Life: Jackson Style

I'm sad this was our last day of our harvest box for the year. I'm so grateful we get the opportunity to be part of something local and bigger at the same time.

We got Jimmy Nardelo peppers, 2 leeks, sweet potatoes, apples, kale, beets, celery, delicata squash, potatoes - which are all sitting at home, hoping they don't go bad since we won't be home to enjoy them for a few days. :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

CSA Week 25 and New Post

2011-11-16T18:36:00.001-08:00

I can't believe this is the second to last week! I don't think we'll be doing the box this next year. I seem to have figured out that I have an eczema reaction to tomatoes, and there were just too many potatoes this year. I think we might be better off getting our own things next year. Which is unfortunate cause I really really love the surprise every week.

There's also a new blog post over here click me!

We got kale, cabbage, green peppers, tomatoes, apples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and cilantro. Time to make some salsa!

CSA Week 24!

2011-11-09T17:13:00.000-08:00

Only two weeks left!

We got: radishes, tomatoes, cauliflower, garlic, apples, carrots, broccoli, delicata squash, strawberries (3/4 of them had been eaten by a little monster before I could get to the pictures) and celery!

Only 2 weeks left!

I need to remind myself to post about my attempt at making my own soap... oh boy...

I also have a new blog post over here.

CSA Week 23

2011-11-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

I posted a new blog over here

And then for this week's csa box, this is what we got:

arugula, apples, sweet potato, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, butternut squash (I have 2 cause I traded out our potatoes), carrots, and jimmy nardelo peppers (they're pretty sweet)

Slacking

2011-10-30T07:56:00.001-07:00

New post :)

CSA Week 22

2011-10-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

I know I'm quite late, but that's ok- I'll have another one to post in a few days

We got: Cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, apples, garlic, delicata squash, tomatoes, ginger, kale. Nasty, nasty kale. So you know what I've done? I've made green smoothies. Didn't think I would be able to down it, but you know what? With enough fruit, you can barely even taste it!

Pictures

2011-10-20T18:59:00.001-07:00

Mainly just pictures today since there's been little time for anything else

CSA Week 21!

2011-10-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

We got: radishes, potatoes, lettuce, carrots, peppers, heirloom tomatoes, broccoli, a leek, sunshine squash (pumpkin), liberty apples - yum!

Thanks

2011-10-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

I updated the blarg- I finally got pictures to load!

CSA Week 20!

2011-10-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

Drew went to pick up the box today- he went to trade out our potatoes (we just don't eat potatoes I'm realizing!) and all that was in there was Radicchio. He chose potatoes. Smart man.

This week, we got raddichio, tomatoes, carrots, beets, red onions, sierra rose potatoes, delicata squash (I really like these, and they make awesome baby food), sweet italian peppers, canadice grapes (they are odd), and winter banana apples (I have been looking forward to these for a year!!!)

Week 19!

2011-10-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know if we're getting more food than last year, or what, but we're having a difficult time getting through all of it this year. I finally ended up freezing a ton of corn and I got some green beans from a friend, so I spent 2 hours prepping those last night. I was pooped.

I also like that we don't have to worry about the cantaloupe recall!

OK, so we got spinach, broccoli, those yummy petite plums, garlic, cherry tomatoes, white rose potatoes, acorn squash, peppers, melon...I haven't cut into it yet, I'm guessing it's a cantaloupe, and rome apples. Yum!!

New Post

2011-10-01T22:23:00.001-07:00

So special!

New post

2011-09-27T18:57:00.002-07:00

It's about the zoo :)

Holy Corn!

2011-09-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever eaten this much corn. In fact, most of it has ended up in the freezer for winter time. :)

We got: 8 ears of corn, heirloom tomatoes, gala apples, sweet italian peppers, watermelon, spinach, french petite plums (I've never had these before, but they are SO good- I highly recommend them!), romano beans, and nicola potatoes.

We've also gotten quite a variety of potatoes this year. It's a good thing they store well cause we haven't gone through a ton of them. We haven't even touched our watermelon from last week. Guess I better stop buying all the nectarines and peaches from Costco so we can eat what we get here. :)

CSA Week 17!

2011-09-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

Man, when I thought we got a lot last week, this week trumps it!

We got: watermelon, spinach, cherry tomatoes, corn, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes

yum!

Apparently we were supposed to also get some heirloom tomatoes, but our box was left out or something. I'll have to let them know! (not like we're hurting for tomatoes though. hahaha)

I also updated the family blog over here

New posting!

2011-09-13T20:38:00.001-07:00

New blog update- wow 2 in a week, I'm on a roll!

CSA Week 16!

2011-09-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

Holy motherload of produce!!! Wowee!

We got spinach, gala apples, cantaloupe, carrots, cherry tomatoes, sweet girl tomatoes, corn, romano beans aaand cucumbers!

New post

2011-09-11T11:07:00.001-07:00

I decided to post today since I had a little spare time.

New Post

2011-09-07T18:43:00.001-07:00

Here it is!

CSA Week 15!

2011-09-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

We got quite a bit this week! Drew traded out some blackberries for more cucumbers since we aren't big fans of blackberries (maybe he was sick of getting them in his lunch :) ) so we got: sweet girl tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, gala apples, cucumbers, romano beans, lettuce, onion, 8 ears of corn!, and strawberries. I wish it wasn't so hot so cooking some of this stuff wouldn't be a big deal. ah well :)

Realization

2011-08-30T19:42:00.001-07:00

I updated my blarg

CSA Week 14!

2011-08-30T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hooray for produce that I don't have to pick out :) Definitely a bonus to this thing.

We got: lettuce, sweet girl tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, garlic, zucchini, melon (no idea what kind?), cucumber and corn. They gave us a little info on corn- I can't believe so much is grown when it is such a hassle to grown. Insane. (Oh, and there were blackberries, too- but we ate those before I had a chance to take a picture :) )

Update

2011-08-27T20:57:00.001-07:00

Lots of house pictures :)

CSA Week 13!

2011-08-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we're already half way over! My one and only complaint this year has been way too many potatoes- we definitely didn't get this many last year...weird... Otherwise, it's been fantastic!

Just ignore the extra tomatoes in the background and crummy pic quality- I had to take the pic with my phone since my camera was at the house, but the house wasn't ready for food yet :)

What we got: potatoes, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, blackberries, onion, zucchini/pattypan squash - yum!!

Update

2011-08-16T19:43:00.001-07:00

Life update over here :)

CSA Week 12!

2011-08-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, we got basil, carrots, summer squash, fingerling potatoes, strawberries, garlic, blackberries, cherry tomatoes and sweet girl tomatoes.

I was honestly shocked we didn't get any lettuce! I had planned 2 of our meals (an my lunches) around them. Ah well, I'll pick some up at Lifesource later this week. :) Hooray for fresh produce!

Update

2011-08-09T19:08:00.002-07:00

Weekly update :)

CSA Week 11!

2011-08-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I don't remember what we get unless I look at my pictures :)

This week, we got lettuce, cilantro (I should have traded it out), 2 lbs tomatoes, pint of cherry tomatoes, pint of strawberries, 1/2 pint blackberries, carrots, potatoes, and garlic

Elisabeth has already eaten all the strawberries and cherry tomatoes...so much for sharing! She gets her little stool out, takes a handful and runs away. It makes me laugh so much I can't say no. :)

Updates

2011-08-02T20:36:00.001-07:00

Updates on house, bellies, Ellies and knits :)

CSA Week 10!

2011-08-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

This week, in our box, we got:
lots o potatoes, 2 pints of strawberries, lettuce, lots of tomatoes, lots of zucchini (I LOVE the pattypan squash!), a red bottle onion (cool!) and some corn.

I must admit though- corn in Oregon doesn't compare to the corn in Utah- weird, eh? I don't know why, but for some reason, those Utah farmers have it down. Nothing else is better there. hehehe

Check what else I made!

It's a cutie baby blanket for my sister who's having a little ~~boy~~ girl!!! ;)

Lastly, what do you do with 3 bazillion cherries? No, seriously, I have no idea...I got a little over my head...

I do know what to do with 38 cajillion blueberries though- I know what we're doing this weekend!!

Updates

2011-07-29T20:35:00.001-07:00

I have some updates on the house+Ellie :)

CSA Week 9!

2011-07-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

I got it up finally! PHEW! This week has been a bit rough, but we got through it. So here's what we got this week:
a HUGE thing of red leaf lettuce, radishes, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, blackberries, lots o tomatoes and some spinach

yum, yum, yum! Elisabeth ate through the pint of cherry tomatoes that night and through all but about 5 of the other tomatoes the next day- whoa!

New Post

2011-07-23T18:58:00.001-07:00

There's a couple new posts over here

CSA Week 8!

2011-07-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

We're back- we had a good time, but now for the box!

I did a trade this week- I don't think I've done that before, but I looked at the raddichio and knew that there was no way my stomach was going to eat that this week. Sooo, I got more tomatoes. They looked mouth watering delicious, and I'm glad I chose wisely. We went through 3/4 of them that night.

So, we got: Spinach, onion, raspberries, cherries, 2lbs sweet girl tomatoes, zucchini, pattypan squash, random other squash, and potatoes.

There was a great chicken salad recipe (week 18- the curried chicken salad) the farm shared with us last year that incorporated the spinach very well. We had that the other night, and I think I could eat that for a week straight!

I'm also apparently stock piling potatoes. We just don't eat them as fast as we get them...darn carbs! But when we do, oh man are they delicious!

For the squash? I'm going to make a summer vegetable succotash with it- also way good. I use whatever beans I have on hand since I'm not supposed to eat edemame (allergic to soy)

I bought a cherry pitter (is that even a word?) so I didn't have to mama bird the cherries w/little one. Boy that thing is great!!! we downed a ridiculous amount of cherries in a very short time!

CSA Week 7!

2011-07-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

No CSA Box this week.... we're on vacation! .... :)

CSA Week 6!

2011-07-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

I forgot our little newsletter that helps me remember all that we got- or more specific names, so here we go off of memory/picture :)

2 heads red leaf lettuce, turnips, radishes, cherry tomatoes (the orange ones are my favorite), raspberries, red onion, garlic, cucumber, strawberries, zucchini, potatoes

I couldn't resist the picture of the little hand eating all the raspberries. She makes me smile!

New Post

2011-06-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

I think there might be a couple updates here if I'm not mistaken. Enjoy!

CSA Week 5!

2011-06-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

This week, we got: red lettuce, celery, romano green beans, cherries, raspberries, zucchini, cucumbers, oregon spring tomatoes - delish!

cakes and cobbler

2011-06-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I made Elisabeth's birthday cake. A few things could have been fixed but the only thing that really matters is that it tasted great! I also made a peach cobbler for Drew's birthday. I'm not sure why I didn't take a picture of it right out of the oven because it was beautiful. But the one I post will have to suffice.

I even used fresh peaches! Go me!

CSA Week 4!

2011-06-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

This week has been insane! We got the following in our box:
fava beans
onion
tomatoes
cherries
strawberries
(oak leaf) lettuce- it was really tender!
potatoes
cucumber

Yum!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T20:29:00.001-07:00

New Post :)

CSA Week 3!

2011-06-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot on Sunday that our CSA farm was having a potluck. I loved going last year, but didn't remember until today. That made me sad. Ah well...maybe next year?

Anyway, this is what we got today:

Lettuce, basil, white onion, strawberries (YUM), Nicola potatoes, cucumber, white turnips and a cabbage.

My mouth is watering for some cabbage soup! Oh, Oh! And some pesto, cucumber sandwiches! ...not quite sure what to do with the turnips yet...but I know they're good if you cook them w/potatoes and mash them. It was also suggested to use them like radishes? hmmm!

New Post

2011-06-12T09:11:00.001-07:00

I forgot to post here for those that want it :) Here's a new post

CSA Week 2!

2011-06-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late- it's been a week. But here are the beauties! :)

We got: purple viking potatoes, carrots, salad mix, garlic tops, snap peas, zucchini, strawberries (I promised I wouldn't eat them first), bok choy!

I smell some stir fry on the horizon!

New Blog Post

2011-06-05T10:09:00.001-07:00

you can get it here

CSA Week 1!

2011-05-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

Our CSA started this week- hooray!!!

We got lettuce, carrots, garlic, basil, new potatoes, onions, zucchini and not show, some absolutely delicious strawberries. They were totally so delightful, they were eaten before we left Salem :) SOoooOOooOo good!

What I especially like is that this box is usually the smallest of the 26, and there's only good stuff to come!

New Post!

2011-05-22T19:09:00.001-07:00

New Post right HERE!

Posting

2011-05-14T11:49:00.001-07:00

Just a menial update on life :)

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T17:14:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to everyone, I hope it was a nice one :)

Pictures galore

Tulips!

2011-05-01T09:19:00.001-07:00

Here's a link to my mass pictures :) There are more on facebook :)

Easter Time!

2011-04-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to the new post :)

If you would like an invite to the blog, just let me know, or email me (madifers@hotmail.com) if you know I don't have your email. :)

The Trend

2011-04-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

I've read a little too much overshare of others lately as well as articles about why some people choose not to post pictures of their children online. I know there are people who read and follow my blog, and I'm perfectly happy with that. However, I think I'm going to feel more comfortable knowing WHO is looking at pictures of my family. Over the next couple of weeks (when I have some time) I'm going to set up a different blog address so that I can continue my blog there privately. If I want to post something non-family related i.e. cake decorating or the like, I'll make sure to post it here as well. I know there are a few people I will put on my approved list without them telling me to put them on there, but if I don't necessarily know who you are, or maybe your email isn't on facebook, or I don't email you often, will you please shoot me an email so I can put you on my list? (madifers@gmail.com)

Dear Elisabeth

2011-04-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Elisabeth,

I know I tell you every single day how much I love you. Today however, I got to see a different little girl than I've ever seen before, and I am very excited. We got the chance to play with some of our friend's children while they attended the temple. They have a little boy who is 9 months younger than you. You were amazing with him. You played like a typical little almost 2 year old, it was hard for you to share. It was difficult to watch other people play with your toys, even though you haven't played with them for months. But as the evening went on, you became a little more comfortable with it.

You wanted to show your little friend how you could do different things, you sang songs to him, and helped him get things from shelves. You shared your food with him, and helped him drink his milk...along with sharing it, and "showing" him how to do it on his own. You wanted to push him on your little car, and help him put things in his mouth (whether it was what he was supposed to have, or not). I also loved how you wanted to eat what he was eating. If he thought it was good, you thought it was too.

I realized today how big you are getting. You will always be my little baby, but I realized today how much you have grown and I realized how incredibly intelligent you are. You are so kind, caring, loving, friendly, and happy. I love that you are so social, and love being around others.

Someday when your Mama is ready for another baby, you are going to make such an incredible big sister. You are going to take such good care of them. You get so concerned for the well being of others. I'm so glad you came into our family, and bless us with your presence daily. Thank you so much for being my beautiful little princess. Your Mama and Papa are very grateful to have you.

Love,
Your Mama <3

Wings

2011-04-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today was a little overwhelming for me. I forgot to load up some stuff in Drew's car to take to work so he could give it to someone who had bought it on craigslist. We changed the locks on our doors but only have 1 key, so he had to drive back into dallas, get the key from me, pick the stuff up and head back to work. I had a dentist appt. and picked E up early. Drew's meeting got out late, so I was late to the dentist. I ended up sitting and waiting 30 mins anyway cause there was a screaming kid in the back (they had been eating sun chips and lodged a piece underneath a loose tooth)-whiner. So it took 1.5 hours instead of the normal 30 minutes. Ridiculous! E had a blowout at Drew's office (the ONLY time she hasn't had a diaper and wipes there....because i was rushing and needed to leave).

It doesn't stop there. I forgot E's medicine at the sitters, had to call them up and go back and get it. A guy was coming to pick up another thing I posted on craisglist, but I forgot he said he'd be there at 6. Well, I wasn't home til 640. The kind guy waited for me. BUT Drew had the only key to the house and he had driven home separately and picked up some dinner. So I awkwardly stood with this guy waiting to get into my own house. How awful and creepy does that sound? ugh.

So then we're eating dinner, and for some reason Drew got E root beer. She proceeded to spill it all over the floor. I swore. That kid is know going to know how to say "damnit." ....dangit! lol I gave E a quick bath, but she was swirling herself around and smacked her head on the faucet.

So then while I'm giving her a bath, Drew says, "What's on your back?" I say, "what?!" He says, "there's a big spot on your back!" And I say, "from what?!" He says, "Oh, I remember, it was that day that you were carrying in Elisabeth from church and somehow her chocolate milk spilled that was in that bag" - so all day today ladies and gentlemen, I had a freaking 6" stain of chocolate milk on the freaking back of my shirt without knowing it. I told Drew he is my keeper and must take a once over glance at me to make sure I am presentable, cause heaven knows I obviously can't do it myself.

I'm done for this week. I didn't go to the gym, and ate a hamburger and fries. It's a dang good thing I only have aunt flo visit rarely cause if I don't know how I used to deal with this kind of retarded brain behavior in the past.

So now I've gotten my woe is me's out, here are some cutey pictures.

Brushing her chompers

Flossing her teeth :)

Chillin with Papa, eating crackers.

Look at those WINGS! I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

Hooray for cookie dough! ..yes, I am the parent that is OK with giving her daughter raw cookie dough, and I'm OK with that. I sure do love her!

What we've been doing :)

2011-04-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

Elisabeth had a horrible sinus infection that peaked about Thursday afternoon. The poor girl was so exhausted by the time we got home that all she wanted to do was cuddle. So, we put on Horton Hears a Who and chilled until Papa got home and could go pick up Quizno's for us. I thought she'd at least eat soup if her throat was hurting, but she wouldn't touch it. She wouldn't eat a thing. She ate a pickle Thursday morning, but her babysitter said she hadn't eaten anything else. Friday I think she ate half a piece of bread. Saturday, she ate a pickle and some olives. She didn't even want ice cream! Finally today, she was willing to eat some blueberries and juice. The poor girl was getting so dehydrated. :( We started her on a round of antibiotics Friday night, and her fever broke through that night. She's on the upswing, but man, she got bad f.a.s.t.!

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet lately...just plugging along at work and play. :) The only other thing exciting going on is Elisabeth attempting to have another tooth break through..it's been a long time coming and it's just barely under the skin. Hopefully it isn't hurting her too much and will come through a lot easier than the last couple of months have been for her.

Elisabeth wanted to hang out outside- I love how she slumps in the chair---it was so she could wiggle her legs better!

I thought this was funny sporting the shoes. :)

This was her "Fancy" outfit she picked out. We were reading Olivia's Opposites book and we were talking about Plain and Fancy- so she wanted to be fancy! oh, and we had to play blocks, too.

Cheese and Cornbread- I got this recipe from one of my friends. It makes the best cornbread in the world. And I usually hate cornbread!

Cheese!!

You see these? These are brownies and cookies together. Whoever thought brownies and cookies should go together was a GENIUS!!! We had some for dessert last night. The only downside? They took FIFTY minutes to make!!!

And this? This is dinner tonight. It sounded delicious! So we're making it!

And these are my two sweethearts watching Donald Duck cartoons. Elisabeth likes to wear her jacket because it has newly discovered pockets. She likes to walk around with her hands in her pockets now- it's pretty adorable to me. We had also weaned from having a binky during the day, but with this horrible cold, I kind of eased up, so I'm guessing we'll have to go through the continuous questioning of where is teeny binky once this cold is gone again. haha oh well :)

Spuh-ring

2011-04-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

I have a million pictures to share :)

This was our Saturday morning.... it was pretty much awesome...

I made a mistake with buying these pj's. We had initially bought them because Ellie saw the planets and insisted they were all moons. She LOVES the moon. So we thought that was cute and bought them. The night she wore these was probably the worst night of trying to get to sleep in her life. She was so insistent on needing to look at all the moons that it was difficult for her TO sleep. I do like her Dora slippers with her boyish jammies though. :)

run, run, run, as fast as you can!

I didn't intentionally try to match her coat and bow. :)

I couldn't get her to look!

Ellie took this picture of Drew- I thought it was pretty cute

Our attempt at a family picture. I couldn't get Ellie to sit still!

Ignore the nose. :) I was going to photoshop it out, but I wanted to post pictures before she woke up from her nap, so I haven't tweaked any of them yet.

Offering her beautiful blossoms :)

I thought this squirrel was awesome!

Lovies!

NSV

2011-04-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

I'm practicing being as kind to myself as I am to others, especially my baby. This has been a struggle for me. It's rewiring 29 years of life. It may take that long to change, but small steps are still small steps in the right direction. So I'd like to share some of my non-scale victories from the past few months of working very hard on me.

1. I can run. I can run 10 mins, 20, 30, 50, 60, 72...as much as I want...not can... I stopped at 68 minutes today because I felt like going home. The sun was out, the air was crisp, it was a beautiful day, and I wanted to share it with my family. I could have gone longer, but I chose to stop. What a powerful feeling to CHOOSE to stop rather than HAVING to stop. It made me feel wonderful.

2. I made a quiet goal with myself that I think I mentioned to Drew once in the past month. I'm trying really hard to work on my self-esteem, and part of that process is figuring out things that would really make me happy. They may be boring or silly to others, but they mean a lot to me. One of those things was to unsubscribe from Lane Bryant emails because I just didn't need them anymore. I did that this week. Their smallest pants are baggy on me. I still wear them because I feel like I'm inbetween sizes and I think I'll wait a little longer since summer is coming, and I have lots of summer shorts to wear instead. But the fact is, I don't need them! I can go into a regular store and expect things to fit the way I want them to...once again, very powerful and liberating.

3. One other thing with clothes- today I was on a mission to find clothing to match for our family pictures. I was elated to realize that I didn't have to go to the women's section of any store...I could find something *I* wanted to wear that looked cute, and chances were, it would fit. And it did! I got another shirt just because it was cute, not because I had to get it because it was the only thing that fit. I honestly don't think I've ever done that in my life. I don't like making a big deal out of it, but internally I am so happy.

My scale has been teetering around the same set of numbers for 4 weeks now, and I realized who cares? I'm not competing with anyone, I'm already lower than what I had set out to accomplish back in December (and a year before that December as well). I am strong, I am healthy, and I am confident that when my body is ready, the rest will go away. I've noticed my legs are finally giving away some of their storage, which has ultimately been my biggest obstacle...and to know my body is finally responding is a very nice feeling. :)

I just thought I'd share. :)

I have some really cute pictures of Elisabeth munching away on cereal this morning, but I left the camera in the car, so you'll have to wait until later. Sometimes I feel bad that all her pictures are of her sitting and eating, but that's seriously the only time I can get a non-fuzzy picture from her anymore. If she isn't sitting to eat, she's going 3 million miles an hour to go do something. I love her so much!

Fruit and Other Ramblings

2011-03-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

I watched Food, Inc. about a year ago. I was disgusted with what I saw. I know that documentaries sensationalize things, but in the same breath, I am still disgusted with what I saw. I can't get certain images out of my head when consuming some foods. The only way I get around it is by knowing where my food is coming from. (Sorry Mom, total Portlandia comment there :) )

So you say, so what? Well, I got lazy. I needed to go to WinCo to get regular stuff, you know, diet soda, cheese (Tilamook cheese is about half as much there as everywhere else!), cereal, etc....more of a stocking up trip. I didn't feel like going to another grocery store to get my produce. I've complained about winco produce since we first moved up here. You have to be careful what you buy because they aren't very good at getting rid of the yucky stuff fast enough.....but then again, neither is Safeway....that's another story. Anyway, I bought produce there. For about the past year, I had been pretty good about buying 97%+ of our produce at LifeSource (our local health food store). I was pretty disappointed with what I got from winco. We bought apples, oranges, bananas, cucumbers, asparagus (I can't get myself to pay $6/lb for this at the organic place), among other things. All of it was disgusting. Drew found some nasty brown spot in the middle of an orange, the apples were like big balls of air, the bananas were pithy and tasteless, and the cucumbers were bad within 18 hours. I don't think I can ever shop there again for produce. :( I have become a snob with my fresh fruits and vegetables. It's to the point of, quality over quantity and I'm OK with that. I'm just sad that I had to waste so much money on sub-par items to realize it. :(

So that's my story. I'll get off my soap box now and show you some pictures. :)

I don't even remember what we were doing, but she's getting better at smiling for the camera...now to work on opening the eyes with the smile!

Holy crap she makes me laugh! She's had a ridiculous amount of blueberries today. They make her so happy! She tells me if she's eating a little guy or a big guy as she puts them in her mouth...or at least tries :)

Spring Break

2011-03-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

We've been having our delightful Spring Break this past few days. Elisabeth and I have gotten to spend a lot of time with one another. I've been pretty happy with our time together. The older she gets, the easier it seems to entertain her. I'm also grateful she'll watch Winnie the Pooh while I take showers. :) She'll have to teach that to a younger sibling someday!

This week we've been pretty low key. We've (meaning I go, and make E tag along) gone to the gym, get cleaned up and do things. One of the days we went up to the Children's Museum in Portland with one of my friends. We went grocery shopping another day (I know this isn't fun, but just being able to hang out with my wee one and have little conversations is awesome for me), and we've done a lot of playing at home. It's been pretty rainy, so outside time has been at a minimum unfortunately. While Elisabeth has been napping, I've been re-organizing our attic. It was a disaster. You could walk in, turn around and walk right back out. You couldn't move anywhere. Disaster. It's about 95% done. I have a pile of things I need to bring down and either sell or just donate to Goodwill. I wanted to wait for Drew to be home so that I didn't have to haul them down the stairs by myself, cause handing them down is so much easier for everyone. I think we'll do that on Saturday when he isn't exhausted from work.

Really, she doesn't just eat cookies. BUT Cookies+Elisabeth=smiley pictures!=totally worth it!

We had a cuddle on the floor :)

Drew showed E how to pull cereal out to "snack" on a while back. She dumped this out while my back was turned with raw meat in my hands. She was so proud of herself. I had to take a pic before I cleaned it up.

see! She eats tatoes (strawberries that she insists on calling tomatoes) oh-els (oranges) :)

She'll cuddle with you if it means she doesn't have to take a back...but really, once she's IN the bath, you can't get her out.

Playing in the water room- she would have stayed here the whole day if we let her.

giant light bright!

and lastly, my before and after of the attic (at least a small portion) -forgive the quality, I didn't bring my camera up, so they were done with my phone in poor light conditions.

Senses

2011-03-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

I found this interesting, so I wanted to share it with others in hopes of enriching other's lives as much as I hope it does with mine. So it was suggested to me yesterday that when I want to eat food, but I know I'm not hungry, that some need is not being met. Since we have 5 senses, try out another sense rather than taste and see if it helps curb the initial reaction.

Sight - I am now on a quest to make sure I have beautiful things to look at throughout the day. I decided last night that as long as I'm in the same classroom next year, I'm going to paint this summer to make it a happy place for me. My home is relatively good that way, but I've been itching to paint something (I just can't motivate myself to go through with it.).

Smell - Since I spend a majority of my day in the classroom, I think I'm going to go to Bath & Body Works and pick up a few more room scent sprays. I love the 2 I have and realized I don't use them near enough. I need variety, and I thought this would be a perfect way to increase my smelling sense!

Sound - I think I do a fairly good job of this one. I listen to upbeat music while I'm at the gym. I'm probably damaging my ears, but sometimes I think, the louder it is, the faster I go. LOL

Touch - this one is a little trickier. I went to bed last night thinking of my sheets and how much I love them. I also love our bed, it is like a giant marshmallow! I also need to do a better job of going and getting massages since our insurance covers them. I need to remember to get hugs often as well, cause sometimes the eating that comes from insecurity could be remedied with just a simple hug.

And lastly, Taste- if I really DO want something, I won't deny myself, but what I DO choose to eat will be high quality, and eaten slowly so that I can enjoy every single part of it. I would be crazy to down a box of expensive chocolate without savoring every little drop!

So there you have it- my new goal....to stimulate other senses in attempts to rid myself of the habit of always going to food for comfort and safety.

Conferences

2011-03-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

We have parent teacher conferences this week, and spring break next week. We don't have any traveling plans for the week since Drew's vacation time is a bit more limited than mine. Since I'll be home for a short while, I'm going to go pick up some storage shelving from Lowe's this weekend and work on trying to organize the attic a bit. Let's hope it helps because it's a disaster up there right now.....too much baby stuff. I'd go so far as to saying at least 65% of it is baby clothes+infant equipment (stroller, rocker, bouncy saucer,etc) - I'm kind of excited for when I can get rid of it, but right now it just seems silly to have to re-buy them in the future.

I got my beautiful camera back from Seaside yesterday! I was soooo happy. I didn't realize I had so many pictures on there that I hadn't downloaded yet. I'm so glad to have that back.

So updates on us:
Elisabeth is learning new words and phrases faster than I can remember them. She is a sponge of knowledge, and I adore her. She is the light of my life. She loves to cuddle, and probably could never get sick of me singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (I know, she's crazy!) She's obsessed with strawberries, but she calls them 'tomatoes'- but really it sounds more like 'turtles'. She could devour a pound of them a day- maybe more...I haven't given her the opportunity to do so! She can count to 10, sometimes in order, sometimes skipping numbers. :) She likes to pretend to count in sign language...I love seeing her little fingers going all over the place. She loves singing her ABC's and X is her favorite. She loves to watch Max and Ruby and rock in her little rocking chair. I absolutely love the little lady she's growing up to be.

Drew has been working hard. I appreciate the fact that he can take off at various times to help out with scheduling conflicts. I like his flexibility that way. His work is pretty redundant and stressful, yet he handles it very well.

With me, I think my job is safe for now (keep your fingers crossed)! I've been working really hard at the gym lately with running. I purchased the 10k program on my phone since I completed the 5k one. I was able to run 45 minutes without stopping(first time ever!) (an incredible feat in and of itself in my opinion considering what my legs have gone through!). Last week, I decided to push it a little further. My runs have been about 15-18 minute intervals with 1 min in between x3. I decided to run through the breaks and last week. Once I had run a solid 5 miles (first time ever as well!)-I decided to see if I could do 6.2miles (a 10k) and I was able to!! I'm a slow but steady runner and it took me a little over 72 minutes, but the fact is, I did it, and I didn't struggle, and my legs are still perfect! It's amazing what stretching consistently and good shoes can do for you! I'm 1lb away from my lowest weight as an adult, and I don't plan to stop there. I'm proud of myself and what I've been able to accomplish in a few short months. Life is good

STRAWBERRIES!

She's so good at tricks ;)

Cheese!

Family pictures are getting trickier and trickier

Blessed

2011-03-11T20:10:00.000-08:00

I had my 29th birthday one week ago, today. I have been blessed with great friends who humored me enough to go drive up to Seaside and hang out with me over the weekend. It couldn't have been any more perfect (other than being able to stay longer!)

When we were out playing in the water, there was a chill that picked up suddenly, so I wanted to go in (after the grumbly lady said, "No kids in the hot tub under 6 years old" blah blah blah)- so I didn't want to stick around in the kiddy pool any longer. Anyway, I mindlessly left my camera by the side of the pool. I didn't realize it was gone until we got home the next day. That evening when I called up with very little hope of it to be found, I was pleasantly shocked. Some kind individual had turned it in!!! I don't necessarily believe in karma, but I do feel as though some kindness has been re-payed somehow. I am forever grateful for whomever it was that was kind enough to turn it in rather than take it. Thankfully, it was my waterproof camera instead of my $$$$$ Nikon, but it's still my camera that has priceless pictures on it- all I wanted were the pictures if it came down to it! So the kind people at Worldmark are sending it down to me. When I get those pictures I'll post some. :)

Also, not that I'm at all happy about the tragic earthquake in Japan, but I am relieved that we weren't planning on going up today. That would have been scary, and I can't even imagine what I would have done.

On my birthday, I ate a lot of cake. It's my one time a year I get Konditorei cake. For those who haven't had it, you are definitely missing out. I chose the After School cake. It is pretty much D.I.V.I.N.E. It may also have been worth the no weight loss on the scale this week. I had been planning that though, so I'm OK in the fact that I didn't GAIN any weight. :D

(Please note the beautiful "attack." My child loves chocolate. She loves sugar. She loves cake. Add those together and you have stealth. I had opened the fridge to put the groceries in, and somehow her hand was in the cake and out of it, with a fistful of deliciousness before I even realized it. Next thing I hear is, "Mmmm...Yummy Coco!!!" I couldn't agree more little one!

Speaking of accomplishments, I have been able to run further and longer than I ever have in my entire life. I absolutely love that my legs are behaving and working with me. I am so very grateful. I am also grateful for an uncrowded gym so that I can be in charge of 1-3 tv's at any one time. If I can watch cupcake wars, house hunters international, and some random game show, I could probably run for 2 hours!

Our View from our room. It was pretty great. It would have been fantastic if the other side of the building wasn't there. :)

Just being cute

Showing her boyfriend how to do things

Now he's showing HER!

I guess this is what you do when you have blinds?

Promise

2011-02-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

I promise my child doesn't just eat junk food. As I was looking through pictures today, I tried to figure out why in the world all her pictures are taken while she's eating food. And it dawned on me! She sits still! If she isn't eating, she is going a million miles a second.

We went to a Mardi Gras party on Saturday night. There were a few other kids there that were the same, and around the same age as Elisabeth. Those kids all stood quite near their parents...no mindless wandering or anything. My child on the other hand? Yeah, she was sitting/laying/scooting/running/etc. through the whole vineyard. She was running up and down the benches, touching people's legs, throwing necklaces around, dropping mini babies into people's drinks...you think it, she probably did it. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love her energy and her confidence. She is amazing.

cookie mouth. Seriously, she really DOES eat other stuff! But look at that wonderful smile!!

She fed herself yogurt - all. by. herself. lol

My Mardi Gras party animal

see? right in the middle. Thank goodness no one seemed to mind.

These are why my child has been insisting on eating cookies alll day long. I'm in the process of making these bad boys for a week long celebration next week. I'm waiting for the icing to dry so that I can freeze them for the big day (that way they don't go bad) - anyway, these puppies have been a 3 day process - 1 day making dough (has to be refrigerated for the cookies to come out of the oven the way I want), 1 day to cook them, and 1 day to ice them. I used a Glace Icing on them this time instead of royal icing which I would normally do. A lady online highly suggested it, so I thought I'd give it a try. I've never made cookie pops, but I only had one come off the stick. I had some teeny tester cookies that Drew and Elisabeth gobbled up. They were pretty good. I added lemon extract to the icing, so it has a nice lemony hit to it. Divine! I'm making some cookie flower bouquets. Our theme is nursery rhymes so each of the cookie shapes goes along with a nursery rhyme, song or poem. :) Go me!

I told her to say cheese, this is what I got- oh man, she makes me laugh. Drew was her pony...he was broken. :)

She wanted to play drums on the camera

30

2011-02-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

day 30. a photo of you when you were happy.

Who couldn't be happy here? Harry Potter land with a beautiful little girl, and a ridiculous amount of money spent on myself :) (And Drew's there somewhere too, I'm sure ;) )

Day 29

2011-02-26T20:29:00.000-08:00

day 29. a photo of someone you find attractive

I have so many! I did a post a few years back on my livejournal account of my top 10 guys I found attractive. I wonder if I can find it.

---I did :) ---it hasn't really changed a whole lot.

Jamie Bamber - he's ripped, he's talented, and he's English. What more could you ask for?!

Love

2011-02-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went up to Seattle for a little break from regular life. We had a good time, ate too much, and slept too little, just the way it should be.

Today, we had a snow day. The amount of snow is a joke, but what no one understands is that we have no money invested in snow removal, so people just keep driving on the roads, making them slick. We also usually have a fair amount of rain before the snow comes, which creates a nice layer of ice on the ground. Top off an ice skating rink road with snow, and it becomes a serious hazard. So it's not so much the snow, but rather the ice that is the problem. It's continued to snow throughout most of the day, but it's also warmed up enough to have melted most of it as well. It'll get icy tonight, and we may have an hour or two late start tomorrow, but I doubt we'll have another snow day from it.

Since I finally got Elisabeth down to nap about 1.5 hours late and 2 tagalongs, 1 samoa, and 1 lemon cream cookie later, she finally crashed. This left me time to upload pictures from the last couple of weeks to share with everyone! So here they go!

This one is titled, "He's Sad!" This is a tinker toy Ellie has, and somehow she always finds it in the over abundance of toys she has. As you can see, the end has been smooshed a little bit - but the first time she showed it to me, she was very distraught and kept saying, "He's sad!" and whimpering a little bit. I didn't realize what she was looking at for about 30 seconds...and 30 seconds in child time is a LONG time to get a response from Mama. She is always *so* concerned about others, and always wants to make them happy. I love how she is so concerned that this guy is SO SAD!

She smiled for us!

Eatin her crackers in her tent!

Hopper was quite tolerant of the child this time!

What's around your child's neck? You know, a dog collar. ....she wanted to be JUST like the dogs. Oh boy....

Missy's favorite past time lately - eating clementines, snuggling in Mama and Papa's bed, and watching "Me Mo" (Nemo).

What's Dis?! - Our gifts from Grandma!!!

SNOW!

Blizzardy!

The snow was just piling on! I have no idea how long we were out there, but she managed to need 2 sets of gloves cause they would get so wet. I had to force her to come in because her hands were so cold.

Chillin

Her hair is getting curly-ish!

She wanted to show me her tongue

Can you believe she's 20 months old? I can't either. I sure love her!

Last week of pictures!

2011-02-20T20:20:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is a holiday (HOORAY!) but we'll be traveling back home after a nice break, so I thought I'd put these up now since I have no idea how smoothly tomorrow may be. I have high hopes of visiting my gym friend tomorrow because of the gluttony I indulged in this weekend...so let's hope we don't hit traffic too badly.

day 24. a photo of you that your hair looks nice in

I've realized I don't like my hair down very much- it gets frizzy and poofy quickly. I do however, like it up, it's out of my way, off my neck and cooler. :)

day 25. a photo of a night you loved

*Awesome* night!!!

day 26. a photo of your favorite weekend

It was a hell of a weekend, but definitely one I won't forget!

day 27. a photo of last summer

Let's hope I have a job this fall so I can continue my rock n roll lifestyle, cause I like it, A LOT! :)

day 28. a photo of what you ate today

ugh. Today might not be the best day for this one? I chose cornbread. I don't have my linkup cables with me to show what's on my cameras. I do have some pretty fun ones to upload when I get home though. Today was probably a rotten food day for me though. Way over indulgent and overly filling. I need to remind myself it's ok to say no, and it's ok to not eat all of something. I just have such a hard time when I know how much things cost, and how much effort has gone into things. Oh well, we all have something to work on right? My problem could be a lot worse for sure! The cornbread by the way? Delicious!

day 23.

2011-02-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

day 23. a photo of your friend as a baby
Well, I had one of Michele I was going to do, but it's on my external harddrive, so I have to go with what I have on my computer right now. So, it's going to be Drew.

Isn't he a cutie? It's shocking to me to see how closely he and Elisabeth match in little things like simple facial expressions. Crazy! I'd also like to point out that he seems to have about 400 times as much hair as she has at the same age. Oh boy.

Day 22

2011-02-19T21:48:00.000-08:00

day 22. a photo of your town

My town. Oh, my town. I'm not *IN* my town right now. So I guess I'll give you a picture of the slough that is down the street from my house/town.

Week o Pictures

2011-02-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

day 17. ~~a drunk photo of you~~
I don't have one of those, nor would I post it if I did! So I'll give you something else instead:

Drew and me on graduation day (the first time around)- I look possessed! lolol

day 18. a photo of one of your classes

I think this one is safe enough you can't tell exactly who anyone is. This was one of my favorite classes of kiddos. :) We had just enjoyed some root beer floats and they realized our room was right there in the windows, so they all wanted to check it out. I love Hipstamatic for the photo effects!

day 19. a photo of you on a school trip

This was when I was still student teaching. I had found a crab. The ocean is such a magical place to me!

day 20. a photo of something you enjoy doing

Spending time with family!

day 21. a photo of you standing up

Yup, I'm a dork! Man, Harry Potter land was the best!

16

2011-02-13T20:00:00.000-08:00

day 16. a photo of you at the last party you went to

You know me, I am the ultimate partier! Seriously...if there's a party, I'm there! My last party? I think it was Halloween when I was still in grad school! Man, I am a partier!

Check me out! Aerobics instructor named Heather! :)

Life

2011-02-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

Let's face it. I am a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad organizer. I stink at it. It takes all my strength and energy to organize. Thankfully, that's where Drew comes in. He is terrible at cleaning (wiping things off, etc.) - that's my area of expertise. So once he's put everything away, I clean! He has a tendency to put my camera "away" for me...you know, where it's supposed to go. It doesn't belong on the kitchen counter, you say? Bah!

Anyway, I forgot about it for a little bit, and really, I haven't had much time during the week to blog anyway, so now for my weekly stories of Life.

We have had a sick little girl the past week. She had a pretty nasty upper respiratory cold that seems to be on its way out. Drew stayed home with her one of the days this week and had a fun time. Since it hasn't been raining a whole bunch, we have spent A LOT of time outside. We have been going back in this little "cave" behind some large bushes/trees in our front yard and shoving pieces of wood and leaves down tubes I'm sure aren't meant for outside "things". We've been going on walks, and running up and down the street.

Also? Drew just took off a couch cushion to check something and I realized how much crap was down underneath those cushion. How do kids get messes EVERYWHERE so FAST!? We had pink frosting ALL over our cabinets earlier today, all over the fridge and all over Drew's shirt. I don't think she was out of my sight for more than 20 seconds.

Some fun new words/phrases she knows: awesome, it's a puppy!, Here kitty, kitty, kitty!

I think this was the first time we gave her ice cream...she loved it so much, she had to lick the bowl

Every night, Drew takes E around in a larger laundry basket and runs around the house saying, "WEEE!", but Papa was gone, and Mama was home, so I put her in her teeny basket and dropped her in the hallway so I could finish laundry. hahaha Mama is NO fun!

Checking out the camera!

She was telling me about her snake's eyes.-she normally HATES snakes, but likes this one? I don't get it. --when we were at the alligator farm in Florida, she was screaming as we took her into the snake enclosure, that's how bad it is...and she's never even touched a real one?

Showing you her awesome new Babylegs- she wanted to wear them ALL

I can't remember how it started, but she ended up scooting herself around in circles in the kitchen. Man, she if funny

On one of our many adventures in the yard.

15

2011-02-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

day 15. a photo of you and someone you love

I spent about half an hour going through a ridiculous amount of pictures. This one tops it though. Rissy and I are so dang hot! I love us. :)

Day 10 - 14

2011-02-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

There were several days last week where I didn't even touch my computer. So the same with this week, I'm just going to front load all these guys :)

day 10. a photo of you as a baby

day 11. a photo of your favorite film(s)

I'll spare you the rest- but I sure love me some Harry Potter!

day 12. a photo of you

another one?

day 13. a photo of your best friend(s)

We have so many pictures together so why this one? Cause that's the folder I was in, and we were camping with some of the greatest people ever. The flash was so bright so we decided that instead of looking like drunk dorks trying to keep our eyes open, we would just look like regular dorks instead. :D

day 14. a photo of one of your favorite family members

Why choose one when you can have all three?!

Day 9

2011-02-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

day 9. a photo of your family
Well, I shot myself in the foot on this one. LOL I used up my *big* family picture a few days ago. So we'll go with my *little* family :)

Aren't they great? I sure think they are!!

Onions?!

2011-02-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

In between my other posts, I thought I'd give you a wee one update. She makes me laugh so much. She's aware that she can do things to make people laugh, and does them on purpose (i.e. spitting out all her water onto the floor at the babysitters so that the kids will laugh at her, screaming "Weeeee!" as we go up the hill to the sitters, making funny noises, weird positions, dancing for everyone so they'll clap and laugh for her, etc.) She's our little comedian! I didn't know I'd have a goofy child! She picks up so many words every day that I can't keep track anymore. She is amazing, and I love her so much!

In my world, I'm taking a class on improving student writing, and one of our readings talked about us as writers. Regie Routman who has the basis of this program goes on to suggest that we share our own personal writing with our students to help them realize that writing is important for their teachers as well. I write random stuff in class once in a while, but I realized most of my writing is done between here, facebook and twitter. While riding the bike at the gym today, I realized that maybe I should be sharing some of my writings from my blog with them...to realize writing doesn't have to be profound, or really all that difficult. We just have to realize there is an audience, and we want to tell them something....even if that audience is ourselves. I like that way of thinking. What are your thoughts?

Also, in the land of Maddy - today is a little special for my self-esteem land. Those who know me, know how extremely difficult it is for me to lose weight. *extremely* difficult doesn't really even begin to express it. Anyway, I have been working my body to pieces lately and I'm proud to say that I am *finally* down to my pre-pregnancy weight!! I know this isn't huge for anyone but me, but I have been staring at that number since I gained that first pound about two months into the whole life of Elisabeth. I didn't realize the weight wouldn't just "come off", and that I would have medical conditions making weight loss more difficult. I'm anxiously optimistic about the next pregnancy to show myself that I can do a lot better than I did with Elisabeth's. I won't have the heartburn problem, and I feel that was probably about 90% of the problem (the only time it would subside is when I ate...) Anyway, hooray for me! And at this rate, I plan on getting the rest of the unwanted lbs off, too! Go me! :D

And for Drew? uhm...well, he's just doin his thang...going to work, coming home, playing video games, playing with his girls...the usual :)

And now for the pictures, cause that's all anyone really cares about, anyway :)

Drawing Mama a picture on the floor

Is that an onion? mmmhmmm..she ate it all...and another one, too. Gross.

Our little ham

She was saving some chocolate from her chocolate chips for later. when I first looked at her ear, I was all, "What is in your ear?!?!" --thinking it was dried blood or something from a popped ear drum...I had no idea what had happened, then realized, nope, it's melted chocolate. Thank goodness she didn't shove it down her ear canal! (I'm a really good baby supervisor!)

Numero 8

2011-02-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

day 8. a photo of your favorite band/musician

This is a difficult one for me. I have so many different artists for different moods/activities. I need fast, upbeat music for working out, I need mellow music when I'm needing to calm down, you know, music for life.

Though I don't listen to her as much as I used to, I feel her words are uplifting and inspirational. (lame? I know)- but seriously, This music got me through grad school interviews, grad school itself, intensely difficult times of extremely low self esteen pre+post pregnancy. So many songs with so many positive messages. :)

Natasha Bedingfield

does it help that her brother is Daniel Bedingfield? Probably. :) Love that guy, too!

Close runners up:
Sean Kingston (who actually does a song with Natasha that I love!)
Jason Mraz
Jack Johnson
Devin Lima
OKGo

Days 4,5,6,7

2011-01-31T12:25:00.000-08:00

Realistically, I know I won't be touching my computer between Tuesday through Saturday morning. There just isn't any time. So I'm going to post the rest of the week so I don't forget later.

day 4. a photo of the last place you went on vacation

Pompano Beach, FL - this year, we have played in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Awesome ;)

day 5. a photo of you - this is the most recent from last week.

day 6. a photo that makes you laugh - What can I say? We're studs

day 7. a photo of someone you love - I had a very hard time choosing, so I cheated. I love all these guys so much! I also like that I'm the only one not looking at the camera. ...always messing up pictures.... lol

Day 3

2011-01-31T10:56:00.000-08:00

day 3. a photo that makes you happy

my precious little squishy, I love her so! (Elisabeth is helping me right now, and she keeps hollering out, "BABY!!")

Day 2

2011-01-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

Day 2: A picture of me from a year ago. This is close as it's going to get since it's from 1.31.10 I'm shocked at how much Ellie has grown! WOW!

Cuteypants

2011-01-29T14:35:00.000-08:00

I know every mother/father/aunt/uncle/grandparent/etc. are smitten with their little ones. I'm no exception. I think she's just the bees knees. Look at how cute she is:

What's with my child wearing a hat you ask?? Cause normally hats+Ellie=bad news for everyone. Well, she realized it had "poop" on it, so she had to have winnie the poop with her. :)

Our future attorney (not shown- she's wearing papa's shoes)

Look at my little mama!!! She put her little frog named "Rrrrrriiiiiiiii" aka ribbit, and her bunny aka unnnnyy! to bed, lied down next to them and held froggy's hand!!! I was in love!

Giving froggy another kiss goodnight. She'd kiss them both, lay them down, pat them gently and say, "Night, night." - go off for a bit, lay down next to them and then repeat.

Admiring her love of frog! <3 Hy heart is full :)

Day 1

2011-01-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

day 1. your facebook profile photo

me and my lovey - can't deny, we're pretty cool. We were at Seussville (Universal Studios - Orlando) in this picture. I need some more of that sunshine right about now.

Fun

2011-01-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

I've seen this a couple of times, and thought it would be fun to do. I know I probably won't get to post every day, but I'll try to keep up and post a couple pictures on the days I don't get on here.

day 1. your facebook profile photo
day 2. a photo of yourself a year ago
day 3. a photo that makes you happy
day 4. a photo of the last place you went on vacation
day 5. a photo of you
day 6. a photo that makes you laugh
day 7. a photo of someone you love
day 8. a photo of your favorite band/musician
day 9. a photo of your family
day 10. a photo of you as a baby
day 11. a photo of your favorite film(s)
day 12. a photo of you
day 13. a photo of your best friend(s)
day 14. a photo of one of your favorite family members
day 15. a photo of you and someone you love
day 16. a photo of you at the last party you went to
day 17. a drunk photo of you
day 18. a photo of one of your classes
day 19. a photo of you on a school trip
day 20. a photo of something you enjoy doing
day 21. a photo of you standing up
day 22. a photo of your town
day 23. a photo of your friend as a baby
day 24. a photo of you that your hair looks nice in
day 25. a photo of a night you loved
day 26. a photo of your favorite weekend
day 27. a photo of last summer
day 28. a photo of what you ate today
day 29. a photo of someone you find attractive
day 30. a photo of you when you were happy.

OK, NOW for the pictures

2011-01-24T21:30:00.000-08:00

Look at them!!!!!! It only took 19 months, but it was worth it!

Bubbles! She screamed when I peeled her away. Next time, we'll be bringing a change of clothes, and going to this room LAST

Open, shut them, open, shut them!

Running around in the safari room

Slides! We even went down the giant slide that's taller than a house!

She LOVES seeing planes and birds in the air, and we always get her OOOO face from it!

Loving the swings!

She's a good chess player.

Choo Choo!!

Our treat on the way home: Burgerville Chocolate milkshake...but really, it's a smoothie cause that has no fat, and 45% fewer calories. ...that means it's healthy :)

Gilbert House

2011-01-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

We went to the Gilbert House on Saturday (A.C. Gilbert invented the erector set). I didn't think Elisabeth was old enough to appreciate anything until about now, and even now, she still has several years to grow into some of the exhibits there. I won't lie, I was really excited to go not just for her, but for myself too. I love playing with the bubbles, and light room, the slides, everything! I've only been there once before when I was in Grad school. Our professors took us there to give us an idea of a place to take kids on field trips. I'm glad they did because I had never heard of it til then. We had a really good time, and I'm sure Elisabeth would have stayed longer if they weren't closing. I think we're going to buy an annual pass so we can go during the summer. It also includes OMSI as well as a few other museums. I could go to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) and Gilbert House every week if I wanted!!! Hot diggity!!

The other great thing this weekend?? Elliecakes's hair was long enough to put in piggy tails! She screamed while I put them in, but they stayed!!!! :D I'm pretty excited for getting to do her hair more often!

......Pictures are going to have to wait. I'm apparently out of space...again.... this is lame. I just deleted a years worth of scrapbook pages, shouldn't have have been enough? :(

Where have I been?!

2011-01-14T21:09:00.000-08:00

Where have I been you guys?! I realized I hadn't posted in almost 2 weeks. That's not like me at all. I've become obsessed with Frontierville. To the point that I need to stop making it a priority, which is hard for me to do. I don't let go of things easily....especially games I like playing. When Elisabeth was born, I seriously had a sad few days when I realized that The Sims just wasn't a realistic game I could play anymore (I feel you have to play for a couple straight hours for it to be any good).

So what else? I've decided I need to do a better job of spending more time at the gym. Since I broke down and rejoined after Thanksgiving, I needed to make sure I used it, so I've been doing M-F for 1-1.5 hours a night. This pretty much takes up my night. We put Elisabeth to bed, I go to the gym, shower, check my email (I don't even delete anything until Saturday, so it accumulates...it's ridiculous), play a little frontierville, read a few pages and pass out. I'm pooped.

I also realized that my amount of pictures has significantly decreased. It's just too dark and rainy outside for us to play, and I feel like our life is so set in a routine, it's boring for the pictures to pretty much be the same. Oh well. :)

I also learned that our school district is going to be short 2-4 million dollars this next year. If they're short 4 million dollars, there's no way they can really even open the doors...You can't run a school district on 44 teachers. It just won't work. So what does this mean? The 2 things they've been discussing is mass layoffs and/or going to a 4 day week. This means that I'm either going to (maybe) lose my job, or get a 20% cut in pay. If it's a pay cut, fine. I can handle that. I will be upset if I get the boot though...especially if I'm jerked around like the last time I got "the slip". So needless to say, this week has been a bit crummy. I'm glad it's over. I'm glad for a 3 day weekend.

How's work? Work is hard. Some days I don't know why I'm even working. The kids this year are rivaling my first year teaching, and I even have more tricks up my sleeve...so in a sense, they might be worse! It's a good thing the few and far between kids make it worth it. The good years make it worth it...I'm at 50% right now. hahaha I'm excited for June. :)

Drew is still kickin it. He's working hard, and figuring out how to get his firm to go paperless. He cleans the kitchen and opens drapes so that when I get home it isn't dark and dreary.

Elisabeth is working on toilet training. She's very interested in using her cute little potty chair, and gets the concept well. She likes going and feels very proud of herself when she's successful. She just has a difficult time remembering that's what she wants to do! We aren't forcing it on her, but rather letting her lead the way. She's also getting down several words daily. She's been putting 2 word sentences together the last week too. It's amazing how quickly she's growing up. Pretty soon I'll be telling her to be quiet and go to her room! lol

Butterbeer Attempt #3

2011-01-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

I have a little bit of an OCD problem. As long as it's obtainable, I don't seem to let down on something until I've mastered it. i.e. Masters in Teaching (haha), I go the job I wanted, I didn't have a kid til our meticulous plan was laid out (got lucky and she was born exactly when I wanted ;) ), knitting, pottery, etc., etc. I set out to be a good runner, but my ITBS has kept my hopes of that down in the dirt. I do persevere through it though in hopes that someday I'll be able to run for more than 20 minutes without severely upsetting my leggins.

So anyway, back to OCD. The butterbeer we had in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was phenomenal. It was sweet, it was salty, it was everything Harry Potter. We tried it cold, and we tried it frozen. I liked the frozen more, but I can't replicate those tiny little ice pellets throughout like they did, so I have been on a quest to at least make the cold kind (the frozen is exactly the same, just more like a Slurpee).

I scoured the internet for some ideas, and today I may have hit upon what may be the closest to it.

Now in doing this, I almost feel like the true flavor is vanishing quickly out of memory, and so I'm afraid the longer I take to figure this out, I'm just going to lose it completely and have no idea what flavor I'm trying to get anymore....I have 2 other options to try, but I really do think this is the closest it's going to get.

OK- what I did was I combined recipes, and added my own little twist at the end.

The first recipe, I got from Chica and Jo. They are amazing. They created their very own butterbeer mugs! Incredible!!! They also stressed the importance of having Vanilla Butter and Nut flavoring to get the core flavoring correct.

So I tried their recipe out, and while it was good- I know for a fact that something is missing. The butterbeer at the WWHP was thicker, there was more consistency to it than just cream soda with some butternut flavoring. The whipped topping also had flavor to it more so than just sugar. There was also a slight saltiness to the drink that was missing completely.

The second recipe I found was strangely from Fox News. I felt they were way wack because they suggested adding in apple cider vinegar to the mixture. Crazy, right? Well, not really I found out. It gave the drink a certain "kick" that definitely added to the drink...it seems vital now. The problem with their mixture was that they used rum extract. I guess maybe I'm not a rum person to begin with cause opening up the container made me ill a little. I wanted to be exact in what I did though because that vinegar really did help, so maybe this rum extract was the magic key.

It wasn't. The consistency, and everything else seemed to be right on, but that extract was messing it up. I tried making a trial with just the base without the rum extract, and it too, was missing.

So that leads me to trial number 3, and 3.1. I decided that the consistency of fox news, and the flavoring of chica and jo needed to fuse.

I made the Fox recipe, but with the Vanilla Butter and Nut flavoring. Drew has been a wonderful sport and taste tester. He told me today, "I like when you get in these funky cooking/baking moods, cause then I get to taste everything." So cute. :) So anyway, he was saying that it was still missing something, like it needed more butter flavoring to it.

Not a problem! Me being that crazy person that wants to be good at everything HAD butter extract! (I did have to go up into the attic to get out my cake decorating stuff to grab the bottle.... :) ) - so I drop in a few drops into a new cup, swirl it around with the other stuff and presto! I think it did the trick!

So here is the new and improved (thanks to contributors mentioned above!) Butterbeer Recipe!

(I split everything in half cause there was no way I needed this much, but this is the typical recipe that serves 4)

1 cup dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp water
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 heavy cream (1/4c for the mixture, 1/2c for whipped cream)
1/2 tsp Vanilla Butter and Nut extract
1/2tsp butter extract
4 - 12oz bottles of cream soda

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring continuously. Keep stirring until a candy thermometer reads 240F.

Once done, stir in butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4c cream. Set it aside to cool at room temperature. (and if you're me, this means put it in the freezer for 5 minutes :) ) - but don't forget about it, cause you know what butter does when it's cold!

Once it's cooled, stir in the extract.

While that is cooling, beat your cream til it's almost whipped, but not completely. Take 2Tbsp of the brown sugar mixture and mix it in...this took me about 2 minutes.

To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses - about 1/4c each glass. Add 1/4 cup of the cream soda to each glass and stir to combine. (this makes a funky frothy stuff, but if I just push it down with the spoon, it'll calm down a bit---it reminds me of the freaky froth you get when you make root beer floats). Fill each glass nearly to the top with the rest of the cream soda, then spoon the whipped cream over each of them.

*As I was finishing this up and making myself ill tasting it all, I feel as though *maybe* they don't use straight cream soda. OR maybe I'm just not liking cream soda as much as I thought I did...it's almost like I need to have rootbeer infused with vanilla ice cream as my base, but I can't do that, cause it needs the bubbles.

So I was playing with the idea that maybe it would do better as half cream soda, half seltzer water? I'm just not sure. Drew thinks it's perfect and seems to finish off his drink every time (2 times. lol)- but I can't get more than maybe 1/4 cup down before it's just too much.

My next step(s)? - I think I would like to try the absurd idea of just putting butterscotch syrup in cream soda. I don't think it'll work, but it's easy and worth a try. Other's have suggested using melted butterscotch chips with a few other things...I'll try that too, though I don't think it'll work..there's no way those people could have a vat of butterscotch chips in their liquid without having a huge hunk of fat at the bottom. But it's worth a try. I may also try to lessen the amount of cream soda and replace with just carbonated water to see if that helps the sweetness factor.

I know this is the same pic I had a few days ago, but the ones I made today were a bit messy since I was going fast. These at least, aren't AS messy :) They looked the same in color, too.

And since I can't end any posts without personal stuff, here's more! This was a really pretty sunrise a few days ago. The sky was lighter than that, but that's what cameras do sometimes. One thing I like about where we live is that we can see the sunrise every morning.

We had a pudding paint day. I colored vanilla pudding blue so Ellie could paint with it. You can see where it went instead.

See those marks on the paper? They're from me. She barely did anything with the paper....little miss, I color on everything wanted nothing to do with coloring. I didn't even tell her it was edible. And every single time that paint brush went in her mouth, she'd say, "Mmmmmm!" (guess that's what happens when you come back from vacation and all candies have been put away, and are replaced with fruit!)

NOM NOM NOM!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

2010-12-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

Elisabeth loves Santa. ...or at least the concept OF Santa. She loves pictures of him, she loves chocolates with his face on the front, she loves old men that have long, white beards. She loves to say HO, HO, HO whenever any of these things show up. She does not however, enjoy sitting in Santa's lap. I think I mentioned that in a post prior.

Anyway, back to Santa. I'm still unsure of whether or not to emphasize Santa in our home. I felt really disappointed when I found out he wasn't real, but strangely enough, I was more disappointed to find out the tooth fairy was just my mom. That's where I felt really ripped off. So when it comes to that, we've decided that instead of exchanging gifts, we would go on a trip instead (money allowing). I absolutely adore this idea. So family members of mine, if you ever want to go with us, let me know!--cause chances are, we won't be coming to you as that trip. ;)

We've had a really great Christmas break. I can't believe how needed it was. I'm not entirely excited to go back to work on Tuesday, but the memories of difficult children have softened just a bit....at least enough to hold strong until Spring Break! hahaha

Back to gift giving - we still had some wonderful gifts from grandma's and grandpa's for all of us to open. It was fun to watch Elisabeth's reactions to everything. It was all very exciting for her :)

This is a guitar she got from her babysitter- it is perfect!!

Oooooohh!!! sticks that you bend and they light up!

She was so excited to see what was in each box!

Daddy, let me show you how to do it.

Bye Daddy! (well, really, she calls him Papa)- I'm going away with my car and wand!

Cheese!

Showing everyone her really good coloring skills on her new coloring table

I had to just put this in. hehehe I am attempting buttebeer recipes. This one was OK. I think something is funny tasting with our cream soda...I'll keep you updated. :)

It's still cool :)

I don't know if you can tell well, but she is soaked. We played in puddles

Beautiful flowers from Nana Clark for Christmas

The poor girl is teething like mad. We found gloves helped. :)

Look! I fit in my toy car box!

Photos for yesterday's post

2010-12-26T15:14:00.000-08:00

The Keys and the 'Glades

2010-12-25T22:17:00.000-08:00

We went down to the Everglades National Park to check out some gators. For those that can't remember (me), and those that aren't sure, alligators have the wide snout, whereas crocodiles have the long, narrow snouts. I always thought it was the other way around.

We got to go on a little airboat tour of a swampland where a bunch of alligators live. We also got to go to a demonstration of how to handle gators, and cool tricks people can do with them (don't try this at home things!). We got to hold a baby gator, but it's mouth was taped shut cause their bite would snip our fingers off. We also got to see a feeding "demonstration." They fed the gators some rats and chickens, but these are more like snacks. The guy was telling us they feed the gators 2 times a year and put a couple tons of meat at different locations in their enclosure, and this will last them for the year. He was saying that an alligator can eat a duck and he can live on that for a YEAR....amazing. They're also very creepy looking since they stay so still..especially when their mouths are open.

Once we were done there, we went over to Biscayne National Park since it was only 30 mins away. Most of the park is underwater :)

THEN since we were down in Southern Florida anyway, we drove down to Key Largo and were just in time for the sunset. It was beautiful. I would love to spend some more time down there some day.

(I'm having technical difficulties, I'll get pictures up tomorrow....my files were filled to the brim, so I'm having to delete before I can add more....bummer)

Atlantic Ocean

2010-12-25T21:35:00.000-08:00

The weather wasn't *ideal* while in Florida, but it was nice to get out of the rain, and into the sunshine. It stayed around 70-75 degrees, and the water was probably right around the same temperature. Once you got in the water, it was fine, and we were able to play for quite some time. Ellie loved the waved hitting her little body, she loved running her toes and fingers through the sand. I think if we let her, she would have stayed for hours (and naps allowed ;) )

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

2010-12-25T21:24:00.000-08:00

I can't lie, we went to Universal Studios for me, and for me alone. Drew was an awesome sport about it and found things he was excited to do. I'm glad I didn't feel like I was dragging him around. The reason we went there was because during the summer, they opened up a section called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It's a tiny little Hogsmead village where you get to experience magic at it's finest. They do have an Olivander's there when it should really be in Diagon Alley, but I'm not complaining.

To get IN to this section, you have to be one of the first people to enter the park. OR you can get a "come back in 2 hours" ticket, but these quickly deplete and are gone by noon. After that, you must wait in line for upwards of 2 hours go get in. Once you're in, it is packed to the brim. You are shoulder fighting everyone. I thought they were joking when they said it had reached capacity. The shops (Filtch's Emporium, Zonko's, Honeydukes, Olivander's, Derbish and Banges) were all ridiculously crowded. You seriously had to trade places with others to MOVE. BUT I still went in and bought a ton of stuff. I think it was worth it. Drew stayed outside of Filtch's because that was the worst and it was stressing Ellie out.

At Olivander's, I had been told that a person in your group get's to be "the chosen one" and have a wand choose THEM....well, I had thought this meant in my group as in Drew, Ellie and me....turns out, it's the group of however many people they can shove into the little room for Olivander to do his speech. I was a little saddened by this. I still got to choose a wand that people outside of Olivander's/Derbish and Banges didn't get to choose. I got a wand made of Holly, 15" long and has a core of Centaur tail hair. ;) (we made up the core, cause we're that cool).

We didn't go on any of the 3 rides in there because there was over a 2 hour wait for all of them. I figure when the hype dies down in a couple years, we'll go back and I can go on the rides :)

The rest of Universal was really fun. Seussville was really cool - I liked that it was so kid friendly there. On the other side of the park, they also had quite a few kid friendly activities as well....Barney land, Fival playground, etc. I think Elisabeth had a really good time on the little amount of sleep she got.

The whole thing was marvelous!! I'm so glad we got to go.