One Week Left . . . .

Yikes! Am I really ready for summer? The pool is already open. This is the kids' last week. All three are on swim team. Sweet!

When I was young, I swam too! Every summer from about 8 years old to 13 yrs. I really thought I hated it back then, but I miss it. I even have swimming dreams.

I'll tell you what I am ready for . . . the best tan I've had since I was about that age! My goal every summer is to get so dark, people aren't sure if I speak English. As an adult, I've never made it out enough to make that goal. But it's the beginning of June and I'm almost half way there!

Also, tonight I get to take Cam to his baseball game! I am really excited. (So many exclamation points!) I hope his dad doesn't try to be nice to me and work something out so I can go home on time. I wanna take him to the game and practice with my camera! I love my job.

Books!

Ash loves to read, and so do I. It's one of the coolest things we have in common. In fact, all the boys love to read, more or less. Ash loves this book series called Warriors by Erin Hunter. Ash gave me the first book in the first series called Into The Wild.

The book series is based on cat clans. It's a good vs. evil theme. I'm still in the very beginning. The prologue opens on a fight between cat clans. The RiverClan vs. ThunderClan. RiverClan wins this battle over territory when ThunderClan retreats. ThunderClan needs more warriours if it is to survive. Their leader communicates with the heavens, StarClan, who send her this message: "Fire alone can save your Clan."

Our main character, our hero, Rusty, is an indoor cat, or kittypet who dreams of hunting in the wild. One evening, the urge to pursue his dreams becomes so strong that he leaves his garden. He pushes forward into the forest despite the worried and comforting calls of his owners, the warnings of other local cats, and the danger of the forest ahead.

Not long after he leaves his garden, Rusty is attacked. He is brave and ready to fight, but the other cat backs down and introduces himself as Graypaw, a proud warrior in training for the ThunderClan.

The Kids Make Dinner!

It worked out wonderfully and Ash's dinner was a hit. I must admit, I was worried he would run out of steam and leave me to cook it. But he was there for every course; he even came home early from playing with his friends to put it together.

The pasta was very good. It had a yogurt and ricotta cheese sauce with celery salt and poppy seeds in there. It was very fresh tasting. Good choice for warmer weather.

The homemade mozzarella sticks were a little gift from heaven, as was the double fudge chocolate cake! As I was taking my first bite, Bryce says to me, "Prepare to be amazed!" I'm glad he prepared me, because that first bite was so delicious, I might have fallen out of my chair.

Bryce also put on music during dinner which was the best idea. This meal really brought us together. I love cooking with them. Here are a few pics of our experience:

The Process

Mozz sticks and Russian Poppy Seed Pasta

Double Fudge Chocolate Cake!

Love Comic

http://www.xkcd.com/162/

No School Smoothie Day!

Today is going to be AWESOME! The boys have no school today, and mom is home too, so we will all be together!

We have ahead of us a whole day filled with No School Friday Fare starting with Baked Homemade Mini Donuts with cinnamon and sugar, then we will have Vitamix Smoothies. Ash is head chef today preparing a three course meal consisting of Homemade Mozzarella Sticks, Russian Poppyseed Pasta with veggie side, and Double Fudge Chocolate Cake for dessert! I'm drooling . . . . and so glad I owned the StairMaster this morning! And so glad I had the food channel on that day for him to run across . .  .

I will be sure to take a lot of pictures of our creations today to share with you. 

Playing Catch-Up

I haven't been keeping up on my posts lately, as you may have noticed . . . but I'm not quitting! So much is happening with the boys lately: they have been changing and growing and with the end of school near, so is our schedule! I have been keeping notes and journals with snippets of information and happenings and news, and I still want to share them, even though our time-line may be totally messed up. Here is a quick up-to-dater, details to be filled in later . . .

Big Brother Bryce, our 3rd grader, is in minors baseball league, getting his homework done at school everyday, and researching Adidas jackets he has saved up for.

Ash (the oldest, 11 years) is in traveling baseball, graduating the fifth grade soon, and moving on to middle school! Huge changes and adjustments coming for this busy, athletic, pre-teen.

Cam (1st grade) is continuing to get right to reading, homework, and putting away lunch bag every single day after school. He also has an amazingly funky smile since he's lost 3 teeth in the past two weeks or so! He also just started baseball!

Baby V doesn't just get to sit around and look cute all day. . . he plays baseball too! He swings his bat like a pro, and has an amazing throwing arm and aim. You should see him with his little black glove on one hand, ball in the other, hitting it into his glove like a pro. Awesome.

And we are ALL looking forward to summer. School is over in just a few short weeks, and swim team will fill our mornings. Everything else in the universe will fill the rest of our day . . .

Yay Vitamix!

<><>I scrimped and saved and finally bought the blender of my dreams. The Vitamix. It was waiting for me at work Monday morning. And when that baby went down for a nap, I went to town in the kitchen. The first thing I made was the baby's Green Monster Smoothie. I change the recipe up from time to time, and this time I used applesauce, spinach, and banana. This is the most beautiful green color I've ever seen. Just looking at it makes me feel healthy. 

<><> The next thing I did was put some Prego in the Vitamix and added a big handful of spinach and half of a small zucchini. I added my boosted sauce to the rest, warmed it up and served it with spaghetti for dinner. Unfortunately, when you mix color opposites- green and red- you will always get a less saturated, muddy color. The sauce was less pretty after I added my greens, but healthier. And the boys never noticed. 

<><>For my lunch, I made a Veggie Soup. First, I diced up 1/3rd of an onion and fried it up in a small pot to carmelize it a little. I added one or two diced garlic cloves and various spices halfway through: parsley, tarragon, pepper, salt, and one other. When the onions were about halfway through yummy carmelization, I added one small diced potato and water. When they were soft and the broth was tasty, I threw them in the Vitamix with fresh spinach and zucchini. I added a little sour cream and pepper and enjoyed a tasty, hot, half-raw veggie soup! Yum!

<><>The last thing I did was make each of the boys their own personal smoothie as they came in the door from school. The first two chose strawberry banana with huge baby carrots as a boost. BBB chose banana and carrots. The loved them. I used Dole's Strawberry Banana Orange juice blend, vanilla yogurt, baby carrots, fresh strawberries and bananas and ice.

<><> 

Green Monster Smoothie with Vitamix

Veggie Soup with Vitamix

Dandelion Sculpture at the Park. V's flowers fell out : (