Girls weekend!

As promised, here is the pic from my girls weekend at Tan-Tar-A. There were about 20 women and it was a blast! There was a girl I went to highschool with, that goes every year - what a small world. It is an annual thing and Jules has been wanting me to go, but since I work every weekend-I need to do some planning ahead to be able to take the weekend off. I am glad I did. I needed it. Here are some pics of the view from our house.

I meant to get some pics of the house, but forgot. Here is a pic of us out to dinner the first night. We had t-shirts that looked like softball/baseball shirts (and lots of people asked if we were a womens softball team). Most of us had names/nicknames on the back. Which helped with remembering names.

Here are the pics of some of my purchases. We did some serious shopping. Like 7hrs in one day. My feet were hurting by the end of day #1. And when I got home I slept for like 14hrs. They say sometimes you need a vacation after you had a vacation!

Okay, I bought the cookie cutters for my mom. She has been looking for them. And they had some cute kid utensils, so I bought a spoon for the boys. The whisk is for Lucas. And he loved it. It has moveable arms/legs. I will post pics of Chef Lucas whisking soon.

The boys are doing yoga this month, so I got them some extra workout clothes. The clothes on the left are Noah's, Eli's in the middle, and Lucas on the right. The older boys pants are a little too big/long. But they are wearing them for jammies. But the shirts fit great. The older boy's clothes were marked down from 19.99-24.99 down to $7.50 for the pants and $6 for the shirts. Lucas's weren't as good of a sale. But were $9.99 each.

The croc outlet had ALOT of business. Lucas's (the red ones) were $4.99. Great deal, I know! The older boys were $9.99.

I found a great christmas present for the BFFs. And since they check the blog, I can't post any pics. So, you will have to wait till chrismas.

Noah needed a new watch. Fossil had ton of watches marked down. Mine (the one on the left-if you couldn't tell) was marked $29.99 down from $65. And since I bought 2 they were buy 1 get 1 50%off. So, Noah's watch-which was originally $29.99 was only $5. Sweet!

Bath and Body works is coming out with a new look for spring, and all their old bottles were 75% off. So, I paid less than $3 each for the lotion/shower gels. And the spray (which is the new look) was free for purchasing more than $10 worth.

There was a uniform outlet, so I picked up some new scrubs.

I needed some more long sleeve t-shirts(there is a pink one too, but it was already in the washing machine-so just imagine it) to wear under my scrubs and Eddie Bauer had theirs on sale for $7.99. I also picked up some new jeans and workout pants.

But the buy of the day was from the Coach outlet. The had clearance purses that were marked down an additional 50%. That's right, I said an additional 50%. And believe you me, LOADS of women were taking advantage of that. And they had a HUGE selection. There were women standing in line with 5-10 purses. . . . . .What you want to see the pic of mine?!?!










TA-DA! It is SO me. I love it.

And it was originally $379, but I like to say $400. Really what's $21 more. $400 rolls of the tongue better. But you see how it was then marked down to $329.99. And then $209.99. But I didn't pay, $209.99, that was the clearance price. Which is still not a bad price for a COACH purse. But more than I could spend. That's were the additional 50% off comes in. That's right it was $104.99. . . . . I KNOW! I snatched that baby up and wouldn't put it down. I checked with the sales girl, to make sure I was understanding the sale signs. And then I bought it.

I had such a good time, and hope to make it an annual thing.

Valentne's Day Belated!

I had tried to post this Vday stuff before I left for my girls weekend (those pics to come later), but that was a NO GO! So, Happy belated Vday! Here is how the boys and I spent our Vday, (which we celebrated on the 12th).
Eli was my 1st step of the dessert helper. The boys wanted baked Alaskans. Which I hadn't made since home ec in highschool. But it was any easy recipe to remember.

Here are our ingredients. We had caramel cone sundae for our ice cream and the hostess individual sponge cakes are awesome!

Eli put a little caramel sauce in each cake for a little added something. There are lots of variations to this. And anyone who knows me, knows that I improvise a lot when I cook. I see a recipe and use as a guide, but put my own spin on it.

Most of the recipes that I found, called for putting the baked alaskans back in the freezer for 1-2hours before covering them with meringue. So, we did this up right after the boys got home from school.

The boys wanted to each be able to pick out their favorite food and have that for dinner. So, for Noah alfredo noodles, Eli mashed potatos, and Lucas mac and cheese. I see a carb theme. . . . hmmm. So, I thought chicken would go with each of those and cooked up a veggie to round it out.

The boys LOVE biscuits, so I made some heart shaped ones. They turned out well, but I tried using the scraps to make more hearts. And they didn't hold their shape as well. So, when I do this again, I will either make my own dough or leave the scraps with the heart shapes cut out as is.

Here is how they baked up.

And they boys dinner.

Lucas was step 2 dessert helper. I whipped the meringue up during dinner. And quickly stuck them in the oven for about 6-8min.

Ta-da! Is your mouth watering?!?!

Sorry there were NO leftovers!

For the boys Vday presents, I got them the musical cards, lunchables, and candy watches. I snuck the cards in their lunchboxes for a surprise. Lucas (who eats lunch at home) LOVED his card. Since I was leaving after Lucas went to school, I popped in on the boys before going out of town. Eli was saving his card for his Vday party (which I missed :( ). And Noah was heading to recess and hadn't had lunch yet.

Back to breakfast. Lucas helped me make pancakes. They were vanilla sugar.

And I attempted to make them heart shaped. But the batter was thin, but this is one of the better ones.

Noah quickly put together his present for his teacher.

He put a little note inside for her.

The helped me make Vday presents for my parents, grandparents, my sibs.

I cut out a variety of hearts out of construction paper.

And we made these fish shaped cards to go with the gifts.

And wrapped up some candy for each family. My sis-in-law Jen, tried to hide the candy from my nephews. But when Scott called to tell me thank you (really I think he just want to talk with Eli), I asked him if he was eating some of the candy. And he said ,"What candy? It was just a card." So, Jen tried to say the mailman took the candy, but I was onto her by then. So, she had to share with everyone! Nice try though Jen. Hope everyone had a great Vday! I had a blast on my girls weekend. Like I said there will be pic from that to come.

My brother Andrew

My story today is about my oldest brother, Andrew (the one in the middle). Since tomorrow is his birthday (yes, our bdays are 1 week apart), this if for him. I am not sure what Fred is doing in this pic, but he was always a goof growing up. And where am I looking at anyway. . . . . Sorry, I got side tracked. Anyway, it was either 1986 or 1987 when Andrew had one of his worst birthdays ever. I am not sure what started it, but Andrew had done something bad and was in trouble the week of his birthday. So, brillant that he is, he decides to make my parents bed to help make up for it. Now, you should know something about my parents. They collect things. LOTS of things, LOTS of EXPENSIVE things, LOTS of EXPENSIVE UN REPLACEABLE things. And they display them everywhere (reasonable I know). Now Andrew knows they collect things and his vision is just fine. But nearly being a teenager was maybe affecting his thinking abilities. Because he whips off my parents comforter and tosses it behind him. And you guessed it, breaks my Dad's porcelain clown collect. Never fear, they were able to repair the damage. But on my brother's birthday, I was home sick from school. And this was when we were living in Germany in non-government housing. And we had to the entrance of the neighborhood to catch the bus to school. And it was VERY cold and snowing that day. We were supposed to wait for the bus for like 30min after its scheduled time in bad weather because DUH buses aren't always on time in the bad weather. Well, since I wasn't with my brothers at the bus stop, my brillant brothers decide it's cold and snowing and they are NOT waiting 30min for the bus. So, they come home. And I guess I should tell you that I told on my brothers for everything that they did wrong. And they KNEW that when they came home that I would know they didn't wait long enough and I WOULD tell. My brothers are very smart, I promise. Back to the story. When they got home, I informed them that they would tell on them. But they bit the bullet, because they had to call mom (who teaches at the school that we went to) to tell her that they missed the bus. And she knew that they hadn't waited long enough. So, at this point you would think since they are already in trouble, that they would be on their best behavior. NO, not my brothers. Karate kid was HUGE back then, so they decided to practice their moves. In the HOUSE! And in Germany, a lot of the house have a front door into a small entryway and an inner door into the house. And a lot of the doors are GLASS! EXPENSIVE glass. And my brother Andrew kicked my brother Fred through the inner beveled glass door. I don't think I will EVER forget that moment. I was watching my STUPID brothers from the living room. Memorizing every detail to retell the story to my mom later, and I was stunned when Fred went through the door. And I should let you know that at the top of the door the glass had broken into a V-shaped shard and we are lucky that Fred wasn't seriously hurt by the whole thing. And for whatever reason, I felt compelled to say "I am telling Mom!" Duh! Like she wouldn't notice. After that my brothers were low key for the rest of that day. We talk about that week and laugh now. But my parents were NOT laughing when they got home. And despite the fact that I turned my brothers in at the drop of a hat, we are close and there isn't a thing I wouldn't do for them. Or they for me. Happy Birthday Andrew!

You know your old . . . .

I know that I had a birthday last week, but I really didn't feel older. Just like any other day, except the pampering/boys spoiling me part. But this weekend, the boys and I were having a date day (date night is watching a movie at home together but a date day is doing stuff together all day/afternoon). I had found (well my mom found) some movie passes, so we went to the movies and did some window shopping while we waited for the movie to start. We saw that Stride Rite had a sale and Eli desperately needed new shoes. I had never been in and didn't know what size they carried. So, I had them measure the boys feet. Eli is a 6-6 1/2, Lucas is 13-13 1/2, and Noah is a 7-7 1/2. I know, Are you kidding me?!?! His feet are as big as mine! He has gone through 2 pairs of school this year, mostly because they are too small to wear. Let's be honest, I have three boys, three active boys, shoes don't stand a chance. They are rough on them, but it is to be expected. So, obviously Stride Rite was not the store for Noah/Eli, but was able to snag a $50/pair of shoes for Lucas for $20. I know, great deal. Lucas's feet don't really seem to grow, but he does wear them out pretty good. Has his fav pair and doesn't really wear anything else. So, I had to take the older boys to Famous Footwear for new shoes. And seriously $50-70/pair. I can't believe how expensive men's shoes are. I know, such a girl thing to say. I don't think that is too unreasonable for women's shoes, but I shop the sales and clearance. Finding shoes for Noah was very difficult, but was finally able to find a pair of Sketchers for $29.99. And I was able to find some 6-6 1/2 for Eli, but alot of them were over $40. These are shoes they might be wearing for 6months. Notice the stress on might. I think I need a second job or put a second mortage on the house. The boys are growing so fast. And that makes me realize how old I am. Where is my magic wand, so I can freeze time?!?!

Open House

Here are some pics from the Open House. Noah did a powerpoint about Kansas. He and Abbie researched and came up with a presentation. For those of you who have Noah's blog address check it out for the whole presentation. Each pairs presentation is different since they got to pick which facts to use.
Eli had several projects to share. But here is a pic with just one. If you have Eli's blog address, check it out.

Lucas shared his writing journal. He was a little more interested in playing with his friends then in having his pic taken.

How to spend your Birthday . . .

I know you are dying to know how I spent my birthday. . . . Well, maybe interested is a better word . . . . Well, maybe you don't care but I am going to tell you anyway!

After getting the older boys off to school, I spent some times trying to get my STUPID computer to run faster. Defragmenting, disk clean up, immunizing the DUMB thing, running spyboot . . . . . BORING. . . . . . Then I clean house . . . . I know, I know, but it had to be done. Then I took Lucas to school and went to the gym . . . . Again I know, but this way I didn't feel guilty about dinner/dessert tonight. And then I came home and got ready for my date with my special men. Most people only have 1 and I have 3. I took a bubble bath, gave myself a mani/pedi and facial in a quiet CLEAN house . . . . AAAHHH! . . . Do you hear the heavens opening and the angels singing? . . . NO?!?! Well I did. It was great. I just relaxed and enjoyed my quiet clean house. I got this salt scrub in a bath/shower/lotion combo thing at Costco and LOVED it. . . .


It's minty and lemony and makes your skin soooooo soft! I just used it for the first time yesterday, and will be using it again soon. I have used sugar scrubs before and liked this much better. It wasn't like the St Ives apricot scrub feel, but like a gel/salty combo and dissolved in the water. When I have used other scrubs, they have other abrasives besides the sugar and leave a lot of grit in the tub, which the boys HATE! But this left no residue at all! I would have like to make an appt at the cosmetology school for my spa treatments ( facials for $25, mani $12, pedi $20) but with being cancelled over the last few weeks, that wasn't in the budget. Here is a pic after my mani/pedi. I love french manicures!

After school, Lucas had karate and then we opened presents before dinner. Noah gave me a new trashcan( he broke the current trash can) and this one is bigger. Eli gave me a new makeup bag. And Lucas gave me a heater for my seat in my car. I can't wait to try it out. Here is a pic of me and my dates! Aren't they handsome!

We went to the Cheesecake Factory. We had a good time. The boys were fighting with each other over who got to open my door. What sweet boys I have! Noah was in charge (he had a gift card to pay for dinner. Thx mom you thought of everything). He gave his name to the host. The boys were telling EVERYONE that it was my Birthday. When we were being seated.

Lucas told the host "It's my Mom's Birthday"

Host says "Really?"

And then Lucas says "We got her a TRASHCAN!"

Host speechless turns and looks at me with question in his eyes . . . .

I said "It is what I always wanted!"

We were too stuffed for cheesecake :(. But Noah really enjoyed being able to take the check and pay for dinner. It is sweet how they really want to do something nice for me. I love my boys and I pray they become giving, loving Men of God. They are off to a good start. The boys had an Open house, and we had just enough time to make it there after dinner. And when we got home, the boys had decorated a cake for me. It was soo sweet. They picked purple icing since purple is my fav color.

It truly was an AWESOME birthday. My family and BFF's called and texted their happy birthdays. And I had a ton of happy birthdays on facebook. The boys sang me happy birthday like 10 times. And Eli just kept telling me how much loved me and happy birthday. The only problem is . . . .How are they going to be able to top this next year?!?! . . .Well at least they have a year to plan it.

Down birthday memory lane . . .

Since my bday is tomorrow I thought it would be fun to have a birthday walk down memory lane. Obviously my bday is close to valentines day, so an exboyfriend did a good bday/vday combo celebration for my 28th bday. On my actual bday he and a coworker friend of mine, decorated my car with streamers. I couldn't get into the car w/o cutting them off in the morning when I got off. And he brought me a least a dozen roses and a bracelet. And for the bday/vday combo date, we went to the Skies ( a revolving restraurant overlooking the downtown sky). There were more roses involved and it was a great night. Although, he wasn't the best guy and I shouldn't have ever dated him, but that bday he made me feel very special. Now the boys have big plans for tomorrow, and they are doing an awesome job of keeping it secret. So, I am sure that a new fav bday memory will be born. I think for my boys my favorite memories are there cakes. I pretend to be good at decorating cakes, and usually make the boys bday cakes. And if I am going to make it, we go to the bakery and let them look through the catalog to pick what kind of bday cake they want. And I always love seeing how surprised and in awe they are when I am done. They are so supportive of me. I have done dinosaurs (more than once), Webkinz, Lighting McQueen, beach themed cakes to name a few. I hope to one day be able to take a class to polish up my skills. Thanks for walking down memory lane with me!

25 random things about me

I did this on facebook and thought I would post it on here too.


1. My favorite food is peanut butter. Jif to be exact.
2. I lived in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Germany, Kansas, New Mexico. Most of those because my Dad was in the military.
3. My boys are the best mark that I can leave on this world.
4. I am my mothers favorite child.
5. I loved working in the food pantry in my old church.
6. I fight with my mother over placement of knick knack in MY own house.
7. I never thought my brothers and I would be so close when I was a kid.
8. I have seen a lot of sickness/death as a nurse, but my heart still bleeds for everyone as I did the first time.
9. I pray my kids will be strong men of God.
10. I cry at everything- commercials, movies, reality tv, my soaps.
11. I love reality tv.
12. I am very sarcastic.
13. I am very sensitive. Not the best combo with #12.
14. My parents are one of my hero's.
15. I decided to become a nurse after my cousin Emily was born with heart problems.
16. I don't pray as much as I should.
17. I believe in miracles.
18. I hate to weed, but love it when my garden is weedless.
19. I have problems with insomnia. But when I was a kid, I could sleep through anything.
20. I love it when my boys tell me how beautiful I am when I am feeling my worst.
21. I work with some of the best nurse that I know.
22. My job at Menorah has been my favorite job.
23. I graduated nearly in the top 2% in the class. I was in 4th place.
24. I was a cheerleader.
25. There isn't anything that I wouldn't do for my boys.

Valentine's Day gifts!

Eli came up with his Valentine's gift for his teacher on his own. The little Valentine bucket and heart shaped decorations were his inspirations. He did a great job. I love the glitter glue in the bottle on the left. It was perfect. And we had to cute a 2 1/2 inch styrofoam ball in half to fit into the bottom of the bucket. Eli wanted to put some candy in the bucket when the craft was done for a little sweet treat!

Eli painted the ball in the bucket so that it would look pretty when the candy was gone. And below is the final project( with the hersery kisses that Eli picked out to put in the bucket) that is AWESOME! What a crafty kid!

Lucas really like the heart shaped wreaths and ornaments. So we decided to make our own. They didn't have any small heart shaped wreaths. So, I cut the middle of a styrofoam heart and tada . . .

And this is what the heart looked like after Lucas painted it with the glitter glue. Great, huh?!?!

Then we wrapped ( well I wrapped) some garland around the heart. I formed hooks out of the wire in the back so it is an ornament and wreath!

Lucas is really pleased with the final present!

I found a cool idea on the Domestic Fashionista's blog. Now hers was made with roses. But I loved these hydrangea and they had other colors that were too beautiful to pass up. Truthfully this ball isn't finished ( I ran out of flowers) but enough is covered that I thought you couldn't really tell. I had a sick kiddo home this week and will hopefully be able to get more flowers to finish my V-day gifts soon.

Noah was the sick kiddo, so stay tuned for his Vday gift.

I changed my background on both my blogs in honor on my birthday that is coming up. Sorry if you don't like purple, but it is my fav color!