My mom

The past two weeks have been filled with incredible blessings for my family.  We have had the opportunity to truly celebrate her wonderful life, family and friends. While it is never easy to say good-bye, there is an incredible peace that comes knowing my mom could not have lived a better life.  She is a loving daughter, devoted wife, incredible mother, amazing grandmother and caring friend to all who knew her.  Thank you all for the visits and special memories.  She often says, "I am so lucky."  Many of your kind words have lifted and blessed her life.  Her relatives who all hopped on a plane as soon as they could from New Jersey to say good-bye was the most wonderful gift she could receive.  Her friends quick visits.  The meals.  A showering of love and prayers has all filled her days with peace and gratitude.  Here are some beautiful pictures Stacey took for my mom that will forever be cherished! Each picture truly captures the LOVE that we all feel! We will continue to treasure every day and moment we have with her here on earth before she has a glorious reunion with loved ones on the other side of the veil.  I love you mom!

Scott's million dollar idea

I don't know why my posts are the only ones that get these random comments.  Whatev.  So Scott wants to make an invisible blanket, like the one Harry Potter uses.  Today, at school drop-off, he said, "We can make it out of something clear.  Are there any clear chemicals?"

We talked about gases, oxygen and nitrogen, and then got into the phases of matter.  He seemed interested and I was glad because my chemistry background has given me a good knowledge of how stuff works.  Gotta run.

Food preps and Winco

I make breakfast for the kids.  Mostly, I do what I'm in the mood for, but we rotate through waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, and cracked wheat.  In dental school, I ate cold cereal for breakfast every morning.  There's enough sugar to get your blood sugar to a good level and there's enough fat in the milk to satisfy your entero-gastric reflex.  But cereal's too expensive.

I'm excited about oatmeal because it's cost-effective and good for your heart.  We have to sweeten it with brown sugar and the kids like to add maple syrup.  I've been making my own syrup since high school (Dan-o's mom's recipe), and it's not so much a cost thing as a taste thing.  We got a gallon of high fructose corn syrup with sodium hexametaphosphate for like six bucks, which is quite reasonable, but the taste was lacking.  Then, Heidi somehow picked up some "lite" syrup which the kids didn't like.  So I make my own.  I also like to beat some heavy whipping cream, and today, we had chocolate chips in our pancakes.  

I did some slow-cooked beef in the crock pot for Sunday dinner.  I added some ground chipotle pepper but I don't think it was enough.  Still, the meat was nice and soft and tasted good.  I also did some pinto beans and we all enjoyed burritos with cheese.  Growing up, I didn't like leftovers, and certain things don't keep as well as others, but my burrito components last about a week and it's hecka cost-effective.

And then there's Winco.  I really enjoy shopping there because I feel like I get good bang for my buck.  If we hunkered down and ate my dental school diet, we could thrive on less than $50/week.  We splurge on the milk and desserts to keep me and the kids happy.  I survived on $11/week in school.

Ever since we dumped the stupid condo, Heidi and I have stressed less about money.  I like having my money in the bank, but I've been able to enjoy it more, by buying chocolate chips and bacon.  Mmmm, bacon.  I even got some new shorts.

Okay, time for my burritos.