I succumbed

So, it's official. I bought bribes for my kids to be good while we were running umpteen million errands- and it was pouring rain. I actually took 2 bottles of Tic Tacs off the wall, ripped them open and shoved them into my kids hands. Ada kept busy trying to get her fingers into the dispenser. I realized too late that the invariable Tic Tac left on the floor in our wake could make someone slip and break a hip, but I honestly couldn't worry too much about it. When the girls were out of the cart waiting FOREVER for our prescription to be filled, they picked up any that fell on the floor and ate them before I could stop them, so at least they took care of that area. The cashier did not blink when I handed her an empty Tic Tac container (I was sure they would start throwing up Tic Tacs, they ate so many) and told her to ring up 2 of them. I am sure she gets that kind of thing a lot at Target. At the previous store, I had actually shown my children the Jelly Bellies that I was GOING to buy them had they come to the check out stand when I told them to. Then I told the cashier to put them back as my children started wailing- I think she was horrified by my meaness. So I promised them a treat at the next store if they would just stay with me! Like herding rabbits, those two.
One thing I have been wanting to blog about. I read an article in my Parents magazine recently about how parents can stay well while taking care of their sick children. Most of the tips were decent- wash your hands, blah blah blah. Then I read this suggestion that you could make a sign or gesture for "hug" so that you can sign at your kid and not touch them too much! Are you kidding me? When my kids are sick, the first thing they want is not a drink or bed or their blanket- it's MOMMY, and there is no way I am going to tuck them in on the couch and pop in the room once in a while and sign hug at them. You think they are going to feel better if I blow them a kiss and say "feel better honey, mommy doesn't want to get sick!" I wanted to know what the rest of my mommy (and non-mommy) friends think of this suggestion? I know working moms have to worry about this more probably since they can't always call in sick.
Here is a cute picture of Ada (with pigtails!) waiting in line for Santa at the Christmas party this weekend (ok, so it's really a picture of Hyrum with Santa, but Ada is so cute waiting there). When we came out of the church, it was snowing- so pretty! We had the wonderful choir program at Church on Sunday and a cookies and caroling party at Hillary and Krishna's. Next post- probably post Christmas! Have a happy one- one and all.

Here it comes . . .

The Christmas activities have begun. Thanksgiving being so late this year, I feel like Christmas is jumping upon us. This weekend we had a fabulous cookie exchange with the ladies at Church. I am so bummed we didn't take any pictures of Debbie's beautiful house all decorated and the huge table of trays upon trays of cookies. We had about 25 people bring 3-5 dozen cookies . . . that is about 900 cookies! Don't worry, a vast number of them were given away : )
A big surprise- I won the cookie contest! I made white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies and added dried cranberries and orange zest (a last minute impulse). I am notorious for "over-spicing" but it seemed to work to my advantage this time. I actually attribute all good flavors in baking to the Mexican vanilla we get from people that have been on Caribbean cruises! So, if you're lucky enough to be headed South, pick yourself up some.
After the cookie exchange, we took off for the Washington State forest to cut down our Christmas tree. A huge debate this year- do we go to a tree farm(like usual) or get a permit and cut it down in the "wild"? So funny. I had read my friend Gina's post about cutting down a tree and how they had to hike up a very steep hillside. Somehow I had glazed over the fact that she suggested not bringing small children next time and focused on the making sure to be prepared for mud and cold. So I had my 3 yr old and 18 month old all bundled up and in boots. We decided on the permit because it was $10 versus $35 you usually have to pay at a farm- plus this is the Evergreen State, right? We should get a tree in the forest. When we got to the area that they instructed us to cut our tree in, I saw the steep mountain side flash by and said "we can't climb up there, why did we think this was a good idea? the kids won't be able to do that!" It was so funny. Stephen looked at me and said "yah, trees grow in the mountains honey." I said "well, I thought there would be a nice flat area we could just go out a pick a tree from."(joking now) Stephen: "yes, that's what they call a tree farm." Ha ha.
Well, fortunate for us the girls had fallen asleep during our drive. We spotted a river from the road and I had seen several areas of flat ground near the river that had little trees growing up nice and round- safe from the shade of the big trees around. So we parked and Stephen took his saw and trudged off in the direction of the river. I sat in the car and watched droves of SUVs, Subarus and minivans pass our Buick with bushy trees roped to the top of their cars. Our windows got foggy as the girls slept on and I thought of all the dreadful things that could happen to Stephen out in the woods by himself (he was wearing camo pants and I was sure he would be mistakenly shot by some stupid hunter) and counted up how much everything would cost on my Trader Joes wishlist from the ad I had picked up from our mail. ( I know, save yourself from paranoia by day dreaming about expensive, cheeses for entertaining).
Just as the girls woke up, Stephen came walking back dragging our cute little Charlie Brown tree. We don't have a lot of space and find it wise to put our trees on top of the end table to help keep it out of reaching hands, so we almost always get a small one. So small, it fit inside our cavernous trunk! No prize-winning, bushy tree strapped to our roof, boo-hoo. We put the boots back on the girls and took a nice little hike through the woods back to the river where Stephen had picked our tree. It was so beautiful! Aspens, spruces, big . . . other trees. Nice river and lots of gray river rocks. It was really nice, even if I did grumble a bit at first (there were steep places too!). The ground was spongy- I have always wondered what that was like when I read about it in books. Spongy ground, hmmmm.
So, we took our tree home and Stephen got the lights on. Because of the Church Christmas Devotional last night, we haven't gotten it decorated yet. I'll post a picture of it as soon as we're done!
This week there is the Church Christmas party, more cookie making and giving, and Stephen and I are singing in the choir for the Christmas program this Sunday. We have a beautiful line-up of songs, it is so nice to participate. "Tara" you say in shock "I didn't know you were a singer?" I'm not, I am an Alto-follower. I position someone beside me or behind me that can follow the notes and I mimic them. The real goal is to not throw them off in the process. Have a happy week of Holiday fun!

Turkey Day and Odessa's Birthday

We had a nice weekend with my parents here from Boise. Stephen was home for 4 days straight and I didn't know what to do with myself, it was so nice to have all the help with the kids and around the house. We had one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I think I have had- but that is funny because it seems to get better each year. The best Thanksgivings were really back when all our extended family would get together - 2nd cousins and all. I don't remember the food back then, just the number of people and tables that snaked through my great aunt's house. So while the food seems to get even better, the memories and associations with family will always be precious. This year we featured some new side dishes including brussel sprouts! Even our potatoes had a leek and parsnip in them, they were so good.

Thanksgiving Day was also Odessa's birthday. By 7 pm she was asking "is it time for my party yet?" Poor thing. We had eaten pie late and kept putting off cupcakes until we absolutely thought we could handle it again! She got plenty of fun presents from Grandparents and a HUGE book of horses from us. (thanks for the tip Kristyn, she loves it)Our neighbors came over to sing Happy Birthday and I got her a mylar balloon later that night and she played more with that than any of her presents after that! It's funny to think back to how much I walked after Thanksgiving dinner 3 years ago trying to get Odessa here. She came after a day of post Thanksgiving shopping : )

On Friday we checked out the activities for Winterfest at the Seattle Center. Then we headed downtown to walk around, spook the shops and people watch. Saturday morning my parents treated us to a fun breakfast at a neat restaurant in Queen Anne that is built in a remodeled old house. Then we took them for a long walk along Lake Union to check out the boat houses- they are so fun! It makes me think of miniature doll houses or something- they are all so unique and scaled down in size.
We are looking forward to Christmas in Boise THIS month (can you believe it?). It really is nice to be close enough to family to make these holidays possible. Stephen put some lights and the stockings up. We have a fireplace and he wanted a fire so much he burned a bunch of paper. The girls danced around singing "fire, fire, fire!". A little family of pyromaniacs I have here. Hope all of you had a great weekend as well.

Leftover throw together

I am going to quickly post a recipe I just used some of our turkey in. We are a little tired of the turkey, gravy and potatoes routine, so I thought I would spice it up a little.

In some olive oil I cooked
1 chopped onion
1 seeded and chopped jalapeno
2 cloves garlic
1+ Tbs tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2-1 tsp cumin
dash sugar
salt / pepper

When soft, I added:
1 can chicken broth
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
1 can rinsed black beans
1 can diced green chilies
a dash of chicken bouillon for more flavor

Once that simmered, I put in a bunch of cut up turkey- mostly breast
We will top with sour cream and maybe some cheese and tortilla chips. I wish I had some cilantro and a spritz of lime would be good. . . hmmmm.
Well, you've got to do with what you've got to make do. ha ha

6 words or more

Ada and Odessa had their check-ups last week. I thought it was a good idea to do their 18 month and 3yr check ups together to get them over with. Ha ha. 2 naked toddlers crawling ALL OVER EVERYTHING. Odessa kept trying to get the blood pressure cuff off the wall, they switched the light on and off, stole the Dr's stethoscope. Every time they would crawl onto the exam table and then get precariously close to the edge, a nurse or Dr would freak out. I was thinking "they've fallen off worse" and "well, if we hadn't waited over 30 minutes in your waiting room, they wouldn't be quite this bad". Meanwhile, I felt like I was juggling, snatching one of them away from something and trying to keep the other from jumping off the exam table. All the while trying to carry on a conversation with the Dr. "Well Doc, as you can see, they are very active". When he got to Ada, he asked me if she was saying many words: "Oh yes." "More than six?" Me: "this morning she said 'fall down- ground'" Doc: "Oh, so stringing a few words together, that's good." It's funny with our second child. With Odessa I was eagerly anticipating every little milestone. With Ada I am just surprised when she starts to crawl, walk, talk.
With Odessa, I had her on a strict feeding schedule. With Ada I would feed her just to have a break- no rhyme or reason. With Odessa we taught her sign language so to avoid the frustration of toddler speak and not understanding one another. With Ada we were just pleasantly surprised she picked up some words. The difference is hilarious to me.
Yesterday on the stage at church (our secret napping place). She was playing with a ball someone left. I bounced it for her and it rolled away. She said "hey, why do that?" and then pointing, "get it!"
I thought, "Yah Doc, she is saying more than 6 words!" And picking up her sisters sassiness too- is that a milestone? What a "fun" few years I am in for.

Flippitybidgitty

The girls are playing a new game called "stop and go" or "freeze and ice melt". They LOVE this. They can call out "stop" (or "sop" as Ada says) or "freeze"and mom or dad will freeze. Then they get to wiggle with delight as they observe us obeying their commands instead of vice-versa for once. Ada is especially good at drawing out your frozen agony and waits forever to say "go" (Odessa prefers "ice melt"). They do this at dinner and somehow it gets them to eat more than usual because they stay at the table longer to play the game! It is so funny to watch Ada's sly grin while she makes you wait for your "go" command.
Feeling very proud of myself. I took the bus both today and yesterday. What a planners wife I am. It really is so simple, what's the big deal ; )? If you were here, you could witness Stephen's dramatic roll of the eyes- I have been such a stinker about public transportation. Key point: I have been ALONE on these 2 bus trips- no kids.
Today I went to a downtown grocery store to observe/help sample out a new nutrition bar: Zing. I am going to be helping this company sample their product occasionally nights and weekends at some local grocery stores. Three Dietitians from Bastyr developed the bar since there was not a bar on the market they could recommend to their clients. Hands down, this is an amazing bar. I can't pick out one thing wrong with it except my friend with an all-nuts allergy can't eat them. I am super excited to work with them and save up some money to become my own consultant as soon as I can.
Last night I took the bus downtown to meet a group of gals to see the Twilight movie. During the movie, I kept looking at the girl to my left, then my right, gauging their reactions. I was amongst "non-talkers" for this movie. When the lights came up and the credits rolled, one said "what did you think?" to the two of us. The gal on my right leaned forward out of her chair "I hated it". And I sighed a great big sigh of relief. Ok, I did not hate all parts of this movie. It had its good moments. I have been analyzing why it was so bad for me. I have loved b-rated movies in the past, why not this one? The books, of course. When you read the books, you can flesh out the scenes and characters with your imagination. Even though I am drawn to them, I have always said the books are not the best. However, the characters are well written, especially their emotions. Of course no one in a movie could replicate what you imagine. I felt the alterations to the plot were poor and a lot of the acting left much to be desired. Even some of the special effects . . . .well- I could go on and on. I guess I have finally grown up and seen a few good films and good art. You recognize poorer versions for what they really are. And maybe the books are b-rated too . . .
Anyway, all this and I woke up this morning and thought "hey, I want to see that again". Mostly to try and view it from the perspective as if I hadn't read the book and wasn't comparing every line and scene to those that were written. That's how they will make their millions I guess. However, we'll be waiting until it comes to Netflix if we see it at all . . .

Feng Shui Veterans Day and Two Worlds Collided

Stephen had Veterans Day off. Occasionally he gets in these moods where he wants to rearrange all the furniture or organize a closet or something. I love that I don't have to do this. Three years living away in college, I think I kept my furniture in same place the whole time. He always seems to find more space somewhere when he does this. I am so glad the bedroom is all put together and that he found a space for my favorite old ratty recliner. It's the one I sleep in when I'm pregnant! No, I am NOT pregnant. Yes Gina, we still have it, and yes, Bri, we find a place for your curtains in every place we live- usually in our bedroom because they are so beautiful!
Another thing that I wanted to (journal) write about. When Odessa and I were in the ER, I had a strange experience. I used to work in a hospital, and the medical part of dietetics was always the most interesting to me. I really enjoyed working behind the scenes, reading the charts, trying to get the Dr's to go with my diet recommendations and working with the nurses (they are really the ones doing all the work). It's a completely different part of my life and feels a million miles away right now. But sitting in our room, I had a clear shot of the nurses station and I could pretty much guess what the mood was and what they might be talking about. I understood the schedule written out on the white board, and I really missed the familiarness of all of it- a lot. Here I was, having a very intense "Mom" moment taking care of Odessa and a very intense pull towards my "other life". They have never been flush-up next to each other like that before. I am glad I stay at home with my kids for now, but I think this experience showed me that I might actually like to go back to clinical dietetics someday as well. I used to think I would never go back to a hospital. Something to think about in the future!

That's one expensive Teddy Bear

Last week and weekend was supposed to be nothing but fun. Erin and Ambrose from Chicago were here visiting. The kids really like them and there were all kinds of touristy plans for the 3 days they were here. But the kids had been sick all week, and were waking up multiple times at night. That meant staying home from some of the activities with the kids and NO SLEEP for Stephen and I and our poor guests. Even though Odessa was too contagious to leave with a sitter and we had to take her with us, we did eat at a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant on Friday night, the Tamarind Tree.
Then Saturday morning Odessa had some stomach pains that made her writhe with pain and totally freak out. I have never seen her so serious about a pain (I can usually tell when she is over dramatizing). I figured I would have to scratch plans to go with our company on a Ferry ride to stay home with her. Then all of sudden, she was fine. So we all went. The sun came out and the ride was gorgeous. We took the ferry to Bainbridge and then drove over the bridge to Pulsbo on the peninsula. Pulsbo is such a cute little town, I really enjoyed our walk along the water and looking at the quaint old store fronts. I stole these photos from Erin.

On the ferry ride back home, Odessa suddenly had another "attack". She got through it though and then at home, she had another. We had all decided maybe she was having some cramps and gas because she hadn't gone #2 for at least 2 days, which is unusual for her. But her fever all of a sudden was back up to about 102 degrees, so I decided to call ask-a-nurse before giving her any medicine. Any of you not familiar with ask-a-nurse services? They can be very useful, especially nights and weekends. After asking me a lot of questions that I felt pertained to much more serious conditions (like if Odessa was limp and unresponsive) I figured she would say push the liquids and give her the Ibuprofen. No, here is what our conversation sounded like: nurse- "Ok, the recommendation is that you take her into the ER immediately". me- "um, what?" nurse- "will you take her in to the hospital within one hour?" me- "uhhhh, yes, we can do that". nurse- "which hospital will you be taking her to so I can send the chart?" me- "ummmmm, Swedish in Ballard I guess" nurse- "what would you have done if you hadn't called our services tonight?" me- "given her a stool softener and monitored her for more pains I guess".
So Odessa and I trucked off to the ER, a first for this mom. Sure, I have been in one once to check in as a laboring prego, but taking your child is a whole other ball of wax. They worked really quickly on her at first, taking her vitals and getting her in a little pediatric gown. She looked so tiny on that big bed in that little gown. The first thing she would say to anyone was "I'm ok, Dr. I'm not sick". Great, I thought, this is a huge joke. They decided to rule out a UTI, appendicitis and bowel issues such as her guts twisting on themselves. The nurses came to tell me that they were going to put in an IV and a catheter (for a clean catch) and that Odessa was going to HATE them and to be prepared. Well, she flinched when they put in the IV put didn't say a word otherwise, she was interested in watching them take her blood. They told her she was so brave and she said very politely "yes, I am". I couldn't keep from laughing.
The catheter was another story and for a brief moment I felt that horrible mother pain for your child that makes you squirm and your eyes well up and you feel like you are causing the pain yourself, you feel so horrible. She was a champ for her x-rays. To get her through all this, they had given her a teddy bear. She loved it and hasn't let it go for more than a minute since coming home. Yes, we came home that night. Turns out she had a bad case of . . . . constipation. The recommendations? Fluids and a stool softener. Grrrrrrrr. Wasn't that what I was going to do in the first place??? So, 3 hours later and who knows how much money, we are one teddy bear richer and one ask-a-nurse wiser. Sure, I am glad we made sure there was nothing else more seriously wrong with her. But now that Ada is fiercely jealous of Odessa's bear, I think we will try and find an easier way to get her one.
As for our week and weekend, we still had a great time with Erin and Ambrose and I swear our kids never get up much at night! . . . except when they are sick. We have ear plugs for future visitors. One fun memento of this weekend is the fact that when something good happens I say "hullah!" in my head, like Erin is always saying aloud. I am a big one for picking up sayings and little idiosyncrasies. Just ask my roommate for 10 weeks almost NINE years ago, Paula from Saskatchewan. I still say "eh?" at the end of important sentences. Some sayings are so useful, they should never be dropped, eh?

Am I stupid?

This weekend was fun, but also significant. I just realized the real meaning of the saying "you can't have your cake and eat it too". Can you believe that? There are only so many years I can blame blondness and pregnant brain for not figuring this out. We came home from the grocery store late and the girls wanted a banana- we had just bought them. They each ate a whole one! I complained to Stephen that I had just bought them and they depleted our stores by half (thank goodness I bought some green ones too). He says to me "you can't have your bananas and eat them too". And it finally clicked with me- what a geek.
Halloween, Halloween, my second favorite holiday, Halloween. The girls "got" trick or treating- this is actually the first year we have taken them. Odessa would say "can we go to another house please?" after each door. Ada cut with the chatter and just bolted for the next lawn. At the door, Odessa would always blurt "Happy Halloween!" instead of "trick or treat". It was so funny.
We also went to a fun party hosted by our friends the Andersons. I finally got my box of Halloween costumes from my parent's garage this year, and by putting together some other old costumes, I came up with Elphaba from Wicked- aka the Wicked Witch of the West.
The girls were Clifford the big red dog and Emily Elizabeth. Once Odessa saw me in green, she just wanted to be a witch too. I think I will need to be really flexible next year! We have to come up with something else for poor Stephen. He has been Thomas for like 4 years.
I decided that just like seeing snow covering everything makes the cold weather worth it, seeing golden and red leaves makes the rainy cool weather worth it too. Something about those 2 natural beauties that makes me happy all over- like my soul is smiling. Here is the view from our windows.

Back to Chi-town

Some of you knew I had a trip back to Chicago this past week. It was 5 days and 5 nights away from my family! That was really weird. Thank goodness for my in-laws who came and stayed with the girls the days Stephen had to go to work. You think you are indispensable as a mom, and of course you are in a lot of ways. But when I called that first night and no one burst into tears at the sound of my voice and Odessa only talked to me in "dog-speak" and Ada was interested in grandma and grandpa, I knew they would be fine and focused on my conference. I went for a Dietetics Association Conference and squeezed as many continuing education credits out of it as possible. Getting on the airplane and hanging out at the airports was so strange. No one needed me, I had nothing to do. I felt really hollow inside- kind of emotionless because usually with the kids I am in a constant state of change and this was just . . . nothingness. Of course it was also really nice flying without kids- I could just read and do whatever I wanted instead of trying to run a 3 ring circus keeping them busy.
I got to stay with my friend Nicole and her family while I was there. They were so nice to put up with me invading their space for so many days! Nicole kind of hosted a get together at her house Sunday night so I could see some old friends from the ward. Yes, some of my friends are taller than others although this photo exagerates it : ) Danica, you would have been the middle somewhere, right?

I had planned on, but missed seeing the Dubiels, who are in D.C. with an emergent medical condition- here are prayers going out to you, Leslie and Morgan.
It was nice to get to play with Nicole's son, Josh while I was there. He and Odessa were best buds and I was sad I couldn't bring her and watching him made me miss her. Here is an old picture of them at Navy Pier, the night before we left. Since Josh hasn't seen her since that night, he assumes she lives there now- how cute is that? They were so great together- I can only think of one time they ever fought over toys or anything else, mostly they giggled and could play for hours jumping on beds and laughing at each others antics. We miss the Kestens!
Other fun tidbits: I got a killer work out in with Hillary at Bally's on Saturday morning and then we went to Walker Brothers for breakfast- my favorite and the most sinfully delicious breakfast place I have ever eaten at. Saturday night after enduring a non-inspirational conference opening session with Chris Gardner (The Pursuit of Happyness) I got to go see our friend Erin's new place and eat at a Mediterranean restaurant in Hyde Park. I miss that about Chicago- the meats. The deep dish pizza, the gyros and Italian beef sandwiches at every mom and pop place, the Mediterranean restaurants. We are excited to have Erin and Ambrose come stay with us next week! We will have to take them to what Seattle does best- Asian and Seafood.

The really important thing about this conference was that I got so much new inspiration to start practicing some nutrition counseling on my own. I have been toying with a lot of ideas for awhile now about how to use my training and still stay at home. I am going to try just offering some of my services for weekly meal planning, basic cooking classes and some nutrition counseling sessions. A lot of it will be via the Internet. I got an awesome tool at this conference- a personality test I can give clients that takes their results and helps pinpoint their personality obstacles to healthier lifestyle choices. It graphs their weakest areas and then helps me know how to counsel them according to what eating, exercising and emotional challenges they are facing. I was thrilled with this session and tool. I have always felt I need more psychology training to help patients make changes. This tool will help me with that side of counseling.

At a conference with almost 10,000 dietitians in attendance, you can imagine what the food expo might be a little bit like. Here is an opportunity for every new health food product to push their stuff and hope that all these RDs will recommend it to their patients and clients. Of course, they know giving us all free stuff is the way to draw us in, and women cannot pass by a free offer or a good deal. Reusable grocery bags was "the thing" this year, I came home with 12 of them. Every day I just ate lunch on the Expo floor. By day 3, my stomach had had enough of the protein bars, the organic crackers, the fortified juice, the probiotic yogurt, the sugar free sugar, the Acai berry stuff and on and on. All the nut and bean and dairy and meat associations were there- thank goodness for pork kabobs and lamb stew to even out all the snacky foods. But I was still a gurgling, urbling mess- they fortify everything with fiber! It felt good to have a hot meal in the evenings! And waking up at 2:30 am Central time to return my rental car and make sure I was to the airport well before my flight just about did me in, but I am recovering. By the way, here is a plug for Alamo. My "Economy" car rental (that I pricelined for a steal) turned out to be a Toyota Prius hybrid! What a strange and nice car to drive. Hardly used any gas, doesn't have a real key- just a power and park button and a touch screen for audio, climate control, you name it. It was a fun experience.
After 3 days of conference, I got to end my time in Chicago with some shopping downtown and an evening with the Kestens (whom I actually saw very little of some days!). We ate at the Tavern on the Park, right on Michigan Ave and off Millennium Park. Then we went to a members only viewing of the new Aztec exhibit at the Field Museum. It was really fascinating. I love the Field because it reminds me of Night at the Museum and it is what Odessa remembers most about Josh- going there with him was one of their last outings together. Here he is waving a hello message to her.Thanks Kestens for a great time. I can't wait to come back as a whole family someday!

Pumpkin Patch Trespassing!

Friday we went with Kate and Inge up to Kate's hometown, Snohomish to go to a pumpkin patch. The only one we could find had an entrance off a main road. When we pulled in, there were some farm workers leaving through the gate that had a closed sign. We asked one about the pumpkin patch, but apparently he didn't speak much English. He pointed and let us through the gate. We were puzzled by the closed sign, maybe this was just a farm entrance or something. How could a big pumpkin patch not be open at 11am on a Friday? We pulled up and it was obvious that they really were closed- no other cars, no workers. Hmmmm. What would you do? We had been in the car for about an hour with 3 little girls who were really ready to be OUT of the car. So we thought "what's the harm in getting them out and taking a few pictures?". So we did and we had a really fun time. There were wagons and lots of pumpkins and some good mud. The girls loved it and we snapped away taking pictures. We were there probably 20-30 minutes when a tractor pulled in through the gate. A farmer got out and started marching towards us. He was pretty upset, it turned out. Apparently he didn't like people just letting themselves into his patch! Once we explained (a couple of times) that someone had let us in and we had just meant to get some photos and didn't mean to create a liability for him, he finally calmed down a little and realized he'd sounded a bit foolish over-reacting. He even snapped at us in Spanish when he was pointing out his Spanish speaking workers wouldn't have understood anything we asked them! So we left under truce-type conditions, both parties a bit contrite (I am sure us more than he). I was surprised that him being mad at us didn't phase me more. That sort of thing usually gets my adrenaline up and shaking and gives me a sour stomach. It must be all that public tension I am witnessing with the political debates. Desensitized me.
It was a very fun excursion despite our mishap and my grouchy kids. Snohomish Valley is very pretty and it's always so refreshing to get out into some open country. I think that's why we were always going up to Wisconsin when we lived in the Chicago area! I told Stephen he has to go back with me to Snohomish (don't you just love saying that word?). But this time we will avoid the off-limits pumpkin patches.
We turned around and they were all spontaneously holding hands. So cute.

Tagged- again

Who started this tagging thing anyway? Some evil girl in Utah, no doubt, long ago. Is Bill Gates going to send me $100,000 if I do this? Alright, I will stop complaining and do it. This is for you, Candice because of all our fond BSU memories- sitting around at lunch trying to figure out why our boyfriends did the things they did!!

10 years ago . . .
1. I watched my big crush (Stephen) leave for 2 years in Italy.
2. I immediately started dating someone else (ha! um, I was not dating Stephen, it was just a crush)
3. I began arguably my most fun year of college
4. I think I got a C in Human Physiology
5. Married my third sister off so I could have the whole house to myself (along with my watchful parents)

5 things on my to-do list today
1. Take Odessa to the dentist
2. Weights
3. Put away all the laundry
4. Get the girls to somehow nap together
5. Make Coconut rice and "peas" for dinner (beans)

5 Favorite snacks
1. Cookies
2. Fruit- any
3. Cheese and crackers (same as you C)
4. Homemade bread (preferably toasted with honey or cinnamon sugar)
5. Cinnamon bears (currently cinnamon devils as that is what's in bulk at WinCo- Easter they will have cinnamon bunnies, etc.)

5 jobs that I have had
1. Wendys! love it
2. WinCo bakery- croissants and cakes
3. Movie theater- lasted 5 weeks?
4. Distance learning camera operator
5. Hospital Dietitian and Contract Dietitian for psychiatric hospital (yes, I have good stories)

5 things I would do with a million dollars (um, can I have a million dollars to do each of these things?)
1. Pay off student loan
2. Buy a house
3. Retirement!!
4. Tour of Europe
5. Help out my grandma

5 things that made me laugh this week
1. making jokes about Facebook with Hillary (do they send people you don't know a note that you "ignored" them??!!)
2. Watching Odessa dance around in her new Curious George underwear- and only her underwear.
3. Ada picking up her bowl to show me her food "seeeeeee?" over and over
4. When I ask Ada to do something with a little exasperation, she huffs back at me "allwright!"
5. Stephen's morning antics as he gets ready for the day

If you would like to do this, you are TAGGED.

the beginnings of Halloween

This week marked some activities that are getting us in the mood for Halloween. First of all, I was in charge of a Halloween activity for the ladies at church. The purpose was to swap old Halloween costumes with each other and brainstorm ideas for homemade costumes so we could all save money. I used it as an excuse to make all the fun Halloween treats and some decorations that get me so excited about this holiday. We had wormy apple punch, mini caramel apples, dirt cups with worms, eye ball deviled eggs, bone breadsticks, ect. Our family got to carve a pumpkin too as a centerpiece that had dry ice induced fog rolling out it's face. Ada really got into pulling the seeds out, Odessa would only touch it with a spoon. It's so funny to see the differences in one child and the next.

We also looked into moving this week. Crazy, I know! But we got curious about some cheaper apartments in the area. We are paying a little more in rent than we would like (we didn't realize when we moved here that groceries were going to put us through the roof!!) Plus we really would love to have a place with a yard or a couple other amenities. I am including this picture of our duplex in Chicago (Park Ridge) last year when we had it decorated for Halloween. I didn't realize how nice it was to have a front of a house to decorate for holidays or an alley to try and garden or a little fenced yard for the girls to play in. I don't really have a place for our yard decorations here, so we had to get creative and just play with them. Here Odessa is saving me from an attack of a giant spider. So we did go and look at an apartment yesterday that is quite a bit cheaper than ours and came away realizing why we pay more! Once you feel you are not really getting ripped off, it's a little easier to handle. Stephen really wants to stay close to work for now and so we will stay here at least a year. It may mean a few more really budget savvy meals, but ok.

Probably the most life changing thing that happened this week was that Odessa finally turned that corner in potty training. She went more than 5 days without any accidents and got to take 3 straight rides on the Seattle Center carousel as reward. Whew! We finally found something that motivated her enough to keep her excited about getting up on that throne. Now I have entered that realm of mothers of children who are wearing underwear and just maybe, they shouldn't be. That realm where you find yourself asking your child all the time if they have to go, where you worry about accidents at the store and bringing extra clothes and an emergency pull-up (I have to carry a larger diaper bag!) where you DO NOT HAVE TO BUY DIAPERS EVERY WEEK (ok, at least for one kid). It's amazing, it's liberating, it's very time consuming. Now I understand why those moms do the things they do, because I am doing them now. Big step, we hope mom can handle it.

Ready for rain

I hate Money

I wanted to mail a small package as a thank you to a speaker for a church function. Her office is downtown, so not far. I needed a box to protect the items, an envelope wouldn't work. I honestly don't know where a close postal office is, but there is a UPS office down the hill from us. I took my items there to be mailed. It weighed a half of a pound. After taking all the information and figuring on the computer for awhile, (I told him to use the cheapest method possible, this was just a "Thank You") he looked up at me and said "that will be $22.00". Ha!!! I said "no way". More figuring by his teenage coworker and then it was "$14.00 - we won't charge you the 7.00 for the bubble wrap". Seven dollars for BUBBLE WRAP? I said I was sorry for taking their time, I was sorry for chasing my kids around their store, pulling all the cards and shipping tubes out of their displays, I was sorry for the quarter I wasted on parking. I gathered up my little items and said to myself I would walk them downtown myself for $14.00. I was very polite, I was just being scandalously sarcastic inside my head. So the next morning I put them in a big envelope with the address on front and pointed my husband in the right direction- a place a few blocks from his work! What a pain!

Next foible of mine: Odessa had a follow-up appointment for her tooth at the dentist. Never schedule an appointment on the 1st of the month. If you haven't flipped your calendar page, you might miss it! That's what happened to us anyway. I called to apologize and see about rescheduling and heard on their message that they require a 2 day notice for cancellations or it's a $75 bill! Ack!! I expected some sort of fine for missing the appointment, but $75! Her first appt after insurance cost us $32. I was so mad at myself, you should have seen me. Thank goodness, when I talked to the receptionist later in the day she informed me that a letter explaining their policies had been sent out, but not a bill. Whew! A first warning of sorts.

Third foible: Going to the thrift store. Yes, you are pretty sure you are saving a whole load of money by paying only $1 for those rain boats and $2 for that shirt, but you end up buying more than you were planning because things are cheaper. Then there is the parking: I only had 30 cents on me- that got me 14 minutes. My friend showed up and reminded me that the parking meters here take debit or credit- but I thought I would come back out in 14 minutes instead of paying for the same minutes again. Ack! What's wrong with me? I came out a few minutes too late and what do you know- a $35 parking ticket. The cops and parking enforcer were casing the street the WHOLE time we were there. I saw 3 other people getting tickets. I am sure one of the officers stood by my car the entire 14 minutes!!

I just hate it when stupid mistakes (or poor willpower) cost me money. My mother was right (isn't she always? ughh). You really are more poor out of graduate school than when you are in school. Ah school loans, where are you now? Demanding payment, that's what!

Well, here are a couple of recipes to brighten the last of this mesage. We enjoyed them so much last week, I shared with my family and thought I would post them here as well. They're from Rachel Ray- supposed to be 30 min, and they are not too hard.

Smoky-Spicy Sweet Potato Soup
4 sweet potatoes (2 1/2# peeled and sliced 1 inch thick)
Salt
1 Tbls Olive Oil
4 slices smoky bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded (I added more)
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce*
5 sprigs Thyme
1 bay leaf
32 oz chicken broth
1 tsp grated orange peel and juice of 1 orange
1/8 tsp cinnamon
honey or maple syrup for drizzling
pepper
sour cream for serving on top

1. In a large saucepan, add the sweet potatoes and enough water to cover, bring to a boil, salt the water and cook until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and return to the pot.
2. While potatoes cook, in medium pot heat olive oil. Add the bacon and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often until crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate. Discard all but 2 Tbs fat. Add the onion, carrot, chipotle chile, adobo sauce, thyme sprigs and bay leaf and cook until onions are softened 6-7 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, orange peel, orange juice and cinnamon; drizzle with honey or syrup and season with salt and pepper. Simmer about 5 minutes, discard thyme and bay leaf.
3. Add the broth mixture to the drained sweet potatoes in the pot and blend in batches in the blender or food processor. Serve the soup with the bacon peices and sour cream on top.

*I learned somewhere if you get a can of Chiles in Adobo sauce you can freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays lined with plastic wrap and then you have one chile cubes to use in future recipes.

Grilled Eggplant Subs with Mozarella and Tomato Jam
1/2 cup Oilve Oil
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig rosemary
1 small red onion, chopped
1 15 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (I used regular diced and then added a frozed chipotle pepper with adobo sauce, I took out the pepper when it was finished cooking, it would have been really spicy)
1 TBS brown sugar
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
2 eggplants, cut into 8 slices each
salt and pepper
1 cup packed baby arugula (I used romaine although I know it's way different)
1/2 cup basil leaves, torn
juice of 1/2 lemon
4 crusty sub rolls
1/2 to 1# ball smoked mozzarella (I had to use a smoked white cheddar b/c no smoked moz at the store)

1. Preheat grill pan to medium high or broiler to high. In small saucepan, heat the oilive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and rosemary and let steep for 3 minutes.
2. In large skillet, combine 1 TBS of the infused oil and red onion over medium heat and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes, brown sugar and vinegar, lower the heat and cook until thickened, about 7 minutes.
3. Brush the eggplant slices with the infused oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill or broil, flipping once until tender, 2-3 minutes each side. Do this in 2 batches if needed.
4. Dress the arugula and basil with the lemon juice and remaining infused oil, season with salt and pepper.
5. On each roll bottom, layer 4 eggplant slices, a handful of green and smoked mozarella. Grill or broil to melt the cheese. Slather the roll tops with the tomato jam and set in place.

Domesticalities

That isn't really a word, I don't think. Anyway, we learned a new lesson yesterday. Let a toddler play with a camera, she breaks it. Let her play with it again, she might fix it. The girls were carrying the camera yesterday and then it started working again. It's nice that we could download the photos that were on the card, but sad that we missed so many things this last month that we would have like to take pictures of. The Fair, Eugene, birthday, anniversary, dinner parties, trip to the beach . . . . sigh.
Over Labor Day weekend we bought peaches outside of Ellensburg. I have never canned peaches by myself, so I only bought one box and I was pretty nervous about it. I ended up with a hybrid, Rich Lady. They were red and fuzzless and a semi-free stone meaning they didn't just fall away from the pit. But they were firm and so flavorful! I was so glad Stephen came from a canning family! He whipped through the blanching and peeling so fast, I couldn't believe it. I was so proud of the end result until I talked to my cousin in Eugene the next day. She and a friend canned 90 quarts of peaches!! It was her first time canning too. Our moms seemed quite proud that we are interested in carrying on the home economics traditions. They were canning queens. My sister in Richmond tried preserving marinara sauce made from her own tomatoes this year and my other sister was teaching ladies in her church how to can peaches too.





























Another domestic triumph lately was making tamales from scratch. My neighbor Jen is really good at it and she sent me a recipe and web site with instructions. Although it is time consuming and labor intensive, the end result was worth it. (Even though I let the water run dry once- thanks Kristyn for letting me finish cooking them at your house!) They freeze great and are inexpensive and kids love them- so easy to handle. My freezer is full of them and I can't wait to make more.
Stephen had his own triumph this week. Fruit flies are a constant annoyance for people here. You hear everyone complaining about them. Stephen finally made an effective trap and we have cleared most of them out. He took a glass pop bottle and put red wine vinegar in the bottom with a drop of soap. The vinegar attracts them and the soap breaks the tension on the top so they drown. We have caught dozens of them- yuck! (this is not an original idea, we got it off the internet- but we tried various versions before this worked best).
Things are humming along as we enjoy a few fleeting days of beautiful sunshine. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Fears and Stuff

Yesterday we took a long walk into some areas of downtown we've been wanting to explore. There were several groups of activists on busy corners with posters and megaphones, shouting their messages of repentance, political action and local music (of all things). Most of them exploiting people's fears about salvation, the economy, the Middle East.
We took the monorail from Westlake Center to the Seattle Center intending to walk home. At the Seattle Center we saw that an Italian Heritage Festival was going on and since Stephen spent 2 years in Italy, we had to stop and check it out. We got to the children's stage in time to see a puppeteer show- the Italian version of Cinderella. Odessa squealed with delight when the puppets first popped in and out of the windows and we thought she was the perfect age to appreciate the show. Pretty soon though, she was squirming out of her seat to sit in my lap and whimpering "I want to go home" over and over. She was very distraught, so we finally left. We were both dissapointed because we were enjoying it and so was Ada! Like we had supposed, she finally admitted on the way home she was scared of the puppets (I detect a future clown hater).

This week seem to be full of things that might prove fearful. Stephen and I have had long discussions about the economy and how a recession might affect us. On one hand, I take the reports seriously that this is a major crisis. On the other hand, I have been to 2 dinner gatherings this week and afterwards I realized that none of us even brought up the economy. Part of me is bewildered about how to take in the whole situation. I guess it's hard to freak out about something that hasn't yet changed anything about your everyday life. We missed the debate, so watched it yesterday on the computer. Now we're analyzing which candidate provides the least number of propositions to fear. Why are campaigns all about picking the lesser of 2 evils? Probably because they are always pointing out each others faults, so you are constantly comparing who is worse.
In a favorite scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants (revelations given to Joseph Smith) it says "if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear". So we're looking at how we're prepared and what we can do to be more prepared for whatever things may come. It's an uncertain world, but I think we will just try and do as I have heard both of our parents say before and "keep on keeping on."

"How 'bout them Broncos?!!"

This was how my sister answered the phone when I called her after Saturday's game. The Boise State Broncos played University of Oregon in Eugene, OR on Saturday. We are both sincere Bronco fans. My father has worked for BSU since before I was born, so I have always been and always will be a Bronco. Stephen can actually claim alumni status, so of course he is a Bronco. Plus Boise is our hometown and they have a great, underdog team that beats some pretty good big teams. (May I refer you to the Fiesta Bowl of 2007?)
Since we ONLY live 4 1/2 hrs from Eugene AND my cousin Sarah and her family just moved there from Racine, WI (where we used to visit them regularly) we decided to take a road trip down to Oregon. We opted out of getting tickets since they were pretty pricey and decided to watch the game on a big screen at a local sports bar/restaurant. Good plan: watch the game decked out in BSU paraphernalia sitting amongst U of O fans and give them all alcohol.

But the dirty looks and tension in the air was worth it because we WON. Oregon is ranked 17th- we are not even ranked. They were heavily favored to win. We stopped their attempt to make a 2 point conversion early in the game and it was like "ha! don't assume you can push us around because you're supposed to be so good". Things got progressively worse for Oregon. We passed the ball time after time, sinking long passes and making touch downs. This is our FRESHMAN quarterback, ha! At half time we had an 18 point lead and the announcers were saying things like "I have never felt the way I feel right now in this stadium" and "Oregon has never had such a deficit of points to make up before". Ha! Oregon came back (mostly in the 4th quarter) and played well. But it was too little, too late. It was as if we had poked the giant and he had slept in for another 2 quarters before finally waking up. What fun, what a ruse. It was SO WORTH the road trip.
Plus we got to see my cousin and their new house. We took the girls to a farm and petting zoo in the morning and they had such a blast. Stephen decided that someday he wants a little orchard farm. If I had a dollar for every hypothetical job change he makes . . .
Alas, still no pictures because we still don't have a camera- ack! What a fun weekend.

Shall we do warm and fuzzy?

It's a nice day for warm and fuzzy. Seattle is gray and a little cooler. That means only half the people at Green Lake and the great greenbelt that wraps around it, so I don't mind much. Plus I got myself some luscious sheepskin slippers at the Fair last weekend, so bring on the cold weather, I'll be ready. The girl's both have raincoats coming over e-bay. Thrift shopping online, my next step up the food chain.
The warm and fuzzy however refers to the fact that it's Stephen and I's 4th anniversary today. I love seeing everyone's old wedding photos, so I will post a few of those. It's fun to have so many other young couples in the ward. For some reason, references to our wedding days and receptions keep coming up. I find it slightly amusing and slightly depressing that no one yet has been perfectly satisfied with their reception or something about their wedding day went amiss. Result of too many expectations produced by movies like My Best Friends Wedding and other silly movies I guess. Oh, I am one of them, no doubt about that. But I had a perfectly delightful day and really shouldn't covet any other type of embellishments to it.
Last night Stephen and I got to go to the Seattle LDS temple and act as representatives for people who had passed away. In their names, we were sealed (or married) to each other- for 5 different couples. As these people are deceased, we believe they still have their free will to accept this sacred ordinance or not. It was wonderful to kneel and hold hands across an alter. A mirror hangs on the wall behind each person, and the reflections go on . . . forever. That is to represent the eternal aspect of this sealing. I think 4 years have increased my understanding of the importance of this ordinance. It's also increased my appreciation for Stephen a great deal. The day I was married I thought I was a pretty lucky girl, but now I KNOW how lucky I really am! Stephen has learned that my mom wasn't kidding when she warned him upon our engagement: "you've got a tiger by the tail". I'm lucky he still likes tigers.
So just because I didn't have the huge white tent I had wished for or the grand dance floor, I did have a beautiful sunset, Italian arias and the always unique wedding-party-city-bus-ride to the luncheon. Here's to a lot more years learning how lucky we really are!