Monday Menu Plan

Monday - The last Swim meet of the Summer! I think I will cook Beef Burgundy in the crockpot.
Tuesday - Horseback Riding for the boys so hmmmm Sandwiches maybe. Maybe McDonalds.
Wednesday - Thai Chicken Sir Fry (Swim Team Party and Band Practice)
Thursday - Meat Crock Loaf (Mr. Geek will be late - triathalon training and the boys love meatloaf)
Friday - Beef Skewers with Pineapple-Jalapeno Sauce

What Really Happened Last Week

Monday - I was right, it was way to busy to cook, but hot dogs at the swim meet were less than satisfying. Next Monday I will have to think of another plan.

Tuesday - Chicken Fajitas - Yummy. I used a sweet red pepper, Poblano and fresh jalapeno pepper instead green peppers. I had some guacaomole-salsa verde from Trader Joes to go with it. I served this with refried beans and corn on the cob.

Wednesday - Crock Goulash - I made this with Chicken Thighs in the crock pot. I find that boneless thighs hold up much better in the crockpot versus chicken breasts which seem to dry up. The recipe called for shredded red cabbage which I found at Trader Joes for $1.49, So this was also an economic meal. (swim practice and a meeting at church made this a hectic night, perfect for a crockpot meal)

Thursday - Stir Fry Mexican Beef - I make this with Sirloin that I buy at Costco. I think their beef is the best. This recipe stretches the beef quite a way. I served this with Rice.

Friday - Mango BBQ Chicken - The mango BBQ sauce was just okay. However using some of the sauce as a marinade made some yummy grilled chicken. I served this with Jasmine rice, green beans and a salad.

Saturday - We went to a graduation party. (Good Job SARAH!!) The food there was great. I brough chicken wings and hot dogs for the littler geeks (they have food allergies, so generally we always bring their food)

Sunday - Leftovers

Watch The Drummer

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here we go:

1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you ______.
I believe whatever doesn't kill you can put out an eye if you are not careful.

2. If you're good at something, ____.
If you're good at something, you should figure out a way to do good with it.

3. Why so _________.
Why so odd of a question?

4. Something is out there, it's ______.
Something is out there, it's alway been there waiting for us to recognize it.

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled _______.
If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled -- Seriously!!?? (no seriously, that is what it would be called) or I Got Nothing.

6. Sitting on my back porch [if you don't have one, use your imagination] I see ___________.
Sitting on my back patio I see a trampoline, a swing set and a basketball hoop. Can you tell I have children?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____!
And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to doing nothing, tomorrow my plans include a horse show (if the grounds are not too wet) and a graduation party and Sunday, I want to do something fun (I am just not sure what)!

Wordless Wednesday

Take Five on Tuesday

NOTE: My laptop is very sick. I have so many pictures and stories to blog about and I can't do it until it feels better. So here is something I did to keep me busy.

5 things you collect.

Cardinals - The bird , not the team --Statues and pictures
Cookie Jars in the shape of buildings
Books (even if I am not trying, I love books)
Safety Stories (especially stories where things go wrong)
Brooches - I love old and interesting pins.

5 things about your hair.

It is brown (it is too! most of the time)
It gets lighter when I spend time in the sun
It is short
It gets frizzy when it rains
I have had it cut by the same person for almost twenty years

5 of your favorite summer foods

Watermelon
Corn on the cob
BBQ ribs
BBQ porksteaks
Homegrown tomatoes
(Oh I am so hungry now!!)

What about you?!?!

Take5 Tuesday

Monday Menu Plan

Monday - Too much going on tonight, hot dogs? leftovers?
Tuesday - Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday - Mexican Beef
Thursday - Crock Goulash
Friday - Pizza and Chicken Wings - Caribbean Jerk Chicken



What Really Happened Last Week

Monday - Ginger Chicken Breast with Chinese Cole Slaw -This was Delicious

Tuesday - Caribbean Steak - It was meet the teacher night for the Littlest Geek. I used the leftovers from the Lasagna (spelled lizana by the Littlest Geek - isn't that adorable) to make Unstructured Lasagna and we ate the steak late as a "snack".

Wednesday - South African Chicken - Sometimes the meals from Saving Dinner don't work, and this was one that didn't. It called for way too many onions, which Mr. Geek (yes Mr. Geek cooked that night) reduced and it was still way too many.

Thursday - Paprika Pork Chops (Chicken) with Corn Relish - This was yummy. My changes to the recipe were to coat the chicken with paprika and rice flour before pan frying.

Friday - Fried Chicken (postponed from last week) - This was my birthday present from my sister. She makes the BEST fried chicken, mashed potatoes and cream gravy. I am hungry again just thinking about it.

Saturday - We went to a Mexican restaurant were friend of our were playing in a band. The music was great, the food okay. I was a bit aggravated, after I told the waitress very clearly, "Bring the hamburger, just the meat, no bun, completely plain." Of course it came on a bun and when I sent it back, they took it off the bun and redelivered it. (There were pieces of bun still stuck to it.) I took it back to the kitchen myself, told them my son was going to throw up all over their dining room, if they didn't get me a new burger directly off the grill. (I added some pantomine to make up for the language barrier.) I tried to be polite but firm (calm, assertive) who know what they did to the second burger, but at least he did not get sick.

Sunday - Leftovers

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Today is a very important day!

I would like you to meet a very special person! This is my Mom about the time I was born.

This is my Mom and Dad.

The picture is from my sister's wedding. Yes those are ruffles on his shirt, it was the Seventies, you had to be there to understand.

Here is my Mom with my sisters and brother.

And Here is my mom at her birthday party last Sunday, holding the newest member of our family.

Does Anyone Need a Babysitter?

Ten Memorable Vacation Moments

UPDATE: I knew I did this too quickly and I was leaving something out. I forgot two awesome vacations.

Bicycling through Door County, Wisconsin. This was with a tour group, so our luggage was transported to the next motel or Bed and Breakfast each day. We biked to lighthouses, crossed over to Washington Island, and ended up talking the captain of a minesweeper into giving us a tour of the ship in Sturgeon Bay.

Driving back from Los Angeles to St. Louis. We took a week and tried to see as much of the country as we could. We headed up first towards San Francisco and saw the Monterrey Aquarium and went on 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach. We saw the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest in Arizona. We spent a few days in Albuquerque and drove to Sante Fe and Taos.

1. Riding in the car with my Mom, Aunts, sisters and cousins singing every obnoxious song we knew(like Grannie, Swingin' on the Outhouse Door and In The Little Red Schoolhouse) and verse after verse of "Oh you can't get to heaven".

2. With the same people, maybe on the same trip (?), stopping on the road next to a farmer's field to take some corn for dinner that night. Who knew farmers keep their sweet corn closer to home?

3. Playing all day long in the streams on Johnson Shut-Ins by myself. Where was my parental supervision?

4. Learning to sail a boat on Kentucky Lake.

5. Searching store after store in Branson to find the perfect souvenir t-shirt and moccasins.

6. My senior trip to Disney World. My first time on a plane, my first vacation with no parents.

7. My first trip into the bush in Canada. It was right after we were married and pure HELL. Someday I will give you all the details. (The directions said memorable not pleasant.)

8. Visiting Disney World with my entire family. After studying the guide books, my sister was able to lead us through without hardly standing in any line.

9. Going to South Padre Island after Mr. Geek came home from Desert Storm. College Geek was just two and we spent all day laying on the beach and doing nothing.

10. St. Petersburg, Florida with my entire family. My Mom rented us condos as a Christmas present one year. Almost everyone was able to make it (that's alot of people including by brother and sisters, their kids, and their kid's kids).

Ten on Tuesday

Menu Plan Monday

This Week
Monday - Ginger Chicken Breast with Chinese Cole Slaw
Tuesday - Caribean Steak

Wednesday - South African Chicken

Thursday - Paprika Pork Chops (Chicken) with Corn Relist

Friday - Fried Chicken (postponed from last week)

Last week - What really happened.

Monday - Marinated Beef Kabob with Wasabi Sauce - We had this on the grill and even though we had to eat it quickly because we had a SwimMeet that night, OMG, it was yummy. Changes from recipe - I made the marinade with mayo instead of yogurt to make the meal GFCF. I put onion on the skewer with the meat instead of Cherry tomatoes. To make the Wasabi Dip, I mixed Wasabi powder with sour cream since I figured the boys wouldn't eat it anyway.

Tuesday - Galicky Garbanzos, Broccoli and Pasta -This was a recipe that did not excite me at all reading it but the finished product was worthwhile. It is basically a combination of chopped brocolli, garbanzo beans and pasta. I added some tomato sauce. The big surprise was how the Middle Geek shoveled it in. I quote, "Mom it has everything I like, brocolli, butts and noodles." Yes he calls Garbanzo Beans - butts, Go look at one and I think you will understand why.

Wednesday - We had hamburgers (I didn't feel like cooking)

Thursday - Tex-Mex Chicken Wrap I made this in the crock pot, it was good and made good leftovers.

Friday - I was home alone for dinner. I found a steak in the freezer and threw it on the grill. I ate just that, no veggies (don't tell anyone). I followed it up with homemade Chocolate Chip Coffee Ice Cream. (Mr. Geek made this Ice Cream and it deserves a post all on its own.)

Saturday - Just me and Middle Geek, he had Chili and I had a Chili Cheeseburger.

Sunday - I made Lasagna for my Mom's Birthday Party (the actual day is later this week). It must good cause I didn't have any leftovers (or maybe I didn't make enough).

Photo Story Friday

Photo Story Friday gives the opportunity to tell the story behind a photo. For my first photo Friday, I am reusing a popular photo from a Wordless Wednesday because anyone who knows me knows I can't stay wordless for long.



Toward the end of the school year things become very hectic and overscheduled (that is saying a alot in this house where we keep very busy). The are end of year concerts and big end of year school field trips and end of year award programs and end of year Drama Productions (you get the picture). This coincides of course with the end of my work schedule as I know it. Because I work for myself (and Mr. Geek) I have alot of flexibility of when and where I work. I have found that I prefer to work at the office during normal working hours (who knew?). But when everyone is home from school I work whenever and where ever I can. (Today I am at the kitchen counter.)



So two days before one of the Supersized Days, I get a reminder call, I have an appointment to get my hair cut. I made this appointment at the end of my last appointment eight weeks ago when the end of school was far off in the distance. (One more aside, I do not pamper myself much, but I live for these days.) So do I cancel my appointment and fulfill my duties as a mother --of course I do. What kind of question is that?

And then the biggest son came home from college. Let's see, what should I call him. Oldest Geek is really Mr. Geek and Biggest Geek is just redundant. I know, we will call him
College Geek. So I mention to the Littlest Geek, "What if College Geek came to your field day instead of me?" (So when he got upset, I could say, I was only asking, "What if?") At this point instead of getting upset, he jumped up and down, "Really! He can come to my field day?!!!"

Well at least I found out where I rate in the family AND I was able to get my hair cut that day.

So what about the picture? This is a picture of College Geek demonstrating one of the games. Again, better him than me. He was so happy, because all the kids thought he was cool and some of his old teachers remembered him. And no one missed me!



Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

A New Meme

This time I didn't even have to ask and Jules tagged me. I found the first person who would talk to me and I asked, tell me three things about me. This is the first freckle faced boy I met and what he had to say (My comments in parenthesis).

1. You like singing. (That's true.)
2. You like the caterpillars we have. (Also true. We have some caterpillars that are going to turn into Swallowtail Butterflies. I am so excited.)
3. You like TV (sad but true)




So on to the second boy in the house:
1. You're nice (Yippee)
2. You like American Idol (True, true)
3. You like your garden. (Well even all of you know that)

Mr. Geek and the oldest son were not home so I have not asked them three things, I will have to add their thoughts later.

Update: From Mr. Geek
1. You like the color green. (Yes, I am always the green marker in any game, I don't care how old you are, it's mine mine mine.)
2. You like to cook new and unusual things and never cook the same thing twice even when following a recipe. (That's a good thing right?)
3. You love my children more than anything. (oh yeah)

What game am I playing? Well thanks for asking. This is a new tag. It is called a UU.

So the rules of the UU (you you as opposed to me me) are......
1. The UU (that's you by the way) must list the three things their husband (or wife) (or significant other!) (or child/children if the afore mentioned are in hiding or unavailable) (could be a pet too, in lieu of all of the above...... which is especially handy if you have an adoring one)....... ( and this from Holly....... no pet? got a plant?) (if you have none of the above, you should go get one....... or maybe more than one)

2. The rules of this UU are posted at the ENDING of the post.

3. At the end of the post, the player then tags a randomly chosen number of people and posts their blog names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged. The comment must end with the word 'pthththth'......... um....... unless you're shy like me. Then just go and tag those you love......:)"So guess what?" she asked in a peppy cheerleader type of voice.My random number is............. the first 3 commenters (and I don't count).TAG! YOU'RE IT!hehehehehehehehehehehe............ oops I mean............... Pthththth..............

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

My Montage 7/8/08

My adventure at Summer Camp

By Middle Geek

This is where I spent one week. There was a thunderstorm and I saw one lightning that went cloud to cloud to cloud and the sky was black, but LOL it didn't rain.

This is my tent. It smelled like throw-up.

We had a laughing contest. It didn't go off so good cause no body stated laughing.

So we started singing songs, alot of them. We sang Down With the Sickness and We're Not Gonna Take It. Then one girl told us to Be Quiet, so we sang louder.

This is my horse Bella. We rode for hours everyday.

We started to get a pony into a stall. It was hard, it's called the s*** Pony cause the pony hates other horses like Romeo. And next thing you know, Romeo runs down. They are in different paddocks and the pony trots down same as Romeo and the pony bites Romeo and Romeo bites back, and the pony gets stuck in the electric fence and breaks one of the strings. And another story, one day there was Rain, a clydesdale, and Monty and Little Brother and the pony was being bad to Rain, biting him and all that. And why should the pony be messing with Rain when Rain is way bigger than him. Next thing you know, Rain, Little Brother and Monty all kick the S*** Pony at the same time and the pony falls down. And doesn't die. AND THE PONY IS FOR SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YA YES <(^-^)>

Huggies, a dog at camp.

The most exciting thing that happened to this horse is that SHE HAD A BABY!!!!!

It's the BABY.

The baby has big legs.

Monday Menu Plan

Here is something I stumbled upon - Bloggers that plan their menu for a week every Monday. I usually do this with my saving dinner menu. So I thought I would start filling this out and see how well I actually follow it.



Monday - Marinated Beef Kabob with Wasbi Sauce

Tuesday - Galicky Garbanzos, Broccoli and Pasta

Wednesday - Tex-Mex Chicken Wrap

Thursday - Lemon Chicken Scaloppini

Friday - Pizza and Chicken Wings ( A Geek household tradition) Wait, I remembered my big sister is making me her Famous Fried Chicken for me for my birthday(no that is not my birthday). YUM!

Saturday - Jamaican BBQ (I think everyone but the Middle Geek and myself will be out of town this weekend, so we might just eat junk food. Shhhh, don't tell!)