Wednesday 23 October 2013

A Week in Review (October 13-19)


A Week in Review (October 13-19)

Watched: Jack help to college boys run a game in the HyVee Hawk Zone.   The game isn't designed very well for the adults working the game.  You are supposed to throw a bean pillow into a hole and instead of having it slope out for the worker, it just drops down. They then have to bend down and go in the game to get out the pillows. While it doesn't work very well for an adult, my kid thought it was a blast to help retrieve them.  He popped his head through the hole once and then he had to share his space.  I don't think he was a fan of that because he didn't really do it again, but I thought it would make a great Halloween prank.

Read: I'm continuing to read The Aviator's Wife. It is a good story, but I haven't gotten to the point where I am willing to give up a good night's sleep to read more.

Listened: It seems that all my holds are coming off at once and so I had to switch from A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley to The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I have never read a story by Gaiman, Neil and so I am interested to see if I am as in love with him as so many people are. I haven't really had enough alone time in the car to make much of a dent in it.

Made: A painted pumpkin for The Sunflower House, which is a safe haven for children or families coming from abusive situations. HyVee had a deal where if you purchased a pumpkin, took it home and painted it, and brought it back, they would refund your purchase price and donate it for you. Jack thought it was a great idea. We did have some mishaps with the paint (side note: Don't buy the strips of acrylic paint from the Dollar Tree) but he was pleased with his final product. When you see it, note the large nose is actually a candy corn nose. He was proud of that detail.

Felt: Proud of Jack.  We had school conferences this week and he is doing well. His academics are up to snuff and he has a positive and helpful attitude. Can't ask much more than that!

Planned: On staying busy while Jack was out of school for the week. We completed his entire homework packet. I'm so amazed at how quickly he is picking up his reading and writing. One assignment was to draw a face on a pumpkin and then write a sentence about it. I was so proud that I took a picture and sent it to Grandma. I also posted it below for you to see!

Loved: That Jack is almost 46" tall. I am sure that might seem an odd thing to love but when we went to Worlds of Fun on Sunday Jack was lose enough that a couple ride ambassors let him go alone on his favorite ride, The Finnish Fling, aka The Brain Sucker. I can not stand that ride and so it was a pretty exciting for me!

Here are the pics for the week:




Jack loves when I vacuum when he is around. This way we can take turns trying to attack each other with the suction. This getup just made me laugh!





Saturday 12 October 2013

A Week in Review (October 6-12)

 A Week in Review (October 6-12)

Watched: Jack have fun with his class on their field trip to the Fire and Police Stations and on Career Day.  The fire truck had it's 100 foot ladder up and I think that was Jack's favorite thing. My favorite thing was the excellent tip the fire fighter told them for kids who have windows to tall to jump out of. He asks that you should take your stuffed animals or blankets and throw them out your window so that when the firefighter does a quick look around your house, they will realize a kid is up there. Great idea!  For career day, Jack dresses up a football player.  He wanted to go as KU player and we had to talk about how they can't be a career because you can't make money. 

Read: I finished up 
Secret DaughterI was hoping that this would take me some place unexpected, but it just fizzled toward the end. I really wanted to like it more than I did. I think had she just let us read Asha's letter in the end or her article from the Times, I could have connected more with story.  My next book is going to be The Aviator's Wife.  It was recommend to me by a friend who also enjoys historical fiction novels, so I am excited about it. 

Listened: I started a new audiobook called 
A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not!" Ripley. I haven't been alone in the car very much, but I think I am going to enjoy leaning how Ripley's Believe It or Not came to be. 

Made: Pumpkin French Toast. It's a yummy recipe that I found on Pinterest. It is simple to make, but so yummy with maple syrup.  Perfect if you are wanting pumpkin pie but it's breakfast. You whisk 3/4 cup pure pumpkin, 1/2 cup milk, 3 eggs, and 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice together. Cook up and serve normally. We don't use butter, just sryup. Yummy!

Felt: Bad that Nick caught the cold. Luckily he is a great sleeper so he went to bed early both nights and got about 12 hours of sleep a night, which seemed to help him kick it. He went off to Guy's Weekend after that so I'm hoping it was gone and he doesn't share it with them. 


Planned: My Christmas Letter. I couldn't sleep one morning and so I went searching for clever ways to do my annual letter. I'm pretty excited as I think it will be fun. Can't say too much until after it's delivered, but I'll make sure to post a copy of the final product.

Loved: Going to the pumpkin patch with  Jack. He has been with his class for the last two years and just knew he had to go again. It's always pretty calm in the afternoons, but you don't get as much time in. Jack could have stayed for another couple of hours at least. However, we did get to do new things like the Corn Maze and picking out the big (expensive) pumpkins to bring home. :)

Here are the pics for the week:

Jack listening to the motorcycle cop tell about the equipment he uses when he works. 


Jack celebrating Crazy Hair for selling his entertainment books. I think he had more fun washing it out because it looked like blood was everywhere!



Football player Jack. And in case you want his autograph, he's been working on that too. He knows by all the ones he's gotten that you aren't supposed to be able to read it and it's just supposed to be scribbles. Haha


A picture from the pumpkin patch



Wednesday 2 October 2013

A Week in Review (September 29-October 5)

A Week in Review (September 29-October 5)

Watched: Now You See Me with Nick. It was an excellent movie. Well worth your time. It kept me guessing what was going to happen. 

Read:  I finished up Seduction and Snacks(Chocolate Lovers, #1).   was hoping this would be my next Fifty Shades of Grey, but it fell short. A vulgar 4 year old, his 20 something mother, and her inexplicably rich baby daddy make up the main characters here. It also includes the outlandish best friends and other over the top characters. I think that is what bothered me the most about the book is that everything was too extreme. The romance too sappy, the friend too immature, the kid too vulgar. Not one I'd recommend.  Next I began Secret Daughter, which is this month's book club read.

Listened: To myself become a sneezing fool. What I thought was allergies in Jack was actually a cold. He ended up quite stuffy, but mine has been flowing like a mad man. Fun stuff!  I hope I can kick it quicker than he has been able too.

Made: Jack stop playing his iPod so that he could pay attention to the Notre Dame v ASU game. He and his Aunt Valerie had a dollar on the game and they were having fun talking about via text. Not 15 seconds after, he went straight to zoned out sleeping. 

Felt: Excited that a Neighborhood Market opened close to the house. I did my first grocery shopping trip there on Thursday. It's organized nicely and was empty when I went there too. I even had a cashier help me find an item!  am glad that I will be able to make a quick trip to the store and not have to pay the higher prices found at Price Chopper. 

Planned: To be super busy next week. I will go on Jack's field trip to the Fire Station with him, volunteer in his room on Career Day, and so the single mom thing while Nick enjoys a guys weekend. 

Loved: The first quarter of the TTU vs KU. The Jayhawks played so well and the weather was perfect. The rest of the game was ugly and tedious, but at least we had a glimmer of greatness. :) Hopefully they can focus on that and not on the stuff that followed. 

Here are the pics for the week:

Jack, the cousins, and Grandma Denise went to Exploration Place on Sunday while we watched the Chiefs game. They were so excited to show us everything that they took us in once we got there. I thought this structure was fun and it reminded me of my friend Shane, so I had to snap a photo for him. 




Jack thought it was too funny that he could make himsd have "girl" hair in the play place at Chick-fil-a. We had to snap a picture to preserve the moment. 

Jack has a family project due for school and we thought that it might be fun to snap some photos during the KU game to use on the board. Jack and I are in disagreement about which one to use for the board. I like 1 better, while he prefers 2. 

1

2

And here he is, passed out sitting up after our busy week. 


A Week in Review (September 22-28)

A Week in Review (September 22-28)

Watched: Not much. There wasn't really time for sitting down and enjoying the TV with this week. I did see Jack's flag football team make dramatic improvements in their ability to rip off flags during a play. We will see next week if that translates to game time.

Read:  I finished up Reconstructing Amelia.  It got a solid three stars from me. The writing being told in the format of text and Facebook updates and standard writing style kept the book more entertaining for me. I have heard this book compared Gone Girl and if that is what are you are looking for you, you won't find it here. This seems like it could be an attempt at a YA version, but there is a lot of angst in there. Not sure I would recommend it, but I wouldn't caution against it either.  I also finally got to pick up Seduction and Snacks(Chocolate Lovers, #1).  It is going pretty good so far.  I think I will finish it fairly quickly.

Listened: This was the first time in a while that I haven't had an audiobook to listen too. I just enjoyed the radio or the sound of silence.

Made: The most simple apple crisp ever!  Perfect for a quick dessert. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com and modified it only slightly to meet my needs. I originally made this recipe for Fall Fun Day at school, but I also made it since then. It calls for 1 can Apple pie filling, 1/2 cup flour, 1 stick melted butter, 1 1/2 TBSP of cinnamon, 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, and 3/4 cup quick cook oats. Place the can of filling into an 8X8 ungreased casserole dish.  In a separate bowl, combine all other ingredients together. Drop the topping on the pie filling by the rounded spoonful. Microwave for 10-12 minutes. Yummy!  I think I might try it with blueberry soon!

Felt: A wave of confused emotion. As we continued to work hard to get the house in tip-top shape for the appraisal, I got a call letting me know they had decided we didn't need a full appraisal after all. It's a good thing because it should make the whole process easier, but I'm kinda of frustrated with all the hard work that ended up being for naught.  Once we got the call, our get up and go, got up and went.

Planned: I think I already have the majority of the school's Halloween party done.  I just need to come up with a craft that I love. 

Loved: Watching the cousins have a blast with each other, especially during Papa Lee's tractor ride. This years theme was definitely Hayride Hijinks. I will be putting together a collage card shortly n

Here are the pics for the week:

Jack requested that I take a pic of him and Barley. I thought it turned out pretty cute. 


A view of the front of the house with the windows washed, new door up, fresh mulch in, etc

Jack opening his Wii U. Our Wii was on it's last legs and so we decided to upgrade him.  Nick couldn't just let him have it, so we told him he was giving his old Wii to Grandma Denise and we had to pack it up. He was pretty upset that we had given away the Wii. I told him he had to go downstairs to grab the box to pack it up in. It took him a second to realize that the Wii U was in the box and that it was for him.  It's taken some time to adjust too, but we like it.