Tonights Game

Here are some pics of Jason's game. He did pretty good tonight and they won.

Megan however didn't do as well. Her confidence was shaken a couple of games ago and she is having a hard time getting it back. Plus, there is a kid on the team giving her a hard time.

A Comedy of Errors

That is the best way to describe my day yesterday. The day started out ok., I had a bunch of annual reports that needed to be reviewed for MOMS Club. So I sat at the kitchen table with my last glass of Diet Pepsi (all cold and yummy in my favorite glass) and reports spread in front of me. Jason comes in for a quick chat and I ask him to please turn on the kitchen light for me. He reaches up, grabs the chain to the light on the fan and the glass globe comes down on his head and crashes all over everything. He starts crying but not because he is hurt but because it scared him. After making sure he was ok and no cuts I wanted to cry too. There was glass in my Diet Pepsi. I get that cleaned up and finish up my reports.

Time to get the dish washer going so I finish loading it. I drop and break a glass on the floor. Then turn around and knock over my big electric frying pan (which is kinda new) and break the handle off. Jason already knocked it over and broke the other handle. I looked at Anthony and said, "that's it I'm done, not going to touch another thing." He gets some change together and hops on his bike and went to buy me another Diet Pepsi. He knows I have a love for fountain drinks. What a good kid.

So the day pretty much mellows out. Anthony tells me about the wolves that make their way into his campsite and that he and his girl friend broke up. He looked at me and said OH WELL. After all, she was a perfectionist and we'll have none of that in this family. Just then I realize it has been awhile since I have seen my youngest child. I ask Megan who informs me he is stuck in a tree. THANKS

I go outside to save my baby just in time to see a stream of liquid coming from high up in the tree. I am thinking, he better have a squirt gun up there. He didn't and is grounded from climbing up the tree for a couple of days. He accepted his punishment and giggled a little bit when he was telling the other two what he had done. When I retold the events of the day to my husband, who of course wasn't here, we both started laughing.

It's never boring in this house that's for sure.

Cinnamon Rolls

Since I posted my love for my bread machine. I thought I might as well post a picture of one of my creations. I have made a loaf of bread, pizza crust and these lovely cinnamon rolls. This is not the recipe that I will be doing on Wednesday for the church booth at the fair. The one I will be doing for that will produce many many dozens.

It is a slow day today and that is a good thing. We have a potluck and movie after church tonight that we are going to. It's a youth mass and we really enjoy those. The music is so much more upbeat and the kids really get into it.

Have a great and relaxing Saturday.

Soooo Tired

My poor baby is so tired. Anthony has been battling allergies and just started a new medication. Plus, he has been attending yet another football camp. This one is just an evening one and he is home by 9:30pm. However, he is up again the next morning by 7:00 to be at weights. Yesterday the football team helped the elementary school dig holes for the new playground equipment that is going in. The coaches are trying to get the boys out there in the community more, so that maybe in the future the team can have more community support. Us parents are great support for the team but they really don't get a lot of outside support. It really shows at the middle school level. So anyway, Anthony helped dig holes from 7am to 1:30pm. He was invited to go hang out at one of the seniors houses (a big deal for a freshman) but he came home instead. My good friend and her family came up for a quick visit and Anthony managed to stay awake for that. They joined us for half on Jason's soccer game (which they won). When I returned from walking the girls to the car this is what I found.

He slept like that for the rest of the game. Poor kid, I dropped him off at the house and headed out to Megan's game. He fell asleep around 10 last night and is still asleep. He needs to store energy. He is headed off camping with his friend and then Idaho for a football game on Monday. Makes me tired thinking about it.

Ode To My Bread Machine

While it is one of the most popular items found at a garage sale, I will always love mine. I will admit to pulling it off it's place on my shelf and having to wipe a few layers of dust off. But right now I am smelling the most delicious garlic seasoned bread baking as I write this. There is no denying that food and gas is getting very expensive. I do my fare share of complaining about it. Lets face it complaining isn't going to put food on my table. When you are trying to feed a family of 5 and one of those is a growing 14 year old boy, who is in the middle of football training, you need to figure out how to get food on your table without selling a body part. My answer to that is to dig deep in my arsenal of recipes and make more things from scratch. Now I know that using a bread machine isn't exactly from scratch but I am also thinking of energy prices. I have some really great from scratch bread recipes. But when it's going to be hot outside, I am not turning on the oven. Plus, when you have two kids in soccer and one in evening football camp, who has time for all that. So for tonight's dinner I will be serving yummy garlic bread and pasta with homemade pesto on top.

I am cleaning last years frozen pesto out of my freezer. Did I mention that I have 12 (yes I said 12) very healthy basil plants growning in my garden. Can you say Pesto, Yummmmy, and we will have lots of it this summer. I have a bunch of new ideas for using fresh basil that I am going to work on in the next couple of weeks. My parents are coming up and I will be experimenting on them. My Mom is another big fan of basil and it is her recipe for pesto that I love.

So go ahead and laugh at my bread machine. A couple of years ago people where laughing at slow cookers and now look, they are hip again. I also have never stopped loving my slow cooker. It is the only way I get food on the table during football and baseball season.

Best Friends

That is what Jason said when he sat down for lunch today. "Look, I am sitting between my two best friends." I took a picture and put it here just to remind myself of this day. I wonder how long it will last.

What a weekend

Steve's parents left on Saturday and have made it home safely. We are so glad they made it up and I really wish I had more time to spend with them. Steve was able to take a couple of turns off and be here. We went to a great restaurant their last night here to celebrate my birthday. We never did get to the cake, we finally had some last night. This is the first time his sister has been here. We are going to start pushing her to come back and bring the rest of the family. Next time hopefully me and the kids won't be so scheduled up and we can do more things. Oh, and Kelli, we saw some elk up on the highway today and thought of you. We talk about the animals we see in town and won't you know that we never say anything the whole time they where here. It always seems to work out that way.

While they where here they got to see both kids play soccer.

Poor Jason was so tired that week that he was pretty sluggy during his game. But let me tell you that he is catching up on his rest now. Megan on the other hand was all over that ball. She scored a goal but of course we missed it. Excuse me for the brief Mother bragging moment: The referee pulled her aside to give her a couple of pointers. He told her that he has been a goal keeper for 20 years and never seen someone her age this good. Anthony takes full credit for her goal keeping skills. After all it was him that has thrown a ball at her for the last 10 years.

Yesterday was my birthday day and we celebrated by going to a water park. It is a small one but it was a lot of fun and a great way to spend a hot afternoon. Steve packed the ice chest with all kinds of sandwiches, snacks and drinks. The place wasn't to packed that we could see the kids while lounging around. Jason hung out on the big slides most of the day. I got to read a book, fall asleep in the sun and play in the water. I don't have any pictures because I decided to leave the camera in the car and just have fun with the kids. It was great. Thanks guys for a wonderful day. I had a kid at VBS who told me happy birthday and at least your not as old as my mom. She is like 40. Yeah, I am older. lol

Up coming events in this house. more soccer games, another football camp, the county fair, a visit from my parents and just crazy every day life in this house. Stay tuned........

Having a Good Time

The visit is almost over and it is going way to fast. We have really enjoyed seeing everyone but wish it could be longer. It has been crazy with VBS, soccer and football. Auntie Kelli will just have to come back so we can really show her around. She was a little bummed, she wanted to see an elk. We get lots of those in town but in the winter time. I will post more later with some pictures.
Have a great Friday.

Just a Quickie

I am just getting ready to make my way to bed and I am tired. The kids are having a hard time going to sleep because they are excited about seeing Lady Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Kelli. They are all a little bummed that Jessica couldn't make the trip. They are halfway here and spending the night in a hotel. They will be here sometime tomorrow.

Today VBS started. Anthony is in the play and taking pictures. Megan is a group leader and Jason is just a participant. Me, what am I doing, oh yeah.....I am a teacher. I am doing community corner which is all about serving your families, friends and community. I am really excited about tomorrow. We have a visitor who is going to come talk to us about what it was like growing up in Africa. Thank goodness it isn't to hot this week. We are having to do most of the day outside. The church classrooms are being upgraded and are all torn apart. The rooms need to be painted and I was informed I volunteered my family to adopt a room to paint. I am pretty sure I didn't volunteer but what are you going to do. With my luck, our room will be ready to paint the same week my parents get here. Wait a minute......This sounds like a good project for Andrew. Shhhhhhh, don't tell him. He never reads my blog so he'll never figure it out.

Soccer Season is Open

And it opened with a bang. Megan was goalie and smoking, until she took a cleat to the leg. You could actually see the three marks in her leg. This is the first time I can remember where she actually was hurt bad enough to have to leave the game. I tell you the child can really take a hit, and she did all through this game. The bad thing is, that since she can take a big hit, the coach's sometimes forget to check and make sure she is ok. In this game she got kicked right above the knee, went down and then the ball came back at her so she hoped up and wasn't able to catch it. Poor kid could barely get off the field.




Did this end the game for her???


Nope, she went in as a forward and almost score two goals. She also got hit in the arm so hard you could see the stitch marks from the ball in her arm. By the end of the came she had 7 bruises (yes, you can bruise under your shin guards), swollen knee, red ball marks on her arm and a jammed finger. Just the beginning for her.


Jason's first game went a little slower. It was a lot hotter and the kids just where not into it. He got to be goalie this time. The first year the little guys get to have goalies. Megan stood behind the net and gave him pointers. No one scored off of him. Since it was so hot and the kids are used to playing in it, they basically just ran around. A couple of the older kids got into it. Here are a couple from his game.




We are getting ready for a quick visit with Steve's parents and sister next week. VBS starts next week too. I still have a bunch of projects to get done before Monday. This year I am doing Community Corner, which makes me very happy. Last year I did Bible stories and was told mine sucked. To quote my daughter. So, next week is going to be crazy but it should be fun.

Happy Birthday Deter!!!

Happy 18th birthday Andrew....
We wish we could have been there yesterday to celebrate with you. Here is a video for you to enjoy. It was dark when we did this so you will have to excuse the poor picture quality.

Megan Cooks

Megan wanted to make our desert for 4th of July dinner. We decided to make some changes to the recipe below. Like black cherry jello instead of strawberry for obvious reasons. She also didn't want to add fresh fruit. No health to this just the sugar.


Here she is making the first layer.



Getting ready for the second layer.


I think she was trying to look evil, but it didn't turn out on film. What you don't see is Jason jumping up and down in the back ground saying "Can I have a taste, Can I have a taste."

Jason can barley control his excitement as the whipped cream layer goes on.

The black cherry layer has gone on and for some reason I don't have a picture of that. Here is the final product. Cheddar is waiting for his share.

A Day of Rest

That best describes today after a fun filled busy day we had yesterday. Megan made a special jello for dinner last night. I have special step by step pictures I will post after I finish this one. I tried my hand at taking some pictures of the fireworks last night. I forgot my tripod so this is me lying on my back, balancing the camera on my chest and holding my breath. Not bad considering. The whole stadium was decorated with American flags. The fire department was giving free rides on the old fire trucks. The trucks would go around the block but what us passengers didn't know, was a little girl and her dad where taking aim at these trucks. All we would hear is Dad yelling NOW and she would giggle and hit the truck with water. I guess this is a tradition, we didn't know about it because we weren't there early enough last year to ride the trucks. The Lions club has the piggy ride that Jason loves to ride. You will see a picture below. They have a live band playing and Jason and the rest of the little kids (and some big kids) like to dance to the music. The fire works where fantastic and best of all, Steve made it home in time to enjoy it with us. Andrew and Skeeter came by the house later to enjoy our fireworks at the house. We love Andrew and Skeeter however Cheddar isn't as impressed with Skeeter.



Today Anthony went water skiing with his girlfriend and her family. He had a blast and came home sun burned. I can not get this child to wear sunscreen. The funniest thing is that his hair is so long that it covers his forehead. His nose and cheeks are burned and his forehead is as white as a babies boom boom. I will take a picture of it and post tomorrow. My batteries are on the charger.

Happy 4th of July

We are off and running this morning. I will update more later.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday.

Edited at 1:20pm

Here is a picture from todays parade. It was in a town not far from here, for some reason we don't do a 4th of July parade. I am sure I will have more pictures later. I have a couple more from today that where really cute, but I am tired. Gonna take a nap its going to be a late night.

Happy Birthday Day Uncle Rick

Happy birthday!!!!!
You old man......lol
We will have a video for you up and load in a couple of hours. I need to get some dishes and laundry done before I can do anything else. Plus, the little one of the bunch has a social commitments and is off and running.

Jason started reading camp this week. We signed him up so that he can keep up his reading skills this summer. He is having a great time and lots of his friends are there. He also does Mobile fun bus too. That is where a bus goes to the different parks and they do crafts, snacks, read books and play games. It is done through our parks and rec and it is a lot of fun. We start soccer games next week and Megan starts soccer camp during the day. I really like how their soccer coaches are coaching them. We where a little concerned that Megan would pick up some bad habits, but these coaches know what they are doing. I know I sound like one of THOSE sports parents but really I am not. She has just worked so hard this past year developing her skills with her select coach that we did not want to see all her hard work undone. We don't push her, she pushes herself. Soccer is the one and only sport she plays. She and another team mate have been pushing her coach into finding a way they can play winter soccer. This town just doesn't have the indoor facilities for that and there is no way she wants to play in the snow.

Well, I mentioned before that I have some house work to be done and I need to get on that. Plus, Jason is unable to hit the dog bowl with the food so today I woke up to ants in the kitchen. Have a great day.