The Grinch

Last night, I took Athena to see the Grinch at the Old Globe Theater. It was her first theater experience and I think she liked it. It was a special night for us, and she even convinced me to dress up with her. She said, "Mommy, that is a good one, that is a good dress. You look beautiful." With her stamp of approval we were off. We enjoyed wandering around the park to look at the lights. We even ran into one of her friends from preschool who was also going to the grinch with his mom.
She sat well throughout the show. When it first started, she was asking a million questions. Why is it dark? What animal is that? What is the white? Where did the people go? But by the end she was more focused on figuring it our for herself and was clapping after every number with the rest of us. Now, she wants to go again with her cousin Oli. I think we will definitely go again, probably next year though.

Big Mistake!

I was looking over my grocery receipt last night when I came across a $37 bulk purchase. WTF? I thought to myself. I couldn't for the life of me think of anything that would have added up to 37 dollars. Then the kicker was that it was for dry milk powder!!! I've never in my life purchased dry milk powder! I was all pissed off and went to work trying to figure out where my cashier went wrong. It turned out it HAD to be the bananas because they were the only thing missing from the receipt and the weight looked possible (4 lbs.).
I went back to the store today and it turns out the code for bananas is 74 and the cashier had typed 774 which is the code for dry milk powder. They credited that charge back to me so I ended up getting the bananas for free. Hopefully that will cover my gas costs since it is a 20 minute drive to People's for me. Moral of the story, always check your receipt before you leave the store.

The cutest thing ever

My kids have started doing the most adorable thing when we drive now. I have got to get a picture. I keep looking back and they are holding hands! It is just so cute. And it is so great that Rowan hardly cries in the car because Athena always does silly stuff to cheer him up. I'm feeling very lucky and grateful for my family today.

More teeth, glasses, etc.

Rowan has 4 teeth now, it happened over night Sunday. He had bonked the top ones so many times that they just had to break through. It is funny though because it isn't the 2 center top ones, but 1 center and 1 to the right. This was because of him falling that way so many times. So now he is super close to having 5 teeth, whenever the other top center on decides to grace us with its presence. This has happened so fast, his first tooth was on Oct. 20, so just barely over a month ago. A tooth a week is sure a lot of teething. He has been so good about it though. I tried the gumomile teething remedy yesterday and he start screaming. I think it hurt him, probably burned is my guess. I'll probably just stick to his herbs "Tender Teeth", especially since he doesn't complain too much.
Rowan is also standing up very well now, and can let go for a few seconds and stand unassisted. That really scares me because I think he will walk soon, too soon.

Athena in 10 years, if she follows my footsteps...
*food*
Last night I made the baked mac n cheez from the uncheese cookbook and it was really good. I don't have a picture because my camera was missing for a few days.:( I'll make it again though.

Commas, Have you ever noticed?

Have you ever noticed my problem with commas? I have always loved them, but I tend to use them inappropriately. And I seriously have to think hard sometimes about where/when they are needed. So, I just thought I'd share just in case you ever wondered what was up with me. I've never pretended I was a good writer, either creatively or technically speaking, but I do enjoy this blogging bit so I'm glad my small group of readers accepts me for who I am. Be ready for commas because I rarely post without at least a few. And don't worry about correcting me either, I like things the way they are.

Last night

Athena spent the night with her aunt and cousin, sounds like they had a fabulous time and she didn't want to come home this morning. Wow!
I went to a friend's birthday party last night without the baby! I stayed away 5 hours and he was asleep when I got home. He stayed with Daddy and took a bottle and ate some banana and rice puffs. I woke him up a little bit just to nurse though so that I could get to sleep since pumping at midnight didn't sound very appealing to me. Anyway, that was pretty much my first night out since he was born, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did a lot of karaoke so my throat is a little scratchy today, and I'm a little tired from staying up so late, but it was worth it. There *may* be a photo or 2 coming of me doing karaoke since I know I was photographed. We'll see how they turn out...Did you know I LOVE karaoke? Really, I do.

Vegan Brunch

The brunch went well. Chris took the kids outside from about 8:30-11 so I could get everything ready. It felt good to be in the kitchen without distractions, and I even took a shower while the potatoes were in the oven. Very good times. It was hard to talk too much, with the kids running around all crazy style, but they were entertaining and so it was OK. And actually, the kids were pretty awesome without any "difficulties". I wish we could have hung out more, it was really nice to be with old friends.
I'm also thinking of starting a monthly vegan brunch bunch. It was a lot of fun, and if I make it potluck, it won't even be very hard. Wanna come?

I'm excited that...

Tomorrow some friends are coming over for brunch. I am excited because 2 of the couples I rarely see since they live in different states (Nevada, Texas). My friend Meghan I've known since 1st grade although we didn't become best friends until 2nd. I didn't think she was very cool in 1st because she had a Dukes of Hazard lunch box and I had Pac Man, just like my 2 best friends Troy and Jeremy. Somehow in 2nd grade I was willing to overlook the lunch box and we have been friends ever since, well, there was actually about a year where we weren't but we were 13 so I don't count it because we all know that 13 year old logic makes a lot of sense. So, the story was something like, I got in a fight with another mutual friend and Meghan took her side, not mine, and I guess I was kind of needy and a pain in the ass at the time so we just stopped hanging out for awhile. We slowly worked each other back into each others lives, it was hard not to because we played on the same soccer team, and were in most of our nerd classes together. By the time we were 21, we were backpacking through Europe together for the summer. She is awesome.
My friend Marlene, I can't pinpoint when we first became friends. Probably in Berkeley, but it was after I graduated I think. She was full of coolness and I knew I wanted to be her friend. We stayed with her for a week in Venice, Italy while she studied abroad. She took such good care of us, I could almost cry, because traveling vegan can be hard, and she could speak Italian and hooked us up with the soy gelato. Anyone who hooks me up with soy gelato is a friend for LIFE. She also doesn't mind if I call her "Aunt Marlene" or "Marlene Ciao Prego", even when neither make any sense.
I'm excited about the other couple coming too because they are awesome and we don't hang out nearly enough. Plus they are friends with Marlene so it's like a lil reunion. Anyway, I'll try to take a picture or two, I seem to always forget. Like tonight, we went out to Sipz with the inlaws and I ordered the "caterpillar" roll and had no idea it was going to look so much like a caterpillar. It kind of felt wrong to eat it, as it was so cute and lovely, but it was delicious too. Damn, I wish I had taken a picture.
Tomorrow I'm going to make roasted potatoes again, tofu scramble, pumpkin carob chip muffins, and probably chocolate walnut scones. I also bought some assorted organic fruit including a pineapple. I hope I have time to prep everything, it can be a real pain when I get these visions and the kids don't cooperate. So, this weekend continues to be all about food, and so far I can still button my jeans.

I am thankful for...

More than just pie and my kids, but those are pretty darn important (my kids are total hams). It was a lovely day with family, and the food was fantastic. We had our own vegan table (with my 1 cousin who ate standard stuff) so the kids didn't even notice the rest of the people eating up a carved bird, yuck! The pie/cheezcake turned out well. The cheezcake was a bit of a nightmare because it made 2 x's what it was supposed to, as in I filled 2 pie shells instead of 1. No biggie, but I'm wondering where I went wrong. And last night I was convinced it hadn't cooked all the way through, but it set more in the fridge overnight I guess.

Thanksgiving Feastables

Tomorrow is the big day, we always go to my Aunt's house for Thanksgiving. It will be fun to see everyone but my sister and 2 of my cousins won't be there which is a little disappointing. Anyway, on to the fun stuff.
I'll be making the chocolate pumpkin pie for EDBV, and have also decided to make a pumpkin cheesecake from the "Uncheese Cookbook". It may sound like overkill on the pumpkin, but I love all pumpkin baked goods and look forward to this every year. I bought some Rice Divine to go with the pies. I'm going to try and get both desserts made tonight after the kiddos are in bed, and tomorrow I'll be making rosemary oven roasted potatoes in the style of VWAV. I can't wait to try all the delicious foods. My mom is making the stuffing from Veg. Times (Nov.), minus the chestnuts because she couldn't find them anywhere, and a carrot yam soup, plus the traditional veganized sweet potato casserole. She used to make 2 separate casseroles, one vegan, one not, but now she just makes it vegan and no one notices. Thanks Mom. I think I already said this but my bro/SIL are making a seitan roll for our main course and a delightful green been/yam kind of casserole. I'm seriously getting hungry over here, we are going out for dinner tonight!

Athena's Dad and the shoes I'm wanting

Tonight before dinner Athena said:
"My Dad is more of a man than Dora's Dad." It was hilarious, mostly because it was totally out of the blue, but not really as funny as it sounds.
When I asked for clarification she said "it's just that MY Daddy looks like more of a man and Dora's Dad is more of a Papa". We have a Dora book and her Dad is referred to as "Papa" which to Athena means Grandpa so I think that is what she meant. It was still super funny, she said so many funny things today like "this playdough is getting all over town" and she called me "Mom-ski".

I just bought Rowan a new pair of Isabooties. I then found out they make vegan soft stars though, and now I am so anxious for him to grow and need new shoes. When Athena was a baby I couldn't find any vegan soft soled shoes and now there are so many to choose from.

Pleasant Surprise

Tonight was my night off, as in SNB night. I love Mondays but I know I've mentioned that before. My only complaint is that all of the other mamas talk about going home, their kids asleep, quiet house awaits...I usually come home to both my kids waiting for me. It isn't so bad, they usually just need some quick snuggles and/or some milk and they are off to slumberland. Tonight was great though because Athena was sound asleep. Yay! Rowan only needed an immediate 10 minute nurse to sleep session and he was out. I was so happy because Athena really should be in bed by 8 when she doesn't nap and I don't get home until the ungodly hour of, um, 9:30.

Another awesome thing I've discovered is that Rowan can be transferred. That's right, now that he is in a regular car seat I can transfer him asleep from car to bed. This just amazes me as Athena could NEVER be moved, not ever. He also unlatches himself from nursing when he falls asleep which is also amazing to me because Athena used to stay on for hours until I finally would force her off. Anyway, that was a totally random bit to share, but I'm just amazed at my 2 little people. We had a great day today, I tried so hard to be patient with Athena and I didn't turn my computer on in the morning which is really hard for me to do. I also tried to DO stuff with her while Ro was asleep like build a train track and paint her toe nails. I know she enjoyed it.

Kombucha

The kombucha craze hit my playgroup quite a while ago, but for some reason I was hesitant to try it out. Today I decided to give it a whirl so that I could stop wondering about it and to overcome my fear of it (those mushrooms really freak me out). Anyway, I think it tasted pretty darn good. I'm not sure if I'm ready to start brewing my own, but I won't turn it down again, it really was quite tasty. Thanks Lorien and Natalie for giving me just enough peer pressure to get me over my weirdness. And I know that are plenty of people thinking "hey, yeah, I've tried it" but they've only had the store bought stuff. My friends are hardcore, and only drink the real deal which they make themselves. We are totally not kidding around. Word.

Feeling grumpy

I'm always sad on Sunday nights because it means the weekend is over. We had a lot of fun this weekend between our usual battles:) This morning I took the kids to the cafe where I meet the Stitch N Bitch group because Athena had always wanted to see it. We had a nice breakfast and afterwards we headed over to a local lake to let Athena ride her bike and feed the ducks and coots. We then went to our neighborhood park and I let Rowan down the slide for the first time (Athena caught him at the bottom). We had to leave early though because Athena got crazy feet and started kicking me. Anyway, I hope tomorrow is a good day, it will be busy and I am already feeling so tired:( Athena has been soooooo challenging this week. Just super disobedient, whiny, and unpredictable, I keep reminding myself SHE'S 3(.5)! Today is her official half way to her birth day. Yay for 3 1/2!

Rowan's new toy

Rowan got an early Christmas present since he'll probably be walking independently by then. He loves to push Athena's doll stroller but it is always falling on top of him and trapping him beneath. This radio flyer walker wagon saved the day, it totally rocks and he is so stoked to be walking.

APRL Vegan Thanksgiving

We went to a vegan thanksgiving event today and had a lot of fun. I made pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips (adapted from my friend Luci's recipe of Mindless Mom Ramblings), and scalloped potatoes from Vive Le Vegan. The cookies weren't as good as when Luci made them, a little whole wheat tasting, but not bad. The potatoes were delicious and both items were gobbled up by the crowd pretty quickly.

Here's my potluck plate (kind of a mess but it was hard to fill her up with 2 kids hanging on me). There were some outstanding dishes, one with sweet potato, and a really good mac n cheez, salads of all kinds, plus a slew of desserts. I sampled the chocolate silk pie, triple ginger cookies and pecan tarts a la Lindsey of Day to Day vegan, and a peanut butter cookie, oh and some kind of chocolate cake with whip cream on top. Yum Yum Yum! I didn't even eat any of the tofurkey but Athena liked it. I've had it a few too many times the past few holidays and am fine without it now.

Nablopomo day 16

Well, I've made it halfway and I really don't have much to say today. Tomorrow is Athena's last soccer game and in the afternoon we are going to a vegan Thanksgiving event. We went last year and it is a nice tradition to start since our family Thanksgiving isn't a vegan event (we bring vegan stuff but everyone else eats pretty traditional except my bro/SIL). I like Athena to meet other vegans and to be at parties where she can eat whatever she chooses. I like that too!

For crying out loud!

I just went and purchased our 4th baby monitor today! You may be wondering why I need a monitor at all in our 800 sq ft. home, but it is because we are evil cosleepers and our bed is up high (DH won't put it on the floor) and although we have a bed rail, Rowan nearly commits suicide about 3 times per day by dangerously poking his head over the edge in a matter of seconds upon waking each and every day. Anyway, our first baby monitor was bought at a resale shop and worked fine and was still packed away when I was pg with baby #2. As we were getting baby stuff out of the garage, I was having trouble locating the monitor, and regrettably mentioned this to my mom who bought us a brand new one. I found the old one about a week later but since a friend was needing one right at that time I decided to pass it along and use our brand new one (should have kept the original one and returned the new one!). The new one was a real lemon and would turn off all the time and was tricky to get the monitors on the same channel. It crapped out one too many times and we tried to return it but without the packaging and receipt we were SOL. So back to the resale shop we went an bought baby monitor #3. This one seemed great but after a few months the cord to the receiver started getting testy and the monitor would sometimes cut out if the power cord wasn't pushed firmly inside, and eventually it just stopped working altogether. We could still power it with batteries, but as of today that feature wasn't functioning either so I went and bought baby monitor #4 which I just think is absolutely ridiculous but at least now I won't be wondering if my baby is going to launch off the bed anytime soon. And he just woke up from his nap for a 2nd round of nursing and it worked like a charm! Yay!

The Miracles of Breastmilk

Let me just start out by saying that today was a hard day. It didn't start out that way. I even captured this super cute picture of Athena reading with Rowan in the AM, totally heart warming in person. But don't be fooled, this was about the only thing positive throughout the day. I went to do the dishes and while I was working the sink stopped draining. The bathtub had been draining slower and slower the past few weeks so I sent an IM to Chris and let him know what was up with the sink. "Don't let Athena use the bathroom sink either", was the reply I got. Ok, and I won't take a shower I responded (good excuse for me to stay filthy today right). So I finished the dishes and poured baking soda and vinegar down the drain to do my part. It made the yucky water go down but when I filled it up again it was still clogged so I avoided it the rest of the day. Oh, I remembered another positive thing, I made Athena a lunch in the laptop lunchbox for the first time. She was really excited and ate everything but the sandwich while we were at the park today.

After the drain clogging, and nap refusal by the baby, we headed of to the playground to meet some friends. Athena was only slightly more clingy than usual, the park was hot and it was not a good combo. She only played on the playground for about 30 seconds and spent the rest of the time clinging to my side, only to take short breaks to dangerously wave sticks at my side. These breaks ended with me angrily throwing the sticks in the trash can because I just cannot negotiate with someone waving a stick at me. (she ignored my requests to move to a safer area)
Awhile later while Athena was snacking on some nori, she started complaining of an owie. "It hurts, ow, ow!" she cried and pulled at around her shirt collar. I peeked around and saw nothing but she kept complaining. I took her shirt off and still saw nothing, but a few seconds later a bug landed on her and I swatted it away. It was larger than a gnat but smaller than a fly. I then noticed 2 or 3 little bites on her upper back. She was whining but not completely losing it so I got her a calm drop and some rescue remedy and washed the area with a wet washcloth. "It's still owie!" she complained. "You could try some breastmilk," a friend suggested, after all it was the La Leche League Playgroup. Rowan helped me get an easy let down and then I popped him off and gave Athena's back a spray of milk while Rowan grasped for the nipple that was rightfully his. "It's warm", Athena laughed, "it's feeling better," and then a few seconds later, "it doesn't hurt anymore!" Wow, the miracle of breastmilk.
Anyway, after we left the park the kids battled against naps and I lost my cool a few too many times but now everyone is asleep and tomorrow will most likely be a better day. Oh, and Chris got home and had the drains flowing again in about 30 minutes while the neighbors, who also seem to be having some plumbing issues, are on their 3rd plumber of the day! Bummer for them! Oh, and about our drains, chris said their was a huge white clog and this is the 2nd time our drain has clogged in the past few months and never in the previous 3 years and the only thing different is that we often use coconut oil now. Does anyone else think this might be relevant? Because I know coconut oil hardens unless it is about like 75-80 degrees. I think we might be on to something even though it is not like we pour oil down the drain but maybe the residue could build up that fast, I have know idea.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, Rowan turned 8 months yesterday, he has 2 teeth and loves to stand and cruise now. He has been crawling really well (not his old army style) for a few weeks now too. He also started clapping which of course I think is really advanced. He makes good noises and screams with delight when Athena screams. He says Mama a lot but I still can't be sure he "means" it. I am trying to sign with him more and love to see how he manipulates his little hands. I think he will be an early communicator, he seems to really get it already.

And before I forget, with a day like today I couldn't be bothered to cook so I let Athena try a new frozen meal. It is vegan, mostly organic and she ate everything but 1/2 of the foccacia bread. It also had ziti pasta, broccoli, and and apple crisp. Long live TV dinners.

7 weird things...

Thanks for tagging me wannabe urban housewife!
Rules:
1- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
3- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 random or weird things
1. I have an ET collection (you know, the movie) that fills up a huge box, so this slightly influenced the decision on my baby's middle name.
2. I originally became vegetarian when I was 14 because everyone I thought was cool was doing it like my big bro. (didn't become vegan until I was 18 and knew better!)
3. I have webbed toes (the 2nd and 3rd toes are connected).
4. I like to drive in loops, like if we go to someone's house or the grocery store, I like to come home the other way (our house is between 2 major freeways which helps).
5. I hate mixing sweet and salty things (except peanut butter and jelly), especially hate when syrup gets on my veggie sausage and I don't really like chutney for this reason.
6. I like my radio volume on even numbers.
7. I was super duper shy in high school, like painfully so. I was also a big nerd, wait, I still am.

I'm tagging Diana, Erika, Jen, Lindsey, Luci, Chris, and Suzanne.
Ok, so I realize that these aren't "random" people but it was the only way I'd participate, the random thing freaks me out sometimes.

Parties and Quiche failure

Athena's preschool had their Thanksgiving feast today and Athena was so happy to have her family at school. I was there with the baby and Daddy and Grandma met us there too. We enjoyed our lunches and talking with our friends. (I brought vegan versions of everything that was being served) It was so cute so see Athena run for her Dad, she was so surprised.

Then, this afternoon her soccer team had their end of the year party. Athena had fun playing with her team at the park and eating cookies.
Then she got her first trophy! She thought it was pretty cool that it had her name on it and I told her about how many trophies I had when I was a kid. I didn't have any when I was 3 though! I started thinking about how I would have to collect and save them for her, what a pain, but it is worth it. She had a lot of fun in soccer, but enjoyed the practices more than the games. In the games she'd just run around but not really go for the ball. She was so lucky to have an awesome coach for her first organized sports experience. I'm afraid next year could be a let down, because he really was fun, that is of course if she wants to play again because it was totally her idea to play soccer.
My quiche failure was a bummer. It looks pretty, but it was all gooey ooey on the inside still. I cooked it according to the recipe but wonder if it would have hardened up if it had cooked longer? Any ideas? The top was hard and browning so I thought it was done. I think I'll try this again, it is from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook but next time I'll use beans instead of the silken tofu. So sad for me.

Ramblings

Thanks to the fabulous internet, I just searched and found a girl I was a nanny for almost 10 years ago. It was weird to read her thoughts on myspace, etc. and sad for me at the same time. I've always wondered what happened to her and how she was doing and now I know she is in boarding school in Hawaii. Weird stuff I tell you, it brought back a lot of old memories, and some of them were rather painful. Anyway, here's to the internet, may we never lose touch, entirely.

My Salad Eater

Tonight I made "Noodles Ramona" from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. It was just OK. It went well with the salad I made, but it wasn't my favorite. I think I will still try it again since there is room for variations in the recipe and maybe I'd like it better another way. We ate a bunch of it so it wasn't bad, just not excellent.
I threw together a salad with some random stuff we had, spinach, carrots, cucumbers, plum tomatoes, and cranberries. The dressing was from VLV, it was the "simple cider vinaigrette" and it was so good. I used agave instead of maple syrup because I'm fresh out of maple syrup. So, I served up some of the salad with the dressing on the side for Athena, figuring she'd eat the carrots and cucumbers if I was lucky. Then the strangest thing happened, she ate the carrots and then started to eat the spinach I had torn up into to tiny pieces. She was dipping it in the dressing, and the I heard those words that had never been spoken before. "I want some more of that spinach." Chris and I looked at each other while our jaws dropped to the floor. At first we tried not to make a big deal out of it, but by the end of the dinner we were talking it up, about how she was getting older and ready to try new things. She even took a bite out of the tomato but did not like it. She ate all the cucumbers, carrots, cranberries, and spinach on her plate and then ate about 3 servings more. Her noodles, she ate only half of, the sauce wasn't her favorite. It was a strange night but I have noticed her getting more adventurous, trying new foods and eating ones she doesn't really like just to say that she tried it. I have been encouraging her to eat more fruits and veggies while not quite forcing her (like when she wants a snack[and has had a full meal] I will only offer a fruit or veggie knowing that if she was super hungry she'd eat it). In the past I just let her eat what she liked but realized that approach didn't quite work for her because she stopped eating foods that she had once eaten and became super monotonous in her diet. Now I am so excited, I always wanted to have one of those kids who ate salad, and now I do!

My Perfume of Choice

Last night Athena was snuggling up near my chest and said, "It smells like Rowan's spit up!". That is definitely my favorite perfume scent.

Halloween Nail

Athena got this plastic finger at a birthday party before Halloween. Today she discovered it and has been wearing it off and on. She loves the long nail even though I think it is a gross long pointy nail. She thinks it looks like a "CarCar nail" (her aunt with fake nails who she adores). It cracks me up.
Athena also wants to be a mom when she grows up and wears bras so that she can nurse her babies. She also HAS to wear her "high shoes"(those obnoxious plastic heels) when she pushes her babies in the stroller or walks them in their slings. That is the one that puzzles me, cuz who is modeling that? I swear, it is not me!

Only 3 days

Baby Ro went only 3 days without a runny nose, but it started up again yesterday:( That poor baby has had a cold most of his life! On Sunday I noticed I didn't have to wipe his nose at all, then Monday, Athena woke up with a cold and I thought, oh it is her turn. She hasn't been sick much at all other than the minor morning of vomit. Yesterday the baby and I started running, and now we all have a runny nose! Yay! Oh, Chris is fine though, maybe he will get it this weekend. I am so sick of being covered in snot and constantly wiping snot off the baby's face. Athena just sniffs and sniffs so her nose hardly runs, that probably isn't good either though. Ok, off to blow my nose!

EDITORS NOTE: I can't believe I just did a post on snot.

Wednesday Walk

We went on a little nature hike. It was very nice to be out in the fresh air, it was a beautiful day, couldn't help but notice how DRY everything was. I let my kids run with sticks and rocks.

Chana Pizza

I made the little girl a vegan cheese pizza since I thought the Indian one might be too spicy. She loved it and sprinkled it with nutritional yeast and dulse.
The Chana Pizza was my creation and I loved it. I didn't end up making chana masala last night because chris started dinner while the kids and I were still napping (and he didn't get my telepathic message) so tonight I wanted to use up those chickpeas I'd made. I had this packet of seasoning that we'd used before and they are super good. Then I used up some left over stuff in the fridge to concoct this. The last of the little tomatoes, potatoes, onions, ginger, spinach, and the rest of a jar of pasta sauce. I sauteed it all in a little bit of coconut oil, and Voila! Dinner was served!

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What's been cooking.

Warm kale salad that I thought looked pretty.
Tacos with barf colored chipotle sour cream, so good though.
My first chickpeas that didn't come from a can!
The hummus.

I am on a roll right now in the kitchen. For 3 days now I've made dinner without a recipe (just kind of winging it), and everything has been good.
Sunday I made seitan stroganoff, but I used broccoli instead of mushrooms because that is what I had. It was tasty.
Monday I made a lentil coconut curry with rice that was so good.
Tuesday I made tacos and a warm kale salad. I also used my pressure cooker to make chickpeas and they tasted so good fresh. So this morning I of course made hummus and tonight I am thinking chana masala!

Vegan cows

Yesterday Athena was making some food for her "kids". She told me they were going to have "vegan cows". I think it is so funny to see her process what it is to be vegan at age 3. I explained to her that cows are actually vegan, but how eating them wouldn't be because they are an animal and vegans don't eat animals. "I know, I know," she said, "my KIDS just want to eat the VEGAN cows". Um, ok.

Little Toother

If you click on the photo to make it big you can get a good view of the little guy's tooth. Pretty cool.

5:47

That is the time right now and both of my kids are napping. You might be thinking, wow, awesome, she's like supermom! But really it bites because it means Athena will be up LATE, and she has school tomorrow. She is always fine though, it is just hard for me to get going with the time change and all. An extra hour they say, but I feel as though I am losing an hour because they wake up an hour earlier! Oh, and I knew she would fall asleep if I let her lay down with the baby and I, so you may be wondering why I let her. Well, you see, I really wasn't up for the whining "but I want to be with YOU". I hear that all day long and sometimes I just want a little space from her, like maybe just 2 inches. Anyone else with a kid whose cord is that short? She really was born with a short umbilical cord, I should have known. The bright side is that I never have to wonder where she is, like at the park for example, she definitely isn't running off anywhere, so that is nice. And while we are on the subject of the girl child, I am having another issue with her. She takes dance and gymnastics classes which she really likes. The problem is that lately she has been getting in trouble in the classes for being goofy or not listening to the teacher. The teachers try and not give her a stamp at the end of class but she always tells me she is fine with that. I guess I am thinking I should take a break from the classes, but then I wonder if we should stay and have her work through it? What would you do? It would be the perfect time to quit since the session ends this week, but for some reason I hesitate to do that. It is weird to me how badly I want her to be one of the "good" kids, but then I remind myself that sometimes the "good" kids don't have nearly the personality that she has. Not to say if you are one of the lucky ones that has a kid like that that your child is lacking in any way, it is just that she doesn't seem to want to conform, and that can be OK too.

Under our house

This is what the project my DH is working on looks like. Neat stuff, huh? He managed to complete 3 piers this weekend, so he has already saved us about 1000$. Cha-ching.

103 and other stuff

I didn't know my Grandpa on my mom's side very well because he passed away when I was 7 or 8, but from what I remember, he was super nice and funny. When I was visiting my Grandma today, she mentioned to us as we were leaving, "Grandpa would have been 103 today." My mom was with me so I asked her about it on the way home. I guess each year they mention it, but only in passing, she said she doesn't want to bring it up and make my G-ma sad. I also found out their anniversary is June 2nd. Anyway, I was just thinking of my Grandpa and wanted to post about him.
On an entirely different note, my Grandma's house is the only place I ever weigh myself so the kids and I each took a turn...I am 4 lbs over when I got pg with Ro (8 over when I got pg with Athena), Athena was 37.5, and Rowan was 22. I am actually surprised with my weight because I've been eating so horribly lately. Vegan cupcakes, cookies, dark chocolate, those solicious ice cream bars, anything I can get my hands on! It sickens me sometimes. The other night I couldn't sleep because my stomach hurt from eating too much sugar. I usually crave it in the afternoons and evenings, but have been known to eat it the am too. I always think, well at least it is organic, but it is still bad and I should probably keep it in check but there is really no chance of that until 2008 because Nov./Dec. is a big dessert making time for me. Hmm, off to the kitchen to see what I can find, all this talk is making me want dessert.

The DH

The DH seems like he has made up his mind to replace the 28 concrete piers that hold up our little 800 sq ft home. We'd like to move soon, somewhere closer to his office and maybe a tad bigger. I actually like a lot about our house, but am looking forward to the move. The cracked piers have been one of our biggest hurdles in getting ready to sell. The 9K estimates that were given made us very sad! Chris is super into building and figuring things out (ME major), but I've been resistant. Mostly because it means he will spend precious weekend time working on this project. Maybe I should plan a weekend trip so he can really focus on it? Any suggestions? The thought of traveling with both kids sounds a little overwhelming, but if it would speed things up on our moving process than maybe it'd be worth it? Anyway, he decided to attempt to replace one today and see how it went and if he thought it was doable, and he says it is, so I am going to try and be more supportive. Oh, and in case you were wondering, when we bought the house, we were given a 5K credit to fix the piers but just never did it and now they are worse and the market is slow, so we don't think anyone would buy this house "as is". There are a few more projects we must complete before selling, patching the wood floors where there was once a floor heater and now just a piece of plywood (we cover it with a rug), finish painting the inside of the house, and getting grass to grow (probably will have to water it or something?) We hate lawns and have let ours go, but every realtor has said, MUST HAVE GREEN GRASS!. So, that is what I've been thinking about a lot lately. I feel like I can't really help with any of the projects because I am always busy with the kids or too tired because of handling the kids all day, and then I feel guilty for that...oh well, life goes on. Meanwhile, I just had a fabulous Indian feast with my bro/SIL and he is starving so I think I'll be nice and go make him one of his green maca smoothies that I loathe.

Athena was inspired

Athena was inspired by Eliza at 3-foot-tall-diva and has been pressing me to do more projects! She loved watching the videos of Eliza doing her art explorations and told me she wants one of her too, so this is it. And I promise, absolutely swear that no babies were harmed in the making of this video. Really, he was OK!!!

Kosherie

This middle eastern dish, popular in Egypt, is so good. I recommend the recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook. It feels a little naughty though to eat pasta and rice in the same meal, but it totally works, so try it!

Garlic Breath

Athena: Your breath smells like garlic.
Me: Yeah, it probably does from my dinner.
Athena: Can you please try to keep your breath in?!