Jumbo Turkey Legs

Today my friend Annie came to town to visit an annual outdoor fair. I got to meet her parents and her kids. What a nice bunch they are!! I really enjoyed them!!

Littlest and Middlest have been waiting all year for this weekend, so that they could enjoy one of their favorite treats--turkey legs. After the fact, Mike told me that he has never gotten them each a leg before. I think it's plain to see why that is....


Littlest attempts to dig in to the leg. After her recent oral surgery, she doesn't have too many teeth left and it was quite challenging for her. She had lost a tooth about a week before having 3 pulled last week, so she is missing 4!!! She only ate about 1/10 of her leg.

Middlest is better able to get into her leg and managed to eat about 1/3 of hers.

Annie's boy and girl are enjoying corn dogs and nachos!!

After the kids "finished" (HA!), the girls decided that they would like to go to our house. We thought that was a fabulous idea and were left with just Annie's boy. The whining level went down considerably and we were able to shop for treasures. ;) My husband is a wonderful guy and came into town to pick up the girls, even though Annie's girl had just met my girls about 30 minutes before. Annie's boy enjoyed some homemade ice cream. (Don't tell the girls that)
Annie and I decided to purchase these cute little bowls at one vendor and got a scoop of rosehips and cinnamon sticks at my all-time fave vendor. We have matching little cute bowls with wonderful smelling potpourri. I buy at least a scoop a year and they really retain their scent for many months. I already had this napkin basket, placemat and salt and pepper holder. I am really excited because I didn't spend a fortune and I have a new/cute little display.
P.S. Upon further inspection, I realized that these bowls were from Wal-mart!! Oh well, it was fun anyway.

Sweet Sixteen!!!

Oldest is going to be 16 at the beginning of next month. My best friend is the best photographer ever and I had her take some pics with my dad's 1962 Nova convertible. We found the most charming little lane and got permission from a man on a mower to use it. Brandi had to wait for him to get out of the shot a few times, but she did a fantastic job on the pictures and we could not be happier with them. If you care to look at them, click on her blog at the right of my page.

First Day of School-2008

Middlest ready for the 5th grade!!!
Oldest ready for 10th grade!!!
Littlest ready for 3rd grade!!!
Middlest & Littlest starting the school year.

You will note that Middlest has a second bag with tissues in it. Who doesn't have a 1st day of school picture of themselves with at least one box ???
Oldest and her BFF outside of the high school.

(and extremely embarrassed to have me taking their pic--even though it was from the window)

Today was the day. We all got up and got ready in record time, so I was able to drop off all the kids this morning. I painted Littlest's fingernails and toenails and Middlest's fingernails this morning and packed Littlest a lunch. I worked today and then picked up the kids for some shoe shopping. We finally found some tennis shoes for the younger 2 kids. We then went out for dinner. What a shock!!! (Not really) haha

Mike is in Lake Villa, IL this week doing some business and what-not with the boss. He is going to have to make another trip later this week. Hopefully, he will be home this weekend. We are having a sweet 16 party for Oldest on the 6th, and have lots to do project-wise in the basement. Oh, and we miss him, of course!! smile:)

Friends and Fun--The Tandly BBQ

After posing for a lovely photo with their cupcakes-as seen in my previous post-things got a little bit out of hand for my oldest and my middlest. Middlest began the chain of events. I ended up having to use the hose at full blast to remove all of that frosting. The little 4 kids went back to swimming after being cleaned up. GOOD TIMES!!!

Tandly Family BBQ

In case you are wondering what "Tandly" is......(and I'm sure you are. HAHA)
Tandly is a group of three girlfriends that started our own little club. The name is made by combining our three names. Ta=Tammy nd=Brandi and ly=Kelly (Tandly)
We attempt to get together for dinner or a fun activity every month, but sometimes life flies by a little fast and we are unable to stick to that. Once a year we encourage our husbands to take us out to do something fun. This year we are going to the Friends of Bob & Tom comedy show. A couple of years ago we saw George Carlin in concert. Once a year we do something with our kids like baking and decorating cookies and once a year we do a family get-together like a BBQ, which was last night. We got together and had a pot luck dinner/BBQ with lots of wonderful treats.
I brought a wonderful fruit salad that I think was so good because I didn't put any "filler" fruit in it. Filler fruit is the less wonderful and less expensive fruit that I feel ruins a good fruit salad. Giggle! It could be that I am not a melon or apple and banana gal. I also brought some brightly colored cupcakes, broccoli salad and chips and salsa from a fave mex restaurant.

Littlest puts some mustard on her hot dog.
Oldest putting mustard on her burger.
Middlest thinks that fruit looks good!!--No mustard for her though.
from left: Kelly's youngest, my youngest, my oldest, Kelly's oldest, and my middlest.
We had a great time!! Thanks for hosting, Brandi.

Middlest & Littlest have oral surgery :(

Today was the day we've been dreading for some time now. The two younger kids had to have small oral surgery procedures done. Littlest had to take valium 1 hour before the appt. time to keep her relaxed. She was less nervous than middlest even before the valium. Hmmmm???!!!

Middlest went first, due to her anxiety. They did sealants on her permanent molars (I highly recommend for all kids!!) and then they used a laser to remove the tissue between her front two teeth. It was prominent and was keeping her teeth apart. All of this was likely exacerbated by middlest's thumbsucking until approx. age 5. She did quite well and we were proud of her. Next was littlest's turn.... She had 3 baby teeth pulled to make room for her permanent teeth. She had 3 cavities treated. Two with fillings and one with a stainless steel crown. Our previous dentist had never been successful at getting radiographs on her, so her cavities were kinda deep. She became ill from either the gas or the valium and vomited. She was pretty upset about that!

After getting them settled in at home and after the anesthetic wore off, they both proceeded to eat everything they could get their hands on. (Popsicles, ice cream, pudding, chicken nuggets & jello) They hadn't eaten since last night and were "STARVING TO DEATH"

My new ficus

A good family friend decided that her ficus had outgrown her living room and wanted to get rid of it. Actually, I think her husband wanted to dispose of it! I was in the right place at the right time and was thrilled to adopt George. Yes, the ficus has a name. I wanted my mom to see it, so George makes his debut on my blog. Thank you very much Dona!!! I love George and think he looks AWESOME in our living room.

Fall is just around the corner

As I came up to the front door, I noticed that my burning bush is really starting to turn red. It is sooooo pretty and I love how the ladybug flag looks next to it. Then I began thinking that fall is just around the corner and decided to take photos of my mums.

Bella goes to the vet

Bella checks out the outdoors.
Bella hunkering down, not wanting to come out.
That's ok, they'll just take the top off to get her. "Mom, have I told ya that I don't care for shots?"
Bella said that she knew how upset I was about the whole vet thing, so she said I should have an ice cream cone!!

Bella, the cat, had to go get her shots today. She hates the carrier, the van, the outdoors, the ride, the shots(of course) and being at the vet. Our cat is anti-social and hates pretty much everybody that is not a member of our family. You can imagine the trauma of loading her up and getting her there! Being the new blogger that I am, I brought along the camera to be able to capture just how much she really doesn't like it.

Oldest has lost her tin grin!!

Yesterday I brought Oldest to the orthodontist where she had her braces removed. It is such a joy to see her beautiful teeth that we paid so much for!!! Her father/my husband had braces for about 4 years. The very day he had his removed, he went outside to rollar skate and his mom said: "Don't do anything to those teeth" Cut to him walking through the front door with 1/2 a tooth and a handful of blood. As a family joke said to Oldest: "Don't go rollar skating and break your teeth" It has been 24 hours and her teeth look GREAT!! As a special treat, this morning I took her to the dentist and got her an extra prophy, just so her teeth would feel perfect. Am I awesome, or what?

Littlest is 8!!

Today was littlest's 8th birthday. Mike and I worked all day, but after that we dropped off the oldest at a friend's party and took the other two to Fun City. We bowled, played games and had a nice dinner at the Boogaloo cafe. I forgot my camera though!! Bad Mommy!!! My baby turning 8 really has me thinking..... The oldest will be starting college in 3 years. YIKES!!! I am wayyyyy to young to have a kid that old!! Tomorrow's agenda includes braces removal for the oldest and new school clothes and shoes for all 3 kids. I plan to take pics of the orthodontist appt. Check back for that. Have a great night!

The Littlest's Birthday Party

We had perfect weather today for the carnival. We had a bouncey house, cotton candy machine, horse-shoe game, bean bag toss, musical chairs, a pinata, face painting and a toss a ball into a series of buckets game. (Not sure what this game is called) We had several friends and family members over for lots of fun and tacos and cake and ice cream!! Thank you Kelly for all of your help!!!!!!

The littlest got a lot of great gifts too. I think this was one of the most fun parties I've ever thrown. Happy Birthday my sweet girl.

End of Summer Already???

I have been off work this week and have been busy registering kids for school, scheduling hair appointments, dental appointments, and buying school supplies. I can't believe that summer is about to end. My job will be getting a lot busier when school starts, so I am torn. I am enjoying the relaxing pace of summer, but know that the kids are really ready for school to start. I know that I feel like a better mom when we have a routine and schedule to adhere to. Next week, the oldest will be getting her braces off!!! YAY!!! We are beginning pre-ortho with the middlest and starting all of this all over again. OH JOY!!! Mike's trip to Utah got put off until September, which is great, but he left yesterday for a quick trip to Boston. I have a lot to do for the youngest's birthday party this weekend. We are renting a jumping castle/bouncey house, which is quite large and heavy and hard to manage. We also rented a cotton candy machine and are making a carnival themed party. A good friend of mine is making a two-tiered cake for the event and I am really excited about that!! Her cakes are wonderful! The oldest is very excited to be planning the party, but we need to get the games built. I am trying something new in having the party from 10-1 this year. It will A) Lessen the torturous wait for the birthday girl and 2) Beat the Iowa summer heat. I think I might be on to something.

I'm a single mom again this week

Hello! Mike is in Minnesota for work all this week, so I have been working every day except Wednesday, which was filled with appointments for The Oldest and our cat, Bella. I am soooo glad that I have my Oldest. She watches the other two whenever I work. The Youngest has a birthday coming up on the 18th. We will be having a carnival theme 8th birthday party on the 16th. Hopefully the weather will be ok. It seems to always rain on her birthday. Our friend is having a birthday party on the 9th, so we will go and enjoy some couple fun there. Happy 41st to Skip!!! The oldest will be 16th on September 5th. She already has a car, but is nervous to drive and still needs to take drivers ed. Mike will be gone again from the 20th-Sept. 1st. OH JOY!! The kids will be starting school on the 25th, so I am anxious for that. They really are starting to climb the wall. Tomorrow is my honorary daughter's birthday. She will be 17!!!! Happy Birthday to you!!!! She is soooo much like me it is wierd. Her mom and I have been friends since growing up next door to each other in the mid-70s.

Getting Organized!

On Saturday I had quite a burst of energy and cleaned off the garbage dump that used to be our dining room table. I threw away a LOT of stuff. The littlest had a fort going on next to the table and it was taken down much to her dismay. Oh well, we got to have dinner there on Saturday night. We haven't done that since about December. I cleaned and organized the linen closet on Sunday. It looks great. Hopefully, every weekend I will attack a room or area in the house.