Trout for Lunch

I have been trying to eat more fish lately, and so I picked up a couple rainbow trout at the grocery store. I am always a bit nervous when I prepare it, because fish isn't always cheap, so I don't want to ruin it. I'm also trying to get my kids hooked on fish, so I want to make it in a way that they'll like it too.
Here is what I did, but I may not be doing exact measurements!

I patted the fish dry with a paper towel. The oven was preheating at 475. On the inside of the whole boneless trout, I sprinkled in kosher salt, added pepper, and white truffle butter(I think the special butter added a richness of flavor!). I cut up lemon slices and put them inside the trout and then closed the trout. I added lemon slices on top of the skin after I coated the skin with some olive oil drizzle. I baked for about 24 minutes. When I pulled it out, I warmed up some citrus soy sauce from Wegman's. I sauteed some mushrooms in butter on the cooktop as a side dish.

Delicious meal! My kids loved it and said it was the best fish they have ever had. Even my husband liked it. The kids didn't care for the sauce, so that is why I served in a side bowl and just spooned some onto my own fish. Truthfully the sauce was delicious, but the fish was still excellent without it too.  Such a simple meal, but so tasty! I can't wait to make it again.

12 Years Together

This weekend we celebrated our 12th anniversary.  I think this was one of our best anniversaries ever!
For starters, we had a date night on Friday.  We went to one of our favorite places, Coastal Flats.  My husband had reserved a table that morning, so when we got there that evening, the staff was expecting our arrival. We got many congrats from the employees.  Phil ordered his usual, the delicious steak, and I got the scrumptious pecan crusted trout.  The food there never disappoints. We turned down dessert since we were full, but then our server came back and said that he would give it to us for free. I don't know about you, but I don't turn down free $7 desserts, especially if chocolate is an option. We ordered the chocolate waffle. Delicious! Turns out the staff had prepared a special hand drawn card for us, and they all signed the back. Our dessert had chocolate words drawn on the plate, congratulating us on 12 years. We ended the night by going to see the Hunger Games.
One reason we celebrated early is because Father's Day fell on our anniversary this year. We took a long time coming up with a plan for Father's Day, and we still hadn't figured out our plans except to go to church. Well between services, Phil got the most brilliant idea ever.  He asked me if we could pull off going to Ocean City, MD after second service. Well, if you know me at all, you'll know I didn't hesitate about an offer to go to the beach! 
After church, we told the surprised and very excited kids. We rushed home, grabbed some stuff, asked a neighbor to watch the dog, and hopped in the car. No fancy Father's Day lunch today, just McDonald's for the road! We arrived in Ocean City at 4:30 pm.  We put our toes in the water, walked the boardwalk, indulged in Fisher's popcorn and Kohr's ice cream.  We had dinner at Lobster Shanty at Fenwick Island.  We ended the evening by playing a round of indoor miniature golf at 10:30 at night. 
We reluctantly got back in the car and drove home, getting back about 2:30 a.m. so my husband could go to work in the morning.
Was it worth it? Absolutely! We had an amazing anniversary and Father's Day! The memories of this weekend will stay with us for many years to come.

Plants versus Zombies Cake

My son wanted a Plants vs. Zombies theme for his seventh birthday. I wasn't too excited about the zombie part, but the plants I can handle. This pea shooter cake was the perfect compromise. I looked around the internet for ideas, and decided on this cute pea shooter. My husband is artistic with cakes, so he worked on the design and then decorated the cake. I made the cake, but that is the easy part. Dave, my son, was absolutely thrilled. Watch out zombies, we have a pea shooter!

Pool Fun

Today was a gorgeous summer day. I went to the pool with my sister. We hung out and read magazines and talked, while the kids splashed and played in the water. Here are some photos from our relaxing afternoon. Christina playing with her water doll. She has a
December birthday, so up until now it has been just a
bath toy.Christina and her cousin Joshua playing together at the pool.
Christina and her cousin Jason playing.
Dave showing his muscles, cousin Jenny, and Andrew. They all have passed their swim test so they can go all over the pool. Days like this make me wish summer could last all year round. Sometimes I want to pause time; the kids are growing so fast!

Stink Bag

So the other day I was on a walk with my cutie dog Pepper. We usually walk about 2 miles. Well, I must have been distracted because I realized I had dropped one of her poop bags. I looked behind me, and it was no where in sight. I had no desire to retrace my steps to find it, but I still felt bad leaving a bag of "stuff" on the sidewalk.
Fast forward two days, and I decided to go on my usual walk again. I was happy to find the bag of dog leftovers on a street corner. I must have dropped it when I was rounding the corner. Well, trying to be a good neighbor, I picked up the bag from two days ago. I continued on my walk.
As I kept walking, this jogger ran past me and gave me a strange look. I looked down, and the dog bag was leaking. It was all over my shirt, pants, and legs. Ugh!! It had rained the night before, and I didn't realize the bag had a leak and had filled with water. I found a nearby trashcan and discarded the bag. I don't usually like to use other people's trashcans, but I was not about to carry the bag and leaking contents the rest of the way home!
Anyway, I made it home with the doggy, told my husband my disgusting story, and hopped into the shower.
Lesson learned!

Cute Conversation

Christina: Why did God make kids?
David: So they would enjoy the world He made.
Christina: How did He make them?
David: He just said "Let there be boys and girls" and there were boys and girls.
Christina: How did He make princesses; Did He just say, "Let there be princesses" and there were princesses?

Sometimes it is fun to just listen in to the sweet conversations.

Something Magical

Yesterday, my son Dave lost his tooth. It had been loose for awhile, and around dinner time he pulled it out himself. It was so fun to see his excitement!
We soon began discussing the tooth fairy coming to visit. He was a little worried the tooth fairy would be busy and forget to come by. Dave knew that a teen in our church had lost a baby tooth on the same day, so the tooth fairy had more than one stop to make.
The tooth fairy made her appearance. Dave was delighted to find a pile of coins in his room this morning. He was also thrilled to discover the GLITTERY fairy dust trail that led from his bed to the windowsill. I was so excited when my little baby Dave grew that first tooth and now I'm just as proud that only a hole remains where that sweet little tooth used to be.

Oops

All the kids are in bed.
We hear one coming down the stairs.
It is Dave, for probably the fourth time.
"Why are you up, what is it?" we say.
Dave says, "Andrew never tells on me anymore" he brags.
"Well, is there something that you are doing that Andrew should be telling us about?"
Dave gets a guilty look and realizes he's been caught.
"Yes, I was playing with a little Lego piece."

Small Town Night in the Suburbs

Last night we had a fun time as a family. We headed over to Jerry's Pizza for dinner. Phil and I have been going to that Jerry's since we were dating. One of the employees over there always recognizes us. She has been watching our kids grow up over the years. She still remembers when we carried them into the pizza place as babies. Phil got his usual sub, and we also ordered a large pizza(half cheese, half sausage). Oh, and don't forget one super size order of fries! We enjoyed devouring all that yummy food and letting the kids make silly faces in the big mirrors that cover most of the walls.
Next, we headed over to Milwaukee Frozen Custard for dessert. We walked in and found out they are now serving funnel cake. Yum! This was the first night they were selling funnel cake, and we were the first ones to buy one. It was delicious and cheaper than getting it at an amusement park. Al brought it straight to our table, proud to serve his first one. We weren't disappointed. The kids and I also got chocolate custard. So good! If you've never been to Milwaukee Frozen Custard, I highly recommend it. It has a definite small town feel.
We spent a little while in Milwaukee Custard, allowing the kids to enjoy the silly mirror, the train, and the dessert. When we got home, we put the kids to bed, and then Phil and I watched one of our favorite shows called "Lie to Me."
There is no other way I'd rather spend my Friday nights than with my family, making memories.

My Baby is Four!

Just a few days after Christmas, my youngest child had a birthday. I can't believe she is already four. Time is flying. We were visiting my parents on her birthday. We decided to let her be princess for the day. My mom took just us girls out for a nice lunch at Cracker Barrel. Christina(my daughter) ate two GIANT pancakes. She wore her crown during the outing and loved all the attention she got wearing it. Christina is into all things pink and princess at this stage. It is so fun watching her grow up. On December 8th she accepted Christ as her Savior. She is now in God's family. Thank you Lord for my daughter and her faith in You!

Cover to Cover

One of my goals for 2011 is to read the whole Bible. I have done this before, but I'd like to read through it again. Our church is offering small group Bible studies this year for people who have this goal, and I think it is wonderful because it will help me stay accountable. I wasn't sure that I was going to accept this challenge, but my husband helped motivate me. He's never read the entire Bible. I am already slightly behind the reading schedule, but I am catching up. It is not too late to start reading if you want to join me in this goal :) I think the last time I did this was for a college class. It's about time that I did it again!

Going through the Valley

I just learned a couple days ago about a friend from college whose husband suddenly died right before Christmas. My heart breaks for her. Her husband's case of the flu turned deadly. She is a wonderful writer and has been sharing her heart on her blog. Please pray for my friend Tricia and her two little boys as they get through this tragedy. This is her account of the day he died and this is the link to the rest of her blog. She really has a way with words. I'm sure she could use all the encouragement she can get right now.

Baby Turtles

Okay, so first I want to apologize that I never gave an update on Freckles the turtle. I want to be a better blogger this year. Back in August, the turtle eggs did hatch. We enjoyed observing the babies for a couple days before we let them go. Here are some pictures of the little cute box turtles. This was the coolest nature lesson right in our own front yard. It was fun learning more about God's creation.

Dancing away the Pounds

My husband and kids gave me a fun new Wii game for Christmas. It is called "Just Dance". You can compete with friends and try to be the best dancer by following the moves on the screen. I pulled it out the other day and played it with the kids. I beat the boys easily. However, my daughter beat me every time. She just turned four. I don't know whether to be proud or embarrassed.

A New Counter

If you look at the bottom of my blog, you will see something new. It is my weight loss tracker! Before you rush down there to see how much I weigh, I'll let you know that it doesn't have my actual weight on there. It just has my goal of pounds to lose. Maybe one day if I get brave and lose all the weight, I'll mention my starting weight but right now I'm not telling!!
Anyway, I like watching my progress and something about making myself accountable to the world is very motivating. That's why I put it on my blog.
My battle plan is to follow the Weight Watcher plan(although I'm not going to the actual meetings). I'm using the Flex Points plan. I also want to up my exercise whether it is long walks with the dog or playing on the Wii Fit. I am so determined to do this!
So even if you never look at my ticker, I'm going to pretend lots of people are watching so that I can feel a sense of accountability. By summer, I hope to have to go out and by some new outfits :)

One of Those Days

If you have kids, you will know what I'm talking about when I say I wish I could have protected my son Andrew from having a bad day.

- He had a rough start this morning when he somehow hit his own nose on a box he was holding. There was blood everywhere. Not huge amounts, just in lots of places such as his shirt, the floor, the carpet, his pants. . . lots of drips. We got it stopped fairly quickly, and he even made it to school on time. Oh, and I managed to get out all the stains with water and kosher salt.
-At dinner he bit his tongue hard enough to make him cry.
-After dinner, his new pet goldfish died.

You know, there are just some things we can't stop from happening to our kids. Today I think he learned to be careful with objects near your nose, chew carefully, and a lesson about life and death. These are all things we need to learn. I'm not glad he had a bad day, but having rough days occasionally is a part of life. So, I think I'm going to check on him one more time to make sure he's all tucked in and pray that he has an easier day tomorrow.

School Days

Well, it has been an interesting week. To make a long story short, I feel public school has failed my youngest son. So starting on Monday I will be a homeschooling mom. My older son is doing well, so he is staying in a classroom. I am getting really excited about teaching my kid; I think it is going to be super fun. I used to be a teacher, so I know what I am doing. However, I'm sad things didn't work out for him. We hung in there for a month and a half, but things didn't seem to be getting better. The teacher seemed a bit surprised, but she does agree he would benefit from some one on one attention. The large class size was not conducive to that. She also didn't seem to be challenging him enough, so he was getting so bored. He was coming home wanting to do page after page of workbooks I have for him at home. How many kids do you know that actually want to sit down and work after school? He is really wanting to learn. There are many things I don't agree with as far as this teacher's approach, but as a former teacher I'm not going to sit and bash her. Her style just didn't work for my son. I suppose I could have tried to transfer him to another class, but I just want to get on with it and put my el. ed. degree to good use. Next year I'll revisit everything, and maybe he will be ready to try a classroom setting again. Until then, hooray, it feels good to start making lesson plans for my son :)

Freckles

We have a turtle that spent all day last Friday digging a hole and laying some eggs. I was babysitting that day, so it provided great entertainment for the kiddos.
She was very intent on laying her eggs, so having me and the kids watch did not stop her at all. She is box turtle. Freckles used her back feet to dig. I counted at least 5 eggs.
Her efforts took all day. She covered the eggs back up with dirt. Then Freckles took a break under my impatient plants(even though she is a very patient turtle). We found a worm, and the kids were delighted to see her eat. She moved in behind my clematis trellis for a couple days. We gave her a slug once and even got her to drink from a puddle when I watered my plant.
The day we named her is the day she crawled away. She has been spotted in my neighbor's yard. Chances are that we will see Freckles walking around our neck of the woods in the future.
My awesome husband put a mini fence and mesh around the eggs to protect them from the neighborhood raccoon and snakes. In a couple months, we hope to see baby turtles digging their way out of the dirt.
I love that my kids (and I) can learn so much about God's creation right in our very own front yard. How often do you see a turtle lay eggs? Sometimes we need to stop and be joyful about the little things in life that can actually be pretty cool.

End of a Chapter

I'm feeling kind of sad tonight because this week feels like the end of a chapter in a book. It is a chapter I really liked! For starters, our friends are moving up to Canada. We are excited for them, but we have been helping them out in children's ministry for years, and they will be missed. I taught their daughter in school years ago. The girls have also babysat my kids, so I'm out a babysitter too. At first we considered moving up there with them, but realized it is not part of God's plan for us right now. We love them, and we will miss them.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for my boys, and then they will be on summer break. The last day of school has taken on a whole new meaning because after tomorrow, their private Christian school will be closing its doors for good. They did not survive the tough economy. My kids have thrived there. Next year they will be attending public school. My younger son graduates kindergarten tomorrow. I get to go see his little program and hear the sweet songs they have prepared. It will be bittersweet.

Anyway, notice I said End of a Chapter and not End of the Book. Finishing a chapter means you get to turn the page and start a new chapter. I'm really excited about what comes next. Life would be boring without change(even though I don't always like things to change). I'm very excited to work with our new children's ministry leader; she has a lot of neat ideas. I am proud of my kids and what a great start they had at their Christian school. I have heard positive things about the school they will attend next year.

Change can be good. It is a reminder that God is in control. Tonight I'm just mourning the loss of a few things. However, bring on the next chapter! God's plans are better than mine.

Mom

Andrew had a school assignment this week and needed to write about his mom(me). Here is what he wrote:

Mom
1. She cooks good food.
2. She helps me open the tunnel.
3. She sels jewlry that she makes.
4. She acts out at my church on the stage.
5. She catches big fishes In the ocean

I kept the spellings and everything just as he wrote them. I love it! Number 4 cracks me up about me acting out. I hope everyone had a great mother's day!