Bowling for Dollars

Did y'all have that show where you grew up? When I was a kid, Vern Lundquist hosted Bowling for Dollars on I believe channel 8. When you get 6 channels and there is no such thing as cable, you watch what you have to. Don't judge. We didn't bowl for dollars, we bowled for free. Whoo wee!! I love free. It was posted on our homeschool chatboard the other day and I figured why the heck not.

 A bonus to where the free bowling was, hubby got to come have lunch with us. The bowling alley was only about 15 minutes from where he was working. Loved that for sure.

 The boy

 The baby

The big girl

A homeschool dad works at the bowling alley and set up a day and time for homeschoolers to come bowl three games for free, shoes included, adults and children. The only thing we paid for was lunch. We had a great time. Besides the family that set it up and us, there were only three other families that participated. They happened to be our friends so that was cool.

And, the bowling alley was only 30 seconds from where my inlaws live. Hubby and his brothers used to walk there all the time when they were growing up. We left a little early and I took the kids over to see their grandparents for a little while. We had a very pleasant visit. Shocking, I know. It was a great day with old friends and new. It was a great day to have lunch with hubby. It was a great day. Now, you...

Have a great day.

Green Day

I don't mean the band, I mean St. Patrick's Day. We had our annual park day celebration of all things green a couple of weeks ago. These are my kids in all their greenery.

There's the baby. The front of her hat had a plastic crown on it that lit up. Feathers, a crown, and lights? She had to have it. You can almost see the shamrock tattoo on her left cheek.

I have to say the boy looks pretty good with a green moustache. What you can almost see on the left side of his face is the sideburns that came with the moustache. The sunglasses are hiding the eyebrows that came with the other facial hair. He was funny.

 And the big girl. She takes my breath away. She and the baby have the same hat. You can see the crown a little better on her hat. She went for stylish. I think she did it. Because, really, it's all about...

the socks. Sorry I didn't get a better picture, but they are way cool.

There was a contest again for most green. The boy won in his category and got a $5 gift card to Target. He bugged me for the rest of the day to go to Target. He had been champing at the bit to get a new DS game and that sent him to 100%. We took him the next morning and he was ecstatic. Pot luck was good, too. Food will always get us there. And, when two or more United Methodist gather there must be food. Good thing my friend M was there, or we'd a been short a UM. Smaller crowd this year, but some new faces. That was a nice surprise.

Have a great day.

Goings On

Not much going on at the ranch. We have been staying busy, trying to get through the days. Here's the update.

• The big girl has rejoined the youth praise band. I am so happy for her. She had her first "performance" yesterday at youth. The praise band does praise and worship (duh) at the brginning of youth. She said she had a great time and felt very comfortable on stage. I am so proud of her. Y'all may not know this, but she's a bit shy. I was the same way as a kid. Quit laughing, I was, too. Ask Big Sis or Mermie. They'll tell you. Really, stop laughing...
• I literally have 14 books to read. My friend CP told me about a part of the library website that lists all the new books and DVDs. Well, darn it, now that I know it's there, it's like I have to go and request about 25 books and movies at a time. I picked up the movie Where the Wild Things Are. I didn't see all of it, but from what I did, who is the idiot that made that movie? My two older kids may be traumatized for life. The big girl said it was disturbing. The boy added "on so many levels". Lesson learned. I hope. I'm glad the baby got bored and went to play with Barbies in her room.
• Hubby has been working some overtime. That is such good news, you have no idea. It certainly helps when we have to pay the bills. He also got rid of a boat and cleaned up a pile of junk that was sitting in the yard. He's steadily refilling the hole in the backyard where the pool was going to go, and he got a bunch of stuff taken down to the recycling place. It's coming along. Now if I could get my rear in gear and pack some of the stuff in our closet.
• I got my eyes checked, finally. I ordered new glasses and contacts. My old glasses are slowly deteriorating. The anti-reflective coating started coming off almost immediately after I bought them. They look scratched and ugly and I can't stand it. I will be very happy when my new ones come in. They're bifocals, but my contacts aren't. If I need to, I'll get a pair of reading glasses. Hubby is next. His long arms are starting to get shorter and shorter. He's not happy about that.
• We have a couple of outings and field trips coming up. I need to make a call about one. I think we need to get out of the house more since we don't have many extras. There are some great places to go around here that are free or super cheap and we need to take advantage of that while we can. That and we're bored. You know that leads to trouble when I'm bored. And it's another excuse to spend some time with friends. Works for me. 

That's all I got. We are just keeping on keeping on. And I am frustrated with limbo. Done, ready to get on with my life already. Well, after our field trips.

Have a great day.

Chicken and Cole Slaw

See what happens when people take seriously what was poked in fun? My friend G had posted one day that she had cabbage and chicken. What could she make with that? I said chicken coleslaw. That planted the seed alright. I hijacked her idea, created a recipe and we had chicken wraps with leek and bok choy coleslaw with sliced apples on the side. I am so full, I cannot stand myself. Here's what I did:

Cole Slaw:

1 leek
1 baby bok choy
1/2 cup mayo
Juice from 1 lemon
Juice from 1 lime
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut off the root end and trim the most of the green ends from the leek. Slice leek at least into quarters lengthwise. Rinse under cool water. Pat dry. Slice thinly crosswise. Place in mixing bowl. Cut root end from bok choy. I also cut off most of the stem. Seperate leaves and rinse under cool water. Pat dry. Stack leaves three or four at a time. Roll up and slice into thirds lengthwise. Slice thinly across the cuts. Add to bowl. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss to mix well. Add mayo. If it's not enough, add more by small spoonfuls. Add lime juice. Mix well. Adjust seasonings. Set aside in frig until ready to use.   

Since I just threw it together, please don't hold the measurements against me if they aren't quite right. I don't measure unless I'm following someone else's recipe. And not necessarily then, either.

I had also boiled a chicken not sure at first what I was going to do with it. After deciding chicken wraps, I knew I didn't want plain chicken. I chunked it up and tossed it in a pan with some butter. I also added a little salt and pepper, cumin, Jamaican jerk, and a little oregano. I tossed it around until it was all coated and warm and sizzling. I also added some lemon juice and some lime juice. It was good!!

Hubby warmed up the tortillas. We added chicken, cole slaw, and some pineapple salsa. The crunch of the leeks and bok choy, the warm, soft tortilla, the bursting with flavor chicken, and the sweet salsa were a super good combination. I got a high five from hubby. I like it when that happens.

Have a great day.

Ack!!!

I have writer's block!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have nothing funny or witty to say right here, right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it SLURPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I have something to say, I'll be back. You know me, I can't shut up for long.

On the job front, hubby talked to his supervisor in Texas today and he still has a job out there. When they release it. Whenever that is. We think April, after the merger is complete.

That's all I got.

Have a great day.

Beautiful Days

With the impending move and the indeterminably long freeze, we hadn't done birthday parties for the boy or the baby. Their birthdays are right at a month apart. If hubby and I don't get to it, it's March, both birthdays are gone with no celebration, and we can't figure out where the time went. I got the brilliant idea to combine them. I had more people in my house than my house can hold. And it was amazing!! I adore having a house full of people. That is just my thing. It was standing room only but there was good food, good conversation, and good company. My kids felt loved and special. I am a happy woman. Here's some pics:

This is our cake. It doesn't look like much, but it is one big pile of yummy goodness. I offer to make and/or buy any cake they want, and this is it. I am good with that. We have decided, though, that we can no longer just make one. It goes too fast and we have to cut small pieces to feed everybody. That's no fun. This is actually two flavors on one pan. The boy is not big on chocolate. If he didn't look just like hubby I would swear that he was somebody elses. The baby, on the hand, likes her some chocolate. That's a good girl.  

This is the line for the pinata. We tried to do youngest to oldest, but I think there were some sneaky short kids. We made it through all the littles, but only made it to about the third or fourth bigger kid. And when the poor pinata exploded...

...this is what happened. It made me think about all the single girls when the bouquet is thrown. It was one big huddled mass of kids. Hubby shook out all the candy that was left in the pinata. That's when the older kids took notice.

  And how can you not like getting a giant container of licorice for your birthday? I don't care for it, but the boy is in licorice heaven. He has already been given his daily limit and threatened with severe punishment if he tries to sneak anymore.

It was an awesome day. The weather stayed sunny even if it was a bit breezy. There was no rain. And, thankfully, nobody got hurt this year. We had lots of food. We threw some hot dogs on the grill. We had a beautiful day with wonderful people.

And Sunday was beautiful, too. That was pajama day. Nobody got out of their pajamas all day. We even had left over hot dogs for dinner. We worked a puzzle, played a new Lego game, made a Fairy stepping stone, and played Headbanz. We grazed through party leftovers all day. We recuperated.

Have a great day.

Puzzled and Disappointed

It's really not that bad. I went to a yard sale today my friend Hillside Hollow was having. It was small, but I was on a mission. She has great jigsaw puzzles. I love jigsaw puzzles. I have been jonesing for new ones. When I look at them at the store, they are expensive and I don't see many that I really like. And I like big puzzles. I like 500 pieces or more. I scored three from her yard sale and I didn't have to pay $100 a piece for them. I got the fellow blogger and homeschooler discount. Not really. They were very reasonably priced. I would have walked away with the Horizons math for 3rd and 4th grade if hubby and I hadn't taken the back way where there are no banks. Oh, well, my friend Garden of Gems got them. I love that alot of my friends have blogging names.

 I am in love with this puzzle. 3000 pieces!! And it was only $5!! I was so excited to get it home and set up my folding table and get this bad boy done. Here's where the disappointed part comes in. My table is long enough, but, unlike my butt, it isn't wide enough. Egads! But I have a solution. For the puzzle, not my butt. We are having a birthday party on Saturday so I can't leave the folding table up. Until after the party. My reward for being the hostess with the mostest is I get to put this together on our dining table and we get to eat on the folding table. Is everyone gone yet?

 Pretty darn excited about this one, too. I already have the table out and waiting. This will be my evening's entertainment. A few good tunes and hubby for company. It's gonna be a stupendous night.

This is an awesome little puzzle. Not only is it a puzzle, it's a "seek and find" game. There are little things hidden in the picture. I am in puzzle heaven.

Sorry the pictures were dark. The flash made it wonky and I couldn't get good light in any room darn it. I'll take pics when they're done. It may take a while for the big one, but, darn it,I can do it.

Have a great day.

Zip Line Pics or My Family Is Nuts (Duh)

 This was at the strawberry patch. The boy spotted it first and you know he had visions of a 100 foot drop and being anchored in and all kinds of crazy stuff. In reality it was only this high...

 Yeah, the big girl got to hang for about 1/2  second before she could touch. But, she got to zip line.

 The boy hung on for dear life. Not really, but can you imagine the scenarios playing threw his mind? He got all the way to the pole at the end and kicked his feet out. That pushed him backwards a little and it was almost like a second chance.

 The baby will not be left behind. She's brave, too, you know.

 I caught hubby mid flip. I thought for sure I got him all turned over, but no.

And even though the zip line was short, it was still tall enough you needed this pole to reach it and push it back to the beginning. Well, hubby didn't need it, but it made him feel important to carry it, I guess.

Have a great day.