Still happy after all these years...

...especially with red roses and take out from Carrabas!

Who knows how long I've loved you, you know I love you still...

Lucky Number 13

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

32:40

Scientific Method

QUESTION:
Is American chocolate different from European chocolate?
Can we identify different types of chocolate during a blind taste test?

HYPOTHESIS:
A Hershey's chocolate bar is so inferior to other types of chocolate that it will be easily identifiable. Lindt chocolate, a superior European chocolate, will also be easily identifiable. The other types of chocolate will be fun to eat.

MATERIALS:
One bar each of
Hershey's
Symphony
Lindt Lindor
Dove
Milka
Caffarel

PROCEDURE:
Brooke will break apart each bar on to separate, numbered plates and make an answer key. She will then bring all the wrappers to the tables for the test subjects. The test subjects will each have a piece of paper numbered 1-6. One at a time, Brooke will bring a plate of chocolate to the test subjects. As the subjects will have their eyes closed, Brooke will place a piece of chocolate either in their hands or their mouth. The subjects will then decide which type of chocolate they have just eaten.

RESULTS:
Everyone was able to correctly identify the Hershey's bar and the Lindt bar. Especially Glenn, the self-professed connoisseur of all chocolates European. Jill and Jake were able to correctly identify all six types of chocolate. They may be the real connoisseurs around here.

CONCLUSION:
I conclude that Hershey's Chocolate stinks. It's grainy and rubbery. If it's all I've got and I'm desperately seeking chocolate, fine. But given a choice, I personally am going to go with the Milka brand, as it surprisingly had a touch of hazelnut.

I further conclude that we should have more chocolate taste tests.Eating chocolate is my scientific speciality.

Back-to-School Checklist

Rooms thoroughly cleaned and rearranged: CHECK

Clothes organized, ironed, and laid out according to outfits: CHECK

Hair washed, dried, and flat-ironed: CHECK

Hair cut for Andrew: CHECK

Hair cut for Jake: CHECK

Lunches made: CHECK

Father's blessings given: CHECK

Tired son who did not want to wake up in the morning: CHECK

Chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast: CHECK

4th grader who takes her 1st grade cousin under her wing: CHECK

Traditional hand-on-the-front-door-knob pictures taken: CHECK
First two students ushered out the door to the bus: CHECK
Mom who surprisingly chokes back tears: CHECK

Sixth graders (!) who walked down the street to their bus stop: CHECK

Mom who doesn't know what to do with herself: CHECK

Mom who quickly finds plenty to do: CHECK

Bus that drops kids off almost 30 minutes late: CHECK

Hot kids ready to spill details of the first day: CHECK

Form after form after form to fill out: CHECK

Kids who didn't fight all afternoon: CHECK

Ready to do it all again tomorrow?

CHECK!

Lame Duck Summer

Some mixed feelings may be appropriate at this time of year.

We did a lot. We had busy days and relaxing days. We spent time with family and spent lots of time in the pool. We had fun traveling and had fun here at home. I am pretty satisfied with the amount of stuff we packed in the last three months.

But I have some regrets too. There was an insane amount of fighting and a good amount of whining. There were lots of kids (all of them mine) hanging around. Loitering, I like to call it. Complaining that there was nothing to do. There was a lot of TV watching and time spent on the computer and playing video games. I don't know that Andrew read an entire book all summer. My kids often heard me tell them to go find something to do, that I can't plan every second for them. They were frequently told to be quiet, to go play, or at times, to go to their rooms for quiet time.

I know I provided a lot of memories for the kids this summer. Heck, my last post went on and on about our fabulous bucket-list-ending weekend. But I just wonder if in worrying about the big stuff I overlooked some of the smaller, more important things. Maybe my kids didn't need a hotel stay. Maybe they just needed their mom to relax. And maybe act a little more like she enjoyed having her kids around.

I could draw some political parallels between me and the lame duck of late 2008. He may understand my roller coaster of emotions, how I know I did some good stuff that I can be proud of, but then all too easily things start unravelling really fast. What am I really going to be remembered for? Last fall, did Dubya just want to hightail it out of the White House (instead of waiting until January) and get on with the rest of his life? Kind of like how I feel like we should just start school tomorrow (instead of waiting till Wednesday) and get on with reality? Did he just want to turn the country over to someone else and rid himself of the burden of running it? Kind of like how I want to turn our family back over to routine and predictability and rid myself of the burden of entertaining it?

In hindsight, I think I know some things that I would have done differently, and how I can change in the future. Still, no single person will make a perfect commander-in-chief, whether of a country or a family. My kids should not put all their eggs in their mother's basket with the expectation that she will now be able to fix everything that might be wrong in our family. Because sometimes people need to work on fixing themselves. But now, on the brink of a new school year, I can only look forward. And a little hope never hurt anyone.

It is done.

1. Go to Mitchell's
2. Go to Preston's Hope park
3. Go to Amish Country (pet store/pig farm/get fudge)
4. Stay in a hotel
5. Go to Columbus
6. Cousin sleep over
7. Go swimming three more times
8. Go to Indian's game / movie
9. Do a very fun craft
10. Use restaurant coupons


The list is complete. We have accomplished what we set out to do, with two days to spare.

You may notice one minor change to the list. Number 8 used to be "Go bowling," but I have made an executive decision to substitute Glenn taking Emma and Andrew to the Indians game and me taking Leah and Brooke to Aliens in the Attic instead.

Quite frankly, I am all bucket-listed out.

Our last hurrah was jam-packed. We left for Columbus Friday morning. While Glenn and I attended the temple, the kids hung out at the stake center next door. This was a first for our family and it worked out great. I am grateful for trustworthy, responsible kids who will watch a movie peacefully so that Glenn and I could do temple work. I look forward to being able to do this more often in the future.

After we finished at the temple, we headed to Graeter's Ice Cream. I had seen online that they do tours, so I had called to find out times. The lady said to be there by 3:30. And we were. But come to find out, the "tour" was apparently a self-guided one. Where you pretty much look at the people making ice cream through some windows. Ooh aah. That lasted all of five minutes. But there we were, at an ice cream shop, and so we just had to get some ice cream. It was very yummy (and when they say "chunks," they mean CHUNKS) but the general consensus was that we like Mitchell's better.Next it was off to the hotel for some pool time. We had to burn off all that ice cream! But by the time we were done swimming, it was 7:00 and we were famished. We decided to hit up Cheeseburger In Paradise. Again, the hometown favorite remains numero uno. The food was ok, but not worth the price. Ouch! Maybe we were also paying for the live music. Mom, is that guy a professional singer? No, but I think he wants to be.We rolled out of bed around 8 the next morning and enjoyed a lovely continental breakfast. Man, I love those things. You know those waffles you can make? That take 2 1/2 minutes to make but it seems like an eternity but they are so worth it? Delish. With sufficiently stuffed bellies, we headed back to the pool for another swim before checking out.We were down to one last item on our list - Amish Country. By visiting our favorites, we could check off two of the three sub-items. At Schrock's Farm we held cute little puppies that were only $800. And Emma and Leah were attacked by sheep and goats. Heini's Cheese Chalet (one of Glenn's favorite places on earth) had, um, cheese.....and fudge. Glenn and I were pretty stuffed from all the samples of cheese, but since our children are not as crazy about cheese as we are (weirdos), we ran across the street to Kauffman's Country Bakery for some more samples.

We thought that was the end, that sheep and bunnies and goats (like this cool dude--love the pompadour!)were going to have to suffice in the animal department. I had searched online for a pig farm in the A.C. but to no avail. Emma, our pig lover, was cool with that. But as we traveled down a country road, we saw a huge sign reading "Petting Farm." We pulled in and found out they indeed had a pig. A huge, prickly, non-pink pig that didn't really like to be petted. But still. We found a pig and that's all that matters.So there you go. I love making a good list and I love crossing items off that list even more. Here's to making the most of the time you have left.

Do you see what I see?

Said the weary mom to her loving spouse,

Do you see what I see?
There upon the shelf, loving spouse--
Do you see what I see?
Four bags, four bags, lined up in a row,
Stuffed with supplies and ready to go.
I'll try not to let my excitement show!
Where, oh where, did our summer go?

One fell swoop. OK, maybe two.

1. Go to Mitchell's
2. Go to Preston's Hope park
3. Go to Amish Country (pet store/pig farm/get fudge)
4. Stay in a hotel
5. Go to Columbus
6. Cousin sleep over
7. Go swimming one two three more times
8. Go bowling
9. Do a very fun craft
10. Use restaurant coupons

We have made a lot of headway with the bucket list in the past five days.

The nicest waitress ever at Friendly's (a rarity) took all four of our free kid's meals coupons Thursday. The six us had dinner out (including drinks and dessert) for about $20. Well, with a hefty tip added on.

Saturday found me and 75% of the children at Mitchells. (The other 25% was not able to participate due to some unfortunate choices.) Three orders of double scoops and four spoons make for much deliciousness.

And then we had back-to-back cousin sleep overs. Sunday night was the Ryan's turn. And even though we did not have Becca overnight, she was able to join us for Playstation, Wii, and trampoline slip-n-slide all day Monday. I'm calling it good. Monday night, in honor of Sydney entering her 11th year, 100% of my children were invited to the Chatty's for Animalopoly, puzzles, ice cream sundaes, and Sonny With A Chance, and a major party in the basement. That was supposed to end around 9:45 but I hear lasted until 11:30 or so.

(Glenn and I got to cross a little something off of our own bucket list--we snuck off to see 500 Days of Summer. Loved it!)

Numbers 3, 4, and 5 will all be taken care of Friday and Saturday.

(We may have to count swimming in the hotel pool as our third swim trip. I am hoping to take the kids to our pool today, but with all this humidity it could start raining at anytime. We'll see how the afternoon goes.)

Just that pesky bowling left.

Mission (almost) complete!

All this...

...cost over $100 at Giant Eagle.

Did I pay that much? Heavens no! I paid far, far less. 47% less, to be exact.

{Jill, I did it!}

Your Giant Eagle receipt will show you how much you have saved on your purchase. I am typically in the high 20's in my percentage saved. Occasionally I would get into the 30's, but never above 33%. Since I have been trying my hand at this couponing thing, it has been my goal to get into the 40's. This goal has eluded me for the past month and a half, but today--

I blew it out da box!

OK, I realize that this excitement may be a bit much, but I was almost giddy as I walked out to the parking lot with Brooke and a cart full of stuff that I paid just over half price for.

A very special thanks goes out to to new blogs I found, especially for us Ohio folk. Stretching a Buck and Cherry Picker are right here in our own backyard. Cherry Picker even scopes out deals at Drug Mart and Marc's! Check them out and you too can save bucketloads of money. Or at least a couple bucks.

And--get this--I subscribed to the Sunday paper today. A whole new world of coupons will soon be at my fingertips. Nothing can stop me now!

Bucket list update

1. Go to Mitchell's
2. Go to Preston's Hope park
3. Go to Amish Country (pet store/pig farm/get fudge)
4. Stay in a hotel
5. Go to Columbus
6. Cousin sleep over
7. Go swimming one two three more times
8. Go bowling
9. Do a very fun craft
10. Use restaurant coupons

Very fun craft [ver-ee fuhn kraft] noun:

Art project involving paint. Trip to Pat Catan's required to pick out wooden letters. Mom decides that store is close enough to ride bikes to. Two kids riding bikes with knees in their chins as they have been involved in recent growth spurt. Outrageous humidity still in effect. One child cannot participate in craft due to latest behavior exploits and begs, pleads, and pouts. Bike ride successful overall. Older children able to complete craft independently, allowing mom to be productive. (Younger child allowed to play on computer, allowing mom to be productive.) Project to be hung in bedrooms.



Since our summer time is limited, we decided to get another item crossed off. The bike ride to the store was so successful we hopped back on and headed to the pool. Fun, but a little too sweat-inducing for my liking. Today's events did make for an early bedtime, however, so I'm not complaining too much.

Ahhh, early bedtime. How I long for your return. I shall be seeing more of you soon...

Summer Bucket List

To do in the waning weeks of summer before school starts:

(compiled by Emma, Leah, Brooke, and Andrew)

1. Go to Mitchell's
2. Go to Preston's Hope park
3. Go to Amish Country (pet store/pig farm/get fudge)
4. Stay in a hotel
5. Go to Columbus
6. Cousin sleep over
7. Go swimming three more times
8. Go bowling
9. Do a very fun craft
10. Use restaurant coupons

I give you Preston's Hope park...

Humidity, anyone?

One down, nine more to go...

Good intentions.

Something fun and exciting happened this week and I wanted to write about it.

On Wednesday, I was going to write about how I won free movie tickets, but we got home from the show really late and had to get the (thankfully short and sweet) report on how things went with the kids from Jill.

On Thursday, I was going to write about how these tickets were to a special screening of Julie & Julia, but I had three extra kids in the morning and five extra kids in the evening and all it was all I could do to watch the watch the finale of So You Think You Can Dance and cheer for Jeanine.

On Friday, I was going to write about how I won these tickets by leaving a comment on a Cleveland blog I subscribe to in my Google Reader, but I took to kids for their first visit to Grandpa Franklin in the hospital, had pizza and movie night, a Walmart run, and ice cream at Jill's house.

Today, I was going to write about how I had just picked up the book from the library when I found out I had won on Monday and proceeded to read it in its entirety before the screening, but I had some shopping to do with Jill, another visit to Grandpa, dinner with friends, laundry to fold, and a sharing time to prepare.

Now, everything is squared away and all that's left to do is go to sleep. It's kind of an important thing, so I'll just quickly write about how we got to the theater just before it was full and had to sit in the front row so I'm not sure if I really liked the movie or not due to the slightly distracting crick in my neck but that it was quite different from the book which obviously was an easy and entertaining read since I got through it in less than three days but while I respect how the author found something productive to do with her dreary life (hey--I can relate) I am not sure that I really like the author and her potty mouth as a person but Amy Adams did a nice job of cleaning up the role and Meryl Streep did an even better job with the role of Julia Child and I am looking forward to seeing the movie again. Head on.

See, I always accomplish what I set out to do.

Eventually.