snow much fun

we survived the campout! it was actually a lot of fun. the cabin is very nice and cozy. here we are hiking in...the girls posing outside...


here's cassie preparing sticks for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows for dinner...
playing cards before lunch while the soup simmers on the wood stove...cassie on the stairs to the loft...

tearing down the castle

who doesn't want to be a princess?

well, apparently cassie doesn't want to be a princess. i loved this wallpaper border with the pretty castle. cassie did not. it is her room, after all.

so yesterday we started to demolish the beautiful fairy tale castle. it was a sad day for me, but my little princess seemed to enjoy it. the new loft bed (ordered a month ago) has not arrived, but she does have her new bedding, purple shag rug, hot pink accent lamp, and the decorative wall stickers.today we'll finish cleaning off the wallpaper adhesive and take down the shelf and buy the paint. maybe we'll paint the room tonight.

today it is snowing. tomorrow we'll be camping. in a cabin. in the snow. i don't love camping, but a girl scout leader's gotta do what a girl scout leader's gotta do. send warm thoughts, please!

merry christmas!

lori posted a link to that recipe for pretzel chicken and we made it a few days ago. our plan for today was to have brunch after the pageant rehearsal, but cassie really wanted that chicken -- again! -- so we had a second round of pretzel chicken for lunch. the kitchen was standing room only as the kids stood there waiting for the chicken to come out of the fryer. it was just as good the second time around.

there's a roast in the slow-cooker for dinner after mass tonight. tomorrow we'll have a big breakfast (the brunch that was planned for today -- spinach and mushroom quiche, baked hash browns, biscuits and gravy, sausage and bacon, fruit).

the rest of the day will have a pirate theme. we're planning to watch all three pirates of the carribean movies and play the pirates constructible strategy game. we'll be eating appetizers all day with tiny swords, and the adults will be drinking rum (of course).

the christmas cards still have not been mailed, but when they are, you'll find a link to the online christmas letter. christmas came way too fast this year.

hope yours is peaceful and pleasant.

the winning streak continues

Every year, the Rainy Day Doll Makers in Sitka sell raffle tickets for an American Girl doll. Cassie and I always purchase tickets. This year the doll is Julie -- the "historic" doll from 1974.

1974! When she first came out, Lori and I laughed because she looks just like us.

We bought our raffle tickets, knowing that I would win, and I did! She came home yesterday and was warmly welcomed by the other dolls in the house.

insight

was trying to get daddy to start a blog and this week learned that he DOES have a personal webpage. why not a traditional blog? he wants to have control. doesn't want to deal with comments. wants control of the page format. blah blah blah. my dad is controlling!

now i know where i get it from...

a few weeks ago at my girl scout troop meeting we were making thanksgiving centerpieces for the senior center and i had carefully selected the craft supplies so that all the colors would coordinate. as the girls were working one of them noticed that all the papers went together and i said "that's because i'm controlling." and the mom that was there helping started to chuckle. seems she had realized this long ago, but would never have said it out loud. the next day i asked my co-workers about it (did you know i'm controlling?) and my boss said "i've heard that about you."

!

i like to think that i'm controlling in a way that makes people feel secure and comfortable. i think it's working.

today has been a very frustrating day, mostly because it's too freaking cold here and the doors on my car freeze OPEN. this is frustrating to me because i can't control it. we just have to drive around holding the doors shut until the car warms up enough to close them.

and then i was trying to print my christmas cards and my printer keeps spitting out blue streaks across the pages. also frustrating because i can't control it -- even after cleaning the print heads FIVE TIMES. argh.

and those 20+ profile views, MisterG, are mostly me. i can stop now that i know where to look.

arnold's new look

At the Sitka High School winter concert last night (in the new auditorium -- very nice), the concert band performed "Disco Christmas." Arnold (on bass guitar) was "Disco", Marshall (on drums) was "Christmas." He did a great job. Arnold also surprised us during the concert by reading an introduction to another piece -- "Trail of Tears" which was a song about marching the Native Americans to the reservation.

a royal flush

or -- what's under YOUR holiday tree?

i came home from work yesterday to find this in my living room...

and after dinner this evening, this is where cassie could be found...

i had ordered this a few weeks ago from spenard's. kent happened to be there yesterday and asked if it was in, and since it was he brought it home. he uninstalled the old toilet this evening and found that he needs another part before he can install this one. he said "it needs a new ring." and i said "what? you're going to buy me a ring?" (this is a joke.)

the old toilet is currently sitting on the front deck. a well ventilated area for, well, you know...

dead bird photos

Thanksgiving dinner at the Gillespie house! Turkey and apple praline tart would have been fine for me. Arnold needed stuffing. Cassie needed mashed potatoes. And chocolate mousse. And Cassie asked me to make the vegetable bundles in shallot-herb butter and i thought "wow! Cassie wants vegetables!" Turns out she just thinks they are pretty and wanted them in the pictures. What a goofball.

That look on Arnold's face is "You can't wait until I'm done swallowing?"

Happy Thanksgiving!

refreshing beverages

this is good stuff. try the "rescue" green tea one spiked with orange jose cuervo, or the "xxx" one spiked with smirnoff pomegranate martini. mmmm. we were drinking these at a picnic last summer (spiked) and everybody thought we were being so healthy. ha ha.

there's a recipe online somewhere for a sarah palin cocktail. it uses the dragonfruit vitamin water!

we have a winner!

Cassie participated in the "Sitka Fair" today. She won a blue ribbon for her Super Bear costume, and in the cook off took the Grand Prize for white chocolate-dipped chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Enough chocolate for you? I think so. She also got to model a cape for another student, and did a fabulous job on the runway.

picasso

somebody's spending too much time at the computer.
you can be an artist, too!

the apple of my eye

since we had all this halloween candy sitting around, the fruit was getting jealous. i've seen these candy apples for sale on qvc and thought that the price was ridiculous and outrageous.

my apologies to mrs. prindable.

we used honey crisp apples, dipped them in caramel, then dark chocolate, then chopped peanuts. outrageous is a good word for it.

and next time, we're going to use crushed pretzels instead of peanuts. because there WILL be a next time. oh yes.

one apple is enough for four people. before we started, cassie divided up the caramels from the bag and we had a race unwrapping them, so that part went pretty fast. we microwaved the caramels, so that went pretty fast, too. and when they had set in the fridge for a while, we microwaved the chocolate, too.

if you're gonna make these, use a lot of butter on the pan or on the waxed paper before you put the carameled apples down.

who's your daddy?

just wondering if you all will join me in my campaign to get daddy blogging here. i mean, it totally makes sense. he loves to write. he has lots to say. he's difficult to keep track of (especially from this distance). and he's reading all of OUR blogs.

whaddya say, daddy? ready to share your thoughts with the cyber universe?

suspicions confirmed

just what we all need -- a quiz! found a link to this motherhood quiz on another blog and would love to know how you all scored. how about it, rachael? are you a good mom?

sadly, i'm not.

happy halloween!

Cassie has a couple of friends sleeping over. We had our traditional dinner -- Zombie meatloaf with bloody veins and bony fingers. They had brains and eyeballs for dessert.

She was a peacock at school and a queen for her sleepover. Lovely either way!

I was Raggedy Ann and most of my little friends at school have never heard of her. Oh, well.

welcome to blogger, lori!

love your profile picture...

where's the beef?

back in august we had a "not going away party" and i made a big pot of chili to serve with our three buckets of margaritas. rachael wanted a beef recipe, and this turned out really good (i've made it several times since the party). i searched for chili recipes online and then just used what sounded good from several different recipes.

in a really big, clean pot...
brown about 2 pounds of extra lean ground beef and drain off the fat
add one chopped onion
some minced garlic
a tall can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
a regular can of pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
a regular can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
a 6 oz can of diced green chilis
two cans of diced, stewed tomatoes
a can of beef broth (not the condensed kind)
a palm full of chili powder
less than a palm full of ground cumin
about 1/3 cup of brown sugar
lots of course-ground black pepper
a little salt

stir it all up and cook it for a long time (works great all day in the crock pot).

i've also made it with dark beer instead of beef broth. pretty good that way.
i've also made it with leftover shredded carnitas meat instead of the ground beef. also very good.

now you make the chili and come back with your "star" rating and list the variations you came up with...

those pesky estimates

Ah, the joys of being a homeowner! so that repair work on the siding i mentioned? today i heard the estimate from the electrician -- $2,600.00. Can you say OUCH!?

seems that since everything has to be replaced UP TO CODE, it's going to be a spendy adventure. that's okay, though. it will be done right. part of that expense is for the rental unit, so that's tax deductible. nice.

other than that -- it was W I N D Y all day. we did not play outside. it's still windy, but not too bad. and survivor is on tomorrow, so all will be well with the world. i'm making chili.

dinner at the Channel Club tonight with Kent and his mom and friends. visiting relatives = opportunities to dine out. please come visit! dinner at the channel club is lovely. i'd love to take you all there.

blown away

i do not want to go to work today! the wind just hasn't stopped. it's blowing 45 mph (gusts up to 60) and the high wind warning is in effect until 9pm tonight. the rain is coming down sideways!

there's some repair work being done on the south end of the house and the sound of the wind slapping around that house wrap all night made it difficult to sleep.

waah. okay. enough whining. off to work...

chillin'

well, it didn't rain during the parade! so weird. it was pretty windy and chilly, though. i was very happy that my new l.l. bean squall parka and fleece gloves arrived yesterday. yeah for new coats! (my first new coat since before arnold was born -- i think it was time.)

cassie played the crash symbols. she wasn't very happy about that but she does it well anyway.

arnold played the sousaphone. the high school band had brand new raincoats! no more of the traditional garbage bags for the parade!

Yunue and i carried the banner for the child care center -- a tough job with the winds today! here's a link to the SJC watch page -- has a picture of ME in the parade! http://www.sjcwatch.blogspot.com/

happy alaska day!

alaska day

there's a parade tomorrow. it will be raining, of course. that's the tradition. sitka is the only place in alaska that celebrates alaska day, and we celebrate it for a week. the kids will both be marching in their school bands. i'll be walking with the families from our child care center, which is celebrating it's 20th anniversary this year.

tuesday, cassie's school choir performed in the alaska day variety show. not much variety, really. the choir did a good job, and they helped mrs. turcott sing the alaska flag song before the beard and bonnet judging began. oh, so corny.

location, location, location

living a couple of thousand miles away from my extended family has many disadvantages. for example, this morning i learned that three of my nieces have blogs here. there is so much i don't know about them. it is easy to imagine them just as they were when i moved away 20 years ago -- not the grown women and mothers that they are today. and i'm really terrible about keeping in touch with them. maybe this will help.