Ok, weird, but we had a nice day yesterday, and it was centered around going into Vancouver to recycle a TON of block styrofoam that I'd insisted on keeping for such purposes, instead of throwing it in the trash. I wish I would have taken a picture of the collection: it was occupying a good 4' x 6' space in our garage (maybe bigger), and stacked about 4' high. At least it was there, and not in a landfill though.
If you'd like info: Clark Co. Solid Waste Calendar of Events. They do the recycling events once a month.
Chris woke up early to come with us; we got the car loaded with the foam while the kids played in the driveway. I promised them a stop at a park for complying with the drive. It was raining, hard, when we got to the collection area--I felt so bad for all those old people out, volunteering--that's some dedication to recycling.
We went to Marshal Park, which was right there, and it was still pouring; I assured a hesitant Chris they'd only play for like, 5 minutes before the rain got to them. But nooooooo...they wanted to stay out, even though they were soaking, Isaac didn't even have rain boots, Danny was wearing a fleece coat with next to no hood...when they are properly attired, at home, it is a battle to get them to go out and play in the rain!
We eventually drug them away with a promise of hot cocoa (which I was more than happy to give, so that I could have egg nog latte #2 of the season).
Monday, November 9, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Gingerbread friends...and cars, and motorcycles
I went to Costco on Tuesday, just for dog food, and came out with the dog food, a bottle of wine, two types of cheese, and Gingerbread Friends. I can't resist her books. I can't resist Costco's ploys, either, apparently.
We read it before naps that day, and of course it led to Danny wanting to make his own gingerbread baby and friends. We got the dough made that afternoon, while Isaac was still napping, but the baking of the cookies got postponed until Wednesday.
Danny got to use his new rolling pin and cookie cutters that he'd received for his birthday. Isaac actually used a rolling pin correctly! And resisted eating all the dough. I was so proud of my baby :)
The cookies were great, sorry we can't share over the computer :( You'll just have to console yourself with some pictures!
Poor Mom got mauled, I couldn't get a single picture of the boys holding still! They were very excited to see her, and show off their new bikes and skills, and jump all over her.
We read it before naps that day, and of course it led to Danny wanting to make his own gingerbread baby and friends. We got the dough made that afternoon, while Isaac was still napping, but the baking of the cookies got postponed until Wednesday.
Danny got to use his new rolling pin and cookie cutters that he'd received for his birthday. Isaac actually used a rolling pin correctly! And resisted eating all the dough. I was so proud of my baby :)
The cookies were great, sorry we can't share over the computer :( You'll just have to console yourself with some pictures!
And here they are, enjoying the finished product:
Nana was in town and stopped by, later in the day, and got to sample some of our goods. And then she took some to Brenda, Tom and Bean for us, so I guess they did get dispersed a little.
Poor Mom got mauled, I couldn't get a single picture of the boys holding still! They were very excited to see her, and show off their new bikes and skills, and jump all over her. Picassoodle
For Danny's birthday party we bought this little cardboard house that is completely undecorated, so the kids could paint it at the party.
Unfortunately, it rained the day after the party and the house was in sad shape out on the deck.
It was raining all morning, and our house was somewhat picked up, so I decided to resurrect the cardboard house (we did pay $20 for the dam thing), let it dry a little inside, and have the boys redecorate it. And it kept them occupied for a almost an hour, though I did have some marker to clean off the walls and floor, but this is what Magic Erasers are for.
Danny drew himself and Isaac, anatomically correct even, and then a cow next to them. The cow is the upper left picture (with 4 legs, even); Danny is to the right of the cow; and Isaac is down below.
He's just begun drawing actual pictures that resemble actual things, so this is exciting, though I'm a little surprised (and can't quit laughing) over the fact that he's drawing genitalia!
After I oohed and aahhed over this picture, he told me, "But wait, Mama, now I'm going to draw something really cool!"
And proceeded to draw a whole array of fire trucks, ambulances, Life Flight helicopters, and fire rescue vehicles, with a single firefighter thrown in.
He was very proud of his artwork!
Now while Danny was working diligently, you can take a peek at what Isaac was doing:
Unfortunately, it rained the day after the party and the house was in sad shape out on the deck.
It was raining all morning, and our house was somewhat picked up, so I decided to resurrect the cardboard house (we did pay $20 for the dam thing), let it dry a little inside, and have the boys redecorate it. And it kept them occupied for a almost an hour, though I did have some marker to clean off the walls and floor, but this is what Magic Erasers are for.
He's just begun drawing actual pictures that resemble actual things, so this is exciting, though I'm a little surprised (and can't quit laughing) over the fact that he's drawing genitalia!
After I oohed and aahhed over this picture, he told me, "But wait, Mama, now I'm going to draw something really cool!"
And proceeded to draw a whole array of fire trucks, ambulances, Life Flight helicopters, and fire rescue vehicles, with a single firefighter thrown in.
He was very proud of his artwork!Now while Danny was working diligently, you can take a peek at what Isaac was doing:
That's right, eating markers and crawling in and out, in and out. Mischief and mayhem as usual, for the little Shooey. He only drew on the wall once though, and on the floor accidentally, so I'd say we're improving :)
What a nice, quiet morning! (Oh geez, and then I add this last picture, and here's Isaac trying to dismantle the house!)
Good eats!
My kitchen adventures have been yielding some impressive results lately! I love it when that happens--too often I come up with concoctions that only I like and the leftovers sit in the fridge and don't get eaten. Sometimes even I don't like what I come up :) But I get bored so easily, cooking the same thing over and over, so experimentation keeps me interested in, and enjoying, the cooking process--much to Chris's chagrin!
Tuesday night was definitely one of my successes, though: squash and sausage pasta sauce over gnocchi. Chris went back for seconds and Mom wanted to know how I made it--that means it was good!
I had a roasted buttercup squash (from our CSA, I have no clue where to find it otherwise, but acorn, delicata or pumpkin will make good subs) leftover from Halloween--apparently the kids had no room for squash, what with grilled cheese and cocoa in front of them.
I had heard (or read) Rachael Ray talking about using cooked veggies as a pasta sauce--she'd done cauliflower, which I still have yet to try--so I decided that the squash could work as such. Monday afternoon, Danny and I pureed the squash in the food processor, using whole milk and a little bit of chicken broth to thin it to a sauce-like consistency. We added some fresh sage, nutmeg and of course, salt and pepper. Normally, I probably would have just let that be the sauce, but Chris was going to be home and he isn't too fond of my vegetarian meals. So I needed meat.
Alas, the dinner didn't get made Monday night b/c of picking Chuck up at the vet late, and my poor planning--we had Annie's mac and cheese and fish sticks that night, which is probably Chris and the kids' favorite dinner. Why do I bother?!
And as luck would have it, at the gym Tuesday morning, Rachael Ray was on (apparently she's really influencing my cooking right now!), and making a lasagna from a pumpkin sauce, coupled with Italian sweet sausage. I didn't have Italian sweet sausage at home, but I do have tons and tons and tons of ground beef, so I decided I'd season that with some fennel seed and it would be close enough to sausage. Because, you may have discerned from above, this family doesn't have nearly sensitive enough palates to discern beef from pork. :) So I sauteed up my beef with the seasonings, and then simply dumped my already made squash sauce over the top and let it simmer while I dealt with what went underneath the sauce...
And, b/c I have to make life as hard as possible for myself, I didn't want regular old pasta, either. We'd eaten too much of it lately. Gnocchi, which is an Italian potato pasta, came to mind. Danny was excited to help me out again, and I have to say, it's great having such an enthusiastic little kitchen helper. He's even washing dishes for me now! The gnocchi was super easy to make though, and very kid-helper friendly. Danny was very happy to be eating the "milky", as he called them, that he'd helped to make.
If only he would have been so enthusiastic about the spinach I served on the side!
Here's the finished product, but disclaimer, the picture doesn't do it justice. I think I've found a new respect for all of the cooking blogs out there, with all of their pretty pictures. I have no clue how to make my food look pretty!
Tuesday night was definitely one of my successes, though: squash and sausage pasta sauce over gnocchi. Chris went back for seconds and Mom wanted to know how I made it--that means it was good!
I had a roasted buttercup squash (from our CSA, I have no clue where to find it otherwise, but acorn, delicata or pumpkin will make good subs) leftover from Halloween--apparently the kids had no room for squash, what with grilled cheese and cocoa in front of them.
I had heard (or read) Rachael Ray talking about using cooked veggies as a pasta sauce--she'd done cauliflower, which I still have yet to try--so I decided that the squash could work as such. Monday afternoon, Danny and I pureed the squash in the food processor, using whole milk and a little bit of chicken broth to thin it to a sauce-like consistency. We added some fresh sage, nutmeg and of course, salt and pepper. Normally, I probably would have just let that be the sauce, but Chris was going to be home and he isn't too fond of my vegetarian meals. So I needed meat.
Alas, the dinner didn't get made Monday night b/c of picking Chuck up at the vet late, and my poor planning--we had Annie's mac and cheese and fish sticks that night, which is probably Chris and the kids' favorite dinner. Why do I bother?!
And as luck would have it, at the gym Tuesday morning, Rachael Ray was on (apparently she's really influencing my cooking right now!), and making a lasagna from a pumpkin sauce, coupled with Italian sweet sausage. I didn't have Italian sweet sausage at home, but I do have tons and tons and tons of ground beef, so I decided I'd season that with some fennel seed and it would be close enough to sausage. Because, you may have discerned from above, this family doesn't have nearly sensitive enough palates to discern beef from pork. :) So I sauteed up my beef with the seasonings, and then simply dumped my already made squash sauce over the top and let it simmer while I dealt with what went underneath the sauce...
If only he would have been so enthusiastic about the spinach I served on the side!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
An 'F' in pet ownership
Ah, our poor animals.
About a month ago, Chuck--the cat we ALL love, even Chris--came home with a small hard lump on his side. I made Chris check it; he said that it wasn't fluid filled and we could just keep on eye on it. So we did. And it got smaller and disappeared.
Then, Saturday, as I mentioned in the Halloween post, I was petting Chuck up in Danny's bed (he loves to sleep with Danny) and the lump was back and very big. I brought him out to the living room to keep an eye on him for awhile and decided that he most definitely was not feeling good: wouldn't eat breakfast, was obviously in pain, very lethargic. Chris checked it again, declared it a fluid filled abscess and suggested that if Chuck were to live, we should get him to the vet.
Maybe I'll change our grade to a 'C', b/c at least we kept an eye on it and rushed him to the vet.
Luckily, our vet clinic was open (ER vets are not fun, or cheap, we know this from Zeus) and they squeezed him in. One of the reasons why I am still driving down to Salmon Creek instead of finding a new vet here. Plus, the visit came in actually under their estimate, and was pretty reasonable.
Poor guy had a raging fever and was dehydrated, so they admitted him to drain the abscess and then kept him until Monday evening to make sure the infection cleared up. I was very excited to find out there is now a broad-spectrum antibiotic for cats that requires ONE injection and lasts for 10-14 days. No shoving pills down his throat!
And I had to share a picture, b/c he looks hilarious with his cone head thing on. We've been taking it off to allow him to scratch and lick non-open-wound areas, but he goes right back to licking the abscess as soon as we turn our heads.
You can see in the picture, he's waiting at the door to be let out, but he's supposed to be inside for 10-14 days. We'll see how long that lasts.
Ok, now I sound like a crazy cat lady, but we were all fairly concerned for poor, sick, Chuck and babying him has taken up a substantial amount of our time.
Zeus, Oscar and Biscotti and more neglected than ever. Chuck better sleep with one eye open...
About a month ago, Chuck--the cat we ALL love, even Chris--came home with a small hard lump on his side. I made Chris check it; he said that it wasn't fluid filled and we could just keep on eye on it. So we did. And it got smaller and disappeared.
Then, Saturday, as I mentioned in the Halloween post, I was petting Chuck up in Danny's bed (he loves to sleep with Danny) and the lump was back and very big. I brought him out to the living room to keep an eye on him for awhile and decided that he most definitely was not feeling good: wouldn't eat breakfast, was obviously in pain, very lethargic. Chris checked it again, declared it a fluid filled abscess and suggested that if Chuck were to live, we should get him to the vet.
Maybe I'll change our grade to a 'C', b/c at least we kept an eye on it and rushed him to the vet.
Luckily, our vet clinic was open (ER vets are not fun, or cheap, we know this from Zeus) and they squeezed him in. One of the reasons why I am still driving down to Salmon Creek instead of finding a new vet here. Plus, the visit came in actually under their estimate, and was pretty reasonable.
Poor guy had a raging fever and was dehydrated, so they admitted him to drain the abscess and then kept him until Monday evening to make sure the infection cleared up. I was very excited to find out there is now a broad-spectrum antibiotic for cats that requires ONE injection and lasts for 10-14 days. No shoving pills down his throat!And I had to share a picture, b/c he looks hilarious with his cone head thing on. We've been taking it off to allow him to scratch and lick non-open-wound areas, but he goes right back to licking the abscess as soon as we turn our heads.
You can see in the picture, he's waiting at the door to be let out, but he's supposed to be inside for 10-14 days. We'll see how long that lasts.
Ok, now I sound like a crazy cat lady, but we were all fairly concerned for poor, sick, Chuck and babying him has taken up a substantial amount of our time.
Zeus, Oscar and Biscotti and more neglected than ever. Chuck better sleep with one eye open...
Monday, November 2, 2009
Countdown to turkey day!
I totally pirated this idea from a friend, who got it from a magazine, and so far it is working like a charm.
We made a turkey (just construction paper), with a feather for every day from November 1st until Thanksgiving (the 26th, in case you need to know). On the front of the feather is the date, on the back is a clue to where a piece of Halloween candy is hidden (well, two pieces in our case, one for each kid). We rip off a feather each afternoon and away they go! Kind of an advent calendar/treasure hunt combo.
The kids love it; it keeps them occupied for awhile, searching for the candy; and this way the candy gets eaten a little more slowly and I don't get bugged for it. As a bonus, Danny has been making collages out of construction paper, every since helping me make the turkey. Wait, that might not be such a bonus, judging from the million jillion teeny tiny bits of construction paper all over the floor in his room...
We made a turkey (just construction paper), with a feather for every day from November 1st until Thanksgiving (the 26th, in case you need to know). On the front of the feather is the date, on the back is a clue to where a piece of Halloween candy is hidden (well, two pieces in our case, one for each kid). We rip off a feather each afternoon and away they go! Kind of an advent calendar/treasure hunt combo.
The kids love it; it keeps them occupied for awhile, searching for the candy; and this way the candy gets eaten a little more slowly and I don't get bugged for it. As a bonus, Danny has been making collages out of construction paper, every since helping me make the turkey. Wait, that might not be such a bonus, judging from the million jillion teeny tiny bits of construction paper all over the floor in his room...
Simple loves
Every night before Danny goes to sleep, we cuddle for a little bit and talk about our day. Tonight, when we concluded and I told him that I loved him, he responded with this: "I love candy. And rocamatrol [remote control, the way Danny says it] cars. And red." I wish everything I loved could be summed up so simply!
And by the way, great grandma: good job with the b-day present! If only it would have been made of candy...
And by the way, great grandma: good job with the b-day present! If only it would have been made of candy...
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