"Wonderful Wednesday"

A typical morning at my house involves me reminding my little darlings (multiple times) that it is "time to get up for school." My youngest son, Bryce, enjoys stretching, rolling around, and snoozing a little more before his feet can hit the floor. He almost always asks me "what day is it?" When he was in preschool, his teacher would name the days of the week with very positive nicknames. So, for example, Monday was always "Marvelous Monday." Tuesday was "Terrific Tuesday," and so on. So, even though Bryce is in second grade now, I still tell him what "day it is" in the morning. Yesterday I told Bryce that it was "Wonderful Wednesday," and it really DID turn out to be a wonderful day.

The day started with a little excitement for Bryce. He is the "star student" in his class this week. In addition to the excitement of being "line leader" and first at ????? who knows what else, he was able to bring a special treat to share with his class. We put together one of my favorites. I like to decorate a giant cookie with some fun pictures of the "star student." I first did this with my daughter when she was in third grade. I have been doing it for the other kids for a few years now. Since Bryce's favorite color is orange, the frosting color was an easy pick. I also happened to find the cookie already made at the grocery store, so we just asked the baker to write Bryce's name on the middle of the cookie...she thought it was weird to write only a name, but I assured her that we would be fine without the "happy birthday." We printed off a few pictures of Bryce and used my circle punches to cut them out. I just backed them with orange card stock and used colored tooth picks in between the layers of paper and pictures. I love the picture of him and his little sister dressed in their Ethiopian clothes...I wasn't sure he would want to include that one, but he was all for it!

Bryce was excited about his big cookie. It is a fun way to share a few things about yourself without having to bring the items to school (for instance, Bryce had a picture of himself with one of his favorite Lego creations). He even got to show off a big fish he caught last year.

The star student posing with his cookie...like his pjs? It turned out that we were running a little late the night before he wanted to bring the cookie, so we cranked out the decorations in about five minutes before he had to go to sleep. It turned out great and he said his class thought it was cool. I sent a pizza cutter for the teacher (to make a few quick swipes) so that the students could each get a little chunk of cookie during snack time.

Another little something that most of the family is really excited about this week is the addition of a boat to our garage. 5/6 of us are really excited about owning a boat. 1/6 of us are still debating the fun vs. time/money/space that the boat takes up. Clearly Grace is part of the 5/6 of the family that is excited to have a boat. Wednesday is dance day, so Grace had to jump in the boat for a little fun before she headed out to do some dancing.

So, back to "Wonderful Wednesday"...Grace and I made one of my favorite recipes for lunch. It is a Thai peanut stir fry thing. It is super easy to make and since we are the two biggest fans of this particular meal, we make it during the day when no one else is around to complain about it.

Mix together: 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice (I've been known to use Propel, Capri sun or whatever liquid I have on hand), 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 2 Tbls. brown sugar, 2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. ground ginger, 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes. I always use rotisserie chicken, so I just add some of that to a pan and heat up the sauce until it is warm and almost boiling. In the meantime, I cook a little quick rice and a package of frozen veggies that you can cook right in the bag. I dump the veggies in the hot sauce/chicken mixture and...presto! an awesome Thai chicken lunch. It is seriously good...I serve it over rice and add cashews on top. Grace likes it because it has a tiny kick of spice and is so flavorful. Trust me on this one, I wouldn't recommend a recipe if I didn't LOVE it. I LOVE this one.

After our awesome lunch, Grace and I headed out for a nice, long walk. We finally had a sunny day! I think it got close to 66 degrees!

To end" Wonderful Wednesday" on a high note, the neighbor kids gathered to play a little tether ball with our new (homemade) tether ball pole. Apparently the kids love it at school, so my husband got an old tire, some cement, and a few other odds and ends and the kids are loving the new attraction. Seriously...if you build it, they will come...

Well, that's our "Wonderful Wednesday" wrap up.

Hope you have a great, "Thoughtful Thursday!"