Guess what I went and did today . . .

Michigan Masters 2011 State Short Course Yards Championship

USMS Sanction: #1911-007S Michigan Masters Swim Meet Registration Receipt

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Swim Meet Events Event Number Gender Distance Stroke Time Date 111 Female 1650 SCY Free 37:00.00 04/15/2011 3 Female 100 SCY Free 1:35.00 04/16/2011 7 Female 50 SCY Fly 0:50.00 04/16/2011 15 Female 50 SCY Back 0:50.00 04/16/2011 21 Female 500 SCY Free 9:00.00 04/16/2011

Yep, I signed myself up to swim a few races at our State Meet in April (the group I swim "with" are the defending small group women's champs). Mind you, at best I swim once/week, oy! And, though I had the best intentions to up that workout rate as we approach the meet, between sick kids, schedules/races/tournaments and just lack of effort on my part, I'm still getting in the water maybe once a week. Ah well, just like the one other meet I did this year (that's funny to me to go do a state meet having only done one other meet all year...certainly you can see you don't have to "make it" to states at this...the old folks...level!).

All my races are in yards this time, thank goodness meters isn't a lot of fun when you workout with yards. Two reasons by the way for me to do this meet, it's an overnight away in a hotel (I'm bringing Lara, she doesn't know yet) and I have a few things I just want to do since I'm 40. Anyway, I swim the 1650 yds (mile) on Friday night and the rest, including two relays with my team which aren't scheduled yet are for Saturday. The 500 yds at the very end is ONLY if I'm still standing/floating at that point. My coach assures me I can scratch that at any time but recommends signing up for it just in case.

Teams get points up to the 8th place in races so every "race" counts!!! (-: That's why I signed up for some of those 50's, it's certainly not because I'm a speed demon these days, it's just because no one from my team is signed up for them and I can get the team some points just by showing up...just my style for this year!

So, that's it...I'm goin' to States!!!!

Saturday was B-ball Tournament Day . . .

Lara's 5th/6th grade team went into the tournament in first place. They were leaps and bounds improved from last year, excellent season. Their last game of the playoff tournament was against a team that had just beat them big four days before. How'd it go? Take a look...

I really can't imagine how I'm going to be if this girl plays basketball in say, ninth grade. I'm going to need a sedative before I attend her games if it's this intense already in sixth grade!!! (-: Oh. my. goodness! You'd think I was at an NBA game or something with how entertaining and competitive these games are, whew!

In other production news, I think I figured out my Picasa slideshow problem and will probably go back to those in the future. It's cool that these iPhoto slide shows play music but I've tried every different size slideshow so far and they all come out the same size, plus the picture is all jumpy, not cool. In case you cared! (-:

(btw, Lara is the long, blond pony-tailed #4 if you couldn't tell)

Hey, guess what you frosty and frozen, 20 degree mornings . . .

You can not squelch the building fervor of SPRING!

Not with your glittering, frosty deck rails.

Not with the frozen yard "ponds."

And, not with your stubborn patches of snow!

No-siree-bob!

We've got rhubarb peeking through.

Chives waving to the sun.

And Chef Jeff's sorrel just begging to get sauteed up with some spinach!

You go, Spring!

(-:

That wasn't any bigger now was it . . .

One more time and then we'll call it quits.

She sure does love the outdoors though!

(-:

Nope again!

(Btw, the first post in this uneventful series is two posts down)

And, if you were wondering, the only way to get her inside is to ask,"Do you want to take a bath?" Bath time apparently trumps outdoors time! (-:

Trying a bigger size . . .

O.K., picked myself up off the floor. It actually worked so now I'm going to press my luck and see if I can get a better quality picture. Here goes . . .

Nope!

Have I mentioned? . . .

Our 16 month old LOVES the . . .

And, if this post actually works after I press "publish post" I will fall off my chair (and William will wonder what's going on)! Couldn't get my standard slideshow to work over on Picasa so I had to make one in iPhoto...here's hoping...

Can you believe? . . .

We've had an.oth.er Pinewood Derby?

Seems to me I was just blogging about this a month or two ago. Another year has flown by again. (-: This year, out of necessity with three cold boys out in the garage with SP, the boys got to be REALLY hands on in helping with their own cars. Much to their delight and no matter how they make it down the track, that's how I think it should be anyway. I love the story of SP explaining how to hold the paint can 12 inches from their cars and to move their hand in a steady swipe, only to turn around and see a boy with his can half an inch from the car, spraying full throttle with paint dripping in a downpour. Good times!

Ben's, "Blue Thunder"

Harrison's (check back for the name, I forget (-:)

...Cobra!

William's, "Cheetah"

Although not officially a scout, he mixes in with the group quite often and was thrilled (to put it mildly!) to join in on the "open race."

He didn't have complete success (his fifth grade neighbor stomped him), but he did beat the "American Flag" in one of the heats. Whoo-hoo!!

So, no big winners going on to next week's championships, but the cars were done in time (you have no idea!), the kids got to actually work on them and a good time was had at the races. (psst...in my book, I'm a winner in not having to go to championships, not the most entertaining of events for a 16 month old!)

(-;

Not sure what to call the purple couch room now . . .

Farewell, purple couch!

This comfy couch started it's life in the backroom (that's what I used to call it growing up at least) at the Purlingbrook house almost twenty years ago. Today it left our house with Brady from Dexter after I posted it in the "Free" section on Craigslist. Within hours I had about twelve takers for this well-worn beaut and when all was said and done somewhere around twenty-five. Farewell, purple couch!

Oh, this was a fun one (and some chicken) . . .

The light saber cake!

Harrison said he wanted a Star Wars cake this year. I decided to do a little googling to see what's out there. I was thrilled to discover the light saber cake. Easy to make (I used a 9x13 boxed brownie mix instead of cake, thought it would be easier to move in three pieces onto the board, it was very easy, I kept it chilled to make it even stiffer) and fun to present to the kids. Here are the directions that went with the post I found online. Can't find the link anymore:

• Bake your Jedi's favorite flavor in a 9x13" pan. (Julie tip, line pan with parchment paper for easy removal)
• Remove it from the pan and when it's cool, you're going to make a light saber template out of paper to guide you.
  
• Trace the cake onto your paper. Your goal is to make it as long as possible, while tapering the ends so they meet up with the one before it. My cake was cut into thirds. (so was mine, worked perfectly with little waste)
  
• Once you have the template made, use it to cut the cake and line it up. I found a long board and covered it with foil to mount the cake on. (I took one board out from underneath my kid's mattress, haha!)
  
• Buy concentrated Wilton frosting colors. Black and whatever color your saber is.
• Frost it. (Julie tip, do one thin layer of frosting first, chill if time, then do your thicker frosting, no crumbs in frosting that way)
  
• Decorate the handle of your light saber. I cut up large marshmallows to make the white trim, and spelled my Jedi's name and age with those letters and numbers you buy in the cake deco section of your grocery store.
  
• Hide the finished product till it's time to eat. When you emerge with it, your Jedi Knights will be amazed!

A happy 8 year old with a box of birthday pistachios!

Party ideas: We made light sabers out of wrapping paper tubes like this. If you don't have enough tubes take an almost empty tube and wrap the paper onto a full tube. Always save wrapping paper tubes, lots to do with them. If you're near A2 check the scrap box for these and other decorating supplies, I got black foam and stickers for the handles and power buttons.They played light saber battles most of the party (with only one whap to a cheek). Ahead of time preview some light saber training videos on youtube to show the kids at the party so they can "learn" some moves (bookmark them so they're easily accessible). Play a Jedi Mind Training game by having one kid ask yes or no questions to discover which Star Wars character the group of kids has picked out (have pictures or books for the group to silently pick from).

And,

last week I made these.

And,

they were delicious!

Parmesan Chicken Drumsticks

I did the recipe along with the first commenter's suggestions. Just in case I'm going to copy her tips:

I thought this was absolutely amazing. I did, however, take a few of the suggestions on here. First, I mixed a little garlic powder (YUMM!) and adobo (didn't have or even know what it is) to the Parmesan cheese. I also added a small amount of bread crumbs to give it a little more body. Second...instead of soaking the chicken in salt water to reduce blood that would come out during baking, I decided to par boil them in salt water (I did this, great idea), cutting down coking time in half, and making the chicken super moist. And I dredged them in flour before I soaked them in the egg and Parmesan cheese, so the coating would stick better. I baked at 400 for only about 25 - 30 minutes, because the chicken was already cooked for the most part, all I needed was the parmesan to darken. The result was absolutely amazing, the Parmesan cheese really came out, and my fiance couldn't believe how good it was

Really full of pictures . . .

So today we'll have our hockey guy!

Our guy's the #60. (-:

Moving the puck with his left hand.

Awww, sweet boy.

Letting his mom take a pic as he gets off the ice.

(-:

This year Ben has been taking a clinic with Don Massey (yes, you S.E. Michiganders, THEE Don Massey...MmmHmm, those radio ads...he's also a coach over at U-M Dearborn Hockey...umm...update....actually, we think he's not THEE Don Massey. Our Don Massey also works the ferry boats on Lake Erie in the summer, we're thinking perhaps the owner of the largest Cadillac dealership in MI isn't coaching 9 yr old hockey and working the ferry boats! (-:). The clinic is fantastic and Ben has improved a ton...I do think the neon green laces help too. Come April, Ben will get on the short House Team Spring League (7 weeks) and start playing some games again. He did that league last year after a year of Learn to Play lessons. Again, all things in moderation for us, year-long travel team and hockey three times/wk is just not our style!

Desktop is getting full of pictures . . .

So here's last Sunday's snowball fight.

You have no idea what it took to get everyone outside at the same time (I was still begging for a snowman to be made...that didn't happen), but boy, when they finally were all out in the yard what a fun time was had by all!

(O.K....now, we're READY for spring!!!!)

Look who's Eight!

Party to come on Sunday but G-ma and Poppie have to miss so they brought him his gift and everyone some balloons today.

So, in honor of Harrison's day, how 'bout a good ol' Harrison story:

This afternoon Harrison wanted to know what time he was born.

His math sheet needed to know his favorite time of the day, so he decided to pick that time.

I happen to have journals that I keep (kept) for the kids when they are first born on up (though there's not much on the "up" part these days).

So, I grabbed the journal and wa-lah...6:19p.m.

Then, I decided to read a bit out loud from the journal.

"Today Harrison discovered his feet, what a smart boy!"

Riotous laughter from William

"Big news, today Harrison rolled from his back to his front and propped himself up on his elbows."

Thoughtful contemplation and consideration from Harrison and then...

Harrison: "I think I can still do that!"

Not joking one bit.

Harrison: "What was it again, you start on the back and roll to the front?"

He gets on the floor and re enacts the entire roll.

Back to front and scooches up to his elbows.

"See!" he says!

(-:

This boy brings such joy to our family. He's curious, funny, smart, athletic, good-spirited and an overall great brother and son. Here's to a fantabulous 8th year, Harrison! (or as he wanted to alert me to earlier, he's actually 9 like they do it in China, they count the birth year as year one in age...)

For Aunt Sally :-)

Secondary Title: It's nice to be missed! (-:

So, what have we been up to lately?

Oh, you know, a little bit of this and that...

This one is titled:

"MAHHHH-Ummmmm...I'm DUHHHH-Unnnnnn!"

William's job was to pick up the floor in the "red couch room."

Uh-huh, yep...

The next kid that approached got the chore of cleaning the couch and table.

I mean what was I supposed to do, my in-house Amelia Bedelia did exactly what he was asked to do.

Oh, and some in the family went skiing during our second annual Pierce Family trip to Crystal Lake. While we were there we took an afternoon at Crystal Mountain for the big three to take their first ever ski class.

Livie and the beginners bunny hill.

Yes, I know, she is woefully underdressed, but she was cuddled in our arms for the short amount of time we watched. For some reason I never got her a winter jacket (well, because I so rarely have her outside for more than house to car, car to next stop). But, I usually have that stripped sweat layered under another super cute thick wool sweater she has...we forgot to bring that this weekend...

And what was the first-ever skiing verdict?

1. Hands-in-the-pockets cool guy was begging for black diamond hills by the end.

2. Cool girl with braids and no hat(!!!!) had "so much fun."

3. Mr. Face mask had "the worst time of my entire life!"

(but he stuck with it for two hours, way to go H!)

(-:

So, that's about it. The craziness and fun is humming along over here just the same as ever!