Katya's Trip - More Pics

At some point today, her teacher posted some more pictures!! And there are a couple of cute ones of Katya. It looks like they were taken at the National Zoo, the Pentagon and a couple of monuments.

Katya's Trip - Day 6 on

Well, there were very few pictures of Katya from Philadelphia and D.C. that she had posted yet. I am sure that Katya has a few hundred pictures that we will be going through when she gets back tomorrow night.

Enjoy what I did find!

Katya's Trip - Day 3, 4 & 5

Her teacher's webpage was having some technical difficulties so I was unable to view any of her posted pictures for several days now. She switched them around a bit and this is what I was able to get.

She spent roughly 3 days in New York City seeing a Broadway play of the Lion King, going to Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty, going to the top of the Empire State Building and all kinds of things that I may not know about until she gets back.

Enjoy this sampling of pictures!

Katya's Trip - Day 2

Today seems to have been an extremely busy day for my little traveler. According to her teacher's website they have:

- Taken a tour of Harvard University. Evidently the students REALLY liked it.

- A visit to the Old Manse, The North Bridge “The Shot Heard ‘round the world”, Lunch in Concord, then back to Boston to see if there was anything left after the parade! Boston is one happy town right now!! I guess the Celtics have done good.

- Their guide, took them around Boston including “Old Ironside”, Paul Revere and the Old North Church, and various other historical places.

- They ended their day with a walk around Beacon Hill, through Boston Commons, following some of the Freedom Trail and Underground Railroad with a stop in the OMNI Parker House Hotel. Lots of history tonight with some stories to get you thinking ...

Flatbread

For those of you Bend-ites, Bend-ians, Bend folks...

I tried that new Flatbread restaurant on Tuesday that is in the Old Mill. It is located behind Allisan's Kitchen (I'm sure I butchered the spelling, sorry) by Cafe Yummi.

Excellent! I went in for a very late lunch and had the small pizza and Caesar salad lunch. It was $9, but was more food than I could eat. The pizza is a brick oven style that was excellent. I did have to have myself a scoop of their gellato before I left and it was delicious! Not as dense as others I have had, but still well worth it! I had the coffee break. So good.

If you have kids, they offer a cool thing for them. They can order a personal pizza with the toppings that they wish. They bring them a piece of raw dough all flat and the sauce, cheese and requested toppings on the side so the kids can build it themselves! Granted, mine are much too young for that - but it is something they will enjoy later!

If you happen to have Fido with you, they offer a nice outdoor dining area that allows dogs.

Well worth your time. If you try it out, let me know what you got and what you think. Their menu looked pretty good. Homemade mac and cheese and a bunch of pastas.

Katya's Trip - Day 1

It turns out that Katya's teacher is posting pictures from their adventures on the East Coast - how fabulous a woman is she!!!

So, I thought I would share for those of you that would want to get a glimpse of what she is doing on her trip. Today was all about Boston.

And She is Off....

Katya's dad drove Katya to Portland yesterday and after a brief tour of OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) and a mandatory stop over at Powell's City of Books - he saw her to her travel group at PDX.

He was cool enough to send out these pics of her at the airport and I thought I would share. Especially as a thank you to all of the family and friends that gave her work or just made a donation to her spending money. She surpassed her spending money goal and now she has plenty to buy whatever knick knack she may find that reminds her of her trip.

She took a red eye flight (her plane left PDX at 12:30am) and she arrived in Boston (after a layover at Houston) at 8am our time. She told me that she made it a point to get some sleep, she ate her snacks that I packed instead of buying breakfast at the airport and is ready to hit the tour bus.

Her schedule:
Day 1: Arrive Boston, Boston Museum of Science, Duck Tours
Day 2: Boston, Cambridge, Lexington, Concord
Day 3: Boston to NYC
Day 4: NYC & Broadway show "Lion King"
Day 5: NYC to Philadelphia (Liberty Bell) to DC
Day 6: DC: Guided tour; Arlington National Cemetary, memorials etc.
Day 7: DC: Capitol building, Smithsonian and various other sites
Day 8: DC to Williamsburg; Tour the Pentagon, National Cathedral, National Zoo, evening walking tour of Williamsburg
Day 9: Williamsburg to Jamestown to Busch Gardens
Day 10: Back to DC and board a plane to Portland

School's Out for Summer!

School's out for summer....school's out for ever.... (that song is now playing in my head)

Well, yesterday was the last official day of school here in Bend. Kids are everywhere! On Wednesday the school day was devoted to celebrating the graduating 8th graders. They had a brunch provided for them in the morning where they got their yearbooks a day early so they could start signing them, then they went to class for an hour or two where they watched a movie, then they went to the Athletic Club of Bend and had a BBQ and pool party. Rough life. Then later that night was a parent's reception and a dance. Katya didn't even get home until 10pm.

Then yesterday, Katya had some friends over after school to watch movies and hang around, one stayed the night, this morning there was much dancing and mayhem, now she is at the movies and at 3pm she goes to her first Summer Hoops basketball tournament. Man... life is good.

I've been getting her clothes washed and snacks ready for her to start packing for her big East Coast trip. She leaves Portland on Tuesday/Wednesday at 12:30am. Her dad is actually driving all the way up here to take her to the plane just so they can visit. I think that is pretty cool.

The weather has been just beautiful! I think that Winter is finally behind us because we are having our second consecutive day of temps in the 80's. So nice. I can't wait to actually have my bike in working order so I can ride it. I took off today with the kids in the Chariot bike trailer attached to my bike and I made it to the bottom of my street before the gear box fell off the frame. Fun.

This morning, before the bike incident, I grabbed a couple of pictures of the kids because they were all together at the same time and they all looked cute. I hope that all you guys are having a great summer day!! Even in Utah where they have been having an extended Winter like us.

I just think he looks just like a cool "dude" in this outfit. What a cute little boy!

Aren't These Kids Cute??

Logan is getting to be a little ham with the camera

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

Here is another recipe for Mandee!

When I made this I figured it would be just so so, but it is actually really good. Easy, simple and yummy. Just what I need more of in my life.

Baked Teriyaki Chicken

1 tblsp cornstarch
1 tblsp cold water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
12 skinless chicken thighs (I use 4 - 6 breasts since my hubby hates dark meat)

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

3. Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Brush chicken with the sauce. turn pieces over and brush again.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over and bake for another 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Brush with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking.

Banana Crumb Muffins

My sister-in-law, Mandee, is having a recipe contest (since with the price of gas eating out is too darn spendy) so I have some recipes to share!

This is a great recipe that only calls for three ripe bananas and if you want to make them a bit more special, throw in some chocolate chips! I usually include 2 tblsp of Flaxseed Meal and switch 1/2 cup of all purpose flour for whole wheat flour to up the nutrition content a bit.

Banana Crumb Muffins

1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tblsp all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tblsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

2. In a large bowl, mix together cinnamon, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and melted butter. Cut together until crumbly. Sprinkle over the tops of the muffin batter.

4. Bake in a preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean.

Getting Comfy

It's coming up on three years that I have lived in Bend. I moved up with Katya on July 5, 2005.

What a crazy time that was. Leaving my job at Qualcomm (hardest thing to do), selling my townhome that I paid for all by my lonesome (a lot of pride in that place), leaving my family and friends (still hurts) and leaving my birthplace (home just can't be replaced).

I spent the next three years either pregnant or with an infant.
Not earning a paycheck.
Spending every dime and then some on trying to remodel this house.
Trying to get a schedule with Katya and I to still visit family on a regular basis.
Helping Bob with his company.
Being so intensly lonely it hurt.

I often wondered again and again if I made the right decision to uproot my life in San Diego and follow Bob up here dragging Katya in tow.

After three long years I can finally say that this place is where I think I belong. At least for right now. Katya has blossomed with her teachers, sports and Campfire. She has been able to take advantage of opportunities I would not have been able to provide to her otherwise. I give her a LOT more time than I ever have before and she is such a well put together young woman I believe because of it. And where I live is so bike friendly, I feel comfortable with her riding to and from the movies, her sports practices that are on our side of town, going downtown with friends.... It is nice to be able to give her some independance.

I have been able to spend lots of time with the two little ones. It has been a crazy, tiring, messy, sleep-deprived time, but I do miss them when I don't have them. They know they are loved and adored by all. And I have a newfound respect for stay-at-home mothers.

I am even getting a circle of friends. Still casual, but so lovely to have these women in my life. And I have been able to "work" outside of the home with one of Bob's clients a couple of days a week. Not much, but enough to help my mental state of being. It is nice to have my brain working again. I think there are still a few cobwebs up there, but I intend to eradicate them as soon as possible.

So after the biggest and scariest change of my life - I think I landed on my feet. It is a good thing and I am looking forward to being here for at least another twenty years. All I can say is that this house better be finished by then! :)

Kid Update

My mom is in need of a Grandchild fix so I thought I would put up some of the more interesting photos that I have taken of my little ones lately:

Logan likes to over stuff his cheeks like a chipmunk.

Logan has not only started walking, he started climbing. Our current challenge is to keep him off of the dining room table.

Are you suppose to sit on a sit-n-spin?

Tennis balls are for wimps. I play with basketballs!

Teenager + Camera = Weirdness

I found a picture of Katya that turned out during the Jr. Honor Society ceremony

I also uploaded a ton of videos for my family's viewing pleasure!

Pack Rat

I am married to a world-class pack rat.

It seems almost physically painful for him to get rid of ANYTHING. This past Sunday I spent hours and hours cleaning our garages. I clean them a couple of times a year and Bob does his usual - you can't get rid of THAT! I'm going to use that. Someday. Maybe. But I paid good money for it. Eleven years ago.

It is the same story every single time. I had gone through and found an old tackle box, the remains of a closet hanger rod and hardware, a case of jelly jars and lids, a partial roll of fiberglass insulation and a box of 13 magazine holders and a TON of assorted lumber that we could afford to get rid of so we could actually park our bikes in the garage. I posted it all on Freecycle.org and I had takers on everything before the night was over. I labeled everything and set it all on my patio steps for people to swing by and pick them up.

Yesterday morning I found Bob putting everything back into the garage.

"How can you get rid of this? I plan on using this when I have time."
"This is good stuff, you should at least sell it."
"I paid a lot of money for this. I don't want to just give it away. I know we don't have a use for it, but we might someday. We should keep it just in case."

When he left for work I put everything back out and it is all gone now.

The thing is... he won't even miss it because our garages and attics are still so crammed with stuff he doesn't even remember what he has.

But that is what you get when you marry a pack rat with a purger. Something between organization and chaos. :)

State Track Meet

Well, Katya made it to the State Track Meet! What a total accomplishment for her.

The meet was in La Pine on a sunny, cold, overcast, rainy, warm Spring day (Central Oregon weather is fickle). Her event wasn't until 1:15pm, but she wanted to get there earlier so she could hang with and cheer on her friends. Of course. One interesting thing was that Katya's 4x200 relay team had to run a 4x100 relay because the meet didn't run the 4x200.

There was some drama about one of her relay runners not actually committing to showing up for the race, so they had to find a fill in runner. That other girl showed up twenty minutes before the race and left right afterwards. Strange.

Anyway - THEY WON 3rd PLACE! Isn't that awesome?? She got a medal, stood on the podium and had an awards ceremony and everything!! The announcer even pronounced her name correctly.

It was a good day.