by Sarah | Aug 5, 2013 | 45 before 45, All About Me, Blogging Life, Bucket List
*I’m totally re-exposing my nerd status with this post, but I don’t care one bit.
When I was 12 years old, I was one of those girls…
With New Kids on the Block posters taped ALL over my walls. The pictures ripped out of magazines, the buttons, all of it.
One thing I never got to do that I always wanted to, was go to a concert.
Last night (thanks to the help of a twitter contest from Bohlsen Group) I got to achieve that life-long teenage dream.
Totally bucket list worthy…and so much fun.
Of course, it helped to go with a fellow big fan – Heather…who was my date since I didn’t wish to torture my poor husband.
Indianapolis was the last stop on the package tour, so we got to see BoyzIIMen and 98* (98-who? The crowd thinned out at that point for bathroom breaks, etc…both Heather & I had trouble recognizing anything beyond 1 song, I think).
The sound quality wasn’t very good (I even had trouble recognizing very well-known NKOTB songs sometimes)…but still, just being there and being able to clearly see these men on stage was amazing…
And I have to say – they have gotten BETTER with age. I’ve always had a weak spot for Joe Mac…but now? He’s totally on my list (sorry, Hugh Jackman, you are no longer the sole person on ‘the list’).
My 12 year old self is so happy with my adult self. Finally achieving a silly dream that still just made my year. Seriously.
One of the best concerts I have ever been to.
Bar none.
(my 12 year old self says it IS the best ever…she’s a bit biased)
by Sarah | Jul 24, 2013 | All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Learning, All About Molly, All of Us
*This is a recycled post from a couple of years ago. I thought with school starting it would be a fun re-do for school lunches. All those [amazon_link id=”B00DE2PVTG” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]bento boxes[/amazon_link] out there makes this possible!
(L – top to bottom. Cheese cutouts, Peanut Butter w/ banana strips. R – top to bottom. Peanut butter w/ orange marmalade folds, PB & grape jelly rolls, Nutella rolls.
Even my teen will make his own version of this for himself. Molly, the pickiest eater of them all, cleans her plate when I make this kid-friendly sushi. Since it was requested on twitter…I thought I’d post how I make them. And it’s super simple…and to be honest I got the idea from Pinterest and ran with it.
*~*
First, the supplies. Bread (1 slice makes 4 mini-rolls), a [amazon_link id=”B0000VLY7C” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]rolling pin[/amazon_link] (pizza & pastry roller if you have one), whatever fillings/toppings you want.
Cut off the crust (I keep mine to feed the birds) and roll the bread flat, or cut into strips.
Get your toppings on your bread. For fun I used a mini cookie cutter to cut the banana for some of the strips, and for others I just cut it in half and length-wise. I used my leftovers for a bowl of cereal 😉
Roll them. I rolled some in spirals. I’ve read that you should roll these tight, but w/ the jelly I actually roll loose otherwise all of the jelly is squished out. For the orange marmalade I rolled in both sides and then folded to the middle (securing with a small strip of peanut butter between the two edges).
Last but not least for a little extra fun I used [amazon_link id=”B000U3NHD4″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]some little cutters[/amazon_link] I had lying around to cut out shapes in cheese (I nibbled on the scraps).
Usually I make less sushi and include some small strips of carrots for a well rounded meal. My kids totally scarf these down faster than you can blink.
Some other ideas I have yet to try, but plan to…
- Butter & cucumbers rolled
- Jam w/ sweetened whipped cream cheese strips or folds
- Herbed whipped cream cheese with cucumbers strips
- Carrot peel & herbed whipped cream cheese rolls
- Nutella and Strawberry strips or rolls
- Whipped cream cheese (sweetened) w/ blueberries
These do not take me a ton of time (Well, this one did but I was taking pics and making more than I usually do)…and the kids love them. They are SO worth a shot!! Try them!!
by Sarah | Jul 22, 2013 | All About Denver, All About Family, All About Indiana, All About Kennedy, All About Learning, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us
The weather is still in the 90’s.
The sun is still shining more days than it’s not.
But school starts in just 3 weeks here.
Right behind that is fall.
The summer is well past half over.
2013 is over half over.
Where did the time go?
I’m shopping for school supplies when just yesterday we were starting our summer reading lists.
Just don’t mention Christmas yet.
My heart can’t handle it.
by Sarah | Jul 15, 2013 | All About Kennedy, All About Learning, All About Me
This past school year, Kennedy was fortunate to have a pretty awesome teacher.
Among the many things she did to make the year amazing…
<—this took the cake.
She had the whole class work together. They composed a theme, and then they each wrote stories and illustrated them.
Then she had it published into a book.
Not only did it give the kids something to be proud of.
Not only did it make them interested in reading something.
It lit a fire in my baby girl.
She wants to be published before she graduates high school.
“Like you, Mom,” she says with a smile.
I love that.
I’m so proud of her and the imaginative story she wrote.
I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
by Sarah | Jul 10, 2013 | All About Denver, The Teenager
I’ve been guilty of the “Take my kids – please” joke.
They can be so much to handle sometimes. Three of them, fighting, screaming, playing, appointments, school, being a teenager, being girls super close in age…
It all piles on into insanity sometimes.
So it’s to be expected that we eagerly let the kids go to their grandparents for a few days.
Or anticipate Denver’s week-long Scout camp.
I mean, they aren’t far.
It’s not a long time
But now.
This time.
It’s two weeks.
Two long weeks.
The teen is hiking through the mountains of New Mexico with Scouts.
He’s taking in views like this:
At 8000 feet above sea level.
Hundreds of miles away from me.
From us.
Two weeks.
A piece of my heart…
An annoying, teenage, piece…
A piece that is my first born.
It’s not within reach.
It’s a really sucky feeling.
I love that he’s doing something that might be once-in-a-lifetime.
That he’s taking another step forward in independence.
That he’s having a great time.
But a part of me aches.
And it will until he’s home again.
by Sarah | Jul 4, 2013 | All of Us, Holidays, Random
When I was 12 years old, I was one of those girls…
