Wordless Wednesday

Milestones

Every week I think I'm coming here to write about food.
Every week I write about my kids.
Every week they surprise me.
Every week I'm more proud.

Last week we had the honor of watching Aspen.
She performed for the first time at the State Speech competition in Kearney, NE.
She performed in the VERY competitive poetry division.
She medaled in her first State Speech EVER.

For those that have never attended I cannot believe the intense pressure of the day.

This was before the 2nd round.

There are 2 rounds with 1 judge each round.

There were 3 groups of 6 kids each.

The level of these kids was amazing.

She spent a lot of time alone at this table.

She thinks too much sometimes.

I'm not sure where she gets that.

The 1st round started at 9:30.

The 2nd round started at 12:30.

Finals were not announced until 3:00.

The waiting to find out whether she was going to be in the top 6...

EXCRUCIATING.

This was incredible.

She stood on the podium.

She put her heart into this.

She worked harder at this than I've every seen her work.

It paid off for her tenfold...

This is what accomplishment looks like.

It's also what exhaustion looks like.

Our night ended at 6:30 p.m.

Let me tell you about this speech team.

For (I believe) the 12th year this team

has placed 1st or 2nd overall against schools from Omaha.

(Kudos to Brownell-Talbot by the way, simply amazing talent.)

Aside from the parents there was 1 administrator that attended and

1 teacher.

What an awesomely talented group of kids that Hartington continually produces.

Thank you to Coaches Kathol and Johnson for your time and energy and your

consistent belief and expectation in these kids to succeed.

NOW...

No blog of mine is complete without a bit about Madame R.

Last weekend we discovered the most wiggly, teeny, tiny, tooth.

Sadi spent a week performing oral surgery.

R waffled between wanting it out and never giving it up.

Success came.

WHILE I WAS GONE!

Do you realize this is my last first lost tooth?

I do. I cried. Jeff laughed. Fairy came. The end.

I did bake on Saturday:

These are amazing.

I found the recipe over at Within The Kitchen.

Click HERE for the recipe.

YUM!

If You Sprinkle

I used to sing a little song.

About wiping the toilet seat off if you pee on it.

I should have sang it more to my children.

Lately there's a LOT of sprinkles on my toilet seat.

I can't figure out why.

Girls, generally don't sprinkle.

The two boys in this house are WELL past the age of not remembering to lift the seat when they pee.

PEE, PEE, PEE, PEE...

This one would NEVER pee on the seat.

:)

This one would REALLY never pee on the seat.

This one might just to gross me out.

I'm a bit like Emma Pillsbury from Glee.

But not that bad.

Yet.

It's not this one.

She HATEs it when I freak out about things.

And I freak out about pee on the seat.

A lot...

This one is pretty ornery.

But feels about pee like I do.

Yuck.

It might be this one.

He tends to lean towards enjoying a good mom freak out.

But for someone doing it for shits and giggles it happens WAY too much.

Could these 2 be the King and Queen of Pee?











I discovered today who it was. You'll NEVER in a million years guess.

OOOHHHH FATTY!

Turns out Fatty is a little thirsty and just likes to play in the water! Ick. I'm completely grossed out and now reminding EVERYONE to shut the lid when they are finished.

The end.

Prom 2010

I'm aware more everyday that I'm no longer the mother of many babies. I am now the mother of young adults.

2010 Prom happened on Friday. For months we spent time getting ready. Friday was a whirlwind. Such beautiful kids.

My biggest baby. Her favorite color is orange and there was just something about this dress. When she put it on it made me suck my breath in. She was absolutely breathtaking. There are no words for her friend there. He's quite the character.

This is a little, bitty, 2 seater car. Sofi looks like her air bag went off. Too windy for the top down which was probably a good thing. I just envision Sofi with her dress up around her head...

Greer had a date this year too. They went with friends. Look how grown up she is...

Parker & Aspen - neither had a date or wanted dates.

It was hard when Sofi started going to prom. This is very bittersweet. They turned 16 the day before.







I'm amazed at these kids EVERY single day. They're beautiful, intelligent, head-strong kids. They know their own minds and their own hearts. Can I ask for anything more? I don't think so. That seems greedy to me - knowing some people don't ever get that much.

I'm lucky. Everyday. I'm lucky.

Brand new

I've had a few people tell me I should do this so here's my very first post ever.

Easier than I thought.

I spend the first hour of the morning reading my favorite blogs. There are plenty of them. My current obsession is baking. I am in love with The Pioneer Woman. I'm not sure she'd feel okay with that. So we won't tell her. I am also in awe of Bakerella, so much so that I do not even know her real name. I could spend all day on the CakeCentral website and sometimes have. I have NO idea what I want to be when I grow up. "That's ok.", you say? Well I'll say that I'm almost 38 and somehow most days it feels very wrong.

The 6 Pak you ask? 6 kids, 5 girls and 1 boy. They range in age from 17 down to 5 and there is 1 set of triplets in there too! Why 6 pak? Cuz it took a lot to get through the toddler years at one point. And because they normally run in a pack. It's unusual to see one of my children. Most of the time I love them. Some of the time I'd like to exchange them for gifts. It depends on the day, minute, second...

A little about me. I'll be back.