Driving Mr Golfer

Over Easter break, I had the pleasure of driving Mr C around a lot; to the driving range, the golf course and a few golf shops.  It was what you would call a golfing weekend.  We watched the Master's Golf Tournament, listened to the PGA channel on FX while driving around, and of course, watched the Golf Channel when the actual tournament wasn't on. 

I grew up in a house that watched the PGA tour too, my dad and grandfather would call each other and talk about Jack, Lee, Arnold and Fuzzy like they were personal friends. I might have even had a little crush on Tom Watson and nearly died at the age of 10 when I saw him walking around Country Club Plaza in Kansas City. 

So watching the Masters with someone so enthusiastic seemed just right.  Mr C and I were thrilled with Bubba Watson's win. How could you not love a guy like this whose tweet early Sunday morning read:
"Thanks everyone for the support! 3 reasons tomorrow will be #awesome, 1. Jesus has risen 2. See my new baby boy & my wife 3. Masters Sunday

I love how the golf bug has really caught Mr C.  I'm serious when I say that he's eating, sleeping and dreaming golf.  He talks about his golf game constantly.  He's analyzing his swing, buying new "used" clubs to improve his score, and asked me to please mow the lawn as it was a little long for chipping purpose.  (I should work on him mowing the lawn - new summer chore)  One day over spring break, he went to the driving range for two hours to chip, putt and drive and came home one happy boy!

 As we were driving to the driving range on Monday, his final day of break he told me of his "new" life plan.  "I'm going to work really hard when I'm young, make a bunch of money, retire early and then play 18 holes everyday."  I responded that his wife may object to the retire young idea since she might not be ready to spend all day every day with him.  He told me not to worry.  He's already prayed that his wife will love golf too!

One of the fun parts of parenting teenagers is watching them try new things and give "it" all they have knowing that this is building in them skills that will carry them into adulthood.  I'm not sure that Mr C will ever win a Green Jacket at Augusta or play a round in a college golf tournament, but I know that the tenacity his learning on and off the course along with his desire to learn all he can about golf will serve him well in whatever the Lord has planned for his life.

For now, I'll just have the car gassed up and ready to drive him to the nearest golf course plus I'll add "golf lover" to my list of prayers for his future spouse.

40 Bags in 40 Days Update

I would love to say that as a result of my 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge there is not a stitch of unused or unneeded "stuff" in my house, but the reality is that even though I crushed the goal there is still a lot of junk I need to go through.  In fact, I tossed or donated 55 bags of clothing, books, kitchen stuff, and tons of things that have been sitting in my cabinets for years without purpose.  I'd love to show you some great photos of the cabinets and closets, but I'm no Simply Organized and my closets still don't look like that!  Plus, the whole camera dilemma. Thankfully, now the camera is back so there is still hope; I still have an entire basement to go through.

Can you imagine the good stuff hiding in the storage room?  Not to mention all the camping stuff that Mr C swears he'll never use again or the clothes that kept from when Miss M was eight.  While I though Miss A would love them, I'm sure she'll never put them on.  Oh, the bags that await me.  I've challenged myself to get downstairs next week and get started.  My goal is to be all done before the kids get out of school. 

That gives me a little over a month to tackle my next big project.  I've challenged myself to come up with 55 bags downstairs, too.  I think a garage sale is in my plans as well.  We have a doll house, a little kids art table and two dressers that are ready for someone else to enjoy.  There is probably much more.  I hate garage sales, but hate to think of these items wasting away in the recess of my basement. 

I think if I exceed my goal, I'm going to take the family to our favorite Mexican Cantina and enjoy a margarita on the patio!

Easter Sunday 2012

Easter morning at our house is a little less chaotic than it was when we had three little kids awaiting the bunny's arrival before Church.  Now we have a deal with the "bunny" and the Easter Baskets await the kids on the fireplace with presents from the parents and then the eggs are scattered in the yard with candy while we are at church.  After checking out their stash, we enjoyed our traditional Resurrection Roll breakfast and got ready in our new Easter clothes for church.

It's a great compromise.  Miss A gets a chance to experience all the fun while the big kids get to be of the action, too.  Thankfully, Miss M is more than willing to hunt eggs with A.  After coming home from a wonderful service celebrating our Risen Savior, it was a mad rush to gather as many eggs as possible.

Lunch at Nana and Papa's meant not only a great brunch, of which I only had to provide Fruit Salad , but an afternoon of Master's watching, bingo games, balloon races in the backyard, and a little bit of dress up. 

Who knew that Miss M could get more hairy!  Miss A thought the Bunny Ears really added to her bright pink twirly dress and Mr C enjoyed not only "critiquing" the golfers on the 2nd hole, but also some putting on papa's putting green.  Honestly, I think the kids just enjoy getting a chance to hang with their cousins.  Seems we don't see enough of them in the winter months!

We finished our evening with a fabulous dinner of pork tenderloin, Girl Scout potatoes and asparagus.  I heard rave reviews for the meal.  In fact, Mr C might have said it was two great dinners in a row!!

Miss A told me it was her favorite Easter ever.  With all her "years" of experience to draw from, I'm surprised she can choose. 

Happy Easter!

Getting Ready for a Great Easter

I'm just gonna admit it right up front; every year I have to look up in a cookbook/Internet how to hard boil eggs when the Saturday before Easter rolls around.  I hate eggs.  In fact, except in baked goods like cookies and cakes, I try to avoid eggs at all times.  No deviled eggs around here.

However, I know that part of our Easter tradition includes dying hard boiled eggs and just because I'm not an egg fan doesn't mean the kids can't enjoy a little creativity.  The sisters got into all the glitter, the tie dye look, and even attempted a little rubber banding to block the colors.  Big Brother even got in to the action for a minute and made a dinosaur egg. 

I'm thinking the jello jigglers we made were more my speed.  At least I'm willing to eat something made of pure sugar!  What says "Jesus Christ is Risen Today!" more than a yellow jello bunny?

Maundy Thursday: Our Roman Solider

Mr C did a fabulous job in his role as a Roman Solider during the Last Supper drama on Thursday.  Of course, as his mother, I thought he looked adorable in the uniform, but I'm not sure its appropriate to say he was a cute Centurion.  Mr C said he was glad it wasn't a long service as the armor was cutting into his shin,  Oh the burden of being an actor!

The Last Supper drama really set the stage for Holy Week.  Watching Mr C take Jesus away from the Garden and His disciples was amazing.

Singing the Hymn " Go to Dark Gethsemane" and watching the altar stripped of all the elements to shroud it all in darkness makes you even more amazed at Jesus' sacrifice.

Easter Front Door Decoration

I've been wanting to put up an Easter Decoration for my front door since about March 18th and I'm pleased to say it was up before April 1st.  At least before midnight on the 1st.  Big plans are my middle name, but at least I finally came through with a week to spare.

This is my second Burlap Door Hanger.  It is getting a little easier and I'm certainly figuring out a few tricks.  I figure by the 4th or 5th design I make, they might look good enough to put on Pinterst.  Not yet though.

For this project, I used white burlap and some fun spring paint colors.  While I had dreams of the words like "He Is Risen" written on the front, the reality is it just didn't look right.  I used a cross template from Hobby Lobby (They had the perfect plastic foam cross with the word "It is Finished" on them for sale as a yard display) that was just the right size. 

First, I painted the border and then I made polka dots of various colors all over the cross.  I used embroidery floss to sew together the front and back pieces of burlap.  Next time, I think I'll try to sew with the bottom piece being the "top" so that most of the sewing shows through on the back.  I had tried some spray adhesive but it just didn't stick like I wanted.  I used grocery plastic bags to stuff the cross. 

Not wanting to take away from the impact of the Cross (and advice from P), I choose not to use a ribbon on the top.  I love the final look.  It is fun, bright, and cheery without losing the message of the Cross; Jesus.  I'm planning to drape the cross with black cloth on Good Friday and remove it early Easter Morning. 

A friend and I are already making plans for a Spring/Summer Burlap Hanger.  We are trying to decide if it will be a flower, flip flops, or surfboard.  Who knows maybe it will be all of the above.

Mondays' are for Lists....

It's Monday and nothing says Monday to me more than a list.  I have my menu plan list for the week, my chore list for the week, my to do list for today so why should my blog be any different.  Plus, I had the item "update blog" on my list of things for today so by writing this list here, I'm able to cross of that item there.

Today's list is a hodgepodge of life lessons, admissions and funny things perfect for the beginning of a new month. 

1. Life is too short not to stop at Lemonade Stands.  Take that as a life lesson.  Yesterday, as Miss A and I were driving Mr C to chipping/putting practice, we saw one of her first grade friends having a lemonade stand outside her house.  At first, I almost drove past, but I didn't. We stopped and bought two glasses at 25cents a piece (I tipped her 50 cents) and chatted for a few moments.  You know if you are too busy to stop at a lemonade stand, you are too busy!
2. There is less than a week left in the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge and there are just a few more areas left on my purging rampage. I'm at 45 bags and counting.  While I don't think I'll make it to the basement before Easter, the rest of the house will be a lot less cluttered.  I might start my own challenge for April-May and see how many more bags I can get before summer.
3. Friday night, I hosted Bunco at my house and I'm happy to say that no actual gambling occurred.  Come to think of barely any Bunco happened either.  Get a bunch of women together without kids and you'll get a lot of talking going on.  Next month, we might just admit that we are just getting together for "fun" and maybe do a recipe exchange or a craft. 
4. We've gone over to the dark side by joining Costco.  I know it's hard to believe.  I am the person who has claimed that Costco was like a cult has finally given into peer pressure.  We've been Sam's Club members since 1995 or about the same time most of Miss A's friends' parents graduated from high school.  Costco sucked me in with the fact they are miles closer to my house, have nearly the same stuff as Sams' so I'm not losing anything, and it's right near the gym making it within my "sphere."  I have rules about how far from home I travel and Costco falls inside my zone.  I know it's odd, but I just get more done closer to home!
5. Finally, it's Easter week, that wonderful time of year when I stand amazed at what My Savior did for me!  This year, Mr C is in the Maundy Thursday drama at church.  He'll be one of the Roman Soldiers taking Jesus away from the garden after the Last Supper.  It's a role my husband played the Easter a few times when we first started dating and were married.  According to my mother, it is when she first remembers seeing Mr P at church.  I'm sure that the reenactment of this Holy Night will bring me to tears not just because it will be so personal with my "son" in that role, but because it will remind me again that Jesus was God's Son, too.  He knew what would happen that Night, He knew the "cup" that Jesus would have to suffer.  God knew too that the Cross was the only way.  He did it all for me.  Wow! 

I'm praying that this week, more than ever before, I will appreciate and wonder at the Father's love for me (and you) that He would allow His one and only to die on a cross!  That's Amazing Love.

I'm so grateful.  Aren't you.