My Family

I was playing around on a website the other day and made this. Have you seen these on the back of people's car windows? I think this would be hilarious to put on the back of my car. What do you think?!?

The boys have now been in school for 12 days. So far so good. They seem to be enjoying it and the days at home for me go really fast. I have high hopes of organizing, cleaning, scrapbooking, and decluttering. We will see how much I get done the next 168 days they are in school!

Tastes From My Home

We have a winner! thetribe (comment #8) has been picked by the random generator. I will get in touch with you for your address. Thanks to all who entered and hope you find these tasty chips at a store near you.

I am so excited to be entering The Tastes from Home with Frito-Lay recipe contest! We are big Frito-Lay fans at my house! And did you know Frito-Lay has a new delicious lineup of regional flavors made with all-natural ingredients? The Tomato & Basil chips are my absolute favorite! My husband loves the Tangy Carolina BBQ flavor. I would love to try the Honey Mustard or Balsamic Sweet Onion chips, but sadly have not seen them in our Midwest grocery stores. A bag of chips does not last long in our house!! It's amazing how fast little feet come running when they hear a chip bag being ripped open.

In honor of their new chip lineup, I am posting a recipe that is a favorite in my neck of the woods. This is an often requested item on our dinner menu for the week. I found this recipe from a blogger and adapted it to my family's tastes.

The Best Meatloaf Ever (according to my family)

2 lb. ground meat (thawed)

1 finely chopped onion

1 cup shredded cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

2 t. mustard

½ cup ketchup

2 eggs

2 cups bread crumbs

2 T. worchestire sauce

1 T. Parmesan cheese

½ t. Italian seasoning

Combine eggs, ketchup, mustard, breadcrumbs, garlic, cheeses, and spices in large bowl. Slowly add in meat and onion. This must be mixed very well, often I mix it by hand!

When thoroughly mixed, shape into a loaf. I use a 9x13 pan and make a flatter loaf so it cooks faster. Bake at 375 for 1 hour, check at this time, it may or may not need 15 more minutes (depending on your oven and the height of your loaf).

*This is great served with homemade mashed potatoes and green beans. My family’s favorite meal!!

Frito-lay is generously offering a variety pack of their regional flavors to give away to one of my lucky readers! To enter the contest, please tell me which flavor of chip you would like to try the most! Contest ends on August 23, 2011 at midnight.

*Frito-Lay provided me with the chips and this blog post is considered an entry form for their contest*

It all started with a pair of black shorts....

A few weeks ago while I was packing my oldest son for one of his many adventures (church camp, boy scout camp, vacation....really can't remember which one), he asked me to pack his new black shorts. (the shorts he's never worn) So I look for the black shorts in the 2 dresser drawers with shorts and cannot find them. I proceed to look through the rest of his 3 drawers, his closet, his brother's drawers (all 11 of them...drawers not brothers), my husband's underwear drawer, his sister's drawers (4 drawers, 1 sister), the pantry, every bag and backpack we own, behind the washer and dryer, our vehicles, and the barn. I. never. found. the. shorts.

Then my oldest son lost his retainers. Not the ones he's been wearing all summer, his old ones. I again look everywhere for them and never. find. the. retainers.

That same week my oldest son lost his dog (he ended up at the local animal shelter) and his bicycle (which we think was picked up on a hot night by someone walking by our house). It cost us $45 to get the dog back and $120 for a new bike.

While all this was going on, I decided to be funny and post this all on facebook. Now I really hardly ever do facebook status updates. I'm not one to tell my business to my facebook friends. But for some reason, I felt like venting and chose to complain about all the things we had lost.

And then the next week, my 6 year old fractured his femur, had emergency surgery, and is in a wheelchair for (at least) 4 weeks. Kind of makes a pair of black shorts, retainers, and a bicycle not all that important! So for the rest of the summer, I am not going to focus on the things we have lost and be more positive and grateful for what we do have!!

Summer Update

Three days ago our summer and all the things we had planned came to a screeching halt. Our six year old, who we call Moose fractured his femur. It happened on our trampoline with his 10 year old brother whom he was wrestling with. Now the femur is the strongest bone in your body, so to snap it in half takes a lot of force (like 850 pounds of force). The Emergency Room doctor we saw at first almost had me convinced that it wasn't really broken. But an hour later when they took the first xray and it popped up on their computer screen, I knew we were in for a long ride! Here are some of the highlights of the past couple of days:

*Moose got to ride in an ambulance to Riley Children's Hospital.

*They did emergency surgery only 6 hours after his injury!

*He has a plate and 8 screws holding his femur together.

*He does not have a cast, just an immobilizer.

*He cannot put weight on his leg for at least 4 weeks.

*He has done extremely well considering all he has gone through.

*He didn't eat a piece of candy for 2 whole days! (if you know Moose, you know that doesn't happen!!)

*He has a wheelchair to ride in. He is already learning to steer and turn.

*Right now he's only taking regular Tylenol for the pain and valium right before bed.

Now, if I was able to pick one of my sons to be unable to walk for 4 weeks, Moose would have been last. He is the most active of my children. He loves people and loves to go places. Yesterday I asked him if he needed a drink or food, and his answer was, "I just need friends". Talk about melting my heart! Today he woke up in a good mood, has worked on Legos for a little bit, now he and his brother are playing with Mario Kart on the DSi. If you prayed for us, a big THANK YOU. I think that is what is helping us get through each hour sometimes. I'm trying to enjoy this time at home (really it's too hot to do anything except stay inside) and hopefully Moose will continue doing so well!

Carolina Critters

We spent last week in South Carolina at Surfside Beach. The Plantation Resort to be exact. We had a great time at the various bodies of water around us (pools, lazy river, beach, aquirium, and even the pond). My boys (who love anything to do with water) had a blast catching animals. *Please note: no animals were harmed by my children and all were returned to their natural habitat*

Whose afraid of a jellyfish? Not Moose! But the ladies on the beach were screaming when he came near.

Checking out the horseshoe crabs at the Ripley's Aquarium.

A little crab that the boys dug up.

And of course, we invited the ducks in for a visit. They didn't make it in the door.

The boys loved catching the turtles in the pond right out our back door (I think they spent more time doing this than anything else, seriously!). They each bought a sturdy net and with a package of bologna, some leftover chicken, and some trail mix they were able to catch (and release) many many turtles!

Where did June go?!?

We've spent several days at the pool this month. My boys love love love to swim. The boy's hair is getting lighter and lighter every day!

Noah got a little more brave with his 4 wheeler this year. He threw caution to the wind and had lots of fun getting muddy!The next Tim Tebow? Maybe so. This boy has the upper body strength that amazes everyone!
And our last boy learned to ride on two wheels this month. Although he said he was going to have training wheels until he was ten, he decided to give it a try. No more training wheels for us!!

Strawberry Pie

It's been really really hot here in the Midwest. Unseasonably hot for June. We have spent every hot day at the pool since school got out. My kids are tired of the pool. already. It's going to be a long summer! So today my sister and I decide to take the kids to a u-pick strawberry farm in Indy. We had a great day making memories! The kids picked strawberries for about 2 minutes and 26 seconds, and then they went back to the van to play their DS games. So my sister, my parents, and I continue picking until our buckets are full. Here is Devin with his "Big Mamma" strawberry he found!

And here is Dalton and Audrey before they started picking. Audrey said it was "way too sunny" to open her eyes for a picture.
After we had all the fun we could handle at the strawberry farm, we head to a nearby park. We pull in and these two say they are just going to sit in the van and play their DSs. "Oh no you're not!" the moms bark in unison from the front seat. So they get out and play fight until we can't take it any more.
On the way back to my sister's house, she stops and gets 2 pie shells and some yummy Wick's pie glaze. Then we go home and pick stems off the berries, wash and dry them, then make 2 beautiful pies. We are so proud of our beauties. These are works of art. Later I load up my van and all of our stuff from the day (including my beautiful pie), and one of my sons (who will remain anonymous) steps on my pie! Oh. my. word. So much for my work of art!