Review of Tonight's Meal

Salad: Tasty--I used Romain lettuce with strawberries, mandrin oranges, thin sliced red onion, fresh mushrooms, and pecans

Dressing: New Recipe EXCELLENT I highly recommend (link is in previous post)

Pizza Dough: Kitchen Aid Recipe---New to us--NOT GOOD! :( I do not recommend it! It was VERY DENSE. It did have a nice crusty bottom but the dense-ness was too much for us.

Overall--Dinner was good....if you ate the toppings off the pizza :) That is okay--It is my favorite part anyways!

Menu for the Week with Recipes

Saturday: Homemade Pizza (use kitchen aid mixer recipe) with mushrooms, red onion, fire roasted tomatoes, etc. and a Salad with pecans, green onions, strawberries, and mandarin oranges and poppy seed dressing

Sunday: Pork Tenderloin on the Grill (balsamic and garlic), Steamed Broccoli and Baked Potatoes on Grill 

Memorial Day Monday: Farm for Picnic (make the chicken and rice for tuesday)

Tuesday: Softball Night so we need a "fast supper" tacos (salad), cilantro rice (make rice on Monday and Chicken too) , Black beans (prep Wednesday's dinner)

Wednesday: T-Ball and TB Dentist so quick supper needed--warmed sandwiches, Fruit salad, Chips

Thursday: Not sure yet :) I have Graduation in Sparta

Friday: Basil Shrimp with Feta and Orzo (new recipe--hope it is GREAT) ,  Garlic bread

Saturday: Marinaded Round Steak grilled, Marinated tomatoes (new recipe too) and Wild Rice 

Sunday: Not sure yet :)  

Warmed Sandwiches--This is a modified recipe from

NEED: 

Yummy SMALL potato buns (or something similar) 

Lunch Meat of your choice--I use ham for the boys but for Josh and I rare roast beef and Red Peppered Turkey breast slices are fantastic!

Thin Sliced Cheese (I use havarti, cheddar or colby jack) 

Mayo, Mustard, or both 

thin sliced Red Onion (optional) 

Melted butter 

Poppy Seeds 

DO: 

Put the mayo, mustard or both on one half of each bun 

Add meat and cheese, and red onion if you are using them 

Put sandwich together on a baking sheet 

Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds 

Cover entire pan with foil 

Bake in preheated oven (350) until Cheese melts and Sandwiches are warm (15 minutes?)

 

T-Ball and Playground Fun

we signed jack up for lil learners soccer and lil learners tball. both programs were four weeks....jack loved soccer and he has been loving t-ball as well! on wednesday, we took our neighbor kaden with us when we went and i actually remembered to take pictures! 

Preschool Celebration

jack has completed his preschool program! he attended the four year old class two half days a week--tuesdays and thursdays. he loved his class! and we loved the quality of education he got (regardless of that last conference where we got no suggestions for jack and kindergarten)

the program was so darn cute! it started with a wonderful slide show set to "wonderful world". from there, the children sang songs and did movements. we ended with punch and cookies! :)

 jack saw me taking a picture :)

here's his class along with the other 4 year old class and the 3 year old class.

he's in the second row up and approximately 6th over.

here's jack after he got  his certificate from his teacher mrs. sutherland (blue sweater) :)

 

the boys enjoying their cookies--luke is not a fan of preschool but is a fan of the cookies!

jack, kaden and their teacher mrs. sutherland

ode to the big 30

ode to the big 30

 

Thursday was a flower filled success with awesome prices at the flea market

Hit up the awesome dollar store in Stanton to get some cheap goods

Even a little rain could not stop my fun on day one of my 3 days of celebration

Big surprises happened friday when the boys woke me

I got an entire huge bowl of PUFFY CHEETOS from jack and luke that made my entire day

Guess my little guy listened pretty well when i said all i wanted was a bowl of puffy cheetos! :)

To my amazement, my awesome hubby surprised me with an announcement

He saved for over 1.5 years and had money for me to buy the camera of my dreams

I had a great lunch with my sister and enjoyed the jimmy johns

Really had a super supper at the olive garden (aka the kinder-garden by luke)

Tirimisu made 100% by my loving husband
Yes day 2 of my 3 days of celebration was amazing

=

A perfect way to celebrate to me is light hearted fun

We bowled the evening away with good friends and family

Eventually we all made it to a mexican fiesta at my favorite local haunt

Some of us (okay all of us) got carried away with laughter

On my head went the big blue sombrero and then it traveled around the table

Many watched and chuckled at us

Everyone had a great time at the party as it was the perfect way to end my 3 days of celebration

Our Big Guy

This was taken the morning of his birthday--he slept on the couch the night before and woke up happy when we sang to him :) 

Luke had his three year old check up at the beginning of the week. He is doing very well for his age. He is in the 75th percentile for weight and 99th percentile for height. His head is "proportional"  :) He is developing appropriately for language, motor, academics, etc. He talked and talked and talked to the doctor about his 3rd birthday party :) Luke is doing well!

Happy 3rd Birthday Farmer Luke!

A look back at Luke to Celebrate his 3rd Birthday

Luke Joseph 

May 21, 2007 

10 lbs 6 oz 

HUGE baby, Long LONG long labor 

He came out feisty and is still feisty! 

 

 

Our First Family Picture of Us FOUR :)

Luke's First Birthday 

5/21/2008 

He LOVED the cake. We had his party at a great park in Minnesota. This was 9 days before we moved back to Michigan.... :) 

Luke's 2nd Birthday

5/21/2009 

Michigan! All he wanted was a set a of "farmer head phones" to protect his ears while mowing. Luke is ALL boy! 

A week ago: Luke is growing up! 

So Cool!

I know I already posted this information (about my 5k) but today I got a link via email that showed my OFFICIAL results posting (if you want to follow the link--my bib number was 17870)! It was so cool for me to see it :) Now that motivates me to continue......



TERESA BOYER


#17870

Completed the 5K

23:28.66

308 of 5171 Overall

51 of 3071 Females

15 of 606 Female 25 to 29

Scrubbing Bubbles!

when i was about 14 or 15 years old, i was "madly" in love (as any young teen can be i suppose) with a fella who lived down the road. i was infatuated with him so when he would offer me a ride places, i of course took him up on that!

one particular evening, "D" was going to pick me up so we could go hang out at "K"'s house. i wanted to look my best so i made sure to get lots of hairspray on (good 90's hair you know).....well wouldn't you know it, mine ran out! i knew D was on his way so i raced down to mom's bathroom, reached under her sink and sprayed my hair furiously! i looked up into the mirror to find my head coated in SCRUBBING BUBBLES! i screamed and being that tom was the only one home, i ran down the hall to get his advice. tom was not able to help me as he was hysterically laughing at the massive mess on my head! i was not about to let a few extra bubbles get in my way of a "rendezvous" with D so i quickly rinsed my hair and put it up wet.....when D came to get me, tom was still laughing his pants off!

i cannot smell scrubbing bubbles to this day without remembering my own stupidity, thinking of tom's reaction and laughing to myself. you are probably wondering, why in the heck are you thinking of this now teresa.... well, my "homemade concoction" of vinnegar and baking soda was not cutting the job on one of our tubs so i caved and bought scrubbing bubbles over the weekend....and upon first spray, i was transported back to my teenage years and tom's laughter at me! what a great memory!

My Cowboys

i have two cute cowboys :)
thanks aunt lj and uncle john for spoiling the boys with stetson's and light up real cowboy boots! they are in 7th heaven!

Tightening Things Up :)

....i should have done this a while ago.....i should have been more tech savvy (like my awesome cousin hoots) and tightened up either what i shared (which is hard for me to do) or who could read my thoughts (shuddering at the thought of ickies reading my thoughts and stuff on my family). so i have decided to crack down by only letting those who have access to my blog read it--if you know of anyone who does not have access that would like access, have them email me and i can decide if i am comfortable or not with them having access :) i am hoping this also helps me avert students as well..... there seem to be a few who have it in their heads that they will find me...... :D

Mom Day :)

gosh i am blessed--my mom day this year was great!

i woke up to a happy boy luke peeking over the bed at me--he was so happy to wake mama up and give me the present he made me at daycare. it was fun to have jack and luke climb into bed to share their treasures with me before josh surprised me even further--he called me out into the kitchen and asked me to look around for my present. i gazed around the kitchen and there sitting on the counter was a beautiful beautiful beautiful silver professional grade kitchen aid mixer! talk about surprise! i have been asking for one of these since we registered for our wedding some 8 years ago! oh was i excited!   after showing me my surprises, we headed in town for an amazing breakfast at our favorite local "dive"--margos! we LOVE their breakfast. we were joined by josh's parents so we could celebrate with his mom.

after breakfast, josh again surprised me by taking me home to play with my boys while he went back into town to do an entire grocery shopping trip!  turned out luke wanted to join him so jack stayed back with me and we played the morning away. it was a blast. we spent the afternoon cuddled up on the couch watching wall-e and eating pistachios (my favorite). it was wonderful!

we drove to big rapids for supper and met my parents along with lynda and john at bennigans. we spent a few hours visiting  and celebrating my mom. and then we headed home.

it was a wonderful mom day!

Not Purple, Not Blue, Not Green

but pink

slip that is.

thursday my administrators gave me the bad news that i was being eliminated due to budget cuts. i was in shock. i have had a few thoughts on and off of cuts and that i might get a pink slip but truly over the week and half prior to thursday, my thoughts had dissipated. i sat through the "meeting" without crying but that may only be due to two things--1. i was biting the inside of my cheek and 2. i had the thought that some day i might be on the other side of the table as a sped administrator and now i know what the other person will feel like.  

i am still in shock. i have not talked about it for that very reason. i keep thinking, hoping and praying that i will be called back--there was talk of this and i am clinging to this hope~prayers please!

Race Results

Today was the first time in 12 years that I have run a race! In fact I had kind of lost that competitive spirit....well I found it again :) and plan to race again soon--I hope!

I ran the 5/3 River Bank 5K run in 23:30

I placed 307 overall out of 5,166 racers

I was the 52nd woman across the finish line out of 3,074

I was the 15th woman across the line out of 605 who are ages 25-29

It was an even great experience because I got to share it with my neighbor Shannon :) She took up "occasional" running recently and today was her first 5K ever! I am so proud of her! We went and carbo-loaded last night together, got up at the crack of dawn today and both gave it our bests. I am so proud of us!

Fireman Uncle Tom

today a fireman (a real one!) came to jack's preschool--it reminded me so much of when tom was working in tc and one of his duties was to go into the schools to educate kids on fire safety. growing up i was the one who wanted to teach--i would set up schools every where we went and would teach to whoever or whatever was around. when tom got his position i chuckled at the thought of him teaching--he had never done it before formally....but as he got more and more into his experience, i saw that we are natural teachers in the janik family. from what i could see he was amazing. i will never forget listening to him with glimmer in his eyes of his visit to the tribal preschool. he got down on the floor and talked to the kids at their level. he was so kid friendly and awesome with them. he had a picture taken that day and it warmed my sisterly heart to see him succeed at something that i value so highly.

a few years passed and tom then took up teaching fire fighter training. he was worried about how he would do but i knew he had it in him! i saw how awesome he was with small kids and teens and knew that he would do well with adults and peers as well. i am so proud of him--teaching is hard work, no matter the age group, and he did it with pride and integrity. tom put every once he had into helping others succeed.

it is funny--most of my life i thought of us as so different. but really, when you look at our inner make up and who we are, we were more alike than either of us thought. we are definitely both teachers through and through. i am so proud of tom for finally finding something he loved--teaching and fire!

so back to jack's preschool visit--turns out a very nice fire chief came today with his truck. he let the kids look at the truck and hold up the gear. jack mentioned how neat it was. i asked him if he had told his teacher that he was in a fire truck many times before...jack said no. i didn't think too much of it but when we were at the preschool open house tonight, his teacher brought up the fact that jack was very reserved while the fireman was there. i let her know that his uncle was a fire fighter and had passed away in october. she said ahhh maybe that played a role. when we got home, i asked jack what was up. he smiled and said he just forgot he had been in fire trucks before....and i called him on that lie. there is no way he could have forgotten he has been inside a fire truck a bazillion times (both with grandpa dan and uncle tom) so i asked again. he said that he didn't want his teacher to feel sad if she knew a fire man that had died so he didn't want to bring up that he knew one that did. oh my sweet little jack-o. my guess is that 1. he is just reserved at school and watches a lot AND 2. he is still sad when he sees things that remind him of uncle tom and a fireman with a fire truck would certainly do that.

Kind Hearted Brother

our boys can fight like no other--afterall they are brothers and boys! but tonight, i witnessed a scene that warmed my heart.

josh had softball practice and as i put luke to bed, he got very upset (and 45 minutes later is STILL very upset and screaming...sigh). i called jack in to try and help calm luke down. he laid down next to his brother and very sweetly tried to explain to him that daddy was at softball practice and would be home in a little while. he asked luke how many kisses and "squeezies" he would like daddy to give him when he gets home. luke said 5 and jack suggested 90 since as he told luke, 90 is more than 5. jack gave it his best as he laid by luke. he leaned in before he left and gave him a very sweet kiss on the cheek and then kissed him on the head and said that kiss was for the one that he wanted from daddy. oh it made my heart melt.

luke continued to cry for 45 minutes...which means now he is still crying and still awake. i am now in tough love mode....oh i hear him still. i love that my boy loves his daddy but i get the feeling that he thinks when one of us is gone that we will die...he has asked about that. he also still brings up uncle tom and the car accident. it breaks my heart that my not quite three year old has had to process all of that already.

How Things are Made

my boys are addicted to knowing how things are made :) a few weeks ago, they decided they wanted to know how a fire hose was made...so they asked sarah benny (a lovely friend of ours who is a fire fighter--she was tom's girlfriend for many years)  via my facebook how they were made. she sent them a link for a movie that showed them how they were made. my boys were delighted with the informational movie! so much in fact that we spent the next hour watching "how things are made" on you tube--we saw how gumballs were made, erasers, chips, cheetos, highlighters (three way ones), etc. they were so sad when i said we had to stop for the night :D 

as i was putting jack to bed last night, he asked me how lightbulbs were made. i gave him a shortish sorta answer that i could tell he was not totally satisfied with. he then asked me if lava was really fire that did not go all the way up. when i told him i was not sure, he said he had three questions that he wanted me to send sarah benny through a message. he wanted to know how light bulbs were made, the fire/lava question and how fire trucks were made. he was sure that she would get back to him with the answers by the next night. and sure enough, she pulled through! we are so fortunate to have her as a friend :) my boys love her and love that she thinks of them!

i am so glad my little guys are curious!

Menu for the Week

Sunday:Mini  Stromboli (see below) , Strawberries/blueberries/grapes, chips 

Monday: Tacos, Guac, Cilantro Lime Rice

Tuesday: Tilapia, Steamed Broccoli, Wild Rice, Corn on the Cob

Wednesday: Sliced chicken patties over salad, fruit and tator tots (boys)
 

Thursday: brats? corn on the cob and something....

Friday: White Wine marinaded chicken, baked potatoes,Bruchetta Salad (tomatoes with Fresh 

mozzarella, basil, balsamic vinegar and evoo)
 

Saturday: My sister in law Sarah Graduates with her MBA! Dinner Out! Wooo Hoooo

Sunday: Dinner out with MY MOM :) Thanks heavens for Moms! 

Monday....back to the work week :) Stay tuned for next week's menu!

Here is the recipe for my dinner tonight :)

To make Mini Stromboli instead of a big loaf, use ROLL DOUGH (Rhodes Frozen) instead...I thawed it over night in a muffin pan so the little balls did not stick together. I baked them at 400 for 15 minutes--should be golden brown on top and bottom. SOOOOO GOOD :) (Both big and little version)

STROMBOLI:
**Preheat oven to: 375 (350 longer time/400 less time and a bit crunchier...I actually did 350 for a while and turned up to 400 at the end)
***Need:
1 loaf frozen bread dough (thawed over night in the fridge--use pam to make sure the dough does not stick to pan or sticky wrap )
Olive Oil
Seasonings (pizza seasoning, or oregano, thyme, etc. I used Penzey's spices Pizza Seasoning)
Mozzarella
1 Egg white
Garlic Salt
Toppings (I used pepperoni, black olives and ground beef however, fresh mushrooms, diced tomatoes, pineapple, ham) etc are tasty)

**Do:
Spray a cookie sheet with "Pam" and roll out dough into a rectangle on it
Poke the dough all over with a fork
Brush dough with olive oil, sprinkle with seasonings
Layer toppings down the middle of the dough--leave room on the ends and sides
Sprinkle with Mozzarella (and more seasoning if you want--I did)
Fold the dough up into the middle and pinch together. Pinch ends tight--kind of crinkle them up and fold.
You will have a "tidy present" :) Wisk your egg white a tiny bit until it is "loose" and easy to brush. Brush on the egg white (I used my hands instead to get the egg white all over the dough)--make sure it is covered well.
Poke holes all over the dough with your fork
Sprinkle with garlic salt (can do Parmesan cheese too)

**Bake for 30-40 minutes until beautiful golden brown :)

**Serve with pizza sauce on the side

the chaperone ;)

i do not mind chaperoning! in fact, i rather enjoy it. i love to see the kids in another setting--helps them see me in a different light and i can see other sides of students as well. i chaperoned prom last night and had a nice time. my co-adviser for the freshman class was my "date" and we had dinner out before hand, got to get dressed up and had a great visit. we also  took lots of notes for when we have to hold prom in 2 years :)

i appreciate as a chaperone that i can have my administrators say things to the kids that i do not want to....like um excuse me fella, you need to put back on your SHIRT! i do have a line that i have used MANY times in the past and got to use last night as well...and it cracks me up (which probably does not crack others up but that is okay), "it is your lucky day--we have enough chairs that you can sit in your own!" said to a young lady usually who is sitting on her date's lap.... :) 

all in all it was a nice night :)

Improptu Date Night

josh and i were in need of some alone time.... we love our boys but we also LOVE to spend time just the two of us :) we got an impromptu date night on friday and it was perfect!

josh met me down in gr since i had work and then a baby gathering in gr. from there we hit steak and shake for supper (mmmmmmm) and then spent 2+ hours indoor rock climbing! we have gone before and it is a great way to reconnect as a couple--physically, emotionally and mentally. it was great! from there we thought about seeing a movie so we hit up the theater. there were no movies playing at the time we had in mind so instead we played the arcade games and did the little photo booth :) we also stopped at panera to have coffee/tea and chit chat :)

it was a great great great night with my hubby!