Cards for Cancer

 September 19th is the American Cancer Society's craft fair.  Yesterday Mom and I worked on cards to sell.  We spend all day and only ended up with 20 cards and about 20 gift tags.  In our defense though we were using scrapbooking prototype stuff that had to be delicately cut by hand.  We had a good time and are planning on working another day to create more cards.  What you see pictures of is just the Halloween cards that were made yesterday.  Why didn't I put pictures of more you ask.....because the blog would only allow 4 picture postings in one entry, I'm tired, and brain function is pretty low this morning.

What's On The Menu

Last night was another successful evening at the Cheek's.  We had what you see above, Chicken drumsticks with a soy sauce glaze and sesame seeds, the best potato salad ever, and an orange chocolate chunk bundt cake with a chocolate sauce on top.  My brother is home for the summer  and joined us for dinner last night.  I'm looking forward to his presence at the remainder of our Thursday Night Dinner at The Cheek's.  

I think we've started a little competition for best dinner of the week between my dad and me.  Wednesday my dad made cheese stuffed burgers (that were huge!) and he heated some frozen potato wedges.  That's right everyone, he re-heated some prepared potatoes from the freezer section of the grocery store.  His burgers were really great though.  

Tyler, in some ways, has volunteered to be our judge.  He said last night Dad's entree was better but my sides and dessert were better.  I'm going claim the victory for this week.  My dad and I have already started our meal planning for next week.  

In a side note to dinner, Carter said something really funny last night.  Shawn and I were watching TV in the living room when we hear Carter calling for us in his room.  Shawn went in and Carter said, "Dad, I can't sleep.  I'm counting sheep but they keep turning into Evan and I just can't take it anymore."  

The Upside of Boys

The great thing about boys ( I feel like I need to redeem them from the previous post) is they love to get down and dirty with their dad.  They love to help with the yard work,  and they love to be outside.  This makes for a nice quiet morning in the house for mommy.  

BOYS!

There will be no pictures attached to this blog.  What I'm about to tell you is too vulgar for an actual picture.  I'll just have to describe it...

Tonight was just like any other Wednesday evening.  Actually it was better than past Wednesdays.  See, the plan on Wednesdays is to pick the kids up from daycare, go to my parents house, eat dinner, leave the kids there for choir practice, pick them up, and go home.  Usually there is a lot of screaming, whining, crying, and .  Literally, my hair is falling out, but that's a whole other topic.  Anyways, tonight went quite well.  There was little to no screaming, whining, etc.  When my mom and I drove up the street, after choir, Carter, Evan and Gramps were playing in the driveway.  Carter even learned a new skill.  He can now join the rest of the family in the skill of hula hooping.  That's what I should have posted a picture of Carter hula hooping.  We got to eat ice cream (even though I'm no supposed to be.  It was just one scoop.  One small scoop.  Have I justified it enough? Ok, moving on.) And the kids went to the car easily.  It was great.  

We got home and there was still some light out so I decided we could play with the puppies in the front yard for a few minutes before bath time.  Problems arose when the neighbor came to talk to me about our drainage problem.  As soon as my attention was somewhere else the children went awry.  First Evan nearly tortured the puppies.  Carter and Evan were playing some game I've never heard of but apparently it's all the rage, Backgoogone.....that's the phonetic spelling.  The little brown puppy didn't stick around long enough for the game and Evan was scolding it and spanking it's bottom.  I put out that fire and continue to speak with the neighbor about now his drainage problem and how I'm causing it.  Then I look over and Evan has his pants down around his ankles peeing into the street.  WHY? He could have atleast went to the side of the house.  Cars are driving by, people are waving, neighbors are looking out their windows, and Evan's peeing.  Then he can't get his pants up.  It's been muggy.   The best (or worst) part of the story is what happened next.  

There's a walker.  Minding her own business and walking to her iPod.  Evan, still pants down, waddles toward her puppy in tow and so excited to be sharing.  She was shocked, but explained as I ran over there yelling, she had boys too.  Apparently it's just what they do.

  

Puppy Love

Recently our beloved Bonnie had puppies.  We were surprised when she rolled over to her back one evening and her nipples were different.  I believe Shawn's words were, "That's not normal."  To our surprise she was pregnant.   She had the puppies about a week later.  I feel like such an irresponsible owner.  The first one out was our little black & white spotted puppy.  Second was the light brown.   One girl, and one boy.   Little M thinks they both belong to him.  He's going to have a tough time when the puppies find a new home.  But who wouldn't look how cute they are.

                                           

                                          

                                          

What's On The Menu

For all that don't know I host a Thursday Night Dinner at The Cheek's.  It's a weekly event and the guests are my husband, two kiddos, and my parents.  My parents have provided so many meals for me throughout the years and now it's my turn.  I'll probably never catch up to the amount they've served me, but I'll try to make up for that in quality and taste.  

So for my blog I thought it would be fun to tell you all about what's on the menu for Thursday nights, and if my recipe worked out or not (trust me, I'll be giving the bad biscuits another try).  Now for tonight's menu......

Nothing.

Tonight is our first parent meeting for kindergarten.  Yikes! I promise I won't be the mom dropping my child off crying and wondering where the last 5 years have gone.  Nothing could be better for CT than starting school.  I might be the parent jumping for joy that we aren't paying for pre-school anymore.  WooHoo!  My fears about kindergarten fall under the categories of homework, early morning, cupcakes, and birthday parties.  So far I've never had to help with homework.  So far we haven't had to get CT to school on time.  So far I've never made cupcakes for a class party.  So far we've never had to go to a birthday party and buy a gift for a kid I've never met.   

Maybe we'll have a sack lunch for dinner tonight.

Bad Biscuits

I don't know what has happened to me lately.  I usually find it easy to self motivate but recently I just can't seem to pick up the pace.  I have the occasional day where I let some dishes sit in the sink or let some laundry go untouched but so far this week (and a little of last week) I let all these things go untouched.  I've only done the necessary cleaning.  For instance I washed the covers on the big chair in my living room but that's only because Evan squeezed poop out of one of the puppies, literally, he squeezed the poop right out.  Then he tried in a desperate attempt to clean it with his sweaty sock.  Smeared sweaty poop all over my seat covers.  Have I mentioned how light the fabric on my chair is?  Anyways, I guess I can't say I've completely gone without doing laundry this week.  

Shawn, my husband, has cleaned the kitchen twice since I've been in my slump.  If he cleans it's bad.  The worst part of my story is I made bad biscuits !  I usually don't make too many mistakes in the kitchen.  It's my thing! First I started my batter without having all the ingredients.  I didn't have half & half but figured I'd substitute buttermilk.  Then I realized I didn't have enough buttermilk so I added regular milk.  After adding the regular milk to the mix I realized I didn't need that much in the first place.  The recipe called for 3/4c. not 1 and a half cups.  So I added lots more flour, a pinch of this, and a pinch of that because baking is so scientific you know.   I decided I'd continue on and if they didn't turn out I'd just throw them away.  I rolled the dough (the very sticky dough) then couldn't find my biscuit cutter.  I got creative, remembered a Paula Dean episode, and reached for a juice glass.  It did the job.  I egg washed those bad boys, threw them in the oven and 20 minutes later.....well, you tell me..... 

Bicycles

I love taking pictures in the Spring.  Everything seems to be so fresh, so green, so blue, and so fun.  On the day I took this picture, we had just gotten back from the store where Evan picked out his first bike.  It's a pirate theme.  You can't quite see it in this picture, but there's a skull and cross bone flag.  Carter has to prove he'll actually ride a bike before getting a new bike.  Evan's bike is bigger than Carter's.  Let me paint a picture for you.  

I see this moment where both boys are on the bikes, laughing, and having a good time.  "Hold on, let Mommy go get her camera!"  As soon as the shutter opens they can't seem to laugh, they can't seem to smile.  They can however make "tough guy" faces.  They're boys.  Tough guy faces are cute right?  

Also note Carter's elbow pads and knee pads.  He won't ride his bike (WITH TRAINING WHEELS) without them.  Prior to this picture we had to work through Carter's complete and utter melt down over the suggestion he ride his bike (WITH TRAINING WHEELS, THAT WON'T TIP OVER) without the protection of elbow pads and knee pads.  

Right after this picture Evan and Carter got to ride their bikes down to the end of the street.  What fun!  Toward the end of our street there's a slight hill.  We were coasting down the street with the wind in our hair.  The boys laughing.  Evan has this really throaty laugh.  Carter's is so loud he can break glass.  It was bliss.  I signal that we're going to turn around and go back toward the house.  Evan turns, Carter turns, I turn, and I realize.....up hill.  Someone should have taken a picture of me walking up the driveway balancing three bikes and sweating.