Chores

There is a new super hero in our home and her name is Tuna Girl.  Tuna doesn't want to be called  by her real name to protect her hidden identity, but her under-cover name begins with the letter A.  Tuna Girl came into being this morning when I asked everyone to pitch in a help pick up the house which had reached new levels of clutter and mess. Tuna Girl discovered that by placing the wrapping from cans of tuna on each wrist she obtained super powers.

Tuna Girl spends her time saving homes from the attack of various enemies.  Today, she save us from the dreaded cleaning supplies.  Cleaning supplies are poisonous and need to be used carefully and then locked up in the prison above our linen closet.  Tuna created a sparkling clean bathroom and managed to capture and lock up the bad chemicals.

Her next assignment was to collect all scraps of paper that lie on the floor waiting to trip innocent civilians as they go about their daily lives.  There were a lot of scraps from packing up glassware and from school work.  Not only did Tuna Girl collect the scraps, she took them outside and placed in the big green penitentiary to be carted away next week!

Some of the other activities that Tuna Girl completed were collecting dirty laundry and  corralling it into the laundry room, shaking out the throw rugs that were harboring toxic dust bunnies, taking the vagrant smelly shoes to safe lock-ups thereby saving humanity from the stench of yesterdays gym shoes, reuniting lost  drinking glasses and silverware back with their families in the cupboard and drawer.

Tuna Girl wanted to give her sister a super hero name also.  Her sister was cleaning hair out of the roller of the vacuum.  Tuna Girl thought that a great name for her sister would be "Hair Ball".  While I found the name highly entertaining, Tuna Girl's sister did not.  Hair Ball will not be making any appearances in the near future.  In fact, Hair Ball has publicly stated that Tuna Girl and I need to "get out of the house and get a REAL life." 

I loved having Tuna Girl her for the morning and hope that she returns again soon. 

Mother's Day

Sunday was a fabulous day!  My family members were so sweet and everyone did something special to make it a wonderful day.  I woke up before everyone and was enjoying the early morning quiet.  Paige came downstairs first and prepared a cup of coffee for me.  Katie surprised me with fresh flowers, two outdoor pieces of pottery for burning insect repelling oil, coffee, and a Payday candy bar before heading off to work.

Amy took me out for a delicious lunch at Matt and Mike's restaurant.  Matt and Mike's servers delicious burgers and fries.  She also gave me two blueberry bushes to plant at the project house.  After lunch, everyone headed over to the project house for a couple of hours.  I did some unpacking, while Mike worked on Amy's bedroom.  Amy and the other children did yard work.  The apple trees were so beautiful!  The back yard grass is so tall! Amy did a little mowing and tried to hide the snakes that she discovered from me. 

While we were gone, Madelyn, Paige and Allie stayed home to work on a surprise.  When we returned, they showed me that evening's dessert.  The girls created an Edible Arrangement for me.  For the last couple of weeks, Paige and Allie have kept commenting on how beautiful the fruit looked in the commercials.  I explained that the arrangements were beautiful, but that they were also very expensive.  So with a little help from Madelyn, they cut and dipped fruit to make me a one-of-a-kind treat.

When we returned home, Mike started making dough for Chicago-style deep dish pizza.  Steve gave me a gift of Hershey's chocolate syrup (to represent how sickly-sweet is his love for me), a Reese's candy bar, and the Duck Dynasty season 1 DVD.



I called my mom to wish her a happy Mother's Day and spoke with her for almost an hour,  While I was on the phone, Paige handed me a slip of paper with directions.  Mom and I ended our call and I read the directions.  It was a clue for a letterbox that Paige and Allie had planted for me.  I located the box and was thrilled to discover that there was a bonus box!  Paige explained to me that the girls wanted me to be able to do something that I really love to do on Mother's Day, so they planted boxes for me.  Paige and Allie put so much thought into their surprise.  These are my two favorite boxes of all time.

Mike and the other children gave me a pair of Birkenstock sandals that were on my wish list.  I love how comfortable Birkenstock sandals feel, but feel guilty even considering spending the money on a pair.  The cork in my old pair finally died at the end of last year.  Mike also discovered that he can get my old pair fixed for $30! 

It was a lovely day that was filled with surprises and treats.  I'm so thankful for my loving, generous family. 

Pollen and Seeds

Poor Madelyn and Paige have been miserable for the last several days.  Runny eyes and noses, head-aches, and sneezing has become their constant companions.  Friday and Saturday, Madelyn spent several hours in bed because she was so ill.  When I looked out the window this morning, I saw why they have been so sick.

The walkway and drive are full of seeds from our maple trees.

 All of our vehicles were covered with a visible dusting of pollen.  Amy had to use a brush to clean off her car.

Seed mulch is probably not a good idea.

The seeds remind me of snow drifts on the roof.

Prom

My youngest son's girlfriend is a year older than he.  Marley is a lovely girl who runs cross country and track and is a little bit shy.  In other words, she's a lot like Joe.  A few months ago, Joe asked her if she wanted to go to prom.  Because she's a junior, they could both attend prom.  Marley said that she had no desire to go to prom.  Marley is a little indecisive, so Joe asked her again 6 weeks ago and a month ago.  She declined.  Three weeks ago, Joe asked her again and said that this was the last time he was going to ask her.  She declined.

Eight days before prom, Joe received a phone call from Marley.  She had changed her mind and wanted to go to prom.  The last day to purchase tickets was the following day.  Joe entered the family room with the phone in his hand and told me that Marley wanted to attend prom.  I was floored. 

We're in our final push to finish the project house and move.  We need to come up with over $600 for cheer leading by the end of the month.  We only have one car.  My mind was spinning as I thought and stated all the expenses:  tux rental, flowers, tickets, dinner, transportation.  I looked at my son and said in an exasperated tone, "I hate Marley.  How could she do this to me?"

Joe looked at me with terror in his eyes and made frantic motions with his hands.  Marley was still on the phone!


As soon as I realized that she quite possibly overheard my remarks, I asked Joe to tell Marley that I don't hate her, but she has thrown me for a loop.  Marley mentioned that she KNEW that she had changed her mind very late.  Her parents had told her that Joe had every right to NOT take her to the prom.  Before she called, her parents had said that they would pay for the tickets (which included dinner) and would provide transportation to and from the prom.

Marley laughed at my comment and wasn't upset at all.  She told Joe that he should give both his parents a hug when he got off the phone.  She also said that if he had a suit, he could wear that instead of renting a tux.  Unfortunately, Joe doesn't currently own a suit.

We priced tux rental and decided that it would make more sense to purchase Joe a suit.  Mike headed off to Kohl's the following day and didn't find any suits in Joe's size that weren't more that $300, which we felt was too much to spend since he's still growing.  Mike's next stop was at J. C, Penney, where the clearance rack contained a tux in Joe's size for $5.00.  It was missing one button.  We purchased buttons for $1.75.  My 16-year old son owns his very first tux!  What a great deal!

Marley's mom ordered two dresses for her to try last Saturday.  By Thursday, they still hadn't arrived.  When I asked Joe about her dress, he said that he wasn't going to worry about it.  She would pull together something before Saturday.


The prom was Saturday and the happy couple looked so sweet.  Marley's dress arrived on Friday.  The weather was quite nippy, but they had a good time.

 

Karate Tournament

Paige and Allie competed in the spring karate tournament in Lansing.  This is their first competition with the more advanced students.  Several parent's had told me that very few students receive trophies at the older levels.  Usually one child wins every event in their division.

Their first event was Three Escapes.  The students had to create 3 different ways to escape from an attacker.  Each competitor needs a partner to demonstrate their escapes.  Paige and Allie decided to be each others partners.  The idea was good, because the girls are similar in size and they could practice at home.  Unfortunately, each girl's event was called at the same time on opposite sides of the competition floor.  The girls coach talked to each set of judges who shifted the order of the competitors, so the girls could leave their ring and partner with each other.  Most of the competitors escaped from weapons.  My girls haven't worked with weapons yet.  Neither girl received a trophy, but learned what to expect next tournament.

The second event was Kata.  Paige won a first place trophy.   Allie didn't win a trophy, but was happy for Paige.

The next event was weapons.  Neither girls participated in that event.  The board breaking event followed. 

Allie bowing to the person holding her board.

Paige getting ready to strike the board.

 Paige won a first place trophy and Allie won a third place trophy.  I was so glad that one girl didn't go home empty-handed. 

Paige receiving her trophy for board breaking.

Allie receiving her trophy for board breaking.

 The final event was sparring, which is where two competitors fight with each other.  Neither of my girls have sparred before.  Allie discovered that some of her molars are trying to come through and her gums were swollen, so her mouth guard hurt.  She decided not to spar.  Paige wanted to try sparring.

Paige in full sparring gear.

Paige in the match that she won.  She ended up finishing in 4th place.

Tuesday Climbing

Allie loves to climb.  She will miss the tire swings when we move.

As You Know

Yesterday, Mike was working on the plumbing at the project house.  There was a knock at the door.  A 9-year old boy, who was holding a rake asked if he could do some yard work to earn some money.  It was a little bit surprising to have someone come to the door, because the house looks empty.  Mike explained that he had children who would be helping with the yard work.  The boy tried to look around inside the house to see the children. 

Mike told us about the boy at dinner and mentioned that the boy had a great spiel.  The boy's first words were, " As you know Mother's Day is coming up."  I wish we could have hired him, because the boy really put some thought into how to get customers. 

Mowing the Lawn

Mike fixed the lawn mower and Joe was mowing our front yard, when someone (Rob) stopped his car and asked Joe if he would like to earn some money mowing Rob's yard.  The mower ran out of gas and Joe asked Mike to purchase some more gas for the mower.   Mike ran to the gas station while I got ready to go to Menard's with him to purchase some plumbing supplies.

When Mike and I drove off, Joe was pouring the gas into the lawn mower.  When  we returned from the store, the lawn was still 1/2 mowed.  While we were unloading the SUV, Joe came home from mowing Rob's lawn.  It's always nice to see a child have a strong desire to work, but I had hoped that he would finish our lawn first.

Joe worked on the front lawn for awhile, then Madelyn asked if she could have a turn mowing.  She just came to the door to ask Mike to come look at the mower.  She think she broke it.  I don't know if my lawn will ever get finished. :)

Big Week Ahead at the Project House

Mike has taken a weeks vacation to work at the project house and hopefully pull the remaining "must do" jobs so that we can move.  There will still be some things to do, but it will be easier once we live there.  Having one car has made it difficult for me to get as much done as I would like.

Saturday, Amy, Joe and I worked on painting the ceiling in the entry hallway.  Mike decided to hang new drywall there, so this is the second time we've painted it.  We also burned a lot of brush, did a little tree trimming (thanks Steve!) and moved the swing set.  Paige and Allie were supposed to pick up the few remaining shingles from the new roof, but discovered some bees or wasp nests in the ground near where the shingles lay.  The younger girls were frightened by the bees, so that job will be put off until we kill off the nests.  I used up a bottle of window cleaner and a roll of paper towels cleaning some of the main floor windows.  Yuck!  it's always shocking how nasty people let their windows get.  More Windex and paper towels have been added to my shopping list for later this week.

We're trying to eat out of the freezer and panty in preparation for the move.  Shrimp, fries, and broccoli for lunch with frozen yogurt for dessert.  Chicken breasts with broccoli pasta and salad for dinner with strawberry smoothies for desert.  We're certainly getting spoiled with frozen treats!

The water is getting turned on today.  After checking for any leaks, we will be able to close in the plumbing and install the tile in the main floor bathroom.  I'll be so happy to have water at the project house again to clean floors, etc.  No more hauling paint brushes and trays between the houses! 

Easy Children's Paper Wall Art Project

My younger girls love to do crafts with me.  We've been so busy with the project house that our crafting time has disappeared.  I got an idea from pinterest for creating wall art for the younger girl's bedroom using paint chips.  We have a lot of paint chips right now and this seemed like a good use for the paint chips that we decided not to use in the project house. 

The younger girls want to have a blue bedroom with purple accents.  Actually, Allie wants a purple room and Paige wants a blue room.  This was our compromise.  We used purple and blue paint chips and a circle hole punch to create this spiral design.  I still need to make the frame, but the girls are happy to see some of their decorations coming together. 

We also used a leaf punch to make a fall design.  Fall colors make me happy, to this will get hung in the work-out room to help create a calm and happy environment.  I need as much incentive as possible to spend time working out each day!

Neither project took us very much time and the girls enjoyed spending some craft time with me on a rainy afternoon.  I enjoyed doing something relaxing with my youngest girls who are growing up much too quickly.