Yummy Snack Recipe

My friend Jenn makes a great snack mix. I've now made it twice and everyone who has tried it really likes it. Yesterday I made a batch. I had left it on top of the stove in the glass 9x13 to cool. I sent Cara home with some and Andy and I ate a little as it cooled. Then I ruined the rest. :(
I turned on the wrong burner to cook spaghetti and burned the mix. Thankfully the glass didn't shatter. All of the snack mix tasted charred so I had to throw it away. I sure was mad at myself!

Jenn's Snack Mix
8 cups Quaker Oat Squares
1 1/2 cups chow mein noodles
1 1/2 cups cashews
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 T soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Preheat oven to 250. Combine cereal, noodles and nuts in a large bowl. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over dry mix. Stir. Pour into 9x13 and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Strawberry Picking!

Yesterday the boys and I went strawberry picking with Cara and Co. It was fun! A very hot morning but we didn't pick berries for very long. The kids had a great time. When we were done picking berries Silas had a red mouth! He picked to eat, not fill a basket!! Wilson was more into picking berries than Luke. Luke just wanted to hold the basket for me! Wilson was off picking on his own - for about 10 minutes! We bought enough to make 1 fresh strawberry pie and to eat berries this week. It was a great morning!

My Handyman

My handy-men with their weedeaters! (Wilson is a PVC pipe!) Notice they are ALL wearing Safety Glasses.

Andy has been steadily working on our new house. The light switches now turn on the lights they are supposed to and work correctly! He has fixed a bubble in our pergo by adding another threshold where it should have been installed. He has been working on a plan for our laundry room and just got the permit to start the project this past week. I can't wait to have a laundry room in the house and to have the downstairs bathroom working properly. He has also had to fix the washer and dryer. It is so nice to have a husband that can pretty much do anything around the house! Thanks babe!

An upclose of Luke! What a cute thing!

*Disclaimer: There are probably more projects Andy has done that I can't remember right now. I've been wanting to write this post for like 3 weeks!

Just a random one of Ty because he's a cutie-pa-tootie!

School's almost out!!

One. More. Day.

So looking forward to being home with MY kids and taking care of them!! It's going to be a great summer!

My Girl

So yesterday was Lottie's annual vet appointment. I had been dreading it because I knew it wasn't going to be good news. She's been limping for a year. Last year we found out she had a slight tear in her knee. She had some pain medicine for a couple weeks and was doing ok. Now, in our new house the steps are bothering her so she is limping a lot. I got a lot of not so good news about my favorite puppy.
* She has a benign tumor on her eyelid. Needs to be removed because it is irritating her eye. Now I know why that eye is red. It could be surgically removed. Not sure of the cost.
* She has a lot of tartar on her teeth, about time for a teeth cleaning. It's been 3 years since her first one. $160ish
* Dr. D isn't sure if the ACL is torn or not because Lottie was resisting his checkup on her leg. She was nervous and wouldn't relax enough for him to be sure. He recommends sedation to find out if it is torn or not. $250
* Blookwork to see if she can handle pain medicine for a couple months to check her liver etc. This would be done once at the beginning and once halfway through to make sure her body was handling it ok. $200
*Treatment options if she has a torn ACL- rehab, nutritional route (anti inflammatory, joint vitamins etc), surgery $2500, 2 months of pain medicine paired with rehab or the nutrition program, or nothing. He said dogs have 4 legs and they really only need 3.
*Poor thing also had an ear infection. Her left ear was super dirty and had an infection and a yeast infection. Had to get drops for that and he recommends ear cleaning solution.

So, a lot to think about. Dr. D is so great because he is very understanding that she is just a dog. Not a human! He did not apply any pressure, said I know you have 3 kids and life is expensive. He was just laying all the options out there for me. I know we don't have to do all of these things. At this point I'm leaning towards pain med, nutritional program, and surgery to remove the benign tumor. Possibly the teeth cleaning. The ACL surgery would allow her to hike, camp, go on walks with us etc but we don't feel that it's an option for us. Too expensive. She'd have to go to another city to have it done due to her size. She's 7 1/2. She just seems like she's aging so quickly.

If you're still reading I feel kind of like the worst pet owner ever. My dog has been having trouble for a while and I haven't done anything about it. I felt really bad. I knew the news wasn't going to be good. Poor thing hasn't had a bath in I don't know how long. At least I got her nails trimmed while we were there because again, I don't know how long it's been since that happened either. I'm sorry Lottie! We love you!

Tyler has 2 teeth!

Last Thursday Tyler's first bottom tooth broke through the gums! By Saturday the other bottom (middle) tooth had broken through. Now they are both visible! He has his first 2 teeth! Right now he is laying on his back talking up a storm. He woke up happy this morning!

Preschool Graduate!

Friday was Wilson's preschool celebration! I was able to leave school for a little bit to go see the celebration. The kids stood on stage on 4 mini risers to sing songs. Wilson was so embarassed to be on stage that he wouldn't sing. Instead he rolled his eyes during the songs. Occasionally a small smile would sneak out! He walked down the risers when Ms. Kim called his name and even stood front and center long enough for daddy to take a picture. Of course he was rolling his eyes. I'd like to know where he learned this trick...but I was proud of him because he was really nervous about the whole thing!

Thursday he came to the school I work at for Kindergarten Buddy Day! He was there from 9-10am taking a tour and meeting other k's. Andy brought him and went to the parent meeting during the tour. The night before Wilson was so worried about the tour that I had to promise to stay with him while daddy went to the parent meeting. I wanted his first K experience to be positive, not filled with nerves so I just stayed with him. The night before he was crying, couldn't sleep, was worried about a number of things ("all I can write is my name", "I don't like to sit at a desk all day" and "I don't like show and tell"). Can you tell he doesn't like to be the center of attention in public?! I can't believe we'll go to school together next year! Crazy!