Last week before school

Things have been really crazy this week and will continue being crazy for the next couple of weeks!
Last Thursday, the school had a cleanup day, then a cookout for the teachers. We have had family "get-togethers", and pitch in dinner and food pounding for the new principal of our school. Today I am planning on going over to the school to prepare & clean the classroom if needed. There is a staff meeting this week and a parent/teacher meeting on Friday night. Then for the next two weeks, I will be substitute teaching first grade. (The new first grade teacher is a missionary and won't be arriving until later). Thankfully my mother in law has graciously offered to keep Ryan. So if you don't mind, please pray for me that I will keep my head and be a blessing to the students and the new teacher. Here are a few belated pictures.... Justin and Jonathan in the mud after the water fight (pictures on previous blog... the water fight turned into this!), and some more pictures from Justin's August 4th birthday. We took him to Golden Corral for lunch and then, at his request, to Mr. Gatti's to play the games. As you can tell, the loss of his birthday cake (see last post) didn't leave him very deprived.

What a mess! A Happy Birthday Boy

Jonathan posed just for youRyan - a rare photo opportunity. He usually won't look at the camera

I think Daddy enjoyed the games just as much!

The Great Birthday Cake Disaster

Justin's birthday was on Saturday August 4. I can hardly believe that my cute little bundle has already grown up to be such a handsome big boy!

Here is my birthday boy age 7
(please excuse the red-eye... don't have time to fix it)
Here is a picture of his "treasure chest" birthday cake filled with candy treasures

Here is the "culprit" who pulled the cake off the counter into the floor. This was NOT how he reacted. He cried and said "I broke the cake!"

Here is a picture of the smashed cake after the boys "pilfered" the candy treasures from the inside
(Notice... the only thing left in the middle of the cake is the plastic wrap I had placed there to keep the cake clean and a few lonely straws I used to support the cake). It was so hard to throw that cake away. Even though I allow my boys to eat frog legs (see previous post), we do not eat cake off the kitchen floor.

Here is a picture of how my face might have looked (this is a very bad acting job). Imagine the world "NO-O-O-O-O-O-O" in slow motion... maybe that will help)
This is how I felt, but I made myself comfort the poor remorseful child who felt so bad that he had ruined the cake

Justin was not too upset. He had been asking me all day "Can I look at the cake?. I want to eat a piece of that candy in the middle". So the boys had fun "stripping" the inside of the cake (what was not on the floor) of all the treasures. Thankfully I had made a small lemon cake to go with so he was still able to blow out his candles when we went over to my in-laws' house.

I will end this post for now and next time I plan to add more pictures from Justin's birthday.

Early August happenings

I have been trying to stay home lately as much as possible. Sometimes, I think I could like being a hermit! Here are some pictures of some "happenings" here at home....

Water fight in the back yard! Muddy water! They had a kiddie pool, but being the rambunctious boys they are it is no longer serviceable (it has holes). So we are using the sandbox as a replacement.

I kept hearing a muffled "Mommy" and this was what I found in my dryer.... The door was shut but he was smiling

This is a picture of my "beloved" garden produce.. a zucchini. There are plenty more where that came from and I am planning on freezing some of them since I already made several loaves of zucchini bread, casserole, ect... I also have tomatoes but they aren't blog picture material because they just aren't big enough to brag about. I am hoping to get enough to do some canning this year.

Justin and Jonathan earlier (before the water fight). Justin has his very own home-made bow and arrow. He is really proud because his "arrow"(which is a stick) shoots all the way across the yard. Jonathan is a gun-lover. He wishes his was real but I don't want any dead children.

Riding bikes at a nearby park

And this is for my blogger friends who won't cook wild "critters". I love this one because Justin is waving "bye bye" to the FROG LEGS he helped to cook. Yes, you read correctly! And "gigged" by my own dear husband just for his little muchkins to eat.

and a close-up for your viewing ENJOYMENT :-)