Barbie Invasion

Growing up, I loved playing with Barbies! This weekend all of my family was here to celebrate Kary and his family being home. It was a fun weekend with lots and lots of good food! While we were at mom and dad's house, dad brought out a box of Barbie stuff that was mine. I have had my Barbie Ice Cream Shop, Record Shop, and Hot Dog Stand in the top of my closet just waiting for Caylee to get old enough to play with them. I had totally forgotten about all of the other stuff that was in this box. What a FUN walk down memory lane. I couldn't wait to get all of it home and cleaned up for Caylee to play with. She is just like I was---she loves her Barbies!

My bedroom became a Barbie house. Guess what Caylee will be getting soon. :o) Wish I still had my Barbie house. It was four stories with an elevator. It wasn't very sturdy when I had it. All that is left is the elevator.

Record Store

(I think I got this one Christmas from Grandma Behm.)

This has all kinds of stuff. There is a trumpet and a saxophone. There are microphones, guitars, and sheet music. There are records and albums. There are Barbie sized posters of Barbie and her band. There is a ghetto blaster. The record actually spins on the jukebox. Lots of fun!

The Ice Cream Shop.

One of my favorites!! I'm pretty sure I got this from Santa one year. It actually came with a little freezer that fits into the ice cream cart, and you can really make ice cream in it! The little pink buckets on the other end hold all of the toppings for your ice cream. The chairs become ice cream dishes, and the fountain seats are the spoons. There is so much detail to this little shop--double scoops of ice cream, cones, dishes, menus, place mats, blender, soda fountain, apron, and more. It is so much fun!

The Hot Dog Stand

Another favorite! The hot dogs and buns separate so that you can "cook" the hot dogs for the customers. The chip selections are Ruffles, Frito Lays, and Rold Gold Pretzels. To drink, you have your choice of 7UP or Cherry 7UP. :o)

Now onto the furniture from my Barbie House.

The Living Room

White Wicker Sofa, Seat, and Table. Both sofa and seat have reversible cushions and both fold out. The table opens up. :o)

The Bathroom

Bathtub, Towel Rack, and Toilet

There used to be a plastic background that looked like there were plants all over. The tub is missing the air hose to the finger pump. It used to make bubbles for a bubble bath. On the other side of the narrow wall was a small table, but that's missing. The toilet appears to flush when you open the lid. You put water in, and it forces air through to make it swirl like it's flushing. Isn't that funny!

The Bedroom

Canopy Bed, Closet, Dresser, Tables and Lamps

The canopy part of this bed used to glow in the dark, and it's missing the bed spread and pillows. The other furniture actually used to be Krystal's, but she let me have it for Caylee--thanks Aunt Krystal! We left the base to one of the lamps at Papa and Nanny's house, hopefully Caylee left it somewhere where it can be found. :o)

The Kitchen

This was another one of my favorites! It has so much! The little yellow buttons ont he stove top make it appear that the burners are on. There is a tick tock sound and a ding for the over timer. There is a dishwasher under the sink, and when you open the door it pulls the rack out for you. There is a table with sides that fold for storage, and a refrigerator with a carton of milk. :o)

The Dining Room

As you can see, the dining table is missing. But, we have chairs! The cushions on the chairs are reversible. The China cabinet is filled with "fine china". :o) You can also see the elevator that is left from my Barbie house.

Ah, the good old days! I love that I can pass all of this on to my daughter. I'm glad that I can see teh fun that she has with it and the joy that it brings to her little life. Oggie has been able to pass down his old tractors, legos, and GI Joe and now it's my turn to pass down my Barbies to Caylee. How lucky am I!

Busy, Busy!

I love springtime, but dread the high-stress, fast-paced chaos of it all! Christopher is in track right now and doing pretty darn good. We were frantically looking for his size 11--yes 11--track shoes. We ended up having to go to Garden to find them. While we were there, we went to the zoo, and the three little kids loved it (Christopher tolerated it :o) what a trooper!) Caylee still talks about the animals and wants to go back soon (Sarah--we're going to have to plan a date for the Pueblo Zoo soon, lol)! Anyway, Christopher's first track meet was at Rolla and he ended up with three gold medals in the High Jump, 100 Hurdles, 4 x 100 Relay, and a third medal in the 200 Hurdles. The Holly track meet was next. He tied for 3rd in High Jump with 2 other boys and ended up 4th after the coin toss. He got second in the 100 Hurdles, and his 4 x 200 relay ended up third or fourth--can't remember. I had inservice that morning and had to work the track meet all afternoon and into the early evening. After that, I head up to Colorado Springs to spend the night at Konnie's and take a test at 7:30 the next morning. I headed home right after that and just missed the hwy. 50 closure (thank goodness!!) due to a huge fire. As I was getting into Lamar, the fire trucks were heading out to help with the Bent Co. fire. Then, Saturday night, Caylee started running another fever and is on her 3rd round of antibiotics since January (one was just last month)--I really don't want to do tubes! Let's see, then Christopher had another meet at Granada on Monday. I'm not sure about the results--he didn't really keep track. I know he got third in the 100 hurdles and second in the high jump, but I'm not sure about his 4 x 200 or his 200 hurdles. His next meet is tomorrow in Lamar, and hopefully I will be able to go watch. If it's too cold, I'll have to stay home with Caylee. Did I mention that it snowed like crazy yesterday?!?!? It was sooo pretty! The flakes were HUGE! I don't think anyone had any idea that we were gonna get snow! I had between 6 and 7 inches on my car when I left school. When I woke up and went to school yesterday, it was pretty dark and smelled like rain. I had no idea that it would turn into snow by lunch and accumulate that much by the end of school! Today the sun in shining and the snow is melting fast! My concert is coming up on the 25th and my first rehearsal is at the end of next week. Dad is flying out on the 27th to help Kary and his family move back home--super exciting!!! I get to take the band and choir to Elitch's on May 14th. Track meets continue throughout this time. There's also Alumni and graduation in there. Then........SUMMER!!!! I promise I will post more, after the springtime madness!!!!

Another Yummy and Easy Recipe

I had a package of minute steaks in the freezer and decided that those would be a simple meal for tonight, but I didn't want the huge mess of flouring and frying. So, this was was I did instead.

Mushroom Minute Steaks

1. Brown the steaks in a skillet (w/o flour) until lightly brown on each side. I also salt and peppered them at this point.

2. Mix Cream of Mushroom Soup and a packet of Mushroom Gravy Mix in a bowl with a cup of water.

3. Layer steaks and soup mix in a casserole dish.

4. Cover and bake. I baked them at 300 for the first 45 min. and then turned it up to 350 for the last 30 (that was just because I needed them sooner than I thought--bake them how you want)

5. Serve with mashed potatoes and a green veggie.

Yum!

Diaper Scare

So not until my fourth child have I experienced this creepy crawly incident. I was changing Caylee's diaper, getting ready to slide the new one under her little behind when I noticed something dark in the diaper. It was a creepy bug, and it was alive!! It was actually sewed into the diaper between the padding and the liner. When I touched it, it started crawling!!! It was obviously trapped, but it could have really hurt her had I not noticed it. It was long with lots of legs and pinchers on both ends. How horrible that would have been to have that strapped on to her! So everyone beware--check your diapers before you put them on your kids!

1st Place Feels Great!

Christopher had his Arkansas Valley Wrestling Tournament in Lamar today. It was his last meet for the season, and boy did he go out with a bang!! His first match was very awkward since he had to wrestle a girl! He pinned her pretty fast. I am completely disgusted by girls wrestling!! What a horrible position to put those boys in--it should not be allowed! Anyway, then he went on to pin the guy in his second match. For his final match, he was so close to pinning him the entire time, but couldn't quite get it. However, he still won 12-0, making him the 1st place champ for 132 lbs. (not sure how he ended up in that weight class since he's 128, but whatever). It was so awesome to watch him. He has really done well during this short sport, especially when you consider he had never, not once, wrestled before he decided to go out for wrestling this year.

(Psst...the girl is in the green capris--she got pinned all three matches)

I was one proud mama!

Mom and Dad were able to be there to watch the final match. Jan and Oggie took the three little kids home after his second match so that I didn't completely lose my mind.

Christopher and his buddy Tristan, who also got 1st in his weight class.

Yummy Beef and Broccoli

I have been on such a Beef and Broccoli kick when we go out to eat Chinese. I found this incredibly easy and yummy recipe. I was fairly confident that it would be good when I saw that it had been in Taste of Home. I was right, it was delicious!

I found this diced beef at Reyman's, so that's what I used. It cooked fast and it was easy for the kids to eat, since it was diced in really small chunks. Here is the recipe--enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
• 1/2 cup water, plus
• 2 tablespoons water, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 lb boneless round steak or 1 lb charcoal chuck steak, cut into thin 3-inch strips
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1 small onion, cut into wedges
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• hot cooked rice

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1. 1In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth. ( I ended up using 3 Tbsp. of water instead of just 2 and I used fresh garlic and olive oil)
2. 2Add beef and toss.
3. 3In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 tablespoon oil until beef reaches desired doneness; remove and keep warm.
4. 4Stir-fry broccoli and onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes.
5. 5Return beef to pan.
6. 6Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the pan.
7. 7Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
8. 8Serve over rice.

Fowler Wrestling Tournament

Last Saturday Christopher had a wrestling tournament in Fowler. Originally, I had planned to go watch, but then Caylee and Cade started running fevers Thursday night, and it lasted all weekend. However, Saturday morning, Oggie volunteered to stay with the two little ones so that Jan, Connor, and I could go. It was kind of a last minute decision, but it worked out since Christopher had a bye the first round. This is what it looked like that morning when we started out. It was so pretty! It melted off pretty fast, though.

Christopher wasn't supposed to wrestle until 2:00, so we had it timed just right. However, while we were in LaJunta, Christopher texted that he had just wrestled and won. Obviously they ran ahead of schedule. So, we finished up in LaJunta and headed on to Fowler to watch him wrestle for the championship round in his bracket.

Here was the result. Second place--not too bad! I was one very proud mama!! He was up against an eighth grader who was really good and had wrestled since he was very young. Christopher still did an awesome job!