Summer Kick-off!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and had some time to spend with loved ones. After a couple days at state golf we had a chance to hang out with friends on Saturday night. Sunday was spent resting up and just being together as a family. Monday started with some time with family and then we set up a pool and bouncy "thing" for the kids at home.

Teagan modeling her new suit. Its a little big, but she'll grow into it.

You know its been a good day when you are covered in grass. I love being outside, but hate when there is grass everywhere!!

Not the way this is meant to be used, but the kids had a blast and were actually pretty nice to each other!

Aunt Beth made a stop before bed tonight. She leaves for Colorado on Wednesday and will be there for the summer. We will miss her a ton, but it is a great opportunity and I keep telling her it is better than the 'burg (at least for a 21 year old!)

For some reason they seem to end up in our bed!

Yep, thats the sheet, off our bed! But, they were having a blast!

This weekend officially kicked off summer at the Schaefers and it will be in full swing soon. Tomorrow brings Teagan's first t-ball game and then the last day of school. VBS follows that and then swim lessons and vacations and before you know it we will be getting ready for fall!

The 2 year old in the bedroom

Our Schaefer game of CLUE

















The 2 yearold (looks innocent enough)

















In his bedroom

with the markers

These were the victims. I didn't take before pictures, but imagine them covered in brown makers. Yep, even the cover of the book (which is on loan from the library, shh don't tell!) The pillowcase and sheets were hit too, but the Magic Eraser did wonders on these guys! We are officially parents of a little troublemaker! Wish us luck!

Signs of Summer

I am totally with my friend Hayley over at www.lovelittlethings.blogspot.com. I have completely lost my blogging mojo. Its not that I haven't been doing stuff, we just haven't slowed down enough to talk about it. Last weekend was completely consumed by transplanting and planting flowers around the house. Here are some of the results:

























































This was the biggest project. We thinned out some lilies we had on the side of the house and transplanted them around the deck. I am pretty happy with how it turned out and the pricetag is even better - FREE!!















I went to my mom and dad's on Sunday and got some hostas to fill in the gaps. Hostas are always a good filler and their pricetag was great too!





















Even got my garden planted. Lots more peppers and peas this year. Hopefully they turn out!





























I did get a chance to work on this project. I think it is going on the wall behind the TV in the lvingroom. Thats for another day! Soon enough we will have plenty of pictures of t-ball and vacations and bible school. Summer is almost here!!

It's Official!

I am officially getting the school art gifts for holidays! It started simply enough with the usual Halloween pumpkin, Christmas tree with glitter, and Valentine's with a picture of Teagan in the center of a heart. But I have to admit my mind was racing when I started to open the Mother's Day gifts Teagan had made for me. She had been begging me all week to open them up early, so I knew these might be interesting. I was pleasantly surprised to unwrap these:

First of all let me admit that the entire time I was unwrapping the "dry clay" I was thinking - "I am seriously getting an ashtray?" Then I opened up this beauty and about started to cry. She put so much thought and effort into making it and using color that I like - I could tell she was so proud of it. Keep in mind I am trying to drown out her brother in the background saying "it's like a pig, Mommy!" We won't even start on him tonight!

My second gift was the picture, which by the way is amazing. Awesome job Mrs. Woods and Ms. Ashlin! And this letter for me. In case your Kindergarten phonics are a little rusty, here is the decoded version: "My Mom is the best because she reads me stories. She drops me off at school. She takes me to the park." If I wasn't holding back tears already then I read a poem on the back of the picture about growing up and I was about done!! These Kindergarten teachers really know how to get to a lady!

Tate got in on the action too. By the way he would like to say "Happy Mudder's Day" to everyone out there! Lately he has really been trying to color pictures and draw circles. And on this card he was all about copying the M and the exclamation point. We might have a prodigy on our hands!!

So with Mother's Day also came Teagan's dance recital this weekend. It made it a little hectic, but she did really well and always has a good time - and that's what counts. Here are a couple of pics from her Saturday performace.

Have a great week everyone!! Go Raider golf!!

Magic in a bottle

A couple months ago I was checking out a post at http://www.howdoesshe.com/. They were talking about some of their favorite cleaning solutions and wonder products. I saw this guy on there a couple different times and decided it was worth a try.






















You can find it at Kmart in Iowa City or Lowes in Coralville. It was about $6/bottle and let me tell you, it is worth every penny!





















We have all these spots through out our house. At first I thought that they were spills from the kids, but I realized that we don't have any in the kids' room. Their rooms did not get new carpet when we moved in. I mentioned this once to my friend Megan and she said that in an apartment she used to live in she had the same types of spots. The carpet cleaner told her that sometimes installers use old glue and it can seep up through the carpet. Awesome! It is my conclusion that this is what has happened at our house and after cleaning them they always come back. This is where Folex comes in. Above is the pre-Folex picture.






















And this is the after. All it takes is spraying the area, agitating the spot with your finger, and then blotting up the area with a paper towel.






















OK, so the brown spot in this picture is not carpet glue, but it still came out.

If anyone is looking for a great spot cleaner I highly recommend Folex. It does have instructions on how to use it with a shampooer. That might be my next big cleaning project.

Our Track Star!

Teagan had her first official track and field day this week. It was a little on the windy side, but the kids still had a blast!

There was cheering for each other during the obstable course. Check out that form - maybe hurdles someday? I hope not!

Then jump roping. Something we need to work on. Not exactly a sport made for girls with long legs and ponytails!

Hula-hoops either!

Working on her throwing arm.

Potato sack race

Frog jumps

And racing. I think she might be more concerned with the audience than with the race!

Tug-of-war with her class.

Afterwards the kids challenged the parents and after a hard fought battle the kids won! This day means that the Kindergarten year is coming to an end. Where has time gone? Better yet, where has my little girl gone?

Crazy Busy!

I realized yesterday that I haven't posted at all this week. We have been here and there and Brad has been busy with golf, but the Raiders are still rolling so it is worth it!

Last weekend we got to spend some time with some good friends and Tate and Griff got the chance to hang out too. The boys were sharing thoughts on the downpour that was happening and most concerned with how wet the swingset was getting.

Deep in thought - these 2 could be dangerous together down the road! But so stinkin cute!
So, the week passed with dance practice, 2 golf meets, BUNCO and all of a sudden it was Friday again! We took the kids to Family Fun Night at Coral Ridge Mall. If you haven't heard, the last Friday of each month they have free admission to the Children's Museum, free carousel rides, and a free kids meal when you buy an adult meal.

Our first stop was the museum and the kids loved the grocery store.

Then it was off to supper and a ride on the carousel. Of course we had to go to TARGET and check out a bunch of stuff that we really don't need, but really want! On the list was bikes for Brad and I. We would really like to start riding with Teagan and be able to take Tate along. Any thoughts, or bikes that anyone recommends?

Saturday brought an entire day of cleaning - the garage mainly, but I also did all the windows in the house. I know, way more productive than normal, but hey, we started and just ran with it. I have been wanting to get rid of the cheapo blinds in our bedroom and found these at LOWES about a month ago. I will tell you about my deal in a sec, but its a good thing I have them because as I was cleaning the windows one of the blinds came crashing down. So, next big project is putting them up.

Anyway, all of these were some kind of special order and didn't work for some reason. When I found them they were 1/2 off the lowest price!! Seriously!

All four were less than $15 total! Now, how to hang them and get them to look as good as the deal I got on them!

Wanna know how old I am? Old enough to have a godchild in 8th grade who got confirmend this weekend! Wow! Granted, I was only a senior in high school when she was born, but really? Time flies!
A couple random pics of Tater.

Got ahold of Teagan's lip gloss. Lets just say even after wiping it off it still looked like he still had it on!

We have been working (just a little) on potty training this week. It is not going so well, but we did catch him in time to go #2 at the babysitters, so he got an ice cream cone when we got home. Not sure how much he even got in his mouth!

One last shout out to one of my loyal followers, Sonya on the arrival on Leighton Elizabeth! Can't wait to meet her!