Stupid mice

So, when I was pregnant with Rachie (4 years ago), we had mice get into our kitchen because the garbage can was under the sink. It took a few weeks to get rid of them all, and Steve patched up all the places he thought they may have come in from. The other day I saw that the bag of birdseed I have had under our kitchen sink for at least 2 years had been nibbled on. I didn't think much of it, because I haven't seen any signs of mice, I cleaned it up and figured it must have been a one time thing. Not so lucky. Just now I was downstairs watching TV and I could hear something rustling around in the kitchen. It sounds like it is behind the fridge, which means that either there is a hole somewhere back there or it came out from under the sink. I told Steve and he says he will set traps tomorrow. I am freaking out because that means I have to sit here all day knowing I have a mouse in my kitchen. GROSS!!! I didn't think that mice liked birdseed. I never would have kept it under there if I had known. I am tempted to find some sort of food and put it OUTSIDE so maybe the dumb mouse will stay out there instead of coming in my house. All I can say is that Steve better find and fill any place that looks like a hole a mouse might be able to get in through or I am calling a professional to come and take care of it.

Catching up

Phew! Crazy life has been at it again!

Nothing new and exciting to share with ya'll. Just been busy taking kids to sports practices, games, piano, church stuff and such. Becka had her last fencing class on Monday and now wants to do the intermediate one. It is clear over at Firstenburg, so I haven't decided what the plan is yet.

This weekend I get to go to the beach with Andrea, Dana, Erin, Afton and mom (Steve's mom). I wasn't so sure at first, but now I am really excited about it! All we need is Kerry and the fun would be complete! Next time you come out here Kerry, we are whisking you away!!

Oh, Rachie and Kylie have started their tumbling class. They like it, but Dana and I aren't super impressed with the way it is done. There are 12 kids in there and only one teacher. A lot of the stuff the teacher tells them to do isn't exactly age appropriate (telling them to stand still and quiet in a line and wait while she works with each kid one on one, expecting them to understand how to run an obstacle type course, stuff like that). They really need another teacher in there helping keep the kids who are waiting busy. But, the girls have fun and enjoy being silly together, so that is nice.

Other than that, my news is that tomorrow is my birthday! My mom, Grammie, Steve, the kids and I are having dinner at my mom's house (cafe rio, yum!) tomorrow evening. Melissa has the day off work, so after tumbling, she and I are gonna do some stuff together. Sounds like it will be fun!

Green Eggs and Ham

Yesterday all the 1st graders got to go to a Green Eggs and Ham breakfast! They each invited one guest. The school made a big deal out of not allowing younger siblings to be there, so I was afraid that Jake wouldn't be able to have anyone there with him. I couldn't find anyone to watch Rachel. Steve went into work late just so that I could go! What a nice guy!!!
Anyway, it was cute. The kids all got "Cat in the Hat" hats to wear, and sang songs about Dr. Seuss. The breakfast was catered by a local restaurant and sponsored by a few other places. We ate our green eggs and ham, orange juice, apples and fruit roll ups (Jake ate mine).

I won!

One of the message boards I belong to has a weekly graphics challenge. Each week, someone posts a picture and whoever wants to can alter it in any way they like. Then, we all vote on our favorite and the winner gets to choose the next picture. I have been participating for a couple of weeks, and really having fun. Well, last week, I won! Here is the original picture:

Here is what I did with it:



It was a lot of fun, and is encouraging, plus it helps me practice my photo editing for the business. I like it because it gives me variety in my pics...sometimes making things with only pictures I take is kind of boring!

It's the weekend!

Not much to report today. Everyone is pretty good. Rachel and Steve seem to be almost over their colds, and no one else (so far) shows signs of getting it.

Jake started soccer practice last week. He is excited about it. I am too. We haven't done spring soccer for him before, last year, he did t-ball instead. So, it is nice to be back with his team (Go Stingers!) and get some extra play time in. Between that and basketball, he will be in good shape! Becka has a few more weeks of fencing class, and then I am not sure what the plan is. She and I are looking for a tap class we can take together, but so far, everything is for adults or kids only. Both the older kiddos are having success in piano lessons. I am so grateful that I was able to find a way for them to get lessons. I was worried about paying for it, but the arrangement is working well so far. Rachie is starting her tumbling class next week. I don't know which is more exciting for her...going to the class, or knowing that Kylie will be there. She LOVES Kylie and asks to play with her (or Dana) every day. I am so happy that the kids have so many of their cousins close. I wish all of them could live here.

I have been just trying to keep up with life. I really need to clean up the office and my craft stuff. I think I need to whittle away at the amount of craft supplies I have. Most importantly, I HAVE to get moving on Jakey's scrapbooks. My goal was to have my kids' books done up to age 8 and on display at their baptisms. So far, I am only just past Jake's 2nd birthday! I have a lot of scrapping to do before October! This week, I am going to focus on trying to get things organized so that I can begin doing that. I also need to think about what I will be making for the bazaar next Fall. My tutus were fun, but a lot of work for something that didn't sell. I swore off the I Spy bags. I hate making those. Plus, I don't think that I actually make any money of of them. So, if anyone has any great ideas for me, please tell me!!!

My birthday is coming up and I am kind of excited about that. I am hoping that the kids make me cards and my mom usually makes me a yummy dinner and cake. I am buying myself the Twilight movie for my birthday! It doesn't come out until March 21st, but I am going to pre-order it. Several of the stores are offering different little "extras" for pre-orders, I just have to decide which one I want and where to order it. I am so excited!!!!

For recent pics, you can look at my Project 365 blog. I never put pics on here anymore. Need to be better about that!!

Poor neglected blog

I have been a very bad blogger this past month or so. I promise to try and do better at keeping up.
Life is pretty much the same, kids in school, me doing household and church stuff, and Steve busy with church and work. Becka has started fencing on Monday afternoons, Jake has basketball practice on Tuesday nights and starts soccer practice next week on Mondays. Rachie is going to start a tumbling class with Kylie next month on Tues/Thurs. Don't forget piano lessons on Tues/Thurs. That leaves us with our only day off being Friday. Jake has games on Saturdays, and for three weeks, his soccer and bball games will overlap. That should be interesting!
I have a YW lesson coming up on the 1st of March. It is on honoring your parents, but I am having a hard time finding any real connection with the lesson in the manual. It really doesn't seem to flow well, and is short and random. I am looking for other ideas and such to sort of supplement it, but not feeling very confident with what I am coming up with. I always get so nervous before teaching in YW. I feel like the girls just sit there and stare at me, bored to tears! My last lesson was fun because it was on marriage standards, so we talked about the kind of person they would like to marry, etc. This one is gonna be a toughie. I have been working on it for about a month now and still feel totally unprepared.
Steve and Rachie are sick right now. Hopefully it will stop with them so that the rest of us can avoid it! No fun!!!
I am being fairly good about keeping up with my Project 365 blog. Maybe that is why I haven't been posting here as much. I show what happened every day over there. Who knows? You should pop in every so often and see my pictures there! Some of them are really fun!

Tagged!

Yeah, I'm slow...sorry! Kerry tagged me. Here's my picture. It is of the first time Rachie slept in her toddler bed. We put it next to her crib and I let her try taking a nap in it after church one day. This is when she had just woken up and I was telling her how exciting it was that she had slept in her big girl bed. You can tell that she is pretty much still asleep, but she managed a small smile. :)

I tag: Angie, Kirsten, Linds and Robyn!

Here are the instructions
1) Go to your picture folder, or wherever you store your photos on your computer
2) Go to the sixth folder and pick the sixth picture
3) Post it on your blog and tell the story that goes along with the picture
4) Tag four friends to do the same thing