Weekly Preview

Sunday - Relaxing Day (and catching up),
Monday - Spanish (LAST ONE!), WORK (4 hrs daily)
Tuesday - WORK, Bob's Birthday, Field Trip
Wednesday - Lessons, WORK, Soccer Game (J)
Thursday - Lessons, WORK, Soccer Game (J)
Friday - Park Day, WORK,
Saturday - Open House, Book Club

Sunday is the 8 year anniversary of Bob's accident.

James scored a goal today and so did Suzy - ask them their stories. Maybe I'll video them!

Gonna go to a movie tomorrow afternoon- wanna come along? I need some time away from here.

Looking at campers. Trying to decide what to get.

Deciding how best to communicate expectations to my family so that I don't have to oversee every little bit of their lives. I mean, should I REALLY have to say to my teenagers - did you brush your teeth? Are you wearing clean underwear?

Going to work on soccer paperwork this afternoon and also some lists for the kids for lessons and chores. I love organizing things. This should be fun.

Spanish is done this week - hurrah! Ole! My Mondays will belong to me again.

Took an elegant Suzy and her doll to a tea party yesterday and then Emily and I went to JoAnn Crafts and shopped. Bought some neat new scrapbooking paper packs and then went for ice cream cones. Nice day out with my teen girl.

Suzy's 8th birthday (Wed) was nice, but low-key. We ate out at a Chinese buffet after the field trip Tuesday, getting an early start on her celebration. She opened her presents in the morning, before Bob went to work, and her dear friend spent the night. James had a soccer game and the weather was lovely, so the girls went along and hung out at the field. We had homemade pizza afterwards and cake and ice cream. Suzy insisted on white cake with white frosting, but she didn't really eat it. She doesn't really like cake. Her friend stayed with us most of the day on Thursday and we went to a bunch of garage sales.

Here's some of what I bought: a cool lap desk, a mini fridge (for camping; $10!), some clothes and shoes for everyone, a purse (now I need a wallet), a smiley face coffee mug, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (VHS), Sequence game, some perler beads, a comfy office chair (but it doesn't fit at my desk; boo-hoo), a nice winter coat for Suzy for next year (or the year after). Probably some other stuff, but I don't know now.

A Little Update - What Goes First

Sarah wrote: It would be nice to devote more time to blogging, but when life is crazy, it's the first to go.

Actually, when life is crazy, first exercise vanishes, then sleep. Reading comes next and blogging comes somewhere after that. So if I've made it all the way down to mostly not-blogging, then you can tell I'm crazy-busy.

I will devote 1 more minute to posting and then I need to work.

James and Suzy both had soccer games last night and James had one the night before. I love watching soccer in this weather. Soccer registration has morphed to mail-in at this point, but my work is just beginning. Paperwork! Entering player ratings from this year. Entering new players. Updating returning players. Matching coaches to teams. Ordering uniforms. Calling back people about late registration. Updating the phone message.

Enough about soccer. The weather has been gorgeous. Wish I could spend more time in it! Then again, who am I kidding? I've never been outdoor-sy!

I am reading Little Women for book club. Didn't really want to read it, but am enjoying every page. Emily read it for her lessons, so she will be attending book club with me this month. I don't think she'll be the only girl there either.

We went to a great field trip on Tuesday and Suzy had a nice birthday on Wednesday. Thursday was garage sales and getting David to his last dissection class (late! argh!).

OK, that was 2 minutes. I'm off to work. (Seeing as I don't actually GO anywhere, that's a figure of speech! lol)

Oh yeah, I'll have photos soon.

Wait, One more.... No, Two More Things.....

Two things - 1 that I forgot and 1 that is a further development.

1 -I forgot to mention I dyed my hair quite a bit darker.

2 - Suzy's swollen eyebrow has turned into a bit of a black eye.

Suzy Wagner Reporting

Perfect Day for a Tea Party!

The weather turned out perfect for Suzy's party today. I planned it in the sideyard. Bob set up the screenhouse and we decorated it. We had a couple easy games, a couple easy crafts, a couple cakes, a couple choices of ice cream, a couple of crying incidents, and a whole lotta fun. Several of the moms stayed, a couple brothers, and my friend Brandi took pictures for me! Thank you, Brandi!

Here's a slide show. As always, if you can't view it, click on it and it will take you to the Picasa album where you can view it. I made the slideshow too big and it covers up some of the sidebar, I know. Too bad. I don't feel like redoing it. :-) TIRED.



Off to go finish reading The Importance of Being Earnest....

Sweet Suzy, Dreamcoat Sighting, The glad game

Suzy's party will be here in the side yard. Bob is going to set up the canopy thing and we'll have an outdoor fancy tea party. The weather needs to co-operate!

By the way, the reason she has been sweeter lately is not for purely intrinsic reasons. She wanted her party and I wouldn't schedule it until I saw an improvement in her behavior. So there you go, Michele. Bribery works sometimes!

I entered soccer registrations this afternoon then picked the kids up from their last art class. David won't be doing it next year. The other two still will be. Bob had Suzy out at the farm checking the garden. I took the other three to the library after art and got some books. While we were there, I spied one of the actresses from Dreamcoat. No, I didn't accost her in the library and get her autograph. She's a high school student!

We watched a newer version of Pollyanna tonight. Surprisingly good! My kids all watched it and seemed to really like it! Masterpiece Theater broadcast it, I think in 2003. The kids also watched some episodes of Busytown (Busy World of Richard Scarry) that I had on VHS taped off Nick Jr. "Buh-buh-BUH! Face here!" :-)

Can't think of anything else, except David is almost intolerably bouncy because he is so happy to be going away to Cedar Point with his friend's family. They leave first thing Friday morning and come back Sunday.

Randomness

Randomness....

There's a redbox in the Kroger store in Imlay City now! YAY! I may just cancel Netflix, although when David heard me say that, he reacted with horror.

Suzy is playing across the street with her friends.
James is trying to figure out a way to fix the hanging basket he broke. (Anyone have an empty hanging basket pot?)
Emily is mowing the yard.
David is upstairs in his room playing with Legos and listening to Black by Ted Dekker. (At least I think that's what he's doing.)
Bob is working on the back porch. He's replacing the floor.
Lisa is procrastinating starting dinner. I think we'll be eating late tonight. lol

I took David to the thrift store to see if I could find him some more shorts. Ended up with another pair of shorts (white! ack!) and a pair of jeans. Got myself a long dress coat, which I have needed for YEARS. YAY! Also a fall coat on half price, 2 church shirts for James, and a smattering of clothes for the girls.

Suzy has been trying very hard lately to be sweeter and obey right away. It's very nice to see. I've been trying to reinforce it as much as possible.

I learned how to enter the soccer players into the online system. I am going to put some in tonight and see how I do. By the way, I am taking over for the current soccer registrar for the region. Right now I am Assistant Registrar and I am on the board, I guess.

Deb and Dar and I met last night and got the co-op schedule into some semblance of order. I've been emailing back and forth with teachers all day, getting their assignments straight. I have a phone call or two to make and I am waiting on several to get back with me. Then the schedule will hopefully be all set.

Suzy is going to have a fancy tea party to celebrate her birthday. I am looking for a place to have it since I don't like having parties at home. I am pretty happy she decided on this instead of a sleepover. Twelve little girls for two hours vs. five or six little girls ALL NIGHT on the living room floor? Yeah. lol

So, I have lots to do instead of blog, so I should get at it! lol

Soccer Report

Here are some pix of my sweet soccer player Suzanne. And you can see David off to the right in the 3rd pic. He is wearing a grey shirt and shorts, "reffing" the game

James was supposed to have a soccer game Saturday morning, but it was postponed since the other team couldn't get enough players to show up. He should have a game Tuesday and Thursday this week and then he'll be done.

Suzy's last game of the season was at 2pm Saturday afternoon. Although thunderstorms had been initially predicted, the weather turned out hot and sunny, quite easily the warmest game of the season. They lost 0-1.

However, an otherwise uneventful and pleasant game was marred by an unpleasant incident. If you want the sordid details, email me since I don't really want to post them on the internet. Suffice it to say that the other team's coaches annoyed the parent (not me!) of one of my players to the point where she chose to pull her child from the game. In nine years of soccer, I have never seen anything like it. It was a sad way to end the season.

I was happier when I opened the card from my team and found a gift card to a local restaurant! What a lovely surprise!

Suzy's Birthday Slideshow

There are supposed to be captions along with this slideshow, but I don't see them. So, if you want to see them, you can click the slideshow and it will take you to the web album.

Both Teeth Gone

There were supposed to be words on this collage, but apparently I didn't save it right and I don't feel like doing it over.

The other tooth came out Monday afternoon! So Suzy had her birthday with both her front teeth missing. SO CUTE! LOL

Apparently the lack of upper teeth can cause extreme silliness. Other side effects include a tendency to cover one's mouth with one's hand and/or a tendency to pose for photographs yet not smile.

Click the collage to make it bigger.

Suzy is Seven!

The birthday crown was from children's church on Sunday morning. She was SO THRILLED with it. She wore it all day and saved it for today!

Happy Birthday, Suzanne! I am so blessed to have had you for SEVEN YEARS!




More pix to come later!

A tooth is gone. Another is going.

Suzy lost a tooth and she wiggles the other for you in this short vid taken with my Flip video camcorder.

The Week Ahead

The Week Ahead

This is our last week of lessons for the official "school year". It's also the last week of soccer for Suzy, but James has a game next week. Suzy's birthday is the busiest day of the week!

Sunday - Church, Grocery Shopping, Youth Group (D)
Monday - Lessons, Work
Tuesday - Lessons, Suzy's Birthday, Book sale?, Keepers at Home "Banquet", James Soccer Game
Wednesday - Lessons, Work, Help with soccer registration at night
Thursday - Lessons (LAST DAY), Work
Friday - Park Day, maybe a meeting with my coleaders, then I wanna do something FUN tonight! Anyone? Anyone?
Saturday - Soccer, Book Club & Cookout!

Actually Suzy has a soccer game Tuesday night too, but she and I are going to miss it because of the banquet.

Kitty-Korner Party

We were invited to a birthday party for a friend of Suzy's. They live kitty-corner from us on the opposite corner.

David didn't want his photo taken, but I got him anyway! Ha-ha!

Emily gladly posed. I don't think I posted about cutting her hair. I cut about six inches off a couple weeks ago.

James was reading when he wasn't running around and I posted HIS photo at Cornerstone.

From Quingly Things

The neighbors set up their bouncy hut and the kids played endlessly in there. Suzy is wearing a flowered dress with leggings underneath. (She has her own style! lol)





















A face painting lady was there for the party as well - Sparkles. The kids were ga-ga for their faces painted and even some of the adults had theirs done. (Not me and Bob, lol) Suzy was THRILLED. The same lady had done face painting at church a few weeks ago and I didn't get a pic that day, but I made up for it with a GORGEOUS pic last night!

She still hasn't washed her face!

Diary of a Slacker Mom

OK, thought I'd share my SLACKER day with y'all.

8:00 Alarm went off. Shut it off, used the bathroom, and got back in bed. (That's the slacker decision that made the day a Slacker Day. lol) Went back to sleep.
9:00 Heard a child come downstairs. It was Suzy and she crawled in with us for a cuddle. Later James came in too. Not sure exactly what time I rolled out of bed, but it was probably around 10. If I say 9:45, that makes me sound a lot more energetic, doesn't it?
10:15 Got on the computer to check email and facebook. Bob brought me coffee. I never did eat breakfast. Did my daybook blog entry at about 11:00.
11:30 Did Bible lesson with the kids. That was the start to our lessons today - 2 hour delay! lol
12:00 Got in the shower, got dressed. Told the kids to make egg salad and set the table. They did.
12:45 Ate lunch - egg salad sandwich, sugar snap peas, radishes, sugar free pudding, more coffee.
1:10 or thereabouts Called a friend to discuss our meeting tonight (and my latest, and somewhat embarrassing, obsession)
1:45 Got back on the computer to talk to Jennifer, but she isn't here yet. Play Word Twist and get on youtube instead. Help kids with (read: yell at kids about) their lessons.
At some point, I got off the computer and did a phonics lesson and sight word practice with Suzy.
3:05 Chat with Jennifer for about 30 minutes on IM and commiserate with her about being a slacker.
3:40 Mix up a banana chocolate chip bundt cake (to try to keep from being a total slacker) and stick the ham in the oven. Help Suzy with her math while doing that. Load some job possibilities on the computer for Bob before I head off. Wash up the dishes from that baking project.
4:20 Copy some grammar tests for David and Emily on the scanner, then get sucked in again to the computer. Figure out how to tell Picasa to look for my photos. Help Emily with her typing on the laptop.

Before the meeting tonight, I need to read 5 chapters in my book and oversee the kids' chores. And eat dinner. I'd also like to send one job application for Bob and one query letter for myself, but that might wait until after the meeting. And I need to do some exercise at some point. So, I better go get to it! If I get all that done, I may redeem my slacker day after all.

Yesterday I let Suzy do a makeover on me. She painted my toenails, although I did my own fingernails (and her toes and Em's fingers). And she did a bang-up job on my make-up, don't you think? I'm scared to even post this. lol

Regain, Redress, Replay

Weighed in today at the same weight I was two weeks ago. Before Sister Weekend and scrapping weekend. lol So, the treats have been worked off. Hopefully next week, I'll have a loss to report.

Emily and I made a trip to the thrift store today to get her some spring clothes. She has been looking a bit like a hobo lately and I was afraid that once the weather warms up (if it EVER does) she'd have nothing to wear. Two trips to the fitting room netted us 7 short-sleeved shirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of capris, a pair of shorts, and a cute sleeveless dress. Oh yeah, and a very cute black spring jacket. I also grabbed a short-sleeved dress for Suzy and a nice pile of books.

Suzy climbed in bed with me this morning complaining of a headache. "Oh no," I thought, as this is how James first presented on Monday. He's still sick, too, by the way. He seems to be better and then worse again. He spent most of Wednesday laying on the couch. And he's had bad dreams three nights in a row. So, Suzy and James have spent the day so far laying around moaning. I stocked up on library & Netflix DVD's to occupy them.

So, Spring Break's been kind of a bust between the sickies, the cold and snow, and the fact that I'm working on test scoring online now. Also Bob has been volunteering every night at the homeless shelter from 3 - 8 AM. Makes me wish we could take another week off, but we won't.

Time to go to work!

Snow Play

Outlaws, Doctors, Barbies

Loving the Robin Hood BBC series! Will be posting more about that on Mirkwood soon. If I don't, call me on it!

David is sick - has had a persistent cough that got much worse yesterday. Today he woke up with laryngitis. I think I'll take him to the doctor tomorrow.

I need to find some paper for my co-op class this Friday. Will call a printer tomorrow and see if they can provide it.

The girls love the MP3 players they got for Christmas, Suzy especially. She uses hers every day! They look like Barbies and they can snap on and off the clothes and hair. Very nice item - I am pleased with it!

Suzy's fashion show

Michele requested pictures of my thrift store finds, so here are a few. All I bought were clothes, so I hope you like a fashion show, Michele! The clothes have already gone to the laundry and been put away. I think so anyway. So most of them were not handy, but Suzy was a willing model, so you will see her first.


I bought pants to go with this shirt, but they were too big. I've set them aside for the future.














When I saw this skirt, I knew she would love it. It's black with red sparkles. So, I looked for a dressy red shirt to go along with it.











This pair of pants was the first thing I put in my cart. She adores stuff like this. I didn't know if she'd already have a shirt to match, so I found a plain pink one. Her eyes got big when she saw the pants!














This outfit is too big, so we'll put it away for next fall. Hopefully it will fit well then. You can't tell with her arms up, but the sleeves are about 4 inches too long. It's crocheted, so there is no way to modify it at all. The pants are too long as well - black with a hot pink pinstripe. Of course, the ribbon should be tied. She loves the long swoopy sleeves.





She was happier than she looks in this photo. lol The jeans are new and she loves this kind of fluttery top. It's lined, if I remember correctly, so nothing itchy will touch her skin. She can't stand itchy stuff inside her clothes! I will have to cut out all the tags.


I also bought her a pair of cotton winter PJ's with The Little Mermaid on them, the tight-fitting kind, as well as a pair of summer pajamas. I think they have that monkey on them. Jack? No, not the POTC monkey Jack. lol

Fall portraits of the kids

Well, these aren't "school pictures" but they are the equivalent. :-)