Happy Birthday Jerrin David

I was feeling just a little bit guilty about how we were going to celebrate Jerrin's big day, because it was not only the final day of Lent, but I also had grad class until 7:00, until I got a text from Grandma Colleen saying that she was making supper. Apparently, Jerrin and grandma had it all planned out in the morning when she called to wish him a Happy Birthday. I was also told that he had a date with her afterschool.

After class I came home to see a beautiful sight. The backyard was full of kids getting along and playing a little baseball. Our kids were all there along with a neighbor boy and they were having a blast.

Jay of course was in his own mode, playing in the sand and dirt.

He too was throughly enjoying himself.

Jerrin asked for an Angel Food cake for dessert with Strawberries and whip cream.

It just made me smile to see this cake at my son's birthday. You see, my Grandma Evelyn use to make an Angel Food cake for my dad's birthday every year (whether he wanted one or not) and ours too if we didn't have one yet. She always made birthdays so special.

Jerrin was decked out in some snazzy clothes, which I forgot to get a photo of.

He will be one stylin' kid this summer.

A new bike that he gets to pick out himself. Mom and Dad thought that it was time for him to have his own bike and not one passed down from John.

Guitar Hero for DS. He is really starting to play some rockin' tunes.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid books from his siblings. He really enjoys reading these books and may even realte with them a bit (if you know Jerrin at all, you will understand). The movie just came out a few weeks ago too and we loved it.

Sorry bad photo, but we had to include the photo of the Vikings golf supplies.

As the evening ended, everyone had a great time, but as you can see

some of us were ready to go home. This was probably the best photo we got, 5/6 looking at the camera isn't too bad.

All in all, we all had a great night. Thanks to these amazing grandparents for making Jerrin's birthday so very special. Thank you Colleen for supper and the cake.

A note from the birthday boy........

Grandma and grandpa thank you for the presents that you gave me and for spending time with me. Thank you for making exactly what I wanted for supper and for baking one of my favorite cakes...Angel Food with strawberries. You both are one of the best grandparents in the world. Please check out my Auntie Jen's blog to find out more about me and my special day.

http://jenbaum-laughoftenlovemuch.blogspot.com/

Floats before bedtime

Just a little fun and a sweet snack before bedtime.

Ice Cream floats have becomea huge favorite at our house

and we always have so much fun when we make them.

Orange seems to be our favorite.

The Prom????? NO just a day in the life.

Today was the final day of Reading Month Celebration and celebrate we did. We were asked to dress in our Red Carpet BEST, so we could walk the read carpet of the Reading Awards. This was such a fun day. We all had fun dressing up and looking like we were going to the prom. Even though both kids were more than a bit hesitant to get all dressed up and actullay walk around in their "fancy" clothes.

Gracie decided to wear the dress that I wore for my Junior Prom back in 1993. Yes, I am not kidding, this was the actual dress that I wore that year complete with gloves and silver sequenced shoes. I was so glad that she was able to get another wear out of the dress, since I do not think to this day, my dad knows how much we paid for it. Shhhhhh, thanks mom it will always be our secret. I do have to say as proud as I was to see my little girl in that dress, it was quite disheartening knowing that she is and people have changed! (THe dress was not altered in any way.

Jerrin has grown so much that he was not able to wear a shirt and tie,

but he did wear a dressy, comfortbale outfit. He looked so handsome! Even though on this photo he does not look to impressed.

Here are the kids together, both so happy to participating.

I was able to have quite the fashion show the night prior, to pick out my Read Carpet attire. Jen was home for the week, so I went down to Mom B's to check out the dress stash

that my sister-in-laws have gathered over the past few years. There were so many to choose from, but it was so fun and we had a couple good laughs at the style and of course the fit.

This is the dress we chose. Amy's Prom dress. I felt like a true princess ! I do have to say that it was quite a hit with my kindergarten class too. Thanks Jerrin and Gracie for taking this awesome photo with mom and for looking so stunning for our big walk of fame.

I hope you had a fun day like I did.

Little Burros Wrestling Tournament

This weekend we traveled to Mayville. It was just Jerrin, Dad, and Mom. We had a fun filled day, but the outcome of the tournament was not quite what Jerrin was expecting.

He still did a great job and worked very hard, but just could not come up with a win.

He was a good sport and was a great supporter to his little friend Alex, who was wrestling in his very first tournament.

Even though you may not have come out on top buddy, we are still very proud of you.

Keep working hard. We love you!!

Time for a change!!!

Here I am before..........

A few months back I received an invite to make an appointment with my cousin Alysha, at the SPA School (Salon Professional Academy) to get some mommy time and pamper myself just a little bit. Alysha is now on the floor taking appointments and making women beautiful. I finally decided that it was time for a change and who better to do it, then someone that was family and someone I was going to put my complete trust in. So......I made the call. I told Alysha that my head would be her canvas and that she could do anything that she wanted. The only guidelines I gave her were, that I wanted something easy, trendy, bold, and fun. I wanted a new color and maybe even some extra colors that would shine through.

When I got there she had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to do and had about three hours to do it. She had me approve the colors and she got right to work. I thoroughly enjoyed the time that we spent catching up together and sharing some old memories. You see, since our grandmother passed away about 7 years ago, we only see each other once a year, on Christmas Day. I am happy to say that I will now be seeing her at least every 6 weeks to have a touch up. I think that she did an amazing job and will be making women and men beautiful for many years.

As she was cutting my hair I really could not see anything with my glasses off so the whole major haircut thing was not bothering me too much. Until........she asked me if I wanted bangs. All I said was, "Remember this is your canvas and if you think it would look best, go for it." Well, the next thing I know I see a huge snip go past the side of my face. I immediately said, "Whoa, what was that?" The answer I received went like this..."Ummm, it was just a snip? Are you ok?" I had her measure the "snip" and she figured it was about 7 inches long. ARGHHHHH!!!! Can you believe it 7 inches just off of my bangs? Long story short she cut about 7 inches from my bangs and at least 12 inches off the back of my head to make this cut.

Drum roll pleassssssseeeee!!!!!!!!!

Ta Duh!!!!! Here she is the new mommy in our house.

Thank you Alysha for a beautiful cut and for such a wonderful, relaxing afternoon.

I Love It!!!!!!

Cub Scout's Blue and Gold Banquet

I am just a bit behind with this post, but better late than never right? I cannot believe that another Blue and Gold Banquet has come and gone, which means that yet another year has come and gone. Jerrin has been involved in Scouts the past two years and seems to really enjoy the time spent with friends. These boys below were all promoted from Wolves to Bears on the journey to be a Boy Scout or for some maybe even an Eagle Scout. You never know what their journeys will bring.

Congratulations Jerrin, we are very proud of you. It has been fun to see you learn and

grow by obeying the law of the pack.

The boys and their families were first given pizza from Pizza Ranch for their meal and watched as each Scout earned their next patch during the program.

After the awards, the Scouts enjoyed a Magic Show presented by Jack Sand. If he looks a bit familiar you may remember him as the Meteorologist on Channel 6 News for many years. Mr. Sand did a fantastic job and brought many smiles to the boys' faces.

Jerrin was lucky enough to be chosen from the audience to help our magician out. As you can see by the smile on Jerrin's face, he was having a great time and

Was completely fooled by Mr. Sand.

Thank you to Angie and Ann for another fun year in Scouts. Thank you for the time that you spend making sure that Scouts is a positive adventure for all of us.

Congratulations Gracie Rae!!

Our little girl had quite a surprise last Friday when Mr. Bastian, our principal, announced her name on the intercom as the March Student of the Month. Our Elementary School has a program in which each grade level picks a student for each month of the school year. These students are picked for a variety of different reasons. I will add the reasons Gracie was selected later. I forgot to write it down today. She was pretty excited and so very proud to tell mom and dad about her accomplishments.

She was also excited for one of her favorite little buddies, because he too was selected as the Student of the Month. The only difference, was that he was selected for the Kindergarten class. I had them pose together for a quick photo today and boy, don't they look proud.

A Bright Ray of Sunshine.

After a very long evening on Friday and long day on Saturday, this mommy enjoyed some quiet, relaxing time with the kids on this beautiful Sunday morning.

Gracie woke up first and was ready for the day. After flipping through the channels a few times she landed on a movie that she thought we would both enjoy. We snuggled up together on the couch sharing a cozy blanket (like Jaylen would say) and watched the movie. We laughed together enjoying some time without any of the boys. I am realizing that as she is getting older she is wanting more and more of this time as in reality it is harder to find the time. She is truly a gem, you just may have to brush the dust away and shine her up a bit more often.

Love ya Gracie Rae!

Next to wake was the little monster. He came down with a smile on his face and in a pretty good mood. I think he must have thought that he owed mommy a few quiet minutes after the last days events. Let's just say it was a very busy day. When our movie was over, Jay and I cuddled, after some cereal and played a little Team UmiZummi. I had never heard of this new sensation until a week ago when Auntie Jen stumbled across it on NIck Jr. Now it is Jaylen's favorite thing to do. He loves to play games on the computer too. When we were just about finished I turned to him and said, "I love you so much JayBird."

This was his response which made me realize that I may be doing something right.

"Mom, I know, you tell me everyday. I love you too Mama."

I just about melted.

Love ya bunches Jay Bird.

Throughout the day Jerrin just chilled. He played some computer games and and watched some tv. Although this may seem like we really didn't interact too much, the day was good for us too. You see Jerrin and I have not seen eye to eye lately and today it was just a regular day in which we did not fight or pull at each others hearts. We enjoyed watching him yesterday compete at the Mayville Pee Wee wrestling tournament. It is so much fun watching him , seeing him smile when he wins, and watching him improve each and every time he steps out onto the mat. Your third place finish Jerrin makes us all proud.

Crusher Wrestling Tournament!

This weekend's wrestling tournament had just a little different outcome for Jerrin then the Tough Guy Tourney in Kindred. The tournament supported over 160 pee wee wrestlers and

it was wrestling mayhem.

Jerrin was lucky enough to have Auntie Jen make a trip home to watch his tournament over the weekend. Here she is trying to get a good luck hug, but Jerrin was just not up for it. You know these days he is oh so cool for any hugs in public.

Joel was asked to help keep things moving during the tourney too, by helping in the bull pen. What this involves is helping to line up kids and get them into the correct brackets. Now if you know Joel at all, you will understnad that dealing with a group of little boys would NOT be his cup of tea, but here is evidence that shows him looking like the father duck.

Just a little pep talk and some advice from Coach Lemar.

And the final outcome......Third place for the day.

Congrats Jerrin ! Nice work, thanks for sharing you day with me.

A Daisy Style Tea Party!

I would like to introduce to you the Daisy group of Girl Scouts in Casselton. These girls meet two times a month for fun, activities, and learning. Gracie loves the time they spend together and this meeting was no exception.

The meeting was designed to teach the girls respect for other people and learn proper table manners. Their leader decided the best way to do that with a bunch of girls would be to have a Daisy Tea party. Each girl was asked to dress fancy and to bring their manners with them.

To begin, they each made a placemat for the party, along with stylish napkin holders.

Then, it was time to set the table. First it was the tablecloth that everyone helped with. I couldn't help but think that the tablecloth looked more like a parachute, rather than a fancy detail to the look of the table.

Then came the details.... the cups, plates, spoons, placemats, napkins, flowers, and candles.

Here is Gracie's place at the table. Very nice don't you think?

And the table is set, ready for the six lovely ladies to begin their evening.

And by the looks of it....just in time to teach some proper manners and "sipping" procedures. I do not think that this quite qualifies as lady-like. What do you all think?

Her first cup of tea and she is pouring it like such a little lady. I know this tea party had some extra guests from up above looking down on it, as Grandma Joyce (this would be my grandmother) watched over them with a happy heart. She must have been so proud.

Below are each of the girls sipping their tea (orange punch)......... notice the pinky fingers on some. (I did miss one little girl as they drank their tea, sorry)

Yeah, it looks like this lil' darling did learn the proper way to sip her tea. Way to go!

More happy faces

This is the scene as the evening was coming to a close and they began to wrap up their meeting.

Time well spent with great friends, making wonderful memories that

these girls will remember forever.

To end their meetings each night, the girls conclude by holding hands in a circle and coming together as one. Gracie tells me that they are suppose to cross their arms and hold hands with someone else. As they do this, they give the other person's hand a squeeze and they continue to give a squeeze until everyone has been included. The each say thank you, see you next time and go on their way.

THank you Debra for the memories that were made and for taking the time to be with our little ladies. Your time is very much appreciated.