happily random

Pirates!

Yo-ho me hardies!

Wow! A good continuation of the story in Pirates of the Carribean III. Captain Jack Sparrow was his funny, kooky self & Will Turner was quite the hero. Even Elizabeth was swash-buckling with the best of them. Good story & good fun.

Of the "Three's" I've seen so far this summer, that is Spiderman III & Shrek III, this one actually delivered. Spiderman III had it's moments, but I felt it dragged a bit here and there. Maybe it was the migraine I was getting when I saw it? My husband said the same thing, so maybe not. I also felt the same of Shrek the Third. It just didn't deliver the laughs of the previous two movies. Here's hoping that Ocean's 13, the third installment of Ocean's 11 that is & another one of those "Three's" I'm looking forward to this summer, isn't a disappointment.

As for Pirates, definitely a "must see."

Mobius Kids

The local public schools are getting out next week, so I thought it would be a good idea to take the kids to the children's museum before the "summer rush" hit. Each of the kids had a blast, and since we have an annual pass to get in, it's good, free fun. The best kind if you ask me. ;)

The first place the kids headed when we arrived was the driving area. Equipped with stop lights, roads & dress-up clothes, this area is a favorite for all four of the kids. Since we were one of the first to arrive when they opened, all my kids had cars and were driving and crashing into each other, even Samantha. Rebekah even put on a policeman's uniform to add to her big sis authority.

While I was chasing Samantha around, my older three disappeared to the craft area. It was an artist's heaven in there with crayons, paints, scissors, markers, sequins, feathers, etc. Lucas, Tyler & Rebekah all made their own Triceratops hats as well! Lucas spent most of his time coloring and cutting out pictures while Tyler, Samantha & Rebekah each painted pictures with watercolors. All the art supplies with no clean-up! Wonderful for mom, let me tell you. Art-time at my place always ends with the dining room table looking like we had a confetti war. LOL.

Samantha's favorite area was by far the water table. Set up with more buckets than you can imagine, pebbles & running water, it was a huge hit. She and Alex (my friend Jessica's son) spent quite a bit of time playing there and getting soaked. Samantha also enjoyed running up and down all the ramps in various areas of the museum. I don't understand what she enjoyed  about it, but running up and down the ramps seemed to rank right up there with the watertable.

I don't know if Tyler had a favorite area or not. I don't think there was a thing in the whole place that he did try at least once. He was actually pretty hard to keep track of because he would go from place to place to place. He road cars, painted, drew, dressed up as a dinosaur, played store, played at the watertable, played at the boat table & played with the instruments. I guess he just wanted to sample it all. Here he is riding the bicycles the had set up with TVs in front of them: peddling a the bicycle shows you peddling down a road. 

Then came MY favorite part of the trip: Sonic. We drove through Sonic on our way home. The closest Sonic is in Spokane, so any time we head over there, I just have to go to Sonic.

An all around fun day for all!

Lego Star Wars & BLA's

I bought this game for Joel for Christmas. It quickly became my kids' favorite game. I must say, I even enjoy playing it and I'm not really into video games. It's simple enough that even 3-year-old Tyler can play it, but then it's not boring for Joel & I. They especially like being able to create their own characters with various body parts & weapons. The best part is that two of them can play at the same time & when a character "dies" it just comes right back. Basically what happens when a character gets shot, it explodes into a bunch of Lego pieces. The game is a hoot & a half! :) I just set a 10-minute timer and they trade off. Amazingly enough they're really good about taking turns. Good times.

I'm home sans Joel tonight, so I decided to make use of the avocados I got today. Bacon, Lettuce & Avocado sandwiches, or B.L.A.'s as we call them, are a big favorite for Joel & I for a quick dinner. I know, most people eat B.L.T.'s, but we're big avocado fans, growing up in the self-proclaimed "Avocado Capitol of the World." I bought these avocados today at CostCo and it was funny to see that they were from my old hometown of Fallbrook, CA. Small world, eh? I even know where the packing plant is where they pack these avocados. They travelled 1300 miles to say hi. :)

Let me let you in on a little secret about BLA's (or T's) that I was recently let in on: oven-cooked bacon. I never would have thought of this, but my Pampered Chef consultant turned me onto it, and I must say, I will never pan-fry bacon again. I cook it in my Stoneware Large Bar Pan at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes (flipping halfway through) and it comes out perfectly! Evenly cooked with no icky rubbery spots. Yummers. I don't know how it cooks without the stoneware as I've never tried it any other way, but I don't see why it wouldn't work in a regular pan (although stones rock, let me tell you!).

I DO have friends

Am I the only one who is great at regularly taking pictures of my kids but when it comes to the other important people in my life, I'm lousy. I think I have 3 pictures of my best friend, none of them recent, and about the same of my husband. Pathetic! I definitely need to be better about turning the camera away from my kids every once in a while and take some shots of my hubby & buddies!

Last weekend I attend a Women's Retreat with my church and you won't believe it: I TOOK PICTURES! From left to right, this is Ali, Dana, Joeline & Michelle. I must say, these ladies are a hoot & a half! We played cards almost the entire weekend and laughed. Boy, did we laugh! I don't think I've laughed that hard in a LOOONG time. Laughter is so good for the soul, let me tell you.

Here's Dana, 27 weeks pregnant with baby #6!!! Doesn't she look fabulously adorable? ;) Dana is a pretty new friend. She  recently moved here from California (just like everyone else here in North Idaho). She and I have been in MOPS together all year and just started playing Bunco together. As you can see, she's one funny lady. Along with her is Joeline, also a recent transplant from, you guessed it, California. They met at our church & were instantly the best of friends. They've known each other less than a year and have bought lots to build houses next door to each other! Joeline is one of the funnest people I've ever met. Not shy at all, she can make you laugh with just a look. We also play Bunco together.

Ali is being shy. Actually, she was goofing off more than anything. She knew I had brought my camera & had just been nagging me to take start pictures. So I held the camera up to take one of her. LOL. That's what you get for smarting off to me! Ali and I have been friends since I moved to North Idaho. She and I have been at the same table in MOPS for the last 2 years now and have been in the same playgroup for a few months. Ali is a very thoughtful woman. In MOPS she was always helping out behind the scenes without being asked. She is a dear friend and a lot of fun to hang with. She's also in the picture at the top if you want to see what she looks like without a jacket in front of her face. ;)

This is Roxanne. I caught her off guard. :) She was sitting in front of me at the meeting and I said, "Hey... Roxanne!" She turned around and I snapped this picture. Not bad, eh? Roxanne was one of our leaders in MOPS this year and has a real heart for reaching out to ladies. She is going to be taking over for me and leading the AM MOPS this year.

So, these are some of my friends. Yes, I DO have friends. ;) I don't talk about them enough here on my blog, but they are all very dear to my heart. They are all ladies that I met in MOPS over the last couple of years, so they are all mothers of small children and in the same stage of life as myself. I can't say enough about how wonderful MOPS is. I guess that's why I have gone on to lead our MOPS group for the last 2 years. If you are a mom of preschoolers (that doesn't mean your kids are "in preschool", you just have to be pregnant or a mom of a child from birth to kindergarten), I would highly recommend joining a group. It's a great way to meet other moms & get a fun couple of hours to yourself every month. You can easily find a group at www.mops.org.

Last Day of School & Painting

School's out! No more school, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks. :) And for mom, much less driving! I'm going to cut my gas bill in half not having to drive kids to & from school every day. At over $100 a fill up (which I do every week) now that gas is up over $3.00, that will be nice. No more rushing around in the morning to get everyone ready to leave for school. I'm sure it'll be really nice for a while. :) Gotta start making plans for some outings though or I'm sure we'll get cabin fever.

Rebekah was sad to have school ending. She really loved her first grade teacher, Ms. Page, & all the kids in her class. Being a first grade teacher, I think, would be challenging. Rebekah went from not reading at all to reading any & everything. Not only that, but she is adding, subtracting, multiplying & dividing. I know for a fact that we didn't start multiplication until 4th & 5th grade, and here she is doing it in first: x0, x1, x2, x3, x4, x5 & x10. The first grade tranformation is so incredible.

Lucas was very fond of his pre-K teacher, Mrs. Dodson, as well. He received all "E's" on his report card. Yeah Lucas! He always looked forward to going to class & it was hard for him knowing that he wouldn't be coming back during the summer. His favorite thing to do in school is coloring. He just loves to color. And his writing skills have gotten so good!

I made these clipboards as gifts for their teacher. Something useful (I hope) but something pretty (I also hope). I love making things as gifts because most people I know don't scrapbook (at least as much as I do) & definitely don't alter items, so they're usually excited to get something I've made especially for them. And I have fun doing it too. Not only is it a creative outlet, but I just love the look on their faces when they open it.

Now if I could only get better at completing projects for me. It's just too easy to put it off until later, thinking I'll have more time then. Where I think I'm going to get that time, I don't know. LOL. I guess that was why I was so thrilled to finish that house-shaped shadow box for myself (the one in the previous post. I made the one I posted for my MIL, but I also made one for my mom & FOR ME! It's even hanging up in my house already. Quite the fete, let me tell you.

Speaking of houses, at the end of last week I finally finished painting my living room. It went from glowing white to chocolate-mousse brown. I don't know how the people who we bought the house from lived in this house for 25 years and never painted. I'm just loving it! I hate painting (especially the vaulted walls... yikes!), but I love the results. Here's before & after. The bathroom & the hallway are next on my list. 

Okay, so this is my THIRD time doing this post. For some reason, silly me keeps accidentally 'navigating away from this page' before I'm finished posting & deleting my post. Arg! That's what you get when you're trying to do three things at once. So I'll post this now before I do it again. Lots more to say, but I'll save it for another day.

Mother's Day

I hope all my fellow mothers had a great Mother's Day yesterday. Unfortunately I didn't get to sleep in yesterday, which honestly at this point in my life is probably the thing I want most. With a nearly 18-month-old in bed with me about half the night and children who think 5:30 a.m. is time to rise & shine, I cherish those moments I get to sleep in with the bed all to myself as long as I want. I love getting to snuggle in the down comforter all around me in a warm cocoon. Ahhh, heavenly. Thinking about it is making me want to climb back in there right now. ;) Joel said that he forgot it was Mother's Day until he got up around 9. *sigh* In his defense, I did sleep in Saturday morning after being up late playing Bunco the night before, so I guess I shouldn't be too selfish as to want to sleep in 2 days in a row. But a girl can hope. It was Mother's Day after all. :)

Before we went to church, we swung by the house that Joel is building right now on the lake. It's incredible, right on the side of a cliff overlooking Coeur d'Alene Lake. It's 3 stories and squeezed in between 2 other houses. Watching plans turn into an actual house is nothing short of amazing to me.

Church was a nice treat. They didn't do the usual carnation and bookmark that they have done in previous years for all the mothers. Halfway through the service the pastor dismissed all the moms to the fellowship hall where they had a chocolate fountain for us to dip strawberries, marshmellows & other yummy treats along with a station for us to get manicures. Delightful.

When we came home I put on the finishing touches to the Mother's Day gift for my MIL. Special thanks to Jennifer Stewart for the kits. Super cute! I actually bought one to make for my mom & myself, although I still have to finish those two up.

Rebekah & Lucas both made me things at school. Rebekah made a small votive holder that she colored to look like stained glass. Lucas brought me a tin of potpourri & a sheet with questions he answered about me for his teacher. Here were his answers:

My mom's name is Sheila.
She is "I don't know" years old/young.
Her favorite color is red.
Her favorite food is coffee stuff for lunch.
My mom likes to go to the park.
My mom doesn't like to play kids games. (I had to ask him about this one as it kind of made me sad that he thought that I didn't like playing games with him. It turns out that he meant a particular game that we have, "Zingo." He's right, I don't like to play that game because my kids fight over it. Ugh.)
My mom's favorite show is Night at the Museum. (That actually was the last movie we all watch together as a family)
My mom is special to me because God made her!
When I grow up, I want to do this with mom: hang out with her at the the playgroup.

MOPS & Bunco

Friday was our last MOPS meeting. After 2 years of coordinating the group, I have step down from leadership. It is a very freeing thing, knowing I won't have to deal with finding enough childcare workers for the moms of 60+ women & deal with other difficult situations that come up when you're in leadership next year. But it also makes me sad. Working with other women to put this ministry together has developed a number of close friendships. Most of my very dear friends are ones that were in the trenches with me in MOPS. I also feel that MOPS is such a vital ministry that it was hard to let go. Despite it's ups & downs, I loved my time as coordinator. I learned so much, about me, about leadership, about serving. But I felt like it was time for me to take a breather, to let some fresh blood take over. I left the group in very capable hands & look forward to seeing what they come up with for next year.

But my time with MOPS isn't completely up. This year I began a new ministry, mostly to deal with the overflow of women we had in the morning MOPS group: PM MOPS. We had 10 women in the group this year, and with the help of our new steering team for the group hope to grow the ministry this year. I believe that the PM MOPS group could be a great ministry for working moms. And since we do not have childcare in the evening group, the planning difficulties are greatly minimized. Please be in prayer for us as we begin this new venture.

Being the coordinator of a MOPS group has taught me a lot of things. I have always wanted to be in a Bunco group. I subbed in one about 2 years ago & it was so fun. All this time I was just waiting to hear about one so that I could get involved. About 3 months ago I decided that if I kept waiting that it was never going to happen, that I should start one myself! :) Well, with such an enormous pool of women at my fingertips, it was easy to contact interested people. So along with another enthusiastic friend, I started a Bunco group.

Friday night we had our second Bunco meeting. Too fun! Even more fun because I had the most wins that night, so I won $20. On top of that, in our gift exchange I received a $5 gift card to Starbucks. I was a lucky lady that night. :) And the other ladies are a hoot! Even if I hadn't won a thing, the night was a blast.

Two years ago I don't know that I would have had the confidence to approach a bunch of women to get a Bunco group started. But after coordinating MOPS for 2 years, honestly, it was easy. I have come to realize that other women have the same basic needs as me. I remember thinking, "Why doesn't anyone call to fill in the blank (have a playdate) (go out for dinner) (play Bunco together)." Now I've realized that I'm not the only one who is at home thinking that. It just takes a simple phone call to initiate something & MOPS definitely helped with my confidence in that area. So as much as I gave being a leader in MOPS, I gained so much more.