Rainbow

you really should click them to view bigger:)

Elijah LOVED the rainbow (or Elmo! as he called it). He also kept saying "uh oh" b/c he wasn't so sure it was supposed to be up there.

party/coupon ideas

I've needed a place to store coupons and it seems like I did this years ago but forgot.

Small photo album.
Coupons in the sleeves.

These are homemade Blue's Clues items when there are none to be found in the store (but also LOTS cheaper). I was SO excited to find red pails with yellow shovels at Party City for $.88! I used a paint pen to draw on the faces.

Also made "Felt Friends." Originally I bought the wood pieces ($.50 at Hobby Lobby) with the intention of spraying them with chalkboard paint. I thought there was a chalkboard somewhere on the show. Abigail told me it was felt. oops

So I went to Wal Mart and got some felt pieces for less than $2.00 and cut them into various shapes. The black had a 'peel and stick' back. I could have gotten a lot fancier around the border, but really didn't have time for that so used a turquoise sharpie and drew some squiggles and swirls on the natural wood. I put a pocket on the back to store the pieces.

Also printed out Thinking Chairs on green card stock and glued them onto small notebooks... and of course got some candy and snacks to put in Pail. I wanted to get those scooby snacks (bone shaped graham crackers) but couldn't find them.

I don't have much to say but haven't posted in a while so wanted to give an update. It has been a busy week with VBS, but it was a fun one. The kids of course had a blast. We typically stayed at church to eat afterwards. The family life center has been re-done...so they played after eating and I read :)
Elijah's party is FINALLY going to take place on Monday. I hated to have it elsewhere when church is perfect. Abigail, Elijah, and I ran all over town for hours (Noah and Isaac were with dad) trying to find Blue's Clues things... to no avail. Elijah's favorite show has NOTHING for sale. But we got creative and will have plenty of things to go along with the theme. I'll share on Monday :)
That's it for now... oh, except Elijah has slept in his crib past 6am two nights in a row. If we can manage THREE nights in a row, I will be hopeful. Funny guy. He drinks water in his sippy cup when I put him down but also wants his blanket over his head. It's not a heavy one. It's a Blue's Clues blanket I made for Abigail (yes, it is a pattern for girls, oh well) about 7 years ago.

More Mark Specials

click on image to view larger

These deals have to be ordered directly from me, you won't find them at my site. I accept paypal and I ship :) If you haven't tried mark you should!

Weekend in Arkansas

It is times like these that you are really glad you happened to have the camera in your purse. We went to Mt Fuji for happy hour (5 pieces of sushi and one roll for $8). Elijah only wanted the rice so I got a bowl of it and squooshed it into balls. Elijah wanted to use chopsticks too...

we were amazed at how well he did.

He may not have held them correctly, but he got them to work!

I love this picture...

we had a great waiter. Here E is trying to feed him an edamame pod.

Daddy and Abigail

Daddy and E

Boys and me

Then we went to Community Bakery. I have never been there and have lived here for 12 years. I didn't know we had a place where you could go just for dessert... and their prices are much better than what you'd pay in a restaurant. Kids had so much fun picking out what they wanted... there were a LOT of choices.


Abigail likes her dessert just like her momma. Rich and lots of it.

The boys chose cookies.

Then we went to the play area in the River Market. I had not been there and had no clue how nice it is. We didn't take any good pictures of the equipment, but take my word for it, it is worth a trip down there :)




Elijah was happy watching all the action from this vantage point:

The next day we drove to Clarksville for the Peach Festival... though there were no peaches. They aren't ready yet. This was the first parade for the kids. I believe it will become a yearly event.
Getting candy.

Getting some shade and eating candy.

Elijah enjoyed the candy too. I swiped my fair share and even got hit in the head with a peppermint while snapping a picture of the other kids catching it...

That's our friend, David, in the background who lives in Clarksville. He grew up in a house a block away from the parade route. We went there first and then walked over when we heard the sirens. It was nice not having to go extra early to get a spot or worry about parking.
After the parade, we drove out to his family's farm. We passed by this beautiful old church (build around 1915)

After the farm, we went downtown for the activities there. we thought we'd head home afterwards, but since it was early we changed our minds and headed toward Mt. Magazine. We stopped by Subiaco Academy on the way. This is the chapel. We were able to go inside. No one was there, so we tested the acoustics by singing some hymns.

Then we went on to the top. I got a little nervous on some of those roads. This is a lookout we stopped at.

Arkansas sure is pretty!

And that ended our excursion. Remember to click the pics to view larger.

Week in Review

I seem to be doing a lot of posts like this. It works well for me... though it makes for an extra long post. Mostly pictures... and totally random.
Monday
This is Abigail leaving for camp. We were so good the day before... getting everything packed. We even made a list to make sure we remembered everything and for her to check when she left camp. We had one thing to remember the next morning... her pillow. And we forgot. So I had to drop her off at church and run back home then meet the van on their way out of town with her pillow... and snap a quick picture.

This is Diesel, our neighbor's massive dog :) Elijah was a bit unsure about him.

but he really liked that big ol nose... and of course Diesel was just as gentle as ever.

We were planning on having Elijah's party today, but the church play area isn't ready so it has been moved to Monday. I bought Elijah a couple of presents... both are from the tonka 'wheel pals' line. I let him open one so maybe he'd be more excited when he opened the other that will go along with it.

He liked it a lot.

This is our beautiful playroom. I could put it on Kelly's "Show Us Where You Live" but there is nothing exciting about it. I know the mattresses stacked on top of each other make the room look like it jumped straight out of Martha Stewart Living. I had a daybed but the kids were slowly destroying it.

Did I tell you how much he loved it?

Tuesday
I made "baked eggs" again. I don't remember if I blogged about that before... but it is something I read about in a Beverly Lewis book and I thought I'd give it a shot. This time I put butter over the bread and scrambled the eggs. Last time I used milk (as stated in the book) and didn't scramble the eggs. One egg (I buy jumbo) was a bit too big for each muffin cup. Topped with cheese.


The kids love them.

Then Elijah got a hold of the camera. I thought he was just looking at the images on the screen. I didn't know he was actually taking pictures. There were about 6 like this:

And a few of the couch, the floor, the TV cabinet...
He's at the age that he loves to put on shoes. I thought he was in the playroom with his cars, but then he walked out oh so proud in Noah's cleats.

Do y'all freeze sandwiches? If not, you should. It saves so much time. I made an entire loaf of PB&J and froze them. During the school year I freeze them in sandwich bags, pack them frozen, and then by lunch time they are thawed and unsquooshed. This week I took out what I needed and microwaved them for a few seconds. Of course, even a full loaf only lasts a few days around here, but it is still faster than making them daily.

We went to Ouachita to see Abigail in the Talent Show. This is Abigail with her friends at dinner.

Grammommy and Papa came too. We had a while to hang out on campus after dinner, before the show.


Waiting for sissy to sing.



The singing did not go so well. Abigail had a sore throat. I didn't make much of it b/c she has sung an entire musical where she was one of the leads with a sore throat. But this time was different. Her voice cracked at the beginning when singing in unison with her friend Anna. Then she was supposed to sing the 1st verse by herself. I heard her trying to tell Anna to sing her part. No one sang when the 1st verse started. I thought maybe it was nerves (though she has never gotten nervous) and started singing the first part from the audience. Then she started crying (totally unlike her). At that moment the choir directer and momma converged and I ran up on stage to keep the song going. I asked Anna if she knew her verse and told her I'd sing it with her. Anna did know it so once we got going again with the piano, I stopped singing. I tried to calm Abigail down to get her to try to sing, but she wouldn't do it. After the 1st verse, Anna sings one thing and Abigail another (it was "Jesus Is the Answer/Seek Ye First"). I sang Abigail's part and the audience joined in with us. It was very sweet. After the key change, Anna sings harmony and Abigail sings the chorus. With the audience singing, it still worked.
Poor Abigail. She was really upset. I told her things like that happen when you sing. I knew SOMETHING would happen sooner or later. Thus far she has sung everything she's ever had to do and said all lines she's ever had with no problem. She acts like it is no big deal. I think it was the lack of sleep more than anything that threw her. At least, I think that is what caused her to get so upset. I told her sometimes you *are* sick and you may not do your very best in that case and your voice just might crack. It happens to me often. But that it isn't about you. You are singing for the Lord and you just got to keep going, let it crack, and move on. It happens. Hopefully it was a learning experience for her and it won't make her too nervous when she sings in the future. I do hate that they didn't get to sing it b/c they really did sound great together. I think they are going to sing it in church though. I hope so.
On the way home, all the boys conked out. It was after 10 before we left.



Wednesday
The boys had to get up and go to a D1 training center. David was checking it out mostly for Noah. Noah loved it. Isaac had fun, but he'd rather take guitar lessons. Each child gets to take some type of lesson thanks to Granddaddy and we're trying to figure out what would be best for them.

Thursday
We planned on heading back to OBU for the final JoyWorks concert, but ended up going down there first thing in the morning and coming right back with a sick Abigail. She took a turn for the worse during the night and really was not feeling well. Took her to the doctor that afternoon and discovered she had lots of fluid in her ears and lungs. Something triggered her asthma that she hasn't had to deal with in years.
Today
We were going to go to Ft Smith today and to the Johnson Co. Peach Festival tomorrow, but Abigail said she's not up for a car ride. She's afraid she'll get carsick. So, we're taking it easy today.
Hope y'all had a great week and pat yourself on the back if you actually got thru all this :) And leave a comment, especially if you never have. I wanna know who reads this stuff!