Monthly Archives: September 2011

September 30, 2011 · 4:49 pm

Feeding Frenzy

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We just got back from a very low budget, impromptu road trip to Vegas.  On our way there we stopped at a roadside restaurant to stretch our legs, in Wikieup, AZ.  Wikieup is a little town about 120 miles NW of Phoenix, in Mohave County.

We had no idea that we’d just discovered a treasure of awesomeness.  When I poked my head in the front door, I was disappointed to find a bunch of pottery and other very breakable items.  We are far from the most coordinated family in the world. I didn’t really trust myself not to break anything, let alone the boys.

It was the kind of place where if you knock one thing over you break twelve.   I nearly said lets leave when a shop keeper caught my eye and must have sensed my trepidation. She directed us to the garden in the back. I am so thankful she did.

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Not only was this place gorgeous, but also interactive.

When the koi in the giant pond saw us walk up, it was like a feeding frenzy, and we hadn’t even given them anything yet.

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There were 25 cent fish food dispensers.  When Der was getting ready to put his money in an old guy with a cane shuffled over to him and said “Don’t be in such a hurry to spend your money.” and gave him a 32 oz cup full of food pellets.  Thanks!

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While we were feeding the fish, this guy took notice and came for his share.

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We had so much fun!

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Filed under Adventures, Amazeballs, Entertain Me, Everything else, Family, On The Cheap, Petz on Parade, Rodents aka kids

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September 27, 2011 · 12:57 am

Ghetto Fabulous Panini

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Fabulous because they are full of mozzarella cheese, balsamic vinaigrette, fresh basil, ripe Roma tomatoes, and sautéed mushrooms with garlic.

Ghetto because all of those delicious ingredients are sandwiched and melted to perfection in hot dog buns.

Derek and I went to Costco last week. In our “mass consumption high,” we bought an excessive amount of hot dog buns.  Sometimes I can get taken away by the bargain and forget to think about the practicality of eating say four dozen hot dog buns in the next week, because there is absolutely no way they will fit in the freezer.

So Ghetto Fabulous Panini were born and we are all the better for it!

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We sliced up three Roma tomatoes and roughly chopped some basil.

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Doesn’t the tomato in the center look like it has a jack o’lantern face?

I mixed some balsamic vinaigrette in with the tomatoes and basil, while Der sliced the cheese.

Mushrooms and garlic were sautéed in olive oil and angels came down from heaven and sang because it smelled THAT good!

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Let me just take a moment to tell you if you don’t have a panini grill, you need to get one.  The boys and I got one for Derek for Father’s Day last year.  I was worried because I thought it was a lame gift but he loves it and uses it just like you would a George Forman.  He makes hamburgers, cheese crisps, brats, and now paninis.

(This would be a good place for a shot of the grill, if I had taken one.  Don’t worry, I am sure you will be introduced at a later date.)

The panini grill preheated while I assembled the sandwiches.

Each open bun acted as a slice of bread.

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I sprayed the outside of the buns with a little butter flavored Pam before I panini’d them.

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Divine!

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September 23, 2011 · 7:22 am

Dogs

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I should have named her Dirt because she is always covered in it.  I actually call her “dead dog” because she always plops down and lays there like she’s dead.

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Little Miss Buggle is light one never used uterus.  I took photos of the surgery with my phone because I am weird like that.  If you aren’t too squeamish and wish to see what Bugs actual uterus looked like click here.

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Here Noogie says TGIF!

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September 22, 2011 · 7:00 am

Derek is a dollop of daisy.

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He brought me pink roses just for the heck of it.  At first we put them in a normal clear vase (the kind you get from the florist), but they looked awkward.  The stems were super long.  I almost didn’t cut them down, because I was worried it would hurt Der’s feelings, like he cares. I cut over half of the stems off and put them in the small green pitcher…sooo much nicer.

Thanks Der for being an amazing husband!  I love you bunches!

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September 21, 2011 · 4:47 pm

Quinceañera

Saturday we had a yard sale and  all of these low-riders pulled down our street and turned around right in front of our house, and lined up across the street.

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It was an unexpected bit of excitement.

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A bunch of them had hydrolics, but I didn’t get any shots of them bouncing.

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All of her friends got to choose which ride they would be chaufered in, with the girl of the hour getting the convertible.  There she is walking the line picking her favorite.

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She had a huge entourage, with a videographer and several photographers.  I cannot imagine how much something like that would cost to put on.  I think it would easily cost as much as an elaborate wedding.

Conrgats to the lucky girl and thanks for providing us with a free car show!

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September 19, 2011 · 4:26 pm

Slacker

Last week was conferences. Jeremia is doing really well and has joined the science/math club.  He doesn’t get his love of math from me.  He said he thinks it will be helpful to him in becoming an engineer.  I concur and am impressed he is thinking about his future and how to attain his goals.

Ami and Conrad both are being tested for the gifted program.  They both are doing very well and there is minimal whining about homework.  I prefer none, but a little is way better than a lot.

I feel like a slacker for not being more diligent and posting more.  Conrad asked me the other day when we were going to do another project.  Soon…I hope.

Actually I have a super long list of things to do and blog.

Just a few are:

Have Conrad do thank you cards for his birthday still.

Find Halloween crafts and then do them.

Blog my homemade fried rice.  Der says it’s his new favorite recipe of mine and it’s so simple.

Sit down and figure out who I want to pay to store my photos online.  grr

Maybe tomorrow I will share the short story I wrote…

 

 

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September 16, 2011 · 10:38 pm

I could do this all day.

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This is me feeding Texas.

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And this is Texas saying “Yum!”.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

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September 13, 2011 · 5:04 pm

Just like his papa.

I promised a while back that I would share some photos of Der when he was Jeremia’s age because they look so much alike.  We don’t have a scanner anymore so Der took them to work and had a lady in the office do it for him.

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Derek 10 years old 11/5/1983

JP 11 years old 2011

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Der 13 years old 1986

Der was styling with his open shirt and necklace.  He probably had ripped jeans and skater shoes on too.  He was cool like that.

Jp 12 years old 2011

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Love doesn’t even begin to cover it.

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Burr this one is just for you.

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September 12, 2011 · 12:29 pm

Keegan!

We hadn’t seen him in over a year.  To say we missed him would be an understatement.

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Keegan came by for a visit a few hours a day for 3 days. We had a ton of fun.

Jeremia showed Keeg some drawings.

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Jeremia told me that Conrad’s eye was turning orange.  I was confused and kept saying “orange?”.  I called C in from the other room and he was sporting an orange eye, Keeg had made him.  It was pretty funny.

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We played some Just Dance on the Wii.

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It was too precious for words.

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The next day Keegan came back over and they all played with skateboards, taking turns with Keeg’s awesome long-board.  Now they all want long-boards for Christmas.

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And then just like that it was time for Keeg to go back to Phoenix.

We love you and loved our visit and can’t wait for you to come back Keegie!

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September 9, 2011 · 3:36 pm

Conrad’s 7th Birthday!

Conrad and I had a little impromptu photo shoot on Tuesday, which also happened to be his birthday.  I should try to remember to do this with all of the boys.  It was fun.

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Such an adorable little duck.

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Classic Conrad.

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Conrad is quirky, funny, talkative, energetic, and very matter of fact.  He eats his cereal with a fork and slurps his milk after.  He has a rationalization for just about everything and he makes me laugh and want to pull my hair out daily.

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His presents consisted of Nerf and Lego Starwars and cash which he will undoubtedly spend on more of the aforementioned items.

He chose Golden Coral for dinner.  I generally try to avoid buffets, because I have issues with not knowing other peoples hand washing practices.  That’s my problem, not his, so I sucked it up and tried not to think about it. Since the Coral has dessert we agreed to do cake the next day.

For his cake he chose funfetti cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

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Here he pauses to ask what the proper birthday wish protocol is. “Do you wish before, after or while you’re blowing the candles out?”

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After all that thought, he finally blew the candles out 0ne-at-a-time.  Then he said “Awe man!  I forgot to make my wish.”  We told him it would still count if he hurried up and made it.  What a goofball!

In other news, I forgot to update that Ami is doing well.  He went back to school yesterday and seems to be almost back to normal.  We still have to keep him away from crunchy/sharp food for another week. He hasn’t had any apnea, that I have seen, since the surgery.  This makes me so very happy!

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