Blogworthy

We are staying at my in-laws rather non-childproof home.  I was in the kitchen in search of some panko bread crumbs and the kids were supposed to be washing their hands.  I walk into the bathroom to find Elora sitting on the counter looking in the mirror and snipping away at her hair with a tiny pair of sharp scissors.  I just gasped and said, "Oh my gosh, what is going on here?!"  I stood there stunned and dumbfounded.  Brandon came rushing into the room to see what was the matter.  He reacted badly and she lept into my arms crying.  He got over it moments later and Elora told us that Jonah did it first.  We called her brother to come downstairs to us immediately.  I hadn't seen any of his hair on the counter or in the sink.  His haircut was far worse than hers!  I reacted badly, mostly because I had paid $15 for him to get a haircut a couple hours earlier!  I got over it quickly too but by then both kids were in tears.  They cried and hid.  We snuggled them and told them we could get their hair fixed and that we weren't mad and not to do it again.  Neither of them would let us take a picture.
"I was just trying to make a line!" - Jonah said in his defense

When I went to clean up I discovered that all of Jonah's hair was in the trash.  This struck me as incredibly funny.  I just imagined Elora standing there watching him cut his hair and thinking how terrible it looked and deciding she could do a much better job if she could just look in the mirror while she gave herself some layering and trimmed up her bangs.
When I tried again to get a photo of Jonah a several minutes later he burst into fresh tears telling me how terrible it looked and how he didn't want a picture of it.
I went upstairs probably ten minutes after the incident and found Elora hiding behind clothes in Katie's closet still just crying her little heart out.  I held her and comforted her for five minutes but I couldn't figure out why she was so sad or what to do to make her feel better and finally I took her to snuggle her dad, who also couldn't quite get her to cheer up until he finally decided they needed Otter Pops, which did the trick.  I finally managed to get a few photos when they were eating dinner.

(Elora made herself a cocktail)

I'm still here

Blog, what's a blog?  As you can see, I'd almost forgotten I had one.  And I haven't been reading anyone else's either.  Nothing tells me to anymore, I used to get reminders on my homepage or something, I don't remember.  I have mixed feelings about that as I try not to spend too much time online.  Anyway, this was just meant to be a quick post to say hello to anyone who happens to actually read my blog.  We got family photos done early in December.  This was my favorite.

Favorite Albums

I'm not going to claim these are the best albums of all time, but they are my favorites.  In no particular order:

1 - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill

2 - Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

3 - Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson

4 - An Innocent Man - Billy Joel

5 - Glass Houses - Billy Joel

6 - The Stranger - Billy Joel

7 - II - Led Zeppelin

8 - Tidal - Fiona Apple

9 - The Wall - Pink Floyd

10 - When the Pawn - Fiona Apple

This really does not reflect my love of Jazz or Country music, but these are the albums that I have listened to over and over and not just for a year or two but consistently, sometimes for decades.

I thought this list was going to be a lot easier to make than it was.  It even spawned two more lists found below.  If you decide to do this post on your blog, which you should, be forewarned that it will waste several hours of your time.

You really can't go wrong with any Billy Joel, Fiona Apple, Pink Floyd, Kelly Clarkson, Beatles, or Led Zeppelin album.


Compilations

1 - Legend - Bob Marley & The Wailers

2 - Greatest Hits - Red Hot Chili Peppers

3 - Greatest Hits - The Mamas & The Papas

4 - Greatest Hits: HIStory Vol. 1 - Michael Jackson

5 - Echoes - Pink Floyd

6 - Greatest Hits - Queen

7 - 1 - The Beatles

8 - The Immaculate Collection - Madonna

9 - Keeps Getting Better - Christina Aguilera

10 - Definitive Collection - Stevie Wonder

Other favorite artists are Celine Dion, Garth Brooks, Sara Barielles, Feist, Diamond Rio, No Doubt, Erasure, Ella Fitzgerald, Herbie Hancock, Bing Crosby, Dido, Alicia Keys, Rob Thomas, Maroon 5, U2, Elton John, Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, The Doors, and Nora Jones.

Soundtracks

1 - Little Shop of Horrors

2 - Forrest Gump

3 - Glee: The Music, Volume 4

4 - Charlie's Angels

5 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

6 - Dead Presidents (though I've never seen the movie)

7 - Little Mermaid

8 - O Brother Where Art Thou

9 - The Nightmare Before Christmas

10 - Romeo & Juliet

The Taste of Fall

Last week we made pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice cookies, squash & apple soup, and apple & five-spice pork roast.  Yesterday we made melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cookies with a brown sugar frosting.  All gluten-free by-the-way.  As soon as my six weeks of gluten-free are over, I'm making those first pumpkin cookies again cause they were fantastic (and I actually preferred them without the glaze).  Oh, and tonight I'm making dinner in a pumpkin.

The epitome of fall flavors was in this:

Apple-Butternut Squash Soup (from Cooking Up Vermont via Linda)

3 T vegetable oil

1 medium white onion, diced small

3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped

1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped

1 T kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground allspice

1 large butternut squash (about 2 pounds) peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and cute into 1-inch pieces

2 quarts water or chicken stock (I would reduce next time and do 4 c. veg or chick stock and 2 c. water)

2 cups apple cider

2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups half and half

 

Heat oil in stockpot over medium low heat.  Add onion, celery, carrot, apple sale, pepper and spices.  Cover and cook until vegetables are slightly tender...8-10 minutes stirring occasionally.  

 

Remove cover and add squash, water or stock, cider and lemon juice, stirring to combine well.  Simmer over medium-high heat for about 40 minutes or until squash is fork tender, stirring occasionally.  

 

Working in batches, if necessary, transfer squash mixture to a blender and puree until silk smooth.  Transfer back to pot and slowly whisk in half and half and heat through.  Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. 

Gold Rush Days

We live in an area shaped in history by the California gold rush.  There are reminders of it all around.  On Labor Day, there was a festival celebrating that time in Old Town Sac.  The kids and I went and had a lot of fun.

Recognize this old miner?

Downtown Sacramento.  Right between their heads is the state capitol building.

Phrenologist about to measure Jonah's head

Coyote Man

panning for gold

The firing of the cannon

Kindergarten

Jonah had his first day of Kindergarten on Aug. 22nd.  Neither of us cried.  We were both ready.  He is loving it.

Walking to school.  

Elora and I walk him there everyday and he always wants to be in front of us, speed-walking the whole way.

He'd been looking forward to wearing this new Buzz & Woody shirt on his first day.

Jonah likes to wear polo-style shirts buttoned all the way up to the top.

Daddy didn't have an 8am patient so the whole family got to walk Joe to school that first day.

The classroom.

Jonah was surprised that his teacher didn't "stand in front of a board" and that he didn't have "a table with a chair hooked on."

Coloring with orange (his favorite color) and saving a red (2nd fave) under his chin for later.

Fridays are wear red days.

Jonah with his teacher Mrs. Silva

AZ in August

I hadn't been to Arizona in August in 10 years, but you know what, the heat didn't even bother me.  It's been over two weeks since I got back, so forgive me if this recap isn't as sharp as my one on Utah.

Stopped at Montezuma's Castle (a complete misnomer) on our way from Flagstaff to Mesa.

Spent a lot of the day just hanging out at Nana's house with Uncle Adam, Moqui, Kaleb, Ethan, Chandler, Nana, Gabe, Papa, and Claire.

Did I ever mention that my parents have a tendency to pick up strays?  Had someone staying in their guest bedroom right up until the day we got to town.

Dust storm moving in

Took Kaleb, Ethan, and Chandler to Bookmans where we met up with Ted and shopped.

Sunday the 12th we spent the afternoon at Robin's house.  I finally got to meet my niece Chloe, who is already 5 months old!

Had dinner back at my parents house with the fam there plus Mark and Amber.  It was nice to see Amber's cute pregnant belly.

Hung out with Karen for a bit on Monday morning.

And then after signing a minor out of police custody, we went to lunch with Robin, Nana, Paisley, and Chloe.

If you ever think your life sucks, think again.  Catherine just turned 15.  She got picked up by police that day because her stepmom turned her in for disturbing the peace.  She was punching things and screaming at her dad who makes her sleep on a futon in an apartment with no air conditioning (it was 118 degrees outside that week) where she is often hungry.  While her dad pays for her step-sister to sleep on Cat's bed in the  air conditioned apartment next door.

Where's her mother?  She's on drugs and Catherine has a restraining order against her after past violence.

Catherine enjoyed a week of sleeping in and eating bacon and eggs everyday before my dad got guardianship of her and got her registered for school.  So now my parents have living at home my two teenage siblings, my 18 y.o. nephew, and Catherine.

After lunch Mom, the kids and I spent an hour at Barnes and Noble.  A bit later we headed over to Robin's house for swimming, playing, and pizza.

Tuesday we ate at Ned's.  Hung out with the Courts.  Had gelatto with Ted & Lauren.  Went swimming with Spencer.

That night I did a girls' night out with Melissa, Chrisy, Tina, Michelle, and Theresa, all Sarah's friends.  We ate at the delicious Cornish Pasty and had a good time hanging out and talking.

Awesome lighting storm on the way home.

Wednesday spent hours hanging out with Gena while the kids enjoyed her pool.

That evening we went to Chandler's football practice, where I got caught up on the latest with Sarah's boys from Michael while Jack, Jonah, and Elora played and played at the playground.

Then we took Jackson out for icecream and played some more at the park before stopping to say goodnight and goodbye to Tucker, Robin, and Trent.

Thursday morning-ish my mom joined us for the roadtrip home.  We drove halfway and then stayed at a great motel somewhere north of L.A.

The kids enjoyed having Nana around for the next five days before she flew back home.