Do you know what this is?

 

 

Don't worry if you don't.  Neither did I...until today.  This is a clutch for an air conditioning compressor in your vehicle and evidently it is not working in my van.  Now, I know it could be worse...this is what could be broken

 

This is the actual compressor.  It would be even more expensive. 

I sure do wish I had one of these about now

Bummer.

I have a crazy daughter!!

Anna and her friends participated in THE BIG EVENT at church last night.  They enjoyed some messy games and a 100 ft long ice cream sundae.  Of course, the best part is not eating the ice cream but wearing it!

Anna, Jackie and Claire after the event...

They walked home and evidently stopped traffic a time or two. They had a blast waving to the neighbors and the traffic as it passed. 

I went to bed last night in 2011 and woke up in the 80s!!

What can I say?  Abby has a unique style.  She has always marched to the beat of her own drum and it is one of the things that I love the most about her.  So I wasn't totally shocked when this is what she was wearing when she came downstairs for church this morning...

You have to appreciate the shoes...

Yes, those are sequins.

She had the whole pink jeans and black skirt thing going on.

Here's the back of the outfit...

All she needed was a can of Aqua Net and a side ponytail!!

That's my sweet, sweet Abby!

Words from Coach Garrett

This is Abby's soccer team.  She spends lots of time with these two gentlemen and these girls.  We feel blessed to be a part of this group of people!

Abby's the one in the goalie jersey :-)

I wanted to share a blog with you written by Abby's soccer coach.   I hope you enjoy it!  Here is a little hint....Abby's the keeper that got her first shut-out in the KSSL Premier league.

http://soccerwithcoachg.blogspot.com/

DIY--Office Makeover

A couple weeks ago, we decided that the Master of Social Work office needed some help.  It was just a jumble of furniture and stuff left over from other offices on campus.  I thought I might document it for all of you to see and experience.

Here is my office prior to the BIG makeover!!   

This is the office just prior to removing all of the old furniture.

It was a mess.  There was no organization and TONS of things.

This was the only drawer I had...nothing else on that monstrous desk. 

This is what my desk looked just about every minute of every day.  It was difficult to be efficient.

After two days of cleaning and building new furniture, here's what it looks like!!

 This is a picture of the new office shot from the same angle as the first picture.

 The new mailbox area with our cool new boxes for storage.

 These were a garage sale find several months ago.  My sister-in-law embellished them.  

They look great!

  This is the new "refreshment center."  It houses the coffee pot, all its accessories, the fridge and the microwave.  Love this too!

 Our new printer area.  I absolutely needed more storage for all of our "things."

 My new desk!  I can actually be efficient!!

These paintings by my girls were the inspiration for the whole color scheme.  It's amazing what some ingenuity, elbow grease and a few cans of spray paint will do!

I just don't understand....mismatched socks???

First it started off with wearing flip flops that did not match.  For example, she might wear an orange flip flop on her left foot but a green flip flop on the right foot.   

We have now progressed to the same thing but with socks.

Here are Anna's feet before leaving for school this morning.  Notice anything odd?

It's not like the girl doesn't have any socks that match...here's the proof!!

These are socks that I just matched this morning.  But...here's how she would prefer to have them

In fact, she has asked me to not match her socks anymore because she prefers to wear them all mixed up. I don't know if she is just being lazy or being creative :-).

I just don't understand....I guess I am getting old!  It could always be worse...no use in fighting over mismatched socks...right???

Eating, Breathing, Sleeping, and DREAMING Soccer

Abby eats, breathes and sleeps soccer.  Here's a little more about that

Eating, breathing and sleeping SOCCER

But last night, she took it a bit farther.   After a particularly intense soccer game, I went in to check on Abby before I went to bed as I always do.  She was covered up and all seemed great.  I bent down and kissed her forehead and she grunted at me.

"Abby is everything okay?" I asked her.  She replied with more grunts.

"Abby, are you alright?" I asked again.

"GET TO THE BACK POST" was her yelled reply.

I guess all that coaching is paying off :-).  She was definitely protecting that goal!!

Confessions of a Soccer Mom--I love my gear!

I love my soccer gear.  I will admit that I am just a bit compulsive about having everything that MIGHT be needed.  Not only that, but I like everything to be ORGANIZED!  I will leave that for another blog sometime.  I wanted to share with you my newest piece of equipment.  I saw another soccer family with this awesome little wagon and knew that I just had to have one.

Here is the wagon all nice and folded flat.

It easily fold out to carry all of the other stuff!

It is very large and sturdy!! (Translation:  I can take more stuff to the field.)

Here it is loaded up.  It is carrying three soccer chairs, a full cooler, a large bag full of food and snacks and a backpack.

This is so much easier than actually carrying all of this gear to a field!!

It's not just good on the pavement.  This little baby has four wheel drive capability!!

Makes my Aaron's job so much easier!!

Taller than me...how can it be??

The girls had their annual physicals today and my life as I know it was changed forever.  The visit started as normal with the girls being weighed and measured.  Then it happened.  The nurse told us that she was FIVE foot TWO and a HALF inches tall.  Which is exactly 1 and half inches taller than ME!

At 12, she is officially taller then me.  How did that happen?  Look at how little and cute she was at her baptism back in 1999.

Look how little she was...sleeping right through the excitement

And here she is the tallest of the four cousins, but still a little one.

She's getting older and growing up.

She may be getting taller then me, but I will always be her momma!

Confessions of a Soccer Mom: I need a vacation

I absolutely love being a wife, a mom and a student (well...sometimes I don't like the student part so much).  But...I am in desperate need of a vacation.  Not going to get it though.  Here's whats on the agenda for the next ten days:

6+ hours of soccer practice

2 soccer games

130 pages to read on Wesleyan Theology

350 pages to read on Christian Leadership

Write 2 essay questions

Write 1200 word essay on the Wesleyan Quadrilateral

Write 5 page essay on Christian Leadership

Plan 1 Jr. High Sunday School Lesson then teach it to 15 Jr. Highs

Take a 2 hour exam

Work 7 8-hour shifts

Help out with soccer field prep day

Go to youth cook out

Laundry, grocery store, etc.

I honestly don't know how it is all going to get done.  Bye-bye dream of an umbrella drink....

Foodie Friday--Orange Leaf

Because of our crazy schedules (work, school, grad school, church and soccer) I don't get to cook as often as I would like.  I really do like to cook--promise!  We eat out quite a bit.  I am always looking to find great deals for eating out that feed my family happily and that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg.  

I thought I might share some of my finds with you and our experiences at different places every Friday in a a new column, "Foodie Friday."  Please don't come here and expect to read about the latest and greatest four star restaurant, but more about fast food and economical places!  

Let's talk about what seems to be the newest fad in dessert places!  

This is not just a dessert but also entertaining!  The atmosphere is alive.  The colors are vibrant and the music is always upbeat.  I have never been to Orange Leaf and not been warmly greeted by the staff upon entering the store.  

There is a wall of self-serve frozen yogurt machines with a huge selection of flavors.  Part of the fun is trying all of the different flavors.  We often joke that if you were to sample every single one of them you wouldn't even need to buy anything.  This is also a great place to come if you have dietary issues.  There are many lactose free and gluten free selections.  To get more information visit, www.orangeleafyogurt.com

My favorite combination is Fudge Brownie and Cheesecake

Don't get in a hurry!  This is fun for everyone.  Take your time and enjoy the experience. 

After deciding what you flavor or flavors you want.  You will need to decide upon toppings.  If you have trouble making decisions, this is going to be a little difficult.  They have thought of everything!

My favorites are the brownie chunk, bananas, cherries and chocolate syrup

Once you have completed your frozen yogurt masterpiece.  You will need to proceed to the checkout.  Here is my word of caution about Orange Leaf:  You pay by the ounce!  So, if you have kiddos in two, you might want to keep a very close eye on how much they are putting into their little buckets.  My youngest is notorious for filling her bowl as full as possible and then eating only a fraction of it.  

An outing at Orange Leaf for our family four usually costs us about $20.  Its not the cheapest in town but we love it!  Here are some pictures of us enjoying our Orange Leaf on our latest trip:

Abby and Kendra (Aaron's sister) 

 

Anna and Aaron

Cynthia (Aaron's mom) and I

The Curse of the Fruit Fly

This little pest has been the bane of my existence this summer.  I have been battling him and his kin for almost two months now.  They arrived on a bunch of bananas and just set up camp.  The first week of their stay with us, our dear friends, Scotty and Mitzi Myers, helped us in our valiant efforts to turn the tide against this little warrior.

These were some of the weapons that were in our arsenal.

Dish washing soap, Dr. Enuf bottle and apple cider vinegar

We used green Dr. Enuf bottles and put about 2 inches of apple cider vinegar in the bottom, added a few drops of Ivory dish washing soap and then another inch of water.  The flies were attracted to the vinegar and would crawl down into the bottle.  The dish soap changed the surface tension of the vinegar and would not allow the flies to sit on the surface.  They would simply sink and drown.  We had these traps next to every sink in the house.  Sinks are a favorite breeding ground for fruit flies. 

Everything went into zip-lock bags, rubbermaid containers or the refrigerator.  NOTHING was left out on the counters.  Bread went into the fridge (yes, fruit flies will find the teeny tiny openings in the top of the bread bag and feast away).  Most fruit and veggies were thrown away (even the potatoes and onions).  We even bagged up all houseplants. Once we began re-buying fruits and vegetables, they came straight out of the shopping bag and went immediately into a sealed container. 

These two products (bleach spray and window cleaner) became what we used to bring the little stinkers out of the air.  We then took great joy in killing them after we got them to fall out of the air.

After almost 8 weeks of battling fruit flies, we were confident we had eliminated all of the pests.  I bought some little peppers from Sam's Club.  Down in the very bottom was a pepper that was starting to rot.  The bag was FULL of fruit flies.  Unfortunately, we didn't realize this until we were already home.  Needless to say, the whole thing went straight into the garbage can.  

Believe it or not...after all of this effort, we still have a few fruit flies buzzing around.  So, if you come to visit, just bring a fly swatter!!

Sisterly love

This doesn't happen often, so I wanted to document it for prosperity!  The girls are acting like they really love one another!!

It didn't only happen once but a few more times...I have proof!!

And yet again...

What fun we had at CoCo Key Resort in Cincinnati!!