Dinnertime!

Cinderella and I are having a girl night. We're eating ribs that have been cooking ALL DAY. Add a side of mashed potatoes and some grapes (because we must get 5 fruits/veggies a day).

another day

Today was one more day on the hampster wheel of my life. Not too bad, really. I'm trying to get some work done around the house. Yesterday saw the flower bed get the weeds pulled. Today, some paperwork was finished...and I got a start on cleaning out some junk from the kids' rooms. There is a lot more left to do where that job came from. My mom is supposed to come tomorrow to help me clean out the utility room. Fun Stuff!

Teenagers

Princess Leia is a teenager...and she has done this to my family:

In case you are not alive & breathing...this is Justin Beiber. The teenage princess in my house has a crush on this guy. Bigtime. She played his music so much that the other two kids now love him too. I kind of thought that with said princess spending most of the summer with her dad, I wouldn't have to listen to him for a while.

This would be wrong. On the way to a magic show last night, my two kids and a friend made me listen!!! Isn't technology wonderful, so you can use an SD card and play it in your nintendo dsi, laptops, Wii system and even in the new radio in our van. Yay, us! :-/ :)

Trying something new

Ok, so I've had this 'smartphone' for one year and two months. I use it for all kinds of neat things...but who knew there was a blogging app? Maybe I will have a minute with my phone in hand to share more frequently! So now I can text, facebook, pandora, solitaire, weather channel, calculate, create ringtones and more.

Alaska....was fantastic

The view from behind the church where we worked

I took a trip to Alaska recently, to work at a church, helping with VBS. It was gorgeous. I could totally move there. Here are a few pics to show you just a little of the area. The pics do NOT even begin to do the scenery any justice. Mountains, snow, pointy trees, glaciers, lakes & more. The people were so welcoming, & fun! There were quite a few who's accents sounded entirely too much like a certain politician. The plane rides were long, but worth it!

"Rainbow Ridge"

Water, clouds & sky...and I think a beaver dam in there somewhere :)

VBS was great

Of course, I am only telling you about it over a week late. We made tons of snacks and preschool lunches. Fun times, everything went rather smoothly. All the daycare kiddos came out & were well cared for while I was working. We enjoyed Saddle Ridge Ranch! Next year's theme? New York City! I just happen to be going on a trip there really soon! Maybe I can find some good inspiration for "authentic" city food!

Summa time

It is already summertime & the living is good! It is still crazy around this ranch, with so much going on.

We finished up the school year. Cinderella finished Kindergarten, Jedi Boy moves up to third grade & Princess Leia finished her middle school career! As the kids were finishing up that, Leia and I joined with other local people to do some missions work at a church in Alaska! In order to get there, we held a few fundraisers & that took up a good bit of time and energy.

I need to write some thank you notes :)

So, the trip was a blast. I'l try to write a seperate post about that. The day I came back to work, I had a couple of new kids start attending my childcare. It is pretty difficult on a first day back from a vacation...so if you add in jet lag and 2 kids who are new to the program, it gets even harder! I will definately re-think those logistics if necessary in the future! We are going to miss the two who have moved on, but we are lucky that our lives will still be linked. We live in the same community and cross paths pretty often. I am excited about that :)

This week is VBS, and I get to be the snack lady again! I love it! It is messy, hot, and so fun!

I just thought all my dedicated readers (ok, 1 or 2 of you) might like to know I am still here!