Jack has added three new words to his vocabulary: pease (please), ehkyu (thank you) and n'ekkum (you're welcome). It's very charming to see him working on his grown-up manners. All that time saying please and thank you to him is paying off now!
My favorite thing is that he prompts me about what I should be saying.... He will hand me a toy and say "Thank you!"
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Salem trip!
Recently, my friend Chris and I went down to spend the day in Salem. She loves the city, and I have to admit it provided a very nice day out! I've been much more fond of the country and big open, grassy areas recently, but it was nice to see all the city had to offer. Particularly, we found a nice open park area in front of the capitol where the kids were able to play. There was a series of bronze sculptures that the kids got to play on, and Chris took a couple of great pictures!
Here's Jack playing on a drumming aligator:
And all three kids playing on some kind of stilt-walking frog:
I absolutely LOVE that picture! It is the perfect shot of the stages of growing up. :)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Where'd Mommy Go?
Melissa is apparently finding her hands full with all of her projects and blogging here has fallen by the wayside (as you may have gathered). It is now up to me to post things (probably mostly pictures), so that you can know what is going on here in McMinnville, OR.
Jack has started building things on his own now (see evidence of train tracks and legos below).
Also, for the past few weeks he has been in the nursery at Delphi while Melissa has been working there part-time. When they eat snacks down there, he (though being the youngest) is allowed to sit at the "big-kids" table because he is able to sit in his seat and bus his own tray after snack time. Along this vein, we decided it was time for a booster chair at home instead of a highchair. He loves it.
Monday, March 8, 2010
soup's on!
I've come to believe my passion this spring is going to be soups. The weather has been very changeable -- it snowed today! -- but we've mostly been having warm days that cool off quickly at night. Is there a more perfect time for soup? I am really fascinated with veggie soups right now. How is it that they can taste different every time, with very similar ingredients? Good vegetables are so darn healthy, too.
Combine this eagerness for soup with my deep-seated love of cookbooks and the fact that the local library lets me check out up to 50 (!!!!) books at once, and I think you can see where my menus will be headed!
I made lentil soup sprinkled with cheddar cheese the other day, and MAN did it hit the spot! I'll have to come back later and add that recipe; I mostly invented it on the spot so it's a bit of work to post here. :P
I did want to share this one recipe I got from the library recently and typed up for my own use. Unfortunately, I didn't note down the name of the cookbook it came from. If I figure it out, I'll come back and add the information -- that one was a winner!
French Vegetable Soup with Basil and Garlic
Servings: The recipe says this will serve 8 people as a one-bowl meal or 12 as a starter, but I halved it and it looks like it will still be at least 6 servings!
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 to 6 small red potatoes, scrubbed and diced (I would reduce this number next time)
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and coarsely chopped
6 cups chicken or beef stock, OR water
4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, OR one 14-oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tsp fresh oregano leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 small zucchini, diced
2 cups cannellini beans (well-rinsed if canned)
2 cups cooked elbow macaroni or other small pasta
1-2 cups of whatever pesto you like
Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and cook 5 to 10 minutes, until the onions are golden.
Add the garlic and stir for a minute or two longer, being careful not to let it brown. Then add the potatoes, green beans, stock, tomatoes, oregano, and bay leaf.
Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer 15-20 minutes, until the carrots and potatoes are crisp-tender.
Add the zucchini and cannellini; cook about 10 minutes, until all of the vegetables are tender.
Add the cooked pasta and cook 1 to 2 minutes, just until heated through.
Adjust seasonings as necessary and remove the bay leaf. Serve with a small bowl of pesto on the side, so diners can add to their own bowls to taste.
Combine this eagerness for soup with my deep-seated love of cookbooks and the fact that the local library lets me check out up to 50 (!!!!) books at once, and I think you can see where my menus will be headed!
I made lentil soup sprinkled with cheddar cheese the other day, and MAN did it hit the spot! I'll have to come back later and add that recipe; I mostly invented it on the spot so it's a bit of work to post here. :P
I did want to share this one recipe I got from the library recently and typed up for my own use. Unfortunately, I didn't note down the name of the cookbook it came from. If I figure it out, I'll come back and add the information -- that one was a winner!
French Vegetable Soup with Basil and Garlic
Servings: The recipe says this will serve 8 people as a one-bowl meal or 12 as a starter, but I halved it and it looks like it will still be at least 6 servings!
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 to 6 small red potatoes, scrubbed and diced (I would reduce this number next time)
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and coarsely chopped
6 cups chicken or beef stock, OR water
4 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped, OR one 14-oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tsp fresh oregano leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 small zucchini, diced
2 cups cannellini beans (well-rinsed if canned)
2 cups cooked elbow macaroni or other small pasta
1-2 cups of whatever pesto you like
Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and cook 5 to 10 minutes, until the onions are golden.
Add the garlic and stir for a minute or two longer, being careful not to let it brown. Then add the potatoes, green beans, stock, tomatoes, oregano, and bay leaf.
Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer 15-20 minutes, until the carrots and potatoes are crisp-tender.
Add the zucchini and cannellini; cook about 10 minutes, until all of the vegetables are tender.
Add the cooked pasta and cook 1 to 2 minutes, just until heated through.
Adjust seasonings as necessary and remove the bay leaf. Serve with a small bowl of pesto on the side, so diners can add to their own bowls to taste.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
yoga night
Monday and Thursday are my yoga nights -- the best! A friend of mine teaches the classes, and they are just such a nice change from my normal routine! I find myself thinking about things totally unrelated to my day-to-day life, or nothing at all, and get a nice workout almost without even noticing!
I have to give my husband kudos for being willing to stay home with a tired Bear on these nights so I can get my personal time. He's a good guy, huh?
I have to give my husband kudos for being willing to stay home with a tired Bear on these nights so I can get my personal time. He's a good guy, huh?
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
blog content
Since I am a writer, after all, I am going to try shifting the blog a bit so there is more writing and not such an emphasis in my mind on having to have photos for a post. I will be organizing our photos on Flickr or Picasa (Alex is the boss of this maneuver, of course) and will post some kind of link here or something. I think doing it this way will help me to stay more up-to-date on posts and photos both!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
life does change, doesn't it?
I looked at the blog today and realized I haven't posted anything for a month! Well, February was a busy one....
What happened was that I agreed to help a friend of mine with her maternity leave (she works at Delphi). She was due at the end of February, but the baby decided he was ready at the beginning of the month! I've been (hectically, but happily) running ever since!
I don't think it's worth trying to write a lengthy summary of what we've been up to the past month. Suffice it to say, I have been checking students' literature papers again (so enjoyable!) while Jack has been having tons of fun at "school" -- a co-op nursery for kids whose parents work at the school. They practice the alphabet, counting, colors, and so on.... He is eating it up!
I'm not sure if it's because of school or just because of Jack's age, but the watchword for our interactions has really been "adaptability". He is always surprising me with something new! I thought I'd share two funny things that happened today:
Exhibit A:
At tonight's bedtime, Jack was intermittently asking for "blanket, blanket!" (Which can mean he's asking for a physical blanket, or to be tucked in.) Well, he had two blankets in his bed and when I first tried to tuck him in he wouldn't lay down. Therefore, no tucking-in blanket! And the rule is that once he's in his room for bedtime, that's it. We will come help him if he's hungry or thirsty, but no more.
Well, this time he was being pretty darn civilized in his request, and he kept asking when I told him his blankets were in his bed. He was coming to the door and politely trying again at about five-minute intervals, but starting to get upset that I wasn't responding. After a while I thought, This doesn't have the normal bedtime avoidance flavor. Hmmm.... so I came over to his door and said, "blanket, huh?"
To which he nodded and let out a watery, relieved giggle. "Blanket!"
"It's really that important?"
Vigorous nodding and a wobbly "Yeah!"
Well, shoot. If he's going to say "yeah," for the first time.... I couldn't resist, even if he was conning me! So I tucked him in nice and snug. He was happy as can be, and out within two minutes!
Well. Apparently he is REALLY doing big-boy bedtime now!
Exhibit B:
We went to Lowes with Alex while he picked up some stuff for work. Jack and I wandered over to the gardening section while Alex was looking at plumbing fixtures and boring stuff like that. First thing I know when we reach the gardening section, Jack pulls a watering can off the shelf and tells me "spout" -- while pointing to the right bit.
"Wow!" I say, "that's right!"
All business, he points to the handle. "Ahn-doo," he says. Pretty good for someone who hasn't mastered "h" or "l" yet!
I am grinning like an idiot at this point. "Like a teapot!" I exclaim, figuring it out. (They sing "I'm a little teapot" at school sometimes.)
He grins at me and tips the watering can over.
We sat there and sang "I'm a little teapot" four times before he allowed that we could move on, and he was SO happy.
What I've really concluded from these events (and many others) is that the biggest thing you can do for your kids is to understand that they are growing up quickly, and to expect these ridiculously grown-up, surprising or "advanced" things to appear all the time - because for every time he throws a toy with an angry yell, chews on something he shouldn't, or takes a swing at someone (something picked up from school, which he is testing) there is also a time when he offers to shake hands when he meets someone, helps to do the laundry, or reveals that he knows a good dozen letters in the alphabet!
How much nicer for both of us to focus on the grown-up parts. I'm sure it invites more of them; he looks so proud when we notice he did something well and praise him for it. :)
What happened was that I agreed to help a friend of mine with her maternity leave (she works at Delphi). She was due at the end of February, but the baby decided he was ready at the beginning of the month! I've been (hectically, but happily) running ever since!
I don't think it's worth trying to write a lengthy summary of what we've been up to the past month. Suffice it to say, I have been checking students' literature papers again (so enjoyable!) while Jack has been having tons of fun at "school" -- a co-op nursery for kids whose parents work at the school. They practice the alphabet, counting, colors, and so on.... He is eating it up!
I'm not sure if it's because of school or just because of Jack's age, but the watchword for our interactions has really been "adaptability". He is always surprising me with something new! I thought I'd share two funny things that happened today:
Exhibit A:
At tonight's bedtime, Jack was intermittently asking for "blanket, blanket!" (Which can mean he's asking for a physical blanket, or to be tucked in.) Well, he had two blankets in his bed and when I first tried to tuck him in he wouldn't lay down. Therefore, no tucking-in blanket! And the rule is that once he's in his room for bedtime, that's it. We will come help him if he's hungry or thirsty, but no more.
Well, this time he was being pretty darn civilized in his request, and he kept asking when I told him his blankets were in his bed. He was coming to the door and politely trying again at about five-minute intervals, but starting to get upset that I wasn't responding. After a while I thought, This doesn't have the normal bedtime avoidance flavor. Hmmm.... so I came over to his door and said, "blanket, huh?"
To which he nodded and let out a watery, relieved giggle. "Blanket!"
"It's really that important?"
Vigorous nodding and a wobbly "Yeah!"
Well, shoot. If he's going to say "yeah," for the first time.... I couldn't resist, even if he was conning me! So I tucked him in nice and snug. He was happy as can be, and out within two minutes!
Well. Apparently he is REALLY doing big-boy bedtime now!
Exhibit B:
We went to Lowes with Alex while he picked up some stuff for work. Jack and I wandered over to the gardening section while Alex was looking at plumbing fixtures and boring stuff like that. First thing I know when we reach the gardening section, Jack pulls a watering can off the shelf and tells me "spout" -- while pointing to the right bit.
"Wow!" I say, "that's right!"
All business, he points to the handle. "Ahn-doo," he says. Pretty good for someone who hasn't mastered "h" or "l" yet!
I am grinning like an idiot at this point. "Like a teapot!" I exclaim, figuring it out. (They sing "I'm a little teapot" at school sometimes.)
He grins at me and tips the watering can over.
We sat there and sang "I'm a little teapot" four times before he allowed that we could move on, and he was SO happy.
What I've really concluded from these events (and many others) is that the biggest thing you can do for your kids is to understand that they are growing up quickly, and to expect these ridiculously grown-up, surprising or "advanced" things to appear all the time - because for every time he throws a toy with an angry yell, chews on something he shouldn't, or takes a swing at someone (something picked up from school, which he is testing) there is also a time when he offers to shake hands when he meets someone, helps to do the laundry, or reveals that he knows a good dozen letters in the alphabet!
How much nicer for both of us to focus on the grown-up parts. I'm sure it invites more of them; he looks so proud when we notice he did something well and praise him for it. :)
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