Day 82 - Monday, March 23, 2009

Day 82 - Monday, March 23, 2009 -

Today I was the guest reader in Liam's class as part of "March is Reading Month". I read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and then led a "book club" discussion on whether the kids thought it was a happy story, a sad story, or whether they thought it was both, or were undecided. It was a lot of fun to hear their opinions, and to watch the kids change their opinions after hearing what others had to say. (Liam took this picture!)

Day 81 - Sunday, March 22, 2009

Day 81 - Sunday, March 22, 2009 -
So, how did I spend my second day of Spring? Spring cleaning the laundry room! It took me about 7 hours, but it is now spotless (including UNDERNEATH and BEHIND the washer and dryer!) I continued to purge items we no longer use/wear. SUCH a good feeling!! (Yes, this kind of stuff really makes me thrilled!)

Day 80 - Saturday, March 21, 2009

Day 80 - Saturday, March 21, 2009 -

Liam got to go to his friend's birthday party at the Lake Orion McDonald's. Notice the water bottle? That's Liam's gift to the birthday boy. In addition to holding the kool-aid packet, it's holding the gift card that we bought for him. See! I already put my Stamp Camp project knowledge to use!

Day 79 - Friday, March 20, 2009

Day 79 - Friday, March 20, 2009 -
Stamp Camp was at my house this month! What a fun time!! I had the normal Stamp Campers over and then some of my ScRap SiStaZ. There were 15 of us in all. We made these adorable projects. A cute card with an embossed lemon, an ice cream on a popsicle stick card, and an awesome water bottle pocket to hold a packet of kool-aid or lemonade. So cool!

Day 78 - Thursday, March 19, 2009

Day 78 - Thursday, March 19, 2009 -

Look who's talking, technogeek. It takes one to know one.

Day 77 - Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Day 77 - Wednesday, March 18, 2009 -
Owen has recently started to LOVE the computer. Batmanbrave, Webkinz, Caillou. He can spend hours on Kev's laptop, with his little earbuds in, playing away. Liam calls him a technogeek. Nice.

Day 76 - Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Day 76 - Tuesday, March 17, 2009 -

First Frosty Boy run of the (almost) season! Liam was festive and ordered a lemon-lime (green) slush/freeze thing. Not me, I had my good ole standby, peanut butter cup flurry. MMM

Day 75 - Monday, March 16, 2009

Day 75 - Monday, March 16, 2009 -
Look at what my little leprachaun made at preschool today! How cute is this?!?

Day 74 - Sunday, March 15, 2009

Day 74 - Sunday, March 15, 2009 -

I'm a proud mama! Less than a week ago, we Spring cleaned Jordyn's bedroom, bathroom, and closet. However, I did not supervise her re-assembly of the closet. Imagine my delight when I walked by tonight to see everything hanging in order by COLOR. And I thought this apple fell far from the tree. There's hope.

Day 73 - Saturday, March 14, 2009 -

Day 73 - Saturday, March 14, 2009 -
What a Good Looking Family!! Family photo taken at Brian and Tara's St. Patrick's Day party....before Kevin had too many pints of Guinness.

Day 72 - Friday, March 13, 2009

Day 72 - Friday, March 13, 2009 -

Every Friday night should be this much fun! I organized a birthday party at Papa Joe's for my dear friend Renee. When I told her what we were going to do for her birthday she said, "You're taking me to a grocery store for my birthday?!?! Well, with all of the wine tasting and appetizers, she quickly saw why it was such a fun place to go. We had a blast!

(Kelly Bourn, Me, Renee Howell, Kristen Hulbert, Amy Petoskey, and Tricia Lopiccolo)

Day 71 - Thursday, March 12, 2009

Day 71 - Thursday, March 12, 2009 -
Today was Kindergarten Round Up for the 2009-2010 school year. I'm so excited that I just registered my BABY Owen for kindergarten!

Day 70 - Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Day 70 - Wednesday, March 11, 2009 -

Mitchell invited Liam to go to the Pistons game tonight with him and Nee Nee & Jeff. They had a blast! Liam had made a sign that said "Defence! Defece!", but decided not to bring it when I told him he had spelled Defense wrong....twice He came home with lots of souvenirs, a pennant for his bedroom, a fitted hat, a foam finger, and a basketball shaped note pad!

Day 69 - Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Day 69 - Tuesday, March 10, 2009 -

I bought this dress at the Red Tag Store here in town this past weekend during their 90% off sale. I love it when I get to go to work feeling like I work in the glamorous fashion industry instead of in the bore-me-to-tears world of IT.

Day 68 - Monday, March 9, 2009

Day 68 - Monday, March 9, 2009 -
The kids had no school today. So, Kevin took Jordyn to Meijer to buy a goldfish with some of her babysitting money. She named the fish Dorothy.

**Update - Dorothy died within 24 hours and had to be returned to the store**

Day 67 - Sunday, March 8, 2009

Day 67 - Sunday, March 8, 2009 -

Spring Cleaning has been in full swing at the Hillary house. Unprompted, Liam went to the toy room to collect some toys to be purged (sold at the garage sale). With Liam, it's less about simplification and organzation and more about garage sale profit.

Day 66 - Saturday, March 7, 2009

Day 66 - Saturday, March 7, 2009 -

I love my boys with long hair. My boys, however, do not love long hair. Liam actually craves a buzz cut. Today I caved and let Kevin take Liam to Rooster's (there's no place else my boys would rather get their hair cut). Not a buzz cut, but pretty close. Good thing he's got those gorgeous eyes and lashes.

Day 65 - Friday, March 6, 2009

Day 65 - Friday, March 6, 2009 -

Owen is a very sick boy. He has bronchitis, and the medicine is wearing him completely out. Poor little guy. I guess when you're sick, this is the blanket to curl up with.

Day 64 - Thursday, March 5, 2009 -

Day 64 - Thursday, March 5, 2009 -
Today was parent-teacher conferences at Jordyn's school. She's doing well in all of her classes except for math, which, even though it's not her strongest subject, I don't blame her poor grade on her, I blame it on her poor teacher. Her other teachers had GREAT things to say about her. Language Arts, Ms. Colagross said that Jordyn was very mature. Social Studies, Mr. Cisneros said that she would be very successful one day. And Choir, Mrs. Flynn said that Jordyn was "genuinely, authentically precious." Awww. Jordyn had told us to look for her self portrait on these tiles to see if we could pick her out with out looking at the name tags. Yep. :)

Day 63 - Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Day 63 - Wednesday, March 4, 2009 -
Jordyn had a mini choir concert tonight. It was a dress rehearsal for the choral festival they will be attending on March 16. I just had to get a shot of my gorgeous girl before going to the concert (my photos taken AT the concerts never turn out well!) They performed their two songs beautifully. I'm sure they will do well at their competition. Afterwards, the family went out for dessert at Red Knapp's. Jordyn got the cream puff...it was DELICIOUS!

Day 62 - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 -

Day 62 - Tuesday, March 3, 2009 -

Kevin took Owen to get a hair cut today. I like the boys' hair to be long-ish, but they like their hair to be short like their Dad's. So, I gave in. You can't tell, but the orange thing in his hands is the comb they gave him. He still looks pretty cute, for our ugly duckling.

Day 61 - Monday, March 2, 2009

Day 61 - Monday, March 2, 2009 -
Today the spring cleaning continued with a purge and reorganization of my closet. I filled 6 tall kitchen trash bags with clothes to donate or sell, another trash bag filled with trash, and a pretty good sized box with books, shoes, and purses. I was ruthless in my purging. Anything that I hadn't worn in the last year or anything that was less than fabulous (pilled, stained, shapeless, etc) had to go! Somehow, my closet still feels pretty full. Hmm.

Day 60 - Sunday, March 1, 2009

Day 60 - Sunday, March 1, 2009 -

Last week, I cleansed my body. Today, I decided to cleanse the house by beginning my spring

cleaning. I want to get the spring cleaning completed before the spring weather arrives. After such a long, cold, bitter winter, I know that once the spring air hits, I'm going to want to go outside rather than be stuck inside dusting baseboards and light fixtures and surfaces of furniture that will never see the light of day.

Day 59 - Saturday, February 28, 2009

Day 59 - Saturday, February 28, 2009 -
Today, Jordyn and I went to see my niece, Bailey, in the Michigan Ballet Theater's production of Sleeping Beauty. Bailey did an awesome job as one of the fairies. In the lobby, there was a table filled with retired pointe shoes that were decorated and signed by the dancers. They were selling them for $5 a pair as a fundraiser for their dance company. Very cute idea.

Day 58 - Friday, February 27, 2009

Day 58 - Friday, February 27, 2009 -

Jordyn went to a sleepover at Shelby's tonight. Tina took them roller skating in Lapeer. They had a blast. Jordyn has known these girls since kindergarten. They were in Girl Scouts together through 5th grade. They are a great bunch of girls (Shelby, Kayla, & Molly). I'm so thankful Jordyn has formed such great friendships, and I hope these friendships last through high school and beyond.

Day 57 - Thursday, February 26, 2009

Day 57 - Thursday, February 26, 2009 -
I never have to ask Jordyn to do her homework. Ever. She just does it. I can walk into her room on any weeknight and see her sitting on her bed, in her PJs, just like this. Of course, her phone is never out of reach. Hopefully people aren't texting the answers to her! :P

Day 56 - Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Day 56 - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 -

Today was the fourth day of my fast. Days 1 & 2, I only drank water. Days 3 & 4, I drank water and a couple of these POM blueberry pomegranate juices. Yummy. What a cleanse.

Day 55 - Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Day 55 - Tuesday, February 24, 2009 -
I voted YES today on the school bond proposal. Unfortunately, the proposal failed by a slim margin. Ahh, the democratic process.

Day 54 - Monday, February 23, 2009

Day 54 - Monday, February 23, 2009 -

Today was Owen's day to celebrate his birthday at preschool, even though his birthday isn't until April. He typically gets home from preschool before noon. When I got home that evening after 6pm, he was still wearing his birthday hat. Amazing how a little bit of cheap paper in the form of a star birthday hat can make a kid feel so special.

Day 53 - Sunday, February 22, 2009

Day 53 - Sunday, February 22, 2009 -
We got this multi-pack Play-Doh kit for Owen this past Christmas. Whenever he gets it out to play with it, he inevitably turns away from playing with the Play-Doh and turns his attention to playing with the Play-Doh CONTAINERS. Here is one of many Play-Doh container towers he has created since late December.

Day 52 - Saturday, February 21, 2009

Day 52 - Saturday, February 21, 2009 -

Today we celebrated my dad's 65th birthday at our house. My sister's family and my brother's family were all there. We had a delicious venison chili made by my brother-in-law, Scott and yummy cornbread that Kevin and I had bought at Papa Joe's. Bailey made the carrot cake. It's so nice to gather together with family. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Day 51 - Friday, February 20, 2009

Day 51 - Friday, February 20, 2009 -
Liam woke up today feeling a bit under the weather. I told him he could stay home from school, but he insisted on going, in the hopes that today would be HIS day to bring home the class How-To Book in which each kid had written and illustrated instructions on how to do something. Anything from shooting a basket to making a peanut butter and jam sandwich (yes, jam, not jelly, which Liam had a BIG problem with!) And guess what? It was his turn.

Day 50 - Thursday, February 19, 2009

Day 50 - Thursday, February 19, 2009 -

Liam brought this wooden bear with him to school for show and tell. Why he picked this bear to share with the class, I don't know. We bought it in the summer of 2004 when we walked across the border from Texas to Progresso, Mexico. Liam wasn't even 3, yet. But he told the class he remembered getting it, and that he thought it was when he was 4 or 5. He LOVES show and tell day.

Day 49 - Wednesday, February 18, 2009 -

Day 49 - Wednesday, February 18, 2009 -
My parents brought out dinner again tonight (they're the best!). And they brought my precious niece Bella with them again. Bella LOVES to have books read to her. So, I wasn't surprised when I walked in the playroom to see this scene.