Goodbye 2010 --- Hello 2011

I’m happy to see 2010 come to a close. Many good things happened but there were also challenges. I will ignore the challenges and leave them unlisted. Here are some positive highlights:

Dan turned 11 and crossed over from cub scouts to boy scouts.

A year of exciting progress for the children’s museum.

Sam turned 7 and began taking piano lessons.

Fun trip to New Hampshire for Britt and Marcel’s wedding in a beautiful setting!

Dan and Sam continue to have fantastic teachers at school.

Got the museum website updated and a bit easier to navigate. Phase 3 yet to come and to be done by someone else, not me!

Still learning more and more about autism (START is amazing, glad to be living in Michigan).

Nick is still employed and I’m still alive.

Here is what I look forward to in 2011:

Commemorating the 13^th Angel’s Day and sending the 13^th blanket to LDS Hospital.

Dan turning 12, moving into Young Mens at church and receiving the priesthood.

Celebrating our 20^th wedding anniversary (and actually get to do something more than go to dinner a week or two later…maybe?).

Sam turning 8 and getting baptized.

Getting to visit my family just for fun and celebration and NOT for a funeral and not while mom is in rehab after a broken neck. It will have been well over 3 ½ years since a normal visit. Please NO major life events to spoil it!

Celebrating mom’s 80^th a bit early and getting to hear a bit of the bagpipes.

Dan entering middle school/7^th grade, YIKES.

Finding more activities for Sam to give him a sense of accomplishment and social opportunities.

Another beautiful autumn in Michigan.

Hopeful groundbreaking of the museum.

Completing a few classes and visiting more lighthouses.

Continuing to hear lovely music from the boys on the cello and piano.

Celebrating the end of a great 2011 with a healthier family.

This is what happens when you go the extra mile

Nick asked me to make him a list of what I wanted for Mother’s Day. He knew it would include cleaning because the reality is a clean house put s me in a good mood. Doing the cleaning myself does not put me in a good mood. Getting it cleaned and then having everyone else undo the work puts me in a bad mood. So keeping with the saying “if momma ain’t happy nobody’s happy and if daddy ain’t happy nobody cares” he took my list.

Well Nick and the boys did most everything on my list on Saturday. Ahh it felt great to wake up to a cleaner less cluttered home! Then Sam had to stay home from church as he threw up again early Sunday morning (oh that part of waking up wasn’t so nice). Nick stayed home with him. Upon returning home with Dan we found Nick had cooked up a nice lunch (but more like dinner as it was a big meal). But he strayed from the list and tried to go the extra mile. He decided to turn on the self cleaning oven while we were gone so the oven would also be clean. As I’m looking at the good food he has cooking on the stove I notice my cute Tastefully Simple collection of various spice mixes that sit across the top of the stove ledge. They looked like they had fallen down and not been put back carefully. But on closer inspection they were melting! OK I know it’s just spices but they look so good lining it and honestly there aren’t any other good places to keep them all. The bottles don’t stand up right and some can’t stand up at all.

I was a little sad and trying to resolve what felt like unnecessary sulking about spice bottles -kind of like don’t cry over spilled milk. I didn’t cry but knew I couldn’t replace all of them as some of the spices are no longer available. Then purely by accident I ran across a solution online. I found this cool set of glass spice jars and they were on a great sale. Even though I really didn’t feel a need for a mother’s day present where money was spent I still ended up with a little gift. I can’t wait for it to arrive so I can transfer my spices and come up with some way to label them.

So sometimes when you go the extra mile things don’t quite turn out as planned. We never had a problem with the bottles melting in previous uses of the self cleaning…or when was the last time we did it? But it all worked out. I’m now getting an extra present.

All in a day

Today’s task list:

Paint hall bathroom

Cook dinner for missionaries

Cut boys hair and a bunch of misc. things.

Today’s events:

Raw egg flying around the kitchen while bowl flips out of hand making a huge mess. Didn’t know one raw egg could cover so much space and in so many places.

I Realized I didn’t have all ingredients to make dinner so great husband offers to go to the store for me (I HATE shopping on Saturdays). However, the 48oz glass bottle of salsa that I left in the back of the car, along with other things I picked up at Sam’s Club yesterday, rolled forward during a turn and smashed into the metal of the middle seat and spilled its guts all over the car and into the little well of the seat connector.

Sam was also swinging in his hammock and managed to do what we knew he would eventually and put a hole in the wall. We have been trying to come up with a solution for this but now we really have to before the hole gets bigger. Anyone know of a good place to get a padded mat with hefty solid backing?

In the middle of this we were taping and prepping the hall bathroom for paint, did the primer and then made some progress on the paint. I was also preparing some pulled BBQ pork, cole slaw, fresh pineapple and grapes and baked beans. The crowning piece was a lemon cheesecake, my first ever attempt to make real cheesecake! It turned out great (ignore the grand canyon in the middle) and is so smooth. The recipe will be posted on Facebook or can be requested.

Overall it was a good day, just frustrating in parts. OH and I did get the boys hair all cut as well (all 3 boys). Yeah!

Halloween 2009 Recap

I have been given a strong urging by my husband to NOT go to church today and to use that time to get some extra rest. I have been fighting off a chest cold and haven’t had much time to rest and after a chilly breezy time outside for trick or treating I really began to feel awful last night. I’m sure I will end up at the Dr tomorrow but rest is always good. However, I promised that I would not sit at the computer during that time but would actually rest. Therefore I’m trying to write this blog before church starts so I can keep my word. OK I didn't quite make it but close.

I wanted to give a Trick or Treating recap. Of course although not trick or treating directly, we have to begin the day before Halloween. Sam’s school has a traditional dress up parade. It has become an anticipated event to find out what the entire staff dresses up as. Last year the principal and secretary were Mini and Mickey mouse with all of the staff as Mouseketeers. I think it was one of my favorites. Although I must say this year still gave me great entertainment. The principal, he dressed up at Snow White and the secretary, she was dressed as the wicked witch. All of the teachers were dressed as the 7 dwarfs but of course more than 7 of them, just lots of duplicates. Still, very cute. Because the parade was indoors and I have yet to find a good setting for a good picture inside at a distance I don’t have much to show for this event. However, I did help in Sam's classroom for their class party. They packed in 7 different activities or crafts in a short time along with lots of goodies.

Dan’s school doesn’t have a parade but they were supposed to parade to areas relatively close to the school to visit some care centers. However, due to the flu concerns here that was cancelled for them to simply have some class parties. Just as well considering we had 4” of rain that day (see picture of neighbors back yard).

This year we only had Sam with us for trick or treating. Dan went with his friend Andrew around Andrew’s neighborhood. We have had a 3 yr tradition now of meeting up with our friends the MacKenzie’s to go around their neighborhood. The kids were off like lightning. Again my favorite stop is at the home of therapy dogs Boomer, Baxter and Murphy. Their neighborhood gets crazy busy and reminded me last night that just because its Halloween doesn’t mean rules of the road don’t apply anymore. Signaling ones intent would be particularly helpful to navigate the cars stopped in all parts of the road for who knows how long as well as people crossing in and out without much regard to these large heavy motorized vehicles that could cause great damage even at extreme low speed. We also all went to a club house where a group of Senior’s gather to enjoy the fun. The kids are to parade in front of them and then there are little bags of goodies for the kids. After this we hung out with our friends the Lowrances where they had the perfect little spread of veggies and dip and my favorite tortilla chips and warm cheese dip. That hit the spot. Yeah for something that didn’t have sugar in it. They also had fun things for the kids including this funky little brain. It’s not edible and maybe the size of a large rat brain? But it’s kind of sticky and Sam took his out after we got home. Bindy, the Lowarnces dog was staying at our house so she didn’t have anxiety over the door activity. Well, she looked pretty cute with Sam’s little sticky brain stuck to her, nestled into her long hair. A very good Halloween look and too bad I didn’t get a picture.

Before we headed home we then went to pick up Dan and see what kind of fun he had. Now the neighborhood he had fun in I guess is well known for the loot you get. His bag weighed 4 pounds and this of course after I’m sure much was enjoyed. There were plenty of empty wrappers in there too. But the biggest surprise of the night was his news about one of the more lucrative stops. The story goes that the guy was handing out envelopes with money in them. They were told to pick an envelope and that there were $1, $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills and that one envelope had $100. When they got back from gathering their loot and opened the envelopes Dan once again proved that he has better luck than anyone in this house. He had a $20. What kid goes out trick or treating and not only comes home with 4 pounds of candy but $20 cash as well? I guess someone probably came home with $100 or a $50 but the $20 Dan got will long be remembered around here! I’m sure this guy will have plenty of people knocking on his door next year. The question, will he do the same?