Monday, February 16, 2015

Our Valentine's Date

 We, Mr. and Mrs. Black, were invited to the wedding vow renewal of BillyBob and MaryAnn.  It was a lovely, frigid evening, but our hearts were warm with laughter...or embarrassment...as we embraced our parts!
The reception was to be held in the The Eatin' Room...with so many clever details!
 The guests gathered in the lobby of the church and even got to visit the bride cause she wore her weddin' sheet!  We signed the guestbook and made our way to the bride's side....cause that is what our invitation said.
 It was decorated with simple and DIY style.
 Oh...look...Mr. and Mrs. Pumpkin, Mr. and Mrs. Carnation, and Mr. and Mrs. Winters.
 Cash Card and Dolla made their way down the aisle just as the groom's father and mother appeared...Jan Sue and something Boo.
 Mr. and Mrs. Season, Aunt Dottie, and Mr. and Mrs. Blue sat behind us.
 We shared the row with Mr. and Mrs. White...no grey areas here!
 Then Lucky Chew and MillieMae arrived...parents of the bride. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Summer arrived...a little under dressed...he wore shorts!  Brrrr!  You can see Uncle Moe there in the sound room helping to make the ceremony memorable.
 We waited patiently for all the guests to arrive.
 MaryAnn had to compose herself at one point...maybe while her true love rambled on and on through his vows.

 Mr. Carnation sang a lovely rendition of "Things You Don't Say To Your Wife" as the happy couple re-lit their unity candle and blinking, red heart rings.
 Then...the lights went out and there was some confusion!
 When the preacher figured out what was wrong with the lights...Uncle Moe...was no more.  We filed into the Eatin' room to go through the events of the evening and give our statements as Sheriff Duff tried to figure out what happened exactly.
We ate salad and rolls...then had to re-visit the crime scene.  Poor Mrs. Carnation got a little woozy and swooned in her love's arms.  Sheriff Duff's questioning went on forever...because he always had a chicken leg in his mouth.
 We ate chicken from the Colonel and his lovely wife Sweetie.  Mrs. Rose and Miss Scarlett made sure the mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetable were just right.
 We visited two other crime scenes trying our best to find the link to Uncle Moe's demise.
 A yummy wedding vow renewal cake...was cut and shared.

 So much talk...so  much debate...so much denial...
 sooo much L A U G H T E R!!!
 We finally got to the bottom of this Who Dun It? murder mystery!  Lucky Chew did it...with the wrench...for the insurance money!
Even amidst all the darkness of the evening....love triumphed and the marriage license was signed...again!
***A huge thank you to our church family for a fun-filled evening!  So much work went in to writing the script and planning all the little details!***

Dove into the Happy Valentine's Day treat box!

 And this is one box of treats that I am only sharing with Ted!  Good thing there is a little chart!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

While the girls are away...

 we take the boys and play!  We went bowling and then ate supper at Culvers.  "Boys rule and girls drool!"  They invited this mom to tag-a-long with them...even though she was willing to stay home!
 It is fun watching and listening to these kiddos.  They are growing up so fast!  They have all the moves and a sense of humor to match.
 The girls enjoyed Snow Camp with their friends at CoBeAc.  Teddy and Caden are excited...because this weekend...it is their turn to go with the Junior group!
We are so thankful for the adults that go and spend time with our kiddos!  They take great care of them too! 

Two snow days in a row!!!

 We all stayed home on Monday!!!  Ted was up and out snowblowing at 6:15am...because he was going to go to work.  I was hoping to be able to fall back to sleep after all that noise.  He left...and came back after about 45 minutes.  "What happened?"  The ramp to I96 was drifted and hadn't been plowed, yet cars had tried to get up it and were stuck "I don't get paid enough to risk getting stuck in the ditch."  And he climbed back in bed...I think that is the absolute first time ever for that!  We had a lazy-stay-in-your-jammies-all-day kind of snow day!  The guys made sure everything was snowblowed and shoveled off.
Tuesday...my phone went off at 5:21am
"I need you to work this morning."  Grrrr...two days in a row...waking way before it was necessary!  Ted left.  I left a little while later...with my coffee and a Pepsi for later...I wasn't sure what to expect on my first working snow day ever.  We had a small group...and I had several fun snowy-icy ideas.
 We made snowflakes and/or icicles out of beads and chenille stems.  So pretty and sparkly.  Then we made snow dough out of cornstarch and shaving cream.  Fun and messy and good smelling.
 We watched/listened to Snowbuddies and played.
 The kiddos had fun and the grown-ups had just as much fun!
 We painted with water colors on trays of ice.  That was cool...literally...ha! 
 A good amount of snow fell and then drifted...my snow babies played outside after I got home.
Snow days are fun...because it was a change in our schedule...and we all enjoyed it!

Super Bowl Sunday...

 brought our first big winter weather advisory.  Our trip to church was snowy.  Uncle Pastor reluctantly cancelled services for the evening.  "But you guys will still come over for nachos, right?! You can come earlier than the planned after church time." begged Mari.  Our trip home was snowier, but we made it.  We made some yummy treats to take and spent the evening with family...eating, laughing, semi-watching the football game, looking at trip pictures, and relaxing...while watching the snow fall and wind pick up.
 
 School was called off while we were together...and the kiddos were thrilled...so were the moms!
 "Hey, Ted, snap a picture of us!"
 "Are you still snapping?"  No.  "You are?!"
 "Wait...stop...no  more!"
"Oh...man..."  Thankful for the time to be together...safe and warm...watching the boys play outside in the snow. 

January blew away into February!

 I have not forgotten about blogging...I just haven't felt like doing it, to be perfectly honest!  If I were a bear...I would be hibernating right now, honest and truly.  My brain is shot at the end of the day and I couldn't figure out why my pictures wouldn't transfer.  TODAY...it was light out till 6:00pm and the sun was shining...I felt like I could conquer the technology difficulty.  NOW...time to catch up!  We finally got snow that stayed on the ground in January...and clouds that moved in and kept it dark and dreary.  Yeah for the Michigan winter gloomies.
 We've been fishing in K3....
 coloring inside the lines...
 working together doing puzzles...
 arranging patterns...
 reading lots of books...

 snuggling little friends who are feeling well...
 missed a day to take care of cute guy with a painful eye problem!  Corneal ulcers are not something to ignore.
left early to take number one daughter for first cavity filling ever...
 participated in Spirit Week...this day was Character Day...Little Red Riding Hood, Mary Poppins, and Fancy Nancy...
 Oops...no picture of Teddy that day...he was Gilligan.
 Lots of studying for exams, homework, and projects...
 constant use of creative and scissor skills...
 Just being all around adorable and silly...
 "Oh. no. my crown is sliding.  Miss Kawii, oh. no."
After 4 days of crazy dress that causes all sorts of consternation...as a mom, helping children that live with you come up with ideas that are then rejected; as an employee, coming up with your own idea to participate with; as a teacher/aide, corralling all the craziness that dress up brings...finally, Friday brought normal clothes...at least for our class!
 Learning all about pep rallies...and not crying about the noise....but joining right in and screaming at the top of our lungs while jumping around...
Watching our boy play basketball...and watching our cousins play too.