last day and first day

I think Michael had a pretty enjoyable summer break. Okay, I'll admit...it was probably more enjoyable for me because I was laid off and actually got to enjoy the summer too (in between all the job searching, that is). Since I was home, we also didn't have to hire anyone to help watch Michael. Michael got to do more adventures this way too.

Scooter and I made one last trip to the beach on the very last day of summer break.

The lake had lots of little waves rolling in to shore which made Michael a very happy boy.

We parked ourselves on the beach next to a pre-built sand castle and moat, which Michael had no problem with climbing around on and destroying.

Whew, we barely made it back in time for the open house at school that night.

The first day of school was a little cool and overcast. But most of all it was EARLY. No more sleeping in and lazy mornings...and it was hard on both of us. Was it weird that I could hardly sleep the night before school and kept waking up thinking I missed the alarm?? Aaaawww mom....can't I just go back to bed?? This is about all the excitement I can give you right now, cuz I'm tired.

The morning, and the day, went off without a hitch (just a little boo-boo on his elbow from a fall on the playground).

I think he enjoyed these first few days of school. He has visited with all of his classmates and friends, and he is meeting new people. Very good for his socialization...and all without tears so far. Yea!

It was pretty reassuring to see him sign "happy" before he got on the bus Friday morning. And the way he excitedly jumps down the bus stairs to get a big hug from me when he gets home....good stuff.

In case you were wondering, I am enjoying these first few days of school too. :)

therapy...the fun way

I took Michael to Autumn Rose Farm for his first horseback riding lesson (also called Hippotherapy). His trainer was Ashley, who worked really well with him. The first few lessons will be to get him used to a horse and to strengthen his balance. Actually, the first part was trying to get him okay with wearing a helmet...he wanted nothing to do with that in the beginning.

He seemed to do pretty well when the horse was walking around the corral/arena, so she had the horse go a little faster. I could hear Michael making some happy noises and I could see him smiling when they passed by me.

So she had the horse go even faster...kind of looked like a trot to me, not really galloping...but what do I know about horses? Nada. Anyhow...it was a pretty good clip. By then, Michael's poor little head was bouncing all around.

After riding around for 20 minutes or so at these 3 various paces, Michael signed all done and was starting to pout a little bit. I think we'll try it again some time soon to see if he really likes it.

I'm sure his horse, Utah, wouldn't mind at all.

game night and camp out

I don't know what I was thinking when I said yes to Ashley's request to camp out. Except maybe that I thought it would be fun and it was her birthday Sunday. You have to honor a birthday girl's request, no matter how crazy it is. I say this because my birthday is next month and who knows what I'm going to request. Ashley said that she has never camped. Never camped! As someone who has been camping since I was a wee little one, that was just crazy to me. Soooo, I told her I would camp out with her....nothing too scary or too far away for the first time...we're just going to pitch a tent in our backyard. We'll borrow our neighbors firepit and roast marshmallows and make s'mores. It'll be grand!

The grand part started to disappear when we had to ask Gary to help us put up the tent. Ashley told him that we couldn't do it because we're girls (what-ev-er!). Anyhow, Gary and I couldn't figure out my mom's tent: there were no directions, a couple of things were missing, and the darn thing was all sticky (she thinks it might have been put away wet). After a quick phone call to my mom, we have success!

Our wonderful neighbors lugged their firepit to our yard and even gave us some of their firewood (thanks a ton!).

We're all set for the festivities now. First up, was our family game night with birthday girl, Ashley, picking out all of the games for the evening (we'll have to remember to do this with Dillon on his bday).
The teams for Guesstures are boys against girls, and this is one of the boys' most obvious cheats yet! (Richard, sit back down and stop looking at the cards!)
We did the Wii bowling the weekend before, I just wanted to add this pic because Michael likes this game and I forgot to post it last time.

Then comes birthday cake. We love us some good birthday cake. Michael helped himself to some icing when Tina brought the cake to the table.

Next, the few of us remaining went outside to have a little fire and roast some marshmallows. Michael really enjoyed being outside with everyone while it was dark. He liked going from person to person and then laying back to look up at the sky.

Carole likes her marshmallows just a little crispy on the outside. :) She also made and ate her FIRST s'more...ever!

Michael, Ashley, Arty and I said goodnight to Gary and Grandma, changed into our pj's and climbed into the tent. Michael loves to camp and enjoys anything outdoors, so the idea was to have him camp out with us. But once he realized that Gary wasn't camping out too, he was done with us girls. So the camp out was just me, Ash and Arty. Ashley liked the idea of having a 'guard dog' with us.
We (well, Arty and I...Ash was sound asleep) woke up the next morning to a couple of hot air balloons going over us. Pretty cool!
All in all, I think the camp out was a success, and we even had perfect sleeping weather (a low of 53 degrees - which is pretty rare in August)! Maybe next time, we'll make it out of the backyard. :) And a big thanks to Uncle Gary, who made the whole camping experience easier for us girls.

buzz boy

It's time for Michael to get his haircut. Once he is able to twirl his hair around his finger, it's cuttin' time. He has had his finger stuck in his hair by twirling too much. He has also pulled a little section of his hair out by twirling while watching golf...he got so excited, arms went up, and the hair wrapped around his finger went with it. Anyhow, today was the day.

It is never a fun thing to cut his hair. Lots of boo-hooing, covering his ears (those clippers are loud), signing all done, and trying to get away.

As I was preparing for the big event, I made a pile at the top of the stairs: clippers, check; towel, check; Mickey Mouse on DVR for distraction, check. I left said pile and started a bath for the hair flying aftermath. That was when I heard it. The clanging and banging. There went the pile of stuff down the stairs. I should have known better. That is one of Michael's favorite things to do...throw/roll things down the stairs. The clippers didn't make it through the event, they broke into 3 pieces.

I hunt down G's trimmer and set the dial to what I guess is the appropriate number and length. Michael wouldn't let me get a test strip and I would have to be quick about the whole cutting/buzzing thing lest there be an all out war in our house. So my first pass on his head was right down the middle. Uh-oh....it's short. Really short. Crap. And it's not like I could readjust the number and have him struttin' around with...with...what would be the opposite of a mohawk? A no-hawk??

As I continued cutting his hair, I rationalized the butchering that was taking place:

• it's still summertime and this will keep him cool
• it'll be the perfect length when school pictures roll around in September
• he won't have to suffer through another haircut for quite awhile
• it was his fault for breaking the clippers...probably on purpose too (it couldn't have been my fault for leaving them out)
• it is waaay easier to style
• he definitely won't be able to twirl his hair
• he looks pretty darn spiffy with short hair

So by the time I finished cutting his hair, I wasn't feeling guilty at all and thought it turned out fine......very short, but fine.

Just look at those red-rimmed eyes and sad face. Poor buzz boy. I promise to do better next time.

mm-mmm goodness

I made this chicken enchilada dish last night for a gathering of some girlfriends I had last night. The recipe comes from one of the nicest ladies at our church, Esther. She brought this meal to us while Gary was recovering from his stroke. She didn't even know who we were, she just felt compelled to bring us a meal. After talking with her a bit, it turns out that she was friends with G's grandma...I know, small world, huh?

Her dish was so delicious, I asked for her recipe. She chuckled to herself while giving me a sly grin and said that her recipe has a secret ingredient in it and that I would never guess what it is. She then made me guess a few times and I was wrong on every attempt. Do you see what her secret ingredient is? Kind of makes sense that it would be in there.

chicken enchiladas
(okay, this picture is what was left over after everyone dug in....I know it doesn't look all that appetizing, but trust me - it's chock full of yummy goodness!)

INGREDIENTS

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 TBSP cocoa
½ cup water
1 bottle (6 oz) mild green chili salsa
¾ cup finely chopped celery
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 ½ cups shredded Mexican-style cheese
1 ¼ cups thawed frozen corn
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
12 corn tortillas

TOPPINGS
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup diced tomato
½ cup diced red onion
8 oz. Sour cream

DIRECTIONS
In one bowl, mix: soup, cocoa, and water. Stir in, mild green chili salsa, celery, and cumin.

In a 2nd larger bowl, combine: chicken, cheese, corn, and green chilies.

Combine 3/4th the bowl of sauce and the bowl of chicken mixture, reserving the remaining 1/4th of sauce to pour over the top.

Working with 1 tortilla at a time, spoon 1/3 cup chicken mixture down center; roll up and place seam side down in 13x9 baking dish coated in non-stick spray. Pour remaining sauce over top; sprinkle with any remaining cheese. Cover dish with non-stick foil. Bake 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven, uncover and bake 20 minutes longer, or until sauce bubbles around edges and cheese has melted.

To serve: sprinkle with some of the lettuce, tomato, onion, and dollop of sour cream
Also nice to serve with: refried beans (one 16 oz can heated in oven) and cooked rice.

Enjoy!

Quote of the night from my soon to be 15 year old niece and Rachel Ray wanna be: "Oh Aunt Val, you MUST give me this recipe". She cracks me up!

game on

Family game nights always seem to heat up in the summertime. More family. More games. More challenges to see who is going to be named champion. Not that we have any kind of competitiveness in our family or anything but bragging rights are everything 'round here. Pass by our house on the weekend and you might hear, "Oh yeah, it's ON now" accompanied by a lot of screaming and/or cheering. Don't worry, it's all rated PG. Okay, maybe it's more like PG-13.

What's that?? I thought I heard someone challenge me for a game of Wii bowling. All I can say is, "bring it!".

Can you identify some of the games we were playing? There are 5 distinct games being played within all of that silliness.

family reunion

Last weekend was our family reunion on my mom's side. In addition to the aunts and uncles and cousins, some 2nd cousins and a great uncle were present and accounted for, as well as my soon-to-be aunt (Jo from NC). OMG, and the FOOD...oh yum!! We've got some talented cooks in our family, that's for sure! My Uncle Mike and Aunt Rose graciously volunteered to host the event at their house...which worked out fabulously...lots of space to run around and do different activities.

Like visiting and catching up with everyone...


Playing cornhole (Uncle Danny and Uncle Tim, a.k.a. Colonel Sanders)...
Golf/chipping practice (Uncle David {all the way from NC!}, Uncle Mike, Great Uncle John, and Gary)...
Walking around and visiting (cousin Mallory and her mom, Aunt Suzi)...

Gabfest (2nd cousin Colleen, Mom, Michael, G.U. John, and 2nd cousin Kristie)...


Cooling off in the pool (soon-to-be new cousins Julia and Bugga, and cousin Maggie)...

More coolin' off with Michael and Mom in the mix...

We had to leave right when the big family pics were being taken, so I don't have any pics of that...boo-hoo! I also didn't get any shots of Uncle Bill and Aunt Donna, cousin Tyler, 2nd cousin Kathy and her family, Aunt Rose, cousin William, and (almost) Aunt Jo - oy vey!! We were so pressed for time to get Michael to his final baseball game of the season and the awards presentation after the game...15 minutes to make it from Westerville to Dublin...NP with Gary driving! Safely, of course. :)

The gathering was such a good time, G.U. John requested that we all get together again as one big extended family. Aunt Rose thought we could shoot for Labor Day next year and make it a tradition. Sounds good to me!