Well, tonight turned out to be a date night for Chaser and I as he wanted to go see the play again tonight (I think I will be a qualified understudy by tomorrow night). He came home after school today and took a nap, went to T-ball practice and came home and ate his dinner fast so we could get to the theater. It was a packed house again tonight so we got there just in time to get seats! He ordered his popcorn with butter, red licorice & Sprite when we got there and then was gracious enough to order popcorn and root beer for his "date" (aka Mommy) but the date got stuck with the check?!?!? Anyway, he had a great time and sat on my lap snuggling and sharing licorice with me for about 3/4 of it (after his popcorn was GONE). We sang Mamma Mia songs from my CD on the way home (the kids have discovered that a couple of the songs from ABBA were in their new Bee Movie so we have music we all like and it is not Disney or Wiggles) and danced in the seats. He loves to listen to cool music and play funny in the car with Mommy. We got home and he was so thankful. He RAN into his room and got his new PJs and brought them out to put them on while talking to me about the play and how much fun we had. He got ready to put the pants on and said "where is the tag?" and I told him that Mamma didn't put a tag in them but the tie was in the front so that was how he knew which way to put them on, he replied "that silly Dramma, I will have to tall her to put a tag in the back so I know how to put them on". Then he started to put the top on and discovered no tag there either so I told him the V was in the front and he then replied "well Dramma doesn't have to put the V in the front if she puts a tag in instead." What can I say - he got them on and loves them. We then got him tucked into bed and in his prayers he thanked God for Mommy and he going to the play again tonight (3 times in the prayer). Guess he and I need to find other things to do more often just the two of us. As I left his room he asked Mommy can we do that again next time not when I am on stage but just when we sit and watch. I asked if he meant next year and he said "yes Mommy cuz I get to be on stage again tomorrow night with Dramma".

Sleep tight - I know I will! :)

Love, M

PS - Before getting into bed he was so cute as he went into our room and delicately and quietly kissed sleeping Daddy on the cheek and said night night Daddy I love you! These are the moments that make me cry! - no pictures from tonight on any camera just in my heart forever!

New machine @ Store & fun time out with kids

Dave left out of town with a friend last night and will not be home till tomorrow afternoon. We all miss him a lot but the friend was really in need of support and we are supporting Daddy as he does that for his friend. With Dave out of town, I got to go to the store this morning to get the machine for our new 24 flavors of soft serve and get a lesson in how that works. It is quite the machine and I got lots of samples and I don't usually eat ice cream at 11:00 AM but it was good and quite the program that I think will bring a lot of return business once people come in and try it. We have the machine on a 2 week trial basis and that will include the week of spring break here so that should give us a good idea of how well this program would work for us.

The kids didn't get to get out much today as the weather was not that cooperative so we headed to Company Creek Pizza for dinner. Mackenzie had a cheeseburger and fries - with sauce of course and Chase had "new" fish and french fries with tartar sauce. They each played their dollar of quarters in video games. They are still at the cheap age as they think they are still playing even when the big "game over" is flashing in the middle of the screen.

Chase and I spent a long time today working on writing his letters. He finally seems interested in that and is recognizing letters on the frig and putting them together to try to spell words now. His speech is getting much clearer every week and his talks a mile a minute (I don't have any idea where he got that, probably from his Mamma). He called Mamma tonight to tell her that he learned to write his own name today. He now just wanted more paper and more words written for him to copy. It is nice to see him becoming interested in that.

Kids are in bed and I have things ready for class at church tomorrow when we will be studying Moses parting the Red Sea. It think the kids will enjoy that. They still play Moses and Pharoah at home and tell one another to "Let my people go" and play Joseph and the Innkeeper and "sorry no room". They absorb so much of this at this age and they so look forward to it each week. It is a lot of work for me but thanks to Mom and Dad I have materials from the extras they have at Roseburg and it is all put together by week and I just have to supplement with activities each week. It may be a lot of work but the rewards are eternal and I can't think of a better way to spend my time than on my children's walk with God.

One last thing, praise the Lord - Chase is at the end of his first week with no seizure meds and all is going well with no signs of any seizure activity.

Good night and sweet dreams.

Date Night With Mommy

Chase & I went on a date last night and had a really fun time. The local private school, Chelan Valley Independent School, has a spring drama production every year and this year it was Jack and the Giant (aka Jack & the Beanstalk). They performed it this year at the local historic theater (Ruby Theater) in Chelan. It was free with a donation at the door and they had concessions open for snacks as well. Chase has been h aving some coping problems lately and has gotten into trouble at school as well. He finished his punishment yesterday so we decided to give him some one-on-one Mommy time and boy did he enjoy that. He and I used to do little things together a lot when Mackenzie was a baby and Daddy wasn't working. I think he needs more of this type of thing. Anyway, the play was 1 1/2 hours with a 15 minute intermission so with it starting at 7 pm and by the time we got home it was a little after 9. He had talked to Mamma to tell her he was going and that he wanted to have popcorn and licorice. Mamma responded that she thought that sounded good so he ran with the phone to me and told me "Mamma says I get popcorn AND licorice and you have to do it because she is your Mommy". So Mamma owes me $6.50!!! haha! He sat very intently and loved the play. He followed the plot line asking me every 5 minutes "Where's the giant?" and clapped at all the right times. It was very well done and had every student from the school in it in one role or another and sometimes multiple roles. On the way home, as he was eating his last licorice vine that he had held clutched in his little hand for the last half of the play to save it for on the way home, he said to me "maybe next time I can go on the stage Mommy." Throughout the play he would lean over to be and hug my arm and lovingly say "this is fun Mommy!" What enjoyable memories! He came home and got in his jammies and was asleep in less than 5 minutes. Wouldn't trade these time for the world!