End of the School Year

Here is "Hollywood". She is ready for her field trip to the aquatics center. She was so excited to go, she talked about it for DAYS! The morning of the field trip she told us that it was okay to wear flip flops because "ingle single kid was going to wear them!" There is NO WAY I am correcting that darling little statement! (in case you didn't understand...she meant "every single")Here is the pooped out little swimmer when she got home, right where she likes to be: cozy bed, Dora and a baggie of apples!

Here is "Cowgirl"! She seriously wore this to school. {Dorky!}

I tried to tell her that we live in CALIFORNIA!! But, she does have those Texas roots!

I did make her push her socks down so you couldn't see them!!

Finals are upon us, so our house has become the "study zone". I have made tons of goodies the last few days! I am so sad that this tableful will all be seniors next year! :(



End of the year teacher gifts are so challenging when Shae has so many male teachers and Anna has a male teacher too. I find it hard to be creative for them. Food always seems to be the direction I go....how can you go wrong with homemade hot fudge and a gift certificate for ice cream at Baskin Robbins?! {made with "lots of Luff" of course!}

Hot Fudge

Melt 1- 1oz. square of unsweetened chocolate in a pan with a small amount of butter (to keep it from burning.) be sooo careful not to melt this too fast or it will get chunky and dry.

Add 1 cup sugar stirring into a grainy mixture.

Add a little less than 1 cup of sour cream with milk or heavy cream (whipping cream) to make a full cup. (so it is a TOTAL of 1 cup, get it?)

Bring to a boil on medium heat until it begins to thicken. Let boil about 5 minutes (on low) then add 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp butter. Mix well.

*at this point you can serve over vanilla ice cream or pour into sanitized canning jars!

I quadrupled this recipe for the purposes of canning!!

My Mom has made this recipe for as long as I can remember. We make it about once a week during the summer at camp..Delish!

Here are the gifts for the ladies...towels with their last names embroidered at the bottom and a Starbucks gift card so they can enjoy a yummy summer drink while relaxing by the pool!

My children are all so blessed to have had amazing teachers this year. It is impossible to adequately thank them for all they do all year long. Teachers are not paid what they deserve by any means and they invest so much in the lives of children every year!

Thank you teachers! See you next year!!

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Gold Panning Field Trip

Once again my darling husband drove on a 4th grade field trip!! This time it was just west of Redding. The kids have been learning California history this year and have been fortunate enough to be in driving distance of the actual places where lots of the "history" took place. Seeing and experiencing beat learning from a book any day! The guide gave them some tips and told them about the many gold nuggets found right in this spot in French Gulch!!
Scott and Anna hoping to strike it rich!

Scott loves history and he likes going on the field trips that are history related. They toured an actual gold mine and many other historical landmarks.

We are so lucky to live in a place that is so rich with history of the early settlers. It was a tough time to be alive and trying to make a living.

It was a fun field trip and one the kids won't forget...but no one "retired" on their gold find!

Another Milestone

Lindsay's development has been delayed (very delayed) in almost every area. She is years behind on just about everything, and with each year the gap between her and "regular" kids gets bigger. Most of her delays add to her unbelievable cuteness! One thing that has just cracked us up is the fact that she could never close her eyes (when you asked her to). She would either cover them with her hands or open her mouth!!Here she is demonstrating the "old way" she closed her eyes. (Scott isn't doing it right!)
And LOOK WHAT SHE CAN DO NOW!!!!!!!

*exciting milestone for us*
Thank you, Lord, for the small stuff!!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had the most fun and relaxing weekend! There is something about being home and having nothing you have to do that makes you just relax!Lindsay {loves} her Daddy...can you tell?? She was asking if Chloe (Anna's BFF) could come spend the night.
He said "Yes"!

It was a fun time for these three. Lots of dressing up, playing school & giggling!


Lindsay was such a helper too, I was drying my hair and she ran in to tell me that she had unloaded the dishwasher for me! Thanks, Linds, but next time we need to run the dishwasher FIRST! I did soooo appreciate the effort though!

The girls had a nice lunch-Room Service-of course!

There was lots of Nintendo DS playing..

and movie watching! Finally these two ran out of gas and slept late the next morning!




We decided it would be fun to go out to Shasta Lake with the ski boat, so Shae invited Maeghan (and Lindsay would hardly leave her alone! It was "Maeghan this and Maeghan that, and I want to sit by Maeghan!!")

Scott let Lindsay "drive the boat"...she doesn't seem to be paying attention to what she is doing, or where she is going!

These two just wanted some "tan lines" and they kept checking to see if they were getting some!

What a beautiful day, and how relaxing to be away from the pressures of life for a few hours.

We can't be "too" out of touch with the rest of the world though!

I did get in the water, and let me tell you...it was still cold! I don't know how they stayed in for so long!










It was a fun time with fun friends!

These girls are ready for summer...Memorial Day is such a tease...only 2 weeks of school to go and these sweeties will be {seniors}.

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful city with such wonderful entertainment so close by!

Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to all those who fight for our freedom and security every day!


*Can anyone tell me how to get my pictures to be closer together? Whenever I put more than like 3 pictures on a post they spread out soooo much!????!!!

RCHS Powder Puff '09

Today was the annual RCHS Powder Puff Football game. It was the "Psychedelic Cyclones" (Seniors and Sophomores) vs. the "Fearless Flamingos" (Juniors and Freshmen). There were "cheerleaders" too. (oh, what's that you say, where are the Flamingo cheerleaders? ) Those Junior class boys.....argh! They keep telling the girls that they are planning an awesome cheer for their senior year, but as for this year...the Senior/Sophomore boys stole the half time show! Great choreography and music (and school spirit), boys!!!

Here are the Fearless Flamingos!

The Psychedelic Cyclones arrived in style...uh oh!

Look at this action shot...(click on it to get a good look at Shae's face, hahahahaha!)

Shae's class won this game two years in a row, and they were hoping for a third...here they are getting a half time pep talk to try to come from behind!

and look at Lexi go...they did score one touchdown!

But, they ended up losing..boo. There is always next year..senior year...last year of high school... leaving for college after that...can't believe my baby is going to be an adult...how did you grow up so fast???

{and maybe, just maybe it won't be 90 degrees during the PP game next year!}







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"Mom, can I paint my room?"

Shae has been wanting to paint her room for soooo long. We finally agreed. She chose her color {grey?!}, bought the paint and rounded up her helpers (thanks, Jenn and Shannon!)
Here they are getting started. We left...went out to dinner, Barnes and Noble , Macy's and Target. We stayed out as long as we could hoping it would be finished when we returned.
Here is Mr. "looks like it is gonna be too dark.." checking it out before we left. My husband should run a hospital, he LOVES white! He would be happy if we never hung anything on the walls too!
Tiffany boxes are always a nice accent piece!
I Shae's magnetic board...it has about 4 layers of fabric on it..it is barely "magnetic" any more since we have changed her room (and the fabric on it to match) so many times!
Here is the finished paint job..I am trying to talk Dad into doing some crown moulding now!
Surprisingly NOT too dark. It turned out very classy, she loves it (and THAT is what really matters!)
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B-17 Bomber

The B-17 Bomber came to visit Redding this week. It was an instrumental part in the American victory during World War II. What an awesome, huge and powerful plane.
They were offering rides on this bad boy for almost $500 to raise money to keep it flying. (There are only a few still flying today.)
Back in January Scott bought a few raffle tickets during a safety seminar at the airport he flies out of...the prize would be a ride in the B-17 when it came to Redding.
Guess whose name was drawn??????
Scott was beside himself because his Dad is a HUGE History buff and especially loves the B-17 and it's story. He COULD NOT wait to give the prize to his Dad!

The day the bomber arrived, Scott snatched Austin up and headed to the airport to watch it land!
After watching the landing, a helicopter came in and the pilot let Austin try out the driver's seat!

They also got to check out another WWII fighter.

Once again, I am sooo impressed with my husband's creative picture taking. Austin was in awe of all the aircraft and had a great afternoon with Uncle Scott.

The next day was the date of the big ride...and to top it all off, Scott's Dad was able to experience it with Two of his sons at the last minute.

This guy with the cane was a bombardier in a B-17 back in WWII. He had a chance to ride in the same seat he sat in so many years ago as a young man. When he got off the plane, all the people cheered and clapped for him and shook his hand thanking him for his service. EMOTIONAL! The two men that brought him were both sons of B-17 pilots. One of the men never met his dad because he went down in one of these planes when he was only 1 year old. The other man lost his dad 2 years ago to the day of this ride.

The boys were able to walk around in the plane and touch things. It was an incredible experience (they have tons of pictures, but they are on Scott's computer).

The following day the B-17 was heading out, so Scott got Shae and Anna from school a little early so they could tour the plane. History really comes alive when you can see what you usually only get to read about.

The cockpit where the brave pilots sat.

Can you imagine how afraid those young men were when they climbed on board, willingly, knowing that they may not return.

How thankful I am for the WWII heroes that fought so valiantly for our country!

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