Who Cakes

We made it to IHOP today so Zachary and Lauren could try the Who Cakes, a promotion from the Horton Hears a Who movie. The Who Cakes come with boysenberry and blueberry glaze, rainbow chocolate chips, and a pink sucker on top. Zachary and Lauren were blissfully unaware that they were eating boysenberry and blueberry glaze on their pancakes. :-)

What's going on around our house this weekend

Zachary's spring break started Friday. We aren't going anywhere in particular since we recently went to Florida. We'll make sure we do something fun this week though. Lauren mentioned that she would like to go to IHOP for Horton Hears a Who pancakes, and Zachary thought that sounded good. David is taking the day off Monday so we can do some spring break-ish activity.
I started sending out resumes this weekend for nurse practitioner positions. I contacted practices in a variety of specialty areas so it'll be interesting to see where I end up (hopefully sooner rather than later)!
David, Zachary and Lauren went swimming at the YMCA today while I worked on cover letters. I also filled out an incredibly long application for my NP certification exam. In addition to sending an official transcript, I had to list every class I have taken and every preceptor with whom I completed clinical hours. They wanted the preceptor's name, address, practice specialty, and credentials. That took a while since I had three years of classes and nine different medical practices to list!
We also made a trip to the Fresh Market today. Zachary and Lauren got desserts (chocolate cake and a cupcake) from the bakery but David and I managed to resist this overwhelming temptation. We were not able to resist our favorite deli salads though. We also stocked up on a couple of containers of Ciao Bella raspberry sorbet. If you aren't familiar with their sorbets and gelatos, click here to look at their delicious web site (no, they don't pay us for advertising)!
We haven't decided on tomorrow's agenda (or today's, since it is a little after midnight).
Matt's team (OWU) plays Denison this weekend in a 2-day double header series. He pitches tomorrow. Good luck, Matt!
I noticed that we have some crocuses in bloom! Happy spring!!
~D, M, Z, & L

Carrie Underwood

Last night David and I went to the Carrie Underwood/Josh Turner concert. It was sold out but we managed to get tickets on eBay. Our seats were good and so was the concert! Following is a link to a YouTube video of Carrie singing "I'll Stand by You" on the Idol Gives Back episode last year (in case you're not sure who she is...Matt!?).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viBIH_NxEYk&feature=email

Easter 2008 Pictures

Happy Easter!

Phone Change Notice!

We have decided to become incredibly modern and get rid of our land line phone. We kept our same cell phone numbers, though. I sent an email to as many people as possible, but if you were not on the list and you need our cell phone numbers, please leave a comment on this page or email us. I will email you the numbers then.

Disney Photo Album #2

This album is a collection of pictures by various Disney photographers. They'll give you a card to carry around and every time you see a character or go to an event, you give them the card and they'll take pictures for you. Then you can buy the expensive CD at the end of the trip! :-)

Pictures from Disney

Make sure you click the sound button below so you can hear the music with the pictures. What could be a better pair than Disney and Vivaldi? :o)

Once I get the pictures off the video camera, I can post more. These are the ones I had on my cell phone! (We did get a new camera over the weekend.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Legend of Saint Patrick:
Good St. Patrick travelled far, to teach God's Holy Word
And when he came to Erin's sod, a wondrous thing occurred.
He plucked a shamrock from the earth and held it in His hand
To symbolize the Trinity that all might understand.
The first leaf for the Father
And the second for the Son
The third leaf for the Holy Spirit, all three of them in one.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here is a recipe for a
Bailey's Irish Cream Latte:
Step 1: Take your coffee mug or coffee glass
Step 2: Pour in a shot of espresso coffee
Step 3: Add 3 ½ oz. of Bailey's Irish Cream
Step 4: Fill with steamed milk
Step 5: Decorate the top with froth
Step 6: Sprinkle with chocolate shavings

Oh, he occasionally takes an alcoholiday.--Wilde

David and I were recalling Green Beer Day at Miami University in Oxford, OH. Apparently the tradition goes on, and now there is even a web site for the occasion: http://www.greenbeerday.com/home.html. It even has its own Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Beer_Day. Wow. We didn't have green beer today. We did make some chocolate pudding with green mint chips in it. We also wore green today in honor of Michelle's 1/4 Irish heritage, Zachary and Lauren's 1/8 Irish heritage, and David's, um, Scottish heritage. Lauren had a St. Patrick's Day party at school today and she told me leprechauns "trashed" the classroom. Zachary said leprechauns did some damage in his classroom, too. I had no idea that was a St. Patrick's Day tradition. The things you learn from preschoolers and 2nd graders!

May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Back from Florida!

We're back from our Disney/Englewood Beach trip! We had a great time, especially since we were able to escape the snow. We went to the Disney parks for three days and then drove to Englewood Beach to watch Matt play baseball for a couple of days. Despite the fact that we "donated" our digital camera to someone at Disney's Hollywood Studios, we managed to take some pictures on my cell phone and on the video camera. (I hope whoever has our camera is enjoying their stolen goods...sheesh.) Anyway, our weather in Orlando averaged in the low 70s and it warmed up considerably by the time we got to Englewood Beach. We even wore our swimming suits to the beach a couple of times! Zachary collected 68 shark teeth [at last count] on the beach and Lauren gathered a ton of shells. I will post more pictures later! The picture of Zachary and Lauren with Pooh Bear was taken at the Crystal Palace, a buffet restaurant at the Magic Kingdom. Enjoy the weekend!
~D, M, Z, & L

P.S. I had to add an edit to this post, thanks to another funny Line by Lauren. Lauren has been running around with just a pajama shirt and Sleeping Beauty underwear in an attempt to avoid getting completely dressed this morning. I asked her, "Where are your clothes?" She replied, "Well, I have one 'clo' on!" :-)

Until next time...

Happy Friday! We have a busy week ahead of us, so I probably won't have a chance to post again until next Friday. No big news to report today.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. ~Henry David Thoreau

Off to work on foundations...

Elephants, Zebras, and SpongeBob; Oh My!

I got an email today with some paintings of animals on hands. They were done by an Italian artist named Guido Daniele (http://guidodaniele.com/). They are really amazing! I included a couple of them, but you should look at the web site for more!

Zachary didn't have school today because there was a teacher inservice, so we were busy today! We played Cranium Hullabaloo, dominoes, Spongebob bingo, and we played with Webkinz online. We also read some books and did some coloring. Back to school tomorrow.

~D, M, Z, & L

The Lion King

Yesterday we went to see the musical The Lion King in Toledo. It was really good! The set design and the costumes were really interesting and the singers were all very talented. Nala was especially good. Zachary and Lauren have now seen two musicals in the last six months (Annie and The Lion King). David and I have made it to three musicals, since we saw Wicked in Chicago not too long ago. That might be a record amount of musical theater in such a short time for us. We have always enjoyed going to musicals, but we usually spread them out a little bit by necessity!


David went to the Miami University Glee Club's 100th Anniversary Concert earlier in the week. The current Glee Club members sang the first half of the concert and alumni were invited to sing in the second half. He had a nice time and was able to catch up with other alumni while he was in Oxford.

We are currently watching the IU vs. Michigan State game, and it is not looking good for the Hoosiers. Hopefully they will have a miraculous turn-around!

We are heading to Florida soon! We will spend the first four days in Orlando at the Disney parks and then we'll be in the Port Charlotte area to watch Matt play baseball. While we are at Disney, Lauren will be getting a princess makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Cinderella's Castle. Zachary is scheduled for a "cool dude" makeover at the same time. We'll also be eating with Winnie the Pooh and Friends at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, which was a great place to eat the last time we went to Disney. Zachary really wants to go to Disney-MGM Studios so we're adding that to our to-do list. We're also going to the Animal Kingdom. We can't wait for the warm weather!

~ David, Michelle, Zachary & Lauren

“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” ~ St. Augustine