January 6

Happy Birthday, Mom!  Typing this a little late, but I'm where you are so I guess you kinda know what's going on :)

On the actual 6th (yesterday) I was packing up and running around to make a quick flight home, my Boom-Pa isn't doing very well and several of the family members have converged.  Hoping for the best, arrangements are being made to move him and Granny to stay in Iowa with their son/my uncle in hopes that being around family will help spark more energy and improvement.  But nevertheless, we love him lots and no matter what he will always be wrapped in our hearts.

Anyway, since I was packing and packing for the boys to go to Grammy's house, and needing to clean (didn't happen) and fold laundry and do dishes (also didn't happen) and just get ready to LEAVE, it occurred to me that it was the PERFECT time to try out a new technique that I'd just read about.  If it's already chaotic, what's a little more chaos, right?

And here you go.  I do wish there were more of me to get stuff done, but we'd probably all just end up procrastinating and playing around with the camera.

January 5 - i heart faces

Today's photo is a two-fer, and hopefully I'll have time to come back and edit this post to add more photos.  You see, the folks over at i ♥ faces are about to celebrate their one year anniversary and as part of the festivities they have come up with a super cool photo challenge for the week.  The goal is to 'naturally' display their logo in your photo.

I have been super busy and haven't had a chance to work on photos or participate in the challenges lately and this one I REALLY really wanted to do.  Alas, not so sure that my first attempt is quite what they were going for and it's a rather desperate "Hey ZACH!  Hurry!  I need a photo for today!" forced type of thing, but being the sweet boy that he is, he complied.  Wet shower head, trying to form the heart with his hands, freezing b/c he was still a bit wet (the kid does NOT know how to use a towel) and wala.

I have no idea if I'll actually get enough done or be able to upload to the contest in time.  I am leaving early Thursday morning for WV to see my Boompa.  He isn't doing well :(  But if the fates allow, maybe I'll be able to get some shots of more people I love, since other family members are visiting as well.  And maybe..just maybe...there will be an internet connection.  So don't fret if my photo-a-day isn't uploaded in a timely manner, I'll catch up.  I promise :)

And in the meantime, go check out the amazing photography and insane creative talents of the i ♥ faces contest entries!

Yep, it's a Monday - Jan. 4

So this morning I woke up as per usual (I guess it would be pretty bad to not wake up, wouldn't it?) and the day got off to the usual start. Owen running around, wanting his 'dee!', picking through toys, glancing at the TV and screaming for Thomas if you dare to change it. I fixed a cup of coffee and sat down at the computer to check out emails and websites and such. I use my ears a lot to keep tabs on Owen, and my ears were telling me suddenly that there were some noises that probably weren't good noises. It's hard to describe, I won't even realize the specific noise, I just jump inside and think "check on Owen!"

So I jumped, even though I'd only been sitting a minute, maybe two. And this is what I found.



















He's getting to be an expert at dragging those big heavy chairs around.















However, the spoon there wasn't yielding very positive results.
















So what other course of action is there but to try with the hands as well?




















I guess he's just going to have to take what he can get. It's a tough life, kid.

I swear, I'm going to put jingle bells on those chairs.

Disclaimer: I love that pan. I know it looks nasty. But it's clean and by golly, I LOVE that pan. Or baking sheet, or whatever you call it. You can see my love cooked and baked and burned on there in all its glory and it is NOT coming off...it's not dirt, it's love.

On a more positive note, I managed to find a way to use my left over grilled vegetables (no, I didn't blog about them, don't worry, you haven't suddenly lost your memory) which I had intended on making a salad with, but that didn't pan out so after I ate a bowl full for dinner last night, I was fearful that they'd go the way so many other of my attempts do...in the trash. I HATE wasting food and I really want to be more healthy as well as frugal. But I'm just not good with thinking outside the box. I don't make up my own recipes and left overs are left overs, same old dish, nuked on a different day.

BUT...I put a crack in that mental block today. Not only did I decide to try and make spaghetti sauce using the same half hamburger/half tofu concept as 2 nights ago (thus ensuring the other halves didn't get too old waiting on some use) but I thought I should make a sort of baked spaghetti and throw the veggies in there. Some mozzarella on top and voila...a healthier, more vegetable laden dish (shhh, don't mind that cheese). Now if only I could get my act together and start making more of my own pasta, I'd really feel accomplished.

Testing...just trying out my new signature LOL.

Edited...well shucks, I made it smaller and even re-uploaded it, but I'm guessing the format for photos is interfering with a 'large' size for thumbnails. So you'll have to deal with a large and conspicuous sig until I can find a way to change it. Ciao!

January 3rd

Well, it's a little late for the holidays, but we're still on break, technically, right? I finally got around to making the marshmallows I've been wanting to do. I did this a few years ago, the last activity that made me realize I NEEDED a KitchenAid stand mixer, because let me tell you...15 minutes of beating that mixture with a hand mixer is pain no matter how great your hands may be.

Anyway, I got the recipe and assembled the ingredients, started the sugar mixture cooking and prepped everything else. Just when it started to almost bubble, I opened the drawer for my candy thermometer. Grabbed it out and thought WTF? It was full of WATER! And there was stuff floating in it. Someone either immersed it in the sink OR put it in the dishwasher (which is what someone said he thinks happened.) Either way, I wasn't able to use it. I was about to panic then realized I have an instant read thermometer so I would try that.

It apparently isn't very accurate. The marshmallows aren't quite setting up. Oh well, they still melt really well in a cup of hot chocolate! And that's really the whole point, isn't it? Just have to scoop some up first :)

January 2

Nothing too exciting to report. I did end up in a walk-in clinic yesterday b/c my hand was more swollen, I couldn't bend my pinkie down any more :( and it was getting red and warm to the touch. The good thing about going to a walk-in clinic on New Year's Day is that nobody else is there. So at least there was that. In and out pretty quickly, script for Augmentin in hand.

After I got home I laid around and watched movies, the boys were at Grammy's and I took the opportunity to baby myself and just lie around. So today I had a bit of catching up to do, lots of laundry, and more laundry, and even more laundry. My hand is getting better, I went ahead and took pics but you can't really tell anything...the space between my last two fingers is pretty bruised on the back surface, and there's still a good bit of bruising on the palm surface, but I'll be damned if I can get it to show up in a picture. It hasn't been too painful, but all the hand motion needed for folding a mountain of laundry wasn't very pleasant. And our tree is still up. C'est la vie.

PS. Augmentin sucks.

Oh yeah, I made stuffed peppers tonight and shhhhh...I used half tofu and half ground beef. They were pretty darn good. Zach loved them, all but the actual pepper part *roll eyes* I'm going to put my ingredients down here in case I want to make them again, I'll never remember otherwise. Feel free to try it out!

4 bell peppers, tops cut off, seeds and insides removed....boil briefly to prepare for baking
approx 1/2 lb ground beef (extra lean, 93/7)
1/2 block of tofu (7 oz, give or take)
small onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh herbs: oregano, thyme and parsley, chopped
dash of hot sauce
tsp of Worcestershire
Paprika, a tsp or two (I was going more for color to hide the tofu)
salt and pepper to taste
Rotel (about 1/2 can, more if you want it spicier)
cheddar cheese

Start browning the ground beef. About half way done, toss in the onions and garlic, and then crumble in the tofu. Stir frequently, and if you haven't done it yet, run outside and snip some herbs. Hurry and wash them and throw them into the skillet. Once all the liquid is gone, turn off the heat and put on a lid (or not, I just did to help the herbs stay warm and give them time to spread their flavor). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Oh yeah, rice...brown rice is great. Cook it per directions using a broth or add base to your water. I used vegetable base. 1 cup of cooked rice is needed for the peppers. Make extra and feed the plain rice to your picky kids.

Mix the cooked rice into the meat mixture. Make sure it's not too hot and then add in 1 1/2 cups freshly grated cheddar (I prefer the block kind, it's not as dry as the bagged stuff which has anti-caking starches added). Stuff the peppers and place them in an ovenproof baking dish. Add about a cup of water to the bottom (not sure if this is necessary but I read it somewhere, so I did it) and then add an extra 1/2 cup shredded cheddar split between the four, lightly piled on top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Happy New Year! January 1, 2010

So I'm trying to get this 365 thing going again. Not sure if I'll be more successful than last year, but we'll see. For my January 1 photo, I have the moon. The 'rare' blue moon. I had to add a little PS magic to get it to show up b/c it was really cloudy and the resulting image is pretty grainy, but I still like it. I took it shortly after midnight, just after the New Year began.

New Year's Eve

You know how this year we started off having illness/something negative happen with each 'special' day like birthdays, Mother's Day, etc? Well, we were on a roll with a great Thanksgiving and Christmas, although Misha's death did overshadow our Christmas joy a little. But we had no PEOPLE issues.

Luckily we had no plans to go crazy on New Year's. Kevin was working until 10pm so we didn't bother looking for a sitter to go out partying. Besides, who has the energy for that? Good thing, too, b/c sweet little Tessa chomped down on my hand. Ferocious little feline! I guess she's really scared of the vacuum cleaner. Do not...I repeat do NOT...try to carry her into a room with a running vacuum. For the safety of your own life and limbs, don't even think about it. That little creature has quite the mouth and I felt the power of her little jaw sinking those teeth into my hand deeper than I've ever felt any animal injure me. Talk about shocked...and she was gone in a flash, too.

One puncture wound was really bleeding a lot, I'm guessing she hit a vein. And it was leaking under my skin as well, I could see the skin turning blue and puffing up even as the blood flow was slowing. That sh*t burns! Aside from the basic pain of the bite, it was just ridiculously painful. I still can't believe that little 1 lb ball of fur was able to do that.

And of course the pics look like I'm just a big wuss. I can't get the colors/bruising to show up very well. It started swelling up pretty noticeably by late night, and I was getting a little worried from everyone's horror stories about infected cat bites.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, you are in a time warp mwahahaha. Seriously, I've been meaning to get at these pictures for a while, and of course I snapped the shutter too many times taking lots of crappy shots so I have to pick out a few that might look decent, convert them to jpg, resize, check the lighting, etc etc. So here you go, I hope you have visions of golden turkey in your heads.

Actually, the pictures are more about what was going on around us as we were having Thanksgiving. Nary a turkey picture on this pc.

Karen and Dennis hosted the event, and it was an event. More food that I thought they could squeeze into the place. More people than I thought would fit as well. But it went wonderfully, Owen made friends with a cute little girl next door and the animal menagerie was pretty well behaved.













Who is this child?














Not sure what they're cooking up here...















Headed down the fairy path in the magical garden.




























Estela and her fabulous husband Ralf. I didn't take pictures of everyone, only the most beautiful people. (Estela, you owe me!)





























Owen loving on LaKota.
















Tori....Tori loves me :)
















And this is JuJu...she's not my biggest fan.

Since I'm in backtrack mode...

Here are some pics from Owen's gymnastics 'class'. They allow cameras only once per semester, and as you can see, his favorite activity is jumping. He really doesn't have time for those pesky balance beams or parallel bars or ladders or anything else really. Although he does love that foam pit!

And then some cookies I made for Zach's Christmas party at school. They were more for his birthday than Christmas, since he's always out on break and doesn't get the typical 'mom's bringing cupcakes to school for my birthday!' that most kids get. I was praying none of the kids had a red dye sensitivity b/c holy crap there was a lot of red gel food coloring in there. They were a hit :) Making them, however, was not an easy task. Especially with Owen trying to grab them, picking off the pearls, licking the top, etc. I was glad to get out of the house with enough viable cookies to feed his class.