Joe, Mel, and Brianne

Louisville Science Museum

2012-02-13T20:59:00.001-05:00

We decided to have a family day last Monday and took Brianne to the Louisville Science Museum. Part of my motivation in going was our zoo membership renewal came in the mail and they had a dual membership option with the science museum and I wanted to see if it was worth it, given how old Brianne is right now. I think she is still a little young, but the did have a really cool Kid Zone there that she probably could have spent the entire day in without blinking an eye. Didn't particularly care for having to go all the way into downtown Louisville and pay to park, but it is what it is.

This lovely picture of Brianne came right at the beginning of our day. The Kid Zone was right next to the ticket desk, so we decided to start there. As soon as we got in, we found ourselves in a construction zone. I got her to put the hard hat on for the picture (yay!) but it didn't last long. The vest however seemed to be a big hit.

They had a couple pulley systems set up with buckets and various sizes of foam blocks laying around that you could pile into the buckets and hoist up and down. Once she figured out which rope to work, she was at it without any help. She even practiced her counting as she worked, which you can hear in the video below. She can count up to10 without breaking a sweat, mixing up a number or two every now and then. She can count past 15 with help - smarty pants.

That noise you hear in the background of the video is what I've deemed the toddler's siren song - WATER! And I only have myself to blame for Brianne finding it. I got bored watching her raise and lower the bucket and, knowing she would LOVE to play in the water, I talked her into exploring a little further back into the room. The minute she turned the corner, she made a beeline for the first stool she could find and climbed up. I was lucky and found a rain jacket that fit her perfectly, which was an amazing feat given the huge pile on the floor and the range in sizes available. I swear we spent at least half and hour right in this spot. All she wanted to do was fill her cup of water up and pour it into the toy and watch the water spill down. We eventually tore her away, to which she responded with a toddler tantrum and so many tears that you'd think she had been splashed with water.

She got over the trauma of being taken away from her precious water pretty quickly. We found a little play house that had a table, little chairs, and puzzles to play with. We haven't spent too much time playing with puzzles yet since that requires her to sit still long enough to play with one. We didn't spend too much time here because the room was pretty warm and I had about had my fill of all the noise.

After we left the Kid Zone, the only other exhibit on the first floor was a visiting guitar exhibit. There were some pretty awesome guitars in there, but we didn't get to spend much time looking at them since there were a couple kid-friendly pieces to the exhibit that Brianne ran straight towards once we got in the room. This blue display had tension cords as the strings, so they didn't make too much noise when she tried to strum the guitar. The BIG guitar made lots of noise though. That display had massive steel cables at the perfect height for a toddler to strum. She made the cutest faces and noises as she played with that one.

There was a Subway right next to the museum, so we stopped in for a light lunch and on the way back we explored the entry way. They had a couple fun things right there. The one in the picture she particularly got a kick out of - you pushed a button and bubbles would come shooting into the tube. Then you could look through a scope to get a close up view of the bubbles as they blew past. She probably could have spent even more time here, but we were in a hurry to get up to the third floor for another new experience that we figured she wouldn't enjoy as much as we did. Well, at least as much as Joe.

See, one of Joe's guilt viewing pleasures on TV is the show Storm Chasers. It's like a documentary reality show on Discovery Channel that chronicles different storm chasing teams that - you guessed it - chase tornadoes. I can't imagine why Joe would like something like this...I have to admit I enjoy watching it too. I don't mind things like that as long as it isn't anywhere near my house.

One of the chase teams was chasing storms specifically to make an IMAX film about tornadoes. Every now and then on the show, they would show you a little bit of the IMAX film footage that the filmmaker captured, but it never really did the picture justice. The had some pretty amazing shots and got into a tornado with the camera a couple times. We figured that there would be some notice or something that the film was available but we'd never heard anything about it. So imagine our surprise when we walk into the museum and see a huge poster advertising "Tornado Alley" - the very IMAX video we were interested in. Of course, we had to go see it while we were there. I figured if nothing else, I'd just chase Brianne through the theater. She had so much fun walking up and down the staircases, with each step proclaiming how "Amazing!" everything was. There were only two other people in the theater with us and they couldn't stop laughing at the two-year old that thought everything was so "Amazing!". She sat through the movie without any trouble at all. I was so proud of my big little girl. :)

After the IMAX film, we didn't spend too much more time there. The rest of the exhibits were a little too old for her and we only found two things that she really enjoyed. One was a spaceship that she could co-pilot with daddy. The other was a table full of Kinex, but even those she couldn't quite figure out how to work. It was nice to get out and have a family day together - something we need to do much more!! I suspect that our next one will be to either the Newport Aquarium over by Cincinnati or the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. In fact, if it hadn't been for the fact the Super Bowl was in Indy, we probably would have gone to the Children's Museum instead of here. But I'm glad we decided to stay here this trip and have fun - made it easier to go home once I was tired!

The next bundle of joy

2012-02-13T20:47:00.002-05:00

Will be here by July 30th. :)

I'd been waiting until I was out of the first trimester before saying anything, partly because too many people I know have had molar pregnancies lately and I just couldn't shake the worry. I felt like things were going to be OK, but just to be sure I waited until after that first ultrasound. And sure enough, here we are 16 weeks into things and everything is as great as can be.

I've actually had two ultrasounds already. Even though there's no family history for it, we did the genetic screening tests again, like we did with Brianne. Not that we would do anything if a test came back positive, but it would be good to know and be prepared. With those tests come an early ultrasound. This little one wasn't in much of a cooperative mood the first time, so I went back for a second one a week later and that one was much better. At least for the tech - you'll notice there are no pictures of the baby in the post. They were the worst pictures I've ever seen. Couldn't make anything out at all! But since it really wasn't my job to make anything out, then I guess that's all that matters.
The pregnancy has gone very smoothly so far - just like before. I've been blessed again not to get sick, but I'm definitely much more tired than I ever was last time. I can contribute a little of that to Brianne, but more because I can't take an early evening nap. Not that I could take a nap with her around at all anymore since she now refuses to take them herself. My cravings have been the exact opposite this time. The first couple weeks, all I wanted to eat were hamburgers. There must have been something I needed from the red meat (iron maybe?) because there were times I felt like an addict that needed a fix. Those cravings didn't last very long, thank goodness. I'm still in my normal clothes (yay!) and only feel pregnant every now and then. I told Joe the other day that sometimes the only way I remember I'm pregnant is by being tired.

July 30 is the day, but we'll see what happens. If I end up having another c-section (highly likely), I'll probably deliver the week before. It all just depends on how the baby is doing and how big it is. Since Brianne caught us all off guard that last month, it's going to be a surprise. I have to admit that it would make life easier to do another c-section so I can be up and on my feet for Richard and Amanda's wedding on August 5th. I really would hate to miss that.

So, the weekly posts will resume next week! I should be able to feel the baby move soon and I have to admit I am really looking forward to that. We think Brianne does understand a little bit that there is a little brother or sister coming (she loves to point at my stomach and say baby) and we know she's going to be such a big helper and a wonderful big sister.

We are so grateful to be blessed with this second child and hope that things will continue to move along smoothly. Both Joe and I feel it will more than likely be our last, which does make me a little sad as I had always imagined three. But life just didn't turn out that way for us and that's OK. Being able to have Brianne and now this new little one are two of the greatest gifts we could ever wish to receive from our Heavenly Father and we trust in Him that all things have played out and will continue to play out as His plan intends.

Bert and Ernie

2012-01-10T22:02:00.002-05:00

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?

Just kidding.

But we do have two dwarf Chinese hamsters that go by those names. I don't think we named them very well based on their personalities, but Brianne is totally stuck to those names. Which I don't mind, since I picked them out. :)

For the last year and a half, we had a white Russian hamster named Sleep. She got her name because every time Brianne wanted to see her, we had to say "No, she's sleeping". So, naturally, Brianne associated "sleep" with the hamster and the name stuck. She was such a good, sweet little thing. When I first saw her, she literally rolled over on her back so I could pet her underside. Brianne absolutely loved her! She didn't want to let Sleep crawl on her, but she loved to pet her while she crawled on one of us. Wish I could find a picture of the little thing - she was so cute!

We noticed that she hadn't been doing so well lately, but what could we do? One day, she crawled out of her "house" and settled in the corner of the cage under one of her tubes. She would get around and move once in awhile, but for the most part she did was she did best - sleep. Last Tuesday, while Joe was at Gymboree with Brianne, I stopped to think when the last time was that I saw Sleep moving around. When I realized it had been a couple days, I decided to try and stir her. It wasn't uncommon for us to go a couple days without seeing her move or hearing her run in her wheel, but for her to be out in the open and I hadn't seen her move seemed odd. I went up to the cage and knocked on the side. Nothing. There was NO WAY I was going to touch her if she was dead, so I left it until Joe got back. He said he'd seen her move around the day before and after I told him what happened that morning, he went to try and rouse her as well. She was cold. Sleep was taking the ultimate nap. Poor Brianne saw us over at the cage and immediately wanted to see her dear friend. She asked for Sleep and Joe said, "Honey, Sleep went to live with Heavenly Father" to which she replied "Sleep come back?". Joe and I looked at each other and exchanged a "What now look"? Of course, a two-year old's attention span is short and easily sidetracked and before we knew it she was off on some other adventure, leaving Joe and I to pick up the pieces.

Sleep was buried in our garden and we started talking about whether we wanted to replace her with another hamster, get a guinea pig instead, or just scrap the whole deal. I honestly don't know how we ended up on the decision we did, but we decided to get two dwarf hamsters instead. Hence the addition of Bert and Ernie to our home.

They have been so wildly entertaining! They are incredibly fast little guys. Bert is rambunctious and very curious, constantly out and about, climbing the sides of the cage and putting on more miles in the wheel than Sleep ever did. He also will come out and play during the day, much to Brianne's delight! Ernie is much more timid and shy, preferring to hide in the house during the day and only surfacing once in awhile. Bert likes to sleep in some of the upper "viewing" tubes and play pieces and once in awhile, Ernie will go with him. They both eat more than Sleep ever did, which also means...yeah, we're going to have to clean the cage more. Not that there was a question about that ever - two hamsters would be bound to make more of a mess than one. But they combined eat more in one day than Sleep would in a week!

We love our little hamsters and look forward to the fun they will bring into the house. This whole situation has definitely made me think (again) about that day when Triton or Sammy either don't wake up from their naps or don't come home from the vet...they're both 9 years old and that's up there in "dog years". But, for now, we don't have to worry about it because they are very much here still. And watching (at least Triton is) for an opportunity for a hamster snack.

Christmas 2010

2012-01-08T20:10:00.001-05:00

I have to admit, part of the reason I've delayed posting is I hate the new format for Blogger. Makes things way more complicated than it needs to be, but you know the saying - if it ain't broken, fix it. Or that's what they think it says....

Christmas this year was an adventure as always. Brianne loved the Christmas tree and constantly asked for us to turn on the "sparkles" at night. She didn't do too badly with the decorations this year, so at least we had that blessing - no broken ornaments! We continued our tradition of going to Hallmark and picking out a family Christmas ornament, which was a major adventure. Rambunctious two-year old + Hallmark displays = lots of new gray hairs on mommy's head. I was never so glad to get out of that store in my life! But we love the ornaments we picked out and will have the story behind them of trying to corral Brianne.

Santa had to drop off Brianne's present early this year because it was just too big to haul around all night. Luckily, it fit perfectly where we wanted to put it and Joe was able to get it put together without trouble. I had to stall Brianne with a bath while he was finishing it off, so by the time she was turned loose, she was a little upset. So much, in fact, she was fixated on where I was and didn't see it at all! But that was quickly corrected and she's been in heaven ever since. Bev and Amy had given her a tea set and some accessories to go with the big Santa present, so she had plenty to play with right off the bat.

The rest of Christmas came after church the next day and while she may not have had a zillion things to open, she loved everything she got. Especially getting to tear all the paper away!

I snagged the picture below of Brianne enjoying a piece of broccoli. First time ever and I didn't even have to get her to try it!

After opening presents Christmas afternoon, we headed north to visit my family and have Christmas dinner. Took awhile to get there, but it was nice to see everyone again for awhile. My future sister-in-law made a yummy dinner for all of us and they showered Brianne with presents, which she gladly tore the paper off and played with. As we were waiting for dinner, she suckered Bethany into watching Cinderella with her. Doesn't she look comfy? She just LOVES her Aunt Bethany and constantly mentions her. :)

It was a long night getting back home and we were so glad to be back in our beds that night. We're looking forward to some peace and quiet now that the holidays are over so we can start enjoying the new year and the joy it will bring.

Three Cheese Baked Mac

2011-12-30T18:53:00.001-05:00

Our family is a sucker for a good macaroni and cheese. Well, I am. Joe and Brianne aren't so picky. Probably in part because they smother it with ketchup....

I found this recipe in the Family Circle magazine for this month and had to try it out. I made one small, but important, modification - I added chopped up ham. It's a good way to use up Christmas ham leftovers and adds a little something something that makes it a more substantial meal. At least, I think it does.

When I opened the oven to pull it out, my mouth started to water. Just the smell alone was enough to tell me that this was going to taste gouda (pun intended - you'll understand when you see the ingredients). And it didn't disappoint. Brianne is having an "I'm not hungry" night and handed me the bowl back with a "Here you go, mom. Thank you." Joe hasn't gotten home from work yet, but I will be completely shocked if he doesn't enjoy it.

Pumpkin patch

2011-11-25T19:12:00.001-05:00

We made our last trip to Hubers for the year to pick out pumpkins. I haven't been to a pumpkin patch that I can remember, so it was a really fun experience. Of course, we had the hayride out to the field, which is Brianne's favorite part, and the pumpkins were right there waiting for us. Brianne didn't know which one to pick, but she settled on this one pretty quickly. Much more quickly than her mommy could pick one out, surprise surprise.

We stopped and picked more apples on the way out, this time with Joe on hand to help pick. We picked another two bags of apples and turned them into apple pie filling for our food storage. And ate a few. :)

As we were leaving, we stopped and took a couple goofy pictures of Brianne - she thought these wooden picture boards were so funny. And isn't that pumpkin she's standing next to huge?? That would be a 1080lb pumpkin. Insane!!

Grown Up Mac and Cheese

2011-11-25T19:02:00.001-05:00

I was looking for a different macaroni and cheese to make that would use up some of our stored macaroni and found this recipe on the Food Network. This one used a couple different cheeses I don't usually cook with plus it used up some of the aged cheddar that I have on hand for Brianne due to her lactose intolerance.

All in all, it was a pretty good dish. The blend of cheeses was interesting and had a different taste to it. We also used ham instead of bacon, but that's my preference. The recipe says it makes two servings, but I'd say it's more along the lines of four servings, unless you're only eating the mac and cheese for dinner and one of those people loves pasta.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-25T18:40:00.000-05:00

So, Thanksgiving has come and gone and that can only mean one thing - time to post Halloween pictures!

Brianne had two costumes this year. One was a present from Grandma Brindle - a pretty pretty pink princess gown. My little girl is not only totally obsessed with the Disney Princesses, but much to my chagrin she LOVES the color pink. Since we had a couple different Halloween things going on this year, Brianne wore her princess dress to the local library's toddler reading group party. When she got to the library, the staff apparently took one look at her and said "huh?" because she acts nothing like a princess when she's there. Not that she's bad, but from what Bev says she's just as ornery as all get out.

That night we went to another Halloween party, this time at the Gymboree Play & Music she goes to once a week during her "daddy/daughter time". Since I knew she'd be climbing and crawling all over the place, the princess outfit just wouldn't do. So we broke out the other one.

She loves this show on the Disney Channel called Jake and the Neverland Pirates and we've grown to loathe one episode in particular - The Pirate Princess. There's a natural progression to your interest in things, and after you've watched the same 30 minute episode 20 times in a three day span and the lyrics to the princess song are stuck in your head, it's safe to say loathe. So naturally, we went looking for a pirate outfit for her and found this one. The sword was a little extra and did NOT go with us to the party or trick or treating.

Since Joe is usually the one that goes to Gymboree with Brianne, I'd forgotten the "no socks/shoes" policy for kids since they have large tumbling mats all over the place. So, the shoes and stockings came off and she basically ran around in a t-shirt all night long. Not that it bothered her at all, but every time she'd bend over to pick up a ball or crawl through something, I'd look at her bum hanging out and get a little embarrassed. Oh well.

When Halloween finally came, it definitely turned into an adventurous night. We don't have a lot of houses in our subdivision that hand out candy, so we decided to take Brianne to Bev's neighborhood so she could have some fun going trick or treating for the first time. On the way there, we got caught in a traffic jam from an accident right at the road we needed to take. The only other way to get there was to go all the way around the southern end of the city and come in from the other end of the road. No short journey - about 45 minutes to back out and drop off. Since we were going back by the house, Joe decided to stay home so we'd be one of the only houses handing out candy.

When we got there, Brianne was ready to go, she just didn't get what we were doing. Amy, Bev's daughter and the one that first watched Brianne after I went back to work, is home from college until January so she came along. It was nice to have the extra hand - Brianne loves her and that freed me up so I could take pictures. It took a couple houses before she caught on to what was going on. At one house, they showed Brianne the bowl of candy and instead of doing what any other kid would do, which is grab a handful of candy, she reached down and took just one. We started to laugh and Brianne looked up and had this look on her face that said "What?". By the end of the night we could get her to say "Treat" at the door. She also loved all the neighborhood dogs she got to see

All in all, it turned out to be a pretty great weekend! Not too shabby for the first year Brianne got to celebrate Halloween.

Chicken Salad

2011-10-19T21:21:00.000-04:00

I'm a sucker for most things that have the word "salad" in it. Egg salad, Caesar salad, fruit salad, O'Charley California Chicken Salad. Yum. A friend of mine found this website the other day and as I was taking a look, I stumbled on another of my favorites - chicken salad. I've never made it before and the only place I've bought it from that I actually liked the end result was the deli counter at Whole Foods. But this recipe...I may never buy chicken salad again!

4 C cubed cooked chicken
1 1/2 C seedless green grapes halved
1 Cup chopped celery
3/4 C sliced green onions
3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/2 C mayo (may need more)
1/4 C sour cream
1 tbs prepared mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/8 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp paprika
1/2 C slivered toasted almonds, added just before serving (I left this out)

Recipe courtesy of "This Week for Dinner".

Harvest Moon

2011-10-12T19:04:00.001-04:00

My mom shared this with me via Facebook and one of my friends decided that this was a real "harvest moon", so the name has stuck! :)

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

2011-10-10T19:19:00.003-04:00

I decided that my grandmother moved on to haunt another one of her many grandchildren because I've just not been in the cooking mood for a couple months now. That may have something to do with the amount of time I've been in the kitchen preparing and canning food...but I think the first explanation is more fun. :)

After not having anything fun from the kitchen to put up here in awhile, I have found new inspiration. I stumbled across a Facebook group called "Crock Pot Girls", which as you may have guessed is a group dedicated to meals prepared in a slow cooker. I love my slow cookers, but for certain things. Crock pots have a tendency, in my opinion, to make your food look less appealing that what it tastes like so I reserve them for things like stews, roasts, soups, sauces and dips. This recipe sounded really good though and since I was going to be spending quality time in the kitchen today canning pumpkin, I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot.

The verdict - yum! Joe's not a huge chicken and dumplings fan because the dumplings are usually slimy. So, instead of letting the raw dough cook in the crock pot, I threw together some Jiffy mix biscuits and baked them in the oven before cutting them up and adding it to the pot. Joe like that much more. Which is good...because we've got plenty of leftovers! Brianne ate about half of hers, which I take as a victory in the battle of nourishing a two year old.

I bet this would freeze well...link to the recipe is embedded in the title!

Another sister-in-law

2011-10-09T22:06:00.000-04:00

Yep - Richard finally proposed. :)

This is the only picture I could find of Richard and Amanda, his fiancee. I pilfered it from his Facebook page and think it was taken Memorial Day weekend at the Indy 500 race. I've only met Amanda once, but she seems sweet. And from what I'm told, she and Richard complement each other's personalities well. Not to mention she can get him to do things that my parents never could - like eat vegetables. :) Congrats you two!

Vacation in Florida

2011-10-09T21:49:00.006-04:00

For the first time since we've been married (and that's nine years ago this past August, just in case you didn't know) we went on a "just us" vacation. It was WONDERFUL! Not that we don't love our family and all, but it was so nice to steal away, just the three of us making memories together.

We decided to go to SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida for our vacation. Instead of messing with a plane, we drove down over two days. It's around 12 hours one way, so if it had been just Joe and I we would have made it in a day, but with Brianne in the car we didn't want to test her boundaries. We were already bribing her by playing Disney movies on the portable DVD player Joe got me for my birthday.

SeaWorld in September is FANTASTIC! With all the schools back in session, it wasn't the least bit crowded. We were able to do everything we wanted and see everything in two, three hours. The only thing we didn't see was the killer whale and that's because Brianne was beyond ready for a nap and if we missed the shuttle to the hotel, it would be another hour before another came around. We figured we'll catch it next time. But we saw everything else - we fed the sea lions and seals. We pet stingrays and watched a big group of people feed the dolphins. It was awesome. I just picked out a few of the pictures we took to put up here, just enough to give you an idea of what we did. :)

We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations at SeaWorld. The hotel was amazing - it was a one bedroom suite that easily the same size as the apartments we lived in as students. It came with a fully-equipped, full-size kitchen, washer and dryer (not coin operated), a spa tub, and separate living room/bedroom area. The extra space was much appreciated because Brianne had so many wiggles in her from the car ride down that she had plenty of space to run around without constantly being underfoot. She loved the tub. It was so big I think we could have all gotten in together!

The property was gorgeous and had several fantastic pools. We'd never taken Brianne in a pool before other than her little wading pools. She heard the waterfalls and fountains and kept saying "Water, water" and trying to drag us in, so when we finally took her I figured she'd jump right in. Not so - at first, she wasn't so sure about all this water. One we got her in though, she was in heaven. We ended up going back several more times before we left and Joe and I agree that getting in the pool with her was the best part of the trip.

We're already planning a return trip next year. But this time it will be for a week instead of just a couple days. I don't foresee Disney next year, but there is plenty else to do.

Food storage

2011-10-02T00:02:00.001-04:00

It's amazing how the summer has flown by. I have had the best of intentions to update the blog, but I have literally not had the time outside of everything we've been up to.

I spent an enormous amount of time in the kitchen preparing and putting away food for our family. After I made all that strawberry jam, I canned green beans, raspberry jam, grape jelly and applesauce. I also froze corn (kernel and whole ears) and tons of peppers and berries. I made salsa, dill pickles, spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. I wanted to can some peaches too, but the darn things spoiled so fast on me I didn't have a chance. Maybe next year.

Everything I put away came from a garden. A great deal of it came from our garden - the rest came from two wonderful treasures in southern Indiana: Joe Huber's Family Farm and Restaurant and Hubers Orchard, Winery, and Vineyards. We'll be heading back up there to pick pumpkins in a couple weeks, but I've made some pretty sweet memories with Brianne there this summer. She gets so excited whenever we arrive because she knows we'll ride a tractor out to the fields. :)

Peach picking

Grape and apple picking

Brianne's photo shoot

2011-10-01T23:28:00.004-04:00

My sister-in-law Bethany has been developing her already talented photography skills and pulling together quite a business and portfolio. I'd wanted her to take pictures for quite some time, but with the way Brianne never stops, I didn't think I'd actually get any good pictures and didn't want to waste her time. But, with each photo shoot Bethany did it made me want to get Brianne's picture taken as well. So I said "What the heck. She's two."

I had heard several people talk about it before, but we'd never made our way out there. Partly because I thought it was farther away than it was, which made it that much more of a shock/embarassment to find out that we were literally a matter of miles away from this fantastic, 14,000 acre reserve. While checking out the site for ideas on which parts to go to for pictures, I learned that a German immigrant named Isaac Wolfe Bernheim purchased the land in 1928 at $1/acre and later placed it in a trust for the residents of Kentucky to use the land as a place to learn and develop love of nature. And I must say, I loved the outdoors before and this is now another place I can go enjoy it.

We spent about two hours there, with Bethany snapping pictures away. We had to do a couple wardrobe changes for different reasons, but in the end it was worth it because it added even more variety to the results. Here's a small selection of the over 200 pictures she took for us. :)

Brianne's 2nd Birthday (and Mel's 31st)

2011-06-27T23:35:00.000-04:00

Brianne and I had such a busy, fun birthday weekend! It all started on Friday night when Grandma and Grandpa Brindle and Uncle Mike got to the house. Brianne was already in bed, and slept through all the commotion, but Triton and Sammy were bouncing off the walls because Lucy had come down for a visit. :) Triton has always though Lucy was his girlfriend, but she won't have anything to do with it.

Bright and early Saturday morning, Aunt Bethany came down to do a photo shoot of Brianne as a birthday present for both of us. I wasn't too sure of where to take her, but Bev had saved the day and suggested Bernheim Arboretum. Of course, I picked the hottest, most humid weekend possible...95 degrees in the shade. Couldn't even bring myself to find out what the heat index was - it was sticky and hot, that's all I needed to know. We were out there for several hours, during which Bethany took some amazing pictures that you can see in the previous post. Brianne did pretty well, given the weather and the fact we wouldn't let her play nearly like she wanted to.

Sunday we celebrated both birthdays since we had family with us. It was definitely more Brianne's birthday party than mine, but that's the way I wanted this one to be. It was ALL about Mickey Mouse. I ordered a cake decorated with Minnie and Mickey at the beach; a Mickey Mouse balloon made its way home from Wal-Mart late Saturday night; Brianne got a new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD and a dancing, singing Mickey Mouse toy. She was in H-E-A-V-E-N!

You may need to tilt your head to the side to see these...I tried to flip them but couldn't get it to work in any of the programs I have to edit video clips. Including the AVS Editor...still cute though.

We had such a great time! It's a little surreal that Brianne's two. Someone asked me how old I was the other day and I actually had to stop and think "Wait a second - I'm 31 now, not 30." Another day leads to another year gone by.

A Taste

2011-06-04T23:31:00.001-04:00

My wonderful sister-in-law Bethany came down today and did a photo shoot of Brianne as a birthday present for Brianne and I. She took a whopping 274 pictures! I can't wait to see how they look after she's finished editing them, especially with as gorgeous as some of them already are. Here's a taste of what we got today - this one was towards the end of the shoot in the middle of the day's heat and humidity.

Strawberries!

2011-05-29T14:11:00.009-04:00

Yesterday, Brianne and I made a trip to Huber's Farm in Southern Indiana to pick strawberries. Andy and Mindy came down from Bloomington with their kids to join in the fun. I remember doing this when I was growing up and since I'm freezing strawberries and making homemade strawberry jam this year, I figured it would be easier to go this route instead of trying to grow that many strawberry plants. Not to mention it would take up a lot of space planting that many strawberry plants!

Brianne saw four ponies as soon as we got to the farm and once she was unbuckled from her car seat she took off running after them as fast as her feet could carry her. Unfortunately, at that point they were already long gone to wherever they were heading and Brianne was running after nothing. But she was headed in the direction we were anyway, so at least chasing after her was productive.

She was so excited to get on the tractor's wagon bed and grinned from ear to ear on the way out to the strawberry fields. She grabbed my hands and held them very tight the whole way there.

The strawberries were plentiful and easy to pick. Big and red and sweet. Brianne had seen red ones before, so she was more interested in the green ones.

The owners only rule - eat what you pick. :) Brianne wasn't so interested in eating as she was running around. The best part was when she'd pick a strawberry and turn it over in her hands. Then she'd squeeze is just a little bit, trying to pull the greens off, and it would explode into red, sweet juiciness.

When we were finished, we piled back onto the tractor and rode back. We had picked about 50lbs of strawberries! They are so incredibly sweet and delicious. We were all very hot though and made quick work of cold bottles of water. And Brianne had a new best friend in Dimon, Mindy and Andy's youngest.

We had such a good time! Guess you all know what I'll be doing over Memorial Day weekend now, don't you? It's all worth it - nothing tastes better than homemade strawberry jam. Well, maybe homemade raspberry jam...and that is coming up next! Along with blackberries, grapes, corn, tomatoes, green beans, peppers, and all sorts of other yummy stuff that will be making its way into our food storage.

Irony

2011-05-26T22:59:00.004-04:00

Last Friday, I was putting the car seat back in my car when a guy who couldn't have been older than 18 walked up my drive way. He was selling and for once, we bought. Now what on earth would drive us to buy something from someone peddling their goods door to door? Well, the word irony came to mind several times during the evening, which will be made a little more clear as you continue to read.

It's a small, inside "joke" for lack of a better word for me to worry that a door is unlocked or the garage is open unless I remember locking or shutting it. Seriously. I don't have this happen with the stove or lights in the house - occasionally a curling iron when I'm going through one of those phases with my hair, but nothing else really. So that's why Joe chuckles every night when we go to bed and one of the first things I ask is "Did you lock/shut the doors?". The funny thing is, they are rarely unlocked or open, but all it takes is one time for my tick to get more intense.

Some people might think it's normal to worry that your home is secure, so nobody tries to rob you. Well, that's the least of what I'm thinking about - I'm more worried about someone breaking in and trying to hurt one of us. I don't know where this comes from because I've never had anything ever happen that would make me feel unsafe. Maybe it's all the awful stories in the news. And you'd think that having Triton around would help, which it does a little. But every time I hear another news story about a robbery or a home invasion or other crime it really unsettles me. What pushed me over the edge were the number of times our little quiet town has come up in the news lately for crimes. In particular, the story about a guy that just decided to come home from work for lunch one day and walked in on a robbery.

Joe and I have talked about a home security system on and off since we bought the house, but never really looked into it. After hearing the above story on the news, it's really been on my mind a lot more. Thursday night we'd been talking about it and decided that if we could cut the money from somewhere else in our monthly expenses, we would do it. Back to the reason for the post and enter the word "irony".

This young man was selling home security systems for a company named Vivint. But it wasn't just a security system, it was a security and smart home system rolled into one. Joe had come home from work sick, so he was inside laying down and didn't hear the pitch. As I'm sure you can guess, there was no problem selling it to me. :) I didn't think Joe would mind, but I wanted to discuss it with him privately, so I sent the guy away and told him to come back in half an hour. This not only gave us time to talk about it, but to research the company and see if we wanted to follow through with this. Based on the smart home energy features and the discount on our home owners insurance, we would be able to break even between the system's monthly fee and the savings we'd get in return. When the guy came back, we said yes and about 30 minutes later someone was there installing the system. Yes, 30 minutes later!

I'm not doing this post as a sales pitch for the company, so I'll spare you all the details, but I have to say a couple things:

- it's nice to be able to go to bed or leave the house and feel safer

- it's nice to be able to check on the status of the system online and activate/deactivate and do other things as we want

- it's nice not worrying about doors anymore since the system automatically locks the doors I always worry about when we arm the system at night

I'm also looking forward to my next work trip - I'm going to raise the temperature in the middle of the night on Joe and he won't know what hit him until he wakes up. Or maybe I'll arm the system while he's at home so it goes off when he lets the dogs out. Why, you ask? So he'll know I was thinking about him. Oh, and because I can and he did it to me once already. :)

2011 Garden

2011-05-26T19:02:00.009-04:00

I went into this year's garden planning a little wiser than last year and with a much better game plan. I found a FANTASTIC website called My Square Foot Garden. It really wet my palate for the garden this year and had plenty of useful tools to help plot everything out before planting.

Last year's garden was VERY small - maybe 15 or 16 sq feet tops. We didn't want to do a huge massive garden the first time out, which turned out to be a good move because of the weather. It also gave us a chance to figure a few things out and learn how to maximize what space we did have for a garden.

Instead of buying transplants like last year, we planted seeds. I got them from two different places - Henry Fields and Park Seed. Both companies are a little pricey, but the seeds are very high quality (I've not had one seed fail to germinate) and my trick around the price was to buy during the "Get $25 off your order of $50" special early in the year. We also got a heat mat and a grow light - we get fantastic light outside, inside not so much. I can't remember when I took this picture (it's REALLY late in getting up here) - wanna say it was around a month after the seeds were planted. When it got close to time for transplanting, I turned a fan on to help condition them for the outdoors. Little more drastic out there than the basement, especially this year!

The big transplanting day came shortly after Joe finished the raised bed (which I absolutely LOVE!). It was really quite exciting, which makes me feel like an absolute dork to admit. I think it was more the fact I hadn't killed them off yet. I also had some bean seeds I'd started the week before that all sprouted as well, so that gave me even more hope.

Unfortunately, the weather turned south shortly (see Spring Fury posts) after I moved the seedlings outdoors and I lost several plants. All but a couple bush beans drowned as well as several of my tomatoes. But I had bean seeds to spare and since I didn't want to have a huge gap on the tomatoes, I just bought a few replacement plants from a local greenhouse. I also planted my pepper plants and a couple cherry tomato plants in containers on the deck. We also planted three blueberry bushes, four raspberry bushes, and three blackberry bushes in containers (yep - you can grow them in containers!).

It has just been three weeks (one for the new pole/beans) and here is the progress so far:

Cantaloupe, watermelon, and pumpkin (2 each)

Tomatoes (10 slicers pictured; 8 romas in another section)

Fruit bushes (with fruit!)

Bush beans (32 plants), bush cucumbers (4 plants), and carrots (48 plants)

Pole beans (32 plants)

Cherry tomatoes and sweet peppers (2 each)

Anaheim, poblano, serrano, and jalapeño peppers

Corn (48 plants)

Pretty amazing what you can squeeze into a 72 sq ft garden bed, huh? :) Minus the container plants, of course. Our garden last year used the same square foot gardening concept, it was just smaller.

And what post would be complete without a picture of Joe and Brianne? She's always wanting to "hep" in the garden, although usually her help tends to result in the garden bed being dug up...but she's just so cute about it you can't help but love her!

Spring Fury 2011 v 2.0

2011-05-26T18:02:00.006-04:00

So, the weather refuses to give up. I can't complain and I won't, because all things considered, we have been very blessed to have not found ourselves in Mother Nature's more dangerous paths this year. That's not without some adventure, but nothing that caused us harm. Definitely some spectacular moments though.

Monday night was eventful for us. Nasty, ugly storms blew threw, with southern Indiana taking the brunt of the hit with tornadoes. I was sitting in the office finishing up some work and kept looking out the window. For once, I pulled Joe outside (yes, you read the right) to look at the clouds. The first picture is on the north side of the house, the direction the storm was moving in. The second picture is from the south. Both were pretty freaky.

This week Brianne got to experience a blackout. It wasn't raining at the time, but plenty of lightening and wind, so we think a transformer must have gotten hit. It was right around the time she usually goes to bed, so wouldn't you know it would be such a spectacular blackout that it would send her soaring with excitement and keep her up instead? That's ok - she had fun. We gave her a flashlight to play with and spent the rest of the time fighting to keep her off the oil lamps we lit.

Then last night we had yet another close call. A huge line of storms moved through, pushing into our area around 11PM. As it was moving our way, there were tornado warnings all along the front and reports of wind gusts in excess of 90 miles an hour. Normally, I'd be a little more freaked out but I was getting back on my feet from the stomach flu virus Joe so kindly gave me. But right before the storm hit the metro area, things seemed to start to fall apart. It didn't weaken per say, but it wasn't nearly as damaging or dangerous as it could have been. Unfortunately, southern Indiana wasn't so lucky. There were two tornadoes in our old stomping grounds from two different systems - one in Bloomington and one just south of there in Bedford. The picture below was from the tornado in Bedford. Haven't heard of any deaths, but there were several people hurt and much damage. Even the Sam's Club I used to work at was hit, with a part of the roof collapsing and a gas leak, among other things

Rough and tumble to "girly"

2011-05-26T17:46:00.005-04:00

Brianne aged into the next level Gymboree class in April. Joe was visibly let down because the next level class wasn't offered on a Monday or Tuesday as the time grew close, but then just a few weeks before she was 22 months it was announced they were opening up a new Level 5 class on Tuesdays. He was so happy when he came home that day with the news. :) It sounds distinctly different from the Level 4 classes, with a focus on getting the kids to use their imagination and socialization skills vs the critical thinking and problem solving skills they were working on before. The first week, they went fishing. Sounded really cute, but when Joe brought home this picture another week, I was smitten. My little fire fighter!

She's also become infatuated with what I call "girly" skirts - the frilly, mesh, sparkly, tutu-type skirts. I swore I wouldn't go there until forced (it's against my nature) but when we were at Costco one day they had this huge display of them and they were nice and cheap, so I caved. I tried to talk her out of it, even made a yucky face and said "Girly" and that just made her smile even more and start exclaiming "Girly! Girly!". She loves to run around the house in one. It's not an every day occurrence, but often enough.

Mushroom Cheese Chicken

2011-05-23T20:56:00.004-04:00

I'm a sucker for chicken recipes (if you couldn't tell) and this recipe not only had chicken, but mushroom and cheese. How could you go wrong with that combination?

It definitely tasted good, kinda like a chicken cordon bleu without the ham center, but I wish my dish had turned out looking like this one. I can think of a couple reasons why it didn't right off the bat: one, I've never really made something where I had to hold the chicken together with a toothpick to cook, and that definitely takes some practice to put together right; two, I pounded the chicken a little too thin, so it lost it's structure. I can't complain about the dish though. All in all, it was still pretty tasty. And everything always ends up the same way - mushed in your stomach. :) Maybe I'll take a stab at this one again sometime and see if I can get my dish to look like this one after it comes out of the oven.

Jalapeno Chicken Enchilada

2011-05-23T20:35:00.002-04:00

I never used to really care for jalapeño peppers. Not sure what changed, but one day things just snapped and ever since I've enjoyed cooking with them. I saw this recipe one day and the picture just didn't look good with all the green stuff on top, so I passed it by. But the thought kept creeping into my mind and finally I saw "OK, we're going to try this out".

I have to say, the picture does not do this meal justice. I have a new-found love of whole wheat tortillas because of this recipe. It was amazing how filling the dish was. Even Joe couldn't eat more than one. I opted to leave the green stuff (a chopped ensemble of tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic, and onions) off the top since it was also on the inside. I'd never had tomatillos before either and they were interesting to cook with. It was almost like a small, hard green tomato with a sticky skin. Leftovers didn't do well in the fridge - went south quickly - but the green stuff seemed to last well in the fridge.

Wild Rice Pepper Salad

2011-05-15T21:25:00.004-04:00

This recipe has been a favorite of mine for some time. It was the first time I'd ever made or eaten a salad like this before, and I have to say, it was darn yummy! So, whenever I'm in the mood or have a potluck to go to, I'll pull this beauty out and it never fails to please.

The first time I made it, I couldn't justify to myself the cost of a yellow pepper being as much as the green and red peppers combined, so I didn't use it. I substituted corn instead. I also usually leave out the raisins and onions the recipe calls for and add extra sunflower seeds. This is a fantastic cold salad and leftovers keep well in the fridge. In fact, I don't think we've ever not finished off the leftovers before they turned south. It went really well with the French Dip sandwiches we had for dinner that night.

French Dip Sandwiches

2011-05-15T20:40:00.003-04:00

I've been on a cooking stretch lately, and have done plenty of dishes because of it. But it's all been worth it. I made this recipe for dinner the night of Triton's surgery because it was easy, quick, and filling.

The first time I'd had a French Dip sandwich was at the hotel I stayed at in Virginia back in December. I got to the hotel really late and didn't have much hot food to pick from, so this is what I went with. It was so delicious! I ended up eating it another time that week just so I could savor the taste, since I was too hungry to taste the first time.

I didn't really follow the recipe completely, but used it as a jumping off point. Instead of making a homemade au jus sauce, I bought a sauce packet at the store and mixed it up. After that was ready, I sliced the sandwich rolls in half and seasoned the roast beef with a steak seasoning. Then, one tong pinch at a time, I dipped the roast beef in the au jus sauce and placed it on the roll. To finish it off, I placed cheddar cheese slices on the other side and placed the sandwiches on a baking sheet. After 5 or 6 minutes under the broiler, just long enough to toast the rolls and melt the cheese, I popped the tray out of the oven.

Apparently, I did pretty well because as we were saying prayer, Brianne decided she couldn't wait anymore. Half way through (and it wasn't a long prayer) we hear "Mmmm. Very good!".

Poor Triton

2011-05-15T19:53:00.005-04:00

Triton's had a very eventful month. At the end of April, we were walking over to the couch one evening and looked down at where Triton was laying. I noticed something underneath his tail and, fearing a messy surprise, I said "What is that?". Joe bent over, lifted Triton's tail, and we both stopped dead in our tracks. There, hiding underneath his tail, was a bulge with the circumference of a silver dollar. It almost looked like what I would expect a hemorrhoid to look like, but dogs aren't supposed to get those so we knew it wasn't going to be that simple.

He hadn't seen a vet since his last problem (found out he has an enlarged prostate - old man wasn't happen about that visit. Think the rectal exam might have contributed...) so it was time to find one. The next morning I found a local vet that was willing to take a look at him that morning. Sammy whined the entire time Triton was gone. All I could think was "If you only knew where he was, you'd be quiet!".

Triton was scheduled for surgery on May 6th to remove what the

vet believed was a perianal adenoma. They would biopsy the tumor afterwards to see if it was benign or not, but it definitely needed to be removed regardless. The morning of his surgery, he was so oblivious to why he was riding in the car again - all he knew was he was leaving the house again. Doofus...neither dog gets it, do they?

This picture is Triton around 8PM that night. He didn't get in for surgery until late afternoon and it was almost 7:30 before we got home. I could tell he was really out of it at the vet's office because he didn't get all excited we he saw me - just kinda stumbled around the hallway trying to find his way. I also knew that things must not have been as expected when the vet wanted a consultation before bring Triton around. He was in shock at the tumor, which is never a good thing but especially not good when you've been practicing as long as this guy. He told me he had been expecting a lot more blood in the mass, but it turned out to be solid tissue. At that point the only thing I could think was "cancer", but even the vet couldn't say that's what it was because it was so out of the ordinary. He also told us that he found a broken molar in Triton's mouth that he recommended pulling so it doesn't get ugly. We took the dog home and drugged him up (hence the glazed look in his eyes in the photo) and let him do whatever he wanted over the weekend. He was so whiny - I couldn't even leave the room that first night without him whimpering and whining. Poor puppy.

Almost a week later, we heard from the vet - the tumor was benign! There is a pretty good chance it will grow back, so they're recommending we, uh, take his manhood. I told Joe I couldn't be the one to make that decision - Joe's gonna have to pull that trigger. :)

Spring Fury 2011

2011-04-25T22:22:00.003-04:00

That's what everyone around here is calling it, so I guess I'll name the post that.

This is the creek that runs not next to our house, but very very close to it. Even after a short rain, it tends to bubble up pretty fast. But with as much rain as we've gotten lately, I wasn't completely shocked when Joe brought this video home. Before it was all said and done, the road Joe was sitting on was water-covered as well.

Thanks Uncle Sam!

2011-04-25T20:32:00.008-04:00

Joe starts to groan whenever I announce that "I've been thinking" or "I have an idea", but this time I think it was a decent idea.

We used part of our federal tax refund this year to purchase two, 60 gallon rain water collection barrels that also have a planting base on the top and spigot at the bottom. We have two, big blue food-grade barrels for water storage, but given that you need to purify rainwater before you can drink it we didn't want to put it in those. I saw these and fell in love. In part for what they were, and in part because it's another growing surface where I can plant some herbs or flowers. Here's the manufacturer's picture.

They're really quite nice - a diverter hooked to the downspout sends water to the barrel. Once filled, there is an "overflow" feature in the diverter that then sends the rest of the water on its merry way down the spout. Also, there is a connector feature that you can use to hook more than one barrel together and feed off one diverter instead of placing them at different downspouts around the house. This is going to be fantastic for watering the garden this summer. Water isn't cheap around here, so these could pay for themselves this growing season.

Since it's been raining non-stop for almost a week, you'd think we'd have had these puppies set up and ready to go before the rain hit. Nope. In fact, we just set up the first one last night. Within two hours, the barrel was full. No kidding! We'll set up the other one tomorrow before the next round of rain moves in.

The irony behind this - about two weeks after the barrels got here, we received notice that our 2009 federal tax filing had been audited and we owed money. :) Seems they released some money that they'd been holding for years related to Joe's kidney failure and the statement they sent us went to another address. Oh well. Guess that deserves a "Thanks Uncle Sam!" too.

The Joe Chronicles - Raised Garden Bed, Part 2

2011-04-25T19:11:00.008-04:00

So, this probably shouldn't be just a "Joe Chronicle", but I'll give him all the credit since he did so much of the heavy lifting. :)

We have a decent backyard, but with two dogs and Brianne, we can't give over the yard to a garden. Well, we could - there just wouldn't be anything to harvest. Add to that the lousy soil (clay and lim

estone) and we really were stuck on how we were going to do this. Enter container and raised bed gardening!

Last year, we made one really big "oopsie" with our raised garden bed - we didn't put weed barrier fabric on the ground before adding the growing medium. The weeds got a taste of that yummy dirt and took over. There was nothing we could do to stop them other than just pull and pull and pull. Even with almost two feet of dirt to push up through, they did. Which was another contributor to why we started over this year in a new location.

Instead of just putting plain dirt, topsoil, or garden soil in the raised bed, I decided to go with Mel's Mix. While I'd love to claim it, someone else named Mel is responsible for this concoction. It was a pain in the butt, but every time I saw someone talking about it online they swore by it so I decided to give it a shot. The dirt is made of one part vermiculite, one part peat moss, and one part manure. Benefits of this mixture are minimal to no weeds, a nice light soil base that doesn't get compacted down as much, plant roots are able to really grow and spread in this stuff, and fantastic drainage. They had me at minimal to no weeds.

We had already laid down all the weed barrier fabric (all around

the bed and bottom) and about 1/2-1 inch of gravel, so all we had to do was start dumping everything in. First I added a layer of vermiculite, then a layer of peat moss. After we mixed that up, we added a layer of manure and continued to mix everything together. We repeated this until it was within about an inch of the top. Then came Brianne's favorite part - add water! If I'd known how much it was going to rain over the next few days, we wouldn't have watered. But, that's OK. It was worth it to give Brianne something to take charge of. The best part was once it was complete, she kept holding the hose and bending over to look into the nozzle to watch for more water!

Brianne really got into the hand truck too. She helped as much as she could, dragging it around the yard. You can hear her saying "truck", but you can't hear "pull" or "push". You also can't hear her saying "Oh dude!" when she falls down at the end of the clip, but that's her new saying whenever she falls down.

So, that's it! Next time, it'll be all about what we're going to do with this raised garden bed. :)

Brianne-ism's

2011-04-13T22:46:00.005-04:00

I can't believe my little girl is almost two...I get a little teary every time I think about it. Or when she does things that remind me that she's not completely helpless anymore.

Like climbing into the bathtub, fully clothed, and turning on the water because she needs to take a "bath?".

Like opening kitchen drawers and pulling out bags of chips and other kinds of food because she's "hungee" and this is "yum yum yum yum".

Like folding her arms for "prayer" when I announce dinner is ready, clapping with glee afterwards, and smiles as big as the moon as she remembers to say "amen" before beginning to eat.

Like reaching into the grocery cart to grab the grapes mommy just put in because she's hungry and wants a "gape" now!

Like walking up and down flights of stairs all by herself.

And then there are the things she does that make me want to groan or require some form of corrective action but either breaks my heart or makes me crack up laughing before I can do something about it.

Like saying "booger" as she shoves both MY fingers up HER nostrils.

Like telling a complete stranger's child to "go away" from the toy aisle when she's at Wal-Mart with Bev. Or telling mommy "You. Get out." when I walk in on something she knows she's not supposed to be doing.

Like taking a swing at any adult that tells her no.

Like looking at you with big, teary doe eyes and saying "Sorry?" when she's in trouble.

Like farting while I'm changing her diaper and saying "I farted. Stinky."

And then there are the things she does that make me want to scoop her up and tell her not to be in a rush to grow up.

Like grabbing daddy's lunch pail and trying to leave the house, because that's what daddy does.

Like sitting at the computer typing things, because that's what mommy and daddy BOTH do.

Like grabbing a rubber mallet and swinging violently at the project daddy is working on outside.

Like pulling silverware out of the dishwasher and taking it over to the right drawer to put it away while mommy puts the plates away.

Like sitting down in her room, all by herself, and "reading" Llama Llama like we do almost every single day.

But most of all, we can't wait to scoop her up in the morning and smother her with hugs and kisses as we wait for those magic words that make it all worthwhile.

"I wuv you."

Kitchen Experiments

2011-04-13T22:28:00.003-04:00

I've been experimenting in the kitchen the last couple days, something I don't usually do. But I had these really beautiful peppers and yellow potatoes...and aging turkey sausage...so I concocted my own "Sausage and Peppers" dinner. Added some onions and Mrs Dash and voila - Joe loved it. Check!

My second experiment wasn't so much an experiment as it the continuation of my 5 minute bread baking. I decided to make a loaf instead of the free-form loaf. It turned out really well! Brianne inhaled the slice I gave her. Check check!

And my last one - homemade vanilla. I got really torked while baking a few weeks ago because I couldn't find actual vanilla at the store. Vanilla extract, imitation vanilla, vanilla-flavored - what happened to just good old vanilla? So, I did some research and found out how to make homemade vanilla. The thing that confused me was the alcohol - why? Turns out, alcohol pulls the vanilla flavor out better than anything else and since it cooks out of the food, you're left with the flavor. Once I thought about it, vanilla does have a pretty potent scent beyond the flavoring...all you have to do is slice vanilla beans and drop them in the appropriately-sized bottle of brandy, rum, or vodka. Then let sit in a dark place for several months, shaking it up once in a while, until set. Check check check? Guess we'll have to wait and see!

YW Values Cards

2011-04-10T20:12:00.007-04:00

I saw these cards online about a month ago and was so inspired. The first thing I thought when I saw these pictures is "Wow!".

You don't hear about the women in the scriptures nearly as often as you do the men, but they were there. And they made a difference. The artist chose a woman from the scriptures that exemplified each of the Young Women values, then produced a picture that I can only describe as quiet strength and power. I would have loved to post every single one of the pictures they have, but I don't feel right doing that so I picked my two favorites. I just love the deep, penetrating gaze in Mary's eyes and how the Daughters in the Wilderness are walking tall, strong, and brave.

If there were more role models like these women in magazines, television shows and movies, I have a feeling this world would be a lot different...

Tampa Trip

2011-04-10T20:07:00.004-04:00

It's been six months since I made the jump from the medical center to the program office and I LOVE IT! I am so grateful that the opportunity came back around again because it has been such an incredible blessing in my life. I've been able to spend more time at home and when I am here, I'm more relaxed and happy. I've also started working at home, which is giving me an extra two hours a day that I didn't have before and the flexibility to do little things around the house on my breaks/lunch. Like start a load of laundry that I can fold during a meeting later. Or fix dinners that require a little more than 30 minutes worth of prep-work. Joe is particularly excited about that last one...

The one trade-off I had to make was occasional travel. It hasn't been more than once a month and has actually been more like once every two months I have to go somewhere. I hate having to leave, but it's been worth the sacrifice to have a better life-balance. The last week of March, I flew to Tampa for the semi-annual all-hands meeting for my program office. You'd think Florida would have been nice this time of year. WRONG!

I had to connect in Atlanta and it was a quick lay-over, so there wasn't much time to spare to get to the gate. I ran through the terminals and got there just in time to board. After boarding the plane and taxing out to the runway, we stopped. After a few minutes, the captain announced we'd be sitting there for awhile because of bad weather in Tampa. One hour later, the plane FINALLY took off. It had to be the most turbulent flight I've ever been on. It was so bad the flight attendants wouldn't get out of their seats!

After landing in Tampa and checking in to the hotel, my group headed over to the office for afternoon meetings. You could see storm clouds closing in, but we thought we would be OK. WRONG again. Just as we were getting into the building, the sky opened up and dropped a lake. We were only 15 seconds from the building entrance and got absolutely soaked.

The weather held steady and true, raining on and off and thundering on and off for the next three days. We would go out in between the storms to get dinner and stay at the restaurants until the rain let up enough we could walk back. It really didn't bother me because I'm used to the rain and the humidity, but the rest of my group was from Denver and you could tell they don't usually have humidity out of the teens at the most. :)

Thursday morning, the big meeting began at 8AM. Around 9AM, the sky unleashed another torrent of rain. The room we were sitting had two walls of glass windows, so I had a perfect view of what was going on. Around 10:30, the weather turned really ugly. It was raining so hard, I could have sworn the water was raining from the ground up! The wind was beyond crazy too. Then, someone says "Oh, by the way, we're under a tornado warning" like it's no big deal. These people...they continued the meeting! About 10 minutes later, there is an announcement over the building intercom - "There is an emergency in the parking lot. Please proceed to your safe places". We followed the herd into stairwells and learned what happened. The security guard had spotted a funnel cloud IN THE PARKING LOT OF OUR BUILDING!!

Needless to say, I was ready to go home on Friday. And this time, I was flying into Memphis. My theory had been that if I ran into trouble, at least I was close enough I could drive home. :) After my layover, we boarded the plane in Memphis and taxied to the runway. We started to take off and I breathed a sigh of relief - home by 11AM!! Then suddenly, the plane comes to a screeching halt in the middle of the runway. After a few minutes the captain says "I'm sorry folks but we're having some mechanical issues and need to return to the gate." and we turned around. So close....at least we had entertainment. There was a litigator on the plane from California that was beyond arrogant and loud. He proceeded to pace the terminal, yelling at his assistant over the phone about how she had to get him out of Memphis. People tried to help him out, but he met each with a moronic comment like "I should have flown into Nashville. Now, that's a city!", or "Do you have four lanes here or are you lucky to have two lanes?", and my personal favorite, "I've heard of Lexington and Cincinnati, but didn't know they were real places." One two-hour delay later (thanks to a broken thruster) and we took off. This time, we actually made it into the air. One hour later, and I was home.

Can't I ever have a NORMAL travel experience??

The Joe Chronicles - Raised Garden Bed, Part 1

2011-04-10T18:28:00.006-04:00

Those of you that keep up with our blog know that last year we took our first step into the gardening world. We bought a couple small, raised garden bed kits and grew a small number of plants - mainly tomatoes and green beans. Unfortunately, last growing season's brutal weather killed the plants. Those 2 weeks of 100+ degrees outside made me wither up too! On the upside, it gave us an opportunity to learn a few lessons that will come in handy this year as we expand our garden.

Over the winter, I thought up the perfect spot - right along the rear of the house. This area is devoid of life because the ground is full of rocks. There are more anthills and bare spots than there are sprigs of grass in this area. We tried to grow a couple bushes here, but they quickly died. Add to that there is a gentle slope that drops off like a cliff all of a sudden, causing erosion and drainage issues. Sounds ideal for a garden, doesn't it? :) Well, you'd be amazed where you can put a raised garden bed that you can't put a traditional garden bed, since you control all the planting conditions except the sunlight. And since our house faces north-west, our backyard has an overabundance of sunlight.

We went to Lowe's at the end of February/early March and bought all the lumber we'd need to build the raised bed. We talked about using stone, but decided on lumber since we already have a wood deck and didn't want to try and find a stone to fit in the backyard. Not to mention the cost of building this bed out of stone would have been pretty high! The garden bed runs the entire 24 feet length of the house and sticks out about 4 feet, giving us 72 sq feet of garden space. That may not sound like much, but it's actually quite a bit of room when you use the square-foot gardening method instead of the traditional rows. It's also 18" up, so that should be high enough to keep the dogs out and give us enough room for some deep-rooting plants. And with this being a "Joe Chronicle" post, of course you know who got to build the garden bed! Yup - took him all of 5 hours over two days to put the framework together. The hardest part was cutting the ends to fit. And as you can see, Brianne was all too excited to be daddy's helper. I wish I had been able to grab the camera sooner - she had a rubber mallet in her hands and was "nailing" things in right before this!

Progress halted for almost a month after he finished the construction due to a regularly-occurring rain cloud ever time Joe was off work, but this weekend did the trick. And fortunately Brianne took an extra-long nap (3 1/2 hours!) that gave us (yes, I helped!) just enough time to line the bed, stain the wood, and dump a little gravel in. We still need to add about 10 more bags of gravel to have a nice layer at the bottom to help with drainage, but we're both very excited about the results so far. Please disregard the wreckage that is our backyard in the first picture - it's a work in progress, but it also gives you the best shot of the bed overall.

We'll be finishing the garden bed this week so I can transplant all my seedlings next weekend, so you'll soon see where things end up!

Happy St Patty's Day!

2011-03-16T16:09:00.004-04:00

Who Loves Ya Baby-Back?

2011-03-16T15:32:00.006-04:00

After serving Joe a vegetarian meal on Monday (see post below), I promised him I'd swing the pendulum the other way and really give him something he loved on Tuesday - RIBS! I don't make ribs very often, for a couple reasons. One, they're not particularly cheap. Two, I really need to be in the mood to have them for dinner and that just doesn't happen much. Three, I've never used a recipe to make them so they usually don't taste like anything special.

I was surfing the Food Network's website (it's become a habit lately) and stumbled on this ribs recipe. After looking at the ingredient list and seeing all the reviews, I decided to give it a shot as a special treat to Joe for being such a good sport with all my cooking whims lately. Lucky for me, I paid attention to the instructions early Tuesday and saw that the seasoning rub needed to be on the ribs for at least an hour and that they were going to be cooked at a low temp for over two hours! It's the details like that that I usually don't catch that get me in trouble with dinner.

Even I was excited after just putting the rub on the ribs. I really appreciated the video that is posted with the recipe itself because there are little techniques that you see in the video that you (or at least me) miss just from reading the recipe. The verdict - Joe devoured his dinner and told me not to give away the leftovers. I think that's a good sign!

Another round of the crud

2011-03-16T15:32:00.004-04:00

It seems like for the last month we have been surrounded with the crud. There is nothing worse than constantly dealing with this bug or that bug. Add to that a sick toddler and you've got a hat trick of illness in the home. And of course, once you get rid of one bug there is a human incubator in the house ready to pass a new germ to you.

First Brianne got a cold. Then right after she got better, Joe and I both got nailed. Next thing I know, Brianne has a fever. And not just a fever - we're talking a "Oh my gosh. Call the doctor fever". The only good thing is it wasn't a consistently high fever. It would spike dangerously high all of a sudden, like up to 104.5, then after we intervened it would stay down around 99 for a day. Poor thing was so miserable. It got worse too, once we discovered the ooze coming from her ears. One trip to the doctor confirmed it all - double ear infection AND bronchitis for the toddler. Took a week and two different medicines (AGAIN) but she got over it. Until today, which seems to have brought a stomach bug to Brianne just for kicks. Talk about a mess. . .

Joe still hasn't had a day without congestion in almost a month now. I had ONE day. And now I'm sick again.

I'm so ready for spring!

Vegetarian Tex-Mex Peppers

2011-03-16T15:30:00.005-04:00

There is this concept of "Meatless Monday" that has picked up speed. It's not a hard one to understand - whatever you eat for Monday dinner has no meat in it. Not only is it a break on the pocketbook (meat isn't cheap, you know!) it's also an opportunity for you to have something yummy and healthier. Who knows if we'll start doing something like this or not - if we do, I doubt it will always be Monday. :) Either way, I inadvertently cooked a "Meatless Monday" dish for dinner on Monday night that I'd see online and thought it was worth a shot.

I remember eating stuffed peppers at home. I've never made them before with a recipe, and usually when I do make them, the formality of placing them in the oven is to get that nice, melted cheese look on the top because everything else it already cooked when the peppers come together. This recipe isn't much different, other than the ingredients.

I'm not a fan of black beans (no idea why) and I'm not a fan of soy products (no idea why), so this was going out on a limb to make this for dinner. May not be a very shaky limb, but either way it was out of our comfort zone. Turned out well too (this is a picture of my dish, thank you!). It was really light and filling, even only eating half of one pepper. Joe's comment was "This would be perfect for a hot summer evening when you want something easy to eat". Since it wasn't a hot summer evening Monday night, he polished off a couple of Twinkies for dessert. :)

Pig tails!

2011-03-11T11:58:00.005-05:00

Brianne has spent the last year and a half looking looking like a little boy to some people because of her wild and crazy hair. It's just like Joe's hair - once it reaches a certain length it curls. Add to that how fine her hair is and there really hasn't been anything we could do with it but wait for it to grow. Not that she would let us do anything to her hair. Ever. Ever.

So, what happened all of a suddent that in the last week she's grabbing things, holding them to her head, and saying "Pretty? Pretty?" and letting me put it in her hair? Granted, they don't last long, but I certainly didn't teach her that word and I'm pretty sure Bev wouldn't do that either. Hmmm. Is she becoming (gasp!) a girl?? :) The real shocker was she let me put bows in her hair today too!

Child Labor

2011-03-08T20:46:00.003-05:00

For the last three or four months, Brianne has been around my ankles while I'm doing laundry. At one point, she even attempted to climb into the dryer with the clothes I was throwing in (think she got confused about what all goes in the dryer). Well, tonight while I was pre-treating her clothes she reached in the laundry hamper and pulled a pair of pants out, walked over to the washer, stretched, and dropped them in! She was so proud of herself. I told Joe to grab his phone and come over and capture this for all to see how we are victimizing our daughter.

For this video clip, I got out the little kneeling stool we got way back when she was tiny so we could rest our knees on it as we gave her a bath. She's been playing with it all night ever since this.

Bread!

2011-03-08T20:11:00.005-05:00

So, here are the promised pictures from my "Bread in 5 Minutes" experiment. I didn't have enough wheat flour, so I made the other version of the recipe. It's from the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day". The recipe has a few minor differences, but the jist is the same.

This is my dough after being mixed and raising on the counter for two hours. It took all of 5 minutes to measure out the dough and yeast and mix in water, which I did by hand. I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but the dough is really wet. The dough doubled in size over the two hours and you could tell it was really full of gas. Into the fridge!

Today, when it was time to shape the loaf, all I had to do was cut off a chunk of bread and shape it. Apparently, the trick to keeping the gas in the dough is to quickly shape the dough into the form, like within about 10-15 seconds. I thought it was going to be hard to do, but it really wasn't. Just took some concentration, and voila - I have a dough loaf.

The loaf sat on the pizza peel (on top of a generous coating of cornmeal so it wouldn't stick) for and hour and a half. It didn't rise a lot, but it definitely expanded width wise.

30 minutes before putting the loaf in, I turned the oven on to 450. Underneath the baking stone, I placed the bottom of a broiler pan to heat up. Once it was time for the bread to go in, I added about a cup of water to the broiler pan to create steam in the oven. Supposed to help give it that nice, crunchy crust.

About 15 minutes later, I went to check on the loaf because Joe was saying the bread smelled good. I knew the oven was hot, but didn't think it would already be done. Sure enough, inside the oven was a golden brown loaf of deliciousness.

The above loaf of bread would sell for $2-3 at the local grocery store (yes, I priced it out). I'm no Betty Crocker, but if I can do this, anyone can do this.

The Reality of Disney Pixar's UP

2011-03-08T09:38:00.006-05:00

When I heard about this on the news last night (national news - not local) my eyes got as big as silver dollars and my jaw dropped. This is awesome!!

Apparently, the National Geographic Channel is going to be doing their own show a la Mythbusters called "How Hard Can It Be?" and this is one of the episodes. We love to watch Mythbusters and if this is the kind of stuff they're going to attempt on this show, it looks like we'll have another one to watch. Here is the link to their blog about the event.

These pictures were so amazing, I had to share. I love the one looking up at the balloons from inside the house.

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day

2011-03-07T20:40:00.002-05:00

You may think this isn't possible, but it is! I found the book at Borders during a going-out-of-business sale and tried it out. I can attest to the fact it works and it makes yummy nummy bread. And when you add up what it costs to buy a loaf of bread vs the cost of ingredients, you still come out ahead on the money side plus you get a better loaf to eat for about as much time as you'd spend picking up a loaf of bread at the store. Dare I say we may never buy bread again? I can't believe it may be true. I'll have pictures from my own experience with this recipe coming soon!

Chicken Parm

2011-03-03T13:30:00.006-05:00

One of my TV guilty pleasures is "Cake Boss" on TLC. It's the story of a bakery in Hoboken, NJ and the very Italian family behind it. Light-hearted, fun, and awesome cakes! Like, cakes that shoot off fireworks, snowglobe cakes that really look like working snowglobes, etc. Well, the main character, Buddy, has a new show on TLC called Kitchen Boss. It's basically another cooking show, nothing fancy, but I've become quite fond of it. I've tried a couple of the recipes and they're fantastic and easy. Which brings me to the subject of today's post - Chicken Parm.

You'll notice that this link isn't to a Chicken Parm recipe, but to an Eggplant Parm recipe. Chicken, eggplant, whatever. Same concept. :) There are three key components to this recipe:

- The chicken: Using boneless, skinless breasts, slice them in half and cover with a piece of saran wrap. Tenderize.
- The dredging: I've always done this in two steps - egg wash, then your breadcrumbs, flour, panko, etc. In this recipe, you actually flour the chicken first, then coat it in egg, and then in the breadcrumbs. I was skeptical at first, but the taste difference is amazing! Which leads me to the last component.
- The breadcrumbs: On the show, Buddy made his own breadcrumbs. It looked simple and they sounded yummy, so I took a shot at it for this recipe. Oh. My. Goodness. Now THOSE were fantastic breadcrumbs! Totally recommend it over store-bought. Or maybe I just keep getting the crappy breadcrumbs at the store...

I used store-bought sauce for my dish instead of making the marinara sauce he demonstrated. Other than that and the chicken, I made it just like the recipe said. Joe was so impressed, he said it was better than his favorite restaurant's version. And he ate all the leftovers, which is saying something given that we're a household that's not crazy about leftovers. Fantastic family dish that we've already made again since I first cooked this a couple weeks ago. And the picture - that's mine!

Yeah, that's a Brindle

2011-03-02T12:47:00.004-05:00

I've always known that my dad had an older half-sister from my grandfather's first marriage, but we never knew her growing up. In fact, my dad hadn't seen her since he was very young. Like Brianne's age young. So when my mom sent me an email a couple weeks ago tell my brothers and I that she had found my Aunt Kathy, I wasn't shocked to hear about her but I was surprised that it was happening now. I called last Friday to chat for a few minutes and was even more surprised to hear that they were going to be meeting face-to-face the next day!

I could tell when I talked to my dad late Saturday evening that it had been a good experience for him. I also couldn't help but comment that the timing of all this is very interesting, with this coming less than one year after his mom passed away. They're already talking about when they can get the whole family together to meet. Not only am I really happy that it went so well, but I'm excited to get to know this part of my family and the associated history that I've never fully understood until now.

Growing up, everyone would make the comment "Yeah, that's a Brindle" whenever they saw my cousins, brothers, or I around town. I always knew we looked alike (we're supposed to, right?) but had no idea what it really meant. Then I saw this picture and the first thing I thought was "Yeah, that's a Brindle"!

The Joe Chronicles - Kinect

2011-03-02T11:09:00.007-05:00

I'm not ashamed to admit this - I bought Joe's Valentine's Day present the Saturday before Valentines. And if it weren't for the fact that Monday was Valentine's Day, I probaby would have waited a little longer and done it the day before. Why you ask? Because I had no idea what to do for him! He is the most impossible, difficult person to buy a present for! He never tells you what he wants and he doesn't even drop clues or react to suggestions. This year I actually had something in mind that I wanted to give him, but couldn't find it anywhere. My last ditch attempt to find it was at Best Buy and that too failed. I'd run out of time. I was in an electronics store full of toys with buttons that do things when you push them, without any idea what to get for him. So I turned my head and said "Fine. We're (Brianne was along for the ride) going back to the video games and picking up the first thing I find." Let's just say that Joe got lucky about what I saw first.

On the shelf at eye-level was a free-standing Xbox Kinect. For those non-gamers out there, this is Microsoft's response to the Wii. Well, it is in my opinion. Instead of having a remote you swing around your body is the remote. The black box picks up on players and captures every move they make, then simultaneously translates it into action in the game. When it first came on the market, you couldn't buy them without buying a new game system and we so weren't going there just for this thing. Plus Joe didn't really seem to care about it one way or another (reference my above comment), so we ignored the huge sales push at Christmas. Lucky for me, not only was it at a great price but the video games were on sale too, so I was able to get him a toy to play with his toy.

I was really nervous about this present and didn't know what to think and since he was nervous about his present (see post below), we exchanged presents that very night after Brianne went to sleep. He seemed happy about it, but I wasn't sure. Then, once he got into the game and saw how it worked and what all it could do, he was like a kid on Christmas. This thing is awesome! It takes pictures as you play (there are some pretty crazy pictures on it now!) and lets you make sound clips to go with the achievements you reach as you play. If it's a multiplayer game and someone wants to join, all you have to do is move into the playing area and the system picks up on the new player and you're in. It was 1AM before we went to bed that night, so I think he ended up enjoying his present.

I can do that too

2011-03-01T14:28:00.003-05:00

I just can't believe that these pictures never made it up on the blog! Well, now they are. :)

Brianne decided to feed herself one night back in October. I said "What the heck. Have to learn sometime, right?" and let her be. She'd used a fork and spoon before, but I always supervised. This time, I paid attention to make sure she didn't get hurt but just let her be. I got distracted for five minutes and paid for it dearly. These pictures were taken 30 minutes after I realized I'd been distracted. I figured she was already a mess, let her enjoy it. And then I'll have a wonderful set of pictures from it. And a dirty tub. And stained clothes. And sauce-tinted skin.

nookColor

2011-02-28T23:20:00.011-05:00

For Christmas, Joe gave me a talking Walter doll. You know, the Jeff Dunham puppet? It's absolutely hilarious and I love it, but he felt like he hadn't given me a good enough present compared to what I gave him. Honestly, neither of us can remember what I gave him for Christmas (I know - bad!) so no biggie right? Nope. He decided to give me a special Valentine's day present.

Since I travel for my new job, usually one week a month, I'm starting to run into some of the same "issues" that crept up before. I don't check luggage if I can help it because I almost always have a connecting flight and don't want to risk losing my clothes, so that means I have to cram everything I need into two bags. One of those bags has to have my laptop in it and all the peripherals I need, so that bag doesn't have much room left. By the time I get my clothes, shoes, and other necessities packed, there really isn't room left for books or anything like that to entertain me while on the plane or in the evenings in the hotel. I'd been eyeballing an eReader for awhile, but didn't really know if I'd want to look at a computer screen all day, then look at an eReader in the evenings. That's a lot of screen time. But I couldn't argue with the appeal of having as many eBooks with me when I travel as I want. Plus the eBooks are cheaper, I can buy/download a new one and immediately start to read it, etc. Since I just couldn't take the jump and get one, Joe decided to do it for me.

I absolutely LOVE my nook! It's fantastic. I can not only read books, but newspapers and magazines too. And since it has a wireless card, I can get on the internet and do different things. Like update my Facebook page or send emails. He really surprised me with this one! I haven't had to travel since receiving my nook, but have a trip to Tampa coming up at the end of March where I'll get to really enjoy it for the first time. Not that I haven't used it yet, because that's SO not the case. :)

Diva

2011-02-28T23:20:00.007-05:00

At the end of December, our babysitter and her daughter made a trip to Cincinnati to visit a friend. On the way, they entertained Brianne with a cell phone and sunglasses. They shared these photos with us, but they are just now coming off our cell phones. :)

Dragon's Breath Chili

2011-02-28T20:47:00.003-05:00

I'm not a big fan of chili, so it doesn't show up on the table at our house very often. Part of it is my tomato aversion. I don't hate tomatoes in general, just in soups and chilies because those are usually stewed chunks and I associate that with a near-death experience I had growing up with a pot of goulash a family friend made for my brothers and I as she was taking care of us. But that's another post. :) Anyway, Joe loves chili and when the ladies at church asked if we were coming to the branch chili cook off, I decided to go looking for a nice, hot chili recipe since that's what Joe likes. Plus, my understanding is that there is no better place to take a pot of chili that burns the hairs out of your nose. :) Which leads me to my latest cooking adventure - Dragon's Breath Chili.

I ran out to the store to get the produce and spent a good chunk of the afternoon the next day making the chili. The recipe wasn't necessarily hard, but the prep work was incredible. I think I spent an hour and a half putting everything together and of that, an hour of it was spent doing prep work. Roasting peppers and chilies, chopping onions, mincing garlic, ya de ya de ya. There was a lot of prep work! But it was so worth it to see Joe's reaction when he ate it and watch the other macho guys, er I mean wonderful men, turn red from the heat and spice in the chili. The recipe says to serve the chili over double-fried french fries (included at bottom of the recipe), but we didn't go there for this. Not to mention it just didn't sound good.

The chili was a hit with those that were brave enough to try. From what I heard, the heat didn't hit you until after you had swallowed, so it's kinda like it was air-activated heat. :) Joe loved it, we shared the recipe, and sent home leftovers with a friend since he loves the hot-stuff too and his wife doesn't like it anymore than me. And there was still enough for four two-serving leftovers for Joe. Freezer baby! Fair warning - you will feel the heat of this chili as you cook it. In your nose, in your mouth, down your throat. Even when we came back home that night, you could STILL pick up on the aroma in the house.

Classic White Bread

2011-01-24T18:36:00.003-05:00

I couldn't tell you how I found this recipe if I tried. All I know is I was internet surfing and happened on a blog that had a post linking to this recipe for a classic, white bread. Once I saw it, I couldn't shake the hankering. I would have made it over the weekend, but I didn't have any yeast and didn't want to go to the store just for that. Store runs like that are dangerous. . . always come home with something else you hadn't planned on and it's almost NEVER good for you to eat.

I whipped this up by hand today (couldn't find my dough hook) and it is incredibly easy and so delicious! The loaf on top-left did better than the other, but it's because I figured out how to put it in the loaf pan the second time around. As we enjoyed the yummy warm bread, Joe and I did some quick math in and figured how much cheaper it would be to make vs buy bread. The only thing we didn't factor in was my time/work, which would have blown the top off the cost savings. But you can't put a price on how much better homemade bread tastes either, can you?

Upon seeing the recipe, my Aunt Helene let me know it's a Belgian recipe. :)

2 1/2 cups warm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
6-7 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached flour)
1 tbsp salt
4 tbsp butter, very soft

Combine 1/2 cup of the water with the yeast and sugar in a large bowl. Let stand until foamy - about 10 minutes.
Add the remaining water, 5 cups of the flour, and salt to the yeast mixture. Mix with a wooden spool (or in a mixer), adding the remaining flour a few tablespoons at a time until dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
Add soft butter 1 tbsp at a time. The dough will start to come apart, but keep mixing/kneading and it will come back together. Knead until smooth and elastic.
Shape dough into a ball and place in a large, lightly oiled bowl to rise until doubled, about 1 - 1 1/2 hrs. (If you mix in a mixer, you can skip this step of rising).
Spray two 8x4 loaf pans and set aside. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into two equal portions to work with individually.
Roll the dough out into a 9x12 rectangle. With the short side towards you, fold one third of the dough down, then fold it down again. Pinch the bottom seam to seal. Turn the seam side up and fold each end over about 1/2".
Place the loaf seam-side down into the loaf pans. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 45-60 minutes. Dough will rise about the top of the pan. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F.
Place loaves in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. The loaves will be golden and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom when they are done.
Remove loaves from pans immediately and brush with butter for a shiny top.

The Joe Chronicles - It's Official!

2011-01-12T19:09:00.002-05:00

Joe was looking at the blog last night and commented on how there hadn't been a Joe Chronicle in awhile. I looked at him and informed him he hadn't been really giving me much to work with. But then, I was looking at pictures off my old camera (YES!! Joe found it!!) and realized that I had two Joe Chronicles to post!! So, the first post to appear on the blog until I can get around to updating again will be a Joe Chronicle. And it's a good one.

Joe became a licensed practitioner 3 1/2 years ago and was offered a job within days of getting his license. He was low man on the totem poll for about a year, then someone left and he moved up the proverbial food chain. Two years later, they hired a fourth doc. I can't decide if it was sexism or just procrastination, but the running joke was "Oh yeah, they hire a FEMALE and decide to replace the glass". Either way, Joe's official now!

Halloween 2010

2011-01-12T19:02:00.003-05:00

Brianne was a little sick at Halloween this year, so we kept her home. But we dressed her up so she could run back and forth to the door with Daddy to hand out candy.

The closest this lady bug came to flying

At the door, curious as can be.

Mommy, Daddy wouldn't let me go outside...

The day I realized she was growing up

2011-01-12T18:56:00.002-05:00

These pictures were taken at the end of October. While I'd realized many times before that she was growing up, it wasn't until I caught her all dressed up like this that it really hit me - she's a big girl! With the bow in her hair, the snazzy outfit, and standing at the car waiting to leave. I just love these pictures!

The Joe Chronicles - Deckwork

2011-01-12T18:30:00.006-05:00

This Joe chronicle is brought to you courtesy of a lousy deck. Yes, Joe ripped out the deck this fall and replaced the wood. It's a long story. . . in a nutshell, we were told the wood was treated, then when it started to warp we were told they wouldn't deal with defaults until the one-year inspection, then at the one-year inspection they told us the deck wasn't covered. So, you can only imagine what three years of weathered deck wood is like. In case you aren't sure, here's a sample.

Joe and I coordinated a week off work so I could be at home with Bria and he could work on the deck. Little did I know it would coincide with my new job and I wouldn't be able to take the week off. . .best laid plans usually go awry. So what was supposed to be a week long project stretched out into a two month project. Why didn't he ask for help? Beats me. . . it's not for lack of offering.

He worked when he could, mostly on Mondays and Tuesdays while Brianne napped (thank goodness for 3 hour naps). Thanks to an unseasonably warm weather, Joe was able to keep working on the deck until the end of November. And boy was he proud with the results - as he should be!

Brianne even got in on the clean up action on the last day. :)

Here fishy fishy fishy

2011-01-08T18:08:00.002-05:00

As the fish have died, we've not really replaced them. I love having a fish tank and they are fun to watch swim around. But the tank is such a pain to take care of, so as soon as there were just a couple left, I changed out the 30 gallon for our smaller 10 gallon one. Little did I know what I was doing.

The larger one was as big as the table, so Brianne couldn't get up on it and do anything. Now. . .

There's now only one fish left (you can see him in the bottom right corner of the tank). Think the other had a heart attack.

Red Skeleton's protege

2011-01-08T17:52:00.004-05:00

We have yet to cut a strand of hair off Brianne's head. And she refused to let us do anything with it, except wash it during her baths. Sometimes I get lucky and can sneak a bow into her hair, but eventually she discovers my treason and rips it from her locks. Her hair is a beautiful color, but super fine and unruly like Joe's when it gets long. All around the edge of her hair is a gorgeous array curls. And some days when she wakes up from a nap. . . scary stuff, as you can see below.

Play time!

2011-01-08T17:19:00.004-05:00

We wanted to get Brianne some quality play time with other kids her age, but the ever shrinking population of children at church has really not left many options. I wasn't sure what to do and figured when the time was right I'd find something.

While I was at work the week between Christmas and New Years, I opened up my personal email account and found an advertisement for Gymboree Play and Music. I'd heard about these places, but didn't think there was one in Louisville. Sure enough, there's been one around for awhile - just hadn't ever seen it because it's in a location I usually don't drive around. We decided to give it a try and Brianne had her first two "classes" this week - one is a Play and Learn class, the other is a Music class. She also gets to go to the free "gym time" sessions which is basically like taking her to a playhouse and just letting her have fun.

The Play and Learn is every Tuesday for an hour and the Music one is on Saturday for an hour, both of us get to take her. When I got there today, Brianne quickly remembered where we were and wanted to go play. We had a few extra minutes before her class started, so I took her into the "gym" area and let her play. It also gave me an opportunity to snap these pictures. She absolutely loved the slide! This was also the first time I'd been able to get her on a rocking horse without her panicking and wanting to run away. Then when we went into the music class they had us playing different instruments and moving to the beat of the music. Brianne really enjoyed herself, especially the bubbles at the end. Gotta love bubbles!

Strawberry Raspberry Trifle

2011-01-04T19:19:00.006-05:00

Shortly before I started my new job, one of my employees was diagnosed as diabetic. In the past, her "dessert of choice" was Paula Deen's Not Yo' Mamma's Banana Pudding. And I have to say, it's a fantastic recipe. VERY dangerous, but when aren't Paula Deen's recipes dangerous? :) Anyway, my employee really had a hard time taking the diagnosis and became pretty upset because of how drastic the dietary changes would be. I promised her I would find something else that I could make for her that would make her forget the banana pudding.

Boy am I glad I found this recipe! I love making trifles - they are just so pretty when put together with the different layers. I saw several different contenders and Joe made the final decision on this Strawberry Raspberry Trifle (I think it was because of the extensive use of strawberry) and I have to say, the white chocolate pudding definitely caught my attention.

The dish was very easy and quick to put together. The most time consuming part was cutting up the angel food cake and strawberries. The second time I made this, I happened on a strawberry slicer next to the strawberry display at the grocery store and that saved me an incredible amount of time.

Final taste - sweeet! Instead of the SF white chocolate pudding taking center stage, the fruit and angel food cake are the stars. You could probably use a SF whipped topping too if you wanted to cut some more out added sugar and if you're REALLY aggressive, make your own angel food cake. Either way, this dessert was all anyone could talk about when I took it in for a potluck. Everyone wanted a copy of the recipe and my former employee was beyond excited. Turns out, she loves strawberries too. :) I'm making this to take in for her birthday tomorrow - can't wait to see her face!

Chicken and Red Potatoes

2011-01-04T19:06:00.015-05:00

I'm not what you would call a culinary free spirit - I like recipes and tend to stick to them pretty closely. So, when I find one I like, I like to share.

I found this Chicken and Red Potatoes recipe on Taste of Home's website last week and fixed it for Sunday dinner. It's a fabulous slow cooker recipe that tastes so wonderful! 15 minutes prep work and 3 1/2 hrs slow cooker time later, we had a delicious meal. Even Brianne scarfed it down. Highly recommend.

The chicken was very soft and moist and the vegetables weren't soggy at all (a major pet peeve of mine when it comes to slow cooker recipes or roasts). I'd never actually heard of cream of onion soup before I decided to fix this and have to say, I'm not sure how I've cooked without it before now. It made such a smooth, delicious gravy combined with the meat juices and milk. Joe said he's be happy to have this a couple times a month, and that's saying something!

Totally bummed. . .

2010-12-31T17:16:00.002-05:00

So, I meant to take my camera with me to Salem, VA and could have sworn I did. But when I got to the hotel and was unpacking, I couldn't find it ANYWHERE! So I just assumed I'd left it at home. And when I got home, I started searching for it. And searching. And searching.

Said camera is still MIA. And the worst part - I had the memory card with 6 MONTHS worth of pictures in it. :(

I'm still looking, but today I caved and bought a new one. We had the video camera for Chrismtas at least, so those videos will be coming later. And I'm not giving up on my camera. But I just couldn't go any longer. So, unless a miracle occurs, I have to take new pics before I can load anything. Sorry for the disappointment, but I'm sure it's nothing like the loss I'm feeling right now...

Coming soon - massive update!

2010-12-09T18:52:00.000-05:00

While stuck in Salem, VA next week for work, all by my lonesome, I intend to upload lots and lots and lots of pictures and try to update you on what's been going on. Stay tuned!

NOT about Brianne

2010-10-03T23:06:00.003-04:00

Believe it or not, Joe and I do have lives outside of Brianne. They are dull and boring and not nearly as fun, but we do have some things going on. Since every other new post I've put up this weekend has been about who you're really here to check in on, I'm dedicating this last post to Joe and I. That's all I'll need to catch you up anyway. :)

Joe is officially part of the office he works in. No, really. It's been three years and they just now added his name to the glass entrance. Once we get the picture off Joe's phone I'll add it to the blog so you can see it. He was so excited. He's actually the second most-senior optometrist in the practice now, with both of the newest providers having been out of school one and two years less than him. It's been so incredibly busy down there that they had to hire a fourth doctor for the office. Much needed and appreciated! I just wish people would learn how incredibly rude it is to show up for an eye exam 20 minutes before the office closes. No skin off their back, but it makes everyone get out late and Joe has a 40 minute drive home. . . I'm done grumbling now.

I've kept Joe incredibly busy with my car the last few months, having flattened three tires thanks to nails I'm picking up somewhere on the drive home. The good news is I always make it home. The bad news is that I keep hitting the same tire - the first time, I needed new tires anyway; second time, he threw on the full-size spare and put the repaired tire on the back; third time, I hit the spare and had to put the repaired, leaky tire on until I could get it fixed. What are the chances???

I start a new job in a week - I'm so excited! Long and short of it is I just wasn't happy in my current position. I love what I'm doing and the staff that support me, but other than that it was just out of control. I'm miserable, stressed out, tired, hating Sundays because that means I go back to work the next day - you name it, I felt it. And it isn't me. I won't go so far as to say it's the job either because the job will be a great job. For somebody else that is willing and able to put in the extra long hours that I won't do because I'm more interested in being at home with my family. Instead, I've gotten a better fitting job for me - it's a promotion/pay raise (always good) with the national program office working on . . . actually I'm not sure how to explain it. I'm sure I'll get more details this week, but I do know a couple things for sure - I don't have to supervise anyone (I'm my own person again!) and there is travel involved each month. I wasn't so sure about being away on a regular basis, but after Joe and I talked about it we agreed that he'd rather have me gone once or twice a month and happy the rest of the time I'm here than home all the time and the bear of a person I've been for the last year.

For Fathers Day I got Joe some garage organizing stuff, so he's had fun cleaning up that space and getting it set up so he can find everything he needs when he wants it. I also got him one of those crazy air blowers that I always laughed at other people that used them. Come to find out, they're actually kinda handy. . . for blowing dog hair dust bunnies out from under the couch. :) And getting the cut grass off the driveway, of course. Next project is the deck. We're getting all the parts together now and when Joe and (hopefully) I are on vacation in a week we're going to redo the whole thing. It's beyond salvageable, so we're biting the bullet and fixing it now while we can. After that, the basement awaits. That'll be a good one-two year project because we just can't afford to finish it all at once. Plus next spring we'll need to landscape the front. . . it never ends, does it?

Rocking chair

2010-10-03T22:52:00.007-04:00

When Grandma Brindle passed at the end of June, there really wasn't anything of hers that I wanted. It's always bothered me that people divy up a dead person's stuff - I realize that person can't use it anymore but it just weirds me out and I don't want any part of it. Then I remembered this rocking chair.

This chair has been around forever. My mom remembers sitting in it right after I was born. I remember all the Sunday visits out there and how my brothers and I would take turns sitting in the chair. Well, it was more of a "you got up and I stole your seat" taking turns thing, but we enjoyed the chair. And now it's found another home to be part of and I'm really enjoying watching Brianne sit in it and have her own spot in the house that nobody else can say is theirs. The first night it was in the house (right after we got back from the funeral in Peru) we sat her in it and she rocked back and forth. Ever since it's been her special seat. She'll run to the chair and climb in with just about anything - food, drink, toys, telephone. She drags it up to the table to read books. She watches TV (yeah, we're bad parents that let our little one watch TV) and loves to rock back and forth.

Getting SO big!

2010-10-03T22:38:00.002-04:00

Joe and I have a tradition of sorts to call the other one when we leave wherever we are to come home. It started back when I was driving to/from Indy for night classes and I wanted him to know I was safe and when to expect me home in the off chance something happened. Since we don't seem capable of shaking the late night stuff, Joe and I still call one another each day when the other is coming home from work. Needless to say, Brianne sees us on the phone a lot and has learned very quickly how it works. She anticipates the phone calls and gets so excited when the phone rings. We'll put it on speakerphone and she just starts to jabber jabber. Then she learned that if she holds it just so. . .

I have always had a deep love of books, even as a child. So it was always important to me that we spent plenty of time reading to Brianne and that there was plenty of variety to pick from. Thanks to both Grandmas, we have quite the selection. One of our favorite things to do at the end of the day is sit on the couch and read a couple books before going to bed. I think we have the Bubbles Bubbles book memorized now. "Bubbles bubbles in my hair. Bubbles bubbles everywhere!"

We've also introduced her to the wonderful world of coloring. :) Talk about an experience. I'm sure glad that crayons are non-toxic because those chompers are faster than my reflexes are. And the Color Explosion markers - genius! Won't mark on anything but special paper. Not cheap, but at her age one will last forever and I don't have to worry about what she hits with the marker tip.

4th of July

2010-10-03T22:08:00.005-04:00

Joe can be one of the calmest, most easy-going people I know. And then something comes along that he gets excited about and it's like watching a kid turned loose in a candy store with as much money as they could ever want. That was Joe the week leading up to the 4th of July. There are all these year-long fireworks stores in the area and if you cross state lines, you can get the really good ones. Lucky for us there is a state border just minutes away. :)

Brianne did really well for her first 4th outside enjoying the fireworks. It was so incredibly hot and humid that for once, I was glad for the smoke - it helped beat back the bugs. She wasn't quite as excited as Joe, but definitely interested in what was going on. She didn't stray far and wasn't interested in holding onto the sparklers with me, but she got really excited every time Joe came running back from whatever he'd lit. Then it would go off and she'd crouch down and peer at it. Towards the end she got a little more brave and would call to Joe as he walked down with the next firework to set off. I'm sure next year we'll have to fight to keep her from getting underfoot or in the way of danger.

It's a twister!

2010-10-03T21:42:00.003-04:00

Sorta, not really, but too close for comfort. On June 15th, a really nasty storm blew over us and dropped tornadoes down to the east of our home. My guess is this was one of them and we were fortunate enough to have it pass our homeI've never seen something like this before and it was beyond creepy. The video isn't much, but you can see the tail trying to drop. It came up and down and up and down several times over 10 minutes. Creepiest part was watching it do this OVER OUR HOUSE. Don't mind my annoying commentary - I was nervous and that was how I kept myself composed.

Pool days

2010-10-03T21:28:00.006-04:00

Brianne is such a water child, we knew she'd have a blast when we introduced her to the outside "bathtub". It didn't go over quite as well as we thought it would the first time out - think the water was too cold. But once she got comfortable with the idea and let us put her in the water, she stayed for a good hour before coming out. This was the only time I was able to put her in the pool this summer (sniff sniff - she did get to go other times too, just not with me), but there is always next year.

WE HAVE A FENCE!

2010-10-02T22:42:00.003-04:00

It's like a dream come true! We finally have a fence around the property and don't have to babysit the dogs when they go outside. :) Ahhhhh. . .

We ended up hiring someone to do it for us, but it was worth it. There's a lifetime, transferrable warranty on the fence (it's composite) and they were able to custom cut the pieces to fit our randomly shaped plot. They found rocks everywhere while digging the posts. It got so bad that they quit charging us extra to dig them out.

Our garden

2010-10-02T22:19:00.007-04:00

We made our first attempt at a garden this year. Nothng much - just a small, raised garden bed and several potted plants. When we took these pictures (early June) the garden was flourishing! The tomato plants were beyond insane - grew over 6 feet tall! We had corn and beans and peas and eggplant and and and. . .

Unfortunately, this was a horrible summer and no matter what we did we couldn't save the plants. Almost every single day through September was in the mid to upper 90s and several days broke 100. The plants got plenty of sun and we watered them religiously, but the 12+ hours of direct sunlight and scorching heat just did them in. But it's nice to know we can do it. Maybe next year will be better.

Right before we found out I was pregnant with Brianne, we planted this peach tree. Since it was late in the year, we weren't sure if it would make it and after the winter we had that year, we thought for sure it was a gonner. Two years later, here it stands. We got some fruit off of it this year! Brianne was fascinated with the tree that was just about her size. It was too cute to pass up. She wasn't a fan of the bugs that were enjoying the late afternoon shade under the tree, but she tolerated it long enough that I could get a couple pictures.

Cheeto fiend

2010-10-02T22:10:00.002-04:00

Joe is one of the "good ones" in that he packs a lunch for work every day. Same thing - two PB&J sandwiches, a bag of chips, and a treat. I have a drawer where I put all the single serve bags of chips we get for Joe's lunch and a drawer for all the junk food her loves to throw in his lunch for the treat. I'm not nearly as dedicated about bringing lunch to work, so I have to "reward" him for being so much better than me. :)

Brianne just loves the Cheetos! All it took was once and she was hooked. The funniest part is that anytime she hears a chip bag open, she comes running. And when she's hungry, she helps herself to the two drawers where she knows she'll like what she finds. She definitely got her sweet tooth from daddy.

30, 1, 2, and 4

2010-10-02T21:26:00.004-04:00

Believe it or not, all of these numbers have something in common - and it has to do with the first week in June. Yeah, I know - it's October and I'm just now talking about June. . .

June 5th was my 30th birthday and June 6th was Brianne's 1st birthday. It was pretty low-key on the party side unfortunately due to the fact that almost as soon as we got back from Utah, all three of us got sick. Don't know where we picked it up and really don't care anymore. All I know is it was the LONGEST couple of weeks we'd had in a long time.

We've been very fortunate that Brianne has been so healthy. She had only been sick once before this and that was just a little head cold. This time, however, was a doozy. Over the course of one week we went to the pediatrician's office twice to deal with her double ear infection (once on my birthday and once the day after her birthday). Poor thing had a fever that kept spiking over 102 and the medicine just wasn't working. She still had such a good temperament that if it weren't for the ear pulling, fever, and the slight decrease in activity, we never would have known she was sick. 2 rounds of the pink goo later and she seemed to be doing better, but at her "well baby" (ha ha) check up the doctor said the infection was still there. So we did yet another round of medicine, this time azithromyacin. It took 2 rounds of that too before we were finally out of the woods.

Despite all that, we couldn't let her birthday go by without a cake! One of my favorite pictures of me from when I was little was on my birthday and I was sitting in either a diaper or just underwear, ready to dig in to my birthday cake. She wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but we helped her figure it out by the end. :)

Brianne loves her Lovey(s)

2010-08-14T23:04:00.006-04:00

Joe and I had waited for Brianne to latch on to something for quite a while. We knew that when she finally did, we'd need to find a back-up just in case something ever happened. I never imagined it would be the pink and white fluffy dog Mindy and Andy gave her when they came to see us in the hospital. . . .

I started looking for a replacement lovey online, but the only thing I could find was way too pricey. If I'd had 5 minutes, I guess I could have gone back to the hospital and checked out the gift shop. But that would have taken time and made sense - neither of which I've had in large quantities for awhile. I did see some similar ones online, but I wanted something identicial. So I put out a call for help. I kept looking and decided to go ahead and buy a similar, darker pink puppy just in case something happened. What I didn't know was that my mom had already ordered two of the same, darker pink puppy too.

When the impersonator loveys showed up, I decided to break one out and see what she'd do. She didn't even flinch - they were completely interchangeable! Thank goodness because the light pink one was looking pretty grimey. I tried to put the other two away in her closet, but one afternoon I went in her room and found her tearing through the plastic bag to get to it.

She sleeps with them, she drags them all over the place, she chews on them - she does EVERYTHING with them. The last puppy was opened a few weeks later after all three of the loveys needed to go through the wash so badly that not even one of them could hang back. Now she has so many loveys that they are all equal in her eyes. As long as she can go to sleep with one of them every night, she's happy.

Puppy love

2010-08-14T22:14:00.006-04:00

We switched Bria to regular food (ie no baby food) at about 11 months. She had been eating snacks for awhile, but once we ran out of jarred foods we just didn't buy any more. Not only did she completely love the experience of all these new foods and textures, the dogs loved it too. :) I probably shouldn't have encouraged the behavior, but this was just one of those moments that it was more important to capture the moment than say "No!".

We'd just gotten home from the store and I was putting groceries away. Brianne was due for a snack, so I gave her her favorite snack - banana cookies. I knew it would keep her busy long enough for me to get the bags emptied and cleared without having to fight to keep her out of the fridge. I left the room to put something by the basement stairs to carry down later and came back to this scene.

Triton has always begged for table scraps, but never have I seen him go after something like this. He was so sneaky! First, he acted like he was just interested in what she had in her hands. Then, when Brianne decided to let him have a sniff, he started to lick her fingers so she'd relax her grip. This, of course, made her laugh and loosen her hold, giving Triton the perfect opportunity to just take it right out of her hand. Brianne thought it was the funniest thing in the world and just laughed and laughed and laughed. She proceeded to feed him ever last bit of the cookie, which he happily took. They've been inseparable ever since. Well, inseperable whenever she has food!

Playhuts - fun to play with, awful to put away

2010-08-14T21:56:00.006-04:00

When we made arrangements for our first overnight guests with young children after we bought the house, I knew we'd have to get some toys to entertain the little ones. Enter the Playhut. I've always thought the concept was really cool - toys that quickly form large playhuts that stand up on their own and connect to one another but also fold flat for easy storage. Well, the concept is great. Once you figure out how to fold the things up when you're done playing. . .

The first time we pulled the Playhut out, the people visiting knew how to deal with them and folded them back up for us. I did a couple that time too (with a little instruction) and it was simple enough I figured I'd be able to do it again. Two years later, we decide to break out the Playhut for Brianne to climb in a goof off. She had so much fun! Especially with all the little plastic balls and holes to throw them in an out of and climb up and make faces through. She played for an hour without breaking a sweat. Eventually, she wore herself out and we got her settled and ready for bed. Then, it was time to put the toys away and turn in for the night. Oh my gosh was that thing a beast to figure out. It took us almost as long as she played in it to get the thing folded up and put away. I even went looking for the folding instructions online when I couldn't find the original one that came with the toys. And who was it that finally got it folded? Yeah, that's right. Joe did it. :) Needless to say, the toy has not been back out since. Luckily, Brianne hasn't missed it. Probably helps that we put it in the closet in the guest room. Out of sight, out of mind!

Walking and flying

2010-08-14T20:51:00.008-04:00

May was a really crazy month for us. I don't think we really had a chance to stop and enjoy the pleasant weather, which I'm really regretting about right now.

After Bria learned how to walk, life changed for us. Dramatically. Not only did she poke holes in every one of our childproofing tactics, but she pointed out flaws that we'd never even noticed. But that's what they're supposed to do, isn't it? :) The funniest part of all was how the dogs responded. At first, they were still pretty careful around her. But the first time she chased after them and grabbed on to their tails, all bets were off. They had no qualms blowing past and knocking her over.

Mid-month, we made our first cross country trip with her. I had to go to a conference in Las Vegas for a week and we decided to make a family trip at the same time. We all flew in to Salt Lake on Sunday, I left for Vegas on Monday and came back Friday, and then we stayed the rest of the weekend and left on Sunday. It wasn't nearly has hard being away from Bria as I thought it was going to be, but I still missed them both terribly. It was good for them to get some quality time with family. Bria wasn't so excited about the trip though. She was an angel on the plane - couldn't have asked for a better behaved child! - but she wouldn't let Joe get out of reach the whole time they were there without screaming bloody murder. Poor guy couldn't even go to the bathroom without Brianne chasing after him and banging on the door, screaming for him to come out! She just didn't know where she was and who these people were that wanted to spend time with her. I felt so bad, but it was understandable. Maybe next time she'll be a little less scared.

The best part of the trip was getting to take a big family picture. One of these days, I'll get it scanned and uploaded to share. In the meanwhile, here are a couple snapshots from the weekend while I was there.

She's with Grandpa again

2010-06-30T22:42:00.008-04:00

Peru Tribune - Monday, June 28, 2010

Muriel Brindle, 85, Peru, passed away at 9:35 p.m. Saturday, June 26, 2010 at Miller's Merry Manor in Peru.

She was born June 1, 1925 in Vancouver, Wash. to Wayne A. and Grace (Whelchel) Safford. She married Richard L. "Dick" Brindle March 13, 1952 in Yuma, Ariz., and he preceded her in death Aug. 2, 2002.

Muriel was a homemaker and formely employed at Senger's in Peru. She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and an avid reader and gardener.

Survivors include three sons, Bruce Brindle and wife Regine, Brian Brindle and wife Leanne, and Barry Brindle and wife Anita, all of Peru; 10 grandchildren, Jill Sharp and husband Jim, Melanie Reynolds and husband Joe, Richard Brindle, Michael Brindle, Jeremy Brindle, Michelle Dunnagan and husband Shawn, James Brindle and wife Bethay, Jon Brindle, Wayne Brindle, and Brandon Brindle; two step-grandchildren, Aubrey Hittle and husband Tim, and Eric Mathias and wife Amanda; four great-grandchildren, Kianna and Kaylee Sharp, Gage Caudill and Brianne Reynolds; and four step great-grandchildren, Ella Ozwald, Aaliyah, Alivia and Logan Mathias.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and a brother, Stanley Safford.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Flowers-Leedy Funeral Home, 105 W. Third St., with Bishops Scott Haupert and Alan Hileman officiating. Burial will be in Mount Hope Cemetery, Peru. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.

Time to kill

2010-05-30T21:09:00.004-04:00

I had to go to a conference in Las Vegas the week of May 17th, so we decided to make the most out of it and head west as a family. We flew into Salt Lake on the 16th, I spent the night, and then left for Las Vegas the 17th while Joe and Bria spent the week there with family. There will be more posts to come of the adventures, but this was the easiest one to get up tonight.

I found the cutest pair of sunglasses while I was out and couldn't help myself. :) Brianne had a blast playing with them.

In the airport we had time to kill (a 3 hour layover on the way back). I thought it would be murder on Bria, but she did so well! We snacked on hot pretzels and taught her a new trick. Enjoy!

First steps . . . (real ones)

2010-05-30T21:04:00.002-04:00

On May 5th, Brianne entered the world of the walking. After getting back from a weeknight activity at church, Brianne let go of everything and walked to me. I was lucky to have my phone handy to capture the moment because the camera battery was dead!

As of now, she is a walking pro. Not only does she cross the house without any assistance, but she pulls herself into a standing position without any help and without holding onto a table while she does it. She chases after us as we walk around, giggling the whole time, and rarely crawls anymore.

She's getting so big . . .

Just some cute pictures

2010-04-18T19:22:00.003-04:00

Bum up

2010-04-18T19:08:00.001-04:00

I've been waiting to get a picture of Bria like this and she finally humored me on a Saturday morning. I went in to look at her and found her laying down on her tummy, propped up on her knees with her bum up in the air. It's just too adorable. :) Ever since we've had to fight to keep her out of the position - it just looks so uncomfortable and she has these huge red marks on her knees. This morning she was laying next to me on the bed and decided she wanted to nap some more so she sat up, leaned over, and laid her head on my knee and went to sleep. Too bad the camera battery was dead!

The Bare Necessities

2010-04-18T18:55:00.003-04:00

Brianne is definitely a musical person. Even before she was born she responded strongly whenever music was played, especially if it had a strong beat. We listened to a LOT of Queen and Green Day after she was born. . .

We bought a couple Disney movies they are getting ready to put into "the vault". What an ingenious marketing concept - buy the movies before they "disappear" or you have pretty much no shot at finding them without selling your arm. Anyway, Joe was looking for something to watch and decided on the Jungle Book. Brianne got so excited at the music that Joe picked her up and started to dance. I made them reenact the moment for the camera, so it's not as cute as it was the first time but it's definitely sweet.

Jump jump jump

2010-04-18T18:51:00.002-04:00

We just dropped Brianne's crib one level and she has had an absolutely blast. We should have dropped it sooner and given that she can stand up and hold on still, it could probably go down another level. But this was just too cute to pass up.

I'm sure we'll regret this, but for now it's just too cute. My little monkey . .

9 month update

2010-03-17T19:54:00.007-04:00

Three more months. Gone. Wow.

Joe took Brianne to her 9 month checkup last week so our pediatrician could oooh and aaah at the baby that really isn't a baby anymore. Checking in at 28" tall and 22lbs, she is off the growth chart. More importantly - she is proportionate. It's so funny to see her at church with the other little ones. There is about a 4 or 5 month gap between her and the youngest but she is just as big as they are and actually bigger than a couple of them. I think I need to put a brick on her head and make her slow down.

The hair is definitely an enigma - depending on the day and the angle, it can look brown, blond, or red. Her eyes are still blue too. I still think she looks more like Joe than me, but there are moments when I look at her and say "OK, now I see my resemblance." Usually, she's more of a personality mirror, which is SO SCARY! There are 8 teeth fully grown through the child's mouth and she is in the process of cutting 3 more. In some ways I'm grateful they're coming in all at once, but it makes for some really long nights. . .

If I can figure out how to get the video/pictures off my cell phone, I'll be able to post her adventures in eating. Bria's been eating regular food for a couple months now and we are experimenting with all kinds of foods. She absolutely loves rice cakes, broccoli & cheese soup, spaghetti, and any fruit. Strawberries took a bit of time to adjust to (that video is priceless!) and we're still not to sure about proteins. She gobbles down the jarred baby food vegetables and loves to gnaw on baby carrots and celery sticks, but we haven't really tried to get her to eat regular vegetables yet. Of course, she is her father's daughter and has quite a sweet tooth so anytime daddy is eating ice cream we howl for a taste. Our drinking cups are not sacred either. In fact, she will just help herself if she sees a cup or glass sitting close by, so if we're not watching carefully we can end up with a lap full of whatever.

Laughing gag

2010-03-17T19:46:00.003-04:00

I heard this really funny noise the other night and couldn't place it. Then I look over at Bria and she's making this gagging/choking noise. I panicked, wondering WHAT she could have put in her mouth. But then I realized that she didn't have a single thing in her mouth - it was just her experimenting with her voice and funny noises. I mimicked her gag, which only fed her behavior (imagine that) and helped me buy enough time to get the camera.

Walka, walka, walka

2010-03-17T19:32:00.005-04:00

Brianne has been very interested in trying to walk for almost two months now. Completely passed on the whole crawling thing. Sometimes we can get her to do an army crawl if she's really motivated to get from A to B, but for the most part her default is to stand and walk.

Over a 24 hour period about a month ago, she took huge developmental steps. One minute she's pulling herself up off the floor for the first time. Next thing we know she's cruising around the table like she's a seasoned pro. And then she's reaching down to pick up a toy while balancing herself against the table. Joe and I were both fortunate to see her do all this and it was so fun and amazing to watch her evolve just like that from a helpless little girl that had to be coached to do things to a wobbly-kneed toddler that did what she wanted - as long as she could keep her balance. :)

Bria has been trying SO hard to figure out how to stand on her own without any help. Usually, we find her like this just standing in the middle of the room like an elephant. After a few minutes she gets pretty mad at us for not helping her up and taking her hands . . .

She loves it when we stand her up and hold her hands - those legs just take off! I'm waiting for the day I walk in from work and she runs across the floor without any help.

Growing like a weed

2010-02-07T21:12:00.004-05:00

Brianne is 8 months old. I just can't believe it. 8 whole months of her life already gone. Not that we don't have so many incredibly wonderful memories, but I just can't believe it. I always knew it would go by fast but this is something else.

We've been so incredibly blessed to not have to put Brianne in daycare. Bev, a friend of ours from church, has been taking care of Brianne in our home Wed-Fri each week since January and Brianne is just flourishing. Bev and her husband Don have three children, two grown children and one that went home to Heavenly Father this past summer. Her daughter Amy was the one that took care of Brianne after I went back to work until the end of December when she left to go to school at BYU-Idaho (Ricks if you're speaking to Joe). Anyway, it's been such a relief for me not to have to worry about whether Brianne is getting any love and attention while Joe and I are at work. I've come home many afternoons to find Brianne snuggled against Bev's chest, finishing up a nap. She also took to Bev like nothing - no adjustment issues or anything. I figured the first few weeks would be hard. On the contrary - she didn't fuss at all! We are so grateful that Bev and her family are part of Brianne's life and ours.

I have a couple fun pictures for you, because it wouldn't be a massive blogging night for me if I didn't. Maybe it's just me, but the look on Brianne's face in this picture is classic Joe. And the hair - it's as unruly as her daddy's hair right before it gets cut! I can't quite place what her hair and eyes are going to do. Depending on the lighting, her hair looks brown one moment and red the next. Her eyes look like they've got some green developing around the pupils, but they still have a distinct blue/gray shade going on. I caught her chewing on my shoe right before taking this picture.

Triton is still Brianne's number one babysitter. If she cries, he's there. If she's sitting down playing with toys, he's there. If she's sitting in her chair eating, he's DEFINITELY there. I just loved this picture - sums up their relationship completely. Reminds me so much of the German Shepherds in my house growing up and how much I loved them. I can't believe people think they aren't good with children. I wouldn't trade Triton for anything! Except for when he gets underfoot with his nanny-like behavior and almost makes me trip, but then he looks at me with this expression of "Don't get mad - I just want to be with you" and I can't help but scratch his head, say his name in exasperation, and walk away. Of course, he follows. :)

Betty Crocker, eat your heart out

2010-02-07T21:03:00.002-05:00

Until Joe first got sick, my scratch cooking consisted of the baked goods kind - brownies, cookies, cupcakes, sweet breads. You know, the stuff little girls grow up making. After Joe first got sick and we had to start watching his diet very closely, I learned the art of cooking. Ever since, I have thoroughly enjoyed cooking. It's more been a matter of finding time. The last thing I want to do after a long day is come home, make a mess in the kitchen fixing dinner, then have to clean it up. Especially since Brianne came along - it's just not worth the hassle! Problem is, she's getting big enough now that in the next couple months she's going to be eating more and more "normal" food and I can't justify feeding her the junk we eat.

It's not like I didn't cook a nice Thanksgiving or Christmas meal and that I haven't cooked other times. Just not more than once a week. But for the last couple weeks I've made a concerted effort to cook dinner from scratch at least three times a week. My efforts have been greatly rewarding. I forgot how much better I feel when I don't eat all those processed foods and how much better food tastes when you've put some elbow grease behind the work.

Last week, I made gnocchi. I know - wild isn't it? It was a really simple recipe and we ate within 45 minutes of me starting dinner. I made a couple other really yummy things, but tonight was the icing on the cake. I made baked chicken cordon bleu and a low-fat (seriously, not joking) peanut butter/fudge cheesecake. I haven't seen Joe's eyes roll back in his head after a good meal in quite some time. The only thing I'd do different is use a little more cheese, but the recipes were so easy! It feels good to get back in the kitchen again and get some creative control over one thing in my life.

Miss Madelyn

2010-02-07T20:55:00.003-05:00

Joe's brother Tim and his wife Emily welcomed their third little one, Madelyn, into their family on January 8th. Of course, she's just as cute as her big brother Sam and big sister Molly. I pilfered the pictures from their blog. The first one is all three of the kids at the hospital. The second one is after two weeks. Congrats guys!

Debt-free and loving it!

2010-02-07T20:43:00.003-05:00

After years and years of student expenses, medications, and all sorts of other things, we can finally say that we have no more credit card debt! It's a really weird feeling, but at the same time, it feels really great. We've been working very hard for the last couple months to finish them off and finally had the "surge" in income with our HSA and tax refunds coming in this week. We were going to use that money to put up the fence and fix our deck, both of which we terribly need to get done so we can kick the dogs out and not have to be with them (not a luxury when it's single-digit weather outside!). When I asked Joe how much of a balance there was left and I realized we had more of a refund than we did a balance, I asked him why we didn't just use the money to pay off the cards. He stopped, did the mental math, and went straight to the computer to make the payments. The best part is that not only will we be saving the interest, but the money we would have put towards the payments over the next couple months between now and when we want to put the fence up will cover the cost of the fence as well. Isn't is great when all the numbers add up? :) Now all we have to do it get the car payments taken care of (one of which ends in September) and I'll be really happy. Could we really be lucky enough to have our debt consist of one car loan, student loans, and one mortgage? That would be the day!

The pitter patter of little feet

2010-02-07T20:31:00.002-05:00

No, there isn't a big announcement to make. On the contrary, life couldn't be less eventful at the moment. For now anyway. We're expecting things to get really interesting in the next couple weeks. Brianne is about to take off. It was a week ago at church when it all started. She grabbed on to my fingers and stood up. Next thing I know, she was taking little steps and crossing the hallway to Joe. We looked at each other and had the exact same thought - oh crap!

You see, our house is in no way prepared for a mobile child. Brianne has not been the least bit interested in crawling and we've been slacking on the childproofing because of it. Why worry until it was necessary? Well, now it's necessary and we are going to be childproofing like crazy in the next couple weeks.

On the upside, it is so adorable watching how excited Brianne gets as she's learning how to move her legs and feet to get to where she wants to go. The first time she did it she was much more brave than she has been the last couple times. She's take a couple bumps to the head recently, which I think it making her a little more gun-shy at the moment. We'll try and get a video of her trying to walk up soon. Need to recharge the battery. . .

Plastics

2010-02-07T20:07:00.003-05:00

I never thought the day would come that I'd be making plans to go to a plastic surgeon's office. I know they do much more than lift and tuck, but still - never thought I'd have to deal with one.

Joe took Brianne back to the doctor for a follow-up at the beginning of January regarding the cyst on her forehead. It had barely been a month, but she weighed in at 20lbs and was 27" long. She's growing up so fast! Anyway, the doctor said it's definitely a cyst and said we needed to see a pediatric plastic surgeon to see if it needed to be removed. Our appointment is this Wednesday at 7PM.

As she's grown over the last month, the cyst has become less noticeable. In fact, most days you have to feel for it or you don't know it's there. Once in a while it gets bluish gray and sticks out like a sore thumb, but it's not nearly as pronounced or as often as it was a few months ago. Who knows - maybe this will all be for nothing. But I'd rather find out now than in a few years when something comes up that could have been avoided by taking action now.

Zonk

2010-01-24T17:39:00.005-05:00

Brianne likes to run full speed all day long, not pausing long enough to nap or rest regularly. Then, all of a sudden, the head wobbles and she passes out. We'll go from being wide awake one minute to out like a light the next. According to my mother, I did the exact same thing growing up.

Joe had gotten home one night and Brianne was waiting for him. After he got changed into something more comfortable, I handed her over with the pillow she'd been playing with. I left the room for five minutes and came back to this adorable sight.

But mommy, I need my fingers

2010-01-24T17:37:00.004-05:00

Brianne finally cut through her skin while chomping on her fingers. Of course, it doesn't seem to hurt her, but she has a nice puncture wound on her finger. I couldn't figure out a way to get anything on it that would help it heal and she wouldn't try to pull it off until I spotted her gloves. Score!

If it fits, it's going in

2010-01-24T17:25:00.002-05:00

Brianne started cutting teeth at 4 months old, so needless to say she's got a lot of teeth in her mouth right now. It's been about two weeks since a new tooth actually cut through, bringing the tally up to 6 chompers. My goodness does she know how to use them! We have to be really careful with her at this point because if she buries her head anywhere, the chances of getting bit are incredibly high. After I got her ready for church today, she grabbed the brush and happily chomped on it while I finished getting ready. You can see her two bottom pearly whites in the second picture.

She's been a bit of a bum the last four days and we weren't sure exactly what was going on. Not sleeping well, grouchy, moody, fussy - all of it totally out of character. Joe decided to brave the jaws of death Friday night and stuck his finger back along her lower jaw. The next thing I hear is "She's got a molar coming in. No wonder . .OUCH!" :)

She's a little girl!

2010-01-24T17:18:00.002-05:00

Yes, I realize how funny that title sounds, but that is exactly what ran through my mind last Sunday after I got Brianne dressed for church. See, we had to pack away the 6-9 month clothes and break out the 9-12 month clothes. We only got a few gifts in this size, but boy were they gorgeous clothes! This is one of the most adorable dresses I've ever seen. And after I got her all dressed up I was brushing her hair and thought "I wonder if it's long enough for a bow" and sure enough, it was. Once I was all finished and I looked at her, it hit me like a ton of bricks. She's not a baby anymore. Well, she is, but you know what I mean. :)

Bath time!

2010-01-24T17:02:00.003-05:00

With the exception of her first bath (which I think just startled her more than anything else), Brianne absolutely loves being in the water. Since she first started to sit up on her own, she's been enjoying them so much more because now she can get to all her toys. Whenever she hears a faucet turn on, her legs start to kick back and forth and you can just feel the excitement build in her body.

She loves her books

2009-12-25T21:52:00.002-05:00

Ever since she began to focus on objects, we've let her look at books. Just like her mommy, she loves them. And it doesn't matter what book. Joe has spent hours reading Harry Potter to her; sometimes I give her a Time magazine that she goes to town on (meaning she tears it up after she looks at the page for a few seconds). But this book she really enjoys. It's a great big picture book with lots of bright colors and fun things to look at.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T20:47:00.007-05:00