(Did you read the bag?) Yup! You got it! The CIRCUS! How fun is that?! “I” had been wanting to go forever and finally I saved up our entertainment allowance for two months and bought the family tickets. We went all out… popcorn, peanuts, and even the painful $12 cotton candy that came with the goofy hat. Of course since it was my idea and I didn’t want the kids to fight over the hat, I got to wear it! But I had to draw the line at the obnoxiously expensive toys that light up.

The kids enjoyed themselves. No crying or screaming. Their eyes were glued to the performers in awe and big smiles in between enjoying their treats. I loved the highwire act and the upside down people.  Therese liked the tiger performance. Gianna liked the popcorn and the zebras. Cecilia LOVED all the light and music. Adam’s favorite was acrobats on the swings. Fulton liked the clowns.

We’re already looking forward to next year.

Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

Here’s one of the painted ladies on our carrot plants after we released them.

She doesn’t get cuter than this.

Stylish beach hat.

Friends.

Sandy Muffin castles.

I think yellow’s his color.

Inflating the giant beach ball.

Texas sized hermit crab.

Shells and sand and water, oh my.

Deflating the giant beach ball.

Nap time at the beach.

…and she’s out!

Alas Purdue did end up losing to Duke.

Now how will the Cubs do this year…?

The researchers told a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida, that the most benefit they saw was from 24 fluid ounces of Guinness – just over a pint – taken at mealtimes.

Think I can convince my beloved to pack a pint in my daily lunch?

Pregnant women and nursing mothers were at one stage advised to drink Guinness – the present advice is against this.

Sorry dear, guess I’ll have to drink your pint too.

4 good friends helping this pregnant woman stock up the freezer with 22 meals for her family and a load of fun! (We ended up making 4 chicken pot pies, 2 meatball meals, 3 sloppy joe meals, 3 meals worth of enchilada sauce, 2 meals of beef chili, 2 beef stroganoff meals, 4 trays of manicotti, 1 meat lasagna, and 1 veggie lasagna.)

Thankfully the only mishap we had was with some manicotti getting out of hand…thankfully high heat will destroy any bacteria involved. We learned that chopping 3 onions will have everyone in the kitchen in tears. And the funniest comment came from Lindsey: “Even the beer is made from scratch around here!” I had a great time enjoying the company of my girl friends. The time went by fast with 5 of us cooking and the kitchen heat was actually bearable.

Last time we did this was before Gianna was born. It was extremely helpful then and I anticipate with four children it will be even more helpful this time around. I love all the meals people bring us but eventually those stop and we are left to our own devices. The realities of our extended family unable to come and help after a baby is born requires a little more organization on my part to help the family with a smoother transition. So to answer Zvezdana’s question, “Yes, I’ve always been this organized,” or you might say self-sufficient.

My heartfelt and sincere thanks to Julie, Zvezdana, Lindsey and Lauren for helping me this morning cook up some yummy meals for our freezer, to Adam who took the kids out so we could cook peacefully, and to God who blessed me with these lovely ladies and their friendship and the family we got to cook for! (I’ll post follow up pictures on Monday since I’m off tomorrow. )