Boo! at the Zoo

Thanks to lovely weather, we start Halloween early around here! We went to a friend's party on Saturday night, and Boo! at the Zoo on Sunday. The girls will be princesses (blech!) for real Halloween, but found costumes from around the house for the party...

Enjoy the pics - if you click on the little color wheel in the lower right corner, it should pop up with the album title...click that and you can go to the picassa web album and see everything much bigger.

The Business of Being Born

Heard of the new documentary by Rikki Lake? I'm cross-posting this notice from my friend's blog, mainly for all you faithful IC readers...Eureka's not too far away - anybody want to do a little mini road trip?

And guess who'll be there :)

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A screening of Ricki Lake’s documentary The Business of Being Born!

* What: screening of “The Business of Being Born,” followed by a discussion panel. The film is 87 minutes long.
* When: Saturday, November 17th at 1 pm
* Where: Eureka College, Becker Auditorium (located in the Cerf Center building).
Eureka College is midway between Peoria and Bloomington, IL
* Who: Everyone is welcome!
* Cost: We are asking for the following suggested donations to cover the cost of bringing the film to Eureka College:
o $5 and up: students
o $10 and up: adults
o $20 and up: families

For questions, or to reserve your seats, please contact eurekadocumentary@gmail.com

My three kids.

Goofy, all of them :)

Slimey Wormy

That's what E just called Baby L, after he crept across the living room floor! He went about five feet in one direction, spun, and continued another two feet the other way before I picked him up to go get C. He was chasing this little dinosaur that was given to C years ago by Papa Bass and M...

Young wedding guest

Young wedding guest, originally uploaded by gwilmore.

Went to the wedding of a co-worker of D's last weekend...this picture came from the reception (no worries, it's apple juice).

Recipes

Since I've been known a time or two to come begging for recipes, I thought I'd share two from the last two nights...made based on what's in the pantry, plus those yummy veggies from the other day.

1. Hamburger Vegetable Soup
I got this from Allrecipes.com, but modified it for what we had in the fridge...and it turned out really well!

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (organic, free-range)
4 cups chicken broth (organic, free-range also)
4 cups water
1 package (1 oz) onion soup/dip mix (Simply Organic brand - nothing nasty)
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 package whole wheat curly noodles
zucchini, carrot, potatoes, green beans, red cabbage

My green beans were frozen, everything else fresh. Just add to your taste!

(the recipe called for tomato sauce, not tomatoes, and 16 oz frozen mixed veggies plus 2 stalks of celery; also for 2 packages of onion dip - I only had one, and I think more would be pointless)

Brown the beef; meanwhile in a large pot, combine everything else. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the noodles are done. Add the beef, and eat! I also recommend a dash or two of hot sauce (we use AZ Gunslinger, but Tapatio or Tabasco or the like should do the trick).

2. Tacos, Bass-style

The filling
1 lb ground beef
1 can black beans
Some frozen corn
Taco seasoning

The other filling
Potatoes, chopped, skins on
Onion
Garlic
Cumin
Chili powder
Olive oil

The salsa
5 heirloom tomatoes
Cilantro
Green onions
Garlic
1 red pepper
Small amount of lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Canned jalapenos

Other toppers
Canned green chilis
Lettuce

Brown meat, add seasoning to taste, simmer with beans and corn.

Microwave potatoes on high 5 minutes, then stir and microwave another few minutes until mostly soft. Saute in oil with onion, garlic, and spices. Add a small amount of water and cover to finish steaming...remove cover after a while.

Combine salsa ingredients. Don't overdo the jalapenos - about 1/4 can did the trick for us - some good spice, but not overpowering.

Serve on your choice of tortilla - we use whole wheat-corn blend ones from Trader Joe's - add meat, potatoes, salsa, chilis and lettuce...we were out of cheese, but that would be good too. Here's my first attempt at food photography (wish I'd captured the soup with all its pretty colors). Sorry it kind of looks like a big pile of mush...it was much nicer in person...and really tasty, I promise :)

Optical illusion?

Which way is the lady spinning? Clock-wise or counter-clock-wise?


(From:http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.switched.com/media/2007/10/spinningdancer_54.gif)

I see it spin both ways...though more often, I only see it go clock-wise. I would think there was some "trick," except that D ONLY sees it going counter-clock-wise! Supposedly, the way it spins shows which side of your brain is working predominantly...right brain for clock-wise; left brain for counter-clock-wise. So do tell...what do you see?

ETA: D and I were just sitting here trying to change it, and sure enough, at some point, we each could get it reversed. Can I just say...I LOVE the human brain :D

Big Bird and Breasts

Check out this old Sesame Street clip I just found on another blog!



How cool is that? And...she even says "breast" on TV *gasp*!

ETA: It's from 1977...and I think Big Bird is right on..."that's nice!"

$41.39

Beginning October 1, we've been on a kick to eat through the food in our freezer, fridge, and pantry. The only groceries we've bought since then are milk, yogurt, and some veggies and fruit. I have a favorite store, called the Superstition Ranch Market - below you can see today's booty, purchased for the total price of $41.39.

Included:
3 heads of lettuce
3 eggplant
2 heads of cauliflower
4 artichokes
8 zucchini
cilantro
4 red peppers
2 bags of organic grapes
4 heads of broccoli
butternut squash
green onions
6 large yams
bananas
4 lb bag of oranges
golden honeydew
cantaloupe
4 kiwi
4 tomatoes on the vine
6 heirloom tomatoes
8 organic apples
5 other apples

And while I'm at it...

Today is obviously blog-o-rama time, as I'm starting entry #3 now. A little update on our lives...Gma and Gpa J came to town last Thursday night. We all (minus D) drove over to the LA area for Great Gma J's memorial service, which was also a fantastic family reunion of sorts. I saw cousins I haven't seen in over 15 years (one of whom I last saw when I was 7)! E had a blast with her cousin (second cousin, officially) of similar age, C. Baby L was in fine form as always, charming folks left and right. He happily was passed around for hours on end, even falling asleep with various cousins and family members holding him...sadly, I didn't bring my camera, so I'll have to post once I get some electronic pics from others.

The kids traveled very well - over 6 hours each direction (Friday morning to Sunday morning - quick trip). My dad left town for home this morning early; my mom took E over to San Diego until Sunday...so we have two kids only for the next few days. I can tell you already - it's QUIET!

Best husband ever.

Do I really need a caption? He's pulling laundry from the line while wearing the baby, standing in the yard that he mowed. Ah...spoiled me.

Five months

This morning...in the same tub where he was born:

...yet another reason to love IKEA: storage tubs that double as baby tubs!

So at five months, baby L weighs 17 lbs 11oz (dressed - so more like 17lb5oz). He rolls, he laughs, he giggles, he pushes up on his knees, and he's growing some relatively dark hair back finally! He has blue eyes and has recently started sticking his tongue out a lot. He sits in a hook-on chair at the table and enjoys noisy toys and anything that can go directly into his mouth.

Turtles

D's coworker gave us these turtles last week. They're soon to be relocated to Aunt B's pond, so as to better enjoy life. The girls have taken very good care of them all week - feeding, changing the water, and checking up on them.

Oh, their names are Sarah and John.

First horse show

E got to ride in the class 13 "lead liners" competition with Aunt B last night - and she won a blue ribbon!

There was a whole show at this arena in Apache Junction, so we spent our evening at our first-ever horse show. Aunt B did this all growing up, so D was familiar with it. I was not...I look forward to many more evenings of horse competition as the girls get more familiar with horses and riding...

The pictures follow below (as always, click on them to see nice big versions!).

The cowgirls and cowboy at the arena, before competition (please note their fancy new shirts):





Getting ready to show:



The competition:

And the prize:

And my first shot at a slideshow...the whole evening on film:

Call me super-mom

That's Baby L on my back, and my friend's son C on my front. We'll just neglect to mention this was only for a few minutes. C was not so into a strange woman trying to do his mama's job!