Rain, Rain go away...come again another day...

Whoa !! Life has been crazy. Sorry for the lag in posting...I was down and out with Strep Throat. I guess Strep Throat is a funny thing...some people it might cause a small sore throat...some people it might cause a small fever, maybe a headache....well obviously, my body over-reacts to the Strep virus. I was in bed for 4 days with temps reaching as high as 104.2. SERIOUSLY. Everytime I swallowed it felt like nails going down my throat. I thought I was never going to get better, UNTIL....I went to the doctor and they gave me the most wonderful shot in the rear!! It was an antibiotic booster of sorts...I guess. Either way, I got that on Friday and by Sunday I was out of bed...moving slowly...but none the less, out of bed!! So the days I was sick, Jeff stayed home from school to run a daddy daycare. It was amazing seeing him in action. By Sunday, all my laundry was caught up, the house was organized and clean...and he did all that while still taking care of the daycare kids and our children. Dirty diapers and all!! Thank you Honey!!

Of course, the days I was glued to the bed...it was 75 and sunny...perfect days...I am not sure if it has stopped raining since I felt better.

Jeff finished up his classes today. He had his final presentation and nailed it to the wall!! So he is home for the next week and half...applying for jobs. So anyone that knows anyone hiring a IT Engineer and wants to refer Jeff..please let us know !!

Mom and I and the family...are making our annual flower shopping trip this Saturday. Oh man...this is SO my favorite time of the year. Saturday is completely reserved for shopping with mom and dad and then coming home and the girls and I planting flowers all afternoon!! I will post some pictures on Sunday of all our work.

Lord Bless everyone and I will be back to my old self, updating the blog a little more regularly.

~Happy Easter~

Happy Easter to everyone!! We started out our day with Jeff making biscuits and gravy. Oh man...it was amazing! Unfortunately, I was not feeling well this morning so I had to go back to bed for a little bit...a little Advil and all was better. It was my back and something was just out of whack...but all is well now!! After I got back up...I had three girls to get ready for our day. Curled lots of hair and helped with tights and we were ready to roll. They looked beautiful as usual!! We went to see Jeff's parents and then landed at my mom and dads for our Easter dinner. It was also amazing!! My parents are famous for going all out when it comes to family dinners...and this was no exception. Thank you for a great Easter! After we made it home, we had a couple days worth of catching up to do around the house. Picking up all the remains of broken plastic eggs and empty candy wrappers, they were everywhere!! We were all still very full from the family dinner, so popcorn was the only option for dinner!! It was healthy popcorn though. ;o) Back to the weekly ritual tomorrow!! Amazing how fast the weekend goes by!!

My "R.O.C.K. Star" Kid

CONGRATULATIONS! to Ashley who has repeatedly been a R.O.C.K Star student. She has received multiple awards and been recognized by the community many times for showing outstanding characteristics....such as; integrity, self-control...just overall being a great kid!! Zona has held several benefits such as Radio Disney, in honor of the students. Today we went to an Easter Egg hunt that was held in honor of the students being recognized. It was alot of fun. Ashley got to walk across the football field with the Easter bunny and everyone clapped and cheered for the students. I am so proud of her!!

Lets Color Some Easter Eggs !!

It is hard to believe it is Easter weekend. The girls were on Spring Break, Thursday and Friday of this week. Jeff and I took today off to enjoy with the girls. We went to the very first showing of Hannah Montana "the movie"...went and grabbed lunch and then hit the mall for the famous family Easter bunny picture. We got a cute picture of all the girls...then off to the park for a little muddy fun. Not the best day to go to the park since it had rained all morning...but none the less, a little mud never hurt anyone!!! The girls had a blast and left with muddy shoes and pants. We still made it home in enough time to color Easter eggs and make and decorate cup cakes!!

I am drained and everyone else in the house is melting down. I better finish this up and tend to my family. Happy Easter weekend everyone!!

They SURVIVED!

I laugh...because I am certain no one cares as much as I do about the silly plants...so I doubt that you are sitting on the edge of your seats wanting to know if they survived...but they did! All that hard work...came with great reward. All the peonies, lilac bushes, clematis and hostas were very happy and grateful to see the warm sun this morning! I should have some beautiful pictures to share with everyone in the near future. I had cut several of my tulips and brought them inside and the ones that were left outside actually were not covered and still did really great. Sooo...I was a little disappointed that I had cut the one early bloomer I have in the Spring.

Jeff bought Sarah a new bike. It is her final bike that she will not outgrow. She is thrilled. At one point I caught her telling the bike she would miss it while she was at school the next day. Ashley got a new bike of sorts. Jeff put new tires and a new PURPLE kick stand on Sarahs old bike which made it look like a brand new one just for her. Emma got her first big girl bike with training wheels. I know she is really excited thinking she can now keep up with sisters. She has not had the chance to ride the bike outside yet...but is wearing lines in the carpet riding it in circles through the living room and kitchen. ;o) I got some pictures of Emmas bike...I still need to take some of Sarahs.

SAVE the TULIPS !!

My plants made it through last night and now are covered and ready for a cold night again. It is supposed to be alot colder tonight, so I decided to save some of my tulips for as long as possible and they will be sleeping indoors tonight...in a beautiful vase. They are so beautiful they almost look fake.

THIS YEARS GROWING SEASON HAS COMMENCED... AND THIS HARD FREEZE WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON SENSITIVE OUTDOOR VEGETATION AND AGRICULTURAL CROPS. INTERESTED PARTIES SHOULD TAKE PROPER PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT SENSITIVE PLANT LIFE EXPOSED TO THE COLD.
A FREEZE WARNING MEANS SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY. THESE CONDITIONS WILL CAUSE SEVERE DAMAGE TO... OR KILL... CROPS AND OTHER SENSITIVE VEGETATION.

** Spring Freeze **

Darn. A hard freeze. That is something us plant and tree lovers never want to hear. My lilac bushes are one of my favorite shrubs to see bloom...being right by my front windows and front door, they give my whole house that Spring smell for many weeks. My grandmas peonies and hostas are my main concern and the highest priority to save. They are already covered and ready for bed in hopes that the hard freeze will not find them. With lots of work and many blankets...I hope to soon have some amazing pictures of my beautiful flowers in the next few months. Please say a prayer that it does not get as cold as they are forecasting.

STRONG WINDS CONTINUE TO USHER MUCH COLDER AIR INTO THE REGION... AND ARE EXPECTED TO DROP TEMPERATURES TO BELOW THE FREEZING MARK FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OVERNIGHT. WITH AN EARLY BLOOMING DATE ACROSS MOST OF EXTREME EAST CENTRAL KANSAS AND CENTRAL MISSOURI... FREEZING TEMPERATURES WILL CAUSE DAMAGE TO TENDER VEGETATION. SENSITIVE TREE BLOOMS WILL BE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE... AS TEMPERATURES DROP INTO THE UPPER 20S FOR SEVERAL HOURS. SUB FREEZING TEMPERATURES MAY ALSO LEAD TO SEVERE DAMAGE TO OTHER TYPES OF PLANT LIFE WHICH ARE LEFT UNPROTECTED.
EVEN COLDER NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES ARE LIKELY MONDAY NIGHT... WITH A SECOND HARD FREEZE EXPECTED IN THE AREA.

Date Night

YEP!! We had a date night. My mom and dad kept the little ones Friday night. They kept them until 2:00 on Saturday. We were able to get dinner in on Friday night and some great antiquing and lunch on Saturday before heading back to the Homestead. It is so wonderful to step back, sometimes, from responsibility and enjoy each other. I took my camera and made Jeff promise to not let me forget to take some pictures...but of course we both forgot about the camera and just enjoyed the evening. So no pics. It would of been good to have though...because we matched. LOL!! I did make it home with an adorable little chair and wooden box from the Antique store. You can never have enough wooden boxes around the house...lol!! ;o) I took some pics of those...just because.