we were motivated and excited!! I finished 2004!!! Then, this weekend, I got up to Easter of 2005!! Mallory had a lot of fun at Camp. She received prizes for being the youngest cropper there, and also did her darling act and also received several "Here, dear, I'm never going to use this" items. She can't help it. She is darling! She entered two pages in the page contests, but actually figured out on her own that it really depends on how many friends you brought with you to vote for you! She really amazed me, though. I did a couple dramas out there, and it takes everything I can muster to get behind the microphone. She was working on a page which really needed a pink button, so I told her to go look around for one. There were 99 people there, for crying out loud, surely one has a pink button. Next thing I know, she's on the microphone asking if anyone has a small pink button. Wow. Not me. Not unless I have to. But we've already found that none of these kids are me. Too funny.

Okay, I still have a cake to do for this afternoon, along with school and Cubbies! Have a great one and hope to be back again in October!!

All for coming to my wedding...

Aunt Jenny got all married yesterday. She gave out some really neat prize packages to the kids. Play-doh, colors, a bendy guy... neat stuff. She also had personalized coozies and home made carmel apples at the reception. She just always thinks of the best details.

Her dress was stunning and so Jenny. She said her dad had the final say on which one. It was perfect. Her hubby is the oldest of five: the two boys and three girls. The girls were all bridesmaids and his brother was the best man. When it came time for the rings, we all wondered if the ring bearer might not have done better. He didn't actually lose them, but they were chucked far enough down in his inside coat pocket that he started getting a bit nervous, as did we!! The service really made us appreciate Pastor Norm all over again!! I do know we have the best preacher in the whole world, but sometimes you take that for granted and need reminding. We were actually wondering if this was this guy's first wedding. He didn't seem to know any of the lines and forgot who the Third Person is in a marriage. Actually had to look at his notes for that one. I'm shocked at how few notes and how few times Pastor Norm looks at any notes he does use. You can tell when it's from the Spirit. Thanks again, PN!!

And CONGRATULATIONS to my lovely Jenny!!!

Character

...and don't we all need more of that? I told Matthew no one ever sees this, but I'm not sure he was convinced. Sorry the pictures are so poor, but I was having to sneak them in. There was a time he was hanging upside down from the ledge, but not even this shutterbug was fast enough to get that one. I called Mom for the video camera, but she was busy. I was just sure this was a $10,000 or even a $100,000 moment. I made Hot Bean Casserole, and it wasn't quite as bad as I remember as a kid. Actually, it kinda grows on you. Anyway, I couldn't find any Butter Beans, which are the ones that really invoked the gag reflex in me, but I was only checking WalMart. I can look at Norman's on Thursday. They have everything, you know! Anyway, Mallory was quite the trooper and I could tell she kinda liked it, too. Morgan choked it down, but not in the allotted time to receive the cake and ice cream reward, but hey... it got down! I think Matthew's is in the fridge for breakfast. Hmmm... even I didn't think it was good enough to save for breakfast.

It was a happy birthday

One might ask if I got my birthday off work, and I might be inclined to say "YES!" I went to the bakery, which is time I really enjoy. It also makes me enjoy coming home to my family a little more!!

Another neat little early birthday gift was a win for my Cyclones! Pretty exciting to see a Cyclone win on the front page of the Omaha World Herald instead of the Huskers. I hear the Huskers didn't do so well Saturday, but more of them did show up for the last quarter. That was nice for them. The Cyclones won the big Iowa/Iowa State game, which is a big deal for us. We've never had an outstanding year that I can recall, but we always do tend to pull off a surprise or two!

I was also hoping to have a picture of Mallory's cake by now, but the one on my camera didn't turn out. Mom took hers to WalMart yesterday, so I might have something to post tomorrow.
All for now! Time for another 29th birthday to come to a close. I was informed by a friend that I may be off a few years, because she's only 29 and I'm surely ten years younger than her! I love people who understand me! There are so few...

Surprise!! Happy Birthday!!

Surprise!! Party's at your house!!
Oh, my!!
It all started simply enough. We were going to have a small party at Grandma Rose's with a cake made by Mallory. I didn't know that, but I was supposed to remember that they were taking me out for dinner. That took some plan rearranging, but nothing we couldn't handle. Then Pa Rose didn't come home from the hospital as planned, so we went there to say hi to him. We pulled up just as Aunt Mary and the kids were pulling up, and then met up with Uncle Paul and Aunt Judy in the room. Hmmmm...
Well, Michael and I went home afterwards, but Mallory had to go fetch the cake and we decided to bring it here to eat it. So she went with Grandma to get the cake, and slowly everyone started showing up here. Now normally, Grandma cleans my house before something like this, but she hadn't so this really took me by surprise. It was really all supposed to happen at Grandma Rose's, but she hadn't even been home long enough to do anything but take a shower and feed her kitties, so it landed here. Oh, well. I'm not the worst housekeeper in the world, but I'm sure in the running. At least one dining room table was available for eating. The boys were happy with the PlayStation and Elena was happy tormenting the kitties, so we had a good time!!