Thursday, February 28, 2013

Murder Mystery Dinner

We were debating whether this was our 8th or 9th consecutive year, but in fact we held our 10th Annual Valentine's Murder Mystery Dinner!  Its a tradition I look forward to every year....its just such a nice way to break up February and a good excuse to get together.  It was a delightful evening with good food, good people, good times.

This year we had assassins, a secretary, a jewelry smuggler, cat lover, a scientist, classy British lady, a CIA agent, desert island dwellers, Russian spies, and a fast food employee with dental issues.

Nathan was awarded the Most Entertaining Character Award...I'm still giggling about how well he played his part.  Nobody better, Nathan!  :)




 Our shameless friends....











 Poor Eric has been the murderer more years than not...he's starting to get a complex about it. He's actually a really nice guy in real life.  :)


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

School Vacation Week

Just some photos from our week off of school last week with some recent quotes mixed in.  Sure do LOVE having this crew home!!








Amanda: Mom, what kinds of snacks will you pack me when I'm in college?
Avery: Amanda!  You don't get snacks at college...only at certain ones.
 Aiden:  Mommy, this road is bumpy!  They need to put more asphalt down!


 We drove by two police cars that had parked in another car.  They had a guy handcuffed laying against the hood and the other officer was searching the trunk.  Aiden said, He must not weared his seatbelt.
 Aiden: Surprise!  Mommy, I prized you!


 Amanda: Aiden, you're so cute.  You're as cute as the top of my lungs!
Amanda found an old "to go" communion kit.  She asked if she could eat the wafer so I let her.  Later, she told the others, I was communicating today!


I was walking out of Aiden's room after I'd tucked him in and prayed with him.  He said, Mommy, I'm not done with Jesus yet.  Okay Buddy...you talk to Him as long as you want.





Sunday, February 24, 2013

Project 365, Week 8

This is a hard week to describe.  It was a strange mixture of challenges and blessings.  

The girls had a week off of school but Z did not, Shaun had his first day off in weeks and we were extra-curricular activity free.

This week may be a bit confusing in that the girls were wearing pretty much the same thing all week, but really they were separate days.  :) 

February 17
I was at the grocery store by 5 AM and spent the day preparing for our annual Murder Mystery dinner. Ideally, I would have done some of it the day before, but I simply could not make it fit.  It ended up being a lovely evening.

 February 18
Snuggling during a brief break from playing before we gave A (Z's bio sister) back to her foster family after having had her for the weekend.

Definitely our best visit with her yet....she's starting to "get" how things run around here.  Of course, the seats in our car now bear her name, but pen comes off of leather, right?
Then we headed to my mom's where we met up with my brother and his family.  The kids had a blast playing together and the adults got to talk!

February 19
We really wanted to have a family day while the kids were off of school, so we headed to the Science Museum.  I had fevery aches and chills, Aiden was out of sorts and Shaun was cranky about his increasingly critical to-do list not getting attended to, but I think the kids still managed to have fun.
February 20
Hair cuts!
 Amanda's bangs were finally long enough to "fix".  She's thrilled with the results.

When Z got home from school we loaded the bikes in the car and went to ride.  What seemed like a beautiful day to get fresh air and exercise the dumb dog was actually FREEZING toward the evening and with no shield from the wind.

When we got back, hot chocolate was in order.

February 21
This was one of the tougher days I've had in a long time.  One of those when the dog gets hit by a car and you end up in the ER with a kid.  Oh, and you and your husband are fighting, simply because the love bank accounts are dangerously low.  And, you are mad about (still and again) being sick.

Its true.  First thing in the morning, a strange man opens our front door and yells to get someone's attention (this is the second time in a matter of weeks a stranger has just opened our front door...weird). Anyway, this man was going to play ball with Trot, but he ran out into the street and got hit.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the dumb dog was fairly unharmed, though returned quite sheepish.

In the afternoon I had laid all the kids down for a nap, in anticipation of going to a Jesus Culture concert at our church that I'd bought tickets for a while ago.

About 45 minutes into that, the school nurse called and said Z had been kicked in the head with a ball and thought maybe something was in his eye.  She'd flushed it out and couldn't see anything, but it was really bothering him and it was very sensitive to light and she strongly encouraged me to get him to the doctor.

His doctor, who is inconveniently an hour away, suggested that I go to the local ER.  So, I packed up the kids and headed to the ER.  It was strange to walk in there NOT a little panicked.  When you pay out of pocket, you only use the Emergency Room if you feel that is the only option.

Clearly, that is not the case for everyone.  I watched about two dozen people walk in (yes, walk) and none were bleeding, had limbs hanging.  Hmmm.

Grateful I don't have to go there often!  Oh, and Z is fine.  He has a tiny scratch but seems pretty well back to normal and its going to be back to 100%...which just backs up my life's practice of "just give it a few days...wait and see".  :)

I ended up missing the concert to get Z to bed and the kids who'd missed their nap.  Oh well.

February 22
These three had such a great week together.  We were at a slower pace and there was very little fighting.
This is my ACE crew!  We were past the critical point of needing groceries (which isn't entirely accurate because we still had half-n-half for coffee) so it had to be done, even though we were working with a short amount of time in between things.

The kids tease me because apparently, before we even get out of the car, I always say, Ok....let's make this a quick trip!  (Grocery shopping is not one of my favorite activities.)

These guys helped me get the stuff we needed, reminded me of the things that were written on the list still hanging on the refrigerator and had the car loaded up in about 27 minutes.  Nice!

 Shaun's sister and her family came for dinner.  We hadn't seen them in over a month and it was a nice treat.  It also meant all the cousins were together.
February 23
I dragged the kids out of bed and had them dropped off at my SILs by 8:30 (Grammy and Bobbi and Shaun also pitched in later in the day), then I was off to shoot a wedding.

They were ideal clients and it was a fabulous day.  AND, thanks to Shaun and the kids, I came home to a super clean house.  That's a good feeling after working 12 hours.