Easter Sunday

Woke up to Easter baskets.  Trenton and Tyler of course got money and candy in their eggs :)  Gabi got painting supplies, some cute little wooden frames to paint, candy and the dress she has been eyeing for weeks that she thought mommy didn't care for (surprise!)  Having Trenton home this Easter was a blessing and going to morning service at church was wonderful as a family.  Headed to Ben's dad's house immediately after to spend time with him, Dave, Pam and family.  It is always a great time trying to find our Easter baskets there.  I can happily say I found mine all my myself and with NO clues this year!  Plenty of caramel eggs in those baskets :)
Next up, dinner at my parents' house...ribs and chicken were the main course - along with some laughs and just good ole' family fun.  The kids even took a dip in the hot tub before we left.  My parents have been hiding the kids' Easter baskets also and allowing them to have an old fashioned Easter egg hunt is the highlight of the day.  It was so good to all be together and enjoy each other's company!  So glad to be able to celebrate such a happy day.

Good Friday

I am so done with the rain right now.  It has been raining non stop since late last night.  It's just so gloomy...
Gabi took the time to color some eggs last night...she is the only one left that really enjoys doing it anymore so I savor the moment.  Tyler is coloring eggs with Abby tonight so I hold onto the hope that Gabi will still enjoy these moments as she is older.  Trenton made it in last night also.  He has been napping most of the day.  Seems like he gets most the rest here, which is I guess how it is supposed to be. 
Woke up thinking about this quote I have heard before...."I asked Jesus how much he loves me.  He said, 'this much' and He stretched out his arms and died."  A somber, yet awakening thought.  So I am holding out for the sun to come back out because I know it will...soon.  Looking forward to spending Easter with my family :)

 

And I was also happy to see Mrs. Robin come back to the same spot she comes back every year to make her nest.  Right outside our front window in the tree.  I look for her each Spring!  She hasn't disappointed me yet! 

60

HAPPY HAPPY 60th birthday to my father in law today.  We have planned a surprise birthday party since about 3 months ago or so....all the kids, that is.  We invited all of the family and many friends a few weeks ago and we ended up with about just over 50 people total who were able to come and celebrate this special day.  We were able to use Gospel Center (courtesy of Aunt Becky).  Ben asked dad R to go to lunch at Logans today at 2 pm today to get him moving.  The plan...to call at about 1:30 pm after everyone got to the church to tell him that we had to run to Gospel Center to help a co worker of Ben's move some tables and needed Dave's help.  Worked like a charm!!!!  He was SO surprised...maybe even a little embarressed for a minute by all the love in the room for him.  Chicken, BBQ baby hot dogs, chips, hash brown casserole, baked beans, pasta salad, cheeseball and crackers, shrimp dip, taco salad, cake and ice cream all on the menu.  We had so much help from everyone....BUT, wait!  The biggest surprise was on us....Pam just happened to be a bit late for set up so Ben called her to find out that she had just arrived...she comes in with all her goodies...including JENNY!  Yep!  Jenny flew in from Texas on Saturday evening, stayed with Pam (just across the street from Dad R) and was here to surprise her daddy.  VERY COOL!  Gabi was a bit heartbroken that Mackenzy and Travis were not with her, but Jenny promised they would be back very soon.  A good time by  all!  Happy birthday, dad R...we love you lots!

SURPRISE!

Bathroom

In an earlier post (Latter Half of Spring Break) I mentioned the kids' new bathroom color...Bountiful Balsam Beige is the exact color.  Our shower curtain is Hometrends Squares Fabric Shower curtain but the picture does no justice.  We have chosen the color red to accent.  Love it.  Finished up the kitchen countertops today but will not be completely officially finished drying until Monday night (48 hours).  This was certainly a task but well worth the cost and time.  We chose the best weekend we could with both Tyler and Gabi gone Friday night (to start) and Tyler gone tonight. Chose Modern Masters' Desert Sand and couldn't be more pleased.  Did the kitchen and the bathroom and spent WELL under the cost for new countertops.  A nice update.
BEFORE:

 AFTER:

Look Alike

We have been teasing Tyler now for weeks that he has a look alike in one of the more popular American Idols this year....Scotty McCreery!  It all started oh, the first week...Lina texted me and said, "Emma and I think Scotty looks like Tyler!" and then Pam texted me the same thing not a day later!  What do you think??? 

Needless to say, Scotty is one of our faves...along with Casey and James.  Gonna be a hard one this year, folks!

New Critters

So I told you in my last post that we brought home a couple of extra special things from Naperville...we did.  We stopped in at Trenton's work - Pet Supplies Plus and talked to a VERY nice lady while she was working with some hamsters.  Well, Gabi and I both have soft spots for these little critters.  I grew up having hamsters and even was able to watch mine have babies at one point.  I thought it was so awesome to be able to see this and in my own mind, I have been thinking about trying to enable this for Gabi...to let her see new life in her hamsters.  Well, I have been checking around town and come to find out all the pet stores in this area are "male only" critters.  Gabi's first hamster, Bubbles, was a female, but we got her from a friend of a friend when she was only a few weeks old.  So, we were out of luck...until last week while in Pet Supplies Plus.  They had just gotten a shipment of VERY young hamsters... and if you know anything about hamsters, they are easiest to hand train when they are small.  Bubbles was a VERY VERY friendly hamster.  Never bit Gabi.  Not once.  So they were separating them males from females and a lightbulb went off..."they sell both males and females here."  These hamsters were the same exact kind as Bubbles - Winter White Dwarf.  Not to take anything away from Cuddles (her hamster now) who is a Robo hamster...but he is EXTREMELY fast and hard to hold (BUT rarely bite, EVER).  He is almost two years old and barely sits on Gabi's hand.  Cuddles was a quick replacement for Gabi's broken heart when Bubbles died so we went with it.  She loves him very much though, as you can tell by the post on the "hamster race" we just did.  So, while we were there, I knew I had just replaced the cage Cuddles was in now (while at the hamster race) so we had an extra cage...and they are SUPER easy to care for since I have all the supplies...why not try???  Tyler was interested in caring for a small critter so I told him he could be the "owner" of the male and Gabi would have the female.  Tyler picked out "Louie" and Gabi picked out "Daisy," both Winter White Dwarf hamsters and friendly as can be.  We were in luck...they were used to being together in the same cage...this could work!  SOOOO, we should know in about a month if we will be having little babies to share.  The young lady at Trenton's store had a bit of a hard time figuring out the sex, but pretty sure...let's keep our fingers crossed.  We plan to do this only once...hoping for this opportunity for Gabi.  She is EXCITED!  So, welcome friendly little critters....they really are adorable and perfect pets for my girl to care for...
Louie

Daisy...check her out...snoozin!! So cute!

And them both together...

Latter Half of Spring Break

I have been MIA on the blog since last week because we have been sooo busy.  When we came home on Wednesday we started doing some "spruce up" jobs around the house...ie, painting.  I painted Trenton's room (white) because it was just in dire need of a repaint on Thursday.  That same night I allowed Gabi to have Emma stay overnight to keep her busy while I finished up on my paperwork from work that needed to be done by Friday.  It worked out because I got everything finished by Friday morning and was able to take the girls to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 - cute movie and considering I couldn't stop imitating Rowley sing "wake up in the morning feelin like P Diddy!" all week while making Gabi laugh and scoff at the same time,

I figured we should go see it! 
I saw the first one with Gabi and thought it was funny so I was looking forward to seeing the second one.  Saturday morning while Ben went fishing with Tyler, Dave and his dad, I worked on painting our master bathroom (same color - greyish purple) because it was needing a repaint and also painted the kids' bathroom from lavender to tan - which I LOVE LOVE LOVE.  Lots of painting in those few days but glad we got it done.  Took a break from inside work to do outside work on Sunday after early service.  Reworked all the landscaping stones around the house and prepped it for some mulch...still have to get it yet.  And yesterday I painted our bedroom (from pink to white).  SOOO glad to be done for now.  Only one more bedroom to go...Gabi's...as soon as she figures out what color she wants :) 
Also....post coming soon on some extra special things we brought back from Naperville...stay tuned.
So I leave you with photos from Ben's excursion fishing for perch since my painting would not be nearly as exciting in pictures!

Shopping Extravaganza

So instead of going into Chicago we just decided to hit up a few places to go shopping and just relax.  Ended up to be a perfect idea.  It was a little chilly at times (in the lower 50's and cloudy) but was glad we went this route instead.  Ben, Gabi and I were up quite early since we are an hour behind Chicago.  Headed out to Bass Pro Shops and Ikea first since Tyler was most likely still sleeping.  Arrived before they opened so we hit up Meijer across the way to just putz around.  The putzing payed off when I found Gabi's comforter, shams and bedskirt we have been eyeing here on CLEARANCE for 50% off!  Jackpot!  Grabbed that up and went back to Bass Pro for Ben to use his gift card from Christmas.  Ikea was up next.  Although we didn't get alot there, we did find a few things of need...a frying pan, a plastic container, a candle holder, etc etc.  Made our way to Trenton's place to get Tyler and head out to the Chicago Premium Outlets.  Didn't find alot of deals there unfortunately for the boys (looking for shorts) but was excited when my honey decided to splurge and get me a new Coach purse I have been wanting for quite some time to match my wristlet.  The opportunity presented itself with a 25% discount card they were handing out combined with a sale they had...couldn't pass it up.  I was spoiled and felt bad for a while but I LOVE it...Tyler even found his lady the bag she has been wanting for her birthday at Vera Bradly.  Grabbed that up since it was on sale as well.  Gabi got some basketball shorts and some Adidas slip on flip flops she has been wanting.  It was certainly a "girls" day.  Drove back to the hotel and relaxed in the hot tub while discussing where to eat.  Trenton would be in between classes but he said he had quite a bit of homework to get done so we said we would bring him food later.  Decided on The Cheesecake Factory and SOOO glad we did!  The boys got chopped steak, mashed potatoes and green beans, I got a hamburger with sweet potato fries and Gabi opted for chicken fingers.  The food was AMAZING and had to get our cheesecake to go for the big NCAA basketball championship game.  Tyler got Reeses Peanut Butter Cheesecake, I got white chocolate raspberry, Ben got pineapple upside down and Gabi decided on the regular with strawberry topping.  MMMMMMMM!  Had to stop in front of another restaurant with Gabi's name that caught her eye immediately!  Mon Ami Gabi!  Made it back in time to take a quick nap before the game.  Ben grabbed up Trenton after class to come back and have some dinner and watch the game with us.  It was a nice visit with him.  The next day was spent grabbing up some summer clothes and some snacks for Trenton and a lunch date with our boy on his lunch break before heading back.  A very relaxing and fun quick Spring Break trip.  Glad we had the opportunity.  Enjoyed staying in Naperville this time.  Definitely a gem waiting to be discovered.

Pizza and A Stroll

I looked up some place to eat and visit while in Naperville since we weren't sure about going into Chicago with the uncertain weather we would  have.  I found a pizza place called Lou Malnati's Pizzeria.  Trenton has eaten the pizza before and said it was very good.  Decided to check into our hotel and grab Trenton up for some deep dish pizza Sunday night after the Dairy Farm adventure.  Talk about some GREAT pizza.  WowWwWw!  Excellent.  A definite repeat visit necessary.  SOOO Good.  We even had a couple of pieces leftover for Trenton to take back to his "trap" to enjoy later.  After catching up with our boy, he and Tyler decided to go back to his place while Ben, Gabi and I enjoyed a stroll along the Riverwalk since the weather was REALLY cooperating ... in the 60s and alot less breezy by now.  Grabbed up some photos with the boys before we went off by ourselves.  We even found a very cool place along the Riverwalk where an actual piece of a beam from the wreckage of the World Trade Center is placed as a memorial along the "Wall of Faces" and "Eternal Flame."  We were very touched by this piece.  Glad we found it.  Tyler stayed over with Trenton on Sunday night while Gabi, Ben and I went back to the hotel after dark to see our Lady Irish make it to the finals!  A good day indeed.

Dairy Farm

We have seen the same sign for Fair Oaks Dairy Farm every time we have gone to Naperville to see Trenton and either Ben or I have always made a comment on how we would like to take Gabi there.  We finally did this Sunday on the way to visit Trenton for a couple of days.  We were a bit worried about the weather...the skies were not looking so good but it stayed only cloudy and windy for us...no rain at all.  We left home around 10:30 am and got to Fair Oaks around noon or so, just in time to discover the "yellow light" on the birthing barn.  Meaning a cow was in labor and the hooves were showing.  We decided to put in our names for the tour at 1pm and head to the birthing barn not sure if we would see another that day.  It only took about 15 minutes and we got to see the entire birth.  Tyler was not too impressed but Gabi found it interesting...more cute when the calf was completely out and standing up.  We still had some time to kill so we decided to go over to the restaurant and try out some of the foods they make their right from the dairy, i.e., grilled cheddar cheese sandwiches and chocolate milk!  YUMMY!  Fantastic!  Took a quick stroll through the gift store area and the exhibits they had throughout and headed over to get on the bus for our tour of the farm.  This is where we learned ALOT!  We saw areas where they convert the manure to energy, the area where they store all the food for the cows, the hutches where babies are taken when they are very small, the areas where the cows are actually held until they are ready to milk and the actual place where the cows are milked.  This place has over 25,000 cows!  Of course, mostly girls because of the milking.  Babies are born nearly once an hour and the ratio is about 50/50 girls to boys.  Males are usually sold to farmers.  Once a baby is born they are taken to their hutch to prepare her for milking as well.  Impressive to say the least!  I was most impressed with how these animals are truly creatures of habit.  The cows are rounded up in a line much like you would see at Cedar Point for a roller coaster and slowly taken to the carousel to be milked.  They ride it once around and they actually know when to back off, get out and head back!  Amazing!  Just amazing. 
Lastly, we got off the bus and went in for the 3D/4D movie before heading out for our next trek...off the Naperville to see Trenton.  A great day on the farm.

Ready * Set * Roll

So the Petco Advertisement caught my eye last weekend as we were driving Trenton back to school.  A hamster race...in their balls.  We regularly use a small ball for Cuddles while we clean him on Fridays and he can get "flossing" in Tyler's words.  This could be fun.  So I showed Gabi and she was game.  Today at 2 pm.  There was one other Robo Hamster there that we thought would give us a good run for our money (but would be taken out early by a larger hamster).  Gabi was grabbed up by Fox 28 for an interview...her first one on television.  It was funny, as we were pulling up I made comment, "even the news is here" and Gabi said, "oh maybe I will be interviewed!"  Needless to say, she was excited.  We will be watching tonight - 10 pm.  Cuddles was in 4 heats.  The first one he won with ease.  The second one, Cuddles actually stopped halfway to the finish and began running back toward the start line...twice!  But he still won!  The third heat, Cuddles ended up stopping to clean himself midstream to allow the other hamster to win.  Cuddles ran a fourth race for third place and won very easily this time.  Gabi was excited.  Cuddles received a third place ribbon and some treats as a prize.  Had to take advantage of the 20% any small animal supply purchase and buy Gabi the cage that was already on sale for $19.99 (Regular $29.00) - very well deserved.  A fun time and so glad that maw maw, Tyler and Abby all came to cheer on her Cuddles!

Enter The Source Code

Yes, it is out!  The Source Code!  Remember this...when we actually SAW THE Jake Gyllenhaal filming this movie!  We were excited to see how it would turn out, to see if we would actually be interested in it and the answer is YES!  Can't wait to go and see it...if only to see Mr. Gyllenhaal himself ;)
Needless to say, it is on our list of "To Do's" - we have some other things in mind to do also this week - being Spring Break and all.  Stay Tuned...