Monday, January 07, 2013

Dad’s Christmas Menu 2012


Button Bistro Christmas Menu 2012

Starters:  Temper those hunger pangs with these tasty delights!

o  Black Bean Soup – Freakin’ Awesome!  Enjoy, just don’t sleep with your head under the covers tonight!  
o  Spinach Pastry Thingies – Anything with spinach in it is good for you, right??  Then have two!

Main Course:  Now that you’re warmed up, it’s time to dig into the meat of the menu

o  Filet Mignon – Perfect.   Enough to make a vegetarian squirm.   Be sure to select your cooking preference:
___Medium                               ___Medium                               ___Medium
o  Pantry Shrimp Delight – Open the pantry, select a spice or twelve, toss the spice with the shrimp in the pan.   Hit the flame, add a little fire water, light a match, and BOOM!!   Even the shrimp appreciate this one!
o  Christmas Combo:  Can’t decide?   I don’t blame you.   How do you deprive your palette either of these delectable options?   Is it legal to do so?   Is it moral to do so?   Can’t be, can it?   And it’s Christmas!   And you’re taking too long.   Your waiter is getting antsy.   Go for the combo already!!   You’re welcome.

Sides:  Variety is the spice of life – mix in a bite or two of these delicacies between mouthfuls of main dish!

o  Sautéed Green Beans – OH!   How do I make them taste so good???   You want the recipe you say?  That’s cute.   No.    
o  Homemade Mashed Potatoes – the real thing.   Even left some skins on.  
o  Sweet Potato Casserole – sugar, spice, everything nice!
o  Green Bean Casserole – whoa there!   Sautéed green beans and green bean casserole?   Yep – one way or another, green beans are getting in your belly!
o  Cheesy Grits – you’ll want to kiss these grits!
o  Manna from Kevin – rolls, just the way you like ‘em!  (we’ll even pick ‘em up off the ground for you!)

Beverage:  Wet your whistle with one of the following:
o  Goose Island Brews – Root Beer or Ginger Spice.   The best island drinks north of the Mason-Dixon.
o  NOJWAK – Nippy Orange Juice With A Kick
o  Melted snow from the North Pole – as always - free refills on this one, folks.

Dessert:  You’re right, you really shouldn’t.   But you will.  
o  Banana Daiquiri -  What’s that?  You’d like a world famous Banana Daiquiri?   Better than the one at the top of the island mountain?   Hmmmm.    Lemme check.    Yes. 

Christmas Dinner

What is the Best Gift of All?

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning

Christmas Train

Homemade Rice Krispy Christmas Train

Lost Luggage

Lost Luggage

Just what you want to do when you get home at midnight from the Caribbean. Cold Chicago weather and lost luggage!

Hint. Hint. This is what I want for Christmas!

Christmas Cards

Marissa read EVERY SINGLE word on every single Christmas card that came this year. She absolutely loved the family updates and pictures.

Fair

Waiting

Little Miss and I waited in line for 1 HOUR to take a horse drawn carriage through the bustling streets of Wauconda during their Christmas Fair. Extreme joy.

Shopping for Glasses for our Boy

The No-1 Greater Hat

Flat Billed Hat

We did it. I'm not proud of it. But sometimes as a parent, you just do what you have to do.
We bought Tate a flat billed hat. I know what you are thinking. But we had to do it. It meant a lot to him.

You will see the note that Kevin sent to Tate when he purchased the hat from Amazon.

It reads, "Only to be worn in the house. On the top floor. In the dark."

Meaning- never out in public with your parents!

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Monday, December 10, 2012

 














Go Big Blue







Cousins





Hose





Fireman



Fireman



Fireman



The Circus





Saturday, December 01, 2012

Tooth Fairy

Garett got kind of sassy with the Tooth Fairy when he didn't receive what he considered proper compensation.  In all fairness, he wasn't compensated at all.  But the Tooth Fairy has been very busy.  Give the Tooth Fairy a break!


Since Garett started throwing his weight around demanding his usual $1 per tooth and demanding the Tooth Fairy pay $1 per day for every day the Tooth Fairy delayed payment, he got a note from the Tooth Fairy.  Here it is.  



Dear Garett,

 

Thank you ever so much for your sincere and heart felt critique of me, the Tooth Freaking Fairy.   I can't tell you how much it pains me to know that you're unhappy with the speed with which I replace your nasty, detached tooth with valuable currency.  

 

Oh wait.   Yes I can.   NOT VERY MUCH!

 

Do you have any idea how busy I am??   People are loosing teeth left and right!   Have you studied census data lately!?   Sure, this was a pretty sweet gig in the early 1900's.   There were about 80 million people in this country back then.   Many had lost teeth before immigrating (no cost to me).   And those that lost teeth here were thrilled with a penny.   I could take my time getting from house to house, and keep people happy on the cheap.  

 

But now?   Now?   Now we have nearly 320 million people in this country.   That's 4 times as many people!   And now people expect a full dollar per tooth!!   That's 100 times more expensive!    And it's not just more houses to visit and higher expenses per tooth.   People lock their windows, have yappy dogs – and don't get me started on modern security systems!  My job is harder than ever.   Combine that with the cartilage damage in my wings, and I have a hard time mustering much sympathy in response to your complaint!!

 

But you know what they say - the customer is always right.   If I don't make you happy, you'll just take your business elsewhere.  

 

Oh wait.   Just where exactly is ELSE in this case???  Who else is going to give you money for that germ covered chicklet?   Do I have competition here??  No!!  And do you know why I don't have any competition?  Because as it turns out, this is a pretty crappy investment!  For decades I've been trying to figure out how to make money from these used teeth.   But I can find no use, and there is absolutely no aftermarket for these things.   I'm deep in debt on this deal, and my creditors are becoming impatient.  I'd change careers if I could, but my resume is not terribly attractive.   I break into houses, steal bio-hazard, and leave a little something under the pillow in the kids' bedroom.   With that resume, I can't even get an interview with a respectable accounting firm – and I don't even want to be an accountant!!  

 

So go ahead, take you business elsewhere if you like.   It won't break my heart.   But tonight, because I'm a total fairy, I'll take the nasty, useless tooth that your body  rejected, and I'll give you two dollars – two dollars that I could use to buy a bean burrito at Taco Bell (my favorite – I love farting just as I sneak out of bedrooms).  

Hopefully the $2 satisfies.    

 

Love,

The Tooth Fairy

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Answers

Marissa has her own way of answering questions. She takes what she has learned from the book and answers her questions the way she understood what she read. My favorite is her answer to question number sixteen related to the sacrament.

Friday, November 09, 2012

Marissa's Answers to Her Bible Test

My Little Bulldog

Family Yoga

Bottle Explosion

Marissa and Reagan

Election Night was Red Hot

Perhaps not RedHot enough, though!

Patience

I think she was trying to day "patience". She has been working on the tion ending and put tino. She has also been working on possessives/apostrophes. She is trying do hard to learn!

Friday, October 19, 2012

Video

Marissa's Break

Wauconda Strikers

Zombie Walk

Last Farmer's Market

Homecoming

Homemade Applesauce

Tate's Note

Thursday, October 18, 2012