Craigslist Find

$5! I felt no need to talk her down anymore, considering a new Bumbo is $40! ;)

Our Science Project of the Day

Not that the three-year-old understands what "ultraviolet rays" are, but he got to see their bleaching abilities!

Sibling Love

My Big Helper

Hole

See this hole on my desk intended for power cords from a computer? My son uses it to drop a number of items through it. This list includes (but is not limited to): pencils, matchbox cars, dinosaurs, and underwear that should be on his bottom.

I Think She Likes It!

Italian Sausage and Spinach Pasta

I wanted to use my Italian sausage I had in my freezer but didn't have all the ingredients for my Spicy Sausage Pasta Bake, so I searched for a new recipe. I came across one that I tweaked a bit, and here it is!

Ingredients:

• 1 package Mild Italian sausage, split in half and sliced into 1-inch pieces (you could use spicy sausage too, if you're into that kinda thang)
  
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 pound spaghetti (I used thin because it cooks quicker)
  
• spinach...I used a 14 oz package of frozen spinach so the work was done for me, but you could use fresh spinach and just make sure it's roughly chopped
• 1-2 cups milk
  
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Cook sausage in large skillet on medium heat until the outside is browned. Toss in the chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon off any accumulated fat.

Add chicken broth, spaghetti (broken in half) and about 1 cup milk. Bring to a gentle boil and cook until spaghetti is al dente, stirring occasionally. If it looks like you don't have enough liquid, just add more milk.

Add spinach and stir. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until spinach is desired softness.

Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

But if you're like me, you'll forget the Parmesan.

Also, if you're like me, you'll look at the finished product and think, This
would be so good with a side of garlic bread!

But you don't have any garlic bread.

So you improvise...with hamburger buns, butter, and a toaster oven.
Then, to fool your husband into thinking you bought this amazing bread at the
store, you add a little bit more butter and sprinkle parsley on top.
Voila! Homemade-hillbilly-garlic-bread! You're welcome. That recipe is free of
charge.

Anyway, here is the finished product. Yum!

(and in case you're wondering, my husband wasn't fooled by the bread...go figure.)

New River Air Show

Happy to be in New Bern

Letters

I didn't get a before picture, but ever since I started making bows and flowers for Kylee's headbands, her dresser top has been a complete MESS.

I decided to make something to hold everything so I didn't lose my mind. Then I decided to make something similar for Hunter's room too.

Here's what I started with. I picked it all up at Walmart for about $10. (Not pictured is a spool of ribbon, also part of the $10.)
I sanded down the letters, and primed them with white acrylic paint. Hunter picked out his blue paint for his 'H' and I painted Kylee's a chocolate brown. I wanted it to match the pink and brown ribbon I bought for it.

Greg attached the hooks and then I just hot glued the ribbon on the back of the 'K.'

Here's the finished products...I love them!

Wonderful Mother's Day

A friend on facebook asked what everyone wanted for Mother's Day. My response was "A homemade card, and a day spent with my babies and husband." I got just that (and more) and it was perfect!

The morning started with my alarm going off for church, and right after I turned it off and rolled over, Gregory put his arm around me and said, "Happy Mother's Day" even before I was coherent enough to remember what day it was myself! Let me tell you, MAJOR brownie points!

Kylee was sweet to me on Mother's Day too. She'd gone to bed at about 11pm, which is a little late, but she slept until 7:30 so I never had to get up to feed her all night. She was even nice enough to do this on a day when I had to get up at 7 and not 6!

After a wonderful church service, I was in the bedroom getting ready for us to go out, and Hunter ran up with a homemade card.

Homemade cards from my three-year-old melt my heart.
I blocked out what Gregory wrote. Sorry, world. That's just between us. ;) But I will tell you that it was very sweet and I got choked up. I love being a mom, and I take care of my family and the house because I want to, but it's nice to be appreciated for it every once in a while.

I also loved that Hunter signed his own and his sister's name. He is getting much more confident in his writing ability lately so he's finally trying to write more and more letters. I'm so proud of him! If you look at his name, he wrapped it around, so what looks like a cross is his "r." :) I love the stage where they think as long as they get all the letters on the page, their name is there.

And my favorite part of the card are the pom pons on the inside. :)

Anyway, after they gave me my card, we headed to downtown Norfolk to eat and go to the USS Wisconsin.

On a sidenote, we're trying to pay off debt (mostly) the Dave Ramsey way. This means that we budgeted only enough money for Mother's Day to grab a cheap bite to eat in Norfolk, and that was it.

Anyway, we were eating at Jimmy John's and my boys came back from using the bathroom with this:


While I absolutely LOVE the gift, it's extra-special for more than one reason. As stated before, we barely budgeting anything for Mother's Day. And the "Dave Ramsey way" means no credit cards. This gift is so special because that means that Greg took it out of his own "impulse money" (as we call it, and we don't get much at all) to buy me a gift.

I can't tell you how much that means to me. I honestly wasn't expecting more than a card, and it makes me feel so wonderful that he did that for me. I love him so much. I can't wait to schedule my 2 hours of relaxation time!

After lunch, we headed to the ship.

Another sidenote, if you don't mind. When I was 35 weeks pregnant with Hunter, Greg and I went on a mini-getaway vacation to Wilmington, NC, as a last weekend away before having children. While we were there, we toured the battleship North Carolina. It was very similar to the Wisconsin that we toured yesterday.

Anyway, while on the Wisconsin yesterday, I just kept thinking about 3.5 years ago, and now. Now, we have our sweet boy who was just running around exploring everything like it was all the coolest thing he'd ever seen. I've loved the last 3.5 years. I love my family.

Here's some pictures of the fun...






Don't worry, her hands had circulation. We checked often.Sometimes, I love to watch Hunter play. I love his way of exploring and his silly personality. Here's an example of that. He didn't know I was recording.









Hunter had lots of fun. When we got in the car, Greg and I both exhausted from the sun and all the walking carrying children, Hunter said, "I want to go to the ship again, tomorrow." :)

Our ride home consisted of this...
and this...

and this...We ended the day with...
Frosty's! Yum!

It was the perfect Mother's Day.

Thank You, Mom

Ever since I became a mother 3.5 years ago, I've had a hard time finding a balance between my mother's day and our mothers' mother's days. Does that make sense?

What I'm trying to say is that I kind of feel bad that once a woman becomes a mother, her mother (and/or husband's mother) is a little bit forgotten about. They are still mothers just as much as we are and deserve to be recognized and appreciated just as much. This is extra hard to do when we've lived away from both of them for the past several years.

This post is an effort to do show our appreciation for our moms this year.

Mom
I love you. :) I have so much to thank you for. Let's start with apologies though. First and foremost, I'm sorry for any labor pains I put you through. Phew, those can be a doozy! I'm also sorry for my bratiness from ages 5-16. ;) Thank you for putting up with me even though you probably wanted to ship me off to boarding school once...or twice...or eighty-seven times. As you have said before, I'm also glad we were able to become close my last couple years at home. I think we both realized that we were way more alike that we knew (did I just admit that I'm like my mother?) and it's fun to know there's someone as neurotic as I am, haha.

Thank you for everything you've done for me. For being more than willing to accompany my under aged self to North Carolina countless times so I could see the love of my life for 2 days at a time. For funding those trips! For, now, spending countless dollars and vacation days to see us. I love when you come, and I love spending the time with you, and I'm so thankful you're so willing to make spending time together possible...even if Dave wouldn't agree.

Thank you for being a selfless mom when I became a mom, and a mother-of-two. You came to my rescue both times, not to just meet your new grandchild, but mostly to take care of your baby so she could take care of hers.

There are so many times I have rocked Hunter and now rock Kylee and I think about when you used to rock me, knowing I was your last baby. I love thinking that you love me the same way I love them.

I love you, mom. I know I could never express in words how I actually feel but please know that I am so grateful for everything you've done and continue to do.

Mom Wehrman
In the same spirit that I started my mother's letter, I'll start yours with an apology also. I personally apologize for Gregory making you go three weeks overdue with him. Going one week overdue with Hunter was enough; I can only imagine how you felt with three weeks.

Thank you for letting me be part of the family and sharing family recipes with me like Tuna Salad and Gulliver's Corn. Greg appreciates you sharing them as well. :)

Thank you for making our children adorable clothes! I love being able to say, "My mother-in-law made it!" when people compliment their clothes.

Thank you for instilling in me the desire to home make Kylee's crib set. I know there is no way I would have even tried to accomplish that without you putting the confidence in me that I could do it.

Thank you for being here when Kylee was born, and totally caring for Hunter while I recovered and got used to having a newborn again. I was so glad to know he was being so well-cared for, and had a full-time playmate when I didn't have the energy to do it myself yet.

Thank you for how you raised Gregory. Even though he doesn't show it to the world, he is such a gentleman. You and I have had conversations about how sweet and helpful he can be. Thank you for teaching him how to do the dishes, clean a shower, and do these things well! I will definitely be passing these traits on to Hunter in order to help out his future wife. ;) He is such a wonderful husband and an amazing father, and I know that part of that is because of how he was raised.


Both of you have done so much for Greg and I, and are huge reasons we are who we are today. Please know that every day, but especially on this Mother's Day, we love you and appreciate you both for everything you have done and how you love us.

We love you!

The New Thing

Now that daddy has two controllers, he let's Hunter play soccer with him. He appreciates it too. When the opponents are just running in circles and out of bounds, it makes it a bit easier to win. ;)

Happy Baby