Let Them Eat Cake

Happy Birthday Ella!

My brother's little girl Ella turned 3 on Saturday while they were in town visiting and working on dad's house. The kids were so excited to see their cousins. Dylan, soon to be 16, was a great help and played with the kids. They keep asking when they are coming back to play.

MMMM...Yum!

How does Uncle Rich eat cake. Well, he mixes ice cream and cake together to form a paste like substance. He has always done this and it looks disgusting. I believe he was the first to create birthday cake ice cream.

Friends of Summer

Yesterday, we invited some friends over to play. They had fun outside on the waterslide and inside playing hide-n-seek.
Eating lunch at the Y with the all the girls. Poor Josh! Pam (holding Belle), Sarah in front and Emily hiding behind Sarah helped with the kids.
Natalie playing with the Goop.
Recipe for Goop

Equal parts cornstarch and water

mix together

add food coloring (optional)

The many faces of Belle

Belle at the Y.

Yesterday, the kids played with Goop. Belle once again blessed me with a beautiful smile. She can do this thing with her eye that is so weird and creepy. As you can see above she crosses her left eye while her right eye stays straight. Usually, her left eye crosses so far over all you can see is white. One day I will capture this in a picture!

Gone Fishin'

Joel and Josh spent Saturday and part of Sunday at Joe and Robin's house on Pickwick Lake. They spent the day swimming and fishing. Joel said the water as too warm to catch fish. As you can see they were able to catch a few. Josh actually caught the big fish, but Joel had to reel it in for him.

What's Not to Love about Concrete?!?

Here is the property Joel bought a few months back for his business. He is hoping to start building in the next few months. Joel and Josh worked clearing the land a few weeks ago and both ended up with poison ivy. Joel's hope for the property is to build his building and then eventually build several buildings on the front of the property to rent. Once we start construction, I will post pictures as progress is made. Joel once made the comment to my dad,"What's not to love about concrete?" Dad always loved this comment and it became a motto around here. Joel loves his work and takes great pride in it.

Who are those masked children?

Yesterday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. To all you northerners, Chick-Fil-A is a staple to every southern stay at home mom. It is the cleanest fast food restaurant in Olive Branch and at any given day is full of kids in the play area. So the kids made cow mask and -shirts so they could receive a free entree. The place was packed, but we were very lucky to make it right before one of 5 YMCA buses arrived. As the cows say, "Eat More Chicken"

Little Mother

Belle just cracks me up lately. When the kids are in trouble I call them Joshua Stirek or Isabelle Stirek. When they do not listen when I call their name I then say, "Belle Stirek come here." Well, Belle has started to use my methods. When she is talking to Josh and he does not listen to her, she will call him Josh Stirek. It is funny how they pick up on our methods and use them. She also calls me Mom Stirek when I do not respond right away. I guess she thinks she needs to be more specific when calling me so I don't get confused with the other moms in our house!

The Children's Museum...Finally

Fasten your seat belts were coming in for a landing!

We finally made it to the Children's Museum. Josh has been asking to go back for over a year. We were supposed to go over spring break, but Belle ended up with an eye infection. Yesterday, when Josh asked if we could do something fun I had the perfect idea. The weather forecast was supposed to be in the mid 90's so I thought I would surprise them a special day at the museum. When they woke up i told them we going somewhere, but it was a surprise. So I did not tell them where we were going until we were on our way.

Belle goes grocery shopping after going to the bank and getting cash.

Josh's favorite part was the police cars.

Both kids had a great time dressing up as cops and firemen. It is funny how they get along so well when there is no other kids to play with. Josh has decided to be a cop for Halloween and I am going to dress up as a prisoner.

Spa Day!

While the boys were at a movie, Belle and I painted our nails and put on make-up. She sat at her vanity that my dad made for her. I tried to get her to let me do her hair, but she wanted nothing to do with that! After Joel and Josh returned, she found Josh's nerf gun and would shoot it at the dart board . After each shot she would reapply her lipstick. maybe she is going to be a Bond Girl.

Independence Day

We spent our evening at The pollard's house-great friends, awesome house, cool pool and wonderful times with memories made! The kids swam until dusk and then the firework show began. Yes the first picture is Josh with Joel's blow torch. That is how a redneck lights fireworks in the south! Mom was a bit nervous with all the kids, teenagers and adults lighting fireworks at the same time. Watching Josh was not very exciting either! I am happy to be home. Thanks Ronnie for reminding me that one day my kids will be grown and I will not need to stress over watching out for everyone! Or is that just a man thing Lisa?

Here is Belle with a sparkler, that I promise you was lit by the torch!

Remembering My Dad

Today as I was loading pictures I came across this photo of Dad! What a great picture. Anyone that knew my dad knew he rarely smiled for a picture and hated having pictures taken of him. This photo was taken last August for his 70th birthday. My brother and his family made the trip to help celebrate his big day. It was a great weekend and just seeing Dad happy was well worth it! It is hard to look at this picture and realize less than 6 months later we would lose him. He is extremely missed by all of us each day. He was a super dad and I was lucky to have such a great role model, provider and hero in my life.

Excitement on Eagleston

So we have had a nice relaxing few days around here. Joel's parents have been in town since Monday evening and have kept the kids busy. Today, they went to the movies to see Wall-E. So I had a nice day without children. (Yes, Kelly Pack 2 days in a row!) I was off running errands, which I might add included a trip to Hobby Lobby, the scrapbook store, Target and the bookstore. Errands are so much fun without kids! After completing my errands and returning to our neighborhood, I get to the top of our street and notice the garbage truck seems to be slightly on its side. As I approach I see it definitely has its right tires buried into the side of the street. We had a water main break last week, which the city claimed to have fixed, but apparently did not fill the hole properly, hence the sunken truck! The kids were excited to have 2 cops, 2 huge tow trucks and several city officials on the scene. They finally tow the truck out out of the hole and then the police car would not work. All in a days work for the city of O.B. workers. There is always excitement on our street! It is a great place to live. Anyone want to buy a house it comes loaded with drama everywhere you turn.

VIsit with the Grandparents

Mustache (aka Grandpa) and Grandma arrived yesterday for a visit. They are going to spend the week with us and will be with us for the 4th. Today they went to the park and made a trip to Target for some toys and grandkid spoiling! After dinner we celebrated Mustaches birthday with a cake that looked like a grill. It even had roasted marshmallows, a hot dog and a hamburger out of frosting.