Instagram

I am a little late in joining the instagram movement.  I never joined mostly because of lack of an awesome phone.  I never even visited it.  I knew it would be something I like and would probably waist to much time on.  And who needs more addictive apps in their life?  My oldest son even kept saying mom you would love this instagram.  What me to set you up an account?  These kids know me all to well.  Still I said no.  And then chemistry happened.  Yes difficult chemistry testing every mathematical fiber in my body and I needed to release my tension or scream.  So one day in frustration over stoichiometry I put down the problems and pick up my phone and welcomed the word of instgram in to my life.

It has been fun.  And with as many pictures as I take still I am not over loading the instagramers with these photos.  I have resigned to posting 1 photo each day.  And it has been easy and fun.  They are not the cutesy pictures of my kids that I overload facebook with or the hundred pictures from one event that I over load my blog with but one shot a day into my life that is special to me.  I do really like it!  I like that it is 1 simple picture not posed, not always of kids, just some memory from that day.  I am hope to take these photos from everyday and make an album.

A sneak peak....







But if you would also like to take a peak into my word you are welcome!  Just click the little camera button and the follow.  And sorry for the huge pictures I can't figure out how to resize them on blogger yet, like I said I am new to instagram.

Sweet as Sugar

Sticky sticky royal icing sugar.  We decided  to make cookies.  Baby decided to frost her sister and everything.



(Yes she took her pants off they got too sticky)

Baby thought is was so good but thought it would be better on her sister.



Faith loves Gracie so much she just laughed.



They  are cuter when they are clean though.

Playing on their little 4 wheeler.





She holds the walkie talkie thing of it and pretends it is a phone.  She sits there and just chats away.



Sweet girls they are just so much fun.  What days they have.

What are you watching tonight?

I can assure you at our house it is Duck Dynasty.

School is in Session

Oh wow I left off with the first day of school?!  Last month!!  Well then you can guess what I have been doing instead of blogging.  School has kept me busy.  Almost full time work week hours, busy.  But I am doing really well.  I am not quite getting every compound, changing, mathematical, non balancing equation chemistry is throwing at me but I have been getting  help and I will make it.  I even got the shower curtain to help HAHA!  And it can't hurt my little chemist crew to know also.



And actually we are memorizing them.

Otherwise it is soccer that keeps us busy.  Soccer is actually a break in the day and week.  It is nice to be outside.



They are on different teams this year.

Gregory is on a U16 team which means it is for people under 16 years old (in this association) down to 10.  Yes talk about an age gap.  The big kids are incredible bigger and taller than Gregory.  He is the youngest and smallest at 10.  But he holds his own.



Great job by my 4th grader playing with sophomores in high school!

Evan is also doing a great job.  He is playing on the U10 team.  His teammates are only 8 and 9, this league is better suited to Evan.



Some how fortune intervined on my busy life and had mercy on me.  All, every single one of the boys games match up same place same time.  Different parts of the complex, even there by week is the same.  Does that every happen to anyone?  Yes we never see a game in whole.  Last week I spent the first half watching Evan, second watching Gregory.  We moved around a lot but that was fine because it is hard to keep the tiny team still.



Well that and juice boxes, ice pops, nachos, french fries and and egg sandwich.  It was not going to smooth I had to pull out all the stops.  I had woke them up dressed them and through them in the car all by 8 so for them to go from sleeping to a brisk morning where I could not let them just run and play took a bit of... give and take.



The teams this year are not their school teams.  This was kinda a big decision.  I feel they should play for their school and support them but their school does not have a team for Gregory's age so I had to move him anyways, which meant Evan had to be moved also.  But it was a good decision.  The school team was more of fun and friendship but at their new club they are learning so much more, it is more structured and is pushing them, certainly Gregory.  And they do have lots of friends on this teams from the community, church and YMCA, which they do not see as often as their school friends.  So far I have been very happy.



And Evan was happy win or loose his coach bought the whole team ice pops at the end of the game.

Helping with Dinner

This little guy is my shadow and helper.  It is usually the tiny team who help me cook and LOVE to do so.  But as the bigger guys are growing up they to like to help because now they can do more than just stir.

Garlic Lime Wings

Oh  this was good.  Yes so good.  I don't know why but in a non pintrest moment I...cracked open a....cookbook.  Yes something drew me to that abandoned wasted space of cabinet in the corner of my kitchen.  My nexus was probably dead.  But either way I grabbed an old magazine I had shoved up there from June 2003, older than any of my kids.  I can't believe I saved something that long.  I told you it is an abandoned corner.  I flipped though it and saw a recipe for wings or drumettes.  Yum one of my favorites.  I looked at this recipe for garlic lime chicken drumettes with chipolte mayo and had everything.  Yes it was going to be a go, and I am so glad it was.

Now I changed it a little from the original recipe to make it mine and  add cilantro.   How could a dish not have cilantro?  Mine was DELICIOUS I am sure the original was good but mine was awesome, just saying.

MARINADE
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon fresh diced basil
1 Tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup lime juice
1/3 cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves minced
12 wings

1) Place all ingredients in a gallon zip lock bag, shake, turn to coat all wings and places in fridge for 4 hours.  Rotate it while in there several times.

2) When almost ready to eat soak hickory chips in water.  Soon start your coals.

3) While step 2 is underway make the dipping sauce.

SAUCE
1 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 cup of sour cream
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 chipolte chilies in adobe drained and diced finely
1 Tablespoon adobe sauce
a handful chopped cilantro

This makes a lot more than you need.  You could cut it in half or a third and be fine.  I made the rest as I am making taco pizza this week and try it as a topper.  Or maybe on a sandwich.  But it is a lot of dipping sauce.

4) Combine all ingredients for the sauce and mix well.  Place in fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

5) When coals are ready start your grill.

6)  Take wings out of bag, discard the marinade, and grill till wings are 165

7) using dipping sauce liberally and enjoy!



So very good!

Back to school

Yes it is that time of year.  For the most part we are all happy about it.  I started back at college too.  Moving through it but ever so slowly.  And  boy is it ever tough.  I am faced with much higher math than I took 20 years ago.  And I did not do good at it then so wow what a struggle it is now.

I used to be in this camp...



I rather enjoyed it there.  I hate math.  And now daily I am suffering through dimensional analysis and it gets worse.  My only reassuring thought is I felt Spanish was SO hard last year too and  I made it through it with A's each time.  Hopefully this to will become more of a second language.  After all there are enough letters in it.



And different SI units in the same problem. Just pure Evil I tell you!



Here is my first day of school picture.  Looks the same as last years right?  I hope that continues.  Then no one will know I will be over the hill when I get out of chemistry and physics graduate college.  It will be so very much worth it.

The boys headed back to school too.



last year I did not think they had grown to much between their first day of school pictures and their last day of school pictures but looking at this I think they grew older over the summer they don't look little.  They look older than their end of year pictures and much older than the beginning, wow.  Soon they will be in college with me.  Good!  They can help me with my math and I will help them with their Spanish.  We will be study buddies.



Hooray for an awesome new school year!  They were so excited to go back.  I love how I did not have to "pose" them.  I simply said stand next to each other so I can get your picture (And this was at 6:45 in the morning because I had to leave before they do, what troopers) and they grabbed each other hand in excitement and love.  Or possibly because they were tired and needed to hold each other up?  No, nope it has to be the excitement and love.  But it came out so cute to this momma, I love their pictures.



Gregory      10 years old
This year he is a 4th year which means he is now in upper el!  He is loving that.  He is back to being the youngest grade in his class.  Upper El is 4,5,6.  In his school there are only 22 kids in upper el.  They are divided into 2 classes.  His best friend is in the other class but he is loving being with the bigger kids in his class.  He finally gets to bring a bag pack to school.  They have such cool trips planned this year and some neat lessons it is going to be a good year for him.



Evan         8 years old
This year he is a 3rd year and at the top of lower el.  He loves being in the oldest grade.  And thinks it is cool he has an inside on what the older so therefore cooler kids are doing.  And its YU-GI-OH not very cool in my opinion but boys love anime.  He is still in the same class he has been in for the past 2 years.  They block 1,2,3 together in lower el.  But with the same class come the return of great teachers and friends.  He is so happy to be back too.




A quick selfie with mom because no one else was awake to it.

The tiny team was left at home against their wishes  They want to go to school so bad.  They miss their brothers when they leave until they come home.  So they wait.



For that blue van that brings them back their brother and added happiness.



Faithy waving hi as Gregory steps off.



And Evan comes racing home.



Good to have them all back and what a relief it is to be falling back into our familiar routine.  Summer was nice but school is too.  And just because it is the end of summer does not mean it is the end of fun.  We just came back from another cool trip yesterday I hope to get posted before Christmas :)