...after 2 weekends of lessons, 9 chapters of reading (with physics stuff....ewwww...), an 85 question test, AND 6 open water dives....this weekend (had to get up at 6am two days in a row), we got our certifications. It was a lot of fun. Now I'm EXHAUSTED....night!

....Doug and I have been taking scuba diving lessons for the past couple of weeks...It's been a lot of fun, except the part where they want you to go under water and take off your mask. I just can't seem to get over that part :( I have to practice letting water get in my nose...hmmm....fun, huh? Still, we got in the pool with the gear on for the first time today, and it was really neat. I got sunburned all over my face....ya know......what was covered up by the mask....apparently not enough, go figure. I look like a lobster

In other news, those kids sure are growing up fast! I can't believe it sometimes, looking at them...and I think, wow...when did they grow up so much? They are at such a fun age though, they just love learning things. One of the big things they've learned lately is how to play chess. Branden can give Doug and I a challenge (he's beaten us a couple of times), and Doug and Daniel do amazingly well remembering what pieces can move where, and can play a fairly good game for their ages.

Well......there's really not much else exciting going on....Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Well, Branden turns 13 tomorrow....uh, that is, TODAY! EEK, I'm up late! I can't believe that 13 years ago, I held the tiniest baby I'd ever seen in my arms and I was just amazed! He was such a sweet baby :) He just LOVED to be cuddled by anyone! And now he's growing into a wonderful young man...just a little too fast for Mom to keep up :) Sigh...where did the years go? Well, go wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Branden wanted a chessboard cake for his birthday, so rather than the same old star-tip covered cake, I'm going to make Marshmallow fondant, and cover his strawberry and chocolate swirl cake with it. We tried to mold some chess pieces out of wax, but they just didn't seem to work out, so I got some "real" chess pieces, and that will go on the squares :) For those that haven't tried to MMF, it's GREAT! Much better than the packaged stuff! Here's the recipe I use:

http://www.wilton.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=7&threadid=77236

The cake pan I bought (yay for Michaels' 50% off coupons!) didn't hold as much cake mix as I made, so the "extra" is going to be made into cake balls. Here's a recipe for those...try them, they're great!

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2007/12/red-velvet-cake-balls.html

They can be made in tons of different flavor combos...ours? Strawberry-chocolate swirl, and chocolate coating! YUM!

...I'm up to 4 nights a week teaching, and it's really picking up. I've got 15, 9, 9, & 9 signed up respectively for my classes, which is great.

And now I've got 5 million things to get done before class tonight...ug...have a great rest-of-the-week!

...is definitely different. Mostly I like it, but it will take some getting used to.

Well, we're back from Florida. It was a lot of fun, but I'm ready for a quiet summer now :)

We took the kids and Doug's Mom to Disney World...that was great. They were so excited. Too bad it rained a good part of the afternoon.

I came home to (for the FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW) my a/c being out. Thankfully we have a wonderful family was was able to help us get getting it running again.

School is over for a few months. I got an A in Pharmacology somehow.

The kids are readjusting after nearly 2 entire months straight of being spoiled by grandparents. We're readjusting too :)

Doug hasn't burned down our pasture since February...so that's good. But he has been volunteering at the fire department.

My cake decorating classes are in full swing. I've already got 30 signed up, and we still have nearly a week before class starts.

I need a website for my classes...suggestions? Anyone volunteering to make it for me? lol

Well...enough unorganized thoughts floating around here.