...On a Boat

but no flippy-floppies in sight (which makes no sense unless you've seen the SNL sketch). We recently traveled to Bainbridge Island for one of Delaney's state cup games. Beautiful place, but I did hear from a "local" that it can be rough living on an island- even if it is connected to land via ferry, and bridge. I don't know, it seemed pretty spectacular to me.

That said, it was a 3+ hour trip (one way) for a 85 minute soccer game. I had to sell it to the kids somehow, so I promised Trey, my sole tag-a-long a boat ride. Of course I also made him promise not to tell Jake (as he stayed home for baseball). First thing out of Trey's mouth...yep, you guessed it "we went on a big, big, boat). Of course, Jake later turned it into a "cruise"- if only!

Hola!

My daughter tells me I'm a horrible blogger and I'm disappointing everyone (sorry mom, and Laura- my two loyal readers ;) Nothing new going on here. We're smack in the middle of soccer tryouts. One daughter made the team of her choice, although she was really worried, despite the fact that the coach is her FATHER! Emily is also the team's only goal keeper at this point, so I'm not sure why she was worried :)

Delaney has tryouts coming up in a week and a half. Keep your fingers crossed that she too makes the team of her choice (she doesn't have her dad coaching at this point).

Jake has been getting in trouble at school all week for being off task and silly. That pretty much sums Jake up- off task and silly! He is playing baseball and loving it. When his team is focused (when, being the key word) they are pretty good. That said they are no Diamondbacks. This team has 2-3 practices a week and there is NO goofing off. They are hardcore (for pee wee little league).

Trey is playing t-ball and also enjoying it- most of the time. Tonight I can already tell he's going to fight me on practice. It's rainy and cold. I might fight me on practice as well. He is turning 6 in the middle of May- my baby is getting old....

Milo is still peeing (in the house, that is). See, you haven't missed much ;)

Quick update...

As usual, trying to catch up on life! Rob has been home since last Friday (almost a week), and walked over a mile last night. Not too bad 13 days post heart surgery. I came home just in time for the kids' spring break (hence the lack of updates..we were on the go). I will post a real update w/ pictures shortly.

We've been at the Mayo clinic....

w/ Rob, for his cardiac procedure (When I say "we" I mean me and Rob's dad, Bob...what a trooper). What a fantastic hospital/clinic/establishment. They were never late with an appointment, the nurses/staff/physicians have been excellent, and he is recovering amazingly well from surgery.

We are very relieved that things went so well, and I'm excited to rejoin the kids (and my parents who volunteered to kid-sit) tomorrow. I'll post a much more in-depth recap tomorrow, but just wanted to let you know where I've been, etc.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

In honor of my (meager) Irish heritage, I am making corned beef and cabbage. For most of my years I have claimed to not like this dish. Why? I'm not sure. My sister shares this feeling, yet neither of us has a real recollection of ever eating it. The kids are all gung-ho about St. Patty's Day this year so I decided to give it my best shot, and cook the quintessential Irish-american dish. I was planning on Irish soda bread as well, but I had a paper due- it is Wednesday after all (paper due date). It's really too bad....the Irish soda bread, at least on paper, sounds like the most appealing part of the menu (available at Trader Joe's ;) Anyhow, I'll let you know the end result in the morning.

Tomorrow Emily goes in to our much trusted Audiologist to figure out why the heck she can't hear when my back is turned or in the backseat of the car. She's really struggling in the hearing arena right now which is not good for her- she's a bit scattered anyway. More to come on the hearing front. We've had it pretty easy ever since Jake's temporary massive loss (he's still holding steady- thank goodness!).

Also, quick question for the masses (at least those masses that include parents of special needs children). Do you get to weigh in on teacher selection? Just curious as I'm considering doing this next year (at least a bit.) Is that a bad idea? Good idea? Neutral?

No pictures today (at least as of yet, but Trey has t-ball practice later so maybe I'll be inspired).

What I've Been Up To (Since I've Been MIA)-

Saturday was Emily's birthday party


So I spent all day Friday making party favors....


and baking this obnoxiously green cake! Isn't it bright?



I also dyed t-shirts the same very bright shade of green that the party guests then decorated with massive amounts of fabric paint. I should have bought extra containers of the glow in the dark paint. Who knew that would be the hit of the party? A few of the shirts turned out bright yellow as Delaney forgot to add salt during the dying process- oops! (Sidenote: Thank you to Delaney and Alexa for being my craft helpers. Delaney, next time you shake the paint make sure the lid is CLOSED).

The girls went on a scavenger hunt looking for various green items (beaded necklaces, light-up buttons, etc.) and gold coins (both plastic and chocolate). They then came back and made their shirts, beaded rings, and St. Patricks Day magnets (just included because it was one of the easier crafts....don't magnets scream St. Patricks Day ? ;).

(If you squint you can see the magnets....)

Milo (the non-housebroken puppy) escaped several times


And took great delight in running away from all fourteen party guests, my son, and the adults chasing him down. Those watching from inside the house seemed to find it rather funny. I did not. Right after this I realized we only had 15 minutes left to inhale pizza and cake, and open presents. Mass chaos erupted, but we managed to get it done (giving away extra cake as people departed). And we *still* have green cake. Next year we're bowling.

Happy 10th Birthday Em!

Ways to Procrastinate....

I'm supposed to be writing a paper on Learning Disabilities and the Classroom, but I'm finding my mind is wandering to a million other things. So, I thought I'd see if any of you can do some brainstorming for me so that I can write a 1,000 word paper asap ;)

We are having butternut squash ravioli tonight and I need some kind of sauce for it. My only caveat is that I do not want it to be too heavy or fattening. I love butternut squash ravioli but always struggle when it comes to saucing it up. For the record, I will be the only one eating this as my family has no taste, I mean prefers standard ravioli w/ cheese (yes, boring). I'm also going to throw in some regular whole wheat pasta w/ basic tomato sauce for those who cannot even handle a square pasta stuffed w/ something (Rob and Delaney).

I also will be visiting one of our local middle schools to sample various dishes prepared by a select group of students (Emily included). It is an annual recipe contest sponsored by the district's nutrition department. We practiced her dish last night and it was pretty good- I would have added a few extra ingredients, but she had to follow the recipe she submitted. She is making a basic tomato and basil crostini. She will have an adult helper to slice the bread (so as to hopefully spare her the loss of a fingertip), but will otherwise do all the preparation/cooking on her own. Maybe she can help cook dinner tonight, right? Nope, forgot she has soccer.