A swarm of Red

Happy Birthday Laurie!

Hope you have a really good birthday! I still have your card here with a little something. I'll get it in the mail soon. Your actual gift should be there soon if you haven't already gotten it. Hope you have a good day and can relax a little today!

Go BADGERS!

I just realized that we play Michigan State this weekend for football! HA HA. We might be going to the game. I'll think of you Laurie. Go Bucky!

Any Plans for the Weekend?

Anyone have any plans for the weeked? Not much going on here. At work for me has been completley crazy and I have been working long days. I have been working everyday from 7am-5or 6pm. I am so short staffed and this weekend is worse. I am working saturday and sunday also. Grrrr. I don't mind working this hard for them before Brian and I leave because they have been so great for me and family, but the long hours do catch up to you later and today I wasn't feeling well. When I came home after work, I went to the couch and fell asleep for about 2 1/2 hours. It was nice.
We heard some news from back home that we really didn't want to hear. Travis Morrell, our bestman for the wedding, he was driving his motorcycle on Rosser and as he was passing 12th st. someone decided to run a stop sign and side swiped him. He's doing ok but pretty beat up. He has three broken bones in one leg, he broke his collar bone and his clavicle bone also. I guess the person that hit him is pretty shook up because the driver knows him somehow. We called him and he sounds in good spirits, but maybe it was just the morphine drip talking? He's at St. ALexius hospital and we had to joke with him that he didn't have very far to go from the accident scene. Poor guy. I had to think about it for a second, and how everyone was telling Travis to be safe and take care, while he was in Afgahnastan!
Well, besides that sad news about Travis, we haven't really been doing anything. Brian has been trying to stay caught up with his classes and I have been working to much, it's hard to do anything lately. Which is ok because we need to save up some $$'s for moving. This weekend is another UW football weekend and we might have tickets to go. We will know tommorow morning if we got them or not. They are very hard tickets to come by. To get tickets for the UW football weekends is almost like trying to get Packers tickets, ya right, good luck. So, brian knows someone who might not beable to go and we might take the tickets off his hands. :-D I would be so excited to go. I heard they are alot of fun! One girl that I hired, Allison, she is a cheerleader for UW and she is so fun. I told her I wanted to get to a game to watch her cheer and she always said the games are sooooo much fun.
It's funy when my boss, (who used to be a cheerleader herself,) and Allison start talking together; putting a present cheerleader in the room with a former cheerleader, the energy in the room really lifts up for some reason. It's pretty funny.
Right now while I'm typing, Victoria likes to sit in my lap at the computer and be in my way. She likes to lick my arm while I'm typing. I guess I taste good. Stupid cat.
Oh, also next week is the World Dairy Expo. This Expo is huge in town and the hotel's in Madison are pretty much all sold out for the entire week. There are alot of people that will come in from different counrty's to be here for this event. I know there are some Germans coming in on Sunday. So, lots of Dairy farmers and large Dairy/farming equipment companies that will be in town from everywhere. It should be a fun week. I might go check it out for the free cheese curds and beer that they had last year anyway. Yummmm. :-D
Have a great weekend everyone and take care!
(*And NO Brian you still can't have a motorcycle*)

Easy Baker

Fred Rion made a cake using his Easy Bake Oven yesterday. Now he wants to get some more mixes and make more food. He shared his cake with Torii.

Fun with t-shirts

I'm having fun with t-shirts today. I finally got Fred Rion's Harry Potter shirt done to add to Torii's that I had made awhile ago. Here's a couple of onesies I made for the baby.
Here's two more I made for the baby. I always see little girl shirts that say princess so I made one that said tomboy. I think it's my favorite of the ones I made. The other one is a baseball one I made for her to wear under the Twins jogging suit I bought. I made a couple more onesies, but these turned out the best.

Easy supper

Slow simmered Beef Stew

1 1/2 cups fresh baby carrots
2 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium celery stalk, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (1.5 oz) pkg. beef stew seasoning
1 lb beef stew meat
1 cup water
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen green beans

In a crockpot, layer carrots, potatoes and celery. Place stew seasoning on waxed paper or in plastic bag. Add beef; coat with seasoning. Add beef to crockpot; sprinkle with any remaining seasoning. Add water. Layer frozen corn and green beans on top. Cover; cook on low setting for 8-10 hours. Stir stew before serving.

Corn bread bites
(This recipe also makes a dozen muffins in a standard muffins tin; bake 17 minutes or until golden brown)

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
1 (8 3/4 ounce) can cream-style corn
Dash of hot sauce
1 large egg, lightly beaten
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl. Combine cheese and remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Add to flour mixture; stir until just moistened. Divide batter evenly among miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in cups 2 minutes on wire racks; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.

Happy Birthday sis!

So I thought I posted this earlier! Bummer. Our internet isn't the best right now. It keeps kicking us on and off again. I think I was kicked off when I wanted to post a few things. So, I will keep this short right now. Well, stacy, I hope you had a wonderful 30th birthday!! Hope you got a big piece of cake with lots of the extra frosting. Have a wonderful day sis. Your b-day gift is on the way also. Take care and I will call you tommorow to get the details of your birthday. Tell the boys HI!

Fall picture

Torii was sitting on the porch yesterday and I thought it was so cute. I had Fred Rion come out and sit with Torii.

Today we went out for ice cream and found some more Halloween decorations at the dollar store. I love Dollar Tree. Yesterday Fred Rion found his Halloween costume. He is going to be Batman.

I'm watching the Wisconsin/Iowa game now. Wis. just scored, it's in Madison. It's fun to watch the Wis. home games because they usually show things around town when they come back from commercial breaks. Last time I watched them they showed a restaurant that looked really good, but I forgot what it was called so I can't even ask Kelly about it. It was like an old diner and the announcers said they had the best malts.

Pumpkin patch

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch. Fred Rion went crazy when he saw all the pumpkins. They had a lot of fun climbing and playing. We also came home with a wagon full of pumpkins. I will have to take a picture of the pumpkin Fred picked out. It is huge. I put all the pumpkins and guords I got on our front steps, it looks really nice. Torii fell asleep within 5 minutes of leaving the patch. I don't think he has ever fallen asleep so fast.

Apples

The boys picked apples at Grandpa and Grandma's house yesterday. Fred Rion really liked being on the ladder and picking the apples. Torii was a little scared. That surprised me since he is such a dare devil. Now we are going to make caramel apples and probably some apple crisp too.

Playing

I was just playing around with the digital camera today and now the computer. I don't know if this video is going to work, but I thought I would try. Then you can see the kids in action.

Forgot the pics in last post

Fred picked up a bike at a rummage sale last weekend. Fred Rion saw that as soon as he came home from Grandpa and Grandma's house. He said he didn't know where it came from and it was his favorite color. He was so excited.
Tennesse and Florida played today so Fred and Torii had their Gator shirts on. Torii is doing the Gator chomp in this picture.

Pajama run

Last night I felt like having a frozen Coke so after the kids tooks their baths and got their pajamas on we loaded up and went to Big Boy. I always wanted to do that, but I always feared the kids would get a sugar high right before bed. But it was ok, they were quiet while they drank their Cokes and then went to sleep. I was going to do a pajama run to Dairy Queen, but I really wanted a frozen Coke last night.

The weather is starting to cool down. Today was beautiful. It feels like fall though. I used my oven today for the first time in I don't know when. I was hungry for casseroles as well today. I also made a cheese dip because football is on and that's the best snack for gametime. I would like to do some baking too. The boys want to make Halloween cookies and cupcakes.

A bit of History

So, this week at work we have a large conference taking place at the hotel and I find out that a guest by the name of Eric Lloyd Wright is coming to the hotel and everyone is excited! Oh, I see... this is the grandson of the famous Frank Lloyd Wright. I have been interested in looking up Frank Lloyd Wright ever since I learned that he helped design Madison Monona Terrace. So, now I was even more interested if his grandson, Eric has followed in his footsteps. After looking up Eric Lloyd Wright, he has somewhat followed in his footsteps as a landscaper & help rebuild homes or business's. Anyhow, after looking him up, I decided to dig a little deeper into the family history. I found out that, well.... Frank Lloyd Wright himself was a ladysman.
Anyway, after searching through the family. I found out that Frank Lloyd's grandaughter is Ann Baxter, the famous acctress, she was the Queen Nefertiti in the classic Ten Commandments! How intersting. So the first cousin of Ann Baxter; Eric Lloyd Wright is staying at the hotel. So, that's the only exciting news here. Thought anyone would like some trivia. I also found out that one of the many Frank Lloyd homes, The Talisien that's located in Spring Green Wisconsin; Ann Baxter is buried there with other family members who have passed. Interesting huh?

Better weekend

We had a really good weekend. We went to Daisie's birthday party on Friday and the boys had a really good time. On Saturday morning mom and I went to some rummage sales because it is powwow weekend. It was raining all morning, but we found a few things. Then the boys spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's so Fred and I could go out to eat for our anniversary. Then Fred surprised me and said he took the day off. So we went to eat at The Walrus and then went to the movie 3:10 to Yuma. I liked the movie, but Fred didn't. If you like classic westerns, you'll like this movie. Christian Bale was excellent in it. Then this morning I wanted to check out another rummage sale that was closed up yesterday because of the rain. Fred went with and we ended up doing a bunch of rummage sales. I actually found more things today than yesterday and Fred found some things too. Now the kids are on the way home so I wanted to get a blog in. Then I have to do some cleaning and laundry. Fun, fun, fun.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Stacy and Fred!

Sorry.. I realize that I'm a day late :P I had a busy day yesterday. Anyways, I hope you and Fred have a wonderful anniversary!!

One of those weeks

It's finally Friday. It's been such a long week. I worked on Monday and half of the day was outside. It was hot and I was ready for a nap by lunchtime. On Tuesday I stayed home because Fred went to the emergency room Monday night and found out he had kidney stones. He got some pain medication and I didn't know how he was going to react to it so I stayed home. He's better now, but he was in such a bad mood last night that I wondered if I could get him some more pain medication to improve his mood. Tuesday I had a doctor's appointment. Everything is going good for me and baby. Wednesday was another long day at work. Thursday we had MOPS. That was really nice. I always feel refreshed after MOPS. Then I worked that afternoon so there went my refreshed feeling. Today I'm working, but leaving at 3:00. Daisie's birthday party is at 4:00 today. I haven't been sleeping well so that's not helping any at work. Next week is my last week.

Last night we went to Wal-mart to get Daisie's gift. We had to leave because Torii wet his pants. He's been doing so good too. Then he was mad we were leaving and Fred Rion kept teasing him about being a baby so that didn't help. After everybody calmed down and Fred made me mad we left again and went to Target. I don't think I got to relax last night until about 8pm. I'm really tired today. Everybody was so cranky last night. So it's been a long week. Glad it's almost the weekend.

Bowling

Here's a picture that got forwarded to me. This is from when I went bowling with some of the people I work with. A bunch of film/brodcasting geeks bowling :P. It was a really fun night. I bowled a 74. lol. Yeah, I'm not a good bowler :P

M&M's

I saw this ad in a magazine and thought it was so cute. There are commercials too and can be viewed at http://us.mms.com/us/dark/ Such a good idea for ads that I think I will buy some M&M's.

Easy Schnitzel

This is a really good chicken recipe. We are having it tonight for dinner. I make it often. It calls for fresh parsley and chives, but I use dry parsley and chives and it is still really good.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp chopped fresh chives
1 garlic clove minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 lemon wedges (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2 inch thickness with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.
Place flour in a shallow bowl. Combine mustard and egg in a shallow dish. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley, chives and garlic in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 chicken breast half in flour, turning to coat; shake off excess flour. Dip in egg mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, flour, egg mixture and breadcrumb mixture.
Heat oil in a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken. Saute 2 1/2 minutes or until browned. Remove from heat. Turn chicken over; place pan in oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

Here are some pictures from our anniversary. The first two photos are of a big gazeing ball that looks like a bean. It's really beautiful when looking at it from a distance. It can look like a giant painting of the city because it blends so well with the skline. One photo of the "bean," is when we could go under it and look up. It made you dizzy if you look up to long because you don't know which way is where. Can you tell from the photo which way we were looking?

The next two photos of the two walls of water spitting out to the people below, is two walls built of glass bricks that sprays out water from each side. The person that is pictured on the walls is interesting. The artist that built these walls of water, asked random people in the streets for their picture to be on the walls. There are different pictures from time to time.

We also went to The Olbrich Botanical Garden in Madison. It was really gorgeous. The picture of Brian and I is from the Thai garden area. There's also some flowers that are huge! And some very interesting plants from around the world. It's a great place to walk around and the best part was, that it was free admission! Woo Hoo. I might post some more pictures later.

Brian and I had a nice weekend. The weather has been so wonderful! This weekend madison had the annual "Taste of Madison." It was nice to walk along the capitol grounds and get a taste of local restaraunts and shops. Brian and I had to get a brat and beer. We sat on the capitol grounds to eat and drink and people watch. It was really neat how everything was set-up also. On each corner of the capitol there was a different type of live band playing, from the golden oldies to the heavy rap music. It was neat to walk to the different areas to see and hear the different groups of people. What a great weekend to just walk around. Not much else going on here. I work tommorow for Labor Day from 9am-5pm. I will post some more stuff tommorow with some pics. Take care, Kelly & Brian

Torii says thank you

Torii got everyone's birthday gifts and he says thank you. I should have him call you then you can hear him say it.

We don't have any plans for this weekend. It's suppose to be hot so I'll probably stay in and get things done inside. Hope you have a good Labor Day weekend.

Playing in Allendale

Alright so Mom wanted me to post a picture of me and my new glasses. I also got another hair cut. I am done cutting my hair for awhile! I love my new glasses. I have been wearing them a lot. It's so much easier on my eyes, since I work on computers a lot, and I have an 8am class. I love them.

These pictures are of me and a couple friends having fun in Allendale. Last night, the weather was PERFECT. It was pretty amazing, so we went for a walk on campus. The last picture of me is on this one sculpture on campus. It is a ball that is suspended from a stand. It has this sort-of-spike thing on the bottom, which keeps it continuously spinning. Apparently it has something to do with the Earth's rotation. It's pretty neat. I don't think we're supposed to climb on it, but everyone does. haha. I also don't think we're supposed to play in the fountain :P And yes I know, our campus is beautiful :P