Thursday, April 26, 2012

A bicycle built for two.

Last weekend my work had a 10 mile bike ride for the Women's and Infant Services department and their families.  It was a warm morning and hardly anyone showed up but we still had a good time.  Rick and Quinn rode the tandem bike.  I like how Quinn's helmet is hanging from his handlebars, lota good that will do.  For some reason, Rick looks like a German in his helmet.  He's not.

 I dragged everyone in my household to the bike ride and surprisingly, they enjoyed themselves!

We rode all around the San Tan Mall area.

Our team name is Team Push.  Get it, we're labor and delivery nurses....Team Push.

Monday, April 23, 2012

A Moment in Time.

Last week Truman was involved in the Desert Ridge High School Dance Concert.  (I never thought I'd be typing that last sentence.)  He took a pilot class this year called, "Athletic Movement" which was for boys only and the only class of its kind in the United States (so I'm told).  The class was physically demanding and the boys did learn a lot of manly type moves such as parkour (free running), beat boy dancing, etc.
Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the boys got to show their talents in the 2 hour plus dance concert.  On Friday, I was sitting in the audience waiting for the show to begin wondering, "How did I get here?"  I hadn't been to a dance recital since my only daughter, Emily, was in dance and that was a long time ago.  It felt a little odd being there to support my son when there were 480 kids involved and maybe 30 were of the male type.  But, nonetheless.
Truman had lots of friends involved with the concert and many friends who came to support.  Even Bama came.  He was in two dances and one was picked to go perform at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts in May, a big accomplishment since only two dances in the entire program were selected.

 Friends, family and dancers.


So, what do you give your son after all of his hard work?  Flowers?  I opted for chips and homemade salsa.  He was fine with that!  (Sorry for the blurry picture, it's the only one I got.)


Truman told me this morning that he wants to drop dance and take weight lifting for next year.

I'm fine with that.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Love notes.

Does your husband leave you love notes?  Mine does but sometimes they're a little weird.  These eggs are left from Easter.....and this note on the egg carton appeared last week.  
Am I supposed to reply directly on the carton or use a sticky note?  This is uncharted territory. 


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

German Pancakes

When Emily and Steven were staying with us, she introduced the kids and me to these crazy puffy German Pancakes.  Now Quinn requests them often to which I oblige.  I found a simple and fast recipe on Smitten Kitchen.  Click here for the out of control German Pancakes recipe.  If you're not interested in clicking, then just follow below.

 4 eggs
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup flour, sifted
2/3 cup milk
2 Tbsp soft butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Butter two 9-inch cake pans well ( I used spray Pam).  Put eggs in blender container, cover and process at "stir" until light yellow in color.  Push "mix" button, remove cover and add remaining ingredients; process until smooth.  Pour into prepared pans and bake at 20 minutes; then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake 10 minutes.  Slide onto hot plates.  Serve with powdered sugar and fresh strawberries.
Mmm good.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Surprise!

Friday, April 6th a few of Truman's friends threw a surprise birthday party for him.  He was with one of his best friend in Queen Creek the whole day, which allowed me to cook all the live long day.  We had copy cat Costa Vida sweet pork burritos along with the rice and dressing.  It was the best recipe that I found and it turned out delicious!  Sweet pork and fixins recipes here!  We also had two different cakes, Black Magic and 4 layer carrot cake along with fruits and veggies and chips.  And the entire Washburn clan helped out with the decorations and sodas.
We had roughly 28 girls and maybe 6 guys.  That's a normal ratio, right?
See how my mom is leaning on the counter taking it all in?  She partied with the kids all night long.  She always walks with a walker but not that night (I think she hid it out of vanity).  She's usually always sitting in her room watching TV all night.  But while the party was going on, she was front and center of all of the activities.  The next day, instead of sleeping until 10 a.m., her usual time, she slept until 12:45 p.m.  I had to check in on her just to make sure she was still breathing.  She partied too hard, and loved it.

We had Just Dance II set up outside on a big screen that the kids played.
The kids ate too!  I mean they really did eat.  I wasn't sure they would.  I'm glad they did.
Part of the cute decorations.  Marc Washburn was the official photographer, so I didn't take too many pictures.  The one below Rick took and it's real swell......but it's all I've got of  Truman blowing out his candles.
Happy 16th Truman!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

It's not a train wreck.

 Quinn found this almost 50 year old train set in our garage.  Rick got it one year for his birthday from his dad and grandpa.  Apparently his dad and grandpa ended up playing with it because Rick was only 1 and wasn't interested. Now, all these years later, Quinn asked Rick to put it together.
He did, and it still works!  Even though the track is razor sharp and could potentially cut off a finger, it's still a great toy!

Monday, April 2, 2012

April Fools = one 16 year old boy!

Truman turned 16 yesterday!  
 The day started out with a crepe breakfast with all the fixins.  Truman opened up some presents and even tried on a pair of shorts.  The best part of this picture is Emily's face.  "Yep, that's my brother."
Emily & Stephen spent the night to watch Conference with us and to celebrate Truman's birthday with the family later on.  After breakfast, Emily went out to her car to get something and found this.  Our front yard is rather large so 5 rolls of toilet paper doesn't quite get the job done.
 It was a fun for Truman.
 I mean, really.  How cute is Mr. Winston?!
 The Washburns came over too for dinner.
 I think we had 30 or so family members.  Most seemed to be under the age of 9!
 Truman and his cousin Chelsea.
 Seriously.
It was my nephew's birthday too.  Funny.  Two sisters having a son on April Fool's 18 years apart.  What are the odds?  The cake had the traditional Ariel on it along with RIP and question mark candles.  The fun thing about having a kid with a birthday on April 1st is I get to use all of my left-over Christmas napkins and paper products.  And, even though I didn't have a real candle, these candles worked perfectly for the day!  What luck.