Too Quiet

It's just me and the dog tonight. Kurt is in Rock Island overnight on business. I'm not used to him being gone. I miss him. I'm pathetic. I need to go cuddle my dog. (He HATES that!)

Pikmin cake

ACT results

Alex & Nicky

Spring Flowers

A BIG Day

It's been a big day around here! We are celebrating Nicky's city birthday today. His actual birthday is Thursday and he'll be on the farm that day. He's turning 12. We had an early afternoon of opening 2 presents so he would have a chance to play before dark. Alex gave him roller blades and we gave him a helmet. The rest of the presents will be later this afternoon when we have the party featuring Chicago style pizza and a Pikmin cake. I did a kick ass job on it if I do say so myself (plus I got spontaneous compliments from all the kids)(Although Alex is disgruntled because the frosting isn't done in perfect thirds).
Fred got his ACT scores back today. He did awesome!!! We are very proud of him and are feeling somewhat better about the kids' educations. He got a composite score of 31! I think he was impressed too.
Another big thing is I cleaned...no make that scrubbed...the bathroom. I should really be more diligent about it.
We stopped at an estate tag sale. I got a SOCK MONKEY!!! I am thrilled. Christy got a flat of stuff for 50 cents which included a plumed (or plummed as my brother-in-law, Todd, would say) pen. Kurt got some old dusty books to add to our collection of old dusty books.
Tonight we are going to see Sweeney Todd with my dad, and our friends, Kevin and Teresa. It'll be nice to get out.

And Then There Were Five

Adding to the chaos last night was another child. A small child. A busy child. A loud and occasionally smelly child. We watched my friend Bale's 16 month old son, Marcus, overnight. Lewis was NOT happy about having someone his size around that made weird noises and kept picking up his toys. All the kids enjoyed having Marcus around...right up until it was time to go to bed. That's when he started crying and screaming and Christy declared he was "annoying".
Today is lazy day around here. Homework for everyone. It's raining out, yet the neighbors are putting up their fence (which they didn't do last week when it was sunny and 70).
Kurt is going to make a pecan pie today, because he is always disappointed in the ones he orders. He's been assured that we have real vanilla and real butter.

Horrifying!

I just spent a HORRIFYING amount of money at Wal-Mart. I probably should have gone to Fareway, but they aren't open at 6 a.m. Since I was up at that ungodly hour I was going to get the grocery shopping done. On the plus side, the trunk was full and I had stuff in the backseat. Plus, I did get a turkey breast and a portion of Nicky's birthday gift. Another thing I bought was a bottle of tums....since Magoo ATE the entire bottle we had. When I left for class last night I didn't close the French doors that go upstairs. An hour and half later when Kurt came home from work, he heard scrambling. It was Lewis trying to get downstairs before we noticed he'd been up there. So Magoo had a lovely afternoon of devouring tums, shredding Kleenex, and chewing underwear. Nice.

Time Flies

It's been a busy week! I can't believe it's Thursday already, but I'm so glad it is. We aren't going ANYWHERE this weekend! Whew. I am exhausted. Kurt's brother, Greg, is going to bring us more treasures from Grandma's house Saturday night. Other than that it is naps, homework (for me and the kids), and hopefully some weeding and spring cleaning.

Lewis got groomed on Monday. He is seriously half the dog he was. They charged me $3 extra for the extra hair. I think the lady was afraid I wouldn't pay it. It was worth way more than that.

Fred passed his Math assessment for the GED. I had first day of school angst dropping him off for class. I packed him a little snack and made sure he had everything he needed. I chose not to press my luck so I didn't make him pose for a "1st day of school" picture.

Kurt's had super early work all week and I've been incredibly busy, too. We did however go out for a couple of hours last night. We went to a pretty pathetic drag show with my wonder twin and two other friends. We played some darts and had some laughs (mostly at the bad drag). Living la Vida Loca is forever ruined for Kurt's karaoking now.

I need to lay in supplies for the weekend sometime. I'm in need of something new to feed the hungry masses. The cupboards are getting bare!

Come to Jesus

I was so mad I was shaking! We had a come to Jesus meeting with the kids today regarding education, respect, and responsibility. Don't get me wrong, they are great kids 98% of the time, but the other 2%......

( As a side note, since becoming a bonus mom, I've apologized to my parents for my behavior as a child and thanked them for allowing me to live). Anyhoo, the children will now be doing their homework Saturday mornings before they get TV, computer, or free time. They will be doing it at the dining room table, and they will be completing it to OUR satisfaction not theirs.

I took half a day of vacation to work on a school project. I'm waiting for Kurt to get home to help me since it involves math. He and 3 of 4 kids have gone on errands. Fred is getting in driving practice while Christy and Nicky are looking at new bikes (once they arrive at their destitination). I answered a post on www.freecycle.org offering bikes that are their size.

Alex had a great party. He got roller blades, a helmet, knee, elbow and wrist guards from us. My parents got him a Harry Potter book, Fred gave him a Lord of the Rings video game, and Christy gave him a dollar. My grandpa also gave him some cash. As Gramp says "it's always the right size and color."

Party Day

Sometimes this blog infuriates me! I just lost everything when I went to allow pop ups so I could use the spell check. Ugh.

Anyway. We are celebrating Alex's 15th birthday later today (much to his dismay..he just asked when it starts). He wanted birthday brownies and Chicago style pizza. Well, I got the brownies made and frosted and managed to locate unexpired pizza coupons.

Kurt took Nick and Christy to swim lessons, Fred is out at the college taking his ACT and I'm avoiding vacuuming and dusting. I should also be working on a school project. Alex is being King of the Day apparently.

I spent the morning watching the Royal Wedding. It was cool because I've been to the town of Windsor, the castle, and St. George's Chapel where the blessing took place. I remember there being thousands and thousands of daffodils everywhere. When I got home I decided to plant lots of daffodils too. I've moved since then but I have quite a number of them naturalized into the lawn/garden here. I see some of them have bloomed in the past few days. Christy was out sniffing them last night. I think I'll pick a few and bring them in for the party.

Can't Sleep

I can't sleep. Kurt is snoring away, which is good, because he has early meetings in the morning. I'm going into work early, too, but I'm more of a night owl. I had a late lunch and no supper so now my tummy is upset too.

Another WONDERFUL thing happened yesterday! Our neighbors to the left (whose large dog takes large craps in our yard) have decided to put in a 6' wooden privacy fence. Thank goodness! They just saved us a whole bunch of money we didn't have! The surveyors and line finder guys have already been out and measured. We're soooooo excited we can barely contain ourselves!!

Nicky's birthday is coming up soon. I made the mistake of asking what he wanted for a cake. He wants pikman. I'm not even sure what that is, but I know that neither hyvee or target make cakes with it on there. I have to think of how to do it. He may just get the blue, yellow, and red colors that he wants. HELP!!

A Perfect Day

Today was about as close as you can come to a perfect day. The weather was warm and sunny. It's Tuesday, so it's my day off. I had class tonite including a test. Dr. K let us go after the test! Awesome! Plus, as an extra special added bonus, Kurt worked virtual today!! We had a whole day together with no kids and minimal class. Incredible. I grilled out Iowa Chops for lunch (a day with meat is always awesome too!) I had a nap (gotta love that!). The laundry is mostly caught up, the dishes are mostly done, and the house is reasonably clean. If I get crab legs for supper I will be in a state of bliss!

I'm upset. Earlier in the week a prong broke off of my amethyst ring Kurt gave me for Christmas. Stupidly, I kept wearing it. Before bed last night I noticed that the stone was gone. I got upset and started to cry a little. Kurt was very practical and said, "well, you know what that means....." (I didn't but I guessed, "new ring??") It was just a back up ring after all. I still liked it and will miss it though. It was the first ring he ever gave me.

On a side note, I am really liking this blog thing! It got started with my sister's friend, Jen www.hansenhappenings.blogspot.com. Marnie, my sister, sent me Jen's link so then I had to have one. Since, I have one, Marnie then decided to do it too! Hers is www.allisonavenue.blogspot.com! It's pretty cool to be able to easily see what's going on with family and friends.

Comedy

Saturday,I am cooking lunch and Nick comes through the kitchen with a walkie talkie. Not too unusual. He stops and asks what I'm making. Not unusual. I reply "roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn casserole." (ok, slightly unusual). He then radios to the basement, "uh....chicken and potatoes...lunch doesn't appear to be ready. Over." Pure comedy!

Dad and Christy say "Hello"

Horse Sale

Today Christy, Dad, and I went to the Horse Sale. Christy adores horses. We thought it would be a good chance for her to get to see and maybe pet some. We saw work horses, miniture horses, ponies, and burros as well as riding horses. We watched the auction for a while then perused the tack.

Tomorrow is Dad's birthday so he opened presents while we finished lunch. Nick and Christy had swim lessons this morning and Fred is doing driving practice this afternoon. It's pretty nice outside so I believe some yard clean-up in on the schedule, too. Luckily, I have homework to do.

Today's lesson: Quarter Pounders with cheese are bad news. I feel yicky now. We still haven't put all the books away from installing the carpet. I have a suitcase, and 3 rubbermaids left to reshelve, plus all my scrapbooking stuff. I've freed up a rubbermaid which Kurt is commendering for his own devices (none of which sound like sorting through his crap in the garage).