BenSpark Family Adventures

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02552 Today was Allison's birthday. We celebrated by going to the Colonel Blackinton Inn for dinner. Dinner was taken care of by a Christmas gift card and another gift card that Allison received from school. We had an excellent meal. Andy got adventurous and then realized that they really did not like spinach. Allison got her favorite which was butternut squash ravioli. Eva went with chicken parm and I went with the Wedge salad and short ribs and asparagus. Both Allison and Andy also had French Onion soup. We were seated in one of the small rooms in the back and hard it mostly to ourselves. It was a lovely dinner with good conversation and a chance to celebrate Allison. When we came home we had some cake that was left over from Allison's birthday celebration last night with friend and also some cupcakes that Andy baked last night. It was a nice time.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02551 I've been back on the virta eating plan this past week and I've been seeing some ads for baking cheese. This is cheese that you bake in the oven or air fryer and cut to be like Mozzarella sticks. No carbs so this is great for me. I got a block o the cheese at the store today and baked it for andy and me to try tonight. I got some marinara sauce to go with it. It was really tasty stuff. I'd go for getting it again and next time cut it in half for myself and cover with pepperoni. It is like pizza without the crust.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02550 The other day Andy asked me to order them some glass bottles and some mica powder because they wanted to make potion bottles. Andy also has a wax stamping kit and has been using the two together to make potions. These will most likely be used as props for some D&D sessions that andy is going to have with friends.  Andy tends to have hyper focus on these types of projects and then moves on to the next things soon. However, Andy has been pretty dedicated to making fun things for their D&D campaign. I saw a great little notebook for D&D that keeps all the character information in one place. I bought 4 of them for Andy's campaign that they've been doing with their friends. If it makes the kid happy and is offline, doesn't hurt anyone then I'm going to go over the top to support their endeavors.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02549 I've been working on getting back on virta and eating as I had been prior to the holidays. I'd been indulging too much and it was being reflected in my numbers. Specifically my blood sugar numbers. so, this week I was back making eggs for breakfast instead of a granola bar and a special soup for lunch. It is really easy and very tasty, not to mention inexpensive. It start with frozen cooked shrimp. I put 6 of them in a bowl of water to thaw. Then when it comes time to chop them I also chop up green onion and mushroom. I add that with a bouillon cube to a pat of butter, heavy whipping cream, and a spoonful of chili crisp. I them put water into the container that I seal up for 10-30 minutes depending upon what I am doing. When I want the soup I pour it into a bowl and microwave it for 2 minutes. When I got to eat it I ad a handful of chili-lime peanuts to the soup for a little extra to chew on. In this one I some bacon as well. I don't do that often but...

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02548 Andy was asked to be a part of a special band for the Attleboro Inauguration of the Mayor and city council. The band was made up of middle schoolers from the 3 city middle schools. It was great that Andy was asked to be a part of this. We went to see the Inauguration. The band played one song and it was very nice. The whole ceremony was good. I enjoyed it.  When we arrived we parked next to a woman that I used to train with at Krav. Her son is the kid right in front of Andy. He's going to be in 9th grade at the high school next year, too. He's also into culinary so that will be nice. I also found out that my friend used to work with the director of my play. Small world. The woman who is playing the mother in the play that I am in was there because her husband was being sworn in as a new school committee member at large. So we did not have rehearsal tonight. But going forward Tuesday and Thursday and Sunday will be our rehearsals.

Photo-A-Day 2.0 #02547 I bought some D&D dice a while back with a Lord of the Rings Eye or Sauron theme to them. I have been using them since the 1st because I have been playing a daily solo D&D style adventure. I bought two of these page a day calendars, one for me and one for andy. however, I gave mine to Eva because I also have the whole thing as .pdf files and so I can play the adventure from anywhere using the files rather than the physical items. Each day is a new part of the adventure. You are actually playing as a villain and there are 6 to choose from. For the first 3 weeks you try out two villains a week to get a feel for how you want to approach the adventure. I've been playing each villain each day to see where things go. You also have the option of creating your own original character. I may do that but I may just choose one of the pre-made ones to continue for the year.  I don't think either of the kid are going to be playing this afterall. Andy has severa...