Skip to main content

project life 2014–week 15

sunday: on the way home from church… first of all, yes, we squeezed them all into the back of the kia. hey, it’s 20 miles to church! we gotta save gas! second, #1 kid is tired because he was out super-late at a bowling party. #2 kid is tired because she was at a slumber party. #3 kid is not tired, but thrilled to be stuck in the middle and used as a pillow.045

monday: sunny and 70? that means one thing to me! got the clothesline strung back up and hung 2014’s inaugural load to dry! happy dance, happy dance! I wanted to twirl, sound of music style, across my backyard in glee!052

tuesday: a little mishap earlier in the day caused us to need to take the computer desk out of shane’s room to replace the one in the office which was no longer functional… of course, this led to many ‘redecorating’ possibilities for shane. the wide open space in his room was soon filled with the papasan chair. he also had the sudden urge to use his computer (for the first time in many, many months, if not actually years, simply because it was no longer on a desk?? not sure about that.) but anyway, he rigged a table, of sorts, by setting a spare portion of the desk top (that we’re not using) on a bucket, which is then the perfect height for playing computer games while lounging in one’s papasan.056

wednesday: every now and then, my freezer winds up with too many bananas in it. that leads to banana bread.059

friday: out for dinner at red hook brewery. layla’s reaction to the high-powered hand dryers cracks me up.007

also friday: AND… micah lost a tooth while eating an oreo that comes with the kids meals!!! it was quite exciting slightly distressing, as there was the blood factor, and the food-in-the-mouth factor, and the no-place-to-swish-and-spit factor, and the wrapping-the-bloody-tooth-in-a-napkin-to-take-home factor. but all turned out well, and he was quite excited to put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy.012

saturday: dave made bacon burgers. bacon INSIDE the burgers. 003

and a couple of skinnies:

layla decided she wanted to learn to knit… doing quite well, actually! and… (yes, this is quite embarrassing) this is called a “plop”. “plopping” one’s hair after washing it is apparently a favored technique among curly-haired types… thought I’d give it a try. jury is still out on how I feel about the results.

049  014

Comments

you may like...

white wine marinated pork chops recipe

this recipe comes from the weber’s REAL GRILLING cookbook and is my family’s recent favorite way to have pork chops. shane thinks these are the best food he’s ever eaten, and will generally eat 2!  i think layla asked for seconds as well, and micah pretended they weren’t on his plate… which is typical.  we’ve made them on the grill, or broiling in the oven, and both are equally good. 1/2 cup dry white wine 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh thyme (I have used dried as well, and it works fine) 1 tbsp minced garlic (think I used a clove, maybe two) 2 tsp kosher salt (this was a little much. I think the second time I made them I reduced it to 1.5 tsp.) 1 tsp freshly ground pepper pork chops (4 or 5) whisk ingredients together in a bowl. place pork chops in a large ziplock and pour in marinade. seal and turn several times. refrigerate for 2 hours, turning once or twice.  allow chops to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before gril...

does home ec even exist anymore?

my last post got me thinking about how i somehow missed 'learning' all of those things which are essential in running a successful home. i'm wondering who dropped the ball on this (because, i can't possibly take responsibility for my own shortcomings here). i guess traditionally, one learns these things from their parents. i suppose i did learn a lot of my domestic skills at home. for example, the husband is supposed to eat the leftovers in the fridge. when making a bed, the 'top' of the top sheet goes down so that when you fold the edge over the blanket, the 'top' side is then up. why this matters when you are just going to cover the whole thing with a pillow and comforter is totally beyond me. but that's how you do it. so yes, my mother taught me how to iron, do laundry, clean a toilet, etc. my dad taught me how to plant a garden, mow a lawn, appreciate baseball, etc. and then there's home ec. do people still take home ec? i took it ...

week 33 in pictures

I don’t have a picture for sunday… will have to have one of the kids draw something. monday: here, we have layla, expressing her death-wish. her newfound talent in hula hooping is manifesting itself all over the place, and in odd, and sometimes precarious, positions. here, she’s balanced at the very top of the big, metal slide, which is balanced on top of the little plastic climber, which is on the edge of the deck. maybe the magic wand in her hand has cast some safety spell around her. she lived, but succeeded in giving me a heart attack first.   tuesday:      layla, micah and I took a picnic to the park. on the way back, micah was determined to carry the cooler. you can’t see it very well in the picture, but it also has 3 filled water bottles clipped to the front of the handle. he didn’t make it very far before he gave it back to me. wednesday:      notice what’s going on in the background of this picture: our backyard neighbors were h...

homemaking 101... ponderings, ramblings... the usual.

so i've been analyzing lately (because that's what i do) why i get so frustrated with myself, my shortcomings in the areas of housekeeping and organization, creativity, cooking, etc. it would seem that i'm trying to live up to the expectations of june cleaver, or my grandmother, or something equally unrealistic. no, i don't expect to push the vacuum and baste a turkey in heels and pearls, (besides, i have the roomba , remember?), but i do expect more of myself than i have been giving currently. why? i've been doing what i usually do when i have an issue i want to know more about; i check out every book the library has on the subject (organization problems anyone?). there are a LOT of books out there written by homemakers, for homemakers with a lot of different slants on the whole subject. interestingly enough, the view that disturbs me the most is not the one that suggests that God has decreed it so that women have no other calling than to be wives and mothers (alt...

smoothie-crazy!

I’ve always been into smoothies. but I kind of go in phases with them. there will be times that I have the ALL THE TIME, and then other times when I’ve forgotten about them and don’t have them at all. right now, I’m on a major smoothie kick. I was reminded of their sweet, wonderful yumminess a while back when I read a post on the pioneer woman’s site about smoothies . of course, she’s all photography-savvy and has a clean kitchen and whatnot, and I don’t, but this is my take on smoothies. actually, it’s just today’s take on smoothies. it changes daily, depending on what I have on hand or what I’m in the mood for. as you’ll notice, it’s also a shameless plug for my 3rd favorite kitchen appliance. (the first being my coffeemaker, obviously, and the second being my coffee grinder.) so today’s smoothie consisted of the segments of 1 clementine (I have a 5 lb. box that I need to use up before they are not so good… plus, I figure the vitamin c will not hurt me any.), a BUNCH of frozen raspb...