Quick Update

I know it's been a MEGA long time since I've blogged. Not only have we been busy with vacations, holidays and sickness - I've been just plain slacking too.

Here are some pics from our Utah trip. It snowed a little bit while we were there. There was enough snow for the girls to make a snowman and for Josie to tromp around happily in her boots.

Today Rich had the day off so we went to lunch at Jay Berry's and then to Snoqualmie Falls. I LOVE the falls. I like to go when it's sunny, or when there's been a lot of rain and they're really full, or like today, when it's been so cold there's ice everywhere! It's so beautiful.

And this last pic is a paper craft I did for my daughter's friend. I had this plain brown sack that needed to wrap a b-day present so I dressed it up. On my sis's blog she linked this really great paper craft christmas decor pic (click here) and I fell in love with it.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween!!!!! Here are some pictures of our costumes:
Josie LOVES Scooby-Doo. She saw this costume in the store somewhere around Oct. 1 and loved it then. Then as Halloween grew closer, she refused to ever put it on. I was worried she wouldn't wear it at all! Then, when she realized, Scooby got candy, she happily put it on and went trick-or-treating.

Reese went as Sharpay from High School Musical. The dress and purse we got at goodwill, the sweater was from storage and I bought the sparkly leggings at walmart. I also bought some rhinestones and a $1 headband and we glued them on so it reads - SHARPAY.

Ashlynn went as a mad doctor/crazy old person -one of those throw together costumes that can be a few different things. We borrowed an old lab coat from my sister - bloodied it up along with some pants and sprayed her hair. Hanging above her you see the new Halloween decoration we bought this year, a body encased in webbing....some spider has a tasty treat waiting for it ;)

I had decided I wanted to be Medusa, and when I mentioned it to a friend it turned out she had a costume I could borrow - PERFECT!

Dad ended up throwing together a wig, hat and glasses to take the girls trick-or-treating and looked a lot like Slash. But we didn't get any pictures :(

All in all it was a great Halloween and there is a TON of candy just waiting to cause tummy aches. Come over and I'll give you some ;)

District Diversity Meeting

For those wondering -
I did attend the diversity meeting at the school district.

I went because I wanted to know what the school's taught about same-gender families and let them know I didn't want assignments or books about same-gender relationships being given to my children. I believe marriage is absolutely sacred and should be between a man and a woman. (Interesting how my view is supported by thousands of years of humanity - yet now I feel afraid to stand up for my beliefs.)

In the school's definition of diversity listed among ethnicity, religion, and financial status were gender-identity and sexual orientation. But this was at the forum - I don't know what is taught to students regarding it.

I know that bullying of any type for any reason is wrong. I was shocked to hear the Jr High and High School students talk about the teasing, fights, and violence that occurs. It became obvious that more needs to be done to punish/counsel the kids involved in it.

The forum wasn't really an open mic type situation - which I was somewhat grateful for, I'm not big on confrontations. But we divided up into groups to discuss the issues the students talked about. I let the facilitator know the reason for my attendance and that I didn't think homosexuality should be taught in school. I told her that tolerance and acceptance are two very different things. I also asked that parents should be made aware when controversial issues like this are going to be talked about in class BEFORE hand so they can approve of it or make other arrangements. She took notes on what the group said and it was all going back to the district. I also filled out a comment card, repeating my thoughts, with my e-mail address and notation that I was interested in being involved.

Part of America's greatness is the FREEDOM OF RELIGION. Once same-gender marriages are approved and schools start teaching it as natural and normal, that freedom begins to erode.

Food and Fashion

The truth is - I always forget about goodwill. And, I don't think the prices are low enough for used stuff. That being said, there's a time of year I love to go there - Halloween. I love making my own costumes.

Reese had decided she wanted to be Sharpay from High School Musical. The ready to wear costume you can buy is between $20-$30 and not that great. So off to goodwill we went. I found the perfect dress for her! It was an adult's really small size, so It works without hardly any alterations.

I didn't get a full body pic, because she's still feeling a bit sick. But I cut the dress on a diagonal on the bottom and added some closures in the back. We also found this silver sparkly sling bag she'll use to put her candy in. "And after that just for anything I want!" she explained. With a pink fur jacket and pink heels from storage; we'll add some fancy leggings, and make a headband that says "Sharpay" in sparkles and she'll be good to go!

Now for the food-->

I finally tried a recipe for a stuffed squash I've been wanting to try. It was SUPER YUMMY. It's an acorn squash, cut and cooked for 30 minutes. Then stuffed with shredded zucchini, carrot and onion that had all been sauteed. Added to that were some bread crumbs, Tuscan spice mix and an egg. Once the filling is in the squash cook for another 15 minutes. It smelled like Thanksgiving and tasted delicious. Next time - I'll probably salt and pepper the inside of the squash before scooping in my filling.

I love banana bread. And I used to love zucchini bread, but have never made it. So this time as I made my banana bread I added a shredded zucchini to it. I used applesauce and a tiny bit of olive oil instead of butter and honey instead of sugar. The recipe called for Baking Soda but I also added a bit of Baking Powder because I've read that when using honey instead of sugar the food needs the extra umph of leavening agent. To get a good sweetness I sprinkled the pan very lightly with some brown sugar before pouring in the batter as well as sprinkled a little on top of the batter.

So this had 1 zucchini, 3 bananas, and 3/4 applesauce - a good amount of necessary fruits and veggies; as well as it was made with whole wheat flour. And you know what? The kids gobbled it up.

So Excited :)

On October 15th at 12:01 am, I committed to doing another Triathlon. I was really nervous and those voices of self doubt were creeping in (BOOO!).

Then I remembered this:

The extraordinary feeling of doing something I never thought I would be able to.

I had planned all along to do the Wunderwoman Triathlon again in 2010. But for some reason this Valley Girl Triathlon seemed too intimidating. The distances are only a bit longer on the swim and bike, and quite doable, but the whole idea of trying something new was daunting.

So I reached back into my heart and grasped hold of the TRI-HIGH I got from my last triathlon - read about it here - And signed up.

Thanks Tiff for pushing me, and although I hesitated, I am so so excited for it. And the tri sold out on October 15th at 1:10 am!

Now it's time to kick up my training.

Catch and Release is for Sissies

Our kitchen seemed overrun with fruit flies this year. Even after storing bananas in the pantry and everything else in the fridge - we still had the little pests flying around.

I looked online and there were several different methods - including a catch and release. WTH? For fruit flies?? After reading my post, you'll see there's nothing humane about my method. But I guess if you prefer, you can skip the last couple steps and let the little buggers go live outside.

1. I got a glass, I used glass specifically so I could see how many I was trapping.
2. Put some bait in the bottom. I used pineapple. But I also noticed a cup of OJ my daughter left out had attracted a lot of fruit flies (FF's).
3. Make a funnel out of paper. The top needs to be wide enough to sit in the glass while leaving space at the bottom for your bait. The hole at the bottom is about 1/8" wide. The funnel shouldn't touch the bait, it may help the FF's crawl out.
4. Tape the funnel to keep it's shape and tape it all around the top of the glass so they can't crawl out of the glass.
5. Enjoy watching the FF's get trapped, for some reason once they get into the glass, they can't fly up out of the funnel hole.
6. To kill the FF's, you can put the cup in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
7. So that I didn't have to make new traps, and I was afraid of FF's getting out of the trap, and I know FF's don't like cold bait, once I took it out of the freezer, I microwaved my whole trap and set it out to catch more.

Other suggestions are:
1. Put apple cider vinegar in a bowl and mix with dish soap. The apple cider attracts them, and the dish soap helps disperse the surface tension and they drown. Or something like that.
2. At night, put a dish of bait in your dishwasher and leave the door slightly ajar. In the morning, gently, so as not disturb the FF's, close the dishwasher door. Turn on the dishwasher and wash those flies away. (you shouldn't open the door to see how many you caught - this could alert the FF's and they'll fly away. - see why I love the glass method.)


Happy Hunting!

A new love -

I've never been a huge fan of sewing. I liked it; but only if the pattern wasn't very complicated. Actually, I think I don't like patterns. Now that I look back - the projects I've really enjoyed, are those that I make up, like:

Ashlynn's 2008 Zombie Bride Halloween Costume

My Jane Austen Tea-party dress, refashioned from an old potato sack style dress

(I hate the way I look in the picture - my sister click here for her blog - looks AB/FAB! - but the only thing I like about me is the cool dress I made and the fact that I've lost 25 pounds since this pic was taken in February.)

Our Apron Extravaganza last Thanksgiving
Although we used a pattern, choosing fabrics and trims allowed for a lot of creativity.


But I just made this cute little apron - patterned after ideas in my head, cutting and trimming and measuring at whim. This apron is for an auction fundraiser my sister is involved in for her son's soccer team. But I plan on making a similar styled one for me with different fabrics.

I love the wide waistband, which I reinforced with fusible interfacing so that when it's washed it hopefully won't get all bunched up and twisted. I also made wide, long ties that can tie in front or back. You can't really tell from this picture but the ruffle on bottom curves up around and meets up with the waistband in back. I wanted a sort of bustle look to it.

Things I'll change when I make mine: the apron a little shorter and more narrow as well as making the ruffle bigger. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I find aprons fun to sew because you can piece together many different fabrics, shapes and ideas to come up with something that makes cooking more fun! I've even considered making a few of these, stockpiling up and getting in on the sassy mei action.