Summer Fun

Today was a free chicken sandwich at Arby's, so we went there for lunch. Next it was off to Chuck E. Cheese. We all had a good time. Paul and I had a basketball contest. Wildcat and I had several ski ball contests and played air hockey. Wildcat also played several other games. Kapooka loved riding the rides that would move. She especially like the one that took pictures.

We then went to the library. We all go points for summer reading. Wildcat turned in some points for prizes, and I got some more books.

Paul got a job that will actually give him Mondays and Tuesdays off. We are starting to comtemplate what we would like to do with all of our free time.

I still can't figure out how to get the championship pictures off of my camera, but I will try to get to that soon!

Monday Thoughts

Kapooka has a black eye from a fall over the weekend. She looks like she was in a bruising fight. Also, she tried a bite of a gherkin pickle today. Her mouth puckered. She shivered. She smiled and asked for more! She was pretty cute.

Wildcat went for his consult with an orthodontist today. Next week he gets an expander and braces on his front 4 teeth. This will last about a year. He will then need full braces again when all of his permanent teeth come in.

Kapooka First

For the last 5 minutes Kapooka has been taking her shirt off and then putting it back on all by herself. Of course when it is half on and on your head like a hat is the funniest thing in the world to a 15 month old.

We also had a successful trip to the library today. We also went to Target and finished Father's Day shopping. Wildcat got a new bike helmet and swim goggles, so he is officially ready for summer now.

As I type, Kapooka is sitting down and trying to figure out how to get her shorts off. Since she is sitting on them, that doesn't work very well. I wonder how long this will entertain her?

For obvious reasons, there are no pictures of my disrobing girl.

Zoo Field Trip

Last Thursday, Wildcat's class went to the zoo. For the first time ever, I was able to chaperone. Look how tall Wildcat is in comparison (the other's are 3 of the shortest in the class, but still!).

We had a good time. It was sunny, but not too warm. Everybody got to see something they liked, but also had to miss out on something they wanted to see. They were well behaved enough that they earned their bribe---I mean treat.

Kapooka went too because my parents met her there, and they watched her while I watched the school kids. The kids in Jon's class were wild about her. They would come and pat her on the head, and she would pat their backs. Her reactions to the dolphins, the seals, and the giraffes were the best. It was neat to see her enjoying God's creation!

Recipe

You know when you cook for a pitch-in and everyone says how good it is, but you can tell they are just being polite. That used to happen to me a lot. However, this has become one of those dishes where you can tell that people really like it (they ask for the recipe). It is so fast and easy. We make it at home in a skillet, but last time we made it in the crockpot and rice in the rice cooker.

What you need:

1 1/2 lbs frozen prepared meatballs
1/2 pkg. Frozen Tri-color peppers and onions
1 pkg (16 oz)Frozen Stir Fry vegetables (broccoli, carrots, whatever is in the mix)
1/2 cup apricot jam
1/2 cup KRAFT CATALINA Dressing
4 Tbsp. soy sauce

Make it:
COMBINE all ingredients in large skillet; cover.
COOK on medium-high heat 10 min. or until meatballs and vegetables are heated through, stirring occasionally.
SERVE over hot cooked rice or pasta, if desired.

I did find that in a skillet the meatballs if frozen take a lot longer than the veggies. It was closer to 20 minutes to get the meatballs heated. You can also add 1tsp of ground ginger and 1tsp of garlic powder if you want to fancy it up even more.

Skye's Birthday

I am really slow with getting these pictures downloaded. Skye's birthday was almost a month ago. Here she is at the big 1-7 blowing out the infamous trick candles. You can see a couple starting to re-light. Notice the smile on her face that say...I can't believe they did this to me again. Also notice her super cute top. We make a good shopping team. This was a join purchase from where else...Kohl's.

Anyway, Skye has been 17 for a month now. She hopes to go to the BMV in two weeks and renew her permit. Hopefully she will start making a lot of progress on getting her license.

Anniversary

Paul and my anniversary is this Sunday. Just in case you don't know, he is the tall guy in the Huskers jacket. He loves this jacket because it is Nebraska, but it also has a huge front pocket that he calls his marsupial pouch. Seriously, you could fit a small child in there, but he mostly squirrels away bits of paper and dry erase markers.

I digress...I have been married to this wonderful man for 13 years on Sunday. In honor of that, here are 13 good memories of our years together. Ok...make that 14 because I am starting with the wedding.

1996: Being the ultimate camp master on our honeymoon. Yes, he took me tent camping, but he cooked and scared the horses away that tried to trample our tent. We still laugh about hearing thoses horses right by our head.

1997: We moved to Kentucky. Our TV only picked up one station and only at night. It played Nightline all evening every evening. So, we played Yahtzee...hours and hours of Yahtzee. We laughed all the time, and still have our secret Yahtzee code from that time.

1998: Carpooling. We drove together to Lexington and then Paul would drop me off. I loved that hour in a car just the two of us every day. We just talked and talked.

1999: I had really rough time after our first miscarriage. Paul whisked me to Florida in a very spontaneous move. I will always remember that sitting on a beach praying with my husband probably saved my faith.

2000: Our first real vacation together. We went to Williamsburg. Paul pretended that our umbrella was his musket. Now we joke about being prepared for anything as long as you have a musket. He also knew that I had always wanted to walk on the beach in a flowy dress, so he bought me one before our trip.

2001: Our son was born. I remember that Paul would go cook at the neighbor's because the fumes made me so sick. That is true love.

2002: When Paul interviewed for our first church, he made sure that I got to define my roll. He made sure that the Church board was fine with the roll, or he wouldn't take the job. What an attentive husband.

2003: This is the year that holds the one and only time I could have really killed my husband. I got home from shopping and he had our 2 year old on the roof. I remained calm. He did not see the problem. However, this event brought about the quote that gets used a lot in our house. In fact, if our son doesn't hear it after he gets in trouble, he asks why we didn't say "And, what have you learned from this situation?" By the way, Paul still maintains it was perfectly safe because he was the one cleaning the gutters and Wildcat was higher than him.

2004: Paul was a Stay at Home Dad, so I could work my dream job at the Crisis Pregnancy Center. I am forever grateful that he held our family value of no daycare so close to his heart that he was willing to take on a non-traditional role. Also, he so kindly encouraged me to go for my dream.

2005: My migraines got really bad in this year. Paul would often bring me a Coke with ice while I was at work just to ease the pain.

2006: Paul is not a gifts person (I am). However, when we went on our anniversary trip to Florida, he had a gift for each day we were there with a letter expressing the symbolism of each gift as well as his love. This required a lot of forethought and planning. I felt so loved.

2007: Paul had to act as a single parent plus. I was so sick with my pregnancy I was on bedrest. He ran the household, took care of the kids, plus took care of me. He changed IV bags, wrangled with insurance, took me to the hospital, slept at the hospital, cleaned puke buckets and gave me an infinite number of miniscule servings of lemonade and mashed potatoes.

2008: Kapooka's birth happened so quickly that we both were in shock. Paul knew that I regretted not getting a belly shot while I was pregnant with Jonathan just before delivery. So in our bewildered and shocked state, Paul stopped the gurney on the way to the operating room and made everyone wait until he took a picture of me. He said "This is important to my wife so stop". Of course I was on the gurney already dressed for surgery, and you can't see much of my belly, but I loved that moment.

2009: Paul has been so encouraging to me this year as I transition back to being a Stay at Home mom. He has even been willing to talk about "girlie stuff" when I need to. I appreciate his support because so much of being a mom is unseen, but he makes sure to see and praise.

I love my hubby!