Saturday, November 27, 2010

Time to play

Hello friends!

Our gluten, soy, dairy, legume, and (mostly) nightshade free Thanksgiving dinner went well! L and I had to have mashed potatoes, so we made some at the very end of all the cooking. =) My parents and youngest sister couldn't make it over, though, so we have a TON of leftovers.....they live about 4 hours away over the Cascades. The passes have been really bad with the winter weather we've been having. It's been real cold, with temps getting as low as 16*F in the area! Brrrrrrr. But it's been nice having some snow for awhile....L, hubby and I built a mini-snowman.

Anyhow, the turkey was delicious, we bought a fresh, free-range bird this year. It was spendy, but the only bird that we could find that everyone in the house could eat. Most of the turkeys we looked at had been buttered or contained soy or wheat, or both. I think next year we are going to buy one directly from a farmer, so we know for sure that nothing has been added to it.

We've decided to build L a play kitchen for Christmas this year! We bought an old solid wood coffee table from the local ReStore, along with a used facet, some drawer pulls to look like stove knobs......a metal mixing bowl for the sink...and a cute butterfly fabric print from the Goodwill that L picked out. We're really excited about giving her a gift that we are making ourselves and that will last! I've found some really cute ones around the web, the first one on this page is my favorite! This one is super cute, too! And here is a page for a Flickr group that is all about making play kitchens!

I think tomorrow we will put up the Xmas tree and decorate the house for the season. L is getting so big that I think this year she will be REALLY excited about the holidays!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010


Here's my little update: School is going well and my co-workers LOVED the brownie I made for them!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Hacienda inside version.

L, on the day we got the keys to the new place. I think she loves it!

Hacienda

The porch of the new diggs.

Finger paints?

L's "pretties"

2nd b-day showdown

L, the robber on her b-day.

Halloween '10

L sitting on a pumpkin!

L and R's b-day cake, design courtesy of R's dad!

It's the end of the world as we know it!

So.....um....holy crap!! I haven't posted anything since April! I've totally forgotten about blogging.

So many things have changed.......

L is 2 now! She and her b-day twin, R had a duo party. The theme was cops and robbers! It was pretty cute. They had lots of fun. And the weather was great that day, even though it had been raining for a week before the party. We somehow lucked out to have a dry, sunny party at the park.



We moved in July to a bigger rental. It's a duplex, but the only wall that touches is the garage....so it's like we live in our house, we NEVER hear the neighbors! =) The new place is a 3 bd, 1 3/4 ba.....the biggest place we've ever lived (at least on our own). The floors in the living room and hall are hardwood, the bedrooms are carpeted, the kitchen is linoleum.....all of the rooms have large closets (although not walk-in)....our master has its own bathroom (!) with a standing shower, and the hall bathroom is pretty substantial in size with a large linen closet in it. The kitchen is smaller than our last kitchen, but now we have a space for the kitchen table (as opposed to having it set up in the living room at the old place)....we were sooooo spoiled by how big the kitchen at the old place was, we knew we wouldn't find something comparable in our price range. We also have a patio and a backyard with a garden. We live in the woods now! I see deer on a nightly basis, and there are rabbits, squirrels, raccoons (that are afraid of no one! including my dog---yep she's been bit my one!), and several other wildlife in the area. We are now across town from where we were living, and we love this area so much more. Plus! Big bonus I'm only 4 minutes from work! And about 12 minutes from school!

School?.......yep! I went back to school, I'm in a Baking program at the local community college! It's so much fun, and I'm loving it so far. In the last few months hubby and I have found out that we have MORE food allergies than we thought. He now has a horrible reaction to any nightshade (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, egg plant, huckleberries, blueberries, etc), and has cut them from his diet completely. I have cut chocolate and ALL legumes from my diet. Chocolate, my best friend since elementary school, has turned on me!!! =( Woe is me! I don't know how I can be considered a woman anymore! Obviously I'm having a hard time with this one....soy, no biggie, other legumes.....okay, but I'm not happy about it....but chocolate?!?!?!? NOOOOOOOOOOO! So I'm learning to live life without my favorite food, and hubby is learning to eat without most spices.....even though I'm really upset about no chocolate......I still think hubby's allergies/intolerance's are way worse than mine....and I feel bad that he doesn't get to enjoy food like he used to. On a good note......we've both lost weight because of our food allergies! I've lost almost 20 lbs, and he's lost more.....I hope he can maintain his weight now, since he's gotten kinda thin, and if he loses more we may have to start worrying!

Let's see....my sister moved in with us, she and her two boys, D, and E. It's been really rough. I love my nephews, but they've been spoiled most of their lives....when you gotta say no, they don't understand it very well......but things are getting better....they are getting used to our routine and following most of the rules....getting better everyday. D is old enough to understand that he's gotta follow my rules or there are consequences (time out, no video games, no fun outings for him)...he's 4. E is only 1 and is having the hardest time transitioning to a different environment than he was used to. K, my sis, is doing okay.....she's got a lot of stuff on her plate, and I don't envy her place in life right now. I'm trying really hard to be supportive, but it's been really tough lately, especially seeing her make the same mistakes over and over again.

L is so big now.....wearing 3T clothes! And she's such a little diva! She has to wear pretty clothes and have "pretties" on her toenails....she's so the opposite of what I was when I was little......okay, so maybe I was a diva, too, but I was a tomboy....and she's so girly......it's cute.....oh and she's started talking back to me (thanks to my nephew D for teaching her by example), saying things like "MAMA, no nap!" and "MAMA, NO!" all the time....it's cute...but I'm sure it'll get old quickly! She also bosses her cousins around, saying "E, no!, Time Out!" every time E does something he isn't supposed to.....it's so funny, and when he takes a toy she's playing with, she runs after him, yelling "E, I nee nat!" (E, I need that). They all had a ton of fun on Halloween. We took them to a corn maze, and then trick-or-treating in my friend, Mama Z's, neighborhood. At the first house, E tried to just go inside when the lady opened the door....it was pretty funny.