HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We've had a quiet night getting ready to welcome the New Year here at our house!  Tiana's with some school friends overnight and so it's just Kent and I.  We've played some games, Scrabble, Trouble, Set and Quiddler, and we made spring rolls!  I made up some of the Chinese mustard that we had here at the house but it smelled funny so Kent went on the hunt for some new fresh stuff.  Unfortunately all he found was prepared stuff and it was BLAH!! Oh well!  The spring rolls were done just right!  Now we're down to a mere 20 minutes before the big year change-over!  Wishing you and yours a very Happy, Healthy, Successful new year!!
Spring roll pictures are here if you care to look!

#63103

The year was 1992 sometime after October 10.  Wedding cash in hand, walking with Mom and Dad D. through Costco, we made some of our first major purchases as a married couple.  One of our purchases was a Rowenta iron.  That was a BIG deal!  I mean, a Rowenta iron?  For us?!  Well, I'd say that particular big deal purchase lasted us maybe 5 or 6 years.  Whatever else we bought, well, I can't even remember it!  But the one purchase that has become the legacy of all of them is Item # 63103.

Let's travel back in time a bit.  Costco ca. 1992: You bring your heavily laden cart to the register where team member #1 begins to read off each and every item number to team member #2 who gunfire-rapidly types in each item.  Team member #1 then moves everything from one cart to the next to ensure that each item is accounted for.  Talk about an amazing bit of work, really.  Many members all yelling out numbers - how to keep YOUR team straight!  The item numbers are put on each item on a large, brightly colored sticker so as to be easily found by team member #1.  So, they get to item #63103.  I really wish I remember how much it cost us.  For such a long-lasting item, I'm so very sure that we have more than gotten our money's worth! 

Item #63103 has been so useful.  Item #63103 has traveled through 3 states and two time zones, returning again to it's city of purchase.  Item #63103 has protected old dishes for transport to Value Village; Item #63103 has covered plates and plates and plates and plates and plates and maybe even a few more plates of Christmas cookies; Item #63103 has been used in crafting; Item #63103 has been cut small to cover the top of the wine cup at the Union Meeting in our home.  Item #63103 seemed to be an ever-springing, never-ending bit of usefulness.

Alas, Item #63103 is nearing the end of its usefulness.  After 18 years of faithfully serving our household, Item #63103 is running out.  This relic of Costco's history started its useful life at our little duplex on 200th St. that we paid $465/month for, it moved to Avenue C in Billings, MT and back to Mountlake Terrace, making it's final stop in Lynnwood.  I can't say for sure when Item #63103's useful days will be over, but I have to say, in a sappy, maudlin way, I'm going to be a bit sad!  We've been through a lot together.  We've done a lot together.  We've made lots of people happy together.
Thank you Item #63103!!

Item #63103 aka polyvinyl films

 

Some of the very last plates of Christmas cookies that Item #63103 will have the pleasure of wrapping.

Happiness ready to go!

December 25, 2010

So, since my mother-in-law is upset with the fact that this blog hasn't been updated, I guess I better do something about that!! ☺
For a true update, I must add that PART of the reason this hasn't been updated is because I decided to get sick earlier this week, too!!  I fell ill despite the fact that I washed my hands practically every time Tiana LOOKED at me while she was so sick.  I wasn't as sick as she was, but I was still quite down for longer than I wanted to be during this week!
Since no one else decided to get sick (yet!),  Mom and Dad came up on Friday to spend the holiday weekend with us.  They got here in the early afternoon and Tiana was pretty excited to get on with the tradition of opening presents Christmas Eve.  So, we did and then we had a light dinner of chicken and dumplings, cheese and crackers.  We played Five Crowns and Quiddler and at almost midnight I called my host-mom in Germany to wish her Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas! And we went to bed so that Santa could come and fill our stockings! ;)  We opened our stockings this morning, which contained the standards - toothbrushes, toothpaste, candy - had breakfast and set about to do not much.  After I got the ham in the oven, we took off for a short walk to enjoy the LOVELY, warm, clear blue-sky day.  It felt SOOO good!  We had lunch, skyped with Justin, Kathy and co., with Aunt Mavis and co. and then we played another round of Five Crowns.  For a smattering of what we did, you can check out the photos I posted here.
So, what did Santa bring?  Tiana got a new camera, a body pillow, robe and pj pants, hand warmers, a shirt and a whole bunch of other stuff I'm sure I've forgotten!  Kent and I bought ourselves a new point-and-shoot camera. He also got flashlight sorts of things!!  Of course!!  I got a new tape gun for crafting and SCHOOL SUPPLIES!!!  Coda was very pleased with his new tennis balls and the treats grandma made for him.  He was less than enthused with the bone he got, too.  Interestingly, so was Pixie, so I'm going to take it back.  There MUST be something wrong with it!  If neither dog was interested in it, it must be bad!  Anyway, I think that's our day in a rather large nutshell!  I hope you've had a nice and relaxing day.  Or maybe you've had raucous fun and that's even better!

Round 2!

     This is original art based on Emergency Room round 2!  Please, imagine that yellow/orange blob to be a peach!  Thank you very much!

     ER round 1 consists of sitting in the local emergency room for about 3½ hours.  That was following a VERY rude awakening at 1am by a VERY sick child.  I don't think Tiana has ever been so sick, or lost so much in one fell swoop as she did that morning!  It was a very big production that then continued in the form of violent dry heaves through until about 7:30.  Add to that, about 6:30 or so the runs started.  Ok, TMI but it is back story for the next stories.  In the morning I called the doctor just to see what I should do.  She offered to send a prescription for Zofran (anti-nausea medication) to the pharmacy for me.  I actually already had some for Tiana from earlier this year and so I gave it to her.  Fast forward to about 3:30 pm.  Tiana's really not wanting to down anything and the fever starts to go up.  I call the doctor's office again.  Because of my morning call, they suggested I bring Tiana in and they'd see her.  She really wasn't doing well AT ALL!!  Her blood pressure was pretty low, almost pass out point low!, when she was sitting or standing, her pulse was really high and so they decided that fluids, IV style, were the way to go.  Oh, but their IV nurse had already left for the day so they sent us to the ER.  So begins ER round 1. 
    Kent had to go to Special Meetings because he had the sound system, so it was just me and Tiana for the long haul.  So we get there with orders from the family doc.  Those aren't good enough, of course, so we had to wait for the entire set of everything AND another doctor to evaluate her.  And she had to pee.  But first she had to wait for the other patient at the end of the hall to be arrested.  Ok, drama over, time to pee -- in a cup of course.  She makes it back to the bed, lays down and waits.  FINALLY a little boy, I mean the doctor, walks in.  No joke, this must be one brilliant teenager!  He really can't be over about 19!!  Nice guy, really "gets" the teenager in Tiana and agrees that yes, she needs IV fluids.  So, in come two more teenage nurses (I'm going to be soo old!!) to start the IV.  When I find out that it will take at least an hour to drain into her, I take off for a bite of dinner.  I haven't really eaten all day and am in this for the long haul.  I come back and she's pretty much just watching the telly getting hydrated.  We're sent home and all enjoy a nice long night.  An UNINTERRUPTED night! 
     Now it is Thursday morning at about 10 am.  I wake Tiana and try to get her to eat. She's really having none of it. Everything still tastes like last night's big episode. About 10:30 she calls out that her side hurts so bad.  I go to check it out and yes, it's the lower right side, yes right where that nasty little good-for-next-to-nothing appendix resides.  Call number 3 to the doctor.  Yep, given recent history, go straight to ER don't stop at the doctor's office. So, I insisted on a quick shower for me and time enough to get some "toys" together to entertain myself for the day. We walk in and immediately recognize 2 of the nurses from the night before!!  Not good!  They recognized us, too, even worse!!☺   
     So, it's determined that we'll start with an ultrasound since there is no radiation to affect her young body, particularly the abdominal region.  They are hoping to rule out any gall bladder infections or appendicitis.  Well, due to too much ultrasound-impermeable gas, the appendix is rendered un-findable.  That means we need more IV fluids, more blood work (to compare to last night's), more urine sample (can't do that!), possible pain meds and finally possible CT scan.  Because the ultrasound was so brutal, Tiana's pain went from a 9.5 to a 12 on a scale of 10.  They decide to go ahead and give her a small dose of narcotic.  That leaves her LOOPY!!  And of course, it is AFTER the pain meds that she gets to go to the restroom.  And yes, I had to help, but can I just say, that's nigh on impossible while holding an IV bag, holding her up, not LOOKING at her while she's taking care of business and then getting her "proper" again!!!  So, duty done she's to now start drinking this peachy flavored concoction of oral contrast for her impending CT scan.  Vile looking stuff and I guess vile TASTING stuff.  This is the first time the tears start to flow.  Even the IV needles didn't allicit this type of response.  At some point, though, in her loopiness, she looks at me with these glassy eyes and says it tastes like metallic poop and peaches.  I told her I didn't know what that tasted like because I'd never had it and then I asked if she'd had some at school or something.  She told me that she'd one time eaten a robot's poop and then a peach!  It was so funny!  I'm sure you really had to be there but it was quite hysterical!  And so was she!!!  She was laughing so hard and tears were just streaming down her face and then...she fell asleep!  Just like that.  Over.  Done.  Sleep. 
     Almost 6 hours later we learn that for the most part they have no idea where the pain is coming from or what is causing it.  All blood counts are fine, urine is mostly fine, CT is clear.  Next stop, doctor's office tomorrow for a female exam just to make sure that THAT region isn't causing the problems.  Now if she'd just EAT!!!

Hello!!

WOW!  Where to start?  I've been in a different world for awhile now, I guess.  We have been SUPER busy with all sorts of choir/music/jazz concerts/gigs and whatnot.
At one of the 2 sleepovers Tiana had I made a coffeecake that was SOO good!!  Even Kent had the second half of the piece he took!!  I took a basic recipe and switched a few things up.  I can't leave a recipe alone you know!!

 BASIC COFFEE CAKE

Cake:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup sweet butter, room temp
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk -- OR -- Sour Cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp softened butter
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts, or chocolate chips, and/or raisins

Grease a 9" cake pan and dust lightly with dried breadcrumbs
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg. Alternately add the dry, sifted ingredients and the milk with the vanilla mixed into it.
Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Top with 1/2 the streusel and a bit of the coconut. Top with the remaining batter and then the streusel.
Bake at 375º until tests done. I find it varies greatly by the oven it's baked in, ranging from 25 minutes to 45, so just test it to be sure. That is the only "fussiness" of this recipe, it is easy and reliable.

And now for my changes:

I used a little less sugar in the cake, used ½ butter and ½ non-fat plain Greek yogurt, egg substitute for the egg,  substituted the milk and vanilla with light eggnog and I did NOT pack the brown sugar in the streusel.  It was so delicious!!

 After the delicious coffee cake breakfast we headed out for the Mello-Aires first gig singing at Macy's.  The kids sounded good and would have been heard if they'd had a sound system.  But later in the day they did have that system and sounded great! 

.  

 We spent some time with my sis, Ivona, and her family as well as Trevan, Jill, Toriana and the very new Bryson!  That was so fun!  Jonathan preferred to spend his time in Uncle Kent's arms, but maybe someday he and Bryson will be good friends!

  Moroccan Party

Last night we were invited to join our neighbors as they welcomed their new baby with a traditional Moroccan party.  Can I just tell you it was INCREDIBLE!!!  The women were all stunningly, exotically beautiful in their traditional dress.  There was music, dancing, DELICIOUS food, and the evening was topped off with a belly dancer!  I didn't get any photos of her because the lights were too low, but it was obvious that this, too, would be a traditional addition to such a party.  Many of the people joined in the dancing either by dancing or their participation was a call similar to what we know as an "Indian war holler" or clapping.  The women rained cash on her.  The food was all home prepared by the grandma who just recently arrived in the U.S.  There were cooked vegetable salads (served cold), olives, a fabulous eggplant salad, bread (that's the utensil!  No forks, although they were kind enough to offer them to us.), saffron rice, lamb and chicken.  I tried a little of everything and it was all so incredible!  Tiana and Kent liked it, too.  There were some fried, honey dipped almond cookies as well as other almondy, coconutty cookies.  Had we stayed, there was tea (most likely mint) and coffee.  Such an awesome cultural, learning experience!!  Check out the photos at the link under the picture of Said (SIGH-ed) and Laila.

 

Party fun 

Today we had a little early birthday party for Jonathan.  Gordon, Ivona, Emily and Jonathan joined us for tacos after meeting and then we had cupcakes for the soon-to-be birthday boy!  What fun!  Tiana also gave Emily an old ladybug umbrella of hers.  I guess that was the absolute HIT of the day!!  She hasn't stopped playing with it since they got home according to Ivona!! I forgot to mention one thing that made us all laugh!  Emily came to Tiana and she said, "Why do you always have a mess in your room?"  Gave us all a good laugh!  According to her dad, she gets asked the same question!
And to finish today I baked a ½ batch of gingerbread cookies and a batch of sugar cookies.  Getting closer to being ready for the holidays!
And with that, I believe that you are mostly caught up on the happenings at our house!  We still have 3 more concerts/gigs to go before the winter break and then it is crunch time before school starts and Aimee gets here from Australia.  She'll be with us for 11 days.  All sorts of fun yet to come!

I can do this!

Ok, so there's a lot I haven't blogged about lately, and there's a lot I will blog about, but for today all I have to say is, "I CAN DO THIS!!"  I just got my math book in the mail today and looking at it, my confidence level has been raised and I know I'm going to be okay!!  I can do this!  I'm going to do this!  But can I have just a bit more time to pull myself together beforehand?!?!

Made my day!

I went to the mall today to grab a quick bite at Panera Bread.  As I was leaving Nordstrom to head to my car, a mother and her two small children came in the store.  The one child was in a stroller and the other little girl, with the black tutu on under her pink multi-colored polka dot coat, was walking beside her mom.  She looked up at the Christmas decorations (which, of course, are extremely elegant and understated) and with eyes completely lit up and a look of GLEE on her face exclaimed, "Look!!  A CHRISTMAS rainbow!!"  It was just so enchanting to see her delight over this very simple decoration!  To find delight in the simple things ... AHHH!!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

This is a photo of Plimouth Plantation, the site of Plimouth in 1627 where the first Thanksgiving would have been enjoyed. Wherever your pilgrimage leads you today, may you have lots to be thankful for, may your food be delicious, and may you enjoy a nice long nap!

This was our dinner. We finally ate at about 5pm. Just a lazy day!!

Coda REALLY hoping that some of that turkey that dad is carving might just make it into his mouth!!

It's snowing!!

Well, we have our first snow of 2010!!! Coda is just soo funny! He just sat outside this morning with his bum in the snow just watching the flakes fall!  He usually lays down on the deck, but not this morning.  He just sat there and watched the flakes fall.  He spent most of the day outside if we were home.  I think he was inside the whole time I was at work because he was dry when I got home, but then he went outside and didn't come back in for a long time!  Crazy boy!  Now he's just lazing in front of the awesome fire that Kent built!!  Tomorrow is our first snow day of the season, so the school year has been extended by a day.  We aren't necessarily supposed to get so much more snow, but it's cold and it melted just enough today that it's going to be a VERY ugly commute tomorrow!  I'm not looking forward to the 7:30 start time, but...that's the price you pay to make money I guess!  Be safe and warm where you are!!

Evidence of Delights

The ribs were a hit and we had Bonnie and Larry to share in the cake with us after listening to Tiana's jazz group do their caroling in the little village by the Sound!

Happy Birthday, Kent!

From this...

...to this!

Yup!  It's the big 40!  The only real change I see is that he had so much hair before! ☺
So, what did the man request for his birthday dinner?  BBQ baby back ribs (ala this recipe), corn casserole and vinegret.  I'm thinking of a good surprise for dessert, though, so I'm not going to give that away just yet!  I'm going to leave you with the vinegret recipe.  I beg of you to try it!  I'm sure your first reaction won't be favorable, BUT if you give it a chance, you might find you REALLY like it!

Vinegret 
1 large beet, with its skin, but stemmed, washed, and dried, or 1 can (16 oz.) beets, drained and cut into ½" dice.
3 medium boiling potatoes, peeled
2 medium carrots, peeled
¾ c. chopped onion
3 medium dill pickles, cut into ½" dice
1 can (8½ oz.) peas, drained
¼ c. chopped scallions
¼ c. finely chopped fresh dill
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Dressing
1 tsp. dry mustard
½ tsp. sugar
3 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1/3 c. oil
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

If you use a fresh beet, preheat oven to 375º.  Wrap the beet in foil and bake until tender, about 1¼ hours.  When the beet is cool enough to handle, peel it, and cut into ½" dice.
Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water for 10 minutes.  Add the carrots and cook until the vegetables are tender, but not mushy, about 10 minutes more.  Let cool until manageable, then cut the vegetables into ½" dice.
In a large salad bowl, combine the potatoes, carrots, onion, pickles, peas, beet, scallions, and dill.  Season with salt and pepper and toss gently, taking care not to crush the vegetables.
In a small bowl, whisk together the dry mustard, sugar, and vinegar.  Whisk in the oil and season with salt and pepper.  Toss the salad with the dressing; taste and correct the seasoning.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Things I learned at the Veteran's Day Assembly

I learned that there hasn't ever been a Veteran's Day assembly that hasn't moved me to tears.  I learned that no matter what, no matter how weak, "Taps" will make me cry every time, especially when it is the only noise in a high school gym full of (amazingly) silent high school students.  I learned that different units (orchestra, band, choir), when directed as one make beautiful music.  I learned that even the language of silence is beautiful (ASL "Star Spangled Banner"), and I learned, even if no one else did, that a Mission + Commitment + Unit Cohesion (group commitment) + Personal Sacrifice = Mission Accomplished.  Thank you Veterans through the ages for the privilege of freedom.  Thank you Veterans of every creed, every belief, every gender who've worked together in beauty to accomplish the mission.  Thank you to every service person - and civilian - who has been willing for the greatest personal sacrifice that freedom could be won.  And not just for us Americans!

A new plan

Well, if all goes well, and as is being planned, the face in this uniform will be mine -- in about 2015!  Last week I paid my admission fee to the local community college so that I can begin to work on my transfer AA degree in pre-nursing.  As I've planned it out, taking all the classes required, I should graduate in 2013 and then be able to look at the university level to get my BSN-RN.  It doesn't feel real, I'm trying not to think about it too much, or I may just freak out, but really, this is where my heart is.  A few years back we went to Children's to have an MRI done on Tiana and that time the hospital just seemed to call to me!  I had a fairly physical reaction to wishing I could be one of those amazing people there comforting and caring for the children and their families.  And then when the horrible earthquake hit Haiti, all I could think of was going down there!  Of course, they were looking for people with "real" experience, with real skills, but I'm sure I could have held a child, or an old man's hand, I could have cared with all of my being.  Next time I'll be ready!  So, come January 3, I will start my journey.  Egads, what was I thinking!!

Yummy Green Bean prep!!

I can take no credit for this recipe, but I can tell you that Tiana wouldn't stop eating them, and I had a really hard time, too!  I went to Trader Joe's today and they have little packages of French Green Beans in their fresh produce section.  You can actually cook the beans right in the bag.  Anyway, on the back was this recipe!

Haricots Verts with Shallot Dressing

2 pkgs. French green beans (these are 8oz. packages)

3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp. dijon mustard

2 tsp. white wine vinegar

1 shallot, minced 

Steam French beans until just tender, 3-8 minutes.

While beans are steaming, whisk together remaining ingredients and salt and pepper to taste. 

Toss steamed beans with dressing and season further with salt and pepper. 

I would think this would be a DELICIOUS salad dressing, too!  Ooh!!  On Spinach salad!!

We are, as a family, starting to go to the gym.  That means we also really must make sure that we have the right food going in so that the whole thing really works well!  So, tonight with the beans we also had broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and the Fried Chicken that we like, but forget to make!  Of course, what happens when we get home?  The neighbor "kid" dropped off his leftover Halloween candy for us to eat!  He didn't bring much that I like, though, so I suppose that's good!  Gotta get the chocolate out of here is all I can think!

A ghoulish affair

'Twas a Spooky Night

We were invited to join the festivities at the Darkened House on the Dark Side of the Moon.  Many frightful teenagers (aren't they all?!) arrived to enjoy a mysteriously delicious feast attended to by none other than the Butler and "his" staff.  Some great fun was "rustled" up that kept them occupied for the better part of a few hours.

Thanks greatly to the owners of the Manse for allowing us to be a part of a truly mystifying, magical evening not soon to be forgotten!

Morning after update

The Crinkle

So, this morning everyone feels pretty good.  Dad says he's actually not felt so good in a long time!  Tiana is still quite sore and wearing her collar.  But, I think she's going to survive! ;)  Kent took the car to the body shop and we're set to go in on Monday.  It'll take us about 4 days of rental cars.  Anyway, we're good to go. (click the caption!)

Hmmm...

A long week, followed by a long night...So this was NOT my favorite week at work ever, I was pretty tired, mom and dad are here so we all piled in the van and headed up to Five Guys for a burger and some fries.  Following that was to be the big hunt for "the" Halloween costume meant to turn young men's heads!  Not far from our dinner stop we're sitting at a light when all of a sudden BAM! We were rear-ended and almost instantly Tiana starts complaining of lower back/butt pain and crying.  We pull into a parking lot to assess the damage and exchange info with the poor lady that hit us.  Her daughter is quite upset, Tiana's not feeling well, Dad's neck isn't feeling so great, Mom's hair's fallen and Kent and I are okay, although obviously shaken up.  The damage to the car really doesn't look super awful, but knowing the inner-workings, it will be pricey!  There is definitely some damage to the back door, too.  Anyway, the further away we drive, the more the pain increases on Tiana and her neck seems to get worse.  We decide to just go ahead to the urgent care clinic.  They look dad and mom over and send Tiana to x-ray.  They did a series of pictures.  When they get to the one, the Dr. is pretty concerned about the shape of her top vertebra and calls for a backboard and aid car transport to the ER.  Well, that was fun!  We get to ER which is all of about 2 minutes away and wait.  Eventually we head to CT (passing the crazy lady who's in her padded room).  We come back to find out that the malformed vertebra was actually just her front teeth!  They'd x-rayed her neck through her mouth and the shape of the teeth looked like a forked bone on her vertebra!  So, anyway, after spending over an hour on the backboard, needing to use the facilities, we were sent home with a "no P.E." excuse slip, icing instructions and ibuprofen instructions!  Basically, we're dealing with a severe strain of all of her neck and back muscles.  Now, I'm thinking bedtime and some takin' it easy in the morning!  Someday maybe I'll even have her permission to share the photos I took of her being strapped to the gurney and hauled off in the aid car!  And her E.T. finger in the ER!  But for now...Have a good one!

Captivated - ACCOMPLISHED!!!

This story has us captivated!  The 1st rescue actually brought tears to my eyes as the man was reunited with his son and his wife!  I can't wrap my mind about the living conditions these men have been in, or the rescue capsule they are riding in to safety!!
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/13/chile-miners-rescue/

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE RESCUED MINERS AND THEIR LOVED ONES!  CONGRATULATIONS CHILE AND THE  ENTIRE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY THAT COMPLETED THIS AMAZING FEAT IN AMAZING TIME!  May the faith of these men be true all their days!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, HONEY!
18 YEARS
10/10/92


Thank you for the beautiful flowers! And for everything you do to make our house a home!
Love you!

This makes me GIGGLE!

I don't know for sure why this cracks me up, but it does!! Not just the song -- it's funny even without it! Ok, so I changed this. The link is JUST the news report. If you want, after watching that look for one of the remixes! Hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzNhaLUT520

And more food fun!

A few weeks back it seems that EVERY customer ordered their cinnamon pastry warmed up -- the reduced-fat cinnamon swirl coffee cake, the cinnamon roll, the morning bun -- you name it, they wanted it warm. Well, the next question would be then, is do you know how intoxicating and inviting the smell of warm cinnamon is?!!? The put me on the hunt for a cinnamon roll recipe that would be gooey, soft, and DELICIOUS!!! Well, this is what I found! And I've even had requests from Tiana for it and that is an amazing thing! She doesn't usually fall prey to such horrid things, but these are something she's willing to risk a stomach-ache for! These are not meant to be healthy -- so enjoy every last buttery morsel! ☺

OOEY-GOOEY CINNAMON ROLLS

This recipe is adapted from copykat.com’s cinnabon recipe:
Warm 1 cup milk and 2/3 cup butter in microwave
Add 1 cup warm water, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 Tbls salt, 2 beaten eggs & 2 Tbls instant yeast, mix.
After a sponge is formed, add 7-8 cups of flour while mixer (with dough hook) is running on low.
Place in greased bowl to rise, cover. After an hour (or when dough is doubled in size), punch down and turn out on floured surface. Roll into a big rectangle.
Filling: 3/4 cup melted butter, 1 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup ground cinnamon
Spread butter over rectangle. Mix cinnamon and brown sugar and spread over butter. I use my hands and I get really messy, but it works.
Roll up rectangle and cut into rolls. I use white thread, but unflavored, unwaxed dental floss works. Place in greased pans and let rise (or, you can do what I did: put it in the fridge ((unrisen)) overnight and then bake in the morning) . Bake 350 degrees 25-30 minutes. If baking cold, put pan into cold oven and bake about 35 minutes.
Frosting:
1 stick butter
4 oz cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla (I use 1 tsp. vanilla and omit the lemon juice)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Beat everything until smooth and then for another 2 minutes until really fluffy. Frost while warm.

A good day...

A beautiful Sunday! Loved every minute of it! I started out by throwing together a batch of rolls to go with our dinner. We had Gent, Elaine, Victoria and Grant stay for lunch after Meeting! I LOVE to do that kind of cooking and entertaining! The meal was really quite simple, but so yummy. We had ham, potatoes au gratin, salad, rolls and a relish tray. For dessert we had pumpkin cake and coffee, of course!! I really need to cook more often! I do enjoy it, but it just seems, I don't know, like busy work, I guess, when it's just for the 3 of us! Anyway, here's a recipe for you -- and it's fairly healthy, too!

PUMPKIN CAKE
1 can (29 oz.) pumpkin puree
1½ c. fat-free milk
¾ c. fat-free dry milk
6 egg whites
¾ c. sugar
1½ tsp. cinnamon
1½ tsp. ground allspice
1 pkg. (9 oz. Jiffy brand!) yellow cake mix
1/3 c. brown sugar (I don't pack it)
¼ c. butter
¾ c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350º. Coat a 13x9" pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat pumpkin, milk, and dry milk until smooth. Beat in egg whites, sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. Pour into the prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine cake mix and brown sugar. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle with walnuts, if using.
Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15-20 minutes longer, or until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan before cutting.
16 servings

Per serving: 188 cal., 5 g protein, 33 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat, 2 g fiber

'S About Time!!

So, I've wanted to do this for a long time, but it's much harder than it looks! We've had "family" pictures taken with Coda, but it's really hard to get a photo that shows his goofiness! Not to say I was super successful today either, but here's a sampling of what I got! (click his photo!)

Randomness

What a busy weekend! Friday night was High School Stadium Jam. The big "get out and cheer for your team" crosstown rival football game! Kaylin came and she and Tiana got together these FABULOUS outfits to cheer on their team.Later that night (oh, their team won!) Victoria came over and spent the night and Karissa joined us Saturday morning so we could take them to the Fair to join up with 7 other young kids for a day of fun. We left there just as it was starting to really rain and came north to a large picnic with our church friends. Sunday is always busy since I pretty much always work. After Gospel meeting a few of us went to pizza which was a lot of fun!

Now it's Monday and this is how it starts for me:

No joke, this guy is over 3 inches long in leg span, his body is 1" and the peaks of his legs are probably 1" off of my towel! Freaking out just a bit!

A long weekend away!

Last Thursday Kent took me downtown to catch the Light Rail to the airport so I could fly back to D.C. and meet up with some of the women from Cuppas and Cards for a Cozy Crop weekend. Once I landed in D.C. I immediately went up to Maryland via Metro and MARC (a commuter rail). I spent the evening and night with Jeanne and her sweet family and then we drove up to Pennsylvania on Friday morning. We met Joanne and Deb at Stamp-ede on our way to Lancaster. I did manage to find a coffee stamp to use and since it so worked out just right, I ran to Starbucks to buy a cuppa for myself and some VIA for my cards! That's the first supply I bought for the crop weekend. I brought nothing but 2 magazines for ideas and that meant I got to fully participate in their shopping extravaganzas! From there the four of us headed to Five Guys for a burger and then on to Cozy Crop in Lancaster. We got settled in and I started the dinner for that night since I really didn't have anything to work on yet. Later that evening, though, like 10 pm, we took a drive to an old one-room schoolhouse in Lititz where they were holding a crop and so were open until midnight! What a very cool little town that I MUST go and visit another time! Of course, we're in Amish/farm country so the smells took me back a few years to my childhood. Such a quiet peaceful atmosphere! We got home and most of us stayed up until at least midnight working on various projects that we'd brought. Saturday we went out a Mennonite stamp shop that was just beyond cool! On the way there we passed a full blown Amish buggy and an Amish horse cart. The stamp store was in the basement of this most gorgeous house. When I looked in the open garage across the drive from the house I noticed horse stalls. It was then that I realized that this Mennonite family still uses horse and buggy, too. They had at least 2 buggies, one in the house garage and one in the stable garage. The 14 year old daughter was manning the store and her 2 adorable little sisters were "helping" her! They were sure enjoying the opportunity to perform for some appreciative "Englishers"!!! The prices and selection in this little store were just excellent! From there a few of us went into Bird-in-Hand to the farmer's market. Colleen and Jeanne were so generous to take me there so that I could hopefully have a slightly greater chance of witnessing and experiencing Amish country! We weren't disappointed! The little town -- what I saw of it -- was so quaint. They were having a town garage sale including some Amish women who were selling some of their clothing! I should have bought one for Tiana!! ☺ I managed to buy a few souvenirs, some chow-chow which my friend has to ship to me, and get a photo or two of Amish in their buggies. Considering I packed nothing whatsoever in the form of supplies, I managed to make over 10 cards while I was there! Sunday we packed up and I went home to stay in Virginia with Colleen and her awesome family. Even with a sick kid at home, she was very generous to take me into D.C. on Monday so I could visit the National Law Enforcement Memorial and pay my respects to the fallen officers of our area (from late last year). I also happened to remember my neighbor from long ago and his name was there and I even made a rubbing of it. That really meant a lot to me! Thanks so much to Colleen for indulging me! We took a VERY whirlwind tour of the Capital, serving only to whet my appetite for more time there! We then enjoyed lunch before we stopped back by her house to get my stuff and take me back to the airport for my flight home. I cannot begin to thank Jeanne and Colleen enough for being so generous to welcome me into their homes, drive me hither and yon and just take care of me! But I can't forget Deb who was so open to sharing with us all her knowledge of the local stores and for each of the girls for welcoming me to Cozy Crop! How I wish I could afford to make this an annual tradition!!! For a complete photo tour, well what I got of it anyway, click here!

And she's off!

I think this says it all! Three more years of high school!

Yay Me!!

Ok, you have to know that I think I might be ill! All 6 of the below articles were hand-sewn by ME!! I abhor sewing so to think that I sat down and made all of this in the last 4 days or so is a really big deal! I bought the fabric for the turquoise bubble skirt and the two aprons about 5 months ago. Well, you see how I did at that point! Now Tiana has 3 new skirts, a new pillow out of leftovers from a skirt of mine that's now over a year old, and Jonathon and Emily have new aprons for when they help mommy in the kitchen! On top of all of that we had Meeting here at home today, we ate a meal or two at home, I made a Low-Fat Whole Wheat Sour Cream Coffeecake and a completely-tweaked Double-Chocolate Cream Pie with a Nut Crust. So the tweak is -- I used coconut milk instead of the 1% milk and I used all almonds in the Nut Crust and I pre-baked it at 400º for 10 minutes. I have not yet tried it, but the little bit on the spatula tasted just fine! I'm going to take the recipe with me to Lancaster this weekend so that my friend can have some chocolate pie along with the rest of us! No wheat, no dairy but (hopefully!) all YUM!! And yeah, about this weekend. Thursday I fly out to D.C., leaving Kent and Tiana to fend for themselves for a few days! I'll join a group of women that I've known online for over 5 years as they enjoy their annual Cozy Crop scrapbooking weekend in Lancaster County, PA. I'm super excited to meet these ladies as well as take in Amish country!! So, I'll be back with you after the 13th!! I'm leaving this machine behind, turning my cellphone off and generally taking it very easy! I will let you know how the tweaks on the pie turn out, though! FOLLOW UP!-The pie is to-die-for! The coffee cake not so much. As a matter of fact, I took the link out to save you. The only thing I took away from the recipe is that when baking a coffeecake in a bread pan, layer the nut/crumb mixture in between and on top of the cake!

BooHoo!!

It's raining! I'm not sure there is much more to say than that! Today Starbucks officially launched Fall with the return of all things pumpkin-- pumpkin spice lattes, (my personal favorite!) pumpkin cream cheese muffins and the return of the salted caramel hot chocolates and a new soon-to-be-favorite toffee mochas. One would think that Starbucks headquarters ordered the rain to fit the promotion! Or maybe it was the fact that the school was open to the upper-classmen today so that they could pay for their ASB cards and get their planners and yearbooks. Whatever the reason, I want a shred of summer back!! I guess the forecast says we'll be back by the end of the week, but for now it is definitely fall in our part of the world!

We're Baaack!!!

So this will be a long post -- sorry! We had no good internet connection without paying for it, and since we're cheap, you had to wait until now to hear about Vegas through our eyes!

Sunday started out super early with super cranky TSA agents to deal with. Both Tiana and I required a "female assist" even though we didn't beep the x-ray machine. I'm thinking it is because we had long skirts on (both were about to the floor) and they had to make sure we weren't hiding anything. She was mortified! Our morning didn't improve much until we left the Vegas rental car terminal. We went to Meeting and got to enjoy fellowship there with some people we haven't seen in about 8 years. From there we went straight to In-N-Out for burgers and then on to Hoover Dam. Talk about cool! Well, not really! It was HOT, but the dam was pretty neat! We even took a quick foray into Arizona across the top of the dam. That evening we made it back to our hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. Talk about overwhelming to the senses!! Lights, beer, margaritas, sex -EVERYWHERE!! You know it's there, but until you experience it, you just can't fully comprehend it! The check-in line was amazing - 45 minutes or so. We wandered around a bit that night, but the heat and the early morning had us done in! We did see the Bellagio fountain show. Pretty cool!

Photos of Day One

Monday we met up with some long-ago friends from Montana. It was so fun to see the kids after so many years. Sam and Tiana had been the best of friends in Kindergarten. After they left us we just spent time on the Strip, went to the Coca-Cola store where we tried some colas from around the world. I'll stick to Coke or Pepsi, thanks!! There was one cola that just about made me gag! We also went to M&M world, Kent and Tiana visited the CSI:Las Vegas museum and then we just continued to check out various aspects of the Strip.

Photos of Day Two

Ah, Tuesday! What an amazing day! We started out with a Carl's Jr. breakfast and Starbucks Coffee. We were headed from Las Vegas on a roadtrip to Goldfield when, after many photos of desert scenery, we spotted ruins a ways off of the road. We went to check them out. We asked later if anyone knew what they were, but they didn't know. *update!* After posting, Kent and I went on the search for info about those ruins. Seems to be they are the Elizalde Cement Company. We were pointed, though, to Rhyolite which turned out to be an absolute gem of a find! We spent probably close to an hour just poking around the site of this once bustling town. We kept our eyes and ears attuned to rattlesnakes, but alas, we didn't see or hear a-one! At this point we realize we are a mere 4 miles from Death Valley and California, so we HAD to cross over that border! I really would like to go through Death Valley some day. We found one road that will take you in but it requires a 4x4 so Kent is thinking a road trip might be in order! I could deal with that! We eventually made Goldfield, but by that point we were hot and tired so we just stuck close to the main streets and took Tiana's 15 year photos. I could go back and spend more time! I'd even do all I could to beg for a tour of some of the properties! Like INSIDE!! We got back to Vegas, regrouped and went out to catch a couple of nighttime-only free shows. The Mirage volcano and the Treasure Island pirate drama. We also took a walk through the Venetian.

Photos of Day Three

Pack up Wednesday. Still so much to see and time is very limited! We went back to the Venetian for a little bit, did some last-minute t-shirt/souvenir purchasing, walked through Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and of course got one last In-N-Out burger! FINALLY! on the way out of town I found the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign. I had looked for it, even finally on Wednesday found it labeled on the map! Anyway, I was able to get a picture of it through the back window of our rental Hyundai! Go figure! Anyway, I think we can cross Las Vegas off of our list. We did enjoy our time. It is overwhelming, sometimes nauseating, stifling, but at the same time there is an element of fun! Kent enjoyed the buffets. They weren't bad, I'll admit! Definitely not your run-of-the-mill Royal Fork/Old Country Buffets!

Photos of Day Four
Enjoy the photos if you dare! There are a lot!

Rest

Not that there was a question, but what an awesome four days at convention this year! We had days of feasting, peace and joy! Tiana made her choice known again that she really does want to serve God and so there's our joy! It was a beautiful four days weather-wise, too, if not just a bit hot! We had nice clear nights for star-gazing and I'd even hoped to get some photos of the meteor shower, but when I woke up to specifically take pictures, I didn't see any shooting stars in the few minutes I was up so I went to bed because I was too tired. I found out later that someone who HAD been up said she saw at least 23 shooting stars in an hour! It was in the 90s on Saturday and Sunday! The picture is of our set up. It's really quite funny as this is a two-room tent that only Kent and I stay in! The right half (in the picture) is our "closet"/changing area, the left our sleeping room. In the screened-in porch you can see our coffee kitchen there on the right! We're quite popular usually, although this year with the heat, fewer people looked for hot coffee in the afternoon! Tiana and I hope to go up with Kent's mom for part of second and Kent will join us for some time on Saturday. We leave for our vacation Sunday morning, though, so we'll not get any time then.

Tears...

Ever have one of those meals, or days, or books where when it's over you just wish there was a little bit more? Today is one of those days! It's been a very full week at our house, but I could use just a little more! We started the week with Teresa and ended it with her twin Tracie and her family. Man could we use more time with them! Tiana spent 10 days with them last month and we just got to have, really, what feels like a few hours with them here. They drove in on Weds. afternoon, we had dinner and Bible study with them and I had to head to bed. (Dumb work!) After work on Thurs. I joined them downtown and we took in A LOT in the city! The Market, the Art Museum, the boys toured some visiting warships, we girls did some shopping, we walked the waterfront, did a TON of steps, rode light rail, took in a ballgame and generally had a fantastic time! So fun to watch the country kids in the city, too! ☺ I had to work again this morning so missed even more time with them, but we were able to meet up for a bit more shopping this afternoon and a quick bite of lunch. Coming back to our place after lunch I had all 5 kids in my van and you know, it felt just right! And the kids (5'6"-6'3") liked the legroom!! We wish they could have stayed longer!


Now it is time to get ready for convention next week. I'm so looking forward to the quietness and the restoration!
I forgot to mention the ballgame. As we were walking in we saw Lisa and Troy on their way to put their stroller in the car. They were together with his family for a reunion and had spent the day in the city and were ending the day with a game together. Very cool! But, even cooler!, we get into our seats and I look over and I recognize a long-ago friend from my very younger days!! His cousins (?) were here from MT, too!! What a shock! I hadn't seen Melanie and her family (her husband is also related to my cousins!) in a number of years, but I'm going to guess that I hadn't seen her parents in close to 20 years, if not longer!! They were seated in the section just next to ours! What a cool deal and what a small world!

A great day!

So the day started out with an absolute surprise! After Teresa left for the rest of her trip, Tiana and I went back to Kohl's. We'd been there on Sunday and if you spend $50 they will give you $10 to spend on your next visit. Well, we earned $20 and I decided, though, not to get the dress that I had tried on and liked because I'm, well, cheap! I figured we'd spent enough. Well, then I decided, though, I could take the $20 back and apply it to the dress and it wouldn't be so much. We went back and I couldn't find the dress. Two days later and I couldn't believe it, it looked to be gone! But NO!! It was now on the clearance rack for -- any guesses? $20!!! So, now the dress is FREE!! Tiana asked if she could at least buy a shirt then so we wouldn't look so cheap. I said yes, and the one SHE found was on clearance, too, for a whopping $3.80!! So, we walked out of Kohl's with a new dress for me and a new shirt for her for $4.16 with tax!! I like shopping when I get deals like that! We then went home to get ready for the National Night Out for Crime Prevention block potluck I organized (MUCH to Kent's dismay!). Having never done such a thing I wasn't at all sure what to expect. And our neighborhood pretty much sticks to itself, except for the littlest kids, of course, who end up at our house. So, the invites were out, the RSVPs weren't really in and we're set to roll. I would say about 35 of us gathered, we had a good show of food - homemade pico de gallo, some Bosnian desserts, home grown veggies, friendship bread, typical bachelor food, and really, overall, a good time! If we registered our block party with the city, they would send out Police cars, Fire equipment, other city representatives and they'd hang out for a few minutes, answer questions, leave contact info, whatever. Target is a sponsor of the program and so they gave CHALK to the kids for having fun in the street!! AWESOME! Anyway, we had fun, and I hope it's just the beginning of an even friendlier neighborhood!

A treat!

This evening we had the privilege of spending some time with one of Kent's cousins who was heading through town. We hadn't had her here with us since we were married, other than one time in MT, but Kent wasn't there. The evening was gorgeous so we went down to the beach and watched the sun set over the water! It was just very special! The other really cool part of the story is that we'll host her twin sister and family starting Wednesday!

Happy Birthday!

Big Birthday Eve

15 years ago tonight we had Sandra D. come share a meal and run through newborn care with us. Tonight we honored that night with food -- again! Since we are far too often eating out, we tend to sign up for all sorts of "clubs" that get us free food around our birthday time. Tonight was no different. Tiana got the coupon from Famous Dave's BBQ and it was good for something -- anything from a free dessert to the great big huge All-American Feast (feeds 4-6). We usually get the puny stuff, but not tonight!!We got the great big $60 platter of far-too-much food for free!! And she even got a small sundae afterward!
We made it through a lot of the food (actually more ended up being gone by the end of the meal!) with just a few leftovers!
I thought this picture looked almost like she was about to lose her meal, although it was just a slow camera phone in low-light! All told -- Dinner tab $0!!! Yes, of course we left a tip! And? When it was all said and done, after a number a ribs, a few bites of chicken, a bit of pulled pork, 1½ corn muffins, some mac-n-cheese, some beans and a lot of coleslaw, a few bites of ice cream and water, what did Tiana have to say? "I'm hungry!"

It happens every year!

Today we went on our annual foodie venture downtown. We've missed only 2 Bites -- one when Tiana was born and one the year we lived in Montana. It's always fun to try something new, although Tiana's pretty stuck in the Piroshky rut. Doesn't help much that some pretty "hot" guys are manning the booth! Kent had a BBQ pork sandwich from a mobile vendor whose "van" looks like a pig, a burger and some pelmeni (we all shared that). I had a phyllo dough "pie" filled with an herbed chicken (it was about 2 bites!), an equally small raspberry filled "pie", some coconut prawns with pad thai and a marionberry shortcake. I saw that one place was serving Guiness Stew, but that was what was printed in the paper. The reality was -- there was no Guiness Stew! :( Tiana and McCaela also shared a skewer of dark chocolate covered strawberries. There were several booths of goodies, bands and the most fun to watch was the DockDog Dog "Diving" Competition!

We are whole again!

I picked Tiana up at the airport today and so now we are a whole family at home again! She's been the last little over 10 days in Oregon. First with all of us at Todd and Tammy's, then with Jon and Traci, down to the rafting trip and back to J and T's and then on home. Sounds like she had fabulous, heart-touching, growth-worthy experiences that are likely to stay with her for a lifetime! Everything from familiar egg gathering to the brand-new water-fight-included-river-rafting-trip that wasn't near as scary as anticipated! Of course, there was horse-back riding, a bit of shopping, helping elderly friends and introducing a younger cousin to the fine art of dining out at a sit-down restaurant SANS ADULTS!!! ☺☺ (Even making mom proud by remembering a better than 15% tip for the server!) Extreme thanks to those who helped make this week so extra special (that includes some who are "simply" in the background)! Welcome Home, little one! (I "can't" say that really any more, especially not with a birthday coming soon!)

Sunshine, old sunscreen and a great day anyway!

Kent and I went to Bonnie and Larry's cabin today. We put on the 30 SPF sport cream, but both of us are quite red in spite of it! Must have expired?! Morgan and Sandra, Jase, and Jolyn, and Kate, Derrick and Zoe were all there too! We played ladder golf, some of us went in the canoe, some in the dinghy, some on the Hobie sail boat, some swam, we all ate and just enjoyed a very relaxing, beautiful day! The day was actually a bit cloudy at the start so I wasn't sure what the day would bring, but the sun came out, we burned and now we're ready to call it a day! Thanks Bonnie and Larry!!

Oh, and we heard from Tiana that she had the most fun ever!! She was on a rafting trip/potluck/volleyball/games/fellowship get-together down in Oregon!

July 5 - A day to play

In all the years we've lived here, we've never been to Camano Island. It's often been in the news lately due to a young punk who delights in stealing from people, even leaving fingerprints, and never being caught. Anyway, after traveling the island today, Kent and I have a greater appreciation for what law enforcement is up against!! LOTS of trees, LOTS of cliffs leading to the sea, LOTS of places to slip away. And it isn't the smallest island, either!! Gorgeous homes, gorgeous views and two state parks that beg to be explored at a later date. One of the parks has waterfront cabins that are just super cozy and the other has places to truly "camp" - in tents or RVs. Prices aren't bad either! The day started out extremely grey and lackluster, but ended up clearing up much nicer than I expected. We are SUPPOSED to be on our way to the first real bit of summer so far this year!! Keeping our fingers crossed! You can join us for a bit of our adventure by clicking on our picture.

Fourth of July in Oregon

Friday afternoon we drove down to Oregon to Todd and Tammy's place for their annual (mostly) teen get-together. This is the first year we've been able to go. They had 14 boys and 5 girls stay the night Friday night. There was laser tag, VOLLEYBALL (a standard!), bonfire, s'mores, swings, basketball, more laser tag, more volleyball, pizza, indoor games (can't spoil it and tell you about these!), homemade treats and fellowship. This morning there were homemade cinnamon rolls, more volleyball (notice a trend?!), baseball and a potluck around noon for even MORE people. A few more teens were added, some much younger kids and many adults, too. So much fun was had by all! There were GREAT group outdoor games, races of varying types, water balloon tosses, all sorts of fun! Tonight they were going to have a sing and be all together for Meeting tomorrow. We have Union Meeting, though, so we came home this afternoon. Tiana is actually spending the next just-over-a-week in central Oregon with Jon and Tracie. I'm sure she'll have a ton of great tales to tell when she gets home -- but probably after she first gets some sleep!! There are some pictures to be seen on our web album.

Have a very happy and safe 4th of July!! Happy 234th Independence Day, America!