Bat Mitzvah

We decorated for a fun and fabulus "Under the Sea" themed Bat Mitzvah last weekend.  It was so amazing I just had to share!

A Bat Mitzvah is a "coming of age" ceremony for a girl who is turning 13 years old in the Jewish religion.

 The candle display for the Candle Lighting Ceremony.

The large ballon fish that we made for the centerpiece of the dessert table.

The "tweens" table for Isabelle and her friends.  Decorated to the nines with balloons, candy, and lots of color!

One of the three Under the Sea vingettes placed in the reception hall.

 The seating name tags.

The Under the Sea tunnel before enting the reception hall.

The dance floor with balloon arches flowing seaweed (ribbon) hanging down.

The adult tables with beautiful centerpieces with HUGE white and blue hydrangeas.

Centerpieces for the bar!  Can you say soooooo very FUN!

Isabelle and her family were very pleased and enjoyed her party!

Off to Kindergarten

When I was small I was afraid
Teacher helped me, and art I made
I splashed in water, collected worms
Never knowing how much I learned
Pretending how to put out the fire
I was a princess, crown of bended wire
I practiced how to write my name
and soon enough it brought me fame
Exploring, discovering, creative play
Is what we did everyday
This was the greatest place to grow
Now off to kindergarten I will go
My head held high
I will try not to cry

Kate singing "The Grand Ole Flag"

Kate's entire pre-school gradutaion class of 2011.

Kate and Daddy.

Door to Door Organics

As some of you know I have recently started "fat school" AKA Weight Watchers a few weeks ago.  So far, so good, I have lost a total of 12 pounds and hopefully still losing ( I haven't weighed in this week yet.) Weight Watchers has changed the entire program since I last did it three years ago.  One of the perks is that ALL fruits and most all veggies are ZERO points, therefore I can eat as much as I want and not count it in my daily point allowance.  At my last meeting there was a website listed on the whiteboard https://michigan.doortodoororganics.com/, it looked interesting, so I went home and looked it up.

About Door to Door Organics (From their website)

• Door to Door Organics is Michigan's delivery service of fresh, organic fruits, vegetables, herbs and select groceries.
• Each week of the year they deliver the freshest organic goodies directly to your door at competitive prices. (Most places has FREE delivery, YES FREE!!!)
• They have close relationships with a number of Michigan farmers and work around the clock to ensure that they bring locally grown produce whenever it's available.
• They always strive to ensure that they bring you the freshest, organic produce from only the most reputable of farms.
• Door to Door Organics focuses on local produce when possible because it is fresher, requires less fuel to transport and we get to support our neighbors, making it easier for them to support us.

I checked out their website, and also had a $10 off coupon so I thought I would give it a try.  I choose the Bitty Mix, which is the smallest box available with a mixture of fresh fruits and veggies in it for a very reasonable cost ($23.00-$10.00= $13.00). Each delivery (Mine is every other Tuesday) they give you a selection of fruits and veggies depending on what is in season.  If there is something in the weekly box that you don't like, you can swap it out for other items at no cost.  On their blog they also include a recipe that you can make with the items from your weekly box as well as information about specific items, like learning everything you need to know about asparagus!!

So we just got our first box moments ago and I, along with Kate was soooooosuper excited!

Our first box of goodies came mid afternoon, just waiting on by our front door.

Kate opened it to a huge head of fresh lettuce!

Three Roma Tomatoes

1 bag of celery, 1 cucumber, 2 Gala Apples, 2 Vidalia Onions, 1 avocado, 1 box of blueberries,

and  two bananas!  YUM

Everything was very fresh and smelled great!  I am gonna make guacamole with the avocado, tomatoes and onions for a bedtime snack and use celery instead of chips to dip with.

Door to Door Organics is available in more then just Michigan, so give em a try!

Funny story...

...so tonight as we were getting in the showers (Naked) Nick was standing outside of the tub, staring at the toilet, he then bent over and looked at his own little wee wee for a sec.  Before I know it, he was peeing on the floor!!! No biggie it happens.  What made me die laughing is when he tightened up his cute little butt cheeks, put his knees together with his feet still about 8 inches about, cupped his hand under his wee wee and caught his own pee in his hands all while saying, "Oopsies, Oopsies, Oopsies!!" in the most suprised little voice.  He caught most of it, but a few drizzles went down his leg, so he followed it with his finger and kept saying (In his cute little Nick voice), Wuz zat? Wuz zat? Wuz zat? (Whats that).



It made me laugh...

Cooks in the kitchen

Little Ms. Kate loves to bake and cook in the kitchen, so the other day I asked her how to make some of her favorite recipes. 

Give'em a try if you dare.

Pizza
Start with a pizza crust. Roll it out.
Put pepperoni's on it, like 3 or 4 or 5. Make a smile face.
Put cheese on it, 4 pieces, put sauce on it, 6 inches.
Heat it up for 5 minutes. Set the timer on the stove.
Heat it like 5 degrees.
Eat it when you set the table and get the drinks ready.
If it is hot, then don't eat it, just blow on it.
Cut it into little triangle shapes.

Spaghetti
Pour water in it, 1/2 inch.
Get the cheese,  1/2 inch.
Stir it...
Cook it for 15.
Cook it for 70 hot.
Eat it, just some of it.
If I try a "No thank you bite" it's good and I'll eat it all gone and I'll say "UMMMMMMMM Mom!"
"Thank you Mom"

Cake
Go to Meijer, Wal-mart, Target, wherever and get a sparkley cake that comes in a box
Water, 1/2 inch
2 eggs
Stir it up, put it in a bowl
put it in the oven for 5 minutes on hot.

Macaroni and Cheese
You buy it
(Duh Mom!)

Chicken
Get a chicken at the store.
The kind with no wings and no legs.
Put them on a pan and put them in the oven for 2 hours.
Cook them pretty hot.
Eat chicken at dinner with your family.

Bon appetit!

Weekend Overview

Friday Morning
Mike worked a 24 hour shift.

I went to a Mother's Day Tea Party at Kate's Pre-School.

We had silver tea kettles and tea cups at each table.

All of the children "crowned" their Mother's with the most beautiful purple and teal handmade couture hats with flowers and ribbon.  Kate is placing my hat on my head while Nick watches.

The view across the pre-school room at all of the Mom's with their beautiful hats.

Mommy and Kate

 Kate getting tea for us.

 Kate with her "finger Food" at our Mother-Daughter Tea Party.

 Nick had to tag along because Mike was working.

Saturday Morning

We had my best friends daughter's first birthday party on Saturday morning, so I made these fun flower centerpieces to coordinate with with the party theme.

Saturday Evening

We had Kate's first dance recital Saturday night, it was very exciting and a HUUUUGGGGGGEE deal!  She was in 3 different dances and also in the finale.  The theme of the recital was New York City.  In the picture below was Kate's costume for the song "Let it Snow" to resemble winter in New York.  She did AMAZING, and loved being on stage.  She said her favorite part was when people clapped for her. 

 Nick and Kate right before her recital.

Kate and three other dancers.

After the 2.5 hour recital a few friends and my Mom and Dad came back to the house for dessert.

Sunday Morning-Mother's Day

We had the most wonderful peaceful Mother's Day.  Unfortunately, Mike had to work again, so he was away from the house, but my Mom and Dad were able to visit for the day. Nick hung out with Grandpa for the afternoon while Grandma, Kate and I went to Subway for lunch, then did some shopping.  A few hours later we came back to the house and went for a walk to the park while Kate and Nick rode their bikes.

 Kate hanging upside down.

<><><>  <><><>  The kids on their bikes on the perfect sunny spring day. <><>

After our walk we all went out to Dinner  that was delicious!  Then back home for showers and bed, just in enough time to start another busy week.

(sorry if there are lots of spelling and grammer mistakes in this post, I just can not muster up the energy to proof read this post, I am exhausted!)

Fireman's Memorial

I have visited the Fireman's Memorial many many times in the past 30 years, yet I still enjoy walking up the steps to the granite wall full of names "dedicated to those who served" of past firefighters in the state of Michigan.

Having Mike in my life as a firefighter makes the memorial that much more special.

Mike and the kids.

There are now two walls with names of Michigan Firefighters who have passed away (these are not names of those who passed away in the line of duty).  Those of you who know Richard Brinker, his name is in the upper right hand corner of the above pictures.

An old time hose cart.

An old pull fire alarm.

A beautifully finished fire hydrant.

The Mommy and the Daddy.

 Kate

Nick on Daddy's shoulders.

We will be back to visit soon.