Miracles Happen

I'm not going to lie... things have been {tight} around here.  An educated guess would be that it has something to do with two weddings and a career-change-involving-building-a-business-from-scratch over the past year.  I'm not complaining, as we have been blessed with "sufficient," but it has led to some necessary reductions in the unnecessary.  Like cable TV.

So, for the past 4 or 5 months, we have survived (dare I say thrived?) with only the free public channels accessible via small individual antenna (long live the rabbit ears!).  

Okay, we've had access to Britt and Austin's Netflix, too.  Keeping it honest, here.

We quickly discovered that the TV in (Bill + me = our  --  I can't figure the grammar at the moment) bedroom gets the most viewable channels, as it is well above ground on the second floor of the house.  Over half the channels are either in Español or are some version of PTL-Club-like programming, neither of which is very appealing, narrowing down the options to about 9 channels (which I acknowledge is decent, considering I grew up with 4).  None of those channels, however, are the regular NBC channel.  No Today Show option (I'm a Good Morning America gal anyhow).  

So really, not a big deal.  Until now.  The Olympics.

We tried watching online, only to find that to watch events live, you need a cable TV "sign in."  Xfinity kindly allowed 4 hours of "free" watching, so we quickly used up all 8 (4 for each computer) the first day.

After church on Sunday, Shilo and I were bemoaning the fact that we wouldn't even be able to watch the saved-for-primetime replaying of events (especially swimming), thanks to our lack of NBC reception.  I promised to fiddle with the antenna.  I went upstairs to change my clothes, then turned on the television and pressed 9 on the remote.

Sha-ZAM!

Crisp, clear reception.

My first thought:  It's a miracle.

Since then, our family has spent an evening or two bonding on our bed.  It's been cozy.  And fun.  Even if we were too impatient and already knew the results prior to watching.  Just today Shi and I discovered that we can watch live online with a temporary pass from Dish, and as far as I can tell, they don't have a 4-hour time limit (my fingers are crossed).

Yes, I know that we will be heavily recruited with an online onslaught of cable provider advertisements and special offers.  
No, we will not submit (at least until our finances allow).

My Little All Star

I thought I would share a couple pictures from the All Star Meet on Saturday.

Shilo came away with a first (100 Back), second (200 Free, by half a second), and third (200 IM) place medal.

Way to go, Shi!

Middle School Countdown

In anticipation of middle school, Mar made this:

I think there are 20 or so links on it.  To say she is excited is an understatement.

Let the countdown begin.

Too Close To Home

This morning when I woke up, the first thing on my mind was if Lex had come in to tell us she was home after attending a midnight showing of the new Batman movie (obviously I had fallen into a state of restful oblivion before she was due home).  I asked Bill if she had.

"Yeah.  She liked the movie.  Our conversation was very brief."

Then I turned on the news.  Oh my.

It was a tender mercy that I had already asked Bill about Lex, as shock and disbelief waved over me.

MY daughter and her friends were at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises at a theater in Aurora.  Thankfully, not the theater where the tragic incident happened (the theater we saw 17 Miracles in just over a year ago).

I watched a few minutes of the news, then headed downstairs to Lex's bedroom.  Hailey is staying over, so I woke them both up.  Had they heard?  Of course, they are Twitter queens.  They had "heard" the tweets while on the way home from their movie.  They seemed unfazed and tired after their late night.

My knee-jerk reaction:  "I will never let my child attend a midnight showing again."

Shilo's comment:  "Really bad stuff always happens in Colorado."

Bill's comment:  "We can't live our lives in fear."

Bill left for work and I got on the treadmill, where I had a mini meltdown as I thought about other parents who may have let their child attend a midnight showing, whose child may never return.  

I can't even imagine.

I said a prayer of gratitude for the safety of Lex and her friends, and a prayer for those who are dealing with the tragedy of losing a loved one.

It feels like it was way too close to home.

Hostal Takeover

The hostas are {coming} back.

In other words:

You can access the free printable here.

That's... Pinteresting

I love Pinterest.

I have tried many ideas/recipes pinned neatly on my well-organized boards, and feel that, in general, it has made my quest for helpful and creative ideas easier.  It almost replaces my old-fashioned filing drawer full of magazine clippings, handouts, and guidebooks.  Almost.

I have discovered, however, through trial and error, that some pins are a bit misleading.

Take the Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins knock-off of Whole Foods Chocolate Chunk VitaTop Muffins (which I've never seen or tasted) pin from here.

The picture looks like this:

This is what mine looked like (sans chocolate chips):

Since there was such a discrepancy between the two, I did some further research online and found two other sites with the same recipe, 

here, 

and here.

They looked a bit more like mine.

And, let's be truthful, not likely to get many repins, if you know what I mean.

There were also at least a dozen sites using the very same misleading first picture from Pinterest.

Conclusion

I don't believe the first picture is a true depiction of the recipe for the following reasons:

1.  The muffins turn out to be much darker with all that cocoa and very little flour

2.  The muffins are much more dense and obviously don't rise to a beautiful rounded top

For whatever reason, I have had little success with recipes from Pinterest.  That may be why.  

Deceptive pictures.

Here are a few links to things I've tried with success:

Overnight Oats
(Quick and easy to grab for breakfast, but I only use a teaspoon of chia seeds)

Bacon-wrapped Cream Cheese Jalapeno Bites
(They aren't really beautiful - like the accurate picture on the link - but they are yum-o.  Unless your peppers are super HOT)

Scooter's Spaghetti
(The whole family gave it a thumbs-up)

Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken

(I made it with boneless, skinless breasts -- it would be better with bone-in skin-on chicken pieces)

Peanut Butter Pie

(I made in half-pint wide-mouth mason jars, using half the amount of filling suggested for each jar - they are super rich, but YUMMY)

Cheesecake in a Jar

(rivals Cheesecake Factory in my opinion)

and Blueberry, Caramel, and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

(I think I've already shared this recipe - I use dried cherries and Bakers White Chocolate Bar rather than white chocolate chips, which never really melt - have you noticed?)

Like I mentioned, though, I have had many, MANY failures.  I can comfortably say I've had at least twice as many failures as I've had successes.

I still love Pinterest, though, and was highly annoyed when my phone lost it's ability to pin for a few days (especially during the long swim meet on Saturday).

I cautiously proceed.

Swim, Swam, Swum

Last week Shilo had Prelims and Finals for the summer swim team.

Unfortunately, Prelims on Monday looked like this:

It started pouring during Shilo's first event, the 100 Fly, at the end of which a lightening delay was announced.  We hung around getting drenched, then I excused myself to the car.  After about an hour, it was announced that any events that didn't have more than two heats would automatically advance to the Finals, which included Shilo's two remaining events.  Yay!

Saturday was a whole other story.

{HOT} {HOT} {HOT}

Shi's results:

First place - Medley Relay

Third place - 100 Fly

First place - 100 Back

Second place - 200 IM

Second place - 200 Free Relay

I had signed up to time the second half (pre-injury), but Billy-my-hero kindly stepped in to take the torture shift for me.

This upcoming Saturday is the All Stars meet, then we will have a break for a month before Shi starts back up with Aces.

I'm considering signing Mar up too.  Hmmmm.....  Maybe I should talk to her about it.


Have you been watching Missy?

I called it clear back here.

Straightened Out

Yesterday was a happy day.

Shilo started the day like this:

Un Lucky girl, she had some pretty {fancy} wire work to get those teeth to come together.

She had braces for nearly a year longer than anticipated.

(She wanted them off so badly before EFY.)

We were concerned six months ago when the dentist said, "I don't think those spaces will ever completely close.  Filling in the sides of your teeth may be a good cosmetic option."

But we put our trust in the orthodontist.

You gotta love a guy who tells you your family challenges him and keeps his skills sharp.

He told me years ago when Tay was in braces, "90% of my patients are 10% of my work, and 10% of my patients are 90% of my work."  Guess what percent we've been in.

After two long hours, Shi left his office like this:

(A bag of caramel corn in her hand.)

Wow.  She looks awesome.

The Fourth

I'm finally around to posting about the Fourth.

While I sit on my inflatable donut.

We spent the day at my parents' house.

We skewered,

Taylor and Josh

Jill (and Bill in the background... NOT skewering)

and grilled,

(okay, the Grill Master grilled - the hottest job of the day - thanks, Stan!)

ate,

Hannah

Larkin

Lincoln and Christian

(With all that yummy food... yes, Mar had a roll and some jello.)

 and played,

(I remember LOVING this when I was little.  Austin and Josh were such good sports.) 

croqueted,

Stan, Austin, Taylor, Josh and Jon

Taylor, Lynnea, Bill and Kayla

and chilled.

Lex and Hailey

Can you see Britt's halo?

(Austin and Britt's awesome ice shaver... to cool us off with delicious icees topped with homemade ice cream.)

We also celebrated Lia's birthday - a day early - with Hannah's
homemade, hand-decorated red velvet cake:

That girl is already a domestic goddess.

Then we headed down to the church parking lot (below the firework ban line) to watch all the firebugs
L I G H T   I T   U P.

The girls tried to {kinda} recreate this pose (circa 2009):

I call it the 4th of July finger pose:

(Just in case you need help seeing it)

They are {obviously} more reserved, refined, and mature these days.