Evan 's Hunting Practice

During school today I went looking for the large card that had a picture of Deedee Deer on it so Lauren and I could work on her letter d. The kids informed me that it was taped to Evan's target that he shoots his nerf darts at because he was practicing his deer hunting! So funny!

Mini-Me

I never thought my daughter resembled me at all. Then about a month ago my sister posted some pictures of us as little girls on her facebook page and whoa! Roger and I couldn't believe how much Lauren looked like me when I was her age. I guess it was her golden hair vs. my brown hair that always threw me off. I just couldn't see the resemblance. Here are a few pics where I really see me in Lauren. (I am the brunette and my sister is the blonde). Don't know if you see what Roger and I see, but I'm just finally so ecstatic that I can say my daughter looks like me!

My Ebay Fairy Godmother

I have an ebay fairy godmother! She is always looking out for me whenever I have auctions posted and helps me in ways that I didn't even know I needed help in.

Tonight she spotted an out of place picture for one of my auctions that no matter how many times I checked it, I never noticed it! I quickly shot off an email to the person who put a bid on my item to explain my mistake, but luckily for me the bidder had noticed it and recognized it was a mistake--thank you bidder for your kindness and insight!

My ebay fairy godmother is THE bomb when it comes to making money with her own auctions--I have not reached her caliber and right now only hope that some day I will. She is an incredible wife, mother, and friend. I'm not sure how she does it all. That is the honest truth! She has so many qualities that I admire.

Thank you Dara!!

Funny Things

Four things I remember happening this past week I want to blog about.

1. Roger went hunting on Saturday and was so sore that Sunday morning the kids had to help him put his socks on his feet as they were getting ready for church. I was running for the camera while he was encouraging them to go faster--they won!

2. Evan has some nerf guns and last week he and Roger were having nerf gun fights. This past weekend they both bought more powerful nerf guns to make their fights even more fun. It's one of the first things they do when Roger gets home. Even Lauren likes getting in on the action.

3. Evan had to spend his allowance money to buy the nerf gun, so last night he gave dad his money and Lauren said "You should have kissed it goodbye." She swears she made that up, but she had to have heard someone kissing their money goodbye from someone or somewhere.

4. Last week Lauren was talking to Roger about leprosy and called it "leapord seed."

God Is So Funny!

God, you make me laugh! Just as I decided to give up Dove Chocolate, you send three people my way this week who are asking about becoming chocolatiers! Why? Roger thinks it's hilarious, and it is! I still don't get the feeling though that I am supposed to stay on with Dove. Thank you for the opportunity I had, but also thank you for the excitement I'm feeling as I start to do "the ebay thing" now. So looking forward to garage sale weather, and going through my house to see what I can sell! Love you Lord!

Looong Day

Today we had to leave the house at 8:30 so me and the kids could go to the dentist. I love our hygienist--there for a total of 2 1/2 hours. The kids both have some loose teeth, and none of us had cavities.

Then we had lunch out and then drove to Andover for a 2 hour playdate with some friends from wwhm we haven't seen since November.

On our way home we drove through downtown Wichita to find a place called The Donut Whole. Have you ever had a maple and bacon donut? Not bad. We brought home a dozen of different tasting donuts we have never tried before. The kids enjoyed the peppermint flavored ones for dessert--I'm thinking of trying the bumblebee flavored one which the lady told me is orange and chocolate flavored, or the peanut butter pretzel one. Which would you choose?

Then I stopped at the grocery store to buy frozen pizzas because I was too tired to put any kind of meal together tonight.

When I got home I got the nicest surprise--our girl scout meeting for tonight had to be canceled, otherwise Lauren and I would have been there, making the day even longer.

Looking forward to a slow paced day tomorrow!

Laptop Is Fixed!

Roger fixed the laptop! He thought it was a gonner, but he fixed it and all of my pictures are saved! I'm so thankful for a husband who knows about computers!

What Will This Week Bring?

We had a terrific weekend! I took the kids to Pure Entertainment on Saturday where they played with Lauren's dance teacher's daughter and I got to chat with the mom. Then, two friends from church spent Saturday night with us--a 4 year old girl and a 9 year old boy, so the kids had a blast. Then Sunday was so relaxing.

Yesterday, though, or rather last night, I was looking at a blogsite and my laptop got infected with a virus. Roger was not able to stop it. However, he seems to think he can probably get all of my picture files off of there, otherwise, I will have so many pictures lost. (I am typing this blog post on the desktop computer). He so hates PCs. He got a Mac laptop a while back and never wants to go back to PCs, so our next computer will probably be a Mac. I, of course being computer illiterate, don't care what we get--I trust Roger's computer expertise.

This morning I woke up about 6:30 to some scuffling noises. I thought it was something outside my bedroom window. Then it sounded like it was coming from the hallway. I turned my light on and realized something was caught in our sticky spider trap by our bedroom door. I thought, "Oh, no! We've caught a mouse in it!" But then, I saw the little tail and fur of our hamster Snowflake! Somehow she had escaped her cage, found her way to our room and gotten stuck in the trap. If you've ever used these traps before, they are so very, very sticky. I could not simply pull her off the trap so I had to cut a little bit of her fur and kind of pry her off of the trap. Still not sure how she escaped her cage. Roger and I had both heard her playing in her cage before he went to work. The only thing I could find is one of the wires on her wire cage was a little bit widened and I guess she squeezed through it. Anyway she is doing okay.

Sheesh! What else will this week bring to me?

21 Years Ago

Twenty one years ago on this date Roger passed me a note in high school asking me to go to prom with him. What's so funny is that I was about to do the same to him! We had been friends for a while, but the first time I saw him his smile melted me and it was love at first sight. This was the catalyst that changed us from friends to sweethearts and 21 years later, 14 years of marriage, and 2 kids later we still love each other. Time sure has gone fast and it is so fun to look back and remember times like this. The first picture is obviously our prom picture, and the bottom picture was taken today so you can see us 21 years later. I'd say we're still lookin' pretty good!

New Venture

Today Roger gave his notice to Cessna--after almost 14 years working there. After a 3 month period of interviewing and praying he has decided to take a position with a company called Tech Investments. They make parts and small assemblies to go to aircraft companies--I guess mostly Spirit. He is excited and ready for this new chapter in his life. I hope and pray that it will be successful and very fulfilling for him.

We got to have dinner last night with the owners and the person who will be Roger's boss. The 3 of them were very nice and down to earth midwestern guys. I was joking with some friends that some women would probably like the idea of getting all dressed up and being the only woman in a group of men, but I was dreading it because this was business. I guess my job was to look pretty and smile a lot for Roger's sake. But, we all got to know more about each other's families, and learn about the history and future of the company. All of this was so nice and put my mind at ease about this new job. I am very excited for my husband.

The picture is us all dressed up for dinner with the bosses. We ate at Yaya's on the east side of town. Delicious. The kids got to go over and have fun at grandma and grandpa's for a couple of hours and have supper with them and play and watch movies.

Tough Decision

For 1 1/2 years now I have been the only person in Wichita selling Dove Chocolate Discoveries products. It has been so much fun, but looking ahead to this new year I have decided DCD just does not fit into my life and goals anymore. Am I sad? Yes, but also I feel peace.

God was good and provided me with parties just in the nick of time to keep my status as a chocolatier current. And, I always said I would leave this business in His hands. It seemed that He wanted to keep me going. The past week though, I have looked at all of the DCD things that are taking up space in the basement and it all seems to be weighing heavy on me. I look at all of the stuff and it doesn't look so fun anymore. So, I talked to God and said what do You want me to do? Over the last couple of days He has showed me that the energy it took for DCD (even though it wasn't a lot of energy) needed to be available for other things in my life.

You know what...someday DCD might take off in this city and I may miss out on an opportunity to be in charge of a large team and be making good money, and yes, there may be a slight twinge of regret that I didn't wait for that to happen, but that's only human. Right now, I feel lighter that I don't have to worry about when my next party will be, that I don't have to prepare any more party food and drag it to the hostess's house, that I don't have to worry if my meager 25% commission will make up for the loss of inventory or gas money or time put into a party.

I will miss you chocolate mousse and chocolate covered fruit, and all you yummy tasting smoothie drinks, and any other delicious products that will come along each spring and fall. Maybe some day we will reunite, but probably as me hosting or attending a party instead of conducting a party. See you then!