Pinterest #28

Very tasty!  And they actually looked like this too.  Graham asked for seconds.  Try these!

Roasted Mustard Potatoes

1st and 4th

These two freaks started school on Tuesday this week... both were really happy with their teachers (and friends that ended up in same class).  This is as cute as I could get them to dress for the first day--they about gagged when I suggested khaki shorts.  "But Mom, we aren't going to church today!"  

For Graham a backpack = school (the bigs got fancy Under Armour bags, he got the free with purchase bag from Old Navy).  He's back to full days at KSU but always asking if he can get out with Owen and Miles instead.

CBE = Hit

We decided to take the kids on a day trip to KC before I head back to school next week.  It's been a long time since the five of us did something together without having a schedule/having to meet someone/having extra kids or minus a kid.  None of us had ever been to the "College Basketball Experience" so we decided to check it out.  Total hit with the boys!  Since there was hardly anyone there they were able to spend a lot of time shooting, dunking, passing, announcing, etc.  The $9 kid's ticket easily paid for itself with the Pop-A-Shot alone.  

Even Graham had fun.  Since it wasn't crowded we didn't have to keep him glued to our hip; he enjoyed the freedom to pick up balls and throw them, line them up, put them away, repeat.

Poor photo quality, but had to include one of the many dunks.  He and Adam worked a long time trying to get the ally-oop (sp).

I hope Owen's feet stop growing at some point--I don't know if I want a Shaq in the house :)

Pinterest #27

I could live on sandwiches and salads, so I like finding good variations on each.  If you follow the link for the wraps, she has a whole list of possible fillings.  Some sound awful, but most sound really good.  I chose the chicken and avocado...yum...wasn't sure about the sweet chili sauce since I found it in the Asian cooking section (not a fan of Chinese, Thai, etc. food), but it added just the right flavor mixed with the other things.  

 CHICKEN AND AVOCADO

Southwestern Chopped Chicken Salad

Great salad--fresh and light with a great flavor! Owen had three bowls!  I used the prepared grilled chicken, but would be even better with real grilled chicken.  The dressing was made with Greek yogurt which I had never bought.  It worked well in the dressing, although I'm not sure I'd eat it plain.  The kids even liked the dressing as a dip for vegetables/crackers.  

Red Eyes

Miles has been having all kinds of sleep issues lately:  bad/weird dreams (Newman biting him mainly), sleepwalking (which means he has to go to the bathroom), and trouble getting back to sleep (which means he wants to sleep with us).  The funny part is that he worries about getting red eyes if he doesn't fall asleep right away.  And he's very serious.  He came in at 4:00 AM the other night and asked, "If I sleep for half the night and am awake for half the night, will I have red eyes?"  Oh Miles, you are such a silly boy!

Pinterest #26

Hit and miss.... finally tried this crock pot pizza casserole.  It had similar ingredients as another pizza casserole we all really liked, so I was hoping that it would be as good.  Then we could replace the other casserole with this one since this is made without cooking the noodles first (red flag) and cooks in the crockpot.  Very dry, some crusty noodles mixed with a gummy mix of noodles/meat/sauce/cheese, not exactly the kind of leftovers you look forward to the next night.

 Crock Pot Pizza Casserole

On the other hand, this taco pizza was fabulous.  I'm always leery about crescent rolls for crusts since I've had experiences where it doesn't cook through and we end up eating dough.  I left the onions and olives off one half so I didn't have to hear, "Gross, what's that?"  Served it with lettuce and taco sauce, very good.

Taco Pizza

Pinterest #25

Two TASTY recipes...  Neither of these are my pictures, but my versions DID look just like these.  We all loved the casserole.  Owen ate three helpings!  Plus it made enough for two meals.

 Loaded Potato Buffalo Chicken Casserole

Can you really go wrong with cream cheese, dried beef and dill pickles?  Not in my world.

Pickle Dip

"Vacation"

I took the kids to Omaha for a few days (we'll call this their vacation).  It's always a little bittersweet to go back.  Although I love Manhattan, I still miss my Papio teachers.  As usual we stayed with the Boudreau's.  The kids had a blast with Olivia, Ben and Sam.  We swam, went to Orange Leaf, made friendship bracelets, had a French braiding tutorial for Lori, shopped/had a 3+ hour lunch with the girls (while one of my all-time favorite students/cheerleaders baby-sat), stalked the old house, played some intense kickball, lost a tooth, and trashed their house/ate all their food before heading home today.  I think I have three tired boys on my hands.

Pinterest #24

Tasty side dishes!  All five of us like cucumbers (strange for three boys to like cucumbers, isn't it?) so this was a nice way to make a cucumber into a pseudo-side dish.  Cucumbers, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and topped with chili powder.  

The kids don't care for "regular" potato salad, but everyone liked this one.  Adam grilled steaks and this side dish was the only other thing we needed.  I'd consider it a meal in itself, but the pigs in my house expect meat.  Mine wasn't quite this decorative, but very tasty... and of course, you guessed it... EASY!  Adam even said this was as good as my mom's potato salad (although if she made the same one it would probably be better :)

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

T-Ball (2 Down, 1 To Go)

Miles' T-ball team (Astros) wrapped up their season this week.  He really liked playing and is eager to move onto coach pitch next year.  His favorite positions were pitcher and 1st base since you get the most action playing these spots.  All of the grounders he takes in the street in front of our house paid off in the games.  So long T-ball; we'll be back in four years!

Graham spent most of his T-ball time covering/feeding himself with shaved ice that they sell in a little trailer out at Optimist.  Definitely the best $1 spent this summer.  Owen usually watched the games from the sideline, giving Miles "tips."

Wildcat Creek

We have taken complete advantage of our membership at Wildcat Creek this summer.  Owen and Miles are old enough that they can go use the putt-putt course, batting cages, and driving range independently while I work out (or watch them from the sidelines).  I bet we've been through a hundred batting cage tokens!  For $35 per month, it's a GREAT deal for these sports-minded boys!

Pinterest #23

Sharla and I have continued our friendly exchanges.  Recently we both recreated something found on the other's Pinterest boards....  I think these are especially good projects!

Sharla had this jewelry organizer pinned.  Well, I just happened to have an old printer's drawer that I wasn't totally in love with anymore (at least how I was using it) and decided to give it new life.

Before and after:  I went for more turquoise/less aqua and also chose to distress it and leave the old hardware intact.  I didn't include the cheap looking dowel rod across the bottom, but did add some hooks for necklaces.  I don't have any earrings (maybe I should pierce my ears??) or rings (not my thing) so this wouldn't work as well for my million bracelets and necklaces.  I added a few things just to take a low quality "after" photo.  I think it does the same job as the $89 + tax and shipping version on Etsy!

I had pinned these mercury glass lamps, not necessarily for the lamps, but for the tutorial on "fake mercury."  Sharla made me this glass jar (also a candlestick, currently in hiding from Graham) using the Krylon looking glass paint.  Love it!

If I didn't teach, I'd look for a job whose description included:  "researching" and recreating ideas from blogs and Pinterest while your kids trash the house and ask how much longer until swimming/if they can have friends over/eat more snacks/use my phone/download something from iTunes.....

Finally!

Yes, we are the loser only family in Manhattan that had not yet been to City Pool.  We finally took the boys yesterday and they had a great time.  I thought this bouncy hemisphere was the coolest thing there.  Miles bounced off of it over and over.  I so badly wanted to try it out--is there an age cap?

July 4th

I took the boys to Lebo on the 4th since Sharla and Amy were both going to be around.  Lebo has its own little celebration that includes a parade, kids' games, free swim, etc.  We took advantage of most of the activities.  Graham gave Aly a ride on the mule.  He loves to ride (drive) this and insists that he be the one to turn the key and take the key out.  He has very specific rules as to who should hold the key.

Miles won a bunch of pop in a ring toss game.  I think they were wanting to close up shop so she let him toss rings from about 6 inches away!  He also won a $10 Lebo gift card in a game of heads or tails.  I'm sure he will expect a trip to the drugstore to buy "toys" next time we are in town.

The pool was our stomping ground growing up--every day 1:00-4:00 while my mom worked!  My kids enjoy "Grandma's Pool" as well, especially when buddies Brady and Brett are around.  Forgive the lame hair; I'll do anything to prolong not having to wash my hair!

Are your kids into Fun Dip as much as mine are?  Maybe because it's only $0.25 or maybe because it's straight sugar...  I try to talk them into letting me eat the sticks (best part), but it's usually a no go.

Color Run

Sharla and I participated in the Kansas City Color Run last weekend.  It was a lot of fun--not exactly a race where you really get busy and run fast (tons of walkers, lots of kids), but a great opportunity for people who don't normally do a lot of running to get motivated to sign up for a 5K.  You can see that we reverted to our younger  years and decided to go as twins.  (PS--on an unrelated note....as I was working with one of my friends setting up her blog, I figured out that I had commenting features blocked, so if you have wanted to comment before but could not get past my roadblocks, I removed all of those features)

Before and after shots.  We didn't actually get this colored during the race, a lot of it was from the color throwing party at the end.  We were mild compared to many people.

This was the finishing area as we were leaving.  The line of people in the background is another wave of people just finishing.  I don't know if this is a yearly thing for KC, but if you are looking for a fun way to get running, sign up for it next year.  I'll be working on Sharla to do a 10K with me :)

Baseball Wraps Up

We traveled to KC this weekend for one last baseball tournament.  Luckily, we were able to take the scenic route and drop Graham off in Lebo on the way.  It was so nice not having to try to bribe him to stay in the shade/sit down/stay out of people's food/etc.  The Braves played well and made it into bracket play where they lost a close one.  Owen struggled to hit in the first two games, but turned things around in the later games.  He played great defense and pitched really well--lots of strike outs.  He was definitely sad to see the season come to an end (me too).

The U9 Braves (minus two players) being serious, and then silly.

Terrible Two?

I can't believe my baby is 2!  He seems so much more boy than baby now.  He got a potty chair for his birthday--we're all about practicality here!  Both Owen and Miles (on their own) treated Graham to something special today.  Miles used his pool snack money and bought Graham a ring pop to eat during his T-ball game tonight.  Owen took money out of his birthday stash and bought Graham a shaved iced treat tonight.  Graham was happier with these simple gestures than any toy.  At age 2 he:

• Repeats anything you tell him to say.  Says "yes" (pronounced "yesssth"), "scared/scary", and "Mommy, hold you" (meaning he wants me to hold him) all of the time.  However, when you ask him his name, he usually goes by "Miles."
• Attached to "Blankie" and two Mickey Mouse stuffed toys.
• Could drink endless bottles of Gatorade.
• Rides his scooter, kicks, runs, plays basketball, etc. just like his big brothers.
• Still sucks his right thumb like a champ.
• Loves cantaloupe, milk, Nutri Grain bars, and ketchup.
• Runs to Owen or Miles if he gets in trouble with one of his parents.
• Still thinks Mommy is #1, although Grandma Jean sometimes moves into the lead when we visit.

 Enjoying his icee at Miles' T-ball game.  He actually had two since it was his birthday.

 Yes, this is Stinky Blankie.  He usually asks for you to put it on his head, shepherd style.

We're bringing the baby back.  Owen got this for Christmas when he was 18 months old.  It's been packed away, and he's been into babies at school, so we pulled it out in honor of his birthday.

Pinterest #22

After some weak recipes last week, I was happy to find two good ones this week.  I made this casserole for our family and for a friend's family (welcoming a new baby).  Adam and I both really liked it.  The kids were on full alert for anything odd looking--they seem to be able to find the smallest green pepper that was in the 1/2 cup of salsa that was in this entire recipe.  They ate it, but didn't ask for seconds.  

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

I thought these looked interesting when I pinned them, so again I made some for the friend and then took the rest of them to Adam's office where I heard they were a hit.  The kids loved the "frosting"--on or off the cupcake.  The recipe made so much frosting that we still had a bowl left just to eat by itself.  My kids love dough, so this was perfect since there were no eggs in the dough.  I can't decide if they look really professional or like a pile of something else...

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cookie Dough "Frosting"

Six!

Miles turns SIX today!  It doesn't seem like we've been in Manhattan that long (moved here right before he was born).  He is an amazing boy--definitely the entertainment in our family.  At this age he loves:

• Following/copying Owen.  Usually this is a good thing (as in sports), but sometimes he doesn't understand why his privileges are not the same as Owen's.
• Entertaining Graham, although sometimes his form of entertainment (giving Graham "scorpion bites") is questionable.
• Sports (t-ball, swimming, basketball, anything really).  This includes kicking and throwing things on the house over and over again.
• Shoes (he asked for a gift card to Target to buy crocs, and to Dick's to buy some zag flip flops)

Niner!

Happy Birthday, Owen!  NINE already!  He's becoming so independent, helpful and mature.  A great role model to his little brothers--especially Miles who adores him.  My kids don't ask for big birthday parties or gifts (decided on a small sleepover later this summer when everyone is done with baseball and camps), so tonight we offered to take them to City Pool (we haven't been) or let him go watch friends play ball.  He thought for a while and said, "Mom, could we go to City another time and tonight I'll go watch baseball?"  So typical of him!  At this age he loves:

• EATING!  Requested tacos for his birthday meal.  The dude hit 70 pounds recently--hides it well, like his dad :)
• SPORTS!  Basketball, baseball and football (ranked in this order).  Playing and watching.  Also loves to swim, but "just for fun"
• TV!  There is no limit to what he'd watch if we allowed it, but he especially likes watching sports, Whale Wars, Deadliest Catch, and shows like iCarly :)
• FRIENDS!  Always asking for and plotting for playdates, sleepovers, etc.  He has a ton of little friends and seems to know half of this town.
• TECHNOLOGY!  Becoming an Apple geek like his dad.  Good thing he doesn't know the password to our iTunes account.