Chad the Grad & a Williamsburg Wedding

I'm feeling a bit more motivated this week than I did last week. I had a pretty intense "to do" list yesterday morning. I didn't quite finish everything on it, but I did get a lot done minus sanding the kitchen walls & scrubbing the bathrooms (the 2 things I was looking forward to the least... imagine that... I should prioritize these things before I even get started.) I have big goals for today as well... we'll see how far I get. 

The weekend was great....

Friday night my brother graduated from Fortis college. He is now a certified Medical Office Specialist. I'm so proud of him! About 5 years ago the doctors said he wouldn't even be able to function well enough to drive a car again & now look at him...

Way to go bro! Keep chasing your dreams! NOTHING is impossible with God! He has an awesome destiny & divine purpose for your life. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday my cousin got married in Williamsburg. She made such a beautiful bride! 

I ended up taking all 3 of the girls. Stephen had to stay in Richmond for a YAM worship night & I couldn't find a sitter for Reece. I tried everything short of knocking on doors in the neighborhood to find a sitter for her. My major concern was her making noise during the ceremony. I just prayed that she would be good. The church was big & very LONG. When the usher asked, I told him we were the bride's family. He then took be by the arm, as I held baby on the hip, Olivia's hand in mine, diaper bag over the shoulder... we marched ALL the way to the front of the church. When I looked back to see how far I would have to go to escape just in case it looked like the back door was 2 miles away. Reece was doing great until the processional music began. She decided that was a great time to chime in & sing her little heart out. Thankfully when the music stopped she did too. As we sat there I passed her everything I had on me to keep her quiet.. a plastic spoon, her teether, baby puffs, my bracelet, my debit card, the Hymnal... whatever grabbed her attention at the time. When the minister said "speak now or forever hold your peace" I had visions of her screaming out at the top of her lungs... thankfully she didn't. She actually didn't make a peep the entire time... except for a few scattered hiccups. Whew! The wedding was beautiful & the reception was a blast. If at any moment I didn't know where the girls were @ the reception I knew I could find Madison in the buffet line, Olivia out on the dance floor & Reece either being passed around or nestled in her stroller. 

(Liv dancing with her cousin Kennedy) 

Jessica is so beautiful & made a gorgeous bride. The wedding was very nice & we all had a great time. Congrats Jess! I love you girl! 

Random Rambling

It's been quite a lazy week.  I've been feeling kinda sluggish & blah. Not really depressed or anything just LAZY.  We did go to King's Dominion on Monday (me & 6 kids, including all 3 of mine)...

Perhaps this has something to do with it... but surely it wouldn't linger all week. I think I'm just in relax mode or something. We've done a lot of bubble blowing, computer playing, board games & movies this week. Reece has had a fever since she woke up yesterday morning. I've been rotating Motrin & Tylenol. I spoke to the nurse today & I plan to take her in the AM if she wakes up again with a fever. 

Stephen & I are sitting here jammin' to some Michael Jackson tunes. AOL radio has a tribute going. Such sad news!

I got back from my mom's a little bit ago. My sister was over with her husband. My sister & I were not in touch for a long time & I've really enjoyed our scattered visits recently. She's a memory machine. She's updating me on all of the childhood memories I've forgotten about. She is so sweet & her hubs is a pretty cool guy too. It's nice getting to know him... & her all over again. We got back in touch around Christmas time. I blogged about it a bit here. 

I've also been in touch with my real father recently. I haven't seen him since I was 13. I haven't talked to him in years either. He's married & has a little girl who was born on my birthday! She's 8 years old. I've chatted a few times with him on the phone & he wrote me a letter. I even got a few drawings from my little sister. I think they are self portraits :) with a little note that says "I Love you sis". How sweet! I need to get one in the mail to him soon with some pictures of the kids. I can't wait to meet my step mom & lil sis. He lives in SC. We are planning a December trip to do some house hopping. We want to visit them. We also have friends in GA. My very best friend (who is also in nursing school & who I am trying to talk into starting a blog so we can keep in touch better!) moved to FL about a year ago. We will see them for sure. We also have friends who moved to West Palm Beach to start a church. We'll visit them as well. I'm super happy about this trip & I hope we'll be able to make it happen!

Israel isn't coming next week, so I've decided that I'm going to get some painting done & try to refinish a piece of antique furniture. I want to finish this project once & for ALL! (the fact that it's not finished should totally be in a "Not Me Monday" post!... I would never let a home improvement project, especially in my kitchen, linger for nearly a year. Never... not me!) I came across my new favorite website today & it's gotten me a bit motivated... so hopefully I'll get a lot done next week. Definitely won't get anything around the house done this weekend though. My brother is graduating tomorrow night & my cousin is getting married on Saturday. 

I also need to get moving on a church project that I've taken on. I've been recruited to head up the skits for this years VBS. I need to recruit some actors, as well as get costumes & props together. When I worked at the church I helped head up VBS a few years so I'm really excited to be a leader again this year! It's always so much fun. Our VBSs are huge. We usually draw in 350-500 kiddos...ages 3-12! This year's theme is Noah's Adventure 2. It's going to be a good one for sure! 

Time to get out of lazy mode, I guess. 

Well, I was trying to upload some more pics from our outing Monday, but for some reason blogger is taking forever. So I'll post later. 

For now, I'm going to "Beat It" & get in the bed. 

Ahhh, she loves the green stuff

Reece developed a new fascination @ our recent photo shoot. Can you tell what it is?....

She LOVES GRASS! She loves to play with it, pick it, run her piggys through it. She's fascinated with it. 

We have a green rug in the upstairs bathroom. She must think it's grass b/c she is constantly crawling over to it... to, well, pick it, I guess. 

Crawling on the bathroom floor... not so sanitary, but it's OK when I'm trying to get ready, I guess. That rug could keep her busy for hours! 

Picking daddy's chest hair... 

Not SO OK... 

Rolling & Recipes

Last Saturday Stephen & Madison went to King's Dominion so Olivia, Reece & I went to the skating rink with Ashley & her 2 girls... 

We had SO much fun. It was the girls first time going to the rink & they did a great job. Ashley & I are old pros. I remember the good ol' days (I say that like I'm 67 or something) when I used to go roller skating every Friday night. Oh man, that was the place to be. 

Anyway... I seriously had way too much fun (I've got a monster blister to prove it too!) As a matter of fact we had so much fun that we're in the midst of planning an 80's skate night with the BFFs. (Bffs if you are reading this... be expecting an Evite very soon! Carmen you can be our cheer leader!) I can't wait... 

Olivia managed to give "Mr. Roller Skating Teddy Bear" a hug...

This was major! She has had a horrible fear of big headed characters like this ever since she was very little. ("hiding under the table, violently shaking, don't even think about coming a step closer or I'll pass out" kind of fear) Even though we've told her that they aren't real the closest she has gotten to one of these things was when we went to Disney about 4 years ago or so... Tigger bounced & carried on with her for about 10 minutes (as she held the death grip around Stephen's neck) until she finally gave him a very brief high five. We've prayed that she'd get over this fear & it seems as if she has! Thank you Jesus!

She also won the sock race (they must have not seen her sneaky corner cut... lol)...

After skating Ashley's husband came over...

By that time Stephen & Madison were home. I cooked this parmesan crusted chicken w/ white cream sauce recipe. I made parmesan/pine nut couscous instead of rice though (right out of the box baby!).

I also made the asparagus, but I cooked it my own way...

• Preheat oven to 400
• wash the asparagus & cut the ends off a little   
• Melt about 3/4 a stick of butter in a sauce pan on medium heat, mix in 2 cloves of minced fresh garlic
• drizzle garlic butter over a handful of asparagus & then roll the asparagus in the mixture so it gets nicely coated
• sprinkle a bit of salt on top 
• cook on a baking sheet in the center of oven for 20 minutes

The tips got a bit crunchy... it was so yummy! 

OK, this wasn't really MY asparagus. It's actually a random pic I found online. I  didn't take a picture of mine... so we'll just pretend, shall we? 

These, however, are my pictures. Enjoy... 

& yes, this is me on the floor with the stroller. Good times I tell ya! 

Ankles?

Liv: Mama, LOOK... I just found 2 new ankles. 

Me: What? 

Liv: I have 2 new ankles  

Me: Babe, I'm sorry... I'm not really sure what you're talking about!

Liv: See, mama... 2 new ankles... right there... can you see them?

Me: OOOOH... you mean 2 new freckles. Yes honey, I see them. Very nice freckles you have there. 

Liv: Thanks mama

Me: You're welcome Bug 

Mud Buds & Beach Buds

One of my Bffs Ashley (have you noticed that all of my buds are my Bffs?!) spear headed a softball initiative at our church. So for the entire summer there will be ladies softball on Saturday mornings. She did an excellent job promoting it & recruiting for it. She really took the bull by the horns... kinda like she ropes the bull by the horn in this video...

(This video was taken back in March when the ladies fellowship at our church did a Hallelujah Hoe-Down. I think she looks like the Marlboro Man in her "get up"... a much prettier version, of course! Anyway, I love this video of her. She had more fun than anyone did at the event roping that metal bull!) 

I won't be able to play ball every Saturday, but I did play last Saturday. Olivia & a few other kids played at the playground while we played ball. It was when we were getting ready to go that I noticed this....

I asked her what in the heck happened & her response was "Me & Tatum got into a mud fight". 

Tatum is Ashley's little girl... 

I stripped her down & we headed straight home to the bathtub. I didn't get too mad because I knew if Ashley & I had known each other 20 some years ago it would have been the 2 of us in the mud fight instead! 

These days I'll settle for sand... instead of mud that is... just not throwing it at each other, of course....

Love you Ash!!! 

In Kasie's Kare

OK, so I'm not starting a daycare or anything, BUT if I was that sure would be a cool name for it, huh?... 

I did start the childcare thing this week though & I must say I have had a wonderful week. I love being home with the kids & they seem to love it as well.. mom's not such a fuddy duddy after all... thank-you-very-much!

Meet Israel: 

I will be keeping him Monday-Thursday & occasional Fridays. He's one of my Bff's little boys. He has been such a good boy this week & we've had lots of fun hanging out with him. 

I decided it would be a good idea to start the day off with an outing or something fun around the house, then eat lunch & then nap time (time for me to study, blog, clean, sleep, whatever!) 

We had a great first week....

MONDAY: 

Went to the park to take grad pictures of my little bro & "just because" pictures of my mom (pictures to come).

Then we found the perfect spot for a picnic...

Then we fed the animals (no geese were involved... trust me!) ...

TUESDAY: 

Grocery Store... OK, not so fun, but when I told Israel that we were going to the grocery store & it may be a bit boring he said... "It's OK Ms. Kasie, I'll go to the grocery store with you everyday" He's such a sweety! 

WEDNESDAY: 

I met up with another one of my Bffs Robin (& her 5 kids) for a fun trip to the library. You should have seen us with all 9 kids... who says a library needs to be quiet?!? Not me! 

The kids signed up for the summer reading program, which has been the hot topic of discussion for Liv this week. She is very excited about this & has started her first book "Curious Goerge visits the library". 

After the library we came home & made pizzas for lunch. 

THURSDAY: 

We spent some time at the pool. 

FRIDAY: 

We didn't have Israel today. I watched my friend's 3 daughters this morning though. We made vanilla waffles & watched movies. 

This little doll... 

helped me stir the waffle mix... 

while bug washed the grapes...

What a great week! I know I've said it a million times, but I am so excited to be home this summer! Lots more summer fun pics to come! 

(I've also been doing a little bit of photo editing (www.picnik.com) Can you tell?)