Wonders!

So, as many of you know, my life has changed dramatically in the last few years. I should probably be getting over that at this point but every day is a very sharp contrast to my previous life - which both have been good.

Tuesday we had our Cub Scout 'Blue and Gold' Banquet. I decided to wear a skirt for the event and even one of my nicer skirts and I put on hose too! This skirt was above the knee so quite a bit of my leg was exposed. I didn't change right when we got home (thankful for warmer weather), and so my hose covered legs were there during bed time stories.

Both of my boys were fascinated by how the hose felt on my legs. It was a very weird thing that both of them couldn't keep their hands off of the hose while I read to them. They were completely full of curiosity about panty hose - how did I put it on, why did I wear it and other questions. The contrast is that for the first many years of their life, I wore hose almost every day! Now, a few years later it is this great fascination.  The wonder of boys!

Broccoli Romaine Salad

I've brought this to many different events thanks to my friend Denise who gave me the recipe. (I can't bring to events where she is because it's one of her favorites to bring too.) 

Broccoli Romaine Salad

1 cup pecans

1 pkg Ramen noodles broken (discard seasoning)

3 T butter

1 bunch broccoli, coarsely chopped

1 head romaine lettuce, broken

4 spring onions

Sweet and Sour Dressing

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

3 T soy sauce

Combine dressing ingredients. Melt butter is medium frying pan and add pecans and noodles. Stir frequently to evenly brown.

In large salad bowl, combine lettuce, broccoli and onions. 

At the time of serving, combine lettuce mixture, with the noddle mixture and toss with desired amount of dressing. 

***Amy's notes***

I wrote the recipe as it was given to me.  All of my modifications are to the dressing except that I often forget to get onions though they do add to it! (Last night didn't have onions.)

I reduce the sugar by at least 1/4 cup. I also reduce the oil by 1/4 cup as well. I only use half a recipe of the dressing. It really is best to mix the ingredients right before serving and not ahead of time so the noodles stay crisp.

Enjoy!

Sign of Spring Coming!

I saw the tips of daffodils coming out of the ground today in multiple places in my yard! I love the daffodil blooms and knowing its a sure sign that spring is coming!

Missing my guys

It's been almost two weeks ago that they left on their vacation. I definitely miss them! It's been really fun doing my own things, but I kind of like doing their things too. This week I've seen their friends because I volunteered at their normal activities, but they weren't there and that definitely made me a little lonely for them.

I pray for a safe journey home and that they would have a wonderful time. Now I need to leave them in God's hands and off to get something done.

Thankful for my friend the past year

Last year during the Super Bowl, I got acquainted with the new couple that had started coming to our church. For some reason it took us a couple of months to actually meet each other because we never were there at the same time.  Looking back a year I am very thankful for our year of friendship. She challenges me to be more fun, more giving and take a different perspective on situations. Our runs have been great as well as games and movies and meals together!

I'm so happy that you moved here and decided to be my friend and your cute husband too. I hope that we have many more years together! Even if we don't get to live in the same place for very much longer, we'll have great memories of 2008!

My house will be lighter

While my boys are away having a grand time with aunt, I have decided that it's time to lighten my house. Right now I am purging preschool toys. If you are interested in any of these for yourself or some organization (i.e. church nursery), let me know. I would like these out of my house before the boys get back in so they don't arouse memories and subsequent pleadings to keep such items!

Sesame Street Picnic With Friends 24 piece box puzzle
Nick Jr Blue's room 24 piece box puzzle
**TAKEN** Sesame Street Bugs! 24 piece box puzzle
**TAKEN** Disney Winne the Pooh 24 piece box puzzle
**TAKEN** Sesame Street Garden 24 piece box puzzle
Blue's Clue 25 piece board puzzle (Blue & Pink in a pool with sand toys around them)
(All puzzles have all pieces are in really good condition.)

**TAKEN** Sesame Street Spanish-English Memory Match Card Games (hardly used)

The Mailbox Numbers for Little Learners grades PreK-K. This retails for 17.95 and has hardly been touched. It's not a workbook...it's activities for a mom/teacher to give to a child/ren. Find more info here.

**TAKEN** 4 Paint with Water Books that still have quite a few good pages in them (all used pages are gone)

Package of "Wipe-Off" books with 4 markers in a plastic container made to hold all of it. Newly cleaned.

**TAKEN** "Who Lives Where?" A Memory and Matching Game. It comes in a very nice wooden case. It's a fun game for matching for little ones. http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Where-Wooden-Memory-Matching/dp/B00011F5LM 

Trivia Pursuit DVD Pop Culture Board Game (not a preschool game...just something that we haven't played)

Alphabet Bingo by Trend Enterprises (up to 36 players)

2 Play-a-Sound Wipe Off Talking Activity Books - Clifford and Little People

Bob the Builder Counting Hammer

Fisher Price Guitar-Violin

**TAKEN** Stacked Car Track where the cars flip over as they go from one track to the next. There are no markings on this as to who makes it and what it may actually be called. It was lots of fun when the boys were smaller.

Rescue Heroes Aquatic Command Center

Green Tractor that has buttons on it and it moves and plays music

Fisher Price Dog Xylophone

**TAKEN** Magnetic Alphabet Letters

6 Pom-poms - blue, yellow, red

**TAKEN** Card Games:
Go Fish (one large, one small)
Bible Crazy Eights
Noah Card Game
Battle of Jericho Card Game
Jonah Go Fish
Noah's Ark Matching

Foam Letters (about 3 inches tall)

Foam interlocking squares that have letters and numbers and corresponding pictures. The pictures "punch" out.

I may post more as I clean out more boxes from the storage room.

(For those who delight in goals and statistics...I'm up to one box of junk, one large, overflowing box of items listed here, a large bag of recycled paper, a few items to Freecycle, 20 plastic containers to Head Start and a bag of winter gear to Partnership [foster care, etc.]. Oh, the stack of too small clothes is growing well too.)

Sickness without TV

This weekend I had a new challenge! I came down with some flu symptoms and was in bed for close to a day. What's a person to do in bed when they aren't feeling well? My entire life, I watched TV in this situation. Well, we don't have any TV reception!

So, what did I do? I read and when I was too tired to read, I actually went to sleep. Sleeping is what I should be doing anyway, right? I could have watched a movie or brought up something on the Internet from one of our laptops, but I was content with my other activities. I may have made myself get out of bed a little faster too because I wasn't being sucked into more and more TV shows!

Yes, we can survive without TV reception though I would have enjoyed watching the football games yesterday. If we were all well then we probably would have sought out someone watching the game...but didn't wish to infect any other households.