Squirrel! Squirrel!

I used to love the trees in my yard. I don't love them now since we adopted Sophie. The trees only bring squirrels. And squirrels that like to taunt Sophie. This morning Sophie was barking and barking and I think trying to tell me she needs to get outside immediately to take care of our "squirrel problem." I finally had to put her shock collar on to keep her quiet but here she is standing and looking at the door begging to go out to mess/try to play/kill the squirrel right outside the window.

Prepping for Easter

The boys each made Erin a homemade Easter gift out of leftover Mickey Mouse fabric from her Christmas present. I love how Nate is supervising Zach to make sure he doesn't break my sewing machine. Zach made Erin a small zippered keyring pouch for her gum and Chapstick. Those are two things that Erin has on her at all times. Nate made her a fleece blanket. Zach has done something that I have never done myself. I've never sewn anything with a zipper. I've always been scared but I discovered a zipper foot and a blind stitch foot make sewing zippers very easy.

We also made our traditional Easter Bunny cake. But I made it out of white cake mix with strawberry frosting since I won't be eating any of it. Now I won't even be tempted. As the sign says that hangs in my kitchen "If it ain't chocolate, it ain't worth the calories." That was a gift from my friend, Luana from Illinois.

Our Week

Mario's been gone two weeks now but fortunately time is going by pretty quickly. I found out today that he can come home for 4 days over Memorial Day weekend so that's something for us to all look forward to. I've already booked his flights.

Erin's piano teacher started a new healthy diet and she told Erin all about it so now Erin is hooked. She made me a grocery list with things like almond butter, avocado, spinach, flaxseed, and other healthy things. She's even eating what she used to term "gross, grainy bread" now because she can't have white flour. I told her it was fine to do this but it is NOT a diet to lose weight for her. Just healthy eating. I've joined her and I'm enjoying her green smoothies. The boys made Rice Krispy treats last night and I had to help them. I cheated and licked my fingers when I was done.

Eric had an EMG this week. It was the worst diagnostic test he's ever endured. First they shock you over and over again and then stick a needle in your thumb and then tell you to move your thumb. Ouch!! I don't think a single one of my other kids would have endured it. The doctor found nothing wrong and Eric's hand is pretty much back to normal now. So I wish we could have canceled but his doctor really wanted him to see the neurologist.

I've been busy working on the boys Americana quilts. I made myself promise to finish those before I start my appliqué quilt. I finished quilting Zach's yesterday but I haven't put binding on yet. I'm putting all the borders on Nate's quilt top now. I was so excited because the boys wanted Minky fabric on the back. But at $20 a yard, I told them I couldn't afford it. I needed 8 yards. But then I got a 50% off coupon for tax day plus I had a $20 off coupon so I got the backings for $60. So even though that is still expensive, it is a whole lot cheaper than $160. It's been fun putting these together. Mario wants to know what I want for my birthday. He doesn't like my answer. I tell him to find the nearest Bernina store and get me some accessories or thread. Good thread is so expensive but works so much better. I can always use more bobbins too. You can never have to many sewing machine feet either. Ha ha.

It looks like I may be taking some time off from tutoring. Cameron's parents are getting too far behind on paying me. So I told them I would take a break from tutoring until they are caught up on payments. It was hard for me to do that but it had to be done. As much as I love her, I can't let them take advantage of me. Cameron told me she's been taking acting lessons and is hopefully going to start appearing in some commercials with her sisters. So it sounds like maybe their extra money is going to acting lessons. I guess reading may take a backseat to that for now. We'll see. 

I don't mind the break because now I can attend the YMCA in the morning for some classes. Plus it gives me more quilting time. But I will miss the extra money each month. Usually it just goes to home repairs on our Florida house or quilting stuff. Good thing Mario gets a raise this month. It's good timing for his raise.

We found out that the job in Puerto Rico has finally been filled. I'm relieved because as much as I wanted to go, I think Omaha is best for schools and church. Having a Temple so close is important to us. Now I don't have to wonder if any day we will get a call saying we are moving and with little or no notice.

The boys are well. They discovered Gilligan's Island this week and they are enjoying watching. They have tons of energy so I get them out to walk and run a lot now that the weather is better.

Easter is this weekend and so I've been busy getting baskets ready. I'm sad to celebrate without Mario but I'm excited for a time to reflect on Christ's resurrection and atonement.

Prom

Eric told me that he read an article stating that prom costs the average student (parents) $800-$1,000.  I couldn't believe that anyone would spend that much money on a dance.  Fortunately, Eric is frugal like us and he spent a fraction of that amount.  I paid $50 for the suit and $40 for the prom tickets.  Eric bought the pocket square and a bow tie for $30 but then opted to wear the tie instead.  Dinner was $60 and his corsage for Caitlyn was free because for the second time in a row, (last time was Homecoming) the florist messed it up and had to redo it so she refunded his money.  So all for $180 and Eric got a new suit to wear to church.  Not too bad.  I doubt I will be able to find Erin a modest dress for that price especially if I have to order it from Utah. I've already started looking at dresses for her.

Eric was the only guy in his group that opted for a grey suit. The rest of the guys rented black tuxedos. I thought Eric would feel bad but he was happy to be different and he loves his new suit.

Nate, Jessica, Eric, and Caitlyn

Mariah (middle black dress) was Prom Queen

Fieldtrips

I hate fieldtrips.  I can't remember a single fieldtrip that I have gone on that I enjoyed.  Probably a good thing that I didn't get a full time teaching job, huh?!  I have friends that volunteer to go on every single fieldtrip with their kids, even the weeklong ones that cost them hundreds of dollars.  Not me, well to be honest, none of my kids have gone on a weeklong fieldtrip.  Eric was supposed to go on one in fifth grade but we wouldn't allow him to because no parents were welcomed to go and he would be chaperoned by teenage boys in his cabin.  We said, no way and we bought him a Nintendo Wii instead. All of his friends came back with a bad case of poison oak so he was glad to have missed out.

Anyway, back to my point about hating fieldtrips.  I can't remember the last time I went on one.  Next week, the twins and Erin have fieldtrips.  I know for sure Erin wouldn't let me go on hers.  Zach already told me no to his.  I didn't discuss it with Nate.  So yesterday I got to thinking that Nathan is getting older and so in a few years he won't want me to go on a fieldtrip with him anymore.  So maybe I should take advantage of this time and go with him.  I really battled it out internally because as much as I like going with my own child, it's the rest of the class I don't like chaperoning.  For some reason, the teachers always seemed to give me some of the harder kids I guess because they thought I could handle it and because they knew me since I volunteered in the classroom often.

I finally decided to bite the bullet and go on this fieldtrip.  I approached Nathan this morning and asked him if he would like me to go.  He had one word for me, "NO."   I thought he was joking, but nope. He has already reached that stage where he doesn't want me to go either.  Oh, how sad that makes me. My last little one has grown up.  Fortunately he is still really cuddly with me and who knows, maybe that won't change.  Eric is pretty affectionate too.  But he wasn't for a few years.  So maybe Nate will stop for awhile and then go back.  Erin and Zach aren't cuddly at all.  But that's ok. We are all different.

Perez Week

I went to an appliqué class and signed up to make a quilt.

I haven't done any appliqué so that was very ambitious (or very dumb of me) but I think it will look awesome in my Venice house one day.

We said goodbye to Elder Wilson on Thursday. He has been in our ward over 10 months and we have grown pretty attached to him. He came to our house his first night on his mission. We got to witness such growth in him. He already had a dinner appointment, so we got Eric and Erin passes to come home for lunch and we barbecued some steaks. Eric had gotten Elder Wilson a tie for a going away gift. Elder Wilson brought a tie to give to Eric also. We will miss him but we know he can't stay in our ward forever. We get to keep Elder Stoker who is a pretty cool guy too.

Nathan had to do a project for HAL. He studied snakes and then had to display his project at the high school. 

Eric had an MRI and everything came back normal thank goodness but the doctor still doesn't know what is wrong with his arm and hand. He has an appointment in a week with a neurologists. Thank goodness for good medical insurance.

Mario left for Virginia this morning. I cried, but what's knew, right?! Hopefully the weeks will fly by and I'm counting my blessings that we have cellphones and text messaging. I will miss him so much.


Mario's finding out that he can't trust the Air Force assignments people. They told him Puerto Rico has been filled but then the ROTC people say that the other guy can't get released from his career field either. So last thing ROTC told Mario was that they may just wait until he can go in April. We aren't holding our breath and we don't know if we can trust them either. If that doesn't work out, we have decided to apply for Miami next summer and we are pretty excited about that prospect especially since we can live within a few minutes of the new Temple.

I'm glad to have General Conference and the basketball tournament to distract me this weekend. I like to read the twitter feed on Conference and apparently I'm not the only one that loves Elder Holland. He was first speaker after President Monson opened the conference. People on twitter were saying that having Holland speak first is like having dessert before dinner. I couldn't agree more. I love him. He never disappoints and you can just feel his testimony.

As soon as the afternoon conference is over, the kids and I will load up and head to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Gators play. This is the only time of year that I wish I had cable. I thought about going to a hotel tonight so we could watch Kentucky play later, but that's a little expensive. Kentucky has identical twins on their team so that's the only reason I'm rooting for them. Twins are awesome! I might be in trouble if it comes down to Gators playing Kentucky in the final game. Eric and Zach would kill me if I went for Kentucky.

Skipping School to Shop for Prom

A few weeks ago, Eric told me girls were skipping school to go shop for prom dresses. I thought that was ridiculous. Can't they shop on the weekend?

But then last night Eric asked me to take him shopping over the weekend for a new white shirt for prom. This morning when he woke up with a cold, I suggested he just stay home from school and we'd go shop for the shirt. He had to leave at lunchtime anyway for an appointment with sports medicine for his hand.

While shopping for the shirt, we found suits marked down and then extra 60% off. He has been asking for a new suit so it was a great deal. When Mario went up to pay, he asked for an additional discount. The suit was originally $350, marked down to $175, then 60% off bringing price to $70. Mario ended up getting it for $52 including tax and included alterations. What a deal!

So now I guess I'm just as bad as those moms that let their girls skip for prom shopping.

We stopped by Whole Foods and got some buffalo meat to make some burgers for lunch and some pretzel rolls for the bun. It's a good day!