A Couple of Cute Moments

Cute Moment #1:

Sunday Morning 8:45 a.m.
We are sleeping in and going to the second service since it wasn't my week to serve coffee.
Phone Rings....."Hello?....Hello?..." Nothing.
I go back to sleep.
Phone rings again...."Hello?....HELLO?!?!"
Little voice on the other end, "Hi, Mommy!"
"Sawyer?!?!"
"You get up now please?"
"Sawyer where are you?!"
"In me room. You get up now Mommy?"

He had found Bill's cell phone, unlocked the key pad and called the house to wake us up....how resourceful!

Cute Moment #2:

I pulled the sheets off of Sawyer's bed this morning to wash them and had every intention of having them washed dried and back on the bed before his afternoon nap...but for some reason that just didn't happen. Nap time rolls around and I have Sawyer sleep on top of his comforter and cover up with a blanket which was all well and good until,
"Mommy!!! This pillow is naked!"
Who wants to sleep on 'naked' pillows? What was I thinking?!?

If I do say so myself.....

Delicious!!!
So, our Thursday Night group was at our house last week for dinner and viewing of "The Office". We had Fettucini Alfredo topped with grilled chicken and shrimp, garlic bread, salad and this really yummy dessert~ If I do say so myself!!! :) It's layered with brownies dunked in Baileys Irish Creme, chocolate mouse, vanilla whip cream and sprinkled with Heathe bits......probably about 1,500 Wight Watcher's points....but so worth it!

So....we have a bench at our kitchen table (nicely seats four of my day care kids) and Thursday Night was it's last hurrah....three of our friends (big guys) sat down on it and it came crashing to the florr and broke into five pieces.....no casualties except for the bench though!

Totally Tubular!

Last Thursday I took Ali and sawyer to their Half Pint's cooking class at Whole Foods! The class was called 'Totally Tubular' so everything they made was geared toward a tube shape! We had to make a quick stop at Starbucks before class to get a drink too! They thought they wre pretty cool :)

Sawyer just loves the part of class that they get to go up to the front and help put things in! They were just in the middle of making the yummy filling for their cannolis!!

They also made pasta with red sauce and green beans and were able to take their 'tubular string cheese' and grate it over the top! Then they made these fun breakfast roll ups where they took a tortilla and brushed it with some melted butter and sprinkled it with cinnamon & sugar and rolled a chicken sausage up in it and then dipped it in some maple syrup! They just about inhaled it!

These were the delicious cannolis that they made and drizzled with dark chocolate.....so good!

Green Boots

As you can tell from other posts, Sawyer really likes to hold on to his old stuff even if it doesn't fit anymore....that is the case with these green rain boots. He's had these for two years and they are waaaay too small but yet he still manages to squeeze his feet into them when he wants to complete the perfect outfit.

It was nice and hot outside today so we pulled out the popsicles that Sawyer had picked out at the grocery store the other day! They were melting a lot faster than they were being eaten!

Sawyer and Ali enjoying the afternoon sunshine....

Delish!!!

Bowling Party

Today Bill's little brother Alex turned 16!!! We celebrated by going to this really neat bowling place to bowl and have lunch!

Papa Steve helping Sawyer use the blowing rack. Sawyer didn't do all that bad with that thing! It was all in the positioning of the rack......

We had a nice greasy lunch and just felt gross afterward....

We all thought that we were going to get blown away by Steve since he's in a bowling league and has his own ball and shoes to match.....but thankfully he was having an off day! In the end Alex won both times-Birthday luck I guess!

We've noticed over the last couple of birthdays that none of us really eats the birthday cake....Kathy makes really nice cakes but they just don't get eaten! So we decided to try a Birthday cookie this time :) We had a car theme going on since Alex got a car for his birthday and a bunch of accessories for it! Alex's gift from us is Bill taking him on a camping trip to Utah in June.

We told Alex we had one more gift for him out on the deck and we came up behind him and decorated him with silly string! :)

It was a tiresome weekend......

Cousin Mya's Party

Sawyer has a second cousin named Mya who is only about five months older than he is! Saturday was her birthday so we drove about an hour and a half to Lincoln for the party that she had at a place called 'Lost in Fun'!! It's one of those kids places that has bouncy castles, arcade games, foam pits, playground equipment ect....The kids had a blast going from one fun thing to the next!

We all got together to sing Happy Birthday to Mya and have chocolate cup cakes smothered in bright pink frosting, all washed down with a Capri Sun. The kids were a sticky mess with full tummies!

Sugar High is in full swing!

Getting everyone seated and smiling for a picture was a laugh and a half......this was the best I got...

They had a pinata that they all got to take a whack at....and the girls that were working there had to sing this song every time a kid got up there to take a hit. Of course the song was really mind numbing and the level of enthusiasm that they sang it with too was enough to check yourself for a pulse....I caught myself humming it this morning while I was putting on my makeup.

Sawyer scooped up an embarrassing amount of candy that should last us till Halloween. Steve and Kathy met us at the party and took him with them for the rest of the evening. They headed back to May's house for a smaller family BBQ and then Sawyer spend the night at his grandparent's house.

I came back to Omaha just in time to meet my girls for Girls Night Out! We went and got these great pedicures with orange rubs and hot stone massages.....sooooo relaxing! Then we went out for Mexican food and then to the Phoenix for a couple of drinks and girlie gossip!

Stone Soup & Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

All the kids that have the honor of saying that they had Miss Meacham as their first grade teacher will remember reading the story Stone soup and then getting to go over to our house and actually make the soup and eat it for lunch! If you've never read the book, the story is about this traveler who comes to a village and is so hungry that he goes door to door asking people for some food, only to be turned away empty handed. He has an idea and goes to the center of the village and tells everyone of this delicious soup that he is going to make called Stone Soup that is made from a single 'magic' stone! He tells them that the soup would taste even better if he had some potatos to put in it and then someone offers him some potatoes...then he says it would taste even better if it had some onions.....and so on until the entire town of people that had slammed their doors on him, end up coming together to make this big pot of soup and then he drops in the stone and they all share big bowls of Stone Soup!

So we have made Stone Soup here at Day Care a couple of times and the kids always ask for it because it is actually SO good! So all the kids brought a different ingredient with them on Friday and we made two big pots of soup! (Bill said to be sure and make a lot because he loves it so much!)

THe kids all took a turn coming up and dropping their veggies in and then I brought out my 'magic stone' and plopped it in! It's so cute because the kids really do believe there is something about the stone that makes it just so yummy! All the soup is is a bunch of different kinds of veggies, beef stock and taco meat! Simple yet delectable! They each had two bowls of soup and I made little sample cups of it for the parents to have a taste when they came for pick up that afternoon.

The other day Bill said that he had a craving for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies so we made some of those on Friday too! I found this really great recipe for them that uses some maple syrup and that adds just the perfect touch!

Yummy! The kids got to take baggies of cookies home with them to share with their families. By the end of the day I was completely exhausted! :) It was a day well spent*

Old Jammies

Ok....so Sawyer has these old man button-up Micky Mouse Christmas jammies that I bought for him two years ago that he just loves to wear. TWO YEARS AGO!! The legs are now at Capri length and he's got three quarter length sleeves...but nothing beats his pudgy little belly pulling his buttons apart so far you just expect them to pop off any second! They are so old that the material is covered with those little 'nubies' that all loved fabric children's items get....I'd say he has about five other pairs of jammies to choose from, but whenever I tell him to go get his jammies on, he always proudly struts out in these worn out comfort ones....Whatever makes him feel cozy, comfy and safe at night is fine by me.....

This is Sawyer talking to his Nana Jane in Brazil on Mother's Day. He loves seeing her via the web cam and talking to her on the phone! We had a great Mother's day but as always were sad that we weren't able to wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day in person....but I went to church to serve coffee in the morning and Bill met me in time for the service and brought me a drink from Starbucks with "Happy Mother's Day written on it. Then after church we went out to lunch at Up Stream with our friend John. They had a wonderful Mother's Day brunch that we did-glazed ham, salmon, teriyaki chicken, an omelet station, prime rib, all sorts of baked goods, fruit and the BEST french toast ever! After that, we went and met Scott and Melody for a bike ride and then Bill & sawyer gave me some magazines and some great outdoor lights that I had wanted to string around our deck! It's always nice having a day that your family reminds you of how much they appreciate you! Thanks guys!*

Happy Birthday Nana Kathy!

Our busy weekend continues! Saturday was Kathy's 50th Birthday! (Kathy, I'm sure you're loving me proclaiming your age all over the place!) So early that morning I snuck this Birthday Breakfast basket over to their house! It was full of yummy things: tea, coffee, fruit, pancake mix, syrup, vegan bread mixes, homemade granola, a tea cup, honey butter and lemon lavender shortbread cookies. Happy Birthday Kathy!*

After the basket run, everyone kind of scattered to go shopping for birthday gifts for Kathy and Mother's Day gifts for her and I :) We all met up again that afternoon at Bil's cousin Tyler's high School graduation party. They had great food catered from the Chinese place that Cameron works at, Mings. After we gorged ourselves on fried rice, beef & broccoli, and crab Rangoon, we took some much needed afternoon naps before gearing up for Kathy's birthday dinner.

That evening we got together at Bill's parent's house for Kathy to open her gifts and have a birthday cocktail :) She got some really nice things including some blown glass solar mushrooms for her garden from us.

I had forgotten to give Bill his graduation gift from me the day before so he opened it that evening-a pair of really nice jeans that he had had his eye on for awhile.

Sawyer looked a lot better in the jeans that Bill did :)
That evening we went to the new Cinedine that opened up here a few weeks ago! It's where you can go and watch a movie and have drinks and dinner during the movie! So we watched Iron Man 2 and ate great food-Now I don't think I can ever watch a movie at a normal theater ever again! :)

Congratulations Bill!

Bill is now a college graduate! Wahoo!!! Awesome job Bill we are all so proud of you! We really had to fight tooth and nail for Bill to agree to walk at graduation....those of you who know Bill, know that being in front of a bunch of people just isn't his thing.....but in the end he walked and his mom and I loved it! Thanks Bill :)

Bill graduated with a Bachelor of Math & Science and now is going to focus on finding a career as a Mathematician and he'll probably go back to school for further education later. He and I are so different, because I don't particularly like school all that much, as soon as I'm done I'm like, "THANK GOD IT'S OVER!" and Bill will probably be a professional student his whole life....

We were really excited to have Bill's sister Danni come from New York for his graduation. Thanks for making the trip Danni-Loved to see you!

Congratulations Bill!

Bill's parent's Steve & Kathy were sweet enough to offer to host Bill's graduation party! Kathy had great food-two different kinds of ravioli, bruschetta, cheese & crackers, roasted pepper & Gorgonzola crostini, ramaqi (sp?) and cheesecake brownies (Bill's favorite). Thank you both so much for hosting such a fun evening!

We had a great turn out of people-lots of Bill's family, childhood friends and their parents, recent friends, family friends.....just lots and lots of friends! Thank you also to those of you who couldn't be here but sent Bill graduation cards-that was so sweet of you!

Danni, Tyler, Cameron (cousins), Bill

We had a good time just sitting around after most people had left just looking at old photos of Bill! The bad hair cuts, short shorts, drooly baby smiles and prom pictures.


Bill's parents gave us a trip to San Fransisco as part of his graduation gift! We are so excited to get away for a long weekend (May 27th-31st), Sawyer will spend the weekend with his grandparents and get spoiled out of his mind :)
Thank you so much to those of you who came to share this day with us and the cards and thoughts from those of you who couldn't make it*

Office in the Hollow

Thursday Night group this week got together back out at Chad & Stefanie's parent's house out in the country. So of course we had to picnic outside, have a camp fire, make smores, and watch "The Office" on a TV out in the middle of the hollow!
(Boys and their toys...)

Melody teaching Sawyer the fine art of roasting the perfect marshmallow!

It was kind of funny, Sawyer was completely obsessed with talking about 'deers' that night! Where are the deers? Are the deers sleeping? Are we going to hit one with the golf carts? Are the deers going to eat my smore? I don't think Sawyer has ever even seen a real deer in his life...

Let me do it me self!!

These are some of Sawyer's little Day Care buddies.
(Dane, Sawyer, Dalton, Payton, Katherine, Ali)

Sawyer has fully amerced himself into the 'Let me do it me self!!' stage of life. Everything from buckling his car seat, to buttoning his jammies, to putting in new trash bags and picking out which Bible story we read at night. It's a new phase that just shows that he is right on track for becoming a 'big boy'......but oh my goodness.....everything takes FOREVER when he does it! I really have to make a conscious effort not to jump in, take over or tap my foot in impatience as we are sitting at the front door as he's picking out a pair of socks to wear with enough thorough consideration you'd think he was picking out a child for adoption.....I know in about ten years I will be longing for this stage again when he's a teenager and refusing to help out with anything.
Lord, multiply my patience, help me to really enjoy the moments, and give Sawyer direction and guidance along with enough room to learn on his own.

Good job folding your laundry Sawyer! Way to go buddy!