Water, Water, Water

The next day of our stay-cation was all about water. We headed out the the creek for a morning splash around, then we gathered tadpoles up at the park in the poorly drained upper portion that is full of mosquitos, tadpols, and frogs. Then we headed to the pool (again--we actually spent a lot of time at the pool this week).

The we search for tadpols....

The Zoo and Ms.Fun

We are on vacation this week--kids are off school and I am taking the week off with them. M is hanging out with us too, which is a lot of fun. Speaking of fun--I made a comment to M the other day about wanting to be a fun mom and hope my kids have fun with me and the things we do. He has decided to name me Ms. Fun! I am not sure I can live up to the new name. We'll see....



Headed to the Columbus Zoo on Monday. Forecast was iffy, but we went anyway and had a good time--minus the major Bean meltdown over....I am not sure what now. I am not a huge zoo fan, to be honest, but I do and can see the educational value and conservation need for them. For example, most of the Manatees at the Cols. Zoo are rescued and will be rehabilitation and returned to the oceans, but one with a missing fin/flipper will live it's life there, taken care of by the kind manatee keepers.

They do have a really neat polar bear exhibit now. I am not sure how new it is but, I really enjoyed it. This is Aurora, from the bottom and from the top. I loved the way we could watch them play from under the water.

They had these curved glass pieces, kind of like a sun

room glass enclosure with water and the bears above. Looking at them from underneath, they did not look all that big but in reality, they are big bears.

Of course, a picture of Bean and a hammerhead--where else would Shark Boy pose?

Rainy day in MacArthur

MacArthur. This strange little town in Vinton Co., Ohio. I am convinced that there is something about that place that just isn't right. Just not quite right. I seem to have odd expereinces there--nothing to weird but just makes me a bit uncomforatable. I suppose it is basically the east coast girl in rural southeastern Ohio Appalachian small town. I have had my car engine blow up there and had to wait at the spooky gas station with the creepy men, I got my only speeding ticket in many many year there and the state trooper creeped me out. I would see the strangest things a the gas station there in town--strange people and strange behaviour. See, I used to drive through there everyday on my way to Chillicothe when I worked for the National Park Service at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. I always hoped that I would not have to stop there along the way to work or home. The only bright spot about the place is the tiny ice cream stand that made the best milkshakes.

Anyway, we went to the Vinton County airport this morning so M could try to do some RC flying at the local fly-in. Well, we got rained out and headed into town to find something to eat. Did see two or three Amish horse and buggies. We went to this place on Main St. and it was weird. We walked in and the entire place went quite and they all stared at us--or course we are the outsiders. And of course, my kids are not behaving themselves all too well, and the food took forever and it was not all that good and everybody had to check us out--like I said creepy and not quite right.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love to make chocolate chip cookies! Really! It is one of my favorite things to do of all things to be done. I actually like it when M or the kids ask me to make them. They are so simple to whip up and taste so much better than any store bought kind--even if you screw them up they are way better. I feel so domestic, like I am doing something so fabulous for my family, but in reality I secretly love it. I know, I know, building memories with my kids.

I know I am and that makes me happy.

Curated Chaos*

Okay, I try my best to be original on here. But, with the number of blogs that I like to follow (oh, you'd be surprised!) I often find one or two that I like to emulate. The red gravy tomato one is an example. So, I really liked the recent posting on http://www.digthischickmt.com/2010/06/curated-mess.html called Curated Mess* and I decided to check my surroundings for such things. I too would rather go outside than clean up the mess. In our house, there is a reason the playroom has a door on it that closes!.

I will update this one.

A collection of items Yaya was playing with--monkey, doll made by M, duck that plays annoying quacking song, baby dino, little peoples girl and dog, and a baby. Interesting?!?!?

Love this girl!

I want my tomatoes to grow!

I am so ready for summer time tomatoes to grow in our little garden. I just put in another large tomato plant and am hoping for a nice crop this year. I want to make this--recipe come from http://www.digginfood.com/

DiAgostino’s Red Gravy (Stovetop edition)
Serves 4, Pour over 1lb of fresh cut pasta

You’ll need
12 plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons of olive oil (Preferably first pressed olive oil)
1 medium onion (Diced)
5-8 garlic cloves (Chopped)
½ cup fresh basil (Whole leaves)
Salt to taste
Fresh Italian parsley to sprinkle over pasta before serving

To make our red gravy, first bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 12 plum tomatoes. Let tomatoes cook for 2 minutes or until the skin visibly starts to peel off. Next, drain the hot tomatoes in a strainer, and use your hands to peel off all tomato skins. Put these tomatoes into a blender, and run on “high” for about 20 seconds. In a separate deep pot, heat oil on medium heat and cook onions until they become clear. Add the chopped garlic to the pot, and sauté for about 2 or 3 minutes more. Pour the puree tomatoes from the blender into the pot. Add salt (to your own taste) to gravy mix. Cook covered for 2 hours on low, or until smooth and thick. Add whole basil leaves (from your own garden if you have it in stock!) to the simmering gravy during the last ½ hour. Adding the basil at the end will ensure the fresh flavor of the herb doesn’t get cooked out. That’s it! Pour gravy over 1 lb of freshly cut pasta. Garnish with parsley and sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve and enjoy!

Weird plant

We found this weird and very large plant out by Dutch Creek the other day. It was huge and had very soft and fuzzy leaves and a center almost like a cabbage. Strange--no idea what it is, but it sure likes it where it is!















Okay, as far as I can tell from some investigation is that is a COMMON MULLEIN
Verbascum thapsus

http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=750

Backyard fun!?!?

We have decided to put this up in our little backyard. We don't have nearly the room that is picture in this picture or the grand mountains behind our yard either, but I hope I will fit and work for our little side/front yard. Yes, we do have a park across the street, but what kind of mom would I be to sit on the deck drinking a beer and have the kids across the street and not with in sight? This way I can sit on the deck, have my beer or what ever and see them playing. And once we tackle the problem of them running into the street in front, we should be good to go! I will try to post some pics as it goes up. There are 1500 pieces, yes you read that right, in the package and from the reviews I read, takes a very long time to put up! Glad M is doing it while I am at work! :)

B-day boy with his sister

Pictures from Bean's 5th birthday--shite! 5 already! He had a small party of 16 kids--and yes, I was joking about the small thing. We invited his





class and I really did not expect everyone to come! It was really nice that they all did and they all seemed to have a lot of fun. It was a dino theme party, with a mini-dino and egg hunt and dino egg excavations (which was a bit of a flop, but also okay at the same time). Will post some more b-day pics ASAP.



I added a few pics from the party. The cake was dinosaur fossil in dirt. I love the one with him and his "wife" Syndey--so much happiness in that picture. :)

Strawberry Pickin'

We went strawberry picking in Marietta on Sunday. It was a cloudy, but warm morning and we were hoping that the rain would hold off (which it did). For some crazy reason--later commitments that day--we all got up and were on the road to Marietta at 7:00 am--yes that is AM on a Sunday morning. But if you read my previous post, you will know that the kids now get up that early, not matter what day it is.

They had this cute sign that we all took pictures will. These are the ones that you tease your kids with when they are older! Some picking shots from that day. Look at how grown up Bean looks. I cannot believe that he will be 5 in few days. And, as for little miss Yaya--the girl LOVES and I mean LOVES strawberries!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not really sure how many she ate in the field, but it would have been enough to make any person have a stomach ache. Oh, no, not her! She ate and ate. Then cried because we had to take her container away to weigh it, then ate more. Really a bit crazy how many she consumed. Covered in strawberry juice and mud all over--yeah, that's what life is all about!

Binky and Big Girl update

Well, just and update on the sleeping habits of a little 2 1/2 year old little girl. She is finally going to bed with a little more ease, but only a little more. One of us needs to lay with her for several songs on the cd and rub her back for a while as she tosses and turns for a spell. Actually though, she asked for the binky only once or twice since they went away, which is pretty good for 2 1/2 and for some one who loved her binkies at night.

Now the problem I seem to be having is that she is getting up between 5 and 6 am every morning. Some mornings I can get her to go back to sleep, tell her I need to get in the shower, lay with her for a bit, those type of things, but HELL I am already awake and cannot really go back to sleep just to get up at 6:15 to get in the shower. If she does sleep a bit longer, and only a bit, she usually ends up standing in front of me in the shower. Just standing there saying hi. That used to be MY time!!! I knew that at least at 6:15 in the morning, I would be the only one up and it would be quiet and I could just chill a bit--or at least take a shower in peace. Well, no longer because now she wants to take a shower with me! I love a really hot shower--really hot--cause it wakes me up and feels really good. It is a big like a sauna. But, not so good for a little girl to have it that hot. So, I have to quickly shower in the really hot water, then freeze a bit when she gets in and stands there for just a little but too long.

I am not really sure if things are getting better with this situation.....................

Some old stuff

Power Ranger mask designed and made by Bean and M. The lights actually light up. Bean showing Yaya a few PR moves! They are too cute in these makes. M and Bean worked really hard on these (well, M did) and put a lot of time and care into making it just right, so smooth--perfect if he could. The one with the lights is the better one, which they both fight over.