Dying Eggs

We dyed eggs for Easter... Here is the set up...

Dye

Hard Boiled Eggs
Vinegar (and the oh so lovely smell that accompanies is)

Excited kids!

Serious kids!

Artistic kids!

Concentrating kids!

Goofy kids!

"This is getting boring and they stink"... otherwise known as whining kids!Kooky eggs!

Eggs that look like dad!

Er, um,... interesting eggs?

A good time was had by all :)

Spring Break

It's sad to say that the most exciting part of Spring Break 2009 was lunch at McDonalds, taking pictures in the bluebonnets, going to Maggie Moo's and then getting to buy a book from the book store, followed by coming home to watch the Aggies play UConn. Sad, but true. I am going to do the bluebonnet shoot again this evening. Although it was an overcast day, it was still to bright for my fair haired, blue eyed babies, so we had an overage of squinting... will post those soon!

Carnival

Today was our elementary school carnival. There was A LOT going on today, including the last Aggie basketball game of the regular season... ! Grace and I (along with our neighbor Bethany) headed out to the carnival at 11. Andrew had a soccer game at 12, so Stacey and the boys went to the ballpark before meeting us at the carnival around 1:20. The auction part of the carnival was also at noon. I had to be there because our grade level was auctioning off a ceramic beverage tub (I think it went for about $350) AND the plate I made for Grace's kindergarten class was also being auction (side note: My sweet, sweet step-dad bid and won our plate and gave it to us, so we now have it proudly hanging in our breakfast room!) We had lots of fun and I took hundreds of pictures. I have more of Grace, because she was there longer and Lucas because once he got there, he was with me mostly.... There are so many great pics I can't post because they are of other people's children.... I'll give you what I can.... I am taking a photography class, so I am getting better with my camera.... I have a few artsy shots I'll try to post soon!

Ryan, after playing with his friends in the Water Wars game (essentially people paid 5 tickets to throw water balloons at my son and his friends.)

Andrew, just finishing some crazy game where he was in an inflatable pit with inflatable weapons attacking his friends.... weird kids!

GG being cheesy.

Lucas being a vampire.

Lucas in a bouncy house thing....

Lucas sliding down a bouncy slide...

Grace making a sand candy creation.

GG very excited about an annoying whistle she won..... hmmm, I wonder where that ended up *trash* cough, cough

I love this pic of her though :)

Lucas is 3

I spent my 20's having babies. I had four, to be exact. If I wasn't pregnant, I was recovering from pregnancy, nursing, or trying to become pregnant. Little Lucas Trant Stagg was the last of our miracles. Today, he is three and I am trying to remember where the years have gone... it seems like only yesterday, I was sitting at the bar, eating Cookies & Cream ice cream with my friend Afshan. She was staying overnight so that Stacey and I could leave at 6:00am to have our final baby... three years ago today.

Here is Lu blowing out the candles.

Eating cake and wiping his hands.
My friend Katie, with her baby Ellie.Katie's other daughter, Addie.

The kids watching Lucas open gifts.

It was a long night.. even for a big ol' 3 year old.

The class plate

This year, I was asked to paint the class plate. For those of you who aren't familiar with this tradition, each year a parent paints a plate for every kindergarten and 4th grade teacher, to be auctioned off at the carnival in March. These plates go for ridiculous amounts of money, but as an example, this year the proceeds from the carnival got every teacher a smart board, scanner and digital camera... so I'm not complaining!

However, these plates are absolutely amazing and I am incredibly intimidated by the thought of 1. having this plate on display for a month before the carnival and 2. the responsibility of creating something that could possibly earn my school hundreds of dollars.... I can see it now. Every teacher will have their fantastically artistic and creative plate go for $350 + and then bidding starts on mine and my poor husband has to buy it for $25 because no one else will even bid (And you WILL be buying it if no one bids, Stacey!).

The theme for this year's carnival is "Under the Sea" and while some people paint their plates to go with the theme, but I have chosen not to. I have always had this vision of a round plate, Earth painted in the middle and children all around it, standing on Earth holding hands. Every plate has something written on it, so I drew the plane below: Below that is the plate so far... still wet.. I am assured the strokes won't show when it's all said and done!

Around the rim, I am finger printing the kids, then making their prints into kids and will detail them holding hands. The continents will be outlined in black and flying over the earth will be an airplane with a banner, reading "What a wonderful world..." I am putting the airplane on tomorrow. The kids are all writing their names on paper for me.. I plan to shrink it and somewhere around each kid, I will carbon their name on (it will be in their own handwriting, which I think is pretty special). I need your thoughts... what else can I do to make it special and what can I do on the back? HELP!!!!

I love this man...

He is an awesome cook, he is the best dad I have ever met in my entire life, he does dishes and laundry, he wants to show me all the things he's seen and share every experience with me, he buys me Chunky Monkey without me asking for it, he moves things/redecorates/hangs things without complaining (too muh), he comes to school to feed my snake for me because, while I love my snake, I do not like feeding him live mice, plus the first ever blu-ray he watched on his PS3 and the fist thing he EVER watched on his new LCD TV was.... wait for it.... Mamma Mia! Now, if that ain't love, I don't know what is ;)

A girl called....

I knew who it was by the number on my caller ID.

My heart skipped a beat.

I hesitated, wondering if I should just let it go to voicemail.

I looked at Stacey, gulped, and answered.

It was her. I now know how mothers of poor, unsuspecting boys felt when I called (and called and called and called)

Me-"Hello?"

Her- "Um, hi, um, *long pause*..."

Me- "Sarah? Do you want to talk to Andrew?" *no, no, no, this can't be happening*

Her- "No, no. Can, um, he come over?"

Me- "When? What time? Ask your mom. We are on our way to the grocery store so I could drop him off. Is now ok?" We were in the car already...

Her- "Yes, see you in a minute..... (forgets to hang up) MOM!! HE'S COMING RIGHT NOW!!!" *giggle, giggle*

And there you have it. A girl called.

***side note***

I love this little girl, they have played together on numerous occasions, she has great parents and if I had to hand pick a child for Andrew to hang out with, it would be her, so my panic doesn't stem from the fact that SHE called, just the fact that a girl called.... and giggled.

And to think, I have 2 more boys...

BASIL BAKED COD FILETS

Serves 2
1/2 lb. cod

1 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. dried basil, crushed

1/8 tsp. black pepper

Dash salt

2 plum tomatoes, cored and cut crosswise into thin slices

2 tsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Pat fish dry and cut into 2 serving pieces. Combine oil and lemon juice in a baking dish. Add fish and turn to coat both sides. Sprinkle with basil, pepper and salt. Overlap tomatoes in even layer on fish and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees, about 10 to 15 minutes or until fish just begins to flake when tested with a fork.

This week's menu

Sunday:
Leftover Taco Soup, corn bread
Monday:
Dinner at Fish Daddy's for Tim's birthday
Tuesday:
Basil baked cod filets, brown rice, fresh green beans
Wednesday:
Grilled chicken caesar salad, fruit salad
Thursday:
Spicy barbecued shrimp skewers, black bean relish (Stacey cooking)
Friday:
Grilled hamburgers, grilled red ranch potatoes
Saturday:
...on the fly...

In 2009...
I will remember: That it's good to try new things
One place I will go: London
One physical habit I will break: biting my nails
One physical habit I will cultivate: consistent exercising
One mental habit I will break: letting stress get the best of me
One mental habit I will cultivate: mental organization
One relationship I will repair: my brother
One home repair I'll finally get around to: painting the playroom
One work habit I will change: using my time more wisely
One thing I'll throw out: my old clothes left over from, ummm, high school?
One thing I'll eat more often: Vegetables
One thing I'll eat less of: chocolate
One thing I'll drink more: Water
One thing I'll drink less: wine
One overdue e-mail I'll send, or overdue phone call I'll make: Clare
One person I'll treat more respectfully: my kids
One thing I'll spend less money on: clothes
One change I'll make in my finances: put more money into savings each month
One thing I'll spend less time doing: worrying
Something I'll spend more time doing: praying
One resolution I've made before but will honor this time: lose the weight from Lucas
In 2008...
I gained: Friends
I lost: lots of time due to the Internet
I stopped: stressing about the weight
I started: paying more attention to Stacey
I was hugely satisfied with: my marriage
I was frustrated by: kids and lack of time with them
I am embarrassed that: I didn't lose weight
One again, I did: take more time for myself
Once again, I did not: develop a workout routine
The biggest physical difference between me last December and this December is: I cut my hair
The biggest psychological difference between me last December and this December is: I believe in myself more
I love spending time: listening to my kids read to me
I should have spent more time: organizing
I regret buying: so many meals at restaurants
I will never regret buying: our trip to New York
I _____ way too much: over analyze
I didn't _____ enough: exercise
My _____ drove me crazy: messy kids
The most relaxing place I went was: bed
Why did I go: to bed so late when I get up so early
The best thing I did for someone else was: give them the confidence to read
The best thing I did for myself was: let go of the control... a little
The best thing someone did for me was: love me

Project 365

I am participating in Project 365, where I take a photo a day for a year, as a way of documenting my life. In theory, this is a great idea, though I am not sure how realistic. However, I will try. I have my new camera and I also have the camera on my iphone and the dig camera in my classroom, so there is really no excuse. My plan is to start posting here. We'll see.....

Goodbye 2008

Lat night, we said goodbye to 2008 with some friends. We ate good food, had a few drinks and played this great game called "Loaded Questions,"... the third year in a row we have played this game.. it's so fun! The kids ran around, ate cookies, played their own games and watched movies. All in all, we had a really good time! Thanks to the Bushmans for hosting a great New Years Eve party :)

Michelle and Jessie- our NYE dates for the last 3 years!
Catie- the hostess with the mostest

Steve, Catie's husband... thrilled at all the people invading his home less than 12 hours after his out of state company left :P

Nikki, the sweet neighbor that flew in from Michigan, drove in from Houston, dropped her sick hubby off at home and came straight to the party.... trooper!

Desserts (Ryan and his Mimi, my mom, made the Gingerbread house)

Food

More food ( I have been dying to use this cute dip tray for EVER!!!)

Yes, even more food