Even Girls Play War!!!

The girls had a day off from school and they each had a friend over. They had a lot of fun playing and then decided that they wanted to play war. I decided to go ahead and let them and hope that there were no emergency trips to ER! I found it hilarious that I had to say or heard things like, "You can't bite people on their face" or "No throwing me down on my face - I don't want my tooth to break again! " They worked in pairs and declared victory when they could pin one girl down for 5 seconds! They actually had a blast and there was lots of giggling and only one minor injury!! Ahh, my delicate little flowers!!

Ahhh, the joy of Victory!!

Why I love being a mom!!

Do you ever have those hard days where you wonder if you are even doing a good job at being a mother?? I do!! The other day I was feeling really down and was not really enjoying very much about me. I was sad and a little angry!! Tiana came home from school and told me that she was writing an article about me for her classroom paper. She mentioned a few things that she wrote about and my mood improved a lot!! Well, the other day she brought home the article and all I can say is, I love my girls and I have been so blessed to be there mother!! They really are sweet to me!

Here is her article:
Mom
by Tiana

My mom is like a shining star.
She is beautiful like the moon.
Her voice is music to my ears.
Because of her, I've become a beautiful young girl like her.
I love my mom too much to say.
Her eyes glisten in the moon light.
Her hair is like the water washing up on the shore.
If you meet her you would say the same.
My mom always has a smile on her face or she's making me laugh.
That is my beautiful, wonderful mom!!

She made me cry. I love you cutie!!
Her principal also liked it and send her this letter-

It did warm my heart!! Here are some pictures that remind of the various emotions of being a mom!

Frustrating - but hilarious moments!

Happy moments!

Love them so much I can hardly breath moments!!!

Oh!!!! I wish I could have lots more children, but I feel so blessed to have the sweet little girls that I do!

Ryan Readers!

I guess that somewhere in a weak moment I checked a box that said I would HELP with the Ryan Reader program! Noticed I said help, I didn't know that I signed up to be a coach, but agreed to do it anyway! I had the largest group - 9 kids! We have met every week starting in October. The children are given 10 books to read. We discuss the books and we had a lot of fun with it! They planned out shirts that I then made. They made posters, gave book reviews, had snacks and had a lot of fun. On Tuesday they had their first part of the competition . They were asked multiple choice questions against the other teams! I was worried as not every one read every book and I didn't know if I was even doing what I was supposed to be doing! Our team, the peaceful readers are tied for first place - YEA!! They have their last competition on Tuesday - Wish them luck!!

Going around the semi circle - Regan, Maddie, Mackenzie, Olivia, Allie, Adam, Spencer, Tiana and Nyasha

This face is the reason I did it and had fun doing it!!

Snow Day!!

We had a few days of beautiful sunshine and temperatures in the upper 30's - it was wonderful!!! We could actually see the concrete on our driveway!!! I went places with out a coat - I mean upper 30's - Hello Warmth!!!! Well I noticed when I went to bed that we were in a winter storm warning and we woke up to 8" of snow!! It was enough for a snow day!! Larisa was up getting ready when we got the phone call and she went back in to lay down. I let Tiana sleep and her expression was hilarious when she ran into my room panicked that I let her sleep through part of school. Ahhh! My favorite part - was it was a heavy snow so shoveling was really hard! It would have been easier but it had to be thrown over the piles of snow from the last storm!! It took us close to 2 hours to get the job done - my new quest - a great used snow blower for cheap - do you you think I can find it?? Larisa made plans to go over to her friends house after the shoveling was done, but had to cancel and leave the shoveling to lay down! She had pneumonia last week and I guess she wasn't 100% better (Yea! What a great mom! Send your sick child out to work - I stink!) Tiana had her friend Regan come over and I loved it because they played with their dolls all afternoon. They get along amazingly well and they are so creative together! They took me on a tour of the converted living room to doll room!!

This is the bedroom!

The clothing shop!

Pet adoption center!

The Root beer stand

They also had a rock climbing wall, spa and pictures decorating the space! I love that she is 10 and playing with dolls!! I love their creativity!!

Sad News!

We received the very sad news on Sunday that our dear brother-in-law, Chris Buckley, passed away. He found out that he had lung cancer and gave a valiant fight, but sadly he passed on. He was far too young and he will be greatly missed. He leaves behind his beautiful wife, Dianne ( My Chris' sister) and their 2 children and 2 granddaughters.

I remember when I first met Chris Buckley I was so impressed by him and how kind he was. He was always thoughtful and loving. He was a wonderful man! The girls loved him - you can tell in the pictures!! He always took time to play with them and the girls enjoyed every moment. They always have commented on how much they like Uncle Chris. We spent most of our married Thanksgivings at their home and he was always so welcoming and made us feel at home. My girls have missed going there for Thanksgiving and wish that Colorado was a little closer! We will miss you Chris - Til' we meet again! We love you!

Valentine's Day Breakfast!

For Valentine's Day we usually have breakfast for dinner. This year because it fell on a Sunday, and we have late church, we had Breakfast for Breakfast!! We had our traditional heart shaped pancakes, bacon and Strawberries! I made some buttermilk syrup. I liked it on the pancakes, but it felt weird not to taste maple. But, I must say it taste a lot like caramel, and on the strawberries ---Pure HEAVEN!! I loved it!! Want the recipe? It's from Best Bites!

Buttermilk Syrup

3/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 stick real butter
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbls Corn Syrup

Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda in a LARGE pot. Like one you'd make soup in. Yes, you'll have way more pot than ingredients (and I'm not referring to the green leafy stuff), but this will boil all over your newly-cleaned stove if you put it in a smaller saucepan.

Bring ingredients to a boil and reduce heat to low (as long as it's still bubbling, you're okay). Cook, stirring very frequently, for 8-9 minutes. You're basically making candy here and candy-making requires constant vigilance.

When it's done, it should take on this luscious golden-brown color. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

There will be foam on top. It tastes just as good, but it's not super pretty. If you're into aesthetics, you can skim it off; otherwise, just give it a good stir.

Cheap -vs-Frugal???

Okay, so I would like to think I am frugal and not cheap, but I'm not sure!! I bought several bags of Christmas candy after Christmas when it was at least 1/2 off! Then I sort out the red from the green! I use the red for Valentines Day and the green for St. Patricks Day!

Don't they look pretty!

Valentine!!

If you are a blogger - you have probably seen these Valentines all over!! I thought that I would give it a try and I really liked the way that they turned out! I took Tiana's picture with her hand out like this - yes, she thought I was crazy!

Then I had them printed out, punched holes in them and stuck a sucker in them! Tiana really liked them and had fun handing them out!

Happy Valentines Day!

Birthday Lunch!

I try to take the girls out for lunch every year on their birthday! The last 2 years Tia's birthday has fallen close to half days of school. So I let her bring a couple of friends with us!! Tiana brought her friends Regan and Andrew with her. Larisa brought her friend Bailey also. They had a great time eating and playing at McDonalds. After lunch they all came over and played until early evening. That night I had a RS activity and Tiana had a basket ball game. I went to RS and Chris took Tia and her friends to the game. Tiana was playing at half time at the Freshman basketball game. They only played for 8 minutes, but Tia was amazing!! Chris said it was so fun to watch! They had an announcer who was able to call out, "Tiana Michalek takes down the ball - and SCORES!!!!" Not only once, but twice!! Her team won, and I was so sad to have missed all of the excitement!!

Tiana and Regan

Andrew

Regan

Larisa and Bailey - Do they look they are up to something?

Yep!! Larisa and Bailey pushed The little ones Webkins through the holes while they squealed down below. It was pretty funny!

What a fun day!!

A Beautiful 10 year old!!

I took Tiana's 10 year old pictures and I need to take a few more, but here are a few of my favorites!! Tiana has grown up so much this year! She is such a big sweetheart! She is my buddy!!! She has matured and mellowed out a lot - but still makes me laugh!!! She loves the gospel

Happy Birthday Tiana!!!

Where does time go? Can Tiana really be 10 years old? Yep!!! What a little sweetie she is!! We love her so much and feel so grateful to be her parents!! We had a nice birthday dinner as a family and with her friend Regan! Tiana chose to have Chicken Fried Steak, Potatoes and Gravy an Corn! Of course, she wanted Chocolate Cake too!!

Happy Birthday Tia!!

Tiana joining in on the song!!!

Think hard on that wish!!

Blowing out the candles!!

Tiana and her friend Regan!

Regan gave Tia a friendship sign!

Tiana really wanted this Webkin!

Tiana with her new Doll Mary Lynn! She has fun with her and the doll she got for Christmas!

This wasn't a year for Tiana to have a friend Birthday party, but she was able to choose one friend to go on a family activity with us! She chose to go glow bowling and bring along Regan! We had a great night!

Excited to bowl!!

Larisa
Chris chose to wear the loudest shirt he could find to go bowling!! So do you think the girls will even go out with their dad wearing this shirt in a few years??? Actually, I think Tiana might just ask to borrow it!!
We love you Tia!!

Snowy Recess!

I try to help out in Tiana's class once a week. She still loves me to come in and tries to get me to stay longer than I am supposed to. She wanted me to go out to recess with her. Tiana has been talking a lot about the snow fort that she built - it was fun to finally see it!! Tiana has some cute frinds and they all wanted their picture taken.

Andrew*Tiana*Regan and Carolyn

Being Silly!!!

They know how to have a great time!! It is so fun for me to be able to sneak a peek when I come in and help!! I wish I could still help in Larisa's class!!

Way to go Larisa!!!

Larisa had another wonderful year of Cheer!! She did a great job!! This year her school had enough girls to make two teams!!! She did awesome!! They placed 1st or 2nd in all but one competition! She had a blast and wants to try out again next year! It is such a great way for her to meet new girls and make great friends! It takes a lot of practice time - 4 hrs a week! Our January was full of competitions every Saturday and they last most of the day. We are proud of you Larisa!!

Happy New Year!! 2010

We had a great New Years Eve! We started out by going out to dinner. We had some yummy Chinese food! We laughed a lot and our dinner was yummy! Then we went to our friends the Wesels for a fun party! There were several families who came and we had so much fun!! My pictures I took at the party didn't turn out great, but here is a cute picture of Tia and her friend Liberty!

We came home around 10:30 to welcome in the New Year at home. We played Rock Band until a few minutes before mid-night! It is so much fun!!!

Larisa singing and looking like a tired teen!!

Tiana rocking it out!!!

Time for the countdown!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Tiana saw some glasses like the glasses she is wearing at the store. She really wanted me to buy the glasses, but I didn't want to spend the money! So, Tiana came home and designed herself a pair!! She is so creative!