Follow The Yellow Brick Road

If you're looking for a great family friendly activity for Sunday afternoon, I know just the thing! The McPherson Community Theatre has it's FINAL performance of the Wizard of Oz at 2pm on Sunday, June 27th at the McPherson Opera House. We went last weekend and it was truly an amazing show!

The munchkins were adorable...

The sets, costumes, and effects were phenomenal...


You can even get your picture taken with the cast at the end of the show...


Super FUN!! Well worth the trip. For tickets call the Opera House at 241-1952 or order them online here. You can also purchase them at the door, but I would recommend ordering them in advance to ensure they aren't sold out!! We took our two youngest, ages 5 and 7...they were on the edge of their seats for the whole thing!

If my sweet Munchkin can be transformed from this...

to this...

you know you will be entertained!!

Blogger Award

I received my first ever blogger award from Julie @ Growing Your Grass Greener. I am truly honored! Thank you, Julie.



There were certain rules regarding this award...

1) Thank the person who gave you the award.

2) Tell 7 things about yourself (in your blog)

3) Pass the award along to 15 other blogs you think are fantastic. (Even though there are way more that deserve the award.)

4) Contact the bloggers you've picked & let them know about the award.

I've thanked Julie, so here are my 7 very random things.

1. I'm afraid of heights. Gets worse as I get older. HATE, HATE, HATE overpasses...have to close my eyes...not a good thing when I'm driving!! Just kidding about the driving thing, but my hands grasp the stearing wheel and get terribly sweaty! I DO close my eyes if someone else is driving!!!

2. I'm a stuffer (NO, NOT my bra!! HA!!). If you came over to visit, I am guaranteed to have stuffed JUNK into a drawer, closet, or basket somewhere so that my house appeared clean!!

3. When I was 6, my 8 year old brother died of Reye's Syndrome.

4. I'm doing an exercise program called Crossfit right now. Some days I think it's going to kill me.

5. I've never been able to do a cartwheel. My attempts are quite a site!

6. I have a degree in Elementary Education.

7. I love black and white damask print!

AND here are 15 other bloggers that I think are fantastic!

1. Chris @ Just a Girl

2. Kara @ Creations by Kara

3. Meg @ Whatever

4. Kate @ Centsational Girl

5. Sarah @ Thrifty Decor Chick

6. Jess @ The Macs

7. For the Love of it

8. Melisa @ 320 Sycamore

9. Carrie @ Buzzings of a Queen Bee

10. Beki @ The Rusted Chain

11. Kristen @ Sweetheart Moments

12. Kimba @ A Soft Place to Land

13. Lindsay @ Living With Lindsay

14. Thy Hand Hath Provided

15. Infarrantly Creative

Last Day of School

I am finding it hard to believe that another school year is coming to an end. At 11:30 today, I will pick up these 3 beautiful, sweet, perfectly mannered children for the start of Summer! This is why I prefer photographs over video...see you looked at the picture and you BELIEVED my words about how perfectly mannered they are with their hands nicely folded in their laps (BTW, I didn't tell them to do this!). If I would have had the video, you would have seen how my youngest tried to put her arm around her brother because she adores him. He wanted nothing to do with it and promptly told her so. She then began to cry. I put my camera away...thankful that the one picture I snapped was a good one!! ;) Really...it's going to be a GREAT Summer, isn't it!? No, REALLY, I am excited...I think. ;)

An update on the Monogram Crayons that I blogged about. I finally got my done! The kids helped pick out paper and color schemes based on what they thought each teacher would like. I think Michelle must have used a bigger frame for hers. I used 8 x 10's and hers may be a true 12 x 12. I also chose to hot glue my crayons for the sake of time (I couldn't find my other glue!). It worked just fine. Here's the final result...

Thank you Mrs. Pacey, Mrs. Mulch, and Mrs. Porter for being such wonderful teachers!

Lemon Berry Pie

My friend had a great idea for her son's birthday party...he loves pie, so she hosted a Pie Party!! Each family made a pie to share AND she even had take home containers so we could take home some of the leftovers!! Mmmmmm!!! Here's what we (we, meaning my wonderful husband) made:

LEMON BERRY PIE

1/2 (4 oz) Cream Cheese, cubed, softened

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed

1 ready-to-use graham cracker crust (6 ounces or 9 inch)

1 pint strawberries

2 cups cold milk

2 pkgs (4-serving size) Vanilla or Lemon Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling (we used lemon)

BEAT cream cheese, 1 Tbs milk, and sugar in medium bowl with wire whisk until smooth. Stir in lemon peel and juice. Gently stir in 1 1/2 cups of the whipped topping. Spread evenly onto bottom of crust. Reserve a few strawberries for garnish, if desired; cut remaining strawberries in half. Press strawberry halves into cream cheese layer.

POUR 2 cups milk into large bowl. Add pudding mixes. Beat with wire mix 1 minute. Gently stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping. Spoon over strawberries in crust.

REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until set. Garnish with remaining whipped topping and reserved strawberries just before serving.

What a surprise!!!

We had a group leave Maple Memories today and another guest is coming tomorrow, so I headed over to clean this afternoon. What a WONDERFUL surprise to find this on the counter...

A beautiful basket full of goodies from the lovely group of ladies that had just left. Attached was a note that read, "Shannon, Thank you for such a wonderful place to spend a weekend away! We had a wonderful time and are so amazed by every detail you've cared for." How sweet is that!!????

Jenny and friends...

you absolutely made my day!!!

Monogram Crayon Teacher Gift

My friend, Michelle, made this...isn't it adorable!? She made this Monogram frame for her sister to put in her classroom. I think it would make a great teacher gift as the school year comes to an end. I am planning on making them for my kids' teachers this weekend, so hopefully I will have some pictures for you later. It's just crayons...some broken to make the shape of the letter and glued to scrapbook paper with embellishments of scrapbook paper, ribbon and some stickers...perfect! She found the original idea here and then this one gave her additional ideas to help her create her own unique monogram. Thanks for sharing, Michelle!

What do you give your teachers for the end of the year?

Cubbies

Getting 3 kids out of the door and to school, ON time, WITH all of their stuff, isn't an easy task! So, we developed a system using a set of "cubbies" that I bought from a daycare that was upgrading theirs. This has been a lifesaver for our family, so I thought I would share our "system" with you. Each kid has a section of their own. The oldest and youngest have the two outside spots, while my son once again finds himself smack dab in the middle of his sisters!! The other two are for "overflow" or when friends come over.





I used my handy dandy Dymo to label their "space" with their name. Eliminates all squabbles about where stuff belongs (or doesn't). The clear crates are for hats, mittens, scarves, etc. Hooks in the cubbies are for backpacks and coats. A place at the bottom for shoes if they wish. The mesh basket on top is for homework and papers that I need to read/sign. The mesh basket is also labelled with their name AND library and share day info...

I was struggling to keep track of which kid had library books due on which day, so this helps! So, here's how it works.

1. When they get home from school, they enter through the garage (where the cubby is).

2. Hang up coat and put away "stuff". Backback is TOTALLY emptied into the mesh basket. That means all homework, papers, empty lunchboxes, rocks from the playground :), etc.

3. Mom and Dad then empty the mesh baskets...cleaning out lunchboxes, reading/signing papers, and making sure kids do homework.

4. Parents and/or kids put completed homework, signed papers, library books, show and tell items (whatever needs to go to school the next day) back into the baskets. Lunchboxes are put there in the morning if they are taking one.

5. In the morning, the kids take everything that is in their basket and put it into their backpacks and off they go to school. Piece of cake! Seriously, it's made things pretty easy!

Here's the "I'm the parent and it's my job to teach you to be responsible" part. IF we have done our part and gotten everything they need into their baskets and ALL they have to do is put it in their backpack AND they take off to school without grabbing it, then OH WELL! Meaning if we made sure on library day they had both library books in the basket and they went off without getting them and then they call me to ask me to bring them, I don't. I know that might sound mean, but I'm telling you it works. I had 2 kids in school last year, no system...lots of trips to school to deliver homework, lunches, show and tell. This year...twice...once because MOM forgot to put a lunch in the basket and the other because MOM read the note that said it was "pop day" the next day and forgot to go to the store!! ;)