Thursday, March 26, 2009

Back to blogging

I've taken a noticeable break from blogging. It has been so long since I've blogged my mom called me to see if I died. Hi mom! I'm alive and well just busy and preoccupied with other things.

John celebrated his 10th birthday yesterday. After testing we had fourteen of us and we went to Islands for burgers and then to Cold Stone for a birthday cake. My friend Janet and her daughter joined us. We were all able to squeeze into a good sized corner booth, but it was a tight fit. John had three friends over to play for the afternoon and he was quite satisfied with that. After the big bday party I wasn't ready to host another party quite so soon.

Today Joe & I had an appt with River Valley Charter School. We're pretty sure he's going to go there in the fall for high school. It's a local public school that has more of a homestudy approach. They go to school two days a week and study the other days at home. They can go on Mondays if they need tutoring in math. It seems like a good fit for our family at this time. He needs more teacher time than I am able to give him.

I've been doing research on Ancestry.com. If any of you in the family would like access to the trees and info I've come up with you can email me at vikkigrieshaber@hughes.net and I'll invite you to add or look.

On my dad's dad's side this is what I have so far.

Me
Victor Nelson 1937-2001 & Merrilyn Morgan 1941-
Arthur James Nelson 1917- & Ellen Eileen Bradley 1918-1992 (Both came from Michigan)
Tony Ray Nelson (who went by Ray) 1893-1982 & Edith Stickney 1898-
Rufus Nelson 1852-1910 & Elizabeth Clark 1851-1929
Eli Nelson 1830-1883 & Matilda Livecy 1833-1879 (Both came from Ohio)
Sampson Nelson 1793-1830 & Ann "Nancy" Carnes 1793- (Both came from VA)


Gotta go, Idol's on!

Au Gratin Potatoes

Au Gratin Potatoes

4 cups peeled and thinly sliced potatoes
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

Cook and stir onion in butter in good-sized pot until onion is tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk and 1-1/2 cups cheese. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Place potatoes in your baking pan and pour the cheese sauce on the potatoes. Cook uncovered in 325* oven 1 hour 20 minutes or in 375* oven for 1 hour.

Mix remaining cheese and the bread crumbs; sprinkle over potatoes. Cook uncovered until top is brown and bubbly, 15-20 minutes longer.

This serves 6 and I triple the recipe to serve 18.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Bead up the nose

The girls received beading sets for their birthdays so they had made necklaces and bracelets. They made one for Adah and hers broke, no surprise. For some odd reason she thought her right nostril would look extra special with a pretty pink bead up it. James brought her to me and said, "I think Adah has a bead up her nose." Oh great. She sneezed and nothing. I put a whole container of pepper under her nose and nothing. I took her to the dr. and walah! A pretty pink bead was up her nose. Silly girl. None of my seven boys or one girl EVER put a bead or anything else up their nose. She takes after her father, he stuck a sunflower seed up his when he was little.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

James's 12th birthday

James celebrated his 12th birthday with a sleepover. He and his friends had a spectacular time!





Pictures of Abi Mulu and Addis's birthdays

These were on Thursday at the Red Sea Ethiopian Restaurant