Pies, VBS and Nathaniel & the Mud Puddle

As I mentioned in last nights post, I had to go take rhubarb out of the freezer to make pies for our final night of VBS, which is tonight. So this morning, before it got too warm, I made a Crusty Rhubarb Pie & a Crusty Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie. Here's a couple of pictures of the Crusty Rhubarb Pie. Its doesn't have a lot of fruit in it, but just enough to taste the rhubarb. The Strawberry-Rhubarb pie wasn't as pretty, so I didn't take pictures of it.... it kind of overflowed the pie plate a little.

These are pictures taken about 5 minutes after I took the pie out of the oven. I wasn't able to catch any of the steam rising from the pie....

The VBS finale went very well. The kids had a blast with all the songs we sang, and the parents seemed to have a good time too. The pie and ice cream afterwards seemed to be a big hit as well. There was so much pie left the ladies in the kitchen weren't sure what they were going to do with all of it. Too much left to put in the fridge until Sunday. There was a gal who helped with the preschoolers that made an awesome chocolate chip cookie pie. Yep, a chocolate chip cookie pie. It was yummy! She's going to give me the recipe, so if anyone is interested let me know and I'll post it after I get it.

These pictures of Nathaniel were taken a few days ago, Saturday, I think, after we got a good rain overnight. There are a couple of places in the driveway that hold water after everything else is dried out. Nathaniel likes to play in the one closest to the house. I usually yell at him to get out of the mud puddle, but this time I didn't, much to his surprise.

Nathaniel likes to run around in his pull up. I think he'd actually run around naked if I'd let him. He was a filthy boy when he came in and in need of a shower. David never played in the mud like Nathaniel does. He's more like me in that David doesn't like to get really dirty.

Is tomorrow really Friday? My week's been all messed up because of VBS. Have a happy Friday!

VBS Day 4

Here are some pictures from VBS. This one of Nathaniel (in the middle) was taken Monday, I think. The awesome ladies that have 20 preschoolers to handle bring them up for the closing each evening. That would explain why Peter (the yawning one) is so tired. Its past their bedtimes.

These next pictures are from tonight. These were taken for a slideshow that is shown at the closing of each evening, to spotlight a particular group and summarize the lesson for the evening. David is down front in the blue shirt to the right of the kid in the green shirt who is crouched down a little. He's such a ham.

David is in the same spot, but the kids moved. Joy, the gal taking pictures said this when I commented on the fact that the kids are all off the ground, "I love taking jump shots."

Tomorrow is the last night of VBS. The directors have organized a "thank you" dinner for all the VBS volunteers, so we're going to that, and since its the last night, its "invite your parents to VBS" night. So after the program we're having pie and ice cream. Which reminds me that I have to take rhubarb out of the freezer to make pies......

VBS Day 3.....

And the kids are loving it! And not just mine. It seems that all of them, with the exception, of course, of a few of the older ones, are having a blast. Tonight there was a game that involved water, and one of the older girls who is helping came in completely soaked from head to toe. Dripping wet in the sanctuary. I think she asked for it. :)

There's a gal who has been taking pictures of everything, and her hubby is in charge of games. They have a little boy, Caleb, who is adorable. The cutest part? He loves to dance. So when we get up to sing songs, he grooves right along with the rest of us. So tonight, I brought him up on stage with me. He loved it! I wish I had some video to post, but I don't think his mom got any recorded.

Any little one or two sentence posts are done from my cell phone. Its free (except for messaging charges) and a way that I can post while I'm away from the internet and not miss a day. Like when I'm at my parents' house. :)

Today of All Days....

I woke up with a migraine headache this morning. When I wake up with one, I know its going to be a doosey. But today? I felt like a train wreck. I took an Imatrex at 8:00 am, and another at 9:00 am, to no avail. It didn't even touch it. After another hour and a half of laying on the couch, feeling nauseous and with a pounding head, I called the pharmacy to see if I could take something OTC after taking the Imatrex. The good news? I could take Ibuprofen. During the call with the pharmacist, I was almost in tears, my head hurt so bad. And I typically don't cry when I get migraines, so I knew this one was bad. Then I called our Super Awesome Babysitter's mom, cause I knew she didn't work today. Amid tears I explained what was happening and asked if she could take the boys for a while so I could get some rest and try to get rid of my headache. I knew I couldn't go to VBS with a migraine like that. Thankfully, she took the boys from about 11 am to 3 pm when I went to pick them up. Headache? Gone! Yippee for me! I'd taken 800 mg of Ibuprofen at 11 and went to bed. I woke up about 12 and it felt like it was pretty much gone, but I stayed in bed until about 2:15 when I got up to get something to eat for the first time all day. I didn't want to eat earlier since I was so nauseous; I was afraid I was going to be sick, and no one likes to be sick to their stomach.

So with a migraine vanquished, we went to VBS tonight. David brought his friend, Isaac, who is our Super Awesome Babysitter's brother, and who David and Nathaniel played with for most of the day. It was a good evening. And good night!

A Nice, Relaxing Sunday.....

It was a lovely Sunday. The weather was warm but not unbearably so, we grilled burgers & hot dogs for lunch, then lounged around until it was time to go to VBS.

This year's VBS is "Crocodile Dock", and tonight was the first night, and it went very well. The kids seemed to have a blast & I enjoyed it too. I'm helping lead the music, and its a very easy job. We play a DVD that is basically a bunch of music videos - kids singing & doing motions that go with the words to the songs. So I have to get up and sing and do the motions as well. That's my job. I was a bit hesitant at first when I learned that there were actions to the songs, but after practicing them with David earlier this week, I figured out something I should have realized sooner. The fact that you get up in front of the kids and act silly make it that much more enjoyable for the kids.

Oh my, I'm beat. I think its high time I make it to bed before 10:00 pm. For the first time in more than 2 weeks. Night-night!

I think I'm going to regret this

Monday was the start of Richard's softball league tournament. His team's game was at 8:15 on Monday evening, so we didn't take the boys, but promised them that they could go to the next game, which is tonight. At 9:15. I found out earlier this afternoon. So, because we promised, we're taking them to the game. This is going to be interesting, as Nathaniel didn't have a nap this afternoon because I had a meeting for VBS that starts Sunday night. He's already had a couple of crying fits, and its only going to get worse as the evening goes on. Maybe he'll fall asleep in the car on the way to the game. I can only hope.

I'm planning on taking my camera, so maybe I'll get some decent pictures of Richard playing ball. He's very competitive when it comes to sports. Last years team was pretty good, this year's is so-so since most of them just come to drink beer and attempt to play softball drunk. Idiots. Anyhoo, if I get some decent pictures, I'll post them tomorrow.

Past My Bedtime!

I had a meeting tonight for our Vacation Bible School that starts August 2nd. I'm helping with the music part of it. The meeting went well, but I didn't get home until around 10:00 pm. The meeting started at 6:30, and got over about 8:00. So what did I do between 8 and 10? Stand around and talk, of course. Or listen to other people talk. I had to. I was the only one left with a key to lock up the church. Plus a quick run to Wal-Mart and off to home. A pretty uneventful day, all in all. I'm off to bed now. Nighty-night!

Nap Time

When I picked the boys up from VBS this afternoon I got quite a surprise. Nathaniel was out cold on one of the pews. He's so used to taking an afternoon nap that he just couldn't stay awake. He had only been asleep for a few minutes, but he looked so cute laying there with his thumb in his mouth. So peaceful and oblivious to what was going on around him. One of the older kids that was helping offered to carry him out to the car, but as soon as she picked him up he was awake. That was totally normal; if I'd been taking him out of his car seat to carry him into our house, I could have taken him right up to bed and he would have gone back to sleep. But that 5-10 minute catnap was enough to get him through to a 9:00 pm bedtime. Now just thinking about it is making me want to go be peaceful and oblivious. You know, I think that's a fabulous idea. Have a great evening!

VBS, Sam's Club, Car Parts and Pink Eye

We took the boys back to VBS today, and then headed to La Crosse to go to Sam's Club, and we had to make a stop at a gun store for Richard. He's looking for some specific scope for one of his hunting rifles. Anyhoo, we're almost to the gun store and my cell phone rings with an unfamiliar WI phone number. My first thought is something happened to one of the boys at VBS. Sure enough its Shelley, who also goes to the church we attend, but is helping with this church's VBS. She starts with "Don't worry. Everything is fine. Well, sort of." Then launches into the description of how Nathaniel's right eye looks red and is a little goopy, and they thought that he initially poked his eye, but after a half hour it still looks red, so can we come get him so we can take him to the Dr cause he might have pink eye. Well, no, we're in La Crosse, so we can't just be there in 5 minutes (we could if we were at home), but we'll be there as soon as we can. So we stop at the gun shop and I make phone calls to the Dr's office while Richard scopes out the scopes.

So by the time we left the gun shop its 10 o'clock. Nathaniel's appt is at 11:30. It takes about 30 minutes to get from Sam's Club to our house, but we're not going quite that far. Richard was wondering if we could make it to Sam's and to get Nathaniel and back into town to the Drs' office by 11:30. Of course! You're talking about Teri, the super Sam's Club shopper! I have a list, I know where everything is, and I have no kids with me. We were in and out of Sam's in 30 minutes. Then we had to stop for gas, $2.46 a gallon at Kwik Trip, 3 cents cheaper than where we usually get gas.

So as we're getting on the interstate Richard's cell rings. Its the Ford dealership where we'd taken the Bronco to get it checked out. The check engine light keeps coming on and we needed to know why. So it needs some throttle something sensor and some throttle body gasket or something, and they can do the work today and it'll only be $250. I think that included the $85 to hook the Bronco up to the computer, which is what we had done initially. So when he got home he started looking up parts. He can buy the parts he needs and some other do-hickey and be under the quote the dealership gave him buy about $50.

So I got the lucky job of taking Nathaniel to the Dr. Yep. He's got pink eye. I didn't want to gross everyone out, so I decided not to post a picture of his eyes. The left was starting to look yucky, so we're treating both eyes. Poor kid didn't want to go to the Dr until he discovered he got to ride the elevator. Oh, and the nurse weighed him while we were there. He's 41.5 lbs. He doesn't weigh much less than David does. He's more solidly built, though.

Grilling Out & One Short Haircut!

One thing that we like to do during the summer is grill out. A lot. Almost every night. I'm the one who actually gets to do the grilling, since Richard is usually on his way home while I'm working on dinner. Anyway, we were looking for some seasonings to add to our beef, chicken & pork, and we found these awesome Weber Grind and Grill seasonings at Sam's Club. Kick'n Chicken and Chicago steak. We're going to try the Kick'n Chicken on pork chops tonight, and we put the Chicago Steak on our burgers on Saturday and they were yummy!

David has been begging me to shave his head bald for the last couple of months. I kept putting him off. A month or so ago I bought a set of Wahl clippers, so I could start cutting the kids' hair at home instead of paying $25 for both of them to get their hair cut. Anyway, this past Saturday, David again asked me, "Can you shave my head?" So I countered with, "If Daddy says its ok, then I will." Knowing that Richard would probably say yes, but I wanted to make sure. And, of course, the answer was yes! I could shave his head without a guard on the clippers, but not shave his head with a razor like Uncle Chris does. He was so excited, he could hardly contain himself. I should have taken some before pictures, but didn't think about it until it was too late. So here is an "after" picture.

David hamming it up, as usual.

The boys had their first day of VBS today. David was kinda worried about it this morning, so I told him if he didn't like it today, he didn't have to go back. When we picked them up, David looks at me and says, "Mom, I think I've decided that I want to come back tomorrow. They're having a bounce house." One of those big, blow up jumping things, I'm assuming.