Memorial Day, 2011

Gorgeous summer day (slightly humid, but after all the cool, rainy days, we hardly felt like we could complain).  Mom and Dad’s, lots of great food, lots (and lots) of cousins, many laughs, more memories …

Strawberry Shortcake – the shortcake was dyed blue, as per Mick’s suggestion. 

Aleyna distracts Claire with a book so Aleyna has a bit longer turn to hold the doll they had been *sharing*.  ;-)

Brooke and Erin

Aleyna pushes Grant

Grant being highly entertained by cousin Alix.

Olivia, making sure I got her picture, too.  ;-)

Alyssa

Going … going …

Gone!

Thank you, Lord, for our family. 

Productive Saturdays

Ok, Trent isn’t exactly being productive here, but he just looks way too adorable!  Anyway, on to the productive part of this post.  Saturday found the Worleys all busy at various projects around the house.  It seems like we don’t have a lot of free Saturdays, especially as the weather turns warmer, so we were trying to get some much-needed work done. 
We started out in the mud room.  It was filled to the brim with lots of shoes, coats, hats, boots, etc.  When it gets to that point, it is almost to try to clean it up, because it gets messy again in a matter of minutes.  Also, the rugs were pretty dirty from tromping in there with muddy boots/shoes.  Last Monday when Mom and Dad were here for Grant’s birthday, we actually walked through there on our way outside for a walk.  I was completely embarrassed and apologized for its messy state, but Mom simply said “It looks like people live here.”  (Thanks, Mom!) 
So, we started by moving all winter things down to the basement, then got rid of shoes that were completely worn out.  Then we wiped down the shelves and cubbies and ran the shop vac over rugs and floor.  I wish I had taken a “before” picture (I think) but it looks quite lovely now. 

We went from the mud room to the laundry room…ay yi yi…Those rooms become such dumping grounds for stuff.  I basically did a lot of throwing away and donating and went from this:

to this:

OK.  That before picture wasn’t a true before.  I had already started hauling things out of the closet before I took that picture, but I think you get the idea.  While I was working on cleaning off the shelves, I came across a project that Courtney and Sarah enjoyed working on.  Sarah had gotten a mosaic stepping stone kit from the Ramseys for her birthday and they worked on that together.

We just checked on the final masterpiece and realized it has dried.  We have some final steps to take before it’s ready for a picture. 
Rachel and Erica worked on making a storage bin for the laundry.  We found the steps here to make a storage bin out of diaper box.  It was their first attempt, and we didn’t have all the necessary materials, but I think it turned out very nicely.  It is great to have some of my loose items on the shelf stored in a box that looks nice!  You can see the results in the after shot of the closet.  It’s the box with the yellow fabric around rim of the box on the right.  Here are a few pictures of the girls working on it in the early stages:



While all this productive work was going on, Grant entertained himself in creative ways …

So, we’ve gone for a very productive Saturday to a more laid-back Sunday.  I have played around a little bit with Dazzle, some new software that converts our old analog VHS tapes to digital format.  We’re also wanting to import all of our VHS-C and Hi-8 tapes.  Eventually, I want to have everything on the computer.  A couple of years ago, Dad gave us all of their VHS tapes to convert, but we didn’t have the right tools for the job.  Now, I finally feel like I can move forward with that project.  I’m just a little short on that one last magical ingredient … time!! 

Our Big Birthday Boy

Who is this big boy?!

Wow. I can't decide what I'm noticing more in this picture:  how big he is, or how cute he is!  Our Grant Michael turned 3 yesterday and he had quite a fun birthday.  The first part of the day was pretty mundane.  I was scheduled to work for a half day at doing some training for a client.  I didn't get there until 10:00, so I stayed until about 3:00.  Had to stop and get gas on the way home, so I didn't get home until around 4:00.  The girls did a pretty good job of getting things cleaned up, but there were some hot spots that we needed to hit.  While they did that, I worked on the meal.  Cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese, french fries and tropical fruit salad.  I made the Mocha Layer Cake Sunday evening.  Rachel astutely pointed out that in the Worley family, the birthday cakes are Mocha Layer until the birthday child is old enough to request something they want.  ;-)

Mom & Dad ended up getting here around 5:30 and we ate around 6:30, then took a walk down to the Edens' to see the horses.  Had a nice chat with Ros, then came back for cake, ice cream and presents. 



Grant absolutely loves his Grandpa.  :-)

Gift highlights:  his first gun(!), a helicopter, airplane, several books, including the clssic "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" and "Red Hat, Green Hat" by Sandra Boynton, bubble lawn mower, roller skates, and most loved of all ... drum roll please ... this $2 fire truck from Once Upon a Child, complete with lights and siren (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!).  He was so taken with that thing!  Whenever one of the girls turned it on, he would suddenly freeze, then walk almost trance-like to the ambulance and start playing with it again!  Soooo funny!!



Weekend Wrap-up

It's wayyyyy too late to be doing this, but I have to blog about this weekend before tomorrow's entry takes precedence (psst ... tomorrow is Grant's birthday!). 

Saturday was our annual Calvin Family Mother/Daughter Brunch held at Kelly's.  We had a pretty sparse crowd this year, due to illness and busy schedules, but the few of us who did make it had lots of fun and good food!

Florence and Kathryn made the drive from Daleville, Mona and Marla drove up and Jennifer and her kids were also there.  We had chicken noodle soup, homemade bread, taco salad, lime green jello salad, tropical fruit salad, and many desserts. 

Mona, Alix and Courtney spent some time together beading.



Alyssa had just stopped crying because she got an owie.  Beautiful even with her tears.  :-)





Trent, getting cuter by the minute. 

  We spent much time at the table chatting, laughing, and watching the kids and babies.  Later, we sang some hymns, accompanied by Florence, then took pictures. 

Marla and Mona, thick as thieves. 

Happy mothers and daughters (and one unhapy son  :-).

The "mature" bunch. 

Today we went to the graduation open house for a homeschooling friend, Adam.  There were many families from our former church there, so it was good to catch up with them.  It was a blustery afternoon, but the sun was shining and it was warm.  The kids played on the swingsets, and Grant spotted a basketball and goal that he was fascinated by.  I think that's the first time he's ever "shot" a basketball through a hoop (thanks to Daddy's assistance.  ;-)  Poor Trent had the least fun.  After having 2 interrupted naps today, he was shot, so we kept it to a short visit (difficult for me, but possible).  Sophia went with us, so the Orrs stopped by after we got back to pick her up.

We spent the rest of the evening eating dinner, then giving some much-needed attention to our messy house.  We do have a birthday party to prepare for, after all.  ;-)

Keepin' It Real

5:19. Typical school day. Stacks everywhere. Dinner started. Laundry to

be folded. Dirty children. <sigh> This doesn't look like Ann Voskamp's house!! :-D

Hungry Boy?

Last night, Trent, in an act of desperation, begins eating our dining room
table.

A Royal Weekend

This post is outdated, but I am still struggling to find a way to work with Blogger's picture-displaying capabilities. I'll get there ...

What a busy, but fun week and weekend we had! We ended up spending all of Thursday and most of Friday with the Ramseys at Mom & Dad's. The Mozingos, Bruces and Griffins came over on Thursday. Thursday night ended up being a late one, so I wasn't able to get up quite as early as I would have liked on Friday morning. The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was broadcast, starting at 4:00 am. I still remember getting up early to watch Prince Charles & Princess Di's wedding back in 1981, and I didn't want to miss this one either. I woke up around 6:30 and turned on the TV. It was about halfway through the ceremony, so I woke up Rachel, Courtney & Erica. It was amazing how quickly the girls got up, considering how slowly they get up on school mornings. :-) Then I woke Sarah up around 7:00 and Brooke around 7:30. We all agreed it was an absolutely beautiful wedding and a great way to start the day.

The rest of the day was spent getting ready for Mom & Dad's. I made the famous Mocha Layer Cake for the May birthday party, then we headed down. Mick ended up meeting us there later. After such a soggy week, it was nice to see the sun come out late in the day and the kids made the most of it by playing out in the yard most of the evening, while we did adult things, like watch, talk and eat. :-D Here are few pictures taken during the Telephone Game.

Lining up for the start of Red Light Green Light

Aunt Heather gets hugs from Trent. Not to take anything away from Heather, but this is an unusual display of affection from Trent. We think he temporarily thought she was me. :-D

Saturday was another fun day. Our church held a Craft Fair to benefit the OPC church in Japan following their massive earthquake and tsunami back in March. It was a small affair, but still fun. Just being able to spend time with the other sweet families involved made it worthwhile.

How's this for a cutie pie?
The girls made crocheted hats, beaded jewelry, stationery, a chocolate bouquet and potted flowers. Unfortunately, it wasn't very well attended, so we ended up buying quite a bit of each others' things. :-D

On Sunday, we went down to celebrate Mom's birthday. The Orrs were there, too. We had chicken noodle soup, ham and cheese sandwiches, lots of fruit and crackers and some really wonderful chocolate cake Kelly picked up at Costco called "Great American Chocolate Cake" or something like that. Yes, we broke with tradition and bought a cake instead of making one. But the Orrs had just gotten back from their Boston trip the day before, and we had the been at Mom and Dad's on Thursday and Friday and had the Craft Fair on Saturday. The only downside to the weekend is that Trent picked up a nasty cold. It was so bad that the Orrs loaned us their nebulizer and we gave him several breathing treatments over the course of a few days.



How sad is this face??? :-(

Ahhhhh … asleep at last.

Grant, Claire and Sarah ended up getting sick, too, but I think we're all on the mend now. Just in time to head down to Grandma Worley's church tomorrow for Mother's Day. Then, it's back to Mom & Dad's. Here's hoping for some nice weather. It's supposed to be sunny and 74 deg. Most of next week shows at least a chance for rain each day, except Sunday.