Lettuce Wagon

Lettuce Wagon
Originally uploaded by spellman_emily

Mom did you get your bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch and go outside and have a salad yet?

School's Out

Second grade is just a memory now.

They slept in those foam curler rod things and surprisingly enough, their hair turned out really curly. They were thrilled to have fancy hair for the last day of school:

Anna and Mrs. Wieland:

Grace and Mrs. Brown:

No big plans for the summer. Just swimming and as little scheduling as possible. They have their swimming debut this weekend at a meet here in Iowa City. Should be good for some quick entertainment if nothing else. They are both swimming the 50 Free and 50 Backstroke. Best case scenario they finish the race without getting disqualified. That reminds me I need to call the swim coach and give him hell for not working on their starts more, because right now I'm afraid they resemble a belly flop. At least they start in the water for the backstroke.

Unfortunate Food

I'm happy that Ruth's recipe is no longer in regular circulation.



But if you are interested, for morbid curiousity, I will make it for you, and then I will watch you eat it.

Happy Anniversary

to Martha and Doug. 20 years and 4 kids later...

Have a great day and we'll see you this weekend for all the fun and festivities!

All you have to do is ask...

and they give you a CD with your xrays on it:

(this is the in the ER before they reset it and put the cast on)

We actually got good news today and she only has to have the cast until next Tuesday. Then he mumbled something about kids healing fast and a splint and left the room. Seemed like good news to me. The lady at xray, however, was exceptionally helpful and called to get the CD of the xrays for us.

these were taken today:

Kid down! we got a kid down...

This is kind of pathetic but she isn't as bad as she looks in these pictures. This is this morning. We had been in the ER until 1am and she had been heavily drugged. She was actually chipper and wanted to go to school. She stayed home though.

It was hat day at school. Grace wore the hat that Anna was planning to wear. Anna was very nice (or still drugged) and let her. Things worked out pretty well for Grace today.

Anna got a bath and her hair washed tonight. You can see that through the course of the day we got the Sharpies out. We are watching Finding Nemo (Oh joy for me!) and all is well. I just gave Anna a dose of the hydrocodone, and can't believe she is still awake. She evidently has the tolerance of a college kid... last night in the ER they had to sedate her to reset the bone. She wouldn't give up and go to lala land so they have her an extra dose then it was like, "goodnight Anna, see ya next Thursday". They had already given her an oral dose of a sedative so she wouldn't fight them about the shots. Luckily she doesn't remember any of it, even when we thought she was awake. We were there so long because she wouldn't let me take her while she was knocked out from all the ketamine they gave her.

Hopefully the rest of the weekend is quiet. I am playing hookie from work tonight but have to work Saturday and Sunday.

Why isn't anyone else posting? Bridget, you could take some funny pictures of people at all these weddings you are going to, or post ideas for your wedding.

Libby- you could post your cooking on here... c'mon people help me out here.

What $5 can buy

The girls have been enjoying their new dresses. When we cinch up the back you can't even see the "sample" stamp on the backs. They also found some lovely high heels I got on clearance at Target last year that are a women's size 5 so they are only a little bit big. In fact, Grace wears her high heels almost all the time and tries to wear them out of the house until we bust her and make her take them off.

Louise. What more can I say?

Eunice

Is this my future? High heels and dresses? Help me I need some of that valium, Rykert.

Here are the practical shoes that Eunice wears all the time now. Don't you just love the wooden heels and gingham fabric? I don't know why they were only $1.97. And we have 2 pair.

Your Swine Flu Post of the Day

Birthday Recap

Just thought I would share some of the pics from the festivities.

Cupcakes we took to school

Anna with her birthday bike

Grace with her new bike from Grandpa Jay and Grandma Susie

Birthday morning. Having breakfast before school

Grace double fisting the sugar at the carnival

These strange people were at the party. They were in disguise, so I don't know who they are.

Jumping for joy, evidently

Thanks everybody for making it another great birthday for a couple of 8 year olds and their old mom. We had a great time and loved spending it with all of you.

Stop being hard on yourself....you can't help it if we aren't contributing. Sorry...I will try to be interesting. For instance...today I am the high school librarian...not off to a great start on the interesting scale. Oh and I am getting a new roof....others vacation, I get a new roof...see where things are with us!!!!

I suck at the Interwebz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnmbJzH93NU

I have a recipe for you.

No one else seems to be contributing to this blog anymore... where are you? I don't really have anything to blog about either, so I will share this pasta recipe. The source will remain unnamed, but I made it last week and it was a hit. It might have contributed to a small gas problem that Anna had after eating it for dinner and then leftovers the next day, but I think the gas was more related to all the Cracklin' Oat Bran she had been eating....

Sausage Cream Pasta
1 pkg raw link Italian sausages-- I think there are 5 in the pkg
2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes
1 pkg sliced fresh mushrooms
1 pint heavy cream
pasta- cooked al dente

Brown the sausages in a little olive oil (I used my electric skillet). Cut in to coins and cook until no longer pink. Add 2 cans Italian Stewed tomatoes. Add mushrooms. Cook about 20 minutes on low/med. Add 1 pint heavy cream and cook a little longer to thicken up.

Serve over pasta.

This really is good and so easy. I have never seen Grace eat so fast or clean her plate but she did with this. Oh, but it really isn't low fat. Not at all. I would have posted a picture but I'm not The Pioneer Woman, here.

Happy Birthday Dad!

We hope you have a great day! We love you!

I could see the yellow dog doing this

For your listening pleasure...

Anna's class went first and she had a dancing part. Here she is dancing with Olivia.

Grace had a music part. Sorry these are so far away but I had to stand at the back to get the video. Each of the 3 2nd grade classes did a song then they did 2 together. The whole thing lasted 15 minutes at most.

Sick of Girl Scouts and their cookies

Here are the 241 cases of cookies we orignally had in our garage. Since then, two cases have gone missing, one has reappeared, and we have sold even more. Everyone has come to pick theirs up now, and we just have to get ours delivered. Have I mentioned that I am NEVER doing this again? Oh- the girl in the picture with them is Michelle. Her mom is one of the leaders. I can't say what I really want to say about that situation.

Sometimes we vacuum our dog.

Don't worry. She loves it.

King Cake

I was at Hy Vee today and found a King Cake. This is our sad Mardi Gras celebration in Iowa City. This is a terrible picture of me and as I type this I can't believe that I am actually going to post it. Um, ya, and the girls are wearing swim suits. I really don't know why, except they said they are being superheros. I also don't know why we let Anna hold it... she had already spilled her milk all over the box, but it survived and tasted like a cinnamon roll from the HyVee bakery. We didn't find the baby yet, and I wouldn't let them dig for it, so we'll see about that later.

Yogi's Wound from the Germans

Yogi just wanted everyone to see the wound he had from the German's next door. He is still a lil scared of them but getting braver everyday. He wanted a lil sympathy and to make everyone feel bad for not sending any get well cards. Also, he wanted to let everyone know that he goes to the doctor on Thursday to schedule his appointment to become a little bit less of a man.

Why am I the only one posting?

You know, I really don't care if you're busy, or if you can't think of anything to say, or whatever your lame excuses are. Why isn't anyone posting? I guess I have to pick up the slack by sharing stuff that no one cares about. The girls are feeling better, and both have gone to school 2 days in a row. I worked the last 2 nights and it was quiet until 6am when 2 babies were born at once, and one of them wasn't breathing and had to come to the NICU.

Other exciting news: Anna broke Donald's review mirror with her backpack after school and you would think the world has come to an end. He is a freak. I say just get some duct tape and fix it. The girls have been pouring over The American Girl catalog and are coveting many things in there, specifically a "tennis suit" for Anna's doll, and a concession stand for Grace. They are currently counting the money in their piggy banks to buy these things. These items will NOT be purchased with money from their piggy banks, and instead they have been told they can ask for them for their birthday.

I am going to dinner and the movie "He's Just Not That Into YOU" with some friends from work tonight, so I must get in the shower to get ready. Linda is coming over to watch the girls and they will be served some sort of frozen dinner before I leave.

Hope everybody had a good Wednesday.

We're having our own party

Well, Anna has strep throat. I'm glad I took her in since I usually don't, but after 5 days of fever...

Anyway, she is beyond devastated to miss her Valentine party at school as well as pajama day. She truly doesn't feel good but I tried to make her a valentine lunch: heart shaped grilled cheese, gumbo (her choice), oh, and some desserts.

Sick-O's

We spent this beautiful day at home being sick. It was Grace's All About Me day at school so you can imagine her extreme disappointment of having puked in her bed last night. The good thing about the weather today was that we could open up the windows and air out the puke smell. Grace actually threw up in her bed and didn't even wake up. I went in there later for some reason and first smelled it then found the mess in her bed (and hair). When I woke her up she said, "It wasn't me, it must have been someone else. I have to go to school tomorrow for all about me day." Anna had a fever and sore throat after school yesterday and was also up in the night. She and I slept in the hallway by the bathroom for a while, then I went to bed around 4:30. I did acquire ESP, though, because Donald and I were watching TV and I told him to go check on her and when he walked in there she got up and started puking again. I went back to bed this morning and during that time Anna got hungry and Donald was evidently in the bathroom (he does spend a lot of time in there) and she microwaved a biscuit for 1 minute and it caught on fire in the microwave.

Grace's Night Night Baby did survive being washed after it was covered in vomit... and our washing machine has actually been running for 24 hours straight now.

I'm not sure but I think Grace might have puked up Fun Dip...

Celebrity.

Can you spot Nola? Look close.



You have to look closely. She's the very muddy Golden Retriever in the filler. Rykert had to carry her straight to the tub for a bath. I'm so sorry I missed it. And it is yet another piece of evidence that Iowa City needs a Dog Wash.

My weekend was filled with fun and games. It was lots of fun going to Will's birthday party. Today Grandpa and I made brownies and they are delicious. No, Grandpa is NOT going to the bathroom on the brownies.

Our weekend with Grandma and Grandpa

This weekend was fun. I went to a birthday party for one of my friends at school. His name is Will. My favorite part was when we were playing Star Wars in the foam pit. When I came home I wasn't hungry, but then later I had 2 packages of Fun Dip and went to bed. This morning I wasn't hungry, but it's 11:20 and I've already had 2 more packaages of Fun Dip. (see above)

Jimmy Buffett

I know most of us are all Jimmy fans! I went to the concert last summer with Garrett and I am hooked. We had a blast. Those people know how to party. He has just announced his summer tour schedule. The concert we went to last year was in East Troy, WI, it was an outdoor concert and tons of fun. This year we plan on going back, only with better preparations and hopefully a bigger group of people! We aren't sure when the tickets go on sale, my guess is within the next week. I have already booked a room in South Beloit, WI at the Ramada. The hotels around the concert book really quick once the tour is announced. So if you want to go with us, I would suggest booking soon. If you are interested please let me know fairly soon as I want to guarantee we get tickets. I know last year Sean, Ali, Jeff, and Jennifer all went. We met up with them and had a good time.

So Break These:




And be ready to drink some of these:

A work of art...

to mark the occassion.

Cross Country Skiing with Rykert and Libby

Rykert and I decided to take advantage of the reasonable temperatures this weekend and try cross country skiing. If I'm being honest, I had to be talked into it, and received a guarantee that if it sucked too bad we could come home.

Step 1: We went to Scheels and rented skis and boots. It was really easy, and cost a mere $15 for the entire weekend.

Step 2: We decided to go to Lake MacBride. So we printed a map that had all of the trails on it, and headed out without Nola.

Step 3: We got lost. The map was so poorly designed it was basically useless. At one point we ended up in a residential area and passed a Golden Retriever Crossing.


Step 4: Eventually, once Rykert let me navigate, we found the trail head.

Step 5: Luckily, one of Rykert's friends (yes he has frieds) was there, and is an experienced cross country skier (he also sold us our bikes). We played dumb hoping that he would take pity on us. He did, and showed us the more difficult trails to stay away from. And pointed us toward the beginner trail.


Step 6: We get the skis on. And we take off. I'm surprisingly not as bad as you would think. Though I did suck and was not exactly stable. But as soon as I got a bit comfortable...


Step 7: I fell down. Repeatedly. (Note: Thankfully, though to your dismay, there are no pictures of this.)

Step 8: We have a reasonably good time.





By this morning, I was a bit sore. But since ski rental was for the entire weekend, and the temperatures were still reasonable, we headed back out. Nola got to join us this time, and she did pretty well. She did however, chase a few more experienced skiers and maul a couple of children, but otherwise she did ok for her first day off leash. If she can become a little better at following along, then Rykert and Nola may have found a new winter activity. It's water skiing of sorts, right? The water is just in a different stage.

Can you find Rykert in this picture?



Luckily, Jay and Susie bought him an orange fleece for Christmas. It came in handy as he took off ahead of me.

New Contest

If anyone has any extra box tops laying around the house, the girls are having another contest at school that ends on February 13th! Mom and Dad- I think I already pillaged through your cupboards, but maybe you have some new stuff!

They win a cookies and milk party if their class brings in the most.

Last chance...

for cookies if anyone needs some or more let me know by this weekend.