For our date night this past week, Eric took me to the bathroom with promises of a hand and foot massage. It didn't take much for me to make a beeline for it, especially since my feet have been killing me lately (I think my Jazzercise sneakers may be wearing thin). Anyhow, we lit the candles and busted out my favorite Mary Kay item ever, Satin Hands Pampering Kit. For those of you with a friend or family member who's a rep, get you some now. It consists of four really easy steps, including a rich emollient cream, a rough scrub, a cleanser and a thick lotion. Eric massaged my feet and I exfoliated his hands. We have done Satin Hands for years in this house; it's a favorite Saturday night ritual of mine, one I've recently introduced Lucy to. However, it's been done less and less over the past six years since the girls were born. It was so lovely to have a few quiet moments together in the bathroom (which has also become almost nonexistent since the girls were born) and just talk and enjoy each other's touch. He really did a great job with this date. (p.s. I would've had photos but I just deleted them all from the camera on accident. Major fail. Sorry.)
KIDDOS: Making Pine Cone Feeders
There have been several days this spring when we've all been laid up sick. One of those days not long ago we never got out of our pajamas and spent the day lounging around, but after too many reruns of Maya & Miguel and Dinosaur Train we were all about to go crazy. So I decided to teach the girls how to make pine cone bird feeders for our backyard. This little nature craft is simple and most everyone will have all necessary tools on hand. First, I sent the girls to the backyard to find some pine cones. Next, we tied a long piece of string around the middle of each one.
We then scavenged our kitchen and shed for items the birds would like to eat: birdseed, nuts and Cheerios. After smearing the cones with peanut butter, the girls rolled them in the concoction.
We made a couple of them and took them out to the backyard. I tied them up in the trees while the girls directed me to the 'correct' branches.
Afterwards, we got out the binoculars and watched from the warmth of our family room through the sliding glass doors. While we were hoping for lovely little birdies, we got the aggressive urban squirrels instead, who ate the whole thing in no time. They even ripped the pine cone from the string and took that with them. Still, it was a fun way to kill an hour when you're stuck in the house and get a little nature time in. We'll have to make some more this summer when the urban wildlife is out in full force and we can just sit under the tree drinking lemonade to keep watch.FOODIE: Mozzarella-Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf
A few years ago my friend Betsy sent me this fantastic, healthy version of meatloaf she had just made for her family from a recipe she found in Shape magazine. I love ground turkey and the idea of getting more spinach into my family's diet so I gave it a shot. Plus, um, CHEESE?! It is so delicious and easy that it quickly became one of our favorite recipes.
Basically, you buy ground turkey, mix it with a box of defrosted frozen spinach and a few other essential ingredients, like onions. You mash half of it into a bread pan, top with shredded mozzarella cheese (again, YUM), and then press in the other half of the meat mixture. The recipe calls for a sauce spread over the top of it all; a combination of a mustard and some ketchup. We always eliminate that part because I don't like it.
It takes an hour to bake, though, so you have to prepare for that idea early. Also, I've made this ahead of time and frozen it with great results. (On a side note, it also makes a nice meal to give a new mother or other friends in need - the meatloaf, bagged salad and a bag of dried mashed potatoes.) We ALL love it here at the Pence-Brown house, and that's saying a lot. Slicing it cold for sandwiches with Dijon mustard the next day is wonderful. I highly recommend this healthier version of the old standard. Let's bring back the meatloaf!
Basically, you buy ground turkey, mix it with a box of defrosted frozen spinach and a few other essential ingredients, like onions. You mash half of it into a bread pan, top with shredded mozzarella cheese (again, YUM), and then press in the other half of the meat mixture. The recipe calls for a sauce spread over the top of it all; a combination of a mustard and some ketchup. We always eliminate that part because I don't like it.
It takes an hour to bake, though, so you have to prepare for that idea early. Also, I've made this ahead of time and frozen it with great results. (On a side note, it also makes a nice meal to give a new mother or other friends in need - the meatloaf, bagged salad and a bag of dried mashed potatoes.) We ALL love it here at the Pence-Brown house, and that's saying a lot. Slicing it cold for sandwiches with Dijon mustard the next day is wonderful. I highly recommend this healthier version of the old standard. Let's bring back the meatloaf!
PROJECT 52 DATE NIGHTS: W.
So, this past week was the first week of May and therefore Eric's turn to plan the date nights for a month. The poor guy got a really busy and tiring first weekend to try for, so we ended up taking the easy way out late on a Sunday night and watching a movie with popcorn on the couch in our PJs. He picked W., the Oliver Stone film on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. We are both fans of Stone's films, and I was expecting a more controversial tone than what was delivered. We both thought, however, Josh Brolin was BRILLIANT as W. I would have never guessed it, but the acting was fantastic. The story, well, unfortunately we all know it too well. We're living it.
AMY & REE: Angel Sugar Cookies
I know, I know. It's been WEEKS since I've posted the latest Pioneer Woman recipe from my challenge to make everything from her new cookbook in one year. Of course I started with lofty ideals, making one recipe a week. That didn't last long, did it? Partly because I also started this project of dating my husband one night a week and also this other eight week challenge to a healthier you with my friends. Mostly because, however, I'm just not that organized. Also, as the weather is finally warming up, I find myself wanting to be in the kitchen less and in the yard more. But, don't fear, I'm not abandoning the challenge, just changing up my own s a little. I'm no longer promising to post a recipe a week or even hold myself to making a recipe a week. Instead, I'm going to try to regularly make something from the book and will keep posting about it here. It may end up that I am cooking and baking up a storm come fall and into Christmastime just to complete the challenge, but I embrace my procrastination now. It seems to be better than fighting it.
Last week for Mother's Day we decided to try out PW's Angel Sugar Cookies to give as gifts and, well, as a gift to myself (let's be honest). I enlisted Lucy in the kitchen to help, and she is really getting great at measuring and pouring ingredients. This cookie recipe was so easy, as you scoop the dough, plop it on the cookie sheet, and flatten it out with the bottom of a glass. No rolling or cookie cutters needed, which, I'll admit, is my least favorite part of making sugar cookies. So this was right up our alley.
They are super light and crumbly and delicious. Ours grew in the oven to be huge, as you can see here, so next time I think I'll make the scoops a bit smaller. Even so, the recipe made way more cookies than PW said they would.
We all loved them. They are buttery and wonderful as they are, but many others who've made htis recipe seem to love them with frosting (also: my husband). If you're looking for a yummy, flaky sugar cookie that is so easy, this is for you.
Last week for Mother's Day we decided to try out PW's Angel Sugar Cookies to give as gifts and, well, as a gift to myself (let's be honest). I enlisted Lucy in the kitchen to help, and she is really getting great at measuring and pouring ingredients. This cookie recipe was so easy, as you scoop the dough, plop it on the cookie sheet, and flatten it out with the bottom of a glass. No rolling or cookie cutters needed, which, I'll admit, is my least favorite part of making sugar cookies. So this was right up our alley.
They are super light and crumbly and delicious. Ours grew in the oven to be huge, as you can see here, so next time I think I'll make the scoops a bit smaller. Even so, the recipe made way more cookies than PW said they would.We all loved them. They are buttery and wonderful as they are, but many others who've made htis recipe seem to love them with frosting (also: my husband). If you're looking for a yummy, flaky sugar cookie that is so easy, this is for you.PROJECT 52 DATE NIGHTS: Foreign Food & Film
I know this may be cheating a little, as we already did a movie and dinner night out for our very first Project 52 date. But when the opportunity comes up that you have a babysitter and a whole night to yourselves, YOU DON'T HESITATE. I've been missing The Flicks, Boise's local indie movie theater, like crazy, so I did a little research and came up with a unique twist on the standard date we had already attempted about five weeks ago. But this time it came out much better.
Last Friday my mom took the girls for the night, and I surprised Eric with dinner at Boise's newest sushi restaurant, Yoi Tomo. We both had bento boxes and split a spicy crab roll and it was all fresh and delicious. (I'd completely recommend the place to the locals, except the service was terrible.) We took a leisurely twilight walk from there to The Flicks a few blocks away. We were about an hour early, but ordered some glasses of wine and tried out their popcorn sprinkled with brewers yeast and tamari (interesting, but not something I'd order again). It was so decadent, reading the local paper, sipping our wine by candlelight, and chatting about life. We watched The Eclipse (no, not that Twilight thing by the same title coming out soon), a sweet little Irish film about ghosts and love. It was such an adult night - the kind of dates we used to have more often than not in our 20s pre-kids. And being surrounded by other adult couples at the 9pm showing, sipping their wine and beer, I remembered how much I've missed it.
Image courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
Last Friday my mom took the girls for the night, and I surprised Eric with dinner at Boise's newest sushi restaurant, Yoi Tomo. We both had bento boxes and split a spicy crab roll and it was all fresh and delicious. (I'd completely recommend the place to the locals, except the service was terrible.) We took a leisurely twilight walk from there to The Flicks a few blocks away. We were about an hour early, but ordered some glasses of wine and tried out their popcorn sprinkled with brewers yeast and tamari (interesting, but not something I'd order again). It was so decadent, reading the local paper, sipping our wine by candlelight, and chatting about life. We watched The Eclipse (no, not that Twilight thing by the same title coming out soon), a sweet little Irish film about ghosts and love. It was such an adult night - the kind of dates we used to have more often than not in our 20s pre-kids. And being surrounded by other adult couples at the 9pm showing, sipping their wine and beer, I remembered how much I've missed it.
Happy Birthday to The Pill!
Image courtesy of http://www.birthcontrolbuzz.com/
The Pill turns 50 this week, appropriately on Mother's Day, Sunday May 9th. I've spent this morning reading the numerous media tributes to this medical phenomenon that changed the way we procreate (or better yet, DON'T) and the way we, as women, take control of our bodies, our sexuality, and our selves. Some of the articles focus some on the problems the pill has caused us, like it's negative physical side-effects and the fact that we have turned to an easy medication as a substitute for really getting to know and interact with our bodies in a more natural way. Several of the pieces are focused, of course, on a more religious perspective on birth control in general. Most of the written work on The Pill, however, provides a great social and medical history lesson, combining all of the above and often touting it's benefits for all of us.
My mom put me on the birth control pill when I turned 18-years-old, which also marked my first gynecological visit. I had a serious boyfriend at the time and it was a good thing she did. I was just starting college and the last thing I needed was a baby, as I was still a bit of one myself. Learning how to pay my apartment bills, manage a work and class schedule, and shop and cook my own food for the first time, I already had enough on my plate. Putting the seriousness of a possible unwanted pregnancy in my hands at that time would have been irresponsible and my mother knew it. I've been on the pill ever since, going on 17 years now. Lucky for me, I've never had some of the more negative side effects some of my friends have. It may contribute a tiny bit to some of my weight gain and a decreased libido, although I attribute the majority of that problem to my anxiety medication. I took the pill religiously until we decided to try to get pregnant in the summer of 2003 with Lucy. Both Eric and I had read all the research on conceiving a baby, and just KNEW it would take a few months for the pill's effects to leave my body, but were we ever wrong. Less than two weeks later, during my ovulation week, we made a baby. We were both shocked at how fast and fertile I was. During the four years between my two pregnancies I took the pill again, albeit a different brand my doctor wanted me to try out. The exact same thing happened with Alice's conception - I stopped taking the pill and two weeks later bam! Baby!
I know that we all have different conception stories and complications and that there are certainly other factors in the abilities of Eric and I to conceive these two little girls so quickly and without concern, but we were shocked at how quickly the pill stopped working for us. Pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood has really opened my eyes to the abilities of my body and its tenuous and severe connection to the earth and its living creatures. It's too bad that this didn't happen earlier in my life, however, like when I started menstruating at the age of eleven. I attribute this, however, to our culture's lack of celebrating, or at least educating, girls about their bodies and the wonders of being women. And I have to agree that the pill may have a bit to do with that, in both positive and negative ways. It makes me a bit sad, actually, now that I'm a bit older and wiser, on how little we are taught, or even TALK, about womanly things in this culture with other women until we've already gone through them. And while this is certainly no fault of the pill, it is both a physical and medical manifestation of our changing culture. In some ways the pill inspired a strong feminist movement and made possible a sexual revolution. The pill, too, can be seen as part of a movement AWAY from ourselves, our bodies, and our choices. I spent most of my early teen years embarrassed about menstruating and my later teens and twenties taking all the responsibility for not getting pregnant (not to mention the concern with STDs). And when I decided to get pregnant, it was books and the internet that were my advisers and confidants on those decisions, like my choice to use a midwife for my pregnancy and birth with Lucy.Motherhood continues to be the most difficult and lonely thing I've ever done. Don't get me wrong, I have an amazing group of supportive women in my world, both the real one and the virtual one, that have provided me with more than they know. I just lament our lack of celebration and support of each other as women from a very young age and want to do it differently with and for my girls. I have notions of continuing a loving, open home with continuing conversations about girlhood and womanhood with my girls. I'd like to surround them with other women and girls who feel the same and will expand their support network. I'm already starting to plan a sort of special girls getaway, signifying the beginning of their menstrual cycles. What are your thoughts on this? Advice or suggestions? And, mothers of boys, what are your concerns or challenges regarding boyhood and manhood?
PROJECT 52 DATE NIGHTS: Chocolate Tasting
Again this week we put off our date night until Monday, as we were busy having fun with our friend Michele who was in town from Oregon. I also spent much of the weekend judging the hip annual event, The Chair Affair, hosted by the Interior Designers of Idaho. It was a lot of fun, and they gave me a really fabulous bag full of local goodies as a thank you. It included a half-pound box of handmade chocolates from a downtown candy shoppe, The Chocolat Bar. Now I know our date last week consisted of sweets and I mentioned that we were starting an 8-week challenge that included no sweets. Well, we (read: I) fell off the wagon in this catagory this past week. HARD. So, what the hell. Might as well go down with the best tasting delicacies of the local chocolatier in our mouths, right?
I set up a plate with the chocolates on us and hid the labeling sheet that came in the box. We had to try to guess what the secret ingredients in each were. Eric couldn't quite figure out what herb was in the Lavender Lemon White Chocolate Bark with Almonds, but I knew immediately. We both had trouble figuring out the special spice in the Dark Chocolate Nutmeg Drop. Pairing the chocolate with a nice red wine was perfect. All the goodness transported our mindset to a more leisurely place, and we ended the date making a few more summer trip plans. It was so nice.
KIDDOS: A Ratatouille Birthday Fete
Both Lucy and Alice were born in April, not by choice, but simply based on the fact that I must be extra fertile in July. Since their birthdays are just two weeks apart, they will be forced to have a joint birthday party as long as they let me. This year we decided on a Ratatouille birthday party theme, based on the darling animated kids film of the same name. We own the movie and it quickly became one of our favorites; as a foodie and someone who longs to visit Paris one day, I am especially fond of this cute film. So, I started browsing the Internet for party ideas, certain that other parents had had the same idea, but was surprised to find little inspiration there. I did find some fun suggestions from other parents who had designed cooking themed parties, though. Mostly, I ran with the idea and used my own creative means to come up with what turned out to be a super cute French bistro party.
My sweet inlaws decided to get a few spring pots of flowers planted for my porch and I made the cute recycled plastic flower wreath for our front door (it's a little hard to see from this photo, but I'm planning another post on this soon). I cut the Bonjour letters freehand from glittery printer paper I had around the house and strung them on ribbon as a little French greeting for our guests.
The food and drinks were set up in the kitchen, and I already own a couple of red and white checked table cloths that seems appropriate for a French bistro. I used an old chalkboard to write le menu on, which included things like fromage, limonade, biere, and baguettes. I knew I kept my old English/French dictionary from high school for something! We already have a stash of white paper plates, napkins and silverware, so I didn't have to purchase those either. It was fun to pull out all our fancy crystal and white party dishes to use for the food, including a great crystal punchbowl that we recently scored for free.
I served fresh fruit, veggies, several types of cheeses, breads, crackers, beer, wine, and lemonade. It was an afternoon party, so light snacks were fine, as most people had already eaten lunch. The special treat, though, was the homemade ratatouille that Eric whipped up for the party. He used this recipe from The Joy of Cooking, and for those of you who haven't had it, it is basically a fresh vegetable stew that is too die for. I purchased the 3-D Eiffel Tower puzzle you can see in the background as a table topper at Pier 1, and it was fun for us to put together with Lucy the week before the party. Also in the background you can see some black rat silhouettes on the walls. They are something we already owned - Halloween decorations by Martha Stewart Crafts - but fit perfectly with this party theme!
I made the cake to look like a slice of Swiss cheese and found some plastic rats at our local party supply store, Zurchers, to place on top. I always try to make the cake myself (it's way cheaper and more fun) and almost always use boxed mixes for it, as they are easy, moist and yummy. I made the frosting myself with a super easy recipe from my new go-to cookbook, The Joy of Cooking.
We were lucky enough to have a sunny 70 degree day, so had the party festivities in the backyard. Once all the girls arrived, they decorated pink and blue aprons with Sharpie markers, stamps and stencils. We found these cute kids fabric aprons at Joanns Fabric for $1 a piece. I made these darling chef hats from this tutorial from Family Fun magazine out of white tissue paper and posterboard. They were super easy and fun and cost only about 60 cents total for the 2 sheets of posterboard, as I already had tons of white tissue paper. I used black eyeliner to draw whiskers and rat noses on all the girls, too, which completed their party ensemble.
I made a 'Pin le Tail on le Rat' game out of an old piece of cardboard and paint and Eric nailed it to the fence. We blindfolded the older girls but let the babies stick their tails on without.
Between games the girls played in our sandbox and with our various backyard toys. Next up was the pinata, which you can see hanging from our basketball hoop. This was my first attempt at making a pinata, and let me tell you, I fought with that paper mache like mad. It only cost my 50cents to make, and that was for the balloon I bought from the dollar store to use as my form. I hung it from my patio and used the traditional method of mixing flour and water and dipping torn pages from an old phone book to create each layer. On an especially warm day, my balloon expanded, causing my pinata to bust in half and later the whole bottom sunk in (AAHH!), but I managed to salvage it. The final layer of paper mache was pink tissue paper and Lucy decided it looked like a strawberry. It helped once I painted on the black 'seeds' and stuffed green tissue paper in the top as a stem. It did turn out cute and was pretty easy, once I learned a few tricks. I highly recommend giving it a try, and there are numerous how-to sites on the Web to help you out. It's WAY cheaper than purchasing one of those pre-made pinatas and a lot more personal. We filled ours with all sorts of dollar store goodies, including candy, bubbles, jewelry, whistles, and plastic coins. These treats, along with the aprons and chef hats, acted as the party favors.
Here are the girls getting ready for a relay game where I filled one large mixing bowl/pot with water and set an empty one some distance away. I divided the girls into two teams and gave them each a ladle or measuring cup. They had to take turns taking water from the bowl and filling up the other, and the first team to empty the bowl won. The babies kind of caused mass chaos, as they, too, wanted to play, dump water on the ground, and run between teams. This, luckily, caused hilarity and the big girls didn't seem to mind the lapse in order.
I set up our patio to resemble a little French bistro for the girls. I covered our kids' tables with white 'linen' tablecloths that I made from cutting up a white bedsheet I got at a garage sale. I placed our numerous crystal candleholders and vases of roses around and put up a lovely poster of the Eiffel Tower. You can't really see them in this photo, but I spray painted an old sign (now announcing Le Ratatouille bistro) and an old chandelier gold and hung them as well. My mom bought the girls the Ratatouille movie soundtrack and we played this outdoors, adding to the French bistro air. The kids sat out here to eat their snacks, cake and ice cream.
My sweet inlaws decided to get a few spring pots of flowers planted for my porch and I made the cute recycled plastic flower wreath for our front door (it's a little hard to see from this photo, but I'm planning another post on this soon). I cut the Bonjour letters freehand from glittery printer paper I had around the house and strung them on ribbon as a little French greeting for our guests.
The food and drinks were set up in the kitchen, and I already own a couple of red and white checked table cloths that seems appropriate for a French bistro. I used an old chalkboard to write le menu on, which included things like fromage, limonade, biere, and baguettes. I knew I kept my old English/French dictionary from high school for something! We already have a stash of white paper plates, napkins and silverware, so I didn't have to purchase those either. It was fun to pull out all our fancy crystal and white party dishes to use for the food, including a great crystal punchbowl that we recently scored for free.I served fresh fruit, veggies, several types of cheeses, breads, crackers, beer, wine, and lemonade. It was an afternoon party, so light snacks were fine, as most people had already eaten lunch. The special treat, though, was the homemade ratatouille that Eric whipped up for the party. He used this recipe from The Joy of Cooking, and for those of you who haven't had it, it is basically a fresh vegetable stew that is too die for. I purchased the 3-D Eiffel Tower puzzle you can see in the background as a table topper at Pier 1, and it was fun for us to put together with Lucy the week before the party. Also in the background you can see some black rat silhouettes on the walls. They are something we already owned - Halloween decorations by Martha Stewart Crafts - but fit perfectly with this party theme!I made the cake to look like a slice of Swiss cheese and found some plastic rats at our local party supply store, Zurchers, to place on top. I always try to make the cake myself (it's way cheaper and more fun) and almost always use boxed mixes for it, as they are easy, moist and yummy. I made the frosting myself with a super easy recipe from my new go-to cookbook, The Joy of Cooking.We were lucky enough to have a sunny 70 degree day, so had the party festivities in the backyard. Once all the girls arrived, they decorated pink and blue aprons with Sharpie markers, stamps and stencils. We found these cute kids fabric aprons at Joanns Fabric for $1 a piece. I made these darling chef hats from this tutorial from Family Fun magazine out of white tissue paper and posterboard. They were super easy and fun and cost only about 60 cents total for the 2 sheets of posterboard, as I already had tons of white tissue paper. I used black eyeliner to draw whiskers and rat noses on all the girls, too, which completed their party ensemble.
I made a 'Pin le Tail on le Rat' game out of an old piece of cardboard and paint and Eric nailed it to the fence. We blindfolded the older girls but let the babies stick their tails on without. Between games the girls played in our sandbox and with our various backyard toys. Next up was the pinata, which you can see hanging from our basketball hoop. This was my first attempt at making a pinata, and let me tell you, I fought with that paper mache like mad. It only cost my 50cents to make, and that was for the balloon I bought from the dollar store to use as my form. I hung it from my patio and used the traditional method of mixing flour and water and dipping torn pages from an old phone book to create each layer. On an especially warm day, my balloon expanded, causing my pinata to bust in half and later the whole bottom sunk in (AAHH!), but I managed to salvage it. The final layer of paper mache was pink tissue paper and Lucy decided it looked like a strawberry. It helped once I painted on the black 'seeds' and stuffed green tissue paper in the top as a stem. It did turn out cute and was pretty easy, once I learned a few tricks. I highly recommend giving it a try, and there are numerous how-to sites on the Web to help you out. It's WAY cheaper than purchasing one of those pre-made pinatas and a lot more personal. We filled ours with all sorts of dollar store goodies, including candy, bubbles, jewelry, whistles, and plastic coins. These treats, along with the aprons and chef hats, acted as the party favors. Here are the girls getting ready for a relay game where I filled one large mixing bowl/pot with water and set an empty one some distance away. I divided the girls into two teams and gave them each a ladle or measuring cup. They had to take turns taking water from the bowl and filling up the other, and the first team to empty the bowl won. The babies kind of caused mass chaos, as they, too, wanted to play, dump water on the ground, and run between teams. This, luckily, caused hilarity and the big girls didn't seem to mind the lapse in order.I set up our patio to resemble a little French bistro for the girls. I covered our kids' tables with white 'linen' tablecloths that I made from cutting up a white bedsheet I got at a garage sale. I placed our numerous crystal candleholders and vases of roses around and put up a lovely poster of the Eiffel Tower. You can't really see them in this photo, but I spray painted an old sign (now announcing Le Ratatouille bistro) and an old chandelier gold and hung them as well. My mom bought the girls the Ratatouille movie soundtrack and we played this outdoors, adding to the French bistro air. The kids sat out here to eat their snacks, cake and ice cream.
It was a cute, easy party to put together and only cost me around $100, which was spent on food (which we got at Winco the morning of) and drinks (which also came from Winco, with the exception of the growlers of beer from our local brewery, Tablerock), and is a great deal for a party for 25-30 people. I made most of the decorations myself from things I already had around the house or picked them up super cheap at thrift stores. It was really fun being creative with what we already had and it turned out to be a lovely, low-key party perfect for ma petite chouchou.
PROJECT 52 DATE NIGHTS: Sweets & Scrabble
Our date night this week had to be postponed until Sunday evening, as the girls' big birthday bash took all weekend to prepare, host, and recover from. By Sunday night, Eric and I were exhausted and I wanted to plan something mellow and easy and take advantage of the warm spring night. I lit some candles on the patio and pulled out two vintage games I picked up about a year ago at a thrift store but we had yet to open. One was a 1968 Scrabble Crosswords Cubes game and the other a 1966 Parker Bros. game called Spill and Spell. It turned out the two are almost identical games - each person takes a turn spilling the letter cubes and gets a minute to put together as many words as possible.
I busted out all the sweets we had in the house, which included some Girl Scout cookies, jellybeans and M&Ms. We gorged a little, as on Monday we started an "8 Weeks to a Healthier You" type competition with some friends, and one gawd awful rule is NO SWEETS. It was a fun, low-key night and we even had to bust out our 1977 Merriam Webster to assist with judging on the game. It turns out Eric had never played Scrabble before that night, something I never knew about him. He was a little nervous, as I was a spelling bee champ in the 3rd grade and currently hold the self-appointed queen bee title in our family, but he held his own quite well, I'd say.
PROJECT 52 DATE NIGHTS: Would You Rather...
This was our second week participating in Simply Modern Mom's Project 52 and I have to say that this night was so much easier, cheaper and more successful than our first one. Taking an idea from Tiffany's list of 16 suggestions to get you started, I set up a game of "Would You Rather." Basically, you write down a bunch of different phrases on slips of paper (Tiffany gets you started with a great printable sheet) and put them in a bowl. (You could also print them instead of write them out longhand if you were more technologically hip than we are and actually have a printer that works.) Each of you takes turns picking out two and asking the other, for example, "Would you rather live with snakes or eat the same meal for the next 10 years?" The concept is simple and the answers always spark a little interesting conversation. It was fun to find out that we answered much the same on them.
I dimmed the lights and lit some candles. I poured each of us a frosty mug of beer (obviously I've never been a waitress, as my beer pouring skills have much to be desired) and popped some popcorn. Our poor 1960s transistor radio in the kitchen is on the fritz, so the only station I could get was some some light rock/Muzack type sounds. It felt a little like we were sitting alone in a really bad hotel bar, having a drink. Which, actually, suits us perfectly.
AMY & REE: Penne a la Betsy (week 14)
So, yet again, I've missed week 13. I don't know what happens, as I plan ahead and have all the ingredients on hand, it's just that now that I'm a SAHM, I don't really keep track of what day of the week it is that well, so the days all meld together before I know it. I know that doesn't make much sense, but I also don't really know when I've showered last, so bear with me. I'm trying.Anyhow, this week was PW's Penne a la Betsy, a speciality of her little sister, Betsy. I didn't have penne on hand and used a different tube shaped pasta, which worked fine. I have to say that neither Eric nor I loved this dish; he probably liked it better than I did. It was just, well,...meh.
PROJECT 52 DATE NIGHTS: Dating My Husband, One Week At A Time (week 1)
Two weeks ago I stumbled across the incredible mommyblog by Tiffany Bird at Simply Modern Mom. Like me and my AMY & REE project for 2010, where I make a new recipe from The Pioneer Woman's cookbook each week inspired by the movie and blog Julie & Julia, Tiffany wanted to do something unique and commit to a project for the new year. She came up with this really creative idea called Project 52, dating her husband one week at a time for an entire year. As parents of two tiny girls, just like me, Tiffany and her husband, Nathan, suffer from very little time alone, very few babysitters, and a very minuscule budget. Her brilliant idea was simple and included a few "rules" and she and Nathan even signed a "contract" to keep themselves in check.
I talked to Eric about joining in the project three months late, and he was as enthusiastic as I am to jump on board. I have been lamenting about us not taking enough time to nurture our relationship - to remember how we used to enjoy each other's company before there were bouts of pink eye, mountains of laundry, swimming lessons, and bathtimes. We really miss each other. This seems like the perfect way to fit it all in, especially with Tiffany's guidelines, adapted a little to fit our needs:
I talked to Eric about joining in the project three months late, and he was as enthusiastic as I am to jump on board. I have been lamenting about us not taking enough time to nurture our relationship - to remember how we used to enjoy each other's company before there were bouts of pink eye, mountains of laundry, swimming lessons, and bathtimes. We really miss each other. This seems like the perfect way to fit it all in, especially with Tiffany's guidelines, adapted a little to fit our needs:1) Every Friday night from 9-10pm is our date night. We usually have both girls in bed by 8:30pm. One hour is easy to commit to.
2) The majority of the time the dates will be at home so we don't need a babysitter.
3) We rotate being in charge of date nights on a monthly basis.
4) We can't do the same thing twice in one month.
5) Dates need to be free most of the time. If not free, then a budget of $20 or less. Cheaper than if we went out.
6) Need to create a date-like atmosphere. No pajamas. Mind the details and create a special event. But keep it simple.
Like all rules, a few will always be broken, adapted, etc. but we are going to try our best to stick to them. Tiffany blogs about her dates each week, and I plan to do the same. Since April was just beginning, we started our Project 52 this past week. I decided to take the month of April as mine to plan, and the first date was to be extraordinary and easy. We already had a weekend away together scheduled. Months ago I was lamenting our lack of time together alone, and how we had only gone for one night without our kids twice in the past six years. SIX LONG YEARS. So, over Eric's spring break from BSU, we planned a really cheap getaway to Baker City, Oregon. Not the most exciting of places, but neither of us have ever been there, we wanted to stay in this cool newly remodeled historic (and haunted) hotel, and, honestly, we didn't really care if we just ordered room service and never left the room.
The plan was to take the girls to my dad's place in Ontario, Oregon, on Friday night and leave them there for our Saturday night of freedom. Friday also happened to be Alice's second birthday, in which she proceeded to get crabbier and crabbier as the day progressed and ended out her special day by projectile vomiting not once, but twice. And then developed a really high fever. Disappointed, I called the Geiser Grand and explained that I was going to have to cancel our trip and reservations. The receptionist could read the sadness and desperation in my voice and let me reschedule our room at a later date for no charge. It'll now be June before I get a night away with my hubby, but sometimes life and motherhood take precedence.
So we ended up tending to a really sick baby at my dad's place all weekend, but had a great time watching movies, playing Wii, hiding Easter eggs, and taking long naps. Eric and I did manage to get away for a few hours on a date on Saturday - we spent an hour or two browsing thrift shops and a flea market in Ontario. Later that night we spent more than $20, which totally contradicts the idea of Project 52, going to the movie theater to see Hot Tub Time Machine. The movie was horrible, but come on, our other options were Clash of the Titans, The Bounty Hunter, and that new Miley Cyrus thing. The date redeemed itself with a delicious Mexican dinner at Tacos el Zarape, a little gem of a place hidden behind the Pilot gas station near the freeway. While this was totally not within the guidelines of Project 52 or our normal nights, it is always fun, every once in a while, to have an old school, traditional date. It kind of felt like we were in high school again, holding hands during a really bad 80s movie. And we actually had time during our meal to enjoy it leisurely, order a beer, and have a conversation. And we sat IN THE BAR.
I'm really excited to post about our dates each week, and hope you'll follow along, as we have some fun ideas planned. Actually, YOU should think about joining in, too, with your significant other. It is a realistic project with a focus on nurturing our most personal relationships, so what could be bad about that? And we're bound to have a good time and learn a few new things about each other along the way.
Visible M(others): The Blog as Digital Family Scrapbook
I've been selected to participate in a gallery exhibition over the course of the next six weeks titled "Visible M(others): Images of Parenting in Visual Culture." The show runs March 4 - April 11, 2010 at the Boise State University Student Union Gallery and is free to the public (go see it!). I'm collaborating with Shannon Paterson over at Anchormommy.com. We'll both be writing new posts on Thursdays of each week for the six weeks of the exhibition, exploring ideas of how our "mommyblogs" act as a sort of "digital front porch swing," a place to share information and be heard, a forum for asking questions, showing off our kids and our skills. Mommyblogs act not only as an informational outlet, but a creative force in our contemporary maternal culture, as the blogs are not only loaded with verbal creativity, but photography, crafts, and other digital imagery, documenting our lives as mothers. Provoking complex questions, the exhibition presents new perspectives on traditional, contemporary, alternative or imagined parenting and how they operate in a visible/invisible landscape of maternal visual culture.
My mom has been an avid scrapbooker for as long as I can remember. As the oldest child in my family, of course, I have the most pictures, many pasted and carefully captioned in a number of scrapbooks, from one lovingly hand-quilted and cross-stitched by my mom to a puffy painted one in my high school colors just for the hundreds of cheerleading pictures I have. Both my parents are really into family history and documentation, and I certainly gained that interest from them. As my adult life gets busier and busier, I still have the good intentions of scrapbooking but never seem to get around to it. I have boxes and folders full of old love letters from my husband, concert ticket stubs, restaurant menus, city maps, positive pregnancy tests, first haircut snippets, and, of course, photos galore. Like all first time moms, my documentation of my pregnancy with Lucy and her first year or two of life is great. But, poor Alice, got the shit end of the deal, as my second baby. I still have good intentions, mind you. My mother-in-law is a rep for Stampin' Up, so I've got gorgeous scrapbooking supplies coming out of may ass. I just don't really have the time. Nor do I have the inclination to print the hundreds of digital prints that are collecting on my laptop; there lies the unfortunate dilemma of film photography vs. digital. Thankfully, great sites like Shutterfly will do most of the work for you. I just did Alice's first year baby book on Shutterfly for about $25 and 3 hours of time. I do think, though, for that amount of time, I could've done it myself for free (sigh).
What I love about this blog, however, is that it acts in much the same way as a scrapbook does because it includes photos. To me, though, it's more like a journal. I don't usually cuss in my scrapbooking - "Happy Motherfuckin' Birthday, Baby Girl!" just doesn't seem appropriate. It is, however, a more accurate portrayal of my everyday life and is more real. Which is what I love about this online journaling. I get to document some unique, silly parts and activities of our everyday lives, like this:
My mom has been an avid scrapbooker for as long as I can remember. As the oldest child in my family, of course, I have the most pictures, many pasted and carefully captioned in a number of scrapbooks, from one lovingly hand-quilted and cross-stitched by my mom to a puffy painted one in my high school colors just for the hundreds of cheerleading pictures I have. Both my parents are really into family history and documentation, and I certainly gained that interest from them. As my adult life gets busier and busier, I still have the good intentions of scrapbooking but never seem to get around to it. I have boxes and folders full of old love letters from my husband, concert ticket stubs, restaurant menus, city maps, positive pregnancy tests, first haircut snippets, and, of course, photos galore. Like all first time moms, my documentation of my pregnancy with Lucy and her first year or two of life is great. But, poor Alice, got the shit end of the deal, as my second baby. I still have good intentions, mind you. My mother-in-law is a rep for Stampin' Up, so I've got gorgeous scrapbooking supplies coming out of may ass. I just don't really have the time. Nor do I have the inclination to print the hundreds of digital prints that are collecting on my laptop; there lies the unfortunate dilemma of film photography vs. digital. Thankfully, great sites like Shutterfly will do most of the work for you. I just did Alice's first year baby book on Shutterfly for about $25 and 3 hours of time. I do think, though, for that amount of time, I could've done it myself for free (sigh).
What I love about this blog, however, is that it acts in much the same way as a scrapbook does because it includes photos. To me, though, it's more like a journal. I don't usually cuss in my scrapbooking - "Happy Motherfuckin' Birthday, Baby Girl!" just doesn't seem appropriate. It is, however, a more accurate portrayal of my everyday life and is more real. Which is what I love about this online journaling. I get to document some unique, silly parts and activities of our everyday lives, like this:
We all put our 'jamas on, got our sleeping bags out, and ate Jelly Bellys. In the early 1980s in rural Idaho, Jelly Bellys were gourmet candy that we only got once a year. I anxiously waited for mixing those tasty little morsels in my mouth to make flavors all my own. It's Buttered Popcorn, however, that still remains my favorite.
While you can now pick up Jelly Bellys everywhere, including your neighborhood dollar store, I've tried to keep them a special treat just for this movie viewing occasion. We all love this movie so much and never tire of watching it. I've had this VHS copy of the film for as long as I can remember. In fact, Eric and I watched it on one of our very first dates and, years later, the iconic theme song played as we walked down the aisle after saying "I DO!" in Nevada.
So out came the Sleeping Beauty sleeping bag and all our beanbags, too. Alice was so worried for Toto and Lucy realized for the first time it was all a dream. These are the sorts of things I love documenting on this blog, these sort of special, ordinary moments. And, sometimes, some extraordinary, sad things, too. This week also marks the one year anniversary of my traumatic layoff - the one that scarred me, scared me, and shook me to the core. The one it took me a year to come to terms with. My metaphorical house was whipped up in a tornado and came crashing down, killing the big bad witch, but leaving me lost in a world I'd never seen before. With a little help along the way, from new friends and old, I grew to love Munchkinland and realized that there truly is "no place like home."
Visible M(others): Exhibition Reponse, What Piece(s) Speak to Me?
I've been selected to participate in a gallery exhibition over the course of the next six weeks titled "Visible M(others): Images of Parenting in Visual Culture." The show runs March 4 - April 11, 2010 at the Boise State University Student Union Gallery and is free to the public (go see it!). I'm collaborating with Shannon Paterson over at Anchormommy.com. We'll both be writing new posts on Thursdays each week for the six weeks of the exhibition, exploring ideas of how our "mommyblogs" are a sort of "digital front porch swing," a place to share information and be heard, a forum for asking questions, showing of our kids and our skills. Mommyblogs act not only as an informational outlet, but a creative force in our contemporary maternal culture, as the blogs are loaded not only with verbal creativity, but photography, crafts, and other digital imagery, documenting our lives as mothers. Provoking complex questions, the exhibition presents new perspectives on traditional, contemporary, alternative or imagined parenting and how they operate in a visible/invisible landscape of maternal visual culture.
Here's a shot of our piece's physical space in the exhibition, although it's really more of a virtual performance art piece. Shannon and I decided that we'd like it to have a presence to invite visitors to sit down and use the laptop to view our blogs. We set it up to look like our work stations at home do - a simple desk and chair littered with board books and academic resources, an old coffee cup, a stray binkie, a display of our kids drawings. We also have our business cards on the desk, inviting visitors to take one home with them to continue following our blogs and the exhibition.
They represent the complicated relationships among family members, including the most tenuous one between parent and child and the fine line between nurture and suffocation. While the pieces are physically lovely, they can also easily be interpreted as putting someone on a pedestal, confining them to a glass dome where nothing and no one can get to them, which is a common fear and struggle of new parents. I know I have felt the pull between perfection and protection, and letting my girls go and experience life and pain on their own is a difficult process.
I first heard that Dr. Kathleen Keys and Dr. Janice Neri, professors of art education and art history at BSU, were organizing an exhibition on parenting last summer. I was thrilled; this has been an under researched and under appreciated theme in the American art world. Since my family plays such a big role in my artwork, I was excited to submit a piece for consideration. After thinking about it for some time, I decided I wanted to collaborate with someone else and explore the notion of what constitutes fine art and what plays a vital role in our visual culture - the Internet. Of course, I was already writing this blog, with a focus on parenting. I love the idea of collaboration and immediately my friend and fellow mommyblogger Shannon Paterson of Anchormommy.com came to mind. Shannon and I met probably seventeen years ago (eegads!) while undergrads at the University of Idaho. We were both studying in the communications department - me, public relations, and her, journalism. We both met and eventually married our husbands there, who were also friends and fraternity brothers. When I moved backed to Boise almost four years ago we reconnected. What we didn't know was that our lives would take such similar, but different, paths; a year ago she left her career as a news anchor to be a stay at home mom and I was forced into the situation with a layoff. It was coincidence that we both began blogging at the same time, a fun and interesting coincidence. We were both becoming new kinds of moms, blazing our own unique trails and combining our professional and personal lives in different ways. So, Shannon and I collaborated on a proposal for the exhibition and were thrilled to be selected. Especially after I attend the opening of the show a few weeks ago and saw all the other amazing works in the exhibition. Wow.
As a former local museum curator, I know many local artists already. Another friend, father, and artist, Ben Love, was participating in the exhibition with his daughter and invited me to help create a celebratory opening party event for the kids. As gallery exhibitions are typically not geared toward children, this one was an exception. Ben and I knew there would be a ton of kids there and wanted them to feel comfortable in what can sometimes be a, lets face it, stuffy event. We came up with the idea of a 'don your artsy attire' dress up room.
The curators were thrilled and rented a room for us to use. We brought masses and masses of dress up gear and costumes and the kids had a blast dressing up fancy, in their own ways.
I even ended up wearing a Snow White crown the entire evening. We brought animal crackers and pretzels as kid-friendly appetizers and covered a large table with a blanket to make a fort. Ben brought coloring books and crayons and set up a really popular coloring table. The space became a hang out for the adults, too, who participated in dressing up and art making with their children. We got so many positive comments from artists and guests alike about how this was the most fun art opening they'd ever been to. The kids were entertained so mommy and daddy could spend some time chatting with adults and actually looking at the art. But the kids didn't feel confined to the room; they ran throughout the exhibition in their fancy gear, experiencing the artworks and reminding us all what this exhibition is really about after all.
Here's a shot of our piece's physical space in the exhibition, although it's really more of a virtual performance art piece. Shannon and I decided that we'd like it to have a presence to invite visitors to sit down and use the laptop to view our blogs. We set it up to look like our work stations at home do - a simple desk and chair littered with board books and academic resources, an old coffee cup, a stray binkie, a display of our kids drawings. We also have our business cards on the desk, inviting visitors to take one home with them to continue following our blogs and the exhibition.
There are so many interesting and compelling pieces in the exhibition that it was difficult to pick my favorite for this post. I feel most drawn, however, to the collaborative nature, humor, and seriousness of this piece, by Boise artists Ted Apel and Brooke Burton. This is a photo of the wall label for their piece. I know it's a bit blurry, but I think their list of media is brilliant. It includes the more traditional listing of the physical mixed media the piece is made from - paper, glass domes, wire, and table. But it also includes the intangible forces that REALLY came to play in the creating of this artwork: 2 babies, 7 dirty diapers, 11 bottles, 21 wipes, 1 stroller, 3 blankets, etc.
It turns out that Apel, a father of an infant son, approached Burton, a mother of a one-year-old daughter, to collaborate in a unique way. He offered to watch the babies while Brooke did the physical creation of the piece they both brainstormed on. I love that new definition of collaboration as it applies to the art world, and I love the piece they came up with.
It's a lovely, clean white table with glistening glass domes covering white paper origami cranes. Some of the cranes appear to be floating alone and some are crammed into a dome together. Each of the domes have a separate title, based on familial figures Burton has either known or read about it the numerous parenting books she has recently consumed.
They represent the complicated relationships among family members, including the most tenuous one between parent and child and the fine line between nurture and suffocation. While the pieces are physically lovely, they can also easily be interpreted as putting someone on a pedestal, confining them to a glass dome where nothing and no one can get to them, which is a common fear and struggle of new parents. I know I have felt the pull between perfection and protection, and letting my girls go and experience life and pain on their own is a difficult process.Keys and Neri's students assisted in the creation of the exhibition and have written curatorial statements on each piece of the exhibition, which adds to the educational value of the show. The exhibition is free and is open anytime the BSU SUB is open, so I highly recommend stopping by. Make a date of it - grab a coffee at Moxie Java downstairs and bring your significant other and/or your kids. It's a great and poignant example of what parenting means to a few in our local community, not to mention a stellar showing of contemporary art.
AMY & REE: Egg-in-a-Hole (week 12)
I loved this easy breakfast idea when I was a kid. My parents used to make them for us on special weekends, and I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Now I make them for my kids. On Sunday morning, faced with a near empty fridge, I knew it was a perfect day to make Egg-in-a-Holes. Lucy loves picking out the cookie cutter shape we get to use and I love that it is an egg and toast all in one. It's just about perfection, except my egg design always screws up on the bottom side, as the raw egg glides under the bread, smearing my perfect star. I think I may just need to keep trying. 
AMY & REE: Oatmeal Crispies (week 11)
This week has been a bit rough for me, as those of you who also follow me on Twitter or Facebook already know. Eric's gone for six long days at a conference and both girls caught pink eye. Needless to say, I'm kind of a mess. But I'm still cookin'.
Visible M(others): Inclusive vs. Intrusive, What I Blog About (Or Don't)
I've been selected to participate in a gallery exhibition over the course of the next six weeks titled "Visible M(others): Images of Parenting in Visual Culture." The show runs March 4 - April 11, 2010 at the Boise State University Student Union Gallery and is free to the public (go see it). I'm collaborating with Shannon Paterson over at Anchormommy.com. We'll both be writing new posts on Thursday of each week, for the six weeks of the exhibition, exploring ideas of how our "mommyblogs" are a sort of "digital front porch swing," a place to share information and be heard, a forum for asking questions, showing off our kids and our skills. Mommyblogs act not only as an informational outlet, but a creative force in our contemporary maternal culture, as the blogs are loaded not only with verbal creativity, but photography, crafts, and other digital imagery, documenting our lives as mothers. Provoking complex questions, the exhibition presents new perspectives on traditional, contemporary, alternative or imagined parenting and how they operate in a visible/invisible landscape of maternal visual culture.
In my first post for this exhibition, Visible M(others), I wrote a little about the beginnings of this blog, about how I got laid off and wanted to keep my writing skills sharp. The layoff also gave me the time to devote to creating a blog, something that had been suggested to me by several friends who always loved getting my emailed family updates and photos and thought my writing was funny and interesting. In my second post, I mentioned that I have been an avid reader of blogs for years now, particularly mommyblogs. They have been a source of inspiration and relief for me as a mother, learning from their creativity in the home as well as their struggles. I also knew that there were literally thousands of bloggers out there writing. So, what was to make my blog different? Why would anyone want to read it? Better yet, WHO would want to read it? And what would those people like to read about? Well, those same friends who suggested I start a blog in the first place had great suggestions. But it was truly my dear friend Betsy who helped me flesh it all out in our hours and hours of phone conversations. In between her listening to my ranting and anger and sadness over my layoff, she reminded me that I am also a creative mother and thrifty homemaker with quirky tips to share on life and adventures in Idaho. And that became a sort of "mission statement" for Doin' It All, Idaho Style. I've always searched out the unusual museums and found great little restaurants off the beaten path, so why not share them with others? At the same time, my far away friends and family can see what we're up to out West and keep up with the growing girls.
So that's mostly what I blog about - thrifty finds, offbeat adventures, architecture (because I love it so), art, crafts, fun with kiddies, and food (because I love it even more than architecture). Things like this little "roadtrip" I took the girls on last Friday to see the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile IN PERSON, Y'ALL. In Boise. Clear the hell out there at the Albertson's grocery on McMillan and Eagle Road, people. And you know I must be serious about my love of this fancy rig because WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND DRIVES ON EAGLE ROAD? EVER? ESPECIALLY AT 4PM ON A FRIDAY? Spoken like a true downtowner, the devil must've built that part of suburbia, it's that bad.
In my first post for this exhibition, Visible M(others), I wrote a little about the beginnings of this blog, about how I got laid off and wanted to keep my writing skills sharp. The layoff also gave me the time to devote to creating a blog, something that had been suggested to me by several friends who always loved getting my emailed family updates and photos and thought my writing was funny and interesting. In my second post, I mentioned that I have been an avid reader of blogs for years now, particularly mommyblogs. They have been a source of inspiration and relief for me as a mother, learning from their creativity in the home as well as their struggles. I also knew that there were literally thousands of bloggers out there writing. So, what was to make my blog different? Why would anyone want to read it? Better yet, WHO would want to read it? And what would those people like to read about? Well, those same friends who suggested I start a blog in the first place had great suggestions. But it was truly my dear friend Betsy who helped me flesh it all out in our hours and hours of phone conversations. In between her listening to my ranting and anger and sadness over my layoff, she reminded me that I am also a creative mother and thrifty homemaker with quirky tips to share on life and adventures in Idaho. And that became a sort of "mission statement" for Doin' It All, Idaho Style. I've always searched out the unusual museums and found great little restaurants off the beaten path, so why not share them with others? At the same time, my far away friends and family can see what we're up to out West and keep up with the growing girls.
So that's mostly what I blog about - thrifty finds, offbeat adventures, architecture (because I love it so), art, crafts, fun with kiddies, and food (because I love it even more than architecture). Things like this little "roadtrip" I took the girls on last Friday to see the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile IN PERSON, Y'ALL. In Boise. Clear the hell out there at the Albertson's grocery on McMillan and Eagle Road, people. And you know I must be serious about my love of this fancy rig because WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND DRIVES ON EAGLE ROAD? EVER? ESPECIALLY AT 4PM ON A FRIDAY? Spoken like a true downtowner, the devil must've built that part of suburbia, it's that bad.Now, I've been following the Wienermobile on Twitter for quite some time and begging them to come to Boise, so I couldn't wait to ketchup with them on their cross-country route. The Bologna Song was blaring from the speakers and Lucy, who is just learning to spell, loved the lyrics. But, come on, what kid doesn't, right?
And a giant car shaped like a hot dog is enough to give anyone the giggles, especially with that classic personalized license plate.
Of course, we sat inside and oohed and ahhed at the embroidered wieners on the seats and the squiggly mustard design on the floor. The drivers gave out wiener whistles to the girls but weren't grilling up 'dogs like we'd hoped. And were we ever craving them after our visit. If Albertsons had been smart, they'd have had a stand out front and made a killing. Or at least been selling them at the deli. (Just one more example of the brilliant ideas by Amy you'll find here on Doin' It All, Idaho Style!)
What I don't usually blog about is the more mundane chaos that is 90% of my life. Like the constant cleaning up of cat puke for the past THIRTEEN YEARS OF MY LIFE. Nor do I usually take pictures of it, but there it is, above - a big nasty blob right next to the orange Barbie dress and yellow hair clip, due north of a pair of my green striped mittens. None of which belong on the floor of my living room but ALWAYS SEEM TO BE THERE.
Nor do I write about how my house looks like someone did let The Pigeon Drive The Bus - right through my life. Or how I cuss like a sailor (imagine that) every time I try to walk to the kitchen to refill my glass with more wine from my box because those goddamn Little People hurt like a motherfucker when you step on them barefooted. I don't write about how I leave it like this because I'm too tired at the end of the day to care. And why waste my time? The toys better hide the orange Goldfish cracker crumbs crushed into my carpet anyway.
Also, I don't usually blog about very many other people in my life, with the exception of my lovely little Lucy and Alice. I occasionally write about my dreamy husband, Eric, but he is shy and wants to edit/approve what I post about him first. And most of the time I'm like, dude, I love you, but you live here with me in this messy little world of ours so, sorry, you're fair game. Only that I don't ever write anything bad or negative about him because there really isn't anything to say along those lines. He's amazing. And he drives me less nuts than those two sweethearts above, both who really do spend most of their time with no shirts or shoes on. But they don't really get a say in what I write about them. BECAUSE I GREW THEM IN MY BODY FOR A REALLY LONG TIME AND THEN PUSHED THEIR BIG, STRONG BODIES OUT. OF. MY. VAGINA. And that, my friends, trumps any sort of privacy issues they may or may not have with mommy's blog. Which is what this blog is really about - mommy. It's for me and, ultimately, about me.
Also, I don't usually blog about very many other people in my life, with the exception of my lovely little Lucy and Alice. I occasionally write about my dreamy husband, Eric, but he is shy and wants to edit/approve what I post about him first. And most of the time I'm like, dude, I love you, but you live here with me in this messy little world of ours so, sorry, you're fair game. Only that I don't ever write anything bad or negative about him because there really isn't anything to say along those lines. He's amazing. And he drives me less nuts than those two sweethearts above, both who really do spend most of their time with no shirts or shoes on. But they don't really get a say in what I write about them. BECAUSE I GREW THEM IN MY BODY FOR A REALLY LONG TIME AND THEN PUSHED THEIR BIG, STRONG BODIES OUT. OF. MY. VAGINA. And that, my friends, trumps any sort of privacy issues they may or may not have with mommy's blog. Which is what this blog is really about - mommy. It's for me and, ultimately, about me. And while I typically post about odd, fun, budget-friendly things here, the blog topics Shannon and I are writing about for this exhibition have pushed me out of my comfort zone. And the few comments I've gotten about my more personal posts lately have been positive and making me rethink and reanalyze what this blog is about and what kind of stories I may want to include in the future. It's an evolving thing, this blog is, much like me. And we're still trying to figure it all out.
AMY & REE: Homemade Ranch Dressing (week 10)
I have never made my own ranch dressing before, except for mixing the dry packet with sour cream, which I don't think exactly counts. I've made all sorts of other olive oil and/or vinegar based dressings from scratch, which are delicious, but I don't know exactly why I never thought to give this a try. I wish I would have, though, because it is really great. Anything with this many fresh herbs takes the cake (or better yet, the salad) in my book. The Pioneer Woman's recipe for it doesn't even call for any sort of fancy salad, just iceberg lettuce wedges. I made it last Saturday to accompany our dinner of salmon and baked potatoes and it was wonderful. We all loved it, including the two youngest and pickiest eaters in the house. We had enough left to use it for days later, as something yummy to dip carrots and celery into, as a baked potato topping and, of course, to top more salads. I highly recommend it, but make sure to chop the herbs really well because some people (aka my husband) don't like big chunks of parsley in their ranch.
Visible M(others): Sharing the Struggles, The Blog as Support Network
I've been selected to participate in a gallery exhibition over the course of the next six weeks titled "Visible M(others): Images of Parenting in Visual Culture." The show runs March 5 - April 11, 2010 at the Boise State University Student Union Gallery and is free to the public (go see it!). I'm collaborating with Shannon Paterson over at AnchorMommy.com. We'll both be writing new posts on Thursday of each week for the six weeks of the exhibition, exploring the idea of how our "mommyblogs" are a sort of "digital front porch swing," a place to share information and be heard, a forum for asking questions, for showing off our skills and our kids. Mommyblogs act not only as an informational outlet, but a creative force in our contemporary maternal visual culture, as the blogs are loaded with not only verbal creativity, but photography, crafts, and other digital imagery documenting our lives as mothers. Provoking complex questions, the exhibition presents new perspectives on traditional, contemporary, alternative or imagined parenting and how they operate in a visible/invisible landscape of maternal visual culture.
I think I've been following blogs since their inception, way back in the day when they weren't all fancy and frilly and were just people, writers mainly, who found the world wide web a way to get their words out there. Blogs became an increasingly important part of my search for knowledge and companionship when I got pregnant for the first time in 2007. Those of you who have children know that there is nothing more exhilarating and absolutely terrifying than carrying a child in your womb. I was living in Minneapolis, far, far from family and had no friends at the time who were yet young parents, so I was searching for answers to questions and someone to acknowledge the craziness I was feeling. That craziness became even more powerful a force when little Lucy finally entered the world and I looked to the internet for help. Luckily for me, I found some other mothers out there who weren't afraid to write about their bleeding nipples, tears of exhaustion, and their love of their sweat pants. They made me feel less alone, less nuts, and calmed my nerves. There are inspirational blogs by tattooed mothers who got accidentally knocked up and mothers who have emotional stories of losing their young baby to illness. I cry and laugh and am amazed. When I got laid off, I felt so alone and depressed and read other peoples horror stories about the wreckage that had become their life and it made me feel better. I wasn't alone. And neither were they. Many others, including myself, left comments on their sites, sharing our stories, and ideas, and sorrow. I've always been prone to the plus-sized side of life and have found myself a little heavier after each pregnancy. Realizing I'm really rotund and accepting that fact is a journey and sometimes a struggle, and it's been reassuring to find a slew of blogs by hefty ladies who are proud of their size.
(image of The Popsycle courtesy of www.sweet-juniper.com)
It's not only the ladies that I look to in the blogosphere, however. The daddy writers are also a kick in the pants to follow and have as much wit, interest, and foul language to interest me and accurately share the joys of parenthood. One of my favorites is Sweet Juniper!, written by a husband and wife team in Detroit. Like all excellent writers, they tell ordinary tales of everyday life in extraordinary ways, like lovely little details of their daughter's birthday cake and how they built their family bicycle.
Nor do I only read blogs for all matters of sadness or struggle. Honestly, besides information gathering, I read them to laugh. And I cannot tell you how many times I've laughed till I've cried over The Bloggess' outrageous storytelling abilities and flat out bizarre sense of humor. Yes, she shares my love of taxidermy, but she also writes hilarious columns for a satirical sex site. And she's a mom. Who's cat sits on her head. And who spends a lot of time in bathrooms.
More often than anything these days, though, my blogroll consists of about twenty art and craft sites that I peruse daily for inspiration. There are moms who make the cutest recycled girly clothes I've ever seen, moms who create magazine-worthy baby nurseries, and ladies who, like the one who runs Zakka Life, come up with the best kids crafts and holiday ideas ever. And, lucky for me, one blogger links to another crafty blogger friend who links to another and suddenly I been sucked into my couch and my laptop for hours looking at other peoples great ideas. Which, ultimately, can be the biggest problem with blogs that I see - the amount of time spent reading or watching other people's lives instead of getting out and living your own. It's a danger that I'm increasingly aware of, especially as dreary winter days and the stark aloneness that can often overcome SAHMs can easily take over. There are truly blogs devoted to anything and everything and anyone and everyone can start one of their own for free. Just like me. I've gained inspiration, education, advice, companionship and more from reading them and couldn't be more thankful that the internet has become a tool for bringing people together.