A quick recipe

I haven't posted much about this stuff lately--seems we are in a rut. 

I threw together a chicken casserole last week that's worthy of a post--it turned out to be yummy comfort food.

I poached my chicken (fancy way of saying I simmered it in water--not boiling)
I cut up all the veggies in my fridge: onions, yellow peppers, and yellow squash.    I cooked in a pan w/a little olive oil, salt, pepper, sweet paprika, garlic (small amount), and tarragon. After it was all fairly soft I threw in some frozen corn.
I made a roux w/ a little butter and flour (very small amount 1.5 tb each).  I added chicken broth, sour cream, and cream cheese to add a bit of flavor.  I seasoned w/s & p and nutmeg and tarragon.  I just kept adding stuff until I had enough and a good consistency.
I had leftover french bread that was hard as a rock (I soaked it in the water I cooked the chicken in).  Then I crumbled it into big pieces. 
I mixed everything together and put in a 9 x 13.  I crumbled some potato chips over the top (not a lot--just a few for crunch).  Then I cut up 1 Tbs of butter in tiny pieces and spread it over the top.  Baked for 25 min.

It was really yummy. Colin even ate it 2 different times.

5th Church Review

This will be a quickie.  We visited a final church on Sunday.  It's very close to our home and it's a nondenom. (the trend these days I guess).  We ended up going on a "special" Sunday where they combine the 2 services and meet in the gym.  The service was over 2 hours.  It was a bit excrutiating.  Sitting there that long was hard.  There were things we liked and thing we didn't like.  Everyone was SUPER friendly and warned us about the unusual format for the day.  I be 10 different people came and talked to us.  We liked the pre-talk the assistant pastor gave on prayer.  The head pastor's message was okay.  Not great--he just didn't seem to know when to stop (a lot of repetition).  They did a call to the front for prayer (I've been out of this kind off church for so long it makes me uncomfortable).  I think we will give it another try, but it might be at the bottom of our list.  Colin seemed to like the nursery and their were several kids there, but I would like to see what it's like on a normal Sunday. 

300th post

That's right!  My 300th post in less than 3 years. 

For your viewing pleasure.

New York has the Naked Cowboy, well Normal has the Naked Construction Worker

Auditioning for the YMCA video

It's Official

Scott tore his ACL.  He will have to have surgery.  He has to put it off until the beginning of the new year.  It's a 7 week recovery time from this surgery, so he can't do it during the busy season.  I'm frustrated, but he needs to have it done. 

On the bright side, they said he's healing (apart from the tear) and will be able to enjoy vacation in 2 weeks.

The Day of the Dozer

I took C to this very cool event yesterday.  It was a benefit for The American Cancer Society (the local chapter I guess).  It was at the county fairgrounds.  They brought in a ton of heavy machinery for the kids to see and "ride."  It was awesome. The only problem is, it's awesome and everyone knows it, so it's crazy busy.  Each kid got a hard hat when they came in, and then we waited in line for the "rides."  At least you could see the equipment working while you waited.  C was very good considering he isn't normally good at standing still or being patient, and I had him there by myself since Scott is injured. 

Putting on his hat

The view from our first line.

He only rode on one piece of equipment, but waited in line for 3.

Getting on the backhoe 

Not looking too excited, but he gets like that

A full view of him in the back hoe

These were the dump trucks and a couple other pieces they were using.  C was so pumped to ride one (they took the kids 2 at a time around this big field, so it was pretty cool).  When it was his turn, the woman grabbed him to put him up in it, and he freaked out.  Crying, screaming--he was scared.  I had to get him off.  I was a bit ticked off b/c we had waited 30 minutes at least.  Then he kept talking about it.  He said it was too high up.  I can see how it would be scary.

Looking at the excavators They were his favorite, but he backed out of the line 2/3 of the way through b/c he wanted to go home.  You can imagine how thrilled I was by this time.  My patience was shot from just standing around waiting in so many lines for him to just back out.  I knew he would change his mind, and want to get back in line after giving up our spot, so I picked him up and took him to the car. He was good there, but it was frustrating.  I think he'll like it even more next year.  He could have ridden on a bulldozer too, but we never made it to that line. 

Cheeeeese!

Dental Update

So I hardly slept last night, but finally feel into a deep sleep around 3:30 am, and then slept through my alarm at 6:45 (I needed to leave my house by 7:40).  I woke up at 7:15.  I must have turned my alarm off in my sleep. 

I survived the dental work.  The novocaine shots were painful and made me a bit queasy for a few minutes.  The first tooth he drilled into I could feel.  I almost jumped out of the chair.  It hurt so bad.  The hygenist said, "Is that sensitive?"  UNDERSTATEMENT!!!  He shot me up w/some more novocaine, and it was smooth sailing from there.  The whole thing: cleaning, fillings, and impressions for my night guard only took about 1.5 hours.  It was almost half the time I was expecting.  Other than feeling like my lip was protruding, like I was drooling, and not being able to fully use my tongue to enunciate w/o a lisp I was fine.  The numbness lasted until noon.  By then I was very hungry.  My teeth are a little sensitive, but it wasn't near as bad as I expected. 

Taking C to the day of the dozer tomorrow.  Hoping to get some cute pictures.

sort of slacking

Not really sure what to blog about these days.  We seem to do the same thing everyday, so I'm lacking good fodder for good blogging. 

Ive had a lot of sleepless nights lately from anxiety. 

1. Dentist appt tomorrow.  I know it's going to be an excrutiating 3 hours.  It's going to hurt like heck. 

2. Our stupid house won't sell

3.  Scott hurt his knee and may require surgery (we will find out Tues)

4.  Cold

I will try to do better.

This is so funny

I'm totally stealing this from my friend Alisha, who alerted me to this video/skit/spoof of contemporary worship gone too far.  If you've attended this type of service you will appreciate it immensely. You will have to click on the link.   Sorry to offend anyone, but I find it hilarious.

Enjoy!  http://vimeo.com/11501569

And...We wait

We have been waiting on a certain couple to make an offer on our house for over a week.  Our realtor contacted us this morning, and we still have to wait.  This couple is expecting an inheritance, and it's slower to be finalized than they expected.  They don't want to make an offer until they find out what it will be (understandable).  This is so frustrating.  Scott and I just want to be done with this.  We can't understand why our house has been on the market for almost a year. We need it to sell--as in last Christmas. 

So for now, all we can do is wait.

Super Why!

Background 1: C has been into this show a lot lately. 

Background 2: Scott had C last night b/c I was hosting book club (which was fun, but I'm exhausted).  So to entertain C until bedtime Scott took him to Toys R Us (this is not what I thought they were going to do).  C came running into the living room as soon as he got home w/this outfit on (amidst 9 women).  He looked pleased with himself and a bit confused until I called him and he saw me.  He showed me his outfit and was very proud.  He went to bed in it.

For your viewing pleasure, I give you the blonde Super Why!

Don't feel bad.  I know the show, and I had no idea what he was until he told me.  The talking pen (aka Super Writer) and the name stamped on the cape helps clarify things. 

Boo The BN

So generally I love this place (a bookstore I will only mention by initials). Every other one I've been to has a huge kids section and a big Thomas the Train set for kids to play with.  This morning I told C if he was good at the store, I'd take him next door to play trains.  He was an angel, so we put our groceries in the cooler and headed  in.  C is calling out for the trains, and they are no where to be found.  We walk all over the kid's section.  Luckily C found the fun books w/sound about Thomas, so he was happy.  He forgot all about playing with trains, so while he was amused, I asked a guy about it. I asked if they even sold the trains there.  Nope just 2 different kinds of tracks and books.  You suck BN of BN.  That's kind of funny.  BN of BN (one for the bookstore, one for Bloomington-Normal).  I think I'm tired.  Thank God it wasn't a rainy day and that had been my big idea for the day.  I would have been so frustrated.

Sweaty bands knock off

So, as you know I've  been working out.  I've exercised every day for over a week.  I've been at it hard core.  I have been running, riding my bike, doing plyos, walking the dogs, lifting weights: lots of stuff.  It is making me more motivated to do things--like finish projects.  See this post.

To help motivate myself I got some new workout clothes for the summer/fall time.  I scored a big sale at the local running store, where I got some nice Saucony and Nike stuff.  I also hit up Dick's Sporting Goods and got a couple other things.  It was a bit of a bummer that I had to buy a bigger size than I like to think myself, but I made sure I didn't buy anything that would be too big once I lose a little weight. 

In an effort to spruce up my workout attire, and keep the sweat off my face, I made some knock-off Sweaty Bands.  I love the real Sweaty Bands.  But they are pricey for what they are.  I was able to make 10 of these (some to share) for less than the price I paid for 1 Sweaty Band.  The ribbon at Hobby Lobby last week was half off.  If anyone wants one, let me know.  I've been using them, and they work almost as well as the real ones (that's the awesome thing about the Sweaty Bands--they REALLY stay put).  The elastic I found isn't as hight quality, so they might not last as long, but I can afford to replace them easily this way.

Here are my little beauties. 

I followed this tutorial on Holy Craft  It was really easy.  They take 10 min--maybe--to make.

I want one in every color!

A little bit of fun

I know a few people have blogged about this, but thought I would share the wealth with some of you.  If you like catalogs and love some sarcastic humor you will love this little blog. 

According to the blog's description: A look into the exciting lives of the people who live in your catalogues Keep up with Elaine and Gary at http://catalogliving.net/ It will make you smile--I know it makes me giggle.

It makes you realize how ridiculous some of the staged photographs are from catalogues.

Splish Splash

C's been a little under the weather this weekend.  No fever, just a runny nose and a grumpy boy at times.  We didn't do anything yesterday b/c he was so grumpy, but I took him outside last nigh and it wasn't so hot, so he and I had a great time. 

Today was even nicer than yesterday.  We skipped church since we thought he was kind of on the line of clear, runny nose.  Instead, responsible parents that we are, took him to Meatheads (an awesome burger place)  They are kind of like a Penn Station but for burgers and hot dogs.  One of the best burgers I've ever had.  Scott got the combo, I just got a burger, and we got C a child's burger.  The 3 of us split Scott's fries there were so many (hand cut just like Penn Station's).  C ate almost his entire burger. 

After lunch out we went to one of the spray parks.  He had a blast.  He ran around like a crazy man.  You would have never known he wasn't at 100%.

Then we ran into Dick's Sporting Goods.  C was wearing down by this point, so Scott had to pick out his white training shirt quick (he needs one for his soccer season starting in 2 weeks).  Came back home and C took a huge nap.  Woke up feeling happy and ate a great dinner outside and then played outside for 30 minutes or so.  He is currently sharing homemade popcorn w/daddy and the boys watching the new Dora movie (thank God it's almost over).

A cute little boy and a bag

Today was a big day.  We discovered C's love of Playdough.  We no longer have yellow and orange playdough, we have yellow-orange in 2 containers (the only colors I let him play with).  We got out cookie cutters, a little roller, and a knife.  He loved it!  I need to get some pics tomorrow. 

I finally finished a bag I'd been making for him.  It didn't turn out reversable like I planned. I followed a tutorial for a lined bag, but not a reversible bag, so I missed the mark.  I should have made my interior reversed of what I did.  I also made my gussets too big, so I plan to rip it apart (just a little bit and fix it.  The gussets were much easier than I expected.  I'd been putting off finishing it b/c I wasn't sure I could follow the instructions.  The reversible side is army green with READ in big letters I cut out of the dino print.  I think I might need to make the straps a bit shorter.  I tried to make the bag smaller than the tutorial (since it was adult size, but I should have reduced a bit more. 

Trying on his bag.  It's definitley too big!

This has been up a long time, but I can't remember if I ever took a pic of the final product

Finally got the bat hung.  I had to use some awkward hangers to get it done.  Need to figure out how to balance out the hangers.

Antique golf club

And just a cute shot from C checking out the playground at Scott's soccer game this week.

Will post pics soon!

I feel I've been woefully bad about posting lately.  I have some pics to post about some things I've finally finished.  Don't have time to load the photos now, but hopefully tomorrow.  It seems when you're productive there's less time to play on the computer :)

Last Week

This has been a very weird 7 days.  Scott was gone for 2 nights. Colin was very grumpy (grandparent withdrawal I guess) even though we did lots of fun things: pool, wildlife park, and a park playtime.  Once Scott got home it got a little better.  Then all of a sudden Sat. night C no longer has much use for me.  He tells me to "go away" and such--but not really in a mean way.  He wants daddy to put him down for naps and bedtime (this never happens).  Today he was stuck w/me, so it seemed better, but he threw an absolute fit to go down for a nap (also unusual unless he's fallen asleep in the car).  Not sure what is going on in his little head. 

Sat. we fixed up his "castle." I meant to take some before pics, but forgot.  We are almost finished--we need a little bit more gravel and Scott needs to adjust the monocular (I know this isn't the right word, but I can't remember what a pirate's scope is called).  He now has a slide, a wheel, a scope, and a cleaned out tree house/playhouse area to go along w/his dirt box (now a gravel box).  He was very excited.  Once dinner came, C was very whiny.  He didn't want to eat what we were eating and a ton of other things.  He did eat eventually after a lot of fighting and disagreeing.  Then we were going to make smores. More unclear whining ensued.  He almost had to go to bed right then and there.  Finally he calmed down enough to make the smores. 

Do you see a problem w/his smore?  We didn't let it go in the oven this way.

Momma horse and spot needed in on the action evidently. (sorry, he's not good at naming things)

Finally a happy boy.  He ate two whole smores and then took a bath (I had to clean the horses as well), and was good the rest of the night.

Yesterday was good except that he woke up at 5:30 in the morning.  What is up with this kid?

Wild Prairie State Park

Junior matador

My mom's group hit up this nature/wildlife park last week.  It was BLAZING HOT!  We had a good time though.  Rode a little train; saw bears, wolves, badgers, horses, goats, and elk; and had a picnic lunch.  He saw some stuffed (as in stuffed by a taxidermist) animals as well that he really enjoyed.  He loved this little horse statue.  I got him up on it, but he was too scared for me to get a picture (ie let him go). 

Junior conductor

The scary part is he climbed up onto the stool behind the cutout all by himself while my back was turned.  Luckily he didn't fall off.  I didn't get a great pic b/c at first he had his hands by his face at first (holding on).

They had a really cool train room at the train depot.  Tons of toys, books, and old fashioned train stuff.  The kids could have played in here for a long time, but only got 10 minutes or so while we waited on the train.

Tighty cartoon-ighties

So, we are sort of talking about potty training w/C and moving into a big boy toddler bed (well converting his crib into the toddler feature).  He likes to go pee on the pottie about 5 times a week--no pooping though, and he doesn't seem to understand the big boy bed question.  So as incentive for potty training, we showed him his groovy undies.  He was pumped.  He immediately wanted to try them on.  So we let him.

This turned in to him putting on 3 pairs at once.  He wanted one of each kind--Thomas, Nick toons, and Elmo.  It was really funny.  He just kept grabbing them and saying more. 

We told him he couldn't wear them again until he tells us he needs to go potty.  He can recite this requirement to you, but it hasn't done a thing toward giving him the desire to stop playing to go potty.

Daddy wishes

I think the picture almost speaks for itself, but you need a bit of background.  This box has been sitting empty in our garage almost a week (trash comes once a week here).  As soon as C saw it, he checked out the guy, and said, "picture of daddy."  In daddy's dreams, right?  So sweet.

How many times in 1 week have we used this?  I did my obligatory pull-up to try it out, but 1 is all I can muster.  Scott did maybe 3.  Obviously need to get down to the basement to workout.

Church #4

That's right, in over 3 months we have only made it to our 4th church.  This is abysmal.  On the brighter side, the church today made our short list.  I think we've decided that since we've found 3 churches that we like, we are moving on to the short list.  We didn't make it to 2 of the churches on our original list, but it seems like we'll never be able to make a decision at the rate we're going.  The other two we didn't visit are both nondenominational churches.

Today we visited and EFree church.  I honestly don't know a ton about this type of church.  I think it's similar to the nondenom church we attended in college.  It seems more Baptist in its church structure and some other things than reformed like our previous 2 churches.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  I was raised Baptist, but have just seen a lot of flaws in the church, but I've seen a lot of good things as well.  It just seems it's always been decided b/w me and Scott that after college we were parting ways with the Baptist church even though we attended the BSU in college.  I'm not really sure I know why this is, but that's what happened.  I'm pretty sure we tried 2 Baptist churches in St. Louis to no avail (they weren't bad--just not for us--mostly older people or really small).  The essential beliefs are the same, so I don't really think it matters.


The church today is geographically undesirable, especially in comparison to the other 2 (even the 2 we haven't visited).  It is about 15-20 min. away.  It has 3 services, but the sanctuary only holds probably 200 people, so it's not a mega church.  The first service is traditional, and then the other 2 are contemporary.  We didn't love the contemporary service.  I think in the Christian culture these days "contemporary" can be read as lingo for praise and worship and sloppy clothes, but I digress on certain peeves.  I don't mind praise and worship as a general rule, if it is done well.  In my experience, it is RARELY done well.  I didn't feel like this church was the worst I've seen, but I would say that is was not the best.  We didn't love the music, but this is an ongoing problem for us as you might remember from previous posts.  There was a bit of variety in how much moving was going on during this time.  I'm very puritanical, and believe less movement is better--though this is strictly preferential.  A little handraising when moved is okay, but seems contrived when a person's hand goes up immediately at the sound of music, and stays up the entire time--read this as my weakness for casting judgment.  It really just makes me uncomfortable.  I can overlook this though if other things are good. 

The sermon was on apologetics.  We both liked it.  It discussed the myths revolving Christianity--Jesus--as the only way to God.  It was very interesting.  I would like to hear again, and see how much expository teaching is done in other sermons.  He did read from the scripture, but didn't break it down all that much. His style was very much that of a good classroom teacher--I liked it.  Everything he said was Biblically sound. 

There were tons of kids in Colin's S.S. class.  They had lots of volunteers, and he seemed to enjoy himself tremendously (which he did at most of the nurseries).  I appreciated that they sent home a handout about what they taught them in class, and how to continue that lesson.  It was Lifeway material (more links to the SBC).  The church has lots of stuff for women's ministry and men's ministry.  Lots of age groups were represented in the 9:30 service we attended.  They have lots of stuff for kids.  They had just had a preschool VBS, an elementary-aged Arts and Sports Camp, and a summer camp thing for older children.  The church seemed friendly.  Scott says this is his favorite so far.  I'm not sure.  It seems to have the best mix of all the things we're looking for, but I just want to make sure that we will be receiving the best teaching.  So we move onto the short list, and will revisit the 3 churches, unless for some reason we decide to try one more next weekend.

Holding our Breath

So, I've been feeling uninspired to blog lately.  Colin was gone all last week.  Feeling really depressed that our house is still on the market...new place...no friends (really)...etc.  Scott has been out of town off an on a lot this summer.  This sucks after being apart for 7 months, but I really shouldn't complain too much. 

I got the first piece of really good news tonight.  Our realtor called.  Someone is interested, really interested in our house.  As in ours is the one, but they have to figure some stuff out (they want to rent out their house, so they can buy ours), so it isn't any sort of done deal. We have no offer, but at least something is stirring.  So we will try to think positive and hold our breath for the next 2 weeks, and hope we have an offer soon.  An offer that won't hurt too much more (after 11 months of sustaining two different houses/apartments).  We aren't really in any position to say no to any offer, so hopefully it's one that works. 

In unrelated news.  I need some motivation.  I REALLY need to lose weight--as in the doctor says say so.  So, I've got to do something.  I've devised a plan, but am not feeling much motivation to do it.  I really need to work out before C wakes up the morning, b/c I find tons of excuses not to exercise throughout the day.  I need a kick in the pants.  I keep telling myself I need to do it...the doctor, yada, yada, yada.  But so far, I've only exercised 1 time since she told me this.  She recommended Weight Watchers to me, but I'm not into it.  I already KNOW what to do, but I just need to DO it.  I have a problem making myself DO what I KNOW I should do.  So frustrating.  Wish me luck!

New haircut

So, C spent the week w/ gma and gpa (Scott's parents).  He had a BLAST!!  While he was there he got a haircut (understatement).  He is practically bald, and he looks so much older.  Not the best photo of him, but a little preview.