Weekend Wrap-Up

Whew!  Ever have one of those weekends that is just an absolute whirlwind of activity.  That was mine this weekend.  A flurry of fun activity - but speaking of flurries - the weather was FANTASTIC and there were no flurries!!

Top 10

10.  A clean house, purchased groceries, and laundry done and put away.  Best way to start a new week

9.  May's Meal Plan is complete!

8.  Pancake breakfast for "Imagine No Malaria."  Got to see the pancake man in action and Kevin got to catch pancakes.  I was glad the pancake guy picked "dad" and not "mom" to do the catching!

7. Tyler pitched for the first time and didn't hit anyone! (I didn't have my camera on Saturday so these are pics from this game last Wednesday... when it was MUCH colder!)

can you see the panic on his face?  Poor guy gets so nervous.

6.  AJ's first game of the season.  He loves his Cubbie uniform... NOT!

5. Helping with Discovery Weekend - preview of what junior high boys are like which is a reminder to embrace my current place in life with grade school boys.  :)

4. Unexpected dinner on Saturday with friends including some awesome homemade ice cream sandwiches.  (by homemade I mean home-assembled-purchased-cookies.  LOL)

3. A nice night out with some of my favorite ladies on Friday.

2. Gorgeous weather!  I mean seriously beautiful!!  Kind of reminded me of the weather we had on our wedding day which takes me to...

1. Celebrating our 12 year wedding anniversary on Sunday!!  Headed to Granite City after church for their awesome brunch and spent the day together - working around the house, watching the White Sox, and enjoying the weather!  I took a stroll down memory lane and here are some of my favorite memories from the big day...

My favorite picture of the two of us!

Precious, precious Jordynne.  She didn't walk down the aisle but how adorable is she!?!?

The party bus!  A little alone time with our closest friends.... and Grandpa Harold.  Grandpa snuck on the party bus!

Me and the Bros

This picture made me LOL as I remembered my entire wedding party trying to bustle my dress.  We attempted this after the party bus/trip to Jimmy's.  Thank goodness for cousin Trisha being sober -she finally figured out the puzzle!

A special picture for my blog-follower Grandma Jane!  A sweet Grandma-Grandson dance.

One of my best memories of this day.  I remember this conversation with Grandpa Harold like it was yesterday.  So thankful for my friend Margo for catching it on film.  :)

Making a Difference

Tyler has a "Making a Difference" project that is due next week.  We affectionately refer to this assignment as "the yellow packet."  The "yellow packet" has had several phases but as a last step he had to come up with a project to do that made a difference at home or in the community.  We had LOTS of ideas but finally landed on Backpack Buddies (a project close to my heart)!  Here are his pictures of him making a difference.  (Although... for what it's worth... he makes a difference in my world EVERY DAY just by being his kind-hearted goof-ball self!!)

 

Time to get the presentation ready....

 

 

 

 

What's AJ been up to you ask.... Just chillin' and chasing "women" (Kindergartners) at recess.  Apparently he chases a girl and sings Gangnam Style but, in his words, "I sing 'little' instead of 'sexy'" (Hey little lady....).  I told him it wasn't nice to chase girls but he informed me she smiles and laughs at him.  Of course she does.

 

 

An Independence Test

I've realized lately that my kids are capable of a lot more than I ask of them.  They are my babies so it's hard for me to wrap my arms around the fact that they are indeed becoming independent.  At least I'm realizing this now, right!?!?  I saw this post on Pinterest about Training Children to be Independent.  When I read it I actually laughed out loud and read through the list of things that Tyler "should" be able to do at age nine.  Oh how I would adore help in some of these areas that both boys "should" capable.  So....... this weekend I decided to test the list.... but I decided to start with one that Tyler would thing was fun! 

I now present - Tyler's first cake!  (Not made from scratch but not just a simple box recipe either.)  Here's the recipe for "Better Than Anything Oreo Cake."

NO Shells!!

 

Ta-DA!!

So Proud

The final touch - gotta make sure everyone knows who the chef was.