Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Football Update

Today they celebrate a WIN!

Congratulations!

On what planet it this okay????

Who parks like this?????  On what planet is this okay???? 

Here's the story...for those of you who didn't get my text last night.

MB and I went to dinner with another friend last night while the girls were at dance practice.  This is a once-a-year event and was much anticipated.  Dinner was cut short when the other woman's older daughter called to say that there was water dripping from her bedroom light fixture which is below their kitchen.  She had to rush home to survey the damage...there was much water in the kitchen, and her husband was out of town. (Because that's always the case when disaster strikes.)

Feeling grateful for my own small problems, I decided I needed a diet soda to sip on after a delightful dinner.  MB and I decided to head to McD's for the $1 mammoth drink, which we would enjoy while watching the end of recital practice.  Alas, it was not meant to be.

Some IDIOT had parked next to me in fine fashion!  Still, I was okay with crawling over the center console in my small Honda (because there's nothing prettier than that mental image), but I decided that first I must write him a SCATHING note to put on his window.  MB read the note.  I didn't even cuss.  (I'm not very good at being scathing.) 

And this is where it all went very wrong (if it weren't wrong enough already).  When I reached for the napkin to write the note on, I dropped my keys into my purse which was sitting on the front seat of the car.  I must have hit the lock on the car door because after putting the note on the truck and snapping a couple of photos of the cars, I realized my keys were now locked inside my car.  WWWWHHHHAAAATTTTTTTT???

Oh, the karma.  The bad, bad karma.  Luckily my husband was not out of town and when I called to ask him to bring the other set of keys, he was quick to agree.  Meanwhile MB had to walk back to the theater to let the little girl know her mom wasn't coming to get her.  Walking back meant dodging a fierce gauntlet of sprinklers.  The sprinklers won! 

But the king rescued me.  The weather was great to be waiting outside for him.  The drunk (I assume he was drunk...why else would he park like that) didn't come out while I was waiting, which was my fear.  I'm pretty sure he couldn't have gotten his truck out w/o damaging mine.  And I was able to back out of the space--after hurdling the center console and having to manually drag my right leg over said console (it didn't really like the angel I needed it to be in) without scratching my car.  Both the king and another man suggested I door-ding the truck.  I just didn't have the heart to do it...at least not in broad daylight!

Here's hoping for better karma today!

Meanwhile, back in Colorado...

It was a rough week in Colorado.  Amid the birthday celebrations, the football player got sick.  Really sick.  Sick enough to need some pretty serious blood work.  Yesterday he was feeling better, the blood work wasn't showing anything specific, but still he wasn't 100%.  Today he's on the road to recovery...he's even playing football this morning!  Go Jay!

Not everyone was sick though.  The Diva (I'm not allowed to call her Princess anymore so her mother suggested "Diva".  I'm not sure about that yet.) and Sparky went to a luau.  The photos are cropped strangely because I was cropping other people's (whom I don't know) kids out.  I vote we all go to Hawaii for our next family trip.

For My Mother The Day Before Mother's Day

Dear Mother,

I saw this and thought of you.

All my love on Mother's Day,

Your Darling Daughter

A Birthday Gift

Last year the prince took all his birthday money and bought a summer membership to Anytime Fitness.  He hit the gym a few times before the unfortunate SECOND broken arm.  We suggested he go suspend his membership until he was healed, but he "never got around to it".  This year, when I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he told me he wanted another summer membership to the gym.  As luck would have it, they are a running a promo, and you can get May-August for $100 with no additional fees.  SWEET!  So the other day we went down to purchase this awesome birthday gift.  And since he had already been a member and still had his key fob, the entire process took about 5 minutes!   Love it.  And I love that I don't have to shop for gifts now.  Happy Birthday, a little early!

Columbines

Here are my yellow columbine.

 Here are my blue columbine.

What's wrong with this picture?

Last year they grew as well as the yellow!

I wish they bloomed all summer.

I really like them.

Though I can't help thinking of the school shooting each time I look at them.

Maybe that's the point.



Birthday Girl In Da House

WHAT???

What?  She's only turning 9???  I thought she was turning 10.  Phew!  She's not in double digits.  We get to enjoy her childhood for an extra.  

PS:  Clearly I am not the go-to person on the age of the people around me--including myself!

Happy Birthday Ariana!

This gorgeous little miss thing is 10 today!

Double digits!

Our babies are getting older.

Sniffle, sniffle.

Love you PRINCESS!

Happy  Birthday!

This post might also be titled, "Did anyone every comb that poor child's hair while she was visiting last summer?"



That was loud!

At about 4:00 am this morning I was awakened by a loud noise.  It took me a second to figure it out because there were really 2 noises.  One was the king snoring, loudly.  The other was a cow mooing, even more loudly.  That cow must have been right by our fence.  What on earth did she have to tell the other cows that early in the morning?  Eventually she stopped, but I was not amused.  The king stopped sooner because I elbowed him!  :)  By the way, Thursday is the most difficult day of the week for getting up!

Fantastic Mango Smoothie

We used our mangos and some of the strawberries to make this delicious smoothie.  I threw in a little of this and a little of that.  I have to say, it tasted very close to the delicious goodness Orange Julius produces!  The kids approved!

Recipe

2-3 cups crushed ice

1 cup diced mango

1 cup sliced strawberries

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

2 6oz containers vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup milk

Blend all in blender until smooth.

Mine made 3 large glasses.

Cheers!



Sparky's Program

Sparky had a spring program at school the other day.  Doesn't he look nervous?  I think he must save up all his courage for the wrestling mat.  His mama said the program went well.  He'll be moving on to 1st grade soon!

Schupfnudel

Schupfnudel is a German dish.  The king's dad used to make it.  He would get a big pot of water, potatoes, sausage, and spices going and then would drop this dough he had made into it at the end.  After the dough was cooked through it was ready.  We ate it on a plate, and I remember putting syrup on it.  (Everything tastes better with syrup, right?)  He also made a dish called "knepfla" which also had the dough going on but other ingrediants.  Both were ethnic dishes that he made once or twice a year.  Grandma hated it when he did, not because she didn't like the food, but becasue she wasn't too keen on the mess he made in her kitchen.  I have no plans to duplicate the recipe, but I share this because I think "schupfnudel" is a great word. 

Below is a photo of a schupfnudel dish, taken off the internet.  It doesn't look like Grandpa's but does give you an idea of the look of the dough (this photo shows it served with sauerkraut, which the internet told me is quite the norm). 

And below this photo is a photo of another kind of schupfnudel.

Long live the schupfnudel!

JCPenney

Around the beginning of the year JCPenney sent me tons of fliers about their new change in pricing.  I paid little attention since I wasn't going to the mall.  Since then I get monthly updates in the mail.  They are expensive mini-catalogs that tell me about certain prices that month.  Is everyone getting those?  I'm not getting any coupons though.  Is anyone else?  On Saturday I went to Penney's for the first time since they changed their marketing. 

I am not sure what to think about the New Penney's.  There were no sale signs in any department we went in.  I did think most of their prices were lower than they had been.  It also seemed that they had fewer racks of clothing.  It was easier to walk through the teen area, for sure.  But mostly I felt like the whole place was disorganized and not really shopper-friendly.

I'm curious to know if any of my MANY readers have shopped their lately and what kind of experience you had.  We did not spend any money there this weekend, and that's very odd for us!  (We also didn't find anything at Kohl's--for the second time in a row but had much better luck at Vanity, Wet Seal, and American Eagle.  Go figure.)

Super Moon

Did you see the moon the last few nights?  Saturday night it was at it's brightest, but we had cloud cover.  This was taken about 40 miles north of us.  Pretty amazing.  Apparently this happens once a year--that it gets this close--but it'll be several years before it's a full moon again when it gets this close!

Robin Egg Update

Day 3 of the "Great Robin Egg Watch" brought 3 eggs.  The neighbor installed this mirror so they could watch the progress without falling off ladders or freaking out the mama bird.  Stay tuned...

UPDATE:  As of this evening there are 4 eggs in the nest.  It looks quite full!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Chuck

Today is another grandpa's birthday! 

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Don't let the chickens work you too hard!

Maybe a little golf is in order, and patio time!

Have a great day.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

If Grandpa were still with us, he'd be 80 today!  Here he is in Glacier National Park with two of his favorite chuckle heads...and I don't think the princess caused those wet spots on him...he was prone to spilling!  Happy Birthday, Grandpa.  We miss you!

High Maintenance Strawberries

Are you familiar with Bountiful Baskets?  They are all the rage in our area.  It's like a veggie/fruit co-op.  Produce is shipped in from the west coast for delivery on Saturday.  You order online and pick up Saturday.  They sell out every week.  You can also get bread/tortillas, and this week you could get a flat of strawberries for $10.  I don't participate in Bountiful Baskets, because though the price is right, you don't know what's in your basket until you pick it up.  We are far too picky of eaters to take the risk of brussel sprouts and rutabaga!  MB participated asked if I wanted to split the flat of strawberries.  Thinking the prince and I would eat some and the rest could be used in smoothies, I agreed.  $5 for 4 boxes of strawberries is a good deal in my area!  Before I decided to slice them up MB warned me that the strawberries were organic and as such, might mold more quickly.  She recommended rinsing them in 5 cups of water mixed with a 1/2 cup of vinegar.  So I did.  These are some high maintenance strawberries, but I'm betting they're delicious!  And full of antioxidants.  And only 50 calories for 1 cups of strawberries sliced in half! 

Not sure why this photo is "foggy". 

Silly phone camera.

Mangos

Apparently this week's Bountiful Baskets contained mangos.  I've never purchased a mango, but MB gave us 2 of hers.  Last night our neighbor also brought one over for us.  I had to check online to see how to know if they are ripe and how to cut them.  They should be slightly soft to the touch.  Don't eat the skin!  There is a pit in the center like a peach pit.

 Three ripe mangos.

 I cut the first one, which might have been over ripe.

It was very soft inside.

That part on the right seems to be the pit.

 Cut it into section and peal from the skin.

I used my thumb nail.

 I scraped some of the mushy mango from the pit,

and this is sort of what the pit looks like.

 Here's the second mango, looking a little less mushy.

 Here's a better photo of what the pit looks like.

After slicing all 3 mangos I had this much mango.

It's probably about enough to make 2 smoothies.

Seems like a lot of work for 2 smoothies.

But thanks to my friends for the mangos!!!



Yikes! A BEAR!

Yesterday morning this guy was found in our part of town.  He was tranquilized and safely returned to the mountains some 60+ miles away.  The Fish and Game said this happens about once a year here, but this is the first time I was aware of it.  Yikes!

Ice Cream Truck Revisited

As I suspected, there were perks to helping in the ice cream truck!  I also found out that Mel (the friend) owns the truck--not her family.  Her parents financed this venture (she found it on Criag's List), but she is paying them back.  She is in the process of getting a business license and health code clearance.  She will pay her parents back and then save money college with this "job".  Pretty sweet!  (No pun intended--well, maybe just a little punny!)

Robin's Nest

Our neighbors are lucky.  They have a nest in one of their trees.  (Our neighborhood is young, and most trees aren't strong enough to support a nest.)  Now a robin has even laid an egg in the nest.  Isn't it pretty?  Soon there will be a baby...  :)

Spring Ball

You thought I meant baseball, didn't you?  Cousin Jajuan plays spring football (He's number 12.)  There are many reasons why Colorado turns out more professional athletes than Montana, but this has to be one of them...they run many of their sports twice a year and some of them year round.  If you find something you're good at, there's a good chance you can hone your skill year-round.  I'm not saying that's good or bad; they probably have a much higher rate of youth injury too.  And football in the spring, I'd be all over that--beats the snow!

Old Man Work-out Clothing Line

As I was traveling in the car with the princess and a friend, we saw two different, older gentlemen out jogging.  Both were wearing shorts (though not athletic shorts), t-shirts, tennis shoes, and white sock pulled up to mid-calf.

Princess:  I hate it when people don't wear work-out clothes to work out.

Friend:  Don't judge.  Maybe that's the Old Man line of work-out clothes.

Hysterical???  I think so!

Adversity

The princess was given the assignment to write about an adversity she had faced and how she over-came it.  This would be easy enough for most of us with plenty of adversity to go around.  When she said she was having a hard time coming up with an adversity I jokingly suggested she write about being a little sister.  She didn't think that was too funny.  Shelley and I racked our brains, trying to come up with something, but the fact is, the girl has lead a charmed life.  This assignment helped her realize that.  Eventually she came up with an idea, and it was pretty spectacular--if I do say so.  She ended up writing about how sometimes she lets what she fears others will think of her get in the way of doing what she really wants to do.  You go girl!  Gotta love those life lessons.

Prom

Mariah went to prom last weekend, looking her usual, beautiful self. 

Stunning!

Check it out.

In those heals she's taller than her brother!

Final Dance Competition

The princess had her final dance competition this weekend.  We were lucky to have Shelley and Becky here to watch, but do I have any photos to prove it?  NOOOOO!  Hopefully Becky will send me the photos of her doing the princess' hair.   

Still it was a great weekend of dance with all of the princess' dances taking 1st place in their categories.  Her solo scored 2nd in her age group (over 60 dances in that group!).  Their dance studio did a production number (a longer dance combining several songs/dance styles) featuring music from West Side Story, which was awesome!  I can't wait to see it again at the recital.  And all the dances from the studio did very well.  It was great fun!

She's wrapping up her dance year.  She'll have her competitive studio recital in 2 weeks and her ballet recital in 3 weeks.  She's looking forward to the break from dance too.  There's cheer to focus on now!  :)

First place solo trophy!

 Award mania!

We call this the "Wonder Woman" pose...complete with gold bra.

With Grandma!

Happy May Day!

Happy May Day. 

My May goal:  50 posts.

April was 44, so 50 seems quite do-able, given all of our up-coming activities!

One down, 49 to go.