To cute for words

Hope your days was as fun as mine...

What happened to spring?

So I spent this cold, damp, rainy day in the Midwest blog jumping. Yep you read it right I became a lurker. That's what your called in blogland if you read a blog and don't leave a comment. I jumped from page to page reading and viewing peoples lives. It was loads of fun. (A close 2nd to reality TV.) Sure was, way better than scrubbing the toilets and floors. In between loads of laundry I read other people's stories.

Of course Cooper on the other hand spent the day lurking out the window or dreaming of food. Your guess is as good as mine....

I am a people watcher. Always have been, always will be. It is quite possibly my favorite pastime. My husband is a sports nut and I love to go to the games, but not to watch the game, but the people. I like to make stories up in my head about what I am seeing and hearing from perfect strangers. Example...I see a younger women in her 40's wearing a diamond the size of a quarter and I immediately think, 2nd marriage to a sugar daddy. I wonder how she got him to leave his wife. Crazy I know, but something that I do pretty much 90% of my day.

So here I are a few things I learned in bloggyland today and feel necessary to share:

~there are some super funny people out there (Vodka Mom)

~my life may seem stressful at times but there are people with way more serious problems them mine (Braja)

~we all have stories that we want to tell or want to be heard

~comments are really appreciated

~people who blog consider their readers like family, and many bloggers follow the same circle of blogs ( saw alot of the same names in comments sections, Not the Rockefeller's, Beth, Life is Good, Nikki...)

It would be a lie to say I won't lurk again. I find Vodka Mom quite interesting plus I want to know how Braja will recover from an almost fatal car accident in India. What a fun an interesting day I hope Empress Bee doesn't regret selling the house in the mountains and loves living in West Palm Beach full time.

Now back to me and what the House of Five on Cambridge Drive has been up to...

Number one is days away from becoming a 1st grade graduate. We attended an awards ceremony at the local park where she received two academic awards. One for getting A's & B's on all Four report cards, and one for effort. The effort award goes out to one boy and one girl from each class and can only be awarded to a person once every 5 years. We are really proud of her.

Number two graduated from the 4 day Preschool class into the 5 day Preschool class last week. Below is the fun day at preschool with Mrs. Price. I will miss that lady, she is retiring, and I am very sad about that, very sad. Bella has started her summer vacation in full force this week. She is playing so hard she asks to go to bed at night! Too funny

Number three is getting ready to turn 2 soon. She went from a tiny underweight 9 month old to full blown toddler in about 60 seconds. Below she is eating a cookie and sitting outside of the principals office while I do PTO stuff. She has now mastered the art of climbing up the slide and jumping on the trampoline. It is quite a site. We are just praying that we don't see Mrs. Price at her part-time job in the X-ray department at the local hospital.

So there you have it in a nutshell. Life is busy...but so much fun!

Oh one last thing... ok two... please tell me you are watching Housewives of New Jersey?!?!?!? It is soooo over the top, and yet I can not turn it off! There must be something wrong with me. Right? Do sane people watch this? I am DVRing them because I just can't get enough! Gotta love BRAVO TV...and 2nd thing, is anyone out there sick and tired of hearing about Jon and Kate Gosslin? She is the devil...no lie...who would blame Jon if he did cheat?!?!?!?

Lurkers Welcomed...I pinky swear....

Thank a solider

It is funny to think I have almost forgotten how to blog without using pictures. If you can't tell I haven't loaded pictures onto the computer in a few days, and blogging just doesn't seem as fun without pictures. I guess it is true that pictures tell a thousand words.

So in a nutshell May seems to have flown by. Summer is almost here...school has 6 days left. The peace and quiet will soon be gone. No more fighting at bedtime and fighting in morning to get dressed and go to school. Soon it will be dinner at 8pm and bedtime at 10. Ahhhh summertime fun.

Memorial Day Weekend is always fun at the Sponseller's....we are cooking out and celebrating Jared's birthday tomorrow. It will be a great day to try out the new grill and play some corn hole!

Thank a solider and have a great holiday weekend...

Flea Market Fun

I took Bella and Gia to the Shipshewana Flea Market to pick out flowers for our house. Jared's parents went along for the ride. We couldn't of ask for a better day. Full sun slight breeze 75 degrees.

For a mother's day gift, my mother in-law wanted to buy me some plants for my yard. So off we went in search of a kid/pet friendly plant that would provide lots of color in my back yard off my deck.

We settled on pink roses and pink azaleas. They are beautiful and almost instantly put a smile on my face when I look at them.
Gia refuse to ride in the wagon and instead on walking while she pretended to talk on the cell phone.

Of course after a full morning of shopping we had to stay and eat at the good old family run,home cooked Amish restaurant.

Homemade chicken & noodles with mashed potatoes and rhubarb crunch pie! Yummy!!!!!

And who can forget fresh hot kettle corn popcorn...my mouth is watering just writing about it.....

Gia and Grandpa enjoying a good meal.
FOOD~FOLKS~FUN

Now for the real fun.....planting....check back for photo updates on the roses...they really are beautiful!

Art Show

Number one came home from school on Monday so excited. She was bursting at the seams. "My art work is in an art show" "We have to go to the high school tonight because my art work is being displayed". "Ummm ok, do you have a note about it?"

"YES I have a note...We have to go!. "Well Gabby you have swim practice so let me see what I can arrange." So off I went to talk to the neighbors to hear about this art show.

Sure enough most of the neighbors agreed it was quite an honor to have your work selected. So, first we went to watch swim practice and then off we went. All 5 of us thought we should have a look. Wow what awesome talent our corporation has. My biggest regret is we didn't invite the grandparents to attend.

I was blown away! I knew my baby has always loved to sing and humm and color and draw, but I had no idea that she could create such beautiful abstract art. Her art teacher tells us all her work is just as good. She even said she had a difficult time picking out her favorite of Gabby's to display!

Of course I shouldn't be to surprised by her color choices, she has me for a mother and I don't know the first thing about subtle. After all, she lives in a home that has a royal blue dining room, a bright yellow den and green kitchen/family room and a red L shaped couch. Hummm where ever did she get her color inspiration from?????

Mugs & Mom's Night

Number 2's preschool does a really fun night/field trip with the mom's. A local paint your own pottery business comes to the school with mugs for us to paint. "Pottery Schmottery"

This is my fourth year attending. By the time I am done sending my children to preschool I will have a total of 14 painted mugs. For those of you slow in the math department this is not because I have 14 children or even 7. My oldest and the baby will have painted 2 = 8, and my middle and I will have each painted 3=6 for a grand total of 14.

None the less, this is probably my favorite preschool function. It is a fun activity to do with my children while interacting with other mom's and kids. We rode along with our neighbors, Matthew & Janilyn. We sat at a table with our other friends Mitchell and Brenda.

In March they do a Dad and Donuts Night. On this evening they make donuts to eat, do a craft and play a game. I think my kids enjoy this night more because of the donuts but I love that the school provides a fun night for each of the parents.

Below is a picture of some of the previous years pottery. One broke in the sink last year when someone drop a bowl on top of it without looking. Hopefully you can tell which one I painted but if you can't I am not telling.

In the spirit of mother's day, here is a picture of me and my girls.....

Despite the cold and rain, I had a wonderful cookout with my parents and in-laws. It was nice to have a day off to relax with my family. Rock band, movie, and a nap what more could you ask for?

Thank a teacher!

This week is teacher/staff appreciation week at most schools in the area. I would like to take a moment to thank all the educators out there. As a former teacher I understand first hand how much time, effort and love you put into your job each and every day. Keep up all your hard work! We appreciate the dedication you put into your job on a daily bases. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of so many!

Picnic Perfect Day

Today was a perfect day for a picnic. Slight breeze, full sun, no bugs. So that's what we did.

Peanut butter on bananas, crackers, apples....yummy

Gia liked the bag of raisins the most.

Bella liked the apples.

Bella's best friend Matthew came over.

They are like an old married couple. They constantly drive each other around and play house.

 

Pictures really are worth a thousands words.
How was your Monday? Mine was Perfect!

since we've been gone....

So it seems like years since I have been gone, but no it has only been a week. What a week it has been though...even if I wanted to post, we have been down and out with Internet issues for 3 days. I not sure we are up and running at 100% yet, but we are at least pulling a signal even if it is weak.

Why is it that every time you try to update your house you almost always take 3 steps back to only get 1 step forward? We have decided to cancel our phone & Internet as well as sate light and get digital cable, phone and higher speed Internet. Hummm that was about 4 days ago and well we now have a working phone, 1 working TV and well a spotty Internet connection. Needless to say we are not so sure the switch was to smart. In the long haul our pocket books will thank us, but today I just want my "MTV"! I am starting to think change isn't all it is cracked up to be.

Just a few updates on the family...#1 had Grandparents day on Friday. Granny posted the video on dropshots which I will share here. http://www.dropshots.com/jmarlow#date/2009-04-30/20:41:26 She is the tall girl in the back row singing to her hearts content. A future star maybe born here and you can all say I remember her from that blog one day.

On Friday evening, the man and his lady of the house ( that's me and the hubby ) actually went to a charity event. It was a Kentucky Derby mock night to raise money for a therapeutic horse stable that services children and adults with special needs. It was a great evening out without the kiddos. My liver may disagree, but a fun time was had by most.

 

The on going joke of the night was: How many drinks would it take to pay for one ticket to the event? I believe it is safe to say we drank our money worth by nights end.
 

 

I guess the biggest update of the week would be #1's trip to the ortho. Yes, I said ortho and yes she is only in 1st grade!

 

Of course #3 had to try out the big girl chair!

 

Ms. Gabby is heading back to the ortho in 3 weeks to have a jaw expander put into place. She is super excited about this...thinking it must mean she is a big girl. We are in total shock. We knew her teeth were bad, but we not financially prepared for ortho appointment's for a 1st grader. I have a hunch that she isn't going to think this is to fun after we have to turn a key in her jaw to expand it every night for 6 weeks. Time will tell.

And to top the weekend off on the right foot....the flu bug officially hit Cambridge Drive. Most of the households had it last week, so we thought we made it free and clear. Not the case at all. Now we play the waiting game. You know what I mean if your a mom. Who is next? How long will it last? And no it's not swine flu, just the the nasty 24 don't touch anything stay in your room flu. And for those of you with your head in the gutters, no it is not called a hang over! Actually it might be if I were the one with it, but (fingers crossed) it isn't me (yet).

Have a good one....