Going-Away/New Teacher Present

My sister and her boyfriend are moving to Albuquerque at the end of the week.  My sister just graduated and has earned her teaching certifications.  I made her this as a going-away/decoration for her new classroom.  I hope she liked it!

Thanks for reading!

 - Vanessa

Trail Improvement Community Service Project

The Tanglewilde neighborhood reached out to some local organizations about doing a community service project.  They wanted a trail through their neighborhood to be improved and to be safer.  This trail leads from the neighborhood to the local middle school.  With kids returning to school, they wanted the trail to be better and safer.

There was a big group from Faith Lutheran Church there and many people from that neighborhood.  My son's Cub Scout pack was invited to join the work party.  My family was the only group from the pack, though.  There was also another Boy Scout there on his own to get community service credit.

This was the trail and the mountain of gravel when we got there.

The kids and I mostly contributed to raking leaves, cutting back branches, and pulling up weeds.

Some local firemen came out to show their support for a little bit, too!  They gave out hats, stickers, and pencils to the kids.

Here is some work in progress on the trail:

I am really glad that we were able to represent Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts for this community project!

 - Vanessa

Shi Update

I just got home from the vet and Shi Shi has both hip dysplasia and and arthritis.  Unfortunately, this is about the worst diagnosis possible, but they were caught early on, so it'll be manageable for the meantime.  She will never go back to being her formal self, but the medication will help.  I also opted to get the Senior Pre-Op blood work package to find out if there are any additional underlying problems, which the vet said is a very real possibility.  I really don't want to hear any more bad news about the dog, but it's best to find out all of the problems now.

It's been an emotional day.

 - Vanessa

My Dog, Shi

I am taking one of my dogs to the vet in about 3 hours and feeling nervous.  A couple of weeks ago, her hips/back legs started bothering her.  She has really bad days where she can barely walk and will cry out in pain.  I was waiting until I get my financial aid money from school, but am getting too impatient and tired of seeing my dog in pain.  My hubby got his paycheck.  Between that and a grant from Concern for Animals, we'll be able to handle the examination bill.  I'm not sure what I'll do if it turns out to be a bigger concern, but I'd rather know what's wrong now than let whatever it is continue.

I'm sure I'll have an update tonight or tomorrow.  I'm hoping for the best, but preparing myself for the worst.

 - Vanessa

Soccer Pizza/Awards Party

Tomorrow is the final game for my kids' soccer teams.  My daughter's coach approached everyone at the end of the game last week and invited everyone to pizza at the end of the game this week for an end-of-season party.  Maybe I was being ignorant or something, but I assumed that the organization or the coach would pay.  Soccer wasn't cheap, even with the discount.  If I were a coach, I wouldn't invite people for pizza and then expect them to pay, maybe that's just me, though.  It's for this reason that I have my kids' birthday parties at parks and other free places, as I would just feel tacky inviting people to my kids' party and expecting them to pay admission or for food.

So, my daughter just won't be able to participate in the award ceremony. I've been keeping it quiet from the kids, as I don't want to deal with a tantrum.  I'm just a little disappointed in YMCA.  My family doesn't go out to dine often, as it is so expensive, so my daughter has to miss out on the awards ceremony.  As usual, I will pack a picnic dinner for the kids and I to eat in between their games.

Thanks for reading!

 - Vanessa

Blackberry/Crab Apple Picking and Cobbler

My sister and I took my kids blackberry picking along the Western Chehalis Trail.

 We only take what we can really use in a day, as blackberries don't keep well.  The kids and I filled about 1/3 of an ice cream container, which was plenty to make a cobbler with.

Tumbling Girl and Cub Scout had a blast picking them!  For the majority of the time, anyway.  They got a little bored the last little bit.  Cub ate way more than he saved, but hey, it's a free snack.  He ate his bucket full of berries twice.

Tumbling Girl found a crab apple tree buried in on of the blackberry bushes!  This made for a great find and addition to the cobbler.  Again, they ate about half of the apples, but there were 4 left over.

We didn't realize it when we got home, but there was a kitten on the porch and it followed us into the house without us realizing it!  My "front" door is the laundry room door.  The kitten followed us in and somehow got caught under a shirt.  I looked down and the shirt was moving towards me!  I was scared for a minute and thought my laundry was moving on its own!  I was so relieved that it was a kitten and not a possessed piece of clothing or another small creature under there!  I was also happy that I found it before the dogs did!  My 2 dogs were raised with a cat, but that was 7 years ago.  I really don't know how they'd treat a cat now.

The cobbler turned out great!  It was a little tart, but I don't like overly-sugary desserts, so the kids and I enjoyed it!  I just wish we'd had whipped cream or ice cream.

Thanks for reading!

 - Vanessa

Bacon Wrapped Scallops and Peach Cobbler

For tonight's dinner and dessert, I made from things that we already had.  I like to challenge myself like this sometimes, but tonight was really out of necessity.  I didn't go grocery shopping yet because I haven't planned out my meals and recipes for the week yet.

I know that scallops isn't a normal thing to just happen to have around, but I bought them a couple of months ago for our anniversary.  The hubby decided to make cheese fondue instead that night, so the scallops had been sitting in the freezer.

I wrapped each scallop with one piece of bacon.  I rolled each piece tightly horizontally twice, then switched and rolled it vertically.  I wrapped the end piece into one of the opposite bacon loops.  I tried tucking the end in this time because of a mishap last time.  They came unraveled each time that I turned them.  This seemed to have done the trick!  I fried each side until it was all golden brown.  They were really good!

Last year, my family and my dad went to Yakima to buy produce directly from the produce stands.  We'll probably make the trip again next year.  I had canned peaches that needed to be used before they went bad.  My dad also really likes cinnamon.  The peaches were a little too cinnamon-y for the kids' taste.  Make cobbler out of it was a great way to reduce the heavy cinnamon taste.

I used the big remaining jar of peaches that I canned and a can of canned peaches that I had on hand.  I had my son, Cub, help by making the topping for the cobbler.

 

It turned out really good!  We also paired it with ice cream that we bought a couple of weeks ago for root beer floats!

Thanks for reading!

 - Vanessa