... if I see another basket ... well, I just might scream! True, I
did volunteer to head up the gift baskets for Advent's Silent Auction again this year, so I can't complain too much. But, as always (I've done them three years running), it turned into QUITE the project. There are 17 classes, and typically we do one basket each, having compiled items brought in from parents in that class. But, this year we broke them down into manageable amounts and ended up with
30 different groupings! While I haven't done a thorough analysis yet, I think it was a good choice economically. I believe we were able to get close to the baskets' values at the auction (or closer to the values than in previous years). Regardless, Friday's auction was really fun, and it kicked off a busy weekend for the Schnittkers. Mom was here helping (thanks Mom! You're a lifesaver!) so she took pictures of several of the baskets. I plan to pass them along to someone next year ... along with my notes. I think I've chaired my last basket committee at Advent (we'll see!) Anyway, here are a FEW of my favorite baskets ...
The Great Outdoors (Art Pack) - sidewalk paint, outdoor games and toys.
Rainy Day Fun - everything you need to keep the kids entertained on a rainy day (or days for that matter). And, if you decide to brave the elements ... an umbrella!
To the Rescue! (Spiderman and Batman Pack) - this was one of two superhero baskets. The other had a mix of adventure heroes, but this one was ALL Batman and Spiderman.
My favorite packaging this year (pizza boxes) ...
Friday Night Family Fun (Night In) - Pizza gift card, and all the games, movies and snacks needed to entertain the family.
Dining Out ... with Kids! - gift cards to 3-4 family friendly restaurants, and lots of little things to distract them until the food hits the table!
It's My Party (Circus Theme) - everything needed to host a party "under the big top" for 24 people! Invitations, party goods, popcorn tubs, and a bunch of favors ... even red clown noses. I was SO happy with how this one turned out, and I thought people would jump at the chance to bid on a complete party, but we pulled it and are going to auction it off separately. It wasn't going near enough to it's value ... and that KILLS me!
Dads, Dads, Dads! (Health Nut) - several pieces of workout equipment, along with a couple gift cards to sporting goods stores. And it's all presented in a gym bag!
We also did a bit of cooking ... this time - Three Bears Bread - a recipe Abby found in her High Five magazine (the magazine subscription was a gift from Gram ... and the kids love it!). Anyway, Abby has been pestering me to make this bread, and today was the perfect day to do so. It was simple, simple, simple. We used a tube of the refrigerated bread dough, and just kept dividing it and making balls until we had three cute bears (Abby, Tyler and Emily each did their own) on our cookie sheet.
We topped them with cinnamon, and let them plump up in the oven, then served them with honey! 
I love how the kids used the leftover dough to make giant belly buttons on the bears, yet their ears and hands are super tiny. Oh well - it was fun. The kids actually saved theirs to eat for breakfast in the morning.
If you weren't aware, this is National Children's Dental Health Month. Abby's teacher has done a great job teaching the kids all about teeth ... and as a result, Abs can name the three different kinds of teeth (and their jobs), and she can list different parts of the the teeth. Seriously! I don't think I know that now! I may have once upon a time, but I didn't retain the information. On Friday, Abby came home with this cute little mouth, full of teeth (marshmallows). It's the exact number children have, and it folds over so you can see the closed mouth ... then it opens for flossing. 
Because of what they've learned in school, Abby can tell you how many teeth she has and how that compared to the number an adult has in their mouth. I had to go count mine to see if she was right when she told me. Thenk the other day she caught me off guard by asking if I still had my wisdom teeth. After the flossing demo, Abby grabbed Tyler (and Starla ... the stuffed animal, that "is NOT, I repeat NOT a stuffed animal ... she's real!") for a family picture. Talk about showin' off their pearly whites. These children are sportin' their BIG GRINS!
It says Tyler! You want to make something of it? Sure, the letters aren't in the correct order, but we're SO proud! I know I seem to have been blogging a lot about Tyler lately ... but I have to post about him again today! Don't worry, I have an Abby post coming later this afternoon or tomorrow. 
"Mommy ... she's here!" 
And he's off! 
So cute ... much cuter at 8:45 a.m. with his Advent tote slung over him like a messenger bag than when he's kicking my head at 2:45 a.m. and screaming "No Mommy!" for not apparent reason, while hogging my pillow!
If you rolled BUNCO, you got to wear this oh-so-glamorous Hollywood blonde bombshell wig and glasses. Personally, I think Marc Smith was looking good (check out how Dennis is putting the moves on him) ... and since he ended up with three Buncos, I think he might have been rolling them JUST to wear that wig. 
What do you think - who wore it best? Marc ... or Jenn?
Jenn snuck away towards the end of the night, so I didn't get a shot of her without her lovely blonde curls, but I did grab some shots of everyone else. I'm going to put a bunch of pictures from the night on my Facebook page (hey! you guys are the ones that let me take shots of you in the wig), but here are the ones of my faithful blog readers.
Screven and Sabrena Watson (this is BEFORE Sabrena won L-C-R ... again ... and started stashing her winnings in her shirt).
Marc and Lorie Smith.
No photos of Dennis and I (camera battery ran out as we were taking pictures late in the evening) ... but I swear I was there (that's me in the white shirt below - great angle, huh?). Here's a group of us playing L-C-R. We always play two rounds of Bunco, but L-C-R is our favorite way to end the night.
And I couldn't resist taking a few more. I always want to remember the kissable features on my little guy's rapidly thinning face. Long gone is his double chin, and same goes for the chubby cheeks. But these long lashes seem to be here to stay. 
Shouldn't it be illegal for a little boy to have such luxurious lashes? I would have to pile on a mound of mascara to achieve this look. I also always wanted dimples (never had 'em) ... like the two Tyler sports during his biggest grins. 
The control freak in me just loves having a hamper for each type of laundry load we do: darks, mediums, reds/brights (we wear a lot of garnet and red in this house), and last but not least, whites. If I had a nice-sized laundry room (which we don't), all four hampers would go in there and I could just pull loads as needed. So, when I found these, I figured I would just pop 'em up when we were sorting laundry to keep it manageable. But ... frankly, it's so convenient to have them out in plain sight. I don't mind now, since the house is kind of a mess. But, when it's cleaned on Thursday, they'll have to go away for a bit. That's another one of my issues ... I get clean-obsessive for the first week after the house is cleaned, then I relax a bit as it falls to pieces again. Best to visit towards the end of week one, so I don't bite your head off about wearing your shoes in the house ... but it's still too early to be grossed out by the sludge in the sink and unmopped floors. But I digress. Back to laundry. I might just designate a room/closet for each color hamper and everyone can shuttle their laundry there. A chore ... yes it would be! But, it has been so much easier to pop a load of laundry in the washer the past few days. I just see which hamper is the fullest (err... overflowing) and carry it to the laundry room. I'd say this "works for me" ... for now that is!
This was my creation ... that's me and the kids on the right slice. Hey! Milk paint on bread is a tough medium!
And to get some fruit in them, I gave each an artist's palette of dippers (caramel, blueberry yogurt and chocolate sauce from L-R) for their sliced apples!
Abby and Tyler graciously agreed to help me stir and sand ... 
... and I wasn't really going to let them paint. However, I caved! They actually did a pretty good job, except for the prank my little jokester (Abby) pulled on me. She thought it would be funny to take me literally when I said, "We just need one coat on the top." The girl seriously painted a "coat!" She was tickled with herself and her little piece of art (see below), and frankly it WAS a bit funny. But, I quickly painted over that, and it started coming together. 
I'll need to do some touchups here and there, and I have to get some polyurethane to finish it off, but I'm thinking it will be a nice change! Now, Tyler thinks we painted the coffee table because "it hit him in the head this morning," so don't tell him it was all a coincidence! He was spinning in the living room and really whacked his noggin pretty hard. To make him feel better I said, "That coffee table is SO mean ... it needs to change its attitude. We'll give it a makeover!" Later Tyler said, "I can't even tell this is the same table that hit me in the head!"
