"Thank You."

That is what I would always call and say to Grandpa on Memorial Day. This is our first Memorial Day with out our own war time heroes of WWII. Anthony and I both said, "goodbye" to our grandfathers this year. This picture is capturing a rare moment when both of our grandfathers were in town and they got to look over maps of the Southwest Pacific and compare locations. I have been sad different times and it's been bittersweet thinking about them both this year but today is different. Usually I would call my grandpa up just to say "thank you" and have him be a little uncomfortable for a minute with the gratitude I was showing and then he would start telling me stories, some I knew and some I had never heard before. I loved listening to them. I just found it so hard to imagine this man doing all of the things he did, seeing all of the things he saw. One of the coolest things is that his story and experiences have been cataloged in the Library of Congress. You can go to their website, www.loc.gov/vet.com to find his and others' stories. Grandpa served in the Army Air Force from November 2, 1942 until July 28, 1945. He flew a C-47 in 156 combat missions as a troop carrier pilot dropping troops and supplies to the front line in the Southwest Pacific, New Guinea. The really neat thing about that was Anthony's pappy was in the Navy on a ship just off the coast of New Guinea, cool huh? My grandpa received awards consisting of the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Asiatic- Pacific Ribbon with 4 Bronze Stars. I would have to agree with my grandmother in saying "he was the bravest man I've ever known."

If you can't stand the heat...

Yah right. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." What if you are stuck there being held against your will by a couple of hungry impatient children and a husband that is going through the bag of chips like a scavenger? What then, huh? We are grilling tonight, a nice little dish some good friends of ours grilled for us one day. I've been marinating chicken breasts all day and I will wrap them around jalapenos and cheese and then I will wrap the whole thing with bacon. You can't go wrong with bacon... unless you just remembered that you didn't take it out of the freezer to thaw and now I need to go and get them out. Talk to ya later.

The last week

Here we are. We have officially started the last week of school. The morning got off to a sluggish start. You know that feeling. We've been keeping summer hours and still having a school schedule. It's killing me. The kids in the class are flat out nuts, the teachers are all but standing on their heads to keep them actually "engaged" in something.
Anyway, all of this will soon be over and then the really challenging thing will happen. I will try to keep my own children busy and relaxed at the same time. We have a pretty good schedule for this summer. So far I just have to make sure we don't get bogged down with "busy". I feel as long as the t.v. gets turned off around 9 or 10am and doesn't get turned on again till about 5 or 6pm I'll be doing alright.
I plan making pickles this summer. ( don't laugh) and hopefully the kids will want to be a part of that. My mother makes the best dill and bread and butter pickles around and it's kind of a dying art. I will let all of you know how that turns out.
Well, hopefully you will be able to do some things you've waiting to do all school year. Let me know some of the things you will be doing.

Kids

This Saturday was very eventful for our casa. We started the day out like all the other Saturdays with a wonderful breakfast at Aunt Rosie's. After we came home my family helped me clean and get the house in order while it was raining. We decided to thaw out the steaks I had in the freezer and grill them on the gas grill. The rain had stopped for a while and the kids wanted to play outside. Why not invite mom and dad over?
Well, things got a little hairy. We were all outside when my youngest daughter shuts the door. We don't think anything of it until I have my hands full with a platter of steaks and someone tries to open the door for me. Layla had locked us out. EVERYONE. My father asks if we have a spare key. Of course we don't. It was horrible!
"Didn't it rain Saturday night?" you ask. Why yes, yes it did. While Anthony and our neighbor tried to break in to our house the loudest thunder clap echoes through the sky, my oldest announces that she has to go to the bathroom and I have corn on the cob in a pot of boiling water on the stove. AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!
Long story short, we got in to our house, we now have spare keys distributed to everyone and the corn was nice and tender, however the steaks got a little cold but that is what microwaves are for. Layla thought it was great that we got to stay outside while it was raining and Belle got to use a bucket for the bathroom.
Kids, you gotta love 'em.

The Woman That Has It All Together!...just joking.

Let's start with Monday shall we? I tried to grill chicken on the gas grill. What was going to be a juicy flavorful dinner of grilled chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes turned into a charred lump of ash! I'm not kidding, I "burned" the chicken onto the skin. It was pitiful and the girls were hungry and to top it off, Anthony was literally on his way home.
I did what any resourceful mom would do in this situation and I busted out the hot dogs. Ladies, always keep a package of these around, you never know when you may have to use them. Anyway, the family didn't starve, we had dinner on the porch like planned. Like Belle (my loving 8yr.old) says, "I'm glad you had hot dogs because you really can't mess up hot dogs." Thanks sweetie.
Anyway, here we are on Wednesday and I am sitting in p.j.'s with full make up and hair done because instead of going to work I am staying home with that insightful sweetie of an 8 yr. old on account of her tummy and throat hurting. I feel bad because I had stuff to do at work and I think she probably could have gone to school but I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt. I told her to stay in her room and keep the trash can close. (That is one of the things I love about the kids getting older.)
Oh well, I'm sure by now you can tell that I am NOT the woman that has it all together but guess what! Nobody does. That's okay with me because I know that I love my family and they love me, burnt chicken and all.

Happy Mother's Day!

I have tried different ways to set this up so hopefully it will work. These are just a few, and I mean a FEW of the pictures I have. I need to see what's going on with my scanner so I can post some OLD pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Coming Soon... Mother's Day

I will be putting together a slide of all the mothers and the women in my family that are like mothers to all of us. Some of the mothers aren't with us anymore but will always be a part of this family. I hope you enjoy and I hope this will make you stop and think about those women in your life.

Sweethearts

That's the only way I know how to describe the kiddos in my class. Last week we learned all about flowers and plants. I let them plant their own wildflower seeds in small cups and then water them and place them by the window. Well, everyday after that they would come in, unload their backpacks and rush over to the window and check on their flowers.
They were so sweet trying to see if maybe their was just a little change each day. Some of them started giving up hope but I would remind the kids that it takes time and their flowers needed plenty of sunlight and water. The weekend came and went and when I opened the door this morning I saw that every little cup had sprouts stretching for the sun! Oh boy! When the first child came in I found I couldn't hold my excitement in. We rushed to the window together and marveled at the sight of those little plants. We repeated this each time a child came in. What joy.
I bought a new flower pot for "Miss Ivy", my ivy I keep in the classroom, seems she grew out of her original pot and had roots showing from underneath. I used this time to let the kids help "transplant" her. I explained that like they couldn't fit in their baby beds anymore the same was true for Miss Ivy. Those adorable sweethearts helped water her and kept saying that she looked happier in her new flowerpot. Then they said that their little plants would keep her company this week so she wouldn't be lonely. I told those sweet babies that she was never lonely because she could hear them laugh and sing and learn. I tell you, I don't want to let these kiddos go... but I can't keep them to myself, someone else deserves to be blessed like I was this year.

Softball

Woooo! Hooooo! Summer really is on it's way. Tonight is the first night of our church's summer softball. It is so much fun to visit and let the kids play all around us while watching those who are much more brave than I play softball. The reason I don't play is I seem to have a magnetic pull to the ball, I meaning my face. I can pretty much bet that I will get whacked with a ball.
Also, not to get too personal but I laugh when I run and bad things happen when I laugh and run at the same time...I'll leave it at that...
So anyway, I will be uploading some pics from tonight's events and I have a picture of Belle and her fish she caught on her fishing trip with PawPaw. I also have pictures of my tomato plants that hopefully will be very fruitful this summer. Anyway, gotta go!