Carnival -- Let's DANCE!

Happy Mardi Gras! All those years of living down south and we didn't come away with any keeper beads. Not that any of them are worth keeping, unless you can inspect each necklace at arm's length and recall, "I got that one by lifting my shirt/skirt," and I can honestly say that I've never had the pleasure of doing that.

So what's a Yankee with a brief stint in the Deep South to do on a holiday such as this? Besides wear some purple, gold, and green, find some Boilt Crawfish to suck on! At Safeway today, I reached for a styrafoam tray of 8 boiled crawfish priced at $4, and scoffed. On Friday afternoons when the Seafood Market sign would flash "Hot Crawfish," Paul & I used to stop off and pick up a grocery bag full of them, along with a sixer of something easy to guzzle. Safeway probably doesn't use Zatarain's anyway.

In lieu of celebrating in traditional carnival-like fashion, I instead decided to learn the Slumdog Millionaire dance. I have NO business dancing; not even faux hip-hop or Bollywood. Nonetheless, the dance is coming along quite nicely. Inside I am bursting for Paul to ask for a demonstration...

Doing Civic Duty

Did I forget to mention my shopping trip last Sunday? It was the figurative icing, intentional or not, far as V-Day goes in our house. Nicely situated in the Pearl are a multitude of women's fitness apparel shops, so I shopped for "work" clothes, and made a little stop at Anthro for those cute bowls I've been admiring for the past couple years. All under 3 hours -- a new long in our house. I was the only shopper at Lucy, and was treated very nicely. Also took care of opening an exercise professional account there and at Lululemon. SO excited to use my discounts!

And I guess we're the bargain hunters, not the hunker downers. A new mattress and vehicle are both on the horizon. AND we need a better way to keep baby's food. Right now we serve in half-cup ramekins and other porcelin 'pinch' bowls, and store them in the fridge covered with saran wrap, or in our smallest tupperware boxes (two tablespoons of mashed whatever in a 2-cup box just takes up space). We're looking at the BabyCubes and these Tellfresh Boxes. Anyone remember what you used?

Here's one more image, just because it's too cute to skip!

I Heart Three Day Weekends

presents, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Paul got Prez Day off, so Sunday felt like Saturday and so on. It was nice.
We had a fun Valentine's Day, making cookies at a friend's house and later having a yummy dinner with an AWESOME dessert.

I have been wanting ice cream cake since the last time I had it. That was almost 6 months ago.

A cool surprise came Fedex today. Adelaide got a handmade music box from her Great Grandparents! It plays Teddy Bear's Picnic when you lift the lid. It's beautiful, Great Grandpa! (There was only a little crying after the end of the vide0.)

This afternoon Adelaide & I walked down to Woodstock to our local children's shop today and picked up a plain white muslin swaddling blanket. I've been asked to embellish it for display, with the idea that other people might want to buy their own white swaddling blanket and try it too. Any ideas on embellishments?

Practicing

She's on the verge of mobility, folks. We are gate shopping soon.


-A

One Person's Shot Glass...

Is another's water glass.


Bottom's up!
Thanks Aunt Marci!

Oh Sweet Weekend!

The last week has been more or less routine, with a cold and some extra work; a new Etsy project and ideas about making birthday cards. Starting this week, we have an average of just over one family birthday per week until April.
Paul has been advancing through the Travis Fingerpicking book. Both us girls are enjoying that.

We went out and did our duty for the nation this weekend, consumerizing and such. Our plywood mantel finally looks pathetic enough to consider replacing, after we found a great big mirror to install above it. A shiny white set of service for 8 was unwrapped, washed and placed in the cupboard Saturday. I am so psyched about our new Demitasse set!
And I even managed to finish a Valentine special for posting.
-A

34 - Year Campaign

starts now. We're still working on a slogan.

Obamacon Yourself!
-A

Abundant Sunshine

We are going outside today for sure.

Sunny

High 42° F

Precip:		0%

Abundant sunshine. High 42F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph.

Despite this.
-A

Mmmmmmm..... Pad Thai Night

We love Pad Thai night. It's not our first:
Nor will it be the last:
Yu-um. Bonus: peanuts were free, sort of.

JanuarYAY!

Well. It's already mid-January. The new president is here, my flu is now one week long gone, and we've just been to Paradise and back. Paul's Grandma Ellen was an excellent hostess; coaxed us to have seconds/thirds, helped us bundle up when we went outside, made sure we didn't read in the dark or sit too close to the tv, and ensured that we enjoyed ourselves on Leftover Liquor Sunday. Too sweet.


Now it's time to plan the rest of the year, clean extra hard, get in shape, deliver a trunk-load to Goodwill, and replace some of it with shiny new, operable stuff. The latter is at the top of our list right now. But we are waiting patiently; I always forget about the lull of sales in January. Retailers are so kind, giving us the month to un-Max our credit cards. I digress.
Tell me though, is now a good time to replace our crappy Target floor lamp with a nice "big kid" lamp (AKA, one worth more than $20)? The baby shows some signs of being able to crawl someday and is also practicing her Balancing on Two Feet act. Its very cute but she's already bonking her head daily.Oy, growing pains!

- A

Dieting Tips

I lost 8 pounds in one day!
Ask me how at www.pukeyourselfthin.com

I'm off the wagon though, and the first thing I wanted: HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup). All last evening and this morning I kept trying, and finally my body said "Ok, but..."

If you're in the market for some good HFCS, try Chex Mix Turtle Bars. They're in the cereal aisle at the grocery, and they are awesome. Caramelly sweet, salty, & crunchy with chocolate on them. AND they're a "Good source of WHOLE GRAIN!*" (Surprisingly, asterisk turned out to not be a disclaimer.)
Anyway, I was about to get Nature Valley Peanut Butter Granola Bars -- you know, the ones that come 2-per pack, are a little dry & crumbly but do the job -- but when I compared Nutrition Fact labels, the Turtle bars had twice as much fiber (4), the same amount of sugar (11) (but fewer carbs, if you care about that), a little less protein (2), and less fat (3.5)v.
My verdict: given the choice between a healthy looking granola bar and a candy bar looking 'Bar,' pick the one with chocolate on top! After all, a granola bar is a TREAT, not a SNACK, or worse yet, BREAKFAST!!

Whew. Guess I'm feeling better. Happy New Year's Resolutions. That was your free tip.

-A

Camera is on Break

She gives me kisses sometimes. I swear it. Slimy ones.
She says mama and dada to us. Seriously.
She wants to help me turn the page.
And she loves to flirt with the camera.

-A

Img. by Gma Sandi

Christmas Trip : Success

Friday night late we arrived back to a slightly snowy Portland, having chalked up a ski trip, a Farkle tournament, a day of flu, a sugar cookie fiesta (my own personal party), a stay in the Danny DeVito room, a yoga class, and a nice sandblasted hike.

I forgot to mention several screechy mid-night awakenings (people who can sleep with their kid in bed - or in the same room - are deaf, I tell you).

Oh - and NO line at the airline ticket counter! AND the baby slept on the plane on the way home. Hallelujah!!!

Here is a photo journal of our Colorado Christmas trip:

Tangrams

Yoga Class

Sing along

Hanging with Dad

Farkle Practice

Rockin' with Grandmother

More games

Tea

Uncle Luke's Downhill Ski Face

Tyleen's house

Peek-A-Boo!

Merry Christmas Everyone

Merry Christmas Everyone, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Anna the Angel was procured at our new Goodwill down the street. She was an easy kit, but it still took me about a week to put together. Good thing for deadlines.

We are heading off to Colorado Friday, weather willing. We'll be out of cell phone and internet range, so see you when we get back!
Merry Christmas!

~ A

Birth Day

7/12ths, originally uploaded by apkoski.

6:33 am Wake up to cooing baby. Ache all over. Trouble breathing. Birthday cold.

7:30 Take a nap while baby naps.

8:00 Read final pages of book club book + tea & oatmeal.

8:45 Opened birthday presents. Thank you!

9:00 Have Coconut Dream Bar.

9:05 Have Coconut Dream Bar.

9:15 Take Shower.

12:00 Change from brown lounge pants into blue lounge pants.

12:15 Have grilled ham & cheese on Baby Pumpernickel + Orange.

12:20 Watch Paul Shovel walk.

12:30 Exhaust list of baby activities. Decide to talk like pirates. Look up pirate names and talk like pirates. My name is something-crotch; Adelaide's pirate name is flowy & pretty.

12:45 Discover leftover window markers from H2C and draw pictures on oven. Consider writing "Help!" on kitchen window but reconsider after cleaning duties are weighed.

1:10 Feed baby and let her fall asleep on me for the first time in many many months.

1:12 Take half dose of Dayquil & Coconut Dream Bar

1:30 Much better.

2:10 Nap.

3:10 Shovel out driveway gate. Consider shoveling alley but change my mind and go inside for a hot chocolate.

3:40 Can only find Mocha hot coco mix but try to gag down anyway, unsuccessfully. Have Coconut dream bar instead.

6:30 Bath time + bed time for baby. Happy 7/12ths, Love!

7:00 Kick back hard cider & birthday dinner.

7:30 Kick back Tylenol Sinus half dose + Tylenol.

8:30 Enjoy Chocolate Mud Pudding with whipped topping.

9:00 Pump + dump

9:30 Made it to 33. Bedtime.

~ Inspired by Lola & Marci

Are We There Yet?

Window, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Today is Day 8 of the 08 Snow Event, or Arctic Blast, or whatever phrase your local news station has dubbed. Without watching more "continuous special coverage," I'd say that yesterday we got about 8 inches of blowing snow, with a bit of freezing rain on top (enough so that you can almost walk on it if you are a kid). I suppose some reflecting is warranted, given the magnitude of the event, and since it'll be over in a couple days...
Or not. What did I want to write about? My head is fuzzy with congestion and ache. This cold.
One thing I keep reading on Blogs is about how much they got done over the past few days. First I get all jealous and snotty because 'I never get anything done anymore!'. But then upon reflecting (damn, I am), I realized that we've accomplished quite a bit. We made 4 holiday confections (candied citrus peel, cranberry bliss bars, peppermint bark, and coconut dream bars), processed & sent off Christmas cards (for a couple of you, remember that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery), vacuumed, finished Christmas shopping, mailed packages, and finished making some tiny pants and a tiny hat, to be modeled soon.

Miss Adelaide is holding up just barely. We saw tooth number 2 poking up this morning accompanied by a tirade of screams. We are doing our best to keep her entertained without opening the presents early!

Is one more snow day enough for me to read the last 200 pages of my book club book?

-A

A Recipe you Don't want to Try

bunny it's cold outside, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Curmudgeons

4/6 Days Snow, packed tightly into small house
1 Pan Cranberry Bliss Bars
1 Ziplock Baggie Peppermint Bark
1 Ziplock Baggie Candied Orange & Grapefruit peel
1 Teething Baby
Substitute: eating sweets for exercise

Mix all ingredients and let fester. Sprinkle in beginnings of a cold, flu, or whatever this crap is.
Makes: pants tight, head ache, family cranky.

Done and DONE

Wrap & package presents. DONE
Make Peppermint Bark. DONE

Today is a snow day. Yahoo! We can no longer see the grass, several accidents are reported, the Western Cullinary Institute Food Safety class is canceled, chains are required on all highways...! Of course, we need to get to the store for more children's Tylenol (baby has one tooth and another is about to break through!). Whiskey instead?


Peppermint bark was a partial success. After experimenting with various ways to make candy cane bits, Paul suggested grinding them in the nut grinder. Hand cranked nut grinders make a 'perfect' size peppermint piece, unlike the coffee grinder, mortar & pestle, and mallet & ziplock techniques. Unfortuately the tines are no match for a Splenda Candy Cane; three broke off into the pile of bits.
Also, if you look over the left shoulder of the candy cane bits you'll see that the dark chocolate (semi-sweet morsels) did not melt. Instead they turned into a big pile of poo, as Paul put it. Anyone know why?

Alas, below lies the finished product: beautiful yummy white chocolate peppermint bark, noteably not stuck to the wax paper lining. Thanks for the recipe Mimi!
Ok, on to Candied Citrus Peels.

-A

The Verdict

bang-bang, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Thank you for your feedback on baking and topping peppermint bark! I'll save those naked pictures for another day...

Tonight is peppermint bark-making night. Yesterday at the grocery store I got confused on the peppermint bark topper, starlight mints. I was looking for the wrong stuff - Brachs (mint) stars, which I'm pretty sure don't exist anyway. I think I'm going to start with a layer of semisweet chocolate (melted Nestle chips), and then add the white chocolate layer ('melted Callebaut), and then the mints, pressed into the chocolate. Candy canes will be used for bits. I know, exciting.

-A

-- And by the way, I only mentioned the naked pictures because it seemed like Paul was the only one reading this self- & offspring-gratuitous site. And I knew he'd appreciate them! ;)

Learning Independent Play.... sort of

Check out Adelaide's new exersaucer! We almost bought one new and then found the exact one we wanted on Craigslist. Score!!

Anyway, we've needed to work on independent play for a little while now but couldn't because we had nowhere suitable to put her without a crash/tipping over incident. We're at the "I'm just around the corner" stage now. Yay. Anyway, here's day 1 of the experience. Notice she's not really playing but watching me.



Now, one real important question: What type of peppermint should I use to embellish my Martha Stewart Peppermint Bark (because a sprinkling of pounded up starlight mints just isn't enough)? Candy Canes, Brachs discs, other? And isn't anyone else out there baking for Christmas?? Comment, People, or I'm gonna start posting naked pictures!! (that's a threat)

- A