Orchid Hell....

12 orchid leotards
12 orchid tap shorts
12 orchid tutus
12 orchid bows to be attached to clips
My office looks like someone puked orchid colored satin all over it. (And NO I will not be sharing a picture as my office is also currently trashed) ;)

All I need to do with G's costume is attach the snaps and we are good. :)

F's Birthday Party

Happy Belated 2nd Birthday my sweet Baby Girl! You are awesome and perfect in EVERY WAY! You are so sweet and funny and you always have the most amazing smile on your face. I just love you to pieces. You siblings adore you and you have H wrapped around your finger. Anything you want Hannah gives you. You look at her so adoringly and it melts my heart.

I love your hugs and the way you grab onto my neck when you give me a hug. I love the way that you grab my face and pull it to yours when you give me a kiss. You have started making the mwah sound when you kiss. It is so sweet. When I put you to bed at night you will try to delay going to sleep by signing "more" when I am trying to leave the room. You want more kisses and hugs. I cannot help but oblige you.

You got a new chair from A. Nancy, A. Jane, Jen, Karley, Mason, U. Bill and U. Dan. You absolutely LOVE IT! It is a princess blow up chair that fiber optically changes color. It is too cool! You wanted to take it to bed tonight. I took it away after you fell asleep.

Your party was perfect. It was just a small gathering. There were 10 kids and 17 adults. The kids were all awesome together. No fighting, bickering, tattling or anything that was negative at all. It was so peaceful and calm. The adults had a great time visiting. At one point it was just Dar ren , my cousin Jo sh, and my BIL T om in the pool with the kids. They had so much fun. Eventually Ma ndy joined them also. I wish I would have made it out between rain storms to get pictures. It rained a few time. Mostly quick showers and the kids would all come in then go back out when it stopped. It was a beautiful days.

This year I opted not to do goody bags. I am tired of the cheap crap that people put in their bags and all of the candy. Normally I am pretty good about just putting "better" stuff in it than suckers (AKA LOLLIPOPS! ;) ) but this time I said nope.

Since it is one of my biggest pet peeves when people let their kids run up and help the birthday child open their gift. It means that someones gift does not get logged and I cannot write a proper thank you note. I decided to try something different. I made Miniature Mickey Mouse cakes for the children. I made a bowl of frosting and gave them sprinkles (aka jimmies) ect to decorate their cake with while Fa ye th opened her gifts. I know have a complete list to write thank yous from and the kids had an awesome time decorating their cakes. Ga be was the only one to come up to Fa ye th and she was wanting to show him her gift. It was such a nice day. So much fun.

Baby Girl, I hope that you had fun. I love you so much it makes my heart hurt!

I LOVE YOU!
Mommy

Party Pictures

Wow!

Student Sentenced for Salad Dressing Semen

AP

WHEATON, Ill. (May 24) - A judge has ordered a 17-year-old to pay a $750 fine and perform 120 hours of community service for contaminating salad dressing with semen and returning it to a suburban Chicago high school's cafeteria.

DuPage County Judge Terence Sheen also placed Marco Castro on two years probation Wednesday and ordered him to write a letter of apology to Wheaton North High School officials. Castro must complete his community service work for an agency that works with AIDS patients.

Sheen called the prank "beyond stupid." "If you prove to me you're worthy of another chance, in two years, then I will give it to you," Sheen said.

Castro pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in connection with the Dec. 6 incident. He admitted taking a bottle of ranch salad dressing from the school cafeteria to the bathroom and ejaculating into it, and then returning it to the cafeteria where juniors and seniors eat lunch.

Students reported Castro, and the senior was expelled from Wheaton North. There were no reported cases of illness following the incident.

Castro told police he thought of the prank after watching a movie filled with crude stunts.

"I have no explanation for what I did," Castro said in court. "I felt bad after I did it."

Harry Smith, Castro's attorney, noted that the teen already had been punished, including missing the end of his senior year and humiliating himself and his family.

"It has not been without consequences," Smith said.

A man and his Castle....

Day 3 of Tree Fort. I have been asked to correct myself. It is NOT a tree house. This year it will be a tree fort because Grampa has a time limit in which to complete it. He wants it as much done as possible so that Gabe can enjoy it before his surgery.

The Floor is 100% complete and now we just need to add the railings and attach the ladder permanently.

Climbing Up the Ladder

Yes, you see Fa ye th up there. She has NO FEAR and climed right up on her first try.

A Man and his CASTLE!!!

Have to say this....

I am so grateful for the choices that we have made in which to educate our children.

Tree House Day 1.....

Well, we got the frame of the tree house done and it is attached to the tree. Pops is using cables to suspend the tree house from instead of nailing it to the tree. He was concerned that with tree movement in the wind that the nails/screws would loosen. The kids had a great time.


Getting ready to raise the tree house...


The tree house 10 ft up. :)

This and That...

So, I have decided to take pictures of this process. It will be a slow process, because Grampa literally lets them do some of the work.

Here are pictures of the wagon that they finished. The kids are learning SO MUCH with Grampa.


Han nah in the wagon

Grampa pulling the wagon.


Ga be pulling Han nah in the wagon.

I figure that while the kids are doing that I will work on my yard work for Fa ye th's birthday party. :) This is going to be a busy weekend. YEAH!

Pictures....

I have added pictures to my Myspace page. :)

For the Love of a Grampa...

At the Tw in's 4th Birthday Party I had a confrontation with my Pops. He was in a considerable amount of pain and Ga be was excited and came running down the hallway of their house. (Where the party was being held) Pops had told Ga be prior to this incident not to run. Pops then lost it. He started screaming at Ga be like a rabid animal. Least to say I did not take to kindly to that. I walked Ga be back to the playroom where be started bawling that Grampa screamed at him. I told Ga be that I was going to shut the door and he needed to stay in that room until *I* came back to get him. I shut the door and walked down the hallway to the living room. During those 30 (or so) steps I saw more and more red. The closer I got to the Living room the more insanely furious I got. By the time I got down to the living the only thing I could see was red. LITERALLY that was what I saw. I very calmly started with, "If you evER SCREAM LIKE THAT AT MY KIDS AGAIN I WILL KNOCK YOU THROUGH THAT *UCKING WALL!" By the time I finished that sentence I was yelling. We had a HUGE yelling match and he left for the next door apartment which was very wise because I could literally feel myself getting so mad that I could do physical harm to him. (And at the time he was still in really bad shape from the accident)

My mom was furious with him. She was in the back bathroom and could hear him as plain as day. After the party he tried to bring up the subject to my mom and she gave him hell. A few days later he called me and asked me to come over to talk. So I did. We had a LONG talk that day and a lot of this came out into the open.

Prior to Pops accident he was always too busy to really enjoy his grandchildren. Since his accident he has learned to appreciate the fact that the accident has made him slow down and take time with the kids.

Since that day that we had our talk I have watched Pops morph into an AWESOME Grampa. I had an awesome grampa and always wanted one for my kids. Monday I realized that my kids were fortunate to have a grampa like I had.

While we were on vacation Pops decided to watch a show on the Presidents. He took the time to teach the kids about each president. He watched the kids expressions during the shows at Disney. Monday my mom and I were going to go to the Greenhouse with the kids. Grampa asked me if he could instead keep the (potty trained) children. When I went to pick the kids up he asked me to bring them back today so that they could finish working on their project. Their project entails refinishing an old Radio Flyer Wagon. Yesterday while he was watching the kids Ga be sustained a burn to his left forefinger and thumb. Grampa treated it properly and had Ga be all settled by the time I got home. He cuddles with the kids on the couch and watches movies with them, he is constantly teaching them stuff, wrestles on the floor with the kids. He is so patient and loving with them and they adore him. He offers and constantly asks me if he can keep the kids. Whenever I go to Chicago he will keep the potty trained ones. Once they get their wagon done, they are going to work on a Tree House.

So, Thank you Pops! You are awesome! You have stepped up to the plate and have surpassed my dreams for a Grampa for my kids. I can never thank you enough! But I am grateful for your accident. I am not sure that you would have been able to stop and smell the roses.

I LOVE YOU!

Some pictures you just can't explain....

Yes, that is my mother.
Yes, he is on her Hands and Knees in front of the Castle at the Magic Kingdom.
I will let you draw your own conclusions.....

The Threat of the WHITE VAN!

While at Animal Kingdom on Thursday, Dar ren decided to behave like a real poop. I had him go ahead of us to get Fast Passes at Expedition Everest. We had JUST gotten off an awesome sufari ride. So I stopped in front of the Tree of Life and had my mom and Ri ck's picture taken. All of a sudden I hear, "Sa ndy! Here!" There is my husband who decided to take a detour. I was fuming. Dude, it is hot, humid and the fast pass takes forever at Expedition Everest. So, a cast member in a scooter came up to me....

Cast Member: Can I help you with anything?
Me: Yes, you can. See that man over there in that blue shirt waving his hands over his head? When he comes down from over there can you take your scooter and run him over. Then put it in reverse and run his ass over again? * Nice sweet smile *
Cast Member: I don't think that I can do that. I would get in trouble.
Me: Can I borrow your scooter then?
Cast Member: Ummm, No. But I can have him White Vaned.
Me: White Vaned?
Cast Member: I can call the Magic Kingdom, they will come over and pick him up in the White Van. They will then take him to costuming and dress him in a costume from a foreign contry. Then they will take him to a certain ride with little boats and nail his feet to the floor. Then for the rest of his life he will forever sing, "It's a small world after all..."
Me: How quickly can the van be here?
Darren: I SWEAR I WILL BEHAVE!!!!!
Cast Member: Do you promise because if I hear you have been a poop again I will have you white vaned.
Darren: I SWEAR!!!!!!

To which the Cast Member wrote out a slip for priority seating on Expedition Everest and we were able to walk right on without needing a Fast Pass or wait in line for an hour! :)

We Are Home!

Pictures and updates will be up later. :)