Zoo pictures

Leah sent me the pictures from the zoo and they came out really cute! From left to right Kaylee, Thomas, David, and Ella.

Watching the deer

The deer are back! They were running around in back this evening (one of the top reasons we bought this house!) and the first ones to notice were...the cats. They always come out as the sun goes down so its hard to get a picture of the deer, but we got a cute picture of the cats!

From left to right Kya, Zoe, Kiara, Ian, and Max

Best job ever!

I seriously have the best job ever. I'm so glad I found this family. David and Kaylee are getting so big, they'll be 5 and 3 next month. Its a little sad, because when I started, David had just turned 2 and Kaylee was just a teeny baby, but its also really cool because they can do so much now.  David is in school 3 days a week so Kaylee and I get a lot of one on one time. She's such a girl, she loves to go to the mall and go out for coffee (she gets chocolate milk). And she loves to dress herself in the morning, and has come up with some very creative outfits! David is getting so smart, he's really interested in math lately, and we spend a lot of time trying to figure out things like 12 + 7 and what comes after 129. Its so cool to see him thinking so hard and then be all excited when he comes up with the right answer.

A couple of weeks ago we had a pajama party, and invited their cousin Thomas, who lives across the street, and his nanny Leah. Leah and I get along really well so its fun to get the kids together and then we can hang out and talk too. We were sitting on the floor playing Uno in our pajamas and slippers when we realized that we probably have the best job in the world.

Today we went to the zoo with Leah, Thomas, and another little girl that Leah nannies for, Ella. With the new car we could all go together, which the kids loved. It was a great day to go to the zoo! It got a little warm as we got into the peak of the afternoon but overall it was a good day. I didn't take my camera but Leah took a couple of pictures that I'll post when I get them.

So, yeah, pretty much loving life right now. I always feel much happier when it starts warming up outside. We got a bunch of vegetable seeds to plant in my mom's garden so we can have vegetables this summer. I planted some of them inside yesterday, I figure the sooner they sprout, the sooner I'll have veggies and with Michigan weather I don't want to plant outside now and have a blizzard next week. We got sugar snap peas, burgundy beans, beets, brussels sprouts, bell peppers, spinach, a salad green mix, zucchini, and yellow summer squash. My mom always buys tomato plants and Eric wants to try potatoes too but we'll see about that. Luckily my parents have a huge yard! 

Farewell Barney

Barney the truck has been good to us, but our lifestyle has outgrown him, and we decided it was time for us all to move on. He will be dearly missed. A lot of us have a lot of memories in that little purple truck.

Today we bought a 2008 Honda Pilot! I don't know all the car words, but it seats 8 and has a 6 cd changer! Its raining so I took a picture of it from the window for now. The color is called Nimbus Grey.

Even though I started out driving a minivan, its going to take some getting used to after driving a tiny car for 4 years, but we're both really excited about it!

Hillers

As many of you know I love shopping at our local Hiller's, they have the best selection of produce anywhere, and a lot of other things you can't find anywhere else. I was SO excited that we bought a house so close to Hiller's!

When I was there yesterday picking up some things for dinner, I had a question at the u-scan about the kind of potatoes I was buying. The cashier seemed kind of rude, but I brushed it of as maybe just being her tone of voice. Then, as I was checking out, there was an elderly woman who didn't speak much English who was having trouble with the machine, and the cashier got really frustrated with her and started yelling at her! I was shocked! Nobody deserves to be treated like that, especially not the elderly or language impaired. If you don't want to deal with people that don't speak English, don't get a job at Hiller's!

Anyway, I couldn't believe this lady, so I finished checking out, and went right over to customer service to let them know. They didn't have me fill anything out or anything, so to make sure something was done, I went home and went on the website. I sent out an email describing exactly what happened and how upset I was, and within a couple of hours, I got an email back from Jim Hiller himself! He apologized, and had already taken care of the situation and suspended the woman who acted so egregiously. 

I was very impressed with the swift and personal care he took, it was so different from when I complained about an employee at Target, when I got just a "thanks, we'll look into it" email the next day. These are the kinds of stores we should be supporting!

What's Cookin'?

We've been making some good stuff in the last few weeks! We've tried a few new recipes, all of which have been very good! I found a new favorite cook book at our library, called The 5:30 Challenge. The idea is that it is recipes with 5 ingredients, that takes 30 minutes. There are a lot of great recipes in the book, a few that don't sound too appealing, but a lot of  good ideas.

One dish, which I adapted a little, (Lemon Caper Chicken in my recipe blog) has become my new favorite, and we have made it twice in the last week! I'm going to have to start making bigger batches, because there are never enough leftovers. 

Today, I made egg rolls for the first time, it was so cool! It was easier and faster than I expected it to be, and they tasted sooo good! 

Check them all out here

Something new to try

If you haven't had a French Vanilla waffle, you haven't lived! They caught my eye in the store yesterday and I wanted to try it (toaster waffles are a guilty pleasure of mine) and they are soooo good! They're sweet and taste a little bit like cake, only hot and crispy. Mmm!

Breaking the house...

We've had our first major incident in the house. A few days ago, Eric was washing out the cat bowl in the bathroom, and it slipped out of his hands into the sink. He didn't see anything right away, but yesterday I was rinsing out a washcloth with hot water, and the sink cracked. It was leaking so we called my dad, and he came over last night and helped us measure and figure it all out, and, 2 trips to Home Depot later and a day later, we have a new sink! I'd take a picture, but it looks exactly the same as our old sink, so its not very exciting. 

I did it!

Or, I should say, Sam did it! We both got brave enough to try something new with my hair. She did a great job, it looks very professional, and I've been getting compliments every where I go. Its a weird feeling, its the shortest my hair has ever been, since I was a toddler! I'm still trying to pull my hair out when I put on a shirt or my coat, and it feels weird that there isn't any hair to pull out. I like it though, so far it seems pretty easy...I'm about to take my first short haired shower, it will probably look weird when it dries because my hair is so curly, this is most likely going to be a straight only style. 

Thats about it...if you ever need a cute haircut, go to Claudia's Salon!

And you think we're crazy...

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