Week in Review: Yummy Ramen, Basketball Drama, and Finished Stairs

 Happy Friday!!  Can you believe the Super Bowl is this Sunday?  We are still trying to tighten up the menu for game day, which is the most important part of the day, obviously.  I tried a new recipe this week that was delicious, but it doesn't make the game day menu because it's too messy...  

Thai Coconut Curry Ramen

Maggie has been playing up to Varsity Basketball, which should make her proud and happy but instead is making her wish she could stay solely on JV.  She doesn't know the plays and feels like an imposter on this team.  There has been lots of coach and player drama and she really wants to quit next year.  It always makes me sad when they stop playing a sport that they have played for so long because I regret quitting violin and ice skating, but it's her life so we shall see.

Age 15

Age 6

Declan finished his season by getting to the semifinals in his age group.  Let's just say that after a season in this more competitive league...he is a great soccer player :)  He did score his first points in a playoff game, so there was improvement!

I took him out for ice cream to celebrate their last game.  Don't tell the others!

I just can't even with Harry's odd (get it? can't even = odd) fashion choice.  

How does one go to the urinal in this getup?

I made overnight oats for the first time this week, to switch up our morning smoothie meal, and it was pretty good!  This little meal was under 300 calories with 13 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber.  Since the beginning of the year, that's what I've been focusing on - protein and fiber in each meal.

I filed my taxes on Monday and got my federal refund on Thursday - how crazy is that?  As always, I used TaxAct (click that link for 20% off!) which is so simple even if you were not a tax preparer in your former life :)

Phil may have been an artist in his former life because look at the project he made for Declan's 3rd Grade Book Buffet project.  The kids had to create a food with at least five parts and each part lists the  answered questions about their book.  Each piece of Declan's gum has the answers printed on the back of the stick.  Isn't it clever and cute?

This is what our water looked like for hours and hours on Sunday morning.  Apparently a pipe burst in the city next to us and our town was funnelling them water which led to a backup of the fire hydrants around our home.  Or something.  I wasn't really listening to the explanation - I just realized how much we depend on clean water!  I took the kids to the YMCA to swim at the indoor pool and then shower after, not knowing how long it was going to last.  It was clean by the time we got home.

I had written about wanting to fix up our front stairwell a couple weeks ago, and Phil got right on the job.  If you write it, they will act on it.  Phil and Andrew painted the walls (Benjamin Moore's Linen White) and then we used Empire Today to come in and lay the carpet.  They were almost $200 cheaper than the local place we got a quote from.  Thank you tax refund for sponsoring this job!  Of course I have no before photo, but trust me that it looks a lot better than the ugly pink carpet that was there before.  When we moved into this house 18 years ago, it was all pink carpets and navy walls, very *interesting* design choices.

Maggie found a video created by one of JP's friends from their time in Gaming, Austria (and travels) and I wanted to post it here for memory's sake.

Eamon then edited the video down to the following 24 seconds which had me laughing.  Just like a 3rd child amiright?

Have a wonderful Superbowl watching weekend everybody.  I hope your food and drink menus are as exciting as the game!