PIZZA!

Until this evening, I have not experienced the enjoyment of eating pizza for several years.   I had resigned myself to a "pizza-less" diet untill recently when my daughter and her family were here visiting.

Pizza has been one of my favorite foods most of my life and I have sorely missed it!  Rachel happened to mention that I didn't have to deprive myself altogether of pizza, I just had to revise the recipe.  WHAT?  I can eat pizza?  That was a revelation to me and she went on to describe the ingredients that I could use to make a pizza that wouldn't wreak havoc with my digestive system.

In case you are wondering, these are the ingredients that I can not have:

• tomato sauce
• vegetables (none at all)
• peperoni
• sausage

Sounds pretty much like the basic ingredients of pizza, right?  That's what I thought too.

Anyway, my daughter suggested that I make a pizza using the crust, a pesto sauce, and cheese.  BRILLIANT, I thought! 

I decided that I would add a lean ground beef and presto, I had the makings of a pizza.  I made it this evening and it was DELICIOUS!

Thank you Rachel!!

Playroom

We have reorganized our playroom for the grand kids and I really like it.   The first thing we did was replace the back door that goes to the yard.  Then I got rid of the giant tub that held all the waffle blocks as well as miscellaneous other toys.   Actually, I moved it out of the playroom and  reused it for all of our extra blankets.  We also replaced the curtains, which was LONG overdue.

Next, I collected all of our identical containers and bought a few more to better utilize the space.  I separated the different types of toys and labeled each container with a color photo showing the contents of that container.   In theory, that makes it easy for everyone to put toys away when they're done and more convenient to carry the toys to whichever room they want to play in.

 We decided to supplement our playroom with Duplos (legos) and bought 4 tubs of them.  Then I found these cool dinosaurs from Animal Planet and I added those to our supply.

I bought an inexpensive two shelf stand to hold our books and make them more accessible.  I had to buy more books to fill the shelf!!  NOT!  Actually, there were several books I wanted to add and as I was looking for them, I found even more.

Last, but not least, we are having a deck built so that the kids can easily go out and play in the back yard.  The deck is not large but it's very sturdy and I love it!  Also, the mosquitoes are no longer a problem.

There are more containers on the other side of the room and this photo was taken before I put the visual labels on the containers.

I am pleased that the toys are more organized and I'm really looking forward to playing legos with the kids.

Thanksgiving Visit

Caleb and Ethan paid us a visit over Thanksgiving, along with their parents.   I love that they are old enough to remember us from visit to visit.  They arrived pretty late in the evening and Caleb's first comment went something like, "We drove all night to get here".  Then Ethan chimed in with, "Yeah, we drove a long, long time".   They were so cute and seemed excited to be here.

I notice changes in them every time I see them.  For instance, Ethan used to be the big eater, but now Caleb eats more than Ethan.  Both of the boys enjoyed readings books.  One of their favorites (and mine) was "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!"  I read it over and over and then they even asked Papa to read it.  Rachel took a photo of Papa reading to them.

The boys spent a lot of time at the nearby school with Marcus, Rachel, Papa, and even twice with Nanna.  I am still amazed at how well Caleb can ride his bike and how Marcus taught him.

I always thought that you teach a child to ride by running along side them, holding on the bike and letting go when they are going fast enough.  Not so with Caleb.  I wasn't there the first day Caleb rode but the way it was described to me was that Marcus explained how to do it and then Caleb just did it.

I got a real kick out of Ethan's expressions when Papa said, "How ya doing, partner?"   Ethan looked at him in the strangest way and told Papa, "I not partner, I Ethan".

Ethan LOVES to meet people!  One afternoon he went from person to person in the living room, saying, "Nice to meet you," as he shook each one of our hands.  He made the rounds at least 5 times before he went on to play.  It was even more adorable when he stuck out his hand at church to anyone who was willing.
 
Another of my favorites from the weekend was watching Caleb and Ethan on the computer.  Caleb had his turn and then when it was Ethan's turn, Caleb helped Ethan by moving the mouse where ever Ethan pointed on the screen.  Whether it was a letter or a number, Caleb patiently allowed Ethan to choose and then moved the curser and clicked for Ethan.  Talk about teamwork!!

Caleb will starting kindergarten next year and the one thing that he seems to be most proud of is that when he goes to school, "he will learn so much he will be smarter than mom".

One of the funniest moments to me was when Caleb had created a shooter (gun) out of tinker toys and he ran into the living room, ran straight to his dad, and took aim.  Ethan instantly shouted, DON'T SHOOT HIM!".

Caleb didn't miss a beat, he handed the shooter to Ethan, saying, "here, you shoot him".  Ethan was so enthused by the offer that he totally forgot that he didn't want Caleb to shoot daddy, and BANG, Ethan did it himself.  I laughed and laughed!

This weekend was my first experience shopping on "Black Friday".  Rachel and I went shopping for baby girl clothes at Penny's.  We bought lots of outfits at a great price and I LOVED IT!  We had so much fun!

Bowling

I went bowling for the first time in 20 years! (to the best of my recollection)

I've been thinking about it for about 2 months so on my way home from work, I pulled in to the SUPER BOWL.

Both Searcy Schools and Riverview Schools were there competing with one another.  I just recently learned that local high schools have bowling teams.

Two of the lanes were still available so I carefully picked a rather light ball and got my shoes.

The last time I went bowling, the scores were handwritten on a large paper formatted specifically for bowling.  Today, the scoring was all digital, which is not too surprising.

I was only going to bowl one game but after I got two spares, I decided to bowl a second game.  Then I got 3 spares and 1 strike.  I was really pumped!

I left after that game, mentally making plans for my next time.  I think I'm going to like this.  It's a fairly inexpensive hobby with one game costing $3.00.   Tthe price went down with each subsequent game.


NOTE*  My next post will be about Caleb and Ethan's visit!