Nora Beth, My Finicky Eater

Nora Beth challenges me on a daily basis with her food demands. She wants to snack all day and not eat actual meals. She would also happily live off of Corn Flakes. Yes, just plain Corn Flakes, milk optional. I am always trying to find a way to get her to eat real food. She will not eat sandwiches. She insists on pulling all the parts of the sandwich apart, playing with them, then leaving them, very unappetisingly, on her plate.

I finally hit the jackpot with this lunch. I used to do this for Shianne. I made little cups out of bread - cut a circle, flattened bread, put in muffin cup and put into broiler to toast. I then put egg salad into the cups. She loved this! In fact she was so entertained that she even ate her veggies. I just love it when I can get her to eat without her thinking I am bribing her! Now, I just need to come up with more "filling" ideas other than egg salad.

25 Random Things About Me

Here are 25 random things about me, in no particular order.

1. I am TERRIFIED of moths
2. I have an obsession with cookbooks, I read them like literature
3. I CANNOT follow a recipe
4. I love my husband and the life we have created
5. I have two amazing daughters
6. I met my soul mate when I was 18
7. I dream of a culinary tour around the world
8. I WILL run a marathon
9. I love being pregnant, the ability to create life amazes me
10. I am passionate about my work
11. I still long to work with jewelry again
12. My husband lives in constant fear that I will purchase a home without consulting him...again!
13. I have amazing friends
14. I will throw a party for any reason
15. I love to work in the garden/yard
16. I love big belly laughs and need to do them more
17. I appreciate sleep much more as an adult
18. I collect and use my antique china
19. I have planned my next tattoo for several years
20. I do not like to drink coffee, although I love the smell of it
21. Horror films terrify me
22. I strive to make everyday a good day for my daughters
23. Macaroni and Cheese is the most incredible comfort food
24. I love big dogs
25. I have become a sports fan

So, did you learn anything about me?

Brian and Leslie Update

I posted last week about Lora's brother Brian and his fiance Leslie. They were finalists in a radio contest for a dream wedding package.

I am so happy to announce that they WON!!!!!!!! The package is worth about $23,000.00. It is going to be some wedding.

Congratulations Brian and Leslie....you deserve it!

TWD: Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread

It is Tuesday, so that means it is time for Tuesdays With Dorie! This weeks challenge of Fresh Ginger and Chocolate Gingerbread is brought to us by Heather of Sherry Trifle. I had some reservations about making this - I just was not in the gingerbread mood. We had some friends over for dinner on Friday night and I decided to just try this.

It came together quite easily. I baked for the designated 40 minutes and it was still not done. Eight minutes later, it was overdone. GRRR!

Before the frosting went on, I decided to trim off the overdone edges. I then drizzled the frosting on. It was so pretty and glossy.

I served this with some fresh whipped cream. It was tasty, but a little strong for me. The coffee the frosting competed to much with the ginger and chocolate for my tastes. The cake was not overly sweet and a nice compliment to our dinner.

TWD: Berry Surprise Cake

Life (and my stomach) has finally settled down enough for me to bake again. Yeah! I felt bad for missing almost a month of Tuesday's With Dorie. I am back on track with my whisk and oven.

This weeks treat is brought to us by Mary Ann of Meet Me In the Kitchen. She chose the Berry Surprise Cake. I had my reservations about baking this. First of all it called for fresh berries, something that is not in season here in Oregon in January. I was able to find some berries, non organic, and they cost me a small fortune - good thing I have not started the food budget yet! Second, this cake uses a large amount of heavy cream, delicious, but to rich for my stomach these days.

I baked the cake the night before. I was so careful with the eggs and treated them like the divas that they are and my cake still fell! UGH! I was not going to let this discourage me. The recipe called for cutting off the top layer of the cake and hallowing out the center. I chose to just hallow out the center and use the piece that I cut out on top to make it look like a tiered cake.

The cake came together easily. I was tempted to try it myself, but instead I sent it to work with Lamar to share during his inventory. It got rave reviews from his co-workers. I will try this cake again, but when berries are in season.

Geocache Hunt

We are going on a geocache hunt
We are going to find a great treat
We're not scared
What a beautiful day!

That simple song sums up our day today. A friend hid a geocache and sent the coordinates and some clues for friends to find it.

Our initial clues were: "Use your spider senses, climb up to get a better view, look past the large boulder just to the right, climb down and follow your view to some small boulders to find your buried treasure!" The GPS coordinates were also given.

Our first instinct was to head to Crooked House park because there is a large spider web to climb there and I know that there are some large boulders near the park. The girls and I looked and looked and could not find the prize. We finally decided to get the GPS from Lamar and try again. So back we headed to the park and found out that the GPS coordinates were not in Bush Park. I was now stumped. Where else in town has a large "spider climb toy?"

We start heading home and the coordinates are getting closer. Maybe the Gilbert house? Waterfront Park? Wallace Park? Orchard Heights Park? None of these were right. I was really stumped. We went home and used Google Earth. What a great tool that is. I was able to see exactly where this geocache was buried.

We headed to the new park at West Salem High School. We had not been there yet, although it is only a mile from our house. The first thing we see is the large rope "spider web" climb toy. Eureka! We are here. We quickly find the large boulder and then the small ones. We found the geocache. The girls were so excited. We signed the book, took a treat, and left a treat in exchange.

After the hunt was over, I let the girls climb for a few minutes. Nora Beth just loves to climb and she reached the top of the structure in no time. I got to thinking, "if she fell, she would be seriously hurt" so I made her come down and we headed home to make soup.

Vote for Brian and Leslie!

Brian is the brother of my dear friend Lora. He finally proposed to his girlfriend. They are finalists in a Portland radio station contest for a full wedding package. They are such a deserving couple. Follow the link and vote for them at the bottom of the page. You can vote as many times as you want, you just need to do a fresh page load between votes.

Shianne's Spa Party

Shianne had her 10th birthday party on Saturday night. She invited some friends over for a spa party. We made homemade lip gloss. I found this great kit that is locally made and included everything that was needed for the craft. This was a huge hit! The girls also made face masks and did pedicures. They had so much fun. It was great to hear their conversations. Although listening to them made me worry what it was going to be like when they are 16!

Later in the evening they made ice cream sundaes, watched movies and ate a very unhealthy amount of junk food. The girls then stayed for a sleepover. They were up until about 1 AM, when they finally crashed. I was surprised to hear them moving at 7 AM. That meant it was time for me to get up and make them breakfast. I made some banana stuffed french toast. Very yummy.

Everyone had a great time. Happy Birthday Shianne!

For the love of the pets

I may not post about them very often, but our pets are pretty important around this house. They are constant entertainment, always available for some cuddles and great companions for the family. Yes, they do eat a lot, are a hassle when we want to go away for the night and they keep me vacuuming and sweeping daily, but they are worth it.

When one of them gets sick, I go into panic mode. We noticed that Zara was biting and itching on Monday. I DO NOT live with fleas. I actually pride myself that we have not had a flea problem in over 11 years. I immediately bathed all animals and started washing all bedding and soft surfaces in the house. Again, I DO NOT live with fleas. I left the house for a bit on Thursday morning and all was fine. I came home to find Zara had bit so much at her hind quarters that she now had a very large open wound. Panic mode! I called the vet and rushed her in.

While driving, I was thinking of my friend Amy and her recent vet experience. We really like our vet. He believes in a more natural approach and does not charge a fortune, something that is very important to us since we tend to be at the vet more than the doctor for ourselves. Zara was excited to go for a ride, but she knew the building as soon as we pulled up and was now not so happy about this unexpected ride.

The vet checked Zara out and told me that there was NO SIGN OF FLEAS! Huge relief. It looks like she had been bit by something and she is having some sort of reaction to that bite. We were sent home with some antibiotics and some spray to help with itching and healing and told to call back if she was not better by Monday. Disastrous vet bill averted.

We made it home, Zara was dosed up on her meds and enjoyed the evening of being completely pampered by me. I need to find her a LARGE chew bone to keep her busy today.

Comments.....Anyone?

I get a report from my stat counter each week telling me how many people are looking at my blog and lots of other useless pieces of information. New people every day. Who knew my life would be so interesting? So with all these new people reading, why do only a handful of you leave comments? Let me know what you think. It is really easy to do so. I am listening.

ER Entertainment

On Saturday morning we had to make a quick trip to the ER. Lamar, my midwife and doctor all agreed that I needed to go in. Fortunately, everything was just fine and we left with smiles on our faces. While there, Lamar got silly and put an exam glove on his head....he makes a wife proud!

Baby Info

I have been getting so many phone calls and e-mails wanting info on the baby. So here is your info!

Yes, we are having a baby. We are not going to find out if it is a boy or a girl, we are just happy with the fact that, as far as we know, it is a healthy baby. I am not giving the exact due date, because I believe that baby will come when it is ready, regardless of the date. You can expect the little one to arrive at some point between mid July and mid August.

This pregnancy has already been so different from the girls and the girls were completely opposite experiences. I have had some morning sickness, although it hits me in the afternoon and evening and it has been no where as bad as it was with Shianne, but a little worse than Nora Beth. My biggest complaint is migraine headaches. I never had these with the other babies, although I have suffered from them since I was a teen. My only relief has come from acupuncture. The acupuncture has also made me feel much better in the afternoons. Grocery shopping is torture since my bloodhound sense of smell is in high gear. I CANNOT eat garlic, and I love garlic.

We are going to re-arrange the house to make room for this one. Lamar is moving his office to my office downstairs. My office will be moved into the bonus/craft room and the toys are just going to have to go into the kids rooms. Baby will get what was Lamar's office. I found some great paint colors and I will post pictures when I start the paining part of the project.

We are planning another home birth. This is what we did with Nora Beth and we want the same for this little one. I have a wonderful midwife that provides excellent care.

As for baby stuff, we are actually in pretty good shape. I saved everything from Nora Beth. I am searching for a new crib mattress and I have already picked out the cloth diapers I want.

I hope I touched on everything and answered your questions.

Shianne is 10

It seems unreal to me that I am old enough to have a child that has double digits in her age. Shianne turned 10 today. It blows us away how fast she is growing up. It is a tradition that the birthday girl gets to pick what she wants for dinner, Shianne, of course, chose her favorite sushi. I also had lunch with her at school today and brought cookies as a treat for her class. She is having her birthday party next weekend with her friends.

Nora Beth the Ballerina

Nora Beth has been on us since about birth to enroll her in "ballerina lessons." Well, her day finally came and her classes have begun. She was so excited to wear her new dance outfit. She did great listening to the teacher in class and figuring out what she was supposed to do. She did have a meltdown at the end of class when she found out that she would not be performing on the stage that day. She proclaimed "Ballerinas dance on stage, and I am a ballerina!" It was all I could do to keep from laughing. We will see what next weeks class brings.

Holiday Trip, Coming Home

We got up early on Saturday morning and said our goodbye's to the family and headed to Des Moines to fly back home. All was running smoothly. We were able to return the rental car with no problems and we arrived in the perfect amount of time for our noon departure.

We soon found out that our first flight was going to be delayed. Des Moines is a small airport and they do not keep mechanics on duty for the weekends. We had to wait for one to come in. We were boarded on the plane by 2 PM and were on our way, or so we thought. Apparently the problem with the ice sensor was not fixed and we were on our way back to the terminal. By 3 PM our flight was officially canceled and we needed to find a new way to get home. Now I already mentioned the small airport and no mechanic on duty, well there is also only one ticket/customer service agent on duty at a time for each airline. This created quite a wait. Saturday was also a very busy travel day and it was hard to find a flight for 4 to get us back to Portland.

We finally were able to get a flight to Denver and we were on our way around 5 PM, hoping that this would be the last of our travel problems. We just had to make our connecting flight in Denver at 10 PM. The agent got us some meal vouchers to use in Denver for our trouble.

The Denver airport was crazy busy. We got dinner for the girls and waited for our flight. 10 PM came and went. By midnight we were finally informed that there was a problem with the emergency slide on the plane, but the delay would not be much longer. The girls were really tired and cranky at this point. Nora Beth finally gave in and fell asleep. At 2 AM we were boarding our flight. Almost home!

We got our hopes up. We taxi out to the runway and the pilot announces that the left engine will not start, so we are heading back to the gate. Instead of deplaning, we stay on board for the next hour and a half while the engine problem is fixed. The problem is finally resolved and we are on our way again. The flight itself was uneventful. No turbulence and the girls slept the whole way.

Just as the pilot was approaching the Portland airport another problem was discovered. The front landing gear is not working. Not what we are wanting to hear. The pilot did his best to explain the situation to us and the flight crew prepared us for a possible crash landing. The pilot had called ahead for emergency crews to be ready for us. We were suddenly very happy that the emergency chutes were now working. We finally stop circling the airport and attempt the landing. When we looked outside the plane windows we could see all the emergency vehicles with their lights on. I joked with Lamar that Bruce Willis should be on this plane - it really looked like we were preparing for some big Hollywood stunt in an action film!

I woke Shianne up from her sleep so she would be in a better position for the landing. Fortunately she did not understand the situation we were in. The pilot lined up for his final approach and the silence in the plane was almost unbearable. You could not even hear people breathing. The pilot was able to get the front landing gear down just in time, but it would not lock into place properly. The pilot did land the plane without any major incident and the whole plane broke out in cheers and claps! We were finally on the ground and safe! The plane was escorted to the terminal by emergency vehicles - quite the grand entrance.

We got out of the airport as fast as possible. The drive home was very slow with ice on the freeway and very thick fog. We were so happy to see our house. We were finally home!

Holiday Trip, Day 14

Today marks the last full day of our trip. It was pretty laid back. The girls went and visited with some family friends and spent the rest of the day reading books and playing games. Lamar and I got us all packed up. I, of course, spent a good part of the afternoon sleeping.

When I woke up from my nap, I could not find Nora Beth. I looked all over and finally found her in Grandma Mary Ann's bed reading a book. She was so proud of herself up on Grandma's bed.

We will be leaving Creston around 8:30 in the morning for the drive to Des Moines Airport. We fly through Minneapolis to Seattle to Portland and should finally land around 6:30 PM. We have had a great time on this trip, but it feels good to be heading home.

Holiday Trip, New Years

We left the girls in Creston and headed to Des Moines to spend New Years Eve with friends from college. We had plans for a progressive party. We started off at one house with appetizers, then went to Cosi Cucina for a late dinner then headed to another house for drinks, games and dessert.

Lamar's friend had gone wild boar hunting and had his "trophy" mounted on the living room wall. Lamar thought this was great, I, of course, had a different idea. Lamar quoted Hannibal Lector all night long, just to get under my skin.

After a few drinks, Lamar thought it would be a good idea to get into the dog house. This obviously did not bother the the dog, Franklin, very much.

We had a great evening with our friends. Lots of drinks (water for me), games and Guitar Hero. I am still trying to convince Lamar to purchase a Wii. I think I am finally starting to break him down.

We were in bed by 3 AM. Got up early the next morning for a post-festivities breakfast and college football.


We made it back to Creston in the afternoon with just enough time for me to take a nap before we headed to Marie and Don's house. Another family function was planned there, this time with more "birth cousins" in town. It was fun to see more people that look like Lamar. There was an abundance of food and conversation, and of course, over stimulation for Nora Beth!

We were able to take a moment and get a picture of Shianne, Marie, Lamar, Nora Beth and Don. We had a great time visiting with all the new family.


It is tradition to make a resolution for the New Year. I always start off the year with the one that I am going to loose weight. Well I accomplished that one successfully last year, so it is time for a new one this year. Not only did I shed physical baggage last year, but also my fair share of emotional baggage came off with it also. This year I am going to concentrate on laughing more. I am slowing down my work and planning on spending more time with family and friends - laughing more. We have lots to look forward to this year and I want to enjoy every moment!