The Box Car Mystery Has Been Solved

When we left school last week there was a lot of drama over a box car that the Bubs had made.  He wasn't able to bring it home because it was still drying and this did not make him happy.  Every day since school got out in the middle of last week he has asked if we could go get his box car.  Today was the day and he was so excited!  I wasn't sure what it was he was talking about but he kept asking if I would look at it with him.  Well it's no wonder he was excited.  Look at this thing!  I expected something along the lines of a tissue box decorated but this was literally a BOX CAR.  And just look how happy he is to show it off.

He's in such a great program.  It's play based and we get so much inspiration for things to do at home.  Remember the pudding mud bogging?  We got the idea when one day at school they got to drive cars through paint at school to make pictures.  Another day they had little record players where the kids could stick a paper plate in the middle and make their own version of spin art while the plates spun around and around.  So much fun!

New Favorite Books

The library has been a huge hit in our house.  Each new book that comes home has become the instant favorite.  This week it has been Three Little Rigs by David Gordon.  I think it's the whole library experience - from getting the book off the hold shelf, to scanning it out, to having it in the car, and then bringing it back to drop it off - that's making it such a great treat for him. 

I'm Havin' FISH Tonight!

If you channel Bruce from Finding Nemo while you think that, it just sounds better.  While I was off at book club the boys and Oma went to the Sportsman Show and the Bubs caught his first two fish.  I'm sorry I missed it, I'm sure it was quite a show. 

Isn't he just the cutest little fisherman?  I think so!

Jump Planet - A Place to Let Your Inner Maniac Free

Today was a no-school day so we took the cousins to Jump Planet and that place is crazy!  It's full of waist high maniacs running, jumping, bouncing, sliding, climbing, clinging, and crawling.  They all come out panting, sweaty, sticky, and disordered but as happy as can be.  And I think this picture proves it.

Ducky Love

OK, so there aren't any actual ducks here but we consider this activity 'feeding the ducks' anyway.  We did have Canada geese, mallards, crows, and seagulls and plenty of them so there's really no harm in saying we're going to go feed the ducks.  No harm, no fowl ~ right?

The World As Bubba Sees It



The BALTA - Best Sandwich EVER!

Next time you make a BLTA, try using basil aioli in place of the mayo. 

You can thank me later.

Image from MSNBC 

A Day on the Skagit River!

What started off as a drive up to the river to see if we could spot a few eagles turned in to so much more!  A day full of fun, friends, and freebies!

We saw two eagles on the drive up to the first stop along the river, where the Eagle People or the Friends of the Eagle or whatever they were calling themselves, were just to find that with all the rain we've had lately the eagles were pretty much gone.  What a disappointment for a two hour drive up there!  Then this guy came up to us and several other people and offered us a free spot on a raft to float down the river to see the eagles from that viewpoint.  He was, let's say, a little sketchy looking.  I wasn't so sure about it but we had to move fast since they were leaving in 20 minutes from somewhere else down the road so we decided to check it out and decide there.  They turned out to be a reputable group and even offered us a free chili lunch and snacks when we got back.  So we hopped on the bus, met the Peace Pilgrim (a hippie that walks the highway picking up trash with a big ol' peace sign), drove to the side of the highway about a mile or so up and pulled off the road.  In the middle of nowhere.  We started to rethink our decision and I wonder if any of the other 16 or so people on the bus did as well.  We were told to get off the bus and be careful crossing the highway - but to where?  We didn't know, so we just went with the crowd.  Like the cow to the slaughter house I suppose, but off we went.  Turns out we had to climb down the embankment backwards holding a rope tied to a tree.  Then we climbed through the trees to get to the water and low and behold, there were our rafts and here came another one full of people.  Everything was alright.  Better than alright to be honest, it was great from there on out.

We saw about 30 eagles and our guide, Donovan (in the bottom right corner holding the Bubs), became fast friends with the kid.  And the other way around.  At one point we heard 'DONOVAN, you're the best captain ever!'  And he was really, he's a trapper and knows all of the animals and the river and the mountains and it was just great.

After that we headed to a roadside 'eatery' on the suggestion of the other guide.  Turns out it was great as well.  Never would have stopped there if we would have been on our own and we truly would have missed out.  We even learned that you should eat sweet potato fries with honey drizzled over them.  And really, you should.

After a filling, if not 2 hour late, lunch we headed to the fish hatchery just up the road to see if we could catch one of the free tours happening this weekend.  We were lucky again because someone in our party couldn't handle the 12 minute video without a nap so we headed out on a self-guided tour.  As we came up to see the guy that was feeding the fish the Bubs got so excited that the guy let us up on the 'Authorized Personnel Only' platforms and we got to check out all of the fish and feed them!  Oh what fun!  After about 15 minutes of that we thanked the guy and headed back just to catch the tour guy who asked us if we wanted to see the inside of the hatchery really quick.  So we headed in and who should come in but our new friend from outside.  At that point the Bubs got a hands on tour as he helped with putting the displays away.  Those displays just happened to be the fish eggs, the little ones with the yolk sacs attached, and the little fry guys.  Our friend (never caught his name) then took us back to the back where they keep the eggs in the trays and let Bubba help put the them in.  He was so excited the entire time and declared 'we should name them all Nemo!'.  As we left we all shook hands and when Bubba shook his new friends hand he was told 'and you can come back any time you want!'  It was great. 

Ahhhh, it really was a great day.  No melt downs, no tears, no fits, even with no nap.  Well, he slept from 4:30-5:30 in the car and was in bed by 9 tonight, but it was worth the price I'm sure to pay tomorrow for the fun that was had today.

Update on Woody the Cat.. Or Max... Or Woody

Welp, Woody is still here despite all of our efforts to find him a good home.  Him and Weezy smack each other around and push each other out of their food dishes and there are a few unwarranted pop shots and sneak attacks but slowly they are getting better with each other.  Since he's been here so long, I finally took him to the doctor when Weezy went in for her annual check-up.  Much to my surprise (and horror), he was micro-chipped and there was a family registered for him.  He is also Max, 10 years old, and has hyperthyroidism.  Explains why he won't gain wait, eats like a hound, and plays like a kitten.  So I came home from the visit and called the micro-chip company to report him.  They called the family while I was on the phone with them and left word but we haven't heard back.  That was over a week ago.  It's so sad, and looking like the original story we heard about him being left behind when the family moved has turned out to be true. 

We haven't decided if he's going to stay, but the Bubs loves him so we haven't decided if he's going to go.  Time will tell I suppose.  As for now we just keep airing out the house and doing a lot of allergen annihilation.  May the force be with us!

When it Rains, We Bowl!

I picked this set up at our first Goodwill "trip for toys" for 99 cents but it sat in the plastic bag it came in for weeks.  Only today did I tear it open and wash them and set up the bowling alley in the living room.  And I must admit, I'm sorry I waited.  This was our indoor activity because it's been raining like crazy and the kid worked himself into a sweaty mess bowling, chasing the ball, sitting, standing, setting it back up - and this went on for almost two hours!  I think we have a winner, and a future bowler...

 And yes, he's still in his jammies with bed head - today is our 'down day' after yesterday's first day back at school in two weeks and an afternoon at the Children's Museum. 

An Afternoon at the Children's Museum

Time to milk a cow...

Now to play in some water...

And the animals need fixing...

 

Oooh, we were all glowing in the dark!

A drama room, how fitting...

The little builders...

Finishing up with some fruit snack...

Excuse the picture quality, I couldn't be bothered to mess with my setting much on my point and shoot.  Too much happening in there.

Juliet

I finished the book in lieu of reading my magazines.  I couldn't help myself, I had waited several months for it to come in from my library que and really wanted to see what it was about.  I stayed up for several nights reading it and avoided a few domestic duties in order to get further into it.  Unfortunately I didn't care for the ending.  It's not that often that I read a book that is so fantastic more than three quarters of the way through and then looses my interest almost completely.  Oh well, at least the majority was really good.

Roller Derby Time!

First bout of the season and as luck would have, I was there! 

If you haven't gone to see roller derby in person, you should. 

It's a whole lotta fun happen' up in there!

The Bubs First Library Book

Talk about one excited kid!  He got to take it from the shelf, check it out, and we've already read it twice and we've only had it for an hour now.  And bonus, my copy of Juliet came in.  More on that when I'm done with it but let's just say I've had this in the que for a long time and I'm just as excited to read this as Bubs is to read My Truck is Stuck for the third time.

Thank You Guy Fieri - We ♥ You!

Tonight I had a supper dilemma... Flank steak, lots of limes, and an avocado that needed to come together and make us a meal.  So Google to the rescue.  When I put in 'flank steak lime garlic' it came up with Guy Fieri's Grilled Tequila Garlic Lime Flank Steak and it had 25 reviews with a 5 star rating.  Welp, since we have (and like) tequila that was the winner and it really deserved all of those stars!  You marinate the steak then boil the remaining marinade down while you grill the steak.  We had it with grilled red pepper and onion, then avocado doused in lime and tomato chunks on wheat flat bread.  We were missing the cilantro, jalapeno, and serrano in ours but that didn't matter.  This was still so good! 

No pictures, no time since I didn't want to eat it cold.  The Bubs wasn't into it and I wish I'd had a margarita to go with it but alas, no time for that either.  White wine for me and carrots, snap peas, and a chunk of cheese for the Bubs and we were all good to go.

Wanna know what the picture is?  That's when we went with some friends of our to see Guy Fieri at the Moore last year.  It was the first live 'cooking celebrity' show we'd been to and it came complete with two opening acts, a local cafes chef and then a semi-famous mixologist (very reminiscent of Tom Cruise in Cocktail) followed buy Guy pretty much doing a stand up comedy routine while cooking a few dishes.

Done and... Ummm... Almost Done - Day 2

 I've been reading Organized Simplicity The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider (who also does the Simple Mom blog) and I'm on a mission to rid our house of anything we don't truly use or find beautiful.  We stay somewhat streamlined but after the holiday's there always seems to be those lingering piles that take forever to get rid of and we shuffle them constantly trying to get to what we do use and that just adds mess after cluttered mess. 

Yesterday was my recipe binder and today I tackled the end of the Christmas chaos.  That would be the stack of cards left out so I could update my list for next year, the stack of magazines that I haven't touched since November, and the stack of junk mail/catalogs/newsletters/instruction manuals for all new toys/tags/gift receipts/miscellaneous paper that has accumulated in many piles throughout the house.

Now the list is updated, the cards have been cut up and the fronts are in an envelope ready to be mailed to St. Jude's Ranch card program.  The piles of paperwork have been whittled down to one tiny pile of 'need action' papers and I've committed to reading one magazine a day until I get through the pile.  And that pile may not look like much but one February edition has already arrived and my Real Simple subscription has kicked in so it's only going to get worse!

I'm starting to feel very accomplished and think it was fitting that the magazine I read today had a great article on how to cut the incoming junk mail which is what I'm about to tackle now.  Thank goodness for nap time.

Living (& loving) the Blog Life ~ Recipe Binder Style

Done & Done!

My sister introduced me to this idea for a recipe binder through the Clean Mama Blog and months ago I got started on it.  It's a 3 ring binder with clear page sleeves that you can slip printouts in from blogs or other cooking websites.  I was so tired of trying to cook from my lap top and it going to sleep only to have me need it when my fingers were covered in raw chicken or mashing up meatballs.  At that point I had to log in to bring it back and it was just a big ol' mess.  So as I said, months ago I got my folder and page sleeves and got to work printing out my favorite recipes from blogs and recipe websites.  What I wanted to do, but hadn't done yet, was to create a template and enter all of my 25 or so handwritten recipes to eliminate my old 6x9 recipe binder and decide on the categories for section tabs that worked for us. 

Today I finally accomplished that and it looks great.  I ended up tossing several recipes that were in my old binder (or choosing not to enter and print them) so it cleaned it out even more.  Once I had the keepers printed I spread them out on the floor, with the recipes that were already in there and started sorting them into categories.  It took a bit of shuffling but when I was done I had eight categories that covered everything we had.

• Breakfast
• Breads/Crusts
• Dips/Sauces 
• Main Dishes
• Side Dishes
• Sweets
• To Try
• Take Out

This was the most difficult part for me.  I considered it by meals; appetizers, main, side, dessert but that left a lot out.  Then meat, vegetable, fruit, casserole, dessert, dips (sweet & savory), Italian, Mexican, there were so many contenders.  I finally decided on the above after working out several categories based on the recipes in there and what made sense to me.  I printed the tab labels on little Avery labels and used the clear packing tape to stick them on the dividers like Clean Mama says.  Then it was just a matter or putting it all together.

Now I have a neat, streamlined recipe binder that looks good and is really very functional.

Farewell Pretty Mantle

Here is what our mantle looked like when we left the house yesterday...

 Here is what's left of it...

Here is the demon responsible...

Time to start over on the mantle decorations. 

I'm considering starting over on the cat as well.

Update on the Sleep Chart

Well, Bubba got his Thomas.  It wasn't 5 perfect nights of sleep but it was much better than we'd had overall.  We're on to sleep chart #2 and so far he's doing pretty good.  We have clarified the rules and hope that we can establish a pattern here so we don't need the charts anymore but they have put us on the right path.  Whew! 

The King's Speech and a Demolition Derby

After a fun four and a half hour baby shower yesterday I got to use a rain check with a friend to see The King's Speech.  Thank goodness, it was so good!  Laugh out loud funny in several parts and Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush were fantastic, perfect for these roles.

The most interesting part of the day was when I got home.  Dada and Bubba had really gotten into their groove and I came home to what Dada normally walks into.  A loud, wild, crazy, somewhat chaotic house and it gave me a headache.  Really, I had to take Tylenol and leave the room from their demolition derby and all of the cheering that was going on.  Dada laughed and said 'Huh, I guess I'm used to it.  Now you know what I feel like on the nights I come home to play time'.  Point taken.  Time to rethink Dada's coming home time.

Clutch It! Time For Some Mama Culture...

I was lucky enough to join Nana & (Big) Bubba and a group of ladies for breakfast and a guided tour of MOHAIs Clutch It! the Purse and the Person exhibit.  Purses from the mid 1800's through the 1980's and the story behind it all.   I never realized women wore money belts before they had purses, or that you used to be able to buy a kit and make your own beaded purse at home with steel beads or seeds even! 

Once we were done with that we made a nostalgic run through the rest to visit Bobo the gorilla, the Rainier Brewery 'R', and the Lincoln Toe Truck.  I am now old enough to remember these things (ok, not Bobo) when they were just a part of the city and not a museum exhibit.  How did this happen?  Where did the time go??? 

Ah well, guess that means live in the moment and enjoy it while it lasts and all of that.  All of that aside, it really was a lot of fun.  Just being out with the ladies was nice.  And now I need some Bubba time after a morning without my little dude.  What can I say?  Enjoy it while it lasts.

Living (& loving) the Blog Life ~ Taco Soup Style

Bubba tested, Mama approved.  Or Mama tested, Dada approved.  Or Dada tested, Bubba approved.  Whatever way you say it, this was some goooooood soup!  To have Bubba eat an entire bowl, chunks of onions and tomatoes and all means something went very right in this recipe. 

This is the taco soup from the ladies at Our Best Bites.  And it is deeelicious!

We had to make just few alterations to the recipe, not because I'm creative or had an opinion about how to improve it but simply out of necessity.  We only had 1 can on kidney beans so we used those as well as a can of rinsed black beans.  We also had to leave out one of the cans of diced tomatoes and substitute the can of tomato paste for the tomato sauce.  This was due to the fact that my pan wasn't big enough and I just couldn't fit them in.  Just look at ours!  I know it looks like there is room in there but once you start stirring up the chunky goodness in there it was running over the sides.

I had mine with sour cream and the boys had cheese but I'll tell you here and now, this is the first time ever that Dada has asked me to make him a dish to take to work for lunch.  He said he didn't need the cheese, just a spoon.  So that's that.  We have a new top soup recipe in our house!  Thank you Kate at OBB, we ♥♥♥ you!