And we're off!

Y'all!

Today is the day!

We head to the airport around noon to start our adventure to Ireland. 

It's a scary time to be traveling due to the  latest terrorist attacks. The weather is going to be cold, rainy and gray in Ireland.   And I never got our taxes completed.

But we aren't going to let any of that stop us from enjoying our trip.  (Although I'm pretty sure the kids aren't really that worried about our taxes not being done, but it sure is annoying me!)

And since we will be visiting Down Cathedral which is the burial place of St. Patrick, I thought I'd share this:

If you think about it, we would appreciate prayers for safe travels and great memories made.

Procrastinating...

I just finished up some PTO work and should really be starting our taxes but that doesn't sound very exciting so here I am.

Dan finally got back from his trip around 10:00 PM on Monday.  And of course due to cancelled and rebooked flights his luggage didn't make it home until yesterday afternoon so I'm also knee deep in over a weeks worth of his laundry.

But he's home!  And I'm happy.  The week went well - mostly spent moving the kids from one place to another - but I'm always glad to have him back.

Prior to leaving Berlin, he sent me this photo:

Yes, that's correct.  My husband is surrounded by 14 beautiful Emerates  flight attendants from around the world. Made me feel a little less bad that he had been working so hard all week. 

And in case you are interested, here's a picture of the seats my husband's company is currently building for Emerates:

And just to clarify, when I say "my husband's company" it's not a company that my husband owns but the company my husband works for - lest you think my husband is wealthy entrepreneur.

These are business class seats - which means they are nicer than the regular seats but not as nice as first class.  You've seen the first class seats right?  The ones in the commercial with Jennifer Aniston.

The seats my husband is working on lays flat and there's a minibar.  Not bad for business class!

Anyway, enough about airplane seats.

I'm getting excited about our trip to Ireland.  The weather is going to be not so lovely - highs in the low 50s and cloudy/rainy which is a bummer since it's in the 80s here today.

I can't believe a week from now we will be on our way to the airport!

Well, I can procrastinate no longer.  I guess it's time to work on our taxes so I don't have that to deal with when we get back from our trip.  Happy Wednesday, everyone!

A quick and easy meal that acutally tasted good!

Peter's been bugging me to make salmon.  He thinks he likes fish.  He actually really wants to like fish because his Uncle Bob loved fish. However, the only fish he can eat and sort of enjoy is salmon.

Dan, who hates fish, (the taste, the texture, the smell, all of it - except he will occasionally tuna salad for lunch during Lent) is out of town so Peter suggested this would be a perfect time to have salmon.

Since Sarah has never had it, I thought what the heck.  I like salmon but have never had a chance to prepare it since Dan doesn't eat it and figured this would be my chance to give it a whirl.

I searched for a recipe and kept coming finding the brown sugar and butter versions and while I know those would be yummy, I am dieting and would prefer a more healthy option.

I found a very easy recipe for Baked Salmon with Parmesan Herb Crust over at Add A Pinch.  And y'all!  It did not disappoint.  It was quick and easy to make and the kids enjoyed it.  (Well, Peter more than Sarah but she ate a lot of it considering it was her first try.)  I didn't have any fresh parsley so I used dried and it worked fine.  Other than that, I followed her instructions to a tee and it came out great. 

I wanted roasted broccoli to go with it and found this great  recipe at The Cookie Rookie for Roasted Lemon Parmesan Broccoli. This broccoli was yummy and also had Parmesan cheese so it paired nicely with the salmon.  And the best part?  The broccoli  cooks at the same temp as the salmon so I was able to cook both at the same time!  

I had some crusty bread for the kids but since I'm trying to lose a few pounds, I skipped the bread and added a salad with feta and Greek dressing.  Yes, I know it's a very cheesy meal but don't worry - it's all on my healthy eating plan so I could enjoy it without guilt!

If you're looking for a new salmon recipe, I would definitely give this one a try!

Keeping busy until Monday!

Dan hopped a jet plane and headed to Berlin on Sunday evening and won't be back until Monday night.  <<>>

He sent me this picture of his hotel room:

Isn't this the most depressing hotel room ever?  And look at the size of that bed!  Its so tiny!

He's been working until 10:00 pm since he got there and has been calling me at 1:00 AM Berlin time when he has just gotten home from dinner.  From  DINNER!!!

While he's been working his rear off in Berlin, the kids and I have just been doing our thing here.

Sarah's really digging her swimming. Here she is working on her favorite stroke.

And here she is adjusting her goggles.

Oh!  And I forgot to mention that last Friday Peter attended his first middle school dance!  And even though for most of the evening there was a lot of girls dancing in groups and boys goofing around in groups, the middle school teachers  bribed  encouraged them to dance together.  They did this by offering homework passes to anyone that danced with a member of the opposite sex. 

Peter danced with two girls and got a science pass and a social studies pass.  He was thrilled.  I talked to one of the girl's moms yesterday at track practice and she said her daughter told her that Peter looked and her and said, "Let's just do this for the homework pass and get it over with."  And the girl agreed and so they danced.

The beauty of the bribe encouragement was that they had an "excuse" to dance together and now they have done it, they didn't die and they realize that it wasn't the worst thing in the world. 

The best part is, the mom told me that Peter danced with  his fingertips on the girl's shoulders so he was the maximum distance he could be away from her while still getting the homework pass.  That sounds about right.

I wish I had a picture of THAT!

The rest of the week contains science project work, PTO meetings, more swimming and a basketball end of the year party.   That sounds like just enough to keep us all busy until Monday when Dan finally gets home.

Better than I thought.

Yesterday was the first track practice of the season.  The coach had to switch things up a bit this year due to some scheduling conflicts.  In the past, K-3 has practiced on Tuesdays and 4-8 has practiced on Thursdays and the whole team practiced together on Sundays.  This year though, she's having everyone practice on Tuesday and Thursday with no Sunday practice.

It's a bit of a bummer because Sarah will be swimming on Thursday evenings so we will only be able to make the Tuesday practices.  I asked if she wanted to try to do both on Thursdays and she felt like she wouldn't have enough time for her homework and she really, really, really, really wants to swim two nights a week.  (I love that she's worried about getting her homework done!)  So only going to half the track practices seems like the best alternative.

Track practice with all the grades went better than anticipated.  It was a bit chaotic at times but the kindergarteners actually listened very well (it helped that we had a lot of parent volunteers) and the big kids did a good job helping the little ones. 

At one point in the practice each of the grades was running sprints up a steep hill/incline.  The 8th and 7th grade went first and the Kindergartners were next.  The older kids waited at the top of the hill and then walked back with the little kids to make sure they were safe. 

I wish I had taken a picture of a bunch of 8th grade boys holding kindergartner's hands and walking with them and talking with them.  It was absolutely the sweetest thing. 

Sarah was running well although she complained of being very sore this morning.  And Peter, thanks to his height was able to outrun a couple kids he hasn't been able to outrun before. 

Hopefully we have great weather (I really hate standing out in the rain during track meets) and a good season because between scouts, track, swimming and homework, the schedule is starting to get a little crazy around here.  And I don't like crazy!