PokeMommaMia!

Balsamic Chicken Recipe

2012-02-08T18:44:00.001-05:00

I made Balsamic Chicken tonight and it was a big hit with my family. I super simplified it- 6 chicken breasts, some shakes of italian seasoning, a can of diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar. Throw it all in the crockpot and cook all afternoon. My kids ate theirs over rice but I had mine over green beans and it was awesome! Plus it makes your house smell amazing!

Can I tell you the scale is stuck again for now nearly 2 weeks? Sucks. But I'm 10 down from where I started so that is the positive.

Cheating Vegan Way of Eating

2012-01-06T20:02:00.004-05:00

How funny that my last post was exactly a year ago on January 6.

Anyway, I'm doing a low carb thing currently. I am optimistic. I had a genetics test done that says my body will react to a low carb diet so let's see. That actually makes sense because the first time I did vegan I lost a ton of weight (I was eating as much vegetables as I wanted with only a cup of grains a day). The second time I was 'vegan' but added in potatoes, tortilla chips, etc, and didn't lose a dang thing. Which is frustrating when you are doing strict vegan!

I am sure it is hard for people to go from a regular diet to a low carb diet, but from since I've been trying to do vegan stuff off and on this seems downright decadent since I get to add dairy. So, let's call it a cheating vegan diet as my plan is still to eat as many vegetables and beans as possible (avoiding potatoes, most grains,tortillas and chips) but add in a little cheese, occasional eggs and occasional meat. I have stopped sugar for now. I am keeping my daily one or two diet ginger ale. My big splurge, yee haw.

I've been trying really hard to eat no less often than every 3 hours- It is working out that I need to plan every night what I will eat the next morning. I've been doing it for 5 6 days and so far so good. Actually, so far I've lost 5 pounds, so better than good. I'm using an online tracker to put the foods in and it tells me how I'm doing staying in my calorie range, as well as carbs, protein and fat. The first few days I was way under calories but hitting the protein and fat goals. I want to be way under the carbs and in the calories range, even if it makes me over on fat and protein (without being insane.)

6:30am breakfast: peanut butter toast on whole grain bread (it is what I want, so it is what I do. If I do oatmeal or eggs or anything else I am just not satisfied) But I've been eating 1 piece instead of my normal 2

9:30 snack: Has been greek yogurt or cottage cheese/pineapple

12pm lunch: BIG salad (2-3 cups of lettuce), and then maybe a little raspberry vinagrette, cranberries and almonds, or today I had no dressing and added a little taco meat

3pm snack: apple and cheese stick, pistachios or carrots/cucumbers with a little dressing or hummus

6pm dinner: one night was mac and cheese style cauliflower. one night was carrot soup and green beans, tonight was pork chop and roasted asparagus

Vegan New Year Day 4 Potato/Black Bean Veggie Burgers

2011-01-06T17:44:00.002-05:00

I made them for lunch and they were so good I made them again for dinner. Zac had 2 helpings. I'll post the original recipe first. It had some weird amounts (like it used 1 cup of corn which is 1/2 a can or 1/2 an onion. Then you have the other half to hang around)So just double the recipe to start with and you'll be all set! Also, they are very liquidy so I just squeezed it really good to get a lot of the moisture out. I got to use a new kitchen tool I have never used in my entire life- a potato masher! Hot cha!

They are a lot like fancy latkes. I ate them on a plate with a fork. Abby said she wished she had not added ketchup.

Potato Veggie Burgers (original recipe)
1 cup canned black beans
1 carrot, grated
1/2 onion, diced
3 potatoes, grated
4 scallions, chopped (I didn't have scallions, I left them out)
1 cup corn
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying
Mash beans. Add remaining ingredients (except oil) and mix until well combined. Shape mixture into patties, cook about 3 min on each side

Potato Veggie Burgers (doubled and tweaked)
1 can canned black beans (mashed)
1 onion diced
6 potatoes grated
1-2 carrots (or not) grated
1 can corn
Mix and shape into patties. Fry 5 min on each side, sprinkle with garlic salt

Vegan New Year Day 3 Scrambled Tofu

2011-01-05T10:58:00.004-05:00

This is from the book Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Surprisingly, I make it almost exactly as the recipe states (except I had no cumin). Serve on a baked potato with salsa. Yum! Abby likes this recipe and requested I make it

Scrambled Tofu
1T olive oil
1 med onion chopped
2 c mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 pound extra firm tofu, drained
1/4 c nutritional yeast
juice of 1/2 lemon
i carrot, grated (added at end for color)

spice blend:
2t cumin
1 t thyme
1 t paprika
1/2 t tumeric
1 t salt

Heat oil in skillet, saute onions 3 min; add mushrooms saute 5 min; add garlic saute 2 min. Add the spice blend, add 1/4 cup water, scrape the pan to get all spices.

Crumble in tofu and mix well. Don't crush tofu, just lift and mix around. Cook 15 min. Add water if necessary to keep from sticking. Add lemon juice. Add nutritional yeast and mix it up. Grate carrot into mixture and fold. Serve with guacamole and salsa and potatos and toast and tempeh bacon

Vegan New Year Day 2 Chilistrone Soup

2011-01-05T10:44:00.004-05:00

Ok, I tried this soup I found on the interwebs by googling 'vegan' and 'crock pot'. Then I didn't end up using a crock pot. You had to cook everything ahead of time anyway so I didn't see the benefit of dirtying a different pan.

They called it 'chilistrone' but my way was not too spicy at all. Also the liquid all absorbed into the noodles so it was more like a pasta dish than a soup. I didn't have all the spices individually so added Italian Seasoning and Garam Masala and called it good. The older kids ate it with motzarella cheese added and said it was good. The little ones wouldn't touch it.

The original recipe can be found HERE

Chilistrone Soup
2 cups dry macaroni cooked and drained
saute the veg in olive oil
onion
carrot
potato
green beans
add 1 tsp Italian seasoning
add 1 tsp Garam Masala
add jar of spaghetti sauce
add 1/2 jar water
add kidney beans
add a can of corn because it is sitting on the counter right there anyway
add pasta
cook about 10 minutes or more if you want to simmer the liquid away

It makes TONS. That is good or bad depending how much your family likes it

Vegan New Year Day 1 Indian Dal

2011-01-05T10:30:00.007-05:00

I will tell you that my vegan new year actually started on Jan 2. The first day of the year was spent with me sick with a sore throat and fever, mostly sleeping and wandering into the kitchen to see if anything grabbed me.

So, here is the first recipe I tried, which was vegan and also met the 'learn to cook Indian food' on my list

My ex-neighbor who is Indian kindly offered to teach me to cook 'Dal'. She called them lentils but the bag said "toor dal" and they look a lot like the yellow split peas I had bought awhile ago and didn't know what to do with. I'll post the recipe she showed me first and then my next day attempt to make it again.

Dal
cook 1/2 c yellow lentils about 40min, mush slightly with potato masher
in a pan on med heat in olive oil add:
mustard seeds & cumin seeds, cook until mustard 'pops'
curry leaves (4-5)
green chilis (2- one cut up and one visible for her picky kid to pick out, lol)
dice the following vegetables and saute for maybe 7 minutes:
onion, potato,green pepper,carrot,eggplant, green beans, tomato
add pinch of tumeric powder and 1/2tsp corriander powder (or garam masala)
add to dal, salt as needed
boil 5 minutes
add asian parsley (she called it corriander leaves or cilantro)

It was very good- I served it with rice and Zac and Abby liked it

So, the next day I tried it with my limited ingredients I had
cook yellow split peas 30 min
in pan saute onion, can of 'mixed veg' (inc green beans, carrots, peas) from food storage that is about to expire, also a can of potatos)
add garam masala
add to lentils
Pretty good, but it definitely needed SOMETHING- salt?

2011-01-02T19:11:00.004-05:00

Just a list.. some of these for 2011
Cozy Inn
Bermuda
Alaska
Hawaii
New York
Philadelphia
WashDC- Holocaust Museum
Baltimore aquarium
learn about water purification
food storage
hike AT through Maryland 40m
hike AT through Shenandoah 100m
hike Seneca Greenway Trail 16m
family history
spend night at Ros house
visit Uncle Allen
visit Uncle Gene
Sellers reunion
birding
Cape May
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Reading PA Sept-Nov
sailing- Tangier Island
horseshoe crab migration(May, June high tide full moon)
vegan diet
learn to cook Indian food (Dal Jan 2, 2011)
overnight to Shenandoah
date night 1x month
Cashtown Inn, PA $150
Gettysburg Ghost tour
Harpers Ferry Hilltop House
Harpers Ferry rafting
FallingWater (closed Wed $18)
letterboxing

2010-04-07T19:53:00.000-04:00

Made me laugh!

2010-03-30T10:01:00.001-04:00

We are doing a 'friends preschool' this year where we take turns hosting. This week we talked about frogs, and made this cute little frog puppet and had 'flies' (raisins) for a snack. At times Max is happier than others about friends preschool. Not sure why he was upset here

2010-03-30T09:59:00.001-04:00

We went over to Harpers Ferry so I could check out the bookstore at the Appalachian Trail Conference. Lots of planning for our September trip!

Happy Bday Zac!

2010-03-30T09:53:00.001-04:00

He always has these video game parties which run smoothly, so long as I keep the chips refilled.

Little Leprechaun

2010-03-30T09:51:00.003-04:00

I had put Zoe in this green shirt and brown pants, but then she picked the stripey socks and shoes with buckles. So cute!

AT- hut mileage

2010-03-25T07:46:00.001-04:00

I'm going to post some of my planning info so I have it all in one place.

SNP NORTH - PATC Map 9
10 Gravel Spring Hut
13 Pass Mountain Hut

SNP CENTRAL - PATC Map 10
4.4 NEW Byrds Nest#3 [Old Day Use Shelter, converted to Overnight Use]
10.9 Rock Spring Hut
12 Bearfence Hut

SNP SOUTH - PATC Map 11
12 Hightop Hut
8 Pinefield Hut
14 Blackrock Hut
13 Calf Mountain Shelter

Can you read this?

2010-03-20T20:31:00.001-04:00

Found this on the ATM this morning.. can you read it?

Did you read God is Nowhere?
or God is Now Here?

2010-03-17T11:11:00.001-04:00

The primary at church is studying the prophets and has had several men in the ward dress up like prophets- They were in the hallway waiting to go in to the primary room. The primary president was looking for a particular one. "Joseph Smith" was coming out of the restroom and she said "Is John the Baptist in there?" as he turned around to go back in and check, another man said "Check the font!"

Another mystery

2010-03-15T21:01:00.002-04:00

The hotdog buns were frozen so I put them on the counter to thaw. When I came back the ends were nibbled. This is what I found...

Happy Birthday, Zac!

2010-03-13T22:02:00.002-05:00

Zac had his party today- 10 friends, pizza, icecream, doritos,and 5 hours of video games. They played the 'thimble game' with a modification- splash your friend with the water right on the front of the pants so it looks like they wet their pants. Fun for all!

We were a little worried when we woke up to no power, but all turned out great.

Strange occurrence

2010-03-07T07:52:00.003-05:00

Sometimes the universe gives me messages.. I walked into my kitchen to discover this

What's Cooking In Sisters- January Edition

2010-03-03T12:02:00.003-05:00

STUFFED MUSHROOMS (PAGE 1 RECIPE 1) AND MONKEY BREAD (PAGE 57)

I thought it might be kind of fun to cook our way through the What's Cooking in Sister's cookbook that Margaret Richins had given me a long time ago. It has some funny recipes (How to Catch A Cowboy, page 98) and some old classics I already know (Strawberry Pretzel Salad page 31). Some of the recipes have funny comments (in a vegetable soup recipe the instructions include "to make this recipe low fat, add less bacon)

We started last night with the first recipe on the first page. One thing you will find about me is I never follow a recipe exactly. I either don't have all the ingredients or I think I can improve it somehow. I'll put the correct recipe first and then my variations to follow.

Italian Stuffed Mushrooms (Funghi Imbotitti) by Steve Prince
6tsp butter or margarine
1/2 C unseasoned bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 tsp onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. parsley, finely chopped
4 tsp parmesan cheese, grated
olive oil
24 fresh mushroom caps

Melt butter in pan. Add bread crumbs and garlic and mix. Transfer to a bowl. Add onion, parsley and cheese; mix. Fill mushroom caps.

Lightly oil bottom of a glass casserole dish. Put in filled mushroom caps. Bake in preheated 325 oven approx. 30 minutes. IF you have put too much oil in dish and they are oily place on paper towel before serving. Will serve 6 people 4 caps apiece.

Buon appetito!

(Emily's variations- I used Pam instead of olive oil and left out the parsley. I didn't do the transfer to a bowl and ended up with maybe 30 mushrooms since some were real small)

We thought this was pretty good! We served them at the New Year's Eve gathering at Brooks house last night. I do have a photo but my card reader isn't working right now so I'll post it later

Monkey Bread by Jackie Gerland
page 57 What's Cooking In Sisters cookbook

I'm not even going to post the real recipe. It was not a hit for me. It is a yeast bread and involves letting it rise twice. The dough was so sticky I couldn't roll it in sugar so kind of put little parts in the pan and sprinkled the cinnamon sugar on it. Results were not nearly sugary enough.

This is the tried and true recipe I've had a zillion times that is so much easier (compliments of the good folks over at Pillsbury)

2 cans refrigerated biscuits
1/2c sugar
1t cinnamon
1 c brown sugar
3/4 c butter or margarine, melted
1/2 c chopped walnuts and/or raisins if desired

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease a bundt pan with cooking spray. In large plastic bag mix white sugar and cinnamon. Cut biscuits into quarters, place in bag and shake to coat. Arrange in pan adding raisins and walnuts among biscuit pieces. In small bown, mix brown sugar and butter, pour over all. Bake 28- 32 mintues until golden brown. Cool in pan 10 minutes, turn upside down onto serving plate. Pull apart to serve; serve warm.

What's Cooking In Sisters- February Edition

2010-03-03T11:43:00.005-05:00

We had planned to get together the first Sunday in February and try recipes from the What's Cooking In Sisters Cookbook that Nick's grandma had given me years ago, but the Snowmagedden Twin Blizzards crushed that idea. We got 3 feet of snow in 5 days. Crazy! However, as I was snowed in with the ingredients and a lot of time on my hands I gave it a go. So here are the 2 recipes I tried: STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD (PAGE 31), AND SKILLET MAC & CHEESE (PAGE 53)

STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD (Nancy suggested 'salad' might be a stretch)

Layer 1:
2 1/2 C crushed pretzels (don't crush too finely)
3/4 C butter, melted
3 T sugar

Mix all intredients and put in the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Bake in preheated oven 400 for 8-10 minutes.

Layer 2:
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 C sugar
9 oz Cool Whip

Blend Cream cheese and sugar and fold in cool whip. Spread on cooled crust

Layer 3:
2 sm pkgs strawberry jello
2 C boiling water
2 pkgs (10 oz each) frozen strawberries

Dissolve jello in boiling water. Stir in frozen strawberries. When partially set, put over second layer. Refrigerate until set.

I've had this a zillion times at my moms house, but the addition of the frozen strawberries was new. I didn't like them- they were kind of a squishy texture, plus added quite a bit of expense. Leave out the strawberries and you'll be fine. And please serve as more of a dessert.

SKILLET MACARONI AND CHEESE
1/4 C butter
2 C uncooked elbow macaroni
1/2 C onion, chopped
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp oregano, dried
1/4 tsp dry mustard
2 C water
1 1/2 T flour
1 can evaporated milk
2 C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 T minced parsley, dried.

Turn electric skillet to 200 and melt butter. Add macaroni, onion, salt, pepper, oregano and dry mustard. Turn heat to 260 and cook, stirring occasionally for 5-7 minutes, or until onion looks clear. Add water and bring to a boil. Cover the mac and simmer at 200 for 6-12 minutes or until the mac is tender. Sprinkle flour over the mac mix and stir to mix well. Stir in the evap milk and shredded cheese. Simmer 5 min longer at 200 or until the cheese completely melts. Stir occasionally while it cooks. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. Serves 6.

First, I never put parsley in any recipe, ever. So I don't know if that adds anything or not. I didn't have dry mustard so used yellow mustard,and I threw in about twice what it asked for (I figured, heck! I like mustard!). That did make it have a mustardy flavor which wasnt' bad, but was there. And I think the sharp cheddar made it too zippy- I'd go more mild next time. I didn't have oregano so used italian seasonings.

Be aware this might be best served on paper plates as it hardens into a cementy glue that is impossible to remove unless it is severely scraped. I didn't have a electric skillet so just used a frying pan on top of the stove. We thought it was ok on a snowy afternoon.

Obama-Rama

2010-03-03T11:40:00.001-05:00

Zac's scout group had a chance to go bowling at the White House bowling alley- pretty cool

Ice! exhibit in DC

2010-01-03T09:01:00.003-05:00

We had plans with Ros to visit National Harbor. It is a newish area with lots of shops including a Peeps! store. This is where they moved the Awakening statue. It was so freezing cold with a biting wind. The original intention had been to iceskate but we couldn't be outside for more than a few minutes. Zoe refused to wear any kind of hat. We will go back when it is not so frigid.

Our main destination was the Gaylord Convention Center with its decorations and inside snowfall and the Ice! Exhibit. The kids really enjoyed this. I would have enjoyed it more if Zoe wasn't so insistent on wandering and running everywhere. It took 3 grown ups and 2 oldish kids to take turns keeping an eye on her. I may break down and buy a leash for this one.

We were jokingly calling it an icecube exhibit (do you think they will have both round AND square cubes??) but it was really neat. Lots to see including a gorgeous angel and nativity scene. The kids' favorite were the iceslides. Max went down several times and even Zoe took a turn.

Afterwards we went drove to the DC waterfront area to Jenny's restaurant for chinese food. This is always a safe bet and they did not disappoint. Even Max and Zoe will eat chinese food- who knew? I tried the Kung Pao tofu and it was pretty darn good.

Lots of fun! A good day spent with some of my favorite people.

Word of the Year- Active

2010-01-03T07:37:00.002-05:00

So.. a few folks have asked me what my word of the year is. I've been thinking on it. I want something that inspires me, I want something that motivates me. I want to get going on my many projects. I want to be healthier, I want to lose 15 pounds. I want to walk a 50 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail this year. I want to be organized, I want to be involved with my kids and their schools.

So.. I've been tossing it around and I'm going to pick ACTIVE.

from thesaurus.com (I'm combining two entries from there)
Main Entry: active
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: having movement
Synonyms: agile, alert, alive, animated, astir, at work, bold, brisk, bustling, busy, chipper, daring, dashing, determined, diligent, dynamic, eager, effective, efficacious, energetic, engaged, enlivened, enterprising, enthusiastic, eventful, exertive, fireball, flowing, forceful, fresh, frisky, functioning, going, hard-working, high-spirited, impelling, industrious, in force, in play, in process, inventive, keen, lively, mobile, movable, moving, nimble, on the move, operating, operative, perky, persevering, progressive, purposeful, pushing, quick, rapid, ready, resolute, rolling, running, sharp, simmering, speeding, speedy, sprightly, spry, streaming, swarming, traveling, turning, walking, whiz, working, zealous

Don't I want to be that person?

Here is my pep talk in my head:
Get moving!
Get going!
Go do something good today!

Does anyone else find it ironic that it took me a few days to do this?

peace!
emily

Here's a Tip for Husbands

2010-01-01T09:48:00.001-05:00

If your wife really doesn't like to cook so much and has just spent the last 5 hours making a 'from scratch' soup including cooking dry beans, roasting garlic, pureeing in the blender and dirtying pretty much every pan in the house DO NOT walk in an immediately say "What's this goo?"

Just sayin

Italian Stuffed Mushrooms

2010-01-01T09:33:00.003-05:00

I thought it might be kind of fun to cook our way through the What's Cooking in Sister's cookbook that Margaret Richins had given me a long time ago. It has some funny recipes (How to Catch A Cowboy, page 98) and some old classics I already know (Strawberry Pretzel Salad page 31). Some of the recipes have funny comments (in a vegetable soup recipe the instructions include "to make this recipe low fat, add less bacon)

We started last night with the first recipe on the first page. One thing you will find about me is I never follow a recipe exactly. I either don't have all the ingredients or I think I can improve it somehow. I'll put the correct recipe first and then my variations to follow.

Italian Stuffed Mushrooms (Funghi Imbotitti) by Steve Prince
6tsp butter or margarine
1/2 C unseasoned bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 tsp onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. parsley, finely chopped
4 tsp parmesan cheese, grated
olive oil
24 fresh mushroom caps

Melt butter in pan. Add bread crumbs and garlic and mix. Transfer to a bowl. Add onion, parsley and cheese; mix. Fill mushroom caps.

Lightly oil bottom of a glass casserole dish. Put in filled mushroom caps. Bake in preheated 325 oven approx. 30 minutes. IF you have put too much oil in dish and they are oily place on paper towel before serving. Will serve 6 people 4 caps apiece.

Buon appetito!

(Emily's variations- I used Pam instead of olive oil and left out the parsley. I didn't do the transfer to a bowl and ended up with maybe 30 mushrooms since some were real small)

We thought this was pretty good! We served them at the New Year's Eve gathering at Brooks house last night. I do have a photo but my card reader isn't working right now so I'll post it later

Monkey Bread

2010-01-01T09:33:00.002-05:00

Monkey Bread by Jackie Gerland
page 57 What's Cooking In Sisters cookbook

I'm not even going to post the real recipe. It was not a hit for me. It is a yeast bread and involves letting it rise twice. The dough was so sticky I couldn't roll it in sugar so kind of put little parts in the pan and sprinkled the cinnamon sugar on it. Results were not nearly sugary enough.

This is the tried and true recipe I've had a zillion times that is so much easier (compliments of the good folks over at Pillsbury)

2 cans refrigerated biscuits
1/2c sugar
1t cinnamon
1 c brown sugar
3/4 c butter or margarine, melted
1/2 c chopped walnuts and/or raisins if desired

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease a bundt pan with cooking spray. In large plastic bag mix white sugar and cinnamon. Cut biscuits into quarters, place in bag and shake to coat. Arrange in pan adding raisins and walnuts among biscuit pieces. In small bown, mix brown sugar and butter, pour over all. Bake 28- 32 mintues until golden brown. Cool in pan 10 minutes, turn upside down onto serving plate. Pull apart to serve; serve warm.

Spontaneous House Remodel

2010-01-01T08:55:00.003-05:00

In September we came home from church to find a pipe had broken in the upstairs shower and our living room ceiling had fallen to the floor with water pouring out. We had driven separately so I was not present when Nick walked in on that scene. He may or may not have said a few bad words- first hand accounts vary.

After several hours with a wet-vac we called insurance. They sent a water restoration team immediately within an hour. These photos are after they were done with their part of the process (5 days to dry it out and pack out all our items)and when the contractor first got going.

We spent 6 weeks in a hotel and another 2 at my mom's house. There we got to celebrate Max, Abby and Nick's birthdays as well as Halloween. We still speak fondly of Maria who was the woman in charge of the complimentary breakfast buffet every day and the happy hour appetizers M-Th.

We finally arrived home to piles and piles of boxes to be unpacked and everything covered in dust. We had a little bit of identity crisis as we were unsure quite how to spell our name- variations include Willberb, Wilbert, Wilbury, Wilbub

Our spontaneous renovation included:
new flooring in all bathrooms
new carpet upstairs and down
new drywall main floor and basement

A few extra surprises were:
new roof when we figured out it was rotten in the skylight installation
new wiring throughout (several areas damaged by rodents chewing
new fusebox as it was discovered a plant growth throughout the breaker box

Very few of our items were damaged but we did get a new couch. Note the fashionable 'Belva' placement of our table behind the couch. Nick added a few leaves to make the table larger.

Our basement is still packed with boxes to be opened and I need my father-in-law to come for a week or two to finish up some final touches that were left undone when our contractor ran out of money- mostly plaster and paint touch ups. Replace the broken shower head in the basement. Hang new curtains & rod since the workers thought it would be a good idea to put ours out on the deck for the 6 week process. I have a list.

Final cost (close as I can estimate) is
contractor 27K
water restoration 10K
hotel 2K
new pipes, wiring 5K
damaged household items 2K
grand total of: approx 46K

Insurance covered most of it- I can highly recommend USAA

Happy Birthday, Zoe!

2009-08-04T06:05:00.001-04:00

One year old already! We sure love this little girl. She is very spunky and funny.

Video Game Camper

2009-07-13T08:46:00.002-04:00

Zac took a class on how to make video games. He has had the program at home for about a year and uses it quite a bit so he was maybe the most advanced in the class. The teacher had a competition and Zac's game won. Pretty cool

NYC

2009-07-13T08:44:00.002-04:00

We just got back from a weekend in NYC. I was presenting a workshop at Bereaved Parents of the USA at a hotel out in Queens.

We went to Coney Island on the way there and rode the Wonder Wheel and ate at Nathan's (hot dogs, corn dogs, and Nick had the frog legs). That Wonder Wheel is NOT just a ferris wheel- the cars slide and move around in the inside of the wheel- it is pretty scary!)

Yesterday on our way out of town we went into Manhattan for a bit. You will see the kids enthusiasm was higher and lower at some points (Nintendo World store and then we double parked while I stayed with the car and Nick made the kids go with him to look at the Statue of Liberty for a few minutes. Glad this sight inspires them to feel such patriotism)

Then we had some authentic french crepes from a street vendor. You can see the sign says they are tres bien.

I debated whether or not to put this graffiti up but I thought it was kind of interesting.

Baby Brawl

2009-06-30T20:01:00.003-04:00

2009-06-22T17:56:00.001-04:00

Virginia Beach

2009-06-22T17:36:00.002-04:00

Stayed at my brother's bed & breakfast on the way down and back from Virginia Beach- lots of yummy meals cooked by our hostess (thanks, Koryn!)and then interesting bedside snacks and reading material for when you get a little hungry in the middle of the night or have trouble sleeping. (just kidding! love you guys!)

We had a blast- Max had been talking about being buried in the sand, and he and Zoe were little celebrities waving at everyone on the front of that bike.

Other highlights not pictured- several weddings we saw at our hotel (Nick almost got to be in one as he was trying to go down to the beach and it was right when the mother of the bride was going down the path), the all you can eat sushi buffet, and our terrible meal at Croakers restaurant- what kind of restaurant doesnt' have highchairs? One frequented by lots of blue hairs (and us) eating at 5:30 pm to get the early bird specials.

Great vacation! We'd go again in a minute.

2009-06-17T08:43:00.002-04:00

It's been a big week for Zac- baseball playoffs and 5th grade graduation.

2009-06-12T12:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I bought a unicycle at a yard sale for $3. The kid sold it to me and his mom got really mad! She wanted $20. I went back and gave her $5 more because I didn't want him getting mad at him. Now Nick has been riding it all around our culdesac. No wonder the neighbors don't talk to us much. ha!

DeJa Vu All Over Again

2009-06-11T11:15:00.001-04:00

Zoe looks a lot like me as a baby

2009-06-11T10:49:00.001-04:00

Brookside Gardens Butterfly Exhibit

2009-06-08T17:20:00.001-04:00

Very hot, lots of field trip kids, but lots of fun. Max was scared of the butterflies at first, but then he kind of got into it. I had to laugh my mom had put on insect repellant before we went.

2009-06-08T17:19:00.003-04:00

2009-06-08T17:19:00.001-04:00

Some of the kids were better workers than others but we went before it got too hot and didn't stay too long. Part 2 tomorrow we are going to try our hand at making freezer jam.

Happy Mother's Day, everybodeee

2009-05-10T12:33:00.000-04:00

2009-04-20T20:24:00.001-04:00

Beautiful Blossoms

2009-04-16T15:04:00.002-04:00

As I was driving out and around this morning I was struck again by the beauty of these gorgeous trees in bloom. At the fact that these blossoms are here for such a short time, and then gone. So fragile and perfect.

I made an conscious effort to stop and really look at them. Appreciate them. To not take them for granted, because one good rain or wind and they will be gone. And as the petals slowly fall to the ground it looks as if they are weeping. Symbolic for how I usually feel this time of year. 3 weeks until Gabriel's Day.

When I got home I grabbed my camera and walked down to the end of the cul-de-sac. To these gorgeous trees with the brilliant blue sky in the background. I took several photos. And just stood there for a moment trying to appreciate that life is, for this minute, special and beautiful.

And then I became aware that I was standing in a pile of fresh dog do.

How's that grab you for irony?

Love this!

2009-04-14T19:28:00.002-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Don't ask me why- just watch it

You're in Town!

2009-04-14T16:05:00.002-04:00

The nearby high school is doing a production of "Urinetown" and Abby and Zac snicker every time we pass by their huge sign advertising it. It has led to a few funny discussions of "You're in Urinetown!" and similar comments

Yesterday, driving to church we passed that intersection and Max was the first one to comment and chimed in with 'We're in town, Mom!" which took me a minute but totally cracked me up

We're in town! You're in town! Urinetown!

Easter

2009-04-12T21:08:00.003-04:00

Max was so proud of his tie and wore it for about an hour before church. He kept going to look in the mirror. While we were sitting in church he suddenly looked down and said "Flowers? I do not like flowers!" and he took it off and threw it on the ground. I tried to tell him Zac's tie had flowers and he gave me a disgusted look and said "Those are circles."

I couldn't find a place where the light was good- either too sunshiney and squinty or shadowy.

DC in the Spring

2009-04-10T20:00:00.006-04:00

We went downtown 2 times this week-Saturday Nick, Abby and Zac went with the Brooks down to see the cherry blossoms. It was WINDY and Max was very sick with pnemonia so I didn't go on that trip.

Thursday we met our good friend Ros Ridgway downtown to see the dinosaur bones and orchid exhibit- don't they look like something out of Little Shop of Horrors?

2009-04-10T18:32:00.003-04:00

Abby's been sewing during spring break- I think this character is from the Kirby video game. Now, can someone show me how to thread my bobbin? It would be easier to use the machine than handsew these. I told her she should start an etsy site.

Our very own Cakewreck

2009-04-10T18:30:00.001-04:00

Found this at Giant- I didn't have my camera with me, so I had to buy it, didn't I? The bug eye, the yellow pus colored icing, the claws- he's quite ferocious!

Our new family member

2009-03-31T16:16:00.002-04:00

Max and I bought a new fish yesterday. That is about as committed as I'm willing to go in the pet category. It is red, but Max says his name is "Blue" or "Yellow" depending who he is talking to on the phone.

We put him in his new home today- a vase with no lid. It occurred to me I needed to find a container with a lid but I'd rather not buy one and will switch it out when I find something (a pb jar?)

So, Max shared his chocolate milk with "Blue" today- I'll let you know how he recovers.

Are You My Mother soft book

2009-03-26T10:30:00.002-04:00

Laura had asked for interactive books on her blog- this is our favorite right now. Max and I read it over and over- the little bird gets to talk to the other characters. At the end he fits under his mom's wing and I get Max into a headlock and it dissolves to a tickle fight ;0)

I thought it was too much to spend on a kids book, but has proved to be one of our favorites. Grandma bought it for Max and he loves loves loves it

Preschool StoryTime: Frogs

2009-03-26T10:19:00.004-04:00

My little girl student is not here today- just 3 boys- so I'm skipping the craft. But we were going to make a frog puppet.

We read: Why Frogs are Wet by Judy Hawes and Keeping Minibeasts: Frogs by Watts. I had also planned to read Frog Prince

We played 'hopping frog' which is a lot like 'hot potato'. Use a frog stuffed animal and set a timer for 30 seconds (1 minute was too long) and then pass the frog around so you are not the one holding it when the timer goes off

We played 'leap frog' with me holding the hoppers hands so they didnt' hop on top of their friends. But their favorite part was just to put some pillows on the ground for 'lily pads' and then hop from one to the other. We have a few alligator stuffed animals nearby to be the crocodiles in the pond so the little frogs do not fall into the pond. They LOVED this and played for quite a long time

For snack we are going to have 'flies' (raisins)

Preschool StoryTime: Spring

2009-03-26T10:12:00.002-04:00

When the kids arrived, I had them keep their shoes and coats on and we went for a walk first thing looking for signs of spring. Here is what we found:

baby leaves on the trees
birds chirping and flying
some flowers poking up from my neighbor's yard

We also looked for:
frogs eggs in our backyard pond (not found)
baby animals (not found)

It was not a long walk- it was pretty chilly and damp.

We read a book about Spring and then talked about how it rains a lot in the spring and makes puddles and read Mud Puddle by Munch. Kind of a stretch, but that was the book I had at hand (and one of my favorites to read aloud.

We also looked at the book Sunshine Makes the Seasons and talked about how the earth rotates to make day and night, and then goes around the sun to make the seasons. I used an orange to show them how the earth rotates. They all looked at me blankly, so who knows how much they got out of that part.

We watercolored painted on muffin liners (they sell 2 sizes at Target that are white) and then when that was dry we put them together for flowers for our moms (smaller liner inside bigger liner to make the flower- glue them to a craft stick for the stem)

Our youngest reader

2009-03-12T16:45:00.002-04:00

Zoe squirmed her way over to the book pile- there was a particular Curious George book she was trying to get out.

Elves and the Shoemaker Preschool Storytime

2009-03-12T16:40:00.002-04:00

No photos for this one- sorry!

We read Elves and the Shoemaker. I had several different versions and we looked at the photos of each and talked about which elves we liked better.

We talked (briefly!) about the Brothers Grimm and their stories

I had a basket of different kinds of shoes (slippers, cowboy boots, tennis shoes, cleats, baby shoes, flippers)- we talked about why we wear shoes and then did a matching game.

We used our sewing skills to put fruit loops on string. (I had an actually little sewing project I got at the Michael's dollar section but I couldn't get it done with their short attention span and my baby needing held. Would be better as a one on one activity. Or when you are no holding a squirmy baby)

Could also do a shoe lacing activity or a shoe polishing activity

Jack and the Beanstalk Preschool Storytime

2009-03-10T18:49:00.002-04:00

We read Jack and the Beanstalk. I had several different versions and we looked at the pictures for each and talked about how some the giant looked more scary than others. We read one short version and one longer version. The kids helped say the Fee Fi Fo Fums

We talked about vocab words "giant, large, huge, enormous, big"

We sang "Once there was a beanstalk" (to the tune of Once there was a Snowman- if you don't know it ask any Mormon kid under the age of ten, lol)
Once there was a beanstalk, beanstalk, beanstalk
Once there was a beanstalk, tall tall tall
Jack cut it down, down down
Jack cut it down, small small small

We colored pictures of Jack and cut him out and put him on a little stick. We planted beans and put our Jack in the cup to await the beanstalk growing.

We did a color sorting graph with jelly beans- the kids really liked this activity

The Story of Ping Storytime/ Eggs Storytime

2009-02-23T19:43:00.004-05:00

We do our storytimes on Tues/Thurs from 9-11am.

The Tuesday storytime was The Story of Ping- about a little duck who lives on a boat on the Yangtze River in China. So we talked briefly about China. We also talked about consequences when you do something wrong (Ping is trying to avoid a punishment and hides so he gets left behind from his family)

We ate our snack (goldfish crackers) with chopsticks. (The Buzz Lightyear costume is optional, lol!) I rigged them so they are easy for little hands to manipulate- just put a little rolled up piece of paper and a rubberband.

You could do a science activity about what floats and bouyancy (one point a little boy falls in the water and floats because he is tied to a barrel). You could do a counting activity (was too advanced for my barely 3year olds with the attention span of a gnat) For an activity I had the outline of a duck and they snipped yellow paper with their scissors into 'feathers' and used their gluesticks to glue the feathers on their ducks.

For the Thursday storytime we talked about EGGS and what comes out of eggs- not just birds! We read Flap Your Wings (love this book!) and skimmed parts of Chicken's Aren't the Only Ones. We had a bunch of plastic (easter) eggs in the center of our circle and took turns opening them to see what kinds of animals 'hatched' from them (small pieces of paper with pictures on them: dinosaurs, insects, fish, octopus, lizards, snakes, birds, frogs)

Valentines Storytime

2009-02-23T19:27:00.004-05:00

My son is in a preschool storytime group and one of the moms did a crackerjack job the week of Valentines. This is what she said when I asked for more info about what they had done (it was two storytimes- Tue, Thurs 9-11am. Then on Thurs at 11 they took a field trip to the local retirement home to deliver Valentines to the residents and sing 'Skinamarink'

Skinamarinka dinky dink
Skinamarinka doo,
I love you

So cute! I also put a photo of the Valentine that her daughter handed out at their playgroup- a heartshaped lollypop with heart wings and a little face drawn on with a sharpie and little antennas.

She says:

The books I chose were placed on top of the bookshelves at the library by the librarian. I'm sure there are lots of valentine books available that may be cuter than what I used. I just worked with what I found.

On Tuesday we read two books. I don't remember the name of one of the them it was just generic about a class having a valentine's party and a girl giving valentine's to her family. The other was called "1,2,3 Valentine's Day" by Jeanne Modesitt. I really liked this one because there was counting, rhyming, and repetition. So the kids could chime in and say some of the words with me.

On Thursday we read "Secret Valentine" by Catherine Stock and "The Valentine Express" by Nancy Wallace. The Secret Valentine was shorter and more at the level of the boys' attention span (the boys are 3yo and very active), but the Valentine Express is a cuter book which Miriam (4 years old) really enjoyed. Both of them relate to making valentines for older people who may not get any valentines. This inspired the idea to make them for the people at Sunrise (retirement home).

Here are the directions that inspired the valentines hat.

Valentine Crown added 1-26-00 Original Author Unknown

Need: paper, tape, glue

Directions: Cut a 2" wide strip of red paper long enough to fit around your head. Tape or staple the ends together. Cut two more strips of paper, each 1" wide and 12" long. Fold one strip in half and make a 2" cut in the center. Glue that strip from one side of the headband to the other. Glue the second strip on so that the band is divided into quarters. Tuck and glue the center of the second strip into the cut of the first. Cut a heart and glue into the center. Decorate the crown with white and pink hearts.
The pipe cleaner heart was my own variation. And we used potatoes to stamp the hearts. You cut the potato in half, then push a heart cookie cutter down into it, trim away the outside, and then take off the cookie cutter. Dip it in paint and you have a fun and easy stamp.

For games we played "Hug, Hug, Kiss" (duck,duck, goose). It amazes me how this game never gets old to them!

We also played a bean bag toss. I cut out a big heart and put it on the floor and they took turns standing behind a line and throwing the bean bag, trying to land them on the heart.

Another game I wanted to play was stack the conversation hearts. I bought Sweettart hearts because I don't really like the flavor of conversation hearts, but it turns out that they are slightly rounded so it was impossible to stack more than two high. But I think if I had flat traditional conversation hearts, they would have stacked. I was going to give them each 30 seconds to see how tall of a tower they could make.

6x6x6

2009-02-23T14:51:00.004-05:00

Laura tagged me in this crazy thing you have to go to your photo file and pick the 6th folder and the 6th photo. This is mine. One of my many attempts to get a christmas photo two years ago.

Then I"m supposed to tag 6 people. I don't think 6 people read my blog. If you do, consider yourself tagged- post a photo and leave a comment.

February 8, 2009

2009-02-08T20:10:00.000-05:00

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

2009-02-05T18:30:00.004-05:00

These books are hilarious! My 10yo is reading them- he got the newest one (the green one) today as a reward for a great report card. I picked it up while waiting for my 3yo to play at the mall playarea, and it had me laughing. I was laughing out loud in several parts.

My kids tell me I am behind the times- they have a website you can read (that is slightly different than the books, but you get the general idea)

http://www.funbrain.com/journal/Journal.html?ThisJournalDay=1&ThisPage=1

This series is recommended for reluctant readers, boys, anyone obnoxious, OR anyone who knows a reluctant reader, a boy or anyone obnoxious

Three Bears Storytime

2009-01-29T18:59:00.002-05:00

We had our preschool storytime today- Sorry, I don't have any photos. But this is what we did

The kids brought their teddy bears from home. They held them while we listened to the story and then we put them in order from smallest to largest. We also talked about small, medium and large and sorted different items I had (balls, cars, socks, pokemon)

You can make a bear den from chairs and a blanket for your storytime.

Book: The Three Bears (I read the version from Tomie dePaola's Faborite Nursery Tales)
Snack: was going to be porridge (oatmeal) but then we had oatmeal cookies instead
Song/Poem: The Bear Went Over the Mountain and Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear
Activity: we made a bear mask

Interview

2009-01-27T06:43:00.005-05:00

Anjeny sent me some interview questions of deep dark secrets people want to know about me... well, not really. But she did send me a few questions. Here are the answers everyone wants to know:

1. This one is very simple...how long have you been married? 15 years! We met out at BYU dance. He asked me to dance. I thought "I hope he doesn't ask for my phone number" and then he didn't. Which made me mad. If you ask him what he remembers about that night he will tell you the refreshments they had: Hot Nachos. I know what you are thinking: What a romantic story!

2. If you and your husband were to suddenly able to go on a trip all by yourselves, where would you go and why? We have taken several trips by ourselves- last was a long weekend down to the Florida Keys. That was just about perfect- a lot of vacation relaxing for your travel buck. If we could pick one place to go right now it would probably be England/Scotland. We keep moving that trip to the back burner as it seems it should be easy to get to and do, but we haven't (yet)

3. What do you do to pamper yourself when you have an alone time/me moment? If you have any. Take a nap. What a rowdy wild woman I am.

4. If you win a million dollar, what would be the three top most things you would spend the money on? One- Pay off my credit cards and house. Two- Take a big family trip (everyone invited- siblings, cousins, etc) on a cruise around the world. Or Alaska. Three- Lasik eye surgery and a $500 haircut from Nick Arojo (the stylist from What Not to Wear)

5. I notice you have at least three blogs that you manage. With all the things you have to do as a mom/wife/daughter/sister/friend, how do you find time to get those blogs updated almost on a regular basis? I don't clean. Or cook. Or shower. and I neglect my kids. Now you know my time management secrets

6. What is the most embarrassing thing you can think to tell us about your sister, Swirl? I can't believe you'd ask me that! I don't think I should say. I know so many things.. Actually, I really can't think of anything. Except she has some funny stories. Like the time she and her friends were at a fast food restaurant and there was a sticky mousetrap under the table that got stuck to her friend's foot. And it had a mouse stuck on it. A live mouse. Probably the funniest thing was how she was such a nerd when she got home from her mission and she had a hard transition back to normal life. But I don't know any good embarrassing stories about her. She knows way more about me, I'm sure.

Now, here are the rules to pass it on:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions, so make sure you
leave me your email address. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others
in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

At least one person was listening..

2009-01-25T13:01:00.002-05:00

This was our conversation on Wednesday

Max: You were on the stage!
Me: What the??
Max: At church you were up on the stage!
Me: Yes, that's right! I gave a talk at church and went up on the stage. Do you know what I talked about?
Max: Ghosts!

He's right! My talk was on the Holy Ghost. I bet if I asked Abby or Zac they would not even know that.

Way to go, Max!

Two Of My Favorites

2009-01-07T16:06:00.002-05:00

Favorite books

2009-01-02T12:01:00.002-05:00

I was told I wasn't following the rules for this boys bookclub round up thing AHEM! Sorry!

My son has always been a lukewarm reader. He reads, but stuff like Calvin and Hobbs or Garfield. He has to set a timer and read 20 minutes a day, but it seems he can never find the book he was reading from the day before so he always had partially finished books lying around and one is as good as another as far as he is concerned when he has to do his 20 minutes. Once the timer dings he is done and puts it down.

The FIRST BOOK that he has kept reading after the timer went off (and kept reading for a long time) was Harry Potter. The Sorcerer's Stone, and now the Chamber of Secrets.

Previously, his favorite book was My Side of the Mountain

ok, now go read my sister's blog already!

Such a doll

2008-12-26T14:29:00.001-05:00

Zoe with her baby doll Grandma gave her for Christmas

For all you lurkers -you know who you are! (Kathy G!)

2008-12-19T09:51:00.005-05:00

I thought you'd appreciate this site if you haven't seen it already
http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

An idea to economize this year

2008-12-19T09:49:00.002-05:00

DC daytrip

2008-12-15T08:18:00.004-05:00

We met our GOOD FRIEND ROS downtown yesterday for a Christmasy day trip of DC. Of course I missed any photos of her and us together. Dang. Anyway, here is a hit list of what we saw:

Lunch at Union Station including pancakes and a highly anticipated cheesy pizza for Zac. Ros got a piece but the price was high as she had to carry Zac's leftovers throughout the rest of our trip.

Walked up to the CAPITOL BUILDING to see the platform being built for the inauguration. I was glad to see that they still fly the American flag over the Capitol building and there is a great Christmas tree. As the day progressed these huge black clouds came rolling in- seemed like foreshadowing for what is to come.

Went over to the BOTANICAL GARDENS to see their beautiful trees and this really cool MINIATURE TRAIN EXHIBIT- if you have kids this is a MUST SEE! Even if you don't have kids I'd say GO SEE IT! There are also replicas of the Smithsonian, Capitol building, and all these little villages made out of natural materials- acorns, leaves, cinnamon sticks, etc. This was super cool- maybe my favorite of the day.

Then, over to the NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART where they have put up these really cool lights in the tunnel between the two galleries. Emily was also tricked into seeing some art as we had to walk through an exhibit- I saw that famous painting of George Washington, a painting by Whister (not his mother). We were moving fast as I wanted to keep Max on the move.

Then, to watch the ICE SKATERS while we waited about an hour for Nick to go get the car and come back and pick us up. Highlights and lowlights included Max falling and hitting his face on a stone bench, hot chocolate that burned your tongue and Emily dropping and losing $40. I hope it was a great happy surprise that was found by someone in great need.

A REALLY WONDERFUL DAY!

Sneak peek at your Christmas Card

2008-12-03T12:13:00.001-05:00

Deck the Halls!

2008-12-03T09:50:00.003-05:00

I was hoping to put up Christmas decorations this week. Before we do that we need to get the boxes out of the closet under the stairs. To get to the boxes we need to clean up the downstairs. Before we do that we need move the freezer currently in the middle of the basement (given to us- thanks!) and to clean the laundry room to clear a spot for it. In order to clean the laundry room I need to move the unassembled bunk bed. In order to put up the bunk bed we need to finish painting Abby's room. To finish painting Abby's room I need to move the dresser/desk/bed out and that involves clearing the boxes in the hallway upstairs. Those are full of photos that need to be scrapbooked. Someday.

So, enjoy these photos of some of our Christmas decorations from last year. I let the kids help. I think you will agree not everyone's nativity has a TRex in it. That would account for Mary always appearing so suprised all the time.

On a positive note: the hole in the ceiling drywall is FIXED! New wall/ceiling PAINTED! CURTAINS UP! and PIANO BACK against the wall where it belongs! Hurray! If you need a handyman Nick is your guy! (as long as you have a month or six to spare)

I think these are dang hilarious. Sincerely.

2008-12-03T09:34:00.001-05:00

you can see the whole line of cards at lineuponlinecards.com

Put your money where your mouth is

2008-11-24T07:12:00.004-05:00

If you don't like cooking and happen to burn almost every batch of cookies you make DON'T say it is because your oven doesn't work right. Someone might just buy you a new oven and then you will have to find out the sad truth of the matter.

I'm just a lazy bad cook!

But it IS nice to have 4 burners that work! My last stove only had one working burner (which didn't bother me too much to tell you the truth because you don't use a lot of pans when cooking on only one burner- less to wash!)

Fingers crossed this pecan pie turns out ok! And I have high hopes for the turkey tomorrow.

My Favorite Things

2008-11-24T06:56:00.003-05:00

Can I tell you a few of my favorite things? You will discover it does not take much to make me happy.

PEAPOD (Giant grocery store delivery service) Such a timesaver!! You enter everything online and then early the next morning the grocery fairy delivers food to your doorstep. It costs maybe $8 for delivery, but there are generally coupons out there for $5 off or free shipping. If you don't find a coupon it is still worth it as anyone who has ever gone shopping with a preschooler knows you will spend far more than $8 by the time you buy things not on your list like Diego gogurt or boxes of cheezit crackers with Spongebob on the box.

FLYLADY (www.flylady.net) I love her plan for getting your house in order and the fact she gave me permission to only do 15 minutes of housework a day. Doing any chore for 15 minutes is still cleaner than if you didn't do it at all. Actually, 15 minutes is usually too long for me so I have shortened it to 5 minutes. BABYSTEPS!

PIONEER WOMAN (thepioneerwoman.com) Her cooking site with step by step instructions and photos in particular is a favorite. Because I don't cook. And she almost makes me feel I can. In a flash of insanity I volunteered to bring pecan pie and make the turkey for Thanksgiving this year. Holy moly, what have I done? and this brings me to a new favorite I haven't even tried yet but I know will be a family tradition for years to come....

PIE NIGHT My brother's family will be visiting with us the day before Thanksgiving and we decided that we will hold our first annual pie night- you don't have to wade through the turkey to get to the good stuff. Everyone is bringing pies and that's it. It is my favorite part of the meal, anyway.

I can see a theme here, actually... in preparation for Thanksgiving I'm going to be doing a little bit of all of the above this week. Wish me luck!

Oh the Thinks you can Think

2008-11-13T07:38:00.004-05:00

Although I spend my days telling stories of "Buzz Lightyear and the Beanstalk", changing diapers, wiping noses, pouring juices and watching cartoons, there is a good percentage of the day when I am stuck solid on the couch or bed nursing my 3 month old. I try to remember to have the phone nearby, or a book in hand. If I don't, I've got a good 30 minutes to just sit and think- and think- and think- and these are some of the things I've thought lately.

several million dollar ideas (for my sister) including a sandwriting project, and a power ranger delivery service

the new craze- an anti vampire logo (yet to be seen if anyone bites- ha ha!) but feel free to grab the logo from my sidebar if you'd like to spread the anti-cullen love

daydreaming about my weeklong cruise to Alaska's inner passage (next year is a BIG BIRTHDAY for me) and ways to convince my husband to let me actually book it

the wilberg family etsy site and what we might be able to list there

knee socks and over the knee socks and craft projects involving them and where can I get some and will people actually buy them?

how much I hate the multitude of unfinished projects and clutter that are in my line of sight.. including a hole in my ceiling that has been there since MAY

If I do remember to grab the phone before we settle down for nursing, you've probably heard about these ideas first hand. Am I my dad's daughter or what? He always has a lot of ideas and projects simmering also. And that ain't bad

Birthday Bash!

2008-11-10T15:14:00.002-05:00

Go visit my sister's site at http://www.girlinaswirl.blogspot.com/ and enter to win one of her totally happening birthday giveaways. Happy Birthday!

It's just good therapy!

2008-11-10T08:31:00.001-05:00

How can anyone be depressed with a baby to squeeze and leftover Halloween candy? (although my older two are getting much better at hiding their stash and we've nearly finished my 3yo's supply)

Is Halloween Here?

2008-11-07T06:01:00.003-05:00

We had trunk or treating last Thursday, then trick or treating on Friday. Saturday evening my toddler asked to go trick or treating again. And then Sunday when we pulled into the church parking lot he asked "Is Halloween Here?" like there are some places around town that are eternally Halloween.

While trick or treating at each house he would ask "Is Halloween Here?: when we were determining which houses to knock at. I heard him talking to himself "Is Halloween Here? Oops, no light on".

He has his candy in one of those plastic pumpkins. I had put it up and finally he spotted it on top of the bookcase and asked me to get it down. When I did he stuck his head right in and said "I've been looking for you!"

I have enjoyed watching him with his candy- some of the things he recognizes of course (m&m's, snickers) but some he doesn't. He is genuinely surprised when we open the wrapper and usually comments "this one is chocolate!" and "is this yummy?" If he doesn't like it I usually find it spit out or stuck to something.

Battle of the wills

2008-11-05T12:16:00.005-05:00

You know how in a marriage you kind of get into a groove about some things are your job and some things are your husband's job and you both pitch in when necessary and somehow it all gets done?

Then maybe there are one or two things that doesn't fall into either category and everyone just ignores until someone gets sick of it all and just does it in a big rage of 'why is this my job all of a sudden but I can't stand it anymore'. Maybe it is taking out the trash. Maybe it is cleaning the bathtub, Maybe it is this mess I've been stepping over on my way in and out of the house for the past 3 days.

We carved our pumpkins way too early this year.

Off to find the snow shovel...

Get used to disappointment

2008-11-02T00:21:00.003-04:00

Here's the part where you come to check out my adorable kids in their adorable costumes for trick-or-treating. Too bad for you. I don't have any. They were in their costumes and then running down the street before I could snap any shots. My 3yo wore his costume for an entire month straight, so I do have some photos of him we can pretend I took last night. If you don't notice he is standing in the pumpkin patch. Pay no attention to the pumpkin behind the curtain.

HOWEVER, I'll be posting costume photos of my 10yo at least, in a day or so. He starts planning his next year's costume the day after Halloween. He sewed his costume himself, this year- he was Link from the video game Legend of Zelda and it turned out awesome. My 12yo threw on a bunch of black clothes at the last second and called herself a witch. I heard her tell one lady 'Halloween just snuck up on me this year' when she was trick or treating.

The older 2 went out for a marathon march and got over 5lbs of candy each. We now have a rule that every time I have to step over their candy bags (lying in the middle of the floor or by my computer chair) I get a free handful as a penalty. Cha-ching! Hello, mini snickers!

My younger one really took to this trick or treating thing. He asked tonight to go trick or treating again. Wouldn't that surprise a few folks? We like to keep our neighbors on their toes.

Anyway, here's a shout out to the two people who read my blog- my sister and my mom. Hi, there! More photos coming soon!

Who you gonna call?

2008-10-31T10:31:00.003-04:00

I'm totally addicted to the show Ghost Hunters- and am getting really kind of obsessive about it. They are having a marathon today and it is KILLING me I can't watch it- or even record it as my dvd player is hooked up on this tv, not my upstairs tv. Here I sit, watching Dora & Boots.. knowing somewhere out there Jason and Grant are catching the spooks on tape.

If you haven't seen an episode, go watch it at hulu.com- there are several to see. I think the regular Ghost Hunters are better than the International ones. Don't ask me why- I'd think that all those european castles would be haunted as heck. Maybe those european ghosties just have better manners than these US ones and follow the 'if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all' school of thought

Halloweenies

2008-10-31T10:23:00.002-04:00

My 10yo son writes this comic strip.. here is his newest. The ghost is 'Boo'- his girlfriend is a mummy called 'Ancient', and a special guest (ghost?) appearance by his grandma. Enjoy the Halloweenies!

Punkin Head

2008-10-30T19:49:00.004-04:00

I love this shot- his little round head right in there with the pumpkins, the look of glee as he finds the perfect pumpkin... although I HATE going to the pumpkin patch, I LOVE the photos we get. They are usually my favorite shots all year.

Tips for Husbands

2008-10-29T18:25:00.000-04:00

If your wife happens to buy this sweater in grey, do NOT tell her it looks like something Bea Arthur would wear and start singing "Here comes Maude"

Just sayin'

Makes it all worthwhile

2008-10-28T05:39:00.000-04:00

She is usually the strong silent type but has recently started communicating more with us by smiing and cooing.

2008-10-28T05:30:00.001-04:00

I've been accused of having too much time on my hands.... The real truth of the matter though isn't that I've got too much TIME but rather NOT ENOUGH HANDS. A baby that loves to be held, and a 3yo who is potty training.. I usually have a free hand to point and click, but rarely two free hands to actually type. So, we will see how this blogging thing goes.

I felt I had to start my own blog as the family blog was filling up fast with photos of my kids, youtube videos that I thought were funny, and my random thoughts of the day. So, for all you loyal followers, here ya go