Josh's Birthday- 6 Years Old!!

Daniel's Band Concert

This band concert was interesting on many levels.  First, it was Daniel's first band concert so that was fun in and of itself.  Second, he had a solo, which we did not really even know about before the show.  Third, of the four baritones in the band one "forgot" his mouthpiece so he did not even play and one did not know a single note and therefore did not play either-so D and the other kid carried the entire baritone parts.  Finally, though I am sure it is similar to all first year band concerts, the band director did a great job introducing the instruments, walking us through what they had learned and what they had been doing all fall and helping the kids show off.  Hopefully this was the first of many band concerts that we will go to for our kids!!!

Work Diagrams!

See, whiteboards are still in style!!  Need to know how to set up your state apportionment files-here's one way!

Lakeville South 4 White

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Daniel and I volunteered to help set up for the Lakeville South basketball tournament, which means we were at the high school from 9 to 11 the night before setting up chairs, putting up signs and generally helping out here and there.  I took these pictures of Daniel hanging out on the panoramic floor of Lakeville.

No Meat January

So I got it in my head that we were going to try some different food-and in order to get this done and force the issue we had No Meat January.  This will forever be a "favorite" month in my children's memories-or not.  Final answer not yet available.

In explanation, I will offer up that I felt we were in a food rut, having the same things over and over again week after week after week.  Constrained by the kids activity schedules and our work schedules, the mark of a successful meal was one that could go from pantry to table in 30 minutes or less and require no more than one pan which subsequently needed to be handwashed - and included at a minimum a meat and a vegetable, and tomato sauce doesn't count.  Let's see how many of those meals you can come up with!!  We had 4 or 5 go-to meals which we repeated over and over, interspersed with ordering out chinese food, pulling through a drive-through or the occasional pizza night.  No Meat January was successful in some ways-we did try new things and found some winners.  I also realized that I am just not that into cooking and food.  Its one of those things that you have to do and which you can make the best of but frankly, I am never going to be a gourmet cook or put together fantastic meals that inspire anyone.  Its just not my thing.  And I am fine with that, its just somewhat surprising it took me 42 years to get there.  I mean, let's face it, I can put together a healthy meal that everyone is willing to eat, I have a couple of things that I do really well, and that's about the best its ever going to be.  I can't follow a recipe because if I am missing something I am quite sure something else will work just as well, even though that's not really the case.  I am not a planner so making things ahead and/or cruising the internet for "quick, healthy" meal ideas is not in my wheelhouse.  Oh well, I have so many other good qualities (ha!) that I am willing to leave this one behind.

All that said, here's a picture from our veggie kabob night...if I do it again I'll use a different marinade, this one was kind of bland.  The make your own kabob was a hit with the kids, though they had more fun making them than eating them.

January Food

On New Years Day we had the Glads all over for our Christmas celebration-Grandpa fixed cheesecake.  Delicious!