Cheezy Macaroni

Click here to watch the kiddos and I making macaroni and cheese.

How could it be this funny?

My Quiet Book

Here is a picture of Gram in 1949 with my Mom and Max!

Wow! I sure do miss Gram! It is funny how time

flies so fast . . .

Gram made one of my very favorite treasures . . .

My Quiet Book!

My Quiet Book was hand sewn for me 43 years ago by Gram!

My Quiet Book has a special place on a shelf in my closet!

I bet that I look up there at that Quiet Book at least once every single day!

Isn't it funny the things that we treasure? I do not look or think about

the balance in my checking account nearly as much as I look at

and treasure this Quiet Book made so long ago.

I don't really think of about giving a granddaughter money one day,

but I certainly look forward to the day when I can share this Quiet Book

with her.

I am counting the days until I can make a Quiet Book like this for my granddaughter.

Gram was a quiet, gentle person. Everybody appreciated that about her!

Funny what we treasure most . . .

Confessions

I confess . . .

1. I laid in bed and ate three bags of frozen blueberries, orange sherbet, and chocolate graham crackers while watching "Georgie Girl" and "Pygmalion".

2. I did not take a shower for TWO DAYS . . . it was great!

3. I slept with a face mask on and conditioner on my hair for one night . . . amazing results!

4. Let the kiddos have an amazingly fun day off with their Dad.

5. Watched my cake challenge, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters, again, in bed with more frozen blueberries and pretzels.

6. Shopped on eBay for swimsuits and sundresses.

7. Ate seven kiwi fruit in a row.

8. Over-mothered my boys again!

9. Mowed the front lawn and went to Wal-mart in my pajamas!

Where else would the Tietjen clan choose to spend the day???

Needless to say, the BoYs are off to the GOLF COURSE again today!

Sam has a tournament at Durango Hills in Las Vegas!

GO SAM!

Mom and Luke at the Mountain Falls restaurant after he played his round!

One happy golfer!!!!

Beautiful Mountain Falls Country Club

Links, links, links . . . three of my family's favorite words!

SCOUT EXPO 2009 - "Staying Green for 99 Years"

Our Dad leads the way for the boys into the campsite

for Pack and Troop 796 at the 2009 Scout Expo

held at Sunset Park.

Tents, sleeping bags, and air mattresses begin to fill the area.

Luke is learning to put up his own tent!!

Food is always such an important part of ANY camp out!

Sam made this spaghetti as part of his COOKING MERIT BADGE!!!

Did I mention that BOYS love FOOD . . .

Is Dad secretly taking a nap??

Our Boy Scout Troop had a great time at EXPO!!!

Everything looks to be in shipshape order!!!

CONGRATULATIONS ON A SUCCESSFUL

BOY SCOUT EXPO!!!!!

ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME!

Wow! Today is all about ME! Mike and the boys are enjoying camping out at the SCOUT EXPO!

To Do List!

1. Study!

2. Decide on summer vacation plans.

3. Watch my garden grow and roses bloom.

4. Clean bathrooms.

5. Do laundry.

6. Manicure and pedicure.

7. Order my favorite veggie sandwich from Subway.

8. Eat sherbert ice cream and chocolate animal crackers in bed.

9. Miss my family way to much and be excited for their return!!

10.Snuggle with my family when they return!! Sleeping with the dogs is not fun!!!

SUDDEN DEATH FINISH! QUILTING, QUILTING, QUILTING!

The bus FINALLY pulls up, returning the GOLFERS from a 10-hour trip to Henderson!!!

Three AMAZING golfers, including SAM TIETJEN, the only golfer to place

from the Rosemary Clarke golf team . . .

Had a SUDDEN DEATH playoff that lasted FOUR HOLES!!!!

Sam and his "caddy" were so thrilled with the victory!!!!!!

Needless to say, our golfer was elated and exhausted!!!!!

Sam said that he prayed on every hole and gave the glory to the Lord after every

shot!!! He pointed Heavenward as the gallery cheered for him!!!!!

Meanwhile . . . on the home front . . .

Luke and I were BUSILY working on the UNITED STATES of AMERICA quilt!!

Luke picked out all of the fabric and items to place on the

different states on the QUILT!!!!

Stay tuned for more pictures of Luke quilting his

way across AMERICA!!!!

Moments . . .

It has been said that we do not remember days,

We remember moments!

Congrats to Sam! Luke Quilts America!

Congratulations, Sam, on a great win at Wild Horse Country Club!!!

Sam came in first place on the Rosemary Clarke team, but third overall.

Sam, of course, is beating himself up with his golf club for missing putts on

fast greens!!! Tomorrow is another tournament!!

Luke is culminating the end of the year study of the United States of America

by making a HUGE quilt of the 50 states!!

We are off to the fabric store to find items representing the "Nifty 50" to

applique onto the quilt.

Luke has more lettering, capitals, oceans, and monuments to put on the

quilt!! Stay tuned for updates and developments on the exciting

United States of America quilt by Luke!

Everyone LOVES a GOLFER!

Sam plays on the Rosemary Clarke Middle School GOLF TEAM!

Sam shot two over par this weekend on his home course!!

Sam would rather golf than eat or sleep!

Sam has a big golf tournament today at Wild Horse Country Club.

Best of luck to you today, Sam!

Hit 'em straight!

Homeschooling

We LOVE homeschooling! Homeschooling has been a

blessing to our family for 18 years!!! One reason we love

homeschooling is because we can spend quality time

together learning and sharing!

All of our boys have really enjoyed homeschooling!!

Tim and Zach were both excellent homeschool students

and are now doing GREAT in college!!!

Sam and Luke are very diligent hard workers! I am

so thankful for all of the effort that our boys

have put into homeschool!

Homeschooling really has made our family close!

We know EVERYTHING about each other!

We have laughed and cried many times over

the years in homeschooling . . . as we have had some

serious disasters in science experiments and sobbed as we read

the first sentence in "Where the Red Fern Grows"!

Homeschooling has provided us many opportunities to excel

in sports, musical instruments, academics, and Scouting!

I would not have changed one minute about homeschooling!

I love that we can share the Bible, have tons of fun learning about

each other and together!

Snuggling on the couch and reading tons of books together

for 18 years has totally been one of my personal

favorites about homeschooling!

Congrats to you Sam! How can you possibly be in

Algebra 2 already!! You ARE AMAZING!!!

No matter what the future holds for our family,

the investment in the time spent homeschooling

has definitely been worth it!

Thanks Tim, Zach, Sam, and Luke for putting

up with me for ALL OF THESE YEARS!!

You guys are AWESOME!!!