coke

coke bottles for people with different spellings of their names...

eben ice caves, 1-31-15

We followed the advice of my co-worker and left home at 8:30. We got there and we were the only ones there ! it was icy and we crawled, slid and walked super careful with our ice cleats to get there. 

 my friend tina, she is not a fan of ice

 aubri & sheena

After we left the ice caves we stopped at Root 41 for lunch, it was great !

When i got home I noticed Holly from Michigan Made had a sunday fun day contest going on. She wanted us to post what we were doing...i posted a picture of me and my girls from the morning & sure enough...i won a $20 gift certificate to Michigan made :) I am on a lucky streak but hey if you don't play you won't win

cross country skiing, 1-24-15

Maple lane in skandia, great deal! 

protein balls I made, pretty great

 end of intermediate trail

 first time cross country skiing in 35 years

quotes

Sheena...

 



 

Me...

 



 

Tyler, Aubri, Sheena & Derick

 

Aubri... :)

Tinsel town 2014

me & my baby

 photo booth fun, same 4 as last year 

saturday night fun

saturday

I have been sick for weeks, today I decided I would do nothing...Aubri joined me and it was a wonderfully lazy day.

We watched 4 movies:

1. The Family, starring DeNiro
2. The Untouchables, starring DeNiro
3. Last Vegas, starring DeNiro
4. Ride Along, starring Kevin Hart

It was funny that we started on a DeNiro kick and ended with Ice Cube/Kevin Hart. We ate popcorn, chips & dip, which we have been avoiding. We mustered up enough energy and even went for a walk.

I felt so good when I woke up Sunday, my body must have needed that day of rest

Halloween 2014

Aubri as one AMAZING lion...she won $50 in the Westwood Mall costume contest

 



 

Little red riding hood, Rosie the Riveter and Ms. Kay 

Sam and the amish Tyler (Sam has always been such a good friend to my son, I am thankful for that)

 Sam, Adam & Tyler (i am glad my son has such good friends)



18

this girl loves chocolate

 

I still can't believe I made that cake & it turned out pretty cool

Brotchen

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/german-brotchen-rolls/

Ok so anyone who knows me knows I am a Nutella fan. So i haven't tried any of the knock offs we have here UNTIL Jif salted caramel...don't judge, this rocks!

 a little deformed but pretty close. I baked them for Aubri for her birthday

Aubri Cheryl

Hard to believe my baby is 18, i am so very proud of her and I love her so...

Aubri's grad party, May 17, 2014

Here's the run down of the cost for Aubri's grad party. I started shopping early & used coupons

• Oriental trading (black & white floral decorations)  $66.50 (free shipping)
• GFS (tortilla chips, nacho cheese, varied flavors of potato chips, 3 pans of mac & cheese, large soft pretzels, candy for table tops, foam cups, coffee & sugar packets) $127.16
• Walmart (mini carrot cake ingredients & her horribly decorated cake) $49.89
• Target (mini tins for silverware & basket for napkins )  $9.00
• GFS (silverware, plates & napkins)   $75.81
• Union Station/Depot rental for the day $175 ($300 really but her dad paid 1/2)
• 12 twelve packs of pop $14.40 (i only had to pay the deposit because i had 12 free coupons from my coke rewards)
• Walmart (thank you cards), $36.88 (4 packs of 50)
• Nacho fountain, $100, Amazon.com
• picture dvd, .00, i made it

This girl was a great student and deserved this party, i tried to save where i could but i let her pick out everything she wanted. She had a great time and everyone raved about the food :)

The Sound of Music....final

I just found this post in "drafts", i can't believe i didn't post this, well here it is from March 2013

So where do I begin, to say I am proud is an understatement. The play just wrapped up last night and what a whirlwind it has been. From the time she received this part it has been a very exciting journey. She has been a part of the last two plays (Guys & Dolls and Oklahoma) but this time she has the lead. Last year after Oklahoma rumors were going around about the next years play and The Sound of Music had been thrown out. My mind was already spinning because I knew Aubri would be the perfect Maria. Fast forward nine months, try outs for The Sound of Music began. She didn't even tell me that she was going to tryouts until she got home and told me "i sang the shit out of that song!". OK well I wasn't expecting that but I knew she could sing that song, we've watched the movie quite a few times and always end up singing along. Then I received the voicemail "mom, i got the part as Maria!". Well that was the first time I had tears in my eyes about this play.

Basketball season was upon us, I was a little nervous about how she could handle it all. She is a great student, a memeber of the National Honor Society, but with play practice right after school followed right after that with basketball practice. Now lets top this all of with her making changes to her diet and losing weight. Then she got sick January 21st and didn't get her voice back completely until the middle of February. That was a very nerve wracking time, we went to the ER the first night, we tried all kinds of cough drops & cough medicine, a second trip to see her Doctor, sinus medication, tea with honey and lemon we were trying everything we could! Basketball season ended February 21st and now she could just focus on the play, I was relieved because I was worried about her.

End of February, she is practicing more and more for the play. Singing around the house is at an all time high, but really the hills have been alive since December in our house! I signed up for a few things to help out with the play: costuming, ticket selling, painting/building, t-shirt order & I even volunteered my husband for programs. I wasn't needed for costuming, t-shirt order or progams but they needed me set building and painting. I have never done this before but it was a lot of fun. The kids were eager and waiting for directions! I am a very organized person so kind of perfect to choral the kids and get them working.

So many people came up to me and told me what a great job she did! She was amazing and I was in awe. When the curtain came up and they came on stage and introduced everyone, i felt like i was in an ejector chair. They said "Maria" and i sprang to my feet clapping so hard with tears running down my checks, tears of pride, joy and happiness for my girl

Oasis art show

Aubri's final art show, this hung in the Oasis Gallery in Marquette. It brought me to tears...

sauna babes

first sauna of the year at camp, be jealous

i hope

I hope someday my children do this for me. I read this in Readers Digest and thought it was great

shot put

Here are aubri's throws for today:

1. 25 feet, 11 1/2 inches
2. 24 feet
3. 26 feet, 2 inches

fashion trashin'

this is the dress i made for aubri from a black sheet, it has a red zipper on the side. There are two layers of tulle on the bottom to make it stick out a little bit. i also had to make a dress for her friend. Her and her friend are embellishing them with different objects, i can't say anymore. They are in advanced art and have talked their teacher into doing a "fashion trashin" fashion show in April. I can't wait this type of up cycling is right up my alley!

Thank you

I have received some very nice text messages over the last few days that i want to keep. My children are the most important "things" in the world to me. I have tried to raise good humans, not good basketball players or runners but good people. Sometimes when i hear "your son is so nice" or "your daughter is so kind" i let it go in one ear and out the other. But when i get those compliments from people I CARE about or i like, those are the compliments that really stick.

First a random text from my daughter, i am not sure what brought this on but it brought me to tears at my desk…

3;09pm, 2-28-14

I just want to tell you that you're a good mom and I appreciate everything you do for me even though sometimes it might not seem like it 😘❤️👭🎀
Sent from my iPhone

Then this thank you from Ryan Mayer who does the sports for 970 espn. I have been giving him the updates to the games all this season

8:23pm, 2-28-14

Thank you for the updates. I'm sorry about the loss but thank you so much for the updates this season!

Next one is from Aubri's basketball coach…

8:41am, 3-1-14

Cindi, thank you for all of your help and support the last two years. I have truly enjoyed the opportunity of being around your daughter. Her wit, charm and leadership are irreplaceable in our program. There is never a dull moment when she is around. Be a very proud mother, you have done well molding her into a great person. Take care. 

Finally after the boys basketball game (3-2-14) my young neighbor who is now a freshmen in college

He said "your last one is all done you should be proud you raised four good kids". 

I remember when my son Tyler was little and my neighbors mother Robin told me what a good mom i was. She passed away when my neighbor was very young. When he said that to me I immediately thought of his mother. I know she is very proud and has been by his side the whole time.

fragile

Well my daughters basketball career ended on Friday with a loss to Ishpeming. There were tears from the seniors and me, too. I woke up Saturday to a very nice text message which sent me into tears before i even got out of bed. I went to the boys basketball game on Saturday and that was the last time those seniors will play for Negaunee. I have been on the verge of tears or in tears all weekend. I feel like i have been more emotional with this child than the other 3 combined. Maybe it's because she is the baby, not sure but i just can't pull it together. Maybe I am in denial but these last 4 years have just flown by.

I have had such a great time being her coach, assistant coach and team mom through all these basketball years. She is a great leader and team player. I have so many people tell me what a great player she is but more importantly what a good person she is. The radio announcers love her and get fired up when they talk about "Romback". She didn't have as much playing time as she did last year but she still kept her head high. I will miss following her all over the U.P. to watch her play.

I guess i just miss this little girl altogether, when she needed me...