Lori's Latest Goings-On!

Well, well, well, looky who decided to drop by.

ME!

So sorry for my hiatus.  The truth is, guys, I just haven't had time to put much thought into blogging.

Blah!

I have been pouring a lot of energy into my latest venture,

cooking classes!

It's SO much fun!

Here's some photos from my spaghetti class for kids:

Not only all that, but I've been buying fresh milk from a friend and I made butter from the cream!

 Isn't it just glorious?!

 Oh, and I became a grandma!

But just for last weekend.

(Eli's baby project for his marriage & family class.)

:)

Alrighty, that's about it, folks.

I will do my very best to check in more often, okay?

Love you all!

**Because I've already had someone ask, I made my apron!

And I can make you one too.  $25, plus shipping.  Email me!

loriatjoyunspeakable@yahoo.com

Congrats to our Grad!

Hello, sweetie-pie friends!

In the midst of our regularly scheduled busyness,

we have a couple graduates to celebrate!

The other night Eli had his 8th grade promotion.

He has worked SO DANG hard since coming to America three years ago, with ZERO English!

Our school district has bent over backwards to help him and we are so grateful.

All the efforts have paid off, that's for sure!

Our new high schooler!

(Sorry to interrupt, but my mom and I had to do a selfie.)

Eli got his very first cell phone!

Cute girls waiting for graduation to start.

Eli receiving his certificate!

Good times!

(Macy's graduation celebration will be here soon.)

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS!!!

Another Birthday!

Saturday was Eli's 15th birthday!

Our celebration was super small, but I think he was okay with that,

once he opened his gift...a Nintendo DS!

Goodness, these kids just keep get getting older and older!

(Which is funny because I've been the same age now for about 12 years.)

first days of school....

I should have posted this last week!

But here I am, way late, as usual.

Macy and Eli's first day of school, last Friday.

Yes, Eli is WAY tall and Macy is WAY short!

So it goes, here on the ranch.

And here are Lucy and Isaiah on their first day of homeschool enrichment classes!

(A couple weeks ago.)

(Isaiah is severely addicted to his cowboy boots, even on hot days....with shorts on.)

Oh, these kids!!!

summer break!

School's out, school's out!!

Yesterday was Macy and Eli's LAST day of school for 2013.

Hooray for them!!!

Eli is now an official 8th grader!

Macy is now an official SENIOR in high school.

Wow!

(Nick's last day was last week...he is now free from all pesky high school classes...forever!)

(More on him later.)

So now the wild summer vacation begins.

I am eager to see how long it takes before I lose my mind.

But I'll try to hold off as long as I can.

It is my deepest desire to take loads of pictures and enjoy every moment.

Yes, that's it!

So, we'll start with Mr. Isaiah Jack-Jack.

The little man is nothing without his cowboy boots.

Even though I'm pretty sure they're way too small for him now.

But he doesn't care about such petty things!

And Eli loves his cowboy boots, too.

These two boys have really embraced life in America quite well, I must say.

They've been with us for TWO years now!

My goodness, hard to believe.

Lucy, the matriarch of the Chinese clan.

These two, I tell ya.

Many hoops will be shot in this driveway this summer!

Much loving will be given to this dog, Zeke.

Ohhhhh, how he loves rolling around in the fabulous grassssss.

It's the best EVERrrrrr.

The entire Chinese clan.

Really, they're super cute.

So that's that.

Let the summer craziness officially begin!

lori made cupcakes!

I totally made homemade chocolate cupcakes today for

Eli's birthday!

He's 14 today.

Wow!

Party happening later tonight!

So in case you are interested,

my cupcake recipe came from HERE.

And the butter cream frosting came from HERE.

(Though I modified it by adding half butter, half shortening...and um, REAL vanilla extract.)

And the cupcake holder thingys?

I totally made those.

I cut out some circles from some unbleached parchment paper

with some pinking shears...

and shoved them into cupcake tins.

SO EASY!!

dental nurse extraordinaire {and pool pics!}

What a day!

Macy-girl had her wisdom teeth extracted this morning.

Ugh!

I hate big dental procedures!

But she is doing AMAZINGLY well.

SO grateful for that.

And in true Lucy fashion,

she was not about to be outdone, dental-wise.

So she yanked her front tooth out.

(She really didn't stratagize it exactly like that)

Anyway, I don't have any pics of Macy...

bless her heart.

But here is the jack-o-lantern Lucy!

I took the three younger ones for a swim today

while Macy snoozed the afternoon away.

I'm sorry,

but there is nothing more adorable

than a Chinese child in swimming goggles.

Please notice my corn in the background.

(Connie, I am trying as hard as I can!)

Ignore the dead grass.

Blah!

Here I am with my lemonade,

sitting pool-side.

And isn't that finger-toe angle kind of funky?

Really,

I'm not a freak.

That really is my toe...not a toe-finger.

These three had a blast for the short time we were

out in the pool.

You probably can't tell...

but Isaiah had his trunks on backwards.

As ALWAYS.

And for your viewing pleasure,

here is the lifeguard/photographer.

And dental nurse extraordinaire.

Autographs available upon request.

For a small fee.

Blessings to you, my friends!