How Long?

Has it only been four days that my darling little niece has been visiting? The kids have been so busy that I feel like it's been a whirl-wind of activity. From cooking to playdoh to playdates to playgrounds - She's already assimilated like she's one of our own. Plus,. when they play, there's one more kid to tattle when someone does something wrong...bonus!

Everyone's a critic

We took a trip down the hill today, which takes us about an hour each way. On the way down I endured several choice selections of children's music. All over town all afternoon the music bombarded my eardrums. Hey Diddle Diddle, The Ants Go Marching, Skip to my Lou, it wint on and on and on...and on....and on....Finally, on the way home, I decided it was Mommy's turn to choose the music. I informed the back seat occupants that they had their turn and now it was Mommy's turn. I turned on my mix of country music and my little 3-year-old started YELLING the ABC song at the top of her lungs. It was a not-so-subtle hint that she did NOT particularly favor Trace Atkins I guess...All I could think (bitterly) to myself was "harumph, like 'Polly Wolly Doodle' is such a crowd pleaser..."

Overestimation

Daddy had the good idea to buy an innertube for the kids to play on in the summer and ride in the snow on behind the ATV in the winter....however, I don't think he checked the measurements before ordering this one on Amazon. It's about twice the size he was looking for. The kids' loss is our friends' gain though as we will now be able to tow it behind the boat on the lakes and river...it'll be tested out soon folks - count on it!

Having a Ball

Thursday we went to the Dodgers/As baseball game. It was a tied series and the Dodgers won it to hold their commanding lead in the League. We got to use the tickets a friend gave us for Christmas and it was heroes appreciation day so parking was free too. All in all, since we brought our own healthy snacks, our whole night cost us the price of two hot dogs! The highlight of the night wasn't the win or the snacks though. We sat up against the fence of the As bullpen and just before the game began, the As pitcher gave our little guy the official MLB baseball he warmed up with! Daddy was a bit jealous, since he went to about 40 games as a kid without getting a single ball. When his little girl went to one of her first games she got on the jumbotron also, which Daddy never accomplished either. What can I say, the kids have karma and charm oozing out of their sweet little smiles.

7 years already?!?!

Where has all the time gone? I love you sweetheart - happy anniversary.

Fathers' Day

Happy Fathers' Day to all of you great dads out there. We are missing our favorite daddy while he's gone to Mexico with his dad. Glad to hear you are having a fun time and catching lots of fish Daddy - see you soon!

A Swingin' Good Time

Last week we were supposed to meet up with some other moms and kids from the area at a local park. Unfortunately, both kids were napping right when we were supposed to be there. So the park got delayed an hour or so and everyone was headed out as we were arriving. It didn't stop my two little rugrats from having a swingin' good time.

Living the Fairytale

We take full advantage of the local library. The kids love picking out their own books and it means that they never get tired of those books we have at home either. Our most recent rental is a big book of Fairytales. We've covered the Three Bears, Red Riding Hood, Gingerbread Man, Musicians of Bremen, Hare & Hedgehog, Henny Penny, Billygoats Gruff, Ugly Duckling, and a particular favorite - "Teeny Tiny"...my little man has only heard it once, but has taken to shouting "Give me my BONE!" in an almost turets'ish fashion. I wouldn't give up those wonderful bedtime moments for anything.

Pooch Park

Yesterday we took some time to play with our pooch down at the new dog park by the lake. We met up with some friends to let our pups run off a little steam (oh, and with the added bonus that the kids ran off steam too).

Lake Mojave

Hubby & I spent Thursday night to Sunday morning in Laughlin. The kids were with Nana and Grandpa so we had all day Friday and Saturday on the water, in the boat, by ourselves. Very peaceful and a great chance to recharge our batteries. There are some big, fast boats and crazy folks out there on the lake, but we took our bass boat out and found a cove of our own.

It could've been you

Here's my scenario:
I bought the new Ped Egg, based on a friend's recommendation. My husband was teasing that it was a cheese grater, but I bought it knowing that my friend (a female) would know much more about pedi care than my hubby. So the plan was that I would do a little pedi care on myself after we put the kids to bed last night. All went as planned. The kids were asleep. Hubby turned on the TV, and I took out some toenail polish remover, my pedi egg, my favorite foot rub lotion, and some fushia pink toenail polish (we're going to Laughlin this weekend and it matches my swimsuit). I used the remover and pedi egg (which I LOVE by the way) and then proceeded to rub on some lotion. By this point however, hubby was a bit put off by the smell of the remover and the fact that I wouldn't sit still for him to lay on my belly, which is his routine. So I decided to forego the polish until after my morning shower and laid back to have a little relaxing time with just the two of us, basking in my nice soft, smooth feet.... ... ... Did you catch it? Did you figure out where I went wrong? Well, if not, then it could have happened to you too.

DID YOU CATCH IT?.... I woke up at 5:30 AM to both kids already up so I brought them into bed with us for a little family cuddling. Daddy got up around 6:30 and left for work by 6:45. PUTTING TOGETHER THE PIECES YET? NO? Well here's a hint, although I was awake, I didn't roll out of bed at 7:00. That gave the kids 15 minutes of quiet play time in their room. The key word here being QUIET. Yep, never trust the quiet.

Here's what I SHOULD have done: finished polishing my nails. Why? Because then I would have felt guilty for spending so much time on myself and hidden the evidence. Instead, I left the polish on my dresser. Not a big deal for any normal woman, but this woman has a 3 and almost-2 year old. So what am I doing now? Fuming over the computer while the kids sleep upstairs....after having spent an hour and a half trying to clean fushia off of the nursery's hardwood floor, solid oak dresser, solid oak bunk bed, other dresser, solid oak nursery door, little girl's hands, feet, belly, and face, little boy's hands, feet & face.

I am out of tissue, polish remover, patience and I should have known better.

Let them Eat Cake

Last Saturday we took the kids to a friend's house for a birthday party. They had a great time playing with friends and getting loaded on Capri Suns and eating pinata candy till they were blue in the face. Of course, a highlight of the day was the unveiling of the birthday cake. My little ones love cake and birthday cake is especially fun because of the neat frosting and decorations. Of course, what good is cake if you don't wind up with some or all of it on your face?

Marchfield

Last Thursday the kids and I went down to Marchfield Air Museum to look at the planes with some mom friends and their kids. Several times we had driven by at 60+ miles an hour, on our way to the SD Zoo, but never had stopped to appreciate the aircraft up close. Both kids loved getting to sit in the pilot seats, play with the controls, and get right up next to the planes. My favorite part was the discussion the oldest and I had before going into the museum:
Me: "This is pretty neat, huh?"
Her: "Yeah"
Me: "Honey, do you know why these planes are here?"
Her: "Nuh uh"
Me: "Do you know what brave means?"
Her: "Yeah"
Me: "Well, there's these brave men, called soldiers who fly in planes like these and protect us so that we can do things that we like to do and not worry about being safe."
Her: "Oh"
Me: "Do you understand?"
Her: "Yeah"
Me: "Why are the planes here?"
Her: "So that solders can fly them to keep us safe"
Me: "That's right, and these planes are here to remind everyone of all the soldiers who have flown in them to keep us safe. We're pretty lucky to have soldiers to watch out for us, huh?"
Her: "Yep"

The conversation was so serious for her and very touching. She's such a neat kid. Oh yeah, the planes & helicopters were neat too...

What to Make

Looking for something to do with those left over peaches? Here's a great way to make a quick dessert. Chop up the peaches and toss with a few mini-marshmallows and a few chocolate chips. Roll out a pre-made pie crust and cut into quarters. Spoon on a little of the peach mixture onto each pie quarter then fold it over and seal with a fork. Prick a couple times to let steam vent and sprinkle each piece with cinnamon sugar. Cook the dessert at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (until edges begin to brown). These are fast, easy and delicious. I just love finding good recipes in my monthly mags.

As a side note here, I'd use a cookie sheet with sides and line it with greased foil (or use a stone) because these do make a little bit of a mess when cooking.

A Fair Day

Since Daddy was gone last weekend, golfing with his college buddies, we went down to the street fair in the desert. We rode down there with Nana, Briguy and their service dog. Great-grandma & Great-grandpa Tanyon joined us when we got there. We spent about 2 hours walking from booth to booth looking at all of the neat things that people had for sale. We didn't buy much (it was more of a sightseeing tour) but my little princess did get a pink sparkly visor to shade her eyes. That's one of the nice things about being 3, you can wear pretty much anything that suits your fancy and everyone will still tell you how adorable you look. My little guy was entranced by a little piece of fur attached to a automated ball, thus looking like some kind of rodent that was "playing" with the ball. I just couldn't bring myself to buy what appeared to be a rat pelt with google-eyes glued to it - creepy.
We timed the visit just right because it was just beginning to get hot when we were done. We gave hugs and said goodbye to GGma/GGpa and headed home. On the way we stopped off at the park that is at a park and had lunch and let the kids run off any excess energy. Both kids did a great job of behaving themselves and we got some time spent out in the beautiful sunshine. All in all, a nice, relaxing way to spend our Saturday morning.

What to Make

Since it's summer I thought this might be of interest to you outdoor chefs. There are two meats that I've made on our grill recently that I really liked. First, it is SO SUPER SIMPLE to make delicious salmon on the grill. First, brush some oil on the filet then sprinkle on salt & pepper. Make a rub of 4pt brown sugar to 1 pt orange zest/rind. Put the salmon on greased foil on the grill then pat on the rub. Let it grill for about 15 minutes or so depending on the heat of your grill (until the fish is done and the brown sugar is all bubbly). That's it. Serve with vegis and it's a gourmet meal in no time flat.

The other good dinner I made was rib eye roast. I know, it always tastes better at the restaurant, but this one really was the best I've had. The kicker here is you need a rotisserie for your barbecue. What you need to do is make a marinade of olive oil, garlic, rosemary, marjoram & Montreal steak seasoning. Let the meat get happy in the marinade for at least 4 hours. Put that bad boy on the rotisserie over the grill and in about half an hour it will have self-basted and be amazing.

Fun on the Cheap

We were visiting Nana and Grandpa the other day and as we drove up to their driveway I saw that they had put out the trash. Not that this is an unusual occurrence, but on this particular day they had included FIVE big cardboard boxes to be recycled. As most moms know, a good cardboard box is equal to about 10-20 minutes of occupied kid time. After some quick math in my head I was all aflutter with the idea that I could make the kids a fort out of the boxes and if there were five of them then that may add up to almost an hour of play for the little ones. Nana was happy to sacrifice the boxes to the mother's sanity fund and the very next day my kids spent not one but TWO hours puttering around their newly found fortress. The best part is that it cost me all of about 30 cents in masking tape. I made a maze with some windows and a hole to pop your head up out which both kids enjoyed. Ah - sweet harmony - it's enough to put smiles on everyone's faces, if only for a little while...

Those Stinkin' Squirrels

I was so proud of my sugar snap peas that were growing so fast that I had to put up some sticks to support their long stalks...then this morning I came out to find that those darn squirrels had eaten virtually every leaf on the plant! I've moved the pot to my deck in the hopes that they stear clear of it but chances are they will still get to the peas because last summer they ate a flower I had in a pot on the deck as well.

The same horrible fate came to my ten watermelon plants this week. They had sprouted a couple weeks ago and were about 2-3" tall. Now they're just little stubs (if that in most cases) sticking up out of the dirt. If anyone out there knows of a good way to discourage those rascally varmints from eating my plants I would love to hear it.

Keepin' Cool

Now that it's officially summer, what better way to beat the heat than to eat some juicy watermelon and a good splash in your turtle pool?

Our morning

The three of us (kids & me) were getting dressed this morning after breakfast and I realized that some of their clothes in the nursery needed to be hung in their closet. As I began to put the full hangers away I heard giggling from my room and wandered in to find my little girl wearing one of my tennis shirts (I had taken the box of tennis clothes out to find something suitable to wear earlier that morning). Of course, it was gigantic on her and she was prancing around in it like it was a prom dress. After a short course of dancing with them I went to put away the top and realized that I really don't wear it any more. As I glanced through the box I saw a couple other items that either didn't fit quite right or were never really very comfortable. So I took them out of the box...fast forward to an hour later and I had covered the floor of our bedroom with clothes that I had been hanging onto for years thinking "one day I might wear this again". Quite pleased with myself, I headed down to the laundry room to get a large garbage bag to put the clothes in.

Fast forward to an hour later and the kids had helped me do two loads of laundry and rearrange the entire cabinet that the garbage bags were sitting in and vacuum sealed a bunch of blankets in the cupboard to prevent moth and mold damage. On the floor of the laundry room were a few random items that really belonged in the garage but had somehow made their way into the laundry room cupboard. Yep, you guessed it, fast forward another hour and a half and the garage was cleaned as well. Unfortunately the ATV was sitting outside the garage staring at me. I had no choice but to drive it to it's rightful home...the shed....luckily for me, I had just been out to the shed the previous day when the kids wanted their turtle pool set up so there was minimal cleaning to be done. So here we were, all three exhausted and hungry for lunch, me hauling the last of the two loads of laundry upstairs with the aforementioned garbage bags on top and I realized it had taken me four hours and I never did get all of the clothes in the nursery hung up.

It is no wonder that when my hubby asks me what I did each day when he comes home that I usually draw a complete blank....it's usually nothing I planned to do and yet somehow takes up all of my time.

Keeping 'em Busy

There are several activities to keep one's self busy at a track meet. However, if you are a spectator, you basically just sit. Therefore it takes a certain amount of patience between watching events. If you are almost 2-years-old or just turned 3-years-old, the wait can be pretty miserable. My two kids have found a variety of ways to keep occupied during track meets and last weekend at the state CIF meet was no exception.

They had a tent to play in, snacks to eat, cups to fill with whatever little treasures they found, fellow spectators to entertain (under mom's supervision of course), a wagon to play in, a nearby tree from which to pull off the bark (hey, I'll take what I can get) and although I don't condone tying up your kids to keep them under control, if they bungee cord THEMSELVES to a fence, well then, that's another story altogether...

Twirling Sticks

After making my princess some petticoats (see previous craft post) I had lots of ribbon scraps and several fake flower stems left over. Basically it's a stiff wire with green plastic coating over it. I wasn't sure what to do with them but figured they had to be good for something. Here's what I did:
Trim the plastic off of one end of the fake flower stem. Take about a yard or so of ribbon and tie it to the exposed wire end of the stem. Fold the wire over the ribbon knot and then wind it around the top of the stem to hold the ribbon securely. That's it! For a couple of them I added extra different colors & sizes of ribbon for more flare. Simple, sure, but I'll tell you that both of my kids play with them constantly. Of course, she dances with them and he pretends it's a whip (don't worry, they're too soft to hurt) or a fishing pole, but play is play, right?

PS-I suppose this would also make a great cat chase toy but we don't own cats so you'll have to test that out on your own.

Backyard Camping

Have you heard of the Southern California Wildfires? Well, they put a real damper on our ability to make a bonfire or even have a fire pit in our back yard. So they burned down to our neighbor's house across the street a few years back, so what? It's a real bummer that someone can tell you what you can and cannot do on your own property, that's all I'm sayin'. As a result, our backyard camping would be a lot less fun. So our resolution to this problem is to go to the campground that is about 10 miles away where they let complete randoms build fires in their fire pits anonymously unsupervised (like that's SO much safer).
The nice thing about the national campground being so close is that we can go after my honey gets off work and still have a full evening to enjoy the camping experience. So we went Tuesday night and had a great time. We were all set up in time to let the kids ride their tricycles around a bit (yay for level pavement!) and go for a hike.
After all that physical activity we were ready for dinner so Daddy built a campfire to cook our hotdogs.
There was just enough time after dinner for a few rounds of hide-&-seek (see Daddy behind the tree?)
Once it began to get dark, the kids took their places on our laps and we made some ooey-gooey smores over the campfire. Since the campground may as well be in our backyard, we just made our way home after we were all pooped and got to sleep in our own beds. All in all, a very nice night of camping without the rocks in your back as you slept.

They look innocent enough

But as I sat there I thought "they're being too quiet"...

As it turns out, she had her right arm buried elbow deep in dirt and he had picked 1/2 the flower petals off of one of the plants...never trust the silence.

Mail order tests my faith

We ordered eight hydrangeas via mail-order catalog recently and when they arrived they looked like this:
I was frustrated but planted them immediately and the next day they looked like this:
That wasn't very promising but a week later it was even worse:
I figured I would give the poor guys a break though and keep some faith. Soon after, they were nothing but sticks poking their little brown stubs out of the dirt. I have been watering them diligently and though virtually everyone told me that they were goners, five of the eight now look like this:
So 5/8 isn't too bad of a ratio (there's a guarantee on them just in case) but really, after all of that, how could I give up on the other three yet? For now I'm keeping the faith.

B-B-B-Bad...

Years from now, when trying to impress chicks, he'll look back on this picture and say "From the day I was born, the nurses all gathered 'round and they gazed in wild wonder at the joy they had found. The head nurse spoke up, said 'leave this one alone' she could tell right away that I was bad to the bone..."Of course, he'll leave out the part that his Great-Grandparents bought it for him and that he would have to wrestle his big sister for his turn...

Blog updates

You may have noticed that I've changed a few things on this blog:
1) to the left, you can now see what I'm spending most of my time blogging about
2) if you missed a day or two, you can now click on the time span in a list format

And best of all:
3) I have permanently added a quote by Roosevelt at the bottom of my blog that I heard a long time ago and was said even longer ago but still holds true today (especially here in Southern California). This is a good reminder that to be an American one must have unilateral loyalty. Period. I am 50% Danish but you wouldn't see me going around telling people I'm "Danish-American" nor would I ever hang any flag other than Old Glory on my home (which I proudly do).

There's only one flag worth waving. Those who don't believe that do a disservice to this country and all loyal Americans.

Mary Quite Contrary...

How does my garden grow? Very well, thanks for asking!
Here's some sugar snap peas that have sprouted...
And some strawberries that are beginning to show fruit...
I even have some raspberries springing up in my vinca! Watching all of this happen makes you really appreciate the magic of sunshine & water.

A Mountain Workout

With track season winding down and summer approaching, I am always looking for some way to burn off a few extra calories (lately it seems the caloric intake>output). One of my favorite ways to burn calories is going for a jog. All the area around us is hills so it would be a perfect layout. Unfortunately, up here in the mountains most roads are too narrow and windy to go very far. I do have approximately a mile loop that our house is on but I'd find myself running in circles and I don't do that well. Plus, I don't suppose thered be much tolerance from the little ones when I needed to lock them in a closet until I get home.
The happy compromise has come in the form of taking the kids for a walk. Now, any mother of a 1 or 3 year old knows that their pace leaves something to be desired. I've figured out a great way to resolve this by pulling them in their wagon. They get out and enjoy the sunshine, I get a mile of workout while pulling 70ish pounds of resistance. Isn't it nice to find win-wins?

Back in the Swing of Things

We drove almost 30 hours north to visit family last Wednesday-Thursday and then made the trip back down here this Monday-Tuesday so it's taken me a little while to get back in the swing of things. On Friday we spent the morning with Grandma then she watched the kids while I went to help sis with her track practice. She's got some pretty good hurdlers for 7th & 8th graders.
Saturday we spent all day at my niece's league finals track meet where she got 4th, 2 5ths, a 6th and a 7th (that's 5 events, but we're not really counting). Since there were 10 schools there that means that there were somewhere between 20-30 kids in each event, so that's pretty respectable finishing if you ask me. Her 7th place came when she WON her heat in a hurdles race, so really, you can't ask much more than that. She's quite the little speed demon.
Sunday we got to relax around the house for the morning and then we went with Aunti, Cousins, Grandma & my best friend from high school and her kids (10 of us girls altogether) to a play in Portland called "Petite Rouge". It was a cute rendition of little red riding hood, except spun in a Cajun version. The LRRH was a duck and the big bad wolf was really a crocodile. We also got to go out to lunch before hand and had some strawberries & angel food cake when we got home so it was a good day all around.

I was exhausted when we got home after having very little sleep the previous 2 days. Somehow the week has gotten away from me and now it is already Friday! Tomorrow is our big state track meet where two of my hurdlers will be competing in both hurdle events. They are total rock stars in my book. Come Sunday I will probably be tired again and sunburned but looking forward, I know it will be worth it. All those trips that wear you out through the day after are always the best ones.

A Fun Evening

Since tomorrow is our last track meet of the year I suggested to all of the hurdlers that they have pasta for dinner to stock up on carbs before their big day. They, of course, had the great idea that pizza constitutes "pasta" and so we planned dinner together at the local pizza place. It was also a nice way to celebrate the last practice and meet for the year.

It all started innocently enough, with some food and playing the video games and air hockey but then it somehow took a turn. One person wanted to jump in the lake...then another said "I'm in" and before I knew it I was walking with all of them down to the dock to watch their antics. I have to say there is no way I would have gotten in that freezing water with them but they all looked like they had a great time doing it. I guess you have to be careful what you say around high school kids and perhaps rethink your phrasing when you suggest that they "go jump in a lake"...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Crazy Kids

We had a very nice time visiting with friends the other morning. Mommy got to scrapbook and the kids, well, they were kids. There are days when they just NEVER get along with anyone...and then there are days like this one, when they were sharing their treats and playing in a tent~

A Walk in the Clouds

The other morning we were headed to a friend's house off the mountain and while driving along the rim I just had to pull over and take a picture. Some days it feels like we're living on Mt. Olympus...

Another day at the Zoo

Last week we went to the zoo again (with annual passes, it's virtually the cheapest thing we can do) and of course, the kids loved it. We got to do the sea lion show for the first time and it seems like every time we go there we find something he hadn't seen before. In particular, the kids love the children's petting zoo. My little man likes to chase the goats yelling "Dog! Dog!" and my little girl likes to use the "Big Girl" bathrooms (Translation: Potties so close to the ground that you're basically sitting on the floor and sinks at your knees). Oh yeah, I guess seeing all of the the wild animals was fun for them too~
I suppose they would have been more excited about these guys if they'd seen the Lion King. Have you noticed that ever since that movie came out everyone knows these little guys' names? Nobody could have cared less about these little guys or the wart hogs before that. Nice going Timon & Pumbaa.

What to Make

Just ask my kids, chickens say "cheap cheap"...well this one really is, to the tune of about $1.50 per serving, including adding grain (rice/pasta/bread) and vegi side dishes.

This one is as easy as it gets. I got it out of one of my magazines this month. Take chicken and put it in an oven dish. Brush it with an equal mixture of brown mustard, honey and soy sauce. Cook it at 375 for 15 minutes. Brush again then cook for another 15 minutes at 375. Totally easy and very good.

I served it with barley mixed with peas. I had never made barley before but you make it just like rice so it's easy and a bit heartier than plain rice. There's a new addition to my recipe book.

The life of a 3 year old

She gets up every morning and rushes in to give us kisses. Then it's down to breakfast and "Mom, is Sesame Street on yet?" The next couple hours are full of play with toys and the sporadic errand in the car. From there she moves on to lunch, which she takes an hour to eat, and then a quick nap before track practice. All of the high-school kids love her and she feels the same. It's one of the highlights of her day. On the way home we sometimes stop at the supermarket and she usually asks to ride in the cart shaped like a truck. Her next priority is making it home to see her dog (whom she is quick to tell you that she's the boss of) and her Daddy (who she wishes she was the boss of). After helping to make dinner and some time at the table with the family, she forces down the last of dinner in the hopes of earning dessert by finishing it all. Another hour with family and toys then it's off to bed with a book from each of her parents an more of those wonderful kisses.

There is so much to do when you're three that it is hard sometimes to take it all in, especially with a 1.75-year-old brother butting in all the time. Here's what you get from all that when you give her her own camera to capture it all....

What to Make

I was craving something sweet but didn't want the a heavy snack so here's what I made:

Put a sheet of parchment paper each on two cookie sheets. Spread out popped popcorn on the parchment paper. Then in a saucepan melt 1/2c butter, 3/4c sugar, a 3oz package of any flavor of jello, 1T of corn syrup & 3T water. Let all of that come to a boil and bring it to around 250 degrees (somewhere around 5 minutes). Take the pot off the heat and add a small amount of baking soda. It'll get all fun and fizzy and foamy. Pour the jello foam all over the popcorn and cook it in a 250 degree oven for 10 minutes. Stir around the popcorn 'n jello goodness and cook it for another 10 minutes in the same 250 degree oven. This made way way way more popcorn than we could possibly have eaten so there's loads of leftovers but not to worry, the popcorn gets all crunchy when it cools off and stores well.....not that it will have to for long :)

A Case of the Toddlers

My daughter: "Doctor, I have a terrible case of the toddlers"
Docter: "Change your dress five to ten times a day and see if that helps"

My son: "Doctor, I have a terrible case of the toddlers"
Doctor: "Go for a walk and every five steps you take, pick up a rock or stick then throw it and see if that helps"