Happy Birthday Chad!!

Chad turned 34 yesterday, May 29! It was the middle of the week and he had already had 2 days off this week, so he worked at the office all day. He was pleasantly surprised by some of his employees with donuts and a birthday card. It was very nice. For supper, we met mom and dad Ingram at Texas Roadhouse. It was a great dinner together and he was a trooper and sat on the horse while the waiter announced his birthday to the entire restaurant!

Our family picture outside Texas Roadhouse....the sun was a little bright!


Happy Birthday Chad!!!!!

Memorial Weekend

Happy Memorial Day! Hope everyone has had time to have fun and relax, and work if that's your choice, during this long weekend! We've had a little bit of everything, in between the terrible storms around this area! I think we've had enough rain!

On Saturday, the kids and I made our weekly trip to the farmer's market in the rain. We figured out t-ball practice was cancelled, so we left to go to Cheney. We ate a fabulous lunch and watched daddy get started helping mom and dad Ingram on replacing the boards on the wooden fence around their pool. They worked hard and got as far as they had materials for. The children and I made our way to Pratt in the middle of the afternoon.




















Soon after we got to Pratt, we talked about going down to the lake, but we didn't have fishing poles. So grandpa helped the kids make fishing poles out of some wood, string and paper clips. They were so excited and felt equipped to do some fishing.



So we went to a kids' lake near grandpa and grandma's house and we sat and waited. We didn't have any bait, so we were pretty impatient. I think we only lasted about 10 minutes, but it was the experience that counts, right?

After fishing, we took a bike ride on a trail and then went down to the dam at the lake and the kids found a dead snake, watched the water and played with rocks. It was so nice to be outside.

We then had a pizza supper at grandma's and then relaxed around the house. I was given the gift of sleeping in on Sunday morning which was wonderful! We stayed around the house and then took a trip to the park, followed by lunch out at the Mexican restaurant. It was a great time together.

We then drove back to Cheney and the kids were ready to SWIM! They were already in their swimsuits and were in the pool within 10 minutes of arriving. The water was only 78 degrees, which is still a little chilly, but you couldn't tell. They had a great time and did very well for their first time in the water this year. I pulled them out of the pool 2 hours later. We then ate supper with mom and dad Ingram and then did some "garden picking" and played on the swingset. It was finally time for baths and pj's.

We rounded out the weekend at some friends house here in Wichita. They children had a good time playing and we were able to play cards and enjoy good food and conversation. What a great weekend. Now it's back to work and routines!

Yummy Recipe

How would you like to have a recipe that is cheap, high in fiber and protein, low in fat and still tastes good? Well, I have it for you. I found a recipe in the Wichita Eagle last week that I wanted to try. I was sure that the family would not think fondly of it......but thought I'd try anyway. Sure enough....I prepared the plates and set them on the table....and the responses started to come.... "Ooh, that looks yucky"...."I don't like this mom".....great, I thought, how am I going to get through this dinner???? Well, to my surprise, once it was tried by everyone, it turned out to be OK. I was surprised at the end of the meal to hear everyone saying that they really liked it. I'm so happy and I'll be adding a few more black bean dishes to our menu!! Here it is. We enjoyed this with steamed broccoli, fruit and our not-so-healthy cheese breadsticks.

Spaghetti with Black Bean Sauce

8 oz. spaghetti noodles (I used whole wheat noodles)
2 T. oil
1 c. chopped onion
1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes (or crushed tomatoes for those who don't like chunky)
2 t. Italian seasoning

Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat the oil and saute onion until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add beans, tomato sauce, tomatoes and Italian seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until sauce is thick, about 4 minutes. Serve sauce hot over cooked spaghetti.

Enjoy!

Kindergarten Field Day

On Thursday, Emily participated in an end-of-the year event at her school....FIELD DAY!! It was supposed to be the coolest day of the outlook on the weather forecast (66) but the morning was beautiful. I took off work to be there with her and we had a perfectly sunny morning with no wind. It was gorgeous. The children were separated into groups of 2 and then they could pick which events they wanted to partcipate in. Emily and her friend Grace "hung out" together. Their first station, and Emily's favorite, was wading her bare foot in a pool of water and picking up as many marbles as possible with their toes.

A grape sno-cone was the second stop at 9:30 AM!!


This activity, called "Frog-fling" was also a favorite that they learned to do in their PE class.

Lots of fun with hoola-hoops!

And the famous three-legged race!

After the field day events were over, the classes had their spring parties. The mom that planned ours was very creative. She started with a beach theme. Here, the kids are surfing down the "hill" on a beach towel while two other children pulled them.

Emily is showing off her "sushi"....she wasn't so sure until I told her it was just a fruit roll-up, rice krispie treats and a gummy worm! Very cute snack.

The kids all had a great time and I was so glad I got to attend with Emily and see her interact with other children in her classroom. What a neat morning! And now we're about ready for first grade......YIKES!!!!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all of our mom friends. I hope you've all had a fantastic day. I have been so blessed in my 6 1/2 years of motherhood. I have so much yet to learn, but feel that I have already learned so much and been humbled greatly by watching and interacting with my children. I have received gifts from the kids this week from preschool, school and daycare. They made me cards, magnets and a painted pot with flowers. Today, I was surprised with flowers when I returned home from teaching Sunday school and then got some new flip-flop decor items! Yeah!!!!!! What great kids (and a husband who executes their ideas-hee hee) I have!!!! I then was able to nap in the sun and get a start on my color for summer. We did some yard work and took a bike ride to the park. What a fantastic day!!

Having a yogurt snack and bedtime story on the deck.....

and kisses for mom at the end of the day!















We are also so lucky to be in close proximity of both of our mothers. My mom and her husband stopped by today to share lunch at our home. It was a short time together but so sweet to have a couple hours together. We are so thankful for a good relationship and precious time together. We love you mom!

On Saturday, we visited Cheney and spent the day with Mom and Dad Ingram. We shared a fabulous lunch together and then helped "open the pool!" No, we didn't get to swim as the water was a little green and VERY cold. But the kids still begged and pleaded. It won't be long before they'll get their fill. Anyway, we had a great day, but finally had to go inside to play games and on the computer since the wind was about to blow us away!
Emily and Chase spent a lot of time "netting" the pool. Emily was even picking up whirlybirds and throwing them in the pool just so she could use the net to get them back out. They also had lots of fun on the riding toys and swingset. A great day at grandma's. Thanks mom and dad - we love you and cherish the time together so much.

Adventures Fun

After arriving back to Wichita on Sunday afternoon, the kids and I headed to All Star Adventures. It is a mini theme park with an arcade, mini golf, bumper boats and RIDES! A local radio station was having a listener appreciation day and we managed to pick up some tickets so I thought it would be fun for them. The weather was gorgeous and I'll let their smiles tell the rest of the story! Enjoy!

Now it's time to get back to the grind. Have a great week.

Our Weekend

Chad had a few guys in for a bachelor weekend so the children and I went to Kansas City to hang with the cousins. We had a very relaxing time and the kids had so much fun playing together. On Saturday, we went to Deanna Rose, a children's farmstead. We've been one other time and we again had lots of fun. The children got to feed the fish and turtles......

....soak up some rays while swinging in the sun....

....pretend that they were flowers....

....visit Pippi the cow....

....feed a bottle to the baby goats....

....OH, and of course play on the slides and playground.

A GREAT weekend. Thanks to our gracious hostess!!