Lesson for the day....Monkey Puzzler

I have been fascinated with these trees since moving to the PNW and finally got around to finding out about them. Their long tail-like branches look like giant green pine cones to me. But they aren't a pine tree. They are a conifer called Monkey Puzzle Trees. In France they are called Monkey's Despair but they didn't evolve to keep monkeys from climbing them. They evolved their prickly long branches to keep away grazing dinosaurs. (Don't forget, I believe in evolution). So what are these Chilean trees doing in Portland? They were given out as seedlings in 1905 at the Lewis and Clark expo by the Chili Exhibit. So the ones that are here are about 100 year old giants by now. They were given out in Seattle in 1962 at the Seattle World's Fair so they are about 50 years "smaller" there. The tree is either male or female. Above is a picture of a female tree and it has a large globular cone. The male cones look like cucumbers.....go figure.....

These pictures are of a tree next door to Carson's new piano teacher. Another story altogether...

sam's sleeve tattoo

Like I said.....he gets a tattoo when he takes his dose of Amoxicillin. Look at his fevery eyes and rosy cheeks.

The Sick House

Carson, Sam, and I all have Strep Throat. Yuck. Sam and I are staying in today and "resting". Actually, I am plopping him down in front of the TV and using it as a babysitter. I am sure his eyes will be permanently crossed by the end of the morning. Luckily, Carson started her antibiotic on Monday and she can go to school. She is feeling much better than she was. Yesterday I cleaned the whole house with clorox and clorox wipes. EVERYTHING got wiped down. Sam hates the bubblegum flavored meds and really puts up a fight. He now gets a temporary tattoo for every dose. 17 more doses to go. We are working on a tattoo sleeve for him so he can be just like mommy. He wanted to know if there were any temporary tattoos of a big snail.
Sharon is feeling healthy and fine.....figures. Last night I actually told her that I hope she gets sick. Does that make me mean?

I will not be a food snob anymore

My recent realization that we spent enough money on food last year to feed a small village has changed my ways. I will not be a grocery store food snob anymore. I have found WinCo (which I was calling Wilco until Sharon told me that was a band). It is an employee-owned discount food store. Ok, I thought it would be a mix between Big Lots and Warehouse Groceries (a store in my hometown that just cracked open the cases and you priced your own food with a China Marker). And, well, it was. No frills. No feelgood displays. But, the prices were cheap and they had all the stuff I like. I really haven't ever been to a store that sold "Orange Drink Powder" (i.e. generic Tang) in bulk. Until today. There was even a sign that said "no sampling". Really, you have to tell people that? Also there was a huge selection of coco butter lotion in 6 gallon containers for like 0.99$ Whoa? So, I packed my buggy full of my regular food. Newman's sauce, organic veggies, juice boxes, and even Shredded Wheat for cheap. My final bill was 112.00$. I drew the line at buying wine there. I just couldn't bring home wine in a box.

P.S. The place was hopping with people. I imagine they are doing great these days.

Ode to Biddy

I drove by this restaurant today and had to snap a photo. In my mind the menu looks something like this......

Appetizers:
Longhorn Colby Cheese with Ice Cold Tab Cola

Breakfast:
Pap's Silver Dollar Pancakes (they always taste better at Spruce Knob)

Dinner Entrees:
Plain Baked Chicken
or
Delicious Pot Roast slow cooked all day with tender browned potatoes and carrots

Side Dishes:
Dry Lima Beans
or
Dry Lima Beans

Desserts:
Jiffy Yellow Cake with 3 inch high caramel icing. A little different each time. No recipe needed.
or
Creamy Peanut Butter Fudge
or
Little dabs of SeaFoam Candy

The look of Guilt

How am I supposed to be a budget gourmet?  I was doing so good.  I planned for dinner and even started to marinate the yummy spicy cumin tofu.  Then, out of nowhere, there was a cry of emergency (Sam couldn't find the right color marker).  Seriously, he said it was an emergency and I thought that the cat had eaten the hamster or something.   I left the kitchen for 1 minute and came back to a half eaten cake of local organic tofu on the floor and a very guilty looking dog.   What kind of dog eats tofu?  Well, it's back to the drawing board for dinner.  Any suggestions?

Here Ye, Here Ye ~ I have given up shopping.

I have given up Starbucks.
I have nearly given up Whole Foods.
I have given up fabric stores.
I have given up thrifting (which I could have withdrawl symptoms from).
I have given up Gap Kids. GASP!
I have given up Powell's Bookstore. (For now). I will only spend the money they give me for selling back the books I already paid them for.
I have given up shoe shopping.
I have given up 70$ dinners out with the fam (until summer).
NO MORE TOY SHOPPING!

We are members of the "Sunnyside Swap Shop" where my kids can swap movies, books, toys.
I am planning a book swap at Carson's school.
My friend is hosting a clothing swap.
I joined the PDXSwap where women exchange clothes with each other (their own size).

Thank god I hit the Macy's last weekend for a to die for leather bag from Lucky. And, thank god I found an awesome Tokidoki bag stashed in my closet I forgot I bought.

I need a money tree seedling! Got one?

Now Sharon and I have never been ones to actually budget our money. We just get paid, then pay bills, and then spend what is left on our house or stuff we don't need or ......food? We had a bit of a scare from a friend/accountant who was working on our taxes. We have lots of options seeing that we can't actually get married, so we like to take full advantage of the disadvantage we have. Mary called to tell us we actually owed money which scared the bejesus out of me since I planned the impromptu Disney trip and was actually banking on the tax return. Then, she called to tell us she made a big mistake and yes, we can still go to Disney. We do not, in fact, owe any money. Whoops, that's embarrassing. Sharon, the PROJECT MANAGER, can't seem to pull it together to work on a budget so I decided that this year we should at least be aware of where our money goes.

Ok- the first step is to acknowledge you have a problem....So......
last year we spent:

800$ at Starbucks* (That is ridiculous considering we make 2 pots of coffee every morning)
7,000$ eating out.
12,000$ on groceries- the majority at Whole Foods which we seem to go to every other day for 1-2 items and end up spending 75$.

No wonder I can't lose that 10 pounds! The most disturbing part is that our children don't eat. They pick at things and eat mostly macaroni & cheese and PB&J. And we aren't chefs. We don't cook fancy schmancy meals. We don't even buy meat. Certainly you can't spend that much on vegetables and tofu, right?

LOOK OUT! The budget gourmet MOM team has just arrived!

*Note that there is a Starbucks in the lobby of my hospital and I work 12 hour shifts.

Hillbilly Holler

Thanks for the Holler! I finally got my subscription to the Hillbilly Holler that my brother, Steve, got for us for Christmas.  Yes, it's funny.  No, it's not for kids.  The February issue deals with Love.  Funny jokes and reader wisdom.  There is a whole lot of wisdom in it, too.

Everyone deserves a donut.

This morning we went to OMSI so the kids could play a little and realized that all of Portland was also there.  The parking lots were all full and so were the overflow lots.  Sharon and I couldn't stomach the crowd.   We changed our minds while driving around the parking lot and looking at the herds of families.  Tell that to a 3 year old.   Since everyone in our family agrees the only thing better than playing at OMSI is donuts, we headed back to or neighborhood Stacato Gelato (which has the best donuts in the whole world).  Carson got Evil Cupid, Sam got a Strawberry crueler (? sp), and i had the chocolate glazed fresh ginger.  Yum.  Now, I have been off the sugar for a while so I got a double super buzz from the donut and the double shot of espresso Americano.  (**Note that skinny Sharon did not have a donut......her loss (of weight, that is).  After the treats, we hit the Central Public Library to hear the  Portland Taiko Drummers perform.   

These donuts are cake donuts with all fresh and delish ingredients.   My mom used to make donuts when I was little and these remind me of them.  

I have a dream.......

Carson's class filled out "I have a dream" statements. Actual quotes from 1st graders........ Sharon and I were LOL'ing before the Valentine's Day Party. We are so politically incorrect.

I have a dream that pepole will have pece between ones thay hate.

I have a dream that prwlers will stop steeling.

I have a dream that people pik up grbag.

I have a dream that people will be onhist and not liey. (Carson)

I have a dream that there is civil war. (Did you forget a word?) This is my favorite....

Carson's Valentines. I secretly wish one was for me.

I can't believe she put this much time into them.  She cut out these funny kid fairy pictures I had and cut up an old book to make her Valentines.  She made all 24 classmates cards.  So cute.

Who is most excited?

ME!  I AM!

After a very impulsive and irresponsible decision on my part,  (bad economy, scary financial times, etc.....) we are taking the kids to Disneyland.  I am so excited.  Yes, Carson is excited too, but she has no idea what kind of "magical experience marketing" the Disney Corporation can impose on a family.  Seriously, after talking to the nice but not so nice man at Alaska Airlines and hitting a brick wall trying to transfer unused airline tickets, I thought maybe I had made a bad impulse decision/purchase.  BUT THEN....I called the Disney people to ask about some different "packages" and realized why Disney is so rich.  I immediately felt like the lady on the other end was my new BFF.  She talked me through all the different  selections and even recommended the Ariel underwater-themed character breakfast.  Ha Ha!  I laughed, she laughed....you get the picture.  Then she let me reserve my "experience" without a credit card for 5 days to really get excited.    Before hanging up she wished me and my family a "truly magical time" at Disney.   Well, I am easy....I feel like a little kid and can't wait to go.  

The view from The Park Vista (Sharon's mom's balcony)

"Remember this view the next time it rains for 40 days straight".......Norma Dody

I guess it is easy to say if this is the view from your balcony.

Oaks Park Skate Photos

The wooden rink, the Wurlitzer organ, the All Skate sign, the new skates, the laughing, the falling.... Notice that Sharon is donning vintage black roller skates from SMUT (the most awesome vintage store in Portland). I covet her vintage skate bag with key that her skates came in. It will be mine........Special thanks to the original owner, a certain Sharon Doyle from Idaho.

She finally made her Æbleskivers!

Well, thank god Sharon finally got her aebelskiver pan. She has been talking about it for over a month. Her childhood friend, Erin's,  mother used to make them for sleepovers and sometime around Christmas she started thinking about them......Obsessing about them, really. So, she ordered the pan. This morning she made the kids Aebelskivers.   They are a traditional Danish pastry (puffy pancake) which are usually served with a spoonful of jam in the middle.  For the first try, Sharon used a pancake mix and made them plain.  You can't get too crazy with a 3 and 7 year old.  They gobbled them right up. 

I am sad to report (Norma) that the biggest Pyrex yellow nesting bowl belonging to Grandma Nina broke this morning.   Sharon was taking it out of the cabinet and crash..... It amazes me that something can be so old and used for so long and then we get our hands on it and break it, scratch it, dent it, etc.   I wonder how many breakfasts of pancakes or eggs where whipped up in that bowl?  How many batches of cookies or cakes were baked from that bowl?   Maybe that bowl just didn't want to be used for fancy aebelskivers.   How many times do you think that bowl got packed away in a box and moved?   I am sure in my thrifting and vintage store shopping I will come across another one and replace it, but we will know that it isn't Nina's bowl.     

Skate update!

The skates are here. They fit perfect. I have been skating around the house. Today we are going to Oaks Park to skate before the Superbowl.

Creepy cool.

We have lived in our Portland house for about 1 1/2 years now. We are really loving the neighborhood and it seems I love it a little more each time I go out exploring. We are so close to fantastic restaurants, coffee shops, theater, local businesses, resale stores.....and the cemetery. Lone Fir cemetery is one of the oldest Pioneer cemeteries in Oregon, has a great history, and it is 1/2 block from home.

It began in 1854 when a man, Stephens, sold his farm to someone with the agreement that his father's grave could remain there and the new owner would maintain the site. Later that same year there was a boiler explosion on a steamship owned by the new farm owner. Ten people were killed and he buried all of them near the original owners father. In 1866, 20 more acres were added to the current location. Portland investors acquired it and sold plots for $10 each. In the beginning, there was one "lone fir" tree. Over the years, families have planted seedlings in memory of their deceased and the cemetery has become this garden-like sanctuary with huge trees everywhere. The estimate is that there are now about 25,000 known and about 10,0000 unknown people buried there including thousands of Chinese immigrants. I don't know how many headstones are there now, but most of the graves must be unmarked. Many of the old wooden markers were destroyed over the years.

We like to take the kids for walks in the "graveyard" as there is always something new to see. I know that is a little morbid, but they really enjoy it. There are wonderful mausoleums and headstones. People were much more clever about their headstones way back when. The big ones are grand and the people seem important, but I fancy the more humble ones. There are still 1500 plots left for sale.

On Halloween a group of people, http://www.friendsoflonefircemetery.org/tour.html,
reenact the lives and deaths of the dead. The even got Portland artists to write songs and record a CD to benefit the cemetery.

Carson took all the photos except for the one she is in. We think we may try to volunteer there as a family. I am trying to find out what they may need.

Inauguration Day is here!

I kept Carson home to watch the inauguration this morning since I wasn't sure she would see it at school. I love that she has no idea how historic this is. She knows it is a big deal because we told her, but the Obama's are just another family with little girls to her. She told me about learning the story of MLK Jr. at school and really can't believe that segregation could have been possible. I really think that kids today appreciate that people come from different places and have different shades of skin. If you are good, then you are good. Period! End of story. So on that note......

QUOTES FROM CARSON WHILE WATCHING THE INAUGURATION
(she made flags for all of us to wave)

"George Bush meant to do the right thing, but it wasn't right for us. He meant well".

"She (Laura Bush) really does look like grandma judy".

Re: GHWB: "Is he a little bit better than his son"?

"MLK Jr.'s dream really did come true on the day after his birthday many many many (i lost count of the many's) years later.

Re: Michelle Obama's mother living in the white house. "It must be fun to have your grandma live with you".

And my favorite! During Rick Warren's invocation he said something regarding Goodwill to all. Carson kept giggling and saying, "Goodwill, like the store". "That is so funny he said Goodwill".

QUOTES FROM SAM DURING INAUGURATION

"When I grow up I want to be Barack Obama"!

"She looks like a diamond ring". (Michelle Obama)

Change IS coming.

It happened. Carson is officially a big kid. We cleaned her room today and she decided to send all of her dress up clothes to Maggie and Rowan. Everything that was dress up, princess-like, even her Fairytopia Barbies are packed in a huge box and going back to Denver. She had a huge clear canister of "little things"~wind-up toys, rubber bugs, little people, etc. which she handed over to her little brother. She didn't even open it to pick out a few favorites. I realize this means I have to start treating her more like the big kid that she is. WOW! I even cried a little. But not as much as Rachel will when she gets that huge box of frilly sparkly pink!

More of Coolio riding her scooter with matching Go-Go boots.

Stop the car.... It's a free box!

As you all know, Portland is known for weirdness. That's why I fit in so well. (I would insert a big smiley face icon here but I hate them). From freaky tall bikes (see above), some of which are covered in faux fur to the small plastic horses on the old horse rings still on the sidewalks. Carson loves the "free box" thing. When people don't want something anymore, they put it in a box labeled "FREE". Carson and Sam have been known to demand me to stop the car so they can look through a free box. They have found many a treasure in the free boxes in our neighborhood. Carson found a giant wooden African Goddess head statue which has a prime spot on her special thing shelf. Sam found a handmade paper tree topper? shaped as an angel which has mysteriously (hint hint) disappeared. I love these old Real Estate paper boxes which someone has turned into free boxes. They are all painted up. I saw an old pair of shoes in one. There was a can of sunkist soda in another.... I will be taking pictures of the boxes when I stumble on one. Here is one example.

So what if I am trying to re-live my childhood.

We took the kids roller skating the other day which really sparked some childhood memories. I used to go roller skating with my Pappaw Burl on Saturday mornings. He was one good skater. He could go forward, backward, dance, do the limbo, and the hokie pokie (which he taught me and I can still do all of the above). I think he took Steve and Jeff when they were little too. We had 3 roller skating rinks in our little town. I think the Bellview skating rink is still there. It had an old wooden floor with big lighted board telling you what was going on at the time; couples skate, reverse skate, etc. I could skate for HOURS. Well, we moved to Portland and wouldn't you know...they have an old wooden floor roller rink with an huge organ that they play music on!! So of course I had to get right online and buy myself (notice I didn't say Carson) a pair of roller skates. Shiny white ones with pink wheels (that's them above). I seriously feel an adrenaline rush just thinking about them. Maybe I will go a lot or maybe just a few times, but just having those skates will be so nostalgic. Now I need some pink puffy pom poms to go on them. Maybe I will get on EBay and get Sharon a unicycle so she can feel nostalgic too.

ps. Oaks Park Skate Rink has Alternaskate on Monday nights. For "alternative folk". I guess that's me........

pps. Look out roller derby girls.

Another Samism.........

"I wish the park could go on forever so we would never have to go home."
He must have had a good time playing. I love Laurelhurst Park and feel very lucky to live so close. The kids rode trikes and scooters (with no helmets.....gasp!). Sam rode his little bike down a hill faster than he has ever ridden it before. He was really going fast enough to make his Peds ICU mom a little nervous. I started to tell him to slow down and then got to laughing with a man walking his dog about our culture of hyper parenting. Let them be kids! I even got a chance to take a ride on the scooter.

"Mommy, it's burning my eyes!"

Just when you think you can't take the gray anymore.......the sun comes out and all is better. It was a cold day today with a big shiny sun. Kind of like Denver in the winter. You have to take advantage of this when it is here, so Sam and I went out for walks and rides all day. Then we picked up Carson and went to the park and played soccer and ran and got cold and muddy. Even in the cold I could feel the warm Vitamin D soaking into my skin. Maybe the sun will make another appearance tomorrow! When I took the first picture, sam actually said...."Mommy, it is burning my eyes"!