On Being Domesticated...

This past week I have been cheffing it up a lot more than the weeks before and we have been richly rewarded. I just hope not in pounds!

Last week we had chicken and sausage gumbo (good old standby), corn chowder (this new recipe by The Pioneer Woman was way yummier than the Hip Chick's Macrobiotic corn chowdah we cooked originally 6 years ago and that was pretty darn good!)

We feasted on this Friday as well as the best fudge I've ever had! I saw a post on HEAB's blog about easy 2 ingredient fudge and while I am not a fudge person because it is usually so sweet that my tastebuds go numb after the first bite, Heather's recipe sounded yummy because it involves Coconut Milk and I am a huge fan of Anything Coconut! I melted a bag of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao bittersweet chocolate chips and stirred in a can of unsweetened coconut milk and a dash of organic vanilla! I poured it into a glass dish greased with coconut oil and let it cool for a couple of hours. Then we dug in with the spoons. The fudge was not thick enough to cut into squares but it tasted so good by the spoonful. It tasted very similar to Michael Chiarello's chocolate fondue (which involves red wine!) It's not too sweet and I may try it on some oatmeal if it's around long enough...

Random Act of Kindness or Jedi Mind Trick?

Friday night we were at Walmart taking advantage of the non-crowded hour to shop for groceries while the oldest kidlet was on a play date with a friend. I was trundling down an aisle when David noticed a balloon stuck on the ceiling. He asked the woman behind us if she could get that balloon for him. I watched her and her teenage daughter try to jump for it (the string was about 12 feet up) to no avail. I told them that it was really unnecessary, that the balloon wasn't his and please don't bother.

That must've sounded like a challenge because the daughter proceeded to get into the cart to try to reach the string and when that was no good, she stood in the child seat of the cart. I nervously looked around for Walmart security and told them to please be careful and that it REALLY was not necessary while imagining her smashing her brains all over the cake mix aisle when she stood on the cart handle!

By then Scott and Aubri were on the other side of this circus and I kept telling him to get her down while her mom was steadying her and she JUST REACHED THE STRING (and didn't take a spill). A small crowd had formed (with no Walmart employees to be found) by the time she dismounted from the cart, sashayed over to David and tied this balloon to his wrist. Wow! All I can say is I hope he doesn't abuse this power he has over women!

Celebration

Finding Her Voice

My sweet little almost 2 year old girlie has changed so much in the past 5 months. When she joined our family the only words she said were "Up" and "Bite" and that got her pretty much what she needed. Big Brother was good about speaking for her. These days when he tries, he doesn't get very far because she's talking so much! Some of the more recent sentences that have cracked me up:

"Oatmeal? I wanted a cheeseburger." (In response to big sister telling her that she made oatmeal for dinner)

"I have pockets." (Good observation, baby girl!)

At a restaurant the other night she was waving goodbye to a lady and she said "Goodbye,Cheryl" thinking she was a friend of ours. When Daddy laughed and said "That's not Cheryl. That's funny!" Aubri said "No, it's not."

The other day after we were all discussing David's big birthday party and cakes and gifts, Aubri was singing her ABC's all the way through (3 times!!!) and I told her "Wow! Good Girl!" and went on praising her and David paused and said "Hey it's my birthday!" (as in back to me)

Right now she's singing "Happy Birthday to me!" (APPA BUR-DAY to me)...so cute...she is stoked about turning 2...

Winfield Camping 2010

What I miss about Winfield:

• being bunched up together as a family in the camper
• the live music
• hanging out with family and friends
• festival food

What I don't:

• being bunched up together as a family in the camper
• porta potties
• outdoor showers
• hippie feet
• sweating
• the tornado
• the hospital staff (even though they were super hospitable)
• festival food

We followed a pretty nasty thunderstorm into town and were told that a tornado touched down 5 miles east of camp right before we got there. Good thing we were running late! There was no power but the temps were nice and cool so getting to sleep was no problem. The next day we hung out around camp most of the day only venturing out to the midway for meals. Emi ended up with a sore throat and fever on Thursday afternoon so we took her to the ER Friday after she wasn't better. The doc said she didn't have strep but he was concerned about her ears so we left with a script for antibiotics. She finally felt better by Saturday afternoon. Might have had something to do with her cousins being there and also her bike calling out to her.



The Little Ones enjoyed playing with their cousins around the camp site and being pulled around the festival and camp sites in their wagon. We enjoyed our fair share of home made ice cream and country breakfasts too. The music was great at our site and neighboring sites as well, and on Stage 5 too. Hopefully next year we will have a bigger camper with a private bathroom and shower...