The Arff Adventure

5 styles in 5 days

2012-02-09T16:27:00.000+01:00

It has begun.....

My husband started growing a beard late last year. I don't remember exactly when, November maybe? And as it grew, I sort of liked it. I asked him to keep it. He looked sexy. Even my mom said so. I think it was at that point he wanted to shave it off...hehe. But, he said he'd keep it for a while, because I liked it so much. But after Christmas, it would be histroy.

Well, here it is, February, and he still has it.

It's quite bushy. I said that to him one day. "Your beard is.....really......poufy."

"You want me to shave it?"

"Ehhhhh...." - translation, yes

Of course back in December he had talked about doing this thing he called "5 styles in 5 days" where he would start shaving his beard piece by piece, giving himself a new look each day.

"OMG, you're coworkers are going to eat that up!" I said.

They already call him Yeti.

Anyway, 5 styles in 5 days has begun. And I've got photos (of course). Unfortunately, I did NOT take a before picture which is kind of sad. Because then you can't really get the full effect of the "pouf".

"You can just photoshop it." he says to me. Clearly this man thinks a little too highly of my photoshopping skills. But whatever, I'll do a quick and dirty version.

This is basically what it looked like "before". Although I didn't do the "pouf" justice.

His 1st style was to trim the pouf.

2nd style was to add some "chops"

Style 3.....you'll just have to wait and see!

Juicing

2012-02-06T21:25:00.000+01:00

In my quest for ideal health, I have purchased a juicer. It was after watching a movie called "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead". Which was about an Australian man who came to America and made a documentary about his two month diet of nothing but juice. He spent the first month in New York, juicing and talking to people on the streets. The second month he spent driving around, with a juicer in the back of his car, continuing to talk to people, get their opinions, and living on nothing but juiced fruits and vegetables. He lost an huge amount of weight, and inspired people along the way. Interesting movie.

Anyway, so I decided that a juicer would be perfect for me. Because I find it very difficult to get the required amount of veggies into my daily diet, let alone variety. So the answer to that problem seemed clear - a juicer. Not only am I getting a variety of vegetables and fruit (mostly veg) to my daily diet, but I'm feeling ASTOUNDING. And I truly believe it has something to do with my body finally getting nutrients it craves from vegetables. I am not on a juice fast, but rather, I am enjoying a few glasses of fresh juice daily.

It doesn't look appealing, I'll admit. But no matter what combination of vegetables I use, it never tastes bad. Even when I use cabbage. Not kidding. I've been doing this for many weeks now and it seems that I still get carried away with the amount of veggies I juice at a time. Because I want to make sure I get certain favorites in every time. And so instead of getting one glass of juice, I usually end up with two, or as the case was for lunch today, 3 glasses. Oh man, I was FULL!

See, it really doesn't look tasty but I assure you, it is awesome.

I was never one to think that juicing vegetables would be the best option. I was concerned about the fiber of the vegetable being stripped away in the juicing process. BUT, it turns out, that by juicing, you remove the indigestible fiber and release nutrients that are otherwise trapped in the fiber. Read this:

"Plus, since juicing removes the indigestible fiber, these nutrients are available to the body in much larger quantities than if the piece of fruit or vegetable was eaten whole. For example, because many of the nutrients are trapped in the fiber, when you eat a raw carrot, you are only able to assimilate about 1% of the available beta carotene. When a carrot is juiced, removing the fiber, nearly 100% of the beta carotene can be assimilated."

Taken from here.

Also...

"the body can quickly absorb larger amounts of nutrients from juices than from solid foods because the process of digestion that is necessary when you eat whole foods is bypassed. Another one of the major health benefits of juicing is that it is an easy way to get beneficial enzymes, which are primarily found in raw foods, into the body. Enzymes in fresh fruits and vegetables have the vital role of converting food into body tissue and energy."

Taken from here.

So I figured, whether it is or it isn't better to eat a fruit or vegetable raw and whole, juicing was a better alternative to nothing at all. If it comes down to not eating vegetables (because honestly, I don't like them enough to eat them all the time) or juicing them and getting lots of them daily, I'll take juicing. And I still eat them whole too. It's not like I'm promoting NOT eating vegetables and fruit unless they are juiced.

I usually will drink my juice on an empty stomach because I read that you absorb the nutrients better than if you had just eaten a meal. Also, I've read that juicing can reduce cravings, although I'm not sure anything is going to stop my craving for chocolate cake.

I'm not going to lie, using and washing this cumbersome juicer 2-3 times a day is a pain in the butt. But I have been able to sustain it for weeks now and so seeing as how I haven't given up on it just because I don't want to wash the equipment, it isn't really THAT bad.

My husband is someone whom I will never be able to convert to a "juicer". He likes to eat his vegetables whole. Good for him. But I doubt he gets enough.

Coincidentally, I've felt better in these last few weeks than I can remember. Literally. I have tons of energy, my mood is fantastic, I am happier. I don't know for a fact that it's all the micronutrients that I'm now getting, but I certainly can't discount it.

prickly

2012-02-05T14:43:00.000+01:00

Oh the weather outside is.....prickly? That's what my photos make it look like.

I know, I know, everyone and their dog is posting photos of the lingering frost.

But you can bet your bottom dollar (whatever) that I was out there that first morning, in my robe,

trying to get a few shots before it all melted away.

HA! It has lasted like 3 days!

For some reason I liked the tiny icy spears and felt the need to macro everything.

I could have done better capturing the beauty that is beyond 1x.

Sorry Hanna

2012-02-03T15:31:00.000+01:00

Hanna is probably gonna kill me but.....

THIS is the funniest thing I have EVER seen. This was taken months ago and I STILL almost pee my pants when I look at it. It's just that funny.

She looks hideous. Bahahahahaha!!!!

A-MAZING

2012-02-01T22:20:00.000+01:00

Just Eden being beautiful in the backyard.

While taking some random photos of Emma, we noticed that Eden's Justice bag in the background produced some A-MAZING bokeh. Unfortunately, the shape wasn't as equally pleasing to the eye. But then we got the idea that maybe if we went to the fabric store, we'd find some sequined material to use as a backdrop. We did find an array of colors, but nothing quite as beautiful as the pinkish/purplish tone of the bag. However, we will be practicing with what we picked out and hope to have the results posted soon!

Love to cook

2012-02-01T01:36:00.000+01:00

My kids love to cook. Rather, they love to experiment in the kitchen. You already know we are all inspired by the show "Chopped" and like to create meals with unexpected ingredients. Well, Hanna and Eden got the cooking bug Sunday afternoon and decided they wanted to improvise their lunch. Neither had a plan until they started digging around and seeing what we had to work with.

Oh, seeing Eden's hair here makes me miss my long hair. I've been recently separated with mine and so far it has been great. But seeing hers.....ah. Of course mine never looked that good anyway so I'm already over it.

Moving on...

I love Hanna's new hair color. I can't say it enough. Although I think it has faded a lot. At least it looks like it in these pictures. But it still looks great.

This is the meal Hanna made. She sauteed lettuce and onions, topped it with fresh sliced pear, a finely chopped carrot (almost pureed but not liquid - it was fantastic) and sprinkled the whole thing with pumpkin pie spice. It was really creative and delicious. She also made baked pears with pumpkin pie spice.

Her watermelon carrot juice was a very big hit......except for the chunks. LOL

Eden's lunch I didn't photograph for some reason. It was basically a bunch of stuff sauteed together like lettuces, carrots, onion, pear, tomato. I did taste it but I was so full that it didn't really appeal to me. Eden obviously loved it though because she devoured it. And Monday, after school, she made the same thing for her after school snack. Yes, she sauteed a bunch of veg for herself and ate it. I couldn't be more proud!

Of course I have to show off what I made for dinner also. Rolled chicken, or chicken cordon blue. I dipped the roll in Bisquick before putting it in the pan because I made Bisquick coated chicken once before and the whole family went gaga over it. Anyway, I fried it a little in butter and then oven baked it for an hour. It was superb.

How to do it:

1. pound out chicken breast until big and flat

2. put some deli sliced ham on top (thin slices)

3. sprinkle with shredded provolone and parmesan cheeses

4. Roll up jelly roll style

5. Dip in beaten egg, then in Bisquick

6. Fry all sides in butter until browned

7. Put in 350 degree oven for an hour

8. When you slice it, don't forget to look at the beauty of the roll before savoring the flavor!

Photo Editing

2012-01-30T19:33:00.000+01:00

I just LOVE this picture of Hanna. In fact, I took a lot of great photos of her over the weekend and I can't wait to sit down and edit all my favorites. There are about 16 or so of them. And even though that doesn't sound like a lot, editing can be time consuming.

Although this picture in particular wasn't bad to begin with, it just needed a little brightening. I didn't want to get too overly dramatic or artsy with this one because it was such a simple photo. I wanted to keep it simple.

I don't know if you can see it in this picture but her hair color is red now. Almost a maroon and it suits her so well. I like it better than her natural hair color, to be honest. It goes so well with her skin. She looks stunning. I can't wait to show you more of the pictures I took of her. But I need to get up and move around. I can't sit for too long, my butt falls asleep.

MCP Actions Snag a Canon or Nikon Camera Giveaway!

2012-01-25T18:40:00.000+01:00

MCP Actions Snag a Canon or Nikon Camera Giveaway!
Choose from a Canon 5D MKII & 85mm f/1.8 lens OR Nikon D700
Click the link below.

http://www.punchtab.com/contest?referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mcpactions.com%2Fblog%2F2012%2F01%2F19%2Fwin-canon-5dmkii-nikond700%2F&user_id=MjQyMzk3&raffle_id=MzIzMg%3D%3D

I wanted to share the link because it would be sweet to win a camera and I wanted to fill you in on the contest. And also, I earn 5 entries for each person who enters with my custom link. ;) So help me, help you, help me....or something.

toilet humor

2012-01-25T00:14:00.000+01:00

Today Emma was in the bathroom and she must have been making grunting noises or something because I heard Eden say, "Do you have a big grandpa turd or something?"

I heard this from the laundry room and started laughing and Eden came in and started laughing because I was laughing.

"What?" she said

"Grandpa turd???" I said

"yeah, don't you remember that?" she said

"no, what's that from?" I said

"You used to say that to me all the time." she said

Two things:
A) My memory is crap
B) Eden's memory is phenomenal

"NO! I don't remember that! But dang I'm funny, aren't I?"

Then she says, "You're always saying funny things."

I love that my kids think I'm funny.

SO much fun

2012-01-23T03:56:00.000+01:00

I have so much to blog about suddenly and I feel like I could burst! But I've been so busy this weekend having fun with my kids that I really haven't had time to.

If you are my facebook friend you will know that our family celebrated the Chinese New Year today with decorations, music and food. We made a fun weekend out of it. Something different and exciting to do rather than the usually boring weekend stuff.

Although making the food was fun, it was a bit stressful getting it all together in the end and produced a LOT of dishes and big mess in the kitchen so next year we have vowed to order out for our Chinese feast. I'm ok with that.

I took tons of pictures of my cute girls. I FINALLY got my fix. I've been itching to take pictures and today I got a lot of good ones I can fiddle with in Photoshop. I have some beautiful kids. As I was uploading pictures to my computer tonight I was practically squealing with excitement. They were all so awesome. The light coming through our kitchen patio door was perfect. I want to move the table completely out of the kitchen and use the dining room exclusively to eat in. That way I could use the kitchen as my studio. Yeah, I don't think Andreas will go for it either. But when you have that beautiful natural light shining through, you get some gorgeous photos as a result.

Anyway, I'll leave you will a little teaser from today:

Oh, and there were donuts. What could be better?

Did I ever tell you.....

2012-01-20T22:53:00.000+01:00

...that I'm an artist?

Yup, that's my thing. That's my outlet. Some people are smart. Some people are funny. Some people like to hang upside down from trees. Me? I appreciate art. Here is a sample of some of my own art:

acrylic

watercolor

They are a bit juvenile, I don't claim to be great at it, but it's a hobby. Something I love to do, although, sadly, don't get time to do it anymore. I need to work on making time. Because if I made time and practiced, just like anything else, I would get better.

Did I ever tell you that I love to take photos and edit them? Of course I have. I have taken thousands and thousands of photos. I love the art involved in photography. You don't just point and shoot. You need to find the art and represent it through the photograph. It's the best thing there is. I love photographing both people and nature. Anything, really. Because you can find beauty in a pile of trash if you look hard enough.

This is my beautiful niece, Chelsea. She let me have hours of fun photographing her last year.

Did I ever tell you that I play piano? Quite well, if I don't mind saying so. And it's not often that I admit to being good at something. Ever. The only problem is that I dislike playing in front of people. I like to play for myself though. Recently I taught myself how to play the Adele song "Someone Like You". It's a beautiful piano piece. As I was picking it out on the piano I thought, why am I spending all this time trying to figure out the song when I can just buy the sheet music? Duh. So I did. It's lovely. Playing the piano is an art. Everyone has a different style. That's what makes art so delicious.

One of my all-time favorite pieces of music is Clair de Lune by Debussy.

It's a very difficult piano piece. I played it at my last recital. It probably took me something like 6-8 months to learn.

I took many years of piano lessons and went through numerous recitals (probably 10 years or more). People often ask me why I don't teach my girls piano. The answer is, I don't know. We've tried a few times. They are only interested when they feel like it. Which is fine. I don't want to force it on them. They'll learn when they seriously want to. And when they do, they have a live-in teacher. I taught my niece's piano lessons for a while. As we were sitting at one of their recitals, their dad (my brother) leaned over and said to me "Listen to that. You did that." It was a great moment in my life to realize that I had helped someone else learn and appreciate music. She played beautifully.

Did I ever tell you I'm a great cook? Well, I am. My late father was a master chef, as are my siblings. All of them. Every single one. We all love to cook. Last night, I made one of my very favorite meals: flank steak florentine. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it but it was marvelous looking and tasting. I love trying new recipes and my kitchen sometimes becomes my laboratory because I am constantly trying to come up with healthier ways to prepare foods we love. I love when I make food that other people want the recipe for. I made a super healthy chocolate muffin recipe once that even pleased my sister's very picky husband. That is the kind of stuff that makes my heart grow! Cooking is an art, not everyone has the talent. But I'm pretty certain most mom's do. You kind of have to. After years and years of preparing meals for your family, it's pretty hard NOT to be good at it. I don't think I know a single mom who isn't a super chef.

Please excuse my little bit of egotisical blogging. I know it's not all about me. But there are times when it does a person a little good to be proud of their accomplishments. I know that I for one spend far too much time picking myself apart and exposing my flaws than I do acknowledging that I also have very good things to share with the world.

People like to talk about themselves. It's natural. There's nothing wrong with it. But it does bother me at times when people (usually the same ones) feel the need to toot their own horn over and over and over again about how awesome they are. I'm supermom! I'm superwife! I'm superemployee! I'm superexerciser! (maybe that's me some days...lol) I'm the best ever at everything and everyone wants the world on my shoulders because they know I can handle it. These people must be lacking something that they have to constantly validate themselves with pats to their own backs. Maybe it's confidence. Sometimes I just feel like screaming, "OK! We get it! You are awesome at . Let's move on now!" But then after my split second of geeking out about it, I'm satisfied to know that these "super people" are just people who like to toot. (smiling)

Would you say you're a busy body?

2012-01-20T05:38:00.001+01:00

That's one of the many questions I was asked by a counselor I saw this past week.

"Do you find it hard to sit still?"

Well, I guess but only because I know there is so much stuff I need to get done at all times. Not because I couldn't sit still, I just don't have time! - that was my answer.

I do, however find it hard to relax. I'm usually always tense. Even around friends and family members. There are precious few people that I feel truly at ease around, my mother, my husband and my children. Perhaps it's because I know these people love me unconditionally. I don't fear detachment from them.

So yeah, I am trying counseling. I was pretty traumatized by the panic attacks I was having and my doctor said that medication would only help a little. But combine it with some counseling and you have a better chance at overcoming it. So I made an appointment, and I went. It wasn't bad.

It was a little awkward to have to give so much personal details about my life to a complete stranger. But it was a comfortable environment and I wanted to be there because I want to get help for my growing anxieties. I didn't hold anything back.

We delved into my past, talked about family, and all the things I guess I expected her to ask about. Such questions are needed in order to find a cause for the problem. I am going to go on a weekly basis to learn techniques to deal with anxiety and panic disorder. These are things we are not born with and what these counselors go to years of school to be able to teach us. And I am willing to learn.

Among the positive things I am doing now: exercising. It didn't surprise me at all that she brought that up. In fact, since being an avid exerciser is supposed to help with such a broad range of things, it was a given that it would be mentioned at some point. The thing that sort of scared me is that if exercising regularly can help, and I already exercise regularly and still have anxiety, does that mean that my anxiety would be quite a lot worse if I was a couch potato?

Then something clicked, the week I had "the big one" I had decided to take a week off from working out. It was Christmas vacation and I wanted to be enjoying that week with my family, relaxing, eating cookies, playing games, watching movies, etc. Maybe on a subconscious level I am a fitness fanatic to help ease my anxieties. And outwardly I perceive it to be something I do mainly to look better and stay healthy.

It's all so "what if" and "maybe" to me. I honestly don't know how anyone could ever really know the true and real reason for a disorder such as this. I've always been a quiet, shy person. Someone who would rather be in a corner unnoticed. But that's a personality trait, be it good or bad, I think it is just what makes me me. It's the irrational fears that I have, which are a part of why I'm mostly a quiet person around other people, that are what fuel my anxieties. I might have what's called distorted thinking. And this makes sense to me too, but you'll remain in the dark about that one.

Just letting my thoughts pour out through my fingers feels so good. I do that a lot and then don't post just because it's therapeutic getting it out and reading it back to myself. My head is so jumbled, jam-packed with a thousand thoughts at all times. So much so that I wish I could turn my brain off. Especially at night. I'm thinking about the day, what I got done and what I didn't get done and will now have to do tomorrow. I'm always thinking thinking thinking and worrying that I won't remember any of it because there are SO many thoughts going on all at the same time.

I have trouble concentrating. I know that if I ever went back to school or took online classes I would never get anything done. The kids are talking, the dog is barking, there is too much to distract me. Just tonight I was trying to read something and I couldn't focus. I just can't focus and retain anything unless the room is totally quiet and chaos free. These are the types of things that make it hard. And I feel overwhelmed and not in control. Therefore I get irritable that is common of people with anxiety.

I'm learning a lot about myself, my behaviors and soon I will be learning how to deal with the undesirable behaviors so that I can become a better me. I've been praying for so long (I don't even know how long....years) for God to help me become the person I want to be and I feel He is steering me in the right direction. He doesn't just magically tap you on the head and all your troubles are solved, but He does give you nudges. And sometimes bad things have to happen before the healing you have been asking for can begin. He works in mysterious ways. But I trust Him. He will lead me and I will follow.

cupcake wars

2012-01-14T03:41:00.000+01:00

Ok folks, we need your help!!

My family held a little friendly competition in the kitchen tonight. We split into two teams. We drew a theme from the jar and had to bake cupcakes based on the theme we got.

Team 1: A day at the beach

Team 2: Burgers & Dogs

Please help us decide the winner between team 1 and team 2. Vote for your favorite in the comment section please. Deadline for voting will be Sunday evening at 8pm.

I will also be posting to facebook. If you'd like to vote via facebook instead, "like" the picture you think is the winner.

Thanks!

I'm cheating

2012-01-12T17:21:00.000+01:00

This is how I know there is a God

Today is a scheduled break from my healthy eating habits. While I think it's important to consume healthy foods, I also think it's wise to indulge once in a while too. Since I'm sort of a closet pig (oink), I would go nuts if I didn't get to eat what I love now and then.

I couldn't think of anything else I was craving more....than nachos. Usually when I crave it's something like french fries or pizza. But it's been a while since I've had nachos so I just went crazy. All the best toppings: taco meat, refried beans, sour cream, green onions, chiles, green olives, cheddar cheese (am I missing anything?). I did forget the salsa but there was already so much flavor I didn't miss it. And as you can see, I piled it high!

And ate it all.

That's a 10 1/2 inch dinner plate, my friends.

See my finger trails on the plate? I'm not afraid to eat with my fingers.

And this empty plate is proof to you people (oh, you know who you are) who give me such a bad time about not eating. I EAT! I just don't eat like this all the time, which is how I'm able to stay thin. (oh, and getting exercise helps too)

For lunch, I plan on having last night's leftovers (cannelloni). I had halibut while the rest of the family ate the cannelloni, so I'm excited to get to try them.

For dinner, Italiano~! [again] but I don't mind. Spaghetti Puttenesca with garlic breadsticks and CHOCOLATE CAKE for dessert.

There it is, in all it's fatty sugary splendor.

After dinner ~ cup cake wars. Andreas might be the reigning chopped champion but considering I can whip up a cupcake without even looking at a recipe, I'm pretty sure I got this!

Cocky winning attitude? Check!

Dinner Italiano!

2012-01-09T03:43:00.000+01:00

I know I promised pictures and results from the adult Chopped held last week, but I'm on my laptop and those pictures are on the PC downstairs. So I will make it up to you by posting something else pertaining to food.

You already know that we like to do themed dinners every now and then. I say it's for the kids but I probably like it more than they do. Last night, since it was my overfeed day (or cheat day, if you will) I choose *spaghetti alla puttanesca for dinner. Complete with garlic toast, garlic breadsticks, Italian sparkling water, wine and a lovely (omg - tasty) olive antipasto platter. It was so delicious.

And to go with the theme, of course, we had Italian music playing in the background, Italian flag colors, decorative Chianti bottle on the table, checkered table cloth....anything that said 'cozy Italian cafe' to me.

I'm scheduled to have another overfeed day on Thursday so we will do Italian night again, since Hanna and Eden missed out this last time.

We usually cycle between:

1)Chinese night - chopsticks, paper lanterns, special dishes, etc.

2)Mexican night - all the appropriate food, dishes, decorations - we go all out

3)Italian night (see above)

We need another one to add to the mix. It would seem logical that we incorporate a Swedish or Norwegian night, but we do those on occasion anyway, I guess. I'm up for suggestions. Any other fun nationalities we could add to our theme dinner nights? Nothing too off the wall - like cooking alligator or anything like that. Maybe, Hawaiian Luau night would be fun to do in the summer, for instance.

Please feel free to comment and leave suggestions.

Interesting footnote (found on Wikipedia):

* Spaghetti alla puttanesca (literally "whore's style spaghetti" in Italian) is a spicy, tangy, somewhat salty Italian pasta dish (AND MY FAVORITE - FYI) invented in the mid-20th century. The ingredients are typical of Southern Italian cuisine.

I'm cookin' like an Italian whore, yeah! I knew I was Italian in my former life!!

Chopped - kids

2012-01-06T17:15:00.000+01:00

Last weekend, we held two chopped competitions. I was finally starting to feel a little better, I could function pretty normally so it was time to do at least ONE of the fun things I had planned for us over vacation.

We let the kids battle it out against each other in Arff Kitchen Stadium first. Eden and Hanna went head to head for both entree and dessert rounds.

Ingredients:

puff pastry

summer sausage

scallions

sharp white cheddar cheese

Searching for just the right spices

Eden's finished product - lovely

Hanna's finished plate - I thought it was beautiful

As far as presentation goes, it was a really close call, but I think Hanna had it in the end. However, Eden won the entree round because her food tasted better. She had wrapped ingredients in her puff pastry whereas Hanna just cooked the pastry and stacked the ingredients. We had to give creativity and taste to Eden. It was a close one though!

Judge Emma - or Jemma as she called herself

Dessert Round

Ingredients:

cotton candy

ritz crackers

marscapone cheese

chocolate chips

Eden's concoction. It was FAR too sweet for me to eat.

Part of Hanna's dessert included a glass of melted cotton candy mixed with chocolate instant drink mix and a hard candy fizzing at the bottom of the glass. I expected it to taste horrible but it wasn't bad. Still pretty sweet though.

Although Hanna won the dessert round, Eden ended up winning the overall competition. But it was a close one.

Next time I will post the other chopped competition of our vacation. Chef Andreas (or no.2 as I like to call him) and Chef Wonderful (as the kids were calling me)

Let me explain:

A while back the children started calling Pappa, Plop. And soon after Mom got switched to Pom. So we are Plop and Pom instead of Pappa and Mom.

Then we saw the commercial for the pomegranate juice POM Wonderful. And they started calling me Pom Wonderful. Perhaps I started that one, I don't know for sure.

So this was my judging card - Pom Wonderful

Next post will contain the exiting photos and results from Chopped - adults.

Better days

2012-01-02T05:35:00.000+01:00

It's nice to know other people that suffer from panic attacks. Not that I'd wish them on ANYONE, just that it's nice to know someone understands what you are going through. Thanks for the comment and thoughtful words, Carin.

Today was the first day since Tuesday night that I felt like myself. That's 5 days. It took that long to recover from my last attack. I was finally able to eat without feeling like I was choking. I was able to swallow fine. I could produce my own saliva without needing to chew gum (my jaw is so sore from all the chewing and clenching). I'm still pretty tired and I fear slipping into a panic again, but I'm trying to put it out of my mind the second it creeps in.

I still am afraid to go to sleep. Even walking into my bedroom, knowing it's time for bed, makes me nervous. I hope and pray that I can sleep through the night. I need to be refreshed by Tuesday - when reality hits us again. Girls will be back in school and Andreas will be back at work so it will just be me and Lizzy at the house. It will seem so empty and lonely.

Tomorrow I am taking down the Christmas decorations. It's usually sad to see it all come down, but this time I'm ready to put it all away. Mainly because it will give me something to do. Keeping busy is good for me these days.

We've been playing a lot more games with the kids this past week. It's so much fun spending time together as a family instead of all off doing our own thing. Today/tonight we played Apples to Apples, Clue, Taboo and Pictionary. It's neat watching Emma draw. She's only 5 but she does really well.

We held one chopped competition so far this week. Andreas and I would have had one too if I hadn't had a week long anxiety attack. Anyway, Andreas and I chose the ingredients and Hanna and Eden faced off against one another. They did an entree round and a dessert round. I took pictures that I'll have to post another day. It was so fun watching them in the kitchen. Eden ended up winning overall. She wants to be a chef someday. She loves cooking. In fact, I've gotten my breakfast served to me 3 days in a row now! Too bad she has to go back to school soon, I could have gotten used to breakfast in bed!

Been kind of a slow week here otherwise. And that's ok! It's Christmas break, we had planned on relaxing anyway. I just wish I could have enjoyed it more. The week ahead will be a better one. I'm optimistic.

Don't panic, be happy

2011-12-30T17:58:00.000+01:00

It's been a rough couple of days.

But before I get into that, a funny story....

Yesterday afternoon, we took the kids to see TinTin. It was a good movie. Andreas has TinTin comic books so he was thrilled at the idea of going to see the movie. He also has all week off from work (thankfully) so it was the perfect time to go. The theater was pretty full and so we had to sit waaaay down in front, and we didn't even get to sit together. The girls sat in the very front row and we were a couple rows up.

After the movie was over, we stopped at the store so Andreas could pick up something for dinner. I said I should probably go in with him because I needed to get some "girly items". I'll get them for you, he said. I told him he'd probably end up getting the wrong thing and you know, we are pretty particular when it comes to that stuff. Just explain it to me, he says. So I explained it. I even found a picture of the box using the internet on my phone.

When he was done shopping, as he was walking towards the car, he pulls out the blue box of "girly items" and with a giant evil grin on his face, starts waving them around in the air. OH. MY. LORD. If I could make myself disappear, that would have been a great time to use that power. Oh well, at least he got the right kind ;)

This week has been one of the worst weeks of my life. A week, maybe week and a half ago, I had a panic attack. In the middle of the night. It woke me up. It was the weirdest thing. A few days later, I had another one. And then a couple of days ago, I had the MOTHER of all panic/anxiety attacks. It woke me up at 12:30 am (I'd been sleeping only about an hour and a half) and it lasted ALL NIGHT LONG.

There were peaks. I would get this horrible throat tightening feeling where I couldn't swallow, I couldn't breathe, my heart was racing....basically I thought I would die at any moment. Then the worst of the panic would subside but I would still have trouble swallowing, I was shaky, and nauseous and worst of all, SO AFRAID that the worst of the peaks would come again. Basically, I could think of nothing else which makes it impossible to come down. I wandered alone downstairs in the dark, watching the hours pass by, in agony. So tired, so afraid.

I was trying everything to calm myself down. I would breathe into a paper bag when I felt the shortness of breath. I would squeeze play doh in my hands. I tried playing xbox games to keep my hands busy. Games on my phone to keep my mind busy. I tried breathing exercises. I walked around and around and around....just trying to breathe normally. Hours and hours went by. I couldn't believe how ridiculous this was becoming. How could it last this long????

Then, when morning came, I had calmed down some but still had the swallowing problem. I couldn't swallow unless I had gum in my mouth to produce saliva. Every now and then I would get a burning in my chest, sort of a tingling, reminding me that a panic peak could be just around the corner. I couldn't eat, which made me weak and shaky. I was so tired. But every time I felt myself drifting off, I would jolt up, gasping.

Finally by dinner time, I was feeling almost normal. Just incredibly tired. I ate. Then I laid down to just relax and enjoy feeling normal. I was able to sleep 6 hours. I woke up at 5am feeling happy that I slept, but also wondering if I was about to have another attack. I started to feel the tingling sensation and I just thought "NO!" I am NOT going through this again. I wasn't able to fall asleep again but I didn't have another attack. I was so tired all day though, I couldn't really function normally. When I decided that I would try to go to the movie with the rest of the family I had one stipulation, I had to sit in an aisle seat in case I had to bolt out. As I said that, I thought, "Oh great. Now I'm one of those people. People with severe anxiety and can't go anywhere." Well, I refuse to be a slave to this. I made an appointment with the doctor and if I need to be medicated to calm these attacks so be it.

I just don't know why it's happening all of a sudden like this. And why always in the middle of the night? Waking me up from sleep. Maybe I have sleep apnea and that triggers them. Supposedly stress can cause them but I don't feel stressed out at all. Whatever the reason, I need it to stop. It's debilitating. It literally took two days of my life from me. Two days spent panicking and recovering. NOT fun. And knowing I have to wait until next Wednesday to see the doctor has me a little worried.

So today, I'm battling a severe headache. As I type this, I am finally feeling the medicine doing something. But the dull pain is still there. I just want to feel normal. It seems like it's been a good 2 months since I've felt really good. Can't wait to feel like myself again.

On a brighter note, it finally snowed. The ground is white. Too bad it wasn't like this a week ago. Because now "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".

Robot 1X

2011-12-27T18:26:00.000+01:00

This is our robot vacuum. We call her Robot 1X. Where my Futurama fans at?

And this is Lizzy.

Lizzy bear and I feel the same way about Robot 1X.

It is always invading our space. It's a space invader. It vacuums under my feet in the kitchen when I'm trying to cook. It tries to vacuum up Lizzy's tail as she sleeps on the floor. It's always after us. It smells fear.

See? Here it comes now. It's after me....again.

It's coming out from under the rocking chair to attack.

Run, Lizzy. Save your tail.

It likes to push around Lizzy's toys. She keeps a watchful eye. That's her new toy from Santa. And she isn't about to let Robot 1X take it.

Stupid Robot.

Goodies

2011-12-23T23:40:00.000+01:00

New on the line up for Christmas goodies this year are:

Swedish almond butter cookies

So....much....butter

Cutesy little gingerbread men petit fours before they were covered in heavenly ganache - which is nothing but melted chocolate and heavy cream. Nothing can taste bad when it involves heavy cream.
NOTHING.

These little dudes kill me. Words simply cannot describe the charm of Scandinavian Christmas decor.

And I was trying out the monochrome setting on my camera. I think I like it.

If I don't blog again until Christmas

Merry Christmas!

4 more days

2011-12-22T02:24:00.000+01:00

When you have so much to do, the best way NOT to accomplish any of it, is to take a muscle relaxer.

Whoa, mama. I tried holding off today, just dealing with the pain without medicine, but it got worse and worse and I became so stiff that it wasn't an option anymore. So I took one of my Flexeril at about 3:00pm. The fun part is trying to stay awake. I don't see how my mom can take 3 a day and still function. Maybe she has built up a tolerance.

But I kept myself busy by cooking dinner (sorry about forgetting to take the stickers off the green peppers before cooking them...teehee). And then I tried visiting with my sister. Keeping up normal conversation is tricky. My head was bobbing from side to side and I'm not really sure if what I said made any sense. Playing the piano was.....interesting. Now, I'm blogging. And it's not really working out. So I'm just going to go lay down.

Night....

ugh....have you been on WebMd again?

2011-12-20T15:52:00.000+01:00

Well, mom and I got a great start on the week-before-Christmas-chores yesterday. I did nearly all the laundry and mom folded. I started cleaning. I'm taking it one room at a time, starting with the living room. It has been de-furred and is looking pretty nice. I also baked two pans of bars last night - cereal bars and mixed nut bars (Andreas' favorite). Only 20 more to go. Ok, maybe not that many, but a lot of baking to do yet.

I had a terrible sore back and neck yesterday. I pulled a muscle in my back last week and I thought it was done giving me trouble but it seemed to have traveled to my upper back and neck. It was so uncomfortable and I couldn't sleep so I got up at 4:30am and did the worst thing I could possibly have done - look at the symptom checker on WebMd.

You know, that sight is marvelous, I've used it before, but it is so easy to get yourself worked up. I usually end up thinking I have rare diseases and such. For real, it did get me a bit paranoid. The hypochondriac in me was almost positive I had meningitis.

I am no stranger to muscle aches and pains, because I lift weights and that is just part of the game. But the ache I had felt so much different. It was a stiffness that came on really quickly. I could hardly turn my head left or right, and tipping my chin to my chest was very painful. Something just felt wrong.

Not only that, but I've been sick for so long and it didn't seem all that far fetched to think I had some sort of infection going on. My immune system is down, I can't shake this cough/cold/mucus thing, I've got this stiff neck...what if I had viral meningitis? Or worse...bacterial meningitis??!! That is nothing to play with, you can die within a day or two of getting it.

So, off to the ER I went. I didn't want to wait until 8am for the walk in clinic to open. My blood pressure was very high but I didn't have a temp. The fact that I had no temp and didn't have a headache, was reason enough to rule out meningitis. Phew! What a relief that was. The doctor said that I probably pulled something and it would get worse before it got better. He prescribed a muscle relaxer and pain pill. Oh joy. I seriously dislike pills. BUT, it will help me get better quicker and that is all I needed to hear. Sign me up, doc!

I have so much to do this week and luckily the best thing I can do for myself is keep moving. Apparently the laying on a heating pad regimen I did for myself last night did me no favors. Heat = bad. I will probably stay out of the gym for the remainder of the week. It will feel good to start up again (hopefully) pain free and rejuvenated after Christmas is over. And it pretty much takes a doctor to tell me to lay off strenuous activities for me to actually lay off. Sometimes we just need to rest our bodies. Ok, mom? Are you happy? ;)

So now I'm home, blogging while medicated. That's gotta rank up their with drunk dialing. So I should get off here and go operate heavy machinery or chop vegetables with a large sharp knife or something....haha. I kid, I kid! But I am feeling a tad uncoordinated at the moment and a bit sleepy so I'm off to find my cozy bed.

Just playin' around

2011-12-20T01:35:00.002+01:00

going to ihop

2011-12-17T22:43:00.000+01:00

Andreas had a hankering for ihop today. Actually, Emma had a hankering for Swedish pancakes, (or plättar), and pappa bear didn't feel like cooking. Because he was napping. At 10:30am. And why shouldn't he? He'd already been up 2 hours. So he suggested ihop.

Then he thought, maybe we better go to Village Inn since he didn't think ihop would cater to my non-wheat diet. But I figured I could still eat eggs and turkey bacon, maybe even a potato pancake or some hashbrowns. I can handle the ihop! So we went to ihop. And Emma didn't have plättar, but she did have bacon, sausage, eggs and American pancakes. And she ate it all! For our little toothpick of a girl who barely eats enough to keep a bird alive, this is a MAJOR feat. She enjoyed every bit of it, dunking her bacon into the whipped cream. Eating pancakes with maple AND blueberry syrup. Eating her bacon AND pappa bear's bacon.

Andreas thought it was funny that she was dunking one form of fat into another. I thought it was funny that she kept calling her bacon 'turkey bacon' when it was really pork bacon. And then she said, "I know it's regular bacon but it tastes like turkey bacon". I was smiling ear to ear....SEE?! Turkey bacon DOES taste like regular bacon. And it IS possible to make it crispy. And no, you don't have to burn the crap out of it. My girls and I love to eat turkey bacon. It's the only kind of bacon I ever buy, unless I'm feeling like giving in to my husband's constant desire to clog up his arteries with pork fat.

So anyway, I ended up eating from the "fit menu" - which always makes me laugh. I had an omelet with egg substitute....only because they put their wheat pancake mix in the real egg omelets. I can't be sure that they don't put it in their egg substitute omelets, but I can hope they didn't. And it was filled with turkey bacon and cheese. Then I had hashbrowns and fruit on the side. I know hashbrowns are not very healthy for you, fried in butter and all. But I'm in a butter lovin' place right now. That's right, I'm eating things like butter and full fat cheese and life has never been better ;) Even without bread. More specifically wheat. Have you ANY idea how many products contain wheat????

Since going wheat free I've made things like cheesecake, peanut butter fudge, muffins, pizza, wraps, etc. all home made and containing NO wheat what-so-ever. It's been anything but flavorless! AND, the added bonus of it all (aside from getting to eat so much cheese) is that all the stomach cramps and...eh hem...gas - gone! Aren't you happy for me? If you are generally around me after 3pm, I'm sure you're happy now! hehe...

it's raining, it's pouring.....mucus, that is

2011-12-16T23:37:00.001+01:00

I bought a Neti Pot yesterday. Oh, you have no idea what the heck a Neti Pot is? Neither did I. Until I went to the doctor and they suggested that I tried one because I probably had allergies. Huh? Allergies? I don't know about that...

What I do know is that whatever I've got JUST. WON'T. QUIT.

Anyway, to keep panic attacks at bay, I've had to use nosespray. I panic when I can't breathe through my nose. And you can read here why I never want to have to use nosespray again. A better alternative to Afrin is the Neti Pot.

This is pretty much what mine looks like. A plastic blue "teapot". You fill it with water, mix in a super pure soduim chloride, then pour it in one nostril while it drains out the other nostril. Sexy, right? I also thought it would feel terrible. But it feels good. And I can breathe so well now. I am so happy.

"Nasal irrigation is a practice in which the nasal cavity is washed to flush out excess mucus and debris from the nose and sinuses. It promotes good nasal health, and patients with chronic sinusitis including symptoms of facial pain, headache, halitosis, cough, watery discharge and nasal congestion often find nasal irrigation to provide effective relief." - Wikipedia

The only draw back so far happened this morning at the gym. When I woke up, I used my handy dandy Neti Pot, and was breathing beautifully. When I got to the gym, I started my workout with a bench press. After a round of those, I got up, bent over the bench and a solid stream of liquid poured out of my nose. Poured....like a faucet. I ran to get a wad of tissues to wipe it up, praying that no one saw what just happened. And I basically spent the remainder of my workout with tissue crammed up my nose so it wouldn't happen again. Hot.

Must have been a lot of water trapped up in there somewhere. It was the weirdest thing. And maybe the grossest also.

But it won't scare me from using it again. I am very satisfied with the relief it has given me. I slept like a baby last night and full of energy today. Isn't it strange how people say "sleep like a baby" in reference to a good night sleep, when babies generally wake up every couple hours? Anway, if you have sinus congestion, I suggest trying the Neti Pot. Best $11 or so I've ever spent (not counting your Christmas gift, honey. teehee)

flax wrap sandwich

2011-12-15T03:36:00.001+01:00

Today, I tried something completely new and outside the box for me. I made a flax wrap. In the microwave. With very minimal ingredients. I'm talking, ground flax, eggs, spices, baking powder and water. It was phenomenal! I stuffed it with avocado, alfalfa sprouts and melted havarti. Yum!

Look at the beauty that is this homemade wrap! I think next time I make this, I will add meat of some kind. Canned salmon or tuna, perhaps?

I found the recipe for the wrap in the book "Wheat Belly". I am trying a wheat free diet (5 days now!) so this wrap was almost like getting to eat a bread product! Truth is, I haven't missed bread yet. Or cookies. But I honestly feel like a hefer eating all this FAT! I'm seriously bloated. I think I'm eating too much. I'm so used to eating every 2-3 hours, and so eating all this fat, I shouldn't need to eat so often. I guess it is something I'm going to need some time to get used to.

I really don't see myself on a wheat free diet for life. I would just miss certain things far too much. But maybe this experiment will make me change my mind in the long run. We'll see...

Holiday bokeh

2011-12-14T16:38:00.000+01:00

I thought the blurry tree looked kind cool. Sometimes photo mistakes are art in disguise.

You'd probably never be able to tell but this is a shot of the tree as well. Looks more like fireworks.

This is one of our new ornaments from the Scandinavian store in the mall. We bought a little box full of nifty straw ornaments like this. I hope having decorations like this on the tree will make up for the fact that we (the kids and I) prefer to have the Christmas tree up right away in December instead of waiting until the day before Christmas, which is tradition for Andreas. It is nice to be able to enjoy the glow from a cozy tree in the living room during the entire holiday season.

A popular photo during Christmas is one involving lots of wonderful "bokeh". There is speculation as to the proper way to pronounce bokeh. Even though I've read it's pronounced "bow - kay" as in a bouquet of flowers, I can't get past just calling it "bow - kuh". Anyway, bokeh refers to the pleasing, out of focus blur in a picture. In the picture above, the background lights from the Christmas tree provide bokeh in the form of large white circles.

I like the bokeh in this picture. Generally good bokeh results from a wide aperture. I think in this picture my aperture was at f/2.2. Holiday bokeh is stunning, isn't it?

I need to go play with my camera a little more.

nighty night

2011-12-14T03:28:00.000+01:00

Right now, I am snugly warm in my bed. And it's only, like, 7:30. I've got icyhot and a heating pad on my back and Vick's vaporub on my chest. I'm gonna watch a movie on my laptop. The Family Man. It's a good holiday movie about what's important in life.

I did something awful to my back at the gym today. On the first exercise. Like it usually goes when I injure myself. I think that is because I don't warm up properly. Dang I can be impatient! Hanna gave me a good rub. It felt great and hurt at the same time.

I'm STILL battling a cold. Persistent little bugger too! Coughing like a 50 year smoker, phlegm that won't quit, and I've been having trouble breathing through my nose so much lately that I actually broke down and used.......nosespray! If you know me at all, you will know that I had a terrible (I mean TERRIBLE) addiction to nosespray for more than 10 years. I couldn't go anywhere without a bottle and if I did, I would panic. I would also panic when my bottle would get near empty and I didn't have a back up. I don't know how I ever lived like that. It's called rebound effect, and it's a real thing! They tell you not to use it for more than 3 days. You should definitely heed that warning, friends! Anyway, I am very fearful of getting hooked on it again so I never use it. But I did last night. One spray in each nostril, just so I could sleep.

Tonight was the Christmas party at the gym. I promised the girls we'd go. There was food, bouncy castles, face painting, music, door prizes, and Santa. Even though I felt horrible, we went. We had been there all of 5 minutes when Emma complained of a tummy ache and said she felt like barfing. Well, I don't like to take my chances with barfing in public so we agreed that it would be best if Andreas took her home. Good thing too because they barely got in the door and she barfed all over the floor. I am sad that she got sick but SO GLAD it didn't happen in the bouncy castle! Yikes, that would have been awful!

I don't know why I blog about uninteresting stuff like this. I guess I feel like I have trouble coming up with topics that are blog worthy and so I get on here and babble on about our incredibly dull lives. No, I shouldn't say that. I don't think my life is dull in a bad way. I'm glad we aren't a big part of the "rat race". We lead fairly subdued and relaxing lives, and that is just fine with us. It just doesn't make for very exciting blog posts.

Well, ok, I'm going to watch my movie now.

Finding the perfect tree

2011-12-12T02:52:00.001+01:00

We like to go out into lakes country to find our Christmas tree. Sometimes, we get our tree from the clinic parking lot just down the road. But it's a lot more fun and meaningful when we can all pile into the van, venture out into the 'wilderness' and cut down the perfect tree. Usually, we go to a tree farm by Cormorant lake. Friendly people. Beautiful variety of trees. And we pay less than half what we would pay in town for ANY tree we want! If we wanted the tallest, fullest tree there, still only $30. Win win.

Andreas was the one who spotted this gem. So full and beautiful.

Sawing away.
And who says I'm never in any pictures? See my shadow!

We could not have gone on a more beautiful day.

Emma was whipping the poor tree

It barely fit in the van. Lucky for us we have stow and go seating and can fold down any or all of the 4 seats in the back. You can't see her, but Eden is back there somewhere.

And the finished product. We all pitched in and decorated together. Andreas and I did the lights. Hanna and I did the beads and garland. And the girls all did the ornaments. I have really learned to let go of the "perfect" looking tree. Before, I used to be really anal when it came to how I decorated the tree. Only red and gold balls, specific ribbon an beads. I wanted it to look like a magazine picture. But I remember how excited I was to decorate the tree when I was a kid and decided that I can't take that joy away from my kids. So now, I let them have at it and put whatever they want on it. It may not look Pottery Barn perfect, but it's perfect in my eyes and in the eyes of my children.

Christmastime is here

2011-12-07T17:59:00.000+01:00

I think I heard that Texas got snow. And, my aunt, who lives in New Mexico, said they got 7 inches of snow and everything basically shut down. Ok, when New Mexico and Texas have snow and North Dakota doesn't, something is weird in the universe.

This is as close as we are to snow - frost.

My mom keeps saying that she wished it would snow because she can't get into the Christmas spirit when everything is dull and brown. This is funny to me because someone as spiritual as my mom should have no problems getting into the spirit of Christmas. It's not about snow. Although, I do know what she means. I would like a white Christmas as well.

Christmastime is here!

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). Matthew 1:23

And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people, Unto you is born this day a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.' Luke 2:11

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. 1 Peter 1:8

And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. Luke 1:14

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

It's easy to lose sight of the meaning of Christmas amid all the ads and sales and gift buying hoopla in the media. I am trying this year to remember that Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ. Even though we celebrate with pagan traditions, such as decorating a tree, which has nothing to do with Christianity. These traditions are what give us that cozy feeling we all want during the holiday season. We need to feed our senses with the sights and sounds and smells of Christmas. It brings us together. It reminds us to love, to give and to be thankful. It is a time to make resolutions and start over. Learn from our mistakes and become better people. A time of hope. A time of faith.

Wishing you a joyful peace-filled Christmas season!
(snow or not)

Losing sight of priorities is easy when you are constantly on the move

2011-12-05T18:26:00.000+01:00

I read something I want to share with you:

"I recently listened to a mother rattle off the after-school schedule for her three children. This woman picked each of them up from school every day so that she could run them to swimming practices, chess matches, music and tennis lessons and Scouts. "We're usually out until seven or eight o'clock." she said. When I asked her how the boys ate dinner and did their homework, she told me that they usually eat while doing their homework. Often, this is late into the evening. I was alarmed by the image of a family so busy that they can't even sit down together for a relaxing meal.

We are a busy society. So busy, in fact, that we often forget what really matters in our lives. Why is it that so many of us feel we need to fill our lives with activities that keep us moving, but don't bring us happiness?" - taken from Positive Thinkers Club

This is exactly why I do not allow my children to sign up for every activity under the sun. I simply refuse to drive them all over town to different activities, every night of the week. It's just an added stress and rush that none of us need. It takes away from what little family time we have during the week. It's not worth it. Besides, when I get rushed and stressed, I get crabby and end up taking it out on the kids. I'd rather do a craft activity with them at home or snuggle up and read books to them or draw pictures. Or, just sit and laugh as they chase Lizzy around the house (or vice versa).

I prefer to have relaxing evenings and it is a MUST in this house for us to all sit down together to a family dinner. This is the way I was brought up and it is imperative that I teach my children the importance of this. Plus, kids need their rest too. They need down time. If I were to drag them all over town most nights, they would have to come home to a rushed dinner (probably not very healthy), an evening of homework before bed, and no family time. I figure they'll have their whole adult lives to be rushed and stressed, let them be kids and use their imaginations and creative play while they can. They will have a opportunity to play team sports when they get to middle school. Up until then, one activity each is plenty. So far, they seem to be surviving on that ;)

Many parents whisk their children off to practices and lessons and they become amazing people; talented, skilled and great athletes. Nothing wrong with that. But my kids are amazing people too. Talented. Skilled. And happy. That's my number one priority (yes, even more important that my health obsession). That my kids feel loved and happy. If I can accomplish that, I am happy too.

early Christmas gift

2011-12-01T04:25:00.001+01:00

One of my Christmas gifts from Eden. She decided that she'd give it to me a little early, considering I had a neck ache tonight. I personally love how she actually put an expiration date on it.
"30 days only". Really?

Christmas Favorites

2011-11-30T03:35:00.000+01:00

There are SO so so so so so SOOOOOO many things about the holiday season that I love. Love love and love. It's probably the best month of the year. Despite the fact that it's cold. And really, it hasn't been all that cold here yet. Everyone has their own traditions and favorites: holiday cookies, movies, decorations, songs, etc. And as I said before, there are SO many things I love and would consider favorites, that it's hard (so hard) to narrow them down. But I'm going to try.

Favorite holiday movies
1) Home Alone
2) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
3) Elf
4) How the Grinch Stole Christmas
5) The Family Man

Favorite holiday music
1) I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
2) Baby it's cold outside
3) Anything by Vince Guaraldi Trio
4) O Come O Come Emmanuel by Barlowgirl
5) All the old favorites: Perry Como, Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, Burl Ives, the list goes on and on....
6) Josh Groban - Oh Holy Night
7) Dan Fogelberg - Same old lang syne
I'd better stop here, I could go on forever, my iTunes Christmas playlist is a mile long

Favorite holiday baking
1) Gingerbread (Andreas' recipe)
2) Fudge
3) Rosettes - except I don't bake these, I buy them. My parents used to make them though. Mmmm.
4) Nutmeg meltaways
5) Almond crescents

Favorite holiday decorations
1) Garland with white lights, pine cones and berries
2) Red and gold seems to be our theme. Although I love silver and white also.
3) The beautiful candelabra we got in Denmark (Swedish design though) that I can't plug in here :(
4) Scandinavian tomte - so cute
5) Old tattered mistletoe from my parents' holiday decorations. So old, so cherished.

Andreas' favorite - sadly, I am not a fan

"Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things"

Memories of Denmark

2011-11-27T05:38:00.000+01:00

I've been spending a lot of time lately going back to the beginning stages of this blog and reading old posts. Some of them are actually quite funny, as I have laughed out loud several times. And some might bring a tear to my eye, as I remember our adventures in Denmark. Funny how sentimental I get over that place because as I was living there, I did nothing but complain about it. I do miss it though. What an experience that was! Sometimes I wish we could go back. Sometimes....

At least I had a lot of funny stories to share. Because we didn't really know anyone there or have a car, we were forced to spend a lot of time together, making things interesting. It wasn't easy to get to a movie theater, for instance, so that would be a rare treat. Instead, we did a lot of biking and hiking through the forest trails. Or even biking to the beach on occasion. Having picnics and visiting castles. I don't think I fully appreciated how amazing it was to be there until I moved back home.

Now that we are living in the U.S. again, (and it almost feels as though we never left) things are much easier. But we don't have as many adventures as we did then. There isn't really anywhere we can go for exciting day trips. We don't really go exploring much. All we really do is hang out at home. We are pretty boring people.

My kids have grown up so much and have lost pretty much all the Danish they knew. Eden was practically fluent at just 6 years old. I used to love listening to her and Andreas speak Danish to each other. I often wonder what life would be like if we would have stayed for 3 years. How much Danish we would retain. How many more adventures we would have had. If I could just have managed to get over the culture shock....

It was SO hard on me. I remember just sobbing on many occasions because I missed my family and everything that was familiar and comforting. I just couldn't get used to such differences. And with Andreas gone at work every day, I was terribly lonely and depressed. I felt so bad for him too because I was burdening him with my sadness and he tried so hard to do things that might cheer me up. I wanted to just leave. I was so heartbroken over having to leave our first home and the area that I had lived in my entire life, that if he would have told me I could go home, I would have in a heartbeat.

So it seems funny that I go through these periods of almost grief over the life I left behind in Denmark. Something I didn't really give a fair chance. I find myself longing to go back to that life, that town, that house and relive those memories. You never know what a move like that is going to do to you until you go through it. It was like jumping in with both feet, eyes closed. I had no idea what it would be like. But I did it. I went through with it. And now I know. At least I'm not sitting here wondering what it would be like. It was a big decision, a big move, but we went for it. And I'm glad.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-26T02:20:00.000+01:00

pumpkin pie puff pastries

We didn't have the traditional pumpkin pie this year for Thanksgiving and I kind of missed it. So I whipped these up for after dinner tonight. And they did taste like pumpkin pie!

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving once again. My brother and his wife were gracious hosts and he is a master in the kitchen (just like my dad was). Prime rib, turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry salad, mashed potatoes so creamy it makes you want to cry....it was a feast among feasts. Great food, great wine, great people, I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend a good old American holiday.

I told you we had great wine!

I have had my Christmas shopping pretty much done for many weeks now so I didn't brave the crazy people that come out of the woodwork for black Friday sales. I feel sorry for people who work in retail. What a nightmare that must be! I don't really understand the need to shop at crazy hours of the night, fighting off hundreds of deal hungry shoppers to save a few bucks. That's just me.

Maybe if car dealerships were in on the madness, I'd think about it. Shopping for a car at 4 am to save thousands of dollars is justifiable. But for everything else, I'll shop at 10am on a Monday, when I'm the least likely to get a black eye from the experience ;)

Things I am thankful for lately

2011-11-22T00:00:00.000+01:00

1) Kashi honey almond flax cereal
2) my mom
3) Courts Plus
4) the game "flush" on my Windows phone
5) maletonin
6) candles
7) coffee
8) iPod
9) Lightroom
10) chapstick

Not to make light of the obvious things to be thankful for: home, loving family, everything I need and more, etc.

We had parent/teacher conferences for Emma and Eden today. And in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my AWESOME children!

Academically, Emma is doing very well in kindergarten. But she has little break downs......often. Usually, it's over something really small. She is like that at home too. It is just her perfectionist personality. If she screws up on a drawing, for instance, she'll freak out and cry about it for 20 minutes. Her teacher wasn't sure if it was anxiety, missing me because being in school all day is a big change, or what. But other than that, she is sweet, respectful, listens well, has friends and really seems to enjoy school for the most part. I am really proud of my little 5 year old girl. Growing up too fast.

Eden...oh where do I begin to talk about Eden? She is a phenomenal girl. Always has been. She happens to have the same teacher she had in 1st grade and she was SO excited when she found out she would have her again. Eden loves her teacher and her teacher seems to share that same adoration for Eden. Mrs. S says it has been wonderful seeing Eden excelling in everything she does. She's a super student and is such a joy to have in the classroom. All the kids love her, boys and girls. Whenever they have to pair up for tasks, everyone always wants to be with Eden. When it's share time, they all laugh at her stories. She is very much a loved girl. And it's no surprise, she has such a great sense of humor and fun personality. I was beaming with pride when I left that classroom today. And as we left, we said thank you to Mrs. S and she replied, "Thank YOU....for Eden". It was very sweet.

I am lucky. I couldn't have asked for better children. Now I have to remember that when they are arguing AGAIN or not doing what I asked them to do for the 50th time ;)

Things I might wish for any given day....

2011-11-20T05:15:00.000+01:00

...that I had more children
...that I had no children
...that I lived alone
...that I didn't like french fries or potato chips
...that I could afford to put braces on my two oldest children
...that I had tons of friends
...that I could cook like an Iron Chef
...that my father was alive
...that I didn't have anxiety issues
...that I had known my grandparents
...that I could sing
...that I was smarter
...that I was beautiful
...that I could be happy with myself
...that calories didn't matter
...that I had another dog
...that I had a cat
...that I had no pets
...that I had an important and successful career
...that I was wildly and obnoxiously rich
...that I could write a novel
...that I had a smaller forehead
...that I could take my kids to Disneyland or Disneyworld
...that I had more courage
...that child abuse and animal cruelty didn't exsist
...that I wasn't selfish
...that I had more patience
...that I could take a vacation, wherever I wanted to go
...that I had more muscle
...that I had a sparkling personality
...that I had a maid
...that I was a stand up comedian
...that my mom was only 20 years older than me
...that my husband liked to exercise with me
...that I was more religious
...that I was really good at yoga
...that I lived by the ocean
...that I had a pair of Louboutin shoes

37

2011-11-13T22:46:00.000+01:00

I turned 37 yesterday. I had a great birthday. Hanna went to the gym with me in the morning and while we were gone, my husband was in the kitchen baking me the most marvelous birthday cake.

Tiramisu cake

Look at all the lovely layers!

There was no way I was going to adhere to my clean diet after he went through all that trouble for me. And it looked far too good to pass up. I mean, tiramisu is one of my all time favorite deserts!

And it was every bit as delicious as it looks. It was a picture perfect layer cake and the taste was phenomenal! What ticks me off is that my husband is a man who cooks like twice a year and he is still able to pull a flawless culinary masterpiece out of his ass. Now if I would have attempted this cake, I'm positive there would have been failure and lots of swearing.

I appreciate him so so much! Thank you for another wonderful birthday, honey. You know how to make me feel so special.

We went out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse because I was feeling like a steak (gotta have my protein). And since I was going to have cake, I thought I might as well go all out and order FRENCH FRIES AND DEEP FRIED PICKLES!!!! Deep fried pickles are probably the best fried creation known to man. It was heaven, heaven, heaven. Until my stomach realized it was being poisoned with unhealthy crap and went "WTF did you just feed me???!!!!" and geeked out. I was in misery ALL night long. This is what happens when you are used to eating healthy food and all of a sudden you feed it french fries, fried pickles and cake. Not fun.

I got a brand new Windows phone. Didn't think it was going to be anything special but oh my gosh, I am addicted to it! I LOVE it! My girls each picked out some sensational holiday scented candles from Bath & Body Works. And I got two of my favorite movies: How to Train Your Dragon and Christmas Vacation.

I love birthdays!

New car caviar 4 star daydream think I'll buy me a football team

2011-11-07T21:05:00.000+01:00

Hanna is Rainbow Bright.

Andreas has these crystal awards from work on top of our desk and when the sun shines in the morning, the light casts beautiful rainbows on the walls and floor. I happened to step in the way of the reflected light and Hanna said, "Oh mom! Your hair looks coooooool!" So I made her stand in the way so I could get a picture of it. Kind of neat.

One day, there was a perfect orb reflected on the wall. It was the coolest thing. But it was fading fast. I ran to get my camera and by the time I actually got a photo of it, there was just a tiny blip of color. It didn't make for a very interesting photo.

Stuff like this always makes me think of that Pink Floyd album....Dark Side of the Moon.

Have I ever mentioned my love for Pink Floyd? I have 5 of the albums.

1) The Wall

2) Dark Side of the Moon

3) Wish You Were Here

4) A Momentary Lapse of Reason

5) The Division Bell

I was at the HoDo with my husband about 2 months back and before we left I stopped in the restroom. As I walked in to the empty room, the beginning of the song Wish You Were Here was playing (one of my very favorites) so I started singing along with the music. Right there in the stall of a public bathroom, without a care in the world who heard me or how bad I sounded. When music touches the soul the way that song does for me, I just can't help myself.

So, so you think you can tell

heaven from hell

blue skies from pain

And can you tell a green field

from a cold steel rail

a smile from a veil

Do you think you can tell

and did they get you to trade

your heros for ghosts

hot ashes for trees

hot air for a cool breeze

cold comfort for change

and did you exchange

a walk on part in the war

for a lead role in a cage

How I wish, how I wish you were here

we're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl

year after year

Running over the same old ground

what have we found?

The same old fears

Wish you were here

blue haired 5 year old spells c-u-t-e

2011-11-06T15:27:00.000+01:00

Halloween may be over, but when there are children in the house, dressing up is daily fun.

I don't know what she is, with her blue bob and black petticoat, but I call it cute.

Sometimes we like to put on wigs and tutus, go down to the basement and dance around in the dark with the disco ball on. It's super fun. Andreas doesn't join us, of course. He thinks we are crazy.

They had so many colors of those cute bobs at Walmart. I should have bought them all. They were only $5 a piece. It's a steal, really. Blue, pink, green, purple, black, red....we would be set for disco dancin' wigs.

Actually, if I was smart, I would take the kids to pick out Halloween costumes for next year, right now. After any holiday, prices are drastically reduced. I always have good intentions to stock up and save, but it never happens.

I don't know about you, but I am super excited for the holiday season. I love this time of year. Halloween through the new year is such a wonderful time. Then comes the let down of the frigid and dreary months ahead until the spring thaw. That's the worst time of year for me.

What is your favorite and least favorite time of year?

home improvement

2011-11-04T17:14:00.000+01:00

Every now and then (ok, a lot), I find myself walking from room to room, taking note of things I want to change. There is a lot in this house which could use some sprucing up. It was built in the early nineties, and while it's a very nice house, it lacks that modern feel. From the ugly borders, to wallpaper and paint, to the outdated wood, tile and carpet. But, with a house this large, revamping everything would cost as much as buying a new house. So we have to start small, pick one area, and go from there.

Of course, we've been in this house over two years and the only real project we've tackled is to paint Eden's room. Something we had promised her we'd do as a consolation because they both wanted the room Hanna has. But that's it. All the other money we've put into the house has been for repairs. Not nearly as sexy as adding lovely new furniture and fixtures. Believe me, I would much rather have spent all the money we've spent on repairing both the fence and the fireplace THREE TIMES EACH, on beautification.

We talk about all the things we would like to do, one room at a time, but it never happens. So, I took matters into my own hands yesterday. I started with the foyer.

Despite the looming holiday season and the fact that the engine light is on in my van, signaling to me that it's time to pour money into repairs, and the fact that I just went on a holiday shopping spree last weekend (which, incidentally, proved to be very successful seeing as how I bought almost all the kid's Christmas gifts already), I spent money on my foyer.

I started here because it's the smallest area that needed fixing up and it's the first thing people see when they enter the home. I have wanted a table & mirror or a bench seat for a LONG time now and I finally just bought one. It looks so much better than the crooked coat tree that once stood there. Even though Andreas loved that thing, it was time to go. Also, when Lizzy was a puppy, she chewed 3 of the 4 corners of my [new at the time] entry rug and every time I look at the frayed edges held together by duct tape, I think to myself that I should just go buy another one. Because it really does look dreadful.

So I did that too. Except the one I bought was a bit too small so I will take it back and get a bigger size. Also, I splurged on some new lamps for our bedside tables. Except they weren't really a splurge because they were really cheap. Walmart has cute lamps. I'm not ashamed to say it.

FYI - I got the table at Hobby Lobby, one of my very favorite stores. It's dangerous for me to set foot in this store without Andreas to rein me in.

Considering I stewed and fretted at 3 different stores trying to find the perfect combination of things that fulfilled the idea I had in my mind, I think it turned out well and I am very happy with my choices. Now, if I can just convince my husband that we really need to get rid of our front room sofa and replace it with two sophisticated leather sitting chairs.....

..but then we'd need a sophisticated desk to match.

Fright Night

2011-11-01T17:10:00.000+01:00

I was a mummy last night for Halloween. Little kids were very unsure of me. I was wrapped up in about 10 or so bandages with 8 packages of cheesecloth over the top. It took forever. Luckily I didn't have to use the bathroom at all.
The cashier at the store had asked me what I was using all the cheesecloth for and when I told her she commended me on my creative choice.

I have to note that these pictures were taken by my husband and I thought his night photography turned out super spooky.

Once again, we had our little set up on the front porch. Severed fingers, an ear, some bones and blood....you know, typical gross Halloween stuff. Not over the top though. Andreas isn't as big of a fan of Halloween gore as I am. I'll go for anything. Except zombie babies. Even that is a bit much for me.

I had my bubbling cauldron going, my fog machine (until it crapped out for no apparent reason), spooky music coming from an open window. It was sort of slap dash because I've been feeling less than 100% lately and wasn't really in the mood to get too crazy with the decor.

We didn't have a shortage of comments though. That's always the best part, hearing people say how cool it is. Even the bigger kids would walk by and say "oh, we have to stop at that house". Speaking of older kids, we had a LOT of teenagers last night. I'm talking high school age.

I was inside handing out candy until I got too hot and had to sit outside. As the kids came to the door you could tell they were freaked out because they couldn't tell if I was real or not. So I went with it and sat really still. Hanna was sitting outside in my zombie bride costume for a little while and kids were pretty freaked out by her too.

I love Halloween. It's one night where you can be anything you want to be. Everything goes. Heck, even one guy was running around the streets in nothing but skimpy underwear. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

yummy muesli recipe

2011-10-26T16:46:00.000+02:00

I found a great recipe in this month's Food & Wine magazine and thought I'd share it with my health-savvy friends. Although the recipe is for Apple Muesli with Goji Berries, I made mine a bit different since, for starters, I don't know where to find goji berries. So here is my slightly different version of this recipe:

1 large apple, grated
1 cup rolled oats
3 tbsp flax seeds
1 & 1/4 cup coconut water
1 & 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 to 1 cup frozen mixed berries
3 tbsp honey

Combine all ingredients in bowl (except honey), cover and refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, mix in honey and spoon into bowls. Garnish with granola or nuts and berries. Makes 4 servings.

Really the only thing that is different from the magazine's recipe is I subbed frozen berries for the goji berries and left out the salt and mint leaves.

Approximately 250 calories per serving, 3.7g fat, 45g carbs, 5.5g fiber, 26.7g sugar, 12.3g protein (according to recipe analyzer on caloriecount.com)

Personally, the sugar content is a bit high for my liking, but it's from good, natural sources. I probably wouldn't eat it every single day if I wanted to keep my sugar intake low.

Chopped! rematch

2011-10-23T22:04:00.000+02:00

We decided to do another "chopped" at home today. Instead of each taking entree and desert like last time, we decided to draw out of a hat for appetizer and entree. Andreas drew entree and I got appetizer. We decided that the kids could be in on the fun this time too so they got desert.

I didn't think of taking the camera out until my round was all done so no pictures of the appetizer round :(

However, here are the pics from the rest of the competition:

Andreas opening his basket of ingredients

sweet potatoes, ribs, crystallized ginger and won ton wrappers

The blur: his new superhero name

our panel of judges

his won tons were looking good with a sweet potato and leek filling

waiting for the delicious food

final result: as beautiful as it was delicious

Ginger honey glazed ribs, sweet potato balls, crisp baked won ton filled with sweet potato & leek, and a leek puree on the side.

Really really good. But he went way over the 30 minute time limit cooking the ribs. AND burned his hand during the process. Poor man.

Incidentally, for the appetizer round, my basket contained:
1) frozen hashbrowns
2) goat cheese
3) horseradish root
4) tuna in oil

I just fried up the hashbrowns. Then made a cheese sauce out of the goat cheese, milk, butter, flour and white wine. I also shredded the horseradish in. It turned out really good. I fried up an egg to put over the hashbrowns and poured the sauce over the whole thing. Unfortunately the tuna threw me for a loop so I just stuck it on the plate next to everything else and drizzled the cheese sauce and some chopped leek over it.

I guess they thought it tasted ok although there was nothing to tie the tuna together with the hasbrowns. I had 20 minutes for the app round and it went lightening fast, but I did get it all plated in time.

Still, the votes (including my own) went for Andreas' dish. It really was yummy.

the kids: ready to open their basket and see their mystery ingredients

crunchy wheat & barley

vanilla pudding mix

marachino cherries

whole grain white rice

and it's game on

Hanna was team captain so she gave everyone jobs

adding the finishing touches

end result for dessert round

I figured that they would combine the rice together with the pudding to make exactly that: a rice pudding. But they didn't. And that's ok. They ground up the wheat & barley which was pretty creative I guess. And chose to add cinnamon for flavor which was nice. All in all they did a great job and had fun in the process.

I'm already looking forward to another rematch! Next time I'll get the entree round and I have a feeling Andreas is going to have it in for me after I chose ribs for him. Oh well. I'm up for the challenge! Bring it!

pretty bear, growing kids and restaurant food

2011-10-21T04:57:00.000+02:00

Pretty Lizzy

Today, the kids, my mom, my dog, mom's dog and I, all piled in the van and we went to PetSmart to get Tedward and Lizzard groomed. [I'm surprised our dogs know their real names because they generally get called everything but]

Almost 4 hours after dropping them off, they were done. First out was Teddy (Tedward). He was super cute. I just can't picture that dog a boy because he's just so girly. Except for the fact that he humps all my mom's stuffed animals. Then came Lizzy. She pranced out sporting some festive pumpkin bows in her hair. I have to admit, I've never really been into accessorizing my pets. Although I did used to put cabbage patch kid clothes on my cat and push her around in a baby doll carriage. But I couldn't help but melt when I saw my pretty Lizzy Bear come out all shiny clean, with her paws neatly trimmed and bows in her hair.

And she smelled like cherries.

Look at her.....awwwwww

How is this NOT cute????

She was pretty exhausted after her 4 hour beauty treatment, I've never seen her so mellow. Even in the van on the way home. She didn't try to get on my lap and lick the windshield like usual. Have you ever tried driving with a Newfie on your lap? It's probably illegal. And if it isn't, it should be.

While the dogs were busy getting defunked, we went to the dollar store, which happens to be one of my kids favorite stores. Then out to eat at Johnny Carino's where I got a plate of something sort of resembling what I ordered. Ok, not even close. And finally to the mall where I could get my growing kindergartner some pants that didn't look like capris. Can anyone tell me how to get the kid to stop growing? At least until her waist catches up? As a mom, I have discovered that it's really hard to buy for the tall and slim and the short. This almost makes me want to open up my own clothing store for kids called Tall & Short. Seriously. Why has no one thought of this??

Back to my lunch; even though it doesn't really have anything to do with my pretty dog post. I am picky about what I eat, and eating out is no exception. Today, I made up my own order since the menu didn't offer anything like what I would eat at home. I wanted whole wheat penne (just about a cup) with spicy marinara, a plain chicken breast and broccoli on the side. What I got was a GIANT bowl of penne, smothered in some sort of creamy fatty white sauce, with maybe 3 of the tiniest broccoli florets known to man mixed in, and a chicken breast thrown on top. "Ooops....you wanted marinara too" our waitress said and quickly brought me a small ramekin of marinara.

Uh.......too?

It was pointless. I was probably a pain for ordering something not on the menu in the first place so the last thing I wanted to do was send it back and get something spat in. I didn't eat any of the noodles or 3 broccoli florets drowning in fat. Luckily my mom was gracious enough to give me the spinach off of her plate. Which, incidentally, was delicious. Her pecan crusted chicken was superb as well. I had lunch envy.

What's the worst restaurant screw up you've ever had?

turkey meatballs with spicy sicilian sauce

2011-10-16T22:21:00.000+02:00

Because it's so good and I like to share, here is my very own recipe for

Turkey Meatballs with Spicy Sicilian Sauce

(tasty and super good for you!)

Ingredients:

Meatballs

1 lb lean ground turkey

1/3 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 grated onion

1 large egg white

1 cup spinach leaves, chopped fine

1 tbsp almond meal

oregano

basil

cayenne pepper

Perfect Pinch salt free garlic and herb seasoning

pinch salt

1 tbsp chia seeds

Sauce

1 tbsp anchovy paste (you can omit this if you want - it's high in sodium, but I like the flavor)

12 oz can crushed tomatoes

red pepper flakes

oregano

garlic powder

onion powder

basil

3 garlic cloves

*note - all spices are done to taste, not measured

Directions:

1) in large bowl mix turkey, oats, onion, egg white, spinach, almond meal, spices & chia seeds. Form into balls. You should get about 22 meatballs.

2) heat some olive oil in a large fry pan. Brown meatballs on all sides carefully so they don't fall apart.

3) add crushed tomatoes, anchovy paste, red pepper flakes, spices and garlic cloves to the pan. Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes to get the flavors to blend.

Nutrition Information:

servings: 7

serving size: 3 meatballs, 1/2 cup sauce

calories: 144

total fat: 8.4

sat fat: 1.4

sodium: 285

carb: 8.3

fiber: 2.8

sugar: 3.2

protein: 15.8

gourmet dinner at home

2011-10-15T14:56:00.000+02:00

the table

I wanted to do something special for my husband last night since he's been working so hard and has been a little stressed lately. So I decided to cook him a meal that could rival a night out at a fancy restaurant. I kept his favorites in mind and set to work.

salad with lemon basil vinaigrette and parmesan crisp

I'm very proud of my parmesan crisp. Even though they are super easy to make, I didn't know it because I'd never made them before. But they look very delicate and elegant. Not to mention delicious.

french onion soup is another favorite

Although this soup is delicious, it's hard to hit on a good recipe. But I think I hit on a winner. I took two different recipes and sort of combined them in my own way (I do this a lot) and my husband was impressed. He told me so far my meal would rival what would be put in front of us at WF Maxwells. YES!!!

entree

I tried my hand at a mushroom risotto. To die for! Then I went safe with the steak and grilled flank steak. Not only is it mouthwatering, it's quick and easy on the grill. Almost impossible to screw it up...unless you overcook it ;) And my carrots julienne were the perfect blend of tender but not mushy. Another successful course!

a closer look

I also made mushrooms in red wine sauce and on top of the risotto are parsnip crisps. Delicious baked shreds of sweet and salty goodness. And it adds a little dimension to my plate.

dessert

Last but not least, dessert. I chose Pots de Creme. I used Cognac and strong coffee. I didn't have any but it looked fantastic! And other than not getting a chance to get all the way set, it was a hit.

Overall, the dinner was a complete success. I accomplished what I set out to do and it made me feel great. Because even on most nights when my family thinks I can't cook because I make "healthy" food that doesn't exactly excite them, this proves that I still got it!!

heartbroken

2011-10-14T16:03:00.001+02:00

My Emma has had a heartbreaking couple of days.

It started on Tuesday. After school she immediately burst into tears telling me that she had lost a barrette from her hair and couldn't find it. Her teacher talked to me before we headed home saying she was very emotional about it. They looked all over and couldn't find it. I tried my best to reassure her that it was ok and I wasn't mad, not one little bit. She has plenty of barrettes at home. Even one just like the one she lost.

We walked slowly home, hand in hand.

On Wednesday. I walked across the street to get her after school and I was a few minutes later than usual because I was waiting for my pumpkin bars to get out of the oven, but I wasn't late late. Usually I am standing by the doors waiting for her to come out, so I guess to her, I was late. Despite having big sister there at her side waiting for me, she was crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she said she just misses me so much when she's at school. (awwwww......my heart melted)

So I gave her a piggy back ride all the way home so she could feel close to me.

Thursday, I walked her to school in the morning and she was crying again. She did NOT want to go to school. This is so uncharacteristic of Emma. She's very independent and loves school. It was heartbreaking to make her go. And after school, her teacher talked to me again. Apparently, there was an incident where a boy in class had said "BOO!" to Emma at rest time and scared her so that she started to cry, which scared the boy so he started to cry, and it led to a pretty emotional day. Which was probably due to the emotional morning. Her teacher was wondering if I knew of anything going on that might be the cause of all her tearful outbursts lately. I said I was just going to ask her the same thing. I was clueless. She said she would keep an eye out.

I carried her all the way home, her head snuggled into my neck.

So today (Friday), we spent the morning cradling Emma as she cried and begged not to have to go to school. Last night before bed, we rocked her back and forth as she cried about missing us at school and wishing she didn't have to go. Something is wrong. This is not normal. We finally got Emma to open up to us and what we found out is that there is a girl in her class that has been kicking and hitting her whenever they line up to go to lunch or music. This isn't the first time I've heard Emma talk about this girl being physical towards her. And Emma is constantly telling us about how this girl gets her "green" card taken away and replaced with a yellow or orange card (colors go from green to red; good behavior to really bad). So I already knew of this girl and that she seemed like a bit of a problem child. The issue is, Emma sits at the same table with her in class and so every time they have to line up to go anywhere, Emma is basically forced to be next to her.

And so I asked her, "Does she pick on other kids or just you?"

"just me, because I'm small" [crying]

Oh, my poor sweet baby. It's the hardest thing in the world to know that your child is being bullied in school. You literally feel helpless. I know kids will be kids, but when your child constantly kicks and hits other children, you're not doing something right as a parent. You need to put a stop to it NOW.

So I wrote her teacher a note to let her know what was going on. I said it was just one side of the story but to keep her eyes open and let me know if it happens again so we can do something about it. Moving this girl to another table so they get some separation would be my ideal solution. Maybe a little chat with her parents?

Growing up is hard. It almost makes me want to homeschool my kids and shelter them from the torment of bullies. But, eventually they would find out that the world can be a cruel place and not all people are nice. Maybe it's better they learn at an early age so as they grow they learn to ignore it and focus their attention on the good friends they have made. If you give a bully no fuel for their fire, they get bored and move on.

I think it's probably instinctual for a parent to be defensive, maybe even in disbelief at hearing their child has been the source of bullying. But don't shrug it off as nothing. Even if your child is the "sweetest thing" at home, you aren't at school with them every day. I have talked extensively to my children about bullying. They know it is NOT ok and that they need to treat others the same as they would want to be treated. Please, parents, I urge you to do the same. Our kids need to feel safe at school so they associate positive feelings with learning and being in a group setting.

lunch

2011-10-13T22:34:00.000+02:00

Lunch today

Today for lunch I ate one of my favorite quick meals: sardines

I'd like to say a word about sardines
1) When you open a can of sardines, be prepared to eat alone
[my family hates the smell and will move as far away from me as possible when I eat them]
2) Don't buy the cheaper cans
When you are comparing the price of two brands, take into consideration that it is worth paying a little more for the boneless and skinless sardines
3) They really aren't gross. Spray them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, put them on a bed of greens and squeeze fresh lemon over everything. Mmmmm.

Ok, it was more than a word.

multivitamins

2011-10-12T16:07:00.002+02:00

Ok, I just have to write about this. Yesterday, my mom tells me "Did you hear on the news last night that taking all these supplements may actually lead to early death??" She says this to me because I take a number of supplements daily and I know she thinks I'm loony toons because of it.

"Well, what did it say? Why do they supposedly shorten your life?" I say supposedly because I'm not buying it.

She didn't know. She couldn't tell me. All that stuck out in her mind were supplements = death. And all the healthy eating and exercise I do every week doesn't matter apparently. I'll probably die early from supplements.

Well, of course my husband drudges up the same article on MSNBC, so I read it. It was a little funny to me because in the study, 40.something percent of people in this 20 year study who were taking a mulitvitamin died earlier than the 39.something percent of people who weren't. Is it just me or are the numbers 39 and 40 pretty close? Is that really enough to prove that taking a multivitamin every day increases your chances of dying early? And what about underlying conditions? Might the people who are taking supplements be doing so to help some kind of health condition?

I take a multivitamin to fill in any gaps in my pretty-darn-fantastic-already diet. I take a few extras also since I do weight bearing exercises and sometimes my workouts can get pretty intense. These things include: calcium, BCAAs, glutamine, chromium, glucosamine. But I also take an EFA because everyone knows that is healthful, vitamin C, and a milk thistle/dandelion combo (liver purifyer...although I probably don't need it anymore since I very rarely drink alcohol and stay clear of processed food). Oh, and 5 HTP for mood and sleep. I know that probably sounds like a lot, especially when I don't need to take any of it.

http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2011/10/11/are-multivitamins-deadly/ <----interesting view on the Renegade Health Show

So what do you think about this 'new' information? What do we think about any information we hear these days? For every study there is another with contradicting information, it seems. Don't eat eggs! Eat eggs! A glass of wine a day is good for you! No, even as much as one glass a day is too much!

Matt Lauer had someone on his show who did some random testing of one lot of different brands of vitamins, all price ranges, and found that one had a high dose of lead, one children's vitamin had way more of vitamin A than was necessary for a child, and some didn't contain the vitamin claiming to be in the package at all! Scary. And when it comes to price, one $3 a day brand failed compared to a nickel a day brand that passed. Not to say that all expensive vitamins would fall short but it's not always the most expensive brands that are best.

Of course, as with anything, too much of a good thing can be bad. More does not necessarily mean better. We have to research and be smart about what we are putting into our bodies. Some vitamins can be toxic in high doses, but I am guessing it would have to be a really high dose of something that builds up in the body over a long period of time. I guess I will bring my entire arsenal of supplements with me to my next appointment with my doctor, just to make sure.

I got a cape with an 'S'......

2011-10-12T04:59:00.001+02:00

I feel lazy. And spoiled. My husband has a good job and I am one of the lucky moms who gets to stay at home with her children. And have done so for quite a number of years. Now that my children are all in school, I feel even more lazy and spoiled.

I sometimes complain when my family leaves their things laying around after I've just cleaned up or after having to clean the kitchen 3 times a day, but that's essentially what I have chosen to do. I have chosen to stay home and do everything domestic. Clean, cook, clean, raise children, clean, etc.

It gets monotonous and annoying to have to clean the same things over and over day after day. Some days it makes me crabby. Didn't I just wash clothes? How many dishes do we need to use? More dog hair!?!?! But again, it's the choice I made.

If I were a working mother, these chores wouldn't go away. I'd still have to do them. I'd just have to do them after working 8 hours. I honestly don't know how working mothers do it. I have so much respect for women who do it all at home plus have a career. So much.

The choice to stay at home with the kids was not made because I felt that leaving the kids for someone else to look after during the day was a horrible alternative. I don't think that children who grow up with a stay at home mom are any better off than children who grow up going to day care. I haven't read up on any studies or anything, that is just my own opinion. I'm sure it's beneficial for the parent and child to get to spend that time together, but there comes a point that I think it's possible to spend too much time with your child also. They get too used to having you with them 24/7 and scream when you try to leave them with other people for a short while so you can recharge.

There are parents who will boast about how they never spent a night away from their child in the 18 years they were home. Good Lord! Is that really something to brag about? I love my kids and I love being with my kids but let's face it, they aren't going to be scarred for life if I let go of them and spend a night away with my husband. You aren't a bad parent if you take some time for yourself now and then. Sure, being a parent is a full time job. But even full time jobs get vacation time.

I remember when my parents would go away for a week now and then without me. I had to stay with the neighbor. I hated it. And I would miss them terribly. But I don't think I grew up worse for wear because of it. If anything, it made me appreciate them more. Even their quirks that annoyed me when they were around.

I grew up in a household where both parents worked. My mom was a nurse and she worked "odd" hours so that when she was home, she was sleeping a lot. I remember once I made a comic and taped it to the cupboard in the kitchen that had a picture of someone lying in bed and a child next to the bed. The child said, "Mom, are you going to sleep all day?" and the mom in the bed said, "No, just 23 hours of it". And my parents thought I was crying out to them through this comic. That I didn't like the fact that my mom had to work nights and slept while I was home. While I did wish she could have been home with me more, the comic was just that...a comic. I was trying to be funny. And I was a child proud of her drawing so I taped it to the cupboard. I always felt loved and cared for enough. My parents both worked. I didn't know any other way.

I am a stay at home mom because it works for us. Everyone does what they can with what they have. I know my husband appreciates coming home to a clean house and dinner on the table when he walks through the door after a long day at work. That's why he allows me to stay home. But some days he won't walk through the door to a sparkling clean house. Some days I just have had enough. And that's when I feel lazy. Because I have no excuse other than 'I didn't feel like it' to not have made the house sparkle. I had the time, but I didn't do it. And some days I devote to running errands or cooking or doing some other thing so I legitimately don't have time to get the house in order. I don't always make the beds. I don't always pick up the toys. I might notice the desk getting dusty but don't dust it. There are a million things I could do, because I have the opportunity to do them.

I don't like when people assume I have all the free time in the world. I don't have more hours in my day. I have to plan and schedule and prioritize my daily duties, same as anyone else.

I don't know why I decided to blog about this. Maybe it's because I have so much on my "to do" lists every day and I'll be lucky to get through half of them most of the time. And maybe, today was one of those days where I didn't get much done on my list and I felt defeated by it all. I kept busy. But I didn't do it all.

I didn't feel like a supermom today. But you know what, some days, it's ok to leave the cape hanging in the closet ;)

Chopped!

2011-10-10T02:34:00.004+02:00

Today, my husband and I lived out one of our fantasies. No, not that kind of fantasy (you pervert), the one where we are competitors on the Food Network show "Chopped".

We love to cook and we love watching this show. In fact, last night, we probably caught 4 episodes in a row. That is probably the most tv we've watched together all summer long! I know it's not summer anymore, but you get the point.

Anyway, we've been talking about having our own little version of chopped at home. The kids would choose the ingredients and be the judges. Today, we decided to do it. It was the perfect day: Sunday, dreary and rainy, nothing planned. Perfect.

So, since you didn't get to "tune in", here are the details from our "show"...

The competitors: Charlotte (me)

My challenger: Andreas (below)

My challenger

We meet in our own kitchen stadium for the cook off. And yes I know kitchen stadium is from Iron Chef, but we sort of incorporated Iron Chef judging rules for our competition, so I can call it kitchen stadium if I want. So there.

ROUND 1 - Entree

We skipped the appetizer and went straight for the main course

The Ingredients

watermelon

pear

chicken tenders and/or drumettes

french bread

(all chosen by our judges)

The Panel

(left to right)

Judge Eden (9)

Judge Emma (5)

Judge Hanna (13)

Let the cooking begin!

Emma's score card (since she can't read yet)

Eden and Hanna's score card. They had to rate each dish on originality, taste and presentation. 0 being the worst and 10 being the best.

And the judges are taste testing the entrees

My entree: watermelon/carrot sparkling slushy, potato chip crusted fried chicken drumettes, pear slices and garlic french baguette

The drumette was ugly on the plate, but I figured I'd win them over with fried chicken since they never get to eat it.

I knew that just putting the pear on the plate wasn't very creative but that 30 minutes goes by fast! Now I have a better respect and understanding for what it must really be like to cook something to perfection in just a half and hour, not having a clue what's inside the basket and the pressure of having $10,000 at stake. Wow.

Andreas' entree: marinated grilled chicken tenders with orzo, watermelon/pear bruschetta

His bruschetta was to die for good. The chicken was super flavorful.

On to round 2!

ROUND 2 - Dessert

The Ingredients

bacon

marshmallows

coffee

cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix

(all chosen by our judges)

Photography by Hanna & Eden

The finished desserts

Andreas made a mocha cheesecake pudding with a side of mocha marshmallow coffee. I liked his presentation in the bowl. It reminded me of food made to look like landscape. I don't know what kind of landscape you'd call this, but it was nice.

I made kind of a conglomeration of things. When you don't have all kinds of pretty bowls and plates and pans, it doesn't get as pretty as it could be. But that's just an excuse. I could have been more creative. Basically it was graham cracker crust on bottom. Next layer was the cheesecake pudding. Next layer was a cheesecake and chocolate chip cupcake drizzled with a coffee marshmallow sauce and crumbled bacon. And a few toasted marshmallows on top.

I took over my camera for a couple natural light shots. I'm a photographer at heart, I can't help it.

The winner of the competition was....

...

.....

........

me!

It was a close one though. I think Andreas probably had the entree round won and I had the dessert round won, but in the end, I just barely squeaked out the win.

What a FUN way to spend a Sunday evening with the kids! We got to enjoy doing something we all love together: cook & eat. I highly recommend it!

Next time, it's the childrens' turn to cook for us!

What I've learned

2011-10-06T15:55:00.005+02:00

A few things I've learned about photography since I got my DSLR camera:

Don't shoot in auto

Before I learned how to shoot in the various other settings on my camera, I always shot auto. That way, the camera picks what it thinks the best settings are for the lighting situation going on so you don't have to think about it one iota. The reason this is bad is you don't get to see all the wonderful things your camera can do. It produces the same kind of pictures any other camera would. Another thing I don't like about auto is that it will almost always use flash. I never use the flash on my camera. Unless it's absolutely necessary - where we are in low light and I just need to capture the moment and not worry about whether or not the picture will turn out blurry.

Shoot, shoot and shoot again

You don't learn unless you try. A lot. Sometimes I will just take the camera and a couple different lens out in the back yard and take pictures of the same things I've taken pictures of thousands of times before. But I do this to get practice. Practice in different light. Practice with different settings. Etc.

Another thing I do is take hundreds of pictures at a time. While most professional photographers would probably think this is unnecessary and the mark of an amateur, I don't care. I would rather have a lot of pictures to go through, than to find out I screwed up somehow during the shot and got a blurry capture or one that couldn't be saved in Photoshop. Most of the time, if I get 4 captures of the same shot, one will for sure be sharper than the others. And then I can just delete the rest.

If you can avoid it, don't shoot in the sun at high noon

This is especially true for portraits. If you are shooting in the sun (and it really doesn't matter what time of day it is) there is so much glare. Skin really looks much nicer and you don't get shadows when you find shade. Sometimes a really great picture can be ruined if you don't pay attention to glare from the sun. I learned this the hard way taking Christmas photos for my sister. This was an indoor situation but the same principle applies. She wanted her family to have their photo in front of her fireplace, which happened to be adjacent to a big picture window. And the sun had cast a bright hot spot on the left side of almost every one's face. It was something I had no idea how to fix in Photoshop. All because I didn't pay attention at the time I was shooting.

can you see the glare? of course you can.

I tried to fix it as best as I could but it wasn't pretty. Not nearly as nice as it could have been had I just paid attention

Pay attention to backgrounds

It can ruin a great picture if you have a distracting background. On the other hand, if you find things that produce wonderful bokeh with large apertures (leaves are super perfect for this) it can make the background seem magical.

see the background? bokehlicious!

Portrait or landscape

When you switch this within your camera to be in sync with what you are actually photographing, it will make a huge difference in the color and overall feel of the photo.

Example:

see how this picture has more of a cooler tone and it makes her fur look blue?

this picture is warmer and I think gives a truer black

ISO

This is another thing I always set to "auto" because I didn't know how to use it properly. I'm still not a professional and know all the ins and outs of it but I do have a better understanding of it now. Basically, the higher the ISO number, the more sensitive the image sensor is to light. So if you are in lower light situations, you can crank up the ISO. However, in doing so, you will get more noise or grain in the photo. I guess I try, when possible, to keep my ISO at 100. But I find that a lot of the time, it works well at 400. It all boils down to what the situation is and luckily the viewing screen is a savior because when I take a picture and find it's too light or too dark or too this or too that, I can adjust accordingly and see the result instantly.

Composition

This is the artistic part of photography. I'm still not sure I do this right half the time. What might be pleasing to my eye might not be to someone else. Generally as a rule, I've read that when taking a portrait, the person should take up 2/3rds of the grid. And the rule of 3 (rather than 2 equal parts) is more appealing in a photograph. But basically, I just move the camera around until I find a pleasing composition and go for it. Sometimes people will say to me, "oh, that's pretty, you should get a picture of that!" And while the thing they are referring to is pretty indeed, I know that it will be boring as hell in a photograph. Maybe that's just because I'm not creative enough to make it interesting. It's all about composition.

to me, this photo has an artistic composition to it

In conclusion:

I'm sure there are many other things that I've learned, but those are the big ones that stand out. It's a constant learning process and I'm always striving to be the best I can be behind the camera so there is less time spent fixing mistakes in Photoshop. There are times when I'm not concerned about getting the best possible result. Because sometimes you just want to focus on capturing the moment rather than making sure it's a professional looking photograph.

twirling in the warm wind

2011-10-05T20:04:00.001+02:00

Eden was twirling for me

I was laying outside on a blanket yesterday afternoon while the girls were outside playing (and fighting). It was so perfect to lay in the shade and feel the warm breeze. Seems so strange to be saying that in October. And today 91 degrees was the forecast! Crazy! But I'm certainly not complaining. It's like round two of summer. And we needed this after the yucky cold spring we had.

Emma picked me a flower (from my flower pot)

For some reason, Emma gets so mad at Eden for such little things. Like yesterday, Eden was pretending to be Cinderella, scrubbing the driveway with a brush and singing.

And Emma got SO MAD and started crying "You aren't the ONLY princess baby in the family, EDEN!" Well, of course I couldn't help myself and started to laugh, and Eden started to laugh and eventually Emma was laughing but trying really hard to cry and sound sincere about it.

Eventually she had enough of that pesky laughing and having fun and she proceeded to hurl a giant rock at Eden.

And like any good parent, rather than stop it from happening, I photographed the incident. You know, in case I needed it for evidence or proof or whatever. Haha....

I didn't think she was actually gonna throw it. Man she has a temper. She certainly didn't get it from me.

What?

yummy and healthy

2011-10-04T05:24:00.001+02:00

Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread

I've been trying some new recipes lately. I really like to eat protein bars and since I'm devoted to eating as clean as possible, which means no processed foods, that technically means that I need to find a protein bar with only the best natural ingredients. The safest way to do that is to bake them myself.

I've tried a few recipes that I've found on bodybuilding.com and they are a big hit. My husband would like them if he didn't know there was whey protein powder in them. But he's got some sort of mental block when it comes to whey powder. He says he doesn't need any more protein than he already eats. Whatever. Anyway, these bars turn out more like cake and they are incredibly delicious. I made a 9 x 13 pan of pumpkin bars. Gone. My kids loved them, I loved them and I gave one to my mom and sister to try - they both want the recipe. Today I made carrot cake protein bars and I think I might love those even more than the pumpkin recipe. I also made cinnamon swirl bread (also with whey) and oh yum!

The one recipe that didn't turn out, in my opinion, were the mini banana loaves. Supposedly these were to be a good substitute for banana bread lovers. Well, as I was following the recipe, it just didn't seem like it was going to turn out. There was no flour at all, and hardly any ingredients. Surprisingly, the texture turned out really good. Spongy like a cake. But the taste was awful! It tasted like a banana peep. I don't like peeps. And that artificial banana flavor from the banana extract was blech! So tomorrow I am going to come up with a good banana bread recipe. I'm getting pretty skilled in that department so I'm pretty sure I'll be able to pull it off.

Banana Protein Bread mini loaves (fail)

I don't feel like I'm being deprived when I can still eat flavorful bars that taste like cake, but are actually very healthy and good for my body. Not one bad ingredient. If you want a taste, click on this link and try them for yourself!

accidental model

2011-10-03T21:33:00.000+02:00

Yesterday afternoon I brought my camera outside to get some photos of my baby girl riding her bike with no training wheels. After she was done, she sat down on a chair in the shade next to the house. It just happened to be PERFECT light in the spot she was sitting. Bright but no sun. So I snapped away. I took as many as she would let me. Eventually she gets tired of the big lens in her face so I stop. I don't want to push my luck.

I love when these accidental mini photo shoots happen. So much better impromptu than planned, especially with kids. And she just happened to be wearing nice clothes and was all clean (shock!) so I took advantage. Oh, she had a nice milk mustache going. My kids always run around with either a milk mustache or peanut butter cheeks. I don't always notice anymore. So the fact that she was already wearing pretty clothes and was relatively spot free, was quite exciting.

I took about 140 pictures just of her on that chair. I'm a compulsive snapper. I know the professionals tend to cringe at someone like me, but I want to make SURE I get at least a few good shots in there. I can always delete later. Anyway, I'll have to post more later because I think she's just the prettiest little girl in town!

Mom

2011-09-30T23:16:00.000+02:00

before

after

Mom and I went to take more pictures this morning. I thought she looked so beautiful and there were so many good ones. We ditched her dog after the first location. He was just too much for us to handle. After we took him back home, we could relax a bit more and some really great pictures were the result.

I wanted to include a before and after, just because. I thought most of the pictures looked great straight from the camera, despite the obvious little exposure and tone problems that can occur when you shoot in manual.

The blog sized photos never do justice to the beauty that I see full screen in Photoshop. The colors look over edited and quality is never as crisp. But it's the best I know how to do with the patience God has given me.

Once again she was a beautiful model and we had a terrific morning together. Even though she can't move as fast as my girls, she has much more patience and is a joy to photograph.

Sweet potato pot pie

2011-09-29T21:32:00.000+02:00

(sorry for the horribly lit photo)

This was yet another attempt at "fun food" as a ploy to get my 5 year old to eat dinner. Isn't it a cute fun seasonal dinner? I thought so. Basically it's a pot pie, with mostly chicken and sweet potato in the center and a lovely puff pastry crust over the top, and a jack-o-lantern face cut out.

My older two children loved it. Emma, not so much.

On a previous day, I made mini mummy meatloaves. Which was basically individual meat loaves made in muffin tins, with mashed potatoes piped over the top to look like mummy wrap, and green peas for the eyes. (both ideas came from a magazine but it escapes me as to which one at the moment)

Incidentally, Emma didn't like those either.

I am at a loss. I feel like giving up and letting her just eat her favorite staples like always (Greek yogurt or peanut butter bread). At least they are both healthy. But she's not getting a very well rounded diet with such few likable choices. I am giving her some "Carnation Breakfast Essentials", which she calls her "protein milk" because when I read the nutrition label, apparently that was the word that stuck out to her. Or maybe it's because of my own protein obsession. Whatever the case, it's like chocolate milk to her, but better, and she drinks it. So I'm a little less worried about her lack of variety with the food she eats. Only a little though.

We have gotten tough on her. We make her try everything. We send her to her room when she doesn't eat. But that backfires because she just falls asleep. I'm so hoping that it's just a phase. I mean, I know it is, but I want it to end. Now.

Any more fun food ideas that might be extremely-picky-child-friendly?? Preferably that include veggies AND meat.

Mama Olson

2011-09-27T00:37:00.000+02:00

This is my mom. Isn't she pretty? She never believes me when I tell her.

She's a wonderful lady. Probably the warmest, kindest, most unselfish person I will ever know. I think the pictures I took of her yesterday really reflect that kindness. When a person is so loving, it really comes through in their smile. All I can think about when I look at these pictures is warmth.

I as the photographer had nothing to do with how wonderful these pictures turned out. It was all her.

She wanted me to take pictures of her "and her little dog, too". - to get a little Wicked Witch of the West in there, for Christmas cards. We were going to wait until the leaves were in full fall color but the weather has been so perfect for being outside and taking pictures, I couldn't wait. I'm sure we'll go out again for another batch.

My mom told me she had the perfect day yesterday. Well, she spent nearly all of it with me, how could it not be? =) We went to church together, then ate lunch out. Spent the entire afternoon shooting pictures at various locations. And ended the day with a DQ blizzard for supper. And yes, it really was all we ate for supper. I think it was my perfect day as well.

The only thing that could have topped that was baking home made chocolate chip cookies and eating 5 or 6 of them without guilt or care about calories and having someone else do up the dishes afterwards.

Now, go hug your mom and tell her how wonderful you think she is.

rAnDoM pIcTuReS

2011-09-23T05:30:00.001+02:00

My husband ordered me a longer HDMI cable so that I could hook my laptop up to our high def flat screen and I could edit photos through the tv. I haven't gotten it yet, but I am excited to try it. To sit in the middle of the living room floor and see my photos being edited on a big tv on the wall just seems WAY cool. Sometimes, after I edit a picture and I think it looks awesome, when I upload it to the blog or facebook, it doesn't look so awesome anymore. It loses something. I'm too impatient to wait 10 times longer for the high res option. I think being able to edit in high def might help eliminate some of my over editing tendencies. Although, sometimes I mean to over do it - (see 3rd photo in this post).

Anyway, as soon as I get the cable and can try it out, I'll post how it went.

p.s. if you click on the picture and to view it larger, it looks a ton better

I love a rainy day

2011-09-20T16:39:00.000+02:00

Actually, I love sunshine. But sometimes, I can be in the mood for a dark, dreary, rainy morning. Like today.

It's when those dreary days last weeks on end that it tends to ruin a good thing.

But when it's gloomy like today, I like to sit with a hot cup of coffee or tea, with the candles lit and just go through pictures on my computer. I need to organize them BIG TIME because I haven't really done that all summer.

As I was going through the mess that is my desktop, I found these and thought they would be a delight to share on this gray day.

I'm sure I've shared these before, but I like to revisit some of my favorites.

Happy Sunday

2011-09-18T14:15:00.000+02:00

This is one of those deals where I turn the picture in some program on my laptop and it still shows up sideways when I import to the blog. I must be dumb because I can't figure it out. Oh well.

I've been in a baking mood. Fall weather does this to me. I think it must be typical. There is just something about the cooler air that makes anything warm and cinnamon tasting seem so comforting. The picture above is apple cinnamon hand pies (or turnovers). I sort of made them combining two different recipes, neither of which were made with apples. But apples was what I had available. I think I'll make a pie next.

I've also made about 4 cardamom cakes. I've posted the recipe for that before. It's one of the BEST things to eat on a chilly fall day. So sweet and delicious!

Not only have I been baking (apple cake, blackberry cobbler, apple turnovers, bjornkaka....) but I went nuts-o yesterday morning at the breadsmith (coffee cake, chocolate chip cookies, bread, buns) and at the grocery store (donuts, Hershey's Nuggets, mini Twix). My husband is usually so happy when I bring home treats from the store, but I think he was on sugar overload by that time and even he thought it was a bit much. Which is really saying something because he has the worst sweet tooth ever.

He stood their patting his belly saying, "I've got to cut back on all the sweets." Yes, I agree. He really does. But even more, he needs a bit of exercise. He leads a pretty sedentary life. And I think he gets annoyed when I tell him he needs exercise. Probably because I'm a freak when it comes to working out and he doesn't want to give me the satisfaction of having rubbed off on him. I know he will never have a passion for it like I do, but at the very least I would hope he would want to raise his heart rate and break a sweat 3 times a week.

I say this after doing nothing but shoving baked goods into his cake hole for the past 6 days. But I only do it because I know he loves it. And I love seeing his eyes light up when he asks 'what's for dessert' and I actually have something prepared.

Oh, and I tried the Pioneer Woman's chicken and dumplings recipe last night. Oh. My. Dear. Lord. It was fabulous! I'm a dumpling lover. My husband isn't. But even he liked these. So light and fluffy. Simply perfection.

Yesterday we bought a new grill. We ended up getting a Weber. We looked at other brands but since my husband is addicted to his phone, he happened to be looking up reviews online while we were shopping. Good thing he did because the brand we were sort of eyeballing was supposedly a pile of junk. This is one of the only times I was glad he had his phone in his face the entire time.

Today we have Eden's birthday party at Space Aliens. If you remember, her last party was scheduled over Labor Day weekend and no one could go. I had a nightmare about this last night. We were waiting for the kids to arrive for the party and they just kept coming and coming until we had like 30 kids there. I was freaking out because we only said 6 could come. Apparently Eden had been telling everyone in her class about the party, not just the six we sent invitations to. And they ALL showed up. I was literally terrified when I woke up from that one! Let's pray it wasn't a prophetic dream!

Birthday shout out to my dear friend Carmen today! Hope your day is perfect, girl!

Happy Sunday!

home made

2011-09-11T16:33:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, I made homemade pizza. I love love LOVE making pizza. I think more than the taste I like experimenting with different dough recipes and I'm forever searching for 'the' recipe that will be my go to recipe. I like to play with different sauces and ingredients and hopefully one day I will land a winning combination. I have a taste in mind that I long for and I just haven't hit it yet. Probably because that taste is grease and my homemade pizzas are anything but.

I really like buying mozzarella balls and putting fresh cut chunks on the pizza. It melts into a lovely white pool of bubbling goodness. And fresh basil from my kitchen window......mmmm!

Also, because I had a wild hair, I finally tried a recipe that I've been wanting to make for a long time. It's called one bowl apple cake and I got the recipe off the Pioneer Woman's website. Really easy. Really delish!

Campfire Mocha is the Devil

2011-09-10T20:07:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I took my mom on a couple of errands. We ended up at the grocery store to get some groceries and to get some pictures developed of her dog. She finished her shopping faster than I did (first time ever) and went into Caribou Coffee to wait for me. She called me to let me know she had gotten a coffee for me to and I said, "Aw, mom, I really wasn't planning on getting a...

"You'll drink it!" she barked.

I said, "Well, ok, did you make it a non-fat...{YOU'LL DRINK IT!!! - she cut in}

"Ok ok!" I said, a little scared of her now.

When I met her, she greeted me with a giant cup some fancy cold coffee with a mountain of whip and marshmallows on top. Oh. My. God. Not only did she not get me my regular non-fat mocha, she got me a very large cup of fat and sugar.

"MOTHER!" I said, "What did you do?"

"What?" - she's acting all innocent here.

"I don't typically like to drink my entire day's worth of calories. I might as well go guzzle a two liter bottle of coke, this thing probably has as much sugar!" - yes, I was freaking out because she was adamant about making me drink this thing. And I was scared. Remember when I said how she's always trying to fatten me up? Case and point. This is what she does.

"You drink it." she said again.

"Why didn't you get hot coffee?" I said.

"Because it's hot outside." she said

I had two sips and said, "I'm sorry, mom, but I just can't. I know you don't understand and you are probably mad now that you bought this for me and instead of showing appreciation I am refusing to drink it. But I don't want to erase a week's worth of workouts just to drink this. I'm really sorry."

She did look disappointed but I think she was eventually happy because I had brought it home and put it in the freezer so that my husband could have it later. And he loved it. And nothing pleases my mother more than making my husband happy.

FYI - a large Campfire Mocha is 700 calories, 37g fat, 79g sugar ....call me crazy for not wanting to drink THAT.

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-06T16:13:00.000+02:00

We went to Space Aliens for lunch on Eden's birthday. It was supposed to be a lunch with her friends but being a long holiday weekend, the last of summer, it was no surprise when all her friends were lake bound and couldn't come. We rescheduled for a couple weeks out and went to celebrate anyway - just us.

We had fun, eating greasy food, playing games and winning tickets. We go for the kids, but secretly we have just as much fun. Really, we are just like kids except we weigh more. Some of the fondest memories from my childhood were the special times when my parents would take me to Chuck E. Cheese's - which is a lot like Space Aliens - you can play games and win tickets. It probably wasn't my parents' idea of the best day ever, but they knew I had fun there. They did it for me. And so I do it for my kids too. They love it.

Later in the afternoon, our friends the Lees dropped by with their 3 kids. And eventually Gram showed up too. Eden said she had the best birthday ever. She says that every year. I guess that means I pretty much rock at making my kids' birthdays fun ;)

These next two are Eden opening her present from us.

She wanted a Fijit Friend so bad. We got her one. And I knew if I wrapped it up, she would know what it was right away simply by the size and shape of the package. So I wrapped up the gift receipt from Toys R Us instead. She was trying to guess what was in this box that weighed next to nothing. After looking at the receipt, she still didn't get it until I pointed out the word "figit".

One happy girl!

That night I was exhausted. I ended up getting sick in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. I don't know if it was the combination of excitment, bad food, no sleep lately or what. But I felt fine the next day.

On Labor Day (Monday) we met family at Maplewood State Park in Minnesota for a picnic. The weather turned out to be a little windy and chilly but it was still beautiful in the sun. That's what they make sweatshirts for, right?

It was the perfect long weekend. The last holiday of summer. A final goodbye to those hot lazy days. It's always sad to pack up and head home.

Dogs will be dogs.....stupid that is

2011-09-01T04:47:00.001+02:00

Is it time for another Lizzy story? I think it is.

So yesterday evening was a little busy. Andreas had a dinner date with a friend and it just happened to be on a "back to school" night or "meet the teachers" night or whatever they are calling it these days. And so I got the joy of attending on my own. It started at 5:30 with a volleyball meeting in the gym. Followed by a code of conduct meeting at 6:00 in the auditorium. Followed by time blocks up until 8:15 pm, meeting all the teachers. I was starting to wonder when these people expected us to feed our children and ourselves dinner.

Since it was just Hanna and I (Eden and Emma were at G-ma's) we snuck home after the mandatory meetings for a quick bite to eat before heading back to the school to meet her core teachers. Sorry gym and music teachers, dinner was more important than meeting you.

Anyway, I had just made myself a wonderfully tasty egg sandwich with the very last English muffin and the last 2 slices of turkey bacon. I was starving so sinking my teeth into one of my very favorite foods was heavenly. All of a sudden we heard this strange noise and Lizzy took off barking like the crazed maniac dog she is toward the front door. We heard the noise again and Hanna looked at me and said, "was that a cat?" I was just as puzzled and said, "It sounds like a hurt dog." It really was hard to decide what the noise was. It sounded like a child, then it sounded like a child in pain, then it sounded like an animal in pain. Curiosity got the best of us so we both went to the front door to look outside.

That's when we discovered that the noise was actually coming from upstairs. At that point, Hanna was freaking out BIG time. Because no one else was home. "WHAT was THAT?????!!!!!!" It took a second for me to realize what it was because the noises were intermittent. But I finally said, "It's gotta be that dancing dog thinger in Emma's room. Sometimes it does that" although to be honest, I wasn't sure what the heck it was.

And that's about when we realized that while we were standing at the bottom of the stairs trying to figure out what Lizzy was barking at, Lizzy was nowhere near us anymore. She had moved on to more exciting things.....my dinner. Hanna said, "Lizzy is in the kitchen....I think she has your food."

"the WHOLE thing???" I said

"yep"

And indeed she did. I sprinted into the kitchen to find Lizzy hungrily scarfing down my egg sandwich. I can't believe how fast she gobbled that thing down. I can't even describe how pissed I was. Number one, it's not like I could have made another one because I was out of half the ingredients to make it. Number two, I was in a bit of a hurry. And number three, the one bite I got was really really good and I really really wanted to eat the rest of it. I put Lizzy in her room and ate two pieces of bread with a thick layer of nutella on top, cursing Lizzy the whole time for forcing me to make such an unhealthy choice for dinner.

Andreas wants me to believe that she orchestrated the whole thing. That she waited for her chance to get me out of the kitchen quickly so she could go back in and steal my food. I will never believe that a dog who will bark nonstop for 20 minutes at a plastic bag blowing around the yard, would be smart enough to pull that off.

Never.

Incidentally, the next day it dawned on my what the noise was. Emma has a Littlest Pet Shop alarm clock. And this morning I wondered why the alarm didn't go off at 7am like it's supposed to. After fiddling with it I realized that it was because Andreas had accidentally set it for 7pm, and I put two and two together. That was around the same time as the dinner fiasco the night before. So I reset the alarm and listened to it to see if it was the sound we heard. Yep, it was cat's meowing, dogs barking and birds chirping. Emma has been waking up before her alarm so we'd never actually gotten to hear it yet. Which was why the sounds seemed so odd.

Tonight, I went to the store to pick up some more turkey bacon and English muffins (among other things) because I've been jonesing for another egg sandwich. Of course when I got back home and unloaded the groceries I discovered that I had forgotten the English muffins. What does the universe have against me eating delicious egg and turkey bacon muffins??!! On the plus side, I got all the ingredients to make cake pops for Eden to take to school on Friday.

Chocolate Eden

2011-08-30T16:58:00.001+02:00

I'm having a hard time deciding which pictures to post. There are SO many cute ones from last weekend. A lot of the same poses, with slightly different looks, and to most people they would seem repetitive, but to a mom, each one, although only slightly different, is unique and wonderful. It's also hard to decide - do I go vintage, vivid, black and white, chocolate, hazy, bright.....so many fun and wonderful ways to bring out the best in a photograph. Almost too many.

I don't like to favor any one particular girl, but Eden is just SO easy to photograph. Unlike Hanna, who is more uncomfortable in front of the camera (like her mom), and it shows in a lot of her pictures. Strange facial expressions, one eye closed, awkward body language. Eden is more at ease. She is confident. Emma is ok. But she overdoes her poses (think extreme head tilts) and like Hanna, squints her eyes when she has to smile on queue. But she's 5. All three of them take beautiful pictures when they are willing to be photographed. And a good photographer should be able to capture great photos of anyone, by making them at ease and bringing out their personality.

This is totally Hanna's personality.

Yay...pictures!

2011-08-30T04:29:00.000+02:00

Ok, so it took me ALL evening to get reacquainted with photoshop again. It had been so long since I've used it, I forgot my tricks! I'm always trying to improve my editing because it's SO EASY to go overboard and make your pictures look too edited. It's so much fun and the effects can be so cool. But sometimes, a photo can end up looking worse than SOOC. I am guilty of this at times. I am trying to let myself learn that sometimes less is more.

In the photos above, the first one is SOOC. And the second is with a little help. Just a little. It didn't need a whole lot. Basically, a lot of the time all a photo needs is a little color boost, maybe some sharpness or contrast and in this case, a little owie eraser too. The lighting and bokeh were already fabulous so I knew if I just did a few things, this could really be a great picture.

I know it's not professional grade photo editing here, but considering I have taught myself EVERYTHING from figuring out my camera's manual settings to editing techniques in Photoshop CS5, it's not too shabby.

Oh, and it helps to have one of the cutest 5 year old models on the planet to capture!

Lazy Sunday

2011-08-29T03:02:00.000+02:00

I mean it. L-A-Z-Y. And it was perfect.

First of all, it was a rest day for me (which means I didn't have to workout). Second, I made a big breakfast and we all sat down together as a family and ate. I made a microwave berry coffee cake for my husband and he loved it. The fact that I just threw it together without a recipe and it turned out edible is still a mystery. Third, we went on a picnic.

I love picnics. I always want to do them when the weather is nice and today the weather was perfect. Beautiful, sunny, no wind.....just perfect. We went to our usual spot not far from home - convent park. There really isn't much there but a boat landing into the river and some frolfing baskets, but there is a nice grassy area with many big shade trees which make it a wonderful picnic setting. No playground equipment of any kind but the kids love going. They can let their creative imaginations run wild. I love that they can have fun with sticks and rocks and not much else.

From a photography standpoint this place is stunning. There are tiny beams of sunshine casting sporadic rays through the leaves- a photographer's delight. At least this photographer. But I'm just a hobbyist so don't listen to me. I mainly say that because I don't want to share my favorite spot on lazy Sunday afternoons ;) The bokeh from today was breathtaking. I can't wait to upload some photos.

Anyway, we brought our picnic basket, some blankets, the camera, the dog and had a wonderful relaxing couple of hours. I snapped many pictures of my beautiful girls using nature as my studio. We helped them build forts in the trees using big sticks and our picnic blankets. We sat in the shade and did nothing. Absolutely nothing - except enjoy the beauty of a quiet summer afternoon. It really was splendid.

We came home, built more forts in the yard, and ordered Chinese food. Now I'm on the couch blogging while my husband plays Civilization a few feet away. The dog is sleeping on the floor and the kids are at the neighbor's house playing. Still a perfect lazy Sunday.

Emma's trip to Sweden

2011-08-27T14:31:00.001+02:00

Emma got to spend a lot of quality time with Farmor on her almost 2 week trip to Sweden this past month. My husband took all the pictures and I think he did a fabulous job capturing the sweet moments between grandmother and her grandchild.

Even though I have been to this area a few times, I am still in awe at the beauty of it. How can I not be? Living in a flat prehistoric lake bed isn't exactly scenic. But the island in which they live seems so quiet and majestic. The houses and countryside are very charming. Here is a small bit of information about the island of Orust.

One of the many wonderful things about Lisbeth is that she is a very "hands-on" grandma. She is either on the floor or on the run, playing with Emma. She gets down to her level and really interacts with her. Plays with her. Gets involved. That's the kind of grandma I hope to be someday.

So many wonderful memories Emma will have of her childhood trips to Sweden. What a special bond she has with her Farmor. She is one lucky girl.

First day of school success

2011-08-26T15:57:00.000+02:00

First day of school yesterday was a breeze. The only "glitch", if you can even call it that, was that Emma was awake at 4am. Starving. My gracious husband got up with her so she could eat. Then they came back to bed and we attempted to sleep a little longer. It didn't really happen though.

I was a little concerned that her new earlier bedtime was to blame for the ridiculously early morning. But since we had to wake her up at 6:45 this morning, I think it's pretty safe to say she was still running on Sweden time.

My little darling was eating her bedtime snack when I went out for a jog last night and by the time I came back, she had already been asleep for a half an hour (according to Bigs). Wow! We are two for two on successful bedtime!

Wednesday night I tried to bribe the crew into taking a walk with me. It was such a beautiful evening and it seemed such a waste not to get out and enjoy it. So I said, if you take a walk with me, I'll go to the store and buy everyone a donut to celebrate back to school. (seriously, getting my family to take walks is like pulling teeth) Of course everyone thought that was a perfect deal. Andreas counter offered with a trip to the dog park instead but I insisted on a walk. I honestly don't understand why the man avoids any and all forms of exercise like the plague.

But, I got my wish and we all went for an evening stroll. It didn't end up to be the perfect walk though because Emma tripped on her flip flops (Emma and flip flops do NOT mesh well) and skinned her knee to match her already beat up face. While in Sweden she took a header off Farmor's retaining wall - another flip flop mishap. So I carried her on my back about half of the way.

She runs everywhere. Always running. I'm thinking of changing her name to Forrest.

And here she is in her kindergarten classroom on the first day of school. Sitting next to her new friend, Drew, whom she calls "Drool" and adamantly protests when you try to correct her. I figure one day Drew will get sick of getting called Drool and set her straight.

The Arffs....unplugged

2011-08-25T14:37:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was the last day of summer vacation. Today, the children head back to school. My baby is a kindergartner and I will be lost at home without her.

Andreas took the day off yesterday so we could have one more last fun day together as a family. We took the kids to Thunder Road where we played games and won tickets, rode the bumper cars and go-karts. We would have played a round of mini golf but Hanna had to get back for volleyball practice. It was so much fun. That place can cure even the worst sour puss. *right, Andreas?? -- haha*

Then, on a whim, we decided to get Emma's hair cut. I was looking at her in the regular messy pony tail and thought, that's it. No matter what we do to her hair, it gets messy within 5 minutes. Now that she is in school, our morning routine would be so much easier if we didn't have to worry about her hair. I never thought Andreas would go for it but he said sure. We took her in and this is what walked out....

Really...could she BE any cuter??? I don't think so.

So, anyway, we spent the day "unplugged", which means no computer. Although Andreas still had his Windows phone at ALL times so I don't know that it really counted for him.

Lizzy Lovin'

2011-08-21T14:36:00.000+02:00

I can hardly believe that in just 5 short days, the chaotic life of a family with 3 school age children will begin. I am going to mourn summer like crazy this year. Mostly because it was so short, due to the cold wet June. Already the mornings and evenings are getting chilly. But on the bright side, I love love love fall baking. The only thing I wish was that I didn't love love love eating it too!

Tomorrow Andreas and Emma fly back from Sweden. Tonight is the one and only night during this entire two weeks that I will be totally alone. Hanna is staying with Gram and it sounds like Eden might have a sleepover with a friend down the street. I am wondering if I will enjoy it. I will try.

Last night it was just Eden and I. We watched Tangled and ate a ton of junk food. I had this crazy idea that if I ate enough Nutella, I would get sick and never want to eat it again. I did that once when I was a kid. I remember coming home from elementary school one day and filling a paper cup with peanut butter and sprinkling it with Nestle Quick chocolate powder. It took me years and years and YEARS before I could even smell the combination of chocolate and peanut butter without getting nauseated.

I actually went to bed at a decent hour last night, just a little after 10pm. And slept until Lizzy started scratching the door to get out at 6:30. It felt good to sleep, although I think I will need at least 10 more of those nights to feel like I'm caught up.

Right now, I'm waiting for my Bigs to get online for our last web chat before they are home. He's usually on at 7am. He's late. I could have gone back to sleep.

While I am thinking of it, I should tell you a story about Lizzy lovin. At our garage sale, a woman overheard us talking about Lizzy (or maybe she heard her bark) and asked what kind of a dog I had. I said Newfoundland and she was like "OMG!! I want a Newfie soooooooooo bad! I want a Landseer." I said that is what we had and she put both hands to her cheeks like the home alone kid and screamed "Aaaaaah! Can I see her? Can I?"

She seemed harmless enough. Maybe a little crazy for wanting a giant, shedding, drooling, pain in the rump for a pet when she already had 2 dogs, but harmless. So I took her inside and warned her about how she would be greeted. "oh I don't mind. I have dogs. It's ok"

Alright lady, I warned you....

So I let the beast out and she went crazy. Both "she's". This woman is 5 foot nothing and lizzy is as tall as me when she's on her hind legs. Eventually the lady went down and Lizzy proceeded to lick her to death. This woman was eating it up. She loved it. She didn't mind the drool. She didn't mind the fur. I was starting to wonder what was wrong with her. Lizzy ended up on the floor next to her, on her back, getting the world's best tummy rub while being called "beautiful" for the next 5 minutes. Which was good because I really felt bad about having neglected her slightly over the past week, being so busy.

All the love she felt for this dog that wasn't even hers was heartwarming. It made me feel a little guilty. Maybe I whine too much about the mess and stress of having this dog. But obviously she had a thing for Newfies. It's funny how people are like that. They have a particular breed they are drawn too for whatever reason. I guess my breed is anything small and non shedding. Oh, but I love Lizzy too. I must love her, otherwise I wouldn't feel bad when I have to put her in her room, and pick out the yummiest looking treats, and spoil her with wet dog food, and attempt to take her for walks when I know that one of these days I could come home without an arm.

So yeah, it's always fun when a dog lover sees my big old hound. It makes me appreciate her more.

I'm bad at guilting my husband when Lizzy gets to be a handful and does something annoying (every 5 minutes). She's always in trouble. And I do it because he is the one that wanted a Newf. And all the promises about their gentle, quiet, laid back nature does not quite describe OUR Newf. Which is not his fault, of course. But I made it very clear on many occasions that I didn't want a dog, much less a Newf. So I have to tease him about it now and then. Maybe he'll feel bad enough to let me have a cat.

Andreas grew up with a Newfoundland and has a lot of fond memories of that dog. He always tells me that he doesn't remember their dog being so much work. To which I say, "Of course you don't! You were 7! You probably didn't have to clean up after it."

Anyway, that's my Lizzy story for the week.

it's over

2011-08-21T00:42:00.000+02:00

Last Saturday I was dreading the upcoming garage sale. All week long it seems like I've been running crazy getting everything cleaned, organized, school shopping done, and other odds and ends taken care of. Not to mention making sure to get a workout in most days. I am, in a word, exhausted.

But I have an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction now that it is done. We did way better than I thought we would. My children made nearly $50 on their lemonade/iced coffee/cookie stand alone! Amazing! I was completely blown away by this. And the generosity of most people when it comes to kids is quite something. Even some that didn't want a cookie or a drink contributed to their fund.

I had numerous compliments on my signs: black tag board with big neon letters and balloons. Even a man in a pick up at the stop light yelled out the window how great our signs were. I knew they would be better than just the plain old boring garage sale signage where you can't even read the address when you drive past. There was a lady that said she wanted to use my signs for her sale in a few weeks. Ok ok, I'll quit bragging now. But did I mention how awesome they were? =)

It's really funny how things you don't expect to sell do, and things you thought would go for sure, don't. I had put out quite a lot of fingernail polish, make up and hair products yesterday, and it all went. I was digging around the house last night until 1:00 trying to find more. I did. It all sold again today. My kids thought it was totally gross that someone would want to buy lipstick used by someone else. I would buy used lipstick if I liked the color. I guess I'm gross.

Anyway, my garage is back to it's newly cleaned state again. The leftover goods are all packed up and ready for Boy's Ranch. It feels good to be done. All in all, it was a success. Quite a bit of work, but I don't mind keeping busy. Not that I'd want to do it every weekend, but every other summer I could handle ;) Providing I had the help of my mom and sister again!

Two more days and my baby and husband are back from Sweden. It seems like an eternity since they left, yet it has gone fast. Does that make any sense? I was looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the quiet. Maybe I'll relax tomorrow? LOL - probably not. I will definitely need to learn to cook again. We've either been eating out or having toast or cereal for dinners, mostly. I can be so lazy and unstructured when I don't have my husband to keep me in line! He always has been my motivation to be a better person. It will be so nice to have him home again. Plus, I don't sleep worth a darn when he isn't here. I wonder if I've had a night with more than 5 hours of sleep at all these past two weeks.

Are you aware of what fijit friends are? This is ALL Eden can talk about the last two days. Her friend has one and brought it over yesterday. Eden's birthday is coming up and she might have Andreas on her side with this one. It's like a little robot. And considering he wanted a roomba vacuum just because it was a 'robot' she might get lucky, despite the $50 price tag. But at least it's better than the Hide-and-Seek Jojo. Not that Jojo is a bad toy. After all, it was the Toy Insider Top 20 Toy Award Winner for 2010. It just seems like more of a preschooler age toy than something for a 3rd grader. Any thoughts on either?

See you another day blogland. Hopefully one of these days I'll have a chance to dink around with my favorite toy....my camera. And then I'll have some photos to share. Cuz words is boring...and junk.

OMG

2011-08-18T05:10:00.000+02:00

I couldn't think of a more suitable title for my week so far. I don't know where in the world the last 3 days went but we have been SO busy around here, I honestly don't even remember the last time I sat. I have even been eating standing up, wandering around, taking bites here and there. I don't even care what I'm eating, I'm probably burning it all off instantly anyway.

We are preparing for a garage sale. This Friday 4-7pm and Saturday 8am - 1pm (or later, depending): 2415 Victoria Rose Drive South Fargo (across the street from Centennial Elementary off 25th street - if anyone is interested ;) Four different households have contributed items since I was worried that I wouldn't have enough on my own. We have enough now! When I think of the countless trips to the Arc and Boys Ranch I have taken to unload bags and bags and bags of clothes and stuff that I could have sold.....oh, it makes me sad. But on the other hand I feel good that we've donated too.

We've got women's and girl's clothes, coats, shoes. Purses, purses, more purses. A few toys. Books, cook books, children's videos, games. Lots of kitchen items; small appliances (My sister is selling a really nice coffee maker and cappuccino machine for $1 each!), dishes, pots and pans. Knick knacks, bedding, curtains, blankets, jewelry. Basic garage sale stuff, I'm guessing. I don't really know since I haven't been to one in ages. And because of that, we really didn't know how to price stuff so I'm also going to guess that it's all pretty dirt cheap.

It's a lot of work to prepare for. Just cleaning out the garage so that it was in a condition to host a sale was a big job to tackle. Then there is the sorting, and price-tagging, and setting up. Don't forget keeping up with the laundry, mowing, working out, grocery runs, etc. Luckily Lizzy was nice enough to let me sleep in until almost 8:00 today. Boy did I need it!

I've been looking forward to relaxing and enjoying some "me time" while Emma and Andreas are gone, but so far that hasn't really happened. Oh well, it feels good to be productive.

Sunday

2011-08-14T14:29:00.001+02:00

This morning is the kind of morning that makes you glad to be alive. It is perfectly still, it's Sunday - so it's quiet, the sun is shinning....it's gorgeous. I should be sitting on the patio with my coffee instead of blogging.

Yesterday was the Fargo Airsho. Every time I see the Blue Angels fly, I get goosebumps. It is one of the most amazing things I think we, as humans, are capable of. Sure flying to the moon is impressive too, but just witnessing the power, the speed, the precision - it's.....it's.....I don't even know the appropriate word. But I'll say amazing again.

The last time we were there, they had a pull up bar and I desperately wanted to try it. I was going to try it yesterday but I couldn't see one this year. Maybe I didn't look hard enough. I've been practicing my pull ups so I could crank out like 20 of those bad boys. Seriously, how many pull ups can most people do? How many pull ups can most women do? There was a rock climbing wall there too which is something I've always wanted to try also.

Of course there is the regular line up of terrible food: giant corn dogs, pizza, ice cream, beer, and the thing my inner demon screams at me to buy....the funnel cake. Of course I didn't give in, but the smell was almost intoxicating! I haven't had one in many years :( Why can't they have at least one tent with healthier options? It doesn't matter though, I didn't go there to eat.

I went out for a run last night around 8:30, the girls came with me on their bikes. They have been doing that all week and I really like that. Yesterday, I cleaned up the house: finished folding laundry, dusted, vacuumed, mowed the lawn, etc. We've been doing quite well, just the three of us. It's been peaceful and relaxing. No stress. I'm really going to miss these summer days.

I still have a lot I'd like to do in this next week. I'd still like to get a room painted or try to tear down the awful border in the living room. My sister and I are attempting a garage sale next Saturday so I have to clean out the garage and get stuff ready. NOT looking forward to it. But I really hope to unload some of the junk. I mean, good stuff we don't use ;) So, swing by and take a look at our "good stuff" next Saturday from 8 to 3!

Nothing much

2011-08-12T14:38:00.000+02:00

Yesterday the girls and I went school shopping. I was dreading this experience but I was pleasantly surprised by how well it went.

We went to the mall first, got shoes and a couple other things. Then, on our way to Old Navy we stopped at Extreme Pita for lunch and decided as long as we were right there, why not stop in Gordman's. Boy am I glad we did! That store is fabulous. The girls found tons of stuff there and best part is, not only are the clothes cute, but they are inexpensive. We bought shirts for as little as $3 and nothing we bought was over $12! Needless to say, we never made it to Old Navy. We still need to find jeans for Hanna. That is always the hardest part. She is short and finding a good fitting jean is always difficult.

It was a fun shopping day because we didn't have to worry about time at all. It's so much more enjoyable when you can take your time and look around, not having to worry about getting home to cook supper or pick someone up somewhere or make it to an appointment. Just so relaxing! What a great day.

Hanna ran into a friend of hers from years ago, back before we moved to Denmark. We used to live on the other side of town and there was this sweet girl who Hanna used to play with. She ended up moving, so so did we. Well, she is back and they ran into each other at the store. How lucky! I am happy too because she is one of those friends every mother would want her daughter to have; sweet, good natured, great influence. They're having a sleepover tonight to catch up.

Today, I don't really have anything planned. It would be nice to just hang out at home and not do much. I suppose the time for mowing the lawn, doing the laundry and all that fun stuff is drawing near. This weekend is the AirSho and I am always really excited to go. I love watching the Blue Angels, they give me chills! We could hear them practicing yesterday and I think if we stay home today, we will get a chance to see even better.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

silly or slow

2011-08-11T07:34:00.000+02:00

My children are funny creatures. They love to talk about nothing in particular and about nothing particularly interesting, at all times. Hanna is notorious for grabbing some off the wall topic out of the clear blue sky and start drilling you with questions about it, non stop, until you tell her to go away. Or, she might have decided that she needs to show you a drawing she is working on. But instead of showing it to you once she's finished, she'll give you a second by second viewing of every pencil scratch she makes, for hours on end, or until you tell her to go away. More often than not, Hanna is the one desperately seeking constant attention or approval that sadly backfires because we get tired and irritated and end up telling her to go away.

My head swims with her chattering about the shape of bird feet, why rocks are gray and how come the vein in my forehead seems to pulsate when she talks to me about birds feet and rocks. Sometimes I find myself just praying that one of these days soon I will be able to have a conversation with her that doesn't involve me wanting to chew my finger off just so I could have an excuse to leave. "Gee, Hanna, I'd love to stay and finish this interesting talk but I seem to be bleeding pretty profusely here. Guess I should go to the hospital now. But maybe Andreas wants to hear your theory on why Lizzy's butt is bigger than her head."

This morning we had an actual conversation about this. Hanna was all confused as to why Lizzy's butt looked bigger than her head. To which I replied, "Why is that so hard to understand? Your butt is bigger than your head." To which she got all offended and it ignited this long drawn out idiotic thing about butt to head ratio that lasted the length of what could have been a very pleasant walk. So often I feel like time is just wasted on trying to explain silly things that have no meaning or purpose, it actually makes my head hurt. It makes me crabby. I wonder if she does it because she has nothing she really truly wants to talk to me about, yet she wants to talk so bad that she'll just grab some random thought as it floats around her brain, bumping into cobweb covered equations and forgotten vocabulary words. Sometimes I ignore her questions completely. But I don't think that is any easier than enduring an hour long rant about what sarcasm means.

Which reminds me of being in the airport restaurant the other day. Emma and Eden were acting all goofy and wild and Andreas shushed them and told them to sit down. I said, "yes, we don't want to disturb all the people sitting by us." (we were the only ones there) Hanna said, "But there isn't anyone in here but us". I said, "I know. That was sort of the point." But she didn't get it. So I tried to explain sarcasm. She still didn't get it.

My first born has a learning disability. And even though she looks and seems like any normal teenager, behind the exterior there is a girl who was born 3 months too soon, took years to catch up physically and developmentally to kids her age, and is someone who might have trouble understanding the simplest things for the rest of her life. I'm not saying she is dumb or incapable of learning, because she does quite well in school when she applies herself.

I think it's hard to deal with having a child that has a learning disability when they seem so normal in every other way. I almost wonder if it were easier if she looked handicapped or acted out in such a way that it was obvious something wasn't quite right. Because then, people would expect her to be a little off. But when there is no tell tale sign that she might be slower than the average kid, it becomes more difficult. I sometimes feel like I should explain why she says such silly things you might expect a kindergartner say. I look at her knowing about her rough start, yet expecting her to understand everything right away and act more mature than I'd expect any 13 year old to act. I don't look at her and see anything wrong. Maybe that's a good thing. Because I don't use her disability as an excuse for her to do poorly in school. I push her harder because I know she can do it. She can learn the same as any other kid. She might have to work harder or study twice as long, but she can do it.

We have our ups and downs together. One minute we get along great and the next minute we are teenager who knows everything and mom who doesn't. Like any normal mother/daughter relationship. But what is normal? Is it average? If everyone is different, how can you even classify "normal". I dislike labels, yet I know that some are necessary. I am happy that she has been labeled with this disability because it means she gets the extra help she needs. But until she is done with school it will be a label that will define her as different, slow, special. I get sad for her if I sit and ponder it too long. Which is silly, I should be rejoicing every day at how miraculous she really is, all things considered. Odds were that she would face a multitude of serious problems and we've been lucky not to have encountered any. She can walk and talk and think and do everything you and I do that are considered "normal". And most importantly, she is here with me now, a healthy teenage girl who likes to bug her mom with hundreds of silly questions every day. That's ok with me.

Maplewood

2011-08-11T01:41:00.000+02:00

Lizzy lunging at other dogs. Every. 3. Seconds.

These pictures were taken last Sunday at Maplewood State Park in Minnesota. I have just gotten around to looking at them and sizing them for the blog. No time for any editing though.

It's surprising how little time I have in the day to do all the things I want/need to do. Being a stay-at-home-mom, I'm a lot busier than a lot of people assume. And part of that is due to the fact that I am home, so there is more pressure on me to do the things that maybe I wouldn't get done if I had a job outside the home. Another reason is because my kids always want to be where I am, in the same room, as close to me as possible, talking (always talking).

That is a post in itself....for another day. Because as I type this, they are both talking, trying to get my attention, wondering what I'm doing, how long I'll be doing it and when they'll get a chance on the computer. Talking talking talking. This happens, every time I sit down at the computer. Inevitably one of them will hear my butt hit the chair from any room in the house and within seconds they are there; ready to pester. I've been calling them my pests. I've been threatening to use pesticide and have asked that they call me the exterminator.

Lizzy barks at plastic bags blowing in our yard

2011-08-10T05:13:00.000+02:00

Gosh it's been a while. I'm starting to feel the pressure mounting to come up with something blog worthy. Still....I got nothin'.

Andreas and Emma left for Sweden today. I guess their flight from Fargo to Minneapolis was delayed and they almost missed the flight to Amsterdam. They barely made the final boarding call, but are in the air as I type this, speeding farther and farther away from me. I still can't believe that I will be without them for two weeks. Part of me says I should just enjoy my time with just my older girls while another part of me just wants to rock back and forth in a corner and cry.

Still, Hanna and Eden and I made the most of our first evening alone. We had a totally yummy pizza dinner at Old Chicago. We indulged in a New York style thin crust heavenly pie. Then I came home and went for a run. The weather was perfect for running tonight and I enjoyed myself so much. I showered and caught the end of Beauty and the Beast with my girls and now I am in my bed, blogging...listening to the dog bark at who knows what. And watching fireworks. I don't know what they are all about but I can see them perfectly from my bedroom window. Big beautiful bursts of color - it's like the 4th of July all over again.

I'm also thinking about tomorrow morning. Dreading is maybe a better word. Andreas won't be here to let the dog out when she starts barking and clawing at the door come 5:30am. Can't say I am excited about that. But one thing I can be excited about is not having to adhere to any sort of schedule whatsoever for the next two weeks. I can eat cereal for supper at 4pm if I want. I can crank iTunes favorites that Andreas seriously dislikes. I can wear pjs and eat candy bars all day. Ok, I probably won't do that, but it sure does sound like fun. Actually, I have thought about painting the basement. Not sure if I seriously want to take on that project on my own but if I get bored enough, I just might. I have also agreed to have a garage sale with my sister the weekend before Andreas gets back. What was I thinking?

And so the question is....now what? I'm sort of tired (I usually am this time of night) but yet I want to do something. Maybe I'll Netflix something.

Now that we've finished all the episodes of Arrested Development, I suppose I could watch one of the dvds I've had for about 2 months. Have you seen Arrested Development? All the characters are so delightfully quirky in their own way. I have a hard time deciding which one is my favorite. Maybe Buster. Or Gob. I was sort of bummed that there weren't more seasons of that show filmed because it's pretty darn funny. I've also got an assignment from Andreas - I must watch the first 3 episodes of The Tick. I saw the first 5 or so minutes of the pilot the other day, "Java devil, you are now my bitch!" -haha.

Ok, that's all I have for now. I promise next time I will have something interesting. Pictures, a funny story, something....

Bye bye July

2011-07-31T15:38:00.000+02:00

I guess it's time to post something since I haven't done so in a while.

Things are pretty much back to normal for me. My mom said to me yesterday, "So I suppose you are back on your 'diet' again now that you are back". She thinks I'm perpetually on a "diet" and refuses to believe it's actually a lifestyle choice. And I told her that while it was nice to have a week to indulge and not worry about working out, I always feel better when I am on my normal routine. To which she replies, "Well, I just would like to see more meat on those bones." What is it with mothers from her era wanting to fatten up their children? Is there a witch somewhere she's trying to sell to?

Last night my husband and I went out on a date. We got a little dressed up and ate at Santa Lucia. They have the best Greek salad. I could have eaten a giant salad for my main course, it was that good. Usually I am not one to get excited about salads because they never really fill me up. This one did. And then I proceeded to eat canneloni al forno and felt like I could burst at any moment. WHY do I DO that???? What a cow.

The sky is clear and it is a beautiful morning. The only thing that could make it better is breakfast in bed. And obviously that won't happen since I'm already up.....and my husband is watching Meet the Press. I may never see him again.

Hanna went to spend the week with Uncle Jeff and the family in Wahpeton. How fun for her! I will miss her though.

I'm sort of in denial right now that it is the last day of July. How could this have happened? What happened to June? What happened to July? Soon my baby will be in school every day, ALL day and I will be a puddle in the corner, crying my eyes out. Why does time have to go so fast??? I want her to be 3 again. She was so sweet at 3. I guess that means I should get off the computer and spend some time with my family before another 5 years get away from me.

Hope everyone is having a splendid weekend!!

Time to say goodbye

2011-07-27T16:35:00.000+02:00

My last day in New York. I was sad to pack up all my things this morning. It has been a marvelous 5 days. A whirlwind of adventures. Lots of sights to see, lots of calories to be eaten and lots of walking to be done (hopefully to burn off some of those calories) ... lol.

Yesterday, I did some exploring on my own while Sue was in meetings until 4:30. Then we went to Rockefeller center where we went to the top of the plaza building for amazing 360 views. I've got pictures on facebook for your viewing pleasure. While it is quite something in pictures, nothing can compare to the actual thing. And I have gotten to experience it for myself. Breathtaking.

After that, we ate dinner at a lovely outdoor restaurant and suddenly realized that we were actually sitting in the famous Rockefeller Center skating rink! That was pretty special.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by one last souvenir shop to make some final purchases and we walked our last walk on the streets of New York.

This morning, Sue is in meetings again until 1:00. Instead of exploring more, I have decided to just stay near the hotel to relax. I have to check out at noon and then I'll have an hour to kill before Sue is done. Our flight home doesn't leave until about 6:15 pm but I think we'll probably be spending the afternoon at the airport.

I am very lucky to have had this opportunity and very grateful to my husband for letting me go. Soon, it will be his turn. He and Emma will be flying home to Sweden next month and will be gone for 2 weeks. I don't know HOW I am going to handle being without them for that long. It was hard enough not getting to hug and kiss my baby for 5 days! I will miss them so much.

Good bye for now, NY. I'll be back!

Hello from Manhattan

2011-07-26T14:25:00.000+02:00

I am laying on my hotel bed, typing to you from New York. I know you know this already, but I am still in awe at being here. This city is so exciting, I really don't want to go back home! Things in Fargo, ND are going to seem reeeeeeeally slow and dull after being here.

And I can honestly say that I am very surprised at how not scary it is to be here. I had these visions in my head about how paralyzed with fear I would be in such a busy crowded place but I have not been scared at all. And the people are very friendly, which probably surprised me the most. Our World Trade Center tour guide said that 10-15 years ago, New Yorkers weren't as nice. I am happy they are now!

There is something amazing to see around every corner and being on the streets with giant buildings towering above you is thrilling. You feel so small and unimportant. I also love to see all the people wandering around in their business suits with their phones to their ears, it makes me wish I had a big important job I needed to rush off to. Ok ok, it doesn't. But kinda.

So far we have been on the go go go. It's been super hot and humid. One of the first days we were here it was 100 degrees, and we were wandering out and about in it all day. I think I was very close to heat exhaustion because I all of a sudden got dizzy and felt faint. We had to get off the tour bus and take the subway back to the hotel to rehydrate. It was ok though because it was one of those hop on hop off tour buses anyway. And yesterday it rained in the afternoon and cooled off enough that I could wear jeans to wander the streets in the evening. It was nice to walk around without looking like a sweaty pig.

We've taken a short day cruise around the harbor, a long elegant dinner cruise in the evening (I highly recommend doing this), saw the statue of liberty, world trade center site, took a double decker bus tour where we drove past numerous landmarks and attractions. We've wandered around Times Square and learned how to get around via subway and bus. Today, I plan to venture to central park, Aquavit, St. Patrick's cathedral. Tonight, Sue and I will go to Rockefeller Center and do Top of the Rock - because I hear it's better than going to the top of the Empire State building.

I am having the time of my life here in New York City. I knew I would have a good time, but I am loving it even more than I expected. It's really awe inspiring. All the lights, all the people.....it's like nothing I've ever experienced. I've been to Europe and have walked through some big cities, but this city has truly captivated me.

It will be sad to leave tomorrow. But it's always nice to get home too. I miss my girls and my hubs. I even miss Lizzy. I video chatted with them last night and Lizzy was looking behind the wall trying to find me.

See you soon, ND!

so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye

2011-07-22T16:01:00.000+02:00

Today is my last day

I started typing, then got up to get a glass of water, and came back to "Today is my last day..." and it kind of gave me the creeps. First of all, it's not like me to just get up and do something mid sentence like that. I'm sort of OCD when it comes to that kind of thing. Maybe that is why I can't sew anything elaborate like a quilt or anything I can't get done in one sitting. And second, because it made me think....what if today was my last day? As in, last day on earth. Creep E.

Especially because I'm flying tomorrow. I love flying, but I hate flying. I love flying because it's actually quite nice and it usually means you are going somewhere fun. I hate flying because I'm miles off the ground and in no control of the situation whatsoever. I've put my life in the hands of a complete stranger and hoping he's not a closet alcoholic.

But, had I finished that sentence, I would have said, today is my last day in my own house for 5 days. My new home will be here, the New York Helmsley Hotel. A block away from Grand Central Station and walking distance to just about everything: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, etc.

I have completely planned out our trip over the next 5 days. I've got vouchers for popular attractions, I've determined what day and what time we will visit those attractions, I've familiarized myself with the city (thanks to bird's eye view on Bing maps) and looked at public transit routes to figure out the best way to get everywhere. If this isn't prepared, I don't know what is! But when you are a small town girl, you almost have to over prepare like this when going to a big city. Otherwise, I would not have had a clue what to do when we got there.

I'm bringing my camera and laptop so I will be able to [hopefully] post pictures daily. That is, if I'm not too exhausted by the time we are back at the hotel each evening. Our days will be so jam packed, we are going to be pretty exhausted, I have a feeling. But there is so much to see and do, and we wanted to get in as much as we could in the short time we will be there. I'm 36 and I've never been there, not sure how good the chances are that I'll get to go again. I know my husband wants to go so maybe at some point, we'll be able to go together.

Next time I blog, I will be in Manhattan!

Manhattan here I come!

2011-07-18T20:31:00.001+02:00

It's official, I'm off to New York this Saturday!

I got my tickets and hotel booked and I'm off with my sister early Saturday morning.

I am still in shock and awe that I am going and with an extra 2 days than previously planned! We are both very excited. And also a little nervous. Two meek little mid western girls in the big city by ourselves....it will be an experience! But Andreas left me all alone to fend for myself in Copenhagen for a day while he went to work (before our hotel room was ready so I literally had to wander the city on my own for HOURS) and if I could do that, we can do this.

"if I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere....."

new york NEW YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORK ;)

Chez Charlot

2011-07-16T19:54:00.000+02:00

I played 'real food' restaurant with the girls this morning. My restaurant was called Chez Charlot and I served french classics like boeuf bourguignon and crepes. And my speciality, Charlotte Russe au chocolat.

Of course, I wasn't serving any of this stuff, but it's fun to dream, right? And since no one in this house can speak or read French, I put whatever I wanted on the menu. And the pricing is probably unbearably laughable. But kids don't know the difference or care. It's all about the way the menu looked, and to them, I am the most creative person alive. I really don't want my kids to grow up and realize that my creativity is about as advanced as the average 10 year old.

I put fresh cut flowers from our garden on the table, lit some candles and served them chocolate milk in our "good" glasses. They ordered nachos and pancakes with fruit. Eden even left me a $1 tip. I must have been an awesome waitress.

I love playing with my kids.