The Search for Miss Direction: Bouncing through Wednesday

My kids have the coolest aunts and uncles. No joke. They might have stick in the mud me for a Mama (hehehe) but their extended family is quite rockin'! Let me give you just a few examples...

An Aunt who does things like keeps a HUGE bucket of bouncy balls in their house to let them toss over the side of the balcony and bounce EVERYWHERE in her house. Yep, that's how they spent their morning. I have photographic proof below! (And if you so happen to be on facebook, go watch the video Shell took!)

An uncle who flags down videos of "the L" in Chicago because he thought it would be something that they would really enjoy during Illinois week. Keith, just so you know they might be showing up on your doorstep one day soon just so they can ride "the trains that are over the cars" as they put it.

An aunt who lives in one state, but since another state is close by, volunteer to cover our 'mail call' for the week. (Side note, she is also hooking us up for Kentucky week which is coming up here shortly and is doing Ohio. Spoiled rotten kiddos) And not by just doing something like popping over the border and grabbing the closest thing she can get her hands on (which we would have been DELIGHTED with, btw). Nope, this aunt went out and did her own research on the state (even taught me that candy canes originated in Indiana) and then created one AMAZING package for them. (Yeah, besides having the cool factor they also spoil them rotten) They opened it up this afternoon, and there's plenty of pictures for you to see, but it had some neat books including one on famous people from Indiana, "H is for Hooiser" "Good Night, Indiana", Notre Dame gear (thanks for that inclusion, Mr. Matt!), the movie "Turbo" (the snail that races at the Indianapolis 500!), the movie "Rudy" and some fun Indiana key chains to add to their growing collection. Give it up for the always amazing Aunt Sarah! Love you!

Yeah, I'd say I have two pretty lucky kiddos. And Dudley and Scott, you're included in here, too. I mean, Uncle Dudley has a magic credit card and takes them to Chuck E. Cheese and Uncle Scott let's them come visit him at college - I'd say they're living the good life because they have all of you!

We made it back safely to the Hills this afternoon, opened the aforementioned really cool package and then they went outside to enjoy the sunshine for awhile when Grant got home. We flip flopped the day a little bit just to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Rumor has it rain is heading in tomorrow, booo. So after dinner we soaked up as much sunshine as we could with a family walk. After the two miles around the reservoir yesterday I thought Thing 1 and Thing 2 would want no part in it, but they were all for it. Think spring is finally setting in.

Speaking of dinner, I wasn't sure when we were going to make it back today (I love my doc. Enough to make the trip to Fremont to see him. But he tends to run waaaaayyy behind in his scheduling sometimes. I know it's because he spends a long time with each patient, which I am incredibly thankful for, so I really don't mind. Does make it a little difficult to 'plan ahead' though when I have another two hours to travel after I'm done. ) so I was able to find a recipe I would prep up yesterday morning (thanks for hanging with me while I did, Tess!) and then stick in the oven tonight. I would be remiss if I didn't make at least one Amish recipe this week as the city of Berne is knows for its large Amish population. So tonight I made two! For dinner we had a Diced Potato Bake. The recipe came from The Patchwork Quilt Country in which is located near Middlebury. If you like ham and potatoes - check this one out! The addition of the hard-boiled eggs was kind of fun and my crew wolfed this one down. For dessert I borrowed another one of their recipes and made Baked Caramel Delight (the recipe is about 3/4 down the page on that link which is full of a TON of other Amish recipes if you want to try some out!) Think ooey, gooey, caramel pudding deliciousness and you've got this one. The concoction earned thumbs up all around. (I know it seems like I almost ALWAYS say that they liked whatever it was and that may be really hard to believe considering I've got a four and five year old to feed, but it's true! They are both SO good about trying new foods and really, for the most part (other than peas and beans with Noah and sometimes tomatoes and certain meats with Kayla) they aren't picky eaters. I'm sure a lucky Mama when it comes to that, especially considering my penchant for exploring in the kitchen.

Looking forward to tomorrow. I have Kayla's pre-school conference in the morning and then lots of my favorite MOPS ladies are bringing their adorable kiddos over to play! Then we're having what might arguably be Indiana's most famous dish (the pork tenderloin sandwich), some yummy Hooiser Peanut and Chocolate Chip bars and doing this week's project - checkered flags! Should be fun :) So until then...