End of the School Year 2011

 They all made it through the school year.  Many days I wondered if my boys would be held back, but hallelujah-they made it.   They enjoyed field day, and ice cream party, pioneer day and spending the last week having fun with their teachers.  Mrs Will and Mrs Amicon were great!!  I loved these ladies.  Hopefully my kids will have hreat teachers for 2nd and 4th grade!

Adoption 5K

Since about Feb. I have been a non running momma!
  This has been a bummer because I find I need it in order to help keep the stress at bay.  Heaven knows i need an outlet with a husband working 90 hour weeks, 4 kiddos with all their many activities, I many days feel like a single mom.  Anyway, since I couldn't run I registered my fabulous daughters for a 5K.  We trained a little bit and the did an awesome job.  My little Morgan is a runner, she said Paige kept slowing her down and she just wanted to go go go. 

 

I am trying to train for the Boulder 1/2 Ironman.  It takes place in August, honestly I am just barely running again and there has been little time to fit the training in.  I registered $250 last year.  That is my problem, so much money but it is just not coming togteher.  So I would like to do a shorter distance(maybe an olympic distance).  I have until the end of June to get a small refund of $75 on the IRONMAN.  I will reevaluate then.  Meanwhile, I am going to register my little swimmer Morgan for a kids Tri.  She is on the swim team this year and is loving it.

Mother's Day 2011

 

These are my fabulous kids on Mothers Day!  And I made this tasty dessert!!!!

Not much to post about Mother's Day this year.  I did get to spend time with the family and take a nap:)

Baseball Erie Tigers

Kailer is into his second season playing competitive ball.  We went up a division and the boys were not prepared.  Needless to say it has been a bit disappointing to see the struggle to win.  But they have improved. Kailer is normally number 58 in football and baseball.  But the lady who did the uniforms messed up.  Totally embroidered 56 on the bag, hat, windbreaker, and jersey.  I didnt have the heart to tell her, but I did pay $250 for the uniform:(  Kailer is almost 13.  He has probably grown close to a foot.  I can't believe how tall he has gotten and how helpful he is.  He's my little  BIG man!  And my go to guy(fixer, lawn moxer, trash taker outer etc), since Dev isnt around much these days.

Tantalizing Tuesday

Last night we tried something new, Chipotle Pork Tacos with Lime Cilantro Rice from Our best Bites.
Devin and i were the only ones who liked them, but I think my kids just aren't used to chipotle.  For something different give it a whirl, you just might like it!





Chipotle Pork Tacos
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light, April 2011
1 pound pork tenderloin, sliced thin
1 ½ tsp grated lime zest
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
2 tsp minced fresh oregano, or a heaping ½ tsp dry
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (use the peppers for heat and the adobo sauce for a mild smoky bite.  I used 1 1/2 Tbs of sauce and no peppers and it was hardly spicy at all.)
2 tsp bottled minced garlic
¼ tsp kosher salt
3 tsp olive oil, divided
1 C thinly sliced shallots, or onions
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
Sour cream
Chopped cilantro
Recommended:  Lime-Cilantro Rice
Combine thinly sliced pork, lime zest, lime juice, oregano, brown sugar, chipotles, garlic, and salt.  Set aside.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tsp olive oil.  Add onions and sauté for 4 minutes or until tender.  Remove from pan and set aside.  Add 2 tsp olive oil to pan and add pork mixture.  Saute for 3-4 minutes or until no longer pink.  Add pork to onions.  Warm tortillas on a hot grill and fill with pork mixture.  Top with sour cream and cilantro. Serves 4.

Lime-Cilantro Rice with Pineapple

1 cup dry white rice, cooked in 2 C water.
2 T real butter
Juice from 1 large lime, or two smaller ones (taste as you go, I add a lot!)
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained. (You may want 2 small cans)
½ – ¾ C chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook rice. As soon as it’s done, toss in the butter and stir to melt. Add lime juice, pineapple, and cilantro. Stir to combine, and then add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

* You’ll want to serve this right away, if you don’t, the flavors tend to mellow a bit and you’ll probably need to add more lime juice because the rice kind of sucks it up. If you’re not quite ready to eat when your rice finishes cooking, just toss in the butter and keep a lid on it so it stays warm. Then right before you serve it, toss it all together.            Picture from Our Best Bites                                                                       

Orlando Days 4.5.6

Epcot

 

There is not much to post about Epcot, we loved Test Track!!  But honestly this park is rather boring, and it was a downpour the whole day.  Kaden and Morgan were sooo sick and I as well started to get a fever that day.  I decided to take the little ones back to the hotel to get out of the soggy rain and rest up. 

Day 5-Hollywood Studios  I think wew were all sick of being sick that we just plum fogot the camera.  Its too bad, we did have a great time at this park.  There are some fabulous shows-Indian Jones, the Lights, Action, Motors. And the loved Rockin Rollercoaster-so much fun.  But holy cow this park was sooo busy I thought I was going to die!  Man I hate crowds, they just make me cranky.

Cocoa Beach(Atlantic Coast)

Fevers and all the kids had a great time at this beach.  The could have played for hours(actually they did).  Devin got sick here.  Yes the terrible Fever, the Orlando Fever!  He was so miserable but was a good sport.  This water was suprising warmer than the gulf coast.  As you can see it was cloudy most of the day.  It was raining back at the hotel with Tornado warnings, but we were oblivious to what was going on an hour away.

Kailer and Dev spent most of their time body surfing  After finishing the day we headed over to RonJons Surf shop and left for the hotel to get packed up for an early flight.  We spend 2 hours the next morning sitting on the runway.  The rain would just not stop!

Orlando Days 1.2.3

The kids have been giddy with excitement since we booked the Orlando trip.  We have not been on a real vacation as a family(airplane and all) ever.  We have driven places, Cali, Utah, Yellowstone, but never hopped on a plane.  I think mostly cause it is so dang expensive to fly 6 people anywhere, but we had actually saved up enough frequent flyer miles to fly 5 of us for free.
The logistics of trying to prepare for a vacation including all 4 parks at Disneyworld(trying to figure which day to do what, when the each park be less crowded, meals etc) really was NOT the most fun part.  I am a planner, Devin is a fly by the seat of his pants kinda guy, but I wanted to whatever it took to avoid standing in hour long waits for rides.  Thus I put together a park touring plan, which saved us hours of waiting.
The trip began with a very early morning drive to DIA with sleepy children in tow and yes, hold onto your hats, only 2 large suitcases for all 6 people!  I am a great packer what can I say.The way the FF miles worked, Morgan and I were on one flight, and Dev, Paige, Kai, and Kade were on a different flight.

 Morgan on the tram and in the airplane!  She made sure to tell everyone that this was her FIRST time on an airplane!!

 Picking up the minivan and heading out of the airport.  It was so warm!  Kailer looks a little constipated(traveling can do that to ya!)

 

ANIMAL KINGDOM

 Kilaminjaro Safari

 Kailer being Kailer

 Towards the end of the day we met a lady who has worked at Animal Kingdom Park since it opened.  I think she was just so thrilled to talk with us she gave us VIP tickets for a ride and to see the Lion King(this was a fabulous show).  We were ushered into the open theater first and set right in the first row.  Unknownly getting prepared to be part of the show!

 

Magic Kingdom

 This is the day that things started to fall apart.  Morgan came down with a fever.  Of course I forgot her Nebulizer, any cold she gets goes straight to her lungs. So we had to purchase one from Walgreens and get a bunch of albuterol.  We can't seem to go anywhere without her getting sick. 

  We woke early to get to the park right at opening.  We were able to ride everything by 11 am.  Thanks again to my handy touring plan. And were greeted by singing and dancing with Mickey and Minnie in tow.

 Because of our early arrival, we were able to ride everything by 11 am!  How is that for planning?

 By lunch the park was soooo crowded that we decided to head back to the hotel for some swimming and napping.  It was a much need break!  We headed back for a parade and didn't make it to the fireworks.  Morgan was just too sick:(

 Clearwater Beach(Gulf Coast)

 Day 3 was a beach day, and we thought it would be good to take a break for Morgan...and Kaden, yep he came down with a fever too.  By golly i paid for the vacation, we are doing everthing as planned, even if we are miserable doing it.  The water hear was beautiful, but it was windy.  The sand was like powdered sugar and you could see the bottom of the ocean.  We bougth some snorkles and Dev and Kai went out and snorkled for a couple hours.  Morgan layed around and Kaden was soon to follow.  It was beautiful, but wasy too many people!!