mac n cheese update

Thank you for all who sent me some recipes for my mac n cheese quest. I haven't tried them all yet, but I will be sure to let you know the winner and post the recipe. I am so excited for my craving to be met! I hope one of these recipes does the job!

Happy 30th Birthday Ryan!

Warning: this video is a little lengthy. It just a little something I put together for my wonderful, hilarious, loving, hard working, compassionate, faithful, patient, thirty year old husband. He turns 30 tomorrow and I think I am way more excited about it than he is. I've been working all week at cooking up some surprises for him! I can't wait to show him this video tomorrow!

A bouquet of newly sharpened pencils

In the movie "You've Got Mail", Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks talk about how they love Fall and school supplies and the smell of scotch tape. Tom Hanks says, "I would buy you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils, if I knew your name and address." I love that. I know it's weird, but I buy school supplies every year even though Gavin is not in school yet. I just love a new pack of crayons, pens, paper, folders, tape, glue sticks. I could go on and on. It's strange, I know.

Well, our Fall schedule went into FULL swing this week. I love it. I always struggle along through summer with no structure. Now that we have weekly meetings and Bible Studies and AWANA to do every week, I am back to making my lists and gaining order in my house! It was a rough summer with being so sick and all. I can not tell you how I made it through. Most days it seemed like I was hanging on by a thread. I have to admit that there may have been more days this summer that I DID NOT make my bed than days where I did make it! However, all is well and back to "our normal" and I am feeling much better. My energy has come back and I have welcomed it with open arms!

I am on a quest to make the perfect homemade macaroni and cheese. I have tried about four recipes so far. I think I may have it down, with just one thing to tweak. If any of you have a killer recipe for it, please send it my way. I am just craving the right mix of pasta and cheeses! Please help!

No word on my camera yet. I sent it back to the manufacturer and am waiting to see if there is anything they can do for a waterlogged camera! I am sure they were surprised when they read our note! Who sends back a washed camera? It was worth a try, I guess. So, there will be a lull in pictures for awhile, I am afraid.

Well, I am ready to start crossing things off my list for the day! I hope you are all enjoying your Fall schedules!

Vacation, a tragedy, uncooperative child and a quirky little boy

Well, a lot has happened since my last post!

Vacation:

We had a BLAST on Vacation with Ryan's parents. We went to Night of Joy, the Magic Kingdom, Gatorland, Downtown Disney, the Boardwalk, had lots of pool time and so on and so forth! Pictures will be posted here and I have a video coming soon. Stay tuned for that!

A Tragedy:

One of the perks of staying in a condo on vacation is the fact that you have a washing machine available. One of the downsides of that is that you are usually so busy and in a hurry to wash your clothes. Thus resulting in not checking your pockets thoroughly. Unfortunately, I always have my BRAND SPANKING NEW camera in my pocket ready to capture any moment. I am sure you can figure out the tragedy. It's only a possession, though. It's just a THING. No Eternal value.

Uncooperative Child:

We had our ultrasound yesterday. Our baby is healthy and beautiful and apparently very modest. He/She kept the legs closed the entire time. No amount of running, jumping, or poking could persuade the babe to move them. So, we will just have to wait and see . . .

Anyone willing to make a prediction?

A Quirky Little Boy:

Today we are babysitting for Gabrielle, Gavin's favorite little girl. He was so hyper about it and was running around the house like a mad man. I found him under his bed in this little getup. I persuaded him to come out so I could take a picture. The quality isn't great, I had to use my OLD camera. But that's okay.

Labor Day Weekend!

We had an eventful Labor Day weekend this year! Ryan had to work on Saturday and Monday, but we made the most of it anyway.

Knowing it was going to be one of our last visits, Gavin and I decided to hit the beach on Saturday. It was nice and hot, so it was the only place I wanted to be! Gavin had a good time, as always and we even made some friends while we were there!

Sunday, we got up EARLY and went to the first service at church. After church we headed out to Ryan's grandparents house in Morris, IL. Ryan's mom and dad and some aunts and uncles were there, as well. We had a really nice time seeing everyone and catching up.

Ryan had to work again on Monday so Gavin and I did a little shopping with our new friend, Jillian. Then we all headed back to our house and Ryan (the grill master) grilled us some fabulous shishkabobs and we had a small feast! It was so yummy! There were some leftovers so that's what I'll be having for dinner again tonight!

We had such a great weekend! I hope you did too!