Normally we stick to family anecdotes on this blog, but I just had to say...
I am so glad David Cook won American Idol!
This is the FIRST TIME my favorite has won. That's right, I cheered for Blake, I cheered for Katharine, I cheered for Bo. I just chalked it up to the fact that I am so anti-mainstream so of course it would reflect in my music choice. But wooo! Now I am one of the majority!!
To be honest I used to think David Cook was trailer trash, but then he cut his hair, and I started noticing how sexy his gruff voice his! Oh, and THEN he sang this song....
Which made me cry and fall in love... and the rest is history!
I LOVE his voice, the feeling he puts into the music, his playful and humble personality. Don't get me wrong, Archuleta is sure talented, but there was just no passion with him. And he's not sexy, so... (if I ever meet David Cook in person, my marriage might be in trouble!)
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Park Clean-up
Here are the boys at a community service project, "cleaning up" a future park site. Actually what they are doing is taking mounds of sawdust and laying a trail. This is what the community worked on, all day! It makes you appreciate how much work goes into a simple trail. Rychen P. got really into the shoveling (with a hand shovel) and was sad when I pulled him away to go garage-sale-ing (yes, I got bored watching). But now we are excited to buy some tools and do yardwork in our new yard. (at some point? moving date up in the air)
Rychen's Self-indulgence
Rychen has remarked lately that we don't take many pictures, and we don't have ANY pictures of him. (I say, we have less of me because I'm always the photographer! Whatever pictures we have of me are ones I take of myself because I'm just that vain.) At his request, we've started to take more pictures, even of nothing at all.
So I took a random picture...
And then apparently he took some himself, using the timer... (or maybe Mickey Mouse took it?)This is good!
Here are some more miscelleneous documentations.
They are doing a puzzle here, using a strategy we made up. We numbered the backs of the peices according to which row they fall under. Then Rychen P. can sort them by number and do each row individually. A great way to break up a 50 pc puzzle!
And one day you might see one of me! (All I have are headshots and belly shots, your pick!)
So I took a random picture...
And then apparently he took some himself, using the timer... (or maybe Mickey Mouse took it?)This is good!
Here are some more miscelleneous documentations.
They are doing a puzzle here, using a strategy we made up. We numbered the backs of the peices according to which row they fall under. Then Rychen P. can sort them by number and do each row individually. A great way to break up a 50 pc puzzle!
And one day you might see one of me! (All I have are headshots and belly shots, your pick!)
The Soup Game
Rychen P. got into playing with water again, first "doing the dishes" (can we say Kitchen Lake?)
and then this, with the bathwater. I take a lot of baths lately (aahh, anti-gravity!) so here is how I entertain my kid in the process. We have some "bath toys" -- a ladel, some measuring cups, a bowl, and a squirt bottle. Rychen P. made up what we call the Soup Game... Dipping the ladel in the water and filling up the measuring cups. Then we hand them out to imaginary friends. We have been eating a lot of imaginary lentil soup and tomato soup! Then he gets the squirt bottle and gets to squirt me. Baths are supposed to be relaxing, but here is the next best thing!
Fishy slippers!
We had a long car ride to Portland the other day (I got free craniosacral therapy! Score!) and halfway there, Rychen P. suddenly remembered he forgot to bring Mickey Mouse - and went into hysterics! We could do nothing to calm him down, as he kept crying out for us to "Go back home and get Mickey Mouse!" We pulled over to the Wilsonville Target so find him a Mickey Mouse sticker, or something to make him happy (as much as I cringed at teaching him this "lesson") ... and here is what we found!
Fishy Slippers!!!!!
These are really cool because we don't wear shoes in the house, so this is something we can wear around the house! How cute!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Almost real
Mother's Day was nice...this year was special in that Rychen P. made something for me, for the first time! (Before it was just "wife" day, or mother's day by Rychen, on Rychen P.'s behalf) He is a real kid now! Here is his little hand-print card, made in nursery.
What's funny is that I was helping in nursery that day, and I got to write the words "Love, Rychen" on it. And then he left nursery before it was dry, so I went back to pick it up for myself. I essentially gave it to myself.
Now maybe next year I can get the Real Deal - something made by him, without being directed by somebody else! Wow, even his idea?? That would be something! So this year, it was almost real. But surely, a step up from fake!
I also got a special dinner, yummy Black Bean Enchiladas. This is a really yummy recipe but we haven't made it in a long time. Rychen even made our homemade tortiallas for it.
What's funny is that I was helping in nursery that day, and I got to write the words "Love, Rychen" on it. And then he left nursery before it was dry, so I went back to pick it up for myself. I essentially gave it to myself.
Now maybe next year I can get the Real Deal - something made by him, without being directed by somebody else! Wow, even his idea?? That would be something! So this year, it was almost real. But surely, a step up from fake!
I also got a special dinner, yummy Black Bean Enchiladas. This is a really yummy recipe but we haven't made it in a long time. Rychen even made our homemade tortiallas for it.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Good Grub!
As a couple, one of our fun things to do together is to experiment in the kitchen. We love to make our own stuff and then tweak it, mix it up, and try it a different way. We don't follow any recipes! Anyhow, today Rychen and I made some GOOD GRUB! And just in time for Cinco de Mayo!
Ever since we got married, Rychen's been making our our corn chips out of tortillas. But I've always wondered what that Masa Mix stuff was about... so finally today we took the plunge and tried it out! And what do you know, this stuff is AWESOME! Homemade corn tortillas--it doesn't get any better than that.
It also just so happened that I have been wanting to make my own pico de gallo, and I found some cerrano peppers today, plus tomatos are on sale! So today was the day. I made this up, based on my observations at Baja Fresh: diced tomatoes and miced onions, cerrano peppers, garlic, and lemon juice. I am no good at mincing--my chunks are always too huge because I'm lazy with the knife--but my culinary partner saved me and found a way for the blender to chop smaller peices. Hooray! Awesome pico de gallo. Well to me, it was too spicy, but Rychen could not get enough of it! (It's a great feeling when your husband loves your food, especially when so many times you try and fail!)
In addition to chips and salsa, we also make our own refried beans. My motive is health consciousness; Rychen's motive is to save money (dried beans are so much cheaper than canned). It's pretty simple, just blend your beans, add spices, and warm them up. (no, we don't fry them, let alone re-fry them!) We usually make a batch every week or so and use it throughout the week (Mexican food is a big theme for us).
So taco salad it is for dinner, everything homemade, everything fresh! The best part (and you won't care unless you're a health nut like me) is that this meal is fat free and completely free of preservatives or any food additives! (Store bought corn tortillas make me nervous with all the additives, so this is a dream come true!) The ingredients in these tortillas: corn, water, salt. And they are the BEST EVER! Truly, good grub! Or shall I say, Comida buena!
Ever since we got married, Rychen's been making our our corn chips out of tortillas. But I've always wondered what that Masa Mix stuff was about... so finally today we took the plunge and tried it out! And what do you know, this stuff is AWESOME! Homemade corn tortillas--it doesn't get any better than that.
It also just so happened that I have been wanting to make my own pico de gallo, and I found some cerrano peppers today, plus tomatos are on sale! So today was the day. I made this up, based on my observations at Baja Fresh: diced tomatoes and miced onions, cerrano peppers, garlic, and lemon juice. I am no good at mincing--my chunks are always too huge because I'm lazy with the knife--but my culinary partner saved me and found a way for the blender to chop smaller peices. Hooray! Awesome pico de gallo. Well to me, it was too spicy, but Rychen could not get enough of it! (It's a great feeling when your husband loves your food, especially when so many times you try and fail!)
In addition to chips and salsa, we also make our own refried beans. My motive is health consciousness; Rychen's motive is to save money (dried beans are so much cheaper than canned). It's pretty simple, just blend your beans, add spices, and warm them up. (no, we don't fry them, let alone re-fry them!) We usually make a batch every week or so and use it throughout the week (Mexican food is a big theme for us).
So taco salad it is for dinner, everything homemade, everything fresh! The best part (and you won't care unless you're a health nut like me) is that this meal is fat free and completely free of preservatives or any food additives! (Store bought corn tortillas make me nervous with all the additives, so this is a dream come true!) The ingredients in these tortillas: corn, water, salt. And they are the BEST EVER! Truly, good grub! Or shall I say, Comida buena!
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Four years!
Today is Rychen's and my anniversary! This afternoon we left him with Grandma & co. and went out to Olive Garden and shopping (got new sheets, which is the "modern" gift for a 4th anniversary). At Olive Garden there was a fly in my salad so we both got free desserts! We brought them home and shared them. Fun, simple anniversary.
We wanted to start some fun family traditions but I think Rychen P. is still too young. Growing up, my family would always listen to stories on my parents' anniversary. Since we have a lot of momentos, I thought it would be fun to pull them out. Rychen P. was more interested in the binder, not the photos, so we let him go to bed and then we watched our wedding video, eating cake :) We have fun seeing how far we've come since we've been together, and we always laugh (cringe) at our old photos (I really wish someone had given me some fashion advice for my own wedding, of all occasions). It was weird to see us "B.C." (before children) - I can't remember what it was like, and what a weird thought that Rychen P. wasn't even a part of our lives. (I was saying to somebody, I can't picture having a baby, but they said once they are born you won't be able to picture life without them, and I see this was true for us then too.)
It's been a big 4 years with lots of growth, and I can still say I am grateful for the choice I made to marry my sweetheart :) We're so blessed to be a family. What a great day to celebrate the fact!
We wanted to start some fun family traditions but I think Rychen P. is still too young. Growing up, my family would always listen to stories on my parents' anniversary. Since we have a lot of momentos, I thought it would be fun to pull them out. Rychen P. was more interested in the binder, not the photos, so we let him go to bed and then we watched our wedding video, eating cake :) We have fun seeing how far we've come since we've been together, and we always laugh (cringe) at our old photos (I really wish someone had given me some fashion advice for my own wedding, of all occasions). It was weird to see us "B.C." (before children) - I can't remember what it was like, and what a weird thought that Rychen P. wasn't even a part of our lives. (I was saying to somebody, I can't picture having a baby, but they said once they are born you won't be able to picture life without them, and I see this was true for us then too.)
It's been a big 4 years with lots of growth, and I can still say I am grateful for the choice I made to marry my sweetheart :) We're so blessed to be a family. What a great day to celebrate the fact!
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