Alternative desserts

Ballerina

Market Days

The Negley third grade class is studying economics and hosted a market day for the elementary students. They had to come up with a product or service to market and sell, set up their booth (desk) and sell their goods/services to the various classes. Noah chose to make and sell brownies. He made his sign, helped me find a good recipe, helped me bake them, and package them up in clear wrap with gold curly ribbon. He also wanted to sprinkle them with powdered sugar to "make them different":) I convinced him to carry this picnic basket I found at a garage sale and to sell them out of the basket with his sign attached. He sold each brownie (we made them BIG) for 50 cents each. We made 25 brownies and he sold every one! He says he wishes we would have made more because he ran out early:) They learned about the amount of work that goes into starting a business, start up costs, making a profit, the importance of advertising, and paying taxes. All of the money they made will go into the third grade fund and they will vote on what to do with it, like have an end of year party or buying something for the school. I thought it was a great idea for the school to give the third graders this learning experience and I know Noah will always remember it.

Busy Bees

Our Little Girl!

I felt bad for Emmy after I posted a picture of just her sister, so I thought I would post these of her yesterday with her wet Koolaid mouth:) She just turned three this past Christmas day and is full of sassy goodness...just like her momma;)

Our Big Girl!

Avelyn is really starting to be a big girl! She just recently started to willingly go into Primary on her own and is loving her new dance class and the friends she is making there:) We are very proud of her! Here she is right before church this past Sunday, she looked so cute that I just HAD to take her pic:)

Down to the Wire: Superbowl XLIII

So the day that we have been waiting for all season was finally upon us. Our beloved team had made it all the way to that pinnacle of games...the Superbowl!! It really is so exciting to watch and follow a team from the preseason to the playoffs and amazingly on to the championship matchup. The delight I see in my husband's face and the passion he has for this team and the sport, is very special to me....it gives me so much joy to see him so thrilled:) It's like watching your children open their presents on Christmas morning, that's the only way I can think of to describe the feeling.

At first, we were just going to stay home and watch the game since everyone around us were cheering for the Cards, but our good friends the Allen's invited us over to watch the game and promised to cheer for the Steelers:) So now, not only do we get to share the game with good friends, an added bonus was we would get to watch it on a huge flatscreen in HD!!!!! Since they live on our street, we just grabbed our desserts and walked up to their house.

When we got there, we had dinner and watched the pregame show. I thought Jennifer Hudson did an awesome job singing the National Anthem, and some of the commercials this year were really funny! Finally it was time for kickoff and from that moment forward we were on the edge of our seats the whole game! What an exciting Superbowl! Even if you're not a fan of football or don't have a favorite team, it was fun to watch. Steelers started out strong, but then the Cards really kicked into gear and I'm just surprised my nails survived. That final quarter, I was a wreck! I couldn't even stay in the room...I went into the front room to try to calm down and figure out how I was going to console my pile of a husband if we lost. I just didn't see how, with two minutes left, they were going to pull off a win. When I went back in to watch the last couple minutes, Randy looked at me and said, "you gotta have faith in 'em babe, don't lose the faith!!"...ha..haa...I was thinking that the poor man must be in denial, but was thinking it was cute that he was hanging onto his thread of hope. THEN, the unbelievable happened!!! That momentous catch by Santonio Holmes......are there any words that can possibly convey the unbelievable magic and jubilation captured in that one defining moment???!!!! AMAZINGLY MAGICAL!! His feet, beautifully touching just inside the end zone...two beautiful poised set of Steeler toes making history for their perfect placement!!

And so it goes...the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 to win their sixth Superbowl title and to go down in history as the greatest football franchise in the NFL!! Head coach Mike Tomlin becomes the youngest coach, at 36, to ever win a Superbowl, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leads his team to their second Superbowl title in four seasons, becoming the second youngest quarterback to win two Superbowls!! The guy is twenty-six years old people!! So that means that Big Ben will be around to lead this team for many years to come (barring any unforseen motorcycle mishaps).

A BIG HUGE thanks to the Allen's for hosting our Superbowl experience and for supporting us in our passion for Steelers football. We feel closer to you guys now that you have seen us in our most vulnerable states;) WE LOVE YOU and are SOOOOOOO thankful for your friendship!

All in all, this season lived up to our hype. Now it's time to tuck football into a cozy bed and let it sleep until August! As much as I have enjoyed the trip, I am relieved that the stress is over:) I'm ready for a break, and besides..it's time to get prepared for the next sport of the season...little league baseball, of which we have two sons playing on two different teams, one of which Randy is head coaching....SO, let the games begin!