The Recital

Saturday was dance day. The dance recital went on and on... and on... and oooooonnnnn. There were a total of 38 numbers- that's right 38 and I agree, what the heck were they thinking?! Ridiculously too long for little kids and for most everyone in the audience who were dying from the a/c being off (it was crazy hot in there). Way too many solo dances (it went one group number followed by one solo number the whole night). Sadie did great but they were right towards the end of the program at #26, we left before the final bow. There were 10 more numbers to go and it had already been almost 2 hours long at that point. It was crazy and my husband and son were in agony the whole entire time- too much pink. I have to say, seeing my little princess feel proud of herself was worth it for me!

Miracle of spray paint...

Before- the garbage picked Chair was white.
After- black. I like it much better.
Improvement? I hope so!

Training

Going on a 6 mile run. Gotta beat my time from Monday which was 75:48 (actually one of my better times on a cooler day). That's just under 13 minutes each mile. Keep in mind I am running up a mountain and down it again then I do an extra 2 miles. I'll post my time tonight. It looks like another storm is moving in and I hope it rains on me, just spare me the lightning, thunder and hail.

Tonight's time was... 73:37, not too bad, at least I knocked a couple minutes off.

It was hot. Not a drop of rain. I was dripping the whole time and fairly nauseous which both are unusual. Only saw 3 people, 3 dogs, lots of little lizards, a dead toad, and a couple nasty biting flies got my dang knees again. They love my knees and ankles. Stretching and showering quick!

I THINK I am training for a race in Michigan this summer at the National Cherry Festival in July (that's if I have the guts to do it). They have a 13K (what the freak is that- like 9 miserable miles?) or a 5K which I've done before. Not sure I have the guts or the cookies to do 9 miles. I hope I can talk my husband into doing it with me.

Fathers Day Crafts

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a fathers day craft that the kids at church can give to their dads. It was much easier dealing with mothers day. Here are the things I came up with...





If I don't use this one for Fathers Day, I am definitely using it for another occasion- easy idea. It says...."Dad- hope your day is filled with sweet surprises" and it's filled with candy (I used taffy).









This one is a little harder. I didn't quite understand the folding directions (brain cells not firing so well lately) so I did the best I could. Slipped a candy bar in there and called it good. Have also seen them with Pop Rocks slipped inside.








And the winner is... the easy one! All Star Dad. I think these look like sparklers or fireworks a little. Just taffy on a skewer and glue a little topper over the pointy part (which I have decided must be cut off before the kids impale each other or dear old dad). In this picture it is missing the crazy wired foil star garland that you decorate presents with (I'm out right now but I know the dollar store has them).





There just aren't a lot of original idea's out there so this is my offering. Not all of mine are original either but a creative challenge always gets me excited!

The Music of the Night

My kids both did very well at their piano recital last week but until now I haven't thought to post the footage. I think my daughter would mind it less that I was posting the recital video so I might spare my dear boy this time and just post hers. I am so proud them and so mad I never learned to play when I was younger. They practiced like crazy even though they were both so busy that last week of school and have always struggled with nerves at the recitals. (The teacher -the blondie- turned the pages- something like 8 pages total. It's a long video and has taken forever to upload, I hope it works).

Memorial

Glimpses into our touching Memorial day...

Father in law reciting "Flanders Fields"









Chloe holding her flag (we were so HOT and found some shade)










Corynn's face painting work of art

My handsome guys (listening to the program)

Sadie admiring the flowers she found that had blown off the bouquets in the cemetery.













I am the biggest patriotic cry baby. I always feel so blessed when I hear the music, listen to the tragedies of war one has lived through, or as I watch the greatest generation disappear one by one. The group here of veterans is smaller each year. The thing that really gets this cry baby going is when those tough old guys themselves shed tears as they remember losing their buddies in battle and leaving their homes to protect this land we live in. They felt pain every day along with fear, duty, and love. Their tears are absolutely justified and they send me into the Kleenex dive (I usually come prepared). Bless all of our veterans. They inspire courage in me to face my daily battles. Bless the troops in action today with an enemy that is not in uniform and has no rules of war. Oh, and may God, please bless America.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

One Mans Trash

I garbage picked this chair. I did. I dumpster dived. It's so much fun- I recommend it and wonder why I never did it before! We went on a walk the night before trash pick up and saw these legs sticking out of a trash can. I told my son (who is bigger and stronger than me) to yank it out and we would see if it's intact. It was dirty, scratched, and had some stickers on it, other than that- PERFECT! Hey, solid wood is solid wood! I know, it's painted those country colors but that is completely changeable. It will soon be painted and polished up and I will have a little extra seating. I'm so excited! I am going to spray paint it- probably black to match my house. I love free crafts! I've been hankerin' for some creative outlet. My life has been far too much working, running around, and no fun lately! I am so excited. I will have to post an after shot when it's done. If I don't... well, then will you know I complete screwed it up. I like the challenge. It was free so no biggie, but I am ready to do some making over around here!

Cute= Sideways

"I love you mommy my heart". Just thought I'd interpret. Someday I might even figure out how to flip a video or to not record it so it's not so sideways so messed up.

eeewwwww....

There are gruesome creatures here in the southwest. I, the midwestern girl transplant am freaked out. Last night I learned about...

The Tarantula Hawk Wasp: a species of spider wasp, which hunts tarantulas as food for their larvae. These suckers have a blue body and red wings- they are actually really beautiful but scary and huge. We didn't have these in Michigan! We have normal bugs there like mosquitoes and ants.
Oh, and the best part is why they are called what they are...they capture, sting, and paralyze tarantulas, then they either drag the spider back into her own burrow or transport their prey to a specially prepared nest where a single egg is laid on the spider’s body, and the entrance is covered. The wasp larva, upon hatching, begins to suck the juices from the still-living spider. Yum! Did I mention that they have the most painful bite in the insect world?


Just the fact that we have tarantulas here (I HATE spiders) is disturbing enough. Yes, I have seen quite a few of them also, one in my garage, one in our backyard, others crawling around in various places, yuck. It's all fascinatingly freaky to me.

Here are a couple of my other favorites...

**The Potato Bug or Jerusalem Cricket. Yeah, these are nasty looking, little alien bugs.

***The Scorpion- ewww...

And I'm sure there are much more waiting to be discovered. Creepy.

Father and Son Campout

Yes, you know they couldn't resist jumping down into the water with their clothes on.

Christian and his buddy Ben.

Isn't that log cool? It looks like a dinosaur.

Tony climbing up to a cave.

Hanging out in the back of a truck with the boys.

Of course this outing occurred right during the "big paint". Good for my husband for not being too tired to take time out of painting and go sleep in the back of his pick up- cozy. Tony took Christian anyway, along with a friend of Christians. It was beautiful weather but my boys were dang tired. I was home with the girls having hamster memorial services (2 posts below). I'm glad the weekend has closed it's weary eyes and we now can look forward to the last week of school, if I can muster up some excitement about that somehow.

We're Done

The Eagle project (aka the painting job of the century) is DONE! Woot! I almost cried as we were pulling away but I was too tired. It was a long week. Check out these action shots... I'll only post of few, it's all I can bare to handle. The paint that was provided was eggshell and didn't cover well. Let me just say how sore my arms are, I can only hope they are one step closer to being toned for summer.

Pie Anyone?

I had fun making little pies today. I got the idea from the June Better Homes and Gardens magazine that I just got in the mail (Page 174). See Picture. It's so fun and pretty simple. Check out this link for the recipe. I love how they serve them in the cute cups with the spoon tied on. Adorable.

Okay, so mine didn't turn out as nice (see below) but they were still good. I did it simple with just refrigerated pie crusts and a can of pie filling. Before baking them at 400 degrees poke them with a fork and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on them. Bake til filling bubbles and cool on the parchment lined pan. It's messy but a good twist on boring pie. It reminds me of the McDonald pies a little. I made apple and cherry today (cherry were the favorite). By the way, just ignore the messy filling all over, they oozed a little but it was finger licking good.