Thank You Mrs. Obama

She will save me hundreds of dollars this year. My high school kids who once refused to bring a bag lunch to school are now happily packing sandwiches. They HATE the new school lunches. Eric couldn't even pay for his lunch yesterday until he went back and put some rubbery broccoli on his tray that he just threw away when he was done. He said all the food is nasty.

I'm not usually in favor of what the Obama family implements, but I do like that my kids no longer want to buy lunches. So thank you!




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Back to School

Sending kids back to school this year hasn't been nearly as exciting as it has been in years past.  I am overcome with sadness that this is Eric's senior year.  But I knew it was coming and yes, it's as bad as I anticipated if not worse.   Major bribery was used to get pictures of Erin this year (the birthday pic we got of her was from Eric secretly taking it with his phone or else we wouldn't have a good pic of her 15th birthday.) The boys started back to school yesterday and Eric and Erin start back today.  Eric and Erin went to breakfast at Panera Bread before school with some friends.

I haven't quilted all summer.  So I guess it's time to pick it up again.  I don't think I'll have near as much time this year though because much of my time will be devoted to getting ready for the big move.

I can't believe Mario took a picture in front of the dirty glass but I guess
he wanted to include Sophie.

Here's a Minecraft t-shirt that Nate made with a friend.

There was no unfolding those arms for any of the pictures.

Happy 15th Birthday Erin!

Erin celebrated her birthday awhile back with friends. She didn't want cake because she ate so unhealthy in Missouri this past week. So I made her some healthy raw brownies and bought cupcakes for everyone else. She chose BBQ chicken for dinner with her favorite oven potatoes.

Besides her expensive birthday party, we gave her a new skirt and a necklace chain for her Young Woman Medallion and Honor Bee.

She's a beautiful girl. I can't believe she'll be dating in a year. Scary, especially without Eric around to approve or disapprove of her dates. We are hoping to spend her 16th birthday in Paris. Hopefully Mario can get some time off from work to go with us.

Happy 17th Birthday Eric!

Eric chose to have steaks with potato skins for lunch. I wasn't feeling well so Zach made the potato skins which were very yummy. Eric asked for "ugly" cake and boy did it turn out ugly! It came out in three large chunks from the pan. But it was still delicious. Mario has a theory, the uglier the tastier. I barely felt up to making the first cake so I didn't make a second one hoping it would turn out better. I almost was too embarrassed to take pics of his cake. He spent the rest of the day with Caitlin.

He got new sunglasses from us and a Guess watch from Caitlin. I think she spent more than we did on a gift. Crazy teenagers!

Who knows where Eric will spend his 18th birthday. I hope with us in Europe but he may not. I'm going to miss him so much. I have a whole year to prepare myself.

Surprise Party

Erin recently told me IHOP is her favorite restaurant. Not sure where that came from since I don't remember really ever taking her there. But I promised to take her to lunch there today to celebrate getting her YW Honor Bee. Instead I picked up 4 if her friends and went to IHOP. Then Mario delivered here there for the surprise.

She had wanted to go to the waterpark at a state park by our house for her birthday but that didn't work out because it cooled off this week. So she went to Papio Fun Park to do Go-karts, laser tag, and mini golf after a lunch at IHOP.

It is a really early birthday party but one of her best friends leaves tomorrow and won't be back until after her birthday.

Savana, Erin, Cora, Kenna, and Chastity

I Love Sundays

This is a day I wish we could repeat everyday. We spent the evening together as a family having FHE, walking the dog, rough housing, listening to Erin play lots of hymns on the piano, and watching videos of bullfighting.

Earlier in the day, we spent a lot of time looking at rental houses in Spain and dreaming of living in a big house with a pool and a housekeeper. There were homes with 7+ bedrooms within our housing allowance. Even though we could afford the rent, I'm not sure we could afford the utilities on such a big house.

I enjoy these moments. We get so busy in our daily lives that it's so nice to have Sundays to sit back and enjoy one another. Everyone got along so well today (even Erin and the twins.)

I'm sad to know we only have about 50 more Sundays left with Eric. I love him so much. We will all miss him when he leaves.

Then before we know it, Erin will leave home as well. The older they get, the faster the time flies.

Tomorrow I'm throwing a surprise birthday party for Erin. She deserves a party. She's doing so well getting along with the family and working on more personal progress even though she already finished the program. She just earned her Honor Bee and now she's going to start the program over again. Wow! I didn't even do the program once. I think I'll join her this time around. She's such a good example.




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Spain

Not a lot of time to blog, but just wanted to share that our family is moving to Spain next year (as long as the USAF doesn't change its mind between now and next summer.)  Mario had really been pushing for a job as an ROTC commander at a university.  But his assignments team didn't want to release him to compete.  Mario begged and pleaded and they finally said he could but if they found him a job in his career field, he would have to take it instead.  Well, I think the assignments guy made it his mission to find Mario a job before he PCS'd last Friday.  Late Friday night, Mario got an email stating Madrid.

Mario and I are thrilled.  It's not ROTC but hey, it's Spain.  So who are we to complain?!  Maybe I'll finally learn Spanish and I'll be a good mission companion for Mario when we are seniors and serving a Spanish mission.

More details later.....