Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Home Sweet Home
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The waiting game
On a great note I am so happy to share that our friends Tracy and Pat Samanich welcomed baby girl Caroline this morning. We can't wait to see pictures! Welcome to the world, Caroline!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Molly
Friday, April 24, 2009
Calgon take me away...
First off my Dad is in the hospital back in Akron. He is passing some blood and (yet again) they need to determine from where. It's frustrating to be so far away but there isn't anything I can do about it at this moment. I just have to wait and see. I am not a patient person. Any ideas where I may have gotten that? Bonus points for the person's full name!
Secondly, we have been given the o.k. to look at houses and I'm very anxious about it. I have been wanting to get settled for quite a while but now that it is actually time I'm nervous. I want everything to be perfect but already know that it won't be.
Thirdly, Amanda is pretty much hating the cast. Last night was a repeat of the first night and again I ended up sleeping with her on the floor. My mood is only enhanced by the fact that I'm really tired. It's Daddy's turn tonight if there's any crying. Unfortunately, he's tired, too. Luckily A is sleeping but I was worried that nap time would be a battle. The houses behind us decided today was the day to have trees trimmed and all I hear are chain saws. Don't they know this is nap time??!!
I need to quit feeling sorry for myself. The sun is shining and it's actually hot here. The temperature in my car was in the 80's. Today was kindergarten round up and Cameron sailed through that with flying colors. I think he's going to love school. Only time will tell!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Supercondylar what??
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Look Mom, one hand!
I have one talented girl! So talented, with one hand, that three times last night she took off the splint. The first time she just handed it to me and walked away. After I got my chin off the floor from my shock I chased her down I put it back on. I called the doctor's office and the recommended using duct tape to keep it on. What the heck??!! I did not go with their recommendation!
Our friend Tim finished the Boston Marathon in 3:24:28 which means his mile pace time was about 7:47. Seven minutes and 47 seconds! For 26.2 miles - amazing! Great job, Tim! Hope you had the time of your life!
Monday, April 20, 2009
A little break in the action...
Boston Marathon Update...
Keep up the good work, Tim!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Run, Tim, Run
Good luck, Tim! We wish you well and Run Fast!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Rabbit, Airplane, Helicopter
Friday, April 17, 2009
Things I Miss
Today was an absolute beautiful day here. It made me miss some things about Michigan. I can't believe I just typed that! There were some great benefits to living there. There are some great benefits to living in Central Illinois, too. Here are a few things I miss...
- I miss the great parks we had in Michigan. We had some terrific play structures in really nice parks. I am not finding that here. Nice parks but older play structures.
- I miss Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. Today would have been a perfect day to go to Greenfield Village. It is an old fashioned village that replicates the time when cars were first manufactured. The Village and the museum were created by Henry Ford. If you are looking for a get away I highly recommend this as a tourist visit. We had a membership and went quite often. The carousel alone is worth the trip! The attached picture is on the carousel and yes, I am very pregnant with Amanda in it.
- I miss my friends in MI Heidi and Tamsen. They were my partners in crime. We all originally were neighbors and now none of us live there anymore but I still miss them. I have kept in contact with Heidi but not so much Tamsen. I need to find her number and give her a call. We could all talk for hours!
- I miss my MOMS Club friends. I loved that on any given day there would most likely be an event planned and you could choose to go or pass. We used the Evite system and you could check to see if anyone was going. On a day like today someone would have planned a park visit and we would have had a great time. I wish there was something like the MOMS Club here. I haven't found anything like it. It was a great group of women!
- I miss our second family at Cherry Hill UMC. There were a handful of retired women who became our away from home Grandma's. They were available to me in a pinch and would come over and baby-sit or ride along to an appointment to help me keep the kids occupied. They were a lifesaver and I miss that. They were wonderful women and I learned a lot from them.
- I miss being able to show people where you live on the palm of your hand. Michigan is shaped like a mitten and it is common to point to your town on your palm. If you don't know what I mean ask me to show you sometime. It is one of the most clever things I have ever seen. I'm easily entertained!
Michigan isn't all bad!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Peaceful Slumbers
100 hits!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Amazing hard boiled egg chocolate chip cookies
I found this recipe at http://www.cookiemadness.net/ (I hope it's OK to share! If you don't hear from me I'm in jail for plagiarism!)
Today I made one change which in my opinion, resulted in a better cookie. Rita, who tried this previously, assured me it would work. The change is to use only hard boiled eggs. The previous version used 1/4 of a hard boiled egg and 1 tablespoon of raw egg. This version uses 1/2 of a hard boiled egg. Interestingly enough, no extra liquid is needed to bind the dough. As Rita put it, the butter does it all by itself….or at least European style butter does! Rita and I both used European style butter, but I suspect regular American butter would still hold together.
Also, I used Ghirardelli’s bittersweet chips in this batch. They worked really well because like the cookies, they’re big and fat! Big fat cookies need big fat chips.
Amazing Hard Boiled Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies! (Small Batch)
3.1 oz all purpose bleached flour (2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour)2 ounces cold unsalted butter (4 tablespoons) – European style, if you have it!
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 of a hard boiled egg
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
Small handful of chocolate chips
Combine flour and butter in food processor. Pulse until mixture is mealy and coarse. Add the salt and baking soda and pulse to mix. Add both sugars and hard boiled egg. Pulse again until mixture is mealy looking. Add in the vanilla and pulse until mixture just begins to come together.
Dump mixture into a bowl, add chocolate chips and shape into two balls. You will see egg whites in dough – they’ll disappear as the cookies bake.
Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 350 degrees F. for 20 minutes or until cookies appear lightly browned around edges. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to rack to finish cooling.
Important: Let cool completely before serving. The texture gets better as the cookies cool. It’s even better if you cool the cookies, freeze them, then thaw them.
Makes 2 big cookies
Monday, April 13, 2009
A good weekend...
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
re·ces·sion
n.
1. The act of withdrawing or going back.
2. An extended decline in general business activity, typically two consecutive quarters of falling real gross national product.
3. The withdrawal in a line or file of participants in a ceremony, especially clerics and choir members after a church service.
There has been all this talk for quite a while how our nation is in the midst of a recession. Based on the definition above I'd say we are definitely in an extended decline in general business activity, typically two consecutive quarters of falling real gross national product.
It's had me thinking about how this is affecting me. We are lucky because it appears that Mike's job is safe from any layoffs. They had an assignment at Cat, through his entire division, to try and problem solve ways for costs to be cut. One of the things they now do is have a centralized trash bin that they must all empty their waste baskets into at the end of the day. They also eliminated all plants from the offices. Cat rented the plants and then a company came and maintained them. All plants are now gone. This cost cutting measure alone has saved the division money every month. But it is these simple cuts that make me the most sad. It isn't that I mind that the prettiness of the plants is gone. I truly never noticed the plants when I was in the working world. What makes me frustrated is that someone brain stormed the idea that they could run a small business, service a large customer like Cat, and earn a living doing so. In my mind I imagine that this business owner is someone who has a family, thought of a job that they could do while their kids were at school, and still allowed them to be home when their kids got off the bus. I see this as a job that one day I might like to do. A job that services but also allows for some flexibility. With tough cuts happening every day it's jobs like this that are constantly being eliminated. The small business owner won't be able to survive.
I just learned today that there are 3 consumable goods that never face a recession. Alcohol, tobacco and Make Up. In this day and age the plant lady won't survive. This recession has a trickle down effect and it truly touches everyone. The media focuses on the large companies where the recession has hit hard but we need to remember the little business owners, too.
Monday, April 6, 2009
A conversation...
Wouldn't that be an ideal solution. If we could all just learn to get along. Well, here's what really happened...
Josh did say to Cameron I saw you hit _______ at school today and Cameron did ignore him. But, I did not tell Josh that Cameron's parents would take care of it. I didn't say anything and for the ENTIRE 40 minutes I was walking I was stewing over it. I was so mad at myself for not saying anything to Josh. I kept thinking that I am 99% sure that Josh had a issue with hands today and how come Cameron didn't bring that up to him back. When I asked Cameron about Josh hitting today he didn't know anything about it. So much for Mr. Observant! I burned off some good calories getting worked up about me not handling the situation. I cut short my walking because I had the fear that Josh was still giving Cameron a hard time about what happened at school. I went back into the child care room and was surprised. There was Josh and Cameron sitting next to each other watching a movie. I don't think this makes them fast friends but at least the issue wasn't being discussed like a world summit like I envisioned. That's the thing about kids - they let things go so much easier than adults. Maybe I did learn something after all. But, I still wish I would have said something to Josh! :)
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The pirate...
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Let me count the ways...
Friday, April 3, 2009
A shower of cards
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Successful Stent Removal!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
A big day here tomorrow!
Molly will go in for an outpatient procedure and have the stents removed from her ureters. She will have to be put asleep, they will use a telescope to find them, remove them and then take some x-rays and ultrasound. If necessary they will replace the stents. We are hoping that they can come out and we will be able to put this experience behind us. My big/little girl has been a trooper throughout this whole ordeal. I won't say there weren't some tears shed but she was resilient and strong. I hope that I would have been half as strong if it were me.
If I feel brave about it I will take my camera with me tomorrow morning and snap a few pictures of the moment. After all, that is what a true blogging Mommy would do!
On a side note, thank you so much to all who sent birthday cards to my Dad for his 80th birthday. He is going to count them today and I'll post an update. A friend of ours decorated a small file box for him to store them in and the amount of cards exceeds the size of the box. I know one day when I had called he had just got the mail and have received 12 cards that day. My guess is that he got more than 80!! My parents really enjoyed all the mail and nice sentiments.
An update on my test to see if my hubby was reading my blog. On Sunday Michael was helping me match the dreaded sock pile. He is plugging along as I'm folding clothes on our bed and he says, "You know, if you are going to talk about my underwear on your blog you really should make sure you spell it correctly." Apparently I spelled it underw-a-r-e. I guess he's been reading it! :)