Happy New Years eve!

New Years Eve was fun. Matt's mom Susan is in town and we spent the evening playing Rummikube. Levi helped by rearranging the tiles every chance he got.

The unfortunate news was that Matt's grandma Venetha and aunt Tina were driving to Idaho and went off the road on black ice and then the car turned on its side. Venetha had some chest pains from the seat-belt and went to the hospital but they are both ok.

Levi had a long day as he only napped a little in the car going to and from Tri-Cities. He was up with us until midnight to bring in the new year. He liked to watch the fireworks from the window but when we took him outside they made him a little nervous. He went to sleep within 10 minutes of being put down.

Giant Artichokes

Tonight we had artichokes for dinner - look at the size of these! And they were good!

Second Christmas

We all had a very fun day yesterday. My brother Wes and his wife Joanie were in town and came over to join us for breakfast. Oma KP also came over. We had potatoes, eggs/cheese/stripple on a english muffin and a variety of cereals as well as grandma's canned plums and clementine oranges. Everyone ate until they were stuffed and then we went to Sabbath School and Church. Levi was kind of in a mood during S.S. and would have occasional fits. There were a couple other kids there and the later it got, the more showed up.

After church we went by to see Oma's new house that she found to live in since she accepted a job offer in Pendleton. The house is in Walla Walla however, a 2-story with basement 4 bedroom on a dead-end near a golf course. It has been for sale for a year and a half and most older people that like the location do not want the stairs. So she will be renting it for now until something else works out. She is looking for a roommate to split the rent, if anyone is interested it has a full finished basement.

One through with that we came back over to our place for lunch. I had made swedish meatballs (new recipe) last night in advance, thinking I had another white pasta sauce in the cupboard to go with it. Well I didn't so we ended up having spaghetti and red sauce. I sauteed some mushrooms and garlic and vegeburger for the sauce to bulk it up a little. We also had green beans and rye bread. The meatballs were from another recipe I found in cooking light magazine. I had to substitute vegetarian chicken but they turned out really well and were quite easy! They were also a smash hit, so I will include the recipe below.

After lunch Levi was pretty tired but Wes insisted we have our presents before he went down for his nap. Levi was a riot, opening his gifts and tossing them if they were clothes. He got a lot of nice things from Oma and Wes and Joanie, so thank you guys for all the great gifts! Levi went down for his nap and we decided to play some games. Wes and Joanie had bought us Rumikube so we played a couple rounds of that. Oma doesn't like that game so she left for awhile.

Later we also had another new recipe (I love the holidays, so much time to experiment!) - Pumpkin Pie Shakes. They taste just like liquid pumpkin pie. Also very easy and will include the recipe below. After Rumikube Levi woke up so we moved to the tv and played some rousing rounds of Family Feud. This is fun because you can customize all the people to look like members of your own family.

Wes and Joanie left about 8 pm and mom was back so we watched a movie on our instant netflix. We all agreed on Mr Jones, an older Richard Gere movie, but it wasn't very good. When that was through we were all exhausted and went to bed.

RECIPES:

Swedish Meatballs

2 slices rye bread
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast (or one can vegetarian chicken)
3/4 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 large egg white
1 tbsp canola oil
1 c. chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 (8-oz) carton sour cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Place bread in food processor; pulse until coarse crumbs. Put in medium bowl and set aside. Place chicken in food processor and pulse until ground. Add chicken, 1/2 tsp salt, nutmeg, pepper and egg white to breadcrumbs, stir until combined. Shape into 16 meatballs (they will be small)

Heat oil in saucepan, add meatballs and cook about 6 minutes, browning all sides. Remove meatballs from pan. Add remaining 1/4 tsp salt, chicken broth and flour to pan, stirring with whisk until blended. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, cook about 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Stir in sour cream and add meatballs. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 10 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.


Pumpkin Pie Shake

2 c. vanilla ice cream
1 c. milk
2/3 c. canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
3 tbsp frozen whipped cream
pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Combine first five ingredients in blender, process until smooth. Pour 3/4 c ice cream mixture into each of 4 glasses. Top with 2 tsp whipped cream. Sprinkle with additional pumpkin pie spice, if desired.

In the kitchen with mom

Today I am pleased to report that I made crepes for the first time evah. I had some old copies of Cooking Light that I had grabbed off the free counter at work and had been meaning to go through them and rip out recipes that looked promising. One looked particularly good. Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom crepes. Well mom was in the neighborhood and stopped by for a visit and lunch, so we worked together to make this dish. I made the crepes and she made the 'insides.' Crepes, I found, are not difficult to make but they are time consuming. The recipe also suggested that I put the batter in the fridge for an hour before frying but I didn't do that because I was starving by the time we got started.

Here's the recipe for basic crepes;

1 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
*combine*

1 c. milk (since this came from cooking light they call for non-fat or low-fat)
1/2 c water
2 tsp butter
2 large eggs
*combine in blender*

Add the flour mixture, process until smooth. Cover batter, chill for 1 hour.

Heat an 8" non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/4 c. batter into pan; quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers pan with thin film. Cook until edges can be lifted and underside is lightly browned. Flip and cook another 30 seconds to one minute until center is set. (Use a thin spatula for turning) Place crepe on towel to cool. Use wax paper between crepes for stacking on a plate. This makes about 10 crepes. They can be refrigerated or frozen.

Here's the recipe for Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom crepes;
(please note, I adapted this recipe for vegetarians and to suit my own tastes)

1 c. minced onion
1 clove minced garlic
8 oz pre-sliced mushrooms
3 c. chopped chicken (Fry Chick or Fried Chik'n)
1/2 c. sliced green onions - I didn't have any so left this out
3/4 tsp salt (divided)
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach - thawed, drained, squeezed dry

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c. milk (again, called for low-fat or non-fat)
1/4 tsp black pepper

10 basic crepes
1/2 c. cheese (recipe calls for Monterey Jack with jalapeno peppers but I used sharp cheddar)

1. Sautee onion, garlic, mushrooms. Stir in chicken, green onions, 1/4 tsp salt and spinach.
2. Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, stir with whisk. Cook one minute stirring constantly. Add milk slowly, cook until thick. Remove from heat. Stir in 1/4 tsp salt and pepper. Pour over chicken mixture, stir.
3. Turn on broiler
4. Spoon 1/2 cup of mixture into center of crepe. Fold ends and sides over. (like a burrito) Place seam side down into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Broil for 2 minutes or until lightly browned.

Merry Christmas!

Levi woke up about 6:30 and "want out please" so Matt got him up and he gave me a BIG Christmas kiss on each cheek and then a Christmas hug. Then they showered and Matt shaved to let me sleep in a little, but I couldn't go back to sleep so we all got up and opened our stockings.

Then I made some eggnog pancakes for breakfast. In the meantime Matt and Levi made some raspberry muffins. We also had omelets and fried potatoes. A real satisfying and tasty breakfast!



Jerry and Gail came by with some gifts so after we ate we had our gift exchange. They got us a bunch of vegetarian meat foods that we will enjoy in the months to come. They also had a special gift for Levi - a green wheelbarrow. He started putting stuff in it right away.



We opened our other gifts too. There were some little trains and books from grandma Joyce and Orville Baer; grandpa Shackley had sent him a learning animal game; we got him multiple Hot Wheels cars and a battery-operated train for his wooden tracks (thanks for the idea Laura and Tim!) He made out pretty well and I have a feeling that there will be more to come.


Grandma Joyce also made a beautiful quilt for our little girl on the way, and a pair of overalls and two darling hats. Thanks grandma, they are just lovely!

When it was all said and done Jerry took a photo of us by the tree.

Later today we are going to Venetha's for lunch and visiting with other family members. For now Levi is recharging (napping)! :)

Christmas Eve

Today I got off work early (yay!) at 4 pm. We all went over to Tiffany and JDs to take them a couple of presents for the twins and visit for a bit. Then we came home and Levi did some coloring. After that I started on dinner. We had curried rice and baked salmon. While that was cooking we all got to open one present. The dogs got a can of meaty goodness. I got an adapter that I can use to plug in both the chicken water bowl and their light. Levi got a Hot Wheels car and Matt got a pack of super glue. We like to open one little gift each on Christmas eve.

While we ate dinner we watched an episode of Seinfeld. After that I read Levi some books. Tonight he wanted me to read him the story of the Jungle Book and then a book on creation. He is pretty tired so after that we put him to bed. (Although now he is back up and playing with his train that runs around the tree) We had hoped to drive around and look at Christmas lights tonight but Levi didn't really get his nap today so we thought it best to take him another time (maybe tomorrow night). We are hoping perhaps Jerry and Gail can join us now that we are driving 'the beast' around.

Speaking of the beast, Matt got pulled over today by an officer of the law. He was getting onto the highway and a large chunk of snow from the roof fell down onto the hood. There was not really a place to pull over so Matt continued on his way since he could still see a little bit around it. Well a cop decided to pull him over for it. As the cop was walking up to the window, Levi said "Police Car!" The cop asked Matt if he knew why he pulled him over. Matt said "because of the snow that fell down?" and the cop said "Yes, usually people will pull over and take care of that. So why don't you do that right now." So Matt took care of it and got back in the beast. He waited awhile and wasn't sure what to do. The cop had not given him a ticket and didn't have his license or anything so he walked back to the police car and asked if there was anything else. The cop said he was just keeping people off his tail. But that we needed mud-flaps and quoted a law. In all the years I have owned this suburban and as many times as I have been pulled over in it (ok, not many but I am sure a few) no one has ever said anything about mud flaps.

At 8 pm we are going to watch It's A Wonderful Life on tv because I have never seen it.

Any rate that was our day. How was yours? How do you spend Christmas Eve?

Only two days 'til Christmas

We have had a busy couple of days.

Sunday night we decorated the Christmas tree. Levi was so cute trying to help me put them on. Although, he has had just as much fun pulling them off since then!

Monday was another long day of caring for the horses in the snow morning and night. Hiking out to the hay shed was particularly trying as the snow was up over my knees as I tried to flounder through it. At least the roads were plowed by Monday night! Although, would you believe I made it all the way there and then got stuck in their driveway! Thankfully I was able to rock myself out within about 10 minutes.

When I got home Matt worked on getting the hood of the Suburban defrosted so we could get in there to charge up the battery. He was successful and got it started off the charger. He let it run for awhile and then drove it around front. The next morning it would not start again. So he put some water in the battery and now it is running like a champ.

Matt's cousin James and wife Jennifer and baby Andrew stopped by for a visit over lunch and brought pizza. Thanks guys! Andrew is sure a happy little guy, knawing on James' fingers and cooing and babbling.

More snow in the forecast. A white Christmas for sure. Yikes - time to get that shopping done! :-o

Oh Christmas Tree...

We started out this morning by eating a brunch with the Bobbitt family at grandma Venetha's house. All the way there Levi would say "go to GiGi's house" and "pick grandpa up" and even "Taco Bell" because he knew the way to pick up Jerry like they do every Friday. Most of the cousins were there, even James from Spokane with his son Andrew, who is younger than Levi. When it was time to leave, Levi waved and said 'Bye Bye' to everyone by name, even "Bye bye Baby" to Andrew.

Well we thought it was about time that we got into the holiday spirit and brought home a tree. First we had to go to storage and unload what was in the back of the truck. We have had a screen door back there for a couple of months. We got it from someone off WallaWallaFreeCycle, which I would advise checking out on Yahoo Groups if you are so inclined. It's a great place to post up stuff you want to get rid of, or a good place to find free stuff. I have given away a few things, and picked up some things as well.

Storage had only minimally been plowed but we got along ok. In all this white it can be hard to see where the road is at times. Afterwards we came home to drop off some things we had picked up at storage and in the meantime Matt made up some hot chocolate for all of us. What a treat! Then we headed over to Fern Street to see what sort of Christmas Trees they had to offer.

We walked around the lot and the trees looked pretty good. One of the workers came over and told us all the Douglas Firs were only $15 for any size tree because they don't like the snow and cold very well and it is a bit of a risk to take one, but with only a couple days left until Christmas anyway, they should be ok. We saw one or two we liked and then he told us he had one left in the back that had been bound and covered up all this time so it should be better than the ones that had been out on display. What a nice guy. He asked how high our ceilings were - we thought 9' so he cut about a foot off the bottom of this one. He opened it up for us and shook it out and it looked nice a full to me, so we bought it. What a bargain for $15!

So the man loaded it up for us and we brought it home. Levi fell asleep on the way. He woke up however once we got inside. So we cleared a place and brought in the tree and Levi was pretty excited. We are going to wait until after his nap to decorate it though, give it a chance to relax and open up a little more.

Matt put on some Christmas music by Diana Krall so now I am finally starting to feel like I am getting into the Christmas spirit with the smell of Fir in the house and the sound of White Christmas. :) At this rate - it certainly will be a white Christmas!

Snow Photos ~

This is looking out our front door. You can barely make out the Camaro there on the curb to the right.


Levi out and about in his winter protection.


I think that might be banana bread in his right hand :)

Friday at last!

Barn chores weren't too bad this morning. Last night Darold had a guy come out and fix the two faucets that were frozen, so that made life a little easier. One of the orange kittens followed me to the stallion barn, then started exploring and forgot to follow me back and couldn't find the path. He (?) was mewing quite loudly so I went back out and called to him. He walked across the top of the snow as best he could and I was shocked that he didn't sink to the bottom.

I should get a break form barn chores tonight and tomorrow if Darold can make it back home safely. The good thing about all this extra work is - I have been sleeping well at night again! I fell asleep on the sofa last night during Iron Chef America. I wonder how long I can expect that to last. I have already started to feel the little gal kicking at me in the evenings and sometimes during the day.

Levi and Matt accompanied me on the drive to work this morning, as they need the truck for lunch with grandpa Jerry today. I was relieved to find that Levi's blue winter coat from last year still fits him - actually much better this year! Hooray! I also got him some little gloves at wal-mart and he did not object when I put them on. So we are ready to try playing in the snow again this weekend perhaps!?

I hope to post some photos this evening of the show we have gotten.

For now, here is the local weather forecast, for comparison from weather.com and NOAA weather. Looks like it wants to warm up a little. Maybe. Crazy how different these two sources are!

Snow Day

The snow has started up again and my mood has gone down. I was really feeling sour after I pulled into the parking lot at work and noticed how many people were taking up two spots by pulling in crooked and not bothering to back up and straighten out. Where did they get their license anyway, out of a cereal box? Grumbling, I had to back clear out and find another (tight) spot in the other lot.

It snowed all day. Giant icescicles have formed on the ledge outside my window here at work. Total snowfall today was estimated at 12 1/2 inches. More snow predicted over the next week, in addition to colder temperatures. I had planned to work until 6 pm to make up some time but left about 5:30. I had a lot of anxiety about the roads but as it turned out I was able to get around just fine. The side streets are tough because they haven't been plowed but the good ole' white truck gets me through.

We are having to take the chickens warm water twice a day because otherwise it just freezes up too fast. The feed stores are sold out of tank heaters for livestock and have a long waiting list when they get their shipments in. I overheard that no one bought snow tires this year (likely due to the economy) and today Les Schwab sold out of tickets early in the morning for their entire day worth of work (through 7 pm)

Matt shoveled the sidewalk for me before I got home and the snow was up to my knee. Yikes!

Following - an article from KNDU TV

Officials of the Cities of Walla Walla and College Place as well as Walla Walla County are asking people to stay off City and County roads if at all possible through 9 pm tonight, December 18. This will allow road crews to keep roads cleared and passable.

According to County Public Works Director Randy Glaeser some county roads are currently impassable due to snow drifts. "Road conditions within the County are more severe than some people may realize, including whiteout conditions in some areas."

Please only travel if absolutely necessary until this weather subsides, which is expected to occur at approximately 9 pm tonight. This will give crews a chance to clear the roads.

The next little Bobbitt...

Brrrr!

Well this morning at 6:30 am on my drive to the barn, I heard over the radio that it was currently 2 degrees in Tri-Cities. Other reports from around town at after 7 am said 4 degrees. Well it is freakin' cold!!

Sinwaan's water heater does not appear to be working so I am breaking ice for him every time I go out there. I am so thankful that I hung onto my snowboarding gloves! They are dual-layered and the outer layer is waterproof so I can break the ice and then fish it out from the tanks with my hands. Then of course my fingers stick to whatever else I touch next - and freeze stiff before I get to feeding.

The first thing I do is knock the ice out of the cat's water dish and put some fresh in it. Well that was frozen over by the time I was done cleaning the stalls - about 40 min later. Wow!! The kittens don't seem to mind the snow. They are always sitting in it.

I had to haul water to a couple of troughs this morning. I hesitate to try using the one hose because I can get by without it. I forgot to disconnect one of the other hoses and it did freeze stiff. Thankfully all the other spigots are working. The horses seem to be doing well despite the frigid temperatures. I try to look for shivering when I am out there.

Levi has gotten chapped from his time outdoors so I am trying to keep that under control currently. Anyone have any foolproof suggestions? For now I am putting Vaseline on his face. He also looks like he is starting to fight another cold. Poor little guy. Well I guess he needs some mittens before I put him back out into the snow.

Today Levi counted to seven! Very exciting!

Tomorrow's the big day... we'll see if the next little Bobbitt co-operates for us.

Sunday News

I know many of you are anxious to know about Matt. The good news is that he made it up there with plenty of time to spare. He left before 2 AM last night. He was done with the test by about 1:30 and feels he did well on it but he won't have results for 7-10 business days. He made it back home safe.

In other news, Levi counted up to six this evening at dinner. Wow! He also drew on our computer monitor this morning (with a Sharpie!) while I was out tending to the horses at the barn. I did some research and found that rubbing alcohol with a q-tip was probably my best bet. I did get it off and no ill effects.

Another thing that Levi did that surprised the heck out of me was to climb up on the computer chair this evening and move the mouse around and clicked it in order to start up a steam locomotive video on You-Tube! Woah!

Temps are dropping and predicted to be colder tomorrow with more snow on the way. Not what I wanted to hear! I LOVE a white Christmas, but not at 11 degrees! :)

Levi art 2008

Brrrr! First snow of 2008

For the first time in over a week I did not have to set my alarm this morning. We awoke to a winter wonderland outside and chilly temperatures. I believe it was in the neighborhood of 17 degrees when we got up. I was surprised to see the chickens all still roosting at 8 AM. Usually they are all up and scratching about as early as 5 AM. I pottied the dogs (Buddy loves the snow and spins and romps about), and tended to the fowl and even then they did not care to step about in the snow. So I spread their corn in the bottom of their coop. Their water was frozen solid so I had to bring them new (warm) water.

After that I went out to do the barn chores. It took me two hours this morning because many of the stalls had snow in them and that made for a much heavier load the in the cart than usual, taking me two trips out to dump instead of just one. It is a good thing I had plugged in most of the water heaters last night as two of them had frozen over. Everyone seemed well and I even had a chance to pick out Sinwaan's feet.

By the time I got back home it was too late for breakfast so Matt heated up some soup for me as I sat and groaned about my aches and pains. :)

Later in the day we bundled up Levi and set him free in the front yard to see what he would do with the snow. Well of course he wanted to put his hands all in it and that didn't last too long because it was too cold and he started crying. Poor kid. I don't know if we have gloves his size or not. We came right in and warmed by the fire, and Matt made us hot chocolate.





Enjoy the photos. Survivor Finale on tonight! Don't miss it!

Christmas Breakfast

Alarm went off at 6 am and I hit snooze a couple times. I slept better last night but still got up once at 4:30 am and had some trouble getting back to sleep again. I preheated the oven and got dressed. I put the cinnamon rolls in the oven before I left the house and told Matt to get up when he heard the timer in half an hour.

As usual, it was dark on my drive over to the barn and I didn't see the sunrise until I was almost done with the first barn. Once everyone was fed and happy, water tanks checked, I headed back to the house to see how the buns turned out.

What a glorious smell greeted me as I opened the front door! I said "hello?" and I heard "mama's home!" and Levi ran over to greet me. Matt was working on the icing for the buns and they looked great.



We got dressed and ready for church and headed out. We saw some snowflakes coming down lightly. As we drove east towards church the light snow turned into heavy snow and before we knew it there was snow all over everything and it was slowing people down on the roads. On the off-ramp Matt tested the brakes and was surprised that it was slicker than he thought. He also had some fun fishtailing the truck when he took off from the stop sign. Yikes.

Arriving slightly early at church (for a change) we picked out a table. Soon Tim and Laura, and Jenee' and her parents joined us. Once the time came, a line formed quickly and filled the hallway. There was a great variety of fresh fruits, muffins, sweet breads, cinnamon rolls, and some warm dishes. At the end of each line was a industrial-size pan with biscuits and a vat of gravy. It was great! Levi ate a fair amount of fruit but didn't seem that excited at all the possibilities on his plate. People just kept swarming in. The room filled up fast and then the overflow rooms. What a turnout!

During church there was a special service for the holiday but I didn't see much of it because Levi decided to be loud and we went to the Cradle Roll II room where we found Rachel and Lucas. Levi had fun playing in a pan of raw lentils (to simulate dirt) and plastic vegetables (a 'garden') Matt said he really enjoyed the drama parts of the service.

When we got home Levi was almost asleep in his car-seat so it was straight to the crib for him.(And no snow was sticking in this part of town!) I was tired so I went to bed too. I finally got up at almost 5 pm and Levi woke up about the same time. I started on dinner since we hadn't eaten since breakfast. We had small shell pasta and fried polenta with corn. I thought I had spaghetti sauce on hand but as it turns out I didn't, so had to get creative with a can of crushed tomatoes, mushrooms and a variety from the spice rack. It turned out just fine.

After that we went out to tend to the horses again. The snow had really been coming down. I plugged in most of the water heaters (but not all because I don't want to blow a fuse) and fed everyone. I also disconnected all the hoses. The kittens scampered about and seemed to be enjoying the snow. I hope it doesn't freeze too badly. It could be a real problem for me (well, the horses) if it does.

On the way home we stopped by to see Oma KP to drop off some cinnamon rolls, and Debbie was visiting when we arrived. So it was nice to sit a spell and chat with both of them. Debbie got a kick out of hearing Levi talk.

Matt is trying to decide when he will head up to Seattle and what route he will take for his test on Monday.

Well now it's midnight and here I am blogging. Time for bed! (Although I do enjoy SNL's Weekend Update, and tonight was Amy Poehler's last night)

Taco night

We were invited over to tacos at the Kyles. It was a dark and stormy night... but the company was delightful and the food warm and tasty. Laura even tried out a pumpkin nog recipe on us. It was good. Levi called it "chocolate milk." Well, I have a ways to go before his palette is completely developed :)

After dinner the kids had a great time playing with Peter's toys, and Peter and Maddaly had a rousing game of chase about the house. Tim worked on his cinnamon buns and told us his baking secrets.

Upon leaving, we went home (Levi went to bed) and I changed shoes/coat and went out to the barn to tend to the horses. The weather was windy but not freezing yet.

When I got back I made up the dough for grandma Joyce's cinnamon rolls. It went much better this time. I got a great rise from my dough so things were looking up. However I was almost out of butter so I decided not to make the traditional bottom/topping and opted for an icing instead. Not my first choice but I figured it would work out.

At midnight my rolls were made and had a slight second rise and into the fridge they went!

The letter U

Levi came up behind me saying "meme u". I turned around, and there on the floor Levi had fashioned the letter U with his hotwheels track! I expressed my amazement, and then asked him if he had made it, to which he proudly nodded his head and said "Yes."

-Matt

Drs. Appointment updates

I had another appointment with Dr Karmy yesterday evening. I was the last appointment of the day. I weighed in at a 5 lb gain for the month. At first I was excited because I thought I weighed less than last time but no such luck. But it was less of a gain then the previous months so I guess I'll take it.

I got to hear the heartbeat, it was between 142-152 bpm and I measured right at 18 cm which is where I should be. I really don't think I have been feeling much movement but she said that is normal for this stage. It should be increasing pretty soon.

The nurse gave me a chart for my ultrasound and I got scheduled for that next Wednesday (for all you curious people who want to know the gender) we will be finding out that morning. IF the youngling is co-operative!

I had a person tailgating me on the way home. I thought a couple times the person was following me. Well I wasn't going to lead them to my house so I faked a turn and they went flying around me. When we got to the next red light I saw the plates were LEM - Law Enforcement Memorial. I am not sure what you have to do or be to get those sort of plates but I was not impressed with their driving. They eventually turned off in front of me and I was relieved.

After all that excitement we took Levi to see the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in College Place. We were too late to participate in the drawing (too bad, I won last year) but Levi really enjoyed seeing the fire engines and got a kick out of the tree lighting also. Then another fire engine came pulling in with his lights on and parked right next to us and Santa got out the other side. We don't care about Santa so we went home after that but Levi had a great time for the short time we were there.

This morning I got up at 6:20 AM (horrors!) and went out to take care of all the horses at the barn where I board. Mucking stalls, checking water, feeding hay and oats. What a lot of work!! I did not get done and back into my truck until 8:09 AM so I guess I will have to get up even earlier tomorrow to make it back to work on time! I have not slept well all week so as you can imagine, this combined with hard work and pregnancy makes me absolutely exhausted!! I am hoping with all this exertion I will be able to sleep well tonight.

Today Levi told me on the phone that he was going to "eat tacos" at "Taco Bell." He is having lunch today with grandpa Jerry and Matt.

What an appetite!

For breakfast this morning Levi ate 2 plums, 2 clementine oranges, 2 fried eggs, 3 little links and 6 pieces of Crispy Crowns. I can not believe the food this kid puts away in the mornings. I think he fuels up and then lives off of it the rest of the day. He doesn't eat very much for lunch or dinner, no matter how many options or how much I put in front of him.

His new phrases are "Red means stop" and "Green means go, go go!" Also "Want help you" when he needs someone to help him with something. He is doing great with his colors and also counting. This morning he counted up to five! Surprised me because lately he has only gone as high as three.

Last night we went to see the Parade of Lights downtown. Levi sat up on Matt's shoulders most of the time. He also sat on my shoulders when Matt got tired. He is getting heavy these days! Levi was a little apprehensive at first but when he saw the big tractors all lit up and the semi-trucks honking their horn as they came through he got excited. We saw some people we knew both in the crowd and in the parade. The weather this year wasn't too cold either. Maybe next year we can manage to take a camera.

A morning at the barn

This morning after breakfast the sun was shining and it looked like a beautiful day so we decided to go and visit my horse, Sinwaan. He has been rather neglected lately and I looked forward to seeing him again. I took him some apples and briefly entertained the idea of riding. I thought perhaps I could settle for a short bareback ride instead. When we walked in the barn I remembered the kittens. Levi spotted them and off he went in hot pursuit.

I grabbed a halter and lead and out we went to see the horse. Sinwaan was appreciative of the apple and took his time chewing it up. I haltered him and led him over to the arena. I tried to get him up against the fence so I would have something to hoist up from but he wasn't too crazy about that idea. Matt finally came in and stood on the other side of him so he would stop swinging away from me. Sinwaan was a little wary of the Matt/Levi combination as Levi was up on Matt's shoulders.


After a couple tries I got on but that lasted about a second and he jumped right out from under me. So I decided to stop trying that for the day.

I took off his lead rope and turned him loose and encouraged him to get the ants out of his pants. He snorted and blew and took off. He cleared a small jump that someone had set up and did some sliding stops and just plain showed off. It is nice to see him feeling his oats. Even with his thick winter coat and dirty as ever he is breathtaking with his ground-covering floating springy trot. My goal for tomorrow is to get back out to the barn and clean this poor horse. His mane is quite tangled. He gladly ate up the other apples I had on hand for him and we called it a day.

Going back into the barn Levi was excited to once again find the kittens and he would pick them up and carry them all over. The kittens were very good sports. There are two orange ones and one calico. Little adorable fuzz-balls. Too bad Matt's allergic!

Cinnamon Buns

Last night I decided to make cinnamon buns. I found a recipe on the internet while I was waiting to hear back from my Grandma Joyce for her recipe. I agreed to make cinnamon buns for our church's Christmas breakfast next weekend and thought I had better practice first since I don't remember making these in the past. Well maybe once but it was over five years ago and I don't know where that recipe went, or how well it worked.

The recipe from the internet called for orange zest. While I was grating my orange peel, I slipped and got my thumb knuckle. OW! So then I had to wear a bandaid as it started bleeding pretty bad. Well, that meant kneading the dough was out so I drug up my bread machine. I set the dough in there and set it to knead. It took me about an hour to figure out how to run the darn thing and finally I could hear it kneading the dough. Yeay! Levi thought that was awesome and couldn't help but open the lid and close it. Open, close. Open, close. The recipe said knead for 3-5 minutes. I don't know how long the machine kneaded it. The consistency felt right when I pulled it out and put it in a bowl to rise. I set the timer for an hour and went to read my latest book.

Matt's grandfather has sent me numerous books which are 'Melanie Travis mysteries' about a woman who shows dogs and stumbles across murder mysteries. They are amusing.

After an hour I went to check on my dough. Hmmm. Hadn't risen much at all! So I set the bowl by our living room fake fireplace where it was warmer. I read my book some more and did some laundry. Still no lift to my dough. Hmmm. Not a good sign. I decided to move on to the next step anyway. Roll out and melt butter and mix the brown sugar and cinnamon. Got that done and then melted the topping for the bottom of my dish.

The recipe said to slice my roll into 13 pieces. So I did. Then when I went to put them in my dish it said arrange them so they are touching. Well I did that and I had 1/3 of the dish empty. Hmmm. This was not going very well! So I rearranged them and put them in the fridge overnight.

I got up early this morning to preheat the oven and then pop them in. Then I went back to bed while they baked. I must say it is nice to get up to the smell of cinnamon rolls, even if you are worried they didn't turn out.


The heat from the oven helped the dough to rise a little bit but not like I had hoped. And while I ate my bun for breakfast it was a bit dense. Not my ideal bun! I guess I will try my grandma's recipe next and hope for better results! While I liked the orange zest in the dough, Matt didn't care for it. So I will leave that out next time.

Italian Bistro

New place in town to eat - the Italian Bistro. It's where the Homestead used to be. It has been remodeled. Service was great. You get breadsticks with your meal as a precursor. One was really hard (Levi knawed on that one and asked for water every 5 seconds). Mine had the consistence of bread that's been microwaved - chewy but not in a good way.

We bravely ordered our meal; a spinach and artichoke appetizer, which was very good. I got salmon with a side of angel hair (amazing), and Matt got a chicken pesto penne which he really liked. Levi ate lots of bread and some of our pasta. He ate all my broccoli & squash which was kind of a garnish on my plate so there wasn't much of it. He behaved for the most part but did have one episode of shouting "daddy!" over and over. So we tickled him and that seemed to work.

The sign out front said "Grand Opening" but there weren't many people in the restaurant.

Warning - there is no changing table in the bathroom but it is a single-use with plenty of room.

Prices were fair. Check out the menu on the link above.

Welcome to December

Here we go, rolling into December. Levi has increased his use of the word Honey! when he wants something from Matt or I. It is really strange. He is continuing to try out other news words and phrases which can be quite comical at times. Last night he said to me "Want bubble bath." I said ok! Why not? He will bring me books and say "read to me" and then he wants me to read the same book again. And again. I tell him "go get a different one!" and he will.

We all had some sort of bug over the weekend. It started with Levi the night before Thanksgiving and while we adults got mild versions we still stayed home the rest of the weekend. Well, not quite. We did go to lunch Sabbath at Matt's grandma Venetha's house. It was a celebratory dinner for his cousin's birthday. Thanksgiving meal #2, as it were. Levi and I came home from that after a couple hours as he needed his nap, and Matt stuck around to visit.

Friday we went shopping at Macy's black friday sale. We had some gift cards from Susan. I am sure glad we didn't get up at 5 am to beat the rush - they have no maternity clothes at all! I did find a sweater that will work though. And Levi needed clothes. Matt found some stuff too.

Not much to report on otherwise. I did some baking yesterday, pulling out an old favorite from Matt's great-grandmother for persimmon cookies. I ate about 1/2 a cookie but that's it because they contained "nut meat" (what I put in was pecan meal). I got a sore tongue and a headache right away. Enough for me! But Matt and his dad loved them.

Jerry had come over for part of the day to play model trains with Matt, they got his decoder working so when they hook the train to the laptop it makes all kinds of train sounds and they can adjust the headlight and I don't know what all it involves. It's a very grown-up toy. Levi loved it.

I made an on-the-fly lasagna for lunch. What that means is I took whatever looked good that I had on hand and threw it in. I sauteed garlic with mushrooms and vegeburger and added cottage cheese and sauce and baked it up. It turned out very tasty.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday.

My mom came over to our house and helped me with some of the cooking. I had made the pumpkin pie the night before (and fretted over the crust) and also the cranberry oatmeal bars. Then Thanksgiving morning I put together the dressing/stuffing, stuffed mushrooms (instead of the new artichoke recipe), broccoli (instead of collard greens) and mom made the mashed potatoes. We were running a little behind schedule but so were the other people. We left the house about 1:30 pm.

Our little family joined some of Matt's family and we met up at cousin Warren and Debbie Rood's home. All together there were 13 of us, counting Levi. Warren and Debbie had made the turkey, candied yams, and an apple pie. Gail and Jerry brought the vegetarian turkey loaf and butternut squash, rolls and another dessert. Tina and Venetha brought the beverages and cranberry sauces. All told when it was laid out there was a lot of great food!

While we were getting the finishing touches taken care of in the kitchen and dining room, Levi amused himself by playing with his "Blue Camaro" and "ZR-1" cars and found some other things there of interest - including a nut cracker.

He also found an antique doll carriage and pulled it all around the house.


After dinner we all took a walk to burn off some calories. Once everyone was back at the house Jerry and Levi pulled up their rocking chairs to the fireplace and sat and enjoyed the glow and warmth.


After that Levi was quite tired, and not feeling very well. He had a bad cold develop last night. He eventually fell asleep in Matt's lap while all the adults sat around and gabbed.

We had an enjoyable time and wish to thank the Roods for opening their home to us. Our house is so small, it worked out really nice this way. Thanks to everyone for all their contributions.

The sad news is that once we got home, we were sitting watching a movie on TV and Matt heard the chickens squawking. He opened up the window so I could hear them too. It sounded like real trouble. Usually they are all fast asleep by nightfall. I went out to check on them and could see wings flapping on top. It looked like one of my silver hens had gotten caught in my net across the top of the kennel. Well the chickens were just screaming and very upset and it wasn't until I got right up to the door of the kennel that I saw a large dark form take flight right up over my head. I was confused at this point because while my chickens can fly, they certainly don't fly that well. My gaze followed the bird and it came to rest on top of the nearest telephone pole. It was a huge owl. I was afraid to look on the roof of my coop. Well, I found a dead chicken. It was not pretty. A mess of feathers. I wasn't sure what to do with it so I ended up putting it at the back of my yard so the owl could come and get it. I had about three chickens that would still sleep on top of the coop. Well after this happened last night the other two chickens did not go back up on the roof. I hope they will continue to sleep inside where they will be kept safe.

Matt gets selected

We got an exciting bit of news today from the FAA.

Congratulations. You have been selected to take the Air Traffic Selection and Training (AT-SAT) test. This letter is notification that your testing location is Seattle, WA. You will be scheduled for a single, 8-hour testing session during the period December 15 – December 20, 2008. Testing is scheduled for Monday through Saturday only. All travel and lodging arrangements and expenses are your responsibility. The test will be administered for the FAA by Robinson Aviation (RVA), Inc.

So his appointment is December 15th. This is only the first step in becoming an air traffic controller. If he passes this stage he would then be sent for training to some other state for about 4 months and then stationed where needed, hopefully Pasco. I guess we'll see where this journey takes us.

Playing with daddy

This evening I got Levi up from his nap and was changing him and I was escalating my voice to make him laugh, going higher and higher. For fun, I told him that was called escalation and asked him to say it. He tried and did a decent job. So then on a whim I asked him if he knew what surprise was. He didn't answer me for a long time. Just when I thought he wasn't going to, he kciked out and YELLED "DADDY!" as loud as he could.

On our way out of the bedroom he saw his tupperware full of cars and asked to play with them. So I said OK and we brought it out to the living room. I realized the Duplos were still scattered about so I told Levi we had to pick them up first. He helped me put them all away. Once we got them up, Levi pulled all the orange Hot Wheel track out of the tupperware and held one up and said "want help." I put the first two pieces together and then for the next one, I told him to use both hands so he grabbed the end of assembled track with one hand and was holding the other piece in the middle. I showed him he would need to hold it closer to the end in order to have leverage to push them together. So the next piece he grabbed the end with one hand and a new piece and then thought about it and put his hand closer to the end so he could push them together without them bending. He still had trouble lining it up so the next piece I showed him how to line it up but he couldn't push them together. By the last piece he had remembered to hold it with both hands, near the ends, lined up, and pushed them together all by himself.

-Matt

When Matt called me to tell me all this he put Levi on the phone and Levi said "Hi Mamma." then "I play cars" and then "I moose mamma" (I miss mama)

Words of the morning

This morning Levi walks into the kitchen and then comes back over to me, saying "Want more hot chocolate." I said 'Daddy will get you breakfast, you will need to wait for him to fix you something." And he says to me. "Want more hot chocolate, honey. Honey!" It was so comical I couldn't help but laugh. I have noticed when I call out Matt's name, Levi will do the same. Matt doesn't like it when Levi says "Matt!"

Later on Matt and Levi were watching Curious George. George was digging around in the garden. Narrator: "He pulled out something he had never seen before." Matt said "What is that?" Levi said "That's worms."

Movies

We have been able to see some movies lately.

The Happening we both were completely disappointed in, it was just not good at all. I have been a huge fan of M. Night Shyamalan since the Sixth Sense. And I like Mark Wahlberg even though he seems to play the same type of character in every movie. Just don't even waste your time with this one. Sad to say! If you want to watch a better M. Night movie, go with The Village (2004). In fact we might even own it and could loan it to you.

Casino Royale is the latest James Bond movie (not counting the one in the theatre now) and that one was a lot of fun. Lots of action and suspense. Two thumbs up and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Iron Man was also a lot of fun, and another 4* movie. I thought Robert Downey Jr. was cast well. Some of the CGI stuff was a little goofy but what do you expect from a comic book movie? It was amusing seeing The Big Lebowski (ie Jeff Bridges) cast in a different light as well. Ha ha.

Next up: Witness (1985) with Harrison Ford. Might be a couple days before we get that one though. This one made it to the list of the 100 Top Movies of all time in the Entertainment Magazine which is why it's in our queue. We're working our way up the list. We have 492 movies in our queue right now. I found out a couple months ago that netflix will cut you off at 500. LOL

I know...

Levi has added a new phrase to his vocabulary. It is "I know" and he adds it to the beginning of every sentence. "I know want down. I know want banana," etc... It get a little confusing at times because at first I thought he was trying to say "I don't want..." but alas that is not the case. Perhaps we are a house of know-it-alls and use the word phrase too often and have confused the poor child.

We had a pretty lazy weekend. Went to Sabbath School and church - Levi did much better in his own familiar class. Afterwards he took his nap and we fixed lunch. Matt got him up for lunch (angel hair spaghetti and meatballs) and as a result he was a grump and didn't want to eat a thing. No luck putting him back down then either. I fell asleep on the sofa and napped most of the afternoon. I wanted to go out and see my horse but by the time I was moving around again it was dark out already - darn winter!

Sunday morning we got up and had blueberry pancakes with eggs and Stripples and grandma Baer's applesauce. I will be sad when that is all gone. Levi ate SO MUCH food, I thought he was bottomless there for awhile. He had a pancake, 2 Stripples, 2 eggs, asked for more applesauce about 4 times, and then finished off a box of Cheerios. I worry about when he is a teenager.

After breakfast I went out and turned the chickens loose to roam and scratch while I picked up dog poop. It was frosty out but the sun felt nice. I moved the nesting boxes around to the side of the coop and looked for the tarp cover but didn't see it in the panel truck so gave up and went inside. I left the chickens loose until about noon and they were all still there when I rounded them back up. Did a bunch of laundry, thought about cleaning the house but read a book instead. Went to Wal-Mart for some more grocery items and clothing for Levi. Was hoping to have Thai food for lunch but we were missing half the ingredients so we had curried rice and yams instead. At least I think they were yams. Matt did a lot of homework and worked on some video projects throughout the day.

I was disappointed to see that my favorite show, Desperate Housewives, was not on tonight in lieu of the music awards. So Matt and I watched Iron Chef America, which is not as good as the original japanese version but it is still fun.

Not much else to report on. What's new with you?

Friday night

Well I forgot to write about Friday night so this post will be slightly out of order.

Friday after work we went and did our big grocery shopping, getting everything on our lists except the Thanksgiving food. After tromping around until dark I was so glad to get home. I would have liked to just sat down and watched Judge Judy, as is my usual Friday afternoon activity. :) No such luck it was over and now was time to make dinner. My mom was expected although I couldn't remember what time. I put the food away and started in on some new stuff. My mom usually eats at her place of work/residence and lately has mentioned that they put onions or peppers in everything and their food makes her feel bloated and gassy. I had entertained the idea of making a chili macaroni but since it has onions and peppers in the ingredients, I decided to stray far away from that one.

When mom moved and couldn't take her food with her she gave us a surplus of goodies, which included a frozen prosage roll. Something she used to make with this was called Scrapple and I decided to give that a whirl. Having never made it before I did not realize typically this is made the night before planning to serve it, as it has to chill before you can slice it. Oh well. It is pretty easy, just crumble the prosage into a pan with water and butter and sage and I forget what else and bring it to a boil. In a separate bowl combine cold water and cornmeal and then add that to your pot and stir until it is thick. Then you put it in a loaf pan and pop it in the fridge and once it is cool you dump it over and slice it and fry it up. Yum, good stuff.

Well I did at least get that made and into the fridge before starting in on the rest of the meal. Scratch that, I threw two yams in the oven first. Then I made Cottage Cheese Egg rolls. These are a delightful combination of cottage cheese, eggs, and I forget what else, but you fry them up like a pancake and then you can put whatever you want inside them and top them with even more options and then bake them until it all melts. I like to stuff them with mushrooms and sharp cheddar and top them with condensed mushroom soup, slightly cut with milk so it's not so thick. This is another one of mom's recipes and one I was sure she hadn't had in a long time, so hoped she would appreciate the effort. :)

Lastly I rinsed and removed the stems on a bunch of Kale and put that in a big pan. I bring it just to a boil and then turn off the heat, and it is a nice texture at that point.

Mother had class online until 6:30 so she came by about 7 and everything was just about done. It was sure nice to have such a colorful meal, with dark green kale and orange yams contrasting the unhealthier items on the plate. (Mother was indeed delighted by the menu choices and ate at least two plates). Funny thing is, Levi ate all his kale first. I think he likes it because it gives him an excuse to eat lemon juice. He picked at the cottage cheese roll ups and yams, and ate most of his scrapple. Amusing what he deems worthy at this time in his life.

After dinner we sat and gabbed for a long time. Mom wanted to talk about her will and who should be the executor and all that not-so-fun stuff. We also talked about the best ways to advertise her business, and all the misc. stuff that comes up in conversation when you haven't seen someone in a while. Levi went to bed probably around 9 pm, and I think mom left about 11, when I was ready to fall asleep in my chair. :)

It was a nice evening and we (mom and I) are looking forward to working together on the Thanksgiving feast.

Levi's Big Day (Or, Levi goes to the Dentist)

This morning after Matt had put Levi down for a nap he heard a grumbling outside. He was curious, so went to see what it was. It was the city crew, come to clean up the leaf piles on our street, with their back-hoe and dump trucks. Matt knew that Levi would just love to see the "tractors" so he went and woke him up from his nap. At first he reports that Levi was quite disoriented but upon spying the back-hoe said "WOW!! Look daddy, tractor! Wow!" I wish I could have been there. They watched as the back-hoe moved the leaves from in front of our house over to our neighbors house to make a bigger pile.

I came home early for lunch since Levi's dentist appointment was at 12:30 and the letter they mailed out in advance made it pretty clear that if you are late for two appointments they will drop you as clients and you can't go there anymore. Well I had never been there but I sure didn't want to be blacklisted off the bat! When I walked in the door I saw Levi sitting at his table cradling his model horse."My horse. My big grey horse." He was just talking away to me about his horse.

Levi ate his lunch and then had a big movement (good boy! although he still says "no poop!" no matter if he did or not) so we were able to get him all changed and fresh at home where it is convenient. We hurried around getting his clothes changed, shoes and socks on, teeth brushed and jacket on. Matt had things to do so I took Levi to this appointment. I said "Say goodbye to Daddy, he's going to stay here" and he waved and said "Bye bye daddy, bye bye," quite happily.

I got him buckled in to the car seat and then realized I had left the directions in the house, so I ran back in to get them. When I brought them back out Levi wanted to see them, so I handed them over and told him that we would need those to figure out where to go. He held them up proudly and read letters off the sheet as we drove along. When we got to Andy's Market he pointed to the right and said "Mom-a, go that way." Wow, such a great little navigator already!

This afternoon I have been telling him that we will go to see the dentist and they will clean his teeth and count them and it will be a new place. Our appointment was with Dr Steven Karmy and they are over on Portland Avenue in Eastgate next to Tom's Cycle. Just around the corner from Barnabys. A real nice seedy part of town, or so it seemed. The clinic appeared fairly new and the staff were prompt and nice. They had mailed me the application form so I had that already filled out. I saw a toy corner and Levi was happy to run over and check it out (after waving and saying a loud hello to a person seated there waiting) while I took care of business with the receptionist. It was only about a five minute wait - just long enough for Levi to learn how to work this new toy, and they called his name. C'mon Levi, let's go. "Here we go...here we go" he said.

The nurse walked us back to the room and had us sit on a bench against the wall. The giant dental chairs would have dwarfed him anyway and were a bit intimidating. She asked some questions - I have to notify them that he does have a heart murmur. They asked about dental habits and if he is on fluoride. He was in the past but we ran out and let our prescription lapse so she wrote me up a new one for him today. She came over and had me hold Levi so he was facing me in my lap, with a leg on either side of me. Then she rolled up on a stool and had him lay back with his head in her lap. He was a little unsure (the nurse had a face mask on) but handled it really well. She had a new toothbrush for him and thankfully he doesn't mind brushing his teeth so he opened up for her pretty well so she could take a look. She explained that I should start with the inside of his teeth and end with the outside when I brush for him. She also flossed his teeth and said we should be doing that every day because he has some bottom teeth just like me that are tight and cavities could happen there. She mentioned that juice and milk should be restricted to meal time only and the rest of the time he should be offered water. Well we pretty much do that anyway so no problem there.

Then the dentist came in. It was not Dr. Karmy. It was Dr. Melissa Ramsey. I know her from somewhere! I think we went to school together at some point. Anyway she was great with him. He was sitting back up in my lap when she came in and he gave a little wave and said "hi" to her. She had me turn him around again and lay back and I held his hands. She explained that she would be looking at and counting his teeth, and giving him a fluoride treatment. Sometimes kids cry but she said that was ok. Levi was very brave and did awesome. He opened up his mouth when she asked and she looked around with her mirror. She said he had all his 20 teeth but that a few were still coming through. When she gave him the fluoride treatment he did just fine. She said some kids love the taste and some kids hate it. He didn't seem to care one way or the other. When she was all done she asked if I had any questions. I didn't, so she said we should bring him in every 6 months and that eventually he would graduate up to a big chair and then they would get some x-rays of his mouth.

After Dr. Ramsey left, the nurse said Levi could have a prize. She walked us back into the hallway where there was a big tub of toys. They had sweat bands, mini skateboards, rubber bracelets, and gaudy plastic rings that only a young child could appreciate. Levi reached for a ring but I told him that was for girls. So he took a skateboard after pulling out a couple of other things. I think the choices were overwhelming. There was a lot more than I can remember to list here. All cheap and small things, but it makes the kids feel special to know they get a prize for doing well at the dentist. I think it is great to keep everything positive.

We went back into the lobby and Levi went straight for the toy corner. I told him it was time to go and we had to get his coat back on. I asked him to hold his skateboard so we could walk back to the truck. He was proud to do that. I told him he did such a good job at the dentist and now we were all done and could go home! It was raining outside, but he was more interested in the airplane he could hear overhead.

Although we usually go places with all three of us, I really enjoy my one-on-one time with Levi, especially now that he is getting older and can [almost] carry on a conversation. I was glad that our trip to the dentist turned out to be such a good experience.

Fun in the bath

Levi loves playing in the tub

Helping himself to the soap

Laughing about his bubble goatee

We had loaded baked potatoes for dinner again. We are really enjoying them. We top them off with Nally's vegetarian chili beans. I also got some kale at Andy's and we had some of grandma's beets.

Apple Pie day

Today Matt made apple pie with our surplus of apples. We had loaded baked potatoes for dinner. Not much else in the cupboards. :)

This and that

This morning Levi came into our bedroom, spied a little woven plate from Honduras and said "cowboy hat!" I do not know how he got cowboy hat from this little item.

Today after lunch Matt needed the truck so he drove me back to work. As we pass through the Myra intersection Levi says "Pick mama up." He recognizes that we are near my work. I tell him "Mama is right here, silly, you are dropping me off!"

Well tonight we decided to eat up our leftover food for dinner. We pretty much just have condiments in the fridge now LOL. I had angel hair pasta so I fried it up with a little butter and then added cottage cheese and parmesan cheese and capers. Levi came over to see what I had and said "want up lap please" and then proceeded to pick most of the capers out of my dish. Eventually he also ate some of the pasta but it was pretty amusing. Least you think I don't fix food for my child, I had sliced up an apple for him before I started on my food and he had been snacking on that, and some cheerios all the while. He can be a bit of a grazer. Matt had leftover chicken (chic-kett) pasta - a new recipe I tried this past week, and that is finally gone now also.

Ok well I mentioned that I would share my menu for Thanksgiving.

Entrees
Lemon-roasted chicken with potatoes for Matt
Holiday Loaf from Andy's

Side Dishes
Mashed Potatoes (our usual recipe)
Savory Butternut Squash (Cooking Light Nov '08, new recipe)
Baked Artichoke Hearts (new, not sure where I found this one)
Collard Greens with Lemon (new, and if I can't get collard greens I may substitute broccoli, from Martha Stewart)
Garvick's Turkey Stuffing (our old favorite)
Rolls of some kind

Dessert
Pumpkin Pie
Cranberry-oatmeal bars (new, Cooking Light Nov '08)

Around here, I try to incorporate new recipes on a regular basis - at least one a month. If the recipe is a winner and we all like it, I will add it to my personal cookbook. If we don't like it, it goes in the trash (if a photocopy) or I make a note next to it in whatever book it came out of.



Tonight Matt set the heat lamp up for the chickens and a couple of them went into their new house and roosted on their own. Progress! Here is a photo, our glowing orb in the back yard. :)

Weekend update

Sorry about the recent intermission, life has been keeping us busy around here. This past weekend on Friday I watched Judge Judy while cleaning house, rearranged the living room furniture again, it felt good to get at least that one section of the house organized!

Sabbath morning dawned bright and lovely so we decided to visit the Village Church which is only two blocks away. We walked, and though it was slow going with a cripple (me) and a kid, we got to Sabbath School on time. I was interested to see how many kids would be there and what age the parents would be, and how their lesson plan went. I counted 22 kids age 2-3 (including Levi) however the adults seemed to be closer to the 40s range, along with some grandparents. Only a couple parents our age that I could tell. The lesson was good, lots of fun things for the kids to get up and do, lots of songs, and after all that they broke up into groups of 5-6 kids to tell the lesson with felts. So each kid felt more involved with that. Throughout the class Levi was in a sour mood, he would be happy to take the felt up to the board, or pick up sticks and put them in the basket, or feed the strawberry to the bear, but when it came time to go back to his seat he would flop upon the floor and act very tired and cranky. He did not want to sit in his chair but would do ok reclining in my lap. ("Mom, want up lap, ok!") So I didn't think he would go to the smaller group for the lesson. I was blown away when I told him to go sit in the chair at the table, he did just that, calmly, climbed into his seat and sat there looking at the other kids, waiting for the teacher to begin the story. He sat there for the whole thing. I couldn't believe it. At the end when the teacher gave him his stickers on the My Little Friend, he peeled the stickers off and put them in the trash can. Too funny.

For church, we only made it through the children's story and then decided to walk back home and watch the sermon on tv. Levi was being a real cranklepuss, trying to crawl under the pews and being loud, and I was feeling nauseous because I didn't eat enough for breakfast. The walk back was sunny and Levi likes to "run run run!" from one leaf pile to the next. He went right down for his nap when we got home. About one o'clock my mom came over for lunch and it wasn't ready yet. We made "meat"balls with angel hair spaghetti and then I realized I didn't have enough sauce left over so we improvised and added some of grandma's canned tomatoes with spices. Turned out just fine. We also had green beans and cottage cheese to round it out. We ate and visited and had a nice time.

Later, mom took Levi for a walk in his stroller before it got dark. I was glad she could do that for him, as I can't walk all that far yet, I think I did pretty well today walking the two blocks to church.



Saturday night we went over to Matt's grandma Venetha's house and had a nice time visiting with everyone. Matt's dad Jerry spent some time reading books to Levi and he sure loved that. Got some cute photos on Venetha's camera too. We were there until 9:30 pm and Levi was up the whole time happily playing with "new" toys.

Sunday was another beautiful day. We all slept in until 9:30 am. I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast and then sat around and watched a movie on TV. I meant to go out and put a cover over the entire chicken coop but didn't get around to it and they don't need it unless it's raining anyway. I don't think I got much done on Sunday. I know we went to eat at La Casita for lunch with Matt's family because his aunt was in town from idaho and leaving but that wasn't until 2 pm. Afterwards Matt went to help Steve Fisher videotape some more stuff for his Zip-It Opener. Levi was napping so I stayed home and tried to take photos of my model horses but didn't have much luck since I didn't have my lights set up right.

Lately Levi has been starting a lot of his sentences with "n" as in "in" and I am not sure why. He also has a new favorite phrase "n..go go poo poo" At first I thought he was telling me he went #2 but that is not the case. He just thinks it's a fun thing to say.

Sunday evening I sat down with my recipe books and organized my menu for Thanksgiving. Although it is a week+ away I like to be ready so I know what to shop for and what to tell other people to bring when they ask. Matt wanted to have his dad and Gail over, and his grandma Venetha, and his aunt Tina. My mom will also be there.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it involves great food and family, I like the warm house and good smells when its cold outside. I also love the extra time off work! All that and you don't have to worry about buying presents for anyone - just feed them and they are thrilled. After that was done we walked the two blocks down to Jerry & Gail's house and I shared my menu ideas, and Gail volunteered to bring a couple of items. That will help a great deal - I had too many things fighting for space in the oven. I will post up my menu later on. I am trying some new recipes but also having some old favorites.