Midwest Keech

A few weeks ago, we had a ward carnival. It was tons of fun, especially for the kids. There was a moon-bounce, face painting, food & games. We had corndogs & sno-cones. They were VERY smart to do only 1 flavor. - That way, you just make them & pass them out - no choices to make. Allison actually did very well, considering this was her very first sno-cone. Of course, there were also nachos. I love nachos! Adam had a boat-load of candy that he won playing games. He had a great time running around playing with his friends too. The face painting was fun! One of the young women painted Amelia's butterfly and Adelaide's heart. I ended up helping with the face-painting, because it was SO much FUN! I painted lots of stars, flowers & smileys, a couple of firetrucks, some rocket ships & even a snake or 2. Let's just say, Bryan painted his OWN face. He cracks me up.

I know it ended a LONG time ago, but we had a fun time this year at the Nauvoo Pageant. Bryan volunteered to help with security when our ward helped, so we made a day of it & took the whole family. It was pretty fun, even though the kids were convinced they would be bored & that they would have a horrible time. The gardens by the visitors' center were so beautiful that I HAD to take pictures of the kids. I love how they came out. Adelaide Allison Amelia Adam was a little more difficult...he didn't want his picture in front of the flowers. I think this is an acceptable compromise. All My Little Monsters Adam - Outside the Brick Yard. These kids will climb on anything. We brought a picnic dinner to have - Good ' ol PB & J. The girls had a great time with the Bugles - Dinner AND a Show. Monkey SEE, Monkey DO. We staked out some seats for the show, but we had a little while before the pre -show activities started. I had some of those fruit roll up Stickers. The ki...

For my birthday, I got to go out on a date with my hubby. We drove 45 minutes to Peoria, so we could go to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. It was very yummy. We then drove back into town. We went to Best Buy & got a new microwave, then went to Chili's for dessert. I had one if those chocolate lava cakes...SO good. I had a great time, just hanging out with my guy. It was a nice birthday.

Well, our microwave died last week. We finally bought a new one. It's nice & we got a pretty good price. We were driving home tonight & it was rattling & making LOTS of noise. Adelaide says, "It's our microwave making that noise. - It's giggling & tinkling." Classic...yet another Adelaide-ism to add to my collection. She's so funny.

A friend of mine helped me throw a baby shower for another dear friend, Syndy, who is expecting her 4th child. They've had some trouble (as many of us have), so this baby is a great blessing. Her family is in California, and mine is in AZ, so this may be one of the things that help bind us together. Anyway...She loves bees. She's terrified of getting stung by actual bees, but she collects pretty much anything with bees on it. Long story short, I was not inspired by any of the baby shower decor @ the party store, so I went with a bee-theme...LOTS of yellow & black. I had lots of fun. We had lots of food, most I picked up from Sam's - bruschetta, mini-quiche, creme puffs, cheese & crackers, veggies, fruit & cupcakes. It was lots of fun to eat, visit & play a few games. For party favors, we made some very cute bees. I cut out the yellow felt, added black felt stripes, tulle wings & pipe cleaner antenae & stinger. I glued a clothespin & magnet on th...

I have a friend...Jessica. I know I've mentioned her before, probably many times. We were fortunate to spend some time with her & her family while we were in AZ in June. What I may not have mentioned, is that she is totally & completely OCD. When she gets upset, she gets down & takes a toothbrush to the kitchen floor. I have always teased her about being a "neat freak". We were quite a pair...her being a total clean nut (mostly her dad's doing, long story), and me kind of a sloppy joe. This last week, while planning for a baby shower, I did LOTS of cleaning & organizing. Aren't you proud Miss Jessica? The house was very clean. Well, for about 5 minutes until we lived in it. You know how it is. I did want to share some fun pics that I took this week. The kids sit on the stools @ the counter. They are pretty sloppy, and drop lots of stuff sometimes. The floor gets quite sticky & dirty. I have been trying to find a way to make them more aware of t...