Saying Good-bye

Caden's class picnic was Monday.  For the last 3 years, I've had a child in Christ Our King.  I love the program and the teachers and it makes me tear up just thinking that I'm done with the school.  My kids are growing up and moving on.  The rain held off and the sun even popped out here and there so we could have a lovely picnic.  The food was awesome and the kids had a ball playing on the play area.  I got to have a nice lunch visiting with all the moms I've become friends with.  On some days these moms are my only social interaction.  I'm going to miss them too.  Miss Barb and Miss Patty had a little ceremony and gave each child a certificate and a book.  Hugging everyone good-bye and leaving was hard.  I wasn't the only person trying to hold back tears.

Maie, Naomi, Nicholas, Ethan, Caden K, Nathan, Joshua, Caden, Miss Barb, Miss Patty, Colin, Jackson, Madison, Alex, Jaimison, Allyson, Maggie, Kristiana and Caroline

Krissy, Nathan's mom, has become one of my good friends.  I helped her make quilts for the teachers last year.  I had no part in this one, but just had to post a picture.  There's nothing better than making someone cry with such a sentimental gift!

Sunday Afternoon

We had so much fun on Saturday that we headed back out on Sunday to find more caches.  The first area we went was a small trail off of a little back road that had 3 caches on it.  We found the first one pretty easily off the main trail. 

It's interesting to see what people put in the caches.  Some is totally junk...other things are neat.  In this one, we found a teddy bear stamp missing a foot (junk), 10% off our next liquor purchase at a liquor store (I guess that "might" be a good one if you drank???), a braided dog pull and some odds and ends toys.  We took two toys and left an Olympic Pin and silly bandz.

The second cache along the trail was in the middle of a bamboo grove.  This was a really neat area.  It was like we stepped out of Abingdon and into China.  It felt like we were in our own secluded world and panda bears would be joining us at any  minute.

The kids had fun climbing and bounching on the fallen bamboo.

It was really wet in this area and the bamboo had grown up onto the trail.  Dan went a little further while I stayed with the kids, but he couldn't find the cache or a way for us to get through without getting wet.

The honey suckle is blooming everywhere.  It smells so good walking through the woods.  I'm not sure why, but honey suckle always reminds me of my Grandma Mac.  I'll have to ask my Grandpa or Dad what the connection is.  I've taught the kids how to pull the flower off to get to the nectar and now as soon as they smell it, they go hunting and pull handfuls of flowers off.  I keep telling them it reminds me of her.  They may not have gotten to meet her, but I want them to "know her."

After we gave up on those caches, we found a new cache right by our house.  We weren't the FTF (first to find - learning the geocaching lingo).  We were the second people there.  This was a hard one as both of our GPS decided to mess up so we had to use the clue and find it the hard way :p.  While we were looking we found a new friend.  He provided a good 10 minutes of fun as the kids took turns catching him.  Poor guy must have been scared to death, but he didn't pee on anyone.

An Afternoon of Geocaching

Now that springier weather is here (finally - 80s last week) we've decided it's time to get out again and enjoy the parks around us.  We've also wanted to try Geocaching.  Dan, my Dad and Caden found one in the woods by our library one day while they were visiting.

Today, we tried to find 4 different caches.  Our first try was "Take me out to the ballfield."  It didn't take very long to spot it.  The cache was hidden pretty well in a hollowed out log with logs on top of it.  It's hard to see, but Caden is holding a crystal light container that's been covered in camo tape.  Allie and Caden pulled out "treasures" and left "treasures" for the next people to find.

While we were hunting in the woods, we discovered something other than the geocache hiding under some sticks.

Our second Geocache wasn't nearly as successful as our first.  We started out on the wrong side of a creek with no way to cross other than wading through it so we had to walk out and drive around to another road where we could walk in on the correct side.  We met up with other geocachers and were unable to find it.  Looking at the comments about the cache, we think it's gone.

Our third and fourth caches were pretty easy to find.  The girls and I found the fourth one by ourselves since the boys had already found it.  We even found a traveling coin (I'm sure it has a real name).  You can log in to a geocaching website, put in the code and see everywhere it's been.  We'll leave it at a site some where on our vacation.

Overall, we had a lot of fun today.  We love hiking so it gave us a purpose to be out in the woods.

My Kindergartener

I know I keep saying I have no idea how it's possible that Caden is as big as he is, but I'm going to say it again. How in the world can Caden be old enough to go to Kindergarten?!?!?  Yesterday was bitter sweet for me.  It was his very last day of preschool.  He's a big kid now.  All my kids are growing up...waaaaa!  I have loved, loved, loved his preschool and I'm sad to say good-bye.  At least we still have his end of the year picnic to look forward to next week.  We celebrated with his friend Nathan at McDonald's yesterday after school.  Nathan doesn't understand why he and Caden won't go to school together next year.  He told his mom they should just move so they can be in our school district.  Funny!  I'm trying to convince Caden to play on Nathan's soccer team next fall so they'll still see each other.  He's not so sure because "Nathan runs too fast."  We'll see.

We already bought Caden his backpack and lunch box for next year.  He's very into "How to Train a Dragon."  Those production companies sure do know how to market movies to kids!  Now all we need is his Star Wars nap mat and he'll be all set.

The Art Show

Instead of sending artwork home throughout the year, our art teacher saves it and the school hosts an "art show" at the end of the year.  The artwork gets hung and placed all over the school for parents to see.  We went last night and hunted for the girls' artwork.  It's a huge school with lots of students. 1 master piece per students equals hundreds of projects to look at.  With the help of the art teacher, we finally found Jaelyn and Allie's pottery pieces displayed in the showcases.

I Don't Believe It

I started cleaning my house yesterday morning after I dropped Caden off at school.  Dust doesn't normally bother me which might be shocking for anyone who knows my OCD perfectionist personality.  Well, it WAS bothering even me which means it was thick.  I started upstairs dusting and vacuuming with my vacuum.  I filled the canister to over-flowing.  My house was yucky.  I also sanitized the bathrooms (bye bye Jaelyn's tummy virus I hope), changed the sheets on the beds, and did laundry.  When the girls got home from school, I told them I had spent all day cleaning and I wanted the house to stay clean until bedtime.  That's no small task.  I'm proud to say that 24 hours from the time I started cleaning, the house is still clean.  The kids even picked up the craft table from their early morning (6 a.m.) art session.  It's so nice to just sit and enjoy my clean house.  It's amazing how being in a neat, clean environment can calm and energize me at the same time.

I also worked in the yard yesterday.  Our grass was so tall.  I cut and weed-eated everything.  It looks so nice.  My iris are almost done blooming, but now my salvia is blooming and my lantana is starting to grow.  It'll be full of yellow soon. 

My Mom's Doing Good

Health wise, my mom hasn't had an easy time the last few years with her cancer, thyroid, and epstain barr.  She's not into sharing her medical stuff in details so I won't or I'll get in trouble, but she's finally well and feeling good.  She's back to what I'd consider normal...and actually better than normal in some areas.  Normally visits include me doing a lot of cooking and cleaning while she plays with the kids in the mornings and takes naps in the afternoons.  It wasn't like that this time.  I know she's feeling good because I hardly washed any dishes and I had all of my laundry folded for me.  I was spoiled for a change and it was nice.  I'm so thankful you are feeling so good again, Mom.

All Alone This Week

Well, I guess that's not exactly accurate.  I have three crazy kids to keep me company.  Unfortunately one of those kids has had the "squirties" since Saturday morning (sorry, I know, way TMI) so in addition to being entertaining, I also need to be sanitizing.  We went to the pediatrician today to confirm my diagnosis of "stomach virus."  Dan left Sunday morning before we woke up to fly to Las Vegas.  He'll be at a super top secret nuclear testing facility until Friday.  (I guess it's not super top secret if he told me about it and when I googled it, I found out exactly how far it is from Vegas).  Anyway, my parents left this morning after spending 2 1/2 fun filled weeks with us.  As the only adult, I feel slightly out numbered.  Come on Friday!  I'm thinking we might have McDonald's for dinner with a 6 o'clock bedtime.  Think that's too early?  The kids have been up at 5:40 the last 2 mornings.  That's REALLY early.

On this week's agenda:  Caden's last ever day of Preschool on Wednesday :(, T-Ball on Thursday morning, a Girl Scout Tea on Thursday night, gymnastics on Friday night and Dan's return home sometime on Friday...hmmm I guess I should have asked for his itinerary.

The Day of the Strawberries

Yesterday we only cleaned the strawberries we needed to make a strawberry pie.  This afternoon, we decided it was time to tackle the rest of strawberries. First we cleaned them and then we came up with a game plan.

Strawberry Bread was our first adventure. I printed a recipe off of Allrecipes and I'll use it again. It seems like a lot of oil, but the oil made it super moist. It's not the best thing in the world to eat all the time when you look at the amount of oil and sugar, but every now and then it'll be a real treat.

Strawberry Bread
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups white sugar
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 cup chopped walnuts

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 2 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2.Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center. Beat together the eggs and oil and pour them into the well. Stir just enough to moisten the ingredients. Fold in the strawberries and nuts. Pour mixture into prepared pans; fill containers no more than half full.

3.Bake in a preheated oven about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 20 to 30 minutes before removing from pans. Move to a rack to cool completely before slicing.

Our next adventure was Strawberry Jam and it truly was an adventure with a slight learning curve. Neither my Mom nor I have ever canned anything. We had a few stops and starts, but it all worked out. We made 11 jars of jam and I can't wait for it to set up to have toast with home-made jam for breakfast.

Mom and I mashing strawberries to mix in with 7 cups of sugar! Oh my!

Stirring the bubbling hot jam mixture.

Pouring Jam into jars - if you attempt this, get a friend to help so that one can pour and one can clean the jars and put the lids on.

Our finished jars of jam - I am super proud of myself (btw - I used the recipe inside the packet of pectin.)

Our left over strawberries after making the jam

There are only so many sweet things we can eat with strawberries so I went back to allrecipes late this afternoon looking for something new. I found several recipes for Spinach Strawberry Salads. I ended up using grilled chicken, spinach, chopped bacon, sliced strawberries, croutons and a Raspberry Pecan Dressing.

It was finger plate licking good!

I think we've had our fill of strawberries.  I froze a huge bag for smoothies and we have just enough left to top cereal for the next few days.  Next time we go to the strawberry patch, we are taking smaller buckets!

The Big Distraction

So you are probably wondering why I haven't been blogging. My parents are here visiting, but I can't blame them. I must blame technology. It started with me and my Dad couldn't stand it so he had to have one. Next, Dan got one. Finally my mom felt left out and wanted in on the fun so she got one too....want to know what I'm talking about??? Iphones! The family that plays together, stays together.

Strawberry Picking

I've always wanted to take the kids strawberry picking, but I never know when they are in season. Dan says we've taken them once before, but I have no memory (and more importantly no pictures) of it so I don't believe him. We made memories today though and I have the pictures to prove it.

We went to Brad's Produce and picked about 10 pounds of strawberries. I am planning on making strawberry bread, strawberry jam and freezing some for smoothies. Anyone have any other recipes or favorite jam and bread recipes??? Feel free to share!

It warmed up today into the 80s (the first warm day in a week and a half). It was perfect to be out in the "fields" picking :p.

Jaelyn and Caden filled up their buckets pretty quickly with help, but Allie was Miss Independent. I think she ate more than she put in her bucket. Towards the end, she let us help and we filled her bucket to the brim too.

Eden Mill - Preschool Field Trip

Caden's preschool year is winding down. It makes me a little sad. Today was his last field trip and he has 2 actual days of school plus 1 picnic and that's it. No more preschoolers for me...only big kids.

We went to Eden Mill. It's my first time on this field trip although we've hiked there one time as a family. It was a wonderful field trip. The nature center is filled with taxidermied animals that you CAN touch. Our guide brought out a snake and turtles for the kids to see and touch.

The kids put on boots and waded into the marsh to use a net to scoop up "stuff." We caught tadpoles (baby and big), snails, and bugs. I even volunteered to don my own pair of cool boots and help out.

This is Naomi and Caden. Recently, Caden was debating whether he should marry Alyssa, Maggie or Naomi. He finally decided he should marry Naomi because they like to tickle each other and laugh. I told him laughter is an important ingredient in a good marriage.

The Aquarium

We went to the Baltimore Aquarium on Mother's Day. We thought we were in for a fun filled day and it was for the most part, but we had a little mishap right at the beginning. Our poor Cade-man fell on the very first escalator and scraped his leg all up. I ran to the gift shop for a first aid kit while Dan held him. I knew it hurt really badly because Caden didn't cry or whimper or make a peep. The kid in the gift shop gave me 5 huge band-aids and it took every one to cover up the scratches. Dan and I took turns carrying Caden through the 1st half of the Aquarium.

It wasn't as busy as the last time we went so we had plenty of time and space to see all of our favorite things.

I have no idea what kind of fish these are, but I think they are beautiful in the tank with this black sea urchin.


We are in love with this kissy cow fish. He's our favorite fish, by far.
I was amazed to look up in the Rain Forest canopy and see this sloth. He was just chillin' in the trees without a care in the world.
If I had posted this blog on Monday when I meant to, you would know the name of this jelly, but I didn't. Sorry, but isn't that a cool picture?Baba, Caden and Jaelyn checking out the turtles and crocodiles.

A Family Lunch

My Uncle Larry and Aunt Sandy live about an hour and a half away in Westchester, PA.  We invited them to lunch on Saturday so my parents could see them.  Mom made lasagna, salad and garlic break for lunch.  It was so good.  Lasagna is something I never make and if I do, it's heated up Stouffers.  Her lasagna is awesome.  After lunch Uncle Larry went down to the basement and played with the girls.  They get ALMOST as hyper with him as they do with my Dad.  He taught them how to "skin the cat" a couple years ago and now that's all you ever hear.  I can't believe he played with them again.  Allie weighs 50 lbs and Jaelyn weighs 46 lbs.  That's a lot of weight for him to flip around.  He also played horsey and let them get on his back.  I bet he was having trouble standing up on Sunday :p.

The only sad part of the day was that Caden didn't feel good.  He actually went up to his room during lunch and fell asleep for a couple of hours.  He's still not 100% and I started feeling the same way Sunday night.  Yea for Baba and Grandpa to pick up the slack so I can rest a little.  Grandma Molly told me I had better not give it to them or she's going to be mad at me.

Dad, Mom, Aunt Sandy and Uncle Larry

My Baby Boy is Registered for Kindergarten

I cannot fathom how Caden is old enough to go to Kindergarten.  It seems like just yesterday I was swaddling my 5 lb 13 oz baby boy in his Miracle Blanket.  Some how though, he is 5 and it's time.  I took him Friday to the girls' school along with our packet of completed (yea) paperwork.  We met with the school secretary, the kindergarten teachers and the school nurse.  We saw lots of Moms I know from the girls' class with lots of little 5 year old boys.  Caden isn't too excited to be starting school.  He's also not too excited about riding the bus.  I'm a little worried about the initial break, but eventually I think WE'LL BOTH be okay!

An Allie Funny

I had a parent teacher conference with Allie's teacher this morning to talk about her progress.  Her behavior has improved drastically.  Mrs. Y says she's more focused and organized.  She still struggles in Math, but I was relieved to hear that Allie is one of about half that class that struggles.  They are working on time and morning and it's just so hard.  She doesn't think we need to talk about any testing.  I'll continue to work with her at home this summer and I'll re-evaluate with her teacher next year.

Now for the funny.  Before I start, I should tell you Mrs. Y has light brown hair with blond highlights.  Mrs. Y said one day after she'd finished teaching a math lesson, Allie raised her hand and said "Mrs. Y, I just don't understand."  Mrs. Y went to her to help her with her math problem.  "What don't you understand, Allie?"  to which Allie responded, "I just don't understand why the front of your hair is blond and the back is brown!"  LOL!  I guess she's still not 100% focused like she should be :p.

Hershey Park

We had the BEST time last weekend. Mom and Dad hit huge traffic so we beat them to the campground Friday night. We had a great grassy spot near a drainage stream (it was nicer than it sounds) with lots of trees. The kids had a ball exploring while we waited for the RV to pull-in. And oh the excitement when they did pull-in. Awesome! We had spots really close together so it was easy for us to go between the two. We had dinner after everyone was set up, then Dan headed out for his cocoa massage (I was nice and changed my reservation to his name) while the rest of us found a KMart to buy an air pump. Can you believe of all the things I could have forgotten, it was the air pump to blow up my mattress! Ugh...thank the Lord for KMart.

The real fun began Saturday morning. It was wonderful. The weather was warm and sunny. This was the first weekend that felt like summer. I was worried that the park was going to be over flowing with people, but it was pretty empty. We didn't wait in a single line. We walked onto every roller coaster and some we got to ride alone. Caden is now a Reese's with the girls so he could ride everything they could. We started the girls on The Comet, a wooden roller coaster with 2 good drops. I wasn't sure how Caden would do, but we took him on it next and he loved it.

After that, we rode the Super Dooper Looper, with only one loop as Caden kept reminding us. The loop was so fast that we had to take Jaelyn on it a second time to prove that she went upside down. We rode the Super Dooper Looper 6-7 times over the 2 days. In addition to the roller coasters, we rode all the smaller rides. My Mom messed up by going on the Tilt A'Whirl. Her head spun most of the 1st day. Dan's nemesis ride was the kiddie Rocket Ship. I was sure he was going to throw up by the time he got off :p. The grown ups can do loops and ups and downs, but don't spin us around!  Sunday, was a repeat of Saturday with rides and fun.  The park was even emptier than Saturday so it was great.  It started sprinkling lightly in the afternoon.  That helped to cool us off.  Thankfully, we never got the thunderstorms that were forecasted.  We left our 3:30 to get home before bedtime.  My parents drove down Monday morning.  There were a few issues, but their motorhome is stored safely on a level gravel lot for the next few weeks while they stay with us.

Finally Joined the 21st Century

I had a basic cell phone.  I don't text, I don't email, I don't have a clue how to get photos off of it.  Well, my basic cell phone has been dropped one too many times.  Sometimes I have to call a person 3 times before I can hear them.  Our anniversary was Tuesday night and Dan and I got to go out (yea for visiting Babysitters!).  We started our evening at the AT&T store where the plan was to get me a basic phone again.  Well, they had a deal on the IPhone...$100.  Dan told me he thought I should get it so I did.  I am now the proud owner of an IPhone along with a new data plan for both of our phones.  We went to dinner at Bonefish Grill and spent the whole time huddled over my new phone.  We had a good time.

Getting it set up has been frustrating with syncing contacts with Outlook and finding and setting up my ringtones.  I was ready to throw something yesterday, but I think it's finally all set up like I want it.  Now I'm enjoying browsing the fun apps I can buy and I think I'll love having all kinds of info at my fingertips.

The only thing we didn't do is turn on unlimited texting, but I hear there's an app that'll let me text for free :p!