Self Portrait

This picture CRACKS ME UP!! Hailey has been into taking pictures with my camera lately, many of which are of her. This is the funniest one by far!

New Project!

I found this cool sofa table on craigslist yesterday for only $15! I've been looking for one for a very long time. I do have plans to repaint it, and I'd love to fill in the bottom to make it a shelf, but I'm still deciding if I want to replace the glass with wood, then fill it and paint that too. Any thoughts? The glass isn't clear, it's the smokey glass.

Now, I just need to figure out if I want to spray paint this or paint by hand. Big dilemma, I know.

(FYI, this is not in my house. I just didn't want to confuse anyone.)

Caught Up!

Woo hoo! I have officially caught up on my blogging. Make sure to check out the posts...even as far back as April 3rd!

On a side note, I have also updated the June Food Storage list. Have at it and good luck!

Birthday Party Time

We had a fun family get-together tonight for Rion's birthday. Kelly and Will were in town, so we thought this would be a great time to celebrate.

We blindfolded Rion and made him walk around the room to find his presents before he could open them. That was pretty funny.

He had a pretty good birthday. He got a multi-tool from Larry and Stacy, a bike lock from Kelly and Will, money from Grandma and Papa, and a bike from us. Happy Birthday Rion!

New Lawn Mower

No, not the mechanical kind. Rion has started mowing the lawn for us! Such a blessing for me! I love mowing the lawn, but with my busy schedule, it's nice to have someone else able to mow the lawn while I'm working.

Here is our new lawn mower! The question is, is he going to cut it or just stunt it's growth by scaring it?

Snooze away!

Poor Chase! Is my cooking THAT boring?

No Tres Pasing Pless

I'm not entirely sure what the bottom of the note is supposed to be, but the first part was pretty clear. I love how Hailey posted the teddy bear as the guard!

Missing Mrs. Lords

Tonight Hailey was telling us how much she doesn't want school to end.

"I'm really going to miss Mrs. Lords. And she's going to miss me too, know why? Because her name has "Miss" in it."

Too cute!

Memorial Pics

Since Eric didn't include these...I am! We didn't really get too many, but you can see how fun the day was.

Poor Rion got FRIED!

Back at the house for the BBQ, Chase and Savanna were near each other nearly the WHOLE time! As Savanna says, "Chase is my BESTEST friend!"

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Memorial Day Fun

All the practice with the parasail finally paid off! We had our first successful flight Memorial Day morning and got my friend's son up about 100' in the air. It was a blast!

After that, we had fun taking friends out on the boat to get wet, and then we all came back to our home for an evening BBQ. It was a good day of strengthening friendships, and creating new ones!

Thank you to all the men and women who serve in the Armed Forces for providing me and my family and friends with the freedom to enjoy such a beautiful day! Aaron and Damon, I'm thinking of you!

Cameron Parasailing from Eric Warren on Vimeo.

Shhhhh!

Don't tell Rion, but we bought his bike this evening after going to the temple. We called Diana on our way home and asked if we could store it in her garage, since we were headed there to pick up the kids. His birthday isn't until June 8th, but he'll be SO excited!

Invasion!

This lovely site was NOT there yesterday. This is right out my front door. I can't believe how fast they are! Go away, ants!

More Parasail Antics

Last Monday night, a couple friends and their families joined us at the church to fly kites and the parasail. We set some new height records for lifting the kids off, and that was in very little wind no less! Enjoy the video!

Parasail Practice Antics from Eric Warren on Vimeo.

Space Derby!

This was our first time doing a Space Derby. We've been so busy lately that Eric didn't get the wood glued together until last night. Both he and Rion woke up at 7:00 this morning to sand, primer, and paint it for a 10:00 start time. Whew! Thank goodness for fast drying paint!

It was certainly a learning experience getting this to work. There are a lot of variables involved, but overall it was still lots of fun. With on 9 boys racing (Saturday mornings are very busy), it went really fast.

We were very excited to see that all of the last minute work paid off! Rion came in 2nd place overall. And what's up with the face? They messed up the certificate...it says Kyle Phillipi. Too funny!

Retirement

Tonight was my dad's retirement banquet from H&R Block. He has been working with H&R Block for 21 years, 18 of which he was the District Manager. It was a great evening, complete with a Roast. He was not expecting that. It was great to hear others' perspectives about his "frugalness". I guess I know where I get it from!

Congrats Dad!

Parasail Liftoffs

"Dude, you totally got like 2 feet of air that time!" -Napoleon Dynamite

More Parasail Practice from Eric Warren on Vimeo.

Goodbye California

It's official! Other than family and good friends, we have no more ties to California. Today we paid off the roof of the house we sold 2 1/2 years ago when the market was starting to tank...and we paid it off nearly 4 years early! If we didn't spend the money to put a new roof on this house, I don't think we would have been able to sell it. As it was, we walked away from the house getting just what we needed to pay it off, but were left with a personal loan that funded the roof. AND IT'S GONE NOW!!! Thanks, California, for the memories!

Garden Prep

It's that time again! I wonder how long it will take me to actually PLANT the garden?

FREE Dinner!

Yes, we were some of the millions that enjoyed the free meal at A&W! The sides are what we expected, but we were disappointed with how greasy the "grilled" chicken was. Oh well. I guess we can't comlain too much since we only spent $3.18 on drinks to feed our family of five. I'll take a free meal almost any day!

Parasail Practice

Awesome...just awesome!