The Car Ride from He**

Saturday evening Grandma was gracious enough to take the little guys for the night so Dan and I could get out on our own and have a little break. It was a lovely evening spent in the old truck, walking along the car show and enjoying the quiet that comes when you don't have children screaming "I want..." "I need to go potty", "I'm hungry" or whatever else.

Sunday morning we drove to pick Grandma and boys up to head down to the Southern part of the state to a dance competition. We were in for about an hour and a half of drive time. Grandma and Dad are in the front, I am in the middle row with two boys with Tori and her friend in the back row when we start on our way.

We are chatting and laughing, enjoying a nice, sunny morning drive in the middle of corn fields and farms spread througout the vast areas around us. Suddenly Nick starts to hunch down and tell me his tummy hurts. Uh Oh! He seems ok and I give him some Goldfish crackers to help ease his tummy as I am sure that this is because he is hungry since he wanted to wait for breakfast. Nope! More whining "my tummy hurts" while hunkered down in his booster seat prompts my helpless shouts to the front for Dad to quickly get to a bathroom. This is when "the look" comes like "are you kidding me woman?". There were no bathrooms within about a 10 mile radius. So...I look, shrug and tell him to pull to the side of the highway and here begins the funniest part of the drive from hell.

I grab Nick out of his booster seat and am working to get us both out of the truck on a very steep ditch surrounded by corn fields. I am praying that we've made it in time because the smell...well it made me think we hadn't! Thank goodness it was just gas!

I began pulling shorts and underwear off frantically knowing if I didn't there would be a larger mess than I cared to deal with seeing as the three year old knows nothing about going potty anywhere but in the actual potty! Soon Dan comes walking around the back of the truck to assist. He is holding Nick up so I can pull shorts over sandals. Then Dan proceeds to help the boy into "position" so he can, shall we say...take a load off! I am retrieving baby wipes from the diaper bag in the truck at this point. I close the door to turn around only to find that Dan is gagging. I thought maybe he had overcome this issue but not so much. He is full fledged gagging. I begin laughing hysterically...to the point that I have to sit on the side of the truck to avoid wetting my pants because I can't stop laughing/crying at Dan gagging while holding Nick's naked bottom half in the air for me to clean up!

I somehow managed to get myself under control, clean Nick up, get him into a pull-up and back into his shorts, buckled and on the road again. Thank goodness!

I can only imagine what fun it would have been had Nick actually crapped his pants, I would have peed my pants laughing and poor Dan would have actually thrown up!

This was quite a ride! Thankfully Tori won Diamond and first for her dance routine!

Old Cars and Young Boys

This past weekend at the State Fair Grounds we participated in the Back to the 50s vintage car show. Dan purchased an old green 1950 Chevy pick up truck about three years ago. This became the center of family entertainment for a bit. The kids all coveted rides around the area from Dad and they laughed and smiled all the way as they hit their heads from bouncing over every bump.

Each Father's day Dan would take Maryah and Tori (the two oldest girls) to the show to celebrate his day. They would get super excited, get up early and head out for a full day of seeing tons of old cars in one place, eating cheese curds and going on the sky ride. Of course I do believe Maryah had some motive in seeing cute boys also! I know they had a blast every year but as Maryah found it harder to get around on two feet the need for her wheel chair took a part in Dan's decision to buy what we now know as MTT (Maryah Therese Tift) or "green". He thought it would be nice to be able to drive Ry directly into the show and find a spot to park the truck where she could sit by or in it to watch the other cars if she felt like just sitting.

This was the plan, unfortunately even though she got to enjoy riding in the truck that summer he bought it she didn't make it to the show the following year. It was a heart break for sure but there are so many doors that "green" has opened up for the little ones that I know Maryah must be smiling down with that famous smile of hers watching her siblings and how they've grown to love both the truck and the car show. This, I believe is her never ending Father's day gift to Dan.

So...this year we were driving to get our registration info on Thursday evening. I met the guys (Dan, Nick and Danny) at day care after work and we drove together to the hotel about seven miles from there to get everything. Part of our drive included passing the State Fair grounds where many, many old cars were already parked next to rows of die hard campers that had arrived early for the show. About every third car driving this particular road was a vintage car. Nicholas has this fierce passion for old cars at age three. It's really pretty remarkable how quickly he found this love of his and he's kind of funny. Between he and Dan I'm not sure who said these words more along that drive "look at that one!". The funniest part of my ride along that evening was listening to Nicholas in the back seat yelling, "Mom! Look at that one! Look at the blue one! Look at that red one! Oh! Look at THAT one!" Finally, he sat back in his booster seat and I heard this great sigh from behind me and then... "OH MY GOSH MOM! There are too many old cars!" He was so thoroughly overwhelmed with the cars around him he couldn't keep up. I was laughing hysterically. It was one of those moments that reminded me...

big boys or little boys...they are all alike when it comes to their hobbies!

It was a wonderful Father's Day weekend and one to remember for years to come. Looking forward to many more years celebrating this way with MTT/ "green" and all the kids.

Stuffed Peppers

1lb. Ground Turkey (or ground beef if you prefer)
2 C. Cooked Minute Brown Rice (white if you prefer)
2 cans of Tomato Sauce
1/2 C. Clamato Juice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 Bell or Green Peppers
1 T. Worcestire Sauce


Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Brown turkey and cook rice as directed. Add salt, pepper, rice to turkey. Mix tomato sauce, Clamato and worcestire sauce together (set aside about 1 C.) and pour over the hamburger/rice mixuture. Mix well. Boil a large pot of water. Cut tops off peppers and clean the pepper out well so it is free from seeds, etc. Submerge entire peppers into boiling water for about five minutes. Remove peppers from water and once cooled fill peppers with meat/rice mixture. Once peppers are full set them upright in a glass or non-stick baking pan. Pour remaining tomato sauce mixture over the tops of the stuffed peppers. Bake for 30 minutes and serve.

Chili Cheese Mac

Another recipe I tried this week that the kids (and hubby loved) that is SO easy and fast:

1 1/2 lbs. Ground Beef (I use a really lean ground beef)
1 lb. loaf of processed cheese (sm.velveeta loaf) cubed
12 oz. Elbow Macaroni
1 pkg. Chili Seasoning Mix (I use McCormicks Original)
2 T. Butter
1/2 C. Milk
1 can Diced Tomatos

Brown ground beef and add chili seasoning packet and diced tomatos. Mix well and set aside.
Cook macaroni according to the directions on the package (I used about 14 oz). Once noodles are cooked, drain and begin melting butter and velveeta, add milk and noodles back to the pan stirring until all ingredients are melted together and creamy. Add ground beef mixture to the noodles and mix well. Enjoy.

Chicken A-La-King

This is one that I made this week that the whole family loved:
(I tripled this recipe for my family of seven)

1pkg. boneless skinless chicken breast cooked and cubed (I cooked on the stove top with garlic infused EVOO, salt and pepper)

1/4 C. Butter
1/2 C. Chicken Broth
1 C. Milk
1/2 C. Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
Veggies as Desired but I used:
1 Red Bell Pepper cut into smaller pieces
1 pkg of sliced mushrooms
1 C. frozen peas

Melt butter in your pan, after butter is completely melted add flower slowly as you mix it in to make a rue.
Add salt, chicken broth and milk. Stir continuously over low heat until sauce is thickened.
Add your cooked chicken pieces and veggies, stir and serve over bisquits. I prefer the Grands flaky style.
There wasn't even a morsel left over other than the mushrooms my hubby picks out! :) Enjoy!

The Cement Pond

We have this pool in our back yard. It's pretty amazing because the kids have a blast, they WANT to stay home and hang out in the pool and even better their friends like coming over to swim. This helps in so many ways to be "involved" in the happenings of our children's lives plus we just have a little more control over how they are behaving! Love it!

This pool has been a source of joy for the children for a number of years. It has however been a source of great agony for poor Dan every single year! Several years back Dan spent multiple summer evenings swearing (loudly) in our back yard because the pool was not clear (again) or the pump wasn't working correctly, or because there was some other little way the pool would nickle and dime us to death. After that summer I decided that I would save through the winter months and I would hire a pool service company to come out weekly during the summer months/open pool months to check our chemicals and add more as necessary. I also bought Dan a new automatic pool vacuum that worked really well so he could avoid that chore as well.

Welllllllll...here I thought problem solved...right? HELL no! The following summer was pretty mello with minimal issues that Dan wasn't ready and willing to tackle because most days he didn't have to do anything with the beast! This summer however...well...let's just say...he's swearing again! For some unknown reason upon opening our pool mid-May it looked like one big large hole in the earth filled with dark green algae! OMG! I was frightened, it looked so bad. I proceeded to call the very nice and helpful service manager at our pool company and talked with him about this issue. The following Monday they came out for their routine weekly visit and they told us #1 our pump was shot, completely dead to the world. Here comes the first large bill for the pool and the first night of mild swearing. That same week they arrived at our home with a new state-of-the-art (ultra quiet and effecient/green) pool pump! Yay! They install, they leave a note (while we are working) that says something like this "need electrician pump runs on 240 and you have 110". WTF? I came home first and there in the door lies the note that will surely get the swearing started in full force!
I called the nice pool service manager again and we discussed that this is not something we had planned for and shouldn't they have known this before starting this installation and contacted us? He was very apologetic and assured me that their electrician would be to the house in 25 minutes to assess the "damage". Mark, the very lovely electrician, grandfather, pilot, helpful and nice all around kinda guy not only looks at the issue, decides it's easy to fix, proceeds to fix the issue and install a couple new breakers, wires, etc but he then finishes and looks at me and reports that I need to write him a check for the work!?!?! Ok...it' wasn't horrible but it was additional to the large pool bill #1 mentioned above! He leaves, I call Dan and yes...let the swearing commence! I knew it was coming so I had prepared!

New pump in, running, programmed...pool has been shocked to hell with enough chemicals to turn the dog orange if she is stupid enough to fall in again this year! We're on our way to clearing up the swamp in our back yard! Hot days in a cool pool...here we come! NOT!

The following week it is green, the chemicals keep going in. It's green, it's not clearing at all! It's not just green, it's so green it's black...ducks have landed in our friggin' pool because it's not really a pool it's part of a wildlife reserve! Seriously?

The next week...chemicals are fine the asshole pool service guy tells me. There is a lot of free chlorine and the pool shouldn't be green with the chemicals all balancing...are you fricking kidding me you SOB! It shouldn't be green? Aren't you the effin' POOL SERVICE MANAGER you dill hole?!?!? Shouldn't  you know WHY it's green?

Week three and they have been out from the pool company about one dozen times with a new bottle of chemicals each time. There is now radioactive material being exuded from our back yard. You must wear your HAZMAT suit to enter the area!

The incredibly stupid and arrogant pool service manager has now decided we should "floc" the pool. We do this, it settles some of the green crap to the bottom and Dan must now vacuum to waste and add more water. The next day...GREEN! We are now BOTH swearing!

We floc again and it settles some more crap to the bottom. Dan vacuums to waste and we wait...in the morning we run joyfully to the pool expecting blue, crystal clear waters! GREEN...yes...GREEN!

Yesterday they brought the "SUPER FLOC", this shit is sure to turn you orange and they have now taped off our neighborhood because no one can safely enter any longer.

We put this in, we let it sit for an hour, we turned the pump off and we went to bed. Today...most all the dark green crap is on the bottom of the pool. It's going to be vacuumed up tonight and God willing and the creek don't rise...we will have a clean pool.

All that said and done if it's not clear this week we will drain the son of a beep and start over. This will of course kill all wildlife within a 50 mile radius so please stay clear of our neighborhood. Our pool is green but we are not, absolutely not! Lord forgive us our sins!

For now, the cement pond stands alone, no laughing, screaming, splashing children enjoying the blue, cool waters just ducks!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today I am remembering my wedding day. Dan and I shared this amazing day outdoors at an apple orchard in Afton, MN. We were surrounded by some of the most amazing family and friends a couple could ask for and we joined our two families to make one big, crazy family. We now have six beautiful children, a happy home and more love than any one person could possibly deserve in their lifetime!

This marriage of ours has been a blessing from the start. There are so many things that could have kept us from finding each other at just the right time. You see back in junior high Dan and I knew each other as classmates. We never really "hung out" back then (Dan says I was a snob) but we knew each other. We went our seperate ways when the school closed and didn't see each other again. We both married other people in completely different circles of people from one another and we didn't even live in the same city. I divorced many years prior to Dan divorcing and as I like to put it, dug through a lot of dirt to find the gold. We should have never run into one another, we should have never crossed paths but we did and just like that it was so perfectly obvious that we were really brought together by divine intervention. We couldn't be more alike and we both share so many of the same likes, dislikes, hobbies and great love for family.

It's truly amazing to me that after so many years of asking God to show me someone who met all of my needs and desires and to believe for so long that it might never happen only to have it happen with such ease and so quickly.

Today I wish to brag about Dan and so I will share how he is truly the perfect husband (and I really do mean that):  He is loving, caring, compassionate, sincere, genuine, hard working, devoted to me and to our kids, motivated, sexy, strong, helpful, kind, gentle, sensitive, protective, responsible, reliable, dependable, persistant (in a good way), handsome, compromising, mature, funny, fun, spontaneous and SO much more. I am positive that there is not ONE quality that I hoped for in a husband that he does not posess. I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams and I thank GOD every single day for this gift.

I do cherish this man as the gift he is. He has walked with me through everything in my life whether it was joyful or sorrowful. He has celebrated with me and cried with me, held me up when I couldn't do it myself and then held the kids up by himself until I was able to do this with him again.

Ladies, I apologize for bragging but today I celebrate not only the day which we were married on but the day that I recieved the greatest gift of my life in marrying my very dearest friend and confidant.

Happy Anniversary Dan! Thank you for all you have given me, all you have taught me and all you do for me and for our children. You are truly one in a million and I am forever grateful for you.

Turtle Crossing! Slow Please!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love turtles. I have turtles everywhere at home, in my office, tattooed on my body. I love them, I don't want one but I love them! I think they are adorable little creatures and they represent happiness for me. In the Native culture they represent motherhood. I buy cute little t-shirts for my babies with turtles on them. When my sister sees something fabulous with a turtle she buys it for me. You get the point...I friggin' love turtles.

Tuesday afternoon I left work a few minutes later than I had planned.I work thirty minutes from home and I have a pretty clear ride (meaning I don't have to sit in the parking lot of rush hour like my husband does).  Monday I needed to get Tori to an appointment so I needed to get out of work on time but didn't. Ugh! Hate that! I started home and was driving a bit over the limit but not too bad (considering I'm usually a lot above the limit). However as I came to my last road before turning into our neighborhood I was steadily speeding up because I realized we were going to be late to the appointment. As I was driving I was looking ahead and noticed something in the road, not an animal, it wasn't moving! It was little but sticking up a bit so I didn't try to avoid it. It didn't show potential for car damage or anything. It wasn't until the very last moment when I saw this adorable baby turtle head poked up and looking straight at me with a look of "SWERVE LADY, PLEASE SWERVE" (said in a very low, slow voice)! Oh! Cute it's a baby...crunch, crunch...TURTLE! Oh fuckin' hell! I just crushed it!

The tears started and I was a turtle murderer. First the box elders and now a turtle...what has my life come to?!?!?!?!?

We made it to the damn appointment on time. I'm so sorry little turtle baby.