Deal of the Century

I love garage sale shopping because there is nothing better than finding a great deal. The hunt and the adventure is so fun. This morning I found the deal of the century. I bought a huge box of Legos for $2. Anyone who has ever been in the market for Legos knows that they are not cheap and they retain their value so even used Legos sell for a ton of money. I almost felt guilty giving the cute little boy only $2, but that's the price he told me. (I guess the kid didn't know he could sell them on Craig's List for 10-20 times that amount) Blake about died when I brought them home.

I also got several other great deals on clothes, a wet suit for Mike, golf clubs for Blake, etc etc, but the Lego deal trumps all.

Thank you little boy for making my little boy the happiest guy around.

Facebook Overwhelms Me, but I like making jam.

Facebook is a bit overwhelming to me. I fall into the category of "lame friend" who doesn't keep in touch with my friends as much as I should and so going on facebook only reminds me of my inadequacies. Like...oh she had a baby and I should send her something, or ohhhh she got married and I need to send her a card, or oh she is coming to town and I need to schedule a time to meet her, or oh she is off for the summer so we should go to lunch....etc etc. This is why I don't really "facebook" much. I love people and I love friends but i really am lame. Please know that if you are my friend i really do love you, I'm just lame, very very lame.

Now onto other things. I have only ever made strawberry freezer jam. But even strawberry jam gets kind of boring right? My friend told me that you can make cooked jam without having to can it by simply turning the containers upside down after you fill them. So last night we made our first ever cooked blackberry jam. Yum. I also want to try mango jam.

Dads

Today I feel very blessed.

I am grateful for a good father who was wise, loving, pragmatic, smart, talented with his hands, and who always had his priorities in the right place. I am grateful for all he taught me in the 21 years I was able to spend with him. I owe so much of who I am to him. He always expected each of us to do and be our best.

I am grateful that my children also have such a wonderful father. He is soooooo good with them. They really are lucky to have such an amazing father, and I'm thankful too. He never feels put out by them and loves to make them laugh.

Happy Father's Day (a day late)

Can I help it??

Can I help it that I find this oh so hilarious? Sometimes my cute little boy has to "try on" various projects that I am sewing for friends and family to ensure proper fit. I promise that I will try to not blackmail him with these pictures when he is a teenager. Hey at least I left him topless rather than completing the look with a pink shirt.

Children

Motherhood is the best AND hardest job I've ever had. When it has been an especially long day I think of my sister's mantra about how it is "long days and short years". I can't help but smile when I look at these pictures because they remind me what it's all about.
Run and be free

Have a picnic on top of the trash cans

Steal all your sibling's toys

Dance around in your "pretty dress"

Don't be afraid to be messy!!!

The only thing worse

A while back I confessed my library issue. Well the only thing worse than the humiliation of writing the library a check for over $30 for overdue books last week was going to the library today and having the man tell me that I could not check out books because I still owed them $39. Ummmmm I don't think so. I very firmly told him that I did not owe the library ANY money because I had already paid them. HE then asked me to provide a receipt of the transaction. I'm the crazy lady with 3 unruly kids, do you really think I save my receipts. He was very flustered because I'm not sure he really believed me but he eventually let me check out my books. I told him that I didn't ever want to see that charge show up again because I had already paid for it. After I left I called Mike and he looked up the check online. Sure enough they had not yet cashed the check, but you can bet that when they do I will be taking a copy of the cancelled check back to them.
hmmmmm it's like serving jail time and then being sent back to jail for the same crime.

The perfect date

oh mountain biking how I enjoy thee so.

oh mountain biking with Mike how I enjoy thee so.

Oh mountain biking in early summer when all the wildflowers are in full bloom how I enjoy thee so.

Mountain biking is one of my favorite things to do with Mike. It is fun, challenging, beautiful, technical, exhilirating, free and a great workout. We both really like it. It's a shame that we don't go more often...but alas 3 children make it hard to escape. :)

Apparently I didn't get the memo

Last week we walked into Blake's preschool "graduation" and Blake was wearing a typical Blake outfit, Batman shirt and camo shorts. Apparently I didn't get the memo that said that preschool graduation was a "special event". All of his little friends were wearing very nice clothes, suits, ties, frilly dresses, hair all done up. Some parents brought bouquets of flowers for their "grad". And then there was my child in all of his batman glory. Nice. I was a little mortified that my child was ghetto fabulously dressed but it was funny. Come on what are we really celebrating with preschool graduation anyway? I think the whole concept is kind of ridiculous, but alas my child can now proudly put on his resume that he "graduated" from preschool.

Baby Back Ribs for my Baby

Just because no one thinks we actually eat meat, here are some pictures from Mike's birthday dinner last week. Of course I must confess that I didn't actually touch the ribs. Mike put them in the oven early in the morning and I had my mother's helper baste them after they were done. But I did make homemade rolls and a yummy german chocolate cake. I just think that eating ribs is so barbaric, all the gnawing,tearing, and nibbling off the bone.

Happy Birthday Baby. :)

p.s. why does my stamp date on my pictures say that it is the year 2048? How do I fix this?