Birthday suit
Calvin got his first suit for his birthday. He was so proud to be dressed up like his daddy!
Labels: Calvin, Steve
Ice cream for days
Such a backlog of posts in my brain!!! Amazing pictures waiting to be posted, amusing anecdotes, scintillating discussions of events. But I can't play catch up right now--far too late. Instead, I'll blog about the incredibly fabulous birthday party we had for my Steve last night.
We do a lot of themed parties--fancy/funky drinks, different chips and salsas, stuff like that. So for Steve's birthday this year, he requested an ice cream tasting party.
I made 4 different flavors of ice cream, then cheated by buying the 5th. On the menu were Buttermilk Cherry, Avocado, Blood Orange Sorbet (the one I bought), Lavender Honey, and Double Dark Chocolate.
Holy cow. Those were some killer ice creams. I served them in tiny little cups and we had them in 5 separate courses. The buttermilk was awesome, and the avocado was unusual, fun to try, but overall a little odd. The blood orange sorbet was so fresh and bright tasting. I was very surprised that the Lavender Honey turned out as delicious as it was. I expected it to be more of a novelty flavor like the avocado, but it was really fabulous. And of course chocolate is always a hit.
Fun party, great food, and the best husband ever. What a great life!!
Labels: parties, Steve
Life with four
Why is it so hard to post lately?? I certainly have plenty to blog about--there's an absolutely adorable baby who delights me daily, but for I'm just tired lately. Maybe because of this adorable baby?
He's a marvelously good baby, he sleeps well and is constantly good natured. But there are four of them now, and that in itself is reason enough to be a little tired.
So there's the excuse, and here's the update around here.
I gave Steve a gorgeous hammock for our deck for Fathers Day. But...it was Father's Day 2 years ago. I told him I'd set it up and then never did, because I weirdly get paralyzed by projects if I don't know exactly how to do them. The stupid hammock sat for 2 whole years in the garage, and I felt guilty every time I thought about it. So I finally called wonderful sister Andrea, who put the big scary thing together in about, oh, 6 minutes flat. Hooray for a sister who can help me even when I'm a complete freak. Note to self--just get over it and at least try things!!
For dinner on Sunday, Steve requested Soul Food. So I made ribs (a first for me) and waffles with fried chicken (another first--I don't really fry things ever). We ended up with 23 people over and had a fabulous time. The food turned out great, but I should really break this habit of trying out new recipes on large groups of people.
We took Samuel to church for the first time on Sunday. So fun! Here he is in his handsome little Sunday clothes. He's three weeks already. I'm trying so hard to savor every single moment.
Labels: holidays, Kids, Steve
Bliss on a fork
I feel so spoiled right now, and so loved. Tomorrow is my (gasp) 30th birthday, and my darlingest husband just took me to the nicest restaurant. --Caution--if gushing, exclamation marks, and superlatives offend, please skip to the next post.
Oh, it was so amazingly good!! And not in the heavy, rich, sit in your stomach kind of way. It was fresh, high-quality perfectly prepared food. The restaurant is way up the canyon, next to a little stream and in the middle of the trees. Talk about ambience! I'd love to see it in the summer when everything is green and gorgeous.
Now just to immortalize the deliciousness, here's what we had.
To start, Key West Jumbo Shrimp,
rice vermicelli salad, edamame,
coconut lemongrass nage
and Steamed Mediterranean Mussels,
sundried tomato-anchovy butter,
grilled bread
Entrees: Rocky Mountain Elk Chop,
saffron potato hash, whole roast shallots, porcini jus
and Bison Tenderloin,
gold potato puree, cambozola,
braised leeks, piperade
Dessert: Almond cake, lavendar tapioca, and rhubarb sorbet
Oh. My. Laws. I am a happy happy girl tonight.
Labels: food, Steve
Soup and a break
Miracle of miracles, Steve came home today!!! He's been gone for a loooong time--something like 11 days, but I'm not sure. But he was able to surprise us by coming home a day early!! Bliss.
I made
black bean soup for dinner with homemade tortillas. Yummy!! Chloe loves sour cream above most other things on this earth, and she was thrilled with her bowl of (a little) soup and (a lot) of sour cream.
It's so good to have him home for a few days. I seem to get into a funk after a couple of weeks of dealing with everything by myself. Once he's home, I can do amazing things like go to Target by myself, or even do the dishes while HE'S putting the kids to bed. Life just doesn't get much better than that!
Labels: family, Steve
On breakthroughs and Soul
Hazel has had a major block about reading, and for that reason I've backed waaaay off. We'll play phonics games here and there, but any time I ask her to sound out a word or anything, she gets stressed. I wasn't sure what to do. On the advice of my wonderful Sarah friend, I decided to work with her on a really simple level for a couple minutes a day, then if she continued to resist after a week, I'd back off for a long time.
On
Dy's recommendation, I checked out
Old Fashioned Education and printed off an old fashioned reader.
After 2 sessions, it clicked. Really clicked, for the first time. She's been pseudo sounding out words for a year, but always with one eye on me to gauge my reaction. But she really, truly, was understanding the relationship between sounds and words. I wrote and abysmally silly little book that we illustrated, and she read it to every person who came over. She put Chloe on her lap and read to her. She read it to Calvin. She was so delighted that she was reading!! That's the first time I've ever seen her excited about it. What a moment!!
This is why I homeschool. I was there for that moment. I saw the joy and pride on her face. Not a teacher, but me. I was discouraged about whether I'm making the right choice in hsing, but this reinforced it so strongly. Yippee!!!!!
Now the soul part. Hazel got a Stevie Wonder CD for her 5th birthday from my brother in law. I thought it was a slightly weird present, amid the Strawberry Shortcake and fairy princess stuff. She glanced at it, said thanks, and set it aside. Recently, she discovered it and has been listening to it over and over. She definitely inherited her daddy's 'rockin out' gene.
The other morning, I went into the kitchen and saw one of the sweetest sights of my life. Steve and Hazel, facing each other dancing, each with their hands in the classic phone position ( you know, with pinky and thumb extended) singing with all their hearts "I just called to say I love you." So incredibly tender!!!!
Labels: Kids, Steve
Yet another reason to adore him
You know those coupons that always come in the mail? Well, I was watching for the big stack of them so I could snag a carpet cleaning coupon. Very light light carpets + 3 kids + muddy snowy outside = YIKES!!! A deep clean was in order.
So, with coupon in my posession, I mentioned to Steve what I was going to do, and it was at the next moment that I loved him oh so much. Look what he got for me!!
Oh yes, it's a steam cleaner. A Hoover F5914-900 SteamVac with Clean Surge, to be exact. And it is so wonderful! I used it last night after all the kids were in bed. Even after vacuuming really well first, the water was
black after I finished. Gross that we've been living like this!
But since carpet cleaning is so expensive, this baby will pay for itself in no time!
Labels: Steve
Living La Buena Vida (the good life)
Aaaaahhhh. Can you feel the relaxation seeping from my fingers?? The earliest that I've woken up this week is 9:30. The EARLIEST!!! I haven't slept this much in a long long time. But hands down the best part has been the uninterrupted time with my darling.
The second day we were here, it rained for about an hour. It came down pretty hard, but we were just shopping so it didn't bother us. When we came out of the market--holy cow!!! The streets were rushing torrents of dirty water. It was probably 5 inches deep, sloshing over the curbs, and
fast! We had to cross a couple of streets and got wet to our knees, but then driving the car through the water--oy vey! We could feel the water lapping against the bottom of the car. It was crazy! I guess when you're at sea level, there just aren't many places for torrential rain to go.
We sat on the beach and at the pool yesterday for hours. Since I didn't want to burn, I slathered my face and shoulders with sunscreen. But since I'm not very smart, I stopped at the shoulders. Because, a tan on the arms is a good thing, no? Here is evidence of just how not smart I am.
Can you see the white finger smears amid the red??? Doh! Oh well, thanks to lots and lots of aloe vera, it doesn't hurt at all.
One more Cancun story, then we'll return to the normal programming of kids and homeschool and life. We're coming home tonight, and I'm glad--I miss those babies!
So we packed a large box of...'protection' for the trip. We, um, needed one of them...and they weren't there!!! The entire box of condoms disappeared! Can you just picture the disapproving maid confiscating them? Too funny!!
We're leaving this 85 degree bliss and will be coming home to 7 degrees and snow. Ouch! I'd love to come back here with the kids next year. The kid would absolutely love the beach and the ocean creatures. I think we'll try one of those all inclusives when we come back with them. This has been such a fabulous trip!!!
Labels: Steve, vacation
YIPPEEEEEE!!
Guess what???
Steve is HOME. Not home for 24 hours before he flies out again, not home preparing for his next trip, just home. Home for good until the end of January!!!!! When we got home from the airport this afternoon the biggest feeling of peace washed over me. We made it through another semester! He has worked so so hard and now he'll get a much deserved rest. And I'll say it--I've worked hard also. I'm so happy right now I just keep grinning. I feel like this huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders, and now I'm free. I can leave the house ALONE now!
Ok, I'm sorry for the excessive use of exclamation marks. But really, if there's ever an occasion that warrants it, this is it.
The semesters are brutal, but this winter break, and then the summers are what keep us going.
We had a family meeting tonight to decide all the wonderful things we're going to do in the next few weeks. Christmas can begin now.
I got my girls these Christmas dolls--aren't they cute?
I was showing them to Steve while the girls were playing, but they wanted to see the screen so I shut it quickly. They persisted, then Steve told them that if they looked they would be getting brooms and dustpans so they could clean all day long.
Hazel's reaction? "Hooray! I've always wanted my own cleaning things!"
Hmmm, better rethink that shopping list!
Hazel went with Steve on this last trip to New York. Since it was just a fast trip, we figured she was old enough, and sure enough, she did great. They left Steve's employee at the sale and took off to enjoy New York together. They watched the ice skaters in Rockefeller Square and saw the big Christmas tree.
Then she got to sit on Santa's lap (why do they always ask for really really different things each time they talk about Christmas? Would a little consistency be such a bad thing?)
But isn't this just an idyllic father/daughter moment? Then they went to the American Girl store and browsed around. I hope that memories like these will just cement themselves in her mind. How wonderful for her to feel so special to her Daddy.
Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'm going shopping, and I'm going alone!!!!!
Labels: Kids, Steve
Steve flew out this morning at the crack of dawn. I can hear the collective gasp right now. "Flew out this morning?" you say, "Isn't this just two days before Thanksgiving?"
Why yes it is. Steve has a sale in Canada tomorrow, and is getting on a flight first thing Thursday morning, which
should put him back here at around 2 pm. So, barring any major snowstorms in Buffalo, NY, we should be good to go for family togetherness this Thursday. Hooray! We were thinking for a while that we should all head up north together, and maybe feast on chicken nuggets or a meatball sub. Fortunately the Master of Logistics (or the MOL, as we call him) worked it out. Lovely!
So anyway. Woke up 5:45 with him, as did all the kids. Not just sleepy 'goodbye daddy' waking up, but running through the house and dancing to very loud Christmas music awake. Going back to sleep was not going to happen. "Great!" I thought. We'll get so much accomplished! Umm-hmm.
Breakfast--done by 6:45. On track for massive task busting. Then after I had a nice, hot, long, yummy shower, the bed just looked so dang inviting. The pillows--they had so much softness. And the quilt--it beckoned. So I succumbed, and dozed for a few minutes. Then Calvin climbed into bed with me, snuggled in, sucked his thumb, and fell promptly asleep. Well, I'm not superhuman. There aren't many people who can resist the cozyness of a sleeping toddler snuggled next to you. Who am I to fight it? We snoozed for half an hour, or until the girls got fed up and came and jumped on us!
So much for my super productive morning. But honestly, time spent snuggling my baby boy and breathing in his delicious baby smell is time much better spent than chores, any day!
Labels: baby, Steve
