Fourteen is...

Fourteen is....

intelligent

funny

handsome

moody

friendly

introverted

conservative

patriotic

tenderhearted

Fourteen loves to...

go camping

play on the computer

keep up to date on current events

read about history and wars

listen to Iron Maiden and Sabaton while doing his homework

hang out with his friends

hang out outside by himself

make his sister angry

eat BBQ, milk shakes and pizza 

Google anything he doesn't know

spend time with his Uncle Brad

procrastinate

 sleep late

Fourteen has my heart. 

Happy Birthday, Peter!

A bunch of random...

I have an appointment with the eye doctor today and I'm going to bite the bullet.  After trying to wear two different types of bifocal contacts (they are the worst), I'm going to glasses - bifocals no less.  And I think I'm going to wear them full time and ditch the contacts. 

I am so tired of not being able to read anything without pulling out my reading glasses. Menus, my phone, labels on food, etc. all require that I locate my reading glasses and it's becoming extremely annoying.  So, I'm throwing my vanity out the window and I'm going to start wearing glasses.

I just hope I can find some that I like.  I need a pair that's cute, trendy without making me look like I'm trying to look like a 20-something hipster, and well, cute. 

I need to find something in between these...

(Which by the way, look extremely similar to the ones I wore in the early 80s before I got contacts.)

And these...

(Which come up when you google "eye glasses trends for 2016".)

Anyway, wish me luck!  I think Dan is a little nervous that I'm going to come home wearing a giant pair of trendy glasses.  We'll see...   (Get it?  We'll SEE!!!)

And in other randomness, the middle school kids had their annual Visual Vocabulary Day last Monday.  They have to chose a word and dress up in a costume that represents the word.  And then the elementary kids come in and look at all the words.  It's a fun tradition at our school that everyone looks forward to. 

But my kids picked the worst words.  Sarah picked despondent and Peter picked haggard.  I don't know why they couldn't pick NOUNS which would be some much easier to dress as but they did the best they could and here's what we came up with...

She made a rain cloud and she's sitting under it.  It's supposed to be like the commercial for that drug for depression where they cloud follows the person around.  Anyway, I thought she did a good job with a hard word.

And Peter is looking haggard while being unshaven and wearing a suit that's way to big for him with ripped pockets. 

I tried to find a long stringy haired wig but all the Halloween wigs I could find were mullets, clown hair, gogo dancer bobs, etc.  I was looking for homeless man stringy hair and could not find it anywhere so we had to settle for a beard.

 The oversized suit came from the Goodwill Outlet.  The Goodwill near us has the regular side with clothes on a rack that you pay for by the piece and another side to the store which has clothes in giant bins and you pay for everything by the pound.  It was a little disconcerting to see people sorting through these bins because  I'm pretty sure they weren't shopping for costumes.

 The school held a pep rally last week before the basketball tournament.  They announced the boys basketball team before they started doing drills and here is Peter being announced...

I guess he's hamming it up to get applause from the kids in the stands.  Look at his friend's faces.  I guess they are as shocked as I am that Peter would be hamming it up in front of an audience. Totally out of character for my boy. 

And here is a picture of him from the first game taking a foul shot...

And here's one final bit of random.

This is me and my trunk at the Halloween Hullabaloo.  Nothing scarier than a trunk full of dollar store bones and tombstones and ghosts! 

And that's all the random I can dig up for today!

And that was our weekend....

Peter's team won their first game on Friday!  And that was good news because it meant we only had to play one game on Friday and it also meant that Dan would be home to see the next game on Saturday.

He got home from his red eye flight just in time to head to the game.  Sarah had a camping trip with her girl scout troop so she missed the basketball games the rest of the weekend but she said she had a great time.

The boys won their Saturday morning game which meant they stayed in the winners bracket and didn't have to play again until Sunday morning.  So we had the rest of the afternoon free.  Since we were expecting to be playing in the losers bracket on Saturday afternoon we had no plans. Which meant we came home and did nothing.  I enjoy doing nothing but Dan does not.  He kept saying we should go on a hike. And it was a beautiful day for a hike but Peter didn't want to and before we knew it, it was almost almost 5:00 which was too late to go for a hike.

The basketball game on Sunday was at 9:00 AM and Peter had to be at the gym at 8:15. We dropped him off and headed to McDonald's for breakfast.  Well, Dan had breakfast, I  had a mocha. I don't like breakfast food but  I do love  a good mocha.

My parents watched the game with us and the boys lost.  And it was ugly.  The team we lost to is from a very large school in Charlotte and their coach is very, um, let's say intense for lack of a better word.  After we lost, we left Peter at the gym and we picked up Sarah from her camping trip.

She smelled like the campfire and wasn't interested in going to watch the next game so we let her stay home and then we headed back to see Peter's team put up a good fight but lose again.  So, they managed to get third place so it wasn't a total bust.  It was a good way to kick off the basketball season.  I think Peter's team has a lot of potential this season!

After the second Sunday game, I came home and took a nap (it was only twenty minutes but it was still a nap!) and Dan watched some football.  Then we all headed to Mass and were all very sad to see that when we came out of church at 6:00 PM it was pitch black.  I enjoy the light in the mornings after we turn the clocks back but I have a hard time adjusting to the dark.

And now it's Monday.  The kids are at school and Dan is at work.  He may or may not have to go back to Seattle today so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn't.  I need to head to the grocery store and catch up on laundry and now you are all caught up too. 

7QT! Pictures and even a video!

Let's do some quick takes, shall we? 

1.  Y'all!! We've had such a warm fall here that my dahlias are blooming again!  They bloomed all summer and then died and we cut them down and now look! I'm hoping that it stays warm long enough for them to open and that I can cut  a few to bring inside.

2. Every weekend, Sarah makes a dessert for Sunday lunch at my parent's house.  Last weekend she made this:

That's homemade caramel in between a cookie crust and a dark chocolate ganache.  So much yum.  It is a really decadent dessert and was super easy.  If you are interested in whipping one up, the recipe can be found here.

3. This weekend will be full of basketball (hopefully)! Our school hosts a basketball tournament at the beginning of every basketball season.  It's the athletic booster club's biggest fundraiser of the year.  Peter's team plays this afternoon.  If they win tonight, we move into the Saturday games BUT if they lose tonight then we have to play another game tonight.  It's double elimination so if they lose the second game, it's over for them.  If they win the first and lose the second then they still get to play on Saturday.  Dan won't be back from Seattle until tomorrow morning (poor thing is taking the red eye), so I hope they can win one game today so he can watch tomorrow.

4. So I've just discoverd why so many grown women take selfies in their car.  (Which for some reason strikes be as ridiculous.) 

But y'all!  Look!  The large sunglasses cover my eye wrinkles and the sun coming through the car windows makes for a natural blemish removing filter.  And if you keep your lips closed (although no duck mouth for me, thank you very much, I do have some pride!) your crooked teeth don't show.
(However, you could risk looking like you are smirking but that's a small price to pay for a picture where your skin looks like it did 15 years ago!)

5.  Peter's expander is working wonders already.  You know how we know?  He is developing a gap between his two front teeth.  He keeps looking at himself in the mirror in awe of the gap.  When I mentioned that was great progress for a week and a half he looked shocked.  "I've only had these braces on for a week and a half??  It feels like I've had them on forever."  Not sure if that's a good sign or not but he has definitely gotten used to them.  Although when he eats,  he looks like a dog eating peanut butter.

6.What?  Your cats don't hang out in the bathtub??

7.And just for fun.. A typical day in the car.  Sarah smiling and Peter frowning.  I love how God gave me kids with two totally different temperaments!  I guess it makes parenting more interesting!!

Have a great weekend every one!  And head over to Kelly's place for more 7QT.

The zoo!

Yesterday I was a driver/chaperone for the 7th grade class field trip to the N.C. Zoo in Asheboro.

I typically don't like to drive for field trips.  There are some parents that love to go on field trips but I'm not one of them.  But they were short on drivers so I drove!

It was a great day to go to the zoo.  It was sunny and the high for the day was 80.  However, most of the walking paths are in the shade so  it was very comfortable all day.

The N.C. Zoo is on 550 acres and by the time I got home last night, I felt as if I had walked every one of them.

We arrived at the zoo around 9:15 and left at 2:00.  We sat down for 20 minutes to eat lunch but the entire rest of that time we were walking or standing.  After we got back to the school I had a PTO board meeting and then I waited in the gym for Peter to finish basketball practice.  As I was waiting on Peter my legs started aching and all I could think was, "I need an Advil.  STAT!"  And then I realized that a couple of the kids from the field trip were finishing up their two hour basketball practice and I felt like a wimp.  A real OLD wimp.

As soon as we got home, I downed an Advil and relaxed like the old lady that I am and the kids were on their own to fix dinner because while I was looking at the elephants, I got a call from Dan saying that he was on his way to the airport to go to Seattle for a few days.  The night before, he had gotten a text saying he would probably have to go and sure enough, he had to leave work yesterday, pack and bag and hop on a flight. Good times.

Here are a few pictures I took yesterday.

Margaret, Gabi, and Sarah

Sarah and Brooke

The whole class!

I got to hang out with these girls all day. 

They insisted on a goofy picture!

It was a fun day but I'm glad to be at home resting today.  :)

We finally got around to carving ye olde pumpkin.

I hope everyone had a lovely Halloween.  Ours was uneventful.  The kids, being in 7th and 8th grade, decided that they were too old to trick-or-treat so they didn't go out.  We did, however, finally carve our pumpkin.  Better late than never I suppose.

Here's a few pictures from that...

Dan normally draws the pumpkin face before we carve but Sarah wanted to do it this year.  So, he grudgingly let her.

Sarah had some difficulty getting the knife in.

After they finally got the lid off, they started digging the seeds out.

And just to prove that I was really there, I made Sarah snap a couple with me in it even though my make up is long gone and my hair could use a brush.  Hence the black and white....

And one of me and my love...

Oh my goodness...by the looks of these photos, I've married my father-in-law.  Y'all, we are getting old!!!!

Note the cue photobomber!

And even though they are too old for this too, I made them take a picture in front of the pumpkin.  It's tradition after all!

The patio is painted and after this I will never mention it again.

I know you guys are dying to know about our patio.  Okay, so probably not but that's what I'm going to talk about right now so you've been warned.

On Friday, or Fri-yay as the internet loves to call it, I stopped at Sherwin Williams and got three quart sized containers of paint.  They were $7 each so I felt like that was a bargain as opposed to picking one color, getting a $55 gallon and then hating it.

On Saturday we painted the three sample colors over the fire engine red patio and this was the result:

And oddly, in this picture, the patio looks more orange than red, but trust me, it was red.  In fact, Sarah's friend who was spending the night on Friday opened the back door and I could hear her say, "Wow!  That's red!"  And lots of giggling ensued.

Anyway, the color that we both liked the best was the one on the right.  Although I felt it was looking a little purple (which doesn't show up in this picture).  I was sort of leaning to the one on the top because it looked more clay pottish which was what I was going for but Dan really wanted a more brick color.

So we went back to Sherwin Williams for 2 gallons of the color on the right (which coincidentally was the one that I was going to get in the first place when I opted to take the sample route.  So now I feel like I sort of wasted the $20 on the sample paint. 

We got to work painting the patio and the color was looking good but as we got closer to the sample squares, it was apparent that the color was totally different than the sample. Well, not totally but it looked more brick like and less purple.  Which was actually a very good thing!  However, it made me wonder what the heck happened with the sample color. 

It looks better although I really wish I had stuck to my guns about getting a more clay looking color.  I think a more clay color would look better with the acutal brick on our house.  But then, I  figured I would run the risk of it looking really orange and I didn't want that either.  So I guess we are both  happy with the color of the patio although my brother still says it's too red.  It's definitely still red, but it's brick red now and not fire engine red.  And when we get the table put back and the grill back out there, hopefully it will be a non-issue.

In other weekend news, Peter had his Confirmation Retreat all day Saturday.  He was dreading it but it sounds like it wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be.  They watched videos, had small group discussions, played games, at lunch, and went to confession.  And luckily, two of this friends from school were among the 70 kids there and that made it much more enjoyable for him.

I've got a busy week ahead...basketball practice, driving for a field trip to the zoo, going to a Christmas show with some friends, lunch with the Catholic high school admissions counselors, and a weekend full of basketball tournament action.

7QT: It's Fri-yay! And please don't hate me because I said Fri-yay.

It's Friday!  Or Fri-yay!  Whatever you want to call it, it means the weekend has arrived.

So in honor, let's do 7 Quick Takes.

1.  I think I have settled on a color.  I am 100% certain that it will not look good.  In fact, Dan has already suggested that I only pick up one gallon instead of the necessary 2 so that we can abort half way through if it looks terrible.  I think I'm also going to see if Sherwin Williams offers smaller sample sizes.  The paint we have to use for the patio is an epoxy so I'm certain they won't offer smaller sizes in that, but if I can at least get a little regular paint in the sample color then perhaps we can do a small area just to make sure it isn't going to look horrible before buying the epoxy.  And of course, even though Sherwin Williams frequently has 40% off sales, that's only on paint and supplies and doesn't ever include the epoxy.  Wish me luck.

2.  Yesterday Peter and his classmates visited the local Catholic high school.  He came home ready for high school.  He said he's excited to go.  I asked him if there were any good classes they offered that he was excited about and his response was "all the history classes".  He is his father's son.

3.  Mari asked for the Ooey Gooey Butter Bar Recipe so here it is!  As we know, it's quick to whip up and once again this week, every one was sold!  And how do I know?  My kids always want to buy one but they said they are always gone before they get to the cafeteria.  Maybe if I was a good mom, I would make a batch for my own kids! 

4. Sarah's last seasonal swim practice was last night.  She's a little bummed that she won't be in the pool again until the spring but I'm a little relieved.  One less thing for me to drive to and more time for homework and relaxation for Sarah.

5. And with fall swimming winding down, that means basketball season has begun.  Sarah was good about planning ahead and getting work done before it's due date to make sure that she had time for swimming.  My boy is not as good with that.  Although I have been trying to remember to ask him if there are things he can work ahead on so that he has less to do on practice nights and he actually has done that when possible.  There's hope for my last minute boy yet!  (Although, based on the Ooey Gooey Butter Bar incident the other night, I think we all know where he gets it!)

6.  Sarah and I have been loving this salad lately although Dan and Peter won't touch it with a ten foot pole.  They don't know what they are missing!

It's Kale, goat cheese crumbles, cranberries, diced apples, and sunflower seeds mixed with a homemade dressing.  The recipe for the dressing is:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 t. maple syrup
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 t. Dijon mustard
Combine all ingredients, mix well and toss in with salad.  Serve right away.

So yummy and so easy. Whenever I use Kale in a salad, I always buy the pre-chopped in a bag and then I rip it up more before using it.  The smaller the kale pieces, the easier it is to get down.  I like the flavor and the health benefits of Kale, but sometimes chewing a large piece can be a lot of work!

7. We've got a busy weekend.  Sarah's having a sleepover tonight and Peter has an all day conformation retreat on Saturday.  And of course, there will be patio painting!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Paint swatches and baked goods.

Yesterday I stopped by Sherwin Williams to pick up a few paint samples that I thought might look better than Bolero aka Fire Engine Red.  (Although in my defense, when you look at the tiny Bolero sample, it really looks like a nice brownish red. I even laid the sample on the patio because I just KNEW that it wasn't the same as the sample and of course, it was an exact match.)

Here's what I came home with:

Surely one of these will look better than what is currently on the patio.  When Dan got home from work he immediately poo-pooed all of these except five.  We took them out to the patio and laid them on top of the Bolero and I immediately poo-pooed all of them except one. 

However, I still need to think about this a little bit more before I made the purchase of two more gallons of epoxy and Dan invests several hours of his time on a Saturday. 

My Dad actually likes the Bolero aka Fire Engine Red and thinks we should keep it.  I think my Dad must be color blind! 

Sarah had a boatload of homework and swim practice yesterday as well.  She worked diligently until time for swim practice, came home and ate dinner and then worked diligently until well past her bedtime to get everything done.  However, I could tell she was getting frustrated.  Her math wasn't coming easily to her and took way more time than she anticipated which cut into her study time for some of the tests she has today.  But she persevered and I told her what moms throughout the ages have been telling their kids, "Just do your best."

Meanwhile, at 9:30 PM, I bolted up off the couch that I had just happily settled into and yelled, "Peter!  It's your group's time for baked goods tomorrow!!  I totally forgot!!!"

Peter's 8th grade class (as well as I think all of the 8th grades before his) have been doing a weekly bake sale to raise funds to help pay for their trip in the spring to Washington, DC.  The class is split into two groups and each group rotates every other week bringing in baked goods for the sale.

For the first several times, my mom made the baked goods for us since I was without a kitchen.  And she always had them completed and to us in the early afternoon of the day before they were due.

This apple, unfortunately, has fallen far far away from her tree. 

So I raced downstairs at 9:30 to make a batch of Ooey Gooey Butter Bars.  That's what mom has made previously and Peter said they sell out every time.  And what's not to love about them - they are full of butter, powder sugar, and cream cheese.

I do commend myself for actually having purchased the ingredients previously so at least I didn't have to send in items scavanged from the pantry.  Wonder if kids would pay 50 cents for a Little Debbie oatmeal cookie because y'all, that was going to be plan B.  Although, in hind site, I guess Plan B could have been making them this morning and then taking them to school right before lunch when the sell the baked goods.  

This whole school year I feel like I'm just barely getting things done in the knick of time.  And even then it all feels a bit half-assed.  I used to be so on top of things and so together. 

I think I just need to sit down with my calendar and my planner and make sure I get everything written down.  Because life is a lot like my grocery list....if it's not written down, it never makes it into the cart.


And as I read back over that last sentence, I had to laugh...I don't even have a planner! I keep meaning to get one but I never remember put it on my grocery list! 

Happy Wednesday, Y'all!