Happy Birthday, Cyle!

Today Cyle celebrated his 28th birthday. The boys and I made him his very own camouflage "I Love to Cook Wild Game" grilling apron. (This was Clayton's idea. He found a pillowcase and wanted to make it into an apron for Cyle...since I already have one.)

Clearly, Cyle loves it. He even wore it later in the day when he was grilling ribs for supper. Though not wild game, he still loves to cook them.

For a special birthday breakfast, I made cinnamon rolls. Levi loved them immensely...the parts he actually consumed...

I highly recommend the recipe by The Pioneer Woman. They were delicious cinnamon rolls. I halved her recipe and still made 4 (FOUR) pans of them. My neighbors were all too happy to take one pan off of my hands and I was able to pawn a few more off on Mike and Kendra, too. They were a good start to a good birthday for Cyle. He got to work on his truck, go fishing and enjoy a great supper with good friends.

Bedtime

I happened to have my camera upstairs the other evening while the kids were getting ready for bed. Every evening, after their bath, they run around and wrestle with Cyle for a few minutes to get those last drops of energy out.



This picture captures Clayton in his wrestling finest, even though Cyle didn't.

I love this picture. Clearly, Clayton is too excited to be worried about being pinned.

And I love this picture, too. Look at how much fun they are having!

After Cyle's declared wrestling for the evening done, Clayton can't resist and has to take Levi down one more time. Levi does not think this is as much fun as Clayton does.

Then it's time to pick out a story...

and lovingly tell Mom goodnight.

Rainy Days and Sundays

We had a rainy day last week that was just perfect for making chicken noodle soup. While I was making real soup for supper, the boys each made their own pot, too! Above, Levi grilled a "sandwich."

Carefully stirring their "soup."

I asked Clayton how his soup tasted. He replied, "good," then gave me a wink!


Clayton's soup...
Levi's soup...


This past Sunday afternoon was just the day for playing and relaxing outside.





The kids found some hats tucked away in our closet and just had to wear them. (Clayton in the Texas hat at 3 years and Clayton in the Texas hat at 3 months...)

Baby Birds

Two weeks ago, Cyle and Clayton found baby birds inside one of our birdhouses. We watched them grow and change from skinny, chirping babies to birds covered in feathers and strong enough to fly. In that short time they have all left the nest!


Luckily, some other birds have built a nest under our deck and there are two eggs inside it. We can see them when we look through the slats... We'll be watching and waiting to see these little babies hatch and grow!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful, wonderful Mother's Day! We went to church together and then, once home, didn't do anything else! Cyle watched the kids most of the day so I could have some quiet time to work on some projects. They made me a cherry pie and put a beer-can chicken on the grill for supper. I didn't even have to do the dishes. It was so nice. I'm so blessed to have such a loving husband and darling children who make days like that so special!

It's taken me awhile to get the blog updated because I've been busy working on a variety of projects. The above apron is just one of them. It's made out of a pillowcase that my grandmother had embroidered and I had tucked away in a closet. Once I saw the pattern for turning pillowcases into an apron, I couldn't resist. Start to finish (including the time to find the ribbon amongst the mess of my sewing notions) was less than 20 minutes!
I can't post pictures, but have been spending a few hours every evening working on a very special project for the boys for their birthday. Once I saw this adorable felt house, I just had to make one for the kids. Only they aren't getting a cute house with a mailbox, garden and a dog. They are getting dinosaur cave with erupting volcano, carnivorous plants, a prehistoric sea and dinosaur bones to dig. I'm making progress, but will be working on it for the next month at least.
I've also been typing, typing, typing trying to put together a collection of my grandmother's recipes. My goal was to get it done before her birthday in June, but I don't think that is going to happen!

Congratulations, Mom!!

I can't help but brag, Mom was selected as one of this year's Heartland's Best Teachers. (Each year the local news station, KFVS12, honors 12 teachers in the area naming them a "Heartland's Best.") We're so proud of you, Mom!!

Below is the information from KFVS12.com about her:

Donna Kielhofner

SCHOOL
St. Vincent De Paul, Cape Girardeau

GRADE
First

SUBJECT
All Subjects

COMMENTS FROM THE NOMINATION FORMS:
"She asked the first graders how they wanted to be greeted every morning and gave them three choices, one of which was a hug!"

"She encourages creative thinking and imagination. She is a wonderful teacher and deserves recognition."

"She allows them to express themselves and helps them learn to respect others. My first grader loves school each day and often shares stories at night about what happened in Mrs. K's class."

"I knew that I fell in love with her from the first day of school. I know that my son loves her for the genuine, caring, and loving teacher that she is."

"She prays for the children when they are sick or down. She is amazing!"

"She is not only the best teacher I have ever known, but also one of the best human beings I have ever known. Her magic in the classroom can be described in one word, LOVE!"

"As a co-worker I have never heard her speak a negative word about anything. She is the person I strive to be."

"She gently pushes children to want to do their best every single time they walk into her classroom."

"Her classroom is filled with love and kindness. She never needs to raise her voice to command the children's attention."

"Most people would never know that she spends so much of her own time and resources for her classroom children."

"Ms. Kielhofner is the light of my son's day."