::on a wintry day::

On a cold wintry snowy blustery day like today we need something filling, yummy and comforting for dinner.
Like this:

Grilled cheese sandwiches (made as healthy as possible by using wheat bread--my dad's recipe--shredded light cheese and just a touch of butter spread)
and this:

Tomato and roasted red pepper soup (trader joe's). Mmmmm, this stuff is seriously scrumptious. And good for you. It's my alltime favorite soup (behind my mom's broccoli soup).
We like to dip our sandwiches in the soup and feel our bellies with warm deliciousness. I think right now this is one of my favorite meals. Uncomplicated and delicous.
I'm glad we live in this day and age when we're not limited to only eating foods that are in season right where we live. I know it's best to eat what's in season, but I'm sure glad that somebody in California can grow some delicious (pink) oranges and send them out east here for me to eat because I love them!

Max kept me company in the kitchen while I got stuff ready. The way he deals with the fact that I don't let him play video games all day is by reading the little books that come along in the cases. Then he asks me all sorts of strange questions about what they say and why. Anyway that's what he's doing here.

Anybody out there in blogland have a favorite winter dinner?

::he's crazy::

I have proof:

::my b-day::

OLD NEWS!: This is one of the old posts I'm putting up, and cheating and sticking it back where it goes chronologically.

My birthday was great!
Max and Kris worked hard on a yummy cake.




These days in RI it gets dark SO early. Like at four o clock. It's kind of crazy.
Anyway, it was a nice night. Max helped me with my presents of course.

He helped dad wrap them up, and he helped me unwrap them.

Kris got me some books I really wanted, including this one:

It's great.
And Max picked out a special shirt just for me from Target--green, with an attached stripey scarf. He was really excited when I wore it. Kris said he was very specific about what he wanted when they were shopping. I think that's so cute.

I'm a dork I know.


And of course, we ended it all with the delicious cake and ice cream. Complete with candle wax. Yum.

::birthday request::

So today is my birthday, and so far I'm having a great time. Kris and Max are taking very good care of me, and we're about to head out to lunch and some shopping. What could be better?

But there's something else I want for my birthday, and here's what it is.
If you visit our blog, will you leave a comment and say hi? Especially if you come and read it often? I'd love to know who you are and how you found us.

And all my friends and family that I already know read this can say hi too, that wouldn't hurt my feelings!

And in return I'll take some photos of the festivities, including Max frosting the cake and I'll post them later.
Sound like a good deal?

Oh, and thanks mom for giving birth to me! Now that I have a kid I think birthdays should almost be more for the MOM than the kid!!

And happy end of January, yay!

::25 things::

There's this silly facebook thing that's been rolling around. You're supposed to come up with 25 things about yourself, and then tag other people to do the same. I tried to resist. For quite a while. But finally I gave in. And I thought that since I took the time to think up all this stuff I might as well put it right here!

Enjoy or ignore, it's up to you. And consider yourself tagged if you want to do it too!


1. I get a lot of headaches these days. This is not a good thing about me, it's just a thing about me.

2. I hate American Idol, but I watch it because it's entertaining and it's a cultural phenomenon (or something) but I have a hard time watching it, and almost always disagree with the judges.

3. I'm finding as I get older that I like to cook but I hate to clean.

4. My new favorite food is Cara Cara Oranges. They're pink, not orange. They're delicious.

5. I met my husband in high school at band camp.

6. I hate being too hot and I hate being too cold. I don't know which I like less.

7. When Kris and I were doing study abroad in Austria I learned a ton of German. I could understand almost anything people said, but was still pretty uncomfortable speaking to people in German. People would ask me a question in german and I'd answer in english. It flustered people. It flustered me too.

8. My good friend and I drove over 6 hours to go to IKEA last year. And then when we got there we shopped for eight hours.

9. I've been in three car accidents in the last three years. None of them were my fault and all of them involved our Land Rovers. Sad!

10. I really dislike white cars, and two of the four cars we've bought since we were married ended up being white.

11. I don't like to drive. Could that have something to do with my accidents? Hmmm.

12. I haven't played my saxophone in way too long.

13. We've moved twice in the last two years. It's looking like we'll probably move two more times in the next two years. Yuck.

14. I have really enjoyed blogging in the last couple of years. It's a place for my photos and I feel so much more connected to my friends and family that are far away. I love it and I miss it when I don't do it.

15. I'm glad I have my MBA but I probably wouldn't choose to do it again if we were back at the start. It was just way too stressful.

16. I love Max. I really miss him when he was a little baby, but what can you do? They can't stay teeny forever.

17. I love the beach so much. If I could live by the beach for the rest of my life it would make me happy!

18. It's been proven through experience that I'm allergic to some dogs, all cats, horses, birds, rabbits and cows. I'm guessing I'm allergic to pretty much anything and everything else that moves and is fuzzy or feathery.

19. I loved the VW vans we had growing up. I wish there was a safer newer version out now. It would be the perfect family car.

20. I wish I knew how to surf.

21. I've been serving in one or another position in primary for the last 5 years. I'm guessing I'll be there for a while longer.

22. I love to take pictures. Sometimes I'm too busy taking pictures to enjoy whatever it is we're doing.

23. I've found in the last few years that I love going to kickboxing class at the gym. Well, I love doing it, not so much the going to it part. And I really love the part after I'm done.

24. I love to bake. I could make cookies, cupcakes and cakes all day long, and I could eat them all day long too. So even though I think I'm pretty good at it, I try not to do it very often.

25. I love going on road trips. Even when they're going to be long and crummy I can't help but feel excited about them.

and the extra: My youngest brother is 10 years younger than me. I dragged him around everywhere and took care of him a lot. I loved it. Max reminds me of him a bit, and when they're together I always always mix them up and call them the wrong name.

Well there we go. Phew, I did it!

::what?!?::

As Max is playing with his matchbox car I hear him saying to himself in a very official sounding voice, "This car game is sponsored by Visa.......and McDonald's."
What?!? Oh boy. Think he's been watching some football or something lately?

::familiar::

The last couple of days Kris has let Max keep a small light on for 15 minutes or so after bedtime so he could read.
Usually he only reads if I force him to, although he does love to be read to.
Tonight I was out at a meeting. When I came back home this is what I found.

He was reading Green Eggs and Ham out loud to himself, and had another stack of books on the side of his bed, waiting their turn. It was so cute.

It makes me really happy to see him enjoying books. I love to read. I always have. My parents have a picture of me when I was probably three years old, asleep on a really large stack of golden books. I'd still fall asleep on books if I could.
We've been reading to Max since he was just barely born. He's always gotten at least one bedtime story, sometimes many more. So I'm glad to see Max doing some bedtime reading, on his own.
And I've been working so hard on helping him learn to read, I'm glad he's still enjoying it. I don't want to feel like I've pushed him too hard. So far so good!
I think we'll keep up with the little reading time and see if he keeps it up. I sure hope he does!

::so good and tasty::

This is what Max and I eat every morning for breakfast.

Irish oatmeal, honey, strawberries and a couple tiny squirts of light aerosol whipped cream. YUM.
Well that's what we eat most mornings anyway. As long as we have strawberries. If we don't have yummy delicious strawberries we'll usually put a bit of brown sugar in, sometimes some bananas. I love raspberries with honey too.
This is why I've been able to eat healthy lately. Stuff like this tastes so dang good!

But an ethical dilemma has arisen concerning my oatmeal for tomorrow morning.
I only have two strawberries left. So do I split the skimpy amount of strawberries between the two of us? Do I take it all for myself and skimp Max out? Should I be a noble sacrificing mom and give them all to Max?
It's kind of a hard call. What do I do?
But keep in mind, these are not the only fruits or vegetables he or I will eat during the day. So no worries there.

Yum, I wish it was breakfast time right now.

::dog trails::

I went to let the dog out back the other day, and noticed that he had made some special Sultan trails all around the yard. He really needs them because the snow was pretty deep and our backyard is always in shadow so it never melts. In fact, the snow just freezes into this big ice block.
So he needs his trails in order to get around and see what's going on outside. And to use the facilities of course.

He hasn't hung out much in the back yard since it got really cold. He basically goes out, sniffs around, does his biz and then comes back and waits by the door to be let back in. He's totally a lazy house dog and just sleeps on his puffy bed all day.

The same day I noted his trails, we went to the zoo. I already told you about that, but I didn't tell you about the African Wild Dogs.
They're so weird. I really like them and they kind of creep me out at the same time.

They look kind of scary and hyena like, but at the same time they're really dog like, so it's a weird combination.

I wonder if they would get along with Sul. I don't think I'd risk trying it out honestly, but maybe they'd be good friends.
Anyway their snow trails reminded me of his.

They had trails all around their habitat, just like his, and all they were doing was trotting around following each other around these trails.
It also reminded me of the little sheltie our family used to have, Mickey. She had worn a trail like that in the yard too, but in the grass and dirt, not in the snow. She liked to chase airplanes and was a little bit crazy.

It's kind of weird that we have wildish animals living in our houses when you think about it, isn't it?
Oh, and I've almost forgiven Sultan for tracking a whole bunch of stinky poop into the house on friday. Almost.