Randoms

1> Just made 80 Turkey Ricotta meatballs - we'll have some for dinner this afternoon, and the rest I'll freeze for later use. I still have a pan of Pumpkin Enchilada's in the freezer to take out sometime... I'll have to adjust the recipe when I make them again! (too much pumpkin, not enough meat..)

2> Mallory is growing up too quickly for me.. I don't remember if I did my own hair when I was 8... I'm sure that I combed it and all - it was straight as a stick and I had bangs, so it didn't take much doing. Mallory put sponge curlers in her hair all by herself last night - well Mark put the last one in on the back. She actually did a great job - when Blogger lets me, I'll put the picture up.
3> I am now a Den Leader for Cub Scouts - I recently had been working with the young girls age 10 & 11 in the Church, but now I get Cub Scouts. We only have 6 boys in both the Bear and Wolf dens combined - so it's pretty easy - weekly meetings - and fun things to do. I've never done Scouts before, and my son is 14 - so I'll have to get immersed in it all over again!

4> Jessica is loving choir in 7th grade! I almost wish that I'd started choir before 9th grade. We insisted she take choir for her elective, instead of band - she's been playing the flute for 2 years, like her mom. But she sings well, and we thought it would be a great experience. After the first day she came home exclaiming she LOVES choir! And they hadn't even sung anything yet! I knew that she would. An old director of mine claimed "all the best people are in choir!!" So True! In 20 years, it's not the people in your biology or math class that you'll remember, it's the people you met in music classes!! 5> I LOVE riding my bike- I get up at 5 am and ride for about an hour. Alongside the canals here it is paved so I ride a few miles there, and near a Riparian Preserve. It is a great route not on any main roads, so I get to avoid the traffic. My neighbor Beth goes with me Tues Thurs & Saturday - but the rest of the time I'm alone... Someone I go to church with said she's been watching for me to take my picture while riding... PEGGY is STALKING me! Lol! She takes pictures of EVERYONE she possibly can!

6> We are making S'mores in the oven for dessert this afternoon. I'm not sure how far two Hershey bars will go for 6 people, but we'll probably substitute some chocolate chips to make more.

7> Brennan is going out for the football team at the Jr High - he's grown so much over the summer - he is now taller than me. If we'd known how much of a time commitment it is for him, we may have been a bit more hesitant (not that we weren't already..) During the summer he did weight training for a 2-3 hours in the morning, and now along with his A-hour class that starts at 7:45, he gets out of school at 3:55 , comes home for a bite to eat, and back to practice at 6-9pm. Thankfully his last hour is his PE class, where they actually go to the library to do homework. We feel like we haven't seen him much the last couple of weeks!

8> I've made a few cutesy burp cloths - this is something I had a picture of, that wouldn't load! Using cloth diapers bought at Walmart or Target, sewed some fabric and or ribbon onto the ends, to make them a little cuter! I wish I'd have thought to done it when I had my own babies! I've seen others make them, this was not my idea... but it's fun to give them for shower gifts! 9> I vow to be a better blogger - I've gotten so hung up in Facebook... I should be better about better documenting things, rather than just doing one liners..

10> I had a wonderful 17th Anniversary at the beginning of this month with my dear husband - we went out to dinner at Coup de Tartes - a bistro type place in Phoenix. We had a three onion tart for appetizer - the crust was Sooo buttery. Mark had a filet, I had chicken, and we had a three berry tart for dessert.. aaaahhhh. So good. I love him- he is such a good man - he works so hard for our family - it's tough at his job - the drama gets to be too much sometimes, but he continues on to support our family! Thanks Mark, I love yoU!

And They're Off!!!!

FINALLY!! They're Back to School!!
If a 7 year old is ready at 6:20 in the morning, do you think she is excited to go back
to school??

If a 6th grader fusses with her hair and changes clothes a couple of times,

do you think SHE is ready to go back to school??

Um yeah.. I think so!

We went to Meet the Teacher last week, and I think the girls will

have a good year. They both have a friend or two in their class, and

some don't have students in their class that I'm GLAD are not in their

class (is that bad for me to say??)

Anyway, I can relax at work today, not waiting for a phone call

saying someone is being mean to me.

Whew...

Last one... off to 8th grade.. with his stylin' plaid shorts.

They are all the rage.