Seach The Maas Family Blog

Friday, August 15, 2008

TRYING to be prepared!

Tomorrow is Ben's birthday party -early in the morning- so I am making the cake right now since we have plans tonight. Not only did Annie go at it with a spoon while I was putting in my laundry, now I have no powdered sugar!!! (I have a little bit, but not near enough to frost a cake!) I take care to have my 'fun' pantry stocked with a few essentials - brown sugar, powdered sugar, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, muffin cups, etc. When it is on sale, I buy a lot - typically around the holidays. Somehow the white bits of heaven got overlooked! Now I must drag 3 children to the store at 4pm!!!

I debated just using Marshmallow Creme because I still have two containers that Andy hasn't devoured for NutterFluffers - but I don't think I could put a cowboy and cowgirl on it...

Here's to moms everywhere who have to run to the store at the last minute to get 'just one thing!'

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

So funny!!!

When Andy did his undergrad at BYU, he had a friend named Pete. They both returned from their missions the same time and started the Civil Engineering program around the same time. So, they also had classes together for 3 years and became study-buddies. One night Pete's wife Shellie picked him up from our first apartment and saw our wedding picture and recognized me. We were in the same apartment complex 3 doors apart two years prior, but she was busy with school and waiting for her missionary while I was busy with ... other things. :)

Pete and Andy spent most waking moments together and together decided to take an independent study class. After months had passed with no progress, Shellie and I stepped in and set up a study schedule. We would rotate houses each Saturday - the boys would study, we would make dinner, we'd all eat, and they would continue to study while Shellie and I watched movies, shopped, talked, made baby blankets, etc.

We both had babies about 6 weeks apart - although I was in Austin by that time, and we enjoyed being first-time moms together with my unlimited long distance! We've stayed in great touch over the years, seeing our husbands through grad school and long hours at work.

The interesting part is that even though Pete and Andy don't speak as often as Shellie and I do (that's typically our "clean the house" time while we talk to one another. Pete says we're good for each other because it's cheaper to pay cell phone bills than pay for a counselor while he and Andy are gone from home so much. Andy says we're good for each other because we both make so much progress at home!) they have followed each other throughout callings at church. I think it started when we moved to Dallas. Both Pete and Andy were called to be Ward Missionaries. Then Ward Mission Leaders. Then Young Men Presidents. And just last week Pete was called to be a counselor in the Bishopric - 3 months after Andy was called in. It's too funny! However, last week Pete got an extended cab Toyota Tundra. I told Andy not to even think about it right now... :)
To our great friends - we love knowing you and learned from you! Shellie taught me to quilt and taught me everything about frozen dinners. She is my medical advice and emotional counselor! Pete keeps Andy laughing and relieves his stress. It was a hard first 6 months in Austin for him until he found another guy buddy to 'hang out' with. Thanks for all the advice and encouragement! Here's to many more phone calls and Christmas goodies!!!!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Need More Training...

I had a Sears guy here this afternoon to fix my washing machine. Andy had already figured out which piece was broken but didn't think he would be able to fix it. $203 and five minutes later, my washing machine worked fine.


The price for the part: $22.43
The price for ignorance: $181.25

Seriously - 5 minutes WITH Ben watching him and asking questions the whole time!!!

Wonderful Wedding Weekend!!!

This past weekend my last roommate married! We had so much fun with wedding plans, and wish we were in Fiji with she and her husband!!! Thursday night we played games in our hotel room and tried to call the other two roommates who couldn't make it. One friend has been working for a year on a trivia game with questions from our single lives. Friday we went for a Girls' lunch at the Chocolate Angel which was so fun and quaint! Several friends have gone there for lunch, but it's definitely not a child-friendly place! More like a ladies' tea room...
Friday night was the rehearsal dinner and it was so fun! We all learned the Hungarian wedding dance (The groom is from Hungary.) and laughed all night long! Saturday morning Becky, Katie and I drove downtown to see the The Sixth Floor Museum all about where JFK was killed. This picture includes both the Dallas skyline and the Grassy Knoll.
Becky brought her sweet little Aspen who my children all adored. When Emily finally had a turn to hold the baby, she was NOT going to let go!
This was their first dance (can't remember the name!!!).
Okay - Hollie and Jozsef have a wedding blog that talks about each member of the wedding party. One guy (Gaither) is a cowboy and loves to rope horses, etc. I was so excited to meet him and sent an email to Hollie asking if there was time could he show Ben a few tips. At the rehearsal dinner I see this guy below:
He looks incredibly familiar! I asked Hollie who is was and found out his name was Gaither. "The cowboy?" "Yes." So I said, "Hollie, he served a mission here." So, we went over to talk to him and relayed my email, etc. and confirmed that yes, he had served in the Texas ______ Mission. He said, "I remember your mom and your sister. Your mom served a mission to France." I remembered he and Elder Hardy had come over for dinner a couple of times when they were APs. SMALL WORLD!!! Now, we want him to meet a friend of Andy's that is living in the same town...
These are the beautiful wedding pictures!!!



Congratulations to the two of you! Many thanks to my sweet Andy and my incredible mom and sister for letting me play all weekend when I know you all had a thousand other important things to be doing! And I have to admit I think I laughed more in the last 4 days than I have laughed in the last four years!!!
To make the weekend even sweeter (as if that could happen!!!) we topped last night off with several hands of Nertz and a rousing game of Cities and Knights!!! What a fabulous weekend!! THANK YOU to all who were involved!!