Just Desserts

We went to Dori and Kiwi's Tennis Banquet last night after school. The kids said it was a potluck and we had to bring a dessert. We ran to Sam's Club to pick up some donuts and cookies. Then ran home, picked up all the kids and headed out. When we got there... it was ALL desserts! At first the kids asked where all the REAL food was. They all looked a little dazed and confused about what they should do. Once we said that dinner was just gonna be dessert tonight the kids all got right into the spirit. Even Dill, who is not a dessert fan looked gleeful at the idea of a dessert only meal. I was very amused that all the kids took fruit and had to show me they did.... like a cube of melon and 3 grapes would balance the brownie, 2 cookies, donut, cake and slice of pie they also took!

The coaches had nice things to say and the team seemed like a nice group of girls (that is code for they were no where near first place finishers!!) It was a very nice evening for all of us and no one asked for a treat when we got home..... guess they all thought I would tell them they had to eat spinach or broccoli!! :)

German Guests

We have had a very busy spring break this year. The kids going to Dad D and Dad B during their break, then our trip to the Mall of America then Kiwi's parents coming to visit us from Germany. The whole week just flew by! Kiwi's M and D came into Chicago then drove over to visit us. They took Kiwi and Dori to Niagara Falls, then spent Saturday night with our whole group going out to dinner. We made a reservation since 12 people just wandering into a restaurant can cause the staff a bit of stress. We had a fantastic whole group picture taken by a Starbuck's guy... who was also an amateur photographer. I think Kiwi's M and D were a bit overwhelmed by our large family at first but by Saturday night they were playing Pick up Sticks with the kids and seemed to really be enjoying themselves.

Pepper and I had a momentary lapse of common sense and decided to have Easter dinner at our house this year. That would give Kiwi's parents a chance to meet many of Kiwi's host family without lots of additional travel. It was a great idea except for a couple of things. It meant 20+ people would be expecting something to eat for Easter dinner. It also meant we needed to get through TONS of laundry and try to catch up on our lax cleaning since we were having so much fun vacationing and it got brushed aside. Somehow I also accidentally scheduled myself to do coffee hour at church and agreed to do little projects like help move furniture and watch our neighbors two dogs. It was a little stressful there for awhile.

But I have to say.... it all turned out very well. Dinner was very good. We found enough chairs and tables to seat the 21 people that came for dinner. The kids were well behaved. The guests smiled and chatted and seemed to have a good time. Kiwi's parents were impressed by all the sweet comments the family had to share about how much we enjoying their daughter's stay. I am glad we decided to host this year, it was stressful but definitely worked out well. Plus, Pepper and I really slept well after everyone headed home! :)

Snow People Picture

I learned how to put a picture into my blog!!! Look! Old dogs can learn new tricks!! This is a picture of the snow people Kiwi, Pete and Dill made after our last snowfall. At this point, we have had a full weekend of rain.... unfortunately the snow people are now just a puddle in the yard!

2 Dads and a movie

Friday night Dad B and Dad D came over. Dad B wanted to see the new movie "Watchmen" and Kiwi, Dori, Pepper and I joined him. Dad D offered to stay at the house with the other kids. He brought DVD's from the library and "Space Pudding" for the kids to make while we were gone. As the 5 of us headed out the door for the movie, Dad D was losing badly to Dill on Wii Tennis. Dad B had pre-purchased the tickets for everyone and we all went in with high hopes for the new movie. The movie was almost 3 hours long and since Pepper and I never read the book, we were not sure what to expect. It definitely had some slow spots but it was not too bad overall. There was some graphic violence, but not more than you would expect for a rated "R" movie. Kiwi and Dori both really thought it was good, Pepper didn't think it was very good at all, Dad B seemed to think it was as good as an 800 page novel could be and the newspaper critic gave it 1.5 stars. Personally, I thought the movie was ok but the popcorn and M&M's I had while watching really made the evening..... gee, I wonder why I am not winning in the Biggest Loser contest!! :)

Secrets Revealed...

In the car yesterday the kids asked me to tell them their secret identities for this blog and how I came up with them. I realized I had difficulty recalling how I came up with the nicknames so I thought I should put it down so I won't forget next time they ask. Kiwi was already nicknamed by her sport team friends in Germany. Kiwi fit better on her jersey then her actual name. Dori is after the fish on Finding Nemo. Mainly because Dori is also a big swimmer but a smidge because my Dori can keep talking even when she has nothing to say just like Ellen's Dori in the movie! Macy wanted to be named after her two favorite foods... mac and cheese and McDonald's and I wanted it to be more feminine then "Mac". Pete was so named because he said his favorite food was pizza and I wanted to keep all the names 4 letters (fewer key strokes!!) and Dill because he loves Dill Pickles. He even got them in his Easter basket last year because "the Bunny" knew he didn't like chocolate! 

I haven't let any of the kids read my blog yet, but they keep asking. I think Dori thinks I am saying horrid, mean things about her. The other kids are probably just wondering why I write stuff on purpose when they do not really enjoy writing in their school journals. I don't know when they will finally read this but I hope they like the things I've said and know how important they all are to me. I love them all very much.

:)  Thanks for reading.

Out for Mexican with Germans

Last night Dad B took the family out to dinner. He had a guest from Germany staying with him for a few days and wanted Boris to meet his family. Dad B met Boris online, they are both into comic books and have been online buddies for about three years. Boris had to come to Chicago for work then had a couple days to drive over and meet Dad B. For days we had been teasing Dad B that Boris was probably an axe murderer.... well known in Germany. We were all surprised that Dad B was letting Boris stay at their house.... no one more surprised than Dad D!!

Boris was very nice. Probably in his mid-20's. He spoke english very well and smiled a lot. I liked him. We also kept teasing Kiwi that they should become engaged. After all, they are both from Germany!  Dad B kept telling Kiwi that it was an old world custom that he choose the groom for our exchange student.... and that he should get a goat as the dowery. Goat? Heck, I'd want a BMW!!! Kiwi was not very amused but they were both very good about the teasing during dinner.

Boris is headed back to Germany today.... it was nice to have met him.

Family Party

Had a big family party at the house today to celebrate January birthdays. Dill and Kiwi had more celebrations... and gifts. Pepper did not think her parents were coming. Dad hurt his back and was not feeling well, but Mom called this morning and said they were going to make it. Pete had a friend over and Dori's boyfriend and Mom were here. Dad D's parents and sister came with her kids. Uncle K and Aunt L came. Pepper's brother and partner was here... So there were lots of people at the house. 

Couple funny stories.... 

Kiwi and Dill were standing in the kitchen with the cake. Everyone was gathered waiting for the candles to be lit. Aunt L lit Dill's pretty quickly... he had 7. But Kiwi's 17 candles took a little more effort to light. She had just finished lighting all the candles and said "Ok, all set" meaning that we could all start singing "Happy Birthday" Kiwi thought Aunt L meant it was ok to blow them out.... so she did. Aunt L's face was priceless when she realized she was going to have to re-light all the candles! (Dill blew his out too once Kiwi did!!)

Dori's boyfriend Ned and Ned's Mom came to the party. Once they left Uncle K said that Dori needed to thank him because he did not scare Ned. (He teasing told everyone that he was going to say that if Ned hurt Dori he wasn't afraid to GO BACK to prison) Dori said, "Ned doesn't scare easily." Uncle K came back quickly with "Obviously, he is dating you!!"

The party was very nice. Dad D made a great cake with Mario and Yoshi racing around on it. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves... even if they loved picking on me about our chilly, drafty house. (Dad D's sister had to show everyone she was wearing long underwear and two pairs of socks!!) Next year we should celebrate January birthday's in August... of course they will all still complain because we don't have air conditioning!!  :)

Kiwi's Birthday

Today we celebrated Kiwi's 17th birthday. She doesn't really turn 17 until Wednesday, but we took her out to dinner tonight. The weather was horrible.... we drove s-l-o-w-l-y all the way to Monroe in 4 wheel drive. Cars were slipping and sliding... but slowly and steadily we made it. 

The highlights..... Kiwi loved her new Nintendo DS system we gave her and shared her huge 'death by chocolate' cake dessert that the manager gave her special to celebrate her day (plus we were a HUGE group, so I am sure he felt it was ok to comp it!), all the kids enjoyed the trivia and Texas Hold'em games, Dad B salivated over the giant screen TV's and was trying to mentally rearrange furniture to fit one in his house. Pete is very good at Texas Hold'em but needs to work on his poker face. Dori and Macy are both pretty good at trivia (read: they beat Pepper and I!!) Dill was sleepy and got his gum stuck in his hair on the way home. I actually ate ribs--- with my fingers! I hate finger picky-up, messy food... but I did it. I left my fork on the table! Anyone who knows me knows this is very un-me. Dinner was good though, we all had a very nice time.

Also had a snowball fight with the boys. Pepper and I against Dill and Pete. We won, but barely! Next year we are in trouble. Both boys have very good aim!!

All the girls went to the mall with their friends, they are SUCH TEENAGERS!! But they had a nice time and went to all the "cool" stores that Pepper and I usually try to avoid when we are at the mall. The highlight was that they all got along pretty well, even Dori and Macy (small miracle!!)  and said it was a fun day.