So,
It's been the same ol same ol around here. Constantly picking up toys, cleaning house, laundry, dishes. etc. I recently hosted a Pampered Chef Party & had a very nice turnout. I even baked a very tasty pie for the occasion. It was a Blushing Cran-Apple Pie. I will be closing my show later this week. I have a list of stuff I want about a mile long! Hope I get lots more sales. :) I have managed to keep my house "clean" since the party. Been very proud of myself. Just the keeping up with laundry and putting away the toys as they get drug out. Faith has enjoyed her 1st week of school. Isaiah started sleeping in again. Mom & I took the kids to Arthur this last weekend to go to Beachy's. Mom had never been! (what?!) I love that store. I came home with a wondrous supply of cappuccino mixes, home made butter & Amish peanut butter! After our shopping trip, we hit up the yummy Yoder's Kitchen for a tasty buffet lunch where I ate way too much! But it was a lot of fun spending time with my mom. Even though we live in the same town, we don't spend near enough time together. I worked on a couple of DIY projects I saw on Pinterest. We also enjoyed the balloon festival in Lincoln over the weekend. Took Faith on the hot air balloon. It was a first for both of us. I do love the sight of all the hot air balloons. As did Isaiah. He just kept saying "bayoon! bayoon! bayoon!" as he pointed in the sky. Sadly, my lil man doesn't like having his picture taken.

(yummy!)

(this came JUST in time. Faith came home with a fundraiser the NEXT day!!)

(it's hard to tell, but here we are on a hot air balloon) 

To that, I tip my mug for another sip of java!

Hi fellow bloggers!
 Wow. I seriously need to slow down & smell the coffee beans! I never got back to writing after our trip to California back the end of April! Wow!!! So, like old friends that haven't seen each other in a while, we need to catch up from where we left off!

1st off, California was awesome! Faith assumed we were taking her to see her Aunt Curly & she couldn't wait! Once we landed & shuttled form the airport she kept noticing all this Disney themed stuff & was getting irritated because "she wants to go". Haha! So when we sprung the news that we were going to Disney for a few days, she was sad to not see Aunt Curly right away, but excited as well. Everyday we had a new surprise for her! Day 1: She got a new Minnie Mouse headband & the surprise of going to Disney, Day 2: we had a Princess Belle dress and tiara & took her to a lunch, at Ariels Grotto, to meet the princesses (Belle is her favorite) Day 3: we had a new princess shirt for her. She had a blast, as did we. She rode everything! I was stoked! She even wanted to ride the tower ride, roller coasters etc. She is a brave girl!!! Love her dearly! Our 3rd day in Cali we spent half the day at Disney & the other half learning to sail & at the beach.(it was COLD) My brother in-law Peter is an excellent sailor. He taught us well. Sadly, I have forgotten the term that I called out as I pulled a rope to help the sail swing around. We also tried In N Out Burger for the 1st time. YUMMY!!! Day 4: we packed a picnic lunch & went hiking in the mountains to a gorgeous waterfall & ate our lunch. California was amazing!

(we almost lost Mikel)

Since our trip, we have finished ("finished") our kitchen cabinets, I repainted the cabinets in the laundry room & revamped my china cabinet. Nate Berkus would be proud!

(kitchen before) 

(kitchen after)

(before)

(after)

We recently got back from a trip to Flint, MI for my nieces 2nd birthday. She had a Dora Fiesta. So much fun!! My nieces are growing up so fast!!! I wish we lived closer. Isaiah & Chloe wore their Batman jammies on the same night. So cute! Ashley took Faith & I to Bronners Christmas store! WOW!!! Holy Christmas there is a LOT of ornaments there! (no pun intended) :) We also drove a little further to Frankenmuth to sample some chocolate cheese at the Cheese Haus. I know where I want to stay next time we are up there.
Our trip home was awful! Just Awful! Because I am a Christian, I will not use the words to describe the trip, that I really want to. Our trip home started off nicely. Moving along, got away on time. etc. etc. Then, as we were on I94W going past Kalamazoo, we noticed one of those lovely blinking signs that said the Interstate was closed. 10 miles ahead. REALLY!? Great. So, as traffic sat at a standstill just 2 miles from there, we did a Uturn & decided to take 131S. yay. little HWY. Semis driving side by side, holding up traffic, just your typical train blocking our only way home for nearly a half hour, then another small town (about the size of Mt. Zion) using 1 ONE lane through the entire town! That would be like Mt. Zion taking 121 & taking it to 1 lane, but this HWY seems to wind through the whole town. So we sat for over a half hour for the south bound traffics turn. RRRGH! We were HOT at this point!! We nearly missed being caught by another train in the 3rd town & we FINALLY arrived onto I80/I90W (a toll road) just to get caught in more road construction! We had several other feats to concur, such as a downpour of rain so we could barely see & were beginning to hydroplane, right outside of SouthBend, IN. Once we finally arrived home I was much happier. We returned the rental car, unpacked out stuff, got a load of laundry going & headed off to Faith's 2nd grade orientation. whew! What a day!!!
Since our adventure Isaiah has been waking up at 4am, the one night he didn't, Beanie threw up in my bedroom floor at 4am. yay. And Faith has begun her adventure at a new school as a big 2nd grader! :) Basketball & dance will be starting soon enough as will Brownie scouts. Life will get hectic.

To that my fellow readers, I'm drinking a BIG 20oz cup o' java! :)