Call Me Maybe

Guess what? I have an iPhone! Grayson would have been willing to spring for one, but I said I didn't need it. I just didn't feel I could justify the cost. Then, Grayson went out and bought LANDON one!  Ok, if my 17 year old son is going to have an iPhone, then I did want one for myself. It was a public service really, because I was a little hard to keep in contact with. When asked for a contact#, this was my speech ... "The home # is XXX, but it's just a landline, you can't text it. If you want to text, my textfree # is XXX. I can only get texts when I'm home or have WiFi, and it is ONLY text, you can't call it. My cell # is XXX, you can call or text it, but I rarely have it with me" ... yes, it was a pain. So now, I'm actually set. I do love being able to check email while I'm out and about, and I do actually keep my phone with me now almost all the time. So call me maybe!

Gray B-Day

Happy Birthday to Grayson! On Saturday, I took Grayson out to dinner at Market Street Grill (I mean I made him choose the place, drive and pay ... but I went with him). The raspberry almond torte is a favorite dessert for him.  

His actual birthday was Monday, and the whole family went out to Red Robin for dinner (Callahan even chose us over going to his basketball game, not that he could have played in his boot anyway, but it's still rare for him to miss anything basketball). 

We skipped dessert at the restaurant and (after a little break to let dinner digest) we presented Gray with cake, lemon jello, a family/Gray favorite. I didn't put 43 candles on the cake, I put 4 and 3 (a little easier). Just like he did for mine, I stuck some "trick" relighting candles on. But the trick was on me ... 

Cooper's Coins

This is one of those posts that I kept thinking about but never got around to posting. Coins aren't as big an interest now, but this last summer... Cooper was obsessed! I did my first coin post back in February (here) after Grayson brought home a random 50¢ piece from a trip he'd gone on. That lead to proof sets, silver dollars, gold dollars and more ... Cooper would beg his Daddy to take him to the coin store (and Daddy did several times over the summer) and they would always come home with treasures. He would browse Ebay and drool over different coins he wanted. Daddy joined a mail order coin club. I ordered some change from around the world off Amazon, and the kids had fun sorting the coins into the different countries they came from. If anyone would come over, Cooper would proudly pull out his coin box and tell the poor unsuspecting soul ALL about every single coin. He knew all the presidents on the gold dollars and was always on the lookout for those few he hadn't collected yet. Every store we went to, he would bring a dollar bill and ask if they had any gold dollars he could exchange it for. He sent dollar bills to school with Callahan, as the machine there gives them out for change.

... just as Cooper outgrew his weather worries, he has moved on from his coin collection obsession. I don't remember the last time he got them out and looked them over, counted them, stacked them, sorted them ...

His latest obsession is music ...

Blooms & Brownies

I tease Grayson that for nine days in November, we are the same age ... my birthday is on the 10th, his is on the 19th. It snowed on my birthday ... I did NOT request that gift! Gray brought me this beautiful bouquet, with Amazon and Itunes gift certificates. We went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (with the whole family, and had lots of extra rolls to bring home). 

Then Grayson made brownies (this is our unique brownie pan, if you like the edges, like I do, it's great!). I didn't expect the flaming inferno ... and several of the candles he used were the "trick" candles and they just kept relighting and relighting! We had to pick out quite a bit of wax from the brownies.

Gray is also my gadget guy for gifts ... he gave me the new Ipod Touch, which is now being used by Cooper (as my old Ipod is still working just fine and Cooper seemed so very attached). So Grayson picked up a new Ipad mini, which Landon seems to be thinking is his (again, I'm quite content with my little Touch so I don't know that I'll really push the MINE issue, not that Landon needs it either though).

So, another year older and wiser too ... hopefully!

Let it Snow

Friday was the first "sticking" snowstorm (the 1st official snowfall was in October, but it didn't stay around long enough for the kids to play). I took Callahan to school and came home to find Cooper and Colton dragging out the boots, gloves and hats (I was a little surprised they had found them!) and heading out to play.

 Keaton got dressed up and joined in on the fun, making a big pile of snow, then carving a hole in it. The picture at top (the "arch") was his finished product, but the hole started smaller ...

View from the front (above)

View from the back (below)

The boys molded snow shapes using buckets. The snow continued through Saturday, and Landon and Callahan joined in the fun too (I let Callahan take off his "boot" to put on boots). Landon pulled out all the old ice cream buckets and attempted to make an igloo (he destroyed it before I got pictures, it only got about halfway up before it started collapsing). 

... snowballs ... or a horizontal snowman?

Crazy for Kindle

I did a post a while back ... about discovering the joys of reading digitally. It has REALLY changed my world! I was a voracious reader when I was young. During my high school and college years, I limited myself to required reading only. As a busy mom, I would try to read, but I didn't make a lot of time for it. Earlier this year, that ALL changed! Reading digitally is so great ... whereas I wouldn't always want to drag a book with me someplace, I almost always have my Ipod on hand (and thus my book) wherever I go. A few minutes here, a few minutes there, and it's surprising how quickly I get through books. I can zap books from my library without having to make a trip in to pick up or return them, and the amount of FREE offers that come across ... I have 500+ promising books in my digital library.  I love being able to highlight sections of the book and easily look up definitions. There is a search function if you are looking for a particular point. And in low light, I no longer need a lamp.

If you haven't looked up the Kindle app, you SHOULD! You can put it on almost any device (computer, Ipad, Ipod, Android). There are a lot of free kids picture books too. Sometimes I just pull up my Kindle Cloud and browse through the many books I have there. Grayson is just happy not to have bookshelves of PHYSICAL books taking up space and gathering dust. Win win!

We DO have an actual Kindle (fire) ... I do use it occasionally, and I loaned it to Callahan (his school wouldn't let the kids read on on Ipod, but said a Kindle or Nook was ok). The Kindle does fit into my purse, and one of the things unique to it, is that you can borrow a book from Amazon's Kindle Lending Library once a month for free. But go figure, I LOVE reading on my tiny Ipod touch.

... I am still reading some REAL, physical books (if the library doesn't have what I want in digital format) ... but they are so heavy, I have to try and prop them open if I want to lay them down, and I can't make my notes easily (so I don't make notes at all) ... but as digital dominates, I thought I'd share this cute video presentation of a book I got out of the library to read to the little ones ... they didn't have it in digital format, go figure.

The Incredible Kid Eating Couch

Many years ago, we had a sectional couch with removable cushions and pillows. They were always taken off to build forts and have pillow fights. When Gray and I decided to get a NEW couch, the one thing we both insisted upon, was that NOTHING was removable. When we found this brown leather sectional, we both really liked it. But just because the pieces don't come off (or at least they don't come apart easily, they DO come off, as you can see in the Misc Memories post here), doesn't mean that the kids leave things well enough alone. They are always sticking arms, heads, feet, into the deep pockets and folds of the couch (which is actually a REALLY scary prospect, because they also stick a lot of other things in there too ... candy wrappers, dirty socks, remotes, homework). As I anticipated writing this post, I kept my camera handy to capture the kids as they lost parts of themselves in the kid-eating couch (none of these pictures were posed, although in the one above I did call out to Colton to get his cute face in the photo too). 

I didn't catch Keaton being eaten ... I'll have to keep watching ...

Macaroni Rosa (ala Bucca)

The Blackham Bunch loves Bucca di Deppo. We have several fond memories of eating out there. And Grayson's FAVORITE dish is Macaroni Rosa (which they actually took off the menu, but they will still make it for you if you ask). Anyway, I decided to see if I could find the recipe online (what can't you find online these days?) and try a home version ... it's been a hit (with Grayson and Landon anyway, the rest of the Blackham Bunch tends to take after Mom and her finicky eating habits).

1 plum tomato
1 tablespoon onion
1 teaspoon fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
salt and pepper

6 tablespoons olive oil
8 oz b/s chicken breast/tenders
8 oz white mushrooms (sliced)
16 oz marinara sauce
6 oz heavy cream
1 1/2 cup broccoli tops
1 pound  pasta (we like the spiral cellantini, like Bucca uses)
2/3 cup grated Romano cheese

• Dice tomato, onion and basil. Combine with garlic, salt and pepper and oil in a small bowl and let stand at room temperature for one hour.
• Cut chicken into small pieces. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, saute chicken and mushrooms in oil until chicken is cooked through (about 7 minutes). Add marinara sauce and cream. Continue cooking until mixture is reduced by a third (about 10 minutes). Add reserved tomato-onion mixture and continue cooking for 3 minutes.
• While chicken/mushrooms are cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add broccoli tops during the final 2-3 minutes. Drain.
• Toss cooked pasta/broccoli with the marinara sauce mixture. Sprinkle Romano cheese throughout and on top. Spoon onto a large platter (it makes a LOT) and serve hot.

This does make quite a bit ... I take half, stick it in a casserole dish and put it in the freezer. When the boys are ready for Rosa again, I simply pull it out and stick it in the oven until warm.  The boys like the extras as leftovers too.

The original recipe calls for frozen peas, but my boys said "no peas please" ... Grayson also likes the addition of some Italian sausage (but Landon likes just chicken) ... so I sometimes cook up a little sausage and add it to hubby's macaroni mix.

Foot Fracture Update

Well, it's been SIX WEEKS since Callahan's original injury. In the x-rays above, you can compare the original fracture (on the right) to the current situation (on the left). You can see that the crack IS healing, but it isn't there yet.  The foot is just one of the slowest healing places on the body (being so far from the heart, so circulation is an issue). So poor Callahan is still in his boot, and we'll check back in four more weeks ...

Random October ...

Ah October ... it's been cooling down. We had to turn on the heater for the first time (Oct.7) and get that lovely "first time you turn on the heater" smell. Hopefully this will help out with the electric bill (although we've still needed the a/c from time to time too). First snow (Oct. 25) ... first experience for Landon to drive in it! The frost killed the flowers, so I finally pulled them out and updated with the autumnal decor ...

I didn't catch Landon in the "ninja" photo from last month ...

 but here he is for October!

With the little boys off-track for Halloween, we had a little fun at home with balloons, turning them into a jack-o-lantern and a spider. Then Keaton POPPED the spider and little legs went flying everywhere!

Halloween means COSTUMES ... I didn't buy anything new, just had the kids look through the current supply ... which is a LOT. I still need to go through this and get everything put back away!

 Um .... still not sure what happened here ...
It's not like we weren't already "touch"ed

With the new devices, there's been a lot of THIS going on.

 The latest game craze is MINECRAFT.

... and just a funny update to the FAMILY scrabble names ... yes, Jacob and Travis are here so much they are pretty much family! And yes ... we need a couple more letter "C" tiles. We did get another Vat19 order this month too, more spitballs and a HUGE gummy WORM).