For Heather

I played the dad who brings home cardboard boxes from work. We made cars for FHE:

OK!

Just want to jot down a little Sydney-ism for memory's sake. Her vocabulary is really starting to take off and she's learning how to communicate. She's got this little trick to get what she wants. It goes like this...

Syd (pointing to the jar): Cooou--kee
Me (validating I heard her): You want a cookie?
Syd: O-K!

Fred

I've been doing a little late night reading... found some good stuff concerning Fred:

Syd's First Hand at Waffles

(and my waffley hand)

This morning Syd and I were the first ones to arise, so we teamed up to make waffles. She stood next to me on a stool, peering into the mixing bowl. Her excitement grew as she turned upside-down the measuring cups and spoons laden with curious powders and crystals. We were certainly up to something. I was relishing this productive daddy/daughter time, thinking I was a pretty cool dad... yeah... yeah...

The eggs were fun, and the electric beaters magical. The iron hot and ready, I took a metal spoon and scraped the sides as I put the finishing touches on with the beater a whirlin'. I don't know how I let the spoon get caught in the spindles, but the beater sure didn't like it. It began convulsing beyond my control when beeiirrrr!! --OUT shot one of the spindles! and I managed to shut the thing off. Syd was crying. In that split-second episode, waffle batter had sprayed EVERYWHERE within a 6 ft radius (ie. the kitchen), the bulk plastering my poor daughter's face. She'd been machine-gunned with goop. So much for the cool dad.

Tallying 'em up for Tal

Today, on the way to T's first dental visit, I thought I might prep him a bit on what to expect:

Me: We're going to the dentist. The dentist is going to clean your teeth.
Tal: Like Lowly Worm.Okaaaay. Prep session over. He was remembering this pic from one of his Richard Scarry books.

Talmage did really well at the dentist and walked away the proud owner of newly shiny teeth, a car from the toy chest, a goody bag of dental gear, instructions to stop flouride now and start flossing. It all endeared him to dental visits forever.

Other Tally-ISMS:

Dad: Where does honey come from?
Tal: Bees!
Dad: Where does syrup come from?
Tal: Grasshoppers.
Dad: Where does peanut butter come from?
Tal: Werms!

*****

Me: (having just read an article about sextuplets) What if you had five brothers and sisters exactly your age?
Tal: No. I have one.
Me: Who's that?
Tal: (ask a dumb question): 102's.

*****

Tal: Choose your favorite animal.
Me: (tossing one out there): Monkeys.
Tal: Nope. Bats.
Me: (oh. right. bats. my mistake.)....What's yours?
Tal: Mine is a big, big black snake. He was huge, huge, huge, huge. He was my favorite.

Nappy Hair Day

If You Give A Kid a Cookie

They'll find a prime spot to happily munch them.

Escaping the Heat

These are the days when we're really happy for an overcast and cool coast.

Of Fun and Fudge Bars

Hillsboro takes the summertime cake. Free community events abound. I like free. Today the kids explored the "5 Senses" stations at the library, played at The Outpost, then chowed down on their free lunches. We only went home when heat and fatigue intersected. After naps (Syd and I; T played solo), we three engaged in day three of a new summer tradition: fudge bars. One for me. One for you. Another for me. Another for you.

Through the Cat Door

Briton's modesty and young Sonya's innocent eyes were saved by a cat door yesterday morning.

There is a small laundry/utility room between the garage and the hallway, with a door on each side. Courtesy of prior homeowners, the door to the garage side has a cat door made of clear-glass. This has come in handy in the past when coming and going because you can see if there is a kid on the other side, lest you swing open the door unawares and smash them into the laundry basket. It came in handy yesterday, too.

I was getting ready to leave for the morning. The kids were waiting inside the car. The main garage door was open. Briton has just come back from a morning run and was in the laundry room. As I walked into the hallway, Briton comes darting out of the laundry room, slamming the door shut behind him. "There'ssomeoneoutthere!"

He'd been taking off his sweaty running clothes, and was removing his shorts when he'd spied someone's legs through the cat door ... just as that door started to open. Hence the hasty exit from the laundry room. I went out to investigate. There was Karren, holding Sonya. They'd come to fetch Sydney.

I explained what had just happened and we burst out laughing, while Karren averted Sonya's eyes from what could have been a horrifying moment. For all of us.

Postscript on Cali and Cauli Soup

Canoeing/kayaking, the guys in charge of cooking dinner each night, family history for family home evening, fierce ms. pacman competition, wheel of fortune game with family lore as theme, casual chatting, a hike, morning running, all-cousin birthday party, making tye-died t-shirts, hot tubbing, a last-day wandering through Legoland, and no one said the "f-word." A successful family reunion, on all counts. See you in 2011.

California and Cauliflower Soup

Here are some photos. I'm sure Robin will get to the story telling...

Three...

...No, wait ... FOUR...

LITTLE MONKEYS...

Torta Rustica

First solo attempt at this deep dish of delish. I attended an evening cooking class a couple weeks ago on "Italian Vegetables" and this was one of the recipes. From the handout:

"A fabulous main course, easy to make, and freezes well" (SOLD!)
Add whatever cheese-vegetable-meat combo you want and bake in your pizza crust until done. Serve warm, room temp, or cold. Store it well covered for up to two days in the fridge, or seal and freeze. Good with black olive bread, a leafy, mixed greens salad and some black olives.

Torta Rustica

One recipe for pizza dough
1/4 cup olive oil, mixed use (maybe not this much)
1 onion, hcopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 TBS chopped fresh basil
2 tsp dried oregano
2 large tomatoes, sliced, or 2 cups marinara sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb fresh, cleaned, spinach
1 lb eggplant
1 lb thinly sliced proscuitto, or ham, or cooked Italian sausage if desired
1 lb red peppers
1/2 lb sliced provolone cheese
1/2 lb mozzerella, sliced

Cut eggplant lengthwise in 1/4 inch slices. Soak in salt water for 20 minutes. Pat slices dry with paper towel, line baking sheets with parchment paper, brush eggplant slices with olive oil and bake in a 425F preheated oven for 10 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool.

Saute the onion, peppers and garlic in 3 TBS olive oil until tender.

Reduce the heat to medium, add mushrooms, basil, oregano, and salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions and mushrooms are limp.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Roll out 3/4 of the dough into a 16 inch circle, approx. 1/2 inch thick. Place the dough in a 9x3 spring form pan, allowing a 1 inch overhang all around the pan. Layer each ingredient in the pan as desired, or dump them all in at once. Spinach does not need to be cooked prior to putting in Torta. Roll out the remaining dough into a circle to fit the top of the Torta Rustica. Lay it over the top and fold up the overhanging dough, crimping them together to seal the edges. Make 4 small slits in the top to let steam escape and brush with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired (do desire this!). Place the Torta Rustica in the preheated oven and bake for one hour. Let cool to room temp before cutting (with serrated knife) and serving. Serves 12.

Oregon Berries

They don't get any sweeter than this:

Word to the Wise

If the diagonal length inside your car, front to back, is 9 1/2 feet long and you have some, say, quilt frames that are 10 feet long, the hatchback will not close. To clarify, for those who doubt my mathamatical (and spelling) abilities: Even if you rest one end of the frames on the dashboard at one end and sticking out the back at the other end and then slam down the hatchback, they will still not fit. In fact, the force of the hatchback closing onto one end is directly proportional to the size of the ensuing spider-webbing crack on the windshield at the other end.

Extreme Makeover

Remember "Bewitched"? Did you ever wish you could twinkle your nose like that and things could change in an instant? I have wished that about our house, especially after skimming BH&G magazines. Lacking an interior decorating gene, the whole process of "making a home" seems overwhelming and, well, out of reach. For example, when we moved in two years ago, we didn't even paint (for various reasons, but mainly because white is safe). It takes a true friend to say, "While you're in Greece, I'll paint an 'accent wall' for you."

I forgot I'd agreed to it until just before we came home - but opted to not tell Briton. Briton walked in the door first and kept saying, "Oh my gosh!" "Robin, get in here! Look at this!" "What the ...!?!?"

Let's just say that "an accent wall" is an understatement.

The League of Ladies took this:
And created this:
Our dormitory-functional master bedroom became a French Boiduor Retreat. Now we make our bed every day. It's beautiful. I love going in there.

Maybe you're thinking, "Wow. Those are great friends." And that's correct. But wait. They did not stop there. The main ringleaders were bringing in people right and left to paint a wall, consult on picture arrangements, ideas, etc. These ladies were busy.

They took this wall:And made this:

(family pics to be updated shortly ...).

A little bit after "Before":

After:Two coats of paint

They spent hours and hours working on the house. While we were off in Palm Beach. Now that I think of it, this episode was waaay better than "Bewitched". I not only didn't have to lift even a little pinky finger, I didn't even have to wrinkle my nose. I believe I shall retreat to my Retreat now. G'night.

p.s. and they also set the dining room table with full place-settings on placemats, left fresh fruit and bread on the counter (I didn't need to shop for three days!), and left a note that said, "You've been redecorated! Don't like it? See you Sunday!"

Cars

In March, T really started exploring his car motif. It marks one of his most prolific periods.

The Sun + Car

T just recently latched onto another motif of his own and really started cranking them out; a brief pause to study trains, and it looks like he's moving on to bulldozers.

Some More Photos