Vacay, Part Uno

Our little family has had many, many fun adventures together...I mean, life with these three is a daily adventure.  Because of 'real life' stuff, we haven't taken many family vacations...mainly because our real life has always involved following our boys to their activities (drum corps competitions, basketball tournaments) and those have been our 'vacations'.

And then they started growing up.  One moved away, another began working full time...so when the opportunity arose for FOUR WHOLE DAYS, well, we ran with it.

Or flew to it.

We chose to 'go home'...or where our life as a family began.  Boulder, Colorado...the beginning of it all.

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We planned tons of 'boy friendly' stuff for our crew.  Stop one...a tour of Mile High Stadium.  We've raised a bunch of Bronco's fans, so to see where they play (and see those Super Bowl rings) was pretty cool.

We ate well.  Very, very well.

And then the highlight...reuniting this crew.  Introducing Team Wersch.  We've prayed for a wedding, but are ending up with a bunch of kids who love each other like family...and that's ok.  I guess.

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 Chris and Tammy were our upstairs neighbors in Family Housing at CU Boulder (where we spent 7 years) and I LOVE them.  Like really, really LOVE them.  Always have, always will.  They knew us at that time in life when life was so full of uncertainties...no money, babies without health insurance, not knowing where we would end up.  They knew us 'when'.  

Chris smoked pounds and pounds of meat for us, let Alex eat first, and made killer mojitos.  

Plus...he's hot.

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Back to the boy adventures....white water rafting.  Yes, I did it.  No, I'll never do it again.  Yes, it was fun...especially the part where we got stuck on a rock and had to climb out of our raft onto a boulder in the middle of a raging river.  Yeah, totally fun.

Family bonding.  

Next trip...we're going to a spa, boys.  With fluffy bathrobes and yummy smelling lotions and cucumber water.  

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We lived in Colorado in married student housing back then, moving in when we were pregnant with Matthew.  We lived in #105; Chris and Tammy moved into #205.  I loved Tammy immediately, while hating her at the same time.  She's just...great.  Beautiful on the inside and out and she immediately became 'my people'.  

And she still is.  And always will be.

I am blessed.

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The young people:

The 'not as young as we used to be but still pretending to be young' people:

 We visited all of that guy that I like so much's haunts...like the music library, where Alex had us rolling on the floor.  Stories that wouldn't have been funny a few years back but are now...like the fact that he never once stepped foot in the library at his high school, but he sure did know where the front office was.

Feel my pain???  

So fun to be 'on the other side'.

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This time, with all my boys together, was worth every. single. penny.

More to come...still sorting through hundreds of pictures.  

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Back to Reality

We're all (well, almost all of us anyway...one is continuing his travels for the next month) back in the same time zone and it feels...good.  Home is always good.  At the same time, I've come to realize that my heart belongs in many, many places and while it feels good to be home, it also feels a bit sad.

A good sad, though...if that makes sense.  A happy sad.  The kind of sad where you know you've just had a really, really, REALLY great vacation and you couldn't have asked for it to go any better than what it was.

Happy, happy memories.

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I'm downloading pictures now...and laughing.  And crying.  And laughing some more.  Lots of pictures to come...but first?  I've got some laundry to do.  And food to shop for.  And a royal baby to wait for.

I know, I know...priorities.

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Summer Vacation

I have a love/hate relationship with technology.  I'm thankful my boys grew up without it...or more importantly, that they grew up without a mom who had a cell phone in her hand 24/7...but I sure do enjoy it now.  

Can't get the answers you want via text message?  FaceTime is the next best thing, especially if they happen to be in a different state.

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My oldest?  He makes me laugh.  FYI...Santa's pockets aren't that deep, Matteo.

But good try.

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Seriously...is there ANYTHING better than a tomato, picked warm from the afternoon sun right off the vine?  Drizzle it with a little olive oil and all is well in the world.

Can we bottle that?

We had our nephew here for some boy time (he has 3 sisters) and boy time is what he got.  Basketball with Brian, weight lifting with Alex, a late night ice cream run in a convertible.  Fun to spoil (and bend the bedtime rules) with someone else's child.

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The weather has been so strange here...that guy that I like so much keeps saying it's tornado weather; however, we no longer live in tornado country.  It's just...weird.  Last night we were eating supper in the garden and it started to sprinkle...just a few big, warm raindrops before the sky turned a vibrant pink.

It's been beautiful.  Humid and a bit gray during the day...but beautiful.

It's Friday...and it feels like Friday.  For the first time in a while I woke up to my alarm...had to print boarding passes early this morning.  Gotta love Southwest Airlines (and I really do) and their 'no assigned seats' policy but hey, they don't charge for checked bags.  We're heading out tomorrow for a family adventure...a family of FIVE adventure.  It's been a long, long time and while it'll be short, we're packing a lot of fun stuff into this getaway.  

I'm SO excited, but as the only girl I'll need a spa day when it's done.  

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Making Ravioli

Our garden has had two nights of rest following a long stretch of really, really fun parties...which ended up with really, really tired owners.

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So, on night two of rest and feeling, well, rested...we decided to tackle some homemade ravioli.

I'm up to speed in bread making and have even felt like my pasta making skills are pretty good...but ravioli?  Well, it's a two person job.  

You make the pasta.  You make the filling.  You drink a little wine.  You roll the pasta.  You put it in the fancy mold you got for Christmas.  You drink a little more wine. You fill the pasta.  You learn, after the first batch, that there's no such thing as too much flour.

You drink even more wine.

Oh, and in an effort to clean out your fridge before a vacation, you start adding things to your menu...things like some leftover pizza dough that you douse with olive oil and rosemary and throw on the grill.

And shed a tear or two at how great it tastes.  Seriously.

Some leftover gravy, a table full of boys (and an extra girl!!!) and there you have it.  What was supposed to be a normal Tuesday became something not so normal.

Next on the summer list?  Gnocchi.  Also on the summer list?  Exercise.

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I'm by no means an expert in ravioli making, but I have a pasta recipe that I have been using over and over.  I quadruple this recipe every time I make it.

Homemade Pasta:

3/4 cup flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

Put flour on the counter and make a well in it.  Add egg and salt in the middle and using your hands, mix in the flour a little at a time.  Knead until smooth, adding a little water (or flour) if necessary.  Let rest on the counter, covered with a bowl, for 30 minutes.  Roll out (making sure to use plenty of flour to prevent sticking) and cut as desired.  Cook in salted, boiling water for 3-4 minutes.

Ravioli filling:

1 cup ricotta

1 egg

1/4 cup fresh parmesan

1/2 tsp dried basil

salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all together.  Use as a filling for ravioli or manicotti or lasagne.

For ravioli, we used a hand crank pasta machine and rolled the dough to #6, filled the dough using a mold and boiled for 5 minutes.  They were all eaten in half that time...but so worth it!

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Scenes From A Holiday Weekend

Last week I did it.  I accomplished goal #1 of my summer list...my SHORT summer list.  But on the list was to clean out Brian's closet (well...oversee him cleaning out his closet) and it's done and checked off.

Whew.

Now I can say I actually did something on my summer vacation.

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Last week, though?  Busy.  All fun stuff, but we were busy.  Basketball is at the forefront and was played 6 of 7 days last week.  

Pictured above?  The annual s'more's making on the 4th of July.

Below?

We grow the BEST lemons in our garden...and yes, we are very selfish with them.  I know, I know...but they really are too good to share.  Plus, we only get a couple dozen of them a year and we enjoy every single one of them.

Last weekend meant multiple pitchers of Sangria. Yes...multiple pitchers on multiple nights.  Well, and maybe multiple pitchers on a single night, too.

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The 4th also brought multiple parties...and one of them featured a huge platter of roasted veggies.  We ate them with grilled meat on the 4th, on grilled pizzas the next night and tossed into a salad with farro, arugula and feta last night.

I like when things work out like that.

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We had friends for dinner, family for fireworks and more friends at an after party...but the strange thing is that it felt like a very relaxed and non stressful day.  Two of my three boys were around all day with their friends so our houseful was just that...a houseful. 

I like that.

I also like...carrot cake.  Lots.

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Let's see....what else?

Our high school is adding solar panels to the parking lot.  Exciting, eh?  I think it's kinda cool.

Hmmm....back to parties.

Pizzelle's are my go to dessert.  They're easy to put together ahead of time and can either be served 'as is' or gussied up.  This batch, though, was a burn fest.  Not of the cookies, but of my arm.  Ouch.

My favorite party of the weekend involved turkish food.  My favorite.  I actually didn't talk for a full 30 minutes because I was eating...and eating and eating and eating.

I am formally requesting this as my birthday meal from here on out.  Don't change a thing...I want this exact same meal.

Please.

The mama's.

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The pizzelle's...fancied up for this party, served with homemade salted caramel, raspberry sauce, fresh whipped cream and nutella.  

I must say...YUM.  

My boy in the middle...sleeping.  He's working full time this summer (making great money!) doing construction...it's hard, hard work but he likes it.  He's also running his training business AND keeping up with his rather active social life.

He also falls asleep sitting up.  Often.  I'm so proud of him, though...he's a hard, hard worker.  His plan is to work (and save) as much as he can this summer and not work this Fall...his school schedule is pretty intense next semester (with crazy hours...lots of late night ride alongs) so his plan is a good plan.

Next up?

Party of two.  Ditched by all boys, we grilled pizza's, made yet another pitcher of Sangria and sat for hours in our garden.  It was pure bliss.

And then we watched Identity Thief which was stupid, stupid, stupid.  Oh well.

All in all...the perfect holiday weekend.  This week...my closet, which I don't think has been cleaned out since 1998.  Or somewhere around there.  I'm going to take everything out and then, well, probably shove it all back in again because seriously...where else will I put everything?  

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Random Tuesday Morning Stuff

1. We have new neighbors who have a lot of early rising, very active little ones.  As I was laying in bed listening to them this morning I found myself apologizing to all my neighbors for years gone by...I'm thinking we were a rather loud bunch for many, many, many years.

2. Basketball is in full swing.  It's pretty fun, though 8:00pm games are...late.  And make me want to eat pizza after, which is the last thing I need at 11:00pm when we finally settle in back at home.  

3. I've quickly returned to my pre-work schedule of staying up late (really, really late, actually) and sleeping in.  Or trying to, at least.

4. Summer means our front door is revolving.  I will NEVER tire of that.  Last night, post basketball game, our kitchen once again became the gathering place for cookie making teens.   They crack me up...and make incredible cookies.  

5. We bought ourselves a new, shiny red toaster (see it on the counter?) for our anniversary because we are fancy like that.  It's so exciting...it actually toasts our toast!  Who knew?  Now we only need a blender and we'll be all set.

6. It's been almost a week and we haven't had a garden party.  I'm getting antsy for one.  Basketball is getting in the way.

7. Alex is working full time construction this summer and running his training business.  He is huge.  HUGE.  Someone in church pointed out that his arms are bigger than my head.  For the record, he refuses to train me because I have 'listening issues'.  Whatever.

8. Brian is bringing his basketball team for lunch today after practice.  He's requested spaghetti and meatballs.  How many meatballs have I made over the years?  

9. Today, aside from feeding a crowd of hungry boys, is closet cleaning day for Brian.  I've said that for 3 days in a row now and you know what they say....third time is a charm?  Seriously, it needs to be done.

10. Anyone else excited about the new 'Despicable Me' movie that's opening?  Enough with the 'blow everything up in all of creation' movies that these menfolk of mine keep taking me to see.  Next up?  Stupid laughter.  

Too Much Sitting

I feel like this was a weekend of sitting...sitting in the car, sitting in bleachers, sitting on my couch.

Lots and lots of sitting.

The thing is?  I asked for a weekend of sitting...a weekend of quiet.  Be careful what you wish for.

The good news...summer vacation has begun.  No alarms for me this week.  Not a one.

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Brian's basketball team played a tournament this weekend...thankfully close to home, but five games over the course of three days means lots of back and forth, back and forth...and meals at odd times.

We're used to that...but it's once again a new for us team which meant we don't know many people and are starting over.  Again.  And in all honesty, I just don't know if I want to take the time to start over.

Saturday night we drove inland about an hour for a drum and bugle corps show.  

More sitting.

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Matthew is an instructor this summer and suddenly looks soooo grown up.  And happy.  He'll be on the road all summer, so it was nice to squeeze in a visit with him.  His being happy makes me happy.

And then I had my crazy moments this weekend.  Those moments where I kept letting those dark thoughts in...those thoughts that are much better served not being thought about.  Thoughts of second guessing, of questioning, of wondering.  

I'm learning to come to peace with the fact that their paths might not be my path...but then I realize that my path for them is not necessarily Gods path for them.  That they need to forge those roads themselves.  And the fact is...they are each doing a really good job of figuring it out.  Each of them.

It's just hard to let go...especially after a couple of decades in to this parenting gig.

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I'm thinking that this week, my first full week of summer vacation, I need to do less sitting.  More moving.  Less thinking.  More praying.  Less worrying.  More smiling.

This week, I am going to bless my home.  First up?  Brian's room.  His closet needs an overhaul and so over the course of this week, it is going to get shoveled out.  I'm also thinking that once it is done, a trip to Dairy Queen is in order.

Clean closets and ice cream.  

Happiness.

We finally finished Downton Abbey tonight.  Sigh.  I'm still processing.  What a great, great show...so glad we've watched it, but wow.  Just...wow.

If you're a watcher then you get what I mean.  

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