names?

every good vehicle has a name...well at least mine do :)

previous vehicles i have owned:
patience--a 1989 red ford tempo. i needed patience when the car was not working well......
geek 22--a 1985 gold chevy impala with a license plate that said GEK 22 :) first car and love of my life
sassy the space cow girl--2002 lunar mist (silver color) toyota corolla--named after the color and the cowgirl antenna ball lynda gave me
charlie bling--2005 grayish equinox--this is my current vehicle. it was a gem of a find and has a charcoal gray color 
lil' red--1999 red dodge dakota sport--this is the truck that is being traded in--came from being a smaller truck--fyi josh hates this name

so what to name the new truck. big. silver. shiny. 

silver sparkles? :) hmmmm josh would hate that name
silvery moon beam..... sounds good to me but again....not sure what josh would think
silver dust....perhaps

ideas welcome! :)

goodbye lil red; hello silver sparkles

our beautiful little two seater red dodge dakota sport truck is no longer running peachy keen. its transmission has been slipping and after taking it to the shop on  monday, we have decided it is time to put it to rest. we have been looking on and off for a new vehicle for quite some time....it has not been a forefront thought but more of a lingering concept on the back burner. we have gone back and forth. do we get a car for gas mileage, do we get a van to fit more people, do we get a truck since we have one and haul things. i love this little truck. it has served us well for ten years and grandpa gary for two years prior to that. as i sat in it one last time tonight, i smiled at the memories i have had in it. the adventures josh and i have taken in it have been grand--just the two of us :) 

we "shopped" online the past few nights; compared prices and looked up values. today we went into town to peruse vehicles and lo and behold, left with a new one. shocked us! the deals were just too good to pass up. we had some money to put down so that helped but it was also the end of the month with a salesman who needed one more truck to meet his quota for a bonus, it was the last day of the dodge truck month specials and we had a set amount we did not want to go above for a monthly payment. put that all together, along with a decent trade in value for a broken red truck, and we got one heck of a deal. 

sitting in the driveway are two trucks--one red one waiting to say goodbye in the morning and one silver sparkly one waiting to take our family of four on grand adventures.

a party!

jack-o was invited to his first school friend birthday party :) i had grad class and couldn't go but josh was a great daddy and took him.  luke was also invited to tag along out of the thoughtfulness of the parents.

both boys had a fabulous time at the bowling alley :) happy 6th birthday isaac!

rock star

josh: jack don't slide around the house on your knees
jack: but dad that's what all rockstars do

yes our child is destined to be great

a lovely little ritual

luke and i have a lovely little nightly ritual that goes something like this

me: goodnight buddy i love you
l: i love you too mom
short pause as i kiss him
l: mom what if i have a nightmare?
me: i will hear you sweetie and come down
l: okay mama i love you

the ritual has taken place for a few weeks now...or perhaps longer but tonight it went more like this
me: goodnight buddy i love you
l: i love you too mom
short pause as i kiss him
l: when i have a nightmare you will hear me mom
me: yes buddy of course i will  and i will come down to see you
l: yup because you are a good mama. i love you.

even after a trying day with him, he still makes my mom heart smile. what sweet boys we have :)

slowing things down

i awoke to an alarm going off at 5:25 am but not the one on the dresser in my bedroom, nor was it the one set on my phone. instead it was a crazy blurping sound coming out of josh's office and in my sleepy haze figured out something was going off because our power had gone out. turns out our ice storm hit harder than i thought it would....and school was closed for both me and jack! since we had no power, there was nothing pressing that needed my attention. the dishes couldn't be done, the cleaning would have to wait, the tv was pleasantly silent. all we had was each other. after a makeshift breakfast, we played a few rounds of uno and enjoyed the laughter that came with it. the boys played wonderful imaginary games and i got a bit of reading in. when the house hit 63 and felt cooler than we like, we traveled the icy roads a few miles to grandma and grandpa's house where power could be found. but instead of getting distracted by all that could, we continued our wonderful day of us time. yeh, unfortunately josh and grandpa worked but the boys and i got lots of play time in with grandma. we had spaceships made out of trios, a circus train traveling around the house,a sheet of paper rolled out on grandma's floor and  filled with  a rainbow railway around a big top tent and rings filled with sparkly circus animals, we had popcorn and movie time and just enjoyed being together. power was restored at home but we stayed where we were, all cozy and warm. after dinner, we ventured home. it was a great day to slow down and smell the roses. here's to taking time out of our crazy, busy, electronic world more often and just slowing things down. cheers!

us time

the plus side of having a sick kiddo is having us time :)

luke and i thoroughly enjoyed our morning as we painted with tinted karro syrup and played on the computer together. i don't get 1:1 time often enough with my boys :)

grateful

our boys have been sick a lot lately, the weather is up and down, my anxiety is...well anxious... and i was getting the "woe is me" blues so i decided to take that and stick it where it belongs..... so instead of the gotta feel bad for me blues, here is a list of why i am grateful: 

*i am grateful for medicines--tylenol, ib profin, amoxicillin, zithromax, celexa, mirapex, allegra...etc. all of them are helpful for our family
*i am grateful for being close to family
*i am grateful for amazing parents--both sides--mom b watched jack when josh took luke to urgent care and then went with me to the emergency room the next day, dad b was extremely worried and checked on us while at er, mom j (nurse) gave me solid advice and continued to check on us, dad j checked in on us. all of them prayed i am sure.
*i am grateful for doctors and modern medical technology. it is good to have xray machines to see lungs, ear doogigies to see into ears, thermometers to take temperatures, etc.
*i am grateful for the beautiful new children's er with the valet parking (so nice when you are worried about your child)
*i am grateful that our ailments are minor in the grand scheme of life (pneumonia, bronchitis, ear infections, sinus infections)
*i am grateful for an amazing husband who helps me take my anxiety in stride and talk through my freezing moments
*i am grateful for a husband who is strong yet tender all at the same time
*i am grateful for colleagues who ask how my family is doing
*i am grateful for friends from near and far who call to check on us
*I am grateful for knowledge of "how many breaths per minute" is "normal" for different ages so i can count them
*i am grateful for doctors on call
*i am grateful for a job that has insurance and sick time

guess there is a lot to be grateful for.

thanks for listening :) i feel better now!

AGGHHHHHHH

hope has gotten a lot of my money. gvsu has also gotten a lot of my money. yes hope has gotten more but i also got more out of hope. i had an amazing undergrad experience there--full of personal growth, educational growth and professional growth. i made beautiful friendships that i continue to have. even with all of the stress of college, i look back on my time at hope with a smile on my face. now fast forward to the present. i am currently a grad student at gvsu. gvsu is significantly larger than hope, is not a liberal art's education and has a more generic feel to it. i did not have a lot of choices for my master's program so gvsu it was.

i am beyond frustrated with my current class professor. i will call him paul. paul is a pleasant man. he took over the class at the last minute (it was listed as tbd until the month before) and it has felt like it the entire class. two days before class started, he left a message on blackboard requesting that we read/skim 200+ pages before coming to class................. strike 1.  class started. he decided that we should be in groups to do a discussion activity....he counted us off and tried to put us in the correct number of groups with the correct number of people in each group but it was an epic fail. he could not figure out if he needed to count to 5 or 6...... strike 2! then he had us READ chapters in our small groups before discussing....yes the SAME pages that he asked us to read/skim.....seriously. STRIKE 3. by this time, i was beyond agitated and annoyed by how we were being treated in a GRAD CLASS. so we moved on from there.....two entire weekends of my life captured in a similar manner. he has not responded with the journal entries he is requiring, he does not know how to respond to the blackboard posts he made us do and he has not graded anything or at least has not put it in the online grade book (which he told us to check) in the PAST two months..... tonight i am most agitated by an email conversation i am having with "paul". he said he thought our research papers should be 7 papers or so. i emailed him asking if 6 might be okay. he then asked me to send him my paper (which by this point is 7 pages) and he responds back that "6 will be fine but 7 will be better but it is not a huge issue"...ummmm dude, did not you not look at the paper that i sent you?!!?!? it is not the 7 pages you asked for!

seriously. if he were playing baseball, he would have been ejected from the game by now.

i loved hope. i do not love gvsu. i feel like i was once shopping at macys and now i am shopping at kmart. sorry kmart; you often have great deals but i prefer to find awesome deals at macy's where i know i am getting quality for what i pay.

thanks for letting me vent.




no stores were actually hurt in the making of this blog post.
i do not actually dislike kmart. nor do i actually shop at macys :) and no i am not a stuck up snob

visit

mom had an appt in gr today so on their way back through to cadillac, mom and dad stopped by for a visit :) it has been way too long since we have seen them---at least a month and a half. we were supposed to get together for lynda's bday but the weather got in the way! we were so happy today to have them here for a taco fiesta supper and just a few minutes of together time :)

blah double blah

do you ever have a chunk of time, say a few days or a weekend, where you feel like you did a lot but didn't do enough? well that is how i feel at the moment.

i had a fine weekend. i got some time in with my little men bowling and playing. i got a double date in with my hubby and in laws, as well as some game time after. i got in some just brain numbing nothing time (i.e. angry birds and back to the future with popcorn). i read books to the boys. i drove them to aunt lynda's, and spent time saturday and sunday with them at aunt lynda's too. i ran twice, babysat the little neighbor baby for a few hours, and delegated grocery shopping.  i even finished my reading for grad class this weekend and a bath. but i really wished i had gotten my draft of my paper done for my class.

now as i reread what i have typed, i feel a bit silly. i really did do a lot over the weekend. but of course, it wouldn't be me if i didn't think..."did i do enough". did i do enough for my boys? was i enough of a mama for them over the weekend? did i squeeze in enough since i work through the week and have conferences monday night and won't be home to tuck them in? did i do enough?

i wish i did not think like this. i will work to make a change and think different :)

here goes...i did a lot over the weekend. i got a lot accomplished. i had fun. i was a great mom. i played hard and loved just as hard. i gave my boys an amazing experience by giving them the gift of time with their aunt and uncle. i gave myself the gift of time and health by fitting in a run both weekend days. i gave myself a renewal of my love and commitment to my hubby by spending time with him BOTH weekend nights instead of doing homework.  i was a good friend by fitting in time to talk to an old friend. i am a great mom, a fantastic wife, and a good person.

thanks for listening. the title still says blah but right now at least blah has a hint of rose from the colored glasses :)

tomato torte update

it was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Tomato Torte (my mom in law made it so i do not have the exact recipe...but here is what i think....)
NEED:
big sliced tomatoes (i would remove the seeds and "pat dry" as well)
puff pasty sheets--thawed
olive oil
pepper
italian seasoning
fresh basil
teeny bit of grated cheese
salt

DO:
roll out pastry
place tomatoes on pasty--make sure they do NOT touch
drizzle with oil--yummy lots of oil
Bake at 375 until looks done :) took about 30 minutes
sprinkle teeny bit of cheese and just melt
sprinkle with salt and serve

the adventures......craziness.....of chester

meet chester

 

he is a 1 1/2 year old german wire haired pointer. he belongs to my dear friends jim and chantelle :) jim and chantelle were my youth group leaders in middle school and high school and a huge part of my life. i am grateful for the guidance they gave me as i went through  those awkward preteen and teenage years. fast forward to now. j and c were in need of a dog sitter so they could take their little ones on a week long vacation. c put out there on the www that she was looking for a sitter and i was looking for a dog experience to see if we were ready to have a dog :)  

now look at this face

 

 this little face captured my heart. he bounded into our home joyfully and ready to play. and that he did :) we enjoyed our week....but learned that maybe i am not ready to be a dog owner yet! he constantly wanted....needed.....really needed to be pet. he was a people dog. he had to be by you ALL the time. and he was still "into" stuff..... mostly hats, and shoes........ 

yes that is my pretty pink shoe or at least what was left of it after chester ATE it. he did not just chew--he demolished. 

we had junk everywhere and who had two thumbs and got to clean it up--this gal :)  

chester also had a love for anything small.....i "swept" legos, small toys and a chunk of a plastic toothpick sword out of his non food loving mouth. oh you say, what happened to the rest of the plastic toothpick sword? that orange pokey stick that we only found the handle of? yeah well that probably went through chester's intestinal track so being the good dog sitter i am and the worrier i am, i called my dog loving good friends to ask advice....then called chester's family and then watched him for any sign of change until they got back. thankfully chester seemed to pull through just fine! 

chester was an active dog. he would get bored with us and our lack of throwing things for him so he would take the initiative and throw his own toys and then chase them! i did get him out twice and run him around my 3 mile country block. he did amazing! now,  you have to remember, i stopped running with dogs after an incident in my late teens. i took my neighbor perdy for a run (beautiful slightly chubby dalmation) and she died the next day. my hilarious neighbors took it in good stride and truly did not blame me but LOVE to tease me to this day that i am a dog killer....... so when they learned i took chester for a run, they were shocked he lived and even thrived. sorry for the digression let me get back to chester. i got him out for a run and the crazy animal had a boatload of energy! our first mile was easily a 6 min mile! crazy dog! he did not realize we were in for the long haul but he made it and both of our runs were FAST.

yes this little guy is adorable 

but i have learned that this gal is not quite ready for that kind of commitment...... i think i will just stick to having two children :)

ready for spring to be sprung :)

as i sit and look out the window, i hope to have spring sprung soon. to keep my spirits up, i brought tulips :)

i love my boys

the snuggle bunny

mama's boys

don't have many of just me.... :)

menu for the week

missed a few "eating nights"   last week due to crazy schedule or need to be out, so a few have been moved to this week :)

today: blue cheese hamburgers, roasted sweet potatoes/potatoes, fresh green beans, strawberries/red grapes
monday: tb appt so spaghetti and bread
tuesday:breaded chicken fingers (recipe below), cous cous (?) or wild rice, roasted asparagus
wednesday: mom b birthday dinner--grilled steaks, bread, fruit slices with fruit dip (recipe below), baked potatoes, steamed broccoli
thursday: awesome cast iron grilled faijitas, black beans, rice (maybe)
friday: grilled pork loin chops, tomato torte, fruit

Roasted Apsaragus
NEED:
fresh asparagus (i prefer the skinniest ones you can find at the store!:) clean and prepare them--easy way is to hold them and snap the "woody" ends off then wash under water)
olive oil
salt
dried herbs (optional)

DO:
pat dry the asparagus
put on baking pan
add olive oil and roll the asparagus around in it you want them to be coated but not too much oil on the pan
sprinkle with salt and herbs

put in a HOT oven 450-500 for 15-20 minutes. roll them occasionally :)

ENJOY



Tomato Torte (my mom in law made it so i do not have the exact recipe...but here is what i think....)
NEED:
big sliced tomatoes (i would remove the seeds and "pat dry" as well)
puff pasty sheets--thawed
olive oil
pepper
teeny bit of grated cheese
salt

DO:
roll out pastry
place tomatoes on pasty--make sure they do NOT touch
drizzle with oil
Bake at 350 until looks done :)
sprinkle teeny bit of cheese and just melt
sprinkle with salt and serve

fruit dip
NEED:
cream cheese
brown sugar
juice (normally i would use oj but mom b can't have it so i am going to get some pear juice from pears....)

DO:
whip it all together :)
Enjoy!

chicken fingers
NEED:
chicken breasts--bnlss/sknls
bread crumbs with seasoning (i am going to mix italian with panko and herbs)
melted butter or egg whites (beat a little)
DO:
pound out the chicken and cut into "fingers"
dip in the butter or egg white
dredge in the crumbs
put on a greased baking sheet
bake 350 degrees until done (30 minutes?)
enjoy :)

Grilled cast iron skillet fajitas
NEED:

Chicken Breasts--Boneless/Skinless 

Peppers

Onions

Tomatoes 

Jalepeno (optional) 

olive oil

grapefruit juice 

lime juice (i squeezed fresh limes) 

black pepper (fresh ground is best)

oregeno (i used italian blend) 

garlic powder 

salt (i used kosher) 

chilli powder

cumin 

tortillas 

DO: 

mix together in a big zip lock bag:

olive oil

grapefruit juice  (about a half a small can full)

lime juice (i squeezed fresh limes--2 of them) 

black pepper (fresh ground is best)--i used quite a bit

oregeno (i used italian blend)--about 1 T

garlic powder about 1 T

salt (i used kosher) about 1.5 tsp

chilli powder 1-2 T

cumin- 1-2 T 

add chicken to bag and let marinade up to 5 hours--i had an hour so that is what i did

toss the veggies (minus tomatoes) with cumin, chilli powder, salt and pepper. let them sit on a board all ready to go 

put tomatoes in a bowl so they are ready to go (1/4 to 1/8 of tomato chunks) 

put some oil in a cup/small bowl so it is ready to go 

preheat grill--turn one side to HOT and put cast iron skillet on this side. turn the other side to med-med high.

grill chicken breasts whole until BARELY cooked through on this side. when chicken has a few minutes to go, quickly dump the oil into the hot skillet and then throw peppers and onions in. Let "blacken" while you cut chicken on the bias. Add chicken to the pepper mixture in the skillet and let the juices all mix. when the veggies are almost to the texture/consistency you want, add the tomatoes and let sear.  the skillet is hot so i put all the mix into a bowl to bring inside.

all in a day

woah. what a day. yesterday started like any normal weekend day..... the kids were up early, we watched a few kids shows and got ready to eat breakfast. jack, however, was not hungry. that even was not too odd for him. he often takes a while to "warm up" in the morning and is not hungry for a bit. but by 9:30, he should have been hungry and he still wasn't. he did not seem to be sick otherwise but was definitely lower on energy and had a nasty cough. i left it at that. when it was time for me to take chester home (dog we watched for 9 days), jack wanted to tag along. no biggie but i was concerned he still wasn't hungry (10:30 am at this point). well as we were on the way, he threw up all over the back of the car! eeewwwwww but what a great exposure therapy for me :) we got to chester's house and his family helped me out :) (great people by the way--some of my favorites--jim and chantelle). after cleaning him up, getting a pair of pj's from matthew and visiting for a few minutes, we were back in the car and on our way home. josh called and suggested that i take jack in for a strep swab. (remember that jack tends to puke with strep AND there was a note that came home saying that strep is in his classroom again). so off we went to urgernt care.....two hours of waiting ensued and then we were seen FINALLY. it was super busy there but jack was awesome! doctor took a look at jack and found wheezy breathing, an ear infection and a sinus infection. the breathing was the primary concern so the doctor got jack a nebulizer treatment right away. after that treatment, jack got a chest xray and then another treatment. finally, after about three hours we were given the okay to leave....along with a prescription for three meds and three diagnosis--bronchitis with wheezing, sinus infection and ear infection. 

we left and went to drop off his meds at walgreens. and then he said he was HUNGRY--yay i thought! all he had had ALL day was a few crackers and some juice....not enough for my little guy. so we stopped at mcdonalds to get him a happy meal...got it all ready, and then cough cough cough and PUKE......again.....eeeeeewwwww but at least another exposure therapy!  a trip to walgreens later and a visit from aunt lynda with a gift at walgreens, we were on our way home. poor baby took his meds when he got home, watched part of a movie, had a slice of bread with butter and went to bed.

he woke up with MUCH more pep in his step today! here's hoping he heals quickly.

the effers

i am the mother effer. what i mean by this is my colleagues who teach in the "f wing" (as opposed to where my desk is in the "c pod" or other colleagues in the "b pod") call themselves the effers. and every week they gather for a effer's luncheon on thursday. since i team with a few of them and am friends to all of them, they include me in their lunch. it is quite the gathering. turns out they used to have pizza every week and then started grilling weekly.....and then when i joined them (and another female colleague sarah), they started to eat foods that required SILVERWARE! :) i have brought them lasagna, venison stew, macaroni and cheese, and this past week i made my cheesy potatoes with ham! delish if i do say so myself. i love this weekly lunch and camaraderie. they are fun guys to be around and it is a great way to reduce stress. on a side note, these are also the great group of guys that invited and took my three boys to mountain man junior :)

i love being the mother effer :) hee hee!

cheesy potatoes with ham:
Cheesy Potatoes
NEED:
frozen cubed hashbrowns--thawed (1 bag)
1 16 oz container of sour cream
1 can of cream soup (your choice...i use chicken)
1/2 package of shredded cheese (cheddar)
finely chopped onion (optional)
1 stick of butter melted (optional)
diced ham (optional)



DO:
mix ALL together...i have to use my hands...just too much to mix

put in a greased pan and bake at 350 for 45-1 hour covered foil


SUPER tasty :) and super easy to double!! :) 

a new goal

i am unhappy with my weight again. more specifically my body shape. i started my serious life overhaul christmas 2009. i made the conscious decision to be healthy. i didn't do anything crazy or drastic but instead started thinking about taking care of me. i started back exercising and being thoughtful about what i ate. i didn't cut anything out but i did cut down portions. within 9 months, i had lost 20 lbs. and felt great :) in fact, i looked great too! now i am back up 10 or so pounds from that loss. so yes i am still down from 2009 but just not happy with the lumps and bumps that have reappeared. i am still exercising 3-5 times per week and still being thoughtful (most of the time) with what i eat....but my body is still gaining. this does not make me happy. i have decided that i will be even more thoughtful about what i eat. i am going to stop giving in to snacks at night....and a glass of wine! those are my pitfalls! my goal is by may 31st to drop 10 lbs!