The Bread Run

We are bread snobs. We've lived in Vegas for seven months and have been unable to find (and the search has been extensive!) bread that we like. Because the boys all take lunches this year--the school lunches here "look gross"--we must have good bread.  And so periodically we travel approximately 128.4 miles, across three states to buy bread in St. George. I also throw in some good salsa because I am picky about that too.

Ok, judge away. It's white bread. And not only is it white bread, it's like candy it is so yummy. If I leave a loaf out the kids will eat it all up in an afternoon.  I've tried the whole wheat version and they just don't eat it. And I have a thing about my boys actually eating the lunch I pack so it's a compromise. I am not a totally bad mom, there is a little nutrition in their sandwiches: Zack eats organic peanut-only peanut butter with low sugar jam. Ben & Noah eat lean ham.

Like I said, the kids love this bread and there is only so much room in the freezer so I have to ration it. They are allowed to toast the ends for a snack, but otherwise there is no bread consumption outside of lunches. I figure these six loaves will last 4-5 weeks, depending on the number of times I let Noah spend $3(!) for pizza at school. By the way, I can't find decent whole wheat bread here either, hence the two other loaves of bread.

Before Mike & Di moved, it wasn't so complicated.  We could have them bring bread when they were visiting or I would grab some when we visited them. But those days are over which meant that Monday was the first ever trip we've made just to get bread.

Since the kids were out of school, we did some fun things:

and ate burgers that we also can't get in Vegas.

It ended up being a long day. Someday I will need to purchase a big freezer so I can make fewer trips and store more bread because I don't see us settling for inferior bread any time soon.  But it's also nice to have an excuse to go to St. George.

Over-Achieving on Valentine's Day

Normally my Valentine's Day shopping involves looking for the boxes with the most Valentine's. The boys all had 30+ kids in their classes.  No way were we making Valentines.

This year, Zack's class has a very manageable 18 students in his class. We decided to get crafty. Crafts can be challenging with Zack. I am all about going to Family Fun to find a clever idea. Zack likes to do his own creating. Sometimes his ideas can get a little strange and elaborate. We were trying to think of rhymes or puns and he was stuck on using lollipops. He didn't see anything wrong with saying someone "sucked" as long as it said Happy Valentine's Day after.  I let it go for a day then showed him the magical world of Family Fun online. I hoped he'd like the word play and the design of the fish Valentine. He did and happily cut out 36 of the 54 hearts we needed before abandoning the project. He was diligent with the rest of the process and we ended up with these Valentine's:

(Best Fishes this Valentine's Day).

Ben was content to give out Laffy Taffy Valentine's but his class was having a Valentine's container contest. A few years ago Noah and I made a locker (as seen on Family Fun) and he didn't win.  We thought a robot might be cool and searched through our recycling for parts. 

The giant cheese ball container saved the day and along with some toilet paper rolls, Sobe lids, cardboard, tin foil and lots of packing tape we had a robot. I was pretty sure we had a solid contender this time.

I opted to drive him to school to protect the creation.  His school has a very organized drop off system. I pull up to the curb and a volunteer opens the door for kids. The mom who opened the door said, "Wow, someone is an over-achiever." Ha ha. I gave her some polite laughter. She wasn't finished, "Mom must be pretty creative"and then she shut the door. Hmm. Did I just get dissed? I'm not sure, but for the record this was all Ben's design. I did some tin foil attaching and I cut that hole, but that was just because I was avoiding a trip to the ER.

After school I had a few little surprises for the kids. (I'd like my kids to remember me for more than just my impressive nagging skills).  Ben is holding his first prize award for the robot. He was sad when I met him at the bus stop. It was the most sad good news I've ever heard. But neither he or Zack were feeling well. He was also disappointed in his prize. He had it in his head that the reward for first place would be a $150 cash prize. If so I would have taken my hole cutting 50% share. Anyway, we made some Valentine's Day pizza and had a nice night together.

Until Zack continued his getting sick on a holiday trend and threw up all over his bed.

FHE fail?

I had a genius idea to have a pre-Valentine's Day lesson about love. I found some foam mailboxes at Target and told the boys that we were going to spend the week writing to each other about the things we love. Great idea, right?  Zack was, no surprise, the best letter writer. He told me he loves that I cook. Very sweet. He wrote equally thoughtful and kind things to Ben and Matt. This is what he wrote to Noah:

 Noah showed me the note just after Zack had been yelling at him to leave him alone and to quit teasing him. Oops. That was an unforeseen glitch in my plan. But it turns out that Zack was actually being nice. Gerk (or jerk if you know how to spell) means: Junior Educated Rich Kid. While cool means Constipated Over-rated Out of style Loser. Nice compliment.

Door Decor

I put some crafty blogs on my reader and now I am feeling a little inspired but mostly inadequate. These people are decorating maniacs! It makes me glad I don't have a mantle because I guess you have to decorate it for every holiday and/or season. That's a lot of work.  But I also want to have a mantle so I can decorate it for every holiday and/or season. See, I am conflicted.

I do enjoy the idea of a craft project so every once in awhile I get an urge. This one wasn't inspired by a blog I read, but by a Facebook post. I don't have a Valentine's Day wreath. Can you believe it? Somehow I have survived, but I had some time while taking care of Matt post- surgery and this one seemed easy enough. 

I have a new appreciation for yarn wreaths. What a pain! If there is a trick for yarning a wreath without getting the yarn hopelessly tangled, I'd like to know it. It was definitley a test of my patience. The roses were WAY easier. Anyway, by the time I got it finished I was kind of over the whole project. I guess it looks good. At least I have a Valentine's Day wreath. Phew!

Super Bowl

For some reason Noah likes Green Bay. It's his team and we will support him with it. Actually having a team you care about play in the Super Bowl takes watching the game to a whole new level. I guess. I still can't make myself care that much about the actual game. I just like a reason to eat junky food and Super Bowl Sunday makes that possible.

But since we were cheering for Green Bay, we showed our support by eating as many cheesy snacks as possible. This meant that I could fulfill my kids' dream and buy the barrel of cheese balls they sell at Costco.

That snack was the biggest success and biggest mess. I don't know if you can see it very well but this is what the carpet looks like going up the stairs. Why use a napkin when there is carpet nearby?

 I happened to have a big piece of Styrofoam that we transformed into a little football field game board.

 We had some friendly contests to see who could guess which team would win the coin toss (Zack won that drawing) and which team would score first (Sam).

 Noah and Emily had the closest half time score prediction.  

 

 And Noah was amazingly close in his final score guess.  

The commercials were funny and Green Bay won so it was a great afternoon all around.

Girl's Trip: Florida

I haven't known Kim for very long, but I have learned that she has great ideas. Ideas like getting all of Leanne's sisters-in-law together for a vacation. She is also a fantastic planner and booked and arranged our stay in beautiful Marco Island Florida. 

This is a view of the beach from the balcony of our hotel. Picturesque. It was too cold to enjoy though and the only time I stepped foot on the sand was late one night when we were searching for an empty hot tub.

Although I had hopes of reading on the beach and getting a tan I will settle for shopping and hanging out with these ladies any day.  It's nice when your biggest decision of the day is where to eat.

We did take one day to see some sites which included an air-boat tour.

There is only about 1 -1 1/2 feet of water but it seemed deeper. We rode through a maze of mangrove trees. It was loud, fast and maybe even a little CSI-Miami-ish.

The water was too salty for any alligators, but we did come across this cute little guy. 

I was front row for the raccoon and I've got to say I was a little scared that he was going to attack me. It happens. Ever see Elf? 

Because we didn't see any alligators on the air-boat ride, we drove to the other side of the main road where the water was less salty. Holy alligators! It was crazy, they were everywhere. Our boat guide (who I want to call Walter) told us that the way to measure an alligator is by the length of the head. An inch is equal to a foot. This is the biggest one we saw. I'm glad it was across the river from us.

This one took a turn and swam toward us.

Another stop along the way to check out some birds. We aren't normally bird watchers, but there are some pretty interesting birds in Florida.

And finally, the reason we were all together--to celebrate Leanne's birthday.  It was a little hit and miss with our meals. But this Thai/Sushi place was super yummy.

And although it turns out the waiter didn't want to dance for Leanne, he still brought her a birthday dessert.

Now lest you shed too many tears for poor Matt stuck at home with the kids, don't despair. While I was away there was plenty of fast food, mini golfing and even some one-armed Weezer rockin'.

Matt's "Really Cool" Injury

Matt's first ride of the season riding his brand new bike:

An unfortunate mishap with a rock left him with some major shoulder pain.

Not only did he tear the tendons, but he dislocated his shoulder with such force that he actually broke off part of the bone. One "bony Bankart repair" later and he is on the mend.

The PA who assisted in the surgery told us today, that he had a really cool injury and drew this to explain what happened.

 He'll be in the sling for 6 weeks but it will take a few months more for him to gain full use of his shoulder again. Some surgery photos for those who like/understand this sort of thing.

After the PA recommended a LaZ-Boy for better sleeping, I am starting to wonder if this all might be an elaborate plot to get Matt the comfortable chair he's always wanted. It does seem a little excessive. And I'm still not convinced we need an ugly recliner.

Commiserating

I am posting this today because I know it is very cold in places I have lived but no longer do. It was so cold in Idaho school was canceled. I'm not going to pretend that winters are rough in Vegas. (I am actually having my best winter ever.) But, for the record, things aren't all sunshine and rainbows here.  Last month we went to bed with this:

  And woke up to this: 

The kids had their fingers crossed that they might actually have a snow day, but school went on as usual. Except that the bus never showed. It did give me a chance to show off my impressive snow driving skills. And if it means anything, it is cold here too. I had to wear a coat! I totally know how you feel. I hate being cold.