Schweri Stories

A Shift

2010-02-07T15:54:00.000-05:00

Shortly before Christmas break, and about the time of my last post, I received an amazing phone call. A few weeks previous I had taken a chance and applied for a job I knew would be an incredible opportunity but didn't know if I really wanted it. A new industry, a great benefit plan and a fresh start on a career I had otherwise written off... and yet I couldn't imagine not being at school to volunteer and substitute teach or simply enjoy a long day with little Lilly.

I accepted the interview offer, if for nothing else than the experience, and walked away feeling pretty good about it. A week passed and I didn't hear anything so I just assumed I wasn't the right fit and felt a certain amount of relief. A second week passed and I mourned the opportunity, thinking of how huge it would be for my little family to have a second income and a chance to get caught up.

I spent a good long day considering what I would be giving up by going back to work. I had to come to the hard realization that I would not catch up my kids scrapbooks no matter how long I stayed home. My house has never been spotless despite carefree days I could have devoted to cleaning. My daughter is not an expert in her ABC's or 123's even though I have the resources and time to practice these skills. It was very clear to me that while I really enjoyed being home the expectations I had laid out for myself years before were not realistic.

The next day I received "the call." Imagine my surprise when I was given the offer and without a second thought accepted it. Clearly this is something I was anticipating far more than I would allow myself to admit. Best of all the position wouldn't be starting until after the first of the year, which gave me three weeks to get child care lined up and to absolutely make the most of my remaining time at home.

I love my job, in a way I never thought I would find after all of the disappointing HR experiences I had working in the manufacturing setting. I work with kind women who put a priority on family, support each other and do not take satisfaction in others failures.

Without my past failures and frustrations I would not fully appreciate what I have now and I recognize that. I can now honestly say I would not trade my past because it has equipped me to be successful in the present.

And what a gift it is.

Random Act of Kindness

2009-12-14T16:31:00.000-05:00

Around noon today I received a call from the local library. Assuming it was in regards to Topher’s overdue book that has mysteriously vanished I only half listened. As the gal continued to talk it dawned on me that she was saying "Nathan." Well, instantly I was upset that he had a book that had some how eluded me too. Still not really paying attention I thought it was odd when she gave me someone's name, mentioned Toys 'R Us and gave me a phone number.

Huh?

I replayed the message only to find out that a very kind woman had found Nathan's wallet in the Toys 'R Us parking lot and the only ID was his library card. Thank goodness he had that at least! The woman contacted the library, left her contact info and the library took the time to look him up and call the number on file - me.

I called the good Samaritan and she agreed to meet me near the Toys 'R Us right then to return the wallet. I thanked her over and over and she explained she also has sons and knows how boys can be.

Usually so careful, I have to admit I was disappointed that I hadn't even noticed he had dropped it. We were at Toys 'R Us at Nathan's request so he could spend the remainder of his money on a gift for Topher. It would have been so sad for him to lose his prized wallet after such a thoughtful trip for him.

At this time of year we have so much to be thankful for, including random acts of kindness by wonderful strangers.

Have you experienced or given any random acts of kindness this holiday season?

Soup-er Saturday

2009-12-12T08:00:00.002-05:00

I feel like a need a nap just looking at this hearty stew. All-in-one and so easy, what more can a busy Mom ask for?

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1 cup water or red wine
2 reduced-sodium beef bouillon cubes
3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
6 white onions or yellow onions, quartered
4 medium potatoes, cut into 1-1/2-inch slices
3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch slices
12 large fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced celery

Directions
Place flour in a large resealable plastic bag. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat.

In a large skillet, brown meat in oil in batches; drain. Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine the tomato soup, water or wine, bouillon and seasonings; pour over beef. Add the onions, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms and celery.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until meat is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve with noodles or French bread.
Yield: 8 servings.

Visit A List Makers Life for more yummy, cold weather must-have soups.

Snow Babies

2009-12-07T08:00:00.002-05:00

First snow of the season!

Even Curious went outside to see what all the fuss was about... and then quickly ran back inside, gingerly tip-toeing through the flakes.

Dad and Me Cut a Tree!

2009-12-06T15:40:00.000-05:00

"Children, listen carefully," said the man in the red knit cap. "You are here to cut a Christmas tree. What you may not know but soon will see is that the trees are scattered far and wide. The good ones are cleverly hidden among the bare and sickly looking ones."

"Also, to make it even more interesting, to us anyway, there are fewer good trees than families here to cut them. On my mark you may rush through the pine branches searching for 'the one' or you may step over to the open hatch of my Subaru for a bite of stew, a homemade brownie baked by goodness knows who and some hot chocolate. Of course, it is completely up to you which you do first."

"Oh, you should know that we only have 3 saws to pass among all of you, they are small so I suggest allowing your children to do the cutting...

...so, with that said - Good Luck!"

Thank goodness my husband is the master at making things right when it comes to our kids and overcoming a poorly executed community event. Next year we will be visiting a normal old tree lot and skip this "experience" of cutting our own.

Soup-er Saturday

2009-12-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

Here is what we are trying out this weekend....

{photo courtesty of Betty Crocker.com}

Cheddar Melt Chili

1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef

1 1/3 cups hot water
1 box Hamburger Helper® Cheddar cheese melt
1 cup Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa (any variety)
1 2/3 cups milk
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 cans (15 oz each) spicy chili beans in sauce, undrained
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 large tomato, chopped (about 1 cup)

1. In 4-quart Dutch oven, cook beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain.

2. Stir in hot water, sauce mix and uncooked pasta (from Hamburger Helper box), salsa, milk, chili powder and beans. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently.

3. Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.

4. Remove from heat; stir. Sprinkle each serving with 2 tablespoons cheese and tomato.

Katie is heating things up at A List Makers Life with even more yummy soups, go on over and see for yourself.

35 of 52

2009-12-04T23:37:00.000-05:00

Me and Lilly, being so silly,

while Daddy reads,

and I sneak in for a snuggle!

I'm a little late to the link up but all of the other Moms were right on time, go see them at Forever in Blue Jeans, if ya fancy a gander.

********************52 Weeks********************

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!

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Soup-er Saturday

2009-11-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving is a memory and Christmas is now officially in full swing. Have you started your shopping yet? How about planning the Yuletide menu? I, personally, am going give this tummy warming soup a try.

Ham and Bean Soup Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 pound fully cooked ham, cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup diced peeled potatoes
3/4 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup diced celery
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions
In a large saucepan, saute the ham, onion and garlic in butter until onion is tender. Add the next seven ingredients; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add peas and cook for 5 minutes longer or until heated through. Stir in parsley.
Yield: 8 servings (about 2 quarts).

The only thing that would make this soup even better would be a free ham to use in it. Jingle bell hop on over to Katie's at A List Makers Life for your chance to win!

34 of 52

2009-11-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

I did it!

I finally attended and completed the Course 3 cake decorating class by Wilton.

I learned fondant and it is all I had hoped it would be. Using frosting to make flowers is an exact skill done with a careful hand, something I seem to lack. Whereas fondant can be made and remade until it looks just right, it is fussy and so am I, a perfect pair!

For our final class the instructions were to make and assemble a two-tiered cake. In light of the painful fact that I am getting sick of cake and have no desire to have it sit around my house, tempting me at every turn, I decided to make it for Thanksgiving instead. Well, I really wanted to make an adorable sky blue cake covered in little fondant flowers, but that does not say "holiday" to me and thus felt the need to create a fondant turkey. He turned out so cute. Note: it does not bode well for the piped on border if you have had a few tasty 007 mixed drinks, which my dear sister Angie mixed very strong... and my hand was a bit unsteady

My play-doh like cake frosting medium inspired young Topher and he spent hours (no kidding) working on his own Thanksgiving turkey. I baked him a special little cake to perch his artwork on.

A big thank you goes to my strange, yet loving little brother for snapping the pictures of our Thanksgiving cake adventures. He couldn't resist being seen with the turkey bling.

Visit Forever in Blue Jeans for fun photos of great Moms.

******************52 Weeks********************

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Life Skill: Gratitude

2009-11-23T07:00:00.004-05:00

We have much to be thankful for. It is important to us that the kids never take what the do have for granted and that they differentiate between WANTS and NEEDS. That is a big bill to fill for children as we live in a me-me-me society that caters to demanding children with the need to be constantly entertained. So, as the holidays approach, we step back from everyday life to be grateful and remember those who have supported us through the good and bad times.

To show our Gratitude to the special people in our lives we used these fun postcards from abcteach.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Soup-er Saturday

2009-11-21T17:59:00.000-05:00

In honor of Thanksgiving this coming week I thought this would be a fabulous recipe. With budgets stretched thin you are sure to make the most of the turkey while enjoying a warm and satisfying meal. I can't wait to try it!

Homemade Turkey Soup Recipe

Ingredients
1 leftover turkey carcass (from a 10- to 12-pound turkey)
2 quarts water
1 medium onion, halved
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 bay leaves
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

Place the turkey carcass in a stockpot; add the water, onion, salt and bay leaves. Slowly bring to a boil over low heat; cover and simmer for 2 hours.

Remove carcass; cool. Strain broth and skim off fat. Discard onion and bay leaves. Return broth to the pan. Add the carrots, rice, celery and chopped onion; cover and simmer until rice and vegetables are tender.

Remove turkey from the bones; cut into bite-size pieces. Add turkey and cream soup to broth; heat through.

Yield: 8-10 servings (about 2 quarts).

Now, lets think about ham... my favorite Christmas main dish. Head over to A List Maker's Life to enter your recipe and have a chance to win a free ham. Yum!!

33 of 52

2009-11-19T23:24:00.000-05:00

Making the wedding bliss last another week - here is a snapshot of Patrick and I at the reception. Nothing fancy and no kids but a picture with me in it none-the-less.

Carins boys are having a lot of fun over at Forever in Blue Jeans, give 'em a visit.

******************52 Weeks********************

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Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

2009-11-16T17:22:00.000-05:00

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and Provo Craft are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?
     ~a nice {we're talking top-of-the-line} digital camera
     ~a car or nice pickup, I'm not picky
     ~a Cricut
     ~a laptop
     ~a trip to New York City to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?
     ~a quilt made for us by a wonderful woman from our church back in Alma, it is 10 years old and still on our bed {we do take it off occasionally to wash it...}

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?
     ~a completed scrapbook for each of my children

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?
     ~my brown teddy bear from my Dad, he is still in my closet and so worn out he can't sit up anymore

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?
     ~Topher, a Nintendo DSi
     ~Nathan, a Skateboard
     ~Lillian, Anything that shows on commercials on Disney channel

6. What is your favorite holiday food?
     ~Wassail - not a food per say but a must have none the less!

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?
     ~I am going to try my hand at Modge Podge this year and a Cricut would sure come in handy!

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?
     ~How the Grinch Stole Christmas

9. Favorite holiday song?
     ~Carol of the Bells

10. Favorite holiday pastime?
     ~Looking over the collection of ornaments hanging on our Christmas tree, collected over the past 11 years, and remembering what each one signifies from the time and place we bought it

32 of 52

2009-11-12T21:41:00.002-05:00

I {heart} weddings, especially when the person getting married is by far the most deserving person of everlasting happiness.

I met my dear friend Meggan over 10 years ago when we both worked Guest Service at Target in Mt. Pleasant. We were both attending CMU at the time and quickly became great friends.

I am so touched by Meggans happily-ever-after because she is the most unselfish person I have ever met. She listens with uninterrupted curiosity and asks questions that show she is really listening to what you have to say. Patrick and I have always spoke highly of Meggan and her ability to be an amazing friend to so many people.

Despite the distance, she came to visit after the birth of each of our children. She always made it a point to come visit us and meet the newest Schweri. She visited Lillian nearly 4 years ago, and with the decision to stop with that gem of a baby girl {God has one heck of a sense of humor} it meant that was the last time we had the opportunity to visit with her.

Until this past weekend, that is.

Meggan surpassed the image of a beautiful bride and I found myself holding back tears as she exchanged vows with her amazing groom. He is truly a lucky man and so deserving of such an incredible woman.

Every detail was thought of from the wedding to the reception. So much so that by dinner Patrick and I could hardly eat because we had been so well fed up to that point. The meal was amazing, we were served small portions of both Grand Traverse Chicken (with an incredible cherry gravy) and Filet Mignon. Even the presentation was remarkable. {uh, huh - you betcha I took a pic of the food}

I was so happy to spend this incredible day with Meggan and her new husband. Though they live in Nashville now I hope to visit her in the near future, perhaps when she has her first child.

There are a lot of busy moms, go see their fun posts at Forever in Blue Jeans!

******************52 Weeks********************

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Veterans Day

2009-11-11T21:34:00.002-05:00

"What is today?" I asked my children and Topher's friend Aiden this question after school today.

"Wednesday!" both Nathan and Topher yelled with huge smiles on their faces. I was fairly unsure of why Wednesday brought so much glee to them, something I need to investigate further I suppose.

"Not just that," I prompted, "what else is important about today?" On their rosy little faces, flushed from enjoying the brisk fall weather, blank looks abounded. Not wanting to drag this out any further I offered, "Today is Veterans Day."

"Ooooh," they chimed in unison.

"So, what is a Veteran?" After nothing but silence answered me back I wondered if I was pushing my luck.

Thankfully Aiden spoke up. "A soldier who died in a war," he told us.

In an effort to expedite my cold self back in to the warm house I quickly explained that Aiden was correct but that the term covered all service persons. I am fairly sure that is about all they could handle seeing as how I interrupted their outdoor fun time.

I then handed each child, even Lilly, a Care Package Scavenger Hunt list that I assembled.

In preparation for this I visited www.anysoldier.com and requested a female soldier from Michigan. A wish list was then available and that is what I used for my hunt.

The content of the scavenger hunt list were items I was fairly sure we already had in the house.

Suddenly the kids had a great burst of enthusiasm and quickly came inside, grabbed a list and a writing utensil. I gave Nathan the box and told them we needed to hunt until it was full.

As they reflected upon each item listed, and after I explained how to pronounce "pantiliners" {their spelling} and "non-perishable," they worked together to look through the house and decide on what food to put in and how many of each item one female soldier might need.

After each find they marked off the item on their list and searched for something new.

By the end of their hunt we had successfully filled our box. Much to my surprise Lilly put her treasured brand-new bag of flavored mini-marshmallows on top. I will return those to the pantry because I don't think they will travel well but I was incredibly impressed with her act of generosity.

After the box was overflowing with the found items we all sat down to write a letter or draw a picture for the soldier.

I am very excited to mail out our care package and hopefully even make one for a male soldier soon. I would have LOVED to mail this out today, but much to my dismay, the post office was closed - duh - it is Veterans Day!

A huge thank you to all of our soldiers, we owe so much to you and all you do. We are forever grateful!

Anysoldier is an incredible program and I strongly encourage everyone to visit this website. Soldiers sign themselves up as a contact person and when someone from back home sends a package, marked "any soldier" the contact person gives it to a soldier who does not receive mail very often or at all. Their wishes are basic and it makes all of the difference in their time overseas.

Lego Mania!

2009-11-09T22:17:00.000-05:00

Sunday we made a trip over to the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, for the Lego Exhibit.

There were giant Legos,

pink Legos,

absolutely amazing pieces made entirely out of Legos,

a catapult simulation to see if you selected the right components to make a secure Lego wall,

a Lego castle - complete with locked up treasure and a booby-trapped key,

a royal throne with an incredible transparent Lego stained-glass window behind it,

a 9-year old dork who happens to be standing in front of a very cool portrait made of Legos and thus is the only reason this photo made it on to my blog,

and more giant Legos,

this is an impressive Knight constructed of nothing but Legos with unbelievable definition,

young Lillian, dressed in her medieval finery, poses with one of many cute cardboard cutouts around the exhibit,

jousting with clever colored horses, whose jousting lances are securely fastened to their sides, was a favorite to be sure,

but overall the favorite seemed to come back to the giant Legos.

I highly recommend to anyone in the area that you visit the museum and take some time to find your inner child at the Lego Exhibit.

Soup-er Saturday

2009-11-08T21:48:00.000-05:00

Slow Cooker Steak and Black Bean Chili

2 lb beef top round steak
1 envelope (1 oz) onion soup mix (from 2-oz package)
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles, undrained
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin

1. Trim fat from beef. Cut beef into 3/4-inch cubes. In 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix beef and soup mix (dry). Stir in remaining ingredients.

2. Cover and cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours.

This is very good and filling. Even better for lunch the next day, scooped up with crackers.

Get more soup ideas at A List Maker's Life, yum!

31 of 52

2009-11-05T19:37:00.000-05:00

Trick -or- Treat

Goofy 'ol kids!

and a naughty Old Dad.

Visit Forever in Blue Jeans to see more moms.

******************52 Weeks********************

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The Story of a Switch

2009-10-30T12:40:00.000-04:00

The Story of a Switch

The reverse of a witch.

Author & Illustrator Nathan p Schweri

One day a beautiful woman was driving to her work. Her name was Allison. She worked at Rite Aid. When she got there she saw a sign. It said Switch The Drink That Will Change Your Life!!. She stared at it for a very long time. Then she went inside. When she got inside her jaw hung open. There were twenty shelves full of switch!!!! Now Allison didn’t feel like working any more. She went to the aisle and picked a bottle of switch. Then she went to the check out.

When she got to her car she heard a voice whispering in her ear. “Don’t drink it!” The voice said.
“Why not?” asked Allison.
“You do not know what that stuff will do to you”!! The voice said.
“I do to! It’ll change my life! And I have a depressing life! So this will help ME!!!!” Allison yelled.
The voice didn’t answer. So Allison drove home angry .When she got home she drank the whole thing in two huge gulps. It tasted like burnt hamburger and raw eggs in porridge. Allison thought it tasted pretty good.

Then all of the sudden her bones started to ache, her face felt like it was on fire. Allison looked at her hands. They were growing, her nails were getting bigger. She found a mirror and looked in to it. Her nose was longer, it had two warts on it, her teeth were a yellow color, she had a black hat on and a pitch black robe. That liquid that she drank turned her into a witch!!!

Ok, now she knew that she should have listened to that voice that was talking in her ear.

Maybe she could do stuff that a witch could do. She tried flying on a broom, but she couldn’t fly the right way. She tried poisoning an apple, but she could only make it sweeter. She turned her cat black but, it turned inside out, too. She tried making potions with her blender.

Then she saw a blinding light right in front of her. Then she heard a loud
WHAM!!!

She was amazed. Right in front of her she saw a pan with carved letters: A SWITCHES CAULDREN, it read. Now Allison new why that drink was called switch. Because a switch is basically a witch, it’s just a switch does all the opposites. All she ended up making was a stupid over easy egg. So she tossed the pan and sat on her couch.

She felt like she forgot something. “Oh! I have to go to work!” she said. So she got on a broom that she found in her cupboard and flew to work.

She flew the wrong way again. When she got there she saw a sign that said Oso Good changes you back into a human. Allison stared at it for a very long time, and then went inside. When she got inside her jaw hung open. There were twenty shelves full of Oso Good! She drank one with out buying it. She looked in a mirror and saw that she was back to her normal Allison self!

The
End

Blogstyle Iron Chef: Pickles!

2009-10-28T22:02:00.000-04:00

Well, this month certainly was a challenge. Who woulda thunk it would be so unappetizing to the masses to come up with a recipe involving pickles?

Sorry Chairman ~

there clearly is a reason Food Network has not used pickles as it's secret ingredient.

We had two brave souls willing to battle for the October Blogstyle Iron Chef title:

Sarah @ I Blame My Mother with Pickle Rolls

Cheryl @ Spinning Coaster with Fried Pickles

In true Iron Chef style, I sat my judges and the chairman down at our dining room table. {after I cleaned off my mountains of coupons, *ahem*}

Now, before we get to the tantalizing dishes, let me first introduce our judges:

Our first judge is a pickle connoisseur and often eats them straight from the jar,

Nathan!

Our second judge is a picky pickle eater and prefers hers sliced rather than whole,

Lillian!

Our third and final judge is the hardest to please, choosing to spit out what does not please his palate,

Topher!

Thank you judges!

First, we offer to your discriminating taste buds a fine combination of Brown Sugar Ham, Cream Cheese and a large dill pickle. For garnish, a smear of sour cream and a squiggle of mustard - this is simply for show, seriously - don't eat it with the pickle. Bleck!

Last but not least, we offer to our esteemed judges the ultimate in late night bar food: pickles, deep fried and served with a side of Ranch, the good stuff, no wimpy light or fat free stuff on this plate!

Curious use of a "Finding Nemo" plate... wonder if the chef is getting you prepared for a night at the rim of the large fish bowl in the girls room after eating so much fried goodness???

After careful consideration and 3 reminders of the rating scale {"yes, Topher - 5 means the best, so 1 means worst"}, the judges have reached their decision...

The winner, by 2 points:

Fried Pickles!

To see how it all shakes out, head over to Heidi's house at Sacred and Profane. Ooooo - I can hardly wait to see who will be the proud owner of the Pick-a-deli, certainly a dilly of a prize!

A special thank you to my ever tolerant husband who humors me and to my little ones for being willing to stay up past your bedtime to eat high fat snacks just before going to bed {like I had to twist those arms...}.

From Chaos to Cleanliness

2009-10-26T07:00:00.004-04:00

Look at this ~

It is certainly fair to say it needs a little help. It is not inviting and does not say "read me" to my kids.

Now, check this out ~

Much better, no?

This awesome little shelf is from allchildrensfurniture.com and is absolutely affordable for even the tightest budget, much to my delight.

When I substitute teach in the boys elementary school I see that many of the teachers use these types of bookshelves for theme and holiday related books.

Each of my three kids love to read but often have no idea that I have books for special occasions, such as Halloween.

Replacing the beat up old bookshelf, it's contents spilling over with inefficiency, with this darling and extremely organized piece would be a dream come true.

CSN Stores.com contacted me about reviewing one of their fabulous products and I nearly fell down with excitement - this is a first for me and couldn't have more appropriate timing.

Do you have a moment to oh and ah over adorable baby items? You know you want to...

If Lilly had this incredible nursery furniture when she was born, rather than her brothers blue and green hand-me-downs, I might just have a fun little girl who doesn't make scenes at Princess Tea Parties.

Are you familiar with my stroller related woe's? Well, with this Jeep Liberty Limited Lightweight stroller from CSNbaby.com, I know I would proudly walk down the street and not give a darn in the world who was staring at me, while I push an empty stroller on my way to get Lilly from preschool.

The best part? When some unsuspecting person asks me about my ride I could honestly say, "I have a Jeep." What? It would be the truth. :)

I can't wait to show you just how incredible my bookshelf transformation will be, stay tuned!

Halloween Fun Has Just Begun

2009-10-25T20:23:00.000-04:00

Halloween, it is nearly here!

We started our weekend with a classic: It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. The kids snuggled up in their bean bags and favorite blankets to enjoy this all time favorite Halloween tradition.

We capped off the weekend with a little pumpkin carving, which wouldn't be the same if it didn't include large knives wielded by small children, of course.

Lilly was having a little trouble, at first, with the "guts" getting all over her arm but soon she learned to embrace the yuck.

Nathan went for the traditional free-hand pumpkin. He did his cleaning and carving without any help from Mom or Dad, a first in our house. He is getting so grown up, sniff, sniff.

Lil' dug through the princess pattern book and decided on the absolutely most difficult pattern in there, and then asked me to carve it for her.

I poked all of the holes and even made it through the first few pieces before I threw in the tiny little pink carving knife. This is SO not my thing! Thankfully, this is her Dad's "thing" and he swooped in to rescue the pumpkin from the brink of disaster.

You wouldn't even know I touched it, would ya?

Topher's new obsession is Sonic the Hedgehog, sorry Thomas the Tank Engine - you've been kicked to the curb it seems.

We did not have a pattern for Sonic, but does that stop Topher from asking? Heavens, no! Does that stop his Pumpkin Carving Master of a father from figuring out a way to do it? I should think not.

Patrick found a picture of Sonic on the internet, moved it in to Word, resized it to fit the pumpkin and then made a makeshift pattern.

I am truly impressed as, I am sure, are all of the critters outside who happen upon our front porch tonight at the lit glory of these fine Jack 'o Lanterns. {we live too far from the road for anyone to see them, so the show is for the deer and squirrels}

Halloween is nearly here, are you ready?

30 of 52

2009-10-22T07:08:00.001-04:00

Hayride fun with my little guy on his 2nd grade field trip!

Visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans to get a glimpse of all the Mom's in front of their cameras.

******************52 Weeks********************

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Happy 9th Birthday, Nathan!

2009-10-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

On this day, 9 years ago, a beautiful little boy was born {before digital cameras in this house...so no picture, sorry}.

Now he is a handsome young fella who celebrated with a spooky brownie treat at school, while wearing the special "birthday hat."

I wish I could take credit for these faces but I owe it all to Patrick for helping me out when I took on too much for one night.

After a movie and dinner we capped off the night with a strawberry flavored Lego cake and ice cream.

And just like all good things, it is going, going,

GONE!

Field Trip Fun

2009-10-16T22:21:00.001-04:00

What do you get when you take over a hundred 2nd graders to a farm for a fun field trip during the coldest October in a millennium? Why, you get frozen 2nd graders walking around a farm for hours in various states of undress, of course. I wish I were kidding about that - look at the picture below and note the amount of children either without hats, coats, gloves or combinations there of...

Hello parents - at least two notes came home so you would know to:
1. dress in layers, i.e. put a coat, hat and mittens on your child - a lined sweat shirt with a hood and that stupid thumb hole is NOT the same thing...
2. wear boots or old shoes, i.e. do not allow your cute little 2nd grader to wear her favorite sparkly flats and no socks when she will be hauling tail through a corn maze, muddy pumpkin patch and pokey hay ride.
3. bring 50 cents to purchase a small pumpkin, i.e. don't expect the teacher to foot the bill for your child, 50 cents isn't a big deal for one kid but when you start creeping towards the double digits in 7 yr old forgetfulness it gets pricey.

Don't let my sarcasm fool you, we did have a nice time despite the freezing temps. I scored myself a "buffalo chip" to take home too. Oh stop - it was caramel with chocolate and pecans on top. Although I did spend many minutes trying to explain to the young men in my group why that was funny. *sigh*

Topher and his best bud from school, Aiden, enjoyed all of the neat stations at the farm. We went on a bumpy hay ride and saw a neat collection of animals,

we were all able to pick a few apples right from the tree in the orchard,

the class watched apples being ground up and pressed in to cider,

and for a grand treat the kids ate freshly made donuts and cider, yum! Topher and Aiden sold me on the goodness that is a cake donut dipped in apple cider, those boys are on to something.

What would a field trip be without a couple of fun if not super silly boys?

29 of 52

2009-10-15T22:30:00.001-04:00

Saturday we ventured north to Montague for the Pumpkinfest. For $2 the kids picked out a pumpkin and registered it for the famous Pumpkin Roll.

In the small town of Montague there is an exceptionally large hill, which was newly repaved, just right for rolling things down like, oh say, pumpkins. Come to think of it I wonder what other things I could have brought along to try my hand at rolling down the mighty hill... hmmm - I'll have to make a game plan for next year.

This incredibly steep hill, especially if you are hauling a cumbersome plastic wagon filled with all of the things your children refuse to carry, is blocked off from traffic {duh!} and numerous hay bales create a pumpkin barrier at the bottom.

Hundreds of kids, no joke, smoosh together in the street at the top of the hill waiting for their age group to be called. Lilly was in the 0-3 year old group, of which there were the most contestants by far. Do you wonder if there are any 0 year olds there, rolling pumpkins, on a freezing October day... yeah, I don't think so either- a bit of overkill Pumpkinfest Committee, just a bit.

The kids go in heats of about 25 or so kids and when the lady yells "GO!" the tykes shove their pumpkin down the hill as hard as their chubby little hands will allow.

It is at this point that each and every adult with their 0-3 yr old ignores the good advice the "GO!" lady gave them just moments before the start, that being "wait a minute before following your pumpkin so they all have time to clear."

So, since my view was obstructed with every adult rear-end that just knew the "GO!" lady certainly didn't mean them, I decided to listen and just waited.

Many of the uber intelligent adults who ran ahead, I was happy to see, ended up getting nailed by a pumpkin or two on the way down. Karma, perhaps?

So we started walking down the hill, trying to see the number on Lilly's pumpkin to free it from the curb if need be...

As we walked down the hill we heard over the garbled loud speaker the winning pumpkin number being called that soundly incredibly close to the one written on my little Lilly's oddly flat pumpkin. Certain that I was hearing it wrong we continued to take our time down the hill. Her pumpkin was so "un-round" that I just knew it would not do well.

If only I had taken a moment to picture a car tire in my mind... not incredibly round are they? Instead they could be considered flat on two sides, much like the pumpkin Lil' picked. She is a genius, she had a pumpkin wheel! Wouldn't you know...???

She won her heat and received a cute button with a pride-inducing blue ribbon attached!

Back up the hill we waited in the crowd for the 7-12 age group and the boys gave it a go. While both claim to have come in second there is really no way to know. The pumpkins fly down the hill and the smaller and flatter they are the better they do. The curb looked like a Nascar race, with pumpkins zooming past, all vying for the front spot.

It was a fun day at this neat little festival. The boys tried pumpkin seed spitting,

face painting,

and pumpkin painting.

I would like to take a moment to mention that the pumpkin roll pumpkin cost $1 each and yet the painting pumpkins were free... if only we had done it in reverse order we could have shoved the FREE ones down the hill.

Nathan and Topher both painted eyes on theirs so it would have looked like severed heads racing down the street - hmmm, we could have awarded 1 point for every 0 yr old who cried. Next year, next year.

We will definitely be making a trip to Pumpkinfest again!

Visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans to see lots of Mom's up to the same monkey business.

******************52 Weeks********************

**************************************

Purple Paint-a-thon!

2009-10-09T14:49:00.001-04:00

Off to Hobby Lobby we went, simply intending to buy inexpensive felt for a few Halloween costumes.

Out we walked with a Halloween sign and a container of purple paint, and only purple paint.

An artist of her own making Lilly felt the Halloween plaque was suited with just a coat on the front and the bit that dripped off of the letters on to the base. Thankfully she let me talk her in to a bit of glitter to jazz it up. Gorgeous, no?

Would you believe that the Halloween sign did NOT take the entire bottle of purple paint... so Lilly went in search of other things to paint.

She happened upon the little wooden Halloween characters I found for all three kids to decorate with markers - and threw a fit until I gave in and allowed them all to be hers. Sure, I know what I should have done, but I am not in a fightin' mood today... so it happened and she got her way. So sue me - the boys will be none the wiser. Well, 'till school gets out anyway.

Not only did Lilly paint all 6 of the little things that used to have faces and lines to color between but she used a new paint brush for each one... notice the over abundance of brushes on the newspaper. *sigh* that girl - it is never the easy way.

Hey, at least I was able to use up some glitter - check out that bling!

So concludes my randon post, Happy Friday everyone!

Great Escape Meme Contest

2009-10-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

This is a contest entry for those crazy folks at TodaysMama and Cricut. Be sure to check out Cricut's cool new cartridges and the chance at $30,000 in travel for you and your friends at the Great Gypsy Escape site! http://bit.ly/FWcud

Great Escape Meme

1. If you could escape to anywhere in the world where would it be?
    Right now I'd take a trip south to a HOT climate, Mexico would be nice!

2. What song do you play when you are by yourself in the car?
     hmmm, I crank up the local Christian Rock station... not terribly daring but, hey, it gives me a boost

3. If you had a night to yourself, and money was no object, what would you do?
    Oh, my, I do believe I would get my hair colored, my nails manicured and my feet desperately deserve a pedicure. I would throw in a facial, for good measure, and since money is no object I'd bring along all of my girlfriends too!

4. What is your guilty pleasure?
     A hot shower with no children to interupt me, so rare these past 9 years.

5. What is the farthest place you have traveled away from your home?
     Sunny Mexico

6. Last book that you couldn't put down?
     *sigh* Twilight...

7. When you want to escape into another time, what movie do you watch?
     Grease - it's the word!

8. What is your favorite local escape?
      Hobo's Restaurant, an awesome local joint

9. How do you escape on a budget?

To the Cottage, way up in the Upper Peninsula to my Grandparents little retreat. You only need gasoline for your car and groceries once you get there, perfect!

10. Best food you've ever had while on vacation.

I had some really great food while on vacation to Mexico but it was the summer after I graduated high school, 14 yrs ago {gasp}, and I'll be darned if I can remember the name of anything.

Would you LOVE a shot at winning a Cricut too? Visit TodaysMama for the details. I would fall right over if I won, could you imagine??? Oh, the possibilities!

Blogstyle Iron Chef Challenge!

2009-10-07T00:01:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the guest blog of Blogstyle Iron Chef!

Now, first things first. If you are new to Iron Chef, take a moment, click here and see what the contest is all about.

Welcome back, to those who are not new and to those who left to find out about the hullabaloo!

This month I am so excited to shake things up over at Sacred and Profane, the home of Blogstyle Iron Chef. After winning a Blogstyle Iron Chef with my Slow Cooker Roast recipe, being a guest judge and attempting Sous Chef to my 3yr old daughters winning recipe in the kid challenge I figure it is time to get on the flip side of it. Yup, Heidi is lettin' me wear the awesome title of Co-host! Go me. Go me. It's my birthday. {um, no it isn't, but feel free to send gifts anyway}. Woo hoo!

Here's how it works, in general terms:

Heidi and I are revealing the secret ingredient today.
You post a recipe or find one you've already posted that incorporates the secret ingredient.
Leave a comment at Sacred and Profane by next Tuesday with the link to your entry and Heidi will add it to her post.
Next Wednesday we'll use Random.org to pick 3 contestants for the month and we will announce those contestants.

Heidi will have a poll in her sidebar for voting as well as voting from guest judges, be sure to steer people to her blog.

The winner will be announced on the last Wednesday of October and prizes will be awarded!

What does it take to be a guest judge you wonder? Oh, my friend, wonder no more! A guest judge simply agrees to try all three dishes and let one of us know via email which was your favorite. It is super fun to post your thoughts on your blog, but not a requirement. If this sounds like your calling, contact Heidi here. No, go ahead, she doesn't bite, and while you are there look around her blog - it is hi-lar-i-ous.

On to the prizes...no, wait..not quite yet...how about if we reveal the secret ingredient, first?

{Cue menacing music...}

The Chairman has entered the building!

*swoon*

Chairman Schweri, we must know,what is our ingredient for October???

...PICKLES!!!

Dill, sweet, bread and butter, homemade, candied, baby, half sour, fermented, german - it doesn't matter! You pick the pickle!

Let me be clear - you don't have to make a pickle. Thank goodness, that would take forever!

We are looking for you to post a recipe that FEATURES pickles as one of the main ingredients. Things like Pickled Meat Loaf or
Pickled Tortilla Roll-Ups or perhaps you make a killer Fried Pickle? Let's have 'em! Post your Pickle recipes!!

The winner of this competition will win a $10 Gift Card to Target, Walmart or Smith's courtesy of Heidi, as well as this LOVELY prize, compliments of Michelle, the Tupper Queen!

How did I come up with such a fitting prize? All of the pickles I hauled out for the Chairman's picture would not go back in to their respective jars, so I called to duty my trusty 'ol Tupperware Pick-a-Deli, and I just knew the winner must have one too!

So, there ya have it. The contest, the ingredient and the prizes. What are you waiting for?

"Allez! Cuisinez!"

If You Give a Girl Rain Boots

2009-10-06T17:37:00.000-04:00

On a cold and drizzly October day in Michigan,

if you give a girl chocolate and pink polka-dot rain boots,

she will ask for a pink rain coat and a matching pink hat.

If you give her the pink rain coat and a matching pink hat,

she will ask for a matching pink umbrella.

If you give her a matching pink umbrella,

she will probably do a dance.

When she is finished, she will ask you why you are standing in the rain, getting all wet.

She will ask to see her picture, to be sure she is as darling as she thinks in her pink rain accessories.

When she looks in the LCD display, she will notice the camera is getting wet. With a look like you have lost your mind, she will probably ask you to, please, go inside.

On her way inside she may get carried away and make a mad run from the cold rain drops, leaving you behind to wrestle the pink umbrella closed.

She may even end up leaving a wet rain-boot print behind,

which will remind her to admire her chocolate and pink polka-dot rainboots.

And chances are, if she asks for her rain boots, she is going to want her pink rain coat and pink umbrella, to go outside and splash in the puddles.

What a Weekend!

2009-10-05T22:41:00.001-04:00

What a busy weekend around these parts.

It all started with a lazy Friday afternoon nap, just a sweet little girl and a purring kitty.

Saturday we picked up Cub Scout Popcorn, yes ma'am- it is that time again. This year I decided the boys needed to do a little leg work to earn their prizes and, primarily, to help us avoid hitting up family and friends, again.

Now, I'm not saying we won't eventually hit up family and friends, but for now we are attempting to extort the people down the street and see what we get.

After each sale Topher ran to the van to give me the low down. For each sale he ran down the driveway yelling how much money the person had spent, if they didn't make a sale he walked with his head down and gave me the 'ol thumbs down gesture. Despite the obvious, he still came back to the van to report...

What's that you ask? Why am I in the van while the boys and Patrick are walking? Because I am the SMART one... it was cold out. Further proof that Mothers are the dominet species.

That's right boy, just keep on walkin'!

Sunday morning we made our way to the church of my childhood friend Andrea, to see this adorable little angel get dedicated. Riley is the perfect replica of Topher as a baby - all rolls and adorable baby chub.

Later on Sunday we went back to our church,

{I think we should get extra credit for going to church 3 times in one weekend, don't you?},

so a special young man could have the best birthday present ever blessed at our Blessing of the Animals service. I won't mention that this puddy-tat made a run for it in to the woods when he saw all of the dogs waiting to be blessed {well, okay, I would since I just did... but you know what I meant, right?}. Thankfully my children have the most patient Father in the WORLD and he did not stop looking for that crazy animal until he was found and brought back among the drooling canines.

Yup, a pretty special weekend

28 of 52

2009-10-01T10:21:00.000-04:00

Frilly purple princess dress? Check! Matching purple tights and fuzzy purple purse? Check! Happy smiles for the camera before we left? Check!

Princess Lillian sashed and crowned?

Check!

Happy smiles for the camera before the event began?

Check!

Party over before it barely began?

um, yeah - a big 'ol Check-a-rooni on that one!

Maybe next year....

Visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans to see da other Mom's, 'eh?

******************52 Weeks********************

**************************************

The Tea Party that Wasn't

2009-09-28T11:43:00.000-04:00

I have two sons, who I adore wholeheartedly. They are both good natured and reliable. They do not throw tantrums in the crowded grocery store, they do not hide in racks at the clothing store, they do not scream when they are told "no." When they were babies and toddlers I happily patted myself on the back for a job well done, all while looking scornfully upon the mother whose child was doing all those things my boys were not.

Years later, as my well mannered boys grew, I felt the itch, for just one more, hoping in vain for a daughter to snuggle. Boys are great fun but a daughter would be my companion, someone to understand and be understood. Dressing the boys was always fun, I loved to coordinate their outfits, but to delve in to the realm of tights, hair bows and frill was just too tempting.

Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.

My daughter, my dear sweet cherub faced little girl, came in to this world kicking and screaming and has yet to relent. Within minutes of being born she began nursing, half of an hour on either side, even before I had any milk to offer. She refused to sleep on her back and in exhausted moments of desperation I would set her on a blanket, face near the crack in the cushions of the couch and lay my face next to hers to feel her breath as I took a moment of rest along with her.

As she came out of her newborn stages she slept better but never through the night. She would eat but never on our schedule. She would play but never with her toys, preferring instead to steal whatever seemed to be most interesting to her brothers during the day. She mastered crawling and climbing faster than her brothers ever did but she refused to walk. Her first birthday came and went and still she did not walk and barely talked. Communicating through screams and grunts was most effective for her.

Walking and talking did come, closer to her second birthday, finally.

Be careful what you wish for...

Keeping her secured in the shopping cart, once she could walk, became a battle of not only wills but sheer strength. Despite being buckled in with a strap tightened to the very tightest notch she would contort her body unbelievably until she wriggled free. When I allowed her down she would run out of the aisle and across the store so quickly I often had to abandon my cart, making a mad dash after her, my purse remembered at the last second and flying behind me. If I did not allow her down an immediate trigger was activated and an ear piercing scream to rival a police siren would erupt out of her perfect little pink mouth, earning us nasty glares and even fingers in the ears of those walking past.

I began to question the vanity in my wanting another child, a baby girl to love and cherish. She demanded so much that it felt the boys were second fiddle and receiving less of me each day. My blond haired, blue-eyed angel quickly approached her third birthday, which by all accounts should be considered a miracle given her history.

As the day approached I worried silently to myself, remembering that the boys had not experienced "Terrible Two's" but instead had gone through "Terrible Three's." If her first two years of life had been so daunting how on earth was I going to handle her turning three?

As if in answer to my looming dread, a few weeks before her birthday the clouds parted and gave to me the most pleasant, well behaved young lady this world has ever seen. Knowing that there is a significant difference between boys and girls I wondered if perhaps she had done her "terrible" stint as a two year old but I had missed the signs because it transitioned so seamlessly from her difficult babyhood. Amazed at the difference I assured my girlfriends with difficult toddler daughters that a light was coming at the end of the two-year old tunnel, so to speak.

At home, this mostly well behaved darling is confident and outgoing. She keeps up well with her older brothers and their make believe adventures. She digs in to her dress-up clothes with reckless abandon and enjoys being a Princess and making her brothers in to her Ladies in Waiting. She has attended preschool with much success and fewer tears each day.

A few weeks after the start of preschool a lovely flyer came home, announcing an exciting Princess Tea Party. So sure that she would really enjoy a chance to dress up, a chance to get away from her brothers and be super girly with just me, I reserved our spots and secured a purple princess gown with matching tights and fuzzy purse. I was a bit concerned she would not want to wear the special dress based simply on the fact that I wanted her to, so a week in advance, I made sure to show it to her and each day remind her of the fun we would have.

…what you wish for...

The fun day arrived, happily she put on the poufy splendor and after a picture snapped by Daddy we were off. Snow White greeted us and pinned a sash on my Princess. When asked her name she simply looked at me and said quietly "you tell her." She accepted her tiara with grace and sat in my lap as we listened to a story about a young girl, daydreaming of being a princess. She noticed a fellow Princess in our group was a friend from preschool and she seemed happy to see her.

"We have a fun day planned," Snow White explained to the eager little faces, "we are going to start in this room with dancing so we are prepared for the Ball, we will then make necklaces and have our hair and nails done, followed by a Princess parade and a tea party!" Certainly I was excited and thought my angel was too. When the music began and the instructor lined the girls up I encouraged my timid little royalty to stand next to her school friend for support. Not only did she not stand by her friend, she did not join the line of smiling faces but instead she found the smallest corner in the room and stuffed herself in to it.

Exasperated I decided to take the high road and say nothing at all, I figured soon she would see the fun the girls were having and she would want to join them. After what seemed like forever I felt the stares of the other mothers so I attempted to coax my shy one out of the corner. She refused and to emphasis her point she pulled her tiara over her eyes and hiked her dress up to her waist. So lady like, this one.

Feeling the desperation of her baby years creeping back in to my consciousness I hauled her out of the corner and demanded, quietly in her ear, that she sit with me on the chair if she wasn’t going to participate. Stubbornly she slid off my lap and attempted to squeeze in behind my chair. I was absolutely sure she would have fun if she just gave it a try so I offered to take her to her favorite fast food restaurant for a pink smoothie, knowing that a similar bribe had worked for my friends shy 3 year old at dance class the week before. Nothing I tried would convince her to approach the dance floor and so I threatened to leave, so sure she would not want to miss the fun yet to come.

Mercifully the dancing finally concluded and the young ladies followed Snow White to the next party room. We sat in front of a pile of lovely beads which were captivating to the others and elicited a collective “oh” and “ah” around the table. A quick glimpse of the rest of the room showed stations for nail polishing, up-do’s and wand making. I tried to bring all of this to the attention of my pride and joy but she was so far past caring that it seemed hopeless. I was finally pushed past my boiling point when she refused to even sit in the chair. I took her tiny, perfect little hand and led her out of the room, through the hall way and out the front door.

Just as I pressed the button to unlock the van I heard a little plea, coming from a sad little child next to me, “please we stay?” Shocked, I looked down to confirm this was actually coming from my daughter, the most uncooperative child in the whole tea party.

I explained that we would not be grumpy if we went back in, though the irritated tone in my voice certainly was not doing much to enforce my message. She agreed and so we started back towards the building. As we reached the front door she changed her mind and started back for the car. Stick a fork in me, I am done. No more tea party, no more niceties, no more, no more, no more.

When we arrived home I decided I would take it upon myself to drive home the puppy we were watching for the weekend. The 2 hour drive to my father’s house might be enough time to cool down and reflect on what I had done wrong. I did not say much as I led our daughter in to the house except to let my husband know that I had reached my end and was going to take the dog home, alone.

I was beyond mad as I drove across state, I didn’t even turn on the radio. I sat in complete silence, thinking over the past hour, and even my four legged passenger seemed to know better than to make more than a sigh as we drove.

When I reached my parents house I explained the reason for leaving behind my husband and children. My Dad laughed and my Step Mom reminded me of my youngest Step Sister when she was a child and the difficulty she had with participating and doing things on her own. I remembered it so well after she mentioned it that is surprised me I hadn’t thought of it sooner.

While a teenager, my younger sister, 4 years my junior, would hang out with my friends rather than her own. My friends were always very good about this and never seemed to mind. As a whole my family often wondered how my sister would manage to go off to college and yet she did just that and has been successful in her adult life. I mentioned to my Step Mom that I would not be so frustrated if my dear, sweet daughter would act shy and uncooperative all of the time and not just out in public, with a laugh she corrected me that it would be just as frustrating either way.

As we parted ways my Dad encouraged me to keep trying and eventually she would be comfortable enough to enjoy the events I signed her up for. For now, he reminded me, signing her up seems to be more for my benefit than hers and so I should not be so disappointed when it did not work out as perfectly as I had planned.

As I started my 2 hour drive home I thought over what they had said and decided that it must not be as bad as I was allowing myself to dwell on. I love my sister and would not change her in anyway, even back in the days when she preferred to follow me around rather than be with her own friends. She has grown up in to a wonderful mother, wife and sister. Above all, my sister is an outstanding woman and with time, patience and understanding I am certain my daughter will be too.

27 of 52

2009-09-25T20:37:00.001-04:00

Today is Thursday. Yes, it is. Don't argue with me, if I say it is Thursday, well, then it darn well better be Thursday. Don't make me come over there... Okay, now that we are on the same page - Happy Thursday!

On this lovely Autumn day, I can't help but wonder - Does this child ever smile? Bribes don't work, threats don't work {ahem, not that I'd try that...}, hugs and kisses only make her more angry. Where is her smile, I continue to wonder...

A-ha!

It is hidden beneath the bubbles. Who knew...

Visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans, she is the genuis behind 52 Weeks.

******************52 Weeks********************

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26 of 52

2009-09-17T06:00:00.001-04:00

New-To-Us Skates!

I found these gems at our local Good Will as I hunted for bits and pieces to fashion each child's requested Halloween costume for this fall. I paid less than $10 for both pairs, so when they get bored with them after a few days it won't break my heart.

Helmets securely fastened, we took to the lot, but both Topher and Lilly soon found their skills lacking. Mom to the rescue! I unbelievably found the patience I needed to repeatedly walk both kids around and around the parking lot, giving pointers and guiding balance.

Lilly's skates are way too big, so it was pretty great entertainment to see her try so hard with such an impossible task. Thankfully she has years to learn and plenty of room to grow {her feet anyway}.

Skate to Carin's at Forever in Blue Jeans, she is always doing something fun!

******************52 Weeks********************

**************************************

The Empty, Wobbily Stroller: A Retelling

2009-09-13T20:03:00.000-04:00

Thursday, Lillian's second day of preschool, found me debating the best way to pick her up when class ended at noon. We live roughly 1 1/2 miles from preschool and I sat outside in the hot September weather wondering if it made more sense to ride my bike or walk the distance. Given Lilly's affinity for filling our free Wesco popcorn bucket whenever we are over that way I thought it would be best to walk, I could only imagine the scene she would make juggling an overflowing popcorn bucket and an ice cold mushy {her word for slushy}, most likely I would end up wearing much of the frozen treat on my back. No thank you!

Now, our road is super busy with no sidewalks, {another rant, for another day} which means I have the pleasure of walking down a narrow strip of shoulder, against traffic so I can see the car that will most likely hit me rather than a sneak attack from behind. Ya, old lady who shouldn't have her license anymore, I am talking to you! It is the thought of walking down the busy road that has me thinking just how ridiculous I am going to look pushing an empty stroller on my way to preschool. Solution? My iPod - because if I can't hear the people jeering at me then it isn't happening, right? Problem solved...

...or not, since the darn thing decided that exact moment would be ideal to die and need to be charged. “Let the weird looks and jeering begin”, I said to myself as I got ready to set out. Quick mental check - talking to myself while walking a beat-up empty stroller is not helping the situation. Maybe I should bring a large baby doll wrapped in a blanket with me, or at least a blanket balled up to confuse the people driving towards me. Then I thought of my insane daughter who would insist on wrapping up in the blanket on the way home even though the weather was hot for once this summer.

Okay, no baby doll, or blanket - so in my genius I pulled the shade down on the stroller, in an effort to make passerby's think perhaps they did not just see an empty stroller and it was just their imagination, because certainly no one would be that odd, right? Now I just needed one of those starched leashes that hold themselves up with out a dog at the end, to add to my air of mystery. Seriously, I feel so silly, like I am the town crazy who walks around caring for a plastic baby... you know who I'm talking about... and I don't wanna be that person, ever.

So, I set out, popcorn bucket in the basket and a few quarters in my pocket for the mushy. No biggie, I cross the road to walk against traffic, straighten my back and sucked in my stomach as I walked for the benefit of strength training… we in the lazy, couch potato world call this multi-tasking! See Billy Blanks, I know cardio and apply it in every day life, so ha!

Ten or twenty feet down the road I encountered my first dead animal, eww! Remember how I mentioned before that the shoulder is narrow? Right, so when a flat squirrel is facing you down the choices are pretty limited. 1. Walk over it – bleck! 2. Walk out in to the road around it – unless there is too much traffic 3. Squeeze between the remaining shoulder and the 6 foot ditch full of scum and trash. Okay, so option three wins and I do my best to not touch the dead hyde, however the wheel of the stroller catches the very edge of the toe nail and the thing actually flips up, vertical to the road, falls back down and vibrates from side to disgusting side for a few moments. Road kill flap jacks are so not on my list of favorite things. By my count I had a road kill obstacle course consisting of 5 squirrels’, 2 rabbits and something so far gone I have no idea what it used to be. Lovely.

A half mile in I pass my friend Sherry’s house and much to my chagrin her devastatingly handsome husband {that’s right, I said it} is pulling out of their driveway. I pushed on, hoping he wouldn’t recognize me or perhaps where ever he was setting out to was so important he would be solely focused on his destination. Um, no – he noticed me and waved a big ‘ol friendly southern howdy from his Jeep. I swear he was looking in his side mirror to see if, in fact, I was pushing a barren stroller. Yeah, Matt, it is what it looked like, and, yeah, I’ve been fitted for my straight jacket.

Another half mile down the road it occurred to me that the stroller is shaking, almost to the point that it is difficult to push. I have never had this happen before so it obviously has something to do with, oh I don’t know, being empty maybe? I gripped the handles tight, avoiding the exposed metal where a hunk of foam used to be and push on. As I heave the thing and it shakes more violently, I imagine one of the tread-bare tires flying off, certainly it is more than possible due to the unnatural angle the wheels are already operating at. Actually, I thought to myself {ya know, rather than talking to myself out loud}, if anything would make someone driving down the road think there is a child in the stroller it would be from the serious bend and apparent pressure that something is putting on it. If only…

To occupy my embarrassed mind I ran through the worst case scenario, that being if the tire did actually fly off, so I was prepared to act quickly. Well, it has given us 9 years of great service so I would be okay with ditching it along side of the road. What did you think I was gonna say – that I’d carry it home? Pish, whatever. With any luck it might just do it in front of that unsightly house on our road that already stores loads of junk out front and no one would be the wiser. Hey, don’t judge me – it isn’t as though it has a VIN and could be traced back to me, so long as the yard it dies in does not belong to one of the parents who recognize me at the boys school by my “ride,” which is often “parked” out front when I am at school with Lilly in tow. I suppose that does present a complication, so this darn thing had just better make it to and from with no further hassle.

Finally, I neared the main road the preschool is on. I really should not have worn jeans if I was planning on power walking a wayward stroller. Nothing says “I walked really far, really fast with a crappie stroller” like a sweaty Mom among the fresh, composed Mom’s who drove to pick up their children.

I should feel very fortunate that I have a narrow shoulder to walk along on my road because once I hit the main road there is nothing, nada, zip to walk along besides the road itself. The way I avoid holding up traffic, or joining the road kill brigade, is by cutting through the parking lot of a few restaurants, which caused me to wonder if people pulling in think I may be so desperate to go out to eat {or to the bar} that I am walking with my stroller there… I suppose nothing is impossible.

After I ran out of parking lot I skillfully scaled down a steep, dusty dirt hill of sorts in to the Wesco gas station parking lot. Nothing says mental patient like walking your stupid stroller by gas pumps – “Fill ‘er up with unleaded, won’t ya?” Actually, it is tempting to mess with people by pretending to top off my ride, maybe I should outfit it with a gas cap?

What could mess with my already damaged self-esteem more than walking with a phantom child down a busy road? Waiting by an even busier road, standing still until traffic clears, under the Pines Motel sign, which boasts “Recline with the Pine, nightly, weekly and monthly rates available.” FYI to my fellow preschool Moms’ – I was not reclining at the Pine. Thankyouverymuch!

So, I finally arrived at school and preceded to give myself a pep talk about how it is okay that I walk to and from school and that it is okay that I have the ugliest stroller in town. “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog-gone-it, people like me.” I repeated this mantra to myself and, at the last second before reaching the door, ditched it behind a large bush on the opposite side of the front door. So sue me, I was ready to abandon the stupid thing if it blew to pieces in a strangers yard, so no love lost, believe me.

I collected Lilly and heard about her fabulous day at school. We headed back outside and as much as I had hoped she would notice the stroller off to the side, in the distance, she did not and I had to point it out to her… and thus anyone nearby us. Hey, maybe I could start a self-help group, “Momma’s with a Stroller Complex.”

We waited to cross the road again, popcorn bucket in hand. Lilly charmed the clerk at the station with her darling smile, I paid for her multi-flavor mushy and we set off for home. This is where my story ends, for there was no more uncontrollable shaking and the flat animals were remarkably absent on the opposite side of the road. My baby girl rode happily oblivious in her ancient chariot, munching on her prized treats, and all was right in the world.

You need to try this: Zucchini Bread

2009-09-11T18:14:00.000-04:00

When life hands you exceptionally large zucchini's, make exceptionally tasty zucchini bread!

I have a ~~pesky~~ fun little habit of signing up for just about every random freebie I come across. Typically it takes an item so long to arrive that it is like Christmas in my mailbox every week when the little packages arrive. A sample of Cheerios for ma-wa? Oh, you shouldn't have! That being said, imagine my surprise when a nice little bound cookbook arrived, "How to Cook for Crohn's and Colitis," by Brenda Roscher. I believe Colitis is one of those words, like Pork, that sounds so unappetizing that equating it with tasty food seems impossible. Are you with me on this one? Bleck!

Trying to be a good wife, I know- I make it look so easy, I thought I would test out the zucchini bread recipe since I have three over grown gourds screaming to be made in to something before turning to a nat's dream home.

The results are in and the cookbook can stay! The bread turned out great and is healthy too, great combo in this house these days. It is so good that, well, I am blogging about it - so there. Even if you don't like zucchini you really do need to give this simply scrumptious bread a try.

Zucchini Bread

1/3 cup applesauce
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 small zucchinis, patted dry after shredding)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins (optional)

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat loaf pan or 4 mini loaf pans with vegetable spray
~In large bowl combine applesauce, eggs, zucchini, and vanilla and stir well. Add baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir well. Add dark brown sugar and granulated sugar and stir well. Stir in flour just until combined-do not overmix. Fold in dried cranberries or raisins, if desired.
~Pour batter into prepared loaf pan(s). Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (bake mini loaf pans 30-40 minutes.) Remove from pan(s) and cool on wire rack.
Yield: 1 loaf or 4 mini loaves, about 12 servings

25 of 52

2009-09-10T14:56:00.002-04:00

Thirty again! Yes, that is right - I am going backwards in age so when my birthday rolled around {as it seems to have the pesky habit of doing so every year...} I was delighted to erase a few years from my birth certificate. Go me!

We started a super fun weekend with the visit of a speedy ice cream truck... well, more of a sad looking Astro Van which closely resembled a rusty bullet as it sped down our busy street. Luckily with 8 arms waving wildly at the end of driveway we summoned the gal back and perused her wares... which were sadly limited and packed in dry ice. This picture of Nathan is exactly what it looks like - said young man managed to get his tounge STUCK to his ice cream bar. {What a look of compassion Topher has for his brothers pain} After a bit of patience and his warming breath he was free and managed to enjoy the treat without further incident. Whew!

On Saturday we packed the fam in to our sleek, rust free van and sped off like a bullet to Grand Haven for the day. I {heart} Rays from back in my High School days, so we stopped in and the kids experienced that fun little hamburger stand which we quickly took to the State Park and enjoyed on the sandy beach. For the first time this summer we enjoyed a hot, wind and seagull free day, now that is sayin' something.

Each of the kids took turns digging large holes and filling them back in with their bodies and loads of heavy sand, similar to small tombs - don't really see the appeal myself. Lilly couldn't resist getting back at Topher for all his naughty big brother crud he is always pulling on her... it was pretty funny to see how upset the little bit of water made him only after he saw who was pouring it.

Monday morning, the day of my birthday, the kids woke me up with breakfast in bed {which looked oddly like Mr. Magoo}, a GIANT card that spoke to me and a very nice gift of bath bubbles. Since that day I keep wishing a quick death to the battery of the card because it causes hours entertainment for Lilly now... *sigh*

After breakfast we headed out to the John Ball Park Zoo in Grand Rapids. Fun!

Could it be that Lilly was in a bad mood...again...even after a fun day at the zoo? Um, ya, which is usually the case anymore - I am so not looking forward to her teenage years if this is what her toddler years are like. Seriously.

We ended our fun-filled weekend with a yummy ice cream cake and two too many candles... I'm going backwards, remember? Guess I'll have to talk to the management about that one. Sunday night Patrick arranged for the kids to go to The Wonderful Sherry's {her new title from now on} house for about 4 hours so we could have alone time and go to dinner - so I vote this year as the absolute best birthday ever.

Forever in Blue Jeans is another fabulous place to be, go on over and check it out.

******************52 Weeks********************

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First Day of School: 2009

2009-09-09T20:43:00.001-04:00

Here we go again! Mom's most favorite time of year - the first day of school, oh yeah!

The boys became huge fans of the many Sonic the Hedgehog Wii games they found to rent during the summer so it was only fitting that their first day of school shirts displayed the little blue fella.

Nathan, the proud new 3rd grader, is sporting his new freckles from a bit too much sun in Mexico.

Once a ham, always a ham, Sir Topher - the 2nd grader!

The boys enjoyed returning to the same school for the second year, I did too because everyone was far more relaxed and comfortable with the new begining. The boys are enjoying their teachers and having fun seeing old friends and making new ones. It is hard to believe how fast they have grown but so exciting too!

Speaking of growing too fast... Lilly joined in on the first day fun with a super adorable new outfit! We are trying out a great preschool/daycare down the road, which is what is in the background. Wish us luck with that one - this girl is stubborn and morning is not her shiny time.

World Traveler: Nathan

2009-09-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

Nathan is the man this summer. While his family dutifully withdrew all vacation plans and tried out the new fad of "staycation" he was jet-setting across the country, all the way to Mexico. Every two years or so my Dad and Step Mom take an exotic vacation down to sunny Cancun for two weeks, taking along a grandchild or two. This year it was Nathan's turn to go and he was accompanied by his cousin, Devin, who is a year older. Little did my parents know what they were in for with those too... or did they? The lucky world travelers!

Nathan and Devin in the cockpit of the plane, how cool is that?!

Once they arrived in Cancun, my Dad, Angie, Devin and Nathan hopped on to a very nice bus and traveled 4 hours in to the country to my Aunt and Uncles house in Merida. I think maybe they are watching a movie in this picture...? Or they are just too sexy for the bus perhaps?

I really like this picture - two of my favorite fellas, Nathan and my Dad.

STOP! Two young hunks, lookin' for a good time.

The heat was more than anyone had anticipated, super high compared to anything the boys had ever experienced. Sleeping in hammocks, especially in the unbearable heat, is the preferred way to snooze the night away.

Super tasty fish and other great authentic foods were abundant. Nathan liked the fish and had so many new and exciting foods he had never heard of. I am so proud of him for trying so many different things.

The boys were able to play with there Mexico cousins, seeing the two younger ones for the very first time.

In the market the boys are picking out a hat from the vendors. What an interesting way to showcase your inventory... wonder if their necks are very sore at the end of the day?

Shark! Thank goodness it is just a baby one... not only were the boys intrigued by this little monster but so were my Dad and Angie - in fact Angie used the rough skin on the shark to file a chipped nail. Good thing the shark was dead or else it might have been ticked to be used as a nail file...

My Uncle Carlos took everyone to this beach along the ocean where flamingos migrate. There were thousands of pink flamingos up and down this coast, a breath-taking sight. Did you know flamingos get their pink color from eating krill and shrimp... brighter the pink = better eaters.

Holy smokes... wouldn't want to meet this fella in a dark alley at night... whoa.

More ruins the kids visited...

I am sure I'll get it wrong... this is a Senota (sp?) and an amazing sight

here the boys are flipping in to the water of the Senota - far braver than me!

They saw a sound and light show at these ruins, looks pretty neat!

Standing in more ruins. They saw so much but this blog would never end if I added all of the amazing pictures.

Chichen Itza, a super huge pyramid. When I went to Mexico back in 1995 we were able to climb the 365 stairs to the top but they no longer allow it. They arrived early enough to get pictures before the throngs of tourists showed up to mar the background of this great pic.

Lime Popsicles, a welcome relief from the scorching heat.

What a beautiful sight, wish I'd been there. The second week everyone headed back to Cancun to the resort for fun and sun!

So brave! Here the boys are floating high above the ocean in a para sail, just the two of them.

The tiny spot, way up high in the sky, is the boys para sail

I believe that these young men spent more time in the water than on dry land, it is a wonder they remembered how to walk at all.

The boys had a chance to go snorkeling in the ocean, what an incredible experience for them!

I'm savin' this one for his first girlfriend, hehehe!

The market downtown where Nathan tried his hand at negotiating for many, many treasures to bring home for his waiting family and, of course, for himself.

This is Princess the gi-normus snake and these are the crazy people who thought it was a good idea to hold this man eater...

I am almost sure she is enjoying herself way too much and likely would have put the thing in her suitcase and brought it home.

It would appear Dad has finally figured out just what this thing could actually do to him...
One last dip in the salty ocean...

The last day and I'd say those boys look like they had a great time and love there Grandma for giving them such an incredible experience.

Lillian is very excited with her hot pink sombrero her awesome big brother brought home for her. Adios Amigos!

Back to School Gift

2009-09-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

School is back in session next week, Mom's can I get a woot - woot? I love the new Staples commercial playing the Christmas song "The most wonderful time of year" and you see the Dad frolicking with a shopping cart and two very forlorn looking kids trudging behind... ha, ha - that Dad is ME! Okay, not really, but he embodies the very feeling that is radiating from my weary {this has been the longest summer, ever} self. I love my kiddos but they need structure that I am terrible at administering without an outside force, i.e. school.

This year I am excited to try my hand as the Secretary of our PTO. We have the best little PTO this side of US-31 and I really enjoy the events we are involved in all year long. To kick off the new school year I had the pleasure of putting together 36 "welcome back" gifts. I decided to do a survival theme and in that same vein decided on a reusable Rubbermaid tote to hold all of the treasures.

Inside the tote I supplied a bottle of water, cleverly decorated with a welcoming hanger holding a flavorful snippet. Laying next to it is a note pad, pack of Wet Ones {germs!}, single serve Milano cookies {yummy indulgence!} and a granola bar {for added energy of course!}. Next to those were a pen, pencil and ring tied together with coordinating ribbon. Hand sanitizer {germs, germs, germs!} and a little bundle containing a Shout wipe, a travel pack of Tylenol and a few band-aids {you just never know} sat in the bottom. To the left was a box of Sucrets {for dry/scratchy throats - hee, hee} and a small pack of Ice Breakers gum. Covering the gum is a two-stack of clever little Post-its held to together with a magnetic clip and on top of it all were a few Life Saver candies - need I say more?

Tissue paper matching the lid of the tote was layered in the bottom and then carefully covered the top of the items inside. In my mind it was like getting an awesome boxed lunch at an outing and the excitement when you see what lies behind the lid and the thin bit of tissue underneath. Way over thinking it? Yah, but that is what I do and now have an incredible outlet for it. Ha, ha!
Happy Back to School everyone!

24 of 52

2009-09-03T14:25:00.000-04:00

September, lovely September, my most favorite month of all.

I certainly could be considered bias of course because my birthday is in this lovely month but I am sure that is only a small part of it. School is starting, the days are a bit shorter {good for reinforcing reasonable bedtimes with those who insist bedtime exactly correlates to the sun setting and not the time on the clock}, the weather a bit cooler {love my hoodies!} and it begins to usher in my favorite season.

Being that summer in Michigan was unseasonably cool this year, which is putting it nicely as there are many stronger words I would LOVE to describe the weather this summer, most especially after last weeks miserable trip to the beach, but that is neither here nor there at this point... we were talking about September - remember? Ah, yes... so I have made the most of the cool weather and am especially pleased to have devoured so many great books in a few months time.

Yes, my friends, I have been doing a lot of reading! I currently am re-reading the first book of the Harry Potter series as "research" you might say. I am trying to follow the advice of a few wise friends and plunge forward with my own writing dream and have decided to study up on a few of my favorites to see what I want to write about and in what style.

I most definitely enjoy J.K. Rowlings style of writing and think it would be so rewarding to complete a novel that my kids would enjoy reading, something they can be proud of their old Mom for. Not saying that I am old or anything, just that someday I will be and then they can say that... oh, stop - we are all gonna get old so embrace those random gray hairs and enjoy the ride. Though I would really enjoy it if Lilly would quit reminding me that I am going to die someday and it might be because I get sick... geesh already.

I hope you have had a chance to enjoy a good book or two this summer. If you have read any great ones please leave the title and author for me in the comments, I'd love to join the fun!

Speaking of fun - get on over to Forever in Blue Jeans - Carin is gettin' us all in the pics.

******************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
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World Traveler: Lilly

2009-08-28T08:26:00.001-04:00

Not a world traveler so much as a Michigan traveler, Lilly spent a week with her Grandma Lily in the scenic Upper Peninsula. Normally this is a yearly summer vacation that we all take together but due to budget cuts we had canceled our plans to go. My Mom still kept her plans and wanted my kids to go with, however Lilly was the only one who had the week free and clear in her calendar.

On the road! After work on Friday Grandma Lily arrived in her red chariot to whisk Miss Lilly away for a fun week of summer fun. Little did the girl know she had a 10 hour trip ahead of her...
Pit stop! I see a theme developing... Grandma stopped for gas and the divine miss Lil insisted on getting popcorn from the gas station. I see that she also insisted on carrying her white puppy and if you look closely you can see the bottom end of her pastel bunny - both of which make great outdoor toys, not. It seems she had her way the whole week, we are now going through a "retraining" period. Ask me how that is going, no really, go ahead, I dare you...

10 hours later... she finally feel asleep a few hours before reaching the cottage. This looks so painful, she must have been beyond tired to handle sitting like that. Ouch!

The first few days were gorgeous, much to my chagrin. I had rationalized my disappointment in canceling our own trip by the assumption that if the weather down state was so cold this summer that it must be even worse in the U.P. Looks like I was wrong on dat one, 'eh. It was all fine in da U.P. 'eh.

The first weekend Lilly played non-stop...

She had two swim suit changes the first day alone. According to my Mom she was in the water by 8am the first day, despite arriving at 2am the night before. It looks so nice and sunny!

Chalk's away! This brings back memories of drawing on the same exact sidewalk with chalk when I was her age. My Mom and Bumpa said it was like having me around as a little girl again. That is until Lilly opened her mouth... I was not such an oppositional young thing as she insists on being. No really, I wasn't - I swear.

My Uncle Ron - Lilly's new favorite uncle. Sorry Uncle Ryan, you have been dethroned!

Slowly the weather turned and the sun disappeared for days on end. Every one still found ways to pass the time, such as a new game that I would call "scare Lilly by pretending to through her overboard."

Uncle Ryan, unable to unplug even on vacation. Guess it is a good thing or else I wouldn't have had daily picture updates to tide me over while my baby girl was gone.

This also brings back memories because Michigan weather is so unpredictable, especially the farther north you go. Many days were spent inside but thankfully Lil is awesome at self entertaining. Poker chips can be people too!

The night before leaving my Uncle Ron started a little bonfire, pretty cool looking isn't it?

To pass the cold days Lilly was introduced to some new games. She enjoyed Botche Ball and soon learned that if you walked your balls to the white ball and surrounded it you could avoid the hassle of tossing them and taking a chance on not winning.

Hi Ya! I am the winner and I'll prove it, come a little closer!

Lilly spent 9 days away from home, spending incredible quality time with her Grandma Lily, Great-Grandpa {my Bumpa}, Great Uncle Ron, Uncle Ryan and her new Aunt Claudia. She had a great time and did not get home sick once. She was so sad to leave the Cottage and declared, upon arriving home, that she is going to take all of us with her next year. I certainly hope she does.

23 of 52

2009-08-27T20:28:00.000-04:00

Feeling so lucky! This week I won a prize package from ABC and 123 courtesy of Carolina Pad company. The big 'ol box arrived on my door step via Fed Ex this morning and it was chocked full of awesome stuff. Sasquatch was the theme for the multiple pads of paper, folders and binder I received. I was feelin' like a kid in a candy store and you can bet it is mine-all-mine - no sharing in this house today.

Go visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans, she deserves the love for getting the word out that Mom needs to be seen and not just heard.

22 of 52

2009-08-21T15:20:00.000-04:00

Beach Babes...

tryin' to make the most of a very not-so-hot summer at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon.

Forever in Blue Jeans, party at Carin's place!

I want to thank you

2009-08-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

Lilly would like to thank all of the people who voted for her Mini Pizza Cups during the July Iron Chef: Kids Challenge. Exerting her culinary prowess she took away the title despite a fierce competition among 6 other kids, of which she was the youngest and had to battle her brother.

She would especially like to thank Heidi at Sacred and Profane for sending a prize of.... A MEEEELYON DOLLARS {picture Dr. Evil, finger to the corner of his mouth}, cleverly disguised as a Target gift card!
She received a private escort and personal body guard in to the store. Someone with her status of blogger infamy should not be stressed out with such every day tasks such as, gasp, walking or looking out for speeding cars in a parking lot full of children {I will get off my soapbox, ahem}.

Her personal assistant quickly turned down each requested aisle after aisle. "Pivot, Piv-ot!"

In order to appeal to the regular people who voted for her and to be a bit incognito in midst of paparazzi {me, with the camera...} she decided it would be wise to be seen paying for her treasure under her own power.

Despite her attempts to be one of the little people in this world it was quickly dashed when her awesomeness caused the door to open at her mere presence - reinforcing the fact that she is far superior to the common man.

Let us have a collective *sigh* and feel bad for her future husband, shall we?

21 of 52

2009-08-13T11:23:00.000-04:00

As Wednesday rolled along it dawned on me that I had not made time to be in any photos so far this week... old habits are hard to break I suppose. Last night I grabbed my camera and the child nearest me for a few candid shots - imagine this to be a strip of photos from a booth, if you will. This is our "funny" face

This is our "surprised" face

This is Lilly not hearing me say "make a nice smile" and sticking with the "surprised" face

This is me tickling Lilly out of her constant state of frozen "surprised" face

This is us tumbling after the stinker pushed off and took us both backwards, smack on the floor. I'll tumble for ya!

Lovin' the challenge, show some love at Forever in Blue Jeans!

Wordless Wednesday - Hard working girl

2009-08-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday is hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom.

Strawberry Tower

2009-08-11T08:09:00.000-04:00

As overheard in the Schweri kitchen, one hot and muggy Monday afternoon.

Topher: "Mom, I'm bored - can I play Wii?"
Mom: "No buddy, no more screen time. Find something else to do."
Topher: "Aw, Mom, that's no fair. There is nothing else to play with."
Mom: "Really, you don't have a million trains in your room that you just had to buy last month and now don't touch? How about the books you had to have from the book fair and have not read yet?"
Topher: "I read that book, two whole pages, but it is a looong one and will take forever!"
Mom: "That is the point, it will keep you busy for a long time... give it a try, please?!"
Topher: "That isn't fun. I'm bored. Can I go on the computer? Can I watch T.V.? Hey, what are you doing?"
Mom: "I am going to make a yummy Blueberry Dump Cake recipe I just saw, do you want to help?"
Topher: "Sure but can we use strawberries instead, I don't like blueberries. Can we add chocolate to it too?"
Mom: "I don't have enough strawberries for that. Plus I only have white cake mixes, oh, and one banana cake mix."
Topher: "Oooooo, can we make the banana cake mix, put chocolate on it and strawberries?"
Mom: "Okay buddy, get the cake mix and I'll grab the camera..."

...and so I give you Topher's Strawberry Tower Cake recipe:

Ingredients
1 box of banana cake mix
Oil
Eggs
Water
2 ripe bananas
Chocolate frosting
Strawberries (about one carton)
Chocolate sauce

Directions
1. Make cake as directed on box, careful to not drop egg shells in the mix and freak your Mom out.

2. Get grossed out as Mom adds the ripe bananas during the mixing process.

3. Burn your finger as you insist on putting the pans in the oven yourself to bake as directed and cool.

4. While the cakes bake, and after soothing your finger with a cold washcloth, cut strawberries in to slices. Preferably oddly shaped slices that later will prove a challenge to lay flat on the cake and even get a bit mushy.

5. Once cakes are cool enough, who has the time or patience to wait for them to totally cool anyway, frost the bottom layer {and only the bottom layer, don't question the boys genius, it is futile to try} with chocolate frosting.

6. Now suddenly exert extreme patience and test your Mom's sanity by slowly putting slices of strawberry on the chocolate layer but not in any rhyme or reason so that at the end you have to forcefully shove pieces to cover each square inch.

7. Set second layer on top, and begrudgingly allow your Mom to help layer remaining strawberries on top - gotta know when to keep the peace. Make Mom feel even better by complimenting her choice in putting the large chunks on the outer edge.

8. Grab the chocolate sauce bottle and squirt as much as possible on the top of the strawberries until a grown-up forces you to cease and desist.

Victory!

Sound Off

2009-08-10T13:54:00.000-04:00

Hold on, I'm gonna rant today. I have been keeping all of this in my head for weeks and it is starting to take it's toll on my poor husband.

In June I started researching the Army Reserves and by July had done and passed just about everything needed to join, including the awkward telling of all my family and friends who mostly either thought I was crazy or were brave enough to actually tell me so. In the past few weeks I have decided to scrap the Army because it would be very unfair to my children to leave them for 4 months of training and then likely be deployed for a year or more during my 6 year commitment. After all, it is not their fault they ended up with parents who learned the hard way how to handle money and now are swimming in a lack of it (let's call it what is it -big, stupid debt).

So now, like every other hard working person out there, I am on a job hunt. This makes me mad and I will tell ya why - I don't want to work. Now I am not saying I never want to work again, but for the time being I want to be home with my kids and helping out at their school until they are older and decide they don't need Mom anymore (pssh, like that could happen).

My youngest child is three and won't be four until December 19th... let me translate - the child is 18 days past the cut off for school. Frustrating? Sure - but what makes it worse is that she misses the deadline for the FREE MSRP program... a huge solution to the "working just to pay daycare" dilemma I am faced with, which also makes me mad.

Do you know that the Head Start people told me for my family of 5 we would need to make $25,000 a year or less to qualify for the program? Well, I didn't actually expect you would know that, but doesn't it fry you to think of it? $25,000 a year, really? We have fairly average expenses, one car and no house payment and barely make it on $31,000 a year.

So, my point is that in order to avoid an extreme like joining the Army (I would have had my student loans paid off and a $20,000 sign-on bonus) I need to pay someone else to care for my children 9 hours a day and still have enough left over to pay for gas and the second car we will need to acquire plus contribute to our spendable cash flow. **sigh** sounds easy enough... right?

What happened to the time when a family could live on one income? Why is it so difficult to find suitable childcare that doesn't suck a parent dry? Why aren't there more programs to help, rather than hinder, working parents? If ever this country needed to start an overhaul of a system I would say this is it. How the heck did our parents do it?

While I am mad - lets talk updating resumes of Stay-At-Home-Moms, shall we? I have a degree in Human Resources and worked in the field for about 10 years, and enjoyed it less each and every year. I want to help people and be involved in the work place but instead I was stuck behind my desk, with loads of paper work, delicately balancing the employers best interest with the needs of the employees. Guess who usually won out?

In the past three years I have had a smattering of odd jobs, only one of which I actually enjoyed but had to leave after only 9 months because we moved.

I spent last year substitute teaching and loved it, I met a lot of teachers and staff that I would not have normally and was able to get a glimpse in to my boys day. Does that pay well -nope, does it translate well on to a resume - nope, is it relevant to my prior work history - barely.

Rather than looking like the hard working person that I am in real life this single sheet of paper has me portrayed as a job hoping, gaps-in-employment explaining, removed from my line of work hopeful who wants to be your next employee. Promising, I know.

To sum it up - working Mom's need a break and stay-at-home Mom's need, well, a break too. The whole thing makes me mad {duh, you suppose} and so darn frustrated. When my daughter is finally old enough for 1st grade {read: whole day of school} this will all be a distant memory - partly due to the fact that I also suffer from "mommy brain," but that is a whole 'nother entry, that I'll probably forget to write {get it, cuz my memory is bad...}- and I will wonder why I was so fired up.

Thanks for sticking with me through this mammoth rant... I needed to get it out there. I love my husband and my kids and feel terrible each day that this consumes me and makes me a bear to live with. I absolutely take for granted all of the things that I do have and am trying to stay focused on those...

If you know of anyone looking to hire a SAHM and is paying, oh say, $100,000 a year to allow her to stay home feel free to pass along my name, 'kay? *wink*

20 of 52

2009-08-06T16:19:00.000-04:00

Good friends are essential in life. Why is it in our efforts to be a good friend we rarely call on our friends to help us out {imagine!}, but often insist they call us when help is needed?

If you don't know what I am talking about then may I suggest a new set of friends? Oooo, is that a bit of "tough love" I am throwing out? You bet and I feel the best to deal it because I am notorious for wondering why my friends didn't call me to watch their children or to make them a meal or to pick up something in a time of need and yet, and yet, who do I call when I am on the potential receiving end - um, not a single person except perhaps my parents {and I am fairly certain I have tapped that line too much already}.

When we were losing our house a few years ago and I attempted to work a third shift factory job to save it who did I call on to help watch my three young children so I could sleep? Not a single person... instead I fought to stay awake all day after working until Patrick came home at 6:30pm. I can not even tell you how much it still hurts me when I think of the look of my dear neighbor when I finally came clean about that summer and she knew I did not lean on her to watch the kids... something I will never do to a friend again.

What leads me to this? Well, this email is super deep for all that it amounts to is a picture of Patrick and myself out hiking at Snug Harbor. Do you know why we were able to take that hike? I took the time to ask my friend if she had a few hours in her day to take my children so that we could have some "kid free" time. We have done this more in the past two months than the whole 10 years of our marriage. It has finally dawned on me that my friends are far more likely to take me up on offers of help if I allow them to help me first.

If I hadn't taken the time look at what we would have missed...

Visit Forever in Blue Jeans, this is catchin' on!

19 of 52

2009-07-30T19:00:00.000-04:00

Why on earth, you may wonder, didn't I take the red eye out of this photo? Look a little closer and you will see white "spots" in my hair - nope, not gray hairs... although those are lurking in there... it is droplets of milk. I would have loved to reduce the red eye but you can not take the pure mixture of disbelief and unadulterated anger out of a persons eye, no matter how hard the editing program tries.

The disbelief comes from the knowledge that I knowingly brought three children in to the world and yet at this very moment would do just about anything to send them out of my house. This is the longest summer on record between the end of last school year and the beginning of next school year added with the super cool temps shaken by the lack of a vehicle grinds up this less-than-patient mama.

On this day we spent over 3 {excruciating} hours in the car returning from a less-than-awesome 3 day visit to my MIL's house of oddities. It was capped off by getting home and immediately needing to make dinner, which was finished off with Lillian falling out of her chair while holding a full cup of milk. Said milk then became a projectile which skillfully landed on my head and all places gravity was so kind to administer it. Uh, huh - so a crummy day ended with me lookin' like this:

Take note of the middle child's face, he knows when someone else is about to get it and he is SURE glad it isn't him. { I totally remember that feeling when I was a kid, my Mom was insane and it was good to be on the winning side of it!} Notice, also, if you would the puddles of milk and the sneaky cat who is taking full advantage of the situation {but careful to stay out of range of my foot}.

Seeing how steamy mad I was about this you might be curious how I was able to snap a picture. Even in my insanity I know a good photo op when I see {experience} one. Patrick grabbed a bunch of paper towels and then the camera and captured this precious moment.

The child responsible...???

I think I've seen those red gleaming eyes somewhere before, like looking in a mirror really. Brilliant!

Visit Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans for other Mom's who, I am certain, are having a better day.

What's Google Got to Do With It?

2009-07-29T20:43:00.000-04:00

Type in "[your name] needs" in the Google search
Shelby needs to show his own birth certificate before he calls on anyone else to show theirs.
... kinda bothered by the "him" part of the statement - I was marked as a male on a medical form just a week ago and get mail for Mr. Shelby Schweri often... **sigh**

"[your name] looks like"
Shelby looks like she is saying "Oh yeah! this is the life! ... Although Shelby looks like a clam, appearances can be deceiving...
okay, I sense a theme with my google hits - it either came up with Senator Richard Shelby or, as in this one, a pug named Shelby who has her own website. So, basically, I am a old man or an ugly dog - I will leave that to you to figure out in the remainder of this blog post... tread lightly my friend.

"[your name] wants"
Shelby wants Senate to filibuster stimulus bill!
sure would be helpful if I'd paid more attention to my history book and less to the history student teacher in 6th grade... **big sigh**

"[your name] does"
Shelby does hair!
if you ask my daughter I am certain she will not agree about the doing hair part - administering unspeakable torture to her small head is more likely

"[your name] hates"
Shelby hates Tickle Me Elmo!
oh come on, Elmo is my "mommy needs a quick shower" ace-in-the-hole... I could never hate that little fury red fella {even if he does insist on asking a baby a question it can't possibly answer and then scaring it with a full face kiss... anyone else find that strange?}

"[your name] asks"
Shelby asks Big Three CEO, is 25 Billion Enough?
well, is it?

"[your name] likes"
Shelby likes to eat cheese, butterflies, bacon, bubbles, flowers, twigs, grass, greenies, paper, ice cubes, cherry tomatoes ...
sometimes I get munchy and there isn't much in the house, don't judge me!

"[your name] eats"
Shelby eats Cheerios!
where's the shame in that? Lowered my cholesterol in 6 weeks... Patrick is still working on the garage...

"[your name] wears"
Shelby wears is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Shelby Wears and others you may know.
this one made me laugh out loud - which scared the cat- which scratched the "I need a band-aid" kid- which made me put the cat in "time out" {not joking about that one my friends}

"[your name] was arrested for"
Shelby was arrested for Purchasing Vehicles with Bad Checks!
good to know you can buy cars with checks, hafta try that one out... and I've been walking every where for the past year - geez!

"[your name] loves"
Shelby loves Pork!
if you can believe it I am stumped on this one, I do like pork and can't think of anything to say that is g-rated.

Fun, fun, fun is what this post is. Thanks Katie for pulling me out of my bloggy slump. Give this meme a try and post back here if you do, I mean WHEN you do. Life it to short to not have fun with it... now where is the check book, I need me a car.

10 Amazing Years

2009-07-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

Ten years later and still so in love...

St. John's Episcopal Church, Alma, MI

July 24, 1999

The hottest day that summer!

Our wedding party

Ballard side of the family

Morrison side of the family

Schweri side of the family

Mother-Son Dance

Father-Daughter Dance

First Dance

Our wedding photographer had one heck of a sense of humor

The cake was good but really under-decorated in hind sight

Bridesmaids sneaking some groom time

Bride surrounded by handsome faces

Millionth kiss to the clinking of glasses
**************************************************************************

Remembering those we've lost in the past ten years:

Patrick's Dad

My Uncle Greg, a very talented man who played the music at our wedding

My Grandpa Stewart

18 of 52

2009-07-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

Blueberry picking time!

Being beyond restless yesterday I was excited to see Reendeers blueberry farm was open and ready for U-pick. I took the kids and spent an hour picking the biggest berries I have seen in a long time. I was concerned the cold summer would have affected them but it certainly didn't seem to. Lilly and Topher didn't last long but Nathan was a great help and picked nearly a full bucket himself. I filled a bucket and after combining the little bit from the younger kids with Nathan's bounty we had almost 10 pounds!

So much fun at Forever in Blue Jeans, the place for Mom's to put themselves in the front!

******************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
**************************************

Hiking at Snug Harbour

2009-07-22T06:00:00.000-04:00

Awaken the senses
Explore and learn
Treasure the seasons
Natures' beauty at every turn

Climbing rocks
Walking trails
Leaves and grasses
The surface we sail

Open yourself up
Listen with your heart
Hear the wild calling
Become a whole, not part

Enjoy the majesty
Take in the sublime
Don't rush
Take time

Feel the wonder
The breeze on the air
Feel the sunlight
And be aware

Magnificent and beautiful
All coexisting
Excellence and perfection
The power of hiking

by Angel Sharum

Happy 7th Birthday, Topher!

2009-07-21T08:03:00.000-04:00

This past week we celebrated Topher's 7th birthday. Since this fella was 3 years old he has been in love with Thomas the Tank Engine and anything {seriously, anything} to do with trains.

When he was 4 we took him to ride Thomas at Huckleberry Railroad in Flint and he was giddy the whole time.

Each year, since that 3rd birthday, Toph has requested a Thomas cake of some sort. The first year was simply a generic train cake pan decorated to resemble Thomas the Tank Engine. His 4th birthday was an actual Thomas the Tank Engine cake pan, his 5th birthday was a scale size replica of James, James' tender and several box cars.

Last year, for his 6th birthday Sir Tophs-a-lot requested a cake with Cranky the Crane... which I managed to make.

Each year this guy sets the bar a little higher and requested a scene from a Thomas episode.

So, my friends, I give you "James in a Mess." In this episode James crashes in to a line of Tar cars after being cheeky to the other engines and shunting the freight cars quite dreadfully. Percy and Toby come to help clear the wreckage and take James to the freight yard to be mended and cleaned {cuz he has tar dripping down his face... you see...}

I used two 9x13 pans to make a cake long enough to hold all of the cars. Swiss Cake Rolls play a special role here as Tar Cars and Raisinettes took a turn as coal in the cars James is hauling. I frosted the whole cake green and put a chocolate frosting layer down the middle with Oreo crumbs on top of that. I swiped landscaping items from Topher's train table and plunked a few Rolo's in to Percy's car to resemble the spools he was hauling in the episode.

This is the super happy birthday boy, about to blow out his candle. Does this cake look super long or what... thank goodness people at Patrick's work aren't picky about cake that looks super odd with the decorations missing. I couldn't leave the cake sitting around the house now could I? Not one of my three children are big candy, cake or ice cream eaters so it would have either sat until moldy or I would have felt bad for all of the Ethiopian children who are starving and ate the whole thing myself - which would have prompted a whole 'nother blog post in itself... and I just don't want to go there - k?

We decided against holding parities for the kids this year for many different reasons. We live pretty far away from everyone now, we don't have the extra $ and I would have to clean my house - oh, the horror at the mere thought! The upside of no party is that Topher was able to talk to many family members via phone and he received loads of cards in the mail starting the week before and going in to the week after his birthday, not too shabby.

One of the highlights of this particular birthday was the special trip to Toys-R-Us. We signed the kids up in the birthday club years ago and now they get a fun little gift certificate to use in the store for money off a purchase. When they arrive at the store they are given a fun crown and Mylar balloon to wear. The extra perk this year was Toph's choice of a few different free items, he went for a free hair cut at SportsClips.

SportsClips is awesome! This was Topher's first time there so he was given the MVP treatment. After his haircut he was given a scalp massage, a hot towel treatment, a back massage and special glue for his mohawk to spike it up just right. I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

This was a super fun birthday that this super fun boy is not soon to forget!

17 of 52

2009-07-17T10:28:00.000-04:00

A day late and a week later... I have finally posted to my blog after a whole week. This should have been posted yesterday for the carnival and the picture is from the 4th of July last week but wouldn't load when I tried to add it to last Thursday's post. Better late than never!

Andrea and I have been friends since 8th grade and enjoy the chance to get together and let our kids play. She has the most adorable kids and my little Lilly loves to play with her oldest Maddy - they loved the fireworks too!

Forever in Blue Jeans, keepin' it real!

16 of 52

2009-07-09T13:54:00.000-04:00

What a fun week we've had! On the 4th of July we watched fireworks with great friends. The fireworks, however, were not so great... sign of the times???

Here is a great one the kids snapped of my and Patrick before the show began. Pretty darn sweet, I know, I know.

Carin at Forever in Blue Jeans has a great picture of herself with her Mom, so head on over and check it out. While you are there visit all of the other Mom's who are getting in front of their cameras, they would love a visit!

********************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
**************************************

Iron Chef: Kid Chef Nathan

2009-07-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

Last but certainly not least, here is the third submission for the Sacred and Profane Iron Chef:Blogstyle Kid Chef Challenge!

Nathan was very excited when he picked out this recipe, I was very excited that he could handle making the whole thing himself with very little supervision {isn't that every mother's dream?} As Heidi says "I'm looking for kid's that cook a meal - easy or hard, as long as THEY do it. There's no pride in doing your kids science project for them, is there? No. Shame, shame, shame."

Impress us, Chef Nathan!

Corn Dog Twists

Ingredients:
• 1 tube (11-1/2 ounces) refrigerated corn bread twists
• 8 hot dogs
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Separate corn bread twists; wrap one strip around each hot dog

Brush with butter;

sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake at 375° for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 8 servings.

Serve with mustard, ketchup or your favorite dipping sauce. Dig In!

Mom Note: after two grocery store runs I was unable to find corn bread twists so we used the regular kind instead, but still with great results!

Iron Chef: Kid Chef Topher

2009-07-05T06:27:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the second installment of Iron Chef:Blogstyle Kid Chef Challenge!

Today's competitor is Topher, a nearly 7yr old boy, full of you-know-what. The rules on Sacred and Profane state "This month's theme is Kid Chefs. I'm looking for kid's that cook a meal - easy or hard, as long as THEY do it. There's no pride in doing your kids science project for them, is there? No. Shame, shame, shame."

...and yet my special little Topher, my dear "make things more difficult than the need to be" Topher, the epitome of the middle child Topher has decided his submission shall be an ice cream treat that has the vaguest directions ever. I suppose when I was nearly 7 yrs old an ice cream treat would have been the ideal meal, so we'll roll with it and see what happens.

On to the recipe:

Brain Freeze Ice Cream Sundae

What you need:
• A blender
• ice cream
• chocolate syrup
• 1/2 cup ice
• 1 - 2 cups of milk

Put the ice cream, ice and

chocolate syrup in the blender. The amount of chocolate syrup depends on how chocolate you like it

Pour the milk in but don't make it too milky.

Blend until thick and creamy to drink.

YUM!

Mom Note: This drink really isn't much of a sundae, more of a very cold shake. We put nearly 1/3 of the half gallon and 3 cups of ice plus a ton of chocolate sauce to make it just right. It filled three of the glasses shown when done. Topher picked peanut butter cup ice cream so it was super yummy!

Fun on the Fourth

2009-07-04T15:43:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July! We spent most of today doing much needed yard work around our church. With any luck we worked off enough calories to allow a splurge tonight at our friends BBQ. We can hardly wait to walk downtown Grand Haven and see the fireworks... of course watching the hill they light the fireworks from catch on fire is pretty darn entertaining also. {oh, my}

We will be taking these darling little American Flag Cheesecake Bars with us too... I simply can't wait to enjoy one! I would share the recipe (it came out of this months All You Magazine) but since each little square holds 32g of fat {I am not kidding} I cannot, in good conscience, do that to you.

Have a safe and happy fourth!

Iron Chef: Kid Chef Lillian

2009-07-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

Now talk about fun, Heidi at Sacred and Profane has proclaimed this months Iron Chef Challenge to be: Kid Chefs! As Heidi said "I'm looking for kid's that cook a meal - easy or hard, as long as THEY do it. There's no pride in doing your kids science project for them, is there? No. Shame, shame, shame."

I asked my darling trio if they were interested and then ducked as they mobbed the computer to search for kid friendly recipes. To make it fair I am going to post three seperate times when each child makes their selected recipe.

Today our chef is - Lillian!

Mini Pizza Cups
Ingredients:
• 1 tube (11.3 ounces) refrigerated dinner rolls
• 1 can (8 ounces) pizza sauce
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/3 cup finely chopped green pepper
• 2 ounces sliced turkey pepperoni, chopped
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Separate dough into eight rolls; cut each into quarters. Press dough onto the bottom and up the sides of miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray

Spoon pizza sauce into each cup

Sprinkle with onion, green pepper, pepperoni

and cheese

Bake at 375° for 15-18 minutes or until crusts are browned and cheese is melted

Yield: 32 appetizers

Enjoy!!!

15 of 52

2009-07-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

Tuesday night we braved the 60 degree weather (in late June!) to attend Nathan's baseball picnic. The boys were fielding crazy fly balls from the coach while Lilly did laps on the shuffle board court... and since Patrick and I over did it on the yummy pizza and awesome desserts we took turns joining her - even though we looked pretty darn silly and likely didn't burn any of it off. Anything for that little blue-eyed girl!

Forever in Blue Jeans, making it all happen

Saturday Salads

2009-06-27T06:00:00.000-04:00

This salad is the only one I actually make from memory and thus have no specific measurements. It has a little sweetness to it that I love. It is my absolute favorite because my Mom made it all of the time when I was a kid, so it takes me back to the time when I didn't have bills, cars and kids to worry about. :) Enjoy!

Mom's Pasta Salad

1 box sea shell noodles

1 small container Cool Whip

Mayo

2 cans of tuna or chicken

1 package of sweet or baby peas

Garlic salt

Shredded Cheese

Boil noodles, drain and rinse with cold water. I often will spin my noodles in my salad spinner so the dressing will coat the noodles better. Add a couple big scoops of cool whip and mayo and two big shakes of garlic salt. Mix and taste, add more mayo and/or cool whip as needed. Add peas and tuna, mix and taste. When everything tastes well mixed add the cheese and refrigerate. This is one of those salads that tastes even better the next day.

Visit A List Maker's Life for more summer salads!

What to blog about?

2009-06-26T19:07:00.000-04:00

Good evening (or morning if you've already made your rounds) and welcome to the post that is about nothing in particular but exciting just the same. Huh? Well, anyway... here is what I have to show for today:

I FINALLY cleaned my scrapbook/craft area! We are talking about years of *stuff* that has been moved from house to house and never organized. During Lent I threw away a ton of old birthday cards, school memento's that meant something at the time but years later draw a blank and other odds and ends I thought I might use. The result was a lot less to organize and slowly I have been adding appropriate shelves and drawers and the end result is this glorious area. I even finished scrapping Christmas 2007 and started Christmas 2008!!!! (yes, that is a cat on my scrap table... he can hardly believe it either, he thought all of that junk was holding itself up this whole time)

The other exciting event today, other than the awesome lack of humidity, is the discovery of an ice cream truck in our neighborhood! Okay, I admit that the kids are far more excited than me and as the summer wears on so will my patience and lack of money... but hey, for today, it was fun. I am certain the ants are loving all of the pink melty spots left by Lilly and her Pink Panther concoction. EEEWWW!

Have a great weekend!!!

14 of 52

2009-06-25T12:25:00.000-04:00

The good times never end! Yesterday, while browsing my family's Nystrom Cottage website, I came across these great pics taken by my Mom. Now I know the wedding was over a month ago... but my lack of being in pictures this week as well as how much I really like the one with all of my babies is reason enough to keep the party going.

Visit Forever in Blue Jeans for more Marvelous Moms

Father's Day Fun

2009-06-22T11:26:00.000-04:00

What a fun Father's Day! We started out with a special gift for Patrick, a hard bound book full of pictures of the kids. We snuck away to the park a week before Nathan left for his loooong trip to Mexico (and thus missed Father's Day) and I snapped pictures of the kids wearing three of Patrick's favorite Redwings hockey jerseys. Lilly is wearing a jersey with our last name that I had made for Patrick as a wedding gift, almost 10 years ago.

We enjoyed breakfast at Perkins, picked up a few snacks and bottled water and headed out to Michigan's Adventure! Topher had fun taking Daddy on all of the rides he is finally tall enough for, he is far more of a thrill seeker than I would have ever imagined.

Lilly loved the "flying" elephants and airplanes but freaked out on the log ride, we generated many stares from people as she screamed her head off. The water park was a wonderful and refreshing treat in the hot afternoon.

What a fun way to spend Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T06:00:00.000-04:00

Father's Day Fun at Fifth-Third Ballpark, 2007

this year we are heading over to Michigan's Adventure... woo hoo! Here's hoping your Father's Day is full of fun in the sun thrill rides too!

Saturday Salads

2009-06-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Broccoli Slaw

1 pkg broccoli slaw
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup slivered almonds
8 green onions chopped
2 pkgs Ramen Noodles, broken

Dressing to Toss with above
½ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
6 Tbs rice vinegar
Pepper to taste

Refrigerate until ready to serve

This recipe is so great, the folks who we stayed with last summer made this all of the time so we enjoyed it daily.

Heidi's Iron Chef:Blogstyle Summer Salad challenge has a very similar salad listed, a Ramen Noodle salad that is much simpler and just as tasty... which is hard to admit because I of course want my salad to win.

Speaking of which, there are only 4 days left to vote so head on over to Sacred and Profane and vote for my Pepperoni Pasta salad, ya know, if it's your fav of the three.

Saturday Salads is hosted by Katie at A List Makers Life, go on over and see what everyone else is tossing together today.

Father's Day Card

2009-06-19T11:52:00.000-04:00

Taking some of the fun pictures from our park adventure last week I made this collage, printed it as a 4x6 photo and attached it to blank cream colored card stock. Wah-la! A fun homemade Father's Day card for pennies that is so much more meaningful than a store bought card. It was a huge savings so I was able to send one to not only my Dad but my Grandfathers too.

I also put together a super great gift for my husband but since he checks my blog I will have to reveal just what that is on Sunday. Have a great day everyone!!!

13 of 52

2009-06-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know what to say except... I indulged my sons whim of having a pipe cleaner mustache and it was contagious.

Visit Forever in Blue Jeans, these Mom's are great and proud to show it.

Catch Up

2009-06-17T21:19:00.000-04:00

Where has the time gone? It is already Wednesday and if I see correctly my last post was Saturday... it may not be summer weather but we are definitely summer busy.

There is one little lady who isn't minding the rain showers one bit~

this past weekend we had fun with Grandma Schweri~

played a friendly game of 4-square for hours and hours~

celebrated a special niece's graduation and enjoyed some outside fun with oversized toys~

went to a Trader Joe's for the first time to find the ingredients to make a competitor's salad from the Iron Chef:Blogstyle challenge (there is still time to vote for me!)~

and wrapped everything up with fake mustaches at dinner - which is of course how all great things should end!

Saturday Salads

2009-06-13T07:36:00.000-04:00

Chicken nuggets on a salad? You bet and it tastes soooo good! I've made this several times and it is so easy and gives grown ups and "excuse" to enjoy nuggets once again. The first time I made this salad was also the first time I realized there was a difference between grated Parm and shredded Parm... who knew there was life outside of the grated kind?

(photo from Taste of Home.com)

Chicken Nugget Caesar Salad

Ingredients:
8 to 10 frozen breaded chicken breast nuggets
6 cups torn romaine
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing
3/4 cup Caesar salad croutons
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Bake chicken nuggets according to package directions; cut into fourths. In a large bowl, combine the romaine, mushrooms and chicken. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat. Sprinkle with croutons and Parmesan cheese. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Saturday Salads is hoted by A List Maker's Life, a fun blog with great recipes today!

p.s. there is still time to vote for my Iron Chef:Blogstyle salad at Sacred and Profane

12 of 52

2009-06-11T08:41:00.001-04:00

School ended this past Friday and so far we have stayed pretty busy, avoiding the "I'm bored" syndrome.

The last day was sad for the mommas, especially my friend {and previous PTO president} Sherry (green shirt) whose youngest "graduated" from 4th grade and will move to the Intermediate school for 5th and 6th next year. My other awesome PTO Mom friend Andi {and next years president} and I are sad because Sherry will not be around next year to help with all the fun and super busy PTO activities.

I have been very absent in my blogging lately and since I find that highly annoying when I regularly check other blogs {if it goes a more than 3 days anyway...} I want to apologize for falling in to my own hypocritical slump. Sunday thru Tuesday I just couldn't think of what to blog and spent much needed time attending to my house and *not* waking up to my alarm clock. hee, hee Wednesday I made the 2 hour trek to Alma to drop my oldest off at my parents house for his 2 week trip of a lifetime.

Last night was tough for us all. I brought home one of my Dad's dogs to help out while they are gone, so that alone was an adjustment for us, Wesley (the handsome dog below) and Nathan's cat. At bedtime it really came out how much the other kids missed their brother because they refused to go to sleep in their own beds. As we battled that never-ending battle the handsome young Wesley began to bark and bark and bark and... well you get the idea - it was driving us crazy. By the end of the night and many bed switching episodes later Patrick decided to just stay awake until the kids were asleep and he could move them. Wesley, however, had the privilege of sleeping in the bed all night long and still claims it as his own this morning. I think he is smirking at me in this photo...

So the moral of the story is this - I will do my darndest this summer to keep up on my blogging though if the sun does ever decide to shine long enough to warm this frozen tundra we live in it might be tough. Thanks for sticking with me!

Go to Forever in Bluejeans and get your picture on!

********************52 Weeks********************
52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. We are glad you are joining this challenge. More importantly your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Thanks for playing along! Oh, you can just jump in now with 1 of 52, you're not getting off that easy! Now go take a picture!
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