Today..

Well and yesterday...

After 2hrs in the car last night, we arrived in the Valley for night one of Passover....Got home at 2am...

I was awake at 745 this morning...and got out of bed about 815am.

Woke (little) kids up at 930....they ate and stuff plastic eggs for an Easter egg hunt later in the day. They stuffed them with change, hersey's eggs and starburst double flavored Jelly beans

Ivan and I made deviled eggs to bring with the eggs that cracked when I boiled eggs for dying.

Then we dumped 1 hard boiled egg in vinegar and one uncooked egg in another jar of vinegar. SCIENCE....by tomorrow noonish both should have soft jelly shells. Then we will leave the hard boiled one on the table and the shell should reabsorb what it lost and become hard again. We will place the uncooked one in a jar of water where by osmosis, it should take on so much water it explodes.

We arrived around noon. And had a great time. Nathan was hoping to find a few more of the money eggs but, he came up with a scheme to make more money....he sold his candy for the change.

On the way home, we stopped at home depot and bought killz, spackle and rollers for the upstairs bathroom....the ceiling has begun to peel...opps...fun to wash your hair then find paint chips in it. It hasnt been painted in 16 years.

We came home, Ivan and Rebekah scrapped the bathroom while Nathan and I dyed eggs in KOOL AID. That was fun and different but I still hate dying eggs. We did 6 colors and had 3 or 4 more flavors of koolaid but decided they would all be so red/pink that we had enough of that shade. Our Albertsons didnt carry the lime flavored koolaid so no green eggs. Grape eggs look like century eggs.

I took pics today I would be more then happy to share, except I never bothered to figure out the picture thing on my blog. HEY links and videos were hard enough. Koolaid eggs pictures are on my facebook.

And now I am drinking an adult Shirley Temple. We are supposed to be headed to MIL for night 2 of Passover (no seder)...at this rate my walk there might be more of a stumble....and I am out of cherry vodka....

The beef stew was a hit. Rebekah had some for breakfast the next day LOL

Last nights dinner was
Sliced avocado (ended up being THREE)
roast aspargus (olive oil, lemon pepper, garlic cloves, at 425)
Swiss chard (will share recipe)
and
baked chicken in an orange marmalade sauce...(it was ok, not worth a recipe share LOL)


Swiss chard

2tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 diced leek
1 bunch of swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped (we cut in half)
1/2 cup white wine
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (hmm, I think I used 2)
2+ tbsp of grated parmesan cheese

Melt butter and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium high heat. Stir in leeks and cook abt 30 seconds. Add chard stems and white wine. Simmer until stems begin to soften. Stir in leaves and cook til "just" wilted. Stir in lemon juice and cheese.

They are gone, there are no leftovers....

Not sure whats on the menu for tonight. Nathan wants artichokes with butter to dip the leaves in. Not certain what to serve with that...kinda want peppers, sausage and onions but dont want to actually make it ROFL

Hoping we can actually get some school work done today. I don't think any got done yesterday...

Nathan has an early am game tomorrow morning. He has to be there at 7am. That is soooo early for us...

Wednesday

Today is Wednesday. Wednesday means a new produce basket from Abundant Harvest Organics.I still have quite a bit from last week...oops
Today's basket contained more leeks so I quickly found something to throw into the crockpot using the older leeks and since tonight Nay has baseball practice,the crockpot was ideal.

Beef stew with leeks
5 chopped leaks (leftover from last weeks box)
3 chopped carrots (leftover from last weeks box)
3 chopped parsnips(in this weeks box)
3 chopped russet potatoes (leftover from last weeks box)
2lbs beef round cut into stew sized piece or stew meat
6-8 black peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
2-3 cans of water
3 beef bouillion cubes (abt)

Place everything in crockpot in order (like layers) until you get to the spices, drop peppercorns down the sides or other "holes". Dump tomato sauce on top, then basil and oregano. Add 2-3 cans of water, just until you can see the water level rising. Add 1 beef bouilion cube for each can of water used, and 1 for the tomato sauce. Cook on low 7-8hrs.

Will let you know how it comes out.

Will be headed to a park day in a bit. Then Nathan to baseball practice. Last night was a game.

Ta ta for now LOL

I'm a reader, not a writer..........

I read.

I don't write

and I rarely blog.

Even way back in high school....no issues reading the assignment...write an analysis? I was the one counting the words...and making my margins on the typewriter smaller to fill the pages.

October is over....which is good....it was crazy.

November is here...and we are almost half way ...and it has been so much calmer.

Next Friday we will go with the science group to the local planetarium/observatory...I am not sure which...heck I dont even know where it is.

Tomorrow Christine has another Faire workshop....I have to take her all the way there and back....her normal carpool partner couldnt get the day off work. No biggie, I dont usually mind driving. Now, if I only knew where to go.

My laundry is behind again, it was caught up on monday...I am not sure how I let it fall behind yet again.

I need to get some blankets made....really, really need to...

And perhaps some tye dying...park day is having an arts and craft fair and the kids want to tye dye for it....
Its on the list....

We also finally ordered our cabinets for the kitchen....they should be here the week of the charity shoot....hmm I see December ending up much like October...CRAZY

Kids are having evaluations at Gymnastics this week. Hopefully, they will all advance at least a level....

I have been branching out in cooking again...found a few new recipes that have been hits....have another I am dying to try...turnip gratan...I also have been keeping closer tabs on our food budget.....

Off to go yell at 2 youngerst to clean up the living room...yet again....with as long as it takes them, you would think we lived in a mansion...instead of a 1,100 sq ft townhome.

update due

Where were we when I last updated???? Hmm who knows...

This past weekend we went on a friday to monday cruise on Royal Carribbean for my Inlaws 50th anniversary. It was fun. ALthough, I much preferred the almost identical cruise on Carnival to this one. But Carnival will not do Kosher meals for my brother in laws family....

We hope to do Alaska in June....FIL is leaning towards Holland America.....I lean toward Princess or Carnival...but Carnival is prob out for reason stated above....

I have not yet emptied my barely touched Camera from the Cruise....Christine has....perhaps she has posted pictures on her blog.....I know she posted them on Facebook.

Funny thing happened on the cruise. Everyone but Nathan, Ivan and I were up at the buffet the first day. The 3 of us were talking to the dining room mater'd (totally spelled wrong I am sure) about getting one large table for us, as opposed to the 2 small 6 people tables. We finish and walk to the elevator....where nathan procedes to dig in my bahama mama glass for an ice cube (it was empty...I wasnt boozin' the 5yr old up) And we strike up a conversation with another couple waiting. All of a sudden Ivan says "Are you Mark from Bud's appliance?" Mark stares blankly at Ivan who then introduces himself....when Mark is sure this isnt a complaining customer he says yes. Turns out a few other Appliance service companies are on the boat. Even funnier....there are 3 MAIN warranty servicers for this one appliance in Orange county....(there are 2 others but we are the big ones) and ALL of us are sitting on the boat. OOPPS hope there was no emergencies this past weekend. I actually told one of the guys...Oh you are here? My outgoing messages says we are out and to call you. His mouth dropped and I said I am kidding!

Otherwise nothing to exciting....Rebekah had a dr appt yesterday...she bruised her foot....on Wed and we wanted to make sure it wasnt broken. All is fine.

The kids missed music yesterday due to construction which caused us to be running so behind we would be rude.

Rebekahs's expander is going....slowly but going....

Christine opted out of her stage makeup class....time was bad and last minute switch in teachers.

They have their science today. And then tonight is the ASL/deaf night at the district. Roller skating on Sunday....we have been going every other sunday with some other Homeschool families. It is Holliday Skate in Orange from 630-830 for $5.50 per person including skate rental. Come on down and join us! Our family hits yougurt land on the way home and I have been craving some.

Oh we are going apple picking in Oak Glen on Saturday....once again JOIN US. Or not...but come on up with your family. It is fun. Currently, u-pick is available on Apples, pears, raspberry and maybe strawberries. I will be "jammin' on Sunday. Actually, going to make apple butter to pass out on Rosh Hashanah. There are a few groves open on sundays too but you really should go on a Saturday. Lots of fun.....good family activity....and some history in there too....

Ok need to get back to work! My Washer is done.

Where has time gone?

Well, July is more then half over and I can't tell you where it has gone.
I have sent kids to camp, organized the address lists for the reunion, settled current details that need to be settled for the reunion and done just general catch up.
(do you know how much laundry you suddenly have when one comes home from camp and dumps their bags????)

We went to the Getty center sometime in the recent past...(I dont want to get out my calendar so be happy with recent past) That place is awesome. I loved doing it with a class situation. It is so big I would never find my way around (evidenced by afterwards trying just to find the Renoirs and monets). The class was titled bodies in art...or something like that. We, er I mean the children, learned a little about materials in art, bodies and telling the stories from the bodies position and expressions....and roman mythology....they have some statues and paintings that tell the whole story of when venus was shot with cupids arrow....really neat place....I couldnt spend the day there only because the little ones loose patience...but they were really good for the class.

Next week we are going to the muzeo to see the Jane goodall display...should be good too.

We hope to get to the fair soon. And then the CHN expo is first weekend in august. The kids are already excited! They keep going on and on about Jim Weiss and his stories.

Sometime in the next couple of days christine has to register at Orange Coast College....then in august she will register for IVC. Her classes will be tue/th at IVC and wed at OCC. We hope sign 3 makes it this semester.

OH and bekah has an ortho consult on wednesday...I have put it off long enough. And I need to make her and I dentist appt on monday. I finally had a moment to do it on Friday and the office was closed, wouldnt you know it. And someday I will make an appt for me....I really need a physical, I havent had one in years.....ya' know moms are always last.....

Oh and we have read the first 2 books in the Kit book series. But, my personal reading has really been on the back burner....that is soooo bad.

And peter pan on stage now plays only every other day instead of daily in my house.

Am I done? perhaps....if I dont think of anything else before I hit publish. I am not going to re read...because then I will spend all day editing and fixing typos and such....and well, I have laundry to do!

my daughter says....

I need to update my blog so here it is.
Today I did laundry.....all caught up from Rebekah being at camp. Just in time for Christine to leave for camp....monday morning she has to be at the port of Long Beach at 8 am.....eeeegggaaaddds that is early. Not the 8 but the time we need to leave to get there.

I think she is almost packed.....needs a flashlight and book light she has told me.

She will be gone for a week.

I still need to unroll the sleeping bag from Rebekah at camp and put the flannel liner back in it for Christine.

hmm what else has happened in the last week? Prob a whole heck of alot of nothing.

My class reunion date has been chosen....July 18, 2009 at the Queen Mary....anyone reading go to Long Beach Wilson??? yah I didnt think so.....

I got the new Rainbow Resources catalog...havent had a chance to look thru it yet.....or even open it! The book is huge.

Nathan has been having frequent melt downs and is driving me crazy!!!! ANy suggestions???? He has been obsessively playing Chess....at least one game a day and is currently attempting to read "Chess for Dummies" I caught him re enacting one of the moves they show.

Dot aka Rebekah ( go to youtube, look up mad tv and dot) had a good time at camp and talked the entire ride home from Malibu She climbed the rock wall, went horseback riding and went in the pool 2 times she said. And wants to know when the next camp is.

Ok thats all....I need to find a pillow

Camp etc (updated at 2:10pm)

Tomorrow, Rebekah heads out to Camp Del Corazon and so begins the summer. We drop her off at 10am-ish tomorrow and pick up at 1pm friday.
She can't wait. She was up at 7am this morning wanting to pack. That will make for one very long day today.....as the day wears on between the lack of sleep and the heat....she is going to be one cranky girl, which leads to one cranky mommmy.

So, today's to do list:

Take sleeping bag out of box. Set flannel liner aside (will be needed for Christine's camp and later Camp Del Corazon session both on Catalina but not for this one)
Fill out camp forms
pack
grocery shopping
guess I should make a shopping list first
make DH's route for tuesday (normally monday AM chore but no time and I need to call the people before we leave tomorrow)
cut the cat nails(because he decided bright and early this morning to try and scale my backside)
cat box

I have a hundred other little things I could also do....maybe I will get to them....
filing
parts orders
voice mail
paperwork DH is supposed to give to me
laundry of course (but cant be done til packing is done...I fold clothes on my bed....same surface is used for packing)
make jam (with fruit I will buy at store #2, if it is ripe, if not this will have to wait another day)

I would like to read but, can't decide what to read next.....

What else can I ramble about?
On Friday, we saw "The Bodies Exhibit 3" at the Science Center. This one focused on hearts, sorta.....It was actually very interesting.....including smoker's lung and LEG...I had no clue there was smoker's leg. As for hearts, they had Hypertrophied heart, a VSD, a heart and its pacemaker, the abiocor LVAD and the berlin heart. They also had some arteries with CAD. They had whole bodies with just the bones and all the vessels....wow we have alot of blood vessels! Nathan had to inspect all the models to determine which were boys and which were girls. And also decided to read LOUDLY the description of the testes on display. In the end, Nathan insisted we needed a video of the exhibit. I believe the video also talks about the process used for preservation.

Our next field trip is to the Getty Center in a few weeks. I have never been there so, it should be at least interesting. I have 2 that enjoy art....although Rebekah prefers pop art (the warhol exhibit in San Diego was a hit some time back)

After that we have one planned at the Muzeo that is on Jane Goodall and her chimps. None planned at the moment for after that.....I don't have a fall calendar...and I am not sure what days Christine will be in class in the fall. When that is settled, we can work on fall trips.

updating

This will ramble....because....well life has been rambling...

I cant even recall when I last updated....
Rebekah's nose prob.
Dizzy spells are gone....
College is out for Christine for the summer....I have half of the fall forms in....working on the other half
Rebekahs dance recital is Saturday afternoon.....I wonder how long she will give me before she wants her hair cut short again.....they need it in a pony tail for the recital so, I wont let her cut it.
Gymnastics is going good. My kids love it.
Our annual picnic is over.....went really smoothly. I was happy
Rebekah learned to swim, demostrated it by spending 3hrs at a birthday party yesterday IN the water.
Nathan ran laps around the pool.....um ok...
We went to chinatown on friday for a field trip. It was a walking tour and meal. Christine tried a century egg. We have video. But she disabled embedding....check youtube for disneyschooling and then it is under her videos. The tour was alot of fun. And the meal was awesome.
We went to an angel game that night. Firework night. Nathan made a pig out of himself, eating two hot dogs.
I forgot to vote yesterday. Well I didnt know I was supposed to until DH reminded me about 530 or so....and I still managed to forget. Although I didnt really have a clue what it was on and figured it seemed like such a no brainer there must be things tacked on the propositions so prob good I didnt vote since I never read the propositions.
Rebekah's end of the year girlscout party is next week at the beach with tidepools. I have taken the kids there a few times. They enjoyed it. I liked it (not a beach person). Between a beach I am ok with and people I like, it will be fun....although a bit sad....I enjoy the adults at girl scouts.
hmmm what else have we been doing?
Oh yeah. I have been making jam....
I have blackberry and an apricot/peach/nectarine one....I want to make a berry one next (straw/rasp/blue) if my kids dont eat the berries. It is SOOOO easy! So now I make bread and jam....although I havent made the bread in awhile....maybe tomorrow....not sure in what time LOL....tomorrow is gymnastics.
My corn is growing nicely....I see tomatoes on my plants....my hot peppers FINALLY came up....now I have to thin them. Our early scorching heat killed all my radishes...and my mushrooms.
The plants we have out back in containers right now (we have no ground to put them in)
Lemon Cucs (supposed to be good for pickling, my next adventure lol)
oregano (not doing so hot)
Dill
basil
corn
carrots
tomatoes
bell peppers
hot peppers (assorted LOL...1 jalapeno...not sure what else because NOTHING else was growing so we just started throwing all the hot seed in there )
chives
Romanesco (a broc/cauliflower family veg)
and
my blueberry plant (usually takes 3yrs to get a "crop" so nothing yet)

Ok, I am out of time....
Have a nice day!

So far this week

Saturday 2/16

Rebekahs GS troop had a tea party. They are working on a badge for manners. After the tea, I drove down the block and picked Christine up from her friends house. We had HOMEMADE pasta for dinner that night.

Sunday 2/17

I dont have a clue what we did lol...oh wait, Nathan, Christine and I went to the McClintock company store and bought Christine a prom dress. Cost less then $25...well worth the drive and the time

Monday 2/18

I know what I didnt do...WORK...Rebekah had Jazz ...for the first time in 2 wks....because she has been sick. We had falafel and ratatoule for dinner.

Tuesday 2/19

Took nathan to the Nurse PRactioner for an allergy referral....just now remembering I am supposed to call today (wed) to act on the referral....
I also managed to kick a laptop computer that was left on the floor. The computer has lost its covering over the CD drive....which proceded to make a nice wound on the side/bottom of my big toe on my right foot....its gross, it hurts....I havent really examined it ...just cleaned it and put a bandaid on it. When I kicked it, it hurts so bad, I guess I managed to give myself a bit of whiplash and my neck hurts. That made for a fun day and night of sleep. I actually remembered to take christine to her cooking class that night. We had matzoh ball soup, meatloaf and parsley red potatoes for dinner.

I also signed the little ones up for a math/reading online program similar to Aleks. They seem to be enjoying it so far. Nathan can reading no problem, rebekah can read but lacks confidence to demostrate it.

Wed 2/20

Horrible night's sleep. I am exhausted, my neck and shoulder are still painful....Christine had class this morning followed by bass lessons. She also has class tonight and I have no dinner planned. I am tired and in pain....Ivan will prob pick something up....not sure what...
I am currently waiting for a customer for tomorrow to call me back so, I know what we are doing tomorrow. Ivan was over booked so, he called his "help" this morning....at 1045am one of the people in for tomorrow called and said thursday isnt looking good, can we just make it friday? Of course I retrieved this message after I left him a time frame...Friday isnt possible, I have no clue if he still wants the service tomorrow since friday isnt possilbe. If he canceled, we will be UNDER BOOKED as his is a 2 spot call....with hired helped, I dont like to do that. I have someone who might be able to take his place but, I need to hear from him first....I have been waiting over 4 hrs now. I also had a guy scream at me and call me a liar....so I screamed back....which is really bad...as I used my "I am possessed" scream.....then ended the call

I also signed christine up for more cooking classes, rebekah for 2 new nature center classes (the class holds up to 20 but normally has less then 4) and put them on the waiting list for swim lessons in March

Thurs 2/21

Isnt here yet....
Rebekah goes to MIL from 11-1, then all 3 have gymnastics from 2-330 (nathan is 230-330) then I must have a planned dinner....we always feed the assistant
At noon, christine goes back to the music shop, til 130 when I will pick her up and go directly to Gymnastics.


See ya later

Whats new....

Eh nothing much but then alot.

Been so busy trying to get ready for school...and get schedules down...not much free time. Christine started one college tuesday, the other starts monday....so I need to have those down too.

But, it is getting smoother and then maybe I will have more time to blog, or more things to say.

Still trying to find an art or music history/appreciation for this year. My story of the world cd has suddenly grown legs....right when we read the Treehouse series book on mummies and pyramids. I gave up looking and spent the money for new. Bad me. But, I really want it now.

Rebekah heads off to camp again next week. She doesnt know yet. I cant stand the 4 billion times a day question of when do I leave for camp. Some people look at me funny when I say I am sending my 7yr old off to camp. She loves it and could care less. And I think it is important for her to be around and see other kids with heart defects who might be limited in what they can or can not do and for her to know she is not alone. Many "heart" kids dont get that chance and grow up just thinking they are really weird.

There ya go Dan. Now leave me alone lol

Heard around the house

Mom: Rebekah, clean up the dolls and the barbies, if you are playing farm.

Rebekah: I will clean up the dolls but, Nathan is playing with the barbies right now.

Nathan: I not playing with barbies, I making them all nakey.

I look and find, yep everyone is naked.....





Ok so, I have had a bekah quote and a nathan quote...now to get the teen to say something cute and silly to post.