summer swim lessons

and she passed!! she loved it!! then she stole my raft...

this all happened yesterday!

today the summer storm took out my power. It was out from 430pm- till 830 tonight. Luckily we have a gas stove- so Steve could finish dinnner and then we basically enjoyed the outdoors until we got the power back. Our porch was a neighborhood hangout....kinda fun.

ugh- another week

who's your tiger? Steve decided Riley need to be the UN- official bat girl for the Tigers tonight while we were watching. After many attempsts she finally let me snap a pic. We took it for my dad....sending it his way! My Dad is a HUGE Tigers fan!!

(Don't look too close - her helmet is from the West Michigan White Caps game, not TIGERS )

Dad got his results back from his latest biopsy - NOT good. He goes on Friday for a meeting with the dr to talk about options. My brother is going to accompany him. I am going to patiently wait to hear from them from here.....hate the miles I have between myself and my family, especially in times like these. The talk is surgery and chemo with more tests to check to see if it has spread. Keep us in your prayers.

But on another Tigers note - those scratch off tix....if you have losers...send them in for the drawing! I talked my dad into it and he WON! FOR REAL, Beth :-) He won Tiger gear- very cool.

Here is the QUEEN !! She loves to be outdoors. A few nights this past week I have had to go out in my pjs to get her- she loves to crawl up in the lawn chair and go to sleep. I called and called her Thursday night and she would lift her head, loko at me, then lay back down and go to sleep. STINKER! Just like a kid!!

Nothing else too exciting going on.... The pool and the grill are getting used a lot. The garden isdoing GREAT! green beans, green peppers, tomatoes, banana peppers, corn and watermelon!

bummer

We bid, but were overbid by someone who offered FULL price on the house we were interested in. Oh well, there is a reason for it and somwhere is a new house for me. :-)

My lunch hour now consists of MOM'S TAXI. I drive home at 1015 grab Jake , pick up another kid, run to Parkside, drop them off for summer band camp and back to work. Today however, I tossed them out at Parkside and dashed to Target before going back....uhhhh HELLO...June 19th? The new Janet E book is released today and so was Bon Jovi's cd...yep- a quick $30 BUT well worth every cent. Love the cd and book BOTH!

Steve starts his band camp in just a couple weeks and Koda starts Driver's Training! The wheels will be smoking at lunch time for TAXI MOM!! (Thinking about checking the city bus schedule for the driver training kid? we'll see.)

AND I will start my new job. Effective 7-1-07 my new position, and pay scale will go in effect!! :-) Still in the same place, same people, I will just be working for Hospice instead of Home Health and no more speaking with every referral source! Don't get me wrong, I love my current job too, but the new one is working more indepentently. If you did not know....I am not keen on someone always over my shoulder watching me. LOL and one nurse in particular was a biggie ....I even caught her on my computer reading my email once. UGH.

Stay cool and enjoy summer.

happy father's day

What a weekend - in a flash!!
On our way home today a church on I 96 had an awesome quote.

Don't let your yesterday waste your today!!

loved it!! Sums it up completely. Hey Mom, a new quote we can use for our half empty friends! :-)

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

i love weekends like this

WOW! We have had a great weekend- we went back to house shopping - and oh my- I think we may have landed THE ONE !! guess what color the kitchen is? ahhh I will elaborate when we get closer. No more cursing my dream- and to those of you interested- it is in JPS district!! Not the neighbor to Beth - but still close enough for the kids to play / hang out!


kitchenfamily room in the basementliving roomlooking from the living room in to the kitchen- staitway to basement

I have tried some new recipes this weekend....and my family has been happy with fluffy full bellies all weekend. This one below is a new recipe I located online....I will share. And to be honest, cooking with beer scared me a wee bit ? but just like cooking with wine- the alcohol burns off during cooking so no big deal. Today I just put round steak (trimmed all the fat off) in the slow cooker on high with a bottle of BBQ sauce - as it cooked down and got tender I tore it apart with a fork and we had Beef BBQs. All 4 boys have been in awe this weekend...lol They even got a chocolate cream pie tonight for dessert- last night I made a weight watchers cream pie and they ate it but were not tickled by it. lol Of course no one passed either




My Kid's Favorite Pork Chops

Original recipe yield:6 servings

PREP TIME
20 Min

COOK TIME
1 Hr

READY IN
1 Hr 20 Min

6 pork chops ( I did 10 and used the same amt of beer and BBQ sauce) plenty
2 tablespoons steak seasoning
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce
2 onions, sliced
DIRECTIONS
Sprinkle pork chops with steak seasoning. Brown both sides in skillet. After the pork chops have been browned, remove them from the pan.
Pour into skillet one can of beer. Stir around the beer until all the particles on the sides have been incorporated. Pour in barbecue sauce and place the pork chops back into the pan. Add onions and cover. Simmer on low for 1 to 2 hours.


Now back to the work week. No school - no activities. Jake will have band camp start Tues- Steve starts in July. Koda will take driver's training in July too, I think.

Hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend.

YEAH Schools out!

What a week- nope not lost- just busy and not bloggin.
My bloggin usually happens in the evenings- and this past week so nice outside- just no time to blog! :-)
Week recap- lots of field trips, high school EXAMS, work is crazy!
I accepted a new position within the company.
I recently received 2 RAKS - a good summer bookand a photo envelope , and a goodie envelope full of fun scrapbook accessories, keychain photo album, note cards- SWEET, thanks ladies.
Now, to get the summer plans rolling- off to summer boarding school for boys!!
(ok, so just wishin that on some days)

Jakob- summer band camp - M-F 11-12 June 12- July 19
Steve - summer band camp M-Th 10-3 July
Dakoda- driver's training July - $400 (it was free 100 yrs ago when I took it)

Making plans for the girls getaway with Mom and my sis in law, Barb! ( maybe Bill's new friend too??) Shipshewana or BUST

what a weekend

Started with a day off from work! ahh!! Beth and I both took a day off...and we went to breakfast followed an awesome - totally relaxing pedicure. You sit in a chair that massages your back (kneading!) while they are massaging your piggies. I think I have a new addiction!!

Steve took Friday off too- so when the kids got home from school- we headed NORTH!!

Friday night we took the kids swimming IN Lake Michigan. Sunset pic of he and I

Frozen Steve

Friday - Sunset in Grand Haven

Sat- More swimming with friends. Spent the afternoon with Michelle and her family.

King Steve

King Jake

Saturday we went to Michelle and Nelson's for a few hours- the kids had fun in the pool and we caught up on the latest and greatest!! :-) We decided to all to to the horse race track, Great Lakes Downs. They say it will close after this season so we wanted to check it out! It was great fun. Yes, I won some and lost some. and the kids loved to watch BUT they started to get CRAZY chasing me to the bid counter pushing $ at me asking me to bid on a # for them....I created MONSTERS! LOL Truly, it was under control but seemed a little creepy with a 14, 12 and 11 year old arguing over horses, jockeys and winnings...lol

This pic was so cute. I was packing my bag to get ready to head for home today- and Riley hopped in when I went to gather my stuff from the bathroom....Momma was not going to leave her behind!

Hope everyone had a great weekend