Riggen, the British prep soccer player

Riggen officially started soccer practice tonight. As he was out playing in the field with his fleece on, socks on and his blonde hair, Matt and I thought he looked like a little British prep kid out there playing soccer...funny.

Destruction.

Ok, maybe the title threw you off a bit or you were expecting something else. But I had my nephews for a couple hours today after work and here is what our toy room looks like now...yeah, I think they had fun.

Trees

In celebration of my new purchase for our home, the tree painting below, I took a picture of the trees in my backyard too. A few weeks ago I featured these trees before the green buds were on them, now they nearly have leaves! I love the fact my house backs up to trees and a little river and I love my new tree painting to boot!

Babysitting Queen!

Kate took babysitting classes over Spring Break. I was so proud of her; she took it very seriously and has even created a flyer and has tag-teamed with another neighborhood girl to do this.

She has packed a "babysitting" bag full of emergency sheets to have parents fill out, games for kids to play, crafts for them to make and even small toys. She is very excited to start her babysitting business! If anyone needs a responsible and PLAYFUL babysitter, please feel free to let me know!

My new best friend, ok, not really, but I love it!

So, I've been really trying to lose some weight and tone up for the summer months. I have been indecisive about whether or not to get the body bugg, and finally decided NOT to get it because I got the fitbit instead! I have used it the past week and absolutely LOVE it. It is half the price of the body bugg and can be worn discreetly---like in your pocket or on your belt loop etc... It measures calories burned, steps taken, mileage walked and flights climbed. It also has a sleep tracker that you wear at night to track sleep patterns-which is great for someone like me who doesn't sleep well. It comes with a FREE webpage that has a crazy amount of information and wirelessly updates to its sensor when you are within 15 feet of it. It's AMAZING. I wanted to wait before I posted about it to see if it really works and if it is motivational to get one moving and it is! I've lost 4 pounds since Spring Break started...of course, you have to MOVE to do this and it just is the little extra push I need to get me moving more.

Pretty Day!

Today was a pretty day in town. Lots of neighbors and people out walking about. One of hte best parts about the day was meeting my good friend Sue at Heirlooms for the annual "Garage Sale Scrapfest." Yes, folks, they have "garage sales" for these types of things! We actually didn't find much at the sale, but did find lots at the store to pick up! Then we headed up to the cupcake patisserie and enjoyed a treat on their porch!

Scrap room clean up!

And then I discovered 20 bucks in it! For some reason I must have forgotten to take this out...which is not typical of me! So a nice surprise today and now I'm going to splurge on margaritas!
I also found one of my favorite birthday cards! It was from my grandmother Elsie (who's German) and printed in German (since I went to Germany last summer.)
After shot of the room...

Before shot of the room...

After shot....

Before shot of my table....

After all the excitement and little sleep last night, I wasn't figuring I would get my scrap room cleaned and organized even though it desperately needed it...but I did!

Hunger Games Craziness Here!

Here is a website snapshot in today's (Friday's) paper of the story we were interviewed for!Kate, her good friend, Hannah and Hannah's aunt Diane at eh midnight premiere!
Kate and I leaving for the midnight premiere!
Kate's poster in her room.

Kate and I bought midnight tickets to the Hunger Games two months ago...we've been counting down the days!! and now it's here!!! She has been going crazy all day! We bought the CD (yes, actually a CD) and she has figured out when the songs will play through the scenes in the movie. We were even interviewed about the Hunger Games for the Des Moines Register! I'm not sure when that will be published, but keep your eyes pealed...because I forgot to ask when!

Strainers

So I had a lovely day hanging at home and cleaning. Yes, the thing I hate to do was actually slightly okay. The house looks great now and I could "rock" out to my fav songs while doing it. Then we headed to see the Lorax movie, very cute. But, to highlight the day, I got to use my new strainer from IKEA. I've been looking for one that extends across my sink for months now...and I can finally throw out the white, huge, annoying one! Bye, bye old strainer!

Tuesday and finally IKEA!

So I was really excited for shopping today because we were headed to IKEA! I've only been there 2 times and I had my list ready to go! Lo and behold, MATHEW was the one who found all sorts of stuff and said he LOVED it! Then he said we needed to come back with the van and no kids! Sign me up! The pic below is of the entertainment center we think we're getting to put downstairs and Kate had to try out a million chairs!

Monday, off to MOA!

Monday we took off for a quick trip to Minneapolis to go to the MOA and Ikea!

Bread?!?

So today I spent hours trying to make the French bread Sally makes. I clarified the recipe and thought I did everything correctly; I guess not. This is what my bread ended up looking like--and it was hard as a rock--FAIL!...so we ended up eating just regular, oat bread for dinner with Dave's chicken!

St. Patty's Day!

Today Mathew and I decided to do a heavy workout. When we came home, Kate went off to shop with a friend and Riggen was at my mom's. It was a quiet house! This rarely happens. So I prepared our St. Patty's lunch...reubens (note the NON-marble bread for me) cooked cabbage (thanks Elsie for the recipe!), fresh pineapple, and a Stella (I like this better than an Irish Harp's). We got to enjoy the lunch on our deck...it was mah-velous and just the way to spend a beautiful saturday afternoon!

Grandparents!

Today I spent the day traveling to Eastern Iowa with my mom and kids. We went to visit my grandparents, both of whom were farmers--are farmers? Do you ever stop farming? Hmmm....anyways, it was a glorious day and so nice to visit them!

Sunglasses and Sunshine!

Finally I was able to get out and enjoy the sunshine today! I had lunch outside with Mathew, walked the East Village and then ran 2 miles at Gray's Lake! All in my fav shades! No one really sees me without these on during the summer-so glad for the sunny weather to wear them!

Conference Week

I really dislike conference week. I know some of my colleagues think it's great to chat and meet with parents, but I don't like it. There's always 1 or 2 conferences that destroy my week. That hasn't happened so far, so that's good. But now I'm uninspired to take a photo or be creative-it just zaps my energy. So, I'm taking a photo of the "digestive health mix" I'm eating currently. Yeah, pretty wild.

Spring is A-foot!

I LOVE summer. I love the heat, the sweat, the pool, the sun. I still don't know how I ended up in Iowa. I was born in 'Ol Miss-although I have no recollection of it and was a military brat-but that's besides my point--I love HEAT! So, I'm always commenting about the weather and how it's going to get warmer even when it's 0 degrees outside. I must admit that this winter was very easy on us Iowans--I could easily get used to it! but today I was really excited as it was very warm--70! and I finally (like my mother in law) saw a robin today and woke up to the birds chirping--it even made daylight savings somewhat bearable. So today's pic doesn't look like Spring is A-foot-but it is! There are tiny green buds on those trees ready to burst open for summer! Oh yes, and I added my grill because we grill about once a week--even in the dead of winter-and tonight we grilled the BEST grass-fed, farmer and animal-friendly ribeyes we could find! yum!

Nephews!

My nephews (who live in Michigan) are here for the next month as their mom is off to TOGO, Africa to help deliver babies as part of her residency (bless her heart!) I forgot what it is like to have 2 very young ones around! Aren't they cute?

Boy Scout Derby Results!

Riggen attended the Boy Scout Derby today! He won 9th place! Awesome!

Boy Scout Derby

Riggen sanding and painting his Derby car for Boy Scouts tomorrow! Thanks dad (Matt) for the awesome cut job!

History Night!

So tonight was Central Academy's history night. I've been working on organizing this since November. It's quite a bit of work to organize judges and over 90 student but it went very well and was a great night! My students never cease to amaze me!!