z.e.b.

this kid is way too much.  such a turkey.  we've got a school countdown started.  every morning we wake up and I ask him about kindergarten: "Are you nervous?"- to which he always replies: "No! I'm excited!!!".    And he really is. Excited and ready.  I'm excited and ready, too.  We finally checked off the final 'to know' item off his kindergarten readiness list.  It was our phone number. I'd never taught him because it's a cell phone and I just didn't think about it.   So now he knows.

this past sunday- at 9:25- we were all ready to go to church.  The boys had buckled themselves in their carseats.  I got metta in and set off to go. and then the garage wouldn't open. and it made a funny noise.  so I got out to make sure there wasn't something in the way. there wasn't- so I tried one more time. Still nothing.  I got up on the van and switched off the garage door opener so I could open in manually. I tried to open it- still no luck.  I called kent at work- he didn't answer.  We were stuck. In the garage- and we were supposed to pick up four people to take to church.  I was a little stressed.  I tried calling Kent again and Zeb started yelling at me from the van: "mom! mom! mom!".  I finally responded with a frustrated- "what!?".  "I locked it, mom.  I locked the garage" he nervously told me.   "What?!"- I shrieked. I checked- and the manual lock had been slid into position on the far side of the garage. "Why!??" I shrieked again?!  to which he whispered:"I didn't want to go to church".  The little rascal. He knew I was ticked. When I'm late- I'm GRUMPY. especially when it's late to church.  Lucky for him we made it just in time- and still got my favorite seat. And as soon as we sat down he came up to me and begged for my forgiveness.  I made him promise he'd never complain about going to church again. It's something we do in this family. every sunday. never fail.  He really is such a good little boy- but a little too smart for his own good. I had no idea he even knew how to manually lock the garage.

 so- in order to get my sisters posting on their blogs more often- my mom is offering payouts.  1 dollar/post.  Expect some pretty hefty blogging from me in the next little while.

At least one Saturday a month growing up- after morning chores were finished- my dad would get us all excited and announce that he was taking us out for lunch.  And then he'd drive us over to RC Willey for free hot dogs and pop.  I fell for it month after month.  and I hated the hot dogs and pop.

This past saturday we did it to our kids.  at lowes.  Luckily- they also offered their free 'build and grow' program.  And my kids loved the hot dogs :)

Our pals from church are the ones who told us about the 'build and grow' thing- they were all there, too.

 Kent and Zeb ran into a few problems with their projects- but Zeb said he didn't mind if his was a little 'bumpy'. :)

Ike and I executed our projects flawlessly :)

Metta and her pal Cora just hung out and watched.  Metta has been doing a lot of slobbery beat boxing lately. It's RIDICULOUS in places like church where we are supposed to be quiet.

Later that day we had a little party with the same friends so their parents could go to columbus for the evening.  They have four girls and Kent was worried there wouldn't be enough for them to do with all of our race cars and trains and light sabers- so he insisted on a craft.  He went to Walmart and bought some ceramic animals to paint and all the kiddos LOVED it.

Our boys' animals were quite a bit sloppier than the girls'- but they loved it nonetheless.

metta and her loves.

EVERYtime we go out- at least one person asks how I get the little bows to stick on metta's head!  If kent is with me- he tells people: "hot glue gun".  It's terrible. and really funny to see the looks on faces.  Very few people think it's funny.

I think that metta is looking more like Zeb, lately!  which means like Kent :)  I think one person has said she looks like me. and it was probably just because of the hair! and maybe her eye color.  you can see the hazel starting to pop through!!

this metta is such a trooper.  she takes her morning naps at the gym in the arms of kidzone workers. She LOVES them and they LOVE her.  They honestly fight over her when we walk in. They rock her and sing to her and give her more attention than I usually do!!

she also loves her pals carmella, kenyaura, kamera, and kiera :)  they can make her smile and laugh like crazy!

carmella got baptized last week and we love her and her girls!!  being a part of her baptism was such a great experience.

mojito pineapple mango pork tacos + rice and beans

One of the best summer meals we've had on the grill this year!  super easy, too.  The rice and beans are some of my favorite I've made- and it was crazy easy to make.

Pork:

*1 lb pork tenderloin (we bought a huge long one at sams and then portioned it out) cut in thin strips

*1/2 packet of this stuff! we let it sit on the meat for about an hour.

although you could make your own with lime juice, apple cider vinegar, cumin, and garlic salt.

Salsa:

we didn't have any fresh fruit- so I used frozen mangoes and pineapple from our smoothie mix! it still tasted great!

fresh garden tomatoes

mango

pineapple

1/2 onion

dice everything to desired size and toss together.

add lettuce, guac, and sour cream!  serve on a corn tortilla!

Beans and Rice

 1 onion 

2 crushed garlic cloves  

1 tsp olive oil

saute for 4 minutes

and add

3/4 cup rice

saute 2 more minutes

and add

1.5 cups chicken stock

bring to a boil- cover and lower heat for twenty minutes.  When done- add 

1 can rinsed black beans

1 tsp cumin

seven days!??!

I've had the craziest past seven days! and so has kent.  too bad they weren't together!!

He spent the past week CAMPING.  partying! swimming. playing. and having tons of fun at 'camp Ko Man Shee' for Diabetes camp.  In his defense- he was 'working' the entire time :)  Around the clock blood sugar monitoring, insulin fixing, carb counting, etc.- for far too many crazy 6-7- and 8 year old little boys.  They even had to do through the night regular checks.  But it sounds to me like there was a whole lot of playing going on, too.

In actuality I'm really really glad that Kent got to go. He loves endocrinology and really wanted the experience.  Initially he wasn't going- but circumstances changed and I think I was more excited than he was.  And now he really knows that he loves endo.  We'll see if one day that's where his career takes us!  for now we've just got to get through the next two years.

It worked out perfectly that while Kent was gone- Laney's husband (taylor) had MAJOR bar prep and study to do (good luck this week!!!!)- so Laney left him alone in Buffalo and came with her kiddos to hang out with us here :)

I didn't get a single picture of me or Laney- but we got plenty of the kiddos.

 we did a lot of target shopping (thus the great clearance squirt guns) and had a lot of laughs. Once at target all five kids had a simultaneous minor (maybe major) breakdown and I lost it.  Laughing so hard I really peed my pants.  What else were we supposed to do?!  when five kids are freaking out all at once- all you can do is laugh, right?!?  on another target trip- we dropped an entire large icee in the shoe section. I think Target was happy that Laney had to go back to buffalo.  For whatever reason I am better behaved when Laney isn't around :) and I don't spend as much time at target.

we did a lot of water time, too.  After classes at the gym we played at the splash pad.  Milly is so stinking cute and really funny. she calls me 'ce-ce'.

 while at the splash pad- I found some leftover party favors in my purse from our toledo weekend.  I think the pictures are so funny!  the boys loved the treat.

 and check out miss metta in her swim suit. so dang adorable.  at what age do those little fat rolls become not so cute?!  because right now they are fabulous on metta- but hideous on me :)

unbeknownst to me- miss metta was getting pretty sick right here.  We got home and she started feeling warm.  I took her temp after lunch and it was 105!!  WHAT?!  no wonder she'd only give me a half smile.

I was pretty sure that in a four month old that was ER worthy- but OF COURSE- whenever our kiddos get sick- kent is GONE. to make matters worse- he didn't even have cell service while at camp the FULL seven days.  Tylenol helped immediately so I didn't go to the ER- but I made an appt to see a doc on base the next day.  At the appointment they ended having to do a catheter on her (due to the fact that there were NO other symptoms with her fever)- and results showed a UTI.  We had a long few nights and days- but antibiotics fixed her :)  although now we've got a renal ultrasound planned for next week at the Children's hospital. 

Laney and her kiddos left on Thursday- and Kent got home late friday night.  I'm really really glad to have my husband back.

holy toledo!!!

I definitely didn't get enough pictures of our day trip to toledo- but I suppose I have four years of blog posts dedicated to that place.  Honestly, it's one of my favorite places on earth. I can't pinpoint one specific thing that made it such a wonderful part of my life- but it was.  

We ventured up last weekend to celebrate a baby shower for beth.  Metta is already pals with the unborn micah- as you can see.  I love this picture!!  thanks for having a baby, beth! and thanks for hosting, Lynds.

 'Micah's mustache bash' was made even more wonderful by the fact that the stars aligned to get many of our old school toledoans back together.  We are scattered across the country- but a handful of us are still in the midwest and made it back all on the same day!!  although we missed all the rest of you old toledoans TERRIBLY.

 we are totally planning a reunion soon.  and then one in the far future with NO KIDS.

 metta was so good all day.  and a super champ on both car rides (2.25 hours each way). not a peep.  she's adorable.

 and she met lots of pals she never even knew she had!

 Jake's already in love with her.

 the rugrats couldn't get enough of their good old pals.

 there were lots and lots of giggles.

 and lots of fun catching up!! it was terribly hot and humid- and this was the very end of a long day- but it was ALL worth it.  thanks for the backyard, renae!!

 and then we had to say goodbye.

why is saying good bye so rotten?  I really love new places, new people, and new adventures- but it's so hard to make such amazing friends and then move away from them!  all you toledo friends- thank-you!!  thank you for making four years of my life so wonderful!  I miss you all the time!

moo cow. moo.

dress like a cow day. one of my favorite days of the year :)  and this year I got share it with friends for lunch and family for dinner!!  'chick-fil-a' food is so dang good- and it tastes even better when it's FREE.

metta thought the whole thing was so funny.

zeb, Ike, metta, and I got the moo memo (thus the pursed lips)- kent apparently did not.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be embarrassing my kids with stuff like this for the rest of their lives :)  it makes life so much fun.

The past week has been pretty low key.  I've been having some tooth problems again and it leaves me less than chipper and pleasant.  I can only begin to imagine what people go through with chronic pain or migraines or whatever.  It's exhausting and overwhelming and really stressful.  I've been having problems for almost three weeks now and I'm about at my wits end.  And then I remind myself that it could be so much worse and I suck it up.  So if I haven't been my normal self lately- I apologize (mostly to Kent and the kiddos!).

Super hot dog Ike. Zeb has his beloved 'corn dog' shirt- and now Ike has his hot dog on a skateboard shirt.  He thinks its soooooo funny.  he sleeps in it and begs to wear it daily!

 And here are a gazillion metta pictures.  because she's so darn funny right now.

She likes to sing along with Kent when he sings!  I hope that means she'll have some of his talents!  this is Kent singing a song at 'family home evening'.

don't you just want to squish her?! or kiss her little cheeks?

 have you seen a rounder little head?!

 she is full of smiles and giggles - but they're hard to get once the camera comes out!

 and I'm going to have to share my current love.  Papa johns parmesean and garlic breadsticks. to die for.  they are ginormous and terribly unhealthy. but delicious. plus I had 2.5 hours of dental work done today- with at least 2-3 more to come. so I'm allowed.