my rendezvous with sushi

my girlfriends and i have a craft night once a month to work on some craft project. this month we sewed different things from handbags to aprons to skirts to dresses. it was a lot of fun. amanda was the host of this one & there is a japanese restaurant across from her house that sells sushi. so since only one of us girls had ever tried it before, she thought it would be a fun chance for us to try something new. i can't exactly say for sure what all i tried. one thing was called seaweed salad which looked exactly like its name. it smelled fabulous and the flavor was good too. the big problem was with the texture. it was like eating earthworms. next it tried some sort of vegetable roll. it was cucumber & avocado in a rice wrap. pretty good, although i preferred the taste of the avocado, since most of you know i'm not too hot on cukes. last was a sushi wrap. it was a rice wrap also with sushi & avocado inside. i really liked this. if you've ever had cold crab meat from the grocery store, this is what the sushi tasted like. there were two dipping sauces, a ginger one & a seafood one which might have had a mayonaise base. these were yummy. i also tried some wasabi which was a pasty green substance. heidi said it was "a little spicy". actually it was like, "oh my gosh! my whole mouth is on fire!" really, really hot! if i had been prepared for it, i might have liked it with my veggie wrap, but as it was, i didn't really care for it. to sum it all up, i'd definitely like to try some again. it was much better than i anticipated. next time i'd like to eat it with someone who's tried some of the stuff before & be my guide as i ate it. however, i don't think it would make my top ten list of all time favorite foods. but all in all, i'm glad i tried it.

bumps & bruises

last night during supper, ian fell off the bench. that, in and of itself, is nothing too out of the ordinary. he's constantly going head-first off the couch, launching himself from the window sill, doing flips & jumps and the like. so the fact that he fell of the bench is pretty run of the mill. however, after cuddling him for a moment & giving him a warning on the proper way to sit on the bench, he climbed back up to his place and began eating again. less than five minute later he busted again, only this time he really busted. when he got up snubbing, i could see blood coming out of his nose & mouth. he apparently smashed his nose & cut his upper & lower lips. could you do much more damage? anyway, with some love & a damp towel, we got him pretty well patched up, but it was pitiful. elise was a little freaked out by the whole thing, but was a great help in getting more towels & wetting them & she kept saying, "i feel so sorry for ian." but shortly after the fall he was back at the table finishing dinner, & today he looks no worse for wear.

this reminded me of the time elise fell and got hurt when she was a little younger than ian. cory was in class and she busted her lip while playing on a riding toy. boy! did it bleed. that time i was the one who was a little freaked out. but the blood was really coming out of her lip. i mean it poured all down her shirt pretty substantially. i was just on the verge of taking her to the hospital to see about getting it stitched up, but i said a prayer & it finally stopped bleeding.

poor kids, i guess its just part of growing up. one time when i was about elise's age i was running at the beach on this hot pavement when i collided with another kid and tore my knees up on the asphalt. oh! it hurt so bad. and from my recollection i cried really loud for a really long time.

cory has a few scars on his knuckles where he fell when he was a kid. i can't exactly remember the details, but he was running and tripped and fell & somehow it was his knuckles that took the brunt of it. oh! it kind of makes me cringe to think about it. so i guess those things happen to even the best of us....

yummy yummy

breakfast is not really my favorite meal. i love all the breakfast foods, but i prefer a "real meal". generally i would rather eat supper's leftovers than a plate of eggs. and the ease of a bowl of cereal or poptart or rice cakes or something like that will do the trick for me. cory, on the other hand, loves breakfast & all breakfast foods. its his favorite meal of the day. so since he's been out of town a couple of days i fixed him scrambled eggs & ham & cheese this morning. (sort of like an omelet, but i'm not good at folding the eggs over, so i just scramble it!). i'm sure it was pretty good, but what i fixed for myself was really good. it was the same as what i fixed cory, but i added spinach & onions to it. boy was it delish! no one else thought it was too appealing, (elise went so far as to say it was "disgusting") but its only b/c they couldn't taste it. it was really good. however, i also realized that i don't really enjoy that big of a breakfast. it was good--delicious--but i was so full and stuffed afterwards. and now i know that i enjoy eating a smaller, lighter breakfast. i've usually eaten smaller breakfasts, but i thought it was more b/c it was easier than anything else. but i learned this morning that i really like it that way. so i learned something new about myself this morning.

cats are just different

cats really are different than dogs, but maria is a lot of fun to watch. my digital camera doesn't take great action shots, so i can't really get the photograph i want. but here is a little glimpse of how she looks. she bats & pounces & chases & looks so cute doing it. we're glad she's joined our little bunch! 

don't you just love this face?

here is our dog milo. the other night elise & i were playing the the animals on the deck and milo stretched out on his back to have his tummy rubbed. he just looked so cute with his ears flopped back and his sweet little underbite (my mom will LOVE that part!) i just had to take a picture! 

what in the world happened here?

believe it or not, this was a perfectly good hamburger before ian got a hold of it. this is typical of what ian's place looks like after he eats. (its frighteningly similar to how the kitchen looks after i get done preparing a meal!) anyway, the bun is mangled, there's lettuce flying everywhere, the cheese is gone--apparently the only part of the sandwich he actually ate--and of course, i love the one solitary chip. who can figure? 

tube time

okay, here's my report on television last night. there are a couple of shows that i adore. one is american idol. boy to i love that! its even better with digital cable because we don't have to watch the commercials and can even fast forward through long performances or other parts of the show we're not too keen on. i really enjoyed this week's show.

i have been so proud of our state's contribution, boasting three contestants in the top twelve, although with bucky being voted off last week, we're down to two. i was stunned that chris was the other one in the bottom. i LOVE him. i also adore kellie. she is by no means the best singer but she is sooooo precious you just have to like her. i thought she totally dodged a bullet, though, after her performance. i was glad ace was the one voted off this week. i've never cared too much for him, although i really think all this group has been impressive & likeable. i think paris is who i want to go next. but its getting hard to see the ones who are leaving, go. i'm rooting for them all. so who do you think will win it all?

my other favorite show is House. cory & i are behind the times as far as tv and stuff goes. we're not on the cutting edge of new shows...its usually a season or two before we catch on. but we've started watching house (both new shows & reruns on USA) and love it. Dr. House is so entertaining & the whole cast of characters are great. but it is a dr. show, so sometimes i have to look away! (i was never meant for a job in the medical field...) but i love it, love it, love it & can't wait for it to come on next week!

so there you have it...my guilty pleasures!

this is where i draw the line

okay, my head is telling me its no big deal. however, my emotions tell me otherwise. the funk in my right eye is improving. a new funk has started in my left eye. i'm getting all the preliminary symptoms i had in the other eye in this eye. and i'm none too happy about it. i'm pretty sure its a sty...but why?! i also think i'm getting a urinary tract infection or something of the sort that will need to be checked out. my hair is falling out due to the hormonal rush or crash that comes after pregnancy. whatever it is. its coming out more than with elise, less than with ian, but not particulary fun either way. its coming out primarily on the left side, above my temple and around my part. my hair lays differently so i don't know what to do with it these days. yecch... lets see, then there's merry grace who had 4 shots today & ian who has been on a destroying rampage (dumping out kitty food, getting out about 10 rolls of toilet paper to use as building blocks, tearing apart my broom...) plus elise & ian have been having diarrhea the last two days. actually, aside from ian's destruction, the kids have been great today. that's my bright spot, i guess. elise has been a big help as usual, even heating up my compress to put over my crusty eye. (now eyes...) ian was sweet to share his french fries with elise who really wanted a few more for supper. and now that the day is winding down, some semblance of peace is settling on the house. whew! and not a moment too soon. i think the next thing of mine to breakdown was going to be my nerves! =)

worn out!

elise has been patiently waiting for the day she could get her kitty from her cousin emmy. (her cat had kittens.) today was the big day. we picked up the new kitten--elise named her maria--but both fell asleep on the ride home. i guess neither one could contain their excitement! so we are now officially the proud owners of a dog, a fish & now a kitty! 

my maria

here is the lovely kitty on our deck. isn't she (?) cute? 

eye funk

i have an eye funk. i like to think i'm dr. barnett, diagnosing all my problems. i'm a little unsure about what this issue is. basically my upper eyelid (mostly in the corner) is all swollen up. it gets a little crusty in the corner when i wake up in the morning & it stays swollen all day. (it looks creepy.) i think it might be a sty. its itchy and tender....and gross! i've finally admitted to myself that i am quite vain. i like to look nice. i know that i am not the most beautiful girl on the planet, but when i look in the mirror, i am usually pleased with what i see & what i have to work with. so my crusty eye is cramping my style. i would really be in bad shape if i ever had a really disfiguring injury. ick. i look weird...

fancy

i think my little Lis is too cute and sweet. she's really funny, though. she certainly has her own fashion opinions as is evident here. i think my kids have lots of cute, nice, neat clothes. i'm trying to find the balance between insisting that they look polished & presentable & letting them choose their own clothes & develop their tastes. so far its working pretty well. i've come to terms with letting them dress themselves 80-90 percent of the time. the only times i draw the line is on sunday & for rare & infrequent occasions that we have to go out and about. i think we're all pretty happy about it. =) 

ian's socks....

i think ian's socks have made the blog before. once again he's picked a pair of elise's (from the grammy pack). and don't they just make the outfit? =) 

more fun with ian's socks

 

lions and tigers and....easter egg hunts?!

we maxed out easter this year. last monday we had an easter egg hunt & covered dish family dinner at Neal & Amanda's house. the kids had lots of fun & they really got in the easter spirit. the easter bunny came to our house on saturday morning. we have a tradition that the easter bunny comes during the night & hides eggs all over the house and when the kids wake up they collect the eggs and then look in their baskets. elise was up at 5 am on saturday, bursting with excitement as she realized the easter bunny had indeed been there during the night. she & ian had so much fun finding the eggs. i think they liked that more than their baskets. the easter bunny left them some play-doh, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and a polly pocket for elise and a spiderman helicoptor for ian. they were so excited and it was adorable.

yesterday we celebrated easter again with another covered dish family dinner, this time at our house. it was lots of fun. all the family was there and we had lots of good food and we had another easter egg hunt. this morning i feel like we have easter egg hangover or something. between the late night the wild fun & good food & all that stuff...well, i just want to be lazy! unfortunately kids don't "get" lazy! =)

most of the cousins...

 

we had fun!

 

wow! that's a lotta eggs!

 

ian loves his sis

 

we need a break!

 

kyleigh is a good helper

 

charles allen thinks he's a big kid!

 

best friends

theses are two sweet & sassy girls... 

marleigh & kyleigh found some eggs

 

ian's gotta a full basket!

 

my life in pictures...

...or at least my day! below are a few pictures that capture the essence of my day!

laundry

sadly, that used to by my couch. currently, it is my laundry holder. i have inherited the laundry gene. i don't exactly know how you inherit this gene, but my mom has it and has passed it on to me. all i know is that i do a LOT of laundry. i feel pretty confident that our clothes have babies in the laundry basket. that is about the only explanation i can come up with as to why we have so much. :( 

sewing machine or dust collector?

alas...here sits my sewing machine, untouched for over a week. and i had such grand projects in mind! perhaps tomorrow...

organizer

this morning as we straightened the house, i gave elise the task of putting the pillows on the bed. this consisted of her organizing them into piles on the floor, separated by color. then they were placed on the bed accordingly. and she totally had fun doing it! this girl is most definitely kin to grandma delia. the organizing genes are raging! =)

teamwork

while elise is an avid cleaner & organizer, ian is pretty near her polar opposite. typically when ian makes a mess and i ask him to clean it up his response is, "mommy help me" or "see-see help me." so while elise and i tag teamed the house, ian and merry grace teamed up by playing on the floor. 

the sippy cup

a huge part of my day is spent refilling ian's sippy cup with juice. i think i would be truly frightened if i sat down and figured out just how much he consumes in a day. but on the other hand, he sure is happy! =) 

scrambled eggs

my kids love to eat scrambled eggs. and even for me that's a fairly quick & easy breakfast that's hot, too, so i don't mind fixing it for them. (i'm not talking about bacon, toast, grits or any of that other stuff with it...just plain scrambled eggs.) this morning ian pulled up a chair beside me and helped me crack the eggs in a bowl. he's really very good at it. but as we were tag-teaming the eggs, i just had the clearest deja vu of helping grandma delia fix scrambled eggs when i was a little girl. i just feel nostalgic for a friday night sleepover at grandma's house with a saturday morning home-cooked breakfast. so grandma, if you read this, i'm lonesome for you today! =) want to mail me some bacon & eggs?

dry skin

my skin has gotten considerably drier since last summer. until this last year, i would have said i had oily skin. at least T-Zone oily. but not anymore. i think its a combination of winter (a dry winter at that), getting older, & the remaining hormonal changes associated with pregnancy. but whatever the cause, its really dry. annoyingly so. my hair has also gotten drier over the last few years as well. i have different things i've altered in my "beauty routine" (such as it is), but its becoming sort of high maintenance at this point. and while i enjoy looking nice (i wear at least some makeup EVERY day), i'm not really into all the facial/makeup stuff that much. so i wondered if any of you had any good tips for dry skin...or just any good beauty secret in general. Please?

a day at the creek...

yesterday the temperature was in the mid-seventies & it was so beautiful. we all went down to the creek and played in the water & around. we all had the best time!

Buddies... 

adam & logan were a great source of entertainment for those of us on the shore!