First week of School. . .

We all survived the week.  The kids had a really good week and they both like their teachers.  Yeah!!  That always makes my school year go better.   They each have friends and kids that they know in their classes and that helps too.  No real homework this week but, I have a sinking feeling about next week.  The boys are also going to be starting football practice next week. 
I got a bargain on lean ground beef at the meat market this week so I have browned and frozen several pounds for future meals.  Having this frozen browned meat readily available helps  with meal preparation.  I can just pull some out of the freezer and put it in the skillet it is thawed in no time and just add what ever seasonings I want.  When I browned it I also seasoned it with a little white wine ( of course) and some fresh garlic.  I use those no matter what I am fixing.   We also had spaghetti, baked spaghetti, tacos and hamburgers this week.  I bought a lot of lean ground beef.  Tonight we had meatloaf.  I tried a new recipe from my favorite website www.allrecipes.com .  I am always looking for new ways to fix meatloaf.  HA HA
This recipe is "Glazed Meatloaf."   Those of you that know me, know that I never follow the recipe specifically I always change a few things.  For this recipe I added a little too much lemon juice to the glaze but it was still ok.  I know lemon juice?  You would not think of that being very good in a meatloaf but it was good even though I added way to much.  Any who check out the site and see what you may find for dinner tomorrow.  The point of all of this was that because we had not had something to do every night I was able to cook some pretty good meals for the family.
Until we eat again. . .

No money from the tooth fairy?

Monday Jack pulled his tooth.  So Monday night he was to put his tooth in his dish for the tooth fairy.  Tuesday morning he got up and did not mention what the tooth fairy had given him.  I did not ask but Mark did.  He told his Daddy that she left him a note.  Mark looked at him funny and said, "A note, where is it?"  Jack said he had tore it up.  He did not want Thomas to see it.  We asked him what it said.  He replied, "She wrote no tooth no money."   I asked him what that meant.  He said Daddy told me to do it.  He said why don't we mess with the tooth fairy.  So instead of putting his tooth in his dish just for the tooth fairy he hid it in a puzzle box in a different spot.   Since his tooth was not where it was supposed to be he did not get any money.  Jack blames his Daddy for that one and so do I.  How nutty can my husband be?  Why would he tell Jack to hide his tooth?  I still have not figured that one out.  Last night as we were saying our night night prayers I asked Jack if his tooth was in his dish.  He said yes and he still insists that it is his Daddy's fault that he did not get any money the night before.  This morning when Jack got up to get ready for school he came downstairs to get breakfast and he laid a $1 bill on the kitchen table.  I asked him what the dollar was for.  He said that is what the tooth fairy gave him.  He usually gets $2.  He was quite upset that he did not get his $2 and still blames his Daddy.  Some of you may say $2, that is not much from the tooth fairy.  Well, to my kids it is a lot.   Our tooth fairy is frugal and $2 is the normal fee for a tooth at out house.  When or if they get more it is a pleasant surprise but they do not expect it automatically.  Now that Jack sees he can get less from the tooth fairy I think he will not try that again no matter what his Daddy tells him.
The dish I keep referring to above is a little ceramic dish in the shape of a tooth and it has Jack's name on it.  When you take the lid off  this is written inside, "put tooth here."  Mark made this for Jack when he was just a baby.  I know Mark and ceramics?  He went with a group of nurses that he works with to this little ceramic place and did this.  He also made me a ceramic "Frito." 

The Beach continuted . . .

Mark played in the water with the kids just about everyday.   We had some good waves a couple of days.  The kids played on their boogy boards that their aunt Robbie had gotten for them.  They loved to play on them and pretend they were surfing.   Mark had fun riding those waves too.
 I always got up before anyone else in the house.  That was good because I could go out on the beach for a walk before it got too terribly hot. It also gave me a good hour of quiet time in the house to read.  I enjoyed my walks in the quiet morning,  it was so peaceful.  One day when I came back from my walk Mark was up and said he wanted to go for a walk too.  So off we went.  It was really nice for us to be together for a quiet walk on the beach.  I felt like a teenager again on a first date.  I wanted to hold his hand and play in the water.   I don't know if he felt that way or not it is still hard to read him even after 17 years.   In my version of course he does feel the same.   HA  HA!!   We also took walks after supper a couple of nights.   On the after supper walks the kids usually would go with us, at least Jack would.  Thomas is so stubborn sometimes he does not know what he is missing.  Jack was of course on the shark tooth hunt.   They played cards or trippley most every night.  I don't think anyone went to bed before 10 or 11 most nights except maybe me.   I think I went to bed before everyone every night, but  of course I was also the one up at 6:30 most mornings too.  It was a great trip and we relaxed for most of it.

The Beach

Yeah, we are home from the beach.  We had not been in three years so it was nice to get away.  We rented a house on the beach for the whole family.  It was great!  I think a week may be too long for my kids though.  Thomas was ready to go home after a couple of days.  He said, "Mommy is it time to go home?  I have been in the water, I have played in the sand, we played put put, and we have eaten out.  Isn't it time to go?"  I told him no, that we still had several days left to play in the sand and the ocean.  That child has his check list and once he has done everything on his list he is done.   Any suggestions on how to get over that?
The kids went to the Aquarium and I got to go shopping.   That is a definite advantage to staying with family you have to do what they want to do.  Since they insisted on going shopping I had to go.  Ho hummm.  Poor me all the outlets in the world and I had to go through them all.  HA HA!!  Shhhhhhh, don't tell Mark. 
The men got to go deep sea fishing though so don't feel sorry for them at all.   They went out on a head boat for most of the day deep sea fishing the day before we hit all the outlets.   
Mark and the kids have started a family tradition of collecting sharks teeth.  Mark and his dad collected them over the years and Mark has a jar full of them.  So he started that tradition with our kids.  They now have a good start to their own jar of sharks teeth.  Mark and Jack walked the beach looking for these tiny treasures and they both were very excited each time they found one.  Maybe that will be something Jack and Thomas will pass to their kids as well. 

Anyone need an Electrician? ?

Well, I have the number for you.  With the storms that came through the other day the lightning blew out one of our circuits in our basement.  Of course it would be the one that our freezer runs on.  Now we don't keep a lot of stuff in our freezer but enough that with no power it would be a mess.   So off I go to find an electrician.  Now I always look for those that are associated with the BBB and I check their ratings.  I do however, depend on others opinions too.  I also called our insurance agent to get his recommendation.  He gave me the name and number of a local small business.  I like small business folks too.  They are the ones that are still concerned about customer service and satisfaction.  I like that. 
I went with the gentleman that my insurance agent recommended.  The poor guy did not get here until 9:00 last night.  He was working several urgent calls and worked us in.  I appreciate that so very much.  Here is the sigh of relief,  it did not cost me an arm and a leg and it was a simple fix.  Thank goodness.   My freezer is still working and no loss of food.  Yeah.   This nice fellow was not associated with the BBB but if he was I am sure he would have an A+ rating.  If anyone needs his number shoot me an email.  And no I do not get kick backs.   I just think we have to look out for each other and if we know someone that is reliable then we should let others know about them. 

Yahoo!!! School is about to begin. . .

Yes, I love my kids but, it is time for them to go back to school.  Ya hooooooo!!!  Ok I will try to maintain some dignity.  Sorry for the yelling.  It has been a hard summer.  We did not get to the pool like we wanted to this year.  Both of my heat pumps went out within a week of each other.  So if anyone needs to know a good reliable company to work on your heat pump call me.  I had two different companies work on mine and I prefer the later of the two.  I will not go in to detail but email me and I can give you the number of the good one.  The Lord was watching out for us though because they did not go out on the hottest days this summer.  So it was not as bad as it could have been.  Then my toilets all started acting funny and the boys toilet flooded their bathroom.  So if you need a plumber I have that number too.  Life is funny.   I have planned a date with my neighbor when the kids go back to school.  I told her if she perked the coffee I would bring the pound cake and we could have a nice quiet chat.  Things have been so crazy we have not talked much this summer.  It will be nice when things get back on schedule again.  My kids need their sleep and this going to bed at 9:30 and 10:00 is not good.  Starting next week we get back on school schedule.  I know that will be a hard one.