Flag Pole

I've always wanted a spot to show off our patriotism, and today that goal was achieved.  With our beautiful new porch, I finally have a spot to mount a flag.







God Bless America!

First Harvest

Don't these look good?  I picked them off my tomato plants today.  They were yummy.  While we were homeless I bought two tomato plants.  They thrived in the eastern window they were placed in.  I have yet to plant them in a pot but they seem to be doing well in my kitchen window.  I think they'll do a lot better when I get them outside though.

MVP

Tonight Meg had her last All Star game.  They lost so they will not be moving on.  Mickey said Meg was awesome in tonight's game.  She was 2 for 3 (one being a double) and made some excellent plays in the field.  Her teammates chose her for the MVP.

Notice the number on her shirt.  23.  That was Mickey's doing.  Always a Michael Jordan fan.

Dad Life

I'm a little late to the game, since this would have been a perfect post for Father's Day.  If only I could roll like these dads.







Dad Life from Church on the Move on Vimeo.



A shout out to my BIL for posting this on Facebook. Peace!

Trophy

To end the Tee Ball season the ball park had a trophy presentation this afternoon.  Kade was really excited about getting his first ever trophy even though he doesn't look it in the picture.

While driving home from church we drove through a nasty bit of storm.  All the way home the kids kept saying "I really hope we have power".  I think all these storms have had a negative effect on the kids.  We did have power.

The women's choir I'm in sang today.  This is what we sang.

A Reward

We like to motivate our kids to do certain things like behaving well, doing chores, and just being obedient.  The reward for taking quick showers/baths is a turn in this.

They only get one turn a month but it is a great motivator.  I, on the other hand, let/make myself use it a couple times a week.  I've not ever been a bath person.  Maybe because I've not ever fit comfortably in a tub, but I fit in this one nicely and can soak for a good 45 minutes.  It's a great way to relax.  Sometimes I throw in salts or bubbles and light a candle.  Ahh.  I think it's calling my name right now.  Better get the kids in bed first.

Artichoke & Spinach Dip

Tonight I had a few friends over and we all brought some finger type foods.  I had to make artichoke and spinach dip.  I love it and none of my family will eat it.

Here's the recipe.

Artichoke & Spinach Dip

2 jars artichokes (drained & chopped)

2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup parmesan cheese

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

1 package chopped spinach (cooked according to directions)

Mix ingredients together. Bake in a glass baking dish for 20-30 minutes at 325°.

A Little Personality

We are back in business.  Only 24 hours this time.  I can handle that much better than 5 days.  We don't have another storm in the forecast until Saturday.  I would really, really like to make it through that one with power still intact.



Tonight we had two games.  Meg at 5:30 and Kade at 7:00.  Thankfully they were both at the same park.  Today's post actually started yesterday.  Kade pulled out some special socks he wanted to wear to practice.  Well...it was 90 degrees and very humid.  These socks were knee socks.  I finally talked him out of wearing them to practice and suggested he could wear them to his game tonight.  And that's just want he did.  I guess he needed to add a little personality to his uniform.

They look great with the grass stained knees.  This kid is all boy, sliding into home plate every time he comes in (It's still covered with the tee.) and anytime the ball comes near him he's diving for it.  I have really enjoyed watching his games.

Another Storm

We are really hoping to not have a repeat of last week.  Check out the radar.

We have a tornado warning until 8:45.  If you don't hear from us for a while you'll know why.

Is it only Tuesday?

These last few days have felt more like weeks.  The kids have been sleeping on the main floor the last three nights.  Mickey and I joined them last night.  It was just too hot upstairs.  We decided we should have gone to Jan and Doc's too late.  The kids and I got going a little late this morning.  Not like we had anything to do.  We hung around eating what we could find and then had an early lunch before going to the library again.  (At this point I think I had given up getting our power back until sometime late Wednesday.  That was the latest estimate.  I didn't think I could take it anymore.)  Mickey stopped by on his lunch hour.  I couldn't believe we were dressed the same, meaning blue shirts and brown pants/shorts.  Aren't old couple supposed to do that?



When the kids were tired of the library we went to a couple of stores just for something to do.  We stopped for ice cream treats and went to my mom's.  We hung out there for a while.  The kids were in heaven watching TV.  Mickey called to say people we know in the neighborhood just posted they got their power back and someone else close by got theirs too.  He thought maybe we had it too.  I wasn't too hopeful.  He went home after work to find that we did indeed have power.  I was ready to start dancing around I was so happy.  He stayed home and started the clean up.  Lulu and Gertie, the washer and dryer, were put to work right away.  Some of us were down to our last clean pair of shorts.  Mickey got a LOT of work done.  When I came home from dropping Meg at practice this is what I saw.

All of this went to waste.  What a shame.  We took all the important stuff to Jan's but thought the other stuff would be alright not knowing it would be days until the power came back and not hours.  Mickey was nice enough to make a list of all the stuff he threw out.  Now I know what I have to buy.  It's a long list.

The kids are so happy to be back in their beds in their own rooms.  And so are we.  There are a few more storms predicted for this week.  I really would like to see them pass us right by without any destruction.  I don't know if I could do this again.  Actually I won't.  Jan, make sure your extra rooms are ready, just in case.

Distraction Needed

Sunday night I told Mickey I needed to come up with a few things to do to get us out of the house.  We were starting to go crazy with very little technology at our finger tips.  We're so spoiled.  I planned to go to the library in the morning because I knew they would have air and WiFi.  It would also allow the kids to get on a computer and be away from each other.  Love the library!  While there we ran into some friends.  After hearing their storm story I started recognizing some of our blessings.  They had a latrine in the backyard, had to go to the husbands work for showers, and a tree fell on her car.  Yikes!  We at least had running water (hot and cold) and a car to drive.



Mickey called me sometime in the morning to tell me he was taking us all to a movie at 1:00.  How nice.  We grabbed a quick lunch at home  we went to the Wonderland theatre in Niles.  We saw "Toy Story 3".

It was really good if you haven't seen it yet.  We laughed, giggled, and (us grown ups) got a little teary eyed at the end.  I haven't seen a movie that made me do all that in a long time.  We highly recommend it.

Father's Day

We had a low key Father's Day since we couldn't give Mickey breakfast in bed or make him a special dinner.  It's also a little hard to get someone breakfast when he's the one waking me up at 7:00.  Since Saturday was rather boring we gave Mickey his gift then.  (Thankfully I finished it early afternoon on Friday.)  I got inspired about a month ago for this project.  I had to do a little research to make it.  And I pulled it off without Mickey having a clue.  That's hard to do.  Here's the gift on the dad.

He said "It's so true", referring to the saying on the shirt.

I have learned that freezer paper is awesome.  I think we'll be using up my 150 sqft making more shirts this summer.  I'm sure the kids will come up with some good ideas.  Now I wish I had a Cricut.

Mickey did get a decent dinner.  I cooked up some chicken breasts, sweet potatoes, and baked beans all on the grill.  While I slaved over the grill Mickey, the kids, and the neighbor girl played whiffle ball.  I'll admit I didn't slave too much and got to play a little too.  We ate outside on the deck.  I think we ended up having a nice night.

Powerless Saturday

We woke to no power on Saturday.  We were rather unhappy about that.  We got dressed and headed out for breakfast.  We stopped at three McDonald's until we found one open.  The storm was that bad.  But breakfast was pretty good.  We all ate for about $11.

We picked up the tire.  (It's a tight fit for the kids in the car.)  Kade had a game.  That was a nice distraction.  Mickey took his dad to see "Iron Man 2".  The kids and I hung out at my parents' house.  They had power.  Then we came home and went to bed after getting dinner.

Slipping 'n Sliding

On Friday I got the slip 'n slide out for the kids to play on.  They had a blast.

The "slide" of the slip 'n slide seems a lot narrower than I remember it being.  And I don't think it's because I'm a grown up now.  This one had a bumper full of water for the kids to slide into.  Yeah, that lasted for about 20 minutes.  They broke it the first day but kept sliding anyway.



We also had some bad news.  Our first flat tire on the van.

Luckily we got new tires for the van in the winter and it was still under warrantee so it cost us nothing but aggravation.  We are also lucky Mickey knows how to remove and put on a tire.  I suppose we could have gone on line to find directions.

Later we sat down to eat our home made pizza and then watch "Alice in Wonderland".  About 20 minutes into the movie the power went out.  We hadn't even realized there was a storm outside.  Some of us panicked and headed for the basement, taking most of their room with them.  Others watched the storm blow through and even went out it in.  Crazy.  Two of our neighbors lost trees but we only had a limb down.  Thankfully the van didn't blow over in the 80 mph winds since it was still jacked up outside.  If we had known we'd be without power for 5 days we would have packed up and gone to Jan and Doc's.  (Hindsight would be so much better if we could use it before things happen.  But then it wouldn't be called hindsight.)  Instead we all went to bed hoping the power would be back on the next day.

"I Have the Power"

That's right.  I now have the power to update our blog.  You know I really wanted a break from the daily blogging I got myself into but next time I can do without the power being out for almost 5 days.  I guess I'll be careful what I wish for.



P.S.  Does anyone know what show that phrase is from?

Powerless

Picture of the day will be back as soon as we get power restored to our house. The storm knocked our power out last night in the middle of family movie night.

NBA Finals

Can you guess who Mickey's cheering for in game seven?

Not the Celtics.  I guess I'm cheering for the Lakers too since I subconsciously put on purple today.

Reserved Parking

There are lots of things you can draw with sidewalk chalk.  You have a variety of colors to choose from.  It's also pretty cheap and highly entertaining.  The kids spent some time being artistic in/on the driveway.  When I went out I found flowers, sports equipment, and food drawn on the driveway.  Then I looked to the left and saw a parking sign.

I guess I'm not allowed to park on the driveway.  Good thing there's enough room for me to park in the garage.

(I think our sign maker needs to work on her spelling just a little.)

Kade had a game tonight.  He was awesome as usual.  He was playing first base and someone's throw hit him in the nose.  If you know Kade at all you'd know he gets lots of nose bleeds.  The bonk tonight did not fail.  Kade didn't even cry.  He's so experienced with bloody noses that it's really no big deal.  The little boy that threw the ball, on the other hand, was bawling because he felt bad that he hurt Kade.  After he saw Kade get back in the game with a Kleenex shoved up his nose the little boy seemed to calm down and they all had a good time.

Favorite Cabinet

Can you guess why this is the cabinet we like to frequent?

The kids don't know we have that much candy there.  They will now.  I'll have to hide some of it somewhere.

A New Pitcher

Meg's team has a new pitcher.  Megan.  She did pitch an inning last week after the reds and I left.  Her team was playing a double header and they only had one pitcher because the second one got hurt and is out for the rest of the season.  So the coach was letting all the girls that wanted to pitch have a turn.  Meg got a turn and the coach let her go longer than the others because she was actually throwing strikes.  Yesterday Mickey got an e-mail from the coach saying Megan was pitching tonight's game.



She's been practicing and did pretty good tonight.  She struck out 4 girls.  And walked quite a few but she made it through 4 innings with only giving up 7 runs.  I know that sounds like a lot but our team was stopped by the seven run rule for the first two innings.  It was a long game.



Here's Meg in action.

Paperoni

Have you discovered Paperoni yet?  Mattey did yesterday.  We finally had time to take her shopping to spend some of her birthday money.  It had been burning a hole in her pocket and she was very patient to wait so long.  One of the things she bought was this Paperoni kit.  I found this on the table this afternoon.

Isn't it cute?  She must have made it while I took a nap.  There is a Paperoni cutter that comes with all kinds of paper and stuff.  Maybe we'll get one.  This is something all the kids could get into.

New Friends

I have made two new friends since moving into our house that I have yet to blog about.  They are always bright and cheerful and ready to help me whenever I need it, which is almost everyday.  I love these friends.  They always light up when they see me.  They even sing a happy little tune when their work is done.  They save me money on water, energy, and detergent.  Who could ask for a better friend?  It would be nice if they could sort and fold the laundry too but that's probably asking too much.  I have yet to learn their names but here's their picture.

Does anyone have any name suggestions for my new friends?  They already have the initials of L and G.

AYO

Today was the concert.  Meg practiced hard for 7 days learning all her music.  I practiced hard (and stressed hard) for 7 days learning all my music.  The concert went well.  I would have loved to had another week or two to practice but what can you do?  Not much.

Here's the last song we played.  It was a blast.  This one gave me lots of worry but I made it through.

I have got to learn how to better cope with my extreme performance anxiety.  Anyone have any ideas?

Playground

This morning after dropping off Meg to AYO practice the reds and I picked up another red head and went to the new(er) playground by the zoo.  They had so much fun there.  Kade's friend joined us.  I was told that Noah really has missed Kade.  His mom and I got to catch up.  This playground is pretty cool.  They don't have swings but they have just about everything else, even instruments.

This was my best picture from there.  The kids just wouldn't be still for two seconds.  I don't blame them.



I had wanted the potd to be of my Sunday School class but that turned out blurry.  Darn.  I had them all over, along with my co-teacher, for a party.  I think they all had fun.  I know I did watching them interact with one another.



I'm off to soak in my tub.  I so deserve it.

A So-So Read

As you know, at least I blogged about it already so you should know, the kids and I signed up for the reading program at the library.  We've been doing alright.  Kade's winning with 8 books but the stories he listens to at night count.  I'm sure I've missed a few.  Anyway, for the last little while I've been reading "How to Train Your Dragon" to Kade.  (Then the book counts for both of us.)  We finally finished it tonight.  I think this is the first book I've ever said this about.  I hope the movie is better than the book.

Home Cookin'

Tonight was the first night in a L-O-N-G time that we have all sat down together at the normal dinner time to eat something home cooked by me.  How long is softball season again?

I made my easy version of  lasagna.  Boil some rotini pasta, a little less than the box says.  Drain.  Throw in a casserole dish.  Add italian sausage(already browned), your favorite spaghetti sauce (mine was home made today), and mix together.  Top with cheese, mozzarella or I like the Italian blend by Kraft.  Bake in 400 degree oven until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.  So easy and so tasty.



There was hardly any left.  I guess the kids have been starving for a while.

Yard Work

One of the joys (and I use this term lightly) of owning a home is doing yard work.  I don't usually mind it unless there are lots of bugs flying around or landing on me.  Mickey doesn't mind it either but this year his allergies are bad.  He's been really sick the last few times he's mowed.  Tonight, after going to Kade's and Meg's game, I took Kade to get some groceries and Mickey took the girls home to get cleaned up.  I came home to him using the weed eater.  Then he made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  (Well, I could refuse because I was already exhausted and couldn't find my mowing shoes, but I didn't because I didn't want him being miserable.)  He would finish up and then I could mow while he put the kids to bed.  We found my shoes so then I really couldn't say no.  I turned on my iPod and got to work, that is after Mickey had already finished up the front yard.  Hmm...Maybe he knew I didn't really want to mow.  I was doing pretty good until I got to the darn pine trees in the back.  They really need a good trimming.  I think we'll have to invest in a good lopper.

Tasty Combo

When we had Mattey's party we did tacos and I bought a LARGE can of nacho cheese.  We have been going through that can rather quickly.  We ran out of chips the other day and we (not Mickey) decided to try some different things dipped in the cheese.  The kids and I all agree that nacho cheese goes very well with baby carrots.  The crunchy sweetness of the carrot paired with the spicy cheese is yummy.

Bathroom Facelift

I had a date with Mickey tonight.  Yay!  We ate at Outback.  Not our favorite place but when you have gift cards you go.  We each found something we liked this time.  Then we ran some errands only to find out that two of the three pharmacies we tried were closed.  Huh.  While at Target we decided to look around in their furniture and home dec departments.  We came across a few things we just had to get for the kids' bathroom.  It is in desperate need of a facelift, meaning some color.  Here's the start.

The shower curtain has great colors that appeal to all the kids.  (The dark stripe is chocolate brown.  It's hard to tell.)  I think I'll eventually paint the walls a nice lime green.  But before I can do that I'll have to remove some wallpaper in the other half of the bathroom.  It's going to look awesome.  Anyone want to help me take down the wallpaper?

June 4th

Seventeen.  Today is our seventeenth anniversary.  (Saying that makes me feel old.  Knowing that we dated for almost three years before getting married makes me feel even older.)

I am so lucky to be married to my best friend.

This year's celebration was not as good as last year's but our day was busy.  Mickey went to work like normal.  I took Meg to an orchestra practice at school.  When I went to pick her up she waved me over.  She said the teacher wanted to talk to me.  The teacher told me that Meg volunteered me to accompany the orchestra during their concert next Friday!  There are nine songs!  I was handed the music and it didn't look too hard so I said I'd give it a try.  (They aren't too bad.  I guess I'll be doing it.)  When we came home Mickey had stopped by and left some flowers on the counter along with a love note.  I made one of Mickey's favorite dinners, breakfast.  The celebration continued when we attended Meg's softball game.  She played very well tonight as did the rest of her team.

Now that the kids are in bed maybe we can finally have a few minutes to be alone.  Anniversaries don't get much attention when you have an active family life.

Working at Home

Normally that's my thing but on occasion Mickey has to do some work from home.  We're both glad it can be done here and he doesn't have to make a late night trip in to work.  Tonight he's "working" while watching the Lakers/Celtics game.  Hopefully he'll finish up fast so he won't miss too much.

June 2nd

Lots of things happened today but nothing that I could really take a picture of.  We took a tour of Meg's new school.  I could have taken a picture of her there but I don't want to advertise where that is.  We had my niece and nephew over for the afternoon but I don't think they were ever still long enough to shoot.  Actually all the kids were that way.  Meg, Mattey, and I did some summer reading.  That's not really interesting, although the book I read was.  Shiver.  This afternoon while the kids were busy I did get my Fiestaware unpacked.  The busy kids weren't in the dining room at the time.  I made quesadillas for dinner.  Later I ran a card over to my mom for her birthday.  (She doesn't like her picture taken as I mentioned on Sunday.)  Then I went to choir practice.  On my way there I thought that would be a good idea for a photo but of course I didn't have the camera.  Maybe next time.  I came home to Mickey playing video games.  I'll have to get that sometime.



So....I decided the best thing to shoot at 10:00 p.m. was the Fiestaware.  I have been collecting some settings over the last few years but I've never had them out of the box.  I was worried about the kids breaking them.  Okay, I might break one too.  I also didn't have anywhere to keep them.  So they've been stuck in boxes in the basement for a long time.  Now they have a place of their own.  And maybe I'll actually use them.

Mickey bought me this curio cabinet for our first anniversary.  It's also been stuck in the basement for years.  I was happy to dust it off and store some colorful china in it.

For those of you interested in our house, this is the dining room.  It's one of four places with wall paper and only one of two rooms with color.  (The people that lived here before must have been adventurous.)  Now the wallpaper here isn't too bad, it's something I would have picked about...oh, 15 years ago, but I'll be ready to take it down soon.  I'm thinking of painting the room purple, probably two shades since there's a chair rail.  But before I can decide on the right shade(s) I have to pick colors for the enormous room that's made up of the family room, breakfast, and kitchen.  I want the colors to work together.  The things I like about the dining room are it's not right off the living room (it's a room all by itself), it has a beautiful hard wood floor, and the ceiling has a little tray detail that we love but never would have thought to ask for.  I also like that it's one of two rooms with pretty much nothing in it.  I have a table from my parents that I'm planning to refinish but is now stored in the basement.  That's going to be a BIG project so maybe I'll just put the table up and put a nice tablecloth on it.  We'll see.  I'm sure I'll post about whatever I decide to do.

P.S.  For any occasion you would buy me a present I would like to add on to my Fiestaware collection.

How to Get an Unwilling Kid in the Bath

What do you do when you have a grouchy monster, oh, I mean little boy, that doesn't want to take a bath?  I thought about making threats, bribing him, or just over powering him.  I finally came up with a great way to get him in that didn't harm him or get me all wet.

Bubbles!