It was Day 1 of our "staycation" (instead of a leaving on a vacation, we are hanging out in the area and having a staycation) and man, did we have some F-U-N!!!! Kevin is off all week and we are so glad. The weekend was busy, but fun. Kevin played drums at the west campus church and we had a couple of get togethers with good friends. A couple of minor incidents, but nothing out of the ordinary. Ethan split his chin open at church in the same place it has split open every other time! Nothing some liquid bandage couldn't fix. Abby on the other hand is quite the case. Last summer we brought our very first Epi Pen home, due to a nasty reaction to a bee sting. We have also had some trouble with Abby when she gets bitten by mosquites. I try to keep her sprayed with DEET, but this summer's bugs aren't too phased by it I guess. She is a mess. Her poor bites swell so badly they get rock hard and hot. Then when the swelling does go down, she's left with terrible bruising from her skin being stretched to tight. :( So after much research, I returned from CVS with Vitamin B1 (repells mosquitoes when taken 25-50 mg three times per day) and Zyrtec for kids. We've been using a lot of hydracortizone and calamine lotion to make her comfortable. Hopefully something will help soon!! She's a trooper despite how bad the bites look tho!!!
Today, we spent some time at the Morton Aboretum. I have never been there even though it's not that far away from us. They are having their 'Big Bugs' exhibit through July 21st, so we wanted to check it out! It ended up being the perfect day for it. The weather was so great! Plenty of sunshine, but not too warm.
I had to make these pictures into a slideshow because there were so many good ones! The Morton is quite a cool place and the 'Big Bugs' were so amazing. We learned a lot about bugs that we didn't know before and I had such a nice time looking at all of the gorgeous native plants and flowers. The kids loved the children's garden. There were lots of play areas and even little streams and treehouses to explore! It was quite a fun first day of vacation! We headed over to Buca di Beppo for a nice, heavy Italian dinner afterwards. The kids enjoyed their dinner and so did we!! The pistacio gelato is calling to me right now from my freezer!
You're like, "two post in one day???" It's madness, I tell you!! Nope. Lulu is napping and the other kids are with Kevin at church. He's playing drums for this weekend's services. So I am here with nothing to do! So I blog!!
More beef. You're wondering if all we eat is red meat, I know. We don't! My last recipe post was for burgers, so next time I will post one with chicken or some other meatless something or other. But nothing says summer like tacos. Tacos are an awesome thing! You can feed lots of people, you can make them how you like and they are just yummy! This recipe is for a crockpot or slow cooker as some people like to call them. It's delicious and super easy!!
Shredded Beef Tacos
2.5- 3 lb boneless beef chuck roast (I almost typed Chick roast LOL) 1 medium onion (I never use an onion because Kevin hates them. It still tastes good) 1 cup water 1 pkt (1.25 oz) Taco Seasoning Mix 1 bottle (16 oz) Taco Sauce (I only ever use half the bottle) 1 7 oz can chopped green chiles your choice of tortillas - soft flour, soft corn or hard shell ---------------------------------------------------------------- Taco Toppings - shredded lettuce, tomatoes, queso fresco cheese, sour cream
Directions: Place beef and onion in slow cooker. Combine water and seasoning mix in small bowl. Pour over beef and onion. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or until tender. Remove meat to cutting board; shred beef with two forks (at this point it will usually just fall apart). Place beef in large bowl. Stir in taco sauce and chiles. Fill warmed tortillas with beef mixture. Top with toppings!!! Serve with lots of margaritas and enjoy the awesome summer weather!!!
I am a day late on this one! What a crazy week this has been?? I have been wondering what band I should blog about this week and it's been a hard choice. I decided on another girly girl one. Jem. NO, not Jem and the Holograms (you KNOW you were around in the 80s if you remember Jem and the Holograms!!) - just Jem. She rocks. SHe's like Dido with a little more edge. So, if you like Dido I think you'll enjoy Jem. If you don't really care for Dido, listen to Jem and maybe you will like her anyways.
Jem. Jem grew up in Wales. She's cute and like 34?? She has a law degree, but she rocks out because she can. Her stuff is ALL over the WB and other pop shows like Desperate Housewives, Six Feet Under, Grey's Anatomy, The OC, AND ta da!!! The Sex and the City Movie! She's sort of a big deal. Her album 'Finally Woken' came out in 2004 and is pretty darn good.
Here are a couple 'pretty darn good' songs from 'Finally Woken.'
'They' - you know you wanna dance to this...
'Wish I' - such a cool summer song!!
The new album is called 'Down to Earth' and is being released in Sept of 2008. Here is the song 'It's Amazing' from the Sex and the City Movie that's also on the new album.....
She's fresh, she's hip, she's JEM!! Jem is excitement, ooooo Jem! Okay, wrong Jem. But she is all those things and more!
A fun summer activity for developing thinking skills??? Chess!!! Ethan and Abby are learning (and me too!) how to play and so far it's pretty fun! I was always intimidated by the game, thinking it was too hard and had too many rules and things to remember. It does. But, I think it's challenging in a way that's good for my overcrowded brain!!
I bought this chess set originally from Target - not because I knew how to play, but because I thought it would look cool sitting on the coffee table in our apartment when we lived in the city!! It made the move from the apartment, to the old house and then to this house. We never really brought it out because there were little pieces and no one really knew how to play. Then one day a few months ago, Ethan came across it in our closet and took some interest in learning. So I decided to get a book!!
Thank goodness for Usborne books! This is a great one even for adults who want to learn to play chess. It explains all the pieces, the moves they can make and even has little tests throughout to help you visualize the game. So we had a couple of practice games this afternoon - I am hoping this will help with some of the squabbling we have going on (Ethan and Abby). It seems like all of the sudden my kids aren't getting along with each other!! :( We may be starting our fall curriculum for homeschooling VERY early if this keeps up!! So maybe chess is the answer? Or boarding school?? Ha ha!! Just joking.... sort of..... here they are playing nice with each other for five minutes.
Abby planning her move...
Ethan checking the book....
A practice game...
So anyways, that's what we've been up to. My tooth is finally feeling better! I was able to get into the endodontist early last Thursday and they ended up finding that I had FIVE roots instead of the normal three. So five years ago when I had that first root canal, they never saw two of the roots and sealed them off! So needless to say after being covered up that long, there was quite an infection there and it was no wonder I was in so much pain. I am very lucky that it didn't spread!! I have to go back Tues to have the crown put on, but other than that I hope I am done with dental work for awhile. Yuck!
And yay! Kevin is off ALL next week for vacation! We have been looking forward to it and this week has seemed so long. We're planning on doing a few fun things here in the Chicago area and then heading up to Madison to visit Kevin's brother Matt, his wife Tricia and their twins. They have a beautiful new house and we're excited to spend time with them!! We'll also be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary on July 4th! Very surreal that we've been married that long. Time goes so fast!! I am hoping to post a blog about our relationship with some old pictures, wedding pictures, etc. Just to be all nostalgic and stuff!! So watch for that one!
So that's what's up around here! I hope everyone has a very safe and happy 4th of July!!
Yes, Sara! It's Eisley! I discovered Eisley very recently and only have two of their albums. Not sure if there are more as I haven't had too much time to check into it. But here they are!!! Aren't they lovely???
Eisley was formed WAY back in 1997 - the year I graduated from high school!! Too bad I didn't know about them then!! They are a family band from Tyler, Texas - Sherri and Chauntelle DuPree started the band when their sister Stacy was only eight. She wanted to be in the band too, so she wrote a song to impress her big sisters. She was inducted into the band right away!!! Baby brother Weston joined the band at age ten as their drummer. The girls have amazing voices, to put it mildly. I fell in love with their sound right away!!!
Their parents ran a coffee house in their church called Brewtones. The kids performed all of their songs for the patrons there. After trying out a few bass players, they finally found one in their cousin Garron DuPree. After playing TONS of gigs in Texas with a VERY indie fan base, they were signed to Warner Bros with the song 'Telescope Eyes.' Eisley's first opening act was for Coldplay on their 'Rush of Blood to the Head' tour. Pretty impressive, eh??? Their album 'Room Noises' has several great songs on it......
Here are a few of my personal favorites.......be aware that some of these aren't the actual videos that go with the songs - just what I was able to find on youtube!
Telescope Eyes
One Day I Slowly Floated Away
Just Like We Do
Their latest album 'Combinations' is amazing. It was released last year and in my opinion, they can only go up from here. The harmony is amazing, but it's a little darker and more mature than the first album....
I can only post the very popular 'Invasion' for now because all of the other songs are live and not of very good quality. You can always go to Amazon for a good listen to some of the other songs, all of which are insanely divine.
Invasion
Hope you enjoyed this week!!! It's a quick review because I am getting ready for Ethan's 8th birthday party (family) tomorrow. Cannot believe he's gonna be 8, but that's a whole other post!!! Watch for next week because I think I am going to do something a little different......
This June marks the eleventh anniversary of Andy's death. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him or wonder what things would be like if he were still alive. But every June that comes around it gets harder to believe it's been as long as it has. Sometimes it feels like yesterday, but most days it feels like a really long time ago because he has missed so much. Who was Andy???
Andy was Kevin's dad and my father-in-law, though I never had the chance to actually be able to call him that. He passed away a year before we got married. Andy is the grampa my kids have never met, but know from lots of stories and pictures. Andy was a husband, a son and brother and a good friend. He was so many things to so many people and even though so much time has passed since June of 1997, he is still very much a part of all of our lives.
Andy was someone I wish everyone could have met. He was an absolute riot. We laughed ALL the time. So many memories come to mind when I think of him. I remember the time I was babysitting for this newborn baby who had colic. This poor baby had been crying for over two hours of the three I had been there. No cell phones back then, so of course I couldn't reach the parents. My parents were out too. The baby was crying, I was crying and I knew I needed some help. So I called Kevin's house and Andy was home. He came right over. He walked in, handed me a Kleenex and took the crying baby. Not ten minutes later (I kid you not) that colicky baby was asleep on Andy's shoulder in the recliner while he casually watched a baseball game on tv. I will never forget that!
I remember fun skiing vacations, trips to visit Matt at college, inappropriate jokes in church, a napa autoparts swimsuit calendar in the garage, old cutoff jean shorts and a too small polo shirt, words of wisdom and encouragement, kindness that was shown to everyone, a toothpick in the corner of his mouth, an infectious laugh, talking through movies, an elbow to the ribs, a butterscotch milkshake with peanuts in it, Harold the goose, Cheeks and Shawn....there are so many more that I couldn't even list them all.
Andy passed away from an agressive form of stomach cancer in June of 1997. It was sudden, it was fast and it wasn't fair. Kevin was nineteen years old and I had just turned eighteen. I thought right up until the very end that someone would be able to fix it. I don't think I actually ever thought someone like Andy would be taken from us. It didn't seem possible. It still doesn't sometimes. Those last couple of months felt like a bad dream - a nightmare. People always say that time heals all wounds or that everything happens for a reason. Up until Andy got sick I believed that too. For me I know that time didn't really heal the wounds, you just learn how to live with them somehow. And I have faith that there is a plan even though I might never understand the reason. You cannot come up with a reason that is good enough for such an incredible loss. And there isn't enough therapy or time in the world that could heal such a gaping, horrific wound. I don't care what anyone says.
What I do know is that even though Andy isn't with us anymore, he isn't really gone. I see him everyday when I look into my kids' beautiful eyes. When I see my husband's hands work on a car or build something. When I hear my brother-in-law Matt's huge, happy laugh or when I see my brother-in-law Jason's smile. When I see the wonderful husbands and fathers they have all grown up to be, Andy is there. He would be so proud of them and I hope they all know that. When I see my mother-in-law making changes to the house she built with him and raised all their boys in, when she comes here to visit us by herself. When she chooses to keep on even though I know she is sad - Andy is there. I consider myself to be a very lucky person for having been able to get to know him in the four years I did. So do a lot of other people. Andy lived more in his short 40some years than most people do in an entire lifetime. He touched so many and made this world a better place for just having been in it. He is missed by us all every single day.
I'm not very good at putting things into words. I can type them out and they make a little sense, but music is something that has always made sense to me. Might be cheesy, but I don't care. I found a song by a band called Vertical Horizon that completely and absolutely says everything. It's called Forever.
Here are the lyrics.
Take these roses all from me Let me live, let me be For a little while Let my eyes, See everything and nothing in their time I do not mind
Who'd have guessed I'd learn To let the walls around me burn Light up the hillside My words, I ate them for so long and nothing changed It was just the same
And I don't know if you see me here But I can tell you your face is clear I will see you...
Forever Forever I will see you Forever Forever
Call me close once again Call me teacher, call me friend Just like the first time Call my name, it echos in the walls around this room Its all you
I don't know if you hear me there When it's darkest and no one cares I will hear you...
Forever Forever I will hear you Forever Forever
I wanted you to be everything to me Now I've got to learn to carry on I know I cannot hide this emptiness inside But nothing is the same since you've gone
Send me letters from above Send me strength, send me love Such sweet love Sing me songs that echo in my head and in my heart That's where you are
And I don't know if you feel me here I can tell you one thing is clear I will feel you...
Forever Forever I will feel you Forever Forever I will hear you Forever Forever I will see you Forever Forever
Take these roses all from me Let me live, let me be
Super HUGE vent!!!! I hate going to the dentist. Everyone knows it. It scares me and I don't like it. It's not a pain thing. I have an incredibly high pain tolerance. I don't like the smell or the noises or people's hands in my mouth. I don't like it. That being said, I have a cool dentist who knows my fear and really helps me through the regular appointments. I haven't had a cavity since we lived in Chicago. I had that one filled by some crackhead guy who didn't know what he was doing. Then, right after Abby was born I started having trouble with it. Because that crackhead messed it up. Supposedly the filling was never right and it 'leaked.' Totally not my fault because I take good care of my teeth almost to the point of obsession. Thank you very much.
So I had to have my nice dentist guy do a root canal. I would RATHER have given birth. It didn't hurt, but it was terrifying none the less. Super scary. So that was five years ago. No problems since then, up until a couple of weeks ago. I started having a dull pain in my jaw and the teeth surrounding this stupid root canal tooth. I went to my dentist who pushed my off onto this entodontist dude. He was nice enough and his office was decorated really pretty. So props for that. So I went to that appointment today and this guy tells me there's something INSIDE the root canal that's causing a problem (leftover pulp - HURL- from the root canal) and he needs to redo it. WTF!!! WTF!!! WTF!!! And fix it to the tune of $1600!!!!
So I can have the whole thing pulled and have a giant frigging space and have my entire bite out of line OR pay the money and have the whole thing fixed. I seriously considered having it pulled, but my mom talked me down and made me see that it would cause more problems. Sigh. SO next Tues, I will be freaking my a$$ out in the chair getting my root canal REDONE. And yes, I will be stewing and obsessing about this all week right up until Tuesday. I am mad. My teeth have betrayed me. And I don't like the dentist. Call me a big baby if you want, but I don't care. I am in pain, my jaw feels like the tin man, and I am crabby. I have been taking so much motrin to kill the ache that my stomach is staging a rebellion against me.
I am a mom to three great kids - Ethan is 12, Abby is 9 and Lulu (Olivia) is 5. I've been married to my highschool sweetheart for almost fourteen years. I love to paint, renovate and live for anything DIY. I love music and I love to bake. I also teach dance at a local studio. Thanks for stopping by my blog!!!
