Even the dog likes a sucker now and then

The other night after returning home from a banquet the dog was in the kitchen and I noticed one side of her mouth looked very swollen. I assumed something had bit her. Upon investigating she had something stuck in her mouth. The ring pop sucker piece was stuck between her teeth. I assume she must have found a sucker on the other end and decided she needed it. It was quite funny looking!

The load is much easier

A few weeks ago our washing machine which was on its last leg finally died altogether. We had already fixed it once about 6 months ago and decided that rather than put the money into fixing it again we would buy a new set. A little frustrating when it was only about 5 years old anyhow. But for whatever reason all our appliances from GE have been junk although they were brand new 5 years ago. But that's another story, we won't go into at this point in time of the many times they all have been fixed. After many trips to Lowes and Home Depot and many other appliance places and lots of research, we finally decided on the front load models. They save on water, which is a plus if your paying a water bill. The average washer uses about 40 gallons of water per wash they say. I believe it after cleaning up the mess off my floor that ruined my wood . Also after my washer finally died and wouldn't spin out I had to empty many times a wet and dry vac sucking water out of my machine to get my clothes out. Also the fact that they don't agitate as they wash which wears your clothes out much faster. The front loaders use about 6 gallon's of water and turn your clothes to wash them. They are much quieter, use less soap because it is a concentrated special kind that you use. Also one nice feature on the one we bought was the silver care option which uses siver ions to sanitize. A nice feature when someone gets sick and bedding needs washed. Also these washers spin your clothes at about 1100- 1300 RPM's compared to 600 RPM's on a standard washer. Which means your clothes are dryer coming out of the washer which makes for shorter drying time. Yeah! I'm all for saving time and money on the electric bill. And the big drum in the washer means you can cram more in. Yippee! So after having a washer that was having technical difficulties I was sooooo excited when my new one was delivered. My family thought I was crazy. I sat and watched the first load wash for about 10 min. and was amazed at how much fresher my clothes smelled and dryer they felt coming out of the wash cycle. They all have decided I am not crazy, even Meagan likes to go peek in and watch them wash or dry.

Finally... The last day for 3

Today is the last day of school for Jess, Zach & Andrea. YIPPEE! Three less lunches to pack and no morning chaos. I am totally burnt out on packing lunches. By the end of the year I have lost my touch at finding something new to pack. And my kids are picky, so that poses a problem. Britt has one more week of school and exams to take. Can't wait for it to be over. Trying to plan our vacation for the summer and not sure when this is going to fit in the schedule.
Rod is moving his office next door to where he is at now and we have phone and security wiring and a few other things to fit into the schedule, plus moving over to it by the first week of August. And He & I have additional liscensing classes to take for 3 days over a weekend in West Palm all before this office can be opened. Yeah! So somewhere in there we need to fit in a long overdue needed vacation and fun time with the kids. Well before all that can be accompished my house and the kids rooms especially need some deep cleaning and throwing of junk away. So, off I go to get the laundry started and strip some beds . Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Zach's artistic abilities...

Zachary brought this picture home from school the other day. He had to draw this in art class. I forgot to ask wether it was something he just created or if it was something they had to draw from a still pose that was sitting there. Anyhow, I thought he did a great job! He says his flowers are too small and that they should be bigger. But I still thought it was a very nice picture. I am amazed at his drawing abilities because mine and Rod's are Zero! I am so glad he enjoys doing these kinds of things and being creative. He will sit and color or draw something almost every day. It helps to keep his little mind occupied.

Year end achievements....

Jessica received 4 awards this year at the end of the school year. She has made tremendous improvements this year and it has shown with all her grades and her confidence level. The awards she received were Teacher's Honor Roll. This is the 4th time this year. And we are so proud of her for that accomplishment. She also received Most Improved Student Award. That's a definate. Also Artistic Achievement. And last but not least The Goosey Award ( her teachers name is Miss Goosey) . This award was for The most positive and agreeable student in the class. We are proud of her accomplishments this year. Hope that means we'll have a good year next year also.

At Zachary's award ceremony he received Artistic Achievement. I think we may have a budding artist here. He enjoys drawing so much and actually does a pretty descent job at it. Sometime I might post some pictures he has drawn. Nothing may ever come of his artistic abilities, but I know that he sure has me beat when it comes to drawing anything.

Movie night

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The other night we decided it was time to sit down and relax and watch a movie. It's not very often that we have time to just sit back and relax, but we decided it was high time we did anyhow. So we chose the movie Facing The Giants. We all gave it an "A" rating. We had heard it was very good, but we are a little slow to take the time sometimes to watch a good movie. I think it was an excellent choice. Very good christian based movie. I recommend everyone take the time to watch it. We could all learn some valuable lessons by it. So everone take a night and pop some popcorn and relax and watch a good wholesome movie with your family. We enjoyed it! Below is a picture of Meagan holding her play remote and sitting in their little chairs for the floor. She was so cute watching the movie. I couldn't resist snapping a picture. About 5 min. after taking the picture she was out for the night sprawled on the floor.

Enjoying an evening with Disney on Ice

Last night we ventured down to the south Florida Fairgrounds Expo Center to see Disney on Ice.It's something I have always wanted to do and knew the kids would enjoy it too. They had no idea where we were going so wasn't a bit suspicious even when we pulled into the parking lot and got the tickets. Jessica even saw the sign but don't really think it clicked with her that we were going in to see it. My parents sent me money for Mother's day so it was used to buy the tickets. Thank's Mom & Dad. We all had fun! We actually had pretty descent seats for the cheap seats. We got the 6th row, so thought that was pretty good. Meagan really enjoyed it! Her face lit up to see all the action happening on the ice.
The story surrounding the whole thing was about the Incredibles going to Disney and trying to blend in with normal people. Can't say I have ever watched the Incredibles, but my kids were sure to tell me all about it. The bad guy captures Mickey & Minnie and the Incredibles go from each different spot in Disney like the Pirates of the Carribean place, to the Haunted Mansion, to the Teacups etc. looking for the bad guy. It was quite an adventurous night. It was a pretty good show. Now we can say we've done it. High School Musical on Ice is coming to the area I think this summer or early fall. Maybe that's something to look forward too also.