Life & Times

Guidance

2012-01-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

The girls and I had been playing cards last night, a marathon of Go Fish and Uno, and I sent them to get ready for bed at about 8:10. Katy sat back down on our bed and spilled her guts. She had forgotten to finish a project over the weekend, saw the teacher's reaction to another student who also did not finish the project, and was scared and embarrassed at the thought of receiving the same reaction in fron of the entire class. The next morning it would be her turn to describe her project and turn it in. She had not finished the hot list (which sounds like a reference page) and had yet to develop a game to go along with the research topic (turns out there is a software program that will build a crossword or word find puzzle if you enter in the questions and answers - who knew?).

Apparently, there was a substitute for most of last week for this particular teacher and the substitute did not instruct the class to work on the project. I asked about the teacher's reaction to the student who also did not finish the project and she described it through tears.

Part of me wanted to be the Momma Bear and say it wasn't fair, that expecting 10-11 year old children to keep track of the deadline for project during a weeklong absence of their teacher and to take the initiative to complete it outside of class was a bit much. I wanted to berate the teacher for leaving insufficient lesson plans for the substitute, who according to Katy told the students just read each day in this class. That surely if these children are expected to finish the project on their own that the substitute could have provided this message to the students and even supervised their work. I had to think of the bigger picture, that this was Katy's interpretation of what happened and not necessarily the whole truth.

It was time to take a step back, take a deep breath and get Katy to stop sobbing so that we could have a conversation. It went something like this.

It is true that it is your responsibility to finish your school work. You know what reaction the teacher had today to a student who had not completed the project and you can probably expect about the same reaction tomorrow. [it's okay, take a deep breath, have a kleenex and a drink of water]

Let's make a plan. How are you going to complete the project tomorrow?

She said that she could work on the project during recess and that if she talked to the band teacher that she could work on it instead of going to band. Okay, if you have not completed the project by the end of the school day, stay after school to finish it and send Dad a text message asking him to pick you up later. [no, no, I promise he won't be mad, I'll talk to him] This snowballed into Katy saying that she likes band and honor choir but maybe she shouldn't go to them so that she could have study hall instead.

Okay, one thing at a time. You have to be honest and up front with this teacher. Tell her that you have not completed the project and explain your plan to complete it today. If she has the same reaction to you as it sounds like she did to another student, remain calm and agree with her that yes, it was ultimately your responsibility to complete the project.

Then she asked what if she cries and everyone sees her. [broke my heart a little so I had to get gross for perspective] Well, you are going to walk into the classroom and talk to the teacher right away. It's not like you are going to stand up in front of everyone and vomit, you aren't going to have explosive diarrhea or something nasty like that. [she laughs through her tears and gives me a 'oh Mom that's just gross'] Yeah, see, it could be a lot worse.

You are going to cry, big deal. You are worried about how this is all going to work out and it's okay to let emotion out by crying. Then I got to her level and quoted Taylor Swift (genius on my part!). How does the song go? "You'll do greater things in your life than date a boy on the football team." Honey, you are going to screw up so much bigger in your life than not finishing a project on time. You are going to run into things with your first car [she laughs], you are going to screw up big time at some point in your life. Let's learn the lesson and move on.

The class starts at 10:30, I'll be watching the clock and hoping that it goes well.

A good flyover

2011-07-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

Within the first few days after we moved to Colorado Springs there was a welcome home parade for the 4th Infantry Division, including my husband's unit, the Brigade Reconnaissance Team - later the 2nd Brigade of the 9th Calvary. It was an emotional time for us, our little family of three had just reunited after being apart for a year. We were adjusting to being together in a new place where it was just us for the first time, we knew no one.

This was not a parade of marching bands and little league teams. It was a parade of proud and exhausted soldiers marching in their newly issued boots. Rows and rows of uniforms interspersed with equipment - up-armored Humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles. No music, no candy, just a steady stomp and cheering crowd.

Colorado Springs is home to the Army base Fort Carson, and also home to the Air Force Academy, Peterson and Schreiver Air Force bases. When there is a welcome home parade, they bring out every piece of aircraft that was used during that tour of duty for a flyover. Imagine the giant C130, Chinook helicoptors, etc. flying low and fast overhead. There are few tall buildings in Colorado Springs, no one wants to impede the view of Pikes Peak, and so the aircraft fly in low, shaking the ground. The soldiers are stoic and unnerved by the flyover.

I'm sitting on the curb with our three year old daughter standing between my knees, taking it all in, looking for Daddy. She sits down when the aircraft start to come through, unsure of the noise. The C130 soars overhead, seemingly 100 feet above our heads. I can feel the rumble in my feet, pride for my husband, pride for the soldiers he walks with, pride and camaraderie for the families surrounding me. We all made it through this rough year-long tour together. I bury my tear-filled eyes in my daughter's soft, straight hair. To this day a good flyover gives me chills and my eyes well up with tears.

Our hometown July 4th parade this year had a flyover by a two jets from the local Air National Guard unit. Instantly filled with the old feeling of pride in the few seconds it takes for them to fly over I feel like something needs to be said - all I can muster is "I love a good flyover".

2011-04-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

There's never a dull moment around here. Even trips to Hobby Lobby are lots of fun.

2011-03-06T17:13:00.001-08:00

I am feeling terribly unproductive lately. Seems to be a really awful spell of it. I sit here at the laptop and look for something in my favorites only to see that I have a couple crafty pattern websites saved that I have bought fabric for but am unmotivated to work on. I also have Shutterfly waiting for me to finish a photo book about our vacation last summer as well as figure out how to share pictures. There are two half-read books on my night table - noticing a pattern yet? I blame Etsy.com and too few hours in the day. I could get a lot more done in day if there were just a few more hours to search Etsy for insipiration and still manage to get the boring stuff done.

High points of the day: menu drawn up for the week, grocery shopping all by myself, laundry folded and put away thank you darling daughters, a $4 bouquet of flowers arranged quite prettily and some peace and quiet as the before mentioned darling daughters play nicely upstairs. [emphasis added on the best parts]

2011-01-18T13:17:00.000-08:00

It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day of it all. The business of being an adult is at the same time a welcome routine and a burden. The balance constantly changing – home, family, work, friends. Many relationships to manage and never enough time in the day. And then there’s you.

Keep a little time for you. Write, journal, doodle, daydream. It’s true that your children grow older every day but so do you. Today is the only January 18, 2011 you’ll ever have in your whole entire life. Are you going to spend it giving away every minute to someone else or are you going to take one or two – even 15 just for you. Brew a cup of tea, listen to a favorite song, re-read a favorite passage from a book, lay down on the living room floor put your feet up on the couch and stretch your arms out to the sides, find a quiet spot. It’s not selfish to take a break and re-charge yourself. Come back ready to rock, or at least muddle through, the rest of the day.

2010-12-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

This Christmas season I find myself humbled by the grace and strength of others. Members of my extended family and community have suffered great loss this year. By all appearances, they are doing okay, making plans, attending events, going to work and functioning each day. Maybe that is the trick, to focus on anything except how miserable and heartbroken you really are. There are many individuals that I think of daily, hoping that they may find peace.

Our immediate King/Faust family has had a decent year. There have been difficult days but all in all we are doing well. I am a fan of lists, and here is one more to end the year.

Things to be thankful for this Christmas season.

Our family is close; in distance (for the most part) and heart.
We are all relatively healthy.
Our homes are warm and safe.
There is ample food in our cupboards.
Good friends; they bring such spirit to our lives.

What I am most thankful for is our little family of four. The days and nights that we worry and work hard to provide and create a good home for our children appear to be paying off. Throughout this year we as parents have benefitted from their love and laughter, their kindness towards others and overall goodness.

This Christmas season, I hope that you are able to make your own list of things to be thankful for. May your list bring you comfort and joy.

2010-11-10T08:31:00.000-08:00

My thoughts drift, as they often do, and this morning I was struck by the sun shining through the skywalk window sparkling on the dust. It was so pretty until I started to sneeze and realized that it was dust, not heaven-sent sprinklings of patience and time. What a violent burst to my bubble.

I have written about a sprinkle jar before – the sight of sparkly cinnamon-sugar falling out of a jar melting into butter on warm wheat toast correlating to the warm fuzziness of a happy, worry-free childhood.

Of course, it’s the romanticized version of the sight, the movie set slow motion scene with perfect lighting – I do not recall sunlight pouring into the kitchen and straight into the tiny pieces of cinnamon and sugar as they dissolve into the butter. I recall sitting down with my toast at the table to read the comics and attempt the crossword, plopping down for Saturday morning cartoons or in front of the crackling fire. It’s the relaxation, the minute or two to take a deep breath and just be.

It’s been a long fall adjusting to new grades at school, home improvement projects that seem to have a mind of their own, irregular work schedules, and the stress of balancing work, school, home and parenting. Finding balance is hard – especially because I have trouble balancing myself, have been known to trip over my own feet, fall off of sidewalks and cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.

There is an old corporate training program about work-life balance with an exercise where you imagine that you are juggling glass balls and that each ball represents a part of your life – work, home, etc. You are supposed to imagine what would happen if you dropped a ball while juggling and that ball broke beyond repair. Juggling requires balance (which I lack) so I preferred to imagine that all of my glass balls were safely tucked away in my pockets where they were not at risk of crashing.

Earlier this week it felt as if everything was off balance, that the glass balls were about to dig themselves out of my pockets and crash to the floor. I took a few minutes at work for just me, opened up a new Word doc and made a list of everything that was so hard that day. The last thing on the list was ‘refill sprinkle jar’. I took a deep breath, stood up and stretched and just let the worry go. I could do nothing about a lot of the stress so just let it be rather than let it bother me.

At home that night I made cookies with my daughters. A batch of snickerdoodles that failed so miserably I could only describe them as a cookbook type-o. I made a second batch of always successful chocolate chip cookies, half for a company Thanksgiving luncheon today, and half for a co-worker with four children whose husband suffered a massive heart attack earlier this week.

Sprinkle jar, refilled.

A very good tomato soup

2010-10-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was on the couch at home snuggling a sleeping, sickly Gretchen and watching the Today Show. Martha Stewart was part of a segment on how to make quick and easy food at home rather than ordering take out. Martha said that a good replacement for pizza delivery is tomato soup and a toasted baguette slice with fresh mozzarella. Meredith Viera quickly put Martha in her place by informing her that while the soup and side were delicious, they were no substitute for pizza. The look on Martha’s face was quite amusing.

Here is the tomato soup recipe, I really liked it and took it over to my in-laws and they really liked it. Gretchen is the only one that will eat tomato soup with me so I cut the recipe in half and post the half recipe here.

Tomato Soup

1 T. olive oil
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes (optional, but they did add a nice kick)
½ c. onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
14 ounce diced tomatoes and the juice
1 ¼ c. chicken broth (could use vegetable broth)

Heat the oil and red pepper flakes over medium-high heat in a medium sauce pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring once in awhile. Pulse the tomatoes in a blender or food processor 3-4 times. Add tomatoes and broth to the sauce pan and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes. Allow soup to cool* then pour back into the blender or food processor to blend until mostly smooth or whatever consistency you prefer.

*A word to the wise, blending hot liquid is not a good idea unless you do it in small batches, about 1 cup at a time, and hold the lid on with a towel. If you choose to dump all the hot soup right into your blender, go ahead and turn it on and watch as the lid blows off and coats your entire kitchen in tomato soup.

The red pepper flakes add a nice spicy flavor and if you have non-spicy eaters, just leave it out and add hot sauce to your own bowl. The soup would work quite nicely with a toppings bar – small pieces of fresh mozzarella and basil, variety of crackers, croutons, good bread, cooked shrimp, or even partially cooked veggies.

Oh yes, he did.

2010-10-16T06:14:00.000-07:00

The dog ate Katie's homework.

Her class just finished studying pioneers, including a field trip to Living History Farms. To finish up the unit, she needed to complete a final project. A list of suggestions was sent home and she chose diorama.

Katie takes classes in the summer from a certain retired teacher that resembles ET when sitting at her kidney bean shaped table. The big project she worked on for summer classes was on her favorite vacation - given that she's technically been on two vacations, she didn't have much to choose from. Katie made a shoebox diorama about our family vacation to Minnesota in 2009. We went kayaking in Lake Minnetonka and Katie took a bunch of pictures of the lake houses, boats, lily pads and sand. The pictures turned out to be perfect for covering the shoebox, she made a dock, added a boat and called it done. The diorama turned out to be really cute and I was thankful that she did not include any pictures of my hyperventilating. While kayaking looks like fun, I have this thing about not being able to touch the bottom of a body of water.

So, when Katie chose diorama for her final pioneer project she was really excited. She dug a shoebox out of the basement and looked around for a small box to craft a covered wagon. Turns out that a Jiffy corn muffin mix box is not only the perfect size for a mini-covered wagon, when we emptied out the package to make cornbread, we found that the inside white paper packaging was a perfect covering for the wagon. Katie covered the wagon with construction paper and we rubber banded the packaging paper to a large can of diced tomatoes to round out the shape.

The rounding out turned out beautifully and made for cute little covered wagon. We called it a night with homework, saying that we'll add wheels and a background tomorrow. That was Wednesday, the project was due on Friday. The next morning we went through our usual morning routine, Katie met the bus, I dropped Gretchen at school and headed to work. Erik had been working ridiculous hours for a few weeks and got home at about 8:30 in the morning. He called me at work to report that in the 45 minutes Rommel had been left alone in the house he had torn apart and eaten part of the covered wagon. Apparently the corn muffin smell was more than he could take and the only option was destruction. That's what we get for naming him after a genius of strategic warfare, he's always got something up his sleeve.

A replacement box of Jiffy corn muffin mix later, the second diorama turned out quite nicely and made it school in one piece.

2010-10-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

October = baseball. I love the wild card play off games, the league championship series. The sold out crowds are electric, you can hear it in the constant chants, cheers, fans standing up the entire game. The announcer booth chatter is reserved excitement. It doesn't matter who plays, though it is more fun when the Cardinals or Yankees are playing.

Things to look forward to over the next couple of months...

My sister and her family coming to town
A new nephew due any day now!
Pumpkin patch with the girls
DaVinci dinner date with my honey
Voting (don't forget!)

2010-10-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Over the course of 2010 I have gradually become more of a Locavore. My spell check says that is not a real word, I beg to differ. The term describes a person that eats locally grown food and such, likely a word rooted in some sort of hippy-liberal-vegan source. I kid, of course, who knows who thought that one up and I am the exact opposite as a boring-middle of the road-omnivore.

This has been a gradual process and yet one that is logical to me – it would have to be logical and economical or it just wouldn’t work. I love the Downtown Farmer’s Market for the locally grown produce, meat, bread and cheese. I love the produce section of Hy-Vee on Fleur Drive, they are pros at marketing what is locally or regionally grown. It’s not a political stance, I’m not going to hop up on a soapbox and proclaim it to the world, it just makes sense to me – kind of a ‘how did it take me so long to realize that buying local food is a such good thing’.

There really is no excuse for not buying locally available in-season vegetables. They are going to be fresher and taste better, buying them is supporting area growers and farmers and it is fun to talk to the vendor about how to cook the vegetables that they grow. Our girls love to go to the Farmer’s Market and pick out fruit and vegetables and I am happy to give in.

I’ll give you an example of something that I buy locally – I doubt that I will ever go back to store bought chicken. There are two vendors that I know of at the Farmer’s Market that have whole frozen chickens for sale. One is Fox Hollow Farms and the other is the one that I buy from and the name escapes me. They are expensive and they are delicious. If I spend $10 on a chicken, roast it, pull the meat and spread it out over 4 meals - the cooked meat freezes nicely – it is absolutely worth it. I prefer to roast the chicken whole but it could be cut up if you know how to do that. I do not know how and am perfectly happy with roasted chicken.

I recently learned about the Iowa Food Cooperative http://iowafood.org/shop/. It completely fascinates me. A lot of the same vendors are at the Downtown Farmer’s Market so I see no reason to join the coop when I can wander around the Farmer’s Market to shop and people watch at the same time. :-)

2010-09-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

It's official, school has started. Yes, school started 3 weeks ago, but the germs have just now arrived. Hundreds of children sharing one building, one lunch room, they are bound to share germs. Round one has started with sniffly noses and coughs but so far no fevers. Colds make for a long week and on this Friday night Erik is working so the girls and I will be snuggling in for dinner and a movie and what I hope is an early bedtime.

First Day of School

2010-08-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

Ah, the first day of school. Katie, Gretchen, Erik and I were all excited for school to start, albeit for different reasons. The girls were ready to meet their teachers, see their friends and meet new ones and while they each admitted to being nervous, they couldn't wait to go. Erik and I were ready for them to be back in the routine of the school year.

Both girls were up by 6:30 this morning, before I even had a chance to shake their little shoulders. Katie rode the bus today from one side of Norwalk to the other to and we all stood in the garage/driveway waiting for the bus. I dropped off Gretchen at school, returned to my car and breathed a sigh of relief and stopped at Starbucks for a back to school treat.

Our big Kindergartener. No, she was not instructed to pose, she just did. It was chilly so her favorite sundress made friends with her favorite zip-up hooded sweatshirt. Gretchen had a great first day and said that she only cried once, when she bit her finger during lunch. She did not cry to her teacher about her bit finger, she found our neighbor, Donna the lunch lady instead.

Our big fourth grader. Once again, she was not instructed to pose, she just did, she always does. Just one of the many awesome things about Katie, she's always camera-ready. Katie had an awesome day and went on and on about how huge everything was at school - the lunchroom, the library, her locker. She went to bed saying that she couldn't wait to go back!

2010-07-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

Recently, it dawned on me that some of my favorite restaurant meals are really quite easy to make at home. Example #1, Chicken Fried Rice. Make sure to have a timer on hand, I use the microwave above the stove. The recipe goes together pretty fast once all of the ingredients are lined up so at that point I kick everyone out of the kitchen until it’s time to wash their hands and set the table.

Just wait, those of you with younger children than mine, one day the clouds will open, the heavens will shine down on you and angels will sing when your children are old enough to set and clear the table, then rinse plates and load the dishwasher. It is truly a glorious moment in motherhood.

The original recipe was found on the website www.tastykitchen.com, and was called Garlic Fried Rice. I made the recipe and included all 6 cloves of garlic - yes, 6. My skin smelled like garlic the next day and as much as we loved the recipe, some changes were definitley in order! Feel free to add or substitute your favorite veggies, whatever you like. I'm making this for dinner tonight!

Chicken Fried Rice
serves 4-6

6 T. butter, divided
2 cloves minced garlic
1 t. lemon juice
3 cups cooked rice, chilled (that's 1 1/2 cups before you cook it!)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. carrots, chopped, more to taste
1/2 c. other vegetable, chopped, more to taste
1 pre-cooked chicken breast, chopped into small pieces
2 eggs, beaten
2 T. soy sauce, more to taste
2 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Melt 2 T. of butter, add the minced garlic and lemon juice and set aside to let the flavors combine. Cook the rice as directed on the package and set aside or in the fridge to cool.

Chop the onion, carrots and other vegetable, chicken and place each ingredient in it's own bowl so it's easy to drop into the pan. The original recipe called for 1 cup of frozen peas and carrots which I never have on hand, tonight I'm using fresh carrots and broccoli so will steam them in the microwave until they are about half-cooked. Also, I like to pre-cook a couple chicken breasts and freeze them so they are ready for dinners like this - or bbq chicken pizza, or chicken salad, etc. You could easily substitute leftover roast, pork chop, ham, shrimp, whatever meat you have on hand, or use no meat and increase your vegetable amount. Finally, beat the eggs in a small bowl. Line up everything within reach of the stove, this goes together quickly.

In a large, non-stick skillet melt 4 T. of butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add vegetables and the butter-garlic-lemon mix and cook for about 3 minutes. Add meat and cook for 1 minute. Push all ingredients over to one side of the skillet and on the empty side add the eggs. Salt and pepper the eggs and scramble them until just set. Then move the rest of the ingredients back over and stir the eggs into the mixture.

Add the cold rice and the soy sauce, stir to combine and cook for another 3-4 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds to nothing burns. Add green onions and stir, taste for seasonings and add more soy sauce, salt and pepper if needed.

2010-07-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

We are learning lots on our trip to NYC, here are a few tidbits, I will probably have several more throughout the week.

- check the weather in advance, more than just the morning than you leave, you know, after you are all packed and ready to go, forecast was for low 80s until the morning we left when it quickly changed to 100s

- do not, I repeat do not, go into a restaurant that is not a well known chain and does not post it's prices outside the restaurant, prime example a $14 blt at Roxy Diner. Boo!

- do not believe the counter person at the Des Moines "International" Airport, Delta window, when they say, "hurry up, you'll miss your flight, I'll make sure your bag makes it". Ours made it alright, 14 hours after we did

- do think that just because you are the only two non-Caribbean or non-Hasidic Jews in the six block area, that you will get along just fine and only get random odd stares

- 100 degrees in NYC = 148 degree sidewalks

- eat at Dim Sum Go Go in Chinatown, be a little bit frightened, and come to terms with the fact that you are really bad at chopsticks when the waiter brings you a knife and fork

- waiters at Dim Sum Go Go believe that Chinese food in Iowa is served with potatoes and gravy

- residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant are more frightened that you are walking through your neighborhood than you are when you are while walking through their neighborhood - pushing the limits of your comfort zone can be good for your soul (so they say)

- walking from Manhattan, across the Brooklyn Bridge and to your rented apartment at 14 Virginia Place, Brooklyn is a really long walk, through the before-mentioned Bed-Stuy neighborhood

- tourists are really easy to spot, they are looking up at the massive buildings instead of watching where they are going

- museums take up multiple city blocks and take 4 hours to get through the first floor and absolutely worth the steep price of admission

- there is really good NY cheesecake (Lansky's Deli on the upper west side) and really bad NY cheesecake (some pizza place on the upper east side where the pizza was really great)

2010-06-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

It seems impossible that June is almost halfway over. We wait and wait for summer to arrive and it goes by so fast that we barely have time to enjoy the warm sunshine. The girls will be spending a lot of quality time with Daddy this summer as his work schedule is flexible enough to not require day care. There are days that I wish that the tables were turned and I had the flexible schedule. Then there are days that the girls are acting like sisters and cannot stand to be around each other. Those are the days I happily skip off to work or class.

Here's hoping that the summer slows down a little and that we all have time to enjoy our friends and families, bbqs, smores, guacamole and salsa dinners, fireworks, cold beer, parades, fireflies, sun tea, garden fresh tomatoes, sweet corn, homemade ice cream, and picnics.

Rommel update

2010-06-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of non-dog food items the 95 pound pup has eaten in the past 4 months or so. Rommel is quite adept at tearing open ziplocs, plastic sacks and tupperwear-style containers. The vet is convinced he's part German Shepard, based on his coloring, long nose and apparently he doesn't walk like a Lab. He's 47 inches long from the tip of his nose to the base of his tail and will be 1 at the end of July.

tomato
package of hot dog buns, minus the plastic
flarp -- pink stuff found in the Target dollar bins, minus the container
6 chocolate chip cookies
4 blueberry muffins, minus the ziploc
3 raw marinating pork chops
carpet - just a couple inches worth
2 pair of underwear, one at a time
protective cover from a wii remote

Here are a couple pictures of the big lug. Notice how he likes to hang out near the spot where he tore up the carpet.

2010-05-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Our girls' birthdays are two weeks apart and this year we are throwing a party. Unusual because there are 32 people in our combined families - yes, that's just grandparents, one great-grandma, siblings, spouses and grandkids - and the last few years we have just had the grandparents over for dinner. This year we were crazy enought to throw an actual party.

The girls are really excited, they see most of their cousins pretty routinely and it's always fun to get everyone together. We own a total of 10 chairs and a couch so the party will be at one of the city parks. I think this will work out well, plenty of space and the grandkids can play on the playground equipment. We have invited everyone for lunch and cake though we're not exactly sure what's on the menu. Katie & Gretchen picked out hula paper plates and napkins which I though was hilarious given their cake demands.

Two things are definitely set - one 2 layer devils food cake with a Batgirl symbol, and one 9x13 white cake with a Supergirl symbol. This fascination with comics is not my fault. I'm not really sure that I want to encourage it with the cakes but it appears that I have no choice - no flowers this year, no hot pink cupcakes, not even a green Incredible Hulk chocolate chip cake.

Now the research starts, finding a good picture of each symbol, figuring out how the heck to map them out on the cakes. Batgirl seems pretty straightforward, Supergirl, not so much. I did just learn something from www.wilton.com - for black frosting start with chocolate frosting so you use less of the icing coloring and don't get a gross aftertaste. I'll make sure to post pictures of the finished product, even if they don't turn out that great.

2010-05-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

Something has been not right with the universe lately. Natural and man-made disasters seem to pop up on a weekly basis. Maybe one more earthquake or volcanic eruption will provide a jump start to get everything back on track. Maybe this spring rain we have had more than enough of lately will wash everything clean, let us all start anew.

If there is anything to learn from the local, national, and family events of late it is that we should all be taking a little more time, making a little more effort. Slow down. Reflect. Spend meaningful time with your children, your spouses, your family and friends. Those e-mails and the stack of research will be there waiting for me at work tomorrow – they are tragedy proof.

Before going to bed at night I wander around the house, look out the windows, check the locks, fold the last of the laundry, set the coffee pot for the morning, give it all a good once-over before turning out the lights. Somehow I stopped walking into the girls’ rooms to check on them before going to bed, started to just peek in from the doorways. I’m not sure why, maybe I felt too busy, didn’t want to bother them, thought they were too grown up.

Don’t get me wrong, we have an elaborate bed-time ritual complete with face washing, teeth brushing, hair brushing, bed straightening, room pick-up, closing curtains, lights off, lamps on, one book to Gretchen, a quick chat with Katie, a hug and kiss from both.

This is the routine for them, checking on the girls before I went to bed was just for me. I know they are in their beds, I can see them from the doorway; see them when I reach in to turn off the lamp. At some point I got out of the habit of reaching out to touch them, brush the hair from their faces, pick up the bear that lost its spot on the bed, take in the beauty of a sleeping child.

A couple of nights ago I broke the habit of not and walked into Katie’s room to check on her, brushed the hair back from her face with my hand and pulled the blankets up a bit. Gretchen was hanging halfway off of on her bed. I picked up her tiny sleeping body and put her back in the middle of the bed, pulling up the blankets, tucking her in again. How did I ever make it through the night without checking on them?

Recent recipe discussion with my Mother

2010-05-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sitting down at my parent's dinner table.

Me: "When I make this it never turns out right."
Mom: "You must not be following the recipe."
Me: "Well no, because the recipe calls for diced tomatoes and I know that you use sauce and it calls for the rice to be added and cooked in the sauce not separately like you do since Dad won't eat rice."
Mom: "It doesn't call for diced tomatoes."
Me: "Yeah, I just read it the other night, I swear it says diced tomatoes, and green peppers and onions. It was really chunky when I made it."
Mom: "I'm sure it says sauce."

At this point, Mom gets up from the table mid-meal to retreive her copy of the same old cookbook we all have to reveiw for my obvious errors.

Mom: "Well, I guess it does call for diced tomatoes. ... And, well I don't add much for green peppers 'cause your Dad doesn't really like them in this, and well I switched from onions to the dehydrated ones 'cause you don't like onions. ... Oh, and I always made 'this recipe' with 2 pounds of ground beef 'cause there were so many of us."

Western Hash from the cookbook v. how Mom really makes it
1 pound ground beef v. 2 pounds ground beef (used to be 2 pounds when the kids all lived at home, now it's usually 1)
3 1/2 c. tomatoes v. 12-16 oz. Hunt's tomato sauce
1 c. chopped pepper v. 1/4 c. very finely chopped green pepper
1/2. chopped onion v. 2 T. dried minced onion
1/2 c. uncooked rice v. 2 cups rice cooked separately and one baked potato for Dad
The last four ingredients are actually the same: 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. basil, dash pepper, 1/2 pound Velveeta. And the directions - brown beef, drain fat, add rest of ingredients execept cheese and simmer for 25 minutes, top with cheese and heat until melted. Serve on top of rice or baked potato.

Mom: "Well I guess I have made a few changes over the years."
Me: "Yeah, I guess so."

We could have similar discussions on lasagne, meatballs, vegetable beef soup, spaghetti sauce, and numerous other recipes.

2010-04-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

If I were a month I’d be September
If I were a day I’d be Friday
If I were a time of day I’d be 11:00pm
If I were a font I’d be Georgia
If I were a sea animal I’d be a starfish
If I were a direction I’d be East
If I were a piece of furniture I’d be a lawn chair
If I were a liquid I’d be water
If I were a gemstone I’d be a sapphire
If I were a tree I’d be a magnolia
If I were a tool I’d be a screwdriver
If I were a flower I’d be a white dahlia
If I were an element of weather I’d be sun
If I were a musical instrument I’d be a guitar
If I were a color I’d be brown
If I were an emotion I’d be a little worried
If I were a fruit I’d be a sweet dark cherry
If I were a sound I’d be laughter
If I were an element I’d be neon
If I were a car I’d be a reliable one
If I were a food I’d be a blonde brownie
If I were a place I’d be home
If I were a material I’d be cotton
If I were a taste I’d be cinnamon
If I were a scent I’d be lilac
If I were a body part I’d be a hand
If I were a song I’d be Oh Heavenly Day by Patti Griffin
If I were a bird I’d be a red winged black bird
If I were a gift I’d be homemade
If I were a city I’d be one nearby
If I were a door I’d be painted bright red
If I were a pair of shoes I’d be sensible ones
If I were a poem I’d be anonymous
So, what would you be?

Easter pictures

2010-04-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

We had a busy Easter weekend, hopping here and there (haha!). Here are some pictures from the King gathering. While I did manage to show a couple people how the new camera works, I failed to take any pictures at the Faust haus. Next time, I promise!

My Dad and Mom.
My sister Julie and her family, Jamie, Ashley, Natalie, Ryan and Elizabeth with Julie in the back.

My brother Dan and his family, Sara, Paul and Charlie.

Erik, Gretchen, Katie and me.

Mom and Dad and all but three grandchildren. We were missing Violet, Jessica and Mr. Joseph was in the middle of a much needed nap. Notice that Dad cannot sit still and behave himself, he must tease a grandchild. Here they are, left to right, front to back: Ashley, Paul, Natalie, Katie, Gretchen, Grandma with Charlie, Emma, Grandpa, Elizabeth and Ryan.

2010-03-30T07:47:00.000-07:00

Katie used some of her savings to buy a new book bag at Target. It’s a satchel-style over the shoulder bag and the strap is long enough that she wears it across her body rather than over one shoulder. This morning she bounced out of the car - excited for a field trip today and the 3rd grade concert tonight – wearing khaki capri pants, a robin’s egg blue hooded sweatshirt and her new pink paisley bag. This past winter was long and harsh with lots of trudging through snow and carefully walking up the sidewalk to school. Usually we park pretty close to the door where she enters the school, it was a beautiful morning and she got out of the car and walked further than usual. Today she was head-up, bright-eyed and ready to go, she looked like springtime.

Watching her walk up the sidewalk to school, mid-stride she glanced over her left shoulder, brown hair shining in the sun, flashed me a million dollar smile and waved. I had one of those split second moments when you realize how much your child has grown and are truly thankful for how great they have turned out.

Gretchen brought be back to reality, down off the cloud I was floating on, when she said from the backseat, “Look how big my nose has growed!” I looked back at her to see that she has curled up her finger and put it the shadow of her profile on the car door – making her nose look like the old lady/witch from Snow White. “Oh my, it’s huge!” I say and she bursts into giggles, immediately followed by her typical nonstop chatter.

2010-03-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

I sit here tonight dumbfounded at how quiet it is in the house. It has been a rowdy week around here, the girls were on spring break and we weren't sticking quite as close to bed time as usual. This was kind of hard on me, not getting my relative quiet time before heading to bed in the evening, and I was the only one getting up at the same time everyday. It will even out again in the next few days as we get back to our normal routine.

After the girls went to bed a couple of hours ago, Erik and I played Mario Bros. on the Wii and then I made it through 2/3 of my Evidence take home mid-term test before stopping for the night. Rommel has been wound up and has just now collapsed in a 90 pound pile on the couch.

Although we got quite a bit more snow than was called for last night, apparently it's the first day of spring. This weekend I have put off the regular Saturday housework in favor of some fun stuff. I took Friday off of work to spend the last day of spring break with the girls, thankfully they slept in a bit for me. We had a play date with my friend Angie and her wonderful boys - her almost 2 year old snuggled up to me and spread my shirt and chest with slobbery cookie crumbs. Note to self - don't wear a v-neck t-shirt if taking cookies to Angie's house because you definitely intend to get some love from the G-man. :-) It's so nice to be able to sit, chat and have a cup or two of tea while they play quietly, or not so quietly, but really play well together.

We have been to Hy-Vee, Walmart, Target, O'Reilly's and Toys R Us in just the last 48 hours. Katie scored her early birthday present in a new bike and Gretchen was really pumped to pick out paint for the custom paint job Erik will give her new (Katie's old) bike. After being sure for the last couple of days that she wanted a purple bike, she picked out sparkly royal blue and silver colors. Today we had my niece's bridal shower followed by picking out library books and a very short nap for me. I didn't mean to nap, we read the library books and "The Big, Big World" was on - they have the best nap time voices and I just couldn't help myself. Thankfully, the grating voices of "Dragontales" woke me up or I would have slept through dinner.

Tomorrow I'll have to settle down and do the usual weekend stuff and cram it all into one day. Clean the floors and bathrooms, plan out a few meals for the upcoming days and work in a few loads of laundry, well maybe more like half a dozen or so. Oh, and finish that Evidence mid-term. It's nearly midnight and with all of that work ahead of me tomorrow I had better get to bed. Goodnight.

2010-03-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend it was so nice to take off the plastic, open the windows and do a little spring cleaning. The sunlight a warm sparkle to stream through and light up the house. It feels good to get some fresh air in the bedrooms, though it may be causing a little bit too deep of sleep - Gretchen just fell out of bed.

I wanted to pass along a really great window cleaner recipe that my mother-in-law found somewhere. I was a little worried about pouring ammonia into alcohol, but there wasn't a cloud of toxic fumes or anything. Happy spring!

Window cleaner

1/2 cup ammonia
1 pint alcohol

Pour ammonia and alcohol into an empty (clean) gallon size milk jug then fill the rest of the way with water. Pour into spray bottle.

2010-02-23T10:41:00.001-08:00

Part of the beauty of music is that regardless of the intended message of the artist, you can put your own spin on a song when it strikes a chord. You are free to find meaning where it may not have been intended or apply a phrase to your life or current situation.

She said I don’t mind if you don’t mind. I don’t shine if you don’t shine. Put your back on me. Put your back on me.

I don’t know what The Killers mean by these lyrics or even what the song is called – it’s all over the airwaves right now. To me it just means that what makes you happy, makes me happy and I’m here to support you.

Hey soul sister, I don’t want to miss a single thing you do tonight.

Hey Soul Sister -- Train. My girls love this song and to me it’s that I don’t want to miss out on anything that they are doing – what they are up to, school, activities, friends. Growing up is hard and I’m trying my best to be there for them.

I swear I recognize your breath. Memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.

Elderly Woman behind the Counter -- Pearl Jam. One of my all-time favorite songs by one of my all-time favorite bands. You can identify pieces of what happened but time softens most memories – good or bad. You get back into the drivers’ seat after an accident, you have another baby, you remember a great night celebrating completion of final exams and that one awful roommate eventually disappears from the memory.

The space between the tears we cry is the laughter that keeps us coming back for more. … The space between the bullets in the firefight are where I’ll be hiding waiting for you.

The Space Between -- Dave Matthews Band. No new meaning in this one, that’s marriage, baby.

I could go on and on. What lyric have you fashioned into a new meaning and made your own?

February - good riddance!

2010-02-06T07:29:00.001-08:00

2010 has started out pretty busy around here - I started on a new post to the blog 20 days ago and got distracted.

I am amazed and quite thankful that February is nearly over. Spring is almost here, at least we're down to weeks away instead of months away. I tossed the half-dead poinsettias and splurged on a $3 pot of pretty purple crocuses and as small as they are they brighten up the kitchen table. They are in the perfect spot to get a little morning sun which must have done the trick - when I left the house this morning there was one bloom and tonight I came home to three! Hopefully, I can keep the plant alive until it's time to plant bulbs.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-28T19:02:00.000-08:00

It's not quite January but I'm ready to start 2010. It's not that 2009 wasn't a decent year, I'm just ready for spring and 2009 just won't get any warmer. Here's a quick recap of 2009 -- soccer, soccer and more soccer, a nice little family vacation, brought home Rommel (our puppy who is now 5 months old and weighs 50 pounds), three work trips for me to Phoenix, Boston and Atlanta, a motorcycle for Erik, and last but not least, a new nephew in December.

2010 will start out pretty busy and will likely stay busy all year. I have two classes starting the week of January 11th. The girls will start another round of activities before long. We plan to squeeze in a long weekend away with the girls and Erik and I hope to get away for our very own vacation.

Here are a few photos from Christmas.

The girls on Christmas Eve at the Faust House. I never realized how similar their smiles are.

Katie holding 11 day old Joe on Christmas Day. Joe is grandchild number ten for the King family so it was only fitting that he weighed ten pounds. :o)

Gretchen loves to play dress-up and was lucky that Grandma King found this beautiful dress.

New Pictures

2009-12-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

Through the kitchen window, 15 inches of snow and lots of wind.

Katie being stylish.

Rommel.

Blond Ninja is her super hero name.

Our favorite coffee shop had a Toys for Tots event complete with Spider Man and Star Wars reinactors (see Princess Lea above Katie's head). The Marines in the background were real, not reinactors.

2009-12-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

We are snowed in today, I think the official snowfall was around 15 inches and as far as I'm concerned that is enough to last all winter. It's funny, the wind has been so strong that we have 4-5 feet tall drifts in our yard and also patches where you can see the grass. It has been a pretty good day, the girls are getting along fabulously, I've been productive and managed to avoid the major shoveling. Somehow I have managed to not have snow boots - which makes the shovel avoiding pretty easy. They are on my to-buy list, as much as I would enjoy, it wouldn't be fair for me to not shovel all winter.

Next Wednesday is Katie's church Christmas program and this year each family has been asked to bring a dozen snacks. I made a half-batch of chocolate chip cookies and a dozen of those went in the freezer, the other dozen left out for us to eat. Half-batches of cookies are my absolute favorite, they don't take any time at all and as long as the original recipe includes an even number of eggs you can split it in half.

I also started on round three of Christmas baking - fudge and almond bark pretzels are in the freezer, dough for molasses ginger cookie is in the resting in the fridge. After dinner, I'll roll it out, cut into stars and bake. That's a new recipe so hopefully it turns out okay. The last round will be krumkake - a Swedish cookie Erik's Grandma Joy used to make. They require a special baking iron and turn out to be crispy cookies that are shaped into cones while they are warm and filled with whipped cream or fruit just before eating. As yummy as they are, I can't make the krumkake until about the 23rd - they do not freeze well.

Baking is about the only thing we're doing to prepare for Christmas and I'm really quite content with that. We are avoiding the stress of the puppy eating the tree by not putting it up and I'm not sure that I'll even send out cards. We did put lights on the bushes in front of the house and the advent calendar is up - and the days divvied up by the girls. Shopping is almost complete, just a few things left to gather. I'm hoping to spend lots of time with family and friends this holiday season, that's all I asked for from Santa.

Mr. Rommel

2009-11-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

So here is the tiny puppy we brought home at the end of August. This picture is from a few weeks ago, now he's 4 months old and 31 pounds. He has grown so tall that I no longer have to bend over to pat his head.

He's an awfully good puppy most of the time. He sleeps most of the way through the night and is mostly potty trained. Notice the emphasis on most.

Once in awhile he's terribly rotten, stays up most of the night and has accidents. We are trying our very best to remember that he's still a puppy and will be for quite awhile. That he won't chew on the girls' toys if they keep them picked up, that he won't rummage through the basement if we keep the baby gate up and that he won't try to take our food if we eat at the kitchen table. Basically, he's teaching us to be cleaner humans that don't eat in front of the tv.

He's trying his best to turn me into a dog person by quietly snuggling up to me and lying down on the kitchen rug while I'm busy making dinner and cleaning. I'm trying to be a dog person by sitting quietly when he's trying to snuggle up to me and not kicking him out of the kitchen.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T08:27:00.000-08:00

Friday night was Beggar's Night in our neck of the woods. My brother Dan and his family came to our house to have dinner and go trick or treating. It was cold and windy so they were done in about half an hour. This year we had about a dozen trick or treaters, which was a new record for us - way up from the 1 we had three years ago. Here are a few pictures from the night.

From the left, Katie the 70s girl, Gretchen the bat, Paul the Army guy (complete with an authentic boonie hat courtesy of Uncle Erik), and Charlie the pumpkin, minus his hat.

The boys, digging into their popcorn from a neighbor.

Gretchen and Paul enjoying their loot.

After Dan, Sara and the boys went home and our girls went to bed, Rommel picked up every tiny popcorn and cupcake crumb that I missed.

2009-10-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

**Update** The first time I made this was as a double batch with a whole parsnip. The second time I made a single batch and the parsnip was way too much parsnip. I think I'll leave it out next time.

This recipe was in the latest issue of Women's Day magazine and is really easy and really good. I made it without chicken as a side dish and it was quite filling. The original recipe called for fresh dill, I didn't use it but feel free to add it. Also, having never cooked with parsnip before I was a little leery but it ended up adding a nice texture and herby flavor. Hope you like it!

Chicken Noodle Soup

6 cups chicken broth
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken (whatever you like)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped baby carrots
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp pepper
2 cups uncooked medium egg noodles

Put broth, chicken, celery, onion, carrots, parsnip, garlic, bay leaf and pepper in a large saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes, or until chicken in cooked and vegetables are tender.
Discard bay leaf. Remove chicken to a plate and cool slightly. Add noodles to soup; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until tender.
Meanwhile, shred chicken with fingers or 2 forks and add back to the soup. Simmer to heat the chicken through again.

2009-09-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

Gretchen attends a parochial preschool and apparently this week they have been discussing prayer. Last night I sent the girls upstairs to brush their teeth, wash their faces and get ready for bed. A short while later I followed upstairs to tuck them in and read books.

Rather than hopping into bed, Gretchen was standing in the middle of her room. I asked what she was doing and she said she wanted to show me her prayer spot. On the floor next to the wall was a travel size pillow. She kneeled down and started right in, 'In the name of the Father, ..." then she started to say something and but stopped and said that she was going to say her prayer. Gretchen prayed "Bless us oh Lord and these our gifts..." You know the Prayer Before Meals, at 8:15pm, about 2 hours after dinner.

Sprinkle Jar

2009-09-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Growing up in my parent’s house, there was a shaker jar filled with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar in the cupboard between the stove and the refrigerator. For breakfast, or a sweet treat, we would toast a piece of bread, apply a thin layer of margarine, watch it melt into the toast and shake on an even coating of cinnamon-sugar goodness.

The image of the cinnamon-sugar shaking down onto the toast popped into my head yesterday. I wish that I could fill a shaker jar with tiny sparkly particles of patience, calm, warmth, a few deep breaths, a little extra time and keep it in my kitchen cupboard. The label would read “sprinkle to taste, refill as needed”.

This fall has been a particularly busy one, maybe I just need to slow it down and enjoy. I should take the time to open the windows and enjoy the crisp air, cook a pot of chili, bake a batch of anything, sing along to some 90s alternative rock and make a pot of tea. That ought to fill my sprinkle jar to the brim.

2009-09-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Gretchen really wanted to play soccer this fall but wasn't all that hot on it went it came to actually playing with a bunch of kids she had never met. She needed a pep talk from Daddy before agreeing to play during the first game.

Once she is convinced to join in she really tries her best. The balls for the 'Just for Kicks' league are soft foam so even though she kicked this ball really hard it just kind of rolled along.

Happy to be done with the game and ready to dive into that snack!

2009-09-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Gretchen was really excited to go to preschool and see some of her friends from daycare. She has had a lot of fun so far, though says that they do the same thing everyday - darn schedule! Here she headed out the front door on the first day. She calls this her "God save the Queen" shirt.

2009-08-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

First day of third grade.

First soccer practice ever.

First picture of our puppy Rommel.

2009-08-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Gretchen had her very first soccer practice last night. After watching Katie from the sidelines for the last few years she was so excited to get her very own team.

The excitement wore off and was replaced by tears about ten minutes into practice when Gretch declared that she changed her mind and didn't want to play soccer. Twenty-five minutes and a pep talk from Daddy and Katie later, she was ready to go back out for the last ten minutes.

She promptly went out to the middle of the field and kicked the ball all the way down to the goal all by herself. When we got home she was pretty fired up and told Daddy that she kicked that ball "ka-pow!" right into the goal. Hopefully next Monday goes a little smoother.

2009-08-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

The girls and I went on late summer adventures - mini-golfing at Blank Golf Course and a trip to the Blank Park Zoo. Mini-golf turned out to be a lesson in patience for us non-golfers and rather distracting to be so close to the airport. I don't know how anyone plays real golf with planes constantly landing. The girls' favorite parts were a little frog and fetching their balls (and mine) out of the fountains.

At the end of second grade Katie wrote a report about red pandas. She was so excited to check them out at the zoo and they put on quite a show walking all around their cage and one of them came right up to where we were on the other side of the glass. Gretchen's favorites were the fish at the discovery center.

This frog was about 1 inch long.

I have no idea what number hole this was - might have been 8.

Gretchen doesn't swing at the ball so much as drag it towards the hole.

So excited by the fish!

Crossing the swinging rope bridge.

When we sat down for a few minutes to have a snack and watch the gibbons swing and howl there were two ground squirrels (squinties), one eating a tomato slice and the other eating a french fry coated in 'cheese' sauce. I pointed them out to the girls as squintie-Gretchen and squintie-Katie - matching the squinties to the girls' appetites.

2009-07-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

This year is my 15 year high school reunion. I doubt very much that I will go - haven’t been to a class reunion yet and not really my thing. It’s funny that though I will avoid the class reunion, I’ve had some really great mini-reunions this summer.

I have had the pleasure of squeezing in some time this summer to reconnect face to face, share a meal, a glass of wine, watch our children become instant playmates, and laugh over memories, including only the tiniest amounts of gossip. All of us have very busy lives, filled with family, demanding jobs, church and community activities and even live hundreds of miles apart. It calms the soul to be able to steal a few moments and reflect in the friendships that have been there all along – way before husbands, children, and careers and all the responsibilities and worries of adult life.

Many people move in and out of our lives and I think that we are drawn to retain certain relationships; there is something about this connection that fills part of your being. Life directs us in separate ways and we become so different and similar at the same time.

The friends I have been so fortunate to reconnect with this summer are truly wonderful women. Some of them I have known forever, friendships formed in kindergarten, middle school and college. I do get to see a couple of them fairly frequently but it is different though when you have time to relax and enjoy the company, rather than spend an hour in what seems to be fast-forward.

It is comforting to know that I can pop up with my brood in tow on Maria’s doorstep and feel so welcome, or dive into dinner and two hours of non-stop chatter with Jen and Angie, then on another night with Angela and Marisa. We chat and reacquaint so quickly, like we just met for coffee last week when in reality for some of us, it had been years. I am so thankful for these women, the beautiful friendships that we share and the brief moments that we have been given this summer.

2009-07-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

Gretchen was a melancholy baby. The first two years of her life she didn't smile very much and if she did it was too quick to get on film. She has always been a great eater and until she was 18 months old, she was a terrible sleeper - difficult to get down and up every night at least once.

In the last couple of years she has become a bright, thoughtful little girl with an infectious laugh. Several times in the last 6 months or so she has said that she'd like to start over as a baby - 'you know, like when we lived in Colorado'. We moved back to Iowa when she was 5 months old so I dare say that she has limited memories of living in Colorado.

Tonight, she started out talking about wanting to start over and be a baby again and then became really upset. It boiled down to that she doesn't want us to leave her and would like to live with me and Dad forever. I think she has figured out that her Grandma Weena :) and Grandpa King are my parents and I don't live with them anymore. Apparently the thought of not living with her Mom and Dad upsets her quite a bit and she would rather not grow up and move out.

I'm sure that it will come back to haunt me someday, but she really wanted me to agree to let her live with us forever. I could not resist. What else could I say? Of course, our sweet little blond can live with us forever.

Summertime

2009-07-03T13:25:00.001-07:00

I am completely blown away that it is July already. June seemed to last just over a week -- a week filled with birthdays, soccer and a quick family vacation. While the lovely Iowa heat and humidity will soon make me a fool -- I really hope the next 8 weeks or so slow down a little for crying out loud. I am not ready to start school shopping and all of that nonsense, I've barely had my toes in the pool!

For Independence Day tomorrow, we'll be attending the classic Norwalk parade on the front lawn of my Uncle Bob's house one last time since they are in the process of moving to Colfax. The parade will start off with my husband and Dad walking/riding with the American Legion, followed by every baseball team, church, marching band, firetruck and horse in town. It's such a long parade that it's amazing that there is anyone left to watch. Afterwards, we'll head down to the Faust acreage for the remainder of the weekend, hopefully roasting some marshmallows and seeing a few fireworks.

I just made a batch of chocolate chip cookies (taking some to the parade and some to the acreage) and one of my favorite summer pies. Thought I'd share the recipe since it's so easy and so yummy. It's from the Summer 2007 issue of Kraft Food and Family.

Lemonade Stand Pie

1/3 cup lemonade drink mix
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
1 - 8 oz. tub cool whip, thawed
graham cracker pie crust

If you are going to be ambitious and make your own pie crust, make sure that it's completely cool before you start making the pie.

Place drink mix a large bowl, add water and stir until mix is dissolved. Add ice cream. Beat with electric mixer on low until well blended. Gently fold in cool whip. (If it's really soupy it helps to put your bowl in the freezer for a few minutes.) Spoon into the crust and smooth out, mounding up in the middle if you can. Freeze at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

2009-06-11T07:06:00.000-07:00

This morning I dropped Gretchen off at daycare and as usual, her little friend Cameron was waiting to play.

Gretch and I walked over to her cubby to take off her jacket and he followed us. Now, picture a little boy with big brown eyes holding a baby and bottle, leaning on a preschool-sized table.

Cameron says, "I was just thinking about when Gretchen is a cheerleader and I'm a football player."

Oh my.

Happy Birthday Katie!

2009-06-07T17:05:00.001-07:00

By request the cake was devil's food with white frosting. Katie is a girl with taste! None of that blah white cake, white frosting that her Dad adores. I went a step further and made Martha Stewart's super fluffy cream cheese frosting with 1/4 teaspoon of pink food coloring and it was really good. We also grilled pork chops and twice-baked potatoes, steamed green beans and fresh lettuce from my Mom's garden.

Blowing out the candles in three breaths.

Opening presents. As usual, Katie received a lot of really nice things including a guitar, a baton and walkie-talkies. She already has all three in a pretty regular rotation.

Strumming away under the tree in the backyard. Happy Birthday Katie-bug!

June Flowers

2009-06-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of the flowers in my yard. This first one is a Lavender plant Mom brought to me on Friday. It smells really great.

A very pink Hydrangea. The leaves don't look very hot and the entire plant is only six inches tall, but the flowers are beautiful.

A sweet smelling Peony in the front yard.

I can't remember what these are called, seems like maybe Coral Bells. They are really tiny, like the size of a tic tac, and they were blowing in the breeze. If they were real bells, they would have had a pretty tune.

Lilies.

Columbine.

Vinca.

2009-05-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

These cupcakes are the same color as my sunburn. Well, not really. Not only is the picture a bit out of focus, it really doesn't do them justice. They are so extremely bright pink that nestled in the bright blue cupcake holder, if you look at them from above and squint just a little they look like an unfortunate sweater from the 1980s.

These beauties will be devoured by Katie's classmates tomorrow afternoon. The last day of school is Wednesday and her birthday is Friday so we're taking treats early. I really love that her school allows homemade treats, I would break my heart to have to spend a small fortune on bakery cupcakes when I can make two dozen of them in my very own kitchen for about $2.50. And, I just love food coloring paste, it gives you the brightest colors without adding any strange after-taste to the frosting.

Our weekend was good, but as usual it just flew by. Filled with grilling, sunshine, soccer and cupcake baking. The sunburn on my arms has faded quite a bit already and is not nearly as sore as it was last night. You'll be happy to know that I added a small tube of sunscreen to my purse today, now if I can just remember to apply...

4th Birthday

2009-05-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

For Gretchen's birthday dinner we took the grandparents out to eat at our favorite pizza place in Norwalk and went to our house for cake and ice cream. Here are some pictures from the evening.

The birthday girl and her Incredible Hulk cake.

Gretchen insisted on chocolate chip cake so this is a yellow cake mix with about a cup of mini-chocolate chips added. The cake was pretty good but check out how thick the frosting is on the cake, it was a bit much.

Our girls.

2009-05-21T20:23:00.001-07:00

Unbelievably, Gretchen will celebrate her 4th birthday on Saturday. She requested an Incredible Hulk cake and informed me that means a chocolate chip cake and green frosting.

Since there are no chocolate chip cake mixes, I added mini-chips to a yellow cake mix and about 1/2 a teaspoon of 'juniper' food coloring paste to get the frosting this green. It looks like Hershey's syrup but the writing is a tube of brown gel. I found a 5 inch Incredible Hulk figurine (action figure, I guess) for the middle and I'll add four candles tomorrow night at dinner with the grandparents.

There will be more pictures to come of the event, I just had to share the interesting cake choice.

Outta Sight Retro Night

2009-05-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday night programming on WGN is Outta Sight Retro Night. They show episodes of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched or some other similarly-aged show back to back for hours on end. Our girls love the shows and have all sorts of fun comments -- is she really a witch? what is she wearing!? Makes for a fun night of family tv. The last time we watched it was The Munsters, which spurred the following questions -- what is wrong with his head? why is that one lady blond? -- in my opinion The Munsters are not nearly as entertaining as The Addams Family.

Lately, it's been Outta Sight Retro Night in my kitchen. I have suddenly had a lot more time to cook and complete other household duties, which means I actually cook and my kitchen floor is clean! Italian casserole, tuna casserole, lemon pepper chicken, cucumber sandwiches, vegetable pizza, yum-yum bars. It's not as if I haven't had any of these dishes since 1980, but growing up, most of them were staples at the King house so it just kind of takes me back.

By far the best part of this recent domesticity trend is the fact that the girls have eaten it all (well, I don't know anyone that doesn't like yum-yum bars) partly due to fact that when the face twisted up as I describe tuna casserole, I pointed out the jar of peanut butter and told them they are on their own.

2009-04-19T17:12:00.001-07:00

Katie hit a milestone on Sunday, First Communion. She was well-behaved (if reading over my shoulder she'd say 'of course!') and looked so pretty in her satin dress. After mass, we has brunch at our house for the grandparents and godparents -- scrambled eggs and bacon, Katie's favorite.

A rather windy family picture.

A close-up of just the girls.

Katie with her godparents: my sister Jill and Erik's brother Keith.

Our Little Dare-Devil

2009-04-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

Gretchen is unstoppable. She routinely jumps instead of walks down the last two or tree steps on any staircase. She will happily climb up ladders, unable to see the top. She loves to hold on to your fingers, climb up your legs and flip over.

Lately, her favorite heart-attack inducing activity is to pump the little two person thingy on the rickety swing-set up above the fence line, all by herself. She is physically unable to slide down a slide like a normal child. Her favorite method is exactly backward, preferably in a dress.

Today, this back-fired slightly. I don't think any of us realized how much it had rained. She slid down the slide into a puddle with quite the splash. Mom, Erik and I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. This picture is from the "hey, go do that again." While there was not much splash left the second time around, her hair has been caught mid-flip.

2009-04-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

It is so nice to top off a busy weekend with a quiet evening. Gretchen's daycare is closed tomorrow so she is spending the night with Grandma Rena, Katie is sleeping soundly and Erik is at work. I am sitting on the couch. Ahhh, peace and quiet.

It was rather strange though, just me and Katie and it hasn't been that way for a long time. We folded laundry, she painted her toenails, I grilled a couple steaks for Erik to have tomorrow and we watched "Bedtime Stories." It was a really cute movie and ended with a Journey song -- can't go wrong with that.

We checked out Jill & Todd's new house, Erik helped Dan & Sara load furniture to move to their new house, we made pork roast, cheesecake and cupcakes for our family Easter dinners, went to church, had two egg hunts and zero naps. No egg hunt at our house this weekend, but the Easter bunny did drop off bubbles, sidewalk chalk and nailpolish along with a few pieces of candy and some quarters.

Tomorrow kicks off another busy week. While I would have preferred more sunshine and less wind, all in all it was a nice weekend - too short as usual.

Random pictures

2009-04-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Erik's motorcycle - his new favorite thing. He has already been taking apart pieces and customizing it. Those are new tail pipes and new handlebars, re-positioned the turn signals and says he's done for now. Next up, the helmet should be here any day now and he'll be signed up for class as soon as it fits on our calendar.

One of the new hamsters -- Dasha, Mika -- pick a name, they are identical and very hard to get on film. The girls just love them, I'm quite happy with the super-absorbent, odor-free bedding.

This was found on the bookshelf in the living room, rather coated in dust. It is Erik and me taken sometime in the spring of 1997 in front of my dorm room door at Kresge Hall by my dear neighbor Becky Manchester. His shirt is bright green, mine is either red or blue, I had the same shirt in both colors. I look at it and think about how it's pre-everything. It's one of my favorite pictures of us.

2009-03-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we took the girls to a friend of Erik's to meet some animals. There were two fainting goats, Nell (with the horns) and Mojo, two llamas, four horses, two donkeys, two peacocks, a good forty chickens of unusal varieties, about 10 pheasants, including the colorful varieties you typically only see on Animal Planet, and one lonely duck.

The girls really liked the goats, and as you can see, the feeling was mutual. Nell and Mojo ate out of the girls hands and ran with them all around their little pen.

This chicken is very friendly and will let you hold her for awhile. About 15 minutes was her limit, which is an awful lot longer than I've ever held a chicken.

Perhaps the most exciting part, we were sent home with a dozen of these beauties. None of them are white, they are all shades of cream and brown, except for the pale green one just left of Gretchen's hand. She kept trying to have the green one and the small cream one in the corner switch places, apparently the colors were off balance or something.

While we were there, three of the eggs were freshly laid and Gretchen kept trying to put them back in the laying boxes. She was awfully worried that they would hatch at home. A couple of them will be made into banana bread in a little while, I'm sure she'll be relieved.

Hello Spring!

2009-03-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful, beautiful day! We hit 73 degrees today and I was very tempted to remove the plastic from the windows but have decided to be patient and wait it out a few more weeks. The park behind our house has been hopping. There have been school age children out on spring break and now disc-golf crowd is beginning to arrive. Tomorrow is supposed to be even better, I hope the meteorologists are 50% correct today!

We have had a busy few days around our house. Today I stayed home with the girls and my niece and nephew -- enjoying the first day of spring break. We had a windy picnic and then went ice-skating, indoors of course on such nice day.

Over the weekend, one of our hamsters escaped, she was found late last night. We (read: he) put in a new water heater. Erik put a second coat of paint on the high ceiling at his parent house and repaired the ice maker at my parents house. We did plenty of running here, there and everywhere. I have become quite good at handing tools upon request. Feels like I am a surgical nurse except it's 'wrench', (me handing it over) 'wrench.'

As I had more than 20 mintues to whip together dinner, I'm off to put together three pizzas for the spring break crowd. It'll be one pepperoni, one bbq chicken and one 1/2 cheese, 1/2 italian sausage. And, strawberry shortcake for dessert. Hello, spring! I sure hope you stick around for good!

Rain = Bake

2009-03-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

At our house, if it's raining, you bake something.

My sweet seven year old Katie made blueberry muffins, mostly by herself. She handled measuring the milk and oil, cracking eggs and the stirring. I handled the oven and gave a lesson on the fine art of folding berries into batter.

Carefully spooning the batter into the cupcake papers

And, now the finished product. They were really yummy warm. While Katie likes hers plain, I like mine split in half with a little butter spread on each side. She informed me 'that's gross.'

2009-02-28T19:16:00.000-08:00

We've had a busy last 24 hours. Last night we went to Petco to see if they had some sort of small insect to feed to Venus, as she was looking a little pale. Turns out that Petco not only has tiny crickets available for 6 cents each, they also had two 8 month old dwarf hamsters. So we brought them home, crickets and hamsters alike. That's right, we have survived for many years with no pets in our house and in just over a week have become refuge to a meat eating plant and two hamsters.

The girls think they are awesome, they stayed up way too late last night getting acquainted. They are tiny, not more than about 2 inches long with white bellies and grey and tan backs. I'll have to post a picture at some point. We came up with Dasha and Mika, good Russian names. They are sisters, we couldn't ask one to leave the other behind.

Today we went over to Pa's parents' house so he could paint the living room ceiling. They ordered in for everyone from Mustard's, the favorite rib joint of the Faust fam. I had cavatelli. :) After the yummy dinner, followed by cupcakes, Gretchen was still hungry. She went out to the refrigerator and brought me a jar of sauerkraut, insisting that she was still hungry. I sent her to her father.

After some discussion and explanation that sauerkraut is a bit sour, Gretch had her very own sample. She ate every last bit, made some sour faces and said "I love that sauer-crap!"

Turns out that we were spot on several years back when we chose a good German name for our little blond.

Introducing Venus

2009-02-23T14:51:00.001-08:00

Recently, I took a business trip to Arizona. In my absence, my darling daughters sweet-talked their Dad into a new pet.

I really can't complain much, she is housebroken, really seems to enjoy her cage and eats bugs. No costly vet bills, and I'll never have to poop-scoop or brush her teeth. I wonder if the bright pink color on the inside of her mouth is an indicator that she's good with children -- any thoughts?

As parents, we both encourage our girls to be involved in any age-appropriate scientific process. Thus, have researched and discussed Venus' digestive enzymes and how the tiny 'hairs' on the inside of her mouth must be triggered twice before it will snap shut.

Last summer it was nature hikes, rocket building and lift-off (complete with a lesson in elementary physics), tadpoles and we routinely discuss household science. I'm excited to find what will peak their interest in 2009.

By the way, the new background is dedicated to my very Irish Mom.

2009-02-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

I am having trouble concentrating. On anything.

I keep daydreaming about what the new perennials I put in last fall will look like this spring, what sort of crafty project I can dream up, changing window treatments in the bedrooms, putting in a mini-garden, fixing the fence, flipping through the three cooking magazines that came in the mail last week (how to make a perfect biscuit!). Basically anything that has nothing to do with work or homework.

Work has been taken over by a research fairy - which makes it slow and boring. If anyone is looking for a real snoozer, try state insurance regulations and California case law. I yawned just typing about it. Homework is just as bad this semester. After working as a paralegal for the last 5 years, I'm working on gaining my paralegal certificate. In concept, it shouldn't be too bad - about 10 community college classes. I have been taking one night class at a time but silly me took last semester off and decided to take two classes this semester. Ugh. What was I thinking?

So rather than pulling out my homework or the stack of work that I brought home (and haven't touched yet as of 1pm on Sunday), I am dreaming up some sort of metal frame that I could potentially put together intending to keep my dahlias from dragging on the ground. If I make enough, I could even use it for pepper and tomato plants. Ooh, and I have a soldering iron and other supplies in the basement, I would just need some fairly thick wire and some sort of plan. I bet Hobby Lobby has something that would work...

Thankfully, they are closed today so I can avoid that distraction for awhile and force myself to work or draw up a design for a frame. Oh, wait, the dryer just stopped and I would much rather fold laundry than read California case law or work on a design. Not really, but clean socks for the girls overrules everything else on my list at the moment. If only this were a three day weekend so that I could procrastinate and fail to concentrate for just one more day.

My New Favorite Book

2009-01-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

Santa was kind enough to bring my new favorite childrens' book to Gretchen last year. Olivia is a lovely little pig with big ideas and and a very pretty wardrobe.

My favorite line is towards the end. When her mother tucks her in at night and says, "You know, you really wear me out. But I love you anyway," Olivia so sweetly responds, "I love you anyway too." Anyone with a preschooler (or really, any energetic child) would appreciate this book. With the limited text, it is fun to as Gretchie what she thinks is happening in the picture.

The biggest laugh from Gretchie comes on the page where Olivia tries on all of her clothes, and one pair of pantyhose.

Two art lessons are included -- a small frame of beautiful Degas ballerinas and a photo of a Jackson Pollack which Olivia states she could recreate. When she tries it out by splattering the wall at home, the next page shows Olivia sitting on the bottom step with just two words. "Time out." I think this one will become a classic at our house.

A little downhill sledding

2009-01-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

We have a little bit of a hill in our backyard. It's not fun to mow but is good for other things like rolling down on your side, running down in a sundress a la Laura Ingalls, and sledding. Very slow sledding. Here are some pictures of the fun we had this morning. The fun was followed by shoveling the driveway and hot cocoa, of course.

Erik, showing the girls how it's done.

Taking my turn.

The girls wanted to race. Gretchie won.

Crash landing so as to avoid the swingset.

Gretchen, all smiles.

The hard part.

Quilt

2009-01-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a photo of the baby quilt that I made for the daughter of one of Erik's good friends from the Army. I was a little late getting to her - she was born April 1st of last year -significantly under estimated the time it would take to hand stitch. It's hard to see in the picture but there are little butterflies and paisley shapes that are outlined in stitches. The larger rectangles that look blank in the picture are stitched with flowers and a big butterfly.

It was fun to have Katie hold up the quilt for the picture - I've probably held up a dozen or more for my Mom to take pictures of her quilts.

Snacking Strange

2008-12-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

Our Gretchie loves fruit, vegetables and meat. No complaints at all about her eating habits. Compare that to Katie who still to this day prefers plain pasta and ham to anything else.

Tonight for a snack Katie had applesauce and Gretchie requested mushrooms. If that wasn't odd enough, she wanted them sauteed in butter.

I'm sure that I may have some odd snacking habits but sauteed mushrooms takes the cake.

New Recipes

2008-12-27T20:22:00.001-08:00

So I tried a couple new recipes for Christmas.

I found a one for Candy Cane cookies in the Nov. 29th issue of Family Circle. They are prettily decorated in the picture accompanying the recipe, mine ended up with a stripe of royal icing down the middle. Royal icing, I've found, tastes much better after the cookies have been frosted and it 'sets' for a good week or so. The cookies themselves were pretty simple, just butter cookies and with the royal icing; perfect with a cup of coffee or hot tea.

The second recipe I tried was from the Pioneer Woman; olive cheese bread. Seriously, if you are a fan of olives, cheese and Italian bread, meander yourself over to her website and use her Recipe Finder to get the recipe - since I made it, the green onions were omitted. I only used half of a loaf (since it was a new recipe and you just never know), using the other half loaf for plain old garlic bread. I did find that the baking time needed extended quite a bit and never did 'brown' but likely would had I used the broiler for a couple minutes. The olive cheese bread was really good and completely disappeared over at my parents' house. I went back for a second piece and was bummed to find the cutting board bare.

The only other things I made were tried and true: chocolate pie with graham cracker crust, almond bark pretzels and peppermint bark.

2008-12-27T18:31:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas, surrounded by family, and now are content to spend a quiet weekend at home. Erik is working on little stuff around the house, the girls are enveloped in "Underdog" upstairs (thank you Jill & Todd!) and I'm half-watching reruns of British comedies on PBS.

According to my sister-in-law Sara, being a fan of quirky British comedies is a King-thing. My personal favorites are short-lived series from the 1970s - Open All Hours and The Good Life. They played regularly on the Denver PBS station when we lived in Colorado, complete with thick accents, crazy organic living inventions, mustard yellow decor, and long flowy costumes (braless, naturally).

I also love the squiggy group of older men on Last of the Summer Wine, the desperate to be upper-crust Hyacinth Bucket (it's Bou-quet!) with her slum-living sisters from Keeping Up Appearances and the blue-haired Betty Slocombe on Are You Being Served.

I'm not quite sure why they completely make me laugh, even after seeing the same episodes over and over again. Could be the absurdity of the shows, the seemingly random plotlines, the fact that the episodes are nearly 30 minutes long rather than the 22 minute American sitcoms and, of course, being on PBS there are no annoying commercials.

2008-12-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

My wild and crazy husband and girls are outside in this ridiculously cold weather. They just want to see the snow up close and personal for a little bit. Toss the snow around a little, attempt to rebuild the fort that melted last week.

I am quite content to witness the activity from the warmth of the kitchen. I did volunteer to make some hot cocoa to warm their bones when they return, shivering through the front door.

A Question For You

2008-12-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

Out shopping with Angie today, I made a pretty good dent in my Christmas list and have to say that I'm feeling rather Christmasy this evening. So the question I pose to you, my lovely blog readers is: What is your favorite Christmas or Holiday song and why?

Here, I'll start you off with mine, in no particular order.

"O Holy Night" -- it's the big swells of the band, the imagery of the cold and quiet night.

"Silver Bells" -- as sung by my Uncle Eddie, slightly off-beat, Frank Sinatra style.

"What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" by Harry Connick, Jr. -- back about a dozen years ago when Pa and I were dating he had the tape "When My Heart Finds Christmas" by Mr. Connick in his car. It was very sweet and romantic to be serenaded on those cold fall evenings. It's still sweet and romantic, just doesn't happen quite so often these busy days.

Alright, now it's your turn.

2008-11-30T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today has been one of those magically lazy days.

The girls went out to play in the new-fallen snow while Pa pushed the snow off the driveway and sidewalk. Later, the girls and I made pinecone bird feeders and I fixed chicken soup with rice. Lately, I've been getting a lot of good recipes from the Pioneer Woman and modified her Simple Chicken Soup into my own. This time I tripled the vegetables, next time I might get brave and use brown rice in place of white. It does take some convincing but the girls will eat it.

Now the girls are in bed and Pa is watching the Bears-Vikings game. I finally finished stitching the baby quilt I've been working on since May, just need Mom's help to finish the edge. We have taken our turns watching the snow fall, played games and put together jigzaw puzzles.

Overall, a pleasant day at home - and tonight we get to play Tooth Fairy, Katie lost her second front tooth. If only all she wanted for Christmas was her two front teeth...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

So many things to be thankful for this year --here are a couple of them. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday.

Playing air-guitar to Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The little one in her 'indian hat' that she made at preschool/daycare. On the inside of the hat band she has been practicing her Gs.

Hayloft

2008-11-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

Not long ago the girls and our nephew were climbing, jumping and running through the hay bales. I stood on the ground, hot and dusty, brushing loose hay off my clothes trying to think back to why this was so much fun. Then, on a whim, I climbed to the top and sat down on a bale. There it was; the calm heavy air, full of the heady sweetness of fresh mown hay.

No dust stirring, a kind of closed-off top of the world. Look out the barn door and you can see so much further than just across the yard; across the acres of corn and beans, up the hill that was likely the origin of the hay, to the distant houses in the east.

As children, all summer long we would spend every possible moment in the hay loft of the old corn-crib. It’s long gone, replaced in purpose by a steel shed. Getting up into the hay loft was an adventure in itself. A ladder with at least one missing rung, dust and tiny pieces of hay swirling down as you climbed up—squint your eyes just-so to keep it all out and still see where you’re going.

We’d occasionally find a couple of eggs left by one of our escapee laying hens. Then it was a challenge to see which of us was brave enough to lean out the wide window and throw it the farthest onto the long, red farrowing shed. If you were really good, you could fling the egg up and over so that it landed on the steep sloped shingles of the hay loft. Victory could not be declared until we called it a day and went to inspect the roof.

The heavy August air did not deter us; we’d sit on the sill of the window, one leg out, shredding pieces of hay with our grubby fingernails declaring territories in the hayloft. I usually settled for something comfortable about halfway up the enormous stack while my siblings were more adventurous and would climb all the way to the top.

I fondly remember lying there – lazy in the heat of the afternoon, bare feet up a bale, kitten sleepily purring next to me, my fingers dancing in the sparkly dust lit up by the sunlight streaming through the roof cracks, arriving straight from heaven, surrounded by the calm, heady sweetness of fresh mown hay.

2008-10-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

Here are the girls and our nephew Paul. It was a beautiful night and we had a record 10 trick or treaters!

Metallica

2008-10-27T16:57:00.000-07:00

Last night I took Pa to the Metallica concert.

That's right, I'm a loving and thoughtful wife. The concert was really good, I was surprised that I had such a good time. Partly because of the company (Pa!) and also because of the seats. While Pa would have loved hanging out in the mosh pit section, I got the seats from work so we were up above the fray in the suite box. I sneaked in our camera and took a few pictures.

Carving pumpkins!

2008-10-19T16:49:00.001-07:00

I'm not much of a pumpkin carver. I think it's the cold gooey stringiness of the guts. I do, however love to take pictures of my kids, husband and in-laws carving pumpkins. :)

Katie & Grandma Diane drawing the pattern.

Pa having a snack. :)

Gretchen taking the scooping out part very seriously.

Daddy carving out the face.

Notice the latex gloves. :)

Gretchen's masterpiece, with a little help from Daddy. Yes, those are black licorice dreadlocks.

Katie's masterpiece, apparently indulged in a little to much red licorice.

Daddy couldn't resist the blank side of Gretchen's pumpkin.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

My sister and I took the girls to a pumpkin patch today. Between the animals, face painting, tractors and playground, we didn't even make it to the pumpkins. Here are some pictures from our very busy day.

Jill is always up for some aunt-niece fun. :)

By far, the biggest rabbit I've ever seen.

Ran into some familiar faces, Ryan, Natalie, Elizabeth, Ashley and my girls on top of a straw bale.

Spooky trees

2008-10-18T19:45:00.001-07:00

The girls love any kind of arts and crafts sort of thing so making ghosts (or as Gretch says, gos-tez) was lots of fun.

All About Pa

2008-10-11T06:48:00.000-07:00

Admitedly, I 'borrowed' this from Maria. What a great idea to share about the husbands!

Here's a little bit about mine:

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? CNN, Frontline, anything on the Discovery or History Channel--unless there's a baseball or hockey game on.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Blue cheese.

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Tomatoes--although he's become a good sport about them being in food, like chili or casseroles. He also won't eat tuna casserole.

4. You go out. What does he order to drink? Fountain Coke is his all-time favorite, though he's also partial to an ice cold beer.

5. Where did he go to high school? Des Moines North.

6. What size shoe does he wear? 13, 11 1/2 in hockey skates.

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Guns and Harley-Davidsons.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? A great Rueben or Philly cheese-steak.

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Hot wings or steak.

10. What is his favorite cereal? Oatmeal.

11. What would he never wear? Anything with any college sports team.

12. What is his favorite sports team? NY Yankees, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens.

13. Who will he vote for? I dare you to ask him--you're in for a discussion. :)

14. Who is his best friend? Me, of course. But really, I'd have to say it's a close tie with his Dad and brothers, my Dad and brothers and the Army buddies.

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Worry.

16. How many states has he lived in? Just 2 states, Iowa and Colorado and several Iraqi provinces.

17. What is his heritage? German, Swedish and don't forget the Scotch-Irish.

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what would it be? White cake with white frosting, German chocolate or if it's been a really good year, coconut cream pie.

19. Did he play sports in high school? Yes, soccer, baseball, hockey, boxing.

20. What could he spend hours doing? Watching/reading the news, reading books by Sonny Barger.

21. Does he belong to any men's organizations? American Legion Post 562 (he's Vice-Commander), 9th Cavalry Association and Special Operations Association.

Two Conversations

2008-10-02T19:47:00.001-07:00

I had lunch with Jamie the other day and shared this little snippet of our life with little girls. I'll share with you all too.

K: So, G cut her hair on Saturday. Again.
J: Again? (laughter)
K: She was standing there with her hand down to the side, like she was hiding something...

K to G: Whatcha doing?
G: I'm so-so sorry Mommy!
G immediately caves and hands over the scissors with a dozen blond strands hanging from the tip.
K: G! You're not supposed to cut your hair!
K walks to the kitchen to put away the scissors and notices a 1/2 inch wide 6 inch long piece of the butter-colored tresses in the middle of the floor.
K: More?!
G: Mommy! I'm so-so sorry!

J: Maybe she wants to be a hairdresser.
K: Maybe we should keep the scissors up higher.

I couldn't help it. She's so cute that I had to take pictures. The funny thing is that I can't tell if she meant that she was very sorry or kind of sorry!

2008-10-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

I'm so-so sorry Mommy!

Now, stand still and let me take your picture.

A Favorite Thing

2008-09-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

In the mail this week, I received my newest issue of Kraft Food & Family and found this beauty. Super easy recipe involving a store-bought pie crust, 4 oz. cream cheese, 3 apples, a little sugar, flour and cinnamon--that's it! Oh, and cool whip. I love it when easy and delicious come together!

I just love apple pie and while they call this a Freestyle Apple Tart, it's close enough to call pie. The recipe calls for 2-3 apples, I used 2 granny smiths and a pink lady, keeping it an all girl pie. I bet you could use other fruit too, like pears, even peaches or plums if you're that's what you like.

If you don't get the magazine, you can sign up for it here www.kraftfoods.com/share. There are always lots of great, easy recipes that are also easy to adjust to whatever you like.

On a side note, as soon as I find the little grey cord that is used to move pictures from my camera to the computer, I'll get some pictures posted.

Also, I'm not sure what's up with the spacing on this thing it just doesn't want to cooperate right now.

** I made this pie/tart a second time this weekend and followed the directions exactly. It didn't taste quite the same and it took me awhile to figure it out. The first time I made it I sprinkled a little cinnamon and sugar on the cream cheese. It made the cheese nice and sweet rather than just cheese.

Too Busy Jumping

2008-09-22T19:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday night Pa and I had a little dinner out for my big 33. We went to Bonefish Grill, which we would both highly recommend. Don't make the same mistake we did, though, make a reservation! We're pretty sure that the 'bang bang shrimp' sauce is just sirachi (thai) chili sauce and mayo, thinned out a little.

We got home pretty early, before 10 even, which ended up being a good thing when K was up at 1 with a splitting headache. A dose of tylenol and two hours later she was back up and still in pain. I convinced her to just try to relax and get some sleep but am pretty sure she just tossed and turned until about 6 when she convinced me that she just couldn't try anymore, and then she was unable to keep anything down for the next 12 hours before falling into a deep sleep then waking up this morning bright-eyed and bushy-tailed all ready to go. Apparently a 24 hour bug.

Amazing how quickly she recovered. Tonight she was out kicking the soccer ball with Pa, learning how to bounce it off her head. G and I were practicing letters and numbers with sidewalk chalk. She's getting really good at A, 1, C and G. After about 15 minutes of drawing and asking 'what starts with c' G announced that she was 'too busy jumping' to continue.

That's just it, they're busy jumping and bouncing soccer balls off their heads. For these little girls, there's just too much stuff to do to spend too much time doing anything whether it's resting long enough to make sure you're 100% or sit on the sidewalk and draw with Mom.

It's tiny moments like this that call to mind how thankful I am to have such healthy (for the most part), bright and energetic girls to call my own. It shouldn't just be 'too busy jumping', it should be 'too busy jumping'.*

*so thankful they are mine

Soup's On!

2008-09-16T17:56:00.001-07:00

It's soup season around our house -- we started a little early this year with just chili and baked potato so far and do have to admit that the baked potato was a cheater mix.

I love Bush's Chili Starter in mild, (we tried the Texas version and it was just right for Pa but too spicy for me) it has sauce, spices and beans, just brown and drain a pound of ground beef (I bet you could use turkey, and we've used cut up minute steaks) add a can of tomatoes and that's it. We usually add some chopped onion and green pepper, too.

A new one to try this year, chicken tortilla and looking for others to give a shot. I might get ambitious and try to make a vegetable or vegetable beef but I know I can't come close to matching my Mom's so I may just wait until she says she's making it. :) I am working on perfecting baking powder biscuits -- made some a week or so ago and they disappeared, and am looking for a nice moist cornbread recipe. Any ideas?

Goal!

2008-09-16T17:40:00.001-07:00

Tonight, in her fourth season of playing Park & Rec soccer, K finally made her very first unassisted goal! Woo-hoo! Pa says she had a soccer version of a hat-trick: a goal, an assist and she was yellow-carded. (Not really, they don't yellow card in 2nd grade, but she did "accidentally" trip another player.)

G has trouble concentrating during K's soccer games. The fields/pitches are set up southwest of town with little hills coming off of each field. G likes to roll down the hills and run dizzily back up, to do it over and over the 50 minutes that the game takes. Tonight, silly us, we sat closer to the middle of the field and G was too scared of the other people there to go over and roll down the hill. In her whiny boredom, at one point tonight she lay down on the ground and plucked grass, spreading it all over herself. Ah, to be 3 and so strangely entertained...

Walking

2008-09-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

I've started walking a lot lately, a couple miles almost everyday. Sometimes I take the girls with me, sometimes I go with the girls at work. If all the stars are in alignment, I get to take the long route (3.2mi) all by myself. The trouble is getting it in before it gets too dark.

I think that I started walking to get some exercise and drag the girls out from in front of the tv on Saturday mornings. Now I walk for a brief 45-60 minutes of clarity. Just me. That's rare for a parent of two young girls and I am thankful that Pa encourages me to go.

At church last Wednesday night, waiting on K to finish class, I was leafing through a hymnal and towards the back found the Morning Prayer of St. Patrick. The first stanza has popped into my mind while walking lately. Now, I'm not much of a praying person but this makes me think of being part of something bigger, something more important than the laundry and making sure to sweep the kitchen floor.

I arise today
through the strength of heaven,
light of sun,
radiance of the moon,
splendor of fire,
speed of lightening,
swiftness of the wind,
depth of the sea,
stability of the earth,
firmness of the rock.

An Old Favorite

2008-09-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy to once again have found my favorite calendar ever. It was published for years and then for some reason abandoned in 2008. (I was stuck with a similar-in-design Garfield substitute.)

And now, thankfully, it has returned for 2009. It's the "Life is just so daily" calendar by Mary Engelbreit. I'm not very technical so, yes, I still rely on a wall calendar. A few of my favorite features: it's 12x24 inches when it's opened up so fits nicely inside a cupboard door so no one has to see it, with 5 writing lines within each week everyone gets their own line and I'm not confused about who has a dentist appointment, and there's a nice pocket at the bottom is a great place for invitations and soccer schedules.

My very favorite part--it matches my kitchen curtains! Here's the link to the store where I found it. I'll be buying soon. :) http://www.calendars.com/xq/asp/PID.1/MGID.-1/IID.44885/qx/product.htm

2008-09-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a rather busy weekend around here. I got a late start on Saturday, it was my day to sleep in and I intended to sleep until about 9 but ended up sleeping way later than that. After 10 long weeks, I finally got a haircut, freeing my neck from the yuckiness that was my overgrown 'do.

Took K shopping for some much needed pants since she had a rather sudden growth spurt and was down to one pair of pants and couple capris. K is always an awesome shopper as long as it's just one on one. Add another parent or kid into the mix and it's just torture for everyone. We watched 2 girls get their ears pierced so she could see what it's all about but she's still not quite ready.

G and I went to a baby shower for Pa's cousin today. She was pretty good, in spite of skipping her nap. It probably helped that I didn't say a word when she scooped frosting off her cake with tortilla chips. Sometimes nutrition goes a little by the wayside. :)

Tomorrow it's back to work and school for the girls. I really wish that the weekends would last a little longer, spend more time with the fam and have the house more in order. Then reality sets in and I'm dropping G at preschool and pulling into the parking ramp. Such is life...

End of the season

2008-09-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

Last night Pa's brother came out to watch the chicklets so we could go to his last hockey game of the season. (They finished in 2nd place!) It's a lot of fun to get to watch him out there on the ice and hear the comments. Mostly, it's a lot of fun to hear him rile up his teammates and the opposition. He gets them just about ready to throw off their gloves and have a big brawl and lets off just enough to not get blamed for anything. Sounds about right, doesn't it. :)

First day of school

2008-08-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

Unbelievably, K started second grade last week. So far the best parts of 2nd grade include: a morning snack, sitting wherever you want at lunch, and having a locker to share. I'm sure we'll get to hear about the worst parts as soon as she brings home homework.

My favorite season

2008-08-25T19:02:00.001-07:00

I can hear it now... a collective "ewww" from the peanut gallery. A fascinating insect, harmless on all issues, it doesn't bite animals or people, this particular version of the species doesn't destroy crops. The cicada actually spends most of it's life underground as sort of a slug, then, once it has reached maturity and developed wings, it finds a nice dry spot to shed it's skin for the last time.

We walked through the front yard the other night to find four of these babies clinging to the tree, their fresh green wings drying in the warm sunshine. Granted, I'm not a big fan of these bugs when they are all dried off and buzzing away in the trees, but the symmetry of their wings is really something to take a closer look at when they are glossy new green, completely vulnerable, clinging to the bark of a tree in one of the final stages of their lives.

The cicadas are a pretty definite sign of fall, my very favorite season. I love cool weather clothes, was always ready to start another year of school, and of course my birthday is in September. Many people think of fall as a time for everything to begin dying off. I prefer to think of it as settling in for a crisp-cold winter, gearing up for some beauty next spring. Fall gets you thinking about soup and casseroles, cornbread and warm biscuits, lets you pick up the prime root veggies at the grocery store--which are my favorites right after green beans and tomatoes. There are lots of reasons to love fall, feel free to add your own in the comments.

My laundry helper

2008-08-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

K has been really great about taking on new chores, she just has a few but it's been great to help her learn how to do stuff -- she loves to learn anything new and really thrives on praise so anything she does she tries her best to do it really well. And, I dont' like to dust so she really comes in handy!

She has started helping with laundry. She's been helping fold for at least a couple years and now she drags her laundry and her little sisters to the laundry room -- which at our house means going from the second floor all the way down to the basement. Usually she takes the clothes down, moves clothes to the dryer and loads the washer then I follow close behind with detergent.

Tonight she took both baskets down and loaded the washer to the brim and turned it on. The poor clothes didn't stand a chance! They were crammed in there so tight there was no hope of getting clean, not to mention no detergent. Easily remedied and very sweet of her to try!

So I finished Wicked...

2008-08-18T20:03:00.001-07:00

The last 100 pages or so where the Wicked Witch of the West is anticipating Dorothy & Co. arriving to do her in make the prior 300 worth the wait. Really, just fascinating. The book shows the vulnerability of the Witch and how she tries everything in her power to keep them from arriving at her castle. I really enjoyed the book though did have to make up some pronunciations to fit into the flow of my reading. :)

2008-08-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

Fair Time!

2008-08-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

Somehow, I talked Pa into one of his very least favorite activites. We took the girls to the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday. Here they are checking out a pig. It rained all morning so we waited until afternoon to go and then had beautiful weather. The girls did Little Hands on the Farm where they roam around picking up plastic veggies and milking water out of a plastic cow. They had a lot of fun and really liked buying a snack with their pretend dollar. Best part -- get to keep the awesome grass-green Pioneer seed caps. I took the girls down the giant slide, which K loved and G got to the top of the stairs and didn't want to go down. As you can see, there's only one way down. The last picture is for my dear friend Jen A. Diamond Jacks was the place we were way back in '94. We'd sit on the fence that used to be in front and people watch. They've spruced the place up a bit and the fence has been replaced with park benches. Guess the fence had seen it's share of people.

Here we go...

2008-08-07T21:00:00.001-07:00

I became enamored with blogging when my friend Jen started one awhile back. I love being able to catch up on the on-goings of friends and family that I don't get to see or even chat with as often as I'd like. That and I used to journal and write occasional poems and lately find my thoughts rambling so might as well write a few of them down. So here goes nothing. :)