I absolutely love the feeling of sun on my face after a long and cold winter…and today was that day, y’all. It feels like I have no cares in the world as I bask in the warmth and listen to the birds chirping and the kids screaming with delight as they jump on the neighbor’s trampoline. Summer is almost here and I’ll be out here enjoying every last minute of it before it gets too hot and buggy.
Do you enjoy basking in the first days of post-winter sun, too?
One of Owen’s chores is to pick up dog poop. He does it but often complains. Today I suggested he do it on the Segway (since it was already out). What a great idea!! No complaining whatsoever!
We were trying two different types of lobster in the sous vide—fresh and fresh frozen. You had to parboil them all first so you could get the meat out of the shells.
It was a lot of work but I think it was better to have it done ahead of time instead of at the table.
It was unanimous that the fresh lobster was better, though we ate every last piece of both…plus the steak and green beans.
Which, speaking of the green beans, we had a helper:
Mom and I decided to do a puzzle! We both like doing them but never have the time (she does Pysanky in her free time and I have kids!)…so we started one today!
Four hours in… with quite a bit of help from Katie, actually.
We got quite a bit more done by bedtime but saved all the plain white pieces for daylight.
Especially when Gramma and Grampa are here plus you have a sleepover with your brother.
I’m not too bad looking for a dude, and am really kinda cute as the girl (or maybe it’s just I look 20 years younger). 😂 I do make a cute couple, though.
I don’t like Owen’s dude face much but his girl is kinda cute.
And this fits her personality perfectly.
So we originally were going to have the lobster for dinner Saturday night, so I just threw the bag in the garage fridge and didn’t think about it. Fast forward to a change of plans and we weren’t going to eat them Saturday night but we still needed to get in that fridge. Imagine Tom’s surprise when he opened the door and the lobsters were trying to escape! They had made it out of the (untied) bag and were in the door compartment!
I didn’t get any good pics of Owen—but I got one of Katie.
Gramma got three decent ones of Owen.
Look at that catch—foot on the base so the runner is OUT!
Lobster for dinner… I mean what better way to celebrate Mother’s Day?
The five of us (not six because Katie won’t eat it) side a pretty good job of almost finishing the entire cowboy ribeye… But Tom can’t let the bone go without a little cleaning. 😉
A Cowboy Ribeye as big as your head vacuum sealed and seasoned with fresh rosemary, onion, and spices going into a 132° sous vide water bath for a few hours and then it will be quickly seared on a 600° grill. I am already drooling just thinking about the melt-in-your-mouth smoky meat that you can cut with a fork.🍴🤤 Do you sous vide? (If not, you totally should!)
For the last 18 years we haven’t lived near family since we’re military—so when your mom calls you one morning and says they’ll be there for dinner…
WAIT, WHAT? 😳
This isn’t a 20-minute drive, y’all—my mom lives 400 miles away!
It’s doubly exciting because it’s Mother’s Day weekend and I haven’t seen her since December!
Fast forward to her arriving tonight…
I’m really not sure how I’m going to get this kid out the door next year at 7. 😒 I may have to put her to bed at 6:30. 🤬
I wrote Owena note telling him how much I loved his movie snacks picture and asked if I could keep it…
🥰
So I put it in a special place:
I can’t be an adult. I mean, shouldn’t a damn 45yo adult know WITHOUT GOOGLING if what she was feeling was allergies or a cold? 🤦🏻♀️ But Dr. Google says allergies. Phew…I guess.
Looking very professional!
Owen on base is a dream to watch. He just snags the balls out of the air from every direction. Just look at these catches!
This one would have been awesome if the line judge hadn’t been in the way…
And look at this out!!
Another hit!
And another amazing out at 1st base!
When a friend stops by for one thing and ends up staying for a margarita and some training.
Technically speaking this is my third, if you count the “margarita-esque” punch I had with lunch and the margarita-flavored Jelly Bellys I taste-tested at the factory today on our date afternoon. 😂
When the sun is shining so bright you can’t see if you got a good pic or not…and we lucked out with both. 🙂 I was trying to get the painted Kenosha sign in the background so blurred one and left one regular.
And, of course, a margarita—or close approximation since they offered me their house punch which they said was like a margarita.
So I took a few this morning…but the light wasn’t great. Oh well. I’ll try more throughout the season.
After a few rained out games, today was the first game of the season! Owen is one of the better kids on the team (it’s about half and half of kids with experience and kids with none). Owen was tagged to be a pitcher and catcher—and of course he’s still awesome on first base! Check out these amazing catches during practice!
Tom loves being there to help coach every practice and every game!
Owen was the very first one up to bat! Talk about a nervous mama. 🙂 But I shouldn’t have worried—he got a base hit on the second pitch!
And then—SURPRISE!—he was pitching! He didn’t do too badly!
More first-base coaching from dad!
And then—SURPRISE!—he was a catcher! Again, didn’t do too badly! (My knees hurt just watching!)
I honestly don’t remember if we won or lost—there’s no scoreboard and they do know at the end of the game but I’m writing this two weeks later. I think they lost since the other team was quite good… But the kids all had a lot of fun!
But in my defense they were half off after Easter. 🙂
Works by young artists and even younger artists were on display during the Buddy Project portion of the Live Arts event held Friday at Warren Township High School’s Almond Campus. Woodland Elementary East had 72 students participate in the event where they drew somebody or something helping someone. Selected drawings were given to high school art students to recreate using drawing, painting, digital image or sculpture. Not only were the works side-by-side but the artists were able to meet one another for the first time and high school artists give their art work to their younger counterparts.
Katie’s superhero drawing was selected so we all went to see the display!
Owen and I went on a walk today since he had a half day. He talked to me the entire way about his video games!! 😉
And look what I saw…
ROAR stands for:
Her roar:
She was going to get to walk in to the Friday assembly with all the ROAR winners…so we all went to see her! Tom surprised her as he had told her he couldn’t make it.
The picture in the front vestibule of the school:
This was the best pic I got as she walked in.
Pics with Wiley after!
Sometimes it’s just too bright to keep your eyes open for a selfie and you don’t know it until you come inside to look at them. 😂 I figured you’d all get a laugh out of this.
