Peanut Butter Jelly Time, The Hand Jive, & The Purple People Eater

It's Dance Fever!

For weeks,

all three girls have been practicing for the

Starstruck Dance Performance at their elementary school.

On the big night,

we were fortunate to have grandparents in attendance...

Along with the usual suspects!

Ava was our PB & J girl!

Bella our Hand-Jive girl!

And Iris made for the sweetest Purple-People Eater!

The school staff ended the show with a super-funny dance

to "You Be Illin'",

with the Principal smack in the middle of it all

hip-hoppin' it out!

Later we caught some pictures with the girls teachers who

were still dressed up from the performance!

...

It was a great night of fun,

and yes,

to this day we are still all singing and dancing to the songs!

Way to go, girls!



Samuel's Birthday Wishes: Donuts, Cheese Whiz, & A Mosquito Head Net



On this special day,

we were still laying our floor,

so we surprised Samuel early with breakfast in bed!

And since our bed was on the living room floor,

the kids thought it was extra fun!

What better way to celebrate than with donuts...

And blowing out imaginary candles?

Samuel's a maple-glazed kind of guy (disgusting!),

but the boys prefer anything with sprinkles!

Gabriel was pretty weary of the texture at first...

But he got over it!

Dinner featured all of his favorites...

And yummy dessert too!

When I first married Samuel,

I learned that he (and his family)

loved Cheese Whiz!

He's since weaned himself off the stuff,

but the kids and I still like to buy it for him now and again-
just to be silly!

Another birthday treat:

Butter Pecan Ice Cream!

Last but not least,

my mom and grandma did not disappoint with

their usual crazy gifts.

This year he received a kite, a straight edge,

a mosquito head net, and a flashlight!

...

I love you, Samuel!

It was so fun celebrating this special day with the kids.

You mean so much to me.

I am so glad to have met you,

to have fallen in love with you,

to be IN LOVE with you,

and to be able to hold your hand everyday,

and for eternity.

Happy Birthday, H.D.

Love,

Me

H.T.



Do it, Dad!

Amidst all the remodeling,

a first:

Iris lost a tooth!

And she's the only one so far whose given

Dad the green light to yank it out!

Way to go, Iris!

Hearts of Gold, But Real, You Know?

I can't even write this without crying.

With all the craziness of replacing our floors,

we never once considered asking family for help.

Call it pride, call it stupidity,

but we were excited and determined to take on this project

as a family and see it through to the end.

Like idiots,

from the beginning,

Samuel's brother, Joe, offered his help,

and we refused.

See,

the Joe Elmer Family is no less

pressed for time than we are.

Recently graduating from nursing school,

he's working the crazy hours that a nurse works,

while Jessica manages their home

and the caring of three very energetic boys.

They have TONS on their own to-do list,

and we know what it means for this family to

sacrifice still more time away from their dad.

In the end,

Joe came.

The whole family came.

They served us.

They loved us.

And we are so, so grateful.

...

We love you, guys!

We owe you big,

think kidney's, first child, and the like...

{ Wouldn't you like to take Bella home with you? 

She's a sweet girl... :) }

We know it's not about payback,

but seriously,

we're here for you too.

Love ALWAYS,

The Elmer Family

Samuel, Olivia, Isabella, Ava, Iris, Owen, & Gabriel

March Madness: A House Ripped Apart Before Being Put Back Together Again

March was truly madness for us.

Prior to our home warranty expiring,

several cracks appeared in the ceiling of the family room

& kitchen and the garage.

The repairs would take one week to complete,

with no access to those areas of the home from 8AM - 4PM.

Yikes!

Those areas are truly the heart of the home.

But we buckled down,

and here we go... 

When all was said and done,

the work was flawless!

I lost my sanity a few times,

but overall,

things went quickly.

...

But why stop there?

Since we were already in a state of craziness,

with Samuel on Spring Break,

and our tax refund in the bank,

we decided to install new flooring!

Now the construction zone would incorporate almost

every living space except the kids bedroom and the tiled areas.

Yes,

we are crazy!

Owen found it to be a pirates haven!

And Gabriel practiced his climbing skills!

 Burning the midnight oil!

You always break for a great lunch!

A rare treat for the kids:

Whole Candy Bars!

Why?

I felt so guilty for keeping them confined to

certain parts of the house and

letting them watch movie after movie on the boob tube!

So of course,

I offer them junk food!

Way to go, Mom! 

{ Sigh }

My baby:

The Hallway 

I'm so happy and proud.

It's like giving birth!

{ Just kidding!  This is way better!  Just kidding, again...  }

Bella,

checking things out and dying to slip and slide!

Things were coming along nicely,

and then we hit the tiny patch of tile in the entry way.

Talk about stubborn mortar!

The solution,

grind it with a diamond bit.

The result:

Bittersweet.

The mortar came out,

but dust went...

E V E R Y W H E R E !

Now I know why the home repair guys

went to such lengths covering everything up with tarps!

The story behind this piece is that the work

on this room (or most of the work)

was actually completed days prior,

and in Samuel's absence,

a fact which nearly killed him.

How it worked out was that he had to go to school,

which meant that he would miss out on seeing things through to the end.

 

Thankfully, due to the big, BIG hearts of his

brother Joe and his family,

they stayed on to help finish up the work.

And we did,

except for 5 measly inches!

Try as we might,

we could not find any material to fit that last little bit!

And so that room remained incomplete,

until an order could be placed and received for more material,

which meant that Samuel would be home

to lay the last piece afterall!

{ For my blubbering on the Joe Elmers, see here! }

And so,

to Samuel's delight,

and order was placed,

and he was able to ceremoniously place the last piece!

Ta-da!
...

Is that March Madness, or what?

Hats & Grandma Love

Taters, Real-life Leprechauns, & An Irish Feast

The night before St. Patty's Day I was informed that

we couldn't possibly go to bed without putting something out for the Leprechauns!

Afterall,

Santa gets cookies and the reindeer carrots...right?

Given the nature of the Leprechauns diet,

it was determined that the most desirable item would be...

Potatoes!

And red potatoes at that-

my personal favorite!

Sure enough,

it worked.

T H E Y  C A M E ! ! !

And the proof was in the taters!

...

The kids were tickled,

but what delighted them even more was that the Leprechauns

pulled their favorite stunt:

They emptied out all the kids panty & undie drawers!

Usually Leprechauns come and go as they please,
as long as you're not looking.

Unfortunately,
I found a couple that weren't so slick...

And now you finally know what
Leprechauns REALLY look like!

...

And yes, Bella.

That's your overturned jewelry box in the corner of the room.

Sorry, sweets!

Iris, so proud of her Leprechaun trap.

The only problem:

We forgot to devise a way to trap the Leprechaun once he's inside!

We'll have to make major design improvements for next year...

This year I tried my hand at Irish Soda Bread.

I had it only once before and all I remember was that it didn't

taste like much and it was extrememly dry.

Mine puffed beautifully,

unfortunately,

it was still really, really dry!

Our first-ever Irish feast,
including Corned Beef with a
Sour Cream, Dijon Mustard, & Breadcrumb Crust!

So, so good!

For dessert:

Apple & Walnut Spice Cake with Malt Vinegar!

Y U M - E E E !

My girls.

All decked out in green and ready to dig in!

We hope you had a fab-St. Patty's day too!

Now go kiss your sweetheart-

Irish or not!