Ernie, Ernie Bo-bernie

This is Ernie- who we dog-sat for the last few days for our friends

• Ernie thinks the girls are unruly puppies who need to be whipped into shape
• The girls think Ernie is part terrifying and part mesmerizing, they were obsessed -which was aggravated by the fact we had to keep them separated from him
  
• Ernie almost gave me whiplash when I walked him
  
• He was a nut in the back yard, running in figure eights and going insanely happy
  
• Ernie worked on the rawhide bone the girls got for him until he swallowed half of it, then threw it back up at my feet on my new rug
  
• After this test run, we know better that a dog is not in our family's immediate future
  

Despite the above, I got a little teary-eyed at the thought of taking him back to his apartment. What a loving, loyal dog and really, he was mostly perfectly behaved and well trained. I loved the long walks and having another reason to stay busy.

We miss you already Ernie

Easter, British Columbia and cheeky kids

Someone found the usb cord to the camera and so somebody is catching up. Oh, and yah I did take those photos at the Zoo since a bunch of people asked and I am prone to downloading good photos off the web when I forget my camera. We have 3 cameras now ranging from "I-bought-this-in-case-it-gets-stolen-on-that-one-trip-camera" to "it's-broken-twice-and-resurrects-itself-so-it-must-have-nine-lives-camera" to "it-costs-a-lot-and-is-big-to-lug-around-but-I'm-happy-with-the-pics-camera". You'll often see a sampling from all 3 cameras here.

Easter Egg Hunt with Viswanathans

Keiran was the cutest as this was his first hunt where he ran around and "got it"- yes we are multi-purposing holiday buckets


The girls LOVE that they can pick as many "flowers" as they want from the yard

When my parents were here, we went to Langley, BC to go through the Vancouver area temple open house- it is lovely


This is a good depiction of the trip- grandma and grandpa are so great to have around! In the gym of the adjacent stake center, they had a huge map of the world with red sticker dots of all the temples and where they are located. Odessa was looking a little too close and I warned her to step back. Later as we were walking around the grounds, I noticed something in her hair.
Me: "Oh no!"
My Dad: "What is it??"
Me: "I just found a TEMPLE in Odessa's hair!"


We stopped in the tulip fields of Skagit Valley on the way home, this has long been a favorite place for my Dad especially






We mostly took pictures from the car. Ada and Stephen were playing around at lunch and she kind-of "dislocated" her elbow. It's a common condition in kids where the joint kind of slides around and pinches a nerve and it's really painful. Thankfully (?) this is a common occurrence in Hunt children and we learned all about it in Chicago from Nathan and Beth and how to fix it without going to the ER. So Stephen and I had both tried our hand at "fixing" her arm and she just SCREAMED bloody murder the whole time and even though I thought I felt a little click (the sign it's back in place)- she didn't show a ton of improvement although she held it in her car seat and promptly fell asleep. When we got to the tulip fields, she started SCREAMING when we tried to get her out of her car seat- someone nearby asked us what we were doing to the poor girl, so I decided we had better find an urgent care rather than try and see all the fields. So we made the circuit while my dad used his i-phone to locate all kinds of things for us including the nearest Group Health urgent care center. I must say I am glad my parents are so much more tech savvy than us. Everyone was a little disappointed to leave the fields and we had planned on having dinner in La Conner, but oh well.
We got to the Everett center, and she again cried when I took her out of her car seat. My dad said a quick prayer at the car that she would be pain free soon. We got to the waiting room and Stephen started the check in process- Odessa raced off to the aquarium and all of a sudden, Ada gets off my lap, runs over to the aquarium and slaps BOTH hands against the glass. My parents and I were stunned. I made Ada squeeze my hand, give me five, pull on my fingers, you name it. I started waving at Stephen "Don't check her in! She's FINE- the CRAZY NUT."
We all felt she had kind of been over-nursing it and freaking out about it since the parking lot at lunch where I am pretty sure it was fixed. I was so glad we didn't have to pay for urgent care services. On the way home she demanded we stop and pee right away - twice. So you can imagine when we finally pulled in the driveway I had had enough of her demands that night! Too funny, we were all so glad she was fine.
Just one of the many adventures with these 2 kids lately!
My mom got them ice cream cones- 2 days in a row and the first day Ada got mint chocolate and the second she got vanilla.
The second day she was licking her cone and I noticed something on her cone, I picked it off and told her: "It's just lint".
Ada: "Hey, I wanted VANILLA".

We also got some cupcakes (early birthday for me) and Odessa and Ada got the mini ones.
Odessa held hers up to me and asked: "Did this shrink in the wash?"

Of course, why didn't I think of that?

Monday morning after being in the house 3 days:

Ada: I want milk to drink.
Me: Sorry Ada, we are out of milk- that's why we have to go to the store.
Ada: How about bread?
Me: We're out of bread Ada.
Ada: How about apple?
Me: We're out of apples Ada.

Thankfully, this little talk motivated her enough to get her shoes on and get out to the car!

Me: Odessa, do you want to see pictures of your new baby cousin?
Odessa: Our baby?
Me: No, your cousin.
Odessa: When are we getting a baby boy?
Me: I don't know, maybe someday.
Odessa: I want a brother.
Me: Why do you want a brother? Did you know mommy never had a brother? Just sisters.
Odessa: (looking at me like I was dumb). For ballet! You need a boy to dance with.

Pluses and minuses

Minuses:

• The house had to be cleaned a lot and there is a lot of stuff that still needs to be removed, hence very slow unpacking.

• Ada fell asleep with gum in her mouth which traveled to her hair. No scissors were used, much screaming and crying ensued.
• The previous owner took the washer and dryer and I am having hard time finding a used front loader.
• Ada threw up as we pulled into the driveway yesterday- all over car seat and self. NEED A WASHER.
• We would like to get going on a garden, but have no tools . . . gotta get some of those!
• Our computer was having fits before we moved and I will be without a computer while we either get it fixed or GULP buy a new one. ick.
  

Pluses:

• The house shines up like a new penny, places I thought were stained were just dirty and I am happy they look much better!
• We can drop a box on the floor at 11pm and not worry about anyone hearing it.
• We got to have our friends and her mom over for Easter dinner (they brought almost everything and we ate on paper plates) and the yard was perfect for an egg hunt.
• My parents are coming this weekend and we are going to work and play! yay!
• We can pound a nail into the wall and not worry about anyone hearing it.
• Our neighbors are nice.
• The kids can cry out at night and we don't have to worry about anyone hearing it!
• I got a good microwave last night for $5- couldn't be happier. Now I can defrost at 4pm like usual.
  

Stephen walks though the house when the lights are all out and sometimes there is light through the skylights and he marvels that we have a house. He really is loving it- all of it.
Me? I am just trying to keep my head above water for now! lol But things will get better . . . . I may get a new washer!

Calling all cheap recipes!

If there is one complaint Stephen has about my cooking is that we don't eat the same thing more than once very often. He likes familiar things, I get bored with a recipe after once or twice- the second time I make something it doesn't taste nearly as good. Which is why the huge collection of recipes I have is probably a waste of space, but don't tell the guys that are moving those boxes- they are super heavy.

So here is the deal: we are trying to eat with a lot of food storage type items and I am BORED TO DEATH. I need something new to spice up the life of dried beans, canned tomatoes, pasta, rice. We will have next to nil to live on for a while- this closing is sucking us dry, so eating on the cheap will probably continue for a while. Like a year. Blehhh.

I'm calling for all websites or favorite recipes you have that feed a family of four for cheap. Also, any great tips on saving money on groceries (I know all about the grocery game). How cheap? Well, I don't usually spend over $2.99/lb for any meat, if that is any indication.

I walked in the store the other day and nearly choked- $1 for green onions?? I miss Jerry's in Chicago (Niles, actually) so much at moments like these. I am pretty sure that place was a front for the Mafia, but I didn't care. The prices were INSANE. Ten cents for green onions, 10 little avacados for $1, 3 pounds of strawberries for $1 . . . you can't beat that.

So let me know- and if you have more than one recipe, email me on the link to the left. Thanks you guys, and you know I will send out a compilation of what you send me. Just leave me your email address in your comment.

Small Town, USA

I finally figured out why we like this neighborhood of Magnolia so much. It's like living in Small Town, USA- but just up the street from a good sized city. Yesterday was a perfect example: There was a preschool fundraiser at the Methodist Church, selling children's clothing and toys and I headed up there to see if I could find some summer shorts for Odessa. I ran into a friend and saw many other familiar faces. Faces I see at the gym, the grocery store, the post office. When I got home, Ada, Odessa and I walked to the corner to watch part of the Little League parade when all the teams march down the main streets. They throw candy, the High School band plays, all the village businesses sponsor a team, the main streets were all closed. Late in the afternoon when we were all stir crazy from packing, the girls and I headed to the grocery store down the street to see if they had any more boxes. We turned in their Easter Coloring contest pages, hoping to win the $20 grand prize! We met Stephen on our return at the park and played in the perfect afternoon weather. And to cap off our evening, we walked around the corner to the Pie restaurant and split a couple pieces of pie. You don't get more "down home" days than that. I told Stephen they just need a cheap diner to round out the place. Ichiro's Teriyaki will have to suffice- Teriyaki is like diner food around here- cheap and plentiful. Owning our own home will be exciting, but leaving Magnolia is hard to do.
Monday night we hosted the Linfords and Manijeh at our home to thank them for being our grandparents-away-from grandparents here in Seattle. They are such wonderful people, we love them all 3 dearly. We often run to the Linfords at the gym here in Magnolia and the girls shout "Sister Linford!" Which makes all the patrons stare and the rest of us laugh.
I made the traditional St Patrick's Day feast for them. This is a terrible picture, but I wanted to capture the moment.
Friday we met our friend Julia at the Zoo and enjoyed the sunny weather along with half of Seattle. School was out and the kids were all there at the zoo. I ran into 4 other friends besides Julia!

This tiger was licking the other


I love giraffes!


I liked this shot of the wise old gorilla and the young behind



Say goodbye. It's time to focus on moving. . . .

Confidence Builders

Stephen and I were asked last week to talk in church today. Ada seemed determined to make sure my frame of mind was not overly confident before I stood up in front of the congregation.

She trotted into my room this morning, picked up my bra from my designated clothing cast off chair and said while holding it in the air:
"Are these your boobs?" Then she insisted that I should put it on right away. Probably freaked out to see me without my boobs.
At the breakfast table I was shiny faced (as always) not having showered or put on my make-up yet. She said: "What's that red stuff on your face?"
Me: "Where?" (egging her on)
Ada: "Right there on your chin, and there and there on your chin again" (pointing) "Are those from your pillow?"
Me: "No, they're not Ada, mommy just doesn't have perfect skin like you and Odessa!"

Oh boy, going to have a stellar day!