Monthly Archives

June 2014

recipes & crafts

How to make Perogies

One of Ken’s favorite things to make is perogies. He has a recipe that was given to him by his friend’s grandmother. He always gets Andrew to help and it’s been sort of a tradition for them to make perogies at least once or twice a year. It’s one of those recipes that makes a huge mess and I pretty much leave the kitchen and let them make their mess and come back when it’s cleaned up. Except this time…I filmed the process.

Ingredients

Dough:
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup water
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sour cream

Filling:
1 Pound of Dry Curd Cottage Cheese
1 tablespoon of Cinnamon
1 Egg (cheese filling only)
4 tablespoons of Butter (onion filling only)
Half an Onion (onion filling only)

Watch the video for step by step instructions on how to make these delicious polish perogies!!

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#365dog – Week 24

Day 161
mini society
This is the first time one of the kids has had to make a store window for their mini society project. Karli’s turned out pretty cute. She had it all planned out in her head before she even got her supplies out. Such a crafty girl!

Day 162
taco salad
Taco salad for dinner per Chase’s request.

Day 163
tori
Tori is so scraggly…but still cute =)

Day 164
escape
I loved the board that the girls from Karli’s dance company made for their recital this year. Each of the girls wrote why they love dance. Karli’s said, “I love dance because it’s my life!”

Day 165
big buddy
Karli and her big buddy, Ana, after their dance recital.

Day 166
dad
The kids and I made fruit pizza for Ken for Father’s Day. Andrew and Chase also dug out some stumps that were in the backyard while Ken and Blake were at baseball. That was Ken’s only request for Father’s Day!

Day 167
ninja stars
Karli is all ready for mini society with all her ninja stars.

travel

What happens in Vegas…

What happens in Vegas…gets shared on our blog! Let’s not mention that we went to Las Vegas almost two months ago. Someday I will be caught up and actually write about things as they happen. Luckily I had posted short little updates on Facebook and shared a few photos while we were in Vegas so I’m gonna snag those tidbits.

I made a little slide show/video out of our photos, but you can also view the photo album here.

Day by Day Diary

Day 1
Packed in like sardines on flight.
Karli called me from school crying that she missed me right when our flight landed.
Arrived at Mirage before check in time so strolled around hotel, had brunch, gambled and sat out by the pool.
Got our room and took a 90 minute cat nap.
Went to dinner at The Buffet at the Wynn, Yum!

Las Vegas Trip

Walked down the strip, gambled at The Flamingo and Bellagio.
I won back all that I had lost for the day plus some extra!
Watched the volcano at the Mirage.

In bed at midnight, 3am MI time…almost up 24 hours.
Been a long yet wonderful day!!

Day 2
Woke up early as I expected with time change.
Reserved our seats around the Mirage pool (towel placement).
Had chicken bowls from Chicken Now at the Venetian.
Rejuvenated at Oxygen Bar, Sounds corny, but I really did feel great afterwards. Or maybe that was the peach Bellini from Fat Tuesdays? LOL.
Quick gambling stop on our way back to our room where I made a fast $100 and cashed out.
Cooked our skin for a few hours.

Las Vegas Trip

Went to New York New York and their machines were tight.
Had dinner at MGM.
Won zilch at their casino as well.
Seen David Copperfield at the MGM, it was good. Not sure I would recommend. It was somewhat entertaining but not mind blowing and quite pricey. Something about Copperfield annoyed me. Arrogance maybe?
Gambled at Excalibur til about 1am and was ahead quite a bit but got greedy and lost most of it.
I’m fried, literally and figuratively!

Day 3
Darn 3 hour time difference! Once again we were up early.
Went to Gilley’s at Treasure Island for an early lunch, yummy BBQ pulled pork sandwich.
Gambled there and lost.
Walked around some and took our time before going out in the sun.
After some drinks and pool time we walked around the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.
We ate dinner at Caesar’s as well, Joe’s Seafood. We shared some delicious Stone Crab and Madagascar shrimp. So good! For my meal I got crab stuffed shrimp and Ken got Prime Rib and we shared some mashed potatoes. I highly recommend this restaurant for steak and seafood lovers.
Then we seen O Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio and oh my goodness it was so amazing. Totally entertaining and worth every penny. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

Las Vegas Trip

We gambled at Bellagio, Harrah’s and Mirage. I keep breaking even for the most part but Ken can’t catch a break.
All day I was thinking about how grateful I am to be spending this time together!!

Day 4
Our last day was pretty chill.
We enjoyed our last afternoon around the Mirage pool and were entertained by some crazy drunk girls for several hours.
We ate dinner at the Mirage Burger Bar. The best fried pickles I have had in my life.
We walked around in search of souvenirs for the kids.

Las Vegas Trip Las Vegas Trip

We enjoyed our last night of people watching, the best free activity in Las Vegas.
Finally got to see the Bellagio Fountains, very peaceful and beautiful.
We are ready to go home, but sad to see our vacation come to an end.
We had an amazing time and Ken is ready to book our return trip!

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#365dog – Week 23

Day 154
Hungry
Shaggy boy was making sure we didn’t waste any food.

Day 155
UT
All registered for fall classes. Hard to believe I’m the parent of a college student!

Day 156
Girls Night
Seen the Fault in Our Stars with the girls. Great movie…bring tissues!

Day 157
Riding
Following Karli home on Chase’s bike. She’s such a boy sometimes.

Day 158
Homeowrk
Thrilled that a break from homework is almost near! I can feel it! It’s so close!

Day 159
Broken
Cleaned my work laptop keyboard and now the space bar doesn’t work. Good thing plugging in an old keyboard works. Otherwise.I.would.be.typing.like.this.all.day.

Day 160
Dance lineup
Karli’s Dance Recital line-up…she has lots of quick changes, but we can do it!

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Graduation Celebrations

Chase 5th Grade Graduation Chase 5th Grade Graduation

Chase’s 5th grade graduation photos are a perfect representation of his personality. He is our most outgoing and friendly kid. Hard to believe that he was the most difficult baby. He would cry and cry and we could never figure out what was wrong with him. Now he is the happiest little dude. He makes friends with everyone and he has been the easiest and most drama free of them all. {Knock on wood of course!}

Waving to us!
Chase 5th Grade Graduation

So proud of our boy!
Chase 5th Grade Graduation

Right after graduation Chase said, “Just stand here in the hallway and take pictures of me with all my friends.” Finally a kid who enjoys have photo after photo taken of him and loves to smile!

Chase 5th Grade Graduation

Chase 5th Grade Graduation

Chase 5th Grade Graduation

Chase 5th Grade Graduation

Chase 5th Grade Graduation

Chase 5th Grade Graduation

Chase 5th Grade Graduation

Chase 5th Grade Graduation

And then we have Blake. Thank goodness I took this photo of him in the morning before school because he has yet to give me more photos.(He got photos taken with a bunch of his buds afterwards but I need the other parents to send them to me.) Unfortunately we weren’t able to attend his 8th grade graduation ceremony because Andrew had college orientation and Ken had already signed up to volunteer for Karli’s field trip. My parents went in our place thank goodness! My mom got video of Blake receiving his certificate which was nice. Blake and a bunch of his buds decided to wear bow ties. He wanted red and all I could find was a real bow tie so Ken had to use YouTube to learn how to tie it. I can’t believe he is going to high school next year. Crazy!!
Blake 8th Grade Graduate

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Andrew’s High School Graduation

It’s hard to believe it’s been 13 years since I walked Andrew into his Kindergarten classroom for the first time. 13 years of wonderful experiences, long lasting friendships and endless memories. My website has actually been around for 12 of those years. Back then I made graphic photos pages and wrote blog posts via Microsoft Frontpage. I had separate webpages for each of the kids, check out Andrew’s Arena. (You click on various years to view different entries.) So crazy!

My first post was in November of 2002. The very first photo I shared on Andrew’s page is still one of my very favorites of him and Blake.

drew & blake

How time has flown since then. It’s so typical for me to say that it goes so fast, that everyone with young kids should enjoy every single moment. But it’s TRUE! It really does fly by and Andrew has kept us on our toes with activities since his first T-ball practice at the YMCA. Never a dull moment. So enjoyable though. It sure is rewarding to think about all he has accomplished.

I am not stretching the truth when I say how great of a kid he has been. Can I still call him that even though he is 18? Sure, why not. He hasn’t caused us a single problem. I mean yes, there were times when I questioned his judgment and was nervous of the outcome, but he always found his way down the right path every time. Not once did he veer in the wrong direction. I’m pretty darn proud of him and the young man he has become.

I still have so many things I want to write about, such as how he came about choosing what college to go to. His change of major after so many years of thinking he was going into the medical field. How things changed when he was no longer able to play sports. And more! Unfortunately I have been trying to write this post all week. In between work, helping Andrew prepare for college orientation (choosing classes) and the other kids end of the year activities…its been an insane week. We have all 3 boys graduating this week – One high school, one junior high and another elementary.

One memory that I thought was too good to pass up. This video that Andrew and some classmates made for his Anatomy & Physiology class this year. Andrew is quite the comedian. He’s the guy in the black hat for those who aren’t familiar with our family just yet =)

Finally…the photos from his Graduation Ceremony and trust me… there will be more stories to come. Especially as I prepare things for his graduation party. I am sure I will think of tons of fond memories to share.

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014 Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

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#365dog – Week 22

Day 147
Gazing
We left Tori with her special spot so she could still look out the window all day while I am working.

Day 148
Graduating
Still can’t believe this is happening.

Day 149
Dancer
She is always dancing and flipping around…even at the boys baseball games.

Day 150
bagel
Love Barry’s Bagels tuna salad…but I pick out the celery and onions like a 3 year old.

Day 151
blog
Dusted off my macbook. I’m excited to share that I will be blogging more and making some videos now that summer break is right around the corner and I’ll be having more free time with the kiddos =)

Day 152
cousins
School skipper! Karli missed school today so she could spend the day with her cousin Emma who is spending some time with her father this month. She misses her so much!

Day 153
C&K
Chase met Karli at the bus stop sporting his new roller blades he got for elementary school graduation. Of course Shaggy had to come too.