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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Touring Our Town

Yesterday we were on the go pretty much all day. I started the day by visiting a new preschool around the corner. My friend Dawn and I went to check it out. It was brand spanking new so it was nice to see the neatly arranged classrooms and what they had to offer. I don't think we'll be sending Evan there, but I'm hoping to maybe land a job there in the future so it's a possibility Em could end up there. We'll see what happens.

Then were were off as a family to be "tourists" in our town. The Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau coordinates this event yearly to increase community awareness of attractions around town. All you have to do is buy $1 passport per person (3 & under are free) and you can get into over 60 different attractions all day. While it would be impossible to make all 60 because it's one day only from 10am-5pm, it's still a very good deal for $1 a person. You can choose as many or as little attractions to visit. We got a little later start than we wanted and had a graduation open house to attend in GR Saturday evening (more on this in a bit) so we knew we wouldn't get to very many, but figured for $3 total we'd visit a couple of the attractions. All the pictures from our day are in a slideshow link at the end.

We started out at the MSU Breslin Center for a behind the scenes tour. Now this was nothing new to Greg because he's been to most parts of the Breslin Center for work stuff. However, I thought Evan would like to see some of it and of course I was curious. Em was way more into the tour then I ever thought she would be. She was having a good time! We got to see where the men's and women's basketball team locker rooms are, and the lobby for the family of the men's basketball team. They keep current pictures posted in the lobby from the most recent basketball season. We didn't get to see in the men's locker room because it holds a lot of very expensive stuff for the basketball team. Including, plasma t.v.'s, Wii, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, Couches, Chairs, Bar & Bar Stools (no drinking, just set up as a place to sit), kitchen, oh and the teams actual lockers. Yes, quite a nice spread in there for the players. They have it so rough! This is fairly new, as the team has only had it for two seasons. Greg's actually been in there. Jealous! We also walked down on the floor of the Breslin Center which was set up for a high school graduation, and then into the back corridors where there's a wall of fame. Everyone who has ever performed (concerts, monster truck shows, kids shows, etc.) or spoke (graduation speakers, etc.) at Breslin Center has signed this wall. Hopefully one day there will be a couple Obama autographs! We also saw the practice courts which is two courts connected for both the men and women. All the Men's Final Four banners from which MSU has been to were hanging on the wall. The newest one from this years Final Four in Detroit was just hung this last week so we were some of the first to see it before most of the team has even seen it. A few other highlights were the visiting teams locker room, conference rooms, the box seats, and the tunnel, to name a few. We were even told that there is part of the lower level that isn't even finished yet and is still dirt because they don't have any use for it yet. I'm thinking the women's basketball team needs an upgrade on their locker room! I had forgotten my camera so we ended up going back after we finished some of the other attractions so I could get some pictures. So we actually toured twice, but the guy recognized us when we came back so he gave us a fast version of the tour so I could go to the spots where I wanted pictures.

After the Breslin Center we ran home to grab the camera and then headed to the the MSU Music School. Here the kids got to try out a bunch of different instruments. Evan seemed like an old pro taking on these instruments. He was able to make some sound when he tried out the trumpet, french horn, saxophone, and guitar. Here's a short video of him tootin' the French Horn:



I'm pretty sure we have one future rock star in the family if not two. Emmaline was into the instruments a lot too. She even tried to hold the flute after she saw mommy trying to play. (I played the flute in high school and haven't played since then.) I managed to make a little sound too. Here's some video of my little musicians, even Greg joined in on the fun.




The last attraction we visited was the MSU Bug House. There you could tour rooms with educational bug displays as well as handle live bugs. There were a ton of displays including butterflies, beetles, and bees to name a few. We saw a live hissing cockroach, Australian walking stick, & a huge tarantula. None of us wanted to handle any of them though. Both kids enjoyed looking at all the different bugs. Em really liked the pretend one's though that she could play with. Those were the only three attractions we visisted because we ran out of time and had to get on the road to the graduation open house I mentioned earlier. I will post more on that tomorrow, as it's getting late and my bed is sounding pretty good right now!

Hopefully next year we'll be able to do a little bit more of the tour. The kids had a lot of fun! It's really a great inexpensive way to do some things around town. Some of the other attractions were Potter Park Zoo, MSU Gardens, the two Nature Centers, MSU Dairy Store, Kresge Art Museum, the Capitol, Fire Station, and Impression 5 Museum to name a few. There are a lot of pictures in the slideshow from the three attractions we visited so you can get a better idea of the things we saw. Hope you enjoy!

Link to "Tourist" slideshow: http://tinyurl.com/np5su5

Weekend Breakfast

Some weekends we just have cereal for breakfast and other weekends we go all out and make a "special" breakfast! We used to go to this little local place for breakfast before we had kids called The Golden Harvest. We haven't been in a very long time because there is limited seating and the wait can be up to an hour. While we have gone with the kids, it has happened very often or like I said in a very long time because waiting with two kids for that long is not very fun. Besides it can get very smokey in there and it's not very pleasant. I can't stand a smokey place. When we used to go there though we'd often order breakfast burritos. They are super good if you ever do go there. So since we couldn't get there very much after having kids we decided to try making our own breakfast burritos. After trying to make them a few different ways, between Greg & I, we've mastered the breakfast burrito and it is now one of our "special" weekend breakfasts. We used to chop up green pepper and onion, but that took up a lot of extra time so now we just buy the hash browns with them in it. They do take a little time to prepare, but are definitely worth it! I've got my sister and mom hooked on them too. I'm including the recipe for your breakfast delight some morning. I recommend frying the sausage up ahead of time and shredding the cheese ahead of time (like the day before) and then it doesn't take as long to prepare the burritos in the morning.


Breakfast Burritos

1- 16oz. tube Bob Evan's Original Sausage
4 to 6 eggs scrambled
12 oz. bag of Western Style Hash Browns (half of a 24oz. bag)
Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese (or Hot Pepper Cheese)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Flour Tortillas

Fry sausage in frying pan and drain grease. Set aside. Saute hash browns in frying pan with a little oil. While hash browns are cooking, scramble eggs in separate frying pan ( I add little milk, salt, pepper, and shredded colby jack cheese to eggs) just like you would make normal scrambled eggs. Once hashbrowns & eggs are cooked combine together along with sausage. Sprinkle with pepper jack cheese and mix thoroughly. Heat tortilla (we use a tortilla pan), but you can just use a regular fry pan. Sometimes I put a little butter on both sides of tortilla and heat in frying pan to make it a little crispy, but it's good either way. Just depends on your preference. Sprinkle pepper jack cheese on tortilla to melt slightly. Fill tortilla with burrito mixture and sprinkle with more pepper jack cheese (amount depends on your liking). Roll into burrito and serve.

I usually use about 6 eggs so then we have some left over for breakfast the next couple days. You can really vary your amounts depending on how much you want to make. I've put in 8 or 10 eggs before to serve more people, and then adding a little more than half a bag of hashbrowns. If just want to make a little could just use 4 eggs, less hashbrowns and then don't use the whole tube of sausage. You get the idea. The amounts I listed in recipe does make a good amount and you will have leftovers. It actually tastes pretty good and sometimes better the second or third day for leftovers. We've even had leftovers for dinner the next day. You can also use whatever sausage you prefer- mild, hot, spicy and whatever brand. I usually by what's on sale- Bob Evan's, Meijer, Jimmy Dean's. I can no longer find shredded pepper jack cheese so I buy the block of pepper jack or hot pepper cheese and shred. This recipe does require dirtying a lot of pans so I try to wash as I go or cook the eggs in a larger pan that will fit the sausage and hash browns when combined. Enjoy!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Bunco

Well, I promised to share the details from last nights girl's night out and I've got lots to share. So here it goes. For those of you not familiar with Bunco and have no clue as to what it is, you're not alone. Almost a year ago, my good friend Wesley asked me if I wanted to go to Bunco one weekend. My response was, "What?" She says, "Do you want to go to Bunco Friday night?" Again, my response was, "What? What are you talking about?" So to make a long story short, I had no clue what Bunco was. I soon found out when I showed up for Bunco that weekend. I had beginners luck and won money and prizes! Now almost a year later, I've become a Bunco girl. Bunco is a dice game that you play with 12 women. It's pretty much a social night for women while they play the game, eat, drink, & win prizes. You bring a themed gift under $5 and $5 cash to play. There are three tables of four people. You roll for 1's in the first round 2's in the second, and so on through 6's, then start back with 1's. You can roll big buncos or baby buncos. If you roll the big Bunco you get the table prize (unless it's already been won at the table), and if you roll a baby Bunco then you get to choose from one of the $5 themed gifts people brought. Once those are all taken then you get to start taking prizes from each other, but if you've won the table prize nobody can take that from you. Sounds like fun, huh? Here is one version of what the Bunco kit looks like.


For last nights Bunco, my good friend Wesley and I hosted together. We decided on a beach theme for this month's Bunco. I was very excited about that because I've always thought that would be a good theme. So for the table prizes (big Bunco gift) this is what we came up with


Beach mat, beach towel, & couple of can cozies (Perfect for the beach!)


We had lots of delicious food and drinks! The menu included- chicken crescent rolls, El Az cheese dip & chips, guacamole, fruit & fruit dip, brownies, Sangria, Blue Hawaiian drink bucket (my favorite all night), & Mike's Hard Lemonade. Here's some pics of the goodies we consumed:



Here's some pics of the girls playing Bunco! We welcomed a few Bunco "virgins" last night, Dawn, Carmen, & Jess. Carmen ended up being a big winner- most wins, big Bunco table prize, and some baby bunco prizes. Big time beginners luck. I'm thinking Carmen might not be allowed to play for awhile. Just kidding Carmen! We loved having you there! (Carmen is in the second picture in the pink shirt.) Thanks to Wes for hosting Bunco with me! I had fun planning it with you and had a really fun night! (Wes is in the second pic too, in the brown tank)


So after a fun night, even though I wasn't a big winner like I was hoping for, it was still nice to have a girl's night out. I guess you can't win them all, but I don't like to lose so I'm really hoping I win big next time! At one point I was up to three baby bunco prizes, but two got taken throughout the game so I ended up with one prize. It was this candle below.


I'm including a recipe for the El Az Cheese Dip Wesley made because it was really really good!

El Azteco Cheese Dip

(Plan ahead: this is much better if it refrigerates overnight)
16 ounces small curd cottage cheese
16 ounces sour cream
8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
2 bunches green onions, chopped (or more, to taste)
1 medium jalapeno, chopped (or more, to taste)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1teaspoon garlic powder

Mix all together and serve with chips.

You can use pepper jack cheese instead and just leave out the jalapeno. Only prob with that is that you have to shred the pepper jack cheese because you can't find it shredded anymore.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Girl's Night Out

I'm back! Did you miss me for that one whole day? I really had to get some things done yesterday so I took a day off from blogging. I wanted to blog about my girl's night with Em while the boys camped, but I was too tired last night. We didn't do anything too exciting. Em didn't wake up from her nap until 5:30pm on Monday. She's been taking like four hour naps the past week. She must be going through a growth spurt. I'm not sure how long they're going to last, but I'm thinking I might be getting too used to them. What am I ever going to do when they're not that long? LOL. Once she woke from nap we had some dinner then made a Target run. I don't think I've told you yet, but I LOVE Target. One of my favorite places to shop! Then we came home and headed out for a walk. We stopped along the way to say "hi" to my friend Wesley and her daughter Chloe. Emmaline and Chloe are only like two weeks apart in age. We had a nice visit and walk. It was cooling off so we didn't stay out too long. After we got jammies on Em and I played and read books before bedtime. It took her a little longer than normal to go to sleep. I think she was missing Daddy. I was able to clean the pantry and get it organized once again after she went to sleep. Another check mark on the "to do list."

Tonight is another girl's night, but of different sorts. Tonight is girl's night out for us adults. It's Bunco night. I'm hoping for a big win tonight! I'll post all the details tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. My good friend Wesley and I are hosting together so it's sure to be a fun time! It's already been a pretty good day. The kids are behaving, Molly got a much needed bath and haircut at the groomers, and I found out I won something.

I belong to this group called Lansing Mom's Like Me (LMLM) It's a place where Lansing area moms can connect and share experiences about being a mom and woman. There are different discussion forums online, you can find out about different activities going on around town, there's a monthly mom's night out that you can attend, a monthly family night out, and much more. I recently joined back at the beginning of April so I'm a fairly new member, but I've found great amounts of info and am really enjoying being a part of it. I look forward to upcoming events that they sponsor, as well as meeting new moms. So today I'm checking my email and I have an email from LMLM. It said I was a winner of a family four pack of tickets to Impression 5 Museum, which is a hands on children's museum in downtown Lansing. It was one of the prizes LMLM was giving away if you stopped by their booth at the Art Festival and picked up a number for the drawing. There was originally six different prizes given away, but then they added ten additional four pack ticket giveaways so I was one of the additional 10. How cool is that? I never win anything so I'm looking forward to taking the kids to the museum sometime. Here below is a picture of my mommy bracelet I made at the "April Mom's Night Out" from LMLM. Great perks of being a member and it's FREE! Thanks, LMLM for all the great things you plan for us moms.



Here's Molly girl after her bath and haircut today. Now if she would only stay this way and out of the mud. Please no more rain for awhile!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Camping Adventures


As I mentioned yesterday, Evan and Greg went camping. They headed out about 2:30pm and were off for an afternoon and evening of camping adventures. While Greg loaded the car with all the camping stuff, Evan was sure to do his own packing and filled up his backpack with some things to take- his camera, toys, and a few books. They also took their bikes so they could do some riding out in the woods. Evan was super excited that his bike got to go on the bike rack on daddy's car.

Once they arrived out at Sleepy Hollow which is only 20 minutes north of here, they got to drive around and choose the campsite they wanted. They settled on a site that was kind of a shady spot and near the restrooms. After they got checked in, first up was getting the tent set up. Then Evan immediately picked his spot in the tent and got his sleeping bag opened up. Then it was off on a bike ride for the boys. They ended up at the beach and then the playground. Later back at the campsite, our neighbors Rich and Ryan were out at Sleepy Hollow bike riding and stopped by to visit with Greg and Evan. The boys decided to go back out on the bikes for a little bit to ride with Rich and Ryan, but Evan couldn't quite keep up so they headed back to the playground instead.

As dinner time approached, Greg worked on getting the campfire going while Evan played. They cooked hot dogs, frozen pretzels, and roasted marshmallows. Everything turned out well, however there were a few minor items that were missing. Greg forgot to pack newspaper for the fire, plates to eat on, and paper towels and wipes for clean up. Oops! Guess it's a lesson learned for next time.

Before bedtime Evan was missing Mommy a little bit so he had to call home to tell me he was having a good time, but he loved and missed me. Awwww! I missed him too. Anytime my little peanuts are away I miss them lots! So we chatted for a few then Evan & Daddy listened to some songs on the iPod, read some books, and called it a night and got all snuggled in the sleeping bags.

In the morning they got things packed up early because it was supposed to rain. Then they headed out on the trail for a hike before they headed home. They saw lots of wonderful nature things and stopped at the fishing pier along the way. Here they saw a ton of fish in the lake. Maybe next time they can take Evan's little fishing pole. On the hike it started to rain so they decided to bring the camping trip to an end and head home. It was a great time for the two of them, and now I've got a little biker and camper on my hands! I'm glad they were able to share in this experience. I'm sure there will be more camping trips to come! They took a lot of photos so I've put them into a slideshow to share with you!

You can view them here: http://tinyurl.com/qowz9n

Monday, May 25, 2009

Tweet Tweet

I made a discovery this past week and it made me think that my blog has officially earned its name! I bought this hanging basket a few weeks ago, sort of a Mother's Day gift to myself. I've got it hanging on our front porch. Here it is below.


Pretty huh? Then early last week I noticed some birds hanging out by it off and on. So I pulled it down to water it and noticed there was a birds nest in it. There were no eggs though so I did what probably wasn't a good thing, I had Greg take the nest out. I figured since there were no eggs it would be o.k. and my plant really needed some water. So all is well and the plant is doing good. It has actually filled out some since I bought it. Yeah, my green thumb is working!

Then on Saturday, I pulled the plant down again to water and fertilize it. This is what I found.

Ugh! Dang birds built a new nest and quickly laid two eggs. Grrrr. So now that there were eggs in this nest I didn't have the heart to take it out. Now I'm no ornithologist so I don't know much about birds, but I did know that it was red finches that had been hanging around. So I decided I'd do a little homework and read about the red finch. I found out there are different types of red finch and I'm taking a guess that these are the House Finch. I'm not 100% positive, but I think it's a good guess. I also learned that all the eggs are not laid at the same time. So after reading that I figured more than likely there would be more to come. Then Sunday I pulled the basket down again (this is when the bird flew out and I screamed) and guess what I found?


Yes, that's right, another egg. Now three eggs total. Two of them look the same, but as you can see one is different. I'm not sure why this is. Along with my findings online about the finch I also learned that it takes 12-14 days for the eggs to hatch and about 12-14 days for the baby birds to leave the nest. So we're talking almost a month here. Ugh. My poor flowers are not going to make it. I decided today I'd check the basket one more time and then I'd leave it alone and hope that maybe the basket will get a little water from any rain we get and hope it makes it. So when I looked in, there were only two eggs. One had falled out overnight sometime and was smashed on the porch. Poor egg. I'm thinking now, that may be all that's going to be in there since there were no new eggs this morning, we'll see. I'll keep you posted. Now that I've discovered a real nest at our red house I'm thinking that my blog's name is truly fitting and it has earned it's name. Tweet tweet!

Just The Girls

As this long holiday weekend comes to an end, it's going to be just the girls tonight. Emmaline and I will be spending the evening together while the boys head out. I'm not sure what we are going to do yet, but I'm almost positive it will involve a walk. This was supposed to be the week that Greg takes some vacation time and we were going to head to Chicago for a couple days. However, that plan ended up not working out so instead Greg's still taking some time off and he and Evan are headed out later this afternoon to go camping for the night. This is a first for Evan. Greg's been wanting to take him and finally this is the year. Last summer they pitched the tent in the backyard a few times to get Evan acquainted with sleeping outside. Now tonight they are headed just north of here to Sleepy Hollow to do some real camping. I will fill you in tomorrow how it went. Emmaline and I are staying home since I'm not all into the camping thing yet. I'm more of a hotel gal and like a bed and nice shower, plus I think Em wouldn't do so well right now sleeping in a tent. So it will be her and I spending some mommy/daughter time while Evan and Greg have some daddy/son time. It should be a quiet night though for me after Em goes to bed. I'm hoping to accomplish a few things on my to do list since I won't have any distractions!

In other news this weekend. Greg got the tires rotated on both cars. It was long overdue so now that's out of the way. I continue setting up for the garage sale. Holy crap, where did all this stuff come from? Just when I think there can't be any more baby and kids clothes I find another bag. All of you out there in need of some good kids clothes or know anyone that is, send them my way the weekend of June 5-6th. I've got plenty of boys and girls clothes up to 2T, as well as toys galore! Back to more yard work this afternoon, as the grass needs to be mowed again. One more item from the weekend. Yesterday, was animal day around here. I mentioned in my "Fun Facts" that a deer ran through the neighborhood. That was crazy. I was just talking to my neighbor Liana out on the front sidewalk and out of nowhere this deer comes hauling by from behind her house towards us and makes a turn down the street between some houses. Crazy stuff. I wish I would've thought fast enough to take my camera out of my pocket, but we were both so startled we kind of froze and didn't know what to do. Before the deer episode there was a bird episode. I pulled my hanging basket down to water and a bird flew out of it just about in my face. I'm sure if you were in the neighborhood you heard me scream! More to come on the bird story later....

A little side note: I meant to post this earlier in the week and forgot. Greg sends out his thanks for all the birthday cards and presents! Thanks to all!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sloppy Evan's

Earlier in the week I promised you some recipes. No, I haven't forgotten. I've just been a little busy and I've filled my blog posts with so much other info from the week that I thought I'd just hold off and put them in a separate post. In honor of Evan learning to ride his bike without training wheels this weekend I thought my first recipe should be one of his favorite things for dinner. It's SUPER easy and it's made often in our household especially in the summer! So without further ado, here's my recipe for Sloppy Evan's (a.k.a. Sloppy Joe's- I've renamed them because Evan loves them so much)

Sloppy Evan's (a.k.a- Sloppy Joe's)

Prep Time: 15 min. | Total: 20 min.

1-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
3-4 Tbsp brown sugar
Ketchup
Optional: 1/2 green pepper finely chopped

Brown meat in skillet, stirring occasionally. Drain. Combine meat, brown sugar, and ketchup in a pot. Mix well and heat thoroughly. Serve on hamburger buns and enjoy!

I don't ever measure the ketchup, when I make this. I just keep adding until the meat is covered and it's to a desired "sloppy" consistency. I usually use 1 1/2 lbs. of ground beef so we have some for leftovers, but if using only 1lb. then probably 3 Tbsp of brown sugar is enough. Occasionally I will add green peppers which is really good, but Evan doesn't like those so usually I make without.

So there you have it. I told you it was super simple. Once you make, you can adjust the measurements to your liking- i.e. more or less brown sugar, more ketchup. I got this recipe from my sister and it's served us well. It's an easy go to recipe for dinner when you want something fast.

Now that I have my first recipe posted, you may have noticed yet another section added, called "What's Cookin' On Shearwater Lane. " Here you will find a list of different labels that will link you back to recipes that have been in various posts. So instead of searching through all the posts to find that one recipe you wanted to try you can go to the label and click on it and it will take you back to the posts that contain recipes with that label.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Riding Like A Big Boy

Today was a big milestone for my little biker Evan. He got a new big boy bike this year because he outgrew his other bike and had pretty much mastered it with the training wheels. So when he got his new bike last month and started riding it, he had no trouble at all. A little higher off the ground, but with Evan behind the handle bars, no problem. He's riding it like a pro. We've been telling him that it's time to try without the training wheels. Since Greg is the bike person in the household he came up with a good idea. He took the pedals and training wheels off Evan's little old bike so he could scoot along using his feet. This way he could get the feel for what it's like with no training wheels, but still be able to have his feet close to the ground. Perfect! He tried this for a couple days and was once again breezing right through the scooting. So today Greg put the pedals back on the old bike so Evan could actually try to pedal without the training wheels. I was gone running errands this afternoon when this took place. However, when I got home it's all I heard about. Evan was very eager and excited to show me after dinner what he could do! This is what I saw. Let me remind you, this is his first day riding with the pedals and no training wheels. (Note- In the first video he even uses the brakes! And yes, he does have two different color Crocs on as you can see in the second video. LOL.)



He kept going back and forth several times. All I could say over and over was, "Wow Ev, you are doing great! Mommy is so proud of you!" It was one of those proud moments as a parent where you just can't believe what you're seeing. His first day with pedals and no training wheels and he did awesome! You could see the delight in his eyes to be able to show Mom, Dad, and sister what he could do! He kept saying "I did great!" By golly, he deserves to say that because he did do great! Evan, we are all so proud of you! Keep up the good work! I'm sure there will be moments to come when he has a big fall, but for now we can mark this one in the books. With a little more practice on the old bike, Evan will soon be ready to try the new big boy bike without training wheels!

Coupon Mess

This is how I spent part of my morning before I headed off to the grocery store. My coupons have been piling up and had become quite the mess. Imagine this mess in my purse. Yes, that's right all of this (which actually is semi organized from the real mess it started out as) was in my purse. I had been clipping coupons and just throwing them in. Of course finding the coupons I needed on my last few trips to the store wasn't so easy. So before I headed to Meijer today I figured it was high time I do something about this mess. Enough was enough. I couldn't stand it anymore. So I clipped my stack of coupons and pulled out all the expired one's that were in my coupon organizer. I found a couple coupons that had expired in 2008! Now, it had been awhile since I had gone through my coupons, but by no means was it that long ago. After I got all the old coupons out I put all the new ones in. When all was said and done this is what I ended up with.

A nice neatly organized coupon holder and a huge pile of expired coupons! I even pulled out all the coupons I needed for the store today so I didn't have to dig for them while there. I know some people think it's a waste of time to clip coupons, but seriously I think it's well worth it. Some days I save more than others. I try to find items on sale that I have a coupon for. I'm trying to get better at this. About a month ago I saved $25 in coupons! That's when I know my time spent clipping coupons is well worth it!

Friday, May 22, 2009

New Items

Hey all you blog readers, if you're very observant you've probably already noticed a few new items on here. If not, well then you need to pay closer attention. Ha ha! I've added a two new items to the right column of the blog. First up is "Fun Facts Of The Week." When I first added it I planned to have it as "Fact Of The Day." Then I got to thinking that some of you may not read every day so you might miss one, so I decided to post the facts by the week. So on Monday's I will clear the board and start over for the week with new "facts." Now you may enjoy it or you may think it's useless information, but it's not intended to be serious news! It's rather a way to share some of the minor highlights or fun things that have happened that day. Fun little tidbits that may not be worth writing a whole post about, but you might like to hear about. Some days there may not even be anything worthy of writing, but for the most part I'll try to share something fun, cute, crazy, etc. that has happened. So there you have it!

Second new item up on the blog, just today, is one of the slideshows! Yeah, I made it by the end of the week, well sort of. I'm still digging through Evan's pictures so no, I did not forget about him. I'm hoping to be done tonight or tomorrow with uploading them so his slideshow is coming soon. I really do actually have another day since the week isn't officially over. I had sort of a panic attack over getting the slideshow on here. I had all these pictures loaded into an album and thought I was doing everything right to add the slideshow on here and went through all the steps and then guess what? It was telling me no album to be found! Are you kidding me? So after trying various things it was time to call in the help from the more experienced blogger. "Ann, what am I doing wrong????" So she told me a few things to do, and yep, yep, yep, I had done all those things. Grrrr. It's not working. Stupid computers! So I decided, screw it, I'll deal with it later. So after dinner tonight I decided to go back at it and guess what, ta da.... there were my albums. Weird, very weird. I did everything exactly the same again and this time they were there. So who knows what the deal was, but good news is one of the slideshows is up and running. You'll have to scroll down under the blog archive to view it. Thanks Ann for your assistance. Now keep your fingers crossed that when I attempt to put Evan's slideshow on it works without all the hassle! I hope you enjoy the slideshows of my little peanuts almost as much as I do. Looking through all these pictures brings back lots of memories and it's fun to see how they have changed! Enjoy!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

In Memory

I thought it would be fitting today to have a special post in memory of Greg's dad, my Father-In-Law, and Evan & Emmaline's Grandpa. Today would've been Dad K's 59th birthday. For those of you that may not know, Greg's dad passed away from esophageal cancer almost three years ago. Much too young! He was a wonderful Father, Father-In-Law, and PaPoo (Grandpa) to our family. He loved his little Evan boy more than words can say and unfortunately our little Emmaline was born after his death so she never had the chance to meet her PaPoo. He would've loved her too more than words could say. I'm sure Evan and Emmaline would've had him wrapped around their finger. Our kids are really missing out not being able to share in special memories with their PaPoo. There's always those special days like his birthday, Father's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas that are a little harder than others with him not here with us. We all miss him so much! So here's to wishing Dad K. a Happy Birthday. I know he's looking down upon us everyday.

Reality

What a great night last night in reality t.v.! Sorry all you Adam fans, but I was so glad to see Kris win American Idol. A record number of votes- 100 million. That's crazy! I was probably a little too excited about the victory, but then again I do go a little overboard when reality t.v. winners turn out to be who I want. Greg will attest to that. I almost wasn't going to watch the finale either. The judges had talked up Adam so much and everyone I knew seemed to be all for Adam. It pretty much was looking like Adam had it in the bag after Tuesday's show, but it looks like Kris got the Danny votes which turned it around! I've pretty much got sick of Idol the last couple years mostly because of the judges, and I think the whole process of picking for Hollywood is a little extreme. The people trying out that truly cannot sing do set themselves up for embarrassment, but I think a lot of what they show in the tryouts is a waste of time. So over the past couple seasons I haven't even watched Idol until it got to the top 12. Thank goodness for DVR though because I thought the show could've been shorter so it's nice to be able to forward through some parts. Oh, and for those of you that watched and are familiar with bikini girl. Give me a break, and the reaction of those in the audience at Kara ripping off her dress was pretty much mine- are you kidding me... ridiculous. Thankfully because of it Idol is donating money to one of her favorite charities. Of course some of my real favorites in the top 12 got kicked off early on, but in the end between the two, I'm glad it was Kris that pulled off the win. I felt he wasn't given the talent credit he deserved. I give Adam credit too because he is talented, but I didn't think he should be put on a pedestal. So now we'll be hearing "No Boundaries" on the radio for months to come, and Kris (and Adam) will be making millions in the year to come! I just wish I was saying I'd be making millions in the year to come, but instead I'll just be waiting for the next American Idol season.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Calling All Garage Salers

It's that time of year, the sun is finally shining, the weather is finally warming up, and the garage sale signs are popping up all over. I mentioned that the garage got cleaned so I could finally start setting up for my garage sale, but I have so much stuff in so many different places I don't even know where to start! Ahhhhhh! I did manage to get a few tables opened up, but that's it so far. I really need to get a move on it. The June 5th and 6th date is fast approaching. I'm almost positive I'm going to run out of tables so then I ponder ways to setup. Instead I really need to just get out there and start throwing stuff on tables so I can get it priced. That is the huge goal by this weekend to get most of it at least out of the basement and into the garage. I also need to finish going through some cabinets to see what else I have to get rid of.

A majority of the stuff is baby items and baby clothes. The only clothes I save now is Evan's 2T on up clothes because my friend Marie and I swap boy for girl clothes. She's got a younger boy than Evan that can use the clothes and she gives me her daughters clothes for Em. It's a nice trade off! I do have a hard time departing with some of the baby clothes even though I know there's no more little one's in my future. Those little onesies, skorts, jeans, and coordinating outfits are just too damn cute! I think my kids have more clothes than me! That's o.k. though because I enjoy dressing them in cute little outfits more than I enjoy dressing myself. Don't get me wrong, I do love clothes, but the clothes I like seem to cost way more than there stuff. I can usually buy there stuff on clearance at the end of the season for the next year and save a ton of money! I'll have to tell you about some of my bargains I've gotten one of these days. All I have to say is $2 t-shirts rock!

So back to the garage sale which was the point of this post. I think I'm just a little overwhelmed with trying to get all this stuff set up when my to do list is piling up as well. There just isn't enough hours in a day, especially with two little one's. I'm hoping to get everything done before the last minute because I always seem to be pricing stuff the morning of as people are walking up. So I'm thinking I should probably wrap this up so I can go dig through some cupboards to see what else there is to get rid of. The saying goes, "one person's trash is another person's treasure." (Not that I think my stuff is really trash because really it is pretty decent stuff for the most part. Especially the kids clothes that some are brand new). So if you're up for some good buys and want to hit up a garage sale the weekend of June 5th, you can find one at the red house! There's sure to be lots and lots and lots of stuff!

Now back to my earlier post today. Here's a few photos of my little peanuts exposing their skin!

80 And Sunshine Hooray!

Today is absolutely fabulous as far as the weather is concerned! It's 80 and the sun is shining. It's a tad bit windy, but I'll take it. My two little peanuts are wearing shorts and tanks which I love! It's so nice to see arms and legs after a LONG winter and early spring of cold weather and jeans and long sleeves! I think I usually have most of the winter clothes packed away by now, but with the weather we've been having it hasn't happened yet. The windows and front door are open and the wonderful smells of flowers and grass are coming in! It's so nice not to be hibernating anymore having the house all closed up! I sure hope it stays this way because the kids have some super cute summer outfits that I've been itching to put them in. Besides Evan's down to one pair of jeans that fit him or don't have holes in so I'd like to hold off on buying new jeans until fall.

It would be nice if I could just sit out in the sun all day and work on my tan, but that's not really an option right now. Too much to do and too little time. The to-do list is getting longer. Yesterday I spent the day in GR running errands and doing some things for my mom since she is unable with a broken wrist and broken ankle. Which now we found out today she has to have surgery on both. Of course not what everyone was hoping for, but may end up being better off than a cast for 6 weeks, as the doctor says the healing process will be much faster. Yippeeeee! The faster the better! I didn't take the kids with me yesterday because as we all know it's much faster to get things done without lugging two kids around. They stayed with Greg's mom for the day which I so appreciated not having to haul them along. Although, I missed them terribly just being away for most of the day. It just feels weird to me when I'm that far away from them, and it wasn't really that far! So since Em was out of her environment for nap time that only meant one thing... no nap yesterday. So needless to say she was cranky last night from being overly tired which turns to me getting cranky and stressed.

Then today was spent running some errands which needed to get done. I still need to go back to my 2nd "home" Meijers this week, but didn't make it today as Em got too sleepy and cranky so had to get home for nap. She definitely needed one after missing nap yesterday. Plus I needed to get some things done and when she's cranky and not napping that prevents me from being productive. So as the weekend nears maybe I can work on my tan when I cut the grass and fertilize the flowers! Oh and incase you were wondering on this beautiful sunny day.... yes, the sun tea is in the making!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Catching Up

Thought it was time to catch up on some loose ends I've been talking about. I am diligently working on my favorite photos of the kids. I have Em's all uploaded, but Evan's is taking me a little bit longer as I have four years worth of photos to search through versus 21 months of Em's. Plus his are not all in the same place as Em's so it's just a matter of finding some of them. I'm getting close though and I'm hoping to have them on this blog by the end of the week. I'm also working to put them into a slide show which I think I may have figured out, but not positive on that quite yet. I'm holding off on asking my friend Ann until I for sure get stuck. Keep your fingers crossed for me because I'm hoping to pull this one off on my own.

Now to my second "home" I had previously mentioned. Don't get too excited here because it's not as luxurious as it may sound. I'm guessing that some of you may live there too. Tell me if I'm right? The second "home" I'm talking about is Meijer. It is right down the road from us and I swear I must go there at least four or five times a week. Sometimes it can be more. It doesn't seem to matter how well I plan meals and my grocery list, there always seems to be something we're out of and need! I find myself saying many times, "and I was just at the store." Why is it that it always takes so long at Meijer too? It's less than a five minute drive to the Meijer by us and I can run in for just a couple things and it seems to take at least a half hour! Most of the time though I am there for at least an hour when buying groceries. Oh the time I've spent grocery shopping. Ugh! So if you don't find me at home, more than likely I'm at my second "home!"

Then there's the garage project. I'm on a mission to clean, organize, and get rid of things out there that keep getting moved from one side to the other, back and forth. So about a week ago Greg built a shelf that I've been hinting about since last summer. It has already made a world of difference in the garage. Once that was done we were able to get some things put away that are things you don't want to throw out and need, but don't use that often. Like the lawn mower bag, folding chairs, sleds, etc. On Sunday I spent a good part of the afternoon sweeping out the garage, hanging up things, and pitching the items of no use. Now that all that is done I'm able to start setting up for my garage sale I'm going to have in a couple of weeks. Then hopefully I'll be able to clear out some of the other shelves and get rid of many of the garage sale items that are taking up space! I'll let you know how garage sale preparation is coming along in the days ahead.

I know there are still a few items that I need to share that I talked about previously, but it's getting late and I'm tired! So I'll finish on a happy note. On Saturday we went grill shopping and bought a new grill. My wonderful husband put it together while I was at the Art Fair! Thanks honey! Dinner Saturday night on the grill was wonderful! So needless to say, we're back in business when it comes to grilling dinner! It was going to be a long summer if there was no grill to cook with! I have a busy day ahead tomorrow as I head to GR for a good part of the day and then back to take Molly to the vet. You can look forward to a few delicious recipes to come this week!

Arts & Crafts Galore!

What a weekend it was! Busy busy busy! I felt like I was on the go for two days! I'll tell you about the garage and grill part in my next post, but for now it's all about the arts and crafts! This past weekend as I mentioned before was the 46th Annual East Lansing Art Festival. I was looking forward to getting up and heading out at the 10am start time of the Art Festival, but the weather changed my plans. We woke up to rain, MORE RAIN! Are you kidding me? Can it possibly rain anymore? I've had enough of the wet gloomy days. I want it to be sunny and warm from here on out. Seriously, it's April showers bring May flowers, not April and May showers bring June flowers. It is supposed to be in the 70's and 80's though for the rest of the week so I am definitely looking forward to that! Anyway, back to the Art Fair. Finally the rain cleared in the afternoon and I was able to head out to the Art Fair. Greg wasn't interested in going to the craft part of it so I headed out first by myself. There was a good crowd and while I found lots of neat things, I only walked away with one item.


Here's my big purchase! I thought it would definitely go well at this Spartan home.

I then headed home to get the family and we headed back to the other part of the Art Festival where there were many booths with wonderful art, as well as a children's activities area, and a couple stages with various performers. Here's just one part of the Art Festival.

The children's area had several different activities set up and hosted by various places. Evan enjoyed the tent set up from Potter Park Zoo where he got to see an armadillo.


A majority of the children's area consisted of different stations where the kids could make arts and crafts. Here is Evan working on a sun visor at one of the craft tables.


Since we didn't have that much time when we were down there late Saturday afternoon we did end up heading back Sunday afternoon for a little bit. It was more crowded and the weather cooperated. The kids ended up getting to do some more arts and crafts. Here are their finished projects below- visors, a tie, mask, butterfly, and door hanger. Of course Emmaline is a little young to do all on her own so she had a little help from her Mommy!


So another Art Festival is done and gone, and I'm already looking forward to next year. Hopefully the weather will be a little warmer! If you're looking for something to do come next May I highly recommend it. Even if you're not in the area it's worth a little drive if you're not too far away!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Fire At The Dinner Table!

Friday was Greg's birthday and for the special occasion we went out to dinner. If Evan were to pick we would've ended up at Noodles & Co. or Burger King, but since Greg did the picking it was dinner at Ukai Hibachi Grill. Three words can describe Ukai- Yum! Yum! Yum! Since Ukai is a little pricey we don't venture there often. Maybe like once or twice a year for a special occasion. So dinner Friday night was a special treat! It consisted of shrimp (which Evan tried for the first time and liked), chicken, steak, fried rice, veggies, bean sprouts, and fire at the dinner table! I know you're mouth is watering as you read this! If you aren't familiar with or have never been to a hibachi grill restaurant I highly recommend it! Not only do you get a wonderful meal, but you get free entertainment to go along with it! The chef cooks right at your table and entertains you with tricks as he cooks. One of Evan's favorite tricks was when the chef tossed the egg shell from the grill into his hat! Here is how it all gets started.

The fire is lit on the grill and the cooking begins!


Then there's tons of food tossed around and prepared right in front of you on the grill!


Then when all the cooking is done, you end up with a plate full of food like this! Delicious!



After all the entertainment and good food, you go home stuffed! I was definitely glad I hadn't eaten all day and could enjoy all that yummy food! So as you contemplate where to go for that next special occasion keep Ukai or a hibachi grill near you in mind! Definitely a good choice! Now that you're probably hungry after reading this, I won't show anymore pictures of food. Instead. I leave you with a picture of the birthday honoree and his two favorite kids.

Here's a small clip of some of the entertainment at our table! Enjoy!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Workin' With Daddy

Today Evan got to hang out with Daddy at work. Many of you probably don't know, but Evan loves to go to work with Greg. When Evan is in the office, everyone knows and pretty much work comes to a halt because Evan becomes the center of attention. A big thanks, to all Greg's co-workers for welcoming Evan with open arms all the time! He talks about it for days and months to follow. So today was no different when Evan was in the office. Of course he had to make the rounds and see everyone, and hold some meetings in between, then he had to taste the birthday muffins that were brought in for Greg, and then it was time to work. If he's going to be at work with Daddy, he still has to let Daddy do some work! So Evan and Daddy ventured outside and they stopped along the river so Greg could take Evan's picture.


Then things took a turn, Evan decided that it was his turn to take over the camera. After all, he is at work so HE must do some work! So he started clicking away with the camera. I'm not sure how many pictures he took, but let's just say it was A LOT! Now, what you're about to see are some pictures that you would probably think were taken by a skilled photographer, but in fact that is not the case. The following shots were taken by the one and only Evan, all by himself!

Here's a shot of the Red Cedar River
Nice!


Now if you don't know anything about photography, you would think this next tree shot is blurry, but actually it's a good pan shot. This was by accident, but for a four year old pretty good!


Finally, this last picture is one of my favorites. Evan managed all on his own to take a picture with good composition. Something you would expect from a skilled photographer, but nope from a four year old!

So, it looks as if the afternoon at work ended up being somewhat productive and not just social time with Evan. I'm thinking we may have a future photographer following in Daddy's footsteps. Hmmm, maybe MSU might want to consider hiring Evan for some projects on the side!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Damn Dog

I thought I'd finally tell you about our dog Molly or should I say Greg's dog? I hadn't forgotten about her for those of you who may have been wondering. I've just had other stuff to share. However, today seems like the perfect opportunity since we got her almost a year ago to the day. Molly is a Golden Retriever. Here she is when we first brought her home. Cute huh?

Molly just turned one in March. She really is a pretty good dog. She's finally settled down for the most part from the puppy stage although she does still like to jump when someone comes in the door. Hopefully she'll outgrow that SOON! For the most part though she is a good dog. That's when she's my dog! Here's a more recent photo of Molly last month after her first trip to the groomers.

Still cute huh? We crate trained Molly, which we had never done with a dog before. I highly recommend it! Especially with all the kids toys laying around it made for less stress about the toys getting chewed up when we were gone. Over the last month or so though we've been leaving Molls out when we leave the house and she's done really good. (Knock on wood!) She's usually waiting for us by the gate when we come home. So I've been contemplating putting the crate away, and then she does this....
Not so cute huh? For some reason she won't get over digging holes in the backyard and ends up a muddy mess! Damn dog! Grrrr! Everyone else I know that has Golden's haven't had this problem. She likes to ignore us when we call her in and digs and digs and digs. So needless to say when I FINALLY got her in the house today, right to the crate she went! So much for putting the crate away right now. Ugh! So honey, looks like you'll be giving YOUR dog a bath tonight!

On a different note- Em's taking a wonderful nap today, I got some bills paid online (saving on stamps- did you remember stamps went up on Monday?), went to Secretary of State and was in and out of there with two kids in EIGHT minutes! Bonus, because that has never happened to me. Usually there is a long wait! As the weekend nears, it's sure to be a busy one around the Kohuth household. Tomorrow is Greg's birthday, Saturday is the East Lansing Art Festival, and Sunday hopefully we can go get a new grill and blade for the lawnmower (in between Greg's bike riding he has planned), as well as get this garage project finished up. My garage sale date is nearing all too fast! Ahhhhh. Work to do, work to do! I'll let you know how it all goes as it unfolds!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Silly Faces

Tonight I had my camera out and Emmaline never cooperates anymore when I want to take a picture. I usually have to snap several shots before I get one of her looking. So tonight ladies and gentlemen.... I think we've turned a corner! Knock on wood! Emmaline was more than cooperative and kept saying more more more when I put the camera down. She wanted me to keep taking her picture while she was making silly faces. Unfortunately my camera card was about full so I could only snap a few. So without further ado... here's my silly little peanut!

So cute!
Being goofy!
Close up!

Quack Quack!

So yesterday I ended up not getting through the stack of papers I had planned on. (It did get done this morning, and I got some bills paid, so all is well.) The sun was shining and it really was too nice to be inside. So when Em woke up from her nap I decided to take the kids to MSU to feed the ducks! They were so excited! I realized it was Em's first time feeding the ducks. Does that make me a bad mom not taking her until 21 months? I hope not!

Here's the kids on their way to feed the ducks! As you can see Evan is being a super big brother holding his sister's hand.


Although there weren't many ducks, Evan managed to find one that stayed in this spot and kept eating and eating. I think this duck was trying to hide from the couple other ducks so he didn't have to share the bread.


Em found a couple ducks to feed too, but she didn't really pay attention to where the ducks were and where she was throwing the bread! As you can see the bread in the air is going to land way behind the ducks (There are actually two ducks here, but Em is blocking one of them).


After the ducks weren't interested in eating anymore, we decided to walk around campus a little. We headed over to the Beal Gardens to see what flowers were bloomin' yet. Not a whole lot besides the tulips, but we did manage to find some Marigolds which Evan enjoyed smelling, but Em didn't want to.


Then further on through the gardens Em was getting into smelling the flowers more instead of trying to pick them (that's a no no in the gardens my little peanut) and decided to stop and smell the Bleeding Heart.


It will be nice in another month to head back there and see many more of the flowers in bloom! I'll have to post some pictures when that happens because the gardens at MSU are really fabulous! I must say (and not because I'm a MSU alum), but Michigan State really does have one of the most beautiful campuses around. It's so great living near campus! Fun things to do!

When we came out of the gardens Evan was surprised to see the fountain right by Daddy's work! I think Em was looking for some ducks in the water, but no luck!


It really was a nice way to spend the afternoon, I highly recommend it to those that live nearby. I'm definitely looking forward to more visits with the ducks this summer. Time to start stocking up on the bread crusts and left over buns that always get thrown out!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

What To Blog About...

Well, here it is a week into my blogging and I'm trying to decide what to blog about next. There's so many things I want to write about along with the day to day happenings that I don't know where to start. I still would like to tell you a little bit about how Emmaline got her name. I want to post a video of the kids dancing because this truly is good stuff. I also want to post some of my favorite photos of the kids. I need to tell you about my second "home," the terrible two's, Ellen entertainment, the garage project, and preparing for a garage sale. I also have a few recipes I'd like to share with you along the way. So little by little in between the day to day stuff, I'll share those with you.

First up today is working on sorting through a stack of papers on the kitchen counter and paying some bills. Fun stuff I know! Today the sun is shining and it warmed up some so that's good news for the evening plans- a walk is in store for us tonight! We love to take family walks when the weather permits. So neighbors, you'll probably see us out and about tonight! Of course it will be Greg and I walking, Em in the jogging stroller, and Evan on his bike! Hope to see some of you out tonight! The sunshine today also means a great day to make some sun tea! Oh, how I love iced tea. If you remember it was one of my cravings with Emmaline. So when the sun is shining throughout the spring and summer, you'll more than likely find a jar of sun tea in the making on the deck at the red house! I really must get back to some house things now so until next time, enjoy the beautiful day!

Monday, May 11, 2009

T-Shirts

Here's a little Evan story for your enjoyment! Evan has become a t-shirt boy thanks to Grandpa. You see, my Dad travels a lot for work and one time he picked up some t-shirts for the kids while traveling. Well, Evan thought this was really cool. Em's a little too young to understand, but I think she's catching on. So now when Grandpa is traveling for work or he and Grandma are on vacation they always manage to find time to pick up that special t-shirt for the kids. Evan thinks it's fun to try to guess what's going to be on the t-shirt. It brings such joy to his face when he pulls the t-shirt out of the bag. Usually, the reaction is "Wow, this is a cool shirt!" (The Super Bowl shirt is one of his favorites!) When he first gets a shirt he wants to put it on right away and then wear it all day, all night, and then again the next day. It's really quite enjoyable to see how the little things like t-shirts bring such joy to a four year old! Between the two of them, they've managed to build up a t-shirt collection. This picture above is only a sampling of the collection since they've outgrown some and some are in the wash. (Oh, that must mean the laundry is building up again! Didn't I just do the laundry?) Anyway, this past weekend Evan and Em had some new t-shirt excitement and added to their collection. The three at the right are the newest additions. So as the collection builds so does the anticipation of what the next t-shirts will be. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for all the t-shirts for the kids. I know Evan truly enjoys them and I'm sure if Em was a little older she would be able to tell you she does too! Happy t-shirt shopping!

Grilling No More

Oh, how I would love some grill food! About this time of year I start grilling out for a majority of our dinners. I love when the warm weather arrives because that means put away the crock pot and take out the grill! By this time I'm usually at a loss for what to make for dinner because after a long winter you can only eat soup, casseroles, or tacos so many times. Any suggestions are more than welcome! So as I ponder what's for dinner tonight, I think of this picture. A few weeks ago we had a bad thunderstorm. While it didn't seem all that bad, apparently it was because this is what I found when I came home after the storm. Our patio furniture was tipped over, and the grill had blown from one side of the deck to the other and tipped over. The winds had to be pretty strong to blow over this heavy grill. I never would've imagined from the storm that this is what I would find. So of course it tipped over on the front and broke up the knobs and starter. So needless to say, the grill is broken! Just when it's time for grilling season, no grill! Ugh! We've been out looking for grills since this happened and who would've thunk of all the decisions and choices! It can be a little overwhelming just to purchase a grill. You want something decent that's not going to fall apart, but yet don't want to pay an arm and a leg for! I think we have a good idea of what we want, it's just a matter of going to get it and getting it home. So hopefully soon you'll hear me talking about some wonderful grilled dinners. I'm pretty sure the steaks, pork chops, burgers & chicken are calling my name!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Highlights and Lowlights

Well, today seemed like it was going to be a pretty good day. Head to Grand Rapids, drop the kids off at Grandma's house, go visit an old friend that used to cut my hair and get pampered with highlights and a haircut, then help my Mom with some yard work for Mother's Day. Sounds good right? Well, not so much. I did get my haircut and highlights which turned out nice I thought. It had been a long time since I got highlights so I was LONG overdue. Usually, my friend Becky, in the neighborhood cuts my hair, but since I was going to be in GR I thought I'd ring up Rochelle since it had been awhile since I've seen her. It was nice to catch up with Rochelle while she did my hair. Becky, I promise I'll call you for the next hair appointment! After getting pampered with the hair, I headed back to my Mom's to work in the yard. My sister, niece, & I were working in the yard putting in some bricks and all was going well. Then next thing we know my Mom, is up on a ladder in the garage and falls. After she was at the urgent clinic for three hours it was off to the ER to get 2 casts put on. She ended up with a broken wrist and broken ankle! Ugh! So needless to say the day went from a "high" to a "low." Thanks Jen for sitting for hours waiting for doctors. I would've done it had the kids not been so out of their element. This is why I don't travel much right now because Em will not nap for anything when we are not at home so she was overly tired which didn't help the day any. Plus their schedules were all thrown off so it ended up making for a very long day! Oh how I wish I could start the day over so things would be different!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Laundry Overload

Well, this is pretty much how my day went yesterday. Laundry, laundry, laundry, laundry,

oh, and more laundry. I actually had to get a load in the washer because I ran out of baskets before I could fill this last basket! I can't believe I let it pile up this bad. Actually, maybe I can, but it seems like I had just done a few loads! How does it pile up so fast? Oh yeah kids, one little Evan boy who is into changing his clothes several times a day and throws them in his hamper after having on for five minutes. Then I don't catch it until it's too late and one little Emmers who likes to eat with her hands and make a mess all over!

The washer and dryer were pretty much going non-stop all day. I don't mind doing laundry or folding the laundry, (sometimes I even have my little Evan helper who matches the socks for me) it's putting the laundry away that I HATE. Why is that? Ugh! I just don't enjoy it at all. So many times the upstairs hall is lined with baskets, until I slowly put a little away at a time or more than likely until I need a laundry basket to do laundry again! Well, after a couple loads were done yesterday I decided I was carrying the baskets up and putting stuff away RIGHT away. Then by the time the last few loads were done last night & they were folded of course kids were in bed so couldn't put their stuff away and the other stuff I just didn't feel like putting away. So this morning I got up and decided I didn't want to have the baskets sitting around full so I was on a mission to get them put away. Guess what? It happened! As you can see below, all the baskets are empty. That's right, EMPTY!

Not something you see often in this house, but it is a nice feeling to not have clean baskets of laundry sitting around. Now everyone can get their clean clothes out of the closet instead of the laundry baskets! So with the laundry done for another couple weeks, just kidding, more like for a couple of days, I'm thinking I'm gonna set a laundry goal and try to keep up with putting the laundry away when it's done. We'll see! I'll let you know how that goes down the road!