Last day of July 2010!

Today was a glorious summer day in Minnesota!  We started the day with our usual pancake breakfast and then it was off to work on the garage again.  Eric had to fiddle around with brick mold (which, I learned, has nothing to do with bricks) before starting the siding at our front door area.  He got the front door wall done and I think it looks pretty spiffy there now!  Now all I need is a new fall doormat and maybe a couple planters with baby pine trees and we’re all set!  Its gonna look FAB. 

After the kiddies took naps, we went out on the boat.  Aren’t we the luckiest?!  Don’t be jelly!  Oh, okay, you CAN be jelly.  I would be! 

Dylan is always kinda of hesitant to get in the water.  He was practically pushing me under water with his death grip around my neck.  I am sporting the life jacket as diaper look but you just can’t see it.

Actually got him to smile for once!  Its a miracle!

Avery’s turn to swim!  She didn’t want to at first either.  

Then she started warming up to the idea….

Dylan being silly on the boat.

 

The boat had gotten away from us so I had to kick back.  She liked that.

She may have a look of displeasure on her face (thats Avery for ya!), but she actually did NOT want to get out.  We kept trying to talk her into it because I wanted out (someone kept saying, “Oh!  I see weeds!” and  “Oh! Look over there!  A snapping turtle!” ) but Avos wasn’t having it.  She wanted to SWIM!

Eric was pleased when a relative of the dragonfly landed on my head.  I was not.

Look how lovely it was out there today!  Aren’t we the luckiest?!

What a stud.

Me and my children.  Modeling my new swimmy!  You liiiiiiiiike??!

What a handsome young man.

 

Another failed attempt at a family photo.  Dang it Avos!! ; )

Well, I have something FABULOUS to share with you all tomorrow on the food front.  Its major.  I know, I know, how are you supposed to sleep now with this hanging over your head?!  Good things come to those who wait!

Fitness (and food) Friday

This week is all about pushups!  A bunch of us started a pushup challenge mid June that was definitely an intense upper body challenge.  We followed the 100 pushup program located at hundredpushup.com.  (hyperlink isnt working for some reason – grrrrr Blogger!  grrrr)  The program is designed to get you do 100 pushups in a row, on your toes in 6 weeks.  While we all definitely got stronger – I don’t know that any of us can do 100 in a row.  However, we definitely can do 100 pushups over the course of 5 sets with 60-120 seconds of rest in between.  So I think we definitely accomplished something!  Only problem is that we all kind of fell off the wagon while at Cass Lake.  So it looks like we’ll be starting over!  So this would be the perfect time for others to join in!  Who wants in?  We start Monday!  Even if you can’t do ONE pushup on your toes – that’s okay.  This program is even for beginner pushup-ers!  Seriously!  Have a look over the program and let me know what you think.  It is pretty intense starting at week 3 or so, but it definitely was fun to challenge myself (and I think everyone else who did it can agree on that) and also to see my strength increase.  Before I started, I could do 15 pushups on my toes with good form.  I think now I can at least do 30 – maybe 40 on my toes.  So, lets give it a try people!  You can doooooo eeeeeet!

        Here I am demonstrating and dealing with my usual obstacles.  I find its better to do them during naptime! : )

 

Also, lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions from people wonder what it is I am eating.  So, since I have a blog and I have an opinion – guess I better state it, right!?  However, I’m finding that taking pictures of food is not as easy as you would think.  Lighting and dishes are a BIG factor and I haven’t ideal dishes OR lighting.  So bear with me.  First up, is a typical Trishy snack.  This is Chobani Greek Yogurt, granola and raspberries.  Chobani Greek Yogurt is THE BEST when it comes to greek yogurt.  I like it because it has double the amount of protein compared to regular yogurt and since my kids don’t eat a lot of meat some days – I like that they get protein from this yogurt.  Its deeeelish!   

This is the granola that I used on top of the yogurt.  Its awesome!  I actually got it at Walmart, if you can believe that.  Their health food section keeps getting bigger and bigger and I am very pleased about that!  Now if they could just get more checkers…

Here is a side dish I’ve been enjoying the past few days.  No one else ate them, but whatever.  I don’t care!  Their loss!  Actually, I made Eric try one and he didn’t say he didn’t like it.   Anyway, these are kale chips.  All you do is tear the leaves of the kale off of the stem (wash them first of course).  Tear them into chip size pieces.  Put them on a baking sheet and top them with a little olive oil (I used my Misto sprayer so that they were lightly coated) and some salt and pepper.  Put them in a 300 degree oven for 10-15 minutes and then flip them over and put them back in for another 10-15 minutes.  Watch them though – cuz I could see them burning quite quickly.  They are crispy and crunchy and strangely addictive!  I ate the whole pan! : ) Here is another staple around here.  Quinoa.  Its a lovely protein laden grain.  Love it!  Its very versatile and easy to be creative with.  I love it with veggies and black beans especially.

I had to laugh because this picture makes it look like we are eating raw ground beef!  See – I told you food pictures were hard!  Its actually quinoa that is topped with tomato sauce, broccoli, roasted chicken and a little cheese on top.  Delish as well! 

     Did you know that Walmart carries Muir Glen Organic products?! Seriously – Walmart is moving up on my list! 

And finally, sweet potatoes.  Avery LOVES sweet potatoes, so I like to make them often for her since she seems to turn her nose up at broccoli (Dylan’s favorite veggie) unless its hidden in something else (like the quinoa dish).  For last night’s dinner, I just thinly sliced them into discs, coated them in olive oil (using the Mister again) and baked them at 425 degrees until I decided they were done! LOL.  I have no idea how long they were in there.  I just like them to get toasted but they can go from toasted to burnt pretty quickly.  Avery’s are more mushy tho.   Well, thats it for this week!  Sure wish I could figure out how to get a different comment program on here so I could comment back to you all.  I found one, but I kept getting a message saying that my computer blocks the program from doing something, yada yada yada – whatever that means.  So I guess until I figure something out, I will just comment back on FB if I post the link to this over there.

   Have a lovely day everyone! 

Well, quit your poopin’ then!

Brutus is up to no good again!  Not surprising, I know.  She figured out how to get past the stair barrier, so we’re back to square one.  Currently there is a couch in front of the stairs and clearly, that is not going to work (remember how I sprained my ankle a few days ago – can’t imagine trying to maneuver over a couch to get up and down the stairs).  I’m wondering at what point can we trust the little monkey on the stairs?  Its a long flight of stairs and for her to fall down from the top – that would NOT be good.  Especially because A) she’d most likely get hurt and B) she’d probably cry forever.  I don’t know which would be worse.  She really does have quite the attitude for an almost 14 month old.  Once something makes her mad – you hear about for a LONG time.  As I’m typing this, she is chewing on a tube of diaper cream (the top of it is flipped open too).  Do I dare take it away from her?  I know what will happen if I do!  She’ll launch into a fit of rage (baby version of rage is screaming, red face, big breaths, sometimes laying on the floor face down kicking) that goes on and on.  And don’t even get me started on diaper changes.  I have to mentally prepare for smelling a wave of stink because I know what comes next.  And its not something that happens every so often – she screams for every diaper change.  We don’t even bother to change the pee ones.  You really have to decide what is most important – keeping your eardrums in tact or Avery wearing a very absorbant diaper for longer than she should (believe me – those babies hold A LOT).  So, what do you think – when can we ditch the barriers all together and let her at ‘em?  When were your babies okay on stairs?  I really can’t remember when Dylan became a stair master (come on!  That’s funny!).  Annnnnnnnd discuss.

Mamma Mia to the rescue!

Yesterday I was having one of those days.  You know the kind, fellow moms.  There was nothing that could be done to get me out of my funk.  Dylan had once again turned his nose up at the food I had made him (apparently Kraft macaroni and cheese is better than Amy’s macaroni and cheese and Dylan would know – he’s a mac and cheese expert, after all) and refused to eat lunch.  I twisted my ankle trying to climb over the stair barrier because I blindly stepped down onto a toy (while carrying Avery, no less) and proceeded to fall straight to the ground.  Both children found delight in my pain.  Then my tomato plants tipped over and I lost 6 perfectly good tomatoes in the process (not to mention I found 2 more tomatoes infected with the mysterious fungi issue.)  Oh and it was SO humid out too, so it was extra awesome dealing with these issues while standing in what felt like a sauna.  I was in a BAD mood.  What’s a mama to do when she is super crabby besides start drinking at 1 pm?  That’s right – its time for a Mamma Mia dance party.  My mom’s advice for getting out of a bad mood fast is to turn on music – so we did just that.  I would say that 99 percent of the time, this works.  Before I knew it, I was laughing so hard I was crying.  Bad mood gone!  Here are my little mood lifters dancing:  (please excuse their ensembles – Dylan picks his own outfits these days and Avery prefers various states of undress.  Her hair – well, thats another story.)

 

   Oh and the reason this video is so long is b/c I like the part in the beginning where Avery gives me a look for telling her to sit down (she was already dizzy from the first  couple of tunes I played) and the part at the end where I cannot control my laughter and the  camera shakes like crazy.                                  

Prepping for Preschool

Well, I finally got Dylan signed up for preschool in the fall.  He will be attending the Learning Tree Preschool in Brainerd on Mondays and Thursdays for 2.5 hours in the mornings.  I think this will probably turn out to be the perfect transition for him.  Not too many days away from his mommy (for his sake and mine!) and he gets to make friends and learn how to interact better with kids his own age.  Since he’s been home with me this whole time, he really has only interacted with his cousins and other family members.  Its time he venture away from the nest for a bit.  But, with that said, we do have some things we need to work on before he goes.  After all, we don’t want to look like a couple of chumps as parents!  First and foremost – his habit of relieving himself wherever he feels like.  The last straw was at Cass Lake after Avery and Easton’s baptism.  We were all gathered around the grills and the picnic table making dinner.  Pastor Bruce and his wife Esther were there, so it wasn’t like it was just family.  Dylan whips it out and pees right then and there in front of everyone, giggling as he did it.  Eric and I were pretty much mortified.  Dylan was immediately put in a time out (which really does nothing, we’ve learned).  Since then, we’ve been trying to explain to him why he can’t do that anymore.  But we really need to kick it into high gear now because the last thing I need is to be picking him up from school and having his teacher tell me he whipped it out on the playground.  That would be bad.  Another thing we need to work on – explaining how people can look different than us.  For instance, color of skin and body types/appearances.  Yesterday at the grocery store, an African American woman and her baby went by us with their cart and Dylan said to me rather loudly, “Why is that baby’s skin all black?!”  I wanted to crawl in a hole and DIE!  This also reminds me of the time we were at the store and there was an older, somewhat unattractive woman next to us in the aisle.  Dylan says to me within her earshot, “Whats that guy doin’?”  I ignored him and hoped he’d be quiet.  Nope, kept asking.  “MOM! Whats that GUY doin?!?”  Finally, she said, “You think I look like a guy?  I guess I’m not very pretty, so I guess I can see how you’d think I look like a guy.”  Shoot. Me.  So anyway, we have some stuff to work on.  I can’t believe he’s off to school though this fall.  I really feel like he was JUST a baby like Avery.  She’s just now starting to talk more and I feel like it was just yesterday that Dylan was learning to talk.  Now he’s almost off to school! He’s growing up way too fast! : (

 

 

 

 

  

 

Bye Bye Bob!

Eric decided it was time to start siding the rest of the garage this weekend.  Its been covered in “Bob’s Lumber” paper since October, so I’m quite glad that this is finally happening.  I’m sick of looking out the window and seeing Bob.  And I’m sure that people passing by are happy to see the end of Bob as well!  He was quite the eyesore. 

  Dylan was the foreman, as usual.  I was the supervisor.  Avery just walked around and looked pretty. 

Here is some of the progress!  You’re outta here Bob!

 

 

It was a good thing I was there to help or Mr Eric would have screwed up a few times.  I know of only one mistake made.  But I saved him from a few others!  You’re welcome, honey! : ) I enjoyed listening to the explanations and instructions on putting up siding.  It was like watching my very own episode of Holmes on Homes right here before my eyes! 

  Dylan took the opportunity to snap a few pics. 

Do you see anyone in this pic????

 

 

Dylan is checking his work to make sure it is correct.  If we wouldn’t have been there – I dunno how this would have turned out. ; )

Avos couldn’t believe how exciting putting up siding was! 

They both enjoyed the box that the new swing came in more than the swing itself!  Only kidding, Gpa Danny!  They like it…

Dylan declared this “the peanut box.”  “Because this is where we eat peanuts.”  And yes, I am aware that Avery is too young for peanuts because she could choke, but you try telling that to her!  This is Brutus we’re talking about here!  You tell her no and you could get bitten or screamed at!  I pick my battles.  However, I know for a fact that she wasn’t chewing all of them up.  Mom detective work…if you know what I mean. ; )

 

Avery decided that instead of a haircut (her bangs are getting kinda long) that we might go this route instead for a bit and see how it goes.  Only problem is her hair is super fine like mine and barrettes tend to just slip right out.  So we’ll see.  I’m testing out the waters on my little guinea pig. 

 

Here is the new swing from Grandpa Danny!  We’re liking it so far!  Just needs a little sandpaper and some stain and we’ll be all set.

I don’t care what Eric says – its still a nice view even with the rice.  Just imagine what it COULD look like though.  Sigh.

Here is the new and improved view out my kitchen window!  Eric says he “spoiled” me today by doing this portion first so I didn’t have to look at Bob anymore while standing at the sink.  How sweet of him!

 

And here is the finished front portion.  Is it too late to go with plan B, Eric?  Cuz now I’m starting to think that a different siding on top might look better.  ???

Well, that’s it for now.  Time to get these kiddies in bed and reeeeellllllaaaaxxxx. 

Under Construction

Please bear with me while I’m under construction.  My old background disappeared on me the other day so something had to be done about it!  It was time anyway.  I have no idea what to do about the jumbled state of my previous posts tho.  Does anyone know?  Short of going back and redoing them all?  Cuz that doesn’t sound too fun.  Hopefully I can get this all straightened out in the next few days!