Swimming & Sashay-ing

I signed up the little guy for swimming lessons at our local Y. He's gone twice, he likes it. Mommy has yet to see him swimming and learning in the pool. The first time mommy and daddy were both out of town, so grandma took him. Love that I live in the same town with one great grandma! 

The second time, I had a meeting at his school I really had to go to, so I did. Dad took him, photos by Dad. 

I guess that's one of the benefits of having a hubby that's been laid off for almost 2 months- he can make sure our kid gets to where he needs to go. It's sad that the company he works for can't pay him right now, but we are making the best of it. 

He loves the water. I asked him if he wanted to do basketball at the Y this winter, or any other sport, and he wasn't interested. Swimming really wasn't an option for him, because I think it's something all kids need to know how to do- and do it well. Plus it'll help when my parents buy a lot on a lake somewhere in Iowa later this year. :) 

Here he is floating- Dad said he did this all on his own, while waiting his turn. Impressive. Good job, little guy! I'm so glad I forked over the money to do this, because a little boy (a year younger than he is) from his school almost drowned just a few weeks ago. The little boy was blue when his mom pulled him out. Thankfully the little guy is okay, but even with parents nearby, it can happen. 

In other news, a friend at church was making these Sashay scarves and selling them. I asked her how she made them, and wham! I'm going crazy. Look at all those colors! It's very easy to do and I'm selling mine for $10 to some of my Facebook friends- $13 if I have to mail it to them. I've seen them for $12, and I've seen them for $15, and even $25- using a thicker material! So I think mine are a bargain! 

No, I don't crochet all this. I just loop it through. But handmade, by me! Takes me less than an hour to do one, and one skein makes about 3 scarves. I have made some shorter ones for little girls- and those sell at $5 each. I earn some money, so I can buy more materials and ladies get to wear them and look pretty! 

Can't believe I'm signing my little boy up for Kindergarten, where did the time go? 

First photos of him on this blog post- here. 

Happy Spring Break everybody! 

LEGO birthday party!

We can't believe our little guy turned 5 this past week! 

 

 I planned a Lego Birthday party!

 I spray painted some bubble wrap green (thank you Pinterest). Great idea!

 Lego juice box covers I found over at  Delia Creates

The banners I made.. it says 'Happy Birthday' then my son's name on the bottom banner. 

Yes, he has a long name, and so far, no, he doesn't want to shorten it.

 Pin the Head on the Lego Man was a fun game all the kids participated in! I found the Lego man over at Debt Free Spending enlarged it to 235% on my copier and it took several pieces of paper to come together, but it worked. I then copied the head off so it was the same size and put them on yellow paper- and there you have it. It was just a sad  looking outline before I added colored card stock to him. My son wanted him to have a red shirt on (his favorite color is red) and blue pants on. Check.

 The first step, of course, was to make and design our Lego heads! 

We played 'Lego Bingo' I found that over at howtocookthat.net

A few of the other games we played were found in the printable pack over at Aussie Pumpkin Patch

We played build the Lego tower game and Lego Straw Game. Most of the kids just wanted to play with the Legos,and that was okay too!

 

Pointing to which Lego cupcake they wanted, by The Little Bake Shop. 

 If you aren't local (Southeast Iowa)- she does still take orders from her etsy shop.

The kids enjoyed the frosting and the candy on top of the 

cupcakes then they did the actual cupcake! 

Oh well! 

My son, and his crazy, silly friend!

I used green, red, and yellow card-stock, plus white. The font was free: called Legothick

What's a party without balloons?

This was before the kids came, and at the end they got crazy with the balloons! 

All of the kids 'posed' for a photo. 

Hubby says he has the most fun at his own child's birthday parties. 

Is that because it's his own child? 

Or because they are well organized? (by yours truly)

Does he know these parties are a lot of work? 

Clean the house, posters, banners, shopping for supplies, ordering cupcakes or making the cake, running the party in somewhat order/chaos mixture, or somewhere in between.

Honoring (Grand) Mother

Taken from my mom's blog: Mended-Vessels

To Elizabeth Gray Wells

Oct. 28, 1911-Sept. 29, 2012

Blessed were you, Mother, for you did not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But your delight was in the law of the Lord, and on his law you meditated day and night.

You were like a tree planted by streams of water, which yielded its fruit in season and whose leaf did not wither.

Whatever you did prospered.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous.

Your husband had full confidence in you and lacked nothing of value.

You brought him good, not harm, all the days of your life.

You were clothed in strength and dignity; you laughed at the days to come.

You spoke with wisdom, and faithful instruction was on your tongue.

You watched over the affairs of your household and did not eat the bread of idleness.

Many women do noble things, but you surpassed them all.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

(Adapted from Psalm 1, Proverbs 31)

Written by Marie Wells Coutu

My thoughts: 

She did. She was. We call her blessed. She died one month short of her 101st birthday. 

We were able to go to the funeral- which required in 3 days: 20 hours of driving (a 10 hour trip each way), 4 states, less than 24 hours in Kentucky (half of was spent sleeping). The people who came / were there for my grandmother: one sister, one brother, 4 adult children & 4 spouses, 6 of 7 grandchildren present (2 spouses), 2 great grandchildren present of a possible 8, and one great-grand child. All celebrated one fantastic lady my grandmother: Elizabeth Wells, whom I am named for. Her full name was Sarah Elizabeth Wells, but I guess in the South everyone uses their middle name. My full name when I was born was Sarah Elizabeth Coutu (try to pronounce that last name!) 

Pizza Night!

It had been a while since we made pizza from scratch. 

So hubby came home to us spreading out the dough. 

Adding the pepperoni

Yum, yum. 

My two pizza boys! 

Home Improvements!

My parents bought us the Nest, it's a learning thermostat, and we love it! 

Easy to install. 

Hubby did good! 

Even our son loves to see the energy savings! Yes, he does ask about this! 

This past Saturday we decided to rip up some carpet on our stairs. 

Padding and carpet are coming up. 

Ripping up the carpet and padding was the easy part. 

It all came up pretty easy. 

The hard part was all the tack strips.... uggh. 

Even our little guy helped, using the shop vac! 

Top of the stairs. 

The stairs, from below. Nice, right? We have done nothing to them- 

this is what was hiding under that gross carpeting. I love old houses! 

Victory Ranch

We took a Saturday afternoon and scheduled a time with Vicki out at Victory Ranch, South of Ottumwa. Victory Ranch is the brainchild of Vicki Baum, our friend and a lady who goes to our church, which happens to be right across the road from Victory Ranch. 

 Vicki and Jazz (the horse), and my 4 year old checking the horse out. 

Learning how to brush Jazz down. Part of coming to Victory Ranch is being 

able to help the horses, and help the Ranch out. 

V is for Victory

Getting ready to ride. 

Such a happy guy. First time on a horse, by himself. When he was 3 he 

took a horse ride with grandma at the farm. 

The welcome center, with my hubby's logo. Bible study is held in here on Tuesday evenings. 

Learning to ride with no hands. He decided to ride without the saddle and did great! I think he was more ready to do that than mommy was to let him do that. There's no stopping this kid! 

The saddle fit him perfectly, and I think he was the first one to try it out. Jazz was perfectly calm, and he's really good with kids, which is why Victory Ranch exists- to help children and families. 

While little man rode around the corral, I took photos until the camera battery died, and hubby pulled some weeds. There's always a long list of things that need to be done at Victory Ranch. It's run by our friend Vicki, who's had this ranch on her heart for a very long time, so it's awesome to see it become a reality. 

Victory Ranch is located at 15603 Copperhead Rd, 52501