Flashback Friday

Easter 2011

Saturday morning I woke up early to get in a 10 mile run before we headed to Bob and Shelly's (aka the dog farm) house for the Muhlig Easter. We had lunch, then Garrett and Madelyn enjoyed hunting eggs, riding 4 wheeler and everyone enjoyed smashing confetti eggs over heads. Then the shoot out began. It was a great time and we are looking forward to it again next year.



 The "borrowed" wheelchair was a hot commodity.

Garrett's first time on the 4-wheeler, he was the first to roll it too.

 

Jen & Papa Bob

 Brett & Dustin

 The queen of the shoot out.

 Brrrrr....it was a tad chilly

 Let the shooting begin

Then we headed to Council Grove for the Sill family Easter. We enjoyed a dinner of pork chops, hotdogs, & brats with all the fixins' then the annual Easter egg hunt. The hunt is always good for a few laughs.

 Gearing up for the Sill family Easter egg hunt

Paw Paw enjoyed not telling us where the eggs were hidden.

On Easter morning Madelyn woke us up before 6:30am to see what the Easter bunny brought. She ran through the house in a matter of minutes picking up eggs. Ryan fixed us breakfast, then we got around and went to Church. After Church we had lunch at Playa. I spent my Easter afternoon taking a 3 hour nap, while Madelyn watched her movies she got from the Easter bunny and Ryan trimmed trees. It was a perfect way to celebrate He is risen! 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

R.I.P Tom Cat

This morning Ryan and Madelyn discovered that our fish, Tom, had died. Tom wasn't just any kind of fish, he was a mad tomcat fish that was rescued or, more like kidnapped, from a creek on Easter two years ago. I never thought he would make it a month, let alone two years. As silly as it may sound I got rather attached to Tom (my sister and brother-in-law have witnessed me being a complete wreck over a dying pet fish before). Tom spent most of his life hiding under rocks and would only come out to check things out when he was hungry. I was usually the one to feed Tom, if I remembered, when I would see him happily swimming around his bowl. I would chat with him for a bit, throw in a few blood worms and watch him eat. Then when he was done he would make his way under the rocks again. This became our evening routine. He was a low maintenace fish that only required chlorine free water and some rocks. I cleaned his bowl only when it was too dirty to look through. He survived three trips down the drain thanks to Ryan being able to take the drain pipe apart and "fish" him out. I think what I liked most about him is that he wasn't the average fish, he was a tadbit unique. R.I.P Tom Cat.

Lincoln Elementary Fun Night

Madelyn & Kenzie with their new hats

 Jump! Jump!

 She spent some time in the "emergency room."

The tough chics

Yesterday evening the three of us got to meet our friends' new son, Cannon Steele. He was born via c-section on Wednesday afternoon weighing in at 10lbs 6oz and 20 inches long. He is a BIG boy!! Madelyn was so excited to hold him and didn't want to give any one else a turn. I asked her if it made her want a baby brother or sister and she said, "no, I don't want you giving all your attention to the baby." Smart girl! Good thing, because she wasn't going to get a sibling regardless of her answer. We all enjoyed loving on baby Cannon and I'm looking forward to the next time we see him so I can love on him some more.

 He was so alert for a newborn.

 AWWWWWWW

I could have held him all day long. I love, love, love babies!

ABCs of Me

A-AGE: 35....but 36 in a few short weeks :(

B - BED SIZE: queen, but would sure love a king

C-CHORE YOU HATE: folding clothes

D-DOGS: 2 black labs - Chance & Belle

E-ESSENTIAL START YOUR DAY ITEM: A shower, well Mon- Fri anyway

F-FAVORITE COLOR: Red

G-GOLD or SILVER: Gold wedding ring, all other silver please

H-HEIGHT: 5'4"

I-INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: could play saxophone many years ago

J-JOB TITLE: Admissions Coordinator/Case Management Supervisor

K-KIDS: 1 sassy, amazing little girl

L-LIVE: in a crackerjack box in Augusta

M-MOM'S NAME: Rilla, dad's name is Elden...:)

N-NICKNAMES: Jen - original isn't it?

O-OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAYS: 2 after I had Madelyn

P-PET PEEVE: Poor grammar, uncontrollable coughing, sniffling, people that drive slow in the fast lane,
closet doors not closed when I got to bed, any noise besides the fan when I'm sleeping, etc, etc...

Q-QUOTE FROM MOVIE: "I feel the need, the need for speed"- okay that was a lame one but I couldn't think of anything else.

R-RIGHT OR LEFT HANDED: Right

S-SIBLINGS: An older sister that happens to turn 40 this summer! Love ya, DeAnn!!

T-TIME YOU WAKE UP: weekdays anywhere between 5:15am-6:30am, depends if I'm running in the mornings, or if I'm taking Madelyn to school, weekends hopefully sleeping in on Sat, and up at 8:00am on Sunday for Church.

U-UNDERWEAR: Yes please
V-VEGETABLE YOU DISLIKE: Can't think of one I will not try

W-WHAT MAKES YOU RUN LATE: Primping in front of the mirror, thinking of one last thing I need to do before I leave.

X-X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD DONE: dental, hand when a former cat bit me, hence the former.

Y-YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: All the food I make is yummy and if you disagree I won't ever make it for you again.

Z-ZOO, FAVORITE ANIMAL: ring-tailed lemurs at Tanganyka Wildlife Park or the prairie dogs at the Emporia zoo

They've Lost that Loving Feeling

Friday night was GNO (girls' night out), at a local dive in Augusta. As advertised the Chippendales were the entertainment. I would venture to say that they were likely the original Chippendales. As long as the lights were dim all was good. The above picture is their lame attempt of Top Gun, let's just say they were no Val Kilmer or Tom Cruise...just saying.  The local dive was jam packed with Augusta's finest, including myself and several of my friends. However, not one of us in our group spent a dollar on those fellows, but there were some ladies that likely spent their monthly earnings on lap dances. And the elderly ladies of the group were their biggest fans!!  It was a night full of laughs and by the end of the night my side was aching from laughing so much. It was the best place for some fine people watching. Fun times.

Second Grade

Madelyn chose her outfit for school pictures, without any of my assistance. Although not my first pick I figure one day she will look back and be amused by her taste in fashion. I actually dig the shirt because Ryan and I graduated from high school in 1993. When she tried it on at the store I was shouting the 93 cheer. She was less than impressed. 

Madelyn is standing in between her best friend of her class, Journey, and the boy she is sweet on, Ryan. She adores her teacher Mrs. White and wishes she could be her teacher forever. Madelyn's reading has really soared this year with the help of Mrs. White. She is reading at a fourth grade level. She also does extremely well in spelling, getting 100% on every weekly test this year. We are thankful that she is much smarter than her parents.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Reading Summer of the Monkeys

Weekend Recap

Friday evening the Slussers, the Terrys and us took the kiddos to see Hop. The kids loved it but the adults agreed that there have been better kids' movies. After the movie we had dinner at Jose Peppers. Saturday morning I was woken up at 6:15am by the sound of our furnace being ripped out. Thankfully I had to get up for work anyway or I would have been one grumpy girl. I spent the morning at the Autism Awareness walk which took place at Heartspring, although I did not parcitipate in the walk.  I was there educating participants about Starkey services. I got home after noon and the new ac/furnace was well on the way of being installed. Later that afternoon we went to a retirement party for a previous AHS teacher and coach. That evening Ryan hung out with a couple of his buddies from HS before they went on to a wedding reception and I went on a ten mile run. Then I picked up Madelyn's friend, Hollee, to stay the night. Sunday we went to church and then came back and had lunch and the girls played, and played, and played. I rewarded them with a trip to DQ after they washed my car.  Then Hollee went home and Madelyn went across the street to play with her friend Maya. While Ryan bought a gently used 3 year old mower from our neighbor. Brand new it lists at $1200 and he bought it for $200. He got a steal! Then he posted our old mower, which was basically given to us, on craigslist. I'm guessing he will come out money ahead on that deal.

Our new ac & furnace...and the ac works marvelously!! We tried it out today. Don't judge.

Hollee & Madelyn playing (Yes Madelyn is wearing a softball helmet, dual use is always good)

Car washing turned into a water fight and the girls got drenched.

 Spring time sledding on a automotive creeper......Hillybilly girl living in a Hillbilly world!

The "new" mower

Flashback Friday