Water Color Paintings

It's been almost a year since Rich and I spent a whole dollar at Wal-Mart for a little Rose Art water color paint set for Morgan. Somehow that little paint set got lost in her activity box and we just recently came across it when I was reorganizing the box. (With 2 little ones shuffling through it, it had become quite messy! LOL!)

I'm not sure Morgan even knew what the paint set was, but she begged me to do it! I got her a little cup of water, her paper and showed her how to go about doing some water color painting. It was like it was the best thing ever! Honestly, I think it was her first experience with paint (besides finger painting with pudding) and she must have spent over an hour with it! She even wanted to do another the next day!

Look at that excited smile!

Morgan's first paintings!

Hours of creativity for only a dollar! ;-)

Lessons Learned in Growing Popcorn

I had a lot of ambition last year to plant a ton of popcorn so we'd have enough to last through to the following fall. It started off well. We planted 2 long rows of popcorn, at least triple, maybe even quadruple, of what was planted the year before. I kept it watered and weeded and it turned out to be beautiful stalks of popcorn!

I picked it all at the end of September. As I was picking, and the bags were filling up, I began to realize how much work I had made for myself. It was taking what seemed like forever to pick and I hadn't even started the time consuming part of the process!
I started husking the popcorn the next day. Still ambitious. As I husked the popcorn, I kept thinking "What did I get myself into? This is going to take forever!" It took a week or two of working on the ears of corn a little at a time, but I got them all husked. I know it doesn't look like much, but there must have been at least a couple hundred ears of corn! (Plus I husk them one layer at a time so the husks stay attached to be able to hang them up.)

So they were husked and I felt like I was DONE! I couldn't imagine going through ALL those ears of popcorn and bundle them to hang up to dry. I procrastinated...probably a couple more weeks. I finally made it back out to hang them up and it was too late! Most of the corn had molded! I ended up having to throw out probably 5 or 6 ears for every one that was still good and I could keep.

My stomach sank with every ear I had to throw away. All that work for nothing! (It did make a good snack for the cattle though! LOL!) Why didn't I just keep with it?

There was a bright side! I no longer had to hang all that popcorn up to dry and I had A LOT LESS to have to shell when I finally got around to it just before Christmas! :-)

I learned a couple lessons throughout the whole ordeal. The first lesson was to not plant so much! This year I'm only planting one row! That's plenty for our little family. There is no reason to go overboard and even if it doesn't last all year, we can always buy it in the store!

The other lesson I learned was to just stick to it and get it done! I hate seeing food go to waste. Even though it never occurred to me that the popcorn was going to mold, I really should have known better. This year I'll be hanging it up to dry right away so it doesn't mold!

In the end, after a few hours of shelling and a very sore thumb, I still ended up with quite a bit of popcorn. I nice big gallon bag FULL!

See! It's plenty! :-)

Be sure to check out my giveaway for a children's book!

Wordless Wednesday: A Little Man with his Hat

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.

Be sure to check out my giveaway for a children's book!

Snowflake Rubbings

Even though we're coming to the end of the snowy season (hopefully!), I wanted to share a little activity Morgan and I did back in January. I'm pretty sure I came across this on Frugal Family Fun Blog. (If you haven't been by her blog, be sure to-she has some wonderfully fun ideas to do with little ones! I actually think the crayon shaving sun catcher idea came from that blog too!)

I cut out a snowflake from paper. I'll admit I'm out of practice on making paper snowflakes, but it turned out okay and Morgan didn't care. ;-) Then we put the snowflake under some blue construction paper and Morgan used the side of a white crayon to make some beautiful snowflakes!

Making sure to get every inch of the snowflake.

The finished snowflake

We added some drawn on snowflakes too!

Morgan liked it so much, that we did another on the back then 2 more on a black piece of construction paper.

This was such a simple, fun and inexpensive activity to do and Morgan had a blast with it!

**If we do this again, I think I'll make smaller paper snowflakes to use for the rubbings, so we can make a nice little scene. Plus, knowing that Morgan will want to do it more than once, we won't go through several sheets of construction paper and cover up our fridge in one day! LOL!

Yet Another Getaway

I'm foregoing my Make Something Monday post to let you know that I'll be away for the rest of the week! I'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning to attend a surveying conference with Rich in Lansing. Actually he'll be attending the conference and I'll be doing fun stuff! I plan to meet up with an old friend that I used to work with when I went to college over there. I haven't seen her since my baby shower almost 4 years ago and now she is expecting her first after trying for over 4 years and going through 2 IVFs. I can't wait to see her again and talk baby stuff! :-) I'll also be meeting Alexia from The Mommy Rambles for the first time! We e-mail all the time and have talked about meeting up before, but it hasn't worked out. I hope it does this time! :-)

So, while I'm away, I have few posts scheduled if you still feel like stopping by. I don't know what kind of access to the Internet I'll have, but I'll be sure to come by everyone's blogs and catch up with you when I'm back!

Also, if you haven't had a chance yet, please be sure to check out my giveaway for a wonderful children's book! My kids really enjoyed it, so I'm sure yours will as well! :-)

Have a great week everyone! :-)

'Wisdom Strength Courage' children's book GIVEAWAY! *Closed*

*The winner is comment #18, Morgan. Congratulations Morgan! Thank you to everyone who entered! :-)

When saw on facebook that a friend of the family's had written and illustrated his own book, I had to check into right away. I always knew Matt Manceau was a great artist, but I had never imagined that he would write a children's book, so I had to see what it was about.

I found my way through facebook enough to find the link to the book's website where the book could be read in it's entirety. I read each page and marveled at how Matt brought so many different elements together so nicely. He made the book fun and exciting. I wanted to keep reading it to see how it ended! It was great and I couldn't wait to share Wisdom Strength Courage with my kids.

I ended up ordering it. I was going to wait until I save up more amazon gift cards through Swagbucks, but I got a little impatient and just went for it. LOL! When the book came in the mail, the kids couldn't wait for me to read it to them. When I finished, they liked it so much that they wanted me to read it again....and again!

In case you're wondering what this book is about, I'll share the overview that is posted on the website:

"On a walk home four boys have to demonstrate special abilities and a wild imagination to make it across some incredible obstacles. With a bit of help from above and confidence in themselves, their afternoon becomes an adventure of a lifetime."

Just from the overview you can tell that this book is a wonderful way to show children that they can do anything if they have faith in God. Each time the boys in the story face a challenge, one of the boys prays and God helps them through. On top of that, the imagination that the boys have is really neat. For example, one challenge that they face is a giant stone wall that they have to get through to get home, but from the illustrations you see that the wall is really just a chain-link fence. I wish I had an imagination like that! :-)

If you'd like to share this adventurous book with your children, you can read the story at the Wisdom Strength Courage website, or the book can be purchased at the website and at Amazon.com. The book runs $9.99 and is recommended for children 4-8 years. While you're at the website, be sure to check out the coloring pages as well! My kiddos really enjoyed the pages they colored after reading the book! :-)

You can also win a copy of the book here at Kristie's Notes!

GIVEAWAY: I happened to purchase a 2nd book, so I could give one away to one of my readers! One lucky winner will receive a copy of Wisdom Strength Courage to share with the little one/s in their life. Just leave a comment telling me who you would give this to if you are the winner! Make sure to leave your e-mail address as well!

Extra Entries!

I don't usually give out extra entries, but this is my own giveaway (no sponsors), so I'm changing things up a little. :-)

*Read the book at the Wisdom Strength Courage website and tell me something you like about it. (1 extra entry)

*Follow Kristie's Notes through Google Friend Connect. (Only if you really like my blog please!) (1 extra entry)

*Become a fan of Wisdom Strength Courage on facebook. (2 extra entries)

*Blog about this giveaway with a link back here and to the Wisdom Strength Courage website. (3 extra entries)

That's 8 entries all together if you do them all! Wow!

This giveaway will end on March 4th at 10:00 PM EST. A winner will be chosen by random.org and will be contacted that night or the next day. They will have 48 hours from when they are contacted to claim their prize otherwise I will draw a new winner.

*Disclosure: I did not receive any type of compensation for this post. I just wanted to share the talent of a friend! :-)

Wordless Wednesday: Valentine's Day Morning

The kids with their Valentine's.

Our heart shaped breakfast

A couple special ones for Rich ;-)

What Blake made in nursery at church

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.

Trying to kick a habit

For those of you who don't know, I'm addicted to diet pop (soda). Doesn't matter what diet pop it is as long as I HAVE IT! (My favorite is the one pictured though!) I started drinking it when I lost a bunch of weight 2 summers ago and haven't been able to kick the habit since.

I've tried cutting it out completely, but that lasted less than a day. I've tried switching from 2 liters to cans, so I could monitor what I drank and my drinking glass could be free of pop residue so that I would drink more water.....I ended up just drinking a bunch of cans!

Now I'm going to try to kick my pop habit with lent! I haven't participated in the custom of giving something up for lent in years, but decided that this year would be a good year to start it back up. I wasn't able to have pop after having my wisdom teeth out, and I haven't since last Monday, so I decided I'd just continue through the Lenten season.

My sister got me a water bottle for my birthday. It's a pink one, so I can't just hand it over to Rich and say he needs it more than I do since he is always working outside. (He wouldn't drink from a pink water bottle if his life depended on it....okay, maybe if his life depended on it, but you know what I mean. ;-) ) It will be great to take when I go shopping, so I don't give in and buy myself a pop.

I also saved up enough amazon gift cards through Swagbucks to buy myself a PUR flavor options water pitcher. It doesn't work too well, and the flavor is kinda non-existent, but it's something more than just water, for when I'm craving more, and I think I can get used to it.

So I've been pop-free for 7 (almost 8) days and I'm surviving. Starting tomorrow I'll have 40 more days to go. I know I can do it. I just hope it's enough that I'll never go back to drinking nothing but diet pop again! Wish me luck! :-)

What about you? Are you addicted to something that you're going to be giving up for lent this year? If not, are you at least going out and getting yourself a pączki to eat today for Fat Tuesday? I'm hoping Rich remembers to grab some for us between his 2 meetings tonight...not that I NEED it or anything-LOL! :-)

Make Something Monday: Mexican Seashell Casserole Variation

I took yet another recipe from Alexis at Running Away? I'll help you pack. If it wasn't for all her yummy posts, I probably wouldn't have anything to post myself on Mondays! LOL! Thank you Alexis! :-)

Mexican Seashell Casserole variation:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 c. chopped green pepper
• 1 Tbs chili powder
• 2-1/2 cups rotini (called for small shells, but I didn't have any)
• 1 c. sliced onions
• 2 cups salsa (called for 1-1/2 c. tomato juice, but I didn't have any)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup corn (didn't call for it, but saw Alexis put it in hers and it sounded good!)

Brown ground beef, onions, corn and green peppers in skillet until onions are tender. Add salsa, chili powder, and salt. Mix thoroughly, simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Cool rotini in salted boiling water until tender. Combine with meat mixture. Makes 4 servings.

Super easy! I didn't know how I was going to like it without cheese. For some reason when I think of casseroles, I think of cheese, but it was delicious without it! :-)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day with their significant others/families. We have been enjoying a lot of little activities leading up to today that I wanted to share with you.

The first activity that I did with Morgan and Blake was to make valentine suncatchers. I prepared the crayon shavings, cut out the heart shaped wax paper and construction paper frames the night before. Then, the next morning, we went to work putting them together. Morgan and Blake were able to put the different colored shavings where they wanted to on their waxed paper, then I added another layer of waxed paper and a towel and ironed for about 30 seconds until the crayon melted. I then hot glued the construction paper frames to them and they turned out beautifully! We even made 2 more with our leftover crayon shavings: one for their Oma & Opa and another for their Grandma with horsies & Papa.

Morgan anxious to get to work!

Putting the crayon shavings on the waxed paper heart.

"Oh yeah! I did good!"

The finished product:

Catching the sun:

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This is another activity that I had high hopes for, but it didn't go as planned. I cut a bunch of squares from tissue paper. (Actually the pink tissue paper that they give you in the Victoria's Secret bags....What? It was free! LOL!) Then Morgan and I wrapped them around a pencil eraser, dipped that in some glue and then stuck it to a heart-shaped construction paper. It didn't go as well as I had hoped, because the glue needed to be sticky, not runny, but Morgan was still able to get quite a few to stick. I ended up waiting until the glue dried up some, which made it stickier, then finished up after Morgan was already in bed.

I LOVE the way this turned out! I put some cardboard on the back and hung it with some ribbon that came off another package. (I'm all about reusing! LOL!)

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I also saw a neat little heart-shaped pocket valentine on Brimful Curiousities that I thought was super cute, so I made them for the kiddos. The original pattern calls for them to be taped closed, but I thought it would be cute to punch a couple holes and add some yarn to make them so they hung up. Rich did the shopping for the goodies in the pockets and we are giving them to Morgan and Blake this morning. Cute right?!

They are filled with a couple quarters (because the kids LOVE putting money in their banks), a box of sweethearts and fun-sized packs of M&M's.

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My best friend's little girl (who is a few months younger than Morgan) gave Morgan and Blake these for Valentine's Day. I thought they were adorable and they fit my kids so well!

The kiddos are giving her the same Valentine that they are getting, but they don't know it yet ;-)

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One last thing that we created in the spirit of Valentine's day were these delicious sugar cookies. One day I'll get beyond sugar cookies and make a more creative baked goods for the holidays, but these work for now....and I usually have all the ingredients on hand! LOL!

Morgan worked really hard helping cut out all the cookies and putting the sprinkles on. She's testing out a new pose here:

Blake worked really hard too....at devouring them! ;-)

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Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Free MP3 Song from Name Your Tune!

Starting February 11th and ending at midnight EST on February 12th, Name Your Tune is offering a FREE song via MP3! (One entry per person/e-mail address.) Just visit the link above to have them create a song with your special little one's name for Valentine's Day this year. Seriously, how fun is that!? (Remember, there are over 4200 names to choose from, so your chances of finding your child's name are quite good!)

Be sure and hurry! You only have until tomorrow night! :-)

No more wisdom teeth!

Well, I survived! So far anyway! ;-) As of Tuesday at 10ish, I no longer have any wisdom teeth. The last thing I remember while my wisdom teeth were still in is being in the chair as they were giving me the anesthetic. I was asked if I was feeling sleepy and I replied "Yeah, a little". I must have been gone immediately after that because I don't recall anything else! LOL!

The next thing I remember is sitting up in a room with my mom, Morgan and Blake. I vaguely remember anything that happened in the room. I actually had to check my checkbook later to see if I had actually paid for the surgery. Not sure how I had enough sense to write a check. I don't remember putting my sweatshirt back on. (I had a t-shirt on underneath, so they asked if I could take my sweatshirt off for better access for blood pressure and the IV.) I also had my earrings back in, which I had taken out for an x-ray-no recollection of doing that either! It was a really strange feeling for me being that it was my first surgery.

Mom drove me back to my town where she stopped at McDonald's for the kids. As she went in I took my gauze out to have a drink and take my Vicodin. Unfortunately 30-45 minutes that it had been since we left the oral surgeon's was a little too long to wait to take the Vicodin. I felt miserable while waiting for mom to get the kids' food. Terrible headache and my mouth was awefully sore. At about the same time nausea set it and I started sweating terribly. I wasn't sure if I was going to pass out or throw up and I knew neither situation would have been good!

I made it home taking deep breaths the whole way trying to avoid passing out/throwing up and trying to make it through the pain until the Vicodin kicked in. Mom took the kids home with her and I situated myself on the couch and slept for a good 2-1/2 hours. I woke up feeling fine! Thankfully! My jaw is sore and swollen and it's tough to open my mouth to eat, but the pain is under control! Yay! :-)

I had to talk to my mom about what was said to us after I woke up, because I honestly couldn't remember. The Dr. told her that my jaw was going to be sore and that I have stitches on the bottom. I'm curious if mentioning the fact that I'd be sore is something that he tells everyone, because I thought that was going to be a given! LOL! Besides that I think everything is fairly typical. It might be a while before I can eat normally again, but I'm looking forward to losing a couple pounds! LOL!

I thought I'd share a picture of me looking miserable and swollen. My jaw is not typically square like you see here. And I'm honestly not miserable, but it just looks that way because of the swelling.

***Prepare yourselves....it's a scary sight! LOL!

Wordless Wednesday: Our Cuddly Critters

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Go Graham Go! and Healthy Moms.

The weekend and then some...

I'm amazed at how busy we have been lately. All the activity isn't typical for this time of year, but I'm not complaining! :-)

Friday the kids and I were able to enjoy an afternoon out with my parents and sister in Frankenmuth. Our first stop (and the main reason for the trip) was St. Julian's winery. They were having their case sale, which means stocking up on some delicious wine (at least for my parents and sister.) The great thing about St. Julian's is they have wonderful sparkling juices for the kids to taste. We tasted their White Grape, Passion fruit, Cherry and Wild berry sparkling juices and that wasn't even half of them! The kids were so cute. They are not used to carbonation and they kept saying "Hot!"

**While I'm speaking of wine, please don't forget to sign up for my giveaway for a picnic basket or wine rack if you haven't already! It ends tonight at 10:00 pm EST.

The kids tasting their juices...

Sitting on the bench at St. Julian's. I was trying to keep them corralled and quiet while everyone finished tasting. Blake is showing off his gum :-)

We then did some more looking around town and they still had their snow sculptures and ice carvings up from the previous weekend's Snowfest. It was really nice to be able and see all the sculptures without all the crowds! (I've been to Frankenmuth during their Snowfest and we usually have to park a long ways away and get shuttled into town...It's busy!)

Some of the beautifully made sculptures...

I had to get a picture of the bulldozer for Blake :-)

Saturday I had a baby shower to go to for Rich's cousin's wife at 1:00 and then at 3:00 my sister was teaching a beer making class at my parents' house. I waited for the shower to be over before I left, so we didn't actually make it to my parents' until 4:30. I'm not a beer drinker, but I was able to meet some of mom's friends she made in Germany and we also celebrated birthdays when all the company left. (My niece and I share a birthday, so we celebrate them together-it's more fun with a little one anyway!) :-)

My brother didn't have a chance to wrap my niece's present, so his shirt became the gift wrap. She thought it was great! :-)

Sunday was another full day for us. We made it to church for the first time since before Christmas (terrible-I know) and it ended up being the kick-off to the children's Spring program that Morgan is just old enough to be in. After church she was able to do some crafts, sing songs, play games and have a fun little snack as part of the kick-off. Now every Sunday and Thursday we get to take her for practice! This is first thing Morgan is going to be involved in and I'm really excited for her! :-)

Of course we finished the weekend at a Super Bowl party at some friends of Rich's family. If you didn't read what happened at last year's party, check out this link and you'll understand why we made sure Morgan wasn't wearing pants that had pockets in them! ;-) The party was a great time! The kids were busy playing the whole time and you would have thought they were always that well-behaved. They were SO good! They were even still smiling when we came home at 10:30-well past their bedtime!

So that was the weekend. Yesterday was my birthday, but I've decided that I'm about done with birthdays. I'm at a point where I don't need to get any older-I'll just stay right here! ;-) (Yeah-I know I'm dreaming-LOL!) And today at 9:00 am I'm having my wisdom teeth removed, so I may not be around much the rest of the week depending on how I feel afterwards. I'm really not looking forward to it...or the bill...but it will be over with and I'll never have to do it again! Yay! :-)

Make Something Monday: Taco Lasagna

I tried yet another recipe that Alexis shared on her blog Running Away? I'll help you pack. She always has recipes that I want to try and this one I happened to have most of the ingredients for! It turned out quite tasty even without the one ingredient (tomato) that I didn't have! :-)


Taco Lasagna
2 c. lasagna noodles uncooked (9 lasagna noodles)
3/4 lb lean ground beef (I used a whole pound)
1/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chopped green pepper
2-3/4 c. taco sauce (I used homemade salsa)
1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. chili powder
2 c. chopped lettuce
1 c. chopped tomato
3 c. (12 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

Cook lasagna according to package directions for 10 minutes; drain. Separate lasagna and lay flat on wax paper or aluminum foil to keep pieces from sticking together as they cool.

Brown beef, onion and green pepper in 10 inch non-stick skillet; drain off excess fat. Stir in taco sauce, water, salt, pepper, basil and chili powder; simmer 5 minutes.

Pour 1/2 cup meat sauce on bottom of 13x9x2 inch baking pan; arrange 3 pieces of lasagna lengthwise over meat sauce. Pour 1 cup sauce over noodles; sprinkle 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup tomato and 1 cup cheese in layers over sauce. Repeat layer of lasagna, 1 cup meat sauce, 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup tomato, 1 cup cheese. Even though the directions didn't specify what to do at the end, I ended with a layer of lasagna, the rest of the sauce and the last cup of cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Leap Year

Last weekend, on our girls weekend, we had every intention of making it to the movies to see Leap Year. After the long day Saturday and with a worn out little girl on Sunday, we never made it. So yesterday my sister came home for a long weekend and she, my mom and I went to dinner and saw Leap Year after my mom got out of work. Well worth it!

If you haven't seen previews for Leap Year, let me share the synopsis with you:

"A woman (Amy Adams) heads to Ireland in order to force her boyfriend (Adam Scott) to accept her wedding proposal by scheduling it on leap day, the only time when he couldn't refuse due to the country's tradition in this Spyglass Entertainment romantic comedy. Shopgirl's Anand Tucker directs from a script by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan. Matthew Goode co-stars as a handsome innkeeper who throws a wrench into the woman's plans." - Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

What a cute movie! It was one of those movies that gave me a warm cozy feeling. I loved that it took place in Ireland! The scenery throughout the movie was just beautiful. It took me back to my trip to Ireland when I was in high school and made me want to go back! (Plus I have a bit of Irish in me, so that definitely helps my love of Ireland and it's people!)

The chemistry between Amy Adams and Matthew Goode was amazing! Their love-hate relationship was adorable and I'll admit that I fell in love with both their characters. I couldn't help but want things to work in the direction that things were heading, which leads me to the next point...

The movie is totally predictable, but I think every romantic comedy is. It's the journey to where you know the movie is headed that makes it so fun and worth watching! :-)

Leap Year is a definite must see for every romantic comedy loving woman! It is also perfect for a girls night out! ;-)

Our Girls Weekend Getaway!

I have to start off by saying that I had a great time last weekend with my mom, sister and Morgan. We went down to where my sister lives to see some of the sites on Saturday and Sunday and it was better than I imagined it would be!

After a 2 hour drive and picking my sister up, we traveled another 45 minutes to a place called The Chelsea Treehouse. It was an indoor play area where Morgan could be a little monkey while the 3 of us adults sat around a table and chatted. They served some delicious food there as well! I had a shaved ham and provolone cheese sandwich on a pretzel bun with a spicey honey mustard sauce-YUM! Plus the side of black bean and corn salad was just plain delicious! Morgan had a hard time realizing that we were there for her and kept coming up to us thinking it was time to leave. I'd tell her she could still play for as long as she wanted and she'd take off, a little confused, and continue to play :-)

We then walked over to The Chelsea Teddy Bear Company, where we not only learned a bunch about their company, but also a lot about the history of teddy bears. I had no idea there was so much history! It was very interesting and well worth the trip!

The big bear when you first walked in the door.

The World's Largest Teddy Bear! It took all the workers a whole week to make it and the visiting kids love playing on it. The girl who gave us the tour said she even takes breaks laying on the one leg-LOL!

This was the largest display of teddy bears in 2005. It has since been beat, but I thought it was pretty neat :-)

Another really neat thing is that all the teddy bears that are for sale are either made there or designed there and contracted out. Morgan picked out this frog and I had them design the little shirt. I also got a chick for Blake and I got myself a giraffe-they were just way too cute! :-)

After that we walked around the little town and checked out some their shops. We ended up finding some beer that Rich has never been able to find in our area, so I grabbed a 6 pack...then my mom grabbed the other 6 pack for my brother! Yes-there were only two 6 packs, so we wiped them out! LOL!

My mom wanted to check out a bakery in Ann Arbor, called Zingerman's Bakehouse. She was hoping to find bread like what they serve in Germany. I guess she found something that was very similar, but I have to admit it wasn't my favorite. My sister also grabbed an assortment of 4 HUGE brownies that we had later that night for dessert. YUMMY! :-)

The next stop was the Whole Foods Market. I had never been to one before and was able to find all sorts of stuff that I see online and have wanted to try. The only thing is the stores in our area don't carry those products. Needless to say, I picked up a few healthier snacks to try.

We did a little more site seeing. My sister drove us through Ypsilanti, so I could get pictures of the Michigan Firehouse Museum...mostly for Rich, but I thought it was neat too. By that time it had already closed for the day, but just the outside was a neat site to see! :-)

By the time we finished thinking of places to see, it was time for dinner. We had decided on a German restaurant called Metzgers. I ordered Jagerschnitzel with a side of German potato pancakes (w/ applesauce-yum!) The restaurant had a true German feel yet it was still Americanized. Our waitor was even German! I think my mom really enjoyed that she could experience a little bit of Germany again. (She misses being over there!)

We ended the day at my sister's place. I set up Morgan's little princess tent. She thought it was so exciting to be able to camp in Aunt Katie's house! She made a candy necklace, we tasted the brownies and wrapped up the night snuggled up in chairs, drinking wine and watching Julie & Julia. Morgan even stayed up until 11:30 so she could be with us. :-)

Morgan with her candy necklace.

Mom snuggling with Morgan ready to watch the movie.

We took things easy on Sunday. We took our showers when we felt like it. My sister trimmed the split ends off my hair and we had a nice little brunch before heading off to the local mall. Being that Katie lives in a much more populated area, the mall was much bigger than any Morgan had seen before. She was able to experience escalators and thought they were a ride. I don't know how many times we rode those things just because Morgan thought it was fun! LOL! Plus she got to play in the mall's play area, but kept having melt downs...at least 4 of them and a final big one as I made her leave. She was just way too tired! We headed towards my sisters' with one little stop to give the car a 'bubble bath' (what Morgan was told it was-she liked that!), dropped Katie off then headed home.

The weekend was truly great! I wish we could do weekends like that more often, but once a year is enough to keep it exciting when the time comes. Until next year! :-)