Logan's First Haircut

Last week was finally time for Logan's first haircut. He had this amazingly cute little curly que on the back of his neck which I was going to leave for a while longer, but Logan is at that "I like to put food in my hair as styling gel" point in his life. I was always pulling chunks of food out of his hair. Yulk.

Well, he did not take it like a man at all. He cried and carried on through the entire three minute haircut. He even had his pacifier quivering while it was in his mouth. I really wish I could have video taped it, but I ended up having to hold him while they finished.

We went to the same place that I had taken Alexis and I got a little certificate with a picture of him crying (so cute), the date, his name and a lock of his hair so I can put it in his baby book (which I really should start some day).

But it is all over and he looks quite handsome. Here are some pictures from his ordeal.

Doesn't he look cute? He wouldn't sit still in the little car or on the dinosaur.

They tried blowing bubbles and handing him toys to distract him, but nothing worked.

Post ordeal sitting in his stroller. Isn't he handsome?

All that haircutting really wiped him out and he crashed on the four minute drive home.

Daft Bodies

There is this video going around You Tube called "Daft Bodies" that has two girls dancing to a song and they have the lyrics to the song written on their bodies. As they move they show the words to the song in order that it is sung. Very original and very creative. They even have letters written on their hands to make new words that are on the other person's arm.

Well, Katya is currently obsessed with trying to learn all the moves that these girls are doing in the video and I have heard this song umpteen many times at this point. It is easy to locate Katya at track meets or in front of the school because I look for the girl dancing like a robot.

The other day Katya and a girlfriend were over here and were trying to re-create the video. Only, Katya used the only non-washable marker in the whole bucket of markers. She has had those lyrics on her body for nearly a week now. I shouldn't laugh, but I can't help myself.

I love having a teen and watching her with all these little obsessions of hers.

Free Tote!

I got this off of another blogger's blog, but I think she would be good with me sharing it.

Earthbound Farms has a neat little quiz that you can take on their website and if you score at least a 9 out of 10 on it, they will send you a fabulous little reusable tote.

Who can't use another one of these? I have four in the car for running into stores from Trader Joes, I have one at home holding Alexis' shoes, I use another for hauling around my paperwork for the days that I go into Bob's office. I even got some from COSTCO for when I do my shopping there. They are awesome!

And every little bitty bit helps the environment.

Crock Pot Recipe: BBQ Pork for Sandwiches

A couple of months ago I was at the supermarket and they were having an insane sale on pork shoulder. It was less than $1 a pound with my club card. I had no idea what to do with a pork shoulder, but for that price I could find a recipe and experiment. Love my All Recipes.com (sort by rating and get the best recipes!)

This is SOOOOOOOOOOO easy and it turned out so yummy!

Great for a weekend dinner or if you are expecting a bunch of people and you need to feed them something good, but you don't want to stand at the grill the whole afternoon. Put on some onion rolls and enjoy!

BBQ Pork

2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1. Put defrosted pork shoulder in crock pot.

2. Add all of the ingredients to the crock pot and cook on Low for 7 - 10 hours. About an hour or two before you want to serve it, get two forks and shred the meat. Let the shredded meat simmer until you are ready to serve so it can soak up all the yummy flavors.

Can it get much easier?

Freedom Writers

Wow. This was an amazing movie about some amazing kids and one amazing teacher.

Very powerful.

But the one person in the house that was most profoundly affected by this movie? Katya.

At the end of the movie she just got mad as could be at the babies for making noise during the climax. It was then that I realized that she had tears streaming down her face. She was so moved by their stories and what that teacher did to bring about real change in those kids.

Then we watched some of the "extra" stuff that was on the DVD and saw the picture of the real teacher and her real students. These kids were 14 when they started telling their stories of hurt, broken homes, homelessness, having to choose sides, risking their lives every day just to do everyday things. And this was in Long Beach, CA not some New York slum that we never saw and that you can sweep out of your mind. My paternal Grandparents lived in Long Beach and we have been there many times.

This became real for her.

She is all revved up to go and find a copy of that book to read and I would like to read it after her. If you have a teen, I highly recommend it. It is an amazingly powerful true story. There is profanity and some violence, but it is in context with their lives so it is not overboard.

Bam Bam

You wouldn't know it from looking at him. He looks cute and sweet and cuddly. And he is.

But this little guy is also quite the bruiser! We have taken to calling him Bam Bam.

What do I mean exactly? He loves to break things. He is insanely strong and we are finding it more and more difficult to keep him out of things.

- He has already systematically broken every single child safety latch on the kitchen cupboard doors from slamming the doors open until they let him in. Bob had to put knobs on and I have new safety latches on them. I hope they hold. I had caught him eating beef boullion cubes last week. Yulk.

- He can open the freezer door (freezer on the bottom fridge). Alexis can't even open the freezer door! He will open it and start pulling things out of the freezer and throwing them on the floor. I have a new appliance latch on that now too.

- When he gets mad, he will pick up his toys (some pretty big) and heave them across the floor.

- He is currently trying to figure out how much pressure our safety gates can handle. He will stand there and shake them back and forth with as much strength as he has got. I keep waiting for drywall to start spewing all over the place.

Boys are different! I thought that Katya and Alexis were quite the ruffians, but MAN! Logan has them beat with pure strength and stubbornness.

Those of you that have boys - any suggestions for channeling his powers towards good and not evil?

Toddlers + TV = Sanity

Ok, I already know that I am a bad mom.

I was mentally and physically prepared to have one more child when I was 35, but not two in two years. Add to that the constant bickering, taking of toys, crying, crying and more crying - it can easily put me onto my last nerve.

Add to that this insane cold and flu season that has left us pretty much housebound for months (I am one of those moms that doesn't take their kids places when they are sick). When everyone is healthy, we are out almost every morning. We either go to a playdate, a play place, a walk, the park, the library, the grocery store (it is considered an outing in our house)... someplace outside of the house. It makes the days more fun and gives the kids more variety. That way when they are home, their "stuff" seems like more fun and they aren't as easily bored.

With everyone having runny noses or a cough - we are stuck at home. Even my afternoon walks with them are sometimes curtailed because the cold breeze brings on fits of coughing.

So we are stuck at home.

Bored

Bored toddlers fight.

A lot.

I pull out the coloring stuff, puzzles, books, blocks, shape sorter things, annoying electronic toys that make lots of noise...etc.

They are still bored.

They are still fighting.

On goes the TV.

Hurray for Bunnytown, Kipper the Dog and my beloved Disney collection that I had built up over Katya's lifetime! They are quiet.

I can clean the kitchen, change out the laundry and have a cup of coffee while the echo of toddler screams are still ringing my ears. I enjoy the quiet. I wonder why in the world I ever wanted to do this stay at home thing to begin with. I consider going back to work full time and finding a babysitter despite Bob having a cow.

Then Alexis drags me to the couch. She sits on one side and rests her head on my lap. Logan climbs up on the other side and plays with my fingers. They don't seem all that bad anymore. In fact, they are kind of cute. I get to breathe and actually enjoy them for just a few more minutes of animated entertainment and ignore all of those magazine articles that say that TV is bad for children. I have just accepted that I am a bad mom because that TV has saved me from many a meltdown.

Oh well.

Spaghetti Sauce

I am not the world's best cook. In fact, I really don't like cooking at all. If it were not for having a hubby and children, I would happily subsist off of cereal, cheese & crackers, yogurt and eating out. Not a problem.

However, since I am in charge of the nutritional intake of four other humans - I cook.

Two of these humans hate veggies. I mean HATE as in you can't even get the veggie into their mouth. One of these is 42 and the other is 2. So, I have been resorting to hiding veggies in their meals every chance I get. I know, I should be trying to foster a love of the veggie like I had (and Logan has), but both of them would rather skip a meal than eat something green. Seriously.

Anyway, I have been tinkering with this spaghetti sauce recipe that I found on allrecipes.com and it is finally perfected! It is yummy, everyone loves it (and I do mean everyone), and it is loaded with veggies! It makes a HUGE pot of sauce so you can actually freeze half of it. I just scoop it into gallon size freezer bags (and double bag in case of a leak). It freezes beautifully.

Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground turkey
1 lb Italian style turkey sausage
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1-2 onions, minced (depends on your love of the onion)
3 carrots, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1-2 zucchini, finely chopped
1 (8oz can) mushrooms (if you like those things, I omit them)
1 (29oz) can tomato sauce
2 (14.5oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 (10.75oz) cans tomato puree
2 (6oz) cans tomato paste
2 tsp soy sauce
3 cubes beef boullion
3 bay leaves
1 tblsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tblsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tblsp white sugar
1 can beef broth

1. In a large stockpot cook the ground turkey, turkey sausage, bell peppers, garlic, onion, carrots, celery and zucchini. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Drain in a large colander but do not rinse.

2. To the large saucepot add the mushrooms (if you want them), tomato sauce, tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato paste, boullion cubes, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, basil, crushed red pepper, black pepper, soy sauce, sugar and beef broth and stir well. Pour the meat mixture into the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 2 hours.

Enjoy!

Going Green the Lazy Way

More easy "Going Green" ideas for you all!

Inflate Those Tires:
* Lose 1% fuel economy per 3 lbs of pressure.
* Proper pressure extends tire life.
* The science: “rolling resistance.”

Choose Green Energy
* More than half of all electricity consumers in the U.S. have the option of purchasing some kind of green power product from their electricity provider. Find out how you can buy green power by visiting the Department of Energy (DOE) website, which offers a state-by-state list of green energy providers, as well as information on making your own green energy, such as installing solar power, and tips on conservation.

Double Check Before You Print
* To save paper and ink, preview your documents before you print, make sure you have the correct number of copies and destination, and use such handy functions as print selection and print manager. It only takes a second or two more,but will reduce the "d'ohs" at the printer tray and save a lot of waste. You can also change your margins to narrowso you can minimize the need for that extra sheet of paper.

Grow Heirloom Veggies
* Backyard organic gardeners are trying their hand at growing these gifts from grandmother's garden, and it's a good thing, too. Heirloom vegetables keep our food supply bio-diverse, and reduce our dependency on monoculture farming, hybridization and genetic engineering.

Go LCD
* Instead of a traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) desktop computer monitor, get a more energy efficient "flat panel" LCD (liquid crystal display).

Use a Manual Can Opener
* It may not seem like a big energy user, but consider whether you really need to be using electricity to open the occasional can. Unless you have arthritis or are disabled, you can probably get by easily with a hand-crank model, and therefore reduce your environmental impact.

Wrap Your Pipes
* Reduce energy loss by making sure your water pipes are properly insulated.

Jacket Your Hot Water Heater
* Put a insulated jacket around your hot water heater for better efficiency

Buy a Front Loading Washing Machine
* If you are in the market for a new washing machine, make sure you get a front-loading model, which uses a third less water, heat energy and detergent than standard top-loading designs.

Recycle Your Inkjet Cartridges
* If you've been chucking your inkjet and toner cartridges in the garbage up to this point, you're not alone. Over 13 cartridges are discarded in the U.S. every second, according to CartridgeFundraising.com. That's hundreds of millions of cartridges that end up in landfills every year, made with plastics that can take at least 1,000 years to decompose. Not a good thing.

Choose Rechargeable Batteries
* Save money and resources by using widely available rechargeable batteries, many of which can be reused up to 1,000 times. More than 15 billion batteries are thrown away each year — enough to make a column to the moon and back. That number continues to grow, as we use more and more electronic devices in our lives.

Use a Refillable Mug
* Cut down on waste, as well as toxic chemicals in the environment, by using a reusable mug at home, in the office and on the go, instead of opting for single-use containers for coffee, tea and other beverages.

Skip (Unneeded) Photo Doubles
* Cut down on waste, as well as use of toxic chemicals, by saying no to doubles at the photo shop, unless you really plan to use them.

Download Your Software
* Instead of shopping for software at the store, simply download what you need directly from those clever folks on the Internets. You'll save resources, as well as time and fuel.

information courtesy of http://www.thedailygreen.com/

Family Update With Pictures

Life is busy, busy, busy in our household. (Not as busy as Mandee's though. She has five kids.)

I just thought I'd put up one picture of each of us and caption it so you can see what we have been up to. Kinda of like a scrapbook page.



We have been having some crazy weather up here, but on one of our nicer days last week we went to the park to play. This is Logan's first time in a swing. He wasn't so sure about it at first, but he warmed up to it after a few times.



We went down to Drake Park to feed the ducks (with bird seed) last month. It was still getting dark early so sunset caught up with us faster than I would have liked. But Alexis LOVED feeding the ducks. She didn't understand why I didn't want her to pet them and why they didn't want her to pet them either. But luckily with ducks, if you have food, they will come back to visit.



Katya had jammed her finger the day before her last volleyball tournament. Actually, someone ran into her hand during school PE. It had gotten all swollen and she couldn't bend her finger so we went to BMC to have it looked at. Evidently, it was just a sprain so Katya, being the hard core Sports Diva that she is, taped it up so she could still play.



My good friend, Woody, came up to visit in February and he wanted to see some snow since most of ours at the house had melted. So, we went snowshoeing for the morning and this is one of the pictures that he took. I was writing out a "hello" to my friend Robin down in San Diego (we all worked together).


This is Bob being the awesome Dad that he is. He was out there with the kiddos finding Easter eggs and consoling Logan who was so unhappy that he was outside in the cold.

Stopping Those Catalogs

Don’t we all get inundated with catalogs that we don’t even want? The holidays are especially bad for me. My mailbox is filled with them (most I have never heard of before) and I only really use a select few.

I read a blurb in my Body + Soul magazine that said that Americans get an estimated 19 billion catalogs a year at a cost of 53 million trees. I like trees. We need trees.

What to do? Log on to a new free service called Catalog Choice (catalogchoice.org). Indicate which merchant’s mailing lists you want to opt out of (it’s helpful if you have the catalog in front of you) and say goodbye to a mailbox full of things you don’t want!

Computer Woes

Ok... remember last week when I said that my computer was getting re-imaged? Well, it has been nine days now and I think that it is almost back to normal.

The original time estimate was a couple of days. Well, at the end of day three I got a call that they weren't done with it yet but it should be done the next day. I got that same phone call on day four and day five. Then I was told that I could pick it up the next day at 12pm. I was there at 12pm and told again that it was not yet ready. Finally got it back home and all plugged in on Tuesday evening.

Then I realized - I had none of my old emails. I had nothing dated prior to March 24th.

There was work to be done so I loaded up Quickbooks and a few other programs that I use almost daily and at least got some company business done. It took hours just to get a few small things done.

Oh yeah, my computer speakers don't work anymore either. I haven't figured out why yet.

This morning, the computer went back and the old email was restored to me. Thank goodness! I got the computer back around 1pm and after putting the babies to bed I started in on trying to get all back were it belonged because I had some serious work to do!

Then I realized that my printer could no longer scan documents. The software was just not on my computer. And it evidently wasn't on the disk that came with the printer either since it was loaded by Dell at the factory (never buy a Dell anything). You can't get the software from Dell unless you have the one number that they need which is different than the five different numbers that I had records for. I even went onto some forums to try and research it. Nothing. So... I went out and bought myself a new printer. This time I went with Epson. It works now.

So, I scanned the document that I needed to and attached it to an email to send. Then I realized that I had 7 different emails sitting hung in my Outbox. I did a Live Chat thing with Bend Broadband for about 45 minutes and they couldn't help me. I felt like I hit a wall of hopelessness and was darn close to tears when I started calling neighbors that I knew did computer stuff for work. Luckily one was available and he came over and made it all better. I'm so baking them some cookies!

I think I got the rest of the software loaded and it is all working thus far. With the exception of my Norton Anti Virus. That still isn't what it is supposed to be. And my computer speakers.

Man, I knew it would be painful. I just didn't realize it would be THIS painful.

Well, I have to go. I have some documents that I need to finish.

COBO

I have been horribly neglectful in keeping you all informed as to the goings on of all the smaller members of my family. So far, Katya hasn't surpassed me in height - so she still counts as being a shorty. (Even though she is 5' 8")

Katya spent the first three months of this year being the sports diva that she is.

One of her teams was COBO: Central Oregon Basketball Organization. It is the "feeder" team for Summit High School where she will attend this Fall. It is called "Club Ball" to those in the know. Until recently, I was in the dark about such terms.

She had two WONDERFUL coaches that trained with her two nights a week for months and then we had tournaments with other schools from other cities in Sisters on some weekends. It was a lot of fun and Katya has improved her game dramatically. She is excited about trying out for the Summit JV team and is hoping that all of her hard work will have paid off.

Here are some pics:

April is Earth Month

In honor of Earth Day on April 22nd, I will be posting blogs with great ideas that I have either read or heard about for being environmentally conscious in the month of April.

After all, we only get one Earth. We need to take care of it.

Here are some quick ideas to go “Green”:
- Keep a trash bag in your car and pick up garbage that you might find when you are out and about. (My mother always taught me to leave a place cleaner than when I got there)
- Use reusable bags when shopping
- Take shorter showers
- Turn the water off when brushing your teeth
- Recycle
- Use eco-friendly cleaning supplies
- Use old t-shirts instead of cleaning wipes when cleaning
- Unplug small appliances and devices when not in use to save energy
- Compost
- Use old food containers and bread bags instead of plastic sandwich bags
- Start a garden and grow your own veggies
- Turn the heat down in your house
- Use cloth napkins in lunch boxes instead of paper napkins
- Shop at your local farmers market
- Pack kid lunches in reusable containers or lunch bags
- Turn off lights when not in the room
- Use compact florescent bulbs
- Use biodegradable poop bags for your dog
- Wash clothes in cold water
- Return hangers to the dry cleaners
- Pick products that use a percentage of post consumer waste even if it costs a little bit more
- Sell unwanted items in garage sales or craigslist.com or give them away on freecycle.com instead of carting them to the dump
- Plant a tree in your yard or look for a tree planting day that you can help with in your area
- Wash your old Ziploc bags and reuse them
- Pay your bills online
- Buy organic
- Recycle those plastic grocery bags at the store (there is a big box at the entrance for them)

If you have a good idea for going green, I’d love to hear it!

Bill Clinton in Bend

I'm so bummed!

Bill Clinton came to our little bitty city of Bend last night, but I found out about it at the same darn time that it started. There was no way that I could drag the little ones with me down to Bend High to get to see him. Evidently it was a good thing too since thousands of people evidently showed up to see him.

I normally TOTALLY shy away from anything political on my blog for obvious reasons - but being able to get to meet and listen to a former President would be awesome. Regardless of his personal issues that were made public, he was a great President who made some really great decisions for this country. The least of which is his founding of Americorps which has helped our little Campfire office have two wonderful college students be able to make a difference in our community.

Our friend, Rick, went last night and these were his words:

You gotta love election years for the opportunities they generate. In this case little ol' Bend Oregon welcomes President Clinton to speak at Bend High School. Only the fourth time a president has ever visited Central Oregon (and the one where Bush dropped in for a photo op during the fires a few years ago doesn't count in my book).Anyway, thousands showed up to fill a gymnasium that only holds about 1500. Later, an additional area was opened and the place maxed out it's capacity of 2000. Many were turned away. I was not. I was there, front and center. Close enough to make eye contact, close enough even to shake hands with the President afterwards. And I have to say Bill still has still got the magic; engaging, thoughtful, friendly, smart and heartfelt. He moved me and I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to hear him speak. Officially, I went in undecided between Hillary and Obama. But after hearing Bill make Hillary's case I will be studying his points closely. He really spoke well and covered a lot.