This one's for you, babe!

So, my hubby tells me my blog is getting stale. I say the kids are at camp, it's been quiet, there's nothing to blog about. He says blog about anything or nothing, then he says 'Geez, woman, you call yourself a blogger?" So, here it is honey....you asked for it! One year ago, our kids left for camp. We decided that week was the perfect time to redecorate their rooms. It was a really big deal. Alyssa and Kai shared a room and Roan was still in the nursery. It was time for Alyssa to have her own 'girly' room and for the boys to move in together. It was a HUGE undertaking. I can't believe we did it in only 5 days! One thing Dean wanted to do in the boys room was a floor to ceiling mural of a dinosaur. Now, technically I'm all for it. Dean is an awesome artist and I knew it would be great in the end. IN THE END. See, I also know something else about Dean. I told him I only wanted him to do it if it would be FINISHED that week. He said it would. I said, "Really, I mean it!" He said, "Lay off me woman, I said I'd finish it!" Just kidding, he didn't say that, but he was probably thinking it! Anyway, ladies and gentleman, this is our mural exactly one year later:
He's still dripping, has pencil teeth and spine ridges, not to mention the poor thing is BLIND! Love you, honey! Thanks for the dinosa mu.

Camp!

Last night we dropped the kids off at camp. They love it and are so excited to return this summer. They have a couple friends along, too. They'll be gone until Friday evening. Believe it or not, I already miss them! Afterwards, I went out for dessert with my friend Bronwyn. I haven't seen her in a while. It was great to catch up. I'm HOPING to maybe get some scrapping done today since I'm so far behind. Brandy may come over and join me. This week while the kids are gone, we are also hoping to get a lot done around the house. Last year during camp we totally redecorated the kids rooms. This year I'd be happy to just get them clean! You should see Dean's to do list! It'll take at least a year to check everything off of THAT list! We are also going to try and spend some quality time with Roan since he's here alone for a whole week with no siblings. I tried to find VBS or something, but it seems my timeing is off. So far I haven't found any that are THIS week. Oh well. Have a great Monday!

Locks of Love

Today, for Alyssa's 10th birthday, she got her waist long hair cut! Gasp! This past year she read a book in school called 'Because of Anya'. This book is about a little girl who lost her hair due to illness. Her friend cut her own hair and donated it to Locks of Love to make a wig for Anya. After reading this book, Alyssa mentioned that she would like to do that someday. Well, that day has arrived! Today Alyssa got 12 inches cut off. We will send it to Locks of Love. I'm very proud of her!

What's The Difference Between a Duck?

One foot is both the same!!! And the hilarity ensues... Today I was reunited with a friend I haven't seen in 10 years. We met in Charlotte with my sister and another friend. It was like no time at all had passed. We took up right where we left off. We laughed, we cried, we reminisced about the old days. We reminded each other of things we'd forgotten. (Except for that movie, what WAS it???) It was cool. Let's not let another 10 years go by, K Sher? (P.S. Jump up and down and land on your feet!)

My Baby's Growing Up!

My little girl is turning 10. Double digits! Today I took her on our 'Mommy-Daughter' date. (not to be confused with the 'Daddy-Daughter' date!) This is a rare opportunity to be one-on-one without brothers! Yup-it's tradition. We went shopping together at Old Navy, Target, and Barnes & Noble, then we went to her choice of restaurant, Olive Garden. Her favorite thing is the alfredo cheese dip and bread. We had a very sweet time together, just her and me. She's still my little girl but every now and then I get a peek of the young lady she's soon to grow into. It's bitter-sweet isn't it? On Saturday, she's going to a Salon to get her hair cut. Her hair is down to her waist so this is a big deal. My baby. My first. I love you, daughter! Happy Birthday! Love, Mom

I've Been Published!

It has finally arrived! My first paper publication. Scrapbook and Cards Today Magazine has their summer issue up on their website starting today. You can download the whole magazine! My layout "Alyssa" is on page 60 if you want to check it out here: http://www.scrapbookandcards.com/magazine.html

Fun in the Sun

Well, yesterday was Father's Day. We had a lot of fun. Dean has the month off in Kid's Cove so we got to all go to church together. After church we spent the afternoon at Mike & Brandy's house for a cookout. Yummy ribs! The kids had lots of wet fun playing with waterguns. Later, we grownups played a board game. As you can see, Roan was well entertained with bubbles!
Today Brandy and I had prepared to take the kids to the lake but when we arrived, we discovered it was closed due to construction. We were all dressed up with no place to go! So we decided to go to lunch at O'Charlies. (instead of our preplanned movie date for later!) After lunch, we went swimming at a neighborhood pool as guests of friends from church. So, our day didn't go quite as originally planned but was fun nevertheless! I even got a little bit of a tan!

Legos

This is a sweet picture isn't it? Daddy with his three kids playing with legos. They're spread out all over the living room floor, each doing his own thing.Daddy even humming a little tune. Kind of like a Norman Rockwell with legos, right? Until this idealic peek into a day in the life of the Schuster's comes to a screeching halt in RealityVille and the three year old says, 'Daddy, stop singing that, it's annoying!"

What to blog about...

Well, summer has begun. Yesterday, it was 101*. We started our summer vacation a day early. We went to CT for Aunt Terri's graduation. I think the highlight of the week was going to Rain Forest Cafe. (and swimming in the hotel pool, of course!) After dropping Dean off back at home, the kids and I left right away for Blowing Rock, NC to visit Grandpa & Grammy, and the Wolf cousins! We especially enjoyed our walk around Bass Lake. The kids even got to wade into the lake and pick a few water lilys! (Grandpa's doing!) We have been back home for about a week now. It has been surprisingly quiet and peaceful! We've had a lot of great family time, too! We all went to see the movie 'Cars'. It was very good! We tried to go to the drive-in but it was sold out, so we finally made it to the 9:40 showing at the theatre. Even Roan stayed up for it! Dean also bought the board game, "Clue", so we've played that a few times. We've had some thunderstorms lately that has twice caused us to lose our electricity. Try playing the board game 'Life' on the floor by the front door for light! I took pictures this past Sunday at church for a slide show on Father's day. That was fun, but since then I have been in MAJOR pain. My neck is KILLING me. I don't know what I did to it. There was no obvious point of injury. It just gets worse everytime I sleep. For two days I was hopped up on alternating IBU Profen and Tylenol, then yesterday I started taking an anti-imflamatory so no more IBU Profen. Today, tylenol by itself just ain't cutting it, so I've added a hot-patch. When will it end??? Today, Dean and I need to make final decisions for Alyssa's birthday party in less that two weeks. Also, next week I will be reuninting with a long lost childhood friend! (Well, maybe not lost, but out of touch!) How am I doing Deborah?

Still Challenged.....

My good friend Deborah has encouraged me to press on and conquer this 'BLOG'. We shall see...