Looking out over Branson, Lunch at Fuddrucker's, and Spending the day with Grandma..... Priceless!!!

These photos aren't exactly in order, because we actually ate before we stopped by this scenic observatory on our way back to the condo. The view was breathtaking. If you look to the far right, you can see part of Celebration City,(we didn't go there this time) which has killer roller coasters, if you're into that sort of thing. My boys are, so I'm all up on roller coasters. I think I personally have had my fill of them, and am very thankful that Truthseeker is now tall enough to ride with Skaterboy. I used to be his riding partner, and am glad that I don't have to be any longer.
A sweet photo of Skaterboy walking towards me. Why is it that teenagers think that if they smile their face will crack? It's hard to get him to smile for photos now that he's a teenager. Is melancholy in style or something? Maybe I'm just out of the loop.

I think the kids really enjoyed our stop. It was a chance for them to actually "feel" that they had been in the Ozark mountains. That was my goal anyway.

Lunch at Fuddrucker's. Still one of my favorite hamburger places. Vicki, if you're reading this, do you remember what we used to call Fuddrucker's back in the day? I still always think of that whenever we drive by one.

Grandma and I. Can you tell we're related?

ON THE HOME FRONT

Today was nice and sunny out. Scott left the house early today to take Skaterboy and a friend to Walmart to buy a World of Warcraft game. I'll save my opinions about WOW later for another post, but my sweetie made coffee for me this morning, so I was happy when I awoke. He then went to pick up a couple Freecycle things I had been given, and to the pharmacy to pick up another (stronger) antibiotic for his cellulitis, which still isn't completely gone, and Scaterboy's inhaler. When he returned, and I had been bugged more than a dozen times by neighbor kids standing in front of our house waiting for us to let them go swimming in our pool (I'll get to my opinion on that later, as well) the kids cleaned up their messes, Scott got ready for work, and left.

After he left for work, I did allow the neighbor kids to come over and swim, while I sat outside leisurely reading a saucy novel (okay, please don't judge me, but I bought the book "Story Telling" by Tori Spelling) that I honestly had a hard time putting down. I love to watch "Tori and Dean", I'm guilty....so sue me. I am also wanting to purchase "Mommywood" after I'm done with this book, which should be a in day or two. I almost have to force myself to quite reading, or I'll be done with it too quickly. I must admit, it's very good. If you know me at all, you will know that I usually buy a few mindless books each summer to enjoy while I watch the kids swim. I don't always like to be in the pool with them, and the escape from reality for awhile, is a treasured treat, and something I look forward to.

For dinner we had the honey shrimp recipe that I posted below a couple days ago. Just posting it made me hungry for it, and to my surprise these shrimp were already pealed and deveined for me. I know where I'm going to buy my shrimp from now on (Walmart). Much easier. I made it the original way tonight, with the egg white and cornstarch. It was really good, but a bit heavier than the way I usually make it without the breading. I think I'll go back to my way of choice next time. The shrimp were definitely crispier this way though.

So now it's about 8:30 p.m., the kids are in the other room watching a Clone Wars cartoon, and I am here at the computer, getting ready to shut it down for the night, get the kids in bed, and plan my day tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I will actually get something on my list done.

Good bye for tonight! Enjoy your weekend!

Our visit to the Veteran's Museum ...Branson, MO.

I highly recommend taking your family to this museum. It didn't cost much, in fact, Thumbody was free, but it was one of the best I have seen. The kids really enjoyed it too. What a sobering fact that our children have to grow up in a time of war, just like our parents and grandparents did. I was born during the Vietnam War era, but most of my childhood/early adulthood was during a time of peace. So I don't remember much, other than what my dad has told me about Thailand during the Vietnam War. That is where he was stationed, in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. Here is a link to the memorial site for Air Force servicemen killed in Nakhon Phanom, during the Secret War of 1962-1975: http://aircommandoman.tripod.com/
Luckily, my father made it through the war okay. Some weren't so lucky, and this is what this museum is all about. Honoring our fallen soldiers.

The Memorial the kids are standing in front of is spectacular. There's no other words to describe it. It's a WWII Memorial commemorating one man who died in each state of the USA during WWII. So there are 50 soldiers marching in this memorial. Each person (statue) is different in size, and facial features. Under each soldier is the name of the person, and which state he came from. All 50 states were accounted for.

On either side of the monument, which was life size, were the names of all the soldiers killed in WWII. My grandma's brother was one of them. She was able to find his name on the long lists of names of the deceased. Here is a photo of her pointing out his name to the kids. What a learning experience that was, for the kids to see one of their relatives names on the WWII memorial. I think it gave them a sense of connection to the war, like they hadn't experienced before.

The photo below is of my dear youngest son, who sat taking in this painting for quite some time. This was in the Vietnam War room, I believe. He sat there and stared at it, very somberly for quite some time. I asked him what he saw, and he did a wonderful picture narration for a 5 year old. Such attention to detail this young child has. Oh Gosh, that just sounded like Yoda from Star Wars, didn't it?

Thumbody who is a very young 5, was probably the most interested in this museum. The huge WWII memorial he found the most fascinating, and wanted to see the soldiers, again and again. At one point he asked me why they all had the same weapons, and I answered (not knowing that anyone was even around us), "because they were all on the same team, Sweetie." An older gentleman, who probably (I am guessing) fought in WWII, laughed and said, "That's right, we WERE all on the same team." It still gives me goosebumps when I think of that moment.

I won't go into detail about all the different rooms there were, but there were many. It started with WWI and took you through Dessert Storm. At the very end of the museum, was a sign that read, "and for those currently fighting for our freedom". So all were remembered, except of course, those from way back... French/Indian War, Revolutionary War, and Civil War. But there probably wasn't that much documentation back then. (I'm guessing) I don't really know why those wars weren't listed.

The Home Front
It's raining today, and the kids are disappointed that they can't go swimming in our pool we set up yesterday. I believe that the water is too cold to swim anyway, but they wanted to give it a go. Skaterboy had his 2nd day of driver's ed this morning, and has had a lot of homework. He gets his permit on Tuesday. Scott has to work today, and will be leaving in about 40 minutes. I am looking forward to doing some sewing and scrapbooking today, if I can get it together here soon. I am cooking corn beef for dinner, but I think I will be splitting it into 2 meals. I think tonight I am going to make a reuben casserole, and then save the rest for something else tomorrow night. I can't decide if gravy would taste good with corned beef or not. What do you think? Email me and let me know, if you have any ideas. I love to try new recipes.

Oh, BTW... Yesterday's recipe I posted is also supposed to be served with steamed broccoli mixed in, or on the side. I completely forgot to add the note about the broccoli, and that's what makes the dish more healthy than just eating shrimp, sugar coated walnuts, and rice. Have a great rest of the day. Please keep my brother in your prayers. He's going through a tough time right now, and could use some praying on.

You know you've once lived in Wisconsin When... More SDC photos.

Your 5 YO can milk a cow. Okay, so it's not a real cow. But he took to it like a fish out of water. Speaking of fish, you'll have to look at the last photo on this post. Very funny, and entertaining. Thumbody spent time milking this cow at SDC in Branson, when we were there on vacation. Notice how the bucket says "pull gently". I mean, who wants their nipples pulled hard, right? This cow actually spewed white stuff, but I don't think it was milk. Probably chalk water, I imagine.

Thumbody enjoys steering the boats at SDC. His brother is at the other end.

And here he is. Truthseeker is having fun steering the old time boats too.

What is more fun for a 5 YO than playing in a fountain? Well, anything that has water in it, in general.

This was so very funny. The last show of the night, which if you have ever been to SDC, you know they close the park, and then start the night-time show. It changes every year, and this year was very good. Well, every year I have ever seen is good. These guys were hysterical. They are singing "Cletus Take The Reel". Too funny!

Have a great Tuesday! Scott is off today, and he is trying to get the yard work done before tomorrow, since it's supposed to rain. The kids desperately want him to put the pool up. So he is going to try to do that today as well. This is the latest we ever put our pool up. It's usually up by Memorial Day. My garden isn't even tilled yet, and it's always planted by this time of summer each year, as well. I do have my tomato patch done, and we have ripe juicy strawberries from our strawberry patch. Our plums should be ready for picking soon too.

We have so much to do today. Still have to run to the store, finish with the yard/pool, pick up a couch for our family room, and a bunch of other things that need done. Scott has off tomorrow too, but we'll focus more inside the house tomorrow, since it's supposed to rain.

Yesterday, I planted 12 or so orange day lily plants that were given to us, in one corner of the backyard, and a yellow cone flower plant in the front yard, by our purple cone flowers. It was somewhat raining yesterday when I did this, so I was pretty much coated in mud, when I was done. I also picked quite a few strawberries from our patch for dessert last night. They were wonderful. Probably grilling out tonight. Posting more photos tomorrow :) Thanks for reading!

More photos from our trip. Thumbody's B-day and Christmas in May with Nonnie and Papa

We had a great time celebrating Thumbody's birthday and Christmas in May with mom and dad. Ethan is thrilled with his new video, as was mom and dad were with their baskets of goodies. I already mentioned how much we are enjoying our Cold Stone Ice Cream set, with all the goodies to go with it, and the tortilla warmer (which we used tonight with our tacos), and our microwave splatter cover (I will never have to clean my microwave again...LOL). We did go to Cold Stone Creamery last week after Scott's doctor's appt, and we bought a half gallon of their cheese cake ice cream. The guy thought I was nuts when I just asked for the ice cream, and told him that we would mix it at home, but he sold it to us. It was worth the $10 we spent on our gift certificate. We will probably be buying "good" ice cream from the supermarket with the rest of the gift certificate though, so it will go further. Thanks mom and dad for some great gifts! Oh, I forgot to add that they also gave us a book about the meaning of Christmas, a cute "happy birthday Jesus" ornament for our tree, and a Willow Tree collectible to add to my collection. You may be wondering why we waited until May to do Christmas, but we simply hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving last year, and in our family we like to watch each other open their gifts, even if they're late. It's just a tradition we have always had. Enjoy the photos, I will post more tomorrow. Probably the Dam photos. I'm not swearing, they really are Dam photos :)

Field Trip To Lincoln Memorial Gardens -- Springfield, IL

April 24, 2009... Our homeschool nature study group met up with the Springfield group, and met at the Lincoln Memorial Gardens. Once there, we split up into 5 groups, with our group being the younger children's group. Skaterboy went with the older kids. We had such a pleasant time identifying different trees and flowers. We got to see a crane, down by the lakeside. The hike took about 45 minutes, and the kids enjoyed it tremendously. Every so many feet along the path, were benches, each with a quote from Abraham Lincoln on them. Later we went inside the Garden nature center, and the kids were able to do some hands-on activities, and got the chance to pet a turtle, and some baby raccoons. I will post those photos tomorrow. Have a great night!

Oh, by the way, the recipe I made the other day was wonderful. It really didn't taste much different from the one I had at the restaurant. I have learned recently, that cooking with raw shimp makes a huge difference. I was originally using precooked shimp for my recipes, and they always tasted rubbery. The raw shrimp (although more work) were much, much better. I will try to post the recipe tomorrow as well.

Dinner Tonight!

This is really a funny story, and probably one I have mentioned before, however I relish few challenges in life other than cooking. I am a very imaginative person when it comes to art, sewing, and cooking. In all other aspects of life, IMHO I am very hum-drum, and don't challenge myself in ways that I probably should. This is one of my many downfalls.

So when it comes to cooking, for instance, I love a challenge. Especially because I work with a limited budget for food, and have to be creative with what I've got to work with. With that being said, I can relay to you a secret that I have hidden from my family for years. I cheat! Not in a fundamental sense, but being that I am a virtually non-creative, and visual person, I have to see something in order to copy it. In that sense, I am able to transform things, in my own way, and make it my own. I am not sure why this is, but I can pretty much see something done once, and be able to fix something, sew something, paint something, etc... with much effort, and little thought. I believe I have an organized brain, maybe not so much on the outside, but more so on the inside. I am able to organize thoughts, and put those thoughts in practice, and have the capability to try things that most people would not feel experienced enough to try. The result is not always perfect, but most often functional.

One of my best devises for cooking would be the Food Network Channel. Now, I don't have the time or inkling to sit and watch episode after episode of cooking shows, but do tape shows that I find interesting on the DVR, and watch them when I do have the time. I have been known to not have a clue what will be for dinner at 5 p.m. at night, and watch an episode of Rachael Ray's 30 MM, and have dinner on the table by 6. Last night being one example of that. Occasionally, I will go to the Food Network website, and type in a protein, or veg. we have on hand, and form a complete menu within 10 minutes time. I don't always have all the ingredients listed, but I improvise, and this has never failed me.

So this morning while drinking morning coffee, on this not-so beautiful day, I began watching a Food Network program called Rescue Chef. I have maybe watched it one other time, but I became interested in the fact that they were cooking with salmon. My brain began to start processing the information that was being spewed at me through the electronic box in my LR. I thought to myself; we have salmon in the freezer. Then, as he continued on with the ingredients, I would think to myself, I have that... don't have that...but could use that... etc... This went on through the whole program. After the program, I had dinner planned, went to the freezer, took out the salmon, and then went to the computer to print out the show's recipes. So this is what we are having, including my improvisations:

Citrus Baked Salmon

4 slices fresh lemon
4 slices fresh orange (these will be changed to 1/4 c. lemon juice, and 1/4 c. orange juice)
4 skinless salmon fillets (have)
salt and pepper (have)
2 tbsp. fresh dill (garden)
2 tbsp. sun dried tomato in oil ( this will be changed to 1 can drained diced tomatoes, and 2 tbsp. EVOO, Aldi brand... )
2/3 c. white wine ( changed to 2/3 c. white grape juice)

In a 9x13 pan, pour 1/4 c. lemon juice, and 1/4 c. orange juice. Season each fillet with salt and pepper, and then place in pan. In a small bowl, mix dill, tomatoes, and oil. Divide mixture on top of salmon. Drizzle with white grape juice. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 min. Take out 15 min. before baking, so it can come back to room temperature. Bake at 375 for 8-10 min.

Roasted Vegetables and Couscous

1 sm. zucchini
2 red peppers
1 sm. eggplant (don't have any of this, so I am omitting this from my recipe.)

EVOO (have)
Salt and Pepper (have)
1 1/2 c. couscous (have)
2 c. vegetable stock (this is being changed to 2 cups water and 2 chicken bullion cubes.)
1/2 tsp. salt (have)
1/2 tsp. cumin (have)
1/2 tsp. ground ginger (have)
1/2 tsp. paprika (have)
1/4 c. orange juice (have
1 tbsp. fresh parsley (freezer)
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro (freezer)
2 tbsp. evoo (have)
1/2 lemon zest and juice (this will be changed to 1/2 lime zest and juice, which I have on hand.)

In the original recipe, it says to cut up vegetables, and roast at 375 for 10 min, after coating with evoo, and salt and pepper. I am taking this completely out of my recipe, not because I don't like roasted vegetables (I love them), but because I don't have any on hand at this moment in time.

I did realize that I have been making my couscous completely wrong, by following the package directions on the box. Mine always turns out dry, and without much flavor, so I am looking forward to this new method.

Place couscous in heat proof bowl and mix with salt, cumin, ginger, paprika, and orange juice.
Bring stock (chicken bullion) to boil. Pour over couscous. Cover with a plate for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with fork. Stir in parsley, cilantro, and evoo. (Toss with roasted veg., if you're doing it that way.)

Citrus Vinaigrette dressing for salad

The original recipe calls for watercress, which I don't have, but will be using fresh romaine lettuce from my garden.

Whisk together:
1 orange
1 lemon (don't have these, so I am using 1/4 c. lemon juice, and 1/4 c. orange juice
1/4 c. evoo
1 tbsp sesame seeds (don't have, will omit.)

Toss with salad greens.

Fresh Fruit Parfait w/ Yogurt

2 peaches
2 kiwi (don't have, will be using fresh sweetened cherries that a friend gave us a few days ago)
1 c. blueberries (have)
1 lemon, juice and zest (1/4 c. bottled lemon juice, and zest from lime (which is left over from couscous recipe)
1 tbsp sugar (omitting because cherries are already sweetened.)
2 c. plain yogurt (have)
1 tbsp poppy seeds (may have/not sure/don't really like/might omit)
mint (garnish/freezer)

In a medium bowl combine cherries and blueberries, lemon juice. Mix and sit for 10-15 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir 2 c. yogurt and poppy seed (optional). In clear glasses, layer ingredients starting with fruit mixture, yogurt, fruit, and so forth.

So there you have it. Our dinner for tonight. I will take pictures tonight, and post them tomorrow, if I can.

Enjoy!!! Have a great weekend!!!