Congratulations!

To my 16 year old son Turned Loose! Today we received his results for the National Latin Exam and he was awarded a Silver Medal, Maxima Cum Laude on the level 2 test.

Congratulations, son! We're very proud of you!

A week of preschool

On the Loose loves preschool! He asks to do it every day...all day every day! Now that we are finally back home and into our regular routine, I cannot deny him any longer. This week, we had lots of fun surrounding the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault.

I printed the pages for a "Tot Book" from Carisa's site. I also color copied the cover of our copy of the book here at home and we made a "Tot Book":

On the Loose had a great time with his book! He sorted letters, colored the coconut tree different colors, spelled out his name with stickers and identified shapes.

He's really enjoying his preschool corner and regularly tells me, "Daddy built me this preschool corner. Wasn't that nice of him?"

I also printed and colored this version of the coconut tree so that he could re-create the story whenever he wanted.

Our plan for next week is to make the "Tot Book" for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. That is definitely on of his favorites!

Finally a successful steak!

I've tried for years to make a good steak. My husband of darn near 20 years loves steak. My 16 year old son loves steak. Unfortunately for them, I can't cook meat! 

That all changed tonight! Per my last entry, I confessed that I have been spending some time at The Pioneer Woman. While browsing her cooking section, I saw a recipe for "pan fried rib eye steak."

Oh. My. Goodness. I have died and gone to heaven! That was the most delicious, juicy steak I've ever eaten! My family loved it! I served it with roasted red potatoes and a blue cheese wedge salad. We are happy and content tonight!

I can't wait to try another of her recipes!

My new "addiction..."

I've really been enjoying reading and gleaning all kinds of tips, wisdom, inspiration, etc. from so many incredible blogs out there. I am thankful for so many bloggers who allow me a peek into their lives!

My new blogging addiction is one that I've seen referenced so many times but I just hadn't made my way over there yet. So, many of you (I'm sure) are regualr readers of my new blogging hero but for those of you who have yet to be amazed, head on over to The Pioneer Woman. She's fantastic. She's a great cook. And, she's hilarious!

Since I've been sick this week, I've spent...uh...some number of hours reading her archives. Her chronicles of remodeling The Lodge provided lots of entertainment for me during my suffering.

So, head on over to Ree's site and have a little fun!

Boy have we been sick!

We finally arrived home from San Francisco (via Santa Rosa) on Sunday, April 5th after two complete weeks of travel!

We first spent a week in San Francisco (well, technically, in Larkspur...Don commuted in by the ferry each day). That was followed by a two day debate tournament in San Jose. We left San Jose on Sunday and spent the day in San Francisco again. From there, we spent another week in Larkspur with Don working in The City. 

Tuesday of that week, Turned Loose came down with something terrible. He was in bed in our hotel room the entire day barely able to move. I knew we would all start falling since we were trapped in that room together with no where to go. Of course, Footloose and I came down with it next on Wednesday. On the Loose was next on Thursday. The big guy finally got it on Friday. 

It was miserable! Body aches, fevers, sore throats, chests full of mucous, terrible coughs, etc. But, we were now in Santa Rosa for another tournament! The kids did well in spite of nearly loosing their voices. 

Like I said, we returned home that Sunday but all of us were still sick. It lasted the longest for me. In fact, now two weeks later, I still have the cough.

Last Saturday, we went to my dad and stepmom's house to have an Easter celebration. Half way through dinner, my precious little sister informed me that her daughter (my beautiful little neice) had thrown up on the way from home and apologized ahead of time if we got sick. Ummmmm.....sis! You should have told us this before you exposed us!

Guess what? We most of us got it! Monday saw Don, Turned Loose and Footloose fall victim to the evil stomach bug. I came down with it yesterday.

The worst part is that we were supposed to leave yesterday for Modesto to compete in one final tournament of the year. There was no way we could travel in the condition we found ourselves in. So, we had to disappoint the kids' debate partners and pull out at the last minute. And...our season is now over until next fall. 

I think we are finally on the mend. I'm the last to heal. I'm still coughing from the original bug and am still a bit weak from the stomach thing but I did catch up on the mountain of ironing today, did a few loads of laundry and vacuumed the master bedroom!

And, to my dear sister: Hey! Next time tell us that you all have "the crud" before we get there! :-)