Hot, Hot, Hot

I much prefer the warm and even humid weather to the cold and frigid. But man, it's been hot recently! Georgia gets sooo warm when she sleeps; I mean, like, dripping sweat. So after church on Sunday (91 degrees) we just stripped her down for her nap. I couldn't help snapping this sweet picture.

Together Again

Andy made it back safely from Chicago on Thursday evening. Georgie and I are so thankful! We missed him a lot while he was gone for his annual trip to the Moody Pastor's Conference. It worked out quite nicely because the church pays for him to go every year and his schooling requires that he attends a certain number of retreats; this conference counts as one.

G and I did miss him very much, but had a fun week. We spent time with friends, did some shopping, ate French toast for supper, watched movies, went for walks, played on the swings and went to a church softball game. All in all it was a good time, but we'd certainly rather have Andy here.

So today is family day and Andy is going to treat his girls to ice cream.

A Good Daddy

The other day Andy said, "Hey, take a picture of me changing Georgia's diaper. I want her to know I helped take care of her." Awww.

Mom Freak-Out Moment of the Day:

I was ironing my shirt and looked down to see Georgia eating metals screws. I freaked, she cried, but we're all okay.

Crawling

I think you've all heard me lament over and over that Georgia was slow in starting to crawl. Those days are over and that girl has some speed in those chubby legs. Though she is still pretty content to sit and play, there are a few things she likes to do:

*Crawl to her book shelf and pull all the books to the floor one by one. Sometimes she even 'reads' them. It's very cute. I love books and so I want Georgia to love books, too. (I also love the look of nice books and so when the book covers started getting bent, I took them off. But aren't book covers supposed to protect the books? Yes. But in my OCD thinking, if she ruins the book, then the covers will hide the blemishes nicely.)

*Empty drawers in the bathroom, as well as the boxes of things in the drawers in the bathroom. I can't tell you how often I've had band-aids, tampons, and q-tips everywhere.

*Empty the drawers in the kitchen. Once again a floor full of hand towels and washrags galore.

*Crawling to the shower - when I'm in it. I used to be able to plop her down outside the bathroom with some toys while I showered and she was a happy camper. Not so anymore. Most moms would worry their babies would crawl away. I have the opposite problem. Just this morning I was in the shower and heard a little rustling. I turned around to see the curtain being pulled back and Georgia's curly little head popping into the shower, "Hi mama!" with a big grin. Yes, Baby, you found mama! Never mind that she was getting drenched by the shower spray or that water was soaking the bathroom floor, she found her mama. I guess I should stick to showering when she's napping.

Whisker-Kisses Tickle

What is sweeter than a baby's laugh?

New Pillows

Before I take the tags off, I need some opinions on the new pillows I bought for the couch and love seat. Purchasing pillows is far less expensive than buying new furniture, plus I found some killer deals at Target and Kohl's. My goal was to add some color to the room, though not necessarily the colors that are already there.

Please be honest....I'm tough and can handle criticism. I'm bracing myself...let me know: yay or nay.

Garage Sales

You gotta love a neighborhood-wide garage sale. I do, anyway. I know I'll find something I just can't live without. Here are the deals we snagged today:

*5 outfits and a swimsuit for Georgia - $10.25
*The Hobbit hard-back family edition - $.25
*Trick-or-treating plastic pumpkin - $.10
*Electronic alphabet toy (Merry Christmas, G!) - $2.00
*Weed-eater for Andy - $15.00 (This was the best deal because I was going to get him one for Father's Day. On the down side, I now have to think of something else to get him.)
*Spreader (for lawn; seed, fertilizer, etc.) - $10.00
*Time spent as a family - priceless.

Knock It Off, Mom

I really could kiss her all day. Unfortunately, she doesn't really like that.

It's That Time of Year Again

Graduation season is upon us! I really can't believe it. Each year our graduates seem younger and younger to me. This year our seniors were born in 1991-92. Weren't the 90's, like, five years ago? :)

Andy and I love this time of year for two reasons:

1) We get invited to lots of grad parties and that means one very important thing: FREE CAKE. Yes, graduation time is a junk-food junkie's dream come true.

2) Our annual graduation banquet is held. Each year we invite our grads, their families and our youth leaders to join us for dinner at a nice restaurant where we provide their meals, gifts and of course, more cake.

This year we celebrated three of our many grads (not everyone was able to make it); Craig, Megan, and Kate. Here are a few snapshots from that festive evening.

The Graduates

Megan with leader, Sara

Kate with her mom and dad

Craig, intensely reading his new book (Life on the Edge by Dr. James Dobson)

Me and Georgia ("Hold me, Daddy!")

Leaders, Jessi and Deb

Congratulations to all of our graduates! We are so proud of you!

Miss Madge

This is my little niece, Madge.



While at Granny's this weekend, she pulled out every piece of dress-up clothes she could find and put them all on. "Ooooo...boo-tiful, boo-tiful," she would say. Darling.

As a baby, Madge acquired the name Mild Madge, because she was so peaceful, content, and mild-mannered. But as I learned this weekend, Madge has quite the temper. I didn't know that. She's just so sweet and says such funny things, I can't imagine her being any kind of naughty! I suggested we call her Madger the Badger, though I don't know if it'll stick.

Mother's Day Surprises

What a weekend! As busy as it could possibly be and I have not yet had time to recover.

On Friday, Georgia and I drove to Williams to spend a couple of days with Granny and Gramps. Unbeknownst (that's a word, right?) to them, my sister Ivy had flown in from Miami to surprise them. My other sister was also privy to this information and just "happened to show-up" with her family for a fun evening. My parents were VERY surprised and thrilled to have her back for a few nights. I'm really lamenting though, because I didn't take one single solitary picture of Georgia with her aunt Ivy. What was I thinking?

I did, however, get this cute video of Georgia and her granny.



G and I headed home on Saturday evening to be with Daddy on Mother's Day. He was preaching Sunday morning and I really wanted to be there. It was excellent, of course. After church he took us to Hy-Vee for steaks, stuffed mushrooms, twice-baked potatoes and cheesecake; all excellent on the grill, well, minus the cheesecake. I was spoiled with chocolates from Georgia and a book I'd been wanting (Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson) from Andy. Then a two hour nap. Oh boy...that felt good. Then a relaxing evening with pizza and one of my favorite games. I couldn't have asked for a better day. They made me feel so loved.

It Must Be the Spaghetti

Who knew dinner time could be so much fun? Was it that the spaghetti was really that great, or that her daddy was playing around in the background? Beats me.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Lindsay, Sara, me, Shelly

Just ran across this two-year-old picture and had to share. These are the sweetest girlfriends a gal could have. We were out binging on what's called a Big A** Ice Cream Pie. (Yep, that's really what the restaurant actually called it.) These ladies were listening to my woes and heartaches; they knew it could only be done with ice cream and margaritas!

Notice that there are no babies? Yes, this was pre-Alivia, pre-Georgia, and pre-Oliver. It's hard to imagine life without them now! I love thinking back to times like this. They are sweet memories!

It's a Perfect Night to Sing Our Prom Theme

Andy and I had quite the privilege this evening. We got to make the prom night dinner for some very special young people from our youth group. Before the dance, Nate, Cierra, Carly, and their friend Garrett dined at the Schumacher Family Restaurant all decked out in their prom attire. Don't they look lovely?

Nate and Cierra

Garrett and Carly

Andy and I spent the day shopping, cooking, and turning the basement into a restaurant, complete with goblets for drinks, cloth napkins and candles on the table. It turned out so nicely and the kids said it was better than any restaurant. That made my heart very happy. :)

Here is what the menu included: fruit salsa with cinnamon tortilla crisps as an appetizer; dinner salads and rolls with cinnamon butter; pork chops, twice-baked potatoes, and almond covered broccoli made up the main course; chocolate Oreo cake for a sweet ending. Needless to say, they were FULL when they left! (Lucky us, we have plenty of left-overs!)

We had a great time serving these young adults and hope they are having a blast at prom. (Dance off all those calories!)