This is a blog by a "real" mom for other "real" moms. I am no fakey who is wonderful at everything....I do a lot of different things and try to do them well...but when it comes right down to it, I am just an average mom trying to do the right thing to ensure my family is happy and healthy and that my kids grow up able to take care of themselves and get out of my hair.
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Tomato Time
Last year I had a bumper crop in the front yard with two plants, so this year I doubled it.
The little plant is from my brother. He grew a whole bunch from seed and brought be some. This is the only one of the three that survived.
Will be interesting to see how it does compared to the others.
I have 1 big red tomato, 1 red cherry tomato, 1 yellow cherry tomato and my brothers plant - which is a little bit of a mystery because his plants got all mixd up in the shuffle. I think my brother's plant might be an Abe Lincoln - and if it is, it's a large heirloom tomato.
YUM!
Inquiring Minds
They have been looking for this plant in Cabo and have not been able to find it.
You learn something everyday!
The other thing I learned today is that when you have ducks living in your front yard, your stupid labrador thinks its great fun to roll in duck poop! Damn dog us banished to the backyard until I can wash her tonite!
Chang Family KICK ASS Teriyaki Chicken
Monday, May 07, 2012
Peace and Harmony....
So maybe peace and harmony are not the right words.
Action Shot
Check out this action sequence. Player takes a penalty kick. Drew is on the left side of the field starting to run into the play.
You can see him more clearly in this shot. He is heading towards the ball.
Then....boom....heads the ball out of the way! BEAST!
Monty
Shortly after his passing, the Walker's got a new dog, Monty. He is a feisty little terrier, chihuahua mix. And he almost followed Vadar to doggy heaven today.....he ate a bag of raisinets and had an emergency trip to the vet! After making him throw up, he was sent home with a diet of pedialite for the rest of the day.
Good thing Auntie Debbie was not working today or she would not have noticed he had gotten into the raisinets until it was too late. The vet said he would have been dead by tonite.
Remember....no chocolate or raisins for doggies.....
Sunday, May 06, 2012
Chieko Flower
Friday, May 04, 2012
Poetry Jam
Ode to TNDC.....
"Thanks for the laughs,
Thanks for the fun,
Thanks for the friendships when all is said and done.
Thanks for the yummy dinner and cheesecake and all the rest,
Thank you TNDC,
You guys are the best!"
-Mrs.Screwtop
Thursday, May 03, 2012
High Praise
Grace is..."Probably one of the best students in terms of perseverance, attitude and resilience that I have ever had."
That kid is AWESOME!
Duck Couple
We have a lovely duck couple living at our house. They have been here for about 5 weeks. They hang around the front yard and then go swim in our neighbors pool. I love to watch them waddle around. Between the ducks in the front yard and the rabbit in the back yard, Ahi's head is about to explode.
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Ode to Bug
There is a reason I am not a poet....
Smooches
Drew is doing a project for school that tells his life story. Last nite when we were looking for pictures, we found this one of him and my college room mates daughter, Abby. They must have been about 2.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Every Child Suceeding
One of the kids who also won an award was totally inspiring to me. She had bounced around foster homes and had spent the 6th grade at the school where she won this award. The staff at the school was super impressed with how well she has done with the adversity that she has faced.
Her story made me think about how fortunate Grace is to have the incredible support from her teacher, her parents, her educational therapist, her grandparents and her friends. About how we are so lucky to have the money to get her the extra help that she needs and how she doesn't have any worries other than school.
It also made me reflect on random acts of kindness and how I could make a difference in this girl's life.
So I decided to find a way to give her a gift to celebrate her hard work. I worked with the principal of her school to give her $100 and the following note:
The second part of this story is that I mentioned Serena to a friend at work and she wanted in on the random act of kindess too.
So she put together a note, $50 and a gold bracelet for Serena!
I am taking the package to Serena's school today. I told the principal that the only think I wanted it return was for her to let me know about Serena's reaction. So stay tuned!
And....practice random acts of kindness....big or small....it's good for the world!
Bunny Drama
Jim called me on my way home last nite and reported that he had LOST the bunny! He said she was in the backyard and he went back to check on her and she was gone. I stayed on the phone with him for awhile while he looked:
* Behind the bbq
* In the garage
* On the side yard
Nothing! Then he told the dogs to "find the bunny" and they couldn't find her.
When I got home about 20 mins later, Jim was out front looking up and down the street, thinking maybe she got out of the yard.
Nothing!
So I start looking too. She was no where in the backyard.
Then Drew came home and he started looking too.
Finally, I went and looked in the garage. I took Ahi with me and started asking her "where's the bunny?" And then......she started looking too. After about 30 seconds, she spotted her under a table in the garage!
And boy.....was she fired up about being a bunny hunter!!! She ran around all proud of her self for about 30 minutes!
These pics are from this morning. She seems to have adjusted to her new home!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sushi Nite
We had homemade sushi for Sunday Nite Dinner! We are getting better and better at it.
And I made a delicious salad with butter lettuce, Asian pears and home made wasabi dressing. YUM!
Bunny Hutch
Our new "used" bunny needed a new hutch! So off we went today to get her one. She seems to like it, but really likes running around the yard!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
More Mud Run Pics
Couples that play in the mud together, stay together!
Mr Screwtop trying to push me down in the mud!
Mud Warrior!
Mikey, caught in the net!
Slip and Slide!
Used Pet
We have another used pet. And does this one look familiar? It should....it's the bunny that we rescued from the streets about a year ago. When we rescued her last time, it took us a week to find her owners. Turned out that she lived down the street. So she went home to her owners.
This week her family moved to Canada so they were looking for a new home for her. Since we were so good to her when we rescued her, they asked if we wanted to take her. I said we would take her if there was no one else who they could find....
So she showed up yesterday afternoon. Her name is Paul Anka....don't know the whole story....but we call her "Bunny Bunny".
She is a sweet bunny with a bad hairdo and a mustache! She is also old - about 7. And my research says that the lifespan is 8 to 12 years.
Daisy is so good - you tell her to "leave it" and she does. Murray noses her with his giant nose and Ahi wants to chase her! The bunny is running around the backyard and Murray and Ahi keep running back and forth from door to door to watch her. The excitement is almost unbearable!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Happy Birthday
Yipee
YIPEE
And was totally disturbed when the game said it was not a word. I immediately thought...."this is what is wrong with the world....the word yipee is not a word!" I was thinking....how could it not be a word....if it were a word, we would live in a better world....how do we go about getting it recognized as a word?!?!?!
After I calmed down and looked back at the game, I realized I misspelled it --- YIPPEE is, in fact, a word!
So carry on....the world is A-OK! I was just short a "P".
YIKES!
Our friends who live in Cabo had this in their yard this morning! HOLY CRAP!
They killed it with a shovel and no one (except the snake) was harmed! If I were there, I would have wet my pants!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Cow Bells
I brought in a kids rolling suitcase and a bunch of kids books. There were all kinds of things: electronics, clothes, kids stuff, appliances, etc. There was a big crowd of people hauling away all kinds of treasures.
I didn't get to go when it first started because I was in a meeting, so my coworker actually picked me up the cow bells.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Survivor Mud Run - April 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Soccer Update
We had a rummage sale last weekend to raise money for Regionals and made almost $2000! It was a long day but worth it for what we made.
Sunday Dinner
We had a yummy dinner tonite: mushroom ravioli, asparagus with browned butter/balsamic sauce, salmon with mustard dill sauce and artichokes. And I had tofu with my dinner. YUM!
Spectacles
Salmon April 2012
It is an amazing salmon season! Jim went out today and caught 18 pound salmon! The freezer is filling up!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Beady Little Eyes
Blind
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Like a Tree
Tall like a tree!
Window Covering
At least that is what I thought until I received the re-strung blind back in the mail and it was NOT our blind! It is about 1.5 feet too short - they sent us the wrong blind!
Now what?????
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Handbag - part 2

Hook Me Up
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Book Reviews
The first one is called: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
This is the book description from Amazon: "When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a daring, passionately physical affair, Ana discovers Christian Grey’s secrets and explores her own dark desires.
Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever."
I wanted to read this book because it was the hot talk in the "mom circles". Mom's across the US are talking about this in book clubs and on the sidelines of the soccer fields, so I had to see what it was about. I had heard it described as "mommy porn" because it was a little racy.
A "little racy" is an understatement - it is disturbing drivel! The main characters are involved in a totally warped relationship. I decided this morning that I am giving up on the book and not reading anymore. I have a friend who is reading it too and she is equally disturbed by the relationship and absurdity of the book. She did something that I think was very wise --- she skipped and read the last chapter!
The second book I am reading is: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
This is the book description from Amazon: "Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.
Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells."
This book is totally worth the investment of time! It is fascinating to learn about this woman, the time frame in which she lived and the advancements in science that are directly credited to her cells.
Based on my book choices of late, I am starting to think of myself as quite an intellectual!
Monday, April 09, 2012
Changes at Work
I was surprised that it affected me so much as it did as I am pretty level headed and logical in my approach to things. But we have spent a lot of time together over the last 12 years, which included:
* The birth of her second child who is now 9
* The death of loved ones
* The death of beloved pets
* Serious illnesses
* Accomplishments of our kids
* Movement from one company to another
As Jim so wisely put it, "you guys put a lot of miles in together."
I wish could say something really wise about the situation but right now I am still too upset at the change to think there is anything good about it.
Daisy Babushka
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Chicken Wings
But the girls want to have chicken wings too because they love them. Yesterday in the car, the were having a conversation about how many chicken wings we need and this is how it went down:
Ry: I have been thinking about how many chicken wings we need.
Grace: I love chicken wings.
Ry: I love them too.
Ry: Drew......Mikey......they eat A LOT (those are the big brothers)!
Grace: They come in buckets of 25 and 50 at Wingstop.
Ry: I think we need 150.
Me: There will only be 18 of us and I don't eat them.
Ry: But Drew will eat yours.
Grace: Yea, at least 100.
Me: We are having spaghetti and meatballs too.
Ry: Yea, I think we need 150.
So then I told Ry's mom about this conversation and she filled me in on her follow up conversation with Ry:
Ry: Mom, when are you going to get the food because we need like 150 wings. Chris says there is 18 people coming. And Drew needs loompa but not just his own some for everyone else, so like 40. (Note - loompa is actually lumpia, which are egg rolls but Drew can never remember what they are called and renamed them loompa.)
Ry's mom: Really..150 wings and 40 loompas? Wow, that’s a lot.
Ry: Yea but we all eat a lot and this food is GOOD. (note the emphasis on GOOD and the implication that the other food is NOT as good and therefore not as much is consumed)
Ry's mom: Gross. Ok. Whatever you say its your bday (in her head she was saying there is not a chance in hell I am getting 150 wings and 40 loompa!)
I LOVE these girls! Most pre-teen girls are thinking about boys, music, clothes, the mall.... Ours are thinking about chicken wings....and lots of them!
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