Rebecca & Brian's Wedding!

I was lucky enough to be able to go see Rebecca get married. She looked radiant! She has been a great friend for a long time. I am so going to miss her when she moves!
Her georgous dress.

The whole new family. Rebecca's boys and Brian's girls.

Gina, Susie, Rebecca and Me

Cades First Catch

Cades first BIG CATCH! He caught this fish in the pond all by himself on Wednesday evening. After the thrill of catching it was over, he didn't want to touch it at all. I had to all but force him to hold it - and put a smile on his face while he did so, so that I could take the picture. (there was NO way I was going to touch that bloody, slimy thing!)

The Easter Bunny came!

I love Easter. It's my most favorite holiday. I love that the earth is waking up and everything is starting to bloom, all the farm animals are having their little babies, the fun parties and the colors of the season, and last but most importantly, the whole reason for Easter, the resurection. (did I spell that right???)

Farm Country

Can I just say that I love where I live. It's total farm country and I love it. I don't know what I would do if I lived in a city and heard cars and honking all day and night long. Although I LOVE to visit the city, it's so nice to come home! So driving home from Jens' game on Friday evening I decided to take some pictures of the things that I saw since my camera was still in the car from the game. I barely get on the highway and there is this herd of deer.
My neighbors horses

My other neighbors sheep. Everyday when I look out my side window I can see them. The males are in my back/side yard and the females are across the street. The babies are a little harder to see simply cause they are across the street and the males barn blocks the view a bit. Each year the males are herded across the road to mate. After their fun is done, they are herded back to the barn and they jump around and buck and kick and spring into the air. They look like they jump up in the air with all 4 feet at the same time. It is sooo funny! There is quite no other sight like that of a satisfied, happy boy sheep!

The cows that live in the field just 1 minute down the road from my house

And the majestic Rocky Mountains. All of these photos were taken in less than 10 minutes time. Sure the pigs may have a stench and the sheep can sometimes knock you down with their smell, and the cows BAWL all day and all night long each srping when their babies are taken from them and the sound can wake you up at night, but there is no other place that I'd rather live!

We're Seeing SPOTS!

My friend Melanie does this party on Cinco de Mayo and she calls it Cinco de Eggo! It is a giant Easter egg hunt. Well I used to go to it every year and thought that it was so much fun, that I wanted to make one of my own. So about 5 years ago, I started having one. It has grown and grown! I do mine right around Easter (the week before or after, or 2 days before...). Well I had mine last night and it was GREAT!

We had....dun dun dun...1,592 eggs!!! Do you realize just how much that is??? That is only 8 away from 1,600! They are all over the lawn, in the swingset, the fences, EvErYwHeRe!

I let all the kids age 0 to 3 go, then kids age 4-7 go, then kids 8 and up. And I mean up! Sometimes my 18 year old niece is here, sometimes my 17 and 15 year old neighbor boys are here, whatever!
We had exactly 40 kids hunting this year! I hold them all back and I don't let them in my backyard until I say "Go!"

Each kid gets around 40 or so eggs.

I spend about 5 hours filling the eggs, days for planning the party, 1 hour making the food, 2 hours cleaning my house, and it is all over with and EVERY single egg is picked up within about 3 minutes! It's so crazy, it's way too many eggs and it is quite simply OVER THE TOP! And that's why I LOVE it!

After all the eggs have been gathered, I make them open each egg, put their candy in their basket and put the egg BACK TOGETHER and back in my bin. Some eggs have money in them, some have candy and some have vouchers for prizes.

Some of our prizes this year were squirt guns, bubble blower, sidewalk chalk and jump ropes.

After the egg part is over, we have a big pot luck dinner.

Thanks to everyone who came! It was a blast and I can't wait until next year!

Pizza Factory Tournament

Jens had a tournament this weekend. They played Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The boys played really good and it was so fun to watch them play. It was a single elimination tournament and they lost out on their third game.
Jeff coaching

Jens at bat

Rebecca's Bridal Shower

My friend Rebecca is getting remarried in 2 weeks, so my other friend Gina and I threw her a personal shower. We had so much fun! I made all the food and Gina made all the desserts. (she is quite the baker! homemade truffles, dipped strawberries, AMAZING cheesecake...)

We all have been going to book club together for about 5 years, so we just did it with the book club girls.

She got some cute little outfits, some that wouldn't even cover my calf :( and some lotions, chocolates, wine glasses and .....some other fun ... things!

We're sooo excited for her! It's so great to see her happy again! Congratulations Rebecca!!!

A Poop Story....

Two questions: Who is this baby? and Where is her mother?

About a half hour ago I hear Cade yell, "MOM! (dry heave sound) Molly has POOP (dry heave) fingers...! on her! (dry heave) I'm gonna PUKE! diaper... OHH! MOMMM! " I run downstairs into the toy room and sure enough....There was Molly in all her glory! A waff of poop smell smacks me in the face. She had pooped, taken off her pj bottoms and her diaper. She then decided to sit on her little dolly stroller (if you look at it, you'll see the poop). Poor little Caden was hiding in the corner with his shirt over his nose.

Now I'm not sure what is more sick.......

The fact that Molly did this -OR- The fact that I took the time to take pictures of it

So after I bathe her, I have her all wrapped up in her towel and we are walking into the bedroom to get her clothes and out of the corner of my eye I see a man, dressed in a black hoodie, a black hat and dark sunglasses standing IN my dining room window! You that feeling you get just seconds after you almost wreck the car or you are soo scared from something that you get all shaky in your legs and stomach? Yeah, got that feeling. I then realize that it's the guy I hired last week to come and clean my windows. I totally forgot all about him! I opened the door and told him that he about gave me a heart attack! He says, "Well, I rang your door twice and I didn't dare ring it anymore in case your little ones were still asleep." I just couldn't hear him because of the tub water running. (Just FYI, this guy has cleaned my windows for years, we know him really well. He wasn't a total stranger)

AFTER! All cleaned up and smelling like yummy Johnson & Johnson baby lotion.

Then I had to clean the toys, the stairs, the toilet and the tub. Everywhere that she touched.

The JOYS of MOTHERHOOD!!!

Ooey Gooey Texas Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

My friend Melanie gave me the recipie for this and we love them! So easy yet so yummy!

1 dzn rolls (the kind that are linked together)

1 lb very thinly sliced deli ham

slice the rolls in half at the same time so that they stay hooked together. Remove the top and set aside. Put the bottoms in a 9x13 pan. Spread ranch dressing over the bottoms of the rolls and then layer the ham and cheese on. I like both provolone and cheddar. Then add the tops and pour the sauce OVER THE TOPS of the rolls.

Sauce

1 stick melted butter (not marg)

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1 tbsp dried onion

wisk together until the mustard is seperated and pour over top. Cover with tin foil and bake on 350 for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes, until the tops are browned and crispy.

Cactus Classic Baseball Tounament

We just got home this evening from Jens' baseball tournament in Mesquite, Nevada. They played Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Their Friday game was sooooo miserably, rotton cold! It was 46 degrees with rain and wind! Their second game got rained out.
Saturday and Sunday was beautiful weather. Not near as warm as Nevada should be, but hey, I'll take sun and 67 degrees any day over 46 and rain!

Playing first base

Up to bat

After thier games, Jeff took the team (and some parents) out to Pizza Hut for a little party. Then they went swimming afterwards.

Molly and Sidney and I shared a bed. Molly got a nasty cold and decided to get croup at 2 am. GREAT! No nebulizer and no steroids. Just a filthy hotel (is there a nice one in Mesquite???) and a dirty box of kleenex. Needless to say, it was a night from hell. I took a picture of Molly's hair the next morning. It says it all. You can see how much sleep I got. But overall, the tournament was fun and the boys did great!

Poor baby! I told you the rain and wind was awful!