Maybe I"ll go to Subway after all.

Fresh Chicken and Broccolli. Wow sounds like a great dinner. I like the fresh part. It really makes me think that I am making a good food choice.
Poor, poor Americans. How do we stand a chance.

Under the Rainbow

It's not every day you see a rainbow. One minute it was raining and the next the sun came out. We grabbed a quick pic.

Quote of the Day

I am working on a Leadership course and the book I am reading is "Overcoming the Darkside of Leadership". As I delve into the book, I need to discover my darkside, so it don't have a meltdown later. The concept is that every business, family and church is dysfunctional, but the key to long term success is being aware of your darkside so it doesn't blow into a huge problem later.

One thing (that I'm willing to share) is that change rattles me to a certain degree. It's more like the quest for something else. At times I've felt I need or want more, and at other times I've felt that need has been imposed onto me. At those time's I question why isn't enough, enough. Why must we always want more.

After my morning of coffee and reflection, this was my weekly quote from my calendar. It answers my questions and yet deepend my question. It answered it without explaining it.

Only the fairy tale equates changlessness with happiness...
Permanence means paralysis and death.
Only in movement with all its pain, is life
- Jacob Burckhardt



On a brighter note, he's a pic of the cup of coffee (and scone) I drank while conjuring up all these deep thoughts. Did you know the can make a mocha with dark chocolate? Um Um Good~!

Target Practice

Ryan's poor car. It served as a big target for the boys this weekend. What a better way to get them outside than a great activity. One neighbor did stop and recommend that It's more fun to throw a snowball at something that can throw one back, but they never caught on. They'd rather use the shovel and perfect their technique on an object that won't pummel them back.




But that's the last of it. After a few warm days, it's time from Spring (at last, we are so ready) Now we can pack away the snow pants and deal with wet shoes and muddy clothes.

Blood, Sweat and Tear - They did it!

Wow! K.C. pulled off a victory and he made it look so easy. His entire year of wrestling he a record of 42-0 and has only 7 points scored against him in the entire season. Most wrestlers have more than 7 points against them in one match. Do I sound proud of him? Well yea I am. I have nothing to do with his success, I am only married to his Dad's cousin, but anyhow, I think both K.C. and Vince had an awesome year.


View Show Create Your Own




One other point of interest. Vince could have easily won 2nd place if the brackets would have fallen differently. He wrestled the #1 seed early on which stopped him from going to the finals, but one of the boys who did make it there is an amputee. He had his legs amputated just below the knees when he was only an infant. His drive, confidence and upper body strength is remarkable. It makes it hard for the others to wrestle him because it's so unconventional and many of their techniques are not available to use on him, but he himself is amazing. Every match he wrestled on Friday and Saturday he got a standing ovation. Here is a picture of him.

LJ was so inspired he was walking around on his knees looking to wrestle. While he was doing that the MU coach walked in, I was so proud.



Please forgive the Queen video I am posting, I can't find a good one of Freddie Mercury if their is one.

State Champs?

We have spent the weekend watching the State Wrestling tournament. K.C. has been working to be a two time state champ this weekend. It's looking good for him, at this point he can't do worse than 2nd!

Vince follows his brothers lead and places 4th in State his first year attending.

Being at a wrestling tournament isn't like a basketball game. You go in early and wait and wait and wait until your wrestler(s) are up. Thankfully the bank let us use their suite and we could all hang out in the down time.

The kids especially love it. Go Purple!!!

The Time Travelers Wife

It's Book Club time again. This month is was The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

I feel like I recommend every book I read, but that's not true, because I won't finish some myself.

This book struck a cord with me. I laughed (chuckled) and cried (sobbed). It was so far from my preconceived notions of what I thought the story line might have been. I was pleasantly surprised. I can't say too much, but much of the book takes place in Chicago and that is nice an familiar, easy to relate to.

If anyone has read this or will read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Happy Valentines Day!

Well I did it. I made over 70 Heart shapped cookies for the boys' class parties. Did you know that the bigger they are, the less you can fit onto a cookie sheet? Did you also know, you have to place uncooked sugar cookies on a cool pan? This was a bit time consuming, but very fun and rewarding in the end. Just look at how much fun they are having decorating thier own cookies.

Happy Valentines Day to you!

PS. Sorry for the lost pics lately. I have started a new service and am learning it's not too reliable.

My little Drummer boy

How cool is it when your friend's Dad drives the Ambulance? Very Cool!

Pizza and a Sleepover

I just have to show off my friend Anissa's talent. Just look at her toss the pizza dough.

Please don't pay attention to the pile of tupperware in the background that needs to be returned to my mother-in-law or the sack of Valentine goodies that are just waiting for the class party next week. If you must look at them, at least know, I know they are there, otherwise you might think I don't keep a nice house.

After the Pizza...

Not growing up with a sibling close to my age, I never got to "share" sleepovers, or as my brother Tim might think, get in the way. JP has his friend and LJ gets to tag along.

Do you think I covered them enough?

All he wants for Christmas

When I kissed him goodbye this morning, I wished I had my camera, because I didn't think his tooth would last that long. So when he came home and still had it, I new it was now or never. It's not that I'm attached to the tooth, it's the period of life. My little guy. He's far from a baby and no longer a toddler. Can time really go that fast?

So after reading chapter 8 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I had him try to pull his tooth again. It just needed to come out. He's eaten Oatmeal 2 times a day for week now, because it's easy to eat. As he was pulling on his tooth, I snuck (is this the past tense of sneak?) in a tug to his arm which made the tooth pop right out! We were both so excited, then I asked him if he minded I did that, and he said "No, I'm excited you did. Do you know what Jack's going to say?"

Somethings never change

Mattel has come out with a new "regional Barbie" collection. You can see the Columbia version and next to it is the Central Illinois named versions. I am torn to which Barbie I'd like to be, and I know which one I am. But like Barbie, it would be nice to change every so often.

"Highlands Barbie"


This princess Barbie is sold only at the Puckett’s. She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a cookie-cutter house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. I Married You For Your Daddy’s Money Good Old Columbia Boy Ken sold only in conjunction with the augmented version.










"Nifong/Rock Bridge Barbie"
" Washington Barbie"


The modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Wind star Minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.






"Clark Lane Barbie"
"Harrison Homes Barbie"

This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife,a Chevy with dark tinted windows, and a Meth Lab Kit. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills) .unless you are a cop, then we don't know what you are talking about.









"MU Alumni Barbie"
" Morton Barbie"

This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and gym club membership. She just here to get drunk and drive after a football game, then head to Shakespeare’s Pizza, Also available for this set are Drunk Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them; their from St. Louis.







"Garth/Worley Barbie"
" Pekin Housing Authority Barbie"

This Barbie now comes with a stroller and infant doll. Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass. Gangsta Ken and his 1979 Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant.

"Peace Park Barbie"

This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her Willow She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Peace Park Barbies and the optional Subaru wagon, you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free. --

Kudo's for Keith

Not too much blog worthy news lately, just getting back into the daily grind. Does anyone have big Valentines day plans? I am making heart shaped cookies for both boys classes, so the kids can decorate them during the Valentines Day Party.

I know, it sounds like fun.

Well I found a new Keith Urban video. I'm happy that he is battling his demons and not letting them take over his life. He needs to get on with his life now he's married and all. Sorry this song isn't very valentines day it....Stupid Boy. Maybe he was secretly serenading himself before rehab.

Peace be with you.

Music Video:STUPID BOY (by Keith Urban)

Music Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

Bikini Bottom - Phase 2 Completed!

While we were away, Ryan was busy at work. He finished painting, did the floors, put in soon to be working doors and fixed up the art station. ( I don't know why a tiger is under the sea? He must be a friend of Sandy's. )

It's coming along! It would be typically that now this is done, it will sit for 6 months, but we still have a long list of things to complete it. A shelving unit and bench need to be built, the art station stocked, basketball hoop for the far side, and we can't forget Spongebob's Pineapple (that is where he lives) as well as the Krusty Krab (where he is a fry cook) and any other landmarks we think we can tackle.

Right now it looks to sterile and bright, I almost didn't share them, but I also want to keep you up to date with the progress.

TTFN

New HP news and the bad show.

Since we were a big fan of the BBC's The Office created by Ricky Gravis, we thought we'd try his new venture that airs on HBO called Extras. Ricky's new character isn't any more lovable than the boss he played on The Office. The premise of the show is that Ricky is an extra. He never reaches the status of a speaking actor on movie or TV sets. Each episode features an Guest Star who stars in the movie Ricky is an extra on. Past episodes have included Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet ( who received an Emmy nomination for the episode), or Daniel Radcliffe. We watched "Extras" last night with expectations of laughing but it stunk. It was dry which I'm OK with, but not too funny. I"m getting to the HP connection.

This morning when I woke up, I noticed they have a release date on the 7th and final book. It comes out July 21st, just a week after movie 5. When book 5 came out, we picked up the book in the morning and camped that weekend. I spent the entire time in the tent and read the book from cover to cover, while Ryan and the boys did the camping stuff. It looks like we'll do that again this year=:)

Well looking at the one of the Harry Potter news sites, I found a recent article about his appearance on "Extras". When I first saw the article last week, I didn't make the connection, but now it comes full circle. The actor who plays Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, played the spotlighted actor for this week's show.

If you'd like to see the bad humor and a bit of Daniel's performance as a boy scout who wants to be gronw up, here is a link I found.

Enjoy!