Fun with Grandma

We had such a great week with Grandma! Here are some pics to document what we did...

Adult night out...Fiddler on the Roof! SOOOOO GREAT!


Day at the beach (sorry all pics are of the boys...no one should be punished with seeing my prego belly in a swim suit!)

Steve's B-day with balloons galore! Grandma and the boys made sure we had all 31 balloons to celebrate with! :)

Movie Day...we saw the new Disney movie 'UP' in 3d and LOVED IT!!! Very good movie...and the 3d was great! Of course, Ethan has worn his glasses more at home (see pic) than he did in the theater! Poor kid...nothing like a out-of-focus big screen experience! He was scared by all the noise anyway and spent the majority of the movie with his head pressed into my shoulder...poor guy!

Picture time with Grandma...

Thanks again for coming Grandma...we had sooooo much fun!

My Kindergartner

So, I may or may not have got a little teary dropping Garrett off at school today! I'm not admitting anything...and the sunglasses I was wearing hid all proof!!!

I can't believe he is done with kindergarten! He's had such a great year and we could not have asked for a better teacher. Today, he climbed out of the car and just seemed so old...and yet so young, all at the same time! It's crazy how time flies...and while I miss all the times that have already sped by...life just keeps getting better and better. While, I'm not so excited about the middle school/high school age (still kinda freaks me out!!!), I think I can handle first grade!!! Good thing life is always like that...line upon line, grade upon grade. I think it's really a coping mechanism for us teary moms in the drop-off line!

So, good luck all you moms, who with all these little milestones along the way, realize your babies are growing up more quickly than we ever imagined possible! What a fun (and bittersweet) time it is!!!

Update

Sorry! I know I am a little slow on this, but just for any of you following the never-ending saga with my health...the second bone-marrow biopsy came back pretty normal. They did find out that my body is just not producing the cells that actually make the red blood cells...which would account for the severe anemia, but they ruled out (hopefully, for sure this time!!!) anything more serious. They are attributing this to be yet another random side-effect of the mono. So, another HUGE sigh of relief here in our household.

I really am feeling better these days - though the transfusion I had about a month ago, is mostly to credit for that! I definitely still have better days than others, but all in all, I really can't complain! Well, at least I SHOULDN'T complain!!! :) I truly have never been so grateful for good health and the ability to get up each morning and take care of my very patient family!!!

So there, in a very quick nutshell is what is going on with me! Sorry that I have been so bad about keeping everyone updated! Thank you again for all your continued prayers and support through all this! We feel so incredibly blessed!

Roasted Potatoes

So I found a new tasty recipe the other night - thank you Lipton Onion Soup package! Onion-Roasted Potatoes...so so good! I served it with grilled BBQ chicken (got to love those grilling nights!) and corn on the cob, but they were so good, you could put them with a more elegant meal and completely get away with it! This really was a super easy recipe too...I love the ones that are easy and quick to prepare with not a lot of clean-up or dishes involved! Who has time for that?!?!

I (of course) tweaked it a bit...but here's the recipe! Give them a try! And check out the back of the Lipton box if you want the real thing w/o my random notes!

Onion-Roasted Potatoes
4 medium potatoes (about 2 lbs) , chopped into bite-sized pieces (I used 7 small potatoes)
1 Lipton Onion Soup packet
1/3 cup olive oil (I think next time I'll use less...maybe 1/4 cup?)
I also added:
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
Parsley - sprinkled on to add some color

Mix all ingredients in a 9x13 baking dish (I used a cookie sheet). Combine well. Bake at 425 for 35 minutes or until tender and golden brown. Stir occasionally while while baking for even cooking.

***Edited to add: While glancing at the Lipton box sitting by my computer, I happened to glance at the ingredient list. MSG! What a bummer! Sorry for promoting such a scandalous recipe - loaded with icky things like that!!! So, here's to hoping that there is an MSG free type substitute for the onion mix, because these potatoes are tasty!

My Scissors

Kind of random, but I keep a pair of kids' school scissors in my car. You never know when you're going to need them, and they have come in handy more than once! But today, my love for my scissors grew even more. :)

We've been having minor car problems lately with my car...nothing big - just annoying little things! So today, I left the house believing that all problems were behind us, as the latest little thing was figure dout. But the car must have know that stop #2 on my trip was to stop and check-out a car that has the potential of fitting more than 3 children into. (Got to upgrade sometime, right???) But apparently, the car was holding a grudge because after my first stop...the blasted thing wouldn't start! Mind you, we had been in a store for 15 minutes and the car was already 900 degrees inside the car and I had my kids all strapped in and ready to go before I realized that we were completely stuck. So I open all the doors of the car to catch a breeze for my kiddos and pop the hood (big ol' prego belly and all), get Steve on the phone and try to understand what the new problem is.

Apparently, I should have packed some tools, because to fix the new problem, I would be required to remove bolts this time and get a bit deeper than before - info that might have been useful BEFORE leaving the house!!! :) Hmmmm...no wrenches or screwdrivers or anything in the car...but my trusty pair of kid scissors! So the point of all this is...yes, if you're praying hard enough, you can unscrew bolts with scissors, in case anyone was wondering! I am not attributing any of this to my amazing scissor-handling skills, but they did come through for me in amazing fashion - both the scissors AND the prayer!!!

So moral of the story...don't leave home without your scissors and sense of humor! You never know what you'll need them to do throughout the course of a day!!!

You are my sunshine!

Me (when I walked in to get Ethan out of his crib this morning): Good Morning Ethan!!!

E: Go moorney, Mommy!

Me: Are you ready to get up?

E: O-tay!

Me (giving him a hug and getting a big squeeze back): E? Are you my sunshine?

E: No! Me E-ten.

There's no foolin' this kid! :)

Houston...we have lift off!!!

After many attempts to jump like his big bro...Ethan has finally managed to get both feet off the ground when he leaps! It took me a while to realize it yesterday, due to the fact that he seriously jumps all day long (and has for about a year!) but he was actually doing it! Both feet cleared the floor consistently! He would land his jump and be all smiles and clap for himself every once in a while...and Garrett, the self-proclaimed coach couldn't be more proud!!!