Sunday, September 30, 2007

I'm married to Mr. Organized

The officeMy very own workspaceThe closetUtility roomUlitity 2

Mr. Organized, aka Chris, put himself into first gear this weekend. I was beginning to get a tad shook up that we did not have more done in preparation for the baby. Like what? Well, I will just explain what we were up to this weekend.

First, Mr. Organized as I will call Chris, bought a new shelving system for our new office in the basement. He then moved all the office supplies in the HUGE old closet upstairs to its new home downstairs after some reorganization. It looks fabulous! That is the only way to describe it. Next, he moved to our ONLY storage room now, the utility room, where he reorganized and removed. We had to give up a few things to clear it out some, but it looks SO NICE! It was a late Saturday night to complete all of that. Oh, and many things sell rather well on craigslist.org. I sold 3 things in less than 8 hours and they come to your home and pick it up. Anyway, onto Sunday. You know, the day of rest. Chris finished up the project by cleaning up the garage, moving many items that were once housed in the utility room to the  garage. I will have to post a picture of our garage sometime. You can not appreciate Mr. Organized until you can see how much STUFF can be fit into a small 2 car garage!

Anyway, I helped yesterday but was admittedly little help today (unless you include selling 3 things on craigslist). Thank-you, Topher. You did an amazing job and it shows! Now, next week is onto priming the dark green office to turn it into a baby room! We are getting closer! (Oh, and Chris can hardly wait to do more painting after having painted everything inside and out once already!! :) ). So next week I will have to name him something else, huh? (or he will have some names for me :) ).

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Why do men die first?

If you put a woman on a pedestal and try to protect her from the rat race...
you're a male chauvinist.
If you stay home and do the housework ....
you're a pansy.

If you work too hard ...
there's never any time for her.
If you don't work enough ...
you're a good-for-nothing bum.

If she has a boring repetitive job with low pay ....
this is exploitation.
If you have a boring repetitive job with low pay ...
you should get off your lazy behind and find something better.

If you get a promotion ahead of her ...
that is favoritism.
If she gets a job ahead of you ...
it's equal opportunity.

If you mention how nice she looks ...
it's sexual harassment.
If you keep quiet ... it's male indifference.

If you cry ...
you're a wimp.
If you don't ...
you're an insensitive bastard.

If you make a decision without consulting her ....
you're arrogant.
If she makes a decision without consulting you ....
she's a liberated woman.

If you ask her to do something she doesn't enjoy ...
that's domination.
If SHE asks you ...
it's a favor.

If you appreciate the female form and frilly underwear ...
you're a pervert.
If you don't ...
you're gay.

If you like a woman to shave her legs and keep in shape ...
you're sexist.
If you don't ...
you're unromantic.

If you try to keep yourself in shape....
you're vain.
If you don't ...
you're a slob.

If you buy her flowers ....
you're after something.
If you don't ...
you're not thoughtful.

If you're proud of your achievements ...
you're full of yourself.
If you aren't...
you're not ambitious.

If she has a headache ...
she's tired.
If you have a headache ...
you don't love her anymore.

If you want it too often ...
you're oversexed.
If you don't ...
there must be someone else.

Men die first because they want to. :)

I loved this joke and had to pass it along.

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Giddy Up!

It's time for Cowboy Cookies. Alivia brought this recipe home from her cooking segment of preschool. I do not know who likes this part of preschool better, Alivia or Mommy. :) I love to make new things, and we all love eating them!

Cowboy Cookies:
3 cups Flour                       1 1/2 cups margarine
1 1/2 tsp Baking soda         1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder         1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs                                 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups rolled oats                2 cups cho. chips
1 cup. chopped nuts

Cream shortening - add sugar & brown sugar. Cream. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix flour, soda, baking powder together and add to sugar mixture. Mix in oats, chips and nut (we did not include nuts when we made them). Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees or until lightly brown.

YUMMY!

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Saturday, September 22, 2007

Got Corn?

The Big Screenself portraitOur viewThe power of redAnd it's good!

Cornhusker that is.

Chris and I went to our first Nebraska Cornhusker game together today. It was my first game ever. Most people would not believe that I would even go. My boss won these tickets in a raffle at one of the offices I call on. Since she lives in Colorado, she gave me the tickets! It was a beautiful sunny day, warm 80 degrees. We could not ask for better weather. We sat in the end zone right between the goal posts (see pictures). Now, for the game. They won 41-40. How they won was purely luck, in my uneducated opinion. We had fun in the warm sun, and it was fun to get to a game. The girls had fun with my parents, too. Of course, we had to end the day by all going to Mama's pizza (how else would you end a fun day?).

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Sunday, September 16, 2007

Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary

                                             Harlan Newspaper article

My parents
The big sheet cake
The grooms cake
Friends
Dancing with Marsha
Gift opening
Today my parents, Derald and Bette, are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary! Wow, 40 years! We helped them celebrate with family and friends by throwing a party in their honor yesterday in Shelby, IA, where they live. With A LOT of help from my Aunt Marsha and my parents friends, we were able to pull it off without any hiccups. We invited several close friends and family personally, then opened it up to the public in the paper. Most of the invited guests attended and many open house friends attended. It was fun to see people that they had not seen in a while. Chris made a DVD slide show of many pictures of them over their 40 blissful years together and ran it to their favorite music from 1967 when they were married. It turned out great, and we got a lot of laughs looking over all the pictures. Chris also had the music CD playing in the background during the party, which was a lot of fun. We bought a sheet cake (ruby flowers to mark the 40 year mark) and a motorcycle grooms cake (but I forgot to have them put HARLEY on it! My parents have been "bikers" for the last few years). I used old to recent framed pictures of them as centerpieces along with rose petals. And, as their guestbook, we had guests sign an 8x10 matted picture frame. We had plenty of food to eat throughout the party and now beyond, too!
It was a wonderful day...one none of us will forget.
Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad (when you someday get your computer back!:) ).

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Monday, September 10, 2007

A new chicken breast recipe

Well, the weather is getting cooler, so it is time to start cooking more from the oven instead of outside on the grill. Chris is not big on grilling in the rain, in a snowsuit, etc. :)

Here is a new recipe we tried tonight. As easy as it is, it turned out to taste wonderful.

Chicken Breasts with Rosemary and Thyme:

Rosemary

Thyme

4 chicken breasts

1/2 t. crushed red pepper

salt and ground pepper

 2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat chicken breasts with rosemary and thyme (one side), salt, ground pepper, red pepper.

2. Heat olive oil in large skillet, until simmering. Add chicken breasts, herb side down, and cook over moderately high heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Transfer skillet to oven (I put in a different foil covered dish) and roast chicken for 20 minutes, or until juices run clear when breast is pierced.

Finished product was wonderful!

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Saturday, September 08, 2007

Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary

Please join us in celebrating
Bette & Derald Graybill's
40th Wedding Anniversary

Saturday, September 15, 2007
2-5 PM
Shelby Community Building,
Shelby, Iowa


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Thursday, September 06, 2007

"Chicken Feed" Recipe

This is a recipe Alivia made in preschool this week. So, we tried it at home. The girls (yes, both of them) had so much fun putting in the ingredients, and then shaking them up! It tastes like "Chicken in a Biskit" Crackers with an extra kick. The girls loved it!

Chicken Feed

2 12 ounce packages of small oyster crackers
1 cup mazola oil (We used 1/2 cup and it still seemed too oily)
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch (the dark green one that does not have buttermilk).

Mix everything except the crackers.
Add crackers and shake well.
This will keep for several weeks (if it does not get eaten first!).

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Alivia's first combo dance/gymnastics class

Dance class
Alivia all alone
Alivia on the rings

Tonight was Alivia's first day of her combination class: Dance/Gymnastics. The class is over an hour long beginning at 5. So, not a real good time for Alivia after a day in preschool, and not a good time for Addison, either, since she is generally not as happy during the 5 o'clock hour. However, the available classes were at this time so we went with it. Alivia has not taken dance before but has been in gymnastics for several months. The dance class was just adorable to watch. The girls are all so cute. And, they say the most adorable things at 3-4 years old! As you can see from the second picture, Alivia just wanted to watch in dance. I had quite a time just getting her to sit down with the group. She did fine in gymnastics, running all over like a pro. We will try again next week with 2 parents and see if that helps any. She is definitely a wallflower, and that is just fine. 

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Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Alivia starts preschool!

Alivia's 1st day of PreschoolAlivia & AddisonDoor #8ClasstimeAlivia's Teacher: Mrs. Peterson
Today was Alivia's first day of preschool. She attends the Gingerbread House on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning. She was excited to go and play with the kids. The school runs on a rotation, and today Alivia was the line leader. She was excited about that. She begins the day in the art room, then play, music, kitchen and finishes in the development room (ABCs, numbers, name writing, etc). Today she reported singing, "Head and Shoulders, just like Mommy does!", coloring (sharing the colors with the kids), and playing with the stroller and kitchen set. She had a good time...and no tears (at least from Alivia). She is already looking forward to going back on Thursday!

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Saturday, September 01, 2007

Alivia's Third Flight

Alivia took here third flight today out at the Harlan Airport. She was a lot more into it this go around. She had more fun and talked about it all the way home. She kept saying that she wanted to go flying with daddy again.
















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Addison's First Flight

Addison took her first flight today out at Harlan Airport. She was so curious, not frightened at all. She looked out at all the things below and made cute little sounds while pointing them out.
Family Photo: Addison 13m, Alivia, 3
Addison in flight


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