Thursday, August 27, 2009
Geeez! (Or Should I Say Cheese?)
Okay, I'll admit it. There are some things that I won't compromise on in the area of food. You will never find margarine in my house, only real butter. The same goes with cream... non-dairy just doesn't fly with me. It's always been real half-and-half.
My preferences are not limited to just the dairy aisle either. When I started baking, I quickly realized the superiority of the flavor of real vanilla extract compared to imitation. Then, about ten years ago (more than likely after watching a cooking show) I stopped buying powdered parmesan in the can and opted for a small chunk of parmesan to be able to grate fresh cheese on my pasta.
Well, it turns out that Isabel just LOVES this parmesan cheese. Once she tastes it, she wants nothing else. In fact, she would be quite happy to just sit and eat a bowl of grated parmesan. As her cheese intake increased, we started to go through a chunk of it a week. So... I decided to spend the money and get a nice BIG wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano that would last us quite a while.
The wedge came out for tonight's supper. Freshly grated cheese on some steamed broccoli... yummy! After dinner, I got side-tracked. I was busy doing something when... I noticed... IT! You know..IT, don't you? IT is the sudden silence that fills your house and you just KNOW it is because someone is up to no good. I called out to Isabel. She came right in to the living room.
All seemed fine. Maybe I was too quick to be suspicious.
Maybe not!
A little while later, I walked into the kitchen and noticed Isabel's little step stool positioned directly in front of the stove (upon which was placed the aforementioned cheese. I didn't think anything of it until I got closer and noticed teeth marks all over it.
Just GRATE!!!
(For some entertainment, click on the picture and enlarge it to see close ups of the teeth tracks.)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Photo Shoot in the Park
Fellow AP Eric is looking to expand his photography business to a full-time status. The guy is amazing. He soooo captured the spirit and life that makes Isabel...well, Isabel! [Click on the images to enlarge them and see the details.] I am so thankful to have these images captured. What a gift.
The photo shoot was a week ago Sunday. Isabel and I met him early in order to catch the morning light and to beat this oppressive August heat. (Thankfully, there was a Starbucks!)
The magic he did that morning is online. These are just a few of my favorites.
Book Store Fun
After our FCC monthly dinner last Saturday, several of us walked over to Barnes and Noble to look at some books. It was like a dream... each of us (including the girls) found a book to our liking and read quietly in the children's section until a little before closing....
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Driving Miss Daisy
Seriously folks... how can you NOT smile at this? We had walked out to the car, when I realized that I had left the outside light on. When I came back from turning it off, this is what I saw.
Why my life is filled with laughter.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Three Word Sunday
Started by PugMama, Three Word Sunday is a fun post in which you sum up your week in three little words. You can sing it, you can say it, you can write it, you can draw it. It can be funny or sad or poignant as long as it’s honest.
Because she is such a peanut, I am often asked if Isabel eats anything. Answer? She eats a LOT!!!!! She is just so full of energy and in constant motion that she burns it all off...and more!
[Mental note: How can I bottle that for me?]
We had our monthly dinner with our local FCC group. Before playing a hearty game of "Catch Me if You Can" with the other kiddos, she had a "little" bit of dinner. The photo above is what she ate!
Enjoy my three word pic!
Something Fun For The Listless
Saw this on a blog. It was fun to do and interesting to look over my life. 48 out of 99 is not too bad.
Here are the rules:
Bold the things you’ve done and post this list on your blog then leave me a comment and tell me you did this so I can go see! I have starred those things I still want to do.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower*
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Written something that was published
11. Bungee jumped or parachuted
12. Walked across the Golden Gate Bridge
13. Been in a fist fight
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Seen the Rings of Saturn with a telescope
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when not ill
24. Built a tree house or snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon*
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice*
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Fired a gun
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors*
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa
39. Gone rock climbing (if a rock climbing wall counts!)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal
44. Visited Africa
45. Cried yourself to sleep
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Visited the Eiffel Tower
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling*
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Pretended you cooked something from scratch when you didn't.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie or commercial
56. Visited the Great Wall of China*
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia*
60. Served at a soup kitchen*
61. Sold something door to door
62. Gone whale or dolphin watching
64. Donated blood, marrow, etc
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp*
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter*
69. Held onto a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten frog legs or caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Time Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Done something illegal
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Sang a solo
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car*
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Climbed a mountain
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had surgery
89. Directly saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club (one of the best things I’ve ever done!)
93. Seen a loved one die
94. Given birth to a baby
95. Visited the Alamo
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Sent a text message while driving
99. Been stung by a bee
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The Art of Childhood
It was so heartwarming to see children scattered among steps, lawns, and flowers painting away. After Isabel and Annabelle painted their pictures, they decided to explore the gardens... and ending up with an unexpected dip in one of the fountains.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Laughing with Lucas
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Public Enemy Number One
Friday, August 7, 2009
The Thought Process of a Three-Year-Old
We have two cats. One of them, Buddy-Cakes, has been with me for almost 15 years. I adopted him and his brother Bart from The Humane Society. They were littermates and inseparable. Buddy was the laid bak one and Bart the Fussy one. Two years ago, during preplanning, my sweet Bart died in my arms. I was shocked by the depth of my grief. About four months later, I got a little six-week-old kitten that looked like Bart for Isabel's second birthday. She named her Lulu.
She is a beast. The cat, that is... not Isabel. After so many years I had forgotten about the kitten stage. You know, the "I-am-the-center-of-the-universe stage. Fortunately, she has mellowed out and settled into the start of her adult cat life.
Buddy, on the other hand, is getting old. Lately, his age has become more and more evident. He has lost a LOT of weight. (Only 5 lbs now). He moves slowly. He has lost a lot of body mass and his bones are sticking out. I know his time is drawing to a close and I am appreciating each moment with him.
Isabel has been very good about understanding this. We talk about how being old changes the way we can move. I have explained that Buddy moves slowly because his bones are old. She seems to grasp this concept.... which made this morning's comment all the more fascinating...and entertaining.
We were on the way to school this morning when we saw that the railroad crossing was down a train was moving VERY slowly across the intersection. As I pointed it out to Isabel, she said:
"Mom, that train must have old bones."
I had no idea what she was talking about. She repeated herself and than (as if to clarify it for me) continued with:
"It's moving slow like Buddy-Cakes."
I just LOVE getting glimpses into how her mind works.
So logical.
So simple.
So refreshing.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Room for Change
When I bought this house five years ago, I knew immediately which bedroom was going to be mine and which was going to be Isabel's. I have a good sense of color and can see things is my mind's eye. I knew just how I wanted Isabel's room to look and it is just as I imagined. I knew how I wanted my room to look and it, too, is just how I envisioned. The third bedroom, however, is another story. Since I never had a concrete idea of what it was going to be: (maybe an office? den? guestroom? ), I never could SEE it in my mind.
Long before Isabel arrived, it was a guest room with a daybed. I painted the walls a deep ochre color and bought burgundy and gold drapes and linens.
It was nice... It was coordinated...
It was never used.
I ended up giving the daybed to a colleague and bought a big armchair and ottoman. I moved the television in there and it became a den. And it WAS used. But... it slowly became a dumping ground for all of the toys and junk that Isabel had accumulated. So, I set up the little sunroom off the kitchen as a playroom for Isabel. It worked well. Her stuff was out of the den. I got to keep an eye on her from the kitchen. Things went well ... while she was one- and two-years old. However, the room started to shrink as she hit the three-year-old mark. And so, I racked my brain on what to do.
The answer became clear when, upon buying a new flat screen TV for the living room, I gave away the old dinosaur set I had in the den, along with the table it sat upon. Since I had already moved the armchair and ottoman out, I knew that I could make this Isabel's new playroom. I could finally "see" it in my mind as a fun, organized, happy room. However, this room in my mind was a FAR cry from the reality of what lie before my eyes. The room had become a dumping ground and looked more like a cross between an archeological dig and the aftermath of a a tornado strike than any place a child would play.
I knew the job of making the vision a reality would take a lot of work. Yesterday I finally tackled it and was able to finish this afternoon. I really like it. While I still need to paint the walls, it is a bright, colorful, happy place and the afternoon sun pouring through the windows makes it a place of light. The room's purpose has finally been found. See Isabel's reaction below. Apparently that purpose includes making banana bread. ;-)