my Something specials

Ok so many people would wonder what to do should their husband leave on a business trip and their teenager leave for camp,leaving you at home with 10 and 11 year old boys?   Rest assured there are plenty of activities to take in with your sons and invest some great mommy time with them while teaching them great skill and values. 

Firstly I believe in creativity.  So you need to get them slime.  It is a favorite with boys.  It's the best, it makes fart noises, sticks to fresh painted walls, the ceiling and best of all your brothers face.

Next I recommend cooking cheese pizza fresh from the box you buy at Sam's because store bought is always better than home made when you are a kid.   Wash down the pizza with non-alcoholic pina coladas because we never EVER get to do that PERIOD.  Plus there is pineapple in it and fruit is important for good health.

And just when you think it cannot possibly get better....Set them up in your bedroom to watch a creepy movie called "Frozen".  This will make you second guess your judgement as a parent and make you so tense you will all need a chiropractor (more bonding).   Great times.

 Then let them stuff them selves silly with more nutritious food like Mc Donald's because the pizza and pina coladas may have not been healthy enough.  Then you can feel real good about your self at the end of the day.

And lastly to soothe that whole "everything is boring without dad bit" it is time for a little culture.  Go to the nearest gamestop and trade in unplayed video cames to buy something educational.   

 I recommend Michael Jasckons new dance game.   He IS the King of pop after all.   Then make videos of your kids they will hate you forever for while teaching them to appreciate the arts all at the same time. 

Need more tips?  Just email me (ha ha ha)

Free give away

Howdy people, wanted to post a little shout out to this Stephanie Diaz Schumm, she is a Jesus loving artist with a really unique twist on mixed media art.  I like her stuff, I like how it makes me think and I love the way it makes me want to look at it for a long time and think.   My sister Kyle at Like The Rain is having a give away for one of Stephanie's pieces.  Check out Kyle's blog and then check out Stephanie's Etsy for some cool buys!

Here are some of her pieces I heart Mucho!

 Happy contest although I am sure I am going to win :)

Bittersweet 16

So May 19th was a big day of sorts in the Schoenhals household.   Against our warnings and better judgement Bailey went and turned the big ole 16.  I simply cannot believe it.  I have to say that this is the first morning I woke up and felt.....um.....really old.  I woke up early and laid there for awhile thinking of Bailey's cheeks.   Stupid?  Perhaps.    When Bailey was a baby I would take short road trips back to Wichita and watch her chunky cheeks wiggle when we hit bumps.   I specifically remember never wanting to forget that.....guess I didn't. 

Here is to you my Bay-O-Lay, my beetle bug, my Beetie, my Bay, my kiddo, my Bowlee, my baywee, Bayway and million other names.  Another year older, another year wiser, another year closer to leaving me (whahhhhhh) and making it on your own. 

Um.....dunno what this is about, I raided her facebook!

Bailey floating in a boat on Lake hatcher 2010

Again.....no idea

naptime

Bailey modeling some of Kyle's wares!

Bailey doing what she loves most

OMG!!  yes this is Bailey with Joan Jett  BIG WOW!

And this is Bailey on May 19th her big Day.  With her morning birthday Bagel.  Sniff sniff.........would you stop getting older Bailey for the love of PETE.

I heart your face BAY O LAY

Congrats...

Ruthie wins the cupcakes

Joni wins the cinnamon rolls!

There were 16 entries, thanks everyone, we will do another drawing for June!

Summer
http://www.sweettweets.com/

And the Winner is.......

Want to sample some official Summer's Sweet Tweets?  Have a hankerin' for something so sweet and delicious it should be illegal?   Join me for my very first Summer's Sweet Tweets give away!  There will be two lucky winners.   The first winner will receive 1 dozen Madagascan Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, the second winner will receive 1 dozen delicious Cinnamon Twirlie Rolls.

Stay tuned into my blog where there will be a monthly giveaway of some mighty fine Summer's Sweet Tweets!

To Qualify:

1. Become a follower of my blog and leave a comment saying you are. If you're already a follower, leave a comment saying that you are!

2. Visit www.SummersSweetTweeets.com on May 7th and send me an email through my website saying you wish to register for the free give away.

3. Go onto my facebook and leave a comment saying you emailed through www.SummersSweetTweets.com

4. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment saying you did so or  tweet or do a status update linking my blog about this giveaway and leave a comment saying you did.

Next months give away? 

Your choice of either:

1 Dozen Lemony Zest Cupcakes 

or

1 Dozen Lavender Buttercream Organic cupcakes....stay tuned!

PS. Where am I and how did I get here?

Ok .....where have I been?   Where have I not been.  Seriously I have been working sleeping working sleeping, running errands and working some more.  I am EXHAUSTED.  I don't mean like sleepy exhausted I mean and all over spent, worn down, mentally washed, vacant staring, unable to process thoughts, commands or what is going on, kind of exhausted.  I don't like myself right now I have decided that this is NOT how I want to function. 

So this week somehow, after I do mountains of laundry, figure out my mess of a checkbook and piled mail, bake 8 dozen yummy cinnamon rolls (my first Summer' Sweet Tweets baking Sale ever  HOOT HOOT), 4 dozen wonderful lemony cupcakes, get my house back together, go grocery shopping, finish a baby outfit (my first Summer's Sweet Tweet boutique sale  YAY) work one more 12 hours shift and prepare my house for company this Saturday and Easter on Sunday I will find some time to breathe........thats really all I want is to just have time to sit for a bit, regroup and breathe before doing it all over next week.  Perhaps I will dive head long into a double date with Ben and Jerry my dear old friends and talk some chubby hubby with them.

How does one go about this? I am up for suggestions....thats it no pictures, no fluff, just me.

My cute little housey is coming together at last!

ok so I am starting with my bedroom because it is special to me.   My father in law Butch is a handy little feller.  Every year for Christmas we get a gift from them, we can pick whatever we want within a $150.00 budget.  One year I got a bunch of books, another some Cd's then a light came on...........I realized I could exploit his talents for personal gain.  It was a beautiful epiphany for which I am grateful!  Two years ago this was my present....

It has suspended side cabinets which make me happy.  And as you can see my addiction circles continues on...to make it even better I found the softest Calvin Klein sheets for oober cheap at TJ Max.  That store is definately of the Lord.  Then this good old Ty bedding from Sears which was $100.00 cheaper than the last time I drooled over it  yay!

This is what I got this year!!!   I just got it installed last weekend and I heart it mucho.  It originally was going to be suspended, but I worried about pulling my wall down and having a knockout window unexpectedly between the living room and my bedroom......so Butch and his handy self made legs to match my bed.   I love this so much I almost die every single time i go in my room.....

Some of you may ponder the practicality of having no handles.....its a bit tricky but I am getting used to it.  I just can't bear the thought of drilling holes in this rectangle box of happiness.

So this is my living room.....notice the circle mirrors, and circle wood wall art....circle curtains and circle pillows.   I am a mess I am fully aware.  I recently sold my couches to Kyle my sister, and found thhis leather set on craigslist for $250.00 I was so excited.   Apparently I had hidden aspirations to have my sofa perfectly blend with my wall color, what was I thinking?

The view from my living room.   With a cup of coffee I have discovered it is possible to stare out the window without thinking for roughly two hours.  I love it.

 The other side of my living room!  More circles as you can see....

My kitchen, I was preparing for a house full, so excuse the clutter.

Dining Room, yes folks, more round things its like crack.

So these are the finished rooms in the house.  I will post more later on as it comes.   If any of you were ever in my old house which could have belonged to Rainbow Bright you may know how hard it may be for me to restrain myself from bright colors, my goal in this house was RELAXING and NEUTRAL.  Its hard but I love the way its turning out so far!  Mostly I love living close to family again.

Things I would love to own at some point....



This is just cool and I am more than certain my Dave is capable....we shall see...

I heart this because there are circles on it I think.   I have this weird thing with circles and dots and if the circles are mirrors.... LOOK OUT ... I will most likely die of happiness.

Ok so I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS....this is a tan and ovory striped duvet I found on Etsy that has Love birds stenciled on it and some hand embroidery.   I bought all of the things to copy this and chickened out.  One day when I am rich I will be able to pay 355 for it.   SO CUTE

Why is this pic here?   Well for several reasons....I would love to be able to eat here almost every friggin day can't afford to though.  What would I order?   Salted caramel cupcakes.   I would then take a knife, scrape off the icing and eat it all in one beautiful bite then sweat from the sugar and fat I just consumed.   Another reason is that one day when I am big I want a store like this. I also love cooking just about more than anything, I love creating things that are full of yumness and watching people take that yumness and smile.   My sister Kyle could, in turn, sell her wares in a store like this, check her out she is a craft queen.

One tough teenager partially cracked, 2 upcoming to go....

Bailey oh Bailey how I love thee....   Many a heart ache you have caused, much stewing and brain racking and wondering you stir.  Boys can hardly control themselves, a line of broken hearts in the wake of your fierce cuteness and bombshellness.....a curse I am convinced for now a blessing to come I am sure. 

A little me?  Perhaps....ok who am I kidding, of course you are, only a better version.   You have this way...this call....and the harder you run the more you are pursued and He will win and I know it and it makes me smile.

I am watching you grow into a woman.  It scares me to death and makes me nervously excited at the same time.   The longer you try to figure out what you are and where you belong the more I see something welling up in you ready to emerge.   I am praying for it to spill out EVERYWHERE. 

Your beauty, your voice...wow your voice, your compassion, your confusion, your youness I love it all. So here's to you my crazy life loving scaring the hell outta me sometimes, squishy lovable singing, newly preppified, running after life while being chased down by God blossoming woman.   I heart your face off.

I have decided that I HATE teeth

I am laying in bed....normally this is a good thing, a thing I look forward to all day.   Today I am disgusted with my bed.  I have been parked here since Saturday night in complete and total agony.  Two weeks ago I got a toothache.  I took a round of antibiotics and even though I hate going, I made a dentist appointment
.
As a child we had the worst dentist EVER.  He would yell at you and tell you and was rough, in turn I am a dentalphobic disaster.  I have slowly been overcoming.  Until.......

I go to the dentist for my root canal...not great not terrible, I am sent home with an uncovered hole in my tooth that amazingly still hurts.   I took another week of drugs then back for the crown, only to find out we need to dig around in the canals again, and sure enough,  BANG a nerve, an unsedated non sleeping nerve sends me jumping, meanwhile lodging a dental instrument in the canal. 

Get all done and think all I need is a crown last thursday...when slowly I notice I begin resembling a chipmunk, bruises appear, I have a fever and my jaw is throbbing fiercely.  No sleeping no eating, lots of crying and it just gets worse and tomorrow morning????  I get to get the rest of a dental utensil removed, the canals stripped  YET AGAIN and then off to a specialist to save a tooth I wanted gone to begin with.    Must everything be a huge ordeal for me?  For now, I need prayers, drugs, soft pillows an icepack, hugs from kiddos and my Dave and mommy...please stop the madness ..... I say a world without teeth is a beautiful place.

Some recent things and stuff

Ok let us just say my attempt at keeping an updated blog actually means that when I work at Cessna I will be updating my blog because usually there is nothing better to do.   So as you may have guessed....No I have not been working at Cessna lately.

So catch up time.....I recently had one of those parenting moments where your heart breaks and you don't know what to do....My Benjamin, my loveable, smart, fun loving, sports attempting son who everyone loves has been trying to get someone to spend the night for weeks, everyone is always "busy".  This past weekend his friend Noah from wrestling came over, Ben was so excited and I quote, "I didn't think anyone would want to spend time with me because I am so serious and boring."  This is the part that made me cry and cry and cry and just hug and hug and hug because really there were no words.  We went to the exploration place with Simon and his friend Zach a.k.a. MOTOR MOUTH cutiepie.  here are some pics....

Simon and Jabberjaws Zach attempting to recapture their youth



my little windblown ben and noah his new buddie



Bailey and Noah on DA' Frone





I personally think this is gross I took it for Dave



On other Fronts, when I am not being the hostess of sleep over Central I got to be Becky Home Ecky this weekend and bake cupcakes for little Jax and Judah who both turned 2!  I personally am a fan of cupcakes over cake just about any day. They did a football theme  TOO CUTE.



Check em out on my Yummies tab!

 I have had the pleasure of long visits with Kyle lately and I had forgotten how nice it is to just sit and bizit with people you love.  I get caught up in busy things sometime and work myself into a whole.  It was lovely and it was a late night full of fun phone calls and clobbering people at phase 10!

Other than this I am mostly boring and lonely.   My Dave is out of town on business, my kids are in school, I have had more time off this past week than I have in a month and I am just about ready to come up with some sort of project or paint.....any ideas?

My Dave, My Valentine

Valentines Day...how I have loathed thee....a day to get fatter eating things I shouldn't...when my kids bring home candies that will sit in a drawer until next year because once the little "KISS ME" and "HUG'" hearts get old they are good for nothing other than rewarding a dog when they pee in the right place.  The kids get all hopped up, I get miffed, its a bad thing.  A day where some people have no one and its really sad...a day where you sometimes secretly wish that your husband was as gushy as the TV husband who bleeds romance.  I worked the entire weekend and on the 14th, how romantic I was thinking. . I was mostly over Valentines Day until.......


I was walking out to my car the night of the 13th.  It was a crappy day (yes I say the C-word).  Just awful, anything that went wrong at work did.  It was my first night as a charge, we had a disgruntled resource nurse, grouchy patients, I was orienting a poor new nurse and I was certain she would want to quit by the end of the day.  I ended up staying two hours late to fill out an incident report. Just a bad day! To make matters worse when I finally got to leave work.....I can't find my car.  


So I was a mess, thinking some one had stolen my car...then I remembered I had a panic button so I pushed it.   Turns out I was standing in from of my car...it just was so clean I didn't recognize it.  I remembered I had told Dave if I was going to get anything for Valentine's Day I would just like my car cleaned since it had layers of salt on it.  On my steering wheel was a single rose,  I got in the car and cried. 




My purty flower



                                                



My Happy Car

                                               


Silly?  Yes.  It meant a lot to me.  Then I get home.  My day was bad, my teeth hurt, I have a headache, my feet are killing me.  I took NyQuil insistent on sleeping well.  Dave tells me I should take a bath.   I walk into the bathroom and it is covered in Rose petals, a little rose petal path to the tub, petals on the tub, in the tub around the tub.....ahhhhhhh it was beautiful and I could not believe it!

So I am sitting there thinking this was the best and I couldn't ask for more.  Between the hot bath and NyQuil I slept well.  I got up the next morning and went to the kitchen to get coffee and see a big beautiful bunch of roses in the kitchen.  Came home from work for a date to Olive Garden.  Dinner and a lovely red Zinfandel........what a Dave! Everyone needs one.  


I love this man, this Dave.  I feel like I am the first thing he thinks of, he makes me feel important, beautiful and fully loved.  I love him more all of the time and I am so happy he is my Valentine.....I was thinking how do I repay him with manly non-girly romance......an  iPAD   he almost cried it was so romantic  HA HA HA

New dinner and stuff

So I took a break from the old crock pot last night because I didn't get up early enough to get something ready and to to also give Mister David a breather!  I made a breakfast bake instead and I have to say it was pretty yummy.   I love breakfast for dinner, always have.   I may actually be able to survive on biscuits and gravy until the inevitable heart attack that would ensue shortly after my quest would begin.


I took a bag of breakfast style frozen potatoes ( potatoes O'Brien would be way better if your family enjoys variety, mine hoever does not)lined a baking pan with half the bag, laid stips fo pre-cooked bacon over the top, sprinkled some onion flakes, added some precooked ham, layered more potatoes and bacon, topped it with cheese and poured 1 dozen eggs whisked with a cup of milk over the the toped and baked it until set.   For added clogged arteries and no added nutritional value, I served it with a biscuit topped with gravy.  I forgot to take a finished pic, but here is one of assembly.

I wish that my last batch of homemade yogurt lived up to the first.   Apparently when you leave it wrapped in a flour sack towel for 6 hours you get somewhere between Fage and Yogurt cheese.  Watching the boys try to choke this down and be polite was priceless.  Next time I will use a non frozen starter and be home to tend to things better.

I also confess to loosing my ever loving mind last night and exploding like a raging lunatic all over my children like a self controlled Song of Solomon mother and wife.  I feel blue lately, stressed, overworked, and WHAM....poor kiddos.   I spent the majority of my evening having major GUILT and apologizing profusely for my yelling and the occasional "FLYING-S"  (s-word).   


I have decided that I hate my mouth.   Somewhere in the depths of this woman is a sailor I think, its embedded deep and tends to enjoy stress and surface at the worst times.  I am such a sinner, seriously no sarcasm intended.  The worst of sinners and thankfully I have forgiving children and Jesus.  Also thankfully I have a Dave that knows when I have had it and need to do some retail therapy.  He took me to Target to buy laundry baskets, Tupperware and a coffee cup.   It was all better then.   Thanks Dafe. (aka David, Dafin, Dabe, Dabid, and Dave)


Tonight is Bailey's second homecoming dance, she has the best shoes.......wanna see?  Tune in tomorrow for pics or more realistically Monday...some Monday in the next year. 

Every last child in double digits.....Happy Birthday Simon!

Well folks I have tried all morning to be in denial and wish for the best but it seems no matter how hard I try, Simon has turned 10.   Let me just remind you all of the mini breakdown I had when Bailey turned 10, just something about those double digits.  Its a big thing...a milestone...a no turning back... man I feel old...I don't have much time left experience.  So here goes a cheesy birthday post from a blubbering, overflowing with pride, sad yet happy mother of a wonderful kid named Simon.


My three double digit kiddos.  Bailey 15, Benjamin 11, Simon 10


Where do I start?   When I look at Simon I still see my sick little premie.  Born almost four weeks early you were tiny compared to Bailey and Benjamin weighing in at only about 4 pounds.   We were told that you couldn't breathe right and you were at risk for several problems later on in life, however compared to the 18 ounce babies next to you, you looked Ginormous!

It seems at times you were born to bring laughter to our family.  I know God loves me when I look at you.  When I hear your cackley laugh I love the way it makes me feel.   You have come a long way from the boy who jumped down a flight of stairs to prove to yourself that no matter what anyone said, you could indeed fly.  Perhaps when you hit the wall at the bottom and missed your stack of pillows you not only realized you weren't spiderman, you realized your amazing ability to just be a fun kid.

I don't know that you have changed much.  Your heart is ALWAYS for the underdog.  When you were a baby and you heard crying you would take off to help.  You have a heart for people in general and a deep love for family.  You are even keel, the first to forgive and oddly enough usually the first to be a turd, but always say sorry.   When I hear the floor creak in the middle of the night I know its you and I know that you are convicted of something that you have to confess before you feel free.  I have never in my life seen a more honest child.....EVER.

You sometimes stike me as the spitting image of my brother and I love how that makes me feel.   Just like Zach you are amazing at everything you try.  You have a natural gift for sports.  Everyone you meet is your friend.  Which reminds me of the time we were at the drive in and we came back from the bathroom to see some kids in the truck bed with you eating your popcorn, you simply said he was your new friend, you didn't even know his name! 




My Birthday Boy!


I get you.  You wiggle and wiggle and find it hard to focus.  You are random and wild, which I relate to.   While homeschooling you was a bit hard, I understood exactly where you were coming from and how to get to you.  You have your dad's calm spirit, you are non reactive steady and faithful.  You have your moms zeal, energy and love for people who need help.  You are the best of both of us Simon, just like Bailey and Ben. 

So go ahead and turn 10, grow up and be an ARMY guy firefighter who plays professional football and has the cute tiny wife he can "BREETECT" aka protect. You get big, take what you have learned and be the best daddy, husband and lover of God you have ever seen, nothing could make me more pleased.  I love your little self Simoney HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

My Ghoul and boys.....Mwah ah ah

Ok...firstly, I debated over whether to celebrate Halloween with my kiddos this year yet again, and we decided that our kids know enough to know what is real and not, and what their convictions are.  We told them not to do anything they were convicted of being wrong.....that being said I feel like we had so much fun this year with our kids.  It really was a time of new things and experiences and lots of just plain hanging out as a family and enjoying each other.   I am in awe of how old they all are and how fast time goes.   Here are some pictures of our weekend we wanted to share with you!

Ok so I have to put this one first because I love this picture.  Dave was cutting the tops off of the kids pumpkins and giving some pointers.   This was fun, I think the last time we carved pumkins bailey may have been 6.  Dave is such a cute Dave!  and just look at my cuties I love my family!

The kids gutted and carved their own pumkins they picked out.  The then put all of the guts in my kitchen sink and separated out the seeds and pulp.  Pulp was trash, seeds took a bath in butter and ranch seasoning and baked for and hour at 300.  The result was quite amazing if I do say so myself!

Cute little boogers!  Bailey carved and owl, Simon a skull and Ben did a bat.  I was happy to see none of them poop out before they were done!  Very awesome pumpkins.  However we decided that since our area is a bit on the questionable side, we would be best off bringing the pumkins inside.  So we did!

We pushed the two sofas up against the air mattress. This was so fun!   Lights out pumpkins lit, Simon picked our first scary movie of the evening.  Get this......"Mega Piranha".  Let me just say that this movie was NOT scary.  I am convinced that out of any movie in history I am amazed that this was even funded, or ever taken seriously.  The main star was Tiffany.....remember the red head wonder who remade the Beatles song, "I think We're Alone Now."   It was TERRIBLE AWFUL and Simon LOVED it of course.  Dave and I spent the movie texting to each other how miserable we were.  Then we watched a movie called House of Fears, not scarey but the kids sure thought it was the finished it off with an edited version of Bram Stokers DRACULA MWAH AH AH.

My scary kiddos.  Bailey is some sort of cutie pie 80's Zombie.   Ben is a mummy (see below) and Simon is the Dashing Vampire in the middle.   Let me say I spent exactly NO money on costumes, my kids were on their own and I was pretty impressed with their creativity.

Ok so lesson to learn here folks?   Saving money buying Scott tissue works great in the bathroom but not as a costume, it fell apart and lasted exactly one minute.   Poor Ben!



Frick and Frack



Kyle's Beautiful Familia

Larry on the run from the cameras

My beautiful nephew Caleb who said his first sentence on Halloween and I quote, "Summer you are my most favorite auntie in the whole world and I love you."  I was so proud, he is definately advanced.  HEE HEE

Other than Halloween, David and I have been going nutso trying to keep our house presentable.  We placed a contract on a home in Bradford, (six houses down from Dave's parents), and they accepted a contingent offer.  We are so very happy!  The house has a lake in the backyard, family close by and it has been well kept.  We ask that you continue to pray for our current house to sell.  Also we would love to find our own buyer because we would then only pay a 1% commission.   Someone is coming to look tonight so PRAY PRAY PRAY!    Here is a picture of the house we are shooting for!

Also David is trying to sell his 1999 For F-150 V8 pickup.  We are then hoping to pick up a more economical car and possibly a little junker for Bay's first car.  So hopefully this sells too.  Here is a pic if you are interested.  We have it listed at $4300.00 on craigslist.  It has about 133,XXX miles on it and is a nice truck. Holla if you're interested.

Peace Out From the Schoenhals Gang!