Mom's Birthday Dinner/Family Dinner

Every month that we can..we try to have a family dinner with the kids Great-Grandma, my mom (Gramma Carol), my brothers...and whoever else can make it.  Most of my family lives in South Bend...except for a certain sister and brother-in-law who choose to live in some sunny big city in Florida (the traitors)!...

Not only do we have a family dinner...but if a holiday or birthday is around the same time, we celebrate that too.  Last month was my Mom's birthday (Gramma Carol's).,.so that was the general theme...

When I have the time, I love to cook...and we LOVE comfort food around here...so we use this time to make really not so "healthy" for you foods...delicious...but not helping anyone's cholesterol levels. (It's only once a month...)  Please note..the fancy china.....made from the finest paper china has to offer.

So anyway...here was the menu;

Appetizers;

Spicy cheese dip with celery, carrots and chips for dipping

Homemade (with stuff from OUR garden) salsa with chips

and 

Gramma's request--Spinach dip in Hawaiian bread

 

For Dinner we had;

Hotdogs (fancy I know...) with 9 different toppings to choose from, everything from ketchup to spicy peppers to coney island chili!

Cantaloupe 

Potato Chips with dip

Ranch BLT pasta salad and

Pineapple Baked Beans (which were a new recipe and were awesome..I will so make it again)!

Everyone enjoying the food!

For dessert:

Homemade peach pie (that looks pretty good...but read on...oh well)

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (don't knock it till you try it...awesome)

and Homemade Chocolate Chip/Pecan Cookies

Happy Birthday Mom/Gramma!!

 I don't seem to have a picture of the cookies...

Here's the thing about the Peach Pie....I've never made one before...I may never try again...it basically NEVER stopped making juice!!!  We cut into that crust and almost all had to evacuate the house!!!  I believe Andrew asked why were having Peach soup for dessert......nice, the thanks I get....:-P

Add to that...the crust tasted like something from a home-ec class from 1976 and the whole thing was NOT GOOD!!....although strangely...great-grandma loved it.....hmmm.

Here are just some other random pictures....

Usually about 45 mins before the family is due to arrive...Madalyne begins to LOSE HER MIND!!...every single time.  Not sure if she is just soooo excited or what happens although I have an inkling it could have to do with Gramma bringing "prizes" each time!!...Here's a glimpse of what I have to deal with while I am getting last minute straightening/cooking/apps out/  opening a beer..or second beer...or by this time...3rd....

You'd need a beer too....keep in mind...this goes on for at least 45 mins. straight!!!

Then...when you think it all is starting to calm down.....

Andy arrives...leading to...

Jack arriving!!!...

Jack may be the worlds largest German Shepard...and Murphy is his chew toy...although Murph totally deserves it!!

We tried like crazy to get a good pic of all 3 of them....not going to happen!

So...after dinner and dessert and Mom opening her gifts...we got the kids in bed (yeah...so simple a statement...so mission impossible to execute) and then we set up two tables of Euchre!!  This dinner Austin joined us...so we had enough for two games.  We had a great time...I love that the kids get to spend this special time with their Great-Grandma (who's 90) and the rest of the family!

Happy Birthday Mom/Gramma!!  We love you!!

This month---we decided on a BIG SALAD....aren't you proud??  Don't be...I plan on making homemade blue cheese dressing along with about 9 other carb/fat filled items.....it's just the way it's gotta be.

Now...we need to figure out how we can do this with Brian's family each month....

Today's another busy day...I'm writing this at 7:30 in the morning after a 12 hour shift...the kids are missing school this morning for Dr.'s appts and then I have PT at 3p and Madalyne has soccer practice at 6pm...not sure where sleep fits in...but I'll figure it out!

Hope everyone has a great day!!

Love,

W

Little Miss Soccer :-)

Madalyne is playing soccer for Middlebury Magic this year...as most of you know.  She's LOVING it!


I promised to post some pics of her in her uniform..so here they are:

She's #1 !! :-)

She is playing a scrimmage against the Jr. Irish tomorrow and then she has a double header for her first real games this coming Sunday...she's super excited!!
Brian goes to most of her practices and says she is doing really well and somehow manages to keep up with the 9 and 10 year old girls.  We are so proud of her and so happy that she has found something that truly brings her joy!


I'm going to post a bunch of smaller posts over the next few days....this week is crazed for us..starting tomorrow with Brian working in Cromwell, I'm working a 15 1/2 hour day (groan), Madalyne has her first soccer scrimmage and Zach will no doubt be busy controlling the "big" t.v.'s remote...he feels that this is his job...and he even does it while he's sleeping...he's just that good...(there is the tightest grip on that you can imagine...all to prevent ever, ever having to watch "a girl show"...oh the horror)

Hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing Labor Day...Madalyne and I had a very nice "Girl's Day Out" with lunch at Panera and then Target and Michael's where we bought her some new charms for her backpack.  Next week I get a day out with Zach :-)
Love,
Wendy 

Busy Busy Busy..........

It's been really busy around here as usual...


The kids are doing o.k. with being back in school...at least if you think fighting with me every morning to get up, dressed and eat breakfast is...o.k...


Mostly they just want to enjoy the rest of the summer....which in my opinion they should be able to do...going back to school the second week of August is kind of cruel....


Yesterday I had one of those..."I'm just going to stay awake and try to get everything done days"  I worked the night before, stayed up, took the kids to school, went to physical therapy for my stupid ankle, then saw the nurse practitioner for my stupid ankle (she yelled at me for not wearing my brace enough...that was fun), then I made my hair red again (shhh...it's magic), then picked up the kids, paid a bunch of bills, made out a grocery list for the family dinner on thursday, then ate dinner and sometime around 7pm...I passed out....literally....just passed out in my bed.


I woke up at 6:30 this morning, got myself and the kids ready, took them to school, went to a mtg at work...now I'm off to the dentist, then picking up the kids, then to the grocery, then home, then Madalyne to soccer, then back home to make dinner, get homework done, clean and ...well, I'll probably just literally pass out again!!!


Tomorrow Madalyne has her soccer picnic and pictures...wait till you see her in her uniform....I'll post pics later....


Tomorrow I'm going to bake a homemade peach pie...we'll see how that goes.


Day after tomorrow is a family dinner at our house...and to celebrate Mom's birthday :-)


I have to say...I know it seems like I'm busy...but I could never get all this done without Brian helping....he does the laundry, cooks almost all our meals, works his butt off and is all around awesome!!!


plus...he bought me all the new bookcases for our dining room that I've been DYING to get!!!




So...there's just a bit of an update of what's been going on over the last couple of days....
I'll post pics of Madalyne at soccer, the family/Mom's birthday dinner and my bookcases soon!!


Hope everyone is doing well,
Love,
Wendy

Stuff that's been going on around here.....

Well...it's been busy around here...like usual.


Here's a hodge-podge mash-up of what we've been up to and some updates;


*Mango-Madalyne


Madalyne is loving soccer so much...I'm so grateful that she made the cut and gets to stay on the U9 team for Middlebury Magic.  It means we drive a bit more...but since it's a travel league...driving was always part of the bargain.  She is the youngest and almost smallest on the team..which is pretty weird to her but she's working hard and somehow managing to keep up with these girls who are two years older.  All the girls on the team are really sweet and they all seem to get along really well, which helps since they are all new to her.
The first day of practice, the coach had all the girls pick a food that started with the first letter of their names....so Madalyne became "Mango-Madalyne"...which has since become Mango...because yelling for Mango to pass the ball is a lot quicker than yelling Madalyne!  It's hilarious to hear these girls yell..."I'm open Mango...pass it here Mango...go for the goal Mango"


Here's Mango in action on the first day...Please note...there are buggies in the background...I love being out there with umpteen SUV's in the parking lot....and then a line of buggies and bicycles go by right next to the soccer fields...awesome...(except maybe for the little gifts the horses leave...that's not so awesome...in the sweltering heat......yeah....that part leaves a bit to be desired)

and here's another:

Those barns in the background are some poor Amish family's home...it's full of buggies!!  The first day of practice there was some sort of get together and all the little Amish kids lined up to watch the action...so cute.


*After soccer practices we usually go grab something to eat...this time was Hacienda...I'm only bringing this up because I want someone to tell me why 9 year old boys refuse to ever ever ever take just one....please...just one...please normal picture???  Why oh why???  Apparently it is impossible for Zach....

Poor Madalyne---she tries so hard.....

O.K.  I give up.

But wait...one more....

Seriously....Double O Zach???

One day....I'm going to be in a lot of trouble for that.....

All of this just exhausts Daphne sooo much....she needs a nap...with Snoopy.

I completely understand.

* So two days before school...Zach lost a bottom tooth on the right side...the first day of school...he lost the matching tooth on the other side...no big deal...except that it fell out in the middle of class and apparently he hemorrhaged all over his math folder and his white T-shirt (of course)....so we'll be looking at that blood bath for the entire school year....

First day of school 2010-2011

*Let's talk about going back to school....

It's that time of year...I thought I had everything so prepared for the first day back (which was friday the 13th---should have been a big fat clue there)  New clothes ready, new study/homework area ready, school supplies shopped for, extras purchased for the classrooms, teacher's met, new shoes all ready, paperwork all filled out and returned...oh I was on the ball baby....

UNTIL....

I committed the GRAVE ERROR of not sending a note with Zach for his teacher explaining that I drop him off and pick him up every day....every single day....just like I have for the last 2 years....but...since I in my negligence, did not send this note....Zach was asked IN FRONT of the WHOLE ENTIRE CLASS MOMMMMM...if he was sure that he was picked up....oh the horror, the embarrassment...how could I let this happen to my baby????

 Bigger question...how is the kid who just (gapping hole in the mouth) hemorrhaged in front of the ENTIRE CLASS...embarrassed to be asked about his driving arrangements???  who knows...I'll never know...because according to Zach..."geez Mom...How could you not get this...everyone gets this".....

Whatever.

So then...the first day of the first week of school....Monday...my iPhone had a glitch and my alarm  didn't go off....so I slept through picking them up from school.....yeah...that's my life.  You cannot even BEGIN to imagine the reception I got to that little mistake.....

On the other hand...they both are really enjoying their teachers and being back with all their friends...it makes them very happy...see, here's Madalyne jumping for joy to be back at school...

Whoops nevermind...that's actually when we told her we were sending Zach to live with a mother that never, ever, ever forgets to send notes to the teacher.

Which produced this look--

Yeah...one day...I'm in a lot of trouble.

*Murphy

Someone needs to come over here right this instant and make this dog stop growing!!!  I don't know what to do...Maybe Dr. Gru (who I hear is now living in a beautiful new home in Tampa...could send me a shrink-ray)...

Otherwise...I'm going to need a saddle...ohhh..and cowboy boots...and a hat..and...uh...here's the latest pic....

They are almost the same size!!  Daphne is 2...Murphy is 4 months old!!!  

But he's soooo stinking cute;

So are these two...

Have you noticed how much these kids are in water??

*Grandma Toby-

She's doing ok...she's been moved to a step down unit....apparently she LOVES her PCA pump...but it sounds like she deserves it.  Latest update, she will be moved to a rehab facility later this week.  I tried talking with her....yeah she was snowed with Fentanyl....I'll try again later.

So that's about it for now...except one last thing...if anyone needs tomatoes....LET ME KNOW...OMG....the garden is ridiculous!!

Here's at least what I am getting out of the tomatoes...everyday!!!  They are delicious...seriously...call me if you want some....

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the nice weather!!!  

Madalyne will get her uniform in the next couple of days and her first game will be in the second week of September....I'll keep you posted...she will be playing all over Northern Indiana..including on the Jr. Irish fields at Notre Dame...she's super excited about that...and I may possibly be a bit too!!

Speaking of which....GOOOOO IIIIRRRIIIISSSHHHH!!!!  We are soooo ready for the season to start and to see just what Brian Kelly has under his sleeve....I hope it's good!

Love, 

Wendy, Brian, Zach and Madalyne

August...Ugh.

Haven't posted at all..so far August has been a very busy and very sad month.

My friend and co-nurse in the emergency room lost her father a week ago in a tragic and senseless accident.

My Grandparents were in an awful car accident last night.  My grandfather is doing well, just very sore and has a few minor injuries.  My Grandmother was more seriously injured.  She is in critical care at Methodist hospital in Indy, she just had 7.5 hours of surgery.  She has a punctured lung, broken ribs, cervical fx's at 5-6-7 and a spinal cord injury.  Andy just called me and says she is doing o.k. and does have some peripheral deficits (her hands and feet are weak) but the doctors feel that she may regain use of them.  I wish I could be down there with her, but I've worked a bunch of nights in a row and the kids went back to school today.  I'm planning on going down when things calm down around here, maybe tonight.  This was another senseless accident, just because some driver didn't want to wait for the cars that were turning, he raced his engine to go around all the other cars, didn't see my grandfather turning and T-boned them....on my Grandmother's side.


I do have good things to report to you...and I will be posting a bunch of smaller posts over the next few days.
Madalyne is playing soccer....and LOVES it!!
The kids both got the teachers they were hoping for (and mostly the classmates they were hoping for--Madalyne is sad Will isn't in her class)...and their back to school haircuts are adorable.
Murphy is getting HUGE.
Daphne is starting to wonder JUST HOW huge Murphy is actually going to get to be.  They are now almost the same height....Murph is only 4.5 months old!!
Brian is working like crazy and comes home everyday...soaked with sweat because it's sooo stinking humid.
(Brian working is a good thing...a very good thing).
I'm working like crazy...I'm grateful for my job...sad for the reasons for all the overtime.  I have an appt. for my ankle on monday....we'll see how that goes.

Please say prayers for my grandparents and for Laura and her family,
Much Love,
Wendy

 

CEDAR POINT!!

We went to Cedar Point this Sunday...so much fun!!


First the night before I tried to update my iPhone to version 4.0...pain in the butt...I was still trying to do it before we left...finally got it by having to restore my phone to factory settings (that's seriously stressful) and then backing it up again...took 4 hours!!  I was soooo grateful that I didn't lose any of my apps, songs, media or phone numbers, etc!!

Then our awesome sitter/dog sitter/ house sitter Jessica came over and got her instructions for watching the beasts....she did a GREAT job by the way...Thanks again, Jess!!


After that we loaded up the car and got ready to leave....Thank Heavens we have our new Jeep Commandeer...or we would never have had enough room for all this crap!

While this was going on....Brian was leaving a little art work in the kitchen;

Thats Zach and Madalyne on the Blue Streak, me taking a pic, Brian eating a corndog and Andy holding Jack and a balloon :-)


Here's a view of the car packing from in the car...

Kids are excited...Brian is wondering how he's going to see out of the back window...obviously..he's not!


We were about halfway there when I took these pics:
Zach making gum teeth:

Madalyne excited!!

Brian thinking, "Why do you insist on taking pictures of me driving...while using your flash"??!! opps....sorry:

Me and Zach (in the background still working on making gum teeth)

Side note:  The chances of this happening are soooo slim...and yet they did:  Andy, Jack and the trailer left from South Bend, we left from Goshen...Andy and I started texting and realized that we were actually only 3 miles apart on the Toll Road...crazy!  So we met up at a rest area in Ohio, had lunch and then went tandem from there...worked out really well!


We got to the campground at Cedar Point, checked in and started setting up;

Madalyne was helping soooo much that we decided that she and Zach should take a break and go swimming.....ok.....actually...Brian kindly took the kids swimming before Andy and I lost our minds!

How cool is is to go swimming with the Mean Streak going behind you!!  The pool at the campground also had a small splash pad that the kids loved!!

Madalyne was getting her groove on!!


The kids and Brian swam for awhile, Andy and I set up the trailer, put away food stuffs, etc and took Jack for a walk....then it was 5pm and we could go into Cedar Point with our Starlight passes!  
This is also where we make a fatal mistake.....the kids saw the first line and wanted to go in...it was for the Magnum....we rode it....we got off with two crying kids and one of them desperately trying not to vomit!!  All we heard about for days is how they were going to ride everything that they could....they've both been on other roller coasters at Cedar Point...but maybe the second biggest one there was a bad choice for their first ride of this visit....big opps!!

Poor Baby!!!  Needless to say...we did not ride the Magnum again.....


Here's what I don't understand though.....I mean, I really don't get it...they get sick riding a 30 sec roller coaster but then they LOVE those sickening swings that go around and around and are held on by just a couple of cables.....bleech!! At least it dried them off though...we were forced to ride all of the water rides right before this.....

Cedar Point now has this cool area of Christmas lights that are programed to light up with music as you walk through....we walked through the lights and then met up with Andy and the kids (he watched them while we rode the Maverick---the single most awesome roller coaster I have ever been on---it Rocks)...then we watched the big screen show they do with fireworks...

THE SECOND DAY!:


We were woken up bright and early by Jack :-)  Brian and I took him for a walk and watched the sailboats that were already out on Lake Erie at 6 am!!
And somehow...Brian got this scary photo....

This is how I found the kids...they may have been a bit tired....poor Madalyne...hope Zach didn't have gas....

after breakfast....I got ready to go into the park and Brian took the kids for a walk on the pier...

this was on Monday...the day we had ride and slide tickets...so we all wore our bathing suits into the park....we knew water rides were coming again.....yippee...(I'm saying this sarcastically) 
First though...we told the kids if they did not behave they were staying here...all day ;

I love this picture...who doesn't have this picture if you have ever been to Cedar Point???


So we spent the morning at the park...Andy took the kids again, and Brian and I rode the Millenium Force...the kids rode the bumper cars, Iron Dragon and other stuff....then we rode the water rides...again and again and again and again and again (you get the picture)....till it was lunch time and we were all SOAKED completely through to our bones!!!


so we went back to the trailer to eat lunch and then to go to SOAK CITY!!

they are not normally allowed to have pop...so this was a big deal!!

After lunch...we got ready and headed over to soak city...we spent the majority of the time there in the WAVE POOL!!....the kids LOVE the wave pool...it almost took an act of God to get them out of it!

We played in the wave pool, went in both lazy rivers a few times, went back to the wave pool, played in the play area with the big bucket that dumps on you, went back to the wave pool, slid down some of the big slides (I didn't...not so good for the ankle), went back to the wave pool, went to the play area with the little slides, went back to the wave pool....then it was time to go back into Cedar Point!!

So we went back and ate a snack, cleaned up and got dressed in the first dry clothes we had on in over 24 hours....seriously..I'm pretty sure I saw mold growing on Andy....and headed into the park.....the first ride we went on was the paddle boats....Zach really really wanted to ride the paddle boat...groan.

But look how excited he was in line;

Madalyne was all cool about it though...

everyone was chill on the paddle boat...while the guy told the worst jokes ever!

Then we were off to ride the train....groan, and the Iron dragon again, and then the Gemini...Madalyne was all about riding the Gemini....

Until we got to the actual time to get into the seats...notice ....Uncle Andy is in the red train, Zach and I are in the blue train...poor M got freaked out and she and Brian walked through...:-(

but that's ok...one day she'll do it....:-)  or maybe she won't...whatever.

So after this, Brian and Zach rode it again...and then Zach got pukey again....so we decided to eat a bunch of fries with cheese and everyone was all better!

Then we went up front and looked at stuff, rode some more rides, bought some "prizes", Brian and Andy rode the Raptor..then it was closing time!

We went back to the trailer for dinner and then bed....by now it was after midnight and the kids were wiped out!  We grilled some hamburgers, ate under the stars (and Andy's really really big christmas awning lights---they are awesome), and hit the sack.

NO ONE MOVED FOR HOURS!!!

we slept like rocks.

we woke up around 9 am...Brian and the kids headed to the pool for one last swim...Andy woke me up for real around 10 am and we realized we had minutes to clean everything up and pack!!!

PANIC TIME!!

We did manage to get it all cleaned up, packed up, kids and Brian out of the pool and everything ready to leave the park by 11:35 (we were supposed to be out by 11)..it was a minor miracle!

Then we rode out of the campground together...happy, tired, sunburned and hungry!!!  so we stopped at the first rest area, ate together, gave Uncle Andy great big thank you hugs and kisses and then headed our separate ways home.......

WE HAD AN AWESOME TIME!!!  It was great being together, having fun with Uncle Andy and riding all the rides and eating all the bad for you food....:-)

we won't be back next year though....maybe the year after...the kids need time to really want to ride everything...and probably time to heal from the Magnum disaster.....

-Wendy

P.S.  Brian went to work on weds...I have no idea how....I slept off and on for over 24 hours (I didn't feel well though) and Andy slept for over 12.  The kids slept for 8 and complained that they "never have anything fun to do"......ugh.

P.S.S.  I go back to work tomorrow and work 3 in a row...then Madalyne starts soccer...she's hopefully going to play on Middlebury Magic...I'll keep you posted.