Toothless, an award and a camp in

                                           Marcus lost another tooth this last week.  

 As most of you know, Mitch received the Littlejohn Award at the Faculty Appreciation Dinner this past Thursday.  It is basically, Person of the Year at Midwestern.  When they give out this award, it's always a surprise.  Mitch was completely suprised but very humble in receiving the award.  I am so proud of him.

                            This is my latest addiction.  It's called a Banana Bread Smoothie.  Yes, I know it's green.  Why, you ask?  Because there is spinach in it...but you can't even taste it...I swear.  I happen to really like spinach and I need the extra iron.  You take a 1/4 c of dry oatmeal, a half cup of lowfat vanilla yogurt and a splash of milk.  Blend that in your blender, then add a frozen banana (I have a ton in my freezer), a pinch of cinnamon, a few walnuts, then add 2 big handfuls of spinach and a few ice cubes...blend til smooth.  LOVE IT!!!!! 

                       This is my Goodwill side table that I found!  I actually ran into a ton of great deals over the past week.  There are super outdoor lawn furniture and gardening supplies on clearance right now.  Anyway, I have painted this table, and will have it in my next post....it's going in Mitch's "Hideout"

                            This toaster was regularly $50 that I got for $15!!!!!! 

                            Last night was the Cub Scout Camp In at our church.  We have went from about 15 kids in our pack, to about 35!!!!!  Huge turnout this year. 

                                                         Isn't my boy getting tall?

                        This was so cool. The Dutch Oven Society cooked cobblers for us at the camp in.  I chatted up a storm with them and gave them my email address; they have already started sending me recipes!!!!!  AWESOME!!!!

                                                                       YUM!

                                     Here are my guys working on the hotdogs

                               He had a good time......

Boris and Mr. Tiny

                                 Poor Mac.  My baby has pretty much been on a liquid diet since getting her braces.  I made her scrambled eggs and french toast this morning.  I told her to let the syrup saturate the toast and it may be easier to eat.  She was able to get it down, but I had to cut off the crust.  She can't chew at all right now.  :(

                                   I made peanut butter blossoms...soooo good!

    Ok family...prepare yourself.  We have added to our pet brood!  Marcus has been saving his money for nearly a year for a hamster.  I really thought he would forget about it; but he has continued to do extra chores and with a little help from his Uncle Max had enough money.  So here he is....

                                            Mr. Tiny.....   yikes!  I hope the cats don't find out about him!  He had enough money for a cage and a ball for him to roll around the house in and a wheel in his cage.  Thanks to Uncle Max helping him out, Uncle Max will now be our boarding station when we go out of town.  He will have pet duty!

                          and Mac has also been saving her money and decided to get....

               a turtle!  His name is Boris.  He is a red earred slider turtle.

                  He lives in a tank...hopefully he will survive....we may not live on a farm but we have lots of animals to care for :) 

Braces

                            Well, our patient is doing a little better after having her braces a couple days now.  It was a rough road the first day and a half.  Her mouth is sore and her braces are rubbing on the inside of her mouth.  Also, she has a guard behind her top, front teeth so she can't bite down completely...so for now she is on a mostly liquid diet.  Smoothies, milk shakes, applesauce and yogurt.

Hutch and table

                         This is the hutch that Mitch and Max brought from their mom's house.  It fits perfectly in the dining room.  Some of the glass shelving inside broke so we need to replace it; then I can start to fill it up.

                      ...and here is the dining table.  Im going to recover the seats sometime..I hope it's a job I can do.

                             This is my celery im regrowing....Mackenzie said "gee mom, you finally got something to grow"  I do not have a green thumb; but I want one.

       One night when Mitch was back in Kansas, the kids wanted to have a sleepover downstairs.  Copper seems to really like the idea :)

                                        He wanted to stay ujp ALL night!

First day of school

                              First day of school.  Mackenzie starts the 6th garde at her new school at Terramar Elementary.  She goes to different class rooms throughout the day.  Her first day went great and even knew someone from when she was in 3rd grade at summer camp. 

                        Marcus started 3rd grade and said it was fun...he only had one problem...

                 and I was pretty upset about it.  It was 115 outside today and they had recess outside.  He got on the monkey bars and burned his hands :(  mama none too happy!!!!

Marcus' Birthday

 Marcus was reunited with one of classmates for his birthday.  He hadn't seen his friend Kariz since the last day of school.  They had a great time, swimming, playing video games and eating :)

    Even dad got involved during the swimming!  It was a water gun war!

                                            One of his Lego cakes :)

                            This was the morning of his birthday with his favorite breakfast, bacon and peanut butter toast.

                                     A stuffed animal puppy he named Baby Copper....from papa and gma Katy.  Happy Birthday Marcus!  I can't believe you are 8!

Jedi Training Academy

 This was a day made for father and sons....they were both excited because we were heading to Hollywood Studios at Disney so Marcus could hopefully get a chance to be selected for the Jedi Training Academy.  They only take 15 kids at a time and only do it for a few hours out of each day.  So you have to get there early to get a ticket.  I love this picture!

                                   He got a ticket!  :)

       Here he is just waiting to begin their training session...

                                  He looks like a future Jedi :)

 This was awesome!  The Darth Vader music started and smoke was everywhere and then he came out...the kids were in awe!

                                                    This is Darth Maul....

      They learned a series of moves so the fight was routine...

                              He had a great time!

                               Mac and I did some shopping during Marcus' training before he actually went on stage.....