This past weekend I wanted to enjoy my birthday in a special way. I always loved my time with my grandfather. He was a very fine gentleman. He would treat me to the most memorable meals ever. If he took us to dinner, he would treat, and there would be no limitations. He introduced me to lobster, steak, char broiled foods, perfection in sauces, and the most flavorful soups. This year I wanted to take Johnathan out to dinner for our birthday. I had a desire to allow him the experience of good sea food.

Fisherman's Galley was the bomb!



The food was made fresh to order. Service was fabulous. There was a day not to long ago when dinner service was valued, for this place it has not changed. I alerted the server to my food allergies, he was very respectful, and proceeded to make all required changes in the menu. The cook was preparing all the food fresh to order. This allowed me the privilege of ordering to taste!



The full bar allowed for drinks of choice. The atmosphere was calm and respectful of the dinners experience. The chairs were large and cushioned, Very comfortable!



As the plate arrived my eyes were pleasured with presentation while my nose was drawn in with the scent of fresh herbs. My steak was perfect, the cut fabulous, and cooked exactly how I requested. The lobster was a generous portion. The red potatoes, and vegetables were cooked in fresh herbs. I was delighted to clear my plate.



We finished the meal with complimentary vanilla ice cream (for our birthday). It is worth mentioning that my son believes they must have made the ice cream there. It was notably better than the ice cream we have had recently. It was fresh vanilla beans that set off the flavor sensation.



So if you are in the area visit the Fisherman’s Galley for good fine dining. WE won’t mention the cost, but I will say it was worth every cent.

Here is where they can be found
Fisherman's Galley


3008 McHenry Ave, Modesto, CA 95350

(209) 527-3450
http://www.yelp.com/biz/fishermans-galley-modesto#hrid:3V2Du0uBn6mroijqzOdIJA

he is now a young man!

So one day he is just a kid

The next thing I know he turns 12 and he is now a young man!

I don’t see the difference but I experience the difference daily.

He is growing into such an awesome young man. He has began the process of taking responsibility for himself, and watching out for others! Now he thinks about becoming a scholar of excellence, and going to college instead of thinking about getting the assignment done so he can play.

Happy Birthday Johnny! I love you and I will always be proud of you.

Brandon

Micahel

On the other side of things, Michael oversaw the boys sleep over last night. We had our 4 boys plus 7 extras over for the celebration. They played Black Ops, and Guitar Hero, while I slept…..Michael and Brandon (16 now) gave oversight..

13 boys all gaming together

The fact is that I just can’t do it right now. The night does not pass so easily. I would like to say it is Loralie’s effect on my sleeping patterns, but I think it is just a phase in my life. I have not gotten to sleep more than two hours in concession for 15 months, but even before that I was only privileged with 4 hours a night. After so many years burning it at both ends….i just can’t any more 

Maybe after Loralie starts sleeping through the night

Loralie Playing Guitar Hero

Well, we have to clean up from the party, feed these boys breakfast, and get ready for the day. My parents will be here shortly, we have a shopping date, and we are going out to dinner for my birthday (the only time I ever get seafood)

Wow …..What a Week

What a Week We Have Had

The wrestling banquet (feed 30).....stoves malfunctioning.................

feeding the youth group (Feed 42).....replacing ovens...................

Hosting a coffee and pastry group (feed 8 and drink a lot of coffee)

storming, thunder, lightning, hail, and high winds……………..…Fences falling……

And now

Johnny’s Birthday Party

HE is turning 12!

SooOoOOOoooooOOOOoo

I have to get ready, prepare the guest room for my parents, get the video game systems all set, check the batteries, pick up Costco pizza and cake……….Whew!

But first I have to make a note. Loralie knows how much there is to do today and so she grabbed the bag, handed me my shoes, and headed to the door 

Soooooooooooo cute.

We did it....and it was good

We did it! We fed the youth, and made it through even though my oven malfunctioned.


As we were leavening I thought some very selfish thoughts. My mind goes I to things with a pure heart and walks away all about me. I was very satisfied knowing that we made dinner for thirty – five youth and fifteen adults, I was also satisfied that we were able to cook, feed, and clean in two hours. The best part was I got to go home and not need to clean my kitchen…..or so I thought.



The final thought I had was the one that made me think “what is your motivation”….

See I have given service to others.

What is wrong with the feeling of satisfaction when I am done with a good job at a good work? I don’t know, yet for some reason when I walk away feeling good about myself for the things I can do, It is emidiatly followed by a since of guilt for the “thinking” I have…



Here is my thought after it all has passed.

The youth had a great healthy meal, I had a great time preparing it for them, my family had a great time serving them, and I still got to go home to a clean kitchen  It was definitely an all win situation.

How I think about it afterward?....?....?

It is the thinking afterwards that makes it better next time. I always think about how things went after the fact. It is how I learn, improve, and at times savor the success of a task.

They savored my food I savored the feeling of giving them good food!

Timing is everything

Life, one of those things that one has to live through. As it always seems to work I have committed myself to feeding may bunches of people this week, host a slumber party on Friday and receive house guest for the week end.


Life,

This is the time that my oven decides to take a dumper!

I can’t even figure out why! I was using the stove top but the error message is for the oven. I turned on the oven, nothing, I turned on the burners, all accept the one I was using when the first error message came up, and nothing. SO, I turned on the front burner that gave me the original error message, and there it was again.

The error,

Door latch failure.

The stove top does not have a latch, and how does the stove top set off an oven error? I don’t understand.

I guess I will just keep cooking and feeding everyone and hope it al works out….NOT

This is why I rent not own! It is someone else’s responsibility to keep the electrical equipment in the home running. It is my responsibility to pay the inflated housing cost of a renter.

This is exactly the reason I love to be the renter not the owner. A leak, the heat, the air conditioning, the roof, the stove…..they have to take the care in maintaining them. I just get to use them.

Driving lessons

SO after a little bit of game brain last night, today OI am back to the stove. It’s all about the beans today. . . . . . . Beans, that really means a lot of waiting time right? I decided to allow my 16 year old some driving time while we picked up some tortilla and chips for the parties this week. Brian, My husband, sat in the back and I sat in the front. This is how back seat driving started right?


We were driving along, and Brian would start instructing from the back seat! Never would he even think about giving driving advise, but now it flows so freely, like all of the things he thought and never said 



It is crazy to think that I have a child old enough to drive, but it is true. I am so loving this whole experience. We will see how well we survive the experience, two new drivers in 6 months! I just have to say that it is so much fun, but if we ever make contact with another car my thoughts on the subject might change.

Game on the brain

So any who….

Little Lorelei loves music. I so wish that I could put video feed on this site….she is so cute dancing and playing with the guitar hero. (she is not playing just playing alongside of us) But any way a little 13 month old dancing it’s crazy.

Hot song next.... "it's my turn kids make room for mommy"..............

Family Game Brain . . . .It is a good thing

It is just crazy,


I was accusing Michael my son of having game brain this morning. Now here we ar e all playing gutar hero. Now it is me who has game brain….

This makes me wonder, what would my mother have said 20 years ago if I would have told her my father would be a video game freak? With the invention of the WII even retirees are becoming fully animated with the game invasion. Although, I don’t see any problem with my father’s daily WII sports or my mother and just dance. I think it is great, they even bond with the kids using the technology that is now easily access by the WII. The WII speak, animal crossing, raving rabbits! They have all brought our family closer together.



When dopes bonding stop and Game Brain kick in?

Tell me please. I just don’t know any more. I do know one thing; I am the luckiest mother, wife, daughter, and sister in the world. If you are listening meet me on the wii sister

Game Brain

What does a mother of 6 do on a Saturday Morning?


For me it is all about the cuddle time, then the computer time, and finally the cooking.

This week it all about the enchiladas and beans. One of my boys has an award banquet on tue and one has youth on wed. They both offered my home cooking for their groups so that mean enchiladas for 35 on Wednesday and enchiladas for 40 on Tuesday. Sooooo….meat on for a slow cook today, add the beans tomorrow and the enchiladas quick and easy on Tuesday and Wednesday. Of course fresh tortilla on Monday 



Last night we went out for Japanese sushi. On the way home we were so satisfied with the flavor sensation, yet still hungry. For the price of sushi we should be satisfied in every way! We have been to Osaka’s several times now, and every time we leave wondering if it is just so good that the our taste buds trick our brain into wanting more……



After taking the baby out for sushi we went home. I love my little bunch, yet they have not learned all of the lessons they need for life yet. SO before we left for sushi we instructed the oldest child to prepare caspers for the family, with corn as a side and a fruit to go along. He fully understood. We left, and I had an expectation that he would have fed every one, clean up from dinner and they would be watching a movie or playing a video game.

But NO

He went into the house when we dropped them off and he started playing a video game. Apparently the menu plan escaped him. He was just starting to eat when we got home, and we were gone for a long time (45 min wait, 30 minutes of driving, and an hour eating). Everyone else had already eaten. He had game brain get into the way of his responsibilities.



So for my house

Game brain hits again.

Emotional PRe teens...can't avoid them

It took me several days to post “My over reactive hormonal pre teen”……

Final I clicked post this morning, and then guess what……… it happened again. It cracks me up the way things just kind of go like that.

This morning I was upstairs feeding the baby (who was asleep before Sean started yelling)…Sean, John (brother) and 3 friends were packed and ready to go to school, as they walked out the door poor Sean realized he had forgotten his jacket.

SO, he came inside and world war 3 erupted as he went on a rampage about his jacket. It was not where he left it, he went from person to person calling them freak’n retards, (we don’t let them use the word freak’n or retard!)After his rampage had though roughly awakened the baby I called him to me.

Soooo… there I am Wondering…How do I handle this when I am here with my boob hanging out to feed the baby, half dressed, and I have not finished my first cup of coffee.

Cleverly I start by mention of the inappropriate language, then I asked why he was yelling, “they stole my jacket or they lost it but it is not where I left it”….so I dove in, “Where did you leave you jacket?”

His response , “In the middle of the stairs…”

So, I am thinking to myself, the kid deserves to lose his jacket, I would have put in the giveaway pile if I found it on the stairway, ,,,,,, then he stats to yell at me, “You are always on their side”……

Decidedly I take a new tactic

“So, Sean why don’t you wear one of the other hoodies you have?”

ON CAME THE EMOTIONAL SKATER AGAIN FULL OUT BUFFALO TEAR.


Once again I change tactics and start off…..

“Sean, remember when we talked about hygiene? Well what do you think other people would say about your hygiene if you wear the same clothes and jacket to school every day?”

Finally we hit pay dirt; We have a rapid learning conversation, he agrees to continue to school without further incident, and I remind him that we will be discussing his temper, and language when he gets home from school



SO, now he is home from school and I find out that he left his jacket at his friends house! SO he harshly harassed 3 brothers, one sister, two friends, and one mom accusing us of something only to find out he did not know where he left it in the first place.

The jacket, it is in the gifting pile never to return to his closet,

The laundry fact in our house is if you don’t put it away it goes away. This was my solution to the whole having the kid’s put the clean laundry pack into the dirty laundry hamper. So now they don’t get the opportunity to keep more than they are willing to properly care for

Works for me

OUGH My Hormonally driven pre teen was upset about.........

Last Night when Sean, my darling 6th grade sweet heart came home from youth group he realized that we had eaten while he was out. He became reactive, with streaming tears, and full fitfulness. He was disappointed, angry and overwhelmed with emotions. His brothers, who also went to youth group, tried to calm him. He was reminded about all of the things that he did at youth. The fact that they had lasagna at youth did not seem to matter to him. He simply expected us to never eat food that he liked when he was not here.


SO I had to ask myself….Why the over reaction?

I asked him about the youth happenings. I finally got to the bottom line of his overreaction. He was feeling some bad feelings after a ball game that ended in his throwing a ball that injured his good friend. Bottom line he was feeling guilty, angry, and a little picked on (he did throw the ball that caused the injury with intent).

SO for us right now we are starting over again with

Don’t let your hormones get away from you

We have been through this with his older brothers, yet this will most likely be a bit different. Sean has never had the emotional control as his brothers. It is one of those things that constantly cause him troubles. He has the It’s not my fault syndrome….

In my house I am the bad guy……


If the kids make a mess my sweet awesome man walks past to and lets me know about the things he has seen, then I go back into the room and dish out the responsibility to the kidos.



Or if it is the week end, I have a shopping list, and prep work for kid’s activities, and clean up after activities, and cooking, and my sweet heart of a husband has frustration, I have to create the agenda, or made it know that we need to go to Costco. He has the right to play on the computer and watch movies, blaming me, and making me the bad guy when it does not go to his plan ….



The strangest part of it all is that we were both single parents at one point in time. I remember I never got a break and did it all on my own and he did also.



So how come marrage means that I take on the responsibility of always being the bad guy?
And why do I still think about it every now and then even though I accepted it as just a little part of the world around me year ago....