Hagler Happenings

Underdog Challenge.

2012-05-14T14:01:03Z

In November I challenged Lucas & Morgan to stop bullying before it even got to that point…

I said, “Do or say something nice to someone. It cannot be someone in your close circle of friends. Choose someone who might get picked on. It might be the nicest thing someone does for them all day or even week. Ex: Pick the underdog to be on your team 1st, ask to sit by them at lunch, tell them you like their shirt.”

Here’s that post in full if you want to read it.

Now that the school year is over (well, tomorrow is their last full day), I have to say that I am very proud of my kiddos.

Nearly everyday, they hopped in the car & shared what they did for “an underdog.” Many times it was simply telling an unlikely peer “Good job!” on a test or homework assignment.

Lucas had a harder time than Morgan did. He goes to school to play ball at recess, honestly. So when he picked an underdog to be on his team over some better players, I knew it meant a lot to him. Other times, he said he passed the ball to those kids so they could take shots normally taken by better plays. That means a lot to a kid who is all about stats & keeping score.

Morgan fit into this challenge naturally. Soon after I started this, her teacher told her to take the library books back to the library. Mrs. B told her to pick a classmate to help her, and she choose an unlikely choice. It caught Mrs. B so off guard, that she gave me a call to say how nice it was. I told her about what we were doing, and she thought it was great. When I mentioned this to Morgan, she said, “Oh that’s not why I picked her. I just thought I’d like to make more friends.”

She’s also done a great job of nipping nasty chatter in the bud. When kids start laughing at other kids, she won’t hesitate to say, “Guys, that’s not nice. How would you like it if someone said that about you? Now let’s go play ___. ”

And as suggested by a friend’s 8th grade daughter, I told my kids that they should get their friends to join in on the challenge too. Hopefully, some kids who wouldn’t normally feel good about themselves are feeling great because of my young-ins & their buddies.

I’m just so stinkin’ proud of them.

It seems Lucas’ good heart is being noticed by his teachers too. He doesn’t know it yet, but he is nominated for a very special award at school tomorrow. I’ll post more about it tomorrow.

I’d love to hear if your kids did something similar this year!

Whew!

2012-05-11T04:21:41Z

Oh my goodness!

I don’t even want to look & see how long it’s been since I published a post on here.

But, no news is good news when it comes to my blogging.

I do plan on posting pictures from some of things we’ve been doing. I’m just not exactly sure when I’ll do that.

Until then, here’s a little preview to get you by.

Blake sang at church with his preschool class. (Sorry, to the other boy... bad timing.)

Morgan's cheerleading squad is undefeated! They have 1 more competition, and I think they can pull out another 1st place!

Morgan loves cheering so much, it was her birthday party theme. I LOVE this cake!

I added Car Seat Canopies to my product line. And I have to say, they've been a huge hit!

Speaking of business, I had a booth at the Effingham Artisan Fair, and it was a wild success for me. My next festival is June 9th in Hamel, IL.

I don’t have a picture of this, but Lucas is now dating! He’s been good friends with this girl since 1st grade and apparently they’ve been dating (whatever that means in 5th grade) for about 2 months now. I, of course, was the last to know.

Best of all…

I got a new nephew! (My step-bro Mark's little boy)

Then 13 days later, I got a new niece! (My step-sister's little girl.)

I also wanted to pass along 2 little things.

1) I made the most delicious chicken the other night. My whole family inhaled it. Next time, I will double it. It’s a e-mealz recipe. (If you decide to sign up for e-mealz, please do so by clicking on my button on the right. I get a $3 commission!)

Anyway, the recipe is simple. I call it “Easy-Peasy Baked Chicken.”

Ingredients:

5-6 thawed chicken breasts
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
1C bread crumbs (I used Italian ones that I bought at Aldi.)
Italian dressing

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Place dressing in a shallow dish for dipping.
Combine the breadcrumbs and cheese in another shallow dish.
Dip each breast into the dressing and then in the breadcrumbs to coat.
Place in a greased baking dish & bake for 30-35 minutes.

Try it! You’ll love it too.

2) I found these Mother’s Day Questionnaires on Pinterest (where else?) and printed them off onto card stock right away.

How fun to have the kids fill these out & stick in their cards to their grandmothers! Here is the link for the free download so you can have them too.

TTFN! (When’s the last time anyone has said that?!)

And I WILL be back. Sooner than this time.

Am I the only one?

2012-05-02T18:26:55Z

Am I the only one who has to send emails like this to their parents?

In an effort keep everyone informed re: my kids’ activities, here is what our month of May looks like:

Sat May 5th: Morgan cheer competition at St. Anthony HS.

Sat May 5th: Lucas Outlaws practice game at 2:00 (same diamond as always – behind tennis courts at Community Park)

Sun May 6th: Morgan cheer competition at Vincennes, IN

Thur May 10th: Morgan school plays at 8:40 am at Central

Thur May 10th: Lucas’ 1st Arrow Pest Control game @ 7:30

Sat May 12th: Morgan cheer competition at St. Anthony HS. (again, I know.)

Sat May 12th: Lucas Outlaws double header @ Cumberland at 10:00 am.

Mon May 14th: Blake’s graduation at Christ’s Church at 6:30pm

Tues May 15th: Kids last day of school!

Wed May 16th: Lucas Arrow Pest Control game @ 5:30

Sat May 19th: Morgan Cayla’s Recital at 2:00 at EPC (Glenna – Can you watch Blake while we watch Morgan?)

Sat May 19th: Lucas Outlaws double header @ Carlyle @ 2:00

Sun May 20th: Lucas Outlaws double header vs. T-Town at home

Tues May 22nd: Lucas Arrow Pest Control game @ 7:30

Thur May 24th: Lucas Arrow Pest Control game @ 5:30

Fri-Sun May 25-27: Lucas Outlaw Memorial Day Classic Tournament in O’Fallon

Wed May 30: Lucas Arrow Pest Control game @ 7:30

The crazy thing is? This isn’t even counting practices, camps, rehearsals, etc.

But I think a busy life is a goo life!

*Outlaws is the name of Lucas’ traveling baseball team. Arrow Pest Control is the name of his park district team… in case you were wondering.

Happy sister.

2012-04-23T14:14:08Z

My sister Carrie got engaged yesterday!

Woo Hoo!

She’s never been so happy, either.

I am just so excited for her and Mark!

(And yes, his name is Mark. That makes 3 Marks in my immediate family: my step-brother and Lisa’s husband are both Mark.)

Stuck at 14.

2012-04-17T01:02:21Z

Since Christmas, I’ve been working on losing all of this extra poundage I put on in 2011.

I was doing really good until I got a flu bug in February.

Then my back hurt for almost 2 weeks.

Then I torn/pulled a muscle in my shoulder/neck about 4 weeks ago. (I think it was a Jillian Michaels workout combined with some intense landscaping that did it to me.)

During all of this non-exercising-time, I’ve managed to only gain about a pound.

So that makes me happy.

But I have been stuck at 14 pounds for-ev-er.

The funny thing is?

14 pounds is exactly 1/2 way to my goal weight.

But now my shoulder is feeling better, not healed, but good enough I can try jogging/running again.

I’m actually looking forward to sweating, getting stronger, improving my heart, & being healthier again.

*The reason the My Fitness Pal button on my sidebar says 11 pounds is because when I originally signed up for it 2 years ago I was 3 pounds lighter than I was on January 1, 2012.

All we want to hear is swish, swish, swish.

2012-04-17T00:14:40Z

I could have sworn I already published this. Anyway…

This was our 4th year being involved with Upward basketball at Cornerstone Christian Church. Alex coached Morgan’s team (1st-3rd), and I coached a cheer leading squad (K-1st).

We’ve seen it explode in growth.

As it should. It’s an amazing program that puts God 1st, basketball 2nd. Every coach is given the exact same handbook. If you can read, you can pretty much coach.

Alex coached Morgan's team.

This was Alex’s 1st time coaching a girl’s basketball team.

Daddy & daughter after their last game.

Morgan with 2 friends waiting to receive their last stars.

The girls all loved it!

She's a scrapper!

I finally got a picture of her not moving (ie not blurry).

At the end of their last game, after Alex handed out all the stars and everyone was ready to go, one little girl started crying.

Alex thought maybe something happened. But while she buried her face in her mother’s stomach to hide her sobs, she said, “I don’t want it to be over!”

Then her mom got teary-eyed.

And watching them got me teary-eyed.

Obviously, this program means SO much to these families. I love getting hugs from girls I coached this year and last year.

* I don’t have any pictures of me coaching my cute little girls. Boo.

$200?

2012-04-16T16:05:00Z

Could you & your family live on $200 a week?

I mean, after you pay all of your bills & pay for the expected things in life, could you manage to only spend $200 each week?

We’ve been trying it for about 6 weeks now.

And what it comes down to is food & gas. For $200 a week.

It’s tough. But we’ve done it.

(I should admit that we’ve built in a $200 per month buffer. Without that, Morgan wouldn’t have had a birthday party. Our niece & nephew wouldn’t have received birthday presents. We wouldn’t have been able to contribute to an Easter meals.)

But it’s really made us focus on what’s most important to us.

The $4 box of Ding Dongs doesn’t usually make the cut.

We don’t go to the movies.

We don’t buy sports team pictures. (I take my own.)

We don’t go out to eat.

We don’t buy things we want; only the thing we need.

I cook all of our meals, shop at Aldi, & plan those meals before heading to the store. We eat leftovers, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, and tuna mac. It’s made a huge impact on our finances/checkbook/debt reduction plan.

For a family of 5, I think it’s a pretty big accomplishment.

We won’t live like this forever, but it’s been a great few weeks.

Telling the kids no has been the hardest part.

But they’re catching on. When Lucas went to Club 56 on Friday night, he brought his own money for snacks. And guess what? He didn’t spend any of it.

Could you do it? It’s not easy, but it’s totally worth it!

I can’t even think of a title for this one.

2012-04-13T02:19:33Z

I finally did it.

I took a picture of my neighbor’s house.

If you know what I’m referring to feel free to skip the next paragraph.*

Not sure what I’m talking about? The very nice older couple across the street from me have adopted a unique way of decorating for holidays. In the past they were very festive with large inflatable yard decorations, lots of festive lights, etc. Ever since Valentine’s Day they have instead put a full sized female mannequin in their front window. They dress her according to the holiday & add many “accessories.” It’s just weird.

*Truth be told, I somehow missed the Valentine’s Day spectacle, but I hear it was a doozy. (I’m always looking at my house – Did I leave a light on? Did the garage door go down?)

St. Patrick’s Day was one of her wearing a sparkling green sweater. My favorite part was the green leprachaun top hat in one hand and a shiny green pom pom in the other.

Then Easter rolled around and several out of town folks got to see exactly what I had been posting about on Face Book. The pastel clad lady was surrounded by lots of bunnies, posed & ready to creep out the neighborhood.

Skip to yesterday. I drove by & noticed she had changed. She’s very patriotic now.

After several requests for pictures, I did it.

I took a picture of their window.

As far as I know, only one acquaintance & her daughter saw me take it. Glad I could give them a laugh.

Please, click to enlarge. This picture fails to emphasize the spot light shining down on her.

But let’s break this down.

Exhibit A

A) Random red, white, & blue metallic bow stuck to window.

B) The back drop/room divider thingy. This is always present, usually with somethings taped to it.

C) The flag-type banner draped over the top of the back drop. There’s always something there.

D) This bit of wordy decor had me really stumped. And unless you’re squinting from the sidewalk you’d never know it was The Star Spangled Banner, complete with lyrics.

E) The mannequin herself. Why?

F) Fake flowers with flags in them. There is always something special in the corners (bunnies at Easter, big cardboard/tissue paper hearts at Valentine’s Day, etc.)

I’m just glad she’s facing north. The leprechaun inspired set up was facing east (towards our house). I felt like that thing was watching us sleep at night.

Like I said before, these people are super nice. I just don’t understand their newest hobby.

At all.

It really creeps me out.

PS: I think she needs a name. Add your suggestion in the comments.

Also: Do any of you WordPress Thesis users know how I can get rid of my smaller header image? I don’t know how 2 images got there anyway.

Sorry, Babe.

2012-04-11T01:00:39Z

I can’t believe Alex confessed this to me….

But lately, we (i.e. the keeper of the remote – Alex) has/have been watching Full Metal Jousting.

Last week Alex said, “Before I watched this, I thought the object of jousting was to hit tip to tip.”

I almost died laughing.

Sorry, Babe. But this was too good not to share.

Hit pause, please.

2012-04-05T05:40:26Z

I have 1 million other things I should be doing right now.

Like finish making the coolest order yet! I will be posting pictures next week, hopefully.

But I wanted to share these 2 pictures my friend Mandi took during Lucas’s baseball game last weekend.

Like I mentioned before, he caught through most of the 1st game & all of the 2nd game.

I just love how she captured him naturally, through the fence.

This next one…

This one made me stop & pause.

Lucas looks so grown up here. When did that happen?

I need time to slow down, if not stop all together sometimes.

He’s moving on to Junior High next year. And it’s kind of hitting me that he’s not going to be my little boy forever.

His Junior High School is what was my High School building. Picturing him in those crazy, crowded hallways? Nuh-uh. No way is he old enough for that.

I guess the lump that I’m feeling in my throat is better than feeling a knot in my stomach, right? I’m sure that will come about this time his senior year!