Protected

Sam has been so afraid of monsters lately that he often has a hard time going to sleep. Yesterday, he went to bed with a blue Power Ranger, and felt safe. I went in to check on him and this is what I found.

While the cat's away...

Well, Daddy's been gone for almost a week now on his High Adventure Scout trip, and while he is away, THIS is party central. Take a look! (Sorry they're sideways.) We haven't broken anything yet, but we've been eating mostly ice cream and pizza and PB Sandwiches, and staying up way past bedtime.

The Mundy Garden...

Here are some pictures of things that are growing around our house. The weather has been perfect for a great garden this spring...plenty of rain and warm sunshine. Wes and Debbie, the lillies in the pictures are all from the batch you gave us last year. I think they are beautiful. Thanks!

Am I cut out for this?

Ben got five stitches last night in his left hand. He picked up a knife that was on the counter and tried to cut himself some cantaloupe. Of course, he knows he's not supposed to use knives. I'm sure he won't ever try it again after this. A good friend who is a doctor happened to be at the house. He got his supplies and did Ben's stitches on our couch. Ben was brave. I was not. I'm usually not bothered at all when he gets hurt, but I was nauseous and jittery all evening. Truthfully, I was totally freaking out inside. Ben did great. He cried for the numbing shot, but was talking to the doctor while he stitched and then fell asleep while the last couple of stitches were going in. Both of these pictures were taken while he was sleeping.

A Short Night...and a Toad

We had a short thunderstorm just after dinner tonight. It got dark, thundered loudly, and rained really hard. About an hour later, it started getting light again. Ben said, "We just missed a whole night time!" (It really did look and feel like morning when the sun came back out). It took some convincing to get him to believe that it would still be bedtime in an hour or so.

Also, we found a BIG brown toad on our porch after the storm. I took the boys out to check him out and help him hop back down into the grass. Add that to the freshly dead baby snake we found in the alley yesterday, and I'd say we've been pretty lucky lately!

Boys in a Tree

Cowboy Sam

I think he makes a cute cowboy. He was so excited to have his cowboy picture taken. He was wearing his eye patch that day.

Kitchen Progress

Here are some updated shots of the kitchen remodel...in progress.

Our IKEA "Corner"

Here are the first few cabinets hung in the corner of our kitchen along with a shot of Ben and I assembling them late last night. He was so excited to help that at one point when he didn't have a job he offered to support my back while I leaned over to drive in a screw.

I'm really pleased with the cabinets. I think they go together easily, and the quality is very good. We hope to get the new floor started this weekend so we can get some base cabinets installed.

Breakfast Casserole

Yum!

Mix these together:

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 t salt

1 t ground mustard

Divide and layer these ingredients (2 set of layers):

1/2 lb browned sausage

3 cups cubed bread

1 cup cheese (or more)

1/4 cup sliced mushrooms (fresh are best)

small diced tomato

1/4 cup chopped green onion

1/2 t pepper

Pour egg mixture over the top and bake at 325 for an hour. Makes an 8x8 pan. Double for a 9x12. We eat this for dinner or breakfast. Also, it freezes well (before baking).

IKEA Pilgrimage

We returned Sunday around noon from a 2-day driving and shopping marathon. We went to pick up our new kitchen cabinets and a few other things at the IKEA store in Chicago. Here are a few pictures we took. Note the absence of any of Chicago's tourist attractions in our photos. We literally drove there, shopped, slept, and drove home. The kids had a great time because, as far as they're concerned, spending the night in a hotel is the ultimate vacation adventure. Who needs Disneyland?

First day of school

Today was Ben's first day of Summer School Kindergarten. He rode a school bus for the first time, and had a great day. He was talking a mile a minute when I met him at the bus stop, and I wanted to hear every word. He has a nice teacher, Mrs. Hertzog. He loved recess (so excited that they get to play TWICE!). He had chicken nuggets for lunch. He saw two of his preschool buddies in the hall. He gets on the bus with another kindergarten boy named Caleb and a fifth grader named D.J. (These pictures were taken the second day, and our neighbor girl, Tiernan was also at the stop). He says he doesn't want to go tomorrow...but he said the same about preschool, every single day. As long as I don't push the issue, he is ready and excited to go to school when it's time. And, in case anyone's wondering, I didn't cry. I had a nice quiet day, and appreciated him more when he got home. Sam, however, balled when the bus pulled away. He was crying Ben's name for about a block on our way home. Later, in the car, he said "Where's Ben?". I said, "He went to school on the bus, remember?" Sam said, "I want school too." I guess that's a good sign that he'll be ready when I put him on the bus in August.