One of the best weekends ever!

     It started with dinner at the Peacock Lounge at the Davenport. Let me just say...I don't even want to know the calories. YIKES!




     And, I had ice cream and then some mushroom appetizer as my dinner! For real, LOL!
     We stayed in the Tower (I had stayed in the original hotel before, and I wanted to try out the new one), which is a Safari theme! Very fun, modern and just plain NICE.





     The beds are so soft. I love the turn down service, and the soft peanut brittle :)
     The concert...AMAZING! I have watched MANY concerts in my lifetime, probably been to close to 70 (really, should do a list sometime!).
     Celtic Woman was ONE OF THE BEST shows I have ever been to!!!!
     Everything was good. The singing was absolutely incredible!!!!! What a range. It almost seems impossible for people to have such voices.
     The instruments rocked! From the drums, to the guitars, piano, and OF COURSE the violin!!!!!!!
     The lights, the set, the everything.
     When I left the concert, I just felt like my heart was FILLED TO THE BRIM!!!!! Talk about the power of music.
     I had such a great time with great company (my mother-in-law).
     Then we hurried home, so I could catch Jordan's second game against Omak. I missed the first one Friday night, and Omak won that one.
     We did end up winning the game on Saturday, and it was intense and exciting. Jordan was hit around from second and he slid into home on a close play to win the game in the bottom of the 7th inning! I was VERY proud of him!!
     Then Saturday night we attended the Okanogan Athletic Boosters Club auction. That was a good time, and good food!!
     I kept track of the live auction, and they made over $8500 on that, so I imagine they must be up to close to $10,000 counting the slient auction and raffles. What a fun and SUCCESSFUL night :)
     Today was Mother's Day! I got to talk to my mom, and my son, who are both so far away! I spent time with my family and friends, and I just laughed and laughed!!!
     We got our baby girl back this evening, so my day is complete!!!
     We have a HUGE week ahead of us! Stay tuned :)

Birthdays continued!

     Here are the ice cream cone cupcakes I made for our little one's class for her birthday!! YUMMY!!!
     I had the stand made by one of my students! Perfect!!

Celtic Woman here we COME!!!

     So for Christmas last year, we bought G-Ma Pat (Rick's mom) the DVD of Celtic Woman. Then on the back, there were tickets to the concert that is happening tonight in Spokane!!!!!      I am so excited to go! I love Celtic Woman, and I love my mother-in-law!      She is so much more than a mother-in-law! First off, she is the BEST grandma ever!!! She loves our kids so much!! All of them...bio or not! As a matter of fact, you would never know that my kids are not her bio-grandsons!      Patti is a mother to me. My mom is far away, and we are not super close, so often Patti falls into that role in my life, and I VERY much appreciate and LOVE her for that!!      We are staying at the Davenport, and I am SOOOOO excited about that, too :) It is for sure my most favorite place to stay!!

Red Shirt Friday!!!

     So, every Friday I wear red! Why? Because it's a show of support for our troops!
     It's not supporting the war or any of that...It's just about saying I love you to my son and his friends, and all of the other men and women out there!
     So, Happy Friday :)
     P.S. I have my lei on that my little bear gave me last night!!

Mother's Day is coming!!!

     I feel like Mother's Day is coming early this year :)
     Last night we attended the Kindergarten/First Grade concert at our little one's elementary school.
     It was so sweet! It had a Hawaiian and Mother's Day theme happening. And, it culminated in our kids bringing a colorful lei to each mom!I am even wearing mine today!
      Then this morning we had Muffins for Moms in my step-daugther's class. And, I had a blast!
     You know, being a step-parent often sucks because the bio parent often feels territorial.
     I'm lucky that my step-daughter, who I truly consider my daughter, loves me so much.
     Here was the conversation I was a part of this morning.
     The little boy across from my little one asked, "Is that your aunt?" The reply, "No, this is my other mom." The boy said, "You have two Mommies?" Reply, "YES I DO!" The boy said, "Your're lucky!" Then another little girl sitting at our table said, "I think so, too!" Our my sweet little one had the biggest smile on her face!
     I was sitting at a table with two kids who didn't have a mom there, and meanwhile our little one had two! She is lucky! If only, everyone saw it that way, right?!
     I left the Muffins for Moms after our little one read a sweet letter to each of her moms :) With that letter and a pink rose in hand, I felt like I was floating on out of the school.
     I am so proud of her. I am so honored to be her second mom! I truly understand how adoptive parents feel. I get that genuine love for another person with whom you have no biological connection.
     Also, I received this super cute little sunflower that my baby girl planted at Daisy Scouts.


     Again, I feel so loved, so appreciated, and I am ever so grateful to the people in our little one's life, who truly understand the dynamics and make sure that she has the opportunity to show her love to me :)     Then I get back to my classroom, and I receive THE most beautiful bouqet of flowers, and they smell SOOO good!




     SO, they are from my son Cody who is a WORLD away!!! He was in cahoots with my youngest son, who got him the number to the local florist.
     His card said, "Mom, Thanks for making me feel at home, even though I'm so far away! I love you! Cody"
     Can you say...emotional moment :)
     I feel soooooooooo loved!!!!!! And, it's not even Mother's Day!!!

Today is Star Wars Day!

     May 4th, National Star Wars Day...May the fourth be with you!! LOL!
     Too funny! I had a good time with that today ;)

The month of birthdays!!!

     My wonderful weekend started out early Friday when Cody called me! We had such a good conversation, and I so love to hear his voice!! I can hardly believe his birthday is in two more days!! He will be twenty. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
     This will be the first year that I won't for sure be able to talk to him on his birthday, although I am hoping he will be able to call.
     So, after talking to my oldest baby, I went and collected my youngest baby and four of her friends (thanks to my best friend for borrowing her suburban), and off we went to start our birthday party adventure!
     First we headed to the dollar store. I let each kid choose five things as their party favors! This was soooo much fun, and it turned out even better than I thought! Each kid had exactly what they wanted!!!!
     It was funny to watch them grab their five items, and then see something new that they wanted and compromise and put something back! Ahhhh...the torture of being a first grader with the world of a dollar store at your hands!!! LOL
     Since they knew we were headed to go swimming, many of them were excited about buying pool toys! Yeah, for noodles, right?!
     We loaded back up with our goodies, and we headed over to the Pepper Tree to really start the fun!
     The kiddos swam for SIX hours! They did stop for mini-breaks of grabbing a snack (again, THANKS KATHY), and pizza (yeah, Hometown delivers to businesses and hotels), or something to drink.
     Of course, when big brother Jordan made an appearance, the kids went ballistic. Talk about a water war!!! LOL! I laughed so hard!!! It was a blast, even for me the observer!
     They tried to talk dad into joining, but he was smart, and played it safe, like me!!!
     We opened presents (man, those kiddos were so generous), and then we took showers, and paraded around in our PJs. We had some birthday ice cream!
     Of course, we also had to have a serious bed jumping time, and then we snuggled in to watch some Nickelodeon.
     The kids were OUT at 10:30, and I had to wake them all up at 8 a.m. to head down to eat some breakfast.
     They even had a blast every time we were in the elevator, and everyone who was around us each different time, always commented on our group. Definite memories made!!!
     So, we made it home, and then had to get our little one ready to go to another sleepover for her good friend! For four of the girls, this was the second sleepover in as many days!!
     I also squeezed in a double-header of baseball in Chelan. Then we spent a kidless evening with our good friends, the Lockwoods, playing PHASE 10 (which I won, LOL)!!
     So, Sunday was definitely the mellow-get-some-stuff-done-and-relax day!!!!!
     Does the birthday fun end there? HECK NO! Like I said, we have Cody's birthday on Wednesday. We have some fun Mother's Day activities this week, and some other special events planned this weekend!!
     Then next week is our baby girl's official birthday, and Rick's birthday is the day after her special day, so WOWSER, do I have a big surprise for the two of them!!!!
     I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE birthdays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!