My partner in "I have a great idea..." Midnight Madness 5K, Ames, Iowa, July 2009. Glad we finished it, Tiff...although the other ideas we had while pounding the pavement sounded really good.

Dusting off the ole' Blog

OK, so it has been FOREVER since I updated the Blog...my apologies...
Last week I had some crazy inclination to prepare seven dinners to freeze while Nathan was at preschool. Several hours and no shower later, I glanced at the clock and my heart leaped out of my chest. Three minutes until preschool pickup! I raced down the road and tore into the church parking lot on two wheels...to look around and wonder where everyone else might be hiding? I had to read my watch, the car clock, and my cell to determine that I was, in fact, one hour early to pick up Natey. Really.
Back at the homestead, I finished up the dinners and had them in the freezer before I drove to the preschool (again!) to take the little boy home.
Here are a couple of the dinners I made:
Cindi's Enchilada Casserole
Mom's Chicken and Chips Bake
Mrs. Uker's Baked Spaghetti
Want the recipes? Let me know! :)

Reading: Dead Time by Stephen White
Good Families Don't Just Happen by Catherine Garcia-Pratts (a speaker at MOPS)
See Dane Run by Dane Rauschenberg (my friend I have met at marathon expos I worked this spring).

Cooking: I made this for dinner twice last week at the request of hubby and kiddos. So good and super easy!!! :) http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/curried-rice-shrimp-00000000006830/index.html#

Curried Rice With Shrimp

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup fresh basil

Running: 2.5 miles tonight while the kids go to VBS.

Jerry

Today is my father-in-law's birthday. It has been over a year since we have seen Mark's parents, which makes me very sad. We sang Happy Birthday to the answering machine this morning. Mark's mom called back later saying he had enjoyed the message. Closed head trauma has been a cruel lesson for us to learn about the past few years. Mark's dad was a brilliant emissions lab coordinator at Ford for over 30 years. His plan had been to teach at Michigan Tech, his alma mater, after retirement. Four strokes, multiple surgeries with stints relieving pressure on his brain, and too many medication trial and errors later, and a terrible fall on the ice have been some of the challenges he has faced since Nathan was born. He always showed generosity to the extreme with us. He sent money while we were both in school, installed a laundry sink I didn't know I needed, brought countless wheeled vehicles for the kids from Michigan, visited bearing 2 bushels of peaches, took us to Disney World...too much to list. I am grateful for his giving spirit. While I am so blessed to have three of my grandparents still living, Mark has lost all of his. My parents have been able to visit more frequently and Mark's mom bravely made the trip to TX once last May. For us to visit is more complicated than I can explain, but it breaks my heart that my kids and Mark are missing precious time with his family. It is so hard to know what to do and how to help from so far away. Both Mark's parents are in my thoughts and prayers frequently. I hope we can see them again very soon. Happy birthday, Jerry. We love you.

Monday morning

Three days left of school for my little girl. Heart breaking news this morning. The missing jet lost over the Atlantic, journalists held in North Korea and the other stuff they are up to there, GM in bankruptcy...while all of that needs and deserves our thoughts and prayers, I need to focus on what is good this morning, too. My little boy is upstairs playing what sounds like yodeling lemurs. Since that is his current favorite toy, after the birthday bash last week the count is seven lemurs in our family, it's not too surprising. I love listening to the stories he comes up with and the imagination that he possesses. I sincerely hope the passengers on the plane are safe, things can be resolved peacefully in North Korea, and America can somehow work through the car giant's problems. For now, I am content to curl up in the chair in the reading nook outside his room and listen to the yodeling lemurs.

Waiting to see Shamu in San Antonio. Spring Break 2009

Wem's Kitchen Table: The great crawfish mystery

Wem's Kitchen Table: The great crawfish mystery

The great crawfish mystery

So this morning we were on our way to squish in some quality family time at the pool before Mark went racing into work...yeah, he was supposed to have the day off, so of course! someone got sick and he was called in today. Never mind he worked last weekend...and will work again this coming weekend...I am trying hard not to keep track, can you tell? Anyway, we were rushing to grab any and all pool paraphernalia in the garage when I spotted something strange moving on the floor near the cat's food and water bowls...it was a crawfish. A big one. Yup. In our garage. Granted, there are some strange flora and fauna down here, but the "how" and "why" parts of the crawfish ending up in our garage remain a mystery. This particular crawfish was huge, as in "should be served at our favorite Cajun place, Orlando's, several miles from the house," huge. We are hoping some funny person put the thing on my car and it climbed/fell off when I parked it...because otherwise??? By the way, the cat is completely freaked out. He won't come inside, nor will he come out of hiding in the garage, so who knows what kind of night they spent together. Mark disposed of the crawfish before we left for the pool. It really wasn't in good health and, as if I were going to dispute him, he pointed out that it wasn't worth cooking up just one! This all happened after church and before noon...what will the rest of the day bring?

What to do this summer?

So here we are, a mere three days left before my 2nd grade bunny is home for the summer... now what? I miss her like crazy during the school year. I am moody and irritable the days leading up to school starting because I hate the fact she is leaving me at home. Same thing at Christmas break. I nearly wept a couple of weeks ago when my preschooler finished up his program for the year. Now, he is home every day, all day...yay!! I really, really like having the kids at home. This issue may be worth delving into at a later time, however, right now the question remains, what are we going to do June 4 (and the days after that?) I am not so naive to think that we are going to sit around smiling at each other in pure joy to be together again for more than a couple of minutes. I abhor kids being scheduled up to their freckled noses with activities touted to make them run faster, jump higher, and score amazing results on their SATs. At the same time, we need to have a little bit of a plan so that we don't reach the end of August and wonder what happened the past three months. Sure, we are doing the VBS week (possibly twice!), get to attend two beautiful cousins' weddings in far off places, and swimming lessons. We also will spend some time at my parents' house, which will be a slice of heaven for the third year in a row! When it is just me, as the sole camp counselor/warden/memory maker/referee, what can I do that will help the kids think back, and say, "Man, that was a great summer?" I would love to get some insight here. What ideas do you have?

What fun! Our weekend in the cabin at Yellow Smoke park in Denison was perfect...we need to do that again...

Grandpa sent me this hilarious photo today with the caption, "Another Smart Florida Road Sign..."
I would be throwing myself on the hood of the next vehicle passing by if I were a hiker/biker there.

Yay! So Mom and Dad made it to Houston tonight. We are going to have a great time this Easter weekend.

Where to start?

The time just seems to be in fast forward. The scrapbook stuff is creeping out from under my bed, begging to be dealt with in some fashion. The camera is full of photos that should be downloaded while we still remember the events. My recipe boxes are overflowing with, "Ooh, that looks good!" The knitting,...well, dear friends would probably stage an intervention if I pick up the needles again. Do I have any business starting a new venture in the world of blogging? Maybe this will fall into the realm of my great-idea projects...I am a fabulous "starter" and not so great with the "follow through"... hopefully, this will be just the right platform. I hope the opportunity to share our lives gives entertainment, enjoyment, and embraces the essence of my family.