Rankeny Life

Fresh Produce... and I Mean, FRESH!!!

2009-07-23T19:06:00.002-05:00

Finally the dividends have started to pay off! This year both the kids and H and I planted a garden, side by side, very cute. I should really post some pictures. But after a few months of tending and watering as needed, we are started to get some very nice produce, including a ton of cherry tomatoes, and regular, cinnamon, and lemon basil.

Tonight was no exception to our fortunes, as we picked our first cuke (a.k.a. cucumber). It was fantastic. Fantastic! I was watering the garden anyway as we are approaching daily 90 degree temperatures, when H noticed an easily 10 inch long cucumber on the vine. So we picked it, and in a timeless tradition, I rinsed it with the hose, rubbed off the prickles, and took a nice bite of cucumber! Nothing tastes quite as good as veggies (or fruit) right off the plant!

G and C both tried a bite, and H picked a tomato and leaf of basil for an impromptu caprese salad. If only we had a little mozzarella plant to go with!

When My Kids Amaze Me...

2009-02-21T07:53:00.004-06:00

I love experiencing those comments kids make that just make you swell up with parental pride. I got to experience one this morning.

G-Ram: "Daddy, do you know who my three best friends are?"
A-Rand (thinking): "Hm. Is this going to include Speckles?"
G-Ram: "Mommy..."
A-Rand (thinking): "Okay, that was a given"
G-Ram: "Speckles..."
A-Rand (thinking): "That was nice, but I wonder if CTR or I gets to rank as #3... or Pooch?"
G-Ram: "And God and Jesus."
A-Rand (thinking): "..... wow ....."
A-Rand: "That's so nice, G-Ram"

Yep, that's all I could muster in return. What an amazing kid.

Confessions of a Buffalo Wing Addict

2009-01-25T09:50:00.005-06:00

This somewhat facetiously titled post is about a topic near and dear to my heart - the almighty buffalo wing. I was first introduced to this culinary delicacy around a decade ago, I'd guess. From my first attack of a lightly breaded, dipped-in-sauce ounce-and-a-quarter piece of chicken, I was in love. Granted, at roughly 80 calories a wing, they aren't exactly healthy, especially when you tack some ranch or blue cheese dressing on top of that. But they are good. Oh so good, as I am certain more than a few of you can attest.

Over the years, I've enjoyed many varieties. Fast food wings. Appetizer wings. Boneless. Asian-style wings (alone or soaked in phở). I've even made my own, buffalo wings and buffalo shrimp, to the delight of friends and H-Rand. The hotter the sauce the better; I haven't yet found one I couldn't conquer. My love of the wing has even extended to my last-second victory in the Blazin' Challenge at Buffalo Wild Wings, as described by Wikipedia:

The "Blazin' Challenge" is offered at some locations to patrons who can finish 12 of the hottest wings offered (wings covered with Blazin' sauce) in less than 6 minutes. The rules are no drinking of any beverages, no eating other foods (such as ranch, bleu cheese, or celery), and no touching the face. Customers who complete the challenge are eligible to have their name and picture placed on the Blazin' Challenge wall and are given a "Blazin' Challenge" T shirt.

Yes, I have the T shirt.

So my confession is that lately... I haven't enjoyed a single buffalo wing. I've had wings at quite a few restaurants, including Buffalo Wild Wings, and even from the frozen section of the grocery - and I am just not enjoying them. To the point that I am actively considering my decade-long wing obsession may be over.

But I won't let this go without a fight. To the delight of H-Rand when she reads this, my last chance test will be on Super Bowl Sunday. I must admit the best wings I've ever had were the ones made at home. So next Sunday, while the Steelers and Cardinals battle for football supremacy, a dozen or so wings will wage the battle of their life; yes, a battle for the survival of one man's obsession with deep-fried chicken. I will be making wings at home; the last chance for a line of food to be deemed enjoyable.

Stay tuned for the results of this momentous occasion.

When I Said "Brrr"...

2009-01-15T05:06:00.001-06:00

I MEANT BRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Brrrr...

2009-01-14T21:00:00.002-06:00

Posts like this are being made all across the Internet tonight, at least from people near Rankeny. It is cold. Very. Very. Cold.

New Church

2009-01-02T20:37:00.004-06:00

*tap tap tap* Is this thing still on?

Yes, it is, and we realize we haven't updated anything in a while. There was a lot going on in December that kept us busy. In addition to our normal mish-mash of activity (work, kids, mom's groups), I had an MBA class - Global Business Strategy - that kept me extremely busy, as it was 3 hours on Friday night and 6.5 hours on Saturday for four weekends. In addition, there were a couple minor holidays you may have heard of that happened.

I think there are two new developments that I'd like to feature, but only one in this post. In the past few months, we've been introduced to a new church. As you can see from the logo on the right, it is Prairie Ridge Church, which is actually a church in the Reformed Church of America (RCA). Basically, it means it is protestant, which is what both of our families are and have been. RCA used to be part of the Dutch Reformed church, which is kind of a kick, because H-Rand is around 75% Dutch, which makes our kids just under 50% Dutch. Other than that, I don't think there is much meaning aside from the origin of the religion.

Anyhow, the past 3 or 4 months have been wonderful in terms of the change coming in to our life from the church. It is very Bible-oriented, and there are many young families that go there. The pastor is younger, maybe around 38, and is very well-spoken (that's him to the right, Mike Van Rees). I have had one opportunity to help with the kids, and likely will have more in 2009. There are also some small group and individual programs that H-Rand and I hope to take advantage of in 2009. The services are quite nice; modern music, Bible-based sermon, and opportunities to learn. And the kids enjoy it as well, given the time they get to play and maybe learn a little. It is a very rewarding experience and we are thankful for the friends who introduced us to this church.

Trick Or Treat

2008-11-03T16:16:00.005-06:00

We've had everything from the flu to colds circulating our house for the last week and half. Luckily we were sickness free for trick-or-treating last week. Our town doesn't have children trick-or-treat on Halloween itself, but rather the day before (for "safety reasons"). Because half of our family had the flu in the week before Halloween, we didn't really have time to carve pumpkins. Drawing on them with a black permanent marker was the best we could do, so here is a picture of our Halloween pumpkins. They were cute, but hopefully next year we'll be able to actually carve them!

Here are G-Ram and C-Man in the costumes right before we headed out. G-Ram chose to be a doctor this year, while C-Man made a very cute bumblebee. The weather was absolutely gorgeous for Halloween this year! I could not have dreamed of better weather and we took advantage of it by heading out as soon as Beggar's Night began.

We only went trick-or-treating for about an hour (half of the time available), but C-Man was getting tired and his pumpkin bucket was pretty full, as you can see in this picture. Here he sits down at the table to eat his first treat, a bag of pretzels.

Here G-Ram is holding his treat bag, showing off his collection of goodies.

Creepy Capers

2008-10-31T09:00:00.007-05:00

Catching you up on some Halloween fun...

Our town's parks and rec department puts on a fun night called "Creepy Capers" each year. I took G-Ram last year, but this year C-Man was old enough to join in the fun. Here are some pictures:

There are lots of games and activities for the kids at Creepy Capers. Here G-Ram gets wrapped up like a mummy.

Here he plays a game "Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin"

The boys also got to decorate cookies, roast marsmallows, and play "pumpkin bowling" among other things. They really had a great time!

The Apple Of My Eye

2008-10-10T15:00:00.004-05:00

A year ago we planted this little McIntosh apple tree in our backyard, with dreams of one day having a bounty of apples to eat, cook with, and share.

This is one of the apples I harvested from our tree this year. It looked perfect!

Here are the total results of our 2008 apple harvest. Only two apples, but I didn't think that was too bad considering the tree is only a year old. We ate one of them right away (the other still sitting on our counter). It probably could have used a bit more time on the tree, as it was a tad tart, but it was delicious nonetheless! We are looking forward to a larger harvest in future years.

Big Winner

2008-09-18T16:11:00.004-05:00

So back in August Casey's General Stores were celebrating their 40th anniversary. One afternoon late in August I was in our local store, filling the van up with gas and picking up a Mountain Dew, when I grabbed a form for their "Gas & More Giveaway." I brought it home, mailed it in, and thought nothing more of it. I figured "Why not? You can't win if you don't enter." never thinking I would actually win.

Well...I won! They drew 40 winners, and I received a call recently letting me know that I was one of the winners! I was absolutely stunned! I've had decent luck at winning things now and then, but on a much smaller scale (tickets to concerts, hand lotion, etc). This prize package is by far the biggest and best thing I've ever won.

I won:

A TracFone and 1440 minutes airtime (I've currently got this listed on CraigsList...anyone interested? I'm very happy with my current phone & service, so I don't feel like changing it.)
52 dozen donuts
26 one-topping pizzas
26 12-packs of Pepsi products
and best of all....gift cards totaling $2500 for gas (or whatever else I would want from Casey's)

This has been so exciting, especially for the gas money! What we'll be able to save in gas money alone will be such a big help to our budget! Yahoo! The food related gift cards don't expire, so we'll be able to take our time using those, and the store (gas $) gift cards expire in a year, so we should be set for quite a while!

Here I am holding my winnings (well, everything but the phone and airtime cards). It was really crazy to open the package and see the stacks of gift cards. Hooray for me!

Happy 5th Birthday!

2008-09-16T20:54:00.005-05:00

G-ram celebrated his 5th birthday earlier this month, so I thought I would share just a few of the pictures we took. On the actual day of his birthday, we celebrated with just those of us in his immediate family. Our family birthday tradition has been that the birthday person gets to choose where to go for dinner and then we hit up an ice cream shop for dessert. G-ram chose to go to a local pizzeria for his current favorite pizza (pepperoni and canadian bacon). Afterwards we went to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. Prior to all of this though was the opening of the presents, of course! G-ram could hardly wait for A-Rand to get home so that he could open his gifts. His present from mommy, daddy, and C-man was a drum set. Here he is trying them out:

His birthday party was several days later, as his birthday fell mid-week this year. He really wanted a stop light cake (as he's been fascinated with stop lights for several months now) and from that his party evolved into a road construction theme. His stop light cake looked (and tasted) great. We had a dump truck pinata, and cone cups for favors, and cone party hats. They were so cute! This party theme was particularly funny (at least to me!) because G-rams good friends are mostly girls! So other than G-ram and C-man, the (kid) party guests were all girls, but at this age, the kids don't really seem to care if it's catered more to one gender than the other. They like to play with all kinds of toys, which is especially nice for playdates.

Here is a picture of G-ram getting some assistance from his grandpa opening his juice just before we sang "Happy Birthday" and cut his cake.

Soccer

2008-09-16T20:35:00.007-05:00

G-ram started playing soccer this fall. Last fall he did a small soccer program through the local parks and rec department, but this fall we signed him up for the local soccer club. He has been quite the busy boy between daily kinder-prep (which is a pre-k program, every day for 1/2 a day) and soccer. He has practices on Thursday night, games on Saturdays, and optional extra practices on Monday nights. Whew! He is absolutely loving it though, so I don't mind the driving about. I am truly a "soccer mom" now! Here is a picture of G-ram heading out to his first practice, and below are pictures from his first game.

May-To-To!!!

2008-08-31T17:16:00.005-05:00

I went over to my parents' town yesterday to have lunch with a friend from high school. After lunch, I stopped by my parents' house, where I picked up a bounty of tomatoes, basil, and a couple other veggies. Good visit. :)

Fast-forward to last night; we were working on making BBQ chicken for supper, and CTR is sitting at the table in his booster seat. He was fascinated by the vegetables, checking out the tomatoes and eggplant, especially. He first called them apples, which was cute, but we did correct him: "No, CTR, it's a tomato."

Here was his response:

Fun at Grandparents, Part Deux (Basically, The End)

2008-08-21T22:19:00.003-05:00

So I just realized that we really don't have any pictures from this. The kids' aunt, Honeybee, posted some photos over at her site, and I'm sure my dad took a few pictures, but we forgot our camera! And yes, we have cameras on our cell phones, but we didn't think! It's funny; we've gotten to the point where technology is so much around us that we don't even consider it at times. So I don't really have anything to say here, except that there is nothing to see here!

Fun at Grandparents, Part 1

2008-08-17T20:16:00.003-05:00

So this weekend CTR, G-Ram, H and I piled into the van for a trip over to my parents for their anniversary. My brother, tillerman, and sister-in-law, Honeybee, drove over from Boston, along with their dog.

I'm labelling this part one because there should be at least one more post to follow. H is better with pictures than I, but neither of us got any, due to forgetting the camera back in Rankeny. So instead we're hoping to get pictures from Honeybee or my dad.

But, I can tell you about some of the better parts of the weekend. First has to be the conversation we had with G-Ram tonight. After CTR went to bed tonight (back at the homestead), H and I snuggled up with G-Ram for a few minutes. We asked if he enjoyed this weekend and his day today. He did, so we asked for the best part:
"Probably making price tags!"

This refers to when my mom and Honeybee made price tags with him for his Super Target. They sat at the kitchen table and cut out shapes and wrote tags for his items, which he brought home in a little plastic bag. Honeybee proved especially adept at cutting shapes (carts, cars, etc.) in minute detail. My mom additionally contributed a couple cookies which served to enhance the experience for G-Ram.

Another part he liked was playing baseball with my dad, tillerman, and me. We went out front and got the wiffle ball and bat out for some ball. We all traded positions around, but it amounted to a pitcher, batter, catcher and a fielder/watcher. I'll tell you, that G-Ram can hit and throw the ball pretty well. Our nearly daily practice is paying off. And yes, we only practice when he asked, I don't push him. :)

Pooch and the Boston dog played well together. It was hilarious to see them run around the backyard. Pooch was definitely more timid than his New England counterpart, who was intent on exploring every part of my parents' backyard. Including, incidentally, a dip in the goldfish pond.

Anyhow, this is pretty high-level, but I thought I'd fill you in on our weekend. Hopefully we can get more details, pictures, or stories and share more soon!

Shopping for Fun

2008-08-11T15:20:00.006-05:00

G-Ram is so creative, sometimes it astounds me. He has been working for about a week now on making his own Super Target. Yes, that's right, he's creating his own version of Mommy's favorite store right in his bedroom. He has been carefully selecting items and displaying them for sale in his room. This comes complete with a "Super Target" sign as well as an open/closed sign.

He's has been carefully cutting construction paper into tiny price tags, and marking them appropriately. You should note that in the picture below he has even demonstrated how the magna doodle works by writing "golf practice at 7:00." He has put an incredible amount of thought into this project.

Note the "on sale" sign he created here...

And the "clearance" sign here...

I added this picture in because he is also selling water bottles and paper towels, because "Target sells those too , Mommy." He asks me every day to check the recycle bins for empty water bottles so he can add them to his store because "Target has lots of waters for sale, and I don't have enough." He takes any empties he finds and fills them up in the bathroom and then makes price tags for each.

It is so cute! His latest project is to get some sort of shelving unit that he can display his items on because lining them up on his toy box is just not good enough. In G-Ram's eyes, it doesn't look enough like a proper store unless his stuff is displayed on shelving.

I find it really incredible how active his imagination is and how detailed his creative endeavors can be. He puts a lot of thought into whatever he creates and its absolutely amazing. It is truly fascinating to watch a child create, imagine, and grow.

A Weekend Away

2008-07-29T08:17:00.003-05:00

Last weekend I took my first weekend trip away, something I've never done in the entire length of G-Ram's life (which is nearly 5 year's now!). Three of my friends and I took a trip to a nearby bed & breakfast, called PJ's & Pigtails, which caters to scrapbookers and crafters.

I must say it felt strange at first to be spending an entire weekend away from my family, but I really had a great time! The two ladies who run the place (a mother and daughter duo) are fabulous. They are so much fun, and great story-tellers. They really try to make you feel pampered and catered-to, trying to make your experience there as wonderful as possible. And they are fantastic cooks! The food there was absolutely incredible, and we more than once tried to convince them that they needed to put out a cookbook! I think we would have all purchased one! They even took care of journaling our stay there in photographs, which was a nice break. That way none of had to feel like the photographer, trying to document our stay and our fun. We are all planning now to use those pictures to make a a mini scrapbook of our weekend there.

I had a really great time, enjoyed spending time with my friends, and got a lot of scrapbooking done (33 pages in all!). We are definitely planning a return trip for next year.

Looking Up

2008-07-17T09:48:00.004-05:00

The boys and I took a trip last weekend to see my parents while A-Rand was away visiting a friend. After dinner, G-ram requested we walk up to the park (it's only a block away). It was an absolutely beautiful day (not too hot, no humidity, soft breeze...blissful!). I got some great pictures of C-man on this car play structure. I stood on top and had him look up at me...I thought it would be an interesting angle for a picture and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I'm not a great photographer, but I enjoy playing around with my camera. Every now and then I get some good shots that I'm really proud of...

Singing In The Rain

2008-07-01T21:02:00.003-05:00

I took these pictures of G-Ram one day last week when we had some rain. G-Ram was wanting to take his umbrella out and play in the rain. I figured "why not?" and sent him on out. The rain was light at that point and there were plenty of puddles to be found in our yard and a lot of fun to be had. G-Ram loves his umbrella. He gets very excited when we have to go out on rainy days because that means he gets to use his really cool monster umbrella. On this day, after coming in and getting dried off, G-Ram states "Mommy, I was walking around the swingset and splashing in the puddles and singing songs!" He had a great time out there and truly was "Singing in the Rain!"

Busy, Busy,Busy!

2008-06-21T07:45:00.010-05:00

Our summer break has been off to a busy start (which our lack of blogging has been a testament to!). Here are some pictures to catch you up on what we've been doing.

G-ram did "Preschool Swimming" lessons at the local pool...

G-ram has been doing "Blast Ball" through the local parks and rec department on Saturdays...
And G-ram participated in a "Mini Tennis" clinic...

The boys play outside now that the weather is nice...

And I took the boys to a nearby berry farm to pick fresh strawberries. Yum!

Fun Fun Fun at the Supper Time!

2008-06-02T18:35:00.004-05:00

When G-Ram was first learning to eat, we had problems getting him to eat the main course. Chicken, pork, beef - nothing was working. So we incorporated various dips (ranch, ketchup, BBQ sauce, etc.) in to the meal, and I came up with a sing-song rhyme, "Fork. Dip. Mouth." to make it fun. It worked, and so we've incorporated it with CTR as well.

Today, we grilled some marinated chicken, and while eating, H and I simultaneously became aware of a little voice singing "Fork. Dip. Mouth." It wasn't quite clear, but it was clearly the same rhyme. So naturally, I grabbed the camera...

My First 3.1 Miles

2008-06-01T17:04:00.006-05:00

So what is significant about 3.1 miles? It equals 5 kilometers. And yesterday, I ran my first 5K race. Ever.

I was inspired by H's brother, who started running about 1.5 years ago and has made amazing progress (he ran the 20K, almost 12.5 miles, in the same race). So I started running. Progress was slow at first, but from that first 14 minute/mile pace I had, I've been steadily improving, both distance and pace.

So early this year, I made up my mind to run some races. The natural place to start is the 5K. Few notes about accomplishing this goal (or really, any goal).

1) Tell people about it - the more people you tell, the more people that will remind you, the more you'll stick to it.

2) Involve someone else - As I told people about it, my friend DG indicated he had some interest, so he trained with me and ran it as well. I'll tell you, if not for him, I wouldn't have trained as well - he pushed me almost every time we ran. And it paid off.

3) Celebrate! - My boss has a saying about this that I can't quite remember, but it has to do with the fact that we are becoming a more and more negative world. So when something good happens, recognize it; vocalize it; appreciate it; celebrate it!

We did point three with the Photographer Family and DG. The Photo Fam hosted an impromptu barbeque last night, which was a great time. Great weather, good food, and time with some special people in our lives. The weather was perfect and we ate, talked, and just sat there simply enjoying a wonderful Iowa spring night.

So the nitty-gritty is that I ran 5 kilometers in 27 minutes, 41 seconds - an 8:55 per mile pace (faster than any of our practice runs). That was good for 300th place out of 746 males (2,021 runners total, I finished 428th overall). I finished 42nd out of 107 runners in the Men's 30-34 age group.

I'm celebrating again tonight with a T-Bone (I haven't had one since the Wednesday before our wedding). Meanwhile, plans have been hatched for another 5K, a 10K (possibly), and a 5-person marathon relay. Never would've guessed it since I hadn't run (or really done a lot of exercise) in the last 15 or so years, but I am really digging it. The side benefit (losing 30 pounds) doesn't hurt either! :)

All In Good Fun

2008-05-27T20:44:00.009-05:00

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. We had some friends over Sunday for a BBQ and had a great time. G-ram had a some allergy-related issues (more on that another day) but otherwise all went off without a hitch. We were worried that it would rain, but the rain held off until after dinner, giving both kids and adults alike some much needed relaxation outdoors.

Once the rain started, we all headed indoors. Many of the kids headed upstairs to play, leaving the adults to gather and enjoy the evening. We started out playing a bit of "Scene It" on the XBox 360 which is a game I really enjoy. I like watching movies and this game is a good outlet for all that great movie trivia and knowledge stored in my head. Unfortunately, it also highlights my need to expand into other movie genres. I tend to stick to "chick flicks," dramas, and suspense movies with the occasional comedy thrown in so my knowledge on many other movie types is sadly lacking. A-Rand and I were not winners, but had a lot of fun losing!

We then moved on to playing the game "Rock Band" (thanks to some kind friends for bringing it over!). For those of you unfamiliar with the game, each person takes control of a part of a music band (lead guitar, base guitar, drums, and vocals) so that you play along, forming a "band." It really is quite a lot of fun (especially when you've enjoyed a margarita or two!).

If you're going to hang out and have fun with friends, you might as well go all out and just do it. I am normally one who shies away from a game like this. I don't feel that I am very musically inclined, but once you play it you realize you don't need to have musical talent to play, just a willingness to have fun, an ability to follow a beat and some hand-eye coordination. I will happily admit that I tried out all of the band parts but was least comfortable on the drum set (it's harder than it seems!). I even sang (which I wouldn't have done without the margaritas because I am NO singer, but hey, it was a Bon Jovi song and we all know they're my favorite band ever!). As my friend Sam put it, "if you can't have fun and make a fool of yourself in front of friends, then who can you do it in front of?" I thought that was well put. So in the spirit of that good fun, I thought I'd go ahead and share a few pictures and video of our "talents." Many apologies for the bad video quality (especially on the last one) but they were taken on my camera and in poor lighting. I did promise I would post these though, so here you go! ;)

Our own little Buffett

2008-05-26T10:15:00.001-05:00

I think G-Ram might be a budding Warren Buffett. Or something like that, anyhow. This morning, as we're enjoying the day off and having coffee, he comes in from the living room. Looks at us. And says: "Can I have some money please?"

I looked at H and asked, "Did he just say what I think he said?"

And sure enough, the little guy (or "big guy" as he would say) wanted to add to his piggy bank.

(For the record, yes, H gave him some change)

P to the B

2008-05-20T07:52:00.000-05:00

Last night I had the great pleasure of stopping by Old Chicago to pick up pizza for the family. Since we were only getting one, the type defaults to the G-Ram Special, a.k.a. one large pepperoni pizza, please. We are blessed with three great pizza places here: Wig & Pen, Leaning Tower and Old Chicago, so we try to spread out our pizza budget across all three.

So when I brought the pizza home - as previously described - G-Ram was quite ecstatic to indulge. I think pizza would probably top then Rankeny Life poll of favorite foods.

However, the best moment was right after that. CTR is still working on his ever-expanding vocabulary (see also the Bacon = B incident). So once he realized I brought pizza home, we found that he had a new word.

You guessed it, he found out there was pizza in the room and darted to his chair, his little voice saying with great gusto: "P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"