Cruising

We spent our spring break taking a cruise to the Caribbean.  It was our oldest's senior year and our 20th wedding anniversary trip.  More posts to come, but here are pictures of the ship...

It had 3 large pools, a water slide, miniature golf, and a rock wall, all surrounded by beautiful turquoise waters and volcanic islands.

Dinner Date

I'm slowly trying to schedule dates with each child again like I used to.  We dress up and go downtown to a nice sit down restaurant (with a coupon, of course), and enjoy one-on-one conversation.  The rules are they have to talk with me and they have to try something they've never eaten before.  The date with my son was last month, and the date with my youngest was just a few days ago.  Here's the story of the date with her...

We head downtown, park, and walk into the restaurant.  As we looked over the menu, she realized there weren't any kids items.  So we ask the waitress if they have a childrens menu, and the response was "we can usually accomodate any palate, like chicken fingers or grilled cheese."

I ordered a soup & salad combo, then when it was the little one's turn, she said "steak, please".  I looked at her and asked if she was sure, and she said, "Yep.  I like a good juicy steak."  So, that's what she got, all $31.00 of it.  Good thing my coupon was for $25.00 off.  Her new item to try was mushrooms, and she really liked them.  I got one bite of steak and one bite of the sauted mushrooms, and that was it.  The little toot ate the entire filet mignon.

Our table was right by a window looking onto Main St., so we enjoyed watching all the people walking by.  Afterwards, she wanted to go for ice cream.  I again used another coupon, but it was fun.  She was a cute date.

Easter Break

The elementary school had some Easter fun before they let out for spring break.  Our little one enjoyed an egg hunt with her class.

Gotta love her crooked little smile!

While there, I snapped a picture of their Relay For Life heart fundraiser.  With each $1 donation, a child can dedicate their heart for someone they know living with or who has died from cancer.  She dedicated her 'heart' to her Grandma TC.

Another sweet classroom display was her "pot of gold" paragraph.  Can you tell who she's talking about?  It reads.... "My favorite cousin means more than gold because she is really nice to me and we do everything together.  I can trust her and she can trust me."  The cousin has dark brown hair and freckles.

Massage Place

Each of our children have found creative ways to earn money.  Our oldest had a candy machine, tutored, and did babysitting before she was 12.  Our son had a casino machine and repaired mailboxes.  Our youngest now decided to give massages.

Her place is quite convenient, right in the house.  She accepts all coins (or the occasional dollar), and will focus on whichever area hurts.  She employs the "pinch" method as well as the "elbow" method, so sometimes you get what you pay for.

Stations

Our youngest has been wanting to be an alter server for about 4 years now.  She's been practicing at home with the American flag and allowing anyone else who is home to be the priest.  She doesn't care if the homily is about butterflies, Dr. Seuss, or we actually take the time to grab a Bible.  She's just happy she is playing the role of alter server.

With her First Communion just a few months away, she is eager to start practicing.  Youth are not allowed to official serve at Mass until this sacrament.  However, our church doctrine doesn't say they can't help with stations, so the little one jumped at the chance when we arrived early one Friday this season of Lent.

LIVE Broadcast

My organization has an event coming up on Thursday, and we were given an opportunity to go on the air to highlight the event.  I had two days to prepare for this, and was frightening as heck, but an amazing experience.  There are things I did well, and things I could really improve for the next time, but for my first TV appearance (and "live" at that), not too bad.

Click the link below to watch the morning segment.
http://www.wyff4.com/news/centers-for-developmental-services-to-benefit-from-hockey-game/31809484

Broken Bone

With 3 active kids, I'm surprised this hasn't happened before.  We've had our trips to the ER for the flu, trips to the minute clinic for strep, but never a broken bone until now.

Our son plays starting goal keeper on the varsity high school soccer team, and yet he broke his finger during PE class playing basketball.  Now his undefeated team this season, along with shutouts (that means the opposing team never scored), is hoping the trainer can wrap it well enough for him to continue playing.



Life is never dull in our family!