Special lunch

Luke came home today with a paper rolled up and tied like a scroll.   He explained that he had gotten this invitation today at school.  

It reads....

You are cordially invited to come to the Golden Tray Cafe Luke Bragg :)

Given by: The Sharks

Time: 12:40-1:10

Date: Friday, October 11, 2013

Where:  Library

The Sharks are a very special team of kids who, despite physical disabilities, live life to the fullest!  They pack a lot of learning into their school days and have a lot of fun while doing it!   Luke received this invite based on teacher recommendations, behavior, and grades.  What a special honor!!  

Summer Cooking - Luke

Back in the Summer, I stole a good idea from my good friend, Crystal Intfen.  She assigned her kids a night and they were in charge of dinner for that night.   They figured out what they wanted to cook and did as much of the work as possible in the kitchen.  

That sounded fun to me so I threw it out to the boys (all except Alex who was on a trip with friends).   Landry immediately thought of his idea .....going to Pie Five where everyone would "make" their own pizza.   While I applauded his good idea, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind.  

I'm going to post these stories in 3 separate posts.  Here's Luke's night ....

Luke and I had been studying the menu for his upcoming week of camp and he'd seen Chicken Fried Steak on the menu.  So he asked if we could make that.   Now I've never made a chicken friend steak, much less a gluten free chicken fried steak and I was a little leery of the idea, to be honest.  But Luke  has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen many times and I researched recipes and we jumped in.  

These pictures are all pretty terrible, but that was the least of our worries!!

Here's Luke working on the dry ingredients ....

The recipe suggested using baggies to coat the meat so that's what we did. 

Fryin it up baby!!!

Mashing those taters!

We can even make gravy!!   Oh yeah!!!

This boy can even make pudding for dessert!!  What a multi-tasker!!

And the finished product ......

He didn't want anything else .....just chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. We threw in some watermelon for good measure!!  And I have to say, the CFS was awesome!!  I was very surprised ....until I realized that anything fried in a half cup of Crisco is probably gonna taste awesome!!    

(Sorry Mom, Grandma, and anyone else whose arteries are hardening just thinking about that!!)  

Anyway, it was a great meal and Luke definitely chose a winner!!

Summer Cooking - Parker

Parker knows a good idea when he sees (or hears!) one, so he jumped on the pizza idea that Landry had originally thrown out.  It seemed simple enough and it became even more simple when Parker headed off by himself in Walmart to figure out what he needed!  Self-sufficiency at its finest!!

So here he is putting on the sauce .....

And ready for the oven ....

Parker's not one for a bunch of picture taking ....in fact, I think this might be the last picture I may ever get if him in his glasses.   He had recently gotten his contacts and was still limited as to how many hours he could wear them each day.  

Anyway, this dinner wins the award for the easiest!!  And it was pretty tasty too!!  

Summer Cooking - Landry

Landry had a hard time getting away from something already "fixed."   You'd think the boy never gets a home-cooked meal!!   We compromised and got a rotisserie chicken from the store because everyone likes those.  He also wanted to do mashed potatoes (big week for those!), broccoli, and crescent rolls.  

Here he is working the camera with his goofy faces while peeling potatoes ....

After the potatoes were cooking, Landry disappeared for a while.   When it was time for them to be mashed and finished up, I called out to him, thinking he was in his room.  I said, "Landry .....the potatoes need mashing ...."  And without missing a beat, he yells back, "I'm taking a dump!!!!"   Ummmm .....ok .....I think I'll do the mashing!!    Ewww!!

He did come along in time to lick the beaters ....

And the finished meal ....

Landry did a great job on a super yummy meal!!!

Four Eyes No More

Parker has been wanting contacts for a very long time.  His wise eye doctor has insisted that he could not get contacts until he kept his room straight on a regular basis.  While Parker is not a neat freak by any standard, we decided to give contacts a try.  It also helped him on the football field, as he didn't have to squeeze his glasses into his helmet anymore!  

Here he is learning the delicate art of putting a small plastic disk directly on your eyeball!!  

 It was no easy task!!  After approximately 57 tries, he got one on!!   Then he had to go to the other eye!  Then he had to take them out and put them back in again!!  It was grueling!!  But he didn't give up! 

 And look at him now!  He NEVER wears his glasses ... not even around the house!   He loves his contacts and hasn't looked back!  

It has totally changed his look.  He's had glasses since the 4th grade so it's a big difference. Looking good, dude!!

Working hard

For some reason, this has become Parker's place of choice to work on his Summer projects for school.  It's not exactly what I would choose, but it seems to be working for him!!

Pics

Playing with sizes of pictures ..... does anyone know how to make all the pics this size??

 

 

 

Landry .... circa 2007

A little bit of Summer

Summer has been super awesome so far.    Here are a few things we've been up to ....

Flight Deck ...   fuzzy pictures due to high speed!!! :)

Puzzle making ......

Baseballing ......

Bowling ....

Notice Landry's dramatic turnaround in his performance!!    

Pudding making ......

Racing ......

Long jumping .....

Hanging around .....

And would you believe .....making raspberry jelly??

You just never know what these guys will come up with next!!

Loving Summer!!

Great Dads

I have had the privilege of having the most amazing men in my life since before I even made my entrance into this world!!   

My Dad has been one of my biggest cheerleaders since the day we agreed to disagree about my midnight curfew!!  Just kidding .....he's always been a huge supporter of mine ....it just so happens that the curfew issue is the one issue I remember as being the biggest.   It may not have been .....that's just my perspective.    My Dad is everything a Dad should be ......loving, supportive without being overbearing, and can fix anything I can break!!!

We got together Fathers Day weekend to celebrate Dad and my BigPa, the kindest, gentlest, most generous man I've ever known!   What a lucky girl to have these guys in my corner!!

Debra, BigPa, and Mom ....

BigPa and all the girls .....

 

Wrapping up

Luke and Landry has great school years.  The second and fourth grades were very good to them and they learned so much!!   

Luke learned the concept of bittersweet at the end of this school year.  He is excited to be moving on up in the school world, but was sad to be leaving his great teacher and the only school he has ever known.    Has looking forward to good things ahead!!! 

Parker, the 14 year old!!

Parker turned 14 today ......crazy how time flies!!  Some of my favorite memories about Parker include him being such a big, easy going baby ....as long as he had his food!!   Parker would probably still be eating every 3-4 hours around the clock if I hadn't cut off his fat self at about 4 months!!

Parker has now grown into a good young man who is a smart and unique thinker.  I am often surprised at his insight as it can be well beyond his years.    We celebrated today with chocolate chip pancakes, pizza and cake, and a lot of playing outside.  Parker's future is bright ......can't wait to watch it unfold!  

Happy birthday Parker!!

Some of my favorite peeps ....

Today was a special day because it was wedding day for a co-worker of mine.   This meant that almost all of my office-mates got dressed up and got together to show some love for the new bride and groom.   These guys, though we aren't all together anymore, have been a huge support and encouragement to me for a long time.   It was soo great for everyone to be together, if only for a short time!!

And so I'll remember when I'm old(er) and senile(r) ....left to right .....me, Matt, Gwynne, Gail, Terri, Dora, Valerie, and Ronda, aka The Boss Lady.    The picture quality isn't great, but this was a happy time!!   And no, we didn't get the bride or groom in the pic!!  Oops!!

Fourth Grade Field Day

Luke had another fun day today with his last Field Day of elementary school.   He had entered the 75 yard dash, the 100 yard dash, and the Long Jump.  

Here he is in the first heat of the 75 yard dash ...

 

And here is the photo finish of the 75 yard dash Finals.   Luke was racing against his good buddy Nathan and they were neck in neck the whole way.   This is the picture that Nathan's mom snapped as they crossed the finish line.  

The best part of this story is that the teachers weren't totally sure who had won because it was so close.  Luke immediately said "he beat me"  The teachers were very proud of his honesty and rewarded him for it.  

Good times!!

Getting flushed

Luke did well on the dreaded STAAR tests and as a reward got to be "flushed" at the STAAR Carnival today.  This was a reward earned by only a few in his class and he was super excited about it as he headed to school.   It's a variation of the dunking booth and was every bit as much fun as Luke thought it would be!!