So, here's my week 17...
2-page spread
**********
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Project Life: Week 17
I am SO far behind at the moment, but I'll get there... Summer break is only days away, and I can steal some free time to catch up. I figure the important thing is that I'm still here, plugging along, and I haven't given up yet. As long as I don't give up, there's still hope!
So, here's my week 17...
2-page spread
So, here's my week 17...
2-page spread
Lunch Date
Today Isaac gets to have a special lunch... he gets to go to McDonald's and eat lunch with the principal and 2 of his classmates!
During the last semester, they learned about economics in class. They each applied for jobs they would like to do, and they earned money for doing those jobs. They lost money for fines and infractions such as bad behavior or missed assignments. Then at the beginning of this week, since it's the last week of school, they got to buy things with their money they had earned. Some of the items available were:
During the last semester, they learned about economics in class. They each applied for jobs they would like to do, and they earned money for doing those jobs. They lost money for fines and infractions such as bad behavior or missed assignments. Then at the beginning of this week, since it's the last week of school, they got to buy things with their money they had earned. Some of the items available were:
- Sit at the teacher's desk for a day
- Keep a toy at your desk for a day
- Have a soft drink with lunch (a VERY popular one, I must say)
- Lunch with the teacher and 2 friends
- Lunch with the principal and 2 friends
These were just a few of the things Isaac mentioned to me. I'm sure there were many more. He chose the soft drink for lunch (he had a Sprite on Tuesday, provided by his teacher) and keep a toy at your desk for a day (he took a puffer fish stuffed animal). A friend of his chose lunch with the principal, and invited Isaac has one of his 2 friends to come along!!
This morning when I was packing Meagan's lunch, she deemed that it's 'not fair' that Isaac gets to go to McDonald's while she is stuck eating pb&j. We had a little talk about being happy for others when they are blessed in their lives... that everyone gets blessed differently, and just because today is not her 'turn' so to speak, it doesn't mean she can't be happy for her brother because it IS his turn.
Anyway, I hope he has a ton of fun and feels a little bit extra special today. I'm happy for him!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Project Life: Week 16
I have had week 16 done for a while now, but I've been avoiding posting it because it's a guaranteed Blogger frustration! Grrrr.
I have a minute to spare this morning, though, so I thought I'd quickly get it posted. This week I did a LOT of hybrid... made it in Photoshop Elements and then printed it to stick in the album. I was just not in the mood to mess with paper supplies and stickers and all that nonsense. I needed some good old fashioned digital creating *lol*. Seriously though, I feel SO out of my element using paper products, that sometimes going back to digital for this is like putting on my favorite pair of pj's. It's just comfortable.
Anyway.
Week 16 was a week of lacrosse games and gymnastics practices. It was a week of school field trips, softball, and house work.It was also the weekend of the Blue & Gold scrimmage (which we wanted to go to but passed due to the cost for 5 people....eeep). All in all, it was a pretty good week.
Here's the 2-page spread:
Well, that pretty much exhausts my patience with Blogger today. I'm off to do something far less frustrating. I do think that I'll look into transferring my blog to WordPress as soon as school is out and I have a bit more time. *sigh* It makes me sad, because Blogger has been so good for so long. Now it makes me want to pull my hair out. *shrug* Oh well. These are not the major issues in life.
Have a lovely day!!
**********
I have a minute to spare this morning, though, so I thought I'd quickly get it posted. This week I did a LOT of hybrid... made it in Photoshop Elements and then printed it to stick in the album. I was just not in the mood to mess with paper supplies and stickers and all that nonsense. I needed some good old fashioned digital creating *lol*. Seriously though, I feel SO out of my element using paper products, that sometimes going back to digital for this is like putting on my favorite pair of pj's. It's just comfortable.
Anyway.
Week 16 was a week of lacrosse games and gymnastics practices. It was a week of school field trips, softball, and house work.It was also the weekend of the Blue & Gold scrimmage (which we wanted to go to but passed due to the cost for 5 people....eeep). All in all, it was a pretty good week.
Here's the 2-page spread:
left:
right:
Have a lovely day!!
**********
Easy Berry Smoothies
Yesterday for Mother's Day, I treated myself to a Mt. Dew. I know that sounds funny, but I haven't had one in a while, and it just sounded good. Since we no longer keep it in the house, I made a run to Speedway (I needed gas anyway, so....). When I got back, Meagan saw my cup, and asked right away if I had gotten her a slushy. Nope, I didn't. So I decided to be nice and make them slushies.
I found this recipe in a Kraft Foods magazine and tried it out. Super easy. And YUM! I altered it a bit... here's what I did...
Ingredients:
1 - 6 oz. cup of light strawberry yogurt
1 cup ice
6 fresh strawberries
1 pkg. Kool-Aid Singles (I used Tropical Punch)
Directions:
Dump it all into a blender and blend until smooth.
Kids loved it! I loved it! I might make one of these for myself today!!
I found this recipe in a Kraft Foods magazine and tried it out. Super easy. And YUM! I altered it a bit... here's what I did...
Ingredients: 1 - 6 oz. cup of light strawberry yogurt
1 cup ice
6 fresh strawberries
1 pkg. Kool-Aid Singles (I used Tropical Punch)
Directions:
Dump it all into a blender and blend until smooth.
Kids loved it! I loved it! I might make one of these for myself today!!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Ninjago
Wednesday means the Something Old Something New Sale at The Lily Pad, and I actually had about 30 minutes this morning to put a layout together... my scrapping time is suffering as badly as my blogging time. *frowny face*
Anyway, I used a few of the sale items as well as a few goodies in my stash.
(Click here to view full credits)
**********
Anyway, I used a few of the sale items as well as a few goodies in my stash.
(Click here to view full credits)
**********
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!)...
... 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).
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).
**********
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!)...
... 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).
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).
**********
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
random post of the day
This is attempt #2 at this post. If it doesn't work, I might quit blogger. Wordpress is looking better and better every day. This 'new and improved' blogger is a big piece of junk so far. The end.
Anyway, as i was TRYING to say but the post came out all WONKY and impossible to read.... We're still running around crazy with very little free time. Still running to gymnastics and lacrosse and softball and back to gymnastics again. I am thankful that two of the sports will fall away in about another month. Life can return to some semblance of normal. I hope. In sports... Isaac's team won their first game this weekend! They won 9-6 and were SUPER excited to be on the winning side of things for a change! Meagan can now do her back handspring all by herself on trampoline / tumble track. She hasn't been instructed to attempt it on the floor yet, but they look really good on trampoline! And Sebastian is bouncing back from his elbow injury. He keeps hurting his left wrist, so he's now wearing a wrist support at practice, which seems to be helping. He's also progressing quite nicely in his elements... yesterday at practice he did his long-hang kip (which is a thing on high bar that is a TOUGH skill to get the hang of but that serves as a building block for lots of other skills). So all is well on the sports front. Meagan lost her first tooth!!
She was beginning to think she was going to have her baby teeth forever, so she was super excited when this guy finally popped out! The adult tooth to replace this one is already up and through, but it's hanging out behind her baby teeth. Could wreak havoc on her poor little mouth if this keeps happening, but what's childhood, really without a few years of gawky looking wonky teeth? It's a right of passage really. Don't you agree? Last week was Young Author week at the elementary school. I haven't seen Isaac's book yet, so I can't share that with you. But I've seen Meagan's. And I cracked up! It is a book about Lilly. Written and illustrated by the one and only, Meagan.
This might be my very favorite page... because it wouldn't be an accurate depiction of Lilly without a whole page dedicated to her daily puking activities.
"Every day she peukes. It is descusting! 'Meow'" *HAAA*
And besides all of this going on with the kids, I have my own tiny bit of fun to share. Lucas surprised me on Sunday with a Kindle Fire for no apparent reason! I was super excited and felt completely loved and spoiled! Besides being a way awesome e-reader, there's an added bonus to all of this... I can finally use my google calendar again! I have been missing it terribly since the loss of my 'smart' phone, and I'm super happy to have a portable electronic calendar back in my possession! Sweeeeeet! Okay, I'm off to do a million things before work. Have a lovely day! Hopefully I don't totally melt down at blogger and quit altogether. I'll try to keep you posted.
**********
Anyway, as i was TRYING to say but the post came out all WONKY and impossible to read.... We're still running around crazy with very little free time. Still running to gymnastics and lacrosse and softball and back to gymnastics again. I am thankful that two of the sports will fall away in about another month. Life can return to some semblance of normal. I hope. In sports... Isaac's team won their first game this weekend! They won 9-6 and were SUPER excited to be on the winning side of things for a change! Meagan can now do her back handspring all by herself on trampoline / tumble track. She hasn't been instructed to attempt it on the floor yet, but they look really good on trampoline! And Sebastian is bouncing back from his elbow injury. He keeps hurting his left wrist, so he's now wearing a wrist support at practice, which seems to be helping. He's also progressing quite nicely in his elements... yesterday at practice he did his long-hang kip (which is a thing on high bar that is a TOUGH skill to get the hang of but that serves as a building block for lots of other skills). So all is well on the sports front. Meagan lost her first tooth!!
She was beginning to think she was going to have her baby teeth forever, so she was super excited when this guy finally popped out! The adult tooth to replace this one is already up and through, but it's hanging out behind her baby teeth. Could wreak havoc on her poor little mouth if this keeps happening, but what's childhood, really without a few years of gawky looking wonky teeth? It's a right of passage really. Don't you agree? Last week was Young Author week at the elementary school. I haven't seen Isaac's book yet, so I can't share that with you. But I've seen Meagan's. And I cracked up! It is a book about Lilly. Written and illustrated by the one and only, Meagan.
This might be my very favorite page... because it wouldn't be an accurate depiction of Lilly without a whole page dedicated to her daily puking activities.
"Every day she peukes. It is descusting! 'Meow'" *HAAA*
And besides all of this going on with the kids, I have my own tiny bit of fun to share. Lucas surprised me on Sunday with a Kindle Fire for no apparent reason! I was super excited and felt completely loved and spoiled! Besides being a way awesome e-reader, there's an added bonus to all of this... I can finally use my google calendar again! I have been missing it terribly since the loss of my 'smart' phone, and I'm super happy to have a portable electronic calendar back in my possession! Sweeeeeet! Okay, I'm off to do a million things before work. Have a lovely day! Hopefully I don't totally melt down at blogger and quit altogether. I'll try to keep you posted.
**********
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