These are two of the other kids that were in Hayden's group. One was not there for the last session. During the weeks of Science Academy the kids learned about forensics. Hayden's team was CSI Las Vegas. He had a great time and we are SO proud of him.
All of the kids from Oil City Elementary Magnet School that were invited to participate in Science Academy.
Chad and I have been talking for MONTHS about getting a dog. We had been looking for the "perfect" dog (not a puppy, house trained, fixed) when I found her on Craigslist for FREE. The same day one of my friends found the perfect dog on Craigslist and got her. They had the perfect dog for a few months and, because they work, didn't get to spend as much time with her as they felt she needed so they offered us...the perfect dog. We have fallen in love with this dog that we call Cilla. Her real name is Priscilla but, just like Elvis shortened his wife's name, we shortened hers.
She is NOT a small dog...I know she is not looking at the camera in this picture but you can see how big she is compared to the boys. About 45 pounds of sweetness...
Me and my love...
The boys got these tub crayons for Easter from their grandma, Nannie.
Uncle Scott did some artistry work with the crayons on Hayden...
and we see what Hayden will look like when he is a bit older.
Uncle Scott was not done doing his magic...
Parker is going to be a handsome dude, too.
Monday night after Easter we all were at my mom's house for a crawfish boil. Scott invited many of his friends over and all of our family ate LOTS of crawfish. I believe Scott got 105 pounds of live crawfish that his friend cooked. There wasn't too much left...mmmmm!
My sister-in-law, Bridget, was under the weather during the crawfish boil so I got to spend time with my neice, Haley, while Scott was getting everything set up. She is SO sweet! We all love her and can't wait to meet her little brother coming this June! 
Sweet Haley...
Now for a re-do...Chad brought home this bookshelf a few months ago from the church and asked if I could make it look any better so he could use it in his office. Well, spray paint is my usual go-to for fixing things up but this had a couple of coats of chipping paint that I was having to contend with so I called in a professional...my father-in-law. He has worked with wood all of his adult life and loves me so it was easy for him to say, "Sure, I'll help."
AFTER...
This was quite a project. I can honestly tell you wood working (taking bookshelf apart, stripping, sanding, stripping again, sanding again, staining, putting it back together, deciding to put molding on because your daughter-in-law didn't do a good job staining the edges of the bookshelf, staining the molding and putting the molding on) is not for the impatient. 
I'm pretty sure for about $60 I could have gone to Target and gotten something that looked pretty similar to this and that took one hour to put together but then I wouldn't have learned anything about stripping, sanding and staining or wouldn't have spent time with my precious father-in-law.
Isn't that a sad face? The cutest part of the whole situation is after Chad told Parker he might have to go the hospital Hayden burst into tears. When I asked him why he was crying he said, "I'm just so sad." They do love each other (sometimes I wonder)!
Chad ended up taking him to the Fire Department just down the street and they were able to get it out. Parker was VERY excited to get an Icee and candy at night. He is all better!
On Friday at school was kite day! We had a good time and we'll go kite flying again but probably when it is a bit more windy.
On Saturday, Parker's Moms Day Out had a float in the Redbud Parade in Vivian. We had planned to drop him off at the float and then watch but when we got to the float they needed Chad to drive the float.
Our float...we were Rock-N-For Jesus!
Since Chad was driving the float Hayden got to ride on the float and I walked beside the float with some other moms making sure everything was okay.
Our float was one of the first in the parade lineup so after the parade we were able to watch the rest of the parade.
Next...on to a redo. I found this jar at a garage sale for maybe $2. Right there at the garage sale I started seeing if I could scratch the design on the front off. Since I was able to I bought it and had the perfect idea in mind. I've had it in my storage for the last few months waiting until we had spray paint weather.
Just so you can get the feel for how outdated this was I took a close up of the Home Sweet Home part. I'm pretty sure we had something like this in our house in the late 80's.
This is the after...I scratched off the design on the front. Gave it a good washing and spray painted the top black and this became the most perfect container for my detergent. I've been wanting to fix up my laundry room and hopefully this will be just the inspration I need to get going on it.
Just a picture of Parker. This is what he chose to wear to Mom's Day Out yesterday and I think he looks so cute (and cool)!
Hayden and his friend, Tyler.
I had to post this picture of the bread dough used to make the mummy. I have never even seen this stuff in the store before. When it was frozen and before it rose it was about 6 inches long and 3 inches wide. You can see that these two loaves are almost busting out of my 11x13 inch pan. It was hilarious to see how quickly it got big.
Hayden's cake...once again, precious. Made by our favorite local cake lady.
Mr. Earl dressed up like a clown for our party. When he was a bit younger he was a Christian clown. He made LOTS of balloon animals at Hayden's party.
My grandmother, Sugie, with her clown nose on.
A few weeks my friend, Melissa, who is a school nurse tested Hayden's vision at school and told me that he could see out of his right eye but that his left eye was 20/40. Chad took him to an optometrist and not only did we find out he couldn't see well out of his left eye but that he has amblyopia (aka lazy eye). We ended up taking him to an ophthalmologist the next week to just go over everything with him. Fortunately, it was caught when it was. After about the age of 7 there is not much room for improvement. He has to wear an eye patch 4-6 hours everyday on his good eye to strengthen his bad eye. We are hoping that when we go back in February there will be improvement.
We went to the Corn Maze earlier this week with Hayden's school and it was so much fun. This was us in the middle of the maze trying to find our way out.
Parker was tired and his little legs couldn't keep up so one of the teachers aides gave him a ride.
There was this big, huge thing of corn that the kids could play in so they took turns getting buried.
They also had a tractor pulling the kids on a cow train.
The boys about to watch...
pigs race. What else?
Hayden picking his pumpkin.
Parker picking out his pumpkin. It was one of the biggest ones left. 
He really tried to pick it up a couple of times when I heard a couple of kids running towards him saying, "Parker we'll help!"
These kids love Parker. I think he is somewhat like every kids little brother so they all like to help him.
Look at what I'm making for small Thanksgiving gifts for my family. I totally stole this idea, too, from Executive Homemaker (aka Tip Junkie). Apparently I'm really good at copying things but not very original. Oh well, it will be original to the people who receive them.
Aren't they cute? It's sliced lemons, oranges and cranberries with whole cloves and a cinnamon stick tied to the outside. You pour everything into a pot to simmer and it will smell up your whole house. You can keep adding water until they loose there smell. I know my family will enjoy them.
