Mobility

Both kids are becoming more mobile. I am keeping slim just trying to catch up!

Miss Cleo

Ever seen those advertisements where some lady claims to know the future and tells you to call this 1-900 number and find out your fortune? Her name, if I recall correctly, was Miss Cleo. Well, my hubby must have made that call because if you refer back to a post (less than a week ago) called "threes" you'll see he forecast the downfall of WAMU. I tell you what, the guy's a keeper.

My favorite songs

I have been a fan of country music for many years now. Favorites such as Tim, Trace & Reba top my playlists. Recently however, I have become a fan of a new genre - Nursery Rhymes, specifically ones sung my my 2-year-old. The best part of her renditions is the lyrical liberties she takes when singing acapella. Some of my newest favorites are verses such as:

"The BISSY BISSY spider"
"Wing around the mosies, pocket full of mosies...."
"ABCDEFGHIKKNOOOPQRSTUVWXY and Z"
"BOP! goes da weees-oh"
and most recently
"Tinker Bells, tinker bells, tinker all the way!"

What's for dinner?

Okay, don't make these for dinner unless you want to gain 1000 lbs. Make them and eat one then give the rest away as a gift. I made them and will be taking them to a friend because I can't keep things like this in my house or I'd be as big as the house.

Mix some vanilla, pumpkin pie spice and whipping cream then boil it and pour the mix on top of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Let that sit for 5 minutes to get happy then stir until completely mixed. Stir in some chopped up ginger snaps and refrigerate the mixture for 2 hours. Roll into little balls then roll the balls in finely ground ginger snaps. Refrigerate another hour and then give them away or you'll eat them all. You can make these ahead of time and keep them in the fridge for 3 days if they last that long.

I suppose you could make these with oreos or nilla wafers or nutter butters or candy canes too.

Fit for a Princess

Our little princess got a tent for her 1st birthday from coach and his family that she plays with often when visiting Nana & Grandpa. She and her brother like to crawl in and hide. There's a little wand and crown that came with it along with an inflatable bed/couch converting unit. It's all pink and sparkly and fun. The only thing you have to watch out for when playing in the tent however is invasion by the "big yellow bear" (ala our golden retriever/lab mix).

Teething pains

We are still waiting on those darn teeth to come in for our little guy. He's had six teeth since he was 6 months old. Well, now he's pushing 15 months old (as old as his sister was when he was born, amazing) and still has only six teeth residing in his mouth. Now he's getting an additional two that are trying to make their way into his lower gums. They initially broke through the gums about 2 weeks ago but still have yet to reach their full height. By this age his sister had almost a full mouth of teeth, including her 1 year old molars, which he doesn't have yet either.

This poses a couple challenges. First, we are reluctant to give him any sizeable piece of food or anything particularly hard (carrots, etc) since he cannot grind well in the back without teeth. Everything must be able to be swallowed whole or gummed into oblivion. Second, I sincerely believe it's making him a bit irritable. Of course, it may just be a developmental stage, but if you had something piercing your gums 24 hours a day, wouldn't you be fussy? He is overall a happy boy, but I think things bother him easier because of it.

For example, recently he was in the kitchen holding on to Daddy's leg and Daddy had to move to the other side of the kitchen and little buddy didn't take it in stride as he normally would. Daddy sighed and said "Buddy, you are a real piece of work." This was ironic in that a family-friend made the same comment to Daddy while they were playing tennis together only a couple days ago. I couldn't help but laugh at the irony and wonder whether it really was teething or merely hereditary :)

A day with Grandmas

The kids got to go with Nana to visit their great-grandparents last Friday. The left early Friday morning and came back Saturday afternoon. Mommy & Daddy got the full details of family they got to visit with and toys they played with but best of all was the kitty that Great-Grandma is raising. Daddy has sworn never to have a cat for a pet so it's a special treat for our kids to get to play with a kitten. The other highlight of the visit was a trip to Chuck-e-cheese to play the games. It seems both kids had a stellar time because both were exhausted when they got home and it took about 2 days to come down off of their adrenaline rush :) Mom and Dad were happy to have an evening to themselves on Friday too so it was a win/win situation all around.

What's for Dinner?

Last night, as a special treat, Daddy decided to make us dinner. He cooked up some Wahoo (it's fish, yeah, I hadn't heard of it before either). You could also use swordfish, halibut or shark. To make this recipe you'll have to convince some of your close family to brew up some amazing pomegranate jelly so good luck trying with that. Maybe you could try plum jam instead. Here's what he did:

Use about a pound of fish, cut it into 4 servings. Mix together pomegranate jelly, lemon juice, ginger, red pepper and garlic powder for a yummy sauce. Take about 3T of the mix and add some margerine for a glaze. Glaze the fish then broil 5 minutes. Turn over the fish then glaze again and broil about 5 more minutes until it flakes easily. Serve the fish with the sauce and maybe some garlic bread and mashed potatoes like we did. At 260 calories a serving for the fish you can't go wrong. Easy cheesy and yummy in your tummy. Thanks Daddy, good job!

Dodgers play to mixed reviews

We were able to buy some last minute, half-price tickets on ebay for the Sunday Dodgers/Giants game. There was no scoring until the 11th inning so play went pretty fast. Our seats turned out to be in a good location. We were at the top of the stairs which meant that the kids didn't have to climb them to get in or out of our seats and we got to sit in the shade. Plus we were close to the 3rd baseline so our view was pretty good. Our baby girl had a great time and was soaking in the Dodger experience, including having a Dodger dog, crackerjacks and the works.

Unfortunately, we were in seats 5&6. This wouldn't mean much except to know that seats 7&8 were between us and the aisle. Also, not a big deal, until two 300+ lb guys came to sit in those seats. The guy in seat #7 was so big that he rested his elbow on the back of seat #6 (ours) for most of the game. This made Daddy VERY claustrophobic and he wound up taking our little princess for a walk for most of the game. Mommy & Mr. Fussypants were left to fend for themselves. Around the 7th inning, the two big guys moved down to some open seats (where they shared 5 seats between the two of them) so our family got to share the last few innings together at least. There was no score and by the 10th inning, Mr. Fussypants had had enough and was voicing his displeasure so we all decided to call it a day. Overall, not a great experience. We need to wait for our little guy to get a bit older before going back and we'll make sure to get four aisle seats next time.

Threes

Three things I've been contemplating lately:

1) All bad things happen in threes. This is definitely true for me. Yesterday was moving along rather painlessly when we got an urgent call from hubby that we had to get to the bank and do a money wire by the time the bank closed. This turned out to be rather inconvenient at the time because we had just arrived at a play-date with some friends and had to make an unexpected exit. This threw both kids into a tizzy over the unscheduled interruption. Both decided they were too tired to sleep and so hungry they must scream. On the way to the bank, the stereo in the car went out and by that I mean would turn on but not play at all. This further frustrated the kids who are accustomed to repeated verses of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and listening to "Pop Goes the Weasel" till any sane person would want to puke. Upon arriving at the bank I had to do some phone call research to determine where best to transfer the funds (long story, don't ask). To keep the stinkers at bay I passed out some goldfish crackers and a firm reminder to the oldest on how to share. About 5 minutes into what would turn out to be half an hour of phone call conversation the air conditioner went out (it was about 94 degrees outside). And by went out I mean began to blow hot air on all of us. By the time we entered the bank I was severely frazzled, hot and quite frankly, fed up. I was taking no crap from any trainee-teller and got referred to a senior associate who served me quickly and efficiently. The best part about bad things happening in threes? Once the third one hit (ala, the AC issue) then the rest of the afternoon was long but moderately uneventful.

2) How often are your taste buds supposed to change? I think I heard once it was every seven years. I must be off schedule because I am well past 28 and not yet 35 but recently have developed an appreciation for all things hot. Specifically, I rather enjoy horseradish and wasabi, which, up until about a month ago, would have been on my short list of foods to avoid at all costs. In high school I had a thing for chicken bullion (as found in top ramen), in college it was mustard, and just out of college I made it my mission to find the best salsa recipe due to an overwhelming love of cilantro and tomatoes (which all through school I hated). As a kid I remember looking at "old" people and thinking they ate such gross stuff and as it turns out, I must be "old" now because I find myself making choices any self-respecting 7-year-old would never touch.

3) I miss my sister. Visiting with friends who don't live close enough sometimes makes it even worse. Don't get me wrong, I rather enjoy any time I get to spend with friends, but it reminds me of how I wish she lived close enough so that I could share those kind of meaningless moments with her too. There's just something that you can't replace about a person you used to beat up (and get beat up by), who wouldn't let you on her side of the car, and who had to sit through all the same bus rides and summer days and parent conferences and other meaningless events of your youth.

Onward and Upward

Now that our little guy has finally begun to walk on his own (not mastered yet, but working on it), he has decided to take on more difficult challenges. He sees his sister doing things and just feels compelled to try to keep up. It's alright little buddy, spoons are pretty tricky...keep working on it...


PS, this post is overdue. I've been trying to get this uploaded since Sunday but after about 10 hours of attempting to upload, I realized that the size was too big so I had to go back and convert it.

Breakfast with Jay

We have our buddy, Jay, over for breakfast in the mornings these days. He comes over a lot lately. He's a big peanut lover so we keep some on hand for him. No, he's not an elephant...

What's for Dinner?

I absolutely love my Marlboro cookbook. Don't get me wrong, I abhore smoking and do not condone it even in the slightest. However, I DO appreciate a good meal on the barbeque and this cookbook is FULL of good ideas. My favorite is the Steel-Toed Sirloin. You take some top sirloin and put it in a plastic bag. Add to the bag a mixture of OJ, soy sauce, garlic & ginger. Marinade and let it get happy overnight (or at least an hour) then grill about 8 minutes, serve with mashed potatoes and corn and OOh La La!

What's for Dinner?

Tonight we're doing a little asian inspired salmon dish for dinner. I'll be using about a pound of salmon and glazing it with a mixture of hoisin, soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger and red pepper flakes. I'll roast it at 450 for about 10 minutes or so, toss some scallions on top and roast for about 5 more minutes. It's only 300 calories a serving and if I serve it with broccoli and some brown rice it's a totally health conscious meal that's still yummy.

My little hams

My baby girl's newest obsession is taking pictures with the digital camera. She is relatively careful with it so I condone the activity. For the most part I get pictures of the dog's tail or the bottom half of my desk. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to get the back of her brother's head. As a result of the activity though she has also become excited about me taking her picture. I get frequent requests and am happy to oblige. This morning was different and I got quite the adorable shot out of it.

Mom's Night Out

Last night I got to have a moms' night out with some friends at a sushi place down the hill. We all had way too much to all-you-can-eat and it was very good food and lots of fun. Hubby watched with kids with another mom's husband and kids so we were happy to see minimal disaster when we got back. All moms need a night like this every once in a while.

Camping

We got home last night at 11:30 PM so now, 14 hours later I've finally finished unloading the car and cleaning up the disaster that was my house. I still have 4 loads of laundry to do (sigh).
It was totally worth it though because we had a great time. It was an 6 hour drive up there so luckily they both slept most of the way. My little girl caught her first fish (3 casts, 3 fish!) and her brother slept in his first tent. She didn't want to actually have to touch the fish though once it was reeled in and he woke up about 8 times per night but I'll take what I can get. Both kids got to have roasted marshmallows, get spoiled by everyone, get DIRTY DIRTY DIRTY, which are all part of the camping fun.
We were joined by two grandparents, two great-grandparents, an aunt, an uncle, a great-uncle, and three other families of friends. The best part about that (other than all the fun of course) was there were lots of people willing to play with the kids. That left some time for Mommy & Daddy to go hiking alone together. We did a 11-12 mile hike through Yosemite, which was beautiful.
And now it's back to the comfort of our routine and naps and playtimes and yes....laundry :)

Grandparents

Happy Grandparents' Day! The kids send their love to all four of their grandparents and all of their great-grandparents too!!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Camping Trail Mix

Since we're going camping this weekend I decided to make some trail mix to munch on while we're communing with the trees (and hopefully catching fish).

This mix is so easy to make ahead of time and so yummy that it might not last past the trail head. I love it also because I basically clean out whatever remnants I have left in my cupboards that are taking up space.

I've revised a recipe I found online a little bit. Alright, take 6 cups of dry ingredients (I used corn bran cereal, pretzels, goldfish and cheerios). Put them in a crock pot with 2 cups of dried fruit (I used blueberries, raisens & bananas). Add to that 2 cups of nuts (I used almonds, pumpkin seeds, and a few other random nuts left over from other things). Pour on top of that a small mixture of melted butter, vanilla, sugar and a little water, just so it eventually kinda sticks together. Let that get happy in the crock pot on high for 2 hours, stirring once or twice depending on how carmelized you want the stuff on the bottom to get. Set it out on some parchment paper and try to beat off intruders long enough for it to cool. So easy and so worth it - YUM!

Stages

Not that I want to jinx anything, but we're working on a little more than a week now of no diapers for our little sweetheart girl. She's doing such a good job, with only a couple understandable slip-ups. Mommy's ever watchful and she's doing a good job of reminding me when I forget. She's very excited each morning to choose between her Tinker Bell, Elmo and Hello Kitty panties. Life's decisions are fun for a 2-year old.

Mister personality on the other hand, has chosen to forgo the option of going sans-diaper in favor of a sillier stage in his development. He has discovered his tongue and will gladly expose it to anyone in the vicinity when he's got your attention. For the time being, it's cute. Mommy's got this illusion in her mind however, of him at 40, still sticking his tongue out. Let's just say this is unquestionably temporary whether he likes it or not.