Life With Boys

No dance recitals here...just baseball and bugs at this house right now!  This was Miles' catch after one of his roly poly hunts.  Too bad there isn't a market for these; he could make some money.  He and Graham have converted the sand table into a roly poly house.  On Sunday he found one outside of the church and actually brought it home with him.  

Nashville

We are back from a fabulous girls/running weekend in Nashville.   Lots of laughs, great food, shopping.... and of course, the run itself.  It wasn't my best half marathon, but still another one for the history books.  I didn't realize Nashville was so hilly.  Or hot.  Oh well, better than lightening and rain.  I stole these pictures from Crystal's Facebook since I didn't take any.  I haven't tracked down a photo of our shirt backs; they say, "Know when to walk away, know when to RUN."  Clever :)  When is the next race girls??

Dirtball

Graham is loving all the time he gets to spend in the dirt at the baseball games.  We spent a good part of the past weekend at Twin Oaks where he and Miles wore themselves out on the play equipment.  Owen's team was back in action tonight, and he was the cleanest of the three!  Don't believe me?  Check out our bathtub post-Miles/Graham.

Lights, Camera, Action

This was the theme for Owen's 3rd grade program.  The kids sang 10 songs from popular movies.  There were also a few small speaking parts.  Owen (Kevin Bacon) got to say, "Let's Dance" to lead into the "Footloose" finale.  He had told us about this, but failed to mention that he had to DANCE with one of the girls.  It was a cute program, and despite having to wear "church clothes" and take a shower before the program, I think he enjoyed it.

 I think he's trying to make a point that he doesn't like his clothes.

 Okay, maybe it's not so bad.

 "Let's Dance!"

A future in the arts?  Doubtful.

Needs Work...

...my photography skills, not Owen's baseball team!  We headed to Salina on Saturday for Owen's first U9 baseball tournament.  He is playing with some of the same boys from last year, as well as a few new ones.  It will be kid pitch this year, but the coach wanted to get the boys warmed up with a machine pitch tournament this weekend of play.  They all played well and ended the day 2-0.  A short rain delay and a mad dash to Old Navy to buy warmer clothes, but no nasty weather while we were there.  Unfortunately too much rain Saturday night canceled the Sunday portion of the tournament.  Needless to say, we had one bummed out dude at our house.  I felt even worse breaking the news to him when he came into our room dressed in his uniform at 6:30.  Oh well, I guess they can enjoy their "undefeated" status for at least another week.  

 I specialize in cutting off heads.  We'll try for something better next week.

I snapped this with my phone because I thought it was cute--little brothers cheering for big brother.  I'm
going to see if a ring pop can function as a sitter for Graham this season.

You'd think he was on the field with the team given these dirty shoes.  Now to have them clean for Monday since he won't wear any other shoes...

Happy Easter

What a perfect day to celebrate Easter!  We hit 7:30 church, came home to find eggs and check out the Easter baskets, and then headed to Council Grove to FEAST and rake in more candy.  

Miles has been very concerned about when/how the Easter bunny was going to make it to our house.

 Owen found about 50 eggs in maybe 2 minutes...

Graham was very interested in egg hunting this year.  He REALLY wanted the candy inside.  Today he had jelly beans, Kit-Kat, Reese's, Smartie's, jello and ice cream.  Good parenting, huh?

The boys with their cousin, McKinley and the huge rabbit.  Notice their "Easter outfits."  They did wear nice clothes to church but were practically undressing in the car to get out of them and into comfortable clothes.

You know it's been a good day when you have this much candy and socks this dirty!

Pinterest #13

A "really good" recipe and a "good enough" recipe...

Chipotle Chicken Salad

The chicken salad was really good (minus the tomatoes, of course).  It definitely had the Chipotle (restaurant) flavor and was still tasty a day later--no soggy lettuce.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Pretty typical casserole--easy to throw together, makes a lot, not the most appealing to look at.  I'd make it again, but nothing special about it.  

10-10

One of my New Year's goals was to run five races this year.  Saturday was my first.  Mathis was one of the sponsors, so several employees (or spouses) signed up for the run.  The name 10-10 comes from your choice of a 10K or a 10 mile run.  I chose the 10 mile since I'm training for a longer race in April.  Did I mention this was a trail run?  Completely different from running on sidewalks and roads!  I quickly realized my pace for this race would be nothing like my normal pace--lots of steep up and downs, loose rocks, tree stumps and roots, etc.  Sounds bad, but it was actually kind of fun to run something different.  The course was along Milford Lake--really pretty and well thought out.  I didn't see any snakes or trip over anything, but did end up running almost an extra half mile after following someone who was actually working the race (and taking a shortcut) and not paying attention to the ribbon markers.  Fortunately he noticed me in a reasonable amount of time and told me to turn around.  Here's the crew after everyone finished.  Adam didn't do a very good job getting me a "team shirt" so I look like the random who crashed someone else's photo.  

Pinterest #12

More recipes this week...  Let's start with the bad.  Of course, this picture is gross looking, but the recipe sounded good (and easy).  We thought it could use more flavor and even though I followed the cooking directions the peppers and onions were way too mushy for our taste.  We did make the kids eat it two nights in a row though--it wasn't that bad!

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Now onto the good stuff... This guacamole was fantastic!  I think it tasted like Chipotle's, but would need to try them in the same setting to compare.  And the leftovers didn't get brown and nasty due to the lemon juice.  Now I just need someone to teach me how to peel an avocado without using my fingernails!

Chipotle Guacamole

I've made some cake batter cookies in the past, but all of my boys (the adult-boy included) thought these were better.  Adam even said this is his ideal cookie.  I made a double batch because it was so easy (and cake mixes are cheap).  She called for A FULL CUP of sprinkles per batch; I used just one of the regular sized sprinkle jars for two batches and felt it was plenty.  Miles took some to school to share--maybe it made the transition from Spring Break back to school a little easier :)

Cake Batter Cookies

21 Months

Graham has definitely become much more "boy" and much less "baby."  He's really into balls right now as you can see by the hundred golf whiffle balls he is playing with here.  The dude can run and jump and make his way around the circle on the plasma car.  Loves to be outside and likes to sit right under the basketball goal.  Knows tons of words and is putting phrases together--our family favorite is "booger."  Has had two haircuts.  Discovered "juice" (Capri Sun waters and gatorade) and guzzles it.  Miles is giving me a run for my money in the "favorite person" category.  

 Post-haircut.  I've also given in and started letting him have chips.  Here he's digging out every last crumb.

Many times he wants milk AND juice and alternates drinking from each cup.  These are his favorite pajamas--he calls the brown ones footballs and the plain ones are just balls.

Project Runway

The big boys and I met Grandma Jean in Topeka for some "shorts" shopping.  They are very efficient and had at least 25 things in the cart (at Dick's) within five minutes.  I had to put a limit on their "needs."  They are happiest in shorts and some athletic shirt.  Jeans have become dress clothes.  A collared shirt is absolutely ONLY for church!  Oh well, at least I have Graham that can't choose his own clothes... yet.  I love clothes, and fashion shows after a big shopping event are a must.  

 Outfit #1:  Special Occasion.  Will complain if told to wear this to school, but will be happy to put it on for church since there is no collar.

 Outfit #2:  Swimwear.  Orange is in this year people.  I dress them the same for swimming so I can easily count them up every few minutes.

 Outfit #3:  Casual.  They will wear anything Under Armour.  It was a lot cheaper when we used to call Target's C9 dry fit line "Under Armour" and no one knew the difference.

 Outfit #4:  More casual wear.  Or training gear, I suppose.

Outfit #5:  Fan gear.  My favorite.  Had to order for Owen.  Don't worry, they will still be twins.

If you are feeling sorry for Graham because it seems like he was left out, don't.  Although he wasn't invited to go shopping, he still raked it in.  He fell down (you can kind of see the bloody nose) during the first photo shoot and didn't want to cooperate after that.  Now I'm off to do some school work so I can keep my job and keep these boys in clothes!

Pinterest #11

Finally!  Something besides food that I've knocked off.  I love letters and numbers (among a lot of other things), and could easily have words, signs, etc. all over my house if I'm not careful.  I've seen a lot of kitchens with fun "Eat" signs, so I decided the "slightly rusted, supposed metal letters" would be the way to go :)  

findingfabulousblog.com

Here's a picture I had pinned.  Not sure if the "Wash" link contains a tutorial since I followed this tutorial but used metallic spray paint (because I'm lazy efficient) instead.  So, if you didn't know they were homeade, would you think they were metal?

Here's the recipe of the week.  Adam thought they were great.  The kids thought the bread was funny.  I was grossed out by the deli roast beef and felt like the crescents were too doughy (but maybe it was the cheese?).  Five minute prep.  15 minute cook time.  Make again?  Maybe?

French Dip Crescents

Life on the Farm

Oddly enough we had no games, parties, or practices this weekend so we headed to my parents' house.  I guess this is our Spring Break trip :)  It was nice to just hang out--got in my long run, kids ate like pigs, Graham stared down the cows, Miles killed flies, Owen filled out brackets, Adam got a new iPad....  The boys should definitely be worn out tonight. 

Pinterest #10

I do actually have some things that aren't food in the works, but not quite finished.  I tried to find a recipe that wasn't hamburger or chicken to mix it up a bit.  Left out the spinach because I thought the kids would gag.  I liked the flavor, but would prefer just the potatoes.  Adam liked all the ingredients but thought it was too sweet.  It's a "maybe" for future use.

Potato Kielbasa Skillet

I had some leftover white chocolate, so I popped a bag of popcorn, poured melted chocolate over it, and added some sprinkles.  Even without the M&M's and pretzels, all the boys in the house devoured it.  This would make a fun Easter treat (or any holiday/occasion if you used the right color candies and/or sprinkles).  We'll definitely make this again. 

Bunny Bait

It's A Wrap

Owen's basketball team wrapped up a very fun season with a party at the coach's house Saturday night.  The boys and families came for dinner and awards and then the whole team spent the night with Dawson.  I'm sure it was a late night!

 Hungry 8 and 9 year olds!

All of the boys were surprised with a trophy and new shirts with their season records on the back.  I'm sure Owen will be wearing this to school on Monday.  They also got a book of team and individual stats :)

Coach Todd shared a little about each player.  Here they are laughing about Owen asking (early in the season) why the ref kept calling them "blue."

When I left, shirts had mostly been discarded, popcorn was popped, movie just starting... We are happy that Owen had such a great experience not just playing basketball but making new friends as well. Until next year...

The Weird One

Adam says he's "my child".....  Here he is chowing down on some peanut butter (with his finger), sporting his new look.  

Pinterest #9

More food trials this week.  I've had really good luck with monster cookie bars, so I thought I'd try the dip version of the cookie.  Basically all the same ingredients as the cookies, but the dip has cream cheese and no eggs.  It makes a ton!  We kept some, shared some and froze some.  I would not have thought to freeze something like this but the author of the recipe did so I figured it was safe.  Make this!

Monster Cookie Dough Dip

Did anyone else love the cheese balls at the Olpe Chicken House?  Mine ended up more like cheese discs, but still good.  Maybe I cooked them too long??  Here's what they are supposed to look like.  Three-ingredient recipe.

Baked Cheese Balls

Lazy

This lazy man loves to get up at 5:00 (5:30 on a sleep-in day), wolf down a cereal bar, guzzle some milk, and then hang out with Blankie and watch "Oso" or "Little Einsteins."  Maybe I could start putting food in his bed after he goes to sleep??  By the time I pull into school, I've usually been up for 2.5 hours--and we start school early!  Sleep in dude!

Till Next Year Bramlage

Despite missing some home games this year (due to our own 3rd grade Wildcat's games) we were able to see the final home game of the season.  Hard to believe it's already March--seems like we were just going to the first game in late November.  This is Adam's favorite time of year for sports.  It must be in the genes as Owen just spent the last thirty minutes trying to talk Duke out of their slump (vs. North Carolina) while Miles repeated everything he said.  

We replaced Graham with Dayne and the boys also ran into two other teammates.  They knew at least one more player was at the game, and joked that they should hold a practice against Oklahoma State.