The DI Champions - We're #1

The reason I have neglected my house, my cooking, my blog, my Facebook page and my children's mental health is because I have been co-managing a Dentination Imagination (DI) team. The DI program teaches kids to work together to solve a challening problem and then they must make an 8-minute presentation to a team of judges. Our group's challenge was called "Instinct Messaging." The goal was to choose an animal and demonstrate how that animal communicates. Have I mentioned yet that our team came in #1 in Eastern & Central Washington?? We just had our tournament in Spokane on Feb 28th and we came in #1. Here is our award-winning T-Shirt. Pretty cool, huh? A gal on our team, Lauren designed them.
Our team chose a peacock as their featured creature. Mark was our peacock. Matt designed the tail out of old blinds that he re-strung to open sideways. Matt rigged it so Mark could pull a level and the tail would open up. The kids then glued real peacock feathers to it. Pretty remarkable, huh? No wonder we came in #1!!

Here is the whole team. In the back is Vince, Matt, Michael and Maddie. (We won't discuss the crush Michael and Maddie have on each other, sheesh!!) In the front is our peacocks, Mark, Hannah and Lauren. Lauren and Hannah designed and painted the backdrop which includes a "page" that turns and changes the scene. Michael wrote the script and Maddie did all of the props and detail work.

Here is the whole team again along with me and Tricia, the other co-manager (who is also Maddie's Mom). The fabric we are holding is the "river" where the peacock falls in and drifts away from the other two peacocks. It is also the instrument that changes the scene in the play, going from grassy feeding grounds, to a river scene. Another amazing engineering feat developed by Matt.

I believe I have mentioned that we won!! Here are the kids receiving their gold medals and their certificates. Now, because we won, we are invited to attend the State tournament held in Wenatchee on March 28th. We are very excited for the kids....and exhausted from all of the hard work it takes to make 7 middle school students stay on task for hours on end.

Hopefully my house, my cooking, my blog, my Facebook friends and my children's mental health will withstand another 4 weeks of DI!! State Championship here we come!

Wrestle Mania 2

Look at this wrestler! The wrestling season is over tomorrow and Michael won 2 out of 6 matches. Pretty good for his first time doing this sport. He had a great time and he learned alot about being tough guy. He learned moves such as the Sit Out, the Crawfish, the Stand Up, the Long Sit, the Half-Nelson, the Ankle-Pick, the Cradle, the Ball-And-Chain, the Switch, the Peterson, the Head-and-Arm, the Arm Bar the Bow-and-Arrow, and of course, the Pin. Even though I attended every match, the only moves I recognize are the Cradle and the Pin. Maybe next year I will learn more about this manly-man sport, but for now, I am satisfied that Michael had a place to go after school and he learned how to increase his pain tolerance a little bit!

Aunt Michael

What could be more fun than a trip to Spokane to have dinner with Aunt Michael at TGI Fridays?? Not much. Aunt Michael made it fun even though the price was sky-high and the food was so-so (and that's being generous!!) If only I had remembered to put the "buy-one-dinner-get-one-free" coupon in my purse instead of leaving it on the kitchen table at home......

50th Wedding Anniversaries

The couple on the left is Gwen & Lane, my aunt and uncle. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in January. The couple on the right you may recongize as my parents. They will celebrate their 50th in May. I cannot imagine being married for 50 years...hell...I can't even imagine being married at all!!
Here is the rock my uncle bought Gwen for the occasion, okay, I must admit, I would put up with 50 years of marriage for a 1-1/2 carat diamond platinum ring!!

My Dad already told my Mom not to get her hopes up when May rolls around!!

Here are the cousins:

From left to right we have Nancy, Jonda, Judy, Janice (me), and Josie. Notice how we arranged ourselves by HEIGHT and not by AGE?! Very clever of us. You can take your best guess as to who is oldest!

The Agony of Defeet

WARNING - GRAPHIC PHOTO BELOW. SQUEAMISH PEOPLE SHOULD AVERT THEIR EYES (or scroll down really fast)....

Okay people. This is my stupid, stupid big left toe. It has been hurting me for...uh...oh...about a year. Every once in a while it flares up and causes me great pain for a week or two at a time, then it kinda dies down to barely noticable pain. Well, this time the pain and inflamation just would not go away. I had to do something different - something drastic - I had to go to the doctor. As luck would have it, the gal I Co-Manage Michael's DI team with is married to a Podiatrist. Pretty convenient for me, and I had visions of being treated with kid gloves, what with being a family friend and all. And his name is Rod, just like my last boyfriend and he was a very nice guy. I had high hopes - I dreamed of being pain-free and getting pedicures as soon as the snow melts.

Doctor Rod was able to see me the day after I called, so I went in, showed him my toe and he concluded that I had ingrown toenails on both sides of the nail. And maybe a fungus. And there sure was alot of swelling under my nail bed. But we couldn't worry about any of that until we took care of the ingrown toenails. He just looked at me and said, "You have two options. I can go in there and dig out the ingrown toenails, or I can perform a little surgery and cut off about 1/4 inch of your nail on each side and then put some stuff in there to make sure your nail never grows back again. 95% chance it will never grow back again." So, gee, the logical thing was to do the permanent solution, and he had the time to do it right then. He whipped out a needle and drove that puppy right into the nerve of my big toe. Four times. When he was all done with the shots I was embarrassed to find that I had leaned over and I had a death grip on his shoulder. Oops. Sorry! The surgery itself was a piece of cake. We engaged in small talk and had a few laughs while he sliced on my toe.

The shots wore off about 6 hours later. My toe hurt pretty badly, which actually turned out okay because the boys waited on me hand-and-foot (no pun intended), and my sister came over with pizzas for dinner and she hung out with the boys. She also bravely took off the compression bandage around 7:00 pm. Ugh. It was hideous, but the boys loved looking at it and then falling to the ground because they were so grossed out. Yeah, it's gross all right, try living it!!

Anyway, this photo was taken today - 4 days post procedure. It still hurts. Doesn't it look like it still hurts? I have a follow-up visit with Doctor Rod in a couple of days. We'll see what happens. I guess I will have to put my dreams of a pedicure on hold for a while longer.

Wrestle Mania

Michael came home from school on Friday and announced that all of the kids at school were just BEGGING him to join the wrestling team. He HAD to join the wrestling team because if he didn't, they may not have enough kids to compete in tournaments. My oh my. So, I filled out the mountain of forms and signed the statements indicating I understood the inherent risks in a sport so dangerous as 7th grade wrestling. The fee is $35 and it is due Monday. And he has to get a sports physical by Monday because starting Monday they are going to practice every day from 3:00-4:30 because their first competition is in two weeks. Can you just imagine the drama and the pleading?

So, once the forms were complete I called our local Doc-In-A-Box, and they said to bring him down and they would do the physical. So, we went and did that, and it was the first time Michael had to bend over and cough. That made quite an impression on him!

So, at the weigh-in we find out that Michael is 5 feet THREE-1/2 inches tall and weighs 140 lbs. Have I mentioned that I am 5 feet FOUR-1/2 inches tall? Only one inch separates us. I can still whip him though. Yep. I am pretty sure I can still whip him.....unless he gets really good at wrestling!

Little Joe-Joe is 4 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 63 lbs. He is tall for his age. If he wasn't such a pickey eater maybe he would put on some weight so kids will be begging him to join a wrestling team! Let the Wrestle Mania begin.

Joe's First Sleep Over

I don't know what genius decided that Christmas vacation should be two weeks long - obviously that person has no children sitting at home imprisioned by the snow and frigid weather. After listening to the boys fighting, screaming, yelling, slugging, and slamming doors for one whole day, I woke up on Saturday morning and announced that everyone had better make plans to go somewhere else. I handed Michael the phone and advised him to begin calling friends. With AWD on the Silver Bullet Murano, I could get him anywhere in town no matter how much snow and ice was on the ground, and it didn't matter that the wind was blowing 40 mph and it was only 12 degrees outside. Come hell or high water, that boy needed to get out of the house. My plan worked. With only one phone call he found a friend who said Michael could come over for the day and spend the night. I had that kid packed and out the door in no time flat, knowing in my heart that he was going to a better place.

Now it was Joe's turn. Joe begged me to call Caleb, his very bestest friend who was on his T-Ball team last year. I searched in my purse and found a tiny scrap of paper with the kid's phone number on it. I don't recall exactly what I said in my voicemail message, but whatever I said, it must have come out wrong because when the mother called me back, she happily announced that Caleb woud love to come to our house. I was really, really hoping that Joe would be going to Caleb's house. It's not like I needed a break or anything, right??

Anyway, it was both Caleb and Joe's first time ever to have a sleepover. They played and laughed and ran around and laughed some more. We have a ginormous box of popcicle sticks and the boys used about a half-gallon of Elmer's Glue to glue those sticks together to make rafts, or war machines or whatever they were. It was so cute to watch them together. And then Caleb taught Joe how to spread his body out in the hallway and shimmey up the walls until his back was up against the ceiling. Oh my gosh. It was so funny!

Finally, by 9:30 pm or so, it was time for the boys to go to bed. I put Joe at the head of the bed, and Caleb at the foot of the bed and taught them how to have foot wars. They laughed and played in there until 11:00 pm and then I had to use my very serious mommy voice to warn them to go to sleep once and for all.

In the morning, I went in Joe's room and the boys were unconscious. It appeared that Joe hogged the covers. Poor Caleb had no blankie and no pillow. But they had such a great time together that I was actually glad Joe's first sleepover was at our house so I could witness how much fun it was for both of them. We love you Caleb - come back and visit us anytime! Or, Joe could go to your house.......

The Day After

Every year my brother Jeff and his family leave picturesque Gig Harbor, WA and travel to the ugly desert of Eastern Washington where the rest of us live. He always stops by my house to give the boys their Christmas present and to have a few laughs. Here he is tuning Michael's Fender guitar. Did I know my brother could play the guitar? No. He just picked it up, asked his wife to play "Sweet Home Alabama" on her new Ipod, and then he thought for a moment, and then he played the entire intro to the song. The boys and I just sat there with our mouths hanging open. He always gets a thrill out of impressing us with his hidden talents. He did the same thing when we were kids. I was into my 2nd or 3rd year of excruciatingly painful piano lessons taught by the Piano Nazi at the local college, and I was down in the basement practicing some Beethoven and I just couldn't get it right. Finally, Jeff walked downstairs and he pushed me aside and said, "Dammit Janice can't you tell the song goes like this?" And then he played it. He was probably in the 4th grade at the time. He never had piano lessons. He just 'knew' that's how the notes should sound. Yeah. My piano career was over soon after that because it was obvious the wrong person was taking lessons!

Here is Jeff's wife, Cori. She is stunning. We have no idea how my brother landed her.

Here is their youngest daughter Hannah. Also known as Hannah Banana. Also known as Hannah Nicole. Also known as Nikki. She is 15 (I think). She got a cell phone for Christmas so she didn't have much to say to us, as she was far too busy texting her friends.

Jeff and Cori got the boys a humongous remote control car. They had to wait a few days to play with it outside because we had too much snow, but it was definitely a young boys' dream car. On their way out, Jeff gave the boys sage advice, "Don't let women control your life - do what you want to do and to hell with women." And, "when you slug your brother, make sure you do it in soft tissue. Soft tissue doesn't bruise, always slug into soft tissue so your Mom will never know." Yes, I think the boys need to go spend a week with Uncle Jeff this summer. I'm sure he will be able to impart all of his manly wisdom on them since he doesn't have any boys around - he has a wife, 3 daughters and 2 granddaughters!

Here is Hannah showing us a blanket her oldest sister Jessica made for my folks. Jessica took photos from last summer and had them made into a throw blanket. Pretty cool, huh?

Christmas Morning

Santa's little helper had to stay up half the night because the boys were too excited to go to sleep. Joe was in his room singing until after 11:00 pm. I am not sure whether Michael went to sleep at all, but by 12:30 am their presents had to be brought out from their hiding places or Santa's Little Helper was going to pass out from exhaustion. After putting out the presents, Santa's Little Helper had the bright idea of putting strips of masking tape 6-inches apart across Michael's bedroom doorway so if he got up in the middle of the night to peek at his presents he would would not be able to leave his room without breaking the tape or tripping over it and falling flat on his face. Either way, he would be discovered. Santa's Little Helper was very pleased with herself.

The boys were dying to get up at 6:15 am. Michael broke through the masking tape and the boys ran out into the livingroom to find guitars and cell phones from Santa. They were both in awe. Michael got a 3/4 size Fender guitar, and Joe got a blue guitar with a hideous cobra snake on it. Amazingly, it was just like the one he had seen in a magazine.

The cell phones. Oh my. I should have stopped right there and not gotten them anything else - they were so thrilled. I found out that Virgin Mobile's pre-paid cell minutes are about 1/3 of the price of Trac Phone, which is what Michael had previously. I got him a pretty nice phone because he has been very responsible with his phone and his minutes. Joe is only in the second grade, and I am well aware of the fact that he does not need a stupid cell phone. But, I got it for $7.99. Then I added 200 pre-paid minutes for $20. You cannot imagine how happy that boy is - it was well worth $28. He takes his phone EVERWHERE. Has anyone called him on it? No. But that's not the point. He now has bragging rights that he owns a cell phone, and that's all that matters. He will not be allowed to take it to school, he can only take it when he goes outside to play so I can call him and tell him when it is time to come home. Bragging rights.

Here they are opening their stockings and modeling their fleece-lined hoddie jackets.

After our fun early-morning Christmas of opening presents from Santa, we took showers and got ready for our second-round of Christmas, and that is when my folks and sister arrive for breakfast. We always have Grandma's homemade orange rolls, poached eggs and biscuits & gravy. After that is our family Christmas present opening. The boys were so thrilled with their cell phones and guitars that they really didn't care about anything else - except maybe the orange rolls.

This year the grown-ups decided that we would get each other one $50 gift and one $5 gift, and we had to leave the price tag on the $5 gift to prove we got something cheap. It was kind of fun to do it that way. My mom got real pearl earrings and a pearl & diamond necklace and some lip gloss and some socks.

Jonda got alot of stuff for her house. We gave her an enamel-coated cast iron pan. Now she can cook more beef brisket for us! And she got lip gloss too.

Here is my Dad. We got him a nifty thingie that provides materials to help birds build their nests in the spring. I think he also got a nice sweats outfit and a pair of pants. And some Aplets & Cotlets. No lip gloss. I got the jumbo-sized Cuisinart Food Processor, which will come in handy since my cousin got me a cookbook from Jessica Seinfeld on making vegetable purees and sneaking them into your kids food. (Attention all Mothers - I'm loving the versatility of the butternut squash puree!) And I got an exercise chip for my treadmill. It is a Level 1 chip and it is still too hard for me. Pretty pathetic, huh? And I got a sterling/diamond circle necklace from Grandma & Grandpa W. It is beautiful! The boys' Grandparents from Alaska got us a Christmas arrangement for our dining table and Alaskan Smoked Salmon and salami sticks made with real reindeer meat. It was yummy and fun!

All in all, we had a great Christmas. And we were digging the great leftovers from the Beef Brisket! Watching the boys with their cell phones and guitars was priceless. Most of the time, I feel like I have had the boys for years as we have a comfortable daily routine. But when it comes to big holidays, like Christmas, the actual time I have had them seems painfully obvious. This was our third Christmas together.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

'Twas the Night Before Christmas and the boys were excited and restless. My Dad and I dragged ourselves out of Jonda's warm, cozy mansion to take the boys sledding. We found a hill in Jonda's ritzy neighborhood, trudged through 6+ inches of snow and braved single-digit temperatures so the boys could run loose and burn off some pre-Christmas energy.

The boys were freezing cold and soaking wet after sledding. So, we had them strip down to their skivvies and wrap up in blankets while we dried their clothes in the dryer. After some hot chocolate, they thawed out. And they still had too much energy....it must have been all of the Christmas cookies.

After much discussion and debate, my sister and I decided to take the advice of my friend Klondike Kate, who told us about her family tradition of making Beef Brisket on Christmas Eve, and using the leftovers to make French Dip Sandwiches on Christmas Day, and making Beef Barley Soup the next day. We liked the idea of buying one piece of beef and eating for about a week, so we decided to break with our tradition of cooking turkey and ham, and try something new. So, I went to Yolk's Fresh Market and bought the biggest slab of brisket they had. It barely fit in my fridge! It almost took two of us to lift it. We cooked it on low heat in the oven and smothered it in Beef Consomme' and Dark Beer for about 6 hours. It was the most fabulous dinner ever, and it was unanimous that we should make Klondike Kate's family tradition ours from now on. Here we are in Jonda's kitchen just before the feast began.


Here is Jonda with Sarah & Mike who joined in our feast. I secretly think that Mike comes to our family Christmas events so that (1) he can make fun of how we analyze every aspect of the menu and (2) so he can eat my snowball cookies! I give him a huge baggie of cookies every year, but it never seems to be enough. This year, I think he ate more Beef Brisket than he did snowball cookies and homemade almond roca. And he did seem to be amused about how we went on and on about how good the Brisket was.


After dinner it was time for me and the boys to head home and get ready for bed. Santa Claus is coming to town, afterall!