David's 1st Grade Concert

Mexican Lasagna

Tonight I tried a new recipe, I based it off a recipe I got from allrecipes.com and then made it my own, and vegetarian to boot.

Mexican Lasagna

1 clove of garlic
¼ cup onion
¼ cup fresh cilantro.
1 TBS of olive oil.
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (I used BOCA® meatless Ground Burger, Amy is a vegetarian)
1 packet of taco seasoning.
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, drained
2 16 oz bottles of medium heat taco sauce
Salt
8-10 (10 inch) flour tortillas, (I use whole wheat) cut in to halves or quarters
2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded jack
3 cups crumbled queso fresco Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, sautéed the garlic and onion, then brown the ground beef and drain (if you use Boca ground burger there is no need to brown or drain also the dish will be come low fat), and then stir in the taco seasoning. Next add the black beans and half a bottle of taco sauce and cilantro. Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with tortillas and taco sauce. Spoon the beef mixture into the dish and a layer of queso cheese, make one more layer of tortillas, taco sauce, beef mix and cheese, then top with the remaining tortillas. Spread taco sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve with sour cream, lattice, tomatoes, and chopped green onions.

The Start of My Garden 2008

Things are really starting to bloom and fixed up one of my flower beds.

Going Green

We have gone one more step on the path to being green. We got an electric mower. It is a little more work, I have to keep track of the cord and go a little slower. But it does the job.

Hagging out at Amy's Grandpa's and Celabrating Amy's b-day a month early.

This week in Photos

Rodney and David's 1st Day of their new session of ice skating lessons. Rod is in level 3 and Dave is i Level 1

Athena and the scraching post covered in cat nip. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and skill, however our Athena doesn't see to fit her name

Bowling as a family

David's new glasses

David is wearing glasses again. He did not have them for a wile because he didn’t need them from the last time he went and he we were having a hard time keeping them on him. This year his astigmatism was spotted and he now needs them. Our hope is they will help him in school now that he has clamed down a little this year.

One of the funniest things I have seen in a long time

up first is Boston Dynamics video of their Big Dog on ice and snow, and also demoing its walking gait. very cool see it first so you can get the next video.



And now the hilarious, somewhat flawed predecessor to Boston Dynamics' infamous Big Dog Robot.

Up in Travers City for Easter

For Easter we went to Travers City, to visit Amy’s Family. We stayed at Amy’s Grandfather’s Farm House in Empire 20 minuets out side of Travers City. The Boys were very excited to stay at their Great grandpa’s, so much so they wanted to bring him home with us to live here.

On Sunday the Easter bunny came and the boys got lots of eggs, their Easter bunnies, and new kites. Rodney said that great grandpa must have a different Easter Bunny then we do. We spent the rest of the day at Amy’s parents home near down town Travers City, and had much fun.

Some fun Photos from the week

Palm Sunday

On Palm Sunday the Boys got to sing in front of the whole congregation at church. Both boys were very excited and could hardly contain them selves.

Spring Thaw Out

These are photos of the family out side for a day of 50+ degree weather. Still some snow but not for long

Our latest Card Game: Gloom

Gloom is a gothic card game that reminds me of the Lemony Snicket books, Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies or the Adams Family, the objective is to make up miserable things to happen to your characters, and the one with most miserable wins. The object of the game, in fact, is to make your characters as miserable as you possibly can. Each player has a family, a group of misfit characters that they then play event cards on.

The really interesting thing about Gloom is the story-telling aspect of game play. When you play an event card such as "Terrified by Topiary," or “Was Mauled by Manatee,” you may explain how this event occurs. Each character develops as more and more event cards are placed on it, so the character’s life story becomes increasingly unfortunate and, well, abnormal. Your opponents then can cheer up your characters with happy occasions. The card are clear so you can see your characters and any effects that have been played on them. Rodney and David really love coming up with their stories. Sometimes they even became a little too long and had nothing to do with their cards. But it was good for them to play a game the really gets them thinking about what they are doing and get the creative juices going.

The game is for 8 and up and takes about an hour to play. You can play it simple or with the more complex effects on the cards, so adults will love it to.

Rodney's Sing along and Book fair

On Thursday March 13th Rodney had his sing along at school. The them was on the planets and space. It was very cute. After ward we went to the school’s book fair and spent a little to much, but it was for a good cause and a good thing.