Party day

Mackenzie was all smiles at Melea's birthday party today. She had fruit loops and loved every bite!

Brady and Melea had fun riding on her jumping zebra toy. Brady is 10 months older than her, but as you can see they are the same size. When they stand next to each other they are like two peas in a pod. I'm sure by her next birthday she'll be taller than him!!!

This was my birthday cake that Stacey got for me! We had Melea's cake after lunch and my cake after supper!! Mine had M&Ms all over it!!! I loved it!

This is Melea's birthday cake that I made for her. It is Abby Cadabby. She's a fairy monster on Sesame Street. I was nervous at first because she didn't want to come out of the pan, but I was able to cover up the spots that stuck with icing. Everyone said I should go into the cake making business. If I could support myself by making party cakes I would do it in a heartbeat!!! Anyone need a cake??? Ha ha.

In other news, Mackenzie is still not really walking on her own yet. Every once in a while she'll take a few steps here or there without holding onto anything, but for the most part she is still either crawling or walking holding onto stuff.

Brady is doing really well. He has been healthy all winter which is great! He is semi-interested in potty training. It was really funny, earlier in the week Jeremiah had to go to Wichita for a few days for a conference for work. He told Brady he would be gone for a few days and Brady asked, "Are you going potty training Daddy?" The whole time he was gone he kept telling me that Daddy was at potty training.

Jeremiah is back now and glad he didn't have to go into work tonight. He had to work late last night to help a neighboring city with some stuff they are working on. The weather got bad tonight so they didn't have to go in. It was supposed to snow five to nine inches overnight last night and into today. When I got up this morning the deck was dry and there was no snow in sight. It did finally come through this afternoon, but we ended up with about a half inch of ice and a dusting of snow on top. At Stacey's house - about 30 minutes east of here, they got about three inches of snow mixed with ice.

I went to an informational meeting for the alternative certification teaching program with the KCK school district this week. It didn't sound too promising. Even though the deadline to apply is April 1, and I completed mine at the end of February, they said they already have everyone lined up for interviews that they want for this year. Oh well. It seems it wasn't meant to be. I am still looking into some other options, but they all cost a lot of money so we'll see. I can't really afford to quit my job for a year so again it seems I am stuck in retail for eternity. Grrrr.

Well, it's time for Brady to get to bed and it may be a struggle tonight seeing the amount of cake he ate today!!! He's on a sugar high. Hopefully he'll get to sleep before midnight!!!

When it rains...

What a day. Stacey and Jeff brought the kids over for some fun. Melea and Brady had a blast hanging out in the back yard. Thank goodness for the nicer temperatures - and for the always incorrect weatherpeople in KC. It was supposed to rain all day, but didn't even spit out a drop here so they were able to run around for like six hours. Mackenzie wasn't feeling too well though so she didn't get to play. She sat in her high chair and watched. Then she threw up. Her nose has been really stuffy again the past two days and I think it's just draining a lot. At least I hope that is all it is. We certainly don't need another stomach bug this year. We already had that once in January.

So she was sick all afternoon, and tonight too. She is finally sleeping now and hopefully will be better in the morning. While all that was going on Jeremiah went downstairs to get something and noticed water coming from the area where the hot water heater is. So he and Jeff looked at it and thought perhaps it was just the valve thing. So Stacey and I went out shopping for a little while and got a new one. When we got home the guys put it in and fired it back up. A little while later I went in the garage to do some laundry. I noticed a strange burning smell, but thought that they must have been cutting something downstairs earlier or something. Luckily Stacey and I decided to go downstairs before she left so she could shop though some of my old clothes that don't currently fit because when we got down there we noticed tons of water gushing out of the water heater and smoke coming out of it. Not good. So I ran upstairs and notified the guys who then determined the whole thing was shot.

So now, at almost 10 p.m. Jeremiah and his partner are putting in a new water heater. Thank goodness Chris came over to help because I am not sure I would be very good at helping with that. Jeremiah has been putting me in a panic anyway because I asked him, "Did you find the gas shut off?" He replied: "I think so." I really hope the house doesn't blow up tonight. Chris reassured me that they did indeed find the shut-off.

Well, I've got to get Brady to bed. I have to be at work at 6:30 a.m. so we have to leave the house by 5:50 to get to the babysitters on time. Hopefully we'll have some hot water in the morning!!!

Pictures

We got pictures done yesterday. The whole thing was kind of a fiasco. They were apparently running late so it took almost three hours which didn't make for a fun afternoon for the kiddos. We ended up getting some good photos out of it, but it was really frustrating. I can't flip the sideways pictures unless I get on the big computer and I don't have time to do that right now, so you'll have to tilt your head to see them! Sorry! I wanted to get them on here though so you could see how big they are both getting!

Also, I'm applying for an alternative teacher certificate program tonight so pray that it works out and I can get a job teaching and finally some normal hours!!!Enjoy the pics!

Mackenzie's cake - party #2

We're having a birthday party today for Ryan, Logan and Mackenzie since their birthdays are all within a month of each other. I made another castle cake for Mackenzie. This time I used different icing and a new decoration tip. It turned out great!!!