Taylor's Snow Cone/Bake Sale

About 2 months ago, Taylor found out that scout camp this summer would cost him $160. That's a LOT of money for a boy to earn. But he's been proactive at getting odd jobs around here and with neighbors.

The money is due in less than 2 weeks.

He came to me a few nights ago with a glass jar full of coins and dollar bills. So far, he had earned a total of $78.36. A lot in a short amount of time, but not nearly enough to pay for scout camp. I told him that if he could earn at least $100, we'd help cover the rest. That brought on a quick smile of relief.

So he decided to have a snow cone/bake sale. He created a flier and had me email it to friends and neighbors. He made signs; cookies and brownies 25 cents, snow cones 50 cents. Then he helped make cookie dough yesterday, and I baked it all up today.

After school and homework, he set up a shade tent, tables and chairs, the snow cone machine, all his signs, ice chest full of ice, all the baked goodies, napkins, and a glass jar for the money. And to his delight, he had a constant stream of customers for over an hour.

I thought maybe he'd make about $15.

He totalled over $57. Enough to pay me for ingredients, pay Mason and Abby 3$ each for being good helpers, pay his tithing, and still have over $100 towards scout camp. He was thrilled, to say the least.

And I was so impressed with his work ethic. He took the role of store clerk/professional salesman pretty seriously while selling snow cones and cookies. And at the same time, he was generous to the little kids who came with only a few pennies in their hands. He cleaned up EVERYTHING after finishing, including spraying off the sidewalks and doing all the dishes from baking cookies today.

Kate was in absolute heaven. Just love the red juices dripping down her neck. She went straight to the bath after the event.




Here's Taylor, adding things up at the end of the day. Happy boy.

He's becoming quite the entrepreneur.

And I should also mention--we have GREAT and supportive neighbors, to say the least!

Easter Candy

I was at Walgreens picking up a few perscriptions four days ago. After paying, a coupon came through with the receipt for $8 off my next in-store purchase. So I went back through the store and bought a giant bag of Robin Eggs and a few bags of Easter M&M's to use up the coupon. Just hide it away, and we'll have Easter candy on hand when we need it. . . on Easter.

They are all gone. The M&M's were devoured within 15 minutes of John finding them in my not-so-good hiding spot--with the help of all the kids, of course.

And over the next three days, the Robin Eggs have slowly discinigrated.

For young girls, Robin Eggs come with double pleasure; yummy tastey satisfaction, and a chance to experiment with make-up before you're quite old enough.

All fun and games for the girls. . . until the boys noticed. Of course, they first teased the girls for being "soooooo girly". Later in the evening, I walked passed the bathroom and saw this:

Kind of funny, but not really. Especially when John came home. Our boys will be boys! (not girls).

And that was the end of our Easter Candy fun.

World's BEST Papa!

My father-in-law is awesome. I've always thought so, and I think I'm pretty lucky to have such amazing inlaws.

Today my father-in-law made quite an impression. Right after an early dinner, he called saying he was on his way home with a horse and wondered if he could stop by and give the kids a quick ride around the culd-e-sac. Sure, they'd LOVE that.

As soon as I hung up the phone and told the kids, they all started whooooping and hollering and cheering that Papa was coming over. They always do that, but this time the volume was much higher because it wasn't just Papa. He was bringing Gepetto (his horse). Within about 2 minutes, dinner dishes were cleared, all kids had their shoes on, and all were waiting on the front lawn. (I wish there was that kind of motivation every night).

What Papa didn't realize was that on most evenings when homework is done, dinner is in the oven, and the weather is perfect, there are usually about 15-20 kids roaming my street, all of which live in the culd-e-sac. With 9 homes on the street, there are a total of 31 kids under the age of 13. VERY kid friendly.

So when a nice man shows up with a horse, saddled and ready to ride, he naturally draws a crowd of children. Instead of just giving my kids a quick ride and saying hi, he ended up giving about 25 children and a few adults a ride up and down the street. There's something so endearing, watching him walk up and down the street a million times with his cowboy sway and a gentle, patient smile. Darling!

Being the first to ride, Andersen thought he was pretty awesome as wide eyes of all the children watched in wonder and wanting. His buddy Zac got to join him.

We LOVE our Papa! And today, he definitely left an impression on the Court.

A Month of Asthma and Allergies

All of February, and still continuing through the middle of March, we've had the WORST allergies and asthma issues in our household. I never remember it being this bad around here.

Kate and Andersen have had at least 2-3 breathing treatments every day for the past two months. And they're still coughing up a lung and not getting any better.

John and I have been taking Zyrtec, sinus rinses and nasal sprays like they're going out of style. And we're still sneezing, rubbing our eyes out, and dealing with lots of head and chest congestion. My left ear has been plugged since the end of January. . . feels like I'm in a tunnel.

The other day, Andersen and I were walking home from a neighbor's house and out of the blue, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "I'm sick of being sick!". He pretty much summed up exactly how I feel.

At the same time, I'm in love with the smell of those fragrant orange blossoms in the backyard from our tree--that are probably causing all this sickly havoc. And I love this time of year, when all I want to do is be outside and enjoy the perfect weather. The comfortable temperatures, warm breezes, clear sunny days, peaceful sunsets, birds chirping in the morning outside my bedroom window. Love it! Just don't love all the pollen that's floating around in the air.

Green-for St. Patrick's Day

After 10 days, here's Abby's new x-rays. There's a little rift where the break was, but the Dr. said it's healing beautifully.

EmmaClaire was at the dr. apt with us. She begged and begged Abby to choose pink for her cast color. Abby wanted lime green instead, in honor of St. Patricks Day, of course. She promised EmmaClaire that her next cast (in 2 weeks) would be pink.

Abby is doing great. I tease her about being my toddler; she needs help eating the last few bites of her dinner, bathing, writing anything, fixing her hair, folding her clothes, carrying things, etc. . .She can't get Kate out of the crib, has a hard time closing the car door from the inside. But she never complains, and more than not, she laughs at her handicap.

Love that girl!