Happy 97th Birthday, Grandma!

We celebrated Grandma Joachim's 97th birthday yesterday, which was earlier in the week. She was very pleased with the punch, cake and ice cream, especially that the cake even had her name on it.

What a blessing it is so celebrate another birthday with her.

Today is my Dad's birthday, although I didn't get a photo of him yesterday to share!

After Grandma's party, Uncle Vince and Aunt Amanda took us fishing on the west lake. Although we didn't catch anything, it was still fun (thanks to the beautiful weather) and the kids were good sports, too.

Rachel had to test the water with her toes. 

Nathan had to try just one more time in the east lake before it was time to go. 

Va-ca-tion!

It is summer va-ca-tion, an annual event that, depending on the number and age of my children over the years, I have greeted either with excitement or terror. Well, I am happy to say that we have once again reached an age of excitement. 

Planting is in full swing, of course. Here, Dad and Rachel are making sure the soybeans are where they should be. The boys have been planting and rock rolling as well. It keeps them busy and out of trouble, which makes mama happy!

With all of these kids at home (and extra people in the field), food is flying out of here faster than Nathan jacked up on Easter morning jelly beans.

I know I shared this recipe a few years back, but it's a good one and one that you can use to both feed your kids and keep them busy while they make them! I like that it uses honey instead of corn syrup, and no one minds the difference.

Cheerio Bars

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup peanut butter

4 cups Cheerios (or a combination of unsweetened cereals)

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray (or a 7x11 pan for thicker bars). Heat sugar and honey to boiling on stove top or microwave. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Stir in cereal and press into pan.

Crafty Mom

I'm sharing this today on Facebook and my blog, not because my newest screen creation is particularly spectacular, but because I finished another screen that had been waiting for my creative juices for a long, long time.

It wasn't easy . . . I had to encourage a few offers to "help" to go play elsewhere, but I did finally get this finished. (And I was able to incorporate my love of all things baseball, too!)

Middle School Concert

We experienced our first Middle School Spring Concert last evening!

It's crazy to think that in just a week, Landen will be through 6th grade and neither he nor his parents will be "freshmen" of the middle school anymore. :)  

There was a surprise at the concert for Landen--he received the award for Most Improved 6th Grader and was also recognized with the students who received 1 + ratings on their solos.

Both the band and chorus were impressive with their selections!

A Little Oily

I've been dabbling in the world of essential oils the past several months. I know people have been using these oils forever, and I finally tried some for myself. I wanted to try so many different kinds with my first order, that I became a member of Young Living before I had even tried them.  My motivation was finding a natural route to help with relaxation and anxiety in Frankincense. I am always on the lookout for eliminating more chemicals from our home as well. I love Norwex products and the two work great together!

I have since added to my collection a bit and have a few favorites--

Thieves (a blend by Young Living) - This mixture of cinnamon, cloves and other spices is one of my favorites for diffusing (especially with lemon).  I also use it in cleaning my counter tops, sinks and even my toilets.

Lavender - I recently received home made laundry soap from a friend made with Lavender and Lemon. It smells so good I want to eat it every time I do laundry! :)  Lavender is actually what made me a believer in essential oils. It cleared up two separate each aches in my kids when I REALLY wanted to avoid the disgusting chewable antibiotic. (Only apply a drop to cotton ball--never drop into ears! Make sure you do your research before using ANY essential oils on your skin.)

Frankincense - Mixed with  fractionated coconut oil in a roller bottle, I use on my wrists at night to help me relax and sleep better. This one's smell, although mild, took some getting used to.

R.C. (a blend by YL) - I love this eucalyptus blend in a roller bottle when I feel a sinus cold coming on. 

Tea Tree - Works great in a roller bottle for bug bites. I've also heard great things about tea tree eliminating head lice, but I do not have experience with that use!

Lemon (see above), Lime, Grapefruit and Tangerine - I like to add a couple of drops to ice water to add a little flavor.

It has been fun experimenting with home uses. I made this Room & Linen spray this morning using distilled water, 30 drops of oil (I chose Lavender/Lemon) and vodka! Vodka and witch hazel are used interchangeably in many home and personal use recipes.  I have also made a bug spray using rosemary, citronella, Thieves, Purification and peppermint. It had good reviews and is ready for our own family's trial run as soon as this rain clears off!  On my list to make is a spider repellent that uses peppermint and vodka to help ward off the daddy long legs spiders in our basement.

I went to a workshop last week where we made room spray, carpet refresher and foaming hand soap. The home products one can make with essential oils really is endless, although I still do like many of my store bought lotions, shampoos and deodorant.

Oils and products should be stored in tinted glass when possible as they can break down plastic containers. I buy all of these bottles on Amazon. I highly recommend trying a few oils for yourself, either in personal care, cleaning or even cooking.

Pinterest is a great place for ideas and usage guidelines for specific oils.

I don't consider myself a particularly "crunchy" mom, but you could say that I am a bit "oily!"

Sunset

I took this photo of Cresbard at sunset a couple of weeks ago.

My camera phone doesn't do it justice, but I had to at least try to capture it!

90's Spring Concert

After a year off of the Decade-themed concerts, Northwestern presented The 90's for their Spring Concert today. With every year, my kids would ask me what "they" wore in that decade.  I've been waiting for this one because it was MY decade--and because I had New Kids on the Block t-shirts stashed in the attic. :)  

The one Teresa is wearing was purchased at the South Dakota State Fair in (I believe) 1989. Our Girl Scout troop had tickets to the concert of our favorite band and it was the most awesome thing I had ever been able to do up to that point in my life! My love for the New Kids stretched into the 90's until the torch was passed to none other than Garth Brooks. (And we know that flame still burns brightly!)

So, now my kids see these guys on my t-shirts (there is also another with just Jordan's face, which was my FAVORITE NKOTB t-shirt of all time) and wonder what I was thinking?!?!  What were we thinking?  

Maybe all of that hairspray holding up our bangs clouded our judgment.

As I rolled Nathan's jeans this morning, he told me, "90's people were weird." 

I was explaining to Landen that we HAD to pin or roll our jeans because any amount of space left on the bottom of the jeans would receive the dreaded accusation of wearing BELL BOTTOMS!

He said, "So is was the anti-bell bottom?"  

I suppose that it was, as the flared jeans of their generation are the "anti-pin/roll."

If you wait long enough, you may also, as I did today, hear your children singing your senior class song to close their concert.

Ahh, the 90's.

Good times.

Great memories of hangin' tough together.