Daily Crazies
Whew, been a few days!
Ok, I'll try to get this in an order that makes sense...
The Experimental Pie sorta worked. The filling was AWESOME! A little sweet, a little tangy, mmmm. The crust was SUCKY. I think the problem though was entirely due to the almond flour not being fine enough. My blender is clearly not made for powdering nuts. I'll probably try it again whenever I can suck up my stinging wallet enough to lay down $11 for a small bag of already made almond flour at the grocery store.
On Saturday my mom called and asked if we wanted to go pick up two dishwashers in Elizabethtown, KY. One for her and one for us. It's a little more than 3 hours one way, so no small feat by any means. As it happens one of my very good friend's lives up there! Lisa and her husband Marty took me in and were my surrogate parents (kinda, they're not *quite* old enough to be my actual parents being only 12 years older than me) when I was pregnant, and rather alone upon first arriving in Germany. They had many years of Army experience behind them and gave me some hope that things wouldn't always be so tricky to navigate.
After Joe finally made it out to Germany (took 3 months), we all spent time together and she became "Granny Lisa" to Alta and she often volunteered to babysit for us. They had a surprise baby a year or so after Alta was born bringing their family up to 5 people, with 13 years between the middle and youngest kids. Ella, the little one, has some sort of chromosomal abnormality. I don't remember exactly which chromosome messed up but it's NOT down's, I know that. She is 6 years old (7 in Dec) and seems to have the physical, social, and vocabulary of a 3 year old. Some school stuff she's on track (she can write her name) and other things she's not (she can't write her name on a line). Anyway she's a sweet kid and Lisa was thrilled that she actually asked Alta to play with her, apparently she usually just does parallel play (like a toddler would do) without actually interacting with other kids.
The last time I saw Lisa was when she dropped me off at the air port when I was flying out of Germany, almost exactly 6 years ago. 5 years, 11 months, and 19 days ago, to be exact. :)
We were only able to visit for a few hours, but it was a good time none the less.
We picked up the dishwashers no problem. Of course, the one that mom got for us (a very nice Kenmore) is missing all the important bits. We didn't really mind having to buy all the hoses and stuff, that was about $30, it's a little more frustrating to have to get a new access panel though. The little metal toe-kick that covers up all the electrical access underneath the machine. I saw it online through the Sears website, but it was $40 plus whatever shipping costs. We went to 3 different places here in town before we found a small appliance repair shop who ordered it for us, it was $31 through her but we have to wait 7-10 days before it gets to us. Another week of washing dishes by hand. *sigh* Part of me wants to complain to my mom that she got us a gift that we can't use. If it was me and Joe we probably would, but I don't want Maddie to start poking live-wires under there. But the rest of me is doing a mental head-slap and saying "Idiot! You were just given a $650 dishwasher that you'd NEVER have been able to afford and you're upset over $60??" Besides the fact that Mom also sent us a check for $100 to cover "gas and expenses" for driving up there to get it. We filled up the truck once for $71, add to that the $65 for parts and we've only technically spent $36 of our own money on it. Yea... I'll shut up about it. If she asks I'll say that we had to order a few parts but no big deal, otherwise I'll just be quiet and enjoy the fact that in 7-10 days I will no longer be the default dishwasher.
I'm *trying* to load up some pictures of yesterday's visit with Lisa and Ella, but apparently there's only one USB port that still works on this computer. Sheesh, it's only 5 years old...
Lilly had her "first" day of kindergarten. Sorta. I'm counting it as the first day at any rate, she had to be in uniform and at the school at 8:15 (the start time) so what if she was only there for 45 minutes. She did her testing and the Kindergarten teacher said that she's well ahead of where she needs to be. Apparently most kids don't go into kindergarten counting to 37 and doing basic addition? Not surprised though, according to our preschool she had all the knowledge they want their 5 year olds to have before starting kindergarten when she was 4 and had a whole year to go. I told the teacher that she picks up on new skills very quickly and if she get's bored it will be no good for anyone and to please feel free to give her extra work if needed. Joe and I honestly would not be surprised if she skips a grade in a few years, we will jump that hurdle when/if it shows up though.
Ugh! WHY is this camera not connecting to the computer?? Maybe the cord is bad...
THERE we go! Guess that other cord is only good for charging now.
While those are loading... I've started uploading my pictures to shutterfly as a back-up. I've litterally got YEARS of pictures on this computer and a significant part of me is terrified that it will crash and I'll only have the few things that I've printed off over the years left. I want to do them all up into digital scrap-books by year. I got most of 2012's done other than a trip to the zoo that I forgot to add in, but it costs $61 to get it printed off. Ouch! Oh well. Someday we'll have things like money, right? In the mean-time I'll keep loading them up into albums by year. I got 2005's loaded the other day, today I'll get '06-'08 done. Actually... I probably need to chase down all the random photo's that aren't in an album before I start loading the folders online.
Head shots of the girls, because why not. :)
First day of school front-step photos.
Alta on Friday:
Lilly today:
The Firefly/Lightning bug costume complete with LED lights that blink. It still needs wings and a "shell" but still, yay!
Ha! I love this guy. :-D He was "resting" apparently, the difference between "resting" and "sleeping" is whether or not you're under the covers. Our 9th anniversary is in a couple weeks. When the heck did that happen??
And our visit with Lisa and Ella yesterday! Woo!
The girls playing on Ella's big waterslide
We may have been being silly... Maybe... A little...
(That's Ella in the back of this one)
Oh, and some old ones because AWWWWWWW!
Rascal has always been very protective of the Girls when they were little babies.
Here he was when we brought Alta home:
And then 5 years later when we brought Maddie home:
He wasn't living with us when Lilly came home, or I'd probably have three of these pictures. :)
Ok, I'll try to get this in an order that makes sense...
The Experimental Pie sorta worked. The filling was AWESOME! A little sweet, a little tangy, mmmm. The crust was SUCKY. I think the problem though was entirely due to the almond flour not being fine enough. My blender is clearly not made for powdering nuts. I'll probably try it again whenever I can suck up my stinging wallet enough to lay down $11 for a small bag of already made almond flour at the grocery store.
On Saturday my mom called and asked if we wanted to go pick up two dishwashers in Elizabethtown, KY. One for her and one for us. It's a little more than 3 hours one way, so no small feat by any means. As it happens one of my very good friend's lives up there! Lisa and her husband Marty took me in and were my surrogate parents (kinda, they're not *quite* old enough to be my actual parents being only 12 years older than me) when I was pregnant, and rather alone upon first arriving in Germany. They had many years of Army experience behind them and gave me some hope that things wouldn't always be so tricky to navigate.
After Joe finally made it out to Germany (took 3 months), we all spent time together and she became "Granny Lisa" to Alta and she often volunteered to babysit for us. They had a surprise baby a year or so after Alta was born bringing their family up to 5 people, with 13 years between the middle and youngest kids. Ella, the little one, has some sort of chromosomal abnormality. I don't remember exactly which chromosome messed up but it's NOT down's, I know that. She is 6 years old (7 in Dec) and seems to have the physical, social, and vocabulary of a 3 year old. Some school stuff she's on track (she can write her name) and other things she's not (she can't write her name on a line). Anyway she's a sweet kid and Lisa was thrilled that she actually asked Alta to play with her, apparently she usually just does parallel play (like a toddler would do) without actually interacting with other kids.
The last time I saw Lisa was when she dropped me off at the air port when I was flying out of Germany, almost exactly 6 years ago. 5 years, 11 months, and 19 days ago, to be exact. :)
We were only able to visit for a few hours, but it was a good time none the less.
We picked up the dishwashers no problem. Of course, the one that mom got for us (a very nice Kenmore) is missing all the important bits. We didn't really mind having to buy all the hoses and stuff, that was about $30, it's a little more frustrating to have to get a new access panel though. The little metal toe-kick that covers up all the electrical access underneath the machine. I saw it online through the Sears website, but it was $40 plus whatever shipping costs. We went to 3 different places here in town before we found a small appliance repair shop who ordered it for us, it was $31 through her but we have to wait 7-10 days before it gets to us. Another week of washing dishes by hand. *sigh* Part of me wants to complain to my mom that she got us a gift that we can't use. If it was me and Joe we probably would, but I don't want Maddie to start poking live-wires under there. But the rest of me is doing a mental head-slap and saying "Idiot! You were just given a $650 dishwasher that you'd NEVER have been able to afford and you're upset over $60??" Besides the fact that Mom also sent us a check for $100 to cover "gas and expenses" for driving up there to get it. We filled up the truck once for $71, add to that the $65 for parts and we've only technically spent $36 of our own money on it. Yea... I'll shut up about it. If she asks I'll say that we had to order a few parts but no big deal, otherwise I'll just be quiet and enjoy the fact that in 7-10 days I will no longer be the default dishwasher.
I'm *trying* to load up some pictures of yesterday's visit with Lisa and Ella, but apparently there's only one USB port that still works on this computer. Sheesh, it's only 5 years old...
Lilly had her "first" day of kindergarten. Sorta. I'm counting it as the first day at any rate, she had to be in uniform and at the school at 8:15 (the start time) so what if she was only there for 45 minutes. She did her testing and the Kindergarten teacher said that she's well ahead of where she needs to be. Apparently most kids don't go into kindergarten counting to 37 and doing basic addition? Not surprised though, according to our preschool she had all the knowledge they want their 5 year olds to have before starting kindergarten when she was 4 and had a whole year to go. I told the teacher that she picks up on new skills very quickly and if she get's bored it will be no good for anyone and to please feel free to give her extra work if needed. Joe and I honestly would not be surprised if she skips a grade in a few years, we will jump that hurdle when/if it shows up though.
Ugh! WHY is this camera not connecting to the computer?? Maybe the cord is bad...
THERE we go! Guess that other cord is only good for charging now.
While those are loading... I've started uploading my pictures to shutterfly as a back-up. I've litterally got YEARS of pictures on this computer and a significant part of me is terrified that it will crash and I'll only have the few things that I've printed off over the years left. I want to do them all up into digital scrap-books by year. I got most of 2012's done other than a trip to the zoo that I forgot to add in, but it costs $61 to get it printed off. Ouch! Oh well. Someday we'll have things like money, right? In the mean-time I'll keep loading them up into albums by year. I got 2005's loaded the other day, today I'll get '06-'08 done. Actually... I probably need to chase down all the random photo's that aren't in an album before I start loading the folders online.
Head shots of the girls, because why not. :)
First day of school front-step photos.
Alta on Friday:
Lilly today:
The Firefly/Lightning bug costume complete with LED lights that blink. It still needs wings and a "shell" but still, yay!
Ha! I love this guy. :-D He was "resting" apparently, the difference between "resting" and "sleeping" is whether or not you're under the covers. Our 9th anniversary is in a couple weeks. When the heck did that happen??
And our visit with Lisa and Ella yesterday! Woo!
The girls playing on Ella's big waterslide
We may have been being silly... Maybe... A little...
(That's Ella in the back of this one)
Oh, and some old ones because AWWWWWWW!
Rascal has always been very protective of the Girls when they were little babies.
Here he was when we brought Alta home:
And then 5 years later when we brought Maddie home:
He wasn't living with us when Lilly came home, or I'd probably have three of these pictures. :)