I mentioned that we decorated pillow cases during Allys sleep-over. There was an extra, so Jay got to work.

And this is on a pillowcase!

I have been told again and again how talented my kids' artwork is. The art teacher has submitted Max's name for talented and gifted identification through the school. I know it sounds like bragging, but it's more like......where the hell did this come from? My mom is an artist, so maybe it skips a generation?? AND, it's not just one of them. All of them are very talented. They didn't inherit any genes for clean and tidy, but they got the art thing covered.

*Oh, and by the way, Jay didn't get out a book or picture to copy from. This is original and from his head - which is basically all Star Wars all the time, but still.

As Schreiber tradition, we usually go out to eat on the kids' birthdays and since they choose the restaurant, it's usually Red Robin. Why? Because they get a free sundae, of course.




Al got to wear a nice little crown all day at school, and the whole lunchroom sings "Happy Birthday". I brought in treats at the end of the day, which were horse cupcakes.................................................................

What a friggin' nightmare!! The sleep-over cupcakes were a breeze, so I got a little over-confident. First of all, the cupcakes call for white circus peanuts. I didn't even know white circus peanuts existed. Well, they do, but are really not easy to find. I finally found some in a mixed bag of white, yellow, orange and pink. I had to buy three bags to make sure I'd have enough. What I like about my new cupcake book is that it doesn't require you to go out and purchase a lot of items you may not use very often, if ever, again. Even though I do have cake decorating supplies, I don't always have the icing bags on hand. No problem according to the book. You can use sandwich bags. Excellent - much cheaper- than actual decorating bags. Have any of you heard the phrase, "Cheaper is not always better." ? Or, how about, "You get what you pay for."? I start out this process of decorating the horses and my bags spring leaks. Each and every bag. My usual remedy for something like this is to duct tape it. Not even duct tape can fix this. By the time I get the horse necks into place (which often times split the cupcake into two pieces down the middle), decorated with what utensils I had on hand..ummm...my fingers, sprinkled the jimmies and attempted to make ears, I was elbow deep in chocolate frosting. I'm not exaggerating, because I still had it on my elbow when I delivered these treats to school. I ended up saying "Eff the tails", because I was sooooo done with them by this point and I doubt the first thing that will pop into a first graders mind is, "Hey, dude, where is the freaking tail on this horse?" These will not be attempted again, but there are many, many more that will be. I haven't been completely deterred from cupcake making!!!

UPDATE:

One of our projects in Brazil was the screening-in of this shelter house. Well, the missionaries there sent our team this picture showing how it's being used.......holding 18 hammocks!! :) Seeing this picture makes me want to go back pretty badly. I'm just glad our screens have held up so well - it'd be pretty embarrassing to learn another team had to repair our shoddy workmanship!! :0

I'm an aunt again!!!!!!!!!!!!! My brother and SIL have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for their adoption referral to come and it came this week! They will be getting a little boy from Korea and will keep his Korean name, which is Kyu (basically "Q" in English). How awesome is this? Well, I'll tell you. It's freaking outstanding, is what it is. My brother called me as they were on their way to Indy to pick up the paperwork. Of course there was screaming, tears and jumping up and down. The kids knew immediately what it was and were asking, "Is it Chris and Crissy's baby?" Yes, indeedy.

As excited as I was that day I go the news, it wasn't until the next day when I happened to be at the mall (I'm there maybe every 3 months or so) and walked into a couple kids clothing stores. I'm standing in The Childrens Place as I realize I now know my nephew. That's when it truly hit me and, of course, it had to be in a public place!! The tears came and I figured I'd just hide myself until it passed, but an employee saw me and asked if I was ok. I replied yes, and proceeded to find the exit. Small price to pay, I say.


Do you NOT just want to pinch his cheeks?!?!

The girls all dressed up and sang some song that has the lyrics "Don't make me snap my fingers in the Z formation....." Really?!?!

What was supposed to be a "let's all lay down and get settled" - type of activity, somehow didn't go quite that way.

Ahhhhhh.....
quiet at last.

I've learned many new things this weekend. The most profound of which, is the fact that I SUCK at being a "girl mom". Bring on the snakes, lizards, dirt and boy stink, but please don't make me do another sleep-over!!! I thought this might be fun. I remember having fun at sleep-overs!

Reasons this won't be a regular occurrence at the Schreiber house:

1. Ally actually prefers to play by herself or with Jay, since they have worked out a very scientific formula regarding time spent playing Star Wars action figures and horses.

2. There has not yet been anything invented to prevent the transfer of Cheetos-orange onto porous surfaces.

3. Apparently, we do not possess an adequate supply of high-heeled, sparkly and gaudy shoes. This is a big no-no in the world of 7 year old dress-up.

4. It is ethically wrong to drug children for the sole purpose of getting them to shut up.

5. I loathe girl drama!! I can't take the bickering, gossiping and crying. I assume it only gets worse, the older they get and I just don't think I should be the one in charge of this.

All in all, it went well. I think the girls had fun and some very valuable lessons were learned. Now, I get to clean up the mess and God-willing, I will be in bed by 7:30 (you think I'm kidding)

So once the girls got here, they took off into Al's room and all you could hear was pounding and giggling and screaming. Max and Jay spent the most the night in the basement.

I had the privilege of having my nails done by Gracie, and she chose neon green and white. Pretty!!!!!!?

Max emerged from the basement exclaiming, "What is that smell?"

Decorating pillowcases.

While visiting my brother and SIL in Indiana a couple weeks ago, I got to looking at Crissy's cupcake book. I fell in love, then proceeded to buy my own copy and make plans to do
several different cupcakes out of it. These were my first attempt. I can honestly say, making the cupcakes was by far, the easiest part of the sleep-over process!!!

These are Max and Jay's creations...note the Star Wars book next to Jay and the headless and bleeding teddy bear next to Max. For the love of pete, can't even cupcakes be sweet ?!

Cupcakes made in the likeness of the girls coming over. I found it interesting that Ally is the only blondie in the group! More on the night later, unless my brain chooses to block it out to protect me.

Guess who is in the running for the "Mother of the Year" award? Britney? No, she won last year. I might just get it! You see, some mommy blunders are just that. Blunders. Little. Mostly forgettable and insignificant. You forgot to send lunch money? No biggie, they won't starve to death. Forgot to buy diapers? Hey, that's why they make towels so absorbent!

Ok, I'll stop blabbing and confess................

Last Sunday we had a practice shoot for the mounted shooting. We go to an indoor arena not too far from here. Eric and I drove separately, since I had to get Jay to and from a birthday party. At about 3:30, I went to leave and asked Max if he wanted to go with me or wait to go with Eric, who would be leaving in about 20-30 minutes. He chose to go with dad. He was having a blast with the boy who lives on the farm. They were observing the longhorns, playing catch with the football and playing with the pigs. Since Max was throwing the ball around in the area immediately outside the building, I (stupidly) assumed he would be there when Eric came out to load Cody into the trailer. I was slightly..wrong. He and his friend took off to watch the pigs. As I am sitting at home, I get a phone call and it was Max. He said, "Will someone come get me?" Umm, ok, but I'm confused...where the hell is he? He was still at the arena. Eric didn't know he was supposed to bring Max home and Max wasn't outside the arena when Eric left, sooooo........his ass was abandoned! I assured Max that the family was very nice and would take good care of him.........just kidding. I picked him up - laughing all the way there and all the way home. Max was un-scarred. Maybe he didn't find it as hilarious as I did, but I think he'll be ok. He will, I'm sure, have so many other things to talk about in therapy.

Our most recent dilemma was that our Minnie had bad manners and with the addition of Cody, they just got worse. She was unpredictable and would kick out at us for no apparent reason. Since we want the horses to be a family experience, we had to find a solution. My thoughts were that I was sad to have to get rid of her, but if the kids couldn't even go to the barn for fear Minnie would act up, what were our options? I felt uncomfortable with the idea of selling her, knowing about her bad manners and who would be ok with that? Plus, what if someone bought her and didn't treat her well?

Eric came home one night and said a deal had been struck. Our farrier wanted Minnie. He already knows her, cuz he shoes her. He had access to property where he could keep her and ride the piss out of her, which is exactly what she needs! Excellent!!! Since Mark had bought yet another horse, they had to make room. We would get Dixie (Minnie's Mom and George's Gma) when Minnie goes to the farrier's. This is a great deal, too, because when we take Cody to the shoots, George wouldn't be left alone. I was ecstatic - it couldn't have worked out any better!!



Dixie and Cody saying "Hi". They are great buds, now. No issues at all.

Not a great picture, but Dixie is in the front paddock, while Minnie and George are on the other side of the fence. Take the halters off Minnie and Dixie, and you cannot tell them apart. For real.

Minnie all trailer'ed and ready to go to her new home. Heartbreaking, for sure. George was upset at first, but once turned loose, he forgot, mostly. He and Dixie had a few days of adjustment, but they are getting along great, now. I hesitated to interfere in their process of figuring out their pecking order. But day 2, I felt George needed Cody's friendship, so I put the boys together when I turned them out. It's been nice to be able to go to the barn and work with the horses without being on edge, hoping Minnie wasn't in a "bad mood" that day. Minnie seemed very content with her new home, too. I think everything worked out for the best for sure. yay!

I warned you earlier about fuzzy photos....well here we are.


Here's Abby leading Al around the course. Abby's on Buck and Al's on Uno - Eric had Cody warming up, so the girls made a quick pass.

Max even got in on the action warming up Uno.

This is us last Sunday. We went to a practice shoot with our own horse - kinda exciting.
The horse dentist was there and offered to check all the horses teeth. Cody was pretty good sport and got a clean bill of....teeth.

Eric is saddling him up. It was about 48 degrees out, which was great for being outside and in the arena (non-heated).

Al looks like such a natural, doesn't she?

Al earns her keep. She takes the stakes that have popped balloons on them and helped me blow up more balloons to replace them. In all actuality, she showed me how to blow up the balloons with the compressor.

I read in a book recently, that some are born with a "horse gene". Either you have it, or you don't. Ally has it. She has it bad. A couple different people have told us they rarely, if ever, have seen a more natural at her age. Now, about that pony...............

Al finally grew her hair out long enough to cut for Locks of Love. If it were up to me, I would have given up long ago and cut it off. The amount of snarls that could accumulate in that child's hair......unbelievable. Anyway, when I would ask her if she just wanted to cut it, she always said she wanted to wait it out. Good for her!! She set a goal and stuck to it. Who's kid IS she?!?!?


Here we are at Cookie Cutters. They only did the Locks of Love cuts from 12-3 during the week. So, I took her out of school - don't judge, I felt it was a learning experience.


She got to sit on a horse and watch Spongebob, what could be better?



They sectioned off her hair, which took all of 2 minutes - this is why they only do it during certain hours, all the time it takes.....gag. Whatev.

This is my adorable girl with her ponytails in hand. Her bob cut is sooooooo dang cute! However, it makes her look older - a definite drawback. She loves her hair, too.

I've been neglecting my blog lately....well, not so much neglect. It's more of an issue with the camera. Our good camera is currently out-of-state. For our family photos, we are using an old, small digital camera Eric uses for work. It takes pictures, sure. However, I really miss the other one. Oh well, we get it back in March. Until then, I will be posting fuzzy photos.

Basically a post to update.......

1. We have swapped horses, but you'd never know it. We have Dixie and Minnie found a new home. Dixie is Minnie's Mom and George's Gma and they all look exactly alike. I will post pictures as soon as I can get my hands on the camera (which is currently in Eric's work bag)

2. Ally cut her hair and donated it to "Locks of Love". Technically, the lady at Cookie Cutters cut it, but Al was very excited and I will post pictures of her adorable new "do" when I have said camera.

3. The basement bathroom is coming along quite nicely. Our "house manager", Jeff and a friend, Chad, framed in the walls last weekend. The shower base is in and it's starting to really look like a bathroom. Of course, with all the construction, the rest of the basement is clutter-central. I can't wait to dig in and put everything away and organize.

4. Speaking of digging in.......I am realizing how much stuff there is to do before the baby comes. I have now (almost) picked the colors for the living room and front entry. I will tape and spackle this weekend and hopefully paint after Ally's slumber party next weekend.

5. Ally is having a slumber party next weekend. The plan is to let the girls just play........but for time-fillers, we will decorate our own pillow cases, paint nails, make-overs , etc. We will have chic-flicks on hand, as well as plenty of snacks. My hope is that there will be no girl drama. You'd think 6 & 7 year olds would be too young for that, but unfortunately I think it's quite possible. It will be fun, regardless......right?!

6. Received Max's ball schedule the other night. *Gulp* The first game is the end of April. May is jam-packed and by mid-July they are done. Of course, this is only the first draft and there will be games/tournaments added as soon as they get them finalized. I guess I was thinking the ball wouldn't really get rolling until mid-May. That would give me closer to a month to settle in with a baby before we start all the games. Yes, we have people who can get Max where he needs to go, but I want to be there. I want to watch him play. Like everything else, we will just go with the flow and see what works and what doesn't.

So, in conclusion, (a phrase that's apparently taboo - linguists hate it - who knew?!) posting soon will be; new horse, Ally at her shoot practice, Ally's hair donation, color choices to paint the rooms and whatever else I find on the camera :)

Wish us luck with NOT blowing away in the next 24 hours. It's predicted 45-65mph winds....................yay.