Day 2 at Bogus for Siena

The snow was better but also quite a bit colder today (about 16). So even though by the end there was a fair amount of crying and one expression of "I don't want to go skiing again" it was all good and on the way home we planned our next trip.

Special visitors

We had some extra company earlier in the month and only wished they could have stayed longer! The kids, of course, climbed all over them and hung onto every word. My formal, posed portraits of them are here (why do I always forget to take real pictures?), as they're indulging the kids by playing a game following our waffle breakfast.

Remy day 4

Bringing in the new year

We headed over to mom and dad's place a few days after Xmas. Our trip over was a bit more adventurous than we wanted--no accidents or anything exciting, but we (meaning Conrad) drove 9/10ths of the way on snow/ice. It was slow going...and it's a wiiiiide, lonely state when you're doing 40 mph. Luckily we brought Daniel along and he kept us entertained.

Anyway we hung out at the home ranch, hit our fave Sunday brunch spot (Studio One--yummmm), played an afternoon's worth of Rook with Michael S. Lovely, lovely. Monday we hit Trader Joe's and Cafe Yum and Tuesday we headed for the coast (which is when I remembered that people do things with cameras other than carry them around in their purses). It was wet and windy over there--not too surprising.

We ate at another fave, Kyllo's, our first night there. (And if you're thinking that all we do is eat out, that'd be about right. I have several must-stops in OR, including at least one drive-through latte a day. I do not do this at home; it's a vacation thing.)

Then we *attempted* a beer-cheese fondue on New Year's Eve. We'd watched one made once but hadn't tried it ourselves. Needless to say I didn't quite hit it right but Daniel and Conrad got some cornstarch and saved the day. We'll have to try again next year...I only need cheese fondue once a year anyway!
Some folks lit fireworks on the beach right out that window behind Daniel, so on New Year's Eve we actually made it to midnight and watched the show with the waves behind. We had peach champagne and thought of the first time we enjoyed it years and years ago in Switzerland.
On Thursday we packed up and then had lunch at Kyllo's again before heading down the coast for the Newport Aquarium. I'd never been, and it was really a nice spot. My pictures don't do it justice as I was trying not to use the flash. So most of them are dark or blurry:


Most of the aquarium is indoors, but the seals and otters and other creatures are outdoors. It was pouring sheets of rain, but the kids must've inherited web-footedness from their mom as they insisted on traipsing to every single exhibit. We talked them out of the park, though.


And then we came home, cozy and dry, and visited other creatures. On Friday Con and I ditched the kids with grandma and Daniel (who had to go back into town) and headed for Portland. Con needed some trim at Ikea--we escaped with only one bag's worth of stuff, a new record of constraint for us. We then hit Penzey's -- so fun to see it in person, but now I'm happy to just buy through their catalog. If you haven't had Penzey's spices, give them a whirl. The prices are great and the stuff is great too! And then we were off to the Hanna Andersson outlet (50% off clearance--sweet!) and Columbia (new snow gear for both of us. Once every fifteen years is about right, right?) and then a few more stops on the way home. We made it to Dim and Jana's for dinner and it was great to see their new house all spiffied up!

Saturday was an extra-early start; we made it to Bend for a 9:00 breakfast with Callie. Then we were on our way home, on dry roads--what a relief. We came home, unloaded, and started the ol' washing machine up. And now it's back to school and work -- and we're rested and ready (and several pounds heavier!)

Student of the month

Here is our little kindergartener as the student of the month. I want to get one of those bumperstickers that says, "My honor roll student beat up your dumb kid" but that would not be nice and it is not in her nature unless it involves her brother and something she wants. I hope this works as I am posting for the first time from my phone.

end of December fun

Snow Fun

:

We went up north for a few days--left our several-inches-of-snow for several-feet-of-snow. It was a great few days away and felt like a bonus since we hadn't planned on it until just a bit ago.

This shot's funny because it looks like I photoshopped some suspicious fellow in, but I didn't. Instead it's just our good friend following a very snowy ride down the hill:
The sweet girl with very cold toesie-woesies (I didn't get any good ones of her sister, who was off shredding the steeper hills):




And for fun, here's the dynamic duo in a configuration we dubbed Double Trouble:

Brrrrrrr

Eric, Shelley, Brice and Erica were over for a raclette lunch on Sunday--the perfect day for it. Their kids came prepared with snow shovels and all of their snow gear (unfortunately I didn't get a picture of Erica!) Brice was nice enough to play outside with the kids:


The kids have been begging to "go skiing," which for all they know consists of .5 second runs down 2 vertical feet. We're all excited for Bogus to open and for all of us to get better at this!

Thanksgiving

Keeping up with our once-a-month posting, here's the November update.
Last month the cousins came. Auntie Darci is a fabulous story teller (although you wouldn't know it from the kids' expressions in this particular shot!):


There was lots of baby-playing:


And we even got to celebrate Darci's birthday:
The beautiful Thanksgiving table with my mother-in-law's vintage dishes (and thanks to her decorating skill):


Four little pilgrims (or turkeys!):




Post-turkey snoozing:

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Halloween--a bit late

The kids did some costume-swapping and last-minute changes to end up as a witch and a Swiss soccer player:




Siena's class paraded through the entire school. She's in the back right corner:
Then that night we went up to a little Halloween party with some ghosts and goblins and geishas:
After a wild round of trick-or-treating on an amazingly warm night, this is what it looked like for the ride home:

freezer cooking/once-a-month cooking

Because I am strange, I decided to give this once-a-month cooking thing a whirl -- about a month ago. I tried it for the following reasons; 1) we were eating quesadillas for dinner more than once a week; 2) I was really tired of coming home in the evening and then rummaging through our refrigerator, trying to figure out what to cook. I've only done it one time, but we've *really* enjoyed it this month. I spent about 3 hours and made 12 meals. What I loved: we didn't have to spend time figuring out dinner when we got home and clean-up was also less. Works for me!

My tips for doing this:
1. Do the grocery shopping a day or two earlier--not on the same day you're going to do the cooking;
2. Have the kids entertained elsewhere so you can concentrate;
3. Make sure you have your supplies on hand, namely: Ziploc freezer bags (1 qt and 1 gallon), a sharpie pen, tinfoil, saran wrap.
4. Meat frozen in sauces doesn't dry out--it's amazing.

Recipes I used:
Bacon-wrapped chicken (very yummy!)
White sauce chicken with noodles (just okay--won't make this one again.)
Turkey enchiladas (very yummy--you could make any enchilada recipe)
Southwest chicken casserole (also just okay--I should know that we don't love casseroles!)
Thai pork (actually a slow cooker recipe--we ate it fresh but I'd make it again and freeze it. Also I used chicken because I forgot to buy enough pork)
Pork chops -- made these with the coarser Japanese bread crumbs. Very good!
Chicken and artichokes -- from my own recipes
Sausage pasta -- an old Cooking Light recipe

Useful books from our library:
The Freezer Cooking Manual--This book has great planning ideas, but mostly the recipes are too casserole-heavy. So, I'm hopeful for this one, which I'm waiting to check out:
Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer

Goals for next month:
1. Healthier and fewer meat-based main courses
2. More soups for winter time
3. No casserole-like meals.

If you do this, let me know your tips! If you don't, give it a whirl. It'd be really fun to do it *with* someone!

October

So late last month, the outlaws showed up and introduced a new game to the under-six set:


Yep. And they win, a lot, even playing face up. The grandparents left, and so now we're doomed to endless games of Uno...

They recently spent an evening trying on our shoes:


Siena's early literacy is taking off, and we are enjoying watching it. This is her sidewalk sign for Chocolate and Honey Ice Cream, of course:

This one's for the Swiss Miss, who passed on this darling suit:


From tonight: the fourth lost front tooth. I'm happy to pass on from Siena that the Tooth Fairy must have gps and a flying machine to get around at night:
And finally: we had a super fun package waiting for us this afternoon and I couldn't find the camera when the kids tore it open! We love the boxes from Sacramento. This one had Count Chocula cereal and some special Uno cards for the kids--a Peanuts edition. The fun continues!