bacon and eggs ornament.

crafted this up for our life groups ornament exchange. it was difficult to part with, but after realizing the joy it brought the recipient, i will be ok...

halloween cupcakes

we having a bon fire for our youth group tonight. since i like to make delicious treats and middle school and high school students like to eat delicious treats, well, you can figure it out.

as always, i had a very cute helper when making the frosting:

these aren't my best work. i was a little bit rushed.
i was also struggling with some spiderweb cupcakes and the black icing in a tube. i scrapped them and the pumpkin patch cupcakes are the replacement and a little bit rough looking. :) oh well, they'll still taste good.


happy halloween!

helper

isaac has been a really good helper lately.
he likes to help load the laundry from the washer to the dryer.
he likes to put his dirty diapers in the trash.
he puts his empty sippy cup in the sink (or sometimes the trash).
he picks up his toys when he's done before he gets another.
he has his own vacuum and lawnmower.
he loves to wipe up messes on the floor.
he patrols the house for opened doors and chairs that are not pushed in and remedies the situation.

and my favorite, he loves to help clean the beaters from frosting making. here are some pictures:

 

 

 

i've been pretty busy around here lately.
tutoring is filling up pretty quickly. life group and youth group consume two more nights of my week. and then there's all the cakes. i'm currently working on some fancy pants wedding cupcakes. and by some, i mean zillions. there's currently 24 pounds of buttercream frosting in my refrigerator. that's a lot of beaters for the boy to clean!

first baseball game

we took isaac to his first baseball game last night, along with some other youth group leaders and students. well, student.

we had high hopes that we could make it the length of the game for the fireworks. we also had realistic expectations that it might be a complete disaster. it was somewhere in between. isaac did really well, but we only made it to about the 6th inning....

eating fries with dad.

riding the carousel:

all-star:

chillin' with dad:

cute hat:

there were brief moments of a frustrated boy that just wanted to escape and run:

me and the boy...

dad and the boy...

we tried to leave with enough time to get back to the lewisville fireworks. we got back about halfway through them, so derek let me and isaac out to catch the end. when they were over, he picked us up, but we had to go against the giant mass of thousands of people that we flowing from shallowford square. it took us a RIDICULOUS amount of time to travel the less than 1 mile trip home. and... isaac didn't really seem to care about the fireworks. eh. maybe next year...

lifegroup cookout

we had a year end lifegroup cookout on saturday. it was a lot of fun and there were a lot of hot and sweaty kids. isaac was a busy fellow.

trampoline:

 

loading the wheelbarrel with rocks with josiah:

 

relaxing (only for a minute):

 

chillin' with the boyzzzz:

 

baby cupcakes

these are cupcakes i made for brie's youth group shower:

 

retreat

i had my first nights away from the boy this weekend and we both survived to tell about it. (so did derek!)...

i went on a weekend retreat with our church's youth group. it was super sweet. i think the "grown ups" had as much fun as the kids.

however, due to the fact that:
1. i'm old,
2. i'm pretty inactive,
3. i decided to run around like a maniac for two days, and
4. i didn't sleep much or sleep well....

i am:
1. sore,
2. tired,
3. bruised and battered...

i even have a black eye to show for my weekend efforts.
so, that's where i've been...

15 Minute Recharge

Apparently, Isaac only needs 15 minutes of nap per day.

He woke up around 7:45 this morning and we headed to church at 9:30 or so. He had a complete and total meltdown in the toddler room, amplified by the fact that he knew I was next door in the toddler room. I switched places with a toddler room worker, but Isaac still had a pretty rough time with the rest of the (older and bigger) toddlers.

After church, he ran around, full throttle, for about 45 minutes with Dad, while we cleaned the toddler room. We hopped in the car and headed to Chipotle with Carlye and Steph (who, incidentally, are also both addicted to Lost), and Chris. Isaac ate approximately one chicken (mc)nugget and six french fries. After this (we're at about 1:15 by now), we headed to Kernel Kustard to try out the flavor of the day. Isaac fell asleep en route.

He slept for about 15 minutes at KK, while we savored some delicious Cupcake Kustard, complete with actual frosting, sprinkles and cake. When he woke, we headed home, where I gave the boy a bottle and put him in bed. For the next 1 1/2 to 2 hours, Isaac entertained himself and us with singing, talking, banging, and making various noises. Around 4:00 pm, I decided that I'd rather he just stay up and go to bed early, so I headed up to get him.

He had cleared out his crib. Everything was overboard. He was holding onto the edge of his crib and running in place. As fast as he could. He saw me and went wild. He started laughing and running, back and forth in his crib. He was out of control! It was awesome. (Sorry there's no pics or videos to accompany this story).

We went to visit Derek's mom and dad, came home and ate and he was completely crashed by 7:10. He is wide open.

sad cake

Our most recent adventure in the wild and crazy world of cake decorating took place yesterday. Lorena purchased a plain half sheet cake from Costco (since we needed a gigantic one for the mega-party) and brought it over and we went to work.

Sadly, this cake was for a going away party for Ryan, Gloria and Jonas, who are leaving the area to be closer to family. Understandable, I suppose, but I'm still not all that happy about it. Anyhow, we came up with the following creation, to add to our portfolio*.

 

*note: we don't really have a portfolio. it was suggested tonight that we should start one.

Carlye

While traveling from a party (see next post) to Youth Group, I stepped out of the car to grab some stuff in the house. Carlye, who was traveling with me, apparently thought she'd be funny, and take some random pictures. Since she is so enamored with herself, I know she would love for me to post this on the www.

 

Tom Brady Curse

ok, so remember all the media attention given to tom brady when he showed up at his girlfriend's house [incidentally, not the mother of his child], wearing a boot?

although, i'm pretty sure we didn't see each other during this time in superbowl history, jenn lawson and myself separately made fun of tom brady. i hoped that it was something serious and that this would interfere with their run to perfection. little did i know that the run would hit a wall with or without mr. brady's booted leg.

well, last week, jenn went rollerskating (with kids, not on her own) and suffered a bit of an accident that resulted in her very own boot. you can read her account here. she was quite sure this was payback from her having mocked tommy b.

although i felt bad for her, i had to laugh a little at the irony of the situation, but i was quick to point out that i, too, had made fun of the boot, i was not suffering from any cosmic payback. hahhahahahaha....

then, yesterday at church, i was carrying the little man down some steps. as i approached the bottom, my croc caught on a step. forced to decide amongst: a) catching myself and dropping the baby, b) landing on the soft cushioning of a baby or c) trying to set the baby down safely while my ankle took on the brunt of my awkward fall, i chose c. not really chose. that's just what happened. it wasn't like the headlines you read about where mom's do crazy things for their kids, but it wasn't as if i had a say in the matter, either. my body just did it.

(note, as i sat on the steps in excruciating pain, isaac scrambled off to go up another flight of steps...clearly not understanding the sacrifice i just made for him).

i think it's just a pretty bad sprain. i know i've had my fair share of ankle injuries. they were never for something this lame, though. so, we'll see how it goes today and then decide if further action needs to be taken...

so, it appears the curse of tom brady is upon me. i urge you, if you made fun of the boot, to be on guard!

boring days...

there's not been very much exciting stuff happening in our world.
isaac's gotten into a decent routine, so it's getting easier and easier with each passing day. he climbed up the stairs all by himself last week. needless to say, we now have the gate closed during all waking hours.

i went to some consignment sales yesterday and scored some cheap secondhand clothes for the growing little man. we put some 6-9 month footed pj's on him last night and they were stretched as tight as they could go. on to the next size up, i suppose.

we're heading halfway up the eastern u.s. next weekend to meet my mom and jake. they need to get their isaac fix. we don't have a meeting place yet, but it will be somewhere in the middle of west virginia, if you know any good places...

well, i have to get ready for church. or should i say, get ready to sit in the lobby with a screaming baby after i get called out of church because he was having a meltdown. seems pointless, but i've got to at least give it a try....

I don't want to work....

...I want to bang on my drum all day... (that's a song lyric, I don't really want to bang on a drum. But, it's true that I don't want to work.)

Anyhooo....
Here's a quick run down of events since the last post.

Um, there was friday. It was friday. I taught school. Then, I got the boy. I love fridays.

On Saturday, we were busy. We went grocery shopping. We went for a walk. We went to this stupid Lewisville Family Fun Picnic. Derek made a prime rib (and it was delicious). I mowed the lawn. Derek and I watched "The Prestige". It was good. And that's all. Exciting, I know.

Today we went to church. Isaac had a meltdown. I heard him crying, but the number that flashed on the screen was not mine, so I just thought it was a different screamer. Then, a few minutes later (the crying had yet to subside), I felt a tap on my shoulder and someone whispered, "your baby's crying".... I went to get him and he was completely inconsolable. It was a traumatizing morning for him. We got him home and he took an EXTRA long nap. Poor fellow.

Tonight, I made my triumphant return to Junior High Youth Group. I was cast straight into the fire as we immediately began a rousing game of 8-squares (a high octane, extreme variation of 4-squares). It was a good time. Derek managed to get the boy off to bed without any glitches, so that was good, too.

And with that, another week begins. Bleh.

Some pictures:

This is the boy in his new, high tech umbrella stroller:

And this is the aforementioned primerib that Derek cooked up:

And this is a cute (pre-meltdown) pic of Isaac before church this morning:

There's more here.

I lied.

I went to church after all.

Church Skipping

After a decidedly rough night and early morning with the monster, we're going to skip church. Hopefully, we'll be able to catch up on a little bit of the missing sleep. It's also really really cold out, and I'm not all the excited about dragging Isaac out into the frigid March North Carolina air. (That's supposed to be sarcastic).

I just realized that I moved here 7 years ago. I came down to drop off half my stuff on St. Patty's day weekend. I remember meeting some friends at Woody's sports bar for lunch and watching like 24 basketball games simultaneously. I had just driven through the night, so I was operating on adrenalin and would soon come crashing to a halt, but those first memories are etched in, nonetheless.

Anyhow, I am posting a picture of the monster, just because he's cute. And then I'm off to find some of the aforementioned missing sleep.



Also, we've started posting some videos of the boy on the picasa site.

just a boring update post

i see that it's been quite some time since i posted last.
it is because my life is extremely boring, i must confess.
let's see.....

on saturday, i made cookies all day long. there's still a bit of work to do to bring that task to completion. i have to decorate the sugar cookies with frosting and tasty candy decor. derek has to dip some peanut butter balls in melted chocolate. then the cookies will be ready for gift distribution.

on sunday, i drove to raleigh to visit some old pals. i went to my old church, bethesda baptist. it was a lot different. they've switched to contemporary worship, so i didn't get to try to time my ending notes with the ever long last notes of hugh o'shields. i saw all the old favs, the minor family, the bankers, noah and carly's mom, debbie, scott parrish, laughing karla, all the overcashes, the dowd's and of course, the p. clay stevens family. then, i scooted over to sarahpowers house. from there we went to visit her mom and dad who are in town for a full month. we then watched a hockey game full of batavia newyorkers. that was fun. then i headed back.

this week has been pretty busy, it seems. mostly because i get tired-er and tired-er by the day. we are winding down the semester though. it's day 74 today of 90 days. the last four of which are exams, so it's day 74 of 86 "teaching" days. crazy. and even more importantly, we are out a week from today. i don't think that can possibly arrive soon enough.

in baby news, i am about 6 weeks left (on saturday). it's crazy that the baby could, in reality, come whenever he feels like. i was already born at this point in my mom's pregnancy. tina and burl love (from school) just had theirs about 3 weeks early, so i'm trying to get things sorted out around school, in case of an early baby arrival.

well, that's about it. told you it was boring. :)

hump day

it's wednesday. it's a slow moving week for me.
i don't know why.
and today is going to be particularly long.
i have learning center for my nerdy kids this morning at 7:00ish.
and then i teach all day (that's normal, i'm not complaining about that).
then, i have a few kids taking a makeup test, that will last an hour and a half or so.
then, we have church from 7-9 tonight.
so, without further ado.....
here we go!

thanksgiving feast

so, dave finally sent the pictures of our junior high youth group thanksgiving activities....
the goal was to make a turkey out of a can of spam and to make all the sides out of an assortment of play-doh colors. well, we didn't use actual play-doh. i think it was dollar tree fun-doh or something of the generic sort.
anyhow, crysane and i (and later, preston) did a super sweet job of recreating our holiday favorites.
without further ado...

long sunday

another weekend come and gone.
we made no "baby-progress". that is, we didn't prepare in any way for the arrival of sir isaac.
we need to paint. and get the room in order.
we probably need to do a lot of stuff that we aren't thinking of at the moment.

derek has been sick, so i've been steering clear of him and all his germs.
and it's made for some pretty lazy days for the both of us lately. and lots of tv.
(we have a dvr now -- no more foil covered rabbit ears!)

we had rake 'n run for our youth group tonight.
we carted the kids around town and raked up yards and then left.
it was fun. then we ate pizza and had youth group. made for a tiring day.

in other (great) news....
we have this friday off and thursday is a half day. that's something to look forward to all week!!

that is all.