The Bulgrien Family

Baby steps

2012-01-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

Today I danced around the kitchen with my Livi girl. We like Adele. Benjamin came in and joined us very briefly. I love to see him dance. He is shy about it, but it makes me smile.

We had lunch with Kevin. Benjamin called Kevin to tell him that he got a 100% on his spelling test, and then invited Kevin to lunch. It was sweet. I love that Olivia sticks her hand in the mouth of the lion statue in front of the restaurant and then hollers, "Daddy! Help me! Save me!"

Olivia "helped" me mop. She is actually really enjoying helping me clean as long as we're together. I sort of like it. She also hung out with me and chit chatted while I scrubbed the tub. :oD

Benjamin spent the last part of the evening curled up in my bed reading on my Kindle. I love that he is reading long chapter books now. It's exciting to see him really get into a good book. I can't wait to see what it is he likes.

Kevin came home from work feeling nice. He wrote an important email and was very pleased with himself. I am pleased with him too. It's nice to see him shine.

Tamryn and the kids came for dinner tonight. I made a cajun soup and biscuits. Yum. We played a game called Carcassonne. It's a really fun strategy game (I only say that because I won. Otherwise I don't use strategy and fun in the same sentence. The game was fun though!) and had a great time talking. Dessert? I got to watch Tam's little girl take her first steps. That was special. This is the kind of thing I love....dinner with friends, playing games, talking, enjoying the children.

Kevin and I wrapped up the evening with an episode of Little House on the Prairie. I love that show. This one was about when Dr. Baker falls in love with a young woman named Kate, but decides that he can't marry her because he is old enough to be her father. I didn't realize it until halfway through the show, but Kevin is a lot older than me, and I'm sure glad that he never changed his mind. I don't know what I'd ever do without that man!

Ahhhhh....happy sigh. Thank you, God, for this life.

Goodbye Facebook. Hello Life.

2012-01-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

I've said it many times in the past 6 months, but I've never actually done it. There were many reasons that I "needed" to be on Facebook. I followed my coupon blogs on there. That is where my Free Kindle Books listing was. Who would take care of the giant fake mansions that I built with the profits from my burgeoning carrotsicles crop?!! The most important reason was that all of my pictures were on Facebook and how do I get them off?

When I got to thinking about it, all of those things were rather ridiculous. I can click right over to my coupon blogs and Kindle websites. I can take my pictures off of Facebook (FYI...it's tedious!). I can plant real flowers with my children!! I can actually live my life without Facebook. I may actually be able to live the kind of life that people pretend to live on Facebook because I'd have the time to do so.

If I were to be completely honest, I didn't want to leave. I can keep up with what everyone else is up to! I can see my sister's coworker's uncle's vacation pictures from their exorbitant vacation to a little known island. Or, to state it correctly, I can look into the lives of other people whom I don't really have anything to do with on any given day. Then I walk away feeling lonely and less-than.

I think that this is where Facebook was crippling for me. I want to be honest here. I have, for all of my life, struggled with self-esteem issues. Facebook did not help this!! On Facebook, I had about 85 "friends." In the last month do you know how many of those "friends" called, wrote, or visited me? Six...and that number includes my mother and 2 sisters. Pre-Facebook, this would have been just fine. That would have brought contentment. My mother and sisters are my favorite friends. The other three people are ones that are very near and dear to me. To have that many people close to my heart should be enough, but I found myself being discontent. This realization was the start for me.

I started to feel very sad that none of these 85 people were actually active in my life. I started to look at the pictures of my 85 "friends" and ask myself, "Why am I never included in these dinners, outings, play dates, cooking dates, etc etc etc.?" I saw pictures of what other people were doing with their children and questioned my own mothering. I started to wonder what was wrong with me. I started to wonder about my worth.

But, you know what, I do indeed get out with my friends. We have fun! I do indeed take my children to fun places. We cook together and play games and act silly. I just don't write about all of that or put up pictures of every teeny tiny thing that we do. There's also a lot of regular life that happens. Some days my children don't listen. Some days I yell. Some days I don't get out of pajamas. Some days we eat oatmeal for dinner. Those are the things that happen in everyone's lives, but they don't talk about it. So, not factoring that in was really skewing my view of what was real.

I realized that I'd rather talk to my friends on the phone and hear their voices. I'd like to know how her day really was and be able to tell from the inflection in her voice if there's something deeper. I don't want to just know that "Today Bubbanator and Lil' Bub Jr. III went to Al's BBQd things while I rested at home." I want to know that she was disappointed that she didn't get to go dig into some BBQd things. Or I want to hear that she is excited that she actually got to stay home and paint all 10 fingernails at once!

I want real life and not just a picture that I put a fictional story to. I don't want to be given permission to be lazy and not call simply because I feel like I already know everything that is going on. Because, in reality, I don't.

Just ask.

2011-08-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

We've all heard "you have not because you ask not." I have heard it in countless sermons and seen it written in several places, but I confess that it has always just been "sermon talk" to me. Tonight I understand it.

I have not because I ask not.....not because the Lord doesn't want me to have it, but because I haven't bothered to ask Him for it. I haven't given Him the time to say, "Oh, sure! Why not?" It's like my own children. For instance, today Olivia wanted a pear. There really was no good reason NOT to give it to her, but I wouldn't have necessarily thought to do it. Then she asked, and I thought, "Well, sure. Why not?" She said thank you and walked away happily munching on her little green treasure. Olivia asks for stuff all of the time! I often say no, but later she asks for something new....sometimes she asks for the same thing again. The point is that she asks!! For all of the "no" responses she may get, she still knows that, if it is something that is good for her, there is a very good chance that I'll say ok.

Really, how simple is this? How did I not get this? I'm a smart girl. I read my Bible. I know it says ask. How did this one little thing fly right over my head? How many little green treasures could I have walked away with had I simply asked?

I sort of feel like a whole new world of possibilities has opened up to me. How generous is He?! I'm going to ask! You ask!! Oh where to start?

Where are you going to start?

Happiness is...

2011-07-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

--Watching the children pretend to be Perry and Dr. Doofenschmirtz (if you don't get this reference, you don't know what you're missing!).

--Spending an hour and a half on the phone with my sister.

--Laughing so hard in that hour and a half that I finally believe that milk can, indeed, come out of your nose if you laugh too hard.

--Knowing that a friend made it safely to her destination.

--Noticing the blossoming of new friendships.

--Watching Olivia's "washing up" dance.

--Teaming up with Kevin to make Benjamin laugh after his "I don't neeeeeeeeed a nap" nap!

You know it's hot when.....

2011-06-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

....you worry about hanging your clothes outside because they may shrink in the heat!! Might as well put them in the dryer, I suppose.

If blogs could yawn....

2011-06-29T13:51:00.003-07:00

...then this one would stretch its arms and do just that.

I've missed you, fun friend.

Fun times in Mountain View, Arkansas

2010-11-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

These are just some of the fun things that the children did in Mountain View, AK. Benjamin seemed to be especially fond of the blacksmiths. He wanted to see them no matter where we went that week. Who knew?!

This was the first thing we stopped to do. Geocaching!! The fact that it was in a VW made it even sweeter. The fact that it was 109 degrees (seriously!!!!) almost melted the baby into a blue puddle!

The children loved the swimming every night. We let them stay up late in order to swim. Our uber white family sunburns so easily that we just decided to swim at night. We had the pool to ourselves every time. Benjamin's great accomplishment was jumping into the 8 foot water (with a life vest) and swimming. Fun!

Handsome, sweet boy!

I love pictures of Livi walking with her Daddy. Awww.

This was very interesting to us. First, it has a tree growing out of the center of a huge rock. COOL! Second, Kevin said it reminds him of Aslan's Table.

Now, usually I don't find spiders, spider webs, spider monkeys, or spider veins to be interesting. But, a funnel-shaped web is something else. One of the ladies at the Folk Center told us what kind of spider it was. It was something simple like Funnel Spider, but I don't remember now. Sadly, some ~~hooligan~~ sweet, forest-dwelling animal destroyed it the next day, so we didn't get to enjoy it any more. Bah!

Benjamin made a corn husk doll in this room. I cannot even imagine working in the awful heat in the dresses that these women wear! Makes me thankful for today's more casual attire.

The final result. Even though it was a super cool doll, he was only impressed by the turkey feather!

Marching past the flowers.

Now, THIS is my kind of pet. Clean, low maintenance, quiet, dumb as a block of wood. Ah, it must be because he's made of a block of wood. I don't know who is more amused...me or Olivia.

Old school clothes washing.

Olivia's not sure if she likes this idea very much. Smart baby!

Benjamin LOVED this. "We should get one of these for our house. It would be so much fun to wash clothes like this," said the boy with the clothes that magically appear, cleaned and folded, in his dresser.

Yeah. Again, smart baby!!

I think that Olivia's favorite part of this trip was the animals. She got to see quite a few. I thought that she'd be afraid, but she wasn't. Benjamin was our child who would not enjoy this.

Looking for the perfect spot on the Picnic Swing.

This was pretty cool. I think that they would have ridden forever if the donkey would have kept going. The donkey was expressing his opinion about independence on this day.

Benjamin was quite fond of the printing press. He loved how the gears and things worked. He is his father's son. He even offered to organize all of the letters that the lady had!!

The GIANT letters!

MmmmHmmmm!

This was the leather shop. I think that Benjamin was more interested in the lady's machine than he was in her leather working. She really did pretty stuff. Oh, am I the only one that thinks that leather smells gross? Seems as though I'm the odd one in this too.

I really liked her hair doohicky things. I had to try it out. Very pretty, but not comfortable.

This is the craft area. Benjamin made a rock necklace. It was a very intricate design that consisted of 3 rocks from the ground outside and some finger paint. Benjamin was amazed! Go figure!

He also got to do a few rows on a beaded belt. He is good with detail stuff.

Music!!! Yay!! This group is actually led by that little 12 year old girl on the right. She plays the fiddle amazingly well!

There's my little Livi dancing her heart out. I love that she loves to dance. Benjamin says, "Mommy, music is for listening to!"

Ummm....I don't know what this is, but Kevin walked around it and looked at it for a while. He also took this picture. Feel free to guess at what it is.

This is in the Photo Shop. This man was so patient!! He explained how cameras work, how to make various types of cameras, showed Benjamin how to make his own, showed him pictures that he took, etc. He did everything shy of making dinner for us. Sheesh!

This was a camera that he had made out of a cereal box!!

I don't remember what kind of box this was, but Benjamin was amazed!!

I think that our sweet babies had a great time!!

Olivia Wears Many Hats!!

2010-11-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

This summer we went to Mountain View, AK for our vacation. It is a nice little town that houses the Ozark Folk Center. The Folk Center has weavers, blacksmiths, knife makers (yeah, I'm sure it has a fancier name), picnic swings, soap makers, etc. Benjamin LOVED this place. One morning while Benjamin was with a group making corn husk dolls, we took Olivia into the gift shop. She found these hats and that was all she wrote. Who needs to pay admission into a place when we can just go to random hat stores?! It was fun!!

Laura Ingalls hat! She'll be randomly running away from things in fields in no time.

Dancing in a Dick Van Dyke movie hat! Old Bamboo, Old Bamboo....

Hm. I got nothin'

Super Duper Sunburn Prevention hat! Well, if one wants a plaid-type sunburn.

Hepburn Hat!

Suggestions?

Kentucky Derby hat! This one makes me laugh!! I suppose it could be a backup to Sunburn Prevention Hat!

Help-Please-I'm-Being-Attacked-by-a-Squirrel hat!

No pictures! No pictures! Princess Livi coming through.

Peek a boo hat, take 1!

Peek a boo hat, take 2!

Hugs from Brother

2010-09-20T09:41:00.001-07:00

I love how much Benjamin loves his sister. It makes my heart happy.

Love

2010-08-13T23:14:00.000-07:00

It seems as though my sweet boy does his deepest thinking in the car. We were in the car on September 11, 2007 when he blurted out, "Mommy, do you know what I did last night? I telled Jesus to GET IN MY HEART!! And He did." And that was that. He just kept on looking out the window. It was so easy and sensible to him. I hope he always feels that way. It still makes me teary-eyed to think about it now.

We were also in the car the other day when he announced, "Mommy, I know what the last thing I'm going to do in my whole life is. I'm going to die and go to Heaven." I said, "Yes, son, that's right." Then he said, "Mommy, I feel worried about sister because she doesn't have Jesus in her heart. What would happen if she got dead?" I did the best I could to explain to him that God knows when we are old enough to understand that we need to choose Him. I explained that God doesn't want any one of us to be separated from Him and that He takes care of the babies and brings them home to Him if something happens to them before they have Jesus in their heart. Then he simply stated that he loved "sister."

I don't know if it was too big of a concept or not. I'm sure that I will know soon. He is just like his wonderful father when it comes to needing time to process things. I look forward to seeing what his thoughts are on this.

I love seeing this part of my son. I love that, even though his sister annoys him, he still cares very deeply about her in a way that is deeper than a simple "I love you." I love that God blessed me with the husband and children that He did, and that I have a chance to help direct them to a different path than I had growing up. I hope that my sweet babies always choose God and always feel a deep concern for those who haven't chosen Him yet.

Pickles Gap Hyperbole

2010-08-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

As I typed this in Pickles Gap, Arkansas, the temperature outside was 108 degrees!! I think that I can agree with Benjamin when he says that "this is the hottest place I've ever been in the whole world!!!

We just stopped off at Pickles Gap Village. It was advertised as:

"Within the village, visitors can visit Kiddie Land, which offers rides for the kids. We have goats, chickens, ducks and guineas on site that the kids can feed and pet."

Yeah, to say that that was a stretch would be generous. The petting zoo consisted of 1 goose, 4 goats, a few chickens, 3 rabbits fighting off heat stroke, 1 rabbit trying to escape under the broken down shed, and a white dog with muddy paws. With the exception of the dog, all of the animals were behind high chicken wire. I guess it was a good thing that the goose was behind it. I think that Sir Goose also thought it was "the hottest place he's ever seen in the whole world," and he was not trying to hide his displeasure. Despite my negativity, Olivia really enjoyed it. Benjamin, well, not so much! Olivia kept talking about "dat ducks." Any bird is a duck in Olivia's book.

Kiddie Land was equally as impressive. It had 3 WILD AND CRAZY rides. By "wild and crazy" I mean, it had 3 of those little horse rides that are outside of grocery stores. One played music. One didn't. Benjamin, trying to be optimistic, declared that "these are the most funnest rides EVER!" Kevin, trying to be realistic, muttered, "Yeah, that was tooooootally worth fifty cents." One of the horse rides was the single rider kind that played the theme song from Bonanza. It jolted the children around pretty good. Benjamin said, "I think that this ride only costs a quarter because it is so rough on you. I think it's so rough because it's made of metal and real horses aren't made of metal." He might be on to something!

Never fear, the children escaped without rabies, tetanus, or whiplash! I consider that a successful outing!

On a brighter note, we enjoyed ice cream cones together inside of their cozy ice cream/fudge "shoppe." Olivia was very excited about getting pink ice cream. While we were eating it, she kept looking back at the clown statue that was at the entrance of "Kiddie Land" and saying, "I see dat silly." It was cute.

In the end, it was nice to have a little stop to break up the long car ride. But, if you ever plan to stop at Pickles Gap Village, just know that it is more Evil Spell than Magic Kingdom!

Banana Oat Muffins

2010-07-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

We love these!! I actually buy clearanced bananas to make them because our other bananas never last long enough because the children are always wanting smoothies.

Banana Crumb muffins

3/4 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3/4 t. cinnamon
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1/3 c. vanilla yogurt
1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. mashed bananas

Mix dry stuff in a big bowl. Make a well in center. Add wet stuff. Mix until combined, but don't over mix. I poured mine into a 9" round stone, but you can use muffin cups or loaf pans.

(We usually eliminate this step) In a small bowl, mix together 1/3 c. brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and 1/4 t. cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over top.

Bake at 400 until tester comes out clean. Yum!

Anyone else need some Rogaine?!

2010-01-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

Today Benjamin and I were in Wal-mart. The cashier who checked us out had very long "boy get that hair outta yer eyes!" sort of hair. Benjamin wondered aloud (emphasis on the LOUD part), "Mommy, is that a girl or a boy?" I quietly told him that it was a boy. I thought we were done with that conversation.

Fast forward to the drive home. Benjamin was listening to a song he really likes. It is by Ingrid Michaelson. One of the verses says, "I'd buy you Rogaine, when you start losing all your hair...." Benjamin says, "Mommy what is Rogaine?" I tell him that it is something to make your hair grow. He thinks about it for 2.6 seconds and then says, "Mommy, I want some Rogaine. I would like for my hair to be long and you keep getting it cut. I want it to be long like Miss Rue's." (Miss Rue is his teacher. She has gorgeous, long, blonde hair that hangs to the middle of her back!) I explained to Benjamin that Miss Rue is a girl. And guess who he brings up!!! Yup, Mr. Wal-Mart-Needs-A-Length-Of-Hair-Policy! He says, "But Mommy, that man at Wal-Mart had long hair."

Oh, the things that came into my head at that moment. However, earlier in the car ride we were singing "Oh be careful little mouth what you say..........."

Thank you, Mr. Fabio D'WalMart!

Sweet babies....sigh...

2010-01-10T20:03:00.001-08:00

Today I had the worst headache in the history of headachekind. It was one of the kinds that feels like you're being jabbed in the eyes with toothbrushes while being repeatedly whacked on the back of the head with a tire iron. It was fantastic.

So, where do the "sweet babies" come in? Right....

I'm in bed, all curled up, and Benjamin hops in the bed with me. He says, "Mommy, I came in here to pray for you. Let's pray. Dear Jesus, please make Mommy's headache go away and not hurt any more RIGHT THIS SECOND. Amen. Ok, bye." Then he hops down and goes back in the front room with Kevin. See! Sweet, huh?

Then Olivia had a change of personality this evening. Kevin had taken Benjamin and Amara to Lab-X at church and I stayed home with Olivia. We had all the blinds closed (lest the sunlight make my brains explode through my eyes), the lights off, and were cuddled up in my recliner. Now, the odd this about this is that Olivia is NOT, in any way, the cuddly type of baby. She's one of the "Oh oh, wait, I think you're touching me! NO NO NO!" types. Well, we sat in that recliner, cuddled up, watching Cherub Wings for 35 minutes. She even nuzzled down into my chest and stayed that way.

I'd love to say the headache was worth all of that...because it sure was special...but, did I mention the toothbrushes and tire iron?

.....Nah, it was worth it!!

Little things

2010-01-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

Today I was cooking a new dish. It had corn and cream cheese and stuff in it. Olivia comes in the kitchen, as she is prone to do, looks at me, and says, "Bite!!" So, I put one little piece of corn in her mouth. She chews it up slowly, looks at me, and says, "Ummy!" It was cute!

Benjamin and I were playing a "No blinking" game this morning. At the end of one round, which I lost, he says, "I won Mommy. You blunk first and then I blunk. We both blunk!!" Funny!

Last night I was holding him and pretending to give him a little spanking. He said, "Oh no, that will hurt." I told him that it wouldn't because his hiney has extra cushioning on it. He says, "I wish my head had extra cushioning too for when I fall off of the swings." Ha!

Those babies sure are cute!

Pictures of the Children

2009-12-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know. You have just picked yourself up off of the floor after passing out. I apologize for being the cause of this momentary lack of consciousness. I am, indeed, blogging today! Perhaps you should buy a lottery ticket...not that the Bulgrien family condones gambling. ;-)

These pictures were taken by my friend Evelyn's daughter, Amy. They were taken out at Ken and Evelyn's house out by Lake Cherokee. Amy did a great job! You can see her other fantastic stuff here.

Yes, I do know that there are more pictures here of Olivia than of Benjamin. Benjamin recently had his pictures done at school and also has quite a large collection of pictures that we have taken of him over the past 6 years. Olivia, not being the first child, seems to have significantly less pictures. It is an odd phenomenon. Ask my youngest sister Jenny. There are no pictures to prove that she even was a baby. She could have just popped out of our father's forehead fully grown and fully armed...a la Athena! But I digress....

So, without further ado, I present to you the world's most beautiful children!!!!

I told you so!!

Potty Time?!

2009-09-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

This morning Olivia grabbed the back of her diaper, said "Poopy," and ran to the bathroom. I put her on the potty and got out her favorite book. She sat there for about 3 minutes and the she actually went!! She was surprised and kept pointing to her bottom and saying "Poopy? Poopy?"

I think she gets it! Yay!!!

Footwear Fiasco!

2009-09-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

7.03.09

Our daughter loves shoes! We didn't teach her this. Apparently she came programmed this way...along with Super powerful amplifiers and a strange love of Mardi Gras beads!

Well, on this particular day, she was wearing one shoe from her many pairs of shoes. She loves her shoes so much that she must carry them all around the house lest they feel lonely. As a result, we couldn't find the other one! Let's just say that that was not what she wanted to hear:

"How can I show my face with only these snazzy beads and one shoe!?"

"What's that? You think you may know where my beloved shoe is?!"

"Allllright. I'm listening." (Oh, and I love her hair in this picture)

"YAY! You found it! You're awesome Mommy!"

"This calls for a celebration! Water all around!"

Snakes and Sleep

2009-09-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

5-18-09

What a creepy title, huh?!

As you may have already figured out, I love pictures of my babies sleeping. So, one night I thought I'd shake it up a bit and take pictures of them as they headed off to Dreamland. I figured I would have pictures of them drowsily curled up in their little beds, chubby hands holding on to their stuffed animals. Yeahhhh...about that:

Look at my snake, Mommy. His name is Mr. Blue Snake!

Mommy, Mr. Blue Snake is going to bite you!! Don't worry though, his poison isn't poisonous! (imagine that!)

What are you talking about?! I am going to sleep!

...but now I need to do a quick bedtime karate kick!!

Nah, really. I'm lying down right now.

....right after I do a few Bouncity Bounces!

Bouncity bounce, bouncity bounce....

And BAM!

BAM! BAM! (yes, he really is sleeping!)

(Side note: Turns out that Benjamin had a change of heart about Mr. Blue Snake and his poison producing abilities. We had to part with Mr. Blue Snake because while we were in PA Benjamin prayed every night about God keeping our house safe so that Mr. Blue Snake didn't come to life, spit poison on everything, and destroy our house! Wow. Yeah. Anxiety.)

I'm glad I live in America...

2009-09-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

...because I have choices.

...because I can teach my children about Jesus or not.

...because I can vote for our leader or not. If I don't like the outcome, I get another shot every 4 years.

...because my children and I can have opinions even if they differ from those of others.

...because I can choose to teach my children to respect differences even if he disagrees. You can be loving to someone you disagree with.

...because I can choose to teach my children not to hate.

...because I can teach my children that words hurt others--even if they are well-intentioned.

...because I can freely believe that God is bigger than America. He's bigger than donkey vs. elephant. In the end, He's bigger than my choices and opinions. He's bigger than hate. He's bigger than fear. He's just bigger. He's love.

The Joy of PB&J!

2009-08-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Olivia really loves her PB&J....as evidenced by these pictures.

"Peanut butter, how I love thee!"

"Let me shove you in my mouth!"

"...and rub you on my chin."

You can see the "happiness" all over her face!

Benjamin's First Day of First Grade

2009-08-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it is here! The day where Benjamin goes off to school for the entire day. No more of this 1/2 day business. The day where he clings to my leg and cries for me to not leave him alone all day long because he will miss me. The day where I kiss him on the head and send him along to be a big boy despite his anxiety!

Yeah, that was how I envisioned it anyway. Instead, he happily strolls into school, grabs his breakfast, goes to his class, hops in his seat, and forgets that I am tagging along!!! Mommy? Mommy who? And all of that crying and missing each other, well, that was all left to me. I did MY part. I kissed him on the back of the head, walked into the hallway, and promptly burst into tears! And we're not talking "a little sniffle here and a misty eye" tears. We're talking "I hope the principal didn't see me in the hallway and call the people with the tight white coats" crying...

Anyway, Benjamin overcame and did well! He loved his first day of school. He says his teacher is very nice and she helps him when he doesn't know what to do.

Of course, I took 674,000 pictures....because that's what Moms do!

My little guy's first day of school. Compare with this picture.

Benjamin and Grammy. She comes for the first days of school.

Daddy got a big hug right before we headed in. As Benjamin walked away, Kevin said, "Who's your best friend" referring to the devotion from the night before. Benjamin's hand shot straight up to the sky! (sniff)

Strolling to class.

Benjamin, Amara, and Josiah. Amara and Benjamin are in the same class this year. Josiah is next door.

Benjamin's friend charging into class for her first day. In the background you can see our other neighbor Sherene cheering them both on. Our friends rock!

As Evelyn (Grammy) and I were walking out, we spotted this sign. She pointed it out to me to try to distract me from my crying! Let's just say it didn't have the desired outcome.

This was taken as soon as he got in the car from school. So his head's cut off, but you can still see his excited expression! Yay!

After school, we all met up at Stephanie's house for a "First day of School" party. Stephanie, Sherene, and I (along with our babies) made this poster while the kids were at school. Move over Picasso!

Benjamin and Amara again. Isn't she a superstar?!

Our whole Hudson gang!!

Guess who was even more excited than the kids! Yup. Stephanie. She is the world's best cheerleader for our kids.

The whole gang had ice cream and/or popsicles at the party!

Even Olivia had her own celebratory popsicle...until she rubbed it on the porch. 8-)

Daddy got a lot of snuggle time when he got home. Benjamin missed us. We missed him too!

Jesus loves the little children...and their Mommies.

2009-08-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

Benjamin will start the first grade tomorrow. I have been feeling like my world is coming to an end. Yes, Benjamin went to school last year, but only from 8-11:45. This year he will be at school from 7:30-3! I am already worried about missing him so much and about only having around 4 hours with him each day. I adore that boy! Being without him makes me sad.

I have a whole new respect for Kevin's mother now (not that I didn't have any before). She and Kevin's father were missionaries in Africa. They were doing work for the Lord and the education that was available for their children was less than appealing. Kevin and Michael went to a boarding school 400 miles away for about 9 months out of the year. How did she do it?! I have heard her say before that she just had to trust the Lord with her children when she didn't know what else to do. They are amazing!

Tonight I feel like the Lord really made an effort to show me that He has all of this in His hands. We were getting ready to do our devotion time with the children tonight. I told Benjamin to go and get our Bible story book. We started a new one tonight, so I opened it up to the first story. It was titled "Jesus Loves Children." It talked about how Jesus loves children and how he thinks we should all be like children because of their simplicity and their faith. It went on to say how Jesus doesn't like anyone to hurt His children and how He takes care of them because He loves them so.

It was really special to me. Not only was this story a good one to encourage Benjamin for tomorrow, but it was also a loving reminder to me that Jesus loves Benjamin more than I ever could and that He will take care of him when I can't.

Thank you, Lord, for loving me so much that you would make this happen like it did tonight. I see your hand in this and I am thankful!!

Meet the Teacher!

2009-08-20T05:39:00.001-07:00

Last night was Meet the Teacher night at Benjamin's school. Her name is Ms. Rue. This is her first year teaching first grade! Benjamin was sort of shy, but I know he will warm up. It was a very overwhelming night with parents, teachers, students, and siblings running everywhere. I assured Benjamin that it will be much different on Monday! Benjamin did warm up enough to be able to completely relax next to books!

One really nice thing about this year is that he gets to be in the same class with his friend Amara. Amara is the sweet little girl in the neighborhood that runs and plays with all of our boys! Benjamin is happy she is in his class. At the moment all of the children are seated alphabetically. Ms. Rue said that if the children obey the rules and do their work well, that one of their rewards is being able to move and sit with a friend....provided that the child and that friend don't cut up together. Luckily, neither Amara nor Benjamin are the "cut up" type.

Last night Benjamin prayed for Ms. Rue to be a happy teacher and to be able to get all of her work done. Please pray for his transition to this new school and that it will go well. Please pray for his new teacher as well!

Wow! First grade already!

Pictures by Julia

2009-08-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

My little niece, Julia, had a lot of fun using my camera. She got some really good shots of things for me!

This is their family cat. Olivia LOVED the cat. She doesn't get to see many because Kevin is allergic to cats.

She was very gentle with it.

Didn't Julia do a great job?

She was very proud of this shot! I was too!!

Olivia liked Julia a lot. It was easy for her to get happy shots of this sweet baby!

Thank you, Julia, for all of these great pictures! You did a fantastic job!

PA, Day 7...Departure

2009-08-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

All good things must come to an end. This time with our PA family is no different.

Leta made delicious lunches and dinners for us all week. Michael is the breakfast champion in their house. That morning he got up and made pancakes for everyone...with his kitchen help!

Note the pancake in her hand. Aunt Debra (in TX) refers to this as "Quality Assurance!"

Cutie Katrina at the kids' breakfast table.

Another picture of Michael and Olivia!

We headed out bright and early that morning for our LONG LONG drive home. We stopped in West Virginia for lunch. It was quite the Podunk town, complete with Rebel flags hanging from store fronts and all!! However, we did find this place to sit at and have lunch:

Pretty huh?

I saw this on our drive to PA, and was glad to see it on the way back. It is just a huge white cross out in the middle of nowhere!

We made it home safe and sound! We look forward to many more visits with The Michael Bulgrien Family!!! We love you guys!

PA, Day 6

2009-08-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

Our last day with our PA family was a very busy, yet fun, one! The day started out with the boys playing some sort of Lego game, as usual! They did this the entire time we were there.

Benjamin loved having someone who liked to play just the same way he did.

I got this one of Katrina when she was just laying down and thinking.

Kevin's Aunt Beulah (his mother's sister) came over for lunch. She lives in a retirement facility in Mechanicsburg. Benjamin has only seen her once, and Olivia has never met her.

She was quite fond of the children. I actually have a picture of Kevin's mom making this exact same face and talking to Olivia. I like it!

I rather like this picture!

Afterwards, we all went down to the Mechanicsburg Jubilee Day! It is exactly like our Alley Fest. It was very hot and sunny.

The children all decided to wear their hats!

They had a couple of display cars. Benjamin had never seen a VW bus before. You know we must take pictures if there is a VW in the vicinity!

Giving the baby a drink requires teamwork! ;-)

Olivia and her Uncle Michael again! She liked him VERY much!

We finished up our Jubilee Day with a treat at the ice cream shop on the way home. It was a perfect ending to a hot outing! Oh, and we also found a geocache while in the parking lot!

That evening, we had more company. It was the pastor and his wife that used to be at the BIC church in Michigan. Everyone had a nice time sitting around talking, enjoying a dessert Julia made, and playing around. Olivia weaseled her Uncle Michael to play with her! I'm guessing he didn't mind......

Being wheeled around on Uncle Michael's special seat invention!

Playing Peek-a-boo!

Flying baby!!

This is probably my favorite picture from the trip of the two of them. Look at the smiles on their faces!! They're just cracking up! He's a good uncle!

Another trip on the seat with Julia!

Helping Auntie Leta do some sweeping!

It was a very nice ending to a very nice week!

Playing Catch Up!

2009-08-16T20:28:00.001-07:00

Ok, time to play some blog catch up! I'm going to be posting things that are very far behind. I often just don't put things up because I am so far behind, but I just thought, "Who cares? I don't want to not have it recorded because of that silly reason!!" So, bear with me over the next few days as I list old things.

Peanut Butter and Heartbreak

2009-08-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

Last week, a friend and I were making cookies. There was some peanut butter left on the spoon we were using, so I let Olivia have it. I put her on the stool and let her have at it!

She really liked my idea!!

A LOT!!

However, taking away the clean spoon didn't go over so well! (Is it terrible that I chuckle every time I see this picture?!)

Splash Kingdom!

2009-07-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

The local Christian radio station (KVNE) sponsored a listener appreciation night at Splash Kingdom Water Park in Canton. We don't usually do water parks because of the price...and the sunburn. So, how could I turn down a free visit at night?!

My friend, Adriana, ordered the tickets a couple weeks ago. To make the deal even sweeter we participated in the Chik-Fil-A food drive today. If you brought in a canned good, they gave you a free chicken sandwich. So, free dinner for all as well! Yay!!! She and I loaded up our kids (4 in all, the babies stayed home with the Daddys), and headed out at 5:45.

Everyone right outside of the waterpark. They're all about to burst with excitement!! Adriana and I were very chill though because we're grown ups! ;-)

It was perfect weather. It was cloudy and not blazing hot! The water was perfect. Not too cold, but not warm like bathwater. That freaks me out. Like bathing with 150 others. ICK!

At first Adriana took her older kids on the big water slides while I stayed with Brayden and Benjamin in the kiddie area. The kiddie area was a blast and I could barely contain myself...especially when a little 2 year old decided that I was the perfect person to flee to when he was trying to get away from his Daddy. HIs daddy was perfectly willing to let the child run up to me and hang on. Yeaaah, not weird at all!!

Benjamin, Chandler, and Brayden doing a test drive on the small slide in the kiddie area.

Benjamin and Brayden "swimming" in the 4" kiddie area.

Benjamin sliding while Brayden cheers him on!

Despite all of this excitement, I did have to pull the children away to try the Lazy River. Once Benjamin realized that he could reach the bottom, he was thrilled! Brayden, on the other hand, clung to me like the water was infested with ravenous alligators that might snap him up at any moment!! Luckily for Brayden, I grew up in Louisiana where everyone keeps an alligator his their bathtub. I saved him! I should get a medal. Due to the trauma in the Lazy River, there are no pictures.

Anywayyyyy.....Benjamin loved the wave pool too. Even without the waves!! He is so easy to please. But, add waves? He thinks I rule the world for thinking of going to such an amazing pool. My poor boy would pass out if I ever took him to a real, live beach!

"Ahhhhhh!"

I also talked Benjamin into going down the BIG waterslide! We picked up a double tube and then climbed 1.3 million steps to the top of the slide. He was totally cool with it. Being the forward thinker that I am, I didn't realize that we had chose the fastest slide there was...and it was enclosed. Ben was scared (I was feeling a wee bit less than brave too), but we ended up having a great time anyway. He felt very proud of himself for going down "that big people slide." He did say that he probably won't do that next time though. Oh, PS, if you are often stricken with motion sickness, then this isn't the slide for you....just sayin'...

On the way home we stopped at Sonic and got drinks and slushes for the kids. It was an amazing night!

Our gang: Taylor, Chandler, Brayden, and Benjamin

It was nice to spend some time with just Benjamin. He has to share a lot of the attention with Olivia these days, so it was nice to have time that was just for him!

Olivia went on the potty!!

2009-07-27T11:24:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks she will run to me and try to pull off her diaper. Then she goes and slaps the potty until I put her on it. She has yet to do anything in the potty, but I figured she would eventually.

Today, I noticed that she was about to mess her diaper and scooped her up and put her on the potty. She went without any trouble. Yay!!!

Hopefully she will equate messy diapers with the potty. Hmm. One can hope!

Conversations in the Car

2009-07-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

On the way home from VBS today, Benjamin and Jasper were talking about what they learned today.

Jasper: This fish picture means that I am a Christian.
Benjamin: I am too. I'm a Christian.
Jasper: I've been a Christian for a long time. Like, since I first heard about it!
Benjamin: Me too!

Another conversation went like this:
(Benjamin drops his VBS craft on the floorboard)
Benjamin: I sure love having feet!!
Jasper: Me too!
Benjamin: 'Cause if you drop something in the car then, bwoop, you can pick it up with your feet!
Jasper: Or you can open the gate with them!!
Benjamin: Yeah!

It is hard not to laugh. So cute!

Rice Krispies...not a treat!

2009-07-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

If you ever wanted to know what an entire box of Rice Krispies would look like on your carpet, then this is the post for you!!

Caught red-handed!! (not that it would have been anyone else's doing but Olivia's. Kevin is trained now. LoL)

Trying to hide the evidence in her mouth?

I felt better after I could see the deep remorse in her little eyes...not to be confused with the little Rice Krispies on her lips.

I was on the phone with a friend who is the mother of James. Even though I was tempted to pick Livi up and smother her...in kisses...I realized that Olivia, like her friend James, is just having a good time!! And James' mother is such a good sport! So, I can be too!

We had James' siblings stay over for dinner tonight. They were playing Crossfire with Benjamin and Kevin and we just figured that we might as well make an evening out of it. It is nice to have them over. They are very well mannered! At one point during dinner Amara was telling me how she didn't really care for tomatoes. Josiah piped up and said, "I don't either, but I am going to make a choice to eat them anyway!" He had dinner with us another night this week and said the same thing then as well. That makes me feel very happy. I told Josiah that his mother would be very proud of him for saying such a thing!! Good job, Steph! Here's our dinner crowd:

PA, Day 5

2009-07-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

This day was pretty relaxing. Michael and Kevin took all of the kids and were supposed to go geocaching. I think that they found one cache, but then took the children to the park to play. Leta packed lunches for everyone, and they ate while they were out.

Leta and I headed into town to do some shopping. We went to a very nice thrift store, had lunch at a place called Neato Burrito, and spent the rest of the time at JoAnn's fabric store (Leta is making a few things for Livi. I'll post picture when they get here!). It was nice to have some one on one time!

We all met back up at the house and then headed over to the Barr's home. Dave and Dorris Barr were neighbors in Africa. They now live 5 mintues from Michael and Leta. After dinner Dave brought out his Ladder Ball set. It was a lot of fun. It was pretty chilly outside, but I loved it!

Little monkeys!

They're ALL loving the spinner!

I love Benjamin's face in this one!

I'm a fan of action shots. I like how you can see Jonathan hopping on and Benjamin's hair blowing!

Livi LOVES swinging!

She loves it even more when Brother is pushing her!

Up....

..and down!

Moving up in slide difficulty.

Katrina on the rings! Notice the long hair swinging around!

Olivia and her best buddy, Julia.

Wave to the train man!

Fascinating!

Olivia telling Mrs. Barr something important!

Speaking of action shots. I LOVE his face!

Uncle Michael kicked the ball so hard that his shoe flew off!

Olivia found more shoulders to sit on! I really like Michael's face in this one.

Olivia learned that she can kick the ball and play by herself!

Michael taking his turn at Ladder Ball.

Seriously, Olivia is always on Kevin's shoulders...even during a game of Ladder Ball!

Olivia learning how to kick from the pros!

Mr. Barr teaching Benjamin how to play.

The Bulgrien children and their fathers.

Kevin and Michael cracking up about something....this is unusual!

A boy and his sister. Awww.

PA, Day 4

2009-07-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

On day 4 of our Pennsylvania trip, we went to Hershey, PA to go to Chocolate World. After that, the children played in the park with Mike and Leta while Kevin and I went to get pizzas. We had a pizza picnic in the park! The kids (and the grown ups) had a lot of fun!

Katrina getting in some swinging before we head out!

Olivia really loved Uncle Michael and Auntie Leta's piano!

So happy she can't stand it!

The Welcome sign.

Red bushes that look like chocolate. Nice!

The streetlights in Hershey alternate wrapped....

...and unwrapped!

We went on the Chocolate Tour. It tells you all about Mr. Hershey, his business, and how they make chocolate. Very interesting!

Cousins...and friends.

The cow telling you about the beginning of the tour.

The singing cows telling you about needing milk to make chocolate.

At the end of the tour they give you a fun size chocolate bar. I didn't think Olivia knew what it was, but she did. And she wasn't happy that she wasn't getting hers ASAP!

Now she's happy. Girls and chocolate, what can I say?

Benjamin was amazed at the chocolate fountain....not the chocolate part, all of the machinery stuff!

Olivia having some pizza with Uncle Michael.

She really, really liked Uncle Michael. (psst...he liked her just as much)

Bulgrien family pizza party.

All 5 Bulgrien kids!

Happy boy!

Olivia and Julia playing chase. Olivia had a blast!

An exciting game of Duck, Duck, Goose!

Olivia helping Auntie Leta cook! She would stir the air in her pot and then lick the spoon. It was funny!

I'm still working on getting all of these pictures up in between our regular posting. It's hard to keep up sometimes!

My sweet boy is 6!

2009-07-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

I used to hate it when people would say, "Oh, enjoy your time, it goes so fast." I have learned that they were so right. I cannot believe that it has been 6 years, 2 hours and 55 minutes since I had Benjamin.

I adore this child! I have learned more about myself and about love in these past years than I ever did in the previous 24 years. He is a huge, undeserved gift...for which I am very thankful. He makes me smile even when I'm down. He loves me even when I fail. He has a smile that lights up my WORLD! His heart is so sensitive. He is smart. He is very friendly. He is kind. He loves his family. He is a loving big brother. And he loves his Jesus. Oh, Father, thank you for this baby who came into my life and turned it around. What a wonderful way to teach people about love. Sweet Benjamin, if you ever read this, I want you to know that I love you....a hundred and a thousand and sixty! ;-)

A Thanksgiving surprise! There was turkey on the table and a bun in the oven!

Our sweet boy. Born on July 11, 2003

We are quite smitten with this little one!

ONE year old!

TWO years old!!

THREE years old!!!

FOUR years old!!!!

FIVE years old!!!!!

SIX years old!!!!!!

But....forever Mommy's baby.

We love you, Benjamin Isaac Bulgrien!! You are the best boy ever!!!

Hearty Tex-Mex Chicken and Squash Casserole

2009-07-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

Does the name of this dish really need to be so long?! Anyway....

A friend asked me to send her this recipe, so I thought, "Hey, since I'm going to have to type it up anyway, I might as well blog it!" So, here ya' go! It has a lot of ingredients, but don't be scared of that! It's easy to make!

10 oz. frozen spinach, thaw and drain
3 yellow squash, slice thin
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 T. olive oil
3 c. cooked chicken, shred or chop
12 6" corn tortillas, cut into 1" pieces
1 can cream of celery soup
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. picante sauce
1 small can green chiles
1 packet (1.4 oz) fajita seasoning
2 c. cheddar cheese

Saute' squash, bell pepper, and onion in oil until tender. Stir in all remaining ingredients expect for 1/2 c. of the cheese. Spoon into a lightly greased 9x13 casserole pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with leftover cheese (more if desired....we desire!!) Bake 5 more minutes.

This stuff is so good it'll make you slap your Momma**!

**The Bulgrien Family blog does not recommend really slapping one's Momma. That will get you killed, and we're against killing.

Little Rabbit Foo Foo gets a conscience!

2009-07-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

Today I was singing the Little Rabbit Foo Foo song to the kids. Olivia was just dancing...as Olivia is prone to do. Benjamin, however, was analyzing the actions of Little Rabbit Foo Foo...as Bulgriens are prone to do.

For those of you who aren't familiar with this song, you can find the lyrics here.
(just for grins, notice that there is a warning at the top of the page telling you that this song is sensitive and may be offensive to some. Perhaps they are picturing this rabbit:)

Anyway.....

Benjamin: Mommy, why does he keep bonking those field mice when she tells hiim not to? Why does she keep giving him chances (side note...we don't do X number of chances at our house. Do it the first time!)?

Me: I don't know. He should just obey the first time, huh?

Benjamin: Yeah. Mommy sing it again, but make him obey this time.

Mommy: Ummm. Little Rabbit Foo Foo went hopping through the forest...

Benjamin: Mommy, he probably shouldn't go in to the forest if he can't do the right thing when he is there.

Mommy: Huh? Oh. Right!

Benjamin: Sing it again.

Mommy: Little Rabbit Foo Foo didn't go hopping through the forest...

Benjamin: That's good. Now make the Good Fairy tell him no more chances.

Mommy: ...And the Good Fairy said, I won't give you any second chances because you should obey the first time...

Benjamin: Mommy, I love this song!

PA, Day 3

2009-06-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

Michael got this picture of us. I was amazed! It is almost impossible to get both children looking (normally) at the camera. It only took him 3 shots! I really like this picture. Thanks Mike! Oh, and no, we didn't color coordinate on purpose. It just happened.

Day 3 was church day. We went to the big program that Mike and Leta's church has for children. It was fun! Afterwards, we had lunch and a relaxing afternoon.

While getting ready for church, Daddy had some coffee. Livi needed some too! I can't blame her. Uncle Michael makes really good coffee. I make mud!

Olivia had to wear bracelets just like Mommy.

She chose to taste them all first. Not like Mommy!

The man in the picture with Kevin is Dave Barr. He and his wife lived right behind Kevin's family in Africa (if I'm remembering the story correctly). They now live in PA...about 3 minutes from Mike and Leta.

Surprisingly, Olivia went right to him!

However, not for long. She adores being with Daddy!

Katrina got to ride in our car on the way home from church. She was hiding and I got her picture. She's a sweetie!

That afternoon, Julia and I decided to paint our toenails! Julia did mine and then UNCLE KEVIN did hers!! She really liked this!!

Kevin didn't think he'd do well, but he really did! I was tickled that he did this for her!

Matching toes!

Olivia really enjoyed her Uncle Michael! Even more so once he caught on to Livi's favorite sitting place....shoulders!

Oh, adorable story. Jonathan and Benjamin were inseparable the whole week. They played constantly and slept in the same bed each night. On Sunday night, Benjamin came downstairs very upset. He said that Jonathan didn't want to sleep with him anymore and that he was very sad because he really wanted to be with Jonathan. Apparently Benjamin must have misunderstood something because Jonathan was very concerned when he found out that Benjamin thought this. He came right downstairs and cuddled Benjamin. You could tell that Jonathan was thinking very hard about what to say.
He told Benjamin that he really enjoys him and wants to have him upstairs with him. He even made a little plan about how to sleep. It was so sweet to see Jonathan console his little cousin. I cried.

(notice how sad both of their little faces are)

They got everything all cleared up and then headed up to bed. It all worked out in the end. Here is the result.

God is so good to bless us with our family. To give my little Benjamin such nice cousins is amazing!

PA, Day 2

2009-06-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

On our second day, we had a nice, relaxing time at home. We started off by playing a game on the Wii as a family. It was fun! Then the children all went swimming while Michael did some grilling. We ate outside (it wasn't 178 degrees there like it is here in Texas). What a fantastic day!

Kevin, Julia and Katrina playing Big Brain Academy on the Wii.

Julia and Uncle Kevin. I love Kevin's grin here. He was happy that the girls liked him so well.

Michael and Leta had the excellent idea of getting Olivia her own little pool to play in while the big kids played in the big pool. Livi was thrilled!

Olivia managed to get Julia to play with her for a bit too!

Julia and Olivia. This turned out really well. It is hard, no, impossible to get Olivia to pose.

After Julia went back in the big pool, Olivia picked grass, one blade at a time, and put it in the pool.

Michael, the Burger King.

Julia and Olivia again.

Ben happily hopping back in the pool after lunch. He was so happy to have his cousins to play with!

Bulgrien kids in the pool!

The Bulgrien Boys!

Benjamin loved Mike and Leta's swing set.

Olivia did too. She spent a lot of time on this one part.

Whew! Tired!

PA, Day 1

2009-06-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

It is hard to know how to break up all of the PA pictures. I took TONS! We don't get to get together with the PA relatives much, so I didn't want to miss anything. I also wanted to have lots of pictures for Mom and Dad Bulgrien since there would be pictures with all 5 of the grandkids together.

So, I will try to do it one day at a time with a couple of different posts. There are going to be lots of pictures because this blog is for my family.

So, without further ado, I tackle this job!

We arrived in PA at about 8:30 Friday night. Katrina was in bed, but the rest of the family was up waiting for us.

Julia and Olivia hit it off right away. They cuddled up right after we got there. They were great buddies all week. Julia was a great help with Olivia! After I unpacked all of Olivia's things, I told Julia that she was welcome to pick Olivia's clothes out each day if she wanted. She DEFINITELY wanted to. It was like having her own dress up doll. So sweet!

Olivia also took some time to relax on Daddy while watching Uncle Michael put Legos on his head. Great entertainment!
Benjamin and Jonathan played a game of Lego Star Wars on the Wii!

We had a little dinner and then all crashed. What a long trip!

You can't contain her!

2009-06-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

No container if off limits for Livi!! See

And now we can add Water Cooler Baby!

Adriana's Birthday Party!

2009-06-28T19:23:00.001-07:00

I have a wonderful new friend named Adriana. This week was her birthday. She and I had thought about going out for dinner together. It turned into dinner with Adriana, Jessi, Stephanie, Laura, and me.

We went to Cheddar's for dinner. Adriana opened her bazillion gag gifts (that Stephanie, Laura, and I spent the entire afternoon wrapping...and laughing like hyenas!) while we blew bubbles at her. Yes, that's right, bubbles! It was hilarious!

The birthday girl and Jessi.

Me, Stephanie, and Laura. One picture of us would have been plenty, but Laura's faces were hilarious and I had to put all three!

Laura's "ghetto mouth" photo.

Stephanie is just a supermodel! Laura is a cross-eyed photographer!

One of the many, many gag gifts. We'll just call it glue. ;-) I love Jessi's face!

I splurged and got Adriana an Eye-Phone. A cell phone with magazine eyeballs glued all over it! You're welcome!!!!

I'm not sure what we were laughing at, but I love pictures of my friends laughing!

Yup, that's toilet paper. Stephanie is such a giver!

I'm not exactly sure what is going on in this picture, but it made me laugh. I should submit is somewhere and just title it "Hands."

We did get Adriana some serious presents too! We worked on this one for a while that afternoon and were pretty pleased with how it turned out.

These women and their husbands stopped by on their way out. They were amused with us and wanted to tell us that they were happy just watching us be happy. We gave them and their husbands some bubbles and they blew them almost constantly while they talked to us. Share the joy!!

After dinner we had a scavenger hunt and Jen Lea joined us. It was a riot!! Ted, Stephanie's husband, comes up with these scavenger hunts for Stephanie. Some of the things we had to do included:

-Get everyone to pile into a grocery buggy and have an employee push you around. We did this at Target.

-Go to a cell phone store and tell the clerk your name is Jenny. Ask for the phone number 867-5309. Extra points if you get the clerk to sing with you. Stephanie did this. The clerk said that he didn't know the song. Stephanie goofed and asked for the phone number 867-5301. The clerk pointed it out, thus giving away that he knew the song. He did sing it with us...complete with hand motions. Funny!

-Find and hold a live fish. Forringer pond exempt! Adriana and I asked the employee at the pet store (that was closed) if he'd open up and let us hold a fish. He said yes!

-Go to Chic-Fil-A, dress up like a cow, and ask for a free kid's meal for your efforts. Adriana put on a black and gray striped shirt (all we had with us), claimed to be a prison cow, and asked for her kid's meal. She got it!!!

-Go to Taco Bell and insist that you want a Big Mac. Extra points if the clerk gets very annoyed at you. This was mine. I even sang the Big Mac song. The clerk asked if I "wanted fries with that?" Funny. She did end up calling me a "silly head," so we figured that that counted as very annoyed.

It was very silly, and very fun! We laughed so hard that night that I had a raging headache at the end. But, it was soooo worth it!! Happy Birthday, Adriana! Thanks for letting me be a part of it!

Camping Weekend

2009-06-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

(I'm doing a lot of "catch up posts" since I have had a very busy few weeks and have fallen behind.)

A few weekends ago Kevin and Benjamin went on a Father/Son camping trip with the church. Kevin took off of work on Friday and they headed out. They were going to be gone until Sunday afternoon. Benjamin was very excited.

He and Kevin usually have a camping trip every year where they get to go out and be alone. Since I absolutely loathe camping, it works for me as well! Last year, when Kevin and Benjamin got home from their camping trip, Benjamin declared, "Mommy, next time you and me can go alone and do your kind of camping at the hotel." Smart boy!

Here are some of the pictures. Since Kevin was in charge of the camera, I don't know exactly what the pictures are of, and went off of Benjamin's description! Beware!

Very happy boy right before leaving for the weekend. He loved his new hat that Mrs. Nae got him for his K graduation!

Benjamin demonstrating how he is going to catch a huge fish. He didn't end up catching any...he said fishing was too boring. ;-)

Benjamin said that this picture is of him and a friend named Sam that he met on the camping trip. He said that they are undoing the tent poles.

He said that this is a picture of him and Sam setting up the tent. Notice how Benjamin's arms are crossed over his chest as he accomplishes this amazing feat!

On the way home on Sunday, Kevin took him to look at the dam. The water was very high!

Benjamin says that he is drinking a Dr. Pepper in this picture. Funny how he doesn't have a soda, but a stick. Perhaps he was wishing he had a Dr. Pepper?

Just watching.

While the boys were away, Olivia and I just relaxed. Friday night a friend came over and played cards while Livi was sleeping. On Saturday, we went out shopping with Grammy Evelyn after having breakfast.

Grammy putting on Livi's shoes because Livi is convinced that I don't know how to do it. Perhaps she finds consolation in the fact that Grammy is just as big of a shoe addict as Livi is!

Livi and Grammy having coffee together. Notice that Olivia has her own sippy, but she didn't want that awful thing!

A quick visit to Sally's Beauty Supply. Grammy insisted that Livi needed a picture here. She said that you can never start too young. LoL.

After Sally's, we headed over to Payless Shoes. I bought Olivia a pair of dress shoes. Grammy enabled Livi's habit by purchasing her 2 other pairs of shoes. It was funny. We walked into the shoe store and they both bolted down the aisles. She pulled down any shoe that was shiny and tried to stick her foot in it. It was like taking her to a toystore! Oh, Olivia had fun too! (snicker)

On Sunday, Olivia and I went to church together. She looked adorable!

Well, that was our weekend. We were glad to have our guys back with us on Sunday. It's not the same without them!

Just like us

2009-06-27T08:50:00.001-07:00

Our children really do seem to do a lot of things just like we do. It's funny!

Having fun outside. Notice that instead of riding his bike, Benjamin is investigating how it works. Just like Daddy!

Turning the pedals to see what happens. Just like Daddy!

Analyzing. Just like Daddy!

Reading the Sunday comics. Reading-Daddy. Comics-Mommy

More comics!

Playing a computer game called Crossfire. Obviously Daddy!

Olivia playing the Wii. Just like us!

Olivia playing the Game Cube! Just like us!

Wearing glasses. Just like Daddy!

Geocaching. Just like us!

Listening to Mommy's headphones. Love of music...Just like Mommy.

Food Photos

2009-06-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

I was really tempted to make the title "Food Fotos," but I hate it when people purposely spell things wrong (think Kwik Kar Wash). Anyway.....

For Father's Day Kevin requested that we have my home made pizzas. Benjamin thought this was a great idea and wanted to help. I had a Pillsbury pizza crust from one of my Kroger trips, and let him use that and make his very own pizza. He said that his pizza needed to have sauce, cheese, pepperonis, canadian bacon, pineapple, and a teeny bit of onions. When he was spreading the sauce, I tried to tell him not to do it all the way to the edge because he needed to have a bit of crust. Well, he just decided that one corner of his pizza wouldn't have toppings and that could be the crust!

He thought he was quite the chef...notice his sprinkling technique!

The finished product! See the bottom left corner with no toppings? Crust!

Enjoying his work!

Sister enjoyed it too!

Olivia will not be outdone. She has her own ideas about cooking too! She and Kevin were eating lunch and she decided to show him how he should season his food.

"Hey! Wait! What are you doing?!"

"Let me do this! I know what I'm doing."

"You see Daddy, you have to turn your head like this and pout your lips. It doesn't matter if you leave the cap on the seasoning either."

Not only is Olivia a master seasoner, she has also decided that she is grown and can now feed herself. The problem is that neither of these things are true! However, we still let her try even it means cleaning her off in the front yard with a pressure washer!

Concentration!

Goal! Well, almost. If only that blasted spoon wouldn't turn itself upside down right as she went to put it in her mouth.

She is very proud of herself. When feeding her now, she tries to pull the spoon/fork out of our hands. There are many times when we have to pry it out of her hands. She loves this and doesn't cry a bit!

"Yook!"

2009-06-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Benjamin's teacher suggested that he keep practicing his handwriting through the summer. A couple of weeks ago (I'm behind due to vacation...and just being me) he was going camping with Kevin and a group of guys from church. So, his journal entry was about that.

A few nights before the journal entry I was telling Kevin and Benjamin that, on Saturday night of the camping trip, a man was going to be frying fish for everyone. Benjamin immediately said that he didn't like fish. Well, this was news to me! After all, he is my son and any self-respecting person from New Orleans doesn't have children that don't eat seafood! I assured him that he did like fish very much.

After he did his writing, he brought it to me. He looked very worried and said, "Mommy, I didn't write YUM." So, I read it. And this is what it said:

If you can't read his, his last line says, "I will eat fish. Yook." (yuck)

I laughed and laughed...inside, of course. I love that boy!

Yawn

2009-06-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

We're home. We're safe. We're tired.

Will blog later this week. Oh, and it will be one of those posts with 4 zillion pictures that I took on vacation. ;-)

Blog By Benjamin

2009-06-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

(In the interest of time, Mommy typed this as Benjamin dictated)

I'm so silly and crazy with my cousins. Especially Jonathan! I miss playing my computer in Texas. I got to play in the pool and go to Chocolate World and see all of the big chocolate mixers.

Please write back.

Vacation Time

2009-06-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

This week we are in Pennsylvania visiting with Kevin's brother, Michael, and his family. Benjamin chose our vacation spot this year. He had been playing a Wii game with his cousins (yay for Wii chat stuff), and wanted to play with them in real life. So, here we are!!

We began our brief 23 hour trip on Thursday morning. Being the forward thinker that I am, I started packing on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday night a very big storm blew in and the power was knocked out. I channeled my inner Caroline Ingalls and packed by candlelight. Just for the record....NOT FUN!! Add to that the fact that I am terrified of the dark and we had the makings of a horrible evening.

We headed out surprisingly early...for being Bulgriens! Benjamin and Olivia did very well on the first day. Thank you, Lord! And then there was the second day....thank you, Ken, for medication!!!

We are having a great time. Benjamin is playing with Jonathan, Julia, and Katrina as if they were together everyday. There was no "I haven't seen you in 2 years" awkwardness. It was nice. Please pray that the children continue to enjoy each other and that they can really make up for the time they miss out on.

Tomorrow we be going out to Chocolate World. That will probably be AWFUL!! I don't know how I will be able to bear being in a town that smells like chocolate! I will be brave!

I am going to try to post some pictures later this evening. I don't really know how to do it on Michael's computer, so I will be waiting until he can help me.

I'm off for now.

A berry pickin' we did go!

2009-06-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

On Monday (I think it was Monday) the kids and I went along with Laura, her kids, Aimee, Laura (another one), and 1,642 other kids to the McPeak Orchards (I have a tendency to exaggerate!). We went to pick blackberries and strawberries. (Leta, if you're reading this, I still have every intention of going on our outing in PA. I will just make jam with you and take it home)

I didn't know how Olivia would do, but I went anyway. She hung out in her stroller quite happily for most of the time. I have pictures....LOTS. So, if you're not a grandparent, or just not interested, go ahead and scroll to the next post. 8-)

Olivia relaxing in the stroller watching Benjamin pick blackberries.

Brother picking the blackberries. He did very well!!

Benjamin and Isaac heading to the farthest part of the strawberry patch. It must have been a great idea because they got lots of nice berries.

Benjamin and Isaac working in the field. 8-)

Olivia was not being left out of this. She saw brother try a berry and she was going to have one too! So, she went looking....

Found one she liked.... (oh, if anyone knows how to take this picture and make JUST the berry have color, would you help me do that?)

Bragged about it....

Sat with Benjamin and started nibbling it....

Then shoved it in her mouth to protect it from the other kids.

We came home with these berries and some local honey. I'm going to test the "local honey will help with Kevin's allergies" myth.

One cup of the strawberries went into these Whole Wheat Strawberry Banana muffins.

The children and I really enjoyed the outing. Olivia was thrilled when I would pull a blackberry off of the bush and pop it into her mouth. It was funny. I think that, in the end, she ended up eating 3 strawberries right out of the patch! It was berry fun!

I know, I know. I couldn't help myself!!

Comparison Photos: First and Last Day of School

2009-06-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

My how he has grown in just one year!!

First day of school! August 26, 2008

Last day of school! May 22, 2009

It seems like just yesterday that he was this sweet, chubby little baby!

I love that boy!

Tips for putting your kids in a box!

2009-06-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that sounds like a nice, serious title, doesn't it? But, you know me......

No better place to be than kicked back in a box while wearing a pair of beads!

Don't have a box? A clothes basket will do. Remove clothes. Add brother.

You can even play patty cake while in a box. Good hairdos not required!

Playing in a box is VERY exciting! You can imagine you're on a roller coaster!

Box too small? Just stand in it while you're talking with your friends.

Keeping hydrated while playing in boxes is important. You need not leave the box though. Have someone bring your drink to you.

Any box will do! Remove all toys and throw them on the floor first. Who plays with toys these days, anyway?

Benjamin Pronunciations

2009-06-04T05:53:00.000-07:00

Dis-in-solved: What happens to the salt when you sprinkle it on your food. Mommy, you can't see the salt on your food because it disinsolved.

Guh-splode: What happens to something when a bomb hits it. Mommy, Jasper and I threw a million and fifty and infinity bombs at the bad guys and they all guhsploded!! See also guhsplosion, guhsploded, guhsplodes

Pan-chew-ary: The place where you store your food. Benjamin, please put the box of Super Sugary Sweety Pops in the pantuary.

Re-mem-ber-ee: the place where you remember things. Mommy, I already know all of the answers to this paper because I have it in my remembery.

In-spect-ed: To regard as likely to happen. Mommy, that punishment wasn't as bad I inspected it to be.

To you: To feel something towards someone. Mommy, I am mad to you for giving me a better punishment.

Now, can you use them all in a sentence?

Dr. Forringer would be so proud!!

2009-06-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight Benjamin and I were doing some of the questions in the Brain Quest box.

Me: Which star is closest to the Earth?
Benjamin: The Death Star!!
Me: **laughing* That's awesome!
Benjamin: It's true. Jo said!

And why wouldn't Jo know? Not only does his father teach astronomy, but he also loves Star Wars.

Ahhh...science lessons.

Messy Bessy

2009-06-01T19:17:00.001-07:00

Tonight Benjamin was doing his reading. He was reading the First Grade thriller Messy Bessy's Holidays.

In this book, Bessy is making Kwanzaa cookies with her mother. After making the cookies, Bessy realizes that she is messy and cleans up. This is the common thread in all of these books.

You see, the problem that I have with Bessy is that she has not yet seen the error of her ways. She had this little tidiness issue in Messy Bessy's Closet, Messy Bessy's School Desk, Messy Bessy's Garden, Messy Bessy and the Birthday Overnight, and Messy Bessy's Family Reunion (where we learned that Bessy inherited this messiness gene from her litterbug family). Hopefully there will be a book in the future called Less Messy Bessy. Or perhaps Messy Bessy cleans up. The problem with the latter suggestion is that it could imply that Bessy had a substance abuse problem and that is just too deep for 5 year olds. Perhaps Bessy and her mother need Flylady.

Despite Bessy's OCD issue, Benjamin loves her. Since he loves to read her books I don't mind so much. The whole reason for this post was to shamelessly brag on Benjamin (perhaps there should be a book called Kim Bulgrien Can't Just Say What She Means). Tonight he read the words wonderful, everything, and different. I was thrilled!! He sure has picked up this reading thing and gone to town.

Good job, Benjamin!!

"Infinity Good Dinner"

2009-06-01T19:07:00.001-07:00

Yup, that is how Benjamin described tonight's dinner. Not only did he pay me this great compliment, but he also had 2 helpings of everything! I was very pleased.

I was especially pleased because while I was cooking tonight, I was thinking about how I could "out cook" Martha Stewart and how I could make my dinner prettier than hers even though I don't have (and never will have) capers and I don't do decorative fruit castles! I told myself this was okay because this is what all the normal people do! Sooooo, it was nice to know that I won! In your face, Martha!!!!

**deep breath**

These were the dishes from my imaginary competition:

Curried Chicken and Vegetables
Zucchini, Squash, Onion, Pepper Medley
Chapati Bread

Just so you know, this sort of weird stuff helps me get through the everyday drudgery of making dinner.

Off to polish my crown......

Blog By Benjamin

2009-05-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

wil you pray for me ? benjamin
becuz i am sic .
i love you !
i will play cross fire with daddy !
bi

Girl Time!!!!

2009-05-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

So, I think that every mom needs a day to recharge her batteries...just a little bit of time without the children to help remind her that, YES, she can still talk in a regular, not sing-song voice. A chance to rediscover that eating dinner while it is still hot is indeed better than cold noodles scarfed down over the sink. A time to remember that it is possible to hold a conversation and not have to leave in the middle to wipe a rear end. A time to be excited because there are people who can have a conversation without asking, "Why?" after everything you say!! (Oh, if you are a supermom and are thinking "I NEVER need time away from my sweet little snookem ookems. I am a MOTHER!" then this is not the post for you...just sayin')

Thankfully, my dear friend Evelyn understands this. Every 6-ish weeks we get together on a Friday night. We have dinner at a place where THEY cook for YOU (imagine that!!). Then we go back to her house on the lake and watch movies (non-animated ones), play games (where the main strategy isn't to remember where the apple is), or just goof off. Well, that is what yesterday was.

The evening started when I stopped by and picked up Evelyn at her office. We ran to Super 1 to get a potted plant for Stephanie and a birthday card. It turns out that neither Evelyn nor I are great decision makers, so Stephanie got 4 cards from us. 8-)

We picked up Stephanie for what she thought was a simple dinner at Jason's Deli before heading out to Evelyn's. WELL, it was actually a surprise party put together by our friend, Brie (thank you, Brie...you rock!!). Stephanie had no idea! We got to the restaurant a bit late, but that is to be expected when the guest of honor has no idea that we are actually on a timeline. The whole group of women (about 7) snuck up behind Stephanie while she was looking at the menu. She turned around and saw everyone and started jumping up and down and yelling (YES, yelling!), "I'm so excited!! It's my birthday!! You're all here!!" Seriously, she was surprised and excited. It was a nice feeling and a nice thing to get to experience. (We love you, Stephanie!)

After that, we all had dinner and cake. We chit-chatted until 9pm! Then Evelyn, Stephanie, Adriana, and I headed out to Evelyn's. We did our toenails (mostly), foot scrubbing, games, and a movie. We all went to bed VERY late. Oh, and facial stuff...including these gross little strips that pull the blackheads out of your pores. Ick!! But, so cool!

After we got up, we had devotions and then sat quietly at the table and knitted while listening to hymns from the record player until it was time to go home. Yeah, that's soooo not true!! None of us do that!!

What we really did what THIS!!!!.....

Stephanie water skiing!!

This girl will try just about anything!

Adriana water skiing! She has never done it before, but got up on her feet the first time...and every time after that. Doggone overachievers!! ;-)

Relaxing!

At one point, Evelyn's visor blew off. I thought it was a lost cause, but this visor has GLITTER on it. Evelyn loves glittery, shiny stuff. We went back and fished it out. It was funny!

The girls strutting their stuff on the way to the boat house.

Evelyn....just being Evelyn. We love her!

My beautiful new friend, Adriana. (Yes, I know. I really liked this one, though)

It was a great morning. We are all back home now wearing our aprons and pinning up our buns. There are pies in the oven and laundry drying on the line. Well, maybe not. BUT, I do feel recharged and ready to jump back in. Sometimes all it takes is a few hours to just breathe and I feel like a whole new person.

Thanks to all 3 of you for sharing this time with me. I look forward to our next adventure!

Balloon Fun!

2009-05-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

On Monday night, Kevin suggested we go have dinner somewhere. I quickly agreed (I'm no dummy!). Since we believe very strongly in saving the environment and reducing our fuel costs, we drove around for about 40 minutes trying to decide where to go...but we did it in a Volkswagen! We settled on Ryan's. (FYI: Kids Benjamin's age can eat dinner for $1.99 M-Sat. and Olivia was free)

There was a clown at the restaurant who made balloon creations. Benjamin left with a balloon hat, a balloon flower, and a Disney balloon on a stick. Olivia had the same items less the flower. They were very happy!!

Splash Pad Fun!

2009-05-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was a fun day!! Laura, Stephanie, and I took the neighborhood kids (11 in all) out to the Splash Pad. We met Adriana and Jessi out there. That added 5 more kids! I didn't know if Olivia would like it because she hates to have water splashed on her face, but she enjoyed herself immensely. Everyone had a great time. All of the children played happily. Yes, it is the truth!! Here's the proof:

Olivia ran around everywhere!

Benjamin was acting like he was going to chase her. She'd get very excited!

Benjamin and Jasper sitting on the sprayers. All of the children thought that was the best thing to do!

Olivia cheerfully running away from the sprayer when it kicked on.

Benjamin "sitting" on a sprayer.

Benjamin taking a drink from the fountain. Gross!

Hanging out with the water dial.

Josiah enjoyed riding his scooter through the sprayers.

Olivia walked over the the swings and frantically made her "help" sign until I put her in the swing. She loves swinging!!

James does too! James is one of Stephanie's sons. He and Livi are very close in age and enjoy each other very much.

Stephanie is so much fun. Such a good mom!

Isaac was doing a hula dance on the sprayer. It was hilarious!

Lucy, Beth Rose, Ethan, and Olivia. The big kids mostly played on the playground and just came to the water to cool off.

The always beautiful, always smiling, Amara Grace!

Adriana's boys and Josiah.

Good times, good times.

Bow of the Week

2009-05-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

Here it is!

Kelly doesn't put letters on all of her bows. It just so happens that the two I chose first had letters on them. She paints them herself.

For Stephanie and Laura

2009-05-25T20:32:00.001-07:00

A "Real" Friend

"What is real?" asked the rabbit one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you, and a stick out handle?"

"Real isn't how you were made," said the Skin Horse, "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real. It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time...Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been rubbed off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Margery Williams
From The Velveteen Rabbit

I know that this is an excerpt from a kid book, but it is meaningful to me. I love this book. I was especially reminded of you both when I read the part about "when a child loves you...not just to play with, but really loves you." It is nice that, even though we can play, that our friendship is more than that There is something deeper there that is far more important than the surface garbage that today's world seems so obsessed with.

Thank you, Stephanie and Laura, for loving me even though my "hair has been rubbed off and my eyes drop out" It's nice to have people who want to be friends through it all! You are a blessing to me and I just wanted you to know it.

Field Day

2009-05-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

Friday was officially the last day of school for Benjamin. They had a Field Day at school. Now, just because they don't have a field doesn't mean that they can't have field day....

The kids had a great time together. It was nice for them to leave on such a high note. Here are some pics from that.

Sidewalk chalk time. They got to write on the side of the building, the fence, the tables, etc. Benjamin's teacher wrote "Kindergarten Rocks" on the fence and the whole class wrote their names around it. Since Benjamin's name has an obscene amount of letters in it and he is trying to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, he just wrote his initials.

Have you ever tried to play musical chairs with 11 kindergarteners? No? Smart!!

Class picture at the end of the game.

There was a sports time in the schedule. Benjamin was not interested in soccer, bowling, horseshoes, or golf. He loved this giant basketball hoop. Every time you got it in the hoop, you got 100 points! If you missed, you got a free shot.

Then he moved on to the more advanced level...briefly.

Basketball is tiring!!

Mary Shannon agrees!!

There was face painting and tattoos. Benjamin chose a heart with an arrow. How consistent.

And what Texas event is complete without a snoball?

"Mrs. Benjamin's Mom, what colors are our tongues?!?"

Relaxing at lunchtime--the last event of the day.

And this picture isn't from field day, but I forgot to put it in last week. I thought Mom and Dad Bulgrien would like it. It is from their ABC days. This was "U" day. They did an umbrella parade around the courthouse. The newspaper even came out to see it and put the kids in the paper!

Hot Diggity Dogs

2009-05-23T14:45:00.001-07:00

Brookshire's has their Ball Park hot dogs on sale for .99. If you combine that sale with the B1G1 Ball Park hot dog coupon, you'll get them for .50 each. If you don't want to drive all the way out to Brookshire's (like me) just price match it at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart also has the Bar-S hot dogs for .49. If you use the $1/2, you get them free!

Kevin and Benjamin will be going on a father/son camping trip with church next weekend, so these will be great for that trip.

The effects of gravity on Olivia's head

2009-05-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today she landed forehead first on the concrete sidewalk. This left a mark right in the middle of her forehead. Then she did the exact same thing on the kitchen floor. This didn't help the lovely red mark any.

Then she ran into the corner of the kitchen table with the side of her head. She then decided to make her wounds symmetrical and ran into the table with the other side of her head. (Okay, so this really isn't gravity...but just roll with it.)

She gets to excited about where she is going and starts trying to run. But, well, that just isn't working out quite yet.

Needless to say, she wasn't really up to any photos of her injuries, so you will have to use your imagination.

Anyone have a crash helmet that they're not using?.....

Our Little Graduate

2009-05-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

Today was Benjamin's very special day at school. He was very excited about his Kindergarten Graduation!! He has been telling me about this event for 2 weeks now. He's been practicing his songs and prayers. Yesterday he even made sure that I knew the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, The Pledge to the Bible, and the Pledge to the Christian Flag. He was rather impressed that this old mom of his knew those.

Well, here are the pictures from his big day! He was so proud of himself he could hardly stand it.

Entering the sanctuary to "Pomp and Circumstance."

The Lord's Prayer. He really got into it!

The graduating class.

Mr. Benjamin!

He loved his tassel. He couldn't keep his hands off of it. Good thing that the got to keep it.

After the graduation ceremony all of the children and their friends and families got to go and have cake and punch. The kids chattered and were very excited. We all looked over the scrapbooks that Mrs. Young spent unbelievable amounts of time on. She made individual ones for each child. They're very special! They were also given bibles for their age.

Benjamin and his "Texas Grammy," Evelyn.

Benjamin and his favorite classmate, Valerie. He said that he is pretty sure he loves her. "She is so nice and has very pretty hairs," he declared.

Benjamin and his half-day buddy, Christian (L).

My little guy wore a tie! It wasn't too close to his neck, so no gagging, etc.

Benjamin and Grammy cutting up!

Benjamin and his AMAZING teacher, Mrs. Young.

They really do grow up so fast. I love you, little Benjamin!

Interview with a 5 year old, Part 2

2009-05-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

1. What is something dad always says to you?
Put up your shoes

2. What makes your dad happy?
That I play with him

3. What makes your dad sad?
If I don't listen

4. How does your dad make you laugh?
He tickles me A LOT!

5. What was your dad like as a child?
A baby.

6. How old is your dad?
45

7. How tall is your dad?
60 feet

8. What is your dad's favorite thing to do?
Play Crossfire.

9. What does your dad do when you aren't around?
He's at work.

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?
Fixing computers.

11. What is your dad really good at?
Fixing computers.

12. What is your dad not very good at?
Building airplanes.

13. What does your dad do for his job?
Earn money at Vertex

14. What is your dad's favorite food?
Vegetables!

15. What makes you proud of your dad?
That he can fix computers, my favorite things!

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?
Spiderman

17. What do you and your dad do together?
Play Crossfire.

18. How are you and your dad the same?
We both have a guitar shirt.

19. How are you and your dad different?
All of our other shirts are different.

20. How do you know your dad loves you?
He tells me.

21. What does your dad like most about your mom?
That she goes and buys everything.

22. Where is your dad's favorite place to go?
Work!

Interview with a 5 year old, Part 1

2009-05-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

I have seen several people post these, and I thought that they were cute. So, I sat down with Benjamin and did one this afternoon. We did a Mom and a Dad version. Here's the Mom one:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Clean up your room

2. What makes your mom happy?
That I love her

3. What makes your mom sad?
If I don't listen

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Tickles me.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Funny!

6. How old is your mom?
16. Is that right? (I say no, I'm 30) Can you write 30 then?

7. How tall is your mom?
25 feet

8. What is your mom's favorite thing to do?
Play with me.

9. What does your mom do when you aren't around?
Clean the house.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Studying...even though you don't do it.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Cleaning the h-o-m-e (he has taken to spelling everything lately)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Spanking

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Clean the h-o-m-e

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Chinese, no, um....

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When she cleans MY room

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Girl Superman

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Sometimes clean the house (you'd think I have no other life), and sometimes play Wii racing.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We're both 13. (LOL!! Perhaps he means that we are the same, in that, neither of us is 13. *shrug*)

19. How are you and your mom different?
We don't have the same shirts.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
She tells me that she loves me infinity.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
That Daddy can fix her computer

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Wal-Mart

Super 1 Super Savings

2009-05-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

I never really do well at Super 1. Perhaps it is because their sales aren't ever really things that I need/want. Or perhaps it is because coupons don't double/triple there. I don't know. BUT, today I stopped in to check out their cereal sale and found a few other surprises.

This is what I got:
12 boxes of cereal
4 pouches of cookie mix
10 boxes Lean pockets

Regular cost: $67.94
I paid: $23.44 (that is .94 for each item)

The cereal was a great deal because I live with a bunch of cereal addicts. Often times it is even the snack of choice! I got 3 boxes of "sugar cereal." Kevin lets Benjamin have it if he mixes it with a non-sugary cereal. The other cereals were UNfrosted Mini-Wheats and Cheerios.

The cookie mixes are good for quick fixes. It seems like there is always something at Benjamin's school that requires baking something.

And who doesn't like a quick lunch?

Anyway, here's how I did it:
6 boxes of Unfrosted Mini-Wheats .99 each (clearanced)
6 boxes General Mills cereals 1.50 each (sale price)
4 Betty Crocker Cookie mixes 1.57 each (sale price)
10 Lean Pocket brand sandwiches .98 each (great sale price)

The coupons I used:
3 $1/2 Kelloggs cereal (a blinkie)
2 $1/3 General Mills cereal
4 .40/1 Betty Crocker cookie mix

Well, there you have it! I don't know if the other Super 1 stores in town will have the Kelloggs cereal on clearance. I hope so!!

Happy shopping!

"People have a lot of hurts."

2009-05-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

I'm quite sure there is a sign on my head, however it is not visible to me. It is probably not visible to you either. It seems as if there are only 2 groups of people that can see this sign...people wandering in the Wal-mart parking lot or people who are holding up signs and standing alongside of the road to Wal-mart. I am guessing that this sign on my head says, "THIS LADY WILL FEED ANYONE, JUST ASK!!!!!!!"

All kidding aside, this has never really bothered me because, on some level, I understand it. Growing up, there were times when we didn't have food in our home. But, during those times, someone almost always gave something to us. I do not believe that these things were coincidences.

I do feel for people who get to the point where they swallow their pride and ask for help. Kevin and I never turn anyone away. Our rule, though, is that we never give cash. We will take people to buy food. We will give them the food right out of our pantry. We will even take them to a fast food place.

That is what happened on Monday. I was at Wal-Mart with Benjamin and Olivia grabbing some last minute things. It was 7pm (bedtime for the children) and Olivia was already in her pajamas. I was rushing because I still had to pick up a friend who was over near Good Shepherd and drive her out to Lake Cherokee. So, I quickly put the kids and the groceries in the car. Right then, a man and a woman walked up to me. The man said, "Ma'am I am not asking for money. My wife and I and our son are staying at (some motel I don't remember) and are hungry. I was wondering if you'd maybe buy us something to eat." I immediately handed over the salad that I was holding (for Kevin who was working late). It was a quick fix and I had things to do! Then I felt guilty for basically brushing them off. I realized that that salad wouldn't feed 3 people. I told him that I would help. The man said they didn't care what it was, and would even be happy with something from McDonalds. I said, "Sure. I'll take you over to McDonald's and get you a gift card." They said that someone from the motel had given them a ride and that they'd meet me over at McDonald's.

On the way there Benjamin asked a lot of questions about what we were doing and why. I explained that those people were hungry and that God says in the Bible that He wants us to feed people who are hungry. We also got to talking about how God wants us to take care of people who aren't as fortunate as we are. Benjamin thought this was a great idea. He also said, "I hope that they use the money careful and not waste it." Then my (untrusting) adult mind starting thinking things like "what if they sell the gift card and use the money to buy drugs" and "what if they really don't have a son and are just going to feed themselves and their friends" and "how can they afford to stay in a motel yet they can't afford food." I finally just had to pray and say that it is not my money to begin with. It is God's. I will hand it over and whatever happens to it after that is up to God. So, I bought the gift cards in the drive-thru and handed them to the man.

A few weeks ago I felt led to give money to a man who was on the side of the road. We were at the stoplight and the man was just standing there. I pulled $2 out of my wallet and rolled the window down. I just held my hand out and he came to me. I simply told him to have a nice day. This one time I broke our "don't give cash" rule, but I felt like I was supposed to. Benjamin was in the car then too. He asked me why I did that. I told him that the man needed money and that God told me to give him some. Benjamin seemed pleased with this answer.

I think that situations like this aren't always to help other people. I do believe that Benjamin has benefited greatly from seeing me and Kevin do things like this. Benjamin has been blessed with a sensitivity to the hurts of others. Whenever we see someone walking on the side of the road or sitting under an overpass, Benjamin will always point them out and say how he thinks it is sad that they don't have a home to live in. He almost always prays that "Jesus will help them have a place to live." I think that it is important to help others, even when we are skeptical, even if for no other reason than to teach our children that this stuff is not ours and that it won't bring us joy if we horde it all away.

Now for the end of my very long story....my proof of God in action through me. After leaving McDonald's and heading over towards the hospital, Benjamin says to me, "Mommy, I think that maybe I should play less outside and take some time to help other people. You have that gray card table under the bed and I could put that up outside and put food on it to give to people who need it. You have those baby first aid kits and I could use those to heal peoples' hurts. Can we get more first aid kits because people have a lot of hurts. Do you think this would be a good thing to do?"

"People have a lot of hurts" Oh, sweet boy, you don't even realize what depth that comment has. Yes, this is a good thing to do.

Seafood...well, kinda

2009-05-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

Benjamin's class has been doing something called ABC days at school. Each day is a different letter and they do some sort of activity that starts with that letter. For instance, they did an Easter Egg hunt for E day and had a Silly Sock day for S day. Well, Benjamin was sick on O day. On this day they had Octodogs for lunch at school. Benjamin was very sad that he missed this.

For those of you who are asking yourself, "Self, what is an octodog?" I will tell you. A hot dog with 8 slits in it. So, your pork product that is named after a canine magically becomes a sea creature. Imagine that....

I don't know what Benjamin's teacher did, but this was what Good Ole' Mommy came up with:

I took Ramen noodles (seaweed) and cooked them with mixed vegetables (logs and rocks). I drained the noodles and left out the seasoning packet. I then took the hotdogs and made the 8 legs. Boil the hotdogs for a few minutes so that the legs curl. In an effort to have some sort of nutritional value, I also used a cheese stick (obviously don't boil this or you end up with a jellyfish or something) and slit it as well. I used fennel seeds for eyes.

Kevin was impressed. Benjamin thought I was a genius.

What an observant son....

Olivia had a lot of fun today

2009-05-07T20:54:00.001-07:00

Uh oh! Look out Phillip!!! (Do you recognize the piano? Benjamin never used it, but Olivia plays it until the batteries die.)

Music makes her happy...just like Momma.

Okay, I admit it! I really loved the dress and bow. So I took lots of pictures.

What do you expect? Girls like jewelry. (this is also what happens when your Momma is from New Orleans)

Being adorable is hard work!

Friends don't let friends pee in the ditch

2009-05-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago some of the neighborhood boys decided that it would be great fun to pee in the ditch across the street. Benjamin, being clueless that peeing right out in the open was a bad thing, shared his excitement with me. I informed him that we DO NOT pee outside. I then had to add that, "Yes, when we are out geocaching in the woods and there is absolutely no potty around, then it is okay, but not desirable" and "Yes when we are on a long trip to Michigan and there are no rest stops for 100 miles, then it is okay" and "Yes, when you are out at the houseboat with PawPaw and there is no potty around, then it is okay" and "OKAY BENJAMIN YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" (asking questions helps him learn, asking questions helps him learn, asking questions helps him learn)

He asked me what he should do next time his friends want to pee in the ditch. I told him to just not do it. He asked me if he should tell me when they do it. I said, "Yeah, that's fine."

Now for a quick disclaimer: I do not know what other peoples' rules are concerning ditch peeing. This is simply my own rule.

Fast forward to the next week. I am inside talking with a friend of mine when Benjamin runs in the house, "Mommy, the kids are peeing in the ditch!!! But I didn't I just came and told you." My friend asks if her son did it, and Benjamin said yes. My friend heads outside to get her son...who is also a "no peeing in the ditch" rule violater. Benjamin then tells me that he told his friends not to do it and that if they did he was going to tell. Kid1 tells Benjamin that if he tells then he really isn't his friend. This concerned Benjamin very much. I explained to Benjamin that helping our friends not do things that they shouldn't do is, indeed, being a good friend. He seemed pleased with this idea.

So, today at lunch Benjamin says, "Mommy, a couple of days or a week ago" (yes, 5 year old time) "Kid1 was going to pee in the ditch. I told him that he shouldn't do that or I would have to tell you. Kid1 said that if I told you then I wasn't his friend. But, Mommy, I told him that I WAS his friend because friends help each other to not make bad decisions." Kid1 didn't like Benjamin's rationale.

Benjamin asked if I was proud of him...which I certainly was. He also asked if I was sure that that was what friends did. Since I am only the Mother, and what do I know, he decided to ask Laura. She confirmed for Benjamin that this was correct. (It sure is nice to have a whole block of neighbors who will back you up in your parenting...thanks you guys)

So, all is right with the world now...until next week.

I really am proud of Benjamin. My sister said I'm going to get him beat up......

I guess you can't win 'em all.

You say Bulgarian, I say Bulgrien

2009-05-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

How about a little pet peeve post?

When I married Kevin I thought how great it would be to escape all of the "Are you related to Jimi Hendrix?" jokes. While I can see how one could think that we are related (fair skin, stick straight dishwater-colored hair, Christian lifestyle), it was still terribly annoying.

But noooooooo, I inherited the name Bulgrien. I wouldn't have it any other way, but I cannot tell you how hard it is for people to say this one. We have heard: Bulgarian, Bull-grin, Ball-grin, Ball-green, Bull-grine, etc.

So, say it with me now. BULL-GREEN. Yup, like the male cow and the color of grass. Yay!

Ok, must medicate....

He got in!!

2009-05-04T13:56:00.001-07:00

We found out today that Benjamin got in to Hudson PEP. Yay!!

The lady said that he scored very high in reading, average in basic skills, and high in math. Go Benjamin!!

There's just something nice about

2009-05-02T07:16:00.001-07:00

having dinner in the crockpot already. The evening times are always so hectic, and making dinner is usually stressful. I have a friend who actually cooks her dinner in the morning in order to avoid the evening "rush hour." I think that I may try to do that too.

Anyway, I am making a Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken. It is so easy that I don't know why I don't make more of them. Here's how you do it:
--Make 4 balls out of foil and put them in the bottom of your crockpot. This keeps your chicken from mingling with the fat.
--Sprinkle your chicken with the seasoning of your choice. I have used Lawry's seasoning salt, Tony's cajun seasoning, and today I tucked a few sprigs of rosemary under the skin and coated the chicken with an Herb/Garlic seasoning.
--Place your chicken, breast side down, onto the foil balls.
--Turn crockpot on High and cook for 5 hours. It must be on high!

Oh, I have read that some people wrap baking potatoes in their foil and then have baked potatoes right along with dinner. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to.

Well, this turned out to be a recipe post. 8-)

Happy cooking!

Blah days, Babies, and Bubbles

2009-04-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those blah kind of days. I woke up feeling yucky. Olivia fussed A LOT. The house is messy.

But this afternoon, I blew bubbles in the front yard with my children. We had a gigantic bubble wand that made big bubbles. I felt a bit sick, but I really enjoyed making bubbles. Then we went for a walk around the block. Olivia loves to walk around outside. She also loves to closely inspect everything on the ground. While this made the trip 3 times longer than it normally takes, the kids had fun. Benjamin even stopped in at the Helmuths because he "wanted to say hi to Camilla." I thought it was sweet!

I love those kids!

Great Daddy!

2009-04-29T21:07:00.001-07:00

I love this man. And our children adore him!

Clones aren't always bad...

2009-04-29T20:39:00.001-07:00

It was a very fun weekend around here. We were supposed to have a garage sale, but as garage sale fate goes, it rained. Our neighbor Stephanie, in true "Stephanie Style" said, "Hey let's have an impromptu surprise party for Jasper!" Keep in mind that it is like WayTooEarly o'clock. She said the plan was to start it at 10am. We all still thought it was a great idea.

Benjamin and I went out to the store to get a gift for Jasper. Before the pictures, I guess you need to know that the boys in the neighborhood all love Star Wars. I am not sure if it started with Jasper or not, but Jo and Amara's Dad is quite the Star Wars fan too. Benjamin has never seen it, but he is still convinced that he is an expert. *shrug*

Ok, back to the story....I had remembered seeing a Star Wars mask in the clearance aisle of Wal-Mart for $3. When I got to the store, I found that it wasn't just a mask. It was an entire costume!! For 3 bucks! I thought that it might be more fun for the boys if they all had one and could play together at the party, so I bought one for Jasper, Jo, and Benjamin. They were devastated.

Or perhaps not. The boys wore them ALL DAY LONG!! They ran around the neighborhood in them, they wore them into the night at the chai party, etc. I have never had a Clone clear the lunch table before, but I guess there is a first time for everything, right?

Benjamin even wanted to wear his out to dinner, but one must draw the line somewhere.

Jo's sister, Amara, seemed a bit sad that she didn't have a costume. I told her that she had to be Princess Leia. So, I brought her in and put her hair up in those buns on the side of the head. She makes a beautiful princess!

Benjamin had a great time. This neighborhood is amazing. Whenever I think of wanting to live somewhere else (more storage, indoor laundry room, etc), I have to remind myself that finding a neighborhood as great as this one is very rare. I love this place and my neighbors!

Savings Posts Revision

2009-04-28T08:07:00.000-07:00

(Wow...say that three times!)

After my last savings post, a dear friend brought 2 things to my attention. While she wasn't referring directly to me, I saw something beneficial in her statements. She said,
1. Not everyone can do this.
2. It can seem like bragging.

While I disagree with number 1 (I think that everyone can do it if they take the time to learn and plan), I can certainly see how my posts can seem like bragging. That was never my intention. So if you have seen it that way, I apologize. My intention, at first, was to get my "consumables" category in our budget (food, toiletries, paper products, cleaning products, diapers, wipes, formula, etc) out of the red. Secondly, I wanted to show other people that there is a great way to cut your household items bill significantly. My desire is to inspire people to give it a shot! It will take a bit of work to learn it...it did for me too. To my friend who brought these things to my attention, I thank you.

So, in an effort to inspire, I am going to TRY to tell you exactly how I did things from now on. My hope is that after a few times, you can pick it up too!! I am happy to answer questions (if I know the answer...and a lot of times I may not).

Now, I do not always do things the best way...ask my friend Stephanie. But, I'm learning too. This "deal shopping" is not the only shopping I do. I do my regular grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, but even then I am trying to scale back on how much I spend. I do a lot of comp ads, and still use coupons there too. I think that I am doing well.

Anyway, I just wanted to clear up a few things. Now...on to this week's savings. I will post a couple throughout the day...dishes are calling, as usual. I should change my number....

My little chickadees

2009-04-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

Benjamin's class did their Spring Program last week. His class put on a performance of The Little Red Hen. Benjamin had a few little duets with his classmate, Aidan. He did really well. Oh, and the children were all adorable!

Olivia has been branching out in the hairstyle department. We call this look "ROCK-abye Baby."

Lately she is cutting teeth like crazy. She has 10 now!!! Benjamin, on the other hand, is losing his like crazy. He has now lost 4! His fourth one came out yesterday. He came in and opened his mouth to show me that it was very wiggly and was bleeding. (I don't do teeth well...grosses me out...I am one of those "dentistaphobic" people!) Luckily for me, Laura was here. She pulled his tooth right out. I, however, was checking out the finer parts of the porcelain structure in our bathroom. (Yup! I know.)

Olivia has been picking up on a lot of signs that we have been teaching her. She doesn't seem to be too interested in talking (must get that from me), but you can tell that she gets very frustrated with not being able to communicate her wants. So, we pulled out the signing book and tried that. So far she can do milk, drink, and all done. She understands those plus eat and water. I am also working on banana and cracker. Benjamin never really cared much for signing. Different strokes....

Oh, and here are a few more pictures from this week.

And, of course, some sleeping baby pictures....

Beautiful Things

2009-04-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Lord.

Nice time

2009-04-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening was very nice. Kevin came home from work and asked if there was anything that I'd like him to do. We decided to have him cut back the azaleas. They were beautiful and very full this year. By full I mean, unless you've been here before, you wouldn't know there was a house behind them! So, we all spent a bit of time outside.

Olivia has really been enjoying her outside time lately. It is a lot nicer to be out with her since we have weaned her to only eating 1/4 of the wood chips out of the flowerbeds. While I can see the fiber possibilities here, wood chips look nicer around my flowers than around my baby's mouth...but, hey, that's just my opinion.

Benjamin had laid his bike on the ground and Olivia kept going over to it and sitting on the seat. Kevin decided to help her "ride" it. It was very cute. She was SO excited. If you've ever been around Olivia when she is excited, you will know that she makes this funny growling sound. That is what she was doing.
She then worked on her scooter skills...which she enjoyed very much!
Daddy took her all the way down the driveway and she would just hold her one little foot up like she's been "scootering" for years! She is too cool!

In other news from yesterday, I made a beef stew in the afternoon. Benjamin thought that he should peel the carrots. He said that I would know that he did them because they were peeled very beautifully (you can't make this stuff up!). I am sure that I wouldn't have known any other way!

It was a good day. I really enjoyed my babies.

Now, I think I am caught up on my week. Whew!

Easter doings

2009-04-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, this post if obviously late, but better late than never, right?

Easter was a very relaxing day for us...once we figured out what time church started. I was wondering why Kevin bolted out of bed promptly at 7:15. I told him to lay back down and relax with me...for Pete's sake, the kids were still asleep! I was under the impression that we didn't have to be to church until 10 (the time regular service starts). Kevin said that they were having our Sunday School class (that is at 9). He was right! I guess I am used to our old church. They usually cancelled Sunday School when there was a special service.

So I took my time getting the children ready. I was thinking about how nice it was to have everything set out and calm. HA! At 8:53 (yes, I remember) Kevin comments, very nicely, that we really should get to going. I tell him that we've got time. It's not even 9 yet. Then he drops the Sunday School bomb on me. 8-)

This is one of those times I am glad we had 2 cars. I sent him and the children on their way and I finished getting ready. On the way to church, the sky was BLACK. It looked like it was night time at 9:30 in the morning. The roads were also very empty. It was a really creepy sort of morning. The sky exploded right as I made it to church.

The service was interesting. It wasn't the message that you would expect to hear preached on Easter Sunday. The pastor (one of the two) actually spoke about the crucifixion instead of the resurrection. I guess it all goes together anyway, huh? I also found it odd that they really didn't do anything special for Easter. But, this is a new church and we are just learning how they do things.

When we got home I hid some plastic eggs for Benjamin and Olivia.

Olivia's were very stealthily hidden...right on the coffee table and on the seats of the gliders.

Benjamin had a great time finding his eggs. However, once Olivia realized that there were goldfish crackers in her eggs, she was DONE. She stood by Kevin and said, "BA BA BA!" until he opened hers. It was cute!

We then took the obligatory Easter photo...complete with the children in their Easter attire.
Or something like that!!

We had dinner (or whatever you call a meal at 2pm. Dinupper?) with the Forringers, Meltons, and several college students. After "dinupper" we played games. I will humbly (read AMAZINGLY, AWESOMELY, HAPPILY, IN-YOUR-FACE-ABLY) announce that Stephanie and I beat the Engineer and the Physicist in a probability game that involved dice. But, I don't want to brag. ;-)

It was a really great day!! When we went to bed, we all felt like this...

P.S. I am seriously considering putting up the Christmas pictures!!

Pronunciations of a 5 Year Old...

2009-04-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

...can be very funny!

Yesterday Benjamin got punished for disobeying me. He was rather upset that he wouldn't be able to play with his friends for the rest of the day. Benjamin pulled out his paper and pencil and headed to the table. This is the conversation that followed.

"What are you writing?" I asked.

Benjamin replies, "I am writing a note to Jasper."

Excited that my son took the initiative to do some writing, I said, "Oh, that's great! What are you writing about?"

"I am telling him that I am drownded!! He was drownded last week too."

Mother says that "drownding" the children is really quite frowned upon. I told her, "If he would only obey, I wouldn't have to 'drownd' him."

Marrying a "Computer Geek" has its perks!

2009-04-16T07:59:00.001-07:00

...like my pretty new blog.

I found one I liked, but couldn't make it work. He read through all of that code mumbo jumbo, tweaked it a bit, and VOILA!

Thank you, Kevin!!

(I guess this could qualify as a MHR post)