Help! I need your advice...

We're going on a LONG trip soon.  Not horribly long, but 12 hours in the car.  When Jason & Rebekah were little and we would go on long trips I would pack a "grab bag" of presents to help pass the time.  Every hour or hour and a half they would get a little something from the grab bag.  The items were much anticipated and much enjoyed--small stuffed animals, card games, magazines, bubbles, all kinds of things.  It got a little out of control as such things plus me are want to do, but it was enjoyed immensely, as you can imagine.

Well, now that we're about to embark on another long trip, I'd like to resurrect the grab bag, albeit in a more modest form.  I'm going to stretch the "waiting periods" to two hours, and the items aren't going to be quite so, well, expensive.

There's where I'm stuck.  I have no idea what might be fun to receive, is modest in cost, good for fun either in the car or on vacation, and won't just be useless clutter once we're back home.  I need 10 things per child, so a total of 30 items.  I can not use chewing gum, Julianna's not allowed to chew it with her braces so the rest of us stay away from it in a show of solidarity as well.  I've learned in the past candy/snacks are okay, but not a great option because sometimes long trips can lead to upset stomachs, candy or fun snack foods don't help.  The girls are pretty set on nail polish and lip balm.  I'm really stuck.  If you have an awesome idea tucked away, please share.  I can use all the help I can get!

[Sidebar:  We recently were turned on to a wonderful new card game, Sleeping Queens.  I highly recommend it.  We all enjoy playing it, it goes fast, anyone can win.  It's awesome.  Anyone know of any other fun new card games?]

Summer...

School's Out
     Rebekah home
           Harry Potter Camp
               Dress Rehearsal
                    Piano Recital
                         Farmer's Markets
                              Sunshine
                                   Rain
                                        Hot! Hot! Hot!
                                             Unseasonably cold.  Brrr!
                                                  Perfect in-between
                                                       Ice cream
Judy Moody (bummer--get it?) movie
     Sleeping in (sort-of)
          Getting up early
               Not working (most of the time)
                    Eating Out
                         Cooking yummy favorites
                              Favorite songs
                                   Friends moving away :(
                                        Jason & Lori moving a street away
                                             House straightened (!!!)
                                                  Shopping (too much)  ;)
                                                       Palate expander off!!!
                                                            Lazy afternoons reading


Calm
     Peaceful
           Content
                Blessed
                     Happy

Hope your summer's going well too.
               

The End Is Near MP

No, I haven't suddenly jumped on the end of the world bandwagon.  The end of school is near.  I. am. so. excited!!!  It will be wonderful.  Three more days and then I get to claim time as our own again.  No more schedules, no more homework, just the loose, lazy, care-free days of summer.  Well, until next Monday when Jacob starts Harry Potter camp, piano recital, dance recital, VBS, swim lessons...never mind.  I'm just going to sit here in my own little world and fantasize about how care-free we'll be.  :)

On to the meal plan this week:
Monday (dance):  brats, german potato salad
Tuesday (piano, dance):  Beef w/Peppers and Rice Noodles
Wednesday (last day!!!):  Thai Lettuce wraps w/pork satay, Carrots, Bean Sprouts, and Lettuce Leaves, Sichuan green beans
Thursday (Rebekah home!!!): Chinese Chicken Salad--Basically, I'm tossing napa cabbage, romaine, carrots, snow peas, cilantro w/grilled chicken, fried wontons, and rice noodles w/Cheesecake factory's Chinese Plum dressing.  Yum!
Friday (girls' night, boys camping):  ??
Saturday lunch: Grilled Chicken salads
Saturday dinner:  Steak, twice-baked potatoes, baked mushrooms, salad
Sunday lunch:  Thai Pizza
Sunday dinner:  breakfast for dinner

Somewhere in here I need to make PW's BBQ bacon jalapenos.  We bought all the stuff to make them over Memorial Day weekend, but a day of grocery shopping, followed by the next day full-day power outage set aside a lot of our plans.  Alas, the jalapenos have been languishing in the crisper ever since.  Maybe they'll make our Monday a little more special today.

I just found out the family I make dinners for is needing to go gluten-free.  If you have any tips/recipes I'm all ears.

The Reveal

Remember our kitchen?  The help I requested?

Remember the yucky staining?


We thought we were going to wallpaper.

We even joked about chalkboard.

Image credit:  http://twistedphysics.typepad.com

I knew when we kept putting it off that we just hadn't found the right solution yet.

But now?  Now it's done.  And I love it.  And Mark loves it.  And Jacob loves it.  And Julianna loves it.  And hopefully Rebekah will love it when she comes home, and Jason & Lori when they see it and...you get the idea.  Most importantly though, we love it.

What did we do???

So much fun!