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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Stories to tell

**Before I start... can I just say that Blogger is being horrible and awful and rotten! If this post looks wonky to you, will you please let me know. You wouldn't even believe how long it took me to get my preview to not have overlapping photos and text. There are a million giant spaces in my actual post, and I'm hoping they don't show up for you... does it look okay??**

Good morning!! I SHOULD be cleaning my house right now, and I'm fairly sure that the time will come (sooner than later) that I will regret NOT using this time to do what needs to get done. But I'm just so sad about how pitiful my blog has been lately. I MISS telling our stories... I find that I do it as much (if not more) for me as for you. I love to be able to look back on our daily lives - it's why I started blogging to begin with. So here I sit, sacrificing responsibilities for the sake of memory keeping.... fair trade I think.

So let's jump right into the stories.

Sunday Isaac had a lacrosse game (which I told you already), which they won 9-6. Did I tell you though, that the game was 40 minutes away from here, and that when we got there (3 minutes before he was supposed to be there, thank you!) he decided THAT would be the best time to tell me he forgot his cleats. *grr* I was not pleased. I dropped him off so he could warm up with his team, and we headed back home to get his shoes. Yes, an extra 80-minutes of driving for the sake of some cleats. Not cool.

BUT.

This story has a happy ending. Because apparently it was large-item pick-up day in the town we were in, and lots of people were putting big pieces of furniture and other random junk out on the curbs. Well, there was one particular pile of junk that had caught my eye on our first trip to the lacrosse field. And lucky me, I had 2 extra chances to drive by it before I ever even sat down to watch the game. Each time I drove by, I felt this particular pile of junk calling out to me, although I couldn't figure out why.

Now, let me digress...

When you walk into our house through the front door, you're greeted by a big long pretty hallway. And currently, at the end of said big long pretty hallway sits our ugly eye-sore of a trash can. But really, it's the only place to put the trash can with the way the kitchen is laid out. And me, being a very asthetically-driven person (I like things to look pretty. All the time. And when it doesn't, I feel crabby.), I HATE - no, LOATHE the trash can being the first thing you see when you walk into our home. My idea to remedy this is a set up like this:

















A cabinet with doors... doors perfect for hiding trash cans in. Problem... all of the cabinets I've found have been not great quality, but have cost anywhere from $250 to $500. That's a lot of money for something that's not even solid wood. And wobbly. And junkity. No thanks. So I've kept looking. And hoping. And praying (yes, really, I pray about cabinets). And waiting.

So now back to the pile of trash... After Isaac's team won their game (yay!)...
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 ... on our last and final trip past the junk pile, I saw it. Wedged between a bright yellow shelf (very cute, and also solid wood, and quite tempting, although too big to fit in the van with 3 kids, folding chairs, and lacrosse equipment) and a ratty old recliner, sat the very piece of furniture I've been looking for. A solid wood cabinet with doors to hide a trash can. Just sitting there. Waiting for me. For free. There's no better price than free, right? So, to the slight embarrassment of my oldest, I pulled over, and made him help me lift this thing into the back hatch of the van. And now my new free cabinet sits in my garage, waiting to be sanded and painted and made beautiful (so it can hold our trash... poor cabinet).

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I'm thinking I'm going to paint it black and then stencil a pattern on the doors and top. I'm not totally sold on that idea yet, though, so I'm giving my brain time to storm up a plan. Hopefully soon, on one of my not-so-crazy-busy weekends (do we have those anymore?) I'll get down to the sanding! I am super excited to see this guy done!!

 *****

Have you tried this stuff yet (and no, this is NOT a paid advertisement)?




























We've used it three times now, I think. Once on fish (the lime blend), once on chicken breast, and this week to make chicken tenders. Yum! I did not set high expectations for these chicken tenders, as baked chicken tenders (vs. deep fried) never really turn out quite as yummy. Until now. This is my new favorite way to make tenders for sure! I just cut the chicken breast down to strips (about 4 per breast I'd say?), coated them with this stuff, and baked them at 350 for about 20 minutes. Then I turned the oven off and let them sit in there until I had the salad and everything else ready (twice baked potatoes, mmmmm), and they were SO crispy and YUM! Next time I will most definitely have to make more chicken because my kids hogged them down and wanted more.

Here's how they turned out:




















So good. Sebastian said this is his new favorite meal. And for HIM to claim anything involving chicken to be his favorite is saying something.

*****

The rest of what I have to share is just the random that is our lives.




























We had a parking lot in our floor for several days this week, courtesy of Meagan. Finally I think Isaac got tired of it, so he scooped up all the cars, threw them back in the bin, and took it back down to the basement. She didn't seem very upset by this, so I'm guessing she was done with the cars but didn't feel like cleaning them up. Nice.

Our plants are growing! It's almost transplant time, which means I'm going to have to get to work on getting our garden area ready.




















This week was "No Screens" week at Isaac & Meagan's school. They have little slips to fill out that tells what they did INSTEAD of watching tv or playing video games. Each day they turn in their slip and it gets put into a drawing for a daily prize. Good stuff right there!  While this is not a challenge for Meagan (she never sits still long enough to need a screen to keep her entertained), it has been a real commitment for Isaac. He has read books, played board games, gone on bike rides... all kinds of good stuff! I like that the school promotes this, and it's not just us at home telling them they need to limit screen time. The other day, the boys and I sat down and played Blockus while dinner was cooking. I lost. Badly.
















And yesterday was Culver's spirit night for their school... which means the school gets a % of sales. We have not been doing fast food lately, and have been eating much healthier meals at home, so the fact that we got Culver's was a big deal for the kids! Before going, I checked out their menu online, and found that their grilled chicken sandwich is only 310 calories and 4 grams of fat! Sweet! So Lucas and I each had a grilled chicken sandwich... and can I just say, it was TASTY!










It might just be (honestly... and again, not a paid advertisement *lol*) my new favorite fast food sandwich. It was GOOD!

Finally, thought I'd share this sweetness with you. This is how I found Meagan this morning when I went in to wake her up.

















She was laying in front of her wide-open window, winter pj's on, with the legs shoved up (must have been a bit too warm? *lol*) looking super sweet. Days like this, I hate to wake her because she looks so peaceful.  But wake her I did. She actually woke up in a really good mood and had a great morning before school!

Now, I'm off to shower and get ready (and hopefully get SOMETHING done before I have to go to work).

**********

1 comment:

Val said...

I love you guys and miss you so! Thank you oodles for the pictures and stories. I don't get here often enough, but I love peeking in on your life! xoxoxoxoxo from We5!