Monday, March 31, 2008

The Girls Weekend Activities

Saturday was a beautiful day. It finally started to get a little warmer so here's what was happening by us on Saturday. Cheri had a dr. appt. so she dropped Halle off to play.







Listening in on one of the conversations, I heard Halle say to Shaelyn, "The summer is going to be sooo much fun. Do you know why? Because we are going to be camping at the same campground as you and we'll see each other lots!" They love each other!













The older girls were busy too.
Katelyn's suitemate was here for the weekend. They wanted to do something different to their hair so....
Here's Katelyn before...

















and after.


















Chelsea went from this...














to this...













Friday, March 28, 2008

Fun meme

Karolee had this meme and I thought it looked like something fun. So here goes:

1. WHO WERE YOU NAMED AFTER?
No one in particular. My Dad wanted to name me Terri - my Mom wanted to name me Michelle. I guess my Dad won that one.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
When I was reading about abortions in China and was thankful that Shaelyn's birth mother did not do that.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It all depends. My handwriting varies depending on my mood. Sometimes it's great and other times, not at all.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Roast Beef

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
3 Girls - 19 year old, 16 year old and a 5 year old.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I would hope so.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Me, never.....

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes!

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I would love to - and sky dive as well!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL?
Golden Grahams

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Typically, no

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Yes, but not as strong as when I worked on the muck farm.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM?
Chocolate peanut butter cup although there's a new one out there with milk chocolate cows filled with cream that is really good too.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their smile

15. RED OR PINK?
Pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOU?
My weight

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My Mom

18. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue jeans and brown shoes

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
Chicken sandwich from Burger King

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?''
Songs from the movie "enchanted"

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE?
Spring Green

22. FAVOURITE SMELLS
Freshly bathed baby and lilacs

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Cheri

24. FAVOURITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Gymnastics and Ice skating

25. HAIR COLOUR?
Brownish blond - I wish I had the blond color I had growing up

26. EYE COLOUR?
Green or Blue - depending on the day

27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
I used to but then I had laser eye surgery!!

28. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS
I like suspense

29. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Flyboys

30. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Wine colored

31. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Actually, I love spring but I'll take a good, cold winter. Just not a humid hot summer.

32. HUGS OR KISSES?
Hugs

33. FAVOURITE DESSERT?
Death by Chocolate

34. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
I just finished "The Yellow Rose" from the Lone Star Legacy by Gilbert Morris this morning. I don't know what's next.

35. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Don't have one

36. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Celebrity Apprentice - Trace Adkins should have won!

37. FAVOURITE SOUND?
Birds on a spring morning or a thunderstorm in the night (just not when I'm camping)

38. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
I guess the Beatles but am not crazy about either

39. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
China

40. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I can make this gurgly type sound in my throat that I learned from my brother

41. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Grand Rapids, MI




Thursday, March 27, 2008

Slow Cooking Thursday


Here's a recipe I made a while back. I know for some of you, it's too warm for soup but we're still hanging on with cooler temps so I'm still making soup for supper. My family all loved this and it's much easier to make if you have one of those Vidalia onion slicers - it worked great for chopping up the vegetables.


NO FUSS POTATO SOUP

6 cups diced, peeled potatoes
5 cups water
2 cups diced onions
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup margarine or butter
4 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
12 oz. can evaporated milk
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
8 oz cheddar or colby cheese, shredded


1. Combine all ingredients except milk, parsley and cheese in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on high 7-8 hours or until vegetables are tender.
3. Stir in milk and parsley. Stir in cheese until it melts. Heat thoroughly.

You also may add bacon and chives for added flavor.
I put mine through the blender until smooth because my family doesn't like chunks.



Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Easter Pictures

Here is Shaelyn on Easter morning. I took these at church after our first service. I notice that they are somewhat blurry because I had to snap quickly. She was ready to go home. But I wanted to take them there with all the flowers instead of at home, in the snow.

















Sunday, March 23, 2008

See What a Morning!

We sang this in church this morning. It's one of my favorite "new" Easter songs.
Listen to these words and enjoy!


Saturday, March 22, 2008

Is is April 1?

I need to do a double take at my calendar. I thought there was an April Fools Day joke done to me, but no we have had the first day of spring according to the calendar but outside - this is what I see!

Yes, that would be 11 inches of freshly fallen snow on my picnic table!
Earlier in the day, we had yellow looking grass on our lawn. What is going on here?






This would be the snow hanging from my roof.
I guess I'm hiding Easter eggs inside my house today because otherwise we might lose
Shaeyn in the drifts!



Friday, March 21, 2008

Sisterly Love

As some of you may know, Chelsea and Shaelyn do not always get along the best. After a fight between the two of them, this was the sign taped up on Shaelyn's bedroom door.



If you cannot read it; it says - "Do not let Chelsea into my room, ok"
I hope someday they'll get along better!






Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Goofy Girls

Katelyn and Shaelyn decided to do their own "photo shoot" the other day. Here's some of what they came up with. What goofy girls! (but kind of cute too!)



















Sunday, March 16, 2008

Party, Party and more Parties!

This has been a week filled with birthday parties. Shaelyn had one on Thursday had a gymnastics place. She loved it even though she wasn't feeling great yet. Then on Saturday, she had another one - this one was focused on Hannah Montana and all kinds of princesses. That poor mother had about 14 girls at the age of 5 or 6.
At night, we had a family birthday party for my Dad, Katelyn, Chelsea, Heather and Duane, my brother.
We did enjoy a delicious cake from Costco!! In spite of some of us still not feeling 100% we did manage to get a few laughs in. Laura informed us all of another one of her strange problems and we informed her to watch what she says about her "cackling hen" aunts. Santa is always watching! Now another week starts.


Shaelyn getting a hug from Grandpa after she gave him his card











Chelsea checking out what's inside her card
















Here's Katelyn and Dave






Thursday, March 13, 2008

Slow Cooking Thursday


Sorry I haven't been around for the last few days. First, for some reason or another - blogger would not let me comment on your blogs! So even though I read what you all had to say, I couldn't give you my positive feedback - sorry. And then the last two days I've been somewhat sick with this cold and fever type thing. Shaelyn stayed home from school yesterday and is still trying to rebound. But anyway, I'm joining in the Slow Cooking Thursday with a meal I made yesterday called Chicken in Mushroom Gravy. It's incredibly easy and the whole family loved it. I made baked potatoes with it and put the gravy over them.

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
10 3/4 oz. cream of mushroom soup
4 oz. sliced mushrooms, drained

1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Combine wine (or broth) with soup. Pour over chicken. Top with mushrooms.
3. Cover. Cook on low 7-9 hours.



Monday, March 10, 2008

The Fun of a Weekend

Friday night, Katelyn, Chelsea and I went to see the play - The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.
Chelsea's school was putting it on. We all love Lord of the Rings so we were quite excited about seeing this production and how they would do it. We were not disappointed. Here is a picture of Bilbo Baggins - the Hobbit-, Gandalf the Wizard and some of the dwarfs.















This is one of the goblins. Didn't they do a great job on his makeup?













Here are the elves, capturing the dwarfs.










The elves, resting at rehearsals.













They also had Smaug, the dragon and Gollum, who was looking for "precious". What a ton of work but well worth it. The only problem they faced was that Hobbits and dwarfs are are short little creatures. We were told to just assume that these were "dutch dwarfs"!
While the 3 of us were enjoying the play, Shaelyn and Dave were out together too. They had a daddy-daughter bowling night from her school. They got to bowl 2 games and eat hotdogs. They had a lot of fun too. There were lots of different bowling tricks to try in the second game. I was told that she "beat" one of the games.





Friday, March 07, 2008

You Hold the Pan....


Shaelyn was playing with her moon sand yesterday. I told her she had to clean up the mess when she was done. So she got out the broom and dustpan and told Dave her thoughts. "You hold the pan while I "broom" it"







Thursday, March 06, 2008

Getting the paint brushes out again!

Mari, Cheri and I went to my Dad's to paint his dining room yesterday. He wanted to surprise Ann. She is in Florida until next Wednesday. He tore down the wallpaper and we painted it for him. It's a nice shade of brown. (kind of like what I just put in my bedroom)It's just amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do to a room. That wallpaper was great when it was put up but its time was up. I wish I could be there to see her face when she sees it!
The dining room itself was pretty easy to do but we also went down the hallway - there are a lot of doors to work around.
Ginger - I wish you could have been there for me. You know what the two of them are like to me! It was kind of a continual "pick on Terri" day. They didn't like the way I was edging the ceiling, etc... And then Mari had the nerve to try to compliment me. She said - "we just do this because you can handle it so well" Like that would make me feel any better. (big sigh)
Anyway, I'll see if I can get a picture with things hanging back up on the wall to show you all how it looks!

You Make my Day!

Thanks Heather and Karen! This award was given to me by them.










The rules of this award are to give it to 10 other people whose blogs give you happiness, inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know that you have given them this award via e-mail or by posting a comment on their blog. This way they can continue to pass this award along! You should know that you may get this award many times, but this just means that you are very, very loved! Just keep passing the award on "keep the love going!"

I am giving this award to:
Bonnie
Jennifer
Heather
Karolee
Jennifer
Autumn
Tara
Ally
Laura
Sheri


Tuesday, March 04, 2008

A Blue Marble


A well known minister in my denomination passed away this weekend. I was reading the obituary and read that he carried a blue marble in his pocket all the time. This was a reminder to him that God carries the world in His hand. What a sense of comfort that gives - He's got the whole world in His hands!


Monday, March 03, 2008

My Plans for the Day - Ugh!

Update: Yeah! It went well and I don't have to go back until January!


Can you think of one place you would prefer not to be? If you can guess, think of me!










Yup - the dentist. Not really what I enjoy doing for the day, but it's that time again. Off I go....