Connor's Birthday

I can't believe that Connor is SIX years old!! He's at that point where he has crossed over from a "little boy" to a "boy". He has hit a growth spurt and he even looks older recently. He has definitely lost that little boy character. Because his birthday is June 8th, and the school cutoff date is June 1st, he will just be starting Kindergarten at the end of August. What a big kid! He wanted a LEGO Star Wars birthday this year, so that's what he got! I made a Lego Star Wars cake. I spent so much time making fondant and shaping the characters that I didn't put the work into the actual cake part like I should have. The LEGO block is well, curved! I didn't take the time to shave it down and make it rectangular--oh well! He loved it anyway! Kary, Sharee, and the kids were able to come and help us celebrate. We were really happy to see them! Kary did an awesome job of walking up our front steps. It has been a long, long time since he has been able to come to our house. It was really good to have all of them here! The boys had a blast playing with Colton, and Caylee loved having Chelsey here. Thanks to everyone for a fun birthday!

Biting the heads off!

Seven Little Kittens

We have two first-time mama kitties who had their litters at the same time. All together we have seven kittens, and they are so cute! The three little kids LOVE them! Poor kitties!

Cade's favorite

(PS--those are legos behind him) :o)

Connor's favorite

The 2 white one's are Caylee's favorites

Couponing

I used to use Safeway coupons pretty regularly when Oggie and I were first married. But, over the years and with a Safeway savings card that automatically saved for me, I kinda got out of the habit. Recently, Oggie and I have been AMAZED at the extreme couponers on TLC's Extreme Couponing. These people coupon as a full time job, and it pays! They will go in and spend thousands and walk out paying literally nothing at times. Can you imagine getting over $600 worth of groceries and paying $6.00? Wow! Now, I'm not going to that extreme--I flat out don't have the time! But, I am looking to save a little. A problem I have is that my options for shopping are limited, so there go my dreams of extreme couponing. Just joking! If I knew that I could get that much for that little, I would drive to Pueblo or the Springs. Hmmmm.... Nah, I don't want to spend two hours in the checkout! Seriously though, I am looking for good coupon sites for printables, and I know some of you are into coupons also. So if any of you have a good sites to share, send them my way.

Barbie Invasion

Growing up, I loved playing with Barbies! This weekend all of my family was here to celebrate Kary and his family being home. It was a fun weekend with lots and lots of good food! While we were at mom and dad's house, dad brought out a box of Barbie stuff that was mine. I have had my Barbie Ice Cream Shop, Record Shop, and Hot Dog Stand in the top of my closet just waiting for Caylee to get old enough to play with them. I had totally forgotten about all of the other stuff that was in this box. What a FUN walk down memory lane. I couldn't wait to get all of it home and cleaned up for Caylee to play with. She is just like I was---she loves her Barbies!

My bedroom became a Barbie house. Guess what Caylee will be getting soon. :o) Wish I still had my Barbie house. It was four stories with an elevator. It wasn't very sturdy when I had it. All that is left is the elevator.

Record Store

(I think I got this one Christmas from Grandma Behm.)

This has all kinds of stuff. There is a trumpet and a saxophone. There are microphones, guitars, and sheet music. There are records and albums. There are Barbie sized posters of Barbie and her band. There is a ghetto blaster. The record actually spins on the jukebox. Lots of fun!

The Ice Cream Shop.

One of my favorites!! I'm pretty sure I got this from Santa one year. It actually came with a little freezer that fits into the ice cream cart, and you can really make ice cream in it! The little pink buckets on the other end hold all of the toppings for your ice cream. The chairs become ice cream dishes, and the fountain seats are the spoons. There is so much detail to this little shop--double scoops of ice cream, cones, dishes, menus, place mats, blender, soda fountain, apron, and more. It is so much fun!

The Hot Dog Stand

Another favorite! The hot dogs and buns separate so that you can "cook" the hot dogs for the customers. The chip selections are Ruffles, Frito Lays, and Rold Gold Pretzels. To drink, you have your choice of 7UP or Cherry 7UP. :o)

Now onto the furniture from my Barbie House.

The Living Room

White Wicker Sofa, Seat, and Table. Both sofa and seat have reversible cushions and both fold out. The table opens up. :o)

The Bathroom

Bathtub, Towel Rack, and Toilet

There used to be a plastic background that looked like there were plants all over. The tub is missing the air hose to the finger pump. It used to make bubbles for a bubble bath. On the other side of the narrow wall was a small table, but that's missing. The toilet appears to flush when you open the lid. You put water in, and it forces air through to make it swirl like it's flushing. Isn't that funny!

The Bedroom

Canopy Bed, Closet, Dresser, Tables and Lamps

The canopy part of this bed used to glow in the dark, and it's missing the bed spread and pillows. The other furniture actually used to be Krystal's, but she let me have it for Caylee--thanks Aunt Krystal! We left the base to one of the lamps at Papa and Nanny's house, hopefully Caylee left it somewhere where it can be found. :o)

The Kitchen

This was another one of my favorites! It has so much! The little yellow buttons ont he stove top make it appear that the burners are on. There is a tick tock sound and a ding for the over timer. There is a dishwasher under the sink, and when you open the door it pulls the rack out for you. There is a table with sides that fold for storage, and a refrigerator with a carton of milk. :o)

The Dining Room

As you can see, the dining table is missing. But, we have chairs! The cushions on the chairs are reversible. The China cabinet is filled with "fine china". :o) You can also see the elevator that is left from my Barbie house.

Ah, the good old days! I love that I can pass all of this on to my daughter. I'm glad that I can see teh fun that she has with it and the joy that it brings to her little life. Oggie has been able to pass down his old tractors, legos, and GI Joe and now it's my turn to pass down my Barbies to Caylee. How lucky am I!

Busy, Busy!

I love springtime, but dread the high-stress, fast-paced chaos of it all! Christopher is in track right now and doing pretty darn good. We were frantically looking for his size 11--yes 11--track shoes. We ended up having to go to Garden to find them. While we were there, we went to the zoo, and the three little kids loved it (Christopher tolerated it :o) what a trooper!) Caylee still talks about the animals and wants to go back soon (Sarah--we're going to have to plan a date for the Pueblo Zoo soon, lol)! Anyway, Christopher's first track meet was at Rolla and he ended up with three gold medals in the High Jump, 100 Hurdles, 4 x 100 Relay, and a third medal in the 200 Hurdles. The Holly track meet was next. He tied for 3rd in High Jump with 2 other boys and ended up 4th after the coin toss. He got second in the 100 Hurdles, and his 4 x 200 relay ended up third or fourth--can't remember. I had inservice that morning and had to work the track meet all afternoon and into the early evening. After that, I head up to Colorado Springs to spend the night at Konnie's and take a test at 7:30 the next morning. I headed home right after that and just missed the hwy. 50 closure (thank goodness!!) due to a huge fire. As I was getting into Lamar, the fire trucks were heading out to help with the Bent Co. fire. Then, Saturday night, Caylee started running another fever and is on her 3rd round of antibiotics since January (one was just last month)--I really don't want to do tubes! Let's see, then Christopher had another meet at Granada on Monday. I'm not sure about the results--he didn't really keep track. I know he got third in the 100 hurdles and second in the high jump, but I'm not sure about his 4 x 200 or his 200 hurdles. His next meet is tomorrow in Lamar, and hopefully I will be able to go watch. If it's too cold, I'll have to stay home with Caylee. Did I mention that it snowed like crazy yesterday?!?!? It was sooo pretty! The flakes were HUGE! I don't think anyone had any idea that we were gonna get snow! I had between 6 and 7 inches on my car when I left school. When I woke up and went to school yesterday, it was pretty dark and smelled like rain. I had no idea that it would turn into snow by lunch and accumulate that much by the end of school! Today the sun in shining and the snow is melting fast! My concert is coming up on the 25th and my first rehearsal is at the end of next week. Dad is flying out on the 27th to help Kary and his family move back home--super exciting!!! I get to take the band and choir to Elitch's on May 14th. Track meets continue throughout this time. There's also Alumni and graduation in there. Then........SUMMER!!!! I promise I will post more, after the springtime madness!!!!