The Mother of Geese

I got a new 11 cup cuisinart for Christmas so any excuse I can make to chop something will be the order of business this week. Here goes: Thursday: Asparagus frittata Friday: Out with the Phillips Saturday: Asian chop salad Sunday: Lentil soup, cheddar cheese rolls Monday: Cranberry Glazed turkey Tuesday: Turkey pitas with tzatzki dressing Wednesday: Margherita pizza, salad It is the funnest appliance I have right now. And yeah! that I get to use it every night for dinner next week!

Here is Abbie waiting patiently for Daddy to wake up. It should be noted that the clock said 7:50 am. Not at all an unreasonable hour. Next picture you can see the 3 "kids" waiting patiently to see what was waiting downstairs. Abbie was the first to spot the pickle making her the first to open a present. Amelia is one of those people that need her morning drink before she is going to do any interacting with you at all. I think this is mid-milk.

If you have a few moments to spare in the next 2 days I would highly recommend visiting elfyourself.com. Amelia totally looked like a little old man elf and I was laughing pretty hard. My favorite is the random clapping for no reason.

Snow Angel #1 Snow Angel #2 Look in the window and you can see Melia out the window...

So I was talking to Abbie about what she wanted to ask Santa for Christmas. I thought it might be helpful for me to have an idea so I could let Santa know. Our conversation went something like this: Abbie: I can't tell you, its a secret. Mommy: I won't tell anyone, I promise just whisper it in my ear Abbie: Ok (Abbie comes up to my ear and whispers...) Abbie: Meow, meow, meow, mow, meow. Mommy: I don't understand kitty language, please tell me in Abbie language. Abbie: Nope, Its a secret. Crap. I'm in trouble.

Meet Abigail Maude. Her mom had to buy a special kind (read $10.00) of lipstick for one performance. Its not really her mom's color choice. Abigail Maude has worn it nonstop. Its a good thing her dad is not home. Its probably not really his color choice either.

I saw this news article. Let's go ahead and file this one away in the "Parent- of- the- year- missing- the- main- point- file". COLUMBIA , S.C. - A fed-up mother had her 12-year-old son arrested for allegedly rummaging through his great-grandmother's things and playing with his Christmas present early. The mother called police Sunday after learning her son had disobeyed orders and repeatedly taken a Game Boy from its hiding place at his great-grandmother's house next door and played it. He was arrested on petty larceny charges, taken to the police station in handcuffs and held until his mother picked him up after church. "My grandmother went out of her way to lay away a toy and paid on this thing for months," said the boy's mother, Brandi Ervin. "It was only to teach my son a lesson. He's been going through life doing things ... and getting away with it." Police did not release the boy's name. The mother said that...

Amelia, the Fullers, Santa, Grandma and Grandpa were there to show their support for Abbie.

Abbie had her first and last dance recital last night. She has decided that she doesn't love her ballet/tap class (because they always do the same steps...) I was thrilled with her teacher, the curriculum, the school but she would rather express herself in other forms. I have mentioned before that she loves art. I signed her up for lessons with Ms. Marlene and she is thrilled. If she is angry with Brad or I she will go and draw a picture of one of us with raindrops only falling on our heads. She performed at UVSC. Here are a few pictures from her big moment on stage.

The girls "were able" to come with me to my Monday morning meeting at DP. My bribe for Abbie for her to be a good girl has always been a donut on the way home. Little Melia earned one and was pretty excited. I thought it was so cute how she could sit and eat with a little smirk on her face.

"All I ever really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt" Lucy Van Belt in Peanuts

I have kind been a little bah buggin hum about putting Christmas up because it is a lot of work and it is tough to not have it already feel so cluttery in the house, but Abbie has been talking me into it. Brad keeps saying less is more which I think is so stupid because less is less and when have I ever done anything "less". Every year we say we are going to replace our sad little Charlie Brown Christmas tree, and every year I keep dragging it up the stairs. Part of the problem is that I would love one of those cool retro aluminum tree which are about a billion dollars, or I really love those (albeit slightly tacky) white funky trees that I am seeing lately. In any event, Abbie was a great help in gettting me in the mood because now there is no stopping the Christmas cheer at 594 Harvest Moon

When I was little, I remember my brother Rob and I making a couple of crank calls. (I know he's going to deny, deny, deny...but that would be a lie, lie, lie) The first one of course was the refrigerator running one and the next one I remembered when I looked at this picture: Rob: Is Mr. Wall there? Crankee: No Rob: Is Mrs. Wall there? Crankee: No Rob: Are there any Walls there? Crankee: No Rob: Then how do you hold the roof up? (Rob and Heather hurry and hang up while in fits of laughter.) Bummer about caller-ID because our kids will never have that fun. Anyway, we now have something to hold the walls up, and Mr. and Mrs. Wall are definately in our basement.

Nathan, our fabulous paint guy came over to help Brad and I chose the paint for our basement. He knows I am not a "beige girl", and he really does a great job. We are excited for "salt bush" walls in the famiy room, "wild grasses" in Brad's office, and "maision blanche" in the guest bedroom. The drywallers have done a great job-all they have left to do is sand (yuck, big mess) and texture. Then its paint time! I can't wait.

This week is going to be a bit of a repeater since I did not get to all the eating that we wanted to..so here goes Thursday: French Dip Sandwiches, oven fries Friday: Shrimp in Cuban Mojito Sauce, black beans Saturday: French bread pizza Sunday: Cheese tortellini wih sundried tomato sauce Monday: Quiche-have been craving it like crazy lately, and yes real men to eat it... Tuesday: Jeans white bean chili (I keep forgetting to soak my beans...grrrr) Wednesday: Cranberry chicken in the crockpot Happy Family Dinner times!

Don't tell me that my baby isn't talented. While sitting on the pot this afternoon she had my camera (?....let's not ask why it was in the bathroom. Promise we don't take potty party pictures...)She was so excited to take a few pictures for the blog. Here they are. She would love you to comment on her skills. My favorite is the self portrait at the top

Amelia really liked the crunch of the snow on her feet. I really liked taking the picture from the semi-warm garage. By the by, I ordered my seed catalog today. Spring will come soon, right?

Here is a picture of Abbie several years ago enjoying one of the finer things in life: Mac n Cheese. Thursday: Dinner at Aunt Granny's house yummy! Friday: Mel's Enchiladas Saturday: Loaded baked potato soup Sunday: Roast, cranberry sweet potatoes Monday: Shimp in Cuban Mojito Sauce, black beans Tueday: Orange Molasses Glazed Chicken Wednesday: Jean's White Bean Chili I wanted to send a shout out once again to my favorite cooking show Everyday Food on PBS, for providing the recipe for Tuesday and I would surely be nothing without my stash of secrets from Trader Joe's. I'm thinking I'm going to have to make a road trip to Vegas soon to stock up again though.

Saturday the Guernsey's called to reschedule dinner for Sunday. I had just watched an episode of Everyday Food (the BEST cooking show ever!) and they featured a lovely recipe for flank steak. Usually Brad does not love london broil etc because it tends to be TOUGH, but I bought one a while ago that was on sale (4.00 people) and threw it in the freezer and sort of forgot about it until I bought turkeys this week (Read 4 turkeys). It turned out pretty good. I had the rest of it on a salad for lunch today. Definately a winner. Rolled Flank Steak Serves 4; Prep Time: 30 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes 1 1/2 pounds flank steak 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup) 4 scallions, sliced (1/3 cup) 2 ounces (1/4 cup) roasted re...

Today Abbie came home from playing with friends in tears because they wouldn't let her in the club. (GRRRRRRRRR some little girls are the WORST ) As a mother, I want to protect her and shield her from all that drama. I think she is brilliant , talented , and lots of fun . Case in point: Yesterday she was riding in the front seat with me while we went to go get Daddy from the office in AF. There is a new fabulous radio station that I am so rolling with right now called "movin' 100.7" and Funky town came on. My baby girl knew all the words and was singing it with all her heart. It was especially cute because she still has a hard time with the f sound so it came out as Sunky Town. I thought to myself she is the coolest kid in my funky town (She also likes to sing Justin Timberlake "Get your sassy on"), and for the record she always welcome in my club.

Brad is the smartest boy in the world. If this computer gig doesn't work out for him he could totally be Bob the Builder. Look what he did! The framing, plumbing, electrical, and air-totally passed! Onto Drywall!

I'm sick. Don't let the big smile on my face fool you. I'm sick. My mom has to bribe me with suckers after she holds me down to wipe my boogs. Take me seriously. I'm sick. Really. I feel horrible. I have a sore throat and I cough. This is how grumpy I am when I'm sick. Watch out. I'm sick.

So since Thanksgiving is next week I am going to buy several turkeys (I think they are like 7.00 at Smiths) Even though I am not going to cook Thankgiving dinner, Brad still wants my turkey (its brined in white wine and spices) so I am going to make Jean's white chilli with turkey next week and Melanie's turkey pasta in 2 weeks. Here's what we are looking at for this week: Thursday: Chicken Pesto calzone, salad Friday: Janet's 3 bean soup (it has a can of refried beans, can of black beans, can of kidney beans, and a jar of salsa. that's it), corn bread Saturday: Waffles, sausage Sunday: Dinner with the Guernsey's Monday: Cod in Piccata sauce Tuesday: Broccoli stuffed potatoes Wednesday: Mushroom, barley soup Looks like it will be a pretty simple week. Abbie is four months old in the picture, but she's never to young to dislike food on her head.

Abbie's preschool got cancelled today because Ms. Nicholle wasn't going to be in town. Abbie felt like doing "projects". I love it when she gets in her mood to clean because she just goes at it (btw yesterday I came home from Visit Teaching and she had a chair up to the fridge and she was wiping it down with the stainless steel wipes). So far this morning: she washed the dishes from breakfast, windexed the back door, wiped down the walls, cleaned my table, and she is still going strong. Its Tuesday Tub day so I might unleash her willingness on the bathrooms. (She just asked for my help in taking out the garbage. Gosh, can't she do that?!)

Amelia is definately my little reader. I heard from someone (Margaret Wise Brown maybe?) that if you read to a child 3 books a day, they will be exposed to 1,000s of books by the time they go to kindergarten. I believe I am already at that number with Amelia. She will follow me around all day with books. She will grab one and start laughing and follow you until you stop what you are doing and read to you. Anytime anyone sits down on the couch she takes that as a sign for "book time" and will get one for you. (As I am writing this Brad is trying to watch Sunday Night Football and is reading My Pretty Kitty to Amelia.) Her favorites are Pat the Bunny, Blue Hat Green Hat, Good Dog Carl, and Where is Baby. She has several toy boxes filled to the hilt that day after day go untouched because she is sittiing in a corner reading a book or waiting for you to sit down so you can read her one.

I know, I know, when you looked and the title of the blog you might have thought I was another one of those thoughtless people who skips Thanksgiving and just heads right for Christmas. I'm not really, but I do like to start thinking of some things in advance so I can start shopping the sales, getting something before they are gone (ahem, cellaphane bags and ribbon...) When we moved to Apple Grove I was shocked, amazed, horrified at all the neighbor gifts that we got by people who we didn't even know (Merry Christmas Donaldsons, Daniels family etc..). Not that I wasn't into the Christmas spirit or anything but I kind of just sat there and ate the treats and didn't do much in the way of reciprocating. Last year I was the FIRST to go around with my neighbor gifts (I made holiday bark with pistasios and cranberrys) and pledged that if I got something later from someone I forgot we would just include them next year. I guess I grew up in a neighborhood where you did the Chri...

On Thursday night we had HOA meeting for our neighborhood and I was elected to serve a three year term on the board along with this other dude. It will be interesting to see how my democratic biases will be taken here...(Power to the people! Down with big business....er I mean Richmond America! Plant trees! Recycle!) It should be interesting

So I might have mentioned that I was planning on making a pumpkin pie from scratch a few weeks ago from a pumpkin that I bought at our fruit stand. Well, I did it and I can't believe how incredibly easy it was--I am not ever going to use pumpkin in a can again. (Well I will probably keep on using it for cookies and ravioli but probably not the pie anymore...) The texture was a little thicker, but it had a very natural sweet flavor. Brad said: "It was the best pie I have ever had..." That is pretty huge since I come from a long line of great pie makers. I had some cinnamon ice cream that I topped it with. If I do it again, I would like to maybe try to do something with the pumpkin seeds-maybe a praline topping...Who knows...Very nice. Here is the recipe I used. (Jean, girl you have GOT to try this...you can do it!) 1 cup ...