2017–week 16

sunday: easter! we actually remembered to take a family picture!

after church, we came home, put the ham in the oven, gathered some wood from the clearing for the fire, played some corn hole, drank mimosas and hung clothes on the line for the first time this year! it was a totally gorgeous day. very unusual for easter in western washington!

layla helped get the apples ready for applesauce, and she and micah took turns hiding eggs for each other and for grandpa. they thought it was hilarious that they hid one egg in a pair of micah’s underwear that was hung up to dry. then we got the back porch all cleaned up so we could eat outside!

this was definitely a first. we’ve never had an easter warm enough to eat dinner outside.

as usual, micah pouted about the food.

then we invited bailey and her family over for a fire. the wood was a little damp and stubborn to get going. dave was determined to try all sorts of crazy ways to get it going. he and shane took turns blowing through a broken broom handle to try and fan the flames without burning their faces. then they tried taping the hose of a bike pump to it to pump air in. neither worked particularly well and i went across the street to get a pallet from eric. sure way to get a roaring fire!

monday: bonus day of spring break for me. the kids went back to school and i scurried around trying to get all the rest of my to-do list done. didn’t quite make it, but it wasn’t totally pathetic either.

wednesday: we are so sad that this is the LAST elephant and piggie book!!!

thursday: layla decided she wanted to bust out the electric marshmallow roaster grandpa gave us last year and make herself a s’more after dinner… it actually worked decently!

friday: walking the dog on the warmest day so far this year! after this, she grabbed a book and went and read on “the rock”.

also friday: getting warmed up for a late starting baseball game. start time 7:30pm. it didn’t end until after 10. crazy late.

saturday: another baseball game. we had amy’s boys with us, so they tagged along, and made friends with my dad at the game.

also saturday: i really, REALLY did not have any motivation for cooking dinner. and so, instant oatmeal for all!

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for my not-so-american friends

i didn't have an actual roll w/ the green plaid on it, but i found a refill and an empty roll in my junk drawer (yeah, i know, that should tell me something). but even the empty one says 'scotch' on it. there you go! SCOTCH TAPE!

i have "done something"

about shane's room. if you notice over there on my BIG FAT TO DO LIST, for ages now, i've had "do something about shane's room" on the list. and it has sat there on the list, doing nothing. well yesterday, we "did something". i couldn't put "clean shane's room". that wouldn't really cover it. i wasn't sure exactly how to phrase what is was that needed to be done in there, mainly because i don't really know the proper grammatical term for "set off 4 sticks of dynamite followed by much jackhammering and industrial vacuuming". needless to say, it was a pit! every saturday, one of his chores is to clean his room. but at this point, that was just putting clothes in the basket, books on the shelf, toys in bins, etc. anything else was WAY too big of an undertaking for a 9 year old boy on his way out the door. sadly, i didn't think to take a 'before' picture, so i didn't bother with an '

junk drawer challenge 2008!

if you're anything like me, you have one of these: yeah, that WAS my junk drawer. it's ridiculous. it was getting to the point where you couldn't even close it. instead of the "junk drawer" i think it should really be called the "don't know what to do with it or too lazy to put it where it really goes drawer". so i decided to document exactly how ridiculous it really was. this is all the stuff laid out on the kitchen counter: so what is all this stuff? here we have a dozen or so rubber bands and used twisty ties, a stamp pad from a hand/foot print kit we got when micah was born, 4 used birthday candles, and a pack of spare buttons from some pants. a bunch of batteries and a bunch of cord-type things. instruction booklets and a bunch of writing utensils... although upon closer examination, the red one in the middle is actually a tinker toy! a bunch of the little packages of 'hardware' that comes with stuff - notice th

bacon-potato chowder recipe

dave found this recipe at some point when we were living in ohio. he apparently had a hankering for some chowder of some kind. so I have no idea where the credit goes in this case. but we’ve been making it ever since, so it was definitely a winner! 1 lb. bacon cut in small pieces 1 cup chopped onions 4 cups diced potatoes 2 cups water 1 tsp salt (and some pepper) 2 cans cream of something soup (chicken or celery) 2 cups sour cream 3 cups milk **edited to add: apparently, dave says he adds a clove or two of garlic as well. chop them up with them up and add them with the onions.** in a big pot, cook bacon over medium heat. add onion and cook until tender. drain off grease. add water, potatoes, salt and pepper. cook 15 minutes. stir in soup, sour cream, and milk. cook until heated through. easy, but best to do all you’re chopping, dicing, and measuring ahead of time. if you like it thick, simmer a little longer… don’t make this if you are dairy intolerant or on a diet! lol. a

week 10 in pictures

monday: micah’s favorite food in the whole wide world… tuesday: his new favorite passtime… setting up soccer cones in ‘roads’ that he then ride through. thursday: earning their keep! actually, the just wanted to help me clean so I gave them rags and a bottle of windex. also thursday: at book club, ingrid telling her famous “making meatballs with the kids” story. friday: a sunny afternoon MOMS Club park playdate. micah got hungry and wanted to leave, so his friend was kind enough to offer him some of her lunch to keep him there a little while longer. also friday: layla at a pj party with the birthday girl. saturday: a dry, sunny saturday meant the first mow of the season followed by fertilizer application! just one skinny this week… micah was ‘on the ball’ at target. yes, that’s a plastic axe stuffed down the back of the shirt… pretty sure he’s a ninja. and some little squares I will collage to put in the book. book shots:

rachel's continued ramblings

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