Valerie Tripp: Felicity: An American Girl (The American Girls Collection)
We've read the first in this 6 part series
Robert C. O'Brien: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh/Newbery Summer
LOVED IT!!!!
E.B. White: The Trumpet of the Swan
We are listening to the audio- read by the author- FABULOUS!
Cathryn Falwell: We Have a Baby
Olivia loves when I read this book!
Mireille Guiliano: French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure (Vintage)
Down 8 pounds since reading this book!
Jennifer Chiaverini: The Quilter's Homecoming: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel (Elm Creek Quilts Novels)
Howard Gardner: The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach
currently browsing
Dan Kindlon: Too Much of a Good Thing: Raising Children of Character in an Indulgent Age
J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)
J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
(Who is not surprised that Evan added his own enhancement to the photo?)
Posted at 04:19 PM in Family, holiday | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
!
I made a batch of pierogies. This is the heart clogging goodness that those bits of heaven get smothered in.
Love me some friend time. 5 hours away is just too far.
My handsome husband.
Beach people are funny. Funny weird, not funny haha.
Love seeing all the holiday decorations going up.
Mr. O had some fun editing photos.
I have discovered the joys of ice baths. This was my first, and far too cold. After a bit more reading up on it, I switched to a full tub, cold water bath,with a small bucket of ice added once water was filled enough to cover my legs. Brrrr.
Then Thursday rolled around and I was feeling a bit worse. I was pretty sure Pasole would help, so using my best Jedi mind control I managed to get my mother-in-law to invite me over to learn how to make it. :-) It was very yummy, very easy and did make me feel better. Unfortunately I didn't get any better. As a matter of fact, I got worse. Friday I lost my voice completely. I really didn't feel bad, just had no voice and a little bit of a cough. No big deal.
Meanwhile, we had our first real run inthe rain. It was lovely.
Our friend Franklin came over for a visit one night. Reina has a very strange small dog/animal anxiety problem. We have to keep her on leash and we have even sedated her to help calm her. This is something we are working on. She did pretty good on this occasion, crying a bit if Franky moved about too much, but all in all it was a good visit. :-)
This was from earlier in the day, its hard to really tell, but the surf was huge. The tide was just right for me to get some running in on the sand. This was my last long run before my half. 10 miles & my longest continuous run to date. I felt great (aside from the no voice, head cold, sorta coughing thing).
Is anyone else confused by this??
The best early Christmas gift ever! My husband is the best!!!
Playing with my new camera with all my balloon animal friends.
The Big Day!
Ben and Evan ran the 5K. (Evan had already left by the time I finished). They both did great and had fun. Ben was 2nd in his age group and 15th overall. Yay Ben!
Just a few days before the race I had stopped by one of 3 local coffee shops that I frequent (depends on what end of the county I am in when I am in desperate need of coffee, but I have found 3 locally owned, independant, shops that have great coffee, great service and make me feel good about supporting local business). Latte 101 is one of the 3 and as it happens they have peanut butter syrup. If you have never had a peanut butter latte, I suggest you go out and get one. Now. They are that good. But then again, I am a peanut butter freak. I mentioned that I was doing the Santa to the Sea and it turns out they were one of the vendors. The owner (I am making an assumption here, I don't know for sure that he was the owner, but I am prettty sure) said that he would bring the PB syrup just for me! :-) Only a local business would make that kind of effort! Both Ben and I had one and it was awesome).
Now, have I also mentioned to you that the race also happens to fall on Nutcracker weeked? For me this means that the week before the race is production week at the theater. I have the unofficial/official job of taking backstage candid photos. I absoultly love that I have the privledge to do this. I take photos through out Satuday rehersals from October until the production. I think this is my 3rd or 4th year doing it, I'll have to go back and look at my photos and see. It has been so fun seeing the dancers grow and change.
Saturday we go to the show as a family. We have been going to this particular show since Owen was 18 months old. We had no idea that when our girls started ballet, they would be with this production company. To be a part of it from both the front of the house and the back is just awesome.
Sunday (raceday) is the day that I voluteer and hang out backstage. I was a little worried that it would be really hard this year, but let me tell you, the runner's high you hear about is the best! It was 10 times anything I've felt before. I was flying high for at least 4 hours post race. The last hour of Nutcracker was where I was starting to feel tired, but the really amazing thing that happens duing the last hour of Nutcracker on the last day of production, is that all the tension, anxiety and nervousness that the girls have starts to drift away. The smiles get bigger, the laughter backstage increases, the happy energy flows. So as my runner's high diminished, my Nutcracker high increased. Such a perfect pairing. I am already looking forward to next year.
The kids little tree :-)
No sooner did I get the tree skirt in place, did Buka make himself at home under the tree.
Owen wanted to try and put our angel on the tree this year.
It was more challening that usual. In the end we had to put her up as a decoration off to the side. We had to buy a smaller angel to work with this tree. This is the first time she has not worked. We have a different type of tree this year, we usually get a noble, this one is something else that starts with an "N", but I can't remember what it is. It looks a lot like a noble, but is a brighter green. The branches are as thick, but a bit softer somehow. The top was just not strong enough to hold our angel. I need to get a picture of our alternate angel.
I am really into ginger right now. From Moscow Mules to Kumbatcha to adding it to my morning smoothies, I am loving it. So I really wanted to make a ginger snap type cookie to add to our cookie bags. (The standard for our bags consists of chocolate chip cookies, russian tea cakes and peppermint chocolate dipped pretzles). It took a bit of experimenting, tweaking recipies from the internets, but I did come up with a variation that I quite like and hope to put it into the bag from now on. I even wrote down the recipe so I can make them next year.
My cranberry infused vodka is done!
Because I have not used cranberries enough this season.... I made sugared cranberries a couple nights ago. Sooooooo yummy!!! Today we had them with water crackers and brie. Pretty much amazing.
So there you go. Almost all caught up with my crazy life. A few more bits about running, then I'm off to bed. Remember The Nag. Well, MapMyRun pulled a fast one on their users. The voice feedback feature they rolled out in October became a monthly fee feature in November. In the update notes they did not indicate that the paid features would be ones we were already using for free. I felt th price ($6/month or so) was a bit high, but did a 3 month subscription because I was scared to let go of a training tool that was really working for me. In the mean time I dug out my GPS watch and looked into other free or one time only fee apps that did what MMR was doing. One of the things I discovered was that MMR was way off in tracking true distance. Really off. I was not happy! I have found another app that is much more accurate (Runmeter), but I still have another month of MMR so I am alternating using it and taking my actual milage off my GPS watch. (More on all this in a future post).
I have also continued to pass the lovely cranky people off and on and they continue to be lame. I am pretty sure that the cranky couple have their own inside jokes about me- the Crazy Running Lady. I quite literally laughed out loud at them one day. I was near giggling as we approached one another, then I said my cheerful hello, he of course did not give me the slightest look or indicate that he heard me, she scowled and said hello. I couldn't stop myself, I burst into laughter. When we crossed paths again, they both smiled and said hi. So yeah, they must have a joke, but I don't care, I won a round finally- he looked and she smiled. So there.
Of course that was a few weeks ago. This last week when I saw them I happened to be the one feeling a bit cranky. I managed to get myself irritated and worked up about these Not Friendly Morning People long before i saw them, so when I saw them coming I decided I was over being the nice one. I brought up my most lovely post bronchitis cough as they approached (into my elbow of course) and then looked at The Lady with no expression as we passed. She did the same. I was all geared up and ready to scowl openly at them the next pass, except I haven't seen them since. Oh well. I really should go back to being friendly, but after 4 months I guess I'm a little tired of being the one that has to try, then that optimistic person in me wants to play nice, because surely it will make a difference. Then I get cranky and worked up and plot all sorts of diabolical plans about how to Show Them. I'm pretty sure I have issues. And maybe alternate personalities that should have their own names.
Ok, as much as I would like to share more fantastically weird stuff about myself with you all, it has taken me over 3 days to get this all written out and hopefully properly edited to make sense. There are more bits about running that you all must know and I am sure I have many other fascinating stories to share that I just don't have the time to write, however I am going to post this and move on!
Posted at 01:07 AM in Family, Friends, Health, holiday, just because, life-ish, Running | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I never got around to posting about our homemade Christmas gifts. I made jams- and to date still owe a few folks some- I'll get on that! Our other main gift to family this year was reusable grocery bags.
I ordered plain canvas bags from Dharma Trading Co. and then the kids (mostly Emma) and I used sharpies and rubbing alcohol to "tie dye" them with designs. They turned out fabulous and were a hit. I had a great time making them. The boys and Olivia did one or two each, Emma on the other hand helped me with the rest. We made over 40 I think. Enjoy the pictures!
Here is Kathleen with her bag (by Emma). It is a Christmas wreath.
My cousins Noel (my design) and my cousin Cathy (the back of each bag was autographed by all, Olivia's is the scratch beneath Emma's name)
My cousin Leslie, bag design by Emma I think.
Aunt Gert with another of my designs
My cousin TJ - He thought his bag made a better hat.
And what would family Christmas gift giving be with out a 6 foot pink rabbit? (all we really needed to complete it is a Leg Lamp! LOL!!)
Emma loved it- Owen was not so sure!
The Cow Story deserves a post all it's own... I have quite a few cow pictures to share.
I'll have to get pictures from my father in law to share some of the other bags given to Ben''s side of the family, I don't seem to have any- I think I left my camera at home or something....
Posted at 10:22 PM in holiday | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted at 12:13 AM in holiday | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
We had a great Thanksgiving! Lots of food- all sorts of family, and everyone seeemed to have fun. Watched the parade (Macy's), the dog show, and a bit of football. Kids got to play the wii for a bit, the dogs got to share a big hambone. Missed having my side ofthw family near by. Missed having my dog Bungee around.
Posted at 12:54 AM in Family, Food and Drink, holiday | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
My friend Dawn posted a few days ago about homemade Christmas gifts so I have been determined to share what we're doing here. I've always done homemade Christmas gifts, it's one of my favorite parts about Christmas. In the past I have done photo collages, painted plaques, glass bead magnets, beaded bracelets, dvd slide shows, chocolate dipped pretzels, and cookies- always cookies. This year will have a few new treats. Before my friend made an exciting life changing move to Nova Scotia she taught me how to make jam. And boy have I been jam'n! This years gifts will include samples of both strawberry jam and wine jelly. I just made two more batches of the wine jelly, one a melot and one a cabernet/merlot. We taste tested the cab jelly tonight- mmmmmm so yummy! I've also made some tangerine marmalade, but we're keeping that to ourselves. I have also been knitting, but those skills need a bit more time before I'd pass along any treasure I've made! I will start cookie making next week sometime, I haven't yet decided if we'll do pretzels, but most likely we will, the kids are really able to help with that, plus they are soooo good! I also have one other homemade gift that the kids will help with, however, I know that a few on our list occasionally read this blog so I have to hold back! If you really really have to know leave a comment and I'll email you privately.
Posted at 10:29 PM in holiday | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
We drove out to our Uncle D's house for Halloween this year. We've never gone there, though he's had a bash for several years. It was well worth the drive! The kids got to play with cousins, Uncle D decked out his house and there was lots of family, food and spooks. We took the kids trick-or-treating around the block- there were only two houses that Emma reused to go to- one had a blow up "house" that the kids had to walk through, the spooky music was enough to keep her from going through, the other kids didn't care a bit. The other house she refused had a strobe that was "too bright". Uncle D's house was very spooky, but since she saw it in daylight first and she knew it was his, she was fine passing through to get to the house in order to eat her stash.
Here's a slide show if you are so inclined:
Posted at 10:23 PM in holiday | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Yikes. I have been going full steam ahead for the last week. I am definitely feeling better, Thank you for asking :-) That cold sure did kick my butt. It also threw a bit of a wrench in my holiday preparing. I am getting back on track though. My to do list is about 25 long. Not all of it has to be done by Christmas, about 75% of it. *sigh*
Here's one of our activities today:
I made the houses a couple of days ago, they pretty much did all the decorating on their own. I helped Olivia glop on the frosting, and Emma asked me to help decorate some of hers, Evan too, but I pretty much tried to just glop on the frosting for all of them and have them do the placement of candy. Olivia ate as much stuff as she put on, Evan too. They were too cute!
We made Russian teacakes today too. It rained all day- great for the county, bad for the windows that have not been completely repaired. They finished putting up the dry wall and texture over the weekend, and they put a bead of some sort of sealant around the outside since we knew the rain was coming. Todays rain ended up leaking through anyway. Today they were supposed to take out the windows and re set them properly, now it is looking like it may not happen until after the new year. I just don't want any sort of construction stuff going on while my parents are here. *bigger sigh*
Posted at 11:09 PM in Family, Food and Drink, Health, holiday, kid fun | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)